Fringe Finale: The Possibilities Keep Me Awake at Night

5/05/2011

I've written about Fringe quite a bit (not including summer and winter breaks and other lulls where life takes precedence) on the Hulu boards for probably the better part of a year and a half. I've recently been back there again, constantly tapping away with more and more things to say when I have precious free time. There's a reason for that. This has been another excellent season, and I can't ever seem to heap enough praise upon the show, with it's imaginative writing, smooth pacing, funny moments, unbearable sadness, and terrific acting, especially by John Noble.

As I've said before in Hulu discussions, I hope the resolution is a satisfying one and that Walter survives it. I assumed he wouldn't last season, because of the way he said he never meant for any of it to happen (like a goodbye) and the fact that my favorite characters are never safe. I'm still mad that Whedon killed off Wash (Firefly), though that was actually in the movie. And Abrams likes to do the same. Walter is an essential character, the beating heart, the reason I was intrigued beyond the first few rocky episodes where the show was establishing its identity, and I can only have faith the writers know that. At least it was picked up for season 4, and a full season at that, so there's one less thing to worry about.

Now, what I'd like for next season's penultimate episode is anything that will allow me to fall asleep after seeing it instead of being nervous all week and making my thoughts race around the possibilities. The first two season finales deftly wrapped one storyline while introducing the next in a cliffhanger. But the previous epsiode, three times now, is so frought with tension that just a week can be an interminable wait until the last. Yes, anyone who hasn't seen Fringe yet or gave up on it too quickly, it is that good.

Since it's the end again, and I've had a bit of time on my hands, I've spent a lot of it at Hulu and Googling for videos and interviews. Here are a few great interviews and articles I'd never seen before, some old, some less old:
A previous post which included a recent video interview with John Noble
The Man Behind Walter Bishop from Parallax View
John Noble Talks Fringe from HitFix
My Lunch With John Noble from the Los Angeles Times
John Noble "Fringe" Interview from Buzzy Multimedia
Music as Medicine (short bit at the end)

And here are some great Fringe sites I've come across:
Fringe Television (the absolute best)
Fringepedia
The Red Vine
FringeBloggers.com
The Fringe Podcast
Fringe-Forum.com