Fringe is gearing up for its final season, and we'll learn the final fates of the Fringe team. Filming hasn't begun yet for Season Five, but at today's San Diego Comic-Con Fringe panel, we got a peek at what's ahead. Here there be spoilers.
It's official: Season Five will take place in the future we saw in the episode "Letters of Transit," where the Observers have taken over and the Fringe team, after being encased in amber for 20 years, is freed by Henrietta "Etta" Bishop, Peter and Olivia's daughter (played by Georgina Haig) and Simon Foster (Henry Ian Cusick). We saw the proof-of-concept reel that the production team made as a pitch to the network, featuring the Fringe team, Leonard Nimoy's William Bell, our new FBI agents, and plenty of Observers. Walter delights in firing some futuristic weapons; Olivia says that Etta is "Everything I ever hoped for;" Peter says, "Let's create some Fringe events of our own." At one point, Walter, looking up from his research in a much more brightly lit lab than we're used to seeing, says, "I know how to get rid of the Observers." At the end of the reel, Walter sets, and an Observer happens upon, what appears to be an antimatter bomb.
Executive producer J. H. Wyman revealed that Season Five picks up the day after "Letters in Transit." We'll learn much more about the Observers, who may not be as bad as we think. When asked if we'll see any female Observers this season, Wyman replied that we'll get the answer to that question fairly early on, and "the reason will become apparent." He also announced that an Observer book is in the works, exploring the series from September's point of view. We'll learn about his feelings and views on the characters, and we may be surprised.
The actors spent much of the panel reflecting on the last four seasons. Jasika Nicole expressed immense relief that her character hasn't been killed off, a fate she's feared from the beginning. Anna Torv became teary-eyed when describing her favorite scenes in the series, Nicole's performance in "Making Angels." Lance Reddick actually became so choked up as he discussed Astrid's conversation with her alt-universe version before returning home to her father that he almost couldn't describe it. Joshua Jackson took a different tack when describing his favorite moment, a scene in "Snakehead" where Walter pulls a long, wormy creature from a body. The effects were so convincing that Jackson hadn't realized the body was a mockup and not a real person, and nearly lost his lunch during the initial take.
And for all of you fanfic lovers, Torv and Nicole have been reading lots of Olivia/Astrid slashfic. "You guys are scandalous," Nicole said. Torv, on the other hand, said they've been meaning to shoot something based on the fanfics, but haven't had the time.
With such a strong fanbase, could Fringe continue on in another medium? Noble said that an eventual film is "very possible."
"Of course," Jackson said, holding up a Flip cam, "it'll be shot by us on this in our trailers."