|Air Date:||28 January 2011|
|Written by:||Josh Singer|
|Directed by:||Jeannot Szwarc|
|Guest Cast:|| Charles Parnell as James Falcon|
Ryan McDonald as Brandon
Sean Campbell as Zach Alpert
Melissa Stubbs as Jackie Bermudez
|Next:||Concentrate And Ask Again|
|Transcript — Additional Images|
Reciprocity is the eleventh episode of the third season of FRINGE. It first aired on January 28, 2011. The science team joins Massive Dynamic to help analyze the reconstructed components that were dispersed around the planet and are surprised when it shows life. Walter discovers a terrible secret about Peter’s role in making the device operational. The discovery of dead shapeshifters add to the concern.
Synopsisremote, high-security, airbase in a wooded area, a caravan of vehicles approach the access gate in the dark of the night. The lead military vehicle pulls through while the government vehicle it was escorting stops for a security check with the armed military sentries. Agent Phillip Broyles and his science team are inside the car and headed for a meeting within the compound. Broyles shows his credentials and the team is granted access. Walter finds time to solicit one of the guards for a piece of gum... he needs help with a blocked Eustachian tube. Inside a lengthy hangar, scientists and technicians cluster at one end and focus on their tasks. Nina Sharp confers with one of her top scientists, James Falcon, about finding a viable power source to activate the project they are working on - the Wave Sink Device. So far, nothing has worked. All of the diagnostics have been completed, and the device continues to be unresponsive. Nina is called away to greet the Fringe team. She escorts them through the facility to the hangar and asks if there has been any progress in decrypting the computer that Peter snagged from Olivia's counterpart from the alternate universe. Broyles tells her that the coded journal was recently cracked, with password help from Peter. The data file was huge and contained hundreds of pages of observations about this
The team gets to the business end of the hangar and stands in awe - Olivia comments that the device is bigger than she had imagined. Peter chimes in - he supposes it may be just big enough to destroy a couple of universes. Doctor Falcon starts his orientation briefing for the team, but is interrupted by Walter... wanting to know what governmental agency Falcon works for. Nina sees where Walter is going with his questions and makes a proper introduction. Doctor Falcon is Massive Dynamic's lead scientist on the project. Walter's tone changes - he is always happy to meet one of his employees. Falcon continues to the meat of his briefing - his researchers are confounded. The device doesn't seem to have an energy source and doesn't seem to be able to hold, or to transmit, any type of power. Nina and Peter agree that the component the 'other Olivia' took may have been the power source - it came from the center of the device. Suddenly, an electromagnetic spike causes all of the monitors and screens in the area to fluctuate, metallic objects start tipping over and metal chairs on casters start to slide around. Peter's nose trickles blood as everyone in the hangar looks at the device as it activates and reconfigures itself. After it finishes with its transformation, the question is - what triggered it? Peter knows... it was him.The First People" book repeatedly. Walter is worried most about Peter's health... the device at the remote base caused the nosebleed, and there is nothing in the book to suggest how it works, or how it is connected to Peter. Walter is not alone, Peter wants answers too - and he wants his father a little less wound-up, he can't protect his son from everything. Peter brings Walter back to his comfort place - the realm of food. The first PB&J goes to Walter.
The next day, in a Massive Dynamic biomedical testing facility, James Falcon prepares Peter for a time-consuming body scan in an MRI-like chamber. Walter is opposed to the procedure and feels that is unnecessary. Falcon just wants to determine if Peter's unique electromagnetic signature did indeed trigger the device. Walter insists that it is very unlikely the activation they witnessed had anything to do with electromagnetics. The amount of radiation alone that Peter will be exposed to during the scan is sufficient cause for concern. William Bell's research and detailed notes about the portions of his brain that were removed. He is certain that Bell took additional measures that would inhibit Walter's brain from replicating, or regrowing brain cells. Walter knows that with a fully repaired mind he will be smart enough to determine how Peter is connected to the device. Nina reminds him that the work Bell performed on him was more than fifteen years prior... but she will look into it. Olivia joins Peter for a chat before testing begins. He kids around... he might use his newfound superpowers to make this scanning chamber levitate. She is curious why she couldn't get a hold of him last night. He tells her he had to go for a walk, you know, get out of the house and away from Walter for awhile. Olivia accepts Peter's statement and leaves the room with Doctor Falcon as the electromagnetic measuring begins.
← Outside of the Massachusetts Port Authority, in a park plaza between large buildings, a civil servant stops
Agent Broyles catches Astrid alone in Walter's lab with a request that will keep her research sequestered away from the rest of the science team. He tells her that the encryption team working to exploit the data in Bolivia's hard drive has their hands full with hundreds of pages of data: details about this world, profiles on our assets, and mission specific details. Astrid had heard it was a big mess, still, she is willing to help where she can. Broyles suspected that she might have that attitude, but needs to qualify her participation... the logs are filled with observations about Peter, and the relationship he shared with the spy. Broyles needs Astrid to keep the contents and revelations she uncovers from Olivia, considering how much she has been through. Astrid vows discretion. Broyles gives her what she needs to access the database from the lab, then leaves following a call about the submerged Port Authority employee.
At Massive Dynamic, Peter's testing continues and Walter wants it halted because Peter's pulse is above a hundred and thirty beats per minute. Doctor Falcon admits the narrow tachycardia is high, but there is no danger to Peter and it would be ridiculous to stop testing. Falcon doesn't believe Peter's condition triggered the machine, but his condition is curious and more testing is in order. Walter fumes - he doesn't want his son to become a lab rat! Olivia calms Walter before she is called to join Broyles.
At the Port Authority, Broyles and Olivia walk around the grounds and discuss what is known. Michael Baird was the individual found in the pond. The Medical Examiner estimates Baird was murdered in the early morning hours. The fish in the pond died from mercury poisoning because Baird is a shapeshifter. Baird also had the storage disk in his lower back removed. Olivia is curious who would be killing shapeshifters, other than Fringe Division, of course. Maybe Secretary Bishop sent over an assassin to clean up the loose ends. Broyles calls Astrid and asks her to check Bolivia's database for the name 'Michael Baird'. Baird is in the spy's database. Broyles orders the database sealed immediately. No one but Astrid is permitted to access it. Broyles shares some of what he has been keeping from Olivia. He tells her that the encryption was cracked on Bolivia's database a day and a half earlier. Maybe Baird was killed because someone involved with the investigation has turned. Fringe Division may have a mole.
In Walter's lab, most of the team gathers around Astrid to discuss what has been extracted from Bolivia's database. Broyles figures the shapeshifter was eliminated because someone thought the investigation would reveal him fairly soon. That someone could be anyone who had access to the hard drive - the FBI decryption teams, researchers at Massive Dynamic. Nina and Walter have already started interviewing personnel at Massive Dynamic. The decrypted file has hundreds of names, including local police and government employees. Baird and Newton are on the list, so Astrid assumes there are more shapeshifters listed in the database as well. Broyles adds that everyone on the list is being profiled to see if any recent behavior suggests they have been replaced by a shapeshifter. Olivia wants to help with the database, but Broyles wants her in the field. He admits he has been keeping her away from the database because Peter, and his relationship with the other Olivia, figures quite prominently in the compromised information.Interviews are underway at Massive Dynamic as Brandon questions Special Agent Goldin while drawing blood. Goldin answers the series of questions dutifully while the science team monitors the procedure from a nearby observation room. Almost thirty individuals, from the corporation and the federal agency, are slated for interviews. Peter and Olivia point-out that lie detection testing is not reliable, in and of itself. Nina tells that this lie detection process is. William Bell designed it to measure
Interviews and blood testing continue at Massive Dynamic without any clear leads. Olivia and Peter have been monitoring the process and talk about the case. Olivia's knows that he and Bolivia have been intimate, and that Peter has been trying to protect her feelings, but, since things can't get worse, maybe they should just move on and let her help Astrid decode the file. Peter reminds her of his past... he has conned people before and knows what he would have written about those people in a journal like that. Peter doesn't want Olivia to see him as a fool. Brandon finishes with the last interview and Olivia asks about Doctor Falcon. Brandon tells her Falcon wasn't on the team that worked on the hard drive. Then why was he asking questions about it at the hangar the day before? Brandon makes a call to have Falcon sent up for questioning and learns - Falcon left work early.
At James Falcon's Residence, a large tactical squad of agents swarm inside to locate the errant biomedical engineer. Falcon is home, but lays disabled on the floor, in a pool of his own shapeshifter mercury.
In the aftermath at Falcon's home, Olivia laments at getting to Falcon too late. Just like Baird, Falcon has been shot twice in the head and his data storage unit has been removed. From the lab, Astrid confirms that Falcon's name was in the encrypted data file, part of a list of Massive Dynamic employees. Astrid figures the eliminated shapeshifters must have known something important. Olivia is sending Falcon to her, she needs Walter to examine the remains to find anything that may help identify the killer. Nobody has had any luck identifying the remaining shapeshifters. Olivia gets the sense that they are always just one step behind the assassin.
In Walter's lab, as he and Astrid start to examine the disabled shapeshifter, Walter gets a craving for a banana... his least favorite fruit. Walter is curious about what Bolivia wrote about him in the file. Astrid assures him that Bolivia thought he was kind and brilliant - she liked him. As they sit Falcon upright, Walter grimaces like an aggressive primate, then apologizes. He must have ingest the DNA serum for Bell's test chimpanzee. Astrid is concerned - is he growing chimp DNA in his brain? Maybe, just a bit, but Walter believes his immune system will recognize it as foreign and reject it. Falcon's body reveals one thing. Blood under the fingernails.
Back at Falcon's residence, Peter and Olivia continue their inspection. One of the downstairs windows has been jimmied open. That suggests that Falcon and his assassin were not acquainted. If they were, Falcon would have granted access through a door. Olivia wants to talk about their relationships some more. She owes him an apology. The last few weeks have been really hard for her and she has been focused on what was done too her, but she has neglected to consider what was done to him. She is sorry... Bolivia is gone now and it is time to get past it. Peter agrees and thanks her. He checks his vibrating phone and excuses himself - he has to get to Massive Dynamic for more testing. He will take the train instead of her driving him, but if she would... call Walter and let him know that he will be home late, and not to worry. After Peter leaves, Astrid call and informs Olivia that they found blood under Falcon's fingernails. Type A-positive. Only one person with that blood type had access to the file. Nina's Chief Scientist - Brandon.
On a bustling urban street, a woman rushes along, checking to see if anyone is following her. She cuts between two buildings, up a staircase, through a loading dock and into a quiet back alley. She is quickly solicited by a transient man hoping to receive some spare change. Less worried about whoever was following her, Jackie Bermudez grabs the vagrant and violently snaps his neck. With no one around, she plugs her shape-changing device into the soft palate in his mouth, crushes portions of her face to accommodate the pending transformation, then initiates the device.
At Massive Dynamic, Nina escorts Broyles, Dunham and two additional agents quickly through the halls en route to one of her labs. At their destination, the agents level their weapons at the snacking Brandon. His orders are not to move.
In the back alley where Jackie Bermudez sought refuge, her transformation is complete. She is now a simple man of the streets, but too late - Peter Bishop emerges from the shadows firing his silenced pistol several times as he advances... permanently disabling another shapeshifter.
The search for the shapeshifter killer continues at Massive Dynamic with interviews utilizing Bell's lie detector. Brandon passes his interview.
Later, back at Walter's lab, Olivia accepts the facts of the past and decides she needs to go through Bolivia's diary to help find the pattern that leads to the remaining shapeshifters and the killer.
At the Bishop residence, Walter is making an banana split. He gets whipped cream on his face and hands and answers the phone. It's Nina Sharp. He tells her that the first sample of the DNA serum was definitely chimpanzee, and he's ready for the next round. Nina's looking for Peter. Walter thought he was there undergoing further tests. Nina shares her concern about Walter's feelings about the testing, but also his knowledge of the importance of them.
Walter then goes to Peter's room and discovers a list of the names in the compromised database. Some of the names are circled -- the targeted shapeshifters.
Outside Zach Alpert's home, Peter waits in his car.
Back at the lab, Astrid walks over to Olivia with concern and asks if she is okay.
Olivia reads aloud from the journal and finds that Bolivia was developing true feelings for Peter. She understands that Peter is a great guy, that she and Bolivia are more alike than she thought, and suddenly figures out the code. Using her mother's appellation for her "Olive" she uses a substitution code to discover the remaining shapeshifters.
At Zach's apartment, Peter shims open a window lock on the building he has been sitting outside of. He climbs through the window, closes it and affixes a silencer to the pistol he has. He slinks across the apartment to the room with the television set that is on. He fires twice into the body sitting in front of the television. It falls to the floor. A dummy dressed in Zach's clothing. Peter turns and is smacked in the head with the butt of a pistol, collapsing to the floor. Zach says "Hello, my friend. I was expecting you."
Zach stands over Peter with a gun to the back of his head. He asks Peter how he got his information and how he found him. Shapeshifter knows about Peter and tells him that they can hurt him even if they cannot kill him and presses a screwdriver to Peter's temple.
Walter arrives at Zach's and begin searching for him. Walter's discovery of Zach and Peter distracts Zach. Peter takes advantage and knocks Zach to the ground and his pistol is knocked free. As Zach reaches for it, Peter chops off his fingers with a meat cleaver, mercury flows from the now severed fingers. Zach yells and Peter retrieves the pistol and shoots him twice in the chest. Walter stares in amazement.
Broyles learns of the disappearance of Jackie Bermudez and how Olivia broke the code. He and Olivia are driving separately through the city at night, he barely avoids a collision and they determine their next destination.
At Zach's apartment, Peter has the pistol trained on Zach and asks Walter how he found him. Walter tells him how and that he's smart enough to use a phone book.
Peter rolls the shapeshifter over and slices open his back and removes the data disk from his lower spine. Walter asks if Peter killed all the shapeshifters. Peter affirms Walters guess stating that his efforts were useless. The data disks didn't provide any useful information.
He's hopeful to learn something from Zach's disk. He has to know what they know and is tired of being reactive.
Walter can't believe that Peter could do what he's done, but Peter tells him they're soldiers, not human and would kill them if they could. After saying he's not doing anything wrong, he rolls Zach over and shoots him in the forehead, terminating him. Walter's dismay shows as he asks why Peter didn't tell them what he was doing. Peter's phone rings. Its Olivia filling him in on what she's learned and where the last shapeshifter lives.
Olivia arrives at Zach's and gets out of her car just as Broyles arrives. Both race inside with pistols drawn and find the remains of the shapeshifter.A dejected Olivia catches up with Peter and Walter back at their house. She is frustrated that the killer got all of the shapeshifters and they failed to identify the killer and were always being a step behind him. Peter tells her that they still have Bolivia's computer. He notices Walter's disapproving look. He hopes Astrid can learn something from it.
Olivia agrees and stands to leave. She and Walter exchange goodbyes and Walter continues eying Peter as he and Olivia head for the door. Olivia tells Peter that he has nothing to be embarrassed about as she has read Bolivia's file. Peter thanks her with a note of relief in his voice. Olivia leaves.
Walter thinks he understands what is happening to Peter and tells him that the machine may have weaponized him. Peter asks what do we do next? Walter says he doesn't know. Peter walks away as Walter thinks about that.
Back at Massive Dynamic, Nina and Brandon have three copies of the First People's book on a table in front of them. Nina studies them and asks where they were obtained. Brandon tells her and notes that having unlimited funds helped. She learns that they all say, nearly word for word, the same thing.
Brandon hypothesizes that one of the major extinctions of Earth's past may have wiped out the authors. He also relates that someone else was looking for copies of the book as well. William Bell.
Back at his home, Peter studies his face in the mirror. The eyes are darker. Maybe a touch of grey has started. Definitely more resolve as he heeds his father's words. Maybe the device has touched him... weaponized him.
- The Observer stands behind the crowd at the Port Authority crime scene where the first shapeshifter was exterminated.
- Seahorse. An emblem resembling the sea creature is on Peter's bag.
- Recurring Themes
- Electromagnetic Signature. Falcon assesses the unique electromagnetic signature of Peter to check if he could have triggered the Wave Sink Device. Joseph Meegar's unique electromagnetic signature was used to track him. (Power Hungry)
- Episode References
Brain Surgery. Walter asks for Nina's help to regrow the brain pieces that Bell removed. (Grey Matters)
- Peter and the Machine. Walter reminds Peter how the machine successfully weaponized him. He recalls Peter telling him how the device on the other side came alive after touching. (6955 kHz)
• You Make Me Feel Like Dancing by Leo Sayers
|— Plot Relevant Questions —||Address theories about questions on Reciprocity/Theories Ask minor questions on the Talk Page|
1) Do not answer the questions here.
- How many copies/variants of The First People book are there?
- Other than Seamus Wiles, who are the authors of the other (non-English) versions?
- Did Brandon include the English language version by Seamus Wiles when he told Nina they found more editions in three different languages?
- Why was William Bell searching for The First People book?
- Did he find any?
- Was the search conducted by someone other than William Bell?
- When Nina suggested to Walter that Peter talk to someone about the events he recently endured, did she have Sam Weiss in mind?
- Did James Falcon (a shapeshifter) alter, or lie about, Peter's test results to obscure Peter's ability from Walter, Nina, etc...?
- How did Peter identify the shapeshifters on the list before anyone else?
- Did Peter learn of the shapeshifters he targeted from a source other than Bolivia's journal?
- Does the memory storage disk taken from Zach Alpert's lower spine contain useable information?
- Why does the Wave Sink Device respond only to Peter's presence?
- Was Peter genuinely worried about being considered a fool when Olivia pressed him about accessing Bolivia's files?
- If not, was he trying to delay her efforts in solving the embedded code in the files?