The Fringe

Lee Berman · 06 Apr 2012, 18:49 · from 2012-April.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2012 14:49:11 -0400
Subject: (urth) The Fringe
Message-ID: <SNT123-W513B4833C39926DB7E68A8CF300 at phx.gbl>

>Larry Miller: I dont understand why people take the conclusion as the whole 
>series being a dream.  Everything that happened in the show happened to the
>characters.  The flash sideways was a glimpse into the afterlife which
>took on the form of an alternate timeline.  What suggestion is there
>that it was a dream?

Well, not just a dream, but a dying man's dream. I'm not sure I can explain
it any better than I have. Among the clues given I think the most telling was 
a shot of a book with the title An Occurrence at owl Creek Bridge. This was a
Bierce short story and not even a book unto itself. This story is ONLY notable
for the surprise ending revelation that almost the entire story was a dying 
(on the gallows) man's fantasy. It wasn't placed in the show by accident. 

Likewise for the other, similar clues. Moreover, Jeff's assertion that the 
writers denied it was all a dream confirms that at least it was always a 
consideration and topic of discussion. The Owl Creek story inclusion was,
at minimum, an attempt to generate such controversy.

So for me, there is no doubt of this hovering question throughout the series: 
was it or wasn't it a dying man's dream/fantasy? Here is a clip of the first 
minute of the 6 year series and the final minute. For me, it answers the question.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulwWolBrcbo

(if there had been numerous allusions to stories about time loops instead of 
narrative dreams I'd be more inclined to accept Gerry's hypothesis)

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