Fringe - General Discussion

[marinw]

On 4/4/2023 at 5:02 PM, Trini said:

Nope. No acting nominations for any of the actors from the show. The Emmys are generally biased against sci-fi; but they're not the only ones.

See also: Patrick Stewart for ST:TNG. I think that's changeing with all the "Prestige"  HBO shows like Watchmen, The Last of Us, etc.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

(sorry if old/repeated 'news')

Maybe this is a first, or an "its Easter weekend" one-time thing, but HLN seems to be running a marathon today/this evening.  In late S4 right now.

I don't normally watch HLN or check its listings.  Just happened to see it a minute ago while scrolling.

Edited April 8, 2023 by iRarelyWatchTV36

[buttersister]

It's been going on for awhile, they started with E1S1 and run on Saturdays and Sundays.

[Syme]

I'm rewatching on Prime/FreeVee. Amazon was chopping it to pieces but I wrote to Andy Jasse and got a response. They have software that tries to detect the breaks and inject the commercials then, but it's anything but perfect....🤯

Alas, like seemingly all streaming sites,  they run the same commercials time and time and time again, again, again. It was Liberty Mutual but now it's TickTock,tock,tock,tock. Can I PLEASE cross  to the Redverse so I do not have to see them again?

 

 

 

 

[marinw]

Not exactly a Fringe Binge for me but I am watching bits of episodes on HLN. What a cool, interesting show now that I have forgotten a lot of the finer plot points.

Nina’s death ! 😥I wish the show had explored her relationship with Broyles a bit more, I would have happily shipped that pair.

Any theories about the significance of the six-fingered hand ?🤔

Edited April 17, 2023 by marinw

[Gharlane]

I've been re-watching Fringe on HLN (of all places!) on weekends. It's a great show I had forgotten about, but must they play it eight hours on Saturday and Sunday without repeating it? 🤔 This is one of those shows that if you miss any eps, you will get lost. 🤷‍♂️

 

I ended up watching it via FreeVee at my own pace, but it's weird seeing JJ Abram's  gawdamm lens flares and the commercial breaks are annoyingly erratic.

[raven]

On 4/15/2023 at 9:06 PM, marinw said:

Nina’s death ! 😥I wish the show had explored her relationship with Broyles a bit more, I would have happily shipped that pair.

Nina!  She had a badass death and an interesting life, in any universe (relationships with William Bell AND Broyles??) brilliant in her own right.  Her "lizard" speech to Windmark in S5 was stand up and cheer worthy.

I spent a few enjoyable weeks watching the whole series - it's been a long time since I've seen it.  I have a few thoughts :)

Olivia - don't mess with Olivia, lol.  She will not hesitate to blow you away.  I really enjoyed Anna Torv's performance and loved that Olivia was allowed to have sex, be in love, get her heart broken, be awesome at her job.  She was open minded without seeming silly or delusional.   I really loved this character.  John Noble gets a lot of well deserved praise for his fantastic portrayal of a complicated, flawed person but Anna Torv deserves the same. 

It was kind of jarring to go from S1 to 2.   Olivia is front and center in S1 and then it's more Peter in S2.  He even seems to be taking the lead on cases.  It was odd and only what I can assume was the show's reaction to people complaining that Olivia was too wooden? or something?  which I don't agree with, I thought Olivia was a complex and interesting character right from the start.  Need Olivia to jump in the tank? Sure thing!

Charlie - sigh - I had forgotten how early he exited the show and was disappointed.  I really enjoyed Charlie (plus Kirk A was easy on the eyes) as the voice of rationality on the scene (we had Astrid in the lab); and unflustered by the insanity.   I know we got alt-u Charlie, who was cool and fun, but then he disappeared.  Boo.

Astrid - ahh I am sorry that Jasika Nicole feels ill used by the show.  Astrid was definitely underdeveloped, though there were glimmer in the later seasons, with alt-u Astrid.  The relationship between the two was well done; I recall when prime Astrid tells alt Astrid that her (prime's) father was cold and distant and then we see that's not the case; she only said that so alt Astrid wouldn't feel alone.  I will say that Jasika Nicole did a great job (while looking casually fabulous) and I loved the Astrid and Walter relationship.  The show stumbled with him mangling her name - they could have show growth from that.  I don't think I found it funny when I first saw the show ages ago either.

Peter - somewhat of a harder sell for me.  JJ and AT had some chemistry and JJ seemed to play it as Peter falling for Olivia (or being heavily interested) from the beginning, which, how could he not?  Olivia is awesome.  They gave Peter nice little character touches - there's one ep where he notices Astrid had her hair differently and he compliments her.  Just little things like that, made the show for me.  I liked him best working with Walter, showing his intellect.  Maybe John Noble makes everything better.

Broyles - it was interesting to watch him from being so antagonistic towards Olivia in S1 to being an ally from then on.  His skeptical acceptance of the goings on in the Bishop lab were a highlight.  I liked the different versions of Broyles we got in the different universes.  RIP Lance Reddick. 

Walter - I can't say anything much differently about John Nobles and Walter then has already been said; really, this was one of my favorite characters and performances of any show. 

Monsters of the Week - I flove MotW so I'm not unbiased here.  I'm always here for weird parasites and creatures and Walter going into the sewers because he felt responsible is one I remember.   Still, the show also did the alt-universe run throughs really well, bringing me to

S5 - oh my.  LOL.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the series got a conclusion but the Observers took one - one!!! look in Walter's lab, saw some amber and never looked again?  The season is filled with contrivances and plot holes but I didn't care, I still enjoyed it.  The Observers and Loyalists can monitor everything for the fugitives, except when they can't.  Hee.  Also, Walter put his plan on various tapes and then ambered them all in the same place?  Ah, I know it was a short season, for the fans, so I won't nitpick too much.  Peter turning into an Observer was fun.  The ending of S4 would have worked but I'm glad for 5; we got more of the relationships; Walter worrying that he would turn back into his old nasty persona; Astrid gets to be awesome.

Anyway, it was a fun rewatch. 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2023 by raven

[Trini]

22 hours ago, raven said:

I spent a few enjoyable weeks watching the whole series - it's been a long time since I've seen it.  I have a few thoughts :)

Agreed with most everything... except about Season 5. I still haven't watched it; although I did cave and watched the first episode. I'm just not interested in seeing everyone go through the Darkest Timeline, even if things are fine at the end. I rather stay with the good feelings from seasons 2, 3, and some of 4.

[marinw]

Watched "Peter" last night courtesy of HLN. What a great episode. Loved the retro 80's credits.

[marinw]

“Peter” sets up the mythology for the rest of the series. Fringe is often dismissed as a “Poor man’s X Files.” I actually like Fringe better than X Files. Fringe was a bit lighter on its feet and didn’t get too bogged down in the aforementioned mythology. It did not drag on for too long, the fifth season felt tacked on but didn’t ruin the show for me. 

I love so many shows from the 00’s and early 10’s: Fringe, 24, Lost, Battlestar Galactica. On Fringe the World Trade Centre serves as a powerful motif for which universe we are in. I wonder if this would have the same impact today.

[DoctorAtomic]

Taking nothing away from the X Files fantastic MOTWs, but Fringe's plotting is way way tighter. 

[marinw]

Last night I watched the episode where Peter gets in the Machine and projects himself to the distant year of 2026. So we had a 2011 projection of our own time (almost). Near-Future portrayals fascinate me. In this Fringe 2026, we have the new World Trade Center opening in 2021, and phones that fold in half. It is both more and less advanced than our own 2020’s. At least we don’t have to deal with holes opening up in our Universe, as far as I know.

I am enjoying this random re-watch as I remember the general story of the show but not all the details. And some of the dialogue is great. “She tricked you with her carnal manipulations and you fell right into her vagenda!” Oh Walter.🙄

Edited April 30, 2023 by marinw

[Syme]

I recall Olivia telling Peter about putting several rounds into the door by her abusive step-father, and Fauxlivia mentioning killing him. Or do I have that inverted?

And what episode was each in?

 

 

 

 

[Trini]

On 4/30/2023 at 9:04 AM, marinw said:

Last night I watched the episode where Peter gets in the Machine and projects himself to the distant year of 2026. So we had a 2011 projection of our own time (almost). Near-Future portrayals fascinate me. In this Fringe 2026, we have the new World Trade Center opening in 2021, and phones that fold in half. It is both more and less advanced than our own 2020’s. At least we don’t have to deal with holes opening up in our Universe, as far as I know.

The Season 3 finale; such a great episode! I tend to pay attention to production things, so one little (but it's not, really) thing I liked in that one was how they made Peter/JJackson look older, but in a subtle, natural way.

 

49 minutes ago, Syme said:

I recall Olivia telling Peter about putting several rounds into the door by her abusive step-father, and Fauxlivia mentioning killing him. Or do I have that inverted?

And what episode was each in?

Not sure about the first story. But Olivia (not Fauxlivia) mentions killing her stepfather in Season 4, episode 2.

[Gharlane]

3 hours ago, Syme said:

I recall Olivia telling Peter about putting several rounds into the door by her abusive step-father, and Fauxlivia mentioning killing him. Or do I have that inverted?

And what episode was each in?

I don't remember if Fauxlivia killed her abusive stepfather, but Olivia didn't kill him (and lived to regret it) because every year on her birthday, he left her a creepy birthday card ("thinking of you..."). I think this was revealed in the first season, maybe The Ghost Network.

[Syme]

I guess we have 3 Olivia's: Olivia, Fauxlivia, and then the No-Peter Olivia, as I think of S4.

[Trini]

33 minutes ago, Syme said:

I guess we have 3 Olivia's: Olivia, Fauxlivia, and then the No-Peter Olivia, as I think of S4.

Yeah, I was thinking of specifying that it was the 'yellow / no-Peter universe' version of Olivia that killed her stepfather.

[ShowsILoveToHate]

On 4/22/2023 at 8:02 AM, raven said:

Nina!  She had a badass death and an interesting life, in any universe (relationships with William Bell AND Broyles??) brilliant in her own right.  Her "lizard" speech to Windmark in S5 was stand up and cheer worthy.

I spent a few enjoyable weeks watching the whole series - it's been a long time since I've seen it.  I have a few thoughts :)

Olivia - don't mess with Olivia, lol.  She will not hesitate to blow you away.  I really enjoyed Anna Torv's performance and loved that Olivia was allowed to have sex, be in love, get her heart broken, be awesome at her job.  She was open minded without seeming silly or delusional.   I really loved this character.  John Noble gets a lot of well deserved praise for his fantastic portrayal of a complicated, flawed person but Anna Torv deserves the same. 

It was kind of jarring to go from S1 to 2.   Olivia is front and center in S1 and then it's more Peter in S2.  He even seems to be taking the lead on cases.  It was odd and only what I can assume was the show's reaction to people complaining that Olivia was too wooden? or something?  which I don't agree with, I thought Olivia was a complex and interesting character right from the start.  Need Olivia to jump in the tank? Sure thing!

Charlie - sigh - I had forgotten how early he exited the show and was disappointed.  I really enjoyed Charlie (plus Kirk A was easy on the eyes) as the voice of rationality on the scene (we had Astrid in the lab); and unflustered by the insanity.   I know we got alt-u Charlie, who was cool and fun, but then he disappeared.  Boo.

Astrid - ahh I am sorry that Jasika Nicole feels ill used by the show.  Astrid was definitely underdeveloped, though there were glimmer in the later seasons, with alt-u Astrid.  The relationship between the two was well done; I recall when prime Astrid tells alt Astrid that her (prime's) father was cold and distant and then we see that's not the case; she only said that so alt Astrid wouldn't feel alone.  I will say that Jasika Nicole did a great job (while looking casually fabulous) and I loved the Astrid and Walter relationship.  The show stumbled with him mangling her name - they could have show growth from that.  I don't think I found it funny when I first saw the show ages ago either.

Peter - somewhat of a harder sell for me.  JJ and AT had some chemistry and JJ seemed to play it as Peter falling for Olivia (or being heavily interested) from the beginning, which, how could he not?  Olivia is awesome.  They gave Peter nice little character touches - there's one ep where he notices Astrid had her hair differently and he compliments her.  Just little things like that, made the show for me.  I liked him best working with Walter, showing his intellect.  Maybe John Noble makes everything better.

Broyles - it was interesting to watch him from being so antagonistic towards Olivia in S1 to being an ally from then on.  His skeptical acceptance of the goings on in the Bishop lab were a highlight.  I liked the different versions of Broyles we got in the different universes.  RIP Lance Reddick. 

Walter - I can't say anything much differently about John Nobles and Walter then has already been said; really, this was one of my favorite characters and performances of any show. 

Monsters of the Week - I flove MotW so I'm not unbiased here.  I'm always here for weird parasites and creatures and Walter going into the sewers because he felt responsible is one I remember.   Still, the show also did the alt-universe run throughs really well, bringing me to

S5 - oh my.  LOL.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the series got a conclusion but the Observers took one - one!!! look in Walter's lab, saw some amber and never looked again?  The season is filled with contrivances and plot holes but I didn't care, I still enjoyed it.  The Observers and Loyalists can monitor everything for the fugitives, except when they can't.  Hee.  Also, Walter put his plan on various tapes and then ambered them all in the same place?  Ah, I know it was a short season, for the fans, so I won't nitpick too much.  Peter turning into an Observer was fun.  The ending of S4 would have worked but I'm glad for 5; we got more of the relationships; Walter worrying that he would turn back into his old nasty persona; Astrid gets to be awesome.

Anyway, it was a fun rewatch. 

 

 

YES! To all of this! I love this show so much. Does my avatar look a little familiar? lol 

On 4/23/2023 at 6:16 AM, Trini said:

Agreed with most everything... except about Season 5. I still haven't watched it; although I did cave and watched the first episode. I'm just not interested in seeing everyone go through the Darkest Timeline, even if things are fine at the end. I rather stay with the good feelings from seasons 2, 3, and some of 4.

As much as I LOVE this show, I am not a fan of Season 5. The only part of S5 that I loved was the final scene. I don’t want to say too much in case you do decide to finish this season, but that final more than made up for all of the “whatever-ness” that the rest of the season had. 
If you do watch it, please let me know what you think about that final scene. Out of context of the season, it’s just a nice scene, but after watching from S1E1, that final scene made me CRY! In a good way! 

On 4/23/2023 at 6:28 AM, marinw said:

Watched "Peter" last night courtesy of HLN. What a great episode. Loved the retro 80's credits.

I love that episode! My favorite season is S2.
Plus of course the Pilot episode. 

 

I love S3E19 “Lysergic Acid Diethylamide”

Anna Torv deserved an Emmy for doing an awesome job having to impersonate Leonard Nimoy for a few episodes. 🏆 

I always enjoyed their more artistic/creative episode from each season: Brown Betty, Letters of Transit, the above LSD episode, Black Blotter, and I can’t think of one from S1. 
 

They came up with great titles for each episode.

My family and I still quote lines from Fringe. 😁

 

[marinw]

3 hours ago, ShowsILoveToHate said:

My family and I still quote lines from Fringe. 😁

"Death! Delicious, strawberry flavoured death!"

Anna Torv is so under rated. Glad she got noticed a bit for The Last of Us.

[marinw]

Random comment: Anna Torv is beautiful in such a natural, fresh -scrubbed way, if that makes sense. Seth Gabel as the Blueverse Lincoln was adorable.

Edited May 3, 2023 by marinw

[Trini]

2 hours ago, marinw said:

Seth Gabel as the Blueverse Lincoln was adorable.

The addition of Lincoln Lee is one of the highlights of seasons 2, 3, & 4 for me. I love both versions!

[Gharlane]

I keep meaning to post recaps of my Fringe rewatch but never get around to it. 😒

When this show originally aired, I only watched the pilot and a couple eps because it seemed like an X-Files rip-off, only to stumble upon it later, around the time Leonard Nimoy was on and was hooked. 

 

I gave up watching the eight-hour marathons on HLN and have been watching at my own pace on FreeVee. I just reached the point in the first season where we got a tiny tiny peek at the show mythology, thankfully.

[marinw]

During the HLN marathon I missed the episode where Walter and Walternate finally meet. I do remember that scene being unexpected and beautifully acted. One thing I liked about the show is how the Red and Blue Universes ultimately joined forces instead of going to war.

in later seasons Fringe does get a little repetitive in showing us various ways one universe conflicts with another when they combine or overlap.

[Trini]

12 hours ago, Gharlane said:

I gave up watching the eight-hour marathons on HLN and have been watching at my own pace on FreeVee.

BTW, it looks like the HLN marathons are over for now (forever?). According to my DirecTV program guide there aren't any airings the next 2 weeks.

[Gharlane]

On 5/3/2023 at 11:58 PM, Trini said:

BTW, it looks like the HLN marathons are over for now (forever?). According to my DirecTV program guide there aren't any airings the next 2 weeks.

[Pearson80]

On 4/22/2023 at 8:02 AM, raven said:

It was kind of jarring to go from S1 to 2.   Olivia is front and center in S1 and then it's more Peter in S2.  He even seems to be taking the lead on cases.  It was odd and only what I can assume was the show's reaction to people complaining that Olivia was too wooden? or something?  which I don't agree with, I thought Olivia was a complex and interesting character right from the start.  Need Olivia to jump in the tank? Sure thing!

 

I loved Olivia and the rumor has it that the men running the show felt that the fans would not want a woman to be the lead of a scifi series and that it was better to have the men be the focus in season 2.  Season 1 is my favorite simply because of Olivia.. season 3 is my favorite because we got both Olivia's and Anna showed us how awesome she was as an actress. I wished that the show had incorporated  more of Olivia's abilities throughout the series.  It seemed like the writers forgot all about it.

On 5/3/2023 at 2:48 AM, ShowsILoveToHate said:

As much as I LOVE this show, I am not a fan of Season 5. The only part of S5 that I loved was the final scene. I don’t want to say too much in case you do decide to finish this season, but that final more than made up for all of the “whatever-ness” that the rest of the season had. 

I hated season 5 and it was such a jarring shift from season 4. I hated the dystopian feel to it.. The show could have continued beyond season 5 if they had continued with the themes of the earlier seasons.

On 5/3/2023 at 3:31 PM, marinw said:

During the HLN marathon I missed the episode where Walter and Walternate finally meet. I do remember that scene being unexpected and beautifully acted. One thing I liked about the show is how the Red and Blue Universes ultimately joined forces instead of going to war.

 

I wished that the show had explored Peter's relationship with Walternate more. I absolutely loved Peter meeting his mother on the other side and them bonding over bacon.  

I also wanted an episode where Walter's Peter did not die and lived in another universe who was able to come and interact with our Peter and Walter.  The show did say there were multiuniverses with infinite possibilities so it would have been a cool episode.

[marinw]

9 hours ago, Pearson80 said:

The show did say there were multiuniverses with infinite possibilities so it would have been a cool episode.

I'm glad they stuck with two or three universes, and explored the interactions with the Red, Blue, and Purple verses in some depth. Other shows have explored multiverses (Sliders, His Dark Materials, etc). I like that Fringe had the discipline to stick with the main Universes That said, I might have preffered your idea to Season 5!

Edited May 7, 2023 by marinw

[Gharlane]

On 5/1/2023 at 2:42 PM, Gharlane said:

I don't remember if Fauxlivia killed her abusive stepfather, but Olivia didn't kill him (and lived to regret it) because every year on her birthday, he left her a creepy birthday card ("thinking of you..."). I think this was revealed in the first season, maybe The Ghost Network.

Correction: It was The Cure.

[bros402]

22 hours ago, Pearson80 said:

I hated season 5 and it was such a jarring shift from season 4. I hated the dystopian feel to it.. The show could have continued beyond season 5 if they had continued with the themes of the earlier seasons.

Season 5 was going to be the final season no matter what - IIRC the head of programming at FOX told them that the most he could do was give them a 13 episode final season if they showed what they could do for a finale season (So they did Letters of Transit to sell a season 5)... and I bet season 5 was cheaper than the rest of the seasons, since it was pretty much all in similar places.

[Trini]

On 5/3/2023 at 11:58 PM, Trini said:

BTW, it looks like the HLN marathons are over for now (forever?). According to my DirecTV program guide there aren't any airings the next 2 weeks.

... And now it's back in the listings for this weekend and the next, actually.

Anyway, it's easier to watch whichever episodes you want on Freevee.

[Gharlane]

1 hour ago, Trini said:

... And now it's back in the listings for this weekend and the next, actually.

Anyway, it's easier to watch whichever episodes you want on Freevee.

That's how I watch now.

[Syme]

Another "where was it?' memory. There were several episodes showing Walter and Peter crashing through the ice, but one showed September rocketing them to the surface & survival; I've missed that in my rewatch.

There was the one we saw September interceding, then driving the WalterWagon with them, but I did not see them rocketing to the surface.

re: freeVee...
Just get used to them botching the commercial breaks, and cutting off the credits.

And be sure and memorize the words to the Liberty Mutual, and that cancer drug, ads; you will see them again and again and again.

[Trini]

Going back to my comments on Season 5 for a sec -- I didn't skip it only because of the "Darkest Timeline" aspect; I was already dissatisfied with some of the writing choices in the back end of Season 4, and then there were a couple things I really hated in the S4 finale, so I thought that was a good place to stop. (And it's been my experience that things generally do not get better from that point. And it's not like I had been watching form the start, so I didn't have the urge to be a 'completist' about the show.)

-----

I only really got into the show in season 2, although I did watch some Season 1 episodes (long ago) - so, question:

When did they start teasing a possible romance (or 'something more') with Olivia and Peter? Because I re-watched 1x17, "Bad Dreams", and Peter was touching Olivia a couple times in a way that was kinda inappropriate (or more intimate) for two people who were just co-workers. I just didn't know/remember that they started that as early as Season 1.

[Pearson80]

On 5/28/2023 at 7:57 PM, Trini said:

Going back to my comments on Season 5 for a sec -- I didn't skip it only because of the "Darkest Timeline" aspect; I was already dissatisfied with some of the writing choices in the back end of Season 4, and then there were a couple things I really hated in the S4 finale, so I thought that was a good place to stop. (And it's been my experience that things generally do not get better from that point. And it's not like I had been watching form the start, so I didn't have the urge to be a 'completist' about the show.)

-----

I only really got into the show in season 2, although I did watch some Season 1 episodes (long ago) - so, question:

When did they start teasing a possible romance (or 'something more') with Olivia and Peter? Because I re-watched 1x17, "Bad Dreams", and Peter was touching Olivia a couple times in a way that was kinda inappropriate (or more intimate) for two people who were just co-workers. I just didn't know/remember that they started that as early as Season 1.

I think that they hinted at them getting together in season 1 and it became really obvious in season 2 when the show shifted focus from Olivia to Peter and Walter.

I was never a Peter/Olivia fan but I did like Peter with Redverse Olivia in season 3.  That must make me an odd duck since Anna Torv played both characters. I always liked Olivia with Charlie and the guy that was in season 1 who she believed to be a traitor that had a part of his consciousness imbedded in hers.

[Gharlane]

On 6/20/2014 at 10:38 AM, Tara Ariano said:

Here's my report on Episodes 6-10!

Here's where it all started:

The Fringe Pilot: Where People Turn Into Goo

Quote

 

The story of my relationship with Fringe is...well, actually not that complicated. When the show premiered, Dave and I watched it, and while it had some interesting elements, it was 2008: all of North America was falling out of love with Lost, another J.J. Abrams-produced sci-fi show that, by that late stage, had pretty much confirmed that no one working on it knew where the fuck it was going. After the earlier disappointment of the end of Abrams's Alias, were we willing to take a flyer on a third genre show that would, in all likelihood, also fall apart? At the time, the answer was no, and after that pilot, we never watched again.

But then, like maybe a year or so later, people I liked and respected started talking it up. John Noble's Walter Bishop was turning into a beloved breakout character; Anna Torv's Olivia resisted TV-lady-crime-fighter clichés. Best of all, I heard, Fringe was like a sideways Lost spinoff that only concerned itself with the aspect of Lost that I had cared about the whole way through: shadowy corporate conspiracy-meets-pseudoscience. HMMMMM.

Over the years, whenever Dave and I ran out of things on the DVR, I would suggest that we try Fringe again, but for a long time when I'd look, it wasn't streaming on Netflix. When it finally made its début in 2013, Dave didn't care anymore. And then there were always other shows that were new that took precedence -- you know how it is. Now it's summer again and I feel like the time is right. SORRY, BOOKS.

Watching the pilot again, I actually had a hard time remembering what had turned me off in the first place, other than the stink of Lost. Sure, the interstitial blipverts of pointless freaky shit and the floating datelines were kind of self-conscious, but everything else about it is pretty fun! Walter is, obviously, the best thing about it. Nerdbait-y lines like "Let's make some LSD" or "Just a squirt" would sink a lesser genre actor: anyone who ever played a villain on Chuck or Smallville would lean into those in the hopes of seeing them on t-shirts at Comic-Con for the next ten years. But John Noble is so good at playing Walter's tragedy. There's a fine line between "crazy" and "haunted," and Walter's been living on it for the past couple of decades.

Torv's Olivia is also better than I remembered. I can't really put my finger on why I buy her as an actually tough FBI agent, unlike most of the supermodels in super-tight pants who normally play them on TV; there's something about her impatience with the idiots around her that rings true -- plus the fact that she's such a fresh face on the medium lets me accept her character without any baggage.

As for Joshua Jackson's Peter: I mean, he's a super-smart Pacey Witter, right down to the daddy issues (though, yes, they're slightly more complex here than the standard-issue bully dad he was assigned on Dawson's Creek). Nothing could be wrong with that.

The pilot also does a pretty economical job of teasing the larger mytharc story: the big Nina Sharp scene is just enough of a taste of the Massive Dynamic involvement, and Broyles's litany of crazy-ass occurrences he wants Olivia to investigate is pure Taranip. Each of those stories could be its own episode? Yes please!

Maybe it's just the many much shittier genre shows I've sampled since, from Intelligence to Revolution to Helix, that makes Fringe look so great by comparison...but whatever the reason, it does look great to me now. Thank you, Xenu, for letting me live in an age when technology has made getting back on board so very easy.

 

Thanks for the wonderful reviews, Tara!

[marinw]

Last night I watched the Episode where RedLivia (Or Fauxlivia, although she is not a fake, she's just a different Olivia) is kidnapped and her pregnancy is accelerated.  Which is really invasive and a huge assault on a woman's body. Yet RedLivia seems fine at the end, happy to have had a healthy baby.

I forgot the context as to why her kidnappers felt the need to do this. A moot point, as baby Henry would vanish when Peter did (IIRC, correct me if I'm wrong)

 

Edited June 2, 2023 by marinw

[Bort]

56 minutes ago, marinw said:

Last night I watched the Episode where RedLivia (Or Fauxlivia, although she is not a fake, she's just a different Olivia) is kidnapped and her pregnancy is accelerated.  Which is really invasive and a huge assault on a woman's body. Yet RedLivia seems fine at the end, happy to have had a healthy baby.

I forgot the context as to why her kidnappers felt the need to do this. A moot point, as baby Henry would vanish when Peter did (IIRC, correct me if I'm wrong)

 

Walternate instigated the whole thing, needing Peter’s DNA to activate the machine, and Peter had fled to the other universe. It was either wait eight months for the baby to arrive — which also wouldn’t have worked because of that mysterious and weird VPE malady that would’ve prevented Fauxlivia and the child from surviving the birth, it’s what killed Rachel and Ella over there — or accelerate it and get the DNA faster.

[marinw]

Thank you for that explanation @kariyaki. Walternate draws the line at experimenting on children (in contrast to Blue Walter) but he is fine with doing non-consensual things  to a pregnant woman. Ok then.

[Pearson80]

2 hours ago, marinw said:

Thank you for that explanation @kariyaki. Walternate draws the line at experimenting on children (in contrast to Blue Walter) but he is fine with doing non-consensual things  to a pregnant woman. Ok then.

 Red Olivia was going to have an abortion after she got the results of the blood test that she had the same illness that killed Rachel and Ella so Walternate had her kidnapped to stop her. It was still awful to have done that to Olivia. Olivia was so loyal to Walternate and his cause that she would have consented to his wish to accelerate her pregnancy..

[Bort]

1 hour ago, Pearson80 said:

Red Olivia was going to have an abortion after she got the results of the blood test that she had the same illness that killed Rachel and Ella so Walternate had her kidnapped to stop her.

I don’t think she had gotten the results yet before she was kidnapped. Her mom got the results while she was missing.

[Pearson80]

8 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

I don’t think she had gotten the results yet before she was kidnapped. Her mom got the results while she was missing.

I believe you are correct.  That story made her likeable to me.  She was such a fighter like blue Olivia. I loved Henry delivering her baby. He saved both Olivias.. I was pissed that little Henry was erased.. 

Peter's son being raised by Walternate  over there while Peter remained with Walter in the blue universe would have given Peter a unique perspective on both Walters experience with him..

[Pearson80]

I wish that the show had continued focusing on Olivia and her family after season 1.  l thought  it was a mistake to shelve the story that started in the 1st season about Olivia's abusive stalking stepfather, and Peters ex girlfriend and Big Eddie. 

Did red Olivia ever meet Rachel and Ella?  That could have been a good story to explore. It could have soften her stance in destroying the blue universe. I bet you Ella would have noticed that red Olivia was not her beloved Aunt Olivia..

 

[Gharlane]

The next recap from Tara.

Fringe Really Packs A Lot Of Crazy Into A Few Short Weeks!

Quote

 

Barely any time has passed in the Fringe-iverse, but a lot of terrible stuff has already happened to a lot of guest stars' body parts.

At this admittedly still pretty early state of Fringe, I think what I like best about it is that it supplies juuuuuust enough of a scientific basis for whatever fucked-up thing is happening in the episode, but not so much that the viewer (or this viewer, at least) will be moved to think hard enough about it to unravel its logic, or lack thereof. So far, the backstory for each Horror Of The Week seems to be: William Bell And Walter Bishop Invented Some Nutty Shit When They Were Running A Lab Together On The U.S. Government's Dime, and Things Went Wrong. It's a pretty elegant premise for a show not just because of the built-in interest of one guy going on to become a rich genius industrialist while the other went to the crazy house, but because it makes just about any kind of awful calamity explicable, but locates the antidote/top secret hardware/Unobtainium somewhere near Nina Sharp's office at Massive Dynamic. Handy!

The Nina/Olivia thing is kind of a problem. It's not just that it seems like Olivia has been making the trip from Boston to New York in a couple of minutes (she makes it down to Virginia in a big fat hurry in Episode 4, too); it's that Nina is the CEO of this gigantic company but is always in her office and has tons of time to talk The Pattern talk with an FBI agent for whom she has zero respect. I guess I'm willing to grant that maybe the deal is, all Nina's interactions are part of a big game of cat and mouse she's been playing with Olivia, which is why she keeps clearing her schedule? But maybe she should spend less time smirking at Olivia about all the stuff she has clearance to know about that Olivia doesn't, and more time bleaching her teeth.

Not to be catty, but they're ALL I CAN SEE.

Walter continues to be my favourite character, not just for all the moments of pathos but the equally compelling moments of nerdy glee. In addition to everything else that sucks about being locked up in a mental institution, it's clear that Walter has been bored lo these many years; getting to call the shots in his own lab again and boss around people whose names he can't be bothered to learn (sorry, Astrid; just be happy he knew it started with an "A"!) and get a second shot at some of his weirdest experiments and theories is obviously quite satisfying. I also love that Walter's pursuit of science takes precedence over his concern for his human subjects every time. Look, he's been away for a while. He has a lot of ground to make up, and let's face it: so far these poor fools have barely been better than meat as far as Walter is concerned. He has no time for sentimentality!

So far, Olivia and Peter both seem a bit sketchy, but honestly, if they were trying to out-weird Walter or even aim for weird parity, the show would be exhausting. It's enough that they're settling into their brother-sister vibe (including amused indulgence of their oblivious dad figure) and remind us of their driving concerns: Olivia's haunted (...kind of literally) by John's treason and death -- equally on both counts, it seems -- and Peter's wary of being yoked to a man he doesn't trust or even especially like. There's room for growth for both of them, and lots of time.

Also: The Observer! Walter has a friend and he's even weirder! I'm very excited to see how this plotline plays out, and not just because The Observer looks like he could be a member of The Adjustment Bureau but that definitely doesn't hurt.

MOST HORRIFYING INDIGNITY VISITED UPON A HUMAN BODY PART: It's not bad enough for some poor barfly to get pituitary-jacked, but then after her death, in order for some crazy Massive Dynamic camera to try to project the very last thing she saw, she's also got to have her eyeball yanked out?

FAVOURITE CHARACTER ACTOR WHO WENT ON TO FAME AND GLORY: As much as I enjoy Michael Cerveris in general and his Observer creep in particular, I have to give it to my man Michael Kelly, who pops up in the same episode (S01E04), many years before he would rock my world as Doug Stamper on House Of Cards.

HEARTBREAKINGEST WALTER MOMENT: "You cannot imagine what it's like for a man like me to not have access to parts of his mind!" That tied with the simple dream of a root beer float. Aw, Walter.

 

So far, Fringe seems like an X-Files knockoff, which is why I gave up during the original airing, but there are hints that I am now picking up after having watched the rest.

[marinw]

Is it time for a Fringe reboot?🤔 Or is that show an artifact of the 2010's?

Edited June 16, 2023 by marinw

[Gharlane]

The next recap from Tara.

No Science For Old Men

Quote

 

Fringe has figured out how to make men interesting to Tara: focus on old ones. (An old one, in particular.)

I'm being glib in that subhead, of course! Men are interesting! I mean, they're fine. Look, I married one, so whatever, I shouldn't have to prove my man-appreciating bona fides to anyone, and if I wasn't interested in men at all, then most of TV would be outside my notice and maybe I could finally finish (start) The Goldfinch. But a lot of times, don't you find that TV shows think men's problems are FUCKING FASCINATING when your reaction to them is closer to ¯\(°_o)/¯? "Waaaaah, my job isn't satisfying!" "I'm drunk!" "This lady only speaks Hungarian!" Shut up, you dumb babies. But Fringe changes the equation by giving us Walter, a man grappling daily with the loss of his power along with his youth.

And yes, I know that Walter's also lost his freedom, and his mind, and decades of potential productivity. But now I've decided that the show -- his part in it, at least -- is an allegory about aging. There was a time when Walter could write his own ticket in the (crazy) science world; he was sought after by corporations and governments; from what we can tell from the fallout of his work, he used his human subjects like Kleenex and now, when he sees that some of the ones he thought he'd flushed away didn't actually stay flushed, seems less contrite than irritated by the inconvenience. Now, as a much older man, Walter has the same curiosity about the world that he always has, but he doesn't control what he gets to work on, or how. He's been installed in the same old lab, a constant reminder of how far he's come down in the world since then. He gets called on to consult on a variety of horrors -- most of which he had some part in causing -- but he can tell his faculties aren't as sharp as they once were, and he needs his mostly disappointing son to act as translator between himself and the younger FBI agents whose default impatience with what's left of his scattered marbles makes them seem resentful of having to deal with him at all. Walter's lived -- if you can call that living -- long enough to be able to experience the indignity of his loss of status. Too long, maybe.

The saddest and therefore best episode in this week's run of episodes (S01E06-E10) is "The Equation," in which Walter has to try to solve the abduction of a kid musical prodigy by eliciting information from a Dr. Dashiell Kim. Fortunately, Walter knows Dr. Kim well. Unfortunately, it's because they were patients together at St. Claire's, so Walter -- against his preference -- is asked to re-enter the hospital, and the mean director still doesn't think Walter ever should have gotten out, and finds a pretext to re-admit Walter, and the whole thing turns into a living nightmare for Walter as his worst fears are realized and he has no reason to think he'll ever be freed. WALTER. Poor Pacey tries to be as compelling, but even getting hints dropped about the shadowy criminal element that's after him and seeing him threaten his ex's abusive current partner are yawnzors compared to the torment Walter lives with daily.

Bishops aside, these episodes started to get a bit samey: I feel like I saw a lot of people strapped to beds while creepy medical shit happened near/to them and they gasped some version of "What are you doing to me?" But I feel like I stopped at a turning point: Mr. Jones has not just busted out of his German prison but teleported to America; Nina has some kind of special interest in Olivia that may extend beyond Olivia's connection to John; and Walter is starting to remember some of the...stuff I actually knew about Peter's backstory from reading snippets about the show when it was on. So this next week's worth of episodes should be fun, or at least different.

And people better start being gentler with Walter.

MOST HORRIFYING INDIGNITY VISITED UPON A HUMAN BODY PART: Tie: it's got to be either the heart-squeezing parasite of S01E07...

...or the homicidal (imaginary) butterflies of S01E09 that cut the shit out of a Massive Dynamic guy and drive him to jump through a VERY high window.

FAVOURITE CHARACTER ACTOR WHO WENT ON TO FAME AND GLORY: With all due respect to a pre-Lane Pryce Jared Harris and to my IRL friend Susan Misner (friend of a friend if we're being honest), I have to give a shout-out to Maria Dizzia in S01E06, because even before I could really see her face, I could tell from this profile shot...

...that it was good old Orange Is The New Black Polly. And then I couldn't really pay that much attention to the rest of the episode because I was so busy high-fiving myself.

HEARTBREAKINGEST WALTER MOMENT: When Walter wakes up in St. Claire's again, terrified and alone.

 

Finally, some hints about Over There and Walt's involvement with these cases! I like the theme in this show that science is dangerous, like that teleportation device David Robert Jones was reassembling.

Edited June 21, 2023 by Gharlane
Name correction.

[margol29]

On 4/15/2023 at 8:06 PM, marinw said:

 

Any theories about the significance of the six-fingered hand ?🤔

I just finished a rewatch on the Freevee mangled version. I don't have any theories on the hand but in the last episode when Olivia  is freeing Michael from the Observers there is a quick flash of a bloody hand print on a wall. I think it had six fingers. I will have to go back and rewatch that one. Maybe some of the Observers had six fingers.

[Gharlane]

I don't think there's any significance to the six-fingered hand, other than all the glyphs have something weird about them, like the apple with embryos instead of seeds, etc.,

[Bort]

Each glyph at the commercial break represented a particular letter of the alphabet and would spell something out that was a hint about the next episode.

Fringe glyphs explained.

[marinw]

Thank you @kariyaki. That is a very in-depth article.

[fastiller]

I just finished the full series (first time watching).  I don't have as thorough a breakdown of the seasons as some of you did above; suffice to say, I really enjoyed it.  Even the shift in story/tone of season five.  Also, by the time Letters of Transit came along and that storyline wasn't referred to in the immediate following episode, I was happy just to trust the storytellers and the process that they knew what they were doing and there would be a payoff.  The only thing I'd've really loved was when, in S05, Olivia uses the RedVerse to grab Michael if they could've had RedVerse Astrid heading up the their Fringe Division.  I loved Jasika Nicole throughout and the two Astrids were so different; she did a great job of that.

I second @marinw in saying thanks to @kariyaki for that article. I had a feeling the glyphs at the bumpers were important.