Too bad you didn't watch Prison Break, if only to notice that Robert Knepper was pretty much playing the character the same way he did his T-Bag. The Irish accent started out bad, but then it completely disappeared and was replaced by a southern drawl.

In every episode they pretty much step on some baseline they set up in a previous episode.

And what you pointed out about the X-Files is what I'm worried about happening to Fringe. That they'll lose direction. I suppose it could have just been the way they played out the first episode.