The Big Picture
- Leonard Nimoy's role as Dr. William Bell in Fringe adds mystery and intrigue to the show's sci-fi mythology.
- Bell's dark morality contrasts with Walter Bishop, leading to a complex and morally gray character dynamic.
- Bell's presence continues even after his death, exploring themes of immortality and making him a pivotal character in the series.
Even if no one has seen an episode or movie in the Star Trek franchise, they know Leonard Nimoy's most famous character. It's the second in command of the USS Enterprise with the pointed ears and the Vulcan salute that is part of pop culture. Nimoy's sci-fi pedigree within his career goes beyond Spock. One of his best sci-fi roles had that familiar commanding presence he brings while letting him be a prominent character on Fringe. There are key mysteries at the start of this series, from what ignited a cold war with a Parallel Universe to why biological attacks are being conducted on innocent lives.
A figure who holds much-needed answers is Nimoy's enigmatic Dr. William Bell. While he didn't appear in too many episodes, the ones he did were happy surprises to fans of Nimoy, especially since a few of them occurred after he retired from acting in 2010. Fringe didn't let itself be hindered by the icon's retirement. It got creative about how Nimoy could return in some capacity. William Bell may not be the actor's most famous role, but it's his most mysterious. Dr. Bell's murky morals wouldn't share the sentiment of Spock's blessing, "Long live and prosper."
Fringe
TV-14
An F.B.I. agent is forced to work with an institutionalized scientist and his son in order to rationalize a brewing storm of unexplained phenomena.
- Creator
- J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci
- Cast
- Anna Torv , Joshua Jackson , John Noble , jasika nicole
- Main Genre
- Drama
- Release Date
- September 9, 2008
- Seasons
- 5
Is William Bell a Friend or Foe?
In Season 1, the Fringe Division task force of the FBI solves the strange and grisly phenomena that involve fringe science, with a core trio of FBI agents Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble), and his estranged son Peter (Joshua Jackson). As they realize many of these cases belong to a larger conspiracy, a major through-line follows Olivia's pursuit to uncover who is at the center of it. One of whom she holds responsible is Walter, from his research and lab experiments he did in the 1970s before he was locked up in a mental institution for almost two decades. Due to his incarceration, someone else had to continue the progress. Her best suspect is Walter's lab partner, William Bell, who knew just as much about Fringe science.
It's not enough that Olivia connects many Fringe events to the science-based company Massive Dynamic, founded by Bell. She needs hard evidence to prove that Bell has the knowledge and the funding to be the mastermind behind the attacks in Season 1 that, to quote Fringe Division leader Broyles (Lance Reddick), is "using the whole world as their lab." Olivia's crusade turns personal when she learns she was experimented on as a child by Walter and William, for a series of drug trials to develop psychic abilities. Bell is mentioned throughout the first season, but he’s never seen, turning him into a shadowy figure who could be capable of the atrocities Olivia blames him for. The buildup to his appearance gets an earth-shattering payoff that deepens the show's mythology.
He's traveled to a Parallel Universe, and Olivia gets to meet him when she is unwittingly transported to this alternate world in the final minutes of the Season 1 finale. Fringe was never shy of its influences from sci-fi, fantasy, and horror classics. Among the supporting cast is Blair Brown, who starred in the psychedelic Altered States. When Walter sincerely believes pyrokinesis is the cause of a Fringe event, Peter replies with annoyance. "It's not even a real word. It was made up by Stephen King." With this in mind, Fringe inserts a Star Trek reference into Dr. Bell's brief introduction. The lighting in the scene is dim, catching Nimoy’s ears for a Spock callback while keeping the rest of his body in darkness until Olivia realizes who he is. The series introduces him at last, without making it easy to know his motives.
The Contrast Between Walter Bishop and William Bell
Season 2 confirms that many of the Fringe events are weapon tests for a Cold War that is escalating between the Prime universe and the Parallel one. Walter's grief was the catalyst when he crossed over to steal a young Peter from the other side after his original son died. The meeting Bell holds with Olivia is to warn her about the brewing war. Viewers see a glimpse of their interaction in the first season finale. Season 2 shows it in full, with Leonard Nimoy’s rumbling voice easing the heavy exposition in the revelatory dialogue. Once the time is up, Olivia is yanked through space-time with such velocity that she pops into the Prime Universe and is temporarily brain-dead. “Physics is a bitch,” are Bell's parting words. He knows there will be consequences for Olivia from her interdimensional travel, but the ends justify the means.
In a show about a Parallel Universe, doppelgängers aren't the only example of characters that can share plenty in common with greater differences. Walter Bishop and William Bell were lab partners who both did unethical experiments on human test subjects. Fringe holds Walter accountable while letting him try to repair the damage he's done. Peter and Olivia represent the two sides of Walter’s life that he needs to amend: his family and those he experimented on. Dr. Bell doesn't have this character growth because he isn't surrounded by the relationships that help Walter become a better man. A flashback reveals that Bell removed pieces of Walter's brain when he was in the mental hospital to hide the knowledge it held from those in the Parallel Universe who would be looking for it. Bell consistently does what he has to, in his view, for the greater good, never mind the result of the surgery left Walter with a permanently unstable mind.
While Bell's morals are questionable, the Season 2 finale seems to lean him toward being an ally. In the two-part, “Over There,” Olivia and Walter travel to the Parallel Universe on a rescue mission to save Peter, where they rely on Bell for help. It’s the longest appearance for Nimoy, and after so much anticipation, the finale lets Leonard Nimoy and John Noble share the screen with the charged moments of frustration and reconciliation from their complicated relationship. Bell sacrifices himself to help the Fringe trio return home, using his body as the power source. "I've traveled between universes so many times," he tells Walter, "my atoms are ready to split apart with the slightest provocation."
It's not as slow as Spock's fatal radiation poisoning in TheWrath of Khan, but it's just as emotional. Bell offers closure that Walter desperately seeks on why his friend removed those pieces of his brain. Hiding knowledge is one reason the other is rooted in their friendship. "I did it because you asked me to," Bell says, "Because of what you were becoming." And it's true. Walter's arrogant older self is a far cry from his current warmer self. Leave it to Fringe to have the extraction of gray matter be an extreme act of kindness. But Bell's demise isn't goodbye. Season 3 finds a bizarre way to have him return to the show.
Death Isn't Always the End on 'Fringe'
Bell's physical body is gone, but his “energy” is transferred to Olivia -- a plan he set into motion during their Season 1 encounter. Under this possession, Anna Torv does an interpretation of Nimoy that isn’t as campy as it could have been. In an Inception-themed episode, Fringe gives a solution to Nimoy’s retirement when Peter and Walter go into Olivia’s subconsciousness to rescue her. Once “inside,” Bell is there to help in their search. Nimoy was convinced to return for another episode when it wasn't going to be a live-action part. John Noble said in a 2011 AV Club interview that this is why a good chunk of "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide" is animated. Nimoy could do voice-acting as Bell this time.
After Walter and Peter wake up, Bell is left as the one to help Olivia regain control of her body. This particular story arc, however odd, continues to explore how morally gray Bell is by possessing the body of the same person he did human experiments when she was a child. While he didn’t seem to mean any harm, he had the goal of cheating death by using Olivia’s body until a suitable host was found. When he accepts his fate, it's a selfless choice made after a selfish decision. Two times now, Fringe and Leonard Nimoy parted ways, and one more return was still in the works. Thanks to a reset in the timeline for Season 4, a version of Walter’s old lab partner becomes the villain Season 1 had teased.
The Dark Side of William Bell
The Season 3 finale has Peter getting deleted from existence. Or so it seems. He survives his deletion, entering a timeline in Season 4 where Olivia and Walter never knew an adult Peter. The changes are big and small. Fringe events return from previous seasons that Peter remembers, but they are new to this version of Fringe Division. Some characters are dead, and others are alive. While the Parallel Universe and the Prime Universe are still in conflict, they eventually have to work together to stop a big bad, who is a familiar face. The timeline reset leads to a twist in the finale when Leonard Nimoy appears as a very different Dr. Bell, who joyfully plans to destroy both universes to create a new one populated by his genetically engineered creatures. The cosmic scale would make Dr. Moreau jealous.
In Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Nimoy portrays a sinister side when his character is overtaken by the “pod people," but on Fringe, Season 4’s version of William Bell has gone bad due to his hubris. “The Bible tells us God created his universe in seven days,” he says to Walter during a hologram show-and-tell of his planned new world, “It’s taken me considerably longer.” He doesn’t want to play God, but he views himself as one. William Bell still retains his pleasant manner, making his twisted agenda all the more nefarious. Different choices in this timeline see him go down a darker path that not even Walter can persuade him off.
In a 2012 interview, Nimoy explained how he enjoyed the series, and getting to be the villain in Season 4 was an extra incentive to be back in front of the camera. William Bell would go on to be the actor's last TV role before he passed away in 2015. The sci-fi legend's presence was the perfect match for the authority the character demanded, and Fringe never wasted the story possibilities for Leonard Nimoy.
Fringe is streaming on Max in the U.S.
