The "Fringe" episode of February 17, 2012, featured Olivia (Anna Torv) regaining the memories of her previous relationship with Peter (Joshua Jackson). The opening scene, however, is of a young boy (Sean) in the Deerfield Mental Hospital in Douglaston, New York, who is hearing voices and seeing visions of a murder in progress, that of a prominent journalist.
The youth, who was thought to be schizophrenic, has spent three years (since age 14) in institutions. He was misdiagnosed, says Walter Bishop (John Noble). Walter describes what is occurring in the boy's head as an example of psychological symbiosis or perhaps mental telepathy. Walter is also intent on performing experiments on Olivia to discover the origin of her flashbacks and migraines. From previous episodes, we know that Blair Brown's character of Nina Sharp and her experimental drug is responsible for Olivia's problems.
At the end of the last episode, Olivia unexpectedly kissed Peter in a familiar way as he stopped by her apartment. Although Peter is longing to reunite with "his Olivia," he says, "No matter how badly I want my Olivia back, I can't make this Olivia have memories that she never experienced."
As the story, conceived by Glenn Whitman and Roberta Chappelle and scripted by Alison Schapker and Monica Owusu-Breen, unfolds, we learn that there has been genetic manipulation of youth by an evil doctor (who is murdered by his creations during the episode, not unlike a futuristic Dr. Frankenstein being attacked by his creation) in an attempt to create a better human being (the title of this night's episode). Now there is retribution from those on whom the experiments were conducted.
A chemical dubbed Cortesavan is suspect in Olivia's mental state. Walter visits Nina Sharp's (Blair Brown) lab. In tasting the chemical, Walter announces that the chemical Nina shows them is not genuine but is, instead, potassium chloride tinted with red food coloring.
Just as we were beginning to believe, at the end of the last episode, that Olivia was regaining her memories of Peter, Olivia announces to Peter, during an impromptu visit to his house, "I remember it. I remember us. I remember everything." The couple is shown embracing warmly in Peter's car, while Peter (Joshua Jackson) tells Olivia, "When I look into your eyes, I know it's you."
The episode was a difficult one to follow with many disparate plot strands that didn't blend together well, but at least there was a happy ending.
