Fringe: "Bloodline"

I almost entitled this post "I Heart Fringe! That is all." Did you watch this week's episode where [SPOILERS!!!! DON'T BLAME ME IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW!!] Fauxlivia gave birth on the Other Side to her and Peter's son? Did you love it as much as I did? No sooner do the producers over at Fringe give us the news of Fauxlivia's pregnancy (in the episode "Immortality", which made her much more sympathetic than when she had been merely the usurper of our Olivia's life) and a few short weeks to process the information that Peter's ties to his adopted universe might not be as stable as we thought, do they speed up Fauxlivia's pregnancy and bring Baby Harbinger of Doom into the already fraught alternate universe. The plot continues to thicken. (Here's a fantastic recap of the episode, btw.) How are there only four episodes left this season, and how, for the love of TiVo, are we going to wait all summer for more?!

I've said it before and I'll say it again: this show has really come into its own this year. All of the actors, not only the superb (and overworked!) Anna Torv, have stepped up their games, making their characters more complex in response to the enhanced dramatic layering of the show itself. I'm reluctant to compare any shows to LOST because I think LOST was on a different level than other shows from its beginning, but I would happily call Fringe in its current manifestation a close cousin of LOST and even The X-Files.

How about a slow hand-clap for the symphonic season 3 of Fringe, and for FOX for ordering a complete season 4?

More Good News for "Fringe"!

In another move proving that, in spite of the recent/forthcoming endings of Big Love, LOST, and Friday Night Lights, TV is not doomed, FOX has renewed its cult hit Fringe for another season! Not only has it been given the green light, but FOX has ordered a full, 22-episode season for next year.

I haven't posted much about specific episodes of Fringe this season, but it's having a banner year, anchored in large part by Anna Torv's acting gymnastics (JJ Abrams discovered another great female lead with her!) and the lurking tragedy of the other universe. One of the best things about it is the way it's managed to move seamlessly between the two worlds, piling on top of the freak-of-the-week episodes a philosophical depth that wasn't quite developed in the show's first season and a half. It's gotten better and better. Well done, FOX!

By my count the only awesome shows still in jeopardy are NBC's Chuck and Parenthood. Fingers crossed.

Good News for Fringe

According to EW, Fringe's move from Thursday night's laden primetime block to free and clear Friday night last week actually may have helped the show's chances of being renewed for another season!

I've been meaning to blog about Fringe's ridiculously good third season for a couple of months now, but for the sake of brevity let me just say that I think this season has been every bit as good as The X-Files during its golden years (seasons 3-5, in my opinion) and even the third season of LOST to an extent. Since its initial debut, the show has gone from mainly freak-of-the-week episodes, with an occasionally resurfacing and somewhat interesting mythology, to a show with a very compelling mythology that actually informs its more episodic installments. It's now a show that fuses existential depth with believable character development and entertaining popcorn fare. (For the record, my mathematical formula for a great sci-fi show is as follows: [Compelling Mythology + Character Development] x Philosophical Depth.) I may at some point in the near future take a moment to write about a hidden gem episode called "The Plateau" that has stuck with me since I saw it, but for now I'm comfortable simply praising Fringe as one of the very best shows on TV.

Well, when FOX decided to move Fringe from Thursday night (otherwise known as the night TV execs attempt to break our DVRs with program overload) to the darkest night of the week, Friday, lots of fans were outraged. "Could this mean anything other than that FOX is looking for an excuse to cancel our beloved JJ Abrams show," they asked. From my perspective, though, the move to Friday was a brilliant move for FOX. If you will remember, Friday was the coveted night of the aforementioned X-Files during the 90s, which maintained its dedicated cult following to the bitter end. A show like The X-Files probably wouldn't have succeeded as long as it did had it aired opposite Seinfeld on Thursdays, which is the 90s ratings equivalent to Grey's Anatomy, a show that has been Fringe's "competition" for the last two years. Fail.

The other reason this is a brilliant move is because Fridays are a dark hole for primetime because there's simply never anything worth watching on that night. I was upset to see CBS move its surprisingly adept procedural Blue Bloods from a competition-free Friday night to another heavy programming night Wednesday, but alas. Fringe has the benefit of being, like Chuck, a cult show with a younger, DVR-happy fan-base. For people watching Fringe on DVRs, like me, Friday night is a gift!

In conclusion, watch Fringe! It's a nice, conflict-free addition to your DVR's Now Playing list.