Fringe

A lot of X-Philes claim that Fringe is nothing but an X-Files rip-off. And they immediately dismiss the show as lousy.

I saw the pilot episode over the weekend, and though the premise can be likened to The X-Files (in that it involves the FBI solving cases involving the paranormal), it also has a mix of Alias (for all the fast-paced action), and Lost (for an elaborate mythology yet to be uncovered). And the result, for me, is just breathtaking. This isn’t saying that this new TV show is better than The X-Files (an obsolete thing that the X-Philes have to get over soon) or Alias or Lost (still the best show ever). This is just saying that for me, Fringe is good enough all by itself.

Fringe refers to “fringe science,” an area of science that deals with things like mind control, teleportation, invisibility, and reanimation—it’s fringe, after all—and the likes. The show’s myth hasn’t been elaborated on yet, but here are a few events cited in the story:

• John Thompson, a normal kid, went missing back in ‘98, reappeared last month halfway around the world—hadn’t aged a day.
• In the past few months, 46 other children who went missing that same year turn up—same story.
• A local fisherman off the coast of Sri Lanka reports a low-flying plane emitting a high-pitched frequency that blows out all their windows. An hour later, same spot, an 8.7 subsurface earthquake creates a tsunami that kills 83,000 people.
• A patient in Lisbon who woke up after years in a coma began writing—just numbers. They turn out to be exact real-time coordinates of the U.S. air-carrier battle groups in the Pacific, intel that’s classified as above Top Secret.

These events are called “the Pattern, as if someone out there is experimenting, only the whole world is the lab.” I have to admit, because of Lost (and probably because of Harry Potter), I have developed a taste for highly elaborate mythology that I will have to be patient for to get to the bottom of (I have to wait until 2010 to get to the bottom of Lost, goddamn you). “Fringe” might just be another one of those delightful treats.

The pilot episode introduces us to FBI agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), who gets tasked to investigate a possible terrorist attack. Her investigation leads her to needing the expertise of mad scientist Walter Bishop (John Noble). But to get to the doctor, Olivia has to blackmail Walter’s son, Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson), who happens to be another genius but doesn’t quite care enough in life to live in order (read: gambling debt). I admit that doesn’t sound a lot, but that was a three-sentence synopsis. The episode is an hour and twenty minutes long, like the length of a simple movie. But Fringe isn’t a simple movie; it’s a TV show whose pilot has an estimated budget of $10 million dollars, and that’s not bad at all.

As for the performances, Anna Torv does quite a decent job. But it’s probably because she looks like a cross between Cate Blanchett and Naomi Watts, and her acting is like Ellen Pompeo’s, but with more heart. John Noble, though, is quite exceptional as the mad scientist. I can imagine him going head-to-head with Michael Emerson in next year’s Emmys. As for Joshua Jackson… well, I guess he’s one of those actors whose acting doesn’t change despite the character he/she is playing (like Milo Ventimiglia and Kris Aquino). But his eyes… there’s something about Joshua Jackon’s eyes that makes you want him to just stare at you. Maybe his eyes are a part of the mythology that’s why he was cast.