FRINGE Recap: An Origin Story

Peter and Olivia struggle to deal with their grief over Etta’s death, trying to pick up the pieces. They go through her things, keeping a few items to remember her by. Olivia keeps a photo, Walter keeps her perfume. Peter keeps a stash of weapons he found, he’s more practical than the others.  He also seems more than a bit proud that his daughter had a stash of weapons.

Observers and Loyalists converge in Humvees, gathering on a city street and opening a case containing a  small cube-shaped device. They open a wormhole and a steady stream of crates appear. They cut open one, in order to ensure all is well with the product, then collect their things and take their leave. They have received parts they need in order to dirty up the air some more.

Olivia receives a call from Anil, Etta’s cohort in the resistance effort. He wants them to meet him, and when they do he shows them the area where the Observers were earlier playing with their large blocks of playthings. He tells them about the small cube they acquired when they captured an Observer in this location. Peter perks up when he hears this, there isn’t much he wants more at the moment than a few minutes of quality time with an Observer.

Peter gets a bit frustrated when he can’t get the cube assembled correctly, so he plays mind games with the Observer. He thinks that by watching the Observers eyes, his pupils will give away when Peter is constructing the cube correctly or incorrectly. While Peter works at this, Olivia and Walter are back at the lab, and Olivia is worried about Peter. Walter gives her encouragement, she and Peter have to stick together.  When Astrid manages to crack the code in a notebook the Observer had on him when captured, the gang has to hurry and get to the next scheduled transfer. Peter gets the cube to light up, so he feels they are ready to implement their plan to try and destroy the supply corridor and prevent future deliveries.

Peter and Olivia fight side by side in a room overlooking the street where the exchange will happen, but an Observer senses something is wrong and he materializes behind them. He quickly gains the upper hand, first knocking Peter down and then Olivia. He turns his attention back to Peter, but Olivia recovers and introduces him to the special gun that the Observer’s aren’t quick enough to stop. Score one for the resistance. Peter rushes back to his position at the window and fires at the wormhole with a weapon designed to create a black hole and destroy the contact. It appears the mission is successful…the cubes start moving back inside the wormhole and the entire thing closes. They rush to meet Anil and make their escape, but before they get far they see that the cubes are once again coming out of the wormhole.

Furious that he has been played, Peter rushes back to the captured Observer, who is still immobilized. Peter grabs a sheet of plastic and tries to suffocate him, then goes off on him. When the Observer tells Peter how he fooled him, because his emotions got in the way, Peter seems even more angry. He tells the Observer that if he had the tech in his head that the Observer’s have, he could do so much more with it. That seems to spark an idea in him, because he next is seen cutting the chip out of the back of the Observer’s neck. The Observer is lifeless and bleeding, he doesn’t survive the removal of the tech. Peter goes to the mirror and cuts the back of his own neck, inserting the Observer’s chip. He struggles as it takes it’s place, pain visible on his face. Olivia calls during the process, unaware of what Peter is doing. She cries and asks him to come home, Etta would want them to be together.  She tells him she loves him, and he responds that he loves her too. He then hangs up the phone and stands there, glaring at himself in the mirror.

Fringe airs Fridays at 9/8c on Fox.