Fringe discussion

[JasonEvans]

Nope, totally missed that. But I'm hopeless at noticing anything whether on tv or in real life.

Thanks for pointing it out!

Do you have the show on your DVR? It is at the beginning of the episode in the scene where the cute receptionist and the creepy electrified delivery man get on the elevator together. Just as the elevator doors open someone gets off the elevator. It is "baldy" the Observer guy from the last episode. He somewhat eyes the electric guy and then walks out of frame. It happens quickly.

-Jason "I was sorta hoping there would be a security tape that would show him" Evans

[JasonEvans]

Ahhh-- all it took was a little bit of internet digging to find this...

(for some reason, I cannot make it show up, so I attached the image instead)

--Jason "there's baldy, getting off the elevator" Evans

[Cormac]

Sounds like I'm the only person still enjoying this show! I know it was picked up for a full season, so hopefully it will survive! I think I'm just a sucker for all things Abrams. I loved all of the seasons of Alias and I definitely love Lost. So maybe I'm just a big dork! I still don't get much of an X-Files vibe when I'm watching Fringe. I don't know, X-Files just always seemed more cheesy to me (only saw the first 4 seasons and the first movie). Sure you have to suspend reality during Fringe, but it seems more grown-up to me than X-Files. Also, I love the crazy doctor. Walter is hilarious. Come on, who didn't laugh when he was dancing a jig in wool socks to build up some static electricity???

[Cormac]

Guess I really am the only one who hasn't given up on this show yet! I still love it! Last night's epi was pretty good I thought. Turning people into radioative dirty bombs is an interesting premise. Walter kills me! (Bring back cotton candy! Blue!! Not pink!! ) Anyway, I'm still enjoying it, even if you have to suspend thinking once in awhile!

[JasonEvans]

Yes, I too somewhat enjoyed this week's episode. I forgot to notice if The Observer made a cameo at any point, perhaps as a patron in the coffee shop at the beginning.

Overall the episode was ok. I was glad that it was not another case of them investigating something Walter had worked on years ago that had been turned into some evil weapon. I am getting a little bit tired of that. I found the bad drug company executive's attitude toward the FBI to be really unrealistic, especially when he threatened Olivia (with not having babies or something like that-- huh??). I did not like it when Olivia's boss came down hard on her either, that seemed unrealistic too.

Still, the show feels like X-files lite. We had yet another episode with a science experiment gone bad this week. I am fine with that but it increasingly looks like few of these episodes are linked in any way. Yes, Massive Dynamics played a role again and I am betting there will be some real fireworks down the road when Nina Sharp (Blair Brown) asks for her favor from Peter, but I am left wondering where this thing is going. Actually, that is not true, I am left wondering if it really is going anywhere that matters.

I still think JJ and company have a plan for "the pattern" -- for revealing more about it and what it means -- but they sure are taking their time getting there. I am getting a tad frustrated.

--Jason "need to go check the ratings..." Evans

[JasonEvans]

Ok, the ratings still look pretty good. This show will be around all season, I am sure.

Fringe got 9.1 million viewers on Tuesday, coming in third behind DWTS (16 million) and The Mentalist (15.3 mil). However, Fringe beat both those shows (and everyone else) in the 18-49 demographic and it crushed them in the 18-34 demo. Fringe is the show young people are watching Tuesdays at 9.

That said, much of Fringe's success could be coming from House as a strong lead-in. Fringe is holding about 75% of House's audience. Fringe is also showing some dropoff in its second half-hour (about 10-15%), perhaps as the House holdovers decide they don't want to bother to watch the rest of this program.

Still, the bottom line is that Fringe is doing well enough that it appears to be a success -- for now.

Fringe does face a bit of a challenge in coming weeks. The World Series and the election are going to push it off the air for a couple weeks and some shows really get hurt when they loses momentum early in their life-spans. But, Fringe is doing very well in Tivo ratings so I am betting its audience will not forget about it.

--Jason "I am hoping that JJ has some nice plot twists and multi-episode arcs in store for us" Evans

[JasonEvans]

I forgot to notice if The Observer made a cameo at any point, perhaps as a patron in the coffee shop at the beginning.

Nope, but he was hanging out at party where Olivia confronted the drug company executive --

Click here to see the frame grab with him in it.


--Jason "ok, I am now convinced he will show up in every episode-- my new goal is to find him every time " Evans

[Cormac]

Jason, has he been in every episode so far, or just in all of them since the tunneling torpedo epi? Having watched every episode of Lost and Alias, I learned a long time ago to be very, VERY patient with shows affiliated with Abrams. They may end up going somewhere awesome, but in the meantime, I just sit back and enjoy the journey. Hopefully peope will remain patient with Fringe as well. *fingers crossed*

[JasonEvans]

Jason, has he been in every episode so far, or just in all of them since the tunneling torpedo epi? Having watched every episode of Lost and Alias, I learned a long time ago to be very, VERY patient with shows affiliated with Abrams. They may end up going somewhere awesome, but in the meantime, I just sit back and enjoy the journey. Hopefully peope will remain patient with Fringe as well. *fingers crossed*

It is my understanding that he has been in every episode. He was in the pilot walking outside of Massive Dynamics.

Considering the poor actor had to shave his eyebrows, I am glad they are giving him consistent work

Actually, he is a guy named Michael Cerveris and is a very successful Tony Award winning stage actor.

--Jason "I am trying to remain patient, but, aside from the Observer, I have gotten few hints that they plan anything more than a random mystery each week" Evans

[ohioguy2]

Glad to see this thread is ongoing. Time Warner and Fox are at odds here in Ohio and TW is not broadcasting Fox shows! No World Serious, no Fox at all on cable. I liked the few shows I saw, and really Fringe is the only fox show I miss, even though I time shifted them and watched only when I had time.

[killerleft]

I'm not too worried about how everything ties in. The acting is very good, and I love John Noble's character, Walter.

I guess I don't require as much from shows as some of you guys. Fringe moves at a fast pace and delivers lots of action. I've read lots of books with less action that withheld the "grab" until the very end, and those books were very good (The Other, by Thomas Tryon, comes to mind).

[Ignatius07]

--Jason "I am trying to remain patient, but, aside from the Observer, I have gotten few hints that they plan anything more than a random mystery each week" Evans

I normally don't read the OTB other than for Lost threads, so I was glad to check in here to see this. I too have seen each episode, and I've had the same exact complaint as you, Jason - feeling that each episode is random and not linked enough to the others. I think the X-Files Lite comparison is really spot on. Lost suffered from the same general flaw in its first couple of seasons, but it's "random" characteristic was introducing subplots that it completely dropped and didn't explain. That is frustrating, of course, though not as bad as having Fringe being essentially it's own hour-long made-for-TV movie each week. It's not that bad, of course, but I really want to see more continuity. I'll probably stick with it through the year.

I like Walter a lot as well, though I didn't think his dialogue was very good in Tuesday's episode. Especially his "third question" in the diner in the beginning when he asked for some of the French onion soup. I feel like I am pointing out a lot of flaws for one of only a few shows that I actually watch, but I guess that's because I expect big things from JJ Abrams.

[DBFAN]

Nope, but he was hanging out at party where Olivia confronted the drug company executive --

Click here to see the frame grab with him in it.


--Jason "ok, I am now convinced he will show up in every episode-- my new goal is to find him every time " Evans

That is cool, I did not see him in that one and I was looking because I caught him in the Elevator on the previous episode. I to will make it my goal to catch him every week.

[CLT Devil]

Make it or break it week for me...hope it keeps my attention. Wait, look like a rerun, nevermind.

[JasonEvans]

Make it or break it week for me...hope it keeps my attention. Wait, look like a rerun, nevermind.

What did you think of this week?

I was somewhat underwhelmed with the episode though I really like that it feels like the show is starting to set up some interesting stuff. This episode was clearly designed to set up a lot of future developments.

Oh, I was quite disappointed with this week's appearance by baldy. I feel like they have put him in fairly key places for the most part, generally right where the key paranormal activity is happening or around the person who is responsible for it. In short, he is usually "Observing" as he should be.

This week, he was in the crowd just ahead of Olivia as she is walking off the plane in Germany. It was a bad location for him as there was nothing in that place for him to Observe. They also had him so obviously walk toward the camera. It is sorta more fun when they hide him -- though I still love the fact that he got off the elevator a few episodes back right before the electric man got on board.

Anyway, here is this week's image of baldy--



--Jason "need to check on the ratings to see if this show is still doing well" Evans

[Cormac]

I'm still loving the show. I agree that they are making it fairly easy to spot baldy, but I'm guessing they feel that they need to make him more obvious in order for the majority to see him. Most people tend to have ADHD when it comes to tv shows (re: LOST) so if they just keep hiding him, I would guess a lot of people will miss his importance. I like how Jackson's character seemed to have a bigger role in this episode than just the occasional one liners. I really like the interaction between him and Walter.

[bigj4194]

I too am still loving the show. Thanks to this thread I have paid more attention to each episode and have started to spot baldy in each episode. I hope that the show is still doing well as I would hate to see it end without a conclusion.

Cormac- I too like the interaction between walter and his son...its always comical...especially in this episode when it comes to the gum or a breath mint at the beginning.

[killerleft]

This show is just lots of fun! Mucho action and Walter. I certainly didn't see that ending coming. I forgot to look for Baldy.

[JasonEvans]

I hope that the show is still doing well as I would hate to see it end without a conclusion.

Fear not, it ain't going anywhere. Fox has ordered a full season and the ratings, while not spectacular, are certainly very solid. It is skewing young so that even though it gets only about half as many total viewers as The Mentalist or Dancing With The Stars, it beats both of them in the 18-49 demographic and wins that demo. It wins the 18-35 demo even more consistently. It is also skewing more upscale, which is a big deal as well.

Now, much of Fringe's success may be from having a superstar leadin in House but things are about to get even better for Fringe in that regard because starting in January fox has decided to put put American Idol on ahead of Fringe. Talk about ratings gold!!

It would take a creative and ratings disaster for this show not to get picked up for another season at least.

--Jason "I do want to see the show start to go somewhere from an overall plot standpoint" Evans

[BD80]

Count me in as another fan of the show. Thanks for the heads up on the observer, that is the kind of detail I often miss as I do not typically devote full attention to the show. He does kind of remind me of Charlie Runkle from Californication, which is one of my favorite shows on TV.

Maybe with the most recent episode we are starting to see a plot develop to explain who is behind the occurrences that drive the story lines. I do hope that it doesn't get as convoluted as Lost, which started to lose me a couple of seasons ago and really went overboard when it jumped into the future.