Fringe takes a somewhat interesting, if unoriginal, concept and utterly fails to execute it properly. The show is quite visually interesting, but underachieved uniformly in every other aspect. The plot was wholly predictable, the dialogue was cheesy and the characters read like a list of TV show clichés. Smart, sexy FBI agent willing to play by her own rules to get the job done? Check. An authoritative, patronizing boss for said FBI agent? Check. Eccentric genius whose brilliance is matched only by his insanity? Check. And if those weren’t enough to satisfy your thirst for uninspired characters, they even threw in a naysayer to do nothing but point out how ridiculous the group’s plan was several dozens times. Apparently, when it comes to television stereotypes, three’s a crowd, but four’s just right.
These characters might have still been worth watching if they were well acted. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Anna Torv gives what is sure to become the most dull, wooden performance of the fall season in the lead role of Olivia Dunham. The rest of the cast, while not terrible, fails to arouse interest with performances that were nothing above average.
Not to be outdone, the writers (J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman) produced a script that ensured that the characters and the actors who portrayed them were not the worst thing the show had to offer. The plot was predictable and had gaping holes in logic. It centers around Olivia’s co-worker/secret lover John Scott who has contracted a never-before seen disease. She must race to find a cure to the mysterious ailment and who created it (Spoiler: She does). At one point a dangerous, criminally insane scientist is released from a high security prison/institution and all he needed was a signature from a blood relative. Evidently getting released from a high security prison is as simple as getting released from elementary school. Later on, the aforementioned scientist claims that the only way to do a certain possible live-saving experiment is for Olivia to be naked. No reason why is asked for or given, but one would assume it has something to do with him just having gotten out of prison after a long sentence. The story finally culminates in a "twist" that, while somewhat unexpected, just seemed forced and pointless.
On the whole the Fringe pilot was just a sub-par rehash of what sci-fi fans will have seen a million times before. It does contain a few interesting moments that show it could get better as the series progresses, but as of now, all it is is a disappointing follow up show from the man who created the far superior Lost. Do you agree or disagree? Sound off below.
Comments
I think you might be being a little harsh. The show is certainly not perfect, and indeed it is no Lost, but I think it has promise. Lance Reddick has nothing to work with so his chracter was alittle dry in the pilot but I didn't think Torv was noticeably bad. I kind of liked her. As far as her getting "naked" well she wasn't but she was entering a sensory deprivation water tank. What is she supposed to wear? A wet suit? New shows need ratings and that means skin. How likely is it that a woman is going to break out her string bikini hours after being in a tramatic plane crash ala Shannon on Lost? I think this show can be interesting. Jackson, Torv, and Denethor had chemistry and I found the dialogue effectively humorous. Fringe is certainly light years ahead of Moronic Woman or any other Lost clone that has come out in the last few years.
Posted By HoboCode | September 16, 2008 6:39 AM
Totally disagree with you, sorry. You're being way too harsh on this. This show does not need to "live up to" "Lost" - it's not "Lost," and as a hard-core sci-fi fan, I appreciate the different turns this new show is going to take. It was refreshing, for example, to have a show which was almost completely unlike "Lost," yet which I trusted to be good because of JJ. And it was. Maybe pull away the "Lost is the best show ever" goggles the next epi and try and see it through fresh eyes? And another thing - Anna Torv was excellent. Though I recall everyone saying in the first season of "Lost" how Evie couldn't act...
Posted By Nellie | September 16, 2008 8:07 AM
I was disappointed there were no Geronimo Jackson references :(
Posted By Natimike | September 16, 2008 10:07 AM
This reviewer is ridiculously wrong, as I believe the flood of comments to come will show (that is if people still follow this site). Of course the show is not Lost. Nothing is. Abrams has already come out and said that Fringe will not be as serialized as Lost. They want it to be a bit easier to follow. But every point you made against the show is completely ignorant. Question one, who is cousinwalter and what makes him eligible to tell an entire site that a promising new series is terrible? Subpar is a good word... for your review skills.
Anna Torv does give a good performance. The "ingeniously insane" doctor you speak of wasn't locked down for being a criminal, he was institutionalized for being a possible mental case. There are plenty of other logic faults of yours that I'm not even going to waste my time on. But if your going to research something, at least pretend you care about doing it right.
Posted By Jeff | September 16, 2008 10:43 AM
Some people who post comments here need to learn the difference between an opinion and a fact. Those labeling the review "wrong" are clearly unaware of that distinction. You may have a different opinion of the show, but that does not make the reviewer wrong.
Posted By Zen | September 16, 2008 11:08 AM
some of the points made but the show wasn't that bad. Olivia is a bit stiff and I agree getting Dr. Squirty out of the asylum and setting up his lab seemed a bit too easy and quick. But as someone said, this doesn't have to live up to Lost, it just has to be entertaining. Oh and yeah, why did she have to be in her underwear to go in to the tank? Oh that's right, because she's hot - duh! It hasn't grabbed me the way Lost has, but I'm willing to tune for the time being.
Posted By Deneph | September 16, 2008 2:26 PM
Can people stop comparing this to Lost...I mean. Sure wasn't perfect, but it was fun. And your review was really too harsh. For somebody that hasn't watched the pilot, a line like "Later on, the aforementioned scientist claims that the only way to do a certain possible live-saving experiment is for Olivia to be naked."
She didn't even get naked. Have you seen Altered States?
Whatever, tune in or don't..i'll tune in.
Posted By ariel | September 16, 2008 3:39 PM
Whoa, lotta hostility around here. I've never seen the show, but judging from the many commercials I've seen (which you can't judge much from) it looks like a descent show at least worth watching five or six episodes of. But from this review I can tell this cousinwalter guy is fairly impatient and was expecting blow your mind Lost epic from the beginning (no disrespect walter, just gotta remember everything can't be as good as Lost, if that could only be the case). I usually like to give shows quite a few episodes to get up some steam before I shun them.
I plan on checking this show out very soon though, can anyone tell me what station it's on so i could perhaps watch online?
Posted By DocArtz'Ghost | September 17, 2008 12:45 AM
I wanted to like Fringe but found the pilot to be mediocre. Still, the meta-story seemed to have some promise so I figured it wouldn't hurt to try a few more episodes and see what they come up with.
Towards the end of last night's episode though, I realized I was done and could find better things to do on a Tuesday night. Cousinwalter summed up my thoughts on the main characters and acting rather nicely and frankly the central 'mystery' of each episode so far has been a bit lackluster.
I had no expectations going in and never expected it to be another Lost. I just found many aspects of both episodes to be very underwhelming.
Posted By Warhorse | September 17, 2008 10:07 AM
I haven't watched FRINGE yet, but with almost EVERY show I watch, I TiVo a bunch of 'em, THEN watch 'em all in a row. With MOST good shows, you get a much better sense of story and what the writers/creators have intended. Much like watching shows on DVD that I have only recently been introduced to.
Posted By Uncle Beaver | September 17, 2008 2:29 PM
I have to agree that it was disappointing. I tried to keep my expectations low and of course try to not compare it to Lost which is perfect on almost every level. The idea is there with this show.. but parts were just poorly executed so far. There were def. obviously holes/inconsistancies. And YES the characters are VERY cliche which is kinda shocking given the amazing characters of Lost. Josh Jackson's character seems to have the same line.. reworded.. over and over. Like the writer of this post said.. he's there for an unsuccessful attempt to proclaim disbelief of the far fetched story. I think that it's mostly a case of trying to come out of the gate too fast... instead of easing into it. We're smashed in the face with over the top sci-fi and to try to keep the show semi-grounded.. we get Jackson saying "this cant be" over and over in different ways. Hopefully the show will lead into a deeper mythology.. like Lost.. which would def. help. The humor is also poorly placed. We just have to remember that since Lost.. the bar from anything Abrams touches will be pretty high.. but we also need to remember that JJ in reality does not have much to do with what Lost has become..
Posted By ssjm1221 | September 17, 2008 4:00 PM
runescape money runescape gold runescape">http://www.runescapemoney-runescapegold.cn>runescape money buy runescape gold buy">http://www.runescapemoney-runescapegold.cn>buy runescape money runescape money runescape gold wow power leveling wow powerleveling Warcraft Power Leveling Warcraft PowerLeveling buy runescape gold buy runescape money runescape itemsrunescape accounts runescape gp dofus kamas buy dofus kamas Guild Wars Gold buy Guild Wars Gold lotro gold buy lotro gold lotro gold buy lotro gold lotro gold buy lotro gold runescape money runescape power leveling runescape money runescape gold dofus kamas cheap runescape money cheap runescape gold Hellgate Palladium Hellgate London Palladium Hellgate money Tabula Rasa gold tabula">http://www.vgoldseller.com/tabula-rasa-c-1107.html>tabula rasa money Tabula Rasa Credit Tabula Rasa Credits Hellgate gold Hellgate London gold wow power leveling wow powerleveling Warcraft PowerLeveling Warcraft Power Leveling World of Warcraft PowerLeveling World of Warcraft Power Leveling runescape power leveling runescape powerleveling eve isk eve online isk eve isk eve online isk tibia gold Fiesta Silver Fiesta Gold
Age of Conan Gold
buy Age of Conan Gold
aoc gold
呼吸机
无创呼吸机
家用呼吸机
呼吸机
家用呼吸机
美国呼吸机
篮球培训
篮球培训班
篮球夏令营
china tour
beijing tour
beijing travel
china tour
tibet tour
tibet travel
computer monitoring software
employee monitoring
Posted By willpoy | December 10, 2008 11:49 PM
LOST - Sponsors
The Lost Boys
"Others" Among Us
Subscribe
LOST - TheTailsection
- Dharma Special Access, Week 7
- 'Lost' Season 5 Premiere Hint #3
- 'Lost' Season 5 Premiere Hint #2
- 'Lost' Season 5 Premiere Hint #1
- Lots of Lost Spoilers at Dark UFO
- EW's Seen The First Two Episodes of Season Five!
- Vote for the Best Lost Episode of Season 4
- Top Ten Greatest Episodes Countdown - #3 "Deus Ex Machina"
- Dharma Special Access, Week 6...Strange Coincidence?
- Dark UFO has Season Five Spoilers
- The Latest 'Lost' Season Five Trailer
- Dharma Special Access, Week 5
- Vote for the Best 'Lost' Episode of Season 3
- New Tailsection Forum layout for a new season!
- New Lost Season 5 Promo Postcards
- Lost Named One of TV's Top Ensemble Casts
- New Season 5 Trailer
- Lost Snubbed at Screen Actors Guild Nominations
- The Men of Lost Well Represented on TV's 50 Sexiest Men of 2008 List
- Jorge Garcia Sharing Spoilers with TV Guide
- New Cast Photos
- New Sneak Peek at Season Five
- Top Ten Greatest Episodes Countdown - #4 "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues"
- Dharma Special Access, Week 4
- Write a 'Lost' Haiku, Win Season 4 on DVD
- Season 5 Will Be Aired Uninterrupted
- Josh Holloway to Be a Father
- Coverage of the Darlton Roundtable
- Top Ten Greatest Episodes Countdown - #5 "There's No Place Like Home"
- Dharma Special Access, Week 3! Plus Namaste Ringtone!
LOST - Archives
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- April 2004
LOST - Article Categories
- LOST Book Reviews (5)
- LOST Polls (1)
- Lost At Comic-Con! (10)
- Lost Cast (3)
- Lost Easter Eggs (21)
- Lost Headlines (27)
- Lost Interactive (4)
- Lost Interviews (26)
- Lost Links (1)
- Lost Mythology (15)
- Lost News (906)
- Lost Newswire (11)
- Lost Predictions (4)
- Lost Recaps (45)
- Lost Rumors (1)
- Lost Satire (1)
- Lost Spoilers (212)
- Lost Theories (74)
- Lost Videos (2)
- Lostpendium (28)
- Lost Characters (1)
- Dharma Initiative Employees
- Oceanic Flight 815 Survivors: Front Section (1)
- Oceanic Flight 815 Survivors: Tail Section
- Off-Island Connections
- Other Survivors on the Island
- People Born on Island
- The Others
- Lost Episodes (26)
- Lost Events
- At Sydney Airport
- Before Arriving at Sydney Airport
- Crash of Oceanic Flight 815
- Events After Crash
- Events After Island
- Lost Places
- Ancient Island Sites
- Australia
- Dharma Sites
- General Island Sites
- General Off Island Sites
- Iraq
- Oceanic Flight 815 Survivor Sites
- South Korea
- UK
- USA
- Lost Things
- Books (1)
- Objects in Swan
- Lost Characters (1)
- TheTailsection Interviews (6)