It’s your lucky day, Fringe fans, because The TV Addict has released a written report of the An Evening With Fringe event with John Noble (Walter), Anna Torv (Olivia), and writers/producers Jeff Pinkner, J.H. Wyman and Akiva Goldsman at the Paley Center of Media, which took place last week!

The report is very long, and pretty much details everything that was said, but it’s a very exciting read! It tells both of the actors’ and writers’ feelings about the past season, and some hints about what’s to come.

One subject that was discussed at length was to what extent the writers had a plan for the show from the get-go:

Did this show always have a plan? Jeff [Pinkner] was quick to firmly state, “Absolutely. From the first season we have known where the story was going. The audience can feel if a story has structure beneath it. […] I can tell you with utter sincerity that we knew before we started writing the 2nd episode – none of us were involved with the pilot — that we knew that Walter stole Peter from another universe, the doppelgangers — we started to write towards things very early on. There was a high degree of audience frustration early on: why is Olivia such an unsettled character, and it was because she was unsettled in her role. We knew we were telling a long-ball story and that hopefully the audience would hold on fast and come along for the ride. We do have a plan.” J.H. then cited a number of examples from season one in which the foundation and clues about where the show was going were carefully woven throughout the episodes, such as the amber on the bus, the possibility of accelerated pregnancy when they showed that it was possible to grow soldiers.

They also address concerns about the Observers and the possibility of Fringe entering into a “science versus faith” debate:

As J.H. noted, “People want to know about the Observers. We get it. . . They are sort of the most enigmatic, least defined.” So he promised that season four would address more about who or what the Observers are. In response to the question: what assurances could they provide that FRINGE is not going to spring a religious story, such as like turning the Observers into a religious symbol, when fans have invested in a science fiction show? Akiva tackled this thorny question by carefully responding, “[We] sort of handled this sort of duality of science and religion — whether they are the same thing or not– and we’ve addressed it in a way that is really beautiful. But that is about as close as we’re ever going to get. Our show is not an exploration of science verse religion. It is an exploration of the experience of life — the dramatic and intense humor – with relationships seen through the mirror of science fiction — and it’s a wonderful way of talking about life.” Though he ruefully added, “Had we been feathering deity and some kind of great theology throughout, then, yes, we would end up at some celestial Vatican. I think it’s pretty safe to say that that’s not where we’re going.”

Read the full, enlightening report here at The TV Addict.