Fringe: Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep? review

[stargater]

Just finished re-watching the eppy again, it really is a fantastic episode. Well, except for the last few minutes (not any easier to watch the second time, mind you) which I've already ranted about but I have new theory regarding this now which I'll go into depth more in a bit. Overall, not as good as The Plateau for me but still quite exciting and interesting and I loved the plot moving elements.

The Breakdown:

Alt!Olivia/Peter
Right, my theory: Peter knows all along. He knows they have ways to communicate with the other side and without knowing Olivia's situation Over There, he's not going to do anything to jeopardize her safety and/or any chance she has of finding her way home/being rescued. So he keeps quiet and plays along. He is a highly skilled conman after all, it wouldn't be too difficult for him. I wasn't too sure of this until this episode when he called her on all the little differences which we now know he HAS most definitely been noticing.

Supporting evidence:
- Peter admits to Alt!Olivia that he's noticed all the changes in her since returning from Over There. He stares her right in the eyes and his tone changes initially, just for the briefest moment, before he continues with the rest of his spiel.
- Peter demonstrates how good he is at reading people during their dinner date and says "Each party has something the other party wants" & "We all draw our moral lines in the sand". He knows they want something from him/our side and what he wants is still Over There so he has to play the part until he figures out how to get her back.
- Peter makes hard eye contact again when he pulls her picture from Senator Shapeshifter's desk. He also looks at and watches her A LOT, not in the checking her out sort of way but more in a scrutinizing way. Like when they're in the hallway of MD and when Broyles brings in the Senator's wife, he's really watching her, gauging her reaction.
- It also seems a bit convenient for Newton to have his "accident" in the tunnel and odd that Peter didn't go up to the car with Alt!Olivia, that he stayed back the entire time. He recognizes a set-up when he sees one.
- Peter mentioned in Over There pt 2 that even though they appeared the same, the two Olivia's were quite different from each other.
- In Midnight, when Olivia is troubled by Rachel's news about Greg filing for divorce and seeking custody of Ella, Peter not only notices but asks her right away about it.
- In Olivia. In the Lab. With the Revolver. he also notices her awkward behavior and bring it up with her.
- There's probably bits from other past eps where Peter has said something to Olivia when something wasn't quite right but these are the ones that came to mind right away.

Am I reaching here? Perhaps. But this feels right to me. Peter is smart, he's a conman and any good conman knows when they're being conned themselves. He knows Olivia better than anyone else and he's going to do what he needs to do to ensure her safety and a way home. So what about them "doing the deed" at the end? We didn't actually see anything, Alt!Olivia was leading the whole thing not Peter, and it was conveniently cut before confirmation of the aforementioned "deed" was done. What a teaser to leave us with before the baseball break, eh? So, I figure when we see them on the screen again, there'll be another sort or interruption or Peter will announce then that he's known about her all along or it'll be mentioned later that they didn't go through with it or something. The possibility does exist that he knows and still does it with her to continue his con and that bothers me too but I'm just going to conveniently ignore that for now.

I'll admit, I have some REALLY high hopes about this theory, I mean they're WAY up there and if I'm wrong, they're all going to come crashing down crushing me underneath. I don't think I've stressed a 'ship quite like this before but there are just so many possibilities here, it really could go any number of different ways. However, having an Alt!Olivia/Peter/Olivia love triangle of sorts seems way too angsty and it calls into question too much about character continuity. Having Peter be completely blinded (or ignoring whatever he's telling himself deep down) is totally out of character for him. It makes him look ridiculous and a bit of a farce. Fringe writers are brilliant with their story telling and amount of details that go into each episode, I can't see them completely throwing these parts of Peter out the window just for some angsty plot development. Yeah, this is my canon and I'm sticking to it.

Alt!Olivia
Given the title of the episode and how it relates to the shapeshifters, are we now also supposed to believe that Alt!Olivia has unwittingly fallen for Peter and is confused about where her loyalties lie? I'm not buying it. She's only doing what she's doing with Peter to silence Newton's niggling in her mind and to prove to herself that she's capable of completing her mission. She's manipulative and a liar and I want her to GTFO of our universe. It's odd because the only reason I don't completely hate her is because of Alt!Charlie and Lincoln. They're her friends and care about her and to them she's a good person and a good friend. What she's doing Over Here though, it crosses any and all those lines in the sand.

Newton
Gosh, he was kind of BAMF in the hospital wasn't he? It's too bad he's gone now, he was a pretty good baddie. Wonder who's gonna take his spot as head shapeshifter now? Get it, HEAD shapeshifter? Lols. Yeah, I went there.

Walter
I don't know if I can <3 Walter anymore than I do right now. I just want to huggle him up and give him pudding. I really hope having Massive Dynamic doesn't change him, we've all seen what a bad Walter with resources can be like. I wonder if they'll start doing the lab stuff at MD now instead of Harvard? I guess that'd be okay though I am fond of the old lab. It'd be a lot of trips back and forth between Boston and NYC though. Just as long as Gene is there, wherever it's going to be. Gotta have the cow!

Questions:
- Newton's the big cheese of the shapeshifters, why wasn't there more security surrounding him? Like surveillance and the like, to catch Alt!Olivia talking with him and giving him the destro-chip? It's not like he's a typical detainee or anything...
- Just where exactly are Rachel & Ella during all this? Because they surely wouldn't have been fooled by Alt!Olivia so are they being conveniently ignored?
- Didn't catch a "pen" reference in this episode. Anyone?

Random things:
- Seems Alt!Olivia has a nervous habit of tugging at her ear when she's, well, nervous. I did quite enjoy seeing her squirm.
- Interesting was that the thing Newton was scolding Rayshifter about was the very thing he wanted Alt!Olivia to do, become more emotionally attached.
- Also interesting was Rayshifter's conversation with his son about monsters. I do like knowing that some of the shapeshifters have feelings though.
- The Observer was in the lobby Massive Dynamic.
- The film Peter was watching before getting the text from Alt!Olivia was Forbidden Planet. Nice plug about BETRAYL just before he seemingly does it.
- On the door to Newton's cell was CB304 and this was episode #304. I only noticed this the second time around. I love seeing stuff like this.
- The Taurus placement was WAY obvious and kind of annoying. Why were they driving a Taurus anyway? What happened to the Navigator?
- Walter called Astrid by her name. I'm pretty certain he has before in the past but it kind of bothered me. And I think it bothered Astrid as well. Lol.
- I was so :O!!! at the thought of Walter being taken over by Rayshifter, first time around they cut to commercial at just the right time, it was agonizing. Though on my second watch, I realized it wouldn't have benefited him to take Walter's body. Walter is so predicable in his unpredictability, there's no way he could be replaced. Also, seeing Walter hurt is like watching a puppy being kicked :(
- Stegosauruses have a brain in their ass. Strangely enough, the Stegosaurus came up in conversation Saturday at work and I got to sneak this line in there. Heheh I love it when that happens.
- "Velociraptor, Mmm! Dilophosaurus, Yum!"
- "Don't eat my pudding"

Is baseball over yet? Grr.



**SPOILERS & SPECULATION**

Comments

[ghanimasun]

I tend to agree with you about Peter knowing. I think it makes sense better for his character, and sometimes its feels almost impossible he doesn't know.
I've only watched this episode once so far so I haven't noticed all the little indications Peter gives that implies something more is going on in his mind than what we are shown, but I did definitely notice a few looks or reactions to Fauxlivia that imply that he thinks something's up.
I especially thought a lot of his dialogue in the restaurant was telling. And when he confronted her about being a different person, I wasn't sure which way it was going to go. Maybe he almost wanted to out her right there, but held off because Astrid shows up, because it want' the right time, etc.

You list a lot of other good examples of when Peter notices pretty quickly when something has been off about Olivia. And while they did thankfully acknowledge that Peter notices a difference in Fauxlivia, it feels like Peter would be foolish to not seriously consider a replacement as the reason for her different behavior. Especially since he just saw an identical copy of her (so it's not like this is some crazy theory he would have to come up with!)
And I think even if he knows and did sleep with Fauxlivia at the end, I think it just shows the moral lines he's willing to cross to try to get Olivia back. He's willing to use whatever methods he can to help save her life (especially since Fauxlivia is the one that initiated it; It might seem really suspicious if he were to be all like No Way! when she came onto him so directly).

I never really got the impression Atlivia had feelings for Peter or is really that confused about her loyalties (although I think the second one might happen at some point). I agree she just slept with Peter to prove to herself she was committed after all of Newton's goading.

I really hope they bring Rachel and Ella back soon, because it seems like a glaring hole and it's getting harder to ignore.
And I didn't catch a pen reference either, though I've only seen it once. I hope all the pen stuff wasn't just a build up to, ballpoint pens are rare in the AU!

Awesome catch on the number of Newton's cell matching the episode number. I totally didn't even notice that. Although it doesn't speak well for my observational abilities that I don't even remember the Taurus product placement shot. But that might also just be because I sort of tune out anything car brand related just in general. I did notice the computer logos though!

Also why do you think Walter calling Astrid by her name correctly bugged her?

[stargater.livejournal.com]

And I think even if he knows and did sleep with Fauxlivia at the end, I think it just shows the moral lines he's willing to cross to try to get Olivia back. He's willing to use whatever methods he can to help save her life (especially since Fauxlivia is the one that initiated it; It might seem really suspicious if he were to be all like No Way! when she came onto him so directly).
You make a good point here, I never really thought of it like that. It still bothers me though if he does do it, even if for this reason. Had it been most any other situation it might not have bothered me so much but the fact that he's with another version of Olivia just rubs me completely wrong.

I have a feeling we won't see Rachel & Ella until after our Olivia has returned, or it'll be really brief. They seem to be ignoring that for the simple reason that either of them two would notice right away that Alt!Olivia isn't their sister/aunt.

I don't know, Walter just always calls her something else, it would be weird hearing him call her by her proper name. She didn't really give anything off specific that makes me think that, it's just me thinking it :P

[ghanimasun]

Sleeping with Fauxlivia is definitely a pretty strong line to cross I agree, especially since Peter and Olivia only got to have one kiss and that's all. I can definitely see how it would be bothersome that he did that. I guess it sort of depends on if he knows or not on how to read that scene (no duh).

I'm really frustrated by the lack of Rachel and Ella, hopefully the show doesn't forget about them. But yeah, I wouldn't be surprised it they don't show them at all till Olivia returns, sadly.