History Headscratchers / Fringe

*** The intermittence of the lights isn't constant. Maybe that's rellevant. Also: ''fnord''.

** I took his comment less as "Use this portal and everything will blow up" and more as "Using this portal is opens a hole in the fabric of reality, doing that too much might cause a breakdown, so let's not risk it".

* In "The Transformation", Bowman and Hicks were presumably injected with the virus because Conrad wanted to kill them both and clean up loose ends. So why not use some perfectly-ordinary poison to do so, rather than the same top-secret bioweapon he'd intended to sell? Having them transform only led to Conrad's schemes being exposed and to his own arrest, not to mention a whole crowd of innocent people dying in a plane crash.
* Hypnotism came up a lot in the last episode. Any Gen Psych student (or mythbusters viewer) will tell you that hypnotism cannot give you greater memory recollection, yet it's stated that they tried to do just that off-camera (to their credit, it didn't work). Also, hypnotism CANNOT MAKE PEOPLE DO ANYTHING AGAINST THEIR WILL. Yet Walter was hired by an advertising agency to create ads that "Forced" people to buy products through hypnosis.

** Perhaps because the bridge was still intact at that point? Any new damage would also begin to be healed by the connection. Jones seems to travel by that method too both in the Amber timeline and when he attempted to cross in Season 1 (the original timeline; I don't think ZFT cared if the crossing hurt either universe). In the Amber timeline, the portal device may have been modified to be safer by William Bell- Massive Dynamic fished it out of Reiden Lake before he faked his death. Bell had much more experience than Walter crossing back and forth in the Prime timeline (ie, events before September's actions caused the split into Blue and Amber versions), so he could have had some knowledge that could have made it less harmful- perhaps gleaned from the advanced tech in the Red universe- and if his discoveries took place while Walter was in the asylum, Walter would never know about them. Additionally, Walter's personal emotional connection to the portal device would make him especially leery to use it again; a contrast between him and Bell that is key in Season 4's (admittedly confused) main arc.

* It is told that the device used by Walter to pass to the red universe caused the problems about altenate universes. At different episodes when they needed a way to crossover to the other universe and when someone suggested to use Walter's device he said using it once more could destroy both universies, but at season 4 Peter and Lincoln used the device to cross over to the red universe. So why didn't anything happen? Was walter lying about it?

** In the 4th season finale Bell says that Walter's plan of creating his own universe came out his grief over both Peters dying. In the previous timeline (of seasons 1-3) the alternate Peter was saved, which kept him happy enough to not come up with the plan I guess. The main characters suspected that Bell was a villain for much of the 1st season, but it turned out he wasn't evil... Soul Magnets, Cortexiphan, and his other morally questionable experiments undertaken for what he perceived to be the greater good aside. The whole collapsing the multiverse plan was confined to the amber timeline.

*** But you probably wouldn't be able to notice the differences in identical twins instantaneously (and the different color hair is a clearer giveaway than most). Anyways, this raises the question of whether doppelgangers have slightly different fingerprints, moles, etc. (interestingly, the guards make you give a fingerprint sample before entering the bridge). But we've already got the doppelgangers existing with a much earlier point of divergence than their births, so, well, [[MST3KMantra MST3K Mantra]].

** I'm still not sure if it's the epitome of {{Narm}} or the [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome most awesome thing]] [[NarmCharm ever shown on television.]]

** In the 4th season finale Bell says that Walter's plan of creating his own universe came out his grief over both Peters dying. In the previous timeline (of seasons 1-3) the alternate Peter was saved, which kept him happy enough to not come up with the plan I guess. The main characters suspected the Bell was a villain for much of the 1st season, but it turned out he wasn't evil... Soul Magnets, Cortexiphan, and his other morally questionable experiments undertaken for what he perceived to be the greater good aside. The whole collapsing the multiverse plan was confined to the amber timeline.

* As of the end of season 4, is the implication supposed to be that William Bell was a villain all along? Or just in the new, amber timeline? I recall it being mentioned that he was the one responsible for many of the problems (but I might be wrong here). It's a bit unclear whether it's just the new William Bell that is just evil, and if so, why? As far as I know, his history is pretty much identical to the previous timeline's version, and I think that he even discusses with Walter in the final episode that he used to have the same opinion (about destroying the universe and creating a new one full of porcupines) before having his brain removed. If the new timeline is identical to the old one pre-Peter-drowning (which it should be), then surely the old Walter had the same opinion and by extension William Bell would have.

** Lincoln knew they were going to see where the shapeshifter disk was from, and sees all the security and crazy equipment, so he probably knew something weird was up. And Olivia probably would have said something if it were her twin. The profiler already knew something was up with the picture of his dad at the crime scene, then he runs outside and sees another Olivia Dunham, then he sees the amber. At this point he's probably just completely confused until stuff gets explained to him.

*** Plus, Olivia admits she's being irrational when she yells at him at the end of "Marionette". She just needed a little time to come to terms with the situation. And the other characters are pretty understanding and sympathetic towards Peter, with Walter, Astrid, and Nina pretty much [[ShipperOnDeck shipping]] the relationship. (Though Nina also had some ulterior motives I suppose.) Also, to an extent this seemed to be the characters themselves buying into [[RapeIsOkWhenItIsFemaleOnMale Rape is Okay When It Is Female on Male]] somewhat.

*** I'm not sure I understand your objection. You're talking about "Everything in Its Right Place"? He goes to the bridge for official diplomatic reasons, so he presumably went through security and everything (from the premiere and when Walter crosses over in "The Consultant" it seems they have people check in before entering the bridge, then when on the bridge they're considered outside their own universe). Then he goes off-task, which is pretty consistent with the Earth-1 agents doing pretty much whatever they want throughout the series. In the premiere he's show going through security, and in "Back to Where You've Never Been" he and Peter sneak in without telling anyone other than Olivia.

** Lincoln is involved with all the Fringe Division stuff, so he knows she's from another universe. The profiler already knew something was up with the picture of his dad at the crime scene, then he runs outside and see's another Olivia Dunham, the sees the amber. At this point he's probably just completely confused until stuff gets explained to him.

* In season 4, why is everyone (well, at least two persons, namely Lincoln and the profiler, I haven't watched the whole season yet) so flabbergasted upon seeing both Olivias simultaneously for the first time? Shouldn't their initial assumption be that they are simply twins?

** The best analogy I can think of is that Peter's home got remodeled. So it's not that place he remembered, but it's the best he's able to do. The Observers make this clear at the end of the 3rd season and the start of 4th, saying "they don't remember him", "the timeline has been rewritten", etc. Presumably the only way for Peter to get back to reality as he knew it would be to reset things again, erasing the amber reality (if that's even possible/safe). As for Olivia, Peter getting erased turned her into Amberlivia, then the memory shifting turned her back into blue-Olivia. I guess one could make the argument that she's still not the woman Peter remembers, but September doesn't think so and he's basically trying to get Peter to be with her. Walter, Lincoln, et al. were convinced she wasn't Peter's Olivia, but once again, that's was just their opinion. I think it's all an interesting existential question about the state of being when things are altered, but I tend to side with thinking she's the Olivia Peter remembers.

** The best analogy I can think of is that Peter's home got remodeled. So it's not that place he remembered, but it's the best he's able to do. The Observers make this clear at the end of the 3rd season and the start of 4th, saying "they don't remember him", "the timeline has been rewritten", etc. Presumably the only way for Peter to get back to reality as he knew it would be to reset things again, erasing the amber reality (if that's even possible/safe). As for Olivia, Peter getting erased turned her into Amberlivia, then the memory shifting turned her back into blue-Olivia. I guess one could make the argument that she's not the woman Peter remembers, but September doesn't think so and he's basically trying to get Peter to be with her. Walter, Lincoln, et al. were convinced she wasn't Peter's Olivia, but once again, that's was just their opinion. I think it's all an interesting existential question about the state of being when things are altered, but I tend to side with thinking she's the Olivia Peter remembers.

** The best analogy I can think of is that Peter's home got remodeled. So it's not that place he remembered, but it's the best he's able to do. The Observers make this clear at the end of the 3rd season and the start of 4th, saying "they don't remember him", "the timeline has been rewritten", etc. Presumably the only way for Peter to get back to reality as he knew it would be to reset things again, erasing the amber reality (if that's even possible/safe). As for Olivia, Peter getting erased turned her into Amberlivia, then the memory shifting turned her back into blue-Olivia. I guess one could make the argument that she's now a third person, but September doesn't think so and he's basically trying to get Peter to be with her. Walter, Lincoln, et al. were convinced she wasn't Peter's Olivia, but once again, that's just there opinion.

* So Peter is in an alternate timeline, but is also "home"? What exactly does that mean? They spend the entire season making clear that the characters which are surrounding him have lived different lives, had different upbringings, then without explaining anything (I don't mean scientifically, the show rarely does that anyway) decide that Peter doesn't need to get back to his own timeline because he is "home all along", and that it is "his Olivia". Erm, you've spent half a season making clear that it isn't "his Olivia", regardless of the memory replacement thing going on. Am I missing something, or have they really not explained this very well?

* So Peter is in an alternate timeline, but is also "home"? What exactly does that mean? They spend the entire season making clear that the characters which are surrounding him have lived different lives, had different upbringings, then without explaining anything (I don't mean scientifically, the show rarely does that anyway) decide that Peter doesn't need to get back to his own timeline because he is "home all along", and that it is "his Olivia". Erm, you've spent 22 episodes making clear that it isn't "his Olivia", regardless of the memory replacement thing going on...

** I guess that the hope and consent of the mother is irrelevant to the success of an accelerated pregnancy? Walternate's plan seemed to pose a significant risk to Fauxlivia. He's afraid of her saying no (however remote this chance is), then having to abduct her with her knowing that he's behind it (though she seemed to have started to figure it out anyways). He's a control freak, and his first/only priority is getting the baby so he can turn on the machine and save his universe. Honoring Fauxlivia's rights and her feeling towards him are secondary and insignificant. Posing her with the choice, then abducting her if need be is the better option, really, but you've gotta account for megalomaniacs not always acting rationally. The other thing to remember is he just had Peter betray him and return to the evil universe, so trusting others isn't going to be high on his to-do list.