Fringe - Episode 3.13 - Immortality - Recap by Robz888

Pregnant! What was once just a curious comment made by September the Observer three episodes back has now come true: Fauxlivia is with child--Peter's child, to be exact. The news gets alternate-Brandon thinking, drives Frank away, and brings out Walternate's warmer side. What the episode left us waiting for, though, were Peter and Olivia's reactions.


This key revelation unfolded alongside what was probably the creepiest freak-plot in several episodes: Dr. Silva's killer beetles, which have been engineered to grow inside human hosts.

Dr. Silva is in many ways a typical mad scientist for the Fringe team to take on, but beyond that, he's sort of emblematic of what has happened to the alternate universe since Walter's meddling. Silva probably wasn't always the "evil" type (crazy, yes; a guy who devotes his life to studying those beetles would have to be unhinged at a minimum). But when all the sheep died off in the Red Universe due to cosmic disturbances, Silva's bugs--and his chances of curing Avian flu with an enzyme the bugs produce--die off with them.

The symbiotic relationship between the sheep and the beetles--which live on the sheep but don't harm them--is almost a metaphor for our two universes. Trouble on one side manifests as even bigger trouble on the other side. Both need each other if there is to be any hope of staving off total annihilation.

Silva, though, finds a dubious solution to his problems: The beetles can be grown inside humans, but when they hatch, they're lethal. He dispatches two unsuspecting victims in this callous manner; with the second, at least, it's clear he doesn't have much sympathy. It's also clear he's not just motivated by curing Avian flue and saving lives, but also his own ego. He wants to be remembered as a great scientist, like Jonas Salk and the DNA guys. The inner conflict between the scientist who does wacky, morally ambiguous (or outright wrong) things in the name of saving the world and the scientist who does these things to augment his own prestige is a constant battle on Fringe. Walter has been down that road with his Cortexiphan trials. So, too, has William Bell, and his fondest creation, Massive Dynamic. And like William Bell--who, when push came to shove, was willing to sacrifice himself to rescue Olivia (Fauxlivia in disguise), Walter, and Peter--Silva makes the ultimate sacrifice for his career goals.

He captures Olivia, and appears to implant her with the bug babies. But as it turns out, this was all a ruse--possibly to buy time for the eggs to hatch inside their true host: Silva himself. His dying words: "Make sure they spell my name right." An egoist--albeit one who works for the common good--to the end. In all these ways, Silva is a powerful reminder of the dual motives inherent in the projects of Fringe's mad scientists.

As for our main characters in the alternate universe, I was very happy to spend some more time with Fauxlivia, Lincoln, and Charlie. The three really do have excellent chemistry. I was part of a conference call with producers Wyman and Pinkner last week (and was able to deduce the pregnancy reveal from their answers), and both said as much. They have been thrilled with how much fun it is to tell stories "Over There" and hang out with these terrific characters, who resemble the people we know but have their own eccentricities and their own chemistry. I do miss alt-Broyles, though.

Fauxlivia is certainly a highly desired woman. We know that she has stolen Peter's heart. She has Frank, of course. Lincoln, also, appears to have feelings for her. All of which just makes me a little sadder for our Olivia ("She [Fauxlivia] is just like me but better"). But it's Frank who seems poised to 'seal the deal', as it were, when he asks her to marry him and she accepts. Lincoln had already blurted out Frank's intentions to Fauxlivia as a seemingly not-so-subtle way of gauging how she feels about it. I like Lincoln. He's an interesting character. I really hope he shows up on our side. Maybe our Olivia and our Lincoln will have a thing?

Frank really got to shine this episode, doing plenty of romancing while helping to catch Silva. The more I think about it, it's almost as if he is the other universe's version of John Scott (minus the suspicious, covert involvements, as far as we know). They have similar screen presence. And just like John Scott, we may have seen the last of Frank.

That's because Fauxlivia is pregnant, and not with Frank's baby... but Peter's. Frank doesn't know that Fauxlivia was sent by her bosses to another universe, and that it was all part of the job. I felt bad for both of them that the job--Walternate's plans--necessitated that neither Frank nor anyone else find out about the switch and the circumstances, though I'm still expecting Charlie and/or Lincoln to become clued in later.

I liked the way it was revealed that Olivia was pregnant--Silva's bug fake out. I also liked how that meshed with concept of parasites, of having something inside you that is its own thing. It can be beautiful to some people, it can be something they love and care about, it can be something that may save the word (perhaps this baby will, like Peter, have some connection to the Machine). But it's not something you control--it's a separate entity. Silva loved his bugs, and he willingly ingested their eggs, sacrificing himself to create a cure for the Avian flu, like a parent would. His two human victims, though, didn't necessarily want these things growing inside of them. Fauxlivia is similarly torn between her job and her duty to protect the world, and the sense that she isn't in control of her own life anymore--someone else was living it for weeks.

Of course, the happiest person to hear the news is Walternate. We see his softer side in "Immortality," beginning with his refusal to experiment on children with Cortexiphan, no doubt springing from the cruel way his own son was taken from him. It's interesting that Walter's actions have affected him this way. We also learn that Walternate has a mistress, which isn't totally surprising; he is the Secretary of Defense, and politicians are not generally known for their marital fidelity. Then again, neither is Walter. It's been pretty much verified that he engaged in romantic relationships while Peter's mother was still alive, too.

Most of all, Walternate is overjoyed that Olivia is carrying Peter's child. Whether Walternate sees this as a way to lure Peter back to his side, or whether the child itself might serve as a suitable replacement for whatever Peter's purpose is, remains to be seen.

One final note: The ratings have been looking a little depressing lately. That said, the producers seem confident on the odds of renewal. In the conference call I had with them, they made it sound like the studio really liked the show, and the numbers they are posting are above what the studio expects. That may just be wishful self-preserving optimism, but hopefully not.

Episode Grade: B+

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- Robby "Robz888" Soave