Something great is out there: Fox's 'Fringe'

By Robert Bianco, USA TODAY

When you're off to the fringe, it pays to have a great guide.
That's exactly what you get in J.J. Abrams, the TV auteur who reinvigorated the action/adventure drama with Alias and Lost and now adds the best new show of the fall, Fringe. And this time, our guide promises he'll be easier to follow.

What Abrams brings to Fringe is a director's eye for plot and pace, a fan's love of sci-fi excitement, and a story-teller's gift for investing absurd events with real emotions and relatable characters. But more than anything, he's an entertainer; what permeates his shows is the joy he takes in the medium, in contorting conventions and genres into something new.

Abrams also knows people watch shows, not producers, which is why his series are impeccably cast. In Fringe, that means teaming Anna Torv, an Australian star soon to be an American one, with two more familiar faces: Dawson's Creek's Joshua Jackson and Lord of the Rings' John Noble. Add Mark Valley, Lance Reddick and Blair Brown, and you have a great ensemble.

Despite the X-Files influences, in essence, Fringe is a crime show with a different science-based mystery to be solved each week. In tonight's 95-minute opener, that crime melts a plane-load of passengers, sparking an investigation from FBI agents Olivia Dunham (Torv) and John Scott (Valley).

When tragedy strikes again, Dunham turns to a master of fringe science, Walter Bishop (Noble). But Bishop is insane and institutionalized, and the only person who can get him out is his estranged son, Peter (Jackson).

Strange doings abound in a plot that links cows with LSD and flashes clues to a bigger conspiracy. But wisely, tonight's premiere is dedicated to establishing the relationships among the three main characters, who are linked by both damage and desire.

Fringe's premiere lacks the beauty and resonance of Lost, but it provides a solid framework for a series, which is what a pilot is supposed to do. You can see where it's going, and assuming Abrams doesn't let it get lost in its conspiracy, it should be fun to ride along.

This fall, that could be the best offer you get.

JPX conflicted about Fringe; hates Pacey