The third season of the American science fiction television series Fringe began airing on the Fox network on September 23, 2010, and concluded on May 6, 2011. Twenty-two episodes long, the season was produced by Bad Robot Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, and its showrunners were Jeff Pinkner and J. H. Wyman. Lead actors Anna Torv, John Noble, and Joshua Jackson reprised their roles as FBI agent Olivia Dunham and the father-son duo Walter and Peter Bishop. Previous series regulars Lance Reddick, Jasika Nicole, and Blair Brown also returned, along with recurring guest stars Kirk Acevedo, Seth Gabel, and Ryan McDonald.
Building off the finale from the previous season, Fringes third season dealt with a war between the prime and parallel universes. During the first part of the season, odd-numbered episodes mostly took place in the parallel universe and have a red title sequence, while even-numbered episodes mostly took place in the prime universe and have the original blue title sequence. In episode eight, "Entrada", the title sequence is a mixture of blue and red to signify the universal focus of the episode. In the rest of the season, however, the episodes focus on the prime universe with brief shifts to the parallel universe.
Wyman and Pinkner saw Fringe as two shows, where they could provide a detailed mythology that was equally compelling in both universes. Eager to explore "what-if" moments, historical idiosyncrasies and other differences were inserted to help disambiguate the two worlds. Much of the season was designed around a doomsday device, as they believed its mysteriousness was "a great story engine for us." The nineteenth episode, "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide", contained long sequences of animation in order to accommodate guest actor Leonard Nimoy's retirement from acting. While the writers had attempted to continue the idea of the "mythalone" for both casual and devoted fans, Fringe mythology became more visible in the last episodes of the season. Equating the final three episodes to a chapter in a novel, the writers "linked [them] in one continuous story arc."
The third season was positively received by television critics, and it earned 77 out of 100 on the aggregate review website Metacritic, indicating critical reception as "generally favorable." Reviewers reacted well to the exploration of the parallel universe, and the performances of Torv and Noble, who each played differing versions of their original characters, were lauded. Fringe ended its third season with an average of 5.83 million viewers per episode, placing 99th for the network television season. The New York Times called the series "the best major-network show that no one is watching." Despite its low ratings, Fox renewed the series for a fourth season on March 24, 2011.
Season summary Following Peter's rescue from the parallel universe, the prime universe Fringe team comes to learn of the Wave Sink Device, the machine that Walternate was attempting to use to destroy the prime universe. They are unaware that Fauxlivia has replaced Olivia, and she works to help the Fringe Division to identify the components hidden across the globe for a similar Wave Form Device in the prime universe. She also gets romantically close to Peter.
Olivia is held in Walternate's laboratories in the parallel universe, and given drugs and conditioning to make her believe she is Fauxlivia, and subsequently a willing test subject for Walternate's tests of the powers of Cortexiphan. Olivia slowly breaks this conditioning, and on one trial, is able to cross over to the prime universe to relay a warning to Peter about Fauxlivia. Her identity exposed, Fauxlivia is extracted back to the parallel universe by Walternate's shapeshifters, while Olivia gets help from the other Broyles to cross back to the prime universe. Olivia is distraught after her return, knowing about Peter's relationship with Fauxlivia. However, after some time, the two reconcile and admit they have feelings for each other.
In the prime universe, the Fringe team learn more of the Wave Sink Device from Sam Weiss, understanding it was created by a long-advanced race known as the First People, with the power to destroy or create universes, but is only powered by Peter's biology. The two devices in both universes are quantumly entangled, allowing one to alter the other universe. Walter surmises that Walternate wants to engage the device to destroy the prime universe in hopes of healing the parallel universe damaged by his crossing in 1985. In the parallel universe, Walternate discovers Fauxlivia is pregnant with Peter's child and discreetly accelerates the pregnancy, as to obtain a sample of the child's blood to activate the Device. The effects on the prime universe are numerous but the parallel universe shows no sign of healing. Walter directs teams to move the prime universe Device to Liberty Island, the same location where the parallel device is located in the parallel universe, so as to minimize the affected areas, and then instructs Peter to use the prime device to counteract the parallel version. Instead, when Peter enters the device, he witnesses a future where the parallel universe was destroyed and the prime universe is on the verge of the same collapse. Peter finds that Walter would set a plan in motion to send The Device back into the far distant past via a wormhole (creating the First People myth), and having it trigger this memory when Peter uses it. After this experience, Peter uses the device to link the two together, fusing the two rooms from the prime and parallel universes into a bridge, allowing the two sides to meet one another. However, shortly after this Peter disappears to the apparent obliviousness of both Fringe teams; the Observers, looking on note that September was correct; they do not remember him. September simply states, "How could they? He never existed. He served his purpose."
Episodes
Production
Crew Fringe is produced by Bad Robot Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. Co-creator J. J. Abrams continued to work as executive producer along with fellow co-creators Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, who returned as consulting producers. Bryan Burk and Joe Chappelle also returned as executive producers, while Akiva Goldsman worked as consulting producer. Executive producers Jeff Pinkner and J. H. Wyman continued in their role as showrunners for the third season, which involved overseeing every episode and sometimes directly contributing episode scripts. As with every season, they laid out the third season's storyline a year in advance.
Writing and filming The season finale of the second season introduced the parallel universe to viewers. Fringes producers debated over how much of this universe to depict in the third season, but ultimately decided that showing the doppelgangers would "fit more into our own character's lives and show different aspects of their personalities". As a result, Fringe began its third season by alternating between episodes, with each depicting one universe. The Fox network was initially resistant to this design, as executives were "really concerned that if the episodes didn't have ['over here'] Walter or Peter in them, it wouldn't feel like our show anymore." Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman explained that the series had to constantly evolve, "otherwise we'll get bored, the cast will get bored, the audience will get bored"; after the first several episodes of the season, Fox agreed it was a positive change.
The producers saw the season as "two shows"; Wyman noted, "It's on us to make the mythology over there just as compelling as the mythology here, so we will enjoy both of them. We have our characters going back and forth, there or here, but there's a whole set of nice characters that you'll become very interested in very quickly. It's interesting because it gives you that gearshift." Wyman later added that parallel universe plot device "really allowed us to explore the characters deeper via their doppelgängers, to illuminate characters we already know. It's been a real gas for all of us involved in making the show." Historical idiosyncrasies were inserted into the parallel universe, such as a still-living John F. Kennedy, the non-existence of the FBI, and the Back to the Future franchise starring Eric Stoltz rather than Michael J. Fox. The writers loved creating an entire new world, and asked themselves what life would have been like in its most mundane forms, such as within daily routines. Pinkner thought it allowed them to create and explore many "what-if" moments, such as if the September 11 attacks had occurred against the White House instead of the Twin Towers, or if the Statue of Liberty still possessed its shiny copper sheen. "Entrada", the eighth episode, was the first of the season to divide its time between both universes.
Many of the episodes involved the discovery and construction of a doomsday device, which Pinkner believed to be "a good thing to design a season around" because its mysteriousness was "a great story engine for us." While the writers tried to maintain the concept of the "mythalone," a storyline that was attractive to both casual and devoted Fringe fans, the series became more invested in its mythology towards the end of the third season. "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide", the season's nineteenth episode, was the first of the series to contain sequences of animation. While previous guest actor Leonard Nimoy had retired, the writers still had storylines involving his character, William Bell. They were able to record his voice, and consequently worked with Zoic Studios to develop the episode. This unorthodox storytelling device was consistent with the nineteenth episodes of other seasons, including "Brown Betty" and "Letters of Transit".
The final three episodes of the season were "linked in one continuous story arc," and meant to seem like "you're turning the last page of a chapter in a novel. And usually in a good novel, the last pages [of a chapter] compels you forward with a new understanding of what the subject matter is and you get deeper and you can't wait to turn that page." The crew wrote the finale before the season was officially renewed, but deigned to leave it unchanged once discovering that a fourth season had been approved. Pinkner explained that "we wrote the episode, perhaps foolishly, assuming that we would be on for Season 4. We never for one second entertained that it would be the end of the series. So therefore, we didn't have to change a word!" The finale was designed to establish the groundwork by "open[ing] a new chapter" for the new season, which included Peter having never existed. Its futuristic storyline was meant to "inform the present of the show with some thematic elements," establishing to viewers that "our world is going to break down."