Fringe

We return to the Other Universe! Fauxlivia greets her boyfriend at the airport. At the same airport, Poor Man's Robert DeNiro is slipping something into another guy's drink that makes a billion beetles eat their way out of his body.

Somewhere in the midst of the opening, I get a vibe. A vibe I don't like. Is Fauxlivia gonna be knocked up by Peter!!!!????? If true, I'm gonna freak. OK, let me take a deep breath and get back to the show.

Fringe Division works on the beetle case (these beetles are rare - they used to be found in sheep, but all the sheep died off in 2001). Poor Man's Robert DeNiro, meanwhile, runs an experiment on a beetle he took from the guy's body, and isn't happy with the result. So he tries again on a fellow diner patron. They figure out that he's trying to bring this beetle back from extinction, because this guy thinks he had the cure to the avian flu (which could have saved millions of people).

Fauxlivia's BF tells Lincoln that he's going to ask Fauxlivia to marry him, which Lincoln promptly tells Fauxlivia. Because he can't keep a secret. I love the Otherworldly Fringe Team so much! Fauxlivia, Charlie, and Lincoln RULE! He ends up asking her spontaneously while she's leaving the house, and she says yes. I'm still worried she's pregnant. But I really like Fauxlivia. It's amazing how different she is from Olivia, even while she's played by the same actress. Pretty cool.

When Lincoln and Fauxlivia track down the Mad Scientist's lab, they get separated and she gets captured by the Bad Guy! He feeds her the beetle solution, and the rescue team arrives just as she starts pre-beetle-explosion puking. So here's where I figure that they're working on the whole pregnancy/beetle gestation parallel. Because this show is all about parallels.

Fauxlivia's BF works on her in the ambulance while Lincoln and Charlie work on the Bad Guy to get a cure for her. Fauxlivia's BF gets out the ultrasound machine. Oh guess what - it's a BABY!!!! Turns out the Bad Guy had given himself the beetle solution, not her. And Fauxlivia's BF ditches her ass when he finds out she got pregnant while he was away - and when she can't answer the question, "Do you love him?" I mean, the dude moves out when she's recovering in the hospital. Cold!

And now I don't know what to feel. Am I always right? Yes. But are we now in even more soap opera territory than ever with this show? Yes. I don't know how to feel.

In future-grandfather news, Secretary Walternate's experiments continue. He injects a chemical from Olivia's brain into subjects, one of whom develops abilities, all of whom die. They figure they need to use younger subjects, but Walternate says no children. Also in the Other Universe, Walter is a smooth operator. Walternate has a hot Asian wife/GF in his bed and everything. Go Walternate! OK, it's a little weird to see Walter getting laid....

Gratuitous Maryland Shout-out of the Day: Obrycki's!

Fringe Code: ROMAD. I had to Google that to make sure I was right. The military meaning is Recon Observe Mark and Destroy. That totally fits!