tzikeh

I am so, so glad that I gave Fringe another shot. So many of you said "I *promise* it gets better, if you can just power through the first, like, 3/4 of the first season," that I knew I could trust you. I even continued on after I was massively spoiled for two huge, giant, important arc points (no, I didn't want spoilers in this instance, stop trying to understand me).

So, if you started Fringe and gave up, here's another vote to go back and push through, because it really picks up steam toward the end of first season. They just took way too much time laying down track for the train to run on (there's a whole plot that weaves in and out of the first season, particularly heavily during the first half of the season, that could be entirely cut and the show would have been better for it).

The cast is great (especially John Noble, in what could easily have been a cringe-worthy, cuckoo-for-Cocoa-Puffs role), but, in all honesty, even though his role is not particularly fleshed out (which is a shame), I reserve my highest praise for Lance Reddick, because Lance Reddick--and only Lance Reddick--could deliver the following line of dialog with a straight face, with dignity and gravitas, and have it sound as deadly serious as the plot required it to be, and not like he was in Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus:

"Why are shape-shifting soldiers from another universe stealing frozen heads?"

Lance Reddick, ladies and gentlemen.

Fringe: highly recommended.