Fringe - Season 2 - Page 2

Another stand alone episode but this I found this one quite captivating.  The subtext of a father telling a life long lie to their son was a very effective foreshadowing nod of what is going to come and pass between Peter and Walter.  Walter's plea that he can't lose Peter again in front of Olivia was nicely underplayed. 

 Next weeks episode looks like it might answer a lot of questions regarding the Observers.  Can't wait.

I wouldn't say it's entirely standalone.  Note the big twist at the end where it becomes apparent that the entire story about the boy's life is a lie, and Nina and Massive Dynamic are wrapped up in it.

I stand corrected.  Almost entirely another stand alone episode.

That punk kid was annoying. Then it turns out there are five of them? I'm hoping we don't see him again.

Well, the five would have been raised in different places by different families under differfent circmstances, and the rest of them presumably haven't discovered any part of the truth about themselves (which is why the "punk kid" was so angry at his daddy), so there's no reason to think they'd be anything like him.  There aren't five of him, there are five clones with the same potentional for mind control.  Clones would be nothing more than artificially created twins, and twins aren't the same person with the same personality, despite their identical DNA.  I'm quite confident that we'll see one of his siblings at some point down the road. 

P.S.

I love how everyone "knows" which episodes are and aren't arc episodes on first viewing.  You know what?  If we hear more about the Soviet's old fringe science program, that "standalone" story about the Shadow would have BEEN an arc episode all along.  Ditto the mind control kid.

Regards,

Joe

Yeah, that all makes sense. As you can see, when I'm annoyed I get irrational. :)

  You could very well be right down the road but my money stays on the last two being stand alones.  The Shadow more than the mind control one.

 I suppose there is away to explain away why the Observer can catch bullets but isn't otherwise bulletproof.  But...

How did they record him catching the bullet?  A bullet flies too fast to be recorded on a single frame of video.  Even at 60fps, you ain't gettin' a bullet on tape much less be able to follow it frame by frame.

Reminds me of a Smallville episode where Clark runs through a lobby in superspeed, so fast that he cannot be seen by the human eye.  Lex slows down the surveillance camera until he's able to freeze frame on Clark's face.  What was this camera recording at -- 6000 fps?  BTW, the Smallville writers had so many problems comprehending basic science and physics that I had to quit watching.  That, plus it totally sucked.

On to the shew...

The Observers remind me of The Watchers from Marvel comics, both in appearance (their hairless heads) and in that they aren't supposed to interfere with humanity, but like Uatu (who assisted Reed Richards in defeating Galactus), this Observer was unable to stay uninvolved.  Another tip of the hat to the aliens from Roswell for their love of hot sauce and the ability to kickstart electronics by touching them.  And was it me or did the other Observer sound like George from Alienation?

I find myself continuing to watch this show just for Peter and Walter.  Perhaps the mythology will get more interesting soon.  Dunham is a snoozer.  I can think of a dozen actresses that could have taken Torv's role and actually injected some charisma into it.  At certain angles, her light colored eyebrows accentuate her prominent brow ridge and it makes her look like a cavewoman.  

How much of the first season, if any, is arc? When I first tuned in to the show it didn't seem to have any long arcs, but then I caught an episode about parallel Earths which looked interesting. But I don't want to waste $ on season one if they didn't get into the long arcs until later.

I really enjoyed tonights ep.   Though it didn't advance the mythology to much (though I bet that tracking device will come into play down the track),  I really enjoyed the character moments between Walter (John Noble doing some impressive work) and others (From Astrid to Peter).  A moving ep IMO.

I also enjoyed this episode (though I am a big fan of the show in general, anyway).  My guess is the tracking device will come into play in either the midseason or season finale, with Walter getting lost/taken in the other dimension.

This is actually the first episode of the show that I've enjoyed in a while.  Though, hasn't Walter ever heard of GPS instead of a device which just seemed to beep as he got closer to him?   ... Wait, dumb question, of course he hasn't.

Quote:
Actually, the device also had a screen below the red light that showed the street they were on and had a red dot representing Walter's position.  Who needs GPS when Walter's 70s era-kludge does the same job?  (And comes in the form of an implantable chip - which I'm not sure GPS units do at this point.  )

Regards,

Joe

Very cool episode tonight. The blow back moment between Walter and Peter is going to be intense given how close they have grown this season.

"You want something to calm you down, maybe a Valium?"

"Good idea.  I don't do enough Valium."



I love Walter. 

So, does everybody think the arc was advanced enough this week?  Very poignant, seeing Walter look at his dying brain cells with their precious memories.  It does seem that at least some of those memories did transfer from his brain fragments to his own brain.  I'm also confident that Newton didn't get all of the information that he needed from Walter.  (Otherwise the story would be pretty much over and the bad guys would win.)  No surprise that it was William Bell who removed and hid the fragments of Walter's brain. 

Broyles' comment at the end brings up one of the one major mysteries that hasn't really been touched on.  "There is only one Walter Bishop."   He seems to be right, too.  But why is there only one Walter Bishop?  What happened to the Walter of Earth II?  For that matter, why does there seem to be only one William Bell? 

Regards,

Joe

I don't remember if I posted this in this thread, or the other (there is more than one of everything), but I theorized that Walter's transgressions on the other side included not just the kidnapping of his son, but perhaps the murder of "himself."  Perhaps Bell did the same thing, but took it one step further, and usurped the position of the other side's Bell.

Another possibility is that the Bell we have seen *is* the other side's Bell, and he's pulling the wool over the eyes of everyone at Massive Dynamic (among others).

Maybe there are special people who only exist in a single reality and thus are able to pass through unscathed.  If so, I'd guess Olivia, Walter and Bell are like that.  Or, maybe their others have all died like Peter, allowing them to pass.  This is based on not remembering if there are fatal consequences to others passing through.  If so, maybe that has something to do with this guy having to be a frozen head.

Yes I did Joe.  Much better this week. ;)

I think you are taking Broyle's comment too literally.  It is just a figure of speech. Also, how would Broyles even know there is no Walter on the other side? 

If the other side is an alternate parallel Earth then it is possible that counterparts on the opposite sides are dead.

You couldn't have an alternate Peter without an alternate Walter.

Also, wasn't there an episode when Olivia was flashing back and forth between the two parallel universes, and she had interaction with "alternate" Broyle (didn't she observe that the office was arranged differently), and he knew her?  I think I'm remembering that right.  So I'd say alternate Olivia exists as well.

He wouldn't.  I didn't mean that Broyles was implying anything about Walter and Walter II, just that his comment caused me to think about the issue. 

I had also considered the possibility that Walter killed his doppelganger on the other side.  And that he, Bell or both may have actually originated on the other side and replaced "our" versions of them at some point.  And yes, we definitely saw Olivia flashing back and forth between her lives on both sides, her consciousness actually moving between the bodies of Olivia & Olive in the two realities.  She may be unique in this respect. 

I'm also trying to remember what, if anything, we know about either Mrs. Bishop, especially the circumstances and timing of their deaths.  That has to play into Walter's actions, and his madness.   I think I'm going to have to add season one to my Netflix queue. 

Regards,

Joe

It was nice to see the acting change during the small moment when Walter's brain was reintegrated.

I hate to armchair quarterback, so rather than thinking of a solution to Olivias dilemma after the episode, I was trying to solve it in real time just as she was. I didn't come up with anything except these questions:
 
1) Why would the guy save Walter even after he escapes? At that point, he's free and is not required to do anything.
2) What if Olivia never catches him? Would he still have somehow called her, or let Walter die?
3) If letting Walter die is a valid option, how can you trust the guy to save Walter, and thus, why let the guy go? In other words, in the worst case scenario, the decision is to let go a possibly critical person in the upcoming war and having Walter die anyway.

Of course the real problem is, that's not exactly the decision presented, especially in the context of the show. Walter was saved, so the decision (the easier decision) was let the guy go to save Walter. I liked the episode, but I just think it would have been just a tad bit deeper if it were clear she realized she was letting this guy go for only the possibility of saving Walter. Ultimately, she would have decided the same thing, but the gravitas would have been amped just a bit more.

Perhaps not unique, but rather part of a small group.  After all, she was tested by David Robert Jones, and ultimately passed as a result of being a cortexiphan test-subject.

I think that was understood.  She knew she could get on the other end of the phone and have him say, "Have fun at the funeral!"  It was either a sense of honor on his part (which would go along with his, "Sorry about leaving you in this state" and the mental patient saying they were unfailingly polite), or maybe he thinks Walter will still be of some value but was willing to risk the asset in order to make a getaway.

His "word" still has to be good, in case he is caught again. It's to his advantage to play by the rules until the final moment of total victory, so he can manipulate "honorable" people along the way. Of course, he also has to consider how having Walter still around might affect his plan.

 Sorry if this has been discussed.  But, the bad guys whole plan is to be able to open the doorway to the other universe.  Alright, but haven't they been doing that already?  And Olivia has been there and back. 

 

Thanks!

I remember a scene where a typewriter and/or mirror were involved and they were getting answers or instructions that way. In other words, there definitely wasn't an easy portal. As for Olivia, she has traveled to the other side, but wasn't that under the control of Bell? He would obviously have Walter's method, but he's not going to share that with the people looking to invade our side.

I loved how Walter became much more forceful and almost threatening when his "complete" brain was working while they pumped him for info about the door. His voice and entire demeanor were different. A nice look at the Walter who originated a lot of this science back in the day before he went crazy and had his brain sliced apart.

I also think doppleganger Walter is the lead bad guy on the other side, pissed at having his son taken from him and hell-bent on getting him back.

I agree it was very entertaining.  Noble was channeling some Denethor there, I thought.

Quote: I hope that is not the case.  I was thinking that on the other side, Walter died in the accident while Peter lived.