Season 3, Episode 12

Concentrate and Ask Again

Aired February 4th, 2011 · Written by Graham Roland, Matthew Pitts · Directed by Dennis Smith

SYNOPSIS

When a scientist falls dead after ingesting a lethal cloud of blue powder and his bones disintegrate in his body, the CDC suspects a biological attack. As the Fringe Team investigates further, a subject from Walter's past with ties to Olivia reluctantly agrees to assist with the intense case.

Synopsis provided by the Fandom Wiki, Fringepedia, and Wikipedia.

THE GLYPHS

This episode's glyphs spell:

H-A-T-C-H

THE OBSERVER

The Observer can be seen at the fundraiser where Olivia and Simon Phillips are undercover.

36:55

EPISODE CLUES

Previous Episode Clue

A blue recycle bin in 'Reciprocity' in the alleyway where Peter kills a fleeing shapeshifter is labeled with a "Powder Blue" sticker, foreshadowing the blue powder bioweapon used in 'Concentrate and Ask Again'.

28:05

Next Episode Clue

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Sam Weiss's ancestors wrote the First People book.
Timestamp: 01:30

When Nina looks in Bell's storage room for his copy of the First People book the camera pans by a copy of 'Dr. Spock's Baby and Childcare'.
Sam told Nina that the fate of the universes depends on which Olivia is chosen by Peter.

VIDEOS

Featurettes

Commentary

FRINGE DIVISION CASE FILE

U.S. Department of Justice
Federal Bureau of Investigation

121 105th Street • Washington, DC 20735
Phone: (202) 555-2100 • Fax: (202) 555-2101
E-mail: washington.fbi@fbi.com

FRINGE DIVISION CASE FILE #312-2411

FRINGE EVENT: DNA bone pathogen

CLASSIFIED CASE CONNECTION(S): Project Jellyfish weapons project

AGENTS ASSIGNED: Dunham

SUPERVISING AGENT: Broyles

FILE ARCHIVED BY: Emiliano Estevarena

WITNESSES/CONTACTS: Aaron Downey (suspect; deceased), Sara Downey, Simon Phillips, Agent Edwards, Dillon (suspect; deceased), Vannoy (suspect; deceased)

LOCATION: INtREPUS, Boston, MA; Quincy, MA; Washington, VT; Canopy One Corp; Pembroke, MA

VICTIM(S): Dr. Warren Blake, Madison Downey (deceased), 3 Canopy One employees, Congressman Jim Thorn

CASE REPORT SUMMARY:

Dr. Warren Blake, a scientist in the INtREPUS R&D department, was found dead without a single bone left in his body. The victim's state didn't match the effects of any known biological or chemical weapon, but he had ingested a blue substance disseminated by a small doll sent in the mail with the birthday note "From Madison."
Former Marine Aaron Downey sent the package from Chelsea two days earlier. His ex-wife explained that Downey had left the Marines to do private contract work overseas for a couple years. When he got home, they wanted to start a family. She got pregnant, but seven months into the pregnancy, she miscarried. Downey was diagnosed with a DNA pathogen that he had passed to the child, so she had no skeleton. Downey was convinced that it was because of a weapons project he had been exposed to by Dr. Blake. With the help of Cortexiphan subject Simon Phillips, agents determined that Downey and two other soldiers had teamed up and stolen canisters of the pathogen for revenge. The next target was Congressman Jim Thorn, but Agent Dunham killed the other two suspects.

WALTER'S FOOD

Walter had a bucket of fried chicken, ate a sandwich and a slushie, thought about bacon and a dash of cinnamon, and ate a Red Vine.

09:38 Fried chicken

18:20 Sandwich and a slushie

27:49 Red Vine

NOTABLE QUOTES

Sam Weiss:

"Okay. What I can tell you is this... That device can either be used as a tool of creation or as a weapon of destruction. Depends on your point of view. And Peter Bishop is uniquely tuned to operate it. Whatever frequency Peter's vibrating at will determine how the machine reacts."

Nina Sharp:

"And what determines Peter's frequency?"

Sam:

"Depends on his state of mind, which, in turn, will depend on who he ends up with. Olivia from here or Olivia from over there. Whichever one he chooses, it'll be her universe that survives."

Nina:

"So in that case, there's no cause for concern. He'll choose our Olivia."

Sam:

"I wouldn't be so sure of that."

EPISODE CONNECTIONS

Callbacks (1 earlier episode)

S2E14 - Jacksonville

Walter (in "Jacksonville"):
"Five... twenty... ten... I always use the same combination, though I can't remember the significance."
The combination to Bell's safe in "Concentrate and Ask Again" was 0-5-2-0-1-0. This was the combination Walter used to access the daycare center in "Jacksonville".
S3E12 Timestamp: 02:02

Walter (in "Jacksonville"):
"When Belly and I first tried to generate a stable door between universes, our first test subject was a car -- Belly's old Monte Carlo -- and it did not go well."
Nina found a toy Monte Carlo in Bell's safe in "Concentrate and Ask Again".

Setups & payoffs (4 later episodes)

Spoilers for future episodes below

The connections from here on are to episodes that come after this one. Once you've watched them, these same connections appear unblurred on their own episode pages.

I've watched up to

Your choice is remembered in this browser only and unblurs connections to episodes you've already seen — here and on every other episode page. It's the same setting as the gear in the menu bar, so you can change it from anywhere on the site.

S5E04 Timestamp: 13:18

The blue powder dispersal doll from "Concentrate and Ask Again" was seen in Walter's storage vault in "The Bullet that Saved the World".

S5E07 - Five-Twenty-Ten

S3E12 Timestamp: 01:51

The combination to Bell's safe in "Concentrate and Ask Again" was 0-5-2-0-1-0, the same combination used in "Five-Twenty-Ten".