A Better Human Being
| "A Better Human Being" | |
|---|---|
| Fringe episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 13 |
| Directed by | Joe Chappelle |
| Story by |
Glen Whitman Robert Chiappetta |
| Teleplay by |
Alison Schapker Monica Owusu-Breen |
| Production code | 3X7013 |
| Original air date | February 17, 2012 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
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"A Better Human Being" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of the Fox science-fiction drama television series Fringe, and the series' 78th episode overall.
The episode was co-written by Robert Chiappetta, Alison Schapker, Monica Owusu-Breen, and Glen Whitman. Joe Chappelle directed the hour.
When Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) realizes that Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) is experiencing memories from the Olivia of his original timeline, he convinces her to allow his father Walter (John Noble) to examine her. They find nothing immediately wrong with her brain, but Walter takes some hair samples for testing. With Olivia out of earshot, Walter scolds Peter in the belief that Peter is—perhaps unintentionally—empathizing his memories onto Olivia, who as a child was highly emotionally attuned to others.
The Fringe division learns of a case of a teenager, Sean Martin (Harrison Thomas), in a mental institution who, while in a nighttime trance, reportedly related in perfect detail the distant murder of a reporter by three teenagers. Sean explains that he hears voices from "outside" his head, leading Walter to believe that some type of telepathy is involved. Sean's transcription of the voices he heard during the murder leads the team to a subway bathroom, where they discover blood from an assailant injured in the attack. Astrid (Jasika Nicole) stays with the boy as he is purposely taken off his medications, hoping to identify the voices that he hears.
Analysis of the assailant's blood does not produce an identity, but Walter realizes that the sample shares a similar genetic anomaly with Sean's DNA, a trait that can only be shared by common ancestry. Olivia and Lincoln (Seth Gabel) learn from Sean's mother that Sean was conceived by in vitro fertilisation, and that the deceased reporter had called her a few days before, looking into the process. Walter concludes that Sean is reading the thoughts of other in vitro children that share the same genetic trait and are protecting themselves like animals in a hive. The team locates the doctor that performed the process, Dr. Owen Frank (John Aylward). Dr. Frank admits that he modified and donated samples of his own DNA to re-introduce instinctive traits into humans, attempting to build "a better human being". Walter recognizes that the children who share this trait are likely killing to prevent their genetically modified nature from becoming public. Dr. Frank provides Olivia and Peter with the location of his files, unaware that several of his progeny have already arrived there and are lying in wait. As Olivia and Peter discover the destroyed files, Olivia mentions information from the original timeline that Peter was not privy to, which means he can't be projecting his own memories on to her. Meanwhile, Sean hears voices plotting to ambush the duo, and Astrid is able to alert Olivia in time for her and Peter to defend themselves and capture their attackers. However, a second pair of teenagers suffocates Dr. Frank. With the doctor dead, Sean is no longer able to hear any voices, a situation he both welcomes and fears.
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