Cringe

[OmegaLord]

I was mad about the

Spoiler:

Translate math into music

bit. It was like WHA?!?

[Izawwlgood]

You're not alone, pretty much every reference to biology they've made so far has been equally infuriating. It's more fantasy then sci-fi.

[Babam]

You're not alone, pretty much every reference to biology they've made so far has been equally infuriating. It's more fantasy then sci-fi.

More like Fantasi
Ethier it sounds smart to people who don't know what the hell it really should sound like, and to people who it should make sense to can go "Wait a minute! That's not real! Thats Pseudoscience! Oh wait, this show is about Fringe Science. "

[Izawwlgood]

Last episode was also entertaining. *gasp* Who do I trust?! *gasp* Are Olivia's memories to be trusted?! *gasp* Just what was Peter involved with?!
::lack of air::
*thud*

[fransisco4]

So far i have seen the first six episodes. They look pretty good.
I have one two questions: Does the part with people searching doves makes any sense or is it al BS?
Is Fringe an actual word?

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Fringe is a real word, it means the area where a border gets fuzzy or indistinct.

And no to the first one.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Re: Last night's episode: Awesome!

Seriously, they got through a LOT of stuff last night, and it didn't feel hurried or anything. Astrid continues to be awesome, Walter has unspeakably good comedic timing, Dawson's Creek does wry and dry to a T, Olivia looks HAWT slamming down double whiskey to deal with her impending insanity, and not nearly enough television shows use theodolites to perform SCIENCE!

I can't wait for January!

[Megatriorchis]

I really loved last night's episode! It kind of left me on a cliffhanger, but not to a point where I hate the fact that I don't know what's going to happen next.

Spoiler:

I just hope the time travel thing doesn't get silly.

[Jack Saladin]

Spoiler:

If Jones and Loeb are working together, what was the point of the whole parasite thing to trick the FBI into revealing "Little Hill"? That only makes sense if Jones wouldn't have wanted to tell whoever staged the parasite thing. If they're working together, why didn't Jones just send them a letter or some shit? He can evidently get messages out very easily.

Blegh. This better end up making sense later.

[Megatriorchis]

Spoiler:

If Jones and Loeb are working together, what was the point of the whole parasite thing to trick the FBI into revealing "Little Hill"? That only makes sense if Jones wouldn't have wanted to tell whoever staged the parasite thing. If they're working together, why didn't Jones just send them a letter or some shit? He can evidently get messages out very easily.

Blegh. This better end up making sense later.

Spoiler:

Jones probably didn't want his lawyer knowing such sensitive information. And I'll assume that it's also a plot device.

[Jack Saladin]

Spoiler:

If Jones and Loeb are working together, what was the point of the whole parasite thing to trick the FBI into revealing "Little Hill"? That only makes sense if Jones wouldn't have wanted to tell whoever staged the parasite thing. If they're working together, why didn't Jones just send them a letter or some shit? He can evidently get messages out very easily.

Blegh. This better end up making sense later.

Spoiler:

Jones probably didn't want his lawyer knowing such sensitive information. And I'll assume that it's also a plot device.

I'm sure he could have figured out a code or put it in a sealed envelope or something. That whole episode is made *facepalm*ingly ridiculous by this.

Which is all the more tragic because the scheme in that episode would have been awesome if it had actually happened. Sigh. This is sort of thing that turns me off TV shows.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

One plot flaw that most people didn't notice turns you off of a show, despite the overwhelming amount of good material?

[Megatriorchis]

Yeah, it's not like they've been inserting one ridiculous plot device per episode. And this one was well-warranted.

[Jack Saladin]

One plot flaw that most people didn't notice turns you off of a show, despite the overwhelming amount of good material?

Yes. My media schedule is crowded, and I will take any excuse to cull something from it.

I also have a bunch of other complaints, which I will type out after I've finished eating this pizza. And no, none of them are "the science isn't realistic".

Edit:

Spoiler:

OK, here we go:

First off, the show is really bushing the boundaries when it comes to being formulaic. Like, wow. I thought I wanted this show to be formulaic - something I could sit down and just enjoy every week, see some weird shit happen. But this is repetitive almost to the point of farce. Every single goddamn episode, it's something Walter's worked on. He doesn't remember what it is, everyone runs around pointlessly for a while, at the end he remembers how to fix their problem. Occasionally Charlie calls them up and magically hands them some names and addresses. And now we've got the exact same thing happening just with Olivia - it's like they really can't figure out any method to move an episode forward without someone suddenly remembering the answer. I don't think there's been a single episode that hasn't been solved without the deus ex machina of someone's clouded memory spitting out the solution. I'd rather the generic "investigation" phase of every other show to this bullshit.

Futhermore, the shows weekly antagonists are painfully fucking stupid. The complete overuse of wacky technologies kills me. And I'm not talking about all the main, episode centric big events, I get those - they're field experiments. That's fine. It's the stupid little, utilitarian purposes bad guys always use other techs for. It's like if you gave a lightsaber to these guys, they'd try and cut the chicken roast with it. They're fucking idiots. Take, for instance, two episodes ago, with the woman with the flashing lights. So, you've got these magic lights. They put people into a trance instantly. Great, that's fantastic. If this was a military operation, that'd be really useful. But as it is, just fucking hit the guy over the head with something. Or inject him with sedatives. Or shoot him. Anything except this one specific technology that you developed yourself, that no one else on the planet has, and that you've used repeatedly before. I mean, are you trying to get caught? If these fucking douchebag criminals didn't just use their single magic power for every crime they commit, they'd never, ever be caught. As it is, the FBI just has to look up for any other crimes involving whatever new technology is being used this week, and they get their guy instantly. How can all these scientists be so goddamn dumb?

Also on that note, put on a fucking wig, or at least some sunglasses, lady. Every single victim and witness describes her as looking the same? Amateur.

Finally, the most worrying thing about this most recent plot flaw is that it's the first chance the writers have even had to fuck up the plot. There have been two plot episodes - the pilot, where they're writing all the rules and hence can't be "wrong", and this one, where they drop the ball. That does not bode well for the future if they plan to make things more plot-centric. If the very first time you see someone do something is fucked up, even if it's only fucked up slightly, yeah, you should worry.

As much as I like the concept, and as much as I've enjoyed some of the episodes, I just don't see this show going anywhere good. Either they'll stick with the week-by-week formula, which will surely tire even the most stubborn of viewers, or they'll try and tackle some real plot, which I just don't think they can handle.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Then stop watching.

[Jack Saladin]

... I may well do. Am I not allowed to express my critical opinions of the show in the thread created for the purpose of talking about the show, O Lord of the Fora? I was not aware of this new rule.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

I'm not aware of that rule, either. Who told you that?

[Izawwlgood]

New episode was neat! I'm a bit confused as to how the time travel actually worked, but meh, thats time travel for you.

[Megatriorchis]

New episode was neat! I'm a bit confused as to how the time travel actually worked, but meh, thats time travel for you.

Spoiler:

I don't think the machine actually made Jones travel through time. It seemed more like he just teleported to me.

[Izawwlgood]

Spoiler:

So Walter, in hopes of saving his dying sons life, invented a 'time' machine to teleport the corpse of the doctor who will save Peter? The machines either a time machine that grabs people from now and puts them where they were (not a time machine) or a teleporter that wouldn't have saved Peters life ("Here son, this exhumed corpse will save you!")

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Or, maybe, you missed the entire point, and

Spoiler:

it's a time/space machine, time and space being two sides of the same coin to someone like Walter. In this case, they teleported him from the present, IE, a time quantity of zero. However, they knew WHEN he was going to be READY for the trip, which is why it seemed to happen at the same time. Maybe the time aspect makes it more difficult, and they didn't want to risk it, whereas Walter was more than happy to try to steal someone from 1936.

[Izawwlgood]

Ah yes, silly me, once again shown the error of my rookie time traveling thinking.

Spoiler:

If you posit that the machine was simply a by product invention of Walters attempts to rescue his son, then cool. It just seemed the explanation for what this device did, did not fit with what it in fact, did.

[Chen]

This is the type of thing that annoys me about a lot of shows today. Some "super device" or power or whatever is added in as a plot device. However, to keep dramatic tension up the "super device" inevitably is not used in the simplest way to solve problems but rather in some convoluted, yet still dramatic way. Its analagous to giving someone a gun to kill someone and having them go beat the person to death with the butt end of it instead of shooting them. This is clearly the case again here (like why didn't they just use the device to teleport Olivia to them instead of needing to chase her down?). Combine with the teleporting the fact that you apparently (so Walter said) teleport people from any TIME to you, and this single device should completely destroy the plot of any show if used in any reasonable way. Its basically an attempt to guise their deus ex machina so that it doesn't look as contrived. Thats just lazy storytelling IMHO.

[VannA]

What? Really? No other commend on this show?

I like it

Spoiler:

I especially like the whole current idea regarding the abilities of those exposed to the trial substance.
I mean, it is relatively well accepted that 'observation' in the collapse of a quantum wave form is not the 'obersvation' they are effectively using in the series. But it has always appealed to me a teenager. What if you could, somehow, hack the subsystem. Collapse waveforms to your liking. Overpower the 'observations' of others?

[Gentlelady]

I do love this show. It might not have any solid standings in science, but it's one of those few t.v. shows I have become hooked on. I'm hoping it doesn't drag my hopes along in the mud like Lost did.

I love John Noble as Walter. When I first saw him, my inner nerd squealed. Having the man who played Denethor from Lord of the Rings added to my attachment to the show. I'm looking forward to next weeks episode.

[stolid]

The show is filled with lots of BS, but I like it.

[CivilDefense700]

I love John Noble as Walter. When I first saw him, my inner nerd squealed. Having the man who played Denethor from Lord of the Rings added to my attachment to the show. I'm looking forward to next weeks episode.

He also played a village's king in season 9 of Stargate. I watched all the season's online a month ago and when I saw him I thought, Oh look, the insane mad scientist!

[Gentlelady]

I don't think I ever saw that episode. I shied away from Stargate when I learned O'Neill was leaving the show.

I've missed a few episodes of Fringe apparently and am currently going back and re-watching them. My DVR hates me.

[Cathode Ray Sunshine]

I've watched like 5 or 6 episodes and I must say I think I'm hooked. Yes, the show takes my liberties with the science aspect of how they do things, but I just sit back and and don't think much of it. I know it pisses a lot of you (with fairly good reason) because it's inaccurate and viewers might take what they do as a scientific fact or something, but considering the things we've seen on the show, I don't think accuracy is what the creators had in mind.

[ameretrifle]

I've watched a couple episodes of this-- my mom wanted to give it another shot, so I've seen the plane-werewolf episode, and the ones that were on the last two weeks. It is... less predictable than Medium. But not by much. At all. The one last week (with the "dreams") particularly irked me, though I may have been testy at the time. Most of what happened during the first forty minutes of the show was completely obvious from what happened in the first three-- it wasn't until the last twenty that they FINALLY started getting into the whos and hows and whys and now whats. That bothered me a great deal.

Last week's wasn't nearly so egregious, though I still don't think it's anything special. I don't like either of the male leads much-- they're growing on me a tiny bit, but for me they fall on the wrong side of the eccentricity line: abrasive instead of endearing. Everyone else is all right, that assistant in particular. Still, even if it wasn't as staggeringly obvious as the week before, the storyline was still pretty damn predictable.

But, that's me. I've never liked anything JJ Abrams has done. Ask me what I think about the new Star Trek trailer. My answer will probably involve the phrase "Death Note 3: The Final Frontier".

[stolid]

Cool finale. Traveling between realities. Cool what they had in the other one at the end.

[kandalf]

I started to get bored in the middle of the season, but I found the last two episodes to be more satisfying.

[ssbookyu123]

Well after wathching the whole season to refreash my memory it seems that all the random events explain one thing and that is

Spoiler:

Willem bell made child super solders and one of them is Olivia to combat things from another dimention and the tecno terrorist oranization ZFT's leader Mr. Jones just died by a unexpectedly closed portal to another dimention that he powered using a stolen super battery and Olivia meets willium Bell and he happens to live in a diffrent dimention where the twin towers are still standing.

If I missed anything please tell me beacause I know I missed a lot.

[stolid]

I suppose overall that's the story.

[Megatriorchis]

Wait, you forgot

Spoiler:

that Peter is actually another Peter Bishop from a different dimension because the actual Peter died when he was a little boy and then his dad made a machine to go through dimensions.

[stolid]

Really? I watched every episode and I didn't ever get that.

[rheakith]

Re: previous spoiler

Spoiler:

It was in the season finale, with bits and pieces thrown in during the few episodes before it (if I'm remembering correctly). Walter said a few times when discussing the dimension machine that he had to go to find something that he had lost. Also, Peter couldn't remember anything that Walter was talking about from when he was a little boy. That's all I remember, but there may be more to it.

[ajbleck]

did anybody else guess from that last episode that

Spoiler:

peter is from the "other world" after that whole something precious was taken from me/gravestone with peter's name on it thin.

[Megatriorchis]

did anybody else guess from that last episode that

Spoiler:

peter is from the "other world" after that whole something precious was taken from me/gravestone with peter's name on it thin.

Yeah, my previous post in this thread says that.

[ameretrifle]

I noticed too. And like I said, I'm not even a fan. My reaction, IIRC, was something along the lines of Nelson's "Ha, ha!"

Spoiler:

(Walter's okay, but I find Peter to be quite the dick, and it was really quite amusing. "Ha, no wonder you call your daddy by his first name, he's not even your real daddy!! Ha-ha! You're not even in your home universe! Ha-ha! It's just a shame you're not in the Golden Compass-verse, or you'd be dead by now! Ha-ha!")

As to the overarching plot... "Gasp! There's an alleged huge unknown threat coming to the world! We know because we saw it when we were high! We can only solve this by using experimental treatments of unknown efficacy on uninformed children in a highly illegal manner! Hopefully enough of them will survive this random shit I cooked in the back of my daddy's pickup for us to brainwash as future soldiers! They will then be the only people on the planet with powers to combat this vague threat! So let's make sure they'll be the best soldiers they can be by a) telling them nothing about their powers ever, b) never training them in the use of their powers, c) setting several of them loose at random times with no information about their powers to accomplish no actual goal for no real reason, d) lying to them at every opportunity, e) manipulating them at every opportunity, and f) generally giving them every reason to hate us with a passionate fury! That will secure their future loyalty for sure! If any of them manage to survive the battle despite having no clue what the fuck they're doing!"

...Yeah, brilliant plan there, Einsteins. Glad to see that's the way our planet's "best scientists" are wasting their time. Did they ever actually stop taking the hallucinogens? 'Cause there's not a single part of that plan that isn't complete and unadulterated bullshit. I mean, holy crap. The villains in Yu-Gi-Oh had better plots than this, and I didn't think that was humanly possible. This JJ Abrams bitch gets away with effing murder.