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17 June 2008
Fringe (TV 2008)
I want a cow!
A television drama centered around a female FBI agent who is forced to work with an institutionalized scientist in order to rationalize a brewing storm of unexplained phenomena.
I caught the premiere of J.J. Abrams' new TV pilot called Fringe by accident online. I did not even know he had a new show in the works. Anyway, as soon as I saw it, I thought it was a very close cousin to Lost. E started cracking Lost jokes ... well, ... yes. But the show started very well.
On board a plane, passengers start getting sick. And melting. I mean, melting. The special effects were too far out for TV and I enjoyed the daring. I thought, as I was watching this, that JJ had decided to move on to more daring and exciting subject matters. And that is when it falls apart.
There is nothing exciting after the meltdown. An agent's lover is infected by the disease from the plane. The show, thereafter, is a chase to save the lover, and find a cure for the disease. How boring! Shades of an X-Files episode went tumbling down the drain. The pilot also could not decide whether it wanted to be serious or a wiseass. It wavers between the two and gets lost (pun very much intended). X-Files, at least, took its stories seriously - no matter how ridiculous they were, and, in doing so, got us involved. Fringe lost me because the concept was too damn stupid. Not believable in any way, shape or form.
The actors in the series are another problem. They give bland performances. I had no desire to know them at all. Except for actor John Noble who at least gives a weird, mad doctor performance. He stands out from the blandness.
As we get to the end of the show, the reason for the melting people is given. Thus setting up the series. The set-up is not involving at all. Rather, I was left to believe that this series must be leftover Lost bits. A very poor showing for J.J. Abrams.
I can only hope that the series leaves the problems of the pilot behind, and starts fresh.
Note: In one scene, James Horner's score for Aliens is used. How desperate is JJ?
(Fringe TV info)
On board a plane, passengers start getting sick. And melting. I mean, melting. The special effects were too far out for TV and I enjoyed the daring. I thought, as I was watching this, that JJ had decided to move on to more daring and exciting subject matters. And that is when it falls apart.
There is nothing exciting after the meltdown. An agent's lover is infected by the disease from the plane. The show, thereafter, is a chase to save the lover, and find a cure for the disease. How boring! Shades of an X-Files episode went tumbling down the drain. The pilot also could not decide whether it wanted to be serious or a wiseass. It wavers between the two and gets lost (pun very much intended). X-Files, at least, took its stories seriously - no matter how ridiculous they were, and, in doing so, got us involved. Fringe lost me because the concept was too damn stupid. Not believable in any way, shape or form.
The actors in the series are another problem. They give bland performances. I had no desire to know them at all. Except for actor John Noble who at least gives a weird, mad doctor performance. He stands out from the blandness.
As we get to the end of the show, the reason for the melting people is given. Thus setting up the series. The set-up is not involving at all. Rather, I was left to believe that this series must be leftover Lost bits. A very poor showing for J.J. Abrams.
I can only hope that the series leaves the problems of the pilot behind, and starts fresh.
Note: In one scene, James Horner's score for Aliens is used. How desperate is JJ?
(Fringe TV info)
06:00 Posted in Television | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this | Tags: science fiction, disease, TV, mystery, thriller, FBI
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