By Lynn Finch and Donna Hazel

If you haven’t seen Fringe episode 4.09, Enemy of My Enemy – run, don’t walk, to your nearest tv/dvr/pc/iDevice and watch it! Now! I can say with confidence that this is the best episode of Season 4 so far, and one of the best episodes in the series. Enemy of My Enemy has everything that makes a great episode of Fringe – action, mythology, gore, character development, humor, sadness, relationships – and hope.

One of the big questions for this season is how individuals impact those around them. What kind of world would it be if you weren’t in it? As a corollary, are the people you impacted the same people, YOUR people, just a little different because you weren’t in their lives? Or are they different people altogether? As we’ve starting trying to answer those important questions, we can break this one down into components – what do people want? To be seen, to be recognized for who we are, and to form connections with those around us – specifically those people who are important in our lives.

In 4.07, Wallflower, we see what people need in order to feel they exist – ‘To be looked upon by the right person… to connect… and to see in their eyes kindness. Happiness. And… recognition.” In 4.08, Back to Where You’ve Never Been, Peter has crossed to the Other Side and sought out the Elizabeth of that world, in an attempt to contact Walternate. Elizabeth is the first person that acknowledges Peter as something other than a stranger or anomaly – “but as soon as I looked into your eyes, I knew…” She knew that Peter was her son.

In 4.09, Enemy of My Enemy, we start to see connections forming. Some are expected, and hoped for. Others are less predictable; it’s still not clear what these new relationships mean:

• We see Fauxlivia and AltLincoln as partners; he’s her shoulder to cry on. But she seems to connect with AmberLincoln as well; she believes him before anyone else and keeps pushing his ideas.
• David Robert Jones relates to his shapeshifters, as a parent to a child. As he says “I suppose this is what it feels like to have a child,“ it’s reminiscent of the Observer’s comment in The Firefly: “It must be hard to be a father.”
• Astrid and Olivia’s connection seems less formal and official, signifying a closer relationship. They smile conspiratorially over Walter’s molecular gastronomy. Astrid feels free to ask Olivia what’s troubling her – indicating a relationship that goes deeper than two agents/co-workers. There’s a connection on a personal level here.

One of the first new connections between familiar faces occurs while Peter and Lincoln are in AltFringe headquarters, arguing about leaving for This Side or staying to interrogate the new prisoner. Lincoln challenges Peter for selfishly getting what he wants and walking away, throwing his fear in his face. We know Peter as a cool con man, but he has connected with Lincoln enough to be honest with him. There’s a long evaluating look between the two of them; Lincoln says “You’re scared,”, and for a brief moment we see through Peter’s ‘always in control’ demeanor. “Yes, I’m scared. I’m scared that every day I’m here the people I love get farther and farther away from me.” Peter continues his rant, but is visibly shaken as the prisoner is escorted into the area and he makes an unexpected connection with someone he never thought to see again – David Robert Jones, somewhat worse for wear but definitely in one piece.

Peter quickly regains his cool competency, as he finagles a way into the interrogation room with DRJ. Jones is visibly disconcerted as Peter describes their connection, albeit a one-way connection, by commenting on a past that Jones expected no one to know: his use of a teleportation device to escape a German prison, being swathed in bandages as a side effect of the teleportation, crossing over from the other side. Never one to relinquish control easily, Jones recovers and issues an interesting response to Peter: “You’ve run out of time.” I think this will be worth remembering.

As the Fringe Division prepares to release Jones, we see the Lincoln Lees developing a grudging respect for each other. When Amber Lincoln asks to participate in Jones’ surveillance and Colonel Broyles defers to AltLincoln, there’s hardly a moment’s hesitation before he accepts him as a part of his Fringe team. As Amber Lincoln’s confidence grows, the differences between the two Lees seem to be less and less obvious. Their mannerisms and carriage are very similar – and since Fringe never does anything by chance, I have to believe that this was an intentional connection between the two.

As Fauxlivia and Amber Lincoln sit on a bench watching Jones, Lincoln comments on the closeness (the connection) between Fauxlivia and her partner. He seems both interested and amused by her response, her denial of anything but a platonic friendship, her “shoulder to cry on” pal. It’s as if Lincoln is pondering the relationships of the alternates in hopes that it would give him insight into the connections in his own partnership. It’s one of the big shipper questions of the season – do every Lincoln Lee and Olivia Dunham have a connection? What’s different? What’s the same?

In one of the more interesting relationships in this ‘new’ world, we see Walternate and his clearly not -estranged wife Elizabeth having dinner. The scene is a far cry from 3.15, Subject 13, where we see their marriage falling apart because of Peter’s kidnapping; Walternate blamed Elizabeth and drank more and more as a coping mechanism. He’s still having a second scotch at dinner because of his frustration at losing Jones, but it’s obvious that their relationship is strong enough to withstand some gentle chiding from Elizabeth. This Walternate is still very much connected to his wife, and to his humanity; we can assume this is due to a sense of closure because of the knowledge of their Peter’s death, instead of the frustration of his unresolved disappearance in the previous timeline.

As Elizabeth listens to Walternate admit failure (“I couldn’t save our son then, and I can’t help him now”), she develops a plan. She has been the strongest connection to Peter, the most immediate and accepting. Elizabeth’s actions are a clear illustration of one of the touchstones of Fringe – that love sustains over universes, and timelines, and alternates. Elizabeth will always have a mother’s connection and love for every Peter, and as we saw by then end of the previous episode, a son’s love for his mother endures as well, whether wants to acknowledge it intellectually or not.

Next we come to one of my favorite ‘connections’ of the episode, and certainly the most unexpected – Peter and AltAstrid. As Peter walks up to AltAstrid at her workstation, he asks if she “would mind” if he looked over her information; from what we’ve seen, this is a courtesy not usually extended to the ‘lookers’ from Over There. In a dramatic change from the conversation she just concluded with Colonel Broyles, Alt Astrid looks directly at Peter as she responds, rather than looking away or ‘through’ him as she usually does. Perhaps his more considerate attitude towards her emboldens her; she bursts out a question (“Are you really from another timeline?”) while staring him straight in the eye. Peter’s response elicits the first overtly emotional response we’ve seen from AltAstrid (“cool”).

There are a couple of interesting things about this scene to me. The first is the similarity between AmberAstrid and AltAstrid to Olivia and Peter, respectively. We’ve seen both Astrids behave in a more friendly and personal manner than we’ve been accustomed to, to the two characters whose lives seem to mirror each other, Olivia and Peter. Is there something special about these two that bring out such a warm connection with their Astrid? Admittedly, Amber Astrid is certainly more personably than AltAstrid – but based on our past views of AltAstrid, her question and response is quite out of character, and seemingly drawn out by Peter.

The second interesting thing about this scene is Peter’s response to AltAstrid’s query. Up til now, Peter has been certain that he’s in the wrong timeline, and all he has to do is figure out a way to get “Back” to his people, his home, the place where he belongs, reminiscent of his desires to ‘go home’ in 2.22, Over There Part 1, 3.15, Subject 13, and 3.21, The Last Sam Weiss. However, when he responds to AltAstrid’s question, he is less certain. “Yeah, I think so,” he replies, with a wistful smile.

Later, as Peter, AltAstrid, and the rest of the Fringe team review maps of the quarry, AltAstrid assumes responsibility for not recognizing the area. Peter touches her arm in a gesture of consolation. While AltAstrid seems a bit surprised and gives Peter a look, she doesn’t freak out as one would expect. Is this another example of “Peter’s magic touch”? Or is it just because he’s so damned cute…

Perhaps the most powerful connection, and the one most dreamed about by hardcore fans, results from a face to face meeting between Elizabeth from Over There and Amber Walter. When Elizabeth utters his name, Walter’s emotions fly across his face – fear, surprise, recognition, joy, wistfulness, acknowledgement. As they talk of the events of 26 years ago, Walter brings Elizabeth a cup of tea – with honey, as HIS Elizabeth liked it. He castigates himself for his hubris of trying to save a boy that wasn’t his to save, but Elizabeth recognizes the love that drove him to attempt to save her Peter. He talks of asking for a sign (a white tulip that never came?), but knowing that he will never be forgiven for her Peter’s death and for ‘breaking the universes’. Elizabeth takes his hand, in a gesture similar to her response to Walternate in their earlier conversation, and promises him that she has forgiven him -“and if I can, God can.’ She begs Walter to help this Peter, who has so much of their Peters in him, to help him get back to the people who love him. Walter confesses his fear, and in a gesture that every Elizabeth must’ve used with every Walter (and every Peter), she grasps his hand and cups his face in reassurance. She reminds Walter that Peter is scared, too, which seems to humanize Peter in his eyes. For the myriad things that should keep these two apart, they are all overcome and a connection is made because the love of a child overcomes it all.

Back at the quarry on this side, Jones is escaping to the Other Side using the teleportation windows (seen previously in 1.20, There’s More Than One of Everything). Peter, of course, recognizes the setup from his previous experience at Reiden Lake, but Olivia is unfamiliar with its effects and, as usual, takes off after her suspect like a bat out of hell. Peter shouts over the walkie-talkie, telling her to stop. His voice takes on an edge of panic as she nears the teleportation zone, and he begs her to trust him. You can almost feel Peter’s relief as Olivia responds, and his voice drops to a more intimate tone as he asks if she’s ok. As you see Olivia sitting in the SUV with most of the engine block sheared off, she’s visibly shaken. What’s important here is that headstrong Olivia heeded Peter’s warning. At that instant, they connected. Olivia is shaken as much from that realization as she is from the evidence of what occurred before her.

In a scene most Fringe fans have been waiting for, the Fringe Divisions meet across a conference room table. Broyles, Dunhams, Lees, and a Bishop at each end. Walternate leads the discussion, and Peter sits at the other end of the table. There’s an uneasy partnership between the two groups, but they appear willing to unite against their common enemy of Jones and his shapeshifters, despite the fact they know very little about him. However, the Peter Bishop who said “It’s not my fight’ only a few hours before, has formed a connection with these people, this timeline. When Amber Lincoln says that “Jones is holding all the cards’, Peter speaks up. “Not all of them. You have me.” The look that passes between Walternate and Peter reflects pride, recognition, acceptance, commitment… and love between a father and a son – something I never thought we’d see between these two characters.

As they leave the briefing room, AmberOlivia badgers Peter for information about Jones – she’s ready to plunge ahead and wants all the details NOW. Peter begs off til the next morning, a little amused at her eagerness to jump right in. They face each other in the hallway. She’s NOT his Olivia, she’s a little less burdened… but her drive and her energy is the same. She starts to thank Peter for his quick action at the quarry that saved her life… and there’s that connection, that feeling I have to label as déjà vu (the feeling that you’re right where you belong). Familiar themes play behind them as they agree to meet ‘first thing’ the next morning.

That night, we see Peter grumpily answering the door at the Bishop house. His schematics of the machine are scattered about the room, and a laptop displays its form. When he opens the door, Peter is visibly surprised to see Walter standing uneasily outside. He asks to come in and for something to drink, as he apparently has walked from the lab, overcoming his agoraphobia on his own.As they stand in the living room, surrounded by the detritus of Peter’s work, Walter talks about Peter’s mother… that she was a wonderful woman – “Every version of her”. Peter realizes that Elizabeth has visited Walter and is probably the catalyst for his visit tonight. Walter talks about being away from the people he loves, and acknowledges that Peter is probably missing the people he loves as well. Despite his inability to look directly at Peter, Walter promises to help him get back to the people he loves. As Walter finds the courage to look at him, he talks about thinking of the loss of his son for 25 years, but concludes that there must still be things for him to learn about loss, and that must be why Peter is here.

Peter brings his hand to his face; his eyes are full of emotion. He tells Walter that he’s spent the last several days with his alternate, and Peter found that he “wasn’t the man I thought he was.” Then he smiles gently at Walter and tells him “but I’m not at all surprised to learn that you are.” Peter is connecting with HIS Walter, at an emotional level that they are finally both admitting exists. Walter asks hesitantly “Is that a good thing?” Peter replies even more tenderly and tells him “That is a very good thing”. They share a look that carries us back to Season 2… and gives me faith that Peter is well on his way back to the people that love him. Walter relaxes and looks around. “You know I used to live here” he says to a bemused Peter, whose hand still covers his mouth as if to hide emotions that might spill over.

The final connection of the episode is also somewhat unexpected, but much more sinister than those that have preceded it. Jones is keying at a computer terminal, inquiring about “Phase 2”. The response is being entered by black gloved fingers… a version of Nina Sharp, presumably the Amber Nina , as her ominous response is “we’re working on her. She’ll be ready soon.” This can’t be good.

We have lots of connections and lots of new information to ponder. I expect the answers, along with more questions, to come fast and furious for the rest of the season. Enemy of My Enemy is a ‘game –changer’, as we see new alliances being formed and new perspectives on past events. It’s also an amazing episode that showcases exciting performances by John Noble, Joshua Jackson, and guest star Orla Brady. As always, John Noble portrayed Walter and Walternate with finesse, deftly giving us similarities and differences between the two and creating two distinct and well rounded characters. Josh’s performance was intense and powerful, the emotions passionate, but nuanced. Orla Brady is always a delight, in any universe, and it was wonderful to see her in a pivotal role.

No great Fringe episode is complete without its great lines – here are my favorites:

Peter: How much trouble are you in?

Olivia: On a scale of one to ten? A lot.

DRJ: Take Me to Your Leader.

Lincoln: I lost a partner.

Peter : I lost a UNIVERSE!

Walter: I used to live here…

After nearly six months of asking “Where is Peter Bishop?” he’s back at last – and boy are we glad to see him. He first manifests as a ball of crackling blue energy, coming to Olivia at her favorite time of day, dragging metal items from their places and distorting time as he approaches. When she wakes to find a pocket lightening storm hovering over her, she rolls off the bed and goes for her gun, earning herself a nasty burn when the energy brushes her arm. The blue thing vanishes and her alarm goes off a second time, as time resumes its normal progression.

At Walter’s lab, she interrupts his photographic peanut experiment with a report on her encounter. She didn’t dream about their mystery man last night, but she was certainly visited by something. As Astrid is scraping a sample from Olivia’s injured arm, Walter sees a letter protruding from the pocket of her discarded jacket. It’s from St. Claire’s, and he can’t help but read it with dread – Dr. Sumner feels that Walter should return to St. Claire’s, and to that end he’s asking Olivia for an evaluation of Walter’s mental stability. Dismayed, Walter returns the unmarked form to its envelope, mind working frantically. In his sanest voice, he asks Olivia for an atmospheric sample of her apartment.

An investigation of Olivia’s home reveals elevated radiation levels in the metal objects that were scattered by the mysterious blob, and Walter’s equipment registers a weird temporal distortion, recording events before they actually happen. Olivia is again approached by the energy thing in her bathroom, ducking as it pulls an assortment of metal objects from her medicine cabinet to whiz narrowly past her head. The riff raff bounces off the surface of the blob and falls to the floor as it vanishes again. Getting creepy.

The behavior of the energy ball reminds Walter of an ability exhibited twenty-five years ago by one of his Cortexiphan subjects, a boy remembered to Walter only as “Subject 9.” The boy was able to astral project after his treatments, but the ability was accompanied by an unintentional side effect – his astral form distorted normal magnetic fields, attracting metal objects to himself. Given the emotional bond between all of the Cortexiphan subjects, Walter theorizes that their amorphous visitor may be the same boy, Traveling again and drawn toward Olivia’s familiar psychic energy. It’s a casual revelation that in this new timeline Olivia is aware of the experiments performed on her as a child, and of Walter’s part in them. Walter’s inability to remember the name of Subject 9 leads Olivia to ask Nina Sharp for any records she may have of Walter and Belly’s illegal child experimentation.

Nina is also a welcome sight, even if the lecture she’s delivering on ethics having no place in the pursuit of technology does lead to a bit of skin crawling. But before we have time to process the horrid assertion she’s just made, she throws us for another loop with a genuine display of affection for Olivia, joking about her prom date. In this timeline, the two women have clearly known each other for a very long time, and are closely bonded. The mutual respect and affection between Nina and Walter is absent however, the two of them sniping at each other with the long-suffering Astrid as a diplomatic go between.

In the records room at Massive Dynamic, Astrid’s questioning on the Cortexiphan trials provides an opportunity for further exposition. Olivia tells her that Walter and Ball believed that children have innate abilities that are socialized out of them at an early age, and that these abilities might be preserved and strengthened with the right combination of drugs and psychic stimulation. Astrid’s distaste at the idea of experimenting on children is discomfiting, and Walter turns off his monitor guiltily. When Astrid asks what happened to the trials, Olivia responds that she ran away, and they were discontinued a few years later.

Armed with the name (Cameron James) of the astral projectionist, Olivia and Astrid head back to the lab with his files, to find Walter waiting for them with a packed suitcase. He’s going with Olivia to find James, he knows him and what he’s capable of, and he’s quite insistent that Olivia needs him along, despite the fact that he hasn’t left his lab in years. His real motivation is betrayed by his most far out misplacement of Astrid’s name to date – calling her “Claire” much to her irritation, as she acerbically points out that “that doesn’t even start with an A.” The specter of recomittal has Walter running scared.

An initial conversation with Cameron’s landlady reveals that he won’t be home until morning, so Walter and Olivia check into adjacent hotel rooms for the night. Walter is nervous and agitated outside his comfort zone, pointing out all the germs that exist in an average hotel room, but he manages pretty well until Olivia leaves him alone. She barely has time to shut her door behind her before there’s a racket from Walter’s room, and she rushes back to help him. However, he’s not being attacked by glowy ball lightening, he’s trashing his room like Pink on a bender, screaming incoherently about filth and pathogens. When Olivia breaks through his panic with a dismayed shout, the realization in his face is as plain as the blood on his hands where the nails have bitten into the palms – these are not the reactions of a sane man. Shamed and frightened, he meekly lets her bandage the wounds, certain he’s sealed his fate.

The interplay here between Walter and Olivia is the strongest thing about the episode, and my absolute favorite thing about the new timeline. The relationship between the two has been emerging as much closer than it was when Peter was extant, and its depth is sweetly revealed in her gentleness with him. She’s never been much for expressing her feelings verbally, but love is plain on her face as she tends his wounds like those of a child, listening quietly as he confesses his wife’s suicide and says that he’s glad Elizabeth never saw him like this. Rather than leave him again with such sad thoughts, Olivia suggests they go for ice cream, eliciting a reluctant but inescapable delight.

In my very favorite scene, Walter and Olivia giggle together like father and daughter as he instructs her on the proper way to drink a root beer float – a process clearly more complicated than it sounds. The merriment fades suddenly however, as he broaches the subject of the letter from Dr. Sumner. In direct contradiction to the moments they just shared, Walter tells Olivia that he’s never had any illusions about their relationship, that he knows it’s only professional and that he’ll be sent back if he can no longer be useful to the department. Olivia is taken aback, torn by conflicting needs to reassure, and to make him understand that she takes the decision seriously and wants to do what’s best. “Best for whom?” he asks, but she’s saved from having to answer by the timely appearance of the energy cloud.

It seems to be growing both in size and cohesion, and approaching Olivia with inexplicable purpose. Shooting out the window of the cafe, she shoves Walter through it and follows herself, barely escaping another burn. It follows her into the street, vanishing in a flash when a car that swerved to avoid Olivia strikes it instead. As they head back to Cameron’s apartment, Walter is lost in self-recrimination, the realization of his culpability in their current situation, as well as the coldness indicated by reducing children to numbers fully hitting home. Olivia finds James (Chadwick Boseman) at home, but when he realizes it’s his real name she’s looking for he bolts, fleeing around a corner and directly into Walter, where the two men go down in a heap.

Cameron recognizes Walter immediately and pushes off him with a cry as metal things begin to quiver and sway. Olivia confronts him furiously, demanding to know why he’s been coming after her. Baffled, Cameron responds that he hasn’t thought of her in years, and when Walter mentions astral projection he becomes very upset, shouting that he hasn’t been able to do that since he was a child and now all he has are the terrible side effects of the drug. He must remain calm as much as possible, because when his emotions are high he can’t help affecting the magnetic fields around him – his last date ended in grisly flying fillings after he became embarrassed. Cameron’s story is awful, but provides hideous insight into why any of the children might have been subjected to the trials – his dad was getting paid for it. Cameron’s real name is Mark Little. Cameron was his father, who sold him into drug experiments in return for money which he then spent on drugs. He made Mark use his name in order to access the trust fund. It’s an ugly idea; knowing that little Olive’s stepfather was abusive, it’s easy to imagine that he may have had similar motivations Which raises the question: were all the cortexiphan subjects undervalued by their guardians, exposed to experimental drugs for the sake of a paycheck? To paraphrase Mark, “I don’t know what kind of parent does that.”

As the emotional confrontation in the hallway starts to wind down, there’s a disturbance behind them. Mailboxes flap wildly in a nonexistent breeze, and a low thrumming fills the air. The shimmery blue shape approaches terrifyingly close, before Mark’s frightened yell seems to drive it away. Olivia presses Walter for an explanation; the thing coming after her is not Mark, so what is it? Walter struggles a bit before eventually theorizing that since Mark’s reflexive burst of magnetic energy dispersed it, then perhaps it’s not creating that energy itself. Instead, perhaps it’s creating field distortions in time and it’s affecting existing magnetic fields as a side effect. If that’s the case Walter concludes, it’ll keep returning until it’s stopped, growing bigger and bigger until it consumes everything in its path. Given his proclivity for manipulating magnetic fields, Mark may be the ideal way to stop it, provided there’s enough energy in the area for him to gather and hurl at the apparition.

The ideal spot then, for an attempt to destroy the energy cloud, is the closest power grid. Ambient energy from the high voltage power lines should do the trick if Mark can just focus it. While they’re waiting for the (Peter) to make it’s appearance, Mark and Olivia have an oddly foreboding conversation as Walter wanders a little distance away. Mark seems surprised that Olivia never suffered any side effects of the Cortexiphan, asking if she’s heard about any of the others. Whatever knowledge of them he may have remains unspoken, but he points out that his first experience made him think something was after him as well, questioning whether Walter would tell her if he thought she was somehow creating the phenomenon herself. It’s a seed of doubt she doesn’t have time to consider as the air begins to shiver, but Fringe rarely poses this kind of question for no reason.

As the air begins to crackle and stray bolts of energy lash the air, the blue energy begins to take form in midair, gathering substance and form as it makes a bee line for Olivia. Mark is concentrating with all his might on gathering enough energy to shatter the thing as Olivia stands transfixed, watching it approach. As Walter shouts encouragingly for Mark to destroy it, the shape comes to a stop in front of Olivia, coalescing at last into a shape she recognizes. “You,” she breathes to the literal man of her dreams, before Mark wallops him with a blast of energy, causing him to lose his form. Overwhelmed by a sudden knowledge she doesn’t try to explain to herself, Olivia tries to stop “Cameron,” finally firing her gun into the air to break his concentration. The man shaped apparition vanishes in a blinding flash of light

- and miles away, the long lost Peter Bishop is reborn from the same lake in which he died.

As September watches a very startled pair of fishermen fish Peter out of the water, Olivia tries to explain to Walter. He seems puzzled that she’d want to prevent the destruction of the man that’s been haunting him, reluctantly accepting her assertion that she felt that that the man meant no harm, but instead wanted her help. On the way back to the car, Olivia asks Mark if there’s anything she can do for him. “Make him forget about me,” he replies, a little ambiguous as to whether that would be more for Walter’s benefit or his own, but an interesting nod to the forgotten man in the lake. Walter tells Olivia that she acted irrationally, impetuously following her instincts instead of her logic. “When I do that people say I’m crazy,” he says ruefully, “I suppose I’ve learned that crazy is a lot more complicated than people think.” He has no answer for whether or not the ghost man might have been destroyed.

Fortunately, Broyles does. He calls Olivia to let her know that a father and son have just pulled a man out of Reiden Lake in upstate New York, a man who knows things no one outside Fringe Division should know, and further, he claims to know all of them personally. Arriving at the hospital where the man’s been taken, Olivia is told that he’s stable and has been asking for her by name. When she goes to see him, Walter finds himself once again alone with her abandoned jacket, St. Claire’s envelope still sticking out of the pocket. Unable to help himself, he guiltily filches the letter, face crumpling into trembly fissures of relief as he reads that Olivia does not recommend him for further hospitalization.

Waiting, Peter stares blindly out the window of his room, turning quickly when he hears Olivia enter behind him. His whole body droops with the sudden release of tension at the sight of her, alive and whole and there at last. “Olivia, thank God you’re here,” he begins, but his blissful smile dies as he registers the puzzlement on her face, replaced with crestfallen realization when she warily asks, “who are you?”

Random thoughts:

• Chadwick Boseman is another in a long line of absolutely wonderful guest actors.

•  Whatever different experiences she must have had in a Peterless world, in some ways Olivia is healthier than before. She’s “quicker with a smile” than she ever was before. Maybe not being stalked by her stepfather her whole life had something to do with it, or maybe being adopted by Nina at a young age.

• There’s a pair of lepidoptery cases on Olivia’s bedroom wall, butterflies everywhere.

• Olivia picks the locks now!

• There’s a cool new Violet Sedan Chair poster to the right of the door to the lab, but I can’t quite read it – anybody have HD DVR? New album? Oh please??

•  Some families yell and cheer at the TV when the game’s on. Mine does it when Peter Bishop pops back into existence in the middle of the lake. All of us, watching live of course, yelling and clapping like lunatics. That takes a very special show – well done Fringe, and thanks!

-By Aimee Long

“I don’t think that we can underestimate the role that empathy plays in the structuring of the self, or the lack thereof.” -Professor McClennan

“I’ve always thought there are people who leave an indelible mark on your soul, an imprint that can never be erased.”  – Cheeky Writers

Cheekiness aside, Friday’s episode was another great example of Fringe’s ability to tell a compelling stand alone story. When the Fringe team from Over There is unable to track down a serial killer, our team is asked for assistance. The alliance is uneasy, with Altlivia gleefully pushing Ourliv’s buttons to see which way her alternate will jump. Tension between the two teams is still quite high, given Walternate’s recent attempt at universal fratricide. It’s revealed that in the new timeline, Olivia was kidnapped and replaced with her doppelganger just long enough to steal a crucial piece of the machine, and then was apparently released to die along with the rest of her world. Walternate’s plan didn’t work however; instead of destroying this universe it tore holes in both, creating the “Bridge” room and prompting something called The Accord – an uneasy truce between worlds that now have no choice but to work together for their mutual survival.

The killer in question is one John McClennan (John Pyper-Ferguson), a brilliant man surpassing even Walter’s IQ. After brain-freezing twenty-three victims, he finally left a single hair behind, providing Fringe Division with their first break in the case. They know who he is but can’t find him, leading them to believe that his alternate – a criminal psychologist on this side – may be able to provide some insight into his movements. When told that the case is highly classified, and he can’t know where they’re going, John agrees surprisingly readily to being dosed with an unknown sedative and transported on “a long journey,” telling Olivia that he’s been “working towards this my entire life.”

Olivia accompanies her charge to the other side, agreeing without protest to listen in the van while Altlivia takes McClennan on an unwitting tour of his double’s house. Liv is impersonating her counterpart for the charade, wearing a blond wig and chafing in the unfamiliar clothing. Olivia’s obviously still holding a grudge, refusing even to greet her alternate when she arrives, telling her instead to button her jacket. The two women, identical as they are, couldn’t be more different. Faced with the extreme discomfort of the situation, Olivia is tight lipped and dour, while Altliv pulls faces, enjoying getting under her other’s skin. Lincoln watches them both, perhaps seeing more similarity than either would ever admit. Much as he loves her, he seems a little put out at his Olivia’s lack of consideration.

Alone in his lab, Walter is attempting to drown out the voice in his head, playing Mozart so loudly that all the speakers in his Maxell array are visibly pulsing. A deeply concerned Astrid interrupts, begging him to tell her what’s wrong, and telling him that all his medication levels are way off. He’s too frightened to ask for help though, convinced that if he admits to hallucinations he’ll be back in St. Claire’s before you can say “butterscotch pudding.” Gathering his tattered wits, he heads to his room for a nap, but is unable to ignore the towel that’s fallen off a reflective surface, compulsively straightening it before fleeing with as much dignity as he can muster. Dismayed, Astrid watches him go.

Unbeknownst to him, McClennan is examining the life he might have had, had things gone just a bit differently for him. He chuckles at his alternate’s model of the functions of the human brain – identical to the one in his office, but fails to notice the statue of “Early Homo Sapiens” that sits on his own desk at home. He’s profiling his own might-have-been – noting that the man was deprived of things as a child and is now attempting to make up for it, that he’s prone to obsessive cataloging, and that he’s fascinated by the brain. He’s bemused to find a chair in the shed identical to one his family used to have, but the weirdness of the situation finally clicks when he finds a photo of his own father among those of hundreds of happy strangers. Unnerved, he bolts, and as Olivia and Lincoln run to intercept him he has just time enough to register that there are two of her before noticing the giant bubble of Amber down the street.

Lincoln and Liv wait outside while Olivia tries to explain the situation to McClennan. Altliv isn’t good at waiting for anything, especially not her double, and when she moves to interrupt, Lincoln restrains her, firmly insisting that she “give her a minute.” Inside, McClennan is heartbroken for he other self, seeing plainly how a simple twist of fate saved him from becoming the monster. He tells Olivia that the same darkness lives inside of him as well, and that his father saw it and tried to quell it with violence. Overcome, he’s unable to continue until Olivia tells him that she also came from an abusive home, a confession Liv escaped Lincoln just in time to hear. Aware that her alternate is listening, Olivia tells him anyway. Empathy has always been one of her greatest strengths, and if reaching out to Johns pain with her own will help stop a killer, then her mocking other self can have something else to feel superior for. Except that she doesn’t. Liv watches silently, going suddenly still at Olivia’s words. The facade is back almost as soon as it’s gone, but it slipped for just a moment; like it or not, the other woman is a real girl after all.

Encouraged by Olivia’s honesty, McClennan goes on to say that he’s been able to resist his urges because of a woman named Marjorie, who taught him that he could step out of the darkness and into the light. The other John’s life is like a nightmare, one he’s imagined his life might have been like if Marjorie hadn’t saved him. His grief for his doppelganger is terrible, and he desperately wants to help the other man, to tell him what he knows about hope. Olivia’s insistence that there’s “no other road” for the killer McClennan is like a death sentence, and when she returns from stepping outside to hear a report of a new victim, McClennan is gone.

At Fringe Division headquarters, Colonel Broyles is blessedly alive again, albeit sporting a deep new scar on his neck. As Liv and Lincoln squabble over who gets to take the blame for losing the psychologist, Olivia posits that he’s looking for his alternate, wanting to stop him. Altlivia is back to full bristle, barely biting her tongue at Olivia’s presumption, but when Olivia tells her that they may be able to find John using the plates from the tractor in his father’s photo, she has little choice but to check it out – a good thing for Noreen Miller.

John McClennan is only a moment away from drilling into his victim’s skull when the door opens behind him. He turns quickly to find – himself – approaching with hands raised placatingly. Our John knows where he keeps the gun he’s going for, just as he knew where to find him. He tells his other that it doesn’t have to be this way, sharing a story about the night his father found the dead things. Alter McClennan is incredulous, insisting that it’s his story, and it is – the details are the same, the carnival, the ring toss, the furious face of his father, and hiding behind the wagon wheel. It’s the same until he’s caught, dragged home and beaten for endless hours, and there it diverges. Our John wasn’t caught. Instead he ran, “as far and as fast and as long” as he could, until he fell asleep in a field, and woke to find an angel standing over him. Her name was Marjorie, and she showed him how to make the pain stop. “I can show you how,” John says, placing his hand compassionately on his alternate’s shoulder. “Maybe you can,” replies McClennan, and clocks him with an old can of beans.

On their way to the farm, the Olivias are riding together, per Altliv’s inexplicable request. The silence is thick until Liv asks too casually about Olivia’s stepfather, wanting to shove her irritating other back into the box she’s built for her. Yes, Olivia admits, she was trying to open John up, but it was also true. And when asked what happened to him, she replies matter of factly “I killed him,” before getting out of the car. Liv stares after her, shocked and perturbed.

In his musty storm cellar, McClennan has drilled into John’s head, and has a tube full of blue liquid running from from his skull and through a radiator, attaching to a port in his own brain on the other end. “Tell me about your happiest memories,” he says intensely, “tell me about Marjorie.” She made John feel safe, loved. She saw his darkness and didn’t condemn it, instead she showed him how to defeat it. McClennan is appalled, trembling and weeping at the beauty of the memories, for the first time in his life feeling for someone else, and it undoes him.

Having searched the abandoned farmhouse and found nothing, Fringe Division is relentlessly searching the rest of the grounds. Lincoln and Olivia find the storm cellar, and descend the stairs to find John in the process of freezing to death, and Noreen sedated but unharmed. A noise alerts them to their killer’s presence and Olivia finds him still reeling in the next room. “I wanted what he had,” he gasps, “what she gave him. I took her from him, I shouldn’t have…Marjorie? What have I done?” He fires the gun under his chin and is gone.

Professor McClennan is transported back to his own world and is recuperating from his budget brain surgery in the hospital. He has no memory of the last few weeks, and has been told he was injured profiling for the FBI. Broyles tells Olivia that he’s suffered permanent memory loss, Marjorie has been extracted from his brain. Stricken, knowing he may now be the monster those memories saved him from becoming, Olivia goes in to see him. He doesn’t remember Olivia, and he doesn’t know anyone named Marjorie. Lamely, Olivia tells him to get better soon. Another casualty of weird science, he’s luckier than most, but it’s still bitter that her failure to protect him cost him his humanity. As she turns to go, he stops her, “you know what they say,” he says “even when it’s the darkest you can step into the light.”

Grinning happily in the hallway, Olivia marvels over the fact that although he can’t remember Marjorie, John still remembers what she taught him. “At the risk of sounding sentimental” Broyles responds, “I’ve always thought there are people who leave an indelible mark on your soul, an imprint that can never be erased.”

Oh Fringe. I love you.

And on that note we find Walter again, alone in his office cum bedroom, checking the corners for boogeymen before cautiously turning off the light. For a moment all is well, and then there’s a familiar voice “Walter, I’m here. Can you hear me? I’m right here. Walter I’m right here!” Walter panics, shouting to the empty room that the voice is a figment of his imagination before turning the record player on as loud as it will go. Terrified, unable to drown out the cacophony in his head, Walter sinks into a corner, clutching his head as Peter pleads with him for help.

Observations:

This was a wonderful episode. McClennan’s story is powerfully illustrative of the influence one person can have over the life of another, and lives beyond that by extension. We create ripples with our interactions that we’re largely unaware of, impacting others in ways we rarely comprehend. It’s not just the big things we do, it’s the accumulation of ourselves through which we leave our mark. A smile for a stranger can change the course of a day; a random act of kindness can change the world. It’s a power we dismiss at our peril, for the inverse is also true: the damage we can do when we’re thoughtless or inconsiderate can be catastrophic under the wrong circumstances, breaking hearts we never knew were so fragile.

The writers of Fringe are showing us the impact we have with their depiction of a Peterless existence. That’s the point they’re driving home. Of course they have a larger story to tell, and I hope more than anything that they get to tell it to completion. Peter will be back, and when he arrives it will be in proper time, not just for the overall story of Fringe, but for this point to be well made. We, all of us, affect each other, and when someone is removed from the equation it leaves a hole in the lives of those around them. Please keep watching. I know there are folks out there who’ve lost interest without Peter, but he can’t come back if he doesn’t have a show to come back to. Fringe is about more than one character, it’s about more than all the characters. At it’s bottom it’s about people, and what makes them worth protecting. I can’t wait to have Peter back, but I’m willing to listen to what they’re trying to say, because I know it’ll be worth it. Trust these guys, they’ve earned it. They know what they’re doing.

-By Aimee Long

I’ve seen Doomsday, and it is worse than anything you could possibly imagine. This isn’t a war that can be won. Our two worlds are inextricable. If one side dies, we all die. So I’ve torn holes in both the universes and they lead here, to this room. A bridge so that we can begin to work together to fix –

And with that, Peter  Bishop faded out of this plane of existence. This prompted the question asked by fans all summer:  “Where is Peter Bishop?”

The long-awaited season four premiere takes place one week after Peter made his heroic choice to save both universes, and ultimately save the people that he loved.  To quote the Observers, “Much has changed.” Truly.

The first scene involves an exchange of information between the two universes, who have now called a truce. Both are still dying, and they need to work together to fix the damage. Olivia is first seen, and she is in no way happy about the new status-quo. Mainly because she is handing off boxes of classified FBI files to her alternate from the other side. Trust is shaky, well, actually pretty non-existent. The dialogue exchange between the two women is heated and snippy, but it reveals that Altlivia still infiltrated our side, and that she impersonated Olivia by living her life. Her quip that stings the most?

“Must be hard to develop trust in people when all you’ve got is yourself. Must get terribly lonely.”

Guess who makes an appearance?

Peter flash…

The next appearance starts to give clues about the circumstances surrounding Peter’s alleged non-existence. September, the most well-known Observer, meets his colleague/boss at a diner. They have a problem. Someone is not so non-existent after all… “traces of him continue to bleed through.”  September shows a sense of foreboding, because apparently he knows what boss December will ask him to do.

“They can never know the boy lived to be a man,” December bluntly states.

Roll the new Orange intro… there are some neat new scientific concepts listed.

Lincoln Lee is still a FBI agent working out of  the Hartford, Connecticut field office. He arrives at the home of his partner, the slightly slovenly and procrastinating Robert Danzig. Lincoln is greeted by Danzig’s wife and children, like he is just part of he family. It seems Lincoln may eat even less than toast-loving Olivia, as he chides his partner for taking the time to eat some toast. (Olivia was eating toast at the end of LSD, the most fans had ever seen her eat. Toast jokes ensued.)

Danzig says something  to Lincoln that catches my attention:

“You know, they did a study on sarcastic people and they get more illnesses in their lifetime. It had something to do with negative energy.”

I can’t help but to think of sarcastic Peter, who was often sick as a child.

Also, it makes me smile that Lincoln’s pantless partner would sort of prepare him for the “Walter experience.”

Immediately we’re brought right into the fray of the chase for bad guys. Which occurs on a rooftop, immediately bringing to mind the amazing rooftop chase involving Olivia and Richard Steig in the Pilot. Just when Lincoln thought they got their man, he sadly makes a terrible discovery. His partner has been infected with something, making his skin translucent. Robert dies as horrified Lincoln looks on.

Olivia and Astrid arrive on the scene. Astrid has been equipped with a special ear-clip/camera, allowing the agoraphobic Walter to view the crime scene. As Astrid examines the body, Olivia introduces herself to the devastated Lee. September and a new Observer look on. Lee quickly become angered when Olivia explains that her special division is taking his partner’s body for study.

“This is my partner we’re talking about here. Maybe you can’t understand that.”

We’re finally back to the Harvard Lab, and Walter is working on an interesting experiment. A re-animated pigeon… ( I can hear Peter echo, “So you’re telling me that my father was Dr. Frankenstein?”)  As he works, he and Astrid discuss Walter’s distrust of Walternate. Walter’s talks about looking into his eyes and seeing his soul, which reminds me of the exchange between Barrette and Olivia in Marionette, and Peter’s recognition of Olivia in Lysergic Acid Diethylamide. Speaking of Peter, blink and you’ll miss him, though Gene the cow seems to know he was there.

Moo or Boo?

Olivia is in the office, reviewing the files on the Danzig case and pauses… She has to be thinking about John Scott.  Meanwhile, Lincoln makes his way to the lab using some law-breaking techniques just in time to be an unwilling assistant in the bird experiment. Welcome to Fringe Division Agent Lee!

Olivia discovers his presence in the lab, and the two exchange heated looks. Then they play a game of chicken with their cell phones. This reminds me of Olivia using the “just one call” trick on Peter in the Pilot.

Walter growing an ear makes me sad to remember Peter trying to eat an omelet in which Walter was growing one.

Lincoln is able to help Olivia at another crime scene, and he wins some admiration from her. They discover something important from a witness who Lee was able to identify because, “One of these things is not like the others.” Meanwhile, Astrid gives Walter a close-up of the latest victim, and Walter insists on having her anus checked. Poor Astrid still gets the dirty work, even in the field.

Lee is given further clearance from Broyles, and he is shown that the case is much bigger than he thought, as many bodies are shown lying in a warehouse. The FBI is trying to make a common connection, but was  at a loss. Lee explained that his partner took iron pills, so Broyles decides to have it checked out.

At a vintage electronics store, September is shopping for some interesting pieces. The shop clerk asks him what he needs the pieces for, and the answer is chilling:

“I need to erase someone from time.”

Back at the lab, Olivia and Astrid notice Walter is missing. Noise is heard in the old sensory deprivation tank, and a wet and harried Walter emerges to Lincoln. He babbles about a man in the lab – a man in the mirror. Astrid and Olivia calm him down. Lincoln’s reaction to Walter’s antics is expected, but Olivia defends Walter.

“He just never had anything to tether him to the world.”

As they talk, Walter examines the body of the latest victim. He notices an engagement ring, and he catches the team’s attention when he says, “I don’t think there’s anything sadder than when two people are meant to be together and something intervenes.” Oh my, what a sad feeling for the beauty that was Olivia and Peter together…

Pant-less Walter explains how Lee was on to something with his concern about the link between the victims. In actuality, everything points to heavy metal poisoning. Walter sort-of hypothesizes that maybe the killer needed something from the victims.

In a dimly-lit warehouse, the killer is seen walking around in his fully creepy state. He injects himself with a yellowish substance.

Olivia explains to Lincoln that the victim’s bodies will not be returned to their families because Fringe Division must remain under the radar of the public. Lee seems to recognize what that means for his partner’s family and is not willing to accept it.

“You understand what you’re saying? Those families are going to spend the rest of their lives wondering what happened to their loved ones, looking for answers. Can you imagine what that would be like? To have that… that hole in your life.”

Walter interjects, “People die. It happens. Sometimes they even die twice…”

Quite an interesting statement. Was this a personal experience of Walter’s? Possibly involving a young son?

The team stakes-out another lead after noticing a pattern and pinpointing a likely location for the possible suspect. Olivia shares the tale of John Scott with Lee. The best thing about Torv’s acting in this episode is that she portrays this Olivia with a cool detachment, yet underneath, her emotions still bleed through. She knew what Lee was going through because of John. She felt his pain and eventually warmed up to Lincoln because of their mutual world-view and experience.  She explains that Walter’s release from St Claire’s was her doing, but Walter could not save John. If one goes back to the Pilot, Peter had a hand in the cure for John.

WALTER: Autologous transfusion. That’s brilliant.

PETER: We can create the antidote and then just dissolve it in stored blood. If we transfuse him intravenously, his body won’t be overwhelmed.

WALTER: A-plus, Boy. Well done. Let’s begin.

Olivia and Lincoln see the suspect, and a chase ensues. One of their fellow agents is shot, and he manages to tell Lincoln that there is more than one of the… things. Olivia does not know this. Lincoln manages to catch the second one, and he kills it. It appears to look like Robert Danzig. (Here, Lee kills “his partner” like Olivia “killed Charlie.”) Later in the lab, Walter extracts a piece from the body of the hybrid. They are a new kind of more-human-than-machine shapeshifter.

Lincoln comes back to the lab, and Walter asks him as he enters if he has any candy. Peter would always try to bring Walter Red Vines, so this was a very small detail of the little things that made up the Walter/Peter relationship.  Olivia informs Lincoln that she managed to secure the release of Danzig’s body, which pleases Lee thoroughly, although he doesn’t understand why anyone would go through so much trouble. Olivia refuted his earlier statement. She does understand what he is going through.

Lee is further brought into the fold by being given access into the new bridge room between the two sister universes. It appears that the Department of Defense is involved, as is Massive Dynamic. The machine is there. I kept waiting for the Lincoln Lee from the other side to show up and surprise our Lincoln, but Alternate Olivia surprises him enough. But he is really astounded by the zeppelin roaring overhead, the Fringe sign that there is another world out there.

Outside, September is about to complete his directive. But as he glances toward the Kresge building housing Walter’s lab, a sense of remorse overtakes his face. Michael Cerveris has done a stunning job playing September. The character has shown a subtle change, and dare I say, emotion, over time. The facial expressions that he uses were perfect to convey a growing sense of concern for Walter and Peter.

While he prepares a device to do what he has set out to do, we see inside the lab. Walter is living in his office, and he sleeps on a hideaway bed. He self-medicates himself in order to sleep, and tells the night guard good night, messing up the young man’s name like he used to do to Astrid.

Here, I cheer as September closes up the case housing his device, and he leaves, probably to suffer unknown consequences. Things will never be the same, no matter how much he and his fellow Observers interfere, and he knows it.

I think I… love them…

Just as he seems relaxed for the evening, the man in the mirror appears in Walter’s SONY television set – Peter.

Noble’s untethered Walter is a testament to the actor’s abilities. In this episode, Walter has his times of  fleeting joy as he experiments, or he eats his favorite foods. Yet he can just as quickly snap right into a scared and off-kilter man.

Was it something I ate?

There is a sense of a missing puzzle-piece that is felt very quickly.  I am somewhat regretting my hope that the world without Peter was a terrible place, because seeing how both Walter and Olivia live without having him in their lives tugs very hard at my emotions. I love Peter, but I love them too, and seeing them suffer through life is jarring. Although in true Fringe style, it isn’t all gloom and doom. There is a lot of humor to be had, and long-time viewers are rewarded with small details and connections from the past three seasons.

I must admit, I was lukewarm on the character of Lincoln Lee before this episode. I felt he needed more development before I could properly assess any feelings. Well, I am happy to say that this universe’s Lincoln has won me over. This version of Lee was first introduced in the Season three episode, Stowaway. In that time-line, he seemed to be sharp, dedicated, and curious. That does not change in this new rendition. Plus, we learn a bit more about him, helping to solidify the development of his character.

He’s just as tenacious as Olivia, and fiercely cares about the few people close to him. I think that he makes an excellent addition to the Fringe team. Plus, I feel that he is not intended as a substitute for Peter, as many feared. He seems to stand on his own, and I look forward to learning more about him. It is my theory that he will somehow be involved in helping Peter return. Peter once told him, “Be careful what you wish for” when Lee offered him his help if needed.

Olivia said to Lincoln Lee,  “Sometimes answers lead to more questions.” Once again, I’m reminded of Peter because he told her in the The Firefly

“Do you ever feel like every time we get close to getting the answers, somebody changes the question?”

Why yes, Peter, I do. Just as we thought we had the answers, the world of Fringe has been shaken up like an Etch-A-Sketch. New dynamics are in play. Also, I wonder who has a hand in the new shapeshifters. Since they were William Bell’s design, maybe Walternate does not have anything to do with them as Walter assumes.

All-in-all, this is an excellent primer to the show, and a sturdy set of tent-poles to build upon.  Like in the game Operation, there is an important piece missing – the heart. It is truly in essence an ode to the ties that bind us as human beings. After all, “every relationship is reciprocal.”

I can’t help but be excited to see how this extraordinary journey plays out this season.