- "Olivia" redirects here. For other articles using that name, see Olivia (disambiguation).
- "But wherever you think this gift came from, or whoever you think bestowed it upon you, it's simply an anomaly. I know that because I'm an anomaly. I have moved things with my mind. I've lit things on fire. I've caught bullets midair. I've seen things that people only dream about. I've seen... the seams between universes ripped apart. Things that humans shouldn't see. People make up explanations, assign meanings to things without knowing, because it's reassuring, comforting. But I can't do that. Because I know too much."
- ―Olivia Dunham to Simone, a psychic.
Agent Olivia Dunham is an FBI special agent and multiagency DHS liaison recruited by Philip Broyles to be part of a secret task force within the FBI known as Fringe Division. This division is where she spearheads various paranormal events related to The Pattern, alongside civil consultant Peter Bishop and his father, Dr. Walter Bishop. She is the central character of the series.
Olivia has been described as driven, stubborn, relentless at her job and unwilling to give up until she succeeds. She believes herself to be incapable of being vulnerable initially until she finds strength in it. She struggles with trust issues and letting other people help her out.
Olivia discovers, rediscovers and eventually willingly manages her unique, Cortexiphan-induced, paranormal abilities for the benefit of global, and trans-universal good. As a child, she suffered from abuse and was experimented on by Walter Bishop, although much of her memories of him were repressed. She is trained by Walter and William Bell as a guardian to protect the universe when a war between her universe and another, clash. Olivia finds herself collaborating with enemy forces and also dealing with the threat of the enigmatic Observers.
Original Timeline[]
Background Information[]
In 1974, Walter Bishop had a brief glimpse of an adult Olivia Dunham during his initial experimentations with a special acid concoction that would later be labelled as Cortexiphan. ("The Zodiac Paradox")
Olivia Dunham was born on October 12, 1979, to Marilyn Dunham and an unnamed war veteran father. At three years old, Olivia lived in Jacksonville, Florida, because her father was stationed at the local military base. In Jacksonville, she was part of a series of drug trials--previously thought to have been held only in Ohio--in which schoolchildren were used as test subjects. ("Ability")
The Cortexiphan Trials, run by Walter Bishop and William Bell, took place in a daycare centre in Jacksonville, Florida. Olivia became a part of the trials in 1982. ("Ability") Olivia proved to be the most capable and strongest of all the test subject children. ("Momentum Deferred") While in the trials, she was partnered up with Nick Lane. ("Ability")
It is unknown what happened to Olivia's biological father, although he is likely dead. Marilyn Dunham later remarried in the mid-1980s. Olivia's new stepfather was abusive to her mother and also to her.
In 1985, the trials were accelerated for six-year-old Olivia, known as Olive to her peers. She proved to be the greatest success and demonstrated a number of abilities after receiving the drug, including telekinesis, pyrokinesis, and the ability to cross safely between universes momentarily.
However, Walter discovered that this ability was not easily controlled and, moreover, required intense emotional stimulation to activate. He began to test her emotions in various ways and discovered that fear was the key. This fear, which stemmed from the abuse by her stepfather, discouraged Walter from continuing his experiments with her. (Unbeknownst to Olivia, Walter had accelerated the trials because he hoped to find a way to bring the alternate universe, Peter Bishop, back home.)
Peter and Olivia met one another as children and confided in one another. Peter convinced her to open up about the abuse she had experienced. Olivia eventually sought help from Walter but discovered she was speaking to the Walter Bishop from the other universe after she had momentarily crossed over. When Olivia finds and confides in Walter himself, he empathizes with her and threatens her stepfather Randall with a call to social services as well as the loss of financial support from the trial ("Subject 13"). Later that day, her stepfather Randall hit her with a belt, resulting in busting her lip. Sometime later, Walter also discontinued testing her emotions.
Olivia's memories of the trials eventually became repressed along with those of her childhood trauma and abuse. It is possible that hypnosis sessions conducted by Walter had also diminished the children's memories of what was happening to them.
When she was 9, Olivia's stepfather beat her mother particularly harshly. Olivia shot him after this but did not kill him. He survived the shooting and disappeared after his recovery. Although she did not see him after these events, he continued to send her a birthday card every year ("The Cure"). As an adult, Olivia told Peter that she knew she wanted to be in law enforcement since the age of 9 ("The Ghost Network").
Olivia and her younger sister, Rachel, were orphaned when Marilyn Dunham died of cancer in 1994. Olivia was 14 years old. ("Olivia") They went into foster care afterwards. ("Novation") At some point, Olivia attended boarding school. ("Safe") She played the oboe for six months. Olivia also acquired the ability to expertly remember sequences of numbers and to count cards. ("Safe")
Dunham graduated from Northwestern University with a B.S. in Psychology and Criminology, and served as a United States Marine Corps special investigator, prosecuting Sanford Harris, who was charged with sexually assaulting three Marine Corps Privates. Dunham was successful and Harris was jailed, though this case caused bad blood to form between FBI agent Phillip Broyles and Dunham. ("Pilot") While working for the FBI, Dunham became romantically involved with fellow agent and partner John Scott. Due to the fact that relationships between agents were not allowed, the affair was kept quiet, though Dunham hated the secrecy.
Season One[]
Dunham and Scott would often rendezvous at a motel room for intimate time together. During one such time, their tryst was interrupted with a phone call instructing her to go to Logan International Airport to help manage the Flight 627 incident. Upon her arrival, Charlie Francis, her close friend and fellow agent, debriefed Dunham. Phillip Broyles, the managing agent of the case, chose Francis and Scott to examine the plane, and eventually submitted to Dunham's requests and let her join the search team as well, despite his dislike of her. Upon entering the plane, Dunham and her colleagues were shocked at the carnage inside the cabin, where every occupant's flesh had melted. Returning to the Federal Building in Boston, Dunham was assigned to investigate a lead at a storage facility along with Scott.
The two split up to search the storage facility, and Scott found and pursued a man who was hiding in one of the containers. The man then detonated a bomb within the containers. Dunham was clear of the blast, but Scott had been directly in the middle of the explosion and was put into a coma to slow skin degeneration similar to the degeneration seen on the passengers of Flight 627.
Desperate to solve the case and save her lover, Dunham searched the FBI database for anything that could help cure Scott's ailment, eventually discovering a Dr. Walter Bishop, a scientist who conducted research on a similar matter. Bishop, incarcerated in a mental institution, was only allowed to be visited by immediate family members, however, so Dunham located Peter Bishop, Walter's son, whom she would use to visit Walter. After using bluffing and blackmail, Dunham enlisted the younger Bishop's help, and together they went to see the elder Bishop in the institution. When Walter proved to be knowledgeable about the subject, Dunham had him released from the institution and had his old lab reopened. Walter is initially unsuccessful at treating Scott, but after entering a water tank for a synaptic transfer with Scott, Dunham is able to identify the man who tried to kill Scott: Richard Steig, twin brother of Flight 627 passenger Morgan Steig, a former Massive Dynamic employee. Dunham questions Steig's employer, Nina Sharp, who offers Dunham a job but no useful information other than the words "the Pattern," which Sharp enigmatically does not elaborate upon. Dunham raids Steig's house, eventually capturing him with the help of Peter. Broyles reveals to Dunham what the pattern is, though she does not wish to participate in any similar investigations. Upon interrogating Steig, Dunham discovers that John Scott had been speaking to Steig before the 627 incident, and had even been threatening him. Dunham returned to the hospital soon after Scott killed Steig, and engaged in a high-speed car chase that ended with Scott's death, though with his dying breaths, Scott told her to question why she was sent to the storage facility. Dunham, emotionally shaken by the entire case, met with Walter and Peter soon afterwards who decided to stay and help with future cases. ("Pilot")
Their next case was that of Loraine Alcott, a woman who died after giving birth to a rapidly aging baby. During the case, Dunham discovered that her affair with Scott was not as secret as she had once thought, and she begins to question her entire relationship with Scott. The case is solved and finished with the death of killer Christopher Penrose and the arrest of his father Claus Penrose. ("The Same Old Story")
After solving cases involving a bus accident ("The Ghost Network") and a mysterious bald man ("The Arrival"), Olivia finally became somewhat used to her job and was on good terms with Phillip Broyles and the rest of her co-workers. While solving the case of Joseph Meegar, a man who can control electricity, Olivia began to see visions of Scott, which eventually led her to one of Scott's hideouts, where she found several useful items, along with an engagement ring intended for her. Walter attributed this to a piece of Scott's consciousness being transferred over to Dunham's mind. ("Power Hungry")
On her birthday, Dunham investigated a case concerning a virus that caused people to explode. While working on the case, Dunham recalled memories of her stepfather's abuse. After solving the case, Dunham received a letter that only said "thinking of you." ("The Cure")
While investigating a parasite on the heart of fellow agent Mitchell Loeb, Dunham first met David Robert Jones, a prisoner in the German Wissenschaft Prison and a known bioterrorist. Jones was intrigued by Dunham. Also while in Germany, Dunham was reunited with Lucas Vogel, an old flame. While Dunham and Vogel kissed, nothing further developed between them, and Dunham returned to the United States after the information from Jones had been taken. ("In Which We Meet Mr. Jones")
After solving the case of a kidnapped boy ("The Equation"), Dunham was forced to go back into the tank to search the memories that had entered her head with Scott's consciousness, which she used to solve the case of a Massive Dynamic employee. After receiving a cryptic email, Dunham realized that she could communicate with Scott through his memories. ("The Dreamscape")
While solving the case of a bank robber stuck in a wall, Dunham was kidnapped by Mitchell Loeb. ("Safe") Loeb took her back to a laboratory, injecting her with a mysterious substance. When Dunham escaped and calls for backup, she was instead tasered and brought in for questioning by Sanford Harris, a man she had earlier prosecuted for sexual misconduct. Harris, working with Internal Affairs, intended to get revenge on Dunham for her prosecution of him. Meanwhile, Olivia's sister Rachel Dunham and Rachel's daughter Ella Blake arrive to stay with Olivia. While working on the case, Dunham began to suspect that Mitchell Loeb was involved, and immediately went to search his house, eventually getting into a standoff and killing Samantha Loeb. Loeb was captured and interrogated by the FBI, and Dunham revealed that Samantha was dead, driving Loeb into a rage. ("Bound")
A case concerning a Brain-melting computer virus became personal when Ella Blake almost fell victim to the virus, though Ella was saved by Dunham. ("The No-Brainer") Dunham later went undercover with Peter Bishop to solve the case of a bioweapon that mutated its victims. ("The Transformation")
When David Robert Jones appeared at the Federal Building in surrender, he demanded to speak to Dunham only. Sanford Harris, however, considered that doing so would be negotiating with a terrorist. Harris instead instructed Dunham to raid a warehouse along with Charlie Francis and several others. Only upon finding evidence linking her current case (a virus that caused orifices to seal over) to Jones would she be able to speak with Jones. During the raid, Agent Kent was infected with the toxin, linking Jones to the case and therefore giving Dunham a right to talk to Jones. Jones then instructed Dunham to find a box which contained ten games, which were designed for a "recruit" of the ZFT bible. Upon discovery, Dunham was to attempt the first test, and the first test only. Dunham was at first reluctant to do the test, believing Jones to be performing a psychological trick on her. He revealed that she had been injected with a drug called Cortexiphan that was created by Massive Dynamic, however, that would give her the ability to complete the test, which involved telekinetically extinguishing a board of electric lights. Dunham, still skeptical of whether the drug existed, confronted Nina Sharp about the drug, who told her that William Bell had only tested it in Ohio to unsuccessful results in the early 1980's, during which Dunham was a three-year-old living at a military base in Jacksonville, Florida with her father. Returning to the lab, Dunham faked passing the test in order to gain the location of a bomb from Jones. Upon reaching the bomb, however, Dunham discovered that disabling the bomb required the skill that she had previously imitated on the first test. However, through concentration, Dunham appeared to extinguish the lights and disable the bomb, though she attributed it to a simple timer that caused the lights to cut off, and not to any personal ability, though Peter disagreed with her. When Dunham returned to the hospital where Jones was being held, however, she found a gaping hole in the wall of his hospital room, with the message "You passed" scrawled on an adjacent wall. Later that night, Dunham received a call from Sharp, who told her that testing had also occurred at a military base in Jacksonville, Florida, leaving Dunham to believe that she had been a test subject for the drug herself. ("Ability")
Dunham returned to work soon afterward, and was called in to a case where a small boy had been found in a sealed underground tunnel. The pale and scrawny boy did not speak to Olivia, but she began spending time with him, and a connection grew. The boy, who was extremely sensitive to human emotion, helped Dunham solve the case of The Artist, a serial killer whom Dunham had previously chased. Dunham subsequently found and killed the Artist, and also placed the boy into custody of a loving family. ("Inner Child")
Soon afterward, Olivia helped to track down a mysterious beast after it attacked her friend Charlie Francis, finding it just in time to save Charlie from the monster's larvae which were growing inside him. ("Unleashed")
Olivia soon began having trouble sleeping, eventually beginning to believe that she was killing people in her dreams after seeing people from her dreams cross over into her real life. With the help of Walter Bishop and Peter Bishop, she discovered that her dreams were actually caused by her connection to Nick Lane, with whom she had been partnered with during their experimentation in Jacksonville, Florida. Lane, she discovered, was a reverse emotional empath--every emotion he felt was spread to those around him, causing the suicides of many due to his dark mood. When she was finally able to locate Lane, however, he threatened to commit suicide by jumping off a building (with the many people who had followed him) unless she shot him dead. However, she merely shot him in the knees, saving the people around Lane and incapacitating him. He was then placed into an indefinite coma by the FBI. ("Bad Dreams")
Olivia later helped to solve the case of Valerie Boone, the wife of ZFT scientist Nicholas Boone who had been going on a killing spree as a result of her deliberate infection with an extremely acute brand of syphilis, which Olivia got later on. ("Midnight")
While investigating the case of a spontaneous combustion, Olivia learned that she was capable of experiencing an extended deja vu, apparently, a glimpse of the Alternate Universe. She suspected that this capability was due to her Cortexiphan treatment when she was young. In the episode, she was confronted by Sanford Harris again, telling her that her behavior is erratic and her job is compromised by her emotions. Harris primary reason for driving Olivia out of the case was due to his involvement in the ZFT. Olivia was locked with Nancy Lewis; of whom Olivia was able to calm her and channeled the pyrokinesis to Harris. ("The Road Not Taken")
Olivia was curious about the whereabouts of William Bell and had been wanting to question him of his involvement with the ZFT. In the season finale, she faced William Bell on an Alternate Universe. ("There's More Than One of Everything")
Season Two[]
Olivia's crashed SUV was found. After Walter searched through the SUV, he shut the door and Olivia suddenly ejected through the windshield. She was rushed to the hospital and declared brain dead. After talking to Rachel about her sister, Peter visited Olivia, who was scheduled to be taken off life support the following morning. However, Olivia suddenly woke up, crying the Greekphrase Na einai kalytero anthropo apo ton patera tou. She did not remember getting injured, and incoherently told Peter there is something they need to do, and their "lives may depend on it," but couldn't remember who told her this, or why.
After being visited by her partner, Charlie and given a gun, Olivia is unsuccessfully questioned by the shapeshifter, who has adopted the appearance of a female nurse. The nurse attempted to kill Olivia, but fled after being shot by Agent Jessop. Peter returns to Olivia, and tells her the Greek phrase means "be a better person than your father," and was told to him every night by his mother. ("A New Day In The Old Town")
Having recovered enough from the events of the previous episode, Olivia was released from the hospital, and was watched by the shapeshifter who had killed Charlie Francis and adopted his appearance. Olivia began to develop super-hearing as a result of crossing to the parallel universe, and heard someone else in a house when on a case despite the man insisting he was the only one there. She ventured upstairs to investigate; after failing to find anything, she accidentally fired her weapon, narrowly missing Peter. Nina Sharp talked with Olivia, and recommended she see a friend, Sam Weiss "who helped put [her] back together" after she was diagnosed with cancer. At Nina's recommendation, Olivia meets with Sam Weiss, who works at a bowling alley. He tells her to expect headaches as one consequence of crossing universes. ("Night Of Desirable Objects")
Olivia and Sam Weiss continued to meet at the bowling alley, where he subjected her to seemingly menial tasks like tying her shoes and keeping score during games. Although initially finding their conversations useless, he cured Olivia's inability to walk without a cane. ("Fracture")
The Fringe division discovers an undamaged device they believe is used by the shapeshifters to take another's identity. Olivia gives the device to Nina at Massive Dynamic; with the intact device, they can use it to examine the device of the first shapeshifter that tried to kill Olivia. Rebecca Kibner, while under a heavy dose of mind-altering drugs, had witnessed events in the parallel universe including the presence of the shapeshifters. Olivia passed out when Walter clanged a bell to begin the process of Rebecca telling them more about this. The bell caused Olivia to recall her conversation with Bell in the parallel universe. There, Bell warned Olivia of a "great storm" that was coming, and that she must stop a man who is trying to open a gateway between the two universes. He called her the strongest of all the Cortexiphan children and she needed to be the guardian to protect the universe. He provided her with an icon symbol and a hand-written name to remember. Walter and Peter helped revive Olivia who immediately demanded to see Nina.
Nina, initially doubtful that Olivia met Bell, recognized the "great storm" phrase, and attempted to help Olivia in any way possible. As Olivia recounted the name of another cryogenics facility from Bell's note, she received a text message from "Charlie" warning her that Nina is the shapeshifter. She left and regrouped with him, but in a side alley, was alerted by her phone that Massive Dynamic's analysis of the first device was completed, and revealed Charlie as the shapeshifter. Too late, Olivia realized she had told "Charlie" the location of the cryogenics facility, and he relayed this to another agent. After a brief fight for her life, Olivia shot and killed the shapeshifter. Broyles helped to comfort Olivia that she had to kill the man she thought was Charlie. ("Momentum Deferred")
Olivia mourned Charlie. Sam helped her work through it by giving her a "project" that required her to collect business cards from people wearing the color red. She was told to grab random letters from the names, that once unscrambled read "you're gonna be fine". ("Dream Logic")
When Thomas Jerome Newton, the reanimated leader of the shape-shifters forced Walter to tell him how he opened a door to the Alternate Universe, Olivia managed to stop his escape, but was forced to choose between seizing Newton and saving Walter, as he had given Walter a lethal dose of a neurotoxin that will kill him unless he gave Olivia the correct directions. Olivia chose to save Walter's life, and Newton replied "Now I know how weak you are". Broyles eased Olivia's concerns that she made an emotional choice by assuring her that her decision to save Walter was a logical one as Walter was highly valuable to the team. ("Grey Matters")
Newton planned to pull a building from the prime universe to the parallel universe. Walter implored Olivia to recall her childhood Cortexiphan-induced ability to see objects from the alternate universe, believing she would be able to foresee which building will be affected and warn everyone in time. He took her to the disused child-care facility in Jacksonville, Florida, where the Cortexiphan trials were performed. Walter first put Olivia under heavy sedation, and she experienced meeting her younger, frightened self, but was still unable to trigger her ability. Olivia began to remember the gruesome trials she experienced, including footage from one test where she exhibited pyrokinesis. As Walter's deadline neared, he realized that Olivia was no longer frightened and thus she could not engage her abilities, which were triggered by fear. Olivia became frightened when she believed she could not evacuate people from the buildings without causing mass panic. Peter comforted her. She soon recognized she was frightened again, and raced to a rooftop, seeing a building "shimmer" in the distance. The building, a hotel, is quickly identified from the list of candidates, and it is evacuated in time, moments before it is pulled into the parallel universe. Olivia later met Peter at his house prior to them going out on a date, but when she arrived, she saw the same shimmer on Peter. Walter quietly asked Olivia not to tell Peter that he is from the other universe. ("Jacksonville")
Walter explained to Olivia the truth about the Peter from the prime universe dying as a child. Both Peters being severely ill, but their Peter dying. Walter, with a window to the parallel universe, saw that the other Peter was alive and well, but discovered that September distracted Walter Bishop of the Alternate Universe finding the cure. Walter, in a desperate plea, crossed over to save him, despite Nina's attempts to stop him. She broke the cure Walter planned to use to cure Peter, so Walter had to return home with Peter of the Alternate Universe. Walter told Olivia that his crossing was what caused the crack between the two universes, including the Pattern on their side, and leading to the oncoming "storm" that William warned Olivia about. ("Peter")
Olivia had a sleepless night over the discovery. She went to the bowling alley, managed by Sam Weiss where he told her she was one of the best people he’s known, and he’s sure she’ll do the right thing. Olivia ultimately decides not to tell Peter but Walter decides to do the opposite. ("Olivia. In the Lab. With the Revolver")
Season Three[]
Olivia was imprisoned in the government facility on Liberty Island and put through both physical and psychological treatments by Walternate to make her believe that she is really the Fauxlivia of the parallel universe. She was monitored by Dr. Anderson. Olivia managed to escape the facility using her talent for remembering numbers and knocking several government men down. She swam across the ocean and make it to "Manhatan" (in the Other Side parallel universe, the island is spelled with only one "T").
She then coerced a taxi driver named Henry Arliss Higgins to drive her to the Opera House where she believed she can return home, by threatening to harm his family, but by the time she arrived, an "Amber protocol" had been issued, sealing the building in "amber", a substance that the Other Side Fringe Division deploys to envelop time fractures. She directed Henry to the address for Massive Dynamic, but found the facility does not exist in this universe. As Henry went back to a gas station to fill his taxi, Olivia cried to herself in the station's bathroom.
Meanwhile, the Fringe Division was falsely told that their Olivia had escaped. Agent Lincoln Lee, still needing hyperbaric treatment to regrow his skin after being burned, and Agent Charlie Francis, followed a tracking device on Henry's taxi. When they arrived at the station, Olivia ordered Henry to drive away, and managed to fire at a small valve on a gas tank, allowing the explosion to cover their trail. Walternate, watching the altercation on monitors, noted Olivia has gained the marksmanship ability that the alternate Olivia possesses, and began to think the serum is working. Brandon theorized in a later conversation that the rush of adrenaline effectively enhanced the potency of his chemical agents to brainwash Olivia.
Henry removed the tracker from his taxi, having become sympathetic towards Olivia. Olivia gave him an address to a "safe house" in a suburban area, and, once there, thanks him and allows him to go. However, Henry remained parked on a nearby street. In the home, Olivia discovered her mother Marilyn, who, in the prime universe, had died when Olivia was a teenager. Olivia, seeing her mother and the memories of her mother, cried into her arms, as she was awash in Fauxlivia's memories.
By the time Charlie arrived, Olivia fully believed she was Fauxlivia, and after saying goodbye to her mother, returned willingly with Charlie to Fringe headquarters. Henry, after watching Charlie's car pull away, drove off on his own. However, the rush of adrenaline from the escape had made Fauxlivia's cells to integrate its memory with Olivia's which causes her to doubt which her memory was true. ("Olivia")
Weeks later, Olivia began to hallucinate with visions of Peter Bishop. On a Fringe case, mathematician savant Milo Stanfield led Olivia on a chase through a construction area including a marked zone where the air is too thin, expecting to crush her under a load of cement bricks. Olivia, unaware of the warning signs for the zone, instead raced through it instead of stopping to put on a respirator, nearly asphyxiating herself, and dodged the bricks in time to capture Milo. Despite his ability to predict every outcome, he didn't consider the possibility that she was from another universe, which saved her life, as she was unaware of amber protocol, with compromised air quality. ("The Plateau")
Later, her hallucination of Peter Bishop was trying to convince her that she does not belong to the world by giving her the facts that only the real Olivia would know. Olivia willingly participated in Walternate's tests in a sensory-deprivation tank located on Liberty Island to stimulate her Cortexiphan abilities. One test was successful, as she temporarily found herself in a gift shop on Liberty Island in the prime universe.
Olivia's hallucination of Peter pointed out to her that there was a way to tell if she was from the prime universe: by confirming her memories of her seven-year-old niece Ella, who did not survive birth in the parallel universe. During Olivia's final test in the tank, she was again able to cross over to the gift shop in the prime universe in New York, and saw the absence of New York's Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre. She was able to recall Ella's phone number and calls her, but was brought back to the parallel universe shortly after Ella answers. As she was removed from the tank, she lied, telling Walternate the test did not work. ("Amber 31422")
Olivia began to fear for her life, after Brandon Fayette (Alternate Universe) told that she was no longer needed as he had purified the chemical Cortexiphan from her. ("6955 kHz")
Olivia's time in the alternate world was running out (as she instinctively knew that Walternate and Brandon Fayette had whatever they want from her) and she began to find ways to return to the other side with the help of Henry Arliss Higgins. Meanwhile the Fringe Division had recently opened a cold case about a serial kidnapper called Candyman, who kidnapped children who are then left drained of their youth and one of the victims are Colonel Phillip Broyles' son, Christopher Broyles.
Because of Olivia's childhood past, she had managed to make Christopher open up to her and thus making the Other Broyles (who knew Olivia was from the other side and not his own agent) have a second opinion on her. Olivia accompanied Broyles and his family to the same hospital that Max, one of the victims who was saved, was being treated. There, Max thanked Olivia personally and asked her about what the "FBI" was, as she had said it when she saved him. Broyles, having listened to Olivia's conversation, knew in that moment that she had broken her conditioning, as the FBI had ceased to exist years earlier in the parallel universe. Because of her efforts to save Christopher, he let her go.
Olivia rejoined Henry and then left him to swim the rest of the way in and make her way to the isolation tank. After injecting herself with the same drugs Walternate had used on her, she entered the tank and soon found herself back in her own universe at the same gift shop. She encountered a cleaning lady, and as Olivia felt herself being dragged back to the parallel universe, she gave the cleaning lady a message to pass along to Peter that she was trapped on the other side, exposing Fauxlivia. Back in the isolation tank, Walternate had Olivia extracted from the tank and directed his agents to lock her up and sedate her. ("The Abducted")
Walternate planned on using Olivia's body in order for her alternate self to return home, as it would require a person of Olivia's mass to complete the transfer. However, Walternate arranged for Olivia's brain to be removed for further study on how to travel through universes safely. Before Brandon started the operation, Olivia received a visit from Colonel Broyles, who was still grateful to Olivia for helping his son. Olivia convinced him that her universe is not at war with theirs; the troubles started not from any hostile action, but only as an accidental side-effect of Walter Bishop's initial crossing to save Peter 25 years prior. Broyles later talked with his wife, Diane and then returned to Liberty Island to save Olivia.
He gave her adrenaline after she ahd been paralysed and shot Brandon. Together, the two reached the immersion tank that Olivia used earlier, but found it to be empty. As a back-up plan, the two travelled to Walternate's long abandoned lab at Harvard to use the sensory deprivation tank. Broyles revealed there was a GPS tracker in him, but managed to buy Olivia enough time to successfully return to her universe with a dose of Cortexiphan. However, because of this betrayal, Colonel Broyles was killed to replace the mass for Fauxlivia to crossover. Olivia reunited with Peter at the hospital. ("Entrada")
Olivia was kept in the dark about Colonel Broyles' death by Phillip Broyles, Peter Bishop and Walter Bishop. It is confirmed by Broyles that Olivia's captivity in the alternate universe took place over a period of two months.
After finding out that Peter Bishop had an intimate relationship with Fauxlivia, she tried to be ignorant about it. Olivia decided to come back to work sooner, despite Broyles wanting her to stay off, considering the trauma she dealt with. However, Olivia felt that she needed to return to her normal environment and dealt with a case that made her reflect on Peter's own actions with Fauxlivia. Throughout the case, she faced an emotional breakdown over the incident and her identity crisis. Astrid tried to reassure her that Peter thought she was her.
Olivia dealt with Roland, a man who became enamored with the deceased Amanda at depression counseling meetings and tried to revive her. Using a makeshift set of ropes and pulleys, Roland engaged Amanda's body in a marionette act to make her perform like a ballerina, promising her he will bring her back to life. As the Fringe division sets out to Roland's home, Roland injected Amanda's body with more of the serum, and she was brought back to life. By the time Fringe arrived, Roland gave himself up willingly, and they found Amanda dead again.
Roland explained that though she was alive, when he looked into her eyes, he realized she wasn't the same person and thus terminated the process. As Roland and Amanda's body were taken away, Olivia broke down in front of Peter; she questioned that if Roland could tell that Amanda wasn't the same person by looking at her eyes, why could Peter not do the same with Fauxlivia. Peter was unable to answer her, and a distressed Olivia left on her own, deciding not to be with him. ("Marionette")
Olivia tried to be nonchalant about Peter Bishop and tried to come to terms with Fauxlivia taking her place and vice versa. ("The Firefly") Olivia read Fauxlivia's observation notes and found that Fauxlivia did have real emotions towards Peter Bishop and identified to Astrid Farnsworth that Fauxlivia is the better version of her. ("Reciprocity") Olivia questioned Peter Bishop since he had confused Olivia's coffee preferences with Fauxlivia's (with Olivia liking black coffee). Peter tried to reassure her that his feelings with Olivia are true and not with Fauxlivia but Olivia remains unsure. This is confirmed when Simon Phillips, a mindreader, leaves Olivia with a message that Peter still has feelings for Fauxlivia. ("Concentrate and Ask Again")
Olivia discovered a building occupying a soft spot between the two universes. Peter and Olivia were sent by Walter to observe the building as he monitored seismic equipment from the lab. They went to a bar while waiting, where Olivia tried to kiss Peter but became uncomfortable, knowing of the influence of Fauxlivia, on Peter. Her emotional reaction triggered her ability to see once again the "shimmer" around Peter that marked him as a native of the parallel universe. She excused herself and stepped outside for some fresh air, followed by Peter. Olivia noticed a similar glow emanating from the windows of apartment 6B in the Rosencrantz building, owned by the widow Mrs. Alice Merchant. When Olivia and Peter entered the apartment, Olivia (but not Peter) could see a shimmering figure that Alice claimed was the ghost of her late husband Derek. Walter surmised that the figure was a parallel Derek seen across a crack between the universes. If the crack widened, Walter predicted they would see occurrences of the same singularities that have plagued the parallel universe, and suggested the use of the same amber-like compound they had previously recovered to limit the damage. With Massive Dynamic's resources, they were able to recreate the amber and a release system to encase the building, but hold it in reserve as a last resort only.
Olivia suggested the possibility that the effect is due to quantum entanglement between Alice in the prime universe and Derek in the parallel one. Alice previously told Olivia that Derek died recently from trying to replace a faulty fuse after they flipped a coin to decide who would replace it, and Walter surmises that the parallel universe Alice died in a similar fashion due to a different outcome of the coin flip. Alice's connection to the parallel universe Derek had caused the crack. As the building started to exhibit the initial signs of a singularity and Broyles prepared to release the amber, Olivia and Peter attempted to persuade Alice that the man she was seeing was not really her husband. Alice did not believe them until Derek started to refer to their children. Alice, who was childless, realized Peter and Olivia were telling the truth; the connection was broken and the effects on the building ebbed away.
Olivia and Peter then attempted to reconcile and rekindle their relationship. Though still cautious about moving forward, Olivia and Peter kissed and headed to the bedroom upstairs at the Bishops' home after she arrived for drinks. ("6B")
Sometime later, Peter and Olivia's relationship began to improve. He had decided to open up to her and shows her the five data discs from the shapeshifters he killed after the doomsday device weaponized him. As he discussed it with her, Olivia heard the sound of a bell. She turned to face Peter, revealing herself to now be possessed by Bell. ("Os")
William Bell worked on a Fringe case. Walter and William believe that they have less than a day before Olivia's mind will be lost. They realized that Olivia is unaware that she has been possessed by William's mind, and instead had likely locked her ego away, making it difficult to contact her by normal means. Walter came up with a plan: he and Peter would enter Olivia's mind with the aid of LSD to locate her ego and help it to regain dominance in her mind, while Walter hoped to download William's mind into a computer.
Inside Olivia's mind, Walter and Peter found they stood out as invaders, and the people that populate her mind, including a vision of her step-father, seek to stop them. Peter realized that when Olivia is scared, she retreated to somewhere safe, and suggested they search her mind's version of Jacksonville, her childhood home. As they travelled by zeppelin, William tried to encourage Walter that he no longer needs Bell's guidance. They were soon attacked by a man wearing an X-marked t-shirt, who teared open the side of the zeppelin; Walter was pulled out by the rush of air and falls to his death—waking him back in the real world.
William and Peter safely landed in Jacksonville, and Peter directed them to find the home among the military housing where Olivia stayed at as a child, marked by a red-painted door by her birth-father. Once there, Peter found the adult Olivia waiting for him, but realized by her eyes that this was not her. A younger Olivia revealed herself as Olivia's true ego; assured of Peter's identity, she willingly went with him and Bell. However, they are attacked by the image of her step-father and several military personnel. Peter sacrificed himself to protect her, waking back up in the real world. Olivia was able to stand up against her past fears and stop their advance. William explained that she would be able to return to possession of her body as Walter, in the real world, attempts to extract William's mind.
Olivia woke back up to the real world, free of William's mind. Walter found that his effort to store William's mind has failed, and took time to consider William's last message he gave to Olivia: "I knew the dog wouldn't hunt". Later, Peter visited Olivia to rekindle their relationship when he noticed a drawing of the same man in the X t-shirt he saw in her mind. Olivia cannot name the man, but nonchalantly referred to him as the person who is going to kill her. ("Lysergic Acid Diethylamide")
The Fringe division later learned that their version of the machine was activated at 6:02 AM on its own, and Walter suspected the two machines were tied by quantum entanglement, with their version of the machine destroying their world to stabilize the parallel one. Unknown to the prime universe, Walternate's experiment had not affected the stability of their world.
Nina Sharp helped to set up Massive Dynamic's resources to track these occurrences, preparing to deploy limited supplies of the amber substance to contain them if needed. Nina advised Olivia to find Sam Weiss, a man that William Bell had trusted and instructed Nina to also listen to. However, Sam had disappeared and could not be found. Olivia later discovered that Peter had tried to touch the machine, but was sent flying by an electrical spark. Sam Weiss ran up to her and demanded to be taken to the machine to stop what was already happening. ("6:02 AM EST")
Olivia took Sam Weiss to the machine. Weiss stated that the machine was not meant to be a doomsday device and that the strange effects were a byproduct of the machine's "frustration" due to its believing that Peter was already inside the machine. Weiss suggested finding a proverbial "crowbar" that could be used to break the shield protecting the device to give Peter enough time to enter it. As Olivia travelled with Weiss to collect a box and the key containing this crowbar, Weiss explained that he descended from a long unbroken line of men named Sam Weiss whose forebear found the incomplete collection of information on the First People and the device, and have sought to try to find the rest. Upon collecting both the box and key, they opened it to find a parchment, revealing that Olivia herself was the crowbar.
Olivia and Weiss brought the parchment to Walter, who recognized that Olivia's telekinetic powers must be used to turn off the machine in the parallel universe. To prepare Olivia, they used the quantum entangled Selectric typewriter that the shapeshifters had used to contact the parallel universe. Olivia struggled unsuccessfully with trying to activate the typewriter, even with Walter's support. Astrid called Olivia, Peter and Walter from the lab, revealing that the typewriter was typing out "Be a better man than your father", a phrase that Olivia and Peter have talked about before, thus giving them hope that Olivia would be able to disengage the parallel universe's device. After she did so, Peter took a moment to recall the events of his life, including his experiences with Olivia, and then stepped into the machine. ("The Last Sam Weiss")
2011-2026[]
Walter was arrested and imprisoned for destroying the other universe. Olivia and Peter got married. Olivia adopted Ella, presumably after her parents' deaths.
2026[]
Olivia Dunham, now in her mid-40s, was the authoritarian leader of Fringe Division. Married to Peter, she was left to deal with crises of the fractured prime universe, which was suffering from the same singularities that had already destroyed the parallel universe, as a result of the two universes being inextricably linked together.
Though the Fringe Division that developed in this universe had been able to use amber to contain these vortices, a group called the "End of Dayers", led by a man named Moreau attempted to breach the fabric of reality at soft spots and create more vortices.
After one such incident at a theater, Olivia, along with with Astrid and Ella, now a rookie Fringe agent, found an unactivated container that they believe the End of Dayers used to trigger the breach. Fringe was unable to determine how the container works.
Olivia tearfully reunited with her now father-in-law Walter, released by Senator Broyles, to discover the unique radioactive signature device they could track. Olivia demonstrated that she learned how to control her Cortexiphan abilities.
Walternate revealed to be responsible for the End of Dayers group as revenge for Peter activating the doomsday device and destroying his universe. As revenge, Walternate promised Peter will face the same pain he suffered "but not all at once". Peter realized Walternate was threatening Olivia and discovered he was using a hologram when speaking to him.
In Central Park, where Moreau has set off another breach to expose an existing wormhole, Olivia was helping to cordon off the breach when Walternate approached and shot her directly in the forehead. A heartbroken Peter Bishop, her husband in 2026, gave the eulogy at her funeral and her body was burnt at sea.
After Olivia's death, the Bishops and Ella Dunham were in mourning. Walter continued to study the Central Park wormhole and discovered that it links to the past, approximately 250 million years ago. He comes to realize a temporal paradox (a Bootstrap paradox): he will have sent the doomsday device piece by piece into the past, effectively becoming the "First People" mythos, and convinced Peter that they can influence Peter in the past by having him experience the end of days himself and make a different decision when he enters the machine, thus preventing Olivia's death and the grim future to come.
Peter suddenly woke up from the machine in 2011. Olivia waited by his side. Peter recalled the memories from the future and used the machine to merge the machine rooms from both universes into one thus creating a bridge
While Olivia and Walter and their doppelgangers stared each other down, Peter convinced the two sides to work together to try to repair the damage to save both universes, then suddenly disappeared. The Olivias and Walters cautiously agreed that they needed to put aside their differences to save both worlds, completely unaware of Peter's disappearance. ("The Day We Died")
Alternate Timeline[]
Background Information[]
Peter was revealed by September to have been erased from existence. It is clarified that September simply decided not to save the drowning Peter as he crossed over, so much of the circumstances of Olivia's life have changed without Peter's involvement in them, and in some cases, a domino effect has taken place.
Olivia was still treated with Cortexiphan, but without her meeting with Peter as a child. As a result, Olivia killed her abusive stepfather. With their remaining guardian deceased, she and Rachel were supposed to be sent into foster care, but Nina Sharp used her influence to have them placed under her care. Nina became a mother-figure and developed a deep bond with Olivia. The domino effect that took place was that Nina Sharp was actually somewhat responsible for the death of Peter as a child, so she took sympathy for the abused Olivia, who was the star pupil at the Cortexiphan Trials when her mother died.
As in the original timeline, Olivia was instrumental in starting the Fringe Division and releasing Walter Bishop from St. Claire's to save her partner John Scott from biological attack. Without Peter, Olivia was unable to cope with the death and betrayal of Scott. Many events still occurred, though, including her incarceration in the Alternate Universe and her impersonation by Fauxlivia. However, her incarceration was a kidnapping in this timeline, and her stay in the alternate universe lasted 2 weeks, instead of 3 months. Olivia also mentions that Fauxlivia "kidnapped" her. Without Walternate travelling over to meet Peter and bring him back with Newton's bridge, it appears Fauxlivia did this and took Olivia back as a captive.
The bridge between universes was still created, and she was forced to work with the woman whom she felt stole her life. The loss and trauma she had experienced caused her to be much more anti-social and colder than in the original timeline. In the alternate timeline, however, Olivia also had a much closer relationship with Walter Bishop, and seemingly Astrid too.
Season Four[]
Shortly after the bridge was formed, Olivia and the other Olivia began to swap case files, both being extremely cold and suspicious of the other. Olivia met Lincoln Lee, who she had never previously met in this timeline when his partner was killed by a shapeshifter. Fringe Division took the case and allowed Lincoln into the fold. A tentative romance appeared to spark between Olivia and Lincoln, yet this was disrupted by Peter's return to the timeline. Olivia had no recollection of
him, but hesitantly began working with and trusting him. While assisting Peter in crossing to the Other Side, Olivia was visited by a wounded September, who warned that, in all possible futures, no matter what he tried to do, she would die. He then suddenly disappeared.
Olivia was being periodically dosed with Cortexiphan by David Robert Jones, alive in the new timeline, and the Alternate Nina Sharp. As a result of the Cortexiphan, Olivia began regaining the memories of her previous life with Peter, a life that had been all but erased.
Olivia rushed to Peter's house and told him that she remembered everything. At first skeptical, Peter soon accepted her into his life. As soon as he did this, Jones abducted Olivia. Using Alternate Nina as bait, Jones administered the Evaluation System test to Olivia. This was the same test as the previous timeline with the lightbox but this time he wanted her to turn the lights on instead of off. Peter and the Fringe team were able to track Olivia down and save her from Jones's clutches. This was when Peter came to the realization that he couldn't begin a relationship with the "wrong" Olivia again, like he had done with the Alternate Olivia. He explained this to a heartbroken Olivia, who firmly believed that she was "his" Olivia. Peter left her standing in the rain.
A crushed Olivia appealed to Nina Sharp for comfort following the break-up. She began losing her memories of the Alternate Timeline, which were being replaced by the Original Timeline memories. Unable to stop it and her love for Peter, Olivia begged Nina to hold on to their relationship, no matter what were to happen to her memories.
Following a visit with September, Peter learned that he was indeed home. With this new information, he rushed to be with Olivia, who met him with a long embrace and romantic kiss. The two were able to finally begin (or rather continue) their relationship together.
As the team began to pursue David Robert Jones and try to stop his plan, they learned that William Bell was the true mastermind. Bell was using the Cortexiphan children to try and collapse both universes to create his own universe where he could play God. Peter and Olivia were able to track down Bell's ship, where they met up with Walter. Knowing that
Olivia was the power source for Bell's plans, Walter took drastic measures to shut it down: shooting Olivia in the head. With Olivia's death, Bell's plan came to a drastic halt. After Bell fled the ship, Walter and Peter worked to remove the bullet from Olivia's head. Due to the amount of Cortexiphan rushing through her body, Olivia would be able to heal herself if the bullet was removed in a timely manner. Walter's hypothesis proved to be correct and Olivia came back to life.
At the hospital following the events on Bell's ark, Olivia learned that she was pregnant. She revealed the news to Peter.
2012-2036[]
Olivia gave birth to Henrietta and lived happily as a family with Peter, although this did not last. Once the Observers invaded in 2015, Henrietta went missing (one way or another, Fauxlivia was aware of it, as mentioned in Liberty at 26:07, suggesting that communication between universes continued after the deactivation of the bridge in Worlds Apart). This drove Olivia and Peter apart, as Peter wanted to find his missing daughter and Olivia decided to bottle up her emotions and try to save the world. She aided in fulfilling Walter's Plan, although she did not know the specifics of it. Walter sent her to Grand Central Station to retrieve a Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11. He also gave her an ambering device should she be compromised by the Observers. Olivia was able to retrieve the device but was forced to amber herself before returning to the Harvard Lab. She remained in amber until 2036.
Season Five[]
By the year 2036, Olivia and Peter's daughter, Henrietta was an active force against the Observers.
Etta was reunited with Peter, Walter, and Astrid, who had been encased in amber. The quarantine is estimated to have taken place roughly twenty years prior. Walter was holding a grudge against William Bell for using Olivia as a part of his scheme to collapse both worlds. Olivia was rescued from amber by the team and began to actively fight the Observers with the Resistance.
As the team began to collect pieces of the plan, Olivia bonded with her long lost daughter, only to have her taken away again by the insidious Captain Windmark, who shot her point blank. Olivia began to grieve the loss of her daughter, which created even more motivation for defeating the Observers. Olivia recognized that her emotions were her strength in the fight against the Observers and was able to act as Peter's rock when he began to slip away from his humanity by putting the Observer tech in his own head. She convinced him to remove the tech and find another way.
Final Timeline[]
After the final reset, Olivia and Peter were happily sitting in the park watching Etta play. Olivia suggested that it was time to go home and get Etta in a bath. She smiled as Peter picked Etta up and played with her. After arriving home, Olivia was speaking with Etta while Peter went to get the mail. As Peter gets the mail, he noticed a letter addressed to him from Walter. When he opens the letter, he pulls out the drawing of the white tulip as referenced from Season 2.
Alternate Universe[]
Known as Fauxlivia, this version of Olivia does not appear until late into Season 2.
This other Olivia seems to have different behavior, lifestyle and relationships from Olivia. She wears her hair auburn with a fringe that is easily recognizable. As Olivia and Fauxlivia are the same genetically, both of them are blonde as Olivia uses the alternate's dye to disguise herself. She has a live-in boyfriend named Frank Stanton who works as a virologist who specialized in infectious disease for the CDC and both of them are engaged briefly until he breaks up with her.
Trivia[]
- In multiple scenes, Olivia appears to wear a Victorinox Swiss Army Excursion watch.
Prime Universe Characters
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