Watch Fringe Season 1 Episode 1

[Domenec Reynolds]

1.7 In Which We Meet Mr. Jones: Just what it says on the tin. David Robert Jones is the main villain in season 1 & is the driving force that sets the events of the series into motion.

1.19 The Road Not Taken: Together with the finale, this episode sets up the central mythology element of the show, the parallel universes. We even get our first glimpse of the other side.

2.4 Momentum Deferred: An incredible episode on several levels, the only shame is that you had to sit through two standalones to get to it. We learn what Olivia learned on the other side, the subplot involving Charlie is resolved & we see Thomas Jerome Newton, the main season 2 villain, for the first time.

3.20 6:02 AM EST: Primarily a set-up episode for the finale, it also features the re-emergence of Sam Weiss, who is an important figure but who I have yet to mention because he has sneakily thus far primarily appeared in several of the non-mythology episodes of season 2.

4.17 Everything In Its Right Place: Possibly my favorite episode of the season is a Lincoln-centric red-verse story that barely features any of the original three Fringe team. Huh. This is a shapeshifter episode, but we also learn exactly what the bridge (and in turn, the doomsday machine) has been doing to the red-verse, which becomes important later. Also, Wyman and Pinkner break our collective hearts.

4.19 Letters of Transit: The traditionally weird episode 19 is a flashforward into a dystopian future in which the Observers have taken over the world and the Fringe team is nowhere to be found. Henry Ian Cusick makes a welcome appearance and we meet a very important young female blonde Fringe agent. All indications are that we will be revisiting this future in season 5.

Hi Amy! Thanks so much for this guide. I basically used it to watch the show from scratch in late January while I was sick with the flu. I found most of season one and two unwatchable until Peter, however. After that, I thought it got pretty good. In fact, I watched every episode of season three and most of season four and all of season five! I thought season four, however, was weaker than seasons three and five.

Yeah, you could probably skip about half and have a basic coherent understanding of the show, but there are enough callbacks to past episodes by the end of the season to warrant watching the bulk of them. Totally YMMV, though.

The show revolves around the fictional Fringe division of the FBI headquartered in an off-the-books basement lab at Harvard University. With Senior Agent in Charge Phillip Broyles (Lance Reddick) leading the way, FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), scientist Walter Bishop (John Noble), and his son Peter (Joshua Jackson) are tasked with investigating and solving a myriad of science-related crimes. From shapeshifters to parallel universes to a mysterious race of beings referred to as Observers, the trio attempts to find the connection between the weird and inexplicable events plaguing them.

Fringe has been off the air since 2013, so if you're looking to catch up (or re-watch) the fan favorite sci-fi series, here's all you need to know about the show, where to find it, and how to stream it.

It's currently free on IMDb TV (though you'll need to sign in with an IMDb, Google, Facebook, Amazon, or Apple account), while HBO Max requires users to have a subscription to use the service. However, you might already have HBO Max and not even know it. If you subscribe to HBO through a variety of service providers, you already have access to HBO Max at no extra cost.

Fringe aired exactly 100 episodes across its five seasons. While Seasons 1-4 range from 20-23 episodes each, Season 5 is a shortened season consisting of 13 episodes. Between falling ratings and being an incredibly expensive show to produce, its fate was in jeopardy after the Season 4 finale. But thanks to Fringe's rabid fan base, Fox agreed to a condensed final season rather than outright canceling the show, giving the opportunity to wrap up many of the series' mysteries and character arcs.

While it would certainly make for a much more robust and satisfying viewing experience to watch Fringe's seasons and episodes in the order in which they were released, it's not necessarily crucial. Viewers who choose to watch chronologically will be rewarded with a better understanding of the series' captivating mythology, not to mention its deep and emotionally satisfying character arcs. On the other hand, there's plenty of stand-alone and case-of-the-week-style episodes that will be sure to satisfy casual viewers' needs for a dose of sci-fi storytelling.

Although the series finale wrapped up the main characters' stories in a nice bow, there were enough storytelling possibilities left on the table to continue the show. But does it look like they will be explored in a potential sixth season? Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like a continuation of the show is in the cards...for now, anyway. In an interview with Collider's Steve Weintraub, executive producer Akiva Goldsman admits that the possibility of a reboot was discussed, but the idea ultimately fell through. "We talked to Warner Bros. and we talked to ourselves... but we didn't find a way through it." With Fringe continuing to find new life and audiences with its presence on streaming platforms, it might be too early to rule out the prospect of a continuation or reboot sometime down the road.

You've watched all 100 episodes of Fringe. Now what? Whether you're looking to match the show's sci-fi vibes, its case-of-the week format, sprawling mythology, or captivating characters, there are plenty other shows to binge that will satisfy the Fringe vibe you've been craving:

The X-Files: Viewers yearning for another series about FBI agents investigating paranormal phenomena might be satisfied with The X-Files. A spiritual sister to Fringe, the show revolves around FBI partners Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) as they, too, investigate cases which seem to involve unexplained phenomenon. With a duration of 218 episodes across 11 seasons (and two movies), there's sure to be a variety of cases for everyone's taste.

Wayward Pines: A strange, cult-like town is the setting for Fox's two season mystery science fiction series. Ethan Burke (Matt Dillon) is a Secret Service agent looking into the disappearance of two other agents when his investigation leads him to the town of Wayward Pines. The series features its fair share of sci-fi elements such as mutated creatures and cryogenics, not to mention its investigative component and overarching mysteries and mythology.

Lost: The series about a group of plane crash survivors stranded on a mysterious island is a good bet for those seeking out character-driven mysteries with hearty helping of sci-fi thrown in. Between time travel, the mysterious Dharma Initiative, and the series' visual effects, it's fairly close to the original and captivating science fiction of Fringe. The show was also created by Fringe co-creator J.J. Abrams.

The overrun was clearly deliberate in an effort to try and take wind out of "The Mentalist." Put the last performer (and arguably the most popular guy currently on the show) into an overrun. Especially given that "Fringe" apparently tanked hard in the ratings last night, it's an easy call.

wish they had in more revelations about the Junior Observer role of the kid, since it was kinda telegraphed. The reveal at the end felt natural, but also not as reveal-y as seeing the Pappa Observer watching the hospital earlier, with a more substantial coda or something at the end could have. all in all, not a bad episode. and it's probably best to ease back into the show, after the long hiatus. Alias would suffer from long waits between episodes, then information that was weeks old would be assumed within the show, leaving casual viewers...and maybe this more devoted viewer, lost at times. but perhaps here isn't the place to complain about the scheduling problems of ABC 6 years ago...eh.

According to the ratings, Fringe only scored half of the American Idol audience, so if Fox did keep Idol on to lure in viewers for Fringe, it didn't work well enough. Didn't House use to get 20 Million viewers a few seasons back after Idol?

I hadn't ever watched Fringe before, but I will probably come back for more. The episode seemed like a good entry point for someone like myself who hadn't watched it before and would be overwhelmed with the show's mythology that the show seems to have. I'll have to catch up with it on Hulu I guess this weekend.

Hibberd's interpretation of the early numbers (and predictions of how they'll be revised later on) are positive.

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I liked it. Maybe not the best of the series, but more enjoyable than most. I like seeing Olivia with the kid and I enjoyed the usual Walter and Pacey show. I'm also interested in where they'll go with the Fringe team vs. their CIA counterparts.

The Idol overrun didn't kill me, but it did have me scrambling at 10pm to try to get it back in the correct channel when the DVR flipped on me. It switched right as Olivia was realizing that this was the guy and I got it back in time to see them chasing after him. My question is: did the girl get away? If they mentioned it after that scene I totally missed it and obviously i didn't see what happened right when the guy bolted.

Also, randomly, Sara Gilbert was in the audience of AI and Lecy Goranson was on "Fringe". I was ready for another "Roseanne" alum at 10, but "Cupid" didn't come through for me.

WOW!! I am so glad you mentioned the overrun by Idol. It really made me angry and upset the whole DVR thing. I thought I was the only one. Clearly not the case!! Thanks, everyone, at least for commiserating!

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