Is Fringe any good?

[startrekwatcher]

TheMasterOfOrion wrote:

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No, IMO the show is too long.

It has been on the air less than two seasons. How is that too long? We aren't talking a show that has run itself into the ground and has tapped into all it potential and is just grasping like TXF. Quite the opposite--I'd argue that its greatest failing is the fact that it hasn't tapped into its full potential yet choosing instead to rely on well worn formulaic drivel.

I got through a season of a half of Lost and then cursed the show, his Alias was even worse.

LOST does take some adjusting to. You really have to be dedicated and patient. So for the most part I don't mind having to wait years for a storyline to be resolved--it allows for much more depth, some interesting twists and turns and the exhilaration when the payoff finally occurs. As a big LOST fan I'll freely admit it there were periods that just dragged on with no answers, however, sticking with the show and enduring the prolonged wait for the payoffs so far has been well worth it. And in hindsight you can understand now why certain threads required to be pushed to the side and seemingly forgotten so the writers could introduce other threads that beautifully dovetail into one another and make so much sense in retrospect with everything else. Had they given us the answers too soon it would have spoiled the payoffs and answers that were to come.

Unlike TXF and other shows like The Dead Zone that really have no idea of where everything is ultimately going so they continuously add new freshly conceived elements leading to a messy drawn out unsatisfying arc LOST actually appears to have a vision guiding it.

[PKTrekGirl]

I don't see that this show has all that much in common with The X-Files. Yes, it deals with the supernatural and the bizarre...but it never even occurred to me that any characters in Fringe were modeled after Mulder and Scully.

Mulder and Scully were vastly more interesting than Olivia and Peter. Walter is an awesome character, and IMO quite an original one....but yeah...I agree that he's not enough to hang an entire show on, unfortunately.

[Aragorn]

startrekwatcher wrote:

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It has been on the air less than two seasons. How is that too long? We aren't talking a show that has run itself into the ground and has tapped into all it potential and is just grasping like TXF. Quite the opposite--I'd argue that its greatest failing is the fact that it hasn't tapped into its full potential yet choosing instead to rely on well worn formulaic drivel.

You realize you're trying to talk reason with someone who deliberately spoiled nuBSG to a poster here who hadn't seen it yet and was simply inquiring about it. That should tell you all you need to know.

[TheMasterOfOrion]

Wow you Battlestar fanatics really do hold a long grudge. I spoiled in total - one Battlestar thread,
one thread way back in the first week of May 2009 ...this was long after the show aired and long after dozens of spoilers were posted on the threads and across the whole net
Even though I only spoiled one thread I was immediately hounded and harassed by you insane Battlestar fans. Less than 48 hrs later I logon to see a bunch of battlestar fans throwing hissy fits, well I don't see them all because a lot of them were on my block list because of their trolling and fanboyism. I have no plan to be at constant war with these battlestar fans so in hindsight I thought spoiler tags would have been a good idea, so I PM'ed a Mod.
I think it might have been Neroon and asked the Moderator to delete my post.
Case closed, done, finito
No, another battlestar fan called Aragorn has to go and dig up some trivial crap that happened 7 months ago.
Welcome to my ignore list Aragorn, please don't bother responding to this message as I'm done with you.

Samuel Walters wrote:

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Tough to argue against the unimpressive beginning of the show, or with the technobabble expositions (which crop up more than they should). The show does get better, but its weakest aspects are the "cop procedural" elements. For me, the show generates just enough interest by way of its mythology and its characters (especially Walter) to justify calling it "entertaining." But I doubt Fringe will ever be mistaken as a great show like The Wire -- or even cutting edge like Dexter. It's possible, but Fringe will have to evolve quite a bit before that happens.

Fringe just leaves me unimpressed, I love the first season of Wire and I see why people watch that show. It has a tight written story arc, it develops well, the character development is well paced and the story moves brilliantly...maybe it also drags but so far I have loved The Wire. Can Fringe ever be as good as the first season of Wire?
hell no, but Fringe can be much better, tighter and better paced.
Dexter IMO is over rated, not half as dark, scary or funny as people hyped it to be.
Switched off

[Aragorn]

So a troll puts me on his ignore list because he completely flips out (which is quite an accomplishment considering the levels of flipping out on this board that he's already attained) after I mention one of his MANY jackass posts. What's the downside here?

[Kegg]

TheMasterOfOrion wrote:

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Dexter IMO is over rated, not half as dark, scary or funny as people hyped it to be.
Switched off

Scary?

Who hyped it as scary, pray tell?

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Kegg wrote:

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Scary?

Who hyped it as scary, pray tell?

Well, the main character does tend to, you know, kill people and stuff.

[Samuel Walters]

TheMasterOfOrion wrote:

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Fringe just leaves me unimpressed, I love the first season of Wire and I see why people watch that show. It has a tight written story arc, it develops well, the character development is well paced and the story moves brilliantly...maybe it also drags but so far I have loved The Wire. Can Fringe ever be as good as the first season of Wire?
hell no, but Fringe can be much better, tighter and better paced.
Dexter IMO is over rated, not half as dark, scary or funny as people hyped it to be.
Switched off

Well, I don't think there are many people who would argue that Fringe couldn't use a bit of improvement. I find it entertaining and enjoyable to watch (and hope it remains on the air for a while longer), but for it to reach the level of craft of The Wire? Not likely. Even at its worst moments, The Wire had a much more advanced story to tell.

Still, there aren't going to be many shows that even approach The Wire so even if Fringe never quite reaches that level of storytelling, it can still be a worthwhile series to watch -- provided it does a better job of developing its mythology and its characters.

[stonester1]

stj wrote:

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or a relationship with his father (whom he calls Walter as a signal to the audience) parallels Scully's invincible skepticism in the face of repeated personal experience.

Of course, most skeptics I've run into say that "personal experience", unless it can be repeated under controlled conditions, isn't worth a damn. So Scully even stuck to that until her skepticism finally started cracking. She figured out the difference between being a skeptic and just being stubborn/dogmatic.

[DontFeedPhil]

I love it when Olivia calls Walter, Wool-ter. Anyone else notice that?