The newly renewed Fringe returns with an all-new episode this week and as far as this fresh teaser is concerned…(spoiler alert?) Leonard Nimoy will be back, in some form or other. Episode 319 is “Lysergic Acid Diethylamide”; this is the psychedelic drug otherwise known as LSD. Whether or not it plays a role in the William Bell rebirth that has yet to be determined. You’ll have to tune into FOX this Friday at 9PM to find out.
I’m trying my best to come up with a theory here. Following his epic contributions to the Fringe season 3 finale, Nimoy publicly announced his retirement from acting. Over the course of the last couple episodes, Bell’s consciousness has found a home in Agent Olivia Dunham but soon it will have to find a new host. In all likelihood it will not be in the form of Bell but perhaps someone else, someone from the Fringe universe we’ve encountered before. I don’t know why I’m thinking this, but I can’t turn my mind away from Mark Valley’s John Scott who last appeared in season one. I’m well aware that he was proclaimed dead after the car crash, but reanimation is not a foreign term in Fringe land. Thoughts?
Update (4/15): Well there goes my theory. In an interview with EW, Fringe producer Jeff Pinkner shed some light on what’s to come regarding Belly’s return. “Leonard retired from acting at the end of our season finale. He was very sincere about that. But Joel and I and Akiva [Goldsman] were talking about the notion that William Bell would inhabit Olivia’s mind, and we came up with what we thought was a really cool idea. We called Leonard, and he just started laughing and said, ‘Okay, I’m in. How do you want to use me?’” Without giving much away, he says that “He’s participating in the show. It’s more than just giving us license … William Bell is present in the next episode, and he’s present in way that gives new meaning to alternate reality. But it’s very much Leonard Nimoy.” Hm, interesting. Perhaps he’ll appear in animated form (with his actual voice in tact), just like he did in the musical episode “Brown Betty.” All we know for sure is that this question will be answered tonight.
