Fringe — Episode 15 (Season 2): “Peter”
I thought this was a well done, poignant episode of Fringe. Mostly, the story was just a confirmation of things we already suspected, but it did throw in some new wrinkes (like whatever happened to Dr Warren?)
The Plot: Most of this episode takes place back in 1985, where Walter Bishop has invented a “window” that lets him see into the other universe. At that point, he has no idea of how to cross between universes other than, scientifically, it is probably a “very bad idea.”
Meanwhile, young Peter is dying of an unnamed genetic wasting disease. Walter is unable to develop a cure, but other universe Walter is hard at work one on. Our Walter is using his window to watch him, hoping he’ll develop a cure in time to save Peter. Sadly, no cure is found in time and Peter dies in his father’s arms.
Other Peter is still alive, though still very sick, and other Walter remains hard at work on a cure. Miraculously, he discovers one, but a poorly timed visit by one of the Observers causes him to miss it. Our Walter notices, however, and is able to use what he saw to produce the cure. It is too late for his Peter, but he resolves to find a way into the other universe to save that Peter.
Walter heads to the lake and sets up the apparatus he has developed to open a gate to the other universe. His co-worker Dr. Warren and Nina Sharp arrive to talk him out of it, but he can’t be dissuaded. He opens the gate and walks through, the gate snapping shut behind him. Unfortunately, Nina was still trying to hold him back, and her arm was injured by the dimensional gate.
In the other universe, Walter arrives at the lake house and convinces his other wife (who believes that he is her Walter) that he has found a cure, but has to get Peter back to his lab immediately. Peter is bundled up, and he and Walter head out. Walter takes Peter across the lake to the gate, which Walter reopens and they enter our universe. As they arrive, the ice over the lake cracks beneath their feet, and they fall into the freezing water. As fate would have it, the Observer is there and rescues them. He tells Walter that Peter is very important and must live. He then gets out of the car and walks away. Walter takes Peter to his lab and gives him the cure, which seems to help. Unexpectedly, his wife arrives looking for him, and is overcome with emotion when she spots other Peter. She makes it clear to Walter that, despite his original intention, he will not be returning Peter back to the other universe.
1. Oh The Humanity!
The other universe has zeppelins, which are cool. Need I say more?
2. I Knew I Should Have Paid More Attention in Class
The Casimir Effect is an actual consideration in quantum physics. Near as I can tell, it deals with metallic plates in a vacuum. Walter certainly had the metallic plates, but he seemed to be missing the vacuum. But — hey! — zeppelins!
3. Wonder What Green Would Have Meant
So a pink solution is bad, and a blue solution is good. Was the writer of this episode, perchance, male?
4. 1.21 Gigawatts!
According to Dr. Warren, the wormhole will require a tremendous amount of power that will devastate both universes — yet Walter manages it with a small generator. Either Dr. Warren is bad at math, or those generators put out way more power than I thought.
5. One Prozac a Day, Husband’s a CPA
The faux-1985 opening sequence was well done, as were the location titles (nice 80s computer font).
Back to the Future was a nice touch. Especially the Eric Stoltz part as he was the only other actor seriously considered to play Marty McFly.
By the time Nina whipped out her giant cell I thought they were pushing “the 80s” a little too much (and apparently it takes only three or four digits to reach William at his hotel in France)
A solid story, and the science, though Fringe, wasn’t over explained, it just was. The clock regains a minute and moves back to 11:57
This week’s Fringe cipher was: PETERS.A list of all previous Fringe reviews is available here.Karl has much more to say.
April 2nd, 2010 at 12:15 am
I wasn’t too into Fringe during the first season, but recently gave it another shot by churning through the season 1 DVDs via Netflix then watching my DVR stockpiled season 2 episodes. I quite dig the show now, especially John Noble. And, as far as a serial sci-fi show goes, I think it does a much better job with its mythology than others (Lost, FlashForward, etc.). It does it by keeping things simple (ultimately the show is about a father/son relationship and how it is affected by science going horribly wrong) and actually answering questions while still leaving someplace to go with the story.
I think this episode did a great job of, like you say, confirming elements that have been previously hinted at (Walter snatched Peter from the alternate universe, thus starting all this alternate universe trouble), while setting up a direction for the main storyline to go (how does Walter prevent the universes from crashing into each other and what will happen when Peter finds out Walter stole him from his real family?)
However, I will not be fully satisfied until we get a Fringe/House crossover episode. House and Walter working on the same case! How awesome would that be?
April 2nd, 2010 at 3:06 am
I’d be seriously concerned about using science from another world where they thought Zeppelins were a good idea. (Check out the death rates in German aircrew from World War I, for instance). But who am I to argue with
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld
?
April 2nd, 2010 at 9:25 am
Come on Scott, that was clearly a 3 button speed dial!
April 2nd, 2010 at 9:28 am
Gee, i had it in my notes, and there weren’t that many notes on this episode, and I still forgot to mention the ’80’s opening sequence in my post!
I think I got distracted by spending way too much time trying to find technical details on the processor used in the Motorola Razr phone, which was ultimately fruitless.
April 2nd, 2010 at 9:44 am
Official Comment
Another clever aspect of the opening sequence was that all the “fringe science” they mentioned has come to pass — well, except cold fusion.
(Though, if you want to nit-pick, many of the things they mentioned were well past fringe science by 1985 — in vitro fertilization, for instance.)
April 2nd, 2010 at 12:51 pm
This review set my personal Fringe Clock back a FEW minutes. Mine hit 12:02 before the opening credits of episode 2. I’ve been skimming your reviews since then, and this one has intrigued me enough to think, “hey, I should catch up on this show at some point.”
Of course, I currently lack any convenient recording technology, and it’s opposite SUPERNATURAL, sooooo ….
April 2nd, 2010 at 3:40 pm
I want to know what Leonard Nimoy was doing that they couldn’t get him for this episode, though…
April 2nd, 2010 at 4:56 pm
Wait, what happened to the “exchange for an object of equal mass” thing…? Walter should at least have had a meat-dummy prepared. I wonder what landed in the other universe for Peter instead. A few square meters of shrubbery? Or did the other universe just “exhume” dead Peter and snatch that one? That… wouldn’t be nice, ugh. D:
I also wonder what became of Nina’s arm. (and how they amputated that, uh, flickery thing.) It probably got stuck inbetween… like, when on “Stargate” there’s a 2 second flashy wormhole animation part before they get out at the other side. In there.
April 2nd, 2010 at 11:10 pm
Stoltz was not only considered for “Back to the Future”. He was in filming for 5 weeks. There’s a youtube clip at the end of the io9 recap: http://io9.com/5508287/eric-stoltz-in-back-to-the-future-cellphones-in-1985
BTW if you want a fun read and also want to learn more about the Casimir Effect, try Travis S. Taylor’s “Warp Speed”.
“Of course, I currently lack any convenient recording technology, and it’s opposite SUPERNATURAL, sooooo ….”
Torrents? Hulu? ;)
April 6th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Dr. Warren was killed in a lab accident (possibly the fire set by Olive/Olivia?). Her mother, played by Mary Beth Piel appeared back in Season One — she contacted Walter just to talk about what he remembered about her daughter. Surprised nobody has remembered this here or on other sites.
April 7th, 2010 at 5:45 am
Real world version of “Fringe”
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/04/05/freaky-physics-proves-parallel-universes/
April 8th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
[...] on Deconstruction Review of Fring…politescott on Deconstruction Review of Fring…Polite Dissent … on Deconstruction Review of Fring…Chops on Deconstruction Review of Fring…Val Shelton [...]
April 17th, 2010 at 3:05 pm
[...] episode is debunked at Polite Dissent, and you can read more about it at Fox, IMDb and the A.V. [...]
Leave a Reply
Contact Me
About
Subscribe:
The Best Of...
Special Topics
Archives
Categories
Twitter
See Also
Comic Blogs
Medical/Science Blogs
Currently Reading
Arbitrarily Interesting Medical Condition
Syndrome
The Net:
Contents may have settled during shipping. Past results are no guarantee of future performance. No animals were harmed during the production of this product. Void where prohibited by law. All rights reserved. Not valid with other offers or specials. Professional driver on a closed track. Your financial institution may impose other fees. All models are over 18 years of age. Employees must wash hands before returning to work. Results not typical. Many suitcases look alike. 18% gratuity added to tables of six or more.
Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.
© 2004-2012 Polite Dissent. Powered by WordPress