"The Plateau" explores themes of intelligence, human experimentation, and the consequences of tampering with nature. It also delves into the ethical dilemmas surrounding scientific advancement and the pursuit of knowledge at any cost. The episode contributes to the overarching narrative of the series, particularly regarding the conflict between the Fringe team and the enigmatic organization known as Massive Dynamic.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00The opening scene features a man named Milo Stanfield, who is suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD.
00:07He is seen standing on a street of New Jersey, keeping an eye on a woman in a nearby flower shop.
00:12In the midst of this, he also seems to be doing some complex calculations related to the timing of events happening in his surroundings.
00:20Milo notes the approach of a passenger bus, a pothole, a street artist, and a bicycle rider, speeding.
00:26Following these observations, he crosses the street and strategically places a pen on the top of a mailbox adjacent to the pothole.
00:34Soon after, his planned chain reaction takes place.
00:37A taxi runs over the pothole, splashing the water on the pen, causing it to fall to the ground.
00:42This captures the attention of the street artist, who then walks forward to pick up the pen.
00:47At the same moment, the speeding cyclist collides with the artist, which results in him striking the mailbox and falling on the fruit stand nearby.
00:55Chaos ensues in the street, diverting the attention of everyone, including the bus driver.
01:00As a result, he does not notice the traffic light turning red and hits the same woman crossing the road, killing her on the spot.
01:08And people say math isn't dangerous.
01:11Milo then walks away from the scene after confirming that his plan went smoothly.
01:15The scene then cuts to an FBI special agent, Olivia Dunham.
01:19She works for the Fringe Division of Homeland Security, specializing in paranormal phenomena.
01:24Olivia seems to be returning back to work after a long gap due to her head injury.
01:28As soon as she enters the Fringe headquarters, she is greeted by one of her fellow officers, Charlie, who is the supervisor of the team.
01:35In the meantime, the chief of the agency, Walternate Bishop, is talking to one of the lab assistants, Philip Broyles, regarding Olivia's return.
01:44Philip says that she is a doppelganger named Faux-Livia, and expresses concern if they can integrate an imposter in their team.
01:51Here, it is revealed that Olivia, who is inside the office, is not the real one.
01:56She is, in fact, an imposter who has been brought to fulfill the place of the original one.
02:00Walternate then reveals his motivation behind keeping Faux-Livia in this universe and implanting the real Olivia's memories into her.
02:08He claims that Faux-Livia is the only one who can travel between universes without any harm.
02:14Walternate wants to figure out how she can do so.
02:17For this, he says that they must make her believe that she belongs here.
02:21Philip asks, what if her new identity does not hold, to which the chief replies that she will no longer be necessary after that.
02:28Afterwards, Charlie briefs the team on the seemingly random bus accident, which he claims to have happened two times in this week.
02:35The victim has died in each case.
02:38He then asks his crew to be careful before going for the site investigation.
02:42A short while later, the FBI team arrives at the accident site and splits up to search for any leads or clues.
02:48The investigation is led by another FBI agent named Lincoln Lee, whose face appears to be ruined by burn marks.
02:54Charlie inspects the body and uses her fingerprint to retrieve her further details.
02:59She eventually finds out that the deceased woman's name is Julian Foster.
03:03Meanwhile, Olivia questions the bus driver, who is shaken by the incident, as he has never even hit any birds or animals until now.
03:11Simultaneously, Agent Lee tests for any signs of environmental factors, but finds nothing.
03:16However, he does find the same ballpoint pen at the scene.
03:20After inquiring with the eyewitnesses, Olivia approaches Agent Lee and tells him that the local artist had bent down to pick up the pen,
03:27during which he collided with the bicycle rider and fell into the fruit stand.
03:31Upon hearing this, Agent Lee speculates that the pen is the main element that created a sequence of reactions, ultimately leading to the victim's death.
03:41The next day at Fringe headquarters, Agent Lee and Charlie are trying to find out a connection between the bus accidents that happened in the two days.
03:48Agent Lee spots the same ballpoint pen in the photo of the first accident, which makes him even more convinced that someone has orchestrated the chain of events.
03:56Following this, they go to talk to a mathematician of the Fringe agency, Astrid, and tell her about the events.
04:03However, she claims that no human can carry out such a chain of events and mold it in his or her favor twice.
04:09Amidst their argument, another similar bus accident takes place, leaving Astrid in shock.
04:152 plus 2 equals you get hit by a bus.
04:18The FBI agents immediately rush to the site and find that the victims are still alive this time.
04:23Upon questioning the bystanders, they learn that a dog suddenly crossed the road, causing the bus to lose control.
04:30Just then, Olivia notices a similar ballpoint pen rolling down in the ground, which makes her realize that the chain of events is not over yet.
04:37She looks around and spots a suspicious Milo looking down from an overhead bridge.
04:43Moments later, a man wearing earbuds walks forward to cross the street, only to be hit by an oncoming ambulance.
04:50I guess the paramedic needed to hit his quota.
04:52With her suspicions confirmed, Olivia alerts her team and races towards Milo.
04:57Seeing this, the latter instantly calculates another series of events and throws a bicycle off the bridge.
05:03This prompts a bus to change its path and drive right under the overhead bridge.
05:07Olivia holds him at gunpoint, threatening him to surrender, but Milo jumps off the bridge, lands on the bus's roof, and gets away.
05:15Milo is the bus whisperer.
05:17After this event, Milo returns home to find his sister Madeline worried for him.
05:22She tells him that she has been getting numerous calls from the hospital, but he ignores her.
05:26She then tries to convince him to surrender, claiming that he has gone way too far.
05:31However, Milo anticipates her actions and completes her sentences, effectively silencing her.
05:36Not long after, Madeline shows him a small plastic horse toy, a reminder from their mother.
05:42This makes him feel uneasy, and he walks away, saying that it is irrelevant now.
05:46On the other hand, Agent Lee is taken to the hospital for his regular skin checkup.
05:50Before entering the burn chamber, he asks Olivia to focus on finding commonalities among the three victims.
05:57Heeding his instructions, Olivia returns back to headquarters and starts talking to the witnesses of the accidents.
06:03After a bit of inspection, she discovers ties between the three victims and a medical center.
06:08All three of them were directly or indirectly related to this center.
06:12She shares her discovery with Charlie, and the two immediately head to this very medical center.
06:17Upon arriving there, Olivia notices that one set of patients are using the same ballpoint pens,
06:23as they are unable to cope with digital devices.
06:26iPads make them eye-mad.
06:28Later, they meet Dr. Levin, a chief doctor who recognizes all three victims of the bus accidents.
06:34After briefing them on some details about the victims, Dr. Levin explains that they have been helping mentally challenged patients
06:40with experimental processes to boost their intelligence.
06:43He also shows them video footage of their patients, in which Olivia spots Milo.
06:48Upon inquiring about him, Dr. Levin responds that he is one of their patients,
06:52who also went through the same drug trial that boosted his IQ exponentially.
06:56He goes on to say that Milo was released from the hospital under supervision of his sister,
07:01and that he was scheduled to return back in order to reverse the experimental process.
07:06But now, he is not responding to their calls, and he is killing everyone who is trying to take control of him.
07:12After learning about Milo's sister, the FBI agents decide to pay her a visit.
07:17Unbeknownst to them, Milo is keeping a close eye on Olivia,
07:20noting every single pattern of her movements, and predicting her next move.
07:25Later on, Charlie and Olivia arrive at Milo's place, where they are greeted by Madeline.
07:30They ask her about Milo's whereabouts, but she claims to be unaware of them.
07:34Sensing that she is hiding something, the agents tell her about the crimes he has committed,
07:38and how dangerous it is to let him roam free.
07:41While Charlie goes to investigate Milo's room, Olivia shares about her late sister,
07:46revealing how they used to care for one another.
07:48This comforts Madeline enough to share more details about her brother.
07:52She explains that Milo is able to predict the outcome of numerous events down to the smallest detail,
07:58and that she can break Milo's concentration only by showing him the toy horse.
08:02Whenever he sees bullseye, he gets a woody.
08:05Olivia eventually manages to persuade her to disclose anything she knows,
08:09emphasizing that they are concerned for civilians, as well as Milo's safety.
08:14Madeline then hands her a note, revealing the location of the hotel that Milo is currently staying at.
08:20After this, Olivia and Charlie discuss plans with Astrid on how to capture Milo.
08:24However, they soon realize that any plan would be futile, because he can predict their every move.
08:30As a result, they opt to approach the hotel directly, without any backup.
08:35I don't know how that's going to help, but they know best.
08:38In the meantime, Milo is seen at his hotel room,
08:40looking down through the window and envisioning scenarios that are going to happen in the next few minutes.
08:45With his ability, he predicts that Olivia and Charlie will arrive soon, and that they will chase him.
08:51He also calculates that he can kill Olivia by luring her through a marked zone of a construction site,
08:57where the air is too thin, and crushing her under a load of cement bricks.
09:01Just like he predicted, the two FBI agents arrive at the hotel and find Milo waiting for them in the street.
09:07He then runs towards the construction while the agents pursue him.
09:11Olivia, who is unaware of the warning signs for the thin air zone, races through it instead of stopping to put on a respirator.
09:18This actually makes Milo's calculation wrong. He didn't think she'd be that dumb.
09:23In addition, she also dodges a pile of cemented bricks, which Milo assumed would crush her.
09:27The villain is shocked to witness his calculation going wrong, and is ultimately caught by her.
09:33At this point in time, Olivia nearly asphyxiates herself due to the low level of oxygen.
09:38But thankfully, Charlie arrives in the nick of time and helps her with a breathing apparatus.
09:42In the aftermath of these events, Charlie asks Olivia about why she did not stop to put on a respirator,
09:48to which she responds that she did not recognize the warning sign.
09:51Later on, Olivia brings Madeline to the hospital, where Milo is seen interacting with a supercomputer.
09:57According to the doctor, the IQ-boosting drug has been in Milo's brain for too long,
10:02due to which they are unable to carry out the reversal process.
10:06Now, his mind has become so advanced that only machines can comprehend his thoughts.
10:11Saddened by this news, Madeline goes inside the room and leaves the toy horse in front of her brother.
10:18The same evening, Olivia is at her place when she experiences a vision of Peter, her boyfriend from another universe.
10:25He tells her that she does not belong to this universe.
10:28In order to back up his claim, he reminds how her lack of knowledge regarding this universe saved her life earlier.
10:34According to him, she would have died if she had recognized the warning signs and stopped there.
10:39Peter encourages her to try recalling all of her memories and also kisses her before vanishing.
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