[1] The series has been described as a hybrid of fantasy, procedural dramas, and serials, influenced by films like Altered States and television shows such as Lost, The X-Files, and The Twilight Zone.

[2] Critical reception was lukewarm at first but became more favorable after the first season, when the series began to explore its mythology, including parallel universes with alternate timelines.

They are supported by Phillip Broyles (Lance Reddick), the force's director, and Agent Astrid Farnsworth (Jasika Nicole), who assists Walter in laboratory research.

The Fringe Division's work often intersects with advanced biotechnology developed by a company called Massive Dynamic, founded by Walter's former partner, Dr. William Bell (Leonard Nimoy), and run by their common friend, Nina Sharp (Blair Brown).

Season 1 introduces the Fringe Division as they investigate cases that form "the Pattern" geographically centered around Reiden Lake in New York state, many of which are orchestrated by an international network of rogue scientists known as ZFT (Zerstörung durch Fortschritte der Technologie, or in English, Destruction through Advancement of Technology), led by David Robert Jones (Jared Harris), who are preparing for a doomsday event.

[3] Olivia comes to learn she was a child test subject for Walter years ago (then known as Olive) for a nootropic drug, Cortexiphan, giving her weak psionic abilities.

"Walternate", Walter's doppelgänger in the parallel universe, is the U.S. Secretary of Defense and has set events in motion to assemble the Machine, a doomsday device that reacts only to Peter's biology.

Recovering in the present, Peter alters his plan and uses the Machine to merge the two rooms, creating a bridge where inhabitants of both universes can solve their dilemma, before time is re-written so September (The Observer) does not save him and is forgotten by both Walter and Olivia.

Olivia's "death" is only temporary, as the Cortexiphan in her body is consumed to repair the bullet wound, leaving her alive and healthy but lacking her psionic abilities.

[18] As September warned, Observers, bald white males from the far future, having ruined Earth for themselves, time-traveled to 2015 and instituted "The Purge", wiped out much of humanity, subjected the survivors to their control, and began modifying the planet's environment to be more suitable for themselves.

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.

[27] 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".

[29] 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.

[38][40] Orci stated that Fringe is a "new kind of storytelling", combining procedural shows such as Law & Order, and an "extremely serialized and very culty" series like Lost.

Abrams contrasted this to the process used in Lost, where ideas like character flashbacks and the hatch from the second season were introduced haphazardly and made difficulties in defining when they should be presented to the viewers.

[44] FOX's Reilly was also initially concerned about the parallel universe aspect, but as the show progressed into the first season and found its groove, the concept was readily accepted.

[45] Pinkner noted that this gave them an opportunity to "reset the character relationships" and determine the key aspects that would remain without Peter, as well as "making the audience uncomfortable at times".

[39] Similarly, Kevin Reilly, the entertainment chairman at Fox, knew that it was critical for him to bring the next Abrams' project to his network, and worked with Roth to assure this would happen.

[46] Pinkner became interested in the show during a visit to the set of Star Trek, during which Abrams was discussing the concept of Fringe with Orci and Kurtzman, knowing that they would not be involved in the direct production of the work.

Wyman had been a science fiction enthusiast but had worried that he had not written anything in that genre but after learning about the concept of the show, felt his role as an executive producer was "a match made in heaven".

"[50] A cow used in the pilot episode had to be recast when production of Season 1 was moved to New York, due to livestock restrictions preventing her from being brought from Canada to the United States.

[39] On April 8, 2009, it was announced that Leonard Nimoy would appear as Walter Bishop's former lab partner, Dr. William Bell, in the first season's finale, which explores the existence of an ominous parallel universe.

"[79] Robert Bianco, of USA Today, said, "What Abrams brings to Fringe is a director's eye for plot and pace, a fan's love of sci-fi excitement, and a story-teller's gift for investing absurd events with real emotions and relatable characters.

[81] While Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle remarked that it was "boundlessly ambitious",[82] Chicago Sun-Times's Misha Davenport called it an "update of The X-Files with the addition of terrorism and the office of Homeland Security".

agent investigating bizarre murders that all appear to be linked to a powerful and mysterious multinational corporation", and "Ms. Torv is backed up ably by John Noble as a crazy but brilliant fringe scientist and his level-headed but skeptical son, played by Joshua Jackson".

[90] IGN named Fringe the 18th best science fiction show of all time in a 2011 listing, stating that since the middle of the first season, "it's been nothing but a series of satisfyingly jaw-dropping 'holy eff!'

[116][117] The network also created a music video, set to "Echoes" by the band Klaxons as a means of summarizing the third season to date prior to the first Friday broadcast.

[139] The writing team crafted an idea for a cohesive story-driven set of thirteen episodes as a means to complete the series, and to "honor the audience that had served us so well was to say a proper farewell", according to Roth.

Jhonen Vasquez, Becky Cloonan, Cole Fowler, Jorge Jimenez, Kristen Cantrell, Ben Templesmith, Tom Mandrake, and Carrie Strachen are among the other creators on the series.