Love Fringe!
Quoting the Fox.Com:
Walter Bishop is a "Fringe" scientist who unintentionally bears some responsibility for the Pattern -- a series of strange, unexplained events. When his son, Peter, was a little boy, he died of a terminal illness, leading Walter to travel to a parallel universe to steal Peter's double. Walter spent 17 years in Saint Claire's, a mental institution, following a lab accident that resulted in manslaughter charges.
Walter was released to an adult Peter on behalf of FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham, who needs his expertise to solve cases related to the Pattern of fringe-science events. Prior to his hospitalization, Walter conducted experiments with his partner, William Bell, in a lab at Harvard University. However, Bell may have betrayed Walter when he stole some of Walter's brain tissue, though he says Walter asked him to do it. Due in part to the missing brain tissue, Walter has trouble remembering things. Yet, post-institution, his senses have become acute to the wonders of food and drink.
Quoting Wiki:
Walter Bishop is a former government researcher into fringe science with a recorded I.Q. of 196. He was institutionalized after a lab accident which resulted in manslaughter charges. Having been locked up for 17 years in Saint Claire's, a mental institute, Walter often expresses wonder at modern technology, and seems to be disconnected from the world, sometimes leaving his son to decode his rantings for others. He often says things which seem so obvious that no one else wants to say (or thinks necessary) and tends to burst into song while working, as he believes it helps him think. He is also known to eat or drink while working on a body, no matter how disgusting everyone else thinks it is. He seems to derive joy from both these quirks. He is the archetypal mad scientist.
Born in Cambridge in 1946, Walter attended Harvard University as an undergraduate, conducted postgraduate study at Oxford University, and received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It was revealed on the episode "The Bishop Revival" that his father, Dr. Robert Bischoff (anglicized to Bishop in 1943), was a spy for the allies in Nazi Germany. In "The Arrival" we learn that Dr. Robert Bischoff died young for reasons yet unknown. From the 1970s until the late 1980s/early 90s, Walter operated from a basement laboratory situated under a building in Harvard University. He conducted experiments with his partner William Bell and several assistants. After an accident in 1991 which resulted in the death of at least one of these assistants, and amid accusations that he was using humans as guinea-pigs for his experiments, Walter was charged with manslaughter. He was deemed mentally unstable and admitted to a psychiatric institution. Only Walter's immediate family was permitted to visit him.
16 Jan 2011, 1:01 pm
