“Amber 31422” is episode five of season three of Fringe.
Olivia is being checked out by AltBrandon when Walternate arrives. He’s sent her a dossier on how the ‘other’ Olivia could cross between worlds and that, though they have developed te4chniques to do so, each has dangerous side effects. And they believe she may be able to do the same. Walternate would like to put her through some experiments to see if he’s right. It would mean they would be able to defend themselves from the other side.
Olivia is taking a pill afterwards when Peter appears again to tell her she isn’t this world’s Olivia. And she isn’t fine, nor is he a lingering symptom.
In Franklin Street Station in Brooklyn, two people are removing a man from the amber. One of the two freeing the man is identical; it looks like they are twins. They are trying to revive him when an alarm goes off. The encased man is revived, but one of the two who freed him gets encased in amber himself. The brother takes his twin and leaves.
AltCharlie and Lee are on the scene; they assume this was looters. But AltCharlie looks at the new man and leaves as Olivia arrives. AltCharlie is looking at a video about quarantine events, the substance Amber 31422 used to encase them, and a micro black hole devouring the lake in Central Park. He has it skipped forward to a scene which shows the area where the new man is now encased. Mark Wilner, a couple of counts of burglary. Then Lee finds the piece that used to encase the missing man’s face.
AltBroyles meets with Walternate. It seems Walter developed amber and how the event in Harvard Yard saddens him. AltBroyles say that people understand this is for the greater good. Walternate says that if people knew those encased could be removed and revived, there would be an outcry. AltBroyles ask if they are alive. Theoretically. But removing them weakens the structural integrity of the amber. Walternate tells AltBroyles that Oliva has agreed to submit to the tests; if there’s any unusual behaviour, AltBroyles will let him know.
At Fringe Division, Lee has made a cast of the encased man’s face. Joshua Rose. A bank robber, according to AltBroyles. The case was worked by Fringe because Rose broke into vaults by molecularly degrading the walls. He walked through walls. Sounds familiar. They had to quarantine a dozen places, including his last job, where Rose was caught in the quarantine. AltBroyles tells them it’s classified, but those entombed are in suspended animation.
Rose is coming around, with his brother present. He tells a woman, Danielle, that the other will need time to recover.
The three have headed to Joshua Rose’s apartment and Peter is talking to Olivia. She finds a phot and asks about Rose’s family. A brother, Matthew, an accountant. AltBroyles said he was very cooperative. AltCharlie has found a hidden room. Inside, Lee is speculating about the equipment inside being used to weaken the atomic structure of bank walls and squabbling with AltCharlie when Olivia tells them both to shut up and listen. There’s a hissing sound. They manage to get out before the bomb explodes.
Back at Fringe, they are getting patched up and AltBroyles confirms Lee’s speculation. Olivia is swiping more pills.
Lee and Olivia head to speak to Matthew Rose. When asked about the whereabouts of his brother, Matthew says he spent the last four years trapped in amber. It’s classified, but if that wasn’t true, would Joshua contact him? Matthew says not. Joshua ripped families apart and every time Joshua was shown on the news it was Matthew’s face too. Not good. Olivia gets a page as they leave saying there are more tests. When they’re gone, Matthew goes to check on his brother. However, the person freed from the amber is Matthew. The brother who has been trapped for the last four years was the accountant, not the bank robber. And Matthew reveals what it’s like for those trapped.
Walternate and AltBrandon are experimenting on Olivia with drugs and an isolation tank to see if she can cross over. Naturally, she can, at least briefly. Olivia doesn’t want to listen to Peter, but Peter makes it clear he’s in her head and knows what she knows. And she knows things that AltLiv couldn’t possibly know. If any of these are proved, it could make Olivia start to doubt her conditioning.