Loaded Couch Potatoes

Okey doke, take a look at this:

Now, just you try and tell me you aren’t glad to see this show back for a second season.

And a pretty darn good season premiere it is, too.  “A New Day in the Old Town” is the title; it was scripted by J.J. Abrams and Akiva Goldsman, and directed by Goldsman, who previously directed the first-season episode ”Bad Dreams.” 

As you might recall, that episode was probably the best of the first season, and while this one isn’t quite up to that standard, it is nevertheless fairly gripping stuff.  This suggests two things: one, that J.J. Abrams being hands-on with his shows is almost always a good thing; and, two, that Akiva Goldsman ought to direct one out of at least every four episodes of this series.  The dude knows what he’s doing; it’s just that simple.

I can imagine large portions of the audience being quite disappointed with this episode, though, based not so much on what it is, but instead on what it isn’t: a direct continuation of last season’s finale, which found Olivia Dunham chatting up William (Leonard Nimoy) Bell in a parallel universe’s version of the still-standing World Trade Center.  Yes, I’d imagine a lot of folks will be annoyed that this episode doesn’t pick up exactly where that one left off.

I’d be one of them, too, if not for the fact that Abrams and Goldsman obviously want you to be expecting the episode to begin that way.  The fact that it doesn’t immediately mythologizes whatever experiences Olivia has been through while sojourning in that other dimension, and it means that the mystery surrounding those events is almost certainly going to form a large part of what this sophomore season will be about.  Also, since for the time being Olivia herself doesn’t know what happened, it’s not at all a cheat; instead, it’s a device, and one I’m happy to let play out.  Abrams ain’t no chump; he’ll bring the goods, if not this episode, then maybe two or three or twelve down the line.

I’m all for that.  Assuming Olivia’s extradimensional vacation will be an ongoing plot thread, I’ll be pleased for the series to contain more mythology and less X-Filesish standalone plots.  (Speaking of that show, you can glimpse it playing on a television at one point while a particularly X-Filesian incident is taking place.  Later on in the episode, a senator even refers to paranormal things as having “the old ‘X’ designation.”  Nice.  I think it’s something the FBI actually does — label unexplained cases with an “X” designation — but, still … nice.)

As with “Bad Dreams,” what Goldsman really seems to bring to the table as a director is a great skill with his actors.  Anna Torv spends the entire episode bedridden — oops, spoilers, lol — but shows more vulnerability than we’ve ever seen her imbue Dunham with heretofore.  I think I said this when I reviewed “Bad Dreams,” but I’ll just go ahead and repeat it here, since it’s still true: I think Torv is a pretty good actress, and Goldsman seems to be good at both writing ways for her to show it and then capturing her actually doing it.  And he’s also quite good with Joshua Jackson as Peter.  Both Olivia and Peter seem to be richer characters in this episode than was typically the case during the first season, and that is why Goldsman needs to be a regular fixture on the show.  Abrams’ writing is probably also responsible for this in no small way.

The episode — and I won’t be doing much more in the way of spoiler-divulging — mostly involves Olivia returning in an unexpected way from the parallel universe, and being pursued by a shape-shifting soldier whose mission is to get some (apparently crucial) information out of her.  Do we learn exactly what it is he/she/it is looking for?  Of course not, silly!  Haven’t you figured out by now that it makes no sense to do anything other than play that sort of plot out over numerous episodes?

The shape-shifting soldier plotline is executed quite capably; the Olivia/soldier story is interesting, and is intercut with a b-story involving the government trying to shut down the Fringe Division because, under Broyles’ leadership, it has failed to produce anything usable.  Abrams and Goldsman do a pretty good job of making that storyline dovetail with the main one, and as such, the episode stays interesting pretty much all the way through … something first-season episodes were not always successful in achieving.  Hopefully, this is a sign that the second season is going to be an improvement on an already good show.

Other items of interest:

*     The episode begins with a brand-new saga-sell in which Blair Brown tells the audience — which Fox obviously hopes will include millions of new members in the show’s new Thursday-night home — what Fringe is all about.  Saga-sells are a strange, and somewhat antiquated, device, but if this one keeps the show a hit, I’m all for it.

*     I’m not sure what to think about the new FBI agent: Agent Jessup, played by the oddly attractive Meghan Markle.  Markle has done a fair amount of acting, but she was also one of the suitcase models on Deal or No Deal at one point, and I’ve got to be honest here: I’m not sure Markle has the chops to be on this show.  Considering how good Goldsman seems to be at directing actors, I’m not sure it’s anything other than a terrible sign that so many of Markle’s line readings in this episode sound stiff and forced.  We’ll have to see how it plays out, I guess, but for now, I’m kinda pessimistic on the subject.  As for Jessup herself as a character … same deal.

*     How cool was that interdimensional typewriter?  When I was a kid, I used to pretend that typewriters were the helm controls of the U.S.S. Enterprise, so I guess I’m predisposed to enjoy this as a sci-fi device.  Either way, it’s one of the cooler things the show has come up with so far.

*     Going back to that photo I posted up top … seriously, Gene the Cow wearing a birthday party hat is just genius.  Unfortunately, there is still no sign of an actual storyline for Astrid in the near future.