Okay, you guys, I have only seen one episode of this show before and to say I was completely, totally lost would be an understatement, so please bear with me. A couple goes to a party in a Brooklyn building wherein creepy, unexplained things have been happening; it's heretofore seemingly been limited to Poltergeist-y events like appliances turning on and off of their own accord, but things get a bit more serious when a bunch of partygoers mysteriously plummet to their death.
Meanwhile, Walter is missing Olivia, so he invites her over for an awkward breakfast with Peter, but their conversation is interrupted by a summons from headquarters about the party deaths; turns out the patio furniture hit the sidewalk as well, so it would appear that the victims somehow fell through the balcony, and Olivia, after interviewing some of the residents who have not yet fled the place in fear, informs the Fringe team that the prevailing belief is that the place is haunted. Walter quickly arrives at the conclusion that, much like the alt-universe, their world is starting to come apart at the seams, and the tear is beginning right there. Peter and Olivia (especially the former) are skeptical, but agree to take seismic readings at the place, which affords them the opportunity to spend some time together, and just like that, they're kissing in a bar, but then Olivia pulls away – because Peter glimmered in that moment, illustrating her fear and making her wonder if she's incapable of being close to anyone.
Also glimmering is the titular apartment 6B, home to an elderly "Mrs. Merchant," and when Peter and Olivia investigate, Olivia can see that the woman is watching a specter that she says is the ghost of her husband, who's been stopping by regularly since his recent death. Walter theorizes that what she's seeing is actually the version of her husband in the alternate universe, and opines that if the fabric separating them is so thin that even people without Olivia's ability are seeing through it, it's not a very good sign at all, especially since he thinks that if a vortex opened up in their world, their Powers That Be would probably resort to the same drastic measures used in the alternate one. His solution? Take a page from the alternate universe and encase the building in amber before it gets any worse. Before it comes to that, though, Peter and Olivia come up with the idea that in the alternate universe, Mrs. Merchant died instead of her husband, and her grief and longing for him, combined with her alternate husband's grief and longing for his wife, is what created this relatively new soft spot. Walter agrees that the theory makes sense, but before they can do anything about it, the building erupts with more seismic activity, and with it threatening to collapse, it becomes a race to see if Peter and Olivia can convince Mrs. Merchant to let go of her husband emotionally and break the connection before they have to resort to the amber option.
The veil between the worlds gets so thin that everyone can see the shimmering, and Reddick is about to amber-ify everyone, but Peter manages to talk Mrs. Merchant down before Reddick activates the device. Walter, however, feels that this ending is merely a stay of execution, and that the world is doomed. Before that happens, though, Olivia comes over to Peter's house, and they make out without any shimmering, so they decide to give the horizontal mambo a try. (Off-camera, in case you were wondering about any Josh Jackson shirtlessness.) And in the alternate universe, Fauxlivia and Lincoln finally check out the building but find no more seismic activity, like way to be on the ball there. And hey, this show is really good! Guess I've got something to DVR on Friday nights now.
So as I said in the recaplet, I am coming to this show essentially cold; however, there are two mitigating factors at work. One, this episode did not turn out to be overly difficult to grasp, at least on what I imagine is a relative basis. And two, my good buddy and awesome writer and musician Kirk Hamilton was kind enough to give me a quick email rundown of the entire series to date, which not only got me ready but also convinced me that I should have been watching this show all along. Still, if I miss a nuance or two, please don't banish me to the alternate universe or anything. (Did I do that right?)
We start in Park Slope, which is helpfully clarified as being in Brooklyn, with a young heterosexual couple who are apparently going to a party full of close friends of the woman that the man has yet to meet. Since we will learn that these two are fairly serious about each other, I'm guessing that the reason for the delay in meeting her friends is that they live no closer than the Upper West Side. Also, we learn that they are headed to Apartment 7B, which given the episode title probably means they're not going to be particularly significant in the grand scheme of things. Unless they happen to fall through the floor into 6B, but what are the chances of that? They notice a woman emerge from the stairwell despite the fact that she's laden down with heavy bags, and naturally wonder if the elevator isn't working, but she assures them it is, and once they've gotten on, she adds, "Good luck." I don't think I'm alone when I say this would be enough at least to get me off the elevator, if not out of the borough entirely, but the two lovebirds give the woman's cryptic words nary a thought, while the woman, for her part, doesn't get out the door before she hears an ominous guttural sound coming from within, which, I suppose, she can take as validation of her choice to head Anywhere But Here. Outside, the doorman asks "Mrs. Marcelo" where she's heading, and upon hearing a hotel in Flatbush called the "Schrodinger" (oh, show. Oh, clever, clever show), asks her if she's leaving too. She tells him she hasn't slept in weeks and she can't take it anymore, and while "Jimmy" opines that it's not that bad, she firmly demurs, so he offers to hail her a cab...
...while upstairs, the couple has apparently survived the elevator ride without incident, and after the hostess greets them, the man thrusts a bottle in her face and asks, "California bubbly?" simultaneously placing himself into my Trying Too Hard and Dead To Me categories. Given the nature of this show, that second one could work out. The women send the dude out to the balcony, where many of the guests are apparently chillaxing, while they head into the kitchen to get drinks. What is not significant is all the discussion of relationship particulars, since we won't be seeing the couple past this scene; what is significant is that at some point the blender powers on of its own accord, prompting the hostess to complain that the stove did the same thing the day before. Well, if you'd stop with all the boring couples talk, your appliances wouldn't feel the need to editorialize. Also significant is when the guest takes a bite of a chicken skewer and immediately starts going into anaphylactic shock, like, I'm sorry for her but if you had that severe a peanut allergy wouldn't you be a LITTLE MORE DILIGENT (i.e., at all) about checking into what you stick in your mouth? Anyway, the woman manages to gasp that her medication is in her purse, so the male host rushes to get the new boyfriend, who had taken her purse and coat. He rushes to grab it...
...while down in the street, the doorman is just putting Mrs. Marcelo into that cab when a body falls to the ground mere feet from her. Well, it's not a party until someone gets broken. Mrs. Marcelo and Jimmy gape in shock as more people, and some furniture to boot, hit the deck, but when we look up, nothing strange is readily apparent. Of course, tell that to the corpses lying on the sidewalk, of which we get an aerial view and also hear distant screams from above before going to opening credits.
Walter is wearing the cutest little apron and sashaying around the kitchen putting the finishing touches on a pancake breakfast while singing about same to the tune of "Camptown Races" (you know, as you do) when Peter enters and asks what the occasion is. Peter, don't you realize you could be eating instead of asking stupid questions? Instead of taking my answer, though, Walter says it's been super-quiet on the Fringe front, which has resulted in him not seeing Olivia for some time, and he misses her. Aw. Peter tells him that it's not his business what happens "between Olivia and I," and minus a million points for not knowing that's incorrect usage, Peter. Lucky you're pretty. (By the way, I can't believe after almost nine years at TWoP, I'm recapping Josh Jackson. If I ever get to tackle The Beek, especially now that he's become awesome, my recapping life will truly be complete.) Peter makes some further attempts to impress upon Walter the value in butting out, but just then Olivia turns up and asks what's so important, and Walter replies that breakfast is. "The most important meal of the day, and I proved it in 1973." Heh. I can already tell that Walter's going to be my favorite, even if the lit candles on the breakfast table sort of suggest Peter has a point about Walter over-involving himself here. Walter exits the room, and soon, some music my captioning describes as "romantic" starts playing from elsewhere, prompting a terrifically understated eye-roll from Peter; hilariously, Walter then rushes out the front door despite Peter sharply calling his name.
After Peter kills the tunes (playing on a turntable!), Olivia says she's going back to the office, and I can't believe NO ONE IS GOING TO EAT THOSE PANCAKES, but he calls her back and offers, "I don't approve of his methodology, but since we're here, we might as well take advantage of the situation and just talk about what's bothering you." WHOA, Peter, give her a chance to keep her panties on! I mean, I know I'm new, but that was not exactly the warmest speech there, was it? Olivia, after a long pause, says she knows Peter did and does have feelings for Fauxlivia, and adds that she doesn't think he's been completely honest with her. With a little snort that's the opposite of endearing, he blames that decision on her "trust issues," prompting her to point out that, essentially, trust issues are a lot more valid when people you care about act in an untrustworthy manner. He counters that he never wanted to be one of the reasons she can't trust people, and that he thinks about Fauxlivia because he spent so long wanting a relationship with Olivia, and then it finally came true. "I've seen what the two of us together looks like, and it's beautiful."
Look, I know I'm new here and may be talking out of my ass, but I thought one of Olivia's big problems with this whole situation (supported by a clip in the previouslies where she said exactly this) was his failure to notice the differences between her and Fauxlivia? In which case, wouldn't holding up his relationship with Fauxlivia as an interchangeable standard for happiness maybe not be the way to go? Rather than mention that, however, she merely tells him she's not the one that stopped them from being together -- Fauxlivia was. However, this gives Peter the opportunity to ask, "And now? Who's the one stopping us now?" I don't know the history, and maybe she's really annoying and deserves this, but I have to say he's delivering these lines like a Grade-A douche; he's putting proving his conversational and emotional superiority ahead of assuaging her fears or doing something that might actually result in reconciliation. Olivia stares at him, but any further discussion has to be deferred when her phone rings, and she tells whoever it is from Fringe that they'll be right in...
...and then they're at the building in question. Peter goes to find Walter, who ALSO apparently didn't gorge himself on pancakes, if the fact that he's buying some nasty thing from a street vendor is any indication, but at least he's the chef and gets to taste his own cooking whenever he wants. Peter makes me laugh by calling Walter "Cupid," but then gets docked another million points by saying "between [name] and I" AGAIN, but let's move on to something awesome, because when Walter asks if his plan worked and Peter tells him in no uncertain terms that it did not, Walter intones in all seriousness, "Perhaps I should have made a frittata." HA! Line of the episode, right there. The team members converge in front of the building, whereupon Broyles (I called him "Reddick," the actor's surname, in the recaplet, which is how I always refer to him whether he's on Oz or The Wire, but I should have mentioned that for clarity's sake) tells them that six people fell to their deaths from the seventh floor. Olivia and Walter wonder if it was some sort of suicide pact, but Peter, noticing the splintered remains of a table, says that most jumpers don't take their patio furniture with them. Well, they might if it were really ugly -- you know, do the world some good on your way out? Peter asks if any structural damage to the balcony was detected, but Broyles tells him no, and then points out Jimmy the doorman. And his name's "Jimmy Smith," but on first viewing I heard it as "Jimmy Smits" and was wondering if the writers were making some sort of statement about his recent career. You have to admit it adds up. While the others head upstairs, Olivia goes to question Jimmy, but he offers no new information until he speculates that maybe it's true what they say about the building. Olivia: "What do they say?"
Upstairs, a fairly elderly woman looks down at the investigation, then closes her curtains...
...and then we're with the party-throwers, who are telling Broyles that by the time they finished attending to the friend with the peanut allergy and heard the screams, "everyone was... gone." Well, from their point of view, that means either that there were people who saw what happened (and there were definitely way more than six people plus those three in the kitchen) that they should be talking to, or that the people themselves screamed as they fell, which you wouldn't expect if they were committing suicide, or both. I don't know if Broyles is making the same deductions, but I do like the way he stares at the couple like he'd love to burn them both to ashes using only the power of his gaze. I mean, I'm sensing that that's the character's default setting, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable.
Peter and Walter are checking out the balcony, which of course makes me nervous, and they quickly come to the conclusion that the victims could only have ended up where they did if they fell through the thing somehow. Walter wonders how that could be, giving Olivia the opportunity to appear and offer, "Ghosts!" I wonder if she would have just hung out off-screen for a few minutes if they'd been slower to reach that conclusion. She goes on that the residents apparently believe the building is haunted, as "unexplained phenomena" have been happening for a while, and I hope that's the explanation for that fugly leopard-print chair by which Walter's currently walking, but I have the feeling it's just the occupants' taste. Maybe that's why Broyles was staring at them so intently. Olivia goes on to tell Peter that half the building's occupants have already moved out, and maybe you could have this conversation somewhere OTHER THAN THE MYSTERIOUS MURDERING BALCONY OF DEATH DEATH DEATH, so they go inside, whereupon Walter tells them that he flipped a coin ten times and it came up heads every time, which is "fairly inconceivable." Oh, Walter, you're demeaning us both with that one. I mean, first off, they should all know that the collective odds of that happening are one in two to the tenth power, or one in one thousand twenty-four. That is very basic probability, so to talk about it like it's beyond calculation is ridiculous. And I would also take issue with the assessment that those odds are anything close to "inconceivable," but regardless, Walter concludes that the laws of physics are being disrupted, and like the other universe, their world is starting to "come apart at the seams. And the tear is beginning right here!" I mean, Park Slope has too many baby carriages on the sidewalk for my taste, but I still wouldn't have guessed that it would start the end of the world, you know?
Up at Harvard, after Walter amusingly gets all persnickety about the location of his seismographs, he informs Peter and Olivia that the building is not just a soft spot but a potential vortex, so he sends them to collect as much data from the location as possible, and if I were Peter and Olivia, I'd wonder why I couldn't have stayed in New York and had a courier ship down the necessary equipment. But I'm not, so I'll just enjoy Walter's delectable ranting, in answer to Peter's skepticism, about how this isn't precise science, so maybe Peter would prefer that he put Olivia into a HEIGHTENED state of FEAR and ANXIETY in the HOPES that she might get a GLIMMER from the other SIDE? Peter's like, chill, fake Dad, that's not what I meant, and then the two of them head out. When they're gone, Astrid asks what's up, and Walter, instead of answering, asks if she recalls a certain chemical attack on a commuter bus some years ago, and she replies that she does -- it was one of their first cases. (From the context, I'm guessing this hasn't been mentioned on the show before, but if it has, forgive me.) Walter asks for the case file and his related lab notes, and when Astrid asks why, most deliciously replies, "Dear God, is it Second-Guess Everything I Do Day, because I haven't been informed!" Walter, I'm stealing that. You've been, well, informed.
It's night in Park Slope, and Peter reports to Walter that the seismograph is on, but Walter wants them to stand by in case any "last-second calibrations" are needed. Olivia points out that it's twelve degrees out, and she's apparently too polite to be all "Tell him to calibrate this" but I'd guess she's thinking it, so the two of them do the sensible thing, which is to duck into a bar across the street. On the way, though, they pass that woman who was peering out her window earlier, and Jimmy, who has had quite the last 24 hours to be on duty again, greets her as "Mrs. Merchant" on her way in. Mrs. Merchant, looking like she's pressed for time, gets on the elevator, and then we cut to her hustling into her apartment and smiling in seeming anticipation of something. She closes the curtains and gets a photo album down off the shelf...
...while Peter is telling Olivia about a time that Walter apparently sang Barry White's "Never Never Gonna Give You Up" to him while dressed only in his socks and doing the Hustle. "There was a lot going on." I'm going to leave that as is, mostly because I cannot think of anything to say and may not ever again, but apparently whatever tension there was between these two has faded, and Olivia references their earlier conversation in saying she wants to experience the beauty that could be their relationship, or something. Peter thinks there's a "...but" coming, but no -- Olivia leans in and kisses him. And while you guys are blessed beyond measure to have Daniel as your recapper of record, I'm guessing one of his weaker suits is appreciation of Josh Jackson in That Way, so maybe it's good timing that I'm here this week, because sigh. (That Simpsons where Jackson plays the environmental activist and Homer's like, "I'm sorry, I wasn't listening, I was lost in your eyes" is still one of my favorite things.) However, when she opens her eyes again, ominous music starts to play, and she hurries out to "get some air." Peter's like, great, she stuck me with the check...
...but once he finds her outside, she explains -- when they kissed, he glimmered, which means she's afraid -- afraid that it's not just the Fauxlivia thing, that she's incapable of being vulnerable, etc. Peter thinks she's being silly, but before they can get into it further, Olivia looks across the street and sees a glow coming from one of the apartments, which of course must be 6B, especially with it being just under one of the balconies. We then get Peter's POV, which of course is normal, but he asks Olivia what she sees...
...and then we check in on Mrs. Merchant, who's looking through a photo album with a smile on her face, which is then illuminated by a glow from a source in front of her...
...and then Walter is calling Peter and asking what's going on, since his seismograph is going bazoo. Peter, rushing up the stairs with Olivia, tells him he'll call him back, and then they reach the sixth floor and see light streaming out from the cracks around the Merchant apartment door. Peter kicks it in and enters, and all he sees is the lights flickering around Mrs. Merchant, who's sitting staring at nothing he can see. Olivia, however, momentarily sees the specter of a man in an avuncular sweater, which quickly disappears as soon as Mrs. Merchant turns away from it and faces her. Peter asks what happened, but Olivia focuses on Mrs. Merchant: "Who was he?" Mrs. Merchant: "My husband. His ghost." DUN DUN DUN! No, seriously, that's pretty intense!
When we return, Walter has made it down from Harvard to take his own readings, and I'm sure the elderly Mrs. Merchant was super-jazzed about waiting for some dude to get down there from Cambridge before she could go to sleep. Walter is disappointed to come up with nothing, as he thought there would be some radiation leakage from the other side, and when Peter asks if that means he doesn't believe it was the husband's ghost, Walter intones that there's no such thing. Peter: "That's where you draw the line?" Agreed, Peter, and I'd go on to point out that on a show like this he's practically begging for such a definitive statement to be disproved. Walter, however, says that he and Leonard Nimoy used to argue constantly about what happens to the body's energy after death; Leonard Nimoy thought that they should be able to capture that energy using what he called "soul magnets," which I have to say is something that's both chilling and maybe not being brought up for the hell of it. Walter goes on that Leonard Nimoy told him if he were right, he'd contact him from The Great Beyond. "I haven't gotten the call yet." God, John Noble is good. I wish he'd played someone other than Denethor in Return Of The King. Peter asks what, then, Mrs. Merchant saw, but seriously, I could not be more new and yet I know that Olivia having seen the guy where Peter couldn't means alternate universe, right?
Well, speaking of Olivia, she's asking Mrs. Merchant when the first time she saw her husband was. Hilariously, Mrs. Merchant asks, "You mean after he died?" It's a perfectly reasonable point of clarification, yet the casualness with which she asked for it made me giggle. The answer is that he's been stopping by for a couple months, the first time being a very few days after he passed, and then when Olivia observes from the photo album Mrs. Merchant is leafing through that they must have been together a long time, she smiles and confirms that it was almost forty-five years. Olivia, noticing the quality of the photos, asks if Mr. Merchant was a photographer, and Mrs. Merchant smiles bigger as she says he liked to pretend he was -- when they would travel, he would tell people he worked for National Geographic, and as such they got into some restricted but stunning places. "We never had children, so that was our thing." I'll have to remember that one. Olivia then gently asks how Derek died, and Mrs. Merchant bitterly says it was stupid -- their fuse box blew, and they flipped a coin to see who would deal with it, as they always did with unpalatable household chores. Derek lost, and as Fate had it, there was a short in the wiring that killed him instantly. Wow, that's the dark side of rent control, right there. Mrs. Merchant goes on that she was bedridden with grief for a few days, and even forgot for a moment that he was dead, but then she remembered and felt such despair that she would have died herself to be with him again -- which is when he appeared. "He came to be with me, when I needed him." When a show spends enough time with a one-off character to make you care, that's usually a good sign. I mean, obviously the material is slanted in its favor, but it's well-written and acted, and it's affecting the shit out of Olivia, too. Walter then asks how long they lived there, and Mrs. Merchant tells him it was over forty years. She then ruins my earlier joke by saying Derek owned the place, and she moved in after they got married, and seriously, the relevance of the question may not be immediately obvious, but it's not like it's offensive or even, relative to what she and Olivia have been talking about, overly personal, so why is Olivia looking at Walter like he just sprouted a second head?
Well, I guess it's just so, once they get outside, Olivia can ask him about that question, and Walter tells her he asked it because now it's reasonable to conclude that her husband also owned the apartment on the other side, which... what? I mean, it's reasonable to conclude they as a couple lived in the corresponding alternate apartment, but what do the ownership particulars matter? I think it's past Walter's bedtime. Anyway, regardless of my issues with his path there, Walter arrives at the right conclusion, which is that Mrs. Merchant is somehow, probably because the veil between worlds has grown so thin, seeing the alternate version of her husband, which explains why Olivia can see him, too. Peter, however, points out that something's off -- if he, as a normal person without Olivia's ability, can't see the alternate husband, then what is it about Mrs. Merchant that makes her able to? This is clearly the key point, but Walter, understandably enough given my admittedly small experience with the character, is too freaked out to care...
...and then, back at Harvard, he's explaining why via a physical demonstration I will do him the favor of not discussing, because seriously, dude, you're telling us the soft spot weakens the fabric of our world, which could lead to a vortex. Got it -- no props required. Astrid then turns up with the case files Walter requested in that earlier scene, and I'm kind of confused as to what "commuter bus attacks" refers to, but the point is, I guess, that Walter has always been concerned with how their Powers That Be would respond if a vortex opened up in their world, and Olivia gasps in realization...
...because when we cut ahead we see, lying on a table, a body encased in a suspiciously amber-like material. Nina is now on the scene, as apparently the government asked Massive Dynamic to analyze the mysterious substance for its military properties. Walter identifies the chemical composition as being very similar to a substance Walternate uses, which...okay. So some attack on a commuter bus, the perpetrators of and motivations behind being undiscussed as far as I know, just so happened to use a substance that's essentially this world's equivalent of amber? Does that not strike anyone else as perhaps a little convenient? Also, why was Walter sitting on this information the whole time? Broyles asks if he's suggesting that the FBI use amber on the Park Slope building, and when he gets a "Duh" in response, he and Olivia are both concerned about the public's reaction if they were to use amber on the current soft spot (the idea is that they might have a problem with it), but Walter thinks they might prefer that to a vortex opening up, "a black hole that swallows up half of Brooklyn." Before we commit to a plan, can I inquire which half? Walter tells Nina they should get started, but Nina does not look like this course of action is something she'd be proud to put her name on...
...a sentiment echoed in a conference room to which Olivia, Peter, and Broyles have repaired. Broyles, however, at least asks what protocols they use in the alternate universe when using taxpayer dollars to encase citizens in amber, and Olivia uses a lot of words to say that, essentially, they figure out the blast range of the amber, clear as many people out as possible, and then blow the shit up. You know, high science. Broyles sighs and says he needs to run this up channels, and then there's a nonsense bit about how he beat the President at golf, like, thanks for stopping by, Broyles. Peter, however, thinks that maybe they should try to figure out the cause of the new soft spot before they go using taxpayer dollars to encase citizens in amber, so he and Olivia get to work...
...while in another room, Walter is supervising some scientists when Nina comes in to check on him. He pulls her aside and confesses that for a long time, he believed that Walternate (I cannot express my joy at how casually they use that name) was an evil man, willing to do anything to get what he wanted, which certainly made it easier to justify the things that he, Walter, did. However, now he's doing exactly what Walternate did in an analogous situation. "What kind of person does that make me?" Nina firmly replies that he's a person asking the right questions, but Walter opines that Walternate must have grappled with them, too. And while I could watch him wrestle with his moral dilemma all day, I'm on a deadline here, so it's probably just as well that one of the scientists interrupts to inform him that the compound is ready...
...while Olivia is babbling about stuff when Peter brings it around to his earlier question: Why can Mrs. Merchant see the other side? He points out that Olivia can only do it when her emotions are heightened, and Olivia brings up another salient point -- why can she only see the alternate version of her husband and not the one of herself? Peter hits it when he theorizes that on the other side, Mrs. Merchant was the one that lost the coin toss and zapped herself off this mortal coil, and Olivia wonders if they've been looking at the situation wrong: "What if this is not about physics, but about people? People who need people?" Well, I threw in that last bit, but it seemed obligatory. Honestly, I don't know how Olivia restrained herself.
Olivia advances the new theory to Walter, who terms it some sort of "emotional quantum entanglement" before saying it's definitely possible, but he'd have to test it, "and I'd have to figure out how to do that." Yeah, I was going to bring that up. However, there's no time for any of that, because at that moment Olivia gets a phone call from Astrid saying she's picking up all kinds of seismic activity in Park Slope. Well, it's not necessarily coming from that building, but Olivia concludes that "it's happening again," which fine, I suppose in this narrative context it's pretty likely.
And indeed, when we return, FBI agents in full uniforms have surrounded the building and are apparently reporting to Broyles. Walter turns up, and Broyles asks, "Is that the ambering device?" which whoa, easy with the science jargon there, guy! Walter tells him he most considerately prepared a remote detonator "so your agent won't get caught in it," like, pardon me for saying so but I would HOPE that's kind of standard in these situations. Broyles has two agents take the canister and place it "in the stairwell," and I'm sure what floor it's on couldn't possibly make a difference to the dispersal pattern, and then Olivia tells Broyles about her theory. Broyles: "You think all of this is because of feelings?" Hee. The dialogue on this show just pops; it's very refreshing. Peter steps in and explains further, and after Broyles gets confirmation from Walter that the theory has merit, Broyles gets a call that they've got a resident who's "refusing to vacate." Anticipating my objection, Walter urgently tells Broyles that removing Mrs. Merchant from the apartment won't help -- as long as she and the alternate husband are linked by their emotional longing, the rift cannot be sealed. But... getting her out would at least mean she wouldn't get trapped in the amber, right? Or is he implying that she needs to be in there for this solution to work? Not deigning to answer my confused ass, he adds that if they can convince her to break the connection, the instability should be fixed, and they should at least try before resorting to amber. Broyles assents, but tells Olivia and Peter that he wants them out of there immediately if he gives the order. Once he gets their acknowledgment, he sends them running into the building...
...and sprinting up the stairs for the second time we've seen, so I guess the Fringe people stay in pretty good shape. They enter the apartment (the door is probably still broken from Peter's manly kick, and I'd imagine it doesn't regret a thing) and find that Mrs. Merchant is sitting in that same position, and Olivia reports to Peter that the alternate husband is already there. Well, duh, right? Mrs. Merchant tells Olivia to go away, but Olivia tells her that everything that's happening is because of her, and by the way, the specter she's seeing isn't her husband. Mrs. Merchant, reasonably enough, asks who, then, he is...
...while down on the street, Broyles gets the report that the device is in place. He orders all teams behind the perimeter, and frankly I'm not sure what they've been doing in front of it. Patronizing that street vendor on Walter's recommendation?
Upstairs, Olivia explains a bit about the alternate universe, but, probably wisely, she emphasizes the part where all the people on the balcony died because she and the alternate husband couldn't let go of each other, and that she can still fix the situation. Just then, Alterna-Derek calls to her, and she answers, at which point Peter reports the rather ominous news that he can now see Alterna-Derek as well. The rumbling around them intensifies...
...and down on the street, Broyles is chagrined to discover that he, too, can now see shimmering coming from the apartment. He calls for Olivia and Peter to get out of there, now...
...but for whatever reason (electrical interference?) they can't hear him, and Peter notes that the building can't take much more of this abuse. Walter notes rapid shifts in barometric pressure and the buildup of static electricity -- a vortex is coming into creation. He looks pained beyond measure, probably both at the vortex itself and the fact that they might have to amber-ify Olivia and Peter, and Broyles manfully takes the detonator from him as we head into the last commercial break.
When we return, Walter gives Broyles instructions on how to operate the detonator -- turn it on and pull out the pin. Broyles executes the first part, but before going through with the second he calls again to Peter and Olivia to get out of there immediately...
...while upstairs, Peter gives Mrs. Merchant a heartfelt speech about how she's already had a lifetime with the person she loves, which is something most people, including him, only dream of, so could she possibly let go and move on before they all get trapped in resin? Alterna-Derek unwittingly aids Peter's cause by telling Mrs. Merchant that he "and the girls" miss her, and of course we all remember her telling Olivia earlier that she and her Derek never had kids, so that's enough for Mrs. Merchant to believe the truth of what the Fringers are saying, and she tells Alterna-Derek that she's not his wife, at which point he fades away. I don't mean to step on a touching moment here, but in the alternate universe the situation with the two worlds is common knowledge, right? Given that, wouldn't explaining the situation to Alterna-Derek have been the superior approach? Anyway, down on the street, Walter and Broyles observe the shimmer disappear, and then their communication is reestablished, as Peter asks if everything's okay. Broyles can't bring himself to speak, instead gulping at how close a call this was as he turns the detonator off, which is another touch I really quite liked. Damn, are my friends who have watched this show from the beginning going to laugh at me.
Later, Olivia is sitting with Mrs. Merchant, who sighs, "I'm still not sure I'll ever really understand what happened, and I'm not sure it would make any difference if I did." Mrs. Merchant, I'd love to come over for a glass of sherry so you can pull up a chair and tell me about it. It's nice of Olivia to sit with her, though. Mrs. Merchant goes on, however, that she was exposed to a whole new realm of possibilities today, and given that, who's to say that someday, she won't see her Derek again? Who's to say indeed, Mrs. Merchant, and Olivia agrees. Mrs. Merchant takes one more look at the picture of her and her husband on the table to her...
...and then we're back with Walter and Nina, the latter of whom tells the former that he saved the lives of many people that day, and he should be proud. Er, once again, I know I'm new here, but it was Peter with a strong assist from Olivia who deserves the credit, and maybe also Broyles for not having an itchy trigger finger. That last is an underestimated trait. Walter doesn't say all this, but does opine that what happened was not a victory, but a glimpse of things to come, and the universes will unravel and he doesn't know how to stop it. Okay, one more and then I'll stop, but didn't this episode show that continuing to expand their thinking rather than giving in to despair is the way to go? Agreeing with me, Nina suggests that he figure it out, and he takes her hand for solace...
...and then Olivia shows up to Peter's door with a bottle of something brown. Inside, he pours them both a couple fingers, and they toast to the events of that day before Olivia tells Peter that she wants what he wants. He plays coy, asking what they should do about that, so once again, she goes for it and kisses him, this time apparently glimmer-free. After that sinks in, she takes his hand and leads him up the stairs, and fade out. So, one glimmer-free kiss is enough for her to think she's ready to hop into bed with him? Well, as I noted before, it is Josh Jackson. Simple enough for me.
Huh, now we're back in Park Slope? A flash of light seems to indicate something sealing itself, and then we cut inside...OH! We're in the alternate universe! And with SETH GABEL! Yes, he's Lincoln here, but back where I recapped him he was my beloved Jeremy Darling on Dirty Sexy Money. Aw! I wish I were spending more than thirty seconds with him, but you can't have everything. Fauxlivia is baffled by the lack of seismic activity, since Alterna-Astrid apparently reported a hefty disturbance earlier, but Lincoln isn't getting anything. Fauxlivia then knocks on 6B's door, and when Alterna-Derek answers, Fauxlivia shows her Fringe badge and asks about any disturbances, but he tells her there's been nothing. She then inquires about his family, but he tells her he lives alone, as his wife died recently, so she ends the questioning. Okay, I have to say, probably the most contrived thing in this episode is the idea that they were so much slower to respond to this potential crisis in the alternate universe, with their team and public knowledge of what's going on. None of the residents of the Alterna-Building called the Fringe hotline Fauxlivia just mentioned? I guess they were trying to establish that Alterna-Derek wasn't contacted before this, but I would have much preferred they excised this ending altogether, except for the part where I got to wave hi to Seth Gabel, who by the way calls headquarters and cancels the quarantine protocol. We then get a shot of Alterna-Derek looking at his photo albums, and I guess they're trying to tell us not to forget about the alternate universe and also bookending the story, but again, unless he's going to surface again I could have done without this bit. Still, as I said, this was really enjoyable! I believe Daniel will be back for week's episode, which looks like a whole lot of mythology and flashbacks. And I look forward to watching, but man, am I glad I didn't draw that one to recap.
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John Ramos is a writer and film producer living in Los Angeles. He writes about film and television on his blog "Pull Up A Chair," which he would just love for you to visit. Also, you can follow him on Twitter here, or get information about his most recent film "East Fifth Bliss," starring Michael C. Hall, Lucy Liu, and Peter Fonda, here.