Such a statement is a false dichotomy, for in the framework of the timeline September chooses for them, these people have free will to do what they want with it. And so it isn’t too far-fetched to theorize that as a whole, these people’s lives will achieve the same purpose, albeit in a different way, because it is in their nature to do so. It is in Olivia’s nature, whatever timeline she may end up in, to fight for justice, just like it is in Walter’s nature to imagine the impossibilities.
Are traits of character in one’s nature? Perhaps so, which means that it doesn’t come as a surprise that this timeline’s Lincoln Lee comes with the same sense of astonishment and quiet strength at his first appearance in the episode “Stowaway” (Season 3, Episode 17). However, I didn’t expect his despair, although it does make for some great discussions, all the more that it comes in sharp contrast to Peter’s seemingly bottomless well of hope in the last season. One would think that the latter would have more reason to be desperate than the former and yet, in 2026, he still held hope that the future warranted having a child with his then-wife Olivia.
The answer to the question of hope versus despair depends largely on one’s conceptual framework of the meaning of life. Peter seems to have clung onto the fact that he had been saved from death by Walter, and that alone proved that he was alive for a purpose. Perhaps Lee, having joined Fringe Division, will be able to find such a meaning for his own life as well.
Then again, finding out more about the Observers and the power they hold on the future of humanity might become a great source of disempowerment for Lee as well as for the rest of the characters in Fringe. Our fedora wearing friends continue to be mysterious, as September is told to wipe out any lingering traces of Peter from the timeline but, once again, goes against what he should, as an Observer, have done. Why is September going against what his nature dictates him to be, i.e. an Observer, bent on protecting the timeline that is meant to be from altering its course?
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Article comments
1 - Flo
Hey! Great review! I like this new way you have to do them. It is more clear and more in tune with the show IMO.
I was also caught up by Semptember and his role in all of this. He seems to not be an observer anymore since he does a lot more than observe. He really is taking a more active role in the fate (if we can call it that way) of the Universe. To what purpose? I don't know but I'm dying to find out.
The notion of free will is really important. By saying that the observers main (and only?) task is just to make sure what has to happen actuallty does happen the way it supposed to be, what does it mean about coincidence? Do chances and accidents really exist or are they just another part of a bigger picture? Do people really make their own choices or are they just meant to take this certain road and not the other?
I like your vision of the dychotomy and the possibilies that it could open for all the characters. They seem to all be a bit different without Peter indeed. For now they don't mix. Each character and their alternate one are on the different side of the "mirror" as you well put it. It will be interesting to see what happen when they will undoubtedly cross path again, as the talk between the two Olivias indicates.
I also wonder what exactly kind of place the bridge is gonna take. What exactly is gonna happen there comparing to what will happen in borth Universes? We'll see.
This episode was really a sort of transitional one to establish a new timeline and a new kind of reality. I like how the cards are dealt again. It's the same but different, the characters without Peter being some kind of déjà-vu of the ones they were before.
Good episode.
2 - Sahar
Flo! Nice to have your comments back :)
I completely agree about September's role - it has completely changed. It's an interesting discussion to have - how can one go against one's grain and when.
I can't wait to see what is going to happen in the next couple of episode and how more difference in the characters in this timeline are going to be underlined. Are we ever going to go back to what things used to be like? Or will everyone have forgotten everything? Or will we have basically two timelines collide?