"Fringe" Review

Man, this show wants to be the "X-Files," like, SO BAD.

Em and I watched the rebroadcast of the pilot last night. I have mixed feelings.

The Good:

1) Certainly captures the "X-Files" vibe, with an FBI agent getting an excuse to investigate spooky phenomena with hints of a shadowy government conspiracy behind the scenes. Being set in Boston is also a cool plus

2) Very good chemistry between the main leads and an excellent supporting cast, headlined by the evil, bald black guy from "Lost"

3) Anna Torv, the female lead, looks an awful lot like a young Cate Blanchett (I know I've at least got Matt's attention now).

4) The first five minutes of the show featured someone's jaw melting off. Mega cool bonus points

5) One of the (possibly) shadowy evil organization members is a woman with a very cool looking robotic arm. Good villain potential there and the special effects on the arm were top-notch

The Bad:

1) One of the things that I loved about the X-Files is how much of the time it went out of it's way to provide scientific explanations for supernatural phenomena. This show disregards all science entirely openly embracing supernatural phenomena. Okay, fine, I love that sort of thing too.

But the real implausibility of the show is how they dealt with regular stuff. We're supposed to believe:

A) That an insane scientist, committed to an institution for 17 years for experimenting on human subjects, could be easily and casually released by a low level FBI agent and the scientist's son

B) That Harvard would actually keep the insane scientist's lab in mothballs for said 17 years rather than using the space for something else.

C) That the FBI has the power to purchase half a billion dollars worth of lab equipment and set up a lab within 24 hours, including buying a live cow to live on the premises (seriously)

D) That within the same time frame (after the lab is set up) the mad scientist is able to synthesize (not purchase) whatever compounds he needs for his insane experiments.

I know this is all simply set up for the show, but the implausibility of the real world stuff to me greatly took away from the supernatural/pseudoscience stuff. There just wasn't any contrast there.

2) The shadowy conspiracy plot is already sounding like a pale X-Files imitation and the whole show seems to be trying to make itself to be a "new and hip" X-Files - gorier, sexier and more action-oriented. Sometimes that can work well, but I'm not so sure it will here. Depends on how they develop the characters and the plot.

3) At the end of the episode, the camera focuses on a "leaf symbol" on a door inside one of the shadowy organization's main buildings. Two seconds later I get a text from Evan: "The Leaf Station?" Exactly what I was thinking. *sigh*

All-in-all I did enjoy the show for pure entertainment value and eye candy and I'll watch the next episode on Tuesday, but I'm certainly not hooked yet. Anyone else catch it? Thoughts?

What Would Mr. Paik Say?

Looks like Daniel Dae Kim rocked out with Obama last night in Denver. Somehow I don't think Jin's father-in-law would approve. It was so funny seeing his face suddenly pop up on screen last night. That's Kelly Hu with him, by the way.

Who's Not Dying Next Season

That would be Dr. Shephard, who's now getting $225,000 per episode. Looks like Evangeline's in negotiations too.

Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean they won't be killed, especially since it would now be financially beneficial to the show to kill them off. ;)

Incidentally, I finally pre-ordered my Lost Season 4 DVD, which isn't due out until December 9th. I know they want hype to build for the Christmas season and all, but given the show's really, really long hiatus wouldn't one think it would be better to release it around the beginning of the new TV season to dredge the show out of the bottom of everyone's mind? Or am I just being really, really impatient?

Pierre Chang

If you haven't seen the trippy, new video from the San Diego Comic Con yet, Lostpedia has it. In we learn:

1) Marvin Candlemundwax's real name is Pierre Chang
2) He has son or daughter somewhere
3) Daniel (!) seems like he's traveled back in time about 30 years to tell him of the future

It's actually pretty neat - at one point Chang, also wistfully clutches his arm. Nice touch. Go watch it - time IS the essence! :)

Hellllooooooooooo!

Anyone out there? I've been overloaded the past month or two - commuting four hours without a laptop (yet) does suck away a good deal of possible blogging time, as does sending out wedding invitations, attending functions every single weekend and starting a new job. *sigh*

There's like nothing LOST related out there at all. Lostpedia blog has a roundup of the Comic-Con happenings, which I haven't really been following. Lost ROFL has a few entertaining things to browse as well. Michael Emerson has a second chance to win a well-deserved Emmy this year (and he so better win). Good to see the show itself unstiffed in that regard as well.

Is it January yet?

Month-Long Musings

Hellooooooo everyone!

Yes, I'm alive. My transition from Sinai to Yale sucked a bit more of my time away than I anticipated. I'm actually still getting used to the long commute, my new environs and having less free time than I anticipated, something which is only going to continue to decrease as my wedding date approaches. I still hope to be able to blog some between now and then, plus considerably more often once it's over (and the new season starts next year). But my schedule's going to be somewhat unpredictable between now and then considering Em and I really don't even have a weekend free between now and our wedding. :P

And boy, there's like noooooooooooo Lost news whatsoever right now, is there? I really wish the DVD set was released in September to at least tide us over. *sigh*

How's everyone's summer going? See any good movies? Going to see "Dark Knight" this weekend?

Awesome

Chris is right. These may be the two most spectacularly awesome comic book panels in history. :)

Blargh

So... very... tired. Work is simply overwhelming right now - I have a ton of stuff to finish before I begin my postdoctoral fellowship, and once that's done I have a postdoctoral fellowship grant to write. Bleah.

But the good news is that I finally got my comics I ordered. Apparently they got the address wrong the first time and they were shipped back, but as soon as I have time to scan them in I can write a few comic posts. I have to say that "Secret Wars," for a cheap marketing gimmick created to tie in with a failed toy line, was just as much fun to read as I remembered. The entire story has its ups and downs, but the last three issues featured Dr. Doom at his very evil best which makes up for a lot of the fluff in between.

Anyhoo, as soon as I emerge from the lab, I'll have a few things up. In the meantime, I highly recommend "Get Smart" - was much, much more fun than I expected it to be and the entire cast looked like they had a blast making it.

Octagon Global Recruiting

Hey, I just got an e-mail from the DHARMA Initiative! Check it out:

Octagon Global Recruiting

Octagon Global Recruiting, on behalf of the Dharma Initiative, would like to thank you for registering your expression of interest in our latest volunteer recruitment drive.

We will be launching in San Diego on July 24th at Comic-Con International offering select registrants the opportunity to take an exciting aptitude test that will give applicants the chance to demonstrate their unique talents.

The Dharma Initiative hopes you will be able to join us to find out more about their ground-breaking new research project. We will contact you closer to the date with more information.

For those not able to join us in San Diego, Dharma's full recruitment program will be made available online to registered recruits after July 27th.

In the meantime, the Dharma Initiative urges you to spread the word. Invite your colleagues to join the team at www.octagonglobalrecruiting.com and take part in this once in a lifetime opportunity.

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION OF THE DHARMA INITIATIVE:
This message and its attachments are confidential and may contain information which is protected by copyright. It is intended solely for the named addressee. If you are not the authorised recipient (or responsible for delivery of the message to the authorised recipient), you must not use, disclose, print, copy or deliver this message or its attachments to anyone. If you receive this email in error, please contact the sender immediately and permanently delete this message and its attachments from your system. Any content of this message and its attachments that does not relate to the official business of the Dharma Initiative or its subsidiaries must be taken not to have been sent or endorsed by any of them. No representation is made that this email or its attachments are without defect or that the contents express views other than those of the sender.

While I certainly won't be there, I'm looking forward to hearing what all this is about. Anyone going? :)

Update

Busy week again. Finished "The Time Traveler's Wife" and I'll have an extended review up eventually, but suffice it to say it was one of the most wonderful books I've ever read.

Turns out they're making it into a movie, coming out this Christmas, with Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams - to me, two very odd casting choices for Henry and Clare, who have become two of my favorite characters of all time. I do hope they're able to do the book justice.