First of all, let me just say that my first post was an incredible brain fart. I edited it multiple times and it still sounds so so wrong when I read it back. I guess the hardest part of writing again after a LOOONG hiatus is actually getting it out there. I've been thinking about all of this stuff for almost 10 years now, and it's time to actually start spitting it on to a page instead of letting it just sink back into my brain. So that's what I did, and it really felt pretty damn good.
Anyway, what happens when Mark goes out of town for the weekend? I watch tons of TV that he hates. Well, usually. This weekend, I started by catching up on a couple of episodes of the new 90210 to clear my head after work last night, but the painfully poor writing and lack of imaginative storytelling combined with the fact that about 80% of the actors on the show are so bad I wouldn't ask them to work for me if they paid me, I had to give up. I watched a lot of the original Beverly Hills 90210 in high school on some basic cable network like FX after it was in syndication. Actually, it was the reason I thought that by the end of High School it would be totally normal to have dated every single guy I ever knew. But given the distance and my increased emotional stability since then, I just can't take Darren Starr's high school story lines seriously anymore. In the end, this is probably a very very good thing. Anyway, after I got bored of 90210, I decided that given that the first show I followed obsessively was a J.J. Abrams show (Alias), it was a good time to restart Fringe. Especially because Fringe is about to end, and I want to make sure I'm fresh on all the mythology before the series finale.
I saw the first episode of Fringe on a bootleg video site months before it actually aired. It was a rough cut with a bunch of Lost music set to it, but I didn't ask questions, I dove into the show. I loved Alias, I loved what had aired so far of Lost, and I wanted more J.J. Other than Joss Whedon, J.J. Abrams was the only showrunner I believed in (at that time) to make consistently great TV. Fringe starts off with a story-of-the-week type case: a plane auto-lands itself at Logan Airport in Boston with everyone dead on board. An FBI agent, who knows nothing about a paranormal "Fringe" division gets involved with the case and is pulled into the fold. Instead of setting itself apart from them, Fringe does not shy away from the shows that came before it, laying the rails for its existence. Advertising for the premiere and first season defined the show as this generation's The X-Files. As a fan of The X-Files, I was a little nervous about that, but I began to totally embrace it as the first season went on. The differences in the characters, and the fact that the writers were able to nod to X-Files fans without simply ripping off its cases or mythology. While I was getting excited about where Fringe would go, I was incredibly wary of FOX's ability to allow a sci-fi show to flourish after the tragedy that was Firefly (and, later, the tragedy of Dollhouse). I expected every episode of Fringe to be its last, and I think that may have prevented me from really enjoying the first season. I was honestly afraid to like the show too much and then have it get cancelled. In my re-watching of the pilot, I am struck by how closed off Olivia (Anna Torv) was in the beginning. I remember thinking, 'can this woman act?' when I first watched the pilot, and using it as an excuse to not get attached to her character. Boy was I wrong. The range Anna Torv shows over the course of the show, season one until now, is absolutely staggering. Fauxlivia? Alternate Reality Olivia? Future Olivia? I mean she makes them all seem like fully realized totally different people. It's like Grace Park's role as Sharon Valerii in Battlestar Galactica, some actors are just so good they can easily hold multiple roles in a show. Honestly, I'm embarrassed that I ever questioned her acting skills. Let's be honest, J.J. knows how to cast actors with serious chops. John Noble is a delight to watch from the beginning as Walter Bishop, the eccentric genius the show revolves around, and the flamboyance and unpredictability of his character serve to counteract the dreariness of Olivia's personality in season 1. If you've read my first post, you'll know that Dawson's Creek has a special place in my heart. Dawson's Creek watchers are generally split into Team Dawson and Team Pacey, and I have to say I was a Pacey person from the beginning. I was thrilled to see him on TV again, but even though he's excellent, the acting around him eclipses his skill a little. Anyway, the point is, the entire cast is great, the story is excellent, and there's pretty much no excuse to not go back and watch this show now that it is on Netflix instant viewing.
Tomorrow, new episodes of Homeland, Walking Dead, and Boardwalk Empire air. God Bless Sunday night TV. Goodnight.
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