Fringe

After I finished with my exams, I finally had time to relax and watch a bit of TV. One of the shows I had been meaning to check out was Fringe. My brother recommended it, and when I saw Leonard Nimoy speak last spring he mentioned that he was in it and thought it was very good. It's done by J.J. Abrams - the same guy who did Lost and the most recent Star Trek movie. So there were lots of reasons to watch.

Fringe is similar to X-Files in a lot of ways - each episode the main characters (including FBI agents) investigate some mysterious super-natural seeming crime (spontaneous combustion, walking through walls, etc.), and there is some bigger controversy behind everything. However, there are some differences. The events are explained with pseudo- or "fringe" science, rather than by aliens or other things.

One of the main differences, however, is in the characters. There is Olivia Dunham - the reluctant FBI agent involved, but there are some "consultants" - Walter Bishop - a mad-scientist guy (who was in a mental hospital for the past 10 years) who used to do fringe science experiments for the government, and his son, Peter Bishop (who is played by Joshua Jackson), who is coerced into staying to keep an eye on his dad. I actually really like the characters - particularly the Joshua Jackson character.

When I first started watching the show, I didn't think it was that great - it was pretty formulaic and each episode was pretty self-contained, with very little time devoted to the long-term story. However, as the show went on, it began to spend more and more time developing the characters and going into the details of the overall conspiracy, which was great. By the second half of season 2, I was completely hooked. I'd definitely recommend checking it out! And I'm excited for Season 3 to start in the fall!