Fringe: 6 Months Later/Subject 13

Of Note: My television listed this episode as “6 Months Later” while Hulu and TV.com list it as “Subject 13”. Both names apply fine but I wonder why there was a discrepancy.

To say I was thrilled with this episode would be a dramatic understatement. I had literal goosebumps at multiple points during the hour. Olivia’s emotional rage, Peter’s inability to accept his new reality, Walter and Walternate’s struggles to rise to the occasion of their particular circumstances, and Elizabeth’s turmoil over replacing her son were all fantastic stories to follow. Obviously a few things jump out more than others and I would like to talk about the scene that blew my mind.

If you have not seen this episode, please do yourself a favor and watch it, then come back. Oliva’s cathartic moment of sharing her secret with the man that was suppose to protect her was brutally ripped away on an emotional level. On a story level, that was one of the coolest moments I’ve ever experienced on television. Walternate gave up and was content to drink himself into oblivion, only to have Olivia give him the answers he so desperately needed. Walter started the war, but it was Olivia that accepted the responsibility for the blue universe.

After reviewing the season one episode entitled, “The Cure” I was very frustrated with the introduction of Olivia’s abusive step-father only to have it become a dropped plot line as the series progressed. But “6 Months Later” really picked up that ball and ran with it. It was her evil-stepfather that unlocked the potential of cortexephan in Olivia. More importantly it was her stepfather’s abuse that drove her to a career in law enforcement. She wanted to protect people.

Folivia on the other hand did not have an evil stepfather to deal with as far as we know. She was not abused and did not see her mother abused. She did not have any reason to go into law enforcement. Olivia appearance to Walternate helps explain this. Obviously Walternate found Folivia and set her on a path to be useful to him in the future. If our Olivia could cross through universes, it stood to reason that his might too.

That of course is where things get a bit messy for Walternate. Walter did not cause the blight when he took Peter. Somehow, Walter understood the damage he caused and realized he could not continue to cross over in the manor he did originally. Walternate without that knowledge would most likely have attempted to cross into the blue universe using the same type of portal Walter originally did. Unfortunately this action is probably what triggered the destruction of Boston and necessitated the use of Amber. Of course to Walternate it would most likely seem like Walter booby-trapped the portal so he could not take back his son.

Could I complain about the fact that Peter and Olivia had no memory of their original meeting upon seeing other in Iraq in episode one? Sure, I could, but I’m not going to. Could I gripe that Walternate should have had a soft spot for Olivia considering she was the person who clued him into the whereabouts of his son in the first place? I might, but I won’t at the moment.

It was very cool to see how Olivia caused the fire damage in the room we saw way back in the episode entitled “Jacksonville”. It is also interesting that Olivia was able to make it snow. Cortexaphan is really a wonder drug when paired with the right person. I cannot wait to see how Olivia’s latent abilities will manifest as the series progresses. No reason to show us that she has the powers of Storm from the X-Men if she is not going to use them at a crucial point in the future.

Peter’s theory that he could travel back to his home by submerging himself in the frozen lake actually did make sense. Thankfully his “mother” was there to save him.

Walternate and Elizabeth must have split in the red universe. They were pretending to still be together when Peter came back for his sake.

Why was the red universe blue in the 1980’s? In fact there was not much color in the entire episode. Even the tulips were white. The professor that Elizabeth was talking about was Allister the time traveling kindred spirit of Walter from the episode entitled, “White Tulip”.