Television Review: Fringe Friday: Back to Where You’ve Never (Have I Ever) Been

Fringe returns with Walter making chocolate chip and banana pancakes. Can I just say, that I totally love chocolate chip and banana pancakes. I discovered this amazing phenomenon one afternoon when I wanted to make pancakes and didn’t have any eggs. A quick internet research showed that I could substitute one banana for one egg. Drop a few chocolate chips down onto the pancakes as they are cooking on one side, flip, cook all the way through (this takes longer with bananas) and wah lah, yummy goodness. And that is not the only yummy goodness in this episode. Indeed, at one point two Agent Lees are standing next to each other. Yum. Then there was also not so yummy parts. People getting run over by buses for example, not so yummy. The translucent shapeshifters are back and they have infiltrated the government in the Alternate Universe (A.U.). This show was full of reveals and it moved the story along with a great big old shove that this season needed. I knew once Peter arrived things would start moving forward. And I was right. Yet again.

Fringe opens with Walter making pancakes, Peter is surprised that Walter is acting friendly toward him. Then Olivia walks into the kitchen and gives Peter a good morning kiss. Dream? Of course.

Peter hunts down Walter in the lab and tries to convince Walter that they need to fix the machine and send Peter back to his own time line. Walter once again is adamantly against helping Peter. Walter guilt trips Peter in saying that because Walter built the machine instead of comforting his wife, his wife committed suicide. All because he tried to help another Peter. He refuses to help the Peter in front of him. So Peter leaves the lab and goes to Olivia in her home, she is home from work because she has a major headache (oh right, Evil Nina’s injections). Peter says that he needs her help to get Walter to fix the machine. Agent Lee arrives with chicken soup for Olivia and feels he interrupts Peter and Olivia. ::Sadface:: Agent Lee’s crush on Olivia is adorable. Wait. No. She is supposed to be with Peter! Peter is actually glad Agent Lee arrived, because he needs Agent Lee’s help to get into the Department of Defense in the A.U. Olivia mentions using a machine to cross over and Peter says, Um you can crossover yourself. But this Olivia didn’t know that. She has to use the machine.

In the A.U. the translucent shapeshifters arrive on the scene. One of them ones out onto the street and gets run over by a bus.

A.U. Science Dude arrives in Walternate’s office and says he has info. Walternate pulls a Mr. Burns. Excellent. Fringe arrives on the scene of the bus accident, but the military sends Fauxlivia and AltLee away. Fauxlivia wonders why, AltLee doesn’t question orders. Is AltLee in charge? He seems to be. Olivia has a headache, but the machine to send them over to the A.U. Is the injection and are the headaches to stop her from crossing over on her own? Seems plausible. I guess that will probably be a big reveal at some point. Agent Lee looks like AltLee (which is mostly because of some subtle eyeliner) and he and Peter cross over to the A.U. Agent Broyles in the A.U. sees the breach and sends some men to investigate the empty opera theater. Walternate examines the dead translucent shapeshifter. He finds a chip. Of the tech kind, not the chocolate chip kind.

Peter and Agent Lee act as though Agent Lee is bringing Peter in as a prisoner. There is some confusion, but Agent Lee’s hand print matches so the guard just reports AltLee’s ident card as missing. This wont come back to haunt them. Meanwhile, AltLee and Fauxlivia are checking out the breach, but can’t find anything. Fauxlivia is still stuck on the bus incident and thinks it must have been about the translucent shapeshifters and she doesn’t trust Walternate. In the vehicle, AltLee finds out about the missing ident card and goes to investigate. AltLee and Fauxlivia arrest Agent Lee and Peter. Two Seth Gabel’s, yes please. Peter convinces Alternate Broyles that he needs to talk with Walternate. But as Agent Lee and Peter are being transferred, the guys driving the vehicle try to kill Agent Lee and Peter. The good guys of course prevail, and take off with AltLee and Fauxlivia in hot pursuit. Finally, cornered Agent Lee and Peter, oops nope no Peter, just Agent Lee, exit the vehicle he commandeered. Agent Lee let Peter go off in another direction though Agent Lee needs technology from the A.U. for some reason. Peter is angry because they were trying to get information that could compromise him. He says, This is Not. My. Fight. Agent Lee tries to explain that he and Peter are there in the A.U. because they think the translucent shapeshifters are being controlled by Walternate. Agent Lee then tries to explain all this to AltLee and Fauxlivia, but they don’t believe him.

Two Lees. Yes, Please.

Peter finds his mother. His mother looks into his eyes and knows he is Peter. Awww. She also presses an alarm before she realizes he is Peter. Peter explains he is not her Peter, but he needs her help to get back to his own time line. And the people he cares about. His not mother says, when I knew about one alternate universe, I figured there were more. And that in one of them you grow up (remember her kid died at a young age) and falls in love. In an alternate universe I’m making chocolate chip and banana pancakes right now instead of sitting here and typing about them. Sigh. Peter explains that people are trying to kill him and he needs to talk to Walternate. His mother says, I wont let anything happen to you. The military arrives, but Peter’s mother stands up for him, and they merely put him in cuffs. She goes with Peter to Walternate. While he is in cuffs. Meanwhile, AltLee and Faxuleivia put Agent Lee in a janitor’s closet instead of a holding cell while they investigate his claims about Walternate. Maybe I need to make up a Poor Agent Lee image.

Peter’s mother tells Walternate that Peter is a grown up alternate version of their dead son. Walternate fakes a reunion. Peter explains that he is not Walternate’s son. Walternate says, I know. Peter’s mother leaves the room. Now we will see our evil Walternate. Peter says, wow, excellent acting (just what I was thinking). I know you know about the shapeshifters. This is not my fight. I want to go home. The only way you need to get rid of me, is just to help me. You don’t need to send people out to kill me. The A.U. Scientist Dude enters the room. Walternate shoots him, and he turns out to be a translucent shapeshifter. Walternate explains that elements of the A.U. government have been infiltrated, but he can’t just go around tazering people because the tazer would kill a human. Walternate tells Peter that both universes are in danger from the translucent shapeshifters, and that he thinks the two universes should form an alliance against the translucent shapeshifters. But he knows Our Universe (O.U.) would not consent. However, it is possible that a message sent through Peter might make a difference. Peter is not having it. He just wants to go home. Walternate asks for his help. This Walternate is kind and thoughtful. Peter says to him, you are not the man I thought you were. Walternate says, You are exactly the man I thought you could be. Please help us.

Fauxlivia and AltLee find out that the translucent shapeshifters are not connected to Walternate. But who are they connected to? AltLee wont go against General Orders. He seems about to pee his pants. Man up, dude. Fauxlivia asks AltBroyles for some leeway. He reluctantly agrees. Then he calls someone and reports that his agents are closing. OH NO!! Is this AltBroyles a bad guy? It seems so. Olivia stumbles across an Observer. I think they are in the theater in the A.U. but maybe it is O.U. Hard to tell. Anyway, he plays copy cat with Olivia until she pulls a gun. As always. The observer is dying, he has been shot. He says, I came to tell you that I have looked at all possible futures, and the result is always the same. You have to die.