Fringe may go down as the most ill-hyped show of the last few years. When it was first announced, way too many people started comparing it to a past Fox hit series – The X-Files. At first the similarities were there with the weird, impossible events being investigated by a team of FBI agents. There were creatures and aliens and crazy people – Oh my! I was at first against another X-Files type program and therefore hesitant to watch Fringe. But watch I did and am I glad I did!

Something happened after the first few episodes, something changed. It wasn’t the show per se but my perception of it. Once I stopped looking for the Mulder/Scully connection and started watching this new show, I became enthralled with the Fringe Division. With Walter Bishop and Olivia Dunham. Watching for the Observer, hunting down glyphs. This wasn’t the “New” X-Files, this was a real show. A better show. A show that just started its Fourth Season and just released Season Three on disc. A Season Three I just plowed through on Blu ray. Warning: There be mild SPOILERS ahead!

Anybody who watches the show knows how Season Two ended – with Olivia and Walter bringing Peter back from the parallel universe. Ok so not OUR Olivia but Fauxlivia, the Olivia Dunham from the other side. Our Olivia was left trapped on the other side, locked away in a cell on Liberty Island as their Walter a.k.a Walternate stares at her. Cliffhanger indeed. Season three picks up almost directly after those events as Fauxlivia infiltrates our Fringe team and Walternate tries to brainwash our Olivia into believing she’s their Olivia. Crazily convoluted, right?

Season Three spends its time bouncing between the universes and the duplicates that reside there. Cases are solved and mysteries begin to deepen as both Olivias, both Fringe teams try to fix the ever-widening problems affecting both sides. Both universes are not necessarily working toward the same goal though. Halfway through, we become acquainted with a device and people so advanced that leaves us questioning much of what we thought we knew. The teams gallop towards an ending that is both a shocker and – yep, another cliffhanger!

Season Three had some of the best episodes of tv. A few standouts were “Subject 13“, “Lysergic Acid Diethylamide” and “The Day We Died”. The first is a retro episode involving a young Peter and Olivia with Walter attempting to send Peter back with the help of little Olivia. The backdrop is the Jacksonville Day Care where series fans know Walter and William Bell ran the Cortexiphan trials. Seeing how Walter relates to the children, especially Olivia, while trying to set right a wrong AND continue on the path he and Bell were on showed a side of Walter I didn’t believe existed then.

“Lysergic Acid Diethylamide” was one of the funnest episodes due to the simple wackiness of it all. Peter and Walter must join William Bell inside Olivia’s mind to bring forth her consciousness before it becomes lost forever. Because Leonard Nimoy (William Bell) retired from acting, the scenes involving him physically were an animated fest. He still did the voice over which tilted it even more towards the insane. The trip through Olivia’s mind ends up being a danger filled romp into the psyche of Miss Dunham. Not only that but Agent Broyles, maybe one of the most humorless FBI agents ever, trips Acid! Well worth it to watch to facial expressions of Lance Reddick, the actor portraying Broyles.

Lastly is “The Day We Died“, a future look at our universe and the consequences of Peter’s actions in the here and now. This universe is facing the very same problems the alternate universe faced in the present. We see Walter locked up, Olivia is the boss of Fringe and Peter is a full fledged agent. The future is a dreary place on the brink of death. Vortexes opening up, a terrorist group claiming responsibility and even Walternate hiding out have the Fringe team on their toes. Without giving too much away, the writers put a scene in there I personally thought I would never see. My jaded jaw literally DROPPED watching it! It also ends the season with the aforementioned cliffhanger so be prepared.

The Blu ray itself is packed with several tasty special features. One episode, “Glimmer to the Other Side”, gets Warner Bros Maximum Episode Mode. MEM as I like to call it, is a mode that plays on top of the episode giving pop ups and commentaries. MEM is also a Blu ray exclusive so keep that in mind when you’re shopping. Beyond that we have a fun gag reel, several featurettes on the making of Fringe and the secrets of the Fringe universe. There’s also an Animating the “Lysergic Acid Diethylamide” episode, something that delves into the madness of that episode. Sadly, there is also the WB-Live feature. Again companies need to actually use it or let it die. Giving fans a peek at a new special feature for another upcoming release gets real old real quick.

Go buyFringe Season Three on disc, as quickly as possible. It ranks in my top three favorite current running television shows! Thanks to our fine friends at Warner Brothers for the Blu ray review copy. Watch Fringe Friday nights, starting now!

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