I find that on many shows, episode 3 is where it finally starts to get it's stride back. This season of Fringe is no exception.
This was a solid episode...The best of the season so far.
We open with a visit from Walter's Doctor from St. Clair's. It was painful seeing Walter so scared. We know he's not crazy and it's difficult to watch as he tiptoes through his visit, terrified that anything he says will get him recommitted.
(First Peter sighting in the shrink's shiny clipboard.)
In the next scene, we watch as two bullies chase a boy into a tunnel. The bullies are quickly attacked by some weird kind of fungus.
Back at Fringe HQ, Olivia is scanning the facial recognition database for a match. Was I the only one who noticed that the drawing taped to her computer looked veeeery familiar? And how quickly she closed the window...Not at all suspicious.
Broyles pays a rare visit to the lab to check up on Walter. While they're talking, Walter suddenly hears Peter's voice say, "Walter, I'm scared. I want to come home.", along with other cries for help.
Olivia and Lincoln track down the third boy, Aaron, who escaped unharmed and bring him to the lab for an exam.
Walter and Aaron quickly bond over milkshakes and tinfoil hats. Walter tells Aaron about his son. It seems both Peter's died as children.
Real-universe Peter died of his childhood disease and alt-Peter drowned when Walter tried to bring him over from the other dimension. September wasn't there to save him.
Astrid calls Walter over to have a look at the body. The fungus seems to be growing quickly and they get it into the incubator just as it explodes and can spray spores everywhere.
They call Olivia, who's on her way to the morgue to get the other body. The call comes too late and that body explodes too, killing the morgue staff.
Back at the tunnel where the first attack happened, the Fringe crew starts to examine the scene. When the floodlights are turned on, Aaron, who's still at the lab, starts to complain about bright lights. When they start to set fire to the fungus, Aaron spikes a fever and passes out.
Walter then deducts that the fungus is a 'living brain' and is somehow attached to Aaron.
He believes the fungus is a giant neural network, which he decides to name 'Gus', and that it's attached itself to Aaron because they share a loneliness and feelings of isolation.
Broyles finds a dead homeless man six miles from the tunnel and they realize that Gus is right over the sewer system.
He gives Walter six hours to figure out how to kill Gus without killing Aaron, but changes his mind when Gus reaches the subway platform.
Olivia, Lincoln and a redshirt try to inject Gus with poison, but Gus kills the redshirt and attacks Lincoln.
Back at the lab, Walter figures out that Gus is attached to Aaron through emotions and that it's Aaron holding onto Gus, not the other way around.
In a very touching scene, Walter tells Aaron that he'll always be there for him and that he'll never leave him. Aaron lets go of Gus and the fungus starts to die, letting go of Lincoln in the process.
Later at the lab, Olivia walks in as Walter is attempting to give himself a lobotomy. Walter confesses that he's been hallucinating and he's terrified of going back to St. Clair's.
Olivia asks him what he's been seeing and after some coaxing, he tells her he sees a man.
Olivia takes a sketch form her pocket (that same familiar sketch she was running the facial recognition on!) and shows it to Walter.
The sketch is of Peter, who Olivia has also been seeing in her dreams.
The two realize that this is someone they must find.
Thoughts I had during the episode:
-I still wonder where Nina is.
-I loved the banter between Lincoln and Olivia after the fungus let him go. "Do you want to talk about it?"
-Gus! Ha!
-Walter kept confusing Aaron with his son, even calling him "Peter' once or twice. :(
-No scenes with the alt-dimension this week. I didn't miss it!
-Seeing David Fury's name in the opening credits almost made my heart stop. He's known for writing and directing episodes of Buffy, Angel and the first season of Lost (he wrote Walkabout FGS!)
-Where the heck was Aaron's father? Who was giving consent for all these procedures?!
-The relief on Walter's face when he realizes he's not insane is just wonderful to see.
The glyphs before the commercial breaks spelled out, 'REBORN'. And did you spot the observer?
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