Johari Window - Recap

State Trooper Pekarsky is driving near the New York town of Edina when he spots a boy, Teddy Falls, walking along the side of the road. Pekarsky figures that the boy is a runaway and offers him a lift home, assuring him that his parents really do want him back. Teddy gets into the backseat and they talk as Pekarsky drives him to the station to contact his parents. Pekarsky glances into the rearview mirror and sees Teddy's face has transformed, revealing numerous deformities.

The trooper takes Teddy to the state trooper's station in Jonestown and takes photos of the boy. The other two officers insist that Teddy must be one of the nutjobs that they've heard rumors about. They want to tell people what they've discovered right away, but Pekarsky enters Teddy's photo into the computer system and insists that they go by the book. Two deformed men suddenly break into the station and gun down the troopers. As they get Teddy, the boy apologizes to Pekarsky before one of the men finishes off the trooper with another rifle shot.

Peter takes Walter to the grocery store but Walter refuses to get out. He's concerned that his abductor is hiding inside. Before Peter can get any further, Olivia calls and asks them to prepare to leave for Jonestown where the troopers' corpses have been discovered.

At Jonestown, the team meets with Broyles and the local FBI agent, Frug. The coroner confirms that the troopers were killed shortly after Pekarsky uploaded Teddy's photo. There's no evidence to identify the killers and they examine the photo. Walter claims he's seen the boy before, but they soon realize he's talking about a character in the movie Deliverance. They go through the troopers' files and find dozens of reports of similar people who appear human and then transform. Some of the reports go back over 30 years, and they all center on Edina. As Olivia leave with Peter and Walter, Broyles warns that the killers are clearly determined to kill anyone who gets too close, and Olivia assures him she'll be careful.

When they arrive in Edina, the trio hears a strange buzz and Walter starts singing Carmen with lyrics about an elephant. He doesn’t know why he's singing, but insists that it has something to do with the humming sound. Sheriff Velchik introduces himself and explains that the Edina Hum is a well-known phenomenon, and comes from the turbines at a local military base. They show him the photo of Teddy and Velchik admits that he's heard stories about such individuals for years, but has never found one. As they talk, a local man, Joe Falls, listens to their conversation and then quietly gets up and goes home. He tells his wife Rose that the FBI is in town and investigating the troopers' deaths. Rose warns that they shouldn't have killed the men, but her husband insists they didn't have any other choice. As they talk, Teddy works on his homework in the next room and listens in.

As Olivia drives to a motel out of town, she calls Broyles. Peter suspects a government conspiracy and suggests that Broyles check out the military base. As they drive, Walter dozes off in the back seat and Peter admits that he's worried his father's fugues are getting worse since his abduction. Olivia explains that people that used to know her consider her a freak when they learn what she does. They're interrupted when a truck comes at them from the opposite direction and runs them off the road. Olivia is knocked out in the collision. The driver, bearing facial deformities, gets out of the truck and opens fire. Peter grabs Olivia's gun and returns fire, as Walter finally wakes up. The man tries to get behind the truck but Peter fires a shot and the man runs away.

Once Olivia recovers consciousness, they call in Frug and his men. They find the abandoned truck down the road near Edina and are unable to immediately find anything to identify it. Walter spots a butterfly in the woods and says that it's a rare specimen. He collects it for Astrid, a butterfly admirer, while Olivia spots blood. She and Peter follow it into the woods and find the corpse of their attacker: Joe Falls. He finally died of Peter's gunshot, but appears perfectly normal. Frug wonders if Peter was mistaken in his identification, and Walter suggests that the man is a shapeshifter. They don't find any identification on him. A pensive Peter stands on the road and Olivia tries to reassure him, saying that she had a tough time the first time she had to shoot someone in the line of duty. As they talk, Rose watches them from the woods.

The team takes Joe's body back to Harvard, while Broyles calls to let them know that the Army was doing experiments in the 70s near Edina. Most of the files have been redacted and he sends them to Olivia via fax. Meanwhile, Walter gives Astrid the butterfly specimen and starts examining Joe's body. Olivia goes over the fax and discovers a reference to "Project Elephant." Astrid looks at the specimen and informs Walter that it's a moth with a deformed wing, not the butterfly he claims he picked up. She checks on Joe's corpse and discovers that he's transformed again, his features deformed.

Walter examines the corpse and tells Astrid to keep an eye on the moth in case it transforms again. He speculates that the butterfly and Joe both gained the ability to transform due to the Army's experiments, and that butterflies are one of the few specimens that completely transform their bodies during their life cycle. A puzzled Walter then discovers that Joe shows no indications of a metamorphic ability. Meanwhile, Olivia tracks the VIN number of Joe's truck and learns his name and that he lives in Edina.

Peter and Olivia return to Edina and tell Velchik that there's no current address on Joe. Velchik claims he vaguely knows Joe as a local millworker who was laid off and does odd jobs, but doesn't know where he lives. Velchik agrees to let them examine the local records to find out where Joe lived.

Astrid confirms that the moth is a mutant with a disorder similar to Joe's, explaining the deformity. However, there's still no indication of a transformative ability in either subject. Walter insists that the mutation seems familiar, but can't remember. He hums the song from Edina and Astrid realizes that it's a mnemonic that spells out the name "Harkness." They go to the Harkness Law Library at Harvard.

Olivia and Peter check the records and discover that someone has stolen the entire "F" section, and start checking the federal records.

Walter finds one of his hidden caches at the library. As he opens it, he admits to Astrid that during Peter's sickness, he buried himself in his wood to distract himself from the mental anguish. He opens the cache and finds Army files with photos of other deformed men. The head researcher was Edward Cobb, and Walter recognizes the name.

As they go over the records, Peter tries to compile the census numbers and realizes that something doesn't match. Olivia calls Velchik and tells him about the theft of files. The sheriff says that he knows who might be responsible, and then tells Olivia that he's located Joe at a trailer on the town's outskirts. He also confirms that Joe had a son that would be Teddy's age. He tells them to meet him at the trailer after nightfall and Olivia agrees.

Once Velchik hangs up, he goes outside. The townspeople have gathered and Velchik tells him that the FBI doesn't know what's going on. Rose warns that they have proof, but Velchik says that he'll take care of everything and make their problem go away.

Astrid drives Walter to Edina, and he explains that he now remembers helping with an Army experiment to use an electromagnetic pulse to scramble the enemy's optic nerves and make American soldiers effectively invisible. However, the pulse caused genetic disorders in anyone exposed to it. Joe and the moth are both descendents of people suffering from the genetic disorders. They arrive at the edge of Edina and Walter gets out to test his theory. He takes out the jar with the moth and they watch as it transforms back into a butterfly. Walter explains to Astrid that the moth didn't transform: rather, when they returned to town, the pulse affected their optic nerves and caused them to see the deformed subjects as normal. He calls Peter to tell him what he's found and warns that someone has perfected the pulse, making it safe and letting it camouflage deformed individuals. Walter insists that only Cobb could have perfected the pulse. Peter tells Walter to go home and get out of danger. However, when Walter hangs up, he lies and tells Astrid that Peter wants them to find the pulse generator.

Velchik and his deputy are loading their guns at the station and going out to kill Peter and Olivia when Rose comes in and insists that everything has gone too far. Velchik reminders her that they killed a Federal marshal a few years ago, but nobody came looking. He figures he can dispose of Olivia and Peter the same way. He tells Rose to stick to her job and make the machine keeps working.

Walter and Astrid drive through town, looking for a transmitter large enough to carry the pulse. Astrid finally spots a large antenna at a seemingly normal home. As they go to the door, Walter notes that the owners' names are Joe and Rose, and remembers that Cobb has a daughter named Rose. Teddy answers the door and Walter confirms that Cobb was the boy's grandfather, and then convinces the boy to let them inside. Inside, Walter finds a photo of Cobb with his daughter, confirming his suspicions. Teddy insists they have to leave but Walter asks to use the bathroom and Astrid distracts the boy while Walter starts exploring.

As they go to the trailer to meet Velchik, Peter figures that the census data shows that no one has ever left town since the Army experiments, and the only population reduction has been due to deaths. They pull up at the trailer as Velchik and his deputy drive up. Realizing that the entire town is in on the cover up, Peter pulls Olivia down just in time as Velchik opens fire. They run to a nearby barn and Velchik and his deputy chase after them.

Walter finds the pulse generator in the Falls basement and turns it off. Upstairs, Astrid looks at Teddy as the camouflage pulse fades away, revealing him as he truly looks.

At the farm, Velchik and the deputy revert as well. Olivia kills the deputy and Velchik manages to get her and Peter at gunpoint. As he prepares to shoot them, an armed Rose comes up behind them and tells him to stop. When Velchik refuses, she shoots him.

Later, the deformed Rose explains that her father resigned when he discovered what had happened to the citizens of Edina. He moved into the town, perfect the pulse generator, and then offered the townspeople a normal life as long as they chose to remain. They chose to stay, and Cobb remained there with his daughter. He had moved his wife and daughter to Edina during the experiments, and was unaware that the Army had expanded the range of tests. Rose and her mother were deformed as well, but Rose insists that her father did what he could to give them a good life.

Outside, Broyles arrives and Walter begs him to let the people of Edina live in peace and not expose them to the outside world where they'll be studied, dissected, and humiliated. Broyles notes that three men were killed but Walter notes that Velchik and his deputy were the killers, and they've suffered their own justice. Broyles asks where the generator is and Walter begs him, and Broyles explains that if there is no pulse generator, he has nothing to report and can close the investigation. Realizing what he means, Walter agrees not to reveal anything about what he's discovered and thanks Broyles for his understanding.

Later, Olivia, Peter, and Walter drive out of Edina while Teddy stands at the border of the city and looks out longingly toward the rest of the world. Walter explains that he admires Rose for exposing her secret to help right the wrong and stop the killing. Peter admits that he admires his father for taking a stand with Broyles, and Walter says he's glad his son chooses to see him that way.

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