Fringe Summer Rewatch: #222 "Over There, Part 1" ~ Fringe Television - Fan Site for the FOX TV Series Fringe

Fringe Summer Rewatch: #222 "Over There, Part 1"

      Email Post       8/28/2011 12:01:00 AM      

Join us for our Fringe Summer re-watch, where we review every episode of Fringe during the summer hiatus. Comments are welcome as we dig into the connections made over three seasons.

It is wonderful that I get to comment on the rewatch of an episode that had me start writing stories (shameless self-promotion). It gets even better when I get my own soapbox for the other Olivia too. it feels like I have been handed a powerful tool. Beginning with this episode, I will be pointing out similarities in this new Olivia Dunham to the original. It is my firm belief that they are more alike than most people think. I am not the only one to notice this. And I will not be calling her Fauxlivia or Altlivia, because I happen to like this character.

This is the beginning of what is to come for season 3. The episode starts off with our heroes Over There, where everything is similar yet slightly different. For one thing, Fringe Division is based in New York City and is a military organization headed by none other than Colonel Philip Broyes.

The Fringe team over there is comprised of Captain Lincoln Lee, Olivia Dunham, and a very much alive Charlie Francis head to an opera house in the Bronx to respond to a Class-One Fringe Event. Before they have to quarantine the site, Agent Farnsworth, a Looker, analyzes the situation and reports that the Event is terminating. Quarantine has been averted, for now. We see in these seen the familiar Nixon silver dollar found in the "Jacksonville" episode. So we know that this is where the coin originated. While this is going on, the original Olivia Dunham is watching the scene unfold unseen from one of the balconies in the theatre, along with Walter and their companions.

At this point, we return to a time just after Peter has left for the other side with his biological father. Walter frantically trying to look for something at the lab. Olivia continuing to reflect on things since learning the truth in "Peter". She was finding solace in alcohol, until one of the Observers leaves her a cryptic message in the drawing depicting Peter in the machine.

Walter has recalled the Observer's warning and this is the worst possible development.

He told me that I had to agree to never let Peter return to the other side.
When Olivia asked him what it means...

My son is going to be responsible for the end of the world.
Together with Agent Broyles, they head over to Massive Dynamic to confront Nina Sharp, asking for help get Peter back. Leave it to Nina to tell everyone in private that Olivia had the ability to cross over safely. This reminds of how Glinda told Dorothy that she had the power to go home all along. Everybody is skeptical, especially Olivia. Walter suggested if there were more of Cortexiphan subjects like her, it would enhance her abiilty. Then Broyles surprised both of them by providing the ones that have been rehabilitated, including James Heath ("Olivia. In the Lab. With a Revolver.") and Nick Lane ("Bad Dreams").

They gather at the new Fringe Headquarters in the Federal Building, that coincidentally resembled the one over there. Broyles informed Olivia that it was authorized by Senate Intelligence as part of Peter's list of demands from "Night of Desirable Objects" prior to securing funding for Fringe Division. They are making the attempt to cross over at an opera house in the Bronx. All but James Heath would arrive alive.

The Secretary briefs the Fringe Team of the threat of invasion, putting them on alert.

Olivia, Walter and the others are cornered at their rendezvous point in Central Park that resulted in the death of Nick Lane and Sally Clark. Lincoln Lee is severely injured by Sally's pyrotechnic abilities.

Meanwhile, Peter having revived from Temporal Acclimation, is reunited with his birth mother. As they get reacquainted with each other, Peter studies the blueprints for the machine we saw in the drawing. We will see that this machine is assembled deep in the bowels of the Department of Defense.

Left on her own device, Olivia follow her counterpart home and perhaps feel a little envious of the life of her other self, with a loving boyfriend awaiting her return. It is where William Bell comes to her aid, with his signature greeting.

It is good to see you again.
She's A Lot Like Her:

You will see that she shoots first and asks questions later. She takes a shot at Walter in the same way the original Olivia dispatched the shapeshifter in "The Man From The Other Side". Fortunately, for Walter, Olivia was not aiming to kill. She may not have photographic memory, but she has great recall when she told The Secretary she read about Reiden Lake in the Z.F.T. in 1995.

Differences and Similarities Over There:


  • Charlie Francis is still alive, but is infested by bugs.

  • Nick Lane existed over there.

  • Elizabeth Bishop is still alive.

  • Coffee is rationed.

  • People carry Show-Me identification.

  • Currency have different people on them.

  • The public mode of air travel are airships.

  • Medicine is advanced, rapid healing, complete recovery is possible for serious injuries.
Unanswered Questions:


  • There are still over a dozen Cortexiphan test subjects unaccounted for. Will we see more of these in Season 4?

  • What would have happened if Walter had succeeded in preventing Peter from going to the other side?

  • Lincoln Lee recognized Nick Lane after he shot him. How does he know him?

  • Elizabeth reminds Peter that we all have to take responsibility for our own decisions. Is this the reason why perhaps future Peter feels guilty after using the machine that resulted in the destruction of his world?

  • How did William Bell travel to the other side so many times?

  • Why did they need to prepare three-year-old children to be guardians and protectors before Walter took Peter?

  • Was Walter exactly the same as James Heath remembered?

  • Crossing over at the opera house caused a detectable breach. Is any travel between universes is harmful to the fabric of reality?
If Peter Bishop Never Existed...
This is a Peter-centric episode. It has been alluded that Walter still crossed over using his gateway, weakening the very fabric of reality. If Peter never existed, what reason would Walter have for going over there in the first place?
The Cortexiphan test subjects probably would not cross universes to rescue someone that doesn't exist.




18 Comments:

Anonymous said...

This episode was Peter-centric? yeah ok considering that Peter didn't even show up until 30 minutes into the episode and only had 15 minutes of screentime and Peter did NOTHING. If anything John and Anna did more stuff than Josh/Peter ever did!

Xindilini said...

From a different point of view. The character doesn't have to be in it all that much to be the centre or focus of a story. Walter and Olivia were motivated to find Peter. There would be no need to tell this story without this character.

Anonymous said...

Thus giving John and Anna all this work while Josh does nothing acting wise and people hate his acting for it? Whatever.

Anonymous said...

Im gonna have a little chuckle there Xindilini cos in my opinion uve just summed up then entire show. It could be argued that Fringe is peter centric, but in the sense that the development of the two main characters of the show (olivia and walter) are based on saving peter/keeping secrets from him/polivia (ugh). The episodes that show this most clearly are this episode (over there part 1) and over there part 2.

In response to Anonymous at 1:14PM, which i suspect is you 45, i honestly dont know whether jackson is as good as noble or torv, simply because he has never been given anything as challenging as they have. Although, i agree that on fringe blogs this is generally percieved as bad acting on his part, i will not agree or disagree until i see him in a genuinely challenging acting scene.

One has to wonder when wyman/pinkner are going to stop using peter as a glorified macguffin, and give his character some depth. In the upcoming season i would expect more screentime and attention on broyles, nina, astrid and lincoln, but more of the same for peter, i suspect that the writers genuinely cant write for the character and now just use him as a plot device for other characters.

Matthew M said...

I just reread this posting and i'm wondering why all 4 comments have virtually NOTHING to do do with this posting! You people really need help.

45 said...

Please, please cancel this show. This show makes a fool out of Josh! Nobody cares about him! all they care about are those two aussies!

Anonymous said...

I care about Josh and think he is a vital member of the cast. I'm disappointed that he probably isn't going to be in the first 3 episodes of season 4.

Xindilini said...

Define good acting. There is plenty of that to go around for all the cast judging by the opinions of my esteemed fellow commentators. The best scenes I've ever watched in movies and TV have no dialogue.

@Matthew_M What do you think about the rest of the post? People seemed to miss my spin.

cortexifan said...

@45
...the tension in your voice indicates that you’re carrying a heavy psychic burden. Tortured by the depths of some --

Why don't you just stop watching then and stop bothering those who try to be positive and give constructive criticism. Why are you lashing out at Anna and John as well and the rest of us who love this show and everyone in it. Josh himself said it's not about the characters, but about the show as a whole.

I challenge you to take an episode and write a review. If not, then leave us alone.

45 said...

And why should I listen to you mrs. "If peter had been paying attention to Olivia, he would have seen she was lying".

Peter owes that lying skank nothing.

trent said...

"One has to wonder when wyman/pinkner are going to stop using peter as a glorified macguffin."

No, they won't. They have said as much in their tweets and Joshua Jackson resigned himself to that fact in a recent interview.

About the episode, good acting is what I saw in my favorite scene, the reunion between Peter and his real mom. Incredibly powerful. It's a shame the writers forgot about that, too, and not a single mention of Elizabeth was made in S4.

cortexifan said...

part 1

-Alt-Broyles’ office looks like our Broyles’ office in 3.09 Marionette.
-Fringe Division over there is an official division, not a secret one like over here. The symbol on the van: FF (one is backwards), Count Screwloose, your article was awesome.
-When Olivia first looks down at “herself”, that must be so weird, seeing yourself.
-I’m surprised Olivia went out to drink, I guess she had to so the Observer could leave the drawing.
-Again, Olivia is not taking crap from Broyles or Nina. Even at the end of 3.22 The Day We Died she tries to be reasonable and calming the two Walter’s down.
-Nina: “This is Williams design but we didn’t build it.”
-I just caught this. When Brandon is talking about crossing over, Nina looks at Olivia with very suspicious (for lack of a better word) eyes. Again, like she knows a lot more than we think.
-They can’t find any records on how Bell crossed. Apparently Olivia is the only one who can do it safely.
-Broyles knows a lot more too than what we think.
-When Olivia meets the other cortexi-kids, they all laugh because Nick is thinking something emotional, I guess. The reason James, Sally and Olivia are not laughing is because Cortexiphan test subjects are immune to other cortexi-kids (3.12 Concentrate And Ask Again). Love how Broyles just laughs as well, so not like him.
-The office they meet in was a demand Peter made at the beginning of the season. Not sure why he wanted more office space but it looks like the office from 3.09 Marionette and the other side.
-It’s very Mission Impossible like. Nimoy was in the TV show.
-Differences over there: Martin Luther King, Jr. is on the $20 bill which means he must have been president as well; the Grand Hotel was built; Twin Towers are still standing; nothing happens without your “show me”; Fringe Division is official; The West Wing is in its 11th season.
-Walter: “What I did was inexcusable.” I’m quite impressed that Walter apologizes to them.
-It was (and still is) heart wrenching when Walter and Olivia prepare themselves for the journey. Olivia giving the cross to Ella is almost saying: hey I’m not coming back or I might die. It’s almost as if Olivia has conceded, so not like in 2.12 What Lies Below as she tells Peter that they’re getting out of this. Rachel looked scared too as she realized what Ella had. I hope that those two will come back.
-There is a cut apple on the plastic covering something at the opera house as Walter says that they are ready to try this.

cortexifan said...

part 2

-Nick: “Fate is a tricky thing.” Bellivia’s line to Peter comes to mind in 3.17 Stowaway: “…sometimes when one walks away from his fate, it leads one directly to fate's doorstep.”
-Walter has trained them in 3.15 Subject 13 on how to clear their minds and that there imagination can take them anywhere you want to go, “imagining this universe slipping away.”
-Walternate is picking out Fauxlivia because he met Olivia when she was a child, after Peter was taken. That’s how he knows about the other universe too.
-So who wrote ZFT?
-It’s good to see Charlie again.
-Walternate: “I’m not a lover of war.” Really, wouldn’t have guessed it. Why does he want to go to war then?
-Peter waking up reminded me of when he woke up in 3.21 The Last Sam Weiss. The scenes with his mom are great.
-Bacon. Don’t like it anymore. A Fringe friend and I tried to re-create Walter’s bacon berry flavored frosting from 3.16 Os and I’m cured :)
-Extreme use of their abilities. They all (except Olivia) have used their abilities too much before they crossed, they just didn’t tell Walter.
-“In the end we have to take responsibility for our own decisions, the good and the bad.”
-Walternate is staying in the city tonight. Hm I wonder if he’s with Reiko :)
-How does Lincoln know Nick?
-Ooh, I want to hurt Fauxlivia because she shot Walter. But… let me interject: I like Fauxlivia as well. She’s not really bad, just doing what needs to be done. And yes, she does have character flaws.
And Kudos to Anna for pulling it off. I totally forget it's the same person playing two different versions.
-When I saw Lincoln I really thought he wasn’t gonna make it. But I knew from spoilers that he was in S3.
-Ha, Fauxlivia doesn’t like alcohol.
-When Olivia saw her “other self” with Frank, was she thinking of Peter?
-Bell said Olivia has every reason not to trust him. Yeah, I wouldn’t either after learning that he planted the soul magnets in her.
-No matter how much John Noble says he understands Walternate, I think he’s evil, no matter how much they tried to humanize him.

If Peter never existed in this episode…
-There would have been no reason for them to cross over.
-Nick, James and Sally would still be alive.
-Walter wouldn’t have been shot.
-Walternate would have had no one to interpret the blue prints of the machine.

Xindilini said...

@cortexifan

Funny you should mention Broyles' office over there and here.

Those rectangle lamps and tables along the wall are the same.

I pay attention to mundane set details. I've been mapping sets since The X-Files, but I haven't used it for anything except to figure out how the shots were set up.

cortexifan said...

@Xindilini,
that's what I pay attention to as well. Have been involved with theater for a few years (on stage and back stage) and am always interested in how things are done.

Xindilini said...

@cortexifan
Really. That's cool. I am producing digital scenery for a stage Wizard of Oz. It will be my first theatre experience. I am hoping to use the experience to gain exposure and possible future job opportunities. It's not my main vocation, but I am able to animate 2D art for our needs.

Xindilini said...

@cortexifan
Check out my blog loneguppy-showcase.blogspot.com
Well, you can find it in my profile. I've been documenting what I do.

Henry said...

"Differences over there: Martin Luther King, Jr. is on the $20 bill which means he must have been president as well…"

When was Franklin president? Hamilton?

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