# Fringe Series Finale January 18 2013 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 18, 2013, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fringe-series-finale-january-18-2013/647645 "2013-01-18T19:53:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fringe-series-finale-january-18-2013/647645/1 "2013-01-18T19:53:09Z")
Tonight. I hope they do a good job with it. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fringe-series-finale-january-18-2013/647645/2 "2013-01-19T01:56:49Z")
Open spoilers start in the next post. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fringe-series-finale-january-18-2013/647645/3 "2013-01-19T01:57:51Z")
Uh, were Fauxlivia and handsome-young-agent-boy supposed to have aged 20 years? Fauxlivia had a streak of grey in her hair, but handsome-young-agent-boy looked the same as when we last saw him. ??? ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fringe-series-finale-january-18-2013/647645/4 "2013-01-19T02:23:10Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Uh, were Fauxlivia and handsome-young-agent-boy supposed to have aged 20 years? Fauxlivia had a streak of grey in her hair, but handsome-young-agent-boy looked the same as when we last saw him. > > ??? I said the same thing! “that’s two decades of aging? REALLY?” ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fringe-series-finale-january-18-2013/647645/5 "2013-01-19T02:50:55Z")
“You are my very favorite thing, Peter. My very favorite thing.” John Noble should have won an Emmy every year this show has been on. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fringe-series-finale-january-18-2013/647645/6 "2013-01-19T03:03:08Z")
How did eliminating the Observers not cancel out everything? I mean, wouldn’t Peter never have come over and so forth? How did it conveniently just set time back to Etta running towards them and so forth? It is something to do with the year 2015? Like, an anomaly would occur there. I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fringe-series-finale-january-18-2013/647645/7 "2013-01-19T03:06:07Z")
Why did the kid get off the train? They needed a plot development to fill the penultimate episode? ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fringe-series-finale-january-18-2013/647645/8 "2013-01-19T03:07:18Z")
WTH? How did it reset to Etta’s childhood? The reason Walter didnt cure his original son was because of the observer, so wiping out the Observers means that Peter never crossed over… So Original Peter and Olivia still had everything the same? WTH? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fringe-series-finale-january-18-2013/647645/9 "2013-01-19T03:12:32Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > WTH? How did it reset to Etta’s childhood? The reason Walter didnt cure his original son was because of the observer, so wiping out the Observers means that Peter never crossed over… So Original Peter and Olivia still had everything the same? WTH? My wife and I have been asking this over and over and over since it looked like it was leading this way. I think(seriously, I’m not sure) that Walter was explaining that some kind of anomaly would occur…in 2015. This was when they were all standing around discussing the future time travel plan. So did things occur as we saw up to 2015 and then shifted off into an alternate timeline? That moment where Peter turned back and Etta joined him at the end is the start of a new timeline. Does this mean they did know Walter? And Walter did pull Peter over and so forth? ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fringe-series-finale-january-18-2013/647645/10 "2013-01-19T03:14:27Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > Why did the kid get off the train? They needed a plot development to fill the penultimate episode? So then Olivia would have to take Cortexiphan giving her the ability to kill Widmark. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fringe-series-finale-january-18-2013/647645/11 "2013-01-19T03:21:44Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > So then Olivia would have to take Cortexiphan giving her the ability to kill Widmark. So the kid had seen a rough cut of the last episode. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fringe-series-finale-january-18-2013/647645/12 "2013-01-19T03:22:29Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > My wife and I have been asking this over and over and over since it looked like it was leading this way. > > I think(seriously, I’m not sure) that Walter was explaining that some kind of anomaly would occur…in 2015. This was when they were all standing around discussing the future time travel plan. So did things occur as we saw up to 2015 and then shifted off into an alternate timeline? That moment where Peter turned back and Etta joined him at the end is the start of a new timeline. > > Does this mean they did know Walter? And Walter did pull Peter over and so forth? They did explain something about “nature abhors a vacuum” so Walter would vanish in 2015. But if the Observers never existed, Walter would never have been distracted just as he found a cure. So everything would HAVE to alter. It couldnt be the same up til 2015. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fringe-series-finale-january-18-2013/647645/13 "2013-01-19T03:29:52Z")
I think the answer is pretty fucking simple: Walter went forward in time to a race of beings who could time travel…and he made damn SURE that everything happened just the way it had so that Etta could be born. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fringe-series-finale-january-18-2013/647645/14 "2013-01-19T03:50:48Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > I think the answer is pretty fucking simple: Walter went forward in time to a race of beings who could time travel…and he made damn SURE that everything happened just the way it had so that Etta could be born. Is that right or are you kidding? I seriously don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fringe-series-finale-january-18-2013/647645/15 "2013-01-19T04:36:21Z")
Maybe it did not stop the original observers (the 12), but instead simply stopped the invasion? That the observers they have now (that did the same things the original observers did atleast as far as what we have watched is concerned) had enough emotion to prevent the invasion. After all - we do not know if the 12 were pre or post invastion - only that they were sent (but that really doesn’t make sense either - I’m reaching for a straw here) Otherwise - this was a trainwreck of the worst sorts and the points mentioned above (altPeter never needed saving if the observers never happened at all) show that they (the writers) have no clue. Last edit - it should have ended with Walter watching Walternate cure his Peter - and Walter having a single tear drop as he destroyed his alt world watching device. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fringe-series-finale-january-18-2013/647645/16 "2013-01-19T06:25:26Z")
“Because it’s cool.” I’m really going to miss you, Walter! ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fringe-series-finale-january-18-2013/647645/17 "2013-01-19T08:44:50Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > WTH? How did it reset to Etta’s childhood? The reason Walter didnt cure his original son was because of the observer, so wiping out the Observers means that Peter never crossed over… So Original Peter and Olivia still had everything the same? WTH? I thought Walter came up with the cure too late for Peter-1 (original in this universe) so he stole Peter-2 making him Peter-1a. When coming back from the alternate universe, they fell through the ice on the lake and were rescued by September (violation protocol). So presumably, all of that happened again since it was instrumental in bringing Olivia and Peter together in this universe. That means that the original twelve, or at least some version of September, came back to insure that Peter-2/Peter-1a was saved. ---
**Author:** ![D-bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@D-bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D-bear)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fringe-series-finale-january-18-2013/647645/18 "2013-01-19T10:08:02Z")
> [@deltasigma](#): > > I thought Walter came up with the cure too late for Peter-1 (original in this universe) so he stole Peter-2 making him Peter-1a. > > When coming back from the alternate universe, they fell through the ice on the lake and were rescued by September (violation protocol). So presumably, all of that happened again since it was instrumental in bringing Olivia and Peter together in this universe. That means that the original twelve, or at least some version of September, came back to insure that Peter-2/Peter-1a was saved. I thought ALL of season 4 was about how after Peter used “the machine” he was totally wiped from the history of **both** universes. Somehow Peter wills himself back into existence, (Walter originally saw him as a ghost) and Olivia regains her memories of him. Time passes, off screen, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Peter and Olivia with a baby carriage. Olivia and Peter raise Etta with Grandpa Walter for 5 or so years and “BAM!” it’s 2015 and the observers invade. It was this point, in this reality, that Walter’s sacrifice reset the space-time/continuum to. Unless, of course I’m completely wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fringe-series-finale-january-18-2013/647645/19 "2013-01-19T12:15:32Z")
Actually, I buy D-Bear’s reasoning. However, there are a few unanswered questions for me) 1. Walter couldn’t save Earth-1’s Peter in time (he develops the cure–it turns blue for a split second, that’s how you know it works–too late). He builds the window and sees Walternate doing the same cure but September distracts Walternate for the split second the cure turns blue. Walter goes over to cure Peter, but after the fight with Nina on the ice, finds that the cure is destroyed so he kidnaps Peter, brings him back, falls through the ice and September saves them. a) What was September doing on Walternate’s side? We KNOW he didn’t intentionally distract Walternate as part of a bigger plan, so why was he even over there? b) Since this is where everything started, why didn’t the timeline reset here, without Walternate being distracted by September (since there are no more Observers)? I can accept D-bear’s (and RikWriter’s) reasoning, but it should have been in the episode. 1. I thought Peter squished the two universes together with The Machine–yes, he wiped himself out of existance, but I thought he also merged the two universes? Am I misrembering? a) If not, what happened to the timeline/universe where Olivia was raised by Nina? She was certainly a happier, better adjusted character. b) I was never clear on this point: Where did The Machine come from, anyway? Who built it and why? The finale wasn’t terrible (you want terrible, see LOST) but it was rushed and sloppy. They could have split the actual final episode into two or three parts by, say, losing some of the plot-coupon gathering episodes. The “Get the mysterious ore” one for instance, could have been disposed of entirely. The “get the big magnet” one could have been cut by half (or you could have combined the two episodes into one). I liked all the easter eggs (the razor-butterflies one was a favorite of mine and it was nice to see them back…um…for certain values of nice), they very nicely resolved Walter’s arc–he did horrible, Nazi-like experiments on children and committed other atrocities, but he’s making up for it by his sacrifice. That said, it was overly dramatically…September had to die? Really? It would have worked better for me if Walter did it willingly because ONLY HE could direct the time-travellers to keep the timeline more or less intact. Still–a decent ending, if not a great one. (Babylon 5 had the best ending of long running series with a long-term arc, LOST had the worst. This was in-between, but more towards the B5 end of the scale). I’m gonna miss John Nobel. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fringe-series-finale-january-18-2013/647645/20 "2013-01-19T15:46:28Z")
So what’s with the envelope containing the drawing of a tulip? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fringe-series-finale-january-18-2013/647645.md?page=2)