Mythology: Fringe
By Martin Felipe
October 15, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
There are quite a few problems with Fringe, which could contribute to its dwindling ratings. Certainly living in Lost and Alias's shadow doesn't help. Yet, it's The X-Files to which most folks most compare it. It's mostly a supernatural procedural, there's a female and a male lead, they work for the FBI, and there's some sort of mysterious mythological conspiracy evolving within the weekly adventures. Hollywood is no stranger to repeating success, but often such recycling yields lesser and lesser returns.
For that matter, Joshua Jackson and Anna Torv are no David Duchovney and Gillian Anderson. To be fair, Jackson has come a long way since Dawson's Creek. He's developed a gravitas not evident in the WB hit. Now you could possibly even detect a potential for some Jack Bauer style badassery from him in a decade or so. However, on Fringe, he's pretty much relegated to being an everyman Scully. Lacking her scientific genius, he just makes wisecracks in response to all of the wackiness around him, and mediocre wisecracks at that.
You'd think that would make Torv the show's Mulder then, but no such luck. To be honest with you, I'm not really sure what her character is. Does she even have a point of view? It's a particularly disturbing weakness when you consider the strong female shoes she's filling. I don't just mean Scully, though I do include her in the legacy of the character. Abrams has had quite the knack for discovering new female faces - Jennifer Garner, Evangeline Lilly, Keri Russell - so how did he drop the ball on this one? It's not that Torv is bad, it's that she's dull. To be fair, the character's missing point of view is as much a writing flaw as it is an acting one, but she really brings nothing compelling to the table. I think I was about six episodes in before I could even recognize her from a line-up.
Also like X-Files, the show is a combination of serial and episodic. While X-Files alternates between monster-of-the-week and mythology, Fringe has a somewhat different structure. The weekly monsters of Fringe all contribute to the show's big conspiracy, known as the Pattern. As we follow our heroes' weekly adventures, we start to see connections between them, which pay off a couple of times a season in some pretty strong episodes where all of the threads start to intertwine. Like X-Files, and Lost for that matter, we get some answers, which lead to further questions. Then we go off on another run of stand-alones that later connect. There are also some running B plots to keep continuity nerds like myself from getting too bored. And I do get bored, because, while much of the pseudo-science is fun and original, the execution isn't. The week-to-week stories are pretty conventional: we get some funky supernatural occurrence, Jackson's Peter rolls his eyes, Torv's Olivia gets down to business, they piece it together, and have an action climax. You know, like most procedurals on TV.
So why do I keep watching? I certainly don't hate the show. There are a couple of reasons, with the first being Fringe's secret weapon, John Noble. He play's Peter's father Walter (or does he?). His part is a bit of a stock character, too. He's the mad scientist, but he's just so hilarious and fascinating in the role. Some of the gags they give him are awful TV genius clichés - poor social skills, geeky enthusiasm, bodily functions - but I'll be damned if that man doesn't sell them all, giving them a fresh take and a twinkle that makes them seem new again. He also has a chemistry with Jackson that Torv just can't seem to summon, a chemistry that results in some genuinely moving father/son pathos. Between this and Lord of the Rings, Noble is proving to be quite the bad father type, but on Fringe, he wants to repair the rift, rather than set himself and his son aflame as he tries to do in Rings. Not that the Rings reference has anything to do with Fringe, it's just that he's so compelling as a bad father, it elevates the show beyond what it deserves to be.
The other thing I'm really digging on Fringe is the Pattern. I don't like redundant procedural television, but I do love me some mystery conspiracy. Many critics have taken Fringe to task for dipping into the big-evil-company-as-villain well, which is fair, I guess. Fringe is far from the first show to feature a corporate baddie like their Massive Dynamic. Maybe it's the leftie in me who dislikes big business, or maybe it's my aesthetic preference for shows that seem like they're working towards a greater whole, but it doesn't bug me. I love the idea that Massive Dynamic knows more about what the Pattern is and what it means for the very existence of Earth as we know it. There are some significant mythological threads about alternate dimensions, and the evil company's role in a conflict between them, that indicates a far more epic overall vision for the show's arc than its weekly adventures would indicate. I may not like the way Abrams and co. present this arc, but I have hopes, and reason to believe, that the final result will be pretty damned awesome.
This is of course assuming Abrams gets a chance to realize his vision. Like I said, the ratings ain't so good in season two. Having said that, we are in a new television environment, and time shifting is becoming more and more the norm. I understand Fringe is one of the bigger DVR'd and Hulu'd shows on the schedule. Look, even if it lasts for ten more years, I just wish Abrams would speed up the storytelling. The weekly procedural grows tiresome, and Anna Torv isn't interesting enough to overcome that. Gimme more mythology and more John Noble and I'll be happy. It'll never be a keeper like Lost, but I'll stop watching it last on my weekly queue.