06 January 2011

The Watcher: 12/30/10 - 01/06/11













S03E01 - "Olivia" (23 September 2010) - The Olivia from Over There has infiltrated Fringe Division over here, and the Olivia from over here is now Over There, and slowly but surely being drugged to believe that she is their Olivia Dunham, completely with memories and mannerisms. In order to sell this, Anna Torv has delivered her finest performance in any season of FRINGE. As the Olivia she is is gradually disappearing, we get a spectacular glimpse of this self-assured, confidant, and kick-ass girl sort of transform into someone else, complete with new abilities and memories of a mother she never knew. It's some brilliant stuff, conceptually, story-wise, and of course, in the performance. "Olivia" is the perfect season opener: a character we've grown to love facing uncertainty in a new world with infinite possibilities. I, for one, am extremely interested to be told what Walternate's purpose of trading Olivia's is. It seems like the FRINGE writers and producers are on their A-game, and I can't wait to see how this evolves!

S03E02 - "The Box" (30 September 2010) - Going back to the traditional blue opening title sequence, "The Box" is all about Olivia, Peter, and Walter on our side as Newton carries out Walternate's orders which (apparently) is bringing us closer to D-Day. Aside from certain death and obliteration coming towards us, "The Box" was a pretty amazing episode. As the threat of doomsday lingers, it seems that the catastrophes will increase in lethality, as evidenced profoundly here. Nice solution by Walter, at the end, though. Peter is still acting a little odd, and not just in the 'dad-stole-me-from-home' type of way; perhaps Joshua Jackson is being a bit too reserved? At least he gets to open up when he's around Olivia, and (unfortunately for him) is forced to snog her. Oh, poor times being a actor.

S03E03 - "The Plateau" (7 October 2010) - Another stellar episode, which gives us perhaps the most powerful and enigmatic character yet and Olivia realizing she doesn't belong. Milo, the super genius who formulates a few bazillion outcome scenarios a second, and who also boasts a striking similarity to Ethan Hawke, is both creepy and utterly compelling to watch. His physical appearance is unnerving, akin to a statue, and his big blue eyes just grab you and refuse to let go. Freaky, human, and brilliant all at the same time, I really hope Milo plays a part in the events to come - he's far too powerful of a character to be introduced and left to the sidelines. But he probably will. Sadness. Also, I loved how Walternate reaffirmed his stance as a scientist, except his "lab is slightly bigger" or something to that equation, which harkins back to press material for the show in its first year where the creators related the world as someone's gigantic science experiment. The material with Olivia not bothering to follow protocol and thwarting Milo's design was both predictable yet highly awesome to watch; it's one of those moments where I wanted to throw my fists up high, complete with a loud and verbal "YES!" It's also interesting to see Charlie making the correct guess that this Olivia just may not be theirs...Oh, this is getting good!

New episodes of FRINGE resume 21 January 2011.












S02E01 - "Red Rain" (04 January 2011)
- More or less the same show that we left all the way back in early 2010, V doesn't show any signs of improving or devolving, seemingly perfectly content with regurgitating the same material. However, "Red Rain" did offer enough to keep my interest, so I will be tuning in for the next few episodes to see how it all goes, to see if there is one big plan of Anna's or if the producers can conclude the series in a satisfying season/series manner (after all, season two is only ten episodes). Among the interesting aspects is the inevitable revelation that the V's have been here before, the hint of emotion affecting Anna, and the relationship between Lisa and Tyler.

If, hypothetically, Tyler is part V, what real use is he to them? Wouldn't they be more interested to see if they can breed successfully full term with a 100% human? Isn't Tyler being part V sort of a cheat, and doesn't really answer all the necessary questions? So him supposedly being how he is, how is knocking up Lisa all that helpful, since it's not something completely O-M-G or revolutionary? As Anna reiterates, she has a plan; now, let's just hope the shows producers have one, as well.

2 comments:

Rachel said...

I had planned on picking V back up but I forgot last week and Hulu doesn't have it for streaming, so I decided no big deal and let it go. From what you say about it, I'm not missing much.

Andrew Simon said...

LOL, no, you're not missing much at all. It's the same show, same formula, repeated over and over again.

BUT, and kudos to the producers, "Red Rain" did have a nifty part where we got to see the V skeleton. That was rather freakishly cool, in a I-want-an-action-figure-of-it kind of way.

Perhaps wait for all 10 episodes to air and then have a V splurgathon?