The episode starts off with a strange exchange between Nina and Olivia. I guess now that Walter owns Massive Dynamic Nina's not quite as dubious a character, but Olivia's not very forthcoming on the best of times and given their past and Nina's constant cloak and dagger routines I thought it odd that Olivia would be so familiar with her, going so far as to comment on the state of her relationship with Peter. Although I suppose this was as good a setup as any for that conversation with Peter that seems to be a feature of every episode. This time, Olivia confronted Peter to see if he still has feelings for her alternate, and Peter gives her a speech about how much he loves this Olivia. But he's given her the same speech so many times I feel like he should be at the point of telling her off when she rubs his nose in it week after week, despite fairly transparent passive aggression. If this episode is any indication, unfortunately, their relationship (and Peter's accidental infidelity) is only going to become more central to the show as the series progresses.
Nina takes her usual place in the dugout fairly early on, but has more screen time this episode than she has in a while, but still hasn't really elaborated her character at all. She describes her relationship with William Bell as "complicated," and muses to herself on his many secrets. Does anyone else remember that she and Broyles made out like two years ago? Was that just one crazy weekend or something? Either way, it adds some sexy tension to a scene shared between them and CIA correspondent Agent Edwards played by the delicious JR Bourne. "What Nina Sharpe wants, she gets." Do I see a three-way in the future? Cross your fingers.
Despite being largely about Peter, he's not actually that involved in the plot - no acknowledgement is given to the "Peter might be going crazy" element introduced last week. The bad guys here are trying to use a chemical weapon that dissolves bones and when the only lead is in a coma, Walter tries bringing in telepathic Cortexiphan kid, new character Simon Philips, to stop the weapon from being used again.
Telepathy is definitely no stranger to X-Files, particularly with recurring character Gibson Praise, and Simon's need to exile himself from society because hearing people think drives him crazy is reminiscent of an episode ("Tin Man") of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Fringe doesn't really add anything in that capacity, but Simon was a welcome addition to the roster, if perhaps a tad convenient for him to be necessary right when Olivia's trying to sort out what Peter is thinking. I'll be curious to see what (if anything) the show decides to do with Simon, as Olivia's immunity to his powers could propel her to involve herself in his life. Fringe seems to know better than to have characters using superpowers on a regular basis, and while I don't advocate having Simon the mind-reader helping out on every case, it would be nice to give Olivia an alternative love interest to Peter, if for no other reason than to add another factor to the newest reveal from Sam Weiss. Simon is also another reminder to Walter that he spent many years indiscriminately ruining lives. They share an exchanged glance that may have been one of the best moments of the episode. Another being Anna Torv in an evening dress.
Now that Fauxlivia is out of the picture and we're not alternating weekly between Universe A and Universe 1, Fringe has had to focus in on some plot points that seem insignificant in comparison to what's come before. Fauxlivia's involvement added some great tension to every scene she was in, and we also benefited from having Charlie and Lee who are both much cooler characters than Peter. Obviously it couldn't last forever, but now it feels like we're treading water waiting for it to get awesome again. I'm not worried that it won't get back into the groove, or whatever - 24 episode seasons are long seasons, these days - and it seems to have consistent ratings so it probably won't just up and get cancelled. But we may be in the middle of a slight dry spell.
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