The Human Kind

Fringe The Human Kind
Season 5, Episode 8
Air date	December 7, 2012
Written by	Alison Schapker
Directed by	Dennis Smith
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Cast | Transcript

"The Human Kind" is the eighth episode of the fifth season of Fringe.

Synopsis

Olivia encounters a very intuitive and oracle-like person named Simone as she looks to recover a key piece of equipment for Walter. Meanwhile, Peter finds himself in a perilous situation as he observes Windmark

Plot

Olivia is still worried about the effects of the Observer implant on Peter and succeeds in getting another one from their ally Anil for Walter to study. Meanwhile, Peter is still trying to track down Captain Windmark to avenge killing his and Olivia's daughter Etta, using the precognitive abilities of the implant. He flees Etta's apartment just before Windmark and his associate arrive and heads to New York to engage his plan.

Walter frees another videotape, this one directing him to the town of Fitchburg outside of Boston; the tape instructs them to recover an electromagnet. Olivia, after giving the implant to Walter, goes off alone to recover it, anxious about Peter's whereabouts. Walter and Astrid use the brain of the porcupine man (from Nothing As It Seems) to test the implant; they discover that it can transform the human brain into one of advanced intelligence but at the cost of gradually overwriting the area of the brain where emotion is stored. Walter informs Olivia.

At an auto-scrapyard in Fitchburg, Olivia meets Simone, who has been waiting for her arrival for 20 years. Simone explains that a man matching Walter's description had asked her mother shortly after the Observers' purge to set aside the electromagnet and a truck to transport it, and she, in turn, kept her mother's promise. While they wait for one of Simone's crew to get diesel fuel for the truck, she explains to Olivia that she has psychic abilities, which Olivia dismisses as merely an anomaly given her own past experiences with Fringe events. Nevertheless, Simone maintains that it is a gift, and notes that Olivia still carries the bullet that Etta had on her necklace.

Peter attempts to set up a trap for Windmark in New York but instead results in Windmark and his associate cornering him. Peter and Windmark engage in a fight, during which Windmark claims that despite Peter's precognitive abilities, everything has been going to the expectations Windmark had set, all aimed towards this moment. He also provides Peter a mental image of what Etta's last thoughts were before her death - that of her parents before the arrival of the Observers. When Windmark's associate appears and tries to subdue Peter, Peter is able to turn the tide, kill the associate, and escape. He returns to Walter's lab to have Walter take care of his wounds, where Walter implores him to reconsider keeping the implant in his head, as Peter is his emotional basis. Peter refuses to listen and then returns to New York to make another attempt on Windmark's life.

When the fuel is delivered, Olivia leaves alone with the truck. However, along the way she is captured by humans who discover she is wanted by the Observers, and lock her in a building to turn her in for the reward. She is able to cut through her restraints and set up a trap using loose equipment, as well as the bullet necklace; she kills the men and escapes with the truck and magnet. She arranges with Anil to store the magnet and truck until needed and learns of Peter's current state from Walter.

Olivia finds Peter waiting for Windmark to pass a checkpoint that Peter has set up, which will mean that Windmark has returned to the course Peter has arranged for him that leads to a perfect opportunity for Peter to kill Windmark with little risk. Olivia tries to coax him out of his plan by explaining that Etta remains within them and their memories, showing him the bullet necklace that had saved her life that day. Peter repeats what Windmark had said to him: that the emotions of humans were their weakness. Olivia contradicts him, saying that emotion is a strength because it's something humans have that the Observers do not. After verifying that his plan to kill Windmark is on track, Peter pauses for a moment, and then voluntarily removes the implant. He then falls into Olivia's embrace.

Notable Quotes

Olivia: Simone, you have a gift. You can see things that other people can't. I don't doubt that. But... wherever you think this gift came from or whoever you think bestowed it on you, it's simply an anomaly. I know that because I'm an anomaly. I have moved things with my mind. I've lit things on fire. I've caught bullets midair. I've seen things that people only dream about. I've seen ... the seams between universes rip apart. Things that humans shouldn't see. People make up explanations ... assign meaning to things without knowing because it's reassuring. It's comforting. But I can't do that ... because I know too much. It's all just numbers. And the invaders, as you call them, are just better at math than we are.

Olivia: Etta's not gone, Peter. Windmark didn't take her.
Peter: Yes, he did.
Olivia: No, he didn't. She's still here with us.
Peter: She is dead.
Olivia: She saved my life today with the bullet she brought to us. She's alive inside us. And there's nothing that Windmark can do about it because the love that we can share with her now is invulnerable to space and time, even to them. And I know that our hearts are broken and that it hurts, but that's what makes us human.
Peter: Emotion is our weakness.
Olivia: No, Peter, it's our strength, because it's the one thing that they don't have.

Cypher

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