“Olivia. In the Lab. With the Revolver” is episode sixteen of season two of Fringe.
In a cafe in Providence, an ill-looking man is drinking water. The woman he’s with asks if he wants anything else. No; he has difficulty keeping anything down. He appreciates her coming, though she doesn’t remember him. It was when they were kids and he thinks he was exposed to something. The woman is a lawyer and she’s making notes, but that’s not why he asked to see her. The last doctor he spoke to aid to find the other kids he went to school with. If they have the same, they might find out what’s wrong with him. The woman doesn’t remember much. Though she remembers one boy. Lloyd Becker. The man appreciates her helping and clasps her arm.
Afterwards, the woman is on the phone in her car. As she’s stopped at the lights, she feels a pain on her arm. There’s what looks like a rash where the man touched her. Which starts blistering. And spreading. The driver behind gets out when she doesn’t move after the lights change. He knocks on the window and asks if she’s alright. She definitely isn’t.
Olivia can’t sleep, so she heads to see Sam. He says he hasn’t seen her for a while, but presumes she’s still having problems sleeping. Olivia says Sam said she would experience things. She has. Sam says she’s officially gone beyond his expertise, but he thinks the not sleeping isn’t related to the accident. She’s a cop and makes dozens of decisions and there’s one she’s not happy about. She thinks she’s done the wrong thing. Olivia agrees, but it’s not the job. She agreed to keep a secret – Peter’s origin in the alternate universe as revealed in the previous episode, “Peter” – but she’s no longer sure. Olivia gets a call. As she’s leaving, Sam tells her she’s a good person and he’s sure she had good reason to keep it.
Olivia meets Peter, Walter and Broyles at the Providence City Morgue. The woman in the car, Miranda Green, was dead when the EMTs arrived. It turns out the ME tool Walter’s advanced biochemistry seminar. Walter apologises. The ME wants to thank him, for inspiring to keep studying medicine. Miranda Green is now covered in boils. Two hours prior, she was fine. Walter thinks they look like malignant tumours. That are normally below the skin. He asks for a blacklight to trace them back to their origin point. Which appears to be a handprint.
At the lab, Walter tells Astrid the handprint has enough detail that he could get a fingerprint from it. He asks for several items. Then several more, to make taffy.
Peter and Olivia head to Miranda Green’s office. She works on class action suits; there’s a pharmaceutical company with one north of eight figures. Olivia wants details. Peter asks about Miranda’s meetings. The man she met an hour before she died, the other lawyer doesn’t recognise.
Afterwards, Peter says he’s never heard of drug that would do what happened. And why not hire a hitman? Olivia says hitmen bring a lot of attention. Peter asks if spontaneous fatal tumour growth wouldn’t. Olivia concedes the point. Peter invites her in. Olivia makes excuses about needing sleep. Except she still can’t.
She heads into the lab early. Astrid tells her the man Miranda met used a disposable burner, now off. Olivia wants a moment in private with Walter. She wants to tell Peter the truth. Walter doesn’t want to, and wants time to prepare him. Peter arrives as Olivia gets a call; Miranda Green’s credit card was used in a cafe half an hour before she died. The man behind the counter at the cafe remembers Miranda; she comes in a lot. He asks Peter and Olivia if they’re doctors. Because the man Miranda was with looked pretty sick. Like his uncle did fighting cancer. Afterwards, Peter says cancer isn’t contagious. Olivia says it wouldn’t be the strangest thing they’ve seen. Though close.
The man is now shopping. He’s stocking up on various things and looks a lot healthier. The he suddenly looks worse and heads outside to throw up. Back home, he’s now looking really sick and trying to find Lloyd Becker.
Olivia and Peter tell Walter what they’ve found out. He mentions the Chinese touch of death and suggests Miranda Green and the man exchanged energy. His cancer for her health, to delay the progression of his disease.
Matters between Olivia and Peter are a bit awkward, because of what he knows. Then they find more victims; Lloyd Becker and several prior ones. And then Olivia recognises one of the names.