Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Sepinwall on TV: 'Fringe' review

In today's column, I review the finished version of the "Fringe" pilot, which I was lukewarm on, though I really like John Noble and Joshua Jackson. Because an earlier version of the pilot leaked wide and far across the tubes, I'm going to ask you to keep any comments in this post as vague as possible. Anything that seems too spoiler-y to me will be deleted, regardless of the other content of the comment. I'll do a separate post to run after the pilot airs tonight, though it may wind up being an open thread.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Does this mean that Lance Reddick won't be able to reprise his role on Lost as Abaddon if the show gets its full season picked up?

Alan Sepinwall said...

Does this mean that Lance Reddick won't be able to reprise his role on Lost as Abaddon if the show gets its full season picked up?

No. As JJ Abrams put it, "I know the producers on 'Lost.'"

Hal Incandenza said...

I actually kinda dug What About Brian...although it dragged once Sarah Lancaster left (and then awkwardly returned).

I liked (but did not love) the leaked pilot of Fringe--think I'll tune in tonight to see what's different.

Anonymous said...

On the other hand, the later the show got, the more frequent (and longer) the breaks got

Just curious, how can you tell how long the commercial breaks are on a DVD screener?

Alan Sepinwall said...

Just curious, how can you tell how long the commercial breaks are on a DVD screener?

Fox actually sent me a copy of the episode with temp commercials loaded in so I would have a sense of how the format would play. We started with one commercial in the first ad break, then two in the next, and eventually we were up to five. It tapered off again towards the end, but at the same time the acts got shorter and shorter.

bgt said...

Alan - for those of us who have seen the leaked pilot, is is worth watching the "final" version?

Alan Sepinwall said...

Alan - for those of us who have seen the leaked pilot, is is worth watching the "final" version?

I never saw the leaked pilot, so I can't say. From what JJ and the others have said about the differences, I guess it depends on how much you like Michael Giacchino's music and/or how much you enjoyed the original pilot and want to see it again.

Anonymous said...

if you went thru the trouble of watching the leaked version you really not going to watch tonights premiere???

come on

Anonymous said...

I saw it at Comic-con and thought it was okay, particularly the two actors you mentioned. The lead actress, not so much. I'm being very vague, but I hope the quality picks up in the future.

bgt said...

Why would I re-watch something I just watched a few months ago?

As for the "trouble," it took about 10 seconds to find it online & start the download, and another 2 seconds to double click it when it was finished. Really just an exhausting experience.

Sara Ann said...

Man, the minute the boyfriend haltingly told her he loved her in Torv's intro scene, you knew he was dead or evil. Or, apparently, both.

Noble's performance was a delight, and I'll be back for that, as well as the hope that the show works its kinks out and lives up to its pedigree. But my initial reaction is, impressive effects illustrating a thoroughly mediocre story populated mostly by very thin characters. I was underwhelmed, but I suppose that has as much to do with expectations as delivery.