“Neither Here Nor There” is episode one of season four of Fringe.
In the season three finale, “The Day We Died”, Peter, after experiencing the future, ripped holes between the universes and brought Fauxlivia, Walternate and AltBrandon through. Then vanished without anyone commenting. Which, according to the Observers, was because he never existed. He’d served his purpose.
Olivia and Fauxlivia are exchanging case files from each’s respective division. And snarking at each other.
The Observer sits with another in a diner. Though the timeline has been rewritten, traces of Peter continue to bleed through. The other says their responsibility is the same as always; to ensure events play out as intended before the Observer’s intervention. It started with him; he must end it. The Observer is given something and told they can never know the boy lived to be a man. The Observer says he will take care of it.
Normally, the opening credits are blue for over here, red for over there or swap between the colours. This time they’re yellow.
Hartford, Connecticut, and this universe’s Lincoln Lee is picking up his partner, Robert. Who isn’t ready. He tells Lincoln not to worry; they won’t be late. Next thing, they’re chasing an armed man into a building. Robert sees someone and follows them. Lincoln ends up taking down the man they were chasing. He calls out to Robert, who doesn’t answer. Lincoln goes looking and finds a man with transparent flesh over Robert. The man runs off, leaping through a window in another building. Robert is dead and his flesh is transparent too.
Olivia and Astrid arrive at the scene; Astrid tries connecting with Walter vis a headpiece. Olivia asks about Robert’s partner and he’s pointed out. She introduces herself to Lincoln. Without any apparent recognition. Two Observers are watching, and one says to the first that Olivia used to know him. The first agrees, before things changed.
Olivia asks Lincoln about the attacker and he explains what he saw. She asks if he saw any device. He didn’t. And tells him that they’re taking Robert’s body back to their facility. She can’t tell him more. Lincoln is getting upset, but takes a note of their reg plate as they drive off.
In the lab, Walter is moaning as Astrid is bringing in files from over there. Walter says that man cannot be trusted. That man being Walternate. Astrid points out that Walternate has reasons to hate Walter too. Unseen behind Walter, Peter briefly flickers in and out.
Olivia is reading Robert’s file as Lincoln arrives at the lab. Walter is still complaining and gives Lincoln a dead pigeon to hold. Which he injects. The pigeon starts flying around, though apparently it’s still dead. Then falls out of the air as Olivia enters.
Lincoln tapped the traffic cam feed. Olivia says he needs to leave. He won’t. The phone rings and Astrid heads to answer it. Lincoln is threatening to call a reporter friend when Astrid hands the phone to Olivia; it’s Broyles. Olivia says there’s another body. Lincoln talks himself into coming and Walter hands Astrid the fixed earpiece.
At the scene, there’s a dead, partially translucent, woman in a car. There were some kids nearby when it happened, but they didn’t see anything. Astrid calls Walter; the earpiece has a camera, too, so he can look at the body. Olivia gives a theory as to what happened to the dead woman. Lincoln points out that one of the kids who supposedly didn’t see anything is sitting quietly away from the others. Olivia heads over and gets the girl – also called Olivia – to talk. She took a photo of the attacker. Afterwards, Lincoln mentions two seemingly unrelated murders. Olivia pauses. There aren’t just two. After signing paperwork from Broyles, Lincoln is shown far more than one body. Many, in three days. Their hearts stopped. Lincoln mentions his partner took iron tablets.
Peter is lingering and both Olivia and Walter have been changed by his absence. In most episodes, the Observers range from extremely difficult to almost impossible to spot. This is not one of those episodes.