"Fringe" kicked off its second season by essentially ignoring the most lingering question from the first year's finale -- namely, what happened to Special Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) when she traveled to an alternate universe? What does that reality represent for her and the rest of the show's participants? And what's the frakking deal with Massive Dynamic founder William Bell (Leonard Nimoy)?
Sadly, the season's second installment, titled "Night of Desirable Objects," doesn't particularly clarify the details of "Fringe's" central premise of multiple dimensions. Luckily, it's clear that the rules and promises set forth by last year's conclusion aren't being ignored -- they're just peppered a little more conservatively than we'd like. The revelations might be slowgoing, but they are undoubtedly on the way. Read more...
To say that Special Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) has been on an out-of-this-world journey is a bit misleading, seeing as she didn't vacate the planet Earth... but she still visited an entirely different Earth nonetheless.
Confused? Well, welcome to "Fringe."
The first season of the J.J. Abrams-created television series concluded with Dunham's relocation to an alternate reality in the presence of the mystifying Dr. William Bell (Leonard Nimoy), who has set up shop inside of the still-standing World Trade Center in one of presumably many distinctions between the two worlds.
But that's not where we are when the second season premiere begins. The episode, penned by Abrams and Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, opens with a car crash. Read more...
Sure, Guillermo del Toro might want a lot of the original "Lord of the Rings" cast back for "The Hobbit" -- but it doesn't mean he'll get them all. At least one Steward of Gondor says he hasn't been asked.
"They haven't consulted me," said John Noble, who played Denethor. "I know Ian McKellan is coming back, and Andy Serkis will be -- he's very much associated with it, and he's a terrific artist. Ian [Holm] is not a young man, so I don't know what they'll do with that. But I don't think they'll have Denethor back."
The Denethor character -- Faramir and Boromir's father -- doesn't appear in the book version of "The Hobbit", but del Toro plans to make a second, connective film that would take place between "The Hobbit" and "Fellowship of the Ring." And if the character of Arargorn returns for that -- Viggo, we're looking at you -- then there's room for what happened to Gondor. Read more...
