Fringe: The Boy Must Live?

I must say I am really torn over the Christian allegory from the last episode of Fringe, "The Boy Must Live".  You may ask, "What Christian allegory Dave?"  My answer would be, any episode that introduces "White Tulip" into the conversation has a Christian allegory.

As most Fringe-o-philes will tell you the white tulip is supposedly a symbol of absolution from God.  In this past episode September reintroduces the concept of God's forgiveness and tells Walter how important it was to him in a previous time stream.  By the way, I'm all for blurring the lines between the two time streams.  It's a cheat yes, but I've been doing it myself even before Walter was made aware of his alternate time line self.  It just makes sense and gives the entire Fringe story more emotional heft.  We grew up with the first three years of Fringe with original recipe Walter and season four was just a dalliance as far as I am concerned.

So how am I torn over the resolution of Fringe and this allegory I speak of?  I think I can reconcile there will be some sacrifice introduced.  September clearly spelled that out for Walter.  Now that Walter is aware of his previous self the concept of absolution is even more important to him now more than ever.  His sacrifice will save the world if you believe what September has told him.

But I don't.  I don't believe September.

When September (or Donald if you must) told Walter of the plan he revealed that the key to it was to send Michael into the future.  I "tweeted" that night that I was surprised that September was so willing to give up his son and subject him to such a great a risk.  Clearly September possesses emotion now and to so blithely send his son into the unknown seemed strange to me.

September went on to explain how Michael was conceived.  Basically, he was constructed from September's genetic material and September knew him as his son.  With women no longer needed in the future we can only conclude one thing if this is indeed a Christian allegory.

It was a virgin birth.

How is that for a twist on the classical tale of the immaculate conception?  A child born to a man.

So why did Olivia clearly say or at least introduce the concept of the mother and child as they sought to work their way through the checkpoints?  I'm a firm believer that nothing is done by accident on Fringe.  I've been waiting for Joel Wyman to explain the odd look on Olivia's face when she told Peter she was pregnant at the end of season four.  I think we all caught it and when Wyman was asked about it he flat out said it would be explained.

Anyone who has read this blog know that I have long thought that Olivia was the mother of twins and that Etta was one and the boy, whom we now know as Michael, was the other (See my Bullet Points theory.)  September did say that that Michael was hidden in Time to protect him.  I thought he was hidden in the past for Olivia to find in the episode, "The Inner Child".  I assumed that Olivia had actually given birth to twins but I am now thinking that one of the twins was taken from her very early in gestation and then given birth to in the Observer lab of the future.

 

So which Christian allegory do we have?  The virgin birth or the one where God sacrifices his only son to save the world?  I guess it could be or should be both!  If your head is spinning a little, rest assured so is mine.

I can't quite put my finger on it but I don't think September is telling Walter the whole truth.  It must have something to do with the White Tulip and Walter's redemption.  Here, I think September is baiting Walter to act in a certain way in order for September's ultimate plan to work.  September knows the pain of fatherhood.  Why would he break up Peter and Walter now?   I'm telling you, it is a set up.  September could have easily erased Peter from the season four time line and he even had a device to do so yet he chose not to.

September is going to sacrifice himself.  (Another twist on the allegory.)  I think Michael will survive but he must confront Windmark in order to distract him in order for September's plan to work.

Perhaps we have been set up all along also.  We've always assumed Walter needed redemption for all his mad acts, but ask yourselves this, whose fault was this all along and set the events into motion?

 

It was September.

You know, I'm glad we've had this little chat.  I've worked out quite a few things talking to you people.  We've covered ground over the "virgin birth" and we've found a way around it by introducing theoretical role of Olivia in it.  We've dealt with the concept of sacrifice where an seemingly omnipotent being is willing to save the world by sacrificing his son.  (No I don't think September is God but I think you understand his role here.)  We've even solved the concept of God's absolution.  Take the following quote for example,

Proverbs 28:13, "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy."

Hasn't Walter already done that?  I say yes.  Has September?  Consider this quote,

Daniel 9.9, "The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him."

September was an Observer and as an Observer he was complicit in the remaking of man as an genetic anomaly something that was not part of God's plan that started with Adam and Eve.  The apple that the Observers plucked from the tree of knowledge was indeed a temptation that they were better off resisting and this "rebellion" against God must be righted.  I think in this September will sacrifice himself to save us all and absolution will be his.

I guess this explains the apple and the twin fetuses glyph also.

Well, it is late and I wanted to tap this out to clear my head.  I'm going to revisit this as the days draw nearer to the conclusion of Fringe.  There may be some holes here and with your help we can attempt to close them and square this circle together.