I'm back from Comic-Con International, and having dealt with a problem with my apartment, I'm ready to write.

I attended several panels for various shows at the con, but what I want to talk about today is "Fringe." On preview night, the pilot episode for "Fringe" was aired. The pilot script was reviewed online months ago, and while it's still the same story, it holds together very well as filmed.

I'm going to try and talk about the show without revealing too much, spoiler-wise. Bear with me. The story begins with the outbreak of a virus on an airplane traveling from Germany to Boston. When the plane lands, a task force is set up to investigate the situation.

Among the agents assigned to the task force are FBI agent Olivia Dunham and her partner/lover John Scott, played by Anna Torv and Mark Valley. Dunham has a history with the agent leading the taskforce Phillip Broyles, played by Lance Reddick. She draws a crappy angle to investigate, which ends up getting her boyfriend injured.

While researching what happened to Scott, she learns of a scientist doing research on this very thing over twenty years ago, Dr. Walter Bishop. At that time, Bishop was blamed for the death of a lab assistant, but found insane, and has been institutionalized up all this time. For Dunham to interview him, she has to have Bishop's son get her access.

After talking with Bishop, he tells Dunham he can help Scott, but he must get out of institution. Dunham arranges it, and gets Bishop's old lab set up.

I have heard this show compared to "The X-Files" on more than one occasion, and except for the fact that our main protagonist is an FBI agent, and that the show establishes an underlying conspiracy, I don't really see it. The main thrust of the X-Files was the ying and yang of Scully and Mulder. One believing, and one not. Everyone here is a believer, so that vital component that could make this an X-Files clone is missing.

The type of research Bishop did is referred to as "fringe" science, and they describe it as dealing with topics like teleportation, astral projection and mental telepathy. The "science" is the only downside to this show. The science shown in this episode is more fantasy than sci-fi, and it takes me out of the story.

The show is well acted, and Torv does a great job as Dunham, even if her native accent does slip through from time to time. John Noble does a great job as the mad scientist (literally). The only role I didn't really like was that of Bishop's son Peter, played by Josh Jackson. He's arrogant, whiny character, there solely to stir up sexual tension, and I didn't like him.

The show has a lot of promise, and a likeable cast. I'm hoping that Fox can give it a chance to find its audience.

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Ed Left is a columnist for Airlock Alpha, who can be found in the beautiful city of Chicago. He also is the Webmaster of Sci Fi On TV. He can be reached at eleft@airlockalpha.com.