The panel discussion at the July 2012 Comic Con in San Diego started with a trailer for the last season indicating the pending battle with the Observers will keep us riveted (click here for the trailer and panel discussion).
Here are some of the items covered in the discussion, though none is key to the series itself but rather fun notes on the people behind the show:
-- Joshua Jackson (Peter Bishop) said the 13-episode renewal for the fifth and last season was a "happy surprise." He also noted that he "aspires to the nobility" of Peter's character. Later in the discussion he said his favorite episodes were with Lincoln and alt-Lincoln, played by Seth Gabel
-- Jasika Nichole (Astrid Farnsworth) discussed her growing role in season one that cemented her position in the series. She noted that one of her favorite scenes was when Walter was at a phone booth and he could not remember the number for Peter.
-- Lance Reddick (Phillip Broyles) demonstrated that he can smile. He also became a little emotional when he discussed one of his favorite episodes, showing the steely agent has a softer side in real life, though he finished saying "you cannot go out and tell anybody this happened." In terms of his favorite version of his character, he liked alt-Broyles the most because he was so conflicted. He also wished the character had live a little longer before he died "with a bang."
-- John Noble (Dr. Walter Bishop), in his strong Australian accent (not apparent on the series), noted that the glue to the show and fan following is the love running through the program, regardless of the underlying science fiction. One of his favorite scenes was Agent Olivia shooting 17 men (he was trying to lighten the mood at the table). Noble also stated he loved the "randomness" of the original Walter.
-- Anna Torv (Olivia Dunham), when not crying, recounted how the episode dedicated to Jasika's character Astrid was a magic moment. (Here is a little more on that particular episode from TVLine.)
-- J.H. Wyman, Fringe executive producer, praised Fox for sticking with the show even though it had "middling" figures. He also addressed a fan question about the lack of female Observers, stating the reason for this will become apparent in the final season.
Everyone made it clear this was the last season of the series. Fringe has been quite an adventure already and I believe a tough sell to many newcomers given the multiple universes and time travel. The only true center to the show was Peter, when he was there, and this makes sense to loyal fans following the show from day one but could be very confusing to anyone else. I am glad I stayed with Fringe all these years and look forward to the final stories.
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