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In season 1 towards the season finale, Olivia seems to cross 'Over There' unwittingly, and it seems 'Over There' is very similar to 'Over Here.' But when they cross over again (Walter, Olivia and the other Cortexiphan kids) and afterwards, it seems like it is way more advanced 'Over There' than we first saw in Season 1.

Why did this happen? I'm assuming 'Over here' and 'Over there' are similar with time transcurrence.

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    What are you basing your indications of technological superiority on between the two universes between season one and season two? As far as we are told, the rate of temporal flow was the same between the two universes, but the technology development was not. Some technologies that existed in one universe did not in the other.
    – Thaddeus Howze
    Commented Aug 25, 2014 at 19:02
  • Technology is often developed to fill a need. Because of Walter's original crossing, he basically broke their universe, resulting in a new for very directed technological advances. Plus, even in the 80s, 'Over There' was far ahead of 'Over Here.'
    – Dave Johnson
    Commented Aug 25, 2014 at 19:44
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    I think the relative tech levels always favor Over There, but you have a point: Over There in season 1, when Olivia accidentally crosses over, looks nothing like Over There in later seasons. For example, the FBI/Fringe Division building and outfits look very distinct from those in later seasons (in fact, they look a lot like those of Over Here). I believe -- but have no proof -- this is because the writers simply hadn't fleshed out Over There/Fringe Division yet at that point of the show.
    – Andres F.
    Commented Aug 25, 2014 at 21:22
  • I voted to reopen because I don't think this is a duplicate--did people read the question too hastily? The other question was "why the alternate universe is more advanced than ours", whereas the question here is basically "why is the alternate universe of season 3 more advanced than the alternate universe of season 1".
    – Hypnosifl
    Commented Aug 26, 2014 at 6:33
  • @AndresF. I remember there being reasons to believe that was a 3rd universe beyond simply the technology level
    – Izkata
    Commented Aug 26, 2014 at 11:36

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We see very little of the other universe in season 1, so I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that technology was less advanced "over there" in season 1 than in later seasons. They may not show any examples of particularly advanced technology in the brief scenes of Olivia crossing over, but absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, and in fact there is some behind-the-scenes evidence that the creators already intended the technology to be more advanced, in the form of the New York Post prop which was seen briefly in the episode:

enter image description here

This page says that a replica of this prop was distributed as part of the season 2 press kit, and it contained several headlines indicating more advanced technology:

Weather Report - "No corrective action by NWS expected" - Weather can now be controlled by the government

Cartoon - Solar, Wind, and Oil made obsolete by Zero-Point Energy - an alternate energy source developed by Massive Dynamic.

Genetically Engineered pets

FDA approves facial landscaping - a facial reconstruction technique developed by Intrepus. David Esterbrook, the R&D officer at Intrepus is also mentioned. Intrepus and Esterbrook can be seen in the Fringe episode The Cure.

Here's a scan of the sections with those headlines:

enter image description here

enter image description here

In addition, as shown on this page listing differences between the two universes mentioned in the first two seasons, we also saw more evidence of advanced technology onscreen by season 2, like the season 2 episode "Momentum Deferred" showing the "shapeshifting mechano-organic soldiers" from the other universe, the episode "Jacksonville" which indicated they had CD players in cars by 1986, the episode "Peter" showing they had digital cellphones in the early 1980s, and the episode "Over There, Part 1" which showed they had "Nanite Regeneration technology that can heal third degree burns covering 90% of the body in just 3 months".

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    I think it was more of a visual thing; the Boston Fringe office looked like ours, rather than "high-tech", and Broyles wore a normal shirt rather than a hard-core-looking field outfit. But yes it's hard to make any real conclusions on that.
    – Lightness Races in Orbit
    Commented Aug 25, 2014 at 23:33
  • You get my belated +1 because of the awesome alternative universe news articles.
    – PointlessSpike
    Commented Sep 2, 2015 at 9:12

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