Photo of the Day, November 24, 2009: Hook, Line, and Sinker
Photo of the Day, November 25, 2009: Boston as seen from the harbor
Cheap Eats: Burtons Grill
Sports Redux: Every Minute Counts
Vicki On Oprah Re: Teddy
Lost triumphantly returned to television this week, turning even the most composed fans into shuddering masses of confused jelly. Questions abound—is Locke really dead? Who wants Aaron and why is he so important? Can Sawyer not wear a shirt for the rest of the season, please? It would be easy to write off work or school and just re-watch the show from the beginning, hopelessly taking notes and trying not to freak out over polar bear sightings. This, however, would be a mistake. Instead of wasting time on the black hole that is Lost fandom, why not try another J.J. Abrams show, Fringe?
Sadly overlooked by critics, Fringe follows Boston-based FBI agent Olivia Dunham, played by the spectacular Aussie actress Anna Torv. Working in the mysterious "fringe science" division, Dunham realizes a series of horrifying events fits into what the FBI is calling "The Pattern." In one season alone, there have been plane crashes, elevator shaft explosions, kidnappings, super-sized cold viruses, and “reanimation” of dead ex-boyfriends. Like many other Abrams concepts, Fringe is fantastical and fast-paced. It's impossible not to get sucked into the creepy cases. Mental-case fringe scientist Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble) and his dishy son, Peter (Joshua Jackson), perform ridiculous experiments to discover who’s behind The Pattern.
Post contributed by Anna Edwards.
By far the best part of the show is its setting. Soaring shots of Boston accompany each scene, along with exteriors of various local universities (Boston University's FitRec recently stood in as Boston College, proving once again how BU is whatever the film industry wants it to be). It's easy to find online via Hulu.com or its official website, but watch Fringe on Tuesdays at 9PM on FOX. Enjoy the high quality special effects, impressive fight scenes, and improbably short commercial breaks while toasting your new addiction.
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don't get me wrong; i like the show, and think it's gone from okay to good, and is improving at a very promising rate, but the liberties they take with the Boston area are pretty laughable sometimes. The best one was when they referred to someone being located in the 'wharf district' of Stoughton. cut to grimy warehouses and a giant bridge in the distance.
I too watch the show, although not religiously like I would House. I think that Fringe does a good job filling in that missing X-Files part of me from my youth.
For shows set in Boston, I personally prefer the copious meaning-enhancing zooms of "Boston Legal." Now that I think of it, the appearance of another TV series set in Beantown does present the possibility of cross-show character swapping. If it involves a zombie Shatner, I'm there.
Hey, at least the FBI office is now actually in Boston (in the Hancock Tower) as opposed to some building in Miami that they were showing earlier in the season... And they've gotten a little better with sites since they showed "South Station" as basically a one-room train station.
"By far the best part of the show is its setting. Soaring shots of Boston accompany each scene, along with exteriors of various local universities..."
...which is hilarious considering that the show is filmed almost entirely in New York City.
For people who didn't do their homework on Boston, it's hard to top "Crossing Jordan". Two things that stand out for me:
1) Why the Suffolk county coroner's office would have jurisdiction in Concord is one thing, but for the characters to say that "Concorde" is easy to get to - "just take the 2" is another.
2) "You know? The Boston Art Museum? That big building downtown?" Ugh.
Other than that, it was a decent show.