" The Same Old Story " is the second episode of the first season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe . The episode was written by executive producer Jeff Pinkner and co @-@ creators J. J. Abrams , Alex Kurtzman , and Roberto Orci . 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 .