I want what he's smoking!

Two of my loyal readers - or should I say, "my two loyal readers"? - have made reference in the comments of another post to how fantastic Fringe has been these past few weeks, and I wholeheartedly agree. In fact, I think it's one of the best shows on TV right now.

Last night's episode - "Brown Betty", a pot-fueled, noir fantasy sprinkled with song - might not have been everyone's cup of tea, but I thought it was fantastic. Being the geek that I am, the sci-fi aspects of the show are what drew me in, but it's the characters and emotional storytelling the keep me watching. And "Brown Betty" was filled with both, allowing us to see the characters through Walter's eyes. Both Peter and Olivia seemed more alive, somehow (and didn't she look gorgeous?), and had more chemistry together in one episode than they have had in all the others combined. Interesting that Walter sees them that way. I liked the metaphor of the glass heart, how Peter had stolen Walter's heart when he left. Walter's own view of himself - as the villain of the story, the stealer of children's dreams, someone unworthy of a happy ending - was so sad.

As far as the musical portions (mandated by FOX as part of their musical-themed week of programming), they weren't nearly as intrusive as I thought they would be, and I especially loved Broyles' song and Olivia singing "For Once In My Life" to Peter.

"Brown Betty" allowed us to pause and spend time with the characters, to understand where they are emotionally before the inevitable shit starts hitting the fan on the way to the season finale. I just hope that ultimately, when all is said and done and the show finishes its run, that Walter, Peter and Olivia get the happy ending that they deserve.

I'm looking forward to watching it again.

Fringe Winter Finale: When Universes Collide

Last night's "winter finale" episode, Jacksonville, was one of the best episodes so far, I think. From the freaky and gruesome opener to the heart-breaking end, I was totally riveted. The look on Olivia's face when she saw the glimmer around Peter was so sad. I knew what was coming, but that didn't lessen the impact of the scene, especially the look she gave Walter when he said, "Please don't tell him."

Now, while it was a good episode, I did have one problem with it: The kiss scene. I am not ashamed to say that I absolutely 'ship Peter and Olivia, and I've been hoping that the writers would eventually take them in that direction. However, the aborted kiss seemed to come out of nowhere. I have been a fan of some ridiculously long and angsty build-ups and UST-filled relationships on TV, and this one was nowhere near the kissing point, imo. The scene really wasn't earned. Peter and Olivia seemed more like brother and sister than possible romantic partners up to this point. They should have done a better job of building up to it.

Anyway, I can overlook that, especially since it looks like they probably won't be consummating that kiss any time soon.

TV Talk

V - So, what did I think of V? Well, if you had asked me that last week, after the pilot, this is how I would have responded (from an e-mail I wrote to friends):

I liked it. I liked the way they cut to the chase, dispensing with most of the major plot points of the original miniseries in the first episode - they're lizards, they're up to no good, etc., there are rebel/good Vs - instead of dragging out what a lot of people who watched the original series already knew. I thought the opening was very effective. Even though I knew what was coming, I was still on the edge of my seat. I think the cues to 9/11 and Erica's "Counterterrorism Unit" FBI badge got me in the right frame of mind.

I'm very happy with the cast, too. Elizabeth Mitchell is great, of course, and Alan Tudyk and Morena Baccarin from Firefly, and Tom from The 4400 (Father Jack) - love them all. Scott Wolfe has never done anything for me, but he's a good choice for the news anchor type. Morris Chestnut's a good actor, too.

But today is a different day, the second episode aired last night, and overall I'm pretty disappointed. Not enough to stop watching, but enough to make me think about it. If last night's episode is anything to go on, this is just a whiff of a show, with no depth whatsoever, terrible dialogue and even some pretty bad acting from some pretty good actors. I'm hoping for better next week.

FlashForward - I'm still struggling with this show, and I won't bore you with repeating the same criticisms over and over. The problems are still there, but they keep doing things with the overall mystery that keep me coming back. Last week's was one of their better episodes, mostly because of the game-changing death of Agent Gough, who had a flash forward and so according to the show's mythology so far, is supposed to be alive on April 29, 2010. He was able to take control of his fate (sadly), so what does that mean for everyone else? Does Demitri have to die? Is Olivia pre-destined to cheat on Mark? (do I care? NO.)? It's an interesting wrinkle.

Fringe - Not much to say about last week's episode except that it was a solid stand-alone that provided a more in-depth look at Broyles, which included the fact that he was married and has kids (or a kid, not sure). If you ever find yourself thinking, "Agent Broyles needs to smile more", you're wrong. He really doesn't. Oh, and that ash effect was AMAZING.

Sons of Anarchy - With the airing of last night's exceptional episode, Sons of Anarchy officially joined the ranks of the absolute best dramas on television. I'm going to cheat here and share a quote from Alan Sepinwall's review:

"Balm," the best episode so far of this exceptional second season of "Sons of Anarchy," comes along at a perfect time. "Mad Men" has just gone on hiatus. "Breaking Bad" won't be back until sometime in 2010. If you don't have DirecTV, "Friday Night Lights" won't be on TV until next summer. So "Sons of Anarchy" is, at the moment, the best drama on television, and an episode like "Balm" makes it clear the title shouldn't just be by default. Pound-for-pound, this series is as engrossing, as funny and as moving as all those others.

I don't know how the writers manage to juggle all of the intricate plot threads they have going on, and do it so well. When one of those threads pays off big time, like it did last night, it's a beautiful thing. The final scene was a long time coming, and when it did, it was so surprising, so moving, that I was in tears. Season 1 just came out on DVD. You should check it out.

A war is coming.

As if Fringe wasn't already one of the coolest shows on TV, now Trent Reznor and NIN are doing their ep promos for them:



I was NOT a happy girl when it was pre-empted last night. I had to watch FlashForward, for God's sake! (more on that later)

TV Talk: FlashForward and Fringe

I've come to a decision regarding FlashForward: I will continue to watch it, hopefully for at least the entire season, but I will not make any special effort to watch it on the same night it airs anymore. I thought last night's episode was one of the worst yet, and I thought the acting was terrible, particularly from Agent Noh, Agent Mark and the blonde terrorist lady. I thought all of the big, confrontational scenes - the trailer park, the blonde terrorist conference room scenes and even the pre-surgery/Addison's disease scene - were WAY overacted. These people are not bad actors, so I blame the writing. It felt really corny, and I think it's because the actors were trying to make something out of nothing.

Anyway, I will DVR it but I won't be losing any sleep trying to stay up to watch it on a Thursday night. Maybe catch it on the weekend.

Fringe, on the other hand, just gets better and better! Anyone else think of the X-Files episodes "Sleepless" and "Folie a Deux" last night? And there were so many layers to the dream/nightmare theme: the main MOW plot, obviously; The bowling alley guy (forget his name) made a remark that Olivia’s life was a nightmare right now; and Peter’s nightmares about (I assume) Walter taking him from the other world, etc. Good stuff.

A good friend of mine told me this morning that while she doesn't watch Fringe, she knows people who do and they have told her that it is an XF rip-off. I told her that I don’t think it’s a rip-off at all. There’s a fine line between rip-off and homage, and I think Fringe is securely on the side of homage. It is definitely a descendant of the XF, but it is also very different in its overall sensibility. It’s not as scary as XF was (overall), and there isn't that patent pervasive XF paranoia, but at the same time it’s a bit crazier since they’ve sort of dropped the skepticism and just accepted the whole parallel universe thing and are running with it now. I can be really hyper-critical about shows (see: FlashForward, above), and I had a big problem with Fringe in its first half season, but I think it is very good right now.

TV Talk: Heads Up!

Just a quick heads up for tonight:

The second season of Fringe starts tonight on FOX, at 9:00 PM. So excited!



Also starting tonight is a new comedy called Community, which stars Joel McHale from The Soup (yay!) and Chevy Chase (Boo!), and word of mouth is very good. (NBC, 9:30 PM)



One more thing, a question: Are any of you watching Leno's new show?

Really annoying Fringe sneak peek video!

What would you like to hear first: the good news or the bad news?

The good news? Fringe has been renewed! Yay!

The bad news? FOX is moving it to Thursday nights opposite 30 Rock, The Office, Grey's Anatomy and CSI.

F*ckers.

Did you know?

Did you know that Mr. Jones from Fringe is Richard Harris' son (Jared Harris)? I did not know that!

And now that I do, well, yeah, I can totally see it.

'Fringe' will be back for a second season.

Fox has renewed J.J. Abrams' thriller Fringe for a full 22-episode second season.

"Fringe proved to be a notable addition to our schedule all season, and it really has fans buzzing as it builds to a fantastic season finale," said Kevin Reilly, president of entertainment at Fox. "J.J. and the whole Bad Robot team have been phenomenal partners, and we look forward to years of making great television with them.”

YAY!

To help you get psyched for 'Fringe' tonight, a nice little interview with Anna Torv.

Torv talks to the Underwire blog at Wired.com:

Favorite scene: "You'd think it would be some big, explosive kind of thing, but we shot a scene recently in Walter and Peter's hotel room where Olivia has just discovered some things about her past and some things that Walter is connected to," Torv said. "I loved shooting that because it was the first time that Olivia really inched her way into that dynamic of Peter and Walter. She's been kind of on the outside, and wrangling them constantly, but this gave me a glimpse into realizing everything is a little bit entwined. I can't say anything more because I'll get into trouble or something."

TV Talk: Familiar Faces Return

Sort of good Pushing Daisies news! No, not that - the show's still canceled - but ABC has decided to air the final three episodes prior to releasing the season 2 DVD on July 21.

ABC is burying it deep in their schedule: They'll be showing them on Saturday nights at 10:00, beginning May 30. This is one of those times where I thank God for the Internet. Otherwise I would never have known.

Also, Fringe is back tonight! I may need to look for a recap somewhere of the most recent episode, because I have no memory of where the show left off. But that's OK - I've missed it and I'm looking forward to getting back into it. I just hope the long break didn't result in a big loss of viewership, because this show can't afford it.







ETA:

I just found out that Deadliest Catch returns tonight, too, at 9:00 PM on the Discovery Channel! Yay! I'll have to send myself an e-mail reminder to set the DVR...

TV Talk: Catching Up

A few very, very brief notes about TV stuff that isn't LOST or Battlestar Galactica (whose series finale was amazing - more on that later)...

Heroes - I never did rejoin the show after the winter break, and I deleted my season pass for it, but I heard that Bryan Fuller's first show aired last night, and I was wondering if it was worth him leaving Pushing Daisies? Seriously, was it any good, or any different?

24 - This season has been really good, in case you're wondering.

Fringe - The show returns to Tuesdays on FOX on April 7 (2 weeks from tonight). I'm really looking forward to it starting up again. I miss Walter and Peter, and I'm starting to like Olivia.

Castle - I've seen two episodes so far, and liked them both, mostly on the strength of Nathan Fillion's many charms. It feels like a throwback to 80s shows like Remington Steele and Moonlighting, which is OK. I just sort of wish that the crimes themselves were a little bit more interesting.

Kings - I have heard a lot of good things about this, and I would love to see Al Swearengen back on my TV, but I haven't taken the plunge yet.

American Idol and The Biggest Loser - I dropped both of these shows and I do not miss them at all. What a relief to have those bloated monkeys off of my back! (I just realized it sounds like I'm calling BL contestants "bloated monkeys" - I'm not!)

Rock of Love Bus - Yet I am still watching Bret Michael's Rock of Love Bus. Why? Because it's fascinating, in an almost anthropological way. With an occasional anatomy lesson thrown in for good measure.

TV Talk: Random Bits

'Fringe' moves production to Vancouver - I think this is awesome news. The X-Files' first 5 (and I think its best) seasons were filmed in Vancouver. The city and its surrounding area were used to great effect in establishing the spooky quality of the shows, and I think it will help do the same for Fringe.

Ron Howard says the Arrested Development movie is going to happen: Still no word on whether or not George Michael will be in it.

Glen Larson is making a movie based on the original, 1978 Battlestar Galactica TV series. I think I am going to cry. Please don't go see this. Please!

TV Talk: Winter Doldrums

I really haven't been watching all that much television in recent weeks. Granted that's partly because I've been buried in work from the office, but there's something else going on here. LOST and Battlestar Galactica are both still stay-at-home-and-DVR-high-def-and-standard-def-and-watch-it-in-real-time-appointment-television for me and, yay for that; but more often than not, I seem to be losing interest in some of my favorite shows. Or perhaps some of these shows just aren't as good as they used to be.

We all know how I feel about Heroes now, but I did give it another shot last night and watched it while I worked on some stuff I brought home from the office. I didn't even turn it on until about a quarter of the way through and it was essentially background noise. There was a time when that was unthinkable, and Heroes was appointment TV like LOST and BSG. Not anymore. And you know what? I don't feel like I missed a thing.

I have two episodes of 24 on the DVR, and I really am not in any hurry to watch them. I was never a big fan of Tony's and I think the fact that they brought him back is actually kind of cheesy, so that's a big stumbling block. I love me some Bill Buchanan and Chloe, and I love that they're operating "off the grid", but I really hate that they've put into place the same "who's the mole" scenario at the FBI and the White House, again. Perhaps if the characters this season weren't so boring, I could handle the repetitious set-up. Bring back the Logans, I say!

Fringe is the other show that has been letting me down. The two episodes they've shown since they came back from the holiday break have been mind-numbingly boring and clumsy, with gaping plotholes and poorly drawn new characters - assholish FBI agent in charge, I'm looking at you. And what's with this sister all of a sudden? This is a show without a plan, and it's starting to really show. It's like they want to be a crime procedural like a CSI and a show like LOST or The X-Files with an overarching mystery and mythology and I don't think the combination is working. There is a lot to love - Asteroid, Walter and Peter, Massive Dynamic, kick-ass Olivia - so I will still watch. But they had better get their act together soon!

Sigh. Thank God for Rock of Love Bus.

ThisisGina's Advent Calendar: Day 17

Merry Fringemas to all!

TV Talk

Are you watching Sons of Anarchy? It's really a pretty good show. I like the way the story is building at a slow-burn, as they gradually weave all of the threads together. Gemma is still my favorite character, and last week's episode, which featured her prominently, was probably my favorite so far:



If you're interested in SOA and want to catch up, you can find the first 5 episodes at Hulu.

I'm still hanging in there with Fringe. It hasn't come together for me in the way that SOA has, but there are enough worthwhile moments in each episode and story elements in place to keep me coming back. John Noble as Walter Bishop continues to shine. Walter doing the sock-shock thing to Peter this week made me laugh out loud.



The first 5 episodes of Fringe are also up at Hulu.

I haven't watched Life On Mars yet, but I DVR'd both episodes and I hope to watch them this weekend. I'm also behind on Pushing Daisies, which I hope to remedy tonight.

TV Talk: Reminder

The second season of Pushing Daisies begins tonight on ABC at 8:00!

I also wanted to mention that Fringe has gotten progressively better with each passing week. Last night's episode was their best so far. The tone and story were both consistent and the characters were well-written. John Noble as Walter is still the breakout star, but Olivia is becoming more likable and like a real person and they're all becoming characters you can begin to care about. And I loved the creepy Observer guy! I think I saw him in the train station last week's episode. If you haven't seen the show yet but want to see what I'm going on about, you can find the first three episodes at Hulu.

TV Talk: Random Edition

OK, so who watched the second episode of Fringe last night? I think I liked it better than last week. I even liked Anna Torv better. She's still wooden, but now it seems like she's supposed to be. Some of the stuff was over the top creepy - eyeballs should remain inside of heads, thank you - and the rapid onset pregnancy was FREAKY. It's mostly good stuff, but one thing I think they need is someone to inject some real skepticism into the process.  Like, What Would Scully Say?

The SciFi Channel began airing the first season of LOST on Monday night (BTW, the same guy who scores LOST also composes the music for Fringe, and it's a bit distracting. I swear he's even re-using bits of the LOST score and the abrupt transitions from show to commercial break are exactly the same). Is anyone watching? I don't have the time, unfortunately.  What's really cool is they're airing 4 episodes in a row every Monday night, from 7:00-11:00.  At that rate, you can get caught up in about 5 months!

Sons of Anarchy has definitely kept my interest, and I'm looking forward to the third episode tonight.  Katey Sagal is just all sorts of awesome.  Last week's episode ended with a great cover version of "Son of a Preacher Man" playing over the final scenes.  Turns out it was Katey Sagal singing.  I wish I could find it online somewhere, because it really is great.

Lastly, Biggest Loser: Families started up last night. I DVR'd it but I think I will probably not watch it this season. Those 2-hour episodes every week are just ridiculous - they need to trim some of that fat before I'll come back. Ha!

Fringe - SPOILERS

A few quick thoughts...

Overall, I liked it. It had all the usual trappings of a pilot - lots of exposition and time devoted to putting all the pieces in place, very little character development - but there was stuff that I really liked.

First, the bad:

There was a lot of implausibility in the plot - like how she managed to do her Altered States thing and recover from the LSD trip, get a composite sketch of the guy, go to Massive Dynamics (cool company!), locate the bad guy's apartment and form an assault team, catch and interrogate the guy and formulate the cure, all in under 24 hours - but for now I'm going to suspend my disbelief. Maybe they needed to consolidate for the pilot, I don't know. I'll swallow whatever outlandish "fringe" science they can dream up, just don't continue with crazy timelines like that and I'll be happy. If you're going to deal with really "out there" concepts like teleportation, re-animation and mind-reading, you need to base that in some kind of real premise to make it work.

The good:

I loved Massive Dynamics, the crazy bionic arm, the bad boyfriend, the "questioning" after death, and of course the XF vibe and the vast corporate conspiracy, a la the Dharma Initiative.

I thought John Noble was really good as Walter and Joshua Jackson is pretty darn cute. The two of them work well together. Anna Torv is good, but there's not much personality there yet.

I think my favorite scene was when Walter, Peter, the assistant and Gene the cow were all watching SpongeBob and the phone rang and Peter answered, "Crazy house!" (I paraphrase).

There is a lot of room for improvement, but there is is also a lot to like. I'll definitely watch at least a few more episodes.

One more note: This will be no surprise to LOST viewers - Massive Dynamics has a website.