Fringe: Season 3

Description

Immersive. Compelling. Hypnotic. Brilliantly imaginative.
Endlessly thrilling. Pick your term. The mystery of the universes deepens in
the critically acclaimed 22-episode third season of television’s most exciting
sci-fi. The Fringe team escapes from the parallel universe – except for
Olivia, trapped in the other world and replaced in ours by her double, who
turns Peter and Olivia’s tentative relationship into a love affair. Then
Olivia returns, bonds of trust fray, ever more bizarre and terrifying
phenomena occur and secrets that stretch back to 1985 threaten to destroy our
universe. Or theirs. What might be television’s smartest and most
intriguing science-fiction series pushes forward with 22 episodes (on six
discs, including bonus material) comprising the third season of Fringe. The
first season of this Fox show introduced us to the members of the Fringe
Division (an obscure wing of the FBI assigned to investigate all manner of
supernatural phenomena), and the principal characters, Agent Olivia Dunham
(Anna Torv), mad scientist Walter Bishop (John Noble), and Bishop’s son Peter
(Joshua Jackson). In season two, we learned of the existence of a parallel
universe, and that Peter is not Walter’s real son, but rather his
doppelgänger, whom Walter kidnapped when his own, “prime universe” son died.
This two-universe paradigm now takes center stage–in fact, for the first
third of the season, odd-numbered episodes take place in the parallel
universe, with even-numbered ones set in “our world” (the remaining episodes
are mostly, but not exclusively, in the latter). The two universes are
substantially similar, notwithstanding some quirky differences, with everyone
having a counterpart in the opposite world. Olivia, referred to as
“Fauxlivia,” spends multiple episodes in the prime universe; meanwhile, in the
parallel universe, Walter’s far less benign opposite number (“Walternate,”
Peter’s real father) is the secretary of defense, who schemes to get his son
back and annihilate the prime universe in the process. Thus Walter’s
kidnapping gambit 25 years earlier caused an off-balance chain reaction that
threatens both worlds, while Peter, the only one who has no doppelgänger,
becomes the linchpin, sort of the Harry Potter of the series; not only is he
alone capable of operating Walternate’s “doomsday machine,” but he’s also
unique in believing that the two universes can coexist, instead of wiping each
other out. Portions of Fringe take place in the past as well as the future, a
fact that, when added to the ping-ponging between the two universes, can make
the series somewhat confusing and a bit tedious, especially for newcomers.
Fortunately, the weird science that made earlier seasons so enjoyable is still
around. There’s an “ultrasonic music box” that kills anyone who opens it, a
strange blue powder that melts the bones of anyone who inhales it, beetles
that eat people from the inside out, a “molecular destabilizer,” and a
“negative matter ring.” Various episodes feature a nut who tries to reanimate
his girlfriend by retrieving her harvested organs from those who received them
when she died, shapeshifters who bleed mercury, a poor fellow who can’t stop
reading other people’s minds, William Bell (Leonard Nimoy), Walter’s old
partner and friend, who at one point occupies Olivia’s mind… and Walter’s not-
infrequent consumption of LSD. Trippy? You bet. But Fringe, with bonus
features including multiple featurettes, a couple of audio commentaries, and
other bells and whistles, is well worth the investment. –Sam Graham

Features:

Product Details:

• Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Drama
• Format: Multiple Formats, Box set, NTSC, Subtitled, Dubbed, Widescreen, Color, Dolby, AC-3
• Contributor: Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble
• Language: English
• Number Of Discs: 6
• Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 1.1 x 5.4 x 7.6 inches; 8.8 Ounces
• Item model number ‏ : ‎ 1190489045
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ Multiple Formats, Box set, NTSC, Subtitled, Dubbed, Widescreen, Color, Dolby, AC-3
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 16 hours and 52 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ September 6, 2011
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble
• Dubbed: ‏ : ‎ Portuguese
• Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ Chinese, English, Portuguese, French, Spanish