Joshua Jackson (or Pacey as I like to call him cuz I’m a dork) has portrayed the dashing and witty Peter Bishop on Fringe for three long seasons now. He’s battled shape shifters, women who could make your head literally explode and been turned into a cartoon but in season four he might just face his biggest challenge yet as he told Entertainment Weekly:
If you didn’t see the season finale of Fringe this past spring then let me stop you right here. DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER cuz thar be spoilers in them there woods. Now, with that out of the way…let’s move on.
There’s been a running joke since season three ended that Jackson is out of a job. When the Walternates converged and Peter’s story arc became so complicated he manipulated himself out of existence. POOF. Back to The Creek for Pacey. But with Fringe nothing is that simple.
“My hope is that the journey of Peter and the journey of the show pays off that cliffhanger we saw at the end of last year,” he says of season four. “It’s a pretty cool conceptual thing to allow the show to go off in this direction. So the show is going to be grappling with that from an emotional point all year,”
But what about Walter, his father? How will he manage without Peter around to keep him grounded? Joshua had this to say:
“I’m looking forward to hashing out a new permutation of it. Because the dynamic is going to be entirely changed.”
Changed is an understatement. At least Walter has Astrid around to bring him pudding now and then until this mess gets resolved. For an actor working on Fringe has got to be the best job in the world. Most of them get to play two roles, sometimes not so different but therein lies the challenge. Anna Torv has crafted two Olivias that are different is subtle ways which can be hard to portray effectively. Torv has owned it and made them both her bitch and even thrown in a Leonard Nimoy impression that made me want to slap William Shatner.
John Noble‘s two Walters on the other hand are vastly different and he switches back and forth with ease. Peter exists only in one world though since his “alternate” died when he was a kid, setting the events we are witnessing now in motion. Rebooting Peter in season four will be a special treat for Jackson.
“To me, I was glad they were able to go that big with the cliffhanger last year. The nobility of that sacrifice is a great ending for the Peter we used to know. His journey was to grow up and become a man, become part of a family and dedicate himself to something. The ultimate test of that was, ‘The choice is them or you.’ So I think the guy who would come back to us now would be a changed man.”
I’ve tried to work out how season four will play out in my head all summer and I’ve got nothing. To say I’m excited is mildly downplaying the reality of it. I’m damn near rabid. That being said, the idea that Peter got transported back to Dawson’s Creek and wakes up on that damn dock wondering what the hell happened is a visual too amazingly awesome to let go of. I think a Funny or Die skit is in order. God knows Van Der Beek will be up for it.
Josh, you listening?
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