The Day We Died
Encyclopedia
"The Day We Died" is the third season
finale
of the Fox
science fiction
drama
television series
Fringe
. It is the season's 22nd episode and the series' 65th episode overall. The finale follows the aftermath of Peter
entering and activating the doomsday device
. He finds himself in a world 15 years in the future; though the device destroyed the parallel universe, our world is nevertheless gradually disintegrating.
"The Day We Died" featured new guest actors Brad Dourif
and Emily Meade
. It aired on May 6, 2011 in the United States to an estimated 3.0 million viewers. Reviews of the episode ranged from positive to mixed.
, Peter has stepped into the doomsday device
to attempt to stop it after Walternate had activated the version in the parallel universe
. He regains consciousness in the future, after a singularity appears near the One World Trade Center.
In 2026, the prime universe is suffering from the same singularities that have already destroyed the parallel universe, as a result of the two universes being inextricably linked together. Though the Fringe Division that developed in this universe have been able to use amber to contain these vortices, a group called the "End of Dayers", led by a man named Moreau (Brad Dourif
), attempts to breach the fabric of reality at soft spots and create more vortices. After one such incident at a theater, Peter (Joshua Jackson
) and Olivia (Anna Torv
), now married, along with Astrid (Jasika Nicole
) and Ella (Emily Meade
), Olivia's niece and now a rookie FBI agent, find an unactivated container that they believe the End of Dayers used to trigger the breach. Fringe is unable to determine how the container works, and Peter convinces Broyles (Lance Reddick
), now a senator, to allow him to release his father Walter (John Noble
), currently in maximum security prison as punishment for activating the doomsday device, to help identify its workings.
After tearfully reuniting with his son and new daughter-in-law, Walter discovers the device uses a unique radioactive signature that they can track. The strongest source points to a used campground, where Peter discovers a key. He recognizes the key as from Walter's old home near Reiden Lake and travels there alone, and finds his biological father, Walternate, present. Walternate admits to being behind the End of Dayers group, as his revenge for Peter activating the doomsday device and destroying the parallel world that was his home. Walternate promises that Peter will face the same pain and suffering he has faced since crossing to the prime universe on a mission of mercy, one piece at a time. Peter realizes that Walternate is implying a threat to Olivia, and finds that Walternate was speaking to him remotely through a holographic simulation. In Central Park, where Moreau has set off another breach to expose an existing wormhole, Olivia is helping to cordon off the breach when Walternate approaches and shoots her. Peter and the rest of Fringe division struggle with her death at her funeral.
Walter continues to study the Central Park wormhole and discovers that it links to the past, approximately 250 million years ago. He comes to realize a temporal paradox
(a Bootstrap paradox
): he will have sent the doomsday device piece by piece into the past, effectively becoming the "First People" mythos, and convinces Peter that they can influence Peter in the past by having him experience the end of days himself and make a different decision when he enters the machine.
Peter suddenly wakes up to find himself in the machine in 2011, only a few minutes since he entered it, and Olivia waiting by his side; concurrently, in the parallel universe, Walternate attempts to convince Fauxlivia to help stop the machine. Peter recalls the memories from the future, and uses the machine to merge the machine rooms from both universes into one thus creating a bridge. While Olivia and Walter and their dopplegangers stare each other down, Peter convinces the two sides to work together to try to repair the damage to save both universes, then suddenly disappears. The Olivias and Walters cautiously agree that they need to put aside their differences to save both worlds, apparently unaware of Peter's disappearance. Outside on Liberty Island in the prime universe, the Observers watch as September (Michael Cerveris
) notes to December (Eugene Lipski) that Peter has already been forgotten by his friends, his purpose having been served, and concludes that Peter now never existed.
. TVLine
's Michael Ausiello announced later in the month that actress Emily Meade
has been cast for the role, describing her character as "a wide-eyed and eager rookie who’s ready to face all of the challenges in front of her", and that she would make her first appearance in the finale. In the months leading up to the finale, Wyman responded to reports the character would be recurring by calling her casting more of a "safety net"; much like Seth Gabel
's casting, he did not want to commit himself to her character yet, "We always protect ourselves by saying that because you never know". The actress was later revealed to be playing a grown up version of Olivia's niece, Ella. Another casting call for the finale was released, as the show began looking for a "well-known male Japanese actor in his late 40s to late 50s who speaks English" to appear as a new character called "Moreau". Despite the casting call's description, they later cast American actor Brad Dourif
for the part. On whether Dourif would be returning, executive producer J.H. Wyman commented in a May 2011 interview, "Brad is such a fantastic actor. We are keeping our options open".
and J.H. Wyman wrote the episode's teleplay, while they and consulting producer Akiva Goldsman contributed the story.
A full season renewal of Fringe was announced on March 24. Despite the fact that the season finale might have been made the series finale, Pinkner and the other producers did not change what they had written in the script. Pinkner explained that "we wrote the episode, perhaps foolishly, assuming that we would be on for Season 4. We never for one second entertained that it would be the end of the series. So therefore, we didn't have to change a word!" In an interview with the New York Post
, Pinkner warned that events in the finale will "unfurl in a very unexpected way for the characters and the audience". He also commented that the finale "hopefully will make you sort of revisit and look at everything that's happened all year through a fresh pair of glasses". Pinkner stated in another interview that it "will be as much as anything about setting up next season," and Wyman agreed, writing "It’s like when you read a great novel and you finish a chapter, you’re like, 'Oh my gosh, something happened that’s going to propel me forward!' That’s something we desire to emulate." In March 2011, Pinkner confirmed with TVLine
that unlike previous Fringe season finales, the third season's finale would not be two hours long. He did however note that "the last three episodes will be linked in one continuous story arc."
After the finale aired, Pinkner stated in an interview that "one of the things we love to play with is the notion of choice versus fate/synchronicity. Clearly, what Peter did at the end of that episode is that he fundamentally changed the future. Our team is [now] on a separate path. It is unlikely that we’ll get to that specific outcome in 2026. But are events like what happened in Detroit inevitable in any version of the future? TBD."
The finale contained a new, grey credit sequence that was meant to reflect the new timeline. It contained new scientific words such as "Thought Extraction" and "Dual Maternity", as well as "Water" and "Hope". Wyman explained their reasoning for the change, "[The credits] weren’t so much pertinent to the finale but for the introduction of the future of the show. In the past, we used words in the credit sequence as signposts for the episode. But this is a new paradigm."
The cast was receptive to the finale storyline. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly
, actor John Noble
noted he liked how the story ultimately ended with having the two Walters "perhaps negotiate a truce and put their minds together" through a "very inventive intervention by Peter, who basically took control of destiny and forced his two fathers to look each other in the eye, as if telling them: Sort it out, gentlemen.'" He later noted, "We finish [the finale] in a very dramatic place." Joshua Jackson praised the role-reversal of his character with Walter's, "You had Peter wracked with guilt over the circumstances tied to the decision he made [to activate The First People's so-called "doomsday" machine] and clinging to hope that there might be some way out. I can’t have made a cosmically bad decision! There must be some way to put this right! Which is fascinating, because that’s basically been Walter for as long as we’ve known him. So I loved how Peter ceases to be so stubborn when it comes to Walter, comes to understand him and even begins to see things the way he does."
As with other Fringe episodes, Fox released a science lesson plan in collaboration with Science Olympiad
for grade school children, focusing on the science seen in "The Day We Died", with the intention of having "students learn about reverse engineering and disassembling devices."
in the United States on May 6, 2011. It was watched by an estimated 3.0 million viewers. It scored a 1.2/4 ratings share among viewers 18–49, an 8 percent decrease from the previous week's episode
. The finale and its lead-in, Kitchen Nightmares
, did however help Fox tie for first place in that demographic with ABC
and CBS
. The rating for this episode almost doubled when DVR time shifted viewing
was taken into account.
s Ken Tucker lauded the finale, commenting in his review's conclusion "Consider about the whole arc of this season and tell me this wasn’t one of the most moving, thrilling, funny, inspiring chunks of television you’ve watched. The performances by Noble, Torv, and Jackson were extraordinarily adroit, never showy or merely clever. I was so glad that, by season’s end, Jackson/Peter had once again taken center-stage — a central importance — to a season that, by the nature of its design, needed to concentrate a lot on Walter(s) and Olivia(s)."
IGN
's regular Fringe reviewer Ramsey Isler rated the episode 8/10. He compared the plot to Lost
, complaining "Apparently one thoroughly confusing and unnecessarily convoluted TV series wasn't enough... But hey, I understand why J.J. and his Fringe collaborators... might have done this. They had kind of written themselves into a corner where one of the universes had to go, and they couldn't stretch that storyline out forever. A restart like this is a good way to allow themselves room to write something new, even if it may require some clever thinking to explain themselves out of this situation adequately." Isler had trouble rating the finale, noting that he had to see how the events are explained in the fourth season before he can make a complete judgment. Lee Costigan of The Daily Rupert was generally praising of the episode, especially of Jackson's performance, but thought the finale would've benefitted from a two-hour slot, or being spread over two episodes.
Noel Murray from A.V. Club graded the finale with a B+; he praised the writers "for once again introducing a new world that feels fully formed, with its own rich backstory that they could choose to explore if they have the time and the inclination." Murray concluded his review, "It may be that Fringe has bitten off more than it can chew here, and the storytelling is about to get hopelessly convoluted, as it often does once time-travel enters the picture. But for now, I’m going to enjoy living with and thinking over what I’ve seen so far. And I’m going to trust that no matter how crazy Fringe’s fourth season gets, the writers are going to keep bringing everything back to less mind-bending questions". Some reviewers questioned the logic of Peter having never existed, though others expressed their trust in the writers' ability to make it work. Entertainment Weekly included the episode's ending in their list of television's best cliffhangers of 2011.
, John Noble submitted "The Day We Died", along with "Entrada
" and "The Firefly
", for consideration in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series category, but did not receive a nomination.
Fringe (season 3)
The third season of the American science fiction television series Fringe premiered on Fox on September 23, 2010, and concluded on May 6, 2011, consisting of 22 episodes. The series is produced by Bad Robot Productions in association with Warner Bros...
finale
Season finale
A season finale is the final episode of a season of a television program...
of the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Fringe
Fringe (TV series)
Fringe is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The series follows a Federal Bureau of Investigation "Fringe Division" team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security...
. It is the season's 22nd episode and the series' 65th episode overall. The finale follows the aftermath of Peter
Peter Bishop
Peter Bishop is a fictional character on the Fox television series Fringe. He is portrayed by Joshua Jackson.-Fictional character biography:...
entering and activating the doomsday device
The Last Sam Weiss
The Last Sam Weiss is the penultimate episode of the third season of the Fox science fiction television series Fringe. It aired on April 29, 2011 in the United States.-Plot:...
. He finds himself in a world 15 years in the future; though the device destroyed the parallel universe, our world is nevertheless gradually disintegrating.
"The Day We Died" featured new guest actors Brad Dourif
Brad Dourif
Bradford Claude "Brad" Dourif is an American film and television actor who gained early fame for his portrayal of Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and has since appeared in a number of memorable roles, including the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play franchise, Younger Brother in...
and Emily Meade
Emily Meade
Emily Meade is an American film and television actress. She has been cast in a potentially recurring role as a future version of the character Ella Blake in the U.S. science fiction series Fringe...
. It aired on May 6, 2011 in the United States to an estimated 3.0 million viewers. Reviews of the episode ranged from positive to mixed.
Plot
From the previous episodeThe Last Sam Weiss
The Last Sam Weiss is the penultimate episode of the third season of the Fox science fiction television series Fringe. It aired on April 29, 2011 in the United States.-Plot:...
, Peter has stepped into the doomsday device
Doomsday device
A doomsday device is a hypothetical construction — usually a weapon, or collection of weapons — which could destroy all life on a planet, particularly the Earth, or destroy the planet itself, bringing "doomsday", a term used for the end of planet Earth...
to attempt to stop it after Walternate had activated the version in the parallel universe
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
. He regains consciousness in the future, after a singularity appears near the One World Trade Center.
In 2026, the prime universe is suffering from the same singularities that have already destroyed the parallel universe, as a result of the two universes being inextricably linked together. Though the Fringe Division that developed in this universe have been able to use amber to contain these vortices, a group called the "End of Dayers", led by a man named Moreau (Brad Dourif
Brad Dourif
Bradford Claude "Brad" Dourif is an American film and television actor who gained early fame for his portrayal of Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and has since appeared in a number of memorable roles, including the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play franchise, Younger Brother in...
), attempts to breach the fabric of reality at soft spots and create more vortices. After one such incident at a theater, Peter (Joshua Jackson
Joshua Jackson
Joshua Carter Jackson is a Canadian American actor. He has appeared in primetime television and in over 32 film roles. He is best known for playing Charlie Conway in The Mighty Ducks film series, Pacey Witter in the television series Dawson's Creek and Peter Bishop in the television series...
) and Olivia (Anna Torv
Anna Torv
Anna Torv is an Australian actress known for her role as FBI agent Olivia Dunham on the Fox television series Fringe.-Early life:...
), now married, along with Astrid (Jasika Nicole
Jasika Nicole
Jasika Nicole is an American actress and illustrator from Birmingham, Alabama. She is most famous for portraying the character of Astrid Farnsworth in the TV series Fringe....
) and Ella (Emily Meade
Emily Meade
Emily Meade is an American film and television actress. She has been cast in a potentially recurring role as a future version of the character Ella Blake in the U.S. science fiction series Fringe...
), Olivia's niece and now a rookie FBI agent, find an unactivated container that they believe the End of Dayers used to trigger the breach. Fringe is unable to determine how the container works, and Peter convinces Broyles (Lance Reddick
Lance Reddick
Lance Reddick is an American theater, film and TV actor and musician born in Baltimore, Maryland. He starred in The Wire as Cedric Daniels, appeared in Oz as Detective Johnny Basil and appeared in the fourth and fifth seasons of Lost. He now has a prominent role in Fringe...
), now a senator, to allow him to release his father Walter (John Noble
John Noble
John Noble is an Australian film and television actor, and theater director of more than 80 plays. He was born in Port Pirie, South Australia, Australia and is currently starring as scientist Walter Bishop in the J. J. Abrams television series Fringe.He made occasional appearances on the...
), currently in maximum security prison as punishment for activating the doomsday device, to help identify its workings.
After tearfully reuniting with his son and new daughter-in-law, Walter discovers the device uses a unique radioactive signature that they can track. The strongest source points to a used campground, where Peter discovers a key. He recognizes the key as from Walter's old home near Reiden Lake and travels there alone, and finds his biological father, Walternate, present. Walternate admits to being behind the End of Dayers group, as his revenge for Peter activating the doomsday device and destroying the parallel world that was his home. Walternate promises that Peter will face the same pain and suffering he has faced since crossing to the prime universe on a mission of mercy, one piece at a time. Peter realizes that Walternate is implying a threat to Olivia, and finds that Walternate was speaking to him remotely through a holographic simulation. In Central Park, where Moreau has set off another breach to expose an existing wormhole, Olivia is helping to cordon off the breach when Walternate approaches and shoots her. Peter and the rest of Fringe division struggle with her death at her funeral.
Walter continues to study the Central Park wormhole and discovers that it links to the past, approximately 250 million years ago. He comes to realize a temporal paradox
Temporal paradox
Temporal paradox is a theoretical paradoxical situation that happens because of time travel. A time traveler goes to the past, and does something that would prevent him from time travel in the first place...
(a Bootstrap paradox
Bootstrap paradox
The bootstrap paradox is a paradox of time travel in which information or objects can exist without having been created. After information or an object is sent back in time, it is recovered in the present and becomes the very object/information that was initially brought back in time in the first...
): he will have sent the doomsday device piece by piece into the past, effectively becoming the "First People" mythos, and convinces Peter that they can influence Peter in the past by having him experience the end of days himself and make a different decision when he enters the machine.
Peter suddenly wakes up to find himself in the machine in 2011, only a few minutes since he entered it, and Olivia waiting by his side; concurrently, in the parallel universe, Walternate attempts to convince Fauxlivia to help stop the machine. Peter recalls the memories from the future, and uses the machine to merge the machine rooms from both universes into one thus creating a bridge. While Olivia and Walter and their dopplegangers stare each other down, Peter convinces the two sides to work together to try to repair the damage to save both universes, then suddenly disappears. The Olivias and Walters cautiously agree that they need to put aside their differences to save both worlds, apparently unaware of Peter's disappearance. Outside on Liberty Island in the prime universe, the Observers watch as September (Michael Cerveris
Michael Cerveris
Michael Cerveris is an American singer, guitarist and actor. He has performed in many stage musicals and plays, including in several Stephen Sondheim musicals: Assassins, Sweeney Todd, Road Show, and Passion...
) notes to December (Eugene Lipski) that Peter has already been forgotten by his friends, his purpose having been served, and concludes that Peter now never existed.
Casting
Despite the show not yet being officially renewed for a fourth season, Fringe began casting in mid-March for a "green FBI agent... to come aboard for the finale and possibly recur next year", as reported by E! OnlineE!
E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...
. TVLine
TVLine
TVLine is a website devoted to information, news and spoilers of television programs.-History:In late 2010, Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello announced that he would be leaving EW after nearly two years in their employ to establish a TV-centered website with MMC, the media company founded by...
's Michael Ausiello announced later in the month that actress Emily Meade
Emily Meade
Emily Meade is an American film and television actress. She has been cast in a potentially recurring role as a future version of the character Ella Blake in the U.S. science fiction series Fringe...
has been cast for the role, describing her character as "a wide-eyed and eager rookie who’s ready to face all of the challenges in front of her", and that she would make her first appearance in the finale. In the months leading up to the finale, Wyman responded to reports the character would be recurring by calling her casting more of a "safety net"; much like Seth Gabel
Seth Gabel
Seth Gabel is an American actor. Gabel plays the role of agent Lincoln Lee on Fox's television series Fringe.-Career:...
's casting, he did not want to commit himself to her character yet, "We always protect ourselves by saying that because you never know". The actress was later revealed to be playing a grown up version of Olivia's niece, Ella. Another casting call for the finale was released, as the show began looking for a "well-known male Japanese actor in his late 40s to late 50s who speaks English" to appear as a new character called "Moreau". Despite the casting call's description, they later cast American actor Brad Dourif
Brad Dourif
Bradford Claude "Brad" Dourif is an American film and television actor who gained early fame for his portrayal of Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and has since appeared in a number of memorable roles, including the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play franchise, Younger Brother in...
for the part. On whether Dourif would be returning, executive producer J.H. Wyman commented in a May 2011 interview, "Brad is such a fantastic actor. We are keeping our options open".
Writing
Executive producers Jeff PinknerJeff Pinkner
Jeff Pinkner is an American television writer and producer. He graduated from Pikesville High School in Baltimore Maryland in 1983. He is known for his work on Alias where he served as executive producer. In 2006 and 2007, he worked as an executive producer and writer for the mystery series Lost...
and J.H. Wyman wrote the episode's teleplay, while they and consulting producer Akiva Goldsman contributed the story.
A full season renewal of Fringe was announced on March 24. Despite the fact that the season finale might have been made the series finale, Pinkner and the other producers did not change what they had written in the script. Pinkner explained that "we wrote the episode, perhaps foolishly, assuming that we would be on for Season 4. We never for one second entertained that it would be the end of the series. So therefore, we didn't have to change a word!" In an interview with the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, Pinkner warned that events in the finale will "unfurl in a very unexpected way for the characters and the audience". He also commented that the finale "hopefully will make you sort of revisit and look at everything that's happened all year through a fresh pair of glasses". Pinkner stated in another interview that it "will be as much as anything about setting up next season," and Wyman agreed, writing "It’s like when you read a great novel and you finish a chapter, you’re like, 'Oh my gosh, something happened that’s going to propel me forward!' That’s something we desire to emulate." In March 2011, Pinkner confirmed with TVLine
TVLine
TVLine is a website devoted to information, news and spoilers of television programs.-History:In late 2010, Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello announced that he would be leaving EW after nearly two years in their employ to establish a TV-centered website with MMC, the media company founded by...
that unlike previous Fringe season finales, the third season's finale would not be two hours long. He did however note that "the last three episodes will be linked in one continuous story arc."
After the finale aired, Pinkner stated in an interview that "one of the things we love to play with is the notion of choice versus fate/synchronicity. Clearly, what Peter did at the end of that episode is that he fundamentally changed the future. Our team is [now] on a separate path. It is unlikely that we’ll get to that specific outcome in 2026. But are events like what happened in Detroit inevitable in any version of the future? TBD."
The finale contained a new, grey credit sequence that was meant to reflect the new timeline. It contained new scientific words such as "Thought Extraction" and "Dual Maternity", as well as "Water" and "Hope". Wyman explained their reasoning for the change, "[The credits] weren’t so much pertinent to the finale but for the introduction of the future of the show. In the past, we used words in the credit sequence as signposts for the episode. But this is a new paradigm."
The cast was receptive to the finale storyline. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, actor John Noble
John Noble
John Noble is an Australian film and television actor, and theater director of more than 80 plays. He was born in Port Pirie, South Australia, Australia and is currently starring as scientist Walter Bishop in the J. J. Abrams television series Fringe.He made occasional appearances on the...
noted he liked how the story ultimately ended with having the two Walters "perhaps negotiate a truce and put their minds together" through a "very inventive intervention by Peter, who basically took control of destiny and forced his two fathers to look each other in the eye, as if telling them: Sort it out, gentlemen.'" He later noted, "We finish [the finale] in a very dramatic place." Joshua Jackson praised the role-reversal of his character with Walter's, "You had Peter wracked with guilt over the circumstances tied to the decision he made [to activate The First People's so-called "doomsday" machine] and clinging to hope that there might be some way out. I can’t have made a cosmically bad decision! There must be some way to put this right! Which is fascinating, because that’s basically been Walter for as long as we’ve known him. So I loved how Peter ceases to be so stubborn when it comes to Walter, comes to understand him and even begins to see things the way he does."
As with other Fringe episodes, Fox released a science lesson plan in collaboration with Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad is an American elementary, middle, or high school team competition which tests knowledge of various science topics and engineering ability. Over 6,200 teams from 49 U.S. states compete each year. Most teams compete in three levels of competition: regionals, states, and nationals...
for grade school children, focusing on the science seen in "The Day We Died", with the intention of having "students learn about reverse engineering and disassembling devices."
Ratings
The finale first aired on the Fox networkFox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
in the United States on May 6, 2011. It was watched by an estimated 3.0 million viewers. It scored a 1.2/4 ratings share among viewers 18–49, an 8 percent decrease from the previous week's episode
The Last Sam Weiss
The Last Sam Weiss is the penultimate episode of the third season of the Fox science fiction television series Fringe. It aired on April 29, 2011 in the United States.-Plot:...
. The finale and its lead-in, Kitchen Nightmares
Kitchen Nightmares
Kitchen Nightmares is an American reality television series broadcast on the Fox network, in which Chef Gordon Ramsay spends a week with a failing restaurant in an attempt to revive the business. It is based on the British show Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. The show is produced by ITV Studios...
, did however help Fox tie for first place in that demographic with ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
and CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. The rating for this episode almost doubled when DVR time shifted viewing
Time shifting
Time shifting is the recording of programming to a storage medium to be viewed or listened to at a time more convenient to the consumer. Typically, this refers to TV programming but can also refer to radio shows via podcasts....
was taken into account.
Reviews
Sam McPherson from TV Overmind graded the finale with an A, writing "From a show known for its mindbending episodes came the most mindbending episode of all. 'The Day We Died'... not only reinvigorated the show's fantastic (but inevitably aging) premise, but gave the show a breath of life that has me waiting -- no, begging -- for the show's fourth season." Though he wouldn't call the finale the best Fringe episode yet, he referred to the season as the best of the three and "probably the best season of television that's aired in recent years". Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
s Ken Tucker lauded the finale, commenting in his review's conclusion "Consider about the whole arc of this season and tell me this wasn’t one of the most moving, thrilling, funny, inspiring chunks of television you’ve watched. The performances by Noble, Torv, and Jackson were extraordinarily adroit, never showy or merely clever. I was so glad that, by season’s end, Jackson/Peter had once again taken center-stage — a central importance — to a season that, by the nature of its design, needed to concentrate a lot on Walter(s) and Olivia(s)."
IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's regular Fringe reviewer Ramsey Isler rated the episode 8/10. He compared the plot to Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
, complaining "Apparently one thoroughly confusing and unnecessarily convoluted TV series wasn't enough... But hey, I understand why J.J. and his Fringe collaborators... might have done this. They had kind of written themselves into a corner where one of the universes had to go, and they couldn't stretch that storyline out forever. A restart like this is a good way to allow themselves room to write something new, even if it may require some clever thinking to explain themselves out of this situation adequately." Isler had trouble rating the finale, noting that he had to see how the events are explained in the fourth season before he can make a complete judgment. Lee Costigan of The Daily Rupert was generally praising of the episode, especially of Jackson's performance, but thought the finale would've benefitted from a two-hour slot, or being spread over two episodes.
Noel Murray from A.V. Club graded the finale with a B+; he praised the writers "for once again introducing a new world that feels fully formed, with its own rich backstory that they could choose to explore if they have the time and the inclination." Murray concluded his review, "It may be that Fringe has bitten off more than it can chew here, and the storytelling is about to get hopelessly convoluted, as it often does once time-travel enters the picture. But for now, I’m going to enjoy living with and thinking over what I’ve seen so far. And I’m going to trust that no matter how crazy Fringe’s fourth season gets, the writers are going to keep bringing everything back to less mind-bending questions". Some reviewers questioned the logic of Peter having never existed, though others expressed their trust in the writers' ability to make it work. Entertainment Weekly included the episode's ending in their list of television's best cliffhangers of 2011.
Awards and nomination
At the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards63rd Primetime Emmy Awards
The 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, honoring the best in primetime television programming from June 1, 2010 until May 31, 2011, was held on September 18, 2011, at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California. Fox televised the ceremony within the United States. Actress Jane Lynch hosted...
, John Noble submitted "The Day We Died", along with "Entrada
Entrada (Fringe)
"Entrada" is the eighth episode of the third season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe, and the 51st episode overall. The third season spent much of its time alternating between the prime and parallel universes, and "Entrada" was the first of the season to have time...
" and "The Firefly
The Firefly (Fringe)
"The Firefly" is the 10th episode of the third season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe, and the 53rd episode overall. The episode centers on a chain of events created by Walter crossing over into the parallel universe in 1985 that has had subtle but significant effects...
", for consideration in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series category, but did not receive a nomination.
External links
- "The Day We Died" at Fox.comFox Broadcasting CompanyFox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...