With the pilot and all that messy business of introducing characters, plotlines, and showing the world that it isn't The X-Files Redux out of the way, Fringe launches into its second episode full of vim and vinegar, with the bracing title of...The Same Old Story. Umm....okay...

First Things First

A helpful commenter on my last review pointed out that Gene the Cow (easily my favorite character thus far) cannot be 'Gene' but must be Jean. I erroneously referred to Jean as a 'he,' which would invalidate her 'cow' status and reassign her to being a  'bull,'  Which, since she can be milked, is clearly not so. Unless that's to be covered in a future episode centering on fringe cow science. Which, let us pray together now, does not occur.

To recap: a girl cow is a cow. A boy cow is a bull.

In the current rural vs.urban battle of election platforms, it's clear where I come down. But I also blame the quirkiness of Fringe's close captioning, which I'll cover in the "What the Hell is up with the Closed Caption?" section of this review.

Four Things That Were A Bit Awesome About Same Old Story

1. Those Crazy Location Signs

While not as inventive as last week, it was amusing to see the Harvard University sign balancing on a wall edge. The award for best location sign goes to the Stoughton title, whose reflection could be seen in the rainwater below it. Hey, I amuse easily.

2. Anna Torv

There's much to be said for natural beauty, which means there is quite a bit to be said for Anna Torv.  Much like Gillian Anderson in the show that Fringe isn't trying to copy, nossir, no way, Torv gives us a deeply intelligent character who spends more time reading books than gazing into a mirror--and thus wins geek hearts worldwide. The camera loves her, and I want to buy the camera a drink in congratulations for a job well done.

3. Oh, The Rest of The Cast, Too

Despite some lines of dialog that must leave splinters in their dental work, John Noble and Joshua Jackson are both creating characters that we care about. Along with Torv, they are giving this show the heart that it needs. The father/reluctant son dynamic deepens in this episode, exemplified best by scenes showing Dr. Bishop's (Noble) problems in sleeping in a non-institutionalized setting. A nice little bit of character detail, much appreciated.

4. The Seat Warmer Joke

'It warms your ass'.

Three Things That Are Already Getting Old By the Second Episode

1. The Pattern

It's even a stupid name. If you want to hint at a pattern of conspiracy, call it something cool. Like The Lazarus Protocols. Or The Magellan Formula. Even Ma Parker's Apple Pie Recipes. Anything but just...The Pattern.

Once again, there is much twittering about this clumsy plot hinge in this episode, with much of this again falling to poor old Lance Reddick. The pain the man must be in. To go from the stellar writing of The Wire to yammering about something that would seem OTT in a teenage game of World Of Darkness must cause the man to check his email every break, praying his agent has better news.

2. The Pink Bow Syndrome
   
And I  thought it was bad last week. The need to tie everything up with nice little pink bows went rapid in The Same Old Story. They probably had to bring in someone with an elephant gun before it started trying to tie everything here in with Lost and Felicity.

The main story of a previously unpregnant woman giving birth to a baby who dies of old age in half an hour is good enough. Gross, somewhat intriguing, enough mileage for an hour long show. But oh no. We have to learn that this ties into a serial killer case that Olivia was investigating twelve years ago. And if that wasn't enough to make you gasp, it turns out this is connected to work Dr. Bishop was doing back before he lost his marbles. Why not continue and reveal that the dead woman once had coffee with Peter? That the nurse who screams when she sees the mutant baby once belonged to the same book club that Olivia's mother's friend once received a flyer about? Good God--it's the Pattern!

3. That Crazy Doctor Bishop

As amusing as the car seat joke was,  the idea of having the Crazy Doctor say something random every week should be taken out back and shot now. Otherwise, this will lead to the creation of Facebook groups dedicated to giggling over them, a slew of coffee mugs with the more memorable quotes hitting storeshelves by Christmas before being thrown out two years from now in a fit of pained embarrassment, and someone, somewhere, will post a LOLcat with the Doctor's wacky crazy talk.

Remember, what was funny once gets lame the third time around Look at the Police Academy films.

What The Hell Is Up With the Close Captioning?

I watch Fringe with the captions on, so I can do my job for you all the better. But the captioning here has been taken over by gremlins.

First of all, the captioning referred last week to the cow as Gene. (See what fracas that caused here?) This week, it actually wrote its own dialog. In one scene, where Peter and Olivia enter Dr. Bishop's lab, Peter asks 'So this has something to do with your work?", referring to Bishop's research all those years ago. Except he didn't -- Olivia spoke a line instead. Peter's unspoken line appeared only in the captioning--and would have taken the story in a completely different direction.

In another scene, Olivia goes to pick up 'the electronic pulse camera' from Massive Dynamics. Except the captioning called it 'the millimeter wave camera'.

Creeeeeeepy.

This Week's Wonky Fringe-y Science?

1. The Millimeter Wave Camera/ Electronic Pulse Camera

This will allow you to see the last image a dead person saw by putting it on a television screen. Unlike last week, there appears to be no time limit. But you have to stick the eye on a stick, because grossness must help in the image recovery.

2. Clone Troopers

Fringe doesn't say 'clone troopers', but this is what the show is really about. But unlike the docs at  Kamino, Bishop and his buddies had trouble with their clone soldiers. Apparently, once you start messing with the pituitary gland to accelerate growth, it just won't stop.  You grow up fast, but then you just die of old age. So all you kids wanting to get your driver's license sooner -- just leave your pituitary gland alone. You'll go blind -- and then die. Fringe says so.

3. Television Computers

To be fair, Fringe isn't the only show guilty of this, but still it must be pointed out: the computers in this show are insane. But so are the computers in C.S.I., Without A Trace and N.C.I.S., to name but a few. With a keystroke, you can summon global pictures, hack security cameras, and access any government database anywhere. With lots of whooshing sound affects and helpful beeping noises when the answer you've been looking for has been found.

Just saying, is all.

So Overall, How Was the Second Episode?

Despite the pink bows and the bloody Pattern, The Same Old Story succeeds -- but this is namely down to the the efforts of Torv, Jackson and Noble. The writing needs to be reined in, especially in this compulsive urge to create -- and stuff down the throats of the viewers -- a show mythology. One of the strengths of The X-Files was that every episode wasn't connected -- Fox and Mulder came across some strange stuff that was just strange in and of itself. Those were the episodes people remember. The 'mythology' episodes -- of which Abrams and Co. seem most in awe of -- were the ones that usually dragged the show down. If every episode is going to be tied into an aspect of Dr. Bishop's research,  if every episode is going to tie into the Pattern, then Fringe is going to be in trouble.

The strengths of this show lie in the acting talents of the three main leads, not in building a mystery that seems stale midway through the pilot. As entertaining as the first two shows have been, there's only so much mileage you can get out of this concept. It may be time for a re-think.