Immortality (Fringe)

"Immortality"
Fringe episode
Fringe Division investigates a man's death, caused by flesh-eating "skelter beetles" (seen in background)
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 13
Directed by	Brad Anderson
Written by	David Wilcox Ethan Gross
Production code	3X6113
Original air date	February 11, 2011
Guest appearance(s)
Seth Gabel as Lincoln Lee Kirk Acevedo as Charlie Francis Philip Winchester as Frank Stanton Ryan McDonald as Brandon Fayette Alon Abutbul as Dr. Armand Silva Joan Chen as Reiko Eric Keenleyside as Jerry Bissell Julie McNiven as Mona Foster
Episode chronology
← Previous "Concentrate and Ask Again" Next → "6B"
Fringe (season 3) List of Fringe episodes

"Immortality" is the 13th episode of the third season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe, and the 56th episode overall. In the episode, the Fringe Division of the parallel universe investigates a series of deaths caused by flesh-eating "skelter beetles", unleashed by a mad scientist (Alon Abutbul). Abutbul, Seth Gabel, Kirk Acevedo, Philip Winchester, Ryan McDonald, and Joan Chen appeared as guest stars.

The episode was written by co-executive producer David Wilcox and story editor Ethan Gross, and was directed by filmmaker Brad Anderson. "Immortality" first aired in the United States on February 11, 2011 to an estimated 3.7 million viewers, a 12.5 percent decrease from the previous week. Time shifted viewing led to an addition of 64 percent to the week's original ratings, but lead actor Joshua Jackson still expressed concern for the show's future, urging fans to watch the series live on Fridays. Television critics viewed the episode positively, with one praising it for offering "a creepy case, a great villain, and a pertinent plot twist".

In the parallel universe, Lincoln (Seth Gabel) has been promoted to head of the Fringe Division, while Fauxlivia (Anna Torv) welcomes back Frank (Philip Winchester), her boyfriend who has been working as part of the Centers for Disease Control to deal with an outbreak in North Texas for the last several weeks. The division is alerted to a case where a man has been killed, eaten from the inside by insects. They identify the insects as "skelter beetles", which is surprising as they had been assumed to have become extinct some ten years earlier along with sheep, the only host they can survive in. Frank is brought in to consult on the case at Lincoln's request, and later proposes marriage to Fauxlivia, who happily accepts.