The hunt for the tapes containing Walter’s (John Noble) plan continues. The team finds Tape 3 in the lab and sets off on a mission because of it. Along the way they encounter a group of infected humans who work as archivists, cataloguing human history.

Written by Graham Roland, The Recordist first aired on 12 October, 2012.

The team heads out of town to Pennsylvania, in search of some coordinates that Walter’s tape says they must reach and recover some material from a dangerous mine. They are one step ahead of the Observers who know they are on the move, but the story also takes the time to fill in some backstory for Peter (Joshua Jackson) and Olivia (Anna Torv) in the moments that happened off-screen when they began their panicked search for their missing daughter Netta (Georgina Haig) when the Observer invasion began.

The episode features Paul McGillion as the lead archivist or recordist, and he is faced with the challenge of being part of history, and not just recording it.

There are some nice character beats not only with Olivia and Peter but with Walter, Astrid (Jasika Nicole) and Netta. It’s great to see that despite the fact that the season is only thirteen episodes, they are taking time to continue to give us great character arcs, moments, and storylines that involve the viewer emotionally.

But it also moves the overall arc forward as the team is determined to save the planet from the Observers!

The Bullet That Saved the World was written by Alison Schapker and first aired on 26 October, 2012.

Things begin to take a turn for the darker, even as more tapes are excised from amber and send the team on another hunt to recover a diagram-filled tube. The episode brings back Broyles (Lance Reddick) who is still heading Fringe Division and working with the Observers.

Even as Peter and the rest hunt down the missing tube, it is revealed that Broyles has learned to block his mind from being read by the Observers, something Netta taught him, as she is teaching Walter, Peter, Olivia and Astrid, and that he may in fact be a mysterious resistance member known only as The Dove.

Unfortunately, the Observers are, once again, able to track them down, and while Broyles cover may not be blown, the encounter has a tragic cost for the team. A decidedly unfair one considering how much of an impact that the character has already had.

Netta is killed by Windmark (Michael Kopsa) and none of the team, particularly her parents are able to deal with the loss, but it may focus their anger in the fight to reclaim Earth from the Observers.

This episode puts us a third of the way through the final season, and boy are they ramping up for something big. It’s a great ride, and the end is in sight, but what will it cost to restore the planet to humanity, and what will it cost our characters in the end?