Review: Fringe - The Bishop Revival

(S02E14) An episode titled "The Bishop Revival" almost has a little religious overtone. But Fringe this week was all about Nazis and Walter's dad's involvement with them. Turns out Dr. Robert Bishop (a.k.a. Bishov or Bishoff) was affiliated with the University of Berlin and came to this country in 1943. Also that he was a spy for the allies, smuggling scientific secrets to the Americans. Thus the setup for this episode and a little backstory for Walter.
First of all, how fun to see Walter driving the wagon and smashing into some trash cans, much to Peter's chagrin. And then telling Peter that he's stashed his wedding tux ("Purple never goes out of style") away for whenever Peter gets married ... to Olivia. Now that I've got that out of the way...
I'm not really sure what to think of this episode. To me, the most interesting part of it wasn't so much about the villain and his diabolical "scientific experiment" to target specific victims. Rather, it was about the fact that Walter's dad was a spy in Germany! I mean, it certainly explains a few things about Walter's mad scientist tendencies. And the fact that he'd held onto those German books with the all of the scientific data scribbled in them says a lot.
Or as he told Olivia after using the German's own scientific warfare against him, "Family is very important to me. There's nothing I wouldn't do."
Ok, that's a far cry from the relationship -- or non-relationship -- that he and Peter had prior to him going into the mental institution. Peter was so ticked at Walter that he sold some of his most prized possessions -- his dad's books with his handwritten data tucked inside. Even if somebody's really miffed at a parent, that's a pretty drastic thing to do. It's like selling the family Bible or something. But then, we know that Walter was a much different person prior to his mental collapse.
There were also some of the little Fringe symbols scattered among this episode -- the seahorse and the German guy eating an apple in the apartment, to name two.
Other stuff:
Walter said: "A scientist always tries to re-create his results." Hmmm, could he also be talking about the alternate universe here?
Interesting artwork by the artist who bought Walter's books.
Olivia's ticked at Walter for killing the guy? That's the vibe I got anyway.
Agent Broyles is making a habit of letting Walter off the hook for the greater good.
So how did the German get the formula? It must have something to do with the very last photo -- the one in which the German guy appeared to be standing behind a young Walter. Is that your take on it? And why did the German look to be the same age as the current day? Could he be some sort of German-equivalent Observer?
Leave your theories in the comments below.

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