Fringe: The Complete First Season

Release Date: September 8, 2009
Studio: Warner Home Video
Packaging/Materials: Five-disc Blu-ray case with cardboard slipcover and lenticular cover
Year: 2008, 2009
Rating: NR
Running Time: Approximately 17 hours
MSRP: $79.98

	EPISODES	SPECIAL FEATURES
Video	1080p high definition 16x9 1.78:1	Partially 1080i or 1080p high definition, partially 480i or 480p standard definition
Audio	Dolby Digital: English 5.1	Stereo
Subtitles	English SDH (episodes and select bonus material)

 

The Series: 4/5

When a deadly biological toxin infects a passenger airplane, an inter-agency task force, operating under the Department of Homeland Security, is deployed to investigate. The team includes FBI inter-agency liaison Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), who, struggling for respect from Special Agent in Charge Phillip Broyles (Lance Reddick), gets sent on what seems like a fool's errand with her colleague and secret paramour John Scott (Mark Valley). But the wisp of a lead quickly becomes a full blown foot pursuit when their suspect rabbits at the sight of them. Scott ultimately gets caught in an explosion that infects him with same toxin that killed everyone aboard the airliner, making Dunham's assignment suddenly very personal.

While searching for answers, Dunham runs across the name Walter Bishop (John Noble), a scientist who seems to know everything related to Scott's condition, but who has also been confined to a mental institution for the last 17 years. The only way she can see him is to be escorted by Walter's legal guardian and son, Peter (Josh Jackson), a genius himself but one who has spent most of his adult life estranged from his father. With some coercion, Dunham persuades Peter to take her to see Walter and ultimately convinces them both to help her find the cure for the deadly infection.

Impressed by Dunham's ingenuity and determination, Broyles reveals to her the case is only one of many phenomena experts are calling "The Pattern." Taken as a whole, it appears someone is using society to test everything from biological agents to transgenic mutated creatures. Broyles wants Dunham to join the team that is working to find out what the experimenters are after. Though Dunham accepts, nothing will prepare her for the cases that follow, each of which reveals a connection to the research Walter did almost 20 years ago and which have some kind of tie to Massive Dynamic, the world's largest and most ubiquitous science and research corporation. With Peter and Walter's help, the truth about the Pattern will slowly be revealed, but not without each of them making some personal sacrifices and discoveries of their own.

Coming from the creative talents who gave us the series "Alias," "Fringe" bears some similar qualities to that metaphysically infused spy show, but most will go to "The X-Files" when looking for a comparison. Neither is really a good fit. While showing signs of a rather sizable mythology akin to the latter, it lacks the dark and moody tone that was its trademark. Not to say "Fringe" doesn't have the dark and gruesome - there's just a sort of "gee whiz" factor underlying even the most grotesque and strange occurrences, making it more entertaining than psychologically affecting. Early episodes are driven by "monster of the week" type plots, but by the season finale there are some significant payoffs for both the characters and the overall mythology. The cast is strong overall, though there's some visible effort on Torv's part, both in the execution of her American accent and in some of her physicality. Simply put, it feels like she's wearing the role rather than inhabiting it, something that may improve over time. In contrast, Noble as Walter Bishop pulls off both the nonsensical and the sorrowful qualities of the character from the start, making him the obvious pillar of the cast. And Jackson makes a surprisingly effective foil and sometimes straightman, though perhaps I'm biased by never having seen a single episode of "Dawson's Creek."

"Fringe: The Complete First Season" on Blu-ray includes all 20 episodes that aired on the Fox Network. The second season will begin on September 17th at 9PM.

 

Video Quality: 4.5/5

The film is correctly framed at 1.78:1 and presented in 1080p with the VC-1 codec. In viewing at least two episodes per disc, the transfer exhibits solid and inky black levels and fine shadow detail, though there's often a touch of black crush. Cinematography can be stylized, changing color rendition and contrast, though overall those areas show good depth and range. Fine object detail in fabrics, and skin textures in particular, are excellent, though scenes in higher contrast environments reveal some edge haloing. Grain structure is often visible, as is a touch of noise at times, suggesting minimal use of noise reduction measures. There is some slight softness in some shots, but it could be source related focusing errors. Overall the transfer looks very good, with only a few minor, occasional issues.

 

Audio Quality: 3.5/5

Primary surround activity in the 640 kbps Dolby Digital 5.1 track is in support of the show's score, with some environmental and directional effects depending on the scene. The mix exhibits good balance, with dialogue that is consistently clear and intelligible. LFE activity can be a little inconsistent, showing up for abstract sound effects but sometimes surprisingly absent during things like explosions.

 

Special Features: 4/5

Items in the special features package are spread across all five discs and in most cases tied to specific episodes. Pieces titled "The Massive Undertaking" go behind-the-scenes of an episode's production and cover a range of topics, usually related to make up or visual effects. Specific subjects get more, if often a bit brief, attention in "Deciphering the Scene." Sequences cut due to time or storytelling are dubbed "Dissected Files" and a handful of commentaries and longer documentaries round out the package, though by the end some of the material in them feels redundant. One of the commentaries should be skipped altogether, but there's plenty of other material that provides the same - if not more - information. Overall it's a sizable set of supplemental items and should please those particularly interested in special effects and make up.

 

Disc One

1: Pilot

• Commentary by Series Creators J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci: After taking a moment to get organized, the trio cover the requisite, but still interesting, topics of casting, the evolution of the show, foundational ideas and concepts, visual effects, and the music. It's an informative track, though certainly casual in tone and pacing.
• The Massive Undertaking (12:11): Includes the flesh dissolving, special effects make-up, stunt driving and shooting in the frigid Toronto climate.
• Deciphering the Scene (2:17): A look at the full-body make up applied to actor Mark Valley, who plays John Scott.

2: The Same Old Story

• Deciphering the Scene (1:50): A look at the retinal image extraction scene's practical effects and filming.

3: The Ghost Network

• Commentary by Co-Writers David H. Goodman and J.R. Orci and Executive Producer Bryan Burk: The participants tend to watch more than talk, joke amongst themselves, and point out the obvious, making for an uninvolving experience. It's best to skip it and get much of the same information elsewhere.
• The Massive Undertaking (2:09): Includes shooting on location in a Manhattan tunnel and the gelatinous paste used to cover the opening scene's victims.
• Deciphering the Scene (1:45): Filming the opening scene.
• Dissected Files (1:54): Olivia gets a visit from John's mother.

4: The Arrival

• Deciphering the Scene (1:53): The Rogue and Observer in the forest chase scene.
• Dissected Files (0:39): Walter and Peter argue about parallel universes.

Disc Two

5: Power Hungry

• Deciphering the Scene (1:31): A look at the foot pursuit action sequence.
• Dissected Files (2:09): Peter and Olivia buy some pigeons.

6: The Cure

• Deciphering the Scene (1:34): A look at how to make a person's head explode.

7: In Which We Meet Mr. Jones

• Deciphering the Scene (1:34): A look at the visual and practical effects for heart surgery.

8: The Equation

• Deciphering the Scene (1:50): A look at Torv's first fight scene.
• Dissected Files (2:06): Two scenes, the first showing Walter's wake up routine and the second showing Peter and Olivia playing poker.

Disc Three

9: The Dreamscape

• Deciphering the Scene (1:58): A look at the practical and visual effects of the opening butterfly sequence.

10: Safe

• Deciphering the Scene (1:40): A look at filming the car chase scene.

11: Bound

• Deciphering the Scene (1:46): A look at filming Olivia's spinal tap scene.

12: The No-Brainer

• Deciphering the Scene (1:38): A look at filming the opening brain liquefaction scene.

Disc Four

13: The Transformation

• The Massive Undertaking (2:43): Make up effects, dressing the crash scene and the mutated creature dubbed the "were-upine."
• Deciphering the Scene (1:44): A look at filming the opening sequence, though much of it is similar to the preceding piece.

14: Ability

• Deciphering the Scene (1:44): Make up and visual effects for the orifice-covering flesh disease.
• Dissected Files (2:53): A woman from German Federal Police questions Olivia about her interaction with David Robert Jones.

15: Inner Child

• Deciphering the Scene (1:31): A look at filming the cemetery fight scene.

16: Unleashed

• Deciphering the Scene (1:56): A look at filming Walter's confrontation with the beast in the sewer.

Also on Disc 4

• Evolution: The Genesis of Fringe (9:07): The creators talk about what inspired the series, the steps they took to develop it, character motivations, and major story elements.
• Behind the Real Science of Fringe (10:28): The real world foundations behind the bizarre goings-on in the show.
• The Casting of Fringe (9:21): The actors talk about how they got their parts; show producers and casting directors explain why they chose them.

Disc Five

17: Bad Dreams

• Commentary by Writer/Director Akiva Goldsman and Executive Producer Jeff Pinkner: Goldsman and Pinkner turn in a laidback but informative track, alternating between technical facts and story analysis, with only a few moments where they state the obvious.
• Deciphering the Scene (2:11): A look at filming the rooftop jumper scene.

18: Midnight

• Deciphering the Scene (1:48): A look at filming the in-car fight scene.

19: The Road Not Taken

• Deciphering the Scene (1:39): A look at filming the burning man stunt.

20: There's More than One of Everything

• The Massive Undertaking (3:17): Includes an interview with Leonard Nimoy talking about the final scene and the series creators reflecting on how far they've come.
• Deciphering the Scene (1:37): A look at filming the alternate reality tractor trailer crash.

Also on Disc 5

• The Pattern Analysis: Scientific experts in related fields comment on notions from "The Ghost Network" (3:53), "Power Hungry" (4:55), "The Equation" (3:14), "Safe" (3:26), "Transformation" (3:55), and "Unleashed" (5:55).
• Roberto Orci's Production Diary (13:06): Orci takes viewers behind the scenes of the pilot's production, which took over two months to shoot. The piece is not exhaustive and a lot of the material looks familiar after viewing the other supplemental features.
• Fringe Visual Effects (15:16): Highlights key effects like Olivia's dream sequence, the heart parasite, the construction crane disaster, the brain melting computer virus, the razor sharp butterfly attack, and the transgenic creature. Again, there's a sense of redundancy after watching all the "Deciphering the Scenes" featurettes.
• Unusual Side Effects: Gag Reel (4:30)
• Gene the Cow (2:45): An introduction to the three cows that played the part of Gene.
• BD-LIVE: The packaging states there is an exclusive season finale commentary by writers Jeff Pinkner, J.H. Wyman, Akiva Goldsman and Bryan Burk available on BD-Live, but at the time of this review it was not yet available.

 

Recap

The Series: 4/5
Video Quality: 4.5/5
Audio Quality: 3.5/5
Special Features: 4/5
Overall Score (not an average): 4/5
 

A promising new TV series from the creative talents who gave us "Alias" gets very good technical treatment and a sizable, if slightly redundant, set of special features.

I really enjoy the show and it seems like a fairly nice set but at $50-ish, I'll probably hold off for a sale somewhere down the line.

Thanks for the review, Cameron!

 It's a joke that WB is still putting lossy DD soundtracks on these TV series that certainly deserve better. Look at Universal Studios - The Office season 5 received a DTS-HD MA track. Here we have Fringe which would have a much greater benefit of a lossless codec getting the ole shaft in the audio department. Sad....

What is worse is that the DVD has a 384kbps track. My review is forthcoming.

Yeah....they did that with Supernatural: Season 4 as well....I don't understand WB's logic regarding their TV on BD releases....both these releases would benifit greatly with lossless tracks.