Fringe Season 1 Episode 2

A great improvement towards the pilot! I'm not so good with the surrealism of the series, however there were many things I enjoyed about this episode. For starters, John Noble, who gives an outstanding performance as this slightly insane, but unbelievably intelligent man. My favorite moment of the episode was when his son calls him, totally agitated because of the tough situation he's in, and Noble's just like "Boy, we just made Joshua Jackson is way better in the pilot, too and Anna Torv is a steadily strong lead. The crime, which they were trying to solve, was too odd in my opinion, but overall it was still entertaining to watch.

The questions I ask myself now is: What is the capacity of someone who begins to see "Fringe" will have to embark in this world of pseudoscience and continue it for long? Even when someone able to enjoy the episodes without starting to develop some resistance to what is presented?



Of course it depends from person to person. In my case, if the last scene of the first episode where the character John Scott is taken to mark five hours after he died - which is already one of the great mysteries of the series, as Mark Valley is part of the cast and how supposedly died, I'm pretty curious to know what place has the character in the series, but this is a story for another time - let me have something sturdy to the concept that the series takes, the fact that this second episode starts with another case bizarre (the type of cases that we see often, of course) has made me more wary. And I like the bizarre. But I also believe that what is more abundant.



Even with this feeling of strength this early on in terms of suspense and tension, the first moments of the episode were undoubtedly the best. The breakneck pace of the whole sequence, will be accompanied by new melodies by Michael Giacchino, was a perfect introduction to an episode that left a bitter taste. With the course of the investigation and subsequent revealing of the mysteries, if the interest has died down and the first few minutes what had been achieved, the eye-catching, has been diluted with the passage of time. In that way the case was solved was, once again, the Rasar the limits of suspension of disbelief (something that almost certainly is destined to happen often in this series).



Unlike what I had been in memory since I saw the pilot episode for some time, this time some of the actors, and even their own characters, I'm not totally convinced. Anna Torv always seemed to me something far away, discouraged, probably a result of recent personal events in which your character now, but even so, it seemed always too alien. Not to mention that his chemistry with Joshua Jackson was almost nil.



Speaking of the latter, and this may already enter the field of precious, but it is extremely annoying how often the actor emphasizes his lines (he worst, I remember, suddenly, the flamboyant Michael Rapaport, from "Prison Break "). And this is even more remarkable because all the others are people of deep voices and little projection, and Joshua Jackson. On the other hand, I appreciated the ease of Blair Brown in his portrayal of Nina Sharp.



Finally, not wanting to drag a lot more discussion now widely discussed, there tell me that this episode did not exhale "X-Files" from every pore?

Fringe certainly had an interesting premise with this episode.. but one thing I've noticed about the show is their tendency to focus a lot of their efforts on the scientific breakdown of terms and solutions. Walter and Peter will ramble on about some odd type of paranormal thing that he worked on in the past, and they break down how it works and what it means.. by the end of the episode, there's a limited amount of screen time dedicated to the action.





But hey, why complain when the show is still so compelling? I've found myself drawn into the show, much like Lost did when it first aired.. the whole Massive Dynamic story line seems interesting and it makes me really want to know what its endgame is.





The characters are all becoming pretty interesting as well. Especially the interactions between Walter and Peter.. Walter consistantly delivers hilarious lines and brings some level of comedy to a show that's heavily dominated by science fiction, the paranormal and drama.





Overall, a good start to the season.

After this episode, I really don´t know if this show have potential, but since this show have good hands producing it, it doesn´t cost anything to have a little faith.





The case itself it is not very attractive and it was unreal, I didn´t expected to see some "magic" but more advanced science, exploring what is necessary and making the episode filled with mystery and making the development interesting.





It is not a bad episode, but the intensity and the plot twist made in the pilot make some pressure for this episode, this is why I expected more of it, at least was entertaining.

After the great pilot, I was quite excited to see next episode and thought even those online viewing possibilities but I am glad I did not gave up and waited the week on local tv channel to see next episode.. because I still have my faith on this serie.. if I had seen that episode soon after pilot, I might have given up at all.





So.. that sounds terrible? And some way.. it was.. I do not know.. All the mystery and all the tempo, motion.. it was gone. The chars were there but I did not saw much development neither them or their stories.. Maybe only that father/son relationship got some motion forward and the case.. it sounded good on paper but in action.. I do not know.. there wasn't that mystery.. that tension, excitement what pilot had.. I hope it gets better.. There is potential..

Another interesting episode, and the continuation of this team of investigators. This episode furthers the story as well as adding to the mystery. It was different than the first episode, more of a hunt down and find the bad guy type then action, but I still enjoyed it. It's good to see early on that this show could possibly have a few different ways of approaching episodes. I guess I am seeing too far ahead, but I hope the show continues to get better, as I do think it has potential. The ending intrigues me, it seems that things are not all as they seem. I sort of like that about this show, it sort of reminds me of Eureka except with a darker feel too it.

This particular episode story is almost always picked up by sci-fi shows at some point, thus 'unoriginal'. That being said, I thought it was well done. Tied in decently with the overall idea that all these past experiments are out of control nowadays. I liked that instead of using just a camera to find out a location (something done numerous times in numerous shows) they actually took out a girl's eye, which was a little more detailed than one might expect from prime-time tv (if you really want to see gruesome watch the first episode... my god). All in all I am still impressed by the detail the show puts on the science aspect; it's accurate, as long as you don't think too closely.

It's an impressively trenchant, if somewhat safe second episode by Abrams and Co. that never thrills as much as the pilot, but manages to lure you in that bit more with some fine storytelling and a decent case-of-the-week. Again, the same pros and cons still apply here: I still retain mixed feelings towards Anna, her line delivery lacks the dramatic punches the script is so desperately trying to deliver. Regardless, progress is made with Walter and Bishop and those final moments were sweet in an otherwise grisly tale. It has some time to go before it can really web a unique spin on the sci-fi/cop scenario that The X-files dominated for so long, but I've no doubt team Abrams will get there. And while I still think that silly font hampers the flow of the episode, I enjoyed the hour, much like the pilot, more than I was expecting to.

I think this episode only worked if you were really interested in the science involved. There were a number of interesting specific techniques and scientific theories investigated here. We had the question of whether some form of injections from the pituitary gland would be able to slow aging and then we had the electronic visions held in the cornea at death. Both of these subjects have been discussed and rehashed in a number of different scientific programs and science fiction shows.





I find it interesting that they followed up the Pilot with this episode. There was a great deal of action in the first episode and this one was much more of a serial killer based story were the killer was doing something to survive. Very science fiction but also a little bit of monster/horror thrown in.





The characters are becoming better defined and there is more of an understanding of the structure of the various organizations. I think they went in that direction specifically to clarify the players and where they all stand.





Interesting episode that I still give a pretty high mark even though it is not my cup of tea. This almost seems like a science fiction procedural more than say dealing with the unknown. Maybe it will cycle back and forth in the stories. Not a bad follow up to the Pilot. Thanks for reading...

Olivia, along with Peter and Walter Bishop, reopens a cold case involving a serial killer who extracted the pituitary glands from his victims after investigating the strange death of a woman who had an even stranger child. The woman was pregnant for only hours, yet the baby she birthed was fully developed - then aged eighty years in the span of a few minutes. They discover that the killer is an artificially-aged human, who is using the enzymes extracted from the removed glands to halt his rapid aging. The team is able to track him and his creator down, causing the man to die from being deprived of the enzymes keeping him young. I found the quality of this episode to be slightley worse than the Pilot, and the story was confusing until the end when I realized what was going on. Walter is so funny I think he is my favorite but I see he's most peoples favorite character. The storyline didnt progress here in this episode but it was still very entertaining. I love this show. Episode two was pretty strong just not the best the show could be after we saw the amazing Pilot.

A serial killer mixed up in the pattern. This case and or pattern was particularly gruesome. I keep coming back to the show for Walter and Peter's interaction. Walter alone is worth the viewing but the addition of Peter is just hard not to watch. Walter's work in "growing" people was just weird. Peter and Walter are just great to watch interact. Massive Dynamics as well as Nina Sharp keep popping up in the most interesting of circumstances. We even have an appearance of the "Observer." This show seems to be getting stranger but I can't seem to miss an episode.

A serial murderer in this Episode is killing prostitutes daily for the pituitary glands he needs to stop from aging. But when one of his extractions is interrupted for a mere five minutes, he immediately grows old and dies a subject that curiously Walter Bishop worked on previously.





Walter later comes up with a solution to solve the problem and then makes it work at his very first attempt. Right at the end of the Episode Walter asks Olivier if they could keep this between themselves, unaware that she's totally in the dark on this subject. It's about Peter, what is it?

The bar was set high for Fringe after the impressive pilot, and the second episode only builds on the excitement millions have already latched onto. The opening scenes of the first episode were gruesome and intense to be sure, but nothing compared to what we get in the first four minutes of round two. Witnessing a woman conceive, carry a baby full term, and deliver via C-section all in the span of a few minutes is every bit as shocking as you might imagine. The doctors' and nurses' reactions in surgery, mixed with the groaning (yes groaning) of the newborn work together to give us one of the most chilling scenes in network TV history. It's almost as if the writers are saying, "Guess what? This show is intense and no telling what we will throw at you next!"





Early on I was quite surprised to see Broyles meeting with a select group of higher ups as he introduced his new team. Who was among that group? None other than the Terminator arm toting Massive Dynamic COO Nina Sharp herself. I can't wait to see how this relationship plays out as more light is shed on The Pattern and all who are involved in it. Massive Dynamic CEO William Bell is yet to be seen and I don't expect we will see him for awhile. The creators of Fringe have even said in a recent podcast that the actor they have cast as Bell doesn't even know he is playing Bell. Whatever that means….





I loved the story in this episode, and especially the mix of "fringe science" and investigative techniques used to track down the killer. While these unorthodox methods are incredibly far-fetched, I still can't help but buy into the "what if" factor. This is a formula we can be sure to expect in each new installment and I'm excited to see the creative ideas the writers have in store for us. The strong characters we fell in love with in the pilot are in top form throughout this episode. Olivia Dunham's infectious search for truth is captivating and inviting. John Noble continues to give a stellar performance as the highly eccentric Dr. Bishop. This is a truly disturbed and damaged character that tugs at our heart strings all the while amazing us with his superior intellect. The biggest surprise for me so far has to be Joshua Jackson's performance as Peter Bell. Jackson gives this character the perfect balance of humor, wit, and compassion that make Peter so engaging. At the end of the episode we see a softer, yet welcome side to Peter as he sings his father to sleep. The relationship between Peter and Walter is one of the most interesting aspects of the show, and it looks like things just became even more interesting. I had my suspicions in the pilot that all was not as it seemed between father and son. For instance, something about the way Walter kept trying to check Peter's vitals throughout the episode seemed especially odd. In The Same Old Story there is one very interesting scene where Walter shares information with Olivia about Peter's past and the nature of their relationship. My guess? I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Peter is much more than Walter's son….more like his creation. So many questions. So many theories. And alas, this is only the second episode! I am so, so hooked…

Hey.. as much as good was the pilot of Fringe this first episode is really rubbish. Mmore to say it is a copy of an old x-files story about... (spoiler). I was really surprised because i was expecting the authors to keep moving the story with style, but there is no style at all in this episode. Bad story, the grandpa is starting to be annoying when he speaks of how terrible was his past, the realism (was quite small also in the pilot) is now completely gone and i don't want to spoiler but the way they solve the puzzle is really really stupid and childish.


well let's hope the next one will be better.. far better.

I didn't care too much for the character of Olivia in the pilot episode of Fringe. I'm not sure whether it was the character or the actress (Anna Torv), but either way, she didn't win me over. This latest episode was better -- I actually felt bad for her when she realized that the serial killer in this episode was the same killer she'd been hunting a year ago. When she subsequently realized that every investigation she's done that's remained unsolved could have been because she just wasn't looking in the right places, I really did feel terrible for her. I'm curious as to whether she'll actually follow through with this and start going back and reviewing unresolved cases.





For me, the highlight of Fringe is the interaction between Walter and Peter -- the dialogue is just great.





Walter, offhandedly: "Do you have any cocaine?"





Peter, incredulously: "No, I don't have any cocaine."





Alright, in writing this doesn't seem all that special, but if you watch the execution on the show, it's just wonderful. Walter's casual approach to advising his frantic son in the midst of a crisis is hilarious.





At this point, Walter's knowledge about all of the strange occurrences is a bit too convenient. Knowing J.J. Abrams, everything is working its way towards a big ginormous reveal, and the convoluted explanations for things will probably make more sense later when we get more of a "feel" for the show's mythology.





At this point, the highlight of the show for me is Joshua Jackson. I'm excited to see him back on television, even though his character is more like his Dawson's Creek character than he would probably like to admit. Still, Pacey was the main reason I watched Dawson's Creek anyway, so something about the way Joshua Jackson plays his characters obviously works.





I wasn't terribly intrigued with the episode as a whole, but the last few minutes revealed some interesting plot twists that I'm excited to learn more about. Peter's medical history? What's that all about? And the last flash shot before the end -- was that a weird hallucination or a dream of Walter's, or was that happening in real-time?





Nikki Stafford is postulating that perhaps the three bodies at the end are clones of Christopher. She actually has some other really interesting theories, and has picked apart the episode quite nicely. Read her blog entry on this week's episode here.





So although Fringe has not wowed me to the extent that the premieres of other shows have, I'm still intrigued enough to continue -- and the beautiful-ness of Joshua Jackson certainly doesn't hurt, either.





Check out my other reviews at http://acf-reviews.blogspot.com/





---Adela P.

This episode actually held my interest. I thought that the idea for this episode was interesting. The pace for this episode was better than the pilot episode. I am still having trouble relating to the characters. My curiosity was piqued from Walter's statement about Peter. I can't wait to see where that goes. I am glad that they have Peter as the interpreter for some of the science. I have a science background but sometimes when Walter rambles on it is hard to follow. I think the weirdness for this show is equal to that of the X-files. I hope that future episodes continue to be as entertaining as this one was.

After an outstanding pilot Fringe continues strong in its second episode. Another excellent, gripping story as well as tremendous writing and character development. FOX's latest program is quickly on its way to establishing itself as one of the best shows on television.





Lance Reddick continues to give Emmy-worthy performances in his role as Agent Phillip Broyles. John Noble plays the wacky scientist Walter Bishop perfectly and Anna Torv and Joshua Jackson round out the main cast with strong efforts as well.





Lost quickly made its mark on television in 2004 by getting people talking about just what the f is going on with the island. Fringe isn't as mysterious but we are seeing some interesting story arcs developing and I would not be surprised if the program becomes a water cooler show in the near future.

I was expecting a lot more with the follow up to the first episode which was extraordinary. This episode was slow and uninteresting at times and the story seemed muddled in the middle. I hope they aren't going to bring in a new "fringe" experiment every episode and focus on developing a main story rather than tell a new short story every time. Overall, I think they have some work to do but a decent episode nonetheless. Quality series and I will be watching. Oh and Olivia Dunham is one gorgeous lady. I think they need to develop Peter's character more, rather than just simply stating he has an 190 IQ, how about show that he really does have an 190 IQ rather than just be his father's keeper. Peter is probably the most interesting character and he has yet to been touched.

The second episode of Fringe is here. This show was supposed to be something new, and exciting. So why do I get the feeling I've seen something like that before.





So we have a genetically engineered man, who's aging rapidly. He's removing pituitary glands from women, in order to stay young. It would be an interesting story line, if wasn't done many times before in other shows. We already had similar stotylines in "Birds of Prey" and even "Smallville".





Not just the story is unoriginal. Watching this episode, I had the feeling I'm watching a X-Files rip off (which I've noticed in the pilot episode too). We have strange cases, FBI, a mysterious conspiracy and even music themes straight off XF.





Come on 4 (yes 4!!) writers are working on a script and that's all they can come up with? OK, I did like a few things. The acting was, yet again very solid (I think it's one of the only things in this show wich is top level), and thre were some good dialogue lines here and there.





Now the big question: Is that enough to keep the viewers interested enough to tune in next week??





I don't know. I've expected more from Abrams. If the show doen't get better in the next few episodes, I know I won't be watching it anymore.

Last episode of Fringe had me thinking this series was fantastic. "The Same Old Story" is even better. Its not exactly what you'd call the same old story. A woman's stomach begins to swell from getting pregnant and gives birth within hours of contraception.





The good thing about Fringe is that you didn't have to see the last episode. Unlike the other series that J.J. Abrams has made (Lost, Alias), the show solves the case within an episode and does not refer to it again.





Fringe is one of my new favorite shows. Its a fantastic mix of science fiction and mystery. I look forward to it going on for seasons.

This is the second episode in the Fringe series, and its a little bit of a let down. Olivia is getting over the loss of her partner and lover when a case that she solved twelve years ago involving a man who kills woman is brought up again. She sets off to investigate with the company in tow. One of the gripes I have about this episode is that Bishop's dementia is getting a little old. I know he was locked up in a mental hospital for seventeen years but with his flashes of genius here and again it just makes me wonder if he is making it up to pull one over on all of them or what. I didn't think the villain in this particular episode was very strong either, it just seemed to me the actor was rolling with the punches so to speak. Anyway this was an ok episode of a show that is slowly starting to spiral down.

In "The same old story" the "mistery bureau" is called to investigate an unexplained phenomena of the medical kind, which turns out to be related to the case of a serial killer previously investigated by Olivia and deceased John Scott. Dr. Bishop reveals that both the unexplained phenomena and the serial killer are probably related to one of his past lab experiments. This one indeed had a tint of the X-files. Only it was like a "monster of the week" 10 times trasher.





John Noble acting skills continues to shine, his role as Dr. Walter Bishop is just mesmerizing and memorable, really. Last time i said his character seemed out of place in the series. Well, i think that got better (for the resons i cite just below), but he still seems out of place, and that happens only, and only because, of the bad horrible scientific accuracy of the writing. Dr. Bishop remains as nuts as it gets, same impaired recent memory, same senseless speech to be unraveled in order to mean something. Nevertheless, an important thing has been pointed out in today's episode: Dr. Bishop clearly remembers a lot more about his "Dr. Frankenstein" years than one would assume, and he remembers it in detail. While sometimes he honestly looks out of himself, like in the scene in the car or drawing milk from the cow (i confess i bend to it, it was hilarious), other times i swear i could tell, by the look in his eye, that he is just playing dumb and fooling people into his game, after all he now has a chance to find out what happened to him, so that he can make up to all the years spent inside a mental hospital... Something else of note: we already know from other J.J. Abrams series that his characters are mostly double-sided and use to have a past of secrets to be hidden at any cost, so i'm sure we'll eventually learn how much mad of a mad scientist Dr. Bishop used to be. Sure he was no angel either. Peter himself already stated he was a lousy father. He must have had a pitch black of a dark side. And we have an important proof of that: during a conversation between Walter Bishop and Olivia, he briefly cites Peter's medical record (in a blatant phishing attempt on how much Olivia knew about them), indirectly suggesting that Peter might have been the subject to one of his experiments (unaware to Peter of course). If you watched Alias you must remeber that the main characters in the story also had their children secretly involved in experiments and conspiracies. Similar stuff happens in Lost, with Locke, for instance. With Fringe it must not be different!! I wonder: Was J.J. Abrams a secretly test subject when he was a kid? To experiments conducted by his parents?? Joshua Jackson's is probably the only sane character in the show. He is still the only one to say things that make sense from a scientific viewpoint, yet no one seems to listen to him. He should seriously be promoted to the mad scientist post. He continues to steal the scene whenever he appears, it's impossible to not like Peter Bishop.





Anna Torv's acting is still under assessment, i'm prone to think she'a a good acterss, and Olivia Dunham became a little more plausible of a character in this second episode. From all the things i had pointed in the first episode, she seems a little less gullible and stupid, and many things i objected were explained ( yes, she was aware how ridiculous she would look to everyone if she followed Walter's ideas; apparently being kept to herself and calm is a part of her personality, unlike most cops, so she never vents her spleen on whoever is around - that's why her face is always so bland).





The science aspect again i though was totally lame, and it might keep me from watching. I don't even know exactly where do i start here, but it was all so absurd that i felt seriously insulted by it. Do the writers want us to take this seriously? Keeping my mind open, I'm fine with the flash-pregnancy scenes, and the full of mistakes and trashy C-section scenes, from a "it's just tv" point of view. I'm ok with the eye scene (but beware of the fact that the idea is copied from a Jules Verne book and not originally by J.J. Abrams, not to say it has been used before on TV). Either for fun or creative excuses these shows need this kind of stuff. But that's about all i could stand without ranting. I'm really sorry, but everything else sci-fi related was obnoxious.


Growth and aging are unrelated and aging has nothing to do with growth hormone. There are very well-described, well-known developmental, growth diseases that are related either to growth hormone and/or the pituatary gland or are due to genetics. None of them has nothing to do with what "Fringe" totally made up. Acromegalia, Gigantism, Soto's Syndrome, Progeria, you don't need to be a genius to know this, you just need the Discovery Channel. These diseases even happen to be "famous" because they are so rare, and the people with it look so peculiar that they usually get a lot of media attention due to their characterisctics. There's no need to chopp off one's gland in order to extract the hormones. You just have to go to the drugstore and order the synthethized medicine. They could still have come up with a pretty good, scary story, knowing all the above. Oh and by the way the pituitary surgery is made via a nasal probe, not mouth, and there's no need for face-scalping or anything like that. I know, i know, it's just tv... but my point is: there is no way this can be called science-fiction. Because the current factual knowledge was totally ignored, and the whole thing made up, it was almost like an alternate scientific-reality, or time traveling into sci-fi. This might have been science-fiction 50 years ago, when medicine knew nothing about nothing, but not now. There is no way. I'll put it this way: if you have a stem cell you don't need pituitary ripping. So why not write a scary fiction using stem cell as a startpoint?? I'm sure they can, that's pretty much the writers job, create new unexpected things and let us have some fun!! You have to build science-fiction always from the ultimate knowledge, not the knowledge that was. That way one such writer might even, perhaps, preview in his fiction some of the science's real future, like Jules Verne did. Science evolves, and so does the fiction. So, if they go out and assume that "Fringe" is "investigative horror", or maybe a homage to old horror b-movies, or something like that, fine, i can live with it. But please, don't sell it to me as sci-fi because that would be really insulting, and i might have to stop watching it soon.

To be honest i really liked this episode but it felt like there was something missing. The Beginning episodes of lost for example had unanswered questions that left the public to come up with there own answers which they could discuss with others, I think that this is what Fringe needs. The episodes story seemed very reminiscent of The X-Files and i liked that, i think if they spent more time going into what happened to the woman in detail and spent less time catching the bad guy it would have been more enjoyable. I liked the character development of Olivia in this episode, especially the scene in the waiting room of Massive Dynamic. Overall i enjoyed watching this episode.

Fringe debuted to an absolutely awesome and near flawless first episode or pilot. So, naturally I had very high expectations for the second episode. This might be a little unfair as the first episode did have 10 million dollars spent on it, and this one did not. So there was going to be some difference. Naturally the second episode went into some more character building, as it should have. It also left more questions unanswered but, that is to be expected too. Comparing the first episode with the second isn't fair as that one had a whole lot more money invested it to it. Still though the visuals were very nice and high quality. The story was seemless and it wasn't as predicatable as the first episode, infact I didn't guess a lot of the episode at all. I love how the show uses "flashbacks" or "dream sequences" in some places to leave us guessing about what is going on with certain characters such as when Olivea is day dreaming that she is talking to Broyles and he asked her if the last time she was intimate with John Scott she used protection and then showed her growing some kind of man baby in her stomach. It was a good twist to foreshadow the future, maybe even in future shows. This show definately has that certain flair to be a hit. I am certainly a fan, especially after the first episode. And with the very excellent follow up episode to the big opener I will definately continue to follow Fringe until it proves it isn't worthy of my hour. Undoubtedly many many people will compare it to X-Files and it does have that going for it, but fortunately it isn't a straight rip-off of x-files and has a nice flair for the X-Files along with its own story life. I am very curious to see where the story line goes with Nina, Broyles and Olivea. Obviously Nina with Massive Dynamic has more to do with what is happening than what we are being shown. Also I am curious as to what the frog, leaf and other items we are being shown at commercial break has to do with everything. JJ Adams does not put just anything somewhere in his shows. He is very known for tying every thing in to everything (IE: Lost). Overall: Great character development, along with compelling story. I will be sitting down on my sofa when the next episode airs to watch it. Hopefully this show can live up to keeping me coming back every week. Also it would be extremely nice if this show doesn't get canceled as most every show I tend to like a lot does. Doesn't that just blow when you find a great show you like and it gets canceled? I hate that, and its the reason why I am very very cautious about what I watch during the first few episodes because of the likelyhood of cancelation. Fringe doesn't have that feel though =)

Last weeks episode, while good was greatly improved this week. I was a little unsure of the show at first but this changed my mind. The plot, the acting, the quality was all very high and very well done.





Toriv, and Joshua Jackson stepped up their game in this episode. Both characters felt much more human and much more real to me. In addition Dr. Bishop showed a different side, and seemed like he could even potentially be a very dangerous person. The cliffhanger at the end was very good and very creepy. Is Peter a clone? We'll soon find out.

I'm glad to say that after the pilot, which for ninety minutes, went almost nowhere and didn't have much to do with actually solving fringe science, here is the second episode which actually does start up the series. And does it start in the first minutes as a woman starts giving birth to a rapidly aging baby. Both die within minutes and Olivia and crew are called in to find out what's going on. Olivia is still miffed and hurt over her lover's betrayal and death and she has to take some time to work out those feelings. Meanwhile, Peter is still working out the kinks of his relationship with his nutty father and both Olivia and Peter have to deal with Walter being Walter. Their search leads them to a discovery of a scientific conspiracy, of a plan to grow and harvest supersoliders, and the search leads them to a man who's genetic hardwiring is going to make him expire soon and a family coverup to get him to stop this acclerated growth. And at the end, Walter's own experimental scientific ambiguities hints that Peter's upbringing is less than natural. Most of the kinks in the pilot have been resolved. There is a more relaxation in this episode than there was in the pilot for one, as the writers actually let the story breathe a bit. Olivia no longer acts like a deer about to be run over by a truck and she is the tough, independent fiesty woman many can root for. Peter is still the humorous, sarcastic skeptic I liked so much in the first. And Walter starts being more of a human being than the over-the-top nuthouse he was in the pilot. However, the X-Files curbing remains obvious, especially the plot over supersoldiers, a subject X-Files had finehoned many times for many years. And there are a few moments that are so predictable, it's like, "Oh, of course." Particularly the part where the scientist is the father of this defected superbaby and is helping him figure out how to undo the aging process, that's a good "a-ha" moment. The episode did live up to its tile "The Same Old Story" because that's what it exactly was. All in all, this was a major, major improvement from the winding pilot but it still feels like X-Files way too much and it needs to be more original if the show is to survive.

The producers had a relatively important challenge to overcome in this episode. The pilot was enormously expensive, and the budget was well beyond what a normal television series could hope to sustain. The typical victims of budget constraint are production quality and scope. (Fans of shows like "Supernatural" know this all too well.)





The good news is that this episode made me forget about the quality control concerns. I didn't notice too much of a dropoff, and the confines of the story made the lessened scope logical. In effect, it was a second pilot. The true pilot set up the character dynamic and most of the mysteries, while this episode demonstrated how all of that could apply to more episodic material. I think the concerns have been laid to rest.





Not all is perfect in the world of "Fringe", however. The characters are still settling into their roles, and while the transition is relatively smooth (since the same writers were involved from the pilot), there are some subtle tweaks. Walter Bishop's insanity is shining through a lot more than in the pilot, for example. This is not particularly bad, since his insanity brings a refreshing "mad scientist" atmosphere to the series, but it is a noticeable adjustment.





Oddly enough, the gore factor did not bother me quite as much as I thought it would. I tend to avoid procedurals and medical dramas when they use excessively graphic scenes to appear "edgy". In this case, however, we're mainly looking at situations well outside the norm. It's contextually relevant to this particular series, so perhaps that makes it easier to bear.





I like the complexity of the mythology that has emerged in so short a time. All that we know, and all that Agent Dunham knows, is that Dr. Bishop's old research has been twisted into something horrific called The Pattern. Someone or something may be behind it, and Massive Dynamic is not above using the same technology. It may be that Massive Dynamic is the true enemy, and their activities with Broyles' alliance against the Pattern is just a matter of keeping enemies closer. (I'm almost positive I missed some of the subtleties.)





The mystery itself was quite interesting, especially the possible ties to Peter. It was a good decision to connect one of Dunham's old cases to something within the "fringe" world she now inhabits. It touches on the classic Abrams premise of the "world underneath", and the notion that the FBI is becoming obsolete in a world where the real threats are unseen, even by them. It makes sense for those cases, the ones with a frightening new layer of reality, would begin Dunham's education.

In its second episode Fringe develops a lot of similarities with the old X-Files series, which actually is a good feature as long as it isn't overacted.


The case is easily explained - a woman gets pregnant and gets the baby in the same hour, 3-4 hours later the aged baby (or senior) died. Definitely mysterious, but when it comes to the inspection of the corps of the mother Olivia discovers parallels to an older case.





A good second episode with slight differences to the pilot. The only unrealistic thing (apart from dead 4 hours old seniors)is the fast resolving of the case. Walter Bishop is too ingenious for all the bad people out there and he doesn't even realize it. Instead of solving the case even faster he rather milks a cow. But we also learned that condoms are not 100% safe...


Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv and John Noble complement one another very well and make it a pleasure to watch them investigate a unbelievable case. I think the series diserves better viewing rates. It is also logical that a lot of people don't like it, because they compare it too much to the X-Files. I personally believe that JJ Abrams had a good idea again and casted a wonderful trio for the main characters...

My schedule for regular TV viewing this fall is wide open, thanks to the fact that with the exceptions of "The Office" and "30 Rock," all my favorite, regular shows have been pushed to January/February premieres this year. I'm cool with that; it gives me the chance to really indulge myself in some new shows this fall.





Of all the shows premiering, I had highest hopes for "Fringe". The trailers for the series were downright chilling, completely fascinating. I was aptly rewarded with the premiere; the first episode felt solid, benefiting from some really high production values, as well as a decent though unremarkable cast (I heart Noble and Kirk Acevedo, but the rest just leave me cold). And I felt the overarching story had true potential; I'm one who doesn't hate conspiracy series, despite the recent glut of them on network TV (Lost, Prison Break, Sarah Connor, Heroes), and could see it going places. In general, with series television, I feel the second episode is almost more important than the first because it really sets the tone for what we're going to be seeing on a regular basis. Unfortunately, if "The Same Old Story" is any indication, I'm not liking what I'm seeing.





The biggest issue with episode #2 of "Fringe" is that it's just so darn formulaic. The title "The Same Old Story" is really quite fitting, because we're only in the second show and already I feel like I've seen it before. We open on a strange, gross-out occurrence; Olivia is called in to investigate; she interrogates someone in the "fringe" scientific community; Bishop performs some freakout scientific method on a dead or dying patient which reveals the identity or location of the killer; we throw in some procedural jargon about triangulating signals and, one action scene later, we've got the killer. Throw in one brief closing scene with a "shocker" twist and call it a wrap. Rinse and repeat.





So, same plot, two episodes running. It's already repetitive, in my opinion, so I really hope something changes up to make this unique enough to stick around for. Don't get me wrong, I can enjoy a formulaic show (House, Law & Order), but that's not what I came looking for here, and the cast (Noble aside, who is really quite fascinating) involved hasn't yet proven itself to me to be strong enough to overcome the general repetitiveness of the plots. I'll wait it out a while longer, but if it doesn't start feeling more like a J.J. Abrams original and less like a CSI rehash on sci-fi steroids, I'm outta here.

If you can genetically engineer a human version of a jem hedar, then you've probably figured out some sort of photosynthesis that pulls in energy from absolutely any source, altho I do agree that the corpse should've been complete scrawn.





I can't wait to find out what's in the car, or whose hand that is. And I like how the guy's brain seems to work backwards, occasionally. It makes for interesting dialogue.





That and an appreciation for bunwarmers, and milking Jean, and generally gadding about like a happy little mad scientist should.





The extractions were scary as hell, and certainly make you want to be a little more careful who you go home with.





As for the eye thing, it feels like you can use all the words you want, but you're still left with the ephemerata of neural electrical impulses, which wouldn't imprint on anything nor be available after brain death occurs. However, since these people can apparently interview the dead -- or at least the mostly dead -- that argument goes out the window.





I love that Massive Dynamics just happens to have an object for that specific purpose sitting about among its lending stock.





However, there's enough shows out there that try to hew precisely to forensic science. It's fun to see people get a little speculative.





I enjoyed the episode. It explored such fundamental fears as stranger danger and unplanned pregnancies and childbirth and maxillofacial surgery and nonconsensual elective neurosurgery. It went all over the place. Wild. :)