Cringe

[tweetics]

I think there has been this vaccum since X-Files went off the air for something like Fringe to fill. It isn't a bad way to spend a Tuesday night, but I am curious if the show USA(or maybe SciFi/SyFy) is going to be putting on (which is basically X-Files in a warehouse...forgot the name of it) will do it better or just fall flat.

I am also hoping that one day Anna Torv will actually have the opportunity to show a diverse range of emotions other than meloncholy.

[Yubtzock]

I feel same as most of ppl described - plot a bit to mixed and filled with holes to be considered as very good, but the lack of X-Files makes a place for a show with pseudoscience in it.

The show was shortened from 22 to 20 episodes. Pity, because I felt this lack of "place" and suppose creators too, as e.x. the story about Peter's debts was totally omitted.

I am also hoping that one day Anna Torv will actually have the opportunity to show a diverse range of emotions other than meloncholy.

I hope you are not suggesting she's bad actress. i find her skills quite standing out in comparison to the rest of actors in the show.

Also: much disappointment since there was no more Futurama reference. Or did I omit Astrid saying "good news everyone!" somewhere?

[tweetics]

I am also hoping that one day Anna Torv will actually have the opportunity to show a diverse range of emotions other than meloncholy.

I hope you are not suggesting she's bad actress. i find her skills quite standing out in comparison to the rest of actors in the show.

Actually I believe she has a lot to show, what I am hoping for is that they give her a little more to work with. Making her the POV character is great and everything but i am hoping she will have a bit more to work with this next season.

[OmenPigeon]

So Fringe is back, and that's exciting and all, but it occurred to me while watching this episode that the cow in the lab must be so sad! It has to stand around in the basement all the time waiting to be tested on and have blood samples taken. And it never gets to go outside. What a sad cow.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

I'm sure it's got an exciting and fascinating internet life.

I miss Asteroid!

[OmenPigeon]

But cows do not have fingers! How would it be able to operate a keyboard so that it could talk on the internet with other basement science cows? Maybe there is a spinoff series here waiting to be born. Adventures of Basement Cow on THE INTERNET!

[tropetastic]

Alright I'm reviving the Fringe thread because holy crap so much stuff has happened in the past few episodes. (Also I'm surprised not many people here watch it, John Noble is absolutely fantastic.)

Anyway, I enjoyed last night's

Spoiler:

noir musical

episode. Not much in terms of overall arc development, but it was pretty fun. Also, Astrid is an awesome singer. As for next week, I think

Spoiler:

Peter will be back with some sort of awkward reunion, leading to a happy but slightly crestfallen Denethor Walter. Peter will probably be pretty mad at Olivia for not telling him as well, but all of it will be breezed through in the first fifteen minutes and all three of them will probably be on speaking terms by the end of the episode.

I don't think it will be majorly arc related, maybe not even pattern related (I think they kind of dropped the ball on that conspiracy, but oh well), especially since the last two episodes are linked... and there's a third season in the works...

Any thoughts?

[You, sir, name?]

It feels like second season is a long experiment in what to do with the show now that the shock factor of the first season's face melty horror has worn off and gotten repetitive.

[headprogrammingczar]

I like where it has gone this past season. Walter Bishop got an incredible character arc.

[You, sir, name?]

I like where it has gone this past season. Walter Bishop got an incredible character arc.

It's amazing what you can accomplish with good actors.



YSN's post, supplemental:

The latest episode felt like an x-files throwback. Quite well done, too.

[Malice]

Fringe has gotten amazing.

The first season of the show had potential, but was ultimately barely watchable given its lack of meaningful character development and over-reliance on a tired X-Files retread of a formula--monster of the week plots, usually without even the Buffy-style thematic connection between each episode's plots and its main cast that makes other episodic shows rewarding.

But now it's become something so much more. Since "Jacksonville" (the last episode before the break in season 2), it is now actually telling a coherent story involving dramatic conflicts on a personal scale which resonate with the overarching plot. And since "Peter" (Fringe, 1980s edition), the show has taken the idea of multiple universes and given us a story filtered through multiple genres, narrative perspectives, and dramatic styles, from a period piece to a time-loop narrative to a noir-influenced fable and now to a sci-fi thriller. In this way it has clarified and intensified its ideas and emotions, like a sound in an echo chamber, and at the same time asked fundamental questions about how one presents a story--what changes based on context, style, and genre trappings, and what remains the same--the truth of the tale and those who live it. This show's recent kaleidoscopic nature suggests that what Peter fails to realize is that it doesn't matter where you come from, only what you choose to do with the choices you are given.

[You, sir, name?]

Thought on the latest episode:

Spoiler:

The DOD headquarters on Liberty Island felt quite UNATCO-esque.

[mrnotcrazy]

last ep was good, umm theory's?

[stolid]

I always liked Fringe, and I agree it's definitely at its best. I've loved every episode involving crossing dimensions, even back when we didn't know quite what was being dealt with.

[Chen]

About the season finale

Spoiler:

How did fake Olivia get them back to their own dimension? The device William Bell used was only supposed to hold the crack open so that once real Olivia opened it they could get back. It certainly didn't seem like fake Olivia had powers or even if she DID have the powers, it didn't seem to me like she'd know about them.

[Malice]

About the season finale

Spoiler:

How did fake Olivia get them back to their own dimension? The device William Bell used was only supposed to hold the crack open so that once real Olivia opened it they could get back. It certainly didn't seem like fake Olivia had powers or even if she DID have the powers, it didn't seem to me like she'd know about them.

Spoiler:

It was kinda confusing, but I think they decided Olivia was "drained" and wouldn't be able to open the door; so instead, the combination of the "doorstop" machine and William Bell blowing himself up is what opened the door.

[Chen]

Spoiler:

It was kinda confusing, but I think they decided Olivia was "drained" and wouldn't be able to open the door; so instead, the combination of the "doorstop" machine and William Bell blowing himself up is what opened the door.

Spoiler:

Thats not what they said though, unless I MAJORLY mis-interpreted things. Walter said something like Olivia will open the crack and then they'll use the machine to hold it open. BUT when they were at Harvard, Walter said that the device wouldn't have enough power to keep the crack big enough or something. Then Bell said he'd take care of it (foreshadowing the whole blowing himself up). His blowing himself up was still just supposed to be used to power the doorstop not actually make the door.

[You, sir, name?]

That's how I interpreted it as well. Oh well, chalk it up to fridge logic?

[Midnight]

That's how I interpreted it as well. Oh well, chalk it up to fridge logic?

or FRINGE LOGIC. BUUAHAHAAA


anyways, I'm glad the show finally has a solid plot. it messed around being x-files, then sort of dropped it and retconned stuff and made it all work out.. but now.. this Current Development... it's gonna be interesting.

Also, that job is an actor's dreammmmm. They must've had so much fun.

[Winter Man]

Just watched episode 13 of season 2 with the intelligent virus deely that makes them spray blood. When they ran a simulation of the infection spreading the virus covered the entire world in two weeks. Everywhere was infected. Except Madagascar.

Spoiler:

[You, sir, name?]

I don't really know what I think about this new season. This whole

Spoiler:

parallel universe

-stuff hasn't really done the show any favors. With

Spoiler:

each actor playing multiple identical-looking characters

it's very easy to loose track of what's going on.

Though I like how the latest episode

Spoiler:

kinda returned to the old monster-of-the-week recipe. Arc stories are all good and well, but the story isn't good enough for Fringe to survive on them alone.

Also, Walter Bishop is made of awesome as usual.

[Brother Maynard]

Clearly Walter alone is enough to make this show worth watching. The rest is just (strawberry) icing on the cake.

[Malice]

I don't really know what I think about this new season. This whole

Spoiler:

parallel universe

-stuff hasn't really done the show any favors. With

Spoiler:

each actor playing multiple identical-looking characters

it's very easy to loose track of what's going on.

Not really.

Spoiler:

Because the show (for now) is going back and forth between one universe and the other, you only actually need to keep track of one set of characters at a time. Otherwise it would be really confusing. So on the one hand you have crazy Walter, Peter, Broyles, Astrid, and Fauxlivia pretending to be Olivia; on the other, you have evil Walternate, Broyles, Charlie, that other guy on the team whose name I forget, Olivia who thinks she's Fauxlivia, and Fauxlivia's boyfriend.

Okay, maybe it's a little confusing. But still awesome.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

I was gonna say "I missed the Season 3 premiere, but it still makes sense to me..." Walter is still batshit, Walternate is like a senile Gestapo grandpa. Olivia is batshit, and Bolivia is slowly realizing that maybe this universe isn't that bad, in the usual overly-simplistic prime-time TV fashion, but still handled with a little bit of class. Also, Aspirin continues to be the shining underdog of the show.

[You, sir, name?]

Also, Aspirin continues to be the shining underdog of the show.

Indeed. If it wasn't for the genius who casted Walter and Asterisk, I sincerely doubt this show would have seen a season 2.

[lemmings]

Clearly Walter alone is enough to make this show worth watching. The rest is just (strawberry) icing on the cake.

Just make sure Walter doesn't mix up the spoons when making the icing.

[PeterCai]

in the new episode they kept mentioning differential equation, i think they meant magic

[headprogrammingczar]

Is there a difference? :P

[You, sir, name?]

Apparently not. Though it's still better than Lost. "Electromagnetism" my ass.

[You, sir, name?]

In case anyone didn't know, this is relevant to the latest episode: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgi_Markov#Murder

[legopelle]

Oh my god, the last episode was creepy. I will not sleep ever again. Very steam punk though, which is nice.

Spoiler:

Her eyes! The horrible eyes!

[PeterCai]

at the start of the last ep, i thought they were doing a dexter crossover...so many visual references.

[You, sir, name?]

I liked the

Spoiler:

Twin Peaks reference (Jacoby's glasses)

in the latest episode.

[legopelle]

It's back! Finally.

Spoiler:

This must be the most ridiculous episode pseudo-science-wise. Goggles for seeing aura? Use aura to determine hypnotic depth? What the hell?

Only the musician saved it by being cool. My piano teacher looks just like him when he played.

[You, sir, name?]

That didn't really bother me. That sort of 1970s hokum is very much in character with Walter.


As for the new latest episode, I like the way the show is developing. It's so unpredictable.

[Link]

So, after finding out about this show only a few weeks ago, I've become totally addicted. Sure, the writing can be a bit sloppy at times, but that has been the case for virtually every action, mystery and science fiction series of the past decade or so. The overarching storyline has kept it from jumping the shark (or just collapsing without jumping at all) so far, and unlike many shows, I find it every bit as captivating 50 episodes in as I did at the very beginning.

Walter is just such a brilliant character.

Spoiler:

I mean, you know he's responsible for some Mengele-esque experiments, and yet he's still more lovable than any other character.

Astro Aspirin Astringent Astrid is pretty damn cool too; shame she's pushed so far to the background most of the time.

I also like Fringe's way of

Spoiler:

(barely) subverting the tired old "male and female lead get it on, hurr-di-durr" trope. I mean, it'll probably happen "for real" eventually, but the Fauxlivia/Peter dynamic made everything a lot more interesting.

[legopelle]

That didn't really bother me. That sort of 1970s hokum is very much in character with Walter.


As for the new latest episode, I like the way the show is developing. It's so unpredictable.

I understand the rationale, but it just rubbed me the wrong way. I don't know why.

Peter:

Spoiler:

It was a little unnerving seeing him go assasin-mode out of nowhere. His empathy harshly fell.

[You, sir, name?]

That didn't really bother me. That sort of 1970s hokum is very much in character with Walter.


As for the new latest episode, I like the way the show is developing. It's so unpredictable.

I understand the rationale, but it just rubbed me the wrong way. I don't know why.

He was wearing Jacoby's glasses. I can't be made upset by someone who does that.

[Link]

Peter:

Spoiler:

It was a little unnerving seeing him go assasin-mode out of nowhere. His empathy harshly fell.

Spoiler:

I figured something must have set him off his rocker the moment they showed it was Peter who had been a-slaying. It's so unlike what we've seen of him so far. My first thought was that he had been replaced by a shapeshifter himself, but that would be pretty ridiculous. Then I figured it was probably related to the machine - and lo and behold, Walter agrees.

I wouldn't be surprised if this change in behaviour ends up being the thing that makes Walter understand the machine.

[KeyserSoze]

I love the fact that Massive Dynamic

Spoiler:

decided "oh, there's a machine that when powered on could quite possibly destroy a Universe...

LET'S BUILD IT!!"

Seriously. Did no-one stand up in that board meeting and say "no, hang on guys. Let's think this one through a bit"