Fringe: Season 3
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What started as a very interesting show about strange/fringe science events is now turning into the usual "us versus them"/ "good guys versus bad guys" show. I guess one reason is that audience testing showed more people understood simple conflict plots than harder to stay with fringe science plots.
Having worked on many shows including several science fiction shows it is much easier to write and produce conflict plots than shows that need to come up with unusual events or occurrences each week e.g. "Outer limits" or "Twilight Zone". Even "Star Trek" TV shows as a whole tried to do different manifestations each week.
I would also note in this tight cost control times that having the same actors doing their look-a-like counter role saves money. Reusing the same sets with different background mats likewise saves costs.
So it just might have been necessary to go to this plot line to get the budget down and keep the show on the air. But to me, and I only speak for myself, it remains a good show but less interesting show.
Having worked on many shows including several science fiction shows it is much easier to write and produce conflict plots than shows that need to come up with unusual events or occurrences each week e.g. "Outer limits" or "Twilight Zone". Even "Star Trek" TV shows as a whole tried to do different manifestations each week.
I would also note in this tight cost control times that having the same actors doing their look-a-like counter role saves money. Reusing the same sets with different background mats likewise saves costs.
So it just might have been necessary to go to this plot line to get the budget down and keep the show on the air. But to me, and I only speak for myself, it remains a good show but less interesting show.
Great post GJ. Personally, this season is not as intriguing as previous seasons....but it's still early. I'm glad it's back, but I hope the show doesn't get old and stale.
I came pretty close to hitting stop and deleting last weeks episode after the first 20-minutes...but then something happened. The show took a break from the endlessly repetitive 'War of the World' theme and had itself a little paranormal adventure. While I certainly understand the show has establish the storyline for the remainder of the season, it was all getting a little stale. It was just nice to relax and enjoy a good show without all (too much) the parallel universes at war drama. Just my two-cents.
I agree. I wouldn't mind a lot more episodes like this. Where either side investigates something like this, while slowly advancing the main story line.
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The only part that I didn't like about last week was that we didn't get any Peter or Bishop (well the real Bishop).
I miss Walter and cannot stand Walternate. Anyway, now that Dunham realizes who she really is...I wonder if she will continue to sleep with her boyfriend and take one for the team per se? I guess that's one way of her staying close to peter.
Excellent episode, but I still can't figure-out the shapeshifters...until I found this a short while ago:
Source
What do you need to know about the shapeshifters? I asked Fringe exec producer Jeff Pinkner the question. Here's his answer: "The shapeshifters are Walternate's 'soldiers.' Part organic, part mechanical — they 'bleed' mercury — and are able to take the shape of any human that they kill. Walternate sent them here years ago (they were able to cross universes safely because they're not human) to act as sleeper agents."
Source
What do you need to know about the shapeshifters? I asked Fringe exec producer Jeff Pinkner the question. Here's his answer: "The shapeshifters are Walternate's 'soldiers.' Part organic, part mechanical — they 'bleed' mercury — and are able to take the shape of any human that they kill. Walternate sent them here years ago (they were able to cross universes safely because they're not human) to act as sleeper agents."
: Too funny...I've been away and the Tivo has been on autopilot. Can I assume the show was interrupted for baseball...
Me neither. I do like the real world stories. Not liking the alternate universe stories.
S~
I love the idea about parallel earth stories. I loved it years ago when I used to read DC comics and earth 1 had the comic book heroes from the 1960s - to present time and earth 2 where their alternate older comic book heroes got their start from the 1940s. Also read in magazine that many scientist think there are a multi-verse of infinite earths and every possible thing that can happen has happened on one of those earths. In 1986 DC comics came out with the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" where the multi-verse ( a multitude of parallel universes existing side by side)was being destroyed by an anti-matter wave. One earth at a time with different comic book heroes lived was destroyed by this wave and the whole group of super heroes from earth 1 ,2 3 and earth X fought to try to stop the anti-monitor and his wave of death. In the end all the remaining earths were merged to form one earth and all the superheroes went back to the when the universe was created to fight the anti-monitor. Supergirl died trying to stop the monitor from killing her cousin Superman. Wonder Woman was devolved to clay again and her origin was changed. Supergirl since she died at the begining of time ,never existed and all who knew her forgot her history. Her parallel earth 2 counterpart Powergirl had her story changed to make her not a cousin of that earth's superman. But this was really a way of integrating all the heroes from different comics that DC bought into one universe and they told the end stories of all the older super heroes from the 1940s and changed the origins of each superhero to make them start over in the 60s. Either way I loved the mini-series and still own them to this day.
Now Fringe hasn't come any where near telling a good enough story to make this interesting to most of the public and their ratings are showing this. They can't explain why there is a "war" between the two earths and why this is relevant to the story. So far it looks like we have a fight between the goofy Walter of the main earth vs the smarter Walter of the other earth, over the stealing of his son by the other Walter. I would like to see this brought to some conclusions or the story finished once in for all. Otherwise their low ratings will finish this story once and for all: cancellation.
Now Fringe hasn't come any where near telling a good enough story to make this interesting to most of the public and their ratings are showing this. They can't explain why there is a "war" between the two earths and why this is relevant to the story. So far it looks like we have a fight between the goofy Walter of the main earth vs the smarter Walter of the other earth, over the stealing of his son by the other Walter. I would like to see this brought to some conclusions or the story finished once in for all. Otherwise their low ratings will finish this story once and for all: cancellation.
Yeah, I don't see this show coming back for a 4th season...not unless they pick-up another 2-millions viewers, which isn't going to happen.
People like horror of the week shows. Fringe was this way when it first started. Something unexplained killed a bunch of people in a weird way or something and they would go in and investigate, episodes were self contained. Now it is a long running plot line of the parallel worlds which is just not the same.
I saw a 1963 episode of The Twilight Zone titled "The Parallel" in which an astronaut, played by Steve Forrest, arrives in a world much like his own, except for a few small differences. Needless to say, he arrived in a parallel universe and it reminded me so much of the basic theme of Fringe. The thing I loved about The Twighlight Zone (and radio theater for that matter) is they build-up the story in the viewers/listeners mind which, in my opinion, is much more effective than showing some gimmicky CG visuals like they so often do today. I guess that's why I liked about the X-Files...by the time you saw something you were ready to jump-out-of-your-seat since they build-up the story in the viewers mind. Shows like CSI are losing their effectiveness because the graphics are so prevalent they have little impact on the audience.
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