Fringe 4.04: "Subject 9"
Oct. 14th, 2011 09:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icepixiePETER! PETER'S BACK! OMG YAY!
He took his sweet time getting here, too. Did anyone in the audience not know the glowy energy cloud was Peter? I was spoiled that he was coming back in this episode, but I think even had I not been I would've figured it out. I was so hoping they'd break the usual formula of forward steps on the mytharc going at the end of an episode, but alas, no.
Then again, a fairly obvious case gave them latitude to give us all kinds of revelations about the amberverse. Like the fact that Nina has apparently been some kind of mother figure to Olivia at least SINCE HIGH SCHOOL, HOLY SHIT. Bwahah, apparently I am a friggin' prophet, because I wrote this yesterday: "Given the rest of the show, a line [in the pilot] that struck me now but didn't back then was Nina's 'I would say this to my own daughter: Be careful. And good luck.' Coupled with her insistence in "Peter" that Blue!Peter was important to her, I wonder if there's more to be told in regards to her relationship with the Bishops and maybe even Olivia."
Theory: When Olivia ran away from the Cortexiphan trials(!!!), she wound up going to Nina, who didn't know exactly what was going on, but once she found out tried to protect Olivia as best she could and eventually got the trials shut down. (Hence why Walter, hilariously, referred to her as a "viper" and claimed her words "rattled around [his] inner ear like razor blades." Also why she could say, "Walter's said many things to me over the years, but 'thank you' was never one of them.") Though given her apparent callousness to the shareholders(?) in that meeting about how Massive Dynamic just makes the technology and doesn't care what horrors its buyers commit with it, that doesn't really ring true. Maybe Olivia's mother simply died when she was a kid and somehow Nina wound up fostering her? I have no idea, but I LOVE THIS DEVELOPMENT. I always wanted Nina to be more connected to Peter and/or Olivia, and this makes me VERY HAPPY. (Especially because she still seems kind of evil! I love ambiguously evil supporting characters!)
Speaking of the Cortexiphan trials...so they didn't run into Nick Lane and the other Cortexi-kids in this universe? Olivia doesn't have her powers anymore?! But but but OLIVIA'S POWERS! They were so awesome! Amber timeline, I hate you for taking them away from her!
ETA: Further reflection, and remembering of important info from S1, suggests that David Robert Jones had to "activate" Olivia's powers. Maybe she has them, but they're still dormant. Hmmm.
(My original theory for the season was that by midseason, everyone would remember everything from the Blue/Red timeline, but the actions of that timeline would still never have happened. So our characters would be walking around with two sets of memories, and we would have things like Fauxlivia remembering Henry but never being able to have him back, which is horrible but also exactly the kind of awful thing the universes like to inflict on Olivias, and the kind of thing the writers would do to us. But, two things: one, it occurs to me that given the butterfly effect, a lot more people than Olivia, Walter, et al. will be walking around with different memories, which seems like it would cause a giant panic; and two, a universe without an Olivia who can cross over and use telekinesis is not one I want to watch a show about, so I really hope they don't leave her without them forever.)
Some other things:
I didn't get a good look at the picture from Olivia's apartment at the beginning, only enough to tell it was a woman and a young girl, and assumed it was her and Ella. But given the revelation about Nina, could it have been Nina and her as a child?
Bwahahaha! Oh, Olivia, I love you for trying to shoot the floaty glowing energy cloud.
Olivia having to remind Walter she works in the lab? SADDEST THING EVER. :(
"He got the idea from The Matrix." Hee.
First hint that the Cortexiphan trials went down very differently: Olivia remembers the fire she started.Also she doesn't send Walter a deathglare when she mentions it.
This universe is really, really good to Astrid. She gets lines! And things to do! Can we keep this aspect of the Amberverse?
I have to admit, while I noticed Lincoln wasn't there, I didn't miss him at all. Amber!Lincoln, you and your hipster glasses are cute, but I just can't get interested in you. I much prefer Astrid as Olivia's partner.
Hmmm, so if Walter's repeating Bell's speech about Olivia always being the strongest practically verbatim, does that mean she never got to hear it from Bell? She never crossed over at the end of S1?
Nina being all CEOish = win.
Astrid didn't even know about the Cortexiphan? OMG.
"Really, 'Claire'? That doesn't even start with an A!" Awwww. (Even cuter: Jasika Nicole's partner's name is Claire.)
"We got here and the door was unlocked." Heh heh.
Oh, Walter. You make germophobia so sad. :(
Elizabeth killed herself earlier in this timeline. Pity, I was hoping she'd still be around. :(
Ohhhhhh, Walter and Olivia sharing root beer floats all father/daughtery made my heart grow three sizes. And then the show smushed it back to size with the whole sending Walter back to the mental institute thing. I am sort of horrified that there's any Olivia who would even consider doing that. (And oh, Walter saying he knows they aren't family, but... MY HEART, YOU ARE BREAKING IT.)
Huh, Pop Tarts must be the new sponsor this year. Walter was very obviously eating one at the beginning of the episode, and there was a long, loving commercial for them here.
So...the doses of Cortexiphan were smaller in this timeline? How did Peter dying change that?
I really liked this Cortexi-kid. I hope he comes back someday.
Awww, Olivia had a feeling that Peter wanted her help. He did! Now she just needs to remember him.
Okay, the entire world knew this episode had to end with "Who are you?", but I'm still glad I predicted it in my fic. *g*
He took his sweet time getting here, too. Did anyone in the audience not know the glowy energy cloud was Peter? I was spoiled that he was coming back in this episode, but I think even had I not been I would've figured it out. I was so hoping they'd break the usual formula of forward steps on the mytharc going at the end of an episode, but alas, no.
Then again, a fairly obvious case gave them latitude to give us all kinds of revelations about the amberverse. Like the fact that Nina has apparently been some kind of mother figure to Olivia at least SINCE HIGH SCHOOL, HOLY SHIT. Bwahah, apparently I am a friggin' prophet, because I wrote this yesterday: "Given the rest of the show, a line [in the pilot] that struck me now but didn't back then was Nina's 'I would say this to my own daughter: Be careful. And good luck.' Coupled with her insistence in "Peter" that Blue!Peter was important to her, I wonder if there's more to be told in regards to her relationship with the Bishops and maybe even Olivia."
Theory: When Olivia ran away from the Cortexiphan trials(!!!), she wound up going to Nina, who didn't know exactly what was going on, but once she found out tried to protect Olivia as best she could and eventually got the trials shut down. (Hence why Walter, hilariously, referred to her as a "viper" and claimed her words "rattled around [his] inner ear like razor blades." Also why she could say, "Walter's said many things to me over the years, but 'thank you' was never one of them.") Though given her apparent callousness to the shareholders(?) in that meeting about how Massive Dynamic just makes the technology and doesn't care what horrors its buyers commit with it, that doesn't really ring true. Maybe Olivia's mother simply died when she was a kid and somehow Nina wound up fostering her? I have no idea, but I LOVE THIS DEVELOPMENT. I always wanted Nina to be more connected to Peter and/or Olivia, and this makes me VERY HAPPY. (Especially because she still seems kind of evil! I love ambiguously evil supporting characters!)
Speaking of the Cortexiphan trials...so they didn't run into Nick Lane and the other Cortexi-kids in this universe? Olivia doesn't have her powers anymore?! But but but OLIVIA'S POWERS! They were so awesome! Amber timeline, I hate you for taking them away from her!
ETA: Further reflection, and remembering of important info from S1, suggests that David Robert Jones had to "activate" Olivia's powers. Maybe she has them, but they're still dormant. Hmmm.
(My original theory for the season was that by midseason, everyone would remember everything from the Blue/Red timeline, but the actions of that timeline would still never have happened. So our characters would be walking around with two sets of memories, and we would have things like Fauxlivia remembering Henry but never being able to have him back, which is horrible but also exactly the kind of awful thing the universes like to inflict on Olivias, and the kind of thing the writers would do to us. But, two things: one, it occurs to me that given the butterfly effect, a lot more people than Olivia, Walter, et al. will be walking around with different memories, which seems like it would cause a giant panic; and two, a universe without an Olivia who can cross over and use telekinesis is not one I want to watch a show about, so I really hope they don't leave her without them forever.)
Some other things:
I didn't get a good look at the picture from Olivia's apartment at the beginning, only enough to tell it was a woman and a young girl, and assumed it was her and Ella. But given the revelation about Nina, could it have been Nina and her as a child?
Bwahahaha! Oh, Olivia, I love you for trying to shoot the floaty glowing energy cloud.
Olivia having to remind Walter she works in the lab? SADDEST THING EVER. :(
"He got the idea from The Matrix." Hee.
First hint that the Cortexiphan trials went down very differently: Olivia remembers the fire she started.
This universe is really, really good to Astrid. She gets lines! And things to do! Can we keep this aspect of the Amberverse?
I have to admit, while I noticed Lincoln wasn't there, I didn't miss him at all. Amber!Lincoln, you and your hipster glasses are cute, but I just can't get interested in you. I much prefer Astrid as Olivia's partner.
Hmmm, so if Walter's repeating Bell's speech about Olivia always being the strongest practically verbatim, does that mean she never got to hear it from Bell? She never crossed over at the end of S1?
Nina being all CEOish = win.
Astrid didn't even know about the Cortexiphan? OMG.
"Really, 'Claire'? That doesn't even start with an A!" Awwww. (Even cuter: Jasika Nicole's partner's name is Claire.)
"We got here and the door was unlocked." Heh heh.
Oh, Walter. You make germophobia so sad. :(
Elizabeth killed herself earlier in this timeline. Pity, I was hoping she'd still be around. :(
Ohhhhhh, Walter and Olivia sharing root beer floats all father/daughtery made my heart grow three sizes. And then the show smushed it back to size with the whole sending Walter back to the mental institute thing. I am sort of horrified that there's any Olivia who would even consider doing that. (And oh, Walter saying he knows they aren't family, but... MY HEART, YOU ARE BREAKING IT.)
Huh, Pop Tarts must be the new sponsor this year. Walter was very obviously eating one at the beginning of the episode, and there was a long, loving commercial for them here.
So...the doses of Cortexiphan were smaller in this timeline? How did Peter dying change that?
I really liked this Cortexi-kid. I hope he comes back someday.
Awww, Olivia had a feeling that Peter wanted her help. He did! Now she just needs to remember him.
Okay, the entire world knew this episode had to end with "Who are you?", but I'm still glad I predicted it in my fic. *g*
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Re: Part 2
Date: 2011-10-22 04:02 am (UTC)grab Ourlivia, take her back and put her in a cell where she remained for the entire time she was Over There.
...I'm glad we didn't see that S2. That would've been boring. Also a bit unOlivia.
I think Walter said she was only there for two weeks
Oh no, did I miss some exposition somewhere? Perhaps in the piles and piles of amber!infodump? Curse you, writers, for assuming I want to think when I watch tv!
Faux took an extra six weeks just kinda hanging out and screwing up Ourlivia's personal life.
Bwah! But she did seem to have a tricky time of it, prodding the Bishops toward the machine part she needed. And maybe Red!Faux took the extra time because she felt she needed longer to insinuate herself and get cozy? Because Amber!Faux had no close relationships to worm her way into? (I like how your headcanon gives Amberlivia a nicer childhood, because at least then the poor girl has some advantage. Ps forgot to ask: when did Blue!livia's mother die? When Olivia was 15? And Rachel is the younger sister, yes?)
Maybe Walternate sent her back as some kind of taunt?
Maybe just as a mass balance for when Fauxlivia went back to Pinkverse?
I love that they're the "Bishop trio." Because Olivia is totally part of the family, even though she kept her name when she married Peter in the future!
You could almost call them the Dunham trio, since Olivia is the unofficial leader. But yes, they are an awesome family, and they need to remember that, stat!
Re: Part 2
Date: 2011-10-22 05:44 am (UTC)SO MUCH ADORABLE IN THERE.
...I'm glad we didn't see that S2. That would've been boring. Also a bit unOlivia.
I can't remember if they actually said that Olivia broke herself out and crossed back over or if it's just something I made up in my head, but I'm going with it.
Oh no, did I miss some exposition somewhere? Perhaps in the piles and piles of amber!infodump? Curse you, writers, for assuming I want to think when I watch tv!
It was during "One Night in October," when Walter was infodumping to AmberLincoln about the Machine and the other side. The transcript just has it as "for weeks," though, so maybe I misheard.
But she did seem to have a tricky time of it, prodding the Bishops toward the machine part she needed.
Hmmm, perhaps, perhaps. Assuming I even heard it correctly, anyway. (But I feel like any longer than two weeks is pushing believability for Ourlivia not breaking herself out of Walternate's prison, so I'm gonna go with it.)
And maybe Red!Faux took the extra time because she felt she needed longer to insinuate herself and get cozy? Because Amber!Faux had no close relationships to worm her way into?
AWWWWW! AWWWWW! AWWWWW! It's probably true! Nina's in NYC, Rachel and Ella are in Chicago...
(I like how your headcanon gives Amberlivia a nicer childhood, because at least then the poor girl has some advantage.
Yeah, without that, the Amberverse is DEAD TO ME. (Well, that and Astrid getting more to do. But NOTHING ELSE.)
Ps forgot to ask: when did Blue!livia's mother die? When Olivia was 15? And Rachel is the younger sister, yes?)
In "Olivia," Olivia says she was fourteen when her mother died. I figured it was probably similar for Amberverse. I don't think the show has ever said specifically which of the two sisters is older, but OBVIOUSLY it's Olivia, I mean REALLY. She has "martyred older sister" written all over her. ;)
Maybe just as a mass balance for when Fauxlivia went back to Pinkverse?
Assuming Olivia didn't break her own self out of prison, this makes considerable sense...
(Okay, I am somewhat disturbed that I even managed to think of this, but...you know that experiment some crackpot doctor did about a hundred years ago, weighing people right before and right after they died to measure the weight of the soul? Can't you just imagine Brandonate deciding it would be grand to try and prove it by killing Ourlivia before they used her for the mass exchange, and setting various small objects next to her to see if any of them were pulled into the other universe?)
You could almost call them the Dunham trio, since Olivia is the unofficial leader.
YES! Peter should change his name when they get married! *g*
But yes, they are an awesome family, and they need to remember that, stat!
Come onnnnn, Blueverse! Come back to us!
Re: Part 2
Date: 2011-10-22 08:21 pm (UTC)IT'S SQUISHING OUT AROUND THE EDGES.
I can't remember if they actually said that Olivia broke herself out and crossed back over or if it's just something I made up in my head, but I'm going with it.
I don't remember, either. I have a feeling that a rewatch of this season as a complete thing will be enlightening...
(But I feel like any longer than two weeks is pushing believability for Ourlivia not breaking herself out of Walternate's prison, so I'm gonna go with it.)
Heh, no Olivia in any universe would take longer than two weeks to unkidnap herself!
AWWWWW! AWWWWW! AWWWWW!
Makes you wonder how Amberlivia went from a (presumably) happier childhood to bleaker adulthood. : (
Yeah, without that, the Amberverse is DEAD TO ME
:::drives bus for you to chuck Amberverse under:::
In "Olivia," Olivia says she was fourteen when her mother died.
Somehow it never occurred to me that that would imply foster care of some sort for Olivia and Rachel. (There doesn't seem to be any extended family around.)
I don't think the show has ever said specifically which of the two sisters is older, but OBVIOUSLY it's Olivia, I mean REALLY.
If Rachel is older, EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT BIRTH ORDER IS WRONG.
Okay, I am somewhat disturbed that I even managed to think of this, but...
Disturbed, yes...
Can't you just imagine Brandonate deciding it would be grand to try and prove it by killing Ourlivia before they used her for the mass exchange, and setting various small objects next to her to see if any of them were pulled into the other universe?
Eeeeeeevil! Not that having a few little Monopoly playing pieces sucked Over would be any sort of overwhelming proof, but... perhaps he plans to keep a little manila folder of results whenever this situation happens to... pop up? As one does?
YES! Peter should change his name when they get married! *g*
And then Walter could too, just out of solidarity! A whole tribe of Dunhams!
Come onnnnn, Blueverse! Come back to us!
Dear Friday: why so far awaaaaayy??
Re: Part 2
Date: 2011-10-23 01:57 am (UTC)Yeeesss...
Heh, no Olivia in any universe would take longer than two weeks to unkidnap herself!
She's not Olivia if she can't manage that!
Makes you wonder how Amberlivia went from a (presumably) happier childhood to bleaker adulthood. : (
Obviously because there was no Peter! He was the heart of the Bishop/Dunham head-heart-
gunhands trio, and without him they're all a bit lonelier.(To be fair, aside from John Scott, Bluelivia's life pre-Peter was kind of bleak as well. She never mentioned any actual friends aside from Charlie, anyway...)
:::drives bus for you to chuck Amberverse under:::
*readies bowling stance*
Somehow it never occurred to me that that would imply foster care of some sort for Olivia and Rachel. (There doesn't seem to be any extended family around.)
I guess there could've been an aunt/uncle/grandparent/whatever who died between the time the sisters reached adulthood and the beginning of the series, but my bet is on foster care. Because lord knows TV characters are big on their fosterage/adoption issues. (If we count Olivia, four of the six shows I watch regularly have characters who spent time in the foster system and/or were adopted, often with attendant angst.)
Eeeeeeevil! Not that having a few little Monopoly playing pieces sucked Over would be any sort of overwhelming proof, but... perhaps he plans to keep a little manila folder of results whenever this situation happens to... pop up? As one does?
This seems Brandonatey, yes...
And then Walter could too, just out of solidarity! A whole tribe of Dunhams!
Excellent!
Re: Part 2
Date: 2011-10-25 02:18 am (UTC)gunhandsAwww! So true!
And Peter has the Power of Heart! He's the fifth Planeteer! Aww!
She never mentioned any actual friends aside from Charlie, anyway...
There was that one time she was getting ready to go out! And she had a friend on the phone! And... she had to cancel and that friend was never heard from again. Sigh.
(If we count Olivia, four of the six shows I watch regularly have characters who spent time in the foster system and/or were adopted, often with attendant angst.)
Whaaaat? Okay, Body of Proof, but seriously? What else? Maybe this is a theme that's stalking you. : )
Re: Part 2
Date: 2011-10-25 03:46 am (UTC)There's a reference here I'm not getting, isn't there?
There was that one time she was getting ready to go out! And she had a friend on the phone! And... she had to cancel and that friend was never heard from again. Sigh.
Heh. Apparently those were so far back and so brief that I've forgotten all about them...
Whaaaat? Okay, Body of Proof, but seriously? What else?
Claudia on Warehouse 13--foster home and a mental institution! it's a two-for-one deal!--and Maura on Rizzoli and Isles, who was adopted into a rich family who raised her with benign neglect, and her bio-dad turns out to be a MOB BOSS. They do things dramatically on R&I.
Maybe this is a theme that's stalking you. : )
Maybe?
Re: Part 2
Date: 2011-10-27 02:36 am (UTC)Captain (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers) Planet (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway)! (Arg, you made me look something up on tvtropes! Currrrrrrrrse yooooooooooooou! What if I'd wanted to use those five hours of my life???)
Heh. Apparently those were so far back and so brief that I've forgotten all about them...
I had to go look it up and.... yeah. S1 ahoy!
Re: Part 2
Date: 2011-10-27 05:38 am (UTC)Errr...apparently that was on when I was off-planet or something. Never heard of it.
(Arg, you made me look something up on tvtropes! Currrrrrrrrse yooooooooooooou! What if I'd wanted to use those five hours of my life???)
NOOOOOOOOOO, not the TV Tropes timesuck wormhoooooooole!!!
Re: Part 2
Date: 2011-10-27 01:02 pm (UTC)Re: Part 2
Date: 2011-10-28 04:10 am (UTC)Re: Part 2
Date: 2011-10-28 04:49 am (UTC)Re: Part 2
Date: 2011-10-28 05:26 am (UTC)Re: Part 2
Date: 2011-10-28 05:32 am (UTC)