Homeland Security Agent Phillip Broyles

Agent Broyles heads up the U.S. government's investigation into a series of mysterious events known only as "The Pattern." After being impressed with Agent Dunham's resourcefullnes, he recruits her and she in turn brings Peter and Dr. Walter Bishop on board to investigate cases related to "The Pattern."


(10/11/08) Narrative Structure: Pilot Episode

Multiple protaganists: Initially, Olivia Dunham is the only protaganist, but that does not last long. As the events in the episode unfold, she teams up with Dr. Walter Bishop and his son Peter, all of them taking orders (in a fashion) from Homeland Security Agent Phillip Broyles.

Exposition: The story starts off not with any of the main characters, but with an airplane in mid-flight, full of passengers. The plane is flying through an electrical storm ,and we are shown several of the passengers in various states of anxiety. One character in particular seems to be especially upset, and takes out a needle, quickly injecting himself. Within moments, his skin appears to melt off of his face, and his bones appear to become liquified. Within moments, all of the passengers and crew of the plane find themselves in a similar predicament.

Motivation: The motivation for the protagonists in this episode is to solve the mystery of what made the passengers of Flight 627 melt, fearing an act of terrorism.

Narrative Enigma: As the initial mystery of Flight 627 is solved, an underlying question is revealed: What is "The Pattern?" Who is responsible for these seemingly unrelated but remarkable events that seem to be science of such an advanced stage as to appear magical?

Climax: After finding a cure for the condition that her fellow FBI Agent and romantic partner John Scott has been infected with in the course of their investigation, Agent Dunham discovers that John is in fact a mole. After a high-speed chase, John crashed and dies in her arms, leaving her wondering who he was really working for.

Resolution: There is a complete lack of any kind of resolution in this episode. Even at the end we see that as had been mentioned briefly earlier in the show, even death isn't necessarily a permanent condition.

(10/18/08)
Embracing My Show:
I almost exclusively use Hulu to watch Fringe, for many reasons. I can choose when and where to watch it, so long as I have an internet connection I'm good to go. The commercials are really unobtrusive, generally 4 or 5 commercials per episode, 15 or 30 seconds long each. Far, far less of an interruption than traditional broadcast television, and doesn't take longer than it would to fast-forward through the commercials with a tivo. This was my first time seeking out extra resources for a show, and I found out that the creator's thought behind the show is pretty interesting. I had initially thought that it was just an X-Files rip-off, and in some respects it certainly still seems that way. But in checking out different fan sites (notably http://www.fringetelevision.com/) and reading interviews with J.J. Abrams, it seems like he's trying to something a little more deep. While "The Pattern" seems a lot like the conspiracy in X-Files to cover up alien involvement in our world, the real dilemma here is of a Frankenstein nature: how will we interact with science that we don't fully understand? It's not hard to see how quickly things have advanced in the last 20 years, but now with things like genetic engineering, cloning, nanotechnology and the like, things might not stay in the realm of science fiction as long as they used to.

This past week for the episode "Power Hungry" I decided to watch it as it was broadcast instead of waiting for it to hit Hulu. Aside from the worse picture quality (I don't have cable), the only real difference I noticed was how long commercials feel now that I'm used to the tiny ones on Hulu. It was also kind of annoying not being able to rewind the show when I missed something, or have to wait for a commercial to go get something to drink.

I've discussed the show with people on my geek forum (Ars Technica) as I do with several shows I watch (Heroes and BSG are the big ones), but so far they don't seem particularly impressed, and I can't say I blame them. The acting really feels kind of forced sometimes, and the characters just don't have the depth I've come to expect from Abrams. The show seems to be quite comfortable staying securely on the fiction side of science-fiction, which I think is probably necessary to try and keep it interesting, but I think it would be nice if they included more parallels to things that actually exist or have happened. The homing pigeon thing was pretty neat in "Power Hungry," real-world things like that would help to bridge the gap between the science and science-fiction a bit, I think.


(10/25/08)
Contextual Analysis:
As noted, I tend to watch the show on Hulu, so there's really nothing else that comes on before or after it. The commercials, however, vary quite a bit. I don't know if the commercials are targetted or if the same ones appear for everyone, but I get a lot of advertisements for videogames (Dead Space has been a big one lately), but also the same types of commercials you'd see on a network: car commercials being the most obvious example. An interesting feature of Hulu is the ability to "rate" the commercials that are shown to you. It's only binary, voting that you like it or didn't like it, but it does suggest the direction online advertising will take for television shows..what's better than showing users things they're interested in buying, after all.


(11/01/08)
Mise-en-Scene:

"In Which We Meet Mr. Jones"

Summary: FBI Agent Mitchell gets a parasite attached to his heart. Encoded in the organisms DNA is a signature leading the FBI to an organization that they suspect is responsible, and may be related to "The Pattern." The only problem is that the only lead they have is a man by the name of David Jones who is locked in a German prison. Dunham travels to Germany, and due to having a high-up connection in the right place who just happens to be in love with her, manages to get an audience with Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones will only agree to help save Agent Mitchell's life if Dunham can get an associate of his stateside (Mr. Smith) to answer a question; the only problem is, Mr. Smith has been fatally shot in the head. As the show has stressed before, death is only a temporary setback, and Walter hooks Peter's brain up to the dead guy to get the question answered, thus saving Mitchell's life. Of course, the cloud for that silver lining is revealed to the audience (but not the characters) that "The Pattern" extends farther an previously suspected, and Mitchell himself is another mole in the FBI.

Mise-en-Scene:

Like most of the episodes of Fringe, there are quite a few sets, though most of them are fleeting. In this episode there were several that were featured for only a minute or two (shipping yard, Lucas' house, Smith's house, German airport), and the one where most action takes place in most episodes, the lab. There is nothing particularly remarkable about the lighting in this episode. The shipping yard at night is about as you'd expect, as is the German airport and outside Smith's house, which are featured in daylight hours. The lab continues to be unrealistically under-lit at night, giving it more of a warehouse feel than that of a laboratory, though during the day there is plenty of light coming in from the windows. The prison cell where Dunham meets with Jones is the least lit of all, with just enough light present to show their faces while whatever background there may be is lost to shadow.

The costumes are about as they have been for the entire show, the FBI agents wearing professional attire such as suits and ties, while Walter is either donning a labcoat or some type of sweater-vest. Peter tends to dress in a normal button down shirt and jeans or slacks. The only real departure from this is when they're in the hospital, and Walter, Peter, and Dunham wear surgical scrubs over their clothes.

The blocking for this episode is similar to the other episodes of the series, which is similar to that of most drama/suspense shows. The only thing notable here is whenever Peter and Walter are in frame together. Even though Peter's role is to assist his father, who supposedly knows what he is doing, Peter is almost always the one shown in a more dominant fashion. His actions are purposeful and controlled, which I suspect is to highlight how he is the one responsible for keeping his father's madness focused towards the crisis du jour.

(11/8/08)
Video/Cinematography:



In this scene we see an establishing shot focused on the door of a plane, with Agent Dunham and other FBI agents in hazmat suits preparing to enter. The entire scene is framed in a medium shot with the exception of the final scene, which is a close-up of Agent Dunham, with a reflection of the carnage slightly visibile in her protective mask. This close-up serves to make us sympathize with Dunham who is so close to such a gruesome scene. It seems the scene is shot with a deep focus, to allow the viewer to get an overall feel for the sheer scope of the destruction without focusing on any particular element.

11/15/08
Editing:


There is a brief establishing shot of a police car coming to a screeching halt, followed by Agent Dunham chasing a suspect. This is filmed with multiple cameras, one of which appears to be a steadicam for the tight shots, as it emphasizes the jarring nature of the pursuit. Several other cameras maintain a distance and are set up to capture different angles of action, such as when Dunham jumps off the roof we can see her jump, and then it cuts to a lower view where we see her gliding ungraciously through the air. The 180° system is adhered to but because of the fact that the action takes place over many locations it is a little difficult to get a sense of any particular axis of action. There is a brief shot-counter shot as Dunham is chasing the suspect through the building.

11/22/08:
Sound:



The sound in this clip undergoes a few subtle but significant shifts. In the beginning, we are immediately presented with somewhat ominous music, that continues almost unabated throughout the entire scene. The dialogue between the characters takes place over radio and in-person. As the machine they are using is turned on, the background music is momentarily muted so that the audience can get a feel for the machine's operation: a steady thumping, almost like a helicopter's blades cutting through the air. This sound then joins the music as a constant background noise, though at times it is barely perceptible over the music and dialogue. The sound of the machine does help to preserve continuity as 3 of the characters go from one room to another, we still have a feeling for their relative position to the others. As events unfold, the music begins to become louder, drowning out the machine; this serves to build up suspense for what is about to happen. As the machine cuts off and its sound goes away, the music remains at a fevered pace for a moment until there is a gunshot; then, there is only silence for a brief moment. The music picks right back up though, at a faster pace, closing the scene.


12/06/08:
Dig Deeper

Fringe was a highly anticipated show because of the history of it's creator, J.J. Abrams. Known for such popular shows as Lost and Alias, Abrams is known for having deep, sometimes confusing plots with many threads underneath the surface. Before the show came out though, Abrams was assuring his fans that it wouldn't be as "impenetrable" as his other shows. Abrams obviously wanted to make a show that was more accessible to people who might not be willing to catch every single episode. While many people on the various forums were excited to see a new Abrams show, there is definitely a group (myself included) who thinks that by taking pains to make the show "accessible" to the masses, it has lost the spark that has made Abrams' other shows so fun. Still, it's only halfway through its first season and we have barely even scratched the surface of the mysterious "Pattern" so it's quite possible that Abrams will manage to turn things around.

12/13/08:
Sex, Drugs & Other Regulations


Fringe does have a rating of TV-14 for Graphic Violence, Language, and the ever-ambiguous "Adult Situations." There isn't any sexual content to speak of, with the exception of the pilot episode that started off showing Agent Dunham and Agent Scott in bed together. There is the glimmer of attraction between Agent Dunham and Peter, but it's obviously not focused upon in the stories and there really doesn't seem to be very much chemistry between them anyway, though maybe that's the actors' fault more than the script. There is the typical violence one would expect from shows featuring cops, people getting shot at, car chases, punches, etc, though there isn't a focus on the blood and gore (not from the fighting, at least.)

Reviews:
A pretty in-depth review of the Pilot episode, along with a general summary of what the show is supposed to be. The author of the review (David Speakman) points out how un-scientific a lot of the parts of the show are, and prefers to label it "science fantasy," which I would largely agree with. However, Mr. Speakman considers the cast to be one of the big selling points of the show, and I don't know how I feel about that. I can't tell if it's the way the characters are written or the actors themselves, but something about nearly all of them just rubs me the wrong way.

A surprisingly balanced review from the Parents TV council reminded me that there was another instance of sexually charged material, an episode where a murderer is with a prostitute who then immediately becomes pregnant and carries to term a baby within a matter of minutes. The review points out how gruesome and graphic a lot of the content is, and suggests that the material isn't suitable for people under 18. I think that's probably fair for the kind of people who tend to trust the word of PTV, but I think it's a little unrealistic for the majority of the population. Most kids have played things as or more gruesome in their videogames by the time they are 14, but again, those aren't the kinds of people this review is aimed at or written for.