How can I even begin to describe the awesomeness of Fringe, season two?
Gene the cow in a birthday hat is pretty awesome. But it does not even begin to cover the amazing continuing overall story arcs and character arcs. Questions are answered. More questions are raised. I grow to care more and more for the characters with each episode. The feelings I have experienced this season can be attributed to some amazing storytelling.
Every character grows, the plot thickens, and the relationships between the characters grow more complex. And just when all seems right between two people, something inevitably happens to make things go awry again. Really, it’s so hard to talk about this season without spoiling anything, but every episode added to the characters, to their interpersonal relationships, and the overall mythology of Fringe that becomes more and more fascinating, especially at the halfway point of the season, from the episode Jacksonville on.
In Jacksonville, we get more of Olivia’s back story. In Peter, we get more of his back story. We learn more about Walter in both too, as well as in other episodes, such as White Tulip, when we see just how haunted Walter has been over the years by decisions he has made. And just when things get super tense, we are offered a reprieve with the episode Brown Betty, a slightly musical episode (really, it’s quite light on the music) where Walter tells Olivia’s niece Ella a story that seems to have some basis in reality, or at least Walter’s perception of reality, but is a charming, fictional tale where old and new meet.
And then we get Northwest Passage, where we get back to the present tense, and Peter must come face to face with his own demons.
And then the two-part finale… with the second part seemingly wrapping things up well then BAM! I can’t elaborate any further, but it’s intense.
Seriously guys, I love this show. Just watch it.
Season two was better than season one, but I am anticipating that the best is yet to come.
If you’ve seen Fringe, what are your thoughts on season two? If not, do you have questions about the show that I can answer for you?
I mentioned recently that my husband and I have been watching the TV show Fringe on DVD. I have noticed that in the last couple of weeks, I have found myself growing more fond of the names Peter and Olivia, both of which are names of main characters on the show. I never really disliked these names before, but I didn’t particularly love them either. They were just fine for me. But now I find myself liking them more as I come to like the characters.
But I think I have to be predisposed to like the name somewhat first in order for this phenomena to happen. When I read The Hunger Games, I found myself liking the name Peeta as I liked the character. I have never known a Peeta in my life, but of course it does resemble Peter. But on the other hand, I didn’t find myself growing to like the name Katniss. I think it’s the right fit for Katniss and I went from thinking it was a stupid name at first to an appropriate name for a character, but let’s just say it didn’t hold quite the same charm for me. And it wasn’t like I was going to name a baby Peeta but… let’s just say there was a period of time where if someone else decided to do it, I wouldn’t have judged them too harshly for it.
It’s interesting to me how our perceptions of names can change due to fictional characters with these names. There are some names that seem type-casted to fit a certain kind of character. I remember my senior year of high school when my yearbook/journalism teacher, whose first name was Chip, lamented that characters named Chip are always some lame sidekick. I have found with my name, Amy, the character is generally pretty self-centered and weak-willed, which makes me sad.
I’m going to throw your writing in the fire and then steal the guy you should have ended up with… (OK, I don’t actually hate Amy in Little Women, but she’s no Jo.)
As someone who is constantly creating new characters in my head, I think about names fairly frequently. Sometimes the idea of a story hits me first, and then I seek out the characters and the names of the characters that seem to fit best. But sometimes, seemingly out of nowhere, a character name just pops into my head that won’t go away and I know I have to write out that character. Their name is sometimes something I might have considered strange just yesterday, but today it is perfect for my character. Sometimes I think of traditional names (Catherine), trendier names (Harper), and sometimes names that I just have no idea where they came from (Noa, for a girl, like Noah without a H… this one happened recently). When I think of the name of a character first, it always feels like a perfect fit when I base everything else around that, even if it’s something I would never name a real-life baby. But I also can’t help but wonder how people reading the story will respond to it. I know I have read books where I felt the character never fit their name. But I suppose we all look at names differently… there’s no way to really control how someone feels about a name.
All this to say… what’s in a name? Does your perception of a name change if you read/watch about a fictional character with that name? Has a fictional character made you like a name more or less than you did before?
Part of me wishes I had discovered this show sooner. The other part of me is glad I’m watching it now, after having seen and enjoyed more science fiction and after all the seasons are out on DVD. But regardless, my co-worker loaned me the first season, and after it sat around our house for a while, my husband and I finally started watching it. And we quickly became hooked. The first season has some flaws, which I will get to, but it was incredibly strong overall and I have thoroughly enjoyed the creative story and the characters.
Fringe has a very fascinating story line, with most episodes based on a certain element of the “fringe” sciences, which include the likes of teleportation, pyrokinesis, hypnosis, etc. The show centers on FBI agent Olivia Dunham (played by Anna Torv), who is assigned to work with the fringe science division as more and more instances involving the fringe sciences occur in Boston, New York, and the surrounding areas. These events are a part of something referred to as “the pattern,” and the goal of the division to figure out what exactly the pattern is and who is behind it, that they might be stopped. To help her, Olivia recruits fringe scientist and genius Dr. Walter Bishop (played by John Noble), but before she can recruit him out of the mental institution where he has lived for the past 17 years, she has to first recruit his son Peter Bishop (played by Joshua Jackson). She finds Peter in Iraq, who reluctantly agrees to sign Walter out of the mental institution only after Olivia tells him she knows what the FBI has on him, and she will do something about it if he won’t help. Over time, the three truly become like a wacky, dysfunctional family that you can’t help but love.
I really like Peter especially. It’s probably because of my love for The Mighty Duck movies, but he always has an intelligent quip or sarcastic remark at hand. He’s got a little bit of a shady past, but he grows throughout the season and clearly comes to care more about his dad and the others in his life. I love especially how he is always watching out for Olivia (and I hope this will turn into something more later in the show), who probably doesn’t think she needs the help; but no matter how strong a person is, they cannot stand on their own. In a way, I think Peter and Olivia need other (at least platonically) because they both have been so independent.
Walter grows leaps and bounds in the first season. He goes from being in a mental institution, to learning how to cope with the real world, to growing more happy, but at the end of the season he comes to grips with what he did in the past and how it is affecting what is happening now, and trying to cope with that. He too cares about Olivia, and of course for Peter, even if Peter doesn’t feel that way from Walter’s long absence in his life. He’s also hilarious and is always craving some food he hasn’t had in 17+ years.Olivia is extremely serious about her job and works very hard at it, not leaving room for much else in her life. Once she did open up her heart, and it ends up burning her, and it affects her throughout the season. Yet she does seem to trust Peter and Walter, as well as fellow FBI agent Charlie. We also get to see some interaction between Olivia and her sister and niece, which shows a more familial side of her. She is exactly the kind of female character I enjoy.
All the minor characters are complex and interesting too, with the exception of one who is just so annoying it’s not even funny, but let’s just say they take care of it on the show. Several of the major and minor characters seem to operating in various shades of gray, and it will take time to see their true colors. One character that I really like but feels a little flatter than some of the others is Astrid, a junior FBI agent who’s always in the lab with Walter. Thankfully, her character is on the show for all five seasons, so I imagine she will continue to grow.
Oh yes, and there’s a cow named Gene. She’s awesome. 🙂
I don’t want to say too much more about the overall story line, because it’s so much more fun to discover it on your own. Let’s just say that just when you think the show is getting a little formulaic (still very interesting, but formulaic nonetheless), they throw you some curve balls and plot twists, and they really shake things up at the end (though sadly I kind of knew some of it was coming, partly due to listening to speculations from a podcast called The Fringe Podcast and partly due to the show being out long enough and having apparently picked up on at least a couple of spoilers accidentally). Season One is clearly just the beginning of a story that continues for four more seasons.
I do have one really big beef with season one in how one particular story arc and character arc was “resolved” and handled. I don’t want to get specific, but it starts in the pilot episode and the “resolve” happens about halfway through the first season, and it feels extremely inconsistent. I am hoping it’s not the actual end and that it will come up again, because it really did not feel right at all. With this in mind, as well as with the hope that the subsequent seasons will just get better and better, I am going to rate season one of Fringe four out of five stars.
This is an extremely strong first season for a show, and I would highly recommend it. I will warn it can be a little gory sometimes, but just look away for a little while and you’ll be fine. It’s worth it to watch this show play out. It’s intelligent, funny, and dramatic all at once.
Have you seen Fringe? What are your thoughts on it? (No spoilers please, as I have only seen season 1 and the first two episodes of season 2 thus far!)
Gene the cow in a birthday hat is pretty awesome. But it does not even begin to cover the amazing continuing overall story arcs and character arcs. Questions are answered. More questions are raised. I grow to care more and more for the characters with each episode. The feelings I have experienced this season can be attributed to some amazing storytelling.
Every character grows, the plot thickens, and the relationships between the characters grow more complex. And just when all seems right between two people, something inevitably happens to make things go awry again. Really, it’s so hard to talk about this season without spoiling anything, but every episode added to the characters, to their interpersonal relationships, and the overall mythology of Fringe that becomes more and more fascinating, especially at the halfway point of the season, from the episode Jacksonville on.
And then the two-part finale… with the second part seemingly wrapping things up well then BAM! I can’t elaborate any further, but it’s intense.
Olivia is extremely serious about her job and works very hard at it, not leaving room for much else in her life. Once she did open up her heart, and it ends up burning her, and it affects her throughout the season. Yet she does seem to trust Peter and Walter, as well as fellow FBI agent Charlie. We also get to see some interaction between Olivia and her sister and niece, which shows a more familial side of her. She is exactly the kind of female character I enjoy.
