Midnight



Season 1, Episode 18
Aired: April 28th, 2009
Written By: J. H. Wyman, Andrew Kreisberg
Directed By: Bobby Roth

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Midnight

The Glyphs



This episode's glyphs spell: E-I-G-H-T

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The Observer



The Observer walks through the nightclub where Valerie Boone gets her victims.

Observer

Timestamp: 02:27

Episode Clues



Previous Episode Clue

Nick Lane walked by a street vendor sign in 'Bad Dreams' that said "Night Stalker Energy Drink", foreshadowing the blue-eyed killer in 'Midnight' who hunted for victims at night and drank their spinal fluid.

Previous episode clue

Timestamp: 38:56


Next Episode Clue

A television news alert in 'Midnight' says "Update: Mysterious fire breaks out downtown", a reference to the spontaneous combustions in 'The Road Not Taken'.

Next episode clue

Timestamp: 00:47

Items of Interest



  • Walter called Astrid "Aspen."
  • Boone said William Bell is funding ZFT.

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 #118-42809


FRINGE EVENT: Syphilis bacteria-based contagion

CLASSIFIED CASE CONNECTION(S): David Robert Jones/ZFT/Pattern cases

AGENTS ASSIGNED: Dunham, Francis

SUPERVISING AGENT: Broyles

FILE ARCHIVED BY: Sirol Leo, Barbara Butler

WITNESSES/CONTACTS: Valerie Boone (suspect), Dr. Nicholas Boone (deceased)

LOCATION: Weymouth; the Cavern club, Boston, MA

VICTIM(S): Bob Dunn, John Doe


CASE REPORT SUMMARY:

A John Doe and Bob Dunn (33) were found on consecutive nights in Boston, mutilated by bite marks well in excess of the jaw strength of a normal human being. Dr. Bishop performed autopsies and found their spinal columns had been completely drained of spinal fluid. He also found residual traces of treponema pallidum, an extinct strain of syphilis bacteria, on the victim's neck and back, most likely from the killer's saliva.
 Lubov Pharmaceuticals was found to have requested the strain along with a sample of RUD-390, used in the construction of bioweapons. Lubov founder Dr. Nicholas Boone said his wife had been taken and he would assist the investigation with an antidote if the agents got her back. He eventually admitted his wife was the creature and needed to feed on spinal fluid to live. He provided his own, but he couldn't keep up, and she killed again to refuel. He admitted he made the contagion and six more to impress others and was concerned others would make more. Boone sacrificed his own life and fluid in order to create an antidote to save his wife.

Walter's Food



Walter said a victim's exposed spinal column reminded him of shrimp cocktail, offered Peek Freans (cookies) to police officers, ate a Peek Frean himself, and talked about how to cook and consume crawfish in his lab notes.
Connection: Cookies
Cookies
Timestamp: 34:54

Names for Astrid



Walter called Astrid 'Aspen'.

Walter's Lab Notes



- Project 1109 - Exploration 1 -

Syphilis! Such a beautiful name for such an awful affliction. Reminds me of a girl named Phyllis whom I courted briefly in 1974. I took her to the annual crawfish boil. I'm sure I wasn't her only paramour; Harvard was a wild place back then. I suppose I'm lucky to have caught neither Phyllis nor syphilis.

Curiously, this altered strain has none of the usual external markers. No chancre, no rash on the palms; it seemingly progresses directly to the tertiary stage with a devastating attack upon the nervous system.

Dr. Boone is convinced that his wife contracted the disease through a deliberate dosage, not via sexual contact. I have no reason to doubt him. All her victims died during their liaisons, after all, with no chance to infect others.

Yet she did leave a residuum behind, on their exposed spines -- HAH! A venereal disease transmitted merely by necking! No prophylactic for that, I'll wager! Might this "ZFT" have an abstinence agenda? A cautionary tale for the youth, in the form of a syphilitic spinal vampire?

Mrs. Boone's need to refuel creates a hunger for cerebrospinal fluid, which she slakes by actually suckling the exposed spinal column. Much as a Cajun would! For as any true crawfish connoisseur knows, proper consumption of requires squeezing its metasoma so as to extract the edible portion within, and then sucking upon its prosoma to ingest its juices. The best preparation involves quick-boiling in a vat over a propane flame, preferably with Solanum tuberosum, Allium cepa, Zea mays, and (my personal secret, which I have revealed to no one) just a few slices of Citrus sinensis with peel to add orangey zest.

Phyllis sometimes smelt of orange, too. A coincidence, I'm sure.

The crustacean should be followed by a cold fermented beverage, preferable a lager. The fermentation process -- oh! The penicillin's fermentation must be nearly complete. Killing a bacterium with a fungus! Pathogen vs. pathogen! Marvelous. Fleming, you accidental genius.

Walter's Lab Notes

Connection Chart


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

Episode Connections



S1E14 - Ability

  • In 'Midnight', Olivia discovered that Lubov Pharmaceuticals procured a substance called RUD-390 which was one of the components of the skin growth toxin from 'Ability'. Nicholas Boone later revealed that ZFT ordered him to make the skin growth toxin.


Spoilers for future episodes below!




S1E19 - The Road Not Taken

  • Peter worked on a present for Walter in 'Midnight' that he reveals to Walter in 'The Road Not Taken'.
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S2E15 - Peter

  • PETER in 'Midnight': "Everything stolen is not necessarily lost."
      Peter was stolen in 'Peter' and was lost from Walternate's point of view, though we know he's alive and well.
  • NICHOLAS BOONE to Walter in 'Midnight': "How far would you go for someone you love?"
      Walter showed how far he would go, across universes, in 'Peter'.
Divider


S2E19 - Brown Betty

  • Broyles was hanging out at a jazz bar in 'Midnight'. His character in 'Brown Betty' performs in one.
Connection: Broyles
Broyles
S2E19 - Brown Betty
Timestamp: 10:19
Divider


S5E02 - In Absentia

  • Walter used the clapper to turn on the lights in 'In Absentia'. He installed it in 'Midnight'.
Connection: Clapper lights
Clapper lights
S1E18 - Midnight
Timestamp: 35:44
Connection: Clapper lights
Clapper lights
S5E02 - In Absentia
Timestamp: 30:12