Fringe: 8 Steps to Navigating the Alternative Universe

For the Fringe team, meeting their alternate selves in the series' second season finale was only the beginning. The tug-of-war between this world and the other world will be even further explored as Season 3 deals with the themes of duality, duplicity and the road not taken. "We want to see how our universe would have evolved had different choices been made along the way," executive producer J.H. Wyman said at the series' Comic-Con panel Saturday.  "People are really interested in possibilities and choices that you've made or could have made that would take your life in a very different direction." So now that viewers will be spending more time in the alternate universe, we thought we'd make a handy guide to navigating that world with clues and teases from the cast.

1. Don't underestimate the other universe: John Noble tells TVGuide.com that the alternate universe will play a bigger role this season. Episodes will alternate between showcasing primarily the other world and our world, but with a small hook from the opposite place. Additionally, producers said this season will go back and forth between mythology-heavy episodes and myth-alone episodes with cases.

2. Don't assume you have Nolivia all figured out: She may be very much in love with her boyfriend, but her mission is to keep an eye on Peter and Walter and she's sticking to it. "I think Nolivia and Peter are a more natural personality match than our Olivia and alternate Peter ... they just have sort of a more animal understanding of each other," Joshua Jackson said. "I think they're almost going to get along too well and then the inevitable wrecking comes and it will tear everything up again."

3. Which means ... Olivia is not to be underestimated: First off, don't expect to stay in confinement for very long, according to Anna Torv. Exclusive new footage from Season 3 not only previewed a steamy kiss between Nolivia and Peter, but a big brawl between the two Olivias. "I always think our Olivia really wants to kind of be the best, whereas [alternate] Olivia just wants to win," Torv said. "That's the swagger to her and the earnestness to Olivia." (Torv's biggest complaint about her alternate self? "It's exhausting getting the wig on and off.")

4. Don't expect to see Peter over there anytime soon: Joshua Jackson says he's been able to appreciate the show in a new way thanks to his lack of screen time over there. Plus, Peter has plenty of his own emotional baggage to deal with this year. "He's in a really bewildered state," Jackson said. "He doesn't know who to trust or where to go."

5. Alternate Broyles is not to be trusted ... maybe: Lance Reddick has no doubt his character has "enormous respect" for Walternate, but maybe that's not enough. "At the same time, Broyles is a bit of a maverick, so I guess we'll see just how that loyalty plays out."

6. Nina is ready to cut loose in the other world: Viewers will get to see much more than just alternate Nina's arm this year, Blair Brown said. "If she's about control in this world, she's about a lack of control in that world," Brown said, who also added there is still a lot to discover this year about Nina and Peter's relationship.

7. And more alternate Astrid!: Alternate Astrid will appear heavily in the first episodes of the new season, according to Jasika Nicole, who describes the other Astrid has machine-like. "Astrid doesn't have the emotional communication in the alternative universe which she does in this one," she said. "She's kind of a loner."

8. Fans of that world (and this one!) may not have seen the last of William Bell just yet: Despite Leonard Nimoy's retirement after Season 2, the producers think there's a possibility he could return. "Should we be able to convince him to come out of retirement, we have another story to tell," executive producer Jeff Pinker said.

Fringe returns to Fox on Thursday, Sept. 23 at 9/8c.                                                         

(Additional reporting by Natalie Abrams)