Fox unearthed an episode involving a never-seen-before case of a dead girl coming back to life, which happened to be “possessed” by a Russian speaking navy officer.  Since this episode is supposedly in Season 1, we see Olivia’s partner Agent Charlie (and Astrid’s old hairstyle) alive and kicking.  Fringe, in this episode, seems to get into the world of Ghost Whisperer, as Andrew Rusk need to (fulfill his unfinished business) avenge his death by going after the responsible for the murder, his wife.

Confused viewers

A lot of people are confused with this episode.  They were wondering as to why Agent Charlie “came back from the death” in this episode and thought they missed something.  I actually didn’t get it since Fox should have promoted this episode as a never-before-seen episode from Season 1.  Perhaps, they haven’t promoted much?  Or perhaps, Fox did this for gimmick?

Added to this confusion is the timeline on which the episode should have taken place.  Personally, I also feel confused.  This episode is the stand-alone that anyone never knew where should it be.  Will the writers and showrunners reveal its place in Season 1?  Or do we take this case occurred in the alternate universe?  Aaah.  This is just so fringe-y.

Not just the viewers are confused.  Even Fox is confused.  They announced this as Season 1 episode, but they now offcially called it as the 11th episode of Season 2.  Are they doing this to hide another episode the 2nd Season?

Allusions to other episodes

What made me like this episode very much is that I saw many hints to other episodes.  Was this episode actually really shelved and as such the writers thought of reviving some “cool” ideas to some Season 2 episodes?

1.  Rising up from the dead.

Lisa Donovan waking up from her death and speaking random military code and Russian words reminded me of Olivia Dunham waking up from her coma and speaking a Greek phrase in the New Day in Old Town.  Not only that, remember Olivia having that bell cue in Momentum Deferred?  I find it interesting that when Olivia said this line: “Lisa, I just have a couple more questions. The man’s name is Andrew Rusk. Does that ring any BELL?”  That is when Lisa got the cue to say the Russian words.

2. Car crash.

The cause of Lisa Donovan’s coma status was the same as Olivia’s.  Both of them suffered a car crash.  And the scene at the end of the episode is a reminiscent of the car crash in The New Day in Old Town.

3. Religious theme.

The priest got a lot of exposure in this episode.  Too much that I had thought that he will shapeshift into Agent Jessup.  Does anyone think that the religious theme in this episode could have give birth to the character of Agent Jessup?

4. Russian connection.

Is there any connection between Unearthed and the Broyles-centric episode Earthling?  Both episode has to do with Russians, plus the ionizing radiation.

5. Pirate flag.

The pirate flag that is in the TV screen of FBI headquarters is also seen in the episode of There’s More than One of Everything.

What have we learned from this episode?

1. Peter, yet again, showed his ability to understand multiple language.  He was able to understand Russian language, because he dated a Russian girl once.  Will the Russian girl resurface and tie the knot between Unearthed and Earthling?  Is there a deeper reason why Peter knew a lot of language?

2. Skeptic vs Believer

Peter is a skeptic.  I think this is more of a season 1 Peter than Season 2.  I think Peter is more and more accepting the Fringe sciences of his father Walter.  And speaking of Walter, I think we would agree that he is a believer.  It is really interesting to see that rational scientist would take the step of believing something impossible (well… could be because of being a Fringe scientist).  I love how Walter mentioned that even as a scientist, we have to sometimes rely on faith.

3. Olivia’s fathers.

Olivia opened up to Peter with regards to her father.  It seems to apply that her father is abusive to her mother.  I find the childhood of Olivia to be very harsh, she has two abusive “fathers”, her real father and stepfather.

4. Peter’s sickness.

It has been a puzzle until now, what is the whole story on Peter’s death and sickness.  In this episode, he mentioned that he is “always sick” and didn’t have any real friends.

Some more Fringe thoughts:

1. I think it is not a coincidence that the number 8 in the mass schedule is bigger than any other numbers in there.

2. Peter caught Walter talking with coma patients.  And made an interesting theory about floating spirits.  It makes me wonder if Walter actually play with this idea in the past.  Also, that scene actually made me think that it is such a heartbreaking when Walter visit his “real” son in the cemetery.  I’m pretty sure he will be talking with his dead son.

3. Peter commented on the green and red balloons and funny how Lisa responded to him and said “Welcome back from the dead”.  This almost allude to the fact that Peter was dead and he came back to this world through the alternate reality.  It may also be a funny joke on the fact that Charlie came back from the dead in this episode, even if it was not intended to be.

4. “If you tell me the U.S. Government is covering something up, I’ll tell you it must be Tuesday.”  Peter’s line here showed how much he is skeptic about the government.  Also, it has to be noted that Fringe was on Tuesday during its Season 1.

5. The US Naval Officer confessed that Andrew Rusk was given a radiation inhibitor.  It makes me wonder where did this inhibitor came from…. could it be Massive Dynamic?  Was this inhibitor an experimental drug for spirit transfer?

6. Little Star.  The episode explained that Little Star is a nickname given to Rusk’s wife.  I suspected, otherwise.  I have a feeling that Little Star is a project of some sort.  Having that guy in the car crash uttered the “Little Star” in Russian language could mean more than what we thought it means.

7. The observer is found in the scene where Olivia is talking with Maureen outside of the church.

8.  The glyph spells out AVENGE, perhaps pointing at the unfinished business of Andrew Rusk.