Recapturing the past is impossible…or is it? And, if one could do it, should one? Is it worth the cost, no matter what the sacrifice might be, to restore order as much as possible to two alternate universes? Heavy, man–but, dealing with weighty issues is part and parcel for Fringe. The episode “Subject 13″ deals with reclaiming the past, sacrifices, and what lengths must sometimes be gone to to restore order. But what sometimes was done at the spur of the moment, like kidnapping a very sick boy you then heal and want to raise as your own, like Walter does with Peter, can’t be restored in the blink of an eye. Restoring order can take years, decades, and even then, what happened in the past cannot always be remedied.
Our pasts make us who we are, for the better or the worse. “Subject 13″ is an episode I have been counting down to with great expectancy since I saw the trailer for it last week after the episode “6B.” What Fringe fan wouldn’t want to see Peter meeting Olivia for the first time, when they were both young teens? Would they get along together, would there, even then, be the beginning sparks of romance noticeable between them? Would it be the beginnings of a crush that led to their future romantic feelings for each other?
Was this episode worth the wait? Speaking for myself, I would say: “Yes!” I did not unrealistically build up my expectations, though I hoped it would be an excellent episode, and that the teens selected to play the parts of teen Peter and Olivia would be right for the parts. I think they both did superb jobs. I’m not sure who played young Peter, but I have read online that Karley Scott Collins plays young Olivia. She’s already been compared to a young Jodie Foster, and judging from this episode, I’d say it’s an apt comparison. She is Olivia, and I hope that if they are in future episodes, both she and the actor who played Peter as a teen are available again.
Highlights/Quotable Quotes
1.) So Much Anger In One So Young
We get to see young Peter and get to know how he felt (as much as is possible from watching him and listening to him) after his abduction by Walter. Whatever Walter’s motives were, however much he wanted to help save alt-Peter’s life and assuage his wife’s (Elizabeth’s) sorrow over the loss of their Peter, what he did wasn’t right in, oh, so many ways. But it brought us one of TV’s best series ever, Fringe, so….From teen Peter’s POV, though, he realizes Walter and Elizabeth aren’t his parents, and he just wants to go home and be with his real Mom and Dad. And, who could blame him? He shouts at Elizabeth: “You’re not my mother! I want to go home!” Elizabeth and Walter lie to him, telling him that he’s confused because of the long sickness he’s gone through.
2.) Walter and Elizabeth are shown talking to one another, and they acknowledge that taking Peter was wrong. But at that point, Walter asks his wife: “What’s the alternative?” I suppose that, somehow, Peter could have been returned, but Walter knows that crossing over is a destructive thing to do and tears the very fabric of reality. He reasons that it’s best to find a safer way to do it, if possible; but, how?
3.) How, indeed? As Walter says: “The children are the key.” And right he is, as his experiments demonstrate, especially finding fruit in the case of young Olive (Olivia) Dunham. He believes Olive, out of all of them, has crossed over and moved back and forth between the universes with no apparent danger caused to them or herself in the process. Walter shows that, though he loves Peter (alt-Peter), if Olive can take him back, that is the right thing to do, so he pushes her to discover what it is that enables her to travel to the alt-Earth. Finding a way she can take Peter back, even though he and Elizabeth would lose him probably forever, is the goal of the experiments. (Ironically–or maybe not– Walternate doesn’t believe children should be experimented with, even if it means recovering his stolen son).
4.) Another highlight for me is when young Peter, early in the episode, tries to get back to the alt-universe by returning to where he entered into ours: Reiden Lake. The lake is iced over; he has tied a rope around his waist, with a weighty object on the other end, which he uses to break through the ice and crash through it, sinking into the icy water. Elizabeth pulls him out of the water, and helps him back to shore. It shows how badly Peter wants to return home at the time, willing to risk his own life to get back to his parents.
5.) Yet another highlight is when we learn that Olivia was abused by her stepfather as a child, and she gets a black eye. When she does, she blinks out, going to the alt-universe, but her escape is all too brief. Walte realizes when he sees her eye that she’s being abused, but at this point in the episode, he is willing to sacrifice her to help his son return. He tries various experiments to try to replicate whatever caused her to cross over.
6.) Tulips are mentioned a few times, hearkening back to the episode, “White Tulip.”
7.) SteamPunk Chic
Olivia shows Walter a picture she colored of what she saw: a dirigible. That’s one of the cool SteamPunk qualities of the alt-universe, that dirigibles are a popular form of transport.
8.) If we hadn’t figured it out by now, we see Walter writing in red the words “Subject 13,” in which he’s referring to Olivia. He tapes the experiments with a Betamax, which he seems extremely proud of, as it’s new technology at the time.
9.) B.F. Skinner Lives
The experiment that Walter tries that has the most success reminded me of how intrusive some of B.F. Skinner’s experiments got. Olivia is in a room, the lights go out, and she yells in terror: “Walter! Let me out! Please let me out! Who’s there? Is somebody there?” The lights come on, and (I believe) it’s Walter lying on the floor, acting as if he’s dead–Olive screams.
10.) Olivia Goes Missing
Olivia disappears, and no one can find her. Peter decides to go looking for her, and eventually locates her, in a field of flowers–I think they were tulips. But they have all died, because of the heat her “flashing” has generated. They hold hands, she thinks of being cold, and it begins to snow. Awesome, awesome scene, very Anna Torv-like!
11.) Hands, Holding Hands, Touching Me, Touching You
Please forgive the reference to “Sweet Caroline” (unless you dig Neil Diamond, as I do)–what I’m referring obliquely to by the use of this song title is the last Highlight I’ll mention, at the very end, when Walternate discovers a picture Olivia has colored of herself and Peter holding hands, with both of their names written at the botom of the page.
I really liked how Walternate was humanized in “Subject 13,” feeling obviously terrible about the loss of his son, and wanting to get him back, no matter what the cost might be. He is despondent for quite a long time, drinking heavily to try to ease his pain. He later seems often to be cold, calculating, a monster, but in this episode we get to see what led him to become that sort of person. John Noble is, unless I’m mistaken, the only regular cast member (not counting the actress who plays his wife) who appears in this episode, but he is such a capable actor, I (surprisingly to me) didn’t miss the other (extremely amazing) actors/actresses that much. I was transported by his, his wife’s, and the teens’ performances.
What did all of you feel about this episode? Was it as awesome for you as it was for me, or did you feel it was a let-down, or something in-between? Please leave your comments about “Subject 13″ and anything else Fringe-related below!
I wonder what age these children are supposed to be. If I had to guess, I’d say 10-12 tops. Definitely not teens. But of course I could be wrong. One possible little glitch: is it possible for a lake in that area to be mostly frozen when Peter was first abducted and then mostly frozen again at least “6 months” later? That would pin down that period from mid November to mid May. I don’t think it’s possible. The moral dynamic for Walternate is a bit different from Walter. He wants Peter back, but knows he is probably safe and disease free since he would have been dead 6 months after his disappearance otherwise. But Walter snatched him not to just get him back, but to save his life. Walter missed a golden opportunity. When he became aware of Olivia’s travel, he should have sent a message with her that they brought Peter over to cure his illness and were working on a way to get him back w/o tearing up the universe. Better yet, he should have sent the message of the cure instead of the kidnapping. Of course, then we would have had no series. But I would have liked to see a reason why it wasn’t done. Obviously Walter had a little tunnel vision looking for a solution originally that returned Peter here. Also, when does the damage start on the other side. Could it have been ‘Belly’ that caused it instead of Walter.
The two lake scenes were 2 months apart, not 6. It was mentioned in dialogue
Thanks for the comment, Roberto! Yes, the age issue is one I wasn’t really sure about, and wrote “teen” or “teens” but both Peter and Olivia seemed younger than that earlier in the episode, at any rate, than later on–they maybe were supposed to be the same age the entire episode, except possibly 6 months older, later. I was thinking of using the term “preteen” which would have probably been more accurate, but I went with “teen,” despite knowing that, at least when Peter was initially brought here by Walter, he was supposed to have been younger than that.
I do think that Belly likely was the initial cause of the Fringe events, not Walter, but Walternate, I’m sure, wants to blame practically everything bad that’s happened on Walter’s actions, because Walter “stole” his son.
As to why he didn’t maybe send the message with Olivia, I’m guessing that either he wasn’t completely positive that Olivia was going to the alt-universe that Walternate lives in, or that he logically realizes Peter should be returned, but he is not ready emotionally to have him be returned. Great remarks; it’s always good to hear from you and other fans of Fringe!
Young Olivia and Peter were exactly that: young! not teens, as you somehow perceived them. That would put a whole different spin on this story that is not there. These were children, about eight or nine years old. At the breaking point of having their innocence shattered, and their subsequent reactions to it. Big difference.
Well, Michelle, as I stated in my reply to the last comment, I wasn’t really sure how old they were supposed to be when they met. I knew that when Peter was brought here by Walter, he was supposedly young, but the Peter in this episode, and the Olivia, looked older to me than 8 or 9, though they maybe played younger children than they are. I also wasn’t sure how long after Peter arrived here that the meeting occured, as Walter had been doing experiments with the children for some time (maybe it was stated, but if so, I didn’t catch it). So, I tacked on a few more years to their ages. I did say that, in my above reply, I probably should have stated “preteens.” Still, whether it was puppy love, or a harbinger of a future romance, or whatever, they held hands, which was sweet, and looking back on it, it does seem to me to be a hint of a future romantic relationship. Everyone’s entitled to his/her opinions, of course–this was just my take on the episode. Thanks for your comments!