Welcome to the rewatch for episode 20 of Fringe season 1 – “There’s More Than One Of Everything”. Join us as we breach the gates to the other side and bear witness to new possibilities.
We have renamed this episode: Point Of New Return.
Welcome to our Clues and Eastereggs Round-up (re-branded “Fringe Observations”) for the season 1 finale of Fringe - There’s More Than One of Everything. We’re posting this now as for one reason or another we didn’t manage to get it posted back in May.
Below the fold we explore our Fringe Observations from the epic season finale and attempt to make connections that might just work-out.
Synopsis: Setting the stage for the dramatic and revealing first season finale are a sudden and unexpected attack on someone with close ties to Fringe Division, the return of bioterrorist David Robert Jones and the inexplicable disappearance of Walter. Find out more about the mysterious events surrounding our trio when questions are answered, observations made, loyalties are tested and the elusive William Bell is finally introduced.
Below the jump I share my new observations and perspectives, and take a quick look at the unresolved and closed mysteries from “There’s More Than One of Everything”. Continue reading..
Each week FringeBloggers invite some of the most interesting personalities from the Fringe community into FB Towers to review aspects from the most recent episode in our Fringe Roundtable! Joining the panel this week to review the season 1 finale – There’s More Than One Of Everything, are Fringeling, Paul Levinson and yvaine!
Do you believe there is more than one reality?
Fringeling: In real life, most definitely — they exist in our minds at the very least . On the show, I think doing an unlimited amount of realities isn’t really feasible, however I’m still debating whether or not we are dealing with only two thus far …. or three.
Paul Levinson: No, I do not – I don’t believe in time travel either. But that’s why they make such great science fiction -
to read, to see on television or in the movies, and, in my case, to write, as well (as in my novel, The Plot to Save Socrates).
yvaine: In terms of Quantum Mechanics, yes. I have yet to see the blue lights for real, though, so who knows?
Congratulations to Walter Bishop for winning the final Fringie of the Week contest with a 38% victory for “There’s More Than One Of Everything”. This victory means that he draws parity with Olivia Dunham in the overall standings, as such they both SHARE the prestigious FRINGIE(S) OF THE SEASON AWARD for Season 1! Congrats to Walter and Olivia (and John Noble and Anna Torv) in being the fans choice for 2008/09.
Here’s the overall league table (bear in mind there was a draw in there):
Olivia Dunham / Walter Bishop (7 wins each) – CHAMPIONS!!
Peter Bishop (6 wins) 2ND PLACE
The Observer/Meegar’s Mom/ The Child (1 win each) 3RD PLACE
It’s amazing how far Olivia has come in the eyes of fans. She was nowhere in this contest at the start of the year, but a succession of Cortexhiphan-enhanced performances seem to have closed the gap with Walter. Credit to Walt for sustaining his appeal. Peter was unlucky to miss out – at one point it looked as if he was going to take victory, but it just goes to show the fine lines we’re dealing with.
Thanks to everyone who voted, it was fun to see how opinions changed according to the episode — for the most part I agreed with the weekly outcomes. All things being well FB will do this again next season. Also, we’ll have our Season 1 Fringe Awards during the hiatus, so those of you who would have preferred a different outcome to this contest will have an alternate chance to vote for your favorites in the end of season event.
This is a little later than usual but I’ve been travelling back and forth between dimensions. I’m currently transmitting this to you electronically. So, without further ado, here is my final ‘Good and bad’ review of the season – 1.20 “There’s More Than One Of Everything”:
THE GOOD
I like that the episode actually referenced how inter-reality travel is possible for the non-Cortexiphaned – earths “soft spots”. It reminded me of one of my oldest perceptions of “Fringe” – a story in which mother nature is fighting bravely to protect herself against the ambition of mankind. Or, a story in which mother nature is helping (tricking?) mankind into destroying all iterations of himself. Ultimately, in seasons to come, I think the writers will focus more on the earth being a sentient entity..much like the island is in “Lost”.
Jared Harris – He was exceptional as David Robert Jones. I shall miss him and his nonchalance!
Some touching father/son moments shared between Walter and Peter. Really well portrayed at times, especially the scenes in the beach house. It was quite moving to see the tapestry of their memories stitch together and beyond their respective recollections. It brought back the concept of identity – who is Peter, what kind of man was Walter? These are powerful themes in which technology has played a role. Fringe appears to be balancing the ‘good and bad’ of technological advancement, and the father/son scenes, alongside our knowledge of what Walter did and Peter’s ignorance, help marry that together.
Popular Mechanics take one last attempt to kick Fringe in the shins, with their final season 1 fact vs fiction look at the science portrayed in the show:
During the course of its first season, Fringe has played with the idea of that there are actually two realities, one slightly different from the other. In the season finale, “There’s More Than One of Everything,” the show delved into the science behind this idea, fleshing out the alternate reality with FBI Agent Olivia Dunham and company trying to stop über-villain David Robert Jones from getting to the elusive Massive Dynamic CEO William Bell, who, according to spokeswoman Nina Sharp, is hiding out in this other reality. PM spoke to physicist Michio Kaku, author of Physics of the Impossible, to perform our final fact check of Fringe, season one.
In the previous episode, “The Road Not Taken,” Jones shot Sharp and removed an energy cell that Bell had hidden in her prosthetic arm. Jones was using this mysterious cell to pry open a portal to an alternate reality, slightly different from our own, where Bell was hiding out.
The time has come to vote for your final Fringie of the Week for season 1. Who was your favourite character performer from the season finale – “There’s More Than One Of Everything”?
Here are the standings going into the final vote – A victory for either of the Bishop Boys will give them joint ‘overall’ victory with Olivia Dunham. If Dunham gets your vote, she’ll win the season out-right.:
Walter once said that mankind’s oldest ambition was the power to murder with the mind. Whilst this is probably more true that we’d care to admit, I disagree with him. Mankind’s biggest ambition is the ability to change the past, to undo what has been done, to re-write what is written.
Which is why the season finale — “There’s More Than One Of Everything” ended with a message of hope, of possibility. A fresh take on what life would be like if the history of our world was not set in stone, if things were different. Not only is Obama also President in the alternate reality, but the Twin Towers still stand — 9/11 seemingly didn’t happen in this sun-kissed world filled with orangey goodness.