The End of Quantum Entanglement?

With the closing of the bridge room and shutting down the machine have we seen the end of Quantum Entanglement?

Of course the larger and more emotional question is, "Have we seen the end of the Red Universe"?  I think the answer to that is yes.  From a monetary point of view the less Fringe spends on special effects the better it is for the show.  This last episode has already been described as a "bottle episode" by media wags and with the next season being shortened to 13 episodes pinching pennies will help the show concentrate on story lines and not whiz bang cool stuff.

I'll be sad to see the red side go.  Their earlier iteration was nasty to the core but once things changed in this season I think we all grew to know and love them.  With season 5 set for this Fall (I'm assuming) we'll probably get a healthy dose of the future of Fringe as outlined in the episode,"Letters of Transit".  So no more "pattern events" (did you here Peter mention patterns near the end of the episode?) black holes in the Thames or oxygen shortages in Mid-town Manhaten.

Worse yet, without the machine operating we won't know if the Red universe will get over it's Walter inflicted wounds or if Altlivia will ever get to see her rainbows.  There are other ways of reaching the other side.  Olivia has the capability of doing so and where the heck did Nick Lane disappear to when he vanished after escaping the Fringe team.  Did he will himself to the other side?  

If I may take a quick aside into the Nick Lane story, what was his purpose?  I have this theory based on a series of clues that the Blue universe should expect a Trojan Horse.  A way of getting into their camp and creating havoc.  Nick Lane seemed to be that "horse".  He got in, he lied to them and then he vanished.  What did he accomplish aside from getting Agent Tim to stab himself?  Shouldn't he have used his empathetic power of suggestion to co-opt Olivia?  She is the big prize right?  

Did Jones want the machine shut off?  Was that his game? The Blue side surmised (thanks to Walters dream) that David Robert Jones needed the Cortexi-kids on both sides to contact each other in orfder to facilitate his larger scheme of collapsing the two universes.  Is Walter wrong?  Did they just play into Jones' hands?  We really haven't seen any indication of such so for now it is all speculation. 

I've recently referred to Olivia as the "Queen" in this grand game of chess and if Jones captures the Queen his end game for a Brave New World will be his for the taking.  He certainly has sacrificed enough of his pieces to get here.

I'll hazard a guess this is where Bell fits in.  No doubt Bellie is well versed in the game of Chess also.  Instead of allowing the Queen to be captured he will sacrifice her instead and thwart the machinations of Jones.  I'm thinking this is what Walter alluded to when he spoke of what Bell did to Olivia in "Letters of Transit" and that is why Walter left Bell in the amber and took his hand instead.  Walter may have not known the truth behind Bell sacrificing Olivia for the greater good.

Did I tell you my out of this universe(s) theory?  Walter clones Bell in the future, we get a younger version of Bell to help out (and spare Nimoy of having to come back all the time) the new younger Bell helps to defeat the Observers annnnnd he figures out where the original Bell hid Olivia's consciousness through soul magnets and re-inserts this mind into the body of a shape-shifter 3.0 (or better 4.0).  No one tells Peter of course because he and Olivia still love each other.  It's either that or they find Olivia encased in amber or in a deep freeze where Walter will have to re-animate her corpse like he did that dove in the beginning of this season.

Do you think Fringe would dare to be that creepy.  They've gone there before just not with a major player.

I'm running a little long here so I'll wrap by saying we still seem to be on track for my theory about Jones being the anti-hero and creating a "Brave New World".  He's got his Ark, his "animals" and a safe zone to keep them in as exemplified by the constant geodesic dome references.  You can read that theory here

If that all comes true then it is off to the Green universe!.

Sorry to see you go Red universe (and Lincoln Lee) we'll always have Paris.  Perhaps we'll all meet again in some other gin joint in another universe and believe me I'm working on a theory for that too.

Till then, au revoir!

Fanciful Fringe Thoughts.

It certainly has been a busy week for Fringe news and there has been so much to cover that I had to rush these thoughts "to press" before we got another episode tonight.  Specifically, Walters ramblings to Simon Foster when he referenced LSD and eating brains in the last episode, "Letters of Transit".

Fringe loves to tease information for the upcoming episode and when Walter spoke of eating brains it made me think of zombies and their penchant for brain consumption.The last we saw of zombies in Fringe was the episode "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide" where the zombie Brandonates were looking to feast on our animated Fringe heroes.

Peter and Walter managed to escape the brain chomping Brandonates by hitching a ride on a passing zeppelin.  In doing so the ran into the mysterious Mr. X whom Olivia eventually identified as the man who was going to kill her.

So if we put two and two together we get X right?  Zombies plus LSD leads us to X!  That's what I'm hoping Walter was hinting at anyway.

More to come, stay tuned!

Fringe renewed! Lets get this party started!

You can't have a proper party without Jean the cow and believe me I'm going to milk this good news for all its worth.

There is even a teaser for season five out already.  Old footage yes but who cares!!!

Round Up The Usual Suspects on Fringe!

In keeping with our Casablanca theme from the episode "Letters of Transit" Josh Jackson has dropped a little tease saying we are going to see a familiar face in the season four finale of Fringe.  "Someone huge" he told E Online.

So let's round up the usual suspects and try and figure out who it might be.

William Bell should be our prime suspect.  Leonard Nimoy is a huge star and played a pivotal character in the show.  His return out of retirement would be huge!  But his return was kind of spoiled by his ambered preview in "Letters" so it wouldn't be much of a surprise would it?

Thomas Jerome Newton.  Why do I have such a man crush on this guy?  Probably because he was so deliciously evil.  Not only did he confound Olivia but Fauxlivia as well.  Anyone that can dream of electric sheep is a-ok in my book.  But "huge"?  I wish!

Charlie Francis.  The honeymoon is over for our favorite bug infested boy.  Back to work Charlie.  Of course it would be the Red Universe Charlie.  Who cares!  This would be "huge" for Fringe fans.

Agent John Scott. This would be huge.  He's dead right?  I keep wondering when Walter's re-animation experiments will return.  You know, the one with the dove from the beginning of the season.  Agent Scott is still on ice with Massive Dynamic.  Maybe Walter can bring him back for some useful knowledge from beyond the grave.  Gulp!

Miranda Greene the lawyer from "Olivia In the lab withe the Revolver."  This would be huge for Josh Jackson in that the two are engaged to be married.  She is a huge star too but, hmm, her character is dead.  Rats!  Guess we'll have to get the Red Universe version.  She played Helen in the movie "Troy" so that fits with my Trojan horse scenario.  Plus her name is Greene.  C'mon green universe!

Agent Jessup.  Of course Agent Jessup!  Don't we all miss her?  We never got to give her a proper send off so this is fitting.  Who's to say Josh Jackson doesn't have a sense of humor and this is his idea of "huge".

Captain Lincoln Lee.  The poor guy's desk chair isn't even cold yet.  There was a lot of gnashing of teeth and hand wringing when he died.  Is it too soon to bring him back?  We never saw the body.  But is this "huge"?  Probably not.



Any ideas from the reading public? Is Brandon huge? Henry Higgins? August? Carla Warren? John Mosley? Nick Pratt?  Have I left anyone out?

Share your thoughts and let me know what you think.

Oh Fringe, You Spoil Me So...

Seriously, Fringe, you're spoiling me!  First there was that little numerical clue punched into the keypad of the old Massive Dynamic.  (Season 5 start date?)

Then we get that little conversation between the Silver Fox Nina Sharp, Simon Foster and Henrietta that went like this...

Whoa there cybernetic Silver Fox, did you just give away the end of season four of Fringe!!???  Are we to understand that the Fringe team defeated David Robert Jones and all his machinations to start a brave new world?

I'm not saying that's a bad thing.  Stopping Jones' plan that is.  But wouldn't we rather see the events play out on the small screen as opposed to future Nina spilling the chewable coffee beans?  OK, maybe Nina was talking about some other world threatening event but I for one can't think of one off the top of my head.  I suppose we all knew our mighty Fringe team would prevail in the end over David Robert Jones.  So Nina's little slip shouldn't come as a surprise.  But c'mon!

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And how about that little conversation between Agent Broyles and the detestable Captain Windmark of the odious Observers.  How does that tie into the future plans of Jones?  Broyles asked Windmark what he had done in the future to earn himself such a "crap" detail in the year 2036.

"I like animals" was his reply.  Creepy!  Do you suppose he was referring to the human animal hybrids that Jones was working on and we caught glimpses of in the episode, "Nothing As It Seems"?

Did Windmark do something to destroy these "animals" or did he actually preserve them much to the consternation of the rest of the Observers.  I'm hoping for the latter.  Then the prescient words of the immortal Kent Brockman will finally come true for our poor battered world.

Tell it like it is Kent!  On second thought, I hope future stylish Nina is right.  Save the world Walter!

(Did anyone else spot that other numerical reference of 05 20 10?  Check out that date here.  Ominous!)

The Consultant Fringe Fries!

Awesome Easter Eggs!

Let's start with something obvious.  You had to love the Artz reference in this past episode.  Sure the spelling was slightly off, but we are talking JJ Abrams here and the connection between Aartz corporation and the character Artz from Lost is too cool to ignore.  Plus it involved a plane crash!

"The Consultant" also contained several Sherlock Holmes references.  Walter cited, "The dog that didn't bark" which was the famous line from the Holmes adventure, "Silver Blaze".  Walter was incredulous that no one had heard of Sherlock Holmes in the Red universe (that is a mystery) but did you know that Holmes was often referred to in his stories as the, "Worlds First Consulting Detective"?  A very nice tie in to our episode title.

Do you think our friends at Fringenuity knew when the chose the theme for this past episode, "Across the Universe" that the lyrics from the famous Beatles song included,"Nothings Gonna Change my World"?  A bit of foreshadowing perhaps considering the fate of the two universes!  I bet they did know.

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Good to see another ship reference.  As Walter and his team head toward Liberty Island we see ships coursing through the harbor.  A clever reference to the ship we saw in the episode "Nothing as it seems".

I've got a few more up my sleeve but the Sox are on and I need to catch up on the game!  Check back here soon!

Bishop to Queen 3. Bishop takes Knight

 

Doesn't it seem as though David Robert Jones is being out maneuvered at every turn?  His apparatus is being dismantled, Red Nina has been captured and now his mole, Colonel Broyles has been discovered.  What is his game?  How can he be sustaining such losses?  Is this some sort of gambit?

Yes, it is.

What`we are watching here is a game of chess and Jones is employing one of the oldest tricks in the game of Kings.  Specifically, it is known as a sham sacrifice or a "Sacrifice to Checkmate".  Simply put, the player, Jones in this case, is willing to sacrifice some of his major playing pieces in order to lure the opposition in, entrap a major piece such as the Queen of the opposition and then force checkmate and the defeat of his opponent.

The title of this blog post refers to a chess move.  The Bishop in this case is Walter Bishop and the Knight that was captured refers to Colonel Broyles.  It was Walter that divined that the most obvious suspect was the one that should have alerted "the dog that didn't bark".  The "dog" being the alarm system that should have alerted everyone to a mole in Fringe Division but was oddly silent.  Oddly silent because the intruder, as in the Sherlock Holmes tale, Silver Blaze, was overtly known to all hence raising no suspicion.

I've often thought of the Bishop boys as chess pieces moving diagonally across a vast chess board, always countering the opposition with their deft moves.  If we look back to the Season 3 finale, "The Day We Died" we see a chess board that stood between Walternate and Peter Bishop.

Back then, Walternate was the Red King, pulling all the strings and outmaneuvering his opponents until he achieved his ultimate goal.  The removal of Black Queen.  That goal holds true now although the title of King has been usurped by Jones but his goal remains the same.  The capture of the Queen and command of the chessboard.

 

I don't think Jones intends to remove the Queen in the same fashion as Walternate did.  (And yes, Olivia is the Queen in case that wasn't obvious enough.)  Although I don't doubt that when her usefulness to him has been exhausted the end result may prove to be the same.  But I do think that our two Bishops have lost sight of the larger picture and the Black (Blue?) Queen may be vulnerable. 

 

If you are wondering how our other players fit into this chessboard, I see the two Lincoln Lee's as Rooks (Castles) one of which has now been sacrificed.  The two Broyles characters are the Knights, also one of which has been removed.  I referred to Red Nina as the Red Queen but that might be a stretch.  In fact by the end of the episode both Nina and Broyles were referred to as pawns.  This was owing to their sacrifice and their now powerless stature.  Certainly, Christopher, Colonel Broyles' son was a pawn.  A minor piece to be willingly sacrificed unless protected by something more powerful.  The real Red Queen may be Altlivia, a major piece on our board but one I think is not aware of her stature. 

So who is the Black King or should I say in this case, what?

It's my thinking that the Black King is the Machine and Jones nearly had his Knight in position to capture it.  If Jones does get his hand on the Machine it will be Checkmate and all will be lost.  However there are still several pieces in play.  Nina from the Blue Universe is back on the chessboard although her allegiance is in question.  What of Walternate? (Speaking of dogs that didn't bark) he was oddly absent from the last episode.  You'd think with Walter visiting "over there" he would make himself present.

Perhaps Walternate has been removed from our board or is waiting in strategic reserve.  In the game of chess when all seems to be lost it is a worthy strategy to keep your pawns active but safely out of reach.  If they reach the far end of the chess board they can be exchanged for a lost playing piece and this may well prove to be Walternate.

So who are our pawns?  The Observers?  Possibly.  They are always lurking about and seemingly innocuous.  Yet they can play major roles and may prove either useful or destructive as the match nears its close.  I'm hoping it is some innocent we don't fully appreciated yet (Oh no, Astrid??!!) and this pawn will play a major role in the end that may turn the tables with the ultimate sacrifice.

Oh dear, I hope I didn't just consign Astrid to her doom.  What are your thoughts dear players?  Whom do you see being maneuvered?  Will further sacrifice be needed?  Who will win this ultimate game of wits and control the chessboard that is our universe?

It's your move people.

The Death of Lincoln Lee or Not?

Remember when Walter was experimenting with the re-animation of the dead, specifically a dead as a doornail dove, way back in the beginning of this season?  I've always wondered when they were going to return to that little plot point.  Of course, in a way they have.  The re-animation of the dead has been a constant theme on Fringe especially in the context of the Shape-shifters.  Whether victim or vanquished the Shape-sifters have breathed new life into the dearly departed and deliberately or not hey all have seemed to be imbued with a soul.

I take you now to that short little conversation Walter had with Canaan near the end of "Everything In It's Right Place".  Walter was eager to study, er, help Canaan with his imperfect configuration ( DNA deficit).  What if what Walter learns goes beyond short little flight plans for doomed doves?  Will his knowledge of Shape-shifters 2.5 (that's what I think Canaan is) coupled with his re-animation experiments lead to a new form of human being to do battle with Jones' Shape-shifters?

Hmmmm, who would be a good candidate for re-animation?

Why not???!!!  Wouldn't you love it and wouldn't it be the freakiest thing Fringe has ever done?  Many tears were shed across the Twitterverse, blogverse etc. when Captain Lee died.  Maybe it was a clever ruse for us to think that he is gone.  Think like a Trojan Horse or something.  The man's got skills and Colonel Broyles, DRJ and the rest would never suspect his return.  I'd keep smelling salts around Alt-livia though just in case.

David Robert Jones & The Machine

So, as of the last episode we have learned that the "Machine" is repairing the rifts in the universe and our Blue Universe warriors are considered heroes in the Red Universe.  In a previous post I theorized that Jones would be the anti-hero and use the Machine to heal the rifts to get what he wants and if that fails the damaged universes would be populated with his new forms of humanity. (Read it here.)  Has that theory gone bye bye now that the healing process has begun with out him?

Nope, things are even better now.

Now that DRJ has Colonel Broyles on the inside what better scenario would Jones have than to have Broyles sabotage the Machine, implicate the Blue Universe, turn popular Red Universe opinion against them and then ride to the rescue himself with the ultimate fix.  The man is diabolical isn't he?

Speaking of diabolical! Does anyone think it was too easy for Canaan and Fringe Division to penetrate Jones' lair?  Jones does work with Shape-shifters, you'd think he'd be prepared for any contingency.  If he was prepared, and this is a little out there, I wonder if he had a fail safe built into Canaan's code wherein he could activate him like some sort of bomb or double agent.  That would be clever of Jones.  Give up your organization for the bigger prize of access to the machine or the elimination of the Blue Universe threat.

You know, kind of like a Trojan horse.