tvthatdoesntsuck

REVIEW FOR

FRINGE
Episode Four
“The Arrival”
Written by Jeff Pinkner and J.J. Abrams

What a pleasant and unexpected surprise this week’s episode of Fringe was.  To be honest, after the mehness of episode two and the ugh of episode three, I wasn’t expecting much.  Well, episode four was a huge improvement, and is every bit as good as the pilot… if not a bit better.

The difference between this episode and what we saw for the past two weeks is simple.  Those episodes were written from the standpoint of the mystery.  All the twists and events of those episode were hinged around the intrigue of the weekly mystery, which left the character development, dialogue, and pretty much everything that grounds shows like these extremely lacking.  However, every single twist, everything that is said, and everything that was done in this episode sprung from character.  There a revelations about the past that tie into both the over arching mystery and the mystery of the week.

On the acting front, John Noble continues to stun with his performance as Walter Bishop.  He had two somewhat extended monologues in this episode, one in particular–an apology scene–that was supremely well acted.  Joshua Jackson rocks as usual, and Anna Torv, for the first time, wasn’t bad at all. 

If the writers can figure out how to keep doing this, how to approach the mysteries through their characters instead of the other way around, there is hope for Fringe yet.

8/10

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