List of Fringe episodes

Fringe is an American science fiction television series that originally aired on the Fox network from September 9, 2008, to January 18, 2013.^[1][2] The series follows the Fringe Team as it investigates bizarre scientific occurrences related to "The Pattern", a string of freak, fringe science–related incidents worldwide. The team consists of FBI special agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), eccentric scientist Walter Bishop (John Noble) and his genius son Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson), as well as others at the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.^[3] The series' narrative evolves and it later centers on a parallel universe and then on the mysterious Observers – a group of expressionless, pale, bald men in suits who have appeared throughout documented human history at significant historical events.^[4]

Fringe was created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci.^[5][6] They took inspiration from multiple sources including the works of Michael Crichton and David Cronenberg, the film Altered States, and the television series The X-Files and The Twilight Zone.^[7][8] The three also sought to combine elements of procedural shows like Law & Order with an "extremely serialized and very culty" series like Lost, which Abrams co-created.^[9] Fringe's pilot episode was picked up by Fox in May 2008,^[10][11] and premiered on September 9.^[12][13] Critics hailed the series as a successor to Lost,^[14] as the two shared many similarities including Abrams' involvement, characters exploring a series of unexplained events, the use of many of the same actors and writers, and the difficulty in categorizing each show within just one genre.^[15] Explored themes in Fringe include free will, the potential benefits and risks of emerging technologies, the nature of time, and the differences that separate faith and reason.^[16]

The series was broadcast across five seasons and 100 episodes.^[17] Its first season included 20 episodes,^[18] while its second contained 23 installments,^[19] though one of these, "Unearthed", was filmed during the first season.^[20] The third and fourth seasons contained 22 episodes,^[21][22] while the fifth featured thirteen installments.^[23] Fringe's ratings started strongly with a weekly episode average of 8.8 million, achieving first place in the 18–49 adult demographic among the 2008–09 television season's new shows. In addition to these solid ratings,^[3] the first season garnered a generally favorable critical reception.^[24] Later seasons gradually suffered a decrease in ratings—the series finale being watched by just 3.2 million viewers—though the series did develop a cult following.^[15][25] Entertainment Weekly conjectures that despite its ratings decline, Fringe survived for five seasons in part because of Fox executive Kevin Reilly's love of the series, and also due to the network's desire to make amends for the science fiction shows it had previously canceled.^[26]

Across its run the series earned many accolades, though it failed to win major awards.^[27] At the Television Critics Awards, Fringe earned a 2009 award that designated it "Outstanding New Program of the Year".^[28] Fringe won seven Saturn Awards among fifteen nominations; from 2009–11, Torv won for Best Actress on Television,^[29][30][31] while Noble won for Best Supporting Actor on Television in 2010.^[30] Noble won a similar award at the 2011 Critics' Choice Television Awards, where the series and Torv also received nominations.^[32] Additionally, the series received nominations for two Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards,^[27] eight Golden Reel Awards,^[33][34][35] two Satellite Awards,^[36] and two Writers Guild of America Awards.^[37]

Series overview

Season	Episodes		Originally released		Average viewership (in millions)
			First released	Last released
1	20		September 9, 2008 (2008-09-09)	May 12, 2009 (2009-05-12)	10.02[38]
2	23		September 17, 2009 (2009-09-17)	May 20, 2010 (2010-05-20)	6.25[39]
3	22		September 23, 2010 (2010-09-23)	May 6, 2011 (2011-05-06)	5.83[40]
4	22		September 23, 2011 (2011-09-23)	May 11, 2012 (2012-05-11)	4.22[41]
5	13		September 28, 2012 (2012-09-28)	January 18, 2013 (2013-01-18)	4.27[42]

Episodes

Season 1 (2008–09)

Main article: Fringe season 1

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Prod. code	US viewers (millions)
1	1	"Pilot"	Alex Graves	J. J. Abrams & Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci	September 9, 2008 (2008-09-09)	276038	9.13[43]
2	2	"The Same Old Story"	Paul Edwards	Jeff Pinkner & J. J. Abrams & Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci	September 16, 2008 (2008-09-16)	3T7651	13.27[44]
3	3	"The Ghost Network"	Frederick E. O. Toye	David H. Goodman & J. R. Orci	September 23, 2008 (2008-09-23)	3T7652	9.42[45]
4	4	"The Arrival"	Paul Edwards	J. J. Abrams & Jeff Pinkner	September 30, 2008 (2008-09-30)	3T7653	9.91[46]
5	5	"Power Hungry"	Christopher Misiano	Jason Cahill & Julia Cho	October 14, 2008 (2008-10-14)	3T7654	9.16[47]
6	6	"The Cure"	Bill Eagles	Felicia D. Henderson & Brad Caleb Kane	October 21, 2008 (2008-10-21)	3T7655	8.91[48]
7	7	"In Which We Meet Mr. Jones"	Brad Anderson	J. J. Abrams & Jeff Pinkner	November 11, 2008 (2008-11-11)	3T7656	8.61[49]
8	8	"The Equation"	Gwyneth Horder-Payton	J. R. Orci & David H. Goodman	November 18, 2008 (2008-11-18)	3T7657	9.18[50]
9	9	"The Dreamscape"	Frederick E. O. Toye	Zack Whedon & Julia Cho	November 25, 2008 (2008-11-25)	3T7658	7.70[51]
10	10	"Safe"	Michael Zinberg	David H. Goodman & Jason Cahill	December 2, 2008 (2008-12-02)	3T7659	8.54[52]
11	11	"Bound"	Frederick E. O. Toye	J. J. Abrams & Jeff Pinkner & Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci	January 20, 2009 (2009-01-20)	3T7660	11.96[53]
12	12	"The No-Brainer"	John Polson	David H. Goodman & Brad Caleb Kane	January 27, 2009 (2009-01-27)	3T7661	11.62[54]
13	13	"The Transformation"	Brad Anderson	Zack Whedon & J. R. Orci	February 3, 2009 (2009-02-03)	3T7662	12.78[55]
14	14	"Ability"	Norberto Barba	Story by : Glen Whitman & Robert Chiappetta Teleplay by : David H. Goodman	February 10, 2009 (2009-02-10)	3T7663	9.83[56]
15	15	"Inner Child"	Frederick E. O. Toye	Brad Caleb Kane & Julia Cho	April 7, 2009 (2009-04-07)	3T7664	9.88[57]
16	16	"Unleashed"	Brad Anderson	Zack Whedon & J. R. Orci	April 14, 2009 (2009-04-14)	3T7665	10.15[58]
17	17	"Bad Dreams"	Akiva Goldsman	Akiva Goldsman	April 21, 2009 (2009-04-21)	3T7666	9.89[59]
18	18	"Midnight"	Bobby Roth	J. H. Wyman & Andrew Kreisberg	April 28, 2009 (2009-04-28)	3T7667	9.62[60]
19	19	"The Road Not Taken"	Frederick E. O. Toye	Story by : Akiva Goldsman Teleplay by : Jeff Pinkner & J. R. Orci	May 5, 2009 (2009-05-05)	3T7668	9.25[61]
20	20	"There's More Than One of Everything"	Brad Anderson	Story by : Akiva Goldsman & Bryan Burk Teleplay by : Jeff Pinkner & J. H. Wyman	May 12, 2009 (2009-05-12)	3T7669	9.28[62]

Season 2 (2009–10)

Main article: Fringe season 2

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Prod. code	US viewers (millions)
21	1	"A New Day in the Old Town"	Akiva Goldsman	J. J. Abrams & Akiva Goldsman	September 17, 2009 (2009-09-17)	3X5101	7.82[63]
22	2	"Night of Desirable Objects"	Brad Anderson	Jeff Pinkner & J. H. Wyman	September 24, 2009 (2009-09-24)	3X5102	5.73[64]
23	3	"Fracture"	Bryan Spicer	David Wilcox	October 1, 2009 (2009-10-01)	3X5103	6.03[65]
24	4	"Momentum Deferred"	Joe Chappelle	Zack Stentz & Ashley Edward Miller	October 8, 2009 (2009-10-08)	3X5104	5.83[66]
25	5	"Dream Logic"	Paul Edwards	Josh Singer	October 15, 2009 (2009-10-15)	3X5105	5.78[67]
26	6	"Earthling"	Jon Cassar	J. H. Wyman & Jeff Vlaming	November 5, 2009 (2009-11-05)	3X5106	4.86[68]
27	7	"Of Human Action"	Joe Chappelle	Robert Chiappetta & Glen Whitman	November 12, 2009 (2009-11-12)	3X5107	5.91[69]
28	8	"August"	Dennis Smith	J. H. Wyman & Jeff Pinkner	November 19, 2009 (2009-11-19)	3X5108	5.90[70]
29	9	"Snakehead"	Paul Holahan	David Wilcox	December 3, 2009 (2009-12-03)	3X5109	6.94[71]
30	10	"Grey Matters"	Jeannot Szwarc	Ashley Edward Miller & Zack Stentz	December 10, 2009 (2009-12-10)	3X5110	6.32[72]
31	11	"Unearthed"	Frederick E. O. Toye	David H. Goodman & Andrew Kreisberg	January 11, 2010 (2010-01-11)	3T7670	7.72[73]
32	12	"Johari Window"	Joe Chappelle	Josh Singer	January 14, 2010 (2010-01-14)	3X5111	6.60[74]
33	13	"What Lies Below"	Deran Sarafian	Jeff Vlaming	January 21, 2010 (2010-01-21)	3X5112	6.90[75]
34	14	"The Bishop Revival"	Adam Davidson	Glen Whitman & Robert Chiappetta	January 28, 2010 (2010-01-28)	3X5113	8.90[76]
35	15	"Jacksonville"	Charles Beeson	Ashley Edward Miller & Zack Stentz	February 4, 2010 (2010-02-04)	3X5114	7.40[77]
36	16	"Peter"	David Straiton	Story by : J. H. Wyman & Jeff Pinkner & Akiva Goldsman & Josh Singer Teleplay by : Jeff Pinkner & J. H. Wyman & Josh Singer	April 1, 2010 (2010-04-01)	3X5115	5.97[78]
37	17	"Olivia. In the Lab. With the Revolver."	Brad Anderson	Matthew Pitts	April 8, 2010 (2010-04-08)	3X5116	6.33[79]
38	18	"White Tulip"	Thomas Yatsko	J. H. Wyman & Jeff Vlaming	April 15, 2010 (2010-04-15)	3X5117	6.62[80]
39	19	"The Man from the Other Side"	Jeffrey Hunt	Josh Singer & Ethan Gross	April 22, 2010 (2010-04-22)	3X5118	5.84[81]
40	20	"Brown Betty"	Seith Mann	Jeff Pinkner & J. H. Wyman & Akiva Goldsman	April 29, 2010 (2010-04-29)	3X5119	5.55[82]
41	21	"Northwest Passage"	Joe Chappelle	Ashley Edward Miller & Zack Stentz & Nora Zuckerman & Lilla Zuckerman	May 6, 2010 (2010-05-06)	3X5120	5.82[83]
42	22	"Over There (Part 1)"	Akiva Goldsman	J. H. Wyman & Jeff Pinkner & Akiva Goldsman	May 13, 2010 (2010-05-13)	3X5121	6.00[84]
43	23	"Over There (Part 2)"	Akiva Goldsman	Jeff Pinkner & J. H. Wyman & Akiva Goldsman	May 20, 2010 (2010-05-20)	3X5122	5.68[85]

Season 3 (2010–11)

Main article: Fringe season 3

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Prod. code	US viewers (millions)
44	1	"Olivia"	Joe Chappelle	J. H. Wyman & Jeff Pinkner	September 23, 2010 (2010-09-23)	3X6101	5.83[86]
45	2	"The Box"	Jeffrey Hunt	Josh Singer & Graham Roland	September 30, 2010 (2010-09-30)	3X6102	5.24[87]
46	3	"The Plateau"	Brad Anderson	Alison Schapker & Monica Owusu-Breen	October 7, 2010 (2010-10-07)	3X6103	5.19[88]
47	4	"Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?"	Ken Fink	David Wilcox & Matthew Pitts	October 14, 2010 (2010-10-14)	3X6104	5.22[89]
48	5	"Amber 31422"	David Straiton	Josh Singer & Ethan Gross	November 4, 2010 (2010-11-04)	3X6105	4.80[90]
49	6	"6955 kHz"	Joe Chappelle	Robert Chiappetta & Glen Whitman	November 11, 2010 (2010-11-11)	3X6106	4.82[91]
50	7	"The Abducted"	Chuck Russell	David Wilcox & Graham Roland	November 18, 2010 (2010-11-18)	3X6107	4.85[92]
51	8	"Entrada"	Brad Anderson	Jeff Pinkner & J. H. Wyman	December 2, 2010 (2010-12-02)	3X6108	5.13[93]
52	9	"Marionette"	Joe Chappelle	Monica Owusu-Breen & Alison Schapker	December 9, 2010 (2010-12-09)	3X6109	4.74[94]
53	10	"The Firefly"	Charles Beeson	J. H. Wyman & Jeff Pinkner	January 21, 2011 (2011-01-21)	3X6110	4.87[95]
54	11	"Reciprocity"	Jeannot Szwarc	Josh Singer	January 28, 2011 (2011-01-28)	3X6111	4.53[96]
55	12	"Concentrate and Ask Again"	Dennis Smith	Graham Roland & Matthew Pitts	February 4, 2011 (2011-02-04)	3X6112	4.26[97]
56	13	"Immortality"	Brad Anderson	David Wilcox & Ethan Gross	February 11, 2011 (2011-02-11)	3X6113	3.74[98]
57	14	"6B"	Thomas Yatsko	Glen Whitman & Robert Chiappetta	February 18, 2011 (2011-02-18)	3X6114	4.02[99]
58	15	"Subject 13"	Frederick E. O. Toye	Jeff Pinkner & J. H. Wyman & Akiva Goldsman	February 25, 2011 (2011-02-25)	3X6115	4.02[100]
59	16	"Os"	Brad Anderson	Josh Singer & Graham Roland	March 11, 2011 (2011-03-11)	3X6116	3.64[101]
60	17	"Stowaway"	Charles Beeson	Story by : J. H. Wyman & Jeff Pinkner & Akiva Goldsman Teleplay by : Danielle Dispaltro	March 18, 2011 (2011-03-18)	3X6117	3.80[102]
61	18	"Bloodline"	Dennis Smith	Alison Schapker & Monica Owusu-Breen	March 25, 2011 (2011-03-25)	3X6118	3.84[103]
62	19	"Lysergic Acid Diethylamide"	Joe Chappelle	Story by : Jeff Pinkner & J. H. Wyman & Akiva Goldsman Teleplay by : J. H. Wyman & Jeff Pinkner	April 15, 2011 (2011-04-15)	3X6119	3.65[104]
63	20	"6:02 AM EST"	Jeannot Szwarc	David Wilcox & Josh Singer & Graham Roland	April 22, 2011 (2011-04-22)	3X6120	3.33[105]
64	21	"The Last Sam Weiss"	Thomas Yatsko	Monica Owusu-Breen & Alison Schapker	April 29, 2011 (2011-04-29)	3X6121	3.52[106]
65	22	"The Day We Died"	Joe Chappelle	Story by : Akiva Goldsman & J. H. Wyman & Jeff Pinkner Teleplay by : Jeff Pinkner & J. H. Wyman	May 6, 2011 (2011-05-06)	3X6122	3.29[107]

Season 4 (2011–12)

Main article: Fringe season 4

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Prod. code	US viewers (millions)
66	1	"Neither Here Nor There"	Joe Chappelle	Story by : Jeff Pinkner & J. H. Wyman & Akiva Goldsman Teleplay by : J. H. Wyman & Jeff Pinkner	September 23, 2011 (2011-09-23)	3X7001	3.48[108]
67	2	"One Night in October"	Brad Anderson	Alison Schapker & Monica Owusu-Breen	September 30, 2011 (2011-09-30)	3X7002	3.05[109]
68	3	"Alone in the World"	Miguel Sapochnik	David Fury	October 7, 2011 (2011-10-07)	3X7003	3.18[110]
69	4	"Subject 9"	Joe Chappelle	Jeff Pinkner & J. H. Wyman & Akiva Goldsman	October 14, 2011 (2011-10-14)	3X7004	3.16[111]
70	5	"Novation"	Paul Holahan	J. R. Orci & Graham Roland	November 4, 2011 (2011-11-04)	3X7005	3.21[112]
71	6	"And Those We've Left Behind"	Brad Anderson	Robert Chiappetta & Glen Whitman	November 11, 2011 (2011-11-11)	3X7006	3.03[113]
72	7	"Wallflower"	Anthony Hemingway	Matthew Pitts & Justin Doble	November 18, 2011 (2011-11-18)	3X7007	2.88[114]
73	8	"Back to Where You've Never Been"	Jeannot Szwarc	David Fury & Graham Roland	January 13, 2012 (2012-01-13)	3X7008	2.87[115]
74	9	"Enemy of My Enemy"	Joe Chappelle	Monica Owusu-Breen & Alison Schapker	January 20, 2012 (2012-01-20)	3X7009	3.19[116]
75	10	"Forced Perspective"	David Solomon	Ethan Gross	January 27, 2012 (2012-01-27)	3X7010	3.33[117]
76	11	"Making Angels"	Charles Beeson	Akiva Goldsman & J. H. Wyman & Jeff Pinkner	February 3, 2012 (2012-02-03)	3X7011	3.20[118]
77	12	"Welcome to Westfield"	David Straiton	J. R. Orci & Graham Roland	February 10, 2012 (2012-02-10)	3X7012	3.05[119]
78	13	"A Better Human Being"	Joe Chappelle	Story by : Glen Whitman & Robert Chiappetta Teleplay by : Alison Schapker & Monica Owusu-Breen	February 17, 2012 (2012-02-17)	3X7013	3.00[120]
79	14	"The End of All Things"	Jeff Hunt	David Fury	February 24, 2012 (2012-02-24)	3X7014	3.08[121]
80	15	"A Short Story About Love"	J. H. Wyman	J. H. Wyman & Graham Roland	March 23, 2012 (2012-03-23)	3X7015	2.87[122]
81	16	"Nothing As It Seems"	Frederick E. O. Toye	Jeff Pinkner & Akiva Goldsman	March 30, 2012 (2012-03-30)	3X7016	3.08[123]
82	17	"Everything in Its Right Place"	David Moxness	Story by : J. R. Orci & Matthew Pitts Teleplay by : David Fury & J. R. Orci	April 6, 2012 (2012-04-06)	3X7017	3.01[124]
83	18	"The Consultant"	Jeannot Szwarc	Christine Lavaf	April 13, 2012 (2012-04-13)	3X7018	2.84[125]
84	19	"Letters of Transit"	Joe Chappelle	Akiva Goldsman & J. H. Wyman & Jeff Pinkner	April 20, 2012 (2012-04-20)	3X7019	3.03[126]
85	20	"Worlds Apart"	Charles Beeson	Story by : Graham Roland Teleplay by : Matthew Pitts & Nicole Phillips	April 27, 2012 (2012-04-27)	3X7020	3.09[127]
86	21	"Brave New World (Part 1)"	Joe Chappelle	J. H. Wyman & Jeff Pinkner & Akiva Goldsman	May 4, 2012 (2012-05-04)	3X7021	2.73[128]
87	22	"Brave New World (Part 2)"	Joe Chappelle	Jeff Pinkner & J. H. Wyman & Akiva Goldsman	May 11, 2012 (2012-05-11)	3X7022	3.11[129]

Season 5 (2012–13)

Main article: Fringe season 5

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	Prod. code	US viewers (millions)
88	1	"Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11"	Jeannot Szwarc Miguel Sapochnik	J. H. Wyman	September 28, 2012 (2012-09-28)	3X7501	3.12[130]
89	2	"In Absentia"	Jeannot Szwarc	J. H. Wyman & David Fury	October 5, 2012 (2012-10-05)	3X7502	2.98[131]
90	3	"The Recordist"	Jeff T. Thomas	Graham Roland	October 12, 2012 (2012-10-12)	3X7503	2.64[132]
91	4	"The Bullet That Saved the World"	David Straiton	Alison Schapker	October 26, 2012 (2012-10-26)	3X7504	2.55[133]
92	5	"An Origin Story"	P. J. Pesce	J. H. Wyman	November 2, 2012 (2012-11-02)	3X7505	2.58[134]
93	6	"Through the Looking Glass and What Walter Found There"	Jon Cassar	David Fury	November 9, 2012 (2012-11-09)	3X7506	2.47[135]
94	7	"Five-Twenty-Ten"	Eagle Egilsson	Graham Roland	November 16, 2012 (2012-11-16)	3X7507	2.70[136]
95	8	"The Human Kind"	Dennis Smith	Alison Schapker	December 7, 2012 (2012-12-07)	3X7508	2.71[137]
96	9	"Black Blotter"	Tommy Gormley	Kristin Cantrell	December 14, 2012 (2012-12-14)	3X7509	3.12[138]
97	10	"Anomaly XB-6783746"	Jeffrey Hunt	David Fury	December 21, 2012 (2012-12-21)	3X7510	3.02[139]
98	11	"The Boy Must Live"	Paul Holahan	Graham Roland	January 11, 2013 (2013-01-11)	3X7511	2.44[140]
99	12	"Liberty"	P. J. Pesce	Alison Schapker	January 18, 2013 (2013-01-18)	3X7512	3.28[141]
100	13	"An Enemy of Fate"	J. H. Wyman	J. H. Wyman	January 18, 2013 (2013-01-18)	3X7513	3.28[141]

Ratings

Season		Episode number
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23
	1	9.13	13.27	9.42	9.91	9.16	8.91	8.61	9.18	7.70	8.54	11.96	11.62	12.78	9.83	9.88	10.15	9.89	9.62	9.25	9.28	–
	2	7.82	5.73	6.03	5.83	5.78	4.86	5.91	5.90	6.94	6.32	7.72	6.60	6.90	8.90	7.40	5.97	6.33	6.62	5.84	5.55	5.82	6.00	5.68
	3	5.93	5.24	5.19	5.22	4.80	4.82	4.85	5.13	4.74	4.87	4.53	4.26	3.74	4.02	4.02	3.64	3.80	3.84	3.65	3.33	3.52	3.29	–
	4	3.48	3.05	3.18	3.16	3.21	3.03	2.88	2.87	3.19	3.33	3.20	3.05	3.00	3.08	2.87	3.08	3.01	2.84	3.03	3.09	2.73	3.11	–
	5	3.12	2.98	2.64	2.55	2.58	2.47	2.70	2.71	3.12	3.02	2.44	3.28	3.28	–

Fringe : U.S. viewers per episode (millions)

Audience measurement performed by Nielsen Media Research^[142]

See also