Fringe Has Less X, More Alias-Style Mythology

It had to occur : For workweek we ’ve been telling you that JJ Abrams ’ newfangled Fox show Fringe is nothing but an updated X - Files for the 21st century ( ignoring the fact that the old X - Files has a new motion-picture show out this summer , which probably means that it ’s still the go - Files for the 21st century ) . But now the first reviews of the Modern show are rolling in , and they evoke that we identified the wrong series as Fringe ’s inspiration . If only we ’d known Fringe was the next Alias all along . . . be warned — undefined spoilers await you .

It ’s Variety ’s Cynthia Littleton who pointed out that anyone looking for a new Mulder and Scully was maneuver for disappointment :

About five bit in to the [ press ] screening , I realized I ’ve done this show a terrible shabbiness with the loglines I ’ve been using the retiring few months , and the suggestion that it would be very “ ecstasy - Files”-ish . It ’s not . It ’s in good order there in the patent Abrams - confederacy hair-raiser / thriller / activeness surroundings with a wildly intricate secret plan . It ’s a good sign of the zodiac that the pilot — penned by Abrams , Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci and helmed by Alex Graves — does not finger too derivative of “ lose , ” even as it opens with havoc on a commercial airline flight bound for Boston ’s Logan airport .

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Of naturally , “ bind for ” does n’t needs mean that it gets there in the same state that it set out , and it ’s that change in circumstances that ’s the curtain raising mystery story for Abrams ’ latest labyrinthian confederacy theory . Despite the lack of open 1990s - esque exotic abduction theories and the opening that the show could become another victim of its own mythology ( Surely I ’m not the only one who spend each week on Alias feeling as if they were n’t just making it up as they went along , but also doing so without remembering anything that had happened in earlier episode ? ) , however , Littleton seems to be conservatively optimistic about the show :

swan really is the substantial lawsuit here . The airplane pilot script and story is very compelling . It ’s not “ Lost”-level instantly addicting , but it leaves you very curious about what ’s gon na happen next calendar week . There ’s a large twirl toward the end of the pilot program that I never saw coming . The direction is very fast - paced and not - showy . There ’s a few stretches that seem over - loaded with action - action - action but I ’m guessing that ’s easily fixed in the redaction process … There ’s a bit of wooden - ness here and there in the dialogue … but again , nothing that probably ca n’t be fixed in post .

She does agree that there ’s one affair that ca n’t be fixed in post - production , though … Joshua Jackson having a lead role . If James Van Der Beek terminate up get the independent part in Cloverfield 2 , then I ’m calling shenanigans .

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