Fringe (TV Series) (Blu-ray)
The Complete First Season
APPROX. 1028 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 2008 - MPA RATING: NR
" ...fun and inventive, and with a fine high-def transfer, it's as much fun to look at as it is to think about.
Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.
"Just when you thought things couldn't get any weirder...."
As a preface to this review, I should warn the reader that I have not been a big fan of commercial television since I was a kid the Fifties. At best, my wife and I have watched a handful of shows over the past thirty years, usually in reruns, and we spend most of our regular TV time with documentaries, the Science and History Channels, PBS, occasional British mysteries, that kind of thing, with NFL football and various boxing matches added for me alone. So it was something of a surprise to find myself caught up in the first season, 2008-2009, of the sci-fi/fantasy series "Fringe."
Why did I even start to watch "Fringe"? My wife and I both enjoy sci-fi/fantasy, and we had a guest over for dinner who mentioned the program was airing its two-hour pilot program that evening. Were we interested in watching it? Sure, we'd take a chance, especially as Fox was broadcasting the series in high definition (which didn't look quite as good as the Blu-rays in this set). Anyway, we all found the first episode interesting but nothing to write home about.
The next week, my wife and I gave the show another chance, and the week after, and the week after that. It grew on us, the characters becoming ever more individual and charismatic as time passed until the show became the weekly habit its filmmakers had hoped it would be. As an aside, I have to admit that this was the same year I became caught up in "24," its cliff-hangers bringing me back each week. So, two nights of regular commercial programs, plus the odd "House" and "Lie to Me" rather changed the way I had been watching television for the past fifty-odd years. I am not displeased; one could do worse than any of these shows, especially "Fringe."
So, what's it about? As the name implies, "Fringe" is about the fictional exploration of weird, outer-edge science. The cover blurb mentions "teleportation, mind control, invisibility, astral projection, mutation, reanimation, phenomena that exist on the fringe of science." And taking a page from "The X-Files," the program explains that the government has set up a special branch of the FBI to investigate the curious practices of certain scientists, certain organizations, certain companies, and even its own country over the years. One of the program's creators is J.J. Abrams, who made his reputation on the "Lost" and "Alias" TV series, and more recently on the "Star Trek" motion picture. He's on a winning streak.
"Fringe" is more than the run-of-the-mill fare you usually find on broadcast television, combining drama, insight, creativity, and humor in equal measure. More important than the actual plots of the shows, however, are the cast and characters who carry out these far-fetched tales and make them halfway believable. There may not be much character development involved, but, their basic personalities grow on you. The first person of importance is a thirty-year-old female FBI agent named Olivia Dunham, played by relative newcomer Anna Torv (although, to be fair, she's been around in various small television and movie roles for most of the decade. This is her first big break). She is terrific: smart, clever, tough, vulnerable, spirited, and beautiful. She's partnered with two non agents, a man about her same age, the brilliant Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson), and his even more-brilliant father, the scientist Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble). The thing about the two men is that the son has a possibly criminal, certainly mysterious, past, and the father has been institutionalized for the last seventeen years before resuming his research from his old laboratory at Harvard University. Like Ms. Torv, Jackson and Noble are excellent in their roles, especially the father, who, let us say, has a hard time adjusting to life outside a mental hospital.
Why a beautiful woman agent as the star of the show? Why not? It's part of the approach that worked so successfully for "The X-Files." Why the two men? Well, you've got to have the younger guy as a partner and possible romantic interest for the young woman, and giving him a shady background makes him just a little roguish. Moreover, the story lines need him to take care of his father. Although the son and father haven't gotten along in years, the son understands his responsibilities, and the father tends to wander overmuch.
More to the point, why the father, the goofy Dr. Bishop? Well, it seems that Walter had been intimately connected with our own government's involvement in fringe science years before, mainly with the Defense Department, the unconventional experiments he conducted finally driving him over the edge into mental collapse and a conviction for manslaughter. Now, the government needs to draw upon Walter's expertise to examine the various bizarre circumstances that crop up in the installments each week. When you see John Noble for the first time as Walter Bishop, you'll probably say, I know that guy. At least, that's the way I felt, yet I couldn't quite place him. Turns out, he's been a character actor for the last twenty years in dozens of television shows and movies, including "The Lord of the Rings." For my money, despite Ms. Torv's captivating charmer and Jackson's enterprising rogue, it's Noble who carries the show. He and his character are brilliant, funny, witty, and observant, and the actor manages to steal every scene he's in.
Then there's the show's supporting cast, who also distinguish themselves. Lance Reddick plays Agent Phillip Broyles, the man in charge of the FBI's special unit in the Dept. of Homeland Security. He's a tall, slim, gaunt, grim-looking fellow, the kind of guy you're glad is on your side. Kirk Acevedo plays Agent Charlie Francis, one of Olivia Dunham's colleagues, a happily married man with a determined loyalty to the department. Blair Brown plays Nina Sharp, the second in command of Massive Dynamic, a powerful corporation that may have more influence on global affairs than the U.S. government itself. Jasika Nicole plays Astrid Farnsworth, another of Dunham's colleagues, this one a beautiful young FBI Junior Agent assigned to assist and look after the often-distracted Dr. Bishop. And Mark Valley plays John Scott, a handsome, rugged young man who is Olivia's first love interest, but who winds up mostly in her waking dreams. Or are they just dreams? I should also mention Michael Cerveris as the inscrutable "Observer," Ari Graynor as Olivia's sister, and a host of others. But I'd like to conclude the list of supporting players with a character who shows up only in the final moments of the final episode of the season, a player who surely made any fan of the program gasp and say, What the heck? You can't say the series didn't go out with a bang.
The first season of "Fringe" comprises twenty episodes, spread over five Blu-ray discs, with most of the episodes about forty-eight minutes long. The exception is the first, "Pilot" episode, which lasts about twice as long as the others. Here's a complete list:
