Walter Bishop

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Walter Bishop

Walter Bishop
Profession	Biochemist	Portrayed by: John Noble
Family	Peter Bishop - son, Robert Bishop - father, Henry - uncle
Connections	William Bell, Dashiell Kim, The Observer, Nina Sharp, Jessica Warren, Rebecca Kibner
Seen In	All episodes
Status	Delighted With New Home And Kitchen
Remarks	Regaining Lost & Stolen Memories
Images of Walter

Walter Bishop is a scientific researcher from Cambridge, MA. He was Harvard educated, and did his postgraduate work at Oxford and MIT. He was formerly an endowed chair in Biochemistry at Harvard University, and a senior research consultant for Kelvin Genetics. Walter supplies the scientific genius and technological wizardry needed to explore The Pattern. Dr. Bishop has a recorded IQ of 196.

About

Dr. Bishop worked out of a laboratory in the basement of the Kresge Building at Harvard University. His cover story was that he did research for a toothpaste company. In reality, he worked as part of a classified U.S. Army experimental program called Kelvin Genetics, run under the supervision of DARPA. The agency gave him the resources to do whatever work he wanted, primarily in an area called Fringe Science; the subjects of which include (but are not limited to) mind control, teleportation, invisibility, astral projection (aka "out of body" experiences), genetic mutation and reanimation. His groundbreaking work with lab partner William Bell was in fields ranging from quantum physics to genetic engineering.

In 1991, Dr. Bishop was institutionalized at St. Claire's Hospital after an assistant was killed in his laboratory. He was charged with manslaughter, but was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial. He was still there seventeen years later, when he was released to the custody of his son, Peter, following the mysterious deaths on Glatterflug Flight 627.

Jeff Pinkner describes Walter as follows:

Walter is perhaps one of the most brilliant scientists known but in the name of science, and on behalf of the government back in the 70’s and the Vietnam/Cold War era, he has perhaps left a lot of harm in his wake. He has potentially damaged a lot of people and developed a lot of technologies that others may have exploited in the past. As a consequence, there either was or wasn’t a series of events that caused him to lose his mind and break down. He was found criminally guilty and put into an institution where they have done all kinds of advanced therapies to him, which have further damaged his mind. Despite all that, he’s the only person we can rely on to help us solve all these cases.

The Walter Parable:

A King of Cups. In Walter's Lab Notes

from Power Hungry, above his typed notes sits the tarot card - King of Cups. The card describes a man of business, law or divinity, kind and considerate, and willing to take responsibility. He is interested in the arts and sciences and enjoys quiet power. Someone you would likely display paternal feelings toward. Symbols on the card suggest calm in the midst of turbulence, spirit and creativity and the balance of the unconscious with the conscious. The King of Cups does not repress his emotions and unconscious impulses, but accepts and deals with them. Traits - you may not understand him, but you can trust him. He has achieved something in life. Sociable, loving, sensuous. Intelligence combined with strong intuition. Enjoys comforts of life. Love of arts. Responsible and generous. In a positive environment (Tarot reading), the King of Cups can be; secretive, yet professional; empathetic and good in an emerging dynamic; able to bring ideas to fruition and imaginative; act as a concerned protector; moody, sophisticated, quiet and deep; romantic, poetic and a guardian of hidden mysteries. In a negative environment; powerful, but likely to double deal; display a crafty, violent nature; barbaric, insecure and immature; manipulative and will toy with others emotions. In his lab notes, the face of the King has been scratched off.

Walter displays traits atypical of Asperger Syndrome, a mild form of autism, which includes social awkwardness of various types, in varying degee, and mildly obssesive behavior. Asperger Syndrome is also marked by difficulty in reading body language and a flat affect which is often mistaken for a lack of empathy. This may also contribute to why he doesn't feel moral hazard in using human beings as test subjects.

It is revealed in Grey Matters that Walter had pieces of his hippocampus removed and implanted in other people's brain several years ago to remove his memories of how to construct a portal to the other universe, and to ensure that the extracted brain tissue was kept alive should there be a need to retrieve this memory at a later date. It is further revealed in a flashback that William Bell was involved in this procedure. When temporarily connected back to his brain pieces through some type of elctrical device operated by Thomas Newton and members of his team, Walter appears to recover lost memories and also becomes less hesitant and more sure of himself in his speech.

Relationships

In The Cure, Nina told Walter Bishop's son, Peter, that she knew him when he was a small boy, that she and Walter were once quite close, and that she and Peter spent time together at the equestrian center where they are now sitting.

Trivia

Known dining preferences: Cheese Steak, Ginger Ale, Root Beer Floats, Papaya, Frankenberry Cereal, Blueberry Pancakes, Raspberry-Lemon Cookies, Apple Fritters, Strawberry Milkshakes, coffee cake with cinnamon sugar, coffee yogurt.
Had trouble sleeping without someone singing "Row, row, row your boat" after spending time with another St. Claire's patient named Carlos. (The Same Old Story)
Often prescribes and administers his own medication - varying cocktails of psychedelic drugs.
The Kresge Building, where his lab occupies a portion of the basement, is the home of the Harvard School of Public Health.
Walter Bishop appeared in all 35 episodes.

Season 2 Quotes

"Life and death, these are relative terms. Contextually defined, dependent on cultural specifics. - (to Peter about Olivia's condition in A New Day In The Old Town).
"Feel his anus. It's soaking wet. Expansion of the oral mucosa, the eyes, and the rectum to accommodate rapid fluid loss. If it's a virus, it obviously doesn't affect birds... or people, at least not quickly. " - (to Peter and Amy, as he comments on the lividity of the shape-drained corpse of George Reed in A New Day In The Old Town)
"When they said you were dead... when I saw you lying there... I don't know what I would have done. " - (to Olivia, verklempt over her recent life-threatening medical condition. Night Of Desirable Objects)
"You should go for a walk sometime - explore the neighborhood. The other day I turned the wrong way in the street, and discovered that Busby's... has the world's best apple fritters. You see, I have everything I need where we live now." - (to Astrid, ...dense to Peter's push for more private quarters in Fracture)
"That's the way of things... the best days and the worst days - rarely are" - (to Rebecca Kibner, stoic in his farewell at the end of Momentum Deferred)
"Think of your most pleasant dream, multiply that feeling tenfold, all main-lining through your Cortex in a few seconds. It's really quite something." - (to Peter, on the addictive nature of the dream stealing science in Dream Logic)
"I've been thinking too linearly. Deductive. Restrictive. I must expand my thinking... ...this is not a job for the purple blotter. The right tool for this job... is Tinker Toys" - (to Peter, on how to visually model the complex molecular structure of the shadow creature in Earthling)
"...well, puberty, A.D.D. medication, and an untested brainwave enhancer. It's a mind control cocktail. Because of this man's inability to be a proper parent, his son has kidnapped mine!" - (to Nina, about Dr. Carson's project - Tyler #3 - in Of Human Action)
"Well, in that case, if you cannot persuade the others of your conviction, then you must do something to prove it. You must make her important. And of course whatever you do, you must be prepared to face the consequences." - (to August, about his conflict with the other Observers in August)
"...it never ceases to amaze me the infinite variation that Mother Nature gives us. She truly has quite a disturbing sense of humor." - (to Astrid, on the mega-hookworm they are about to dissect in Snakehead)
"The road back from madness is a struggle. Only the luckiest of people find their way, more or less, back to the world you live in." - (to Astrid, sharing the greater perspective of his knowledge in Grey Matters... but mostly about his personal struggles)
"Don't judge him. He's my son. And despite his narrow-mindedness, I'm quite proud." - (to a comatose woman, after Peter admonishes him for talking to someone in a coma in Unearthed)
"I'm glad you choose to see me the way you do. Very glad indeed." - (to Peter in Johari Window, suggesting a deeper conflict in their personal history)
"A friend of mine once wrote that sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - (to Astrid in Johari Window)
"They all died, young lady. Horrible and most likely painful deaths. You see, when you open new doors, there is a price to pay." - (giving an impromptu lecture about European explorers to a group of children at a science center in What Lies Below)

Season 1 Quotes

"I thought you'd be fatter." - (to Peter, after not having seen him in many years in Pilot)
"It's one of the inherent pitfalls of being a scientist - trying to maintain that distinction... between God's domain and our own. Sometimes, I forget myself." - (train-of-thought to Olivia and Peter in The Same Old Story)
"I think it's time for some intracranial penetration. This won't hurt… just feel a touch odd." - (to a former test subject, as he begins to drill through his skull in The Ghost Network)
"Must you always be so small-minded? Damn it, don't be like her. Like your mother. Questioning my judgment." - (Viciously to Peter, after it was suggested that he did not genuinely recognize The Observer. The Arrival)
"Oh, I had trouble sleeping myself. I was thinking about that man. The one who tortured you. Something about him. So familiar. Peter, when I was in St. Claire's..." - (reflecting to his son, after a difficult night in new quarters in Power Hungry)
"Either that, or she had a proclivity for sexual bondage. Scientific observation, not a judgment. Some of my fondest memories..." - (to the science team after noting ligature marks during an autopsy in The Cure)
"Excellent work, son. You may have found your true calling at last. Working with me." - (to Peter, after a sharp medical diagnosis to stop the heart parasite during In Which We Meet Mr. Jones)
"There is little that makes me happier than taking drugs. Perhaps administering them, designing and carrying out experiments that bend the plane of what we consider reality. I'm rarely if ever opposed to such things except now. But I tell you, you'll damage yourself. Every time you go back in, the risk of permanent damage--seizures, aneurysms, memory loss, death... " - (to Olivia, attempting to discourage her demand to return to the synaptic transfer tank in The Dreamscape)
"I was under a great deal of stress at the time. It - it was before the accident in the lab - before that poor lab assistant lost her life. I was... distrustful of everybody... ...I was convinced I was being followed. Someone was watching my every move." - (lamenting to Peter in their hotel room about hiding equipment in banks twenty-three years prior. Safe)
"Whatever it was, it ripped through his esophagus on the way out. At least he died teaching, a righteous profession." - (to Olivia and Peter, about the science professor killed by a giant virus in Bound)
"With all due respect, Darwin got it all wrong. I used to make the joke that Darwin's thinking was rather... unevolved. For a brilliant man, Darwin was occasionally a moron." - (to Peter, on the assertion that females are not as aggressive as males. The No-Brainer)
"This is wonderful. Don't you agree? It's just like a good detective movie." - (to everyone in earshot, during his first visit to the observation room during an interrogation. The Transformation)
"You understand, this man teleported through space. His molecules disintegrating and reintegrating. The very implications of it... We need a video camera - we should record this!" - (to Peter, in the lab as they treat David Robert Jones in Ability)
"...given the environmental conditions... the lack of oxygen and light... and their impact on his biological development, he could be significantly older." - (to Broyles question, as the task force assesses the recovered boy during Inner Child
"I believe that the stinger we found in you implanted the creature's embryos. I think this is why the creature didn't eat you. I think you may be carrying its offspring." - (to a disbeleiving Charlie, fearful about trans-species pregnancy in Unleashed)
"...we would put them in pairs. Like the buddy system in summer camp. This pairing kept them from becoming frightened or feeling isolated. Sometimes an intense bond could form... a bond... which could be greatly amplified by a drug like Cortexiphan." - (to an indignant Peter in Bad Dreams after learning of the use of young children in controversial experimentation)
"Most of us experience life as a linear progression... ...but this is an illusion - because every day, life presents us with an array of choices... ...each choice leads to a new path. To go to work. To stay home. And each choice we take creates a new reality." - (to the science team, simplifying theories on the pliability of space-time and protracted deja vu in The Road Not Taken)
"We were trying to prepare you. To make you capable. Able. Something terrible is coming." - (to Olivia during The Road Not Taken, when confronted with the experimentation he conducted on young children)
"Of course there's a problem opening a hole to another reality. In theory, that would also allow things from there to pass over here, which could be dangerous." - (to Peter, explaining the pitfalls of the fringe science they face in There's More Than One of Everything)
"You may not remember this. When you were a boy, you were very sick, dying... ...and sometimes you got scared. And to calm yourself, to forget what you were going through, you took to collecting coins - this one, this was your favorite" - (to Peter, preparing to confront Jones at Reiden Lake in There's More Than One of Everything)

Unanswered Questions

Theories about these unanswered questions should be placed and read at Walter Bishop/Theories

Unanswered questions
Do not answer the questions here. Keep the questions open-ended and neutral: do not suggest an answer. More details...

How much does Walter know about the events being investigated and why is he hiding it?
Was the other Walter that visited him in St. Claire's (The Equation) from the alternate reality where Bell works?
- In Grey Matters, Broyles emphasizes "...there's only one Walter Bishop...". Does this foreshadow the coming of another Walter Bishop e.g. Peter's real father?
Is Walter Bishop meant to remind viewers of Nikola Tesla?
What side effects might Walter had/have having visited an alternate universe?
Why does he have one blue contact lens in his right eye?
If the universes have to exchange equal mass... was there an exchange when he brought their Peter to this universe?