best episodes of Fringe poster

FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham, brilliant but formerly institutionalized scientist Walter Bishop and his scheming, reluctant son Peter uncover a deadly mystery involving a series of unbelievable events and realize they may be a part of a larger, more disturbing pattern that blurs the line between science fiction and technology.

5 Seasons
100 Episodes
Ended
Sci-Fi & Fantasy Drama Mystery
Cast & Characters
episode image Peter
9.4/10 (4107 votes)

#1 Peter

S2:E16

Walter explains to Olivia how Peter came from the alternate universe, and how he was willing to risk everything to save his son.

episode image An Enemy of Fate
9.3/10 (3922 votes)

#2 An Enemy of Fate

S5:E13

The Fringe team engages a desperate plan as Olivia embarks on a dangerous and otherworldly journey into the unknown. Then, Peter, Olivia, Walter, Astrid and Broyles face off against the Observers in one final and extraordinary battle for the fate of mankind.

episode image White Tulip
9.2/10 (3820 votes)

#3 White Tulip

S2:E18

When the passengers on a commuter train all die instantly of massive power loss, the team realizes that a time traveler is responsible... and that it may be impossible to apprehend him. Meanwhile, Walter writes a letter to Peter explaining his origins.

episode image Over There (2)
9.2/10 (2951 votes)

#4 Over There (2)

S2:E23

Walternate asks Peter to help complete the device, while the fugitives Walter and Olivia are reunited with William Bell. Meanwhile, the alternate world's Fringe Division closes in on the invaders, and Peter must make a life-shattering decision.

episode image There's More Than One of Everything
9.1/10 (3236 votes)

#5 There's More Than One of Everything

S1:E20

Setting the stage for the dramatic and revealing first season finale are a sudden and unexpected attack on someone with close ties to Fringe Division, the return of bioterrorist David Robert Jones and the inexplicable disappearance of Walter. Find out more about the mysterious events surrounding our trio when questions are answered, observations made, loyalties are tested and the elusive William Bell is finally introduced.

episode image Entrada
9.0/10 (2428 votes)

#6 Entrada

S3:E8

Peter struggles to cope with recent events; Olivia searches for an ally; a device that communicates between universes is discovered...

episode image The Day We Died
9.0/10 (2800 votes)

#7 The Day We Died

S3:E22

As the thrilling third season propels to a climactic close, questions will be answered as Peter confronts his destiny and a beloved team member meets an untimely demise.

episode image Jacksonville
8.9/10 (2780 votes)

#8 Jacksonville

S2:E15

The arrival of a building from the alternate Earth causes massive death and destruction to those occupying the site at its arrival. Walter soon realizes that to equalize the balance between universes, another building will have to disappear... along with everyone inside it. The team's only chance is for Walter to activate Olivia's long-buried ability to distinguish objects from the other universe.

episode image Over There (1)
8.9/10 (2644 votes)

#9 Over There (1)

S2:E22

When Walter discovers that Peter has traveled to the alternate universe, he and Olivia gather three cortexiphan children with the ability to transition safely between the two Earths.

episode image Letters of Transit
8.9/10 (3047 votes)

#10 Letters of Transit

S4:E19

The Fringe team goes back to the future as the story jumps ahead to 2036, when the Observers and the Fringe team engage in a game-changing battle.

episode image Liberty
8.9/10 (2151 votes)

#11 Liberty

S5:E12

Peter, Olivia, Walter, Astrid and Broyles face off against the Observers in one final and extraordinary battle for the fate of mankind.

episode image Anomaly XB-6783746
8.8/10 (2080 votes)

#12 Anomaly XB-6783746

S5:E10

The Fringe team is running out of time to save the world. As Peter, Olivia, Astrid and Walter scramble to tap into a key piece of the puzzle to defeat the Observers, they enlist the aid of Nina Sharp who conjures up a plan.

episode image August
8.7/10 (2692 votes)

#13 August

S2:E8

The Observer chooses to do something other than observe, abducting a college student. However, when the Fringe team investigates, they discover that there is more than one Observer.. in both time and space.

episode image Grey Matters
8.7/10 (2462 votes)

#14 Grey Matters

S2:E10

The First Wave breaks into a mental hospital and cures a long-term patient suffering from schizophrenia. When the Fringe team investigates, Olivia discovers that the group's leader has one of the heads stolen from cryogenic storage months earlier. Meanwhile, two other mental patients are cured of their schizophrenia and the team soon realize that something was taken from each patients' brain... and Walter holds the key to realizing what First Wave is after.

episode image The Last Sam Weiss
8.7/10 (2155 votes)

#15 The Last Sam Weiss

S3:E21

As devastation spreads on This Side, Walter, Olivia, and Sam Weiss struggle to find a way to stop the destruction and discover that one individual has the ability to allow Peter access to the Machine.

episode image The End of All Things
8.7/10 (2152 votes)

#16 The End of All Things

S4:E14

The dying Observer comes to see Walter and Peter, who must take extreme measures to learn what secrets he hides and determine if he knows where Olivia is. Meanwhile, David Robert Jones tries to force Olivia to use her cortexiphan abilities by torturing Nina.

episode image Ability
8.6/10 (2761 votes)

#17 Ability

S1:E14

German agents question Olivia about her "relationship" with David Robert Jones, an escaped prisoner questioned months earlier now living in the U.S. The Fringe Division investigates a threatening case where victims die faceless from their orifices suddenly sealing.

episode image The Road Not Taken
8.6/10 (2657 votes)

#18 The Road Not Taken

S1:E19

Olivia experiences "awake dreams," seeing elaborate visions of things not really there. While investigating a disturbing case of a woman who apparently spontaneously combusted, Olivia throws caution to the wind and explores her unexplained visions further. Meanwhile, Walter discusses key information about the Z.F.T. manifesto, and Peter reveals a secret that yields unexpected results in the case.

episode image Momentum Deferred
8.6/10 (2528 votes)

#19 Momentum Deferred

S2:E4

Olivia begins to regain her memories of her encounter with William Bell. Meanwhile, the "First Wave" tries to collect the head of their leader, and the traitor makes his move.

episode image The Man From The Other Side
8.6/10 (2379 votes)

#20 The Man From The Other Side

S2:E19

Two teenagers turn up dead and evidence indicates that shapeshifters have borrowed their forms for some special mission. While the Fringe team tries to track them down, Peter grows increasingly suspicious of Walter's secretive behavior.

episode image Olivia
8.6/10 (2508 votes)

#21 Olivia

S3:E1

After the extraordinary turn of events that shockingly left an imprisoned Olivia "over there," she fights to find her way home. Meanwhile, Peter and Walter try to move on with their lives unknowingly alongside alternate Olivia.

episode image The Abducted
8.6/10 (2167 votes)

#22 The Abducted

S3:E7

When a serial kidnapper “over there” strikes again, the emotional and familiar case hits home for Colonel Broyles, sending a determined Olivia to uncover additional details about the abductions. In the meantime, Olivia fights on and reunites with Henry to enlist his services on an intense and covert mission to return home.

episode image Lysergic Acid Diethylamide
8.6/10 (2640 votes)

#23 Lysergic Acid Diethylamide

S3:E19

In an effort to remove Bell's consciousness from Olivia's mind, Peter, Bell, and Walter enter Olivia's subconscious and attempt to find her personality, which has hidden itself somewhere safe.

episode image And Those We've Left Behind
8.6/10 (2211 votes)

#24 And Those We've Left Behind

S4:E6

The Fringe team must find the pattern between tragic time loop anomalies. As the investigation unfolds, Raymond, an electrical engineer, and his wife Kate, a professor of theoretical physics, enter the picture.

episode image Welcome to Westfield
8.6/10 (2253 votes)

#25 Welcome to Westfield

S4:E12

Peter, Olivia and Walter come face to face with a mysterious and terrifying Fringe event as they get trapped in a town that there’s no escaping from.

episode image Brave New World (2)
8.6/10 (2275 votes)

#26 Brave New World (2)

S4:E22

The Fringe team is pushed to the breaking point as they desperately attempt to prevent a catastrophic event that threatens the lives of everyone.

episode image The Bullet That Saved The World
8.6/10 (2139 votes)

#27 The Bullet That Saved The World

S5:E4

When the Fringe team tracks a lead into a hostile and heavily guarded location, Phillip Broyles resurfaces…but can he be trusted?

episode image The Boy Must Live
8.6/10 (1929 votes)

#28 The Boy Must Live

S5:E11

As time dramatically ticks down, Peter, Olivia and Walter stop at nothing to save the universe from Observer rule. Walter enters the infamous deprivation tank in an attempt to uncover a key piece of information about the mysterious figure, Donald. Meanwhile, Captain Windmark sets out on a revealing mission of his own as long-standing questions are answered.

episode image Safe
8.5/10 (2797 votes)

#29 Safe

S1:E10

The team is called in on a bank robbery similar to other robberies in the area but this particular bank has the thief embedded inside the steel wall of the bank. Somehow the thieves have found a way to defy the law of physics. Walter thinks they're after something of his. As the investigation deepens it all comes to a head when the thieves ambush one of the team.

episode image The Plateau
8.5/10 (2359 votes)

#30 The Plateau

S3:E3

In this case, timing is everything as a series of anomalous events lead the Fringe Division to investigate deadly incidents with unimaginable coincidences. As the freaky crimes continue to occur, the team is in a race against time to protect potential victims. Meanwhile, Secretary Bishop shares his strategic plan with Colonel Broyles as Olivia grapples with a heart-stopping vision.

episode image Enemy of My Enemy
8.5/10 (2045 votes)

#31 Enemy of My Enemy

S4:E9

Peter's visit to the other side intensifies as the alternate FRINGE division faces off against a formidable new foe in a harrowing race against time.

episode image Worlds Apart
8.5/10 (2012 votes)

#32 Worlds Apart

S4:E20

The teams on both sides fight on for a common cause, and there are shocking developments tied to the Cortexiphan children.

episode image Through the Looking Glass and What Walter Found There
8.5/10 (1961 votes)

#33 Through the Looking Glass and What Walter Found There

S5:E6

Walter retrieves another video tape from the amber and it leads the team into a pocket universe.

episode image Bad Dreams
8.4/10 (2703 votes)

#34 Bad Dreams

S1:E17

Olivia dreams about a suicide as the event really happens at Grand Central Station; shocking information about the Z.F.T. manuscript is revealed.

episode image A New Day in the Old Town
8.4/10 (2851 votes)

#35 A New Day in the Old Town

S2:E1

An amnesiac Olivia makes her return from the parallel universe, while Walter, Pete, and Junior Agent Amy Jessup investigate the mysterious death of a man found with puncture holes in his palate. Meanwhile, Broyles defends the Fringe Division from a Senate subcommittee threatening to shut the organization down.

episode image The Firefly
8.4/10 (2195 votes)

#36 The Firefly

S3:E10

An Observer makes contact with the Fringe Team to help rectify a mistake. Meanwhile, Walter befriends Roscoe Joyce, keyboardist for Walter's favorite 1970s band, "Violet Sedan Chair." Walter will learn the real reason the band broke up, and realize that the lives of these two men, who have never met before, overlap in strange and unexpected ways.

episode image Subject 13
8.4/10 (2305 votes)

#37 Subject 13

S3:E15

In a follow up to last season’s “Peter” flashback episode, the all-new “Six Months Later” episode revisits a poignant period of time for both the Bishops and Olivia.

episode image Back to Where You've Never Been
8.4/10 (2097 votes)

#38 Back to Where You've Never Been

S4:E8

In an effort to find a way home, Peter journeys to the Other Side to confront Walternate. However, his venture proves more dangerous than expected. Meanwhile, Olivia receives a dire premonition from an Observer.

episode image Five-Twenty-Ten
8.4/10 (1871 votes)

#39 Five-Twenty-Ten

S5:E7

The team retrieves another cassette tape from the amber. With Nina Sharp's help, the team recovers 2 cylinders. While Peter works independently to score a minor victory against the Observers, Olivia ascertains Peter's secret.

episode image Bound
8.3/10 (2717 votes)

#40 Bound

S1:E11

Olivia's sister, Rachel, visits; Walter, Peter and Olivia try to solve the murder of an esteemed epidemiologist, which may be linked to Olivia's abduction.

Cast & Chracters

character image Olivia Dunham

Olivia Dunham

Actor: Anna Torv

Olivia Dunham is a Northwestern University-educated FBI Special Agent assigned to the Fringe Division, a multi-agency task force under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. She investigates unexplained phenomena linked to fringe science. Olivia was subjected to experiments with the drug Cortexiphan as a child, granting her unique abilities. She is portrayed by Anna Torv, who also plays her parallel universe counterpart, 'Fauxlivia'.

character image Peter Bishop

Peter Bishop

Actor: Joshua Jackson

Peter Bishop is the son of scientist Walter Bishop and serves as a civilian consultant for the Fringe Division. With an IQ of 190, Peter is a jack-of-all-trades and a college dropout with a troubled past, including gambling debts. He is revealed to be from a parallel universe, having been brought to the prime universe by Walter after the death of his counterpart. Peter is portrayed by Joshua Jackson.

character image Astrid Farnsworth

Astrid Farnsworth

Actor: Jasika Nicole

Astrid Farnsworth is an FBI Junior Agent who assists Olivia Dunham and works closely with Walter Bishop in the lab. She possesses skills in cryptanalysis and is proficient in multiple languages, including Latin. Astrid's parallel universe counterpart is an autistic savant serving as a computer and statistics specialist in the Fringe Division. She is portrayed by Jasika Nicole.

character image Walter Bishop

Walter Bishop

Actor: John Noble

Dr. Walter Bishop is a former government researcher in fringe science with an IQ of 196. After a lab accident resulting in the death of his assistant, he was institutionalized for 17 years. Walter is the father of Peter Bishop and works as a consultant for the Fringe Division, often conducting experiments to assist in investigations. He is portrayed by John Noble, who also plays his parallel universe counterpart, 'Walternate'.

The highest rated episode of Fringe is "Peter" (S2E16) with a rating of 9.40.

This episode received 4,107 votes.


The lowest rated episode is "Brown Betty" (S2E20) with a rating of 6.80.

This episode received 3,210 votes.

The highest rated episode is "There's More Than One of Everything" (S1E20) with a rating of 9.10.

This episode received 3,236 votes.


The lowest rated episode is "Power Hungry" (S1E5) with a rating of 7.40.

This episode received 2,984 votes.

The highest rated episode is "Peter" (S2E16) with a rating of 9.40.

This episode received 4,107 votes.


The lowest rated episode is "Brown Betty" (S2E20) with a rating of 6.80.

This episode received 3,210 votes.

The highest rated episode is "Entrada" (S3E8) with a rating of 9.00.

This episode received 2,428 votes.


The lowest rated episode is "Immortality" (S3E13) with a rating of 7.80.

This episode received 2,080 votes.

The highest rated episode is "Letters of Transit" (S4E19) with a rating of 8.90.

This episode received 3,047 votes.


The lowest rated episode is "Wallflower" (S4E7) with a rating of 7.60.

This episode received 1,917 votes.

The highest rated episode is "An Enemy of Fate" (S5E13) with a rating of 9.30.

This episode received 3,922 votes.


The lowest rated episode is "The Recordist" (S5E3) with a rating of 7.70.

This episode received 1,916 votes.

Name Department Job
Alex Graves Production Producer
Alex Kurtzman Production Producer
Andrew Kreisberg Production Producer
Brad Kane Production Producer
Bryan Burk Production Producer
J.J. Abrams Production Producer
Jeff Pinkner Production Producer
Joe Chappelle Production Producer
Patrick Ward Production Producer
Roberto Orci Production Producer

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