Looking Back - 1.14 Ability

[Fringified]

So I just rewatched 1.14 Ability, one of my favorite episodes from S1, and considering how far the storyline has come, I had a few questions and comments. I can't remember everything (I'll have to rewatch the episode), but here were my most memorable thoughts:

(1) The ZFT Manuscript. If I remember correctly, Walternate told us in the S2 finale, or early on in S3, that he was the author of the manuscript. But if this is so, is that the same manuscript as the one we saw in S1? I don't think it can be, because the manuscript, according to Olivia, was published in our universe. And as we saw from the truck incident in 1.20 TMTOOE, the truck constructed in the Redverse was not registered in our universe. This leads me to believe that there are two copies of the ZFT manuscript. We know that Walternate wrote the one in the Redverse.

So who wrote the manuscript from our universe? Was in Walter? Or William Bell? I'm still inclined to believe it was William Bell; I think Walter would have remembered by now if he had wrote it.

(2) Olivia's Jacksonville trials. Nina Sharp told Olivia that they were conducted on a military base in Jacksonville. The daycare that Olivia stayed at was at a military base, right? Also, I have some confusion with the timeline, which may be due to simple writers' errors.

Olivia said that in 1981, she was 3 years old, living in Jacksonville with her father.
Nina said that in 1983, William Bell shut down the Cortexiphan trials due to their unsuccess.
Walter kidnapped Peter in 1985.
3.15 Subject 13 obviously took place in/after 1985.

The first mistake I see is that (1) the trials were definitely not shut down, unless Bell just recorded that they were shut down, but kept them going. (2) If they were shut down, it wasn't due to a lack of success, seeing as though Olivia gave way to some major breakthroughs in Walter's work.

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(3) One thing that really muddle me was Jones's allegiance. Flashback to S1. Mitchell Loeb spazzed about how Olivia had no idea who the two sides were; he was angry that she had killed his wife, claiming that she had "no idea what you've done." He also declared that Jones was "just part of the army," leading us to believe that Jones was working for someone of a higher power, allegedly within the ZFT Organization, which the writers pretty much forgot about after Jones died.

So. In 1.14 Ability, it is clear that Jones is trying to activate/utilize subjects of Walter and Bell. We know from the S1 finale that Jones had worked for Bell, so perhaps Jones had access to Bell's work, knew about the trials, and when Jones sought revenge against Bell for failing to see that he was "special," it's possible that Jones wanted to use Bell's own test subjects to help him open a hole into another universe. How Jones knew that Bell was in the Redverse is unclear.

So what was Jones's allegiance? If Mitchell Loeb freaked out about "the two sides," the only two sides that come to mind are our universe and the other side. Jones was well aware of the interuniversal war, so was he trying to stop it? I don't believe so, considering he was willing to cross to the Other Side, having clear repercussions on both worlds. So what was ZFT doing? The storyline seems to have ended with Jones's death. If ZFT's reign of terror stopped at Jones's failure to reach William Bell, then I guess it is assumed that this was their only mission: to show Bell their progress.

Hmm... Just something to ponder about!

[Ellie]

I just rewatched the whole first season during the last weeks and I noticed the exact same thing. I had always hoped that all the loose ends would be taken up again at the time. Then I almost forgot about them.

I couldn't believe that Jones only wanted personal revenge. I mean the ZFT thing seemed to be so important during the whole season. They were introduced as basically the main villains in the show and then Jones died and we never heard of them again... Quite underwhelming.

I also thought it would be nice to see more of the cortexiphan activation tests. They seemed fun

[Albert]

(1) The ZFT Manuscript.

There are two ZFT documents. One was written by Walternate in the Red Universe in 1995. The other was written by William Bell in the Blue Universe in about 1992, around the same time time Newton was sent to our universe by Walternate.

(2) Olivia's Jacksonville trials.

The trials began in 1981 when Olivia was 3 years old, and ended in 1983 when she was about five. Olivia had her first "pyrokinetic event" where she burned an entire room during these years. In 1985, Walter began his experiments with the cortexiphan kids again because he needed to find a safe way to send Peter back to his own universe.

(3) One thing that really muddle me was Jones's allegiance.

William Bell founded the ZFT organization around 1992, give or take a few years. He did this because Walternate was beginning to design biomechanical hybrid soldiers like Newton to invade our universe. Walter was in a mental ward by this time, and Bell needed help to fight the invasion. So he wrote the ZFT manuscript, and founded the ZFT organization. Jones was obviously recruited into this organization, and eventually became one of its leaders. However, Jones developed a personal agenda of his own which was not sanctioned by Bell. Exactly what this agenda was, we do not know, but it seems to have involved a feeling that Bell had not given him enough recognition for his superior intellect, and a need to prove to Bell how "special" he was.

[Residents Fan]

William Bell founded the ZFT organization around 1992, give or take a few years. He did this because Walternate was beginning to design biomechanical hybrid soldiers like Newton to invade our universe. Walter was in a mental ward by this time, and Bell needed help to fight the invasion. So he wrote the ZFT manuscript, and founded the ZFT organization. Jones was obviously recruited into this organization, and eventually became one of its leaders. However, Jones developed a personal agenda of his own which was not sanctioned by Bell. Exactly what this agenda was, we do not know, but it seems to have involved a feeling that Bell had not given him enough recognition for his superior intellect, and a need to prove to Bell how "special" he was.

Something to be noted; in "There's More Than One of Everything", Nina explains that Jones was dismissed from Massive Dyanamic but tells Olivia "the details are not important". Was she keeping something about the Jones-Bell relationship under wraps?

[trancefreak64]

I found this in the warehouse where Jones was in the chamber. I posted in the general area but, make what you want it appears to be what I think it is. The drawing on Olivia's head shows a marker where 2 bullets have already sent her to her demise concluding all episodes. Mhh Bell drew it for Dr. Jones as a reference?
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