I should be in bed
Mar. 29th, 2011 10:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarea
They obviously wrote Fringe 2x18 for adelagia. And now I am FINALLY CAUGHT UP!! Wheeeeeee! Time for my overall Fringe thoughts!
Before I get into generalities about the show, I just have to say -- that was so crazy, a total Lincoln/Fauxlivia ep out of nowhere! I mean, sure, he showed enough affection for her in the past to go there, but this was like an explosion of shippiness! I liked it.
Okay, now backtracking. I liked the show, but didn't like the show, until season 2, when it started imho to finally come into its own. The problem with season 1, for me, was that the verse's mytharc was really only touched upon lightly -- most of it was procedural MOTWs. And frankly, I think I'm done with those sorts of shows. I feel like I've seen it all in the 9 seasons of The X-Files I watched, and I have never felt about any show the way I felt about XF. So Fringe had that working 'against' it -- it wasn't the show's fault or anything, but I come from a jaded past and it takes a lot to thrill me. Anyway, so yeah -- not really into the procedurals. Olivia and Peter are no Mulder and Scully, so I couldn't really get into that aspect of the show. Which was basically almost the whole of S1.
The finale of S1, however, was great because it finally answered one of the big questions that was threaded through the season -- some concrete knowledge about Peter. Knowing what we know, it's clear to us that Peter's from the alternate reality. It took a long time to come, but it was the thing that finally anchored me to the show.
S2 played on that some more, and while there were some procedural episodes it usually at least had something to do with the larger mytharc. There was also the mystery of Olivia's past, and finally toward the end, Peter gets to find out what we've known for so long about his identity.
But S3 has been the strongest for me so far. I think what really turned things around in terms of where the show was going and helping it find an identity, was of course the alternate universe. Getting to meet the Dupes (to borrow a term from Roswell) has actually helped me enjoy the procedural episodes -- as long as they take place in the altverse. The 3some of Fauxlivia, Lincoln, and a StillAlive!Charlie is super fun. They have a great dynamic, their characters are awesome, and they're just so much more enjoyable to be around than the characters in the primeverse. :/ I even like our Peter and Olivia and want them to be together, and I like NuttyProfessor!Walter more than EvilMastermind!Walter, but for some reason none of it was all that compelling to watch until the altverse came to pass.
It's odd but it's almost like watching two different shows. When it's a primeverse episode, I can almost feel my heart sink -- and not in a disappointed way, necessarily, but in a, "Nothing happy is going to happen" way. Whereas when it's an altverse episode, I look forward to seeing what capers the Dupes are going to get up to next (this last episode notwithstanding).
I find myself pretty ship agnostic at the moment. I've enjoyed pretty much everything they've given us, but also don't feel strongly about any one particular ship. If I had to choose, I'd pick Peter/Olivia over Peter/Fauxlivia, but that's only because -- POOR OLIVIA. Seriously, that girl has been through the ringer. She deserves to have something. Plus I thought the episode "Subject 13" was super cute. (Though it also brings up the issue of -- how is it possible that kids their age wouldn't remember all the shit that happened to them??? Peter was convinced that this Walter and Elizabeth were not his parents, how did he manage to 'forget' that? And Olivia was also old enough to totally remember this stuff from her past!)
OH! I also have to mention the show that Fringe seems to be borrowing big elements from -- Alias. I don't know if JJ is just running out of ideas so he's recycling old ones, or if he felt like he didn't get to finish telling that story on Alias, but... seriously. The drawing of Peter with fire coming out of his eyes and how he's going to destroy the world? Um, exactly like the drawing of Sydney and the prediction that she's going to destroy the world. The puzzle thing that Walter wants Olivia to put together? EXACTLY the same puzzle thing that Sydney puts together. Walter 'engineering' children, specifically Olivia, to be better/brighter? Just like what Jack did with Sydney. Sometimes when I watch Fringe, it just makes me want to watch Alias! That was SUCH a good show before the network forced them to dumb it down.
Also, it's kind of a big suspension of disbelief I have to draw upon sometimes re: the alternate universe. Why is there just the ONE? What "alternative" does it derive from? Aren't there a zillion possibilities of zillions of things that could be different? Also, why is it so convenient that certain characters, no matter how different they are from their primeverse counterparts, somehow still conveniently live similar lives (so Walter can conveniently spy on them)? Like, if the altverse is so technologically advanced, and if Walternate was a bigwig there, would he really live in the same dinky house that Walter lives in, so he can show Elizabeth the other Peter? Would Walternate still have that lab at Harvard instead of somewhere else (except then how could Walter have seen him creating Peter's cure)? I mean, obviously things are different, so why aren't they ever different for the people WE know? Frank isn't involved w/ Olivia in the prime verse, so he wouldn't be in the same place, etc. And yet, conveniently, everyone *we* care about are always right where they are in the primeverse. I don't like that. It seems too easy and pat; they should work harder to make that believable, imho.
I also thought it was kind of a miss that when Fauxlivia was in the primeverse on her mission that they didn't show some scene where she was touched by the fact that her sister was alive. Olivia was obviously moved by seeing her mother alive; since Fauxlivia is not supposed to be evil or anything, shouldn't we have gotten to see some humanizing aspect from her there? Though this does bring up something else... the fact that Fauxlivia, when NOT in the primeverse, is just another woman, cooler and more badass than most, but still, just a regular person. Yet in the primeverse, she kind of... turns evil. And I don't think that's just because I'm looking through the lens of the primeverse -- she seems to have no gray area. She didn't seem torn at all about the things she was doing to destroy the primeverse, she didn't care about her sister, she had no curiosity or sympathy for her other self, etc. She turned into some stone cold agent. Yet back in her own universe, she doesn't seem capable of all that. I don't know.
Anyway, so yeah. Enjoying the show, glad I finally got over the hump I needed to get over so I could finally like it, and I hope they continue to build a strong arc, know what they're doing, answer the right questions, etc. etc.
BTW T., the Fringe season finale is May 6. >< So I will be in Chicago and cannot go to a Fringe finale party. Waaaahhhh. :'( In SO MANY WAYS the random datesropo and I chose have ended up being inconvenient. But we didn't know!! >< It's also Mother's Day weekend when we'll be there. /sigh
========
K. has gotten us tickets to see Billy Elliot during its last week at the Paramount Theater! Wheeeee! We're going tomorrow night!!
It was a total last-minute thing. She found someone on Craigslist selling them at a really good price. Apparently this person's daughter had won the tickets but they're in Canada so can't go, but they can switch the ticket names at Will Call. There is a chance that this is a scam, but they sent a bunch of stuff as proof (including her and her daughter's Facebook pages, the Paramount Facebook contest page where her daughter won the tickets, etc.), and it seems legit. Both me and K. had pinged them about the tickets, so if it'd been a scam she could have told me that they were mine, then had me pay as well. So I think it's all on the up and up, as long as nothing goes awry at Will Call.
This goes a long way to make up for the Indian dinner I'm missing out on. :D
========
My mom is visiting at the end of April, right before my Chicago trip. She usually comes with my aunt, K.'s mom, and stays longer than my aunt can. Typically this means they arrive at the same time, then my mom stays while my aunt heads back. During this time she usually spends a weekend with me. This time, however, the extension is going to be at the beginning of the trip (she's arriving first), so she'll be with me first before going to K.'s to help with the kids. This is how our recent conversation about it went:
Mom: I want to come over and clean your house.
Me: You might not have a lot to do, actually! I cleaned!
Mom: What? Why? What happened??
People, this is how bad a housekeeper I am. My mom's total bafflement that any cleaning should have happened without her present.
adelagia. And now I am FINALLY CAUGHT UP!! Wheeeeeee! Time for my overall Fringe thoughts! Before I get into generalities about the show, I just have to say -- that was so crazy, a total Lincoln/Fauxlivia ep out of nowhere! I mean, sure, he showed enough affection for her in the past to go there, but this was like an explosion of shippiness! I liked it.
Okay, now backtracking. I liked the show, but didn't like the show, until season 2, when it started imho to finally come into its own. The problem with season 1, for me, was that the verse's mytharc was really only touched upon lightly -- most of it was procedural MOTWs. And frankly, I think I'm done with those sorts of shows. I feel like I've seen it all in the 9 seasons of The X-Files I watched, and I have never felt about any show the way I felt about XF. So Fringe had that working 'against' it -- it wasn't the show's fault or anything, but I come from a jaded past and it takes a lot to thrill me. Anyway, so yeah -- not really into the procedurals. Olivia and Peter are no Mulder and Scully, so I couldn't really get into that aspect of the show. Which was basically almost the whole of S1.
The finale of S1, however, was great because it finally answered one of the big questions that was threaded through the season -- some concrete knowledge about Peter. Knowing what we know, it's clear to us that Peter's from the alternate reality. It took a long time to come, but it was the thing that finally anchored me to the show.
S2 played on that some more, and while there were some procedural episodes it usually at least had something to do with the larger mytharc. There was also the mystery of Olivia's past, and finally toward the end, Peter gets to find out what we've known for so long about his identity.
But S3 has been the strongest for me so far. I think what really turned things around in terms of where the show was going and helping it find an identity, was of course the alternate universe. Getting to meet the Dupes (to borrow a term from Roswell) has actually helped me enjoy the procedural episodes -- as long as they take place in the altverse. The 3some of Fauxlivia, Lincoln, and a StillAlive!Charlie is super fun. They have a great dynamic, their characters are awesome, and they're just so much more enjoyable to be around than the characters in the primeverse. :/ I even like our Peter and Olivia and want them to be together, and I like NuttyProfessor!Walter more than EvilMastermind!Walter, but for some reason none of it was all that compelling to watch until the altverse came to pass.
It's odd but it's almost like watching two different shows. When it's a primeverse episode, I can almost feel my heart sink -- and not in a disappointed way, necessarily, but in a, "Nothing happy is going to happen" way. Whereas when it's an altverse episode, I look forward to seeing what capers the Dupes are going to get up to next (this last episode notwithstanding).
I find myself pretty ship agnostic at the moment. I've enjoyed pretty much everything they've given us, but also don't feel strongly about any one particular ship. If I had to choose, I'd pick Peter/Olivia over Peter/Fauxlivia, but that's only because -- POOR OLIVIA. Seriously, that girl has been through the ringer. She deserves to have something. Plus I thought the episode "Subject 13" was super cute. (Though it also brings up the issue of -- how is it possible that kids their age wouldn't remember all the shit that happened to them??? Peter was convinced that this Walter and Elizabeth were not his parents, how did he manage to 'forget' that? And Olivia was also old enough to totally remember this stuff from her past!)
OH! I also have to mention the show that Fringe seems to be borrowing big elements from -- Alias. I don't know if JJ is just running out of ideas so he's recycling old ones, or if he felt like he didn't get to finish telling that story on Alias, but... seriously. The drawing of Peter with fire coming out of his eyes and how he's going to destroy the world? Um, exactly like the drawing of Sydney and the prediction that she's going to destroy the world. The puzzle thing that Walter wants Olivia to put together? EXACTLY the same puzzle thing that Sydney puts together. Walter 'engineering' children, specifically Olivia, to be better/brighter? Just like what Jack did with Sydney. Sometimes when I watch Fringe, it just makes me want to watch Alias! That was SUCH a good show before the network forced them to dumb it down.
Also, it's kind of a big suspension of disbelief I have to draw upon sometimes re: the alternate universe. Why is there just the ONE? What "alternative" does it derive from? Aren't there a zillion possibilities of zillions of things that could be different? Also, why is it so convenient that certain characters, no matter how different they are from their primeverse counterparts, somehow still conveniently live similar lives (so Walter can conveniently spy on them)? Like, if the altverse is so technologically advanced, and if Walternate was a bigwig there, would he really live in the same dinky house that Walter lives in, so he can show Elizabeth the other Peter? Would Walternate still have that lab at Harvard instead of somewhere else (except then how could Walter have seen him creating Peter's cure)? I mean, obviously things are different, so why aren't they ever different for the people WE know? Frank isn't involved w/ Olivia in the prime verse, so he wouldn't be in the same place, etc. And yet, conveniently, everyone *we* care about are always right where they are in the primeverse. I don't like that. It seems too easy and pat; they should work harder to make that believable, imho.
I also thought it was kind of a miss that when Fauxlivia was in the primeverse on her mission that they didn't show some scene where she was touched by the fact that her sister was alive. Olivia was obviously moved by seeing her mother alive; since Fauxlivia is not supposed to be evil or anything, shouldn't we have gotten to see some humanizing aspect from her there? Though this does bring up something else... the fact that Fauxlivia, when NOT in the primeverse, is just another woman, cooler and more badass than most, but still, just a regular person. Yet in the primeverse, she kind of... turns evil. And I don't think that's just because I'm looking through the lens of the primeverse -- she seems to have no gray area. She didn't seem torn at all about the things she was doing to destroy the primeverse, she didn't care about her sister, she had no curiosity or sympathy for her other self, etc. She turned into some stone cold agent. Yet back in her own universe, she doesn't seem capable of all that. I don't know.
Anyway, so yeah. Enjoying the show, glad I finally got over the hump I needed to get over so I could finally like it, and I hope they continue to build a strong arc, know what they're doing, answer the right questions, etc. etc.
BTW T., the Fringe season finale is May 6. >< So I will be in Chicago and cannot go to a Fringe finale party. Waaaahhhh. :'( In SO MANY WAYS the random dates
ropo and I chose have ended up being inconvenient. But we didn't know!! >< It's also Mother's Day weekend when we'll be there. /sigh========
K. has gotten us tickets to see Billy Elliot during its last week at the Paramount Theater! Wheeeee! We're going tomorrow night!!
It was a total last-minute thing. She found someone on Craigslist selling them at a really good price. Apparently this person's daughter had won the tickets but they're in Canada so can't go, but they can switch the ticket names at Will Call. There is a chance that this is a scam, but they sent a bunch of stuff as proof (including her and her daughter's Facebook pages, the Paramount Facebook contest page where her daughter won the tickets, etc.), and it seems legit. Both me and K. had pinged them about the tickets, so if it'd been a scam she could have told me that they were mine, then had me pay as well. So I think it's all on the up and up, as long as nothing goes awry at Will Call.
This goes a long way to make up for the Indian dinner I'm missing out on. :D
========
My mom is visiting at the end of April, right before my Chicago trip. She usually comes with my aunt, K.'s mom, and stays longer than my aunt can. Typically this means they arrive at the same time, then my mom stays while my aunt heads back. During this time she usually spends a weekend with me. This time, however, the extension is going to be at the beginning of the trip (she's arriving first), so she'll be with me first before going to K.'s to help with the kids. This is how our recent conversation about it went:
Mom: I want to come over and clean your house.
Me: You might not have a lot to do, actually! I cleaned!
Mom: What? Why? What happened??
People, this is how bad a housekeeper I am. My mom's total bafflement that any cleaning should have happened without her present.
