20 Episodes
Short on time? Here's the essentials:
FBI Agent Olivia Dunham investigates bizarre, unexplainable events, forming a specialized "fringe science" division with the help of Dr. Walter Bishop, a brilliant but eccentric scientist, and his son, Peter Bishop. Their cases involve everything from rapid aging and crystalline victims to mysterious devices and individuals with extraordinary abilities. The core premise revolves around uncovering a vast conspiracy and the existence of parallel universes.
The central conflict escalates as Olivia, Peter, and Walter delve deeper into "The Pattern," a series of interconnected events hinting at a larger, dangerous agenda. They uncover the involvement of David Robert Jones, a biochemist with sinister plans, and the shadowy organization Massive Dynamic. Key turning points include Olivia discovering her own latent abilities from childhood experiments and the shocking revelation that Peter Bishop is from an alternate universe. The season culminates with David Robert Jones being killed as he attempts to open a portal between realities.
The season ends with Olivia being summoned to meet William Bell, hinting at further revelations about the ZFT manifesto and the looming war between universes.
Season 1 of Fringe covers episodes 1-20. Here's everything that happened:
Season 1, Episode 1: Pilot - An international flight lands in Boston with all passengers dead, their bodies reduced to crystalline structures. FBI Agent Olivia Dunham investigates, enlisting the help of Dr. Walter Bishop, a brilliant but institutionalized scientist, and his estranged son Peter. Olivia's lover, Agent John Scott, is exposed to the same agent and falls into a coma. Scott is revealed to be complicit in the attack, and after a confrontation with Olivia, he dies. The episode concludes with Olivia recruiting Peter and Walter to form a specialized "fringe science" division.
Season 1, Episode 2: The Same Old Story - The Fringe team investigates a woman who dies during an impossibly rapid pregnancy, giving birth to a baby that ages into an 80-year-old man within hours before dying. They discover the case is linked to a serial killer who has been removing victims' pituitary glands. The killer, Christopher Penrose, dies from rapid aging after being deprived of the hormones he used to sustain himself. The episode concludes with Walter hinting at a mysterious medical condition Peter has.
Season 1, Episode 3: The Ghost Network - The Fringe team investigates a bus where passengers have been encased in an amber-like substance. They discover Roy, a man with visions linked to Walter's past experiments with a "Ghost Network" for secret communication. The investigation reveals a plot involving a crystalline disk, leading to a chase where a suspect commits suicide by running into a bus, and another is shot by a sniper. Ultimately, the disk is secretly given to Nina Sharp, leaving the team unaware of its true significance.
Season 1, Episode 4: The Arrival - A mysterious cylinder, "The Beacon," emerges from the ground in New York City, drawing the attention of the Fringe team. Walter reveals he buried it years ago to communicate with a mysterious figure known as The Observer. A criminal named John Mosley kidnaps Peter to extract the beacon's location, leading to a confrontation where Mosley is apprehended by Olivia. The episode concludes with The Observer confirming the beacon's departure was "on schedule," leaving more questions than answers.
Season 1, Episode 5: Power Hungry - Fringe investigates Joseph Meegar, a man with uncontrolled electrical abilities gained through unethical experiments. Olivia sees visions of John Scott, who reveals he was investigating "The Pattern" and planned to propose. Meegar's mother dies when his powers cause her pacemaker to fail. The episode concludes with Olivia discovering John Scott's hidden files, suggesting he was tracking other individuals like Meegar.
Season 1, Episode 6: The Cure - A woman, Emily Kramer, who was mysteriously cured of a rare disease, explodes in a diner, revealing she was a human weapon emitting deadly radiation. The Fringe team races to find another victim, Claire Williams, before she can be weaponized. Olivia confronts the scientist responsible, David Esterbrook, and Claire is successfully cured before she detonates, but Olivia receives a disturbing birthday card from her estranged, abusive stepfather, hinting he is still a threat.
Season 1, Episode 7: In Which We Meet Mr. Jones - An FBI agent collapses, his heart constricted by a parasite. Olivia travels to Germany to meet with biochemist David Robert Jones for a cure. Walter and Peter use technology to communicate with the deceased Joseph Smith, who provides the crucial information. The entire incident was orchestrated by Agent Loeb and his wife to obtain information for Jones, revealing a larger conspiracy.
Season 1, Episode 8: The Equation - The Fringe team investigates the kidnapping of a musical prodigy, Ben Stockton, who is being coerced into completing a complex equation. Walter Bishop recalls a former patient, Dashiell Kim, who experienced similar hypnotic lights and disappearances. The abductor, Joanne Ostler, is eventually found, but she escapes with the completed formula and gives it to Mitchell Loeb. Loeb then kills Ostler and uses the equation to gain the ability to pass through solid matter.
Season 1, Episode 9: The Dreamscape - Olivia re-enters a sensory deprivation tank to purge John Scott's memories, but instead experiences them, witnessing Scott murder a man. The investigation into a Massive Dynamic employee's death, seemingly caused by butterflies, reveals a psychoactive drug. The episode concludes with Olivia receiving an email from John Scott, stating, "I SAW YOU. IN THE RESTAURANT," implying he is aware of her presence within his memories.
Season 1, Episode 10: Safe - A team of robbers uses advanced technology to phase through bank walls, targeting safe deposit boxes containing components of a machine Walter Bishop built. One robber is tragically killed when the phasing technology fails, leaving him trapped and shot by his accomplice. Meanwhile, Olivia discovers she's experiencing John Scott's memories as her own, and David Robert Jones escapes his prison. The episode concludes with Olivia being abducted.
Season 1, Episode 11: Bound - Olivia escapes her abductors, including FBI agent Mitchell Loeb, after being subjected to a spinal tap. She recovers stolen samples and investigates a grotesque murder linked to her captors. Olivia confronts Loeb's wife, Samantha, leading to Samantha Loeb's death after Olivia fatally shoots her. Loeb claims they were trying to save Olivia, and she is later arrested by auditor Sanford Harris.
Season 1, Episode 12: The No-Brainer - The Fringe team investigates a series of bizarre deaths where victims' brains are liquefied after viewing a malicious video file. The programmer responsible, Brian Dempsey, targets Olivia's niece, Ella, but Olivia intervenes just in time. Dempsey is apprehended after his own son's actions indirectly lead to his capture, and Dempsey ultimately commits suicide when confronted by Olivia. The episode also features Walter meeting with the mother of a former lab assistant who died years ago.
Season 1, Episode 13: The Transformation - A scientist aboard a plane transforms into a monstrous creature due to a designer virus, causing the plane to crash. Olivia uses memories of John Scott to uncover an impending arms deal involving the virus. After a tense undercover operation, the sellers are arrested, and John Scott's memories begin to fade from Olivia's mind, marking an irreversible outcome for their connection.
Season 1, Episode 14: Ability - The Fringe team investigates a series of deaths caused by orifices sealing shut. David Robert Jones reveals to Olivia that she was part of Massive Dynamic's Cortexiphan trials as a child, equipping her with special abilities. Olivia must use these newfound powers to disarm a bomb set to release a deadly agent. Olivia successfully disarms the bomb by using her latent abilities, and it's revealed that Walter wrote the ZFT manifesto, a text detailing a war between universes.
Season 1, Episode 15: Inner Child - A feral, mute child is discovered living underground, who bonds with Olivia and displays empathic abilities that help the Fringe team track a serial killer known as "The Artist." Olivia arranges for the child to be placed with a foster family, secretly defying CIA orders. In the final moments, the child makes eye contact with an Observer, hinting at a deeper connection.
Season 1, Episode 16: Unleashed - A genetically engineered chimera, with traits from various animals, escapes a lab and attacks people, including Agent Charlie Francis. The Fringe team discovers the creature injects its victims with larvae, and Charlie is infected. Walter successfully synthesizes the chimera's blood to neutralize the larvae within Charlie, saving his life. The creature is ultimately captured.
Season 1, Episode 17: Bad Dreams - Olivia dreams she's causing deaths, only to discover Nick Lane, a man from her past Cortexiphan trials, is projecting his emotions onto others. Olivia confronts Nick on a skyscraper ledge, where she incapacitates him, preventing a mass suicide. The episode concludes with Walter watching a tape of himself and William Bell with a young, distressed Olivia during the drug trials, revealing their shared traumatic past.
Season 1, Episode 18: Midnight - The Fringe team investigates a series of murders where victims are drained of spinal fluid. They discover the killer is Valerie Boone, infected with a ZFT contagion. Her husband, Dr. Nicholas Boone, helps create a cure, sacrificing his own spinal fluid and ultimately his life to save her. The episode concludes with Valerie cured but Dr. Boone dead, and Olivia receiving a videotape from him detailing ZFT's operations.
Season 1, Episode 19: The Road Not Taken - Olivia experiences visions of an alternate reality while investigating a woman's spontaneous combustion, which is linked to ZFT experiments. She discovers these experiments involved drug trials she underwent as a child. The episode culminates with Harris being incinerated by a pyrokinetic subject, and the Observer taking Walter away. Nina Sharp is shot, but her fate remains uncertain.
Season 1, Episode 20: There's More than One of Everything - David Robert Jones attempts to open a portal to a parallel universe, leading to a confrontation where Peter Bishop uses Walter's device to kill Jones by sealing the doorway. Walter visits the grave of his son, revealing Peter is from the alternate universe. Olivia is then summoned to meet William Bell.
