Fringe FringeFox is still trying to capture lightning in a bottle, remembering its past success with The X-Files. This new show from JJ Abrams (Lost, Alias) is a procedural crossed with weird science (as opposed to paranormal stuff). Stunningly beautiful female FBI agent? Check. Bald headed boss who may or may not be trustworthy? Check. Skeptical sidekick with a wicked cool sense of humor? Check. Spooky themes, lots of woods, inexplicable coincidences and global conspiracies? Check, check, check, check. But what the heck, if it worked once, it can work again, right? We'll see.
Reviews are first posted at SFScope, then here one week later. These reviews contain spoilers.
SEASON TWO
New Day in an Old Town - Anna returns, a new FBI agent joins the team, Peter dislikes custard, and Agent Francis is cornered by a shapeshifting assassin. Airdate 17 September 2009.
Night of Desirable Objects - Six people have disappeared mysteriously in rural Pennsylvania, and Walter suspects the presence of mutants. Airdate 24 September 2009.
Fracture - A man walking through a train station turns begins crystallizing, and then explodes, killing several people. The investigation takes Peter and Olivia to Iraq, where they find links to a classified military project. Airdate 1 October 2009
Momentum Deferred - Olivia drinks a weird concoction of Walter's intended to refresh her memory of her meeting with William Bell. Her memories indicate that there is even more trouble ahead for the world. Meanwhile, the team investigates a series of robberies that are tied to shape-shifting. Airdate 8 October 2009
Dream Logic - The team goes to Seattle after a man kills his boss because he believed he was a monster. Airdate 15 October 2009
Earthling - After several people are turned to ash with no sign of combustion, the Fringe team is called into an investigation with ties to Philip Broyles' own life. Airdate 5 November 2009
Of Human Action - When the son of a researcher for Massive Dynamics is kidnapped, the Fringe team fear he may be used to extort secrets about the Fringe pattern. Airdate 12 November 2009.
August - An Observer takes a young woman hostage, violating the terms of their entire existence. Airdate 19 November 2009
Snakehead - Immigrants cast ashore in Boston are found to have squid-like parasites in their intestines, parasites which have unusual properties. Airdate 3 December 2009
Grey Matters - A series of impromptu brain surgeries on mental patients, carried out by agents we have seen before, miraculously cures them of their pathologies, but opens up a dark secret from Walter's past. Airdate 10 December 2009.
Unearthed - A dead teenager comes back to life, but appears to have returned with a psychic passenger. Airdate 11 January 2010.
Johari Window - The Fringe team investigates an attack staged by disfigured humans living in a remote town near a military base. Airdate 14 January 2010
What Lies Below - Peter is trapped in a quarantined building where a deadly oil-borne virus has been unleashed. Airdate 21 January 2010
The Bishop Revival - Someone is testing a bioweapon that targets people by their genetic code. Airdate 28 January 2010
Jacksonville - Walter must find a way to re-trigger Olivia's ability to see objects from The Other Side, even if it means revisiting some childhood nightmares. Airdate 4 February 2010
Peter - Walter flashes back to 1985, where the mystery of Peter's origin is explained, along with several other questions. Airdate 1 April 2010.
White Tulip - Walter figures out that the deaths of a car full of commuters is the side effect of a man traveling through time, on a mission Walter understands all too clearly. Airdate 15 April 2010.
The Man from the Other Side - Thomas Newton returns, and Walter and his team may not be able to stop him from destroying two universes. Airdate 22 April 2010.
Brown Betty - High on pot, Dr. Bishop regales Ella with a fanciful tale of lost and broken hearts, which has at its core a genuine grief. Airdate 29 April 2010
Northwest Passage - Peter, on the run from his family and the FBI, is caught up in a serial murder case with disturbingly familiar characteristics. Airdate 6 May 2010
Over There: Part 1 - Walter, Olivia, and some of Walter's former child subjects cross to the Alternate Universe in search of Peter, and make some astonishing discoveries. Airdate 13 May 2010
Over There: Part 2 - Both universes may never be the same after Walter and Olivia's visit in search of Peter. Airdate 20 May 2010
SEASON ONE
Pilot - FBI agent Olivia Dunham and her partner/lover are called in to investigate a plane which did not crash. However, all of its passengers and crew turned to translucent goo in mid-air. Airdate 9 September 2008.
Same Old Story - When a woman apparently conceives, carries to term, and is ultimately delivered of a full-term baby within a matter of minutes, Agent Dunham and Dr. Bishop are called in to investigate. - Airdate 16 September 2008
The Ghost Network - A bizarre terrorist incident which encases an entire busload of people draws the attention of Dr. bishop and the team, who uncover a link to his past research. - Airdate 23 September 2008
The Arrival - An explosion rocks a job site and reveals a strange bullet-like object with properties science cannot explain. - Airdate 30 September 2008
Power Hungry - A man appears to be able to control electricity. - Airdate 14 October 2008
The Cure - Women are being turned into walking bombs by someone claiming to cure their rare disease. Airdate 21 October 2008.
In Which We Meet Mr. Jones - To save the life of a fellow agent, Olivia must interrogate a prisoner in Germany while Dr. Bishop and Peter interrogate a dead man. Airdate 11 November 2008.
Safe - The team investigates the case of a bank robber stuck halfway through a solid wall, and Olivia finds her memories becoming confused. Airdate 2 December 2008
Bound - Olivia has been abducted and Broyles hands over the investigation to Mitchell Loeb, one of the kidnappers. Airdate 20 January 2009.
No-Brainer - A computer program is liquefying the brains of people who download it. Airdate 27 January 2009.
The Transformation - An airline passenger morphs into a creature of nightmare while in mid-flight, and the resulting investigation forces Olivia to confront her ambiguous feelings about John Scott. Airdate 3 February 2009.
Ability - The team investigates a number of people who died faceless after their orifices are sealed while German agents investigating David Robert Jones' escape question Olivia. 10 February 2009.
Inner Child - A feral child found abandoned in a tunnel sealed for 75 years may hold the key to a series of serial murders. Airdate 7 April 2009.
Unleashed - When animal rights activists raid a research facility to unleash the animals, they release a chimera created by Walter's old partner. Airdate 14 April 2009.
Bad Dreams - Olivia's nightmares begin to convince her that she is killing strangers in her sleep. Airdate 21 April 2009.
Midnight - Someone is killing young men and draining them of spinal fluid; the investigation leads Olivia, Walter and Peter back to ZFT. They finally learn the name of the puppetmaster behind the terrorist group. Airdate 28 April 2009.
The Road Not Taken - Olivia starts hallucinating--or is she? Walter thinks she's seeing an alternate reality, an ability based on his experiments on Olivia when she was a child. Airdate 5 May 2009.
There's More Than One of Everything - Season one finale. In a shocking conclusion, Olivia discovers that 'reality' is not what she thinks it is, and we learn Walter's tragic secret. Airdate 12 May 2009.