"Episode 1.14"

"If you survived that...you'd likely wish you hadn't."
In this episode we get to learn a lot more about Mr.Jones, the curtain parts a little more on what our protagonists are up against, and some clues are given as to the "sides" that are involved in all of this scientific drama. For some reason I was a little annoyed that the Observer was standing on the street where the old newspaper guy's face got sealed up. Is Observer a part of either side in the race to whatever finish is imminent, or is he some kind of referee in the game? Either way, he's pretty cold-hearted about the whole thing it seems when humans become the collateral damage.

Here we learn that "what was written will come to pass", according to Loeb. I must say, Peter sounds pretty sexy when he's pronouncing "Zerstorung durch Fortschritte der Technologie". Then of course we get to see more of Peter's "weird connections". I kind of like the book dealer guy, he's funny in a snarcastic New Yorker kind of way. I hope that he gets to be in more episodes, he'd be a colorful addition to the cast.

It was very hard to not crack up while Olivia was going through her mental exercises to get the lightbox to obey her thought commands. Never mind, that would be hard for even The Amazing Kreskin to pull off convincingly. I very much enjoyed Jones taking Harris down a few notches. Harris is a buffoon and no match for someone like Jones, Loeb, Dunham, or even a squirrel. But now Jones is coming apart at the seams or something. See, Dr. McCoy was right about shuffling your molecules around in a transport machine. And I tend to agree with the sentiment of the manifesto that stated that, "The advances of science, which are supposed to expand our knowledge of the universe, will, if not carefully controlled, destroy the world as we know it". Take me back to simpler "The Waltons" type days any time.

So blah, blah, the conflict of racing to diffuse the bomb, Olivia's been experimented on, and she has to take another lightbox test that really counts this time or else. Let's get to the juicy stuff. Did I understand correctly that according to the ZFT manifesto that there are two (or more) factions at play within mulitverses that are breaching the boundaries of their respective universes and encroaching on others' to detrimental results? Aha, now we may be seeing J.J.'s sentiment for this show. Not so much anti-technology (as per Jacob in "Lost"), but perhaps just to say, let's not be too hasty to stray outside of our known universe here. I personally think that there's not too much worry needed there, NASA hasn't been allowed to advance beyond a snail's pace for the past 30 years. Although there is that new particle collider...

According to the transcript, Walter's voice-over says: "We think we understand reality. But our universe is only one of many. The unknown truth is that the way to travel between them has already been discovered - by beings, much like us, but whose history is slightly ahead of our own. The negative aspect of such visitation will be irreversible both to our world and to theirs. It will begin with a series of unquantifiable natural occurrences - difficult to notice at first - but growing, not unlike a cancer, until a simple fact becomes undeniable. Only one world will survive. It will either be us - or them."

Wow. It sounds as if: when beings from separate universes via their technological advancements, cross over into another universe or dimension, that both worlds will begin to be affected adversely by the contact (cataclysmic material decay or the scenery-chewing Langoliers?), and that it cannot be reversed. Very interesting as well as frightening. And Walter seriously, just how much of this do you know that you've already forgotten?!