Fringe/Recap/S03/E07

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
< Fringe‎ | Recap‎ | S03


Season 3, Episode 7:

The Abducted

In the alternate universe, a young boy is abducted from his room in the middle of the night and Fringe Division investigates, in accordance with a protocol established after Peter Bishop's abduction in 1985. The team quickly figures out that the kidnapping is the work of "the Candyman", a serial child abductor who is named after so because the only physical evidence he leaves behind is secretions of glucose. His MO involves kidnapping children from their room, holding them for several days and then returning them to their parents. All the victims, children between the ages of 8 and 10, are subsequently diagnosed with symptoms of extreme old age and aren't expected to live very long.

Olivia decides to reinterview the previous victims to find any new information, and discovers that one of the kidnapped children is Christopher Broyles, the son of Fringe Division commander Colonel Phillip Broyles. Broyles is initially hesitant to let anyone talk to Christopher, but Olivia convinces him and Christopher is able to recall a few details that hadn't come to light before, such as the presence to two individuals, one old and one young, and that the Candyman recites a specific Catholic prayer. Based on the new information, Olivia begins to suspect that the Candyman is draining fluid from the children's pituitary gland and using it to create a "youth serum".

Fringe Division runs down the list of people who attend the Catholic church where the prayer originated, given to them by the priest. Olivia interviews a garbageman named Toomy who attempts to run, but gets caught. In his apartment, Olivia finds the kidnapped child. Fringe Division believes the case is solved, but Olivia realises that Toomy couldn't have devised the serum on his own. She and Broyles remember that the Catholic priest was once a biochemist, and that during their interview with him, Broyles revealed that his son was providing them with information. The priest sneaks into the Broyles house and attempts to kidnap Christopher, but Broyles (having been warned by Olivia) is able to save him.

In the hospital, both Christopher and the other kidnapped boy are recovering from their ordeals. The boy asks Olivia what the "FBI" is: she identified herself as an "FBI agent" while saving him from Toomy. Broyles overhears this and realises that Olivia has remembered that she's from the prime universe, but he lets her go out of gratitude for her efforts in helping Christopher.

Meanwhile, during the episode, Olivia seeks out Henry the cab driver to get his help in returning to the prime universe. Her plan is to sneak into the labs on Liberty Island and use the sensory depravation tank, but she needs someone to drive a boat over to the island and then back to Manhatan so the securty patrols don't realise there's an intruder. The only person she trusts is Henry, and he agrees. At the end of the episode, Henry takes her out to the island and she tells him that she comes from another universe. She manages to sneak into the labs, get in the tank and transport back into the Liberty Island gift shop in the prime universe. However, as she runs into a woman from the cleaning staff, Olivia starts to fade back into the alternate universe, and she quickly tries to give the woman a message. In the alternate universe, Olivia is pulled out of the tank by Brandon and Walternate.

In the prime universe, Peter and Fauxlivia are spending the night together when he recieves a call from the same cleaning woman, who had tracked down his number on Olivia's instructions. She tells him that Olivia is trapped in the alternate universe, and Peter realises that Fauxlivia has been with him and the rest of the team for months.