FRINGE Recap: The Boy Must Live

Walter is a new man since he communicated with Michael. It opened up many things to him, and has put some pep in his step, but he still doesn’t know how to find September. He thinks he can recall details of the meeting if he goes into the tank. He also needs to feel free, to make sure it works, so much to Olivia’s dismay she finds him there without his trunks. But, he feels sufficiently free, and it works. Walter remembers being in September’s apartment, and using the details they are able to piece together the general vicinity where the apartment was located.

As they search for the apartment, Walter shares with Peter that he no longer wants pieces of his brain removed, because when Michael touched him it opened up his mind…he understands a lot more, and he remembers things from the other timeline. He loves Peter more than he ever knew before. However, despite all Michael gave him, he didn’t give him the plan. Peter is confused as to why he would do that. Good catch, Peter. Keep thinking on that one.

Windmark is in the future, finding out about Michael, the anomaly who lived. He wants to know who is responsible for the anomaly not being destroyed, and starts by tracking the boys biological donor….September. His obsession with the fugitives is bringing out emotion in the personality lacking Windmark, he wants very much to kill them.

Donald/September is happy to see the Fringe crew at his door, he thought they were dead. He looks very different now. He was punished for his betrayals, and they removed the device from his neck. He is now human, and has none of the capabilities he once did. He and Michael share a moment, touching hands and communicating in their own way. Whatever they are sharing, it’s not shared with the rest of the group.

September tells them that the boy is much more than the Observers believe him to be. He is a hybrid of intelligence and emotion, and his intelligence is on a plane none of them have experienced. If they could get the boy to the scientist in the future who determined that they could create a better species by reducing emotion to increase room for intellect, they could show him that it did not have to be that way. Intellect and emotion can exist together. They stop the course of action he took, and it will reset the changes the Observers made to their timeline. They bring September up to date on where they are in the retrieval of the tapes, and he tells them that the parts they have been collecting are parts of a machine that they must build. He says the remaining parts they need are things he took from the future and are hidden nearby.

Olivia steps away for a drink of water, and to clear her mind. She tells Peter that she believes if they reset time, as September theorizes, they will get their daughter back. Peter wants to believe her, but he can’t let himself do so just yet. There’s still much they have to do.

September removes his tracker and the group goes to retrieve the hidden tech. The coffee they left behind is still warm when Windmark finds the apartment, he just missed them.  Unfortunately, he notices just in time that September has rigged the place to explode, and he escapes before it does. He knows they haven’t gone far, so he sends his people after them.

September tells them all they should get out of there, as Windmark will be looking for them. He will get the things they need and meet them. He holds his hand to Michael’s once again, communicating just between the two of them once more, and then promises he will see him again. He and Walter talk, and Walter tells him that the boy showed him that he will have to sacrifice himself in order for the plan to work. September confirms it. Walter is scared, but will do what he must.  Walter also realizes now that when September told him “the boy must live” after saving he and Peter at the lake all those years ago, he meant Michael.

The group splits up, to improve their chances of not being noticed, as they realize that Windmark has the perimeter surrounded. Olivia takes Michael, thinking they would appear as a mother and child and less likely to draw suspicion. Peter and Walter keep a distance behind, and all head towards the train. They see troops everywhere they look, doing everything in their power to find them. Olivia and Michael board the train, and she watches the troops through the window, advising Peter by phone of the situation. While she’s busy watching out the window, Michael slips away and gets off the train before the door closes. Olivia tries to get to him, but fails. The troops immediately locate him and take him away. When Michael is presented to Captain Windmark, he looks down at the boy and says nothing but an ominous “hello.”

The FRINGE series finale will air January 18th on Fox.