…so much, in fact, that I’ll be running weekly commentary on every new episode aired. Yes! ‘FRINGE’ will become the very first show I cover “officially” here at ‘Sensibilize this!’. This week, I’m not going to make you tread through plot recaps and details you can get everywhere else, instead focusing on giving a proper view of what my thoughts were on the artistry (and technicality) behind the first two episodes. But before I begin, I want to direct your attention to the marketing piece below. I’m really liking the visual pieces they’re using to spread the word regarding this series: clean, poster-sized and vague.
So, where to start? How about by telling you that I didn’t like the pilot as much as the media said I would? To me, the piece felt forced and too heavily reliant on already established fiction material. Additionally, it was slow-moving at parts and the role of “Peter” (portrayed by Joshua Jackson) wasn’t to my liking in both delivery of lines and character. But it also showed promise in the form of the character of “Dr. Walter Bishop” (played sublimely by John Noble), a tortured-yet-brilliant scientist who has suffered through years of imprisonment in a mental institution. The playfulness in which Noble bathes when acting this part is refreshing, and makes the character super likeable from the get-go. You feel for this man, even if you don’t exactly know what the fuck is happening inside his head.
Also of great promise, is the character of Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), which may initially seem as your typical female agent in distress, but later reveals herself as a woman full of confidence and wit. Let’s hope the writers flesh out her character to a more satisfying level. Production design is commendable, with swift, establishing location shots, some photography handled with flair and, of course, the music by Michael Giacchino, which for the most part has been mostly ambient music to setup atmosphere, but oh he does it so well. The main “theme”, composed by series creator J.J. Abrams himself, is also memorable, if not reminiscent of that other, legendary genre show: The X-Files. Most certainly, the two shows draw quite a few parallels between them, not only in thematic structure, but in episode flow as well.
“Ok, so you didn’t found the pilot to be a ‘masterpiece’. Did you like the second episode better?”
Much better. Yes, it lacked the tense moments of the pilot, but the pacing flowed with more grace. The characters felt better, also. Lines were delivered in a more natural, less corny way (I’m looking at you, Joshua Jackson), scenes progressed with an easiness not found in the inaugural episode, and…as expected, things started to get interesting. As I wrote above, it’s not my intention to fill this first ‘FRINGE’ post with plot details and speculation, so I’ll leave that for next week. Needless to say, if you have the chance, watch both episodes as soon as you can, just so you’re ready for next week’s episode. I’m definitely interested in the direction this show is aiming for, and with a crew as talented as the one this serial has on board, quality has but one place to go: upwards.
Catch new episodes of ‘FRINGE’ every Tuesday at 9pm, on FOX. Thanks for reading. : )
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