Sad news today FRINGE fans. Anna Torv, in an interview with TVLine.com, mentioned that we have probably seen the last of Seth Gabel (or Lincoln Lee to you). While it’s not anything official, it makes sense. The bridge between both universes was closed at the end of last season, and while it seemed final, it never really sunk in that that may be the last time we see the other side and their characters. Until now. I really liked Gabel and Lincoln (and especially Linclone, before he perished), so this hurts.

It’s been a good year for sci-fi, horror and fantasy fans this pilot pick up season, with another Abrams show onboard (REVOLUTION) and a few other high concept titles being greenlit by the networks (HANNIBAL, ARROW). One of the bigger projects is FOX’s THE FOLLOWING, created and produced by Kevin Williamson (DAWSON’S CREEK, VAMPIRE DIARIES, SCEAM). The show stars Kevin Bacon as Ryan Hardy, a predictably troubled FBI agent brought back into the fold to go after escaped serial killer Joe Carroll (played by JOHN CARTER’s James Purefoy). Turns out, now that he’s out, he’s turning into a Charles Manson of the digital age, collecting followers like I would on Twitter, except, you know, they brutally kill for him. The trailer, courtesy of Shock Till You Drop, is a smorgasbord of familiar faces on top of the big names, with the woman determined to be on every show, Natalie Zea (JUSTIFIED, CALIFORNICATION) as a woman that the serial killer and FBI agent have both slept with, with Shawn Ashmore, (Iceman from X-MEN), Jeananne Goossen, (dibs; Nikki from ALCATRAZ) and Billy Brown (the new detective on DEXTER) as fellow agents helping the investigation. And, of course, Maggie Grace (Shannon from LOST, TAKEN), plays the one that got away. From the serial killer, that is.

While the show’s hook doesn’t seem like one that could last for more than a couple seasons (and that’s if it’s going with the deliberate THE KILLING-like pace), it has one of the best casts of any new show, and has solid pedigree. The trailer is embedded below for your satisfaction.

“Brave New World, Part 2”

Air Date: 5/11/12

If you haven’t watched last week’s FRINGE, “Brave New World: Part One,” then go do so now, unless you want MEGA SPOILERS. However, I promise not to ruin any of the massive twists and turns of this week’s “Brave New World: Part Two,” so you’re safe to sit back, grab some red licorice, and ruminate with me about this divided, mixed, and ultimately classic season of FRINGE.

Last week, Walter’s convictions that William Bell (the venerable Leonard Nimoy) was alive and behind David Robert Jones’ machinations turned out to be true. Unfortunately, his mission led to the shot heard round both universes, with Astrid crumpling to the ground from a bullet wound. The stunned silence and emotional punch which that moment produced in me caused me to leave common sense behind. Even though dead doesn’t mean dead on FRINGE (plus there’s two of almost everyone to begin with), you can breathe easy, Astrid is not dead. She’s hurt and in the hospital, but she is stable and grounded for the final (or is it?) showdown with William Bell.

Belly is back, and we open on the new world he hopes to create, a land of brilliant light replete with dinosaurs and his lab creatures. He’s showing Walter what can be, in an attempt to convince him of his plan. The plan to collapse both universes and create their own, to play God and to achieve their destiny. These two old friends are aboard Bell’s ark, shepherding them to the dawn of a new age.

Peter and Olivia return to Walter’s lab, which is empty. They discuss the events from the night before, when Olivia supernaturally controlled Peter in his fight with David Robert Jones. Olivia wonders why she can do these things now, why her powers have suddenly been activated. Before they can worry, Jessica (LOST’s Rebecca Mader) calls Olivia, worried that she’s been followed since Olivia saved her life in last week’s episode. As she makes her call, September, our favorite Observer (the brilliant Michael Cerveris), watches on. Only, he seems to be stuck on some wacky signal on the floor.

Peter and Olivia arrive to find no sign of Jessica, but they do come across an octagonal shape cut out of the floor (where September was). Then, they get the call that Astrid is in the hospital and rush over there. Astrid relays what she knows, and they return to the mostly abandoned warehouse, where they find Jessica and the Observer, but discover that the situation is not as they expected.

Walter learns who inspired Bell’s divine plan, linking us all the way back to the first season. We learn why Olivia’s been “activated” and there are a few big twists (and a gun shot that makes Astrid’s recent mishap look like a skinned knee). There are many other connections to previous episodes (most notably, the awesome “Letters of Transit”) and the events that transpire obviously profoundly shape the fifth season of FRINGE. Still, something seemed off about this episode. I think that overall, the FRINGE team thought that “Brave New World” was going to be the end of the show. Now, with the news of a 5^th season in the offing, the perception of this final episode has shifted and definitely changed the very end. It all felt too easy, which, I suppose, could be a perfect set up for what’s to come. All in all though, I would have been much more psyched if “Letters of Transit” had been the finale. That said, “Brave New World” does nothing to stifle my excitement for the final thirteen episodes.

Leonard Nimoy, everyone’s favorite STAR TREK alum, recently returned to FRINGE in a move that shocked a lot of people. His character, William Bell, had been dead for awhile, and more importantly, Nimoy had retired from acting for good after appearing in Abrams’ STAR TREK. But, in an illuminating interview with io9 that deserves a SPOILER ALERT, Nimoy talks about how he loves FRINGE, and may be up for returning beyond this fourth season and relishes the chance to play an evil version of William Bell. Nimoy’s the man, and I love the character of William Bell, so I’m psyched. He also explains, unfortunately, that he probably won’t show up in STAR TREK 2.

More dominoes are falling and the puzzle pieces are starting to fall in place for FOX’s fall tv schedule. Mixed metaphor aside, FOX has announced (thanks be to EW.com for the scoop and the following Nielsen ratings) that TOUCH will be back for a second season, whereas JJ Abrams prison mystery ALCATRAZ has been served a life long sentence. While ALCATRAZ’s demise was hardly surprising given its middling ratings and mixed reviews, the show averaged a higher rating (3.4 million) than TOUCH (2.8). But TOUCH has Kiefer Sutherland (and Danny Glover!), and their thinking is that trumps Sam Neill, Jorge Garcia and Sarah Jones, even if I’m not sure FOX realizes that TOUCH isn’t quite 24.

I can’t say I’m too sad to see ALCATRAZ go, but I do know the show had its share of devoted fans, and the premise was great, the cast had potential, even if they were squandering it, and I’d much rather have seen it grace the schedule in September than another season of TOUCH.

FOX has almost gone the reverse route in selecting bubble shows, after also snubbing TERRA NOVA, which averaged more than all their iffy returning shows at 3.6 million viewers. It was also easily the most expensive, however. News like this has to make the FRINGE faithful that much more thankful, as FRINGE averages a meager 1.6 million viewers and survived for a fifth and final soiree.

“Worlds Apart”

Air Date: 4/27/2012

Continuing the explosive pace of the past couple episodes, “Worlds Apart” is the perfect primer to what is sure to be a cataclysmic, multiple universe shaping two part season finale. While it’s mostly set up, a helluva lot happens and there’s a ton of great character moments and more one on one scenes between our favorite characters and their alters than in any other episode previous.

Our Walter, all done up in a suit and tie, has organized a meeting between the two universes to discuss his hypothesis about David Robert Jones’ true purpose. He believes that Jones plans to play God, to collapse both universes to create a gravitational singularity, creating his own big bang, and in the fallout, create his own new universe where he controls the laws of gravity and science and motion and all the things Stephen Hawking could explain a lot more fluently than I, a mere mortal. If this is the case, Walter posits that Jones and the new species he created must create a safe zone to survive his machinations, a veritable Noah’s Ark. After his presentation, almost everyone thinks Walter is off his meds, until getting support in the most unlikely of corners, from Walternate (John Noble in a master class of acting, ladies and gentleman).

Outside of the bridge between universes, a bunch of (what initially appear to be) random young men and women scattered across the globe, armed with backpacks, watches and strong forehead muscles, begin the countdown. When the watch counts down to zero, a sizable earthquake rumbles from underneath each of their feet. Their faces and foreheads contort along with the earth below.

This event proves Walter’s instincts are correct. There were 27 incidents in all, all at the same time and place in both universes. Walter recovers items from one of the disaster sites and discovers that they each vibrate at a different frequency. Jones is trying to get the universes to vibrate at the same frequency to collapse them. Coming to this conclusion forces both Fringe teams to face difficult/impossible decisions. They can destroy the bridge, severing the tie that has started to heal the Other Side but what should prevent Jones’ machinations, or they can keep the bridge and hope they can stop Jones in time. What both Walter’s fear, almost as much as the devastation of one of their universes, is that if Peter destroys the machine and subsequently the bridge, will he disappear and will they lose their son again?

On the Other Side, Nick Lane (presumably named after the famed science writer of Life Ascending, played by David Call) enters Fringe Division, looking for Lincoln. He doesn’t know that this isn’t “his” Lincoln, but it doesn’t seem to matter. Nick, an old friend, tells Lincoln that he had a dream about the earthquakes before they happen, yet the details of the world in which he dreams sound very much like our universe. Clearly his doppelganger was one of the people who caused an earthquake in our side. Nick, if you remember, in our world, is a former classmate of Olivia’s in Walter and William Bell’s cortexiphan trials. In a video of another earthquake, Olivia notices Sally Clark, another classmate, is causing the quake. Jones is using children from the cortexiphan trials to link the universes. Olivia believes that using her link to them and Nick’s double, they can locate Nick and stop the next round of earthquakes. Walter is of course happy to bring LSD into the mix.

How much do you think a tab of cortexiphan costs?

All of this happens in the first half of this jam packed episode, with a lot more action to come, and terrific scenes between both Walter’s, Peter and Lincoln, and a cute as buttons moment between both Astrid’s. In many ways, this episode is about how both universes started out as enemies on the brink of war in seasons 2 and 3, and were “Worlds Apart” and showing how close the two sides have become in facing a common enemy and brings with it a sad ending.

By the end of this week’s gem, a decision is made about the bridge, leaving room for conspiracy, discussion and juicy questions. After seeing Leonard Nimoy’s William Bell frozen in amber at the end of the futuristic “Letters of Transit,” what is his role in all of this? Is he pulling the strings, is he David Robert Jones? What will happen if they destroy the bridge? Is that really what Jones wants? Seeing as it sounded like Olivia had a tragic role in “Letters of Transit,” what does that entail for our heroine? What will happen if/when the universes collapse? Will we be stuck with one or the other? Or will they merge to create a unique third universe? Or will the collapse never happen? Are these cortexiphan addled adults the harbingers for the Observers? Are Jones’ new species pre-evolutionary Observers? All of these questions and more burst from me throughout this hour of classic sci-fi television, and the upcoming two part finale will probably surprise the hell out of me with answers I will hardly comprehend, let alone predict. I can’t wait.

In the best news I’ve heard all day, hell, all week, FOX has renewed the critically loved cult hit for an abbreviated fifth and final season (13 sure to be excellent episodes). Many people feared the worst after FOX’s treatment of *deep breath* FIREFLY, DOLLHOUSE and ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, but you can sleep easy, in whatever universe you call home. The lesson learned? You can’t take Pacey lightly, folks. The great scoop comes courtesy of Entertainment Weekly.

Apparently they shot two possible finales for the end of season 4, which now may merely be an enticing nugget for the eventual DVD release. After last week’s superlative “Letters of Transit,” I’m ecstatic that the fine writers and producers at work on FRINGE get to go out the way they wanted, and now have the whole summer to come up with a worthy ending to one of my favorite shows of the past decade. We’ll be seeing ya, Olivia, Peter, Walter and Astrid. Some of you in double. Amazingly, FOX has even released a trailer for the final season, even if none of the footage is new. You can find that below.

It's hard to be an interesting character when in a coma

Alcatraz, Season 1, Episodes 12-13

“Garrett Stillman; Tommy Madsen”

Air Date: 3/26/2012

FOX aired what most likely will be the two final episodes of ALCATRAZ this past Monday, and usually that’s cause for an uproar when it comes to premature endings for its shows, but it may just be due diligence this time around. Last week, Lucy finally woke up from her coma (God bless the 63’s silver heavy blood, or something). Within minutes, it’s clear the BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM alum’s involvement could’ve been used a helluva lot sooner in the present day timeline, as she adds another (okay, maybe like the second) layer of chemistry (what chemistry?) to our fateful crew. Dr. Soto and Rebecca finally found out that she’s one of the missing 63’s, and that she knew Hauser in the past. Their timeless love would be dreamy if it wasn’t so wooden and nonexistent. Sam Neill mailed this one in, not that I blame him. He wasn’t given much to do.

In the first hour, we meet Garrett Stillman, a MENSA with a penchant for robbing armored cars, who now plays chess on the Rock. The Warden, however, has different plans for him. He invites Stillman to the hearing for the early release of Harlan Summons (a prisoner we met in a previous episode who took over the business of distributing contraband). Harlan’s denied when his extracurricular activities are revealed by the Deputy Warden. Due to his meticulous plotting and gift of theft, the Warden wants Stillman to steal the papers and swap out the contents with an acceptance letter. In present day San Francisco, Rebecca and Soto follow Stillman’s machinations to steal something from what turns out to be Harlan’s company. Rather interestingly, Harlan became a gazillionaire after escaping Alcatraz, with some indeterminate help by the Warden. This could’ve been a great and interesting subplot all season long, but Harlan was never even given his own spotlight episode, and was never mentioned as being alive in the present day until this week. You’d think a former Alcatraz inmate with his background and now immense fame would be a logical person to visit during an ongoing investigation. But even when he’s brought up, we never see him. We find out that Stillman’s following Tommy Madsen’s orders, and that they’re after the third and final key. Coincidentally, Hauser has finally found the Warden’s door, and needs precisely that key for entry.

This is what we've been missing.

Fringe

“A Short Story About Love”

Air Date: 3/23/2012

It’s been a month since us fateful few spent an evening with Peter, Olivia, Walter and the multiple universe drama that deserves more viewers lest it be the next great FOX show to be cancelled (ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, DOLLHOUSE, FIREFLY). Following one of its best and most important episodes of the entire series (“The End of All Things”), when Peter discovered the Observers’ origins and September’s methods and resolved to stay away from Olivia, this week’s “A Short Story About Love” keeps up the pace, and as you can guess by the title, gives us new developments in the cross universe will-they or won’t-they relationship between Peter and Olivia.

We open with Olivia and (the real) Nina going out for Saturday brunch at a swanky spot. Olivia confesses that she loves Peter to her adopted mother, despite hardly knowing the guy. She has memories of him from the other Olivia (Peter’s and our Olivia), but curiously, other memories from that universe that aren’t even about him, so it can’t be as simple as Walter posited, that Peter is projecting his hopes, desires and memories onto her psyche through her cortexiphan addled brain (thanks to the evil Nina doppelganger). But alas, Peter is holding out for his Olivia, vowing not to make the same mistake twice (when he impregnated Fauxlivia). After their intimate conversation, Olivia thanks Nina and wants to get together for breakfast more often (though to be honest, I didn’t see a lot of eating). Beat. But Olivia, we do this every Saturday, Nina says and Olivia looks at her blankly, and into the Twilight Zone we go.

The case amidst the romantic angst to follow revolves around a disfigured, lovelorn man (Michael Massee) who preys on young couples in love, killing the man first, and then, using pheromones (he worked for a perfume company!) to tempt the grieving woman, and finishes the job once he’s gotten a little tongue action. While it’s a cute (gross) pairing with the main story, it’s really not that alluring, even if it gives us a chance to see Walter and Astrid smell horrible things, and Olivia contemplate her love for Peter in every scene.

Written by Brandon Camp (JOHN DOE) and with Bill Gerber (GRAN TORINO) attached to executive produce, the project revolves around a former cop as he serves time in an afterlife limbo and hunts down earthly criminals on behalf of the dead – and soon to be dead – if ultimate justice is not served.

THE SPECTRE was originally created by Jerry Siegel and Bernard Bailey and first appeared in 1940 in DC’s MORE FUN COMICS #51, eventually getting its own title in 1967.