Fringe Episode 119: The Road Not Taken

Olivia experiences "awake dreams," seeing elaborate visions of things not really there. While investigating a disturbing case of a woman who apparently spontaneously combusted, Olivia throws caution to the wind and explores her unexplained visions further. Meanwhile, Walter discusses key information about the Z.F.T. manifesto, and Peter reveals a secret that yields unexpected results in the case in the all-new "The Road Not Taken." And for Observer sightings and what they don't tell you, check out the Easter Eggs Section.

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Fringe LIVE Chat Tonight: The Road Not Taken

Happy Fringeday! It's time for another LIVE Fringe chat from 9:00 PM to 12:00 PM ET, if you want to talk with other Fringe fans during or after the show. We'll try to get there a little early if anyone has questions they want answered.

To join the chat, visit the Fringe chat room, enter your name or a nickname, and join the fun! (please don't use the default mib_xxxxx nickname!)

I will be there (as AdamMorgan) along with our fearless leader (as FringeTelevision). And as always, you never know who else might join us...

Fringe Episode Preview: The Road Not Taken

Evening, Afringeonados. Are you pumped for tonight's penultimate Fringe? (Until Season 2, that is). Here are a few reasons to be drooling in anticipation:

• You'll learn who wrote the original ZFT manuscript.
• Midnight was the last "standalone" ep of the season.
• You'll learn what Peter's been building in the lab.
• Everyone's favorite DHS consultant is back.
• Bizarre new questions are raised that set us up for the thrilling finale.

Don't forget to join us for our LIVE Chat before, during, and after the episode tonight!

Star Trek: JJ Abrams on Colbert Report

JJ Abrams appeared on the Colbert Report last night to talk about Star Trek. Fringe was only mentioned in passing, but JJ reinforced the fact that the show is made so you can start watching at any time (like tonight!) and you won't be totally Lost, like on LOST. There's also a funny bit about hidden clues in the show.

* Thanks to FringeTelevision Twitter follower hl2run for finding this!

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
J.J. Abrams
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Behind The Scenes with Michael Cerveris

Michael Cerveris, most affectionately know as The Observer, was nice enough to share some behind the scenes photos from his recent NASCAR and American Idol appearances.

For more info on the fringetastic actor/musician, check out:

• Michael Cerveris Official Home Page - Amazing Journeys
• Michael Cerveris Facebook Page
• Michael Cerveris' band - CERVERIS on MySpace
  

It's Official: Fringe picked up for season 2

Fringe has been officially picked up for a second season. Congratulations to everyone!

Here is the official FOX press release:

FOX PICKS UP SECOND SEASON OF “FRINGE”

No. 1 New Series Among Adults 18-49 Renewed for Full Season

Season Finale Guest-Starring Leonard Nimoy Airs

Tuesday, May 12, on FOX

FOX has renewed FRINGE, the No. 1 new series among Adults 18-49, with a full second season, it was announced today by Kevin Reilly, President, Entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Company.

“FRINGE proved to be a notable addition to our schedule all season and it really has fans buzzing as it builds to a fantastic season finale,” said Reilly. “J.J. and the whole Bad Robot team have been phenomenal partners, and we look forward to years of making great television with them.”

“FRINGE continues to gain momentum, creatively and with viewers,” said J.J. Abrams, series co-creator and executive producer. “We couldn’t be more thrilled that FRINGE will continue to freak people out for at least another season!”

FRINGE has captivated audiences this season, winning its Tuesday time period weekly among key demographics and ranks as the No. 1 new series in primetime among Adults 18-49.

Questions will be answered when the first season of FRINGE wraps up with two all-new episodes. First, onTuesday, May 5 (9:01-10:00 PM ET/PT), Olivia experiences “awake dreams,” Walter divulges key information about the Z.F.T. manifesto and Peter reveals a secret that yields unexpected results in a disturbing case. In the climactic finale airing Tuesday, May 12 (9:04-10:00 PM ET/PT), discoveries are made, loyalties are tested, otherworldly origins are discovered and guest star Leonard Nimoy debuts as a pivotal person of interest.

Created by J.J. Abrams & Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci, FRINGE stars Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Lance Reddick, Kirk Acevedo, Blair Brown and Jasika Nicole. The series is produced by Bad Robot Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. Abrams, Jeff Pinkner, Bryan Burk and J.H. Wyman serve as executive producers, while Kurtzman and Orci are consulting producers. Additionally, Pinkner and Wyman serve as the series’ showrunners.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Full episodes of FRINGE are available for viewing at fox.com and hulu.com. For more information on the series, including episodic photos, http://foxflash.com/div.php/main/page?aID=1z2z2z56).]

-FOX-

Star Trek Week at FringeTelevision.com

It's Star Trek week here at FringeTelevision, so we'll be featuring various Star Trek news throughout the week. Why? There will be some interesting Fringe tie-ins (blatant promotions?), since Star Trek comes out this week. There are also some things that are a little more subtle, but still tie into Fringe. But mainly because JJ Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci are awesome, and Star Trek looks like it is going to rock (and like JJ, I'm not even a big Star Trek fan!)

Video not related.

Page 3.14

Here is a round up of stories that just didn’t make the FringeTelevision front page, or what we like to call…. Page 3.14!

• UGO TV Blog: Fringe: Jasika Nicole Interview - We Talk Comics, Cars, Bronson Pinchot and Even a Little Fringe!
  
  
• USA Today: 'Star Trek' writers [Kurtzman & Orci] discuss their new final frontier
  
  
• Entertainment Weekly: Leonard Nimoy offers inside details about his role on 'Fringe'
  
  
• NY Post PopWrap: 'Fringe's' First Couple Makes Their Debut
  
  

Deep In The Lab by Walter Bishop, Part 2

Fox's official Fringe website has released part 2 of Deep In The Lab by Dr. Walter Bishop, a spoof of SNL's "Deep Thoughts".

You can see part one of Deep in The Lab here.

Walter's Lab Notes: Fringe 118 Midnight

Walter's Lab Notes from the Fringe episode Midnight include...lots of syphilis talk (which reminds Walter of an old flame), a cajun recipe for crawfish, and the fermentation of lager and penicillin.

Scattered around the notes are:

• A crime-scene photo of one of Valerie Boone's victims
• Moldy pieces of bread
• A piece of the Fibonacci puzzle
• Dr. Boone's tape for Olivia

Fringe Improv Comedy

In a strange bit of viral marketing, Fox has been "sponsoring" various filmmakers on YouTube to create funny Fringe videos.

The latest is by POYKPAC, a Brooklyn-based comedy quintet, entitled "Fringe Comedy: Episode 1". Hopefully this means there will be more to come.

Fringe Episode Review: Midnight

Greetings, Afringeonados! I'll be honest: I wasn't too excited about Midnight after last week's promo, which made it look like standalone filler that might try to appeal to American Idol holdovers with club music. But I should've known better, as the creative minds behind Fringe delivered another solid hour of television.

There were a few rough spots (Two Singles Together?), but fans got plenty of Walterisms, gross-outs, and mythological teasers to keep us happy until next week's penultimate showdown.

"Maybe we're looking for Dracula..."

The writers did a nice job playing with our expectations in Midnight's cold open (the in media res scenes before the opening credits). Fringe's usual "pattern" is to introduce a villain early and follow him on a crime spree, and we were certainly led to believe Captain Britain was a killer (thanks to casting, wardrobe, and that knife). He's even a predatory creep at the club, and we're led to believe his intentions are criminal. That is, until Valerie Boone breaks his neck.

I literally clapped. It was so unexpected, just like the scene where she opens up a mouth full of shark's teeth and feasts on another poor guy. She's an interesting mix of vampire and succubus, thanks to another "dosing" by ZFT, who've previously infected civilians with super-sized cold cells, orifice-sealing goo, and porcupinesque monster genes. Makes for some thrilling standalone threats, but how do these dosings fit into the big picture?

"Why would ZFT want you to create something like this?"

Well, according to Dr. Boone, XT43 was synthesized to "create a human nightmare...to show off." The biggest question being, to whom? It seems more and more like the Pattern is ZFT's attempt to demonstrate their technological prowess, a warning to the denizens of the parallel universe who will soon fight us for survival: "Don't mess with us. We can do some freaky stuff."

It's analogous to the old space race between the United States and the Soviet Union, as each faction vies to prove itself technologically superior to the other. That would make The Pattern an inter-dimensional Cold War.

"I was able to gather some names..."

Talk about a last-second revelation: now we've got a tangible link between Massive Dynamic and the Pattern, via William Bell's funding of ZFT. It's becoming clear that calling ZFT a "bio-terrorist organization" is a bit of a misnomer. Ostensibly, their goal is to intimidate the enemy in order to save mankind. To borrow a line from Spock (!), "logic dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." For the followers of ZFT, sacrificing a few innocent civilians is necessary to protect the human race as a whole.

Questions: are we certain that the Observers are the citizens of this parallel universe? If so, do we have "Observers" of our own in their world? Reconnaissance usually goes both ways!

Stray Thoughts

• Best Line of the Night: Astrid. "When you finally meet a nice girl, I would avoid bringing her home for as long as possible."
• I can't listen to the opening theme anymore without hearing Dujeous' lyrics.
• How come the first special effects shot of Valerie's teeth was so cool, yet the second time (when she attacks Olivia), they looked so...fake?
• Ari Graynor was great in this ep, but what's the deal with Greg? Will Olivia's family wind up playing a larger role than we think?
• Loved seeing Walter show off his lab to a fellow mad scientist. And did Dr. Boone's voice remind anyone else of Benjamin Linus? Only slightly, of course.
• I think my favorite part of Midnight, other than the neck-snap and that first teeth-attack, was when Broyles burst into the interrogation room. A small moment, but I'm desperate for Lance Reddick to get more physical.
• Also loved how Astrid's knowledge of the Boston club scene wound up solving the case! And Jasika's really coming into this role, doing a lot with the little the scripts give her. I hope she gets a gun next season.
• Anna looks good in a leather jacket. Definitely enhanced the Gothic atmosphere. And who knew Liv could speak Mandarin?

Adam Morgan is a writer for the page and screen in Chicago who blogs pseudo-daily at Mount Helicon.