Is Nina Fringe’s Cigarette Smoking Man?

It’s a good thing I’ve already had my children because the opening scene of Fringe’s “The Same Old Story” was freaky enough for me to never want to be pregnant again.

FRINGE airing Tuesdays (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) this fall on FOX. Pictured: Blair Brown as Nina Sharp ©2008 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Michael Lavine/FOX

But that scene wasn’t nearly as unexpected as seeing the creepy Nina Sharp among the suits Broyles is updating with the latest case and bios of his new team in the second episode of J.J. Abram’s latest thriller.

We are only two weeks into this new series, but it’s already clear that Nina isn’t someone to be trusted.  Last week the Chief Operating Officer of Massive Dynamics was almost threatening towards Olivia.  The two met when Olivia was looking for the man who released the nasty toxin.  That man turned out to be a former MD employee.

Anyone else wonder how Nina defines “former?”

Add the fact that the yet unseen founder of MD, William Bell, is Walter’s former lab partner and you have to admit that Nina is pretty suspicious.  So why on earth is Broyles briefing her?

All I could think of was the X-Files’ Cigarette Smoking Man.  He appeared to work with Mulder and Scully while secretly getting briefs on their work and himself working for the force that is behind much of the phenomenon the agents were investigating.

Sounds like Nina.  But instead of chain smoking, she’s got that creepy robotic arm.  We’ve yet to see who she works for and she’s suddenly very helpful to Olivia.

Interesting that Nina is so helpful when she was so verbal in that briefing that she didn’t think that Olivia, Walter and Peter were the appropriate people for Broyles’ new team.

Also, pretty fascinating that Massive Dynamics just happens to hold the patent on the experimental piece of equipment that Walter and Peter need to identify the killer in this week’s mystery.  Exactly what does Massive Dynamics do?  And what are they using this equipment for?

And when Olivia returns the equipment, Nina tries to insert herself as a confidant, pumping Olivia for information about the case, even offering her a job.  Now that’s one way to get Olivia to stop pursuing the Pattern.

But Olivia saw through the ruse.  And apparently Broyles isn’t all that taken in by Nina either, offering Olivia a warning about the MD executive.

Still I’m left wondering who that committee was that Broyles is briefing and why Nina has a seat on it.

What do you think?

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Footage of New X-Files Movie Leaked

The new X-Files movie, due in theaters on July 25, might not have a title yet, but a teaser of footage from the movie was shown to fans this past weekend at WonderCon in San Francisco.

Here’s a look at the footage.

Even after watching the teaser several times, I’m no closer to guessing what the plot will be of the X-Files sequel.  And apparently Chris Carter provided no revelations in his interview with SciFi Wire.

Instead he reiterated that the film is a stand alone story that will not pick up where the last movie let off.  From the teaser, we know that Billy Connolly has joined the cast as a guy with really long hair and that Amanda Peet is an FBI agent who according to Carter has “gone missing.”

Carter does added that the movie will reflect the passage of time.  Apparently Fox Mulder (David Duchovany) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) have changed since when last saw them in 2002.

“The truth is, after all that time, Mulder and Scully were different people, and we were different people, so the ‘X-File’ we came up with five years ago is still the X-File in the movie, but their personal lives – the state of their relationship, all those things – have changed over time, and that was kind of interesting,” Producer/Writer Frank Spotnitz said.

I’m glad to see that Carter and Spotnitz are acknowledging the passing of time. 

While I’ve been monitoring the progress of the movie, I haven’t really been excited about it yet.  Six years is a long time to have been without X-Files.

But after watching the teaser, I’m ready to break out the DVD of the last movie and rent some of the series.  The countdown to July has begun.