“When you say ‘Fringe science,’ you mean pseudo-science.”
In anticipation of tonight’s Season Two premiere, I thought it time to finally review the First Fringe Episode Ever. Enjoy, and check back for the Season Two review later tonight!
The first time I watched this pilot, it was hard not to compare it to Lost and Alias. Now that I’ve seen more episodes (and I won’t spoil anything about future episodes in this review, don’t worry), it’s easier to rate on its own merits. Having said that, this isn’t the most exciting pilot ever: too much exposition masked as natural dialogue, crazy floating letters to tell us where we are (duck!), and some fairly obvious plot twists straight out of…um…Lost and Alias.
The pacing is a little off—the hour and a half format (with commercials) tweaks my internal clock, since I'm used to 44-minute episodes. I don’t think it’s just me, though: the episode is really fragmented, as through it was written with a skit-show performance in mind.
But the longer format does allow for a few moments of emotional development that would have otherwise gotten short shrift. Peter’s potential dark past is interesting, and I’ve got no problem buying him as a curmudgeonly autodidact cutie-pie—it helps that I’ve never seen Dawson’s Creek, I assume. Walter brings the full-on crazy in this episode, which gets old quickly, but the awesome John Noble (Lord of the Rings) manages to make him slightly sympathetic.
As for the pseudo-science: the melting people on the plane was pure B-movie gross-out. John Scott’s see-through body was a cool effect. The tank thing (and I’ve mentioned how little I like it in other reviews), was too pseudo-surrealist dreamscape for me. The bad twin thing is too hackneyed to discuss. The bio-arm is awesome, and made me wish we could do something like that for all our vets. “The Pattern” sounds interesting, but it’s really no more than the explanation for what Olivia, Peter, and Walter do each week.
The Good:
• Broyles insulting Dunham just by pronouncing “liason” with a French accent. That’s delivery.
• Broyles and Peter both called Dunham “sweetheart.” Sexism certainly still exists at all levels of American society, but it’s rarely this transparent.
• Peter’s defense of book-reading.
• Walter watching Sponge-Bob.
The Bad:
• I lost interest in chase scenes that take place next to boxcar thingies years ago.
• John Scott dying wasn’t a surprise; him being evil was a mini-surprise to me, but my viewing partner said he saw it coming.
• Kids, don’t ever mix Special K and LSD. Please.
Fun Quotes:
• Walter: “It’s not good, to see through the skin.”
• Walter: “I just pissed myself. Just a squirt.” This isn’t actually a Fun Quote; it’s an embarrassment for the actor.
• Walter: “It’s not an exact science.”
Peter: “It’s not even science.”
• Agent Francis: “Is that a cow?”
• Olivia: “I’m cleared to know whatever you’re cleared to know.”
Nina Sharp: “Apparently not.”
Interesting Facts:
• Olivia used to be US Marine Corps Special Investigator, which appears to be something like Marine Internal Affairs.
• Walter’s birth year is 1946, and he went to Oxford and MIT.
• Peter speaks Farsi.
• Walter’s research at Harvard was under the cover of doing research for a toothpaste company.
• Blair Brown, the Massive Dynamics lady, starred in Altered States, a movie about what happens to your psyche when you go into a magical—I mean fringe-science—tank of water.
Two out of four Bow-tied Victor Garbers. (And if you don’t get the reference, you should really start watching Glee.)
(Fringe 1.01)
6 comments:
GLEE!
(Sorry, couldn't resist.)
No need to apologize for the Glee-exuberance. I'm feeling it, too!
I've just watched the pilot and it didn't make me think much about Alias or Lost (both of witch I am a fanatic fan...) I was thinking more about X-files (that I don't particularly like or hate). I liked it and will continue watching the other episodes.
I actually found the "I just pissed myself" comment to be bordering on hilarious. Which probably says more about me, than it does the show. It wasn't so much what he said, but the inappropriateness of it, and his lack of awareness of that fact.
A better pilot than I remember but, as you say, kind of disjointed in places.
I just forced one of my friends to start watching Supernatural [which he promptly fell in love with] so in return he's making me watch Fringe. I'll say, it is a tad weak in spots, but for the most part, I am totally hooked and can't wait to watch the rest of the seasons. And if it only gets better from here, more power to it. :)
A definite highlight for me was having Michael Giacchino as a composer. His works is so absolutely beautiful and adds a definite edge to the show. Maybe the reason I didn't find the pilot so weak was because I was so busy listening to the music.
My husband gets weirded out when he hears me watching Fringe from another room, because he keeps thinking he's hearing Lost. Giacchino definitely has a distinctive sound. I like the combination of his scoring and Chris Tilton's work in the later seasons. They seem to complement each other well and create a unique sound for this series.
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