'Fringe':Seth Gabel talks Lincoln Lee, Season 4

‘Fringe’: Seth Gabel talks Lincoln Lee, Season 4September 19, 2011 9:00 am

"Fringe" returns Friday night after a summer of hanging questions. Has Peter Bishop been erased from history? How will the two universes’ Fringe teams interact? Whatever happened to Amy Jessup, that new FBI agent they introduced awhile back? If any show is good at keeping its secrets, it’s "Fringe." Though one welcome spoiler did slip out over the summer months: Seth Gabel is moving from guest star to cast member in time for Season 4. That means we’ll be seeing more of Gabel’s character, Lincoln Lee.

When I chatted with Gabel about the promotion, I asked if it came with any hazing. Did John Noble make him do key stands? Clean his trainer? “It’s actually the opposite.” Gabel laughed. “John is a very protective person. He realized I was stepping into a new situation; he took a parental approach. Actually, I had to show him after a while that I was OK. When we went to Comic-Con he was introducing me to people saying, ‘This is Seth. He plays Lincoln Lee.’ I had to let him know I could handle it.”

Fans of "Fringe" know exactly who Lincoln Lee is. Besides having one of the coolest names in television, Lincoln is also a key member of the other universe’s Fringe team, which made him very prominent last season. It's been a big leap for a character who was originally planned for a one-episode gig. “My first introduction to the show was very unpredictable as far as how I’d be involved in the future of the story. I was just signed on for one guest episode. It was very open-ended on whether or not I’d even survive, but as we were shooting it, Akiva Goldsman, who was the writer and director of that episode, kept on putting in little hints that my character would be much more involved in the show. I started to get very excited, but I had to wait a whole summer if, in fact, I’d be back.”

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Fringe Season 3 Blu-ray Unboxing

Fringe Season 3 is out today on Blu-ray and DVD. The Blu-ray is available at Amazon for $44.99, and the DVD is $36.99. Both qualify for free shipping.

Best Buy has an exclusive "lenticular" cover (seen below) that shows the Blue or Red universe depending on how you look. However, they are priced $10 more than Amazon, but you do get a $10 Best Buy gift card with purchase.

The 22 episodes are spread over four blu-ray discs, and contains 3 hours of bonus material, including the Blu-ray exclusive "Glimmer to the Other Side". Here is a full summary of the extras from Blu-Ray.com:

The 4-disc Blu-ray release of Fringe: The Complete Third Season isn't exhaustive -- two audio commentaries and an hour of extras doesn't amount to much -- but it does feature a first for a Warner television release: a Maximum Episode Mode Picture-in-Picture experience. Sure, it's only available for one episode, but if future Warner releases follow suit (particularly if more episodes are explored per season), TV fans are in for a real treat.

• Audio Commentaries: Two audio commentaries are available: "The Plateau" on Disc One, with executive producer Jeff Pinkner, writer/co-executive producer Monica Owusu-Breen and editor Timothy A. Good, and "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide" on Disc Four, with producer Tanya Swerling, editor Luyen Vu and visual effects supervisor Jay Worth. Both tracks are informative, I'll give them that, but the cast is sorely missed. And with twenty-two episodes spread across four discs, a whopping two crew commentaries just doesn't cut it.
• Maximum Episode Mode: Glimmer to the Other Side (Disc 3, HD, 46 minutes): Executive producers Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman host this single-episode twist on Warner's Maximum Movie Mode formula, and it's a blast; such a blast that it's a shame more episodes don't feature a MEM track. What awaits those who venture into Episode 16, "OS," with the Maximum Episode Mode engaged? Interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, optional production featurettes, special effects breakdowns and more, all courtesy of a dynamic Picture-in-Picture window that sometimes houses the MEM content and sometimes houses the episode itself (so the MEM content can have more room to breathe). It's hands down the best feature in the set.
• Duality of Worlds (Disc 4, HD, 30 minutes): Explore Walternate's universe in four production featurettes: "The Other You," "Visualizing an Alternate World," "A Machine of Destiny" and "The Psychology of Duality."
• Constructing an Extra-Sensory Soundscape (Disc 4, HD, 7 minutes): How does the Fringe creative team tamper with your psyche? Through sound effects, music cues and other sonic sleight of hand.
• Secrets of Fringe: The First People (Disc 4, HD, 2 minutes): An all-too-brief Q&A session with Jeff Pinkner and Jay Worth about The First People and their place in the series.
• Gag Reel (Disc 4, HD, 3 minutes): Simple, funny and to the point. Just how I like my outtakes.
• Animating "The Lysergic Acid Diethylamide" (Disc 4, HD, 8 minutes): A look at Episode 19's jump-the-shark animated sequences and the deadlines that propelled it.
• Network Promos (Disc 4, HD, 6 minutes): Three lengthy promos round out the package.
• BD-Live Functionality

Which version of Fringe Season 3 did you buy (or plan to buy)?

What Would You Ask Fringe's Pinkner & Wyman?

This Wednesday, we'll once again get the chance to chat with Fringe executive producers Jeff Pinkner & Joel "J.H." Wyman. It is a conference call interview, so we may only get to ask one or two questions (if any!), but we still want to know - What would you ask Pinkner & Wyman?

Submit your questions in the comments by noon ET tomorrow, and we'll try to include as many as we can! 

Fringe Summer Rewatch: #322 "The Day We Died"

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.

Editor's Note:This is the last installment of our 'Fringe Summer Rewatch' program that began 65 episodes ago in July.

I would like to thank Dennis, the owner of the Fringe Television site, for thoroughly supporting this endeavor.

I want to thank Ari Margolis, the man in LA behind all the excellent Fringe promos since last year, who kept us enthusiastic with his daily Fringe posts on Twitter, especially his creation-the 'Fringe Song Of the Day.'

Most importantly, I thank my writing staff who donated their time and talents:

Aimee Long, birdandbear, Dani, David Wu, Dixie, oranfly, sam spade, and Xindilini.

So here we are, wrapping up our Summer Rewatch with the mind blowing Season Three finale. Fringe has been building to this since an Observer left a drawing on a bar stool, and now at last we'll have our answers to the season's burning questions: What does the machine do? What's going to happen to Peter if he gets in it? And of course, we'll be left with a whole new set of questions. Naturally.

Do you know what it's like... to wake up and just for a moment... think that everything is as it was? And then to realize it's not... that the nightmare you had was real. - Secretary Bishop

The Day We Died picks up right where the previous episode left us. In the final heart-pounding moments of The Last Sam Weiss, Peter stepped into the machine, taking the last step on the long path toward his destiny, and carrying the hope of a world on his shoulders. His body convulsing with the energy coursing through it, he made his choice: when it came down to us or them, Peter chose his adopted world over his natural one.

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Fringe Summer Rewatch: #321 "The Last Sam Weiss"

 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.

As the summer rewatch draws to a close, I’m happy that my final post will be for The Last Sam Weiss, as this is one of my top five Fringe episodes. As a great fan of the Fringe mythos, I was thrilled to finally have some answers to many questions that have been posed, even as far back as season one.  However, this episode has a special place in my heart because this is a big turning point in the extraordinary journey of the Fringe family. There are two epic love stories in Fringe, which is one of the main reasons I’ve enjoyed the show for so much in three seasons. The show has a great depth of heart.

Walter learns to let go - to step back and allow Peter to do what he must, even though the odds of him surviving are slim. Because "he is a man protecting his world." Olivia becomes empowered, and learns to accept that she really is extraordinary. Peter does what he must to help protect the ones he loves.

After an electrifying false start in 6:02 A.M. EST, we’ve almost reached the moment of truth. Peter and Olivia literally staring down the machine. But first, there was the little matter of a slightly-toasted and unconscious Peter, along with Olivia’s journey with Sam Weiss to uncover the secrets of the machine, and how he was given “knowledge” about the machine. Plus, Walter and Astrid tried to determine how to slow down the damage occurring in our world long enough to buy Olivia some time.

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Fringe Summer Rewatch: #320 "6:02 AM EST"

The destruction had begun...

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.

Until I watched the episode again, I would not have notice the parallel scenes for the two Walter Bishops. One is sacrificing his son to save his dying world. So was the other one. The only difference is the Walter we are more familiar with rather not. Ironically, both men in their darkest moments seek God's forgiveness.

Over there, we see the Secretary contemplate the consequences of activating the machine.

Oppenheimer saved us too. But at what cost? He couldn't bear the nightmares... the screams of all the innocents he had killed. "Now, I am become death, the Destroyer of Worlds." Only in our case, that really is true. We destroyed their world to save ours. May God have mercy on us.

Over here, Walter prays for a miracle.

I asked you for a sign, and you sent it to me. A white tulip. And I was so grateful. Since then, in moments of deep despair, I have found solace in believing that you had forgiven me. I was willing to let him go. I was willing to let Peter die. I've changed. That should matter. God, I know my crimes are unforgivable. So punish me. Do what you want to me. But I beg you, spare our world.

There was no turning back when the machine was turned on. Little did the Secretary know that he had set in motion a course of events that would ultimately cause the destruction of his own world in one possible future.

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Fringe Summer Rewatch:#319 "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide"

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.

Episode 319, entitled "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide," which will be referred to from here on out as "LSD," is a real trip. Literally! This "little family unit" as Peter calls the 3 of them in episode 216: himself, Walter, and Olivia, really go places in this episode, all while seated in the triangle seen in the above photo. (We know Fringe creator JJ Abrams loves triangles, but it's interesting to see one literally here.)

A Little History On Lysergic Acid Diethylamide(LSD)
First synthesized by Albert Hofmann in 1938 this drug was used to treat psychiatric disorders.
It is from the ergot family. Ergot is a fungus that grows on grains, most commonly on rye. Sandoz Pharmaceuticals introduced a prescription form of it called Delysid, in 1947, and it was very promising in the medical world.

Interestingly, the CIA thought it might be helpful in chemical warfare and mind control in the 1950's and gave it to soldiers and civilians as part of the 'MKULTRA Program'(remember I mentioned that in my commentary on "Of Human Action"?)
Apparently it was used widely for recreational purposes in the 1960's which led to a political uprising and then its restriction. Today there a few groups who still study its medical applications in controlled trials.

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FRINGE Teaser 5: 'Where Is Peter Bishop?'

Here is the fifth"Where Is Peter Bishop?" teaser from Fox.

WARNING: Contains scenes from Season 4.

"There is no one else. There is just me." - Olivia Dunham

FRINGE: Past + Present + Future #12 "A Different Choice"

Walter and Peter are desperate to change future events, in this twelfth and final installment of the web series Fringe: Past + Present + Future. Narrated by series star John Noble.

FRINGE: Past + Present + Future #11 "The Future is Now"

Peter finds himself fifteen years into the future, in this eleventh installment of the twelve-part web series Fringe: Past + Present + Future. Narrated by series star John Noble.

Fringe Summer Rewatch: #318 "Bloodline"

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.

My sister died during childbirth.

This story idea has certainly always been out there. If the scripts were thought up that far ahead, and if Olivia was played like she always knew the risk of being pregnant, would that have translated into the hesitant reaction behind that closed door before seducing Peter? In any case, now we bare witness to the real consequences of that choice. In the aftermath of "Immortality", Liv is resigned to being a single parent, with mom Marilyn and Lincoln for moral support. Olivia also has a reality check. There is high chance that she might be a carrier for Viral Propagated Eclampsia (VPE), the same disease that took her sister Rachel's life. Either she or the child or both will not survive delivery.

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An Early Happy Birthday to the Fringe Media Master, Ari Margolis!

Ari Margolis, Fringe promo designer extraordinaire, is celebrating a birthday tomorrow!
For those of you who do not know Ari, he has been extremely generous over the several years, showering us with beautiful promos, and most recently, the "Past+Present+Future" video series.

He is also very engaged with us Fringe fans via Twitter, letting us know when promos are availalbe. He also started on May 26 the "Fringe Song Of The Day" program via Twitter, taking requests and posting them and his own choices, and even a few from Jasika Nicole, daily via Twitter with the song links, which has made this long hiatus much more comfortable and fun.

Ari has given so much to us we decided to give something back.
So here you go, Ari, a birthday vid from us at Fringe Television!
The video was designed by our own Aimee Long and inspired by me.

Thanks, Ari, for all you do. Have a great birthday tomorrow!