Friday, December 3, 2010

Fringe: Season 3 Episode 8 - Entrada


Welcome back Fringe Dwellers!  What a fantastic hour of TV we were treated to tonight with this always fantastic show.  It was the moment we've been waiting for and it didn't happen a moment sooner than it needed to happen.  We have had just enough time for Faux-livia to stir things up in our world and for Olivia to spend some time over there and have us grow to enjoy some new characters and versions of the same characters for future episodes.  And without the proper build-up that the 7 preceding episodes accomplished, we would not have been as excited for Olivia's suspenseful return!   Just fantastic stuff.

Of course, since we last met, we have received some unfortunate news about Fringe and its move to Fridays.  FOX does not seem concerned as a good portion of Fringe Fans are DVR Time-shifters.  Hopefully, this is true because I'm going to miss next Thursday's episode (more information on that after the recap)!  I hope all fans of the show made a point to send a message to FOX tonight by watching live.  We'll see after the numbers are announced on Friday!  But enough of this public service announcement, it's time for some FRINCE-Capping!



When we last left, Peter had just been made aware that Olivia was still trapped on the other side and Olivia had been captured by Walternate.  Yikes!  This was the first episode where we spent the show going back and forth between worlds.  And, it really didn't miss a beat.  The transition scenes were awesome and they have done a great job defining both universes that it shouldn't have been too confusing for the average viewer.  Did anyone notice that the opening credits alternated back and forth from red to blue to signify the event?  I mean they think of everything!  Anyway, in OUR world, we follow Peter, Walter and Broyles in their attempt to track down Faux-livia and get their Olivia back.  Over there we watch Olivia try to align herself with allies and find a way back before it's too late.

OVER HERE
The show resumes with Peter in bed taking that fateful phone call and then having him shrug it off when Alt-livia starts asking questions.  Now, if I was Peter I would have probably made some excuse to get out of that bedroom immediately and call someone.  But, I guess he wanted to reflect on how quickly he was fooled and then needed to prove that he was being duped before doing anything rash.  A couple hours later he starts investigating the apartment for clues.  He searched her laptop but couldn't figure out the password.  Alt-Livia wakes up, they have a fake conversation.  Peter says something in Greek.  I'm assuming we have heard Olivia say that phrase before but I cannot recall when (don't worry, I'm planning to get season 1 and 2 over the holidays and start my rewatch!  If I'm gonna blog this I want to do it right!).  Faux-livia caught on to Peter acting differently and pulled a gun on him.  THE JIG IS UP! 


  • Peter has forced to take some kind of paralysis drug to provide Alt-liv with time to escape.  She heads to the cross dimensional typewriter to cry for help.  The cripple running the store has been promised new legs if he helps these peeps and he will get his wish if he just does one more thing.  We'll get to that. 




  • When Peter comes to he makes the call and Broyles, Walter and a bunch of Feds come to Olivia's apartment.  Peter reveals all that he found out and has to reveal a bit more that he and Alt-Liv (who he though was Olivia) had started a relationship.  Broyles seemed less than thrilled.  You had to love Walter's interjections here of being drugged and spending 3 days with a woman that looked nothing like his wife.  Great stuff! 

  • Walter was having a tough time figuring out a safe way to bring Olivia back or send them over to get her.   Meanwhile, he's great one liners led to Astrid figuring out something once again.  Faux-livia had been buying Walter pastries from the Bronx.   She had told them that she would get them when she went to the Federal building.   Okay, so it's not just The Event that does some crazy traveling within an episode.  Fringe may have invented it.  But I'm more forgiving of FRINGE!   So Peter, Walter and Broyles head to NYC from Boston (which I guess isn't THAT big of a leap 4 hour drive, probably quicker flight) 
  • The 3 split up to check out the area and of course Walter opts for the Pastries shop!  Peter goes to the typewriter store and finds his laptop (which he fooled Fauxlivia into thinking was hers).   This is a big moment as they finally find the Typewriter room!  Peter, using that noggin of his, took out the piece with the letters to see if he could figure out what the last thing typed was.  Sure enough, it said Newark Penn Station in Jersey.  (the planned extraction point)


  • Fauxlivia met up with a shapeshifter to finalize her escape.  They went into the Ladies Room and he/it injected her with the proper device/drug to help ease her way through the dimensional barrier.  The shifter mentioned some envy about her returning home.  Although he expressed happiness with his current form as it's a "hit with the ladies."  We keep getting these little hints of the shifters having some emotional ties to this world.  Wonder if it will lead anywhere. 


  • Anyway, a lady has some bad timing and heads in to the bathroom.  Fauxlivia seems to use her as a hostage when ARMED Pete and the gang show up to stop her.  But Peter smartly asks the woman her daughter's name (who was right there screaming).   She didn't know because ummm...she was the SHIFTER!!  Peter shot it the mercury flowed.  Fauxlivia was in their grasp. 



  • She stuck around long enough to tell Peter that it started off as a job but she really did fall for him. Peter didn't believe her but when they retrieved her only belongings he found that she kept a strip of photos from one of those crazy vending machines.  Ohhhh boy, Fauxlivia has a crush on him while her man is fighting the good fight of Smallpox!   Should be interesting how this unfolds considering OUR Olivia won't be too thrilled when she finds out what has been going on over here! 



  • Walter realizes that the thing that was injected into Fauxliv was some harmonic device that helps her transfer to the other side.   But it's too late, she is already gone.  What's in her place?  Well...let's hold on to that for a second! 

  • We should also note that we found out that most of the pieces of the "WORLD DESTROYER" machine have mostly been found.  All but one piece.  They realize that Faux-livia must have been sent of here to capture it because they could not find it in their universe.  Hmmm



OVER THERE
So Walternate gets the 911 type-o-graph from his Olivia requesting extraction.  Brandon discusses that the last time they moved someone between worlds they had to take a whole bridge (remember that episode when Walternate arrived last season?  Crazy stuff).  But they would figure out a way to pinpoint her location with those harmonic needles.  But they would need to transfer something of equal mass back.  

  • Brandon threw in a request that he would love to dismantle our Olivia to study her organs, especially the brain.  He would just replace the mass that he takes out.  OUCH!!!   
  • Alterna-Broyles arrives at Liberty Island (D.O.D.) and has a meeting with Walternate.  Walternate gives a big speech about how Olivia's ally (Henry) doesn't understand their cause to protect their world.  He also informs Broyles that their Olivia is coming back after a "successful" mission.  

  • After leaving Walternate's office he catches a glimpse of our Olivia in not so good of shape.  She's screaming for help.  Bizarro Broyles's internal conflict begins.  Help the cause he has fought for 20 years, or help save the woman that saved his son? 


  • In a scene that somewhat mirrors the patriotism of 9-11 in our world, we see that they are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Vortex in Central Park.  The folks in the bar with Broyles see that they have a hero in their midst (Fringe Division) and he gets a drink on the house. 
  
  • Broyles returns to speak to Olivia.  He finds out that they are going to cut her open and kill her in the process.  Olivia gives a good case of how there MUST be a way to save both worlds and she will make it her personal obligation to do so.  She explains why this whole "war" started.  A man came over here 20 years ago to save a boy and she returned here to save that same boy.     

  • Broyles takes some time to reflect and talks to his wife.  Based on her words of encouragement he is inspired to do the right thing and save Olivia.  He also believes he will be preventing an inter-dimensional war that would happen if Olivia was killed.  (started by OUR side) 

  • Olivia is on the operating table about to be cut open (WHILE SHE'S AWAKE!!  How cruel!!) but Broyles comes to save the day!  Armed with tranquilizer darts he takes out Brandon and shoots Olivia up with some Adrenaline.  


  • They head up to where the deprivation tank was but it is empty.   Olivia does notice some Cortexiphan which is the magic drug that Olivia was given as a child and the big discovery that Walternate found by investigating her brain.   She knows she has to get to Walternate's lab in Boston which should have a deprivation tank.  Broyles makes a fateful decision to take her there.

  • When arriving, Olivia is injected with the Cortexiphan and they fill the deprivation tank.  The Fringe Division/Military is right behind them because Broyles has a tracker on him.  Broyles requests Olivia to make this all worth it and sends her into the tank.  All we do is hear the bullets fire and them yell "she's in the tank!"  But Olivia closes her eyes and she makes her permanent return to our WORLD!! 



REUNITED

  • We join the crippled Typewriter guy as he delivers the piece of the machine that Walternate requires.  Some guy, I assume from the other side, injects him with a drug and he miraculously can walk again.  That's some crazy technology/medicine!  And Walternate has the piece he needs.  Now, I guess he just needs Peter again.


  • We see Fauxlivia return to her team on the other side.  Lincoln Lee explains how all of his burns are gone and "it's like nothing ever happened."  Fauxlivia finds this pretty amusing, as does the viewers at home.   Alterna-Astrid notices that Broyles has not checked in and is very disturbed about this.  There's a good chance THIS Olivia knows what happened to him.


  • Back in our world, they open the van where Fauxlivia was captured and there was someone sent back in his place.  Peter tries to keep Broyles from looking but he does and sees one messed up and dead version of himself!   It looks like his body has been modified and I would guess it would be to match Faux-livia's body mass.  Looks like Walternate doesn't take well to treason.   RIP AlternaBroyles!  Your martyrdom will not be in vain! 


  • Olivia comes out of the deprivation tank and collapses.  She is taken to the hospital by Astrid.  Peter returns to Boston as quickly as he can and is by her side when she wakes up.  He apologizes to her.  He knows what he has to tell her but with it being 9:58, we know it's not coming this week.   Olivia just smiles and tells him that he was the only reason, the only thing that got her back here.  Awwww.....That will be good enough for now, but drama is certainly to follow folks! 






Just an awesomely suspenseful episode with a mostly happy ending.   They have things set up quite  nicely for the rest of the season.  I can't wait to see how it unfolds!  But, for now, we have a couple more things to get to! 

OBSERV'ER'ATIONS
  • Glyph this week is CROSS.   I think we know why!  Thanks Fringepedia as always! 

  • Observer Spotted! - Penn Station just as we switched over to OUR world. 

  • Speaking of Penn Station, I'm sure everyone noticed it was "SPRINGSTEEN" station Over There, right?  I know THE BOSS is big in Jersey, but I don't think he has any train stations named after him over here.  I wonder if it's a MEMORIAL station over there?  Chances are we'll never know!  

  • Pretty sure we saw this before but in Walternate's office we see a picture of an aged John F. Kennedy.  Still cool! 

  • The best part about this episode is we got the fun quirky differences of the other universe and STILL got Walterisms!   The best by far was the following which I have paraphrased "She tricked my son and he fell right into her Vagenda!" referring to Fauxlivia's seduction of Peter.    Simply, fantastic!!


So, that's all I have for this week folks.  And now is when I have to break some sad news to the group.   Well, not SAD but unfortunate!  I'm finally taking a break!  5 seasons of LOST and there was only one time when I wasn't able to blog that show on time (back in season 2).  Well, I need to break that streak with Fringe.  I am leaving for vacation with my wife next Friday morning, so I am going to be unable to recap next week's episode.  I'm sorry!!  But, you gotta admit it, I kinda have earned it after all of these years, right??  Anyway, I will still plan on posting an entry on the blog for anyone that would like to discuss it anyway.  You can feel free to research the Glyph Code, SPOT the observer and quote your favorite quotes and comment to your heart's desires!  Perhaps I will add them into the post once I get back from vacation a week later.  And I will definitely jump into the comments and share my thoughts as well when I return.  Hopefully, I'll be able to download the ep to my phone to watch on the plane that morning.  We'll see!  

I won't lie, things are only going to get worse in the new year when the show moves to Fridays.  There is no way I'm going to promise you a recap on Friday night or Saturday mornings.  It's the weekend people!  But, I will try my best to have you guys some kind of a recap by Mondays.  Besides, what fun is it to read this stuff when you're not at work?!   We'll find some way to get through this.  But please, never stop watching this show!  It is fantastic and it would be a tragic shame for the world (and yes, even the other world) to lose such a high quality show!   Pass the word to your friends and families this Holiday season.  Buy those same people seasons 1 and 2 for them and MAKE them watch it!  I know it's a lot to ask to grow this audience, but I can not think of many other shows that deserve this kind of attention.  SAVE FRINGE!!!! 

And with that, I bid my adieu for this post.  Hope you enjoyed my ramblings as always and I'll "kinda" see you next week!  

End Credits
  • Follow me on Twitter for Blog updates as well as some other random thoughts on TV during the week. 
  • I'm still recapping THE EVENT which airs Mondays on NBC.  The show has much tweaking to do and has a hiatus until the end of February.  Use this time to catch up and join us as we hope for it to catch fire and start to live up to its name as EVENT Television! 
  • Another show already living up to "EVENT" television is The Walking Dead! I have been keeping up with it for the entire 6 episode season run.  The finale airs this Sunday at 10pm eastern time.  If you have been meaning to catch up, the first 5 episodes will ALSO be airing on Sunday starting at 4:30pm Eastern Time.  I'm telling you, it's fantastic!  It has a LOST-like survival tale feel to it with great characters.   Don't miss the boat on this one!  I definitely plan to keep up with writing about this heading into season 2! 
  • I will still try my best to comment on other shows as I have time, so keep checking in, and subscribe for email updates.  And of course, Follow me on Twitter
  • And feel free to let me know if there is anything I should be watching or we should be discussing.
  • Most Likely will see less frequent Posting in December due to the Holidays.  I hope everyone has a great Holiday Season!!

21 comments:

Mike V. said...

Per Ken Tucker's Recap on EW.com "As a final, confirming test, Peter speaks the Greek phrase meaning “Be a better man than your father,” and Altivia asked, “What does that mean?” We know it’s the phrase Olivia spoke to Peter when she burst back to consciousness upon returning from the alt-world at the start of season two. "

I promise, I'm going to get better at remembering things! :-)

Mike V. said...

Looks like the pleading helped a bit. Fringe shot back up over 5 million viewers this week. 5.13 to be exact! Not that these numbers are great or anything. It's still destined for Friday thanks to American Idol's rescheduling.

MJ said...

Yeah - the story of Walter living in a strange house for 3 days with a strange woman was great, but the line of the night was about the Vagenda ! I love it ! LOL

I didn't feel he was reflecting after that all, think he was just being safe and trying to make sure she was asleep so he wouldn't get caught. Didn't work though !

Big plot hoke here - the guy with bad legs would not have been around to get his new ones, the FBI would have been questioning him. Funny how you brought up that Fringe invented the immediate travel thing but no one gripes. I thought that with all the Event griping but said nothing. I don't let such things bother me - I've been thoroughly 24er'd ! Just go with the flow.

Alter-Astrid was off last night. They have gone out of their way to make her almost machine like, even stated she is the only one who is not a genetic dupe to our side, but last night she was almost child-like in her concern for Broyles or almost reminded me of someone who is retarded or autistic with her childish innocence.

Sa and S2 were good, but not as good as this year, but i enjoyed them. And you don't need to get better like remembering some random phrase from S2 ! Peter/Olivia explained it fine enough with stating that she said that to him once before.

I know that they are going to go with the 'how could you sleep with her and not know it was me' thing - but I'll hate that. I mean, if they had been intimate B4 she was left over there maybe - but they weren't so she has no leg to stand on.

My husband swears he's gonna remember vagenda and somehow use it in future. UGH ! ;-D We were laughing so hard we had to pause the show.

Mike V. said...

MJ - Yep, VAGENDA was clearly the funniest line last night. We too were laughing hysterically. John Noble needs an Emmy nod pronto! With Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson taking the year off in the supporting category, here's hoping he gets one!

You're probably right with Peter in bed. I agree he was probably waiting for her to be sleeping. But, 2 hours of laying there with your eyes open...you're gonna be REFLECTING! LOL
Touche' on the FBI questioning that guy. I have always laughed at them getting from one place to the next on FRINGE but it seemed to be done tastefully most of the time. Hey, I'm not overly nitpicky...I mean at least just show a scene where they are enroute to point B! Or at least put a scene in between them. The Event has, on several occasions, just had Sean and Leila traveling halfway across the country (or even further with that Atlanta trip) from one scene to the next. It's just insane! lol Totally agree 24 had issues with this too, but at least they were forced to stay within one location for the entire episode. Evan Katz is involved with The Event and was involved with 24 as well. He probably feels some sense of freedom of being able to explore the whole country that he has overdone it! lol

I think Alter-Astrid has been off in EVERY episode that she has been featured this season. I remember commenting on it even before that article was out there. There's definitly something up with her. I wonder how much they will explore it.

Season 1 is really the one I need to rewatch. I want to see how consistent they have stuck to their story in those early episodes when they were trying to figure out what kind of show this is. I want to see if anything sticks out in these new episodes too. For instance Charlie having the WORMS incident but Walter cured it in season 1. But in bizarro world he's still dealing with it. I think since the midpoint of season 2 this show has been on fire. But yeah this season has been OUTSTANDING. Cannot disagree there. But thank you for not putting pressure on me to remember stuff! lol

I hope they'll be pretty realistic with Olivia's reaction to things now that she's home. From the interview I read yesterday (and referenced in the last blog entry), it sounds like she'll be more concerned with ALL of them and how they didn't realize it wasn't her. It was 8 weeks and they didn't catch on. Peter will just be the icing on the cake. Surely, it will be a roadblock in their inevitable relationship. Having Anna Torv and Peter be able to consumate a relationship on screen was like giving the SHIPPER fans their cake and letting them take a bite....but keeping the ACTUAL Olivia/Peter relationship at bay for a little while longer.

I dunno..we'll see but I'm excited to see more FRINGE!

MJ said...

Agree on all you said. But with Astrid I just felt she was More out of whack in this one. We'd gotten used to Alter-Astrid being one way and they changed that up some. Just thinking there has to be a reason.

TGIF all ! Have a good weekend

Mike V. said...

I dunno MJ...I'll have to go back and check her behavior in some previous episodes. I remember her acting like this when she was WRONG about her predictions for Olivia in that one episode with the Oxygen tank thing. And she was acting in a very similar manner. I'll have to check my old recaps at some point too. But definitely TGIF...I'm signing off for now! Have a good wknd to you and everyone else as well!

Candidate said...

I've watched a few episodes this weekend of Fringe. Although I'm not up to speed on the plot Most of it was easy to catch on with. I mean I sort of know what's going on here. I did a marathon of about 5 episodes and highly enjoyed it. If you blog your rewatch let us know. I think fox will be getting cut out of direct tv's programming in Vt and NH. I find this strange because I thought Murdoch owned dtv and fox. I think the cut off date is Dec 15. I'm not sure how i'm gonna watch this show other than on line or dvd's. very intrigued with this show and great recap as always Mike.

Mike V. said...

Candidate, I cannot imagine that they would really eliminate a major network from anywhere in the US. That is crazy!! Maybe it's a bluff or something. Hopefully, you'll still be able to find the show!

As for blogging as I rewatch? I'm guessing I probably won't. What I might do is give an update on my rewatch in recaps of the current airings. Like, if something happened in an earlier episode that may relate to some stuff going on now, I'll probably bring it up. Or if there is plot line that they deviated from I'll bring that up too. I don't really know how much of that I'll find. But we'll see! Nice to see you're starting to watch the show! Are you watching the more recent episodes or starting from the beginning? Wasn't sure from what you mentioned!

Anonymous said...

V for Vagenda! xD!! That was so hilarius! haahahaha! Well, I was looking for blogs about Lost and a I found one, which leads to here. :D But lets get to the point. Shall we? Look, the thing im looking for is support. As we know almost every blog/forum/ etc of Lost, its path always lead to Fringe. Well the thing is that, im looking for support for Fringe, could you post/announce anything about Fringe? Because if we look about all Fringe pages, youll see how bad are the viewers... and now that Fringe is being moved to Fridays, our hearts are at the edge... please lets talk sometime aye? =) If you cant, I totally understand. :)

Mike V. said...

Andres, not sure if you noticed but I've been actively recapping Fringe every week! The only reason I missed the last one was because I went on a long overdue vacation. But I still posted a post for discussion. There just wasn't any :-) I'm definitely a big supporter of the show and will continue to do so in the new year! Thanks for checking out the blog!

Anonymous said...

Actually I was referring to the Blog of Lost you have. Yeah I understand every one needs vacation speccially you Ive looked your work! great work! :)! yeah because I dont want to see Fringe canceled! By the Way: Happy New Year! (:

Mike V. said...

Ahhh you want me to post something on the LOST blog to promote FRINGE? That's probably not a bad idea. I don't like to spam up the LOST blog too much though so I'd have to make it a relevant LOST posting with a Fringe plug :-) I really need to read more of that LOST encyclopedia and comment on it. I just haven't had the motivation lately! Maybe I'll get to it.

It sounds like FOX is really behind Fringe so I'm hoping it's safe for at LEAST a 4th season. Thanks for the new year's wishes and the props! Happy New Year to you too!

Anonymous said...

Yeah! That's what I was looking for at that time! Now, I'm very confident for the Project Fringe Friday. They're practically in every social network. Yeah, maybe but you have even a tag of Fringe, not very full but it counts. Yeah thats an idea ;). The Lost Encyclopedia? The book or page of Wikia? Lol!

Aye, this time they're really supporting ir, I've even read twitts of people are bored of hearing it a lot hahaha. NOOOO! I want more seasons!! At least, as Lost. But Lost deserved more seasons. Thank you man! :)

Mike V. said...

Yeah, I hope Project Fringe Friday helps a bit. Did you see Fringe won best Sci-Fi show at the People's Choice Awards? The awards show was horrible and I don't even think that bit was televised, but the fact is....there are FANS out there that voted for this over True Blood, Smallville, Supernatural and whatever was there. I watch TB and SV and I hear supernatural is a decent show too....but Fringe definitely has some hardcore fans and I think Fox is very aware! (btw...I'm rewatching season 1 now. I got s1 and 2 for christmas and am really enjoying going back and watching! good stuff)

I'm not referring to LOSTpedia which is a great site. There actually is a BOOK, The LOST Encyclopedia. It's HUGE and it's pretty awesome. I have heard there are some discrepencies in there but I haven't come across them yet. It has an official blessing from Damon and Carlton (the executive producers). But I just haven't had time to really sit down and devour it. I'd like to though! Just not enough time in the day.

As far as LOST deserving more seasons. I'll agree and disagree. If it was up to ABC alone, they would have kept LOST on the air until the ratings ceased to exist. But they worked with Damon and Carlton to figure out what is best for the show. Damon and Carlton wanted 5 FULL seasons, but they came to a compromise for the 6 (including 3 seasons of 16 episodes). So it was definitely a creative decision. If the show kept going, its legacy would not be the same. They would have lost the showrunners and writing staff and we would have so many more questions that would probably never get answered. They told the story they wanted to tell and could end it on their own terms (even if there are fans out there that were disappointed. That was inevitable). So, as much as we're left wanting MORE from LOST, that basically is the point. You have to end the show while fans are hungry for more! If people couldn't care less when the show ends, you've overstayed your welcome! And it's a rare thing to see on network television when the show's creative team can end the show the way they want to end it and with 3 seasons worth of advanced notice!

But yeah..I hope Fringe continues on as long as they need it to, to tell their story. I'm sure this show could go on for a long time though if the ratings were there to support it.

Anonymous said...

I know it has helped! Yeah!!! Finally some credit for the series. I hope it helps the ratings. Yeah! Some supernatural fans will see Fringe instead on friday and vice versa :D! haha I got the two seasons on november but cant see them my dvd's are broken :'(

I thought you were referring to the site. I actually every time watch an episode, I read the page of that episode. I knew there was some encyclopedia, but not so willingly to buy it jejeje! Read it when youre about to go to sleep. Quite time for you & Lost! (:

I didnt follow Lost in its 6 years run, and I regret it, so I didnt know about the spoilers or the news about it but yeah! I had that question: the 4th season had only 14 episodes but was for the writers something, cant remember the name. But the 5th and 6th had about 18 episodes each why is that? why didnt they stabilize the episodes or was an ABC decision?

I've heard the producers are planning about just 6 seasons for Fringe. And there are just 3 seasons not very appreciated. I hope it stays like The X-Files. hahaha

Mike V. said...

So yeah, the writer's strike was during season 4. They had completed 8 episodes and then once the strike ended, they pushed their staff and cast to make 6 more hours of TV. But they definitely had to rush some storylines (i.e. the Freighter guys - Faraday, Miles, Charlotte and Frank) and make up for it in season 5. So because they only did 14 hours, that left 2 additional hours from the original planned 16 to tack onto Season 5 and 6. So season 5 got 17 hours (i don't think it was 18) and then season 6 started with 17 and then ordered an additional hour for the premiere and then asked for an additional half hour for the finale. So it was 18.5 hours lol

X Files is a great example of a show that went on too long. I mean, even David Duchovny lost interest and wanted to pursue movies! My interest was on and off during the show so I never watched the whole thing. I think 6 seasons is a good amount for shows like these. I don't know if Fox will be able to sustain Fringe for that long. But as long as the writing staff knows how much time they're working with, they can at least provide some good closure for the series. At this time, I'm leaning on the optimistic side that a season 4 will happen, but we'll see! lol

Anonymous said...

Why did they give the season 16 hours? The Third season had 22, at least that is the normal number of episodes in a season. Yeah I know, at least I learned the names of all episodes :D!

Yeah I might be something not so cool for them. I actually didnt watch The X-Files but somebody assures that I did watch it but I dont remember I was young jeje. Yeah maybe you´re right especially when Lost had even a 25-episode Season It had a lot of epis with only 6 seasons. Yeah Im kinda sure that Fringe is going for a Fourth Season, but I want to last at least 6 seasons, I want to end properly but not when the channel want it to end.

Mike V. said...

That's what I was talking about before (with the 16 hours). The producers and ABC came to a compromise to have 3 seasons of 16 episodes (hours) instead of 2 seasons of 24 episodes. Works out to the same amount of episodes but it gave ABC more potential for advertising, DVD sales, etc... And it also gave us 3 solid seasons without a lot of filler (some would argue season 6 was all filler but not me). The way I see it...if they didn't do the 3 season format, we never would have gotten season 5 and all of the fun time travel stuff. And the more I rewatch, I think the more season 5 stands out as my favorite. It was just a great story from start to finish. If you ever rewatch the show from the beginning...you can probably tell that season 1-3 are a lot slower paced than 4-6 (again...6 not a good example lol) From 1-3, they had no end date in sight and they had 24 (or 22/23 for season 3) episodes to fill. They didn't really have an end game in mind until between seasons 1 and 2. But even when they had that end game, they didn't fully map it out because they didn't know how long they'd be on the air. Once they got the greenlight at the end of season 3 and knew when their show was ending, it allowed them to progress the story....hence...giving us the best season finale of all time at the end of season 3 (Through the Looking Glass)....

SPOILER ALERT FOR ANYONE WHO HASN'T WATCHED LOST YET!!
They introduced the flash forward and the concept that getting off of the island was not the main objective of the show.
END SPOILER ALERT

So anyway, that's a little background. But things got all messed up with the writer's strike so seasons 4-6 episode counts were slightly modified.

I hear you on Fringe. I want the same thing. Any time the writers can do exactly what they want to do with a show and end on their terms, I'm all for it. When the network makes the decision? NOT COOL!

Anonymous said...

Ahhh now I get it! And yes, you are right. For my the best seasons are 5 & 6. But in the first, the 5th season, that thing about the time travel was sooo good just that at the middle was getting boring about 5x10-5x13. But then came to good again.

Yeah thats right. Thank God, Fringe havent existed in 2007-2008 lol.

That's how it is intended to be. The Channels dont have the brightest ideas for a series, especially if they're good as Fringe.

Mike V. said...

No arguments from me. It's really tough for me to say which season was my favorite. For the longest time nothing could come close to season 1. But I just find season 5 highly rewatchable these days. (even after knowing how it all ends) I really enjoyed season 6 too. I can't believe how many people were disappointed in it. Well, I can believe it. There were so many different expectations for how the show should end and they went in a direction that pretty much NO ONE expected. So I guess people could look at that as disappointing. I highly enjoyed it!

Good point with Fringe not existing during the writer's strike. Of course with season 1...they could've gotten away with it more than now. Most episodes were self contained back then. I'm liking the direction they have gone with it though! I needed something to replace my LOST fix...Fringe is doing an excellent job!

Anonymous said...

I actually watch Lost for The Smoke Monster so I was very excited to look just that, so for that I cant remember so much about the first three seasons, but I can remember that I liked season Three over the first two seasons. In my country (El Salvador) in a channel from here are repiting the Fifth season, and this sunday starts the Sixth Season and yes, & I find very watchable and very good just like Season 6. That's the problem with the people if they watch something that doesnt fit with their lifestyle or something they aren't used to, they hate it or get disapointed, that's the same problem with Fringe :/. I did too, I know it was a weird season but a great one.

Hahaha yeah I look at every serie during that season, and they were very hurried and very short (I highly mourn House for that, Season Four was a great one but It was very short) The reason why Fringe was such a success in Season One was because it was a procedural series a lot of them (I imagined) just thought that It was like CSI (CSI of a lot of places) but when it embraced its mithology, It was a success but not very watched :/. I wish there were more like you. J. J. Abrams thought about that too, Fringe is a replace of Lost and IT IS!