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The Worst Episodes of Fringe

Every episode of Fringe ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Fringe!

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FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham, brilliant but formerly institutionalized scientist Walter Bishop and his scheming, reluctant son Peter uncover a deadly mystery involving a series of unbelievable events and realize they may be a part

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  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    Fringe Season 2 Episode 11 - Unearthed
    6.1/10(2550 votes)

    #1 - Unearthed

    S2:E11

    A teenage girl pronounced brain dead wakes up in the middle of the operation to remove her organs... speaking numbers in Russian. When the Navy confirms that the numbers are nuclear launch codes and a missing officer named Rusk knows them, the search is on for the missing man.

    Director:Frederick E. O. Toye
    Writers:Andrew Kreisberg, David H. Goodman

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  2. Fringe Season 2 Episode 20 - Brown Betty
    6.8/10(3375 votes)

    #2 - Brown Betty

    S2:E20

    When Peter disappears, Walter seeks solace in marijuana. In that state of mind, he and Astrid babysit Olivia's niece Ella, and Walter tells her a fairy tale of a gentle inventor, a stolen glass heart, a detective looking for true love, and a mysterious group of bald men known as the Watchers.

    Director:Seith Mann
    Writers:Akiva Goldsman, Jeff Pinkner, J. H. Wyman

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  3. Fringe Season 1 Episode 12 - The No-Brainer
    7.0/10(2806 votes)

    #3 - The No-Brainer

    S1:E12

    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, Brad Anderson
    Writers:Brad Kane, David H. Goodman

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  4. Fringe Season 1 Episode 2 - The Same Old Story
    7.1/10(3956 votes)

    #4 - The Same Old Story

    S1:E2

    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.

    Director:Paul A. Edwards
    Writers:Jeff Pinkner, Roberto Orci, J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman

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  5. Fringe Season 2 Episode 9 - Snakehead
    7.1/10(2396 votes)

    #5 - Snakehead

    S2:E9

    A Chinese Triad is using illegal aliens to breed parasitic worms that eventually kill their hosts. When a ship runs aground, Fringe Division learns of the operation and tries to locate a second ship before the passengers on it suffer a slow, agonizing death.

    Director:Paul Holahan
    Writer:David Wilcox

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  6. Fringe Season 4 Episode 16 - Nothing As It Seems
    7.1/10(2033 votes)

    #6 - Nothing As It Seems

    S4:E16

    The Fringe team faces a case that appears familiar to Peter. Strangely, it takes place in this timeline.

    Director:Frederick E. O. Toye
    Writers:Akiva Goldsman, Jeff Pinkner

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  7. Fringe Season 1 Episode 5 - Power Hungry
    7.2/10(3191 votes)

    #7 - Power Hungry

    S1:E5

    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.

    Director:Christopher Misiano
    Writers:Jason Cahill, Julia Cho

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  8. Fringe Season 2 Episode 12 - Johari Window
    7.2/10(2452 votes)

    #8 - Johari Window

    S2:E12

    A state trooper picks up a runaway boy, but when he undergoes a strange transformation, three murders result. The Fringe team is called in to investigate and discover that a small town harbors a horrible secret.

    Director:Joe Chappelle
    Writer:Josh Singer

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  9. Fringe Season 4 Episode 10 - Forced Perspective
    7.2/10(2122 votes)

    #9 - Forced Perspective

    S4:E10

    Olivia continues to cope with the ominous warning from the Observers, while Peter and the team track a girl with the mysterious ability to predict death.

    Director:David Solomon
    Writer:Ethan Gross

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  10. Fringe Season 4 Episode 13 - A Better Human Being
    7.2/10(2089 votes)

    #10 - A Better Human Being

    S4:E13

    As the Fringe team investigates a mentally ill patient who appears to be connected to a series of murders, frightening clues and connections are uncovered that lead Olivia to some shocking revelations.

    Director:Joe Chappelle
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Fringe Season 4 Episode 15 - A Short Story About Love
    7.2/10(2301 votes)

    #11 - A Short Story About Love

    S4:E15

    Following the recent shocking revelations and emotional events, Peter weighs his options as the Fringe team investigates a killer targeting love.

    Director:J. H. Wyman
    Writers:J. H. Wyman, Graham Roland

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  12. Fringe Season 5 Episode 3 - The Recordist
    7.2/10(2012 votes)

    #12 - The Recordist

    S5:E3

    As the rogue Fringe team continues to fight off the oppressive Observers’ invasion, unforeseen events lead them into a forest where they encounter a strange subculture of people devoted to recording human history.

    Director:Jeff T. Thomas
    Writer:Graham Roland

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  13. Fringe Season 1 Episode 16 - Unleashed
    7.3/10(2777 votes)

    #13 - Unleashed

    S1:E16

    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.

    Director:Brad Anderson
    Writers:J.R. Orci, Zack Whedon

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  14. Fringe Season 2 Episode 5 - Dream Logic
    7.3/10(2438 votes)

    #14 - Dream Logic

    S2:E5

    A man in Seattle goes berserk, attacking his boss and claiming his victim is a demon. After the killer dies of what appears to be exhaustion, the Fringe Division discover it's only the first in a series of killings where the persons initiating the attacks were in a dreaming state while awake

    Director:Paul A. Edwards
    Writer:Josh Singer

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  15. Fringe Season 2 Episode 6 - Earthling
    7.3/10(2445 votes)

    #15 - Earthling

    S2:E6

    Human beings are reduced to ash statues and Broyles realizes that the same person responsible murdered five other persons four years ago... a case that he never solved.

    Director:Jon Cassar
    Writers:J. H. Wyman, Jeff Vlaming

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  16. Fringe Season 3 Episode 13 - Immortality
    7.3/10(2196 votes)

    #16 - Immortality

    S3:E13

    As the story shifts back to life “over there,” the absence of Colonel Broyles changes the dynamic of the Fringe Team as they investigate a bioterrorist armed with an insect that has a taste for human flesh. Meanwhile, alternate Olivia is reunited with her beau, and Walternate remains determined to save his world but discovers there are certain lines he will not cross.

    Director:Brad Anderson
    Writers:David Wilcox, Ethan Gross

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  17. Fringe Season 1 Episode 6 - The Cure
    7.4/10(3071 votes)

    #17 - The Cure

    S1:E6

    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.

    Director:Bill Eagles
    Writers:Brad Kane, Felicia D. Henderson

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  18. Fringe Season 1 Episode 9 - The Dreamscape
    7.4/10(2853 votes)

    #18 - The Dreamscape

    S1:E9

    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.

    Director:Frederick E. O. Toye
    Writers:Julia Cho, Zack Whedon

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  19. Fringe Season 2 Episode 2 - Night of Desirable Objects
    7.4/10(2569 votes)

    #19 - Night of Desirable Objects

    S2:E2

    A highway construction worker is the seventh in a series of mysterious disappearances in Lansdale, PA. The team come to investigate and finds traces of a mysterious paralytic. Meanwhile, Walter tries to send frogs to an alternate reality and Olivia realizes her recent trip has altered her in ways she can barely understand.

    Director:Brad Anderson
    Writers:Jeff Pinkner, J. H. Wyman

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  20. Fringe Season 3 Episode 11 - Reciprocity
    7.4/10(2142 votes)

    #20 - Reciprocity

    S3:E11

    When the Fringe Team visits Massive Dynamic’s assembly of the doomsday device, Walter becomes greatly concerned for Peter’s well-being, so he turns to Nina for added brain power to understand the relationship between Peter and the superweapon. Meanwhile, the discovery of a dead body triggers an intense investigation.

    Director:Jeannot Szwarc
    Writer:Josh Singer

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  21. Fringe Season 4 Episode 3 - Alone in the World
    7.4/10(2090 votes)

    #21 - Alone in the World

    S4:E3

    Two young bullies are found dead and in just a few hours they rot to an advanced state of decomposition. The Fringe team investigates and uncovers an amorphous figure claiming more victims. Walter becomes increasingly distracted with his mental state.

    Director:Miguel Sapochnik
    Writer:David Fury

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  22. Fringe Season 4 Episode 5 - Novation
    7.4/10(2145 votes)

    #22 - Novation

    S4:E5

    Olivia and the others of Fringe division attempt to determine the origin of Peter Bishop, who purports himself as Walter's son who had died as a young boy in the original time line.

    Director:Paul Holahan
    Writers:J.R. Orci, Graham Roland

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  23. Fringe Season 5 Episode 2 - In Absentia
    7.4/10(1958 votes)

    #23 - In Absentia

    S5:E2

    The Fringe team revisits the Harvard lab, now under Observer control, to try to find the information they need as the team fights on in their mission to save the world.

    Director:Jeannot Szwarc
    Writers:J. H. Wyman, David Fury

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  24. Fringe Season 1 Episode 3 - The Ghost Network
    7.5/10(3568 votes)

    #24 - The Ghost Network

    S1:E3

    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:Frederick E. O. Toye, Alex Graves
    Writers:Roberto Orci, J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, J.R. Orci, David H. Goodman

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  25. Fringe Season 1 Episode 4 - The Arrival
    7.5/10(3497 votes)

    #25 - The Arrival

    S1:E4

    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.

    Director:Paul A. Edwards
    Writers:Jeff Pinkner, J.J. Abrams

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Worst Episodes Summary

"Unearthed" is the worst rated episode of "Fringe". It scored 6.1/10 based on 2550 votes. Directed by Frederick E. O. Toye and written by Andrew Kreisberg, David H. Goodman, it aired on 1/11/2010. This episode scored 0.7 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Brown Betty".