First of all I'm sorry this is so late, life just grabbed both my testicles and screamed "EYES FRONT" and I had to listen. The ironic part in all of this is that when Fringe first started I would've never counted myself among its biggest fans. With the possible exception of Star Trek I've never been a huge supporter of JJ Abrams and the first five episodes of Fringe are some of the worst television ever committed to film. However somewhere around that sixth or seventh episode the show found its rhythm and continued to kick ass all year. It ended the first season with one of the most interesting cliffhangers in recent memory and I've been waiting for the premiere with baited breath.
Let's recap shall we? When we last left the Fringe Division of the FBI things were all wonky. Though they had stopped the madman trying to crossover into the "other" dimension agent Olivia Dunham was dealt a blow when she discovered our beloved Dr. Walter Bishop and the elusive William Bell had experimented on her and others like her when they were children. Fringe Division itself was in trouble as the "Pattern" became more widespread and the bizarre relationship between Fringe Division head agent Philip Broyles and Massive Dynamic head honcho Nina Sharp deepened. Then we had Dr. Bishop's son Peter and the sexual tension between him and Olivia as well as his constant desire to escape working for Fringe. The whole thing came to a head when Olivia found herself in another dimension at the top of a still standing World Trade Center.
I'm happy to report the season premiere opens up with a bang and never lets go. BANG, two cars crash in New york City. One of them has no driver, not one that got out or jumped but NO DRIVER at all. The second car's driver runs from the scene and proceeds to steal an identity in a way that says "Nope I'm not from around here". The first car with no driver is registered to one Olivia Dunham though she can't be located.
From there the season premiere picks up speed as Olivia returns from the other dimension in a most brutal way, we discover the other driver is actually there to kill Olivia and prevent her from having a "meeting", one Olivia can't remember at all. Agent Philip Broyles is told the Fringe Division will be shut down immediately for lack of results. Not to mention we still don't know what the hell is going on in Dimension Two with William Bell. Trust me the season premiere answers some questions but leaves plenty of others as well as giving a twist ending that kind of made me sad.
The one thing I continue to love about Fringe, which is the same thing that made me a die hard X-Files fan, is that I never know where it will go next or exactly how all the pieces fit together. This isn't like Lost which is so busy being secretive and "cool" that it's almost like an exclusive club only a few can join. Fringe manages to build on what we've learned in season one but not at the expense of people joining in for season two. We all get to watch pieces fall together at the same time which just makes for a better show I think.
Anna Torv seems more at ease playing Olivia Dunham and Joshua Jackson keeps his cringe-worthy snappy one liners to a minimum. John Noble continues to be brilliant as Dr. Walter Bishop as does Lance Reddick (one of the best things about the show The Wire) as Agent Philip Broyles. It's obviously too early to tell if season two will rise to the heights season one did but as far as premieres go it was definitely one of the best so far.
No comments:
Post a Comment