Northwest Passage (S02E21)
Airdate: 6 May 2010
Written by: Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz, Lila Zuckerman & Nora Zuckerman Directed by: Joe Chappelle
Running Time: 44 minutes
Following the whimsical musical detour of Brown Betty, Fringe's second season took yet another unexpected turn as it approached its finale. "Northwest Passage," the penultimate episode before the two-part season closer, is something of an anomaly in the series' playbook. On paper, it's still a procedural—there's a crime, an investigation, a resolution. But peel back the surface and you'll find an instalment that deliberately sidesteps the show's established rhythms, delivering something far more intimate and, in its own way, rather bold.
The episode opens with Peter Bishop in a state of emotional freefall. Having discovered the devastating truth about his origins—that Walter abducted him from the parallel universe as a child to replace his own deceased son—Peter has done what any reasonable person would do: he's run. We find him drifting aimlessly across America, a man untethered from everything he thought he knew about himself. His wandering brings him to Noyo County, Washington, a sleepy pocket of the Pacific Northwest where nothing much seems to happen.
Or so one would think. In a roadside diner, Peter strikes up a flirtation with Krista Manning (Christine Chatelain), a waitress. There's an easy chemistry between them, the sort of connection that promises a pleasant evening rather than anything more. They arrange to meet at a nearby motel. She never shows. By morning, Krista has vanished, her disappearance soon revealed to be something far darker than a change of heart.
Peter, bleary-eyed and understandably frustrated after being stood up, prepares to move on. But the heavy police presence outside stops him in his tracks. Sheriff Ann Mathis (Martha Plimpton) is coordinating the search. Peter's presence at the scene naturally raises eyebrows, and he finds himself briefly in the frame as a suspect. His alibi checks out—he was indeed waiting in that motel room—but what truly captures his attention is far more troubling. In the crowd of onlookers, he spots Thomas Jerome Newton.
This changes everything. Convinced that the shapeshifters and their parallel universe machinations are behind Krista's disappearance, Peter offers his services to Mathis as an FBI consultant. It's a gamble, but one that pays off when a quick call to Phillip Broyles back in Boston confirms his credentials. There's a poignant beat here: Peter specifically asks Broyles not to tell Walter where he is. The wound is still fresh, and Peter isn't ready to face the man who raised him—or the truth of what that man did.
When Krista's body is discovered, the horror of the situation becomes clear. Parts of her skull have been surgically removed, and, as Peter suspected, a section of her brain is missing. His theory takes shape: the shapeshifters are hunting for information about his whereabouts, using the woman as unwilling sources. The investigation intensifies when Mathis's deputy, Bill Ferguson (Patrick Gilmore), also disappears. There's a genuinely tense sequence where Peter suspects Mathis herself has been replaced by a shapeshifter, only to be convinced otherwise when she reveals small injuries that bleed red rather than the telltale mercury of the invaders.
A second victim is found, killed in identical fashion. Peter, drawing on his considerable intellect, devises a method to determine both time of death and distance from abduction site by analysing adrenaline spikes in the victims' bodies. The triangulation leads the team to an abandoned farm, where the truth finally emerges. The killer isn't some interdimensional monster or government conspiracy—it's Craig Shoen (Juan Riedenger), a local man. Shoen has been rejected by these women, and his response is as banal as it is brutal. He's overpowered and taken into custody, and Ferguson is found alive, much to Mathis's visible relief who admitted that she had more than professional relationship with her deputy.
Back in Boston, Walter Bishop is falling apart. Without Peter, the eccentric scientist struggles to maintain his equilibrium, his fears mounting that he might find himself back in the psychiatric hospital. It's a quiet tragedy playing out in parallel to the main narrative, a reminder of the emotional stakes that underpin the series' more fantastical elements.
Once the case concludes, Peter makes the decision to return home. He contacts Olivia, asking her to meet him at the airport. But before he can leave Noyo County, he has one final encounter. Newton appears once more, and this time he brings company. He introduces Peter to the "Secretary"—a figure revealed to be "Walternate," Peter's biological father from the other side. It's a moment that fundamentally alters the trajectory of the series, even if the reveal itself lacks genuine surprise. The law of economy of characters, combined with hints dropped in The Man from the Other Side, meant that only two possibilities existed: Walternate or William Bell. The former was always the more dramatically satisfying choice.
Written by sisters Lilla and Nora Zuckerman alongside Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz, "Northwest Passage" represents something Fringe had never quite attempted before: an episode almost entirely focused on a single character operating in isolation from the ensemble. Peter is alone here, separated from Walter's scientific brilliance and Olivia's determined competence. It's a risky move that pays off largely due to Joshua Jackson's ability to carry the narrative weight.
What's particularly fascinating is the episode's subversion of expectations. For the first time in the series, what appears to be a "fringe" case—complete with surgical horrors and suggestions of otherworldly involvement—resolves into something entirely mundane. Fringe, a show built on the extraordinary, here embraces the ordinary with almost perverse delight. It's a conventional serial killer story dressed in science fiction clothing, and the dissonance is oddly effective.
Martha Plimpton's guest turn as Sheriff Mathis is a genuine asset. She brings a grounded authenticity to the role, initially suspicious of this odd outsider in her jurisdiction but gradually revealing an open-minded intelligence that makes her partnership with Peter believable and engaging. Their dynamic carries the episode through its middle stretch, providing a human anchor amidst the procedural mechanics.
That said, the script isn't without its flaws. The decision to keep Deputy Ferguson alive as a prisoner rather than killing him outright is never adequately explained. A few lines of dialogue—however unhinged—detailing Shoen's motivations for this specific choice would have strengthened the episode considerably. As it stands, the narrative convenience is noticeable.
The Twin Peaks connections are impossible to ignore and clearly intentional. The title itself was originally earmarked for David Lynch's iconic series, and the Pacific Northwest setting, the small-town atmosphere, and the discovery of a young woman's body all echo that show's distinctive DNA. For fans of Lynch's work, these references add an additional layer of enjoyment.
Northwest Passage is a good episode—refreshing in its willingness to experiment with format and expectation. Yet in the grand scheme of Fringe's second season, it functions primarily as connective tissue. It's a palate cleanser before the main course, a functional piece of storytelling that bridges the emotional fallout of Peter's discovery with the revelations and confrontations of the finale. Worth watching, certainly, but perhaps more interesting for what it attempts than for what it ultimately achieves.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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