It seemed like a sure thing in fall 2008. Television übermensch J.J. Abrams was producing/creating a new sci-fi television show for Fox, entitled Fringe. Comparisons flew around likening it to The X-Files, a great mixture of police procedural and sci-fi mystery. The pilot premiered to great numbers, and as such the first season enjoyed great success. Then the second season came, and as it went on the ratings dipped dramatically, going from the norm of 10 million viewers a week to a mere 5-6. The third season is now in full swing, and this is as good as the show has ever been. Sadly, the numbers don’t reflect that, and we very well may be looking at the final year of Fringe.
The thing is, I can understand the mass exodus that occurred during the second season. It was moved to a time slot which plays opposite The Office, CSI and Grey’s Anatomy. People banished Fringe to their DVRs and Hulu visits, and as the season went on it seemed as if the overarching storyline was being put on the backburner in favor of case-of-the-week episodes which were far less interesting and didn’t even provide the illusion of forward momentum. It was not until the end of the second season, coming to a head at the great “White Tulip”, that the show figured out how to provide us with weekly cases whilst still feeling like it was going somewhere. They have carried this mentality over to the early episodes this third season, mostly caused by a great twist which came in the second season finale. I’m going to try and tread lightly and not spoil anything, but it’s going to be tough.
The show follows FBI agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) and her journeys into the world of fringe science, concerned with ideas that most scientists would scoff at. Walter Bishop (John Noble), however, has devoted his life to the study of fringe science, and his research has caused all sorts of havoc that has led to various events/phenomenon in the modern day. To get to the bottom of it all, Dunham needs him to investigate these happenings. The problem: he’s absolutely insane and can only get out of his mental institution if he’s taken care of by his estranged son Peter (Joshua Jackson). Together, they investigate various fringe events that may or may not be related to “the pattern”, a series of strange events that seem to be leading to one ultimate goal.
The history of the show has been a handful of great episodes surrounded by filler, something that has made the show alternately thrilling and frustrating. The middle third of the first two seasons has proven to be mostly disposable, and until the show fixes that it’s doomed to lose viewers. The good news is that the latter part of the second season was almost universally great, and thus far the third season has picked up where it left off. I am optimistic, and whether the show only lasts until the end of this season of another 5 years (very very unlikely) I’m excited to see where the plot goes.
Not long ago I re-watched the pilot, and I must say it held up incredibly well. Most pilots end up being disposable table-setting, but here it remains one of the best episodes the show has done. Not only does it introduce the characters and premise, but tells a story which would provide a backdrop for every (important) episode the show would air.
The best actor on television to be ignored at Emmy-time is, quite possibly, John Noble, who in episode after episode gives us a man who is filled with a special mix of regret, insanity, naiveté and love for his son. Within minutes he can go from hilarious to heartbreaking, and if you just watch him for one episode you’ll know exactly what I mean. In my opinion, it’s some of the best work on television right now, and the fact that he hasn’t even been nominated depresses me.
One of the things I’ve been afraid of is a Peter-Olivia romantic relationship, and for a while it seemed the show would be rightly ignoring that plot device. However, of late they have been steering in that direction, but the way the show has done it has been impressive. I won’t go into details, but because of a key twist at the end of the second season the romantic developments have held a bit more… weight.
The twists have not always come fast and furious, but when they have they’ve packed a punch. That’s why, if you’ve never seen the show, you don’t need to watch every episode to catch up. Below I will provide a list of highlights, and I encourage you to please watch Fringe. It’s a pretty great show that has provided some of my favorite television moments of the past few years. Through journeys into time travel, shape-shifting and alternate dimensions, Fringe is a unique show, and no matter how much longer it lasts, I only hope it ends on its own terms.
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Noel Murray, the great Fringe reviewer for The A.V. Club, listed these 20 episodes as a catch-up guide for anyone new to the show. I have put my personal favorites in bold, to lighten the load. (For some inexplicable reason he did not include the pilot. Watch that, please.)
Season One
“The Arrival”
“In Which We Meet Mr. Jones”
“The Equation”
“Safe”
“Bound”
“Ability”
“Bad Dreams”
“Bad Dreams”
“The Road Not Taken”
“There’s More Than One of Everything”
Season Two
“A New Day In the Old Town”
“Momentum Deferred”
“August”
“Snakehead”
“Grey Matters”
“Jacksonville”
“Peter”
“Olivia. In the Lab. With the Revolver.”
“White Tulip” (Heck Yes)
“The Man From the Other Side”
“Over There”
Thus far, everything in the third season has been essential. Fringe airs Thursdays at 9pm EST on Fox.
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