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Posts Tagged ‘ Fringe ’
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If you haven’t seen it yet, here there be spoilers.
I feel kind of let down by the season finale of Fringe. There were several good – very good elements – but the bulk of the episode didn’t work at all for me.
The main problem for me lay with the neutering of a character who was previously sinister and dangerous – David Robert Jones. Initially seen languishing in a German jail cell, only to tease Olivia, kill his lawyer, teleport out, kidnap Olivia and generally be a bad ass villain, here he was reduced to a mystery of the week, wrapped in bandages and displaying none of his previous power as a villain.
Instead, he was running around looking for soft spots where he could break through to an alternate Earth – but unless I’m missing something, it was never really explained why. Sure, there was the whole ‘he wants to prove himself to William Bell’ but that seems rather lame – not to mention a stupid reason to slowly kill yourself when you’re such a smart guy.
Then there was the role of the Observer. We still don’t really know what or who he is, except perhaps the resident of an alternate Earth and he seems to be bound not to interfere – although he’s willing to interfere when Earth is in danger. Sounds familiar…
The episode seemed to move rather slowly, dragging a bit for a big season finale. Funnily enough, though, it was the quiet moments with Walter and Peter that were the most affecting; the two of them at the beach house talking about pancakes – and especially Walter’s unseen reaction to the story was, for me at least, one of the highlights. Similarly, Peter’s reaction to Walter’s letter was an indication of how far the character has come this year.
The revelation at the grave Walter visited was a nice twist, if not entirely unexpected given his dialogue earlier in the episode, and as all season viewers had been speculating about Peter’s past. Even so, I think that this will have huge ramifications to come; is there an Earth out there with a grieving Walter mourning the loss of his seven year old son? Is he looking for a way to get Peter back? And how will Peter react when he finds out that he was yanked from an alternate Earth to replace Walter’s son following his death?
And then there was the big finish. The fact that Leonard Nimoy was playing William Bell had been leaked weeks ago took the wind out of his appearance; why bother hiding him in shadows to have him step out with a little grin – especially when his name was on the credits as well?
Luckily, that wasn’t the punchline – but before we get to that, there was a copy of the New York Post which bears closer inspection.
The Obamas move into a new White House? Barack Obama with grey temples? Former President Kennedy addressing the UN? Stock markets still closed? Celtics win?
But the closing shot – the closing shot was a doozy.
It was also one which caused some reaction on the internet straight away, with some viewers calling it unnecessary. I’m not so sure – there are very few shots that tell you that you’re not in our New York any more – and none more powerful than this.
Ultimately though, the episode felt badly paced and that’s a shame because all season long the show’s been growing creatively and this felt like a little bit of a backwards step.
But I’m still looking forward to next season.
End of season screencaps via
That may be the cheesiest post title I’ve ever written but I couldn’t resist.
Mark Valley (currently dead on Fringe and real-life Mr Anna Torv) has been cast as Christopher Chance in Fox’s pilot for the Human Target.
It’s funny but I can’t help but draw parallels between Human Target and Dollhouse. In the last Vertigo series, Christopher Chance was a bit of a cipher, losing himself in the personalities he took on for his jobs – sound familiar?
Of course more often than not he was heavily made up and didn’t look like himself – something I doubt that’s going to happen with Valley’s character.
It’s worth checking out the trades of the last run of Human Target if you get a chance – good stuff.
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The Observers are here.
They hide in plain sight.
They’re everywhere.
They watch too much Roswell. (And if you can tell me why, a bonus point!)
They write your TV shows and comics.
They weave tales of aliens invading to prepare you for the truth.
They baffle you with non-linear plots and nonsensical ‘reveals’.
Beware.
Continue Reading »I like JJ Abram’s new show Fringe a lot, even if I haven’t blogged about it that much. It’s got a good cast (lead Anna Torv is growing on me) interesting characters, an over-arching plot and interesting cases-of-the-week.
That said, I don’t think the show is particularly original.
There’s a lot of been there-done that going on with the show, like Abrams and his co-creators drew from shows that they liked – or in a couple of cases, created – and trhew it all in a melting pot.
There’s the obvious X-Files inspiration- two attractive leads investigating paranormal cases, often with torches. It doesn’t hurt that the writers seem intent on giving them a little bit of a spark as well.
There’s an Alias feel too; a main female lead who can kick some ass, governmental agencies jockeying for position with shadowy leaders, a slowly-developing supporting cast of fellow agents. I also get a Covenant/SD-6 vibe from the cabinet that Broyles and Massive Dynamic’s COO Nina Sharp belong to. And the mysterious Pattern has shades of Rambaldi and his prophecies.
Ah, Massive Dynamic. You’re just another version of Lost‘s Hanso Foundation, or maybe Charles Widmore’s company, aren’t you? Elusive – and presumably uncast – founder William Bell, Henry’s former lab partner, sounds like an ideal role for Alan Dale to me. Not to mention that the Massive Dynamic glyphs that pop up between the commercials are pretty reminiscent of the Dharma Initiative‘s oddly-named stations to me.
Anyway, my main concern for Fringe is that it’s too much of a hodge podge of ideas right now, with a lot thrown in right from the start.
Lost works for me because it started off with the survivors of Flight 815 stuck on a weird island, and each season you’ve pulled back so you can see more of what’s going on. Season One – The Island, Season Two – The Hatch, Season Three – The Others, Season Four – The Freighter and The Oceanic Six. Even if you’re of the opinion that questions are never answered on the show, I’s argue that they are but you’re just not watching close enough.
Fringe is slightly different. We’re thrown in the deep end here as Olivia and Peter are introduced to the mysteries of the Pattern. The thing is, the Pattern isn’t sufficiently explained. It’s a series of events, but as yet we don’t know how the events are identified as part of the Pattern – surely there’s the possibility that events are being missed? Then there’s the badly-defined seeming conspiracy between Broyles and Nina – there’s no real explanation of what’s going on there. And then there’s the mysteries of the Pattern events themselves.
Not only is no clear line drawn from one event to another – so far the only common factor is that many of them seem to involve Henry’s past in some way or other – but they seem to either go unsolved or unexplained. What was that weird underground drill-thing about last episode? Where did it come from and why?
And what exactly do the Observers want?
Maybe it’s this kind of thing that is designed to keep viewers coming back – and so far, it seems to be working. I’m enjoying the ride, but I’d like to know when I’m going to get a feel for what the hell is going on.
Then again, I have just written all this so maybe I’m more invested than I thought…
For those of you following at home, the equation for Fringe seems to be:
+
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Just to pass the time -
Alert Nerd – A great collective blog of, er, alert nerds. It’s like Wizard meets David Sedaris. According to them.
http://www.seekthesix.com/ – I am not a number. What I am is a collection of images. Find the six in all sets and register for updates. There is only the Village. I am number 434510.
Me, You and a Blog Named Boo – Regular commenter Phillyradiohgeek’s blog. He’s been on a Batman kick lately.
Speaking of Batman, I read all of Grant Morrison’s run to date last night after picking the ones I was missing in SDCC. I still have no idea what’s going on. ‘The answer’s in every issue’ my arse.
Dharma Wants You – The Dharma Initiative is still looking for recruits after striking out at SDCC.
If you saw the restroom signs banning non-humans at SDCC and you may want to click here or here. There was a rumor that this was for Fringe but the countdown on the second site suggests that it’s over a year away…so who knows?
Cliff Chiang’s SDCC sketch gallery (via Johnny Bacardi’s Twitter)
If you like Heroes, register at biotech company Pinehearst Research for some viral fun.
Cameron Stewart’s Sketches prior to SDCC
On The Bubble has a new episode up:
On The Bubble News – Episode 8 from Andrea Valverde on Vimeo.
And finally, I know I’m behind the times but I’ve just discovered The Guild thanks to Dr Horrible’s Felicia Day plugging it through her Twitter and at SDCC.
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