Fringe: Season 4
  • Network: FOX
  • Series Premiere Date: Sep 9, 2008
  • Season #: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5
User Score
8.1 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 118 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 106 out of 118
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 118
  3. Negative: 9 out of 118

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  1. DarthKate8215
    Jun 5, 2012
    3
    Funny how the worse the show gets, the more rabid the last of its fanbase becomes. Fringe peaked early in season three but the writers soon forgot what the main draw of their show was. Bell's warning of the "last great storm" and Olivia having to grow into her destiny as the "guardian" have been all but forgotten. Season four is a clusterf*ck of uncompelling "will-they-wont-they" drama mixed with terribly lazy plot devices and forced character derailment all in the name of forcing a completely juvenile "power of love" theme down the audience's throat as if the show was a freaking Nick Jr. program. Furthermore, some of the most compelling mysteries of the series are either dropped completely or answered with pathetic handwaves so that the showrunners can set up season five's generic-dystopian-fascist-state plot (which came right the hell out of nowhere with no development or buildup). You know you have a serious writing problem when the presence of the brilliant Leonard Nimoy actually makes your story worse. The alternate timeline was ultimately a baffling and pointless addition to the show. Fringe has transformed from smart compelling sci-fi series, with respect for its audience, into a petty ham-fisted joke, worthy only of the few codependent shippers who still defend it.… Expand
  2. Stabs_with_Pudz
    Jan 16, 2013
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. SEASON 4 - It went from extremely good to extremely bad, the ratings have plummeted and with it, the show's budget and the writers' & actors' talents.
    The 1st of many mistakes it made was when when they completely re wrote the show leaving a lot of plot holes in its wake. Everything we knew about the show is instantly changed and for the worse by the looks of it - William Bell apparently was killed in a car crash, They never went to Edina, David Robert Jones is still alive (seriously they brought back past enemies!), Rachael never broke up with her husband. The plot holes that it leaves are these:
    How does Olivia get kidnapped and swapped when the reason the gang went to the other universe was to bring Peter home when Peter wasn't even there to begin with, why would they go in the first place? Another would be: How did they operate the Bridge when it requires Peter to operate it? Why would Frankie still break up with Alternate Olivia when there was no pregnancy? How did Olivia get Walter out of St Clare's when it requires a family member to get him out!
    2nd mistake - Another thing that has taken a turn for the worse are the massive coincidences it has when 2 unrelated characters meet - in this case Nina Sharp and Olivia. I find it completely ridiculous how Nina ends up adopting Olivia and Rachael when they were kids, they are completely separate characters with no history and only met for the first time in the pilot yet coincidentally they end up meeting! LIKE COME ON! REALLY!?! another is the fact that Our universe Lincoln Lee ends up running into Fringe Division... again, really?! Other far fetched coincidences include the bad guys like: Nina turns out to be evil... oh no it actually turns out to be the alternate Nina Sharp working for David Robert Jones who was never sliced in half and made it the other side... but wait! What's this? It turns out David Robert Jones is actually working for William Bell who has been alive the whole time. But wait William Bell is actually evil and wants to destroy both universes and create his own universe ERMAHGAWD the horror! see what i mean, its so stupid?
    3rd mistake: half way during the season the writers try to cover their asses by making Olivia remember Peter and the old timeline randomly. Olivia's memories start changing but she doesn't care because she's in love with Peter apparently, if my entire life was being erased with a new one i would want to keep my old life but no, Olivia wants to keep the new memories because she is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO in love with Peter... (thats bullcrap)
    4th mistake are the ridiculous far-fetched stories.
    The science behind Fringe has always been a bit far fetched but a lot of it is actually possible and the characters can intelligently explain it and a lot of it actually looks cool. Except in season 4 the writer's must have run out of ideas and have started making stuff up! Like one episode it shows an invisible person stealing people's colour.... come on really?! is that the best you can think of?!
    5th mistake: Changing the logic behind Cortexiphan See Cortexiphan is the drug that Walter and William tested the kids with in 1985. See the human brain actually has limitless power and capabilities at birth including the abilities of Telekinesis, pyrokinesis, tissue regeneration & travelling between universes but as the brain gets older it starts to go through limitation and the abilities eventually fade as the person reaches adulthood, what Cortexiphan does is stop limitation so the person can keep the abilities and use them, but Cortexiphan can't reverse limitation. But series 4 treats it as if it can strengthen the effects and the powers of the person which just completely contradicts everything said in the 1st two seasons.
    Another aspect of Fringe that has suffered is the special effects and CGI, with the slashed budget from miserable ratings the special fx has suffered, some of it does look ok but a fair bit of it looks bad and takes some of the thrill out of the show.
    Without the clever writing and snazzy effects to distract us we see the true flaws of the acting (to sum it up) Joshua Jackson can't act to save his life (sorry), Anna Torv's acting is bland, most of her dialogue is said with little emotion especially during emotional scenes, Blair Brown's acting has gone south also - like I said with Anna, bland dialogue..... The only episode I did like was the episode that was set in 2036 when we got a break from the god awful plot line.
    So basically Season 4 is a pretty rubbish season and its good to know that Season 5 has improved on it.    … Expand

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  1. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ken Tucker
    Sep 19, 2011
    91
    If you think Fringe has forgotten anything in its history/mythology, you underestimate these wily master producers.
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