Fringe, Altered States, and Lost
Sep. 15th, 2008 05:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
growyourwingsI'm watching Fringe. I have about 15 minutes to go in the Pilot episode--so I haven't seen the ending yet.
So this is another J.J. Abrams project, eh? I'm not sure how to describe my reactions to it. It's cheesy and contrived and "out-there". But it's also kinda .... can't think of the right word ... engrossing? Nah. Mesmerizing? Not it either. IDEK.
But yeah, it's cheesy and contrived. Very J. J. Abrams --- speaking as a former Lost fanatic who, before SPN, spent hours online obsessing about "THE NUMBERS" and "THE BLACK SMOKE MONSTER." All of which kinda went poof in S3. And no, I haven't watched Lost S4 yet--I've working my way through it--watched the first 3 episodes.
But I was a HUGE fan of the movie Altered States. LovedJohn William Hurt. Loved the premise -- although it seems very dated today.
As soon as I saw the crazy old professor uncover that tank--I thought, oh this is like Altered States. And then the scene where she was connected to what's-his-face (Brad from Boston Legal!)--a scene almost out of Altered States with the "electrical flashes."
Then Blair Brown comes in as one of the employees (henchman?) of the BIG BAD COMPANY (more on this later). Blair Brown played the girlfriend (wife? I can't remember for sure) ofJohn William Hurt's character in Altered States. Can't be a coincidence since I never see Blair Brown in anything anymore. Did a quick look-up online and sure enough Abrams cites Altered States as one of the inspirations for this show.
That itself may keep me watching for a bit.
But now I'm on the last 15 minutes, where the heroine learns THERE IS SOMETHING MORE GOING ON HERE! GASP! OMG! SURPRISE!
It is Abrams after all.
And yeah I know SPN also has "something more going on here"--but at least Kripke's a little more subtle about introducing that.
But here's my prediction. The BIG BAD COMPANY (can't remember it's name) in Fringe.....
wait for it....
..OMG! It's the DHARMA INITIATIVE!!!!
Somehow the resolution of all the multiple and seemingly random mysterious threads in LOST is all going to trace back to the BIG BAD in Fringe.
Hee.
...sorry I'm still a little bitter about LOST. It had such promise...but no vision I guess. I feel a little....used....I guess.
Of course I shouldn't be THAT bitter. In a round-about way if I had not been addicted to LOST once I may never have found Supernatural!
So I guess I should be thanking Abrams, not making jokes.
However, I will keep an eye on Fringe for a bit to see where it goes.
And so help me, Abrams had better do right by the new Star Trek movie.
ETA: OMG I just realized! More connections to DHARMA! Blair Brown has an artificial limb! Wasn't yet ANOTHER mysterious thread in LOST the thing about the missing limbs? Oh, and I almost forgot. There's a MYSTERY ABOUT MISSING CHILDREN in Fringe as well! I SWEAR Fringe is part of the DHARMA Initiative. Just you wait and see.
When the OTHERS show up---then we will know and nod our heads sagely.
ETA2: The more I think about this, the more this feels like a new-medium formula TV show. Like some network exec put together a checklist for Abrams, based on what Abrams did with LOST, and then bought Abrams name (his name is listed with 2 others as the writer of the pilot--what do you want to bet he just proofed it or something--the man surely doesn't have that much time anymore.).
Executive's Formula New-Media Checklist:
1 Kookie but mysterious (and maybe loveable and misunderstood) old man
1 one hero and/or heroine
1 antagonist for the hero/heroine--but someone with whom s/he obviously will end up being friends and have potential UST with. Said antagonist must also be witty, smart, and acerbic.
1 (or MORE please!) MYSTERY-TO-BE-SOLVED. Preferably one that we can use new-media to grab more viewers with--i.e., the Internet, forums, etc. MYSTERY must somehow be new-age-y, or meta-physical, or somehow tied to the SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE. Also, please make said MYSTERY to have multiple layers so we can get at least 7-10 seasons of drawn-out teasing of viewers. Hey and if you want to somehow tie this all back to LOST, all the better! After all we can use either show to promote the other!
1 inscrutable(how DO you spell that?) government agency. Are they good? Are they evil? What about the minions who work for said agency?
1 BIG BAD COMPANY who is BEHIND IT ALL! But again, please draw out whether said company is good/bad and also the same for their employees.
Cool special effects please (but ones that can be cheaply executed.)
Show must also have HUMOR-BETWEEN-THE-BUDDIES-WORKING-TO-SOLVE-THE-MYSTERY. Throw in, say, a random cow or something else ridiculous like that. Have said cow watch Sponge Bob with Kookie and misunderstood professor.
ETA3: Another connection to Dharma and Lost. The inscrutable official from the inscrutable government agency? He's played by the same dude who plays the inscrutable (but likely bad) minion of some agency (Dharma? Something else) on Lost. The dude who came to visit (threaten?) Hugo in the institution in the early episodes of S3 of Lost. Obviously someone thought he played inscrutable well.
So this is another J.J. Abrams project, eh? I'm not sure how to describe my reactions to it. It's cheesy and contrived and "out-there". But it's also kinda .... can't think of the right word ... engrossing? Nah. Mesmerizing? Not it either. IDEK.
But yeah, it's cheesy and contrived. Very J. J. Abrams --- speaking as a former Lost fanatic who, before SPN, spent hours online obsessing about "THE NUMBERS" and "THE BLACK SMOKE MONSTER." All of which kinda went poof in S3. And no, I haven't watched Lost S4 yet--I've working my way through it--watched the first 3 episodes.
But I was a HUGE fan of the movie Altered States. Loved
As soon as I saw the crazy old professor uncover that tank--I thought, oh this is like Altered States. And then the scene where she was connected to what's-his-face (Brad from Boston Legal!)--a scene almost out of Altered States with the "electrical flashes."
Then Blair Brown comes in as one of the employees (henchman?) of the BIG BAD COMPANY (more on this later). Blair Brown played the girlfriend (wife? I can't remember for sure) of
That itself may keep me watching for a bit.
But now I'm on the last 15 minutes, where the heroine learns THERE IS SOMETHING MORE GOING ON HERE! GASP! OMG! SURPRISE!
It is Abrams after all.
And yeah I know SPN also has "something more going on here"--but at least Kripke's a little more subtle about introducing that.
But here's my prediction. The BIG BAD COMPANY (can't remember it's name) in Fringe.....
wait for it....
..OMG! It's the DHARMA INITIATIVE!!!!
Somehow the resolution of all the multiple and seemingly random mysterious threads in LOST is all going to trace back to the BIG BAD in Fringe.
Hee.
...sorry I'm still a little bitter about LOST. It had such promise...but no vision I guess. I feel a little....used....I guess.
Of course I shouldn't be THAT bitter. In a round-about way if I had not been addicted to LOST once I may never have found Supernatural!
So I guess I should be thanking Abrams, not making jokes.
However, I will keep an eye on Fringe for a bit to see where it goes.
And so help me, Abrams had better do right by the new Star Trek movie.
ETA: OMG I just realized! More connections to DHARMA! Blair Brown has an artificial limb! Wasn't yet ANOTHER mysterious thread in LOST the thing about the missing limbs? Oh, and I almost forgot. There's a MYSTERY ABOUT MISSING CHILDREN in Fringe as well! I SWEAR Fringe is part of the DHARMA Initiative. Just you wait and see.
When the OTHERS show up---then we will know and nod our heads sagely.
ETA2: The more I think about this, the more this feels like a new-medium formula TV show. Like some network exec put together a checklist for Abrams, based on what Abrams did with LOST, and then bought Abrams name (his name is listed with 2 others as the writer of the pilot--what do you want to bet he just proofed it or something--the man surely doesn't have that much time anymore.).
Executive's Formula New-Media Checklist:
1 Kookie but mysterious (and maybe loveable and misunderstood) old man
1 one hero and/or heroine
1 antagonist for the hero/heroine--but someone with whom s/he obviously will end up being friends and have potential UST with. Said antagonist must also be witty, smart, and acerbic.
1 (or MORE please!) MYSTERY-TO-BE-SOLVED. Preferably one that we can use new-media to grab more viewers with--i.e., the Internet, forums, etc. MYSTERY must somehow be new-age-y, or meta-physical, or somehow tied to the SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE. Also, please make said MYSTERY to have multiple layers so we can get at least 7-10 seasons of drawn-out teasing of viewers. Hey and if you want to somehow tie this all back to LOST, all the better! After all we can use either show to promote the other!
1 inscrutable
1 BIG BAD COMPANY who is BEHIND IT ALL! But again, please draw out whether said company is good/bad and also the same for their employees.
Cool special effects please (but ones that can be cheaply executed.)
Show must also have HUMOR-BETWEEN-THE-BUDDIES-WORKING-TO-SOLVE-THE-MYSTERY. Throw in, say, a random cow or something else ridiculous like that. Have said cow watch Sponge Bob with Kookie and misunderstood professor.
ETA3: Another connection to Dharma and Lost. The inscrutable official from the inscrutable government agency? He's played by the same dude who plays the inscrutable (but likely bad) minion of some agency (Dharma? Something else) on Lost. The dude who came to visit (threaten?) Hugo in the institution in the early episodes of S3 of Lost. Obviously someone thought he played inscrutable well.
