The Same Old Story - Rewatch/Speculation & Analysis

[MassivelyDynamic]

Glyph Code: CHILD(Hinting at the Observer child in "Inner Child". Either that or it is a hint at Peter's past and how Walter took him from the other side as a child OR the father/son relationship between Christopher and Penrose. I'd venture to say that it is most likely the second reason I listed.)

The first thing that caught my attention was the hand inside the jar in Walter's car. It's even more interesting because in 4.19, Walter cuts of Bell's hand. So, I got to wondering, is that Bell's hand in the jar?



Peter: "Friend of yours?"

Walter: "I certainly hope not."

Perhaps we are in a loop and Walter went from the "Observer Future" back to the beginning of season one in the mental institution. In 4.22, it appears Bell is able to travel through time somehow, so perhaps it's not to wild to think maybe Walter ends up doing the same thing.

What could possibly support this is in the pilot when he claims that he knew someone would come at Saint Claire's. Then again, we have the same issue involving why Walter did not foresee anything else aside from this if we are indeed witnessing time travel of some kind. Perhaps something will transpire in season five to explain this, if not, then I will chalk it up to Walter seeing a news report of Flight 672 or being told by Saint Claire's staff that someone had come to visit him.

Walter's Quote

Walter: "One of the inherent pit falls of being a scientist trying to maintain that distinction between God's domain and our own. Sometimes I forget myself."

I know it obvious but I will note it anyways. He is referring to when he crossed over to save Peter.

Who payed Dr. Penrose to go back to his rapid aging research?

At first I thought it was ZFT. Then I saw the last frame of the episode below and I am leaning towards perhaps that Massive Dynamic payed him to do his research. If Massive Dynamic is behind ZFT, then, in a sense, it was MD that payed him to continue his research.




I didn't really pay much mind to this the first time I watched this episode, but this time around it's clear that Massive Dynamic is growing soldiers. Nina also mentioned to Olivia that Massive Dynamic had the ability to create it's own private army. It feels like they were behind this.

Walter's Lab Notes for the episode:

[phx219]

I am really enjoying these re-evaluations of old episodes under different context. Keep up the great work!

[MassivelyDynamic]

I am really enjoying these re-evaluations of old episodes under different context. Keep up the great work!

Thanks.

[tricked]

The hand in the jar !!!! Nice !!!! I need to rewatch this episode as well I think.

Someone else introduced the idea that Bell was time-hopping across timelines, and I was trying to figure out where his hand might have ended up if it was sent back from 2036 into the pre-rewrite timeline. Damn.

I remember wondering if that was Nina's hand though lol ....

On a sidenote, during Season One, Fox put out "Walter's Lab Notes" for every episode. I found them to be extremely insightful, and upon reviewing a few of them last week, I had many "ah-ha !" moments. I would highly recommend reading them along with your Season One rewatch, because you never know what you might find in there which will further connect things together :-). The most convenient place to find them, is a place I can't link to on the forum ... but a google will pull them up rather easily ^_^

[phx219]

mind cluing us in on some of the ah-ha moments? maybe someone can transcribe the notes into txt here, or link jpgs from a source we can actually link? Never knew they existed, I didn't start watching until S2.

[tricked]

mind cluing us in on some of the ah-ha moments? maybe someone can transcribe the notes into txt here, or link jpgs from a source we can actually link? Never knew they existed, I didn't start watching until S2.

Well, if someone wants to transcribe them, they are welcome too lol ... but they are more involved than that. The actual images the lab notes are in have meaning as well, as there are objects here and there in each "set" which are clues and easter eggs. Seriously ... I think it's more worth it to google them around and look at them in their full context, because they are part of a "scene" as well ;-).

As far as "ah-ha" moments, you asked for it lol :-)

I mentioned a few ideas in a previous post here:

http://fringe-forum.com/forums/showt...l=1#post363962

But just to give you a more detailed idea, here is a link to the lab notes from "Safe" (some of the labnotes are on FringeBloggers and this forum as well here, but not all I don't think):

http://cdn.fringebloggers.com/wp-con...110labnots.jpg

Often times in the notes, Walter speaks in riddle/rhyme. I used to think it was due to his mental state ... then of course later we find out his mental state was largely due to his brain portions being removed. And now, in 4.22, we hear Bell speak in riddle/rhyme a little bit as well, as does a dead Jessica lol. But anyway ... looking at what Walter says here:

Where oh where have my details gone ? Lost --- or stolen. I asked the Summoner if I could search for my errant thoughts in his lost and found, but he refused, said I'd find the missing friars in Satan's hindquarters. Curse him ! I know the rule: "cannot build phallic puzzles inside the lab." I still know the numbers, too -- well I damn well should, it's a simple second-order recursive algorithm -- but a mnemonic is worthless without it's contents. Like a sad coat rack with empty pegs.

Early on, after reading this, some of us theorized that the mnemonic not only described where the parts of the dis-rey device were located, but also an object. An actual phallic puzzle. And we knew of a "phallic puzzle" that already existed: the Beacon. So some of us theorized that Walter was in fact the person who designed the Beacon, or something like it. A phallic puzzle. But he couldn't build it in the lab for some reason, perhaps to keep it secretive.

Now, that mnemonic also served as a reminder to where he hid parts of the dis-rey device. The device that teleported Jones out of prison, etc and so forth. But if you remember, Walter said he created a device that transported people not just through space, but TIME as well. However, we only ever see the dis-rey device transport Jones through space. Teleporting him. We don't see him being transported through time. So the idea is that in the remaining cities hinted at in the mnemonic which are not visited in "Safe": CBPPITL, may hold the rest of the dis-rey device which makes it essentially do what the Beacon does :-) .... transport through time and space. And since we see Nina rush off to London in the episode, and L is part of the mnemonic ... then perhaps she ran over to London to get the remaining parts.

Now that we see in the 2036 future, Walter has plans to build a beacon like device which gets rid of the Observers .... this "theory", using the labnotes as supporting evidence, holds even more weight imo. It ties together 4.19 with Season One in even more style. And furthermore, when Walter says he asked the Summoner to search for his errant thoughts in the lost and found, that his thoughts were lost or stolen .... it's now clear I think he was referencing having parts of his brain removed which had that information within it already ... the information on how to build the beacon like device we see him talk about in 4.19. But in 4.19, he doesn't recognize the machine, until after his brain heals itself by using the removed parts. Thus, another direct tie in from 4.19, all the way back to the First Season, even in the lab notes perhaps ...

If you want to read a great early theory on this idea about Walter designing the Beacon, and the Observers perhaps trying to correct moments in time .... here you go :-)

[The Question]

Felt like jumping in:
I would say it's entirely possible that Walter designed the beacon, and considering that the observers seem to trust Nina Sharp in the future (the whole, "I can't hide my thoughts from them the way you can" -either she has some other tech method of masking her thoughts, or she's simply worked out a Nina-style deal with them). I wouldn't be surprised if The Observers, like Bell, stole some ideas from Walter
I'm starting to think the whole Hy-Brasil thing is the utopia that turns into the inevitable downfall that Walter spoke of in 4x19 (is it kosher to talk about that here? lol)

But on the topic of the beacon, it just seems like ALL the good ideas were just stolen from Walter, haha

As I am currently rewatching some season 2, I think I might start doing what you're doing over on the season 2 board.

[PapayaGoo]

When I first watched this episode, I knew something would be made of Peter's "but I can bring anything mechanical back from the dead" line. It wasn't until I rewatched it a while ago that I got it.

That hand is a GREAT catch!

I like when Peter says "third time's a charm" regarding Walter trying to get Astrid's name right.

And Dr. Penrose offers Olivia (and Peter?) some tea. Not significant, but part of the tea motif.

[phx219]

Was that a picture of a *beacon* and WWII military stuff with the beacon being loaded into a truck or something???

these lab notes are interesting to say the least. My head hurts (in a good way). So much to ponder..

[phx219]

Walter's Lab Notes