FRINGE Recap: Five-Twenty-Ten

A couple of episodes back, Peter installed Observer tech in his head. This episode shows that it seems to be taking on a life of it’s own. We open to find Peter stalking Observers, and acting eerily Observer-like himself. His movements and mannerisms are becoming more and more like theirs. When he returns to the lab after his stalking expedition, Olivia is concerned by his recent behavior. She knows he isn’t sleeping, and something just isn’t right. Peter denies that there is any problem.

Walter is anxious to get back to their mission, so he rushes everyone along. They have tape 5 in their possession now, and Walter-in-the-video informs them they need beacons, the devices the Observers use to locate specific times and places. Bell had two of them, and kept them in a safe storage area where he kept all things that were important to him.  They will need Bell’s handprint to access it, but luckily Walter sawed that off and brought it along with him when they were rescued from the Amber.  Astrid reveals that before the invasion Walter and Bell had been talking. Bell convinced Walter that he could help them defeat the Observers, then betrayed them in order to gain favor with the Observers. Bell was a complex man.

The gang has a map to the location of Bell‘s safe, but unfortunately when they get there it’s in a shambles and they can’t find the doors through all the debris. They need some means of getting through the mass of concrete and steel that blocks the door, but it has to be something that won’t draw attention to them. Good thing Nina is still on their side, she has tech that can virtually melt away steel and concrete and open the path for them.

Peter starts bleeding from the ear. It’s not just because he’s angry that Anil failed to swap briefcases with the Observer Peter was stalking either. Walter is concerned and wants to check it out when they get back to the lab, but Peter assures him he’s all right. He leaves them to go and work on his stalking mission again, although he lies to them that Anil wants to meet him.  If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.  Peter goes to the restaurant where the Observer Royce is eating, he’s the target of this mission. Peter manages to swap briefcases with him while he eats. Later, when Royce and his cohort Mueller meet at their office, Royal opens the briefcase and it explodes, spreading  a toxin that basically causes their faces to melt off. Anil reports to Peter that he was successful, whatever Peter swapped in those briefcases blew up.

Walter has a chat with Nina about changes in him since the implantation of the pieces of his brain. Nina is concerned that he’s going to become that man again, the one who was so out of control he begged them to remove those pieces of his brain in the first place. Walter thinks Peter can stop that from happening. He loves Peter, and Peter loves him. He believes that is the variable that makes it different this time around.  She isn’t’ so sure, because she loved Bell and it didn’t stop him. Walter believes Bell wasn’t’ capable of loving anyone but himself.

Using Nina’s tech, the group manages to get inside Bell’s  storage area, and ultimately locate the beacons they need. Walter also finds a photo of Nina in the safe. This find hits Walter hard, because it proves that Bell did love Nina…and it’s also proof that love isn’t enough to stop someone from taking the dark path.  Walter is afraid he will become the same man he once was, and he doesn’t want to be that man.

Olivia pays a visit to Peter and finds his stalking documentation all over the walls. He doesn’t deny to her what he’s doing, but rather he explains his plan to her. He confesses to her that he has the Observers tech in his head, and tells her how he made sure Windmark’s two top Lieutenant’s would be in the same place at the same time that day. He used the toxins from their first fringe experience to make it their last. When she tries to tell him how dangerous his actions are, he insists he will avenge Etta and Windmark will be his next target.

After Olivia leaves, Peter continues working on his plan for Windmark. He feels something strange on his head and reaches to scratch it. When he pulls his hand away, he also pulls away a large clump of his hair. He is not just carrying the Observer tech, he is actually transforming into one of them.

Fringe airs Fridays at 9/8c on Fox.