The Fringe Report Video Podcast

The FRINGE Report is a weekly LIVE video podcast dedicated to discussing the Fox TV show Fringe. Levi, Craig, and Ian recap each week’s episode and postulate new and ever evolving theories.

You can watch the show LIVE every Wednesday night at 9pm EST. Here is last weeks premiere episode where they discuss their theories on the Fringe season 2 premiere episode "A New Day In The Old Town".

For more information on The Fringe Report, visit TheFringeReport.com or you can follow them on Twitter as @fringelive

For other Fringe Podcasts, check out the Fringe Podcast Network.

Anna Torv at The Emmys

Anna Torv was a presenter at the 61st Emmy Awards. She shared the stage with Kiefer Sutherland, and presented the awards for "Best Made For TV Movie" and "Outstanding Miniseries".

Sadly, Fringe did not win for the one category it was nominated for: Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Series.

Also, here are some stunning photos of Anna Torv with Fringe director Jon Cassar and Fox President of Entertainment Kevin Reilly at the Fox Emmy after-party.

What Would You Ask: Jasika Nicole?

The always-jubilant Jasika Nicole has agreed to an exclusive FringeTelevision.com interview about Astrid Farnsworth and her experience shooting Season 2 in Vancouver. Which means I need your questions! Leave them in the comments below.

Fringe Time Line: Shape Shifting

The shape shifter storyline in the Fringe Season 2 premiere episode "A New Day In The Old Town" is leaving a lot of people confused. Here are the "rules" of shape shifting as we percieve them, and a time line of events, which hopefully will clear things up.

The Rules of Shape Shifting:

• As you see in the video above, the "meat" of the transformation only takes about 18 seconds, and including the setup, about a minute. The shape shifter is clearly not in a hurry here, which could cut the overall time to under 30 seconds.
• When the device is used, the shape shifter takes the physical form of the victim. It's possible that memories may be transferred as well, which would help with the disguise.
  
• The victim stays basically the same, save for the three holes in the mouth and the strange fluid loss.
• The shape shifter does not seems injure, and may be self healing, which helped it survive the car crash and gun shots, and may mean there would be no holes in the mouth if inspected.
• The shape shifter appears to have super-human abilities, endowed with extraordinary strength, and able to leap from tall building without injury.
  

Timeline:

At some point before Olivia's NY trip to meet William Bell, the shape shifter entered our world and killed George Reed and copied his looks.

The shape shifter took Reed's car and waited for Olivia to pass by, so it could crash into her.

After the crash, the shape shifter believe he's killed his target - Oliva, and flees the scene to find a new disguise.

The shape shifter assumes the form of Lloyd Par.

The shape shifter communicates with the alternate reality using the Selectric 251. Is he talking to his boss, or his alternate self?

The shape shifter receives new orders, then heads to the hospital.

The shape shifter assumes the form of Olivia's nurse, and hides the dead nurse's body in the cart next to the furnace.

The nurse unsuccessfully tries to kill Olivia, and is shot in the back by Agent Jessup. Unfazed by the gun shots, the nurse jumps out the window, and runs into the basement and hides near the furnace.

This is where the time line gets a little tricky. As soon as the nurse drops from the ceiling, Charlie immediately turns and fires two shots. Unfortunately, we don't see what happens next.

The sound of two gunshots causes Peter to turn around, then there are two more gunshots heard a few seconds later.

From that point, it takes about 10 more seconds of screen time for Peter and Amy to arrive. It's possible there is some time compression and this could have taken much longer, depending on how large the hospital basement was.

However, 10 seconds is clearly not enough time for the Shape Shifter to perform the transformation, change into Charlie's clothes, and get the nurse's real body from the cart, and then put Charlie's naked body in the cart.

Another possible explanation is that the shape shifting nurse could be playing possum, and kills Charlie after Peter and Amy leave.

However, one problem with that theory is that it looks like Peter takes the transformation device - but then again he could be just looking at it, and could have got it later from Amy. I can't imagine the shape shifter would give it to him.

Not quite a rock-solid case, but almost there. How do you think it all went down?

UPDATE: Here is the Charlie gunshot scene:

Fringe Time Line: Crossing Over With Olivia Dunham

Olivia's trip to the Alternate Reality seemed to be cut and dry at the end of the Season 1 finale "There's More That One Of Everything". However, as Joshua Jackson explains in this video, that "what you think you saw at the end of season 1, is not at all what actually happened."



Here is a time line of events of what we think happened (our reality on the left, alternate reality on the right):

The shape shifter waits for Olivia to pass by, so he could crash into her.

In "There's More Than One Of Everything", we see Olivia swerve to avoid the accident.

However, if you listen to the audio, you can clearly hear that accident did take place, and Olivia has crossed over into an alternate reality but does not realize it.

Olivia continues in the alternate reality to her meeting with William Bell at the Mutsumi Hotel. When Bell is no show, Olivia enters the elevator to leave the hotel.

Originally we thought this is where she crossed over to the alternate universe, but if she is already there, maybe she is teleporting to the World Trade Center. A similar blue light was seen when David Robert Jones escaped from Wissenschaft Prison.

Olivia meets with William Bell. The rest of the conversation will be coming soon.

Olivia violently returns to our reality.

I think the elevator ride is where things get a little confusing. What do you think happened to Olivia?

Episode Review: A New Day in the Old Town

Ever since the now-infamous tag scene at the end of Fringe's first season, I've been eager to see where the writers would take us. To make an analogy with Abrams' other epic series--Lost--the creators "opened the hatch" when they introduced an alternate universe. And while the Season 2 premiere featured plenty of new meat to chew on, it wasn't as mythologically beefy as many fans may have expected. Was it good? Absolutely. But it was a transition episode for the show's characters and their fictionalized world, and that's not always a great way to start a season (see Lost's fourth season premiere). Luckily, except for one glaring narrative misstep (see below), Fringe is still a blast, transition or not!

For starters, what a great teaser. Not only do we get a new shape-shifting villain, but Olivia's trans-reality trip is revealed to be more complicated than we thought. Given the car accident she was in (and the momentum preserved when she came back), I'd say the moment she crossed over last season wasn't in the elevator (perhaps that was a different trick altogether), but when she nearly crashed on her way to New York. It looks like she did crash in our reality, but not in William Bell's.

Now, for the one thing that almost ruined the episode. How many of you actually believed Olivia was dead? I know the writers want to establish high stakes, but the stakes have to be believable. In this day and age, if Anna Torv was leaving the show after this episode, we'd have known about it months ago. The result? A ponderously slow first half-hour with almost no suspense. We all know Olivia's going to make it (Peter and Broyle's toast "to Agent Dunham" made me cringe), so let's just get on with the crazy science, the plot twists, and the Walterisms, shall we? (The threat of Congress shutting down Fringe Division was just as bad, but fortunately not as pace-killing).

That being said, Olivia's Greek proverb upon waking was almost worth the trouble. Its connection to Peter and his mother was intriguing, but I've got a feeling it had more to do with Olivia's own father...a figure completely missing from the show, but someone I expect to become relevant in good time.

So what do we think about this new addition to the cast? Other than the network's financial concerns and Markle's sex appeal, I see no reason to replace Kirk Acevedo (both Charlie and Amy are "Audience POV" characters...they vocalize questions and concerns that the writers anticipate we'll be thinking to ourselves). Not that the actress is untalented, she just isn't given much to do in this ep, though I'm very intrigued by her biblical research. It reminded me of a scene in The Dreamscape when Walter mysteriously asks for a bible, and is later seen with it in his hotel room. Does the book of Revelation predict the Pattern?

And one more thing. Who's giving the shapeshifter his orders? Who wants Olivia dead in the Alternate Reality?

Early pacing problems aside, the last twenty minutes of A New Day in the Old Town--the invulnerable super-soldier, Dunham loading her gun, the last-minute Charlie reveal--really revved me up for Fringe this season. You could feel the show evolving into something deeper, richer, and more exciting than ever before. I think we're in for a treat.

Stray Thoughts

• Best Line of the Night: "They said I could ride with the body. Can I?"
• Best Scene: the trans-universal typewriter!
• Loved seeing Peter get physical with the FBI security guard. Can we get some more of that, please? And a few less one-liners?
• Michael Giacchino's score rocked. Especially that leitmotif in the final act, beginning just after Peter and Broyles' conversation on the Capitol steps.
• I wonder how Rachel will figure into this season?
• Never saw the Nina/Phillip thing coming. But I'm looking forward to those two becoming more developed characters. Same goes for Astrid.
• I hope Shape-shifter Charlie (Sharlie?) sticks around for a while!

Adam Morgan is a writer for the page and screen in Chicago who blogs at Mount Helicon.

Fringe Files: "A New Day In The Old Town" Gallery

HD screenshots of Fringe episode 201: "A New Day In The Old Town" are now available on FringeFiles.com.

These screen caps have all been hand selected to increase quality and reduce duplicates, but if you something that might be missing, you can request a specific Fringe screenshot in the Fringe Easter Eggs section.

Fringe Recap From Season 2 Premiere

Here's the opening recap from the Fringe season 2 premiere episode "A New Day In The Old Town"

Head over to the FringeTelevision YouTube channel to watch it in HD.

Fringe Preview 202: Night Of Desirable Objects

Here is the preview for the second episode of Fringe season two Night of Desirable Objects, which airs September 24th, 2009 on FOX.

Head over to the FringeTelevision YouTube channel to watch it in full HD.

Screenshots of the video are available at FringeFiles.com

Fringe Episode 201: A New Day In The Old Town

Olivia makes an unceremonious return from her visit to the alternate reality. Peter, Amy and Charlie race to locate an anonymous hostile force bent on eliminating one of the science team. Walter and Astrid return to the lab to isolate a bit of fringe science - and prepare for Peter’s birthday. Broyles and Nina find their way to Washington D.C. to face congressional scrutiny and defend the Fringe Division.

Discuss the episode here in the comments. What did you think of the season premiere? Was it worth the wait?

How would you rate "A New Day In The Old Town"

Fringe Theory: Olivia's Car Crash

After seeing the Season 2 premiere, we've got to completely re-evaluate what happened in the final minutes of the Season 1 finale. We all assumed that Olivia crossed over to the Alternate Reality while she was in the elevator, but now it appears as though she disappeared from her car while driving (thus her momentum before crossing over was conserved, explaining why she blasted through the windshield later).

If that's the case, was the real moment of Alternate-Reality crossover the scene below, when Olivia "almost" crashes on her way to meet Bell?

Fringe LIVE Chat Tonight: "A New Day In The Old Town"

Happy Fringeday! It's time for another LIVE Fringe chat from 9:00 PM to 12:00 PM ET, if you want to talk with other Fringe fans during or after the show. We'll try to get there a little early if anyone has questions they want answered.

To join the chat, visit the Fringe chat room, enter your name or a nickname, and join the fun! (please don't use the default mib_xxxxx nickname!)

I will be there (as FringeTelevision) along with AdamMorgan. In the past we've been joined by people from the show ...you never know who might show up!else might join us...