Fringe - "The Day We Died"

Ella (Emily Meade), Astrid (Jasika Nicole), Peter (Joshua Jackson), and Olivia (Anna Torv), fifteen years into the future.

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 22
"The Day We Died"

One of the problems with some science fiction stories that take the narrative into a possible future, is whether or not such a side trip is even necessary. Does the story impact the bigger picture in anyway, or is this just a tale told just for the sake of it? Luckily, the little fifteen year jaunt that we see in "The Day We Died" does have some significance for the greater narrative of 'Fringe'.

Fringe - "The Last Sam Weiss"

Sam Weiss (Kevin Corrigan) helps Olivia Dunhamn (Anna Torv) get an artifact of the First People.

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 21
"The Last Sam Weiss"

What?! And there's still one more episode left in this season?! Take it easy on me, 'Fringe'! I don't think I can handle this intensity!

Fringe - "6:02 AM EST"

Olivia (Anna Torv) and Nina (Blair Brown) discuss the mysterious Sam Weiss.

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 20
"6:02 AM EST"

This week's 'Fringe' was a very welcomed return to form. While the rest of the season has not been as strong as the opening eight episode "switched Olivia" arc, the only real weak hour was last week's "LSD". Season three has been the strongest yet for the show and "6:02 AM EST" is any indicator, we're in for a hell of closing run.

Fringe – “Lysergic Acid Diethylamide”

At least Broyles (Lance Reddick) had fun during this episode.

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

‘Fringe’
Season 3 – Episode 19
“Lysergic Acid Diethylamide”

I wonder if this is going to be a tradition now. Last season, right before the very few remaining episodes of season two, the creators of ‘Fringe’ delivered the very strange, but rather lackluster “Brown Betty”. It was a half-hearted attempt at a noir/musical episode. As with this week’s “Lysergic Acid Diethylamide“, “Brown Betty” was named after and fueled by a drug of Walter Bishop’s choice.

Fringe - "Bloodline"

Walternate (John Noble), Charlie (Kirk Acevedo), and Lincoln (Seth Gabel) have a whispered discussion, which is made more thrilling by its location: a stairwell!

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 18
"Bloodline"

If anything, "Bloodline" was an interesting way of speeding through Fauxlivia's pregnancy and the birth of Peter Bishop's son. If played out in realtime, this event would have had to wait until sometime next season. As it stands, Faux will be in fighting form sooner and with a nice little bundle of plot complication in tow.

Fringe - "Stowaway"

Lincoln Lee (Seth Gabel) of the Fringe Prime universe makes his television debut.

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 17
"Stowaway"

Oh, 'Fringe'! So cute and clever with its multi-leveled episode titles. See "Stowaway" refers to William Bell sneaking into Olivia Dunham's mind as well as poor Dana Gray, who can't die, but is trying to hitch a ride to the afterlife with the souls of suicide victims. What? You already figured that one out? Oh, nevermind.

Fringe - "Os"

Lance Reddick, Anna Torv, John Noble, and Joshua Jackson looking to see if those Friday ratings are going up.

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 16
"Os"

"Os" flows pretty nicely out of the events and thoughts of "6B", but both episodes were separated by a trip back to '80s 'Fringe' and a week off due the NAACP awards. As much as I enjoyed  "Subject 13" did interrupt the flow of the show's regular narrative. That being said, this was probably one of the strongest episodes of this season's middle chapter. And like "The Firefly" which kicked off the second arc of season three, "Os" includes a guest appearance by a great '80s icon.

Fringe - "Subject 13"

Dr. Walter (John Noble) encourages the kids to chase that Cortexiphan dragon way back in the '80s.

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 15
"Subject 13"

Hey, it worked once before. Why not try it again?

Fringe - "6B"

Walter (John Noble) discusses his fears of becoming like his alternate reality counterpart with Nina (Blair Brown).

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 14
"6B"

It would seem that we're in a section of the season that continues to deal with the events of the first eight episodes, while attempting to move pieces into place for the run up to the season finale. While the post hiatus episodes have reflected more of a Monster of the Week vibe, the creators of 'Fringe' have made sure to balance them with a heavy dose of mythology and character development. As a result, even these more standalone type of hours certainly feel like they are vital parts of the overall show tapestry.

Fringe - "Immortality"

Dark laboratory. Check. Flashlight. Check. Redheaded heroine. Check. I wonder if they have 'The X-Files' in Fauxlivia's universe?

Photo Credit: FOX 

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 13
"Immortality"

One of the benefits of making a television series about two parallel universes it that the creators essentially have the opportunity to write two different shows. Now that the Olivias have been returned to their respective universes, we can get back down to the business of following them going about their regular, ol' abnormal lives. Since the climax of the big opening arc before the holiday hiatus, 'Fringe' has kept its sights set on the Fringe Prime universe. This week's episode takes us back to Alt-Fringe, all in it's red title sequence glory.

Fringe - "Concentrate and Ask Again"

Olivia Dunham taking aim and looking hot.

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 12
"Concentrate and Ask Again"

While the situation may be growing old for some viewers, I find Olivia's continuing struggle to come to terms with Peter's relationship with Fauxlivia still somewhat interesting. This is a very human reaction to an extraordinary situation. In some ways it reminds me of the Aeryn Sun and two John Crichtons arc on 'Farscape'. Science fiction, if done well, can find ways of breaking our hearts, no matter how outlandish the story.

Fringe - "Reciprocity"

Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Lance Reddick, Anna Torv, and Blair Brown from 'Fringe'.

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 11
"Reciprocity"

Right off the bat, I've got to point out the huge fan service paid by the writers of 'Fringe'. For the past year, the Olivia from the alternate universe has been refereed to as "Bolivia" (as in Olivia B) over on FOX's official 'Fringe' website. However, Walter dubbed her as "Fauxlivia", which has become the nomenclature adopted by most fans and reviewers. It's official now. It pays to be loyal sometimes.

Fringe - "The Firefly"

Walter (John Noble) and September (Michael Cerveris) take a walk and discuss cause and effect.

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 10
"The Firefly"

A lot of hay has been made about the decision by FOX to move 'Fringe' from Thursday, arguably the most watched night of television, to Friday, the night where a lot of shows have gone to die. Also, there is the irony of the first Friday night 'Fringe' being titled "The Firefly" since the much beloved 'Firefly' was a show that FOX aired on that night and horribly mismanaged. Still, FOX believes that if 'Fringe' can retain most of its Thursday audience on Friday, it will greatly increase viewership for the network on a very dead night. If the show can pull this off, as one FOX executive put it, 'Fringe' could be on for several years.

Fringe - "Marionette"

Olivia (Anna Torv) and Peter (Joshua Jackson) on the trail of an organ thief.

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 9
"Marionette"

Going into this episode I was worried that after wrapping up an incredible eight-part arc, 'Fringe' would fall back into old patterns.  Luckily, my fears were unfounded and we got a compelling epilogue to the previous arc. While "Marionette" was a Monster of the Week episode, albeit a creepy and engaging one, it was well-adorned with very strong character moments throughout.

Fringe - "Entrada"

Peter (Joshua Jackson) sees a suspicious glow coming from the police van.

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 8
"Entrada"

"Entrada" is an extremely satisfying conclusion to the most entertaining and ambitious story arc so far on 'Fringe'. The key to this success is due to the show writers finally going full-tilt boogie and embracing the madcap sci-fi core of the series and giving it a huge long kiss on the mouth. You can't half-ass a show like this, which was the problem 'Fringe' had during season two. There were way too many standalone episodes in an attempt to lure in new viewers or folks that normally watch shows with big mythologies. Science fiction is still a hard sell to a mainstream audience and no matter how good this type of show is, there is a large percentage of folks that will never give a show like 'Fringe' the time of day.

Fringe - "The Abducted"

Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) has a bad hair day and plays with needles.

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 7
"The Abducted"

"The Abducted" is the penultimate episode of the current "Olivia Swap" arc that has been the driving force of the third season of 'Fringe'. We'll have to wait two weeks for the conclusion, due to the Thanksgiving holiday next week, but eight episodes seems about the right length. This has been the best season of the series to date, and I'd hate to see the creators deflate its power by milking a strong idea too long.

Fringe - "6995 kHz"

Fauxlivia (Anna Torv) watches as the excavation crew uncovers something very important.
Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 6
"6995 kHz"

'Fringe' has been on freakin' fire this season and tonight's episode was a bit of a game-changer as far as the overall mythology is concerned. We've been told that The Machine that Walternate had Peter working on is a piece of "ancient technology". Now we have our first clue as to who created it. Apparently, there was a race of people that lived on Earth before humans, created or tapped into something called "The Vacuum", and were wiped out completely and thoroughly, since there is nary a trace of them anymore.

Fringe - "Amber 31422"

Lincoln Lee (Seth Gabel), Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), and Charlie Francis (Kirk Acevedo) go over a case with their superior Phillip Broyles (Lance Reddick).

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 5
"Amber 31422"

One of the aspects of the third season of 'Fringe' that I've really enjoyed is the development of the Alt-Fringe world. Sure, the various historical differences are fun, but it's ways that day to day living is effected by the unique conditions and technology "over there" that I find the most compelling. Between things like the "Show Me" identification cards and abundance of public surveillance devices, there's clearly a more omni-present feel to that world's American police and military forces.

Fringe - "Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?"

Astrid (Jasika Nicole) and Walter (John Noble) explore the mysteries of the Massive Dynamic cafeteria.

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 4
"Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?"

One of the major tensions of Faux-livia hiding in plain site is the question of how far she would be willing to go to maintain her cover. She replaced our Olivia right as her relationship with Peter was beginning. Strangely enough, Faux-livia has had to partake of those first few dates of a blossoming romance for Olivia. Now Peter and Faux-livia are at the point where most couples would take it to the next level physically. The problem is that Faux-livia has a very solid and healthy relationship back on her world.

Fringe - "The Plateau"

Walternate (John Noble) over sees Olivia's progress at the Fringe Division headquarters 'over there'.

Photo Credit: FOX

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Fringe'
Season 3 - Episode 3
"The Plateau"

If there are any new viewers have started watching 'Fringe' starting with this season, then they're are probably wondering what the hell is going on. The confusion would be understandable if a newcomer didn't know anything about the two parallel worlds and the fact that most of the cast has a double on the other side. To make matters even more complicated, the two Olivias have been switched, with our Olivia now thinking she's actually Faux-livia. So, yeah, not very new viewer friendly.