John Noble

The cast and creators of fan favorite sci-fi series Fringe are certainly familiar with alternate realities, and they've prepared a fourth season finale that can double as a series finale if necessary.



At the Paley Center for Media's Television: Out of the Box exhibit on Thursday night in Los Angeles, John Noble (Walter) told TV Guide Magazine that if the critically hailed but ratings-challenged cult favorite doesn't get picked up by Fox for a fifth, and presumably final, year, fans will still get closure. "We've made sure that we've given an optional ending that will work and will satisfy people," Noble says of the May 11 closer. "We've definitely done that, and we're also hoping to finish our story off [with a fifth season]."



Joshua Jackson (Peter) was mum on plot details, but says, "I can tell you that it does wrap up not only this season's storyline, but it really does wrap up kind of where the show started in Season 1. I know that [the producers] did that on purpose to give a satisfactory ending to our story. And two weeks from now is basically us auditioning what Season 5 would be if they gave it to us."



"The last scene [of the finale] opens up an entire new storyline that, honestly, leaves one plot thread unresolved from the past four seasons," adds Lance Reddick (Broyles).



Noble says he thinks that if Fringe does end here, it will go out at the top of its game creatively. "I've said all along that as we've come home we've gotten stronger and stronger and stronger, and what we've taken on are the big questions — we've actually answered a lot of the questions. We've thrust the major characters into the conflicts that everyone's been waiting for. We've just taken it all on, so the episodes ahead of us, I believe, are the best we've made."



The actor says a final reckoning awaits his character. "Walter's always been going to have to face his nemesis, whether that's inside of his head or somebody else. He has to do that. We've known that all the time. I can tell you that at the end of this season, he does.'"



And Reddick says things get particularly interesting for the alternate universe counterpart of his Agent Broyles. "I can honestly say that the storyline for Alt Broyles and what's going on with him and David Robert Jones gets wrapped up."



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