FRINGE: The Truth is Way Out There
My favorite new show of the 2008 - 2009 season was FRINGE, which is sort of an X-Files for the ’00s, but swapping out weird science for alien abductions. Here’s the setup: FBI agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) investigates a commercial flight that has made an emergency landing but the crew and passengers are all dead, and not by any normal means. The only person who may be able to help solve this mystery is Walter Bishop (John Noble), a once brilliant scientist who has spent the last 17 years in an insane asylum. To help bring him out of his shell, Agent Dunham enlists the help of Walter’s estranged, sardonic son, Peter (Joshua Jackson). They soon find out that this case fits other cases of strange phenomena dubbed “The Pattern,” all of which seem to have ties to mega-corporation Massive Dynamic which is run by the enigmatic William Bell, who just so happens to be a former colleague of Walter’s. Conspiracy much?
There is a lot of crazy crap that happens in FRINGE (created by JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, the team behind Alias and this year’s Star Trek redux), much of it of the icky Cronenbergian variety. If I told you the two-hour pilot has at least one jaw-dropping moment, you can take that both figuratively and literally. There’s also gigantic bugs, people who drink spinal fluid, teleportation, parallel universes, sensory deprivation tanks, genetic mutations, a weird bald guy, and a cow named Gene. Special effects are top-notch for a TV show. In addition to all the viscera and conspiracy theories, the show is pretty funny too. Walter doesn’t have all his faculties and here’s a typical exchange between him and his son:
Peter: It’s an omelet.
Walter: It’s not an omelet!
Peter: Oh, my…ugh! Walter, why is there an ear in the omelet?
Walter: It was an experiment. It was a protein-rich incubator. It was growing.
Peter: It was growing? That’s perfect.
Walter: No, it’s not perfect. You just ruined it.
John Noble is pretty great as the Mad Scientist whose non sequiturs steal the show. Early in the season, they almost threaten to become formulaic, but then we begin to learn more about his character and he becomes a bit more haunted and tragic. The show definitely picks up with the introduction of Mr. Jones, who plays heavily into the rest of the season. (Jones is played by awesome character actor Jared Harris, who is now on the current season of Mad Men.) It all leads to a spectacular season finale that will definitely have you coming back for season two.
FRINGE Season One is out today on DVD, and I think with its complex storyline it plays much better at home when you don’t have to wait a week for the next episode. We’ve got Fringe on Blu-ray too. As we are located in Williamsburg, it should be noted that much of Season One of Fringe was filmed in the neighborhood — you may recognize the above still as being shot on Broadway and Bedford, mere blocks from our store!
Tags: fringe fox scifi, television