If Walternate isn’t behind the shapeshifters, then who is? You know you’re a nerd if that question immediately makes sense to you.

In Friday’s episode of ‘Fringe’, called ‘Enemy of My Enemy’, David Robert Jones (Jared Harris) allows himself to be captured by the Fringe Division in the alternate universe. He puts on a mad scientist routine while destroying one of his shapeshifter creations, and then demands with a smirk: “Take me to your leader.”

Peter recognizes Jones and asks Walternate to let him question the man. Walternate reluctantly agrees. Jones is taken aback by this person who knows so much about him. Nonetheless, he makes another demand. He wants the Fringe team to retrieve some computer files hidden in his now-deceased agent Dr. Fayette’s office and then to let him go. When they fail to meet his deadline, he has another of his agents let loose a bio-weapon in a hospital.

Jones’ point made, Walternate concedes to his demands (after making a copy of the files, of course). With the shapeshifter Broyles’ help, Jones slips away from surveillance. Astrid and Peter decrypt the files and believe they can capture Jones again at a quarry where he plans to mine a rock that can be turned into a battery powerful enough to “blow a hole in the universe.” However, when they get to the quarry, there’s no sign of Jones. He had actually jumped back to the main universe and mined the rock there, the sneaky guy.

By this point, Peter is so invested in stopping Jones again that he decides to put his plans to return to his own timeline on hold. He has started to care about what happens here. This may not be his world, but it’s just as real.

Meanwhile, Walternate realizes that he couldn’t fix the doomsday machine anyway. His wife comes up with a plan, though. She crosses over to visit Walter Prime, and asks him to set aside his pride and his fear to help Peter. He finally agrees.

In a final twist, it’s revealed that Nina Sharp has been the mastermind pulling Jones’ strings all along. The big question I have now is: Why would Nina and Jones want to blow a hole in the universe? What does that get them, other than possibly dead?

It occurs to me that the recap I’ve written above probably makes no sense at all to anyone who isn’t already fully invested in the show. The series has basically given up any pretense of mass appeal, and is just playing to the die hard fans now. That’s fine with me. If this is going to be the final season, I’d damn sure like some closure.