Back in 1977 after watching Close Encounters of the Third Kind my 5 years old sister began to suspect her brother, little mini me, to be an alien. When E.T. : The Extra-Terrestrial was released 5 years later my sister was still the same age but convinced that I was a creature from an other planet. When you have grown up with Steven Spielberg it's easy to confuse reality and fiction. In 2008 when Fringe invaded our TV I decided to give it a chance. However I couldn't help compare it to The X-Files so I quickly gave up on it, in fact right after its fourth episode, The Arrival. Otherwise since then I have kept reading news about it and when the parallel universe topic was first mentioned I couldn't help thinking about Sliders and even Saint Seiya. But it's only until recently that I finally decided to give the show an other chance.
My father is a shapeshifter. Every scifi fans should read Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Despite its numerous qualities Fringe season 1 disappointed some of its viewers. From the episodic format to the questionable character development people had plenty of reasons to move on. Others kept watching and now that I have seen Olivia I sort of envy them. Indeed it seems a lot of twisted things happened and according to reviewers the show has kept getting better and better. It's specially true for season 3 because its first episode was quite entertaining. Focusing on one character only was the right decision because it strengthened the story pace. Considering I missed 16 episodes and the whole season 2 I have to admit that the recap was a little confusing. Alternate who what when where ? Is Anna Torv related to Jeff Dunham ? But even newcomers should quickly get their X marks.
My mother is a stormtrooper. Anna Torv dual performance was strong and exciting. I couldn't help thinking about Ali Larter as Niki Sanders in Heroes. Indeed now Olivia has an alternate double it seems both characters will have to deal with issues like personality disorder. The approach is refreshing compared to cloning for example, even if Invasion was great in my opinion. And the actress made the idea execution even more disturbing until the very end of the episode. From the different hair colors to the historical references there were also many elements to help us dissociate the real world from the parallel universe. I also think that it's wise to only cover one side at a time. The story occurred in the other dimension and once you have taken the red pill I think it's hard to resist the blue one. So the constant switch between the two should be as addictive as a good old game of Pong.
With the cancellation of shows like Dollhouse and Caprica it seems there's more room for Fringe. However it definitely deserves its success but I still worry about the balance between its parallel and episodic stories. The last have to be very original to keep the audience glued to its seat. But from the dual characters to the immersive production The Puppet Masters magic should work. So let's follow Olivia in Alterland because an epic war is about to happen and not doing our part could be a fatal mistake. Would you like to know more ?
