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A New Day in the Old Town

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"A New Day in the Old Town"

"A New Day in the Old Town" is the season premiere and first episode of the second season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe, and the twenty-first episode overall. It was written by co-creator J.J. Abrams and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, with Goldsman also directing. The episode followed the aftermath of Olivia's journey to the parallel universe in the last season's finale, while also introducing the idea of shapeshifters. It guest starred actors Luke Goss, Ari Graynor, Meghan Markle, and Tegan Moss.

It first aired on Fox in the United States on September 17, 2009 to generally positive reviews. It was watched by an estimated 9.96 million viewers, and received a 2.43 ratings share among viewers 18-49.

Plot

A mysterious man involved in a downtown Manhattan collision with a SUV flees the scene to a nearby apartment building. He enters the building and attacks a random man, hooking up equipment to the man's inner mouth, which allows him to adopt his external appearance and shapeshift. The crashed SUV is discovered to be Olivia's (Anna Torv), though she is not inside. Peter (Joshua Jackson) and Walter (John Noble) arrive and investigate the scene while being accosted by a new junior agent, Amy Jessup (Meghan Markle), who wonders what they do for the FBI. After Walter searches through the SUV, he shuts the door and Olivia suddenly ejects through the windshield. She is rushed to the hospital and declared brain dead. Peter and Broyles (Lance Reddick) drink at a bar together in sorrow, and Broyles reveals the Fringe Division is being shut down because of their failure to provide "usable results". Suspicious and curious of Fringe Division, Jessup begins a personal investigation into their past activities.

After talking to Rachel about her sister, Peter visits Olivia, who is scheduled to be taken off life support the following morning. However, Olivia suddenly wakes up, crying the Greek phrase Einai kalytero anthropo apo ton patera toy. She does not remember getting injured, and incoherently tells Peter there is something they need to do, and their "lives may depend on it," but cannot remember who told her this, or why. Peter tries to enter the FBI building, but is denied until Jessup agrees to accompany him. She questions him about Fringe Division, and they begin investigating the driver who hit Olivia. When they arrive at his apartment, they discover what appears to be the driver's body, but he has been dead longer than when the accident took place.

The shapeshifted man makes contact with his group via typewriter, and is told his mission to prevent a "meeting" was unsuccessful, as Olivia is still alive. He is told to interrogate her, and then kill her. Meanwhile, Peter introduces Jessup to their lab at Harvard, and upon performing an autopsy on the man found in the apartment, they find three holes in the roof of his mouth. Walter shows them archived footage of one of his 1970s experiments of a drugged up girl who says she sees shapechanging soldiers from an parallel universe that can "look like any of us".

After being visited by her partner, Agent Charlie Francis (Kirk Acevedo) and given a gun, Olivia is unsuccessfully questioned by the shapeshifter, who has adopted the appearance of a female nurse. The nurse attempts to kill Olivia, but is shot and flees from Jessup. Peter, Charlie, and Jessup follow her into nearby tunnels, but the nurse manages to kill Charlie and secretly shapeshift into him. Peter returns to Olivia, and tells her the Greek phrase means "be a better person than his father," and was told to him every night by his mother.

After being told by a panel of Senators that Fringe is not worth the human or fiscal cost, Broyles is given the transformation device by Peter so Broyles can justify Fringe Division remaining active. The final scene shows the shapeshifted Charlie disposing of the real agent's body.

Production

"Well, the first episode is sort of meant to kind of reset things, and for those who have never seen the show, offer a way in. It has the advantage of being almost better than the pilot. You never have to have seen the show to see the first episode and hopefully get sucked in. So what happens in the very beginning, this crazy sort of situation that she finds herself in is in a sense meant to be the premise for what this year is about. So what you're asking is really what happens over the course of the whole second season".

— Co-creator J. J. Abrams explaining the premiere in an interview[1]

In February 2009, Fox announced that if they renewed Fringe for a second season, they were moving the show's production from New York City to Vancouver, as the American city's tax breaks had expired.[2] Fox officially renewed Fringe for a second season on May 4, 2009,[3] and in July announced the new season would premiere on September 23, behind a new episode of Bones.[4] Later reports indicated the episode would premiere on September 17.[5]

In June 2009, Fox put out a casting call for several new characters for the second season. One of these, Lloyd Parr, was described as a guest star in "his 30’s to early 50’s, an average guy. We need a strong character actor who can play hyper-competent. Like someone in a John Frankenheimer movie".[6] Actor Luke Goss was cast in the role after episode writer Akiva Goldsman personally called his house and asked him to join the show.[7] On June 24, 2009, TV Guide announced the casting of Meghan Markle as "an attractive, brash and quick-witted junior agent".[8][9]

"A New Day in the Old Town" was written by co-creator J. J. Abrams and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, with Goldsman also directing.[10] The producers considered screening the first part of the season premiere at Comic-Con in San Diego, but ultimately decided against it because they thought the scene "ends in such an exciting way that we were afraid to let it out".[11] In the DVD special features, actor Joshua Jackson explained the second season begins less than a day after the previous season's finale, "so the characters have only just barely had a chance to catch their breath from all the madness in the first season, and launch right back into the second one". Co-executive producer Jeff Pinkner considered beginning the second season directly after first season's final scene between Olivia and William Bell, but changed his mind because he thought it would be more interesting to show how Olivia's disappearance and reappearance affected the Fringe team, as well as the rest of the season.[12] The scene between Olivia and Bell is consequently not shown until the season's fourth episode, "Momentum Deferred".[13]

The production team used new technology called a "breakway windshield," as well as air cannons to eject the stuntwoman, Melissa Stubbs, from the vehicle. Instead of using wires, they used pneumatic rams to push her; cables and pulleys made it similar to a "catapult". The stuntwoman rehearsed with a helmet on, but took it off when the scene was ready to be shot. She wore a small backpad, a mouthguard, and some kneepads, and used her elbows to break the windshield upon being ejected. Stubbs commented that shooting the scene "all went as planned, and was very anticlimactic" because of the lack of problems.[12]

Reception

Ratings

The episode was watched by more than 9.96 million viewers in the United States, and received a 2.43 live rating share among viewers 18–49. After time shifted viewing was taken into account, Fringe increased to a 3.95 rating.[14]

Reviews

Critical reviews of the episode were generally positive. Hilary Rothing from UGO Networks enjoyed the perceived parallels to The Wire and praised the further development of Anna Torv's character Olivia; "With tonight's premiere, the writing feels tighter, the pace is fast but not so much so that the story begins to trip over itself - and if that's any indication of how the rest of the season shapes up, then FOX will have my full attention every Thursday from 9-10pm".[15] Noel Murray from A.V. Club graded the episode an A-, explaining that he enjoyed how the writers made the show "new-viewer-friendly without making existing fans too impatient".[16] IGN's Ramsey Isler rated the episode 9.0/10, explaining it "is sure to please the ever-growing fanbase of this remarkable series. There are no signs of the dreaded "sophomore slump" here. This episode hits hard, and fast. From the very beginning you've got action, drama, gross out moments, and a heavy dose of "OMG did that really just happen!?" Is it a perfect episode? No. Is it entertaining? Hell yes!".[17] MTV's Josh Wigler praised all the main actors' performances, and thought the episode gave the second season a "strong start".[10]

The Futon Critic rated "A New Day in the Old Town" the sixteenth best television episode of 2010,[18] while website blogger io9 listed it as one of the "crucial" episodes new viewers must watch to get into the show.[19]

References

  1. ^ Topel, Fred (2009-09-15). "J.J. Abrams reveals Fringe, Trek 2 and MI4 news". Blastr.com. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
  2. ^ Soll, Lindsay (2010-02-21). "'Fringe' moves production to Canada". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
  3. ^ "FOX Picks Up Second Season of "Fringe"". Fox press release, posted at The Futon Critic. 2009-05-04. Retrieved 2011-02-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  4. ^ "Fox announces Fall 2010 premiere schedule". Chicago Tribune. 2009-05-04. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
  5. ^ Seidman, Robert (2009-06-15). "FOX announces fall premiere dates for the 2009-2010 season". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
  6. ^ "Exclusive - Fringe - Episode 2.01 - New Day - Casting Call". SpoilerTV.com. 2009-06-16. Retrieved 2011-03-22. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  7. ^ Snead, Elizabeth (2009-08-26). "EXCLUSIVE: 'Hellboy' hottie Luke Goss plays a villain on 'Fringe' premiere". blog.zap2it.com. Retrieved 2011-03-22. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  8. ^ The Futon Critic Staff (2009-06-24). "Development Update: Wednesday, June 24". The Futon Critic. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
  9. ^ O'Connor, Mickey (2009-06-24). "Fringe: New FBI Agent Once Cracked Cases on Deal or No Deal". TV Guide. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
  10. ^ a b Wigler, Josh (2010-09-17). "'Fringe' Season Two: 'A New Day In The Old Town' Recap". MTV.com. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
  11. ^ Ford Sullivan, Brian (2009-07-28). "Live at the San Diego Comic-Con: "Fringe"". The Futon Critic. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
  12. ^ a b Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv, Jeff Pinkner, Akiva Goldsman, John Noble, Greg Zenon, Michael Mitchell, Bob Comer, Melissa Stubbs (2010). Analyzing the Scene for "A New Day in the Old Town" (DVD). Fringe: The Complete Second Season Disc 1: Warner Bros. Television.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  13. ^ Murray, Noel (2009-10-08). ""Momentum Deferred"". A.V. Club. Retrieved 2011-03-22.
  14. ^ Gorman, Bill (2010-10-05). "First Week of Jay Leno Show Really Was "DVR Proof"". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
  15. ^ Rothing, Hilary (2010-09-17). "Fringe - "A New Day In The Old Town" Review". UGO Networks. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
  16. ^ Murray, Noel (2010-09-17). ""A New Day In The Old Town"". A.V. Club. Retrieved 2011-02-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  17. ^ Isler, Ramsey (2010-09-11). "Fringe: "A New Day in the Old Town" Review". IGN. Retrieved 2011-02-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  18. ^ Ford Sullivan, Brian (2010-01-07). "The 50 Best Episodes of 2009: #20-11". The Futon Critic. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
  19. ^ Heddle, Jennifer (2010-09-30). "Want to get into "Fringe"? These are the episodes you need to watch". io9.com. Retrieved 2011-03-31. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
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