Fringe: August
posted in television on 2009-11-20 08:12:33This was probably the best Fringe episode of the current season. We don't learn a whole lot about the Observers, but what we do find out is brain food for any geek or show mythology buff.
In this episode, one of the Observers kidnaps a young woman, which sparks Olivia and the team to try and track him down. Meanwhile, this Observer stirs up trouble with his associates by interfering in the natural course of events, and plans are put in motion to "correct" these events.
We learn several things about these Observers:
1.) They are apparently immortal (this was touched upon in previous episodes), or at the very least, they appear to be immortal because they exist outside the boundaries of time.
2.) Walter had a deal with the "regularly" appearing Observer to keep Peter. But if I'm interpreting the Observers' conversations with each other correctly, this deal was actually a form of course correction for a mistake that the Observers previously made. Somehow the Observers were responsible for this universe's Peter's death?
3.) Though they try to remain stoic and don't "feel" emotions (except for those that break the rules apparently), they do have some compassion for humanity, or at the very least, a sense of wonder. The "regularly" appearing Observer makes the comment that "they are all unique" in response to the kidnapping Observer.
In th end, the kidnapping Observer contacts Walter in an attempt to find out how he can break the rules. Though the woman is not actually important to the universe, Walter informs the Observer that he has to prove to the others that she is important. He has to make her important. The Observer ultimately sets things up so that he sacrifices his own life to save the girl. The very act of his death - the death of an Observer - was enough to do so. This leads us to the conclusion that the death of an Observer is a rare occurrence.
So who are these Observers? The writers have obviously been influenced by Marvel Comics' Watchers and the Monitors of DC Comics. They are beings who observe events through time, but refrain from interfering. They have a purpose, but it's currently unclear as to what end. The question I would like to know is if they exist in counterparts throughout the various universes, or if the Observers exist in all universes - as one complete self - simultaneously.
tags: fringe