Deconstruction Review of Fringe, Episode 6 Season 5 Through the Looking Glass and What Walter Found There
Posted by Karl Withakay on November 10, 2012
A Dreary Blue Episode
As always, an episode synopsis should eventually be found over at Scott’s Polite Dissent
Pythonesque
Apparently the method of entering the pocket universe was developed by the Ministry of Silly Walks
Pocket Physics Science
Either the pocket universe includes a fully functional and self sustaining & maintaining power grid or generator, or the physics of the pocket universe cause light bulbs to illuminate without power.
Also, although the universe was very Escher-like, at least it wasn’t intentionally designed to be a Castrovalva-type trap.
Prop Convenience Theater?
It seems like the Observers have functioning security cameras only in locations that are convenient to advancing or complicating the plot as the writers desire. Most times, the Fringe team can wander around in broad daylight, at will, in populated areas without any concern for being spotted, but every once in a while, they get unlucky and get spotted & identified by one of the apparently very rare functioning Observer security cameras. Do the Observers have budget problems that are preventing them from fully deploying or maintaining their electronic observation net?
If We Were to Go By The Book…
Assuming the rate of time flow in the pocket universe is fairly constant relative to the passage of time in the corresponding local region of our universe, then if 5 days passing for Cecil in the pocketverse equated to 20 years passing in our universe, it follows that there is roughly a 1:1461 correlation in time flow, such that every hour spent in the pocketverse should translate to about 60 days passing in our universe. For every minute spent in the pocketverse, about 1 day passes in our universe.
Astrid mentions working with Walter the previous night , and even though Walter’s bed has not been slept in, it’s clear he did not get to the building where the portal was before daylight, and it’s also pretty clear the team went looking for him that same day, also arriving in daylight. Thus the team couldn’t have been much more than about 10 hours behind Walter, at most. Doing the math tells us that Walter should have only experienced the passage of, at most, about 25 seconds in time in the pocketverse before Olivia and Peter arrived there. Walter probably would still have been in the room when Olivia and Peter arrived.
Cordial Deconstruction 
shadowkate said
Karl – Any idea what is going on with Scott? There haven’t been any posts on his site in two weeks.
Karl Withakay said
I know he has a lot going on and has been pretty busy lately, and I’m guessing any free time he has had in the last 2 weeks has gone to family time. I seriously doubt he’ll get anything posted tonight either.
He may be having a harder time finding motivation with Fringe’s new, less Fringy format. I’ll give a hard time about it when I see him on Saturday.
FYI: He keeps insisting that he will quit writing Fringe reviews if the Doomsday Clock hits midnight, no matter how close to the end of the season it is.
Neil said
Karl,
Thanks for writing these entertaining reviews.
Though I rarely comment, I’ve read and enjoyed yours and Scott’s reviews from S01E01.
Keep up the good work! (and ask Scott to get back to it!! :D)
Cheers!
Francisco (FC) said
*snicker* At this point, that’s just pride talking. He figured the series would tank and he’d be off the hook sometime at the end of the first season. The Doomsday clock lost all meaning and credibility a long time ago.
aashay147 said
Regarding time in the pocket universe, Walter mentions that ‘time loops in on itself’ in the pocket, so the while Cecil was in there for 20 years in the regular universe, the 5 days passed should simply be 5 days since the last loop. It is never mentioned how long one cycle lasts, though it must be a minimum of 5 days.