| "Neither Here Nor There" | |||
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The new amber-tinted title sequence, featuring new terms such as 'Viral therapy', 'Philosopher's stone', and 'Existence' |
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| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 1 |
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| Directed by | Joe Chappelle | ||
| Teleplay by | J. H. Wyman Jeff Pinkner |
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| Story by | J. H. Wyman Jeff Pinkner Akiva Goldsman |
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| Production code | 3X7001 | ||
| Original air date | September 23, 2011 | ||
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| Fringe (season 4) List of Fringe episodes |
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"Neither Here Nor There" is the fourth season premiere of the Fox science fiction drama television series Fringe. It is the season's 1st episode and the series' 66th episode overall.
It is the first episode to introduce Seth Gabel, formerly a recurring actor, as a main cast member reprising his role as FBI agent Lincoln Lee. Joe Flanigan guest-starred as his partner, Robert Danzig. The episode is also the first to briefly feature recurring actress Michelle Krusiec as Nadine Park.
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In the aftermath of "The Day We Died", Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) has used the Machine to create a "bridge" between the prime and parallel universe to allow the two sides to work together to resolve the instabilities in both universes; on doing so, Peter has vanished, as according to the Observer September (Michael Cerveris), he never existed. Despite this, the Observers are aware of changes in the original timeline, and echoes of Peter appearing. December (Eugene Lipinski) charges 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 (Anna Torv), still somewhat distrusting of the other, help to share relevant Fringe files between the two universes.
FBI agent Lincoln Lee (Seth Gabel) and his partner of five years, Robert Danzig (Joe Flanigan), 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 (Jasika Nicole) 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 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 supplements, which leads Walter (John Noble) 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 and 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 (Michelle Krusiec), 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. 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 and 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 out the remains of Peter's existence. But at the last moment September disarms the device and walks away. Later Walter sees yet another image of Peter on his television and is terrified.
"While it is a huge risk to do these reset things inside of a show, I think our show softened the blow it a little bit in season three, by broaching the subject of alternates. I think if you were willing to go along with the alternate universe in season three, I think the new versions of these characters in season four are – I hope – less off-putting than they would have been without the preparation of the past few seasons."
The fourth season premiere was initially called "A Sort of Homecoming", the same name of a song by rock band U2.[2] The episode's opening credits featured a new amber-tinted sequence, which listed new fringe science terms like "Psychometry," "Gravitons," and "Existence."[3][4]
Former guest actor Seth Gabel joined the cast as a series regular for the fourth season. He believed his character Lincoln Lee allowed the audience to see Fringe Division from a new perspective. He explained, "You need a layman’s perspective from time to time. The show has gotten so deep into this crazy, surreal scientific world that you need someone to enter every now and then to remind you this is not the common experience. You need someone to show you how far down the rabbit hole you’ve gone, so you don’t become desensitized to it. I think Lincoln serves that for a while."[5] "Neither Here Nor There" also marked the first appearance of recurring guest actress Michelle Krusiec. Her casting was confirmed in July 2011.[6]
The scene in the diner where the Observers discuss Peter's existence featured "California Dreamin'" by vocal group The Mamas & the Papas.[2][3] Walter later quotes a line from the 1963 John le Carre novel The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.[2]
The original American broadcast on September 23, 2011 was watched by an estimated 3.5 millions viewers.[7] It scored a 1.5/5 ratings share among viewers 18-49, up 25% from the previous spring's season finale.[8]
Writing for The Onion's A.V. Club, Noel Murray gave the episode a "B"; he "enjoyed the episode overall—largely because it’s just such a treat to have be [sic] back in this world with these people—I’m not sure it was wholly successful in its attempt to play by the old rules. After an opening exchange between Olivia and Fauxlivia where they exchange boxes of files, bicker about 'trust,' and accuse each other’s Earths of causing all the trouble between them, 'Neither Here Nor There' settles in to a fairly typical Fringe COTW-er, complete with Freak-Meet."[3] Andrew Hanson of the Los Angeles Times praised Anna Torv's two performances and believed "the containment built around 'the Machine'" may "have been my favorite part of the episode."[4]
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