By Rhea Dee
Ever since last season’s episode “Peter”, where we see exactly how and why Walter crossed over to the alternate universe to steal the alt-Peter, I’ve had a lot of questions. Well, just one big question, really. Peter looks like he’s around 10 when Walter abducts him, so…how come Peter doesn’t remember anything about crossing over with Walter? I think he was old enough to remember something as big as that. Thankfully, “Subject 13” answers that question (finally). This episode also sheds more light on the whole alt-universe abduction and Olivia’s time at the facility in Jacksonville.
Despite all the sad people running around this episode–we had Peter rejecting our universe, Olivia being beaten by her stepdad, Walternate depressed and drinking–I felt the most sorry for Peter’s mom. Up until this point, we knew very little about her; in last season’s “Peter”, we only knew her as one of the reasons Walter felt like he couldn’t return Peter to his own universe. This episode did an excellent job of showing us just how hard it was for Peter’s mom to transition Peter into our universe, and how keeping the lie would eventually lead to her own death. It was absolutely heartbreaking when she lied to Peter for the last time, when Peter made it quite clear that he wouldn’t challenge her again if she told him the truth. Peter’s mom pointed out herself that it was harder for her to keep lying since she spent the most time with Peter, which explains why Walter’s guilty feelings never reached the magnitude that his wife’s did. Not that I’m saying Walter has no guilt–he does–but he wasn’t driven to kill himself because of it. This episode really made me understand the heavy burden Peter’s mom had to carry for the rest of her life.
I also was really impressed that this episode showed us how Peter’s loss was affected Walternate and his wife as well. I found it really interesting that Walternate didn’t know anything of the alt-universe and instead thought someone got intense plastic surgery to look like him so they could abduct his son. This episode made it very clear that while both Walter’s are geniuses, their science expertise (at the time) was very different. When Walternate went to the lab, it looked like some outer space program! Also, Walternate’s obsession with Olivia has a bit of a history; she was the one who lead him to realize that there was another universe.
And finally, let’s talk Olivia. We always knew her story was sad, but there was something about seeing it in action that made it really hit home (at least, for me). I also like how we got a glimpse of her first crossings to the other side. But I think I was most impressed with her Firestarter trick when Walter locked her in that room alone. Grown-up Olivia needs to remember that right now so she can just blow Walternate away with her mind.
Last Thoughts: Peter and Olivia met in a field of white tulips. The callbacks on this show are amazing.
Next Time on Fringe: Walter can bring William Bell back?! Oh wait, it’s still Nina. But I do love me some Nina/Walter moments!!
Rhea Dee is a Midwest nerd who spends her time collecting vintage junk, daydreaming about Eli Roth, and pondering the genius of John Carpenter soundtracks.
Related Stuff:
![Firestarter [VHS]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/414YZWMFN4L._SL160_.jpg "Firestarter [VHS]")
Rhea Dee is a Midwestern fat girl floating through space with a donut and an attitude. She's the co-host and co-creator of the podcast Badland Girls. 
I so did not think of the white tulips in this context! But that's why I love reading other people's reviews – there's always something they see differently or they catch some detail that you didn't see.
At the beginning of this episode I was once again reminded how much I love the different title cards. Since I'm going into each new episode almost completely spoiler free, the different beginnings set a nice base note for what to expect.
Truth be told, I really don't know what to make of Walter in this particular episode. It was all so morally grey and conflicted; he has no problems with putting Olivia on a treadmill or pull of that disgusting stunt with the bloody kid to scare her but at the same time he's trying to protect her from her abusive father (even though that was kind of a belated reaction somehow; it was already abundantly clear before what was going on at her home and Walter still saw it as another puzzle piece).
What I really loved about this episode is young Olivia though. There was one particular scene (I think when Walter stress tested her with that block kind of puzzle) where she just throws it all across the table and says, I'm not doing this anymore, in SUCH a grown-up Olivia kind of way – amazing!
Maybe it's just me but I usually have problems when I see the kid versions of grown-up characters – they never seem to have much in common apart from their looks but this girl was just pure genius
I agree with you about Walter's portrayal in this episode–it was very morally gray. Even that minor scene in the beginning of the episode, where he scolded Olivia for talking during their meditation exercise and yet put the bear on Nick's feet, kinda showed that contrast between bastard and nice guy.
Olivia pushing away the puzzle was AMAZING. I kind of wish Walter would've showed her Jaws; you KNOW she would've not been scared of that movie at all!
I guess I'm confused. Why didn't Peter remember Olivia? I now know why he accepted his new dimension digs, but how come he doesn't remember Olivia? Did I miss something? How come Olivia forgot about Peter, also? Maybe they'll both remember at some point, eh?
I'm guessing that, if Walter could make himself forget how to create the doorway to the other universe, that making a couple kids forget they met and hung out once wouldn't be that difficult. Might even have been able to accomplish it with simple hypnosis.