FRINGE: Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman Tease the ‘Mind-Bending’ ‘Welcome to Westfield,’ Olivia’s Fate, the Lincoln-Olivia-Peter Triangle, Their Fans, and More
February 9, 2012 by Marisa Roffman
It’s hard to talk about Friday’s brand new episode of FRINGE, “Welcome to Westfield,” without spoiling too much, but at risk of over-hyping the hour, it’s safe to say it’s good. As in, canIhavethenextepisoderightnowplease?, good.
But again, at the risk of spoiling too much, I probably shouldn’t say much more.
Thankfully, FRINGE executive producers Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman were willing to tease a little bit about what viewers can expect from the hour, as well as just how dire September’s prediction for Olivia really was, Peter-Olivia-Lincoln, their awesome fans, and more…
The description for “Welcome to Westfield” — Peter, Olivia, and Walter get trapped together — is very interesting. Is it a bottle episode of sorts?
J.H. Wyman: No, no bottle episodes, but I think that one is going to go over really well. I really believe people are going to love that one.
Is there anything you can tease about it, specifically?
JW: It’s a fantastic episode, really mind-bending in the best FRINGE-ian kind of way. It’s going to answer a lot of mythological questions. It’s going to answer one very large mythological question, which we believe is of paramount importance, the answer to that question. It’s a big one as far as stakes are concerned.
Very interesting. You guys teased that answers are going to be coming in waves over the next few episodes. Is that going to come partially in the return of September?
Jeff Pinkner: September’s a piece of the puzzle, for sure.
Are we going to be finding out a little bit more about how he got shot and whether it was due to his actions in the season premiere?
JP: Without spoiling it, obviously the questions that are on your mind are the questions on everyone’s minds and we’re going to answer those questions and others and pose new ones. Hopefully like we always do.
Well, we did have his warning to Olivia that she had to die. Now, that sounds dire —
JP: It is!
But if you really think about it, everybody has to die eventually. Are we reading too much into this where he wants her to live forever, or is this a morbid thing where the message is, “You’re going to die soon.”
JW: The Observers, don’t forget, they’ve already experienced the future. It’s not an issue of him wanting her to live forever; he knows…there’s something tragic in the mail for her.
JP: It’s not like he’s saying, “Hey, you’ve got to age.”
That’s true. She just does not have the best luck. Everyone keeps wanting her dead or thinking she’s going to die.
JP: She’s a hero.
Yeah. Poor girl.
JW: She said as much [in last season’s “Lysergic Acid Diethylamide”]: ” I saw the man who is going to kill me.” So these things might be connected.
Would those two things still be connected in the new timeline?
JW: That’s what’s really interesting — fate and destiny and things like that, they cross timelines, they cross who knows, right?
Okay, then I have a super-nerdy question: If this man is destined to kill her, why did Walternate kill her in the future Peter saw?
JW: That’s another time.
JP: That future will never happen. What Peter did at the end of last season —
JW: Altered the course of it.
JP: — altered the course of events. Peter’s sacrifice, getting into the machine and ultimately disappearing from the timeline, was specifically to avoid that future.
JW: Don’t forget, there’s many different possibilities of the future, many different versions. So one of them, maybe Walternate kills her, in another one, maybe the guy from the Zeppelin kills her, in another one, she can get hit by a car, and in another one, she can miss that car, in other, she can pull a gun and shoot Walternate — there’s all kinds of different versions. It’s precarious.
Speaking of precarious, there’s this weird triangle forming with Peter, Olivia, and Lincoln. How is the triangle going to play out in the next batch of episodes?
JW: The struggle is being around someone that [looks like the person you love]…Peter knows what he’s destined for, and it’s not [this Olivia], and that’s difficult for him. She’s there and she’s serving as a painful reminder every time he sees her of what he’s missing and what’s waiting for him. Biologically and chemistry-wise, she’s the same girl, really, so it’s very difficult.
Him watching another person dealing with her on another level that might be construed as romantic is also hard. So, it’s there for a reason. You’re going to see — that’s what it’s designed for — to show us that, “Wow, I really want to be with her.” And ultimately, you just want him to get his Olivia back. And that’s the whole key. You will watch some painful moments and some beautiful moments and hopefully you’ll be down there with him with his struggle.
Are there moments for Peter and Olivia fans to look forward to outside of those dreams we’ve seen?
JW: Yeah. Like I’ve said, Jeff and I believe in Olivia and Peter. And we say it a lot, but the truth is a lot of people sort of doubt that. We’ve said it before, no great love story is worth telling without bumps in the road and a difficult journey. If it’s an easy journey, there’s no love story or it’s kind of boring. The harder it is for two people to end up together, the more satisfying it is for when they finally get there.
JP: If they get there.
Assuming they don’t get killed off by cartoon men, or their boyfriend’s biological father, or hit by a car.
JW: There are love stories that end beautifully, and there are love stories, like Romeo and Juliet, that end tragically. But they’re still love stories.
Oh gosh. FRINGE is going to make people cry this season, isn’t it?
JW: Let’s see. We hope you feel something, that’s all we care about.
I’m sure we will. Right now, there are a lot of open-ended storylines that we’ve been exploring this season — the Observer’s prediction for Olivia, David Robert Jones, etc. Are you planning on tying up those loose ends before Peter returns home or is it possible some of those threads will be left dangling?
JW: We don’t like to keep any threads hanging. We’re still endeavoring to answer threads from season one, which is really fun for us. There will be a lot of answers from season one that are hanging out there. We can definitely say that…we’re not interested in leaving any stone unturned or leaving anything hanging in the wind, because we’re telling these stories for a reason and every single thread has its purpose. We will pursue that accordingly.
Good to know. Any plans to dip into the Bad Robot pool of actors for another cameo spot, a la Jorge Garcia’s appearance last year?
JP: Maybe.
JW: Maybe. We’ll try it!
Obviously there’s been a lot of talk about the show’s future, with Fox President Kevin Reilly laying out that the show is losing the network money. It seems like the show’s fate may rest in the hands of Warner Bros. at this point, so is there something you think the fans should be doing? Or are you confident in where the fates are going to take you?
JP: No, we’re never confident about where the fates are going to take us.
JW: Making noise is the best thing.
JP: Look, again without being crass about it, watching the show live is the most important thing. The last couple weeks, the fans have been tweeting, causing FRINGE or FRINGE-related topics to trend worldwide during the airings of the show Friday nights, which is obviously incredibly flattering. The numbers have gone up, the DVR numbers continue to remain really solid and/or rising. And Fox sees that. So the short answer is, they’re well aware. Our fans are incredibly loyal. Watching live is obviously the most important thing. Joel and I will never come out and say, “Hey, please watch this show live,” because we know what people’s viewing habits are like.
JW: But if you don’t have a Nielsen box, it can have an adverse reaction, because if you watch it live and you don’t DVR, they take the DVR numbers away. So DVR and watch live.
And buy it off iTunes.
JW: [Joking] Yeah, do it all!
JP: Just trust us, I guess is really the answer. Trust us that we’re aware of the questions the audiences’ are asking; they will all be attended to. Just continue to support the show in all the awesome ways that you guys have been. If it weren’t for the fans we wouldn’t be able to tell these stories. And we’re so grateful…Just trust that the process works and we have great hope and confidence that we’ll continue to tell these stories for some time longer.
JW: It’s always nice…them being vocal is a good thing. They’re the greatest. We’re always amazed at their enthusiasm, love and support.
–
Guys, I know it’s easy to be skeptical that answers are coming, but I had the chance to screen “Welcome to Westfield” recently and they weren’t BS-ing when they said it’s big. This is one you’re going to want to watch yourselves, versus get spoiled on it, so you’ll all be tuning in Friday night at 9 pm on Fox, right?
Related:
FRINGE’s Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman: ‘Answers Are Coming Very Soon!’ Plus, Teases For the Astrid-Centric Hour, Episode 19, and More
FRINGE’s Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman: ‘Answers Are Coming Very Soon!’ Plus, Teases For the Astrid-Centric Hour, Episode 19, and More
FRINGE Exclusive First Look Photo: ‘Making Angels’
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Filed under #1 featured, Fringe
THIS SHOW. THESE PEOPLE. BEST OF THEM ALL.
oh Fringe, I will die without you!
I have never really cared for Sci Fi TV due to it not being realistic so therefore it never captivated my attention long enough to matter but Fringe has captivated me from day 1! This is absolutely the most amazingly brilliant show EVER to be put on TV! It is brilliantly composed & an intriguing and thought-provoking masterpiece! It has stretched the boundaries of reality and perception & when a show begins to feel this real, it is a wonder that the line between television and reality blurs. There could not have been a better cast to play these characters & the writers creativity is out of this world & just as you thought that the next episode couldn’t get any better, they always do on so many levels. I will ALWAYS be a hardcore obsessed & addicted Fringie!! MAY FRINGE LIVE ON FOREVER!!!!!!!!!
Once again thanks Marissa.
You get the best Fringe interviews.
Plus you really know how to stoke up my appetite for a Fringe episode.
One more sleep! Yay!
Thank You Marissa! You get really the best Fringe interviews!!!!! I agree completely with Jennifer above! I couldn´t put it in words any better!!! Personally I was always fan of scifi but still I was waiting so long for a scifi series that could really blow my mind and with Fringe I find it – as Jennifer said Fringe has stretched the boundaries of reality and perception and began to feel so real – scifi staff grounded in beautifull human emotions and relationships makes you think things like diffrent universes different timelines time travel are really possible it´s amazing!!!!! So I hope we will have the opportunity to dive into this incredible Fringe universe still for at least a couple of years!!!! I can´t watch Fringe live because I´m from Europe, which makes me sad because this genius show, genius producers and writers, and genius cast and crew must go on and I can´t do anything about the ratigs!!!!
Dear Mr. Pinkner and Dear Mr. Wyman – as a huge and dedicated Fringe fan ther is one thing I would be incredibly happy about and I think a lot of fans too – whwnever Fringe is going to end (hopefully Fringe stays around for a Long time) let the Peter Olivia love story end beautifully – after all these obstacles that no another TV couple have ever had to overcome and not knownig what fate has still in store for our favourite TWO I think the only satisfing payoff would be to see them FINALLY HAPPY TOGETHER – I think seeing Peter and Olivias story end like this of Romeo and Juliet -I couldn´t handle this, my heart would break into milion pieces!!!!!!!!!!!!But why must every good love story be a tragedy? – My only hope – this is Fringe – so imagine the IMPOSSIBILITIES!!! Greetings from Germany!:)
Great interview, the problem these guys have is that they promised a Peter season and that has no materialised. We are half way through and the Peter arc has not started and I doubt it will start. They have kind of shot themselves in the foot or painted themselves in the corner and no matter how great the story is, if it is not Peter as the central character….they have wasted some fans patience and trust.
Enjoyed 4.06′ 4.08, 4.09 and that is it. These guys are stuck in boring procedural mode and need to switch back to serialisation.
Surely this is all the Peter arc. It’s obvious to me that the driving force of the plot this season is Peter’s predicament, how he handles it, how (if) he resolves it and so on. Just don’t expect the show to turn into a One-Hero, only Peter has agency show. It isn’t like that and never has been. Olivia and Water are never going to stop being important, however much Peter fans might crave it. As for Peter/Olivia – yes, love it. But didn’t Peter in effect destroy his Olivia, and his Walter, and his universe when he entered the machine? Yes, it avoided the future killing of Olivia, and the rest of the disastrous future he saw, but it also altered the past in a way that made *his* Olivia *this* Olivia. That was the direct result of what he did. If he goes back to the old timeline, then the disastrous future remains and he will have the work of fixing it to do all over again.
I am not asking for a whole season but the have had 2 half episodes in 4.08 and 4.09 so really one episode in 11 that has dealt with Peter. Not much of an arc is it? Olivia had a fantastic arc last season and Walter one in season 2. It would not bother fans I suppose if the show runners did not lie and say Peter would have an arc, they really have lost respect.
I really love Fringe and I’ve never doubted the guys, I know they will answer the questions, but I want an extra season so there is no loose end, so please! If you have a Nielsen Box tune in for Fringe today and the rest of the season!
To Jacob :
Season 1 and 2 was all about the Bishops, Walter and Peter, season 2 most of the first half was with Peter central, he even replaced Charlie and sometimes Olivia, second half was more Walter, but still a lot of Peter, he was far more in the series then Olivia.
Season 3 first half until Marionette was around Anna Torv, not so much Olivia, as she was brainwashed and replaced, nothing about Olivia Dunham, her past, family etc.
Second half of season 3 was around Peter, his choices, his machine, wich Olivia etc. Olivia was reduced to an insecure woman her only storyline from 3.11 ws shall I go on my knees for Peter or not?
In The last Sam Weiss she had to have support from Walter, so insecure she was made.
And this is the great independent BAMF OLivia we got to know.
So please season 3 was not about Olivia, you are just repeating the same nonsense Josh Jackson says.
And because of that critics think he is the poor boy. strangely enough they also said at the end of 2010 after 3.09, that Pinkner had underused Anna Torv, and that she should have been central from the start, as Anna is an actress that can dra people in, already the way she looks into the camera, you feel waht she feels.
This season the protagonist is Peter, so we saw Olivia and Walter without Peter, and how they lives took a different direction without him in their lives.
Peter returns and it was about him except for one epi, and the response to him of Olivia and Walter.
If I read Jeff Pinkner correctly he is saying that we are supposed to see Peter struggle, because he wants to go back to his Olivia (strangely not his Walter?),
And that he looks at this Olivia longing for the one he thinks he belongs with.
But Peter shows nothing at all, so it must be because of the acting, I really see nothing of conflict, or longing in Peter, just boredom most of the time, and desinterest, may be they should tell Josh Jackson that he has it wrong?
If you compare that to Olivia brainwashed, even there we saw something and certainly when she knew who she was, and later her conflict if she would except being second choice.
That is because Anna Torvs brilliant acting, she shows you Olivia’s inner turmoil.
Same this season
I am not a fan of the Olivia and Peter thing:
First it does not fit the Olivia-character, someone with that background is more for shortterm relationships, and not for the romantic epic one.
Where would she have learned to trust men?
Second; Olivia started out as a very strong independent woman, very certain of herself, and thanks to Peter she became more and more dependent and needy and insecure.
Third It was Olivia saving Peter most of the time, even crossing universes, with almost death, but now we have to read over and over again from Pinkner and Jackson that Peter will always save Olivia?
So when did he do that? When the finale came, it was about saving the Universes, only since comic Con Peter has been made the superhero who erased himself for his big love.
That is unbelievable, even more because the same Josh Jackson has been in the media until after that finale saying how happy he was that the romantic crap was now gone.
And here we are, back at him being the hero for Olivia.
Well I certainly hope that Olivia is going to save herself from mr. X, and Nina etc, Olivia is too great a character to reduce her to peters girl and victim to be savend by Peter.
BTW. Are we ever going to learn more about Olivia Dunham, her childhood, father, mother, abuse etc????
“BTW. Are we ever going to learn more about Olivia Dunham, her childhood, father, mother, abuse etc????”
NO! Because the show is not the Olivia Dunham Show. It’s about fringe events and our three characters and their relationships to each other. If you want the Olivia Dunham Show, go write some fanfics for yourself.
“Great interview, the problem these guys have is that they promised a Peter season and that has no materialised.”
It goes to show you should never believe, what showrunners say. Ever. Whatever they say at any given moment is what they think the fans need to hear. They promised a Peter season, because that’s what a large part of the fandom had been demanding for a long time. That doesn’t mean they feel bound by their promises, as this season has shown. I hope all those disappointed Peter fans learned their lesson.
Oh I have, definitely have. Never trust show runners is an excellent recommendation, especially these two since most of what they say are lies.
watch Fring live tonight. we need a season 5.
@ input
RELAX will you?, just enjoy the show.
anna torv is the LEAD, no matter what.
and after fringe, she is going to be the ONLY one with a CAREER.
she has everything going for her: the looks, the talent, so dont stress out.
you never going to hear about joshua jackson after fringe, he will diappear from the spotlights. so give the guy his 15 minutes of fame on fringe. let him talk and say whatever he wants. after fringe nobody will see or hear him afterall.
if the showrunners saw some talent in josh, if they believed he could pull it off, they would have given him his own arc.
but they dont, they dont see the same potential like, they see in anna.
im 100% that anna torv will be the next nicole kidman or naomi watts of this generation.
after a couple of years you will probably see anna torv sitting at the roundtable interviews for the golden globe and oscars.
and than she will be like ; josh who?
at that time in her life , the show fringe will be a sweet memory; her first acting job in the states.
but josh will still be rememberd for this show: being the plot device aka pacey.
it’s ironic no? when the show first started nobody knew anna or john, all eyes were on josh. but now, the tables have turned…
i ‘m 100
Fringe is completely incredible! I love this show!
will there ever be a Fringe movie, like there was in the day of the X-Files?
Why does every Fringe article bring out the idiot trolls who hate Josh/Anna?
@paladin24
Because they are both crazy and they are trolling everywhere. 🙁
This was a great interview and love the line “canIhavethenextepisoderightnowplease” You absolutely want to keep watching after the end of the show! Love how the different worlds keep seeping into each other. This was one of the best episodes of the season. Thanks for the advice about watching it live. At some point would love to see a diagram outlining the plots of all the worlds.
I love fringe, for me is a great telefilm. Amo Fringe!!!
People are saying that Josh Jackson has crazy fans, and really it’s only one, but Anna has some crazy ones as well, like TOTALLY crazy.
Input, I don”t even know why you bother to read any interviews from the producers or even the cast because you distort what they say to
fit what you think is this great disservice to Anna Torv. There has never been any disservice to Anna Torv. She’s continually gets more airtime than any other character on the show since day 1 and she’s gotten recognition for her performance since season 2. So, the pity party for Anna Torv is all in your head. I can think of other actors on the show who I would think have been hard done by. Anna isn’t one of them.
The writers/producers write the show that they want to write and despite what you think the actors don’t come into it. Josh had a little input into the end of season 3, but ultimately it’s the writers show and they have been saying that over and over since they wrote the end of season 3. So, if you have a problem with what went down at the end of season 3 and this season then blame them.
This is an interview that was about what was coming, so if you read the interview you would know it hasn’t aired yet. Not sure how you can comment on something you haven’t seen yet.
The constant need for Anna fans above to put down the other actors performance on the show is really sad and sick. Unfortunately ,it’s not just here it’s everywhere.