Fringe (2008–2013): Season 3, Episode 2 - The Box - full transcript

NARRATOR:
Previously on Fringe:

You're looking through a window
into another world.

An alternate universe just like ours.

And in each of them,
there is a version of us.

- I can't let Peter die again.
- Walter, Peter is dead.

I'm talking about the other Peter.
The one on the Other Side.

I crossed into another universe
and took a son that wasn't mine.

Agent Dunham, I work for the FBI
in Fringe Division...

...dealing with weird
and mysterious events.

These men are consultants.
Peter Bishop and Walter Bishop.

- Hello, Dr. Bishop.
- Newton. What do we know?



OLIVIA: William Bell told me that
Newton would try to open a doorway...

...from our universe to the Other Side.

PETER: I'm not from here, am I?
- Son, there's...

I am not your son.

- I can take you back where you belong.
OLIVIA: Peter is in danger.

Help us cross over.

Walter here is the Secretary of Defense.
The Fringe team answers to him.

Invaders from another universe.
They're our doubles.

They can't be trusted.

You gotta trust me. I'm you.

PETER:
What is it?

WALTER: Something to heal
the problems of this world.

His bringing me back
was never about fixing this universe.

It was about destroying yours.



They're heading back
to the opera house. Make the switch.

BROYLES:
Welcome back.

I know you can hear me!
Please let me out of here.

DARRYL: We'd get through the foundation
a lot quicker with that pickaxe.

Where's your dumb cousin?

He ain't dumb. And don't worry
about him. Just keep working.

(COUGHS)

What do you think's in it?

Ain't our job to think.
It's our job to dig.

We're getting paid
a lot of money for this.

It's gotta be something valuable.

That's the kind of thinking
that found us trouble in Texas.

Yeah, but we made
a lot of money back in Texas.

Maybe just a peek.

Fringe
s3e02 The Box

NEWTON: I have everything you need
for your new identity.

Agent Olivia Dunham.
Joined the Fringe Division...

...September 9th, 2008.

And you also got files on both Bishops,
Broyles, Bell, and Farnsworth.

Where'd you get all this?

I've been here
since you were in high school.

I've cultivated a lot of resources.
Anything you need, just ask.

- Ha, ha. The History of Pop Culture.
NEWTON: That's your homework.

It will help familiarize you
with this world.

- If you could move your hair to the side.
- Yeah.

Don't worry, you won't feel a thing.

(OLIVIA CHUCKLES)

- Who's "Bono"?
- Oh, it's Bono, actually.

- He's a musician.
- Oh, yeah? Is he any good?

One of the few I like on this side.

OLIVIA:
Well, he's easy on the eyes.

Careful. Their side may be alluring...

...but don't be taken in by it.
They started the war, remember.

You don't have to remind me
whose side I'm on.

- Did you do what I told you?
- I hired a team and sent it to the site.

- Your usual men?
- No. I don't want to burn my resources.

Does that meet with your approval?

I don't care how long you've been here,
this is my operation. You work for me.

Indeed.

ASTRID: "Dr. Bell's company
was known for tackling..."

...the most advanced
technological problems.

"He will long be remembered as one of
our country's leading visionaries."

It's a bit generic, don't you think?
He was my best friend.

Wherever he is, he'll be very
disappointed. We're low on butter.

Butter? Right. Coming up.

And you think this is, what?
Some sort of doomsday machine?

Well, Walternate said that it was
a very powerful piece of ancient tech.

He spent the last few years
looking for the component pieces.

- But he's finished assembling it?
- No. He was missing several of them.

Including one very important one.

- Me.
- You think this is accurate?

That you somehow
can power this device?

The device seemed to need
a specific human interface.

And this piece
responded directly to me.

If that's true, if Walternate needs you
to operate this weapon...

We know that he has agents
on this side.

If he wanted me back,
they would have made a play.

- There has to be some other plan.
WALTER: These cacao beans.

They're inedible.
Gene will never be able to digest them.

She's a cow, Walter.
She could probably digest the frying pan.

BROYLES: What is he doing?
- You don't want to know.

I'm trying to make chocolate milk.

Or rather I'm trying to make the cow
make chocolate milk.

Dr. Bishop...

...do you have an idea why this machine
would or could be configured for Peter?

Why it would respond to him?

- This machine is dangerous.
- Which is why we need to understand it.

- If it is indeed a threat...
- To ignore it would be irresponsible.

I've heard that argument before.

That's what you people
told Oppenheimer...

...when you discovered
the Nazis were working on a bomb.

And how do you think he slept
after his little invention...

...had killed hundreds of thousands
in a fraction of a second?

I need to go back to the market.
Aspirin! We need to go to the market.

- Is he okay?
- Well, he's Walter. Define "okay."

- Hi.
- Do you need anything from the market?

No, thank you.

Peter, I know you and Walter
have been through a lot.

But if this is the threat we think it is,
we need Walter focused.

What if he's right?

What if we shouldn't
be working on this thing?

- You ready?
- Yeah.

Been back for two days and
Walter's already driving you to drink?

Can you blame me?

Sometimes I feel like I'm stuck
in one of those bad buddy-cop movies.

- Like I'm handcuffed to a...
- A mad scientist who kidnapped you...

- ...from another universe?
- Yeah, exactly.

(BLUES MUSIC PLAYING ON SPEAKERS)

You know, I understand
Walter's concern about the weapon...

...but I think Broyles is right.
We need to figure out what it does.

- And we can't do that without Walter.
- Another?

(PATSY CLINE'S "CRAZY"
PLAYING ON SPEAKERS)

I love this song.

- Really?
- Don't you?

Well, no, it's a great song, I just...

As long as I've known you, I've never
heard you express an interest in music.

(CHUCKLES)

I've been noticing a lot of things
since we've been back.

Being over there,
meeting another Olivia Dunham...

...made me think about the way
I look at the world.

The choices I've made.

Come on.

- Are you serious?
- Yeah, come on.

What, you're one of those guys
that doesn't like to dance?

...Love me as long as you wanted

Nothing like seeing another version of
yourself to give you a little perspective.

I gotta tell you, it was strange.

Being with the other you.

Like looking into one of those
carnival mirrors.

- You didn't like the red hair?
- Well, I've always preferred blondes.

But you did make a very sexy redhead.

Good.

The more I think about being over there,
the less real it seems.

But you, you still feel real.

(PHONE RINGING)

OLIVIA:
Hmm.

(CHUCKLES)

Dunham.

A neighbor found them
a few hours ago.

ME puts the time of death
around 10 last night.

What are you thinking?

Nothing. Just taking it in.

Dr. Bishop, any thoughts?

Reminds me of
Monet's Water Lilies.

- The painting?
PETER: It's a pastel.

Look at the blood.
It's a shade lighter than ordinary.

Blood's mixed with something else.
Possibly spinal fluid.

So where are the men
who tied them up?

Neither of them had ID.

Techs are taking prints.

Seem to have been in some type of
vegetative trance before they expired.

So you've seen
something like this before?

No.

Nostradamus is said to have
died standing up.

But I doubt that someone
who predicted his own death...

...wouldn't have laid down.

Whatever did this
didn't kill them right away.

It's a hypothesis.
But we are yet to find our Rosebud.

The elusive clue
that will unlock the mystery.

- Anyone locate what they were after?
- We don't know what they're after.

- Beware of buried treasure.
- We're thinking there was a third thief.

Unless of course this buried treasure
had legs of its own. Ha, ha.

Wouldn't that be delightful?

- Any leads on the third man?
- No, not yet.

I was just in Milton.
We got a problem.

Your little plan wasn't so foolproof.

The device was supposed to be there,
right? It wasn't.

One of your men must have taken it.

Two died like you planned...

...but the other survived
and took the device.

I only hired two men.

That's them. If there were three,
all should be dead.

- No one can withstand that thing.
- Someone did. We need to find him.

- That sound creeps me out.
- Really?

I've always found it oddly comforting.

Oh, that's very good, dear.

Have you ever worked
behind a deli counter?

Walter, your tie.

I, uh, think you have a little bit
of brain on it.

Here, let me...

It's raspberry jam.

Walter. It's time to go.

- Can you give us just a minute?
- Maybe I'm overdressed.

- Maybe I should change anyway.
- Walter, you look fine.

No, I don't think I can do this.

Walter...

...it's gonna be okay.

You look lovely.

This place makes me feel
so insignificant.

I read that they invented
a wheelchair...

...that can be steered
by brainwaves alone.

Some sort of
micro-electrode technology.

Walter. Peter.

We're set up in my office.

Nina. I know that this has been
a great loss to you, as well.

"My great friend lsaac once said,
'Life is joy..."

...death is peace.
It's transition that's difficult.'

I was not a man of many friends.

But if I'd had hundreds, I would still
cherish the two of you most.

Nina...

...I was your right hand,
and you were mine.

For the many hours we spent exploring
the impossible, a small thank you.

And...

...for the precious few
we had alone in Tuscany...

...a memento of me.

Walter.

We gather knowledge
faster than we gather wisdom.

By now, I trust you have
ample reserves of both.

"I hope you've forgiven me."

Thus concludes the last will
and testament of William Bell.

Thank you all for coming.

So you gonna tell me?

What?

About the letter?

No. I don't think so.

(PHONE RINGING)

- Hello?
- Dunham's not picking up.

- Are you two at Blake's apartment yet?
- I'm not with Dunham.

- Who's Blake?
- One of men we found in the basement.

We got a fingerprint hit on him.
She didn't call?

No, she didn't.

Hey.

- Hey. Broyles called you?
- Yeah.

Sorry.

I know you don't want to babysit...

...but I knew Walter had a big day today.

And if I called, you'd come.

- Blake's got a friend living here?
- Looks that way.

Although there's nothing
to tell us who he is.

I was just gonna look for the landlord,
see what he knows.

Maybe you could do another once-over,
in case I missed something.

- It's Dunham, you got a pen?
- I do now.

1200 Remington Place, Cambridge.
Bishop and I will be gone in 30 minutes.

I need you there then.
You gotta bring this guy in.

Walter?

How was the reading of the will?

You know,
there's a South American centipede...

...that's been known to crawl
through the nasal passages...

...and wreak this kind of havoc.

Do you think that a bug
could have killed all five victims?

And disrupted the electronics
in the house?

Probably not.

- Hey. Hey.
- These damn things.

Walter.

Is everything okay?

No.

This is from Bell?

It's a key to a safety deposit box.

WALTER:
It's an old argument.

Belly and I spent days discussing
the wisdom of crossing the line.

"Only those that risk going too far...

...can possibly know
how far they can go."

- That's what Belly used to say.
- So you were the cautious one?

He was over there. He saw what I did.

All that I destroyed.

How can he tell me to cross the line?

Walter, you saved Peter's life.

I know that
there were consequences...

...but Peter has got to understand
why you made the choices you made.

You've talked to him, haven't you?

- I've been waiting for the right moment.
- You were gonna do that days ago.

He has got to hear
your side of the story.

Endolymph fluid.

There was severe damage
to the inner ear. Pass me a swab, please.

I think I know what happened here.

- Walter, I can't find the requiem.
- Perhaps her Don Giovanni?

So you think that music
killed these people?

Not music per se. Could you
help me with this please, my dear?

What about this? Would that work?

Figaro. Perfect!

We've known for some time
that different sounds...

...affect the brain in different ways.

(MOZART'S "MARRIAGE OF FIGARO"
PLAYING ON SPEAKERS)

(SINGING IN ITALIAN)

Look at my brainwaves
On the monitor-o

They're smoothing out.

ASTRID:
Harmonic music reduces neural activity.

Which is why we think more clearly
when we listen to it.

As opposed to...

...this! Dissonance.

(MIAMI VICE THEME
PLAYING ON SPEAKERS)

Look. Look at my neurons.
Look at my neurons.

Okay, we get it, Walter.
Can I turn this off now?

Sorry. Sorry. You see, the point is this:

With this type of auditory phenomena...

...taken to its ultrasonic extreme,
can be fatal.

Um, and the way it effects the brain,
it could well have induced...

...some type of vegetative trance
before death.

Which would also explain
the trauma to the inner ear.

We're looking for some kind
of deadly music box?

No, you wouldn't be able to hear it.

- The frequency is too high.
- Silent but deadly.

Speaking of which,
you might like to take a step away.

Delightful, Walter.

(SIGHS)

Any ideas why it didn't
affect the third man?

- Maybe headphones of some sort?
- They'd need to be very sophisticated.

I'm gonna call Broyles, have him monitor
the city for abnormal ultrasonic activity.

ASTRID:
Walter.

Go talk to him.

All the victims were patients
of Dr. Laxmeesh Nayak.

He ran, uh, an outpatient clinic
in Seattle.

Nayak was ostensibly
treating his patients...

...as part of a clinical trial
for sleep disorders.

You have photographic memory.

How am I gonna do that?

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

You don't move unless I tell you to.
Got it?

Okay. Step inside.

Put the box down.
On the bench. Slowly.

Please don't hurt me, Mrs. Dunham.

You're deaf.

Yeah, that's why you didn't die.

I'll call Olivia. Thanks.

Peter. May I have a moment?

Sure. What's up?

I, uh... Today, when I
said goodbye to Belly...

...it was hard. Very hard.

Sure it was.

- I'm... I'm sorry if I wasn't...
- No, not that.

What I'm trying to say...

...is that it was nothing.

Nothing compared to saying goodbye
to my son.

- Walter, I gotta call...
- Peter.

You need to hear this.

When Peter...

...my Peter...

...died...

...I lost all hope.

The only thing that kept me alive
was Elizabeth...

...and my window into your world.

I always told Belly that we couldn't cross
over, that it was far too dangerous.

But when I saw
that you were dying too...

...and that I was the only one
who could save you...

You kidnapped me, Walter.

You took me from my family,
from my world.

I didn't plan to,
that was not my intention.

I love you, Peter.

And if I had to make the choice
all over again...

...I am not sure that
I'd be strong enough to act differently.

But now I understand that it was wrong.

That I should never have
crossed the line.

That it was terribly wrong.

I can't talk about this yet, Walter.

OLIVIA: He saw my badge outside
of Blake's apartment.

He thought he was bringing the box
to the authorities.

I'll come back after I'm done
to help you with him.

It's too bad he's not blind.

If you need me to take care of him...

No, you can just do your job.

Make sure you don't screw it up
this time.

I'm sorry.

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

- Peter?
PETER: Hey.

Did I come at a bad time?

- Hey, you want me to come back later?
- No, not at all, I, uh...

I just got out of the shower.
So can you just give me a minute?

Sorry. I should've called
before I came over.

BOTH:
Hey.

- Mind if I come in?
- Sure.

So Walter apologized to me.

I know it wouldn't take much.

A few words, a hug,
a couple hands of UNO.

Anything would make the man
feel better at this point.

But I just can't bring myself to do it.

Sometimes I can't even
look the guy in the eye.

You two have been through a lot.

You can't expect to go back
to the way it was overnight.

We all know this has been
hard on you, Peter.

No, you have no idea.

I saw what Walter did.

I saw all the quarantine zones.

I saw all the damage that he caused.
He destroyed their world, my world.

Well, he couldn't have known
how bad it was gonna be.

Yeah. It's not like they gave him
a picture of himself...

...with fireballs coming out of his eyes
strapped into a doomsday machine.

You didn't come here to talk
about Walter, did you?

I can't close my eyes
without seeing that picture.

And whatever is in those blueprints
is my connection to that machine.

What if they're right?

What if that machine does exactly
what Broyles and Walter think it does?

Is that my destiny, my fate?

Am I supposed to destroy worlds too?

I'll be honest with you,
I don't want to turn out like Walter.

Peter, the truth is I'm scared too.

The last few weeks
have been hard on all of us.

You know, of course there's always
the temporary fix.

The temporary fix?

Distraction.

(MAN 1 SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY
ON SPEAKER)

- Hello.
- Hi.

What's this?

It's, um... It's a box.

Well, what's in it?

As with most things in life,
the reality would pale...

...in comparison
with one's imagination.

And isn't it better to wonder?

Would you keep an eye on the box
while I go to the rest room?

Is there, you know, remuneration?

NEWTON:
Of course.

There you go.

- I won't be a minute.
MAN 2: Okay.

(BOTH PHONES RINGING)

(CHUCKLES)

- Astrid.
- Broyles.

Well, that can't be a good sign.

Kent Street.

I frequented a massage parlor
just around the corner.

I used to get off right here.

Sure hope you're talking about
the station, Walter.

Got five more victims,
maybe more unaccounted for.

Mobile but unresponsive.
They're in some kind of trance.

Lieutenant! I want every subway station
in Boston evacuated.

Security cameras picked up a small man
walking into the tunnel...

...carrying a metallic box.

These people seem to be suffering
from the same symptoms...

...as the victims at Milton.

BROYLES: Yes, we're thinking the box
might be what the thieves dug up there.

- What about the trains?
- System runs on a computer.

We've logged in and stopped all trains
going into the tunnel.

Bomb squad's
ready to deploy a man in the tunnel.

Bomb squad? This thing's not a bomb.
You send men in, they get killed.

The tunnel leads to another station.
If the box is mobile, we stop it.

- You have a better idea?
- Yeah, I'll go.

Peter, you can't, it's too dangerous.

The box is our responsibility, Walter.

If I can get in front
of it, I can disarm it.

No.

I haven't had time to devise something
to protect you from the sound.

Your boys have some ear protection.

The frequencies are ultra-sonic.
Simple noise cancellation won't work!

I have to disable all impulses
along the cochlear nerve.

My men are standing by, agents.

Peter, I have to make a call here.

What is it, Walter?

The science is tenuous to say the least.

Walter, if you have a way to put me
in front of that box, tell me.

Walter, talk to me.

WALTER:
Agent Dunham...

...we're going to need your gun.

MAN (OVER RADIO): Mic test, one, two...
- So how long have I got?

I don't know.

If you can hear us talking, it's too late.

Well, ballpark it for me, Walter.

Maximum? Three minutes.

You ready?

Do it.

PETER (OVER RADIO):
I see it.

Oh, my God.

I know what this is.

It's a piece of the weapon. I recognize it
from Walternate's blueprints.

The weapon from the Other Side?
How is that possible?

PETER (OVER RADIO): Looks like the box
was soundproof, but it's broken.

I can't close it.
I'M gonna try to disarm it.

He hasn't spoken for 71 seconds.
Something is wrong.

His hearing could come back at any time.
We need to send someone in.

BROYLES:
I can't send another man in there.

WALTER:
He could be hurt, he could be dying!

Hey! Guys.

- Do you hear that?
- I thought all the trains were stopped!

The device affected the subway's
communication system.

Dunham, wait, you can't go in there!

WALTER: For a catastrophic explosion
like that...

...I imagine he had
some sort of surgical implant.

Dental ceramic crowns,
if they were to vibrate...

...at just the right resonant frequency...

Always hated the dentist.

- You're sure this is part of the weapon?
- Yeah.

It looks just like the parts
I saw on the Other Side.

We know Walternate has agents here.
Maybe they're looking for the pieces.

The ones he couldn't find over there.

Why would there be pieces on our side?

You got a better explanation?

We're talking about two universes here.

Two of each one of us.

At this point, would anything
really surprise you?

WALTER:
Bacon-flavored pudding.

That would surprise me.

I'd like to take this back to the lab.

We got the blueprints.
Maybe I can figure it out.

Okay.

I guess you've got
other plans for tonight.

Yeah.

- Do you mind?
- Of course not.

Today was a bad day.
But it could have been a lot worse.

Your quick thinking saved a lot of lives,
Dr. Bishop.

Good work.

(KNOCKING)

Walter.

Hi.

I know what Belly left me.

Oh?

He left me Massive Dynamic.

I'm the sole shareholder.