Fracture (Fringe)
| "Fracture" | |
|---|---|
| Fringe episode | |
Olivia, Walter, Peter, and Broyles investigate the opening scene's explosion, and realize Walter's object is a human ear.
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| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 3 |
| Directed by | Bryan Spicer |
| Written by | David Wilcox |
| Production code | 3X5103 |
| Original air date | October 1, 2009 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
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"Fracture" is the third episode of the second season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe. The episode followed the Fringe team's investigation into a man who mysteriously hardens and then explodes, killing those around him. The case leads them to a secret government project and an AWOL colonel.
The episode was written by David Wilcox, and was directed by Bryan Spicer. "Fracture" was the third of a four episode plot arc called the "gun arc", which focused on Olivia's physical and mental recovery from the season premiere. It featured guest actors Kevin Corrigan and Stephen McHattie. "Fracture" first broadcast in the United States on October 1, 2009 on the Fox network to an estimated 6.21 million viewers. It received generally mixed reviews from critics.
In Philadelphia, an on-duty cop gets a call from a man he calls "Colonel" to pick up a briefcase at Suburban Station. As he does so, a nearby pulse causes electronics to gain static, and his body becomes hardened. He explodes, killing eleven people and injuring others with his hardened body parts. Initially thinking the explosion was caused by a bomb, the Fringe team arrives to investigate, and discover that instead of a bomb, the cop's body parts killed the others. A further autopsy reveals needle marks between the cop's toes, and they realize he was injecting some type of drug every day for at least a year.
While Peter and Olivia interview his wife, Olivia gets sick with flashes of crossing to the parallel universe, and accidentally discovers the drugs the cop was injecting. The cop had served in Iraq a year previously, and was involved in a secret military experiment called "Project Tin Man". Peter tells them they can find the project's doctors, and he and Olivia travel to Iraq. Peter learns from an old acquaintance the identity of one of the Iraqi doctors; he tells them the project was meant to cure soldiers exposed to a fatal chemical, but it failed to work, instead turning remaining survivors into human bombs. An AWOL colonel, Raymond Gordon, was opposed to ending the project; Peter and Olivia suspect he is behind the cop's explosion, and caused the deaths by emitting a radio signal. They find a list of names from the experiment, the victim in the train station being one of them. They return to find the surviving members, and are able to prevent the next subject, Diane Burgess, from exploding after she is contacted by Gordon to take a briefcase at a train station. Peter and Olivia find Gordon (Stephen McHattie) at the station, and bring him into custody; the man suggests the bombs were intended to eliminate agents working for the Observer.
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