Fringe: The Complete First Season – DVD Review

By June L. Sep 22, 2009, 18:19 GMT

Teleportation. Mind control. Invisibility. Astral projection. Mutation. Reanimation. Phenomena that exist on the Fringe of science unleash their strange powers in this thrilling series, co-created by J.J. Abrams (Lost, Alias), combining the grit of the police procedural with the excitement of the unknown. The story revolves around three unlikely colleagues – a beautiful young FBI agent, a brilliant scientist who’s spent the last 17 years in a mental institution and ...more

Sometimes there are shows that take you completely by surprise, as you are expecting something and it turns out to be entirely different.  This can be good or bad, but in the case of Fringe that expected something turned out to be so much more, and so much better than what we thought the show entailed.

In fact it was so good we became fans almost instantly.  With the second season underway, it is great to have the first on DVD, to go back to and watch for bits that are carried forward in the new episodes, as well as revisit the whole story.

Fringe is an intriguing blend of elements, part science fiction, part espionage, part cop story, part human interest series and part old-fashioned monster movie fare.  Each one of these would draw an audience, or put off an audience (I’m not keen on the yucky “montrosities” in any show) at times, but somehow Fringe is able to weave the parts all together in a cohesive whole that makes the viewer want to know more. 

FBI agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) is pulled in to investigate a series of strange murders, connected with something that is called “The Pattern.”  Her associates for this mission are a brilliant but mad scientist Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble) who has spent the last 17 years in a mental institution, and Dr. Bishop’s brilliant but antagonistic son Peter (Joshua Jackson). 

Along the way Olivia loses her fiancé John Scott (Mark Valley) but somehow he doesn’t seem to really be gone, and there is the whole involvement, or not, of Maximum Dynamics administrator (?) Nina Sharp (Blair Brown). 

The complicated and sometimes horrific stories are punctuated with wonderfully funny bits, usually involving Dr. Bishop and Peter, and many times including his long suffering assistant Astrid Farnsworth (Jasika Nicole.) The writing and the acting are so clever as to make you laugh one moment and then shiver the next, as horror sets in. 

The ideas behind the events are scientifically plausible and the special effects used to illustrate them are good. The combined individual stories are held together by an overall plot, that much like “The Sixth Sense” is revealed in the last episode of the season. This revelation makes elements of the other episodes fall into place.  Season one is well orchestrated, well acted and has some stunning visuals and intriguing premises.  We are hopeful for Season Two!

Fringe:  The Complete First Season is presented on 7 discs in a nice multi disc plastic box set, held by a slipcase.  A sixteen page booklet insert gives production notes and episode synopses, and is illustrated with nice photos from the series.  The running time for the complete episodes is 1028 minutes. 

There are good specials in this set, with “Fringe – Deciphering the Scenes” sidebar for every episode, and commentaries for selected episodes.  There are featurettes on “Evolution:  The Genesis of Fringe,”  “The Casting of Fringe,” “Behind the Real Science of Fringe,” “Fringe:  The Visual Effects,” and “Gene the Cow.” 

There are also a gag reel, and podcasts “The Massive Undertaking,” and “Dissected Files” for some episodes.  The audio is available in English and Portuguese and subtitles for the episodes are in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Thai.  

Fringe: The Complete First Season is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK. Visit the DVD database for more information.