I believe in the human spirit. And usually the people who are following me - my fans and things like that - are like-minded people, in that regard. They like to hear about people being in pain, but that are okay, and people feeling like they can't go on, but then they find a reason to go on. How do you marry someone and love them, and then they die? How does that happen? Why are we on this journey? They want to talk about things, and they want to understand. So, this is the perfect vehicle for that.

So, I can live with people saying, "I didn't like it." But I can't live with people saying, "There just seems to be no plan here," 'cause there is a plan. And a lot of people fall into that, where they don't know what their show is yet. Their pilot gets picked up, and they have to figure it out. I would hate to be in that situation.

I just have a different impression of the human race. I think we're really resilient. I think there are a lot of cynical people out there right now, and probably for good reason. But I think that ever cynic is really a damaged romantic, and they really, really, really want things to be good. And if that's the case, I don't need to tell a story that says, "Humanity, look what you've done. Now you can't go out. There's no sun. Look how you've wrecked the world." That's not me. That's not my job.

No love story worth telling is easy. The hills and valleys that make a relationship, in my opinion, is really a dynamic worth watching.

One thing Fringe has is no shortage of ideas. There are so many jumping off points that we could use and have thought about. I just wouldn't want to pull a trick like that on the viewers. I really want to reward them. I honestly and sincerely feel that it's the most miraculous fan base I've ever seen, so I just want to make sure I use every fiber of my body to deliver for them what I think is going to be satisfying for their loyalty.

I would much rather have somebody say, "You know what? I just didn't like what you were doing," then say, "They didn't know what they were doing." I know what I'm doing. If it's going to be bad, or if it's great, it's me, in either case.

Never in my career have I got the support for what I'm doing, any more than I have on Fringe.