Fringe closed the 200 block of Columbia Street in Gastown today to create a checkpoint for our Fringe team — Peter, Olivia, Walter and the child Observer — to avoid in episode eleven of the final season. The day’s filming started early in the alley east of Columbia St. (decorated with resistance posters) where not much could be seen. I left for a time because of the rain and when I returned I learned I’d missed the one scene of cast exiting the alley on foot. Instead I got to see the comedy stylings of Fringe on the first take of Joshua Jackson’s Peter driving the panelled blue mini-van down the street and not being able to turn into the alley as he was supposed to because of a throng of background performers clogging the sidewalk. Everyone cracked up as Jackson tooted the horn (not very stealthy if you want to avoid a checkpoint) and then backed up the mini-van to the starting point. Many smoother takes later Fringe wrapped filming mid-afternoon.
Fringe’s final season airs Friday nights at 9 p.m. on FOX in the U.S. and Citytv in Canada.