Fringe

Foetus apple cores and six-fingered hands. Excellent.

Right, as I maybe mentioned another time, I NEVER watch whole series of things. Just NEVER. In fact I make a point of deliberately NOT watching something if I know it’s part of a series. Things like The Sopranos, Lost, Desperate Housewives, 24 etc. have all been shunned by myself.

 However, I decided to watch the pilot episode of ‘Fringe’ on SKY at the tail end of last year (cos it looked quite intriguing) and that was me hooked.

See him third from the right? He's dead - but yet somehow not dead...

For the uninitiated it’s by JJ Abrams (creator of Lost and the movie ‘Cloverfield’) and it’s about agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv – nah, never heard of her before either) of the FBI and her investigation of weird ‘happenings’. Events, which it is gradually emerging, are all linked to a possible end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it scenario.

It’s a bit X-Files’ish but obviously far more technologically advanced and with a bigger budget. Each episode has it’s own self-contained plot but the on-going story lines also unfold as you go along. It’s also excellently gruesome. Previous episodes have included a computer programme that makes you vomit out your own brain, people on a plane having their flesh melt off, a virus that seals up the body’s orifices and some kind of genetic mutator that turns a human into a giant, jaggy, gorilla-dog. It actually has everything you could want from a series really; Fit looking lead actress, Pacey from Dawson’s Creek, will they/won’t they relationship, eccentric older character, evil multi-national super corporation led by shadowy CEO that you never see, folk getting chopped in half, guns, the abuse of science and technology, aliens, cliffhangers, a cow and a right annoying FBI guy that you just want to batter.

I’m kind of devastated, in a way, for having started watching it because judging from recent episodes it’s going to get increasingly complex and baffling and will likely go on and on for about 12 seasons so I’ll now need to make sure I never miss it.

Aye that's him from Dawson's Creek on the left.

So I urge anyone with SKY to give it a wee try and see what you think. If you like it I’ll give you a summary of the larger story arc so that you’re not too confused. Cos you might be. Well, actually there’s no might about it. I missed one episode and I’m still trying to fill in the gaps.

SKY1, Sundays, 10.00pm.