The Same Old Story
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| Talk | The Same Old Story | Theories |
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| The Same Old Story | |||
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| Season: | 1 | Episode: | 2 |
| Air Date: | 16 Sep 2008 | ||
| Written by: | Jeff Pinkner Alex Kurtzman J.J. Abrams Roberto Orci | ||
| Directed by: | Paul Edwards | ||
| Starring: | Main Characters | ||
| Guest Cast: | Derek Cecil as Christopher Penrose Mark Blum as Claus Penrose Betty Gilpin as Loraine Alcott Mark Valley as John Scott Michael Cerveris as The Observer Bernie McInerney as Old Christopher | ||
| Next: | The Ghost Network | ||
| Previously: | Pilot | ||
| Transcript — Additional Images | |||
- Introduction
The Same Old Story is the second episode of the first season of FRINGE. The episode first aired on September 16, 2008. A woman conceives, carries to full-term and births a baby in the span of minutes, dying in the process; the baby dies after aging 80 years in three hours. This leads the investigators on a search for a serial killer harvesting brain parts for his own survival and raises questions about biotech cloning of 'cultivated soldiers'.
Synopsis
In Room 112 at the Scarlet Red Motel in a Boston suburb, a young man is getting out of his bed after a romantic interlude with a local bar-fly, Loraine Daisy Alcott. Just as the man steps into the bathroom and opens a medical bag filled with instruments, he hears Loraine scream. She has suddenly suffered severe pain, seizing her stomach and crawling out the door. Christopher abandons his mysterious preparations - but takes the medical bag - and helps Loraine into the
car.
En route to the Wallace Bromley Medical Center, Loraine's stomach is growing and undulating. Christopher moves her to the curb outside the hospital and leaves. In the emergency room, doctors ask how far she is into her term; she has no idea she's even pregnant. As she goes into labor and the doctors prepare to deliver the baby, they hear a nauseating tearing sound. Loraine dies. The doctors quickly perform a caesarian section. When they see what is inside, their eyes widen with fear and a nurse screams in horror.
ACT I
In downtown Boston, Special Agent Phillip Broyles meets with the members of a cloistered oversight committee whose mission is to investigate
When Olivia arrives at Walter's and Peter's hotel to pick them up, Peter finds Walter huddled in the closet. Without the familiar sound of "Row Row Row Your Boat" sung by one of his fellow inmates at the mental asylum where he spent the last 17 years, Walter just can't fall asleep.
At the hospital, Broyles explains that the Jane Doe (soon to be identified as Loraine Alcott) died shortly after arrival, and the baby she birthed grew into an old man and died of "natural causes"... all within a three hours. As Walter inspects the body of this bizarre man-baby, Olivia and Peter head to the hotel to investigate the crime scene.
Peter finds a strange orange gel in the bathroom. In the bedroom, Olivia recognizes the tell-tale signs of a serial-killer case she had worked with her former partner (and secret lover) John Scott.
ACT II
Upset about the trust she placed in John, Olivia explained to Peter that the previous serial-killer, in New Jersey and New York, would take a woman to a motel, paralyze her, then use surgical tools to go through the nasal cavity and remove her pituitary gland. If Olivia's right, this is the same murderer -- and he's going to kill again.
Meanwhile, the killer enters a club and picks up an attractive young woman, his next victim. He brings her back to a warehouse loft. While she looks at the view of a bridge through the window, the killer prepares a syringe - which he suddenly jabs into her neck.
When Peter returns to the lab, Walter says that he has fantastic news: he remembers where he parked
His memory jogged by his old files, Walter finally recalls having worked with Dr. Claus Penrose on experiments dealing with rapid growth thirty years ago. It turns out Claus is currently a professor at Boston College. Meanwhile, the killer continues his gruesome work, finishing off the young woman at the warehouse.
ACT III
At Boston College, Olivia and Peter question Claus Penrose. He remembers the work he did with Walter, and to this day feels it was morally wrong. As a result, he quit working
With the latest body back at the lab, Walter finally remembers the specifics of his project with Penrose. The U.S. Army had tasked them with finding a way to cultivate soldiers, who could mature to prime fighting age in a short period of time. But the project failed because they could never stop the aging process. Walter hypothesizes to Peter and Olivia that someone must have made a breakthrough, and the killer is in fact the product of the experiment. The killer must extract the pituitary gland from his victims' brains in order to keep his own aging process in check. And he transmitted his own rapid-aging condition to the child he conceived with Loraine during their one-night stand. He goes to admonish that condoms are not always effective and that "you, too" or "you two" should remember that.
Back at the loft, the killer meets with a confidante, and it's none other than Claus Penrose, revealing the killer's name as Christopher - his son. Christopher is in increasing pain, and he needs the pituitary from another victim.
In the laboratory, Walter posits that they may be able to recover the last image the previous victim saw from her optic nerve. But to do so, they will need a sophisticated piece of equipment - equipment for which only one company, Massive Dynamic, holds the patent.
Olivia takes the camera to the lab. Walter and Peter assemble the machine and start the process of extracting images from the victim's eye.
Christopher enters another bar, Henry's, and finds his next victim, bringing her back to the loft. Meanwhile, Olivia's team manages to extract a single image from the last victim's optic nerve: a bridge, which they are able to identify as Sergeant Bridge in Stoughton, Mass. They match the angle and triangulate the location to a building in a warehouse district.
ACT IV
ACT V
Later, Olivia returns the pulse camera to Nina, who surprises her by offering her a position at Massive Dynamic. Back at the FBI, Broyles reminds Olivia that everything associated with these cases is strictly confidential, and even though people such as Nina Sharp do have some clearance, she is not to discuss cases with anyone.
At some point, Walter begins to ask Olivia to keep secret what she knows of his file regarding Peter's background. She says that she does not know what he is talking about, and he indicates that Peter was also the result of some sort of experiment. Realizing that his secret is safe, he
That night, Peter and Walter are in their hotel room. Walter again struggles with insomnia, keeping his son awake by reciting the Fibonacci numbers with omissions. In an attempt to lull his father to sleep, Peter offers an annoyed rendition of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." As Walter closes his eyes, the scene shifts to an undisclosed location, where there are three young adult men in what appears to be a hospital room. One man is lying in a hospital-type bed; the two identical men on either side of him appear to be in incubators.
Quotes
Walter's Lab Notes
- The plate bears a grilled cheese sandwich which appears to have been cut, or consumed, to the approximate shape of a golden rectangle (1.618:1).
- A photograph of a hellenic sphinx and a typed reference to that object being the symbol of Army Intelligence.
- He continues his tirade against St. Claire's, and the lack of correct ratios in their facilities.
- Walter compares the final visual image of the victim to the ancient blind prophet, Tiresias, who may have been blinded by the gods for revealing their secrets.
Trivia
- General
- The Observer stands at the hospital desk where the rapid-aging "man-baby" lies dead.
- The combination to Walter's garage was 31 41 59 - the first 6 digits of Pi.
- Walter's car is an Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser
- Pseudo-folliculitis Nuchae reveals Dr. Penrose had 'razor-burn' on the back of his neck. Facial 'razor-burn' is called Pseudo-folliculitis Barbae.
- The numbers Walter mutters to try and lull himself to sleep are: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, and then after his son interrupts him: 1, 233, 377, 2, 21, 610... These are from the Fibonacci number sequence.
- The sphinx used as a symbol by U.S. Army Intelligence is of the Egyptian form, not the Hellenic.
- Continuity Error
- The warehouse and bridge identified as - in the Stoughton Warehouse District - are shown located near a large waterway. There are no bodies of water that size, nor any major bridges, located in, or adjacent to, Stoughton, Massachusetts. Map
Previously
 | The nefarious scientist behind cloning and aging experiments is alluded to in the Pilot episode. On a flyer, opposite the Massive Dynamic Building, a rebus of a pen and a rose, alludes to Doctor Claus Penrose. |
Music
• Young Men Dead by The Black Angels 
• Skin Head by The Glass Helmets
- - The music group "Skin Head" may be a fictitious band.
Glyphs
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| — Plot Relevant Questions — | Address theories about questions on The Same Old Story/Theories Ask minor questions on the Talk Page |
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1) Do not answer the questions here. |
- Is the Committee a Government body?
- Why do the three men on tables all look like one another?
