The Arrival - Rewatch/Speculation & Analysis
Glyph Code: ROGUE (Referring to John Moseley, who is a rouge Observer. Or Moseley is a human native from the same future as the Observer's and is in rebellion against them.)
The Water
September drinks the water down as if he is extremely thirsty, like he hasn't been hydrated from a long time.
In 4.19 we find out that their water supply is poisoned in some way. This would explain why water is so important to them. They don't have access to fresh, clean water. It is very sought after by them due to this. It is why Windmark has it in a flask as if it is an alcoholic beverage. I have a theory that since they do not have access to fresh water in their future, it is like a depressant to them, like alcohol is to humans. Which is why Broyles, in 4.19 states that it would have no effect on him when Windmark offers him some.
Lack of Taste
A roast beef sandwich on a bun, raw as possible, covered with an entire shaker of pepper, drenched in Tabasco sauce and topped off with Jalapenos. Why does the food need to be so spicy and raw?
September: "No thank you, I wouldn't taste much anyways."
The Observer's sense of taste seems to be very weak, so weak that the food they eat must be extremely spicy and raw for them to taste anything. I did some digging via the internet and found a condition called "hypogeusia". What this is, is basically a reduced ability to taste things. The interesting thing about this is that two of hypogeusia's causes are one: dehydration(The Observer's don't have access to clean water) and two: exposure to radiation(The Observer's are bald. Perhaps there is some sort of nuclear holocaust that causes their water to be poisoned and at the same time, exposing them to radiation and blotting out the sun(nuclear winter? Maybe this is why there skin is so pale, there is no sun light in their future.)
The Observer's Language
^September writing in his notebook.
I took a look back at the season two scene where Brandon explains two of the characters in the Observer's language, found from August's notebook.
One of them was from a cuneiform tablet in the Iraqi National Museum. (If you aren't aware cuneiform was used by the ancient Mesopotamian's) The other was from the Iron Pillar of Delhi, dating back to 900 B.C.
Their language seems to be a combination of different countries from different time periods. Which, is not hard to believe, given that they observe important events from different times. They must have been bored and decided to make a new language from the different places they observed.
^Cuneiform tablet.
^ The iron pillar of Delhi
Who is September Talking To?
September: "It has arrived."
A.) The rest of his scientific team.
B.) Moseley. (However, why help Moseley and protect the beacon from him at the same time? Also, he says that the beacons departure is on schedule via the same phone following Moseley's death. He is definitely talking to his scientific team and protecting it from Moseley so September and Moseley working together is highly unlikely.)
I'm inclined to go with A here.
The Beacon
Made of solid iridium. (Iridium was also what Walter put in Roy's brain so that he could receive transmissions. "tricked had a very interesting theory about this connection.)
It emits sonic vibrations at 2 megahertz, then again at 4.Originally Posted by tricked
The beacon also has the ability to "unlock" the instructions that September psychically gave Walter after saving him and Peter from drowning in Reiden Lake.
Walter: ""Without speaking he made it clear that he would need ME one day, to return the favor so to speak. This was it. Today. What happened with the capsual. Im not sure how I knew about the vibrations, the composition. Then when I tested it myself, heard the vibrations, felt them, it was as if an envelope had been opened and I could finally read my instructions. Instantly I knew I had to protect the capsule for him."
Beacon: A device at a fixed location that, upon receiving a pulse, transmits a reply pulse that enables the original sender to determine his or her position relative to the fixed location.
September: "What I led you to is a beacon. I needed you to activate it so I could find my way back."(4.15)
So, basically, the beacons are ways in which the Observers can determine which universe they are in.
Perhaps Moseley is so adament to find the beacon because he himself is lost. This would explain why he was so happy to touch it when he dug it up from Robert Bishops grave and why he had a look of pure happiness as he lay on the ground dead.
Moseley's Weapon
Moseley has a similar weapon as August used, only its larger and clunkier looking. It fired a similar pulse of energy, sending those on the receiving end flying back. Only, August's was a lot more stylish and compact. This tells me that Moseley is from the future(not necessarily the same future as the Observers), however, I don't believe Moseley is an Observer, I believe he is simply human and is against the Observers.
Why can't Moseley read thoughts without a machine like other Observers?
He isn't an Observer, so he does not have their abilities. Instead he must use a machine that allows him to do the same thing, only he can hear people's thoughts AS they say them, not before they say them like the Observers. It is an older tech.
Perhaps Moseley is from a future that occurs before the Observer's future. This is why his version of the pulse weapon is larger and he had to use a machine to read people's thoughts, the technology is advanced and it is similar, but because he is from a time before the Observer's future, it is less compact, less effective.
Why Can't September Touch the Beacon?
September: "Thank you for hiding the beacon, I can't touch it myself."
September says to Walter that he cannot touch the beacon himself. However, Moseley can. This to me is another indication that Moseley is in fact, not an Observer, because he can touch the beacon. But why can't September? What would happen if he touched it? If we go by tricked theory that Observer have Iridium in their blood and knowing that the beacon is made of solid Iridium, maybe if he touched it, it would cause some sort of negative reaction. Perhaps like when you try to touch the same poles of two magnets, they repel each other.
It IS About Peter
Walter: "Have you ever taken anything that didn't belong to you because it was the right thing to do?" (Talking about taking Peter from the red verse to cure him after his Peter died.)
Peter: "This isn't about me."
Walter: "Maybe it is Peter."(It is because protecting the beacon was the favor September asked of Walter after he saved him and Peter from the lake.)
How Did Moseley Know About The First Beacon Appearance and Robert Bishop?
Moseley(To Henry Jacobson): "I know you were there, the last time."
Moseley(To Peter about Robert Bishop): "Shame you never met him."
Does this suggest that Moseley actually was there to see the first Beacon appearance and to also meet Robert Bishop in person? If he has the ability to travel outside of time like the Observer's perhaps this is not that far fetched of an idea.
Another possibility is that Moseley simply has seen the report about the first beacon appearance from some source and is well versed in the concepts and history of Robert Bishop, however, there are too many similarities between the him and the Observers for this knowledge he has not to be related to time travel.
How the Observer's Read Mind's and Communicate
Walter: "It was as if he knew my thoughts before I did, it was as if he were in my head."
This simple statement by Walter is very helpful in understanding this.
Walter: "You must adjust the way you consider communications, ideas. Ideas can be absorbed through Osmosis, proximity."
The Observers have somehow been able to heighten this concept in such a way that allows them to know your thoughts before you do.
Other Important Quotes
Broyles: "We have recorded him at over three dozen scenes, all of which relate to "The Pattern."
Last edited by MassivelyDynamic; 05-16-2012 at 12:29 PM.
Holy ****. I never considered the idea that September was actually talking to Moseley ... although the phone-call-after-death-thing kinda does take care of that lol.
But what about this consideration: is there any reason to think that the events we see in this episode take place AFTER (chronologically for September that is) some of September's choices in Season 4 ? In other words, is September doing something here that the rest of the team is unaware of ?
I will be very surprised if any parts of the S1-S3 timeline are accessible after the rewrite. The whole point of the rewrite was to cut off that timeline that shoudln't have existed, and its inhabitants, so I really don't think any of this could be happening to September during a point of his personal timeline before S4. It is all part of a shared "past" that transpired but can no longer be accessed.
Hm. Maybe in the original timeline, Peter was significant, not because of anything machine related, but because he was destined to cross Universes and have a child with Olivia. The Pattern cases would have still caused the two universes to meet, etc, and i'm assuming that the Observer invasion was coming. I'm going to go with just September, since his process is still at odds with the rest of the science team.. Still, they may have had the same goal; However, I am unsure why the rest wanted him erased, as that would have stopped Etta from being born. Still, this original timeline would assumedly be when Bell gained his knowledge of the Observers and their coming invasion.
I'm assuming that after September interfered, he traveled forward to see the effects of Peter dying (which was going to lead to Bell succeeding in creating his Universe as we saw in the S4 finale, without Peter there to stop him, unless Bells entire mission was planned to be as is. Still, until Peter was restored, the timeline without him existed (both before he saved, and after his being saved was removed.) It was at this point that September made his deal with Walter after seeing what the future possibly holds. This is the start of Septembers course correcting experiment.
Sorry, just rambling and thinking out loud. Not sure where i'm even heading with this yet.
If the Beacon helps people return to timelines where they have been "Locked out" of, then perhaps Mosley wanted to use it to
"free" someone to travel to a specific timeline.
On the subject of Mosley, consider these lines of dialogue:
Is Walter just speaking in the abstract, or did he know-somehow-that Mosley was not on his own?
Walter has a vague memory of Mosley, and Mosley knows of Robert Bishop. Did Mosley meet Robert and Walter at some point in the past?
On seeing a trailer for "Letters of Transit", I thought one of the soldiers in it was played by Michael Kelly, and I developed a
theory that the future society in it used clone soldiers, and that the man we know as "John Mosley" was one of these
clones sent back to our time. (Mosley as Jango Fett?)
Unfortunately, Michael Kelly was not in "LoT", and my theory of Mosley-the-clone-warrior was "Jossed".
That would have been awesome tie-back to the S1 Massive Dynamic clones hint, that had everyone wondering if Peter was a clone at first.
That would also be a unique Star Wars/Terminator mash up, i have never seen that done before in that way. Awesome. =)
2 ideas wame to my mind after a "post season 4 "rewatch of this one :
- we now know that Bell is aware of observers and their tech (in amber timeline at least) . Could it be that this Mosley guy was trying to get some observer tech for Bell?
- Walter knows what to do with the beacon and he knows that taking care of the beacon is what he has to do for September , even if September never really told him anything about this . I've been wondering if September has put something in Walter's eye, with instructions regarding the beacon, like he did to Peter with the adress.
French speaker and POI or Fringe fan? Join us on http://personofinterest.fra.co/ / http://www.seriefringe.com
That's quite possible...and such a message could have ended up in Walter's subconscious, only emerging when he taps the
Beacon (Walter says it was like "A letter opening in my mind").
Thanks for doing the re watch analysis. Very interesting stuff. I too have watched each season 3 times and I am still picking up clues I would of never sought if of direct relation if not re watching.
@MD I didn't start watching fringe until i bought season 1,2,3 for my wife. My first EP was 4:19. Cool stuff!
Last edited by trancefreak64; 06-17-2012 at 07:44 PM. Reason: reply
You are welcome, I enjoy doing it and seeing how others feel about older episodes. It's interesting because I was not on these forums during the first three seasons, it was not until the fourth that I made an account, so it's just very interesting to hear people's thoughts on those older episodes. Especially with the added information from season 4, makes a re-watch fun because you are looking for connections.
I'm going to make a recap post for that and "The No Brainer" tonight. Then move on to "The Transformation." Should be a lot to analyze in that.
Last edited by MassivelyDynamic; 06-17-2012 at 06:06 PM.
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