Fringe

Fringe has finally ended its improbably long run. I never expected that it would make it past the first season. Each summer I would wait for the announcement that it wasn't coming back. Then it would come back and be just as good or better than the season before.
The story lines went off the rails sometimes; plot caverns cropped up; continuity was broken like a twig. The biggest violation was in the middle of season four when Peter went from avoiding Olivia to simply giving into his urges. It was like during the mid season break the characters had some rewiring. Let's also not forget how Walter supposedly wrote the book of the first people or the other book from the first two seasons. The complete rewriting of the timeline was at least telegraphed.
There was also the annoying habit the show had of never quite resolving anything. First there was the pattern, then there was the other side, and finally the future. The writers just skipped from one to the next without ever really resolving the previous. At least in the end the whole framework was put into some sort of sense. It was the Observers all along not that it really answers everything.
Despite all of the shows flaws, it was a great show. It didn't dumb things down even if it did take great liberty with science. The writing was typically sharp. The actors were typically in top form. More than any of that however, the show had great characters that I wanted to follow. They were multilayered and flawed and noble and conflicted and always aimed at doing the right thing. Walter was probably the best of the bunch. Walter was hubristic and brilliant and blind. Olivia was wounded, defensive, smart, tough, and kind. Peter was a lot like Walter. Broyles was too willing to sacrifice what he thought was right for the greater good.
As the final episode drilled home, the show, underneath all the crazy, was a story about family and friends and finding your way in the crazy world. Unlike many shows recently, Fringe went out on top with a close to perfect ending. It may have been too neat, but it was right.

Heat Rises

This is the third Richard Caslte novel. Like its predecessors, it presents fictionalized versions of the "real" people on the TV show Castle. The book is a solid piece of genre fiction, that I think an stand on its own. However, for me the fun is in the association with Castle. I love the show and the characters, so seeing how they are morphed to fit the crime genre is fun.In this installment we are treated to a more intimate portrait of Nikki Heat. Her vulnerabilities are at the fore throughout the story. She is uncertain about her relationship with Rourke. She is off of her game because of her relationship with her Captain. It is interesting to see the tension between her weaknesses and the tough as nails shell she projects.It is an interesting parallel to Bekett's development on the show. Outwardly, she is tough as nails and an emotional brick wall. Internally, as we've seen glimpses of throughout the series, she is a maelstrom of conflicting emotions. This season in particular is exploring the balancing act she plays to keep it together and the price she pays to do it.