The Plateau

"The Plateau" is the third episode of the third season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe, and the 46th episode overall. As one of the early Season 3 episodes that take place entirely in the parallel universe, the 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. "The Plateau" was co-written by Monica Owusu-Breen and Alison Schapker, and directed by Brad Anderson. It featured the only appearance of guest actor Michael Eklund, who played the episode's antagonist Milo Stanfield. It first aired on October 7, 2010 to an estimated 5.2 million viewers. Reviews of the episode were mostly positive, and many praised the storyline and Eklund's performance. Plot Olivia (Anna Torv), trapped in the parallel universe, has been conditioned with drugs to believe she is her doppelganger, "Fauxlivia", by Walternate (John Noble), and has been integrated into the alternate Fringe team, though she is haunted by images of Peter (Joshua Jackson) and Walter (Noble) from the prime universe. She, Charlie (Kirk Acevedo), and Lincoln (Seth Gabel) are called to the scene of an accident where a pedestrian has been run over by a bus, nearly duplicating events of a similar bus accident the day before, a statistical impossibility according to Astrid (Jasika Nicole). Olivia finds a ball-point pen at the scene, a rarity in the parallel universe because of the adoption of digital interfaces. Evidence suggests that the discovery of the pen by a bystander created a sequence of reactions that led to the victim's death. The next day, another pedestrian is wounded in a bus accident. As the Fringe team investigates the scene, finding another pen, a bystander is struck and killed by an ambulance. Olivia spots a suspicious man in the crowds, but he uses a seemingly random series of happenstance events to get away.