Horn Glyph Spiral
I still think that "And Those We've Left Behind" is paying homage to Lost somehow. It certainly sounds like a Lost episode, especially conjuring up memories of "Because You Left," season 5's premier episode in which the island erratically bounces around in time. The Lost title refers to those who left the other survivors on the island, but in Fringe it seems we're always leaving someone behind in another universe and/or timeline. So the question is, did Peter leave his timeline behind or did the current "Amber" universe leave him behind?
The time hiccups that Peter experiences remind us that time is not linear, at least not in Fringe. All of time exists at once, even though most people can experience only one point at a time. But Peter moves back and forth among various points, even jumping between time lines. And the Observers, of course, can see all of time at once. Let's explore this idea by considering an often used image in Fringe: the spiral.
But first, how did Peter leave his "world" (his timeline) in the first place? In the final episode of season 3, did he really disappear? Or did the other timeline suddenly appear before our eyes, making it seem like Peter vanished? Did Peter continue existing in the other world? Did the others continue existing? I'm curious to see how all of this is going to be explained, and eager to offer a brief theory here.
In season 4 of Fringe, not only are there multiple universes, but also there is more than one timeline. If we look at each timeline as a Fibonacci spiral (based on Walter's favorite series of numbers) and each rotation on each spiral as a universe, maybe we can visualize what's going on here. There are two universes that we know about in the original timeline and possibly many more. Do the parallel universes exist just across the spiraling line from one another? Like the locations that the Fringe team discovers on the map, where the time irregularities are occurring, maybe all of existence can be mapped out based on this perfect ratio.
In the upcoming episode, "Wallflowers," perhaps we will learn more about how these time lines are related to one another and what it means for Peter to be existing here and not there. Did he really "leave behind" anyone? Or has everything been permanently changed, like the Observers told us in the finale episode of season 3? Is there only one spiral or two?
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Olivia had similar timeslips in season 1, the building on fire, Broyles office. That was not a quick cross over to me, but a timeslip. In episode 4.04 the timeslips were with Olivia, before her waking up and later in the bath room, not with Walter. And it was Olivia at the end of 4.05, not other people.
So I am convinced that Olivia in connection with the Observers have something to do with that.
Observer September in the old time line had special feelings for her, see the scene where she is with Ella, and in season 3 Observers were usually there where Olivia/Fauxlivia were. May be the failsafe bit that remained as only task for Olivia is this.
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But it is just me wanting to give some value back to Olivia, who has been erased as a personality in season 3.
Until 3.09 she was the Hero, Gatekeeper, Chosen one, could cross universes, and since 3.10 she was reduced to the girfriend of Peter (with very bad writing for Olivia) and the humiliating function of crowbar at the very end . Everything went to Peter, he had to choose , the machine, the hero.
Tellingly maybe is that Anna Torv in interviews (in the US) never gets questions about the big picture only about Peter, and now if she will be Lincolns girl.
Olivia as a character has so many potential, I would have loved to have seen scenes in which the amazing Anna Torv could show us Olivia dealing with her past, talking about the abuse, mother, stepfaher, father.
They have never given her those scenes, that backstory (let alone the other characters)
If you are a casual viewer , you know nothing about her, because the 6 facts Anna has to create her from are spread over 70 episodes, whereas the Bishop Boys story is in every other episode.
Critics have never picked this up or asked the showrunners about that. The showrunners make a point of how important characters and relationships are, yet they only write for 1 relationship, Walter/Peter.Why was Olivia not allowed to have a bond with Charlie or a bigger part for a sister? Or Nina ?
I would love to read articles exploring that side of Fringe.
Agreed. Olivia was the original hero of the show—not just the heroine, which usually ends up being the sidekick/girlfriend/object of desire of the hero. Olivia is clearly on the hero's journey, even if Peter has his own journey. It's true that he acts as the sacrificial messiah, but she is the warrior.
OK, I really need to start watching Fringe again. It was not this cool in season 1.