Cordial Deconstruction

As usual, an episode synopsis can be found over at Scott’s Polite Dissent.

Olivia Dunham, Now With Improved Investigative Skills.

Olivia manages to notice the joint has no lipstick stains even though the woman was wearing lipstick.  Has she been taking remedial investigator classes at night?

Rubber Gloves for Mercury?

I was wondering if it would be safe to handle mercury while wearing rubber gloves.  In spite of what some yahoos say, it seems that it may indeed be safe (or at least safer) to handle mercury while wearing rubber gloves according to numerous sources, here, here,  here, here, and here..

Leap of Logic #1

Quote form Peter regarding the interference signal form the TV broadcast:

“Shape shifters are soldiers.  Soldiers always come with orders.  Maybe that’s a message.”

Implying that the message would be the orders for the shape shifter(s).   That’s a bit of a leap of logic, don’t you think?  Wouldn’t it make more sense to give the soldiers their orders before they crossed over to the other universe, when you could just tell them in plain English, rather than wait until they’re in the other universe and then send the orders by a signal that might get distorted due to interference, a signal that could be picked up by someone on the other side?

Closed Captioning for the Math Impaired?

Massive Dynamics scientist discussing the signal from the transmission:

Scientist:

“It’s not a language, it’s math.”

Olivia:

“Math?”

Scientist:

“Trigonometric equations, in this case, a kind of wave, the kind given off by solar flares, which is interesting.”

First of all, I’d like to point out that the closed captioning said “trig and metric equations” which makes even less sense than the actual dialog spoken.

I only have the equivalent of a minor in mathematics, so maybe I’m off base here, but unless solar flares are sinusoidal, I don’t really see how you can say a trigonometric equation is the kind of wave given off by a solar flare.

Leap of Logic #2 (Yeah, That’s the Ticket!)

Again, the scientist at Massive Dynamics:

“Yeah, yeah, because in a parallel universe, time would be slightly out of sync.”

Upon what is the scientist basing this a priori assumption?  Regardless of whether it is the case or not, the scientist provides no underlying support for this wild assertion.  Unlike Olivia, he has no personal or experimental experience with parallel universes upon which to base this speculation.  It seems he’s just making it up to conform to and support the observed data.  Thanks for the circular logic, buddy.

Prop Convenience Theater

Don’t all scientists have a pair of metronomes just laying around in their work areas?

Double Spoken Quote of the Show

Spoken simultaneously by Walter and Astrid:

“There’s more than one way to roast a reindeer.”

The Writers on Fringe Must Just Like Car Batteries

What do they need the six car batteries for if they are hooked up to building power, and they lose power when they blow a breaker/fuse?

Bring Me an Autobot!

Walter told Peter he needed several things, one of which was a “voltage transformer”  Presumably he said  “voltage transformer” rather than just “transformer” so Peter didn’t bring him an Optimus Prime figure by mistake.

It’s Not the Volts, It’s the Amps

OK, the breaker/fuse blew at 140 amps, which is good deal of amperage.  Car batteries are made for short burst of cranking energy, not sustained operation like deep cycle trolling motor batteries, so again, I’m not sure what the car batteries bring to the table here.  If they were running just off of building power, and they had a 208V/30A outlet to work off of, they could get 140A if they stepped the voltage down to 44V, and Walter did mention a voltage transformer as one of his requirements, so this is doable.

Just for the Search Engines

Geometry and harmonic vibrations.

Leap of Logic #3 (Public Service Announcement for Law Enforcement Officers Everywhere)

ATTENTION ALL POLICE OFFICERS:

PLEASE KEEP YOUR POLICE RADIO BATTERIES CHARGED AT ALL TIMES.

DO NOT LOSE OR DAMAGE YOUR POLICE RADIO.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF COMMUNICATION IF YOUR POLICE RADIO IS UNAVAILABLE FOR ANY REASON.

IF YOU ARE OBSERVED BY FBI AGENT OLIVIA DUNHAM TO BE VIOLATING THESE GUIDELINES, SHE WILL PUT A BULLET BETWEEN YOUR EYES.

THE LIFE YOU SAVE MAY JUST BE YOUR OWN.

THAT IS ALL, THANKS