Annoyingly, Fringe is no longer accessible through IMDB.com directly. It is necessary to go to Amazon Prime Video.
I don't know if this situation is intended to be permanent.
It took me at least 45 minutes to figure this out.
I bought all 5 seasons on DVD from an eBay vendor. I can't remember how much I paid but it was remarkably cheap. You can find a lot of DVD's and CD's for next to nothing online these days.
I'm now late into the 4th season, in the episode set in the future, Letters of Transit. Some have complained about the shift to the future in the 5th season, but this had been foreshadowed as early as the third season with the description of The First People.
Anyway, the shift to the future serves to elucidate the nature and purpose of the Observers. September seems to have been the only, or one of the only, truly good Observer. Also, if it were not for the shift to the future which enabled the completion of all the earlier arcs of the series, Fringe would have ended with the 4th season.
Since the notion of The First People had been introduced in the 3rd season, I suspect that J.J. Abrams, et. al. had anticipated the unfolding of the series storyline, up to its finale, for some time.
I got the entire series 2 years for christmas,
when watching it all at once, it was pretty clear watching it that they had most if not all of it planned out from the start
I got the entire series 2 years for christmas,
when watching it all at once, it was pretty clear watching it that they had most if not all of it planned out from the start
Here's a quote from Quora corroborating your conclusion:
On the the interviews on the DVDs the creators said that they had everything fairly worked out in advance. They even had endings set up for each season should the show be abruptly canceled or not renewed for some reason.
After watching further, I must echo your assessment, only without the "almost seemed." The alternate universe Olivia was definitely more balanced and happier than the original version.
Well, I finished watching the entire series. I'm happy to say that Fringe is one of the very best TV series I have even seen. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have no problems with the 5th season's taking place in the future. It was a coherent move in light of earlier developments. I was also emotionally satisfied with the ending, despite the explanation behind it being somewhat shaky.
It seemed awfully risky to bank everything on the Observers of 2069 behaving in just the desired way upon coming face to face with Michael. One would suppose that they would be capable of quite a range of responses, not all of them good from the standpoint of humans living in 2012/2013. I guess we have to trust in Michael's precognitive capabilities.
Although I'm puzzled and a little disappointed that I apparently didn't know about the show during its run, there are positives to being able to binge watch it through streaming: Hi-res, the ability to start and stop at will, the opportunity to research various characters, etc.
Next up, Smallville. I was aware of this show during its long, successful run, but back then I had an irrational prejudice against it, and never even took a peek. I somehow considered it regressive to focus on Superman's youth. But I've since outgrown that bias, and look forward to finally seeing it.
Well, I finished watching the entire series. I'm happy to say that Fringe is one of the very best TV series I have even seen. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have no problems with the 5th season's taking place in the future. It was a coherent move in light of earlier developments. I was also emotionally satisfied with the ending, despite the explanation behind it being somewhat shaky.
It seemed awfully risky to bank everything on the Observers of 2069 behaving in just the desired way upon coming face to face with Michael. One would suppose that they would be capable of quite a range of responses, not all of them good from the standpoint of humans living in 2012/2013. I guess we have to trust in Michael's precognitive capabilities.
Although I'm puzzled and a little disappointed that I apparently didn't know about the show during its run, there are positives to being able to binge watch it through streaming: Hi-res, the ability to start and stop at will, the opportunity to research various characters, etc.
Next up, Smallville. I was aware of this show during its long, successful run, but back then I had an irrational prejudice against it, and never even took a peek. I somehow considered it regressive to focus on Superman's youth. But I've since outgrown that bias, and look forward to finally seeing it.