"Peter and the Machine" (Chapter 2) (Beyond the Fringe Chapter #2A)

I don't know how anyone else feels about this comic, but I, myself, feel like I have an intense love/hate relationship with it. I love it because, well, it's awesome; we get so much insight into what Peter has gone through since "The Day We Died" (3.22), but it's all so confusing and doesn't make much sense, at least not to me. For example, who is Dian Cecht? Are we ever going to understand who he is and how he seems to know so much about Peter and his life, and why he is wearing a suit in the time period in which he is? Does the latter part of that question have anything to do with the Observers? He says that he is neither Olivia nor "the Bishop," and initially, I had thought that he said "the Bishop" because he had heard Peter say his last name and didn't realize that it was his last name, but I don't think so anymore, not given what knowledge he eventually reveals. Also, now that I have seen the most recent episode, "Novation" (4.05), I notice a potential continuity error. He says to Cecht that the "universe is trying to correct itself by wiping me out," yet he seems to arrive at that realization for the first time in the episode, so unless he has no memory of doing any of this, that is a continuity error most likely, and it can't be said that it's because the comics are not canon; Josh Jackson is writing these A stories.
 
Much like he tells his beloved team in "The Day We Died" (3.22), Peter tells the tribe chief upon whom he stumbles that he has seen the future and that it is worse than anything that he could possibly imagine; it is, in fact, nearly word for the word exactly the same line, which I don't like because it kind of weakens the strength of the line from the season 3 finale, knowing now that it wasn't the first time that he delivered it. I do like the panel of images that we see when he says this, though; we see Olivia with a bullet in her head, we see a picture of what appears to be Red Olivia and Red Lincoln together as Red Olivia loses her baby, so my guess is that when the Redverse was destroyed, Olivia and Lincoln were officially together romantically, and we see a limbless Colonel Broyles, among other horrifying scenes. Not too long after that, we see Sam Weiss, and I am so confused. Is this the Sam Weiss that we know from the series, and if so, where do I even start with questions? What happened to him in the timeline in which he and Peter are in this comic? How did he eventually make it back to his time, and if he didn't, does that mean that he ceased to exist in his time? Is he his own ancestor, and if that's the case, why does he look identical to himself? Everything that we know about genetic science says that that is impossible, but that's where time travel becomes shaky; you have paradoxes that don't make any sense.
 
I certainly hope that he didn't stay in that time and therefore ceased to exist in his time because that would mean that we won't ever see him again. I want answers, and I don't know if we will get them as it is. Peter, in this comic, entrusts Sam with the First People's information, assigning him to protect it and to "tell our story," so why doesn't Sam tell Peter and Olivia and Walter that they are the First People? Why, in "The Last Sam Weiss" (3.21), does he tell Olivia that he is not supposed to intervene? What about the 6955 kHz frequency? Obviously, it ties into the mythology, but how? Why are there two boxes (two Machines, for that matter)? Peter soon jumps to a scene in which he is at the Statue of Liberty, and an agent tells him that the world is falling apart. What time period is this and which universe? Is this meant to be the scene from "The Last Sam Weiss" when Peter goes to the Statue of Liberty and thinks that he's in the Redverse? He then encounters September, and September says that he has to come with him. Peter replies" not yet," which tells me that he knows he's going to be obliterated from existence when he's done, so, again, why doesn't he understand that now? September then tells Peter that Peter is the last piece of the Machine, which reminds me of Harry Potter. I give this comic 8.5 kHz; it's very telling but even more confusing.

1 comment:

  1. "Also, now that I have seen the most recent episode, "Novation" (4.05), I notice a potential continuity error. He says to Cecht that the "universe is trying to correct itself by wiping me out," yet he seems to arrive at that realization for the first time in the episode"
    Ok, here, the continuity is fine. The Peter that talks to Cecht is the Peter from the Future, the time-traveler. The mainstream Peter does not share memories with the time traveler Peter. When the mainstream Peter says that he has seen the future, he's refering to the brief moment in which he awoke in the future. I repeat, HE DOES NOT SHARE MEMORIES WITH TIME TRAVELER PETER.
    Again, when you say "Peter tells the tribe chief upon whom he stumbles that he has seen the future and that it is worse than anything that he could possibly imagine; it is, in fact, nearly word for the word exactly the same line, which I don't like because it kind of weakens the strength of the line from the season 3 finale,..." The Peter that talks to the chief is the time traveler, and the one that talks to the team is mainstream Peter. He doesn't realise that he said that twice.

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