• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

FRINGE Season 3 |OT| Inexplicably renewed for a 4th season!

Icicle said:
I wish that
the man that Olivia saw in LSD was the one who killed her, despite the emotional poignancy of Walternate being the one who did it
. It seems kind of ridiculous that she would see her
future attempted assassin, but not the one that actually killed her
.

Completely forgot about
the guy who is supposed to kill her.
You think it's a thread for next season or a drop?
 

big ander

Member
brucewaynegretzky said:
Completely forgot about
the guy who is supposed to kill her.
You think it's a thread for next season or a drop?
I bet it's for next season, considering how recently it was shown.
 

Cipherr

Member
Best show on television right now. Fuck the wait is going to be a bitch. Do we know when the next season starts? They left us with a shitload of questions like any season cliffhanger should lol.


Now where the fucks my Mad Men, still twisting in the "crying over 2 extra minutes of commercials" Limbo? Fuck...
 
Cipherr said:
Best show on television right now. Fuck the wait is going to be a bitch. Do we know when the next season starts?

Season 1 - September 9th, 2008
Season 2 - September 17th, 2009
Season 3 - September 23rd, 2010

..I am going to guess September again.

That is at least 120 days away :/
 

evlcookie

but ever so delicious
Finally finished watching it and i will join in with, what the fuck just happened?!

I was expecting the observers to rock up and go oh cool, he fixed it but to say he never existed in the first place as well, what what.
 

Jarmel

Banned
So uh wtf just happened? Did both universes merge, just particular hotspots, or Walter and crew brought over to Walternate's Unvierse? I'm not even touching the Peter wtf issue.
 

Solo

Member
BenjaminBirdie said:
Also, and I'm sure this is going to be an unpopular opinion, but I think Lost just had better writers.

In the first season or two, definitely. From then on? Cannot agree even one little bit. When Fury, Grillo-Marxuach, Goddard were still there and Lindelof and Cuse's writing was still great, then it was a better written show. By the end, and the last two seasons in particular, it was not. Lindelof and Cuse wrote some really awful stuff and Bryan K Vaughn, Elizabeth Sarnoff, Melinda Hsu Taylor were not up to par with the David Fury's of the show.

Lindelof and Cuse especially deserve a lot of criticism for letting their mythology get so big, scattered and unwieldy such that they could never bring it all together.

That was my last post on LOST in this thread, I promise.









To answer the question that has been asked several times: yes, Fringe 100% can and will retain the procedural/MOTW episodes. There is no reason to think otherwise. The show has introduced alternate universes, doomsday scenarios and wormholes, and the MOTWs still exist. No reason why they wouldn't next year. 22 straight episodes of full on mythology would be exhausting anyways. Fringe will continue to do what it does best - a big mythology episode followed by 3-4 MOTWs which have enough mythology nuggets sprinkled into them to keep forward momentum going, followed by a big mythology episode, and so on.

EDIT: also, I'm really curious to find out what was lost in Detroit.
 

evlcookie

but ever so delicious
There is a little Q&A session over at tvline regarding what may or may not happen in season 4 and if anyone will be coming back who we got to see in the finale.
 

Spire

Subconscious Brolonging
So that lab with the machine in it is basically the End of Time from Chrono Trigger now.

I wonder how they'll deck it out next season. Maybe it'll replace Walters lab?
 
My bet for season 4:

Just one ep long and its a 40 minute epic fist fight between Walter and Walternate

Not returning till September will just make the summer even longer :/
 
Hmm... that episode left me cold. I couldn't really invest myself in any of the future drama and Olivia's death only reinforced that feeling, because there was simply no way that it was going to stick.

The reveal of Walter/Peter/etc. sending the machine back in time and they themselves were The First People just opened a gigantic can of worms that i don't think i could ever be satisfied with. Ugh. The more i think about it, the less i like it.

I'll hold off judgment until we get the bigger picture next season. For now, though, i'm thoroughly underwhelmed.
 
The wait to September ain't so bad. It went pretty quick last year. Although this is a bigger cliffhanger for me. I have no idea where Fringe his heading, last year I atleast figured Olivia had to get back.

Very happy we have another season to look forward to.
 

Averon

Member
Jarmel said:
So uh wtf just happened? Did both universes merge, just particular hotspots, or Walter and crew brought over to Walternate's Unvierse? I'm not even touching the Peter wtf issue.

From what I understood, the large room they were in is serving as a stable doorway between the two worlds where people from either side can cross to the other universe at will. My only question is whether they have to use the machine to "open" the door every time they what to cross over.
 

WillyFive

Member
Keyser Soze said:
I am open to complete craziness now. I am ready for crazy episodes

SEASON 4:

- Peter and Olivia go back in time, with machine prices, bury them.
- They cannot get home, so bone.
- They have a baby, and they call him Sam
- He is the first Sam Weiss

Weren't the pieces there since the age of the dinosaurs?
 
Willy105 said:
Weren't the pieces there since the age of the dinosaurs?

The Central Park wormhole gave them access to that time period. So awesome.

Maybe they'll get Walter Simonson or Frank Quitely to draw an episode.

Holy shit, this show just go SOOO AWESOME.
 

mr. puppy

Banned
This is so fucking stupid. They can't figure out what to do with their universe b/c its a complete jumbled mess of nonsense....so they just ditch all of it and send them to the future and recreate the show and narrative ;aowiefj;oaiwejfo;jewaojaweiof;iwaefj its lost all over again
 
mr. puppy said:
This is so fucking stupid. They can't figure out what to do with their universe b/c its a complete jumbled mess of nonsense....so they just ditch all of it and send them to the future and recreate the show and narrative ;aowiefj;oaiwejfo;jewaojaweiof;iwaefj its lost all over again

I guess you missed the end.
 
mr. puppy said:
This is so fucking stupid. They can't figure out what to do with their universe b/c its a complete jumbled mess of nonsense....so they just ditch all of it and send them to the future and recreate the show and narrative ;aowiefj;oaiwejfo;jewaojaweiof;iwaefj its lost all over again

The First Man being Walter is 100000 times more amazing and satisfying than the ponderously dumb moment of the four toed statue and all the mythology that gave birth to.

This show is great now because it centered its mythology around its protagonists and their choices. This just strengthens that approach.
 

mm04

Member
I think Olivia's death in this episode was misdirection. Hell, as BB mentioned, a team member death was in the DVR description for the episode as well as the press release. So yeah, I think most figured out that wasn't going to stick (although how it went down made me audibly gasp). It was Peter "ceasing to exist" as a result of his actions upon his return that pulled the rug out from under everyone.
 

ivysaur12

Banned
Memles said:
Fair enough.

I will readily admit that my lack of patience for this episode's narrative failures (which I will argue exist independent of one's enjoyment) is entirely based on the fact that I've never fallen for the show as hard as many others - while episodes like "White Tulip" are incredibly strong, and the early parts of this season were buoyed by the dual Olivias and a strong centering performance from Anna Torv, I have never been engaged with the kind of paradox-puzzling and theorizing that the show has engaged in. Frankly, I think the show's more interesting when it's playing around with procedural structure than when it's indulging in this type of story, and if that counts as "disliking" the show then I think that's a perfectly fair reason to contextualize my critique in this light.

That being said, I know Ryan McGee is a much bigger fan of the show than I am, and had most of the same complaints: http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/monkeys-as-critics/posts/recap-fringe-finale-the-day-we-died. I would hope that his review wouldn't be so easily dismissed out of hand.

You and Ryan are right - to a point. There were no "stakes" within the future universe, only an unfolding of plot devices and storylines that we may or may not ever see again. That's why Olivia's death had no real emotional impact, and I agree with you both regarding that particular situation. Yet Ryan also says that we spent an hour with character "we didn't know." I fundamentally disagree here; we glimpsed into a future where our favorite characters are struggling to survive. None of them are different, just biding time towards the end. The emotional impact for me was watching characters I've lived with for the past three years having to bear the burden of a future where the outcome is inevitable. Now, you might say that it is moot because this was not a permanent future. But the repercussions of their actions were very real.

At the very least, both Walter and Walternate know for certain that they cannot destroy both universes. Already, Walternate is, most likely begrudgingly, on our side at the start of season four. I feel that we won't be able to truly contextualize the importance of this episode until the start of season four.


BenjaminBirdie said:
The First Man being Walter is 100000 times more amazing and satisfying than the ponderously dumb moment of the four toed statue and all the mythology that gave birth to.

This show is great now because it centered its mythology around its protagonists and their choices. This just strengthens that approach.

There are still a myriad of questions I have about The First People, however. But I'll wait it out for now.
 

mm04

Member
ivysaur12 said:
Yet Ryan also says that we spent an hour with character "we didn't know." I fundamentally disagree here; we glimpsed into a future where our favorite characters are struggling to survive. None of them are different, just biding time towards the end. The emotional impact for me was watching characters I've lived with for the past three years having to bear the burden of a future where the outcome is inevitable. Now, you might say that it is moot because this was not a permanent future. But the repercussions of their actions were very real.

I agree with you here. I did not ever get a feel that we didn't know these characters at all. They weren't much different at all to their current day counterparts, sans Ella. I really thought the Walter/Olivia reunion scene and Walter/Ella reminiscing about Gene were fantastic scenes and stirred emotion. I guess we can assume that 15 years in the future, Rachel is already dead?
 

Jexemad

Member
HOLY FUCK!!

So what happens to his son? Or how are they (the Walters and the others) gonna explain what happened to themselves?

September can't come any sooner.
 

diunxx

Member
I was a little disappointed with the first people reveal, I was hoping for an ancient civilization of flamboyant time travelers trying to prevent the end of days, not walter and astrid throwing shit down a wormhole.
 
Does anyone else think it's cool that the portal between worlds is on Ellis Island? I wonder if they had this in mind when originally choosing where to put the alternate Fringe division's base.


Separately, I'm skeptical of the way time travel is being used here. As far as things stand now, the machine was never invented by anyone, since Walter seems to simply be planning to send back the pieces that he dug up. And the same goes for the manuscripts written in the first people's language and script.

Also, did I miss something or did the fact that Fauxlivia took one piece of the machine from the original to the alternate universe have absolutely no significance? I thought that the first universe's machine would have been missing a piece and there would have been some consequence of that.


Finally, I'm hoping that the next season will have much more about the observers and the two major loose ends from the first season-the beacon and the apparent child observer-will have some real significance.
 

ivysaur12

Banned
diunxx said:
I was a little disappointed with the first people reveal, I was hoping for an ancient civilization of flamboyant time travelers trying to prevent the end of days, not walter and astrid throwing shit down a wormhole.

At least Astrid got to do something.
 

Dany

Banned
Jexemad said:
HOLY FUCK!!

So what happens to his son? Or how are they (the Walters and the others) gonna explain what happened to themselves?

September can't come any sooner.


If anything hte universe will course correct to make everything that occured make sense
 
Dany M said:
If anything hte universe will course correct to make everything that occured make sense

dominic%20monaghan%20lost%203.jpg
 

Dany

Banned
ivysaur12 said:
...Uhh.

What.


Its been renewed for season four but it will most likely not pick up any new viewers between now and Sept. Next season could be its last.

Also, I go to ign.tv for their reviews of fringe and every damn time the reviewer comments on the pacing of the show. It is just bewildering that two people can't sit down and talk, not everything has to be high intesity action.
 

ivysaur12

Banned
Dany M said:
Its been renewed for season four but it will most likely not pick up any new viewers between now and Sept. Next season could be its last.

Also, I go to ign.tv for their reviews of fringe and every damn time the reviewer comments on the pacing of the show. It is just bewildering that two people can't sit down and talk, not everything has to be high intesity action.

No, I'm more than aware with Fringe's current situation in the fabric of the current television landscape. I'm aghast that so few viewers would turn into the finale.
 

mm04

Member
ivysaur12 said:
No, I'm more than aware with Fringe's current situation in the fabric of the current television landscape. I'm aghast that so few viewers would turn into the finale.

Well, I think you've probably got some 18 to 49 year old males in those major markets watching NBA playoff basketball (LA. Dallas, Atlanta and Chicago) during that viewing window. Either way, it disappoints me. I'm sure the DVR numbers will be large, but that's small consolation in the grand scheme of things.
 
ivysaur12 said:
No, I'm more than aware with Fringe's current situation in the fabric of the current television landscape. I'm aghast that so few viewers would turn into the finale.
If people use a DVR to record the show, and watch it later does that register with ratings?
 

mm04

Member
Solideliquid said:
If people use a DVR to record the show, and watch it later does that register with ratings?

It's some sort of crazy measurement where it has to be watched before 3am or something, but I believe they still have to watch the commercials. I'm no expert by any means, so take what I say with a grain of salt. But as always, it only matters if you're a Nielsen household. If you're not, then it doesn't matter. Then it turns into a debate about statistics etc, which is a circle jerk in the best of times.

I always watch the show the day after on FOX.com to try and show some support since ads are present during that viewing as well, and that's gotta count for something.
 

Sqorgar

Banned
mm04 said:
It's some sort of crazy measurement where it has to be watched before 3am or something, but I believe they still have to watch the commercials. I'm no expert by any means, so take what I say with a grain of salt. But as always, it only matters if you're a Nielsen household. If you're not, then it doesn't matter. Then it turns into a debate about statistics etc, which is a circle jerk in the best of times.
I was a Nielsen family last week (don't worry, I watched Fringe) and they wanted information about DVR viewing, but since the diary only ran for a week, it would be impossible for them to determine viewership for any DVR-watched show more than a couple days after broadcast.

Also, I don't think that overnights are the whole story. We had a diary that we filled out for an entire week's worth of television and then mailed it back in. So we mailed our diary in yesterday for the previous Friday's data. So there's got to be at least a week and a half lag for anyone using the diary.

I'm not entirely sure where the overnight numbers come from, but there is obviously a more robust set of data that networks get later.
 

ivysaur12

Banned
Sqorgar said:
I was a Nielsen family last week (don't worry, I watched Fringe) and they wanted information about DVR viewing, but since the diary only ran for a week, it would be impossible for them to determine viewership for any DVR-watched show more than a couple days after broadcast.

Also, I don't think that overnights are the whole story. We had a diary that we filled out for an entire week's worth of television and then mailed it back in. So we mailed our diary in yesterday for the previous Friday's data. So there's got to be at least a week and a half lag for anyone using the diary.

I'm not entirely sure where the overnight numbers come from, but there is obviously a more robust set of data that networks get later.

During sweeps, diaries are used to create a more robust picture of the viewing audience. Fast nationals are the 25,000 "boxes" that are in television homes. A "1.0" means that 1% of the total 18-49 year old viewers (1.315) tuned into that program.

In the end, viewing data with diaries coupled with fast national data is something we never see. We also don't usually see the monetary demographic of Fringe viewers (are they above $100,000?) or if they're male. This is all matters, too.
 

mm04

Member
ivysaur12 said:
In the end, viewing data with diaries coupled with fast national data is something we never see. We also don't usually see the monetary demographic of Fringe viewers (are they above $100,000?) or if they're male. This is all matters, too.

The speculation has always been that a bulk of Fringe's viewership fall into the above category and that's partially why it survives with the ratings it does. Anecdotally, I can tell you that of the 3 households of my relatives who watch Fringe, regularly, we all fall under that category of income. I guess good sci-fi typically attracts that demo.
 

RPGamer92

Banned
One paradox I realized that is going to need to be explained is that if Peter
doesn't exist, then wouldn't his mother/Walter's wife in the prime universe still be alive as the reason why she killed herself was because of the guilt of hiding Peter's true identity?
 

Let me in

Member
I rewatched this episode and I liked it better the second time around. I think I would agree that showing the future, and particularly
Olivia's death
, presents a powerful case for the two sides to work together.

We now know the machine is not a one-function-wonder. It can: 1) Move a person's consciousness to different points in time. 2) Destroy a universe. 3) Be used to selectively manipulate space-time by the user. But we still don't know who made it in the first place. If Walter and co.
are the "first people", then that suggests they built the machine in the future to be used in the past to render a different outcome.

And there's much more than that to be answered. Even questions from S1/2 that still need to fit in. I really hope S4 opens with a bang because the ratings have sputtered towards the end here.
 

RPGamer92

Banned
From here on out it's gonna be pretty hard to up the ratings as people won't want to start watching at the beginning of season 4 due to how confused they would be.
 

Let me in

Member
PSFan said:
From here on out it's gonna be pretty hard to up the ratings as people won't want to start watching at the beginning of season 4 due to how confused they would be.
This is true, unfortunately. It's really asking a lot of people to go back and watch at least two seasons in order to understand what's going on in the 4th.

Actually, Fringe had 1M+ more viewers at the end of S2/beginning of S3 that could potentially come back. These are people that would still know what's going on and wouldn't need much to get caught up. But that's really optimistic thinking that usually doesn't happen in the real TV world.
 

RPGamer92

Banned
I expect an increase for the season 4 premier but after it all people just jumping in then will instantly drop it and the ratings will go back to S3 ratings.
 

ivysaur12

Banned
I really hope we find out who created the machine in the first place, because having it be Walter, Astrid, and Ella creates all sorts of problems. Though, I guess sending the machine back to the paleozoic period does too... The only real people who could have done it are the Observers.
 
Top Bottom