Why You Should Be Watching the Doubly Delicious 'Fringe'

by Maureen Ryan, posted Sep 23rd 2010 3:00PM


Reviews of new shows are full of hedges and what-ifs. Unless we're sent multiple episodes of a new show, critics can't always tell when iffy programs have the potential to become pretty good or even wonderful.

No hedging here: 'Fringe,' which begins its third season at 9PM ET Thursday, has evolved into a terrific show. Now that the Fox drama is consistently telling enjoyably complex and emotionally compelling stories, I'd hate it if 'Fringe' got lost in the fall shuffle.

So I'll start off by begging you to watch 'Fringe,' pretty please, and then I'll share some non-spoilery thoughts about the first two episodes of the third season below.

The third-season premiere doesn't start off with some giant disaster -- 'Fringe' has, thank goodness, moved away from the bombastic storytelling that afflicted its first season in particular. Still, 'Olivia' and 'The Box' are very entertaining hours. And if you're worried about catching up to where things stand on the show, Thursday's episode does a good job of recapping where the characters are and explaining where Season 3 will start from. (A slightly spoilery explainer clip is here, and you can also watch several season 2 episodes, including the two-part finale, here.)

Overall, season 3 appears to be building on what worked really well in season 2, and now the show has taken the character who was the least interesting when 'Fringe' began and made her and her dilemmas very intriguing indeed.

In the middle of its second season, 'Fringe' began focusing intently on two things -- first, on the parallel universe called 'Over There'; and second, on the relationships among FBI agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), eccentric scientist Walter Bishop (John Noble) and his acerbic son, Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson).

Those twin engines drive Season 3, and they intersect and blend to the point that 'Fringe' feels like an atmospheric chamber piece. It still has action and suspense and all that good stuff, but themes of identity, loyalty, hubris, deception and missed opportunities reverberate through the show like intersecting melodies in a well-crafted musical composition.

The most resonant horrors on the show these days aren't giant bacteria or menacing mutants. Perhaps 'Fringe,' which began as (and still sometimes is) a show about FBI agents investigating weird phenomena, will engage in those kinds of monster-of-the-week stories in future, but those episodes are rarely examples of 'Fringe' at its best.

No, the most effective horrors involve betrayals that are perpetrated on the characters, sometimes by the people they love most. Over There's troubles -- and there are many -- were caused by Walter's desire to find and save a copy of his son, because in this universe, his son died. The fallout from that tragic choice and the characters' tentative steps toward intimacy and trust have given the proceedings much more meaningful stakes.

If I have one fear, it's that 'Fringe' will be forced (possibly by a nervous network) to stray too far from its mythology-driven stories, which are much more memorable than the standalone outings. It's still possible for the show to falter, but given how good the second half of season 2 and the start of season 3 are, I'm giving the show the benefit of the doubt.

What's especially impressive in Season 3 is how cogently and clearly events in the two different universes are handled. It's not hard to tell which is which and it's not hard to follow how the two worlds are connected, and those connections have only deepened the mythology in pleasing ways.

Thursday's episode spends time with "our" Olivia, who is stranded Over There (and 'The Wire's' Andre Royo does great work in a supporting role). Next week's hour focuses on Over There's even more driven version of Olivia, who has taken up residence in Walter and Peter's world and has a very definite agenda.

It's nice to see a parallel universe that is, for once, not an excuse for a show's cast to overact and ham it up. If anything, Over There is quieter but it's also more unsettling and even subtly menacing.

The directors of the show do a terrific job of making Over There feel different, via odd angles and a color palette that somehow seems a little off. But the dilemmas there, as in the "regular" universe, hinge on tangled relationships and difficult memories. And it's even more clear that Walter's choices had awful repercussions Over There, which is on a war footing mostly thanks to his hubris.

The two universes offer Noble, in particular, many opportunities to display his continually amazing range. Over There's "Walternate" is a commanding, efficient leader -- the man that Walter might have been had he not been consumed by personal tragedies and his own ambition.

And Torv, given the opportunity to play two different Olivias, both of whom are faced with interesting dilemmas and challenges, rises to the occasion. For the longest time, I couldn't see why 'Fringe' had cast Torv, but now that the actress has a lot to play in two juicy roles, every scene with Olivia or "Bolivia" (as the writers apparently call her) is charged with new tension. She manages to make the two characters different, even in their gestures, and I have to say that I'm a fan of the red hair she sports Over There.

Now that Olivia is in an alien world and a Bolivia with ambiguous loyalties is here, every scene with those characters has an additional weight and tension. To say more would be to give away too much, but in these two hours, at least, there are layers of meaning, suspense and drama that I never thought 'Fringe' would have.

The pilot for 'Fringe' never hinted at these developments. But the magic of TV is that having faith sometimes pays off.

Source:TVSquad

SneakPeek 302 "The Box": A Temporary Fix

Here´s a new sneakpeek for the episode 302 "The Box".

New Alternate Universe Fringe Title for Season 3

The Fringe title sequence had been updated again. It's back the the red "alternate version" as first seen Over There, Part 1.

In the previous version, only one new Fringe term was added "First Person", but in Season 3, there are all kinds of new terms.

Screenshots of every frame from this video have been added to FringeFiles.com.

Click "Read more >>" to see the screenshots of the new Fringe terms.

* Thanks to Anonymous in the comments for pointing this out.

Read more »

Fringe Preview 302: The Box

Preview for the Fringe episode "The Box", which airs September 30th on FOX.

Head over to the FringeTelevision YouTube channel (and click the "pop out" button) to watch it in full-sized HD.

Screenshots of the video are available at FringeFiles.com

Fringe Easter Eggs: Observer in Olivia

The Observer can be spotted in the Fringe episode Olivia, at the park where Olivia goes unsuccessfully to find Nina Sharp at the Massive Dynamic building.

You can see all of The Observer's other appearances here.

Fringe Easter Eggs: Glyphs in Olivia

The Glyphs code in the Fringe episode Olivia spelled out AMBER, as in the "Amber Response" protocol used to quarantine the Opera House.

For more information on the Fringe Glyphs, check out Fringepedia's Glyph / Symbols page, which has all the previous glyphs and codes.

Tonight On Fringe: Olivia (Season 3 Premiere!)

Tonight is the Season 3 premiere of Fringe, which starts with the episode "Olivia".

As always, we'll have a 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 usually play "spot the observer", and "What's the glyph code?", plus discuss the action on the show. 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!)


After the show, get more information on Olivia at:

• Olivia episode page on Fringepedia 
• Olivia screenshot gallery at FringeFiles 
• Olivia promotional photos at FringeFiles 

Also, don't forget to check the Fringe Easter Eggs section for Observer sightings, Glyph codes, and other Fringe hidden clues.

To discuss Olivia or any other episode, head over the the Fringe episode section.

How would you rate "Olivia"?

Fringe Episode 301: Olivia

After the extraordinary turn of events that shockingly left an imprisoned Olivia "over there," she fights to find her way home. Meanwhile, Peter and Walter try to move on with their lives unknowingly alongside alternate Olivia.

Discuss the episode here in the comments.

Fringe Glyph Decoder App for iPhone, iPad

Just in time for tonight's Season 3 premiere episode of Fringe, a new Fringe Glyph decoder app is available for the iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch.

Now while you are Live Chatting with other Fringe fans during the episode, you can be the "First!" to guess the correct glyph clue.

And the best part, is that it is FREEEEEEE!

For those without iPhones, you can always use the handy Glyph Code cheat sheet at Fringepedia.

Vote For Olivia in 2010 Character Competition

SpoilerTV is running TV character polls, pitting your favorite TV characters against each other in their "2010 Character Competition".

In this round, Fringe's Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) is up against Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries.

Head to over to SpoilerTV to vote now!

Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman on the writing and evolution of Fringe

Ed Gross of ComicBookMovie.com has an exclusive interview with Fringe executive producers Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman on the writing and evolution of the series. One of the important elements of the Fringe storytelling is the evolution of the "Myth-alone" - a hybrid of a stand-alone episode and a mythology episode:

J.H. WYMAN: So near the end of last season we coined a term called a “myth-alone.” It sounds crazy, but it makes perfect sense. “White Tulip” is a perfect example of a myth-alone – you're watching a compelling story, and it’s FRINGE-like, and you'll get the benefit of that creepiness, and that's a far out idea – but you're also going to have the through-lines of the mythology of Walter dealing with the secret of Peter. The response for those kinds of episodes was really overwhelming from our fans, and that was a large get for us as far as a realization. 

JEFF PINKNER: With myth-alones we're advancing our characters’ journey while every episode has a beginning, a middle and an end, so if you only watch one out of every five episodes, you can enjoy the case and you know enough about the characters to know, in a couple of minutes, where they are, and get sucked into their internal drama. For the more regular fans of the show, the narrative is constantly evolving while they're seeing the little story of the week. 

You can read the full article at ComicBookMovie.com

Vote For Peter in 2010 Character Competition

SpoilerTV is running TV character polls, pitting your favorite TV characters against each other in their "2010 Character Competition".

In this round, Fringe's Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) is up against Smallville's Lois Lane. Peter is currently losing (!) right now, but I know you Fringe fans can turn that around!


Head to over to SpoilerTV to vote now!