Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Fringe: Season 2

 

+++Warning, this will contain spoilers from season 1, but no major season two giveaways.+++

Season two begins with Olivia being ejected from the parallel universe. We do not see the follow-up to her meeting with William Bell that ended season 1, immediately, and when she comes out of the parallel universe she is initially in a coma, and then when she wakes up discovers she has no memory. The first part of the season involves Olivia trying to get her memory back, continuing the case-of-the-week format solving the Fringe element cases, and going back to the larger parallel universe story arc. The shapeshifters take on a much larger role this season, and we begin to see the parallel universe versions of the main characters, learning much more about Peter's background in the process. The season ends on yet another massive cliffhanger with the fates of the team members totally up in the air.

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the series continues to look and sound great in the HD format. There are a ton of special effects used in the show, all of which look seamless in HD. For extras, there are commentary tracks on select episodes that include both cast and production members, there are several short analyzing the scene and deleted scene features for many episodes. There is an unaired season one episode, a half-hour-long making-of featurette, and a gag reel. All in all, a lot of bonus material if you like watching them.

Overall, the season is very good. The storylines advance well with the series doing a good job balancing the procedural story-of-the-week cases and interweaving the serial storyline as well. It unravels the larger story arc in relatively small doses at first, then really picks up as the season comes to an end. The writing and acting are all top-notch, especially John Noble, who does a lot with the character of Walter. So, if you are a fan of the sci-fi genre, and you liked or loved season one, this is definitely worth watching.