The fringe team of Fauxlivia (a doppelgänger of Olivia Dunham), Peter, and Walter investigate, with unknown consequences to the creation of a doomsday device.

It first aired on September 30, 2010, in the United States to an estimated 5.24 million viewers, helping the Fox network finish in fourth place for the night.

The episode received generally positive reviews, and it was described as a "strong start" and "chock full of good stuff" by various critics.

"The Box" was nominated by Motion Picture Sound Editors for the 2011 Golden Reel Awards but lost to an episode of Boardwalk Empire.

Through them, she is able to successfully impersonate the prime universe's Olivia to Walter (John Noble) and Peter (Joshua Jackson), and joins the ranks of the Fringe division.

At first it appears to have been a robbery, with the family tied up and two thieves having dug a hole in the basement; however, all of the people are dead due to being placed into a vegetative state.

A moment later she is visited by the third man, Joe (Russell Harvard), who had seen Fauxlivia at Blake's apartment and, believing her to be a cop, brought the item stolen from the Milton home - a small box.

To distract him and prevent him from noticing a pool of blood seeping under the bathroom door, Fauxlivia engages in romantic actions with Peter.

"The Box" was co-written by co-executive producer Josh Singer and executive story editor Graham Roland,[1] while being directed by CSI: Crime Scene Investigation veteran Jeffrey Hunt.

"[4][5] In early August 2010, Entertainment Weekly reported that Eric the Actor, from The Howard Stern Show, had been cast for a small role in the new season's second episode.

(pronouncing it "bone-oh"), implying Irish rock band U2 and its lead singer Bono either do not exist in the parallel universe, or are not well known.

It's not as bracing as last week's 'Olivia,' but that's mainly because the curious differences of Earth-2 bring a little extra juice to any scene set there, while investigations into the paranormal on our less fanciful Earth-1 are more familiar.

Zalben loved the serial aspects of the plot, praised Anna Torv's performance, but disliked how no one has realized Fauxlivia's true identity.

[13] SFScope contributor Sarah Stegall wrote, "Tightly written, well acted, and directed with a sure hand, this second episode of the season bears out my original prediction: this year is going to rock.

"[1] Andrew Hanson from the Los Angeles Times praised the episode's use of a "Harold", in which three separate plots working off a central theme converge together.

"I hope more people were watching this episode for so many reasons: To see how good "Fringe" has become, to get addicted to the show and, most important, to see that they quoted my blog in the promo for next week.

The crew included Supervising Music Editor Paul Apelgren, composers Chris Tilton and Michael Giacchino, and re-recording mixer Rick Norman.