In Which We Meet Mr. Jones



Season 1, Episode 07
Aired: November 11th, 2008
Written By: J. J. Abrams, Jeff Pinkner
Directed By: Brad Anderson

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In Which We Meet Mr. Jones

The Glyphs



This episode's glyphs spell: C-O-D-E-S

The Fringe team discovered that David Robert Jones belonged to the Z.F.T. organization by cracking a code found in the DNA sequence of the parasite affecting Agent Loeb.

Glyph symbol CGlyph symbol OGlyph symbol DGlyph symbol EGlyph symbol S
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The Observer



The Observer is seen at the German airport walking away from the Arrivals crowd.

Observer

Timestamp: 16:09

Episode Clues



Previous Episode Clue

Walter puts a thermometer with the letters ZFT printed on it into the head of one of the victims in Holly's Diner in 'The Cure'. ZFT is the organization responsible for the parasite in 'In Which We Meet Mr. Jones'.

Previous episode clue

Timestamp: 08:35


Next Episode Clue

In 'In Which We Meet Mr. Jones' Mrs. Loeb handed Olivia a piece of paper hidden in a copy of A Christmas Carol. In 'The Equation', Walter sings Christmas carols over and over to try to jog his memory about the pattern of green-green-green-red lights.

Next episode clue

Timestamp: 08:21

Items of Interest



  • The shipment Loeb was investigating at the beginning of the episode stopped off in Germany. Loeb also recently returned from Frankfurt.
  • 'Wissenschaft Prison' roughly translates to 'Science Prison'.
  • Jones is connected to ZFT.
  • The government had Walter read a dead Jimmy Hoffa's mind to find his assassin.
  • Walter knows that Peter has a low tolerance to electrical stimulation; he did experiments on him as a child.
  • Walter called Astrid 'Astro.'
  • Walter called Astrid 'Asteroid.'
  • Walter referenced this real research paper when Peter was having trouble interpreting Joseph Smith's thoughts: Misrepresentation of horizontal space in unilateral brain damage.
  • This episode showed a damaged brain with an inability to process horizontal lines. Here is a video of a brain surgery where the ability to cut horizontal lines in half was impaired in the subject.

JJ Abrams Easter Eggs



  • Loeb told Broyles to look on page 47. (J.J.)
  • Jones is 47 years old. (J.J.)

Fringe Division Case File




U.S. Department of Justice
Federal Bureau of Investigation
121 105th Street • Washington, DC 20735
Phone: (202) 555-2100 • Fax: (202) 555-2101
E-mail: washington.fbi@fbi.com

FRINGE DIVISION CASE FILE #107-111108


FRINGE EVENT: Hybrid genetically manipulated parasite with David Robert Jones/ZFT connections

CLASSIFIED CASE CONNECTION(S): 1975--Dr. Bishop's Jimmy Hoffa postmortem interrogation for assassin ID; low electrosensitivity, so Hoffa's brain fried

AGENTS ASSIGNED: Dunham, Francis

SUPERVISING AGENT: Broyles

FILE ARCHIVED BY: Kristi "Skullaria" Gilleland

WITNESSES/CONTACTS: Lucas Vogel (Bundestag), Warden Johan Lennox, Joseph Smith (deceased), David Robert Jones

LOCATION: Frankfurt, Germany; 4331 Broad St., Saugus, MA

VICTIM(S): Agent Mitchell Loeb (in treatment)


CASE REPORT SUMMARY:

Agent Loeb returned from an operation in Frankfurt with a partially organic, genetically manipulated parasite wrapped around his heart. Dr. Walter Bishop identified it as giardia duodenalis, a single-celled parasite that lives in the intestines of animals, which had spread quickly, squeezing Agent Loeb's heart. Dr. Bishop identified a microscopic "Caesar Shift" cipher marked "ZFT" that had been added to the parasite's DNA.
 A document Agent Loeb brought back from Frankfurt corresponded to an FBI case file and an ID number for the agent or agents assigned to it. Only agents with upper-level security clearance would have access to the FBI mainframe to acquire the sensitive information. Agent Dunham traveled to Germany to interrogate prisoner David Robert Jones in Wissenschaft Prison for intel on the parasite. Jones demanded to speak with Joseph Smith (who was killed in the middle of an FBI raid in Saugus, Massachusetts) in exchange for information that would save Agent Loeb. Dr. Bishop was able to keep Smith's body cold in order to access postmortem information from Smith's brain that aided Agent Dunham in gaining the antidote for Agent Loeb. Jones asked, "Where does 'the Gentleman' live?" and the answer from Smith was "Little Hill." The antidote equaled three parts Mebendazole, two parts Thermophilic-Hydrolase injected directly into the parasite.

Walter's Food



Walter asked Peter for gum and mints, asked Broyles for mints, asked Peter again for gum and mints, drank coffee, reminisced about a fruit cocktail, and remembered a Black and Tan he once made for himself in his lab notes.
Connection: Coffee
Coffee
Timestamp: 15:26

Names for Astrid



Walter called Astrid 'Astro' and 'Asteroid'.

Walter's Lab Notes



- Project 269 - Exploration 18 -

This breathtaking organism may have been made for the most nefarious of purposes -- but no matter, the scientific achievement shines through. The National Socialists gave birth to the Volkswagen Beetle, yet the hippies saw its beauty. What we have here is LIFE, created by man not god! The German Shakespeare would have understood.

Dare with determin'd will to burst the portals
Past which in terror others fain would steal!
Now is the time, through deeds, to show that mortals
The calm sublimity of gods can feel...

I remember the first time I tried to create life. A failed merger of paramecium and amoeba, all cilia and pseudopods, a paradox in a petri dish. And then the second time, with more primitive methods, heaving and perspiring, nine months of grueling effort for the carrier, culminating in a convulsive expulsion of amniotic fluid. I suppose the output was better that time, although the hybrid had a bit too much of his mother. Parthenogenesis might have been preferable.

But this chimera is something else entirely. The offspring of unconscious evolution and conscious design, marvelous yet dreadful -- the very model of a Hegelian synthesis. Never seen anything like it, except of course for that astounding black-and-tan I poured myself in Heidelberg, 1985. The perfect mingling of two local brews -- a dunkel and a weizen -- rich chocolaty oligosaccharides fornicating with bitter earthy extracts of humulus lupulus. But where did I put the recipe? I must have taken it from my head before they could, stored it in sequence with the rest of my ideas.

And now I must perform my own extraction, from the fellow with the hole in his head. Pulling thoughts -- substantially more difficult than pulling teeth. The boy is skeptical, but Nietzsche put it best: "I favor any skepsis to which I may reply: 'Let us try it!' But I no longer wish to hear anything of all those things and questions that do not permit any experiment." Now, what was Peter's electrical tolerance? Was it 40, or 80? Oh well, only one way to find out!

Walter's Lab Notes

Notable Quotes



WALTER: "We need to talk to that man Smith right away. He may be our best chance to save Agent Loeb's life."
PETER: "I know that, but he's dead. He was shot. We're out of luck."
WALTER: "Well, does he still have his head? Is it still attached to his body?"
PETER: "Only you would ask that question seriously. Yes, he still has a head."
WALTER: "Splendid. Perhaps in this case death is simply an inconvenience."

Connection Chart


A visualization of all the ways this episode connects to other episodes. Scroll down to see the actual connections.

Episode Connections



S1E01 - Pilot

  • Flight 627 from 'Pilot' originated in Hamburg, Germany, where David Robert Jones is being held in 'In Which We Meet Mr. Jones', suggesting a possible connection to him.


Spoilers for future episodes below!




S1E10 - Safe

  • Jones asks the cryptic question "Where does the gentleman live?" in 'In Which We Meet Mr. Jones', to which the answer is "Little Hill". Jones is teleported out of prison to an abandoned airstrip called Little Hill Field in 'Safe'.
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S1E14 - Ability

  • BROYLES to Olivia in 'In Which We Meet Mr. Jones': "You got superpowers you aren't telling me about?"
    OLIVIA: "Maybe."

      In 'Ability' Olivia learns that she may be able to control things with her mind.
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S2E05 - Dream Logic

  • PETER in 'Dream Logic': "From the age of 8 to almost 19 I don't remember a single dream."
      This could possibly be because of Walter experimenting on Peter's brain as mentioned in 'In Which We Meet Mr. Jones'.