Fringe Comic-Con 2011 Red Carpet Interviews by TheFutonCritic

TV guru site TheFutonCritic interviews the cast of Fringe at Comic-Con 2011. Interviews include Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Anna Torv, Jasika Nicole, Blair Brown, Lance Reddick, & Seth Gabel.

Visit their Comic-Com video page to see all of their other interviews (and click on some ads while you are there to thank them!).

Fringe Summer Rewatch: #107 "In Which We Meet Mr. Jones"

Join us for our Fringe Summer re-watch, where we review every episode of Fringe during the summer hiatus. Comments are welcome as we dig into the connections made over three seasons.

Meeting Mr. Jones is another key moment in the Fringe mythology. So important, that J.J. Abrams co-wrote the episode with Jeff Pinkner. There is a slight monster-of-the-week plot humming in the background, but when a viewer takes a serious look, it is amazing at how this episode sets up future developments for plot and characters.

My Observations:

Walter asks Peter for gum or mints… Then when that fails, he asks a surprised Broyles. After looking at Mitchell Loeb‘s strange heart problem, Walter says his breath is atrocious, so he can‘t study him at the hospital. Even back at the lab, Walter is fixated on gum, which Peter provides. By Season 3, Walter hasn’t lost his ease at asking people for gum. (Reciprocity - Walter asks MP for gum, preferably grape.)

Peter comes up with a solution to stop the organism from constricting Loeb’s heart. Walter is impressed, “You may have found your true calling - working with me.” Peter at this point in time won’t have any of that as he states loudly, “I certainly hope not!” As the series progresses, Peter embraces his place as one of The Bishop Boys. Both of them work together in the hope of saving their universe.

One thing that stuck out to me was Walter talking about the perfect DNA code sequence embedded among the organism’s genetic profile. Kind of like a signature of sorts. Walter mentioned another such signature in The Bishop Revival. I also can’t help but think that Peter’s DNA is not all natural either, but that could be discussed at another time.

Astrid finally starts to develop character-wise, although Walter refers to her as Olivia’s “friend” at this point. Astrid reveals her love for cracking codes. Astrid’s not the only one. Olivia knows what a “Caesar shift” entails.

This skill comes back into play in Season 3. In 6955 kHz, Astrid cracks the code for the meaning of the numbers transmitted by the number stations, and she learns the locations of the machine parts. In Reciprocity, Olivia figures out who the shapeshifters are by figuring out the OLIVE code used by Fauxlivia.

In this case, the code sequence is ZFT. Olivia mentions this name to Broyles, and he tells her about David Robert Jones, a scientist with a specialization in genetic weaponry, that had recently been arrested in Germany for the possession of state secrets.

Olivia shows her tenacity with Broyles when she demands more information about ZFT. When Broyles tells Olivia that Germany is denying the U.S. access to Jones, Olivia says she may be able to get to him. This amuses Broyles who asks:

“Do you have super-powers that you’re not telling me about?

Wow, the power of such a seemingly unimportant statement placed in context with the rest of the series! The Day We Died showed that Olivia had honed her telepathic abilities.

Also, it struck me that Olivia would not accept Broyles’ taunting her that she could not get in to see Jones. Of great interest is her insistence that she made a promise to Loeb’s wife. Olivia always keeps her promises, to the best of her ability. The most important promise of all in my opinion? It is when Olivia promised Alternate Broyles that she would find another way to save both universes. Although, it went wrong the first time, I have no doubt that Olivia will keep that promise in Season 4.

One silly connection? Broyles tells Walter that he appreciates his work. Walter goes off on a tangent about once having had a fruit cocktail in Atlantic City. Even though he isn’t a fruit cocktail kind of guy. In The Last Sam Weiss, Walter complains to Astrid about no one having a classic fruit cocktail anymore…

When Broyles was concerned about Walter’s fruit cocktail rambling, he brings his concern to Peter. Peter takes the opportunity to let out all of frustration about taking care of Walter.

When Olivia was with Lucas, I couldn’t help but grin at her cell phone ringing. Seems every time she gets romantic, she’s interrupted by a darned cell phone. Season 3 is a prime example of this.

When Olivia meets Jones, he tells her that she and he are basically pawns for someone else. He taunts her: “The people that I work with are loyal to the end. Can you say the same?” I can’t help but wonder if this was about someone other than Loeb.

One interesting moment at the end between Olivia and Peter. As Samantha Loeb is reunited with her husband, Peter tells Olivia, “Look at that,” and they both smile. In The Firefly, they both glance at an older couple enjoying each other in a retirement home and Peter remarks to her, “That's sweet…” To me, these observations show that both of them admire and desire a strong love.

Lies Told to Peter:

As the team prepares Joseph Smith for a procedure, it dawns on Peter that Walter had hooked him up to car batteries as a child. Peter is very upset that Walter side-steps the issue, that he is almost to the point of tears. What was the real reason Walter did this? Was it to cause a memory wipe for Peter, who does not remember the events depicted in Subject 13? When Peter is drugged and hooked up to the apparatus, he momentarily calls Walter, “Daddy.” Was Walter’s glances at him out of affection for the term, or disgust with himself for what he did to Peter as a child?

Unanswered Questions:

This is an incredible long shot, but I wonder if Jones didn’t have something to do with the machine, since his specialization was genetic weaponry. Nina Sharp had said that the machine had William Bell’s design signature. Jones was a protégé of Bell. But in The Day We Died, Future Walter says he sent the machine back through through the worm-hole in Central Park.

Who wanted Jones to meet with Olivia?

If Jones did not infect Loeb, who did? And how to Jones know how to kill the parasite?

If Peter Does Not Exist?

Would there be a ZFT, even if Peter was not in the picture? Jones had no interest at all in Peter, but was highly interested in Olivia… Would Olivia have possibly continued rekindling her relationship with Lucas if Peter had not interrupted them? Peter saved Loeb’s life at one point; could Walter have done the same thing that Peter did, or would Loeb have died? Peter was able to figure out Little Hill. Maybe someone else in his place could not do so, causing Jones to withhold the treatment form Loeb.

Fringe Photos from Comic-Com 2011

I have added an bunch of Fringe Comic-Con 2011 photos to FringeFiles.com in the Live Events section. There are photos from the Fringe panel, Fringe autograph session, and some from the red carpet. As more photos come in, they will be added there, so check back often!

Fringe - Entertainment Weekly Comic Con 2011

EW's Sandra Gonzalez interviews Fringe stars Anna Torv, John Noble, Jasika Nicole, Lance Reddick, Blair Brown, Seth Gabel and of course Joshua Jackson.

Joshua Jackson, Jaskia Nicole, & Blair Brown at Comic-Con

Here are a couple of very short clips of Fringe stars Joshua Jackson, Jaskia Nicole, & Blair Brown at Comic-Con.

The Fringe panel by a Comic Con Virgin

I am posting this article on behalf of our in-the-field reporter Zort70. - D

I have been looking forward to this trip for many months, it had been a long time in planning and took even longer to arrive at this moment.

I travelled, mainly to meet with a bunch of LOST fans who I had go to know very well over the last few years, but also to experience the often read delights of Comic Con. It was something I've wanted to do for a very long time and the LOST fan meetup was an added bonus which made my mind up for me.

Unfortunately my first experience of Comic Con on Thursday wasn't a happy one. We decided to travel in a little later in the morning and walk round the main trading floor before getting in a queue for the Game of Thrones panel, this turned out to be a fatal mistake and after queuing for 3 and a half hours we missed getting in to the panel by 30 people ! The next day we were determined to get in and see what we wanted, we got there at 7am and still queued for 3 hours but got to see everything we wanted to, including a LOST panel where Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse turned up, but that's another story.

Fast forward to Saturday and the day of the Fringe panel, we travelled in again for 7am and again queued for 3 hours but got in. To give you an idea of how long people were waiting the line went all along the convention centre in managed queues and then went onto the street and curved all around three of the harbour walks next to the convention centre. They estimated around 8000 people were in the line when we started to be let in at 10am and the panel room held only 4500. This meant we had to sit through all the panels on the day to get to Fringe, but they were mostly enjoyable and it wasn't too much of a chore :-)

So the time for the Fringe panel arrived by that time we had moved down progressively nearer the front of the hall. The panel started with a few clips of previous seasons, nothing new in there as far as I can tell on first viewing.

Then the cast were introduced one by one to tumultuous applause, each coming on stage and looking delighted to be there. There was one notable exception, and I'm sure you can guess which person it was, yes Joshua Jackson was notably absent.

The moderator of the panel told us that they needed to recast the role of Peter and proceeded to show the Peter Bishop Audition reel. This clip was of various people auditioning to take on the role of Peter and included Zachary Quinto, Jorge Garcia, Paul Scheer, Damon Lindelof and even Rebecca Mader !

The short clip ended with a figure with an observer hat, suit and a pale complexion and slowly lifted their head, of course it was Joshua Jackson. He then entered onto the stage with the hat and suit (but not the makeup).

The panel proceeded as all the panels I have seen before, with all my 2+ days of experience at Comic Con, and questions were asked by the moderator and by people in the room. T-shirts with Save Peter on them were given out but no real clues as to what would happen in the new season were given and a specific point was made that the producers wanted the new season to be a surprise.

The actors obviously get along very well and even new regular Seth Gabel seemed to be well integrated into the show. Jasika Nicole sang a little and Lance Reddick did an impression of Olivia channelling William Bell

Then all too soon the panel was over, the cast got a standing ovation and stayed on the stage for a few minutes more for photographs but had to leave to make way for a screening of the new Fox TV show Alcatraz and it's pilot episode.

Apart from the main panel there had been official autograph signings and even an unscheduled appearance of some of the cast on some lawn outside the venue which surprised everyone that was walking past and knew who they were.

As a first time Comic Con attendee I can say that a couple of things so far have made it worthwhile, and the Fringe panel was definitely one of them.

Peter Bishop Audition Selects from Fringe Comic-Con Panel

Here a funny video from Comic-Con, featuring Zachary Quinto, Damon Lindelof, Michael Emerson, Jeff Probst, Jorge Garcia, an Observer, and many others trying out for the role of Peter Bishop. This was shown just before Joshua Jackson came out on stage.

Jeff Pinkner and Joel Wyman tweeted the link for this vid from the San Diego Comic Con via Twitter just moments ago. This video of Peter Bishop auditions was shown at the session this afternoon.

If you're on Twitter be sure to thank Jeff & Joel for sharing this so QUICKLY with us!

Jeff Pinkner @JPFRINGE
Joel Wyman @JWFRINGE

Get Fringe Comic-Con Sticker at GetGlue

You can get a special Comic-Con sticker for Fringe (plus other Fox shows, and likely most other shows as well) by logging on to GetGlue.com and checking in to "Fringe" and put "Comic-Con" in the comment section.

Anna Torv Talks Season 4

TvLine has just released this interview with Anna Torv from San Diego Comic Con.

Fringe Summer Rewatch: #106 "The Cure"

Join us for our Fringe Summer re-watch, where we review every episode of Fringe during the summer hiatus. Comments are welcome as we dig into the connections made over three seasons.

Before I get into "The Cure," let me refresh your memory of the episode via my parody project, "The Fringemunks." Back in Fall 2008, I produced a song recap of the episode that parodied "Friday I'm in Love" by (of course) The Cure:

We, the early devotees of Fringe, enjoyed "Fringe Tuesdays." We also enjoyed the ratings. "The Cure" was watched by almost 9 million people in its first broadcast - a number that the series likely won't ever reach again.

With a light and airy editing style, in which Mr. Papaya went ka-boom and actors' smirks (especially those of Josh Jackson) were not left on the cutting room floor, there was an engaging factor to a mass audience: spontaneity. This factor is still existent as of the pre-Season 4 hiatus, but not to the same extent. Fringe, while retaining humor and wit, has lost some of its engagement to a mass audience in recent months due to the complexity of the plot, lesser emphasis on standalones, and limited room for spontaneity… which falls into the category of, "be careful what you wish for": Good for the show's credibility, bad for the ratings.

The writers and showrunners, who I'm sure were pleased at their huge audience at the time, probably didn't know exactly where their story was going to end up at the end of Season 1. Thus, they used a Pattern-related plot involving a fictional lymphatic disease and a shady pharmaceutical company, and threw in a few mythological seeds - some of which would be watered through the years, one of which died on the spot. ("We'll figure this out later," it seems they were saying to each other.)

Let's examine these seeds now:

• Olivia's abusive stepdad - we didn't hear much more about him until Season 3 episode "Subject 13," and it was indeed a seed that was shelved away for awhile. Just how crucial is his character in the overall Fringe storyline, and where is he now?
  
  
• Nina's deal with Peter - as far as I know, Peter never returned Nina's favor, and probably never will. Unless he gives her a backrub in Season 6 and says: "I owed you one."
  
  
• Humans as guinea pigs - it seems that the experiments were conducted so people could be made "special," as in soldiers for an upcoming conflict… but - besides the Cortexiphan subjects - where are all these other people now, and will they ever be utilized? Where are the fellow clones of Chris Penrose? Will Mr. Meegar be called into action?
  

At the time this episode aired, the series was different in another key fashion: the episodes were longer, due to FOX's experimental limited-commercial format. Whereas later episodes (in Season 2 and 3) lasted about 44 minutes each, "The Cure" clocks out at over 50 minutes.

This length, in retrospect, is vitally refreshing. It allowed the characters to breathe and reflect, and it allowed plotlines to have more detail and garner more intensity. This plays out in two scenes that I will emphasize here:

• The opening scene at Holly's Diner - the Fringe title sequence doesn't start until the 5:25 mark. Basically, 4 minutes elapse (to us) between the time Emily enters the diner, and the time her head blows up. The conversation between the cop and Emily lasts a while during this time, increasing suspense and curiosity.
  


• The long pauses between Peter and Olivia near the end - watch in particular the scene spanning 47:00 through 48:43. Lots of pauses, lots of staring - little details that wouldn't see the light of day if the episode had to be truncated to 44 minutes. Look at how much the pauses add to the scene. This was part of the charm of Season 1.
  

William Bell later explained Jung's concept of synchronicity as having "the interconnectedness of apparently unrelated events" in the Season 3 episode "Stowaway." Synchronicity can also be explained as the Fringe writers' "excuse" for certain standalone episodes to take place. In "The Cure," it is Charlie Francis who notices that it is "one hell of a coincidence" that they were tackling a case involving an abused young woman, on Olivia's birthday ("today of all days...").

IF PETER BISHOP NEVER EXISTED...

... then there would have had to be another trigger or deal that compelled Nina to help the Fringe Division solve the case. Olivia would have been flirting with some imaginary dude at the end - not a charming idea at all. Also, Walter would have been guaranteed to use the right toothbrush, one would hope.

POLL:What is your favourite season of Fringe?

POLL : What is your favourite season of Fringe ?
Posted by Bunky Bunk at Saturday, July 23, 2011

Hi again. Since I didn't post any polls on Wednesday and Thursday, I'm making up for that today with 2 new polls. After 90210, today's second poll and final poll of the week is about a small show, I'm not sure anyone has heard about it on SpoilerTV, it's called Fringe.

It's a sci-fi drama series starring Anna Torv as FBI agent Olivia Dunham and it airs on FOX since September 2008. After a first season airing on Tuesdays, a second season airing on Thursdays and a third season landing on Fridays, the show's fourth season will premiere on Friday, September 23rd at 9pm, in exactly 2 months.

Anyway you should check it out, I have the feeling this show could be big around here. But for those of you who know already watch Fringe, here's a poll to figure out which season is the best of the series so far :
Click here to vote in the poll
Source:spoilertv.com

Fringe Summer Rewatch: #105 "Power Hungry"

Join us for our Fringe Summer re-watch, where we review every episode of Fringe during the summer hiatus. Comments are welcome as we dig into the connections made over three seasons.

I chose to comment on "Power Hungry" because there are just some episodes of Fringe that crawl into your brain and make a home there(well, most of them do for me, actually)and this is one of those.

"Power Hungry" was written by Jason Cahill and Julia Cho, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this is the only Fringe episode they've written together to date, and it's a shame. Even though the feel of this one is different from the Pinkner/Abrams or Pinkner/Goldsman/Wyman episodes I've come to adore in this series, 105 is smooth and fits right in flawlessly after "The Arrival," which is a tough episode to follow.

On the surface this is the story of a common man trying to do the right thing every day, but feeling as though he falls short. There are things lacking in his life, like in Roy's in 103.
Our man Joseph answers a newspaper ad that promises to unlock his brain's hidden potential, and give him confidence. He gets alot more than he bargained for, as afterwards he can effect electric machinery of many types, from the simple alarm clock on his stand, to the fancy elevator generator in the Worcester parking garage. But apparently Joseph can't control his effects on said equipment, especially when he gets emotional, like when the apple of his eye, a cute office secretary flirts with a coworker in front of him, and her computer mainframe goes haywire.

Such is the fate of all those in the elevator car when the secretary picks up Joseph's phone that has fallen on the floor and sees dozens of pictures of herself on it. She's scared and repulsed, Joseph gets emotional, and the elevator car does the unthinkable and drives itself into the ground killing all the passengers except Joseph, who can apparently levitate due to his abilities.

Like a good Season 1 episode, the layers unwrap as the Fringe Division attempts to solve the mystery and find Mr. Meager, and thanks to a very livid Walter Bishop, we learn that again, Walter is reminded of a project he did for the US government. This time involving enhancing a person's electromagnetic signature, exposing homing pigeons to it, and finding said person. Peter and Olivia noodling move things along. As they look for little events rather than big ones, they find Joseph Meager's apartment, and his poor deceased mother.

In a brilliant plot addition, John Scott appears twice to Liv in this episode, the first time as a scary ghost in the dark of her FBI building. Amongst other things he tells her she's on the right track looking for a person. He also mentions Jacob Fischer but doesn't elaborate. Olivia, of course, has to race down to the lobby to see if John Scott really was on that elevator. And of course, it's empty. But Liv sees the maximum capacity is 2000 pounds. That gives her an epiphany and she wakes Peter and Walter in their hotel room in the middle of the night for the second time in the series. John Scott also appears to Olivia in the hallway at Harvard while she's trying to get a soda. He sneaks right up behind her, and tells her he didn't betray her. "You know that. In your heart. You know I wasn't the one." Now I find that wording very obscure, whether you've watched 105 before or after Season 3, it's still strange wording. (More on that later.)

At the end of the episode Olivia spots John Scott again on the sidewalk as she drives down a street in the Boston area. He leads her to a door in an alleyway. Liv parks and follows. She discovers many, many file boxes in a basement that looks like a makeshift office. Broyles explains to her that John Scott seemed to be leading his own investigations, and knew about "The Pattern."

Broyles tells us John Scott knew of 7 other "Josephs" being manipulated by Dr. Fischer. Broyles says fortunately none of them had been activated yet, and that all 7 have been rounded up. (It's nice to see some Pattern-related people tidyed-up. If you've watched through Season 3 you know there are many subjects still unaccounted for, like the almost 80 people with the brain chip implants from 205, and the other cortexiphan folks running around out there, to name just a few.)
Broyles hands Olivia a metal box and tells her they found some of John Scott's personal effects, and that "it would seem some of them were intended for you." With that Broyles scoots quickly out of the room, and you just know it's something personal. After Olivia looks at pictures of children that are probably John and his siblings, she spots what looks like a ring box in the bottom. She opens it and there's a beautiful diamond solitaire engagement ring. Olivia lifts it up and the word "ALWAYS" is inscribed inside in captial letters, as John's voice-over says "I will prove it Liv-that I love you-always."

There are 4 things, in my opinion, that make this episode memorable:
1) Peter's appearance and demeanor in the beginning. It may be the second time in the series the writers give Joshua Jackson some real meat. Peter appears freshly tortured by John Mosley, and this is vocalized by Walter near the beginning. Peter's bruises on his face and ligature marks on his wrists look fresh and believable. He tells us he hasn't slept well, and he looks totured. By the second half he's able to focus, thanks mostly to Olivia's presence by his side, and he gets some of his snark back. I love the way Peter stops Joseph Meager with a crowbar as he tries to run away from Olivia and the other authorities.

2)Walter steals the show in the second half. He seems 2 steps ahead of everyone on this case, and most likely is. He posited that the situation was pretty much identical to the electromagnetic/pigeon studies he had done, and knew what direction to head. Walter loves saying "Meee-gar," which while the young man's situation is pathetic, it is amusing to hear Walter and the gang banter his name about, and it would probably make a good drinking game!(Let us know if you try it.)
Walter also forgets Astrid's name a couple of times, which is par for the course. I honestly think he didn't forget it that last time, but just wanted to get a rise out of her.

3) The scenes with John Scott reappearing:I believe this was the real focus of this episode, and I believe this is all foreshadowing of Season 4 or even 5, that Olivia will "see Peter" in the exact same way. Walter explains in this episode that he has a theory that when Liv and John shared consciousness in the tank that some of his consciousness, memories, etc. crossed over into hers, which is foreshadowing of the episode "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide," and Liv's forced body-sharing with William Bell.
I have a theory that when our Olivia and Peter Bishop consummated their love, they shared consciousness, and that despite Peter Bishop's total disappearance at the end of Season 3, there will be pieces of Peter in our Olivia's consciousness that will come to light in the future.

4)Charlie Francis is catching on to the "P/O" element:There are 2 glorious scenes that prove this point. In the first, Peter glides right past Charlie with two cups of coffee, giving him a comfortable "Hey, Charlie," and scoots into the passenger seat of Olivia's SUV as though he's always been there, as Charlie looks on.

In the second scene, as the feds close in on the whereabouts of Joseph Meager, thanks to the magnetized homing pigeons, Charlie pulls up next to the SUV containing Peter and Olivia. Everyone's windows are rolled down. As Olivia Dunham kills the engine she turns to Peter and says in a very comfortable voice, "Hey, you stay here."
Less than thrilled with her direct order, Peter replies, "Whatever you say, Boss." Liv gets out of the SUV and falls into step alongside Charlie who stares at her and says, "I'm not gonna ask," to which Olivia snaps, "Good." Go watch that little scene again and you'll notice that Charlie knows the dynamic is changing with those two, and it's very amusing to see.

Unanswered Questions That Arise in "Power Hungry"
1) Walter's words on John Mosely:"I was thinking about that man. The one who tortured you. Something about him. So familiar."

How does our Walter Bishop know "The Rogue," AKA John Mosely?

2)Walter tells Peter it should be possible that people like Joseph Meager could deliberately control electronic devices. Did Joseph deliberately get his boss's arm stuck in that machine?

3)John Scott to Olivia:"Liv, I didn't betray you. You know that. In your heart. You know I wasn't the one." What does that mean exactly? John Scott appeared to try to run his lover off the road and put her in harm's way! If John Scott wasn't the one who betrayed Olivia, who was?
Following this strange line of thought, is this foreshadowing that someone else did or will betray Olivia in the future? Like who? Broyles? Walter? Lincoln? Peter?

If Peter Bishop Never Existed...
Interestingly, Walter might have figured this one out all by himself, BUT, if Peter never existed no one would have stopped Joseph Meager in his attempt to flee the authorites, and he might still be out there, causing electronic mayhem, injury, and death all over the globe.