Since the moment that Olivia stepped into William Bell’s office at the end of season one, and toward the alternate universe, the Twin Towers looming on the cityscape, I have been smitten with that alternate universe on Fringe.

Needless to say, “Immortality” definitely blew my skirt up.

I feel almost guilty saying this, but I love Fauxlivia. Her openness, ability to express emotion, laugh and feel is so much richer than Olivia’s that I can’t help but fall under her spell. As Olivia said last week, she really is (to me) a better version of herself.

I can’t help but wonder if Anna Torv auditioned for both roles. During the first season, the one thing that kept me from being head over heels in love with Fringe was how droll a character was our Olivia. The difference in the characters is so complete that they must have known just how well she could pull this off, or she would never have been cast.

With alternate Broyles lost and considered dead, Lincoln Lee is promoted in his place.

That the promotion was from within such a tight knit group brings them even closer, as if there is nothing they can’t accomplish together. I’m wondering if Lincoln was promoted because he doesn’t have an alternate in our universe, and if this promotion means we might be running into him some time soon as I would love to see what he is up to over here.

Now that I think of it, I wonder if Olivia has had any desire to look up the names of the people she met over there to see their “over here” counterparts. I would, but maybe she’s trying so hard not to be reminded of her ordeal it hasn’t crossed her mind.

The relationship between Fauxlivia and Frank is so beautiful. I love how they care for each other and interact. There is a symbiosis between them that I am truly going to miss, even given how little of them we have seen. Excitement was brimming when he asked her to marry him. Three months ago, her dreams would be coming true. She really does love him. He just wasn’t prepared for the extent she went on her assignment, and one can hardly blame him. Nobody expected things to turn out as they did.

The case of the week, a scientist trying to immortalize his time in history by creating an Avian Flu vaccine using unscrupulous methods, tied well into the ongoing storyline. He was infecting unsuspecting people with a parasite to get the serum he needed work on his vaccine.

When he infects Fauxlivia, it’s a race against time to get her to the hospital and out of harm’s way. Thankfully, Frank is with her and has an anti-parasitic formula he can inject into her before the true damage is done. While viewing movement of the parasite growing inside Fauxlivia, the technician screams to stop the injection.

This is a parasite of a completely different sort. Fauxlivia is pregnant.

In a testament to great storytelling, although I knew the rumor, I was so intently following along with the episode that even seeing the sonogram machine Frank’s hot little hands, I was completely caught up in the moment, worried for Fauxlivia and possible infection. I completely missed any forbearance on what was about to come.

The internet has been abuzz with rumors, and we now have solid proof. Fauxlivia is carrying Peter’s baby. Walternate’s grandchild. And she IS in love with Peter. The scene between Fauxlivia and Frank, when her blank stare at his question of being in love with Peter betrayed her, was so painful to watch. I just don’t want them to end. I want Frank to be a constant in Fauxlivia’s life. And, it just may be possible.

While on a conference call with Executive Producers Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman, they said this story will not unfold in a traditional way. Expect the unexpected.

Peter’s affair with Fauxlivia wasn’t a betrayal on equal ground, as those typically portrayed on television, because even Olivia knows that the affair was with another version of herself. A self she came to know intimately when fed Fauxlivia’s memories. Knowing that everything that comes after the reveal (once Olivia and Peter know of the pregnancy) will be uncharted territory makes the wait just a little more frustrating. But, I’m sure the payoff will be all the more delicious for the wait!

Something that I have been curious about, similar to the lack of Olivia’s inquisitive nature after returning home, is why none of Fauxlivia’s traits have been received by Olivia, unless the crying we have endured from Olivia is indicative of some bleeding between the Livs.

Before her mind meld with Fauxlivia, that kind of emotion would have been ill conceived. It’s not that I want her to become Fauxlivia, I would just like her to lose some of the baggage from her fractured life and experience the genuine delight and gratification Fauxlivia gets out of living.

Due to the abduction of Peter all those years ago, the universes have been in disharmony, and every action on one side has an equal reaction on the other, in an attempt to create a sense of harmony otherwise missing. We can expect to see the universes continue in this way as each side pushes to save their own world. But, how far is too far?

As we found out in “Immortality,” even Walternate has limits he won’t breach. I want the show to propel us into places we’ve never imagined. Pinkner and Wyman noted that a lot of their ideas come from their dreams. If they dream in the manner that I do, I know it will be impossible to constrain the direction of the Fringe universe.

In three words: Bring it on!

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.