FRINGE: 4.19 "Letters of Transit" - Thoughts and Theories

Professor Nina: Did anyone really expect her to age poorly?

After tonight's mind-blowing episode of "Fringe," the entire series is up in the air. I'm not just talking about it being renewed for a fifth (and probably final) season, though. This episode literally changed the entire game. I know that it's made me reevaluate what we know and what we've seen of the Observers and it's definitely put the entire fourth season into context (why erase Peter if the problem was that he had a baby with Fauxlivia, not Olivia? Wouldn't that mean no baby would've been made at all?). In this post, I want to touch on some of the main topics that were on my mind during and after "Letters of Transit."

If you haven't seen the episode yet but want to read my thoughts and theories, you can take a few minutes to read my recap of the episode. Or you can wait until they put it up on Hulu or Fox.com.

NOTE: There might be some spoilers for upcoming episodes laced throughout my theories. If you are sensitive to these kinds of things, I suggest you don't continue reading this post so as not to risk spoiling yourself. However, if I discuss a major piece of information for a future episode, I will be sure to make a note of it beforehand.

99 Red Flags: Why Etta's Identity was Obvious

Papa, can you hear me?

Let me start off by saying that I'm not intending to belittle the immense talent that the "Fringe" writers have. It's just that I kind of figured out that Etta was Peter and Olivia's daughter from the get-go. In my recap, I cited eight different red flags that were raised throughout the episode that confirmed my suspicions long before Etta did herself and I'm going to put those into context here.

1. She's a nameless blonde: this is minor but as soon as it's made clear that we're not supposed to know someone's name, you can bet good money that there's a big reveal about their identity around the corner. Plus, the phenomenal actress, Georgina Haig, could easily pass as the daughter of Anna Torv and Joshua Jackson.

2. She can prevent Observers from reading her mind: September told Peter that he had a child with the wrong Olivia and, as soon as he did, I assumed it was because of the Cortexiphan. Their child needed to have Cortexiphan in their blood for whatever reason and Henry didn't because Fauxlivia was never in the drug trials. As soon as we found out Etta had this special ability, I recalled episode 4.14 and started making assumptions.

3. "Etta" sounds like "Ella:" this is a pathetic red flag but it still sounded an alarm. I'll be honest and say that I didn't make the "Henrietta" connection. No, I actually misheard her and thought she said her name was "Ella" which basically confirmed my suspicions of her identity until I figured out she said "Etta." But because they sound the same, I was still felt pretty confident that she was at least Olivia's child. Lame reason, I know.

4. She's so anxious to find Walter's team: the man who found Walter found two others - a man and a woman, both "younger" than Walter - and I immediately assumed it was Peter and Olivia (though, of course, I was wrong and it turned out to be Peter and Astrid but still). If Peter and Olivia were Etta's parents, wouldn't she be desperate to be reunited with them?

5. Simon's lie: the second Simon said Walter was Etta's grandfather, every alarm sounded in my head even though I knew he was lying. It just seemed like a way to point out to the viewers that this was a possibility without explicitly saying it was a fact.

6 & 7. 092112 and the time since Etta last saw her parents: it's said that Walter was in the amber for 20 years, which means that he encased the team in 2016. Etta says she last saw her parents when she was four. The code to get into Massive Dynamic was 092112. The "Fringe" writers love to use passwords and codes as hints to important future dates. In season two, I believe, the lock on the Jacksonville facilities opened with the date of the season finale when Walter, Olivia, and the three other Cortexiphan kids crossed over. So my assumption is that: 09/21/12 is Etta's birthday. Someone also suggested it to be the season 5 premier date but networks typically don't set any premier dates until around August. This seems to make more sense. If Etta's born in 2012, she'd be four years old when Walter traps himself with Peter and Astrid in amber in 2016. Bam! Thank you, math class! Of course, this must mean that the current episodes of "Fringe" are occurring before January 2012 because Olivia would have to have gotten pregnant in late December/early January in order to give birth in September, right? Unless Olivia has an advanced pregnancy, like Fauxlivia did...

8. Etta couldn't care less about Astrid: poor Astrid! When she comes out of the amber, the disappointment is written all over her face. She turns to Walter and even starts to say, "but where's -"  The only other woman who could've been trapped in amber is Olivia and why would Etta want so desperately for it to have been her? Because Olivia is her mother.

So there you go. I'm very interested to see what everyone else makes of Etta's identity. Do you think it was well hidden in the episode? Did the final reveal pack a punch for you? Or do you think it was clear from the start?

Where in the World is Olivia Dunham?

Girl can't catch a break.

Anna Torv got the Joshua Jackson treatment this week, probably because she pulled double-duty in the past two episodes as both Olivia and Fauxlivia. But her absence wasn't just because even goddesses like Torv need time to sleep. At the end of the episode, it's revealed that William Bell did something horrible to Olivia, something that neither Walter or Astrid can forgive him for and so they leave him trapped in amber.

Now, September told Olivia that she must die in every possible future - and he's seen them all. This was, of course, when he was bleeding from a gunshot wound and she was waiting impatiently - but with crazy good hair - for Peter and Lincoln to return from Over There in the Orpheum Theatre. Could this be what he was talking about? Did William Bell kill Olivia? But why? And do Walter and Astrid need his hand in order to undo what he's done or is it for something else?

My theory, at the moment, is that Olivia isn't dead but perhaps she's been taken out of the timeline like Peter was, only she wasn't erased from anyone's memories. This would explain why September didn't see her in any possible future - because she wasn't synced with any timeline. If Bell still sacrificed himself in the Peter-less timeline, perhaps whatever technology brought him back was used to take Olivia out. Or maybe Bell did kill Olivia and Walter and Astrid need Bell's hand to use his technology to bring her back?

I'm also curious if the man from episode 3.19, the one with the 'x' on his shirt who Olivia said is going to kill her, is somehow responsible for her absence. Bell is involved somehow but how does the X Man factor in - if at all?

It seems clear that Olivia won't stay dead or missing for very long but the question is: what did William Bell do to her? What are your thoughts?

It Was Very Blue - and Not Because It's Sad

Torv was sleeping during production but what's Gabel's excuse?

The alternate universe, Over There, the Red-verse, whatever you want to call it, was conspicuously absent from tonight's episode. Not a single person mentioned what was going on Over There - not even Walter or Astrid or Broyles or any Observers who definitely know of its existence (because it is possible that the existence of alternate universes still isn't public knowledge in 2036). You would think we'd have gotten some hint in such a huge episode. When the Observers took over, did they take over the Red-verse, as well? Or...what if there wasn't a Red-verse to take over?

The promo for the next episode, "Worlds Apart," showed both sides working together to stop David Robert Jones from destroying both universes and Peter ominously says that  they need to shut off the Machine to do so. The same Machine that he used to build a bridge between the universes and that is retroactively healing the severe damage in the alternate universe. What if this is the only solution? What if Peter has to turn off the Machine and let the Red-verse be destroyed? Or, worse, what if Peter has to use the Machine to destroy the alternate universe himself?

This would certainly explain why we never learned if the Observers had taken over the Red-verse, as well, and why no one mentioned any of our favorite characters.

And did anyone else find it interesting that the opening credits (which were so freakin' cool, by the way) were completely blue? The last time we went to the future, they were grey - and we saw parts of both universes in that episode. But this week, they were a very deep blue...And we all know how telling the opening credits are...

If the alternate universe was destroyed, I'm not convinced Lincoln Lee died along with it, though. There's still a major question about who raised Etta once Olivia was killed or vanished and Peter was trapped in amber with Walter and Astrid. Maybe Nina took her in, like she did Olivia and Rachel in the Peter-less timeline? Or maybe good ol' Uncle Lincoln survived the destruction of the alternate universe and gave her shelter?

So...What Does Any of this Mean for Season 4?

Walter's very concerned about David Robert Jones - or he's cold.

Well, like I said, "Letters of Transit" put the entire season into context. September was working against his fellow Observers in their plot to take over the world by not completely erasing Peter from the timeline and letting him haunt Olivia and Walter until, ultimately, he came back. He told Peter that the problem was that Peter impregnated the wrong Olivia, that baby Henry should never have been born, and that's why Peter needs to make things right and go to his Olivia and have a child with her instead. But this wasn't what the other Observers wanted. They erased Peter after he built the bridge between the universes so Henrietta "Etta" Bishop would never have been conceived with Cortexiphan in her blood, giving her the ability to block out the Observers from reading her mind. I also think their initial plan was to dominate both universes - which is why they let him build the bridge, first - but I have a feeling that the Red-verse will be destroyed soon enough (see above).

But September let him come back because Etta is responsible for Walter, Peter, and Astrid being freed from amber and, presumably, ridding the world of the Observers for good - and she could never have done that if the Observers could read her mind. Episode 4.14 suddenly makes total sense and the logic behind this season works out perfectly. All of the pieces are in their right places except for the final three episodes and how we get to the point that Walter encases himself, Peter, and Astrid in amber in 2016 - but that will come, soon enough...

So, what I'm expecting from the rest of season four is...

-The destruction of the Red-verse - either at the hands of David Robert Jones or Peter Bishop.
-A reveal that David Robert Jones is working for William Bell - because everything Jones has done reeks of Bell's handiwork, including the experimentation with genetic mutation and hybridization. Not to mention the fact that Jones was injecting Olivia with Cortexiphan and had her do the tests that were listed out in Bell's ZFT manifesto.
-Olivia finding out she's pregnant.
-The Observers initiating their plans to take over the world.
-Rebecca Mader coming in and making me wish she could stay forever until, unfortunately and abruptly, she dies - and she always does. Did you guys see her on "Lost?" RIP Charlotte.

Part of me wonders if the David Robert Jones story will be resolved in episode 4.21 and 4.22 will be set closer to 2016 or, at least, a little bit afterwards so as to link up with the 2036 storyline but that brings me to my next topic...

The Fifth and Final Season of "Fringe"

Peter begs September to tell him if we'll get a fifth season.

I'm still 95% confident that FOX will renew "Fringe" for a fifth and final season. We'll get thirteen episodes because the thirteenth episode (and series finale) will be the hundredth episode which means that "Fringe" can be sold into syndication and the WB can make money of it for decades to come. The WB has nothing to lose by lowering the cost for FOX (IE: lowering the licensing fee - the price FOX pays the WB to air it) and FOX can use the final season to try to build up a new Friday line-up for the the winter/spring of 2013.

It's been said by the executive producers, the actors, and reporters that the plot of season five is set up in "Letters of Transit" which leads me to believe that it will be set entirely in 2036. Why? Because this episode literally set up a fantastic storyline and filled in all of the exposition of what happened in the 24 years between where we were in season four and where we are in episode 4.19. We don't need to see what happens up until 2016 and, if we do, it can be done in single episodes - not in an entire season. Besides, it's all there but the Olivia thing - which I'm confident will be revealed in the season four finale. The real story isn't what did happen but what will happen. Can you imagine it, though? Let's not even get into how ambitious it is for a TV series in its fifth season to completely relocate the story to a brand new time period and environment. Let's just look at what it means for the show.

First of all, the happy endings are all right there. With Etta, Peter and Olivia can live happily ever after. Walter can have a family, as well, and Astrid can be a part of something huge, a hero. Broyles can be redeemed by either dying in the name of the Resistance or just fighting with his old friends and Nina can roll around Manhattan like a badass with her silver hair. And then there's the Observer storyline, which goes back to the fourth episode of the entire series. Wrapping that up with the Fringe team going to war with them and completely banishing them from the universe would wrap up a plot from when the show first started.

Then there's the fact that this story lends itself so well to a condensed, 13-episode season. It'll be non-stop action. They can probably still do case of the week episodes, with Etta working for the Fringe team under Broyles while the others try to stop the Observers, but I imagine that it'd be almost exclusively mythology-based episodes, focusing solely on the fight against the Observers unless a Fringe event occurs that has direct ties to the war at hand.

It'd a be a thrilling roller coaster of a final season and I really hope that this is what the brilliant writers have planned for us in the fall!



That's all for tonight, folks! Remember to set some alarms to remind yourself that "Fringe" is back next Friday at 9:00 PM with another brand new episode called "Worlds Apart!" Hopefully we can end this season with some high ratings but, even if we don't, I'm still confident that we'll see a fifth and final season in the September. I just hope we get the official announcement in the next week...