November 13, 2008
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It's impossible to watch Fringe without marveling over how perfectly John Noble brings the character of Walter Bishop to life. Walter is such a tricky character, and a lesser actor would likely fail at portraying his unique blend of lunacy, vulnerability and comic relief. The nutty doctor is the best character on a show that's shaping up to be a worthy successor to cult classics like Lost and The X-Files.
Now that the first season of Fringe is really kicking into high gear, Noble spoke with the press to drop hints about what's coming up for his character. He discussed the strained relationship between Walter and Peter, and also revealed an interesting fact about one of his co-stars.
November 11, 2008
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After a short break to make room for election shenanigans, Fringe finally returned tonight with its unique brand of sci-fi nuttiness. It's possible this show has me looking for interconnected events in my everyday life, because I'm starting to notice that Fringe itself follows a very interesting pattern. It seems that every episode of the series co-written by J.J. Abrams, including tonight's installment, ends up being a mind-blowing roller coaster ride. Abrams previously chipped in on the first two episodes, as well as "The Arrival," which introduced us to that creepy bald man known as The Observer. I'd certainly rank "In Which We Meet Mr. Jones" alongside those superior spook-fests. Not only did it contain some of the strangest things we've ever seen on Fringe, but it also introduced us to another mysterious man who may know more about The Pattern than we realize.
October 23, 2008
Looking back on the many shows J.J. Abrams has had a hand in creating over the years, it seems like they all have one thing in common: the characters always have daddy issues. Ben had an abundance of drama with his alcoholic father on Felicity, the strained relationship between Jack and Sydney Bristow was one of the best things about Alias, and at least a few of the dads on Lost have murdered people in cold blood. The daddy issues obviously make for compelling drama, but this recurring theme does leave me wondering if Abrams has some familial issues he needs to examine in therapy.
This week's episode of Fringe continued exploring Abrams' favorite topic, as we learned that Olivia (Anna Torv) has an evil stepfather on the loose. If the shows listed above are any indication, their relationship isn't going to end well.
October 21, 2008
The ability to manipulate electricity may sound like tons of fun, but last week's episode of Fringe taught us that such power is only useful if it can be controlled. After being experimented on by creepy Dr. Fisher, sad sack Jonathan found himself shorting out clock radios, sending an elevator full of people to their doom, and accidentally disrupting his mother's pacemaker. The FBI arrested Fisher and sent Jonathan to the hospital, but only after plenty of damage had been done. Last week's episode also found Olivia having visions of John (Mark Valley), which eventually led her to an old cellar containing numerous Pattern-related files that he was investigating in his spare time.
On tonight's episode of Fringe, a woman with a strange disease causes a diner full of people to die from radiation poisoning. Paging Dr. House!
October 15, 2008
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There's no doubt that Fringe is building toward something huge, though it's tough to guess where the series is headed this early in its run. Nearly every episode ends with the investigative team solving the mystery of the week, but it's obvious that the strange events they encounter are far from random. Last night's installment, "Power Hungry," introduced us to a mysterious man known as Dr. Fisher. Agent Broyles revealed that there are numerous shady doctors in the world who have been illegally experimenting on human subjects, with Fisher possibly being the worst of them. What's the ultimate goal of these doctors, and why are they trying to give ordinary people special abilities?
October 14, 2008
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Previously on Fringe, we were introduced to the mysterious man known only as The Observer. We may not know what he wants, where he comes from or how he can predict The Pattern, but we do know that he likes spicy food and has been keeping an eye on Walter and Peter for years. Peter's run-in with the creepy bald man finally convinced him that there are some crazy, unexplainable things going on in the world, which hopefully means he'll stop making so many snarky comments about his father's research. Dr. Bishop may be nuts, but he knows a thing or two about wacky phenomena.
On tonight's episode of Fringe, the gang tracks down a man who has the power to harness electricity.
October 7, 2008
Last week's episode of Fringe, "The Arrival," was my favorite installment of the series by far. I enjoyed the monster of the week structure that the first three episodes followed, but "The Arrival" finally offered up some juicy mythology that brought new depth to the series. Of course, along with the new mythology came new questions. We learned about the existence of a shady bald man code-named The Observer, and we know that he has strange ties to both Pattern-related catastrophes and Dr. Bishop. What we don't know is who The Observer is, where he came from, how he knows the good doctor, and how he can see the future of The Pattern. It's time to start theorizing.
October 2, 2008
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Last week I wrote an article pondering whether Fringe was becoming too predictable with its storytelling structure. The first three episodes of the series played out in exactly the same manner, and I worried that such a strict adherence to formula would drive away fans looking for Lost-style ongoing mysteries. Thankfully, the latest episode of the show turned the formula on its head and presented an extremely compelling mystery that wasn't neatly wrapped up within the hour. It was the best episode of Fringe so far, and it left me desperately wanting to see where the writers are taking the story.
Thanks to FOX, fans like myself will now get to see what the writers can cook up in an entire 22-episode season. The network recently ordered nine more episodes on top of the 13 already in production, making it the second freshman series to get a full-season order after 90210.