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Fox's New Sci-Fi Thriller Appears To Be Only On The Fringe Of Having A 'Wow!' Factor

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By WALT BELCHER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 9, 2008

Fox's new big-ticket item, "Fringe," opens tonight with a creepy adrenaline rush.

A Boston-bound jetliner experiences mysterious turbulence, passengers panic, but the plane lands safely. And then (horrors!) we learn that all the passengers are dead; their flesh has dissolved into goop.

And then (more horrors!) "Fringe" slows down and slogs along for the rest of the $10 million, 90-minute pilot that sets up what seems another "X-Files."

There's a lot of weirdness, some car chases, a few explosions, a strange deadly virus, the usual government conspiracy and a cow almost as endearing as those heifers in the Chick-fil-A commercials. It's entertaining stuff if you don't ask too many questions about the logic involved.

But because this is from J.J. Abrams ("Felicity," "Alias," "Lost" and "Mission: Impossible"), more is expected.

Missing is the "Wow!" factor, so sci-fi fans will have to wait and see how it shakes out after it settles down into hourlong weekly episodes.

On the plus side are the two leads: Australian actress Anna Torv as FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham and likable Joshua Jackson ("Dawson's Creek") as Peter Bishop, a scruffy reluctant genius drafted into helping her investigate things that are on the "fringe" of science. Will they be the next Scully and Mulder?

Agent Dunham reunites drifter Peter with his father, Walter Bishop (John Noble), a crusty old mad scientist who has been locked away in an insane asylum for 20 years.

Once the old boy is sprung, he's ready to go back to the basement of a university science lab for experiments on mind-melting, altered consciousness, time travel, astral projection, telepathy, mind control, teleportation, re-animation and the like.

There are a few humorous touches, some inspired dialogue and a hint of romance, so it's not as dark or as desperate as "Lost."

Abrams has promised that the show will have weird cases to resolve each week as well as an ongoing mystery involving the control of "fringe" discoveries. The incident on the plane, for example, is one of several mysterious occurrences linked to Massive Dynamic, the fictional, possibly evil conglomerate on "Fringe."

And in a possible tip of the hat to Dr. Strangelove, Massive Dynamic's weirdo director, Nina Sharp (Blair Brown), has a strange robotic arm.

There are some things borrowed from "Lost." Before each commercial break, for example, green glowing images are displayed briefly.

It's the kind of geeky clue stuff that sends fans to the Internet where they can find information about Massive Dynamic, which recalls "Lost's" DHARMA Project (Department of Heuristics And Research on Material Applications). Ouch, I'm getting a headache.

REAL FRINGE: Speaking of fringe science, "How to Build a Better Being," at 10 tonight on the National Geographic Channel, is a fascinating look at the possibility of gene engineering, which could speed up evolution. It could be the answer to ending disease, or it could give us some really freaky things. Included is a segment where evolutionary scientists play the video game Spore, which allows players to invent their own creatures.

TODAY COMING: The NBC "Today" show plans a Tampa stop on Sept. 23 as part of a four-day tour of "battlegrounds" for presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain.

NBC says that "Today" will "zero in on the deep divisions and cultural chasms that have turned these states into hotbeds of political combat."

The tour begins in Philadelphia on Sept. 22; Tampa is next; Norfolk, Va., is on the 24th; and Detroit on Sept. 25.

TUNE IN TONIGHT

Privileged, 9 p.m., The CW

Tampa native JoAnna Garcia stars in this comedy about a working-class Yale graduate who becomes a tutor to a couple of pampered teenage twins in ritzy West Palm Beach.

Martha Speaks, 7:30 a.m.,

WEDU, Channel 3

This new PBS series for kids features a dog that gains the ability to talk after eating a bowl of alphabet soup.

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