Fringe Season 4 Episode 4 “Subject 9” (contains plot spoilers)

The episode starts off with an amazing scene in Olivia’s bedroom. While asleep, things start moving around in her room, and she begins to awaken. Suddenly a blue force comes into view and starts to attract metallic objects. Olivia reacts by shooting her gun but it appears that the force is trying to make contact with her. What is also strange in the scene is it would appear that time is slightly distorted, as we focus on the time on Olivia’s clock repeating itself! I was thinking at this point, surely this is Peter trying to make contact, using all means possible to try to communicate with either her or Walter! Wherever he is, he isn’t in this world or the parallel world, so does that mean he is in a world without time? Dunno! Brilliant start to the episode though and visually stunning to watch.

 

Olivia explains the events to Walter and Astrid, who both kick into action, ready to explore what’s going on. As Walter gets his things together, he notices an opened letter in Olivia’s jacket from the mental institution, stating that they recommend that Walter should be hospitalised again, and asking for Olivia’s decision on whether he should be admitted or not. This gets Walter nervous, and we see the real vulnerability in his eyes, scared to return to the institution he loathes so much.

 

Olivia and Astrid return to Olivia’s home and the force returns, however, Walter, watching from the lab through the camera attached to Astrid, witnesses events that are about to happen, before they happen!!!! The events then play out again, almost looking like it is attacking Olivia in her bathroom. Walter believes that what is happening is similar to what one of the cortexiphan children had the ability to do, and due to Olivia undergoing the trials at the same time, they were obviously psychically linked, which was why Olivia was having these experiences. Walter remembers very little about the child, except that he was labelled “Subject 9”. Olivia takes a trip to Massive Dynamic to look at the records to establish a name, where we see Nina for the first time in the series. However, I didn’t get one thing about the conversation with Olivia and Nina at first!! They are very friendly with each other, more than we’ve seen before, and Nina makes a reference to something to do with Olivia’s teenage years, as if she knew Olivia back then! Another product of Peter’s disappearance? Anyway, moving on…..

 

Olivia manages to confirm the identity of “Subject 9” as Cameron James as while talking to Astrid, another conversation which I found a bit weird at first took place. Astrid starts asking Olivia about the cortexiphan trials and what happened, and I started thinking why is she asking, she knows as she was there in the first season when all of this came to light! Olivia recounts that she ran away and that was when the cortexiphan trials stopped! And then I thought “ahhhhhh” is it because of the disappearance of Peter? If you remember in a previous series, it became apparent that Peter, as a child, had actually encountered Olivia as a child when she had run away from the trials and her abusive step-father, but Peter was there to bring her back. It also becomes apparent through the conversation between Olivia and Astrid that they have never encountered the cortexiphan children before during their time at Fringe Division!! I then started thinking, heck!!! How much hasn’t therefore happened due to Peter’s disappearance! This could get confusing!!

 

Back to the episode!!! Olivia and Astrid return to the lab, and Walter is there packed and ready to go, insisting he accompany Olivia to Cameron James’ residence, and we find out that Walter hasn’t left the lab in three years! Hence the reason why everything is video linked between Walter and Astrid! It is clear that Walter obviously wants to prove to Olivia that he’s ok, hoping that she will not send him back to the mental institution.

 

On arriving at Cameron’s residence, the landlady appears and informs them that Cameron won’t be back till the following day. Olivia and Walter find a nearby hotel room, however, when Olivia leaves Walter in his own room, he ends up having some sort of panic attack because of his germaphobia! Olivia manages to calm him down, and Walter tells Olivia that he’s glad his late wife can’t see him now, and that she committed suicide just after Peter (as a boy from this world) died, which was much earlier as again, due to the disappearance of Peter, Walter did not cross over to the other side, and therefore the Peter we know, never existed. You keeping up?????

 

Olivia treats Walter to a root beer float and Walter confesses to her that he saw the letter from the mental institution. Olivia realises that in Walter coming with her on the trip to Cameron James’ that he was trying to prove his worth that he is still able to function relatively normally!!! All of a sudden, the blue force appears, smashing up the restaurant due to it drawing all metal objects into it! Olivia and Walter escape out of a broken window and the force follows them, until it gets hit by a car!!!!!

The next morning, Olivia and Walter go back to Cameron’s residence, where they find him, and he tries to flee. When Cameron sees Walter, a very emotional scene takes place where Cameron tells Walter what he’s done to him, that he can’t lead a normal life due to his capabilities. Even though some of the things that Walter has done have been totally unethical, you can’t help but feel sorry for him in his vulnerable state, aware that he has hurt people due to his experiments and trials, but that he can’t turn back time, go back and change it! Walter and Olivia quickly realise that Cameron is not the cause of the blue force, as it appears again but Cameron manages to disperse it! They convince Cameron to help them and Walter has a brain wave that they may be able to destroy the blue force by drawing it to a power station. When they get there, the blue force appears again but this time its different. Olivia sees a human figure inside the force, reaching out to her. She quickly fires her gun as she tries to distract Cameron from destroying it, and suddenly it disappears. Olivia then receives a call from Broyles, saying that a man has just been found in Reiden Lake (the lake where Walter crossed universes in the previous series) who knows information about Fringe, Olivia, Walter etc etc

 

Olivia and Walter go to the hospital where the man is being held, who is asking specifically for Olivia!!! As she goes into his hospital room, Walter comes across the mental institution letter again, and to his relief, Olivia has refused for him to be re-hospitalised!! Yay!! Anyway, Olivia enters the hospital room and the man is……………yes, you’ve guessed it…..PETER!!!!! However, Olivia doesn’t recognise him!! Arrgghh!!!!

 

Finally, we’re getting somewhere, although I really hope they don’t drag the “who are you???” story out too much! There is also the issue of where Peter now actually exists seeing as he’s been erased from this universe, but also reminds me of an interview Joshua Jackson did not that long ago on the possibility of Fringe exploring even more parallel universes!! And will Olivia and Walter begin to remember snippets of Peter, things that won’t make sense to them! Will the timelines just readjust at some point and all will make sense again!!! It is interesting as well that in Peter returning to this universe, it hasn’t altered anything as of yet!! What is for sure though is Fringe will continue to keep us asking questions!!!

By Kirsty Wavish