Neither Here nor There

Fringe Neither Here Nor There
Season 4, Episode 1

Air date	September 23, 2011
Written by	Story by: Jeff Pinkner & J.H. Wyman & Akiva Goldsman Teleplay by: J.H. Wyman & Jeff Pinkner
Directed by	Joe Chappelle
← previous The Day We Died	next → One Night in October
Cast \| Transcript

"Neither Here nor There" is the first episode of the fourth season of Fringe.

Synopsis[]

Just one week after Peter Bishop saved the day and was then wiped from existence, the truce between the two worlds remains intact and the two sides are forced to work together. Lincoln Lee joins the Fringe team as they investigate a shapeshifter case that is very personal to him.

Plot[]

In the aftermath of "The Day We Died", Peter Bishop has used the Machine to create a "bridge" between the prime

401 september — December talks to September.

and parallel universe to allow the two sides to work together to resolve the instabilities in both universes; in doing so, Peter has vanished: as according to the Observer September, he never existed. Despite this, the Observers are aware of changes in the original timeline, and echoes of Peter appearing. December tasks September with assuring the last memories of Peter are wiped out. Both universes have created a secure airlock-like system around the shared room housing the Machine within the bridge. At the start of the

episode, the two Olivias, still somewhat distrusting of the other, help to share relevant Fringe files between the two universes. FBI agent Lincoln Lee and his partner of five years, Robert Danzig, are pursuing an arms dealer; while Lee apprehends the man, his partner is killed

by a second, mysterious man with translucent skin and seemingly superhuman abilities. The skin of Danzig's body also becomes translucent after he dies. When forensics comes on the scene, Olivia and Astrid appear and take the agent's body without revealing their intentions. Lincoln follows Olivia to the lab, where he is introduced to the Fringe division. Despite Olivia attempting to keep Lincoln away, he continues

Lincoln-and-olivia — Olivia and Lincoln.

to follow the investigation as they discover another victim killed in a similar manner. From a witness, they learn about the appearance of the killer, but are unable to identify him by name. Olivia agrees to bring Lincoln onto the case, and shows him that there have been roughly thirty victims in the last several days, but with no obvious connection or signs of death, other than their hearts simply stopping. Lincoln reveals that Danzig suffered from Crohn's disease and was taking iron

Normal Fringe401NeitherHereNorThere0005015 — The fringe team.

supplements, which leads Walter to realize that all of the victims were suffering from heavy metal poisoning, and their killer had extracted substances from their blood. Recognizing that several of the victims use commuter rail, Olivia initiates a manhunt at a nearby rail station. They are then informed of the suspect's location, and after a chase, in which one of the pursuing FBI agents is killed (played by Stephen Lobo ) and

Translucent skin 401 — Man with translucent skin.

another shot in the leg, Olivia is able to kill the suspect, who also had translucent skin and had been experimenting on himself. Lincoln kills a second man with the same condition. As the FBI cleans up the area, a woman, also with translucent skin, watches from afar. In examining the bodies, Walter discovers a bio-mechanical module similar to those they had previously seen in the shapeshifters that Walternate used.

Watcher-fringe401-10111 — Fauxlivia, Lincoln and Olivia.

Olivia and Lincoln take the module to the Machine room. As Lincoln is stunned by the technology, Olivia gives the module to Fauxlivia, who promises to take it to Walternate to investigate. During the episode, Walter is shown to be agoraphobic, unwilling to leave his

lab after Olivia arranged his release from a mental asylum. He becomes panicked when he briefly sees images of a man, Peter, in the lab; Olivia attributes this to Walter lacking any foothold in reality. That evening, Walter is preparing for bed while September, outside, readies a device he has assembled to wipe Walter's memory of Peter, but at the last moment, he deactivates it and walks away. Later, Walter sees yet another image of Peter on his television, reacting in terror to it.

Notable Quotes[]

Walter: I need to check her anus. Have that large lady there help you lift here.
Astrid: Umm. I'm going to, uh... I'm going to need to check her anus.
CD Tech: Okay...

Walter (To Agent Lee): People die. It happens. Sometimes they even die twice.

Olivia: If you can't trust the people you're dealing with, what then?
Fauxlivia: You know, maybe I'm not the problem. Maybe it's you. Maybe you are just incapable of trust.
Olivia: Interesting. Coming from the person who kidnapped me and stole my life.
Fauxlivia: You know, being you and living your life only made me more homesick for my universe.

Notes[]

The Observer is seen multiple times. He meets with his colleagues about the problem they created when they eliminated Peter from the timeline. Then he creates an electronic device from various components to influence Walter's memory. He is also seen with a colleague near the crime scene following Danzig's murder.
The episode was originally titled "A Sort of Homecoming" according to the executive producers in July, 2011. However, it was changed to "Neither Here Nor There" that August.
Seth Gabel (Lincoln Lee) is now credited as a series regular.
Although credited, Blair Brown (Nina Sharp) does not appear in this episode.
At 10th minute, after Astrid leaves the scene, "something" flashes behind Walter Bishop, probably some form of Peter's echo.

Timeline without Peter[]

John Scott was unable to be saved by Walter during the Flight 627 investigation (leaving Richard Steig's fate unknown).
Astrid is a field agent to account for Walter's agoraphobia.
Olivia was kidnapped by Fauxlivia.
Olivia was still able to get Walter Bishop out of St. Claire's without a living relative's approval.

Goofs[]

When Olivia and Lee are rushing to the train station where the suspect was spotted, a large Canadian Tire store fills the background of the shot. Canadian Tire stores are obviously not found in Boston.