Fringe Episode Review - 4.05: Novation

The Other Side of the Coin

So it begins.

The road back.  But is it the right road?

The Lost Son Returns?

Peter is back in play on the show but this is no homecoming.  This is a timeline where Peter never existed beyond his childhood.  A timeline which could be argued to be the correct one.  If Walter had not crossed over to the other side then the natural course of events would have been that Peter would have not grown up in our universe.  And maybe not in the RedVerse as well depending on the Observers.

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Fringe Sneak Peek 406 "And Those We've Left Behind"

Here's the first sneak peek for next week episode of FRINGE.

Fringe 406 Preview: "And Those We Left Behind"

Here is the preview from the end of "Novation" for the Fringe episode "And Those We Left Behind", which airs on FRIDAY, November 11th at 9:00PM on FOX.

Head over to the FringeTelevision YouTube channel (and click the "pop out" button) to watch it in full-sized HD.

Screenshots from this preview can be viewed at FringeFiles.com.

Fringe Easter Eggs: Observer in "Novation"

The Observer makes an appearance in every Fringe episode. In the Fringe episode "Novation", he can be spotted outside the house of the late Karen Truss, just as Olivia arrives on the scene.

You can see all of the other appearances of the Observer here.

Fringe Easter Eggs: Glyph Code in "Novation"

The Glyphs code in the Fringe episode Novation spelled out STILL.

For more information on the Fringe Glyphs, check out Fringepedia's Glyph / Symbols page, which has all the previous glyphs and codes.

Fringe Episode 405: "Novation"

Tonight on Fringe Friday is the long awaited fifth episode of season four "Novation".

SOME THINGS ARE NOT MEANT TO BE TAMPERED WITH

In the aftermath of recent shocking events, things really escalate when the translucent shapeshifters return. As the threat and circumstances intensify, a former Massive Dynamic scientist Malcolm Truss enters the fold. Meanwhile, Nina Sharp pays Walter a visit in the lab.

Chat live during the episode, then after the show discuss the episode here in the comments, and get more information:

• "Novation" episode page on Fringepedia
• "Novation" transcript on Fringepedia
• "Novation" screenshot gallery at FringeFiles
• "Novation" promotional photos at FringeFiles

Also, don't forget to check back here after the episode for Observer sightings, Glyph codes, and other Fringe Easter Eggs.

How do you rate the Fringe episode "Novation"?

FringeTelevision LIVE Chat Room for "Novation"

Tonight is our weekly LIVE Fringe chat for the Fringe episode "Novation", where we play "spot the observer", and "What's the glyph code?", plus discuss the action on the show.  
 
Reminder: this season we have our own new and improved chat room at chat.fringetelevision.com

Come join the fun, and don't forget to enter our Watch Fringe LIVE And Win Contest tonight!

Watch Fringe Live And Win Contest #405

We have a whole batch of new prizes for our weekly Watch Fringe Live And Win! contest.

The winner from the last episode is Janet Dung from CA. Janet will be receiving a copy of "Fringe: The Complete Third Season" on DVD, compliments of Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Marketing Group on behalf of Fox.com/Fringe. Congratulations!

The current list of prizes includes:

• 5 Black "Fringe" T-shirts (size M only)
• 1 Gray "Save Peter" T-shirt (size L only)
• 5 Fringe "Lenticular" notebooks (cover change between Walter/Olivia and Walternate/Fauxlivia)
• 5 Fringe Travel Mugs
• 5 Fringe LED flashlight keychains
• 2 Fringe mousepads
• 1 Fringe Season 3 DVD set

Two new changes to the contest from now on:

1. You will be able to choose the prize you want (while supplies last)! If you want that "Save Peter" shirt, you probably better win it tonight...
2. We are opening the contest to Fringe fans all around the world. You no longer have to be a US resident to win, however if you do win and you live outside of the US, you will be responsible for paying for the shipping.

Don't forget to Watch Fringe LIVE tonight and come back here to enter for your chance to win!

Rules:

During tonight's episode of Fringe, follow @FringeTV on Twitter, and post a tweet that says:

I entered the "Watch Fringe Live And Win!" contest at @FringeTV http://bit.ly/WatchFringeLive #fringe

to enter the contest. So you don't have to miss a single minute of Fringe (or any commercials ;), we will start the entry period 1 hour prior to the east coast episode airing (8pm EDT), and close it 1 hour after the west coast episode airs (11pm PDT).

To be eligible to win, you must tweet the exact messages above with no changes.

The winning names will be selected at random from all eligible entries.

Happy Fringe Friday and good luck!

Click here for step-by-step instructions on how to enter.

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Fringe Early Buzz: "Novation" Previews

Here are some early reviews and interviews for tonight's Friday Fringe episode "Novation":

TVLine.com: Fringe Cast Previews Peter's Return: 'It's Certainly Not the Reunion He Wished For'

He’s back! Peter Bishop has returned to Fringe, and there will be plenty of fallout starting with this Friday’s episode (Fox, 9/8c). What does this homecoming mean for the members of the Fringe division? And how has Peter’s absence changed them? TVLine got the scoop  from the cast on each character’s reaction, during a Vancouver set visit arranged by Warner Bros. TV. More...

LATimes.com: Josh Jackson on Peter Bishop's return to 'Fringe'

"Fringe" made a gutsy move at the end of Season Three. Plenty of shows kill off characters in a season finale, but how many can say they completely erased one of their main heroes from all of existence?  Not only did ‘Fringe’ delete Peter, but the show also kept him deleted. Olivia, Walter and the rest of Fringe Division spent the beginning of Season Four in a world with no Peter Bishop, so when I got a chance to talk with Josh Jackson about Peter’s return to "Fringe" this week, I asked if the rest of the cast teased him about basically getting to sleep on Season Four. “I don’t know if it was teasing,” Jackson joked, “as much as a lot of dirty looks.” - continue...

PopMatters: 'Fringe': Classic Realism in a Postmodern Space

“Novation”. the title of the new Fringe episode, is an obsolete word for “innovation”. to make something new or to renew. It’s an apt word for Fringe, because this is a series that has renews itself regularly, this season by removing Peter Bishop’s (Joshua Jackson) identity and making him a stranger to all but himself. This is a kind of archetypal nightmare touch: you return to father and lover and they don’t know you; no one knows you.- continue...

Fringe Ratings: How to Overcome Nielsen Invisibility

Everyone knows that TV shows live or die by their Nielsen ratings. A month into the season, several shows have already been axed due to their lack of performance in the ratings system, and several more are in imminent danger. Many argue that the system is antiquated, and that in this fast paced digital age people are consuming their entertainment differently. No one I know has ever been, or ever met a member of a Nielsen family.

Genre shows like Fringe exist constantly on the bubble, faithful fans watching and worrying every week over those frustratingly ephemeral numbers. It’s nerve wracking, tiresome and not a little bit insulting to feel that our loyalty counts for nothing because we lack a little black box. But things are starting to change: slowly, reluctantly, the ‘statistical sampling’ system that’s served as TV’s judge, jury and executioner for over half a century is at last being mitigated with new ways of collecting data. Networks are acknowledging that DVR and online statistics carry increasing weight in their decision making processes, scrambling to figure out how to account for the shifting landscape of television viewing to the advertisers whose money really drives the business.

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Fringe: The Shape Of Things To Come

Fringe executive producers Jeff Pinkner and Joel Wyman talk about the new and improved Shapeshifter 2.0.

Fringe Schedule Update: Only Three More Episodes This Year

The mysterious @MaskedScheduled has confirmed that we will only get three more episodes of Fringe this year (instead of four), due to the preemption by the World Series.

The remaining Fringe schedule for 2011 will be:

11/04 - "Novation" (#405)
11/11 - "And Those We Left Behind" (#406)
11/18 - "Wallflower" (#407) - Fall Season Finale

Fringe will resume with new episodes on January 13th.

Yes, it's very unfortunate, but chalk it up to bad luck. If there hadn't been rain-out on Game 6, of if the Texas Rangers would have won game 6, everything would have continued as normal.

Before the wave of complaints start rolling in, lets be perfectly clear. I am as big of a Fringe fan as anyone, but if I were Fox, I would have done the same thing. Well... maybe I wouldn't have shown a rerun on 10/21, but hindsight is 20/20.

Here's the facts: Although some of you may not enjoy baseball, most people watched the World Series. In fact, Game 7 was the highest rated show on any network this season, pulling in 25.4 million viewers. Compare that to Fringe ratings, which have been averaging about 3 million per episode. Also, consider that the price of a 30-second commercial during the World Series is almost 8 times more than during Fringe ($450,000 vs $57,589). 

Feel free to complain in the comments, but can anyone argue with those numbers?

Now about that almost two month break - breaks happen. There are 35 weeks in a normal television season, and Fringe has a standard season order of 22 episodes. That means there are always going to be 13 weeks of either repeats or breaks. Fringe has always had a winter break, and will actually be coming back a week earlier than I expected.

We will have lots of fun stuff going on during the rest of the season and during the break, so check back often. And don't forget to enter our "Watch Fringe Live And Win!" contest every week!