Including, I’m afraid, that horrible little story about the waiting room. That was a stomach churner, and it dragged on for a long time after I realized the significance of the vents. I don’t know about the possibility that they’re still alive and being held hostage for future use…that would compound the horror, I think, pick at the scab a few episodes down the road.

Nobody promised a story this powerful would always be easy to watch.

What is becoming kind of fascinating is how so many people are reacting to the series. We’ve seen only two episodes, really, but we know for damn sure it’s “Amazon’s answer to Netflix’s House of Cards”, epic, boffo, “science fiction at its finest”…plus the story line has to carry the burden of all sorts ideological projection, such as the idea that the show/story is a sort of Russian doll of stories about a story that will change the world, that the Amazon show itself is a “game changer”. Is it an allegorical warning about drifting too far to the right in our universe?

Stay tuned….

Still trying to get a sense for what is going on with the two diplomats. I like that they are forcing us to figure out who the heroes and villains are. Frank and Julie are of course heroes, but my sense is that there are far more heroes lurking at the edges. This thought was borne out by the reveals near the end of the show.

The scenes with Frank and his sister’s family were heartbreaking. I’m haunted by that waiting room. Not quite sure I believe they are dead, since we were told not shown. Maybe I’m just hoping.

This is one of those shows where there is so much detail in the scenes and dialogue. Watching the Pilot again was just as enjoyable. I could watch for all of the details since I already had a sense of the story. I think I may have to watch every episode twice.

I’ve decided against reading the book until this is done. I want to let the show surprise me. I have never said that before about any show or movie based on a book, but this show has earned that from me. There will be time enough to read the book later.

That said, I don’t consider the time spent watching “Fringe” to be a complete waste. There was a big overarching story line about the conflict between these two parallel universes. And you may have bailed before Leonard Nimoy showed up to play the villain. Lots of clever little twists within the main plot that give the pretty CGI a reason to live (e.g. alternate New York). It’s just that, by the time the thing drew to a close, it dragged itself across the finish line with a lame ending that showed clearly the people involved with the show just wanted to get it over with. By that time, the final credits were a relief.

I couldn’t say whether you jumped ship too soon. The show might have kept you entertained if you didn’t try to think too deeply about it. It was fun but not deep. Approach it with suitably low expectations, and you might enjoy it.

On another note, What is the draw for Fringe? I tried to watch it when it first came out a decade or so ago. I didn’t make it more than 5 or 6 episodes into the first season. The monster of the week episodes seemed silly and the main story arc wasn’t making me care. To be honest I’ve completely forgotten what the main story was even about. Did I jump ship too soon?

I’m not sure if the producers are making a one-season closed story arc, or an open-ended series; but it makes a huge difference in how you adapt the novel to the screen. Based on just two episodes so far, I’d guess open-ended series, because the pacing is slow and meticulous and deliberate. That’s by no means a knock–the show might earn the accolade “well-crafted” if they take advantage of the freedom it gives to build a richly-detailed world. It’s early, but I think they’re being careful to leave open the possibility of extending the story a long time.

Phillip K Dick’s story is a given and the classic template for much that followed, including “Fringe”, thanks Rob. The acting is uniformly good, but nobody’s trying to outshine the story; the actors work in harmony with the classic story and the impressive production.

As for the production, yes, the world I’ve seen so far is “richly-crafted”, full of the little details that make a period piece fun, and doubly fun in an alternate reality where the game is to spot the anomalies. And they abound, starting with the way that world is in love with posters. There are posters everywhere outdoors, and giant electronic screens create huge posters on the sides of buildings. Many of the posters are political, usually extolling the POV of the new masters, but occasionally there were old faded pre-surrender posters that escaped the censors to act as a poignant reminder of how far these Americans had fallen.

And then there was the architecture. There was some fine CGI of American cityscapes subtly altered by the German brutalist style in the east, and by Japanese flare and curves and decoration in the west. Much of the action in the West takes place in San Francisco, so it’s full of little local jokes like the renamed stadiums and airports and public buildings. Oh, and speaking of airports, the SST parked at SFO with a swastika on the tail was eerily both menacing and beautiful.

Based on two episodes, I predict boffo. World class story, rich production, good acting.