Joshua Jackson

Peter is coming back — and sooner than we thought!

Poor Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson). He seemingly disappeared into thin air after serving his purpose and uniting the two universes in the Season 3 finale of Fringe. Now, once he does return, no one will remember who he is, and will actually think he's as crazy as Walter. (The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, eh?)

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"You see a man come back to a life and people that he knew, but they don't know him," Anna Torv says of Peter's return. "He's a stranger to everyone, except he knows a lot of stuff."

Though the Fringe Division doesn't remember who Peter Bishop is, he still retains his memories of them. "It really is as though he never existed," Lance Reddick says. "So when he shows up claiming all these things and knowing all these things, it's really freaky. Broyles' attitude is that it's possible what he's saying is true, but the last place I'm going to go is to believe him... at least at first."

Reddick was coy to say whether that means they'll lock Peter up for his crazy theories, but Peter will eventually earn their trust. "It has to reach a point where there's so much validity to the information that he has and the way that he helps, that over time, he's given more and more trust and more and more freedom to operate, work and help."

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Gaining the trust of Olivia, who has never put much faith in anyone, will be a different beast altogether, prolonging -- what we believe to be -- an eventual reconciliation between the pair. "In this timeline, Olivia doesn't know who he is, and in Peter's timeline, it took them a long time to get together, so..." Torv says with a laugh, understanding fans' frustrations.

Even when Peter returns, he may have some competition in this universe's Lincoln (Seth Gabel), who's universal counterpart had feelings for Bolivia. "It seems to be happening again," Gabel says. "Initially, when Lincoln met Olivia in our universe, obviously the conditions were very intense in that his partner was just killed, but they immediately had a very good connection and became partners pretty quickly and found that they really saw eye-to-eye. As we go along, we'll see that relationship open up a little more."

"Those feelings seem to cross universes," Gabel continues, noting that Alt-Lincoln's feelings for Bolivia are also still intact despite a major change in the timeline. "Obviously the timeline is a bit different now and she didn't end up having a baby, so they didn't have that moment when he said 'I love you,' but that love, I believe, is still there," he says. "Alt-Lincoln definitely still has feelings for her, which she bounces off as, 'Oh yeah, you're a great kid.' That definitely continues."

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Speaking of the baby, it's not likely that Henry will return to the series unless the timeline reverts back. "It's not possible if they've never met," Torv says of Peter and Bolivia's baby. "Unless we end up going back to the other timeline, which may happen."

Despite Lincoln's growing presence, Gabel insists that his character is not there to replace Peter. "It's been a big thing for me to have Lincoln never be a factor that is threatening to replace Peter," he says. "Obviously, with the lack of Peter, that concept is threatening to the audience and the world of Fringe. Peter's a voice the show needs and certainly can't be replaced, that's there to be above it all, and at the same time, very much in it, and ultimately, the hero that will save it, as he did last season. In terms of Lincoln and Peter coming back, I think there's definitely room for both of them."

Fringe airs Fridays at 9/8c on Fox.