Eric Leibowitz/FOX, FOXFox's Fringe is off the air tonight thanks to Obama and McCain's second debate taking over the airwaves, but to tide you over until a new installment premieres next week, I have some exclusive scoop from Fringe cocreators Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman following last week's full-season pickup.
The masterminds behind Fox's freaky-deaky new drama spilled secrets including the whereabouts of Peter's mom, why all roads (so far) lead back to Walter and what inspires the creepifying happenings that make Fringe so very good!
Is It All About Walter? So far almost every case has tied directly back to Walter's (John Noble) work. Isn't that a lot of weirdness leading back to one man? Said Orci: "There is a much larger mosaic at play here, and Walter's work is part of it. A lot of the work that Walter did before he was committed, and before he lost a lot of his memory, was stolen from him. The question is, who stole it and why, and does the Pattern have something to do with the work that he's done?" However, Kurtzman said, "It won't always be about his work." And thank goodness, because I love the guy, but Walter was thisclose to becoming the Mary Sue of mad scientists...
That Bishop Boy Is Hiding Something: The guys wouldn't reveal whether Peter (Joshua Jackson) has past ties to the mob or some other untoward criminal organization, but Orci did say, "He is a man on the run. He's hiding from gambling debt, and who knows what else, so that could very well be related to the people who are looking for him." Expect those people to keep coming. The man with the camera was just the first wave…
Mama-Drama: Peter's mom and Walter's wife is not going to be one of those Disney-movie parents who vanish into thin air and are never heard from again. Says Kurtzman, "She's definitely a very prominent figure in both their lives. As to when you'll find out more about her…you'll just have to keep watching." Virtual casting call! Who should play Peter's mom? Post your picks in the comments. (I vote for Annette Bening, even if there isn't a snowball's chance in Hades of that casting actually happening.)
Killer Tomatoes: Fringe is apparently what happens to your brain when you watch too much local news! (Does dry cleaning cause hair loss? Could your dental floss be killing you? Find out why buying potatoes put this family in the hospital—tonight at 11!) Says Kurtzman, "We're always trying to make the things that are all around us scary. Like say, electricity, your cell phone, your television, the medicine in your bathroom." Orci agrees that the scares are just like local news stories: "Yes, next week on Fringe: Auto mechanics replace parts that don't need to be replaced! No, I'm kidding. We want to make the familiar world dangerous, not just strange things in other countries."
The Observer Is (Probably) Not From Another Planet: OK, the Observer has to be alien, right—what with the absent eyebrows and the Roswellian predilection for Tabasco sauce? Just admit it. Says Kurtzman, "No, he is not an alien. He is a citizen. I'm kidding. He's been in every episode so far. He's in the background, those pictures from previous episodes are real. If you've been in this many, you can probably bet that you'll see him again." Orci pipes that the big question is not who he is, but "What is he observing?" Theories? The guys also tell me that the strange language in his notes (which is not Korean) will be explained eventually. My guess? Some kind of shorthand.
What do you guys think? Are you still loving Fringe? Post in the comments.