The Plateau
Season 3, Episode 03

The Plateau

Aired October 7th, 2010 · Written by Alison Schapker, Monica Owusu-Breen · Directed by Brad Anderson

SYNOPSIS

This episode centers on Olivia, conditioned to believe she is a member of the alternate Fringe team, trying to track down a mentally unstable man that can predict the team's every move. Meanwhile, Secretary Bishop shares his strategic plan with Colonel Broyles as Olivia grapples with a heart-stopping vision.

Synopsis provided by the Fandom Wiki, Fringepedia, and Wikipedia.

THE GLYPHS

This episode's glyphs spell:

B-R-E-A-C-H

Running through an area of compromised air quality without taking extra oxygen was a breach of protocol that saved Olivia's life.

Glyph symbol B Glyph symbol R Glyph symbol E Glyph symbol A Glyph symbol C Glyph symbol H
Glyph symbol B
Glyph symbol R
Glyph symbol E
Glyph symbol A
Glyph symbol C
Glyph symbol H


THE OBSERVER

The Observer can be seen on the bridge over the second accident caused by Milo as Olivia searches for him.

Observer 17:35

EPISODE CLUES

Previous Episode Clue

Graffiti on a door in 'The Box' reads "The Pen is Mightier", foreshadowing Milo Stanfield using pens to initiate chain reactions in 'The Plateau.'

Previous episode clue 17:57

Next Episode Clue

VIDEOS

Featurettes

FRINGE DIVISION CASE FILE

Fringe Division
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
FRINGE DIVISION


FRINGE DIVISION CASE FILE #303-10710

FRINGE EVENT: Murders by a drug-study patient who could create complex pattern probabilities

AGENTS ASSIGNED: Lee, Dunham, Francis, Farnsworth

SUPERVISING AGENT: Broyles

FILE ARCHIVED BY: Laurene Cujko, Jim Cujko

WITNESSES/CONTACTS: Madeline Stanfield (guardian), Milo Stanfield (murderer), Dr. Levin

LOCATION: Hoboken, NJ; East 85th and York, NYC; Oyster Bay, Long Island; Patricia Hotel

VICTIM(S): Cole Arnett, Jillian Foster, Jeffrey Mayer

CASE REPORT SUMMARY:

On two mornings in a row, a Liberty Metro bus in Hoboken ran a red light and killed two pedestrians. Onlookers deemed the coincidence a statistical anomaly, but when Agent Lee found a rare ballpoint pen on a mailbox, it allowed the agents to piece together the possibility of an intentional chain reaction. Despite Agent Farnsworth's certainty that 120 variables in a dynamic system of differential equations made it impossible to be intentional, she was proved wrong when a third similar bus accident was reported. The agents found that the victims all had a connection to Gregston Electric, a subsidiary of the Ivon Medical Group, which worked with Bryant Hospital. At Bryant, Ivon ran a drug trial for "nootropics" to help low-IQ patients increase their intelligence to function independently. Patient Milo Stanfield's intelligence increased exponentially over five months, and when it was time to be regressed back to his natural state, he murdered the three technicians who would administer the reversal. In trying to apprehend suspect Stanfield, Agent Dunham shot the suspect in the leg but broke a blinking Auburn Diamond protocol (compromised air quality) and was reprimanded.

THE REDVERSE

  • Redverse: They had an Aruba War. 00:56
    They had an Aruba War.
  • Pens are rare.
  • Redverse: The 'United States Postal Service' is called 'U.S. Mail Service' and has a slightly different logo. 02:20
    The 'United States Postal Service' is called 'U.S. Mail Service' and has a slightly different logo.
  • Redverse: There are places where the air quality is so bad that people need oxygen masks. 35:24
    There are places where the air quality is so bad that people need oxygen masks.
  • They still have smallpox outbreaks.
  • Avocados are hard to come by.
  • Redverse: A bus has an ad for Rappaport's Toy Bazaar which closed down in the Blueverse in 1981. 16:41
    A bus has an ad for Rappaport's Toy Bazaar which closed down in the Blueverse in 1981.

NOTABLE QUOTES

Walternate:
"We have discovered some ways to cross over but each comes with its dangerous consequences. But she, she can cross without harm."

EPISODE CONNECTIONS

S1E03 — 1 connection (callback) S1E04 — 1 connection (callback) S5E07 — 1 connection (setup) ◀ EARLIER · CALLBACKS SETUPS · LATER ▶
Callbacks (2 earlier episodes)

S1E03 - The Ghost Network

  • Connection: Bus ad S3E03 16:56
    A bus at the second crime scene in "The Plateau" has an ad on the side that says "Ambered", a reference to the ambered bus in "The Ghost Network".

S1E04 - The Arrival

  • In "The Plateau" Milo is able to predict what people will say and do just like the Observer does in "The Arrival".
Setups & payoffs (1 later episode)

Spoilers for future episodes below

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S5E07 - Five-Twenty-Ten