Olivias neck tattoo

[Webbster]

After being rather heavily-handedly shown during the episode, I am curious as to what the purpose of the tattoo will be.

I originally thought that the tattoo would be used to blow Bolivias cover, however that clearly did not come to pass. It was used to great effect in the latest episode as a physical manifestation of the violation of identity that Olivia has undergone both on the other side, and during her return to our universe.

Surely it will be used again, as it seems to have received quite a bit of screen-time for such a minor detail. Perhaps it is possible to track someone using the tattoo (however, this does seem unlikely due to the subdermal implant they were tracking Alt-Broyles with.) Or perhaps it emits some kind of slight radiation, to enable identification of who is Bolivia, and who is Olivia.

[RoughDiamonds]

I had some similar thought as yours but after seeing Marionette, I think it serves to again, remind Olivia how her live has been invaded by BOlivia. She's been "branded" in a sense by her.

Goes also to the theme where she feels that the folks closest to her did not see her spirit but saw BOlivia's. Also speaks to Olivia's insecurity, particularly now she is back and is trying to reassert her own identity.

[dcwombat]

I had some similar thought as yours but after seeing Marionette, I think it serves to again, remind Olivia how her live has been invaded by BOlivia. She's been "branded" in a sense by her.

Goes also to the theme where she feels that the folks closest to her did not see her spirit but saw BOlivia's. Also speaks to Olivia's insecurity, particularly now she is back and is trying to reassert her own identity.

LOL "invaded by BOlivia" sorry but that struck me as hilarious

[Albert]

After being rather heavily-handedly shown during the episode, I am curious as to what the purpose of the tattoo will be.

I think the tattoo can serve multiple purposes.

1. It is a symbol of Bolivia's identity. When Bolivia first comes over here, it tells us that the two Olivia's have swapped places.
2. It is a visible "scar" left behind by Olivia's mind rape in the other universe, and serves to remind Olivia of that experience.
3. It is a symbol of Bolivia's memories which were injected into Olivia, and are still there.
4. It seems to be a symbol of Bolivia's love for Frank because it matches the tattoo on Frank's back. The fact that Bolivia removed her tattoo to complete her mission may symbolise the fact that she has sacrificed her love for Frank during her mission. The fact that the tattoo is still on Olivia's neck, may or may not symbolise that she has inherited from Bolivia some of those same feelings of love for Frank that Bolivia once had.
5. It may still be used as an identifying mark in future episodes. None of Bolivia's friends or family know about the Olivia swap. They think Olivia is their Olivia. Bolivia has now come back from her mission, but she does not know what has been happening while she was gone. This may cause the Fringe team to doubt her identity, and if Frank notices the lack of a tattoo on the back of her neck, that will look very suspicious, especially if people already doubt her identity.

Surely it will be used again, as it seems to have received quite a bit of screen-time for such a minor detail.

I think it probably will be used again, but who knows? Anyway, I will be disappointed if they DON'T use it again.

[Cortexiphan]

I think the tattoo can serve multiple purposes.

1. It is a symbol of Bolivia's identity. When Bolivia first comes over here, it tells us that the two Olivia's have swapped places.
2. It is a visible "scar" left behind by Olivia's mind rape in the other universe, and serves to remind Olivia of that experience.
3. It is a symbol of Bolivia's memories which were injected into Olivia, and are still there.
   
4. It seems to be a symbol of Bolivia's love for Frank because it matches the tattoo on Frank's back. The fact that Bolivia removed her tattoo to complete her mission may symbolise the fact that she has sacrificed her love for Frank during her mission. The fact that the tattoo is still on Olivia's neck, may or may not symbolise that she has inherited from Bolivia some of those same feelings of love for Frank that Bolivia once had.
   
5. It may still be used as an identifying mark in future episodes. None of Bolivia's friends or family know about the Olivia swap. They think Olivia is their Olivia. Bolivia has now come back from her mission, but she does not know what has been happening while she was gone. This may cause the Fringe team to doubt her identity, and if Frank notices the lack of a tattoo on the back of her neck, that will look very suspicious, especially if people already doubt her identity.

Now that is scary... *shivers*

[Albert]

Now that is scary... *shivers*

Yeah. I think Olivia will have lots of "issues" to resolve. She has suffered psychological damage as a result of her mind rape, and it may take a long time for this to heal. Poor Olivia. I'm surprised she is doing as well as she is considering her experiences.

Of course, Olivia is a very strong person, psychologically speaking. She will figure things out in time.

[jophan]

There is no way Broyles should have allowed her to return to duty without a thorough psych eval. OTOH, doing so is such a TV trope.

[Six-fingered Girl]

There is no way Broyles should have allowed her to return to duty without a thorough psych eval. OTOH, doing so is such a TV trope.

And Fringe *never* uses those!

[altwally]

It was easy enough for "them" to put the tattoo on Ourlivia when she was captured, probably just as easy for "them" to put the tattoo back on to Bolivia..

[jophan]

I could see Olivia going to Nina to have it removed, then freaking out when she calls in Brandon.