The episode was written by co-executive producer Josh Singer and series story editor Ethan Gross, and directed by Jeffrey Hunt.
Based on the need for three shapeshifters, Walter surmises that Newton is trying to use the same technology that he and William Bell had pioneered for crossing the universes, by placing three vibrational sources triangulated around the target.
Peter warns everyone, including Walter, back as he completes the interference device and the bridge, which still exists in the parallel universe, starts to appear with a man crossing it.
[13] While "The Man from the Other Side" had a 15 percent decrease from the previous week's episode, Fringe and its lead-in, Bones, helped Fox place second for the night despite competition from the other networks' original programming.
Club graded the episode with an A−, explaining it was "full of just about everything I look for from the show," as it had a sequence focused on weird science, a great performance by Noble, and a "heartbreaking" ending.
[1] Ramsey Isler from IGN rated the episode 8.6/10, as he thought it "delivered action, suspense, mystery, and the final climax" to Peter discovering his origins, and it was "a great achievement that marks a big turning point for the series".
[15] Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly lauded Noble and Jackson's performances, calling Peter's change back to "the secretive, bitter, scurrilous character he was before the series started" a "wrenching daring move on the part of the show".
[16] Tim Grierson of the magazine New York was worried that the hype surrounding Peter's secret would not pay off, but believed "Happily, last night's episode perfectly handled that anticipated plot point... [it] turned out to be much better than could have been hoped".
[8] McGee concluded his review with a focus on the main cast's performances, "Joshua Jackson's understated nature during his final scene with John Noble really paid off.
[18] Jane Boursaw of AOL TV wrote, "This episode of Fringe had everything - a slimy embryo, a thrilling gunfight, nefarious shapeshifters, some alternate universe action, and yes, that heartbreaking drama we've been waiting for all season.