Fringe S4 Preview 3/3 - Where Is Peter Bishop & The Actual Big Mystery

Previously on Adam's S4 Preview -

December: "You were right. They don't remember Peter."
The Observer: "How could they? He never existed. He served his purpose."

If your jaws were not on the floor before, they were now. If your jaws were already on the floor, they should have detached from your body and been running around the room.

Peter is gone. He doesn't exist. What. The. Fuck. Happens. Now.

That is supposedly the all important question looking ahead to season 4. Where exactly are we going? Where is Peter Bishop? Is he alive, dead, gone, hidden or something else entirely? The season finale of Fringe threw up the largest of cliffhangers by seemingly wiping out the existence of the stories most important catalyst. Without Peter's illness all those years ago then Walter simply would not have had to break the wall between universes, meaning all the destruction that has happened from that point forward would not have happened. Correct?

In this final part of my Fringe S4 preview I will state what we do know going into season four as well as what we don't, as well as my theories on what could be in store for our characters over the next few months. I'll also leave you with what is the most important question you should have going into season four, that the #whereispeterbishop debate has shrouded from sight.

The Peter Bishop Hypothacy

We all know that Peter Bishop isn't gone for good. Joshua Jackson is still credited as one of the main cast for starters, but there is no way in any universe that the producers would wipe out Peter's existence. LOST tried it with John Locke and for many it was the string that broke the camel's back and with that show it had a huge ensemble cast to fall back onto. Fringe doesn't have that luxury, with only six other characters still credited as leading (if you include the new addition of Seth Gabel.) To lose Peter would be devastating and the killer blow for the ratings struggle that Fringe has on a weekly basis. But you needn't fear, as Peter will be back. This is how this could happen.

Theory 1: My wager is that once he disappeared he will appear as someone in the world who goes by a different name, is living a different life and has no memories or recollections of ever having been Peter Bishop. This differs from the "amnesia" storyline that most shows seem to resort to at some stage. Here, Peter wouldn't have amnesia, as he is a totally different person. Yet as we have seen in the various trailers for the show this year...

... it is clear that our team will all be feeling the loneliness of living a Peter free life. They all feel something is missing, is different and all will come to the conclusion that whatever it is needs to be found.
This is how I imagine Peter; he may be working in an office, a car mechanic, perhaps more cleverly he could be working on something he would have done had 'Fringe Science' not entered his life (hint - Iraq) but he will also feel the loneliness and the feeling that something isn't quite right.

My theory then stretches to believe that however Peter finds out that he has a connection with Olivia, he then misinterprets and ends up heading down the path of believing he needs to eliminate her. I have always had a sneaking suspicion that the Mr. X who we first saw in LSD last season looked a little like a shaven and angry Peter Bishop...

We also know that this man was the person Olivia believes, somehow, through no reason other than a sense, will kill her. It was also confirmed that Olivia and Peter have a connection far beyond what we first thought. Peter would fail to have joined with the machine had Olivia not used her mental capabilities to switch off the device on the other side. Could this 'sixth sense' Olivia has be because it is Peter who is going to kill her?

A radical approach could be that the machine has done its bidding and has ceased Peter to exist. Could it be that in some way the machine needs to eliminate all things that connect with it. Wiping out Peter's existence then killing Olivia seems like a reasonable method for doing so. It may be no shock tactic that Walternate killed Olivia within Peter's machine-trip to the future. Maybe she "has" to die and the seeds are already being sown...

Other Theories: There have been numerous rumours floating around the ghost networks, some stating that he may be balded, emotionless and looking very much like he may just be observing things come the premiere, but it all seems too obvious a theory regardless of the bizarreness of seeing Joshua Jackson do Michael Cerveris. I have to admit though, it would probably be better than Anna Torv doing Leonard Nimoy. I also feel that The Observer mystery will remain and should remain the single biggest mystery of the entire show. Throughout Fringe's run it has offered some mouth watering, universe breaking mysteries but nothing has captivated or drawn in the viewers since we first saw "The Arrival" of The Observers and the mysterious rocket tube that disappeared underground all the way back in early season one. Therefore, even though I hope that one day we see how the lives of The Observers are lived, it is too soon for Peter's Observer orientation to spoil the party.

There are possibilities that he may be living in an alternate timeline, or perhaps the writers have played the ultimate long con and we actually moved to a different universe at the end of season three, and Peter is still alive and well in our timeline but without the rest of his team. The possibilities are endless, the trick the writers have played is that even though someone, somewhere could probably guess where he is, we would have no idea they were right up until the last moment. Add into that the fact that with so many theories many get lost in the abyss of the internet and exec producers Wyman & Pinkner's secret is safe.

The Rest Of The News

What else do we know, Scarlie Francis won't be around much as Kirk Acevedo is playing the Prime Suspect on NBC, Leonard Nimoy is likely to retire and un-retire a couple of times to play a robot version of himself wrapped in an enigma whilst channeling Gene the Cow and Astrid has been confirmed to be getting more action and out of the lab for at least part of the season.

What are the mysteries I expect to see answered in the upcoming months? I think the Sam Weiss storyline will see a conclusion this season and I think Peter's importance and #whereheis will all emerge.

I also think that David Robert Jones and the ZFT's true purpose in the storyline will jump out of nowhere and have more importance. To this day I know there is something Jones was doing that we still haven't seen. His last line in season one's Ability was to call Olivia "my girl" after she solved the lights-off-puzzle. He wanted her to be able to turn off the lights, the same powers she needed to turn off the machine over there. If he knew this, surely he was trying to save our world. This adds grey areas to the whole issue he had with William Bell. What are the true intentions of Bellie, what is the connection with Massive Dynamic and how does Jones fit in. It also feels like a good time to bring back Jared Harris as he picks up notice-ability due to his upcoming role as Professor Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes.

The True Big Mystery

The biggest mystery that emerges as Fringe enters year four, is just whose side is everybody on. Who is the good guys and who is the bad guys? Newton for all his supposed evil, shows true belief in a cause that Fauxlivia also shared. Now she is appearing to be more good than evil. Nina often shifts between good and bad with a wave of her metallic arm. The Observer mystery is driven by the uncertainty of whether they want what we want, or something else entirely. Walter, for all his good nowadays was a bad man in the past. Olivia fights for Walter and in some regards has to defend the outcomes of Walter's actions with Peter. After all, she did keep the secret from Peter which did more bad than good. Even Peter has a shady past that has never been truly understood, the mysteries of his life before the Fringe team hinted at but never explained..

I therefore leave you with my final thought before we all sit down and watch the season four premiere. Can you truly say that either side is good or bad?

My answer, 'Neither Here, Nor There.'

Adam

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