There's More Than One of Everything
Encyclopedia
"There's More Than One of Everything" is the finale
of the first season
of the American science fiction
drama
television series
Fringe
. The finale followed David Robert Jones' (Jared Harris
) attempts to open a doorway to the parallel universe
, while the Fringe team tries to stop him.
The episode's story was written by Akiva Goldsman
and Bryan Burk
, and the teleplay
was written by Jeff Pinkner
and J. H. Wyman, while filmmaker Brad Anderson directed it. The episode marked the first appearance of guest actor Leonard Nimoy
as Massive Dynamic founder William Bell. It aired on May 12, 2009 in the United States, and was watched by an estimated 9.28 million viewers. The episode received mostly positive reviews, with many critics praising the revelations concerning the parallel universe.
) recovers from the gunshot sustained in the previous episode
,Nina Sharp had taken precaution of having body-armor implanted under the skin of her torso. the Fringe team's investigation reveals that the man in white bandages is David Robert Jones (Jared Harris
). Olivia Dunham
(Anna Torv
) and Phillip Broyles (Lance Reddick
) discuss locating William Bell for questioning, whom they believe is behind all the fringe events that have been occurring all season.
Meanwhile, Walter Bishop
(John Noble
) is at a graveyard, where he solemnly stares at an unknown gravestone. Olivia, Peter Bishop
(Joshua Jackson
), and Astrid Farnsworth (Jasika Nicole
) begin searching for Walter. Nina tells Olivia that an energy cell was stolen from her mechanical arm by Jones, and that he was formerly a Massive Dynamic employee who had looked up to Bell as a "father figure" until they had a falling out. When Olivia demands to speak to Bell, Nina explains that she does not know where he is, as Bell has been communicating these past few months "strictly electronically". Nina believes Jones is trying to confront Bell, and promises Olivia that if she stops Jones, Nina will arrange a meeting between her and Bell.
On a busy New York City
street, Jones and his team use the energy cell to open a doorway into a parallel universe
and bring a truck through, but are apparently unsuccessful, as Jones complains he used the "wrong coordinates". Having previously observed Walter at the graveyard, The Observer (Michael Cerveris
) arrives with Walter at the Bishops' beach house, and gives Walter a coin, telling him to remember what he has to find. Walter goes on alone into the house, while Olivia and Charlie interview witnesses who saw Jones extract the truck from the doorway. They discover that the truck's VIN
numbers do not exist, which implies the "truck was never made". A further interview with Nina reveals to the Fringe team that the truck is from another universe, and that Jones is using the stolen energy cell to travel to that universe.
Peter finds Walter and chooses to meet his father alone, as he believes Walter is upset from the past several days. Now at the beach house, Peter and Walter search for and retrieve a device that can seal shut the doorway into the other universe. Walter explains to Peter that he once lost something very dear to him and that he had to go and bring it back from another reality; the device was created to prevent something from following him.
After Jones makes another unsuccessful attempt to open a doorway at a soccer field in Providence
, Olivia searches through old case files related to science and unexplained phenomena, and discovers the connection between the soccer field and the city street. Olivia and Walter come to the same conclusion, that Jones is going to use a site at Reiden Lake to reopen the doorway. Olivia, Peter, and Walter intercept Jones while he is opening another window and is halfway through it. Peter triggers Walter's device, killing Jones by sealing the doorway.
At the end of the episode, Walter again goes alone to visit the graveyard; he tearfully observes a gravestone marked "Peter Bishop 1978-1985", suggesting that Walter's legitimate son died. Nina Sharp later calls Olivia and implies to her that she can meet William Bell in Manhattan. After no one shows up at the agreed-upon restaurant, Olivia leaves, as she assumes that she got stood up. However, when in an elevator to leave the building, Olivia is transported to the parallel universe and is directed to an office. After reading a newspaper headline indicating that President Obama
was preparing to move into the "new" White House
, she is greeted by William Bell (Leonard Nimoy
) and inquires where she is. The final shot pans out the window revealing that they are standing inside the South Tower of the World Trade Center
.
announced that Star Trek
actor Leonard Nimoy
had been cast as Bell. He and Fringe creator J.J. Abrams already had a relationship after working together on the 2009 film Star Trek; Abrams stated in an interview that he called Nimoy and begged him to join Fringe, explaining the show and the character. Nimoy sounded interested but wanted to become more familiar with the show, so Abrams and the other producers sent him as much information as they could about Fringe, until Nimoy agreed. This exchange of phone calls, in which Nimoy responded with interest when pitched the idea, was also how Abrams was able to cast him in his Star Trek reboot. Nimoy later explained "When they contacted me about working on Fringe -- the same people, the same attitude, the same creativity, the same creative team – it was very enticing". According to Abrams, "The idea that he will play the mysterious, much-referenced William Bell is a thrill. I know I sound like a goofy fan boy, but I can’t help it: Leonard is an icon of the genre and such a wonderful actor. To have him come on board Fringe is a mind-blowing honor".
Nimoy was hired for three episodes, beginning with the season finale. Fringe co-creator Roberto Orci
described Nimoy's character as "a mix of Howard Hughes
and Bill Gates
", while Nimoy referred to Bell as a "master of the universe" who is "brilliant, wealthy and very powerful". Nimoy's part of the final scene of the episode with Olivia was very brief. Nimoy described the scene as "interesting, entertaining" and "that you'll want to see more of this relationship and what it's all about". Actress Anna Torv
described the final scene as calm yet threatening, "That's what's kind of cool about working on Fringe, is everything seems kind of calm and lovely, but there's always something going on underneath". While shooting, Nimoy commented that the character "was a unique experience," as he had not acted outside of the Spock
character for a number of years. Nimoy has stated in multiple interviews that his Fringe role will be the last project in his acting career.
"There's More Than One of Everything" was written by Bryan Burk
and Akiva Goldsman
, and the teleplay
was written by executive producers Jeff Pinkner
and J. H. Wyman. It was directed by Brad Anderson. Co-creator and executive producer Roberto Orci
explained in an interview that the big reveal at the end of the episode, in which Olivia meets Bell in the parallel universe, was actually planned for a fourth season, but the writers decided "let's actually answer something instead and not get, not just rely on that mystery forever. And so we actually chose to give kind of a big answer and have to come with a different show than we ever intended". Creator J.J. Abrams called the finale "the end of one chapter and the start of another".
To create the scene where Jones brings a semi truck from the parallel universe, the special effects crew took a smaller truck and dressed it enough so that it seemed like the longer semi with the help of CGI
; the result was that in the episode, the viewer is led to believe that the truck had been "cut" in half after unsuccessfully entering the prime universe doorway. It was rigged so that it appeared to be on a tilt, and cables linked it to smash into a passing car. As the production crew considered William Bell to be a "Renaissance man
", they filled Bell's office with "things that inspire him," such as a prototype of Nina's mechanical arm and other items that "evoke images and stimulate thought".
states the (presumably recently inaugurated) Obamas are moving into the "new" White House
, indicating that the traditional presidential residence had been recently rebuilt. Another headline has former President John F. Kennedy
addressing the United Nations
. Another part of the newspaper depicts Boston Celtics
player Len Bias
winning the MVP award, when Bias in fact died in 1986 in the prime universe.
In between the first two seasons, Fox aired repeats of the first season featuring Twitter
comments about the episodes from executive producers Jeff Pinkner
and J.H. Wyman, and actors John Noble
and Joshua Jackson
.
and John Noble
. In his review for Entertainment Weekly
, critic Ken Tucker wrote this his "mind was blown not once, but twice" due to the many revelations about two universes; Fringe "has vaulted to the upper reaches of current television". In a second review, Tucker praised the "beautifully, startlingly executed" special effects when the "hole" in the universe closed. Writing for A.V. Club, critic Zach Handlen gave the episode an A, and felt the episode made him want to go back and rewatch season one because the finale had "so many references and back story nods that I wanted to have everything in my head together". Andrew Hanson from the Los Angeles Times
thought the finale "leads to a wealth of possibilities... The déjà universe was a bold move. I can’t wait to see what our friends at Fringe do with it". Writing for the Chicago Tribune
, critic Maureen Ryan heaped praise on the "excellent" episode, and complimented "the quietly creepy atmosphere, the slowly building tension in the dual Walter/Olivia stories, the way those stories were skillfully woven together, the suitably tense lakeside encounter between Olivia, Peter and Mr. Jones". Many critics expressed that because of the episode, they couldn't wait for the following season to begin. IGN
's Ramsey Isler rated the episode 9.2/10, while website blogger io9
listed "There's More Than One of Everything" as one of the "crucial" episodes new viewers must watch to get into the show. The Futon Critic listed it the 16th best television episode of 2009, explaining "J.J. Abrams and company know all about big reveals... but this one, in which William Bell reveals himself as living in a parallel universe where the Twin Towers weren't lost, was one of their most indelible".
Though some critics appreciated how Fringe chose to end the finale with a shot of the World Trade Center
, others disliked it. Jeff Pinkner defended their decision by explaining they chose it because the building is "obviously very iconic" and it best displayed that in the parallel universe, "things are both better and in some ways worse. It's just different choices, the road not taken". Leonard Nimoy also defended the writers, commenting that when he received the script, he thought it "was very interesting and really kind of daring contemporary television to pull in that story... You know, it's not easy to use that kind of stuff without seeming somehow exploitive. But I thought they did it very, very well".
. They also submitted two other episodes, "Pilot"
and "Bound", but did not receive any nominations.
Season finale
A season finale is the final episode of a season of a television program...
of the first season
Fringe (Season 1)
The first season of the American science fiction television series Fringe commenced airing on September 9, 2008, and concluded on May 12, 2009. The season contained 21 episodes, although only 20 of them aired as part of the first season...
of the American 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...
. The finale followed David Robert Jones' (Jared Harris
Jared Harris
Jared Francis Harris is a British character actor, well known for playing the obnoxious Mac McGrath in the Adam Sandler film Mr. Deeds, and for his portrayal of Lane Pryce on the AMC series Mad Men.- Personal life :...
) attempts to open a doorway to 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...
, while the Fringe team tries to stop him.
The episode's story was written by Akiva Goldsman
Akiva Goldsman
Akiva J. Goldsman from Walker Valley, New York is an American screenwriter and film producer. He received an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the 2001 film, A Beautiful Mind, which also won the Oscar for Best Picture....
and Bryan Burk
Bryan Burk
Bryan Burk is an American film and television producer, as well as an occasional screenwriter.A graduate of USC's School of Cinema-Television, Bryan Burk began his career working with producers Brad Weston at Columbia Pictures, Ned Tanen at Sony Pictures and John Davis at FOX...
, and the teleplay
Teleplay
A teleplay is a television play, a comedy or drama written or adapted for television. The term surfaced during the 1950s with wide usage to distinguish a television plays from stage plays for the theater and screenplays written for films...
was written by Jeff Pinkner
Jeff 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, while filmmaker Brad Anderson directed it. The episode marked the first appearance of guest actor Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Simon Nimoy is an American actor, film director, poet, musician and photographer. Nimoy's most famous role is that of Spock in the original Star Trek series , multiple films, television and video game sequels....
as Massive Dynamic founder William Bell. It aired on May 12, 2009 in the United States, and was watched by an estimated 9.28 million viewers. The episode received mostly positive reviews, with many critics praising the revelations concerning the parallel universe.
Plot
While Nina Sharp (Blair BrownBlair Brown
Bonnie Blair Brown is an American theater, film, and television actress. She has had a number of high profile roles, including a Tony Award-winning turn in the play Copenhagen on Broadway, as well as a run as the title character in the television comedy-drama The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd,...
) recovers from the gunshot sustained in the previous episode
The Road Not Taken (Fringe)
"The Road Not Taken" is the 19th episode of the first season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe. The episode's story was written by Akiva Goldsman, and the teleplay by Jeff Pinkner and J. R. Orci; it was directed by Frederick E. O...
,Nina Sharp had taken precaution of having body-armor implanted under the skin of her torso. the Fringe team's investigation reveals that the man in white bandages is David Robert Jones (Jared Harris
Jared Harris
Jared Francis Harris is a British character actor, well known for playing the obnoxious Mac McGrath in the Adam Sandler film Mr. Deeds, and for his portrayal of Lane Pryce on the AMC series Mad Men.- Personal life :...
). Olivia Dunham
Olivia Dunham
FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series Fringe . Olivia first appeared in the pilot episode on September 9, 2008. She is portrayed by actress Anna Torv....
(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:...
) and Phillip 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...
) discuss locating William Bell for questioning, whom they believe is behind all the fringe events that have been occurring all season.
Meanwhile, Walter Bishop
Walter Bishop (Fringe)
Walter Bishop, Ph.D. is a fictional character on the Fox television series Fringe. He is portrayed by John Noble. Noble also plays Walter's counterpart in the show's parallel universe, who is referred to in the show as Walternate.-Arc:...
(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...
) is at a graveyard, where he solemnly stares at an unknown gravestone. Olivia, Peter Bishop
Peter Bishop
Peter Bishop is a fictional character on the Fox television series Fringe. He is portrayed by Joshua Jackson.-Fictional character biography:...
(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 Astrid Farnsworth (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....
) begin searching for Walter. Nina tells Olivia that an energy cell was stolen from her mechanical arm by Jones, and that he was formerly a Massive Dynamic employee who had looked up to Bell as a "father figure" until they had a falling out. When Olivia demands to speak to Bell, Nina explains that she does not know where he is, as Bell has been communicating these past few months "strictly electronically". Nina believes Jones is trying to confront Bell, and promises Olivia that if she stops Jones, Nina will arrange a meeting between her and Bell.
On a busy New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
street, Jones and his team use the energy cell to open a doorway into a 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...
and bring a truck through, but are apparently unsuccessful, as Jones complains he used the "wrong coordinates". Having previously observed Walter at the graveyard, The Observer (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...
) arrives with Walter at the Bishops' beach house, and gives Walter a coin, telling him to remember what he has to find. Walter goes on alone into the house, while Olivia and Charlie interview witnesses who saw Jones extract the truck from the doorway. They discover that the truck's VIN
Vehicle identification number
A Vehicle Identification Number, commonly abbreviated to VIN, is a unique serial number used by the automotive industry to identify individual motor vehicles. VINs were first used in 1954...
numbers do not exist, which implies the "truck was never made". A further interview with Nina reveals to the Fringe team that the truck is from another universe, and that Jones is using the stolen energy cell to travel to that universe.
Peter finds Walter and chooses to meet his father alone, as he believes Walter is upset from the past several days. Now at the beach house, Peter and Walter search for and retrieve a device that can seal shut the doorway into the other universe. Walter explains to Peter that he once lost something very dear to him and that he had to go and bring it back from another reality; the device was created to prevent something from following him.
After Jones makes another unsuccessful attempt to open a doorway at a soccer field in Providence
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, Olivia searches through old case files related to science and unexplained phenomena, and discovers the connection between the soccer field and the city street. Olivia and Walter come to the same conclusion, that Jones is going to use a site at Reiden Lake to reopen the doorway. Olivia, Peter, and Walter intercept Jones while he is opening another window and is halfway through it. Peter triggers Walter's device, killing Jones by sealing the doorway.
At the end of the episode, Walter again goes alone to visit the graveyard; he tearfully observes a gravestone marked "Peter Bishop 1978-1985", suggesting that Walter's legitimate son died. Nina Sharp later calls Olivia and implies to her that she can meet William Bell in Manhattan. After no one shows up at the agreed-upon restaurant, Olivia leaves, as she assumes that she got stood up. However, when in an elevator to leave the building, Olivia is transported to the parallel universe and is directed to an office. After reading a newspaper headline indicating that President Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
was preparing to move into the "new" White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
, she is greeted by William Bell (Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Simon Nimoy is an American actor, film director, poet, musician and photographer. Nimoy's most famous role is that of Spock in the original Star Trek series , multiple films, television and video game sequels....
) and inquires where she is. The final shot pans out the window revealing that they are standing inside the South Tower of the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
.
Production
The character of Massive Dynamic founder William Bell was originally meant to be revealed earlier in the first season, but the writers changed their minds as the show progressed. In early April 2009, 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...
announced that Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
actor Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Simon Nimoy is an American actor, film director, poet, musician and photographer. Nimoy's most famous role is that of Spock in the original Star Trek series , multiple films, television and video game sequels....
had been cast as Bell. He and Fringe creator J.J. Abrams already had a relationship after working together on the 2009 film Star Trek; Abrams stated in an interview that he called Nimoy and begged him to join Fringe, explaining the show and the character. Nimoy sounded interested but wanted to become more familiar with the show, so Abrams and the other producers sent him as much information as they could about Fringe, until Nimoy agreed. This exchange of phone calls, in which Nimoy responded with interest when pitched the idea, was also how Abrams was able to cast him in his Star Trek reboot. Nimoy later explained "When they contacted me about working on Fringe -- the same people, the same attitude, the same creativity, the same creative team – it was very enticing". According to Abrams, "The idea that he will play the mysterious, much-referenced William Bell is a thrill. I know I sound like a goofy fan boy, but I can’t help it: Leonard is an icon of the genre and such a wonderful actor. To have him come on board Fringe is a mind-blowing honor".
Nimoy was hired for three episodes, beginning with the season finale. Fringe co-creator Roberto Orci
Roberto Orci
Roberto Gaston Orci is a Mexican-American film producer, television producer, and screenwriter.-Biography:Orci was born in Mexico City to a Mexican father and a Cuban mother. His mother had left Cuba for Mexico after Fidel Castro came to power. He is the older brother of screenwriter-producer J....
described Nimoy's character as "a mix of Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
and Bill Gates
Bill Gates
William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...
", while Nimoy referred to Bell as a "master of the universe" who is "brilliant, wealthy and very powerful". Nimoy's part of the final scene of the episode with Olivia was very brief. Nimoy described the scene as "interesting, entertaining" and "that you'll want to see more of this relationship and what it's all about". Actress 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:...
described the final scene as calm yet threatening, "That's what's kind of cool about working on Fringe, is everything seems kind of calm and lovely, but there's always something going on underneath". While shooting, Nimoy commented that the character "was a unique experience," as he had not acted outside of the Spock
Spock
Spock is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by Leonard Nimoy in the original Star Trek series, Spock also appears in the animated Star Trek series, two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, seven of the Star Trek feature films, and numerous Star Trek...
character for a number of years. Nimoy has stated in multiple interviews that his Fringe role will be the last project in his acting career.
Bryan Burk
Bryan Burk is an American film and television producer, as well as an occasional screenwriter.A graduate of USC's School of Cinema-Television, Bryan Burk began his career working with producers Brad Weston at Columbia Pictures, Ned Tanen at Sony Pictures and John Davis at FOX...
and Akiva Goldsman
Akiva Goldsman
Akiva J. Goldsman from Walker Valley, New York is an American screenwriter and film producer. He received an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the 2001 film, A Beautiful Mind, which also won the Oscar for Best Picture....
, and the teleplay
Teleplay
A teleplay is a television play, a comedy or drama written or adapted for television. The term surfaced during the 1950s with wide usage to distinguish a television plays from stage plays for the theater and screenplays written for films...
was written by executive producers Jeff Pinkner
Jeff 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. It was directed by Brad Anderson. Co-creator and executive producer Roberto Orci
Roberto Orci
Roberto Gaston Orci is a Mexican-American film producer, television producer, and screenwriter.-Biography:Orci was born in Mexico City to a Mexican father and a Cuban mother. His mother had left Cuba for Mexico after Fidel Castro came to power. He is the older brother of screenwriter-producer J....
explained in an interview that the big reveal at the end of the episode, in which Olivia meets Bell in the parallel universe, was actually planned for a fourth season, but the writers decided "let's actually answer something instead and not get, not just rely on that mystery forever. And so we actually chose to give kind of a big answer and have to come with a different show than we ever intended". Creator J.J. Abrams called the finale "the end of one chapter and the start of another".
To create the scene where Jones brings a semi truck from the parallel universe, the special effects crew took a smaller truck and dressed it enough so that it seemed like the longer semi with the help of CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
; the result was that in the episode, the viewer is led to believe that the truck had been "cut" in half after unsuccessfully entering the prime universe doorway. It was rigged so that it appeared to be on a tilt, and cables linked it to smash into a passing car. As the production crew considered William Bell to be a "Renaissance man
Polymath
A polymath is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply be someone who is very knowledgeable...
", they filled Bell's office with "things that inspire him," such as a prototype of Nina's mechanical arm and other items that "evoke images and stimulate thought".
Cultural references
In the final scene set in the parallel universe, a newspaperNewspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
states the (presumably recently inaugurated) Obamas are moving into the "new" White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
, indicating that the traditional presidential residence had been recently rebuilt. Another headline has former President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
addressing the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
. Another part of the newspaper depicts Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
player Len Bias
Len Bias
Leonard Kevin "Len" Bias was a first team All-American college basketball player at the University of Maryland. He was selected by the Boston Celtics as the second overall pick in the 1986 NBA Draft on June 17, but died two days later from cardiac arrhythmia induced by a cocaine overdose...
winning the MVP award, when Bias in fact died in 1986 in the prime universe.
Ratings
"There's More Than One of Everything" was season one's finale. The episode was watched by an estimated 9.28 million viewers in the United States.In between the first two seasons, Fox aired repeats of the first season featuring Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
comments about the episodes from executive producers Jeff Pinkner
Jeff 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, and actors 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...
and 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...
.
Reviews
The episode received generally positive reviews, with multiple critics lauding the performances of actors Anna TorvAnna Torv
Anna Torv is an Australian actress known for her role as FBI agent Olivia Dunham on the Fox television series Fringe.-Early life:...
and 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...
. In his review for 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...
, critic Ken Tucker wrote this his "mind was blown not once, but twice" due to the many revelations about two universes; Fringe "has vaulted to the upper reaches of current television". In a second review, Tucker praised the "beautifully, startlingly executed" special effects when the "hole" in the universe closed. Writing for A.V. Club, critic Zach Handlen gave the episode an A, and felt the episode made him want to go back and rewatch season one because the finale had "so many references and back story nods that I wanted to have everything in my head together". Andrew Hanson from the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
thought the finale "leads to a wealth of possibilities... The déjà universe was a bold move. I can’t wait to see what our friends at Fringe do with it". Writing for the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, critic Maureen Ryan heaped praise on the "excellent" episode, and complimented "the quietly creepy atmosphere, the slowly building tension in the dual Walter/Olivia stories, the way those stories were skillfully woven together, the suitably tense lakeside encounter between Olivia, Peter and Mr. Jones". Many critics expressed that because of the episode, they couldn't wait for the following season to begin. 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 Ramsey Isler rated the episode 9.2/10, while website blogger io9
Io9
io9 is a blog launched in 2008 by Gawker Media. The blog focuses on the subjects of science fiction, futurism, and advancements in the fields of science and technology....
listed "There's More Than One of Everything" as one of the "crucial" episodes new viewers must watch to get into the show. The Futon Critic listed it the 16th best television episode of 2009, explaining "J.J. Abrams and company know all about big reveals... but this one, in which William Bell reveals himself as living in a parallel universe where the Twin Towers weren't lost, was one of their most indelible".
Though some critics appreciated how Fringe chose to end the finale with a shot of the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
, others disliked it. Jeff Pinkner defended their decision by explaining they chose it because the building is "obviously very iconic" and it best displayed that in the parallel universe, "things are both better and in some ways worse. It's just different choices, the road not taken". Leonard Nimoy also defended the writers, commenting that when he received the script, he thought it "was very interesting and really kind of daring contemporary television to pull in that story... You know, it's not easy to use that kind of stuff without seeming somehow exploitive. But I thought they did it very, very well".
Awards and nominations
Bryan Burk, Akiva Goldsman, Jeff Pinkner, and J.H. Wyman submitted the episode for consideration in the Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series Category at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards61st Primetime Emmy Awards
The 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards took place on September 20, 2009. CBS broadcast the Primetime event and E! the Creative Arts event; both take place at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The nominations for the Awards were announced on July 16....
. They also submitted two other episodes, "Pilot"
Pilot (Fringe)
The pilot episode of the television series Fringe premiered on the Fox network on September 9, 2008. The pilot was written by series creators J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci, and directed by Alex Graves. The episode introduces the character Olivia Dunham, portrayed by Anna Torv, an FBI...
and "Bound", but did not receive any nominations.
External links
- "There's More Than One of Everything" at FoxFox 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...