Fringe: "Ability" 2/10 - Grading & Discussion

[Mr Light]

Holy crap. This was actually a really interesting episode that blew the lid off the show and introduced what it was really about! So back in the 70s, Walter Bishop discovered the multiverse and that visitors from a parallel universe were crossing over into our world and were going to destroy it, so he wrote a book about it, then lost his memory and got institutionalized. And now the "bad guys" (Massive Dynamic I assume) are training humans to be psychic warriors to fight the parallel-humans. I assume the Observer (who I finally noticed in a cameo!!!) is a good guy parallel human. I doubt anyone else is aware of this but Jeff Smith's new comic RASL has the same premise.

 

[Chris3123]

What are the chances that Peter is actually who they're after, not Olivia? The lights did turn off when he returned.

Nah, I don't think so. Remember, at the end it was pretty much confirmed that Olivia was indeed injected with that drug cortexiphan when she was younger. Her ability to turn off the lights would obviously be due to the drugs effects.

 

[auntiehill]

^I wondered if maybe it was Peter too, but the revelation that she had in fact been given the drug kinda clinched it.

I was wondering if the question of the manuscript was not that Walter wrote it--but when. Since he didn't seem to recognize the text, maybe it's something he has yet to write? If people from a parallel and/or future time are crossing over, maybe "future Walter" wrote it? Of course, knowing Walter, maybe he wrote it in a crazed state and doesn't remember.

I'm glad they are back to "the pattern." The last few episodes were a bit flat. I would, however, like to see a little more character development for Peter, Astrid and Olivia. I mean, she's the lead and we know very, very little about her.

 

[Cartoonist]

that telegraphed that this manuscript was written by alternate universe-Walter (who's probably a few years older, it's probably 2012 or something in that universe), and would have eventually been written in this universe by our Walter.

According to the show, the manuscript was already written in our universe some time ago and then it disappeared. This means someone in our universe has written it about a coming war with an alternate universe.

Throughout the episode Walter seems to know what Transporting side effects their are and since it's not death and Jones goes missing, I'm guessing that people who are transported are eventually sucked into that alternate universe.

Couple that with the way the letter "Y" is offset a bit and how Walter starts to suspect he himself wrote it and verifies this by testing his theory out on his own typewriter, it seems pretty clear that either Walter wrote it or someone else wrote it on that typewriter.
.

That doesn't change anything for me. In fact, the matching "y" virtually guarantees that the manuscript wasn't written in our universe because it vaguely references "unnatural events," probably the ones that have happened during the course of season 1, and Walter would've remembered if he'd just written it. It stands to reason alternate-universe Walter has the same typewriter with the same offset "y." And since Walter created the teleportation device as a means of traveling through time, the manuscript could wind up in our Walter's past at any point. For all we know, in this season's finale, alternate Walter might try sending his newly-written manuscript to our Walter in the past, and miss by a few decades. Then it'll disappear because he retrieves it and sends it to the right time, to a place where only his trusted son would know to look. Which would explain how it conveniently ends up in our Walter's possession. It's a message in a bottle from one Walter to another. Maybe alternate Walter even wrote it on that typewriter intending for our Walter to notice the "y," put two and two together and know the manuscript can be trusted.

I don't understand why only one universe can survive, though. Maybe I missed that explanation.

 

[LutherSloan]

I wonder if the head of 'Massive Dynamic' got all of his advanced technology from the alternate universe? It would explain how their technology is so far advanced compared to everything else.

I hope someday we get to meet the guy, and he is played by a recognizable actor, like a Donald Sutherland or something. They've been talking about him since the pilot, so sooner or later he has to make an appearance.

I am still not sure how the Observer fits into this, except that he's probably from another reality/universe. He was very odd when first introduced in the diner, which leads me to believe he is not a normal human.

 

[Non Sync]

I was going to ask why Fringe would be off the air during February sweeps, but then I figured Fox would run 50 straight hours of American Idol if they could.

Feb Sweeps was delayed until March due to the scheduled analog shutoff.

 

[Hyperspace05]

Very cool! Lots of interesting hints in this episode, even though it did not "click" with me as well as the last show before the last hiatus. A Above Average for sure, almost excellent.

This multiverse idea certainly explains a lot - especially about the Observer.

One thing about the teleportation device... what if it actually doesn't teleport across time and space - instead it only teleports across alternate universes. Hmmm...

 

[Angry Angel]

^I wondered if maybe it was Peter too, but the revelation that she had in fact been given the drug kinda clinched it.

Who knows what Walter might have done to his son in the past. If he wrote, or will write the manuscript, he might have a big influence on how his own flesh and blood might be playing a big role in the whole thing.

 

[Gatekeeper]

The mere thought of parallel Earths existing next to our own — no more than a quantum filament away, yet so distant — is intoxicatingly exciting to think about. Sure, there's bound to be horrors out there — a timeline where, say, Nazi Germany triumphed — but also realities where things turned out better.

Now, if only our physicists could prove they existed! That would really open things up ... not only would you have actual space with all its moons, planets, stars and galaxies to explore, but it'd also have the "parallel" actual space with its own collection of stellar goods!

Gatekeeper

 

[Irvy]

This is just a hunch...

Bell could have written the manuscript, we don't know that this is Walter's personal typewriter or if it's just the typewriter that's been with him for years - it could have been Bell's, or just used by Bell.

I think the horrible side effects leave you bald and unable to taste anything but the strongest of flavours. I remember seeing on youtube an interview with some of the writers who said there's a very good reason why so many of the characters are bald (and I've a very strong suspicion that the one armed lady is wearing a wig!).

 

[Roshi]

I never paid attention to her name (since the series inception) but I finally got the name of Walter's assistant. Farnsworth! Yeah, I know, boo me!

 

[blockaderunner]

I never paid attention to her name (since the series inception) but I finally got the name of Walter's assistant. Farnsworth!

This was the first time I heard her last name. I justy know her as Astrid. And she's cute to boot!

 

[Icemizer]

So Alternate Universe Walter(AUW) who is running faster in time came to our Universe to stop our Walter(OW) from doing something dangerous to our time. Whatever he did to OW caused him to lose his memory(perhaps done on purpose) and also got AUW stuck in our Universe. This also explains how OW saw himself in the instituion which I am sure we will find is owned by massive dynamics. No doubt there are many other scientists in the institution which could have done dangerous things. The Watcher is here to watch over OW and Peter who his Universe sees as the only hope of stopping AUW. I love multiple universes.

 

[LutherSloan]

So, was Mr. Jones sucked into the Alternate Universe at the end of the episode? Or did he Hulk out?

 

[Mr Light]

I really think the implication was that Walter himself wrote the book. I don't think the parallel universe would be so incredibly similar to ours that the same typewriter would have the same wonky "Y" key... Also I think the implication was Jones was sucked into the parallel universe not that he smashed his way out of the room, but that one is up to interpretation.

 

[Rygel XIX]

I really think the implication was that Walter himself wrote the book. I don't think the parallel universe would be so incredibly similar to ours that the same typewriter would have the same wonky "Y" key... Also I think the implication was Jones was sucked into the parallel universe not that he smashed his way out of the room, but that one is up to interpretation.

My understanding about parallel universes is that at any given time, more than one outcome is possible for a certain event (for example - flip a coin - heads or tails). At this point, all outcomes actually do happen, and proceed to happen in a "parallel universe". One would assume then, that there are an infinite number of "multiverses".

With the world of Fringe, for example, let's assume for a moment (for argument's sake), that there are two main parallel universes "at war" - A) the universe that we've seen week-to-week and B) the "other" universe.
From the above argument, there must have been some point in time that universes A and B were one - it's my guess that in THIS universe, there was a typewriter with the "out-of-line" Y - this being the case, from what we've seen so far, we can't assume what typewriter was used to type the manuscript - the one from A or the one from B (or even before they split)...

Loving this show!

 

[The Habs Fan]

I finally watched this episode and I can safely say that this is the best episode of Fringe so far (edging out Safe). I'm intrigued by this multiple universe storyline that is starting. Why oh why is Fox not airing anymore new episodes until April?

 

[Captain Fine]

This is the first episode of Fringe that made me want to come online and rate it and see what others thought. I find it fascinating that Walter might have written it, whether it be in the past, the future or alternate Walter, it's highly likely it was some him.

Looking forward to more!

 

[TheArsenal]

This is the first episode of Fringe that made me want to come online and rate it and see what others thought.

That's the funny thing about this show. It is one of the more (the most?) watched genre show currently on, full of shadowy mystery and plot twists, but generates very little discussion here. Which must mean while lots of people are watching, they aren't passionate about it one way or another. I was fairly lukewarm at the start myself.

More episodes like this could change that. This was - easily in my book - the strongest episode of the season, opening up any number of fascinating questions. I'm not sure how its going to play out, but throwing open the doors to a possible multiverse, which seems likely based on the typewriter evidence, has me hooked.