Fringe 2×17 “White Tulip”: Reactions from a First Time Viewer

ONE OF MY FAVORITE EPISODES!!!!!!!! I finally understand the White Tulip reference fans make, and IT IS BEAUTIFUL. I love how the show balances its exploration of religion. It is done at key moments with elegance. This episode is a perfect example of why Fringe is a must-see show. That ending!! So good!! Masterpiece.

• What is this kid doing in the street? He just pickpocketed.  OH DANG. All aboard the train of death! Time to call the Fringe team.
• Walter is gonna tell Peter his secret in a letter? Wait, is Walter gonna leave? 

• Awww, Peter just told Olivia Walter has been avoiding him all week. Peter: “He’s stopped eating.”   RED FLAG! SO UNLIKE WALTER. Poor guy. 

• Peter: “All week, it feels like he’s been enveloped in this sadness.”  OLIVIA!! Don’t blatantly lie. Geesh. That’s one angry CSI tech, “Get off this train.” What? Walter believes they died of “Collective heart failure.” 
• Whew! Walter dropped his letter for Peter but got it back. It’s never a dull day when Walter asks for bodies, “Six or seven dead bodies should suffice.” 
• Astrid knew exactly what Walter would say. Besties! 

• The perpetrator’s name is Alistair Peck and he is working on a MAJOR math problem.  Love Olivia on her radio. “Send the Bishops up, please.”

• The dude is an astrophysist and teaches at MIT. UH OH, Mr. Peck is watching them take their stuff.  BOLD! He just walked in to his apartment. WTF did he do to his arm?!  Wait, those folks from the train are not dead? He created a temporal pocket?! Peck is back on the train? He can time travel?   WTF?! It’s like Groundhog Day.

• The letter! Oh snap. I bet this is gonna happen again and Peter is gonna find the letter on the ground.
• They are back at Dr. Alistair’s house but there is no math equation!! WHAT?! Olivia: “Wow, I’m having déjà vu.” Olivia’s face is HYSTERICAL! Aw, Peter says he doesn’t get déjà vu. That’s because you’re not from this world. DUH! 

• HOLD UP!! There’s a seahorse in the medicine cabinet!!

• Walter asked Olivia if he could go home with her. Aww, Walter, what are you waiting for?
• Olivia is talking to Carol Bryce, Alistair’s former colleague at MIT. She says he had a fiancée named Arlette and didn’t socialize. Carol just referred to Alistair’s books as “gobbledygook.” Olivia: “Well, I happen to know someone who is fluent in gobbledygook.” 
• Walter: “We may have apprehended this man before. Possibly several times.” YES! THAT’S IT WALTER!! Oh wow, Arlette was killed in a car accident and Alistair is trying to go back and save her.

• Walter: “Grief can drive people to extraordinary lengths.” BEAUTIFUL LINE!
• That’s a tough call Olivia, but you should let Walter talk to Alastair. Ewwww. Alastair’s body!!! It’s Walter! Walter: “I am not a threat. I am an ambassador.” 
• 18 5 2 18…May 18^th 2:18 PM
• Walter just disconnected his radio! Walter believes he betrayed God when he took the other Peter and everything that has happened to him since then has been punishment.  Walter: “I’ve asked God for a sign of forgiveness. A specific one, a white tulip.” GAH!!! It’s the white tulip reference the Fringe fans talk about!!! I GET IT!!!! Alistair: “Tulips don’t bloom this time of year – white or otherwise.” Walter: “But he’s God. And If God can forgive me for my acts then maybe…it’s in the realm of possibility that my son, possibly, may be able to forgive me too.”  FRIMMY!!!!!

• Alistair: “Walter, God is science.” Walter: “It’s not our place to adjust the universe.” NOOOOO!!!! The team is coming. Walter: “We won’t remember anything.” 

• Walter is eating red vines. Carol Bryce? Why is Alistair writing to Carol Bryce? OH SNAP!! He did it. He’s in the field! OH MAN!!!  TWIST!!!!!! He was gonna die with her! I did not see that coming.

• Alistair left a letter for Carol to mail to Walter!! WHAT?! Walter just burned the letter to Peter. You’re not gonna tell him?!?! Walter!

•  OH EM GEE!!!!! THE WHITE TULIP!!!!! THE SIGN!!!!!! OH MY GOSH!!! OH MY GOSH!!!! OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you Fringe Files, “dunhamgetinmybed,” and “hellyeahfringe”  for providing the screencaps and gifs.

-Mary

Fringe 2×16 “Olivia. In the Lab. With the Revolver.”: Reactions from a First Time Viewer
Fringe 2×15 “Peter”: Reactions from a First Time Viewer
Fringe 2×14 “Jacksonville”: Reactions from a First Time Viewer