FRINGE has become disappointing...

[carabele]

I was hooked on FRINGE from it debut episode in 2008. It was different, well-paced, well-written and well-acted. I liked the idea of exploring the "fringe edges" of science. Not aliens or anything so humdrum, but the strange possibiltiies within human beings.

But then FRINGE became embroiled in its alternate universe vs. this universe plots and the series became much less intriguing. Sure, there was still plenty of good stuff, but somehow making the show an "us vs. them" rather than a true "us vs. strange us" caused it to lose steam.

Then came the nonsense with "The First People", a civilization of immense intelligence that existed "before the dinosaurs". Ho-hum. SciFi has gone there before. And then the whole silliness of -- for some reason completely unknown and therefore coming across as completely arbitrary to the viewer -- only the mind of Peter Bishop being able to connect with the devastating machine of those First People as a power source. [sigh] Like Abram's LOST, somehow I think FRINGE lost its way.

I continue to watch FRINGE because occasionally it still harkens back to its original concept and because the acting is excellent. The show is still different by the standards of most network television, but it's not as bright a beacon anymore.

Still, I think if this season proves to be FRINGE's last, I doubt I'll shed any tears or even utter an "Oh damn, I'll miss that" in disappointment. As long as everything they started gets wrapped up (cause I hate scattered pieces left all over the place when a show ends), I think it might be time for FRINGE to make its swan-song.

Comments

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

I agree with you, and that's without having watched it this season...at all. They were blowing it at the end of last year and I could see what was coming. The best season was #2, in my opinion. It all gelled and the stories were very cohesive. Of course they also borrowed from Dr. Who periodically, but then so did LOST and a couple of others. Imitation and all that :D
I would like to think they would get back on track but, after the season finale of LOST, I lack confidence, as it's the same production/writing crew.

[carabele.livejournal.com]

And didn't that LOST finale really suck eggs? [chuckle]

Emotionally it delivered with Jack's death, but every other way it didn't. And the whole spiritual angle with the "going into eternity" bit really blew. Maybe I'm a bit too much of a realist, but dead is dead. So many of these people had their lives cut tragically short for something we never got to understand, since it was never explained.

Ah well, all I can hope is that they do give FRINGE a decent ending if this is it's last season. (And according to various entertainment reports, it might be.)

[akane42me.livejournal.com]

I haven't a clue how Fringe is doing in the ratings, but its move to the Friday night slot was a yellow flag, and after what I've seen this season, I wouldn't be surprised if the show gets cancelled. I hate the First People story arc, and don't get me started about Peter and The Machine. Yawn. I did like the gentle scenes between Olivia and the tormented mindreader this week.

[carabele.livejournal.com]

Oh, the stuff this past week with the tormented mindreader was excellent! And the main story about the stolen chemical from the military experiments with those who were infected seeking personal revenge for their unborn children was refreshing. Back to the original concept of FRINGE!

But the whole First People thing is really crummy writing, isn't it? I mean that's a scifi cliche so old, it literally creaks. And now the "bowling buhhda" being the one who actually wrote the books... Okay, so he's hundreds of years old like Yoda or something? (Since many of those books are quite old.) I mean this is really stretching believablity to its core. [chuckle]

And Peter and the Machine... ugh! I have this wild urge to play the music from "Peter and the Wolf" anytime they go into bits about Peter and the Machine! [laugh]