In Absentia (Fringe)
| "In Absentia" | |
|---|---|
| Fringe episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 2 |
| Directed by | Jeannot Szwarc |
| Written by |
J. H. Wyman David Fury |
| Production code | 3X7502 |
| Original air date | October 5, 2012 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
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"In Absentia" is the second episode of the fifth and final season of the American Fox science fiction/drama television series Fringe, and the show's 89th episode overall. The episode aired in the United States on October 5, 2012.
It was co-written by J.H. Wyman and David Fury, while being directed by Jeannot Szwarc.
Walter (John Noble) attempts to use the Transilience-Thought Unifier to relocate the fragmented plan to defeat the Observers within his brain, but fails to do anything productive. Olivia (Anna Torv), reminded of Walter's past, contemplates whether he may have written the plan down. The Fringe team considers breaking into Walter's old lab at Harvard, which has been taken over as an Observer base. Using old service tunnels to avoid detection, they arrive at the lab, finding half of it encased in amber. Walter spots a video camera embedded at the epicenter of the amber encasement, and suspects that he has recorded the plan on it. They work to assemble a laser to cut out the camera from spare lab parts, but know they will likely need power from the science building.
Etta (Georgina Haig) captures a passing human Loyalist guard, Gael Manfretti (Eric Lange), before they are detected, and offers to interrogate him in the back office to get intel on the science building. In private, she uses an Observer device called an "Angel Device," which was co-opted by the human resistance groups. When Manfretti refuses to give up information, the device ages him several years. Olivia discovers and condemns this, and while Etta takes a break, is able to convince Manfretti, who believes that he will not survive, to cooperate after agreeing to tell his son his fate. Manfretti explains about the access codes to the science building that requires an optical scan, but Etta's torture has caused him to age so much that his presence would arouse suspicion. Walter is able to transfer Manfretti's iris patterns to old pig eyes, and Peter (Joshua Jackson) and Etta, disguised as human Loyalists, infiltrate the building. As they go to activate the power, they pass several labs where the Observers are performing experiments on humans, including keeping Etta's former partner Simon's severed head alive. Peter stops Etta from making a scene before they can complete the mission. They successfully restore the power and return to the lab. Meanwhile, Olivia talks to Manfretti and learns that Loyalists like himself believe that their world would be better if they simply gave in to the Observers, himself having volunteered to protect his family.
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