The Day We Died - Recap

In the year 2026, a 47-year-old Peter Bishop is brought to the hospital to be treated for shrapnel to the chest. Astrid assures him that he’ll be fine. Later, Ella Dunham tries to get past the reception desk to check on him and admits that she was just promoted and doesn’t have an ID badge yet. The receptionist checks her bar code and informs her that Peter is in recovery and should be out soon. Olivia Dunham arrives and Ella refers to her as her boss. They discuss the man responsible, the End of Days terrorist Moreau, and Peter arrives and hugs Olivia. Olivia worries about him but Peter assures her that he’s fine. Ella asks him if he remembers talking about being from the past when he was in the field, but Peter says he doesn’t remember and he’s fine now. On the news, Moreau claims responsibility and Olivia informs them that they’ve initiated a Stage 3 amber protocol.



Moreau and his two men go to an opera house and plant three metal cylinders outside the doors. When an attendant spots them, they kill him and escape. The cylinders activate and the opera house is destroyed in a flash of light.

The Fringe team arrives at the destruction site and Astrid confirms how Moreau and his men gained entrance. They also find one of the electrolyte cylinders that didn’t activate. At Fringe HQ, Peter analyzes the cylinder and reports to Olivia that he hasn’t found out anything or even determine how it works. He suggests that they talk to Walter, and asks Olivia to call in any favors she has.

Peter goes to a maximum-security prison and meets with Walter, who realizes that things are bad if they have let Peter see him. Peter informs him that a wormhole opened in Central Park and they finally managed to amber it over, and it emitted radiation suggesting it reaches back 250 million years ago. Walter asks about Olivia and Peter assures his father that he’s fine, and then asks Walter to examine the cylinder. He explains that End of Days uses them on “soft spots” in reality to accelerate the end of the world. Walter says that he needs his instruments and says that the authorities won’t give him access.



Peter travels to Washington, DC and meets with Senator Phillip Broyles. He shows Broyles the cylinder and says that they need a temporary furlough for Walter so he can work on the case. Broyles refuses, noting that Walter is responsible for the destruction sweeping the planet despite his original intentions. Peter insists that if they can figure out the technology, they’ll prevent future casualties, and tells Broyles to do it in honor of what they lost in Detroit.



Peter takes a heavily-guarded Walter to the Harvard lab. When Walter wonders if Astrid will be assisting him, Peter tells him that she’s now a full field agent. Walter takes a look at his old office and Olivia comes to see him. He embraces her and then offers his belated congratulations on her marriage to Peter. When a worker drops a box, Olivia catches it telekinetically and Walter realizes that she’s learned how to control her abilities.



Moreau meets with his sponsor, who tells him that the next target is the wormhole in Central Park. The terrorist has built a new device to his sponsor’s specifications and hands it to the man: Walternate. Walternate says that it won’t be long until This Side is destroyed just like the Other Side.

Peter brings red licorice for Walter, who admits he hasn’t deciphered the technology yet. However, he warns that no matter what they do now, their world is doomed, and was doomed from the moment they destroyed the Other Side. Peter has no word of Walternate, who came to their world to try and save his and was trapped when the Other Side was destroyed. Walter thanks Peter for speaking on his behalf at the trial, and that the courts cleared Peter of any blame since he tried to save both sides. Peter tells him that he’s dad no matter what and leaves.

At home, Peter prepares dinner for himself and Olivia, and Olivia points out that Walter cooked when he was upset. Olivia shows her husband a crayon drawing that their neighbor child Amanda did, showing them with a child. Peter suggests that they get started on that right away, but Olivia doesn’t see the point in bringing a child into a world that is on the brink of destruction.



The next morning, Olivia and Peter are in bed when Peter gets a call from Walter. He explains that the diagnostics on the canister show residual radiation from Strontium 90, and it can be traced. Fringe Division looks for readings and follows the radiation impulses to a campsite. There are no signs of a laboratory, but an agent gives Peter a key case that they found in the area. He keeps it from Olivia and goes back to his car, and confirms the key is to the Bishop cabin on Reiden Lake.

In Central Park, Moreau and one of his men approach the amber zone containing the wormhole. Once they're in position, they plant two of the electrolyte canisters.

Astrid is at Fringe Division when they receive word that there has been a breach in the Central City amber barrier.

At Harvard, Walter shows Ella and Olivia the cylinder and admits he has no idea where it was made, but notes that it contains technology 15 years ahead of what they have. Fringe Division calls Olivia to notify her of the breach and that Moreau has been spotted in the area.

Peter goes to Reiden Lake and uses the key to enter the long-empty cabin. Walternate is waiting inside, and Peter sets down his gun and sits next to him. He says that Walternate could have called him, but Walternate says he wanted a real reunion. He talks about how Walter ruined his life by taking his son, and that he came to This Side on a mission of mercy to ask for help. When he accuses Peter of destroying the Other Side, Peter reminds him that Walternate activated his Machine, but Walternate vows that he will destroy This Side, and not all at once.



Olivia and Ella arrive at Central Park just as the canisters activate. Everyone passes out, and Olivia wakes up and realizes that Moreau has blasted open the containment barrier, releasing the wormhole inside.

Peter apologizes for the suffering that he caused and the people that he destroyed, but says it's no excuse for Walternate is doing. He tells Walternate that it has to stop and prepares to arrest him, but Walternate says that he isn't really there and that he's going to teach Peter about loss by killing someone he loves. Peter reaches forward and confirms that "Walternate" is merely a hologram.

At Central Park, Walternate gets out of a van, draws a gun, and shoots Olivia in the head, killing her instantly.



Peter speaks briefly at Olivia's funeral and sends her out to sea after setting her coffin on fire. Afterwards, Ella takes Walter back to prison, but they get caught in the traffic near Central Park. Walter gets an idea and asks her to take him to his lab.

Peter is at home, drinking, As he goes to the refrigerator for another bottle of vodka, he sees Amanda's drawing of them and breaks into tears.



At the lab the next morning, Walter completes his work and notes that Ella used to call him Uncle Walter. She admits that she doesn't remember much from before it got bad, and Walter offers his condolences. He wishes that he could go back in time to change things and make different choices, but Ella says that he can't and there are no happy endings. They talk briefly about the cow and then Walter completes his analysis. He has the MPs take him to see Peter, where he explains that his son can still explain both words by making a different choice. Peter doesn't believe it, but Walter explains that the pieces were buried milions of years ago because he sent them back through the Central Park wormhole. Walter can't refuse to send them back because he's already done it, but Peter can make a different choice within what happened. He plans to send Peter's consciousness from 2011 into 2026 so that he can see what will happen and make a different choice. Peter warns that there may be repercussions, but Walter says that nothing can be worse than what they've experienced.

Peter finds himself back in 2011, strapped into the Machine as his body is strained to its limits.

The Other Side

Brandon reports to Walternate that the Machine is locked and the soft spots in their reality are getting worse. Walternate has Fauxlivia brought to him and explains that she has a connection to the machine. He asks her to use her abilities to stop the Machine, and she realizes that their counterparts on This Side put Peter into the Machine.

This Side

Olivia climbs up to Peter and he regains consciousness, and says that he's alive. He concentrates and the DoD staff, including Walternate, Fauxlivia, and Brandon, appears as their complex merges with This Side's hangar. Peter frees himself from the Machine as the two Walters confront each other, and explains that Walter and the others in the future sent the Machine back 250 million years. He tells them that their two worlds are tied together, and if one Earth dies then the other will go with it. To prevent that, Peter has created a bridge between the two Earths so that they can work together. As he starts to say they have to fix the worlds, Peter disappears. Walter and Walternate start to argue about who destroyed which world, but Olivia says that now is the time to fix things.



The Observers have gathered outside the merged structure of the Statue of Liberty, reflecting its origins in both worlds. December admits to September that he was right and they don't remember Peter, and September says that they can't because Peter never existed now that he has served his purpose.



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