Remember the big hoo-hah over Fringe moving to a Friday night? “No, it will kill the show!” cried the faithful. Then the Fringe show-runners dropped a few nuggets about upping the romance between Peter and Olivia. It seems the Friday night faithful that habituate that day and time slot want their kissy kissy. Ugh. I remember cringing at the very idea of Peter and Olivia warming the sheets when there is an inter-dimensional war to be fought. “I’ll endure”, I said. Anything to save our show.
Then Joshua Jackson dropped this little nugget, “I’m of the opinion that once you go there, you jump the shark. It’s the build up, it’s the anticipation, it’s the tension, without ever consummating or making that happen. I’m always of the opinion that once you go there, you’ve done real damage to your show.”
Nuts.
So, Fringe moved to Friday night, the romance went from simmer to microwave but the ratings went up. Then they were ok and then they weren’t. The season 1 finale of Fringe drew 9.28 million viewers. Season 2 finale, 5.68 million. Season three, 3.29 million. WTF??!! (What the Fringe??!!)
So what the heck happened? Three years of storyline culminating with the operation of the machine and the fate of two dimensions hanging in the balance? Where did everyone go?
- “Love hurts, love scars, love wounds and marks any heart not tough or strong enough” (Especially the heart of the ratings.)
- “I’ve had the blues, the reds, and the pinks, one thing for sure, Love stinks” (And so do the ratings.)
- “Love is a many splendored thing! (Back off Dave!)
So was Josh Jackson right? Did the Fringe writers sense the error and decide to make Peter disappear? Am I still bitter about not getting a Valentine?
I see your point, and I do agree with some things. But Dave, you fail to see the larger scope within narrative. as a perspective writer myself, I see the need for all the emotions to be used in a story, either on the TV screen, the movie screen, or the written page. love is one of those special emotions that has a massive appeal because everyone has felt it. rather that just have rage or some other emotion for no reason, love in some from can make a story believable and exciting. some stories revolve around revenge of a lost loved one, others around finding love in the first place. but love, especially when it’s taken away, can make people do some crazy things. I feel the season finally set us up with a Walter and a Olivia that will now do anything, and I mean anything to find Peter and bring him back. I foresee a confrontation with the Observers, maybe a better resolution with this whole “First People” business, and maybe the reoccurrence of the long lost ZFT. not to mention this Mister X, he could be the dark side of Olivia’s powers that she unlocks to save Peter, but they turn on her instead. Anyway, love is a powerful thing, I think now we can sit back, grab the popcorn, and watch all Hell break loose.
@croshin thanks so much for your reply to my post. In my defense, it is not so much that I fail to see the need for emotion, specifically love in this case, to further the narrative. I just don’t want it to hijack the narrative. That is why I cited the quote by Josh Jackson and coupled it with the failing season ending numbers. I’m all for love as long as there is some dramatic tension attached to it. I can recall when all the dramatic tension was removed from “The Adventures of Lois and Clark” when that relationship was consummated. It sank the show. And, (spoiler alert) they may have just made the same mistake on “Bones” between Seeley and Temperance. They never coupled Scully and Mulder on “The X-Files” and that relationship was and is still important to many fans. There was an elegant way that the consummated relationship changed the narrative on Buffy between Buffy and Angel but I don’t want to spoil it for you. It was great.
It will be interesting to see how the Peter we all knew will be re-introduced to the show. There may be no reason to see the Observers again either as September’s plan was successful. Or was it? Popcorn ready my friend I hope to hear from you again.
I believe I read somewhere that Joshua Jackson was quoted saying that he thought the Peter/Olivia romantic storyline was finished. Not to say that they won’t be together, but that their relationship will not be a main focus in the show any longer. He mentioned that whenever you have a show with a male and female lead near the same age, inevitably there will be a romantic storyline. But, he believes the show will no longer focus as much time on the love story, and he was happy about that. I tend to agree. While I do feel like love is an important part of any story (whether it is romantic love, parental love, friendship love), I would like to see them move away from the “will they be together, or won’t they” storyline. Peter and Olivia got together, proclaimed their love for one another; now we can move on.
The problem with bringing characters together in a show without starting that way in the first place is that it changes the dynamic of the show. A lot of fans get excited about the main characters getting together and much of the ratings are based on the mystery of whether they will or not but then, if they do finally get together, they now have to head a new direction.
It is better to keep the relationship a possibility that never happens.
Yes, the examples of shows that falter due to the consummation factor abound but I don’t think it should be an automatic assumption of failure just because of this. Give Love a chance, Dave. That said I think the Season 3 finale made it clear that our lovers are separated, at least for now.
@FRINGE_NERD, I seem to recall Josh Jackson saying the same thing. (Maybe we heard it on that podcast that has to do with Fringe, whatever they call it!) I agree that they should move the focus back to the main storyline as the, “will they or won’t they” quandary was becoming a distraction. I’m ready to move on! Thanks for the reply. BTW, you’re welcome for the music reply I made to your post. I feel that music is a big part of Fringe.
@Sean, we are on the same wavelength. Did you ever watch Buffy? If not, check out how they “moved in a new direction” in that show. Thanks for the reply!
@Yagabon, Give love a chance? Hmmmm, I don’t know. See my response to “croshin” for further evidence on how “consummation” can change the dynamic of a show. But you have a point that it isn’t necessarily the main factor for the ratings decline. If not what is? People are tiring of Fringe? I don’t want to go there!!!! Thanks for the reply!
@ InterdimensionalDave. I’m glad I made sense. I’m usually very tired by the time of night I make it over to this sight 🙂
I was never a huge Buffy fan and I don’t think I ever watched any of the latter seasons. I’m guessing by your mention of it that they did a similar thing with the main characters in that show. And many shows have brought their main characters together toward the end while others have been wise not to.
The excitement for some is obviously in the possibility as Joshua Jackson mentioned. But for me, I wasn’t interested in seeing Peter and Olivia get together at all and it sounds like you weren’t either. Regardless of the changes it has made to the direction of the show, almost every other male character Olivia or Altlivia have been involved with make far more sense to me at a subconscious level than Peter and Olivia do. It just seems unnatural and yes a cringe seems to be my reaction to them together. But if we want to call the show Cringe rather than Fringe then sure, let’s get them together in every show.
As far as your ending question, “Did the Fringe writers sense the error and decide to make Peter disappear? I think the writers have been playing both sides of the fence for a while now. Every time they have brought these two together they have ripped them apart in some way. So in a way they have brought them together while in another way they have not. I am of the opinion that the whole relationship idea alone has made the show too Soap Oprah-ish for many of the original fans.
I think it has a lot to with what day we are on.
Didn’t Fringe start after House on monday’s then move to thursday and now death Fridays.
I know Fox is making money off the show or they would never have renewed it.
They know they have a franchise they can sell in repeats.
I was worried during last season about getting renewed. Now we should be good for 2 more seasons easy.