The TV Journal

J. J. Abrams took on quite a task when he created ‘Fringe,’ a show about people investigating unexplained phenomena. A lot of this ground has been covered by shows like: ‘Kolchak: The Night Stalker’ (1974), ‘Eerie, Indiana” (1991), ‘X-Files’ (1993), ‘Strange World’ (1999) and ‘Supernatural’ (2005), just to name a few. This show really needed to come up with some original mysteries, or at least original takes on old mysteries, to stand out from the pack. Clones, telepathy, progeria, pyrokenesis, teleportation – been there, done that. Not quite two seasons in and we’ve already had three episodes about exploding people. That appalling dirth of originality is only one of many reasons that ‘Fringe’ doesn’t work.

We’re supposed to believe that the overarching story is about two worlds, each populated with billions of unsuspecting people, on a collision course that will ultimately destroy one world. Sounds pretty epic, no? But rather than tell us that story, we get watered-down tales of angst ridden psychic teenagers and killer parasites. You know, I remember reading somewhere that the truth about Peter’s other worldly origins was going to be revealed at the end of season two. But the producers asked themselves, Why are we holding back this piece of information?’ Unable to come up with an answer they chose to make the info a season one reveal. I submit that the producers/writers should ask themselves that question a heck of a lot more often.

Why hold back?

Why hold back the details of Olivia’s visit to the other side for four episodes? From the moment season two began, the story failed to deliver on the promise of the first season’s cliffhanger ending. Olivia’s amnesia was a cheap way to artificially extend the life of a single plot point. ‘I don’t remember’ is right up there on the crap-o-meter with ‘It was all a dream’ and the long lost twin.

Tell us the story of these two worlds. Engage us in their battle by making us choose a side. How do we know the side we’ve been watching are the good guys? In the other world the Challenger shuttle never exploded and the attacks of 9-11 never happened. Can’t be all bad over there. Tell us something about these people in the alternate Earth if you expect us to care at all about their survival. Why hold back information about William Bell? Nina Sharp? The Observer? You know, the actual story.

The only thing more egregious than the mismanagement of the plot is the mismanagement of the characters. Poor Agent Francis.

He was supposed to be Olivia’s partner, right? Was he with her when she confronted the serial killer with the brain-frying computer virus? No. Was he with her when she went undercover to catch the bio-terrorist? No. Francis is noticeably absent at the most critical moments. Meanwhile the unarmed consultant with the sketchy past and the laminated ID card gets to ride shotgun. Seriously? So Francis dutifully hangs out in the background until the writers remember he’s there. And how is Francis rewarded? He gets killed. Twice.

By the by, Francis is the second partner Olivia has lost in a little over a year. One would think the emotional fallout would be something that would carry over for a few episodes. At least one would think that if one didn’t watch the show. I don’t want to tell anyone how to do their job but maybe the emotional arc could be addressed by assigning Olivia a new partner. Maybe the new partner considers Olivia a ‘loose canon’ and thinks her last two partners died because they got too close to her, one as a friend, the other as a lover. So the new partner is a by the book type who slowly learns that ‘the book’ doesn’t apply to the Fringe division. It’s a little cliché but it’s serviceable. There. Now was that hard?

Back on the topic of useless characters, I don’t mean to be a pessimist but I see a similar fate awaiting the just as dreadfully underutilized Astrid. I mean, right now Astrid is pretty much doing the work of a first year grad student. That hardly makes her critical to their investigations.

Now being the lifelong fan of genre television that I am, I’m not one to pick apart the “science” of science fiction. My disbelief is in a permanent state of animated suspension. All I expect is a modicum of consistency within the fictional world. I mean, your ship can’t run on tylium one week and dilithium crystals the next, you know? Well let’s talk about trans-dimensional travel…

To cross over, Mr. Jones needs to: 1) gather a significant amount of equipment, 2) steal an uber power source from a bio-mechanical arm, and 3) locate a weak spot in the wall between the worlds. William Bell needs an elevator. I guess without the corporate funding, Mr. Jones had to bootstrap it.

Apparently how to communicate with the other side is just as ambiguous as how to visit. Nina sharp tried to email William Bell, even though she wasn’t sure it would reach him. But you mean to tell me that a woman who can rip thoughts from a dead man’s brain, who has all the resources of Massive Dynamic at her disposal, can’t rig up a mirror and a typewriter like the evil Francis did? These types of WTF moments are so distracting they just pull you right out of the story.

‘Fringe’ has meandered along for more than a season, substituting atmosphere for substance, which is why the show just doesn’t work.

Posted in Uncategorized anna torv, fox, fringe, jj abrams, john noble, joshua jackson, science fiction, scifi

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