The BEST episodes of Fringe season 1

Every episode of Fringe season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Fringe season 1!

An F.B.I. agent is forced to work with an institutionalized scientist and his son in order to rationalize a brewing storm of unexplained phenomena.

Last Updated: 9/30/2024Network: FOXStatus: Ended
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There's More Than One of Everything
star
8.14
6818 votes

#1 - There's More Than One of Everything

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 5/12/2009

Setting the stage for the dramatic and revealing first season finale are a sudden and unexpected attack on someone with close ties to Fringe Division, the return of bioterrorist David Robert Jones and the inexplicable disappearance of Walter. Find out more about the mysterious events surrounding our trio when questions are answered, observations made, loyalties are tested and the elusive William Bell is finally introduced.

Directors: Brad Anderson
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Pilot
star
7.94
10035 votes

#2 - Pilot

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/9/2008

When all the passengers on a plane die, FBI agent Olivia Dunham investigates the events and her partner almost dies. A desperate Olivia looks for help from Dr. Walter Bishop who has been institutionalized. Olivia, Dr. Bishop and his son Peter begin to discover what really happened on Flight 627 and begin to uncover a larger truth.

Directors: Alex Graves
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Safe
star
7.92
7103 votes

#3 - Safe

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/2/2008

The team is called in on a bank robbery similar to other robberies in the area but this particular bank has the thief embedded inside the steel wall of the bank. Somehow the thieves have found a way to defy the law of physics. Walter thinks they're after something of his. As the investigation deepens it all comes to a head when the thieves ambush one of the team.

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Ability
star
7.86
6991 votes

#4 - Ability

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/10/2009

German agents question Olivia about her “relationship” with David Robert Jones, an escaped prisoner questioned months earlier now living in the U.S. The Fringe Division investigates a threatening case where victims die faceless from their orifices suddenly sealing.

Directors: Norberto Barba
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The Road Not Taken
star
7.85
6566 votes

#5 - The Road Not Taken

Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 5/5/2009

Olivia experiences "awake dreams," seeing elaborate visions of things not really there. While investigating a disturbing case of a woman who apparently spontaneously combusted, Olivia throws caution to the wind and explores her unexplained visions further. Meanwhile, Walter discusses key information about the Z.F.T. manifesto, and Peter reveals a secret that yields unexpected results in the case.

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Bound
star
7.75
6991 votes

#6 - Bound

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/20/2009

Olivia's sister, Rachel (Ari Graynor), visits; Walter, Peter and Olivia try to solve the murder of an esteemed epidemiologist, which may be linked to Olivia's abduction.

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Bad Dreams
star
7.75
6684 votes

#7 - Bad Dreams

Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 4/21/2009

Olivia dreams about a suicide as the event really happens at Grand Central Station; shocking information about the Z.F.T. manuscript is revealed.

Directors: Akiva Goldsman
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Midnight
star
7.71
6549 votes

#8 - Midnight

Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/28/2009

The Fringe Division is on the case when severely mutilated bodies drained of spinal cord fluid begin to pile up. After their investigation leads them to a scientist (guest star Jefferson Mays) with possible ties to the Z.F.T. bioterrorist cell, they are shocked to discover the identity and motive of the killer. When the kills occur with increasing frequency, Olivia, Peter and Walter go to desperate lengths to stop them.

Directors: Bobby Roth
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In Which We Meet Mr. Jones
star
7.65
7398 votes

#9 - In Which We Meet Mr. Jones

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/11/2008

When a strange parasite attaches itself to the internal organs of a dying FBI agent, Olivia suspects a connection to the Pattern; Peter and Walter tap into a dead man's brain waves.

Directors: Brad Anderson
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The Transformation
star
7.65
6786 votes

#10 - The Transformation

Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 2/3/2009

When the Fringe Division delves into another bizarre occurrence aboard an international jumbo jet, freakish remains are discovered at the crash site. Memories tip the team toward some promising leads, but the bigger picture and mysterious threat eludes them. With limited options and insufficient intelligence, Olivia and Peter go undercover.

Directors: Brad Anderson
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Dreamscape
star
7.64
7066 votes

#11 - The Dreamscape

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/25/2008

The team is called in to investigate why a man jumps out a window because he thinks he's being attacked by butterflies. Olivia gets some breaks in solving the case from her former partner and that she is so desperate to rid herself of him that she demands to go back into the tank. Meanwhile, some former friends and current foes of Peter find out that he's back in Boston.

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The Equation
star
7.63
6995 votes

#12 - The Equation

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/18/2008

Walter thinks the abduction of a young music prodigy is linked back to his old bunkmate at St. Claire's Hospital. When he kidnaps the child he see's a sequence of flashing lights. Olivia wants Walter to return to the mental institution much to Peter's outcry, but Walter's determination to help ends up having chilling ramifications.

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The Same Old Story
star
7.63
8782 votes

#13 - The Same Old Story

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/16/2008

Olivia, along with Peter and Walter Bishop, investigates the strange death of a woman who had an even stranger child. The woman was pregnant for only hours, yet the baby she birthed was fully developed - and also aged eighty years in the span of a few minutes. Olivia asks Nina Sharp of Massive Dynamic for help.

Directors: Paul A. Edwards
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The Arrival
star
7.59
7623 votes

#14 - The Arrival

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 9/30/2008

Broyles calls in the team to investigate a deadly explosion and its source: a strange cylinder unharmed despite the destruction. Olivia determines that the same cylinder, or a similar one, is responsible for similar events in widely diverse locations.

Directors: Paul A. Edwards
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Inner Child
star
7.59
7027 votes

#15 - Inner Child

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 4/7/2009

Just seconds before a building is demolished, a mysterious mute child that has been living alone underground is discovered. When the FBI’s Fringe Division investigates, the boy forms an unspoken connection with Agent Olivia Dunham. Meanwhile, an especially gruesome serial killer resurfaces and showcases his “artistry” by displaying his work publicly. As the boy gradually assimilates into a new environment, Olivia and the team must race against the clock to prevent the mad man from causing further massacre.

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The Ghost Network
star
7.56
8135 votes

#16 - The Ghost Network

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/23/2008

The team investigates a bus full of dead commuters that appear to be fossilized and uncover a man who has visions of pattern-related disturbances before they happen; Dr. Bishop requests a piano in the lab to help him process data.

Directors: Alex Graves
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Power Hungry
star
7.47
7502 votes

#17 - Power Hungry

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/14/2008

The team investigate the case of a man who can project electricity... and is at the center of a series of strange deaths involving electricity.

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The Cure
star
7.46
7424 votes

#18 - The Cure

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/21/2008

The team investigates a woman that re-appears after weeks of being missing with a rare disease. She also inexplicably causes pain and death to the people she meets. During the investigation, dangerous level of radiation are detected. Walter obsesses about cotton candy; Peter strikes a deal with Nina Sharp; and a truth about Olivia is discovered.

Directors: Bill Eagles
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Unleashed
star
7.38
6943 votes

#19 - Unleashed

Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 4/14/2009

As animal rights activists ransack a laboratory, they get more than they bargained for when one of the caged “animals” unleashes a ferocious appetite. Leaving grotesquely mutilated dead bodies in its wake, the scientifically engineered beast with the body of a lion, claws of an eagle, fangs of a viper, skin of a rhinoceros and tail of a serpent attacks Charlie. With Charlie’s life on the line, Walter must come face-to-face with both his past and the beast.

Directors: Brad Anderson
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The No-Brainer
star
7.28
6767 votes

#20 - The No-Brainer

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/27/2009

Olivia, Walter and Peter are called in to investigate the death of a car salesman who was found in a pool of "goo," exactly like another man across the country. When Walter discovers that the "goo" is brain matter, the trio tries to figure out how the killer can liquefy human brains. As the deaths pile up, the investigation reveals a common thread linking the victims together in an unthinkable manner. Meanwhile, Olivia is horrified when the case places a loved one in harm's way

Directors: John Polson
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV