Fringe: The Complete Second Season
DVD Reviews | Sep 28th, 2010
Starring: Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Blair Brown, Jasika Nicole, Kirk Acevedo, Lance Reddick, Michael Cerveris
Created By: J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci
Studio: Warner Bros
Buy On Amazon.com
Another fantastic season of Fringe is available on DVD and Blu-Ray! This show is one I can’t live without because each week it’s one compelling episode after another. If you’re a fan of sci-fi, fantasy, action, and a little but of comedy, you’ll really appreciate this second season of Fringe.
The first season ended with Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) venturing over to the alternate universe for a meeting in the World Trade Center towers with William Bell. Cut to Season 2, we see Agent Dunham being flown through a car windshield in NYC. She’s badly injured and pronounced dead, but then comes back to life. She traveled back from the alternate universe and a shape shifter tried to kill her by hitting her with a car. It’s all a bit confusing. The shape shifters from that world have come over here to kill her and Dr Bishop. The overall plot of season 2 is about the other side and how they are affecting the “real world.” There are episodes that have nothing to do about that plot but when things are going weird, they are always tied to Dr Bishop or William Bell or the other universe. The other big plot of the season is the mystery of Peter Bishop. It’s revealed that he’s really from the alternate realty and Walter stole him from that side. Which pretty much is, why all the things are happening in the real world because of those chain of events. The final episodes of the season Peter learns the truth and ventures over to the other side with his real Father. Walter, Olivia want to get Peter back so they travel over there as well, with the help of William Bell.
Explaining any more of this season will make my head explode. Maybe that can be an episode on the show? The story lines are very layered, and very very interesting. I just love to see what happened each week and what new weird thing happens. It’s sort of like the doctor shows like House where you see something abnormal happen, but you get glued to the TV because you want to figure out how they fix it (or don’t). What’s interesting is these stand alone episodes and then you try to figure out how they play with the overall scheme of things in your head. Fringe is definitely my Lost replacement, because it’s so mysterious and entertaining.
Plus, the cast is great and have wonderful chemistry together. It was nice seeing Leonard Nimoy, unfortunately won’t be seeing much of him now since he retired from acting. John Noble was criminally robbed of an Oscar nomination this season (well for both seasons). He’s been the best thing about the show, with his quirks and switching between comedic stuff to dramatic stuff in 2 seconds. Anna Torv offered a lot more personality in the second season and Joshua Jackson was great again as well. It was nice to see Jasika Nicole given more to do this season as well. It’s kind of a shame to see Kirk Acevedo get the shaft in a way and not be on the show as much, but there’s always his alternate realty character.
Any complaints I had about the previous season are out the window. The show is more focused, and when it involves the alternate realty and the shape shifters, my interests peaks a lot. I thought the best episode of the season was the Peter/Walter flashback episode. You find out everything that happened, why Walter is in such a fragile state of mind, what happened with Peter(s), and what happened to Nina Sharp’s arm. Very good episode! Unfortunately, I didn’t care for the musical episode and thought it was too weird. Sure, Walter was high on LCD when he was telling the story, it just felt like an unnecessary episode though. It was like watching a clip show episode. Pointless. But that’s about the only complaint I had with the season.
The Season 2 DVD extras are setup the same way as Season 1 DVD was. Each episode has it’s own section and list whether or not it has extras or not. Some might like this way but I prefer if all the extras were on one disc or whole section. I guess I’m just lazy but rather have everything in one section. But anyway, the Unearthed episode that really took place in Season 1 is included in the extras, as well as small featurettes for selected episodes, deleted scenes, audio commentary on 4 episodes, and a funny gag reel.
If you liked Season 1 of Fringe, and didn’t see Season 2 yet; be sure to buy the DVD or at least rent the DVD! The season is far better than season 1 and that season was excellent too! I’m looking forward to more episodes from Fringe and hope it’s on the air for a long time.
Features:
The Unearthed Episode
The Mythology Of Fringe
Fringe: Analyzing The Scenes Sidebars On 6 Key Episodes
In The Lab With John Noble And Prop Master Rob Smith
Commentary On 4 Episodes By Series Stars and Creative Team
Unusual Side Effects: Gag Reel
Dissected Files: Unaired Scenes
Video:
Widescreen 1.85:1 Color (Anamorphic)
Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:
English
Bottom Line: No Sophomore slump with Fringe! The second season is better than the first!
Running Time: 968 mins
Rating: NR
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating:
