Pilot

Season 1, Episode 1, Aired

Episode Summary

EDIT
8.7
out of 10
EPISODE RATING: Great
1,181 votes
  • Your Rating: 10
    "Perfect"
  • Your Rating: 9.5
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 9
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 8.5
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 8
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 7.5
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 7
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 6.5
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 6
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 5.5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 4.5
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 4
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 3.5
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 3
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 2.5
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 2
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 1.5
    "Abysmal"
  • Your Rating: 1
    "Abysmal"
Rate Now!
When all the passengers and crew on Flight 627 Hamburg-to-Boston die in a hideous manner, FBI agent Olivia Dunham investigates the event. While following up a lead, her partner and lover, John Scott, undergoes life-threatening chemical contamination. A desperate Olivia looks for help and finds Dr. Walter Bishop, who cannot help her because he has been institutionalized. The only way to even question him is with the help of his son Peter.

Olivia continues her investigations and goes to Nina Sharp, a manipulative executive. Olivia, Peter and Dr. Bishop begin to discover what really happened on Flight 627 and start to uncover a larger truth.moreless
  • Great Start

    9.0
    "Superb"
    The Fringe pilot was a good start to a promising show. I loved Lost and wanted more of J.J. Abrams great imagination. In this episode the Fringe team is trying to solve a case about a crashed airplane. All of the bodies on the plane have clear skin and you can see the inside of their bodies. This is one of the many cases featuring Fringe science. A crazy science where basically anything can happen. This show has some very nice sci-fi elements. The pilot was interesting and shows a promising start for this show.moreless
  • Looking forward to seeing more

    9.0
    "Superb"
    This show is very unique an has promise so I'm looking forward to seeing more. From the author that made "Lost" JJ Abrams, which I enjoy very much. I hope this show will give me that same type of belonging that Lost did, the greatest part of Lost is that you can ever stop watching it. It was like a very long movie, its not what happens in the end or the beginning. It's the journey getting there that makes for a great show and the experience.moreless
  • Reminds me of the Alias pilot.

    8.5
    "Great"
    I'm a big fan of Alias and I can't help but compare these two. Both shows has a strong female lead who works as an agent (FBI, CIA), fiancee in trouble, a possible new love interest and a lot of back and forth, twists and turns.
    This pilot is very strong and one of the best I've seen, it introduces the characters in a great way and builds a firm ground for the future. I'm usually not into science fiction but I find this very interesting, I like when shows twist the reality just a little bit.moreless
  • Pacey Witter's all grown up in this sci-fi thriller series by JJ. Abrams.

    8.0
    "Great"
    Watched the first few episodes of Fringe season 1 last night with the wife and she liked it. She doesn't usually like the shows that I watched Anyway, the pilot episode is pretty neat with the decaying-while-alive scene, that's the one that got our attention. That's exactly what the pilot should do, grab the viewer's interest so they will watch the next episode.

    I also love the ending of the pilot episode, exactly what the viewers should feel at the end of any show... "What's going to happen next?" This is when John Scott, very dead, was taken and to be 'question'.. "Question him"... I will continue with the marathon of season 1 before I start with the sophomore season... Fringe is good.moreless
  • This was the start of possibly the best tv show ever made. If it continues like this it will even surpass the standards of 24

    10
    "Perfect"
    This was the start of possibly the best tv show ever made. If it continues like this it will even surpass the standards of 24. I heard many people say that LOST was so successful because it did something that no show had ever done, but it never really impressed me and I stopped watching at the end of the 2nd season. Fringe on the other hand is utter perfection. The great cast and writing simply just work. the problem with most sci fi shows for me is that they are completely unrealistic, fringe on the other hand is based on science ( fringe science). I know it is also unrealistic, but they was they manage it just gives it an air of credibility.Spoiler: the walter stealing peter is one of the best story lines ever created. If you came here wondering if you should watch this show, my answer is simple: Just do itmoreless
WRITE A REVIEW

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

See All

FILTER BY TYPE

  • TRIVIA (8)

    ADD TRIVIA
    • Trivia: The glyphs first seen here form a code that spell out "observer."

    • Trivia: Right outside the Massive Dynamic building you can see the symbols for a pen and a rose. This is a clue to Christopher Penrose and Dr. Claus Penrose, who appear in the next episode "The Same Old Story."

    • Hidden Phrases During the beginning credits the words "Observers are here" can be seen. During the dream sequence the words "He's Not Dead" appear on a tombstone.

    • Trivia: The car they pull out of the garage resembles an MG sports car but the traditional MG logo was altered to MD, Massive Dynamic.

    • Trivia: When Olivia visits Massive Dynamic to find out about Richard Steeg, The "Observer" can be seen briefly walking down the street outside the building.

    • When the plane is losing height and going through some turbulence the screens are not folded. In case of an air emergency that's one the first thing that is done.

    • Trivia: The "leaf" is the first object out of the items shown before each commercial break to appear in an episode.If you look in the middle of the "leaf" you can see a triangle or Delta symbol on it. It appears on the Massive Dynamic handprint scanner.

    • When the various governmental agents enter the plane on the tarmac, the oxygen masks are deployed, apparently for no reason.

  • QUOTES (21)

    ADD QUOTES
    • Walter: If you want to watch, you can come closer. You work here? Astrid: Yeah. I'm Astrid Farnsworth, assistant to Agent Dunham. Walter: Who? (Astrid points to Olivia in the sensory deprivation tank) Walter: Oh, yes! I'm Walter... ummm... Peter: Bishop. Walter Bishop. Walter: Yes, thank you. Peter: Don't mention it.

    • Nina: (uncovers John's body) How long has he been dead? Man w/Gurney: Five hours. Nina: Question him.

    • Olivia: His name is Peter Bishop. He's a high school drop out; an IQ at 190, but just 50 points North of Genius- misfit, nomad. Hasn't held a job longer then two months. He's been a wild land fireman, cargo pilot and briefly a college Chemistry professor. He falsified a degree from MIT and even managed to get a few papers published before he was found out. Sounds like a massive pain in the ass.

    • Olivia: I can have you on a flight back here in four days, but first… Peter: Let me save you the time. I'd rather stay here in Iraq. That's how much I want to see my father.

    • Olivia: I thought you were a genius. You must have had a system? Peter: Of course there was a system. The house was cheating. But you try and tell them that.

    • Walter: Excellent. Let's make some LSD!

    • Bishop: It's not an exact science... Peter: It's not even science!

    • Olivia: CDC says the Hamburg flight was caused by a synthetic compound, which is like saying rain is caused by a wet compound.

    • Olivia: What is it? Walter: They… they have this horrible… pudding here. Butterscotch pudding on Mondays. It's dreadful. Olivia: It's Thursday. Walter: Oh? Oh, fantastic!

    • Walter: I thought you'd be fatter. Peter: You thought I'd be fatter? Excellent. First words, perfect. Walter: No, no, no, as a boy, you were rounder.

    • Walter: Oh! Olivia: What happened? Walter: I just pissed myself. Peter: Excellent. Walter: Just a squirt.

    • Walter: So much… so much happened here. And so much is about to.

    • Walter: The only thing better than a cow is a human. Unless you need milk. Then you really need a cow.

    • Olivia: You owe money to a guy nicknamed Big Eddie? Peter: No, I owe money to a guy named Big Eddie. He had it legally changed.

    • Walter: Didn't I mention it? Peter: Whatever you think you said, you didn't say it.

    • Walter: I have used this technique to extract information from a corpse once. You can do that if they haven't been dead for longer than six hours. Peter: Right, 'cause after six hours they're really dead.

    • Peter: The man who was just released from the mental institution, he wants to give you a drug overdose, then stick a metal rod into your head and put you naked into a rusty tank of water. Walter: No, I don't want to. No, I'd rather not. I'm just saying I can.

    • Charlie: You've cleared all this with Broyles? Olivia: Somewhat. Charlie: Oh, "somewhat" doesn't sound good. Is that a cow?

    • Peter: I still think that this is deeply irresponsible, and believe me, I would know.

    • (watching "Spongebob Squarepants") Walter: And this is a show for children? Astrid: Yeah, it's huge. Walter: Surprisingly profound for a narrative about a sponge.

    • Peter: Genetically, humans and cows are separated by only a couple lines of DNA so it's an ethical test subject. Olivia: Where did you learn that, MIT? Peter: No, actually picked that up reading books, you should try it sometime, it's fun.

  • NOTES (13)

    ADD NOTES
    • There are eight pictures that appear when a commercial breaks is coming or for promoting the show. APPLE: the seeds in the apple are human embryos BUTTERFLY: the wings are made up of bones FLOWER: some of its petals are dragonfly wings and the center shows a Fermat's spiral FROG: has a symbol on its back for PHI HAND: it has six fingers HORN: has the Fibonacci spiral and has the number of PHI inscribed on the horn LEAF: has the delta symbol in the middle of it SMOKE: for a woman's face *in most of the pictures there is a small yellow dot.

    • Original International Air Dates: Australia: September 17, 2008 on Channel 9 Sweden: October 2, 2008 on TV4 United Kingdom: October 5, 2008 on Sky1/Sky1 HD Norway: January 1, 2009 on Tvn Finland: January 5, 2009 on MTV3 Thailand: February 7, 2009 on True Series Hungary: March 13, 2009 on RTL-Klub Germany: March 16, 2009 on ProSieben Belgium: May 28, 2009 on RTBF2 France: June 10, 2009 on TF1 New Zealand: July 1, 2009 on TV2 Poland: September 10, 2009 on TVN Slovakia: October 4, 2009 on Markiza Czech Republic: February 5, 2010 on Nova Cinema

    • Kirk Acevedo (Charlie Francis) and Lance Reddick (Phillip Broyles) previously starred together on the HBO series Oz.

    • This episode began at a special time, 8:00 PM. In addition, its original airing was with limited commercials, allowing the 81-minute long episode to complete its airing at 9:35 PM.

    • This episode had an exclusive FREE preview UK screening on Saturday 4th October, 11.00am on the Apollo West End.

    • The cow acquired in Bishop's lab was to be a regular, but unfortunately this particular cow only appeared in the pilot. The production crew was unable to get permission to bring the bovine across the border from Canada to the USA where the remainder of the series was filmed. Recasting was required.

    • The press kit of Fringe sent by FOX contained an audio recorder with the voice of Lance Reddick on it.

    • This episode was released in CC-HDTV 720p-Dolby Digital 5.1.

    • Sky1 acquired the UK rights to this episode.

    • DC Comics released a prequel comic book on August 27, two weeks before the series premiere on September 9.

    • The budget for the show's "Pilot" episode was $10 million.

    • Filming location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    • Joshua Jackson was reluctant to take this role and commit himself to a TV series again. In an interview with SCI FI Wire, he admits being attracted to the role because of J.J. Abrams, but he turned it down a few times. He didn't commit until he met Kurtzman and Orci, most famous for writing the re-imagined Transformers movie from 2007.

  • ALLUSIONS (1)

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Peter: You're telling me, what, my father was Dr. Frankenstein? Referencing the book by Mary Shelley Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus. The story is about Doctor Frankenstein who creates a living being out of the parts of dead people, a being that turns against its creator.

More
Less