Loving life on the ‘Fringe’
It’s not high art, but ‘Fringe’ is appointment viewing, at least for me.
As do millions of Americans, I plopped onto the couch Tuesday night and tuned to Fox. With my brain switched to the “off” position, I watched a show featuring an eccentric foreigner, a good-looking woman, and a former star who has come back into the limelight.
“Fringe” was entertaining, as usual.
What, you were expecting something else? I can’t stand “American Idol.”
But as “Idol” is for many, “Fringe” is a guilty pleasure for me.
Don’t act as if you don’t have one. We all do. There’s at least one show you turn red at the mention of because you know you watch religiously.
“Hannah Montana.” “90210” (old and new). “The Real World.” “The Hills.” “Tool Academy.” “The Glenn Beck Program.”
But I’ve always prided myself on not having any guilty pleasures.
I don’t get hooked on many shows, so when I do I try to make sure it’s something I really love and is done well, like “The Sopranos,” “Simpsons,” and “Seinfeld.”
But somehow I’ve been sucked in by “Fringe.”
“Fringe” centers on FBI agent Oliva Dunham (Anna Torv), who works on paranormal cases with the help of a kooky scientist named Walter Bishop (John Noble) and his son Peter (Joshua Jackson), under the supervision of Agent Phillip Broyles (Lance Reddick). Think “X-Files,” but worse.
Although I will give Dunham and crew credit — whenever they go somewhere to investigate, they usually bring backup. I don’t know how many times I’ve yelled at the TV as Mulder and Scully walk into a dark building or abandoned house by themselves.
I shouldn’t like “Fringe.”
Torv is awful. Broyles is a stereotypical wooden “tough-guy” boss who’s overly dramatic at all times. The dialogue can be corny and laughable, which would be fine, if “Fringe” wasn’t a drama, which it is. And among many stretches in the show, somehow the FBI allows a formerly institutionalized scientist (Walter) and a guy with a criminal past (Peter) to tag along on FBI busts.
But at the end of each episode, I’m disappointed it’s over. I can’t wait to find out who’s behind the Pattern, a series of unexplainable connected events. I want to know if the war between special soldiers of this dimension and the Fourth Dimension will be stopped. Yes, I know how crazy that looks in print.
My love of “Fringe” has become a household joke.
My fiancé, Abrianna, who has a history of guilty pleasures, makes fun of me for watching it. This is a woman who loves “America’s Next Top Model” and once rented *The Nanny Diaries*.
My roommate Tanner watched the pilot of “Fringe” and was left unimpressed. He laughed at me whenever he saw it in the DVR hopper (though I always come back by pointing out he records “One Tree Hill”). But one day Tanner admitted he’d been watching “Fringe” when I wasn’t around. I’m telling you, Jackson’s odd magnetism is hard to explain. How do you think he bagged that teacher on “Dawson’s Creek?”
One of the reasons I can take Jackson seriously on “Fringe” is because I don’t have any Pacey-baggage. I watched maybe one episode of “Dawson’s Creek,” so when I see Jackson on screen the only thing I think is, “Good for him, he’s reinvented his career and also overcome being in *The Skulls*.”
I guess I was bound to have a guilty pleasure eventually. It’s for the best, just like the cancellation of “My Own Worst Enemy.” So I’ll watch “Fringe” again next Tuesday and for the rest of the season. Just don’t tell anybody.
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