The Fringe Series Finale is OVER. I'm sorry to bring you down like that. Hopefully, me rambling on about it here will lift you up a bit more by the end.

This past Fridays epic end to a 5 year, no 29 year fight (2036 - 2007 = 29) that crossed 2 universes, and multiple timelines, all to save our world from the advanced intellect breed of human like creatures came to its 2 hour finale & really didnt disappoint.

When a friend of mine & his daughter met John Noble on the final week of filming with me, they said to him they hoped for a happy ending, Mr. Noble smiled & told them "you'll get your ending". & he pretty much nailed it.

I watched the episode, knowing in my heart, it was probably going to end with a bittersweet happy situation. The sight of the Peter, Olivia & Etta in the park (a scene I saw being filmed back then...but not thinking it would end up being the 2nd to last scene of the series as well... video below), Peter getting the White Tulip from his father, who of course sacrificed himself for the cause in the end after Donald/September offered to take his place, but was unable to in the end surely cracked a smile on my generally gruff face. Losing Walter, but gaining Etta was as bittersweet as it gets.

A question I just thought of writing this... do Peter & Olivia even KNOW how important they were? Do they know that because of them the world is changed? Or did winning the battle purge that knowledge of future events they technically havent had from their minds? When Walter and Peter watch the tape of Walter telling Peter about his journey into the future, it makes you wonder if they even know they saved the world.

The finale was full of solid performances from top to bottom. Michael Kopsa as the relentless, yet at times short-sighted, Captain Windmark has amazing scenes thru most of the season, the finale was no different. Rowan Longworth as Michael, for a child actor that never spoke, his performance was strong, bordering on incredible. Hard to image a character that doesnt speak actually being notably good, but I felt he was. Lance Reddick as Philip Broyles was his typical brilliant self. Of course the main 3 were as terrific as they have been all series. It is a real crime that the Emmy Awards dont have a Cable & Network categories for actors like the Peoples Choice Awards do..... if they did, John Noble would have been nominated at least 3 times, and more than likely would have won once. I am sure someday they will come to the realization that its needed, but it will be too late to right the wrong of John, and maybe even Anna in her double role seasons, of having an Emmy nod.

My top 10 Finale moments

1 - Peter & Olivia are re-united with Etta.
Ever since they lost their daughter for a 2nd time to a gunshot while battling Captain Windmark in the year 2036, the battle weary couple have been looking to avenge their daughters death, never really considering the notion they would get to have her back a 3rd time till they were told the plan was to re-set time to 2015. They got their moment though, and in a cool Fringe planning moment, it was 1 of the 1st scenes they filmed for season 5.

2 - Olivia pancakes Captain Windmark with her Cortexiphan powers
Lots of people this season wanted to see the bad ass super-hero style Olivia back, and in the finale they got her big time. No more than when she took a vehicle & moved it with her mind, crushing the treacherous Captain Windmark like a bug.

3- Peter gets a White Tulip
Only Fringe fans get it. Anyone watching it because its a finale & they were curious sat there at the end going "huh?" & instantly went to twitter to ask about it, or google to find info on it. When I saw Peter going thru the mail at the end, I actually blurted out "no way" because I knew what was coming.

4- Apartment 513
As episode 512 ends, Donald goes to visit another fellow former Observer. December answers the door & Donald asks for his help. December lets Donald in & as the door closes behind them, we see the number 513... as fans waited impatiently for the 2nd half of the finale to start, episode 513. Little easter eggs like that are all oer the episode, such as the bloodied 6 finger handprint during the teams Fringe event attack on the Observers.

5 - Alt-Livia & Lincoln Lee still going strong
To get Michael from Windmark, Olivia needed to cross over to the Alt-Verse to get by their defenses. Once over there, we got to see how the Alt-verse was doing & got 1 last hello & good-bye to the alt-worlds best couple Blue verses Lincoln Lee & Red Verses Alt-Livia.

6- Michael VS Windmark in the interrogation
Like every interrogation Captain Windmark had this year, things seemingly were not going well for him as he grilled the Anomoly only to end up with a bloody nose and a bloodshot eye.

7- Olivia gets dosed with cortexiphan 1..err 4 last times
This was amazing for several reasons. Peter not wanting to lose her, Astrid actually refusing to help Walter thinking it was unsafe after the 3rd dose, Walter & Peter talking about sacrifice, and of course Olivia in the end insisting it has to be done & doing it. Then there was the Peter Q&A with Walter about the side effects & Walter basically answering with "thats a possibility I suppose" to all of them.

8- Ashkat
Of all the names Walter has ever come up with for Astrid, I didnt even see it coming. I should of expected Walter to have 1 more Astrid name, but I for some reason wasnt expecting it...which leads to #9

9- Gene
I am a tad sad that we didnt get to hear 1 last mooooo. But of course, the Fringe writers wouldnt let fans go without 1 last slip in of Gene, still ambered and Astrid & Walter having a moment over seeing their unofficial pet bovine.

10- Walter tells Astrid her name is beautiful
After Astrid takes Walter to see gene, the two have an emotion filled chat. It ends with Walter, knowing he is going to probably never see her again, finally tells Astrid her name is beautiful. "its a beatiful name" he says to Astrid, she replies "what is?" & Walter says "Astrid"... let he rknow, he actually does know her name as she smirks before leaving him with Gene.

There was a truckload of other moments that coulda probably made this list a top 20. The window to look between universes, Broyles vs Windmark, Polivia telling each other "I love you" before Olivia heads to Red Verse, Chelsea Clinton running for President on the screen behind Alt-Livia, Windmark confessing he has a feeling of "hate", several differnt Fringe events going on at once and many others.

Fringe was first introduced to me by a friend who thought I would like it. She was right. After I was done the 1st season I was overjoyed when I found out that season 2 was being moved....HERE, to Vancouver, where the series filmed the final 4 seasons.

I was fortunate enough to meet every major cast member & most secondary cast members many times during their time filming here. With the exception of 1 cast member who became unpleasant in the final season (Jasika, she was so amzing the 1st 2 & 3/4 yrs, I just dont know what happened to her.), they were terrific during their time here. They really couldnt have done much more to win fans over. The Crew, who many days had to do their jobs with 100s of onlookers crowding up their work area were courteous & respectful most of the time. A+ crew, A+ cast for an A+ show.

Thank you J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Robert Orci, Jeff Pinkner, Joel Wymans, the many writers & directors the show has had. John Noble, Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv, Lance Reddick, Seth Gabel, Blair Brown, Kirk Acevedo & Michael Cerveris for always being exceptionally classy. Thank you Jasika Nicole Pruitt for 2 & 13/4 years of wonderful encounters. Thank you Leonard Nimoy, Michael Kopsa, Mark Valley, Georgina Haig & all the other cast members I met thru the years who were all so great. Thanks to the cast as a whole for a generally solid effort from start to finish.

I will sincerely, miss this show. As a viewer, as an autograph collector and as a set watcher. It is 1 of my top 3 shows of all time, and my top show that went more than 3 seasons. It will be pretty hard to fill this void. Thanks to all that made it from the PA's who I probably from time to time irked, right up to Warner Bros & FOX for continually allowing it onto our TVs. Now, the collective IQ of television drops by a couple points because there will not be another new episode of Fringe.... but we at least got 100 great ones to look back on.

In case you havent seen my previous blog posts... Here is Peter, Olivia & Etta filming on the 1st day of season 5 filming, little did I know

THIS BLOG CONTAINS PHOTOS OF THE FRINGE SERIES FINALE BEING FILMED & CONTAINS A SMALL SPOILER!!! Do not continue

Here is my last batch of photos from the Fringe Finale being filmed...this is a continuation of the 1st set.... except with the obvious spoiler of..... (if you saw the previews for this ep, you already know this I suppose) they use the screen to see into the other universe.....

I would write more, but I am using an internet cafe to post this final batch of photos for you before the finale starts because my home comp just isnt co-operating.
 
Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble & Jasika Nicole Pruitt were on set this time. Enjoy.

I will post a couple more Fringe blogs in the next week or so with my thoughts on the series and some never before posted pics (mostly from sets I already posted...just different angles etc).

By now, you have seen the promo for the epic 2 hour series finale of Fringe that is going to take place this Friday on FOX starting at 8PM eastern/Pacific, 7PM Central.

You probably have even seen the amazing film trailer the Fringe creative team put together for the finale (if you havent...here it is)

So if you have simply run out of fresh Fringe stuff before the finale... I might be able to help you fill the void till Friday. I have 3 sets of Finale behind the scenes photos of them shooting the 2 hour mega-event.

I will start off with a set of Joshua Jackson (Peter Bishop), Anna Torv (Olivia Dunham), John Noble (Dr. Walter Bishop) & Jasika Nicole on set one day.... there is NO NOTABLE SPOILERS in this set.... however, I have another set coming up later this week from the same scene(s) being shot with a more notable spoiler.

THIS BLOG POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS TO EPISODE 411 OF "FRINGE". DO NOT READ OR VIEW PHOTOS IF YOU DONT WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE EPISODE PRIOR TO SEEING IT.
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Last Warning
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With the knowledge now that "Child Observer" is actually an Anomaly that was named "Michael" (played by Rowan Longworth) by the people who protected him,  here are some photos of Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv, John Noble & Rowan Longworth doing scenes for episode 511 in mid-November in dowtown Vancouver.

The 1st scene I saw seemed to be the 4 of them huddled in an alley, as Olivia & Michael go 1st for a walk down the street past a Loyalist check point, then Peter & Walter do the same shortly after.

While the main cast was on lunch break they squeezed in a scene with a Loyalist driven hummer coming down the street with a sniper on top of it looking around.

There was then a driving scene where Olivia & Peter are in the front seat, with Walter in the back (I think Michael MIGHT have been there too...but it was not as clear).

THIS BLOG CONTAINGS PHOTOS & DESCRIPTIONS OF SCENES FILMED FOR EPISODE 510 OF "FRINGE". If you DO NOT want to see or read any spoilers, please do not continue.
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LAST WARNING
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Last week I found Fringe out & about on their last days of filming episode 510 of the 5th and final season of the cult FOX classic "Fringe".

I went downtown to catch them filming in an area I was familiar with. The crew was set up in a parkway walk thru area that connects W. Hastings St with W. Cordova street at the end of Hornby st. I best know it from being an avid Dead Like Me fan as where the lead character of that show meets her fate with a falling toilet seat.

With director Jeffrey Hunt (his 4th turn at directing a Fringe episode. 414 "The End Of All Things" being his last.) at the helm, they were already in the process of filming when I first arrived on the scene.

 The scene I saw filmed on this day consisted of the Fringe team members, in their Observer controlled futuristic New York circa 2036 walking thru a parkway off of W.182nd street (actually W. Hastings St). At the front of the pack was Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble), a few steps behind him, Olvia Dunham (Anna Torv) walking along with a little bald child (Rowan Longworth), which at the time, I expected to be a larger spoiler than it turned out to be, bringing up the rear quite a ways back was Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) and Nina Sharp (Blar Brown) in her motoroized scooter.

The scene was filmed as 1 continuous portion 1st, then they filmed seperate portions, 1st on Walters, then on Olivia & the bald childs, then finally focussing on Peter & Nina.

All around the fugitives, loyalists wandered thru the parkway, while in the background an Observer poster graced a post. A wall of missing people & Resistance posters was off to the side of where they were filming. The only known thing of the scene really was, Walter stops at a Waffle Stick stand to grab 1 of these treats. Funny enough, you dont actually see him bite into 1 of these during filming....yet, I saw a crew member eating one of them later on...so they must have been edible (and btw - looked delcious).

The scene didnt explain much. No dialogue was easily heard. At the time, the big scoop everyone took from this was the unknown boy. Was he an Observer? Was he someone else? I asked a crew member later that evening at a different shoot what the childs name was so I would properly credit him when I wrote this (didnt want another Abagayle Hardwick situation where I didnt know till the episode aired), he told me "Rowan Longworth" & I assumed that would be the 1st anyone would know if the child actors name. Then Fringe scooped me. Rowan made his debut in episode 5x06 and soon, everyone had the name.

Little did we all know, that later the same week we would first see the young up & coming star taking on the role that was seemingly 1st introduced in episode 1X15 "Inner Child"(previously played by Spencer List). by the fact we see these photos of ep 10 filming (and I can confirm he is also been doing ep 11 scenes) that Rowan's character will be vital to the Fringe teams plan to beat the Observers.

Simply credited in the episode as "Child Observer" the questions on whether Rowan is playing a Young September have filled many discussion boards. I am going to go out on a hunch and say it isnt. My feeling is, the physical differences between Rowan and Michael Cerveris (the cleft chin being most notable) would be a fairly notable oversight for the fringe casting team if this was the case.... of course, perhaps I am wrong? Afterall, who is to say Observers genetics are the same as you & I.

Below - photos of the day shoot, I will have some of the evening shoot later on starring John, Josh & Anna.

THIS BLOG POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR FRINGE EPISODE 501. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE OR READ ABOUT ANY POSSIBLE SPOILERS....DO NOT CONTINUE.
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Last Warning
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So back in July, the production for the 5th & final season of Fringe started. Their first location of the season was in the very popular Stanley Park as I reported in my earlier blog post http://canadagraphs.weebly.com/7/post/2012/07/fringe-shoots-some-polivia-scenes-for-season-5-episode-1-on-1st-day-of-filming.html

By the time I got to set they were working on a scene involving Anna Torv (Olivia Dunham), Joshua Jackson (Peter Bishop) & "Abigail" (young Etta, I have yet to confirm if the name I heard is correct as no listing of her seems to be anywhere yet - NOTE Abagail Hardwick is her name) doing a scene where Peter sees Observers coming across the field & he yells out to Etta to come to him.

Obviously, you have seen the far better camera work & dramatically edited version in the Fringe trailers put out by FOX so far to promote the season. But I took 1 shot as well. Below is that video. I apologize if you dont like my camera work. I'm not afterall, a professional cameraman or using a real video camera.

** recommended viewing - right click & pick "TOGGLE FULL SCREEN" MODE to see entire video frame **

** YOU MAY OF COURSE POST A LINK TO THIS POST ON YOUR SITE/BLOG. DO NOT HOWEVER TRY TO STEAL THIS VIDEO & RE-POST IT ON YOUTUBE, TUMBLR, FACEBOOK OR ANY OTHER BLOGS OR SITES WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. I WILL HAVE THEM TAKEN DOWN. I WILL POST IT ON YOUTUBE NEXT WEEK WHEN TIME PERMITS**

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN NOTABLE OR MILD SPOILERS. If you do not want to read or see spoilers of any kind...do not continue.

Last Warning

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July 18th 2012 marked a pretty important day for the millions of die-hard Fringe fans on the planet.

Today was day 1 of shooting for the 5th season of the hit sci-fi program on the FOX network.  While FOX president Kevin Reilley really deserves much of the credit for the little show that could getting a 5th season (MOST networks would have axed it & if it were not for Reilley being a fan of the show himself...maybe Fox would have too?) it really was us, the fans who made it happen more than anything. The twitter hashtags to give the show a face in social media, week after week helped. Of course, so did the idea (that I strongly nudged towards some of the facebook groups out there trying to save the show) of not just contacting network people, but the very advertisers buying commercial time on the show...let them know you were seeing the ads they paid to have on our program. In the end, all of these little things added together and coerced the powers that be to add 1 (albeit shortened) last season of Fringe.

Day 1 started in Stanley Park, I think. I dont know if any filming happened prior to me getting there, but I know from the night before when their trailers passed me going TO Stanley Park, they were going to be in or near there to start shooting.

The scenes they shot there involved a couple interesting spoilers.
1st- Peter & Olivia appear to be married. I actually DID NOT notice this there.. I only noticed this after looking thru my pics at home. Both characters were wearing wedding rings for the shoot. So sometime between now & a few years from now, they appear to have married.
2nd - There are going to apparently be some scenes that are NOT from 2036 as well. This particular scene is maybe 4-6 years in the future. The reason I can assume that is... Peter & Olivia were doing scenes that involved a young Etta (played by a girl who I only heard refered to as "Abagayle" - NOTE - her name is Abagayle Hardwick). The daughter of Peter & Olivia that we meet in episode 419 as a grown 20something woman, was being filmed today in the park as a 4-6 year old girl.

The scene seemed to involve Peter & Olivia enjoying a picnic before its ruined when Peter sees some Observers & is calling out to Etta to come to him, then eventually Peter & Olivia running out to grab her as a swarm of Observers came stomping thru the field like a plague.

Eventually the scene was completed. I got Anna & Josh to sign autographs as they left, and soon, everyone was off to set up for the next shoot they had at a different location.

I will definitely have more pics later on from this scene, and of course, some more from a scene they did later in the day at a different location that Astrid & Walter were also a part of.

For now, heres a few of The Observers, Peter (Joshua Jackson), Olivia (Anna Torv), Etta (Abigail ??) & of course, a couple Polivia pics. As well as Josh in between takes in a leather jacket.

PS- small reminder since this was a repeat problem last season. If these are re-posted on your site, blog, tumblr, facebook page or elsewhere. Removing the tags & not posting the source for the material (ie- the link to this blog) may have your post removed by your sites host & could cause deletion of your site depending on what the terms of service state for unauthorized posting of materials. Please ONLY post images in whole AND with link credit