Fringe (2008–2013): Season 2, Episode 14 - The Bishop Revival - full transcript

A man uses a toxin to target specific groups of people. Walter finds out that the toxin was created by his father in Berlin, long before DNA was even discovered.

Okay. Color and sound check,
Milton-Staller wedding.

MR. STALLER: Amanda. Neal.
- Hi, Mr. Staller.

Glad you could make it.

Hey, hey, hey. Take it easy, Nana.
There's no hurry.

You take it easy.
This my regular speed.

Everyone decent in here?

SHELLEY:
Come on in, Mrs. Staller.

MRS. STALLER:
Look who I brought, Shelley.

This is how David can see you...

...in your dress before the wedding
without the bad luck.

(SHELLEY CHUCKLING)



You look stunning.

Thank you so much for everything.

I'M so happy you're joining the family.

David is lucky to have you.

Okay.

I'M crying now. Let's not film this part.

No, no, no. Turn it off. Turn it off.

DAVID:
Oh...

It'll calm him down.

I didn't think I'd be this nervous.

Happens to everyone.
Even me, and look how I turned out.

(CHATTERING)

Lynn.

Who is that man?



I don't know.
Must be from Shelley's side.

(GASPING)

JOSH: Just breathe, man. Breathe.
No. Where's your inhaler?

Where is it? Here.

Maybe just give us a few minutes?
Sorry.

Just a couple minutes.
He's okay. He's good.

It's okay, it's okay.

I can safely say
David is not going to run.

So just everybody hang tight.

(WHISPERS) He'll be fine.
He just had a little asthma attack.

It can't be.

It can't be.

- It can't be true.
- What's wrong, Nana?

It can't be.

It's him.

LYNN: Oh, Nana, what are you talking about?
- It's him.

JOSH:
Nana, calm down.

You! You...

(NANA GAGGING & GRUNTING)

MRS. STALLER: Nana, what's wrong?
My God, what is it?

Oh, my God.

Someone call 911.

(PEOPLE COUGHING & GAGGING)

Josh.

Sweetheart.

My God, what is happening?

(PEOPLE COUGHING & GAGGING)

Fringe
s2e14 The Bishop Revival

MANNING:
Agent Dunham.

- Detective.
- Burt Manning. We spoke on the phone.

- So has anyone touched anything?
- ME's inside.

We put them in a holding pattern
until you got here. It's pretty bad.

Do we have a final count
on the victims?

Fourteen so far.

(TIRES SCREECHING)

I quite like weddings.

Did I ever tell you about
when your mother and I...

- God rest her soul... got married?
- No, I think I missed that one.

And try to stop driving with both feet.
Whoa! Whoa!

She was so beautiful, Peter.

So beautiful in white.

I won't deny I was never happier.

I kept my tuxedo...

...in the hope that one day
I would have a son who'd wear it.

You could wear it
on your wedding day.

Yeah. You know, Walter,
tuxedo styles change.

Oh, nonsense.
Purple never goes out of style.

And the day may come sooner
than you think.

Do you think she'll call me Dad?

- Who?
- Agent Dunham.

(PETER LAUGHS)

My guess would be no.

Don't look at me like that.
She's just what you need.

Someone who can see
right through you.

Agent Dunham,
don't you look lovely today.

Doesn't she look lovely, Peter?

You look lovely, Agent Dunham.

Dr. Walter Bishop. How do you do?

Lose a bet?

It was either that or flying lessons.

- Swelling of the vitreous humor.
PETER: Mm-hm.

Petechial hemorrhaging.

Yeah, not to mention the blue skin.

It's definitely asphyxiation.

Airway's clear.

PETER:
Yeah. Same here.

No fluid in the lungs.

OLIVIA: So all the victims they've
identified so far are on the groom's side.

Maybe they came in contact
with something before the wedding.

Anaphylactic shock.
Maybe they had an allergic reaction...

...to something they ate or drank.

That would be logical if
they were all exposed at the same time.

I'll have the detectives reconstruct where
they all were. We may find a connection.

She was a Holocaust survivor.

Dreadful.

To survive a thing like that...

...finish up like this.

Walter, do you think
this could be a deliberate attack?

I don't know yet.

All I know for certain is that these 14
people suffocated in a room full of air.

PETER: It's gotta be something they all ate
or drank. There. Maybe that?

God, it's hard to believe that a few hours
ago, this was actually a happy place.

(CLANGING)

OLIVIA:
Oh, my God.

We need a medic on the second floor!

PETER:
Hey, buddy.

OLIVIA:
He's dropped his inhaler. Grab it.

(GASPS)

WALTER:
It's curious. All 15 victims.

- So they were all blood relatives then?
ASTRID: Yes.

All of the victims are
direct descendants of Eva Staller.

WALTER:
Holocaust survivor.

ASTRID: And anyone not related
to her survived.

Along with one grandchild who
I think might be illegitimate.

Therefore not a blood relative,
or I suspect he would have perished too.

Astrid, can you come here, dear?

What color is this?

The blood?

- It's blue.
- Good.

I'm not imagining it.

Something has bonded
with the hemoglobin in the blood...

...changing its color
and robbing the body of oxygen.

I believe these people
literally suffocated from the inside out.

Walter, no. That might...

...be what killed him.

No, that kept him alive longer
than the others.

I suspect it temporarily
weakened the toxin.

That still leaves the how.

How was the toxin delivered?

Mrs. Staller, I understand
that you were in charge of the guest list.

Did you notice anyone who shouldn't
have been at the wedding?

Someone who wasn't invited.

MRS. STALLER: No. Of course, I don't know
the bride's entire family.

Although my mother-in-law...

...she was very upset
with someone before...

A man. I had never seen him before.
I thought she was just having a moment.

If we showed you the wedding video,
would you be able to point him out?

I could try.

It's jasmine.

Shelley picked out the scent.

Represents happiness and love.

Do you mind giving me a moment?

Of course.

I'll help you with the video.

Thank you.

She just said all the rest of the candles
in this place are jasmine, right?

Smell that.

This one's cinnamon.

(SNIFFS)

PETER: And?
- Patience, son.

Just like when you were a little boy.

Your mother used to say
you had ants in your pants.

- Put that in the spectrometer.
- Okay.

That's the man that
Mrs. Staller identified.

- Can you make it clearer?
- I can try.

- That's the best I can do.
- All right.

Upload it to the joint law enforcement
database, and maybe we'll get a hit.

- All right.
PETER: Walter.

Come here. Take a look at this.

WALTER:
That is interesting.

You were right. This is our toxin.

Appears to be a variant of...
What is that? Hydrogen cyanide?

And the candle would suggest
that it was activated by heat.

And then it dispersed into the air.

Well, if it was in the air, how come
it only killed some of the guests?

Good question.

What?

Chemical weapons.

Death by asphyxiation.

The Nazis. I knew this was familiar.

- The Nazis?
- The Nazis were scientific pioneers.

They attempted to advance
every branch of science.

Molecular bombs, flying saucers,
eternal youth.

Before DNA was even discovered,
Josef Mengele wanted...

...to create a weapon capable
of targeting specific victims.

A weapon capable of picking people out
in a crowd, just like what happened here.

It seems that science may have finally
caught up with Nazi ambition.

Mrs. Staller was a Holocaust survivor.

- Do you think that that's...?
- Relevant? I don't know, Olivia.

Of course, I'm not saying
that this is the work of the Nazis.

Nor suddenly am I convinced
that this was just a murder.

A wedding is the perfect laboratory.

You have your target group,
the Stallers.

And you have your control group,
everyone else.

You're saying you think
this was a science experiment?

It's a theory.

And one that I think I can prove.

How?

A scientist always tries
to recreate his results.

If I'm right, this will happen again.

WOMAN: One soy latte, one orange juice,
two yogurts.

- Say thank you, Jordan.
- Thank you.

I'd like a cup of tea, please.

And make sure the water is very hot.

- Sure thing. What kind of tea?
- Oh, I don't know.

You pick. Whichever is your favorite.

Oh, and please,
make sure the water is very hot.

So do you like her? Mrs. Greenwalt?

Yeah, she's nice. But she always
makes us take a nap after lunch.

Well, maybe you need time
to get your energy back.

I think Mrs. Greenwalt
is the one who's sleepy.

- Heh, heh.
MAN: She's very smart, your daughter.

Yeah, she is.

Soon you'll be outsmarting
the teachers.

We're already there. We're talking about
skipping her up a grade.

Yeah, well,
don't be in too much of a hurry.

These days are precious.

Soon all you will have are pictures.

Hm. That smells good. Is that cinnamon?

Yeah, something like that.

Nine victims. Suffocated just like
the wedding in Brookline.

Except unlike the Stallers, none of these
people were related to each other.

PETER:
Might have to rework that hypothesis.

Maybe this toxin isn't
transmitted genetically.

WALTER:
Just a theory, Peter.

OLIVIA:
Any surveillance?

No cameras inside or on the street.

Could be why our suspect
chose this place.

No candles, I suppose?

Not a single one.

Now, Walter, is there any other way
that this toxin could be delivered?

WALTER:
Any number of ways, I would think.

It simply requires a heat source
to disperse it into the air.

- What about a cup of tea?
WALTER: Oh, yes, thank you.

Oh. Oh, yes. That would work
as long as the water was hot enough.

Cinnamon.

I want this cup dusted
for prints immediately.

AGENT:
Yes, sir. Right away.

WALTER:
Peter, can you help me?

That man there.
What color are his eyes?

Brown.

Then I was right after all.

It is a targeted toxin.

They all have brown eyes.

That's the common genetic trait.

Check the survivors,
but I'm sure I'm right.

It's a good thing you weren't
here at the time, or you'd be dead too.

First it was a family.
Now it's people with brown eyes.

Why is he targeting these people?

You said you think it's an experiment.
So, what?

He's just killing these people
to prove he can?

WALTER:
Perhaps.

I'm going to drive us back to the lab.

- I think I have an idea.
- Walter.

Why don't I drive?

An idea about what.

I don't know yet.

MAN: Excuse me, officer.
That man over there. His name's Bischoff?

You mean Dr. Bishop.

Dr. Bishop.

- Did you need something?
- No, I'm just trying to place him.

He looks just like his father.

- Oh. Is that the tea cup?
- Yeah.

But they could only pull
a partial print.

So no good to run through
any databases.

That's unfortunate.

But you are just in time.

Just in time for what?

Show and tell, apparently.

This is a molecular model
of the toxin.

This blue portion,
that's the deadly part.

This red part, that,
that's the targeted group.

In the first instance, the Staller family.
Agent Farnsworth?

And in this instance,
people with brown eyes.

Because he can program the toxin
to target whatever group he wants.

Any group with common physical
characteristics...

...or genetic similarities, yes.

Tall people. Short people.
Fat people. Skinny people.

Black people. Brown people.
White people.

Hey, Walter, we get it.

Well, anyway, whoever created this
was apparently proud of his work.

Though I don't know why
he should be.

I mean, apart from the genetic targeting,
the toxin itself is quite rudimentary.

It's a blend of chromium trioxide
and hydrogen cyanide. It's...

Chromium trioxide.

That's highly regulated. If this guy
was buying it in any quantity...

- Astrid, can you...?
- Dig up companies...

...that deal with chromium trioxide.

So, Walter, what were you saying
about him being proud of his work?

WALTER:
See this?

That's a carbon chain. It's inert.

It's the signature of the creator.

Some chemists spell out their initials
in molecules, others create a symbol.

Are you saying that we may be able
to identify who made this?

Yes, but this could be anybody's.

Well, it looks like a stylized S
or a snake.

Actually, looks more
like a sea horse to me.

A sea horse. I suppose it could...

What is it?

(SPEAKS FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

WALTER:
The sea horse.

I know who created this toxin.

PETER:
Hey, Walter.

Wait, Walter. What's going on?

They called him the Sea Horse
because he was a great swimmer.

PETER:
Okay, good for him. Who is he?

My father.

- Dr. Robert Bishop.
- Wait, wait, wait. Your father?

I told you these were
Nazi experiments.

My father was a scientific pioneer
at the University of Berlin.

Yes, I know. Who came here in 1933...

...which is long before the Nazis
ever took power.

It was 1943.

Given the nature of his work,
I fudged the date a little.

Walter, what are you telling me?
My grandfather was a Nazi?

WALTER:
Technically, yes.

Actually he worked as a spy
for the Allies...

...sabotaging German research...

...and smuggling scientific information
to the Americans.

I knew I recognized the experiment.

I must have seen the formula in
one of my father's books.

- Put this there.
- Okay.

You think your father helped develop
the formula for this toxin?

WALTER:
It would seem so.

Of course, at the time,
it was just theoretical.

DNA itself was theoretical.

But that formula has
to be here somewhere.

These are all my father's
favorite books.

First editions of Goethe,
Thomas Mann.

You're sure all those notes were
hidden in German novels?

Oh, yes. It was the only way
he could smuggle them...

...out of Germany when he left.

- You won't find those books in there.
WALTER: No, they will be here.

- These are all the books from my library.
PETER: No, they won't.

Walter, they're not in there.

I sold those books.

All of them. About 10 years ago.

You sold them? Why?

I needed money.

Money?

They were my books.

He left them to me.

He knew how dangerous they were.

The odds that this has
to do with your father...

The very thing that he was trying
to stop, you put back into the world.

- We don't know that for sure.
- Yes, we do.

Of course we do.

How else would whoever is doing this
have gotten hold of the formula?

And because I failed to protect it,
my father's work is killing people.

So the killer is using a toxin based on
a formula created by Dr. Bishop's father.

PETER (ON PHONE): Just another skeleton
in the Bishop family closet.

It's in a book I sold.

So the formula's very complex.

We believe that the killer must've
found it in one of the books.

If we can trace the books,
then hopefully we can find him.

Then do it. Quickly.

Okay.

We'll find those books.

Come on, Bishop, you sold me
those books, like, 10 years ago.

How am I supposed to know
where they are now?

Because, Markham,
you're exactly the kind of pack rat...

...who keeps a handwritten log
of every book ever sold.

Such a way with words.

How is it that a beautiful lady like you
is stuck with this guy?

- It's my job.
- I got plenty of books...

...on how to rethink your career.

What Color is your Parachute?,
Do What You Are.

That's thoughtful of you.

I really need to find out
who bought those books.

Whoever did may be in the midst
of a killing spree.

Hm. Sounds serious.

Give me a minute,
I'll see what I can find.

What?

You didn't really sell Walter's books
for money, did you?

Walter's got heaps of valuable stuff.
Why'd you just sell his books?

It was a long time ago.

Walter was still in St. Claire's. I wasn't
exactly very fond of him at the time.

Those books were
amongst his favorite possessions.

And, no, to answer your question.

I'm not proud of it.

MARKHAM:
They were sold last year.

The name I got is Eric Franko.

Lives over in Kendall Square.

He struck me as a real weirdo.

PETER: Coming from you,
that's saying something. I owe you one.

(SOFT INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
PLAYING ON RECORD)

Doesn't look like he's here.

PETER:
Well...

...why don't we just poke around
for a bit?

OLIVIA:
Freeze. FBI. Get down on your knees.

Don't shoot me.

Please, don't shoot me.

ERIC:
I'm not a Nazi. I'm an artist.

It's about the banality of evil,
like the Nuremberg Trials.

Showing history's tyrants
as these regular schmucks.

That's deep.

Where are the books you bought
from Markham? The German novels?

The ones with the creepy stuff inside?

The Alice in Wonderland
meets the "evil Nazi experiment"?

Well, you're looking at one of them.

So, what do those books have to do
with the FBI?

It's a long story.

So none of these
have ever been displayed?

You're the only person
who's seen them?

Sadly, the contemporary art scene
has yet to, um, ahem...

...fully recognize
my particular contributions.

I'd like to get these books back.

What's left of them.
I'll pay whatever you had to.

Yeah, sure, sure.

It's gonna take me a while
to dig them all up...

...but you should also know
the collage is for sale.

Or I could donate it.

Your grandfather
was a fan of modern art.

But I don't think
he would've appreciated this.

I'm sorry, Walter.

Apology not accepted.

Of course, this means the perpetrator
didn't get the formula from the books.

No. We don't see how he could have.

Then how on earth
did he re-create the formula...

...using my father's signature
no less?

No match on the killer's DNA, Walter.

Great. More bad news.

OLIVIA:
Wait, I don't understand.

His DNA? Where did you get his DNA?

Dr. Bishop was able to get some
from the partial fingerprints.

From the skin cells in the oil.

It's pretty amazing.

WALTER:
Not my best work, I'm afraid.

The telomere degradation suggested...

...that the man
was over a hundred years old...

...which is fascinating,
but not a likely possibility.

Walter, you said this toxin
could be programmed...

- ...to target any genetic trait.
- Yes.

Could it target more than one?

Say, green eyes and brown hair
at the same time.

- Yes, I suppose it could.
- What are you thinking?

(PETER SPEAKING GERMAN)

The master race.

The Nazi's ultimate goal, purification
of German people and the white race.

So Nazi science for a Nazi agenda.

All of Hitler's dreams
in one little toxin.

MAN:
Hey.

What are you doing there?

I'm conducting a test.

To monitor the dispersion rate
of my experiment.

Please.

You can watch.

(DOG BARKING)

Walter, what are you doing
to those rats?

Killing them.

Well, hopefully only the white ones.

I thought you were trying
to block the toxin.

I am. But I have to replicate it
before I can figure out how to stop it.

Astrid couldn't find any companies
that purchased chromium trioxide.

But our EPA contact suggested
we search for sodium chromate?

Of course, it's a sister compound.

You treat it with sulfuric acid,
you get chromium trioxide.

Okay, well, here are three local buyers.
Do you recognize any of them?

Well, those two,
pharmaceutical companies.

This one I've never heard of.

PETER:
Shipping address is 3340 Eastham Rd.

Newton, Mass.
That's a residential address.

OLIVIA:
Sir, it's Dunham.

I think we have a location.

(SOFT INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
PLAYING ON RECORD)

AGENT 1: Clear!
AGENT 2: Clear!

AGENT 3:
Clear.

OLIVIA:
Are we clear, Agent Doble?

The area's safe. We're good.

AGENT 1: We got three, that'll be great.
AGENT 2: All clear.

OLIVIA:
Tell tactical to stand down.

(FOOTSTEPS)

AGENT 1:
We got a double search going.

AGENT 2:
Nothing over here.

Makes your lab
look downright homey.

(SPEAKS GERMAN)

(SPEAKS GERMAN)

(SPEAKS GERMAN)

PETER:
Genetic traits.

Eye color, hair color, skin tone.
It's the works.

Creating the master race
by process of elimination.

OLIVIA:
Guys, I think I found something.

AGENT 1:
Come on, let's go.

OLIVIA: Looks like he was making
some kind of ID.

Walter, this is your sweater.

Walter?

(WALTER GASPING & GRUNTING)

Walter. Walter.

Get him out of here.
We need some help downstairs!

We need that oxygen now.

PETER:
Breathe. Just breathe, Walter. Breathe.

Breathe.

MAN:
Thank you, sir.

- And your ID, sir?
WOMAN: Yeah, just what he said.

Walter, how are you feeling?

You got me out just in time.

I'd like my sweater back.

We'll work on that, Walter.

Walter, why did he go after you?

Don't know.

Perhaps he knew
my father betrayed the Nazis.

- You able to get that photo to Broyles?
- Yeah.

He's sending it out wide.

I also found this.

I know that logo.

I have to check the contents
of the box.

MAN:
Empty your pockets, please.

Of course.

(SNIFFING)

All right, go ahead.

It's the World Tolerance conference
at the Boston Center for Arts.

Do you know
who he's planning to target?

With that broad a spectrum
of genetic markers, could be anybody.

- Evacuate the building.
- I'll call head of security.

There are dignitaries at that conference
so we need to follow protocol.

- That'll take time.
- We may not have it.

(SNIFFING)

(SNIFFING)

There are many difficulties...

...but we must continue
to confront discrimination...

...and uphold the rights
of the oppressed.

The theme of this year's conference,
individual and cultural events...

...was not chosen lightly.

This organization has a proud tradition
of upholding human rights...

...and cultural diversity.

Together we are committed
to the promotion of tolerance.

ASTRID:
Walter?

Whenever you're ready,
I'll take you home.

No.

I want you to take me
to the Performing Arts Center.

I can stop this.

OLIVIA: Okay, we're looking for the man
or the mechanism.

It's gonna be something hot.
A candle, a coffee urn.

OLIVIA:
FBI.

So.

Now, remember,
he could be anywhere.

On the floor, in balconies, anywhere.

WOMAN: Should we condemn their culture?
Failure to recognize the...

Peter, there's a candle on every table.

I know.
They've been burning for so long.

There's no victims, he must be
using something more potent.

Walter, the conference is this way.

No, Astrid, we need
to take the higher ground.

GATRELL (ON RADIO): This is Gatrell. I'M in
the northwest corner. I got nothing.

Nothing here either. Keep circulating.

WOMAN: ...difference of values,
of religions and of lifestyles.

We must take great care...

...lest our advocacy
become its own form of oppression...

...one that unjustifiably takes sides...

PETER:
Olivia, I'M in the bar.

Could be anything back here.

Candles, coffee pots. It's a disaster.

Hold on a second.

Peter?

Let's hold off on those for one second.

WOMAN:
By recognizing room for doubt...

I think I got it.

(MAN COUGHING)

We are united by a common...

(MAN COUGHING)

Where's the victim?

- Okay, FBI. Everybody, move.
- Move.

OLIVIA: Make room.
- I said move. Out of my way.

I need a paramedic.

(COUGHING)

Bischoff.

Traitor.

(GRUNTING)

BROYLES:
Dr. Bishop.

WALTER:
Yes, Agent Broyles?

- What you did tonight...
- Was to use the killer's DNA...

...to target him, and only him,
using his own toxin.

If you plan to press charges,
then so be it.

But I don't regret what I did.

(SIGHS)

Good night, Dr. Bishop.

Olivia?

That man,
he corrupted my father's work.

- I understand.
- No, no, it was more than that.

You see,
family is very important to me.

There's nothing I wouldn't do.

- What's this?
- It's a present.

Your father's work. I had Franko give me
everything that wasn't totally destroyed.

Oh, look, Peter. It's your grandfather.

Robert Bischoff?

That was his name.
Changed it when he came over here.

Your mother always said
that you shared his noble brow.

It's a pity you never got to know him.

You two would've gotten along
very well, I think.

There is still one thing
that doesn't make any sense.

If the formula for the toxin
didn't come from your father's notes...

...how did this guy get it?

Perhaps there's some mysteries
that are destined to remain unsolved.

Thank you for bringing these back.