Neither Here Nor There (S4E01)
Airdate: 28 September 2011
Written by: J. H. Wyman & Jeff Pinkner
Directed by: Joe Chappelle
Running Time: 43 minutes
The Season 3 finale of Fringe, The Day We Died, represented a seismic shift in the series' trajectory, culminating in the producers making a decision that stands as the boldest move of the show’s run. Rather than allowing the undeclared war between two universes to spiral into total annihilation, the showrunners chose to end the conflict by saving both realities. This victory, however, came at a staggering cost: the permanent erasure of one of the series' major characters. The nature of this sacrifice is even bolder than simple death; Peter Bishop was not killed, but rather obliterated from existence. He was removed from everyone's memory, including that of his father Walter and partner Olivia, ultimately creating a brand new timeline in which two universes and the remaining protagonists would exist. The Season 4 premiere, "Neither Here Nor There," thus provides Fringe creators with a clean slate, offering them the unique opportunity to not only write new chapters but to fundamentally rewrite the story's DNA, much like a novelist returning to a manuscript to alter its core identity.
The episode opens by visualising the consequences of this reality-altering event, illustrating the "bridge" created by the Machine that now physically connects the two universes. This conduit has facilitated a fragile truce; the governments and Fringe Divisions of both worlds are now cooperating, exchanging information freely. However, this fragile peace is under threat from a higher power. The Observers have tasked September with ensuring that Peter’s erasure is absolute. We see September preparing the device that would wipe the final memories from the population, adding a layer of existential dread to the otherwise mundane interactions between the two universes.
The main storyline unfolds in Hartford, Connecticut, thrusting FBI agent Lincoln Lee into the forefront of the mystery. Working alongside Robert Danzig (Joe Flanigan), a friend and partner of five years, Lee attempts to dismantle an arms-dealing ring. During a high-stakes chase, Lee apprehends one suspect, but another, a man possessing translucent skin, intervenes. This killer executes Danzig in a gruesome manner that renders his corpse translucent. Fringe Division is summoned, and Danzig's body is whisked away to Walter's lab, much to Lee's chagrin. Denied access to his own investigation, Lee nevertheless breaches the lab, providing the team with his own leads. Olivia reluctantly agrees to collaborate, leading them to a witness who claims to have seen the killer.
As the investigation deepens, Olivia shares a harrowing statistic with Lincoln: thirty similar cases have been identified, yet the victims share no obvious commonalities. It is only when Lincoln mentions that Danzig suffered from Crohn’s disease and took iron supplements that Walter pieces the puzzle together. All the victims had suffered from heavy metal poisoning, likely extracted by the killer. Demonstrating his determination and investigative acumen, Lincoln is formally inducted into Fringe Division, receiving the necessary security clearances to operate within the team.
With the victims' habit of using the commuter train, Olivia conducts a stakeout near the railway station. Her team identifies a suspect, but the killer strikes again, killing one FBI agent and wounding another. In the ensuing chaos, Olivia manages to kill the first suspect, while Lincoln neutralises another. Throughout this, a woman with translucent skin—played by Michelle Krusiec—observes the events from a distance, watching from the shadows as the events play out.
Back at the lab, Walter examines the bodies of the killers and discovers bio-mechanical modules strikingly similar to those used by Walternate's shapeshifters. Despite the understandable distrust between the universes, Lincoln and Olivia take the module to the Machine room and present it to Fauxlivia, who promises that Walternate will investigate the matter.
The episode also provides crucial insight into Walter's current psychological state. Deprived of his son, Walter has become agoraphobic, unable to leave the sanctuary of his lab. He begins to experience visions of a strange man, a figure that haunts his subconscious. Outside, we see September preparing the final device to erase Peter's memories, but in the final moment, he hesitates and deactivates it, walking away with a look of profound indecision. Inside, Walter sees an image of this same strange man on a television set and is terrified. The image is revealed to be Peter, confirming that while he is forgotten by others, he still exists as a ghost in the machine.
Neither Here Nor There clearly establishes the parameters of this new timeline. Events in the Prime universe for the past three years have diverged significantly. Walter is much more mentally unstable; notably, he was unable to save Agent John Scott, a pivotal event that never occurred in the original timeline. Astrid has transitioned into a field agent, a role she previously played only briefly. These changes are visually confirmed by the series using a new colour—yellow—in the opening titles, signalling a fresh aesthetic and narrative direction.
The script by J.H. Wyman and Jeff Pinkner takes a bold step by removing one of the show's three major characters. The luxury of removing Peter from existence also allows the writers the freedom to worry less about strict continuity that binds them to the past. Yet, the showrunners have cleverly kept Peter in the background, serving as a mysterious ghost from the characters' subconscious, a constant reminder of what was lost.
In this narrative, FBI Agent Lincoln Lee offers a refreshing change of pace. In a way, he serves as a functional replacement for Peter, while at the same time being a familiar face to those who watched his previous appearances as Redverse version and Prime universe version in the episode Stowaway. As he introduces the Fringe Division and its crazy world to the audience, he serves the same role Olivia served at the very beginning—as the "normie" perspective through which the bizarre events are filtered.
Directed by Dave Chappelle, Neither Here Nor There is a very good episode, which, however, should be better commended for the authors' bravery and willingness to try new things rather than for the high quality of its individual plot mechanics. It nevertheless sets the quality bar for the next season and the rest of the series very high.
RATING: 8/10 (+++)
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