Fringe - Season 3

I realized during this season that Fringe is actually the best drama currently on a network, at least as far as ones I watch. It's actually gotten to a point where it might be the only one I watch at all when this Fall comes around, unless something new looks enticing. How pathetic is that? Not to be insulting towards Fringe, but it's just not consistently good enough to be the best hour-long show airing on one of the five most watched channels. Still, season three was their best job yet, and while it got into some really oddball material as it wore on, is still featured a compelling central story and some of the best acting by a whole cast on TV. And though I doubt the show will make it past its fourth season, I'm definitely going to be sticking with it until it does end up getting axed in favor of something starring a sassy doctor or whatever.

When the show came back last year, it began with what was probably the best single stretch of episodes it has had yet, bouncing back and forth between the two universes at the core of its plot, exploring regular Fringe-style mysteries with the bonus of fleshing out an interesting alternate view of how the world could be and an exciting running story featuring a couple of mismatched Olivias. After that resolved the show slowed down a bit, and had a couple of clunkers here and there, but also some really outstanding stuff as well. You can make a comparison between Fringe and another show produced by JJ Abrams, Lost, when you look at what it does well and what it sometimes doesn't. I really liked the weird sci-fi stuff on Lost, but a true resolution of a lot of it was ignored in favor of really wrapping up the characters well, and Fringe also succeeds when it puts the burden of its stories on the strong central figures at its core. Olivia, Peter, and especially Walter are all heavily damaged people with unbreakable links between them, and when that's the focus, it's often a much better series than when it's just some weird pseudo-science thing going on.

Even worse is when the show goes quasi-mystical on top of that, as it did with a somewhat misguided arc near the season's end, and in a few places they may have taken it too far. But I guess when a show gets bumped to a bad time slot and its ratings continue to dwindle - the writers forget about pleasing everyone and just try anything that comes to mind that seems like it could be cool. Not everything is, but enough works out that the experimentation is always interesting. It hasn't yet produced the kind of fevered genius that say, Dollhouse's imminent cancellation brought about, but it's clear from the season finale that they're not afraid to try things. In some ways it was a bad episode, using a cop-out to explain a season-long riddle and resorting to a couple tired pulp sci-fi cliches. But it also showed what works about the show on a very basic level, reestablished their skill at creating whole new settings out of nothing, had some more great character work, and had a great final moment that hints at a potentially mind-bending season four. I've always wished that Fringe could have more fun with itself, and they definitely showed signs of that here. If they combine that with a less wishy-washy stance on science versus fantasy and more consistent writing, it could really earn that best network drama title.

Also, here are my recaps for the episodes when I was filling in this season:
Os
Stowaway
Bloodline

Fringe - Season 2

Fringe's first season got better as it went on, and luckily the second was more consistently like the end than the beginning. There's still a mix of random monster-of-the-week episodes along with the more plot-relevant ones, but they tend to do a better job of tying the former kind in with the overall story, and it's a bit more balanced. Fringe is still fun when it's just creating a mini-mystery with an unusual sci-fi twist, I just happen to think most of the important episodes are better. The continue to develop the alternate universe and establish it as a source of trouble, and the show is at its most fascinating when it's the focus.

What's interesting to me is how they treat some often quite-pulpy science fiction ideas with all the seriousness of a police procedural. I'm sure it's something that's been done before with shows I haven't seen, but it's that mix of influences that gives it a unique feel among what I watch. It doesn't matter if an episode is about people going murderously insane because someone's been removing pieces of their brain it works because it gets treated as seriously as any regular crime. There was a couple weird things though. Somehow an episode from the first season got lost in the shuffle and wasn't aired until the middle of the second, but it was totally out of place because a dead character just showed back up out of nowhere. At that point, it's better to avoid confusing the audience and just stick it on a DVD. And with all they're doing with Walter, it's taking away from the effectiveness of still portraying him as a wacky mad scientist. If you're going to turn him into a real tragic figure with a painful past, you're not going to get as many laughs having him do things like eat Twizzlers while performing an autopsy. You can't have it both ways.

Still though, most of that stuff was really great. They show how Walter's actions led to troubles with the other universe, and in a way he's kind of responsible for everything that happens in the show. He performed the experiments with strange drugs on Olivia and the other kids, he was the first to cross between worlds and cause the problems that make them want to come over here. A lot of it is hard to blame on him, but the whole show is sort of about him trying to atone for his past transgressions. He's by far the most interesting figure in the series, which is a good because a show that relied on Olivia all the time just wouldn't be very good. I'm not going to blame Anna Torv because she was a lot more fun as her alternate self, but compared to the other main characters she's pretty boring. The finale was interesting if not able to fully capitalize on what they built up, and leaves a few cliffhangers that should be a lot of fun to watch play out in the Fall.

Fringe - Season 1

The premise of another crazy sci-fi show from the creator of Lost got me excited for Fringe, though it didn't turn out as good as I expected. Still, it was mostly enjoyable from week to week, and improved noticeably in multiple ways as it got closer to the conclusion of its first season. We already know a second is on the way so apparently it was successful enough, and I hope it continues to grow into something really interesting as it goes on. The main reason to watch it at first was just to hear the voices of John Noble from the third The Lord of the Rings movie and Lance Reddick from The Wire every week, who I could listen to talk for hours, but you can't blame the show for not having intriguing stories, just maybe not exploring those concepts to their full potential.

Most episodes follow the same basic formula. There's the cold open that shows the mystery of the week unfolding, which usually has an interesting hook and is often simply the best made scene in the show, then special agent Olivia Dunham and her ragtag team bounce back and forth between decent detective work and decent supernatural medical stuff for a while until they catch the bad guy in time for a few minutes of character development and hints at a continuous plot. Seemingly unrelated cases do sort of come together into one large conspiracy by the end, and there's a solid conclusion to some dangling plot threads along with a couple twists and revelations in the last episode.

I think the problem with the show is that it just doesn't go far enough with its big ideas. JJ Abrams gets credit for making his crazy nerdy ideas more mainstream-friendly than some other creators of televised speculative fiction, but they lose something in that translation. The show has a pretty bad habit of explaining anything close to a complex idea in an overly simple way that treats the audience like a bunch of morons, and if that's what it takes to keep most people watching, then that's a shame. I guess it's nice not having to worry about making it to another year, but the bigger fan base ends up also being less passionate. Anyway, Fringe is mostly worth checking out.

The Wire - Season 5

And so what is probably the best dramatic television series I've ever seen and likely will see for a long time comes to an end, with all the frankness and honesty I've come to expect of it. A lot was said about The Sopranos' strange finale, which cut to black without a real resolution and was probably designed to be talked about more than the story. The Wire completely avoids all stereotypical tricks and flair we're used to seeing in our entertainment. There are no cliffhangers. There are no plot twists that only surprise you at first while making most of what happened previously meaningless. Plenty of characters die, especially in this last season, but part of the impact comes from the fact that they don't play it up at all. There's no dramatic music or slow motion shots, the scene just ends and we move on. The fragility of life and how it can end so quickly while the rest of the world continues without batting an eye is part of the show's realism that makes it so effective. The resolution might not have been as satisfying as I had hoped, but that's just how life is. Things don't always go your way.

Enough with the praise though, as far as actual quality television goes, this season was one of the weaker out of the bunch. That's not to say it's bad, because it's still better than almost everything else. It's just not quite as compelling as it was before, and felt a bit more like the rest of television this time. Every season adds something new, and this time they went with the press, but didn't handle it as well as they probably could have. They could have done some interesting things showing how well or poorly they cover the real issues facing the city they work in, but instead they got wrapped up in these serial killer and Pulitzer side plots and the drug problem on the streets, the crux of the show, was put on the back burner. Stuff was still happening, but it just wasn't tied in well with the new topic du Jour. The second season was in a similar situation, but they managed to link the docks to the main issue by showing how the drugs actually get into the city. The fifth season didn't really do that. It was still interesting, and the huge impact of what actually did occur on the streets helped keep them relevant, it was just a bit disappointing. Still, they did a fine job of gracefully ending a truly spectacular show.

The Wire - Season 4

The fourth season continues the brilliant "visual novel" in fine fashion. A lot of people have called it the best yet, and I'm not sure I agree, although it certainly fits in fine with the rest of the series. The new topic of interest this time around is the education system, specifically the sorry state of the inner city public schools. There are many kids in bad situations, either raised in uncaring group homes or already forced to make a living selling drugs on the streets. You have to feel for them as they have no hope of ever really having a good life. Not that the good guys aren't trying, with former police characters now becoming teachers and working on a new program for the most disruptive kids. Carcetti continues his quest to be mayor, and we see more of the crap that happens when politicians take the gloves off.

The heart of the show is really still the conflict between dealers and cops, although for much of the season the unit that's been so good at catching the big names is hamstrung by a terrible lieutenant and the main characters are working other positions. Season four continues the tradition of great writing and acting the series is known for, and by this point there's really not much new I can say about the show, just that if interested, you should start at the beginning and work forward from there. The emotional investment you get is so much greater when you watch the characters develop and make decisions for such a long time, and deaths, even of somewhat ancillary characters, are truly powerful, tragic moments. The fifth and last season just started, and I expect great things of it.

The Wire - Season 3

The saga continues in the third season, which maintains well the tradition of quality serial television. Stringer Bell is even more prominent as he tries to do things his way and makes some uncharacteristic slip-ups while the police try to pin something on him and his crew. The relationship between him and old friend Avon Barksdale is fleshed out, and comes to a head eventually. There's plenty of new stuff happening too, though. Tommy Carcetti is a white councilman who sees the crime problems in the city and decides to run for mayor in a mostly black city with little chance of winning. While Bell has cut a deal to reduce violence among certain gangs as they share good territory and drugs, violence is still at a high, thanks in large part to the emergence of a new, young dealer who won't agree to play nice, Marlo Stanfield. And an old district chief decides to try a new way to fight violent crime in his streets - restricting dealers to abandoned areas and letting them peddle their drugs their instead of causing problems in more populated neighborhoods. It raises an interesting question - can we allow people to do what we know is wrong if it keeps people safer?

The Wire is still a show about how bad things can be for some people in certain situations. It's very unflinching when it comes to the troubles of ordinary citizens who can't afford to leave their dangerous neighborhoods. But despite being strong with its message, it's still great entertainment. It's really impressive how they manage to balance so many characters. Cutty, the old criminal released from jail who decides to start over and help kids by teaching them boxing. Bunk, the homicide detective who drinks a little too much but is still very good at his job. Omar and Mouzone, two very different kinds of men who still find a common cause. It's just enjoyable to watch, even if you don't care about some of today's real problems in the urban environment.

The Wire - Season 2

The saga of cops and gangs in Baltimore continues with the second season, every bit as brilliantly crafted as the first. At first, I wasn't a big fan of the new subplots, but they grew on me. The first season focused entirely on one case, McNulty and some other detectives trying to bring down Avon Barksdale's crew. They expanded it for the next part of the show, bringing in a union of port workers when a bunch of women are found dead of suffocation in one of the shipping containers. When it's discovered that their air was cut off intentionally, it opens a massive case involving corruption in some of the union members, a group lead by a man known only as "The Greek", and continued ties to the targets of the first season. With Barksdale in jail, his best friend Stringer Bell takes more of a spotlight, handling operations and making some decisions that change the complexion of the streets.

With The Wire, it's still all about the writing and the acting. It's a miracle they're able to balance so many great, enjoyable characters. The show is far from stagnant, as people get promoted, arrested, and sometimes killed. It's a testament to the quality when you feel something any time a character dies, even if they were criminal trash. Some of them may seem downright unlikable, but when things go wrong for them, you can't help but get sucked in. It's really a show you absolutely cannot jump into the middle of halfway through. You'll probably still appreciate it for the commendable direction, screenplay, and performances, but you need to follow it with rapt attention to get the most out of it. I've already finished the third season, and so far this one is the most plot driven while the others are a bit more about ideas. It's also the most diverse as far as the locations and kinds of people it covers. That doesn't really make it better or worse, it just means it might appeal to you more if that's what you favor.

The Wire - Season 1

The Wire is the best television drama I've ever seen. It doesn't feature crazy, over the top plots. Rather, it's completely grounded in reality and thrives on that fact. It's a graphic and uncompromising look at the crime scene in modern Baltimore. In season one, Jimmy McNulty, a homicide detective who drinks too much but is great at his job, sets in to motion the slow building of a case against Avon Barksdale, the biggest drug dealer in the west side of the city. The story follows people on both sides of the back and forth battle, and while the dealers are clearly in the wrong, it's not without some nuance. A lot of the focus is on Avon's nephew D'Angelo, who is one of the bad guys, but can seem like a good person who was just brought up in the wrong environment. I think that's what's so great about The Wire, it doesn't do the judging for you I try to frame anyone as perfectly good or evil. It's all shades of gray, and they let you make your own decisions.

The show works so well because its characters are all so good. I could rattle off names of likable characters for a long time, as there are a lot of people in the city and all of them are well-defined, portrayed finely by an actor who fits the part, and entertaining to some degree. Even the biggest jerks around are usually funny in the way they act like jerks. It's a very slowly paced show, time passes quickly but the case develops at a realistic speed. There's a lot of gritty, grinding police work, and if you don't have the patience for some dead ends and disappointments, you might not like it. But I honestly can't get enough. I want to know what's going to happen next with all of these people I've come to like. The first season's resolution isn't as perfect as the cops hoped for. Some arrests get done, but not on all the charges they wanted and people they were after. But that's real life for you. And just like real life, people hurt each other, swear and have sex. It is HBO, after all. If your sensibilities aren't too delicate and you're at all interested in crime stuff, you have to watch The Wire.