Letters of Transit (20 Apr. 2012)

In the future, the Observers rule and humans that survived the purge serve them. There are still a small number of people fighting for the resistance, and one of them has discovered one of ... See full summary »

Director:

Joe Chappelle

Writers:

J.J. Abrams (creator), Alex Kurtzman (creator),

Stars:

Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, Lance Reddick

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Anna Torv	...	Olivia Dunham (credit only)
Joshua Jackson	...	Peter Bishop
Lance Reddick	...	Phillip Broyles
Blair Brown	...	Nina Sharp
Jasika Nicole	...	Astrid Farnsworth
Seth Gabel	...	Lincoln Lee (credit only)
John Noble	...	Dr. Walter Bishop
Henry Ian Cusick	...	Simon Foster
Georgina Haig	...	Henrietta Bishop
Ben Cotton	...	Impound Clerk
Michael Kopsa	...	Captain Windmark
Bradley Stryker	...	Rick
Marlo Franson	...	Club Doorman
Juliet Jarikre	...	Kitty
Sooraj Jaswal	...	Lead Tattie

Storyline

In the future, the Observers rule and humans that survived the purge serve them. There are still a small number of people fighting for the resistance, and one of them has discovered one of the original Fringe team in the form of Walter protected in amber. As the resistance attempts to get rid of the Observers, we get a glimpse into a rather dark dystopian future.

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Plot Keywords:

woman in a wheelchair | blood spatter | film starts with text | diazepam | year 2015 | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 April 2012 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bad Robot, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

43 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

This episode follows the pattern established in season two: The fourth-to-last episode of a season is "the weird one". Season two (23 eps) had #2.20, Brown Betty, a musical, whereas season three (22 eps) had #3.19, Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, a partly animated episode. And this one is a flash-forward episode.

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Goofs

A seam line on the amber in which Walter was encased can be seen on the back side edge of the block.

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Quotes

Dr. Walter Bishop: I am not a number. I am a free man.

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Crazy Credits

Opening text which scrolled upward on screen: 'They came from the future. At first, they only watched. Arriving at key moments in human history. We called them OBSERVERS. But in 2015 they stopped watching... and seized control. Citizen uprisings proved bloody and futile. Those who survived became known as "Natives." In an attempt to show their allegiance, some Native factions became "Loyalists" and were marked by the OBSERVERS. The original FRINGE TEAM fought the invasion, but was quickly defeated. FRINGE DIVISION was allowed to continue at a reduced capacity, but only to police the Natives. The resistance was quickly overcome ...or so they thought.' [the word "OBSERVERS" was written in red text, while all other text was white against the black background.]

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Connections

References Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

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Soundtracks

"End Title Theme"
(uncredited)
Written by Michael Giacchino

User Reviews

When your series is in trouble, steal from another series

So what do you do when you are J.J. Abrams and the network your current show is on starts using the "C" word? No, not "cancer," the even worse "C" word, "cancellation." Simple. Shamelessly steal a page from Joss Whedon's playbook.

Back towards the end of the first season of "Dollhouse," when FOX was throwing around the "C" word, Joss hit one over the fences with an episode called "Epitaph." Without either warning or explanation, that episode leapt out of the normal storyline and timeline of the series several years into the future, giving viewers a glimpse of where "Dollhouse" *wanted to go*, if only the network dweebs would allow it to by extending the series. And the amazing thing is that it WORKED. Joss got a second season of "Dollhouse," just enough to finish it up well, and to not leave things hanging. It was the stuff of TV history, and saved "Dollhouse" from the cut-off-in-mid-sentence fate of "Firefly." Now even-heavier-hitter J.J. Abrams, faced with hard times and low ratings, is fighting for a fifth season of "Fringe." So what does he do? He rips off Joss' idea and creates an out-of-the-blue glimpse of the Fringe Division's future. Without either warning or explanation, the episode opens not in 2012 but in 2036, with the descendents of the original Fringe Division living in a dystopia, still fighting the Bad Guys. It's *not* that it wasn't an interesting episode, but the word "r-r-r-r-ripoff" kept echoing through my head the whole time I was watching it.

It really *wasn't* bad, and in fact was better than most episodes. Whether this "Hail Joss" play will work is another question, but I kinda praise Mr. Abrams for not being afraid to steal from his betters. This ploy may become a staple of the industry in the future -- if they start talking about cancelling your show, give them a glimpse of the show's future, to hopefully demonstrate to them that you haven't jumped the shark and that you still *can* come up with new ideas.

Even if you have to steal those ideas from another series. :-)