Fringe Episode 5.04: The Bullet That Saved The World

Let's play Simon!

Wow! What an episode. We got plenty of action and a farewell look at old Fringe cases in Walter's lab. And sadly, the unexpected death of Etta.

Etta’s death came too early. She’s really only been on the series for a few episodes and was just starting to grow as a character and respond to Olivia and Peter’s influence. And then bam, she’s dead. I would have recommended saving her death for later in the season. If the issue was having the actress around, they could have sent her off on some mission or had her captured or something and then have her show up at the end to nobly save everyone. As it was, it was simply jarring, but not meaningful. But still a great episode.

Random notes:

• The shop Peter walked into was the called the Thrifty Lion. The establishment’s logo looks like The Lion of Judah.

• While in the shop, Peter checked out the Simon game and says he played it as a kid. This is notable since part of his childhood was spent in the alternate universe – and what is now an alternate timeline in that universe. Note that he didn’t remember watching Sesame Street as a kid because for him it didn’t exist.

• The Simon game is a neat little metaphor, with blue, red, amber, green, constantly changing. It’s like trying to keep track the Fringe universes of seasons one through four! Also, the Simon game could refer to poor Simon Foster, who was first ambered and then decapitated by the Observers. Is the Simon game a clue that he’s coming back?

• There were card suits visible in the shop. Later, Peter said that the Observer pulled thoughts from his head like cards from a deck.

• The number on the door to Walter’s lab was 8316.1.

• It was great fun to see all of the artifacts from all of the old Fringe cases in Walter’s secret stash. But, remember the timeline has been altered. For the rest of the world, adult Peter did not exist until season four, so all of our favorite cases may not have happened or may have happened differently than we saw. That sort of bugs me.

• One of the things in the Walter-Cave is a toy police car. What was that from? I can’t place it. But remember that toy car from William Bell’s personal effects after the original Bell was declared dead? He had a copy of Doctor Spock’s book (Get it? Spock!) and a toy car. So, at one point, William Bell had a child. Whatever happened to him? I say they should bring the younger Bell on the show and they should get Zachary Quinto to play him. Then the circle would be complete.

• One of the items in storage is a dead porcupine person. I’ve always wondered what happened to all the Fringe monsters that didn’t get killed. The menagerie from Bell’s ark would have been secured and the tracking devices in the human shapeshifters got them all caught. Where did they all go?

• Walter recounted going to Manhattan several times when he was young, via Newark. That means Walter Bishop lived in New Jersey when he was a kid. As a native of New Jersey, I declare that to be awesome. After five years there are still revelations to revel in.

• The graffiti under the bridge said Manifest Destiny. The graffiti behind Broyles said ND. North Dakota, maybe?

• It was very strange to see Walter take a tactical role in this episode’s raid on the train station. The version of Walter at the beginning of season four would not even leave the lab. Now, he’s driving the Fringemobile (an Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser) and killing people.

• Painted on one of the buildings was the name G & R Jacoe Chemical Co. That is apparently a real building in British Columbia, which has also shown up on other shows, namely Eureka and Sanctuary.

• There were other logos on walls. One was for a company called James and one looked like two hands holding something up.

• The loyalists are supposed to look like Nazis. As I mentioned before, I’m from New Jersey, so they look like New Jersey state troopers to me.

• The battle at the end was foreshadowed in the comic book in the previous episode, The Recordist. They also revealed that Walter had a comic book collection when he was a boy.

• Although I didn’t notice it at the time, there was a Dove sign on a wall at the end of The Recordist. In this episode they revealed “The Dove” to be Broyles.

• My brilliant wife brought up an excellent point. If the training to block being read by Observers takes a year to complete, how was Broyles able to conceal being trained and being part of the resistance during his training?

• Walter called Peter “son” at the end. That does not happen very often.