episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a serial (radio and television), series intended for radio, television or Streaming media, streaming consumption. Etymology The noun ''episode'' is ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

Fringe Fringe may refer to: Arts and music * "The Fringe", or Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival * Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival * Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre * Purple fri ...

Jeff Pinkner Jeff Pinkner (born November 16, 1964) is an American television and movie writer and producer. Early life and education Born to a Jewish family,J. J. Abrams,

Alex Kurtzman Alexander Hilary Kurtzman (born September 7, 1973) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for co-writing the scripts to ''Transformers'' (2007), '' Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)'', ''Star Trek'' (2009), ''Star Trek Into Darkness ...

, and

Roberto Orci Roberto Gaston Orcí (July 20, 1973 – February 25, 2025) was a Mexican-American film and television screenwriter and producer. Born in Mexico City, Orci began his longtime collaboration with Alex Kurtzman while at school in California. Toge ...

. When developing the series, they sought to find a medium between serialized drama and the crime procedural. "The Same Old Story" was the first regular episode of ''Fringe'', and journalists viewed it as an example of what they could expect from the series. It was directed by Paul A. Edwards. After a newborn baby rapidly ages into an 80-year-old man, Fringe division agent Olivia Dunham (

Anna Torv Anna Torv (born 7 June 1979) is an Australian actress. Her performance as Olivia Dunham in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox science fiction series ''Fringe (TV series), Fringe'' (2008–2013) earned her four consecutive Saturn Award for Best A ...

) and consultants

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

(

Joshua Jackson Joshua Carter Jackson (born June 11, 1978) is an American and Canadian actor. He is known for his portrayals of Pacey Witter on The WB's teen drama ''Dawson's Creek'' (1998–2003), Peter Bishop in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox science fic ...

) and Walter Bishop (

John Noble John Noble (born 20 August 1948) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Denethor in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003), and Dr. Walter Bishop in the Fox science fiction series '' Fringe'' (2008–2013). ...

) investigate. They tie the case to the murders of young women, who have all had their

pituitary gland The pituitary gland or hypophysis is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans, the pituitary gland is located at the base of the human brain, brain, protruding off the bottom of the hypothalamus. The pituitary gland and the hypothalamus contr ...

s removed. It is revealed that Dr. Claus Penrose (

Mark Blum Mark Blum (May 14, 1950 – March 25, 2020) was an American actor who worked in theater, film, and television. He found success with a lead role in the 1985 film '' Desperately Seeking Susan,'' which he followed up the next year with a supporting ...

), an expert in

progeria Progeria is a specific type of progeroid syndrome, also known as Hutchinson–Gilford syndrome or Hutchinson–Gilford progeroid syndrome (HGPS). A single gene mutation is responsible for causing progeria. The affected gene, known as lamin A ( ...

, is working to help his son Christopher (

Derek Cecil Derek Cecil (born January 5, 1973) is an American actor. He played the role of Seth Grayson on the Netflix series '' House of Cards'', starred in the short-lived series '' Push, Nevada'' and '' The Beat'', and made several appearances in the seri ...

) stay alive, as he suffers from rapid aging syndrome. "The Same Old Story" first aired in the United States on September 16, 2008 on

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

. An estimated 13.272 million viewers watched the episode, a 45 percent increase from the

series premiere A series premiere is the first aired installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. In the United States, many series premieres are aired in the fall time or, for mid-season replacements, either in the spring or ...

. The episode received mixed reviews from television critics – reviewers thought it was an improvement from the previous episode but faulted it for containing plot contrivances.

Plot

A prostitute is abandoned by an unknown man at a hospital, dangerously in labor. She dies as the doctors perform a

caesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section, cesarean, or caesarean delivery, is the Surgery, surgical procedure by which one or more babies are Childbirth, delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen. It is often performed because va ...

, but the child ages rapidly in minutes, soon dead having aged to the likes of a 90-year-old man. Olivia Dunham (

Anna Torv Anna Torv (born 7 June 1979) is an Australian actress. Her performance as Olivia Dunham in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox science fiction series ''Fringe (TV series), Fringe'' (2008–2013) earned her four consecutive Saturn Award for Best A ...

), Peter Bishop (

Joshua Jackson Joshua Carter Jackson (born June 11, 1978) is an American and Canadian actor. He is known for his portrayals of Pacey Witter on The WB's teen drama ''Dawson's Creek'' (1998–2003), Peter Bishop in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox science fic ...

), and Walter Bishop (

John Noble John Noble (born 20 August 1948) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Denethor in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003), and Dr. Walter Bishop in the Fox science fiction series '' Fringe'' (2008–2013). ...

), new members of the Fringe division, are called to investigate by division head

Phillip Broyles This article lists the major and recurring fictional characters on the science fiction television series, ''Fringe'', created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci. In the overarching storyline for the five seasons of the show, severa ...

(

Lance Reddick Lance Solomon Reddick (June 7, 1962 – March 17, 2023) was an American actor. He portrayed Cedric Daniels in ''The Wire'' (2002–2008), List of Fringe characters#Phillip Broyles, Phillip Broyles in ''Fringe (TV series), Fringe'' (2008–201 ...

), believing the case to be part of "The Pattern", a string of mysterious incidents. The woman is identified as having recently left a local motel, and Olivia finds evidence that points to a past serial murder case she and her former partner John Scott were not able to solve. Olivia explains to Peter that their murderer would paralyze his victims, young women, then make an incision along their face to extract a piece of brain material, killing the victim in the process. Walter takes both corpses back to his lab and determines that the woman had only been pregnant minutes before giving birth, her child having a preternatural form of

accelerated aging disease Progeroid syndromes (PS) are a group of rare genetic disorders that mimic Physiology, physiological senescence, aging, making affected individuals appear to be older than they are. The term ''progeroid syndrome'' does not necessarily imply progeri ...

. Walter is reminded of having previously done work in this field, and remembers where he stashed his car that contains the related files. Once they are retrieved, Olivia makes a connection to the

pituitary gland The pituitary gland or hypophysis is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans, the pituitary gland is located at the base of the human brain, brain, protruding off the bottom of the hypothalamus. The pituitary gland and the hypothalamus contr ...

which controls growth in humans, and informs Charlie Francis (

Kirk Acevedo Kirkland M. Acevedo (born November 27, 1971) is an American actor best known as Miguel Alvarez in '' Oz'', Joe Toye in '' Band of Brothers'', and FBI Agent Charlie Francis on '' Fringe''. His best-known films are '' The Thin Red Line'', '' D ...

) to monitor recent cases where the victims' pituitary gland has been removed. Olivia and Peter turn to an expert in

progeria Progeria is a specific type of progeroid syndrome, also known as Hutchinson–Gilford syndrome or Hutchinson–Gilford progeroid syndrome (HGPS). A single gene mutation is responsible for causing progeria. The affected gene, known as lamin A ( ...

, Dr. Penrose (

Mark Blum Mark Blum (May 14, 1950 – March 25, 2020) was an American actor who worked in theater, film, and television. He found success with a lead role in the 1985 film '' Desperately Seeking Susan,'' which he followed up the next year with a supporting ...

), to try to learn more about rapid aging, but Dr. Penrose cannot help them further, though Peter suspects he is hiding something. Unseen by the Fringe division, Dr. Penrose visits an abandoned warehouse and meets the murderer, Christopher (

Derek Cecil Derek Cecil (born January 5, 1973) is an American actor. He played the role of Seth Grayson on the Netflix series '' House of Cards'', starred in the short-lived series '' Push, Nevada'' and '' The Beat'', and made several appearances in the seri ...

), his son, who suffers from rapid aging syndrome. Penrose warns Christopher to be careful and that they only need one more woman to complete the process. By this time, Charlie has found a recent murder victim killed in the same fashion as Olivia's serial murderer. At Walter's lab, they identify the pituitary gland has been removed. They rationalize the murderer must extract hormones from the glands to slow down his own aging process. Walter hypothesizes they can discover the location of the crime by looking at the images left in the woman's optical nerves induced by the paralyzing sedative. Borrowing an electronic pulse camera from Massive Dynamic, they discover the image of a suspension bridge near Stoughton and identify the likely location from which it was viewed—the same warehouse that Dr. Penrose visited. The FBI converge on the building, and Olivia and Peter find Penrose about to cut into another victim. Olivia chases off after Christopher, who eventually succumbs to his rapid aging and dies, while Peter, after nicking Penrose with a bullet, confers with Walter to apply a makeshift defibrillator to bring the victim back to life. As they wrap up the case, Olivia, Peter, and Walter complete forms to finalize their position in the Fringe division. When Peter is out of earshot, Walter learns from Olivia that the FBI medical files on Peter's childhood are void of any details.

Production

Co-creators J. J. Abrams,

Alex Kurtzman Alexander Hilary Kurtzman (born September 7, 1973) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for co-writing the scripts to ''Transformers'' (2007), '' Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)'', ''Star Trek'' (2009), ''Star Trek Into Darkness ...

and

Roberto Orci Roberto Gaston Orcí (July 20, 1973 – February 25, 2025) was a Mexican-American film and television screenwriter and producer. Born in Mexico City, Orci began his longtime collaboration with Alex Kurtzman while at school in California. Toge ...

, and executive producer

Jeff Pinkner Jeff Pinkner (born November 16, 1964) is an American television and movie writer and producer. Early life and education Born to a Jewish family,Alias''. They wanted to find a balance between standalone stories and serialized content, and studied procedural dramas such as '' Law and Order'' and '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' for inspiration. Kurztman explained, "While we make sure that our episodes are self-contained – have a beginning, a middle, and an end – the character stories can be serialized. They don't have to resolve themselves over the course of one show." "The Same Old Story" was ''Fringe''s first regular episode, and some journalists viewed it as an example of how the series would be structured. The episode was based on actual recent research and involved much collaboration among the series' different departments. For the scene in which they remove the victim's eyeball, the special effects crew created a mold based on actress Elizabeth Stanley's head. Using plaster to make a prosthetic, they "drilled out the eyeball and sculpt dit open and entthrough a series of molds." Stanley stated that "it's really cool to see the head because it really does look just like me, even though it's very gruesome because the eyeball's popping out." The prop department rigged a weapon which they called a "photon gun"; according to prop master Peter Gelfman, this gun was based on real devices employed in airport security that look through people's clothing for concealed weapons. VFX Supervisor Christopher Scollard explained that for the eye's last vision, they used "a lot of actual photographic reference on the set and on the location," which they then used to "take that imagery and composite it into the various computer monitors and displays in the lab." "The Same Old Story" featured guest appearances by actors

Derek Cecil Derek Cecil (born January 5, 1973) is an American actor. He played the role of Seth Grayson on the Netflix series '' House of Cards'', starred in the short-lived series '' Push, Nevada'' and '' The Beat'', and made several appearances in the seri ...

as Christopher Penrose and

Mark Blum Mark Blum (May 14, 1950 – March 25, 2020) was an American actor who worked in theater, film, and television. He found success with a lead role in the 1985 film '' Desperately Seeking Susan,'' which he followed up the next year with a supporting ...

as his father, Dr. Claus Penrose. Other guest actors included Betty Gilpin as Loraine "Amber" Daisy Alcott,

Bernie McInerney Bernie McInerney (born December 4, 1936) is an American character actor. Personal life McInerney grew up in Delaware where his father was an auditor with the DuPont Company. McInerney came to acting at a young age, announcing the World Series d ...

as old Christopher Penrose, Carmen Goodine as Amy, Ty Jones as a doctor, and Karin Agstam as John Scott's sister.

Reception

Ratings

"The Same Old Story" was watched by 13.272 million viewers in the United States, a 45 percent increase of four million from the pilot. Fox claimed that this ratings improvement was the best for any new network drama series in over five years. Its high-rated lead-in, ''

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

'', helped boost ''Fringe''s ratings for the night, as 93 percent of ''House''s total audience and 95 percent of 18- to 49-year-olds stayed to watch ''Fringe''. ''Fringe'' was also the highest rated program for male 18- to 54-year-olds that evening.

Reviews

"The Same Old Story" received mixed reviews from television critics.

TV Squad Weblogs, Inc. was a blog network that published content on a variety of subjects, including tech news, video games, automobiles, and pop culture. At one point, the network had as many as 90 blogs, although the vast majority of its traffic could b ...

writer Jane Boursaw thought the episode seemed "all over the place", and wasn't sure what to think. She stated the two most interesting parts of the episode were when Walter removed the girl's eye in order to identity her killer, and the cliffhanger at the very end, when Walter states "If you've read my file, then you know the truth about Peter's medical history". Travis Fickett of

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

thought it was better than the pilot; though it was "laden with lots of clunky exposition and clichéd dialogue," Fickett understood that it was needed to acquaint new viewers to the show. Fickett concluded his review by saying ''Fringe'' has the potential to be a "great show", and he also praised the production level as "top notch", and Torv's performance as "very good" as she "brings a unique presence to the show". ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' critic Noel Murray gave the episode a C+, while ''

Television Without Pity Television Without Pity (often abbreviated TWoP) was a website that provided detailed recaps of select television dramas, situation comedies and reality TV shows along with discussion forums. These recaps were written with sarcastic criticism a ...

'' graded it with a B. Josh Jackson of ''

Paste Magazine ''Paste'' is an American monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publi ...

'' disliked the "

deus ex machina ''Deus ex machina'' ( ; ; plural: ''dei ex machina''; 'God from the machine') is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly or abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence. Its function is general ...

" aspects that "neatly solved the puzzles of the first two episodes", and also criticized perceived "plot contrivances" like how the serial murderer immediately began aging once interrupted from killing his last victim. Despite these flaws, Jackson said he would tune in next week because he would "rather have a show err on the side of unbelievable than unremarkable, and I'm interested to see if Abrams has any more tricks up his sleeve". Erin Fox of ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' also liked "The Same Old Story" better than the pilot because she thought that it "had really cool special effects, awesome Walter-isms, and actual chemistry forming between Olivia and Peter", and "we also got to delve more into the connections between Walter, Nina Sharp, Massive Dynamic and the government and the experiments they conducted before Walter was institutionalized". A

UGO Networks UGO Entertainment, Inc. was a website that provided coverage of online media in entertainment, targeting males aged 18–34. The company was based in New York, New York, United States. History The company started in 1997 as Unified Gamers Online ...

columnist was concerned that the expensive pilot would be hard to translate into weekly episodes, but "after sitting down to watch ''Fringe''s second episode, "The Same Old Story", my concerns have vanished. ''Fringe''s second episode represents all that is holy about genre programming without sacrificing any of ''Fringe''s eleven-herbs and spices. In fact, the subtle framework of what makes ''Fringe'' not ''

X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to May 19, 2002, on Fox, spanning nine seasons, with 202 episodes. A tenth season of six e ...

'' is even better defined in the first weekly-episode. I'd struggled to find the word to describe it, and the winner is 'condensed'. "The Same Old Story" has all of the sense of mystery, discovery, and humor that the pilot had just in a smaller, more combustible space." Another UGO writer, Alex Zalben, later compared "The Same Old Story" to the similarly-plotted ''The X-Files'' episode " Død Kalm". Zalben concluded that "''Fringe'' wins this one, just for having a slightly less stupid explanation."

References

External links

"The Same Old Story"
at

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Same Old Story, The Fringe season 1 episodes 2008 American television episodes Television episodes directed by Paul Edwards (director) Television episodes written by J. J. Abrams Television episodes written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci