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Updated: Got Fringe questions? We've got season-two answers
[Update: Kirk Acevedo, who plays agent Charlie Francis, has reportedly said on his Facebook page that he's been fired from the series. (Thanks to Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly for the heads up.)]
Fringe has barely wrapped for the year, but Fox has already renewed the intriguing series, and writers/executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci told SCI FI Wire that the surprising events of the season finale set up season two.
Orci and Kurtzman, the writing team behind Star Trek and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, spoke exclusively with us on Friday about what's in store for Fringe next season. Following is an edited version of our conversation. (Spoilers ahead!)
Looking at the finale, what were some of the things you wanted to set up for season two?
Orci: Before setting things up, we wanted to give some answers. If you look at the Internet, you'd see various levels of awareness of what's going on and with what we were thinking. You saw Walter [John Noble] find the grave of his son, Peter [Joshua Jackson]. You saw Olivia [Anna Torv] essentially step into another world and meet William Bell [Leonard Nimoy].
You have a gigantic clue to what has been a potential organizing principle or source of the Pattern and what these weird events are. In some way, two worlds are colliding, so that sets up the potential for a wonderful exploration of how these things interact, who William Bell is, is he good or bad, and is Nina [Blair Brown] friend or foe? You are going to see the Fringe division come under more intense scrutiny and therefore have to operate more clandestinely. You are going to see Peter become more engaged as he discovers some of the things the audience has found out.
Will you be resolving what Walter did to Olivia?
Kurtzman: Geologically, it will be handled in the very near future.
Is Walter ever going to fully regain his memory?
Kurtzman: We always think he's going to take a couple of steps forward and a step back, which is common with all kinds of recovery. You always try to imagine the lifespan of the show, and as that becomes clearer, we will decide how far he will get in his quest to remember exactly what he is responsible for or who he is.
The Observer (Michael Cerveris) has become the "Where's Waldo?" of Fringe. Is he going to continue being an ongoing presence, and are you planning on exploring where he fits into the grand scheme of things?
Kurtzman: Absolutely. The Observer has turned into one of our favorite elements. If you are a fan of the show, it's one of the things you can follow like a true serial. If you don't, you don't have to think about it. But that is such a great clue into the overall mystery of the show, and we are exploring ways to reveal his role without giving it away completely.
Did casting Leonard Nimoy as William Bell evolve out of your Star Trek experience?
Orci: Absolutely. We all had such a great time and were literally in this whirlwind of having enjoyed working with each other so much. [Executive producer] Bryan Burk was actually the one who suggested Leonard for William Bell. We thought it would be embarrassing to ask him for another amazing favor, but we did. [Fringe co-creator and Star Trek director] J.J. Abrams e-mailed him, and he was interested.
By mfrede at 8:28 AM ON 05/20/09
As long as rimbaldi never shows up I'll keep watching. I loved Alias but the show really lost itself in pursuit of the Rimbaldi quest. This show seems to be much tighter, and still grounded (ok, pretty grounded) in the characters that the "stuff" hasn't become the show.
Just my two cents. . .
P.S. Loved Start Trek - when's the next one comming?
By Matthew W. at 10:29 AM ON 05/20/09
Fringe is a great show, it doesn't make the big mistake that a lot of other "central mystery" type shows (Lost, Heroes) have made by having too many characters, overcomplicating, or dragging things out too long...Fringe gives you a little answer here, a little answer there, another question here, another one there, but keeps things moving. The casting is great, especially the totally underrated John Noble.
By JustinJaymz at 10:50 AM ON 05/20/09
Totally agree about John Noble. He should be a shoe-in for an Emmy nomination.
By FRINGED BY FOX at 12:04 PM ON 05/20/09
As good as this first season was - - - I can almost CERTAINLY SAY that I am bowing out of viewing any more FOX shows because of TERMINATOR: Sarah Conner Chronicles and FOX's random way of "investing and then divesting" in it's viewership = ie. Kevin Reilly's "betting on DOLLHOUSE" and bailing on TSCC.
To invest 2 seasons of time and have it really get good and then bail and the time the GOOD STUFF FINALLY happens - is just insane. I can not trust FOX to do the same again and then end FRINGE as the story gets even more interesting . . . BEWARE FELLOW FRINGERS . . . Season Two is just 13 episodes away and then it could end just as Earth and Parallel Earth have declared "Fringe Science Warfare" ?!?!?!?!?!!!!!
By anachronite at 12:20 PM ON 05/20/09
Fringe rocks, Fox sucks. I am afraid to invest time into season 2 as well. After cancelling Firefly and now TSCC, fox execs have shown they have their heads firmly planted up their asses.
By boomerdude at 12:46 PM ON 05/20/09
Earlier in the season, we were promised that we would find out who was after Peter, and what his ex-girlfriend had to do with it. Still waiting.
By IsoTek at 1:02 PM ON 05/20/09
Well, though I am not jazzed that FOX cancelled T:SCC, I have become involved in Fringe far too much to back out now. I guess if I really tried I could back out, but I digress. I think Fringe has been Abram's most interesting show to date. I only watched ALIAS to sate my appetite for female espionage serials when La Femme Nikita was cancelled and LOST of course has enough kookiness to keep me, but FRINGE, has this otherworld thing I like that makes the X-Files look banal by comparison.
By Laslo at 4:01 PM ON 05/20/09
"Season Two is just 13 episodes away"
What does that mean? The show has been picked up for a full season. I'm annoyed that TSCC was canceled too, but I'm not going to shoot myself it the foot and not watch Fringe because its on Fox or it might get canceled. Good tv shows are hard to find. Fringe has been fun ride so far.
By Photoboy at 5:06 PM ON 05/20/09
Kirk Acevedo fired? That sucks, he was one of my favourite characters on the show, mainly because he had a bit of character unlike Anna Torv who would improve even if she got acting lessons from a plank of wood.
By Gill Avila at 7:13 PM ON 05/20/09
Kurtzman: Geologically, it will be handled in the very near future.>>
Geologically? What the HELL does THAT mean???
By r223h at 2:13 AM ON 05/21/09
^I second that. Is that a typo?
By mary1018 at 9:43 AM ON 05/23/09
I will continue to watch Fringe. i think it is the best of the new sci-fi but if FOX is stupid enough to cancel it i can only hope that another network with smarts will pick it up.
By starkiller at 11:10 AM ON 05/24/09
I'll probably keep watching Fringe as long as it doesn't suck, but I will not be watching any new Fox shows, nor will I keep watching House. Canceling the Sarah Connor Chronicles has turned me off tv more than I was already turned off. The past few years I have watched live tv less and less and started watching fewer new network shows than I used to.
Your captcha sucks, 3rd try:
By theonlyreece at 10:36 AM ON 06/07/09
Kurtzman: Geologically, it will be handled in the very near future.>>
The Geological Timescale is very large - when looking at the past of the earth and the formation of rocks, many things are going back hundreds of millions of years. If you are going by the Geological Timescale, something that happened 10,000 years ago is very recent.
So, i'm guessing that Kurtzman's statement is either
a) just being vague; or
b) implying that it may happen in the far future (human timescale).
Visit mobile.syfy.com/wire on your mobile device.
theonlyreece:
Kurtzman: Geologically, it will be handled in the very near future.>> The Geological Timescale is very large - whe...More »