Fringe Summer Rewatch: #304 "Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep"

Join us for ourFringe 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. 

"You know... sometimes... monsters aren't all that bad. Sometimes... if you get to spend some time with them, they can be very surprising. They can be, um, incredibly sweet and pure and capable of great, great love. And then, one of them might actually become your very, very best friend." - Ray

"Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep" was an episode of deception and close calls.  We start off at a restaurant with Peter and Olivia laughing and playing a game after they've already finished dinner.  The game is: who/what other people are which in my opinion is kind of ironic as they're trying to see past the exterior of their fellow restaurant patrons to who they really are when the biggest fraud in the room is Olivia (who is wearing bright blue).  When they go to leave, Olivia asks for a moment to use the bathroom and we see that it is getting harder for her to keep up the charade with Peter.

Pan over to Senator VanHorn who is buying lemonade from a stand run by two neighborhood girls who know him buy name.  When he drives off he is too distracted with the sight of the girls in his rear view mirror and is broadsided by a truck and rushed to the hospital.  Broyles meets up with Patricia, VanHorn's wife and he demands to know what is happening to his friend when they hear gunshots.  Broyles rushes to help only to discover Newton stealing VanHorn before accepting that he won't be able to escape and take the Senator with him and shoots him in the eye before making an escape out a window.  Broyles goes to VanHorn's side and is shocked to see that VanHorn is a shapeshifter and not the friend he had known for so long.

Walter has his first day at “work” at Massive Dynamic and our first taste is of Walter lecturing a group of scientist while “tripping” and also stripping.  Peter and Nina interrupt before he gets too carried away saying there's a case.  They meet up with Broyles who relates the details, but Walter (who does his best working while tripping out) is still high and tells Olivia, “Your hair is like gold diamonds in the right light”, perhaps a play on the glimmer from the other side as he’s staring at her hair.  Olivia takes an out and calls Newton to ream him for his mistake when he fires back that he's pretty sure Peter is onto her already or will be if she doesn't start playing her part better and though she seemingly brushes off his accusation, she seems slightly shaken at the idea of her cover being blown.

While Olivia and Peter are searching Van Horn's office he finds a suitcase with the background of every fringe agent and the panic is really beginning to set in for Fauxlivia.  They meet up with Broyles to discuss the ramifications involved with this discovery and end up at Massive Dynamic.

Newton wakes a sleeping shapeshifter from undercover and gives him the mission of stealing a shapeshifter-VanHorn’s body from the 23^rd floor of Massive Dynamic.  This shapeshifter, named Ray, is posing as a family man with a wife and a seven year old boy.  He’s been undercover now for five years with the family and appears to be attached to the family, especially when Newton orders him to kill the family when he’s finished.

It begins to hit home to the Fringe gang that the shapeshifter infiltration could be worse than they thought and Broyles has authorized tests for anyone high enough in the government.  We discover that Walter has found a way to get the answers they need, simply by asking shapeshifter Van Horn who is having a reaction to pictures of Van Horn’s wife.  Walter theorizes that the shapeshifter had to pretend to have an emotional connection with VanHorn’s wife to make it believable and ended up falling for her, making the emotional attachments real.

Ray talks to his “son” before leaving to do his job and they discuss how monsters aren’t all bad and sometimes they are capable of great love and good. 

Patrician VanHorn talks to the shapeshifter who has posed as her husband and she tries to get a reaction from him and once she begins talking about the family they begin to map out the activity to the base of his spine.  When she talks about forgiveness, he seems to wake, repeating a code of sorts that ends up being information about their anniversary.   Peter ends up pulling the plug on the shapeshifter when Patricia begins to freak out over the words he’s saying.  Olivia then receives a text saying that they need to leave the floor in 15 minutes before the body is taken care of and talks Walter and the others into grabbing a snack at the cafeteria for a break.

When in line for food Astrid mentions animal cookies and how Walter loves them, but Walter is adamant that it was William who loved the snack and not him and goes on to talk about how a stegosaurus’ was William’s favorite dinosaur and then freezes up when an idea hits and he tracks back to the 23^rd floor, meeting Ray in the elevator who looks as if he might make the switch for Walter’s body but changes his mind as they get to the floor he’s supposed to end up on.  That could’ve been one more person just playing a role.  The shapeshifter kill the security guard and only knocks Walter out after Walter tries to kill the shifter with a knife.  This makes me think maybe there are orders to keep Walter alive out there, because the shapeshifters have been more than ruthless in the past and this change doesn’t seem likely if there wasn’t.

Meanwhile, Peter and Olivia are talking and he poses that Patricia must’ve have noticed something was off with her husband after two years of the switch, just like how he had noticed the changes in Olivia since they had come back.  Originally watching this scene I could’ve sworn Peter had figured it out and he really did just like Fauxlivia more than the original, but it later becomes clear that he didn’t know.  He does claim to like the changes he’s seen and how it’s not bad, just different.

When Peter and Olivia realize that Walter isn’t with Astrid, Peter panics and they rush to get to the 23^rd floor when the shapeshifter exits the elevator just as they are entering it and Peter is the one to notice the mercury blood on the elevator buttons and make the connection.  They split up so that Olivia can “follow the shapeshifter” and Peter can check to see if Walter is okay.  When Peter finds Walter unconscious and dazed the relief Peter feels and shows is just an example of how far they have come already since the end of season where Peter was still angry with Walter for what he did.  After Peter goes through the security videos they track down who it was that stole the disc.

Meanwhile Newton is waiting for Ray back at the house and asks why he didn’t shift after he’d been told to and Ray said it was unnecessary and that he had gotten the disc anyways.  Newton tells him that he already took care of the family and Ray freaks out and Newton says that he was lying.  He goes on to explain how he couldn’t understand Ray’s attachment to the family and asks Ray to move on to another life.  When Ray refuses Newton kills him on the spot and drags his body into the trunk of his car.  Peter and Olivia arrive at that moment and a car chase ensues.  Newton’s car flips in a tunnel and they’re able to apprehend him, but not before Fauxlivia steals the disc from him.

Fauxlivia brings Newton a chip and he lectures her on how she's not willing to cross the last line to make her cover stick and Olivia is unable to deny it and she leaves him before he continues.  Newton slips the chip into his mouth and begins convulsing and dies in his cell.  Fauxlivia send Peter a text that they need to talk at her place.  When he arrives at her place she tells him that she lied and that doesn't want to talk and they proceed to make out against the wall and we find that she isn't so unwilling to cross that line as she thought.

Unanswered Questions:

• Why did the shapeshifter not kill Walter?
• Did they end up getting the disc from Ray who was still in the truck?

Side bits:

• Check out the song "Alive" by Superchick if you're interested, as all I can think about during this episode is this song and it sounds ever so Fringe-esk.

If Peter Bishop never existed...

Walter may not have found his focus he needed to get the case solved and Fauxlivia would have one less person to convince that she was our Olivia.  Fauxlivia definitely wouldn't have had to sleep with a Bishop... or would she? Okay, I'm done cringing and laughing now, but in all seriousness, we wouldn't have a baby Henry after their wild time between the sheets.

Exclusive:Fringe Season 4 Promo Poster Revealed!

Today's News: Our Take Exclusive: Fringe Season 4 Promo Poster Revealed!
Sep 1, 2011 05:00 PM ET
by Damian Holbrook
Fringe: Where is Peter Bishop?

Right here, folks! In this exclusive first-look at Fringe's Season 4 promo poster, fans finally get proof that the producers won't be playing games with our hearts by keeping Josh Jackson's recently evaporated character out in the ether for too long. In fact, as you can see from this Escher-meets-action ad, our boy is clearly back and seems poised for action alongside Liv, Walter and a lot of expectations when the show returns on Sept. 23 at 9/8c on Fox.

"This season we have earned [the right] for Peter to be more self-actualized," says executive producer Jeff Pinkner. "He's a huge component and key to the really big stuff we're [doing]."

Phew! So now that we know that, who has a theory about the fallen cubes imagery? And how excited are you for "Fringe Fridays" to fire up in three weeks?
Source:tvguide.com

Exclusive First Look:Fringe World Is Shattered!

Exclusive First Look: Fringe World Is Shattered!
Get More: Exclusive, First Look
Matt Webb Mitovich

Any speculation that life (lives?) on Fox’s Fringe will never be the same is confirmed by the brand-new key art for Season 4 — and TVLine has your first look at the conversation-starting imagery.

As seen below, the Season 4 poster features series leads Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv and John Noble, their characters’ worlds seemingly “shattered” by the events of the May finale, in which Peter joined the two universes with a portal room, only to then cease to exist. Oh and hey, there’s also a few Observers… observing.

More to the point, the poster promises a “New Beginning” for Peter, Olivia and Walter — and a storyline that enters “New Dimensions.” Check out the image (CLICK TO ZOOM), then share your latest expectations for the out-of-this-world-and-that-other-world drama, which returns Friday, Sept. 23, at 9/8c.

Source:tvline.com

Fringe Summer Rewatch: #303 "The Plateau"

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.

I have often reread my progress reports and seen the illiteracy, the childish naivety, the mind of low intelligence peering from a dark room, through the keyhole, at the dazzling light outside. I see that even in my dullness I knew that I was inferior, and that other people had something I lacked - something denied me. In my mental blindness, I thought that it was somehow connected with the ability to read and write, and I was sure that if I could get those skills I would automatically have intelligence too.


Even a feeble-minded man wants to be like other men.

                                                             - Flowers For Algernon

The thing about Fringe is that every time I watch it again, I find things I missed before. Doesn't seem to matter how many times I've seen it, the ever expanding story adds new layers to all that's gone before, and re-watching inevitably uncovers some new connection that I never expected. The Plateau seemed fairly straightforward the first time I saw it, but having seen it several times since, I've found that I'm still making those connections – and I may never make them all.

In a nutshell, our story is that of Milo and Madeline (“sounds like a children's book.”) Milo was born severely mentally deficient, with a measured IQ of only 65, but his little sister adored him anyway. They liked the same cartoons, played the same games, and she looked after him when their parents were gone. But she worried for him, that he'd end up getting hurt, that he'd never be really happy. And so she tried to help him, with tragic consequences. The experimental neorotropic treatment she volunteered him for turned out to be far more effective than anyone had dreamed, and the once helplessly disabled boy became a super genius with a mind capable of impossible calculations, literally overnight. Much like Charlie Gordon, Milo enjoyed his new intelligence, dazzled at the bright new light shining into his once dim world. But unlike Charlie, Milo's stunning IQ wasn't going to revert on it's own; it was to be taken from him. And Milo resorted to murder in order to keep it.

The irony of the situation is that Milo was now intelligent enough to murder and almost certainly get away with it – if he'd simply killed his victims and dumped their bodies he most likely would never have been caught. It was the arrogance that accompanied his new brain, driving him to kill in the most impossible way, that caught the attention of Fringe division and led to his eventual capture.

But enough about Milo the evil genius, we're in this because of Olivia, and the alternate Fringe team that's begun to really grow on us by now. 

After her traumatic but (apparently) successful brainwashing in her last episode, Olivia is now back at work, secure in her identity – at least on the surface of her mind. She slips with deceptive ease back into the rhythm of her alternate's life, falling into the easy banter that makes the OT Fringe team so much fun to watch. It is so good to see Charlie again.

But her “re”-intergration into her other's working life isn't as simple as it first appears. Broyles, who knows the score very well, is troubled by the deception, worried about his own Agent Dunham, and not at all comfortable with Secretary Bishop's assertion that if her new identity doesn't hold OurLivia will “no longer be necessary.” And Charlie's long friendship with his Olivia is definitely causing him to pick up on a new strangeness. He's suspicious, remembering her desperate assertions that someone was trying to make her believe she was someone else, knowing she has a doppelganger from another world. But she passes his memory test, and when Lincoln dismisses his concern as “nuts” he reluctantly lets it go, for now.

As for Olivia, she's hallucinating people she's never met. Except that one of them is telling her that she has, that she's not from here, that she can't forget who she is, can't forget this. And even though she can't possibly know the man in the pea coat, this is a kiss that makes her ache to remember it, even if it never really happened.

And that, to me, sounds like a potential road map for the beginning of season four.

Parallels:

"We all get really good at pretending that the loneliness isn't there and then something comes along to remind us. I know what it's like to have a hole in my life. It's been there as long as I can remember."

Here she is, popping pills to try to bury the feeling that something is not right here, something is in fact very very wrong. But the pills aren't helping, the feeling won't go away, and Pea Coat Guy, who she knows is Peter Bishop, except that that's impossible, the Bishop kid was kidnapped and probably murdered twenty-six years ago - he won't go away either. He comes to her when she's alone, and sometimes when she's not; smiling at her with warm affection, laughing at her stubbornness, kissing her...

She should want him to vanish forever, but she can't. Because somehow he feels truer than all the things she knows to be true.

Personally, given the quote above, I think the first few episodes of season four are likely to be quite similar in emotional tone, if not in content. Of course that's purely my own speculation. ;)

Another parallel I just picked up on this time around: Lincoln, like Peter, dismisses the oddness in the woman he loves. Even when Charlie confronts him directly with his suspicions, Lincoln considers only briefly before laughing it off as crazy talk, even making fun of Charlie for getting bamboozled by a doppelganger. All of the hints, Charlie's concerns, even his own personal experience with Olivia's ravings, and he still can't seriously entertain the notion that Olivia is not Olivia. Both of them, blinded by love.

And finally in the correlation department, Milo exhibits abilities uncannily like those of the Observers. He's able to do that creepy mind-reading thing, finishing Madeline's sentences for her at every turn. Milo believes he can do this because he can see the most probable outcome of any interaction with his sister, or indeed with anyone. And he can certainly see a million possible outcomes to any given situation, and deduce which one is most mathematically likely to occur. It's not exactly the same thing, but the similarities are close enough to be eerie.

Random observations:

Walternate: "Over time, she will reach a plateau and her new identity will become fixed." And so I believe it does by the end of this episode, except that it's not the new identity that becomes fixed. The Peter Who Wasn't There made sure of that.

"Even a feeble-minded man wants to be like other men" But Milo became something more, or arguably, less, than a man. He consciously chose to reject his humanity in favor of his intelligence, looking Madeline in the eye for the last time before telling her “that's irrelevant now,” in response to her pleading assertion that his family always loved him. And by the end of the episode, he's completely lost to her. Even a feeble-minded man is capable of love. Milo no longer is. I would argue that Charlie Gordon was by far the more fortunate of the two.

“I'm still a scientist Brandon, I just have a much larger laboratory.” - Secretary Bishop

“They're calling these events The Pattern, as if someone out there is experimenting, only the whole world is their lab.” - Agent Broyles

People Over There are well aware of Fringe Division, and they're afraid of them. The receptionist at the hospital immediately asks if they're being quarantined.

Olivia hallucinates Walter giving her the sweetest smile in the hospital, possibly because it reminds her of a mental institution. Subconsciously, she misses him too.

Olivia's hair quite noticeably changes colors throughout the episode. In her first scene at fringe division it's entirely red. In the next scene, investigating the first bus accident it's got the beginnings of blonde

streaks - just in time for her to see Peter across the street. And the blonde streaks are even more evident after she hallucinates her Walter at the hospital. It doesn't stay streaky the whole time though. Maybe it's just the lighting, or maybe it's a visual indicator of the two sets of memories warring inside her.

Easter Eggs:

The clock in Frank and Olivia's apartment reads 8:15 when they're about to have dinner. There's a sign in the background at the third bus accident that reads “Oceanic Plaza.”

There are Tinker Toys in Milo and Madeline's house, a visual throwback to Earthling, where Walter built a molecular model of the ET/Vasiliev entanglement.

There's a leaf on the lampshade in their house as well. And a collage of red, yellow and blue butterflies and tulips on the wall. One of the Tulips is white.

Unanswered questions:

Did Bolivia ever really love Frank? Ostensibly, she slept with Peter as part of her cover, but she readily, and I believe honestly admitted later that it became “something more.” I believe she did love Peter, at least a little, but if she loved Frank, would she have been able to cross that line in the first place? In The Plateau, Ourlivia was adamant that she didn't want Frank to stay, and he was more than a little stung. She also quickly changed the subject when he said that he loved her. Her own personality showing through? Or Bolivia's real feelings?

Would Bolivia recognize that Milo was reciting the digits of Pi?

The Walternate quote above recalls first season references to ZFT and The Pattern. Did those story lines get dropped, or were some of those early cases related to Walternate's war with our side?

If Peter Bishop didn't exist:

Milo, his tragic experiment, and his murder spree would have likely still taken place, but Ourlivia would almost certainly have never crossed over, and the two would have never been switched. Instead, Bolivia would most likely have been killed exactly the way Milo predicted she would. Walternate might still have been seeking to cross over, but it's unlikely he would have had Ourliv to use as a Guinea pig.

John Noble in Science Channel's "Dark Matters" Premieres Tonight

Science gone awry
‘Fringe’ star gets dark and twisty
By LARRY GETLEN

Last Updated: 7:59 AM, August 28, 2011

Posted: 8:26 PM, August 27, 2011


A Russian scientist in 1920s Europe tries to create “an army of ape warriors” -- first by artificially inseminating a female chimp with human sperm, then, when that doesn’t work, by reversing the process, implanting ape sperm into a young Russian woman.

Is there any surprise that the person telling us this gruesome and remarkably true tale is John Noble, the star of “Fringe?”

“It was a primitive attempt at genetic manipulation,” says Noble, who plays genius Walter Bishop on the Fox drama and is also hosting “Dark Matters: Twisted But True,” which premieres Wednesday.


WEIRD BUT TRUE: Noble weighs in..
“We’re far more sophisticated these days in terms of our understanding of the human genome. At the time those experiments were done, they didn’t have that knowledge, so they were just trying to cross whatever they could. It raises the question -- why would you want to do it?”

For each of the show’s six hourlong episodes, Noble brings us three true tales of science gone awry, including a scientist who transplanted the head of one monkey onto another, and a woman who was attacked by her own hands.

The show employs re-creations over Noble’s narrative, and hopes to prompt the viewer to contemplate science’s dilemmas.

“The question is, is there anything we shouldn’t approach? Probably not,” says Noble, whose “Fringe” character discovered an alternative universe thanks to the use of LSD. “There was absolutely nothing wrong with what Einstein did: He found a way to allow other scientists to split the atom, and it was a wonderful, exciting time. That fact that it was used for destruction, it doesn’t take away from [what he did], or make it not legitimate and wonderful

Source: nypost.com

Don't forget to support John Noble by watching "Dark Matters" on the Science Channel http://science.discovery.com/tv/dark-matters/

tonight at 10PM!

Fringe Summer Rewatch: #302 "The Box"

This is not the face of a cold-blooded killer.

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.

For every Olivia lover, there is a Bolivia lover. That's me. And it happened right here.

It's the first mystery since getting back from the other side. Something dug up from the basement of a Milton home, Walter discovers, is emitting ultrasonic frequencies that induced some form of vegetative trance before killing its victims.

We find out it is a piece of the machine Bolivia meant for Peter to find. When the only living witness shows up with it, at Olivia's apartment, Bolivia finds herself in a difficult situation. The look on her face, when Newton suggested he would kill Joe, was transparent. The idea was an unpleasant one. You can almost read the thoughts going through her mind. Newton didn't need to know about him. Now he's going to die because of me. This is my fault. Knowing that there was no way for this guy to get out of this alive, she had to pull the trigger herself. Judge all you want. This was still a mission and she did not take pride in what she had to do. So yeah, she is allowed to say sorry.

In these early scenes, there isn't much pretending on her part, as she approaches each situation with reserve. On the surface, she is essentially Olivia. It doesn't have to be an act. It's a good thing Olivia was not close with anyone around her or she would have been discovered sooner rather than not at all. Bolivia is more or less free to be herself in order to get Peter invested in the machine. She tells him that he can't do that without Walter. I like the scene that follows.

PETER: I feel like I'm stuck in one of those bad buddy cop movies. Like I'm handcuffed to a...

BOLIVIA: ...to a mad scientist who kidnapped you from another universe?

This too would prove to be true and made even more meaningful when she chooses to help people on the other side. And speaks volumes of her good character.

...meeting another Olivia Dunham has made me think about the way I look at the world, the choices I've made.

The gentleman preferred blondes. Somehow when Peter said in "Over There, Part 2" that he liked hers better, did not seem, to me, just about hair colour. Although, in my opinion letting it down did work in her favour. If Olivia did not find Peter, he might have at lease one reason to stay.

Interesting to note, later in the apartment, what Bolivia says to Peter is similar to what Broyles said to Olivia in the first episode.

You can't expect just to go back to the way it was before overnight.

Unanswered Questions:
William Bell's legacy to Walter was Massive Dynamic and the letter. DON'T BE AFRAID TO CROSS THE LINE. Refers to something Bell used to say. Something The Secretary will echo over there in "Amber 31422".

Only those that risk going too far can possibly know how far they can go.

It was William Bell who urged Walter to cross over and it was Walter who thought it was dangerous to do so until he had to cross universes to save Peter. What would have been Secretary Bishop's line to cross? He was first and foremost a scientist, it would have to be about science. Might we find out what he aimed to achieve in Season 4?

William Bell gifted Nina a bell that reminds me of Peter's comments in "The Day We Died".

I didn't say I didn't get my bell rung.

Is this a clue about who Peter is?
What else did Nina get from William?


If Peter Bishop Never Existed...
and a piece of the machine turned up, Walter would have figured out how it was killing people and know how to block its ultrasonic frequency.

New Season 4 Canadian Promo

CityTv released last week this new video to promete Season 4. The promo doesn't contain new footage, but it's a good overview from past seasons 

Fringe Summer Rewatch: #301 "Olivia"

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.

The season three premiere episode, "Olivia" starts off with our Olivia in restraints sitting across from a doctor asking her questions. Olivia tells the woman that she is from another universe and that the photographs they are showing her of Charlie, Lincoln, even her mother are not people she knows. The doctor asks her why she thinks they would try convincing her she's someone she's not. Olivia doesn't know why but it is certain she is not the Olivia the doctor is telling her she is.

Confusing much? Of course, it's Fringe. We're next shown Walternate informing Brandon that the treatments aren't working and that they should continue with another dose, even if it kills her. His reason: "Somehow, this girl came here. Somehow, she is equipped to move through universes. We need her to help us understand this skill because if we can do it, we can win this war. And if not, soon, there'll be nothing left to protect. Let's try again."

Olivia is then taken from her cell to a lab, strapped down to a table and injects a blue liquid into her. She fakes feeling ill and Brandon orders for her to be unstrapped and to sit up. It is then that Olivia makes her move on a daring escape.

Other things of interest

Alternate Olivia may have won a medal for marksmanship but Olivia has done an amazing job at shooting suspects as well. Even though she mentally thinks she's not that great of a shot -- in "Grey Matters" we see Olivia shoot at the van that is attempting escape. She manages to shoot the driver in a moving vehicle and another suspect in her attempt to arrest Newton (who she temporarily captures).

Henry's words, "sometimes you just got to believe what you can't see." Sounds like a huge clue for season 4 and Peter Bishop.

The sign on the cab reads "DOGS" instead of CATS for a broadway musical over there.

When Olivia is in the cab, she sees an electronic sign for Glatterflug, making daily trips to the moon.

We've seen Glatterflug at least once before. It was the airline used in the Pilot episode.

Questions not yet answered

What kind of trouble was Henry in before getting his life back together? Is there a Henry in our universe?

What does the tattoo on the back of Olivia's neck mean? We've seen it before and now our Olivia has it.

Who ordered the amber protocol at the Opera house? Perhaps it was Walternate? Was there a need for it (breakdown of the universe) or was it because they suspected Olivia could try and get home in the same way she arrived?

Massive Dynamic doesn't exist over there so where is Nina Sharp and what does she do? Does she even exist?

Who owns Glatterflug?

If Peter didn't exist

We didn't see much of Peter in this episode and we certainly didn't see any Peter on the other side where Olivia was at. We did see Peter back in our universe with Fauxlivia.

Had he not existed Olivia would not have crossed over, been captured and held captive by Walternate. Olivia would not have needed to escape and would not have Fauxlivia's memories injected into her. Olivia also would not have met Henry had she not crossed over and escaped.

Is it possible Olivia would have been willing to succumb to some crazy Walter experiment if Peter didn't exist? Would she have willing crossed to the other side for a reason other than Peter Bishop?

New Fringe Promo 4x01 "Neither Here Nor There"

Fox aired today a brand new promo for Season 4, with new unseen footage. Hope you like it.

Fringe Summer Rewatch: #223 "Over There, Part 2"

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.

Once again, I will highlight the traits common to both Olivias.

On the way to meet his father at Liberty Island, Peter sees, first hand, signs of various Fringe Events over the decades, thin spots, spatial distortions, wormholes, etc. We can see quarantined zones encased in amber on a greater scale than what was in "The Ghost Network".

Picking up where part 1 left off, William Bell helps Olivia reach Walter before The Secretary's people can get to him first. It is at the hospital, where Fringe Agent Olivia Dunham watches in shock as her double crosses the screen in the surveillance footage.

The rest of the episode mirrors the pilot in some degree.

The first meeting between this world's Olivia Dunham and Peter. It's interesting that this Olivia didn't know Peter before they met. From The Secretary's surprised reaction to their initial encounter. Was it serendipitous or were they destined to meet? Suspecting his son is attracted to the other girl, he seizes the advantage and assigns Agent Dunham to explore the true nature of that relationship. Leave it to Olivia to be the first to figure out that these two make a couple.

Walter and Bell make haste to the Harvard lab to get a particle accelerator they need to use as a doorstop to keep open the crack at the opera house.

Olivia heads off alone to look for Peter. She goes back to Agent Dunham's apartment, hoping to enlist her help, by appealing to her sensibilities. "I'm you." Perhaps she has not shared the same experience or maybe because she's on The Secretary's side. She turns on Olivia now. I will always remember that in "Reciprocity", Olivia declares, "We're the same." Olivia knocks out her double, and after a quick transformation, assumes her identity.

In an eerie echo from the pilot, this world's Charlie Francis comments on recent events.

This job isn't what it was ten years ago. You’ve got alternate universes. I mean, it just -- just wasn't part of my training, you know? I mean, how are we supposed to fight these people? Truth is, Livvy, this makes me feel obsolete, you know?

Peter discovers a connection he has with the machine. Only he can activate this part of it. Just like it acts like how the machine acts like a magnet in Peter's presence. (Reciprocity)

Olivia lists the reasons for Peter to come back with her, where "Your need to stay." is replaced with "You have to come back."

In the ensuing melee of gunfire, at the opera house, there is a switch. Turnabout is fair play, right? No one is wise to which Olivia accompanies them back, since Bell provided the power they needed for crossing over.

The episode closes with Olivia imprisoned in a darkened cell, the same place The Secretary holds the other Agent Dunham in "6:02 AM EST", for conspiring against him.

Walter Stuck on Guilt
Walter is held responsible for the damage to this world. Secretary Bishop is firm in this belief. He tells Peter as much. Even William Bell tells Walter is to blame for the devastation he sees of the blight. Walter is only too willing to shoulder that blame, even fifteen years in the future.

She's A Lot Like Her:

What's she like? ... She's a lot like you.

Olivia does not like to be lied to. She was more than a little miffed that The Secretary failed to inform her the "invaders" were actually them. Is it just me, or does she always stand up to the boss more than anyone over there? We know which Walter she likes better in "Reciprocity". She only became embroiled with Peter when The Secretary conscripted her. Little does she knows how much her life is about to change.

Differences and Similarities:

• William Bell died as a young man in a car accident.


• Massive Dynamic was never created.


• Olivia's mother is still alive, but Rachel died during childbirth.

Unanswered Questions:

• If The Secretary failed to find a way to cross between universes, how were the shapeshifters sent over?


• The Secretary can extract Peter’s DNA from infant Henry to power the machine. Is there no part of his genes that is compatible with Peter?


• In part 1, James Heath said that Walter was exactly the same as he remembered. William Bell says Walter asked to have parts of his brain removed, because of what he was becoming. We have seen a man driven to succeed and obsessed. Was Bell being honest?

If Peter Bishop Never Existed...
Who would be left to power the machine?
No one would be taking a walk in the other's shoes.
Olivia would not find out for herself that people in the other universe is not her enemy.

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

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.

Summer of Fringe Rewatch: #221 "Northwest Passage"

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

Northwest Passage is another one of my favorite Fringe episodes. As a fan of The X-Files, I adored the Pacific forest feel throughout the episode. Plus, the characters of Mathis and Ferguson reminded me (intentionally) of role-reversed versions of Mulder and Scully. The guitar music from Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready was icing on the cake. But it was Peter’s role in this episode that stole my heart.

Peter from Boston

Poor Peter… His life was all a lie. He had opened his heart, trusted and loved, only to feel like he was betrayed.

So, he resorted back to his old modus operandi and ran as far from Boston as possible, stopping for pie (Twin Peaks homage) and possibly some long overdue physical attention along the way. Sadly, Peter’s choice of a potential one-night-stand ended up dead… possibly because of him.

Peter told the café waitress, Krista, “Technically, I’m from no place that you ever heard of.” Of course, he was talking about Over There, but maybe it really is more technical. Is Peter Bishop really from a place that has not yet been revealed?

There was something about Peter’s character that really showed how much he had changed since the first season. Peter, by all rights, could have just kept on driving by the police that were at the Hilltop Café. But Peter genuinely cares for people, so he became involved. Even when his world was turned upside down, he took the time to help others. Unfortunately, when he heard that part of the girl’s brain was missing, like in Grey Matters, he became convinced that he was at fault. That Newton was after him.

It seems a common thing for Peter to be placed into situations that make him feel guilty. He learned that many people died Over There as a result of what Walter did to save his life. He believed that his mother committed suicide because she knew the truth about him. His forced action to destroy the other universe in The Last Sam Weiss had to weigh terribly on him as time passed, and his adopted world was still dying. Olivia did not want to have children because of the state of the world. But Peter always tried to stay hopeful. Will the worlds still be falling apart without his “existence?”

Peter echoed Walter’s past words about how amazing the human brain is at recording every detail a person observes. Something else that he said to Mathis stuck out to me: “If you can imagine it, it’s possible.” A conversation between young Peter and his mother in Subject 13:

ELIZABETH BISHOP: A professor who was working here missed them, so he imagined a tulip that would grow in this climate, and he invented it. He used his brain and his imagination to turn the world into what he wanted it to be. How would you change the world if you could, Peter? What would you wish for?

YOUNG PETER: I wouldn't make stupid flowers grow. 

ELIZABETH BISHOP: (laughs) What would you do? 

YOUNG PETER: I'd go home.

Yikes, what if Peter does “go home” in Season Four? But where is home?

Man of Many Talents

Peter was able to use his skills of persuasion in order to purchase guns and ammunition.

Peter also calmed upset Mathis with a touch of his hand.

Peter has often been shown finding locations on maps using different data like he did to find the dairy farm killing location in this episode.

Bridge Over Troubled Water

Mathis asked Peter when she thought that her partner was taken to get information about Peter:

“What is it that makes you so special?”

Peter sought answers one again in this episode. He had previously told Walter in August about his frustration in seeking answers. In The Arrival, Peter told Olivia that he wasn’t going anywhere until he could explain what was going on. But the answer that he received in this episode, only led to more questions. Walternate’s appearance in his hotel room shocked Peter into a state of awe and fear.

Peter showed great empathy with Mathis, upset and feeling powerless over her missing partner:

“What if he's alive? What if he's out there somewhere, thinking I am doing everything in my power, including calling the F.B.I. to save him?”

Poor Peter had to be feeling just as helpless when he found out about being deceived by the other Olivia in Entrada.

When they went to look for the missing partner, Peter walked across a bridge, while in deep thought. Bridges are somewhat a common background in the series.

• In The Same Old Story, an image of bridge was used to find a kidnapped victim.
• 
  

• In The Man From the Other Side, a bridge was used to bring Walternate Over Here, and helped Peter to deduce that he was not from here.

• In Over There, Nick Lane and Sally Clark died on a bridge, after Clark had sent a fireball into Lincoln Lee.

• In The Day We Died, Peter built a bridge between the two universes.

Many Fringe fans picked up Mark Helprin’s Winter's Tale to read after young Olivia was shown reading it in Subject 13. It soon became apparent that the some elements in the show were inspired by the book. Fringe producer Akiva Goldman is even making a film adaptation of the book. One of the characters is a mechanic named Peter Lake. Bridges play a significant role in the book.

Mathis told Peter that she wondered if he was not completely off his rocker. Having his sanity questioned must have been unnerving for Peter. Walter faced such accusations all the time, and Peter would completely agree. Though Peter asked Mathis why she’d listen to an insane man. Peter said she was desperate. Of course, he had seen that level of desperation before - in Olivia. For the same reason as Mathis.

“Ferguson is more than just your partner, isn’t he?”

This in a way also mirrors what Nina Sharp told Olivia about recognizing the look in her eyes, letting Olivia know that Nina knew about her feelings for Peter.

The desperation would cause Olivia crossing universes to save Peter. Peter’s love for her caused him to jump into her mind and to go back and make a different choice in the machine in order to save her life.

You Can’t Get There from Here.

This was of course referring to Peter’s home universe of origin, but maybe the real meaning is a bit deeper. Peter wanted to find his place - to find out who he really was.

Peter was very sharp and on edge. He had suspicions that Mathis might have been replaced by a shape shifter when he saw blood on her wrist, and thoroughly questioned her at gunpoint. In Entrada, he asked Fauxlivia’s hostage a question that showed she was really a shape-shifter.

Watching Mathis walk to the second unknown body, thinking that it could be her partner was heartbreaking. I’d hate to imagine Peter’s reaction to seeing Olivia’s body in The Day We Died.
.

Walter Falls Apart


“Do you know what you are putting in our bodies? Death! Delicious strawberry flavored death!”


Walter was broken without Peter. After all, it was Peter that always helped him. His home was wrecked and he could barely function. Is this a glimpse at Walter in season four? Will Astrid and Olivia be as caring or indifferent to “crazy” Walter?

Walter spoke to Astrid while they cleaned the Bishop home. While listening to Violet Sedan Chair’s She’s Doing Fine, he said:

Thank you, Astrid. You're a Federal Agent. I doubt, during your years of training, that you had dreams of babysitting a helpless old man.

In The Day We Died, Walter asked about Astrid when he was allowed to set up the lab to help Fringe Division’s investigation.

Walter: Will Astrid be here?

Peter: No. Astrid's a Fringe Agent now. We need her out in the field. 

Walter: Oh. I suppose since she's no longer caring for me, she's able to (realizes his hands are chained) -- spread her wings.

What will become of Astrid in the fourth season since Peter has gone missing?

Walter set up a spectrograph to be attuned to Peter’s energy signature as a way to find him. Could this possibly be employed to find Peter in season four?

Find the Crack

“In the darkness, there's always a crack. It's how the light gets in.”

There are a lot of scenes that I love in Fringe, and it’s hard to rank them. I always enjoy the scene where Mathis talks to Peter and tells him, “I wish that there was something that I could do for you.” These two are both people that have deep hurt in their individual journeys. Peter was “looking for meaning in things that have no meaning.” Particularly in the reason why the secret was kept from him. Peter was looking for his place, and Mathis was right, he’d find it. And have it all fall apart in front of him.

Unanswered Questions

What was the deal with the phone calls that Peter received in the hotel?

Did Peter really see Newton at the Hilltop Café and in the woods?

Was Peter attuned to a specific frequency or energy that only he could hear because he was from the other side?

What happened to the pen that Mathis gave Peter?

If Peter was Removed from the Equation

Krista might have escaped being kidnapped and killed since she wouldn’t have taken extra time to burn a CD for Peter.

Deputy Ferguson would have probably been killed, leaving behind a devastated Sheriff Mathis.