Hello, Fringies!  This week is a bittersweet one indeed for all of us. The final filming is taking place as I type, and hopefully is free from those who seek to ruin surprises. Joel Wyman — bless his huge heart — is keeping us updated on Twitter and is documenting the process for fans. It’s been said many times, but never enough: We are so lucky to have such passionate people making this show, because their love shows in each and every aspect.

Last week’s event was a success, with trending in the US and Worldwide for a nice duration. The West coast trended Fringe for a few minutes.

The Human Kind was another turning point for our Fringe team. Olivia has always been good at getting people to see things her way, and she was thankfully able to remind Peter that memories and love will keep Etta alive in their hearts. She has made an imprint on their souls that cannot be erased.

Windmark has seemingly made a gross miscalculation in taunting Peter with Etta’s last memories. To take a cue from Muse — for the Human Kind — “Love is our resistance.”

Fringe is a story of consequences, and I don’t think Peter is free and clear from the repercussions of inserting the Observer tech.  Just what those may be, remains to be seen. Personally, I speculate that he may have retained higher cognitive function, a skill that could come in handy for say… making sense of a certain scroll full of advanced physics equations?

So, this week, the plan will move forward.

Once again–just like in Brown Betty and Lysergic Acid Diethylamide — Fringe is going for the strange and unbelievable, with a little help from some “recreational” drugs. In episode 5.09, Black Blotter, Walter takes a “trip” down memory lane, and there will be some surprises for longtime fans of the show. It looks like the team is “off to see the Wizard.” But who is the man behind the curtain? Will we finally see “Donald?” In addition, Peter and Olivia “follow the sound” of the radio left for them to what amounts to a forest crime scene.

Fringe has referred to the Wizard of Oz many times throughout the series. Some examples:

Johari Window   

WALTER: Just because no one has documented flying monkeys or talking lions yet hardly means they don’t exist.

 and 

WALTER: I’m learning to appreciate cowardice. The lion had a point.

PETER: The lion?

WALTER: The Cowardly Lion.

PETER: But again, that was just a movie. And there’s no flying monkeys inside the grocery store.

In The Firefly, Walter is listening to a record play, “If I Only Had a Brain.”

Peter — as a “machine man” or engineer — also seems to signify the Tin Man and his quest for a heart; Walter is searching for his brain or sanity, so he’s like the scarecrow; Olivia could be the lion who has gained courage.

In Season four — and pretty much throughout the series — all Peter wants to do is “go home,” like Dorothy. He referred to Lincoln Lee as “scarecrow” and Walternate’s Fringe Division minions as “flying monkeys,” in Back to Where You have Never Been.

Alternate Olivia keeps looking up for rainbows. Rainbows are prominent in the series, so much so, that I am betting that we see at least one before the series ends.

It is also evident from the end-of-episode promo that the episode may have had some inspiration once again from science-fiction-literary-wizard Phillip K. Dick’s, “The Man in The High Castle.” 

Real is just a matter of perception. We see what we want to see… believe what we want to believe…

This week, rip open your consciousness, but will you believe everything that you see?

#FreeYourMind

TWITTER PROTOCOL

Be sure to make your first tweet of the night a thank you to @FoxTV and @WarnerBrosEnt for making season five possible.

You can grab a cool icon for the event. They are updated throughout the week.

Check out the FOX Now app for iPad, XBox 360, and Windows 8, in order to see special Fringe content as the show airs.

1) Don’t use #FreeYourMind before the designated time: 1 HOUR before Fringe airs.

The event will take place 1 hour before Fringe airs – 8pm EST — December 14. Gently remind others that use the tag before the event to wait until the right time, and tell them that using the tag too much beforehand will lessen trending impact. This happened when Fringe fans tried to trend #WhereIsPeterBishop for the season four premiere. The # had been used all summer long, was not anything new on the Twitter radar, so it did not trend. Trending happens with terms that are relatively new, and many people tweet about them at the same time. Terms break out onto the scene, but trending becomes more difficult the more they are used. Be nice! We want everyone to feel welcome.

2) One # term per Tweet. Use only #FreeYourMind  (What Are Hashtags?)

3) Lots of people tweeting matters more than the number of tweets.

Tell everyone Fringie about the event. There is strength in numbers – remember that the more unique tweeters we have, the more likely we are to trend, and for a longer duration of time. Send your tweets out steadily – remember to pace yourself. You want to avoid “Twitter Jail.” Sustained tweeting over time matters.

Trending can be a distraction, but we need you to keep those wonderful tweets coming. You may have also noticed that the # will drop off the charts after a while, only to trend again when Fringe airs. This is due to other viewers joining in by tweeting the hashtag on the bottom of the screen.

4) Those with lots of followers help out a lot!

Alternate accounts with few followers do not have as much “influence” towards trending. But tweets from accounts like @JWFringe, @FringeOnFox, @VancityJax and @johnnob58004412 make a big impact. Let’s try to build our Fringe fan follower networks. One easy way is to follow people on fan Twitter lists. Here is my Cortexifan list. Follow some Fringies! Another way is to follow some folks on Twitter “Follow Fridays.” You may have seen tweets that are tagged #FF – followed by a bunch of twitter names. This is because they are recommended people to follow.

5) We want to pique the interest of non-Fringe fans.

This is the key to our trending duration success. It gives a chance to get our message about Fringe out to another audience. Try to construct a list of thoughtful and informative tweets before the event. These can be copied and pasted for easy tweets. Use some witty Fringe sayings – link some of the official promo videos – speculate about what happened to September.

We all have our speculations about the show and where it is heading towards the ending. Let’s get some conversation out there.

6) We can discuss aspects of the show in our tweets.

TRY to include the word FRINGE (with no #) in your tweet if possible. Talk about the characters and the actors.

7) Private accounts must have their locked status removed, as the tweets from locked accounts do not count toward the trend tally.

8) Retweets are the easiest way to help out the trending effort.

Just search for the hashtag, and retweet the ones that are interesting to you. If you know how to use a Twitter application suite like TweetDeck or HootSuite, this is made even easier.

9) Remember to check in at GetGlue for cool stickers and so that Fringe will trend there as well.
If you are in the U.S. and have an iPhone or Android phone, give Viggle a try. Their check-ins are included in the data of several prominent social television analysis companies.

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