Fringe 1x20: There Is More Than One Of Everything
For a couple weeks now, I've been working on catching up on Fringe, and with the help of Hulu, I managed to catch up in time to watch the finale tonight.
I have this love/hate relationship with J.J. Abrams' material because of the way he's carried himself and the fuckery that is LOST. His science fiction material poses tons of questions with no answers. But when I watched a preview screening of the pilot for Fringe, I was blown away. The episode drew me in and set up a fantastic dynamic between the three main characters. There was a great setup for tons of episodes, amazing artistry and special effects, beautiful music, and excellent actors.
At first, the episodes I saw after the pilot shocked me. Was this the same, wonderful show I watched the pilot of, really? Abrams seemed to focus on extremely graphic and disgusting special effects to shock, but offered no rhyme or reason for them. The plots didn't make sense, and it was like he tried to complicate Peter, Walter, and Olivia for no other reason than to provide material. There was a "pattern," but no one knew what it was or what it was a pattern of. In short, it felt contrived, and much too much like it was trying its very best and failing to not be The X-Files.
However, about 6 - 8 episodes in, the show hit its stride and I not only kept watching for the characters, but they all drove the story for me. Then, the story became interesting and stopped trying to be wildly innovative. While I still think Fringe suffers the "too many questions and no answers" thing that has made Abrams famous in television, this season has managed to step above that largely due to the fantastic bases that are the three primary characters, and wonderful auxiliary ones like Nina Sharp, Charlie Francis, etc. The individual episodes themselves usually offer a lot of great suspense without needing to know all the reasons why. And while I think the show is at its best when they go the more police drama route rather than sci-fi (I really adore all the FBI bits, but maybe I just miss The X-Files), and rely on great character drama, and the relationships between Peter, Walter, and Olivia.
Concerning the finale, I went in totally excited, and it turned out excellent! The way Nina Sharp worked together with Dunham and Broils was wonderful, and I loved the whole setup with the alternate dimension can opener, and Walter's quest to find the plug. In all honesty, perhaps my favourite bits had to do with Peter and Walter, which is probably one of my favourite things about the show, period. Whenever they have a moment, it's always very sweet because you can tell how much Walter loves him. It's a very tragic father/son relationship, and I can't get enough of it.
And the ending... God. That was crazy. Not earth-shattering, not like we learned anything we didn't know before, but it gave you that moment that Fringe is very good at, the moment where you stop and stare, and you just say, "cool!" Which, honestly, is the other half of this show, so kudos to Abrams for knowing what Fringe is and not trying to make it something different. The twin towers, the very white hall... and I LOVED the editing of the scene where Olivia's in the elevator, and she goes into the alternate dimension. COOOOOOL.
Two more things: I think Walter's memories of Peter being very sick are right, and he died, and Walter brought him from the alternate dimension. However, knowing J.J. Abrams... that's too easy a solution. ALSO, show needs moar Peter/Olivia.
THAT IS ALL.
I have this love/hate relationship with J.J. Abrams' material because of the way he's carried himself and the fuckery that is LOST. His science fiction material poses tons of questions with no answers. But when I watched a preview screening of the pilot for Fringe, I was blown away. The episode drew me in and set up a fantastic dynamic between the three main characters. There was a great setup for tons of episodes, amazing artistry and special effects, beautiful music, and excellent actors.
At first, the episodes I saw after the pilot shocked me. Was this the same, wonderful show I watched the pilot of, really? Abrams seemed to focus on extremely graphic and disgusting special effects to shock, but offered no rhyme or reason for them. The plots didn't make sense, and it was like he tried to complicate Peter, Walter, and Olivia for no other reason than to provide material. There was a "pattern," but no one knew what it was or what it was a pattern of. In short, it felt contrived, and much too much like it was trying its very best and failing to not be The X-Files.
However, about 6 - 8 episodes in, the show hit its stride and I not only kept watching for the characters, but they all drove the story for me. Then, the story became interesting and stopped trying to be wildly innovative. While I still think Fringe suffers the "too many questions and no answers" thing that has made Abrams famous in television, this season has managed to step above that largely due to the fantastic bases that are the three primary characters, and wonderful auxiliary ones like Nina Sharp, Charlie Francis, etc. The individual episodes themselves usually offer a lot of great suspense without needing to know all the reasons why. And while I think the show is at its best when they go the more police drama route rather than sci-fi (I really adore all the FBI bits, but maybe I just miss The X-Files), and rely on great character drama, and the relationships between Peter, Walter, and Olivia.
Concerning the finale, I went in totally excited, and it turned out excellent! The way Nina Sharp worked together with Dunham and Broils was wonderful, and I loved the whole setup with the alternate dimension can opener, and Walter's quest to find the plug. In all honesty, perhaps my favourite bits had to do with Peter and Walter, which is probably one of my favourite things about the show, period. Whenever they have a moment, it's always very sweet because you can tell how much Walter loves him. It's a very tragic father/son relationship, and I can't get enough of it.
And the ending... God. That was crazy. Not earth-shattering, not like we learned anything we didn't know before, but it gave you that moment that Fringe is very good at, the moment where you stop and stare, and you just say, "cool!" Which, honestly, is the other half of this show, so kudos to Abrams for knowing what Fringe is and not trying to make it something different. The twin towers, the very white hall... and I LOVED the editing of the scene where Olivia's in the elevator, and she goes into the alternate dimension. COOOOOOL.
Two more things: I think Walter's memories of Peter being very sick are right, and he died, and Walter brought him from the alternate dimension. However, knowing J.J. Abrams... that's too easy a solution. ALSO, show needs moar Peter/Olivia.
THAT IS ALL.