Fringe (2008)

I only started watching Fringe part way through the first season, having initially dismissed it as another X-Files clone. In retrospect, I timed it about right, because that’s about the point it turned from a Monster of the Week show into something with a bit more long-term interest.

It’s not an original strategy of course, indeed the X-Files long-term arc about alien invasion tried the same thing before giving up any attempt at coherence, but Fringe does appear to be planning ahead slightly. Perhaps JJ Abrams has learned from his experience on Lost, where the apparent lack of plot planning alienated a lot of his potential audience. Fringe hedges its bets by developing a range of paranoid conspiracies and inviting the audience to fill in the blanks, although it’s more or less certain that Leonard Nimoy is not as innocent as he pretends.

The rest of the cast has turned out to be surprisingly strong despite having little marquee value. Anna Torv in the Gillian Anderson role doesn’t have a lot to do, and most of the showy dialogue goes to mad scientist John Noble. The big surprise has been Joshua Jackson, who seems to be the straight man to both Torv and Noble, but has gradually developed the role beyond that.

The only problem with Fringe is that SF series in particular seem to be prone to cancellation just when they’ve developed a loyalty in their audience. Let’s hope that the eggs laid so far will live long enough to be hatched.

Mild Peril Rating: