It’s time for the mid season report card for Fringe. It’s here that we all get to play the teacher and we get to grade our favorite subject. Here are the areas for our attention.
- Fall finale grade. (How did the fall finale grade out for you. It’s OK to give an INC. if that is how you felt.)
- Teachers Pet (For good or bad pick one character and give them a grade.)
- The Yearly Peter dilemma. (Grade Fringe on how they handled Peter’s perils. This year, “missing” as opposed to “not knowing truth behind his Father” or “operating the machine. ” Poor Peter.)
- Mid season overall grade. (How you felt Fringe graded overall so far.)
Please feel free to explain your grades. Tell how your subject earned or didn’t ear their grades.
Have a subject you want graded? Add that. If it’s popular I’ll add it to the over all report card!
I’ll go first see below.
Do your homework Peter!
The Fall finale gets a “B” from me. I liked it. It really resonated with me and stayed with the themes of isolation and identity.
My teachers pet get’s an “A” as in Anna. Yes, it’s Olivia. I know it’s hard to snub Walter but Torv really got to show her range.
B- for the Peter dilemma. Yes it was blessedly brief but it still doesn’t feel right.
B for the mid season grade. I’m a little frustrated at the lack of the Red-verse and that bunch plus we need more Observer explanations!
Overall I’d give the Fall Finale a B-. I really dug the parallels between the “monster of the week” Eugene, and Peter’s plight. Emotionally, the writer’s nailed it. It didn’t get an A because I felt there was a lack of “umph” in the mythos department. Besides the end of the episode, the overarching story wasn’t furthered much.
My teacher’s pet is absolutely Olivia and she most certainly deserves an A+. Two scenes in particular really drove home my love for her this season:
1 – In “One Night In October” when she’s connecting with the professor while he’s profiling his serial-killer self’s home on the other side as Fauxlivia. Even though she was pretending to be Fauxlivia, it was brilliant that Anna Torv could maintain that Olivia-ness about her
2 – In “Subject 9” from the point she calms / comforts Walter at the hotel to when she’s at the diner with him. There was something maternal about Olivia in the sequence that we hadn’t seen before. It was clear she’d been the one taking care of Walter and it was really moving / touching.
Peter’s dilemma gets a B. I like the concept. I am basing my grade on the comics as well (hopefully that’s permissible). Peter ending up in a timeline that he a) caused and b) doesn’t belong in is so creative.
Overall, even with the high grades above, I’m giving this half of the season a C+. In the show’s defense, I didn’t like Season three at first and now it’s my favorite season thus far. I find Fringe improves as the season goes on and I’m expecting greatness from the second half. That being said, I’ve been underwhelmed by the lack of Observers since the first couple episodes, the lack of Sam Weiss, the lack of Walternate, and the lack of mythos in general. I really feel the writer’s could have sped up the season a bit rather than drag everything out like they did in Season 2.
As a side note: Fringe is the best show on television so for that it deserves some extra credit 🙂
Impressive reply Sarah and I always love when it someone says they “dug” something. I use the same language all the time. The lack of “umph” affected my grade also. The urgency towards the mythos does seem to be lacking and I am a little impatient for it. We are of same mind when comes to Olivia also. I too was impressed with Torv’s performance in “Subject 9”. When Walter connected with the Landlady Olivia shot him a quick look. That look spoke a thousand words. Such a nuanced performance!
I was close to giving my mid-season grade a B minus which would have been very close to your C+. I hope you’re right about the writers kicking it into high gear for the second half of the season. There is a lot of material to work with and I hope they take some real chances with it. I want to see them go places even they haven’t gone before. If they do I feel season 5 is a lock. (Yes, I’m knocking on wood.)
The Fall Finale that wasnt meant to be the Fall Finale (thanks baseball!!!) gets a B+ from me. I thought the ep stood up well considering that it was the lead in to the actual finale ep 4.08. I watched it 3 times back to back after it aired. The themes of loneliness and isolation really left an imprint on me.
My Teachers Pet….hmmm…well im gonna have to say Teachers Pets here because i cant really decide between John and Anna. As we all know, these 2 talented actors really are tested on Fringe and everytime they come out shining. Both of them have shown yet another version of their characters. I find these versions of Walter and Olivia a little unsettling …but in a good way. John and Anna are just BRILLIANT ..my grade for them thus far is an ‘A’.
The Perils of Poor Peter OR Peters Dilemma gets a B from me. I am really intruiged by the premise that the showrunners are taking us through. Just what would our lives be like if one important ingredient was taken out? In our case its Peter. And im loving the way his absence in the Fringe teams lives has made our beloved characters different from the ones we originally knew. Im giving this premise a B+. Id give in an A now but i know its gonna get even better in the next half of the season …. so i wont over grade it now.
As an aside to this it kills me to watch Peter so isolated from those he loves. I miss the father son relationship so much. Isolated Peter just makes me cry!
My overall grade for the season thus far is a B again (yes i know im boringly repetitive). I know some Fringies have found the start to season 4 quite hard to get into and i know some tv critics havent liked it either. But i love what the writers and showrunners are doing. I like the way they are exploring the themes of choices and how they can change our lives subtly or in a huge way. I also like the fact that in season 4 our characters have yet again been given a reboot.
And in order to give us this reboot and to set the scene for what is to come…they have had to start off slowly and fill in all the back stories to all our Fringe teams ‘new’ lives.
I can honestly say i have been quite happy with them not venturing too much into the AltVerse in the first half of the season. There arent too many characters Over There that i actually like. But i know the Alts are on there way back … and i can live with that.
I am just glad that Peter is back …. and that he, like the audience, knows what everyone used to be like. Its great to watch how Josh portrays Peters reactions to all these familiar yet unfamiliar happenings. (Yes Dave i had to mention my love for Peter somewhere!)
And i absolutely agree with Sarah Maria when she says that Fringe is the best show on tv. It has the most OUTSTANDING cast, writers, crew and showrunners of any show in the UNIVERSE. It is totally worthy of all our love, adoration and fanatacism!
The only acceptable reason I’d let the World Series interfere with Fringe would be if the Red Sox were in it and that would be pushing it.
B+ is a pretty high grade considering Wallflower wasn’t supposed to be the fall finale. You must be a true fan. (Duh, I know you are!) Eugene’s desperate loneliness struck a chord with me also. It’s those singular solitary stories that really resonate with me. Fringe is at it’s best when it deals with man’s existential crises.
It’s a good thing that I am sitting down as I type this. Peter didn’t get named your teacher’s pet??!! Did you know what just freeze over! I’m just teasing, you just can’t dismiss what John and Anna have done for this show.
As for your overall grade of a B, let’s hope the fans, critics and especially the execs at Fox share your patience with the “reboot”. I want to see our favorite student, Fringe, push its grade to a solid A so they can get renewed!
Fall finale: INC – grade pending until Jan 13, 2012 when it airs. 😉
Teacher’s Pet: Double A+ for Walter and Anna. Both have created another version of their characters that I have come to care about what happens to them.
Peter dilemma: INC – little has been shown and much yet has to be resolved.
Mid season grade: A – three great episodes – 2, 4, 6, three good episodes – 1, 5, 7, & one middling episode – 3.
Is there a Star Trek movie curse going on this season? 😉
With only a third of the season aired it is still way too early to state where this season will rank against the others. Still so much to be explored. Really surprised at the pace. Expected the time line issues were going to be resolved by the eighth episode. Looks like it will be much longer now. Maybe half the season? Or, GASP!, the entire season?
Love the risks the show is taking in an era of high cost/low originality storytelling, especially on network TV.
Good to hear from OldDarth as always. I can’t fault your two INC’s as grades. I thought there would be room for them also. Maybe Fringe should stay after school to earn full credit for their marks.
John and Anna have been crushing it haven’t they? It’s been nice to see Olivia and Walter get the chance to interact together. The shared tenderness between the two has a much different dynamic than that of Peter and Walter.
Gasp! Will they have the courage to run this arc for the entire season? That would be brave. Season five is on the line here!
Overall I give the season thus far an A-. I’m surely way wrong, but I like the way the show is evolving – it is basically a very simple show exploring the idea of “how far would you go for something/someone that means everything to you”, and it is finding very creative ways of expressing those ideas. And of course, the parallels of the weekly monster/plot to that of Olivia/Peter/Walter. In my opinion.
Teacher’s Pet – A tough one for me… Walter is so enjoyable to watch, but I find his character has been (necessarily) a bit more static in growth this season (though I expect things will change greatly for him at one point). Peter has changed, but I find there is always something ever so slightly “untouchable” about Peter. Don’t know why. So I guess a toss-up between Olivia and Lincoln Lee. Yes, Lincoln… I find his character has grown massively this season and it has been a joy to watch. And I won’t say another word. 🙂
Perils of Peter – A B+ … I find it interesting to see how he is trying to figure it all out.
Most interesting change this season(so far) – The differences and similarities in the relationships between all the characters.
What I dislike the most – Something feels detached and uncaring and I just don’t know what it is. Maybe someone else feels the same?
But I love this show.
You’re never wrong if it’s your opinion I Hardy. If you say it’s an A- then it’s an A-. As far as your “how far would you go” premise, Peter seems to think he is in the wrong place now. (I don’t) I hope the writers steer him back to the truth and we get to see what lengths he’ll go to get them back. That should be exciting.
I mentioned above that I like the new dynamic between Walter and Olivia. It wasn’t long ago that Olivia was treating Walter like he was some sort of child abuser. Now Liv acts like Walters benevolent caretaker but with real affection.
“What I dislike the most – Something feels detached and uncaring and I just don’t know what it is. Maybe someone else feels the same?” I feel the same! Sometimes its something intangible, other times I’m convinced its the way they’ve rebooted the character dynamic. Thanks for the feedback!
Fall finale: INC. The episode hasn’t aired yet. Baseball ate Fringe’s midterm exam.
Teacher’s pet: John Noble. Specific scenes that were outstanding: meeting adult Peter, interactions with fungus kid, hotel room freakout, rootbeer float with Olivia, looking through the lunchbox of Peter mementos, paternal pride with the Faraday cage.
Production quality: A+. This TV season has seen some other shows stumble mightily with CGI, overly melodramatic musical scores, lazy exposition, etc. Fringe may not be the most expensive production on TV, but it sure is well crafted.
Peter dilemma d’jour: INC. I do think the length of Peter’s absence was just right. There has been no progress toward illuminating how his absence happened, why it is necessary to the story, and what his presence in the current timeline/universe is meant to accomplish. Perhaps we will get some clues in the next episode? I’m hoping for that epiphany moment down the road when his larger arc becomes clear and this part of the story makes sense. [To draw a parallel some might appreciate I was blown away when the Capt. Jeffrey Sinclair arc played out on Babylon 5 and I think Peter’s story may approach that grand sort of scope in the end.]
Overall grade for the fall episodes of Season 4: B-. I love that Fringe is bold enough to take the risks that it has. Yet I’m viewing the show with a more analytical detachment this season. Easter egg spotting is fun, but I want to care about what happens to these characters and I find myself holding back. It’s not just because we have no idea how long we’ll be in this timeline/universe. These characters are just now beginning to have an emotional investment in each other. Is that the point, Peter was the catalyst for those bonds forming? Isolation has been a running theme this season and it clearly applies to more than just Peter. There have been some strong emotional beats with Walter (teacher’s pet) but for me the others have come in the side stories like the serial killer and the time travel couple. Not with the core characters that I miss, dearly. Where is this going? Please give us a hint that it has a purpose and a destination.
Teacher’s comment:
Dear Fringe, I get it. You aren’t the same kid I knew last year. Your voice broke and you grew 3 inches. Some of your friends left and your heart got broken. Fine. You may be grounded on Friday nights, but know that you are not alone. I still believe in you. You can still get an A+ on the season. At the core of your awkward, moody self is a spark of sincere brilliance. Let it shine through. And bring me an apple(glyph).
Ha, humor will get you anywhere! Love the eating of the midterm exam comment.
I voted Anna/Olivia as my teachers pet but Walter was a close second. When I was on my “christian allegory comparison” kick I had Walter renouncing Peter three times just as Peter renounced Jesus in the same fashion. I was probably being subjective. But as an actor John pulled it off wonderfully.
Back in the day I was a huge B5 fan, what an incredible series that was. To remove Sinclair from the series only to bring him back was an amazing feat. I miss that show!
I gave the mid season a straight B but I can’t disagree with your B-. I would like some answers and resolution also. Many of us have found ourselves holding back from a commitment for these characters. When is that other shoe going to drop!
Wonderful last comment from the “teacher” so spot on. Humor, insight and perspective. You get an A+ yourself.
Fall finale grade – B – It wasn’t the intended finale but it still managed to leave us with a cliffhanger-ish moment at the end with Nina’s antics. Could have been better but could have been a lot worse!
Teachers Pet – Anna Torv. Yet another change to her character and it’s been done superbly (IMO).
The Yearly Peter dilemma – B- – I’m still looking for some more explanation on his situation really. I’ve really enjoyed some of the stuff in the comics about where he went post-machine-activation but we need to see more of him now he’s back with regards to what he’s thinking/planning on doing. Looks like we’ll be getting that in Jan based on the previews.
Mid season overall grade – B+ – A couple of episodes weren’t that awesome but mostly it’s been great.
Hi Rory thanks for the feedback. Do you suppose the actual Fall finale next January will fall flat now that it is out of place?
Totally with you on Anna Torv as the teachers pet. Sometimes just a glance from her is so evocative. It will be interesting to follow her career post Fringe. (Many years from now that is!)
I was going to do a post on the January teaser but so many other had done the same thing that I had to let it pass. But you’re right it looks amazing. Thanks for the reply and don’t be a stranger!
Overal, we’re starting the season in a new headspace, so this means new grades. Whereas an A would of been an episode firing on all cylinders last season, this season, an A informs what is happening in the new world, and sets up plot/exposition and if it opens up the “new” characters, that’s a trifecta-A grade.
Episode 1- Learning that there is an uneasy peace, as well as introducing new Lincoln lee and new Shapeshifters, A, not really, there are lots of observers, A+.
Ep2- Showing new reality still has overall similar social problems in each universe, and a sad, sad story, A-, though funny in parts, don’t see this as a great way to keep new
viewers.
Ep3-In which Lee has to accept his new group, and a fungus is trying to take over the city. C+, just didn’t advance plot very much, though we got some much needed back-story, and a second-look when it comes out on DVD might show an episode full of information we can’t quite grasp “in the moment.”
Ep4-Learn a lot about cortexiphan trials, piece together more “new history” and Peter “appears,” though he’s a paradox. This episode shows what the new season is shooting for, in the first really well forged episode of the new season. A.
Ep5, in which Peter arrives, and the Shapeshifter must perfect her own technology. Really deep SF episode, searching for meaning and morality in a world where technology isn’t as simple as a tool, or an item. Technology centric episode(cyborg studies disciples would love this show) A+
Ep 6, where we find Walter and Peter having problems, Olivia and LIncoln might be heading to Hook-Upsville, and time travel once again pushing in on their reality. This episode reminds me of the cases from Season 3, each story really connects to the current problems they find in the ethics of their lives. B-, while story is great, and actors are wonderful, this episodes still won’t give us much impetus to move the story further, and with baseball coming up, that proved a problem in a much bigger way.
Ep 7- Wallflower was an A+ episode, with Peter showing that the last 3 years spent working on fringe cases have really informed his logic, as walter said in season 1, “open your mind or someone will open it for you,” and Peter has. With nobody really working with Peter, i.e. Walter, we see the boy become the father of the man. Ugene, the invisible man, reminds me of a Buffy story about invisibility, which I studied for a Gender studies class. Fringe did it better, much better. The Buffy ep had to do with highschool dynamics, as much as that’s nice, this episode was as full fledged adult-themed bonanza, stalking, illegal entry, and a list of dead, pigment-less, bodies. How far can we go for love, when our loved ones can’t see us working. This episode sums up the first act of Season 4, in a touching way, and the “Nina Grab/Injection” combo move at the end set up a fated, hopefully all-out, confrontation around the corner.
Clark from AR thanks for the reply. You obviously put a lot of thought into it. No wonder you are a part of the faculty.
I’d like to speak to your encapsulated review of episode 7. As I mentioned above I am big fan of “Wallflower” also. The Nina closing was a shocker but the episode as a whole was a delight. The writers really pulled off the themes of existential angst with its attendant tropes of isolation and identity. Eugene may have been a killer but I totally sympathized with him. His life must have been pure torture. If you like to follow similar themes I can suggest the indie film “Another Earth” and the book, “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison.
Fall finale: D
Teachers Pet: Olivia D- boring and a retread of material we have already seen.
Peter situation: F – A complete and utter failure, not just the lack of Peter but the copious amounts of missed opportunities to parallel his situation with mundane COTW.
Mid season grade: E – They either get it together or I am out and based on the horrendous ratings a lot more people (less than 2.8 million).
There is no narrative momentum, the show should be peddle to the metal from the get go this season and not spend 7 episodes of us learning to get to know a new show with new characters when we know nothing of one character for 4 seasons……Peter.
Jake you are speaking to my dark side and it listened. While I don’t agree with your Fall finale grade I can understand where you are coming from. Having the schedule abridged because of the World Series didn’t make anyone happy.
You sound like a passionate fan to me so I urge you to stick with Fringe. Don’t let the ratings affect your love for the show. I’m worried about the shows direction also but I’m willing to stick with it because I love the genre, the characters and the direction their headed. Yes it has been frustrating but hang in there! If it doesn’t pan out then we all move on.
Thanks for the reply Jake I hope to hear from you again.
Looking at the comic books, there is so much good Peter material in there that I do not understand why they did not use that in the episodes instead of this weak opening 7 episode arc. They have spent 7 episodes creating new characters instead of using a great arc with Peter and the Observer travelling through time and giving meaning to his character and gaining narrative momentum. As Ryan McGee says it is a shame that the two best performances came from the Greens and Professor Mcllenand in episode 2 and 6 respectively. The best performances should come from the cast not guest stars.
This whole opeining 7 episode arc is a failure, utter failure. Having one episode (episode 8) addressing the Peter problem is just not good enough, we need a season worth of it and we are not going to get that at all, they have blown it. Well and truely blown it and they must know that.
Jake there was a theory floated out there that when Fringe was moved to Friday night they were going to accommodate the viewership that habituates that particular night. In other words, appeal to the romance crowd. The relationship between Peter and Olivia was ramped up and, if you recall, Joshua Jackson was against it. What am I getting at? Season four reboot time. I’m not saying that they are admitting they were wrong but I don’t doubt they realized that this storyline only had so much shelf life before it ran it’s course. We’re only seven episodes in so it might be worth it to give them some more time. We restart in January but February is a sweep month. If nothing is resolved by then you’ll know if they blew it or not. Thanks for the reply Jake.
Fall finale grade: E – An awful episode that should have been used to parallel Peter with U Gene instead of Olivia.
Teachers Pet : Olivia = E – A retread of season 1, rubbish and boring and wasting time that the final season does not have.
The Yearly Peter dilemma: F – What a waste of such great tallent. Josh Jackson has more tv and film experience than either Anna Torv or John Noble and yet they have just wasted his experience and potential fan base and have lost .4 of a key demo because of that simple negligence by the show runners.
Mid season overall grade. E- – No Narrative momentum, not enough Peter. The two most powerful performances have been the Greens and the Professor/Serial Killer. That is not good for a show that the regulars can be so poor. Finding ways to hide
Peter over the last two seasons has been contrived and messy. They have altered universes, put him in hospital and now dissappeared him, there is no urgency to use him or any inclination that they want to. He has been back for 3 episodes and he has not been used at all, he has been in about 30 minutes in 7 episodes. I hear episode 8 has more of him…but that is not enough. Very, very poor season 4 so far.
When a show would rather tell a characters story in a comic book or would rather reintroduce old characters again instead of actually focussing on the one character they have never used…that means the show has no intention to use Peter. They will not create an arc for him and they will not have him say anything or do anything. I mean they even made him write the comic books….that is how disinterested they are, they could not even bother to write his story in the comic books they had him do it.
Whyman and Pinkner are liars and have lost my trust and respect, I will not be following any of their future shows and I will not recommend them as well. Fringe is losing fans by the bucket load and the show runners should come out and explain their actions and try and arrest this slide…they are not, they simply do not care.
Hi Alan thanks for your feedback. Do you really think episode seven was that bad? I really enjoyed the existential angst as portrayed by Eugene. I found him a sympathetic character despite the fact he was a murderer. Not an easy feat.
I checked IMDB for the acting credits for Josh and John and they are virtually the same. So I don’t see how they have wasted Josh’s acting talents vis a vis that point. If anything the writers and show runners have taken a calculated risk by minimizing Peters role in the show. Perhaps we should give them credit for that. You never know what cards they have up their sleeves for the second half of the season.
If you don’t care to follow the show any further that is your choice. But like I said to Jake above, February is a sweeps month and important to the fate of Fringe. If your complaints aren’t answered by then they may well be justified.
“To a certain extent, Peter is the MacGuffin of the show,” Jackson told The News. “So we have this ensemble cast and he’s the guy who lots of things are about, but who doesn’t get to do a lot of things. That’s who he is, that’s what the character is, so I can get frustrated all I like, but it’s not going to change.
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-09-30/entertainment/30244679_1_alternate-universe-producers-vow-serial-killer
Please release Joshua Jackson…….
I agree with Jake …,,release the macguffin, I mean poor old Joshua Jackson from this horrific mess of a show.
At my work we have three year contracts for our employees, once you get passed the 6 month probabion period it is impossible to fire someone until their three year contract is up. One employee made it passed that point but it became obvious that the bosses realised that maybe he did not fit for some reason a little too late. For the last year of his contract they paid him but let him go out on interviews and did not give him work or include him in meetings, etc.
This is what is happening with Josh Jackson…they do not like him, do not want him around that much and when he is around…..they do not want him to do anything important….he has so much time off in the last two years I hope he was auditioning.
When I spoke to the employee at my company, it was so disheartening for someone to feel like that…to feel that under appreciated. I just do not respect Wyman or Pinkner anymore. All I will say is you reap what you sow….Karma is a funny thing. This is going to come back to bite you in the butt…I hope at the end of the season when you are cancelled.
I love Fringe and I will continue to stick with it to the end, but the fact that Joshua Jackson has been so absent from the show so far (in Season 4 and Season 3) and the fact that, in the past, they haven’t been able to fully commit to a story line for him is disheartening. The show REALLY needs to make it up to him somehow, especially since he has complained so little and has taken his absence with a lot of grace. Peter better be the focus for rest of Season 4! The comic books that have been released have shown how much potential Peter as a character has and it certainly didn’t hurt that Jackson wrote them, showing that he has so many ideas for his character. Fringe, listen to him!