A man came in to the Vitas Petrol office, only to collapse and died with ruptured veins, causing to spray his blood everywhere. The death required the investigation of Olivia and Peter, who were later quarantined inside the building to prevent the spread of a deadly virus. Walter and Astrid tried to unlock the mysterious virus in order to find cure and to stop a possible global infection. Walter got emotional with Peter’s condition, almost confessing to Astrid the death of his real son, Peter.
Where are we now?
It is just highly annoying that, again, we have a stand-alone episode. It’s been halfway of the series and we are still being teased of Peter’s real identity. Despite of great acting, great characterization and great story, it still fail in the mytharc storytelling. If you have more stand-alone episodes than the mytharc, I think you will eventually lose audience, rather than gaining. Moreover, having a stand-alone just make the impression that the show has little to explore, when in fact there’s a lot of issues that the Fringe characters need to deal with. Another disappointment for me is the fact that Nina Sharp has been AWOL for quite awhile. If I remember it right the last time we see her is on Of Human Action, reporting to William Bell.
Virus
The virus was taken from an exploratory oil dig of Solum Oil, of which the whereabout is unknown. I’m quite intrigued as to what is the whole point of the oil dig by the Solum Oil, especially it was mention in the episode that the soil sample was kept in an airtight protective case. Given that, then they should know that the sample could contain deadly virus.
Assuming Solum Oil is in Dubai, where Radjan found to have came from a couple of days before, why did it take him so long to appear the symptoms? Was there anything in Vitas Petrol that actually triggered a dormant virus that is in the body of Radjan? It also makes me wonder what if Radjan was used as a pawn of Solum Oil to attack Vitas Petrol?
The biggest mystery, perhaps, of the episode is why did Peter showed the dilated veins symptoms then revert back to normal, when the other victims died after showing that symptoms? Is that another Peter’s special unknown ability or due to different physiology since he came from the alternate universe.
In last season, episode Safe, Walter mentioned that Peter was infected with a deadly flu virus. It makes me wonder if this episode is like some sort of re-enactment for Walter, trying to find a cure for his son?
Peter vs Olivia
To be honest, the whole Peter vs Olivia is a bit off. But I think the writers place there for a reason. Could it possibly be a sign of a fight between the two realities, with Peter on the side of the alternate universe, while Olivia defending our universe?
Walter’s revelation
Like what I said before, the writers teased us once more. And seems like Astrid found out that somewhere in the past, Peter could have died. And Walter’s response to Astrid of “some things are meant to be left alone.” Did Astrid figured out that Peter is from the alternate universe?
My bold answer is no. But I’m pretty sure, Astrid is juggling on the idea that Walter could have revive a dead Peter. And I will be really disappointed if this is not address next week, and if we have another stand-alone episode.
Blue lights.
The blue lights reappeared! This happened when Peter was injected with the antidote for the virus. It could probably just mean Peter is from the alternate universe.
More Olivia
Another thing about Olivia in this episode that she doesn’t want to bother Rachel because she had been going through a lot after what had Olivia experience in the first episode of Season 2.
Not only does she feel protective to Rachel but also to Peter, it is the second time that Olivia didn’t like the idea of bringing in the army to deal with the problem. This is sort of the same scene where Olivia in Of Human Action, questioned Broyles and that Peter could be a collateral damage.
Other stuff that you might have missed.
1. Vitas Petrol. I knew that there’s something odd about the name of the company, so I tried my best to search what does Vitas mean. But to no avail, I ended up with a name of a Russian singer, which I doubtly a reference to. But thanks to Fringepedia, Vitas Petrol is in fact an anagram of Viral Test Op. It makes me more convince that Radjan is a pawn and Vitas Petrol is a test target.
2. Peter was watching a 1950s film “Forbidden Planet“.
3. Briefcase. At first I was intrigued that what if Radjan is a courier of the observer? But of course, it doesn’t make sense that he left the briefcase in a service car. Nonetheless, it is interesting to point out that the briefcase has been an important aspect of Fringe mythology.
4. The observer can be seen walking passed by in the background when the two CDC officers were talking about having the building contained for Level 6 Eradication. Also, the glyph spells out WINDOW, for some reason, means nothing to me in this episode.
Good review, Xerophytes, although I disagree about the “fail” in the mytharc department. At first I thought so too, but by the end they mixed in enough Peter/Walter stuff to win me over. Your read of the Peter/Olivia fight is right on. This is what she will face — fighting someone she cares about — if he goes over to the blight side once he finds out his true origins. It didn’t seem as much like a “monster of the week” stand alone because the idea of bio-weaponry has appeared in Fringe several times, including the pilot. Love the find of the Viral Test Op anagram!
Thanks, Lola.
Yeah, thinking about it, you can say that this season got an overarching theme of creation of weapon for war. I just hope that the writers will reveal this sooner and not later.
There’s so much to tackle in the show, but they are just being so tangent, which I don’t really appreciated. I find the storyline of Fringe so slow that you tend to think the writers are just stretching it out.
Maybe, I’m just impatient? It is already halfway of the season, I am dying to see Peter knowing his true self and please, not in the final episode of Season 2!