Fringe Society

One of the biggest thrills of my sad existence is discovering a TV series once it hits the discs. It's nice to be able to power through a whole season without fast-forwarding through commercials, or having to wait for each new episode or deal with the fickle video quality of Time Warner Cable.

I watched the pilot episode of FRINGE when it debuted on September 9, 2008, mainly because J.J. Abrams was attached and I've been a fan of his since the ALIAS. But I dropped FRINGE quick because it reminded me too much of Le X-Files (an infuriating series) and I didn't feel like getting strung along indefinitely when I already juggle too much television, by anyone's measure.

But I kept hearing that FRINGE was getting better and better, and it became one of those shows I imagined I'd get to eventually...

Thanks to NetFlix and the interminably long wait for both "Zombieland" and "Moon", "eventually" came sooner than expected.

The quick review: I'm in. "Olivia Dunham" doesn't quite have the charm of "Sydney Bristow", but it's a show that gradually grows and gives you a sense that it knows where it's going. [X-Files, as always, acting as both an inspiration and cautionary tale.] And, NO SPOILERS, but the ender to Season 1 is a fucking corker.

Anyway, you've got to be wondering, "When is Malice going to start talking about who he's attracted to on the show?"

Well, Anna Torv is an attractive Cate-Blanchett-type, and she's an Australian doing an American accent which is bonus points... but then I found this pretty little missile, shot me out the sky...

Jasika Nicole. She plays a young federal agent named "Astrid Farnsworth", whose character seems to exist exclusively to assist in farming out exposition. It's really absurd what a blank slate her character is throughout Season 1: helping out with experiments, asking questions, answering phones, buying groceries. It's really the cutest thing.

With those big, expressive eyes and that adorable, black Little-Orphan-Annie fro. She looks like the definition of "girlfriendable". The way she's got her hand on her hip tells you that she's got a little bit of sass, but not so much as to be threatening.

Of course, Jasika Nicole is openly gay, which sorta kills my "girlfriendable" fantasy.

Thanks for ruining stuff, The Internet!