"Letters of Transit" is the nineteenth episode of the fourth season of the

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

science-fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, sp ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

, ''

Fringe Fringe may refer to: Arts and music * "The Fringe", or Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival * Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival * Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre * Purple fri ...

'', and the series' 84th episode overall. It is set in the future, where the Observers have taken control of human society. In 2036, two FBI agents fight to free their world of the Observers by finding the

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

-encased bodies of the original Fringe team. The episode's premise is subsequently built upon as the key setting of the show's fifth and final season. The episode was co-written by showrunners J.H. Wyman and

Jeff Pinkner Jeff Pinkner (born November 16, 1964) is an American television and movie writer and producer. Early life and education Born to a Jewish family,Akiva Goldsman Akiva Goldsman (born July 7, 1962) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. Goldsman's filmography as a screenwriter includes ''The Client (1994 film), The Client''; ''Batman Forever'' and its sequel ''Batman & Robin (film), Batman ...

. Executive producer

Joe Chappelle Joseph Chappelle is an American screenwriter, producer, and director of film and television. He is perhaps best known for his work on the critically acclaimed HBO series ''The Wire'', where he directed six episodes and served as co-executive p ...

served as director. While some critics wondered how the episode related to the overall series, actor

John Noble John Noble (born 20 August 1948) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Denethor in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003), and Dr. Walter Bishop in the Fox science fiction series '' Fringe'' (2008–2013). ...

has explained that "Letters of Transit" established the template for the fifth season. It featured guest appearances by actress

Georgina Haig Georgina Haig is an Australian actress, known for her roles in American television series ''Once Upon a Time (TV series), Once Upon a Time, Fringe (TV series), Fringe, Limitless (TV series), Limitless, Snowpiercer (TV series), Snowpiercer'' an ...

and '' Lost'' veteran

Henry Ian Cusick Henry Ian Cusick (born 17 April 1967) is a Peruvian-Scottish actor of television, film, and theatre and a television director best known as Desmond Hume in '' Lost'', for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. He also starred as J ...

. The episode first aired on April 20, 2012, in the United States, and was watched by an estimated 3.03 million viewers. Television critics praised the riskiness of the episode premise and the actors' performances while also expressing doubt about its place during the season. The episode was nominated for the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form).

Plot

On-screen text describes how, in 2015, the Observers, no longer content with observing history, took over human society. They killed many in an event called "The Purge", and transformed the remaining into a

totalitarian Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and completely controls the public sph ...

culture; though members of the Fringe division attempted to fight the takeover, they were easily defeated, and the remaining Fringe division were allowed to remain to police the human "Natives". The Observers are aided by the ability to read most human minds, able to sense motives before they can be acted on. In 2036, two Fringe Agents, Simon Foster (

) and Etta (

), recover the body of Walter Bishop (

), Walter having purposefully encased himself and his team in

shortly after the Observer takeover. Though they are able to release him from the amber, they find that he has suffered memory damage and lacks the mental capacity to build a strange device of his own design. Simon and Etta talk to Nina Sharp (

Blair Brown Bonnie Blair Brown (born April 23, 1946) is an American theater, film and television actress. She has had a number of high-profile roles, including in the play ''Copenhagen'' on Broadway (for which she won a Tony Award in 2000), the leading ...

), learning that Walter had William Bell remove a piece of his brain some time in the past, which she postulates could be used to heal Walter's brain now. However, the piece is still in storage in the old Massive Dynamic facility on the main island of New York City, tightly controlled by Observers who can read their thoughts, making its recovery difficult. They are able to make it to the vault in Massive Dynamic, in part due to the inability of the Observers to read Etta's mind, and successfully restore Walter's memories. They are, however, unaware that they have alerted Fringe division—still led by Agent Broyles (

Lance Reddick Lance Solomon Reddick (June 7, 1962 – March 17, 2023) was an American actor. He portrayed Cedric Daniels in ''The Wire'' (2002–2008), List of Fringe characters#Phillip Broyles, Phillip Broyles in ''Fringe (TV series), Fringe'' (2008–201 ...

)—and the Observers to their presence; a coordinated team, instructed to shoot on sight, is dispatched. A more coherent Walter explains that, according to the Observer known as September, the Observers made the Earth uninhabitable by 2609, and so traveled back in time to take over the planet themselves. As forces corner the three, Walter sets up an

antimatter In modern physics, antimatter is defined as matter composed of the antiparticles (or "partners") of the corresponding subatomic particle, particles in "ordinary" matter, and can be thought of as matter with reversed charge and parity, or go ...

device to wipe out the Massive Dynamic building and their pursuers. Walter is able to lead Simon and Etta to where Peter Bishop (

Joshua Jackson Joshua Carter Jackson (born June 11, 1978) is an American and Canadian actor. He is known for his portrayals of Pacey Witter on The WB's teen drama ''Dawson's Creek'' (1998–2003), Peter Bishop in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox science fic ...

), Astrid Farnsworth (

Jasika Nicole Jasika Nicole is an American actress and illustrator from Birmingham, Alabama. She is known for her role as Agent Astrid Farnsworth on the Fox series ''Fringe''. She has guest-starred in ''Scandal'' as Kim Muñoz. She starred as Carly Lever, the ...

), and William Bell have been encased in amber. They are able to free Astrid, but as Fringe forces approach they find the equipment to free the others has malfunctioned. Simon sacrifices himself to the amber in order to push Peter free, while Walter severs Bell's hand for an unknown purpose. They escape as Broyles and his team arrive; though he does find a piece of licorice, a telltale sign of Walter's presence. As the group travels away from the city, Walter ominously reminds Astrid of what Bell did to Olivia (

Anna Torv Anna Torv (born 7 June 1979) is an Australian actress. Her performance as Olivia Dunham in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox science fiction series ''Fringe (TV series), Fringe'' (2008–2013) earned her four consecutive Saturn Award for Best A ...

). Peter then comes to recognize Etta as his daughter, Henrietta Bishop, wearing a fired bullet as a necklace.

Production

"Letters of Transit" was co-written by consulting producer

Akiva Goldsman Akiva Goldsman (born July 7, 1962) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. Goldsman's filmography as a screenwriter includes ''The Client (1994 film), The Client''; ''Batman Forever'' and its sequel ''Batman & Robin (film), Batman ...

and executive producers/co-showrunners

Jeff Pinkner Jeff Pinkner (born November 16, 1964) is an American television and movie writer and producer. Early life and education Born to a Jewish family,J.H. Wyman. Although it was previously reported Goldsman would be directing, executive producer

ultimately directed the installment. The Observers are prominently featured in the episode, a

mythos Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

that has been visible since the

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

. Previously a mysterious background presence, according to Noble, they have now become "incredibly centrally important" to the series' storyline. "Letters of Transit" was written and shot before the series renewal for a fifth season, but it was always envisioned as a genesis of the season. During this time, Wyman confirmed that a majority of the fifth season would be set in 2036, following the events of this episode, a time period depicting the Observers as oppressors rather than as passive witnesses. Leading up to its broadcast, journalists noted that the nineteenth episode of each season of ''Fringe'' has generally been its "craziest hour", and anticipated that "Letters of Transit" would be similarly strange. The Fox network promoted the episode with a series of four teaser videos, each containing a clue to a fifth video revealing the special opening credits for this episode. The episode contained a new opening credit sequence that helped set the tone, with "fringe" terms including community, joy, imagination, and free will. Actor

and actress

guest starred in the episode as a pair of Federal agents. Cusick had worked with co-creator J. J. Abrams and executive producer Pinkner on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

series '' Lost''. Cusick stated that most of his scenes were filmed with Haig and

(Walter Bishop), and that the story leaves a possibility for the return of their characters in the future. Noble found it unusual to film an episode that did not involve the lead actors. He explained, "That was Walter with two really big, important guest stars, Henry Ian Cusick and Georgina Haig. It felt, to me, like it was a really strong episode. The two guest actors did a fantastic job, which is not easy to do, to step into an established company. It is out of the box and is somewhere else completely. I think that the fans will love it. Some fans of this type of material will like it anyway because Henry Ian Cusick was such a big star in ''Lost,'' but also, this new girl is just full of wonderful energy, too." According to Noble, "Letters of Transit" features his ninth version of Walter Bishop at that point in the series. He remarked, "It’s a lot of fun as an actor because it keeps me trying to refine and to finish small parts f Walter" In a June 2012 interview with ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'', Noble called "Letters of Transit" one of his favorites of the series, explaining that he "thought that was really a beautiful looking episode, beautifully told."

Cultural references

Given guest star Henry Ian Cusick's prominence in ''Lost'', "Letters of Transit" refers to both "The Purge" and "natives", two key elements of that show. The episode also contains references to ''

The Prisoner ''The Prisoner'' is a British television series created by Patrick McGoohan. McGoohan portrays Number Six (The Prisoner), Number Six, an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a The Village (The Prisoner), mysteri ...

'', where Walter exclaims "I am not a number! I am a free man!" The episode also references ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' when Walter states "these are not the droids you’re looking for" and "Move along". Jeff Jensen of ''Entertainment Weekly'' believed these helped set the tone of the episode: "''Fringe'' in 2036 was The Village writ global and under Imperial rule." Matt Roush of ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' noted that the episode title, "Letters of Transit", alludes to a key element of the film ''

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

''. The episode opens with scrolling text that has been compared to the start of the film ''

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Di ...

''.

Reception

Ratings

"Letters of Transit" first aired in the United States on April 20, 2012. An estimated 3.03 million viewers watched the episode. It earned a 1.0 ratings share among adults 18–49, a 10 percent increase from the series low of the previous week. ''Fringe'' finished third in its timeslot behind

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's ''

Grimm Grimm may refer to: People * Grimm (surname) * Brothers Grimm, German linguists ** Jacob Grimm (1785–1863), German philologist, jurist and mythologist ** Wilhelm Grimm (1786–1859), German author, the younger of the Brothers Grimm * Christia ...

'' and ABC's '' Primetime: What Would You Do?''.

Reviews

IGN's Ramsey Isler gave the episode a mixed review, noting that "its concept is intriguing, bold, and extremely risky. I'm just not sure if it works. It's such a drastic change of scenery and tone it's hard to say whether this is genius or madness." Isler observed that he would have "absolutely loved" the episode if he had been "given appropriate context through a suitable setup ... But the approach we got feels an awful lot like a gimmick, and this show does not need to gamble with gimmicks at this point." Isler did find positive elements of the episode however, and rated it 8 out of 10, an indication of a "great" episode. He praised Walter's return "to a much more confident, focused man who's a bit scary in his determination and resolve," as well as the events that followed. Isler concluded that "the core ideas are really good, but the way the new concepts were introduced seems haphazard, and a huge gamble that could turn off all but the most hardcore viewers." Like Isler, ''Entertainment Weekly'' columnist Ken Tucker enjoyed Walter's transition "from happy, babbling, 'I love LSD!' licorice-licking Walter to a Walter who yelled at the others when escaping", calling it "one of the night's great pleasures." Tucker's ''Entertainment Weekly'' colleague Jeff Jensen commented that he was able to "roll" with some of the less plausible plot details (such as a still existing Massive Dynamic) out of praise for guest stars Cusick and Haig, believing they "worked well in this world." Jensen also reserved attention for Noble's scenes, calling them variously "frisky and poignant", "hilarious", and "touching." Lastly, Jensen was happy to find more details about the Observers, but wondered at the lack of the parallel universe's mention.

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's Alex Zalben was more critical. He wondered how the episode fit into the rest of the season, and wrote "It’s a curious step, and could likely drive even more viewers away from a show that can’t afford to lose them." While disliking the "clunky, explainy" dialogue, Zalben still commented that, "for a die hard ''FRINGE'' fan like myself, this episode was crack. Huge emotion, crazy science, and epic set pieces. The end of the episode had me dying to watch the next one, even if it isn’t a direct continuation. That’s good television right there." Jeff Jensen of ''Entertainment Weekly'' named "Letters of Transit" the seventeenth best episode of the series, stating "What at first seemed to be one of ''Fringe''s nutty number 19s turned out to be the episode that helped earn the series a fifth and final year. Of course, some may now question the merits of ringing out the series with a season-long story set entirely in this future dystopia ruled by oppressive Observers. But the single episode that introduced this premise was a cool jolt that opened a new front of Fringe mythology and gave us a character that would have a lasting impact, Etta." The episode has been nominated for the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form).

Olivia Dunham

Of the 100 episodes in the five seasons, this is the only one where Olivia Dunham does not appear.

References

External links

"Letters of Transit"
at Fox.com * {{good article 2012 American television episodes Fringe season 4 episodes Television episodes written by Akiva Goldsman