Tonight, I watched an encore presentation of the Fringe premiere. Basically? Meh.
I thought it was halfway decent, if over-long and too infodump-heavy, with a few nice touches of humor and intrigue that could prove interesting (or untenable) when it becomes a weekly series. The premiere was more “movie” than “episode,” which I don’t think always worked in the show’s favor. Visually, it sometimes looked like it belonged on the big screen, but it never really felt like a feature, never felt like it had enough of a self-contained story to sustain that. It was high on production, but also on padding, and neither really worked to its benefit. (And don’t get me started on those annoying locational title cards.)
I’m interested in seeing the show’s first regular episode. I’m just not overly excited by it.
I, too, was underwhelmed. It does have potential, and I like the interaction between Joshua Jackson and John Noble. I read this is supposed to be a Lost-type series, where every episode you get a few more clues and it all builds up to something in the end. However, Alex and Bob have never been much for consistency, so that worries me. And the thing that struck me about the pilot was how unrealistic it was, and I’m not talking about the “fringe science”. As in, the FBI can commandeer an old Harvard lab but they can’t get in to see a mental patient?
I don’t know, I’ll give it a few episodes because it is an interesting premise and I enjoy John Noble’s insanity. But we’ll see.
Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction, too. It looks good, although that’s not an unambiguous point in its favor, as opting for style over substance is no positive thing. The cast seems really good, and the basic premise, while terribly over-familiar, has the potential to go interesting places. But overall I found it, well, yeah, meh. It seemed, for one thing, to be taking itself far too seriously, and while there were a moment or two where the absurdity of the bad science and overblown drama were sort of acknowledged in a way that made me laugh and suddenly appreciate the show much better, I’m not entirely sure those were intentional. I suspect my reaction to this is likely to be much the same as my reaction to The X-Files, which I enjoyed immensely when it bordered on self-parody and found dull when it tried to do serious mythology-building.
Plus — and this is coming from a Doctor Who fan, remember! — the science was so nonsensically bad that I found it difficult to endure. And every decision the protagonist made seemed to happen solely because it would advance the drama and set up the plot rather than because it was in any way sane or sensible, a fact which undercut her character rather a lot. Oh, and that big plot twist? So not a surprise.
So, I dunno. It might very well develop into something worthwhile, but I’m not sure I feel like sticking with it long enough to find out. I might watch the next episode, but if that doesn’t wow me, I suspect I’ll just give it a miss. If it turns out to morph into something awesome, I can always watch it later on DVD.