The Road Not Taken (5 May 2009)

When a woman bursts into flames and explodes, Olivia and Peter start to look into it, and Olivia starts seeing things -- which Walter explains as possibly her seeing an alternate reality. ... See full summary »

Director:

Fred Toye

Writers:

J.J. Abrams (creator), Alex Kurtzman (creator),

Stars:

Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, Lance Reddick

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Anna Torv	...	Olivia Dunham
Joshua Jackson	...	Peter Bishop
Lance Reddick	...	Phillip Broyles
Kirk Acevedo	...	Charlie Francis
Blair Brown	...	Nina Sharp
Jasika Nicole	...	Astrid Farnsworth
John Noble	...	Dr. Walter Bishop
Michael Cerveris	...	The Observer
Jennifer Ferrin	...	Susan Pratt / Nancy Lewis
Michael Gaston	...	Sanford Harris
Clint Howard	...	Emmanuel Grayson
Frank Bonsangue	...	Bus Driver
Richard Bekins	...	Isaac Winters
Cheryl Ann Leaser	...	Tech Agent
Ignacio Rada	...	ND Agent

Storyline

When a woman bursts into flames and explodes, Olivia and Peter start to look into it, and Olivia starts seeing things -- which Walter explains as possibly her seeing an alternate reality. The investigation leads back to the experiment Olivia was part of as a child, and points to a high member of the FBI as well as links to Massive Dynamic. Meanwhile Nina comes to Broyles with her concern that the watcher has been sighted again, and frequently.

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Plot Keywords:

alternate reality | man crying | reference to star trek | spontaneous human combustion | riding bus | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 May 2009 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bad Robot, Warner Bros. Television, Fringe Element Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

48 min 48 min (uncut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There are several Star Trek references in this episode, due to the premiere of the 2009 Star Trek movie by J.J. Abrams at the time. When Olivia and Peter go to Grayson's house, the number is 1701, like the Starship Enterprise number; Emmanuel Grayson says he is the son of Sarek, which would make him Spock (or his brother); Spock's mother in the Star Trek movies is Amanda Grayson - they share the same surname.

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Goofs

Olivia is outside an office located in Charlestown when she sees The Prudential Center, 111 Huntington Avenue, and The Keystone Building. However, none of these buildings are visible from Charlestown. The position of The Prudential Center and 111 Huntington Avenue would put Olivia's location somewhere near the Christian Science Center or Berkley College of Music. In addition, The Keystone building is nowhere near either The Prudential Center or 111 Huntington Avenue.

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Connections

References Star Trek (2009)

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Soundtracks

"End Title Theme "
(uncredited)
Written by Michael Giacchino

User Reviews

...And that has made all the difference

Spontaneous Combustion, that's what we all thought as the Opening Credits started.

But this episodes, like the Robert Frost poem from which the title was taken, is about dualities... And Parallells... And Two Roads, and the decision to walk on the right one.

Because everyone who has ever lived has a destiny, a place where they can do the most good.

Olivia is "Seeing Double" - First she sees two burnt bodies, then one. Then Broyles desk is on the other side of the room. Then the landscape outside takes on characteristics of a bombed-out city.

A visit to a guy who hosts a Website which posted an article about a similar case only brings them face to face with a guy who think's he's a 'Son of Sarek" (Clint Howard, who played an interesting alien in the original Star Trek): They do get some usable information, but mostly the guy gives away the main plot for the 2008 reboot of Star Trek directed by JJ Abrams.

Olivia still has Sanford Harris to contend with. Now, he is ordering her to undergo a mandatory Psych evaluation - Something she was as loathe to do earlier in the season when she was "seeing Agent Scott" as she is now.

How to get rid of an irritant like Harris? Two major things are happening here: Cortexiphan Kids and Alternate Universes. Olivia realised that she was not just seeing things, on some level she knew that these "visions" depicted some kind of reality. And so she makes a conscious choice to use that ability once more, to find out some information about the victim that is just not available to her by any conventional methods of detection. Which is, The victim in the teaser has a twin sister who has been separated from her since they were 11 years old. Both girls were kids that Walter and Belly gave "Cortexiphan" to. And someone has been looking up all of these kids to which Walter and Belly gave the treatments.

Using bits of Walter's Electron Microscope, Peter finds out not only who it is, but who they are reporting to. So they set a trap and follow that person to where they have the twin stashed. The end result of this is a happy denouement for an arc of story that has been a thorn in Olivia's and Fringe Division's Side.

Meanwhile, Walter is rummaging through some old record albums, when he comes across the missing "Chapter of Ethics" from the ZFT Manual. But at the same Moment, the observer September appears - It is time for Walter to take a trip down his chosen road.