FBI Special Agent Oliver Dunham is assigned to the bureau's Fringe Division, in which he investigates unusual crimes and occurrences. Assisting Oliver in his investigations are once-institutionalised scientist Dr Winifred Bishop, her jack-of-all-trades daughter, Wendy, and Ph. D. student Atlas Farnsworth.
As the team investigates cases of science gone awry, they discover connections to their own past and to a parallel universe. As the team explores life and solves cases in these interconnected worlds, new discoveries and complications continue to arise.