Fringe Observiews 4.20 Worlds Apart ~ Fringe Television - Fan Site for the FOX TV Series Fringe

Fringe Observiews 4.20 Worlds Apart

      Email Post       5/03/2012 10:49:00 AM      


Welcome to the Observiews for Season 4 of Fringe. I call them Observiews because they are more visual observations than deep thinking reviews, if that makes sense

Screen caps from this episode are taken from fringefiles.com. Dialog is from fringepedia.net/transcripts.

All observations are mine and therefore could be totally off the wall and/or wrong. I have not read or looked at any recaps or reviews. I could also have missed a few things, oh well.

1.17 Bad Dreams
NICK LANE: “Olive... you'll wish you had... you'll wish you'd kill me.”
Hm. Would that have changed anything?

2.22 Over There Part 2
SECRETARY BISHOP: “I told you there would be invaders coming over from the other side, but I didn't tell you they would be us… They're our doubles, alternate version of ourselves, but don't be deceived, Olivia. They're monsters in our skin. They'll do anything, say anything to gain our trust, but they can't be trusted.”
Do you still think that now?



Glyphs spelled ALIVE
Who? 

The Observer is taking a stroll in Sydney, Australia.

Blue and amber in the bridge-room.
Walter has gathered everyone because he figured out what Jones is up to.
Fauxlivia looks lonely on her side. She’s pretty much the only one left besides Alt-Astrid. 

Walter believes Jones is trying to collapse both universes to create a new one where the laws of physics and nature are designed and controlled by him.
4.12 Welcome to Westfield came to mind. 
I’ll get back to Westfield in a bit. 

Broyles asks Walter how he came to this conclusion. Walter says he had a dream.
When I saw Olivia’s reaction I thought she’s going to say: “I had the same dream.” 
Guess I was wrong. 

FAUXLIVIA: “Walter... with all respect, maybe it was just a dream.”
SECRETARY BISHOP: “If I have learned one thing, it's that anything is possible. And given what we know about Jones' actions so far, what Doctor Bishop suggests should not be overlooked.”
You’ve come a long way, Secretary Bishop. 3.22 The Day We Died
SECRETARY BISHOP to Walter: “You shattered my universe. You have any idea how many deaths you've caused?”

Meanwhile around the world people get in position to cause earthquakes.
Hey, we know you. Nick Lane who was a cortexi-kid.
And Sally Clark.
Both Nick and Sally crossed over with Olivia in 2.21 Over There Part 1.
The other two must be cortexi-kids too, which ones? 2.16 Olivia. In The Lab. With The Revolver.
It was also interesting that Sally wasn’t on the list from the Jacksonville trials. She must have been from the Wooster trials then, just like Simon (3.12 Concentrate And Ask Again). 

FAUXLIVIA: “You lost me, Walter. How could someone destroy two universes and survive to see it?”
PETER: “Westfield. Jones used the amphilicite to destroy the town of Westfield in our universe and in yours. But when he was finished, there was one area is still standing.”
BROYLES: “Meaning?”
WALTER: “Meaning perhaps it was a test. A way to ensure his survival.”
At the end of the Observiews for 4.12 Welcome to Westfield  I said that this might be a test or experiment; although my theory had more to do with Olivia’s memories but it was a test nonetheless.

LINCOLN: “So Jones is planning on what? Riding out the apocalypse?”
WALTER: “We already know that Jones has created new species. Now it's possible that he has built a safe zone where he and his creations could be protected. After all, he will have to populate this new world.”
BROYLES: “Like Noah's ark? Is that what you say?”
WALTER: “Something like that, yes.”

I mentioned Noah's ark as well at the end of 4.16 Nothing As It Seems.

And besides killing Jones, nothing can stop him right now.
Don’t know if this picture means anything but thought it interesting. 

Loved it when they got the phone calls. 
FAUXLIVIA: “Dunham.”
OLIVIA: “Dunham.”

Secretary Bishop gets called out.

PETER: “You did great, Walter.”
WALTER: “He can't even stay in the same room as me.”
PETER: “No. He listens to you. They all did.”
Am I the only one (besides Peter) who disagrees with Walter? I didn't get that impression at all. I thought the only reason he left is because he got that message. But what do I know.

Earthquakes are happening in both worlds in the same locations.
ALT-ASTRID: “Twenty seven earthquakes. Most of them occurred nowhere near the major fault-lines registering between five point seven and seven point one on a Richter scale. And they all started at exactly the same time eleven twenty three A.M. Greenwich Mean Time.”


Numbers are important. 23 has recurred many times. 
1.06 The Cure – Intrepus’s shares fell $23 in the stock market after he was arrested.
1.10 Safe – 23 years ago Walter hid equipment in safety deposit boxes.
1.14 Ability – The bomb was at 923 Church Street.
2.02 Night Of Desirable Objects – Walter got in contact with the paralytic substance and informed Peter he had to urinate in 23 minutes. 
2.06 Earthling – The security tech informs Olivia (watching the tape) that this was 23 seconds before the victim was discovered. 
3.04 Do Shapeshifters Dream Of Electric Sheep – The lab was on the 23rd floor at MD. 
3.08 Bloodline – The bone expander was calibrated to 23 degrees. Ouch
3.20 6:02 AM EST – Brandonate told Walternate that baby Henry inherited 23 chromosomes from Fauxlivia.
4.02 One Night In October – There were 23 murders. 
4.11 Making Angels – As Peter and Olivia rush to the airport to arrest Neil, the announcement says Flight 62 to Chicago O’Hare at Gate 23-A


I was trying to think if the other numbers mention by Alt-Astrid have meaning but I couldn’t think of anything.

FAUXLIVIA: “Nepal. Buenos Aires. Beijing. The synchronized earthquakes are all over the world, it must have a trigger. Presumably Amphilicite.”
LINCOLN: “I'll coordinate with the other side to begin a search. I wonder how you say Amphilicite in Mandarin.”
简体中文版 
Well, I don't know how you say it but this is what it looks like, sort of. I couldn't find Mandarin so I chose Chinese simple.

Here is a familiar shot.
First time we’ve seen this was in 2.22 Over There Part 2
and a similar shot was used in 3.08 Entrada.

Now back to our lab.

Walter has the items from the Manhattan earthquake. He is measuring the frequency.
And of course this is Walter so he also sniffed the shoe. 

Walter discovered that Jones is tuning the universes to a new frequency and that is what is causing the earthquakes. To demonstrate Walter is using a children’s game.
WALTER: “The vibrations are weakening the barrier between our universes. If he does it enough times in the right locations, collapse is inevitable.”
I thought it interesting that the figure is red (Peter) and the rest of the game is blue. I know, just coincidence, or is it?

Back over there, Lincoln has a visitor.
Nick Lane shows up. Nick knows Lincoln because Lincoln dated Nick’s sister Kendra.
In Over There Part 1 Alt-Lincoln recognized Nick but we didn't know why. This might be the reason.
Alt-Nick: “I had a vision. I saw the earthquake. I was standing right in the middle of it. But the thing is, when this happened I wasn't even aware that there was an earthquake. I hadn’t turned on the news yet. How is that possible?”
I thought of 1.17 Bad Dreams
OLIVIA: “No, I could smell the platform. I saw her baby staring at me. I saw her face before I saw the news. How is that possible?”

Back on our side the team is looking at footage from Australia while Walter is enjoying a strawberry milkshake.
Olivia asks Astrid to see if they could get a better picture of Sally Clark when Lincoln calls her from over there.
Lincoln informs Olivia that he had spoken to someone who saw the earthquake that happened on our side from over there. The Twin Towers were not there. Lincoln said his name was Nick Lane.
As soon as Lincoln said Nick Lane, Olivia knew who the girl was on the footage.  Sally Clark.
Olivia explains that she knows Sally from the Cortexiphan trials along with Nick Lane.

PETER: “Nick Lane? What’s he got to do with it?”
Finally someone else who recognized that name.
And I can’t read Walter expression at all. Does he remember Nick?

WALTER: “It's horrible and deranged, but you have to agree, it's really quite ingenious. Doctor Jones is using Nick Lane and the other Cortexiphan subjects' abilities to psychically link with versions of themselves in the alternate universe. Meaning Nick Lane and the others are drawing on their alternate's frequency to change the vibratory nature of the area that they're standing in, effectively, merging the two universes together… And the eventual collapse of our world. This man... I'm afraid I underestimated him. Jones must have a remarkable mind to have devised a plan like this.”
Maybe he is just the one carrying out the plan, devised by someone else?

Peter suggests closing the bridge, shut down the machine to sever the connection between the two universes in order to cut the link between the Cortexiphan kids over here and their Doppelgangers over there.
In theory it could work
WALTER: “But if we were able to shut down the machine, we may never be able to start it again. Our two sides would be separated forever.”
OLIVIA: “The Bridge being opened is what's enabled the other universe to heal. So what would happen if we closed it?”
WALTER: “Most likely, the healing would stop. Their world wouldn't get any worse, but it wouldn't get any better either.”
Sounds like Walter is afraid he’s not gonna get to see Fauxlivia again, lol.

And as most times the Dunhamnator comes up with an alternative.
OLIVIA: “Well, there is one other option. We find Jones, and we stop the next attack.”
PETER: “But how?”
OLIVIA: “I think I have an idea.”

Fauxlivia is bringing Alt-Nick to Walter’s lab. He gets fitted with the neuro-stimulator which…
1.03 The Ghost Network
WALTER: “Oh, this brings back some memories.”
PETER: Of what? 
LOL.

OLIVIA: “I knew Nick when we were kids. We shared an emotional bond. And I'm hoping that through you, we may be able to reconnect and find him.”
3.15 Subject 13
1.17 Bad Dreams
WALTER: “If William had followed the usual procedures... you see, often when we experimented on children  ...we would put them in pairs. Like the buddy system in summer camp. This pairing kept them from becoming frightened or feeling isolated. Sometimes an intense bond could form... a bond... which could be greatly amplified by a drug like Cortexiphan.”

One of my favorite lines in this episode.
ALT-NICK: “And this makes perfect sense to all of you.”
LINCOLN: “I find it's best if you just go with it.”
PETER: “Think of it this way. If it works out, you're the hero that saved two universes.”

Fauxlivia and Olivia share a moment.
I liked how Fauxlivia took initiative and tried to mend, if you will.
There is also an “8” ball on the table. 
Ella gave one to Olivia in 1.11 Bound and Olivia discovered that it was Loeb who kidnapped her because he dropped the 8 ball and Olivia saw his shoes. It also was a birthday gift in 3.12 Concentrate And Ask Again. Is 8 still Olivia’s number?

FAUXLIVIA: “Look, I appreciate what you guys have been doing to prevent closing the bridge, even if it's a long shot. The truth is I like coming over here. Especially after it rains. When my world started to break down, the conditions in the atmosphere changed. And the light doesn't reflect through moisture the way it used to. We haven't seen a rainbow in over twenty years.”
OLIVIA: “Oh, I didn't know that.”
FAUXLIVIA: “As our world started to repair itself, I began to imagine that the people from my side would start to see them again. You know something so beautiful. So perfect. I still find myself looking up after it rains.”

I was going to put this at the end but it fits here also.
Noah’s ark was mentioned earlier. And when Fauxlivia talked about rainbows I thought about Noah and the flood in the book of Genesis. God was angry with men so he caused a flood that covered the entire earth. Except God found favor with Noah and his family and asked him to build the ark and take with him two of each animal to repopulate the earth after the flood. As a sign that God would never send a flood like this one he set a rainbow in the clouds.
Genesis 9:13-15 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.
I find myself looking up as well. And it is amazing how in times of distress I find comfort in a rainbow. It’s almost like God is saying to me: “don’t worry, it will all work out according to my [His] plan.” That’s what I believe and I’m holding on to my faith.

Sorry, back to the story.
This was my favorite funny moment. Nick getting the LSD.
He also got some of this stuff. 
Perfect combination, Cortexiphan and LSD.
And the mental quantum entanglement session with Olivia can begin.
She sees where Nick is.
This kind of reminded me of 2.14 Jacksonville where she was trying to get her ability back to see things from the other side.
And of course 1.17 Bad Dreams where Walter hypnotized her in order to find Nick back then.
Peter and Lincoln are able to catch Nick but the next round of seismic activity still happens.
Did he let himself get caught?

Olivia almost looks scared.

BROYLES: “I've been called to Washington. They want to discuss shutting off The Machine. I've been inclined to argue that we still have better options, but suddenly I'm not so sure.”
Last time Broyles was called to Washingtion, Fringe Division was in danger of being shut down (2.01 A New Day In The Old Town) which of course was prevented. 


OLIVIA: “Well, I should be the one to interrogate Nick Lane. Maybe I can get him to tell us where David Robert Jones is.”
BROYLES: “What makes you think he'll do that?
OLIVIA: We knew each other. As children.”

Apparently 1.17 Bad Dreams didn’t happen in this time line because Broyles looked as if he didn’t recognize that name.

So on to the interrogation.
OLIVIA: “Hello, Nick. Uh, I'm Olivia Dunham. And we actually knew each other a long time ago.”
So again how does Olivia remember Nick?

NICK LANE: “Olive. I remember you. You're FBI. Of course you are.”
Why does Nick end his statement with “of course you are”? Did he expect her to be/do something else?

NICK LANE: “… we're on the same side… You and me. Remember back when we were kids? What they prepared us for? It's happening.”
OLIVIA: “What is happening, Nick?”
NICK LANE: “What they warned us about. The War. And Jones is on our side. That's why you don't have to worry about him. He's protecting us.”

2.04 Momentum Deferred
WILLIAM BELL: “I've seen history repeat itself enough times to know a war is coming, just as we predicted, Walter and I, years ago, and we knew that we had to prepare a guardian, someone to watch the gate… A storm is coming, perhaps the last and worst storm of all. And when it is over, I fear there will be little left of our world.”

1.19 The Road Not Taken
WALTER: “We were trying to prepare you. To make you capable. Able. Something terrible is coming.”

OLIVIA: “So you're -- you're defending our world, you and the others.”
NICK LANE: “I don't have any contact with the others. We each only speak with Jones. It's funny. I'd thought of you. Think I assumed you were working with us. I guess you have been, in a way.”
What does Nick mean by that?

Peter is inspecting Nick’s timer.
PETER: “What's their take on it? Closing the Bridge.”
LINCOLN: “They want to survive. The recovery process will stop. What can they do?”
PETER: “It's weird to think of never seeing them again. Knowing that they're right there, so close. It's not the kind of thing you forget. If the Bridge does have to be closed, at least everything goes back to the way it's supposed to be. Well, almost everything.”
LINCOLN: “You mean you. Because you're from the other universe, but you're gonna stay here.”
PETER: “I've come to the opinion that home is where the heart is.”
I wonder if Lincoln is thinking about that as well. 
I liked the reflection of him, almost as if Alt-Lincoln was still present, if that makes sense.

And as they finish their conversation, the timer starts counting again. Olivia continues to try to convince Nick to help.
OLIVIA: “In less than six hours, everything you know, and everyone you may love will cease to exist. Right now, you're the only one that can stop that from happening.”
NICK LANE: “Everyone I love? You look good, Olive. You were always the strong one.”
1.17 Bad Dreams
NICK LANE: “Olive. You heard me. You heard me - you came. You were always the strong one. Whenever I got scared, you could make me feel better”

NICK LANE: “Me... I wasn't ever strong.
When my family moved away from Jacksonville, I started having bad thoughts. And when I went to college, it got worse. I thought I was going crazy. And I had to make it stop. But even then, I was a coward. I was afraid that it would hurt. But I had heard that cutting your wrist was... almost pleasant. Kind of like drifting off to sleep. I had a sister. Kendra. The night I was gonna do it, I had the knife in my hand, and my parents called. Kendra was dead. Slit her wrists in the tub. A reverse empath. That's what Jones told me I had become. That my emotions were contagious.”

1.17 Bad Dreams
DOCTOR MILLER: “He had an emotional brightness. If he was happy, he would light up a room. Sad, he was like a black hole that would suck you right down with him. Hyper-emotive is the clinical term. Put simply, his affect was highly infectious…  his ideation tended toward self-contempt. toward the suicidal.”

NICK LANE: “That is what Walter Bishop and William Bell did to me.”
Poor Walter, I wonder how many more times will he be reminded of what he did with the kids. 
Or will it always hang over him. Walter, it’s time you forgave yourself, don’t you think?
I’m sure it’s not easy for Olivia to listen to all of this either, maybe being reminded of her own childhood.

NICK LANE: “A couple years ago, Jones found me. He knew all the old words. He said the truce was broken, that the other side was coming over now, that he needed warriors. He taught me how to control my feelings so I wouldn't hurt any more people.”

1.17 Bad Dreams
NICK LANE: “I waited Olive. The soldier to come is both natural and unnatural. I waited to be called up. You stay fit; stay focused, and stay ready. I wore the blacks and grays. I blended in. But the call never came. It never came. Then, that man with the glasses, he showed up at the hospital. He spoke all the old words. He said they're coming. He needed warriors. He said... "what was written will come to pass." He said he knew how to wake me up. I shouldn't have listened to him. Sometimes what we wake up, it can't be put back to sleep.”


The man who spoke all the old words (in the old timeline) was Isaac Winters who had also kidnapped Nancy Lewis in 1.19 The Road Not Taken. Olivia killed him.
Back to 1.17 Bad Dreams.
OLIVIA: “Nick, you don't have to do this.”
NICK LANE: “I want to stop hurting people! (Removes automatic pistol from pocket and offers it to Olivia.) Take it. Take it. Shoot me. Please Olive? I can't fight this much longer.”
And as I said in the beginning, would it really have mattered if Olivia had shot him?

OLIVIA: “I know that what Jones told you helped you to make sense of your life, and of what you've gone through, what we have gone through... but, Nick, what he told you was a lie. I've been over there, I've worked with the other side, and they are not our enemy. Nick. Even if you don't help us - we still have a way to stop Jones? But that would mean we would have to sever ties with the other side. We would stop healing their world. Now think of the fate of all those people. All those innocent people. You're the only person that can help them.”
I’m not so sure that was a smart move to tell Nick there is another way. But that’s just my opinion. Also on the table is the A-lyph. It is a symbol on Olivia’s uncle’s kayak from the Pilot. 
Even if this is the new timeline I still want to know who her uncle is/was and what he had to do with the green, green, green, red that’s also on there.

Olivia can convince Nick to help. He leads them to a warehouse. This banner stuck out to me.
The glyphs spell ALIVE and if you’ve seen the promo then I wonder if this is the clue for 4.21 Brave New World Part 1. That’s all I’m gonna say, lol.

Unfortunately Nick’s help was fake and he even infected Tim with his emotions to the point where Tim felt sad and just wanted to end his life.

That means, back to square 1, or in this case the inevitable.
The timer is down to 47 minutes and a few seconds.  47 being another recurring number.

Broyles is back from Washington. They will support anything decided by the two world teams in the meeting room.
SECRETARY BISHOP: “Okay. In that case... unless someone can think of an alternative, something we haven't considered yet...”
WALTER: “No? I'm afraid we have to close 'The Bridge'.”
Sigh!

With the help of the biomechanical interface tuned to Peter they initiate system overload. Secretary Bishop seems impressed with it.
Walter and Peter designed it back in 4.12 Welcome to Westfield as they thought this would bring Peter back to his time line.

SECRETARY BISHOP: “He's really quite a remarkable boy, Peter. Man, actually.”
WALTER: “Yes, he is.”
SECRETARY BISHOP: “Smart... Noble... Kind... all the things I would've wished for him.”

This is my favorite scene ever, I think.

SECRETARY BISHOP: “I know what you're afraid of. It occurs to me, so I'm sure it occurs to you too, that if The Machine stops working, Peter may disappear.”
WALTER: “I believe it may have brought him here. There's no reason it can't take him away.”
SECRETARY BISHOP: “Twenty-five years ago, you couldn't have made this decision. You didn't. I've come to accept that he's not ours. "The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it."”
WALTER: “Marcus Aurelius.”
SECRETARY BISHOP: “Philosopher King who survived a war, and spent the rest of his life working for the betterment of his people. Perhaps we will too.”
WALTER: “We'll see.”
Walter you are breaking my heart. Emmy’s for John Noble!!!

Anyway, it’s time to say good-bye.
The list of the best last 5 minutes of an episode comes back to mind. 
The last 5 minutes of this episode I think are one of the saddest ones so far.

I think I’ll make it short and painless. *if I don’t write it it’s not happening*

PETER: “Strange days, huh?”
AGENT LEE: “Remember how you said, "Home is where the heart is"? This might be crazy, but...”
AGENT LEE: “I think I found mine.”
PETER: “It's been a pleasure working with you, Lincoln. And getting to be your friend.”

FAUXLIVIA: “You know, there's a lot of things about you that I wish I had. There's a lot of things about you that I admire.”
OLIVIA: “That's funny. I was about to say the same thing about you.”
They’ve come a long way since 4.01 Neither Here Nor There.
OLIVIA: “Just because you walked in my shoes, don't you think for a moment that you know me.”
FAUXLIVIA: “Yeah. Keep telling yourself that.”
OLIVIA: “Happy reading. I'm sure you'll find a lot of the cases familiar since you and your people were responsible.”
FAUXLIVIA: “Huh. Funny. I was just gonna say the same thing to you.”

OLIVIA: “Keep looking up. After it rains. Keep looking up.”
FAUXLIVIA: “I will.”
LINCOLN: “Thought you could use a little help. I'm gonna need you to help me find an apartment.”
Fauxlivia seems quite happy. I wish you two the best.

Alt-Astrid needs to make that coffee that Astrid brought her last a long while, I guess.
And then it’s time to turn the machine off.
It made me think of 3.22 The Day We Died when Peter created the bridge.
And then they were no more.
Will we see the other side ever again?
WALTER: “I think I shall miss them... more than I imagined.”
Me too, Walter, me too.

I’ve seen this episode at least 5 times and I still cry at the end. And I’m afraid for Friday’s episode as well. Hang on to your seats. The ride is going to get wild. And we get Season 5 for a proper ending!


In the end I believed in hope!

4 Comments:

Mosaic_Hyde said...

As far as the earthquake time of 11:23, it should have also been signalling the beginning of the Fibonacci series of (0),1,1,2,3.

Zepp said...

As always, by this very good work, cortexifan, thank you. This episode "Worlds Apart", is visible the feeling of loss of social contact, the separation between the characters and their "copies" of another universe. It's almost a feeling of "taking something from me," each one, I see, he felt at the time of the shutdown of the machine, the inter-dimensional bridge. Yes, "Worlds Apart", with their quarrels among themselves, their wounds from the past, and now they are united against common enemies such as shapeshifters 2.0 and Mr. Jones, are obliged to separate, to shut down the machine that binds to the common good of the universe. It's an overall feeling of loss, what is something purely personal nature, ie the loss the "other self". Only these stories related to the unstable universes of Fringe, there could be such a pain of loss, with strong emotions of a breakup, people who are of different dimensionalities. Just a great and emotional episode, that this was, no doubt.

cortexifan said...

Mosaic Hyde
thanks for pointing that out. I completely missed that.
Zepp, thank you. Was wondering where you were.

pMaestro said...

I also loved some of the in-jokes: when Walter sees Sally Clark on the monitor, he quips, 'She's pretty' (or something like that) which he did (or will do) in Letters of Transit when he sees Etta; Walternate describes Peter as being Noble, a meta-reference on the part of the writers, no doubt, to the fact that Peter is the son of Walternate who is played, of course, by John Noble.

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