Black Blotter
Season 5, Episode 09

Black Blotter

Aired December 14th, 2012 · Written by Kristin Cantrell · Directed by Tommy Gormley

SYNOPSIS

In this episode, Walter takes an LSD trip and recalls vital missing pieces of the plan to defeat the Observers. Meanwhile, Peter and Olivia trace the mysterious signal from the radio they recovered in the pocket universe to a rural island where a crucial piece of the plan has been concealed.

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

THE GLYPHS

This episode's glyphs spell:

G-U-I-L-T

Walter took drugs and worked through his long-standing guilt for the death of his former lab assistant.

Glyph symbol G Glyph symbol U Glyph symbol I Glyph symbol L Glyph symbol T
Glyph symbol G
Glyph symbol U
Glyph symbol I
Glyph symbol L
Glyph symbol T


THE OBSERVER

Observers are featured in this episode.

Observer 30:38

EPISODE CLUES

Previous Episode Clue

A banner behind Peter in 'The Human Kind' foreshadows the pixies Walter sees while high in 'Black Blotter'.

Previous episode clue 08:26

Next Episode Clue

ITEMS OF INTEREST

  • Item of interest: Sam Weiss 17:55
    Sam Weiss died 10-15 years earlier in a shootout with Observers trying to protect the radio signal relay used to locate Michael.
  • Item of interest: Carla Warren 20:04
    Walter had visions of Carla Warren.
  • The vision of Carla is trying to convince Walter to present himself to the Observers as a brilliant scientific asset, like Bell did.
  • Item of interest: Walter's life's work 21:56
    Carla came to the lab to burn documentation on Walter's life's work, which grew into the fire that killed her.
  • Donald took Michael from the pocket universe and hid him with a family 8 months after the invasion. They've been broadcasting the radio signal for over 20 years.
  • Michael remembers Olivia.
  • Item of interest: Walter's Monty Python-esque vision 31:53
    Walter's vision is an homage to the segues seen in Monty Python's Flying Circus.
  • Item of interest: Walter's memories 39:27
    Walter relives memories as projections and experiences new conversations as if they're VHS recordings because his mind is so bent on figuring out the plan from the tapes.

VIDEOS

Featurettes
Behind the Scenes
Interviews
Commentary

GLYPH SIGHTINGS

  • A frog can be seen on the dock when Walter is high.
  • A frog can be seen in Walter's Monty Python trip.
  • A seahorse can be seen in Walter's Monty Python trip.
Glyph Sighting: Frog 25:30 Frog
Glyph Sighting: Frog 32:09 Frog
Glyph Sighting: Seahorse 32:09 Seahorse

WALTER'S FOOD

Walter hallucinated that he made a chocolate cake.
Walter's Food: Cake hallucination 09:04 Cake hallucination

EPISODE CONNECTIONS

S1E12 — 1 connection (callback) S2E15 — 1 connection (callback) S2E19 — 1 connection (callback) S5E01 — 1 connection (callback) S5E11 — 1 connection (setup) ◀ EARLIER · CALLBACKS SETUPS · LATER ▶
Callbacks (4 earlier episodes)

S1E12 - The No-Brainer

  • Connection: Carla Warren S5E09 41:50
    Olivia (in "The Same Old Story"):
    "I think I know who that woman was... outside."
    Peter:
    "What do you think you know?"
    Olivia:
    "That she's the mother of the lab assistant that was killed in the fire here almost twenty years ago."

    In "Black Blotter" Walter is haunted by what happened to Carla Warren.

    Walter (in "Black Blotter"):
    "Carla Warren is here. My old dead lab assistant is here to haunt me. The one that was burned in the fire."

S2E15 - Peter

  • Connection: Walter's vision S5E09 11:23
    In "Black Blotter" Walter had a vision of his scuffle with Nina at Reiden Lake from "Peter" and later recalled other memories from that day.

S2E19 - Brown Betty

  • Connection: Walter's journal S2E19 17:10
    Connection: Walter's journal S5E09 22:02
    Walter had his life's work in a journal in "Black Blotter" just like he did in the fairy tale he told Ella in "Brown Betty".

S5E01 - Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11

  • Connection: Neon green fairy S5E01 08:32
    Connection: Hallucinated green fairy S5E09 06:26
    The neon green fairy seen in the black market in "Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11" is like the green fairy Walter hallucinated in "Black Blotter".
Setups & payoffs (1 later episode)

Spoilers for future episodes below

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S5E11 - The Boy Must Live