The Man Who Fell to Earth 1.4: "Tell my wife I love her very much..."

How cool and meta-perfect is The Man Who Fell to Earth new series on Showtime?  Well, in episode 1.4, just up last night, we learn that Thomas Newton, who came to Earth all those years ago, in the 1976 movie starring David Bowie in the role, lost his memory, or most of it, including of his wife back on Althea, way out there in outer space.  And in episode 1.4 Newton, now played by Bill Nighy, tells Faraday in a little hovering ball of a recording made as his memory was fading, "Tell my wife I love her very much".  The very request that Major Tom made to his listeners in David Bowie's iconic 1969 "Space Oddity" recording.   "Ain't Jenny so cool ..."  Well, not only Jenny Lumet, but Alex Kurtzman, Jane Maggs (who wrote the story Lumet and Kurtzman made into the teleplay) and everyone who put this unique sequel series together.

Bowie's presence and essence has been integrated into this new series from the very first episode, which was entitled "Hallo, Spaceboy" -- just a comma more than Bowie's 1995 song "Hallo Spaceboy".   At this point in the series, I've got to say I can't think of a better, more multi-valent TV series sequel to a movie.

And we got some important Justin backstory in this episode.  She invented a cold fusion process -- an incredible achievement, that duly impressed Faraday -- but paid for it with the loss of her daughter's father, who died of radiation poisoning.  Along with Newton's loss of memory, this was one of the two most powerful heart tugs of the episode.

Spencer has another night of flexing his CIA muscle, but the highpoint is his encounter with Mary Lou, another memorable character from the 1976 movie, played back then by Candy Clark.  She and Newton shared a love of sorts, and in his absence she's become Sister Mary Lou, now played by Juliet Stevenson.  Spencer's conversation with her was one of his best moment so far in the series, but I could've done without the bee in her mouth.

The Man Who Fell to Earth continues to be one of the most refreshingly original science fiction shows on television.  That's quite an accomplishment, given that the series is a sequel, but it draws you into its spider web to the point that you're really feeling, on a visceral level, the interstellar interplay that is at the heart of this story.

See you back here next week with my next review.

See also The Man Who Fell to Earth 1.1: Great Provenance and Excellent Start ... 1.2: The Ending We Needed ... 1.3: "I've come with a prototype ... "

first spaceship to Alpha Centauri from Mars

Fringe Begins

J. J. Abrams is back with some of the best of his Alias production team - Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci - with Fringe, the X-Files-like science fiction drama on Fox.

Actually, lead character FBI Agent Olivia Dunham (well played by Anna Torv) does look a little reminiscent of Sydney Bristow, and dropped in on Baghdad in a scene that would have fit right in Alias. And there was Lost all over tonight, from the plane in distress in the teaser, to the brooding, complex music at the end of crucial scenes.

But Fringe does have a charm all its own, from cool floating titles to John Noble, the actor with facial expressions you can't forget. He's sometimes known as John Nogle, played Markov in 24, and in Fringe he's a perfect somewhat cracked beyond-brilliant scientist Dr. Walter Bishop, who has been locked away for years. He, his son Peter (played by Joshua Jackson - Peter reminds me of Jack Shephard), and Olivia are the team, and, hey Lance Reddick (of The Wire as well as Lost) is their superior.

And what are they investigating? Something to do with a multinational megalithic corporation, run by a former classmate of Dr. Bishop, apparently into plying some of the same things in his bizarre area of expertise. Tonight the menu included getting valuable memories from comatose and even dead brains - a old science fiction gem which I explored a little in my 2003 novel, The Pixel Eye - and strange skin-dissolving toxins.

More's promised in the future, and I'm looking forward.



See also Fringe 2 and 3: The Anthology Tightrope ... Fringe 4: The Eternal Bald Observer

Further reading:

The Night that Alias Reinvented Itself

Lost: Keys to What's Really Going On