So, in last week’s review I mentioned that Nina possibly being evil was one of the most compelling things that the Peter-less universe had going for them.
I take it back.
You see, Nina as evil was compelling before Mr. Jones showed up. Mr. Jones is the perfect villain to bring into this universe because he’s living proof that Peter’s universe still exists somewhere. The big reveal that Nina is pulling Mr. Jones’s strings is just annoying, and makes me wonder if the Fringe writers decided to make Nina evil (in some universe) because they were going down that lane in earlier seasons before the show evolved in a different way. (I’m thinking specifically of Nina’s shadowy involvement with William Bell, back when we didn’t know Bell was a good guy. But then Bell was revealed as a good guy and Nina fit perfectly under the good guy umbrella.)
Even with the “OMG” moment of Nina’s true colors, I’m still not invested in this universe, especially now that Peter’s back. I just keep thinking of the universe we all know and love, waiting for us, somewhere out there.
I think a large reason of why it’s hard to get invested in the drama unfolding in the Peter-less universes is that we don’t really know anything about these characters. Sure, it was fun in the first few episodes, discovering minor changes our characters had in a universe without Peter, but once Peter came back, Fringe thrust us into their overarching action plot of heroes vs. the new shapeshifters, with the added bonus of nobody likes Peter. It’s incredibly frustrating, since Peter looks like a gigantic human wedge in the stories of the characters.
I’m willing to keep an open mind. This season’s drama is unfolding very (VERY) slowly, so I have hope that the show will eventually pull everything together soon. I’ll even reconsider my stance on the Nina villain thing, if Fringe handles it properly.
Last Thoughts: Personally, I’m just counting down the days to Astrid’s episode. On Twitter, Jaskia Nicole said that Alt-Astrid saying “cool” to the fact that Peter was from another universe was a nod to Abed on Community. Nicely done, Jaskia.
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Rhea Dee is a Midwestern fat girl floating through space with a donut and an attitude. She's the co-host and co-creator of the podcast Badland Girls. 
Alt-Astrid saying “cool” was really great. I want to see an Astrid ep too!
Actually, I think this calls back to the first season where Jones was being funded and supported by Bell, using an edited ZFT, to destroy the other universe, and Nina was implicated in that plot. But when Fringe team got put together and stopped Jones Nina switched gears and prioritized them over activating the Cortexiphan kids, developing a clone army of psychic teens, and other black projects Massive Dynamic had in the wings for the war.
But in alt-timeline Jones was never stopped, his connection to The Pattern was probably never found and his acts of terrorism attributed to Walternate’s war on “Our Side”. I would bet that even though the machine was able to stabilize both universes, Jones, Nina, and possibly Bell if he is still alive in alt-timeline, are still running the ZFT playbook.