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Fringe (TV series)
Fringe is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman,
and Roberto Orci. It premiered on the Fox Broadcasting network on September 9, 2008,
and concluded on January 18, 2013, after five seasons and 100 episodes.
The series follows Olivia Dunham, Peter Bishop, and Walter Bishop,
all members of the fictional Fringe Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
based in Boston, Massachusetts, under the supervision of Homeland Security.
The team uses fringe science and FBI investigative techniques
to investigate a series of unexplained, often ghastly occurrences, which are related
to mysteries surrounding a parallel universe.
The series has been described as a hybrid of fantasy and procedural dramas and serials, influenced
by film and television shows such as Lost, The X-Files, Altered States, and The Twilight Zone.
The series began as a traditional mystery-of-the-week series
and became more serialized in later seasons. Most episodes contain a standalone plot,
with several others also exploring the series' overarching mythology. Critical reception was
at first lukewarm, but became more favorable after the first season, when the series began
to explore its mythology, including parallel universes and alternate timelines. The show,
as well as the cast and crew, were nominated for many major awards. Despite its move to the
"Friday night death slot" and low ratings, the series developed a cult following.
It also spawned two six-part comic book series, an alternate reality game, and three novels.
 Plot 
Fringe follows the casework of the Fringe Division,
a Joint Federal Task Force supported primarily by the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
which includes Agent Olivia Dunham; Dr. Walter Bishop, the archetypal mad scientist;
and Peter Bishop, Walter's estranged son and jack-of-all-trades. They are supported
by Phillip Broyles, the force's director, and Agent Astrid Farnsworth,
who assists Walter in laboratory research. The Fringe Division investigates cases relating
to fringe science, ranging from transhumanist experiments gone wrong
to the prospect of a destructive technological singularity
to a possible collision of two parallel universes. The Fringe Division's work often intersects
with advanced biotechnology developed by a company called Massive Dynamic, founded
by Walter's former partner, Dr. William Bell, and run by their common friend, Nina Sharp.
The team is also watched silently by a group of bald, pale men who are called "Observers".
Season 1 introduces the Fringe Division as they investigate cases that form "the Pattern"
geographically centered around Reiden Lake in New York state, many of which are orchestrated
by an international network of rogue scientists known as ZFT, led by David Robert Jones,
who are preparing for a doomsday event. The ZFT threat appears to end
when Peter kills Jones as he attempts travel to a parallel universe. Olivia comes
to learn she was a child test subject for Walter years ago for a nootropic drug, Cortexiphan,
giving her weak psionic abilities. Walter also struggles with adjusting
to normal life in Peter's care after living seventeen years in a mental institution while hiding
the fact that Peter is from the parallel universe, "his" Peter having died as a child.
In Season 2, the occurrences are found to be in conjunction
with activities of a parallel universe, which is plagued by singularities occurring
at weakened points of the fabric between worlds; over there,
scientists have developed an amber-like substance that isolates these singularities as well as any
innocent people caught in the area on its release. The Fringe team deals
with more cases that are leading to a "great storm" as the parallel universe appears to be
at war with the prime one, engineered by human-machine hybrid shapeshifters
from the parallel universe. Walter is forced to tell Peter that he is from the parallel universe,
a replacement for his own Peter, who died from a genetic disease. Walter had crossed
over on the frozen ice of Reiden Lake in 1985 to administer the cure
for the alternate version of Peter, but,
after accidentally destroying a dose of the cure upon transport,
he instead brought the boy across. On return, they fell through the ice, but were saved
by the Observer September, who told Walter of the importance of "the boy", which Walter took
to mean Peter. Walter's crossing is what caused the singularities in the parallel universe,
with Reiden Lake at their epicenter. Walter has been looking
for a sign of forgiveness in the form of a white tulip.
Season 3 presents episodes that alternate between the two universes. "Walternate",
Walter's doppelgänger in the parallel universe, is the U.S. Secretary of Defense
and has set events in motion to assemble the Machine, a doomsday device that reacts only
to Peter's biology. He also sent his Olivia, "Fauxlivia", to the prime universe, in Olivia's place,
to engage the Fringe Division and assemble the prime universe's version of the device,
while he studies Olivia's Cortexiphan-induced powers. By happenstance, Fauxlivia becomes pregnant
with Peter's child, Henry, before being outed and extracted to the parallel universe.
Walternate orchestrated acceleration of the pregnancy to gain a sample of the baby's blood,
which he uses to activate the machine. Peter, with Olivia's help,
enters the prime version of the machine, and experiences a vision of the future
where the parallel universe has been destroyed and the same fate threatens the prime one,
and learns the Machine is really a device created by Walter and his associates from this future,
sent back in time purposely to relay this vision of the future to Peter.
Recovering in the present, Peter alters his plan and uses the Machine to merge the two rooms,
creating a bridge where inhabitants of both universes can solve their dilemma,
before time is re-written so September doesn't save him and is forgotten by both Walter
and Olivia. Season 4 begins in an alternate timeline, one in which September had failed
to save the alternate version of Peter in 1985, according to the Observers.
This creates a butterfly effect influencing the main characters' pasts,
but otherwise stabilizing both universes due to the creation of the bridge.
Peter is pulled into this new timeline due to the actions of the alternate timeline's Fringe team,
which includes Lincoln Lee. Peter initially works to return to his own timeline, fueled
by fears that his memories are altering Cortexiphan-dosed Olivia's of this timeline,
but after encountering a wounded September, Peter comes
to learn that this timeline is truly his home, and both he and Olivia come to accept the change,
rekindling their affair. September also reveals to Peter that the Observers needed
to erase Peter's son, Henry, to assure their future will be created,
though noting that Peter's future child with Olivia will be important. Meanwhile, in the present,
William Bell has instructed David Robert Jones, alive in this timeline, to work
with the parallel universe's version of Nina Sharp to synchronize the two universes, aiming
to collapse them both and pave the way for a third universe under Bell's control,
using Olivia's Cortexiphan powers to enable the collapse. The Fringe division is forced
to close the dimensional bridge, but this fails to stop Bell's plan. Walter is left
with one choice, to shoot and kill Olivia, her death disrupting the process and saving the world.
Olivia's "death" is only temporary, as the Cortexiphan in her body is consumed
to repair the bullet wound, leaving her alive and healthy, but lacking her psionic abilities.
As Olivia and Peter begin their lives together, September appears to Walter
and warns that the Observers "are coming". The fifth and final season begins in 2036, following
from the flash-forward fourth season episode "Letters of Transit". As September warned, Observers
from the far future, having ruined Earth for themselves, time-traveled to 2015 and instituted
"The Purge", wiped out much of humanity, subjected the survivors to their control,
and began modifying the planet's environment to be more suitable for themselves.
The Fringe team was able to seal themselves in amber to avoid capture shortly after the Purge,
and are reunited through Henrietta, Peter
and Olivia's now adult daughter who disappeared shortly after the Observer arrival in 2015.
Walter reveals he and September developed a plan to defeat the Observers,
revealed through a series of pre-recorded videotapes ambered in the lab. The tapes lead
to several components of a device, including a young Observer child, named Michael,
but further allude to a man named Donald that had helped Walter prepare the plan. Etta is killed
during these events, driving Olivia and Peter to complete the plan for her sake. Through Michael,
they discover Donald is September, having been stripped of his Observer powers
for helping the Fringe team, and that Michael is his genetic son,
having been purposely grown as an anomaly in the far future. September explains the plan is
to send Michael to the year 2167, where human genetic experiments to sacrifice emotion
for intelligence would be started and leading to the creation of the Observers;
by showing them Michael, who possesses both emotion and intelligence,
the experiments would be stopped and the Observers never created. September is prepared
to take Michael to the future as the plan is set in motion, but he is shot and killed
at the last moment; Walter, already made aware that he will have to make a sacrifice,
takes Michael through to the future to assure the plan's completion. As predicted, time is reset
from the invasion onwards in 2015; the Observers never invade, and Peter, Olivia, and Etta,
live their lives peacefully—though Peter receives one final letter
from his father: a drawing of a white tulip.
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