Is Fringe any good?

[Endymion]

Right now amazon has the first season on blu-ray for $27.99, and I was wondering if I should pick it up. Thoughts?

[mickmike]

Yes most definetly. I bought Fringe as a blind buy and do not regret it for a second.

[Hyperspace05]

Why buy if you are unsure? Just rent each disc at Blockbuster or Netflix, and then you have the option to stop at any time.

The 2nd half of the season is better than the 1st half, though.

[MichaelDornFan]

Yeah but it's going to get canceled before it gets a proper ending...

[Tulaberry whine]

I just finished the first season and I found it stubbornly average and plodding all the way. I had a friend assuring me 'it gets better', but it never really did.

It's a pity too because the cast is really rather good and the show has a lot of potential.

[Wicca who Wonta]

I've watched the first season and I loved it! I hope season 2 will be as good as the first one.

The characters sets it apart from other shows imo. I find the premise interesting and different from what I've seen before.

[startrekwatcher]

It is a highly erratic show with regards to quality--it is very hit-or-miss. Its first half of season one was not very good. Their plots of the week tend to be very derivative and not very interesting. If you like weird standalones The X-Files wins hands down. Also even for a sci-fi show the explanations for a lot of what is going on comes across more as mumbo-jumbo. And the shows have this bad habit of giving everything away in the teaser forcing us to sit through the investigation rather than discovering the answers right alongside the characters.

The characters are pretty bland too. About the only thing I can recommend about the show is the series mythology--when the show focuses on it that is when it is the most entertaining. Thankfully due to that fact its second half is much stronger.

Season two so far eight episodes in has been like its first half in season one--too many boring standalones. The only three episodes I really enjoyed--no surprise--centered on the mythology--at least there you might not be too invested in the characters but can enjoy the mystery and trying to figure out what is going on and how it fits into the Big Picture.

I give it a guarded recommendation solely for the mythology. It wants to be a cross between TXF and LOST but never comes close to being as good as either. It is pretty middle of the road fare.

[Samuel Walters]

^ That's a pretty accurate summation of the series, though I'd probably peg it slightly higher than just "average." startrekwatcher is right, though, the series is at its absolute best when it focuses on its mythology. Where I disagree is with respect to the characters. It's not like they get a whole lot of development, but I find Olivia, Peter, and especially Walter to be very entertaining.

Best thing to do would be to rent S1 on Netflix. It does improve in the second half and, from there, you can decide whether or not its your cup of tea.

[PKTrekGirl]

I watched the first season of Fringe, and while I thought I was enjoying it at the time, in retrospect there is really only one character of interest on that show: Walter.

Now granted, Walter is a GREAT character. A REALLY great character, in fact. But the rest of the characters are only average...and Olivia, to me, is outright annoying.

I haven't watched any of season 2 yet...I'm almost afraid to devote any more time, given that it will likely be canceled and won't get a decent ending.

[Gaith]

I refuse to watch cop procedurals on principle. I don't care if the cops are psychic, pretending to be psychic, are vampires or a math geniuses or paranormal specialists or etc. Life's too short for that sort of bunk, and there are too many good shows with - gasp - original themes (Mad Men, The Wire, BBC stuff, etc.) that go for the same rate on Netflix.

So, I vote no.

[Starbreaker]

You can't give tell someone not to watch something because it sounds like you've never seen it.

It's a good show. It's hit or miss, but mostly hit.

[Bad Bishop]

I like Fringe, but it took me a while to really warm up to it. The show has done a very good job of presenting far-out scientific mysteries (teleportation and parallel universes, for example). Then again, unlike The X-Files, Fringe seems to avoid stories that involve spirits or occult phenomena. Not sure why that is.

The three main characters are a mixed bag. Dr. Walter Bishop is a great character. FBI agent Olivia Dunham is dull. Peter Bishop livens the show with his witty observations.

[Samuel Walters]

Gaith wrote:

---

I refuse to watch cop procedurals on principle ... there are too many good shows with - gasp - original themes ... The Wire

You do realize that The Wire is a "cop procedural" show, right? I mean, it does cop procedural better than any show I've ever seen, and it's one of the best shows I've ever seen at creating truly realistic, complex characters. But each season is, more or less, structured around the "cop procedural" premise of catching "the bad guys" ... to the point where McNulty will turn on anyone who isn't going balls out after said "bad guys."

Not that I would ever compare The Wire to Fringe. One is a truly great series which explores the depths of human nature while the other is, more or less, cartoonish. Still, Fringe is an entertaining, if somewhat hollow, show. But if you're going to dismiss it, better to do so on the manner with which it executes its stories (a legitimate point of criticism, mind you), than the premise itself.

[Gertch]

Bad Bishop wrote:

---

I like Fringe, but it took me a while to really warm up to it. The show has done a very good job of presenting far-out scientific mysteries (teleportation and parallel universes, for example). Then again, unlike The X-Files, Fringe seems to avoid stories that involve spirits or occult phenomena. Not sure why that is.

The three main characters are a mixed bag. Dr. Walter Bishop is a great character. FBI agent Olivia Dunham is dull. Peter Bishop livens the show with his witty observations.

I agree with you. It did take a bit to warm up to it but the second half of season one really brought me in. Season 2 has been good overall with a couple of lesser eps. The ash effect blew me away, so to speak.

Walter is a hoot! And I like the locations being around my area. Some people at work recognized one of the buildings in Worcester and thought that was pretty neat.

I'm enjoying it.

[Bad Bishop]

Gertch wrote:

---

I agree with you. It did take a bit to warm up to it but the second half of season one really brought me in. Season 2 has been good overall with a couple of lesser eps. The ash effect blew me away, so to speak.

Walter is a hoot! And I like the locations being around my area. Some people at work recognized one of the buildings in Worcester and thought that was pretty neat.

I'm enjoying it.

I've read that the production has moved to old reliable Vancouver, British Columbia effective Season 2. It's too bad, but they wanted to save money.