---
title: "Fringe (TV series)"
chunk: 4/14
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fringe_(TV_series)"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:37:37.281312+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

== Mythology ==

=== Parallel universe ===

Much of the story arc for Fringe involves a parallel universe that mostly mirrors the prime universe, but with numerous historical idiosyncrasies. A significant example element used is the effect of the September 11 attacks; though this event also occurred in the alternate universe, the World Trade Center was untouched by the attacks, leaving the buildings as predominant landmarks in the alternate world's skyline of "Manhatan". The South Tower was used as the office of William Bell in several episodes.
The producers were strongly interested in "world-building", and the alternate universe allowed them to create a very similar world with a large amount of detail to fill in the texture of the world. An alternate universe also allowed them to show "how small choices that you make define you as a person and can change your life in large ways down the line," according to co-director Jeff Pinkner. However, the producers also realized the concept of the alternate universe could confuse viewers. To avoid this, they introduced elements of the world in small pieces over the course of the first two seasons before the larger revelation in the second-season finale and the third season. J. H. Wyman stated that he would often pass the story ideas for the alternate universe by his father to see if it made sense, and would rework the script if his father found it confusing. Such world building also gave them a risky opportunity to create stories that focused solely on characters from the alternate universe with nearly no ties to the main characters; as stated by Wyman, they would be able to "make two shows about one show," a concept that the network executives embraced.

=== Glyph code ===

Prior to commercial breaks, a brief image of a glyph is shown. Abrams revealed in an interview that the glyphs had a hidden meaning. "It's something that we're doing for people who care to figure it out and follow it, but it's not something that a viewer has to consider when they watch the show." Abrams also revealed that the seemingly unrelated frogs which have the Greek letter Phi (Φ) imprinted on their backs appeared in promos for the show and have significance within the context of the series, saying "it's part of the code of the show." The glyph code was cracked by Julian Sanchez, then working as an editor at the technology site Ars Technica, who discovered it to be a simple substitution cipher used to spell out a single thematic word for each episode; for example, the pilot episode's eight glyphs spell out the word "observer". Additionally, the glyphs are representative of some of the means by which Walter solves a case (such as the moth/butterfly from "Johari Window", the seahorse strain of DNA from "The Bishop Revival"). In "Jacksonville", behind Walter as he speaks to Olivia about her treatment where the nootropic Cortexiphan was first studied as a trial, each of the glyphs is clearly visible on the daycare wall. An episode-by-episode key to the various glyphs was made available on Fringepedia.

=== Opening sequence ===
The show's standard opening sequence interplays images of the glyph symbols alongside words representing fringe science topics, such as "teleportation" and "dark matter." Within the third season, with episodes that took place primarily in the parallel universe, a new set of titles was used, following a similar format, though tinted red instead of blue and using alternate fringe science concepts like "hypnosis" and "neuroscience". The difference in color has led some fans to call the prime universe the Blue one in contrast to the parallel Red one. In the third-season episode "Entrada", the titles used a mix of both the blue- and red-tinted versions, given that the episode took place equally in each universe. In the two flashback episodes, "Peter" and "Subject 13," a variation on the sequence, with retro graphics akin to 1980s technology and phrases like "personal computing" and "genetic engineering" was used. For the dystopian future third-season episode "The Day We Died," a black-toned theme with more dire phrases like "hope" and "water" was used. The fourth-season premiere, "Neither Here Nor There", introduced an amber-toned title sequence, with additional new terms, that is used for nearly all fourth-season episodes. The fourth-season episode "Letters of Transit," which returned to the future dystopian universe, and the subsequent fifth-season episodes, feature a cold-toned title sequence with phrases such as "joy," "private thought," "free will," and "freedom," ideas which have been lost in this future. There is one frame in the opening sequence in which the words "Observers are here" flash very quickly, and the opening sequence must be paused to see them.

== Cast and characters ==