Shipping Confessions: Walter x Astrid (Fringe)

Now we are stepping into another series that has been cancelled. Unlike Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Fringe was given notice that it was to be cancelled after its upcoming fifth season. This allowed the team the ability to finish the series on their own terms. Hell, episode nineteen of the previous season was basically a trailer for season five.

Seasons One through Four follow the adventures of a team that deals with weird occurrences (the division of the FBI is called the Fringe Division). The team is made up of FBI agent Olivia Dunham, mad scientist Walter Bishop, the mad scientist's son Peter Bishop, and FBI agent/Walter's caretaker/woman who helps a lot but doesn't get a lot of recognition for it Astrid Farnsworth.

Season Five was about the Fringe Team battling the Invaders (formerly known as Observers) and saving the planet.

All in all a great five seasons and I was sad to see it end. In those five seasons there were canon and non-canon relationships to ship. As Shipping Confessions deals with the non-canon ships (for the most part) I will talk about my favorite non-canon ship in this series. In the Series Finale I was desperately hoping that they would make this ship canon but nothing was for certain by the end. Though one of the character's comments just filled me with feels for the ship.

The ship is Walter Bishop and Astrid Farnsworth. I know that Walter is much older than Astrid. However, they have so much chemistry that it flows into being a romantic relationship.

Walter Bishop is an old scientist who worked on fringe sciences before he got put into a mental institution. It is revealed that Walter's greatest/worst invention was creating a portal to another universe (nicknamed the Red Universe) and brought that universe's Peter over to the Blue Universe (aka "our" universe). Walter did that because his own Peter had died and Walternate (aka the Walter from the Red Universe) hadn't found a cure for the other Peter.

Long story short: Walter ended up keeping Peter and raised him as his own son. Peter, at the start of the series, didn't have a good relationship with Walter and it's only because Peter is needed to get Walter out that he stays.

One of Walter's quirks is that he is a big drug user and doesn't seem to be in reality most of the time. However, his character is very deep and he isn't there just for the laughs. One of the best episodes, and I think only episode, where you go into Walter's mind is the Season Five Episode "Black Blotter". Besides having a very good Monty Python reference, it shows you how Walter views his own troubled mind.

With him being my favorite character it is sad what the Finale did to him. I really had enjoyed seeing him and Peter together (as father and son).

Astrid Farnsworth is the woman who takes care of Walter when he joins the Fringe Division. While this is her reason for being on the team she does so much more. There is so much more to her than merely taking care of Walter.

In numerous instances she helps the Fringe Team with an important piece of evidence for the case of the week and is seen fighting in a few instances (only big time I can recall is near the end of the Fourth Season which is so implanted in my mind because I think it was the first time she fought).

Astrid has a father we see in only one episode and we only hear that her mother died of cancer when Astrid was young. Suffice it to say that Astrid gets very little backstory of her own though, again, she is a very useful and necessary member of the Fringe Team.

Walter constantly says Astrid's name wrong. He's called her Astro, Athos, and Afro among many other names. Most of them starting with the letter 'a' though there have been exceptions. In the Finale Walter admits that he has always remembered Astrid's name and says it's a 'beautiful' name. Implying that he doesn't want to mess it up? Or that he thinks he's too messed up (his actions in his 'early' years did cause a rip in the universe) to be with her?

I think Walter and Astrid belong together. When there was a chance (near the end of the Fourth Season) that Astrid would die, Walter seemed too sad and then too happy when she lives for them to just have been friends. Plus Astrid could've left if she had wanted to, but seems to stick by his side even in the worst of times.

When the Observers invaded Earth (Blue 'Verse) she still worked with Walter. If someone is willing to stay by your side during the end of the world, it means something. Peter and Olivia going separate ways when the Observers invaded was them dealing with the loss of their daughter. I didn't see them as loving each other less but them just dealing with the loss of their daughter in different ways. Plus, it had been shown over four previous seasons that they did truly love each other (plus their relationship is canon).

Near the very end of the Finale his scenes with Astrid and Peter are full of the same type of emotion: the possibility of leaving someone he loves.

Walter even rejects when a woman makes advances towards him. I guess people that don't ship Walter x Astrid can just say that it's because he feels guilty about running experiments on her when she was younger. But I really feel that scene shows that Walter is having feelings for Astrid.

In the Fifth Season Astrid asks Walter about going to bed. Now to those with virgin ears and eyes that may seem like no big deal. It's just a friend being concerned about Walter's sleep. However, it also seems to be a go-to line (at least in fiction) for having sex. Walter ends up refusing but it doesn't seem to be that he isn't attracted to Astrid, but that he has other things on his mind. Astrid goes away looking a little disappointed.

I guess then is the question of how far their relationship has gone. If she is comfortable enough in the Fifth Season to make a remark that can easily be taken sexually, it seems like there's some kinkiness there that isn't being shown on screen.

To anybody who finds themselves attracted to an aging scientist who takes a lot of drugs: it's highly doubtful that you're getting into a relationship with a Walter Bishop kind of guy. I don't suggest it.

In my headcanon I have Walter returning to 2015 and living a long and happy life with Astrid and their pet cow Gene. Of course they will visit with Peter, Olivia, and Etta!

What is up next for Shipping Confessions? We go back to the Terminator Universe and look at a ship that might cause problems with John Connor being born!