It's that time of year my friends, the new Fall pilots are out there and I'm just giddy that the first one I got my hands on is the new Fox Sci-Fi drama, "Fringe", the latest creation of "Lost" and "Alias" mastermind JJ Abrams.
Let me make a wild guess here, most of you reading this that are familiar with JJ Abrams next outing immediately thought of "The X-Files". Even if you aren't familiar with Fringe, reading the above paragraph might elicit thoughts of the cult 90s show. Well, I thought the same thing. Well, I think the show has the potential to be something better than the X-Files. Allow me to explain….
“Fringe” mixes elements of "The X Files", "Altered States", and what JJ Abrams calls ‘a slight “Twilight Zone” vibe.' He also goes on to state that it has the feel of the whole Michael Crichton/Robin Cook world of medicine and science. Being a huge Crichton fan myself, I whole-heartedly and excitedly agree with that assessment. If the rest of the series plays out like the pilot, you will have plenty of mysteries akin to ABC’s “Lost”, more reason for me or any hardcore “Lost” fan to get involved. “Fringe” will be easier to follow than “Lost”, as the episodes will explore self-contained mysteries of the paranormal, as well as the relationship between the three leads. However, there will also be an overriding mythology that will come into play from time to time, as well as a healthy dose of humor.
The show focuses on the brilliant but possibly crazy research scientist, Dr. Walter Bishop (Noble), his estranged son (Jackson), and a female FBI agent named Olivia Dunham (Torv). Agent Dunham is thrust into a world of “Fringe Science” (another term for pseudo-science) when she is called out to a rather mysterious case. It turns out an international flight to Boston lands on the runway under full auto-pilot, both pilots dead, the flight crew dead, and all passengers dead from a bio-weapon more deadly than anything the world has seen. Agent Dunham enlists the aide of Dr. Bishop with the help of his estranged son. The trio spends the remainder of the two-hour premiere investigating the mysterious attack and how the chemical weapon used is decades ahead of its time.
Once the mystery is solved, Agent Torv is asked by her boss, Agent Broyles (Reddick) to join a secretive group that is investigating over three dozen recent "Fringe-like" occurrences around the world . As Agent Broyles puts it “Someone out there is experimenting, only the whole world is the lab.” The show’s premise is that science and technology have advanced at such an exponential rate for so long that it is beyond anyone’s ability to regulate and control. Agent Broyles’ recruitment speech to Agent Torv and the underlying premise of the show has me hooked in a way "The X-Files" never could. I liked "The X-Files" a great deal, but it never had me hooked.
I found the acting to be very top notch. The three leads interact well with each other. Anna Torv, the newcomer from Australia, impressed me the most. Where has this woman been hiding and why has no one found her sooner? Very impressive work for her first run on American network TV. And the supporting cast is just phenomenal, Lance Reddick ("The Wire", "Lost"), Kirk Acevedo ("Band of Brothers"), Mark Valley ("Boston Legal"), all impressive in their roles.
The production value is on scale with a major motion picture, which is no surprise with the $10 million price tag for the pilot episode. The opening scene on board the plane puts most horror movies to shame and the condition that Mark Valley’s character finds himself in just had me floored that I was watching a television show and not a movie. I haven’t been this impressed with a pilot since “Lost” or Fox’s recent “Terminator”.
Do I need to comment on the writing? Doesn’t the name JJ Abrams speak for itself? Any “Lost” or “Alias” fan would agree that I need go no further.
Bottom Line: Watch this show. If you are a fan of “Lost”, watch this show. If you like Sci-Fi, watch this show. If you love Crichton novels, watch this show. If you were a fan of “The X-Files”, you will definitely want to watch this show as I feel it has the potential to surpass it.
Ahh, but now we come to the hard part! Do we trust Fox to give the show a chance? Will Fox give it a chance to grow and flourish or will they treat it with the same track record it visited upon its other Sci-Fi attempts? At least, on the surface, it seems like they are rolling out the red carpet for JJ and Co. Fox is giving “Fringe” some prime real-estate on the schedule, Tuesday’s after “House”. And in an unprecedented move, Fox will air “Fringe” virtually commercial free. That’s right, Fox is only inserting five minutes of commercials versus the normal twenty. So, it looks like everything is up to us, the viewers, to tune in. I know I will.
FRINGE premieres on Fox with a two hour event on Tuesday, Sept 9th (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), it will then settle in on Tuesdays after House in the 9pm ET/PT timeslot.
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The premiere date is September 9 for the tw0-hour event. House returns the following week.
Did you guys notice that they used one of Michael Giacchino's track of Lost in the Pilot? Our first easter egg perhaps, or just a homage?
I think the soundtrack is a temp thing. It should be remembered that this is an UNFINISHED screener and NOT the final FOX broadcast version. The length alone is a huge clue as to how much "content" is missing.
John
http://the-fringe-element.com
Is the plane 'Oceanic Airlines' by any chance?
Nope, not Oceanic. And the length is about right when you add in the closing credits, a two hour premiere minus commercials clocks in about the same length of time.
I loved this show! First episode rocked!!
@ fedrich519
2nd that, a 2-part pilot means 2 times 42 minutes, which makes the screener the lenght it should be.
And ofcourse the OST is a temporary thing, they ain't gonna create a really expensive score for a show that might not even get picked up. They're probably creating it over the summer. And not only Lost score was used in this screener, there was also some 'Sunshine' in there towards the end.
About the pilot itself: I liked it a lot, it's a great show!
@bramme
Fox have made a press release saying that Fringe and Dollhouse will only have 5-10 minutes of ads per one hour episode as part of their new "remote free tv" initiative. So the pilot will be at least 100 minutes.
Visit my blog for more info: http://watchfringe.blogspot.com/2008/05/fox-to-cut-commercials.html
As for my opinion on the episode i thought it was awesome. I agree with most of the review above although at times throughout the middle of the pilot it moved a little slow compared to the first 10 minutes and final 20.
PS: did anyone else notice the Lost numbers link in the pilot?