In this 2010 television season, the show Fringe is the sci-fi action drama to watch. It even has an excellent serial element to keep me coming back week to week to see what will happen next.
I watched Fringe sporadically during it's first 2 seasons, but this year I've watched every show faithfully. This year, the Fringe division has gotten involved with a parallel universe where there are identical people living similar lives. Our heroin Olivia tangled with her counterpart and ended up switching places with her, not by her choosing. For the entire seaon, our Olivia has been trapped in the other world while the shady Olivia #2 is in our world carrying out an evil plan. As the season goes on, we're getting treated to alternate shows between the two worlds; two different Fringe divisions that do practically the same thing but every one is different.
It's been intriguing watching our Olivia struggle to get back to her world. It's been equally fun seeing the bad Olivia acting like the good Olivia while doubting her resolve to follow through, and watching Peter and the gang wonder what's different about her.
The show still gives us a weird crime case to solve each week while continuing the serial drama. I'm very impressed with the writing, the acting, and of course with the show's creator, J.J. Abrams. He gave us Lost, the best series ever and I've heard his show "Alias" was also very good, but I've not yet had a chance to check it out. I also loved his movie "Cloverfield". Keep it up J.J. And keep it up Fringe. It just keeps getting better and better.
My Watcher500 score for the current season of Fringe (so far) is 225 for entertainment value and 180 for moral character. It's definitely not for kids, but it's relatively mild for adults. Just a few gross out effects with very little blood. Three times this season, we've seen people get hit by cars or busses. Those scenes were very disturbingly realistic, but not excessive. The other issue that should be noted is some occasional spiritual talk that assumes God does not exist. Total score = 405.
