THE BEST TV SERIES OF ALL TIME (in my opinion) - Fringe (2008-2013) - TV Series Review

 -May contain major spoilers-

Photo source: FOX

Fringe is a FOX Science Fiction TV series that ran from 2008 to 2013 and consists of 5 seasons. Created by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci starring Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson and John Noble.

Summary Ep.1

Fringe follows FBI agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), who is called in along with her fellow FBI agent and partner (...and lover) John Scott (Mark Valley), to investigate a mysterious plane accident that crystallized the passengers. Working with them is Olivia's supervisor, Charlie Francis (Kirk Acevedo) and a Homeland Security special agent, Phillip Broyles (Lance Reddick). 

While investigating a lead at a storage facility, Agent Dunham and Agent Scott get attacked by a suspect and Agent Scott is caught in a chemical explosion that causes him to begin crystallizing.

Agent Scott is put into an induced coma to try to slow the effects of the strange chemical and Olivia has to race against time to save him.

To save John, Olivia needs the help of Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble), a scientist who has been at St. Claire Mental Institute for 17 years. Before being institutionalized Dr. Bishop had been working on top-secret fringe science experiments at Harvard and he is the only one who may know how to cure Agent Scott's condition. Olivia is not allowed to visit Dr. Bishop, so she needs the help of his only (and estranged) son Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson), who is in Iraq negotiating a (dubious) business deal.

Peter refuses to help until Olivia blackmails him by telling him that she has his file, knows what he is doing in Iraq and will "let certain people know about [his] whereabouts".

Olivia and Peter go to St. Claire's hospital and meet with Walter who says that "[He] knew someone would have come. Eventually" Walter rambles a lot but has moments of clarity where he answers correctly to the questions Agent Dunham asks. Walter says that he needs to examine John Scott himself, but he can't leave the institution without approval from a legal guardian (who must be a relative), leaving Peter to refuse and Olivia to threaten him with making a phone call.

Walter examines Agent Scott at the hospital and notices that he is getting worse, so he asks to bring him to his laboratory. Olivia tells him that the lab was shut down and Walter becomes irated and storms out. Olivia asks Broyles to reopen Walter's laboratory at Harvard.

Joining them at the lab is Junior Agent (and Olivia's assistant) Astrid Farnsworth (Jasika Nicole), who becomes an assistant and handler of Walter.

Walter determines that John only has 24 hours to live, so he has Olivia try (with her consent) an experimental procedure named "Synaptic Transfer" that helps enter Agent Scott's mind for clues.

The suspect in Agent Scott's mind looks exactly like one of the passengers on the plane and in the FBI databases, they discover he had a twin brother who worked at Massive Dynamic, owned by William Bell, a lab partner and friend of Walter. 

Willam Bell was out of town, so Olivia meets with Massive Dynamic Executive Director Nina Sharp (Blair Brown), who tells her that the suspect was fired after they discovered he was trying to steal classified information. Nina asks if the suspect may be part of "The Pattern"; Olivia is confused and tries to get more information from Nina, who tells her that she (Olivia) doesn't have enough clearance.

Olivia and a team of the FBI enter the suspect's building while Peter and Walter wait in the car. Peter sees the suspect exiting the building and runs after him, with Olivia joining the chase until Peter tackles the suspect and Olivia interrogates him.

Broyles tells Oliva about equally strange cases that have been happening called "The Pattern" and asks her to join him in the investigations.

Walter and Peter give the cure to John Scott, who begins to recover and is sent to the same hospital as the suspect (who is there because Peter hit him with a coffee mug). 

Olivia talks with the suspect, who tells her that he did everything he did because he was threatened by an Agent and that he has a recording hidden at his home. 

Agent Dunham listens to the recording and discovers that the agent was Agent Scott, who enters the suspect's room and murders him with a pillow. She arrives at the hospital just in time to see Agent Scott trying to flee in a car, Agent Dunham gives chase to him and Agent Scott ends up crashing the car and he ends up dying in Olivia's arms.

Olivia asks Walter and Peter to stay in Boston to help her with future investigations... 

Thoughts

The first season of Fringe is a mystery-of-the-week show akin to The X-Files, but with that season finale (which I consider the best season finale of all time and is even better if you do a blind watch), the plot of the show expands a lot. Although I have to admit that the 4th and 5th seasons are considerably weaker and apparently the idea for the plot was 7-seasons long, but the showrunners did the 4th thinking it was going to be the last, with the 5th being a short run with 13 episodes (just enough to reach 100 episodes).

The cinematography uses a lot of J.J. Abrams's characteristic lens flare and it works a lot, giving the show a sort of futuristic, otherworldly vibe and the series it's about fringe science, so it fits like a glove

The acting and character writing in this series are truly outstanding. I love John Noble, who delivers the "crazy" and emotional parts so well it convinces you Walter is a real (and outlandish) person. Anna Torv is fantastic as Olivia and although she may seem a little "stiff" at first, when you start to understand Olivia's backstory you understand all of her actions. 

Olivia and Peter's romantic storyline is seriously well done to the point when they fight or have some differences, I completely understand both of their points of view (unlike some other TV Series where the fights feel really dumb).

The father/son relationship between Walter and Peter is very moving.

J.J. Abrams wrote the opening theme and I think it fits well with the presentation of the series. I also like all the variations of Peter and Olivia's love theme. The theme feels sort of eerie at first but becomes very sweet.

I recommend this series if you like watching things similar to The X-Files and 12 Monkeys, strong female characters, a really strong plot and sci-fi stuff.  

Rating

Acting - 10/10

Plot - 10/10

Olivia and Peter's relationship 10/10

Soundtrack - 10/10

Cinematography - 10/10

Overall Rating - 10/10

Extended TV Series Info.

Quantity of Episodes: 100 spread in 5 seasons.

Run Time: 81min the pilot, 53min during the first season and 43min the rest of the series.

Release Date: September 9, 2008 (this series ran until January 18, 2013). 

Network: FOX.

Created by: J.J Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci

Music by: Michael Giacchino and Chris Tilton.

Starring: Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Jasika Nicole, Lance Reddick, Kirk Acevedo and Blair Brown.

I watched the show while it was running on the TV and missed a lot of episodes, so in 2020 I decided to rewatch it and when I finished it, I felt like I was never going to watch anything as good (I was being a tad dramatic back then), and everything I tried didn't land with me until I watched the Jdrama Unnatural (Review).