"The Arrival" is the fourth episode of the first season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe. The episode was written by the series co-creator and executive producer J. J. Abrams and executive producer and show runner Jeff Pinkner. Paul A. Edwards directed it. The episode concerns a mysterious cylindrical object called "The Beacon" which appears at a construction site in New York City. The story also involves the relationship between Walter Bishop (John Noble) and the mysterious Observer (Michael Cerveris in his first feature appearance).