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Showing reviews 1-5 of 20
 The X-Files + Direction + Creative Writing = Fringe July 24, 2010
Ryan C. Richards (America)
Admittedly, I was a sporadic viewer of Fringe when it first aired on Fox. The first half of Season 1, as others here have mentioned, was intriguing but frankly nothing to write home about. But, halfway through that first season, something happened that just made the show "click".
Since then, Fringe has been a whirlwind of story and action. Many have compared it to JJ Abrams other pet project, Lost. Well, the reality is that Abrams had little to do with Lost beyond the pilot episode and I suspect that Fringe is more a Kurtzman/Orzi creation than an Abrams one as well, but either way, they struck gold. How is Fringe different from Lost? In many ways, but the most obvious is that its mythology is not quite as ambiguous or mysterious. Sure, there are questions raised by the series, but they strike a solid balance between questions and answers.
The title of this review essentially sums up the long and short of Fringe, although admittedly The X-Files is almost tame in comparison. Fringe deals with a reasonable amount of subject matter covered by The X-Files, but definitely goes beyond. Where I find that Fringe exceeds its obvious inspiration is in its direction - there is a clear story being told here, whereas Chris Carter, mastermind behind the X-Files, admitted that they made their mythology up as they went along.
I suppose I should comment on Season 2, this being a review for that season and all. Well, frankly, it gets even more compelling than the first. John Noble's "Walter Bishop" has solidified himself as one of the most tragic, and perhaps my favorite, character on television. The "mad scientist" character has never been portrayed in such a unique and relatable manner. You will find all the familiar "Mulder/Scully" sexual tension between Anna Torv's "Olivia Dunham" and Joshua Jackson's "Peter Bishop". But I think any fan of The X-Files will find a much deeper and more rewarding experience in the show, particularly the second season, which I find stronger than the first.
I recommend this show for any fan of "Lost", "The X-Files", or honestly any solid dramatic or sci-fi show. Honestly, its my favorite thing on television at the moment.
Consistently Improving! July 12, 2010
Andrew Shaffer (Davenport, Iowa)
It's not X-Files. It's not LOST. For better or worse, FRINGE is its own animal. While the first season was a little inconsistent in quality, it overcame its slow start to be one of the finer gems of its rookie TV class.
Season two is much more consistent, but follows the same formula of mixing standalone episodes with episodes focusing on the ongoing FRINGE mythology. The multi-episode story arcs make it worth watching; the standalone episodes, however, continue to be little more than average (I'm not a fan of procedurals like CSI, so I might be biased).
Still, the good far outweighs the blah, and the season finale features several of the biggest WTF moments in recent television history. Can't wait for season three!
A show that started out inconsistent, but is now my replacement for Lost July 11, 2010
Taylor Glissman (Lincoln, NE)
This past year as the ending of Lost was approaching I found myself trying to find a show that would be able to help fill the void that Lost ending would create, and I admit that I had initially hoped that FlashForward would be that show, especially since ABC was promoting it as the next Lost. I enjoyed it, but as we all know, Flash-forward was canceled so obviously it can't be a replacement for Lost. I myself have to admit that it's taken me quite a while to get truly into Fringe, but after seeing the final ten episodes of the second season Fringe I would definitely say that Fringe is a suitable and worthy replacement for Lost. Fringe may not always have the same level mind-blowing awesome moments and mind-blowing twists that Lost frequently had, but Fringe is definitely an excellent show.
One thing that I love about Fringe is that it's not heavily serialized show like Lost where you have to see every single episode in order to understand what's going on. It's definitely a lot more accessible to people who might only be a casual viewer of Fringe than Lost ever was for casual viewers. This is a very good thing for me because when I saw the series premiere of Fringe, I have to say I absolutely hated it. The pilot episode was barely able to hold my interest for the full two hours, and after that I didn't watch Fringe again for several months after I had read online that people felt like the quality of Fringe had improved so I watched it again for a few more episodes. It was definitely better, but I still didn't like it enough to commit to watching it every week. I was very busy with school at the time so I didn't even put it on my DVR it and watch later list. After that I didn't watch again until the season finale, which I thought was the best season one episode that I had seen at that point. Since I enjoyed the season finale so much that I bought season one on DVD. Season one was definitely full of hit and miss episodes in terms of the quality, but I still watched season two when it first started.
Personally, I feel like season two started out slowly and was inconsistent again in terms of quality so I quit watching after watching the first seven episodes of season two. For a while I was even strongly considering selling my Fringe season one DVDs, but after Flash-forward returned from its long hiatus with dismal ratings and it's impending cancelation becoming increasingly obvious, I decided to give Fringe another chance and watched all of the episodes that were posted on Hulu at the time was blown away by how good Fringe had become. I feel like the overall quality of Fringe is much more consistent starting with the last ten episodes of the second season. I am so glad that I didn't end up trying to sell my season one DVDs now, because I am finally truly and completely hooked on Fringe.
In my opinion, Fringe finally truly hit its stride and found its grove starting with episode 14, "The Bishop Revival". After watching that episode I have never given the idea of giving up on watching Fringe another thought. To me, "The Bishop Revival" was the start of Fringe finally having an excellent sense of consistency to it in terms of quality because the last ten episodes of the second season were mind-blowingly awesome in my opinion. Three of my other favorite Fringe episodes from season two are "August", "Peter", and "Olivia. In the Lab. With the Revolver". Those were three truly amazing episodes of Fringe in my opinion. Fringe still isn't on the same level of mind-blowingly awesomeness as Lost, but it's definitely mind-blowingly awesome in its unique way and a worthy replacement for Lost now. Watching the last ten episodes of season two completely changed the way I view Fringe as a whole. Now whenever I go back and watch all of the season one episodes that I had initially thought of as being mediocre at best, I enjoy watching them a 100X more than I did the first time I watched them.
I still haven't seen episodes 2.09 to 2.13, so I'm really looking forward to the release of the season two DVD set so I can watch them. Even if I don't enjoy episodes 2.09 to 2.13 as much as I've enjoyed all of the other season two episodes, I'm sure that they will all be great to a certain degree because I am a much more faithful fan of Fringe now. Again, that's all because of the last ten episodes of season two.
What I've come to love the most about Fringe is the relationship between Walter and Peter and the dynamic of their relationship. That's what makes the show for me personally. Another one of my favorite things about Fringe is the relationship between Walter and his lab assistant Astrid. I love the dynamic between those two.
I was one of the people who was very disappointed by the Lost series finale, and I can honestly say that I loved the two-part season two finale of Fringe, "Over There: parts one and two" a 100X more than I liked the Lost finale. With the cliffhanger that the season two finale left the audience with and the season three spoilers that are slowly coming out, I can't wait for season three of Fringe to start because it sounds like season three is going to be amazing.
I don't know what kind of bonus features the season two DVD set of Fringe is going to have, but I'm really hoping that it will have a few audio commentaries because I for one love DVD commentaries.
All in all, Fringe may not be the best show ever or might not always have the best consistency, but it's still an amazing show. It's definitely worth watching now, and I would strongly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen the show yet and is interested in it. It definitely took a while, but Fringe has definitely blossomed into a truly amazing, must-watch show.
Very strong second season July 10, 2010
Label (Indianapolis)
Season 1 of Fringe was good in places, clunky in places, occasionally not very good and sometimes showed signs of real potential. All in all I enjoyed the season and could see that this could be a pretty special show but it hadn't quite worked some things out quite yet. Season 2 changes all of that. It starts out well, but as the season progresses and the bigger picture starts to take shape the show really hits it's stride and ends up being a very good show indeed. I wouldn't say it's quite as strong as Lost, but it's very close and depending on how the next couple seasons go, could end up being every bits as good. There's very little good Sci-fi/Drama out there right now so I'd strongly recommend people who haven't seen it get through the uneven first season so you can really enjoy a very well done second season.
Takes a step closer to matching "The X-Files" with every season June 30, 2010
zck7592
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Coming off of the explosive season 1 finale, season 2 has a lot to live up to. When season 1 first aired, it was slow but then built to the season finale.
What I really like about this season is that there is only one questionable episode in the whole season, which was the spin off of Glee. Otherwise every other episode was great and interesting.
Without giving away many spoilers, I will just give a general review of season 2.
Season 2 of Fringe picks up where season 1 ends, where Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) is in the alternate universe.
Season 2 also has a larger focus on the character of Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson), in which he basically turns into the star of the show.
Another positive, is that we see William Bell (Leonard Nimoy) in more episodes.
Fringe is often compared to "The X-Files", which is very understandable. With this being said, I would say that Fringe season 2 compares to season 6 of "The X-Files"
If you are a fan of Fringe or lost interest in season 1, I strongly recommend you watch season 2, as there really is not a bad episode in the season.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 20
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