Lower Decks

The following review contains spoilers for Fringe through the current episode, “The Same Old Story,” originally broadcast September 16, 2008.

When I first heard about Fringe, my interest was centered on the name J.J. Abrams. It never went much beyond that. When I heard descriptions about the kind of show it would be, I would still think, “J.J. Abrams.” I saw more about Fringe, all I thought, it would be something worth having a look at. I mean, “J.J. Abrams.”

So when it came time to actually watching Fringe, I kind of panicked. I let all sorts of excuses get in the way. And when I wrote about it, I wrote, basically, “J.J. Abrams.” It’s time to be a little more fair now, with a second episode aired. The truth is, yeah, I’m not usually the guy watching this kind of show. By “this kind of show,” I mean X-Files. I’ve never seen more than a handful of Twilight Zone episodes, Outer Limits. I don’t read horror fiction, aside from the occasional Stephen King. I’ve read about as many Sandman comics as Twilight Zones. When things get sticky, I get itchy for people to start taking center stage again. I’m just that kind of guy. It’s not that I’m overly concerned with things that go bump in the night. It’s just, I like for there to be a point.

Most times there isn’t. Most times, it’s just to get you to feel something primal, a different kind of porn. The thing about Fringe is, I think it’s that something different. With the second episode, that may be clearer. The “fringe” of the title refers to fringe science, Frankenstein territory here. Walter Bishop, the crazy old man played by John Noble, was very much a Frankenstein figure in the 1970s, before his monster looked him back in the eye. The problem is, the world didn’t wait up for him while he took an extended stay at an asylum. He’s been dragged back in. The world now has people who breed in accelerated life-spans, the fringe science of this episode. In many ways, the way you interpret the events of “The Same Old Story” may define whether or not you choose to find Fringe fascinating or drivel, whether you consider it a worthy addition to this storytelling tradition or a failed J.J. Abrams project.

I choose to consider it a success. There’s a killer on the loose. Walter and his son Peter, played by Joshua Jackson, and their ally, FBI agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), eventually figure out what’s going on, which leads to a final confession from the killer. Does the threat of a prematurely ended life and a father who has created and guided this mess expunge his crimes? I choose to say, it’s a good argument. Such stories are worth exploring, I conclude. And I happen to trust that name, “J.J. Abrams.”

What I said last time, about there being a distinct lineage beyond that name, still holds true. This episode, our merry band, along with Phillip Broyles (Lance Reddick), have now set up briefings familiar to fans of Alias. In fact, if you don’t look too closely, it’s not hard to imagine Broyles as a descendent of Dixon, or Walter of Arvin Sloane (or Hugo Reyes, for that matter), Dunham of Sydney Bristow, complete with her own Danny, right from the start.

Still, there’s something to be said about feeling giddy, that I get to experience another J.J. Abrams from the start. Chris Carter started right in with X-Files. He hasn’t really done much since (Millennium? Lone Gunmen?), much less looked beyond that original creation. Abrams, he’s done Alias, he gave us Lost. Now there’s Fringe. I think I’m ready now.