Subject 13

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.

The Observer

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

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'.

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'.

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.

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

Glyph Sightings

A seahorse can be seen on the Bishops' refrigerator.

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.

Redverse: Bishop Dynamic — Bishop Dynamic
Timestamp: 31:19

Notable Quotes

WALTER: "Aha. The beguiling Olivia Dunham beguiles."

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?"

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?"

Connection Chart

A visualization of all the ways this episode connects to other episodes. Scroll down to see the actual connections.

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.

Connection: Tulip field — Tulip field
S3E15 - Subject 13
Timestamp: 33:00

S1E14 - Ability

DAVID ROBERT JONES to Olivia: "You are holding an evaluation system. A series of tests designed to cultivate specific innate skills present in particular inspaniduals."
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'.

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'.

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'.

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'.

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.

S2E17 - White Tulip

Peter found Olivia in a field of white tulips in 'Subject 13', a nod to 'White Tulip'.

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'.

Connection: Cortexiphan subjects — Cortexiphan subjects
S2E21 - Over There (Part 1)
Timestamp: 23:35

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.

Connection: Posters — Posters
S2E22 - Over There (Part 2)
Timestamp: 14:34

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'.

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.

Spoilers for future episodes below!

S3E20 - 6:02 AM EST

Young Peter argued with Walter and Elizabeth about differences between the universes in 'Subject 13'.
WALTER to young Peter: "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.

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.
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 — Peter's note
S3E15 - Subject 13
Timestamp: 01:38

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'.

Connection: Toy plane — Toy plane
S3E15 - Subject 13
Timestamp: 13:33

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.