It’s been a long time coming, but Fringe has finally filmed an Astrid-centric episode and we have a sneak peek at monumental event, titled “Making Angels.” Throughout the show’s four seasons, Fringe has consistently under used Jasika Nicole as Astrid. She’s a supporting character, but she’s definitely an interesting one and I’m excited to get an episode devoted to her. Scratch that; an episode devoted to her and her alternate self! I am beside myself with glee. Two Astrids is better than one I always say.

TVLine had the first look at the video down below, where Nicole discusses what it was like to finally get an episode all about her character. From what we can gather from the video, alternate Astrid crosses over to our universe to meet Astrid, though we are not told exactly why. The reasoning why isn’t nearly as important as the meeting itself. Out of all the characters on this show and their alternates, the Astrids are the most different in personality. Our Astrid is kind, gentle (she’d have to be to be Walter’s lab assistant) and a great friend to Olivia, while the alternate is emotionless and may suffer from a mental illness such as autism, but is incredibly smart.

When they meet, they are fascinated by each other. Alternate Astrid starts asking questions to see how similar or different their pasts are. It’s bizarre and shockingly sweet to see. No other characters have reacted this way to their alternates. I cannot wait for “Making Angels” to air this Friday.

Fox president Kevin Reilly has opened up regarding the future of it’s low-rated yet beloved sci-fi series, Fringe, currently in its fourth season. While everyone is on some level happy with the quality of the series, the fact of the matter is it doesn’t bring in enough money for Fox to make a profit off of it. And when a show is losing money instead of gaining it, its future is brought in to question. Thankfully, we went into this season expecting as much, but there is still hope.

A fifth season is a long shot, but according to TVLine, Fox is actively negotiating with Warner Bros. Television on how to make it happen. What will need to change is pretty simple; Warner Bros. needs to drastically reduce the licensing fee for the show, which is how much the network pays per episode. If they can come to an agreement that is pleasing to Fox, we could have one last season to wrap everything up, though chances are it would be at a lower episode count, likely 13. But that’s okay. More Fringe is good no matter what.

Executive producer Jeff Pinkner has given his thoughts on the show’s potential future. Essentially, whether or not the show continues, they won’t be changing what’s planned for the fourth season finale. It will air as planned and, if it needs to, will function as a series finale. He has also previously mentioned the idea of continuing the show on another platform, such as a comic book series.

There’s no rest in sight for the gang on Fringe because the FOX sci-fi drama is bringing on Michael Massee to show everybody just how dangerous loneliness can be.

Massee, who has appaered on Rizzoli & Isles, FlashForward, and 24 has been tapped to play “one of the most memorable guest bad guys” that has ever been on Fringe, according to TVGuide. That’s a pretty bold statement, considering everything that both our universe and the alterate universe has thrown at Olivia, Peter, and Walter.

There aren’t any specific details on the character at the moment but executive producer J.H. Wyman revealed that Massee’s story revolves around a “terrifying journey with a man pushed to the limits by intense loneliness.” It seems like Walter sort of touched on that subject before in regards to Peter, but our Walter could never be considered a villain, and Massey might have something more sinister than inter-dimensional kidnapping planned.

It’s still unknown if Massee will be a recurring character or if this is just a one-shot deal, but it seems like it would be kind of lame to have such a memorable villain only appear once, although in the world of Fringe, memorable could also mean going out in an unimaginable blaze of glory.
An exact air date hasn’t been scheduled yet but Massee is expected to appear this season in Episode 15.

Fox has begun preparations to psych the fans of Fringe up for its grand return on January 14. What we have here today is the latest promotional video, teasing us with the phrase “The wait is almost over.” In the video you will see clip upon clip from throughout the series. There are so many clips in fact that it’s hard to tell which are old and which are new. And believe me, some of them are new. Two in particular stood out to me: the first was a shot of both Lincoln Lees facing each other, a moment that we will see play out in “Back to Where You’ve Never Been” on the 14^th.

The second was at the end of the video. Those of you who are quite familiar with the show’s beginnings will recognize the face of Season 1’s main villain, David Robert Jones (Jared Harris). The shot of him is without a doubt new, as he will be returning in the coming weeks. Now here’s where things get interesting: Jones was killed in the Season 1 finale; fatally cut in half after his attempt to cross over to the other universe was thwarted. Of course, Fringe has been operating in an altered timeline as of late, so his fate may have changed.

It was Peter who managed to shut down Jones’ machine before he could fully cross over, so in a world where Peter didn’t exist he wasn’t there to kill Jones. So did he survive in the new timeline? Or perhaps this is alternate Jones, revealing himself for the first time. We’ll just have to see what Fringe has in store for us.

It has been a long time since we were treated to a new episode of Fringe, a series that’s been on a slippery slope for awhile yet has amazingly survived as long as it has in a Friday night time slot. It’s absolutely appropriate that Fringe would return from its hiatus on Friday, January 13. The first unlucky day of 2012 is perfect for a show that’s on the bubble of cancellation. And the first episode back, “Back to Where You’ve Never Been,” looks like it may be the most exciting episode of the season. Just check out these shmexy images from Fox!

We haven’t had a chance to spend any time with Walternate so far in Season 4, but that is all about to change. Peter is still looking to return to his original timeline and to do so he plans to seek out the help of Walternate. We’ll get to see everybody and their alternate versions in the episode, which is always a positive for a Fringe episode. You can’t tell from the images, but if you caught the video promo for the episode then you already know Agent Lee will come face to face with his alternate for the first time. It looks like it’s going to be an amazingly wild ride for everyone involved.

I’m getting the feeling from these images, and all the other promotional material I’ve seen, that Fringe is heading toward something sizably epic. I’m not sure what that quite is (though I have suspicions), but I’m stoked to see what will happen.

CR: Liane Hentscher/FOX

That was unexpected! “Subject 9″ was a great episode that once again proves that Fringe is at its best when it’s concentrating on the main storyline. I was starting to get worried about where Fringe was going this season but now I’m simply excited to see what comes next after that doozy of a cliff-hanger!

Normally a story that concentrated on a blue energy field would be considered typical Fringe-fare, and compared to some of the storylines we’ve seen, kinda boring but with Peter involved it was fascinating to watch. It was obvious from the beginning that Cameron James had nothing to do with the phenomenon, but I really liked how he was utilized. At first I thought he’d be a pointless red-herring but his power came in useful at the end. That’s what I liked about this episode; it had the ability to keep surprising me and it kept me hooked throughout.

What really solidified this episode as a great episode of Fringe was some wonderful character moments. I love the relationship that’s developing between Olivia and Walter. Both are looking to fill the emptiness in their lives, and they seek solace with each other to help ease that lack they feel. There were some really tender and heart-warming moments between them and even with Peter back I hope they continue to develop that wonderful newfound bond between them. John Noble continues to prove he’s one of the best actors around with another amazing performance,  highlighting Walter’s vulnerability and his need to connect with someone. His reaction to finding out he might have to return to St Claire’s was depressing because we know what that place has done to Walter, and Noble really conveys the  despair and paranoia. Another powerhouse performance! Anna Torv also deserves credit for portraying a confused, tormented, yet determined Olivia who shines in the emotional scenes next to Walter.

Cameron James was more engaging than I expected. After all we’ve already seen a number of cortexiphan children, but in the short time we knew him you couldn’t help feel empathy for someone whose life has been ruined by Walter’s experimentation. I wish we could see more of James, and like the previous cortexiphan children I enjoyed his rapport with Olive.

There were some interesting moments that showed some more of the changes that occurred since Peter was removed from the timeline. So when did Nina become so close to Olivia, and why does Walter hate Nina now? Walter hasn’t left the lab in three years and it seems that before this there had been no interaction with the cortexiphan children at all. Had there abilities not manifested? These little bits weren’t vital for the episode but they were certainly eye-catching and I’m sure they’ll be important in the future!

What will keep this episode fresh in everyone’s mind though is the ending, and what a killer twist that was! The last thing I expected was to see Peter return so soon, especially after Walter and Olivia only found out he was real at the end of the last episode. I have to say though I’m delighted to see Peter back, and I can’t wait to see how he’ll integrate back into Fringe division and how Walter and Olivia will react when they find out who he is.

It’s hard to find any flaws with this episode, it had a great story, some wonderful character moments and a fantastic twist so  there’s not much I can fault it for. After a mediocre start to the season this episode was the perfect tonic to what came before and I’m really excited to see what’s in store for Walter, Peter and Olivia.

More glimpses at future Fringe here! We previously brought you a sneak peek look at next week’s episode “Alone in the World”, but now we are back with a look even beyond that to “Subject 9″, straight from FOX.  This one’s for the ladies (or the guys), as this gallery of promo images is really Anna Torv (Olivia) and Jasika Nicole (Astrid Farnsworth) heavy.

“Subject 9″ is more Walter confronting his past (at least they moved on from last week’s bullies), and actually gets him to roll outside a bit. From the images below, depending on what order you play it, I’d call it Olivia scared/Olivia Shoot.

“Subject 9″ airs on FOX on October 14th. Episode synopsis and pics below – enjoy!

“Subject 9″ Episode Summary - Olivia uncovers a dangerous force that may be connected to Walter’s past experiments with the drug Cortexiphan. Their investigation forces Walter to leave the lab for the first time in years as he and Olivia head to Massive Dynamic in New York to examine old case files. Walter struggles with life outside the lab as he comes face-to-face with the demons of his past.

CR: Liane Hentscher/FOX

I’m seriously conflicted about this episode and how much I liked it. On one hand the story was great; I loved the idea of a serial killer hunter investigating their alternative self who is actually a serial killer.  It was poignant, emotional and fascinating to watch. My problem is that once again we get another stand-alone episode that doesn’t move the overall plot forward and the show is starting to lose the momentum that it had built up by the end of last season.

I don’t know if I missed it last week or not but I love the new golden introduction to Fringe. What does it signify though? If red stands for the alternate universe and blue for our universe what does gold stand for? I don’t know but I found it interesting! Anyways, like I said the story of the episode was gripping and emotional. John Pyper-Ferguson is fantastic as the man playing the two McClennan’s and really conveyed the emotion and sympathy as well as the sense of menace the role demanded. I just wish they had got him full-time! His story of finding inner peace through Marjory was touching, and seeing how different his life could have been, through the alternate McClennan was fascinating. The idea that the smallest actions can change the course of someone’s life was something I really enjoyed. I felt true pity for the alternate McClennan who didn’t have a rock in his life like Marjory to rely on, and it shows the very fine line that determines our fate. It was all compelling stuff, it was powerful and satisfying.

What I had a problem with was we learned nothing new at all. We’ve already seen the tension between our universe and their universe, we’ve seen how Olivia has changed without Peter, and we’ve seen Walter hearing Peter’s voice and how he’s different without Peter there. That’s what really bugged me, most episodes we at least get something new to chew on but not here. Even the ending with Walter hearing Peter again was something we had seen happen last episode. It’s disappointing at this stage in the shows life that they have to use filler, great filler, but filler nonetheless to fill their quota of episodes. In fairness though we are only two episodes in so there’s still lots of time to turn it around, and it’s not like this is the first time Fringe has done filler. I have faith in the show’s writers and I know we will get to the meat of the season eventually, at the moment though it’s just frustrating.

The episodes point was summed up pretty much by the words of Philip Broyles ‘I think there are people who make an everlasting imprint on a person’s soul, one that can never be erased’ which obviously relates to Peter and the effect he had on the lives of the people who loved him. It was a powerful message, but one that shouldn’t have taken an entire episode to explain. I love Fringe and can’t wait to see what’s coming next in the main story. Let’s just hope we don’t have to wait too much longer to find out.

—

Check out promo images for next week’s episode of Fringe, “Alone in the World”.

Fringe came back for seconds last night with its second episode of the young fourth season and now, just to keep you right, Boomtron has the goods for you for next week’s “Alone in the World” via an image promo gallery we have from FOX. Got to keep the Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, and John Noble roll going, not to mention Jasika Nicole!

“Alone in the World” airs on October 7th and apparently two bullies (yawn) catch a fatal beatdown (if the images below are any indication they may have messed with the wrong nerd), and the team has to investigate.  We have an image gallery for the episode after this one as well so be on the lookout for them soon, I’m just trying to stay in continuity! Check out the teaser and episode summary below.

“Alone in the World” Episode Synopsis – When two 12-year-old kids bully another boy, they are found dead and in just hours after dying their bodies are shockingly in an advanced state of decomposition. As the Fringe team investigates the mysterious case, they uncover an amorphous figure claiming more victims. Meanwhile, Walter becomes increasingly distracted by his hallucinations.

CR: Liane Hentscher/FOX

Fringe has returned! After long months of waiting, I was hoping that the premiere would finally give us some of the answers to the questions that have bugged me since Season 3’s mind-bending finale. If that was what you were expecting, you will be disappointed.  What we do get is a decent, if unspectacular, season premiere that doesn’t really answer any of our questions but does give just enough clues to keep me intrigued about what’s to come in the future.

Being totally honest, I can’t say the main storyline of the episode really captured my interest. It felt like the freak-of-the-week storylines we’ve seen so many times before. It was great to have Lincoln back in some capacity, though, and I for one am really interested to see how his character develops over the season and whether he will evolve into the Lincoln we know from the other side. A new form of shape-shifters is an interesting development, but the storyline itself didn’t hold my attention like it should have. It felt slow-paced, and it wasn’t particularly exciting. I just didn’t feel the characters were in any danger; I guess, after the stakes were raised so high in last season’s finale, it was harder to fear for Olivia or anyone’s safety after seeing them get out of worse situations countless times before.

What I did like about this episode were the slight differences in characters without Peter around. Olivia reminded me a lot of Season 1 Olivia, as she’s a bit cold towards other people and seems to find it difficult to trust and communicate (though when it comes to Fauxlivia, who can blame her!). We’ve seen already how Peter changed her, making her more open, trusting, and approachable. As she says herself, she joined Fringe division because there was something missing in her life. It might not be obvious at first glance, but the lack of Peter in Olivia’s life has profoundly affected the development of Olivia as a person.

Likewise with Walter, he’s similar to the man we know–he’s still the crazy, loveable genius that we know him as. Yet there are subtle differences; without Peter he’s less adventurous, preferring the confinement of his own lab. He seems less confident, and without Peter as his anchor in life he has nothing left to live for. I really enjoyed seeing the two characters closest to Peter change in his absence, because it really showed the importance of Peter in Olivia and Walters’s lives and the positive impact he has had on both of them.

Without a doubt the most interesting moments in the episode related to the other universe. Olivia’s short interactions with Fauxlivia were great–you could really see the enmity that remains between the two sides, and my only disappointment was that we didn’t get to see Walternate! I have no idea what that room is at the end of the episode where we see the blimp fly past. I felt as confused as Lincoln looked. Was it a portal to the other universe, or just a mirror? Questions upon questions, but it definitely grabbed my interest.

Everything the Observers did throughout the episode also had my full attention. These guys hold all the answers that we need, and more than any other time in the episode I felt tense seeing the normally calm September look visibly shaken. I’m still confused by his attempt to delete Peter’s existence…why didn’t he do it? It’s like he has some kind of attachment to Peter that as of yet I don’t understand. Here’s hoping we’ll be seeing a lot more of the Observers this season, as they are definitely one of the most interesting aspects of Fringe.

So, basically, this episode doesn’t really answer questions, it doesn’t solve any of the previous storylines, and I can’t even say the main story of the episode was particularly engaging. What we do get, though, is an insight into what life will be like without Peter and how things have changed. We see new sides to our favorite characters, and we are given just enough to keep us intrigued about what is to come in the future. It mightn’t have been the best opening ever, but I’m still delighted to say Fringe is back!

Fringe star Joshua Jackson, deciding to try his hand at something a little different than acting as Peter Bishop, is writing a comic book series called Beyond the Fringe. The series, published by DC Entertainment, will be released digitally and will feature stories that take place in between Seasons 3 and 4 of the cult Fox show. Drew Johnson, with Jackson penning three issues, will do cover art.

The series will alternate storylines every two weeks. There will be an “A” storyline that fits with the ongoing narrative of the show, while the “B” storylines will explore alternate outcomes, like if someone were to make a different choice than they did originally. Jackson is writing the first storyline called “Peter and the Machine” and will run for the first three “A” issues.

This is the third comic series based on Fringe, with the most recent one being Tales From the Fringe, which ran as a six issue miniseries. The writers of both the comics and the TV show do their best to make sure the comics are integrated in to the shows mythology. It’s a good way to keep the series alive, especially if it gets prematurely canceled (which is likely) before it can properly end its story. The first issue of Beyond the Fringe is available for download at read.dccomics.com or via the DC Comics app on mobile phones. Fringe’s fourth season premieres tomorrow night at 9 on Fox.

There is a new Fringe, Season 4, promo, hot off the presses and ready to be unleashed, right here on Boomtron. The hit Fox series promises to be just as cinematic, just as epic, and just as bizzaro sci-fi as ever as we get a sneak peak at what the new season will bring. Oh. Did I fail to say romantic? Don’t you find it romantic? I certainly do!

In case you are behind a few episodes. Peter is totally AWOL now. I kind of like that dynamic, don’t you? The show returns with a season premiere titled, “Neither Here Nor There,” starting Friday, Sept. 23rd at 9 p.m. only on Fox.

Of course the thrilling series was created by J. J. Abrams , Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. For Season 4, actor Seth Gabel, previously a guest star during Season 3, becomes a full-time cast member and as Agent Lincoln Lee steps things up. Gabel earned the series a nomination at last year’s Saturn Awards for Best Guest Star on Television. 2010 also saw a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Sound Editing in a Series. This year Fringe was nominated for two more Golden Reel Awards, also in the arena of editing. When we learn more, you will, too!

The new season of Fringe will be a lot grosser than previous seasons thanks to the casting Arye Gross in one of the episodes reports TV Guide. Gross will be guest starring as a middle-aged scientist named Malcolm Truss. It’s too really early in production to guess what kind of character Malcolm will be. He’ll likely be there as either help or a hindrance. Anytime a scientist is cast for one episode it’s usually a safe bet they’re the cause of whatever Olivia (Anna Torv) and co. happen to be investigating that particular week. It would help if we knew what kind of scientist Malcolm was.

Frantic FRINGE Season 4 Teaser with Anna Torv

Ever since the Season 3 finale, everyone’s been wondering about what’s happening with Peter (Joshua Jackson) and every bit of news that comes in automatically has the question “will this explain where Peter is?” attached to it. Gross’ appearance will be in the fifth episode. I personally hope we’ll have Peter back or at least know what’s happened to him by episode 5. I think it would be a poor choice to keep the viewers in the dark for that long. We should find out what will become of Peter by the third episode at the latest in my opinion. That’s just fair. Anticipation is the best part of a big reveal, but there’s a limit to everyone’s patience.

Gross has a number of guest appearances on popular TV shows like Castle, CSI, Grey’s Anatomy, Burn Notice and Leverage.

When does being erased mean not being completely erased? When it concerns Olivia (Anna Torv) in the new Season 4 trailer of Fringe giving subtle hints that Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) might be gone, but not completely forgotten.

When Olivia says, “I know what it’s like to have a hole in my life. It’s been there as long as I can remember,” could she be talking about a gap that was previously filled by Peter? The powers behind the FOX sci-fi drama are too shrewd to give away any hints this soon, but it could be a clue that Olivia is the key to bringing Peter back.

Michelle Krusiec in FRINGE Season 4

Don’t try to adjust your screen because the teaser clip really does have a whole lot of shaking going on, with flashbacks from previous seasons showing key scenes that revolve around Peter. Unfortunately, we don’t get any new scenes with him so there’s no telling when or how Peter might actually be un-erased.

In case you missed the end of Season 3 of Fringe, you might be a little confused so here’s a quick summary to get you up to speed: Peter had a vision of both Earth’s being destroyed so he used the doomsday device to bring the two alternate versions of the Fringe teams together so they could team up and save both worlds. Unfortunately, Peter seemed to accidentally wipe himself from existence in the process, with nobody remembering that he existed.

Aside from the flashbacks, the Season 4 preview shows Olivia talking to someone about that hole in her life, but we never see who it is. We do get to see enough to know it’s a guy and that guy isn’t Walter so who is she talking to? Any ideas?

Fringe Returns Seth Gabel in Season 4

Fringe returns to Fox on Friday, September 23rd.

The first and very brief teaser for Fringe Season 4 was released by FOX offering us no new footage but still able to keep asking fans questions, even in brevity. Fringe faithful will recognize the footage from a season 1 episode, “The Arrival”, and ends with the symbol you see above. Where is Peter Bishop?

We’ve been keeping you up to date on the word on some of the new faces fans can expect to see on Fringe next season, as well as the return of some familiar faces. Among the latter, We will see the return of Seth Gabel, and as a regular. Earlier this week we learned that Michelle Krusiec would be visiting Fringe in an as of yet unidentified role. Fringe returns for its fourth season on Friday, Sept. 23 at 9 p.m. on Fox. Fringe will also have a presence at next week’s Comic Con in San Diego.

Michelle Krusiec (General Hospital, The Secret Life of the American Teenager) will be joining FOX’s sci-fi hit, Fringe, and mysterious events are already becoming a part of her life.

Last night, Krusiec teased on Twitter, “I got a very cool job offer last night at 11.45pm for a cool new recurring on a TV series. I’ll post more info as… http://fb.me/15Z9Lekz1”

She followed up with a tweet this morning, “Starting a new recurring on Fox’s FRINGE. I leave for Vancouver this week to start filming.”

And then the mysterious disappearances began. The Facebook link mentioned in the first tweet is now a dead link and the message that actually mentions Fringe has also been lost to the great cyber-void. So…. who will be this recurring character and why the lock-down on info? We know there was a casting call for a roguish FBI agent named Danzig and Seth Gabel fans are thrilled that Lincoln Lee has been promoted to series regular, so what’s up with the Krusiec cover-up? One thing’s for sure; when Boomtron knows, you’ll know.

Fringe starts filming Season 4 on Thursday, July 14th, with the premiere scheduled for Friday, September 23rd on FOX.

After a season that groped for, neared, but never quite reached last year’s stunning “Peter” ep, Fringe, my favorite bastard child of The X-Files, let loose with a tight, dramatic high point — “The Day We Died” – which sends poor Peter into the future.

Time travel stories are rife with pitfalls. Logistically silly, they’re nearly impossible to maneuver with grace. Fringe‘s challenge was more so. After all, Peter Bishop’s temporal two-step doubles-down on the dual universe played with from the beginning, giving us (count ‘em!) four versions of each character (i.e., Walter, Walternate, alternate future Walter, alternate future Walternate, ad absurdum.)

Even so, I was hooked. The pacing was electric, the variations fun, the acting, in spots, terrific. It reminded me why I watch the darn show, especially after Anna Torv’s painful vocal impersonation of Leonard Nimoy earlier this year.

Only one moment raised my eyebrow in a Spock-like fashion. When future-Walter explains that they can’t not build the time machine that caused all their earth-shaking problems, the reason he gives is simply, “that’s not how it works.”

I imagined the writers thinking themselves out of that box.

“Got it! Why don’t we have him not build the time machine?”
“Nah – that’s not how it works.”
“Right. Oh, well… How about a fifth Walter shows up…”

The sideways explanation we’re given – that only consciousness can thusly travel, was classy enough, but suspiciously convenient and a tad contradictory. After all, the machine had already travelled back in time. Still, as Basil points out in one Austin Powers sequel or another, you can’t think too much about this stuff, so just sit back and enjoy, which I did, whole-heartedly.

At the same time I couldn’t help but be pleasantly reminded of other time travel tales, some similar, some just, you know, from the fringes of reason. So here for your reading pleasure, I’ve assembled a list that doesn’t include The Terminator, Back to the Future, The Time Machine, or even Time After Time.

1. X-Men: Days of Future Past
Stan Lee is a meme-birthing genius, but in the 1960s, The X-Men floundered, cancelled after 66 issues. It was only when it was revived in 1975, first by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum, later Chris Claremont and John Byrne, that things took off. This highlight of the Claremont/Byrne tenure bears more than a passing resemblance to the Fringe finale. With a nod to The Terminator and a title from The Moody Blues, the reader is plunged into a dystopian future where our favorite mutants are mostly dead or twisted beyond recognition, hunted down by all-powerful Sentinels. An older, war-weary Kitty Pryde transfers her mind to her younger self in an effort to stop the carnage. Sound familiar?

2. Dark Shadows
My weakness for this show is as eternal as the love of Mulder and Scully. Aside from vampires, werewolves, and witches, Barnabas and crew travelled to other times and parallel worlds so often, you’d think they had free tickets. No time machine needed here. It’s magic! For their maiden voyage, long before Fringe or The X-Men, 175-year-old Barnabas used, of all things, the I-Ching to mentally inhabit his younger body (younger here meaning only about a century old).  Unfortunately, he arrived chained in a coffin.  Fortunately, the I-Ching isn’t bound by that whole “that’s not how it works” thingy, so his pal Julia Hoffman was able to join him in her own body and free him.

3. The Shadow out of Time
There’s a lovely scene in “The Day We Died” in which Future Walter realizes he built the dread machine. It neatly echoes an earlier moment from “Ability” where Walter remembers he wrote, not the book of love, but “Destruction by Advancement of Technology.” Both smartly echo this drop-dead great short story by horror master H.P. Lovecraft . In it, Nathaniel Wingate Peaslee is plagued by dreams in which he’s been possessed by an ancient alien race. To keep from going mad, he desperately hunts for proof of their existence, and finds it buried deep in stygian ruins. In the chilling conclusion, among the alien architecture, he finds an equally ancient book, written in his own handwriting. After that, well, he probably goes nuts, but that’s Lovecraft for you.

4. The Man Who Folded Himself
While most writers shy from or gloss over the paradoxes inherent in time travel, David Gerrold passionately embraces them in this Nebula-winning 1973 novel. Daniel Eakins inherits a time travel belt from his uncle (what, no suspenders?). Traveling back an hour, he meets his earlier self.  Soon the Daniel Eakins are flying fast and furious. He makes love to himself, kills himself, finds a female version of himself, sires himself, turns out to be his uncle in the first place, and ultimately collapses into a satisfying mind-bending solipsism. If you want to experience Homer Simpson’s frustration in the next entry, first hand, read this!

5. Time and Punishment
This seminal Simpsons sequence neatly sums up the biggest problem with time travel: it’s freaking annoying to think about. After killing a mosquito at the dawn of time, (echoing classic science fiction story, A Sound of Thunder) Homer changes the present. He keeps going back to try to fix things, with various results, until, finally, fed up, he heads back again and tears up every plant, squishes every bug and kills every animal he can find. And he still comes back next week!

6. Zardoz
Sure, some consider this 1974 flick a clunker; the fact it was the first R-rated film I ever saw aside, I’ve always loved it. John Boorman’s wildly creative, totally bonkers celluloid vision plays like a delightfully drug-induced sixties science fiction novel. Way, way in the future, Sean Connery worships a giant flying head. One day, it rubs him the wrong way, so he follows it back to a bunch of smart-ass yuppies who are both immortal and incredibly dull. Some are so bored, they go catatonic. One taste of Sean’s sweat, though (literally), and their apathy disappears! Sean goes on to briefly acquire god-like status from a mega-computer, and uses his newfound abilities to run an attacking mob backwards in time, all to the dulcet tunes of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. What more could you want? Come on! Sean Connery worshipping a giant floating head!

7. The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones
A gritty, unapologetic look at the danger of meddling with things best left to a loving, but indiscriminately violent, God. Two families from different cultures clash and, in their self-centered ignorance, destroy six lives and two worlds. In it’s way, it’s a cartoon The Hills Have Eyes. No, not really.

But seriously, while it’s not a highlight for either show, and a tad slow-paced, the mash-up’s a lot of fun. Elroy builds a time machine, the Jetsons plan to use it to take a vacation, but doggie-Astro paws the wrong button and sends them back to Bedrock. Hijinks ensue. Frankly, I think the Great Gazoo could’ve fixed things with a snap of his fingers. But, since “that’s not how it works,” the only real question I was left with was, “Where is Scooby-doo in all of this?”

8. Six Feet Under – “Everyone’s Waiting”
Remember when Michael C. Hall wasn’t a lovable serial killer? Sure, perhaps it’s a stretch to include this drama on the list, especially since there’ no machine or magic that causes the time travelling, just a narrative leap. But hell, calling anything in a list of time travel stories a stretch is its own paradox. While most time travel stories involve efforts to to avoid destruction, and set things “aright” (whatever that means), this one embraces it as a natural part of life. The final moments of HBO’s death-devoted series flash forward to various future scenes, allowing us to witness the death of each character. It remains the best finale ever.

9. Timetripper
Yeah, okay, it’s mine, I wrote it, but part of the reason I write this column is to promote my work. In this case, the adventures of Harry Keller (originally a comic book with art by the late great Tom Sutton) has what I think is a unique take on the timely theme. Believing he’s going crazy, surrounded by a lot of people who agree, Harry Keller winds up, not travelling through time, but transcending it. His weird brain plops him in A-Time, where past, present and future all co-exist. Thing is, it’s inhabited by all manner of timeless beasty, like Quirks, who seek to meddle with the time trails and do damage to we of lesser perception. Read the books! Check out the song!

10. Trinity
Back in the eighties, we had to walk fifteen miles just to wind up our computers. Computer Games didn’t have no pretty pictures, and some actually had to rely solely on, wait for it… words. With verbal dexterity and sheer creativity as their stars, Infocom produced a number of gems, chief of which, imho, was Trinity. Released in 1986, it sends the player from the moments before a modern nuclear blast, to a weird, lushly surreal in-between realm not unlike A-time. From there, you visit a series of nuke sites, finally arriving in 1940s New Mexico. Your goal: stop the detonation of the first atomic bomb, which of course ripped the hole in time that brought you here in the first place. A delightfully inventive classic that sadly, only retro-gamers get to enjoy these days.

BONUS SPOILER! The Shortest Time Travel Store Ever Written!

Written by the brilliant Alan Moore, it spoils the story because it *is* the story!  I present it in it’s entirety:

“Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time…”

That’s all I got!  If I left out any off-beat favorites, send a comment – Free signed copies of Timetripper to the first five! But they have to be off-beat, no Star Trek IV.

This month, May 24-26, your humble author will be appearing in NYC at the 2011 Book Expo America shilling my sundry work. Come visit at the Papercutz Booth, # 3139.

Are there any Lincoln Lee fans out there? I know I’m one.

Fringe fans should be rightly stoked that actor Seth Gabel will be returning for Season 4 as a series regular. Now any fan of Fringe knows there are two versions of every character (minus Peter of course), and now there’s a bridge linking the two universes. Now it looks like anyone from either universe can cross over (until otherwise proven).  So the question is, which version of Lincoln will we be seeing?

TV Line has this to say on the matter:

In a March episode, viewers finally met Linc’s “Over Here” doppelganger — a mild-mannered FBI desk jockey. But I think it’s safe to say it’s the immensely popular alt-Linc who will be the version we see more of come fall.

I’m willing to bet we’ll get to see a bit of both characters. Alt-Linc is always awesome to have around and I’m a huge supporter of his love for Fauxlivia, but I would like to see Over Here’s Linc evolve. He showed a lot of potential in his one episode and seemed like he could a big asset to the Fringe team. We saw little snippets of his alt-self underneath the boring, desk jockey surface. Wouldn’t it be great to see the two Lincoln’s interact? That would be a lot of awesome to hold on screen. Whatever his fate on the show is, I’m just stoked to be seeing Seth Gabel on TV more.

Keys, Ben Franklin, the fifth Sam Weiss, sporadic electrical storms, an apropos Doors song (“Riders On the Storm”) playing while lightning causes cars to wreck–let’s look on the checklist:  yep, those are all signs of the End Times, at least when it comes to Fringe. They are all important parts of the third season’s penultimate episode (God, I have longed to get a chance to use that word, and now, here it is), “The Last Sam Weiss.” And, of course, Fox’s local affiliate here in Fort Smith screwed up and split up crucial scenes with commercials, disrupting the show’s continuity for me and likely making me miss some vitally important scenes and quotes. But, though I raged and silently (or not) cursed to myself, I think I caught most of what turned out to be (IMHO) an excellent episode that is a perfect lead-in to what appears likely to be a great conclusion to the season next week.

How Olivia (Anna Torv) is dressed in the photo from this episode I chose to use has at least one wag who commented on it labeling her the “Dunhamnator.” She does have that certain determined, don’t screw with me look on her face in the photo, though it’s there because she’s with the fifth in a long line of Sam Weisses (ably played by Kevin Corrigan), who is showing her what’s inside of a lockbox they locate at a museum. What’s inside is supposed to be the key to a huge problem they have, namely, how to disable the Doomsday Machine’s defenses for long enough to allow Peter (Joshua Jackson) to get locked into it, and to hopefully then stop the potential destruction of two universes that Walternate has set into motion. The machine is acting as if Peter’s already inside of it, and its defense mechanism is what prevented Peter from gaining access to it in the previous episode, “6:02 AM EST.” What’s inside the lock box, a copy of a page from the book The First People that an ancestor of the fifth Sam Weiss wrote, has Olivia’s picture on it. This revelation is a major highlight of the episode: she is the key.

Highlights/Quotable Quotes

Again, I’ll mention that I’m not quoting the lines I consider to be “Quotable Quotes,” from having access to transcripts form the episode. Instead, I have tried to write them down as accurately as possible as I viewed the program, so please bear with me if the quotes are not completely as they were spoken by the actors on the show.

1.) Astrid and Walter are developing what I consider to be a very unique and touching relationship with each other, and I really like any scenes that showcase both Jasika Nicole’s and John Noble’s acting skills. They have their working relationship, of course, where Astrid assists Walter in the lab and other places; but, she and Walter also have some very humorous and some very poignant scenes together.

One that’s early in this particular episode is when we see that Walter has spent all night in the hospital room with Peter, wanting to be there with him, making sure he’ll be okay, wanting to be there in case Peter wakes up and asks for him. Astrid tries to comfort Walter, but can’t seem to get through to him at first, until she offers to walk with him to the hospital’s cafeteria: “You know, I think I saw tapioca pudding on the menu,” she says, knowing that tapioca pudding is one of Walter’s many favorite foods. He agrees to go with her, and I’m sure it serves as a break from his vigil that he sorely needs.

Bonus Photo

2.) Oh, yeah–that’s what I’m talkin’ about! Bring on the Special Effects! In the above Bonus Photo, we see a scene from a cool part of the episode where a family is riding in a car, their teen son Nate is wearing headphones and cranking out the Doors tune “Riders on the Storm.” Jim Morrison songs–perfect to choreograph the End Times of our lives to. A van spectacularly rolls, sparks fly, the Dad gets out and walks over a ridge, and views lightning flashing everywhere. People are getting struck and severely burned, and we see later some of these victims in the hospital where Peter is recovering.

3.) Sam Weiss explaining to Olivia that the machine that’s bringing about the End of the World is not really supposed to be a Doomsday Machine, but that it’s somehow been “hot wired”: “It’s not a Doomsday device, but it’s acting like one.” He seems to be puzzled as to why, because that’s not the way the machine is supposed to behave.

4.) Crowbar Or Key?

Sam Weiss tells Olivia that something is needed, like a crowbar, to cause the Doomsday Machine’s defense mechanisms to stop long enough to allow Peter access to the machine. I suppose that besides being considered to be a key, Olivia is also the crowbar that Weiss is referring to, though he doesn’t yet know this. He does tell Olivia, to reassure her: “If Peter gets in, he should be safe.” Now, if only he can get in….

5.) Another excellent Astrid/Walter scene is when they are talking to each other, and Walter is sounding defeated, as if he’s tried everything and has given up. He confides in her: “I went as far as to ask God for help. He has done nothing.” She replies “God helps him who helps himself,” and this seems to be the advice that Walter so desperately needs. He recognizes it as being a famous quote:

“That was Ben Franklin’s phrase: ‘God helps him who helps himself.’ I’ve got to get my kite!”

6.) Raging Against the Storm

…which is a segue into another cool scene: Walter making like Ben and flying a kite in the middle of the sturm und drang (storm and stress), with lightning crashing down everywhere. I love his quote, shouting like King Lear to the Heavens (and possibly God): “That’s it! Come and get me! Strike me down!” He tells Astrid, who’s there assisting him, that he’s “fully insulated,” but he is still felled (temporarily) when he’s struck twice in a row by lightning.

She cries out: “Walter! Oh, my God! Walter! Walter!” and he groggily responds: “What happened?” to which she says: “Walter, you got struck by lightning! Twice!” This gives him the missing piece of the puzzle he’s needed: “That’s it, Ostrich! The missing variable! Repetition!”

7.) Peter’s regaining consciousness and leaving the hospital on his own and what follows as a result are also highlights of “The Last Sam Weiss,” because he seems to be disoriented, and split within his mind between the two universes, whether as a result of his accident and injury to his head, or of being a part of both universes, or both reasons. He requests that a taxi driver takes him to “42nd and Lexington,” though the driver informs him that’s in New York City and they’re in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The immense cost of the journey doesn’t dissuade Peter, and he pays the taxi driver. He asks a passerby on the street: “Do you know if there’s a pawnshop around?” as if he wants to send Walternate a message, and tells another passerby that his father is “the Secretary of Defense.”

8.) Walter to Olivia: “Apparently, you have the ability to turn off the force-field long enough to let Peter into the machine,” and then when he tells her: “You have the power to bend things with your mind.” She is the key, the other component prophesied about in The First People. Walter working with her to attempt to use her mind to type a message using the typewriter Bolivia used that had been in the pawnshop to send messages to the Other Side was another highlight for me. Walter tells her: “It’s like meditating. You have to focus on something specific, like a word or a phrase.”

9.) This leads into a poignant Walter/Olivia Moment:

Walter: “These abilities are inside of you, Olivia. You simply need to harness them.”

Olivia: “I understand now that’s what makes my mind special.”

Walter: “I wish you could see yourself as I see you. You have no idea how extraordinary you are.”

Olivia: “I know you want to believe in me. And I believe in you. But believing won’t make it come true.”

10.) The Twain Shall Meet

The idea Walter has of bringing the Doomsday Machine on our side to the approximate area on the Other Side where Walternate seems to have a duplicate machine is yet another highlight in an episode replete with cool Fringe moments. It has to be transported 100 miles, to about where Liberty Island would be in the alt-universe. Even greater devastation might be the result, but Walter feels that the risk is worth it, if Olivia can use her mind to successfully turn off the force field long enough for Peter to gain admittance to the machine. In a very dramatic moment, reminiscent to me of when Tony Stark ( Robert Downey, Jr.) gets into his Iron Man garb, the machine lets Peter in, and fastens him into it.

11.) The glyphs spell out: MULTI, as in Multi-verses.

Okay, that about wraps up the Highlights of “The Last Sam Weiss.” The scenes at the end, though, were we see a somewhat different-looking Peter in or having a vision of a potential future. A tremendous battle is going on, Peter sees a memorial to the events of Sept. 11, when the Twin Towers went down to terrorism, and a soldier tells him: “Sir! You’ve been hit!” and then yells, “I need a medic! Now!”

Is it a scene that will play out in the last episode of the season? Is it one of multiple future scenarios of an apocalyptic war between the two Earths? I can’t wait to see the season finale! If you’d like to comment on this episode, want to mention a highlight or quote you especially liked, or make some other comment about Fringe, please leave your replies below.

“Just a couple of drops of vanilla extract is my secret ingredient for sugar cookies that are to die for.” No, the bottle Walternate has in his hands is not vanilla extract, but it is enough of Peter’s DNA to activate the Doomsday Machine, a less desirable outcome than delicious sugary dip-in-your-milk good cookies. But triggering the potential end of the world makes for more captivating television, despite my strange addiction for sugar cookies, milk, and the Food Network.

Fringe is concluding this season in style, bringing the end of the world as we know it directly to you via the TV set. “The revolution will be televised,” as one wag put it–though in this case, it’s not a revolution that’s occurring, but Walternate’s mad schemes coming to fruition. If billions of people here must die to ensure victory for his universe, then so be it.

My mad precog skills seem to have foreshadowed the possibility that Walternate would not necessarily have to rely on either Peter nor Fauxlivia’s baby son, Henry, in my review of the episode “Bloodlines” when I asked the question: “Or is getting a sample of the baby’s blood important to him, because by obtaining it, then somehow Bolivia and the baby would no longer be as important to him?” Also, in the Comments area, I mentioned that: “…this is potentially why I am hinting at that he might have wanted the blood on the card, that the blood itself might possess enough properties that it could be synthesized or used in some other way to power the Doomsday Machine.” To be fair, this was one of a few potential outcomes I mentioned–one of them likely had to be true. Still….

Highlights/Quotable Quotes

1.) I’ll start with the glyphs for this episode. They spell out the word: AGENT. Why? Is it because Peter’s DNA proves to be enough of an activating force, or agent, to activate the Doomsday Machine? Or does it possibly refer to a specific Fringe agent, here or on the Other Side? I think it’s probably the former of the two choices, but what are your opinions?

2.) Discovering that it was indeed Sam Weiss who authored the book The First People was a highlight of a sort for me, though it was widely rumored that he was the probable author of it.

3.) Walternate near the start of the show refers to himself as like Shiva, “..the Destroyer of Worlds.” To Dr. Brandon, he says (after triggering the Doomsday Machine remotely): “We destroyed their world to save ours. May God have mercy on us.” Both he and Walter, both played very well by the actor John Noble, mention God in this episode (another Highlight for me).

4.) Locusts, Sheep, and Vortexes, Oh, My!

Can you tell I’ve watched The Wizard of Oz way too many times for my own good? These are three signs of the End Times not directly mentioned in Revelations, but what did the writers of the Bible know? The scenes where a flock of sheep act strangely, locusts slam into the window shield of a truck coming to investigate, and the scoured patch of earth where the sheep used to be before a vortex sucked them up into it (along with the two dudes who had been discussing the bizarre sheep/locust phenomena) were more highlights of the episode for me.

5.) Seeing Olivia waking up in Peter’s bedroom and wandering into the hallway to confront a very naked Walter there was a humorous moment of this episode. The fact that he was cooking mushroom fritatas in the nude was pretty funny, as was Peter’s comment to Olivia that (as always, I strive to write these quotes down correctly, but I haven’t checked the transcript, as it’s not out yet): “It’s Tuesday. He always walks around the house naked on Tuesdays.”

6.) Nina Sharp (Blair Brown) to Philip Broyles (Lance Reddick): “The machine came on by itself at 6:02 in the morning.”

7.) The activation of the Doomsday Machine causes very nasty things to pretty much immediately happen. Walter fears that the destruction of the universe can’t be stopped: “I think it is the end of the world. This is just the beginning.”

8.) Bolivia (Anna Torv), or Fauxlivia, and Lincoln Lee (Seth Grabel) have some great scenes together. I really liked their interactions with each other, and Lee’s finding out that what is happening Over There due to the activation of the Doomsday Machine constitutes a Class 10 threat level. But, after he gets word from Walternate, Lee tells Bolivia: “False alarm. Let’s pack it up.”

9.) Bolivia/Fauxlivia’s confrontation with Walternate was a definite highlight of “6:02 AM EST” for me, with his response to her being: “I chose to give up my son so you could keep yours. I hope there’s nothing further.”

10.) Peter’s willing potential sacrifice of himself to try to deactivate the Doomsday Machine, and Walter’s acceptance of this, was another Highlight for me, especially Walter’s reference back to the Observer’s comments to him about sacrifice, and Peter’s fall from a fairly substantial height to the floor, where he gets a massive concussion. The machine seems to be defending itself from being shut off.

11.) In my review of “Bloodlines,” I suggested that perhaps in a future episode, Lincoln Lee’s and Charlie Francis’s allegiances might shift. This turned out to not be entirely accurate, but after Lee and Bolivia/Fauxlivia come to the realization that Walternate is willing to kill billions of people to save his own universe, Bolivia decides to try to get back to our Earth to warn Peter. In some very tense and suspenseful scenes, she holds a gun to Dr. Brandon, and orders him to get the medicine she needs to inject herself with to return here. He tells her: “One will get you there and back. If you get to the Other Side, stay there, because if he finds out you’re a traitor–” and her reply is: “I’ll take my chances.”

12.) Walter’s praying to God in the hospital’s chapel was a very dramatic scene that is a highlight for me, and his soliloquy there, in which he says (among other things): “God, I know my crimes are unforgivable. Punish me. Do what you want to with me, but I beg you–spare the world.”

There you have it, my review of Fringe: “6:02 AM EST.” Really, to make a Baker’s Dozen of the Highlights, I’ll add a number 13: the scenes at the end of the episode where Bolivia is in a cell or room, like where Walternate held Olivia, and we learn that her efforts to return here and warn Peter were in vain. I can’t wait for the final two episodes of the season! Next up: “The Last Sam Weiss.” Kevin Corrigan is great in this role; it should prove to be another classic Fringe episode!

How did you like “6:02 AM EST”? Did you love it, hate it, or were your opinions somewhere in between? Please leave your comments in the form below–I’m looking forward to reading them!

“There is nothing to fear, but fear itself!” What are your greatest fears? One of mine is that I might somehow miss an episode of my favorite television show, Fringe, especially as season three is winding down. It’s doing so in a spectacular fashion, IMHO, with episodes like “Lysergic Acid Diethylamide.” It’s a trippy enough program, but this episode takes the meaning to a whole ‘nother level, with three of the cast members traveling not to the alt-universe, as they have in the past, but to the universe within Olivia’s (Anna Torv’s) mind, that she’s currently sharing with William Bell (Leonard Nimoy).

They have only a day to somehow get Bell out of Olivia’s body, or she will never be able to return to it. The only way they can succeed is to travel into her mind, and rescue her–but, that’s easier said than done. Hallucinogenics and the drug Cortexiphon have been used in other episodes to help Olivia travel between universes; in “Lysergic Acid Diethylamide,” Peter (Joshua Jackson) and Walter (John Noble) must use LSD to enter into Olivia’s mind and bring her back. It was an impressive episode, and I especially loved the animation of William, Walter, Peter, and Olivia. It was amazing!

Highlights/Quotable Quotes

Okay, you know the drill! I am writing this review immediately after the show, and while I have tried to be as accurate with my quotes and observations as possible, I may not have written down everything completely verbatim. I think I’ve captured the essence if not the exact words of most of the quotes that follow. If I don’t quote something completely accurately, hey, that’s one of the things the Comment form below is for, so let me know!

1.) The Glyphs for “Lysergic Acid Diethylamide” spell out–what else?–FEARS, a very apropos word for this particular episode, as Olivia is hiding within her own mind, fearful, not knowing what is going on or why Belly has moved in without permission.

2.) I loved the exchange between Walter and Astrid Farnsworth (Jasika Nicole) near the beginning of the episode after they finish putting electrodes on Olivia’s head:

“Astro, are we ready?”
“Just about, Wally!”

Finally, Astrid is joking back when Walter inadvertently(?) slaughters her name! It’s about time!

3.) Olivia going into convulsions, because she can’t harbor two consciousnesses within her for much longer, was another dramatic highlight of the episode. I really liked it, though, when she’s about to be fibrillated for the second time, after William warns the paramedics that if they do it, they might cause Belly to transfer himself into Olivia’s heart. She regains consciousness (really, Bell does), grabs the paramedic’s arm, stopping him, saying:

Doctor, I have been jolted once already today. If you do it again, you will kill me, and the young woman I’m living inside of.”

4.) Walter’s (and Bell’s) idea of placing Bell’s consciousness inside of a computer seems to be the perfect solution–but, is it?

5.) Belly: “How about this? We try to activate her Chi. Stimulate her 7th chakra.”

6.) The Electric (Sugar Cube) Acid Test

William and Peter take and eat sugar cubes with 2,000 mg.s of acid, and get hooked up with wires and electrodes to Olivia’s mind, as the photo I chose above shows. The book I reference is, of course, Tom Wolfe’s excellent The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, a book I highly recommend.

7.) Lieutenant Broyles (Lance Reddick) doesn’t have a whole lot of lines in this episode, but he does have some pretty cool ones, as he inadvertently absorbs the LSD into his own system, and trips, with Astrid as his guide. Before he does, though, there’s a scene I liked where Peter feels of his bald head, and says: “You’re bald! I think you’re an Observer!”

8.) Walter materializing on top of a bus was a nice touch, and saying to Peter: “I think you’d better help me down!” Peter has to save him, breaking Walter’s fall as the bus pulls off, and Walter jumps/falls off.

9.) The crowd of people chasing after Walter and Peter as they search for Bell and Olivia, a la The Matrix, was also a great scene, and Walter’s signaling in Morse code to Olivia with the foil wrapper of a container of chocolate pudding he finds in a wastepaper basket on the street.

10.) Nina Gets Shafted

When Peter and Walter go into a building–I think maybe Massive Dynamics, but I’m not completely sure–to escape their pursuers and to locate Bell and Olivia, they see Nina Sharp (Blair Brown), who punches the button to call the elevator. It opens up to an empty shaft, and she tries to shove William into it, but she ends up falling down it instead, assisted by Peter, if I saw it correctly. She falls, anyway, though I’m sure it’s not the last we’ll see of her.

11.) When Walter and Peter go into an office room, and see Belly as a cartoon, and then discover that they are also cartoons, has to be included as one of the episode’s many highlights.

Walter: “Belly? Why are you a cartoon?”
Belly: “I’d ask myself the same question.”

12.) Broyles: “It was Death. I saw it. I saw all of it.”

13.) Steampunk
I won’t include many more highlights–this entire episode is a highlight of the season for me–but, when the cartoon Walter, William Bell, and Peter escape via a zeppelin from the building’s rooftop, with zombies giving chase, and Peter fighting them off, also has to be included in my list of highlights.

14.) And, Walter’s getting sucked out of a hole in the zeppelin, caused when a man with a shirt on that has an “X” on it shoots off a flare gun inside it, blasting a hole in its side. Ultra-cool!

Okay, I’ll stop enthusing, but if you couldn’t tell, “Lysergic Acid Diethylamide” is one of my favorite episodes of this season, if not my favorite so far! I can’t wait to see what comes next for the Fringe Team, and the preview at the end of this episode of the next one of the Doomsday Machine getting activated by Walternate made my Anticipation Meter go WAY up! What did you think of this episode? Did you love it, hate it, like it, dislike it? Please leave your thoughts on it and any other Fringe-related comments below! I’m looking forward to reading them!

Fringe fanatics were probably breathing a sigh of relief when they learned the brain-twisting drama was renewed for a fourth season, especially since the Season 3 finale is shaping up to be something interesting… even by Fringe standards.

TVLine brings word that Brad Dourif will be showing up in the May 6th season finale, The Day We Died. You might have seen him in Deadwood or possibly as Wormtongue in The Lord of the Rings, but his voice might be more recognizable than his face since he provided plenty of thrills and chills (and some occasional groans) as the voice of Chucky.

In typical Fringe fashion, there’s a bit of weirdness associated with Dourif hopping on-board the show. He’ll be portraying a character named Moreau, who’s described in the original casting background as a “well-known Japanese actor … who speaks English.” Now, I’m fairly certain Dourif has the English-speaking part taken care of but he sort of misses the other part. Either they changed things up when they got their hands on Dourif or Moreau is going to be a very interesting character, and he’s not the only one showing up on May 6th; the finale will also introduce us to a possibly recurring rookie.

You still have to deal with re-runs for now, but new episodes of Fringe will arrive on April 15th.

Did you ever have that late-night craving for Chinese food? Bolivia (Anna Torv) isn’t pounding on the windows of her local eatery to satisfy her craving for sweet and sour pork, though, but to try to attract the attention of someone to help her with a different kind of special delivery–that’s right, Fringe fans! Tonight’s episode, “Bloodline,” is when Bolivia gives birth to a bouncing baby son!

But there are complications….Bolivia is a carrier for a disease that I think I heard was called VPE, though it might have been VPB. It’s the same one that took the life of her sister and her sister’s baby in childbirth, and when she was screened for the same disease earlier in the episode, we learned that there was an 80 percent chance that Bolivia would also be a carrier. I was fully expecting Bolivia would be killed off, also dying in childbirth. But, then there was the kidnapping, the forcible restraints, Bolivia’s going medieval on the asses of several doctors and nurses, her escape, etc, etc….

Where to start with this week’s highlights and quotable quotes, brought to you by the “Other Side”? How about with a little portion of our weekly review I like to call (Duh!):

Highlights/Quotable Quotes

1.) I was struck by how the first 15 minutes or so of this episode told the plot more visually than vocally. There were some lines spoken, but much of the beginning of the episode we saw what was happening, instead of hearing it happen.

Still, right from the beginning, we are shown Bolivia being screened for the disease that tragically killed her sister and her sister’s baby. She’s at the doctor’s office with her mom, Marilyn (Amy Madigan). We get to see Bolivia at her most vulnerable moment, and it makes us realize that there is another side to the cold-hearted, calculating bitch we so often associate her with being. There’s two sides to every coin, I guess; though, when we see her later, she still seems capable of dishing up an extra-large plate of whup-ass.

2.) The next highlight for me is when Boliva goes into her apartment building, we get a glimpse of an Observer, and after entering her apartment, we see Bolivia getting kidnapped. It looked to me as if she was possibly tasered, but I’m not 100 percent certain. At any rate, she collapses, and that’s when the plot thickens.

3.) We Never Experiment On Children. But What About…

“We are not experimenting on children. I have made myself clear.” These are strong words, reiterated by Walternate to Dr. Brandon, who appears intent on still trying to push that idea to the Secretary of Defense. But, no one said anything about mothers and babies….

4.) Ding Dong Ditch

Fortunately for the alternate universe’s Fringe Team, Bolivia has had a GPS tracking device implanted in her body, so they can get on the ball fairly quickly and home in on their kidnapped agent. Unfortunately for them, the tracking device gets removed from her body and ditched.

5.) There’s The Known, The Unknown, What We Think We Know, and The Fringes of the Known

Another highlight is when doctors/nurses strap Bolivia to a table and, though we are not told who is behind the strange goings-on, a doctor with a surgical mask talks about Phase I beginning, and says: “She’s a fighter.” It’s unclear what is really happening, or what the doctor’s motive might be.

Is he there to torture and kill Bolivia, or to possibly cause the baby to mutate, or to make sure Bolivia lives and carries the baby to term, only to then steal the baby and experiment on it, or what? We just don’t know at this moment. That’s what makes the whole scenario even creepier, the Not Knowing.

6.) The interplay between Agent Lincoln Lee and Charlie was another aspect of this episode I enjoyed. They engage in friendly banter, Lee kidding Charlie early on about dating a “Bug Lady.” Also, they gradually discover certain things they didn’t know about previously, like that Bolivia is pregnant with Peter’s baby, and that Olivia had been brainwashed into believing that she was Bolivia, while Bolivia acted as a double agent in our universe. They still remain loyal and faithful to Walternate (John Noble) and their agency, but they seem to be beginning to question what’s been going on more than usual. Will one or both of them eventually switch alliances?

7.) Pacino Ain’t The Only Cool Taxi Driver

Henry (Andre Royo) is back, the taxi driver from past episodes who helped Olivia escape and get back to our Earth. He is a fantastic actor who seems to do great in whatever role he plays, and Amy Madigan reprises her role as Bolivia’s mother and also shines. Lee and Charlie finally hear from Henry his part in Olivia’s escape. Henry has little choice but to cooperate with them, though he doesn’t seem to be all that reluctant to tell them what happened. Is he helping them, though, just to be a “good citizen,” or because he has no choice; or, does he not have a choice, but wants them to think he was as duped as he claims he was? What role will he play in future episodes of Fringe? What do you think about his motivations? Please let me know by using the Comment form below!

8.) Boliva Goes Medieval On Assorted Asses

Bolivia feigns being drugged and helpless, and makes good her escape, taking out her pent-up aggressions in a decidedly ultra-violent manner on any doctors and nurses within reach. Phase II has ended; she isn’t sure what’s been going on (and we aren’t yet, either), but she darn well doesn’t want the Phases to progress any further. But, just how far can a pregnant woman get, who has had her pregnancy accelerated, and might go into labor at any moment?

9.) Celebrating Labor Day Early

And, we’re back to the beginning of this review, and my rather silly puns and word-play regarding Chinese food and Special Deliveries. The birth of Bolivia’s baby son has to be regarded as one of this episode’s highlights, and her declaration of love to Lincoln Lee and his to her when he thought she was probably about to die was a highlight of mine from “Bloodline.”

What’s up with this? Is it possible that Lee might actually be the baby’s father, not Peter? Maybe Bolivia is a playa, and Peter’s not the only man she’s cheated on her husband with. What do you think?

10.) Blood Will Tell

Why does Dr. Brandon give a card with a sample of the baby’s blood on it to Walternate at the episode’s conclusion? Does Walternate suspect the baby might not really be Peter’s, and he wants to test it? Or is getting a sample of the baby’s blood important to him, because by obtaining it, then somehow Bolivia and the baby would no longer be as important to him? Was he behind the whole “kidnapping” in the first place, staging it and allowing Bolivia to “escape,” for his own twisted reasons? Why is the blood so important to him?

11.) The Glyphs for “Bloodline” spell out FATED.

Fringe has been picked up by Fox for a fourth season! Hurray! There are four more episodes this season, more than I’d thought there would be. When the second half of the season’s episodes started back up, I’d read somewhere that there would just be six more episodes. I’ve lost count, but there have already been four or five, I think. If anyone knows for sure, please let me know below, and also how you would rank this show on a scale of 1 to 5. As always, I already can’t wait for next week’s episode!

You’ve probably heard by now that the Season 3 finale for Fringe will pack a few surprises and a new member for the team, but does a great ending lead to a great beginning? According to TVLine, it does.

Executive producer Joel Wyman (@JWFRINGE) went on Twitter yesterday to share some exciting news with Fringe fanatics,

“Fringe was picked up!!!! Thanks Fringedom!”

The absolutely best part is the show’s been renewed for a full 22 episodes; a pretty neat trick considering last week’s episode drew in an unimpressive 3.85 million viewers. Fox must still have faith in the quirky sci-fi-style drama since Fringe is still ranked #1 among adults in the 18 to 49 age bracket.

I think the number one problem Fringe is having when it comes to increasing viewers is that the show is so in-depth. There’s a lot going on, so newbies will be lost if they’re just now tuning in. It’s still early though, so if you even think you might be interested in the adventures of Olivia, Peter, and the lovable-yet-odd Walter, then the hiatus is the perfect time to catch up on current events. You can also check out BSC’s own Professor Crazy for reviews of all the latest Fringe episodes.

Happy to hear Fringe will be back?

Emily Meade is stepping into a whole new universe… and that could be literally. TVLine brings word that Meade will be joining the Fringe team at what could be considered a bad time – the May 6 season finale, which happens to be called The Day We Died. I guess that means it should be an interesting first day on the job.

Meade has made appearances on Boardwalk Empire, Law & Order, and Law & Order: SVU. Now, she’ll be showing up in a possibly recurring role on Fringe as “a wide-eyed and eager rookie who’s ready to face all of the challenges in front of her.”

Here’s an interesting question to ponder. Since we’re dealing with a show that features two separate worlds, which world will this eager newbie belong to? Will she, like most of the other main characters, exist as two different people in both worlds or could we possibly have another character that only exists in one?

Fringe tends to surprise us with the unexpected, but Meade can probably look forward to an exciting intro into the twisted drama because showrunner Jeff Pinkner has previously stated that the season finale will “unfurl in a very unexpected way for the characters and the audience.”

Fringe fanatics can check out Professor Crazy’s review of last week’s Stowaway episode to make sure they’re up-to-date for Friday’s show.