I hypothesized about that awhile back, when they had the origins of how Peter got kidnapped. I think with this most recent episode we finally caught a glimpse of that, but the purpose of that device he was toodling around with on his father's orders was lost on me. He's clearly the only person capable of operating it.

I'm glad that no one has tried to comment on Olivia behaving out of character at the end of the episode. Being locked in a box with no sense of time will drive a person insane quickly. There's no way she's going to stay in there for long without suffering a complete psychological break. My guess is she'll be out of there on the season premiere and we'll get some dual story action going.

Finally watched the finale and can comment!

First off, I'm surprised at how emotionally gripping this show can be for me. For instance, Walter (who we all love) has been trying for nearly 2 seasons to get closer to Peter. And as soon as that happens, SNAP everything is back to cold. Poor Walter!

Next, Olivia. Oh man, Olivia is going to have some SHIT to work through when she returns to our universe. Not only is Fauxlivia going to start an obvious relationship with Peter, but real Olivia is going to have to deal with Crazy Walternate. Remember, the history that she already has with real Walter. I bet she's going to have issues when she comes back.

But yeah, saw that twist a mile away. Mostly when Olivia and Fauxlivia were fighting and I was reminded of the episode of Futurama where the two Leela's were fighting. And then later I was like "They're going to do a Bender and Flexo thing! One of them will be shot, but we don't know who!" I wasn't too far off the mark.

Can someone please explain to me why the other universe is so technologically superior - and yet Bell or someone mentioned that they weren't as advanced with engineering. How does that happen?

LeeChan said:
Can someone please explain to me why the other universe is so technologically superior - and yet Bell or someone mentioned that they weren't as advanced with engineering. How does that happen?

Yeah, that perplexed me too, but I guess certain people living/dying/influencing could have some sciences grow and others not. It's probably better that they don't get into the hows of such things.

LeeChan said:
Finally watched the finale and can comment!

Me too!

The Watcher print of the machine given to Olivia had a bunch of ATATGACA on it... which ties in with Peter's observation of the machine being made for a specific person. The interesting bit about this was the print we were shown in the alternate... with lots of squiggly-alien-writing in place of the text on the previous version. Walter did mention aliens recently...

Was the machine made to work for Peter, or was he created to work for the machine?

I wonder if those are plans for the entire machine, including both organic and inorganic components. What does it do, and by whom was it designed?


I'm a bit annoyed at the switch with Olivia... I immediately suspected something was up when they did the typical "only one character was near her and her double, and he was momentarily knocked out" bit, but Olivia was wearing a shiny black leather jacket while her counterpart was wearing a matte blue jacket, and the Olivia that roused him was wearing the leather. Presumably she switched jackets during the short time Bell was out (considering it's likely she was ordered to find a way to follow them back on her radio), but it's a cheap way to avoid playing fair with an attentive audience, especially for something you're going to reveal in a few minutes anyway.


As for the alternate world: it doesn't make sense. Like most of the "science" on this show, it's easier just to turn off the rational part of the brain when watching. That world is meant to be a crazy bizarro world, and will probably reflect the whims of the plot and whatever dialog they want to show it's different. It's a lot of fun when you look at it like that. If there is a single point of origin it's far enough back that the differences would probably be a lot more than superficial (and don't get me started on the "everyone has a counterpart trope"). Not only Jackson, but recall the Zeppelins were around at least as far back as 1985, and likely at least the 1930s if they've been docking at the Empire State building all along.

What I found interesting was that the Watchers seemed to be observing from the alternate... until Peter crossed over.

I loved the reveal that the show has been dealing with the aftermath of one man trying desperately to regain his son that another he himself tried desperately to save. It's got great dramatic potential... which was really screwed up in the finale. Walternate just wants to use Peter to kill him? To destroy both universes? Either he's incredibly stupid, or that's just nonsensical. Our Walter could be wrong, of course... It seems everyone is operating on information from a third-party shadow organization/being.

Still, I don't buy Walternate's motivations the way they've been presented.

Here's an important question: Without a cortexiphan-raised Olivia, how did the group return to their original universe at the end?

Related: Will Olivia become scared enough in that cell to return home unaided?

Soooooo, new season of Fringe. I've included spoilers, I suppose? If you haven't watched the new episode, go do it before you read this thread.

This episode was... boring? Not much happened, but I gotta say that I was vaguely impressed by Anna Torv's acting. She does a much better job at acting like two people than Eliza Dushku.

I thought it was funny that this episode was pretty bland, while the preview for next episode looked like it was full of action and reveals.

The "it was her adrenaline!" bit at the end was given as if it were a big reveal but like, who cares? They gave her the treatment. It worked. That was already obvious.

I'm interested to see where they go with the show, now that the two worlds have been fully introduced.

you probably SHOULDN'T have included spoilers, since I'm sure that a lot of people aren't aware it even started back up (me, for one).
I was lucky enough to think to read your post from the beginning, but I'm currently trying to avoid reading the bottom of your post as you write this!











HEY THAT GUY UP THERE ALREADY USED SPOILERS

I loved this episode because it picks right back off where they left off last season. It wasn't heart pounding but it still has enough going on to challenge my thinking process on what's really going on or if i'm reading too much into the show.

I really like the red theme on the intro and it reminds me that I must buy the soundtrack soon.

I kind of really want a high res logo of the Alternate Universe Fringe Division cause it's just awesome also considering the fact the Alternate Walter is pretty bad ass and mentally well put together compared to the normal universe Walter.

I have to say that I appreciate the idea of going back and forth between cases in the two worlds. Whether it'll pan out to be as good an idea in execution as it is in theory, I don't know.









SPOILERSSPOILERSSPOILERSSPOILERS


So, first of all, I thought it was hilarious that Bell left Walter Massive Dynamics. I have no idea what he's going to do with it, and I'm very interested to find out. That was a good call on the writers' part.

Second, I don't really understand Walternate's plan with real Olivia, about integrating her into the team. Why would you bother doing that? Why didn't they at least try to torture her, first? I mean, if this is really that important, would the DoD REALLY balk at torturing someone? And I mean like, horrible physical and psychological torture, the kind that no one is really equipped to deal with, and certainly not just some random member of the FBI.

Meanwhile, as for Unlivia, I'm literally just sitting around waiting for her to start developing real feelings for Peter and the rest of our world, and to betray her own world in some way. I hope I'm wrong, though, because that would be far too predictable. =\

<SPOILERS>

While the universe traveling will be interesting since Bell stated that he couldn't go back because he's gone too many times in between the universes that he's become basically like a fragile pane of glass that can break at any moment. I don't know how long they'll keep it up.

Dr. Moustache said:
I have to say that I appreciate the idea of going back and forth between cases in the two worlds. Whether it'll pan out to be as good an idea in execution as it is in theory, I don't know.




[quote]So, first of all, I thought it was hilarious that Bell left Walter Massive Dynamics. I have no idea what he's going to do with it, and I'm very interested to find out. That was a good call on the writers' part.

I laughed my ass off at that part yet it raise so many possibility's on what can happen.

Walter could totally build a Fringe division like the alternate world.

William Bell could not be dead and Bell and Nina could totally be stringing him along for some alternate purpose.

I still wonder how the whole don't be afraid to cross the line thing will apply to walter this season.

I thought the whole reason why Olivia stuck in the alternate universe became apparent last episode. They're going to try to copy her ability and attack our world.

I wasn't so hot on the idea of Olivia being trapped over there when it started, and even after we figured out her purpose for being there, but I have to say that I'm pretty impressed with the way they handled it!
Can't wait for next week.

Tonights episode was really stand out for me, but geez what a cliff hanger.

Skewdles said:
I wasn't so hot on the idea of Olivia being trapped over there when it started, and even after we figured out her purpose for being there, but I have to say that I'm pretty impressed with the way they handled it!
Can't wait for next week.

Agreed.

And that was an ENORMOUSLY excellent cliffhanger. Even if that had happened in the middle of the episode, it still would have just been a really great scene. Well done, Fringe. Well done.