It wouldn’t be the first time that a television show has incorporated a novel into its framework. Stargate SG-1 cited “Wizard of Oz” for years in its earlier seasons. Battlestar Galactica played upon several themes from the Book of Exodus. And it seems that Fringe has adopted J.R.R. Tolkien’s ”Lord of the Rings” as its own.
Think about it. The characters, the recurring imagery, the coming storm. It’s all there if you look at it.
CHARACTERS:
Olivia as Aragorn.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken:
The crownless again shall be king.
Doesn’t that sound like a woman who discovered that her childhood wasn’t what she thought it was? Oliva is coming into her memories, coming into her powers, and she has been chosen to lead the army for the coming war.
Peter as Frodo.
“I will take the Ring,” he (Frodo) said, “though I do not know the way.”
Elrond raised his eyes and looked at him………
“This is the hour of the Shire-folk, when they arise
from their quiet fields, to shake the towers and counsels of the Great. Who of all the Wise could have foreseen it?”
Peter was more than content to carry on in his life until Olivia brought him back to the United States, where he was saddled with the duty of becoming Walter’s guardian. He did not want the job and did not like his charge but he did the job, however grudgingly, until he truly understood the importance of his task. Now he continues voluntarily.
Walter as Gandalf.
“Yes, I am white now,” said Gandalf. “Indeed I am Saruman, one might almost say, Saruman as he should have been.”
Both were thought mad by their peers. Both of them have been exposed to dangerous magics. Walter was overcome early while Gandalf fell during battle, but both returned fundamentally changed. Then they learned to adapt and returned to the fight. And both have replaced someone who had the power and decided to abandon the side of good.
Edited to add: Not to mention, John Noble did play the insane Denethor in LOTR movies.
The Rest of the Fellowship.
Ms. Nina Sharp is reminiscent of Lady Galadriel, knowledgeable and has all the best presents. Philip Broyles is kind of Legolas-like. Tall, quiet, slow to anger and deadly once he hits the point of no return. Charlie Francis, like Boromir, fell to the enemy. I’d hate to put Astrid in as Gimli because she’s much too pretty. Merry, perhaps? They’ve even introduced a helper character named Sam Weiss (Samwise?)
IMAGES:
Recurring images of the Two Towers appear, and they are the source of all evil.
The Black Gate guarded the entrance into Mordor. Olivia must guard the gate between universes.
Both have faceless, nameless assassins out to kill our heroes, be they hybrid shapeshifters or Nazgul.
Tell me the scorpian-baby creature from “Night of Desireable Objects” didn’t look like Gollum. I dare you.
Season One’s mysterious LITTLE HILL location sounds like something found in the Shire.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
So, what do you think? Are Abrams, Kurtzman and Orci all Tolkien fans? There seem to be enough hints. After all, they are all members of the Fellowship of the f-R-I-N-G-e.
A bit of a reach. How exactly are the twin towers of the World Trade Center the “source of all evil?” They are the victims (in our Universe) of evil, not the genesis.
When you say in regards to Walter: “And both have replaced someone who had the power and decided to abandon the side of good” I assume you are making a sideways implication that William Bell is Saruman the White. It seems to me that William Bell is, as of now, the only person really trying to do anything at all to save “our” Universe. I certainly don’t see him cooperating with the “bad guys” like Saruman did when he joined forces with Sauron in LOTR.
Broyles as Legolas just because he’s tall and thin? Nah. If you really want to force Fringe to fit the LOTR framework, Broyles would be more of an Elrond figure – an advisor who has been there and done that, who guides the fellowship but is rarely directly involved in their exploits.
I don’t mean all this to discredit your opinions – you have every right to them. I’m just saying that, personally, I don’t see it, that’s all. Plus, I imagine you write posts like these to generate discussion, so this was my two cents worth. Heck, I’m just happy that anyone at all is writing about Fringe. I love the show, and it seems to get very little love this year, probably because of Fox’s bone-headed plan to move it to Thursdays. Anyway, keep them coming, and I’ll keep reading.
“How exactly are the twin towers of the World Trade Center the “source of all evil?” They are the victims (in our Universe) of evil, not the genesis. ”
In our universe, you’re right. But they have been used as the symbol for the Other Side, which is the aggressor in the upcoming war, the same as in LOTR.
Mostly this was for fun. I was struck by the similarities in “Night of Desirable Objects” which gave us both the Gollum-like creature and Sam Weiss, but the two towers thing has been nagging at me since the end of last year. Broyles and Elrond is a good comparison.
I *SO* agree with you about the Thursday night slot. Why do they feel it is necessary to throw their best show up against the best shows of every other network? As good as “Fringe” is, it’s not going to win. Why not move it to another night (like Wednesday, when I have nothing to watch) and actually have a chance of winning the time slot?
Wednesday would be great, or even the old Tuesday slot. It would rule in either of those slots as those nights are pretty much TV wastelands.
You know, Fox has a long history of this kind of thing – getting a great show going and just killing it by moving it around all over the place.
Fringe is suffering as far as ratings go, and it is a direct result of the time slot change. And it’s going to get worse. The freaking baseball playoffs and World Series are on Fox the next few weeks, so it’s going to be at least two, possibly three weeks before Fringe comes back. Breaks like that bleed viewers.
I like that analogy! At least for the main characters – Olivia as Aragorn, Peter as Frodo, Walter as Gandalf. Nina as Lady Galadriel fits too. Broyles as Elrond fits better. Astrid? Merry or Pippin….
I’m not sure I can see the Twin Towers as embodiment of evil, though, and in LotR, it’s the White Tower against the Dark Tower (Minas Tirith again Minas Morgul, I think are the names). But if you use the Towers as the key between the World as it is, and the World as it could be – the same as Frodo looks in Galadriel’s fountain and sees one possible future of The shire – that would be more apt. It’s like the show is playing with our sense of reality – which reality is better, the one where the Two Towers exists, or the one we have without it (where the show takes place, the ‘real’ world as we know it….)
As someone who just discovered Fringe a little over a week ago, I am most disconcerted to find it’s on a break already!!! Though, it lets me catch up by watching the first season episodes more closely for clues, to see if I’ve missed anything. I am so hoping this show can find it’s place on Thursday nights, but if it can’t, that Fox moves it to any other time slot so it can win the time slot!
I’m going to have to pull out my trilogy and see if I remembered it all correctly.
You just found “Fringe”? You are in for a treat as you play catch-up! Welcome to the party.