“Unleashed” is episode sixteen of season one of Fringe.
Olivia is reading to Ella when Rachel comes in and says it’s bed time. Then Peter calls. No, nothing is wrong. He actually wants to speak to Rachel. Rachel talks the call and wanders off laughing; Olivia looks like she’s trying to work out what happened. Ella requires reassuring that monsters aren’t real. Olivia lies.
Four people break into a place and start releasing lab animals from cages. One tells another they need to leave, in case there’s a backup alarm. He states there isn’t and decides to check what’s behind a metal door. There is a backup alarm and a man gets a notification to his phone.
The man arrives at the place, Swift Research, and enters. One of the people, animal rights activists by the look of it, has a go at him and tells him he should be arrested. He is shocked to see the metal door open. When the one who opened it, Jonathan, comes out, the man wants him to say he didn’t open the door in there. Jonathan did. The man tells them all to get out. Now. The woman is still having a go at him when something large attacks him. Now they run. Jonathan doesn’t make it. In their car, the woman says they have to go back for Jonathan. Then something knocks their car off the road. After it crashes, the woman screams as she sees something approaching.
In the lab, Peter starts cutting into Walter’s omelette. Walter says it’s fortunate he didn’t take a bite as he’s growing an ear in it. They’re squabbling as Astrid gets a call from Olivia.
At the scene of the crash, Broyles says there are three bodies and it appears to be an animal attack but nothing indigenous to the area. Charlie doesn’t want to go where it is indigenous. Walter finds it interesting and starts mumbling over the wounds. Peter translates that as they’re looking for Big Bird. Walter tells him not to be ridiculous. Perhaps a pterodactyl. No IDs and Olivia has found a lockpick gun. Walter starts eating food from inside the car. Olivia notices there are four drinks but only three bodies. Broyles says they haven’t found another body in the area. Peter recognises the food as having come from a cheap place open late near MIT that is popular with undergrads. Olivia suggests using the student database to ID the victims.
This leads her to a student house where one student used to live. Another knew him but he didn’t seem the type to be in FBI trouble. He was political, but just one organisation. Animals First.
Olivia returns to the lab where the bodies are being examined. They were killed by something with large claws and large fangs. She explains about the animal rights activism and asks what kind of animal did this. Two or three, according to Walter. Olivia wants labs in the area that do animal research checked out. Walter has found something in his files that worries him.
Animal Control is following up a monster sighting. Olivia is quizzing Peter about Rachel when Charlie calls. Walter seems to have found something bad. As Olivia heads out, she mentions the monster sighting; she’s meeting Charlie there. Walter tells her to be careful.
The two people from Animal Control are dead when Charlie arrives. Olivia arrives just as he is being attacked. He’s injured but alive. Later, Walter asks for a stinger as it’s extracted from Charlie and questions Charlie. Olivia gets Walter to share what he thinks. He believes they are dealing with a transgenic species, an organism with genes from multiple species. Astrid calls Olivia about a lab.
Olivia heads there and talks to Dr Swift. He claims that they just do animal testing and that there wasn’t a break-in. Though the place is having work done on it. He won’t allow her to come any further without a warrant.
Olivia returns and asks Walter what would be needed to create a genetic hybrid, so she can see if Swift bought any. His answer is not helpful. Peter says he will try to work on him. It turns out that Walter tried to make a hybrid creature. It failed but now he’s worried someone has taken his research and made a monster. Charlie has been hurt more seriously than it first seemed and Walter is feeling very guilty.