Customer Ratings & Reviews

Title says it all - the series is really fascinating on multiple levels. Its like geek candy but even my wife is interested in it. Its great to watch a series this way - no commericials and at your own pace. Only regret really is I got the DVD on a black friday deal instead of the blu ray.

I was so obsessed with this show when it was out. I bought the 1st season recently to relive it and it is so worth it. I forgot how ingenious the plot lines are how it never ends up like you would expect. Highly recommend this for all the binge watchers out there.

Had heard about the show and had been meaning to watch for some time got a chance to buy the series and sit back and relax and enjoy the 1st season over a long 3day weekend. Very entertaining and fun show towatch

Fringe was a really great show and the 1st season just really set the tone for the whole series. I highly recommend this show to anyone that likes a good science fiction TV series.

It's a modern X Files. Started watching on NetFlix but enjoyed it so much decided to purchase the series.

good stories Makes it almost believable that this could happen

I was not familiar with this series but I like it so far.

I enjoyed the DVDS and I feel like it never ended.

If you are a fan of the X-Files then you will enjoy this series! While not about aliens, per se, it has a good plot and some great acting by most of the cast.

"Fringe" is the series that "X-Files" always wanted to be but never quite was. Alternating between "creature of the week" and "mythology" episodes, the first season introduces the main characters and establishes the series universe(s) and history. FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham finds herself on loan to a special division of the Department of Homeland Security devoted to investigating strange cases involving "fringe" science in general and a series of apparently related events dubbed "The Pattern". Dunham is teamed with Dr. Walter Bishop, a pioneer in fringe science who has been confined to a mental hospital for the past 17 years. Because Bishop's research seems to connect to some of the Pattern events, Dunham blackmails Walter's estranged son Peter, a rogue genius with a shady past, to sign Walter out of the hospital and act as his babysitter and assistant. Together this unlikely team plunges into the on-going mystery of The Pattern, which ultimately leads to the discovery of an alternate universe populated by other versions of ouselves and where history is slightly different. (President Martin Luther King, Jr. appears on the $20 bill, Richard Nixon on the quarter, and nobody knows who Andrew Jackson is.) They also discover long-buried secrets from their own pasts and odd connections to other people and institutions - most notably Walter's former lab partner William Bell, who while Walter was locked up founded Massive Dynamic, a cutting-edge megacorp that is in everything from computers to aviation and defense contracting . (Their motto: "What do we do? What DON'T we do?") Bell is s kind of cross between Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Howard Hughes, a reclusive billionaire with fiercely loyal associates protecting him. Fringe cases often lead back to the doors of Massive Dynamic, but Dunham and her team rarely get a glimpse behind the curtain. Despite operating under the burden of establishing a whole ficitonal universe and all its elaborate backstory, "Fringe" season 1 is hugely entertaining and terrific on almost every level. Rewatching S1 from the mid-point of season three it is very clear that the show's mythology is much better thought-out and planned than was the case with "Lost", to say nothing of a show like "The X-Files" which was clearly making stuff up as it went. Although the "Fringe" producers have left themselves breathing room to pursue new ideas and characters as they arise, they obviously have a basic roadmap and an ultimately goal in mind, and the characters and their backgrounds are designed to support a coherent narrative. 1) The writing is top-notch. There's suspense, humor, scares and intrigue. 2) The acting is terrific. It is a crime that John Noble has never received an Emmy for his portrayal of Dr. Walter Bishop, the brilliant but often confused genius at the heart of both the cases and much of the mystery of "Fringe". By turns funny, heartbreaking and scary, Noble shines in the role. Joshua Jackson is the Han Solo figure of the group, rougish Peter Bishop who inherited Walter's brains, but not his ambition. A sometime conman, arms dealer, mercenary and possibly criminal, Peter once faked his way into MIT and earned an engineering degree because he didn't have the patience to go through the normal channels. Initially forced into dealing with Walter, whom he never visited in the hospital and whom he blames for a family tragedy, Peter gradually comes to find the home he never had with the Fringe team. Jackson does a very good job with the role, playing both Peter's obvious charm and the menance and mystery just below the surface. Anna Torv tends to get overshadowed by her flashier co-stars, who often get the scenery chewing stuff while she is the solid, stable heart of the show. (I compare her to Mary Tyler Moore in her series - the calm center around which the madness flows, but without which the madness would be too much.) Torv is not a conventional Hollywood beauty, but she is an attractive woman and more believable as an FBI agent than some other actresses might be. The video and audio quality are both quite good. Upconverted on my 56" HDTV the DVDs look nearly as good as the current season HD broadcasts. (This is notably NOT the case with the second season set, where the video is often overcompressed and pixelated.) The extras are good, although I would have like commentaries on a couple of episodes that lack them. A story with a complicated mythology like "Fringe" really repays repeat viewings, and thus is a good candidate for owning on DVD. (I rewatched the entire first and second seasons before the show returned for the 2nd half of S3, and discovered a lot of details I had either forgotten or never noticed before. That's another rewarding aspect of a show like this - you can see the foreshadowing and repeated themes that will become important later. Several early episodes from the first season hint at secrets that will only be revealed in S2 or S3, and a number of cases show us situations in the lives of guest characters that parallel those of the regulars - although we generally don't know that on first viewing.) All in all my favorite current TV series.

J.J. Abrams (Star Trek) brings this new sci-fi drama to Fox with a mixture of great story-telling and brilliant casting. Anna Torv stars as Olivia Dunham, an FBI agent assigned to investigate the strange occurances that have caught the attention of the bureau. Joining her are John Noble (Lord of the Rings: Return of the King) and Jeremy Jackson (Dawson's Creek) as the father-son duo of Walter and Peter Bishop. Peter is an MIT dropout who has had a very estranged relationship with his father. He is brought on to assist Walter in many different tasks, while also trying to find out how much of his father's own research contributed to the strange cases. If this sounds a lot like the X-Files, then I've done a good job at describing the show, since it has had that kind of feel throughout the first season and will definitely transfer into the new season with Leonard Nimoy (Star Trek) joining the cast. This is a must-watch series for the sci-fi crowd and those who like Abrams' works.

It's hard getting in to shows like this because you know it'll just end up being canceled. It's not as widely accepted as Lost (how the hell did that happen, anyway?) that series being created by the same guy who executive produces this show. We might get three seasons out of this one, and if we're lucky, four, and J.J. is already pitching another show. The DVD extras go in-depth on some of the shoots for select episodes. That was awesome, and the commentaries are decent. The show is just hit-or-miss when it comes to source material. But even the bad cases where a scene or two just couldn't cut it for the episode to be a hit are full of sequences helpful in solving the whole William Bell mystery. And the quality of it on bluray!

The Fringe series has been a wonderful change to the why TV is watched. They always show when they change cities with graphics on the screen. This series is great if you have those that enjoy the sci-fi vs reality line in your household. It is also enjoy for those that like a good mystery. There are things that you could see actually happening in our society today. The show is intense and very enjoyable. This isn't a stand alone watchable show.One really needs to watch from the beginning to understand the chacters and their dynamics. Being able to rewatch the first season has been great. Season two will be a definate purchase. Looking forward to season three to begin on Thursday! **would like to have seen a few other items in the DVD extras content but all in all it had quite a bit in the extras section**

This is one of the most brilliantly written, acted and directed series in the history of TV! The plots and the subject matter are so sophisticated, exploring science, science fiction, and even morality. The characters are strong and very atypical members of any known society! I love the strong female characters who seem to be more intricate and involved, with no question of their abilities being not only equal, but often superior to their male counterparts! I hope this series stays around for a long time! I can't wait for the new season to begin! Filled with twist, turns, special effects, futuristic plots, great actors, what more can one ask for! And I got the entire series dirt cheap!

Excellent show, best out there right now. 2 weeks ago this blu-ray set was priced at $39.99. I was going to purchase it at that price but I was just waiting for my rewards program to add the points to my account so I could get my $10 certificate and just pay $29.99. By the time that happened, 4 days later (last week) I came back to bestbuy.com and saw this item for $29.99!!! Could of been a mistake by the website cuz now their back to $49.99. I ended up paying just over $21.00 with tax along with my $10 reward zone certificate. But weather you pay $5 or $50 for this show, it's completely worth it!!!!!!

I had been wanting the first season and my wonderful hubby gave it to me for my birthday! Even if you're not currently a fan, this is an excellent sci-fi gift for any adult! In my opinion, not only is this the next best thing that the creators/writers of Lost have come up with; but the packaging of the collection in and of itself is user-friendly! As opposed to other collection packaging, I really like the fact that all the discs are stored in one box, not separately. I give it an A+ for intelligent writing and special effects, and another A+ for incorporating humor into such a serious TV series!

The first season of "Fringe", what I've called the new "X-Files," is actually a step above and beyond that series' initial run. Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, Jasika Nicole, Lance Reddick and John Noble all turn in fascinating performances as people working to unravel mysterious events called The Pattern. The DVD faithfully reproduces the first season, including some footage that was cut out due to time limitations. Extras are good, but compared to other series of the same genre, are slightly skimpy. Overall, highly recommended for fans of serious, smart science fiction - emphasis on the science.

I didn't know what to expect from this show since it was referred to me by a co-worker. We were hooked enough after the first disc to keep watching. They go into a different topic each episode but the main story line continues through each one as well. This isn't a show you'd want to jump into in the middle of it because you need the back story to follow along. It reminds me of X-files meets Men in Black with a pinch of The Outer Limits and Coast-to-Coast AM (radio show) thrown in for good measure. It's all plausible...but is it really happening? Overall, great series.

This show was a bit slow to start, not sure where the plot was going, a bit confusing at times but after the first few episodes, it is such an exciting show to watch. It would go so quickly that sometimes I would miss little things and now with the DVD, I Can look for things I missed when it aired on TV. I love mysteries and science and this is one that has both where there are twists you don't expect . I loved the x-files and outer limits and was waiting for a good new series to watch. Can't wait to buy the second season.

This has got to be one of the greatest shows I've seen. The acting is fantastic, and it keeps you on edge from the first episode till the very end. There is mystery, humor, and the sci-fi aspect of the show is not so far-fetched that you wouldn't think it could never happen. Overall, I would definitely recommend this to everyone out there.