I was as excited as anyone about Fringe at the start of last season. My hopes were really high for the show, but after five or six episodes it became pretty evident that the show just wasn’t for me. I’ve never been a big fan of procedurals, and the format of Fringe was too case-of-the-week for me, to say the least.
I have to admit, however, that I was really intrigued by the overarching MacGuffin of “the Pattern.” The problem, though, was that the burn was just too darn slow for me, and it seemed like the only part of any episode that I was interested in was the final five minutes.
As I’ve been looking at how shows deal with their mysteries all summer, I’ve been trying to think of how different shows approach the bigger stories. I think Fringe is fairly unique in that in most of the episodes that I saw, there were small clues to the bigger picture, but they were most often pushed back to the very closing minutes of the show. Several times I joked to friends that I was going to start watching only the last five minutes of each show. Alas, I decided to just give up on it all together (though, hearing about how the series finished up its first season, I am kind of curious to give it another shot).
It’s a funny thing, because I’m completely fine with the slow burn on shows like Lost, but the slow burn in Fringe just seemed like teasing to me for some reason. Perhaps it is because I just wasn’t interested in many of the case-of-the-week plots on Fringe, and I just wanted to know more about the mystery of Massive Dynamic and what the real story was.
Fringe isn’t the only show like this, however. I think it’s fair to group Burn Notice into this category too. Every week, Michael and his gang are on a different case, and each episode usually ends with Michael getting one step closer to answers about his burn notice.
So… the question then becomes, why does Burn Notice work for me when Fringe doesn’t? Is it possible that Fringe made their MacGuffin too interesting? The teases on Fringe were frustrating because I cared more about them than I did the rest of the show. With Burn Notice, it’s the opposite case, with the weekly cases usually over shadowing the mystery of Michael’s burn. Quite frankly, I just don’t care that much about who burned him. Is it really possible for a writer to make their show too interesting? It seems like an odd thing to ask, but in these cases, I think that might be the issue at hand.
When the larger arc is so interesting, it puts a lot more pressure on the writers to make the case-of-the-week that much more interesting. It’s certainly a dangerous game to play. Though, I think I am in the minority with my opinion on Fringe, so I may be way off base with these crazy questions….
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Aug 24, 2009 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
My favorite is that the Fringe season finale idea was planned to be the season finale for season 3. It was an awesome finale, but if they tried to stretch that out to make it to season 3, they were have never have made it that far.
Well, it seems to me that you are missing a lot of what Fringe has to offer. But whatever, the show can go on without your ignorance.
You should give Fringe a second chance. I love the show, but I have to admit that during the middle of the season I was feeling much the same as you. Towards the end of the season though, the central arc comes more to the forefront. Like Oreo said, they brought everything forward, probably because they realised that the case-o’-the-week formula wasn’t going to last 3 seasons.
If you compare Fringe to The X-Files, as many people seem to, the case-o’-the-week formula worked much better. The difference, I think, is simply the intent of the writers/producers. Fringe’s episodes are just a vehicle for the mystery — they all connect to it and tease it. The X-Files’ intent was to have most episodes be truly stand alone, with only a few as part of the overall arc. Fringe would have worked better during season 1 if it had either let those episodes stand alone or committed them a little more to the overall arc. The balance was just off a bit.
BTW, I also don’t think its fair to judge 5 episodes of Fringe to Burn Notice, that show is still on the air.
What are you talking about? Do you even know?
Both shows are on the air…
When it comes to Fringe I totally agree with. The show seemed very fascinating to me but after a few episodes I just stopped to care.
Your comparison with Burn Notice is an interesting idea, And I want to add another thought: Fringe takes itself very seriously while Burn Notice does not.
And so I don’t mind the little exaggerations and quirks of Burn Notice, because the series is just meant to be fun.
Fringe on the other hand tries to be a new X-Files, Science-Mystery with FBI Agents and stuff but they don’t deliver. To me it feels like one of those cases where an intriguing idea met an average reality.
I can’t stand people like you jetah. You clearly have not watched the entire series. I am sure you don’t realize that Walter and peter always come up with funny quips in serious situations.
Everyone is entitled to opinions, and whether or not they agree with ours, let’s try to be respectful. I’m all for a spirited debate, but let’s not start a flame war.
Thanks.
Found the characters likeable (and Walter/Denethor ceaselessly funny), but agree about the portentousness and predictability of the writing. Ultimately decided the show was not for me one-third of the way through the first season.