Just a lot more gory, even if all the drummers survived this one.
A man and a woman meet a nightclub, then head off for what I clearly guess is going to involve a spot of homicide. That is one is going to kill the other.
Turns out it's the woman... by chomping down on the man's neck in a manner that makes Buffy the Vampire Slayer look restrained. Especially when we see the man's body and his spinal column is literally sticking out of his neck - his spinal fluid having been drained.
It's another case for Olivia Dunham and the Fringe Division that might not be the best thing to watch with your lunch. I didn't anyway.
Before Olivia gets into the case proper - and it rears its head through the episode - she has to deal with the fact that her sister has been served divorce papers... and her estranged husband wants full custody of Ella, Olivia's niece. I can kind of see his point in a way - she is living with Olivia Dunham and peril has come close at least once. We actually get Olivia asking her boss for details of his divorce attorney, admitting that the question is a bit "impolitic" - a lovely word that should see more use.
It's discovered that the dead man has also been infected with an extinct strain of syphilis, resulting in the team finding their way to a doctor who cuts up recently deceased animals with no face mask on. It turns out, he was involved in ZFT - and when he tried to leave, his wife got infected with something that makes her crave spinal fluid and do anything to get it. Carried via the syphilis - lovely!
It's a vampire episode - and she's the vampire. They have to find her so she can be cured with an antidote and stop the murders at the same time.
This story unfolds gradually over the course of the episode - it does feel a rather slight plot, all things considered.
Olivia gets some strong compassionate scenes in this, but I dock a point for going first into a house while not wearing body armour. Walter gets another mad scientist to work with for a while, to Peter's dismay. Astrid gets called "Aspirin" and knows club entry stamps by sight. A poor white rat dies for science. Everyone does pretty well, but there's nothing spectacular.
Speaking of clubs, we get Olivia and Peter using a heat measuring device to find the "vampire lady" - who is literally hotter than everyone else, a joke the episode does not pass up the chance to make.
The resolution is dramatic and well-played, but rather predictable. The final scene does get us one step closer to finding out what ZFT are up to - and it involves the world's richest man. Mild cliff-hanger - tune in next week!
Conclusion
"Everyone does pretty well, but there's nothing spectacular" is a good summary of this episode. At least the gory effects team got a lot of work out of it.
7/10
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