Subject 13
Season 3, Episode 15

Subject 13

Aired February 25th, 2011 · Written by Jeff Pinkner, J. H. Wyman, Akiva Goldsman · Directed by Frederick E. O. Toye

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 S Glyph symbol W Glyph symbol I Glyph symbol T Glyph symbol C Glyph 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 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 00:52

Next Episode Clue

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.
  • Item of interest: Flower glyph glitch 19:46
    The flower glyph glitches away after the scene where Olivia's fear caused her to interrupt all the electronics in the room.
  • Item of interest: Redverse NASA space center 31:18
    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.
  • Olivia accidentally revealed the truth of an alternate universe to Walternate when she thought she was confessing her stepfather's abuse to Walter.
  • Item of interest: Olivia's picture of her and Peter 43:06
    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.
  • Elizabeth started drinking when Peter first called her 'mom' as the guilt of her successful lies set in.

VIDEOS

Featurettes
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GLYPH SIGHTINGS

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

THE REDVERSE

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

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?"
Walternate:
"Elizabeth, it's me. I know where our son is. I know where Peter was taken."

EPISODE CONNECTIONS

S1E02 — 1 connection (callback) S1E14 — 2 connections (callback) S1E17 — 3 connections (callback) S1E19 — 1 connection (callback) S2E05 — 1 connection (callback) S2E14 — 1 connection (callback) S2E17 — 1 connection (callback) S2E21 — 1 connection (callback) S2E22 — 1 connection (callback) S3E08 — 1 connection (callback) S3E13 — 1 connection (callback) S3E14 — 1 connection (callback) S3E20 — 1 connection (setup) S3E21 — 2 connections (setup) S4E06 — 1 connection (setup) S4E14 — 1 connection (setup) ◀ EARLIER · CALLBACKS SETUPS · LATER ▶
Callbacks (12 earlier episodes)

S1E02 - The Same Old Story

  • Connection: Tulip field S3E15 33:00
    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".

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".

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

  • Connection: Tulip field S3E15 33:00
    Peter found Olivia in a field of white tulips in "Subject 13", a nod to "White Tulip".

S2E21 - Over There (Part 1)

  • Connection: Cortexiphan subjects S2E21 23:35
    Connection: Cortexiphan subjects S3E15 03:39
    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".

S2E22 - Over There (Part 2)

  • Connection: Posters S2E22 14:34
    Connection: Posters S3E15 28:30
    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.

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".

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.

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.
Setups & payoffs (4 later episodes)

Spoilers for future episodes below

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S3E20 - 6:02 AM EST

S3E21 - The Last Sam Weiss

S4E06 - And Those We've Left Behind

S4E14 - The End of All Things