THE AFFAIR

October, 2014 - Present

1 Season

10 Episodes

Every now and then television gives us little gems worth watching so I’m going to talk about the recent Golden Globes winner TV Drama ‘The Affair’. Written by the talented Sarah Treem, it has become one of my top favorite TV Shows as, in my opinion, it’s an incredibly clever show imposible to remain indifferent to. 

The Series, according to the title, is (obviously) about an affair that takes place in Montauk (Long Island) during the summer. Noah Solloway (Dominic West) meets Alison Lockhart (Ruth Wilson) while he’s on vacation there. They both are happily married to Helen (Maura Tierney) and Cole (Joshua Jackson) but find in each other something they are lacking at that moment. Nothing new, right?

The word ‘affair’, however, has a double meaning here as there’s also a crime element in the Series. Someone died, apparently by accident, but years later a detective re-opens an investigation because he suspects it was a murder, and he starts interrogating everyone who knew the victim, although we only get to see Noah and Alison in the interrogation room. 

What is really interesting and clever about this show is the way the story is told as we can see the two points of view of the two main characters. The episodes are split in two: in the first half we see Noah's version of the story and in the second half we see Alison's version. Amazingly the versions don’t match!. As they’re in the interrogation room talking to the detective years later, the first thought you have is that one of them is lying. However I don’t think so, they’re both telling their own truth, it’s only that memories are so influenced by different meanings and different feelings that we can remember a completely different story from the same event, especially when it happened years ago.

The two-points-of-view thing is not as easy as it may seem. You really need to pay attention to tiny details in order to reconstruct the story and run your own theories. As well, everything is different in the two perspectives: lighting, clothes, make-up and even the rest of the characters. Remember that everything you see here are memories, so in that respect, you’ll see different versions of the same characters too which I find ingenious. Then, surprise! Sometimes the versions match! Pay attention to that too.

Ultimately the show, in my opinion, is about memory: how we remember people, events and things; how unreliable our memories can be, how we’d like to be remembered and how we show ourselves for that. In the end, how many different versions of ourselves exist? As many as people we know, maybe?

I’d like to emphasize the outstanding acting of the four main actors, especially Ruth Wilson (Alison) who got a well-deserved Golden Globe award. I think it’s worth watching just because of her. 

If you love shows full of little details and making connections that keep your brain busy for the rest of the week until the next episode, this show is definitely the one for you. They have been renewed for a second season starting next fall, so you have a whole season to catch up on before the new starts!

Here is a video for you to check it out:

FRINGE WEEK PROPOSALS

Hi everyone!

Besides my Twitter campaign there are some other Fringe proposals this week! I thought it would be good to put all of them together:

• Daily Quiz and first time viewer reactions
  
• Be creative and publish your Fringe creations
  
• Post a selfie
  
• Fringe Trending Topic on January 18th

Enjoy! ;)

Fringe, The Little Show That Could: Trending Topic on January 18th 2014

On January 18th, 2013 the last episode of the best Sci-Fi show ever (FRINGE) aired. It’s over... but it’s still alive because of us, the Fringe fandom which is increasing everyday. 

Fringe is an amazing and memorable show and it never received the credit it deserved. So, taking advantage of its first anniversary, it would be great to show the world that Fringe exists and they are missing something really good.

What can we do?

The other day, I read @Marieme27’s tweet with the idea of Fringe being a Trending Topic on January 18th. So... why not? Let’s do it!!

How can we achieve it?

It’s not as easy as writing lots of tweets with “#Fringe” on them. Twitter doesn’t count just the number of tweets. Hashtag’s novelty, number of users using it and retweets are even more important. Being a Trending Topic also depends on the time of day:

• From 4:00 am to 10:00 am 1,200 tweets and 500 users are needed.
• From 10:00 am to 4:00 pm 1,700 tweets and 734 users are needed.
• From 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm 1,500 tweets and 811 users are needed.
• From 10:00 pm to 4:00 am 1,900 tweets and 923 users are needed.
  
  
  
  

So, what do we need?

•  First of all, we need a new hashtag, a new one that we’ve never used before so that we can create more impact. I’ve thought that it could be #WeRememberFringe.
  
  
•  Spread the word! You saw the numbers... the more of us the better!
  
  
•  Please don’t use the hashtag #WeRememberFringe before January 18th.
  
  
  
  

Ok, January 18th has arrived, now what?

•  Tweet as much as you can during the entire day, no matter where you are, this is a worldwide event so as long as it’s January 18th it will be on somewhere on the planet.
  
  
•  Tweet in any language.
  
  
•  Don’t forget to add the hashtag #WeRememberFringe.
  
  
•  Retweet anything you see with the hashtag #WeRememberFringe. Retweets are more important than tweets in order to achieve our goal.
  
  
•  Share with the world your thoughts, why you love the show, your favorite scenes, quotes, pictures, videos, t-shirts... anything! But please, I ask that you respect those who are watching the series for the first time. Try not to publish stuff that might spoil the magic of certain discoveries... you know what I mean ;)
  
  
•  And enjoy the ride!

If you have any thoughts, any ideas... please share!! I’ll be on Twitter!
I hope we can be a Trending Topic at least for a few minutes...

*Thank you sooo much to: Keyshla ; Mike S. ; Mr. Papaya ; Xeen Cyr ; Eliana Monciardini ; LB.C ; Mariele K. ; Lyn and FringeFridayNet.*

FRINGE: why you must watch it?

“When you open your mind to the impossible, sometimes you find the truth.” 

-Dr. Walter Bishop-

September, 2008 - January, 2013
5 seasons

100 episodes

I dedicate my first post recommending my favorite TV series ever: FRINGE

This is a science-fiction show where the FBI’s Fringe division investigates the weirdest cases you’ve never imagined, all of them inside what is called fringe science. Things like: genetic mutation, pandemic, psychokinesis, hypnosis, mental transference, reanimation, teleportation, parallel universes, alternate timelines... Anything is possible!

From the pilot episode you’ll be immersed in a very well conducted storyline full of mystery and as the show goes on you just realize that every little answer leads to more questions and it makes you look forward to watching another episode as soon as you can. 

Why I liked Fringe? There are lots of elements that I loved:

• Science: although it’s a science-fiction show, the word science must be emphasized. The series takes some real scientific theories that can’t be explored in real life (...yet ;P ) and develops them, creating plots that will blow you away.

• Reality: even though the world is going crazy and lots of strange and creepy things are happening, the show remains anchored to real life. You will see normal people, with normal lives, some referrals to our reality (like historical events, music, books, movies...) and I think that point gives credibility to the show. You just finally think that any of those puzzling things could happen in your world! 

• Characters: perhaps one of the things I like most about Fringe is the characters and their evolution. I think this aspect is very well done!. I don’t want to be a spoiler, so I’m not going to explain anything else... People who watched the series know what I mean ;)

• Mystery and Mythology: If you are that kind of people who like mind puzzles definitely Fringe is for you. There are lots of dots that you need to connect trying to find the best explanation. But don’t worry, the screenwriters will give you the information bit by bit, so   you’ll be theorizing all the time and believe me: you’ll be almost always wrong! The show is also full of tiny details and symbology that compound its mythology. You’ll find information about that in fringepedia.net, but be careful! it might spoil you. 

• Action: You must not forget that this is about FBI investigations, so there are plenty of chases, car crashes, explosions, shooting, murders, autopsies, interrogations...

• Drama: Both storyline and characters’ personal history are pretty dense, deep and dramatic. 

• Humor: the show is full of wacky scenes between the drama which are amusing :D

• Love: and finally that’s the reason for all things. Fringe is about love, it's about children and parents, and friends... it's about becoming a family and taking care of each other. How far could you go, what lines would you cross for the people you love?

• Actors: if I haven’t been convincing enough for you to watch this show, I’ll tell you that it’s worth watching just because of the great John Noble (in the role of Walter Bishop) simply sublime! The rest of the casts are pretty good too: Joshua Jackson, Michael Cerveris, Lance Reddick, Jasika Nicole, Blair Brown, Kirk Acevedo, Seth Gabel... And personally, I was surprised by Anna Torv (in the role of Olivia Dunham) she resolved the complexity of her role brilliantly. 

• Finale: the series finale is awesome. The storyline is perfectly closed. Every question, every doubt has its answer and its reason at the end of the show, and if you don’t find your answer I suggest you re-watch the show because they’re there. But, of course, there are some lines that are opened on purpose at the end, the screenwriters want you to think and theorize about them just like you did during the show. The show must be alive somehow after its ending!

Things I didn’t like? I’m a big fan of the series so I find it difficult to say that there was something I didn’t like, but trying to be objetive:

• The series format started as stand-alone episodes at the beginning. Every episode is about a case and has its introduction, development and ending. This format was a little bit obtrusive for me because I just wanted to know more and more information about the overall story and it’s shown very very slowly between cases. This kind of format was a Fox’s requeriment at the beginning, but it changes later becoming more serialized. Anyway, the second time I watched it this format wasn’t a problem and I enjoyed it a lot, so, just be patient!

• For a few moments, like the end of season 3, I think things could have been explained more slowly in order to keep the anchor to reality I was talking about a few lines before. But everything is okay if you are thinking that this is pure fiction.

• There are lots of details which are important for the understanding of the entire plot, but they’re forgotten when you are watching one episode per week and then some months off until the next season. But this is not a problem now when the series is finished... The show is much more enjoyable if it’s watched back to back, so I recommend you watch it that way.

• The plot is very well conducted and everything fits perfectly at the end, but there are some storylines unexplored in the show whose development I would have liked to watch. More seasons would be necessary for that, so... I'm afraid it won’t be possible.

Summarizing: this is a great great show full of science, mystery, action, humor, drama, love... with an excellent cast and a very crazy and complicated storyline that will keep your mind really busy. I’m sure you’ll loved it.

Please, let me know if you watch it! I’m interested in your opinion :)

FRINGE - PILOT EPISODE TRAILER

Follow this link if you can't watch the video correctly: http://ves.cat/fuup