That's the sound of Fringe rapidly sinking on my must-see list. I tolerated the ridiculousness and over-exposition in the pilot, thinking it'd pick up steam. Last night's episode didn't give me much hope for
that. If anything, it was even more ridiculous than the pilot. FBI agent Olivia isn't particularly compelling now that she's not trying to save her partner/secret boyfriend. Josh Jackson's character just bugs me and looks chronically constipated. And is his father an evil genius behind all sorts of horrible experiments or comic relief?In a nutshell, Fringe doesn't know what it is. It has the intriguing, all-encompassing conspiracy and good horror-of-the-week storylines, but then it switches gears and moves from dark and moody to a by-the-books procedural with attempts at goofiness. If I wanted Bones, I'd watch Bones. But I don't. I want Fringe to take itself seriously and not dumb itself down, which is exactly what's happening. X-Files delved into the ridiculous, but handled the situation so seriously that viewers really did believe. When Fringe tries to take that same leap of faith, it flops because it's delivered by a mad scientist in a pseudo-comic manner. You just don't believe.
I'll give Fringe one more chance and hope for the best, but with Heroes coming back next week, I might drop the new show in favor of an old favorite.
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