Thoughts on Fringe

I just realized--somewhat to my shock--that I have not yet written about Fringe. It started a few weeks before I got TV Warrior off the ground, and I meant to write it up, and somehow slipped through the cracks. Bad Hyperion!

I am enjoying Fringe, although I'm not falling in love yet or anything like that. I remember (oh too vividly) how much X-Files sucked when it started. I watched the first four episodes back then, hearing about a new show, and couldn't stomach any more because of the awful. That bad experience caused me to miss much of the vaunted series; I just wouldn't give it a chance.

By comparison Fringe is much better from the gate, but (so far) the chemistry between Joshua Jackson and Anna Torv isn't quite there. Luckily John Noble (as the crazy Dr. Bishop) seems to interact with everyone he comes into contact with, which is good. I think we all know what we're getting in Pacey Joshua Jackson, but only time will tell on Miss Torv.

The whole "Pattern" thing comes off a lot like the mystical Rambaldi device from Alias. (Big surprise, since both are by J.J. Abrams.) I have to say: back then the Rambaldi stuff seemed very mysterious and cool, but it became increasingly clear as the show went on there was no "Big Picture." To be fair--millions of message board complaints to the contrary--it seems like the LOST island secrets have panned out, more or less. Then again, I fell behind and am only halfway through Season 3, but I hear great things about the end of Season 3 and the truncated Season 4.

(Also weighing in on me: Cloverfield, but more on that another time.)

I guess what I'm saying is that J.J. Abrams has a mixed track record with me on his Big Picture scenario, but I'm willing to wait a bit.

I suppose I should mention this particular episode, but I can't think of anything interesting to add, other than Walter dancing in his socks cracked me up. Also, why can't they come up with more reasons to get Anna Torv in her underwear , like J.J. did for Jennifer Garner on Alias and everyone on LOST? So far all we got was a sports bra scene in the first episode.



Come on, J.J.! Live up to your potential!

The only other things I wanted to add were:

A) As the shows are so similar, ultimately I don't see how I could watch both Fringe and Eleventh Hour. Having only seen one episode of Eleventh Hour, I can't make a comparison yet, but I have a feeling I will find Fringe more intriguing. After a couple more episodes of Eleventh Hour I will run a breakdown.

B) It's a small thing, but I totally love the 3-D words for the locations. J.J. took a page from his creepy LOST intro logo, but I always enjoy seeing "Worcester, Massachusetts" in giant letters taking up half a city block. What's even cooler is how the camera pans over the letters like they are actually there, part of the landscape. Even cooler than Heroes' innovative Episode Titles.