Watch What We Say
Fringe
By Jason Lee
September 24, 2008
BoxOfficeProphets.com
This week on Watch What We Say: Bringing fringe science back to primetime television
JJ Abrams must have a really strong fear of flying. First, he kicks off his hit ABC show Lost with one of the more spectacular plane crashes in TV history and now, he brings Fringe to the Fox network with an opening sequence that involves no less than:
1) A plane barely managing to navigate a turbulence-inducing electrical storm
2) A distressed, panicked, diabetic passenger that stumbles disorientedly down the aisle
3) A disgusting, plague-like infection that infects every person on the plane (including the pilots), melting the skin of passengers and turning the entire scene into a live-action Salvador Dali painting
How much you wanna bet that JJ Abrams takes Greyhound when he has to visit his Vancouver shooting locations?
But we're not here to talk about Abrams' travel habits. Oh no. We're here to talk about Fringe. In an obvious effort to fill the sci-fi void left behind by The X-Files (of which I was a huge fan), Fox has turned to Abrams to craft a suspense-filled, well-acted and overall creepy-feeling show about a team of government investigators that study strange cases involving fringe science. The X-Files would have just called it "paranormal activity," but I digress.
The protagonist of Fringe is Agent Olivia Dunham, played with remarkable conviction by Anna Torv, a relative newcomer to the TV landscape. She, along with her co-worker/boyfriend, John Scott, are assigned to investigate the aforementioned "electrical-stormy-plane-crash-in-which-everyone-melted" event.
Along the way, we're introduced to a bevy of stoney-faced men in suits, none more intimidating than Agent Phillip Broyles. He's still POed about the fact that Dunham had successfully convicted his friend (a fellow Homeland Security agent) for statutory rape. While he sympathizes with his buddy, she sympathizes with the three rape victims, and this of course leads to a great deal of tension brimming just under the surface during all of their encounters.
When Scott becomes infected with the biological agent that led to the death of the passengers on the plane, Dunham puts her career and reputation on the line by risking everything to find a cure. Among her many questionable actions along the way is the decision to enlist the help of mad scientist Dr. Walter Bishop, who is clinically insane but had an extensive history working on the biological agent that afflicted both the flight's passengers and Scott. Also along for the ride is Bishop's son, Peter, who's both a genius and a sullen, spoiled boy.
Peter is played by Dawson's Creek-alum, Joshua Jackson, who (I'm sorry) couldn't act his way out of a paper bag. He still acts like he's on the WB – acting immature and pouty, never seeming to recognize the gravity of the situation surrounding him. Anna Torv is much better in the show's starring role. We really believe that this driven, meticulous woman would go to any length to save her boyfriend.
What we don't understand is why everyone around her – both her colleagues and her superiors – indulge her in this wild-goose chase. There is no threat that this biological agent will strike again. There is no looming danger to the public at large. The only person at real risk is her boyfriend - and time and time again, Dunham is afforded every available option for finding a cure.
You wanna fly to Iraq and blackmail this kid into taking you to see his Dr. Frankenstein-esque father? Sure! You wanna release Dr. Frankenstein from his solitary confinement and let him examine your boyfriend? Sure! You wanna re-open his ominous MIT lab and bring your comatose boyfriend there for treatment? Sure! You wanna let Dr. Frankenstein inject you with homemade LSD, insert a probe into the back of your skull and immerse your naked body in a tank full of salt-water so that you can talk to your comatose boyfriend through electro-induced telekinesis? Sure!
I think you get the point. Though "Fringe" is well-produced, well-acted (save for Joshua Jackson) and well-directed, the show is a little hard to swallow. It is one thing to expect audiences to accept that fringe science could be real. It is another thing entirely to accept that our government would allow one of their own agents free reign across the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security Departments, etc. in the interest of saving ONE FREAKING PERSON.
Then again, maybe I'm just a little biased. I grew up in a time where the preeminent sci-fi show of all time (the aforementioned X-Files) wove together complex paranormal stories with our deepest human fears, all the while maintaining a shadowy government group in the background whose seemingly-omnipotent power was perpetually tinged with malice.
Ladies and gentlemen, let me let you in on a little secret: Fringe is no X-Files. But why should it be? Bringing compelling sci-fi to the small screen is no mean feat. Just ask Chris Carter about Millennium or The Lone Gunmen. Here we have an entertaining show, featuring a strong female-lead, a strong creative force behind the camera and some genuine chills along the way. It's rare nowadays for a network to support a drama that isn't a CSI spin-off or a courtroom procedural. Based on the pilot alone, I think we have something that might be worth keeping an eye on for the rest of the season.
But you can bet that they won't be playing this on cross-country American Airline flights anytime soon.
Watch What We Say rating: Three TiVos
Watch What We Say: Rating System
Four TiVos: This is television content raised to the level of a transcendent art form. Not only should you TiVo this program for yourself, you should keep it on your TiVo for future generations to watch and savor.
Three TiVos: This is a very good show with a regular spot in my TiVo rotation. I watch every week and will often invite my friends over to share the enjoyable experience.
Two TiVos: I'll TiVo this show if I need something to watch while I'm folding laundry or dusting furniture.
One TiVo: I actively dislike this show and never allow it to take up space in my TiVo. Often times, I'll gripe about the show's producers, ridicule the actors and lambaste the network for keeping it on the air.
Zero TiVos: If this show is on, I unplug my TiVo for fear that the show is accidentally recorded and my entire home entertainment system gets contaminated with this malignant, diseased trash.