FRINGE Recap: Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11

When Fringe signed off at the end of season 4, Peter and Olivia had just learned they were expecting a baby, and they were looking forward to a future as a family. Season 5 opens with a beautiful, yet brief, glimpse of that perfect family. Peter and Olivia are relaxing in a park, watching adorable toddler Etta play with dandelions. The idyllic picture is quickly destroyed by the materialization of Observers coming towards them from all directions, headed directly towards Etta. Peter runs toward his daughter, but doesn’t make it…he awakens from his nightmare and he is in year 2036, right where last season’s Letters of Transit episode left off. He crosses the room and opens a bedroom door, peering in at his daughter sleeping. It’s not toddler Etta, but the grown up Fringe agent version. She grew up without them, but he finally has her back.

Once the rest of the gang is awake and enjoying their egg sticks, a future food staple which even Walter doesn’t like, they turn their attention towards the important matter of finding Olivia. Not just because she’s awesome and nothing is the same without her, but also because she was retrieving something very important for Walter when he last heard from her. They go to the site of her last communication, and as they search for anything that would suggest her fate, they finally notice a huge sheet of amber covering about half a city block. They somehow hadn’t noticed it until now. It seems a very good possibility they could find Olivia there. Their hopes are dashed when they look closer and find that any people trapped in the amber have been cut away. Etta reveals to them the existence Amber Gypsies, who sell the amber inhabitants on the black market. They go to find these black market amber traders.

When their inspection of the dealers current inventory doesn’t turn up Olivia, Peter bribes the shady clerk with a handful of walnuts, which are bringing a premium price in 2036. The guy remembers someone meeting the description, and finds information of the sale in his records. Peter recognizes the buyer’s name…it’s Ed Markham, the owner of a used bookstore the Fringe team has visited in the past. Markham is using the lovely ambered Olivia as a coffee table. When Peter and crew bust into his apartment, Markham proclaims his love for her, since the first time he saw her, and tells them he wanted to be the one to save her. He was sure that if he saved her, their height difference wouldn’t matter. Alas, it was not to be. Peter and Etta, after a bit of effort, manage to get Olivia out of the building and into the back of a van. Peter is edgy, they need to get out of this place, but they misplaced Walter on their way out. Etta goes back to find him, but the Observers get there first. She manages to provide Walter a chance to run, but by the time she gets herself freed and gets back to Peter, she realizes Walter didn’t make it outside. With the Observers hot on their heels, they have no choice but to leave without Walter.

Back at their HQ, they manage to get Olivia out of the amber, and she is finally reunited with Peter and their daughter. It’s difficult to tell which of the two women is most emotionally overwhelmed…the last time they saw each other Etta was barely three years old. Olivia can recall her exact age, to the day, at that last moment they had shared together. They hug, and for a moment it seems all is right with the world. It doesn’t take long, however, for Olivia to realize Walter is missing.

The next obstacle to overcome is getting Walter back from Winmark, the evil Observer that captured and is now torturing him. The crew goes to Etta’s team for help, and while she lays the groundwork with her team, Olivia and Peter finally have a chance to speak alone. We learn that Peter’s nightmare really happened, and after the Observer’s had taken Etta he and Olivia had fallen apart as a couple. Both of them were consumed with grief over the loss of their child. Olivia doesn’t blame Peter for not being there with her in those last days, she understands better than anyone what he was going through. They join Etta and her team inside, and formulate their plan to get Walter back.

They need to sneak into the facility where Walter is being held. Etta’s team helps to identify the device Olivia had on her when she was ambered. It retrieves specifically marked thoughts in the mind and unifies them. It basically helps to hide thoughts, partitioning them. It is crucial to Walter’s plan, but it’s going to be worthless if the Observer’s find out about it from Walter. Meanwhile, in the Observer torture chamber, Walter’s tormentor is getting very close to the truth…Winmark realizes Walter has been partitioned, he’s hiding something. Walter fights his thought’s valiantly, and the only thing the Observer is able to get from him are a few glimpses of a little girl. He wants to know who the girl is, and if she is helping them somehow. Walter continues to struggle with all his might. Winmark has to momentarily leave the room, to check on a commotion he hears outside. The commotion was caused by the Fringe cavalry arriving to save Walter.

Etta and Peter locate Walter, and break him loose, while Olivia stands guard in the hallway. The Dunham-Bishop clan then blasts their way to the van, where Astrid is waiting for them. As they speed away, Astrid is obviously upset over the beaten and bloody condition Walter is in. It’s clear he’s going to be okay, though, when he peers up at her and calls her “Afro”…that’s the Walter we know and love, he‘s still there.

Winmark, meanwhile, is viewing a recording of Walter’s escape. He quickly zeroes in on Etta, and knows he has found the little girl from Walter’s thoughts. Things might get very bad for Etta, very soon.

Back at their new HQ, Peter shows Walter the device Olivia had retrieved, but Walter doesn’t remember anything. He doesn’t even remember cutting off William Bell’s ambered hand, so that they could use his handprint….something that had happened very recently in their current timeline. Walter has a breakdown, he can’t do this. He storms out. After he’s gone, Olivia says it’s like there is nothing left in Walter’s mind to unify, all the parts are gone. Etta says it’s more likely they were destroyed when he was fighting them, and it’s not something he will heal from. Whatever Walter’s plan was, it’s now gone.

Walter wanders out into the deserted wasteland that is now the city. He sits in an abandoned taxi, digs through junk, and finds a CD. He plays it in the car CD player and enjoys a moment of music. In the midst of the drab wasteland he‘s in, he spots one lone flower growing. A sign of hope?

Fringe airs Fridays at 9/8c on Fox.