Transhumanism, Speciation, Synethesia and Moreau

***SPOILER WARNING***

Many of us know a new character will be introduced in the season three finale of Fringe named Moreau.  Now I have been trying to stay as spoiler free as possible which is very difficult in this day and age.  So I just wanted to throw out a little theory of mine before the lid blows off in episode 3.22 “The Day We Died”.

Two of the words we see in the opening title sequence of Fringe are “Speciation” and “Transhumanism”.  And there is an interesting “Moreau” connection to each of these words.  First here is the definition of Speciation from Wikipedia.

“Speciation is the evolutionary process by which new biological species arise.”   Moreover, ” Speciation may also be induced artificially, through animal husbandry or laboratory experiments.”

Now, anyone that is familiar with the book, “The Island of Dr. Moreau” knows that the experimentation conducted by Moreau was to introduce a new sentient species derived from animals.  Often with horrendous results.  But before we delve any further let’s take a look at the definition of “Transhumanism” also from Wikipedia, “Transhumanism,  is an international intellectual and cultural movement that affirms the possibility and desirability of fundamentally transforming the human condition by developing and making widely available technologies to eliminate aging and to greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities.”

Eerily enough there is a further connection to Transhumanism and “Dr. Moreau”.  It seems one of the foremost books dealing with Transhumanism is not only “The Island of Dr. Moreau” but also, “Frankenstein” and perhaps the most revealing of all, “Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep” popularized by the movie, “Blade Runner”.  We Fringe fans know how closely that parallel runs especially after episode 3.04 “Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep”.

So, is this the Moreau our new character will be fashioned after, the one of Transhumanism and Speciation?

Before we say yes let me introduce another Moreau to the equation.  There was a French psychiatrist named, Jacques-Joseph Moreau who lived from 1804 to 1884.   His specialty was research into “Synethesia” the final word clue to our Moreau puzzle and also included in the opening title sequence.   Synesthesia is defined as, “a neurologically-based condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People who report such experiences are known as synesthetes.”  Basically Synesthetes are people that can see color in music, numbers in letters, days of the weeks as maps or sound as motion.  These are exceptional people and this may give us a clue as to the capabilities of the “Observers” as they often deal with colors in communication (green, green.green, red) and possess a heightened capability of the senses.  But the foremost synesthete of all may be Olivia Dunham herself with her newly reborn capabilities.

Our French psychiatrist Moreau tried to replicate the abilities of synesthetes by using something that is near and dear to our beloved Walter and that is through smoking hash.   Oddly enough the French Moreau was also known to be an adherent of the “Transhumanistic” philosophy.

So there you have it, two Moreaus separated by fact and fiction.  Which one will Fringe introduce to us tomorrow night, one or the other? Or will it be an amalgamation of Transhumanism, Speciation and Synethesia?