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The opening sequence alone was enough to make your hair stand on end.

A man was planning a romantic rendezvous with his wife for their anniversary, but, as he set out the vase of roses and a card, a shadow walked by. Sensing there was something there he turned and proceeded to search the apartment, flipping on light switches to find out if anyone was there. When one of the lights went out, he turned it back on to discover a shadow figure. Backing away slowly, it was clear he would not survive. Then when his wife arrived, she found him sitting in a chair and, as she reached out to touch him, he crumbled into dust. It was ashes to ashes.

What kind of being can turn a person literally to dust? And not just a pile of dust, but sucking the entire life right out of a person so that a shell looking just like them is all that is left -- until it is touched and falls into a million particles.

Unlike a radioactive blast which evaporates a human body so all that is left is the shadow of a person’s presence, in this case something was draining bodies of their natural radioactive energy and leaving brittle shells -- a mere copy of the person that used to be.

For Agent Broyles (Lance Reddick) this case brought back memories of a long time ago. He recognized the handiwork of a serial killer he had been tracking four years earlier. In that case, the killer had contacted him and sought his help in preventing any further killings. The killer’s one condition was, "This wont stop until you solve the formula." It was a formula that he had given to Broyles -- but the FBI had been unable to crack it at that time. So with Walter (John Noble) busily trying to decipher the formula, the team set out to find the killer.

Unfortunately, their search soon revealed that the killer was sought after by the CIA and Russians as well. He was a man who had kidnapped his own brother, a Russian cosmonaut, and who was believed to have stolen Russian technology that allowed a person to be rendered invisible. Which, as Peter (Joshua Jackson) wryly noted, "Russian fringe-science, there's a pleasant thought." However, after receiving word that the case was now under the exclusive jurisdiction of the CIA, Broyles refused to give up. This was the case that had cost him his marriage, so he was bound and determined to see it through.

Alas, as Walter finally figured out, there was no simple way to separate the organism from the host. The shadow was some kind of being the cosmonaut had picked up in space and there was no way to separate them. They had become one and the same. So, with further human life in imminent danger, Broyles did the only thing he could, he shot the cosmonaut in the head.

But, as we later learned, even that was not a permanent solution. When confronted by a mysterious CIA agent outside his ex-wife‘s house, Broyles curiously asked what they did with the cosmonaut. The CIA agent cryptically responded, "We had no choice once he started breathing again," and then pointed up to the sky. Apparently, it was decided that if they could not kill it or contain it, the only real option was to ship it back into to space.

What Worked

It was fun scene to watch as Agent Broyles noticed the young boy at a nearby restaurant table who was mimicking him and how they then played a bit of peek-a-boo behind the menus. It hinted at a depth of a man yet unseen and undiscovered. It was but a momentary reprieve from his forced isolation from his own family. For in searching for the truth and to protect them all, Broyles had lost his own wife and children.

Also, Walter remained comedicly absurd in the face of dire reality as he spouted off remarks like, "It reminds me of Christmas" upon seeing the first body of ash. In his mind, it reminded him of a time when Peter would play with the logs in the fire at Christmas time. But for everyone else, it was a horrible tragedy of a man who had died by some mysterious means. Walter's tenuous grasp on reality is still quite startling.

And Walter's comment, "This is not a job for the purple flower. No, this is a job for the tinker toys," was hysterical.

What Didn't Work

After giving Peter such a strong assertive stance at the beginning of the season, it is disappointing that he has been shuffled into the background yet again.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

"Fringe" stars Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Lance Reddick, Blair Brown, Jasika Nicole. "Earthling" was written by J.H. Wyman and Jeff Flaming and directed by Jon Cassar.

"Fringe" airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.