The fifth and final season of Fringe will be Lincoln-lite, according to sources.
Per TV Line, Seth Gabel will not return as a series regular in the fifth season of Fringe. This always seemed on the cards the moment the Bridge was closed with Lincoln opting to stay in the alt-universe with Altlivia and her peacoat.
Sources don’t rule out Gabel returning for an episode or two next season.
Source: TV Line
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{ 72 comments… read them below or add one }
This shouldn’t be shocking to anyone.
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Best Fringe news since the renewal by far!
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Yep. Would have been slightly more saddening if they killed off Over Here Lincoln instead of OT Linc though.
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I always said that the wrong one died.
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NO!!!!!!!!!!NOT LINCOLN!!!! TAKE GENE!!! TAKE WALTER!!!!TAKE NINA!!!!
BUT NOT LINCOLN!!!!!!
Lol joking
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Agree with everything, except ”lol joking
” part.
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Really???
Cos i thought he was alright in season 3 and could have been good in season 4 , but instead he just came across as kinda annoying
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Oh, well, I kind of liked him. But I am in the minority, so…
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just my opinion but lincoln (the one from blue side) kinda reminded me of those people who you are nice to once because you feel sorry for them (even though you don’t really like them) and then they think they are like your best mate and start trying to hang round with you all the time and you wanna tell them to go away but you don’t because you don’t wanna hurt their feelings or owt
I don’t hate him but i foun him a pointless addition that too much time was wasted on. I think its a shame cos his character could have been pretty interesting ,as i like the lincoln on the altteam in season 3, but instead he just came across as tedious (although he did have some okay moments)
Although, to be fair to Seth, he played annoying and whiney pretty well
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Hey, nice stache Tash !
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well my name is tash
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Your coment made me think about my own life, and, well, I hope I don’t like Lincoln only because I’m a ”Lincoln-like friend” myself.
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I liked his character Lincoln Lee, that is too bad.
I hope Seth Gabel will find work in some other show or movie. It’s tough to lose a job.
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His father-in-law is none other than Ron Howard. So I doubt he’ll have a problem finding jobs.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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I am aware of that connection and also the proviso of nepotism, which may or may not happen.
Anyway I realize I am in a minority on this topic, but just wanted to let him know not everyone disliked him and/or the character he played.
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Duly noted, and I’m sure Seth Gabel will appreciate your comment as he scours Fringebloggers.
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Whatever.
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Don’t worry SissySiri, you are not the only one…
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Me too. I am getting tired of all of the dissing of certain characters, especially Lincoln.
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Thanks you two.
The character is gone for all intents and purposes, so now it becomes like “beating a dead horse.” Jeezzzz
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Lincedout
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Some people are so harsh towards poor Linc on here! He was a good servant for Fringe Division and acted very reasonably towards Peter after Olivia chose him. I know for a fact if that if the girl I liked suddenly reverted to a version of herself from a former timeline where she was dating my colleague and friend, I’d be a little pissed off!
I for one wish Lincoln every happiness in the AU, and hopefully Seth Gabel can find himself regular work soon.
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Well he acted a little pissy toward Peter, but that’s a matter of the character, not the actor.
I think in a way that the negative reactions Linc got here were a sign Gabel and the writers doing something right. Just about all the animus was directed at OurLinc. AltLinc was actually the first introduced, and since he was more of a fun, dashing character, people took to him. He just had trouble competing with himself.
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Good point, I think he did suffer from being compared to AltLinc who seemed to be pretty popular. When we met the prime universe Lincoln as a one-off in the original timeline (The Stowaway, I think) most people seemed to quite like him, I just think when he became a main character in season 4 some fans were worried he’d be a replacement for Peter and resented him for that. At least he didn’t vanish off the face of the Earth like Agent Jessup, I guess…
Great username by the way
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I liked AltLinc. Hell, he even got charred to a crisp and kept working. I would have used at least a few personal days, myself. Of course, AltCharlie just disappeared so it could have been worse. At least AltLinc got a meaningful death.
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Here’s my question though. If it was never the intention of the writers to make Lincoln or Alt-Lincoln a regular character in the event of renewal what was the point of making him such a ridiculously major part of Season Four? Why push the Lincoln character (who was nearly universally reviled) to the forefront of the Fringe story, kill off his Alt (who was universally loved) and then discard him so unceremoniously after wasting such a ridiculous amount of screen time on his dead-end no-one-wanted-him-around-in-the-first-place character.
That makes ZERO sense to me. What was this guy doing all over Season Four, with a whole episode devoted to his quest for identity, if we going to just throw him away?
Fringe has had more throw-away characters than any show I can recall having ever been a fan of. First Charlie (and from what I understand Kirk was broadsided by the news his character was being killed off), then Rachael and Emma, of course William Bell, Sam Weiss.
I agree that the nuclear cast of Olivia, Peter, Walter and Astrid should be the main focus of the story but I have been constantly frustrated by this trend of introducing seemingly staple characters just to have them disappear completely later in the story (not deaths, just flat out disappear).
Lincoln is the worst example of this because they used up so much Season Four screen time on this character and no one even liked him to begin with (I know there are exceptions to this but popular opinion regarding this character was pretty obvious). Then after all of this story devoted to such an unpopular character (when cancellation seemed imminent) now the writers are like, “yeah, his time is done now”.
What a waste. This whole season has been wasted story for me.
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“What a waste. This whole season has been wasted story for me”
I agree to a certain extent. But for me it’s more like a wasted opportunity. Season 4 could have been awesome, the plot elements were all there, but was largely disappointing.
The mystique of Sam Weiss, and his enigmatic persona, were utterly wasted in the series. The delicious villainy of David Robert Jones was squandered this season in one of the most ridiculous, ignominious and pointless exits I’ve ever seen.
And Lincoln? He never served any real purpose. I don’t hate Seth Gabel, I dislike his character simply because it was a pointless distraction. They couldn’t figure out what they wanted him to be, and the show suffered as a result.
Fringe is flawed masterpiece. When it’s good it blows you away. But when it’s bad…
It’s deeply frustrating to see a show capable of some of the most poignant and awe-inspiring moments in TV, mix it in with some of the most amateurish and basic errors in storytelling. I don’t know of any other show whose dialogue can move you to tears one moment, then in the next, serve up cringe-worthy crapola normally seen in the Star Wars prequels.
Fringe has had far, far too many change-ups in directors and writers. I don’t care what the reasons are, or how this is standard practice, it’s a truly dumb practice. It’s like fifteen authors collaborating on the same book – you can imagine the spaghetti-fied result!
I think this is part of what is wrong in American TV series – too many fingers in the pie, pulling in too many different directions, until the story loses coherence and falls apart.
Season 4, in retrospect, was a dog’s dinner. I hold the showrunners directly responsible. They were asleep at the wheel. And Wyman’s delusional rants about the fans, “oh gosh, oh golly gee, they just love us!” just rankle – he’s never listened to the fans.
Despite all this criticism, I still love the show. Nuts, huh?
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Maybe they got rid of him because of all the fan hate on the internet. There’s this one website…
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I think both characters had a great run and a satisfying conclusion, but it’s good we’re focusing more on Olivia/Peter/Walter leading up to the end. Okay with this news. I hope we see him and the alternates again at least one more time.
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I have mixed emotions on this. I liked alt Lincoln so much that part of me is guilty of enjoying seeing the over here version of Lincoln in a greater capacity than the one-off from Season 3. It was the mediocre use of his character that I was disappointed with.
I’m sure it stemmed from budget cuts or maybe story-focus issues. Granted, in the end the whole idea of him being out of place over here came full circle, so to some extent I guess I can appreciate that. I just wish the presentation of his character had been better.
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If Leonard Nimoy can appear again without any source spoiling it, Seth Gabel can still appear in the same way. I’m holding on to the belief that we will see the Alt-verse again.
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I hope your right! I want to see the alt-verse again.
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True, I really would be happy to see the Alt-Universe again!
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It doesn’t look like we’ll see as much of it, but I hope we get an episode or two. It’s a fun universe to watch. (See The Plateau, The Abducted, Immortality, etc)
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I agree, I think his character had a great conclusion. I think the point of introducing him in the first place was because of his alternate’s major role in season’s two and three. His storyline just rounded out nicely.
Truth be told, I wasn’t a huge fan of the character in the beginning, during the duration of season four, but re-watching said season lately, I’ve actually *gasp* come to appreciate his nervous-school boy presence. Don’t ask me why, I just have a wee bit more love for the poor, misplaced guy since I’ve syndicated the season myself.
But, I am in the minority who actually *really, really* likes this season…..
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I agree with you about the great conclusion about his character. I think Lincoln, in the Observer words, has served to his purpose!
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Rae,
this has been my favorite season as well. But then I’m totally obsessed with Fringe
starting from the beginning again. Am on 1.8 The Equation.
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Ditto for me being obsessed with Fringe. Wasn’t my favorite season but I really liked it.
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Season 4 was my least favorite season, but I still liked it
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I could be wrong, will have to research, but I thought the following was the reason for our Lincoln Lee’s appearance:
-Olivia’s sidekick Charlie gone.
-Peter becomes Olivia’s new sidekick.
-Lots of stuff happening. . . . .
-Peter is erased.
-Olivia now has no sidekick.
-Lots more stuff happening. . . . .
-Enter our Lincoln Lee stage right, after his sidekick’s death.
-Becomes Olivia’s new sidekick.
-Peter pops up out of the water.
-Over time, Peter back to being Olivia’s pseudo sidekick.
-Lincoln bummed out, sees where this is going. Altverse look’in good.
-And the rest is history.
Corrections welcome!
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Seth, from a Fan who just loves Fringe, thanks for your contribution, hard to please everyone, but you probably know that already being in the acting industry
Your Character was to my mind the hardest to play purely based on the fact that the character was trying to establish themselves amongst all ready established characters (New Kid on the block if you will) or in other word characters that had been there since the shows inception (2008) and that the fandom had already come to know and love.
And while your character wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, i noticed the ratings didn’t change much when you were in the episode.
Actually people wonder weather seth’s departure was a condition of the negotiations between Fox and WB, in other words if you want to keep Lincoln that’s fine, wrap up the show in season 4, have lincoln depart stand a chance of a season 5 just saying.
Anyways Seth the best of luck my friend in any other show you might do, and just to let you know you were appreciated and that your overall contribution to this amazing show has not gone unnoticed.
Hope to see you back in at least a guest starring role before season 5 closes next year.
In other words Lincoln was
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This news makes me more excited for season 5…genuinely
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Party!!!!!!!
Just don’t threaten me with the possibility of his return for a couple of episodes, please! Bring back Kirk Acevedo instead.
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Does this mean we get Charlie back? Finally? Finale?
Hot debate. What do you think?
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It doesn’t necessarily mean that, but I hope it happens, at least for a couple of episodes.
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No surprise here, it is indication that season 5 will be on main focus-P/O,W/O, W/P relationships at last, and with only 13h of storytelling, it’s better solution.
Thank you Seth, but Lincoln will not be missed. I’m only sorry we wasted so much filler episode on him, and I barely noticed John Noble in this season, well at least our Walter, not counting Walternate.
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I am among that outnumbered minority, that acualy LIKED Lincoln, so that is not realy the best news for me.
BTW, when I was complaining about Peter always getting many votes you all got so offensive and all, but when you are talking about Lincoln in a very hateful tone, everything is all right. Also, someone said, that “who voted for Peter” is an old trick, well, it’s not nearly as old as “Lincoln is such a stupid character, he sucks so much, and I hate him” attitude.
I’m not tryng to insult or provoke anyone, but I had to say this.
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Very good analogy. As you can see by your “Like:’ total.
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31 (in the time I write this)?
Nice, I like people to like my posts lol
Hot debate. What do you think?
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I always liked AltLinc. OurLinc kind of annoyed me toward the beginning of the season. What bothers me is that just as I was really starting to like him, they sent him away. The writers wrote him as kind of an annoying character, then when he really started to shine for himself, it’s “bye bye Linc.” I don’t get that…
And, yes, you are right about there being a double standard for some people.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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We get offended because it is not up to you who votes for who. I don’t see anybody else complaining over Walter, Olivia, Astrid getting many votes. I mean its just a fun poll
for people voting for who they like.
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Some people got both offended and offensive.
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I bett 90% of fringies are very exited to hear that news.
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While I’m not as passionate about my dislike of Linc…I will still miss his character, particular alt-Linc. Seth Gabel/Lincoln worked best on the other side, imho. I found Blue Linc annoying in many of the episodes in S4, though I really liked his apperence in Stowaway. I miss the other side
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I think I’m going to miss him… More than I imagined.
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Aw-shucks Kid, your going to make me cry… and that is what Walter said.
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Why do you think I said it?
And I AM crying …
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Does this mean that the alternate universe isnt coming back???
Or has icolon just ran away to live in ireland???
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Tash,
Yes.
No, he went to Middle-earth.
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One does not simply go to middle earth
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lol
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Didn’t see that one coming at all
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Observer 1 While I also liked Charlie, I can’t see them bringing the character back, primarily because of the 1 of the reasons i believed the show runners had to write Seth’s character out of the show was purely based on a business decision To get a 5 season the show runners had to jettison some aspects of the show (Actors, Special Effects) in order to get enough money to cover a fifth season or either have everyone appear on the show and go out in a blaze of glory (special effects wise) and wrap the show up in season 4.
As we now know the show runners opted for the former option and thus we now have our partial season 5.
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He made EVERY scene he was in less enjoyable for me 0_o. Hopefully he’ll find another project to work on soon.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Maybe, the wrong character (Actor) was in the wrong timeline, if most of these comments are anything to go by.
Instead of Peter (Josh Jackson) maybe it should have been Lincoln (Seth) who should have been uttering the phrase ” I have to go home, I don’t belong here”.
Honestly first it was Jasika Nicole (Astrid) that was getting flamed earlier on and now the flavour of the month seems to be Seth Gable (Lincoln).
either Seth was an actor in the wrong place at the wrong time or that some people are taking this all a little bit seriously and being too pedantic in their assessments of this Actors performance. either way lets all just enjoy the rest of Fringe will there’s still episodes to enjoy
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I think it was less Seth Gable’s performance than the way the character was written. He did a great job in EIIRP of showing how the two Lincolns were very different despite growing up with almost the exact same experiences. It’s a shame the character of OurLinc was written the way it was – he could have been a nice addition to the show.
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Exactly. Unfortunately he had to work with the lousy material he was given to work with. Plus on another note, and possibly even yet another reason I never liked him (our Linc not Alt Linc), I never felt like Our Lincoln’s haircut was right for a real FBI agent…Too fadish, couldn’t they rough him up a little, he was like the most candy-@$$ed FBI agent ever.
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I think Seth acted the character out just fine.
The character was written to be second-stringer … second string in the original timeline as Bolivia chose everyone BUT him. Second string in the new timeline to Olivia. Second string in the new timeline to Bolivia, whom he actually stands a chance with now. Second string to knowing what is going on around him (his own original partner, the shapeshifters, the universes and alternate realities, the Observers, the bigger picture, etc).
I thought his character was written perfectly, because he was consistently behind everyone. That scene when the Observer disappears in front of everyone in Walter’s lab while Peter is connected to him, and he looks in amazement and says, “someone want to tell me what the hell just happened here ?” …. that is the story of his life as we know it. He always needs someone to tell him what is going on or happening. Which girl is his, which universe is his, what the bigger picture is. He’s out of touch ever so slightly, but his character makes up for it. He is loyal and faithful … solid in that regard. He rarely steps over his own boundaries.
And that’s why he’s second string …. because whether you’re in the Fringeverse or real life, people need people in their lives who step over their own boundaries for *them* … willingly, and without cajoling. Lincoln typically needed someone to push him over the line. Peter, Olivia, Walter, even Astrid … they did not.
Both villians and heroes share that in common … they cross the line without having to be told to. Lincoln never really did, and so he filled another role in the lives of others. And I thought Seth portrayed that excellently.
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Why do some people want Charlie to come back? What would he do at this point in the series? What would be the purpose? For old times’ sake? I liked him when he was part of the show but I guess I must be missing something.
If we are going to 2036 I would rather get Simon out of that amber. Along with Peter and Broyles he can be the additional eye candy!!!
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Yay!! Goodbye Lincoln, I hope that I’ll never see you again… More screen time for Olivia, Peter, Walter, Astrid, Broyles and Nina!
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I think this is a good move. Although I wish Seth all the best, his characters did take away from the characters I started watching this show for. I want to see more of the core “family” unit.
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I just don’t understand the hatred. Sure, his relevance was questionable, but I really enjoyed his character. He wasn’t even in much of this season in the first place.
P.S. I think he would have made a great “super-hero” type character. He reminded me a lot of Clark Kent.
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