What makes you who you are? Is it your DNA? Your upbringing? Nature or nurture, right?
If you life had been different in almost every way, would you still be you?
That's what One Night in October was about. Well, that and more, of course!
The episode opens with a very dark, disturbing scene. Two men are in a dank room, talking.
We can see one very scared man strapped to a chair while the other asks him about his happiest memories.
As the camera moves, it's revealed that they're both hooked to a weird tube (into their BRAINS!! EW!) full of blue liquid.
We then watch as the scared man seems to freeze to death. Blech, right? Also, SAD!
Cue the cool orange opening sequence!
Back at the lab, Walter is having a hard time. He's covering all reflective surfaces, and no one asks why. It's just Walter being Walter, right? Um, not this time, folks!
Astrid and Olivia have a little heart to heart about Lincoln, and when Olivia says that he's not her type, Astrid asks, "Do you ever think that maybe your type doesn't exist?"
Well, no. He doesn't at the moment, does he? ;)
And Walter calls Lincoln, "Kennedy", because he's apparently still bad with names, which really was hilarious.
In the FBI office, Broyles tells Olivia about dozens of murders in which the victims brains seemed to freeze solid.
When Olivia is surprised she hasn't heard about these murders, Broyles explains that they're happening on the other side and he wants her to go work with them for a joint operation. Oooh, neat!
Broyles and Olivia meet with Altlivia for a debriefing. Altlivia explains that on her side, the man behind the murders is serial killer, John McClennan. On the original side, John McClennan is a prefossor that specializes in serial killers.
Interesting, right?
Altlivia wants to bring Professor John over to her side to get a profile on their serial killer, who is Professor John's alt-self. Of course, he can't know where he's going or who he's profiling. That would just be bad!
Olivia goes to talk to Professor John, who agrees to be sedated and journeys to the other side.
Olivia and Altlivia switch places, with Altlivia sporting a pretty blonde wig.
The killer is then shown stalking a mother and daughter at a gas station with ridiculously low prices.
Back at the lab, Walter is trying to lose himself in some very loud Mozart, a scene reminiscent of an old cassette tape commercial.
Professor John and Altlivia go through Serial Killer John's home where Professor John profiles his alternate self as a lonely, brilliant, demented man.
At the gas station, Killer John kidnaps a woman in broad daylight.
Altlivia and Professor John explore the house and John concludes that the killer kidnaps happy people.
He then discovers a photo of his father on the wall, panics and runs out. He sees Olivia and a street that's been buried in Amber.
Olivia explains the truth to the professor...That his alternate self is a monster...and Professor John confesses that he, too, had been a dark person because of the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father.
If it hadn't been for the kindness and love of a woman named Marjorie, he may have turned out just like Killer John.
He realizes that Killer John probably had no Marjorie, and he wishes he could tell his alternate self that things could be different for him.
The Fringe Division then learns that another woman has been kidnapped and when they go back to get Professor John, they find him gone.
They go back to the field office, where Alternate-Broyles is alive and well! *gasp!*
Alt-Astrid figures out the probability of where the professor is, but Olivia uses the photo of his father to find the correct location.
Professor John finds and tries to comfort his alternate self just as the killer is about to drill into the poor lady's brain.
He tries to convince the killer that there's another way, and they discover that the reason they turned out so differently is because, after finding a cache of dead animals when they were boys, their father came after them.
Professor John ran away from their father and was found by Marjorie.
Killer John was discovered by their father and beaten for 3 days.
Of course, Killer John being a killer, he doesn't listen to the professor about there being a better way, and he knocks the professor out and hooks him up to the weird tube machine.
As the professor tells him about his life with Marjorie, the killer withdraws years worth of memories, kindness and love from the professor.
The Fringe team finds the killer who feels so much guilt and remorse, shoots himself dead.
The team takes the professor back to the original universe to recover. At the hospital, they discover that Professor John can't remember the last few weeks...or Marjorie.
They worry that he'll now turn into the killer his alternate self was because he no longer remembers the woman that impacted his life so importantly.
But although he can't remember her, he can still feel her influence on his life.
The Fringe team knows he'll be just fine.
Broyles tells Olivia that there are people who leave a mark on a person's soul that can't be erased.
And back at the lab, Walter is getting ready for bed. Ah, poor Walter.
The reflective surfaces are all covered with cloth and blankets, including the TV. He thinks he's safe.
Until he hears a voice that he doesn't know and can't shut out calling to him, "Walter, can you hear me? I'm right here."
Dun dun DUN!
I actually enjoyed this episode more than the premiere. I found it fascinating to see the differences between the alternates and WHY they're so different.
The big differences I noticed in this episode:
-Alternate Broyles is alive!
-Altlivia is still with Frank
-Charlie married Bug Lady!
-Olivia killed her step-father!
-Olivia was kidnapped from the original universe and brought to the alternate universe.
Hearing that Olivia KILLED her stepfather has made me believe that Altlivia is what Olivia would have been without the abuse she suffered as a child.
Questions for this episode:
Again, WHERE IS PETER?!
And, hey, where's Nina? We haven't seen her yet either!
The glyphs spelled out LIMBUS, which I found means 'edge' or 'border'. Is that where Peter is? The edge of the universes? Or perhaps it means 'limbo'?
And lately, did you spot the observer?
Here he is, in the hospital!
