FRINGE - Pilot
Season 1 - Episode 1
I decided to start watching FRINGE, which means playing catch-up for three seasons before the upcoming fourth season starts airing. We’ll see how it goes.
In a much stupider decision, I’ve decided to write about FRINGE. I’m going to take a stab at cataloging my impressions, questions, observations, and terrible jokes for each episode as I watch it. After LOST went so colossally wrong in ways no one would agree on or articulate (including myself), it seems like organizing my thoughts as the show unfolds might prepare me for when the show ends and it’s time to get into an argument with the whole internet. So if you enjoy FRINGE, maybe this will be worth reading, but it’s primarily intended as a reference for myself when I look back on the show later.
I’ll probably have no problem sticking with the show, but I predict failure for sticking with the blogging, and probably sooner than later! Enjoy these while you can!
Going forward, the plan is to loosely summarize the show and then toss in some observations, but the pilot was longer than a normal episode, I’ve already spent a couple paragraphs explaining my intent, and since this is the starting point, I’ve got more actual impressions to offer than usual. So you can just read the summary over at Wikipedia if you need to know what happened in the episode.
So what did I think?
The cast is strong enough so far, with standouts being Lance Reddick of The Wire fame and John Noble, who I remember from The Lord of the Rings. Everyone else is at least okay enough.
The science is insane. So let’s go ahead and deal with that. Walter uses wires and some of that photon milk from Minority Report to send Olivia inside the head of comatose Agent Scott for answers. It’s revealed this sort of thing even works on the recently dead.
I’m okay with that. That’s sort of the conceit of the show, and I’m on board. What I’m not on board with is using that as an excuse for bad writing. And when I say bad writing, I don’t mean “Okay, I’m on board for crazy-science phenomena X, but crazy-science phenomena Y? That’s too crazy sir, and I’ll have none of it!”
What I’m dreading is using it as a lazy shortcut for plots, or writing themselves into a corner, or undermining characterization, or handwaving when it hurts believability in ways that matter. That doesn’t happen in the first episode, but that’s what I’m going to be watching for.
The rest of the writing is okay so far. It’s no instant classic, but I can appreciate “merely decent” television if there’s a hook to draw me in. I’ve seen every episode of House to date, not because it’s great television, but because Hugh Laurie entertains me and the rest of the show is good enough. Or it was. It slid a lot in the last two seasons, but—hey wait a minute, back to FRINGE.
The hook here is that I’ve got friends telling me there are moments of greatness and the ride is worth it. And in solar eclipse fashion, I try not to stare directly into the internet when FRINGE is discussed so as to avoid spoilers, but when I peek through my fingers I catch positive reactions to big stuff like season finales. So here I go.
