The first season of Fox’s ‘Fringe’ walked the line between easily digestible investigative drama and beaver-sh*t crazy sci-fi showcase. Mirroring ‘The X-Files’ in many ways, the show has become a reliable dose of monster scares, metaphysical mysteries and seemingly unexplainable phenomena. The problem is, in this day and age with advent of DVR and folks getting trigger happy with their remotes, ‘Fringe’ is inevitably the kind of show that divides serious viewers from casual ones… something that prompts studio execs to think extra hard about keeping the program alive.

Going into the second season, intrigue was at an all-time high for the series’ buffs, but the ratings had dipped considerably as a good chunk of Fox’s viewers found the serialized brain-teaser too exasperating of a trip to see through until the end. While season 2 is still under way, one too many meandering “filler” episodes has caused viewers to lose even more focus, starting rumors just a few weeks ago that the program was in danger of not getting picked up for a third season.

Well, I’m here to tell you that just isn’t so. Fox has officially ordered a full 22-episode season of Walter, Peter and Agent Dunham’s trippy explorations of the darker side of modern science. Presumably, execs are expecting a ratings spike once ‘Lost’ makes its exit from the airwaves in may, leaving ‘Fringe’ as the only J.J. Abrams-endorsed vehicle still on the roads. In any case, keep paying close attention, the mystery is about to get even bigger.