1) Everything that goes through Walter’s mentally unbalanced, often-drug induced, extensively lobotomized, incomparably genius brain and subsequently comes straight out of his mouth:
2) An Alternate Universe = Alternates of almost the entire cast:
We get to see who each character might of been had the world been slightly but fundamentally different.
3) Crazy WTFISGOINGON?!?!?INEEDTOKNOWINEEDTOUNDERSTAND!! Scenes:
4) A Creative Team with Some Serious Ovaries
They set up and followed through with an extremely risky sci-fi storyline that completely rewrites everything the audience has learned and come to love about Fringe in the past 3 years. The shared history, the barriers-overcome, the character defining moments – all gone, wiped away within less than a second during a season finale with little explanation.
Now, for most shows (sci-fi or not) such a move would be the beginning of the end of audience loyalty and the first step towards cancellation. But Fringe executed the plot shift so frackin’ well that instead of being frustrated and angry, Fringe fans are thrilled and starving to see where the writers are headed and how they’re going to answer all of our lingering questions. We also trust the writers won’t screw us over unlike some shows which shall remain unnamed.
5) B Storylines that don’t suck
Sometimes you just want to yell “I DON’T CARE! GET BACK TO POLIVIA!” But in reality, the B storylines are more than just filler – they keep us grounded in the premise of the show – a crew of FBI agents and consultants who investigate a series of seemingly connected scientific anomalies known as “fringe events” in order to discover a larger mystery. Plus, these side stories allow us to explore every science fiction theory known to man with the help of a host of talented guest stars.
6) They Can ACT!
I’d post videos but the scenes with the most stellar acting give away too much of the plot and I’m trying to avoid outright spoilers. So instead I will just say that the show doesn’t just depend on the crazy events and plot twists. We are deeply attached to regular character. Even the ones we hate. I despise Fauxlivia with a vengeance - but I would be disappointed if she were cut from the show. Same goes for peripheral characters like Astrid, Walter’s baby sitte- I mean lab assistant. And in my opinion, John Noble is hands down one of the best, if not the best, actor on american television right now. Anna Torv has gone above and beyond my original expectations of her and has proven herself to be an exceptional actress, Olivia is by no means an easy character to play. And while the show started off slow for the Peter Bishop character (he was awfully one-dimensional for far too long), Joshua Jackson was finally able to show off his acting chops in the Peter-heavy season 3 and is sure to continue to impress this season, which will likely center around his struggle to navigate and understand the realities of the unfamiliar world he’s ended up in.
This entire post is just a way for me to channel my excitement for my favorite day of the week:
