Fringe: The Equation

Well, after eight episodes I can say I’m officially hooked. While things started off a little slow on this show, I can now see why FOX was willing to throw out that full season pick-up in early October. They’d probably already seen at least scripts or early screenings for some of these episodes, and I'm finally starting to get somewhere with the Pattern. Oh, I don’t have any idea what the hell it is, what it’s about, and what they’re trying to accomplish, but at least they’re touching on it.

Another week, another person with a cryptic name. This time it’s the Attendant, and she’s trying to get a formula completed. And this is one hardcore bitch, too. Trotting out Ben’s mom only to have her die right in front of him when he proves unable to complete the musical composition (it’s also the formula, don’t ya know!). And it’s not the first time she’s used such ruthless psychological tricks to try and finish. But I still don’t know how Ben (the boy musician) suddenly learned to play and got hooked on that composition, or how Bishop’s friend Dashiell got obsessed with the formula so many years before.

John Noble was absolutely stellar in this episode. With facial expressions alone he was able to express such a breadth of emotion during his impromptu incarceration. I’ve read online in a few places that some people aren’t sure about the casting of Joshua Jackson on this show. Everyone seems to agree that John Noble is turning in masterful work, but I think Jackson is doing a wonderful job of playing his foil. He has just that blend of sarcasm and heart to make it work.

And while I'm at it, let’s give Anna Torv some credit, too. Not once did she pull me from the story or action with bad acting or awkwardness. In fact, she was downright effective in her role. It looks like Torv may have finally figured out her character. She was intelligent, commanding and a little bit Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs when tracking the Attendant. Too bad that damn green-green-green-red is so effective or she would have had her.

In the end, though, I guess it doesn’t matter because the people behind the Pattern are as ruthless as they are elusive, and the Attendant had outlived her usefulness now that she’d completed the formula. Should I just call them “The Others.?” Maybe I’ll find out that they’re behind the island on Lost, too. Abrams could be building his Abrams-verse and I don’t even know it.