While the Fringe team preps, Broyles says Loeb's vital signs are weakening. He turns to Walter. "Dr. Bishop, what you're about to see, I don't know if you've seen anything like it before. But I'm hoping you have." He adds that the man in the operating room is not just a colleague, but a friend. "I see," says Walter, looking very concerned, before asking, "Do you have any mints?" Broyles just stares at him, thinking, All right. You're quirky and socially inept. I get it.

Inside the OR, Walter takes one look at the thing and declares it "spectacular," with Peter wryly noting that Loeb would likely be thrilled by his diagnosis. Olivia asks if this is another of the cases that are an extension of his own previous work, but Walter says it "couldn't be more aberrational." He was merely admiring the beauty of the design, adding this could be the hybrid result of genetic manipulation. He points out the tendrils shooting out from the ugly thing, calling it a root system, and continues to pop a boner over how "beautiful" it is. Olivia asks if he can remove it. Walter says he'd love to give it a try, just not here: "My breath is atrocious." He stomps away, snapping off his surgical gloves.

So it's back to Harvard, and I really hope the Fringe team was able to come up with a better reason than "halitosis" to move this FBI agent with the never-before-seen parasite squeezing his heart to this non-sterile, unsecure mad-scientist lab that has a COW in it.

Walter's been thinking about the thing on the ride over, and says it could be something as simple as a giardia duodenalis. "Really! As simple as that!" says Olivia, like SHUT UP, OLIVIA, THAT'S WHY HE'S HERE. Peter says that's just a simple parasite that lives in animals' intestines. Walter points out that this thing has an unusual method of attachment. "Typically, parasites use whole body insertion. This creature is unlike anything I've seen before, so we won't be able to truly examine it until it's removed," says Walter.

Astrid shows up -- yay! -- with Loeb's case files to look at. Oh, and Loeb's wife is here. Olivia says she'll go talk to her in the office. This gives Walter enough time to complain about not having any damn gum or mints, again. And Peter has some, and he manages to smile at his dad instead of sneering at him, which is a nice change.