Fringe/Trivia

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• Acting for Two: All of the characters who have doubles on the other side.
• Actor Allusion:
  • Peter mentions the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers to Olivia. This version starred Leonard Nimoy, who plays William Bell.
  • Walter's research on LSD-induced hallucinations that can grant the subject clairvoyance is similar to the plot of the book (and later film) Altered States. The film version starred Blair Brown, who plays Nina Sharp.
  • Among William Bell's books in the episode "Concentrate and Ask Again" is a copy of a book by Dr. Spock. Another Leonard Nimoy reference.
  • Peter and Olivia meet with a conspiracy theorist who believes himself to be Spock from Star Trek. You should already know who played Spock. More of a Director Allusion, but the story that he tells is somewhat similar to the plot line of Star Trek. However, this was probably intentional as the episode aired in the opening week of the film, and therefore was used to promote it in the process.
  • The episode "Stowaway" involves a woman named Grey who is suicidal after losing her family. The climax of the episode involves a train bombing. Who was she played by? Amanda Greystone.
  • The Season 4 finale featured another character played by Rebecca Mader who near death starting talking like a child. Albeit this time Mader's character's mind reverted to a child's after death, not prior to it.
  • Walter is fixated on the death of his son to the point of insanity. Rather like John Noble's character in The Lord of the Rings.
• Actor Shared Background: Both Peter and Josh Jackson have mothers who are from Ireland.
• The Cast Showoff: The episode "Brown Betty" was the perfect venue for Lance Reddick (Detective Broyles) to show off his music background, and maybe even plug his music career a little bit. And sure enough, he's the best singer of the whole cast.
• Director Allusion:
  • The alternate universe Fringe team from "Over There (Part 1)" is filled with thinly veiled expies of Alias characters.
  • In "Entrada" (Season 3 Episode 8), Alt-Broyles and Olivia have an exchange that mirrors, almost exactly, an exchange between Sydney Bristow and Vaughn.
• Fake American: Walter and Olivia's actors are both Australians and Peter is played by a Canadian.
• Fan Nickname:
  • A common fan nickname for alternate universe Walter was "Walternate". Guess what Walter calls him as of episode "Peter".
  • Altivia, Bolivia, Fauxlivia, or, to some especially uncharitable Peter/Olivia shippers, Holivia. It's worth noting that the fans are fiercely divided on which Fan Nickname to use. The series has decided on 'Bolivia'. Walter has decided on Fauxlivia, however.
  • And now there's Belivia. Really.
  • Altstrid.
  • Ellanate.
  • Charlnate (or Scarlie) and Lincolnate - though who the latter refers to is a source of debate among the fandom, since Lincoln is a much more prominent character in the alt universe. Some people have taking to referring to the Lincoln on "our" side as 'Kennedy', since Walter called him that once.
  • Fans refer to themselves as Cortexifans.
  • The Polivia shippers call themselves "benchwarmers".
  • September was renamed Sasstember after he actually makes a joke in 5x11.
  • The man in the X T-shirt is usually referred to as "Mr. X", "Zeppelin Man", or "Man X".
• Friday Night Death Slot: Was moved here midway through its third season. It's been renewed for Season 4, meaning Fringe has actually survived the Friday Night Death Slot, making this only the third Friday/9PM show (after Millennium and Dollhouse) to get renewed since The X-Files left.
  • Although it was likely a coincidence (the name comes from a line of dialogue from the episode), it is amusing that the first episode aired after its move to Friday was "The Firefly", sharing the name of Firefly, another science-fiction show that aired on FOX that was canceled after a move to a Friday time-slot.
• Hey, It's That Guy!/Hey, It's That Voice!:
  • Olivia Dunham is Nariko in Heavenly Sword and also Bridget. Charlie Francis is Jackie in The Darkness and Miguel in Oz, Walter is Denethor, and Peter is Pacey and Charlie Conway. William Bell is Spock!
  • A police officer in "What Lies Beneath" is |Georgie.
  • The Observer (September) is Sweeney Todd. No, not from the movie, but still.
  • Sam Weiss is Uncle Eddie.
  • Alistair Peck in "White Tulip" is RoboCop.
  • David Robert Jones is Lane Pryce.
    • And is going to be Professor James Moriarty.
  • Peter is getting crank called by H.E.L.P.er.
  • In "The Equation", the Keymaker is driven crazy by Britta Perry and housed in an institution run by Death.
  • Broyles is Deputy Director Daniels and Bubbles was a cabbie who got held hostage by Olivia in the alternate universe.
  • Martouf is a random CIA Man in Black.
  • Chinese gangster Ming Che in "Snakehead" had been trying to enjoy himself in The Attic.
  • Helen of Troy and Bridget von Hammersmark have cancer. Lots of cancer.
  • The mom from Raising Hope moonlights as a police officer in "Northwest Passage".
  • Walter was married to Siobahn from Mistresses.
  • Hurley apparently works as a Massive Dynamic security guard now. He and Walter share a bong in "Os".
  • Amanda Greystone appears as a woman called Grey who is suicidal after losing her family in the episode "Stowaway". The plot of the episode also involves a train bombing. All of this has happened before...
  • Now here's a plot twist fans of The Killing won't see coming - a shapeshifter killed Rosie Larsen in "The Man From the Other Side".
  • Radek Zelenka is a priest on the other side.
  • No wonder Canaan is only killing criminals. He's a Kira. (DELETE!)
  • Windmark is Char Aznable!
• Name's the Same: Thomas Jerome Newton: see also The Man Who Fell to Earth. The similar background stories (they are not from this earth) makes this a deliberate Shout-Out.
• Network to the Rescue: Season 4 saw a mild drop in critical acclaim and a large drop in viewers, essentially spelling the end of the show, ESPECIALLY since it was on Fox... right? Wrong! Fox renewed it for a 13 episode fifth and final season instead to let them finish up their story, and bring the episode number up to 100 so that it could be syndicated.
• One-Hit Wonder: As of 2015, this is Anna Torv's only major role.
• The Other Darrin:
  • Incredibly, Gene, the team cow. The cow used in the pilot had to be replaced because of livestock restrictions.
  • Due to Spencer List visibly aging, in later episodes he was portrayed by Rowan Longworth.
• Romance on the Set: Anna Torv married Mark Valley, who played her partner and lover in the pilot, but they separated after a year.
• Viral Marketing: In J.J. Abrams fashion. Massive Dynamic has their own website.

Misc. Trivia

• The alternate comic-book covers briefly seen in "Over There (Part 2)" aren't just alterations of the originals; they were apparently redrawn basically from scratch (DC is publishing the little-known Fringe comic book anyway).