Fringe: The Arrival

Good news, fans: Fringe gets back on track this week with a little less action, but a much more interesting story.  And we start off at…

Brooklyn.  A busy construction site, crane swinging, men in hard hats.  If this were the Bronx, that’d be a new baseball stadium they were building.  In a diner across from the site, a hairless man orders roast beef (rare), and 11 jalapeños.  He watches the construction activity through high-tech binoculars, checking his pocket watch, and taking notes in a Cyrillic-looking language.  Baldy spices up his sandwich with a ton of pepper, Tabasco sauce, and all 11 jalapeños.  Brooklyn shakes, and a fireball shoots up from the construction site, the crane shaking.  Everyone books it, Baldy calmly pays his bill, and then the crane crashes down.  As Baldy leaves the diner, a blue light flashes in the corner of the screen.  He approaches the construction site, now devastated, and says into his phone, “It has arrived.”  The blue light flashes again at the sides of the screen, and we’re off to the credits!

Boston.  Peter storms the Federal Building in search of Olivia, a young agent in pursuit because he lacks the credentials to freely walk the floor.  He’s pissed about this, about being woken at 4am from Papa Bishop’s ramblings, and because the FBI won’t spring for separate rooms, and Peter’s still sleeping on a couch, four episodes in.  Or maybe that’s my complaint.  He tells Olivia that he’s ready to move on – these investigations stem from Doc’s crazy experiments, Peter’s just a babysitter.  He also admits that he has a hard time staying in one place for very long.  She says Doc has made it clear that if Peter leaves, he won’t cooperate with the FBI’s investigations.  Peter promises nothing.

In Chelsea, Massachusetts, Olivia, Peter, and Doc enter a warehouse (is Massachusetts nothing but warehouses?), led by Broyles, who recaps the opening explosion, the source of which is a giant torpedo-like cylinder, vibrating and sitting on a table before them.  It shot to the surface from underground, landing perfectly at the site.  In 1987, Quantico, another cylinder appeared unexpectedly.  Olivia recognizes the name of the chief investigator, and departs to meet with him.  Peter agrees to one last case, and Doc insists that the object be moved to his Harvard Lab, with its lack of security and unhygienic surgical practices.  He scolds Broyles, and just like that, he wins.  Oh brother.

Roseville, VA.  Olivia meets with Colonel Henry Jacobson, and after a warm reception, he offers condolences on the death of Agent John Scott, Olivia’s partner (slash-ex-lover-slash-traitor).  Jacobson relinquishes his files and reveals that forty-eight hours after appearing, Quantico’s cylinder exploded downwards and disappeared.  He warns her away from the case.  But that doesn’t work on our Olivia!

The warehouse.  A man in a trenchcoat takes out a warehouse full of FBI agents with some kind of pulse machine gun, all in search of the missing cylinder.

Olivia is woken in bed by a phone call.  At first all she hears is static, and then finally, “Olivia?”  John Scott?

The Lab.  Doc runs tests on the torpedo, while not answering any questions.  He and Peter argue, with Doc telling Peter to “open your mind, son, or someone may open it for you.”  Take note.  Olivia scans photographs and notices Baldy in one from the Quantico case, then remembers him from the hospital during one of their other cases, having not aged a day.  Forget it, I’m not going back to check.  She says she’s really good at connecting dots.  Except for that Agent Scott-traitor-thing, but love is blinding.  Or something.

Back with Jacobson.  He opens the front door and is pulse-rayed by Trenchcoat.

Olivia brings her Bald Guy Theory to Broyles.  He reveals they’ve noticed Baldy also: Broyles calls him The Observer because he appears and watches, but never interacts, at any of the three dozen scenes related to the Pattern.  They have no idea of motives.  Then Broyles receives a call about the dead agents in the warehouse.

The Lab.  More experiments, with Doc, Peter, and Exposition.  Olivia calls in and explains to Peter that she’s on her way to move the cylinder to a secure location.  Doc suspects someone has come for the torpedo; Peter suspects Doc is hiding something.  They argue, but Doc scolds Peter, and just like that, he wins and Peter’s out running errands so that Doc can stick Exposition with a syringe.  Peter returns to find her drugged (sadly, not dead) and Doc missing.

Cut to, Trenchcoat strapping down Jacobson, who’s alive, so maybe the pulse gun was set to stun.  They’re connected to each other and a small box with dials via a series of wires.  Turn the machine on, Jacobson experiences excruciating pain.  Trenchcoat asks some questions and via some form of mind-reading, locates Olivia.

Another diner, and Doc is joined by The Observer.  He thanks Doc for hiding the “beacon,” and promises soon Doc will have answers.  Later, Doc is picked up walking the median of I-95.  In an interrogation room, he tells Olivia and Peter that he has to keep the cylinder protected for another four hours from people who will try to take it.  He admits meeting up with Baldy, and Olivia perks up.  He angrily accuses Peter of being small-minded when Peter accuses Doc of being delusional.  Doc demands that Peter not be like his mother and question Doc’s judgment.  Mysterious subtext causes Peter to quit, and Doc looks like he might cry.

The Lab.  As Peter packs and sifts through Doc’s files, he receives a call.  He commits to work that takes him out of Boston and misses Trenchcoat hiding behind boxes.  Later, Exposition alerts Olivia about an apparent struggle at the Lab, and Olivia hunts down campus security footage.

Peter is strapped to a table somewhere (another warehouse?), connected to Trenchcoat and the machine.  Trenchcoat is looking for the Cylinder and Doc’s hiding place.  Peter, naturally uncooperative, experiences some torture.  At the Fed Building, Olivia shows a picture of Trenchcoat to Doc and tells him about Peter’s abduction.  Doc worries Peter will talk, even though Doc shared nothing.

Torture Central.  Trenchcoat tortures and questions, finally forcing Peter to unconsciously reveal the cylinder’s location.  Later, he drives up to a cemetery, with Peter in the trunk.  At the grave of Robert Bishop, Trenchcoat orders Peter to dig up the freshly turned earth.

Olivia arrives shortly after.  She skulks into the woods as Trenchcoat brushes off the cylinder.  They hear Olivia approach, and Trenchcoat runs.  Foot chase!  Olivia and Trenchcoat exchange gunfire until he finally drops the cylinder and she wins the gunfight, and you guessed it – unhelpfully, he dies.

Away from the action, the cylinder turns on, and explodes downwards, disappearing into the earth.  A few feet away, the Observer says into his phone, “Departure on schedule.”  Peter tackles him, and starts throwing questions at the Observer, who, after a moment, speaks in sync with Peter, then ahead of him, as if he’s reading his thoughts and anticipating his questions.  They both look confused.  Then Baldy pulls out a gun and pulse-shoots Peter, bruising a few ribs but not killing him.  I’ve got to get me one of those guns.  Especially for the office.

Later.  At the Federal building, Doc learns Peter is alive and tries to apologize unsuccessfully to Exposition.  Olivia meets Broyles while at the hospital to pick up Peter.  He explains the cylinder disappeared without a trace.  Trenchcoat was wanted for double-homicide in Seattle, leaving them with nothing but more questions.

Peter’s a mess, but explains to Olivia that his encounter with the Observer has changed his perspective.  What if Doc was right and this is just the beginning?  He’s decided to stick around, and she hands him a badge – he can now walk the Federal Building unescorted, but he still has to share a hotel room with Doc.

In said room, Peter questions Doc about being able to reveal information he didn’t know.  Doc says that Peter knew because Doc knew.  Well, of course.  Then he tells the story of a car accident when Peter was a boy, and how, though Peter believes Doc saved him, it was actually the Observer.  Doc shared a similar mind-bending experience with Baldy, and protecting the cylinder was his way of repaying Baldy for saving Peter’s life.

Olivia returns home alone, and makes a dinner of cereal and Johnnie Walker.  My kind of meal.  She turns around, and there waiting in the doorway is… Agent John Scott!

Oh, whatever, we all knew it was just a matter of time.

Well kids – it’s a bye week next Tuesday, so ponder these questions in the off time:

Will Peter’s phone call come back to haunt him, or be conveniently forgotten?

John Scott: Sexy, tortured soul, or Evil traitor?

Exposition: Will she ever get any real lines?  Do we care?

Are Doc and Peter linked psychically?

Who’s Robert Bishop?  Brother?  Uncle?

Stay tuned!

Season 1, Episode 4: “The Arrival” (originally aired September 30, 2008)

Tuesdays at 9/8C, Fox

Photographs courtesy of IMDbPro