Recently I had done an analysis of the Fringe season four teaser, “The Wait”. (You can find it here.) In this post I tried to do a thorough examination of the hidden clues and Easter eggs and attempted to divine what they all meant. One of the more salient images came from a hand pressed a reinforced glass window pictured below.
I imagined this hand belonging to Walter as the sleeve was white and probably belonged to his lab coat. I further theorized that Walter had become victim to his own experimentation into re-animation or perhaps into that of shape-shifting. I should now also include that the hand may belong to Walternate as well as he also wears a similar lab coat and is pursuing the same lines of investigation/experimentation.
The hand has made its return in the teaser for the next episode of Fringe entitled, “Enemy of My Enemy” as seen by the screen grab below.
What is also engaging about these two frames is that there seems to some gaseous vapor whirling about the room the hand seems to be trapped in. If we take a closer look at the teaser trailer we see a device that is emitting a white cloudy gas on some table top right next to some mysterious red filled vials. The gas device could be some sort of trap or destructive device or it still may be an experiment gone wrong.
Either way, “The Hand” makes an appearerance of a different sort earlier in this episode.
As red universe Olivia exits the Orpheum opera house with Lincoln Lee a theater poster is revealed in the background. It also displays a single hand, fingers splayed is similar fashion to the hands noted above. This could be our clue to the next episode and it may or may not have deeper meaning.
If we go back earlier in the season we see similar hand imagery when a panicked Walter revealed his bloodied palms and I started a discussion on Christian symbolism as this reminded me of Christian lore of the Stigmata. Make note of the lab coated hands above, and while not bloodied, they show the disfigurement of the Stigmata.
So what can we take from all of this? Is Walter or Walternate being punished for their excess as symbolized by the sign of the stigmata? Are they victims of a trap or their experimentation gone wrong? Has the “hand” of fate reached out to them and led them to a point of no return?
In any case, let me know what you think. Did I miss anything? What can you all add? Anything else to cull from the teaser included below? Is this the last we’ve seen of the hand of fate or just the beginning?
http://youtu.be/lRj1cLkCeFs
Going with the hand imagery there’s always Nina and her cyber-bionic hand 🙂
Back in Ability DRJ had a shaky hand holding a cup of tea, perhaps just “after effects” of his teleportation? I really need to go back and rewatch the old DRJ episodes now.
To be honest the first thing that I think of when I see that hand on the glass image is “Not Penny’s Boat”, Lost is indelibly etched in my brain 🙂
I really hope the 6 finger glyph comes into play at some point.
All for now – GO PATS! – ducky
Ha, how could I forget about Nina? It will be interesting to see how she fits into all of this. Perhaps as the velvet glove of the mailed fist.
Well, I may or may not be right, but the hand looks like it was sliced open. Way back in season 1, members of the ZFT had those small glass data discs embedded into their palms. They left that plot line completely open but then never pursued it.
No that Mr. Jones is back, my theory is that this is perhaps his hand, or the hand of one of his followers, perhaps the new shapeshifters, or ZFT members?
Sure, why not Devynn, that sound good to me. I was thinking of ZFT when Walternate was telling Peter how the government was being infiltrated and a panic may ensue. With DRJ back on the scene he may be the leader of ZFT and the new human shape-shifters his army.
Wow, forgot all about those discs! That would be cool if they came up again.
I was thinking later that the new human Shape-shifters probably don’t have a need for the discs. But, we shall see.
Here’s my pretty-out-there theory:
A shapeshifter will try to use Peter’s form (meaning his DNA) to activate the machine, but the machine won’t be fooled, and the shapeshifter will be rejected, its hands burned, and captured by Walternate, which is what we see in the promo: the hand pressed against the glass window of one of Walternate’s infamous cells.
OK Con, not bad. Are you saying Peter is dead now and a Shape-shifter has taken his body? Yeah, probably not. So why would a Shape-shifter want to operate the machine? Part of ZFT’s plan? A David Robert Jones scheme? Let me know.
Don’t worry, there are no “pretty out there” theories on Fringe! Thanks for the reply.
the only thing that comes to my mind is the scar on the hand, so for my money its David Robert Jones.
When we saw David Robert Jones his face was scared, I assume because he was repaired instead of grown in a clone bath. I am so happy fringe is back. I am unfortunatley being a downer/depressed/sad/eeyore in that this is the last season of fringe. Trust me I want Fringe every year for the rest of my life. But I am scared this it. So sad. And I said on Twitter, if the Red Universe has more seasons of Fringe, I am so going to Rieden Lake and getting naked!
Great post IDD.
Don’t be sad Eeyore! I mean Charlie! Jones did look a little gnarley didn’t he? Maybe Jones has been traveling a bit too much from side to side. If he can perfect the Human Shape-shifters perhaps he can infuse his own body with their tech and live on.
If this the last season of Fringe let’s hope it goes out with a bang and if you decide to take your visit to Reiden Lake I will notify the media! Thanks for the reply Charlie!