Abrams Finales

I don't want to call this guy the second coming of Spielberg or, in today's standards, Apatow - but it seems to me that everything that J.J. Abrams has touched of late has been turned into gold.

With Star Trek already cruising along as possibly the year's best film (to date), and ruling at the box office, Abrams' two other side projects, Fringe and Lost brought their seasons to a close this week.

There will be spoilers galore in the rest of this blog, so if you haven't seen the above finales, please stop reading now.

I will start with Lost because it appears that more people know about this show. How can a 2-hour finale not only give you tons of answers to things that have been brewing for five seasons, but also leave you with even more questions than when you went in. A 2-hour finale that desperately left you wanting more - and we don't get any more until 2010, I may just go insane.

We are finally introduced to the illusive Jacob - the one that is truly considered the leader of the 'Others'. But, we can't just be given Jacob without a whole background on him - he's been on the island forever; he seems to be using the island for some sort of sociological experiment; an unnamed friend of his wants him dead; he has visited a handful of members of the castaways (Locke, Kate, Hurley, Sawyer, Jack, Sun & Jin). But, as soon as we meet Jacob - he is killed, by Ben and Locke(?). I have a strange feeling that we will not be seeing the last of him though.

Jack got his way, and with the help of Sayid and some others was able to toss 'Jughead' down the shoot to try and stop all of this from ever happening. A few side effects, however, was Sayid getting shot and near death - and the bomb not actually going off and the hole becoming magnetized anyway. This also started sucking everything metal down the hole - including a chain that happened to get wrapped around Juliet. So, bye bye Juliet? No so fast - not without one last heroic adventure. Juliet, near death, beats 'Jughead' with a rock until it explodes - and that is where we leave Season 5.

So many questions. Did the explosion work? Is everyone at least going to be in the same time frame now? How is Locke both dead and alive? Is the new Locke the unnamed man that wants Jacob dead? Are Jacob and Ben in on everything - including bringing back everyone to the island?

Can't wait for these questions to be answered - I am expecting a memorable season six.

As for Fringe, it has slowly been plugging along on Tuesday nights on FOX. It is quite possibly the best new show on television, however, has had a few missteps along the way. The bases of the show has always pitted Olivia and her crew against William Bell's Massive Dynamic corporation. Most of the shows have had some sort of connection to the overall tension between these two organizations, however, a few times the show stepped away from that --- sure it's fine to do that every so often, but it almost feels unnecessary.

Also, the show took at least a one month hiatus during the middle of the season - which left even me a little in the dark - when the show returned I found myself trying to remember a lot of things that happened in September and October.

That said, the final episodes really picked up and the finale that aired on Tuesday was awe inspiring and a little shocking.

The episode begins where the final left off, as David Robert Jones has shot Nina Sharp - and apparently removed an energy source that was hidden in her mechanical arm. This energy source can be used, when done correctly, to open a window to a parallel universe.

Jones has finally realized that William Bell is living in this parallel universe and will stop at nothing to track him down and kill him. It's up to Olivia to stop Jones, while both Peter and Walter Bishop search for remote that is able to close the opened portal to the parallel universe.

The final scenes are very well done as well s jaw dropping. Olivia finally gets to meet and speak to William Bell, who we all know to be Leonard Nimoy (one of the worst kept secrets in tv history). But as she looks at the window of his parallel universe office - we find that they are in one of the twin towers, which are still standing in this universe. A very gripping and emotional shot.

I was torn because I loved it - but also immediately thought 'What are people going to say?" Was it too soon? I don't think so. But there are still people who are grieving and this shot could have been very emotional for them.

But, Fringe didn't stop there. In one of the final shots we see Walter Bishop standing in a cemetary - thinking of course he is visiting the grace of his wife. But as the shot shows the head stone it is the grave of his son, Peter Bishop. So the Peter Bishop that is currently being shown is that of the parallel universe.

Walter mentioned in the episode that he had lost something very dear to him and that he went to the other universe to get it back - his son.

Very great episodes - episodes that have certainly kept me interested and looking forward to next season already.

Star Trek

"I've given her all she's got, Captain!"

The words spoken by Scotty couldn't ring more true. This Star Trek 'reboot' by J.J. Abrams (Fringe, Lost, Alias) was nothing more than outstanding.

I have been a Trek follower ever since my mother introduced it to me when I was about six years old. This film pretty much out races them all.

Abrams took the Enterprise back to it's beginning, when Capt. Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) was in the captain's chair - and our beloved James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) was just barely a graduate of Starfleet Academy.

The film shows the origins of both Kirk and Spock (Zacahry Quinto) while also showing a little more background to Leonard 'Bones' McCoy (Karl Urban) and Nyota Uhura (Zoe Saldana). Also along for the ride are Sulu (John Cho), Scotty (Simon Pegg) and Chekov (Anton Yelchin), but their story lines aren't explored as deeply.

Without going into too much detail, Nero, a Romulan miner, is out to seek revenge against the man he feels is responsible for the destruction of his home planet. He even goes as far as to head back in time to seek his revenge.

It turns out it is up to the young recruits, who are thrown into battle much earlier than they are expected. This is the first challenge for Kirk and the crew to show their worth - something we have come to expect in the earlier films.

I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised with the acting, most notably Karl Urban as McCoy. Going in he was the person I knew the least about, but his portrayel was both an homage to the late DeForest Kelley, while also throwing in a lot of his own skills. I was also pretty unfamiliar with Pine, but thought he did a decent job in trying to replace the legendary William Shatner. He did things his own way, because let's face it - you can't try to copy Shatner.

The rest of the cast was pretty talented as well, Qunito was a spot-on Spock - with a lot of human elements thrown in. Saldana was actually given a lot more to do in this film than Nichelle Nichols really ever had to do in the previous installments. Cho was a great Sulu - and Yelchin provided a new look and sound for Chekov, but remembered to butcher his "W's". Pegg also provided a great Scotty - although it was definitely pre-donuts Scotty.

In my opinion, this was the best Star Trek film out of all of them, and I have been a fan of nearly all of them. It had a lot better action than previous installments, but also had the give-and-take between the characters which provided tons of great comedic moments. And the drama was also packed in pretty nicely as well - a great first voyage for the Enterprise.

I am definitely looking forward to more.

Grade:

Fringe

I must say, I am pretty excited.

It doesn't happen very often when a television show actually gets me this interested.

First, I must admit that I am a television addict. My wife is already telling me I watch too many shows. But, there is just one problem - I wouldn't know which one to cut.

That being said, I am promising her that I am only going to start watching one new show this season - and that show is Fringe.

The show actually started a few weeks ago, but it wasn't until this weekend that we finally had time to view it - and actually were able to view two episodes.

I was immediately interested in the show due to the fact that it was produced by J.J. Abrams, who also has helmed another of my favorite television shows Lost.

During the first episode, I noticed that this is no Lost. It is a lot more in your face, with a few kind of gross out scenes - especially in the second episode. My wife has watched the first two, and I am hoping she can stick it out - it's much more fun watching a show with someone, especially your wife. But, I do admit that a few of the scenes even had me a little on edge. It is, however, exactly the type of show I love.

Shows like Lost, Heroes and now Fringe barely allow me to predict what is going to happen. It keeps you interested throughout the entire episode, and every part of that episode is important. It's all very psychological - I absolutely love the fact that I need to pay attention and actually think.

Another reason to like the show: the return of Josh Jackson. You may remember Mr. Jackson as Pacey on Dawson's Creek or Charlie Conway in the Mighty Ducks. I must admit, he is an underused talent.

This actually got me thinking, is it odd to anyone else that out of the four main stars of Dawson's Creek it is actually Dawson (James Van Der Beek) who has not become more of a star - although I did love Varsity Blues.

Anyway, if you are a fan of Lost and can take a few grotesque shots an episode, I highly recommend checking out Fringe.