Liberty

Fringe Liberty
Season 5, Episode 12
Air date	January 18, 2013
Written by	Alison Schapker
Directed by	P. J. Pesce
← previous The Boy Must Live	next → An Enemy of Fate
Cast | Transcript

"Liberty" is the twelfth episode of the fifth season of Fringe and aired right before the series finale, making it the first of the two-hour finale event.

Synopsis

The team engages their desperate final plan to defeat the Observers as Olivia embarks on a dangerous and otherworldly journey into the unknown.

Plot

After Michael gives himself up to Captain Windmark, he is taken to a secure facility on Liberty

Windmark and his superior in 2609.

Island, where Windmark attempts to study Michael but finds the boy's mind impossible to read (doing so gives him a nosebleed and ruptures a blood vessel in his eye). He orders more invasive diagnostics to determine what Michael is. Discovering that the boy's emotions have allowed his intelligence to exceed that of the Observers, Windmark returns to 2609 to suggest to his superior that they destroy the child to protect themselves, but instead is told to simply "disassemble" the boy for future study. Broyles is able to learn of Michael's location and relays that information to the Fringe team but cautions them that the facility is

Liberty Island plans.

nearly impossible to infiltrate. While brainstorming ideas, Olivia suggests the possibly of re-injecting her with Cortexiphan to let her cross over to the parallel universe, travel to Liberty Island there, cross back and retrieve Michael, and

Donald and the device.

then repeat these steps to get back safely. However, Peter worries about the effects of re-dosing Olivia with potentially lethal levels of the drug, while Walter is concerned with the unknown condition of the parallel universe. Astrid suggests using the universe-window (Peter (episode)) to determine the state of the parallel universe, and through this, find that there are no signs of the Observer invasion there, giving Olivia's plan credibility.

Olivia on the other side.

While September returns to the lab to start assembly of the device to send Michael into the future, the Fringe team goes to an underground safe-house to prepare Olivia for crossing over. Walter administers four doses - one for each expected crossing - despite the harm it does her, with her vital signs spiking dangerously. As the drug takes effect,

Olivia and Lincoln.

Peter and Walter have a discussion about the nature of sacrifice. When Olivia recovers from the injections, Walter warns her of how long she has and that jumping too fast will cause rapid withdrawal symptoms. Olivia jumps over near the site of the parallel universe Fringe division

Olivia experiencing double visions of the two universes.

building where she is met by her doppelganger and current leader of the Fringe division, Bolivia, and her former partner from the prime universe, Lincoln Lee; the two have since married and have a son. They arrange transport to Liberty Island and take her to the coordinates they believe Michael

Micheal being experimented on.

is being kept at; Olivia crosses over but finds too late that the boy is being taken to surgery, while she herself starts experiencing double visions of the two universes. She fights her way

December's Door.

through Observers, and stops the operation in time, with Michael smiling at the sight of her. With the boy, Olivia crosses back over, where Bolivia and Lincoln help to stop an Observer that followed her back across. Olivia thanks them for their help and crosses back over at Battery Park with Michael.

In the conclusion, Windmark discovers that Broyles had relayed Michael's location to the Fringe team. Meanwhile, Donald has completed the device, but one component fails to work. He goes to December and requests a favor.

Notable Quotes

Olivia: I made my choices. You made yours. I don't regret any of them and neither should you. You deserve all the happiness that you got.

Windmark: It has developed an intellect more advanced than our own and a capacity for emotional responsiveness far greater than the native humans ... it possesses capabilities our diagnostic instruments cannot measure and that we are ... unable to comprehend ... I believe the fugitives intend to use the Anomaly as a means to our destruction.

Walter: I created Cortexiphan. There is no better authority.

Bolivia: You can stop checking out my young ass.

Notes

Goofs

• Walter retrieves the stored Cortexiphan from a fridge in the lab. However, the power supply for the lab was blocked for several years, so refrigeration of the drugs was interrupted for a significant amount of time. Even though it is stated that the shelf life of Cortexiphan is at least 127 years, this surely refers to the refrigerated drug. Otherwise it would not have been stored in a fridge. Thus, it is not ensured, that the drug is indeed still fit for use.

December

• At the end of the episode, it is revealed that December's room number is 513, symbolic of the next episode, season five, episode thirteen: the very last episode of Fringe.

Cypher

L	O	V	E	D