What Did You Watch? 2025-06-12 (Thursday)

Fringe Season 4 disc extras.  The typical BTS stuff.  One particular point about The Observers.  There was no initial Grand Plan for them when September was introduced.  Michael Cerveris portrayal of September was what inspired the producers to expand upon the Observers. Basically, as is typical of Abrams, they made it up as they went along. With Fringe he just had the perfect excuse for resetting everything when ever he felt like because it was just another universe, different timeline!  *handwave*  "These are not the characters you are looking for."
Fringe S5E01 'Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11'
IMDb sez: "In 2036 the Observers have begun terraforming the earth. Walter has a plan to defeat them but his capture by the Observers may be problematic. Peter searches for Olivia who is encased in amber to reunite his family"
The glyphs for this episode spell out: DOUBT
During the opening credits, there are always words that describe goals of fringe science, and what the season is going to cover. They might be far-fetched in our world and difficult to achieve. In seasons 1-4, these were words like quantum entanglement, philosopher's stone, time paradox, worm holes, teleportation, suspended animation, artificial intelligence, transcendence, cytogenetics, and hive mind. In series 5, the words represent the new improbable: Community, individuality, joy, education, imagination, private thought, due process, free will, ownership, and freedom. Words in the opening sequence that formerly represented dreams of a mad scientist or avid sci-fi fans now represent humanity's lost ideals.
In this episode, Walter calls his lab assistant Astrid by the wrong name ("Afro"). This is a part of a running joke on the show where Walter repeatedly calls Astrid by the wrong name.
Henrietta is the daughter of Olivia and Peter. Perhaps, like the son of Alternate Olivia and Peter, Henry, she is named after Henry Arliss Higgins, who helped both Olivias. She also goes by "Etta" and her cousin, the daughter of Olivia's sister Rachel, is named Ella. Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald are both American jazz singers.
At around 15 minutes into the episode, an Observer says the phrase, "Resistance is futile". This is a nod to Star Trek: The Next Generation. TNG introduced the villains The Borg and that is their catchphrase.
What Did You Watch?
--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky dirty old man.