Recap – Fringe 2.06 – Earthling

Randy Dancik appears to be another man who is lying to his wife about being on a business trip when he is really getting down to business with his mistress but it turns out he is a good guy who is surprising his wife for their anniversary. He gets the card written and the roses arranged and the candles lit but keeps getting distracted by lights in the hall going on and off and the television losing reception. Finally he catches a glimpse of shadow, a glimpse that terrifies him.

Soon-to-be-very-surprised Natalie arrives home and spots all the prep work. She’s impressed. She goes into the living room and sees Randy sitting on a chair. When he doesn’t respond to her compliments, she touches his arm. And he crumbles into a pile of ash.

Broyles is sitting alone in a fancy restaurant when he notices a boy at the next table mimicking his every move. He plays peek-a-boo with a file and the boy does the same with his menu. When the boy is hiding, Broyles gets a call. By the time the boy looks up again, Broyles pulls a Keyser Soze vanishing act.

Walter, Peter and Olivia are on scene. Walter observes that Randy reminds him of a Christmas log because they burn so hot and so fast that they retain their shapes. Then he mentions genitals again. (Question – an obsession for Walter that will actually end up being a plot point or a cheap way to sex up a show where everyone keeps his/her clothes on?) They discuss spontaneous combustion as a source of the fire and dismiss the idea right away because none of the chair was burned. Walter informs them that he’s going to need several vacuum cleaners to get the body back to the lab. I was surprised that no one suggested using hairspray or something to try to solidify the pieces that remained but then I remembered that CSI was on a different station at this time.

Broyles arrives and his first question is a weird one. Had the man been in a hospital in the last 24 hours? Olivia doesn’t know but she can find out.

Broyles has seen this before. Four years ago, five people died in a similar fashion. The Eastern European killer called Broyles and gave him a formula; if he could solve the formula, the killings would stop. Broyles, the FBI, and the CDC couldn’t solve them. There were two more victims and then the killings stopped. Until now.

At Latchmere General Hospital, the Shadow (who is the Shadow? Only the Shadow knows… right now) slips past a nurse and goes down the hall. Broyles and Olivia ask the administrator for a list of Eastern European employees.

As the administrator runs down the files, Peter and Walter empty out the vacuum cleaner bags. Walter is surprised when he discovers that the body/ashes contain no radiation AT ALL. Olivia calls for her update, and Peter informs her that Walter is really getting into the formula – he’s calling it a “her” – but has no answers yet. As Olivia and Broyles continue to wait, Olivia asks her boss why the killer called him. Broyles said that it wasn’t to taunt; the killer sounded distraught and like he genuinely wanted them to solve the formula so they could stop him. Meanwhile, the Shadow sneaks down the hall and into a room with a female patient. When a nurse goes to check on her, a fly lands on the patient’s check and the woman crumbles. Broyles seals the floor just before the administrator comes back with a name – Tomas Brosilov.

Olivia and Broyles hit Tomas’s house but – shocker – it’s empty. Peter arrives and they discover that Tomas has forged all the documents to get his job. Peter confirms Tomas is Russian based on electronic components he finds. Broyles has Agent Anonymous run Tomas’s prints.

Broyles meets Senator Van Horn on a park bench. The senator tells Broyles that the prints tripped an alarm at the CIA and then are taking over the case at the behest of the Russians, who claim that Tomas stole Russian property. The senator is sorry because he knows of Broyles’s special connection to the case but he can’t stop it.

Meanwhile, Tomas unloads an LEAD ACID BATTERY. Yes, really, that’s how it’s labeled. He must have ordered it from the ACME company. He brings the LEAD ACID BATTERY into his motel room, where he places it with about twenty other LEAD ACID BATTERIES beside some Russian equipment. The equipment looks to be from the 80s, so if Russia hasn’t upgraded since then, I really don’t think the arms race is a concern anymore.

Broyles calls Olivia to warn her that the CIA is going to take the case, so she is not to put any information down on paper. Olivia objects – he protects them when they break the rules; who’s going to protect him? At the same time, the tech that Olivia is supervising spots the Shadow on the security tape and confirms that there is nothing in the hallway that can be throwing the shadow. Olivia tells Broyles that they have something he needs to see.

Lab review time. Walter believes that the formula was developed by a Russian Fringe Division. Peter is upset/frustrated; they are having enough trouble keeping track of fringe science in the U.S. Now they have to deal with Russia? Walter notes that the pinkos were really ahead of their time. C’mon, writers, you’ve been doing a great job with Walter’s characterization – don’t get lazy now.

Broyles gets a file from the senator. Tomas had a brother who was a Russian cosmonaut. Something happened to the brother and he ended up in coma on a quarantined ward. Tomas snuck him out and they have been running ever since. The team realizes that Tomas has been hiding his brother in coma wards.

The realization is just a little too late. Tomas sneaks onto the ward and, after sedating a nurse, absconds with his comatose brother.

Back in the lab, Walter has determined that the Shadow is not part of the cosmonaut but is something that he picked up in space. Also, the Shadow seeks out radiation. The first five victims were all undergoing radiation treatment. Unfortunately, as it absorbs the radiation the host is turned to ash. Broyles asks Walter if, knowing this, he can solve the formula. If he can get something from home, Walter says, “Yes, I can dominate her!”

Who wrote this? J.H. Wyman and Jeff Vlaming. You are not allowed to write Walter anymore.

Walter and Peter go to their new house and Walter pulls out some Tinker Toys to build a 3D representation of the formula. Seeing it like that, he is able to solve it but the answer is not what they were hoping for.

Olivia asks Broyles why this case is so important to him. Turns out, this is the case that ended his marriage. Broyles says that Fringe Division was falling out of favour and he was frustrated because he only wanted to make the world safer. Instead, his obsession with this case ended up costing him his family.

Broyles has managed to find Tomas’s cell phone number. He leaves a message for Tomas to contact him because they have solved the formula. Tomas gets this message, as well as one with a job offer in Minneapolis. He’s ready to move on. Tomas has used the battery to build some kind of Faraday cage around his brother to contain the Shadow. Unfortunately, he really needs to crank up the voltage to do it. His brother’s heart stops, but eventually restarts.

Tomas calls Broyles back. Broyles says that they have the answer, but it’s bad news. The space/shadow organism has joined with his brother permanently and there is no way to remove it without killing him. Broyles says that if they had Tomas’s brother they might be able to help him with further study. Tomas listens silently as Broyles tries to convince him (and keep him on the line so Astrid could run a trace) but Tomas does not respond. Then we see him dissolve and the Shadow walk out of the room.

Astrid has the trace! Fringe Team arrives at the motel and finds dead Tomas in the room, comatose brother loaded in the van, and no sign of the Shadow. Walter says they need a lead case for the body but first they need the Shadow to return. Peter, knowing the Shadow can’t survive without the host, suggests hurting the host to draw it back. Walter isn’t sure it will work but Olivia asks him to try.

Suddenly a child’s scream echoes through the parking lot. In a motel room, a little girl sits perfectly still at the foot of the bed in front of the television. Her mom comes out of the shower and, scared at the lack of response, touches her arm. The girl responds. There was a shadow man in her room, but he went away.

That’s because at the sound of the scream, Broyles drew his gun and shot Coma Brother in the head.

Olivia and Broyles watch the Russians load Coma Brother’s body into a lead lined coffin and drive away.

Broyles pays a call on his ex-wife. It’s awkward but not too bitter. He tells her that he solved the case that ended their marriage. She’s happy for him but they both know that it’s not going to change anything. As Broyles walks away, he is stopped by a mystery man in the street, who advises him that crossing the CIA isn’t a good idea. Broyles asks what happened to the cosmonaut’s body. The man says that they didn’t have a choice… once he started breathing again. He looks to the stars and walks away

THOUGHTS AND THEORIES:

Obviously, I was not happy with Walter’s characterization this episode.

On the up side, I love how spontaneous combustion was considered as a cause of death and nobody even blinked. Also, the fact that the shadow was a parasitic alien that a Russian cosmonaut picked up on a spacewalk is ready accepted as the obvious, logical explanation is very refreshing. These are professionals in Fringe Division; we don’t have (nor do we need) a skeptic on board.

Did the CIA and Russians put the body onto a shuttle and send it into space? I got that impression. One – it’s where the organism came from and the dead guy’s not going to mind. Two – the organism can feed off the sun’s radiation and thus will have no reason to come back to earth.

Russian Fringe Division. Was this a one-off episode? Or will we be hearing more about them?