Fringe: The Complete First Season

Season Grade: A

DVD Features Grade: A-

Overall Grade: A

When The X-Files was finally cancelled after 9 seasons, then the longest running sci-fi show of all time, a huge fan base was devastated. People who shared interests in the supernatural, cop procedurals, science fiction, detective stories, and the kind of television that was bold enough to ask questions without feeling the need to answer them, had no programming to call their own. Many attempts were made in the intervening years to appeal to the kind of audience The X-Files was able to command in its prime, while expanding the focus of the series beyond its own mythology and allowing for newcomers to have the opportunity to jump right into the thick of things. Most failed miserably, and it would take a true titan of the television industry to convince anyone that a concept like Altered States could be marketed to the general public.

Enter J.J. Abrams, who's cinematic vision most recently helped to rekindle the Star Trek film franchise. Already a creator of such beloved television programming as Lost and Alias, Abrams was perfectly positioned to pitch the next generation of paranormal programming, and pitch it he did. Along with frequent compatriots Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman, Abrams produced a pilot so intense and revealing that the final cut of the episode lands in at close to 2 hours. Combine that with an industry altering business model, courtesy of Fox Television, that cut the advertising time during each episode in half, and you had a longer, better excuse to tune into the tube than had come around in a very long time.

The real brilliance behind the pilot and the further structuring of the series was a change in the common Abrams writing fundamentals. The creators wanted a series of stand alone episodes, a show that allowed for new viewers to jump right in at any time and not feel stranded or mystified by the complexity of character relationships or an overbearing arc. None of the episodes feature a "Recently on Fringe" montage, as any questions you have about continuing conflicts are answered through exposition in the series itself. Watching the show in a single sitting, or even several long ones, does lead to a fair share of repetition, but its hard to argue that there are many shows that handle complexity in their original format better than Fringe. In the same vein, each episode seems constructed from the ground up to have an emotional and satisfying ending, making watching more than one in a row often exhausting when compared to a once weekly viewing. Say what you want about the way it was put together, but Fringe was one of the few shows last season which managed to improve its viewership as it went along, and I'm sure fans of the series will be

in for a treat when they tune in to the Season Two premiere on a new night, Thursday, September 17th, 2009 at 9pm.

But why should you jump on the Fringe bandwagon you ask? A big part of the answer can be found in the terrific ensemble cast, a group of actors who manage to feel real enough that they ground the ridiculous and often completely over the top situations that surround them. The central trio are the most impressive, led by Australian actress Anna Torv, who's only past US credit was voicing the lead in Sony Entertainments PlayStation 3 game Heavenly Sword. She brings a fire and a determination to the character which mirrors our own hopeful belief in how we would respond in a similar situation. Had The X-Files followed its original intent of centering the focus of the series on Scully as opposed to Mulder, I think we may have had a character not unlike Olivia Dunham as the protagonist.

John Noble, fresh off of his stint as Denethor in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King slips easily back into the guise of insanity, albeit a much more friendly face than he had when he last appeared. After being placed in a mental institution for 17 years, he is the key to understanding the strange phenomena in the Fringe world, having been one of the partners in the lab that researched the bleeding edge of science for the government all those years ago. He doesn't understand how odd his behavior can be, and the act stays surprisingly fresh even after many hours of repetitive requests for strange items during research for a serious investigation (cinnamon coffee and a vinyl player for examples).

His son, Peter Bishop, must take care of Walter to a certain degree, and he has a past that remains a key mystery of the series even by the end of the first season. Joshua Jackson gives the character a ton of charisma, important if we are meant to put all thought of Dawson's Creek aside. He apparently tried out for the role of James T. Kirk in the most recent Star Trek film, and believes that it was that audition which led to his casting only a day before shooting was prepped to begin. Despite their varied backgrounds, the triumvirate work exceptionally well together, provoking audience empathy and bringing people who are confused or put off by the high concept lingo up to speed. They feel genuinely real, and though their growth is somewhat stunted by the lack of serialization in the show, their B plots work on enough levels to be enjoying nonetheless.

By the end of its run, The X-Files had started to break itself into two types of episodes, ones directly related to its sprawling and somewhat contradictory mythology, and ones about specific isolated cases.

Reviews tended to be harsher on the mythology devoted episodes, as they did little to affect the current story and managed to only assist long-term fans in finding answers to questions they didn't know they had. Fringe balances both forces, delivering isolated cases each episode which may or may not have a discernable correlation to the terrorist cell ZFT and the enigmatic William Bell, founder of the shadowy multi-national science research firm Massive Dynamic and former lab partner of Walter Bishop himself. You could get much more complicated with the motivations behind these forces, but you don't have to in order to enjoy episodes of the show.

People who have kept up with the series, as well as purchasers of this DVD, will find the climactic episode to be a wonderful collection of met expectations and broader, more interesting questions. After a repeat viewing, I've come to consider it one of my favorite season finales, and one which beautifully sets up all sorts of mayhem in the next round. Even critics who weren't as thrilled as I was with the pilot admit to the series potential, and it is that potential which manages to slowly unravel as we progress through a prologue to what will inevitably become a grand and stirring tribute to science fiction and fantasy. Judging by Abrams work with Lost, I expect viewers who are concerned that Fringe won't tie up its loose ends will be left with their fears unfounded. The X-Files wrote itself into a standstill, a gelatinous mass of concepts and theories which gave it little forward momentum and no viable conclusion, and I think Fringe may have just enough panache to avoid such pitfalls and remain focused on what makes the characters and their world so entertaining. The X-Files on steroids? Sort of. More like X-Files: The Next Generation. With at least one notable casting addition for Season 2, I think that there are far more stories left to tell in this world just beyond our own, and I couldn't be more excited about what they think up next.

DVD Features

Though they are split rather oddly across all 7 discs, there is about an hour's worth of specific featurettes concerning aspects of the show and the behind the scenes of the New York based production. There's the Robert Orci Production Diary which takes viewers behind the scenes of the shooting of the pilot episode from the first day of cameras to the editing bay. There's 4 more conceptual based interview segments with the creators, directors, and writers of the show covering everything from the real science behind the events to the visual effects that believably make them happen. There are also 3 full-length episode commentaries, though they don't involve members of the actual cast, and focus on shows that aren't really the ones we wanted commentary on (hint, finale,

hint, hint). A gag reel and a spoof featurette regarding Gene the cow round out the more conventional features. The cool extras come in the form of Deciphering the Scene and A Massive Undertaking which are available for most of the shows on the disc. A Massive Undertaking seemed a little tamer than the all-out documentary of Deciphering a Scene and only appear on specific episodes. The minute and a half to two minute long glimpses at a key scene of the series allow for up-to-the-second connection between watching the episode and seeing the behind the scenes material for the same show. A handful of glad-they-got-cut Deleted Scenes entitled Dissected Files round out this formidable package.

Season Grade: A

DVD Features Grade: A-

Overall Grade: A