Wednesday, June 8, 2011

TV Review: Fringe (2008-)

By T-Rav

Fringe is, in my opinion, the best show running on network television (an important qualification, as I don’t wish to offend cable viewers; yes, there is some truly great stuff on AMC.). This FOX series does what only the best sci-fi shows can do; it has character-driven plots rather than a string of simple “freak-of-the-week” episodes, and not only makes viewers use their noodles but invests them emotionally in the events on the screen. As Andrew has alluded to in reviews of past programs such as The Twilight Zone, this simultaneous appeal to the brain and the heart is critical for the genre, and Fringe pulls it off in style.

For those who are unfamiliar with it -- which based on the Nielsen ratings, is probably a lot of people -- the show takes its title from a clandestine FBI division of the same name, established to investigate a series of bizarre incidents around the country that test the known laws of physics. Headquartered in Boston -- specifically in the basement of a Harvard laboratory -- the organization's three core members (and the show's three core actors) form a dysfunctional, humorous, and often touching team as they investigate the weirdest of the weird. I would say that it's like "The X-Files," only good, but then I might get smacked. So I'm not saying that.

To briefly recap: FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), a conventional law enforcement official, is investigating a mysterious pathogen that killed everyone on a passenger jet when her partner and lover is struck down by the disease. Desperate to find the perpetrators, Dunham seeks out two unusual civilian specialists: Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson), a roguish but gifted tech contractor, and his -- "eccentric" would be putting it mildly -- father, Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble), a brilliant scientist who has spent most of the past two decades in the loony bin. Together, the trio begin cracking not only this but a string of other cases normal sleuth work is hard put to understand, much less solve: mind control, instantly lethal bacteria, teleportation, shapeshifters -- and that's just the first season.

In terms of quality, 2010 was undoubtedly the best year for Fringe thus far; the second half of Season 2 and the first half of Season 3 were together one of the best sequences of episodes you will ever see in any series. To explain why, I need to deviate onto another series for a minute. Fringe is produced by J. J. Abrams, the mind behind Lost. While the latter phases of the show were ripe for ridicule -- I'll have you know I was one of those who teared up at the finale, thank you very much -- it's important to remember how much that show changed the TV landscape. In the past few years, there have been any number of sci-fi shows trying to reproduce the phenomenal success Lost had at the beginning -- Threshold, FlashForward, The Event, a lot of others I’ve already forgotten -- and most have been failures. The reason for this, as I see it, is that they focused too much on the mystery side of the equation, setting up grand head-scratchers and then trying to explain every detail as quickly as possible. While Lost itself certainly had that component, I don't think that was its main element. The main element was the characters and the situation they found themselves in, acting as a metaphor for the human condition. The mysteries were a backdrop for the drama, not the drama itself, which may be why I didn't see the finale as a cop-out (No, I don’t want to rehash this argument, I’m making a point, darn it!).

This is important, because it is in this field of character development that Fringe has established itself as the worthy successor of that other J. J. Abrams production. Turning away from the overly complex and somewhat poorly received freakishness of the early days, the second season focuses more on the often twisted connections between Olivia, Peter, and Walter, and their implications for the fate of the world -- or worlds. We learn that there is a parallel universe, very similar to our own, and that most of the disturbances the Fringe Division investigates are the indirect results of the weakening of the space-time fabric separating the two: a weakening that occurred back in 1985, when Walter found a way to. . . well, without giving too much away, he saved his son’s life, but as a result shattered literally thousands of lives, permanently strained and twisted the relationship between the scientist and his son, and is ultimately responsible for many of the events under investigation. Moreover, Walter also touched and/or scarred Olivia's youth, when he experimented on her and other children with a drug that gave them superhuman abilities. In addition, Olivia and Peter move into a romantic relationship, thus creating a bizarre bond between the three, fraught with emotional land mines. Clear enough?

The revelations of these recent episodes sound muddled the way I've written them, but the show itself pulls them off very well, because of the superb acting of the key players. John Noble, whom those of you of a more geeky persuasion than myself (and I know they're out there) may remember as Denethor in the third LOTR, is simply a delight to watch. His eccentric-minded Walter, tripping acid for inspiration and finding childlike pleasure in practically anything (especially pudding), has also become the heart and soul of the show, as a once-prideful scientist broken and humbled by his own hubris -- more on this in a minute. Joshua Jackson as the clever, wisecracking, and insightful Peter adds another lighthearted touch, and Anna Torv, who was criticized early on for being too cardboard an actress, has given Olivia an increasing amount of depth and emotion over time, resulting in a character as complex as the others. Everyone's acting abilities were tested this year when the show began spending time in the other universe, where different versions of their characters existed and had to be made believable: a test they passed with flying colors and made Fringe that much more mesmerizing.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the various philosophical/psychological themes Fringe visits in its episodes. One borrowed most clearly from Lost would be the conflict of faith and reason. Although a sci-fi show through and through, for which it makes no apologies, Fringe does not neglect the intangible aspects of existence, such as the human psyche and the seeking of the divine. The characters are driven by the idea that there is a right and wrong, a good and evil, however vague or confused their grasp of these concepts might be. Walter says it best in Season 2's "White Tulip," for most fans one of the greatest episodes of the series, when he begs a time traveler not to try to change history, citing his own bitter experiences with Peter as proof of unexpected consequences and the rebuke from one's own conscience: "I never believed in God, but when I looked at my son, I realized that I had broken his laws... I have traveled through madness to figure this out. So will you." Modern television being what it is, of course, the show does not argue from this for a specific religious belief, but it does imply the necessity of a transcendent moral code and respect for the dignity of human life. And frankly, aren't all the great TV shows those which uphold this idea, however abstractly?

But I've rambled on too long. And I haven't even mentioned the importance of The Observers, The Pattern, "Massive Dynamic," or the supporting characters also played superbly by Lance Reddick, Blair Brown, and Jasika Nicole. So I conclude this part-review, part-paean to one of the best shows on television by urging you to check it out for yourself. Having wrapped up its third season (with an ending I still haven’t figured out), Fringe shows every sign of continuing the mix of appeals to head and heart.

53 comments:

Tam said...

I heart Fringe. I am glad it was renewed for another season, because I am also having trouble digesting the season finale. It's no LOST, but it almost kind of in a JJ Abrams sort of way approaches filling the void left by LOST.

AndrewPrice said...

T_Rav, Thanks for the review. I actually haven't seen Fringe, but it sounds interesting. It also sounds like it took some time to get going on the right track -- something you see a lot in science fiction, but sadly, studios rarely give these shows the time to grow.

On the X-File. Yeah. Hmm. I really loved the early ones. Then it got a little... uh. Yeah, and I stopped watching.

AndrewPrice said...

P.S. T_Rav (and everyone else),

Hit the follow button, don't make us do another membership drive! We can get really PBS-obnoxious. . . you would like us when we get PBS-obnoxious. ;-)

T-Rav said...

Tam, that's what a lot of people have said. I think those who have watched both shows can pretty easily spot the continuities with Lost--they even have similar musical scores. Good to know I'm not the only one here who watches it!

As to the season finale, yeah, it's a head-scratcher. If more commenters have seen it and want to talk about it, I'd love to start theorizing, but until then I think it would take WAY too long to explain.

T-Rav said...

Andrew, you're welcome! :-)

I wouldn't say Fringe started off on the wrong track--I personally liked it from the beginning--but it did take a season or so to find its niche and get viewers really emotionally invested in the characters. I think what saved the show was that ratings during the first year were actually pretty high, and critical reviewers got more positive over time.

"snicker" X-Files. I thought I might be stepping on toes with that remark, but I had to include a little snark. I really haven't seen enough of the show to say that, in truth, but I'd heard enough word-of-mouth from others about the later seasons. It might be great in its own way, I guess.

T-Rav said...

Okay, okay! Sheesh! I don't even want to know how you all would act when PBS-obnoxious (I assume you meant "you WOULDN'T like us when we get PBS-obnoxious").

AndrewPrice said...

Yeah, "wouldn't." That's what happens when I type with half my brain staring out the window.

On the X-Files, I've seen all of them through I think season 5? The early ones are great and the characters are great. But they never planned to have a long-term mystery in the show. And when they tried to pull all of their prior crazy stuff into a single theory, it all got really strange and fell apart. Plus, then the actors started leaving periodically and it went downhill.

I'm told a lot of people like the last season or two, but I haven't seen enough of those to know if they are any good.

On Fringe, so you say it's good from the start? I should check it out -- maybe it's on Netflix?

Ed said...

T_Rav, Nice review. I haven't seen Fringe either, but it sounds good. Do they ever answer the questions they raise or is it like early Lost when they just kept raising more questions?

Tennessee Jed said...

Reading your description of the plot, T-Rav reminded me a bit of a show on CBS I enoyed a couple of years ago, but it only lasted for 18 episodes. That show, Eleventh Hour, starring Rufus Sewell and Marley Shelton had been adapted from a version on British Television. (It sometimes seems to me that an awful lot of our shows are, anymore.)

That show followed a bio-physicist consultant to the FBI to who investigated events of a para-normal nature that posed a threat to our country. I liked it because it was not politically correct and took on some truly interesting situations. Acting was not particularly great and Marley Shelton was the requisite "hot babe/bad ass FBI handler" assigned to protecting Sewell. That type of character now seems de rigeur in virtually all police dramas.

Anyway, I am unfamiliar with Fringe, but will endeavor to stream older episodes or at least catch the re-runs. Nice job on your review.

JG said...

T-Rav, thanks for the review. I also love Fringe and loved LOST, and I say the same thing you do. It wasn't about the mystery, it was about the characters, and all those copy-cat shows missed that (although I thought FlashForward did a good job for what it was, considering the plot of the show doomed it to being one season). I'm really curious to see where Fringe will go from here.

T-Rav said...

Andrew, I think it is on Netflix; I know a friend or two who are planning on downloading episodes from there after I talked them into it. (As they're both liberals, talking about entertainment is one of the topics we try and have pleasant conversation about.)

I don't know if I would say Fringe was good from the start. I think it clearly had a lot of potential those first episodes, but like I say, they weren't filled out yet--there wasn't an overarching theme tying everything together. When I said "freak of the week," I mean they would deal with some bizarro and usually very gross incident, solve the case, and then move on to something else next week. It was only in Season 2 that you started to see a main idea develop and be carried on from episode to episode, which I think does make it different from The X-Files. That's my take.

Unknown said...

T-Rav: I got hooked later than usual. I turned its premier episode on, saw Pacey from Dawson's Creek, and switched to the Cooking Channel. But by the time everything else was in re-runs, I gave it another try. It is as good as you say. I guess I'll NetFlix the early episodes since the show does require having some background from the early material to know exactly what's going on now.

Anonymous said...

Yay!

I enjoy Fringe a lot. I always have to watch episodes the next day on Hulu since my NBC comedies are first priority on Thursday nights. :-)

I think the show manages to walk a fine line between arc-based stories and "oddity of the week" stories which, from what I understand, X-Files had to deal with as well. (I've never seen any X-Files episodes but it's on my to-do list.) I'm a bit squeamish with the gore and I think the grossest thing thus far involved Walter, a dead body, and a meat thermometer.

I, too, am glad it was renewed for another season but the fact that it doesn't do well in the ratings only adds fuel to the "Are audiences turned off by sci-fi?" fire, though I admit the networks are sloooowly getting more flexible and creative in this area. Lost managed to get around this because the sci-fi elements were a little more in the background than they are in this show.

I'm actually a member of the "Give John Noble an Emmy!" group on Facebook but I doubt their efforts will bear fruit. All the actors are great and I find Miss Torv (she's Australian) to be quite attractive, despite someone telling me she looks like she's in a constant state indigestion.

Unfortunately, after shooting in NYC for season 1, they had to move back to Canada due to financial reasons. I would've loved to work on it as a background extra. Thankfully, the show isn't as dreary- or cheap-looking as other "Made in Canada!" shows and movies. And every now and then, the FX artists will add the Empire State Building or some other landmark into the background. It was fun nitpicking their version of Hoboken Terminal. :-)

rlaWTX said...

I missed the beginning and never could find a way in after that. Maybe I'll Netflix it - sounds interesting.
You left out the only reason I even went to check it out at all - Mark Valley! When I discovered him on Human Target (THEY CANCELLED IT!!), I discovered he had been on Fringe, so I tried watching it - too far along and very confusing... need to start at the beginning, I think.

as for X-Files, my ex was a fan. I saw most of the middle and the ending ones... it was interesting, once-in-a-while... and if Happy Days hadn't invented jumping the shark, then X-Files would have!!! overall, over-rated.

T-Rav said...

Ed, while I haven't seen all of Lost (especially the middle seasons), I would say that so far it's doing a better job of answering the questions raised, and I suspect Abrams and company may in fact have learned from that experience. A few of the subplots have been wrapped up without, in my opinion, being sufficiently addressed, but not most. Most of the big questions from this season were in fact answered in the finale, which in fact would have been a satisfactory conclusion for the entire series if not for one or two twists.

T-Rav said...

Thanks Jed! I actually saw Eleventh Hour, some of its episodes at least, and I enjoyed it for the most part, although I did think that some of its initial promise was scaled down. The premiere seemed to indicate that it would be a show dealing with extraordinary and even supposed-to-be-impossible events--in other words, much like Fringe. But if I remember right, a lot of the cases turned out to be pretty conventional once explained. That said, I did like it, and it did benefit from doing the "hot FBI chick protecting dorky scientist" bit before others repeated it ad infinitum.

(Also, I don't mind that so much of our entertainment is lifted from British TV, as long as it's done well. "The Office," another favorite show of mine, would be a good example of this--the early seasons, that is.)

Tam said...

T-Rav...if you missed season 3 of Lost, then get your butt on netflix RIGHT NOW and watch it. I'll be waiting. If you watched season 3, then how in the name of all that is good and holy did you not keep watching?

T-Rav said...

JG, that's how I feel about it, although there have been some epic online wars where Lost is concerned (among those who still care, I think the "mystery" advocates and the "character" advocates eventually just stopped speaking to each other).

Speaking of which, I think these shows were also hurt by the fact that Lost was really the first show to do this sort of thing, and by the time they came along, it was no longer original or as interesting. And they did do it badly, more or less: I can't comment on FlashForward, but The Event would be a good recent example of a show that crashed and burned quickly because it spent all its time trying to answer questions and wasn't making us care about the characters. In short, it violated what I now call the Harry Plinkett Rule--whatever else you do or don't do, make sure the audience feels emotionally invested in and connected to what you're giving them. (I'm assuming at least a few people will get what I'm referencing.)

T-Rav said...

LawHawk, you just gave the reason why there are any women 30 and under who watch the show. :-)

You do need some background to catch up to present day, but not as much as you'd think. I'd say the first few episodes and then the finale of Season 1, followed by the Season 2 premiere and pretty much all of the second half, should get you to number three, which is the one just concluded. That second half (and the first half of season 3) is really the meat of the show; I can't say enough about it.

T-Rav said...

Scott, why must you post such long replies? Why??? (Just kidding.)

The fact that the ratings have slowly declined does bother me, but I don't think it's likely to be fatal--not now, at least. Luckily, the show has built up a hard core of devoted fans (see, for example, the "Give John Noble an Emmy" page--I really need to join that), and the high DVR returns help.

I don't think the gross factor is as high as it used to be, though it generally doesn't bother me--the only thing that flipped my stomach a bit was when they showed a bacterium or something that had been expanded somehow to the size of a small animal and it came crawling out of a man's throat. Yeah, I probably shouldn't have been so detailed about that. But they're dealing with different topics now, so it doesn't happen as much.

Actually, with the past season, in which there was a lot of universe-hopping, one fun thing to do is look for differences between our universe and the alternate one. There are obvious ones--over there, the WTC is still standing, and Kennedy was never assassinated--but there are also subtle ones. For example, you see an advertisement for the new season of The West Wing once or twice, and I once noticed a homeless man with a placard identifying himself as a veteran of the "Aruba War." Little stuff like that is fun to watch for, I think.

T-Rav said...

rla, who? Oh...just kidding, just kidding! :-)

Mark Valley doesn't actually appear much; he's fairly prominent in the pilot but only makes a few brief appearances thereafter, and I don't think he's been on at all after Season 1. So take that into account, I guess.

See my advice to LawHawk above on which episodes to catch. I don't think it requires that much background; you could almost start with Season 2 (or the Season 1 finale) and go from there. As for X-Files, I'll defer to your judgment, which is basically what I've heard from other people.

T-Rav said...

Jeez, Tam! Jump down my neck, why don't you? I don't actually have a Netflix account (or whatever it is you have to have) and I'm notoriously miserly with things like that anyway. But as to your question, I really only started watching Lost in Season 5, then went back and got through Season 1 and part of 2 before Hulu or whatever it was pulled it. I'm intending to get to the rest of the show eventually, but there are only so many hours in the day.

Anonymous said...

Scott, why must you post such long replies? Why??? (Just kidding.)

I've been over that with Andrew and I've been assured it's not an issue! :-D (My long articles, however, could pose a problem.)

I love the universe-hopping but, being a die-hard fan of Star Trek and the Back to the Future films, it simply comes with the territory. There's even a list of differences between the two universes. I even love their alternate nicknames: "Bolivia," "Fauxlivia," and "Walternate."

AndrewPrice said...

Scott, I can't believe you've never seen the X-Files?! Did your family not have a television growing up?

Yes, long comments are fine, but long articles = bad. Trust me, I struggle to keep my articles as short as possible, though I often fail.

If you're a big NBC sitcom fan, then you're not going to be thrilled with my sitcom rant in a couple weeks. LOL!

Anonymous said...

Andrew -

I enjoy Community, The Office, Parks and Recreation, and 30 Rock. I also love Seinfeld and Newsradio but I'm proud to say I've never seen an episode of Friends or most of their other crap. Are you referring to 30-minute comedies in general or just 3-camera shows with canned laughter?

Of course my folks had a TV (a few, actually)! I just didn't get into the show when it was on. It's on Netflix Instant but I have a backlog of several shows to watch first, including Star Trek which is progressing quite slowly.

Tam said...

Okay, T-Rav you are excused. For now. Although, I confess I am half tempted to tell you my username and password so you can get on netflix RIGHT NOW and watch season 3.

AndrewPrice said...

Tam, I read the other day that Tennessee is passing a law making it illegal to share a Netflix account.


Scott, Sitcoms in general and Friends and Roseanne in particular -- at least what they led to. It'll post in a couple weeks. Next week, we have an article from Jed on Westerns. :-)

T-Rav said...

Scott, I was a little afraid my article would be too long and cut it down as much as I felt I could and still make my point. But Andrew didn't say anything, so I'm assuming there wasn't a problem. (hint hint)

Personally, I prefer Altlivia. Because it's more accurate: she isn't necessarily a bad person, as the show was at some pains to establish, and she's not "faux," either, simply an alternate version of Olivia. But Walter did call her "Fauxlivia" in an episode, so I guess that makes it official.

Tam said...

Andrew, I wouldn't really share my account, I'm just half tempted. That's all. You shouldn't be allowed to share accounts. It's cheating and should be illegal if provable. I suppose if I gave T-Rav (and subsequently all commentarama readers) my account info, it would easily be provable.

AndrewPrice said...

Tam, I figured, I was just pointing out the Netflix thing because I heard it for the first time yesterday and I thought it was interesting.

AndrewPrice said...

T_Rav & Scott, Shorter is always better. Sometimes you can't cover the topic in a short piece though. But I try not to make a habit of it.

In general, I try to keep articles no longer than 2 "page downs." The films are usually 3 "page downs" because of the extra images. Some of the longer ones are 4 pages, but I won't go longer than that or it's just too long.

I figure that blogs have replaced magazines, and magazines generally went with articles about 2 "page downs" in length. And I've found that when you start to get above 3, people don't tend to read them.

T-Rav said...

Tam, I'll gladly take you up on that offer. In fact, I'll start watching right now if you'll give me that info. Although I figure I should probably have your Social Security number and maybe your bank account number and password as well, just for, you know, security reasons, keeping my bases covered and all that.

T-Rav said...

Andrew, that sounds reasonable. I tried to gauge my article by checking some of the others on the site; there were just so many points I wanted to add in. Once I get on a roll, it's hard to stop.

By the way, how do I, uh, do the "Follow" thing you mentioned? (No cracks about my Internet skills or lack thereof, please.)

T-Rav said...

P.S. Andrew, I'm just kidding about wanting Tam's personal info (for legal reasons).

Homer Simpsonsmith said...

Hello Tam and Mr. Rav,

I am needing of help and I see you are posts and think you are trusting. I possessed $52 million in account in Nigeria that my uncle gave me before he expired in tragic plain cast last year. I money into US must. Please send unto me you are Netflix account numbers to help get money into United of States so that I may buy luxury condo for my dead grandmother who currently lives in an orphanage.

Anonymous said...

^Hmm, I think this sign needs a new addition. :-)

AndrewPrice said...

T_Rav, Go down one page down and on the right you will see "followers." There is a button there that says "follow." Hit the button and follow the instructions to follow publicly.


Sometimes, there is just too much to say to keep it short. I run into that a lot. You would be amazed how much I have to take out sometimes. The LOTR article, for example, was originally 8 pages and had to be trimmed to just over 4. It stinks to take things out, but we've definitely seen that people don't want super long articles.

AndrewPrice said...

Scott, I chose the Simpsonsmith name because I get spam all day from Russia and Nigeria and the names are almost always a joke. They clearly don't know what American names are. But the Homer Simpson part was also a reference to the Gulf War, where (supposedly) Iraqi psych-ops was broadcasting messages to US soldiers to go home because while they were sweating in the desert, their wives were at home having sex with Homer Simpson. Apparently, they didn't know he was a cartoon.

(Assuming that's a true story... I like to think it is.)

T-Rav said...

Can do, Simpsonsmith! I would like to ask, though, would it be possible to send me, after you've gotten your money into the U.S. of course, a small reward for my troubles? Not to sound too bold, but I think we could help each other. Let me know, and I can get those account numbers to ya right away.

T-Rav said...

Okay, got it now. Thanks Andrew.

Wait...YOU'RE Simpsonsmith?!?! I've been bamboozled!!!

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Andrew-

Okay, I'll follow you guys! I thought a link on my sidebar was enough, but noooo.
So not only am I a sidebar follower, I'm a follower follower.
Are you happy now?

Just remember, with great responsibility comes great power so I expect Fringe benefits.
Then I might feel Justified. :^)

BTW, good to see you guys branching out into TV.

T-Rav: Excellent review, which is difficult to do with Fringe.
You really captured the essence of the show.
Brains, heart, funny, intrigue, drama, funny...all while focusing on the growth of the characters with some good scifi thrown in for good measure.

And as you mentioned, seeing them touch on the metaphysical was a real treat.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Incidently, for those who like Fringe I highly recommend Supernatural (on the WB network)!
Another outstanding series (the first five seasons are on Netflix).

AndrewPrice said...

Ben, Thanks for hit the magic following button! :-)

Yeah, we're going to expand in television too. TV and films (and sometimes books) are all related so we want to be sure to cover the things we cover from all angles. Indeed, next Wednesday, Jed is going to talk about television Westerns.

AndrewPrice said...

T_Rav, Yeah, that was me. I'm really from Nigeria and Commentarama was nothing but a ploy to get bank account information. Very sad. :-(

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Andrew, T-Rav, Scott:

IRT length, at least you can add stuff in the comments. That's one of the reasons I read all the comments, besides the fact that everyone here has good, quality comments to make. :^)

Also, I appreciate the short to fairly short paragraph formats you guys use.
It's easier to keep track of where I left off when my wife distracts me with honeydo stuff and/or a frying pan, lol.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Andrew:

Glad to help. I don't need it personally, since I go back to check what I miss on my sidebar (which only has a blurb of the current post) but I think it helps with publicity.
The blogosphere needs to see what it's missing.

AndrewPrice said...

Ben, Yep. That's intentional with the idea being it makes it easier for people to read than long block paragraphs. Life is too short to struggle through those.

Thanks for the publicity! :-) I agree actually, I think one thing people check when they get to blogs is the number of followers. If there aren't many, they don't stick around. We actually get many times the number of visitors as we have followers (both here and on the main site) but there's no way to show that. So every little bit helps!

Tam said...

Eesh! I'm gone for a few hours and all of a sudden a stalking/identity theft ring pops up! All I wanted was for T-Rav to see "NOT PENNY'S BOAT!"

T-Rav said...

Ack, fell asleep on the couch accidentally and of course I miss several posts.

Thanks for the compliments, Ben; there are a lot of elements that go into the show, and they need to be mentioned. I haven't been able to get interested in Supernatural, personally, but a lot of people I know watch it religiously and say it's a great series. I may give it a shot again.

Great mashup of pop culture references, by the way :-)

T-Rav said...

I can't believe I've been taken to the cleaners like that, Andrew. Oh well, it'll be all right. I just invested $3000 in an Internet friend who's going to quickly grow our funds using some plan I've never heard of, Ponzi something I think, and then I'll be set for life. So there!

T-Rav said...

Ben, good to know. Um...is that frying pan thing a regular occurrence at your house? 'Cuz it sounds like you might be in an abusive relationship or something. You need to get out of there, man.

T-Rav said...

Tam, who is this Penny you speak of? Is there a boat on Lost now?

See, I wouldn't have this confusion if I had your personal Netflix info! Help a guy out here! :-)

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Just kiddin' T-Rav. I was speaking metaphorically.
We're fast approaching 30 years of marriage and there has been no flying objects hurled in my direction for at least 25 years. :^)

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