Voenix Rising

A few weeks ago, since most of our current favorite shows were on hiatus, we were searching for something new to watch to fill our evenings. We started on Babylon 5, a show I warmly remember from the late 90s that my roommate in San Francisco and I used to enjoy together. It seemed that my memories were tempered; twenty five years later and the show—while still decent—was obviously plagued by a multitude of sins, not the least of which being the cheesy visual effects and the overly harsh lighting in nearly every scene. I mean, the premise of the show was good—and I remember it actually getting better as the years progressed—but we couldn't even make it through the first season before giving up and moving on.

Thinking about other shows from the past that might be worth revisiting, we remembered that Fringe had been one of our favorites. We found all five seasons streaming on HBO+.

A full decade has passed since the show last aired, so my memories of the story line were occasionally hazy or at times outright misremembered, but I have to say that after we wrapped up the five seasons last night, I was just as gutted by the end of it as I had been those many years ago.  And while the writers did wrap everything up (unlike certain other shows in this genre, cough, Westworld, cough) by the final episode, I had become so invested in the characters and their stories that it still left me wanting more.

The ensemble cast is top notch and the series has its moments of fun and  laugh-out-loud frivolity (the character of Walter brings much-needed comic relief when things get too heavy)…

…but overall I think it's a serious and oftentimes—sad—story. It addresses love, family, loyalty, separation, and forces you to ponder the really big questions of life: why we're here and whether or not there is something more out there. Fringe is one of those shows that stays with you long after the final note of the final closing credits ends. But maybe I'm just listening to the soundtrack as I write this and it's causing me to wax poetic. Or maybe I'm simply biased because I'm an inveterate nerd, and so many of the themes (whether it's alternate universes, time travel, or the horror of a being trapped in a ruthless totalitarian society) resonate with me on a fundamental level.

Have I mentioned Joshua Jackson's awesome perma-scruff?

Quite surprisingly, it appears Fringe is enjoying a bit of a renaissance on HBO+ due to Anna Torv's appearance in The Last of Us. (A show we're just starting.) Coming fresh off Fringe, while watching the first episode of The Last of Us, I couldn't help thinking that this was just yet another alternate universe that Olivia has somehow gotten herself trapped in…