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JJ Abrams the man behind Lost , MI: 3, Cloverfield and the upcoming Star trek movie reboot and Robert Orci an accomplished screenwriter are some of the brains behind Fringe. What brains they are, the two hour pilot played last week introducing us to the world of “fringe science” made real.
Think of all that science that is more theoretical than real, Fringe shows the consequences, or should I say admonishes, why some areas in science should be a no-go area given corporate greed, terrorism and man’s massive ego that does not know where to stop. So you could say the show is like the X - Files without the little green men, the Twilight Zone without really trying to scare your pants off and a bit of the 4400 in the sense that we meet weird people who have weird diseases, or using weird science to terrorise people but without being too fantastical.
So the skinny character-wise, is that we have FBI agent Olivia Dunham who gets recruited by the NSA to track down some of this weird stuff mostly around what the show calls the “pattern”.
The pattern - referring to unusual incidences that have been occurring right around the world, like a child reappearing 14 years after he went missing but still the same age as he left, kids being born, who age rapidly in a day and die in one day.
The NSA believes someone is behind all this but they do not know who and why. Olivia Dunham's former partner - who also doubled as a kissing buddy - was somehow involved in all this, and poor Olivia didn’t not know after risking her life for him she's pissed and she is searching for truth.
The other two main characters in the show, who make for an interesting dynamic, are Professor Walter Bishop. The man who used to spear head all the weird science and experiment until he went coo coo and he was institutionalised only to be released under his son supervision when things getting even weirder and the NSA needs his brain.
His son, John Bishop ( played by Joshua Jackson , Percy of Dawsons Creek fame) is also very intellegent like his old man, but plays the everyday man who does not believe in mumbo jumbo. So he helps us understand all these high concepts that the show uses. So those are the main players.
Now to last night's episode whereby the guys investigate what seemed to be a serial killer but was actually a man killing people so that he could use their glands to stay young. Yep it is that type of show.
What I have to recommend Fringe for, aside for the great writing and great cast is that the prop, make up and special effects (FX) department are doing a great job. For example , we get to learn that the so called “serial killer” was actually a by product of one of Bishops senior experiment. Where they were trying to harvest soldiers; by creating a fully fledged soldier in 3 days from embryo to a fully adult male but somehow they could not stop the aging process.
But somehow the killer has found a way. There’s a cool scene where we get to see a woman impregnated by mistake and we see the belly rise in front of our eyes and the kids hand trying to pop up. I thought it looked cool but freakish. But it was pulled off very convincingly.
As with these type of shows the bad guy was finally apprehended but just after the guys showed us how one of those impossible theories would actually be used in real life if it were possible, i.e the idea that the last thing a persons sees is burn on their retina before they die.
I liked how they rationalised how feasible it could be to reveal that and how it was used to apprehend the criminal. But just to show that the show is not all sci-fi, last night's episode hinted at a budding romance between the two young leads and a possible dark secret around the existence of young Bishop, who is totally unaware of it.
So the show is looking very promising so far. It’s not Lost but it stands on its own feet and has some nifty, interesting ideas, engaging plot and characters. I just love the titles of the different locations, I think it looks cool. Anyhow my next review of the show will be a proper one. sweet.
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