Fringe - General Discussion

[Syme]

RIP, Belli

 

Leonard Nimoy died today....few traveled as many universes as he did....

Edited February 27, 2015 by Syme

[BooksRule]

It's weird.  When I heard about his passing, I first thought of 'Fringe' and then 'The Big Bang Theory', even before I thought of 'Star Trek'.

[Writing Wrongs]

I'm at the end of season 3 and the show has turned into Alias. Peter, Olivia and the machine stuff is like the Rambaldi artifacts and prophecy.

[Jipijapa]

Don't sweat it.  The showrunners apparently realized it was a dumb plot direction as well.

[Jipijapa]

I think we can officially now term Anna Torv as "the reclusive Anna Torv."

[alias1]

I think we can officially now term Anna Torv as "the reclusive Anna Torv."

And I am so sad about this. What has she been doing?

[Jipijapa]

Non-starring roles in low-key Australian projects, it seems...

 

I really have zero insight into how Hollywood works, but it seems to me that Anna Torv got a plum starring role in a big American series and... it didn't become a hit.  (Yes, it became our beloved Fringe, but Fringe was not a success by Hollywood standards.)  The idea that anyone is going to "give her a series" on American TV is a little unrealistic.  She already had one -- a series that was written for her to be front and center (at least during season 1).  It didn't fly. 

 

(And to be honest, "Open" sounded crappy and I'm glad it's dead.)

 

It's hard for actresses her age to stay in the spotlight anyway - only a tiny handful of actresses get that kind of attention and their fame tends to be relatively brief anyway.  There's just too much competition.  Whatever she's doing personally or professionally, I hope she is enjoying herself.  Sometimes it takes a few years to reinvent oneself.

 

Actually the person whose absence I find shocking and disappointing is Jasika Nicole, who has done... what? since Fringe.  Guesting on Scandal and Welcome to Night Vale.  Is Hollywood really that biased against gay actresses of color, or does she just not care?  Well, her being on Scandal is still way more exposure than Anna Torv has gotten.  Again, she may be having more fun knitting instead of acting.  I do not presume.

 

Meanwhile, the guys of Fringe?  They've been going on to do pretty much what you'd expect them to do.  John Noble has been very successful (no surprise there), Joshua Jackson somehow found himself in Dawson's Creek Adult Edition, Lance Reddick is simply EVERYWHERE, Seth Gabel has a renewed show, Kirk Acevedo has a new show that seems to be pleasing fans, Michael Cerveris did a short but very visible run on The Good Wife (and of course he has a career of his own anyway on stage). 

 

All the guys are busy.  All the girls are sitting at home.  Hollywood.

Edited March 6, 2015 by Jipijapa

[Trini]

Philip Winchester (Frank, Fauxlivia's ex/boyfriend) is a lead on a new NBC show, The Player.

[ulkis]

Okay, I was gonna tune in to Elementary to see John Noble, but then I heard he was playing Sherlock's father and now I'm like NO, NO I'M STILL NOT READY TO SEE HIM PLAY SOMEONE ELSE'S DAD.

[AimingforYoko]

September (Michael Cerveris) won a Tony!

[pcta]

September (Michael Cerveris) won a Tony!

His second

[seamusk]

Just finished Fringe. Overall it was definitely more good than bad and I really liked it. Though i'm a bit shocked by the season 2 love. I think, in terms of half seasons, the first half of season 2 is the worst. Or maybe it's the middle part. But it was totally randomly bad to me. The show got really good in the second half of season 1 and then they rigged it to go back to the monster of the week after the first episode or so of season two. So my frustration with that might have contributed. 

 

Anyhow, I really loved the show. I initially hated the season 5 twist but grew to love it by the end. It just came on a bit suddenly to me though I guess that's the idea.

[DeepRunner]

It is a true statement that I think Fringe is the best sci-fi show ev-uh. I have been recently been watching select episodes from the different seasons. I think the best stretch of Fringe was probably the timeframe of "August" to "6-B," with super acceleration from "The Bishop Revival" to "Marionette." S4 was a major drag in many ways, but was pretty good from "Novation" through "A Short Story About Love." Like @seamusk, I was not initially a fan of S5, but have come to like it more, although the major retcon of the iconic "The Boy is important. He has to live." is still a bit much.

 

FWIW, here are the Absolute 10 Episodes to watch, imo, in no particular order, not counting the Pilot:

 

1. Peter: Simply the best episode of the franchise, as it explained The Fringe Event that started it all. John Noble and Orla Brady were excellent, Jenni Blong introduced us to Carla Warren, and the eppy provided more equal footing to The Big Three (Olivia, Peter, and Walter) as characters

 

2. Entrada: Intriguing, high-speed back-and-forth between the two universes, with each Olivia getting home

 

3. There's More Than One of Everything: Ripped open the possibilities that Fringe had promised. From Walter in the graveyard, to Olivia being in the Twin Towers Over There, to Leonard Nimoy playing William Bell, that was AWESOME

 

4. Marionette: This one has grown on me over time, but it addressed the question of what happens to a person who realizes their life has been stolen from them in every way, of the weight that's thrown on their shoulders. Bonus points for the Freak of the Week Frankenstein Factor

 

5. The Man From the Other Side: Peter. Finds. Out. Plus the cool factor of Newton, one of the most interesting villains ever, bringing a bridge Over Here with Walternate walking on it

 

6. The Bullet That Saved The World: For a character who was only on for a few episodes, Etta's death was pretty strong. Bonus points for the callback to the gas-based orifice-sealing flesh crud of S1

 

7. Over There, Parts 1 and 2: That. was. COOL. The first long-form trip to the Redverse. Extra bonus points for seeing a version of Charlie Francis, the contrasts between Olivia and Fauxlivia, and The Two Walters

 

8. Bound: Brought us the Tough Olivia. Bonus points for Olivia's escape, for Olivia's fight with Samantha Loeb, and the confession of Mitchell Loeb in the interrogation room

 

9. Welcome to Westfield: IMO, the best episode of S4. Creepy story that allowed The Big Three to work together for the first time in the amber timeline

 

10. The Last Sam Weiss: The point that S3 had been building to with the machine

 

Some may notice that "White Tulip" isn't on the list. For me, that episode, while a good one,  just didn't hit the notes it needed to. YMMV.

[ToxicUnicorn]

I would!  I have been going it alone through the 1st season, which is fine, but I just got done with S2: E1 and I want someone to yell NOOO! with.  NO!!!

[BooksRule]

I'm up for a re-watch.  It's been a while.

[ShowsILoveToHate]

I'd be interested in this too!

[Luckylyn]

 

An international flight lands at Boston's Logan Airport, its crew and passengers dead from a mysterious flesh-dissolving toxin. When Special Agent Olivia Dunham's partner, John Scott, is critically injured by the precursor chemicals of the same toxin, she recruits Dr. Walter Bishop, a mentally unstable researcher in fringe science, and his estranged son, Peter, to help her save John's life. They discover a cure for John's condition, but learn that the mass infection was but an experiment, and part of a larger mystery called "The Pattern." Her partner is found to be responsible for funding the creation of the toxin, but is killed while trying to escape. At the end, John's body is delivered to Massive Dynamic to be questioned through a shared dreamscape.

 

[Luckylyn]

I started a thread for episode 1 and will continue to add one episode a week.

[ShowsILoveToHate]

Overall, this is my single most favorite episode.  The characters and the slow bond that develops between an extremely angry Peter and a befuddled Walter is excellent.  By the end of the 2-hour episode they're working together; using their combined intelligence, to help the FBI.

 

It's so interesting too, to see that a lot of the mythology was already being laid down in this first episode.  We see Nina's robotic arm and hand and have no reason to not believe her story of having cancer and needing to have hers amputated.

 

I love the sharp back and forth dialog between Walter and Peter while Walter is explaining to Olivia how he can use her to get information from the comatose John Scott.  Peter's sarcastic comebacks crack me up every time.  I love it!! 

[bethy]

I've been rewatching and only just thought to see if PTV had a forum for Fringe. I'm going to keep checking back to see if a rewatch starts up here!

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

I'll admit I've only watched the first 3 seasons so far, but overall, I'd have to agree that the Pilot is the best episode.  A few thoughts to add to the above input....

 

That opening is definitely an attention grabber.  The co-pilots jaw 'melting'/falling off?  *shudders in revulsion*

 

The Peter/Olivia subtext is very strong, even way back then, and still didn't know John was a bad guy yet (if the P/O is something you really like about the show). 

 

I noticed on the rewatch I just did a couple of hours ago, that I somehow missed the first time around, is the fact that Astrid was also in the enclosed area that John Scott was being held in his coma, when Walter and Peter are brought in to look at him, initially.

 

One thing I found to be a bit of a 'dropped ball' was something that was started in the pilot, and continued on for a short while into S1, and that is

that Peter's past, with Big Eddie and all that was never really touched on or resolved, aside from the camera stalker and Tess/Michael.  If the FBI did end up paying off his debts, would have been nice to have gotten a passing mention of it somewhere down the line.

[ToxicUnicorn]

I'm at the beginning of Season 5 as a first timer,  but I'm happy to circle back for a rewatch.

 

I guess I feel differently about the pilot - it didn't grab me, even though it was packed with a lot more substance than most pilots are.  I thought the pace was frenetic and the acting was only ok.  What kept me there was Broyles (aka Lieutenant Daniels from The Wire), along with reassurances from friendly PTVers that it was worth staying awhile, and the promise of an unconventional plot. 
 

One thing I found to be a bit of a 'dropped ball' was something that was started in the pilot, and continued on for a short while into S1,

 

I think a lot of pieces of the pilot became dropped balls.  Broyles is a jerk who carries a grudge against Olivia here. 

Her investigation into his friend doesn't come up again in a substantial way, at least before Season 5.  She certainly doesn't seem shaped by that part of her past.  Broyles' animosity feels like a routine hurdle to overcome, in hindsight.  Olivia's ability to bluff Peter was potentially very interesting, but that doesn't come back again, either.  And I still don't really understand John's role or knowledge - all I know is I haven't seen him for a very long time.

 

the slow bond that develops between an extremely angry Peter and a befuddled Walter is excellent.

 

This was the highlight of the episode, and I agree that they followed through on showing us the twists and turns of this relationship very well. 

 

It is interesting to go back to our first glimpse of Olivia.  I remember thinking that Anna Torv wasn't all that great in the pilot (and I thought that again on rewatch), but if you ask me about my opinion now, after having become invested in her over the seasons, I think she's really a very good actress.  Whether she got significantly better at acting, or her character started to become more lifelike, or it was a change in me, I do not know.

 

Walter also was far too cartoon-ish for me in the pilot.  It took me a very long time to become fond of him (or Astrid, too, for that matter).

 

I've always liked Peter, but then again, I enjoy smart alecks.

[BooksRule]

I guess I feel differently about the pilot - it didn't grab me, even though it was packed with a lot more substance than most pilots are.

 

I felt that way too.  I watched the pilot and forgot to watch future episodes.  I only started watching somewhere in the second season (I think).  I was kind of confused (of course) until I was able to go back and catch up on the earlier episodes.  Then I was hooked.

[ShowsILoveToHate]

I'll admit I've only watched the first 3 seasons so far, but overall, I'd have to agree that the Pilot is the best episode.  A few thoughts to add to the above input....

 

That opening is definitely an attention grabber.  The co-pilots jaw 'melting'/falling off?  *shudders in revulsion*

 

The Peter/Olivia subtext is very strong, even way back then, and still didn't know John was a bad guy yet (if the P/O is something you really like about the show). 

 

I noticed on the rewatch I just did a couple of hours ago, that I somehow missed the first time around, is the fact that Astrid was also in the enclosed area that John Scott was being held in his coma, when Walter and Peter are brought in to look at him, initially.

 

One thing I found to be a bit of a 'dropped ball' was something that was started in the pilot, and continued on for a short while into S1, and that is

that Peter's past, with Big Eddie and all that was never really touched on or resolved, aside from the camera stalker and Tess/Michael.  If the FBI did end up paying off his debts, would have been nice to have gotten a passing mention of it somewhere down the line.

 

I KNEW your spoiler was going to be about this because I think this is one of the more obvious "dropped balls".  I guess we had enough info about Peter's history that they felt didn't want or need to go into it further, but then the episodes with Big Eddie and the camera stalker, etc were totally unnecessary.  I agree that they could've tied that up neatly with a brief conversation or something about it. 

 

I'm at the beginning of Season 5 as a first timer,  but I'm happy to circle back for a rewatch.

 

I guess I feel differently about the pilot - it didn't grab me, even though it was packed with a lot more substance than most pilots are.  I thought the pace was frenetic and the acting was only ok.  What kept me there was Broyles (aka Lieutenant Daniels from The Wire), along with reassurances from friendly PTVers that it was worth staying awhile, and the promise of an unconventional plot. 

 

I think a lot of pieces of the pilot became dropped balls.  Broyles is a jerk who carries a grudge against Olivia here. 

Her investigation into his friend doesn't come up again in a substantial way, at least before Season 5.  She certainly doesn't seem shaped by that part of her past.  Broyles' animosity feels like a routine hurdle to overcome, in hindsight.  Olivia's ability to bluff Peter was potentially very interesting, but that doesn't come back again, either.  And I still don't really understand John's role or knowledge - all I know is I haven't seen him for a very long time.

 

This was the highlight of the episode, and I agree that they followed through on showing us the twists and turns of this relationship very well. 

 

It is interesting to go back to our first glimpse of Olivia.  I remember thinking that Anna Torv wasn't all that great in the pilot (and I thought that again on rewatch), but if you ask me about my opinion now, after having become invested in her over the seasons, I think she's really a very good actress.  Whether she got significantly better at acting, or her character started to become more lifelike, or it was a change in me, I do not know.

 

Walter also was far too cartoon-ish for me in the pilot.  It took me a very long time to become fond of him (or Astrid, too, for that matter).

 

I've always liked Peter, but then again, I enjoy smart alecks.

 

You know, in retrospect, John Noble really didn't have Walter's affectations down at all; his "accent" and cadence to his voice changed a bit during the first couple of seasons.  Poor Aussie, trying to combine an American accent plus a New England accent a bit... lol   I LOVE Walter but I was glad once he nailed Walter down. LOL

 

I agree with your assessment of Anna Torv.  I didn't appreciate her excellent acting skills right away.  But without giving away any spoilers, by the end of the series she should've been given an award!! :D

 

I enjoyed Peter right from the start as well. :)

 

 

I felt that way too.  I watched the pilot and forgot to watch future episodes.  I only started watching somewhere in the second season (I think).  I was kind of confused (of course) until I was able to go back and catch up on the earlier episodes.  Then I was hooked.

 

You know, back when this show was on the air, I started watching it in the middle of Season 2.  I think my first episode was "The Bishop Boys".  My husband and I started to watch it because our son was DVRing it and one night there wasn't anything else to watch so gave Fringe a try.  We loved it and continued watching each new episode.  We were so happy when they finally released Season 1 on DVD.  I guess that's why I don't mind too much about the difference in early Walter and established Walter, because I was already in love with him by the time I saw him being released from St. Claire's. LOL

 

Also, we live here in Massachusetts and we got a kick out of how "local" a lot of it was (even though it wasn't filmed here). 

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

This is a bit off-topic and more of a series-long thing, but after having watched the first 2+ seasons, I checked out some Fringe info and reviews for episodes I had watched.  I came across the information about all the 'hidden' clues and stuff that "previewed" the important parts of the next episode or other things that helped add to the show.  I was thrilled to see something in one episode and think to myself that it must be coming up in the next episode.  Almost dislocated my elbow patting myself on the back when I was proven right.

 

That led to me intensely trying to see everything on the re-watch, thus my noticing Astrid where I missed her earlier.  I'm sure there is still stuff I missed, and will miss on other episodes I watch again.

[ShowsILoveToHate]

I've been rewatching and only just thought to see if PTV had a forum for Fringe. I'm going to keep checking back to see if a rewatch starts up here!

 

There is a thread for the rewatch; episode 1 - The Pilot is active. Join us in there :)

[bethy]

I'm so glad to find this forum. I started a rewatch toward the end of the summer and am now about half-way through season 2.

 

I had the same experience with the pilot others have expressed. I wasn't blown away by it and found Anna Torv stiff and not very likable. But I noticed on rewatch how much more I liked Olivia and Anna Torv's take on her. Watching the pilot knowing so more more about Olivia and her background, I found I was much more sympathetic to the character.

 

What is the policy on spoilers? I guess I got here through the "Rewatch" thread, but not everyone is rewatching. So should I spoiler tag what's coming for those who are first watch?

[Luckylyn]

 

Olivia, along with Peter and Walter Bishop, reopens a cold case involving a serial killer (Derek Cecil) who extracted the pituitary glands from his victims after investigating the strange death of a woman (Betty Gilpin) who had an even stranger child. The woman was pregnant for a few minutes, yet the baby she birthed was fully developed - then aged eighty years in the span of another few minutes. They discover that the killer is an artificially aged human, who is using the hormones extracted from the removed glands to halt his accelerated aging disease. The team is able to track him and his creator (Mark Blum) down, causing the man to die from being deprived of the hormones keeping him young.

 

[Luckylyn]

What is the policy on spoilers? I guess I got here through the "Rewatch" thread, but not everyone is rewatching. So should I spoiler tag what's coming for those who are first watch?

Anything referencing episodes after this have to be spoiler tagged because people new to the show could get spoiled when they post in this discussion.

[ShowsILoveToHate]

Like I said in the Episode 1 thread, I originally started watching Fringe in the middle of Season 2, at a point where there were a few fairly non-gory and non-violent episodes... anyway... then we bought Season 1 on DVD and eventually I got to see THIS episode! LOL   If this had been my introduction to Fringe I don't know that I would've continued the rest of this episode, never mind the series!

 

So.... I love how Peter refers to the "magic old man baby" and the "80 year old man baby". lol  Thank goodness for his sarcastic humor!  I love how in this episode, even though there's the Case of the Week, they build into the lives and pasts of the characters.  Broyles calls together a meeting with Nina Sharp, among others. It seems odd that Nina seems to against Broyles' "new team" to investigate the "anomalies", and Broyles says that he hopes they'll be more successful than his last team.

 

Peter finding Walter sleeping in the closet because he was so used to his life at St Claire's and how every night he'd sing "row row row your boat...".    I love the very last line of this episode, Peter singing so his father can sleep. :)

 

Walter's discovery of car seat-warmers. LOL

 

This episode shows the start of Olivia and Peter teaming up, while Walter worked in the lab.  I love the detective work in this episode, how they were able to "see" what the latest victim saw before she died, thereby being able to go to that location and catch the killer and his "creator". 

 

Olivia's realizations that all of her work with John for the past year and a half was done with her believing what he told her and where he took each case, and how she feels the need to go back to try and figure out what she might've missed and how she feels responsible for this killer having not been caught.

 

That's all I have from this episode so far.

 

P.S. I'm still squeamish about how the freaking killer gets the hormones from those women. Eeeeeek!!!

[DeepRunner]

This episode was quite the come-down from the pilot, but it was a show trying to find its sea legs. Interesting tidbits:

 

* Walter "cultivating" soldiers

 

* "Do you have any cocaine?"

 

* As @Shows said, a little odd that Nina was against the Fringe team, especially given the progression (and past) of her relationship with each of The Big Three. Either there was some serious retcon as they were defining the character and the show, or perhaps some retrograde aggression that Nina had due to her relationship with William Bell (Blue Timeline-fwiw, I liked aspects of the Amber timeline, but it was probably a bigger gamble than the audience was ready for)

 

* Peter's "medical condition". That was the first pretty reference to something different about Peter

 

* The eyeball and the camera

 

* "Bundle of joy here"--another Peter reference to the 80-year-old infant

[ToxicUnicorn]

I guess it took me awhile to get into this series.  I feel like this was a good example of the early first season's attempt to have a gritty, modern, tense procedural element to it, sort of like Murder She Wrote meets 24, with some X-Files thrown in.  Hmm.  Maybe it was trying to be its own thing after all.  (!)

 

What I'm trying to say is that I feel there is a breathless pace and a somewhat sensationalist element to it, added onto the basic structure of an FBI unit, complete with hard bitten commander, spunky female lead, and some weird sidekicks (Peter and Walter) who turn out later to steal the entire show.

[bethy]

That last scene with Peter singing to Walter was really intriguing to me the first time I saw this episode because it was so unexpected. Up to that point Peter had been a closed off smartass, annoyed and impatient with Walter. But then we get this little glimpse of tenderness from him.

[Luckylyn]

 

A man, Roy McComb (Zak Orth), seems to be having visions of Pattern-related terror attacks before they occur. The team, led by Dr. Bishop, discovers that he is receiving signals from the Ghost Network, an otherwise undetectable frequency range on which the masterminds are communicating. Among the attacks is a collapse of the Birmingham Bridge in Pittsburgh. With his help, they are able to intercept a strange crystalline disk, which is given to Nina Sharp for analysis.

 

[fitzcarraldo]

I've just started this series on Netflix.

[Luckylyn]

Hi, I just wanted to remind everyone that although this is a rewatch for many of us there are others seeing the show for the first time.  Make sure to spoiler bar any comments in episode threads referring to later episodes.

[Luckylyn]

 

A mysterious cylinder emerges from beneath the Earth in New York City, so Broyles enlists the trio of Olivia, Dr. Bishop and Peter to investigate the significance of the object. However, others also seek it, including a bald man known as the Observer (Michael Cerveris) who only watches events as they unfold and another willing to kill to retrieve the cylinder. Dr. Bishop hides the cylinder against the wishes of the rest of the team, owing a debt to the Observer for saving his life and that of his son many years earlier. An unknown man abducts and tortures Peter for information regarding the cylinder's location, and learns its placement through the ideas Peter has absorbed from his father through osmosis. The man takes him to a cemetery housing tombstones bearing the names of Peter and his mother and finds the cylinder. Olivia shows up after learning the location from Walter and kills the man. The object burrows back underground before either side can discover its purpose. Peter encounters the Observer, who demonstrates telepathic abilities before shooting Peter with a yet unknown weapon. At the end of the episode, Olivia, who is standing in the kitchen, sees John Scott standing in the kitchen entrance.

 

[Luckylyn]

 

Agent Mitchell Loeb (Chance Kelly), a friend of Broyles collapses on assignment, his heart being constricted by an engineered parasite which is slowly working its roots into his circulatory system. To find a cure, Olivia must talk to David Robert Jones (Jared Harris), a biochemist held incommunicado in Frankfurt, Germany. Problems arise when Jones demands to speak to a colleague of his in exchange, who is unfortunately killed in a raid set up by Broyles. Walter, however, devises a way to wire Peter into the dead man's brain, enabling Peter to speak on his behalf. The procedure is successful and the parasite is removed, but the team doesn't realize that the entire incident was orchestrated by Loeb to get the information Peter extracted from the dead man.

 

[BooksRule]

I've just started my rewatch, so I'll have to catch up.

 

I had forgotten how good John Noble was from the very beginning.  He played Walter perfectly, from the confused patient in the mental hospital to the focused scientist, many times going back and forth between the two in the same scene!

[BooksRule]

I love the detective work in this episode, how they were able to "see" what the latest victim saw before she died, thereby being able to go to that location and catch the killer and his "creator".

 

That always reminds me of the horror/scifi film 'Horror Express', where Peter Cushing takes fluid from the eye of a primitive man and looks at it under a microscope to see the person's last view.  Much more primitive than the method on 'Fringe', of course, but the movie was set on a train in the very early 1900's.  The scene in that film was icky too, even though the eye wasn't actually attached to a person at the time.  

[Luckylyn]

 

The abduction of a young musician, Ben Stockton (Charlie Tahan), is highlighted by a sequence of flashing lights which causes the boy's father to be hypnotized into a suggestive state. Upon 'waking up', he does not have any memory of what happened while hypnotized. Similar cases have ended with the victim being returned, but left insane from the trauma of the incident. As they investigate, they discover that each case dealt with a genius of some sort working on an unfinished equation. To discover the child's whereabouts, Olivia encourages Walter to return to St. Claire's Hospital and speak with his old bunkmate, Dashiell Kim (Randall Duk Kim) a former mathematician who disappeared under similar circumstances. The visit does not go well, and Walter is held by the hospital administrator, who remains unconvinced of Walter's sanity. Walter manages to coerce his bunk mate into giving up a vague idea of his whereabouts, which Olivia and Peter use to find the boy once they arrange for Walter's release. However, the kidnapper, Joanne Ostler (Gillian Jacobs), escapes with the completed formula, which she gives to Mitchell Loeb (Chance Kelly), who calibrates a frequency generator in such a way to allow him to pass through solid matter.

 

[friendperidot]

I have never seen this show before a few days ago. I'm at episode 8. I like it so far. I had never watched Dawson's Creek, so I knew nothing about Joshua Jackson other than he's connected with Diane Kruger and the Fug Girls love him a lot. He's really quite charming. I love Walter and all the little things he just throws out. This is becoming a fun watch. 

 

I decided to branch out in my tv viewing with Netflix when I ditched Directv. I'm not really much of a science fiction buff, I prefer crime shows, mysteries, true crime, so that's why I'm just finding this. 

[ToxicUnicorn]

This was the first episode that intrigued me.  David Robert Jones seemed deadly serious and interesting, whereas the characters up till then seemed kind of cartoon-ish.

 

I'm reading the All Episodes thread now, and found this from Kromm, which got me re-interested in checking in on the re-watch ...

 

I'm really going on old memories, but my recollection has always been that Ep 7 is around the break point where the show starts showing it's real potential.  So you don't have far to go.  It's a tentpole episode written by J. J. Abrams & Jeff Pinkner.

[Jipijapa]

In case anyone wants to binge watch with other fans over the holidays, there's this:

 

Fringe Binge 2015

 

All 100 episodes in a row, everyone watching at the same time.

[friendperidot]

I am now about halfway through season four. I have given up trying to figure out which universe, which timeline or when or where everyone is. I have read this thread and a couple of others, spoilers meant nothing to me when I did because I was too new to the show. But so help me, if Nina is imagining this whole thing in a snow ball or comes out of a shower, I am going to be pissed. Don't tell me, I'll get there eventually.

 

Oh, and I love  the way they do the titles of where the scene will be.

 

Edited to add that sometimes watching this show, I feel it woges over to the Grimm side of town.

Edited December 17, 2015 by friendperidot

[Mrs Huffnagle]

I've just started this series on Netflix.

 I got tired of Brit murder mysteries, and am rewatching now via Netflix.  I'd forgotten how much I love(d) this show.  It's fun now, because I'm seeing new things.

[mightyalrighty]

So thankful this is here! I watched the series when it aired, but recently started a rewatch and just finished Jacksonville.

 

I'll admit I wasn't a huge fan of Peter/Olivia. I like both characters and definitely found Peter charming. I guess I was invested to a point (the same point I reached with Sydney/Vaughn) just to see Olive get a happy ending.

 

I was not prepared for all my Jacksonville feelings. I squeed when Peter stroked her cheek and they almost kiss. And then when they both dress up for their "date." And Olivia fixing her hair in the mirror and smiling! AND THEN SHE SEES HIM GLIMMER AND I WAS NOT PREPARED. Actual full throttle, body bending NOOOOOOO. AND THE WAY SHE LOOKS AT WALTER AFTER.

 

AND THE "PLEASE DON'T TELL HIM." GAAAAAAH

 

So glad I restarted the show, I forgot how much I loved it.

Edited January 2, 2016 by mightyalrighty

[ToxicUnicorn]

I'm glad you posted, mightyalrighty, because it reminded me of about the time I thought Fringe got interesting.  I wasn't a fan of the mystery of the week format and got lost in the first season between the boyfriend's role and the German prisoner's dropped story.  I also didn't care about the Walter character until we found out his secret about kidnapping the other Peter.

 

It was the alternate universes that got and kept my interest.  I think that's when the stories became a little more coherent for me, and I enjoyed the threatening possibilities from their collisions.  (Although I still think the German prisoner's story turned out to be a dud.)

[mrsdalgliesh]

I have just started a re-watch.  Mentions of Fringe in articles about the XF limited series made me watch scenes on youtube, starting with the final episode's final scenes -- and I just started feeling the feels for this show again.

 

I'm an original X-Phile: watched from the beginning, got online early, made friends I have to this day.  But elsewhere this week, I wrote some of those friends:

 

"Frankly, in many ways, it is the show XF should or could have been. It had a much more coherent mythology that actually wrapped up (for the most part) by the end of the show. The most moving relationship -- and the one that was the most meaningful in terms of the show's arc -- was between a father and son.

The [secondary] romance was allowed to happen (and not denied by anyone) fairly early but was interrupted in a dozen ways, all connected to the ongoing mythology. It was compelling, and not at all distracting. Four of the major actors (and several supporting players) played second versions of themselves in a fully formed alternate universe, and they were all good enough to do it well. The monster-of-the-week eps were appropriately gory and scary. Every episode had graphics in between segments that held clues for viewers who wanted to figure them out. Plus, Leonard Nimoy!"

 

Now, watching the Pilot, I am again in awe of how much of the future of the show was there.  I hadn't remembered that William Bell got name-checked so early, or that John Scott was gone so quickly (yay!).  The players were on the board right from the start.  I'm really looking forward to a rewatch.

Edited January 17, 2016 by mrsdalgliesh

[Luckylyn]

 

Following his escape from a German prison, David Robert Jones (Jared Harris) turns himself in to the FBI, having begun to suffer side effects of the teleportation in "Safe." Walter mentions that the teleportation side effects won't kill Jones but will do something terrible to him. As insurance, Jones has developed a toxin which causes the orifices of those exposed to it to seal up, suffocating them. A bomb containing the toxin is set to go off if Olivia cannot pass his tests. The first test is to shut off a series of lights using only her mind. Jones says this is possible due to a nootropic drug present in Olivia, one designed by William Bell and patented by Massive Dynamic. The team discovers a manuscript, which explains the letters ZFT (Zerstörung durch Fortschritte der Technologie, "Destruction by Advancement of Technology"), which is essentially a Bible to Jones and his followers. According to the manuscript, there is a conflict going on between our world and a parallel universe. Jones wants Olivia as a "recruit" and the tests are a part of the selection process. Initially, Olivia believes Jones is playing mind games with her and refuses to cooperate, but when she is forced to disarm the bomb in the same manner as the test, she succeeds. Jones is taken to a hospital for further observation. However when Olivia arrives there the staff are in a panic and Jones has disappeared leaving a gaping hole in an external wall. Later, Olivia gets confirmation from Nina Sharp that she was indeed injected with the chemical as a child. At the end of the episode, Walter finds the offset letter 'y' in the ZFT document occurs on the typewriter in the lab, strongly indicating that either Walter or Bell was the author of the manifesto.