Some new stills from last week’s episode:

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Flickr has some amazing things, some beautiful pictures of Anna from 2010 Fox Upfront by carouselambra86:

I usually don’t post candids, but since she was on her way to attending one and she knew she was being photographed, I don’t see a problem.

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***MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***

Fringe producer Jeff Pinkner has claimed that the show’s third run “comes full circle” in the upcoming season finale.

He told IGN that ‘The Day We Died’ will link back to the season’s early episodes, which saw Olivia (Anna Torv) replaced by her doppelganger Fauxlivia.

“Very much, the season was designed as a chapter and it will play out that way,” he claimed. “And the very end of the season hopefully will make you sort of revisit and look at everything that’s happened all year through a fresh pair of glasses.”

Pinkner also revealed that the script for the finale had not been altered following the news of the show’s renewal.

“Not a word [has changed],” he insisted. “But to be fair, we wrote the episode, perhaps foolishly, assuming that we would be on for season four. We never for one second entertained that [the season finale] would be the end of the series.”

The showrunner added that he would “certainly hope” to be given notice when the time does come for Fringe to end.

“The studio and the network know that we have an ending [in mind] and that for a long time we have been building towards [that] ending,” he said. “So we anticipate getting to tell the story in the way and the manner that we want to.”

Fringe returns to Fox on April 15. The season finale will air on May 6.

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With the show officially renewed, what can we expect heading towards the season finale?

We pick up with the three of us in the midst of discussing Anna Torv and all she’s been asked to do on the show of late..

Wyman: Look at what she did with [William] Bell! It’s astounding. And we’ve got to tell you, that’s all her. She interpreted that character the way it was and for us, in our wildest dreams… It’s just transcended all our expectations.

IGN: It’s such a fun, interesting choice. When you decided Olivia would be taken over by William Bell, did you tell Anna at all, “We’d like you to act like Leonard Nimoy,” or was it not quite that specific?

Pinkner: We pitched the idea to her and as Joel said, she sort of took a silent beat and then said, “Okay… So what are you guys thinking? Are you thinking that you’ll put his voice in my mouth?” And we said, “No, no, no.” Our premise, always, is keep the show grounded. Play everything as real and as dramatically authentic as possible, from camera lens choices, to angles to set design and props and obviously performance, because the crazy only plays if everything else is real. And so we said to her, “No, no, no. He’s inside of you. But it’s his consciousness in your body.” And she said, “Oh, I think I understand. Let me play around with that.” And we’re incredibly fortunate, because our cast are actually friends and insanely dedicated to their craft and the show. And she and John [Noble] spent a Saturday practicing and sort of working out the character together, because of course Walter has a relationship with William. So the two of them worked it up on their own and presented it to us – from her arched eyebrow and the way she carries her body, to the way she controls her voice. And it’s really astounding.

One thing that is important to note is that it delights Leonard to no end! Of all of us, the one who’s the most proud and most impressed is Leonard.
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With Season 4 now official, J.H. Wyman and Jeff Pinkner chat with IGN about the big news.

Fringe fans, myself included, got some very happy news Thursday night, as word broke that the show had been renewed for Season 4. In the wake of this announcement, I spoke to Fringe’s Executive Producers/Showrunners Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman, to get their reaction.

Because I’ve already seen tonight’s new episode of Fringe, “Bloodline,” I also was able to ask Pinkner and Wyman some questions about it and what’s to come on the series in the final four episodes of the season. But since this interview is running prior to “Bloodline” airing, look for the second part of our chat next week. Which is to say, don’t worry, there aren’t any spoilers here!

IGN TV: Were you surprised to get the renewal now? I think most of us assumed that we’d be waiting until May to find out.

Jeff Pinkner: It’s funny, because FOX has been so supportive, all year long. They were supportive prior to the move to Friday night. They put the move in context. They told us very clearly what we’ve been saying to everybody: “This is not a move on the way off the schedule. This is a move to see if your audience will follow you. We’re just trying to test the loyalty of the audience, because if the same audience comes back on Friday nights, we’re in awesome shape.” And of course, the audience did. And then ever since, FOX has been very upfront that there are lots of factors that go into the timing of pickups, but, “You guys are in great shape.” And then that started to get a little bit louder and a little bit more present over the last week or two, as we started to talk about what next year would look like. And then we both received the phone call from Peter Roth at Warner Bros. yesterday, who had just gotten off the phone with [FOX President] Kevin Reilly.
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(CNN) — Not so long ago, TV shows like “Firefly,” “Wonderfalls,” “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” and “Dollhouse” were mourned by science fiction fans as having been canceled before their time, due — as it always is — to low ratings.

Another thing each had in common: They aired on Fox on Friday nights.

So observers of the TV world were surprised Thursday to learn of the network’s renewal of the series “Fringe” for a full fourth season after two months in a Friday timeslot.

Adding to the surprise: It was picked up in March, much earlier than many other shows with “on the bubble” status — an equal chance of cancellation or renewal — would traditionally find out their fates. (One week earlier, NBC renewed two of its “on the bubble” series with a passionate fanbase: “Community” and “Parks and Recreation.”)

Fans and many TV critics feared that the show’s cancellation was imminent when it was moved from a Thursday slot to Friday. Despite encouraging words from Fox, fans rallied support for the show on social media, and star Joshua Jackson even got involved, reminding the “Fringe” faithful not to rest on their laurels.

The show’s ratings started out on par with what they were on Thursday but then started to drop, eventually hitting a series low six days before it was renewed, which begs the question: Did fan support and other factors count for more than the show’s raw viewership?

Fox’s news release announcing the pick-up of the show, about a war between an alternate universe and our own, certainly gave the fans plenty of credit. “The series’ ingenious producers, amazingly talented cast and crew, as well as some of the most passionate and loyal fans on the planet, made this fourth-season pickup possible,” said the network’s entertainment president, Kevin Reilly.

“Ultimately, I think Fox is making a decision not based purely on ratings but based on (fan) commitment and dedication,” said Jovana Grbic, editor and creative director of ScriptPhD.com, who is contributing a chapter to an upcoming book examining the science behind the series. “This is an unprecedented level of support for a show with a small but dedicated fanbase, something that sci-fi in particular has had a very difficult time attaining on network television.”

Dennis Acevedo, creator of FringeTelevision.com, attributes it to DVR viewing, especially considering its current timeslot. “It consistently ranks as one of the highest shows in DVR viewing,” he said. “And people who like it really like it.”

Acevedo quoted a recent interview on TheDailyBeast.com in which Executive Producer Joel Wyman said, “Not everybody likes licorice, but people who like licorice really like licorice. We’re happy being that.”

But is being “licorice” really all it takes to make a show successful today?

” ‘Fringe’s’ ratings looked very decent for a Friday,” said Robert Seidman, who follows TV viewership very closely as co-founder of TVBytheNumbers.com and found the renewal’s timing “a little odd.”

“The ratings that matter most are ones nobody sees, the ‘C3′ rating that measure commercial viewing live plus three days of DVR viewing,” he said. “All that DVR viewing is great for Fox’s PR department, but it doesn’t add much extra advertising revenue.”

Indeed, the anonymous Twitter user who claims to work for Fox, known as the Masked Scheduler, recently tweeted about an improvement in “Fringe’s” ratings the night after its renewal: “Supporting shows by viewing live helps more than u know.”

Another possible factor: Science fiction shows typically bring in audiences with higher household incomes. “Seeing that kind of data was what got me interested in doing the website to begin with,” Seidman said. “However, that data does not flow freely at all.”

So, despite the advent of DVRs and full episodes streaming online, have there been any other major changes since the days of “Firefly” that would add more weight to the passion of a show’s fanbase?

“There are now more people watching cable instead of broadcast. The broadcast ratings are lower now than they were when ‘Firefly’ was on,” Seidman said, meaning that some shows do, in fact, stay on the air with ratings that might have gotten them canceled in years past.

As for whether fan efforts can consistently make the difference between cancellation and renewal — in the way it seemed for shows like “Chuck” and “Jericho” in the past — Seidman said, “It can’t hurt, but I’m not really sold on that. I am sold to some degree: Fans’ passion about a show does register with the networks. But I don’t think that’s enough to save a show if the ratings aren’t any good.”

No matter the reason, fans understand just how fortunate they are to have the show last this long.

“As a sci-fi fan, expert and writer, the renewal and network backing pleases me because it sends a message to writers and developers of future science fiction television that there is a place for intricate, intelligent shows with a multilayered plot on network television, that the risks are worth taking, and that networks are beginning to recognize the value of the niche as a fan base,” Grbic said.

“I think Fringe is just a really unique situation. It’s been this experimental show at Fox since the beginning,” Acevedo said. “And so far, it’s gotten through everything thrown at it.”

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Fringe was treated to a little icing on its Season 4 renewal cake this Friday, in the form of a 15 percent gain in the coveted 18-49 demo (returning to a 1.5 rating). The Fox drama also saw a small uptick in total audience, to 3.9 million viewers. (What did you think of the white-knuckle ride that was last night’s episode?!)

Elsewhere… well, there’s not much else to see here. But let’s try, shall we?

* CBS’ coverage of the NCAA basketball tourney enjoyed the night’s best demos (2.7) and averaged just over 8 million viewers, peaking at 10 o’clock with north of 10 mil.

* Dateline NBC was Friday’s most watched program, averaging 8.11 million viewers over its two-hour run.

* And ABC’s Shark Tank officially opened its new season with 4.8 million viewers and a fourth place-worthy 1.2 rating.

< /excited trumpeting>

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Screencaps from the episode Bloodline. Another awesome piece of work!

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This week’s Fringe should have come with an advisory: DO NOT WATCH IF YOU ARE PREGNANT. The harrowing pregnancy of the alternative-universe-Olivia was the coursing vein running through the episode titled “Bloodline.”

Early on, it was disclosed that Altivia was a likely carrier of “viral propagated eclampsia,” a condition, we were told, that usually resulted in the death at birth of either the mother or the child. (The other Olivia’s sister had died in childbirth from “VPE.”) Eclampsia is an acute complication of pregnancy; a propagated viral form of it is, thank goodness, something that exists in the minds of Fringe writers who know how to unnerve viewers effectively.

The kidnapping of Altivia, the needle injection that would speed up gestation of the fetus, the race to find her by Lincoln Lee, Charlie Francis, and our favorite cab driver, Henry (Andre Royo) — all of this made for a swift, tense episode. Once Altivia’s tracking device was removed, Lee suspected an “inside job,” a phrase that would be repeated later in the hour by Walternate, in an attempt to throw Lincoln off the trail of clues.

Fringe used this alt-universe episode to establish a strong new bond between Lincoln and Charlie. They’ve mutually acknowledged that Lincoln “has a thing for Liv” (he would later declare his love for her when he thought she was dying). And after Walternate told Lincoln that the baby is his grandchild, as well as a few mind-blowers about the “other” Olivia, they agreed they need to wonder “what else we don’t know.” It’s a good set-up, to have these two agents working together (with the alternate-Agent Farnsworth, unwittingly/wittingly/instinctively sussing out information they need). Once Altivia had been diagnosed with VPE, she was scheduled for “the procedure,” which I assumed was an abortion to save her life. Thus Walternate’s staged kidnapping (for that’s what it turned out to be) prevented yet another prime-time abortion, with all the controversy that can attend such an operation on network television, but with Fringe, this wasn’t a cop-out — it was a way to heighten the stakes for everyone involved, not only Altivia and her son (for that’s what it turned out the baby was).

“Bloodline” was a beautifully modulated hour, written by Alison Schapker and Monica Owusu-Breen, that took care to establish the anxiety felt by Altivia and her mother, Marilyn (Amy Madigan) about the pregnancy, freighted as it also is by the fact that the father is not the Alt-Olivia’s boyfriend Frank, but Peter Bishop. Marilyn’s barely-held-in-check disapproval, balanced by worry over her daughter’s health, was enacted well by Madigan.

So let’s tote up some of what we know. Walternate had forbidden any experimentation on children, which we’ve interpreted in previous episodes as a humanitarian impulse. Brandonate reminded us that “Peter is uniquely suited to power the machine”… but is that still true, if he has a son whose bloodline is potent enough to make the same connection to the machine? And why would Brandonate have phrased it this way, if the plan was already in motion to get the baby birthed and confirm its DNA potential? He and Walternate must have had a theory that Peter is not unique in this sense, that his heir could “power the machine,” no?

Indeed, we can still interpret Walternate as a not-evil man — after all, as alternate-O said, she and the baby’s lives were both saved because “the virus didn’t replicate as fast as the pregnancy.” But the elaborate kidnapping to gain the baby’s blood sample was necessary… why, exactly? To distance Walternate from whatever happens next in the assembling of the great machine?

I’m still so flushed with relief that Fringe has been renewed for a fourth season that I’m going to let you sort things out as far as the future is concerned (on our side, did Peter come down with sudden, inexplicable urge to go out and buy some cigars to pass around to his dad and the gang?). As far as this week’s episode is concerned, I was shaken and moved, as well as amused (Astrid’s reaction to Sec. Walter Bishop being grandfather to Agent Dunham’s baby: “Oh. I see.”). Have at it below, please.

Fringe benefits:

• The Observer, with his “It is happening” communication to his fellow Hairless Wonders, was busy standing still, witnessing history.

• The birth date of Altivia’s son on the blood-sample card is “14/02/11?; assuming over there they print dates in the European manner, flipping the month/day as we do it, that would make this… Valentine’s Day?

• In the alt-universe, Francis Ford Coppola directed Taxi Driver.

• Over there, a new season of The West Wing has started! I wonder how the ratings for Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip are these days…

• Charlie had a date with Mona, that cute “bug girl.”

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