The 'Fringe' thread

[grond]

THE HOUSE ON REIDEN LAKE

Fans of "Fringe" gather within...

Don't forget the custard!

I'm hooked on this show. Are you? If so, I invite you to this little lake house, where we can discuss anything related to the TV show Fringe, which most deem is the successor to the X-Files. If you happen to see anything with a strange aura 'round it, be sure to let me know. It means the pungent 'milk shake' I've served you is working...

I'll get the ball rolling.

Here are a few rough theories of mine, regarding the 'Other Side' and the background there. I use 'alt' to indicate the parallel characters. And I really do give away things, so if you're new to the show, don't read the spoiler!

I don't want to use spoiler tags, but in the interest of any new fans, I will. Please do the same.

Years ago, Bell and Walter worked on the window to the other world. Peter died. Our Walter went over by the means he and Bell worked on together. He kidnapped alt Peter and brought him back, killing no one over there. Peter's corpse was the trade.

Over there, alt Walter and Bell hadn't worked on getting over here. They had been working on the 'terminators' instead; not to come here, but instead to fight something over there, and the end result of that might have become the Blight. But once alt Walter lost Peter, he and Bell began working on opening a window. Frantically. Some years later, after tests which became the early incidents which tell Broyles of the Pattern, alt Walter got the idea to send those shape-shifters through the window to punish our side for the kidnapping.

During this time alt Walter and alt Bell have a fight over this Window project. Alt Bell stops working with alt Walter because of it. Alt Bell forms Massive Dynamic, and HQs in the WTC. Alt Walter is a sort of hermit, because he is obsessed with getting over here, but his work progresses slowly because he's working alone. I like the similarity - he's also locked away, like our Walter was.

Because he's not working with Bell, but working alone, it takes alt Walter far longer to open a window here than it took our boys over here to accomplish together. It doesn't take alt Walter 20 years to get through - he's responsible for most of the Pattern events since the first one. They're tests. But it takes considerably longer for one man to get it right than it took the two men on this side.

At some point in the two decades following: 1. The Blight comes, it slows alt Walter's work even more, and 2. alt Bell dies.

If I was working on the show, I'd need to have a reason our Bell has the office at WTC, and the reason would be that our Bell has taken dead alt Bell's place. Because of the balance issue, alt Bell's body was brought over here. That would make a nice episode itself: the remains of William Bell have been found in a sewer in Brooklyn ( or somewhere ). They are 10 years old.

The Blight might have killed alt Bell, or alt Walter or our Bell might have killed him. Or alt Bell caused the Blight through his work at MD, and he was victim #1 of it, whatever it is. Maybe somebody did him in to use the shape-shifters the way they're being used now. That's relatively unimportant right now. Just something or someone kills alt Bell. So our Bell can take his place there, and alt Walter has been prevented from working on the Window with the speed afforded our side.

I think that's a fairly nice back story, with big gaps, and the timeline would need a LOT of work. I'm just spitballing.

Any fans of this show? Let's chat!

What have I forgotten?

Oh yes - I love custard, but I detest flan...

[DaMage]

I enjoy it...cept it keeps getting into the same timeslot as NCIS here....so it loses out.

sadly becuase Ive only seens a few espisodes spaced out i am missing most of the main story.

[Beana]

I do enjoy this show, I started watching it purely to see John Noble who I am a huge fan of...

[grond]

Sugarbean, I agree. I think John Noble is brilliant as the doddering genius with the broken mind. Have you seen the episode that shows why Noble's character can't remember anything? His brain is truly broken...

Well, the next new episode won't be aired until April - so now's the time to catch up - check out some early episodes at the WB.com. Also, all episodes are available at iTunes.

[Psykolabe]

This show is absolutley fascinating, all the crazy beings and the "Other Side".

One of the things that bothers me about this show is how they make so many references to Peter's death and when it seems to be one thing, they say it is another thing (that killed Peter).

Also, how they got altPeter was a very wide-open topic.

They do seem to suggest that Bell and Walter discover the door to the Alt-world, but in the episode with the time-travelers, Walter and the rebel Traveller briefly discuss the fact that the traveller helped him get Peter. Perhaps this means Peter died more then once? Perhaps the travellers can go to the alt-world? Many questions.

Thanks for starting the thread Grond! Lookin foward to some nice conversations here!

[grond]

No problem Psyk! I agree completely - in a TV universe replete with mundane 'reality' shows and crime procedurals, Fringe is a nice alternate. It takes me to the strange places I want to see, and does so better than any show has ever done.

But I have to be more observant, because Fringe is full of things like this:

1. In almost every episode the sharp-eyed can spot an Observer- a bald dude wearing a porkpie hat.

2. I watched three episodes before I realized how many fingers were on the hand (pictured above)!

3. In the opening scene of the latest episode "Jacksonville", the NY burrough is spelled "Manhatan" not Manhattan. A typo? Nope.

4. At each commercial break there is a symbol, and those symbols are part of a code that's been broken by one geekier than I, so they spell out a word over the course of each episode.

5. In the latest episode, there's a lock with a combination that can be a date. It was William Bell's lock, and Walter said it was the same combination that 'Belly' always used, and that he wasn't sure of its significance...another one geekier than I found that the date was the same as when Fringe is scheduled to have its summer finale! So are they setting up something big for that date? Or is it just a tease for those who study their favorite shows?

I think the writers are keeping things as tight and contiguous as they can, but inconsistencies are bound to pop up. I'm not so much of a Fringe geek that I'll get angry about them; it's a tv show, after all!

The subject of Peter seems to be one of the more sketchy ones, with inconsistencies telling me that maybe they were making things up as they went along:

I think Peter died when the Observer pulled Walter and Peter out of the lake, and that Walter fibbed when he told Peter about it. That might be why they helped Walter get alt Peter: Walter's important, but he wouldn't continue without Peter.

I'm not sure how possible it is, even in the Fringe Universe, for a person to die more than once, but hey, anything can happen! The only truly important thing for me is that he has died and he is from the Other Side.

Let's see how they handle it. Meanwhile, let me hear your theories.

[grond]

There is a teaser on Fox.com which satisfies me to no end. Check out the preview of an episode called 'Peter'.

9 days until the fun begins again.

[Galvon]

Well all I have to say about the latest episode in the UK is that I am NEVER going anywhere near a tea with cinnamon ever again

[grond]

It seems my memory is faulty. Galvon, what happens with the tea/cinnamon? Is it the Bishop Revival? Where the Nazi is killing folks with the secret chemical?

[Galvon]

Nazi dude who was killing with the chemical.

It smells like cinnamon and he used tea on one experiment. Not sure if this is a episode spoiler so I have hidden it just incase

[grond]

Yep my powers of recall ain't what they used to be but they work. Good episode!

The best and worst part about the show is to me the fact that it all comes back to Walter. Best because it works, due to his amnesia and brilliance. Worst because it's a plot crutch that can and will become tedious and predictable. Maybe after the fifth season I'd get mad at them for doing it.

[Galvon]

yeah I love Walter it'll be a shame though

I think some of the amnesia and madness is a red herring and that under it all he is a cold and calculating evil man who will in the end betray the team. The reason for this is because of his link to seemingly all the mysteries and I think he is behind most of them. I only manage to catch the odd episode so I dont know entirely everything this is just my theory on what I have seen.

[grond]

I hope you're wrong but I bet you're on the right track, Galvon. Walter was a creepy driven genius kind of guy before he - literally - lost his mind. Maybe because of the way he lost it he'll never go back to the way he was, physically unlikely if you've seen the episode, and I hope he doesn't. But if you've seen what's behind Walter's enfeebled mind, you'll know that it's not fake, and barring any new plot point, it can't be fake.

William Bell took out the parts of his brain that held his memories and hid them! They were found and put back in in an earlier episode, but then they were taken away again by Newton, I believe...

[grond]

And now my hands have stopped shaking because I got my fix. Fringe is back on for 8 episodes. Yee-haw!

Nice new one, which explains much of the relationship between Walter and the Observer September, what happened with Peter, ( I was very close... ) and how Nina got her arm back. It doesn't touch upon William Bell's entrance to the other side, but it sets the stage for what I believe the other Walter

called Walternate by our Walter - awesome!

is going to get super peeeved over.

Overall an immensely satisfying episode, over waay to fast, but made less than superb because of the absence of the one I watch for,

Anna Torv

.

Let me know what you thought of the episode, and of the main title sequence.

[Galvon]

OMG the latest episode made me it was so sad I feel so sorry for walter bless him

[grond]

Yep it was sad, Birthday Boy. I feel sorry for 'Walternate's' wife, mostly. How will Walternate explain it?? I'll put money down that many of the Pattern events are Walternate seeking revenge. I want more of that storyline, but I need Dunham there too.

It's been nearly a week since the latest episode - no spoiler tags.

[grond]

Here's John Noble talking about 'himself: spoiler alert!!

Insight

EDIT--

Here's the Retro opening sequence for 4/1's episode

Cool 80's theme

[grond]

This video is a speedy recap of the 1st season: if you need a set-up, watch it a few times:

ALL CAUGHT UP? That was season one, those mysteries have been solved this season. Watch them all.

Good. Now spend 45 minutes or so, and watch what I feel is the best Fringe episode yet:

WARNING - This link is not connected with TESA, and we cannot be responsible for its extraneous content.

Fringe episode on Hulu.com - White Tulip

Go watch it.

[grond]

Well.

The second season ended.

I'm satisfied ( just like after eating my favorite meal ) and I'm excited to start season 3 in the fall.

This link here can get you up to speed.

[jaggedbubbles]

I'm still trying to catch up in the second season (I think I've only seen up to episode 6 in season 2).

It's not so much the show itself I like, it's the references it makes to other shows (I've seen LOST, House, Alien Invasion, Star Trek, and obviously X-Files references). It's an enjoyable enough show in its own right, but it really sticks out because of the references. Another show I happen to like is Psych, and it pretty much does the same thing with the references, but it's a crime comedy rather than spooky serial.

[InsanitySorrow]

Well I decided to see what all the fuss was about

I've watched the first 3 episodes of season 1, have not made up my mind yet, But I'm wanting to watch the next one so that must count for something right?

[grond]

I'm still trying to catch up in the second season (I think I've only seen up to episode 6 in season 2).

It's not so much the show itself I like, it's the references it makes to other shows (I've seen LOST, House, Alien Invasion, Star Trek, and obviously X-Files references). It's an enjoyable enough show in its own right, but it really sticks out because of the references. Another show I happen to like is Psych, and it pretty much does the same thing with the references, but it's a crime comedy rather than spooky serial.

I'm just now starting on Lost, which is available through the end of this year on Hulu. All the early seasons. It's an amazing show. Gives me something to waste time on until new Fringes begin again.

I haven't caught nearly as many references as you have, JB. I'm too busy, on the lookout for Observers.

Well I decided to see what all the fuss was about

I've watched the first 3 episodes of season 1, have not made up my mind yet, But I'm wanting to watch the next one so that must count for something right?

Yessir, anything that gets you and JB to keep watching. I can't seem to get enough of Anna Torv, and John Noble does mildly insane really well.

[InsanitySorrow]

Yessir, anything that gets you and JB to keep watching. I can't seem to get enough of Anna Torv, and John Noble does mildly insane really well.

He does do a good job there , I've just finished watching episode 13, now onto the next

[grond]

It's better than the X-Files, because in every episode the main storyline is continued. It's better than Lost, because despite the fact that every episode continues the main storyline, you really don't have to watch every episode to catch up.

But I recommend that you keep on it, IS.

[InsanitySorrow]

I never really watched the X-Files, I've maybe seen two full episodes but that's it, not much of a fan . Fringe seems interesting though, I like the the way it's different than other similar shows, I bet none of them have a mildly insane scientist working for the "good guys"