By Daniel
The Fringe gang go out to visit their doomsday device that Massive Dynamic is building which I'm sure is not at all in danger of ever almost going off in some future episode, and the machine (and all the equipment around it) goes a little haywire on Peter, because it has a bit of a crush on him. Walter, not satisfied with almost killing his son last episode, goes in search of some of his DNA that Belly kept around after removing parts of Walter's brain, so he can regrow his grey matter, only he winds up snorting some chimpanzee DNA instead. That makes more sense if you've seen the episode. I think.
Astrid (and later Olivia) go through Fauxlivia's diaries partly to try to figure out why dead shapeshifter bodies are turning up, and the working theory is that Walternate is tying up the loose ends of the infiltration operation, but it becomes clear that there has to be someone with inside information at Massive Dynamic. Anyone who might possibly know anything is questioned -- except for Peter. Turns out that the weapon had an effect on Peter, and it's weaponized him. He's hunting down the shapeshifters because he's tired of reacting instead of acting, and he needs to know what they know. Walter discovers what Peter's been up to, but he keeps the secret from Olivia, who is just getting over what happened between Peter and Olivia. This could kill her. Literally!
We're starting this episode off at some sort of music festival out in the middle of nowhere, only it doesn't appear to have started yet, because it's dark and there's a mini-convoy of SUVs headed towards the large cylindrical dome which is where I assume Girl Talk will be playing. And security is ridiculous! Actual soldiers at checkpoints with assault rifles. The window of an SUV rolls down. It's Philip Broyles and Olivia, with the fabulous Bishop Boys in the backseat, and they're asked for their clearance and ID. Walter's got a request of his own: chewing gun, any flavour will do. The soldier looks at him blankly, and Peter explains that his dad has a "thing" with his ears, and Walter hotly explains that he's got a blocked Eustachian tube.
After the soldiers are done rolling their eyes at the crazy old scientist, the SUV is waved through. Inside the hangar, a scientist is conferring with Nina Sharp, telling her that they've tried a dozen different power sources, with no reactions at all. An aide strolls up to tell Nina that her guests are here, kinda making it sound like the party's about to start. In a way, I guess it is. She tells him to "expand the telemetry parameters and run the tests again." I was just going to suggest restarting the machine. That usually works on whatever problem I'm having.
Nina guides the team through the hangar, and says she understands they broke the encryption on the computer "the other Olivia" left behind. That was thanks to Peter, Broyles says, who gave them a number of password suggestions, one of which worked. "It was a song lyric. And Fauxlivia ruined U2 for all of us," says a grouchy Walter. Well, at least you still have Violet Sedan Chair! Well, I guess you don't. Speaking of "Olive Can Read This," I should say that despite me mocking the "sudden" reference to Violet Sedan Chair as Walter's favourite band, it's been pointed out to me that they actually have been mentioned before, a couple of times, neither time I actually remember. But really, given the staggering attention to detail this show has, I really should have known better.
Anyway, since I was busy thinking "the last few U2 records have ruined U2 for me," it took a second or two to register that Walter actually said "Fauxlivia," and then Nina asks about it, and Peter explains it for her and for everybody, and I'd like to commend the powers that be on this show for seeing the light, and it's clear that our long national nickname nightmare of Bolivia vs. Fauxlivia is over.
That out of the way, Nina asks what actually is in the computer, other than subpar forgettable rock that is a shadow of its former self, and Broyles is all, "It's one big file, mission details buried in hundreds of pages of mundane observations about our world," by which he actually means that he recently discovered Frisky Dingo and hasn't actually gotten around to looking at Fauxlivia's computer.