I didn’t really expect Fringe to become my No. 1 show.

The first season finale, however, put it there, and with the end of Lost and Battlestar Galactica, it’s been cemented at the top. (Supernatural and Doctor Who are extremely acceptable seconds, though.)

Friday night’s third season finale has made my brain hurt, in the same glorious tradition of the Lost “flash-forward” finale. Just when you think you kind of sort of know what’s going on, Peter flashes out of existence and the Observers are all tilting their heads like cats and telling September how he was right.

But there’s this: If Peter never existed, how were the two universes brought together? If Peter never existed, why did Walter go Over There in the first place? If Peter never existed, why does my brain hurt so much and who is this Polivia everyone’s been kvelling about all season?

I wouldn’t be stuck on the paradox of Peter’s nonexistence if Walter hadn’t made such a big deal about how he couldn’t not send the machine back because of the paradox it created. It may just be that Walter was wrong – that Walter didn’t have to send the machine back in time (by the way, the fact that Walter, Astrid and Ella were the First People? LOVE THAT.), but did because he thought he had to.

Here’s my thoughts about Peter’s nonexistence:

• Watch Doctor Who? Remember last season’s finale when Amy remembered her raggedy doctor and that memory brought him back into existence? What if something like that is at play? That eventually the Olivias remember Peter and that brings him back? Imagine if it is Fauxlivia who remembers him first (which would seem likely, as she has his child, right?) – though I have to admit, that would lead to a whole romantic triangle storyline that has been played over and over and over since the beginning of literature, the star-crossed lovers never seeming to be able to come together.

• Peter as we know him never existed, but he did exist as a child, dying in both universes. September saved Peter in an alternate timeline/universe because he knew Peter could bring balance to the Red and Blue universes. But in this new, gray, universe, Peter cannot exist, because he belongs in neither and they are now joined. Perhaps he blipped back home to his own universe?

• The Observers. They are the one truly true mystery left. There are lots of little things we still don’t understand (such as, who was that guy who is supposed to kill Olivia?), but no matter how much we see the Observers, we still have no real idea who or what they are. Are they what some people would call angels, for lack of a better description? They generally are there to ensure that fates are met as they are fated to, interfering only if they have to ensure it happens as it is supposed to. But then why is September the only one who understood Peter’s role? Is it because Walter was never supposed to cross into the other universe? Did they mess up by not avoiding that and so the timeline involving the characters we know is somewhat of a mystery to them?

The good news is that we know Fringe eventually will give us the answers we seek. The bad news is that we have to wait at least until September to start to unravel them.

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For years, January was the Best.Month.Ever., television wise. After months of being deprived of my favorite shows, the inevitable post-holiday dreariness, and another two months or more of winter to endure, January brought me back to that mysterious island on Lost, and the high-intensity crack of 24. What is a TV obsessed gal to do this year, now that both of those shows have finished their runs? Instead of being sad and grumpy, I have found some joy in the mid-season television schedule.

Parks and Recreation – I am still at a loss as to why NBC put this show on the shelf for the first half of the season and insisted on cramming the unfunny Outsourced down our throats instead (I actually do know why, but it’s still annoying). P&R got all kinds of awesome last year, and the end of the season brought us some great twists with the addition of Rob Lowe and Adam Scott to the ensemble. Amy Poehler is reliably great, and Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson is possibly the best reason to keep tuning in. I hate singling out people on ensemble shows like this, because every one of  them adds another fantastic layer, making it my easy replacement for the now limping The Office.

V – It’s not like I was waiting with bated lizard breath for this show to return. The first effort was a pale shadow of the original V series and mini-series, but I am a sucker for sci-fi, so I went into the first episode of this new season hopeful, but not expecting a thing. They did amp up the reveals (finally, a glimpse at the lizard face!), had some more action and evil-ness from the queen lizard Anna, and put their special effects budget to good use. But, the writing is still terrible (I feel sorry for some of the clunkers the actors have to deliver), and it looks like we will have to endure even more of Erica’s dolt of a son, Tyler. If I had an inkling to bail on this show, it was squashed by the addition of Sam from Reaper (Bret Harrison), who I think is wonderful, and I hope they don’t kill him off too soon.

Southland - I don’t watch this show (so I’m not gonna bother finding a pic), but it is regularly hailed as one of the best cop shows out there, and the people I know who do watch it, love the crap out of it. I only mention it because it was dead as a doornail after it’s first season on NBC, and was resurrected by TNT in what I think is a true TV miracle. This is the beginning of season three, and if you’re a fan, enjoy the sweet taste of victory!

Fringe - I know, I know, not a mid-seasoner, but every second this show is not around, I miss it. Fox had been unusually kind to us with this show, until now. Even with the steady ratings slide, they blessed us with a third season, and then they pulled the rug out from under us and moved it to Friday’s. I fear that this may be the last season, and it’s a shame, as this season has been freakin’ outstanding!!

The Amazing Race & Survivor - I am no longer in the reality show closet. I like what I like, and I am not ashamed. Competitive reality shows are one of my weaknesses (along with sci-fi and post-apocalyptic shows), and these two are tops as far as I’m concerned. They will both be back in February for new seasons, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

There are a few others that have me vaguely interested like Game of Thrones on HBO, and The Cape on NBC. The return of Big Love should be more exciting, but I’m not interested enough to write about it. You can bet my DVR will be storing these shows up to try out when it’s too snowy and cold to do anything else.

PS! OMG!! Have you seen this?? June is a very, very long time from now.

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It’s been far too long since Fringe came to an astoundingly amazing second season finale.

While it didn’t have the same punch to the gut the first season finale did — for a New Yorker, nothing will compare with the sight of the Twin Towers still standing there in an alternate Big Apple, with Spock standing there next to Olivia — it still left us yearning for more, as Altlivia took her place in “our” universe and our Olivia begged Walternate to let her out of solitary confinement somewhere far, far from home.

We came into last night’s episode wondering how Olivia would break free (not if, but HOW) and were not disappointed when she faked not being able to breathe and then took out a room full of doctors and punched a soldier in the throat and took his gun.

Naturally, Olivia had managed to tuck the passcode in the recesses of her mind to get into the elevator and out of Walternate’s headquarters on … Liberty Island!?!?!?

And then, again, the sight of the Twin Towers, reminding us just how different this universe is.

Meanwhile, in our world, Altlivia is hanging out with Peter and Walter. I thought for sure when Peter kissed her that he’d realize she wasn’t our Olivia. Who knows – it’s still possible he already realizes it.

Knowing Olivia as we do, I can’t help but wonder when – not if, but when, Altlivia will realize Walter is not the enemy and the “war” was caused by one father’s pain in losing his son. Truth be told, two of the same fathers, losing both their sons in different ways.

Peter is the key to ending the war and Olivia/Altlivia is the person who can turn the key. The question is whether Walternate will ever be able to accept reality for what it is. And, actually, what defines reality anyway?

And we also found out Olivia’s not the first to get trapped in this alternate universe. Bubbles (sorry, after so many seasons of The Wire – #thebestshoweverontelevision – it’s hard not to think of him that way) the cab driver obviously is from “over there.”

He was too quick to trust Olivia, his comments of about how he felt he was from somewhere else and then the fact that he watched Olivia as she drove off with Not-Charlie and followed, shows that he knows something is up. Does he REALLY know or was something merely sparked in his brain that has him wondering about his life again?

So now Olivia has turned into Altlivia by seeing her mom again. The shock of seeing her alive – her death has been referred to so many times and obviously was an emotionally scarring event – flipped the switch Walternate had been prepping in Olivia to turn her into Altlivia.

Why did he want to do that? Well, Olivia Dunham – whether Over There or Over Here – is special. She’s different. How, we still don’t completely know. But if Olivia is special, then so is Altlivia.

This season’s gonna be one helluva ride.

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I was quite happy to hear Fringe would be back this week and intrigued, to say the least, that the second episode, airing on Monday, Jan. 11, is an unaired one from Season 1. Thursday’s episode is called “Unearthed.”

(Note: Some blogs, including some linked to below, have said Fringe isn’t back until Jan. 11, Monday, but the Fox site itself says it’s this Thursday. I’m going with Fox.)

And to make things even more confusing, Charlie (who was killed twice kind of – once for real and once as his doppelganger) plays a major role in the episode.

Fringebloggers had the full text of the press release about Monday’s episode, and it seems that the powers that be don’t really want us to know at this point if this is an alternate universe Charlie or a flashback of some sort:

After a teenage girl is pronounced brain dead, her mother takes her off life support, but when doctors operate quickly to remove her organs, the deceased girl shockingly awakens screaming an alphanumeric code. Equally as perplexing as her resurrection is that she is now somehow able to speak Russian and possesses classified information only a high-ranking soldier would know. While the girl’s mind-bending condition intensifies, Walter dusts off some old lab videos and hypothesizes the unthinkable, sending Olivia and Peter to investigate the bewildering case in an original “Unearthed” episode of FRINGE and here’s another mystery: is it an unaired episode from Season One or is it from an alternate universe? airing Monday, Jan. 11 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (FRINGE-121) (TV-14 L, V)

We think we know it is an unaired Season One episode, as that’s what Cinemablend and others seemed to have been told.

Of course, that doesn’t mean they were told correct information. That, or after letting the cat out of the bag, the powers that be decided to make it part of the alternate universe storyline. Either way … color me intrigued.

I am kind of ticked, however, that Fox is only putting Fringe back on the air for a few weeks, before yanking it off for midseason replacement Past Life, according to The Futon Critic. It doesn’t come back until April. This is especially wrong, because after moving Fringe to a pretty big night for genre TV (and thus more competition), it’s depriving the show of getting the boost a slot after American Idol could bring it. It doesn’t come back on the air until April 1.

WTF, Fox?

Now, Past Life might be OK, and maybe they’re banking on it being in Fringe’s slot to give it a boost. It’s about a bunch of detectives who investigate whether what’s happening to you now could be related to who you were in a past life.

Here’s a trailer:

Might it be OK? Sure. And Fox reduced the order for the show from 13 to just 7 episodes, so that probably means it’s pretty good.

Oh, fun reading: io9 has a great post about JJ Abram’s obsession with Alice in Wonderland, and contains a link to Hidden Elements, an I Spy-like puzzle you can do (as many times as you want) to “unlock” some very cool wallpapers. I did it enough times that I was able to find all the items and download all eight wallpapers.

Here, they are, click on the thumbnails to download a 1024 × 768 size – if you want larger, you’ll have to go to the site and solve it yourself:

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OK, that was a really long title.

But that’s to make up for being so lax in blogging about Fringe so far this season, despite the fact that Walter Bishop is, bar none, my favorite character on television at the moment (that includes shows that are on hiatus right now).

Aussie John Noble plays Bishop impeccably, with just the right amount of insanity, incredible intelligence and love for his family and friends.

It was obvious from the beginning that Bishop was different. Look, the man’s been in a mental institution for quite some time and is completely estranged from his son. But as we saw him develop over the first season, culminating in the revelation that this universe’s Peter Bishop actually died in childhood – meaning the Peter we know and love is actually from an alternate universe, probably the one where Bell lives at the moment – we came to realize he wasn’t simply a mad scientist.

Sure, he’s pretty wacked out, but what person who’s taken as many hallucinogenics as Walter Bishop wouldn’t be a bit … off-kilter? And the extreme intelligence this man has is almost too much for his head to contain.

But perhaps the best part of Walter Bishop is his relationship with Astrid, his FBI assistant who has adapted to his eccentricities and become the perfect foil for his one-liners.

She understands how to get him back on track when he veers wildly off course; she is no longer grossed out by his desires for food at the most inopportune moments. I’ve grown to really like Astrid. And her hair is very attractive this season, too. It’s a good style for her.

But though I completely adore Walter Bishop beyond all reason, he’s only a small part of why I continue to watch Fringe.

The storyline this season appears to be leading us on a path toward a war between the two universes. I just wonder if it is indeed just the two universes? Are there more? And if not, why not?

OK, so to what we’ve seen so far this season:
• The typewriter that was never made in this universe that is a means of communication with the other universe. What’s with the mirror? How is the typewriter the means of communication?
• How are the alternate universe baddies shape shifters? I know they kind of explained it at some point, but I’m not ashamed to say I didn’t really understand. I know they’re not shape-shifters in the Star Trek sense, but they’re close enough.
• Speaking of shape shifters – is the Alternate Universe Charlie still alive and will we see him? I miss him already. He was a pretty cool character.
• Is there another Olivia? And why isn’t there another William Bell? Did the other Bell die?
• How was Nina Sharp in touch with Bell in the last episode? And if Nina Sharp knows Bell (as we already knew was the case), how is it that Walter never knew Nina? Did all that happen in the 17 years Walter was institutionalized?
• If this war is brewing, and they seem to need Olivia to fight it, why is Massive Dynamic stonewalling her and not providing her with all the info she needs?
• We know Olivia is “special” and Peter is from the other universe. But what about Broyles? Or Astrid, even? Why wouldn’t all the folks involved in the Fringe Unit be “special” in some way? Let’s not rule that out, folks.

By the way, have I mentioned how fabulous I think Blair Brown is in the role of Nina Sharp. I remember her from eons ago as Molly Dodd. Anyone? Nevermind. This is a much stronger role and she fills Sharp’s shoes well.

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I went back and forth on whether I’d live-blog the Emmys tonight, mainly because, after all, this is a TV blog.

But then I thought about it.

Where’s Battlestar Galactica? Kings? Did Jericho ever get any love?

Sure, critical darlings 30 Rock and The Office, though relatively low-rated (compared with the CSI juggernaut, anyway) get lots of Emmy love – as they well should. But most of the best shows on television rarely get any attention from the academy, unless they’re on HBO. And even there, The Wire never got recognition and it was, bar none, the best show on television during its run.

And if nothing else, this blog is about quality television (OK, and sometimes Charles in Charge, but I was young, sue me). And the Emmy broadcast itself is not quality television. How does the Oscar ceremony win a freakin’ Emmy every year? (Though I have to admit, choosing Intervention for Best Reality Series is a teensy bit redemptive.)

So tonight, I’ll be watching the Curb Your Enthusiasm season premiere and the series premiere of Bored to Death. We’ll probably catch up with the season premiere of Fringe, which I was waiting for my husband’s return to watch.

The Emmys? I’ll probably glance on Twitter every now and again. Or maybe I’ll just wait ’til morning.

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Heard some awesome news this weekend – Leonard Nimoy is going to reprise his role as William Bell as much as he wants to in Fringe’s second season.

The show started a bit slowly, but built up to an incredibly astoundingly jaw-dropping finale that blew my mind not one, but TWO times.

Part of that, of course, was Bell’s office, with a lovely view of the Twin Towers. And the recognition that Bell was in another universe, a parallel universe where history took a slightly different route.

Most of the season, show creators said at the TCA panels last week, will take place in the universe we know. But some will take place “over there,” and events in both universes will affect the others.

Wonder what happened to the version of Walter Bishop in the other universe? If he could bring Peter back from Over There to here, what does that mean about Peter’s family Over There? Did Walter Bishop and his wife die? Did he just snatch Peter from them without telling his doppelganger?

Hmmm. Something tells me the answer to this question is not going to be simple. Of course.

Nimoy’s already shot one episode of Season Two.  w00t!

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Every Tuesday night, I sit with my laptop, futzing around on the Internet while watching Fringe.

I knew I’d like it – it is J.J. Abrams, after all – but the first couple of episodes promised to be as infuriatingly mysterious as Lost, but not nearly as interesting and character-driven. Whoa – was I wrong.

Even characters who seemed almost a throwaway at the start of the series – Agent Charlie Francis and Astrid Farnsworth – have developed into interesting people. Astrid’s interactions with Walter Bishop (who is absolutely my favorite character on television at the moment – if I were 20 years older and unmarried, as I remarked on Twitter this evening, I’d totally propose to him) are truly enjoyable. She takes Walter’s complete insanity so well and even manages to keep her lunch down.

Perhaps the most shocking thing about Fringe, however, is how much was answered in tonight’s finale, while still leaving the door open for plenty more that could be answered in another season. Plenty. Puh-lenty.

Seeing as the powers that be hadn’t decided whether it’d be picked up for a second season when it was filmed, I appreciate that.

We also now know why Olivia sees these weird things from time to time – mirror images of reality, but just slightly different – was that burning city she saw from the world in which the Obamas had to move into a “new White House”? (The NY Post on William Bell’s table.)

We know why Olivia’s seen her former lover many times – he is still alive; just not the one from this version of Earth.

BLEW MY MIND: The Peter we know and have grown to love is actually from this alternate world. Did NOT see that coming. Thank you J.J. Abrams. The last time I was that shocked was the realization at the end of Season 3 of Lost that we were watching a flash forward. And when we found out who the final Cylon was on Battlestar Galactica.

BLEW MY MIND EVEN MORE: If you did not choke on your tongue when you saw Olivia was in the Twin Towers, you’re lying. LYING. LYING LYING LYING. Really. I gasped. A HUGE HONKIN’ GASP. For a native New Yorker, it was kind of heartbreaking, but in a bittersweet kind of way.

My favorite lines of the night:

Peter: What else aren’t you telling me, Walter?
Walter: Lots, I’m sure, but none of it relevant.

****

Olivia: What are you doing here?
Walter: We’re trying to plug a hole in the universe. What are you doing here?

And now it’s been picked up for a second season, and this line from the preview for Season 2 is just SO J.J. Abrams: “Answers will be questioned.”

Indeed.

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I’ve been catching up on all sorts of shows lately, so I thought I’d just wrap up some thoughts on some of what I’ve been watching:

Burn Notice

I think Michael Westen got his groove back. I absolutely adored Season 1. I enjoyed individual episodes in Season 2, but as a whole it left me feeling sort of meh.

But the bickering between Sam and Fiona, the weekly escapades of being a good guy, the decreased emphasis on the overarching mythology (c’mon, we have enough of that with Lost and BSG), Michael’s MacGyveristic tendencies and the goofiness of Sam’s love life (right now, I’m watching the scene where Sam is trying to talk to the lady of his dreams while taking down a bad guy) – nevermind Michael’s mom (Sharon Gless is totally awesome).

All of that adds up to a weekly 40+ minutes of goofy enjoyment.

And Romo Lampkin as a bad guy? Love it.

Fringe

OK, it’s J.J. Abrams, so I was bound to love it.

But the show has my favorite character currently on television – Dr. Walter Bishop.

The man opens his mouth and I laugh. The other week, I recall, someone said something about needing to cut someone open. His response: “Oh goodie, I love to cut.” Or something along those lines.

I giggle almost as much during Fringe as I laugh out loud during 30 Rock.

The whole underlying mythology? I can take it or leave it. I can’t expend that much mental energy on more than one J.J. Abrams special at a time, and Lost is taking up more than its share these days.

What I really like about the show is that even though there’s this mythology, each week can be taken in and of itself. It’s as close as I come to enjoying a procedural. Granted, it’s a procedural that involves the ability to enter someone else’s consciousness and other weirdness, but that’s par for the course with me.

Life on Mars

While I do wonder about the reason Sam’s back in 1973, I watch each week for Harvy Keitel and Michael Imperioli. Keitel’s cop is my second-favorite character on television these days, behind only Dr. Walter Bishop (see Fringe, above).

And Imperioli’s 1970s sexist pig is a joy to behold. Loved it when Annie basically saved his life this week. And Annie’s relationship with Sam is super-cute, too.

Brothers & Sisters

Loved it the first season.

Second season, started to wane.

This season? Pretty much over it, but I still watch most weeks. Dunno why. Can’t help it. Must stop.

Flight of the Conchords

If you’re not watching this show, you are missing one of the funniest things ever on television. “Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor” almost rival’s last year’s “HipHopOpotamus v. the Rhymenoceros.”

Please, for the love of all that’s holy, just watch this show.

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