Post Game TV Recap: FRINGE S02E13 "What Lies Below"

Some viewers may have seen “What Lies Below” as simply another filler episode, but I felt like it was more than that and was a great episode.  It began with a businessman traveling in an elevator with a mail courier.  The courier becomes concerned as he notices that the businessman is not feeling well, complete with a nose bleed.  As they step off the elevator, the man’s veins began to bulge and he suddenly spews blood over everyone near him.

The mysterious circumstances of his death brought the Fringe team in to investigate.  As Olivia and Peter begin to question those that witnessed the death, the mail courier succumbed to the same type of death as the businessman.  With Walter’s advice, Broyles quarantines the building and the CDC is called in to assist.  Walter and Astrid find a way of identifying the infected people, but not before Peter becomes infected himself.  

Terrified of losing Peter again, Walter works tirelessly to create an antidote.  In order to gain more time and the ability to administer the antidote, Olivia enters the building again to start up the ventilation system to distribute a gas to knock the infected out.

The most poignant element of this episode was Walter’s struggle with Peter’s infection.  He slips and tells Astrid that he can’t lose Peter “again.”  Of course, this statement plants the seed of wonder into Astrid, and it’s up to the viewers to decide if she really figured out what exactly Walter had meant by that.

This was a solid episode with great plot development and a deeper look at Walter’s past with Peter.  I am still anxious for some alternate universe plot development, but this episode kept me a happy Fringe fan anyway.  How about you?