"An Origin Story"
Original Airdate: Friday November 2, 2012
I can honestly say that I did not expect what happened in this episode. I love that, when something happens that I didn't see coming. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The episode opens with Peter looking at Etta's Fringe Division ID. Then he picks up a little book that also has the Fringe Division symbol on its pages. Etta's picture stares up at him and he runs his thumb across her cheek. Then he turns to where Olivia is sleeping on the bed and holds the picture up, doing what I can only assume is comparing the two. And from our perspective as the viewer the woman in the picture does look almost identical to the one on the bed. Peter places the book into a cardboard box beside him before picking up a hairbrush and passing his thumb across the bristles, just as he did with the picture of his daughter.
He slides open a drawer in the dresser in front of him, squatting down to give the empty space where it came from a closer inspection. One of the panels on the inside of the drawer sways outwards and has a small button in its corner. He presses it and there is a click. A painting on the wall beside him swings away slightly from the wall. He pulls it towards him to reveal a hidden cache of guns and C-4 explosives behind it. "That's my girl," he says with sadness in his voice.
He starts packing the weapons into a duffel bag (reminding me of that black bag he was carrying around in 'Reciprocity', but I guess that could be said for any black duffel bag) and Olivia awakens and sits up behind him. She says every time she wakes up she realizes that what she has been dreaming is not just a nightmare but reality. "Why would we get her back just to lose her again?" Peter doesn't have an answer for her in words so he offers her comfort by touch. He holds her as she rests her forehead on his chest and he kisses her on the top of the head.
I know the circumstances here are terrible, but it's nice to see them touching each other again. I hope that as tragic as Etta's death was that it serves to bring them together and not push them further apart.
In the bathroom, Olivia removes a framed photo of Etta and a brown-haired woman from a shelf. She puts it in a box. I don't know who the woman is.
In Manhattan, New York, the air starts to visibly crackle with blue streaks of energy. The people in the area decide to take cover because even the atmosphere feels off. Several Hummers roll up, with Loyalists and Observers disembarking. Two Loyalists carry a large re-enforced plastic box out into the middle of the street while an Observer makes notations in a journal. The crate is opened and the Observer removes a metal box which he places a few feet from the original container. Over the sound of the wind swirling around there are some beeps and hums heard coming from the device.
The Observer walks away and stands off to the side, joining another one that is waiting. A large black opening appears above the street in front of them. A few seconds pass and then three large white containers float out of it and slam down onto the street with a clang. The hole closes, leaving both sides of the street and the adjacent building scorched as black as it was. (A musical score that reminds me of 'The Imperial March' plays as the boxes come out.)
The original Observer walks over to the first white box and slices into it, creating a flap. (Is Darth Vader going to come out?) He folds it down so he can access what is inside. With a remote-looking device he scans a piece of equipment inside the box. "Integrity is stable. Prepare for transport," he tells Observer Number 2.
** FRINGE OPENING CREDITS TIME **
Astrid calls Peter for a video chat. She explains that there is an ambered propane tank and a gallon of Ethanol in close proximity where she needs to retrieve the next tape from and unless they want the whole lab plus Astrid to go 'Boom!' she's going to have to be really careful in the extraction process.
