“Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?” is episode four of season three of Fringe.
Boston, and AltLiv and Peter are at a bar guessing what couples are like’ Peter says he needs to head home, or Walter will be wondering where he is. AltLiv says she needs a moment.
Brookline, Massachusetts, and Senator Van Horn stops his car to buy a lemonade from a couple of girls. He isn’t watching properly as he sets off again and gets t-boned. At the hospital, they’re confused because Van Horn has no pulse but is still breathing.
Broyles finds Van Horn’s wife, Patricia; the staff won’t tell her anything. Broyles demands information and the staff are about to start operating on Van Horn when Newton enters the operating theatre and demands Van Horn. He starts shooting and Broyles hears. Newton takes Van Horn away on a gurney, shooting his way out of the hospital. When Broyles confronts him, Newton takes a hostage. Then shoots Van Horn in the eye and flees. Van Horn is bleeding mercury.
At Massive Dynamic. Peter asks Nina Sharp if she has issues with William Bell leaving the company to Walter in “The Box”. It was William’s wish, so her personal feelings are not an issue. Peter says that Walter, in a basement lab at Harvard, opened a wormhole to another dimension and shredded the laws of science. He can’t wait to see what he’s capable of with a multibillion-dollar company. Nina admits Walter has made regrettable choices but his intelligence is undeniable. That’s not what Peter is concerned about.
Walter is currently confusing the heck out of some of the company’s staff and is about to start removing his clothes when Peter and Nina arrive. Peter says they have a case; Nina admits Walter is a bit unorthodox. Peter says Walter is also tripping his brains out. She knows that, right? Nina’s yes is not convincing.
At the hospital, Broyles shows them the security footage. He assumes Newton knew Van Horn’s identity as a shapeshifter was going to be revealed. He wants to know how long Van Horn was compromised, and also they’re going to check to see if anyone else is.
Walter is with the body and another agent when Peter finds him. peter wonders if being shot through the eye was deliberate; Walter says it might be the location of some sort of power source. Peter wonders if they can fix Van Horn.
AltLiv calls Newton and demands to know what he was doing. Newton explains Van Horn would have been revealed because of the car accident and he knew everything. Including about her. But he can’t talk and data recovery is impossible. Her cover is safe. for now. Newton may not know what her mission is, but he assumes it involves getting Peter Bishop’s trust and that he senses something is not quite right about her. She’s in over her head and not fully committed; because of that, she will fail.
Walter wants Van Horn taking back to the lab. The new one at Massive Dynamic. Van Horn’s hand twitches and Walter thinks he’s hallucinating. But Peter sees it too. AltLiv comes in and is told the good news.
Astrid arrives at Massive Dynamic with a box of stuff for Walter. She introduces herself; there’s an Astro Farnsworth down. Walter explains that somewhere inside Van Horn is data storage and he plans to map its neuropathways out using visual stimuli. And get its memories. Astrid is shocked. Because Walter actually called her Astrid. He says it must be the LSD.
AltLiv and Peter are going through Van Horn’s office, though AltLiv would prefer Peter wasn’t there. She says Van Horn wouldn’t leave anything. Peter says he didn’t know he was going to die, though; there will be something. AltLiv gets a call she says is from Rachel but is actually from Newton. She tells him Van Horn is alive and where he is. Newton will take care of it. Peter has found something. A lockbox. Inside it are details on the team and every case they’ve worked on.
In Yonkers, a family is eating when there’s a knock on the door. Newton. He tells the father about Van Horn and to get it. There are to be no traces left behind after the mission. Meaning the family.
At Massive Dynamic, the others arrive and are talking over Walter about how to find out what Van Horn knew when Walter manages to get a word in. Why not just ask Van Horn? He thinks it’s possible. This is not something that AltLiv wants to happen.
AltLiv and Newton need to stop Walter from accessing Van Horn’s memories, and AltLiv needs to work harder on Peter. And, it seems, that shapeshifters can form emotional attachments.