Fringe: The Complete First Season gets released on DVD and Blu Ray today I thought it would be a good time to review the show.
Okay, I admit it. When I saw the Fringe series premiere, I wasn't wowed. The pilot featured a commercial flight from Germany lands at Boston's Logan Airport without a single passenger or crew member on board alive—a very X-Files-type plot. Then the show introduced FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Toriv) and her partner/lover John Scott (Mark Valley). From their brief intro, it appeared that she was a Skully skeptic and he was a Mulder true believer. Scott gets hurt by a mysterious chemical and Dunham is forced to get help from the only experts in the field, Dr. Walter Bishop (expertly played by John Noble), a one-time Harvard professor who spent the last 17 years in an institution after murdering his research aid and Walter's son Peter (Joshua Jackson), a nomadic con man who appears to be the only person who can understand his father. The information they gather leads to a company named Massive Dynamics, a huge multinational corporation, founded by William Bell (played by a surprise guest), Dr. Bishop's old lab assistant. We are also introduced to "The Pattern," a series of experiments that occur all over the world. For those trivia people, I should point out that although Dr. Bishop's office is supposed to be at Harvard University, it is actually filmed at their rival, Yale University. Typically depicted are scenes of Phelps Hall and Branford College. The show was also filmed at The University of Toronto's University College and Bahen Centre for Information Technology. Now you know. Yo Joe!
The review with video continues after the jump.
Okay, I admit it. When I saw the Fringe series premiere, I wasn't wowed. The pilot featured a commercial flight from Germany lands at Boston's Logan Airport without a single passenger or crew member on board alive—a very X-Files-type plot. Then the show introduced FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Toriv) and her partner/lover John Scott (Mark Valley). From their brief intro, it appeared that she was a Skully skeptic and he was a Mulder true believer. Scott gets hurt by a mysterious chemical and Dunham is forced to get help from the only experts in the field, Dr. Walter Bishop (expertly played by John Noble), a one-time Harvard professor who spent the last 17 years in an institution after murdering his research aid and Walter's son Peter (Joshua Jackson), a nomadic con man who appears to be the only person who can understand his father. The information they gather leads to a company named Massive Dynamics, a huge multinational corporation, founded by William Bell (played by a surprise guest), Dr. Bishop's old lab assistant. We are also introduced to "The Pattern," a series of experiments that occur all over the world. For those trivia people, I should point out that although Dr. Bishop's office is supposed to be at Harvard University, it is actually filmed at their rival, Yale University. Typically depicted are scenes of Phelps Hall and Branford College. The show was also filmed at The University of Toronto's University College and Bahen Centre for Information Technology. Now you know. Yo Joe!
The review with video continues after the jump.
Here is the Season One Promo:
I initially assumed the show was going to simply be X-Files-lite. (Some would argue that X-Files itself became X-Files-lite in the last couple of seasons but that is a different review) and the first episode made it look like that I was correct.
I was not. Over the season, not only did the show explore fringe science (rare diseases, chimeras, psychic abilities, shapeshifters, teleportation, and alternate universes), but we also learned more about Dunham's connection to mad scientist Walter Bishop, and how Peter Bishop fit into the "the Pattern" as well as the role of Massive Dynamic and William Bell. By the end of the season, most of these mysteries are answered with an ending you won’t see coming (unless of course you read Noble Causes by xxxx, which has some uncanny plot similarities). Luckily, these season finale answers lead to great potential for the second season. I should also note that Fringe also has the best location captions I have ever seen anywhere. Check out this Harvard University lettering .
I was not. Over the season, not only did the show explore fringe science (rare diseases, chimeras, psychic abilities, shapeshifters, teleportation, and alternate universes), but we also learned more about Dunham's connection to mad scientist Walter Bishop, and how Peter Bishop fit into the "the Pattern" as well as the role of Massive Dynamic and William Bell. By the end of the season, most of these mysteries are answered with an ending you won’t see coming (unless of course you read Noble Causes by xxxx, which has some uncanny plot similarities). Luckily, these season finale answers lead to great potential for the second season. I should also note that Fringe also has the best location captions I have ever seen anywhere. Check out this Harvard University lettering .
The show definitely took a few episodes to find its groove, especially in the characterization of Dunham. But, by the end of the season it ended up being my second favorite show of the television season. (Sorry, but Chuck still gets the gold.) So what makes the show so great? I think, in hindsight, what I had discounted in the pilot was the JJ Abrams factor. This is the man who brought us Alias, Lost, and What About Brian (okay, forget I listed that last one). He would not settle for a straight up sci-fi show any more than Alias was a straight up action show. He takes chances and doesn't talk down to the audience. Alias had Rambaldi, Lost has Dharma Initiative, and Fringe has the Pattern. Each of these aspects can let the casual viewer enjoy the show, but can let the die-hard fan delve deeper into the universe. For example, before each commercial break, a symbol is shown on the screen (frogs, butterflies, skulls, etc.) with the words, "Fringe will return in X seconds." To the average viewer, that was a cue to get up and go to the bathroom. But, many fans thought there was more to this, and Julian Sanchez, a genius code-cracker at Ars Technica, and his colleague Erica Sadun figured out that symbols correspond to which letters of the alphabet and has unraveled the secret code word embedded in each episode, which we're promised will provide a new clue to the overarching mythology of "the Pattern." Click here for a list of code words. Here is the alphabet of you want to figure it out yourself.
Abrams also proved with Alias and Lost that he is not afraid to shake up the status quo. The last scene in the season finale opens up a whole new direction for the show.
I should also mention that Fringe was part of Fox's "Remote-Free TV." That means that the show aired with half the commercials, adding about six minutes to the show's run time, which made Fringe episodes longer than standard dramas on current network television.
I should also mention that Fringe was part of Fox's "Remote-Free TV." That means that the show aired with half the commercials, adding about six minutes to the show's run time, which made Fringe episodes longer than standard dramas on current network television.
The 7 Disk DVD Set includes the entire first season (22 Episodes) and the following special features:
DVD features:
DVD features:
- Evolution: The Genesis of Fringe featurette - The creators of the show discuss how the series unfolded and the qualities that make it so unique
- Behind the Real Science of Fringe featurette - From teleportation to re-animation, Fringe incorporates recent discoveries in science. Consulting experts and scientists who are the authorities in their field address the areas of science which are the inspiration for the show.
- A Massive Undertaking: The Making of Fringe (on select episodes) - An in-depth exploration of how select episodes came to be made: from the frozen far reaches of shooting the pilot in Toronto, to the weekly challenges of bringing episodes to air
- The Casting of Fringe- The story, as told by producers and cast, of how Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble and others came to be cast in the series.
- Fringe Visual Effects featurette - Goes deep into the creation of the shared dream state with some of the biggest VFX shots of the show.
- Dissected Files: Unaired Scenes
- Unusual Side Effects: Gag Reel
- Fringe: Deciphering the Scene
- Roberto Orci Production Diary
- Gene the Cow montage
- Three Full-Length Commentaries from writers/producers, including J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtman, J.R. Orci, David Goodman, Bryan Burk, Akiva Goldsman and Jeff Pinkner
The Blu Ray has five disks and contains everything on the DVD plus:
- Pattern Analysis" – featuring expert commentary on selected scenes
- BD-Live enabled with exclusive commentary by JJ Abrams
I will give a little warning about the Blue Ray. Fringe can be quite graphic and gory. This experience is greatly enhanced with a 1080p picture.
Don't say I didn't warn you.
Don't say I didn't warn you.
As a final note, I got to see the panel and meet the cast of Fringe at NYCC last year. The thing I found most amazing is that every one (except Joshua Jackson) spoke with an accent of some sort. The second thing was how attractive Anna Torv is in person. Okay, those two things might have happened in reverse, but I didn't want to be completely shallow. :-)
Enjoy the first season. If you have to catch up, there is only a short amount of time before Fringe Season 2 premieres on Thursday, September 17, 2009 at 9:00 PM.
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