TV - Fringe: The Main Story
"Fringe" has a lot of plots and themes going on. This list tries to find the most central through lines taking a cue from Wired Magazine's "must watch" article.
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- DirectorAlex GravesStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickAfter a plane from Hamburg returns with no survivors, FBI agent Olivia Dunham goes after the only person that might shed some light on the incident - a scientist that has been in a mental hospital for the last 17 years.The beginning is usually the best place to start.
- DirectorBrad AndersonStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickAn FBI agent experiencing huge pain is brought to a hospital where it is discovered that there is a strange parasite wrapped around his heart.A WIRED MUST-WATCH - There is nothing lost by skipping to this important episode which propels the main mystery started in the pilot and features a fantastic performance by the always great Jared Harris.
- DirectorGwyneth Horder-PaytonStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickA young musical genius is kidnapped and Walter recalls a patient at St Clair's who might have been kidnapped by the same people and forced to try and figure out the solution to an equation.A WIRED MUST-WATCH - This feels like a bottled episode as the team searches for a missing child prodigy, but it really comes to life as Walter dares to return to the mental institute that broke him in an attempt to help.
Guest staring William Sadler as the head of the institution. - DirectorMichael ZinbergStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonKirk AcevedoAfter a series of mysterious bank robberies, a suspect is found embedded into a wall, causing Walter to realize that they have not only found a way to literally walk through walls, but are looking for something he's made in the past.David Robert Jones and his crew continue their strange thefts. Continued in S1Ep11
- DirectorBrad AndersonStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickA man undergoes a painful and ultimately fatal transformation aboard a plane. Meanwhile, Nina Sharp and Broyles reveal more information about John Scott to Olivia.A WIRED MUST-WATCH - More commonly referred to as "The Giant Porcupine" episode, this one gives a sci-fi mystery to solve while Olivia pursues the answers she needs about Agent Scott's actions from the pilot episode.
- DirectorNorberto BarbaStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickThe team investigates a number of people who died faceless after their orifices are sealed while German agents investigating David Robert Jones' escape question Olivia.A WIRED MUST-WATCH - Jared Harris returns as David Robert Jones to get further into his agenda and causes a crucial mystery about Olivia to be revealed.
- DirectorFrederick E.O. ToyeStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickThe Fringe team investigate a case of spontaneous human combustion. Olivia starts experiencing visions of the alternate Universe. She uses this ability to solve the case.
- DirectorBrad AndersonStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickDavid Robert Jones comes out of hiding following an attempt on Nina Sharp's life while Walter leaves accompanied by the mysterious Observer.The First Season Finale starts to pull back the curtain as to the strange places the series will be going and finally introduces William Bell. David Robert Jones reveals the next step in his plan.
- DirectorAkiva GoldsmanStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickOlivia is in a car accident, an unusual person is looking for a member of the team, and Walter makes plans for celebrating Peter's birthday.It's a season premiere and deals with the literal impact of Olivia's meeting with William Bell. Shape shifters are also in the mix.
- DirectorCharles BeesonStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickAn earthquake from the other side is being felt on our Universe as well. Furthermore, the only survivor seems to be from the alternate Universe. Walter attempts to get Olivia to "recover" her ability to make out things from the other side.Revealed here are Walter's trials of Cortexiphan on children, including the effects on a now-grown Olivia.
- DirectorDavid StraitonStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickWalter flashes back to 1985 while explaining Peter's otherworldly origins to Olivia. Also, Peter's mother is introduced, and details of the neighboring world reaffirm that there is more than one of everything.A WIRED MUST-WATCH - This is set mostly in 1985 as Walter tells Olivia about the real history and problems between him and Peter.
- DirectorThomas YatskoStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickThe Fringe team investigate a train full of people who died in a mysterious way. Olivia and the others then meet the astrophysicist who was responsible for the "experiment" and who can reset the time.A WIRED MUST-WATCH - What could merely be another sci-fi "Groundhog Day" scenario becomes something more as Walter meets another brilliant scientist desperate to correct his own tragic mistake.
Guest star: Peter Weller - DirectorJeffrey G. HuntStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickThe body of a male teenager is found along with shapeshifter marks. Walter examines the embryo of a shapeshifter, that came from the alternate Universe. The team try to anticipate the shapeshifters' next moves.The Fringe team scrambles to figure out major moves made by the shape shifters before it's too late.
- DirectorJoe ChappelleStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickPeter stumbles across Newton and his people while running away from Walter and the FBI. He teams up with the local sheriff to try and find Newton.As Peter is pursued by shape shifters, he finds himself on his own getting involved in what could be a Fringe case in a small town in the American Northwest.
- DirectorAkiva GoldsmanStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickWalter and Olivia travel to the parallel universe, and the anticipated face-off between Walter Bishop and William Bell occurs.A WIRED MUST-WATCH - The team adds members from Walter's Cortexiphan trials and cross over to the other universe. This is really the show you came to see and one of the highest points in the series.
- DirectorAkiva GoldsmanStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickSacrifices will be made and both universes may never be the same again after Walter and Olivia visit the "other side."A WIRED MUST-WATCH - The team adds members from Walter's Cortexiphan trials and cross over to the other universe. This is really the show you came to see and one of the highest points in the series.
- DirectorJoe ChappelleStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickAfter the extraordinary turn of events that shockingly left an imprisoned Olivia "over there," she fights to find her way home. Meanwhile, Peter and Walter try to move on with their lives unknowingly alongside alternate Olivia.The third season begins as both universes deal with the fallout from the crossing over by the Fringe teams.
- 2008–20131hTV-148.3 (2.1K)TV EpisodeDirectorKenneth FinkStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickWhen the American Senator James Van Horn has a serious car accident, he immediately goes to surgery; however Newton invades the hospital and abducts him shooting the staff. There is a shootout with Broyles and Newton shoots Van Horn in the eye. The Fringe Division finds that the senator is a shapeshifter and they take his body to Walter's laboratory. He finds that it is possible to revive the shapeshifter and recover his data disc. But the alternate Olivia calls Newton and he sends the shapeshifter Ray to the hospital to retrieve the disc. When he returns home, Newton orders him to kill his family. However Ray is connected to his wife and son and refuses to follow the order. What will happen?
- DirectorDavid StraitonStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickIn the parallel universe, a man releases his twin brother from an area in quarantine, removing him from the amber. The Fringe Division investigates the case that is classified since The Secretary does not want that the population learns that the family and friends are alive enclosed in amber. Olivia interviews Matthew, who is the twin brother of Joshua, and suspects that he is lying. Meanwhile The Secretary lures Olivia and convinces her to be submitted to n experiment while she has daydreams with Peter.An amber quarantine area Over There is breached by a twin freeing his encapsulated brother and it causes all sorts of problems.
- DirectorChuck RussellStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickIn the parallel universe, a kidnapper called The Candy Man abducts the boy Max. The Fringe Division is assigned to investigate the case and soon Olivia learns that Broyles' son Christopher was also abducted two years ago and returned blind and with physical deficiencies to his family. She asks Broyles to interview Christopher to see any missing information but Broyles does not accept; however his wife agrees that Olivia meets Christopher. Olivia recalls an old case and guess whether The Candy Man would be draining the pituitary gland from the children to use the hormones to stay young. Based on the received information, Olivia and Broyles meet Reverend Marcus, who was a former physician and now is responsible for a church where they believe the abductor is a member. Meanwhile Olivia meets Henry and asks him to help her to go to the Liberty Island to use the deprivation tank to return to her universe.A WIRED MUST-WATCH - Part 1 of 2 - Olivia comes to grips with her situation "Over There" while facing a serial kidnapper.
- DirectorBrad AndersonStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickPeter grapples with the aftermath of recent events as Olivia desperately searches for an ally. Meanwhile, the Fringe Team discovers a critical device that communicates between universes.A WIRED MUST-WATCH - Part 2 of 2 - Olivia's awareness returns and compromises her position and her alternate's in our universe forcing confrontations in both worlds.
- DirectorFrederick E.O. ToyeStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickThis follow-up to last season's "Peter" flashback episode revisits a poignant period of time for both the Bishops and Olivia.It's a 1985 episode that follows up the previous 1985 episode, "Peter". It's not as good as that one, but it answers questions about life for Peter and his two families after the accidental abduction.
This provides a bit or narrative respite from the chaos of recent universe-hopping events. - DirectorBrad AndersonStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickThe Fringe team attempts to find out what process enables people to become lighter than air and float. Peter and Olivia deal with trust issues in their relationship, while Walter becomes increasingly obsessed with retrieving William Bell's consciousness from beyond the grave.Part 1 of 3 - This is largely a "bottled" episode, but it fleshes out more of Walter's relationship with William Bell. This begins the setup for what climaxes in part 3 as one of the best episodes in the series.
(You can take a drink because the "bottled" story stars character actor Alan Ruck.) - DirectorCharles BeesonStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickAs the Fringe team hopes to alleviate Olivia's possession quickly, Agent Lincoln Lee of the F.B.I. meets them for the first time over the curious case of what he calls "the compassionate soul vampire."Part 2 of 3 - We learn more about William Bell's plans for after his death, and the "bottled" portion fits more thematically with the questions of mortality as the team investigates a woman who can't die.
This introduces the Agent Lincoln Lee from "Over Here". - DirectorJoe ChappelleStarsAnna TorvJoshua JacksonLance ReddickWith the latest estimate that the team has only one day to save Olivia's consciousness, Walter leads a group on an LSD trip into Olivia's mind.A WIRED MUST-WATCH - Part 3 of 3 - This is one of the best episodes as the team goes on an LSD-fueled "Inception"-style mission to save Olivia's consciousness from Bell's misguided plan. It's a fun, but character-driven, head trip.