So. Fringe.
Um, I really don't have anything more to say besides that.
Ok, I've been thinking about this all weekend (admittedly, the beer last night helped), and I think I've figured out what JJ Abrams' problem is. Well, one of them. Well, the one that is most likely to take an awesome show and turn it into a headdesk-y show.
(Bear in mind, I couldn't even make it through the pilot of Alias. It just wasn't my thing. This is based on Lost.)
So, where I think Abrams gets tripped up is moving from a quirky, mysterious, small-scale-myth-arc storyline to the grand, sweeping, universe-altering story. He's generally pretty good with character arcs, and he definitely is good at Monster of the Week stories. On Lost (especially during the first three seasons when they had to drag out the larger plot because they didn't know how long ABC would keep them on), the best episodes were the ones that dealt with the bizarreness of the Island. The polar bear, the hatch, the Dharma Initiative, etc., those were pretty good. Myth-type stuff, but on a smaller scale.
Where Lost went and screwed the pooch was when they went into Immortal Island Guardian/Glowing Light As the Heart of the Island (And a Really Creepy Metaphor For a Womb)/The Island Is the Cork That Prevents Evil From Entering the World/CJ Cregg Kills Shipwrecked Roman Women and Steals Their Babies territory.
Granted, much of the bad stuff was in the final season. Which is why the final season is such a dividing line among fans, because as a science fiction exercise? It sucked, and it sucked hard. But as an exercise in character development? It worked really well. But this actually just underscores the point I'm attempting to make, which is that the character stuff and the smaller-level myth arc stuff are usually solid on Abrams' shows. He goes off the rails when he tries to fundamentally alter the nature of the universe and reality and keep it all in line with the other stuff. He can't seem to do both.
This leads me to my main problem with the Fringe finale (I have several, but this is the one that's bothering me). He set up a bunch of interesting mini-myth arcs: the Observers, the First People, the Machine, Red vs. Blue Universe, etc. But when he went and tried tying them all together, we ended up with Peter As a Human Bridge Between Universes/Time Traveling Peter/Peter As the Messiah (per Astrid's religious descriptions of the End of Days)/Wormholes Back to Dinosaur Times (crossover with Terra Nova?)/Peter Disappearing From Both Fucking Universes In a Time Paradox That Makes No Sense Whatsoever.
So, yeah. In trying to tie everything together in a grand, sweeping arc of universally epic proportions, Abrams ended up undoing a lot of what made Fringe awesome in the first place. The quirkiness was gone, the underdog-ness of the Fringe team was gone, the character growth is essentially negated because Peter was a catalyst (especially for both Walters), AND WHERE THE FUCK WAS ASTRID?
Also, and it must be said, the time paradox makes no goddamn sense at all. It worked on Lost (and it actually worked well, not to mention was fucking heartbreaking when it all came to a head), but this is just confusing. Walter can't make different choices because he's already set up the paradox, but Peter can make different choices because he's...what?...a mere participant in the paradox? Now that Walter realizes the damage his sending the Machine back in time will cause he wants to undo the damage and cheat the laws of time, but he can't simply not send the Machine back because of...the laws of time? Except now Peter can't make a different choice at all because he never existed? Except he must have because, you know, the Machine? And Altlivia's baby?
Huh. I apparently have more feelings about Fringe than I realized. I think this is all what I meant to say, but I was out late and there was alcohol. It might make as much sense as the time paradox, in which case, sorry for the tl;dr. I promise fic soon?
Ok, I've been thinking about this all weekend (admittedly, the beer last night helped), and I think I've figured out what JJ Abrams' problem is. Well, one of them. Well, the one that is most likely to take an awesome show and turn it into a headdesk-y show.
(Bear in mind, I couldn't even make it through the pilot of Alias. It just wasn't my thing. This is based on Lost.)
So, where I think Abrams gets tripped up is moving from a quirky, mysterious, small-scale-myth-arc storyline to the grand, sweeping, universe-altering story. He's generally pretty good with character arcs, and he definitely is good at Monster of the Week stories. On Lost (especially during the first three seasons when they had to drag out the larger plot because they didn't know how long ABC would keep them on), the best episodes were the ones that dealt with the bizarreness of the Island. The polar bear, the hatch, the Dharma Initiative, etc., those were pretty good. Myth-type stuff, but on a smaller scale.
Where Lost went and screwed the pooch was when they went into Immortal Island Guardian/Glowing Light As the Heart of the Island (And a Really Creepy Metaphor For a Womb)/The Island Is the Cork That Prevents Evil From Entering the World/CJ Cregg Kills Shipwrecked Roman Women and Steals Their Babies territory.
Granted, much of the bad stuff was in the final season. Which is why the final season is such a dividing line among fans, because as a science fiction exercise? It sucked, and it sucked hard. But as an exercise in character development? It worked really well. But this actually just underscores the point I'm attempting to make, which is that the character stuff and the smaller-level myth arc stuff are usually solid on Abrams' shows. He goes off the rails when he tries to fundamentally alter the nature of the universe and reality and keep it all in line with the other stuff. He can't seem to do both.
This leads me to my main problem with the Fringe finale (I have several, but this is the one that's bothering me). He set up a bunch of interesting mini-myth arcs: the Observers, the First People, the Machine, Red vs. Blue Universe, etc. But when he went and tried tying them all together, we ended up with Peter As a Human Bridge Between Universes/Time Traveling Peter/Peter As the Messiah (per Astrid's religious descriptions of the End of Days)/Wormholes Back to Dinosaur Times (crossover with Terra Nova?)/Peter Disappearing From Both Fucking Universes In a Time Paradox That Makes No Sense Whatsoever.
So, yeah. In trying to tie everything together in a grand, sweeping arc of universally epic proportions, Abrams ended up undoing a lot of what made Fringe awesome in the first place. The quirkiness was gone, the underdog-ness of the Fringe team was gone, the character growth is essentially negated because Peter was a catalyst (especially for both Walters), AND WHERE THE FUCK WAS ASTRID?
Also, and it must be said, the time paradox makes no goddamn sense at all. It worked on Lost (and it actually worked well, not to mention was fucking heartbreaking when it all came to a head), but this is just confusing. Walter can't make different choices because he's already set up the paradox, but Peter can make different choices because he's...what?...a mere participant in the paradox? Now that Walter realizes the damage his sending the Machine back in time will cause he wants to undo the damage and cheat the laws of time, but he can't simply not send the Machine back because of...the laws of time? Except now Peter can't make a different choice at all because he never existed? Except he must have because, you know, the Machine? And Altlivia's baby?
Huh. I apparently have more feelings about Fringe than I realized. I think this is all what I meant to say, but I was out late and there was alcohol. It might make as much sense as the time paradox, in which case, sorry for the tl;dr. I promise fic soon?