“When you say fringe science you mean pseudo-science?”
“I suppose, things like mind control, teleportation, astral-projection, invisibility, genetic mutation, reanimation…”
And so much more, and yet with the bandying about of scientific terms they somehow make the strange stories in Fringe sound believable – which is something considering they give the X-Files more than a run for their money (its inspiration made apparent in its references). These freak acts, however bizarre, are not natural, but man-made giving the dysfunctional team something to investigate. The experimentation of corporations, governments and individuals creating a mark both in the personal repercussions of our heroes, and in its large-scale destruction.
Trying to stop the loss of human life (or at least lessen it) is a close-knit but assorted group of geniuses, scientists/mad-men and FBI agents. The show following them as they examine the “pattern” of mysterious occurrences that threaten human life and the fabric of…well everything.
Beginning with a gruesome start of the unexplained, and you should really expect a lot more of that, we’re introduced to the protagonist and leader of our group FBI Liaison Agent, Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), as she doggedly pursues any leads to a chemical agent that has killed hundreds of people, while hoping to save its latest victim – who’s more than a little close to home. But this weapon isn’t like anything seen before, the victim’s skin becoming translucent as everything breaks down and dissolves to the bones, (I wouldn’t eat when watching a Fringe episode). Alone in her pursuits and desperate for any help, Dunham seeks out an incarcerated scientist, Dr Bishop, who may hold the key to the solution. Thing is Dr Bishop (John Noble) is not in prison but in a mental institution, and the only person who can see him is his estranged son, Peter (Joshua Jackson) – a smart-ass genius with an IQ of 190, and who’s currently running away from many things in his life. Dunham convinces, cough, blackmails Peter into being the guardian of his father and to help his mad scientist of a dad solve the riddle and save a life. Thus begins the crime solving trio.
Seeing the potential of this team the government charges Dunham with leading it to solve an increasing expanse of “mysterious” cases, many of which bring her to the powerful and elusive Dr William Bell, played by Leonard Nimoy (yes, you read that right, it’s Spock but not as we know). However, he’s not in too many episodes, but the indominable Nine Sharp (Blair Brown), who runs his fortune 500 company, is more than a match, and in being his eyes and ears she knows where the bodies are buried.
In going back to our group of heroes (some of whom may have the same buried skeletons in their closet), there’s Dunham, who’s just as entranced by this strange new world as the audience and can just as easily skip to scepticism in the blink of an eye. Her role; to straddle the fence between Dr Bishop – the mad scientist, who goes off with a creepy smile as he states “excellent, let’s make some LSD” (as if it was for a cupcake sale) – and his son Peter who’s on the other side of the fence, being in full doubt of his dad. Completing this group is Astrid (Jasika Nicole) who acts as the assistant to Dr Bishop, whilst her kindness to him is like that of a babysitter as she patiently guides him, and delights at his newness to the world – one he’d been shut out of for seventeen years.
The relationships between the characters are a large part of the show’s pull, they’re chemistry instantaneous, and, like children in the playground, everyone is their favourite. But aside from the leading pairing of Dunham and Peter, who have sparks-a-flying and a beautiful repertoire of protecting each other, the most moving relationship is that between Peter and his father – with the former seeing Bishop as a modern-day Frankenstein, being both scared of him and hating him. Despite this clear distancing from Peter, Bishop clings to and relies on his son, his long incarceration making him both frightened and uncertain of the world and of his mind (though just how much of this is due to the mental hospital?). In this forced connection, their relationship is tested, pushed and alters over the seasons, keeping you enthralled as to the two’s changing dynamics.
Although everyone in the cast is amazing in their performance, John Noble’s portrayal of Dr Bishop is utterly outstanding, capturing a mind that’s being pulled apart by a myriad of thoughts – disturbed, clever, selfish and childlike. Producing from this a character that’s removed from the audience, but also one we can be sympathetic to. His beautiful plea to his son in not returning to the asylum is incredibly touching, and one of the few times his over-the-top smile disappears “…you woke me up again, and you can’t put me back to sleep.”
This sci-fi show moves so quickly from laughability, horror and inter-dimensional travel that you’ll be feeling as back to front and as wrongly-mirrored as the text that appears in the show – a hint maybe of something? While another of its clues are the segmental glyphs that lay between its scenes – its spliced items, hybrids and mutations being more than what they first appear as, such as the butterfly wings that on closer inspection have the skeletal structure of hands.
At the end of the first episode Dunham’s boss, Philip Broyles (Lance Reddick), explains the complexities and damage fringe science is having in the world, and it’s far bigger than they had first revealed to her. As the depth and impact of the consequences hit, Dunham longs for a time of ignorance, “I just wanna go back to before”. But she can’t, for this world of Oz needs Dorothy/Dunham, the land she finds her feet on being just as topsy-turvy, scary and trippy. I mean this show’s Toto is a giant cow called Gene. I did say Fringe was weird, right?
Creator: J.J. Abrams
Other notable works:
- Challenger: The Final Flight 2020
- Little Voice 2020
- Castle Rock 2018-2019
- Westworld 2016 –
- Star Trek Beyond 2016
- 22.63 2016
- Believe 2014
- Star Trek into Darkness 2013
- Person of Interest 2011-2016
- Super 8 2011
- Star Trek 2009
- Lost 2004-2010
- Alias 2001-2006
Creator: Alex Kurtzman
Other notable works:
- Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 2022 –
- Star Trek: Picard 2020 –
- Star Trek: Short Treks 2018 -2020
- Star Trek: Discovery 2017 –
- Sleepy Hollow 2013-2017
- Star Trek into Darkness 2013
- Hawaii Five-0 2010-2020
- Star Trek 2009
- Alias 2001-2006
Creator: Roberto Orci
Other notable works:
- Hawaii Five-0 2010-2020
- Star Trek Beyond 2016
- Sleepy Hollow 2013-2017
- Now You See Me 2013
- Star Trek into Darkness 2013
- Star Trek 2009
- Alias 2001-2006
