From the category archives:
I haven’t put out a whacked out FB theory for a while, so let’s change that shall we? Below the jump I speculate why we might not have seen the last of David Jones on Fringe, and go one step further by suggesting that he’s helping to shape one of the current season 2 story-lines.
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The meaning of the Fringe glyphs, which make fleeting appearances between ad-breaks, was cracked earlier this year by Julien Sanchez. But for a while now, I’ve been wondering whether the symbols hold actual in-show meaning, especially since we’ve seen the leaf glyph appear quite prominently in an episode. The other day I came across something called the Nazca Geoglyphs – a group of gigantic symbols etched into the Peruvian dessert some 1500 years ago – these symbols bear more than a passing resemblance to our Fringe glyphs:
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The confirmation that Alternate Realities have been playing a role in the world(s) of the show gave satisfying closure to the first season, but in typical Fringe fashion lots of questions remain. Many of them surround Peter Bishop. Like, how did original Peter die? (was it Hepea, Pneumonia or something else?) Who else knows that he died – I’m assuming he didn’t have a public burial? Was mother Bishop told of her real son’s demise – is this the root for much of the seeming animosity shared between her and Walter? And I can’t help but wonder..is original Peter REALLY dead?
It would be just like JJ. Abrams and his team to lead us into a false sense of security..allowing our assumptions (well thought out as they are) to pre-empt the still unravelling tale. This has led me to re-evaluate some of these assumptions from the finale – namely the impact it would have on just about everyone concerned if original Peter isn’t dead..if Walter only thinks that his beloved son died? (and by the way, not being dead doesn’t necessarily imply being alive either..but that’s for another post!). Whilst it may seem unnecessary to complicate the story in this way, on a human level such a reveal later on down the line could carry major weight – both for the characters in the show and the audience who have become invested in their journeys.
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It’s been over two weeks since time ran out on the first season of Fringe - our speculations validated as alternate realities were confirmed as being a part of the show’s DNA, and just like that, our own portal to another reality was gone. Fade to black, indeed. Which means plenty of time to take stock and assess all that has gone before. So, whilst alternate realities and parallel universes have taken center stage, I feel the need to re-focus on another theme which appears to have been overlooked due to crafty slight of hand from the powers that be. Let us not forget about TIME.
Whilst we can assume with a great deal of confidence that the Observer is from one of the many alter-realities we will eventually see, I feel that much of the evidence also points to him being from another time. Or at least, time (time-keeping?) seems to be a major part of his function. It’s actually a theory I posited at the start of the year – looking back it seems that I may have stumbled on an unintentional clue in reaching my conclusions, but nevertheless, I believe the idea holds relevance now that we’ve reached the end of the first chapter.
So where’s the evidence? Well, not only do we see the Observer showing up at certain pattern-tastic events before they happen, but he also seems able to pre-empt our Fringies by appearing in several of their destinations – Olivia’s trip to Germany springs to mind. Maybe he’s a mind reader – he appeared to read Peter’s thoughts in “Arrival”. But I believe there’s more to it than that – perhaps he can read minds because he’s from ‘a’ future where they have that ability..or because he already knows everything that is supposed to happen in our reality? Did Peter manage to jump him because he’s a replacement from another world who isn’t ‘supposed’ to be in this reality? Did it take the Observer a while to tune into his frequency?
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The Road Not Taken. Wait. Haven’t we been here before? This episode certainly added weight to a few of the theories I’ve been kicking around. I thought I did a pretty good job with my M&M-themed approach, but nothing beats the old mad scientist and chalk board to illustrate the message! Walter, I am so not worthy. If Astrid ever flies the nest, you know where I am.
But it is another theory that was also given more supporting evidence in this latest episode — my “Observer Quantum Theory” (part 1, part 2). Just for context, in that theory I speculated that the act of observing changes reality:
In other words, every outcome is possible, until conscious observation creates it into perceived reality.
Imagine, if you will, a demonstration..an experiment (just like those seen on “Fringe”), with infinite possible outcomes. Only when (and ‘where’) it is observed does one outcome come into being. In this respect, success and failure is quite literally a matter of ‘perspective’. A highly skilled and conscious ‘observer’ could, in effect, control any experiment.
I went on to speculate further:
So, I believe that the Observer is not necessarily from another time (although do believe that to be possible), but moreover, he is from another dimension..or universe. I am not talking about aliens here, I am talking about a world (possibly multiple) that exist within our own world. Invisible dimensions which are just out of our conscious perspective – dimensions which may be tiny (as the above video illustrates), but in actual fact are just as large as our own.
If the Observer is from one of these dimensions, then it would make him neither time-traveller or alien..but rather a human who is from a different ‘pocket’ of observed reality. A world that is linked to ours by the unconscious, a world that has taken different paths than ours due to subtle and large changes in their reality. Their technology is more advanced than ours because they have observed different realities which have influenced these changes – which brings us back to one of the underlying principles of this theory, “Observation Changes Reality”.Olivia, for example, may very well exist in one of these other ‘dimensions’..so might Broyles and Peter and Walter, Oh! Especially Walter! All possibilities are possible
Episode 1.19 gave us just that – a glimpse into one of these other realities..another possible course of events where counterparts reside. However, just like on “Lost” the ‘constants’ are themselves tallied with ‘variables’. Those variables are the counterparts that I spoke of – the alter-Broyles, who has a different office arrangement, and the alter-Charlie, who has a scar on his face — for example. These ‘alters’..or variables, have freewill..choice..and it is this individual and collective decision-making that allows for the differences between worlds. Deja Vu being the momentary glimpse, if you will, into one of these other realities.
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“Heal the world, make it a better place” [Michael Jackson]
This episode really got me thinking about emotions and the idea that all of us are interconnected. That really seemed to be the linguring message from Nick Lane’s infectious emo-ability and the “buddy system” employed by William Bell (and Walter’s) Cortexiphan programme. Imagine that, each of our actions, thoughts, feelings..every independent aspect of our being, part of a collective whole. Like a collective consciousness.
I can see the thinking behind Belly’s decision to Cortexifunk Nick Lane – presumably a child with the natural ability to ‘light up a room’, or, ‘suck the life out of one’, depending on his mood. Dose him with the yellow pills and this ability becomes heightened. He’s literally a human weapon. Sure, if he’s happy he could heal the world, make it a better place. But if he’s sad, angry or frustrated..you really don’t want to be around him. The odd thing is though, if the ‘Observers’ are the denizen’s from the other world, how is this hyper-emotive power supposed to work on them? Clearly their emotions don’t function in the same way as ours. This also makes me wonder two things:
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At the end of “Bad Dreams” we found out for certain that Olivia was experimented on by both Walter Bishop and William Bell. The old VHS footage Walter dug up showed that young “Olive” had caused some kind of “incident”. Judging by the scorches on the walls and furniture it looks like Olivie’s emotional state caused a fire, or perhaps she opened up a rift between worlds (more on that another time), transporting “Brenner” (who was unaccounted for) to another reality. Walter notes that the incident was triggered because Olive was “upset”, which makes her somewhat comparable to Carrie.
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Long-term readers of the blog or the forums will know that I’ve advocated the multiple reality/dimension theories since very early in the shows run. The “Ability” episode all but confirmed that multiple realities and inter-dimensional travel are some of the key elements of “Fringe”. Now it would seem that “Inner Child” further supports this claim. Not just with the discovery of a Lil’ Observer, but through some of the other hints that were seeded throughout the episode. In particular the focus falls on Peter Bishop.
It has been claimed by many that Peter is a clone of Walter. Personally, I’ve never supported this theory (certainly not after the first couple of episodes) — it seems to obvious..too easy. Instead of Peter being a clone of Walter, I posit that Peter is in fact a counterpart of Peter.
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People using their minds to turn off lights – it could only be “Fringe”! But who did it, who passed Jones’ test, was it Olivia or Peter?
I get the sense that whilst the writers want us to believe that it was Olivia, they also want us to further question Peter’s ‘specialness’.
PETER: “I think I’ve got a weird connection”
I think he’s right.
1. We know that Peter is special, least not because his father performed experiments on him as a child, including hooking him up to car batteries! I’d hate to second guess Walter, but why else would he do this unless he wanted to test how special his son was? We also know that Peter had an ‘out of mind experience’ with the Observer in episode 1.04. Whilst it’s thought that the Observer was inside of Peter’s head, reading his thoughts before Peter had even thought of them, perhaps it was also the other way wound, maybe Peter was inside of the Observer’s head? That is, what if Peter’s mind is like a giant amplifier? ..after all, he has a weird connection. For an example, think Roy McComb picking up the ‘Ghost Network’. Walter has already stated that we have to ‘reconsider the way in which we consider communication’.
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How apt that the conflict should not centre around the stereo-typical little green men with four fingers and toes, but with beings much likes ourselves, who’s realities have taken different paths based on the law of averages – the brightness of their stars, and the force of their gravity, and so on. This multiversal conflict not only takes us through the looking glass, but it gives us a chance to reflect on similar conflicts within our own reality – surely a metaphor for what is to come.
Our history is littered with conquests and and wars over territory, belief systems and possessions. So much so that you can imagine that the only thing to bring us together would be a war against beings from an ‘unseen’ universe. But what is this multiverse battle over – God, gold or glory? Do the beings from these other worlds seek to purge us, like the mythological Zeus, or do they seek harmonic convergence? Are we at fault for the advancement of our science..or did we steal it from them in the first place (I’m looking at you, Massive Dynamic!)?
Usually, such ‘earthly’ conflicts result in one side extinguishing the other – or at least, having rule over the other. It should perhaps be noted that the Conquistadors victory over the Aztec and Inca Empires, was partly due to disease, which spread faster than any army. The Aztec’s and Inca’s weren’t used to European diseases and so they succumbed to the viral of the opposition very quickly – interesting considering the recent trio of viral-centric Fringe episodes.
Many ancient tribes and groups have been wiped from our earth, several now hang in the balance. Essentially, this is the prophecy that the ZFT manuscript warns of — an “us or them” rally cry.
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