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.