'Fringe' Stars Say Season Three Will Be Less 'Clear-Cut'

May 21 2010 9:16 AM EDT 4,983

Joshua Jackson and John Noble look forward to the aftermath of Thursday's finale.
By Jocelyn Vena

Thankfully, the world didn't come to an end on Thursday's "Fringe" season finale. But the dimensions of the universe as we know it will never be the same. That means that when season three of the Fox show premieres this fall, fans might get to know the alternate versions of the characters a lot better. The stars are certainly looking forward to that prospect.

"It's a huge opportunity for an actor to do it," John Noble, who plays Walter Bishop, told MTV News earlier this week about playing "Walternate." "The other thing about 'Fringe,' and we hope this will happen, is that while it's very clear-cut now — everyone's sort of rooting for the old team — I'm hoping that it won't [remain] so clear-cut."

In the long run, viewers may find themselves torn between both sets of characters, Noble suggested. "The people on the other side have a very good case to make here," he explained. "And then you say, 'Who do [we go for]?' If we can do that, we've created a great drama."

Joshua Jackson, who plays Walter's son Peter, teased that seeing Peter's mom again may convince him to go back to that other dimension. But after Thursday's episode, there's another woman that may get him to cross over again: his love, the real Olivia, who was left stranded on the other side after a quick bait and switch.

"I can't imagine a thing that would draw him more strongly back into the other universe: Here he is confronted with his mother ... and then at the same time he has this — if not blood connection, but familial connection," Jackson said. "He was raised and has lived and become connected to our Walter, so he really is dynamically torn. There are reasons for him to choose both."

Jackson argued that though what the alternate Olivia has done seems wrong, in the long run, he agrees with Noble that we just don't know if those intentions are all that bad. "The other Olivia is sort of the polar opposite to the Olivia we have, or seemingly right now," he said. "And Walternate is a bit of a polar opposite to the Walter that we've known, but if we do it well, you'll get to know those alternates better. And you'll see that they are fully fleshed-out characters as well."
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1639733/20100521/story.jhtml