4.10 "Forced Perspective" - Disappointed

[bonnie scotland]

Totally boring episode. Took us no-where and the drama had that odd, slow flat feeling that so much of this series has had. I'm afraid what is coming out for me is that episodes that rely on Olivia and Lincoln's new iterations as the central characters are virtually unwatchable, as the characters are so boring and unlikeable. Having just watched series 1 again, Olivia's character was troubled, but she was multi-layered and sexy and clever and pro-active and dynamic. This Olivia is untrustworthy and has had a personality by-pass, is stupidly suspicious and closed minded despite the evidence in front of her eyes, and just doesn't seem very bright...did IQ's dip after Peter left?? so why would I want to watch episodes where this character takes up the screen time?? The two previous eps where Peter was pro-active, where there was some action, we had some Walter, and we had a baddy worth watching promised so much...and then.....sold down the river with another MOTW, a really poor one which didn't match the ghost network ep it echoed.
Overall the tone was really weird, everything seemed really distant and unconnected and flat again- even the Peter Walter scenes seemed that way...and after awaiting patiently for Peter's return we are back to a paltry few scenes in and extremely ad raincoat- clearly this universe has no decent shops!

Bur seriously- More annoyingly!!There is no logic and no follow through on either the events or the character or relationship development - the producers have really dropped the ball...it's like the writers don't have any idea of what went on in the ep before the one they are writing and their ep. I don;t mind good MOTW, but there has to be a balance with the over-riding story. For pity's sake, let's end this boring universe cr-p now and get back to basics.... this series has for me, gone form an obsession to a duty..don't know if I am going to make it to the end, because I think we are going to be robbed when it comes to a tie up of all the fabulous series 1 and 2 story arcs.

[Zinggia]

@John984 and willg - Oh believe you me, I'm in the same boat as you guys. I would L-O-V-E for them to get back on the ball and refocus the writing like it was in seasons 1 & 2. Heck I'd take season 3 at this point. But...

this series has for me, gone form an obsession to a duty..don't know if I am going to make it to the end, because I think we are going to be robbed when it comes to a tie up of all the fabulous series 1 and 2 story arcs.

... bonnie's right on the money about this, but I think this is how those producing the show are viewing it. I'm sure WB (or whoever is set to make the most $$$ in the long run) has one goal only: syndication. And they don't care too much how they get to the magic 100 number, only that they get there before the plug is pulled. So if they have to rush scripts in an effort to see this come to pass, so be it. Which is a real shame.

A lot of the time I feel like Fringe was never given a fare shake by Fox, timewise and financially, even from the get-go.

[Heruss]

I have to say while not quite ready to use "dissapointed" (which is the strongest word an Englishman can use!) I am becoming "concerned" (about the third strongest non-curse word an Englishman can use) while the characters are a little flatter this time around this may be because of the re-write of numerous characters as a result of the lack of Peter helping develop them. It's just feeling a teensy bit lazy in areas and the way in which peter is going to be used as a cheat-sheet is what irks me somewhat. Has the writing team actually changed from the S2/S3 set?

[bonnie scotland]

I have to say while not quite ready to use "dissapointed" (which is the strongest word an Englishman can use!) I am becoming "concerned" (about the third strongest non-curse word an Englishman can use) while the characters are a little flatter this time around this may be because of the re-write of numerous characters as a result of the lack of Peter helping develop them. It's just feeling a teensy bit lazy in areas and the way in which peter is going to be used as a cheat-sheet is what irks me somewhat. Has the writing team actually changed from the S2/S3 set?

wow Heruss you should try supporting the Scottish football team for a period of time- you would discover disappointed was a normal state of mind and the lexicon of strong words advances stratispherically and rudely from there!! I've worked on 'serialised drama' ok soap...and even the most incompetent producers ensure character development is consistant and 'believable' (certainly in the confines of that particular world- . this is not laziness..new writers can watch the previous ep and get to know the characters before they write. They can research and talk to the producers and the actors..the people who often know the character best (although of course not what will happen- aka Josh's false steers).

[Heruss]

Oddly ennough Bonnie, I just wrote a load of stuff on that in the other thread here that covers a few thoughts on it.

[homerj]

IAs for Fringe finishing with season 4, I'm actually glad fox's new shows are sucking so much Terra Nova and Alacatraz are both extremely poor so early on in their existence, at least Fringe is still worth watching 4 seasons on.

Pretty sure Alcatraz is getting good ratings. Not sure what youre smokin but give me some.

[Heruss]

Alcatraz is getting fairly solid ratings, but Terra Nova was suffering a little bit on both sides of the pond. I've not been able to catch either over here just yet but anyways.