Archives For J.J. Abrams

How Fringe Should End

Chris —  March 24, 2011

I’m holding out against hope that this season of Fringe won’t be the last.  When the show started, it seemed to be little more than an X-Files rehash.  But over two and a half seasons, it’s developed into a transdimensional drama, packed with characters fans have grown to care about.

The premise is that there are two worlds, almost identical, on the verge of destruction.  The characters seem to think that only one can survive, and that they are in a war to do just that.

Yet there have been hints that something deeper is going on.  Each side seems incomplete.  In one world, the main character, Olivia, has a mom.  In the other, her mom is dead, but she has a sister and an aunt.  In one world, the an FBI agent is a widower, in the other, he sacrificed his life for his mission, leaving a widow.  A recent poignant episode told the story of an old woman who could see her dead husband’s doppleganger in the other world.

Some people believe that the gospel of Jesus is just that you go to heaven when you die.  But perhaps it’s not so cut and dry.  Passages in Romans speak of Earth as a mother in labor pains.  The book of Revelation describes the coming of a new heaven and a new earth.

Perhaps Fringe will end, not in war, but in an amalgation of the two sides.   Each side is full of puzzle pieces.  The coming destruction is not a destruction at all, but the two broken sides becoming one cohesive whole.

There’s a lot of story left in Fringe, and I hope that it will get enough airtime to finish.  Perhaps it will end on a note of hope, with broken worlds and relationships healed.  This is also what we work for in the kingdom of God, a new heaven and new earth that represent the fullest potential of the old.

Fall TV Check-In

Chris —  October 7, 2009

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Here’s what I’m watching:  It’s mainly stuff I’m “already committed to,”, which either means that there’s not much new of note, or I just haven’t found it.

Fringe With theme music lifted from the little known 90s revival of The Outer Limits and a plot line that is little more than a post-911 update of X-Files, I watched the show mainly out of respect for J.J. Abrams.  After a slow start, the show started to get increasingly complex and climaxed with a cameo from Leonard Nimoy.  Now the rough edges of the over-the-top mad scientist and stoic blonde FBI agent have been refined and show teetering  between all out inter-dimensional space opera and CSI-style detective procedural.  Despite some creative characters and intriguing plot twists, it lacks the fondness of Mulder and Scully, and the  addictive questioning nature of Jack, Kate and Sawyer.  Fringe has yet to find its stride quickly this season, and I hope it does soon.

Dollhouse Like with Fringe, I’m watching because I like Joss Whedon.  Despite a disappointing start, the first season ended with some fascinating philosophical questions and the introduction of a fun bad guy.  Now it has the advantage of starting with developed characters and a list of unsolved mysteries.  It already stars Battlestar Gallactica‘s Helo, and Captain Apollo guest starred in the first episode.  This alone, not counting the beguiling Eliza Dushku, is enough to keep me tuning in.

How I Met Your Mother One of the saddest moments in recent TV history was the opening episode of season 4 of Scrubs: what had been brilliant and out of the box suddenly became sill and cliche.  Although I’m holding my breath, this has yet to happen to the best sitcom on TV.  As long as Marshall keeps delivering lines like “Haven’t I met you…on a yacht?” I’ll keep watching.

Heroes Heroes started out as the comic book for everybody, a superhero story about normal joes waking up with superpowers.  However, once Hiro saved the cheerleader, things lost their way.  This season shows promise, with a fascinating new bad guy, and a truly twisted Sylar storyline.  However, it has already become so self involved with its own mythology that I wouldn’t recommend to anyone but the hardcore comics fan.

The Office When will Americans tire of the cringeful British import?  No time soon.  Pam is pregnant, Jim is promoted, Dwight is delivering angry soliloques and Michael Scott never ceases to amaze.  Watch it, even if you haven’t been following for years.

Community I had to give the show that combined the television return of Chevy Chase with The Soup’s smarmy Joel McHale a try.  The show is a 21st century misfit Breakfast Club that takes place at a local community college.  It focuses on McHale’s character, a lawyer and pathological liar forced to go to college after his fake degree is discovered.  The characters still seem a bit stock, but great performances by all will keep me tuning in.

Flash Forward Touted as the new Lost, Flash Forward is a sci-fi detective thriller that shows a lot of promise.  The show revolves around a mysterious incident in which all of mankind was knocked unconscious, and experienced a few minutes of a day six months in the future.  I wasn’t terribly captivated by the first episode, but the fascinating premise is enough to make me give it a few more tries.

What about you?  What are you watching?

Seeing J.J. Abram’s Star Trek felt like being in an alternate universe.  I stopped at a party on my way to the theatre, where I heard a a gorgeous redheaded soriety type talk about how much she loves how excited she was to see the film.  Something has changed in this universe.

The new Trekis not a prequel, so much as an excuse to reboot the franchise.  The events of the first few minutes of the movie serve to create an alternate universe, allowing Abrams to tell whatever story he wants, without messing up the timeline.  Which is good from a marketing standpoint.  Abrams, admittedly more of a Star Wars guy, has taken the 60s sci-fi to the level of full blown space opera.  He’s traded cheezy monsters and heady social commentary for CGI alien officers and an Enterprise that feels like the Apple store. 

 The purist in me is disappointed.  Instead of learning the backstory of our favorite characters, we’re seeing different stories of similar characters.  But looking around the theater, I saw college guys taking pretty girls to see Star Trek.  It made me wish I had dusted off the old Ferengi costume from my Deep Space Nine phase.  It makes me a little jealous of Kirk, Spock and Bones getting to start over.  I try to live a life without regrets, but who wouldn’t want to reboot their franchise from time to time?

Live Long and Prosper.

Making Optimism Cool Again

Chris —  April 18, 2009

It’s almost embarassing how deeply I was affected by Star Trek growing up. I’ve always dreamed of having audacity like James Kirk, and considered Jean-Luc Picard a father figure.

In an interview right after word came out that the LOST creator J.J. Abrams would the helm of Star Trek, he said “it’s my job to make optimism cool again.”  Optimism was the key trait of the Roddenberry’s universe. Humans of all races and aliens worked together in a great Federation, exploring the universe.  Instead of galaxy-spanning violence of space opera, he cast a vision of hope for the end of cold war (Federation vs. Klingons) and racism (that one episode with half black/half white alien.)

Even within the Star Trek universe, such optimism could not last.  Roddenberry’s successors, like Ronald Moore (at home in the darker Battlestar Gallactica), turned to stories of terrorism and war. 

Optimism is harder write than destruction and war.  It reflects our own state, where many seem to give up on the hope for a better future, choosing to fight tooth and nail for whatever literal or philosophical ground they can hold.

I’m holding out for Abrams, because right now, I could use some optimism.