Fringe # 3 (of 6)
Written by Mike Johnson, Alex Katsnelson, Matthew Pitts and Danielle DiSpaltro; Art by Tom Mandrake
The FOX television phenomenon Fringe continues in this special tie-in comic series from creators J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. Don't miss any of the clues as the mysteries of FRINGE unfold here!
Q. Mr. Jones has been portrayed as a villain so far, but is there any chance he's more of a misunderstood hero?
A. No. I think he's a villain who might be temporarily cooperating with the forces of righteousness, but he's only doing that to pursue his own agenda. He's an opportunist. Look at what he did to that poor guy in the suit! I think he's a sociopath. He doesn't really care. But I can't really tell you for sure, because I don't know where the story's going.
Q. That was my next question. Do the writers and producers give you background information for your character, or do you just get the script?
A. They give you some background, but they don't tell you where it's going, for precisely this reason. We're having a chat, and if I give something away that their whole season finale hinges on...
Q. We wouldn't want that to happen...
A. As far as background, they said he was in the world of espionage and bioterrorism, very dangerous, very bright. That he got himself into that German prison on purpose, because it was the safest place to be for the time being. I asked Jeff Pinkner about the character back when I started, about where I should try to take him.
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Fringe made Entertainment Weekly's "Must List", which is "The Top 10 Things We Love This Week". Considering the fact that the show hasn't been on the air for the last three weeks, and won't be back on until April, I'd say making the list this week is quite an honor!
It's official - Warner Bros will be moving the Season 2 production of Fringe to Vancouver, Canada. The preemptive move was prompted by the possible lack of tax credits in NY, where Fringe is currently filmed.Employees of the show had hoped Warner Brothers would at least wait to see if the tax credits were renewed. “We’re all fighting for our livelihood and nobody understands the rational,” said Beth Kushnick, set decorator on the show. “Why is there collateral damage when they don’t even have the word about the tax credit?”The film industry is still fighting to get the program re-funded in NY's upcoming budget, expected to be announced April 1. Unfortunately it will be too late for the impatient WB, even though filming for Fringe season 1 is not due to wrap up until the end of April.
Adele, Jason and Courtney listen to John Bailey's recap, talk about the many events of the Fringe episode Ability and come up with a truly bizarre Nina Sharp theory.
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I didn't think Fringe could get any better than Bound, but Ability proved me wrong. Talk about a mythology download. Midway through the first season, we already know what the Pattern is, and the show's meta-narrative is being slowly revealed. In a word: fascinating.
My favorite character, the eerie Mr. Jones, revealed the reason for his infatuation with Olivia. He's been keeping tabs on her since the tender age of three, when she was exposed to the consciousness-altering drug Cortexiphan (by William Bell, no less). I think we've all suspected there's something special about Olivia, so kudos to the writers for giving us a tangible answer: she's got an unknown set of powerful mental abilities. Looking forward to seeing more of them!
Want more? Head over to the Fringe Spoilers section for another exclusive - the title to Fringe Episode 117.
- Project 1097 - Exploration 1 -
The Bos Taurus is, of course, a notable exception to the one-half rule — one I had hoped to explore via the cast of Gene's udders. An exploration that must now be placed on hold, whilst I investigate this curious skin condition. The cause, it appears, is overproduction of ribosomal s6 kinase along with a hyperactive keloiding process. But why the body receives orifices as wounds, I have not yet been able to detaerlmar sdlf;qpie vllzuadsf; xyayayurf ---------------------
A book of revelations, fallen into my lap. "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." Now I envy the experimental subject's ignorance. He knows nothing, needs to know nothing, indeed is required to know nothing. Like these poor victims -- sightless, speechless, breathless, and constipated -- someone's warped parody of a double-blind experiment. Thank heavens we remained in the control group. We'll not have an easy time of it, trying to keep up with the Joneses. I need someone to tell me why -- why why why why why -- he ran away. And I wonder if they'll let me stay. I ordered the lasagna platter and the waiter told me it came with two sides, but I was unable to choose. Hatfields or McCoys? Al Capone or Bugs Moran? york or Lancaster? Survey says: BZZZT! The opposition has a chance to steal. They'd steal all four bases if they could: adenine, guanine, thymine, cytosine. None can hold back the rising nucleotide, not even King Canute. One two, contract the flu. Three four, infect by spore. Five six, genetic mix. Seven eight, procreate. Oh well. The malady was only skin deep, but 'twas enough. And sad as it was, i just had to laugh; I saw the photograph. I took my secret box and dumped out all the pieces, but I couldn't see the big picture. The big becomes the little when you see it back a bit, and that's about the size of it.
Here are the promotional photos for Fringe episode 114 Ability. 
Last night's episode of Fringe was Ability:German agents question Olivia about her "relationship" with David Robert Jones, an escaped prisoner questioned months earlier now living in the U.S. Meanwhile, the Fringe Division investigates a threatening case where victims die faceless from their orifices suddenly sealing. With few leads and many questions, German authorities turn to Olivia, Peter and Walter to help makes sense of the return of Mr. Jones and the foreboding mysterious occurrences. As the investigation unfolds, Olivia is put to testAbility links:
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Posts
Q. Are we going to see more of you after Ability?
A. I don't know! I'm in pretty bad shape.
Q. You personally? Or Mr. Jones?
A. Jones. He's in pretty bad shape, and I'm not sure where it's going. That episode opens some pretty interesting doors about the connection between [Mr. Jones] and Olivia, and about the Pattern. It's a really good episode. A page-turner of a script. I absolutely loved it when I read it.
Q. Jones certainly seems obsessed with Olivia.
A. Yeah, there were all those drawings a few episodes back. I mean, she's very good looking, but I think it's more than that with him. He needs her, he's trying to manipulate her into trusting him so that she'll do something for him. It's not answered in [Ability] but it's developed a little further.
Q. I sure hope you're coming back; Mr. Jones is my favorite character.
A. Is he? That's very sweet of you to say. My favorite character is the cow. I can't say enough about the cow. I love John Noble, I think he's brilliant, where he takes that character. The dynamic between him and Peter is fantastic. They make me chuckle a lot. And I'm a huge fan of Lance from The Wire. As an actor, he's just incredibly precise, utterly convincing.
Q. What's your experience been like on the set?
A. It's a really good atmosphere there. I mean, it's hard work. For one hour of dramatic television, you're basically shooting a movie every nine days. It's very ambitious. But the atmosphere is very good. There's good banter, a great sense of humor. It's an exciting show, and you can sense that from the attitude of the people involved. They all enjoy what they're doing. It's a great vibe. And of course everyone plays the game that we are right now, try to guess where things are going. The guy that runs Massive Dynamic, William Bell, he always comes up at lunchtime.
Q. Which scene was your favorite to film?
A. The opening scene in Ability definitely ranks up there among my favorites. I love that shot where I'm in the shadows, out of focus in the background, and then I suddenly pop up behind [Mr. Kohl]. That look of insanity in Jones' eyes. He's a nutcase!
Q. How much time is there between when you shoot an episode and when it airs.
A. Well this one (Ability), we finished about two weeks before it aired. That's a really fast turnaround. Normally there's about six weeks turnaround for post-production, but for some reason this one was unusually fast.
Q. As an actor, how do you approach this role on a television show differently from a role in a film, like Captain Mike in Benjamin Button?
A. With Captain Mike, I knew I had that part three or four months before I started shooting. The longer you have to work with a character, the more connections you can make with your own life, your own history. The characterization becomes more detailed and deeper, more intense. It's very hard on Fringe, when you don't know where the story's going. It's much more impressionistic. You go with your gut in the moment, but it's difficult. Some of the choices that you make are probably going to be contradicted later on, and that can be frustrating as an actor.
Q. Yeah, with a film you know the entire arc of the story, whereas with television you only get bits at a time.
A. But it's exciting too. The great thing about television is that it's so immediate. We shot it two weeks ago and now it's coming out. And people are so excited about Fringe, it's this immediate feedback. With Benjamin Button, I shot that two years before it came out. With Lady in the Water, I did an audition without reading the script and then went on my honeymoon. I was in the bush, on safari, with no telephones, and when I got back by agent said we'd made a deal. Then I finally read the script, and I was like "Oh. So that's what this is about." [Laughs]
Q. What's it like to sit in front of the television and watch yourself?
A. It's great fun. When you watch yourself in anything, it's quite a laugh. You can't really concentrate on the story! You remember everything about the day you shot it, the shots and the lines they cut out. You've got an emotional memory of that day. It takes a long time for that to drop away, to just see the character. It takes a couple years to just see it for what it was.
Q. I imagine it's the same for a writer or director, to get that personal experience out of the way.
A. I don't know how directors do it, because they have watch the movie or the episode two or three hundred times. I don't know how they keep the audience's anticipations in their head, how they shape that experience, since they can't trust their own gut reactions anymore. It's amazing how they do that.
Q. Do you have any advice for budding actors out there looking to be as successful as you've been these last few years?
A. It's a tough job. You have to develop a really skin. You're going to get knocked down a lot, but you've got to dust yourself off and get back off. The one thing that keeps you going is your passion. You've got to keep in touch with that part of yourself. Acting itself is the fun part. I love auditioning for that reason. Any day you actually get to do a bit of acting is a good day.