I expected more from FRINGE (**1/2), the latest big-budget TV series from LOST and ALIAS mastermind J.J. Abrams, who developed the series and wrote the pilot script with TRANSFORMERS writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman for FOX. Directed by TV vet Alex Graves (THE NINE, WEST WING, SPORTS NIGHT, JOURNEYMAN), this extended episode (82 minutes) felt less like a true pilot and more of a middle-of-the-season-episode. The series revolves around a cute, blonde FBI agent named Olivia (Anna Torv) who is forced to work with a supposedly insane scientist named Bishop (John Noble) and his genius son Peter (Joshua Jackson) in order to solve weird and strange crimes that go beyond the normal call of duty. Basically, it's a new attempt at an X-FILES-ish type procedural with a paranomal twist. It's just that most of it felt stale and tired. The opening 10 minutes were the best. A plane full of people are going through a severe electical storm at 35,000 feet. One of the passengers looks extremely sick and starts moving around the shaking plane cabin. All of a sudden, his skin begins melting right off his body and before long, he's infected everyone on the plane; everyone is melting and falling apart. It's all fairly gross and pretty exciting. Thanks to the plane's newly installed "automatic landing system," the plane lands in Boston and the Feds are called in. What happened? Was it bio-terrorism? Or something else? It's a nice set-up but sadly, the show went nowhere exciting. There is a late-in-the-episode twist and one or two surprises along the way but most of FRINGE felt routine and pedestrian. The dialogue is average and the pacing was a bit lethargic; they should cut this down to a brisk hour instead of running it as a "two-hour special event," as FOX will no doubt bill it as. There was a nice, movie-style car-flip during a climactic chase which was nice to see in a television show. And the "super-titles" that tell the viewer where the action is taking place (i.e. Boston, MA or airport or stock yard) are extremely stylish. It adds nothing to the story but they are cool to look at nonetheless. But you never really got to know the characters so you're rooting for them out of the normal desire to root for the heroes. And on TV, it's all about the characters. Sadly, these people are no Mulder and Scully. Far from it. Also, it must be pointed out that the show's creators totally stole a major plot device from the movie THE CELL for FRINGE; if you've seen THE CELL you will laugh out loud when a certain plot device is introduced in FRINGE. CBS has a similarily themed show coming out this fall called 11th HOUR, which was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and based on a hit British show about paranormal investigations. Hopefully that one turns out better than FRINGE did. I might check out the second and third episodes of FRINGE later this fall, but it's off my radar as "appointment TV."Thursday, May 22, 2008
PILOT REVIEW: FRINGE (**1/2)
I expected more from FRINGE (**1/2), the latest big-budget TV series from LOST and ALIAS mastermind J.J. Abrams, who developed the series and wrote the pilot script with TRANSFORMERS writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman for FOX. Directed by TV vet Alex Graves (THE NINE, WEST WING, SPORTS NIGHT, JOURNEYMAN), this extended episode (82 minutes) felt less like a true pilot and more of a middle-of-the-season-episode. The series revolves around a cute, blonde FBI agent named Olivia (Anna Torv) who is forced to work with a supposedly insane scientist named Bishop (John Noble) and his genius son Peter (Joshua Jackson) in order to solve weird and strange crimes that go beyond the normal call of duty. Basically, it's a new attempt at an X-FILES-ish type procedural with a paranomal twist. It's just that most of it felt stale and tired. The opening 10 minutes were the best. A plane full of people are going through a severe electical storm at 35,000 feet. One of the passengers looks extremely sick and starts moving around the shaking plane cabin. All of a sudden, his skin begins melting right off his body and before long, he's infected everyone on the plane; everyone is melting and falling apart. It's all fairly gross and pretty exciting. Thanks to the plane's newly installed "automatic landing system," the plane lands in Boston and the Feds are called in. What happened? Was it bio-terrorism? Or something else? It's a nice set-up but sadly, the show went nowhere exciting. There is a late-in-the-episode twist and one or two surprises along the way but most of FRINGE felt routine and pedestrian. The dialogue is average and the pacing was a bit lethargic; they should cut this down to a brisk hour instead of running it as a "two-hour special event," as FOX will no doubt bill it as. There was a nice, movie-style car-flip during a climactic chase which was nice to see in a television show. And the "super-titles" that tell the viewer where the action is taking place (i.e. Boston, MA or airport or stock yard) are extremely stylish. It adds nothing to the story but they are cool to look at nonetheless. But you never really got to know the characters so you're rooting for them out of the normal desire to root for the heroes. And on TV, it's all about the characters. Sadly, these people are no Mulder and Scully. Far from it. Also, it must be pointed out that the show's creators totally stole a major plot device from the movie THE CELL for FRINGE; if you've seen THE CELL you will laugh out loud when a certain plot device is introduced in FRINGE. CBS has a similarily themed show coming out this fall called 11th HOUR, which was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and based on a hit British show about paranormal investigations. Hopefully that one turns out better than FRINGE did. I might check out the second and third episodes of FRINGE later this fall, but it's off my radar as "appointment TV."
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6 comments:
Curious. Where, when, how did you get to see it?
I know people...
Curious...how did you find this blog/review?
I almost gave it 3 stars, but again, I expected more from Abrams and Kurtzman/Ocri. I liked the pilot but it could've/should've been more exciting.
You know people, I have my methods :)
But seriously, I found you via blogsearch. I'm starting a Fringe fan site (http://fringetv.blogspot.com/), so it's sorta my job to stay on top of the latest.
Obviously I'm betting on it being better than good (i.e. the next LOST). Any chance there was just so much character development and back-story to cram into the pilot that it suffered as a result?
Or do you not like LOST either?
Anyway, love to get a heads-up on any future inside scoops, spoilers or exclusives. My email is in my profile and I'd appreciate it very much if you dropped me a line so we could talk about it.
I plan on reviewing a number of the new pilots so stay tuned...
Blogsearch, huh? Is that a search engine for blogs only?
Fringe couldn't hold Lost's jock-strap. I love Lost, have never missed an episode, and I consider it one of the best shows ever put on television.
The problem I had with the pilot for Fringe is that there wasn't enough character development and back story. It felt like the second or third episode of a show, with a few tossed-off lines of dialogue that clued you into the fact that it was a pilot.
As per everything with Abrams, it looks slick and has it's moments, but it's nowhere near as good as Lost.
I think we have been so wrapped around LOST, it will take something really incredible to blow past that story and characters, and create a new phenomenal series. Perhaps we need to refresh our innocence and view with an open mind and not do comparisons. We might be really surprised! I have complete faith in JJ and all his cohorts. I am very happy they are involved in television at any level. I am in for FRINGE!
Did you see the pilot for Fringe, Karen?
It aint Lost by a long shot. It's OK but it should've/could've been better.
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