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FRINGE RECAP 13

Season 3: Episode 14 “Subject 13”

“You couldn’t fool your mother on the foolingest day of your life if you had an electrified fooling machine.”

RECAP, finally! It’s been a busy couple of weeks my friends.  Let’s get started:

I thought this was a great episode, especially for one that only featured ONE member of the main FRINGE cast. Not a lot of shows could pull that off.

I thought the little girl who played Olivia was bad-ass, and really captured the spirit of her older self – same with the kid who was playing Peter, though he had already shown us his acting chops last year during the flashback episode Peter.

There were some amazing moments in this episode. I actually got chills when Walter walked into room with Olivia and you realized that she had revealed everything to Walternate. I truly did not see that coming, and I love that FRINGE is always able to surprise me.

I also really do like the little things they throw in, as they really show how much thought goes into the show. Did anyone else notice the FRINGE symbol flicker with static right after Olivia’s fireball, just like the machines in the lab? My roommate was the first one to point it out to me, and after seeing it again I thought it was a really cool effect.

ARE YOU MY MOTHER?

Ok, question on everyone’s mind: Why can’t Peter or Olivia remember this period of their lives? Obviously it was an upsetting time for Peter, as he clearly doubted either the trustworthiness of his “parents” or his own sanity, and I feel like he should definitely remember. I understand that some people will say that it was such a disturbing part of his life that he might have just blocked it out subconsciously, but in that case, I have anther question.

Was Peter so pissed off last season when he realized he was from Over There because he finally remembered this time of his life and suddenly all his doubts were confirmed? Is his continued anger toward Walter about the whole thing confirmation that he does remember now what had happened and is very pissed off that his parents forced him to repress the whole thing all these years.

OH, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!! (HOPEFULLY)

This episode was pivotal in that, at least for me, it changed everything about the way I perceived Walter’s experiments on those kids, what kind of person he was back in the 80’s, and what kind of scientist he was (and still is.)

He did not experiment on those kids just to see the results, or for some crazy idea of training super-powered warriors for the coming war. No, he did it to find a way to send Peter back to his rightful parents, sacrificing time, energy, and the well-being of these other kids in order to help this family from another universe that he had inadvertently wronged.

As for the kids being experimented on against their will, it seems to me that none of them was in any kind of danger, they were open and accepting with what Walter was doing, and seemed keen to help him cross universes. They even knew about the other universe! We could see this clearly by Olivia’s speech at the end of the episode.

As for the kind of man Walter was at the time, it seems to me that he was as good a man then as he is now, moral to a fault, as seen when he chooses to protect Olivia instead of using her fear to get Peter home. He sacrificed his own family’s well being to protect Olivia, something I had not suspected he would be capable of doing back then.

From all of Bell’s warnings and his removal of Walter’s brain matter, I seriously thought that Walter in the 80’s was a monster who needed to be stopped, and this showed that he clearly was not. At that time. There is still a chance that we’ll see another flashback some point in the future, and it will reveal what happened to make Walter into the danger Bell saw, and lead to that fateful brain surgery.

I also read an interesting recap that claims this episode was set up for a potential series finale, especially if FOX stupidly decides to cancel FRINGE before the season is over. With the information we now know, it is conceivable that since the whole reason for Walternate’s war against our universe, Walter’s kidnapping of Peter, was just an accident that Walter could not reverse, they might be able to work things out and resolve their differences. Of course, it is a drama, and I’m sure they’d only be able to work things out AFTER the device has been activated and both universes are in peril, perhaps combining their intellects to find a way to stop the machine. During the course of this I suspect that it will be necessary for one or the other to sacrifice himself to save the day. Or something like that.

GREEN EGGS AND SHAM

After Peter from last season I always just assumed Elizabeth couldn’t let Peter go and that’s why they kept him. It’s fascinating to see her and Walter planning together to find a way to get Peter home, and it makes it even more heartbreaking that their failure to do so led to her suicide. She knows it’s wrong to keep Peter, and to lie and in reality brainwash him, but neither her nor Walter know what else to do.

The scene with him finally calling her mom was a truly depressing moment, as she saw Peter break and begin to go along with the lies, and we could see how much she hated herself for brainwashing this little kid, fully knowing the heartache her alternate self must be feeling at losing a child. It’s no wonder that she killed herself down the road.

However, it must be noted that she did say something to the effect of, “No one is ever going to take you away from me Peter.” She was basically telling him that she’d always be there for him. In that case, I now wonder if her death truly was a suicide. We know from past episodes that when she died Peter had already grown up and was in Europe somewhere, and that Walter had been in the nuthouse for a few years. No one was there, no one could really know what happened. And I wouldn’t be surprised if we find out that Walternate arranged for her death. That fact alone would drive Peter against his real father more than anything else. He loved Elizabeth Over Here, and even though he knows now that she lied to him, I think he will always remember how she took care of him, and would want to get revenge if her death was not a suicide.

WALTERNATE HEARS A WHO

Poor Walternate and alternate Elizabeth, I thought it was really interesting to see them dealing with Peter’s loss. Walternate especially just seemed so much more human, and similar to the Walter we know. It just confirmed my thoughts about Walternate not being all bad, and that perhaps he might be turned around before he destroys the world.

I do find it strange that they appear to still be a couple in the present, especially after all the drama we saw in this episode. I now wonder if maybe their quest to find Peter was the only thing holding them together as a couple.

On a lighter note, I thought Bishop Dynamic was awesome, if a little far-fetched, and I really enjoyed the trivia of hearing that Walternate designed the Star Wars defense system Over There. (it’s a real thing, look it up)

MISCELLANEOUS

Did Bell watch the tapes and then come back to wipe the minds of Walter, Peter and Olivia (we’ve seen him do it before when he removed pieces of Walter’s brain)

I really like the callback to Nick during the session with Walter and the kids, as well as him practicing with them the circle chant that would allow them to go Over There last season.

Ok, that’s it for this recap. I did miss seeing adult Olivia and Peter, as well as Astrid and Broyles, and I’m glad tomorrow night we’ll be getting back to some classic FRINGE.

Keep watching, and keep telling people you know to watch!