‘Fringe’ Bosses Talk Season 5 and Leonard Nimoy

It's a good time to be a 'Fringe' fan, what with the epic "Brave New World" season 4 finale set to debut its first hour this Friday night, along with the safe assurance that the series will return this fall for a 13-episode final season.  So with all these burning questions left to be wrapped up this and next season, what do the show-runners have to say fans can expect?

First off, don't believe everything you hear.  In spite of what series star John Noble told the media some weeks ago, the show never shot an alternate ending for this season's finale in case of cancellation, so everything seen in "Brave New World" will unfold as intended, with no deleted ending to pop up on a season 4 DVD down the line.  They "thought about it," says 'Fringe' producer Joel Wyman, but ultimately decided against.

Perhaps one of the bigger questions to present itself for the final stretch of episodes (particularly after his unexplained appearance in the future-centric episode "Letters of Transit") lies in whether or not currently-"retired" sci-fi legend and 'Star Trek' star Leonard Nimoy might reprise his role as William Bell in any future installments.  When asked if the staff had written themselves into something of a corner by having the character re-integrated into the story in spite of Nimoy's retirement, Wyman said:

"Once you kind of realize the extent of everything, it will probably become clear why we’re not [writing ourselves into a corner]."

Fellow 'Fringe' show-runner Jeff Pinkner adds:

“We basically erected a sign outside of Leonard’s house that says, ‘Please come back to Fringe,’ and we are hoping that by Season 5 he says yes.”

Additionally, despite "Letters of Transit" and Bell's (CGI) appearance in the episode, the future-centric Observer-controlled world won't completely dominate the remaining 15 episodes, as Wyman says “That future is important to our storytelling, but it’s the not the be all and end all.”  But future or no, can we expect to see the other side again, after last week's episode "Worlds Apart" saw both universes closing the bridge to one another in order to thwart the machinations of David Robert Jones ('Mad Men's Jared Harris)?  Will we ever see poor Lincoln Lee again?

[The inter-universe bridge] is closed because of the problems that David Robert Jones is causing, so if our team can somehow dispense with Jones, there is absolutely a possibility of that door being open again

[As for Gabel's Lincoln Lee, who opted to stay with the other universe] Seth is spectacular and awesome...but as for his standing going forward, to say anything about that would be also to reveal things that are coming ahead."

Where do you think 'Fringe' will take us in its two-part season finale "Brave New World," or in the final 13 episodes this fall?  Do you think Leonard Nimoy will beam up from semi-retirement?  Give us your craziest theories in the comments!