When Redverse Olivia pours a couple of drinks in the kitchen, one for Frank and one for herself, I, at first, thought that she was drinking alcohol, and my reaction was that she was drinking in Frank's presence, so it would have raised a few questions. Firstly, would it be because she developed a taste of alcohol while she was here, since she most likely found some in Olivia's kitchen? That's a serious question, by the way. Secondly, why wouldn't Frank have said anything? He knows that she doesn't drink. Would it have a continuity error? I really doubted it, because the very fact that that line was written into "Over There" told me that the writers arekeeping track of Olivia's behaviors vs. Bolivia's behaviors; something like that wouldn't have been overlooked, especially since Charlie's infestation is consistent. It was, however, not alcohol, but water. As The Fringe Podcast predicted it would, poor Charlie's team makes fun of Charlie because the case has to do with bugs, and man, are those bugs nasty, especially by the end of the episode when they are ridiculously huge (I also want to point out, however irrelevant that it may be, that Silva looks a lot like Roland David Barrett, the villain from episode 3.09, "Marionette," and I even thought that it was the same guy for a bit, which would have been pretty cool).
Something that I really like about this episode is that even though most (myself not included) would consider this episode "stand-alone," there are elements of even the case itself that really help move the story along, or at least give us some insight into the mythology. For example, we find out that sheep died out ten years ago, and that provides us with a bit more information regarding life "over there," and I would imagine that the extinction of the sheep has a lot to do with the Blight, the same event that we can assume caused the rarity of coffee and avocados. According to this series, sheep are genetically closer to humans than goats, and that really surprises me, because since sheep and goats look more alike (I even used to confuse them when I was a young child), it would seem to make sense that sheep would be genetically closer to goats than humans. I don't know how accurate the science is in this episode, but since Fringe is my favorite series, I tend to make a habit of trusting most of what I "learn" from it. I absolutely love the "bug girl" (I can't recall her name, or even if it was even revealed) that takes a liking to Charlie; she is so funny, and admittedly, Bolivia is really funny, too, when she pokes fun at him (which I guess means that Charlie is not married "over there").
Silva is your typical "mad scientist," incredibly mad with power. Throughout the episode, I couldn't help but wonder where his true intentions lie. Does he sincerely want to save lives (sacrificing some in the process, of course, so don't get me wrong; it's ultimately not noble by any means), or does he just care about power and recognition? I ultimately decided on the latter, because first of all, he demonstrates a great deal of arrogance at the diner, and secondly, his final words before he dies are highly indicative of that. "Make sure they spell my name right." With that, is he successful, and if so, how so? Also, what purpose is there for pretending to have infected Bolivia? Is it just to distract them in order to allow the bugs to take effect, knowing that if he tells the truth, they will attempt to save him? That seems logical, except he says that he doesn't expect any other agents to arrive, despite Bolivia's bluff that some will arrive. Silva definitely engaged me, and I find him to be a very interesting villain, mostly because of that question,what exactly are his intentions? As I said, I think that he wants power, but as a genius, there were a number of ways that he could have acquired it, and he chooses to try to save a great deal of lives.
More insight into the mythology of the series is the very fact that Silva is trying to save lives by curing diseases, and time and time again, we have seen evidence that disease is a much bigger problem on the Other Side than it is here, so it makes sense that someone would be trying to alleviate that, which we know that Frank is trying to do, and he was so funny with Alter-Astrid this week. "Where can I get one of you?" Astrid's response is simply hilarious; the expression on her face is priceless, and, of course, Lincoln is so jealous. My previous notion (based on the revelation that he had once kissed Redverse Olivia, unaware, as he claims, that she had had a boyfriend) was that he was, more or less, over how he used to feel about Bolivia, but obviously, he is not. Despite his having promised Frank that he would not ruin the surprise, he does exactly that, telling her that Frank plans to ask her to marry him, and that makes me angry, just because it isn't any of his business and because he isn't aware of her feelings for Peter, but don't get me wrong; Lincoln is one of my favorite characters, so it isn't like I'm really angry with him. It just isn't cool by any means. He is clever to think of doing what he does with the nitrogen, though.
Unfortunately, however, Frank calls everything off when he discovers the truth, and guess how that is? Wait for it. That's right. I was right; Bolivia is pregnant, so in "The Firefly" (3.10), when September tells Peter that it must be difficult being a father, he is not merely referring to Walter. The twist this episode did not surprise me, because when September said that, Bolivia being pregnant is immediately how I interpreted it, and I am really glad to see Bolivia suffering, because she deserves it; she is partially to blame for the pain that our Olivia is feeling right now, so it's only fair, and for that small amount of time that we see her broken down, she totally looks more like her counterpart, so it stands to reason that her parallel is coming to light, which could be why we see her drinking. Walternate tells her that she has whatever resources that she needs, but what exactly are his intentions? Initially, I figured that he is referring to issues such as hospital bills and any needs to take maternity leaves, but after my second time watching the episode, I came to the conclusion that he also has a wagenda (courtesy of The Fringe Podcast) because of the scene before it during which Brandon tells him that he may know how to get Peter back.
Walternate also tells Bolivia that her position within Fringe Division will stay intact, but what does he mean by this? Is he simply speaking to a strong work ethic, assuring her that he will not insist that she take time off? Perhaps, he figures that Bolivia would be worried that her having gotten close to Peter and having had sexual relations with him was a breach of protocol; I don't know, but I wouldn't think so, because I would have assumed that since she was pretending to be Olivia, that would have been encouraged. Then again, Walternate tells his mistress (yes, that's right; yet another flaw to add to his list of many, since he is, after all, married) that he hadn't factored in "the girl," so he must not have known that the two were in love. He also tells her that "he [Peter] was here of his own choosing," which isn't entirely true; Walternate knew what he had just discovered and took advantage of it. I just feel like the writers, despite their having said that they don't want us to see good and evil, are not doing a very good job of portraying any kind of gray area, as Walternate's mannerisms are very sinister, as are Brandon's mannerisms.
We learn in this episode that the final piece of the Weapon was sent over, but who sent it over, and how? Was it the man who administers treatment to the Shopkeeper in "Entrada" (3.08), since he was seen as being in possession of the piece? Is he a Shapeshifter? If so, how did he get that piece over here? We do see a bit of morality shine through Walternate in this episode, since he refuses to administer Cortexiphan to children, but that is just about deconstructed when we see that he is cheating on Elizabeth. I find it really interesting how, twice now, we have seen Walternate repeat words precisely the way that Bell once did. In a previous episode, he says, "Only those who risk going too far find out how far they can go," which Bell once said to Walter. In this episode, we find out that Walternate's notion is that the mind "is infinitely capable at birth," and Nina uses those exact words when speaking to Olivia in "Ability" (1.14), which she says was Bell's theory. Perhaps, Bell shared some ideas with Walternate while he was "over there." I really like this episode and give it 8.5 "In Yo' Face"s to Darrell (listeners of the Fringe Podcast surely get that). It reminds me a lot of the X-Files episode "Leonard Betts" (4.12), because while the case itself is "stand-alone," it leads to a major, startling revelation regarding Scully's health. I give this episode 8 "in yo' face"s to Darrell; he knows why.
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