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Tonight’s pattern: Butterfly, Apple (bottom left dot), smoke,  Apple, and Frog.
SPELLS PETER

***Beep. Beep. EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM: Monster Sighting: All points bulletin for a Frankenrhino Lion-Snake named Harriett. Please be advised it leaves large gashes, 400x larger fang marks than a vampire, and in some cases may try to procreate with you. If you see this monster please stay calm because y ou are only going to die. This is unless you have a certain gun and/or poison. In that case, drink the poison and become bait so when the Harriett bites you; she gets poisoned and dies. This has been an Emergency Broadcast System Alert. Beep. Beep.***

I would like to say that I really enjoyed the mood and pace of this episode. It was like watching Cloverfield or a good monster movie, where the monster isn’t revealed until the end. It was a nail-biter. I thought for sure Charlie and/or Walter was a goner! I mean, incubating monsters in your stomach and drinking poison are pretty much the nail in the coffin right? Nope, not on Fringe. Back to this monster, Harriett, as Peter calls her, is a hybrid animal part bat, part cat, part snake. Plus, she has a nasty, long stinger. When we finally meet Harriett, I’m sorry but she looks like a fish with fangs or a dragon. That was a little bit of a disappointment but how much can you really do on a TV budget right? I chalk it up to: it isn’t a movie and it will never have as good of graphics as one. But we get good, solid Fringe fun! Read on.

We open the episode with Olivia reading a book to her niece, Ella. It is a book called the Burlap Bear and the bear encounters a monster (surprise!). Ella asks Olivia if there really are monsters and of course Olivia says no. But we know better don’t we? Because the very next scene we cut to monkeys in a cage. There are a few college-age looking animal rights activists freeing animals from cages in a large lab and spray painting the walls. Then, one of the guys notices a random steel door and decides to open it. You know in a horror film, you never open the door! The monster is behind the door right? Of course. But these poor horror movie kids never learn, do they? When the door is opened, a man is alerted via phone and he drives to the lab in a furry of fast driving and worried faces. Once he arrives, the angry activists yell at him, but he is distracted by the open metal door.

The man goes into the door and the kids watch in horror as he oozes blood from his mouth and disappears behind the open door. Terrified, the kids flee but one of them gets pulled back into the lab, while the others speed away in a car. And wouldn’t you know it, the monster follows them, makes them wreck and tears them up as they hang upside down. Let me ask you, didn’t that paragraph sound like “I Know What You Did Last Summer?” My fingers hurt after trying to type all this while I was watching. Now that is what I call good gory fun!

Growing Ear Alert! Back at the lab, Peter is trying to eat an omelet when he opens it up he finds an ear. EEEwww. Why is Walter growing an ear in an egg omelet? Peter seems a little more anxious and on edge and a fight brews between father and son. I believe this is becoming a theme. Peter is growing tired of Walter’s obliviousness to the world and people around him. But why has it become so much of a problem? I’m curious. While they are fighting, Olivia calls them and they come out to the scene of a crime, where a car is overturned. It is the animal rights activists and they look like they were mauled by an animal, or several animals according to Walter.  The curious thing to Olivia is that there are only three people here but there are four drink cups in the vehicle. Where is the fourth victim? Did he get away? (We know he got killed back at the lab, but they don’t know that.) So Olivia wants to find the fourth victim to talk to him or her about the accident. She also sees the fast food containers are from a joint near MIT, so they are probably students at the college.

Olivia goes on campus to talk to a guy named Chris. He isn’t home but his roommate is gunning to answer all of Olivia’s questions, if you know what I mean. And wouldn’t you know it; he left his bong out and claims it isn’t his. High-larious. But, he says he only knows Chris “ok” and he doesn’t seem like the type of person to get in trouble. He also leeks that Chris is into animal rights with a political group called Animals First. Bingo! There is the link!

At the lab, nasty claw marks and large fangs… Oh my. That really must have hurt. Walter explains it is like multiple animals that were all rolled into one giant hybrid. Peter calls her: Lion-Snake named Harriett. So now, when I refer to the monster sometimes I will call her Harriett, don’t get confused. Olivia and team finds that all the victims were Animal Rights activists and were releasing animals the night they were killed. What type of animal could do this they ask? Walter would think several animals would do it but that isn’t possible, right? Before the scene ends there is a close up with Walter and the body. He finds a large, thin spike in the body and on Walter’s face is written, “oh no.” What does that mean?

At this point, Olivia wants to investigate break-ins at labs the night of the attack. That is when we find out there was another monster sighting on Route 30. There is an animal control van that pulls up and the men get out to investigate the site. They hear a sound and follow it. Olivia talks to Charlie who tells her someone almost hit a monster on Route 30, so after a while, Charlie arrives and finds the van abandoned except for the dead man inside. He keeps looking and finds the second animal control officer dead as well. He hears a sound above him and a large, rattle-snake-like tail descends. Oh no! Not Charlie! When Olivia arrives you hear gun shots and she rushes to Charlie and finds him just wounded. Feeww right?

In curious Walter fashion, back at the lab he is fiddling through old files when he comes upon a file that he stops and gasps at. What is in that file? What does Walter know and hiding from Olivia and the team? I mean it is obvious that he is concerned because he warns Olivia to be careful. Peter notices his father’s demeanor and tries to pry at what he is hiding but Walter blows him off by saying it is nothing. But it is obviously something because Walter’s mood the rest of the episode is one of anxiety and guilt. How is Walter linked to the attacks?

Once Charlie is back at the lab, he finds that same large, thin spike in Charlie and Walter says it is a stinger, like a scorpion or bee. Ouch! Through the course of some questions, Walter figures out that it must be a trans-genetic (hybrid) species of animal. There is no doubt in his mind that it must be man-made, what he calls “the best of the best” animals. AKA Frankenrhino! So why would someone create this animal? What good could it do? That is when Astrid calls and says she found a lab that was broken into on the night in question called Swift Research.

Olivia goes to Swift research and talks to the director, Mr. Swift. He assures her that their lab is for testing of pharmaceuticals and make-up only. He goes on a diatribe how it is better for an animal to get sick than a human subject. Suspiciously, there are a large amount of people cleaning up the lab, but he swears they were not broken into. She asks him about the college kids that were attacked near the facility and he shrugs it off. We know better as the viewer. This has to be the place, right? What is he hiding? The animal? The deaths of the lab technician and another college student? Hm… curious.

In Walter’s lab, Olivia armed with more knowledge wants to know what would make a good genetic hybrid animal. Walter is still very snappy and testy. It is apparent something is wrong. He lays out for her what you would need to make one as well as a very long amount of time. Walter seems very distracted and Peter goes in to focus him. That is when a guilt ridden Walter spills that this creature might be linked to his work from 20 years ago. It turns out that the file he found has a drawing of a monster, like Harriett, that he was trying to create back before he was sent away. When Olivia and Peter find out they are furious. He goes on to explain that his experiment was a failure and maybe someone else finished his work. Wow, his work is really important for someone to finish right? Maybe not… As Peter and Walter spar once again, Astrid notices that one of the student’s bodies is moving.  What could make the body move? You bet maggots, I mean larvae. Yes, a bunch of baby Harrietts! They are coming out of the large gash on the victim’s back. That was pretty gross! Why and how did this happen? Walter realizes that the stinger implanted in the body actually lays eggs. That is the way it procreates. Double gross! So now what? There are going to be hundreds of these monsters? That is when the team realizes that Charlie had a stinger in him too. Let me reiterate my earlier thought: Oh no! Not Charlie! So, Olivia goes to his house to warn him of the possible larvae in his body and he comes back to the lab. Did you know that Charlie is married? I didn’t either. Sorry, that was out of left field. Back to the story…

  Once in the lab, Walter does a sonogram/ultrasound on Charlie to see if he is indeed “pregnant.” Wow, a man being pregnant, that’s pretty wild right? And that confirms it; yucky, swimming larvae are in his stomach. Triple gross. What makes it worse is that Walter can’t remove them because they have spread. He needs to think of a way to extract them before they come out. Of course he will come up with an idea and a crazy one this is! He is going to poison Charlie to kill the larvae. If it doesn’t work they only have 16 hours. He wants to know how they were born before but no one will tell them they explode out. Oh please no more exploding larvae nastiness!

Unfortunately Walter’s idea doesn’t work. Peter calls Olivia to tell him that because of the poison Charlie isn’t doing so hot. It turns out, the larvae are a parasite and because the poison is killing them, they are feeding on Charlie to survive. Talk about a tape worm! It is literally starving Charlie. But, Walter has another plan. This one is even more absurd because it involves actually extracting blood from the monster and infusing it with Charlie’s blood. In theory, that would mean the larvae would think they were back in their parent host. To be frank, it would starve them. But how are they going to get a sample of the monster’s blood? I guess they have to find the monster, but how?

***Beep. Beep. EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM. Monster Sighting: In a large playground tube just below the slide. Please stay out of the area. This monster, loving named Harriett, is armed and dangerous. Please do not approach! This has been an emergency broadcast system report. Beep. Beep**

The team takes out a map and finds that the monster is generally sited near the sewer system, except for the park sighting. Walter figures out that he was in a tunnel in the park, which makes sense because this creature probably likes dark, wet places, like the sewer. Still there is no real predictable pattern to really find the monster in the sewer. So now they have to the sewer to find this animal? But where? Walter is still visibly upset and says this isn’t ok. That is when Charlie begins to convulse. The larvae are getting bigger. They are actually visibly seen swimming around below Charlie’s skin. I don’t know how much more of this grossness I can take! Swimming larvae, exploding cavities, nasty bite and scratch marks. What’s next, the famous scene from the movie Alien? Please, God, no.

Olivia gets a call from the student, Carl, that she talked to back at MIT. He is calling about a friend that Chris knew named Jonathan. He hasn’t come to class and people are worried about him. Low and behold his last name is Swift. He is the son of Mr. Swift of Swift Research. There it is! A connection to Swift Research Labs! Olivia goes back to the lab and confronts Swift about his missing son but he doesn’t break until Olivia tells him the situation with her partner, Charlie. Swift divulges that his son wasn’t fond of the work that he does in the lab and it is true they broke in on the night in question and freed animals. Unfortunately, for them the hybrid got lose as well. He also states that the monster hasn’t only killed 5 people, it killed 7 total. One was his son and the other was a geneticist named Cameron Deglmann who was the guy that furiously came to the lab the night of the release. He was a part of Kelvin Genetics. What does that mean?

When Walter hears all this, you can see a burden lift off his shoulders. He admits that his work was inspired by Cameron’s work and it was Cameron that made the hybrid not him. On top of that, they find out that a part of the animal genetics is bat DNA and the bat species is the missing ingredient that made the hybrid survive. On that knowledge, Walter says they can lure the bat to them by taking the larvae with them as bait into the sewer system. Bats are very maternal and will do anything to protect their babies. They can also smell them from miles away. With that knowledge they can save Charlie and get the blood from the monster right? Walter also says they need a specific gun to kill the creature. It isn’t standard FBI issue but Peter can get it. Of course he can! He knows people in all the right places, or wrong, depending on how you look at it.

Before the blink of an eye, there they are in the sewer. What is it about sewers that are so creepy? The rats? The stench? The wet walls? But that isn’t what I noticed; it was what was in Walter’s hand: a vile of poison. Walter, what is the poison for? Put down the poison! I thought they needed a gun? Walter then leads them to a place to “conduct sound effectively,” which I assume means so the bat can use its radar to find it’s young. While waiting for Harriett, Walter starts his usual ramblings that end with him needing to go to the bathroom. He said Pee! He goes out and what is this? He closes a gate behind him and locks it. Was Walter aware of his ramblings and used them to manipulate the situation? I find that interesting. Don’t you?

So on the other side of the gate, Walter explains he needs to clean up his mess and trap the animal himself. He doesn’t want anyone else to die, so he wants to do it alone. He drinks the poison! NOOOO! He explains that he can get close to the beast, so when it bites him, it too will be poisoned and die. That is when he walks away. But what about the gun? Was it all a ruse? I’m a little confused. Olivia and Peter are trying to get through the gate as Walter climbs deeper into the sewer, singing a song as he goes. How brave and sacrificial of him don’t you think? Who knew Walter could relate to people on that level? He just seems so out of touch with the world around him! He seems to have just book and science smarts but no real people skills. But maybe I was wrong. Maybe he is aware and just chooses when to show it? I was moved by his selflessness, but also afraid we might lose are mad scientist forever.

Finally, Walter comes to the end of the sewer line and knows the animal is there. I mean we can all hear it. Drip goes the water from above… or is that water? It is above him, with its large claws protruding around the arch above. Harriett is angry and knocks him down. There is a gunshot and the beast falls on the ground. Olivia and Peter emerge around the corner with Olivia’s gun barrel still hot. It is dead.  Now that monster is dead, they get the blood from it and go back to the lab to save Charlie. But what about Walter? Didn’t he drink poison? How do they save him before the hour is up and he dies?

So they finally get the blood back to Charlie and transfuse him. It works! Can you believe something that crazy would work? Charlie is grateful but wants to know how to extract them from his body. Walter matter-of-factly says, “You crap them out.” Yum! I wonder if his wife will notice. That is when Charlie goes home and gets in bed with his wife. He is happy to be alive and at home. Crisis averted.

The final scene wasn’t a big reveal or anything to talk about much, but it did ring true. Olivia gets home and goes straight to bed; I mean it has been a long day. She lies down and keeps her light on. I guess there could be stuff that goes bump in the night and leaving the light on might help to keep it away. I think I would have done the very same thing! Wouldn’t you?

What a whirlwind! I had to pause my DV-R to get everything in! My fingers hurt! Now that was a good, fun episode. It might have not had anything to do with the observer or the pattern, but it was edge-of-your-seat horror with a fish monster! The other thing that came out in the episode that I would like to discuss is Peter and Olivia’s sister. I can’t ever remember her name so I am just going to call her Olivia’s sister. At the beginning of the episode, Peter calls and Olivia answers. She thinks there is an emergency but he is calling her sister! You should have seen her face: surprise, shock and a little jealous? She confronts Peter during the investigation and he says it was nothing; they were just talking about the Pina Colada song and its name. He asks Olivia if she is jealous and she says no. But what is the undercurrent of this whole small story line? I think they both are starting to notice their chemistry for each other. But, if Peter dates her sister, can she still date him later? Wouldn’t that break the sister code? I’m not sure; my sister dated a guy after I dated him, so I guess it could happen. But let’s hope not, right? Wouldn’t that just suck? Oliter forever. Pelivia forever (or whatever you want to call them).

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