Fringe is still remembered as one of the best long-running sci-fi shows ever created, and rightfully so, but one brilliant Netflix series comes close to being as compelling as the Fox show. The Netflix sci-fi show boasts an almost perfect Rotten Tomatoes score of 95% and is brilliant from beginning to end.
Created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci, Fringe had an incredible five-season run before it ended with its 100th episode on January 18, 2013. Although the show initially kicked off with a simple mystery-of-the-week format, it eventually turned into something far more mind-bending and immersive.
Concepts like parallel worlds, multiverses, hypnosis, and neuroscience have now become common in pop culture, but Fringe was among the first TV shows to give them a more mainstream appeal. Owing to this, it can never truly be replaced by anything else. However, one Netflix show, like Fringe, broke new ground in sci-fi storytelling and deserves to be labeled as the perfect Fringe alternative.
Fringe’s True Sci-Fi Successor Was Netflix’s Dark
Even though Netflix’s Dark is far more twisted and bleak with its exploration of time travel, it is hard not to see it as the perfect successor to Fringe. The two sci-fi shows have no underlying narrative connections with one another, but Dark’s exploration of characters intertwined across different eras and realities is reminiscent of Fringe’s portrayal of the “redverse” and the alternate doppelgängers.
Like Fringe, Dark also riffs on the “mad scientist” trope but portrays it in a more subversive way. While the “scientist” in question is brilliantly played by John Noble in Fringe, the same trope is captured by Christian Steyer in Dark. When it comes to the overarching tone, Fringe is far more positive with its storytelling and significantly less existential with its thematic elements.
However, both shows prompt viewers to endlessly discuss ideas surrounding determinism, free will, and the ripple effect of one’s choices. Fortunately, even though many Netflix sci-fi shows get canceled before they can naturally end their run, Dark gets a perfectly circular closure that leaves little to no story threads unresolved.
Dark and Fringe are both unique additions to the sci-fi genre and will go down in history as two of the most innovative shows of all time. Owing to their uniqueness, it would be unfair to label them as each other’s replacements. However, they can still be seen as introspective companion pieces that share many thematic and philosophical overlaps that all sci-fi fans will find interesting.
Both Dark & Fringe Would Arguably Work Incredibly Well As Reboots
Since Dark ended its run just five years ago, it may be a little too soon to consider it for a reboot. However, somewhere far ahead in the future, it would be great to see it return on television as a reboot. Its return would be even better if its original creators, Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, end up helming it all over again.
Did You Know: Fringe portrays an alternate reality in which Eric Stoltz’s Back to the Future’s leading star. Interestingly, Eric Stoltz was initially cast in Back to the Future before Michael J. Fox replaced him.
Fringe ended its run over a decade ago, which makes it the perfect candidate for a potential reboot. Although many concepts from Fringe have become commonplace in sci-fi storytelling, a potential reboot of the series could focus on newer pseudoscientific concepts and fascinate sci-fi fans just like the original show.
Regardless of whether the two shows return in any capacity in the future, their impact on the sci-fi genre remains undeniable. Owing to this, all sci-fi fans must watch both Fringe and Netflix’s Dark at least once, possibly one after the other.