It’s the beginning of the end. Tonight is the season five premiere of Fringe, the first of thirteen episodes that will encapsulate five years of freaky science, discovering the impossible, and most importantly, getting to know a group of characters that have grown immensely since we were first introduced to Walter Bishop, his son Peter, and Agent Olivia Dunham.

And if showrunner J.H. Wyman has anything to say about it, this is going to be an emotional roller coaster ramping up to a hopeful conclusion. In a recent interview with TVLine, Wyman shed light on what long time viewers can expect. “One thing I was adamant about was getting inside the emotion of the characters that everybody has grown to know over four years, and really pay that off in a big way. [This season] is about questions, about emotion, about family… I want to put the viewer down on ground level with our characters, so they can go through this final experience with them.” Wyman goes on to describe how he hopes to feel after the series finale has come and gone. “I want to get into my car the next day, drive off and feel like, ‘Hmm, I can imagine where these characters are today. I can imagine what they’re doing.’ That was really important, because I can’t accept closure that doesn’t have some form of hope. That’s just who I am.”

So what do we know, plot-wise, as we near tonight’s premiere? Season five will take place mostly in the year 2036, a time when the Observers have taken over the planet. As we learned in last season’s pivotal future episode “Letters of Transit,” Olivia and Peter’s daughter Henrietta un-ambers Water, Peter, and Astrid to come together and start a resistance to take down the bald-headed dictators. Where’s Olivia? What happened between the time Peter and Olivia were happily married with little Etta and the amber situation. What is up with the Observers? These questions will be answered, assures Wyman, and more. “All the stuff that’s really, truly important, the emotional things, will be addressed.”

The season premiere, “Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11”, the first in a “13-hour feature film saga” boasts Wyman, airs tonight at 9PM on FOX. As you shake in anticipation, check out the radical key art plastered above and in the galleries below you’ll find character stills and pics from the episode.

They are coming. Let’s fight for the future, shall we?

[Images via IGN]