Which do you consider to be your most memorable Fringe season? Season 1-The Year of the Beginning Season 2-The Year of Walter's Secret Season 3-The Year of the Machine Season 4-The Year of the Alternate Timeline And what made that season so memorable to you?
My most memorable season is the one I imagined the show would have had it had a competent showrunner and a collection of writers who knew what the fuck they were doing. Obviously, that doesn't really answer your question, so out of the mix of unremarkable seasons, I would choose Season 2. BANZAI!!!!!
That's what I was about to say! Jacksonville all the way to Marionette is the best run that show ever had. Nothing has come close sadly.
For me, the first season. The characters were new and everyone struck me as a little suspect in their motives. This and the general creepiness of the stories put the first season a little more firmly into the horror genre. I still liked the show after that, but it is much more in the territory of adventure to me.
Season Three was the only year I was truly into. S1 and S2 were just full of completely forgettable standalones I did not remotely care for. S4 I'm really struggling to care, it's an entirely different continuity, the stories aren't as good, they basically threw away the entire storyline beforehand... Season Three on the other hand was quite excellent. Particularly the opening half jumping between the two universes with Fauxlivia. Not to mention the animated episode! That was a solid season.
Season 3 to me was the worst--I mean there was a whole swath of episodes from the end of the fall run until the very end that were just mediocre or awfu--not one good episode--even the Observer episode was lame. A lot of mediocre standalones, far too much emphasis on romance btw Olivia/Peter, Sam Weiss ended up being a throwaway character, the Big Flashback follow-up to "Peter" was a bore, the animated LSD episode was flat out awful and something VOY would have conjured up in its worst years, the alternate universe characters were bland, the intro of the baby was tired soap opera schtick and what started out as a promising three part finale was ruined by the third part season finale that provided a tired What If storyline with a death that was immediately undone, piss poor answers to the First people, the purpose of the Machine etc. The fourth season was slightly better and I will give it credit for answering most of the questions introduced from S1 but the answers were L-A-M-E---the role of Robert David Jones, cortexiphan etc. For me Fringe falls into the category of a weak series taken as a whole whose first season was its best only to not be able to sustain it-- i.e. Heroes, BSG, Veronica Mars.
Season 3. I liked the switching back and forth between the Red and Blue universes. Season three's first half was the most consistently good week to week that they show has ever been. There was a real rhythm there.