The Bishop Boys - Like Father, Like Son
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‘He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you.’
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
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‘We have found the enemy and he is us.’
Pogo - Walt Kelly’s Comic Strip
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It is the half point of the final season and some very interesting character dynamics for the Bishop clan have been put into place.
In Episode 5 - An Origin Story - Peter told Anil he was not afraid of being destroyed in pursuit of vengance for Etta. In the words of that old proverb, ‘Careful what you wish for, you may get it, ‘ those two things have literally come to pass.
Peter no longer fears. And he is being destroyed.
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| Petember? |
By putting the Observer tech into his head, Peter has made his statement a self-fulfilling prophecy. Contrasting with that is Walter’s journey that has led him to a place that puts him at the opposite of the emotional spectrum from Peter. Comparing Peter and Walter’s current mental and emotional states are fascinating when one considers that Peter has been driven to put something into himself whereas Walter is pleading with Nina to take out the brain tissue he parted with years ago in a desperate gambit to save himself.
With his newly reacquired brain tissue, Walter has been clinging to the belief that Peter’s love for him will save Walter from regressing into the man from before. A man that was much like William Bell driven by hubris because of their intellect. It is no small thing that everytime Walter references Bell he does so with disdain. Walter’s disdain is the sympton not the root. He fears becoming a man like Bell again. The type of man he was.
When Nina’s picture is found in Bell’s safe, it is a moment of double despair for Walter. Not only does the picture destroy Walter’s faith in Peter’s love being able to protect him but the picture is a sharp rebuke to Walter for callously dismissing Nina’s belief and feelings that she and Bell shared an emotional connection. Focused soley on his concerns, Walter is losing the compassion and empathy that he gained with his association with Peter.
The Bishop clan has been paralleling themselves this season in so many ways even though they have arrived at different destinations. To date in this season they been, for the most part, inward focused on their own concerns
Walter and Peter face becoming the very thing they despise. Olivia was unaware of the depth Peter’s struggles until Etta’s death as she wrestled with her own feelings. It was Walter’s plea to Olivia not to put up walls that allowed Olivia to turn herself outward again. When she did, Olivia immediately began to notice problems with Peter.
Peter’s - ‘Observerification’ - may be proceeding exactly as Windmark as forecasted but ironically Peter’s situation may be the very catalyst needed to defeat the Observers and save Walter from himself too.
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| Worried Walter |
Episode 'Patterns': Add your own in the comments.
- opening scenes with that Milo vibe from Season 3’s - The Plateau - as Peter ‘observes’ an Observer
- another tape in the lab
- Kelvin Genetics from Season 4’s - Wallflower
- Ist it safe? Walter recounting the Marathon Man movie plot
- Fire up the laser, Agnes!
- Peter locates the doorway in lab ruins using his Observer-vision. Olivia notices.
- Peter bleeds from his ear instead of nose. That leaves mouth and eyes.
- Olivia noting Peter’s mysterious behaviour
- Nina & Olivia re-unite
- Sublimation!
- A coatcheck full of Observer hats and briefcases
- Olivia/Astrid moment - ‘Hey! I’m not taking sides.’ If only fandoms would take such words to heart........
- Blue means run! Someone should tell Peter that.
- Visual of dusty Observer hat floating to ground after bomb blast
- Belly the monster and record album filcher.
- Nina’s photo among the precious things Bell kept in his safe
- Olivia sees Peter’s Observer Wall
- Walter asking Nina to remove his brain parts again
- Peter echoing Olivia’s words before she speaks them
- Peter sets his sites on Windmark
- Marvelous musical montage as Walter listening to Bowie’s - The Man Who Sold The World
- Last shot of Peter starting to lose his hair
Peter’s skull injection will force Olivia and Walter to look outside of themselves to save him. Right now, Walter is oblivious to Peter’s current dilemma. Olivia has just found out what Peter did. By focusing on someone else’s more immediate problem this outward shift could incidentally provide them with the means to overcome their own personal demons.
It seems from the preview for Episode 8 - The Human Kind - that Windmark has been allowing the Fringe Team to remain free. His look of satisfaction after Peter defeated the Observer at the end of Episode 6 - Through The Looking Glass - also suggests Windmark has been mapping out Peter’s actions much like Peter did in this episode with the Observers he targetted.
The question now becomes has Windmark foreseen everything or like Peter are there variables he cannot foresee? Could those variables be tied to Walter’s plan which Windmark probably cannot track because Walter is not consciously aware of the plan anymore.
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| Olivia Observes Peter's Transformation |
And what of Peter? Will he be able to reach out and get the help he needs from Walter and Olivia?
Starting with Episode 8 - The Human Kind - we will begin to find out the answers to all these questions.
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