Following her sojourn to an alternate universe during season 1's finale, Olivia (Anna Torv) is missing from our world. What's more, the car she was travelling in has been involved in a traffic "accident" and her body's vanished from the crime scene; a mystery that's attractied the attention of green-eared FBI Agent Jessup (Meghan Markle), who arrives at the scene following reports of one male survivor leaving the crash-site. Unbeknownst to anyone, the bloodied survivor is not from our world: as we see him trick his way into a nearby apartment block, kill an occupant, attached a three-pronged device to the pallet of their mouth, and use it to copy his victim's features in a painful skeletal contortion..."A New Day In The Old Town" works remarkably well as a re-introduction to the series, mostly achieved through audience proxy Agent Jessup, who becomes fascinated by Fringe Division when Peter (Joshua Jackson) and Walter (John Noble) arrive at the accident site and, seconds later, Olivia's body reappears and is catapulted through her car windshield. With Olivia hospitalized for most of the episode as a result of her injuries, there's also trouble brewing for Fringe Division itself, as Agent Broyles (Lance Reddick) faces having his department shutdown by the government due to a lack of tangible results and a significant fiscal overspend.
In many ways, this is all familiar territory for The X Files -- the show which Fringe is undoubtedly the spiritual heir (there's even a cameo from Mulder and Scully via a television screen, "watching" as a paranormal event unfolds) –- but it's less hamstrung by the believer/skeptic dynamic that proved tedious and implausible to maintain on that '90s precursor. On Fringe, everyone is fully aware that teleportation, mind-control, parallel worlds, and telekinesis are real threats to national security, so the only people in the way are the starched suits up on Capitol Hill.
The premiere was a fairly rudimentary episode in some ways, as it boiled down to trying to find a shape-shifting "soldier" from another dimension, who's on a mission to assassinate various people in our world for unknown reasons. As season 1 alluded, we're actually enmeshed in an inter-dimensional war, and certain individuals on both sides have the ability (technological, or physiologically) to become warriors for their respective sides. "A New Day In The Old Town" imparts quite a lot of fresh information and teases us with other surprises down the line: Olivia wakes up from her coma by spouting a Greek verse Peter's mother used to say to him before bed (suggesting she was sent back by her, or at least met her in the alternate Earth?); Agent Jessup is seen researching past Fringe investigations and linking them to chapters of The Bible; and Agent Francis (Kirk Acevedo) doesn't survive an encounter with the shape-shifting Lloyd Parr (Luke Goss), but only the audience are now aware that loyal "Charlie" is an imposter now.Overall, this was a drum-tight and entertaining hour of creative sci-fi from writers J.J Abrams and Akiva Goldsman. I'm also glad the duration of episodes has been reduced from 50-minutes to a standard 42 (as Fox's dabble with fewer advertisements proved unsustainable), and this story felt much leaner as a result. This was a great episode of mythology-broadening that was accessible to newcomers, but had plenty to offer loyal fans. It was also nice to see Peter taking a more proactive role here; written far stronger than his father's sarcastic interpretor from last season. Fringe continues to balance crazy theories and pseudo-science with engaging action and amusing comedy -- primarily through Walter, who is distracted from performing an autopsy by his recipe for making great custard, and gets to say lines like "feel his anus -- it's soaking wet" when examining a corpse.
My only irritation was the cliché that Olivia's returned from her inter-dimensional trip sans memory, but everything else left me suitably appetised for another year of monsters, crazy science, gruesome deaths and Fortean sci-fi.
17 September 2009
Fox, 9pm
written by: J.J Abrams & Akiva Goldsman directed by: Akiva Goldsman starring: Anna Torv (Agent Olivia Dunham), John Noble (Dr. Walter Bishop), Joshua Jackson (Peter Bishop), Jasika Cole (Astrid Farnsworth), Lance Reddick (Agent Phillip Broyles), Kirk Acevedo (Agent Charlie Francis), Ari Graynor (Rachel Dunham), Luke Goss (Lloyd Parr) & Meghan Markle (Junior FBI Agent Jessup)
