The episode appears to be an unaired from season 1 for the following reasons: 1) Charlie is still alive, 2) Astrid's hair is longer / look is less refined than season 1 for Astrid and the other cast members, 3) possessed girl asks Peter about Olivia being his girlfriend- the flirtation was more present in season 1 between the two, but not in season 2. There is a mention of an observer at the church, but no dialog - therefore much more in line with season 1, and not season 2 where they are given more airtime (and actual speaking parts).
Other thoughts - I did not see the ads for this episode, but it basically seems like a filler - its midway in a 20+ episode season, where all shows (especially Fox and FX) seem to wain and then pickup when the writers have a more clear direction toward the end of the season/ want to introduce new themes going into the next season.
Therefore my vote is a old episode that did not fit the exact storyline from season 1 (and overall was not that "exciting"), therefore it was shelved and resurrected when Fox needed to fill a time slot. My guess is that the marketing people insinuated the "alternate universe" to have people watch the episode - but it the alt universe were true, the scenes would have that "older" look - remember when Olivia was in the two different Broyles offices? that look. Lastly the whole episode is kinda dark - very similar to Season 1 - while the season 2 is more crisp (aka more budget). We'll see if they try to develop this side story of mind transference / maybe even the church aspect.
Other thoughts - I did not see the ads for this episode, but it basically seems like a filler - its midway in a 20+ episode season, where all shows (especially Fox and FX) seem to wain and then pickup when the writers have a more clear direction toward the end of the season/ want to introduce new themes going into the next season.
Therefore my vote is a old episode that did not fit the exact storyline from season 1 (and overall was not that "exciting"), therefore it was shelved and resurrected when Fox needed to fill a time slot. My guess is that the marketing people insinuated the "alternate universe" to have people watch the episode - but it the alt universe were true, the scenes would have that "older" look - remember when Olivia was in the two different Broyles offices? that look. Lastly the whole episode is kinda dark - very similar to Season 1 - while the season 2 is more crisp (aka more budget). We'll see if they try to develop this side story of mind transference / maybe even the church aspect.