freckle faced leading lady was hot, ok?
― cutty, Saturday, 13 September 2008 14:25 (fifteen years ago) link
She seems like a sweet person & I think, for TV, she's a totally decent actress.
Redhead bitch w/cyborg arm was bitchin'g, yes?
― Abbott, Saturday, 13 September 2008 14:43 (fifteen years ago) link
Leading lady sometimes reminded me of Cate Blanchett. She is hot, though there were a few shots of her where she looked weird. Bitch with cyborg arm was awesome. I really liked those bits, cyborg arm, see-through body...
― Jibe, Saturday, 13 September 2008 16:04 (fifteen years ago) link
Jibe except for your fondness for stupid 3D push-through letters (hello Alias again!!!!), we are of a mind.
Mad scientist is ok, I just wish he had kept his beard all the time.
YES!!
I liked it when he was having a good time eating chinese, watching spongebob.
OMG YES.
The love interest to be between Bishop's son and leading girl felt a bit forced.
Welcome to JJ Abrams' world!
More time needs to be spent on cyborg lady's assistant, i.e. her with the barely onscreen but nonetheless hueg rack.
― Leee, Saturday, 13 September 2008 17:05 (fifteen years ago) link
Never having seen Alias, I did not know that JJ was a fan of such stuff. Actually, I cant remember anything like it in Lost (except for the opening credits). My fondness for those silly letters arises from the fact that everytime the camera went through a letter I secretly hoped for it to crash INTO them. Forced love interests are indeed a typical Abrams fare (at least they are in Lost) but not from the first episode onwards!
― Jibe, Saturday, 13 September 2008 18:02 (fifteen years ago) link
It's the lady from The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd. Am I the only person who remembers that show?
― polyphonic, Saturday, 13 September 2008 18:38 (fifteen years ago) link
Walter Bishop definitely the best character on this show. LET'S MAKE SOME LSD! I love that he's basically playing the same deranged old dude he did in Lord of the Rings, only a FRINGE SCIENTIST instead of a STALWART STEWARD OF GONDOR.
― BODY PROP (nickalicious), Saturday, 13 September 2008 19:14 (fifteen years ago) link
I really didn't like the pilot when I saw it last week, but weirdly it's grown on me over the week. I'm actually sorta looking forward to it tonight. Is this usual with Abrams' stuff? It sucks during the watching, but you recollect it fondly later?
― Mordy, Tuesday, 16 September 2008 08:25 (fifteen years ago) link
is joshua jackson playing george clooney or what
― gr8080 (max), Wednesday, 17 September 2008 01:13 (fifteen years ago) link
Damn, how the hell did they get away with that gory shit, the surgeries, the eyeball (UGH), on public TV? I was seriously turned off by it. The rest of the episode was okay, I guess.
― Nhex, Wednesday, 17 September 2008 02:12 (fifteen years ago) link
Didn't seem any more graphic than any given House episode.
― Mordy, Wednesday, 17 September 2008 02:23 (fifteen years ago) link
the eyeball was totally loltastic
― lol (HI DERE), Wednesday, 17 September 2008 02:58 (fifteen years ago) link
This was awful. First episode wasn't great or anything, but it wasn't this bad. I don't even mind the clunky-as-fuck exposition of the first 5 minutes. The dream-sequence pregnancy thing? Yeah, I saw Aliens. The last image from the eye? I saw Wild Wild West too.
Felt like they were already out of ideas.
― Gukbe, Wednesday, 17 September 2008 03:01 (fifteen years ago) link
That played-out jaded horseshit stance where folks show off that they've watched movies and TV shows and read books and remember things from them and act like hot shit when they find these things in other movies / shows / books? Yeah, I liked it better when they didn't share.
― David R., Wednesday, 17 September 2008 03:34 (fifteen years ago) link
Expected Chris Carter, got Joss Whedon.
― Kerm, Wednesday, 17 September 2008 03:56 (fifteen years ago) link
Clearly, I really will watch Lance Riddick in anything.
― rogermexico., Wednesday, 17 September 2008 04:31 (fifteen years ago) link
Lance is class.
xxpost
I'm not one for "I've seen this done elsewhere", nor do I think calling back upon Wild Wild West is anyway anyone can consider themselves hot shit. The point is really that a writer (or writers) should do well enough for someone not to notice. The eye thing has been done many, many times before, and it is usually a pretty cheap trick when someone's written themselves into a hole/can't be bothered to come up with something better. And the Aliens gag was weak.
I think I just find the world they've set up to be jarring and inconsistent. I don't mind being derivative, certainly not of genre tropes in a genre show, but they've got to help the viewers a bit. If you want to make a campy sci-fi/horror show, then do it. If you want a scary, serious thriller, then do that. There is no sense of humour in this show as far as I can tell, unless the cow thing was meant to be funny.
Kerm OTM, but at least Whedon seemed to have a sense of humour. He would willingly acknowledge from the get-go that the Hellmouth and Willow's hacking abilities was just an easy out for the writers, who were more interested in character anyway. I was hoping for a quality X-files deal, and I'll take a campy paranoid fantasy in its stead, but I can't be bothered with some inconsistent series aiming for somewhere in the middle, especially when it's as dull as this one.
I think I'm just disappointed, really. Hopefully it will get better, but I'm worried that it feels like they ran out of ideas in the second episode. Sorry if I offended you David R.
― Gukbe, Wednesday, 17 September 2008 06:47 (fifteen years ago) link
for the record, other than the seatwarmer gag I'm really really failing to see the whedon in this.
― rogermexico., Wednesday, 17 September 2008 07:09 (fifteen years ago) link
Still dig Blair Brown, Lance Reddick and John Noble, but the other actors still have a ways to go. The pilot already lowered my expectations about the monster-of-the-week plots, I agree with the mediocrity as Gukbe describes.
― Nhex, Wednesday, 17 September 2008 07:42 (fifteen years ago) link
Definitely neither Chris Carter nor Joss Whedon. The former had really sharp character work every episode and the latter had a sense of humor. I think what really disappoints me the most is the female protagonist. I can't even remember her name she's so unmemorable. I don't know if she's just getting awful writing from the writers, or she's just a poor actress.
― Mordy, Wednesday, 17 September 2008 07:55 (fifteen years ago) link
they really fucked themselves by starting this show off admitting there's a "pattern" to all of these things. oh, and the old guy just happened to work on anything involved in the pattern. magic computer can tell you EXACTLY where magic photo from dead girl's eye was taken. there weren't enough machinas in this episode for deuseses to be ex-ing from.
― REIGN IN FUDGE (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Wednesday, 17 September 2008 09:26 (fifteen years ago) link
HOWEVER, i am still giving it a shot. but along with house tonight, this was kinda like fox's "ugh, come on, no way" tuesday.
― REIGN IN FUDGE (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Wednesday, 17 September 2008 09:27 (fifteen years ago) link
I actually liked House tonight. But I don't think I've ever seen a House ep that I didn't enjoy.
― Mordy, Wednesday, 17 September 2008 09:34 (fifteen years ago) link
The point is really that a writer (or writers) should do well enough for someone not to notice. The eye thing has been done many, many times before, and it is usually a pretty cheap trick when someone's written themselves into a hole/can't be bothered to come up with something better. And the Aliens gag was weak.
As you might've gathered, it didn't really chafe me quite as much, tho I can't recall the eye thing being done before, and you can't really do a pregnancy "gag" without inadvertently referencing "Aliens". But to each their own -- I've got plenty of reservations about this thing (including my fear that it's going to resort to having a WACKY SCIENCE GIMMICK for every episode) (oooh do cold fusion next!), but I'm not not enjoying it. One request, tho (since the show makers are of course reading this): more Kirk Acevedo.
BTW, Gubke, sorry for getting pissy w/ my earlier comment. (I blame the internet.)
― David R., Wednesday, 17 September 2008 14:19 (fifteen years ago) link
They Macgyver defibrillator bit was just ridiculous.
― I'm right right and you're wrong left (Susan), Wednesday, 17 September 2008 14:22 (fifteen years ago) link
the pregnant thing made me think of cronenberg's "shivers," but that's because "shivers" was on flix the day before yesterday.
― REIGN IN FUDGE (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Wednesday, 17 September 2008 14:28 (fifteen years ago) link
more Kirk Acevedo
And maybe a Dean Winters cameo amirite?
― rogermexico., Wednesday, 17 September 2008 15:06 (fifteen years ago) link
This show would be better if it had Cate Blanchett in it instead of her doppleganger.
― lol (HI DERE), Wednesday, 17 September 2008 15:13 (fifteen years ago) link
that's the name i was lookig for last night!
― carne asada, Wednesday, 17 September 2008 15:18 (fifteen years ago) link
The only character in this show that is remotely endearing, entertaining or empathy inducing is Walter Bishop. This show sucks because all of the characters suck.
― Carl Magnusssen (petey_carnum), Wednesday, 17 September 2008 15:24 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah...I liked last night's episode way better than the pilot, but mainly just because they really didn't have enough story to fill out 90 minutes and it works much better as an hour. Walter Bishop is definitely the best part of the cast but he's treading a fine line of occasional, somewhat unexpected wackiness right now and that character could get tiresome or cheesy very quickly if they don't handle it right. Shows like this with a 'strong female lead' that don't bother casting a good actress or writing much of a personality for the character are so depressing.
― some dude, Wednesday, 17 September 2008 15:48 (fifteen years ago) link
So what is the playing god part, is the kid a clone of Walter or just otherwise genetically messed with?
― mh, Wednesday, 17 September 2008 16:39 (fifteen years ago) link
The only character in this show that is remotely endearing, entertaining or empathy inducing is Walter Bishop
Statement fails to account for RIDDICK FACTOR
― rogermexico., Thursday, 18 September 2008 00:55 (fifteen years ago) link
I'm annoyed by the LOST music being recycled.
Also, yes, Joshua Jackson is just a bizarre form of Pacey - does he have any way of delivering his lines beyond bored/upset/ironic?"Yah dad, we sorta figured that out. OK? You can't retrieve images from eyeballs."
The show is pretty goofy - the previews made me yell "Don't steal from heroes!", and then my BF and I had a conversation about episodic series and, I dunno, chapter series.. I don;t know what the definitions are between the two. Episodic, to me, would imply episodes. But that's not the case?
― aimurchie, Thursday, 18 September 2008 01:22 (fifteen years ago) link
Episodic means self-contained, largely, as opposed to serialized what's-its.
I'd even take the original Poor Man's Cate Blanchett, Sarah Wynter, over whoever plays Olivia.
lol @ Walter having the Doctor's hand-in-a-jar.
― Leee, Thursday, 18 September 2008 01:34 (fifteen years ago) link
Was X-Files episodic or serialized or both? This is a serious question.
― aimurchie, Thursday, 18 September 2008 02:01 (fifteen years ago) link
Both
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 18 September 2008 02:03 (fifteen years ago) link
I'm not all that familiar with much of Joss Whedon's work... He's just my go-to whipping boy whenever plot devices, government conspiracies, and powerful underworlds are too flippant to take half seriously. That may be just as much an Abrams trademark, but I don't watch his shows either.
Joshua Jackson hasn't been half as interesting as the description of him in his "file" in the first episode.
― Kerm, Thursday, 18 September 2008 02:07 (fifteen years ago) link
^^ wow do you not get Joss Whedon.
― rogermexico., Thursday, 18 September 2008 02:17 (fifteen years ago) link
This show sucks because all of the characters suck.
― Leee, Thursday, 18 September 2008 02:26 (fifteen years ago) link
Abrams is more the plot device/conspiracy guy and Whedon is more the touchy-feely clever homey dialogue dude, I thought
― mh, Thursday, 18 September 2008 02:27 (fifteen years ago) link
Also: along with Aaron Sorkin, Whedon pretty much pioneered the serious treatment of season-as-arc in network drama.
― rogermexico., Thursday, 18 September 2008 02:34 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, Kerm, I think you might be confusing Whedon with someone else.
― Mordy, Thursday, 18 September 2008 02:36 (fifteen years ago) link
I mean the guy with the show about the high school cheerleader that fights demons.
― Kerm, Thursday, 18 September 2008 03:43 (fifteen years ago) link
The West Wing?
― David R., Thursday, 18 September 2008 03:44 (fifteen years ago) link
I kind of enjoyed this ep - goofy is the right word for it. This show has way more of an Alias vibe than Buffy/X-Files/Lost, right down to the bad sci-fi - never mind eyeball-imaging/accelerated growth, but also the gimmicky, guess-what-awesome-gadget-we're-using-this-week. Said gadget will probably never be used again, even when they inevitably start recycling plotlines.
Olivia looks more like Poppy Montgomery (another generic-TV aussie blonde) from Without A Trace than Cate Blanchett. She's still pretty bland but i think she might grow on me (whereas Pacey/dad are more likely to get tiresome fast) - in the same way i thought Jennifer Garner on Alias was pretty boring before that show's wtf-ness completely sucked me in.
― casino royale with cheese (Roz), Thursday, 18 September 2008 15:35 (fifteen years ago) link
I would give this show kudos if I got any hint from the writing that it is intentionally goofy, and that the writers are aware; but I get none of that
still, it is utterly goofy and not unenjoyable; I wouldn't buy the DVDs or nuthin but I wouldn't step out if it were on
― cozen (cozwn), Thursday, 18 September 2008 15:39 (fifteen years ago) link
also: it is the x-files
― cozen (cozwn), Thursday, 18 September 2008 15:40 (fifteen years ago) link
I know ppl have said it above but it bears restating and restating: this show is the x-files
It is the x-files in content but not in form.
― casino royale with cheese (Roz), Thursday, 18 September 2008 15:42 (fifteen years ago) link
suck it up & do the work! imo jk do what u want but its not like s1 is bad. there are far worse things than formulaic ffs
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 29 January 2023 20:39 (one year ago) link
S1 is fun, definitely wouldn’t skip.
― papal hotwife (milo z), Sunday, 29 January 2023 20:44 (one year ago) link
the s1 finale was the first big WTF moment - season is definitely worth watching just to get there
― Roz, Monday, 30 January 2023 00:57 (one year ago) link
I could tell we had lingering love for Fringe when My wife and I were watching The Last of Us and when Anna Torv showed up we both yelled “Bolivia!”
― INDEPENDENTS DAY BY STEVEN SPILBERG (President Keyes), Monday, 30 January 2023 02:38 (one year ago) link
buuut if you wanna cheat cannonically you do so thusly: hazy cosmic jedi (abanana)Posted: July 15, 2010 at 7:04:22 AMwatch theseSeason 1: 1 (pilot), 4, 5, 7, end of ep 8, 10, 14, 17, 19, 20season 2: 1, 4, maybe 7, 8, 10, maybe 14, end of 15, 16 (Peter), 17, 18, 22, 23
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 30 January 2023 03:43 (one year ago) link
The pilot is considerably more dramatic than even episode 2; I think it lightens in tone quite a bit, for the better, so don't give up yet. One thing I really liked is that mythology builds on little moments scattered through S1, and not always the ones you expect, so I don't think S1 should be skipped, although it is a bit monster-of-the-week
― Vinnie, Monday, 30 January 2023 09:44 (one year ago) link
I miss Walter and Astrid together, there were such sweeties
IIRC the third season is fantastic, and then the fourth season goes back-to-basics in a somewhat unsatisfying way. Then the fifth season, the Days of Future Past season, is pretty good again.
That Peter Weller episode though :(
― Chuck_Tatum, Monday, 30 January 2023 14:35 (one year ago) link
We started rewatching S1 and ended up bingeing almost the whole season todayCan report that it is all still v watchable, love this show so muchAlso lots of good cameos: Betty Gilpin! Ebon Moss-Bacharach! Jared Harris! etc
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 6 August 2023 03:44 (nine months ago) link
Finally made it to S2e10 “Jacksonville” aka LETS FUCKING GOOOtruly this show still holds up so well, i fucking love it <3
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 14 August 2023 04:04 (nine months ago) link
But people living andcwaljingbunder suspended place names... were there ever accidents, like.
― Stevo, Monday, 14 August 2023 06:45 (nine months ago) link
Walking under
So we have been bingeing this like crazy and are now about 5 episodes into Season 5
watching it back to back definitely made everything make a little more sense to me this time around, I felt way less confused by the timey-wimey shenanigans of Season 4 for sure.
some stray thoughts - the Observers kind of suck? (pre S5 Nazification, I mean). Like they're just really not good at their jobs and just absolutely fuck up entire timelines every time they try to 'fix' something. - that being said, Michael Cerveris as September is the ONLY convincing Observer, in terms of performance. Such a soulful delivery and he has such a lovely tone to his voice. All the other actors act like dead-eyed robots. - big Fathers/Sons thematic energy throughout this show, like when you see it all lined up the whole show is really about Walter's love for Peter- Lincoln Lee is still lovely - Olivia/fauxLivia/third-timeline Olivia - how I sum this up to an extent: Peter would bone her in any timeline, basically LOL
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 29 August 2023 00:37 (eight months ago) link
also, most importantly While i don’t mind the story of S5 & its quite exciting in its way — it does a thing I don’t like — they AGAIN re-maternalize Olivia, like they did in S1 “oh she’s too much of a cold fish lets give her a kid etc” Olivia becomes much more of a overwhelmed-by-feels emo sidekick in S5 in this very boys-own-dystopian-verse which is kind of a bummer
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 29 August 2023 04:21 (eight months ago) link
While i don’t mind the story of S5 & its quite exciting in its way — it does a thing I don’t like — they AGAIN re-maternalize Olivia, like they did in S1 “oh she’s too much of a cold fish lets give her a kid etc”
This was one of my biggest disappoints with the last season; the show basically started off as the Olivia show, and then she gets turned into Lyra in the second and third HDM books.
― The Banshees of Ed Sheeran (Leee), Wednesday, 30 August 2023 23:03 (eight months ago) link
yeah it’s a bit disappointing esp w the September backstory reveal it’s like, ok huh it’s just dudes & dads all the way down then ok good
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 30 August 2023 23:48 (eight months ago) link
Yeah Peter even gets the last shot of the show iirc. Pacey gets a proper arc with closure, Olivia gets multiple soft reboots instead.
― Chuck_Tatum, Thursday, 31 August 2023 00:09 (eight months ago) link
i wanted them to do more w Olivia & the Jones/Jared Harris character! their scenes in those early seasons were so electric
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 31 August 2023 00:41 (eight months ago) link
also that observer kid Michael? his facial expression looked exactly like Eminem, could not unsee ithttp://scifiempire.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Michael-played-by-Roman-Longworth-Fringe-Liberty.pnghttps://yve.ro/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/18-lucruri-interesante-despre-Eminem.jpg
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 31 August 2023 00:44 (eight months ago) link
my big takeaway:these dads just need to grieve for their dead children & stop trying to time travel everytime a kid dies. also: is it just me or was there some kernel of possibility that David Robert Jones was Olivia’s real father? like a story thread that they may have hinted but never picked up. i was v fixated on the way he said “that’s my girl” after she completed the lightbulb test originally maybe it’s just me
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 31 August 2023 05:23 (eight months ago) link
anyway we finished the seriesFringe aka Dads: A Love Story is a very good series & 100% holds up the worst part of the whole series was Peter turning himself into an Observer but even that wasn’t terrible bc the rest of the story was good. oh and Joshua Jackson’s cry-acting is a bit too much, still bringing the old Dawson’s heat lol Give John Noble all his flowers, what a blessing he is to the series. Denethor The GOAT.
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 31 August 2023 05:39 (eight months ago) link
https://media.tenor.com/UtjjTDOuP1YAAAAC/dawson%27s-creek-basketball.gif
― hardcore technician gimmicks are also another popular choice f (President Keyes), Thursday, 31 August 2023 13:55 (eight months ago) link
ahaha stone cold classic RIGHT IN THE FACE
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 31 August 2023 14:51 (eight months ago) link
The entire series is on sale in the Apple TV store for $30. Heck of a deal if you don't mind all-digital
― Elvis Telecom, Saturday, 3 February 2024 07:26 (three months ago) link
Just started back in with this on Max, having stopped midway through season 2. The season 2 episode with Peter Weller as a time traveler, "White Tulip," is fucking incredible. Noble and Weller have a scene together that might be the best thing I've seen, TV or movie, all year.
― Tahuti Watches L&O:SVU Reruns Without His Ape (unperson), Monday, 26 February 2024 04:27 (three months ago) link
i love that episode so much, still hits as beautifully as it did the first time
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 26 February 2024 04:41 (three months ago) link