fringe - subject 13 review
It almost seems pointless to say that this is the best episode of Fringe ever, because you know they're just going to outdo themselves in a week or two, but 'Subject 13' was absolutely amazing. They did a fantastic casting job on the kids (and I was anxious about them from their IMDB photos) and on filling in just a little more information about the timeline after 'Peter'.
Obviously there are still questions, like, how do they NOT REMEMBER all of this, but I'm sure we're in for another doozy flashback ep for these kids at around age 13... shit seemed to hit the fan for them around that age, which is why I'll forgive the fact that on April 1st 1985, they should only have been around 6-7 -- I'm sure they cast older kids to get more use out of them.
Dunhams / Cortexiphan Trials
Nick Lane
- Olivia possibly his best friend, his only concerns were his teddy bear and her
- Afraid his teddy bear won't cross over with them
- Prankster, obviously trusting of Walter despite Olivia's abilities (from previous tapes it would be known she can cause fires) to 'play dead'. Foreshadowing his death by fire helping Walter/Olivia
- Was immune to Olivia's fire BECAUSE he was another Cortexiphan kid (was dead 'Over There' when Nancy exploded)
Olivia Dunham
- Subject 13
- Step-Father was abusive, created a 'love & terror' environment in the home that triggered her ability to cross over (imagining being in a different world to escape her own situation)
- Possibly manipulated origami bird (flight/fire) with imagination
- Four Brothers - Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?
- Reading fantasy book 'A Winter's Tale', about an alternate New York
- Drew her experiences: Zeppelin in the Alt-World, Step-Father's rage, Tulip Field / Olivia-Peter in the Tulip Field (the only happy drawings)
- Instantly intrigued by Alt-Peter Bishop
- Seemingly trusting of "Dr. Walter" until her abilities kicked in, was convinced to trust him by Alt-Peter, who has spent six months not trusting him
- Imagined "snow" (after reading 'Winter's Tale') in Florida, in April: Ability is manipulating the universe itself
-Was so terrified of confiding/trusting an adult about her abuse, she crossed over
Bishops / Sacrifices
Walter Bishop
- Working in Jacksonville, Florida to continue Cortexiphan trials
- Willing to sacrifice "the girl" to save the world: Parallel to his current unwillingness to sacrifice his son, and possibly foreshadowing Olivia's necessary 'sacrifice' to save the world
- Looking for a 'natural' way to cross over in his existing Cortexiphan trials experiment to return Alt-Peter, wanted to keep his promise to Alt-Elizabeth that he'd return her son
- Subject 13, Olivia Dunham, is "special" to Walter, but he's willing to sacrifice the goal of activating her powers to return Alt-Peter to ease her suffering - even without ever having heard her plea. Knows how Alt-Peter is suffering because of his abduction
Elizabeth Bishop
- Has spent six months with Alt-Peter as Walter's time away grows in his desperation to find a way to return the boy
- Tells the lie that Alt-Peter has just been ill and his memories are mixed up, insists that she won't lie to him anymore, but understands she has to - is the beginning of her undoing as she realizes she must raise this boy as her own and convince him that she is his mother, effectively stealing him from his own
- Despite wanting to return Alt-Peter to his true mother, is angered that Walter would be willing to subject a little girl to torment to do so >> trading one child's suffering for another's isn't acceptable
Alt-Peter Bishop
- Knows he is not from our world
- Believes the doorway to his home is at the bottom of Reiden Lake. Was NOT trying to commit suicide. Maybe that's where it needs to end; the place where it started
- Doesn't run away - trusts these people who look like his parents even though he believes they are not, is possible he always believed them just a bit (because while some of their answers were wrong, SOME of their answers were RIGHT)
- Doesn't care for baseball, seems to prefer aeronautics (because of his father). Cute that DC-3 plane was "docking" instead of landing
- Connected with Olivia because of her loneliness, wanted to help her because he felt helpless himself. Realized maybe his situation wasn't so dire, he had to make the most of the hand he was dealt, imagine a better world
- Called Elizabeth "mom" in the field with Olivia, but called Walter by name. Did he accept Elizabeth as his mother, but reject Walter as his father? Relationship with Alt-Walter was never shown
Peter Bishop
- Drew photos on Walter's fridge (more likely than Alt-Peter): Blue/Green Earth with Red rim surrounded by Purple, Mirror Seahorses, Station wagon arriving home with Peter waiting, Blue car driving with passengers in front and back
Alt-World Consequences / War
Alt-Walter Bishop
-Working at Bishop Dynamic in Jacksonville, Florida to continue 'Star Wars' defense program. Went from one obsession (Peter's sickness) to another (Defense)
- Falling apart, took to drinking and interrogating his wife on weekends
- Wasn't shown to be too connected to Alt-Peter when he was taken (Alt-Elizabeth's territory, Alt-Walter is never shown with Alt-Peter until 'Over There') and was more concerned with the irony of the 'security czar' not being able to protect his own son - public image
- Wasn't concerned with the emotional state of Olivia, not knowing the whole story he could blame her for Peter staying
- Unable to truly sympathize because of his treatment of Olivia. Had to have known it was the same girl, locked her up, experimented on her, was going to vivisect her
Alt-Elizabeth Bishop
- Was made to feel guilty for not knowing it wasn't Alt-Walter. Parallels/Foreshadowing Peter not knowing it wasn't Olivia
-First to suggest "Shapeshifters" -- "Maybe he was an alien, able to take on whatever shape he wanted"
-Wanted to keep marriage together because it was all she had without Peter. Held it together herself for Peter's return
-Didn't seem angry at Walter/Elizabeth for 'kidnapping' her son, more relieved that they took care of him and he'd returned. Never got closer that we saw
Colors and Animals
Elephant
- In almost every room at the daycare, wherever Peter and Olivia were present. "The Elephant in the room" of Olivia's abuse/abilities and Peter's kidnapping. Symbol of Strength, Intelligence and Loyalty
Giraffe
- Hallway near the cubbies. Symbol of Strength, Intuition and Flexibility
Red / Blue / Yellow
- All walls at the daycare center are blue
- Olivia stands on Red Circle during Walter's session with the children
- Peter and Olivia sit in Red chairs, yellow chairs also present
- Olivia has red cubby, blue cubbies also present
- Olivia's clothing is multi-colored. First showing Dark blue with baby blue, pink, yellow and purple hearts. When meeting Peter, she has baby blue and grey, he has baby blue. At end, blue, yellow and red (crossing to make other colors)
- Peter's clothing is almost all blue (with greens = blue/yellow)
- Walter's drawing on the wall - Red and Blue swirls
- Fridge paintings
Obviously there are still questions, like, how do they NOT REMEMBER all of this, but I'm sure we're in for another doozy flashback ep for these kids at around age 13... shit seemed to hit the fan for them around that age, which is why I'll forgive the fact that on April 1st 1985, they should only have been around 6-7 -- I'm sure they cast older kids to get more use out of them.
Dunhams / Cortexiphan Trials
Nick Lane
- Olivia possibly his best friend, his only concerns were his teddy bear and her
- Afraid his teddy bear won't cross over with them
- Prankster, obviously trusting of Walter despite Olivia's abilities (from previous tapes it would be known she can cause fires) to 'play dead'. Foreshadowing his death by fire helping Walter/Olivia
- Was immune to Olivia's fire BECAUSE he was another Cortexiphan kid (was dead 'Over There' when Nancy exploded)
Olivia Dunham
- Subject 13
- Step-Father was abusive, created a 'love & terror' environment in the home that triggered her ability to cross over (imagining being in a different world to escape her own situation)
- Possibly manipulated origami bird (flight/fire) with imagination
- Four Brothers - Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?
- Reading fantasy book 'A Winter's Tale', about an alternate New York
- Drew her experiences: Zeppelin in the Alt-World, Step-Father's rage, Tulip Field / Olivia-Peter in the Tulip Field (the only happy drawings)
- Instantly intrigued by Alt-Peter Bishop
- Seemingly trusting of "Dr. Walter" until her abilities kicked in, was convinced to trust him by Alt-Peter, who has spent six months not trusting him
- Imagined "snow" (after reading 'Winter's Tale') in Florida, in April: Ability is manipulating the universe itself
-Was so terrified of confiding/trusting an adult about her abuse, she crossed over
Bishops / Sacrifices
Walter Bishop
- Working in Jacksonville, Florida to continue Cortexiphan trials
- Willing to sacrifice "the girl" to save the world: Parallel to his current unwillingness to sacrifice his son, and possibly foreshadowing Olivia's necessary 'sacrifice' to save the world
- Looking for a 'natural' way to cross over in his existing Cortexiphan trials experiment to return Alt-Peter, wanted to keep his promise to Alt-Elizabeth that he'd return her son
- Subject 13, Olivia Dunham, is "special" to Walter, but he's willing to sacrifice the goal of activating her powers to return Alt-Peter to ease her suffering - even without ever having heard her plea. Knows how Alt-Peter is suffering because of his abduction
Elizabeth Bishop
- Has spent six months with Alt-Peter as Walter's time away grows in his desperation to find a way to return the boy
- Tells the lie that Alt-Peter has just been ill and his memories are mixed up, insists that she won't lie to him anymore, but understands she has to - is the beginning of her undoing as she realizes she must raise this boy as her own and convince him that she is his mother, effectively stealing him from his own
- Despite wanting to return Alt-Peter to his true mother, is angered that Walter would be willing to subject a little girl to torment to do so >> trading one child's suffering for another's isn't acceptable
Alt-Peter Bishop
- Knows he is not from our world
- Believes the doorway to his home is at the bottom of Reiden Lake. Was NOT trying to commit suicide. Maybe that's where it needs to end; the place where it started
- Doesn't run away - trusts these people who look like his parents even though he believes they are not, is possible he always believed them just a bit (because while some of their answers were wrong, SOME of their answers were RIGHT)
- Doesn't care for baseball, seems to prefer aeronautics (because of his father). Cute that DC-3 plane was "docking" instead of landing
- Connected with Olivia because of her loneliness, wanted to help her because he felt helpless himself. Realized maybe his situation wasn't so dire, he had to make the most of the hand he was dealt, imagine a better world
- Called Elizabeth "mom" in the field with Olivia, but called Walter by name. Did he accept Elizabeth as his mother, but reject Walter as his father? Relationship with Alt-Walter was never shown
Peter Bishop
- Drew photos on Walter's fridge (more likely than Alt-Peter): Blue/Green Earth with Red rim surrounded by Purple, Mirror Seahorses, Station wagon arriving home with Peter waiting, Blue car driving with passengers in front and back
Alt-World Consequences / War
Alt-Walter Bishop
-Working at Bishop Dynamic in Jacksonville, Florida to continue 'Star Wars' defense program. Went from one obsession (Peter's sickness) to another (Defense)
- Falling apart, took to drinking and interrogating his wife on weekends
- Wasn't shown to be too connected to Alt-Peter when he was taken (Alt-Elizabeth's territory, Alt-Walter is never shown with Alt-Peter until 'Over There') and was more concerned with the irony of the 'security czar' not being able to protect his own son - public image
- Wasn't concerned with the emotional state of Olivia, not knowing the whole story he could blame her for Peter staying
- Unable to truly sympathize because of his treatment of Olivia. Had to have known it was the same girl, locked her up, experimented on her, was going to vivisect her
Alt-Elizabeth Bishop
- Was made to feel guilty for not knowing it wasn't Alt-Walter. Parallels/Foreshadowing Peter not knowing it wasn't Olivia
-First to suggest "Shapeshifters" -- "Maybe he was an alien, able to take on whatever shape he wanted"
-Wanted to keep marriage together because it was all she had without Peter. Held it together herself for Peter's return
-Didn't seem angry at Walter/Elizabeth for 'kidnapping' her son, more relieved that they took care of him and he'd returned. Never got closer that we saw
Colors and Animals
Elephant
- In almost every room at the daycare, wherever Peter and Olivia were present. "The Elephant in the room" of Olivia's abuse/abilities and Peter's kidnapping. Symbol of Strength, Intelligence and Loyalty
Giraffe
- Hallway near the cubbies. Symbol of Strength, Intuition and Flexibility
Red / Blue / Yellow
- All walls at the daycare center are blue
- Olivia stands on Red Circle during Walter's session with the children
- Peter and Olivia sit in Red chairs, yellow chairs also present
- Olivia has red cubby, blue cubbies also present
- Olivia's clothing is multi-colored. First showing Dark blue with baby blue, pink, yellow and purple hearts. When meeting Peter, she has baby blue and grey, he has baby blue. At end, blue, yellow and red (crossing to make other colors)
- Peter's clothing is almost all blue (with greens = blue/yellow)
- Walter's drawing on the wall - Red and Blue swirls
- Fridge paintings