Welcome to Westfield

"Welcome to Westfield" is the twelfth episode of the fourth season of the Fox science-fiction drama television series Fringe, and the series' 77th episode overall. The episode was written by J. R. Orci and Graham Roland, while being directed by David Straiton. Plot Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) has been trying to understand and use the Machine to return to his original timeline, with Walter (John Noble) having become more open and willing to explore the nature and mechanics of the device. Olivia (Anna Torv) is curious about the state of her relationship with Peter in his original timeline and tries to learn more from Peter. Several drivers find their cars malfunctioning along a stretch of highway in Vermont, followed shortly by a crash of an airliner nearby. The Fringe team is called to investigate, Walter coming along for the first time in years. Walter identifies that the cars and plane were influenced by a strong electromagnetic field. Olivia, Peter and Walter travel to a nearby small town, Westfield, to gather evidence. While stopping at a diner for a bite to eat, the proprietor, acting delusionally, turns on the group and they are forced to kill him. They find other bodies that, like the dead cook, exhibit double irises or a second set of teeth. They free a survivor, Cliff (Tim Kelleher), from the back room. As Walter tends to Cliff's wounds Olivia and Peter realize the town is practically deserted and communication with the outside impossible. They find themselves unable to leave the town when they try to drive Cliff to a hospital: leaving on the main road brings them right back into the town.