Subject 13

Subject 13



Season 3, Episode 15
Aired: February 25th, 2011
Written By: Jeff Pinkner, J. H. Wyman, Akiva Goldsman
Directed By: Frederick E. O. Toye

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Resources: IMDb | Wikipedia | Transcript
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SYNOPSIS

This episode explores Walter and Elizabeth Bishop's attempts to return Peter to the parallel universe using the Cortexiphan-induced abilities of young Olivia Dunham, while Walternate in the parallel universe struggles to deal with the kidnapping of his son.

Synopsis provided by the Fandom Wiki, Fringepedia, and Wikipedia.

THE GLYPHS

This episode's glyphs spell:

S-W-I-T-C-H

Young Olivia inadvertently switching universes when trying to find Walter is what finally revealed to Walternate where his son Peter had been taken.

Glyph symbol SGlyph symbol WGlyph symbol IGlyph symbol TGlyph symbol CGlyph symbol H
Glyph symbol S
Glyph symbol W
Glyph symbol I
Glyph symbol T
Glyph symbol C
Glyph symbol H


THE OBSERVER

The Observer can be seen in the lobby of Bishop Dynamic.

Observer
Timestamp: 31:41

EPISODE CLUES

Previous Episode Clue

The "Tulip Food Store" signage in '6B' foreshadows Olivia and Peter meeting for the first time in a field of tulips in 'Subject 13'.

Previous episode clue
Timestamp: 00:52
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Next Episode Clue

The periodic table of elements in the Jacksonville daycare center in 'Subject 13' displays the element Osmium, the element featured in 'Os'.

Next episode clue
Timestamp: 09:46

ITEMS OF INTEREST

  • Cortexiphan children seen in the daycare center include Olivia and Nick Lane.
  • Peter had been here (in the Blueverse) for 6 months at this point.
  • The Cortexiphan trials were, at least in part, a way to find a safe way to travel between worlds to bring Peter home without causing further damage to the universes by opening up an unnatural doorway.
  • Olivia was reading Winter's Tale, a novel about a boy named Peter who was raised by people other than his biological parents. Akiva Goldsman, one of the writers of this episode, wrote and directed a movie adaptation of the novel, and was given the go-ahead to start production the same month as this episode came out.
  • Olivia temporarily crossed over when her step-father yelled at her and started to become abusive toward her, generating a mixture of fear and love in Olivia.
  • Peter thought he was stolen from "the other world at the bottom of the lake."
  • Emotional states that Walter tests in Olivia to try to activate her abilities: fun/joy/wonder, exhaustion/exhilaration, frustration/anger, boredom/loneliness. Fear triggers a response but not the right one.
  • The flower glyph glitches away after the scene where Olivia's fear caused her to interrupt all the electronics in the room. (Image 1)
  • There is a NASA space center in the distance behind Bishop Dynamic in Jacksonville; in the Blueverse, Kennedy Space Center is about 150 miles southeast of Jacksonville. (Image 2)
  • Olivia accidentally revealed the truth of an alternate universe to Walternate when she thought she was confessing her stepfather's abuse to Walter.
  • Walternate told Elizabeth where Peter had been taken as he looked at a picture Olivia drew of her and Peter in the field of white tulips. (Image 3)
  • Elizabeth started drinking when Peter first called her 'mom' as the guilt of her successful lies set in.
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Item of interest: Flower glyph glitch
Image 1
Flower glyph glitch
Timestamp: 19:46
Item of interest: Redverse NASA space center
Image 2
Redverse NASA space center
Timestamp: 31:18
Item of interest: Olivia's picture of her and Peter
Image 3
Olivia's picture of her and Peter
Timestamp: 43:06

VIDEOS

Featurettes
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GLYPH SIGHTINGS

  • A seahorse can be seen on the Bishops' refrigerator.
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Glyph Sighting: Seahorse
Seahorse
Timestamp: 39:53

THE REDVERSE

  • The Dodgers play in Brooklyn.
  • They don't have peanut M&Ms (possibly).
  • Walternate formed Bishop Dynamic in the same location as the Jacksonville daycare center. (Image 1)
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Redverse: <b>Image 1:</b> Bishop Dynamic
Image 1: Bishop Dynamic
Timestamp: 31:19

NOTABLE QUOTES

Walter:
"Aha. The beguiling Olivia Dunham beguiles."
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Olivia:
"My stepfather did this. He hits me. That's when I crossed over to the other universe. Look [as she hands Walternate a sketch pad with "Olivia" on it]. That's where I saw the blimps. Just like you said. They were in the sky in the other universe. Can you make him stop hitting me?"
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Walter:
"Before you go. I want you to understand that this girl is very special to me. And if anything harmful should happen to her, anything to frighten her or make her uncomfortable in the least, I will not hesitate to inform social services. In which case I have certain government friends who can ensure that you'd be facing significant troubles for yourself. Do you understand me?"
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Walternate:
"Elizabeth, it's me. I know where our son is. I know where Peter was taken."

CONNECTION CHART

A visualization of all the ways this episode connects to other episodes. Scroll down to see the actual connections.
Connection chart: Subject 13

EPISODE CONNECTIONS

S1E02 - The Same Old Story

  • Olivia's pregnancy dream in "The Same Old Story" is in a waiting area with giant tulips. Young Olivia fled to a field with white tulips when she got scared in "Subject 13". (Image 1)
Connection: Tulip field
Image 1
S3E15 - Subject 13
Tulip field
Timestamp: 33:00
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S1E14 - Ability

  • David Robert Jones (to Olivia in "Ability"):
    "You are holding an evaluation system. A series of tests designed to cultivate specific innate skills present in particular individuals."

    These innate skills are what the Cortexiphan drug trials attempted to bring forth in children in "Subject 13".

  • Olivia's powers to diffuse the bomb in "Ability" only started working when Peter reentered the room. She felt a mixture of fear and love, the emotional combination that triggered her ability to cross over in "Subject 13".
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S1E17 - Bad Dreams

  • Nick Lane, first seen in "Bad Dreams" was a Cortexiphan subject in "Subject 13".
  • Nick Lane (about the trials in "Bad Dreams"):
    "I think they meant for us to forget."

    Olivia didn't remember being in the trials as a child in 'Subject 13'.

  • Fear (seeing Nick Lane dead on the ground) caused Olivia to create a fireball around her in "Subject 13". Walter watched the aftermath of this explosion on an old VHS tape in "Bad Dreams".
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S1E19 - The Road Not Taken

  • Walter said that Nancy Lewis looked familiar in "The Road Not Taken"; she was one of his test subjects in the Cortexiphan trials in "Subject 13".
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S2E05 - Dream Logic

  • Peter (in "Dream Logic"):
    "From the age of 8 to almost 19 I don't remember a single dream."

    Walter and Elizabeth tried very hard to gaslight Peter and make him forget and disregard any thoughts he had about his kidnapping and his real home in "Subject 13".

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S2E14 - Jacksonville

  • Olivia thought her abilities activated in "Jacksonville" because she was scared. The real reason, which Walter had discovered in "Subject 13", was that she was about to kiss Peter while afraid and her abilities activate from a combination of fear and love.
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S2E17 - White Tulip

  • Peter found Olivia in a field of white tulips in "Subject 13", a nod to "White Tulip". (Image 1)
Connection: Tulip field
Image 1
S3E15 - Subject 13
Tulip field
Timestamp: 33:00
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S2E21 - Over There (Part 1)

  • Walter had the Cortexiphan subjects stand in a circle around him to activate their abilities in "Over There (Part 1)" just like he did when they were children in "Subject 13". (Image 1, 2)
Connection: Cortexiphan subjects
Image 1
S2E21 - Over There (Part 1)
Cortexiphan subjects
Timestamp: 23:35
Connection: Cortexiphan subjects
Image 2
S3E15 - Subject 13
Cortexiphan subjects
Timestamp: 03:39
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S2E22 - Over There (Part 2)

  • The posters from Peter's Redverse bedroom in "Subject 13" were hung on the wall when Walternate took him back in "Over There (Part 2)" in order to bring a sense of comfort and familiarity to Peter. (Image 1, 2)
Connection: Posters
Image 1
S2E22 - Over There (Part 2)
Posters
Timestamp: 14:34
Connection: Posters
Image 2
S3E15 - Subject 13
Posters
Timestamp: 28:30
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S3E08 - Entrada

  • In "Subject 13" Walter and Elizabeth were gaslighting Peter into thinking he imagined all the changes in his parents, his home, and the world when he insisted things were different after his kidnapping. He eventually accepted that all of the differences he noticed were not real and were just in his head (Elizabeth's guilt over this is what led to her suicide). This explains why he noticed changes in Olivia (who was really Fauxlivia) but still assumed it was the Olivia he'd known for the past couple years until he found out the truth in "Entrada".
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S3E13 - Immortality

  • Alt Elizabeth (in "Subject 13"):
    "Don't go to work tomorrow. Stay home this week. Forget the lab. Forget Florida. Let's put our marriage back together."

    We learn in the very next scene that Walternate ignored his wife's requests to repair their marriage. In "Immortality", many years later, Walternate had a Japanese mistress named Reiko.

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S3E14 - 6B

  • Olivia saw Peter glimmer when they kissed in "6B". She was nervous about restarting her relationship with Peter. In "Subject 13" Walter discovered that young Olivia's abilities triggered when she experienced a combination of fear and love, the same things she felt during the kiss.
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S3E20 - 6:02 AM EST

  • Walter (to young Peter in "Subject 13"):
    "Of course the Dodgers play for Los Angeles."
    Young Peter:
    "No, they don't. They play in Brooklyn, and I've seen them."

    A radio broadcast from the Redverse in "6:02 AM EST" mentioned the Dodgers playing at Ebbets field in Brooklyn.

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S3E21 - The Last Sam Weiss

  • When Peter left the hospital in "The Last Sam Weiss" he wrote "I am going home" on an envelope, the same phrase he wrote for Elizabeth in "Subject 13" when he tried to return to his home world. (Image 1, 2)
  • The quantum-entangled typewriter, which Olivia tried to activate with her powers in "The Last Sam Weiss", finally started typing once Olivia saw Peter again; the combination of fear and love activated her abilities, as discovered in "Subject 13".
Connection: Peter's note
Image 1
S3E15 - Subject 13
Peter's note
Timestamp: 01:38
Connection: Peter's note
Image 2
S3E21 - The Last Sam Weiss
Peter's note
Timestamp: 25:39
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S4E06 - And Those We've Left Behind

  • In "And Those We've Left Behind" Peter picked up the same toy plane (perhaps not literally the same) that he played with in "Subject 13". (Image 1, 2)
Connection: Toy plane
Image 1
S3E15 - Subject 13
Toy plane
Timestamp: 13:33
Connection: Toy plane
Image 2
S4E06 - And Those We've Left Behind
Toy plane
Timestamp: 43:10
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S4E14 - The End of All Things

  • Jones tried to trigger Olivia's abilities in "The End of All Things" by harming Nina, generating a mixture of fear and love, the emotional combination discovered by Walter in "Subject 13". It finally worked when Peter was brought in because Olivia's relationship with Nina was fading but her relationship with Peter was growing stronger.
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Episode Information
Episode Synopsis
The Glyphs
The Observer
Episode Clues
Items of Interest
Videos
JJ Abrams Easter Eggs
Fringe Division Case File
Glyph Sightings
The Redverse
Walter's Food
Names for Astrid
Walter's Lab Notes
Notable Quotes
Connection Chart
Episode Connections