Immortality (S03E13)
Airdate: 11 February 2011
Written by: David Wilcox & Ethan Gross Directed by: Brad Anderson
Running Time: 44 minutes
Following a string of episodes firmly rooted in the Prime Universe—where Olivia Dunham grappled with her fractured identity and the psychological toll of interdimensional displacement—Fringe shifts its gaze back across the divide with Immortality, the thirteenth instalment of its third season. This return to the Redverse serves as both an efficient vehicle for further worldbuilding and an unapologetic plunge into melodramatic territory. The episode wears its soap opera heart on its sleeve, intertwining grotesque procedural elements with personal revelations that threaten to upend everything its characters believe they know about themselves and each other.
The narrative opens with Fauxlivia atop the Empire State Building as she awaits the zeppelin that will deliver Frank Stanton back to her. He has spent months combating smallpox epidemics in Texas—a detail that immediately reminds us how fundamentally different this parallel world remains from our own. Meanwhile, the Fringe Division continues to reel from the mysterious disappearance of their Colonel Broyles, his absence creating a vacuum now filled by the earnest but inexperienced Lincoln Lee. Fauxlivia's reunion with Frank coincides with a far more sinister occurrence: a mysterious man (Alon Abutbul), surreptitiously slips something into a fellow patron's drink at the same bar. Within moments, the victim falls violently ill, stumbles to the toilet, and is later discovered dead—his body partially consumed from within by beetles that have apparently eaten their way through his flesh.
What elevates this from mere grotesquerie to genuine intrigue is the identification of the insects as "skelter beetles"—a species believed extinct for over a decade, having perished alongside their host animals, sheep. Frank, being a CDC expert, is naturally brought into the Fringe Division's investigation. He seizes the opportunity to propose marriage to Fauxlivia, and she accepts.
A second victim soon follows, this time with beetles larger and more mature than before. The Fringe agents speculate that someone has been attempting to genetically engineer these insects and resurrect an extinct species. Their investigation leads them to Dr. Armand Silva, a scientist whose previous work extracting bird flu vaccine from skelter beetles was halted when the sheep population died out. Fauxlivia and Frank theorise that Silva has now turned to human hosts, given our genetic similarities to sheep.
The investigation culminates in an abandoned building serving as Silva's makeshift laboratory. Fauxlivia and Lincoln track him there, only to be separated during the confrontation. Silva manages to lock Lincoln in a freezer, leaving the agent to battle hypothermia whilst desperately attempting to escape. Meanwhile, Fauxlivia falls through a creaky floorboard, loses consciousness, and awakens to find herself handcuffed. Silva delivers his villainous monologue: he has finally engineered a queen beetle capable of repopulating the world with hatchlings. He hints darkly that he has injected Fauxlivia with the insect, and she immediately begins to feel sick.
Lincoln eventually manages to free himself and summon backup. Charlie Francis and the other agents arrive whilst Fauxlivia is rushed to an ambulance. There, she and Frank—who accompanies her—discover the truth: she hasn't been infected at all. Her symptoms are actually morning sickness caused by pregnancy. The revelation lands like a thunderbolt. Dr. Silva, meanwhile, explains that his earlier claim was merely a lie to buy time for the queen beetle to emerge from his own body. He implores Lincoln to ensure the insect survives before succumbing to death.
Fauxlivia survives the ordeal, but the personal consequences prove devastating. Frank, doing the mathematics in his head, realises the baby was conceived during his absence in Texas. The betrayal cuts deep, and he leaves her. Later, Walternate visits Fauxlivia and—apparently aware that Peter Bishop is the child's true father—assures her that he will take care of the mother of his grandchild. It is a chilling moment of paternal protection that underscores the Secretary's complex moral calculus.
Written by David Wilcox and Ethan Gross, Immortality functions as a stark reminder that the Redverse, despite its technological superiority, remains a far less pleasant place to inhabit than its Prime counterpart. Beyond the dystopian governmental control and amber quarantines, there exists a genuine scarcity of everyday comforts many viewers take for granted—coffee, hot showers, and even casual conversation about cholera epidemics. Yet few things prove as unsettling as the extinction of sheep, a detail that grounds the episode's science fiction in recognisable ecological anxiety.
The procedural elements, unfortunately, feel somewhat like an afterthought. Israeli actor Alon Abutbul, despite his considerable talent, cannot overcome the limitations of a one-dimensional character motivated primarily by scientific fame. Director Brad Anderson deserves credit, however, for keeping the gore to a minimum—a continuation of Fringe's gradual evolution away from the shock tactics that characterised its earlier seasons.
Where the episode truly excels is in its commitment to continuity and narrative consistency. The major twist regarding Fauxlivia's pregnancy was actually seeded during a brief exchange between Peter and the Observer in The Firefly—a detail that rewards attentive viewing and demonstrates the writers' meticulous long-term planning. More perceptive audience members might well have predicted this development, yet the execution nevertheless lands with emotional force.
The instalment also deepens our understanding of Walternate. During discussions about methods for sending people to the Prime Universe, he comes out strongly against experimenting on children—a red line he refuses to cross even in his ruthless pursuit of his world's salvation. This stance renders him, at least in this particular regard, morally superior to his Prime Universe counterpart. Another intriguing detail emerges through his romantic relationship with a woman named Reiko, portrayed by Joan Chen—a guest appearance that can be interpreted as another homage to Twin Peaks, given the series' established fondness for David Lynch's universe.
The episode additionally introduces Mona Foster, a nerdy but attractive entomologist played by Julie McNiven—then best known for her role as Hildy in the early seasons of Mad Men—who flirts openly with Lincoln Lee, adding a touch of levity to the otherwise grim proceedings.
Despite the revelation being somewhat melodramatic in its execution, "Immortality" emerges as a well-written, well-acted, and—thanks to Brad Anderson's restrained direction—well-directed episode. It ius one of the stronger entries in Fringe's third season, successfully balancing its grotesque case-of-the-week structure with genuine character development and worldbuilding that enriches the series' complex mythology.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/ InLeo blog https://inleo.io/@drax.leo Substack https://draxster.substack.com
LeoDex: https://leodex.io/?ref=drax InLeo: https://inleo.io/signup?referral=drax.leo Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax 1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e
BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7 BCH donations: qpvxw0jax79lhmvlgcldkzpqanf03r9cjv8y6gtmk9
