Fringe (season 1)

The first season of the American science fiction television series ''Fringe'' commenced airing on the Fox network on September 9, 2008, and concluded on May 12, 2009. It was produced by Bad Robot in association with Warner Bros. Television, and its showrunners were Jeff Pinkner. The first season introduces a Federal Bureau of Investigation "Fringe Division" team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security. The team uses unorthodox "fringe" science and FBI investigative techniques to investigate a series of unexplained, often ghastly occurrences, which are related to mysteries surrounding a parallel universe. FBI agent Olivia Dunham is portrayed by actress Anna Torv, while actors Joshua Jackson and John Noble play father-son duo Peter and Walter Bishop. Other regular cast members include Lance Reddick, Jasika Nicole, Blair Brown, Mark Valley, and Kirk Acevedo.

The season produced 21 episodes, although only 20 of them aired as part of the first season. The unaired episode, " Unearthed", was broadcast as part of the second season as episode 11 as a special episode.

Cast

Main cast

* Anna Torv as Olivia Dunham
* Joshua Jackson as Peter Bishop
* Lance Reddick as Phillip Broyles
* Kirk Acevedo as Charlie Francis
* Blair Brown as Nina Sharp
* Jasika Nicole as Astrid Farnsworth
* Mark Valley as John Scott
* John Noble as Dr. Walter Bishop

Recurring cast

* Michael Cerveris as September/The Observer
* Ari Graynor as Rachel Dunham
* Lily Pilblad as Ella Blake
* Chance Kelly as Mitchell Loeb
* Michael Gaston as Sanford Harris
* Jared Harris as David Robert Jones
* Trini Alvarado as Samantha Loeb
* Clark Middleton as Edward Markham
* David Call as Nick Lane

Guest stars

Episodic guest stars included: Billy Burke, Derek Cecil, Jennifer Ferrin, James Frain, Jason Butler Harner, Neal Huff, Gillian Jacobs, Michael Kelly, Randall Duk Kim, Spencer List, Jefferson Mays, Susan Misner, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Keith Nobbs, Zak Orth, Peter Outerbridge, Al Sapienza, Felix Solis, Kenneth Tigar, Yul Vazquez, and Kiersten Warren. Leonard Nimoy first appears as Dr. William Bell in an uncredited, voice-only role in the season finale.

Season summary

The first season of ''Fringe'' begins with the introduction of the main characters, as Olivia is brought aboard the Fringe division following the critical injury of her partner, John Scott, in an event tied to the Fringe division. As part of her investigation, she finds she needs the knowledge and experience of Walter Bishop, currently institutionalized in a mental hospital. Olivia blackmails Walter's estranged son, Peter, to be Walter's legal guardian, allowing his release from the institution. Olivia finds that Walter's knowledge in the area of fringe science to be critical for her job, and convinces Peter to remain as Walter's guardian; Peter, initially resentful due to events in his childhood, starts to participate directly in the cases, his abilities as a jack-of-all-trades being a benefit to both Walter's scientific needs and Olivia's investigations. Walter himself struggles with life outside the institution, plagued by a secret from his past and often resorting to recreational drugs. Olivia comes to discover that Massive Dynamic, a company that Walter used to be a part of, is connected with several of the Fringe cases.

The Fringe team starts to learn of a bio-terrorist group known as ZFT (in German, Zerstörung durch Fortschritte der Technologie, translated as "Destruction by Advancement of Technology"), which seem to be after several of Walter's old experiments. In one case, a group of men led by Mitchell Loeb have recreated Walter's technology used to pass through solid matter to steal several components of a device, constructed by Walter, from banks. With the assembled device, Loeb's team is able to teleport David Robert Jones, a former Massive Dynamics employee and leader of the ZFT, out of a high security prison. Jones attempts to sway Olivia to his side as a "soldier" in an upcoming "war," making her aware that she, as a child, was part of a test run by Walter and his partner William Bell of the nootropic drug, Cortexiphan, that gave her psychokinetic powers. Olivia refuses, disbelieving his claim but realizing that evidence to support it appears true. Meanwhile, the Observer meets with Walter and takes him to Walter's old beach house, where he finds a device he once made that can close a portal to a parallel universe. Tracking Jones, Olivia finds that all of the Fringe events have formed a spiral, centering on Reiden Lake in New York, and she, Peter, and Walter are able to prevent Jones from crossing over to a parallel universe using the device that Walter found, killing Jones in the process. Later Walter is seen at a cemetery where he mourns over a grave labeled "Peter Bishop."

Olivia tries to get answers from Nina Sharp on Jones' motive, but she only directs her to a meeting with Bell. Olivia, while en route to the meeting, finds herself in the parallel universe, in the World Trade Center office of William Bell.

Episodes

Development

Co-creators J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci began the brainstorming process for ''Fringe'' in the spring of 2008. They avoided emulating Abrams' other show, '' Lost,'' because they believed its mysteries made it difficult to attract new viewers. Instead, the co-creators studied crime procedurals, such as the American series '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' and the franchise ''Law & Order,'' in an attempt to merge that genre with a more mythology-based show without creating only standalone episodes. Orci explained, "We studied procedurals specifically to try and merge the two. Very against our instincts to do that, but when nine of the top TV shows are called ''Law & Order'' and ''CSI,'' you have to study them a little bit and figure out what it is that they're doing." Abrams has also listed the science fiction television series ''The Twilight Zone'', ''Altered States'', and ''The X-Files'' as well as the 1979 film '' Alien'' as inspirations for ''Fringe''.

Jeff Pinkner