Fringe 3/23 Spoiler

Well, back when he said that Mark Valley was also a regular on the show. Sure they killed him off fast, but it sure seemed at first like they were going to bring him back, what with Massive Dynamic doing something with his body, Liv seeing him in her head, etc, but like many things they just sort of dropped it and he wound up going on to other shows.

Shame we never got to see the red universe version of the character, I would’ve liked that but since he and Anna Torv split in real life, I understand why that may not have been possible.

Huh, never knew they were together. Married 2008 to 2010.

There was a brief period where Peter was involved with some thugs and one of them was abusing his old girlfriend, but that got dropped pretty quickly.

Even if Anna and Mark stayed together in real life I have a feeling Olivia and Peter would still get together. It’s standard operating procedure in most TV shows that the male and female leads get involved romantically.

The Fringe writers have a habit of dropping things (see: Religious FBI agent and Broyles and Nina’s secret relationship.) I actually don’t mind it because instead on dragging some plot on to a pointless resolution, they’re basically going “Yeah, that one wasn’t going anywhere, let’s move on.”

Also, at least they did it in the beginning. I think by the second season they stopped dropping plot lines.

Yeah. Whenever you notice something like that, a bad robot did it.

ETA: Don’t get me wrong. I love Fringe. I just don’t expect threads to be necessarily tied up.

Some things are good left as mysteries, such as if the boy in “Inner Child” is related to the Observers or not.

But sometimes it’s sloppy. In The Dreamscape two criminal associate’s talk about Peter being back in town. You expect something something to happen, but then nothing does.

Come to think of it, at the end of “Lysergic Acid Diethylamide” (where they go in Oliva’s mind and become cartoons) she draws a picture of a man she’s sure is going to kill her. Has he come up yet?

I love this show but I’m really getting confused. Would any dopers be willing to type up a brief summary of what has happened so far?

I thought the episode was a bit of a letdown. The case of the week, especially, was kind of dull, which was kind of a surprise given that Michael Massee was the villain, and he’s usually such a crackling ball of crazy. I did kind of like the scene where he was scrubbing out his little death chamber; I guess that I enjoyed the contrast between performing experiments on the cutting edge of science and being stuck with common drudgery. He should have sprung for a self-cleaning death chamber, really. It would have paid for itself over time.

You mean for all four seasons so far? OK then, leaving out a few plots so a not to ruin the flow of the summary.
Season 1

[ul]
[li]Olivia gets Peter so that the Fringe division can spring Walter from a mental institution.[/li]

[li]Walter helps them solve mysteries, many, in the first season, caused by experiments that he did.[/li]

[li]David Robert Jones breaks free from a German prison, gathers some equipment, and starts opening up portals to the other side. After finding a suitable location Peter shuts down the portal while Jones is partially inside, cutting Jones in half, killing him.[/li]
Meanwhile a lot of bad things have been happening and attributed to Massive Dynamic and specifically William Bell. Olivia is relentlessly pursuing Bell. Nina grants Olivia a meeting with Bell, so long as it’s in secret. Olivia ends up meeting him in his office in the twin towers on the other side.
[/ul]

Season 2

[ul]
[li]Olivia comes back to this universe in a violent fashion and is taken to a hospital.[/li]

[li]She recovers but remembers her meeting with Bell in fragments.[/li]

[li]A shape shifter kills and replaces Charley. Olivia kills him after a couple of episodes.[/li]

[li]Out of the hospital Olivia gets help recovering from Sam Weiss, who is very mysterious.[/li]

[li]The shape shifters leader’s (Thomas Jerome Newton) head is placed on a new body, reviving him.[/li]

[li]We learn that Walter had three parts of his brain removed, which is why he’s not totally sane.[/li]

[li]It is officially revealed that Peter is from the other side. He gets pissed at Walter for never telling him and blames him for his (alternate) mother’s suiside.[/li]

[li]Newton finds a way to let Walternate come over to our universe where Peter freely goes with him back to the other universe.[/li]

[li]When Olivia was a child, she and other kids were experimented on with Cortexiphan to give them super abilities because Walter and William feared a coming war with the other side. Now as adults some are gathered and go with Olivia and Walter to the other side to retrieve Peter, using Oliva’s power to cross universes.[/li]

[li]On the other side Walternate is studying part of a device and wants Peter’s help. Olivia finally finds him and shows him that the device is a doomsday weapon that Walternate wants to use to destroy our universe.[/li]

[li]Peter goes to leave back to our universe, but Olivia gets replaced by Fauxlivia. Bell has used unstable methods of traveling between universes, his body explodes giving them the energy they need to go home.[/li][/ul]

Season 3

[ul]
[li]Fauxlivia infiltrates the Fringe division and takes over shape shifter operations from Newton.[/li]

[li]Both universes Fringe divisions go to find fragments of the machine in their universe.[/li]

[li]Fauxlivia has sex with Peter and gets pregnant.[/li]

[li]In the other universe Olivia is conditioned to think that she is Fauxlivia. Peter appearing in visions tells her who she really is. She regains her identity and gets alt Bryoles to help get her home. He gets killed because of it.[/li]

[li]Fauxlivia is found out but escapes back to her universe while being taken into custody.[/li]

[li]After the machine is complete Walternate uses blood from Fauxlivia’s baby to activate the machine (because Fauxlivia’s baby has some of Peter’s DNA it can interact with the machine, which was built for Peter).[/li]

[li]The machine in our universe goes wacky. Peter attempts to enter but is knocked out when repelled by a force field. He recovers in a hospital and goes back to the machine. Olivia uses her Cortexiphan given telekinetic ability to open the force field and allow Peter to enter the machine.[/li]

[li]His consciousness is transferred to his body 15 years in the future. There he learns that he destroyed the other side which everybody blamed Walter for and he’s been in prison.[/li]

[li]Destructive worm holes leading to millions of years in the past have been opening up. They are caused by Walternate, the sole survivor from the other side. Very bitter about the loss of his universe he plans to destroy this one.[/li]

[li]Walter realizes that he sent the machine back in time though one of the worm holes. he also figures out that if he can get Peter’s consciousness to travel from 15 years ago until now, he could make a different decision.[/li]

[li]Back in our time, on Liberty island, where the machine is, the alternate Fringe team appears next to our own. Peter gets out of the machine. He tells everybody that he created a bridge to allow everybody from both sides to work on a solution together, instead of sacrificing one side to save the other. He then gets erased from time.[/li][/ul]

Season 4

[ul]
[li]Peter appears to Walter and Olivia as voices and images in their minds. They freak out no knowing who he is. He eventually appears in human form.[/li]

[li]He tries to get Walter to help him go home to his time and his Olivia, but Walter is cold and distant. He tries to get Walternate to help him. Walternate is friendly and willing, but cannot find a way to get Peter home.[/li]

[li]Walter warms up to Peter. Olivia starts getting memories of Olivia from the old timeline that Peter is from. Walter and Lincoln (who has a crush on Olivia) blame Peter.[/li]

[li]We are introduced to a new type of shape shifter which is a danger to both universes. They are revealed to be the product of David Robert Jones, who is still alive in this universe.[/li]

[li]Peter learns from the Observer named September that this is his world and that Olivia is his Olivia.[/li][/ul]

Thank you - that was quite impressive and good to have as a reference.

With so much happening on this show it’s difficult at times to remember everything that’s happened.

I’m glad you liked it. Like I said, I left a lot out, but I tried to leave in the important information for the over-all story arcs for each season.

Click your heels together three times and say “There is no place like home”.

And you will find that you were always really at home, Dorothy.