I’m sure others have started this, but I’ll add another voice to the mix: Please save this kick ass show.

The TV show in question is Fringe, as per the hiatus and the shitty Fox executive team decision to move it to Friday night time slot of death, the ratings continue to fall.

Fringe is a LOST infused X-Files update that’s one of the best things on TV. Unlike LOST shit actually happens and is discussed head-on. Unlike The X-Files the lead – only – couple have actually coupled. Sort of.

And unlike both shows, the myth-arc episodes are often just as good if not better than the more stand alone FOTW or single character stuff.

What drives Fringe, in a word: character.

The “science” is more than a backdrop, it’s another character. Making Fringe more than a procedural where X leads to Y, the out there science – for all its fantasy bullshit – makes it more real. It’s about two worlds, ours and theirs that are so similar yet very different, about to go to war with each other.

Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble and Blair Brown.. all bring it. I’ve bemoaned the lack of credit they get, but Torv and Noble are killer in two characters who could not be more different in just how they are different. Fucks with your head.

Olivia and Fauxlivia. From two different universes, the differences are subtle. One has a twinge of sadness from losing a mother, while the other lost a sister. One is less jaded, quicker to smile but from a darker world. Both have confidence yet reconcile their doubts. It’s nuanced and complex.

Walter and Walternate. Could not be more different. Walter is the broken man, a scientist crippled by his loss of brain, the sins of his experimental misdeeds, playtime with his do-it-yourself drug kits. (Kids, don’t try at home.) Walternate is the Secretary of Defense, all Magnificent Bastard; tough and at war with our universe for what Walter did: kidnapping Peter to save him, but then did not returning him.

Peter. Torn between two worlds and two lovers. It’s odd I do not judge peter for falling for Fauxlivia, for rationalizing the little differences he saw. Now weaponized by the Mr. Potato Head of Death, he’s pissed he got played and hurt by the betrayal. Still with feelings, denying to himself what they really mean, and still totally torn up about his feelings for the “real” Olivia. Joshua Jackson is strong, smart and subtle yet intense.. making it hard to dislike Peter for some pretty out-there behavior.

That should be enough to make you want to watch, or for many, not. Because you got to pay attention you have to invest the time and some I.Q. points more than many other shows.

It’s smart, funny, touching, clever, heartbreaking and sometimes heart-pounding, and like many I thought were cancelled before their time, Fringe may be on its way out. And that pisses me the hell off, so let’s set some DVRs, post on some boards and save this show.

Stuff I haven’t read but the links looked good:

• Fringe: Reciprocity (thetelevixen.com)
• TV Review: Fringe Keeps Getting Better (blogcritics.org)