Image Credit: Fox
Last week’s episode of Fox’s Fringe — the fourth of the sci-fi drama’s fourth season — saw the return of Joshua Jackson’s character Peter Bishop, MIA since last May’s season finale. After a time-travel adventure that culminated with a reboot of history, Peter was forgotten by those who knew him as an adult, because in the new version of time, he had died when he was a child, not just in one world, but on two parallel Earths. (The show makes this easier to understand than the previous sentence might suggest.) Yet Peter’s essence endured somewhere on the ethereal plane, and more, his spirit was trying to break back into the realm of flesh and bone, brick, and mortar. He accomplished the mission last week, splashing down like an astronaut falling to Earth. Or rather a naked astronaut. Because he was naked.
Yet Peter’s return to a more conventional semblance of human existence brings with it some unconventional problems — like the fact that the timeline is alien to him and no one “remembers” him. Peter’s return puts fans of the show in an interesting position, too. The first four episodes of the season — a solid, emotionally affecting bunch, highlighted by a serial killer that sucked happy memories from brains and a lonely, sentient fungus – have done a pretty good job of encouraging us to invest in the new timeline. Enter Peter, a refugee of the old timeline, i.e. the Fringe of the past three years. What to root for? Do we want to see the restoration of the original timeline, reconciling Peter’s relationships with Olivia, Walter, and the rest of his Fringe Division family? Or do we want to see Peter come to grips with his new world and build new, possibly better relationships with these people? Here’s hoping the drama remains rich and the ideas stay strange, whichever option Fringe chooses.
The following preview sets the stage for the show’s next act, which begins Oct. 28 at 9 p.m. — which is to say, next Friday, not tomorrow night. Get ready to do some frame-by-frame analysis in the final seconds. There are several cryptic images to be captured and studied. I’m already obsessed with Machine Gun Girl. After you take a gander, let us now what you think of the season to date, and what you want from the show moving forward. Some food for thought: Check out Ken Tucker’s appreciation of the season’s first act.
Twitter: @EWDocJensen
Read more:
‘Fringe’ recap: Blue Light Special
‘Fringe’: Anna Torv on Peter, Olivia’s relationship with Lincoln — VIDEO
This show has become my second favorite ever, surpassing Lost and Farscape. Only the original Trek beats it.
Doc Jensen I would like you to take action against those hateful comments and lies made by Pacey/Jackson fans underneath the picture of the lovely Anna Torv at the Scream Awards.
It is a disgrace for EW.
What the hell are you talking about! You are so effin nasty towards josh and his fans, you annoying piece of filth!
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Another disingenuous load of garbage from “Doc” (snicker, what a joke) Jensen.
Fringe has gone the way of Lost. Early seasons ruined by smug writers and incompetent producers who never had a coherant plan from the start.
Too bad.
Ah Farscape…I miss that show.
Love the season so far… I’m just happy to enjoy the ride, wherever it may go. My only concern is whether or not the show will get a fifth season. I think it’s unlikely, unfortunately, so I hope the show goes out with not only a bang, but also a satisfying finish.
As opposed to the others shows Abrams helped create, which did not.
I feel the same way. I want to enjoy this season, and appreciate the awesome-ness we have, because it looks like it will be the last.
The fifth season is usually easier to get, because that gives the network enough seasons to syndicate the show’s reruns. Don’t worry too much yet.
Fringe is produced by Warner Brothers, so no interest there for the network.
Looks like Anna Torv and John Noble are going to have to rpovide the groundwork or bedding for Jackson to stand on. So Walter is protected by Olivia,we saw their bond last week.
I love this season so far.
BTW.How is it that TVguide gives the wrong finale numbers, they were only 1.2 rating and 3.2 million or so viewers, they suggest that 3 million viewers left this season , they already did last season when they moved to Friday, nothing to do with peter.
Awesome! 1 week and a day left!!
They always find a way to keep Fringe fresh and exciting and i cannot wait to see how this unfolds. I want them to return to the original timeline somewhere in the futur, but for now i’m enjoying this a lot.
Exclusive??? It’s the same preview they showed after the show.
no It isn’t.
YES IT IS.
The pathetic morons at EW love to claim everything is EXCLUSIVE when it clearly isn’t.
It’s a YouTube vid put out on Fox’s channel FOR ANYBODY. It’s been shown on loads of sites before this one. Jensen is an incompetant clown.
Take a chill pill,calm the fuc.k down and shut the fuc.k up already and stay the hell off their site TROLL.
I love the risk the producers took by eliminating Peter from the first four episodes this season. Bringing him back, but not back into the fold is genius use of dramatic tenstion.
Forgotten, but not gone is brilliant.
i agree. Forgotten, but not gone! i can’t wait.
well said
!
THIS SHOW! Just when I think it can’t possibly top itself, it does. It’s so amazing.
I wholeheartedly agree!
I hate the World Series for making us wait an extra week!!!!!!
You and me both!
The World Series isn’t making you wait. There’s still an episode of Frince on tomorrow.
yes, but its a rerun!!!! which I guess is better than no Fringe
All the networks, not just Fox, are holding back episodes for Nov sweeps.
I want the timeline to remain as it currently is but I want Olivia and Walter (especially Walter) to remember Peter.
Agree. I’m still really intrigued by this new timeline (really hoping we hear more about Olivia killing her stepfather…) but I also would love if Walter and Olivia remembered him.
“He accomplished the mission last week, splashing down like an astronaut falling to Earth.”
I didn’t get it at the time, but another David Bowie reference? Someone on the show is clearly a fan.
Maybe I should watch it again, but I got the impression that he rose up from the bottom of the lake, not splashed down into it from space.
He did rise up from under the water. No falling from the sky as an astronaut. This is clear in this preview too.
He did rise from the lake, as referenced from his drowning that Walter made?
considering that two of the series villains are named David Robert Jones (his real name) and Thomas Jerome Newton (his character in The Man Who Fell to Earth) I would have to agree!
I’m also guessing that since he’s originally from the red universe, Walternate and the others over there will have an easier time remembering him.
I’m excited to have him back..although I am really loving the chemistry between Lincoln and Olivia!
I miss the old relationships, and don’t particularly care for the new improved versions of Walter and Olivia, so I haven’t invested at all in the new season. It’s a relief to have Peter back, but if he never gets his Walter and his Olivia back, then the show will be a waste for me.
I don’t know that I’d personally say it would be a “waste,” but I do hope that our Peter, Olivia, and Walter (and Astrid and Broyles) re-develop the relationships they had before Peter was erased. I’m way more invested in that than I am the new timeline, even though I do like Lincoln, too.
I don’t care at all for the reset, so I hope Walter remembers the connection he had with Peter sooner than later. Their relationship was the heart of the show and I would be very disappointed if it died in S3. I don’t care what Olivia does, her connection to Peter never felt particularly strong or sincerely felt on her part, so if that gets lost, I wouldn’t miss it.
not strong or sincerely felt on Olivia’s part? It was the only thing that kept her mind tethered to her orginal self when she was being brainwashed into believing she was Fauxlivia on the other side, not to mention why she felt so betrayed when Peter didn’t notice that Fauxlivia wasn’t her. What show were you watching?
She went through the motions, but the love didn’t show in her eyes. She just wanted a companion, that’s all.
When is Ken Tucker coming back?