Fringe

[CRAMBAM]

Let's just hope that 5th season comes. It would be a hell of a dangling plot if they get canceled now.

[gavin1701]

If they aren't renewed I will be gutted. 3 more episodes left. A potential 18 episodes to go though.

[gavin1701]

Haven't watched last nights yet, but read an interview this week with Joshua Jackson. He said someone has filmed a surprise appearance in the finale.

I took this to mean Charlie Francis!

[gavin1701]

Just watched. I'm going to miss the alternate universe. I wonder if they'll ever reconnect somehow again. Perhaps in the 2036 plotline next year? If they do kill our Olivia as prophesised, the alternate Olivia might be the only way the actress can remain involved.

The promo for next weeks episode seems to infer that the big bad isn't David Robert Jones after all and he's working for someone else. Could THIS be the surprise appearance instead???

Obviously now it CAN'T be Charlie Francis... unless this universe Charlie never died.

[CRAMBAM]

It very well could be. Why not?

Or it could be William Bell.

[gavin1701]

Because our Charlie died, and now they are cut off from the alternate universe we won't be seeing alternate Charlie. I can't remember if this timeline had the original shapeshifters. I don't think they did. Charlie was killed by one.

Will Nimoy appear as Bell is the big question? If he does they've kept that quiet very well. According to one of the execs, his appearance in the amber was really Leonard Nimoy and not a digital effect.

[CRAMBAM]

Our Charlie died, but not necessarily in the new timeline.

[gavin1701]

Definitely, but they'll have to explain where he's been!

[gavin1701]

tvline.com/2012/05/02/fringe-season-4-season-5-nimoy-gabel/

Nimoy is not in the finale. Although they are trying to get him back for season 5. So maybe it is Charlie after all!

[CRAMBAM]

I think Nimoy needs to just stop retiring. Nothing in that article said Nimoy's not in the finale.

Also, based on that article, and what happened in last week's episode, I believe it's possible to reopen the bridge.

[CRAMBAM]

Good finale last night. Good set up for last season. I can see what they would have done had the show been canceled. They would have simply not shown the last 30-40 seconds.

It's really interesting to see Nimoy in a role other than Spock. It just doesn't feel right. But still fun.

[StarFuryG7]

A few things about the finale that I couldn't help but notice . . .

<Spoilers>

Why bother to go through the trouble of saving Astrid if both universes were going to be annihilated?

And how come Bell didn't get cancer in the original timeline, whereas in this one he did?

I'm also not thrilled with a couple of the developments that occurred here. Why turn Bell into a villain, when in the original timeline he's such a good guy? I think that can be chalked up to the Cortexiphan having adversely affected his mind, but this could well have been a series ender, so why do it?

As for the previous episode, why was sacrificing David Robert Jones so crucial, and how could Bell have foreseen that he would at that moment have been in such a position as to make Olivia's brain fire up her telekinetic abilities?

[gavin1701]

Really enjoyed the finale!

Bell wasn't a good guy. He was, like Walter, an egotistical man of science -- he saved the day in the original timeline, but he had done a lot of horrible things: like create the shapeshifters for Walternate. When it came to it his conscience won over, but he definitely was an antagonist that did the right thing at the end of the day.

The massive difference is that in the new timeline he didn't go over to the other side. His cancer would be consistent, and he had to have had it on the other side. But as Season 2 established their medical expertise is far more advanced than ours. Walter was saved from a gunshot wound and healed within the hour. Bell likely had his cancer successfully treated, whilst the Bell in this timeline was stuck with our medicine and his ego and survivial instinct won out.

This Bell can still be redeemed. It looked like he was part of the Fringe team in the future episode. It could be that his technology introduced here will be instrumental in defeating the Observers in the future.

Great article about things to come:

www.spoilertv.com/2012/05/fringe-season-5-jeff-pinkner-and-jh_12.html

[CRAMBAM]

What I liked is that this episode worked well with what we were told, AND what came in that episode that took place in the future.

Good points about Bell and the other side.

It's interesting how he could have faked his death yet still had access to his money.

[StarFuryG7]

Over at Blastr:

If you liked Fringe's futuristic season finale, you're gonna love S5

Though a fifth and final season of Fox's Fringe was an unknown at the time, the producers decided to take the risk and introduce us to a wild, weird future ruled by the Observers late in season four. With a fifth year now a certainty, producer J.H. Wyman wants you to know: We will definitely be revisiting the bizzaro future of 2036 we glimpsed in "Letters of Transit."

MORE: blastr.com/2012/05/if-you-liked-fringes-futu.php

[StarFuryG7]

Over at Blastr:

Nimoy lets us know what to expect from William Bell in Fringe S5

The character of William Bell has come a long way in four seasons of Fox's Fringe, and acting legend Leonard Nimoy says his latest persona (probably) isn't quite finished yet. So what can we expect from the maddest scientist of all in the show's fifth and final season?

MORE: blastr.com/2012/06/nimoy-explains-what-to-ex.php

[CRAMBAM]

Looking forward to it.

[CRAMBAM]

www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/26/fringe-john-noble-sleep-disorder_n_1705143.html?utm_hp_ref=tv

Apparently production is shut down because Noble has a sleeping disorder. That sucks. Hopefully he'll recover fast and there won't be a schedule delay.

[StarFuryG7]

I posted on the Blastr article Page concerning this that they should put off airing the thirteen episodes that they're going to produce until next year, starting in late January. As I said there, I would have preferred it that way anyway once we learned that they were only going to produce a half-season.

Fringe S5 production shut down as star seeks treatment
blastr.com/2012/07/fringe-s5-production-dela.php

Otherwise the show will be finished by December, and that'll be it.

I say hold them over.

[gavin1701]

Excellent season opener. Very good 2nd episode. Slipped in quality this week, although Im not sure if that's because it was slow and I was very tired and fell asleep towards the end. But with only 13 you wouldn't think they'd have time to slow down.

[CRAMBAM]

It was a bit slow. But then again, I was kind of tired when I watched it too.

[gavin1701]

This weeks more than made up for it with the return of Broyles and the heroic demise of Etta. I had heard there was going to be a death and was very nervous for Broyles!!!

[CRAMBAM]

I'm glad it wasn't Broyles. I hadn't heard anything about a death, but they should keep the main characters alive.

I was surprised they killed off Etta like that.

[gavin1701]

The main exec said that Fringe finishes with a happy conclusion. I wouldn't be surprised if they defeat the Observers and September takes them all back before they were in the amber so that Peter and Olivia's reward for saving the earth is to grow up with their daughter in an Observer free timeline. The whole Fringe team with the exception of Broyles can go back... which also means if Broyles becomes a casualty at some point his death is not final... just a theory!

[CRAMBAM]

That would be a good ending. But they have to be careful not to do a reset.

If time travel is possible, and it is, getting control of that technology would be a turning point.

[gavin1701]

Technically that wouldn't be a reset, it would be a restoration as the Observers have changed the timeline and they would be putting it back to where it was. Plus they would all have their memories of the future.

Peter now having Observer abilities may help. I wonder if that boy they are looking for turns out to be September!

[CRAMBAM]

I just hope they don't turn Peter into a Borg type character, who becomes more observer than human and they have to talk him down.

I kind of just want Peter to become super human, and then they take out the tech at the end. Let Peter turn the tide

[gavin1701]

It's possible it will go that way as he is full of rage, but last week hinted it's more about Walter turning into a Monster than Peter.

[CRAMBAM]

Well, next Friday is the finale. I should be able to watch it, though I'll be away for a week after that, so I may miss the discussion.

Pretty good episode last night. I'll wait until there is at least one confirmed person who has seen it before talking with spoilers.

[StarFuryG7]

I'll probably watch it when it airs next week. I generally don't have to record "Fringe" for later viewing.

I think they've wandered a bit far-afield this season, but are trying to connect as many dots as they can pull together for the conclusion. I think this season and how it was developed serves as a pretty good indicator as to why this show wasn't able to garner a large audience over time though. That's not to say I don't like it or that it hasn't kept me interested, I just find myself wishing sometimes that it had been more like "The X-Files", which managed to maintain an ongoing arc while also producing a lot of standalone episodes as well.

Of course, XF quite arguable meandered too much and loused up its alien cover-up/conspiratorial arcs to a great extent ultimately, but they lasted four seasons longer, even with having their two major leads all but depart the series well before it ended.