Deconstruction Review of Fringe, Episode 4 Season 4, Subject 9
Posted by Karl Withakay on October 14, 2011
A Gold/Yellow Episode
As always, an episode synopsis will be found over at Scott’s Polite Dissent
RetroTech
Why did Walter’s super multi-angle photo setup consist pretty much entirely of various models of Polaroid instant cameras, apparently somehow converted to digital?
Magnetic Personality
Walter to Astrid:
“Find anything metal, so they can test whether those objects have become magnetized.”
For any of those objects not made out of ferromagnetic materials, that would indeed be extra Fringe worthy, as only ferromagnetic materials can be magnetized. Not all metals are capable of being magnetized or attracted to magnets. Dental amalgam does not contain ferromagnetic materials and is not attracted to magnets.
Bug Out
Mysophobia is the fear of germs and contamination. Not that it would have eased Walter’s mind at all, but he should have known that urine is generally sterile, and poses little risk of germs.
Wild Wild West
Did the retcon eliminate all the other questionable firearms discharges by Olivia? Because if not, you’d think they just revoke he firearms privileges by now and take her gun away.
First she blindly shoots out a window with no concern for what’s on the other side of the window, or where the bullet might ricochet to in an urban environment with many hard (ricochet prone) surfaces. (I watched the scene in slow motion, and though she turns he head towards the window, she covers her eyes with her arms and does not see what’s on the other side of the window, and even if she did see the other side was clear, the ricochet problem still exists.).
Later, in the same episode, she fires her gun at an angle in the air without any concern for where the bullet might land. (Although the Mythbusters proved you can fire a gun directly vertical with little fear of harm when the bullet lands, any angle will result in a ballistic trajectory and a potentially lethal landing.) I’m surprised she doesn’t just shoot the bottle caps off of beer bottles and use her gun to turn off the lights like Homer Simpson.
Super Special Magnetic Powers
Not only is Peter’s energy capable of attracting non ferromagnetic metals, it is also capable of unlocking mailboxes in an apartment complex.
Violating Causality
Walter:
“I witnessed effect before cause.”
Effect proceeding cause would appear to violate causality, and would imply faster than light phenomenon/ time travel or retrocausality. If a particle travels faster than light, it would travel back in time and appear to flow from effect to cause.
Cordial Deconstruction 
The non-science of Fringe: Subject 9 « weak interactions said
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