Fringe: "Pilot" 9/9 - Grading & Discussion (SPOILERS)

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Aragorn, Sep 9, 2008.

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Grading

  1. Excellent (J.J. Abrams has done it again)

    24 vote(s)
    20.5%
  2. Above average (The rule of Gondor is mine! And no other's!)

    45 vote(s)
    38.5%
  3. Average (This Eddie's not so keen)

    38 vote(s)
    32.5%
  4. Below average (I don't care what the numbers mean anymore, Abaddon)

    4 vote(s)
    3.4%
  5. Poor (Pacey should go back to the Creek)

    6 vote(s)
    5.1%
  1. CommodoreKong

    CommodoreKong Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I thought it was a pretty enjoyable start for a new show. I'll be watching it again next week. Soon I'll have NCIS, Fringe, Eureka (11 rerun) and the Daily Show/Colbert Report on Tuesday nights.

    Well according to the dialog they were going to get her naked but the FCC doesn't allow that kind of thing on the network TV. ;)
     
  2. TK421

    TK421 Commodore Commodore

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    I saw the pilot a few months ago. Then read they'd made changes and watched it again. I couldn't see a single change. I thought it sucked. Bad. The show would have had so much mystery if it had just started with the FBI turning up to the airport and finding this plane, and piecing it all together. But everything was blown in the opening scene. There was zero tension when the FBI showed up. The characters were all two dimensional cliches. And mostly they were talking heads. Won't be tuning in again. Doubt this show will last.
     
  3. Samurai8472

    Samurai8472 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    The plane wasn't an Oceanic was it?;)
     
  4. ATimson

    ATimson Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I found it interesting that "dark matter" was listed twice in the main titles. A hint about just what defines the Pattern?
     
  5. Aragorn

    Aragorn Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Is he really gone though? I guess listing him among the main cast and having him in the promo shots would be great misdirection, as opposed to the "guest star" who seems to have a lot to do in the pilot so you know he or she isn't long for the show.

    Were they going to reanimate him at the end? Or do the brain wave communication thing?

    Plus there was that scene from the future episodes montage.
     
  6. Samurai8472

    Samurai8472 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I think with the future episodes montage with him calling he's probably alive. Probably too important for whatever he was exposed to in the explosion.

    That room they were wheeling him into looked interesting like a hadron collider or doomsday device developed by Alien Nazi!
     
  7. Aragorn

    Aragorn Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    As long as they don't fall into the same trap Threshold did, I think Fringe has a chance. With Threshold, the alien threat was growing at such an exponential rate that after only a few episodes, it was clear there was no way to stop the infection unless they had a Star Trek reset button.
     
  8. LutherSloan

    LutherSloan Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I thought it was excellent, especially for a pilot. I have found that pilots frequently separate themselves from the show, but I don't believe that it will be the same with this one.
     
  9. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I liked the main actress, and I think the dynamic between the characters has potential, but I'm afraid the writing and storyline just didn't grab me that strongly at all. Certainly not like Lost did, or Alias in the beginning.

    The main problem for me was this feeling of "been there, done that" throughout. It's certainly well made and well acted, but the fact is, well... X-Files already DID these stories. Years ago. And did them really well too. Watching the previews for upcoming episodes gave me even more of that feeling.

    Maybe if Abrams puts the focus more on the larger conspiracy, and throws lots of twists and turns at us, I could overlook all that. But right now it looks like the main emphasis is just going to be on the "weird case of the week." Which just isn't new enough for me.
     
  10. StreakyMac

    StreakyMac Cadet Newbie

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    Sep 10, 2008
    It was decent, but I found Olivia's romance with her guy particularly frustrating, because even at the VERY BEGINNING, you knew that it was going to come to an end one way or another. Is there some kind of unwritten television rule that states that your main character ABSOLUTELY MUST be single, so that he/she can have a "will they or won't they" tension with the opposite-gendered lead throughout the course of the series?
     
  11. Frontier

    Frontier Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I really liked it. And I didn't expect to in the least bit. :techman:
     
  12. Gatekeeper

    Gatekeeper Commodore Commodore

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    Dec 9, 2001
    Location:
    United States of America
    The pilot episode of Fringe didn't really impress me ... but neither did it do anything to repel me. I guess I'll DVR a few more episodes before I make up my mind.

    I did like bits and pieces of the dialogue, and the twist near the end was pretty good, along with hints of whatever the "Pattern" is. However, I also found the romance to be too artificial and those big, bold name identifiers when the scene changes took place really threw me out of the story.

    So, I'll give Fringe another shot or two, but if it doesn't pick up by then, I'm moving on to greener pastures.

    Gatekeeper

    P.S. Oh, and I gave this episode an "average" rating.
     
  13. DarKush

    DarKush Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Nov 18, 2005
    Good points.
     
  14. SPOCKED

    SPOCKED Admiral Premium Member

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    Very cool show - the months of previews didn't do much for me, but I actually was glad I sat for it. Invisible skin, melting passengers, and LDS induced mind-meld... awesome in HD. Also, I was just in Boston last weekend and I think I was in that car chase :cool:
     
  15. Skywalker

    Skywalker Admiral Admiral

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    Feb 24, 2005
    "Let's make some LSD!" :lol:

    John Noble was great. I'm not too keen on the impending episodic focus of Fringe, but if it's just a first season thing where they lay out the ground rules and things become a bit more serialized in the later seasons, that'd be fine.
     
  16. LutherSloan

    LutherSloan Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    It's really too early to tell if it's going to be an episodic format. I would rather think that it is going to be a mix of the episodic and longer story arcs.
     
  17. The Habs Fan

    The Habs Fan Commodore Commodore

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    Except it's filmed in Toronto ;)
     
  18. exodus

    exodus Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I agree.

    The borrowing of ideas from so many other sci-fi type shows that influenced this one is so apparent that it holds no real mystery. The X-Files, HEROES, Altered States, LOST elements are so transparent, you knew what was going to happen in every scene way before it played out.

    Very disappointing considering the hype put into it.
     
  19. Ptrope

    Ptrope Agitator Admiral

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    Location:
    USA
    I enjoyed it - I had originally figured I'd watch up until Eureka came on Scifi at 9:00, but it was worth staying with the show (and Eureka repeated at midnight ;)). I liked Walter, esp. with the cow. And Anna Torv in her undies was, at least, relevant enough to justify it - no one gets into a sensory deprivation tank in their street clothes! My only complaint was the 3D scene titles - that was too much of a conceit, and I agree with the above post that it took one out of the scene (esp. where the camera angle changed and suddenly we were under the same title we'd just seen, as if it really existed in that world :rolleyes:).

    As for the comments here, I really don't understand this distaste for episodic television. Sorry, but continuing story/character arcs don't automatically make a show "better" - if the story being told can be told in a single episode, I have no problem with that, as long as any reasonable ramifications from it aren't ignored or forgotten as the series progresses. As far as 'drama' goes, it's a lot more realistic - how many of us actually have a dramatic event that just goes and goes and goes, really? Life in general is a series of individual dramas - continuity, not constancy (I'm sure some people feel differently, but I'm pretty sure they're the exception rather than the rule).
     
  20. DigificWriter

    DigificWriter Vice Admiral Admiral

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    West Haven, UT, USA
    John Noble is THE MAN, and the main reason I started paying attention to this show. I watched it last night, and am definitely hooked. It reminds me of part 'Vanished', part 'Wolf Lake', and part 'Twilight Zone', with some 'Alias' and 'X-Files' thrown in for good measure.

    Interesting that people are thinking this is gonna be more episodic than arc-based, 'cause I see a lot of potential for ongoing arcs.