blair brown-related stories
Posted Nov 5th 2009 11:20PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Fringe
(S02E06) "Why is this case so important to you?" - Olivia to Agent Broyles
I said in
my preview earlier today that I hoped this episode of
Fringe wouldn't be a stand-alone creature feature. Unfortunately, that's exactly what it was. No William Bell. No Nina Sharp. No Pattern. No alternate universe. And no Observer. At least, not front and center. Did anyone see him?
Instead, we got a little diversion into the life of Phillip Broyles; how he got so involved in a case four years ago that it cost him his marriage and family. I feel for the guy, but I'm not that interested in his life. As for the Shadow, was this an
X-Files knock-off? You can tell me in the comments after the jump.
Continue reading Review: Fringe - Earthling
Posted Oct 16th 2009 3:52AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Fringe
(S02E05) "Whether you admit it or not, your life is something of a nightmare." - Bowling Alley Guy to Olivia
For a minute there, I thought maybe we were in a
True Blood crossover with the horned guy in the first few minutes of this episode. But no, it was the usual twisty-turny
Fringe-isms involving mind control, computer chips and dream states.
And it appears that something many of us assumed had happened to Peter actually did happen -- though with this show, you can never be sure until it all plays out. It wouldn't surprise me if it's something completely different from what I'm assuming it is. All this, and Mysterious Bowling Alley Guy after the jump ...
Continue reading Fringe: Dream Logic
Posted Oct 9th 2009 3:38AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Fringe
(S02E04) "Momentum can be deferred, but it must always be paid back in full. As I always said to Walter, physics is a bitch." - William Bell to Olivia, on the dangers of jumping universes
Cryonics, frozen heads, worm juice, mercury blood, shapeshifters, and Leonard Nimoy were all featured in this episode, and I loved it all.
Let's start with the worm juice. Olivia must have been seriously craving her William Bell memories to drink that awful stuff. And what a trooper that she was able to keep it down, too. I guess it must have worked. She got some of her memories back, along with some help from the bell -- both the bell they chimed during Rebecca's psychedelic adventure
and William Bell. Or Willem, as Olivia used to call him.
Is she right not to trust him? Could he have started the war? It's certainly possible, given his mysteriousness. He said for reasons she might understand later, he couldn't come back to this universe right now, possibly never. Why? What's he doing over there? Is he the one building the army? Is he being forced to? Will he and Walter face off eventually?
Continue reading Fringe: Momentum Deferred
Posted Oct 2nd 2009 4:27AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Fringe
(S02E03) "Get my portable chemistry set ... this means bodies!" - Walter to Astrid
This episode of
Fringe sort of went along without too many shocker moments -- until the last few minutes, that is. I wasn't all that surprised about the serum that turned people into human explosives, or even that it might be part of a top-secret military experiment. But I was wondering when our friend The Observer would turn up again in a big way and dump something spicy all over his plate of food.
Continue reading Fringe: Fractured
Posted May 6th 2009 8:31AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Fringe
(S01E19) It's an interesting premise. That we can have several different alternative realities, and if the brainwaves are hitting just right, we have the option to see more than one reality. Or in this case, more than one charred body.
I must say, Olivia handled it way better than I would have. I would have been FREAKING OUT and curled into a fetal position if the whole time-shift thing was happening before my eyes. But she took it all in stride, using it to help solve the case and find the twin sister in the lab. But oy ... what a shocker ...
Continue reading Fringe: The Road Not Taken
Posted Feb 23rd 2009 5:04PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Reality-Free, Fringe
I didn't even realize that
Fringe was filmed in New York City. Maybe because the show is set around but not filmed in the Boston area and is a little
X-Files-ish, I always assumed that it was either filmed in California or in Vancouver, the way
The X-Files did for most of their run. Now it looks like the show really is going there.
Entertainment Weekly is reporting that for the show's second season (if it has one, which is a good bet), the show will move to Vancouver and film there, because of the production costs. Seems the program for getting shows to film in New York proved to be more popular than they thought it would be and they've run out of money.
Continue reading Fringe moves production farther north (and I don't mean Albany)
Posted Dec 3rd 2008 6:06PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: OpEd, Watercooler Talk, Reality-Free, Fringe
Anyone who watched
last night's episode of
Fringe can see that all the pieces of the puzzle that is The Pattern are coming together. Dunham is starting to merge John Scott's memories with her own, right as the evil Nina Sharp at Massive Dynamic decided she needs them to help her nefarious plans. Dunham's actually starting to show some personality; the chemistry between her and Peter and between Peter and Walter is getting fun. And the ending to last night's episode set up a nice cliffhanger that will take us through the holidays.
It's starting to reach a lot of the potential that fans had for it, given its J.J. Abrams pedigree. So why am I not more engrossed with the show?
Continue reading Fringe is getting good... so why am I not paying more attention to it?
Posted Oct 2nd 2008 11:29AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free, Fringe
You ever get excited about a new show, and you watch the first couple of episodes, and while you like the show it doesn't completely grab you, and you end up dropping it and watching something else? That's how I feel with
Fringe. It's a good show, but it's just not "must-see" for me, and I'd rather watch
The Mentalist over on CBS.
But that doesn't mean it's not popular. In fact, so far it's the #1 new show of the season (in the 18 to 49 demo that advertisers love, as we've pointed out here many times), and FOX is so happy that
they've given the J.J. Abrams sci-fi drama a full season.
The show is actually getting better ratings since the debut, which is something you don't often see. If there's one thing that the networks really love is seeing a show actually increase in viewers over the weeks, even if the first episode ratings didn't blow everyone away.
Posted Sep 11th 2008 3:41PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Reality-Free, Fringe
Maybe it's because of
Lost, but TV viewers seem to be interested in the secrets behind a show at an accelerated rate these days. For example, there has only been one episode of
Fringe so far but viewers are already wondering about the what the big secret is, what's going on with Blair Brown's robotic arm, who is going to play William Bell, why there's a cow in the lab, whether or not people can be reanimated on the show, and (most importantly) when
Heroes star and J.J. Abrams buddy Greg Grunberg is going to show up as a janitor or a corpse. Well,
TV Guide has some of the answers for you.
Yes, some
SPOILERS are ahead, so click with caution.
Continue reading You have some questions about Fringe, so here are some answers
Posted Sep 9th 2008 11:16PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Fringe
(S01E01) "I knew someone would come eventually." -- Dr. Walter Bishop
This is my second time watching
Fringe --
I posted an Early Look review a couple of weeks ago -- and it's just as engaging to me now as the first time. Tonight, I focused more on the relationships of the characters, whereas the first time, I was fixated on the sci-fi paranormal elements. My thoughts:
Continue reading Fringe: Pilot
Posted Sep 2nd 2008 11:01AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, OpEd, Video, Early Looks, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Fringe
Wow, I really like this show! But darn, I'll have to wait to see what happens next, because
FOX only sent us the pilot episode. I hope the continuing episodes are just as good. I expect nothing less from writer/producer J.J. Abrams, who already has a slew of hits on
his IMDB page, including
Lost and
Alias (and I have high hopes for the upcoming
Star Trek feature film, which he's directing and producing). Also on board for
Fringe are the writers of
Transformers:
Alex Kurtzman and
Roberto Orci. Good combo there.
Let's see ... what can I tell you about
Fringe without giving away any spoilers? The first scene hooked me and wouldn't let go until ... well, it still hasn't let go, because I can't wait to see what happens next. The show is equal parts
Lost,
Heroes,
CSI, and
The X-Files, and the pilot episode covers a lot of ground in the set-up, but also ends with lots of questions.
Continue reading Fringe - an early look - VIDEO
Posted May 30th 2008 6:02PM by Kristin Sample
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, OpEd, Reality-Free
Imagine this. If
The X-Files and
CSI had a baby and that baby's godfather was
Heroes, then that would be
Fringe. Sounds pretty good, right? Well, after attending a screening of J.J. Abrams' new show at Fox studios in Century City, I can vouch that it is indeed pretty good. One might even say it's more than
pretty good; it's great in fact.
I watched the two-hour season premiere on Thursday evening. The pilot I saw was unfinished, but according to the publicist for Fox, the network is so psyched about
Fringe, they couldn't wait to show the press. He referred to it as Fox's "tent pole series for the fall."
After the jump, I tell you about the pilot and the characters.
Consider yourself warned though, there will be a few spoilers.Continue reading A preview of J.J. Abrams' new show Fringe - VIDEO
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