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Television

The Visitor

"The Trial"
First aired:
January 16, 1998

An elementary school teacher describes World War II airplanes to her class on their field trip to "The Museum of Flying". "This is an American P51 Mustang", the teacher announces to her class. "And if they gave you the keys to this rig, do you know what that meant?" Adam, is there and answers for the class, "it meant you were pretty good."

"Pretty good?!" The teacher objects, "no... You were better than good. You were the best of the best, the cream of the crop." Adam answers somberly, "yeah, they were heart-breakers on the ground... Life-takers in the air. A lot of good men died. Too many." The teacher looks at Adam oddly, then moves her class on as she reassures her class with, "of course, that was a long, long time ago." "It was another world ago", responds a subdued Adam. He is left, leaning against the plane.

Van Patten, Wilcox, and Larue, the three FBI agents, are driving towards the air museum. Van Patten has just received information via car phone from their contact, Mother. He discovers that Brigadier General Jimmy Manors, retired, runs the air museum. From 1943 to 1948, the general was the commander of the 51st air wing. He was MacArthur's former commander, the one person who could identify MacArthur. The agents discuss whether their latest lead indicating that Adam is at the museum will be another wild goose chase.

Adam walks to the administrative office of the museum but finds it closed. He then spots the three FBI agents heading into the building on the floor below him. A chase ensues, with Adam escaping the museum, only to be chased back inside by Col. Vise and his men who have also arrived at the scene. [The NSA and FBI chase Adam down to the pier.]

MacArthur eventually makes his way outside, running through a crowded boardwalk area and onto a pier, with both the NSA and FBI in pursuit. The FBI agents approach Adam, who is leaning over the pier railing, then turning to face them. Wilcox approaches him saying "Come on MacArthur, it's over... it's over" and finally, "Don't do it!" as Adam dives over the railing into the water below. Adam disappears from view.

After dark, Adam stumbles out from under the pier on the beach. He is immediately discovered. With Adam caught in a spotlight, Col Vise is heard saying, "You know the drill. Put your hands in the air." "...Tired of running", MacArthur responds, breathlessly. "Then just stop!" advises Wilcox. [Adam and Vise are caught in the craft's beam.]

At that moment, a space craft appears above the scene. Col. Vise shouts, "no!" and runs over to MacArthur and grabs him. Both men are lifted from the ground in a column of blue light. A soldier fires his gun at the two struggling men, hitting Col. Vise, who then falls onto the beach. Adam MacArthur disappears into the space craft while calling Vise's name.

The FBI agents and soldiers rush to Vise's side. Van Patten purloins Vise's "black book", which had fallen from his pocket. Col. Vise is apparently seriously injured and is taken to the hospital. [Adam is held prisoner on the spacecraft.]

Adam awakens in the space craft surrounded by metal grating. He yells, "I want to speak with an elder!" But noone answers. He remembers the struggle he'd just hadwith Col. Vise, and how it ended when Vise was shot.

Agents Wilcox, Larue and Van Patten are meeting with Mother. They show her Col Vise's book, which contains information and a computer disk. Wilcox says, "We were wrong. Vise isn't a loose cannon. He's the government's boy." They note the evidence in Vise book, which shows ties to Admiral Gianet, the founder of Area 51. Mother scans the reports on extra-terrestrials and the group decides not to share information with outsiders or even contact their families until they learn more.

Aboard the space craft, Adam is escorted to a gathering of colonists. "Someone tell me what's going on", he says. Two male colonists, acting as his jailers, use a device resembling a cattle prod to silence him.

An apparent trial is underway with O'Ryan's brother, David, acting as prosecutor. David states, "We are confronted with the gravest of circumstances, the ultimate act against our race, extinction. Everything we have ever been or hoped to be is over because of one man, one among us, a traitor, Adam MacArthur."

Adam wants to know what's going on. He fights back against his jailers who once again try to silence him. He says, "I have a right to know!" He attempts to defend his actions in leaving the Colony and returning to Earth.

Joe York, who is occupying Michael O'Ryan's body, and his wife, Betty, arrive and let Adam know that they have been appointed as his defense at this trial. They also tell Adam that the trial is serious, that the elders do not know about the trial, and that the colonists intend to stop Adam's mission and determine what should be done with him. They are upset that he broke the rules by leaving the Colony and tampering with the future. Adam appears surprised that the abductees, his "own people", have acted against him. [Mother and her 'boys' discover what's in Vise's black book.]

Meanwhile, Mother shares information with the 3 FBI agents. She indicates that the army began tracking UFOs and paranormal phenomena after the Roswell incident. This service was co-opted by the NSA and Col. Vise had been given the job, for the past 20 years, of collecting extra-terrestrial information. Mother adds that she now believes Adam MacArthur is exactly who he says he is, simply a human being from another time.

Back at the trial aboard the space craft, David accuses Adam of killing his brother, Michael O'Ryan. David adds that O'Ryan went to bring Adam back to the Colony, not to harm him. Adam explains the circumstances, saying that James Vise shot O'Ryan, since Vise thinks that returned abductees were actually aliens, that they did not return as themselves. David concludes that Adam may not have pulled the trigger, but that he is still responsible for O'Ryan's death. "Now our very existence is at stake", asserts David.

In his hospital bed, Col Vise is demonstrating a change in medical status, with medical complications that the physician cannot easily explain. Sandy Grushaw, who supervises Wilcox, Larue, and Van Patten, is presented with all of the information recently gathered on Adam MacArthur, Col Vise and on the program for which Vise worked. Once Grushaw is assured that no one outside of the three FBI agents and Mother are aware of the facts of the case, Grushaw abruptly dismisses the three agents without further comment.

Back at the trial, David accuses Adam of putting all the colonists at risk, risking the wrath of the elders, by returning to Earth. Adam interjects that he was not willing to watch the Earth be destroyed. David responds that the Earth will be destroyed, and that the colonists are the only hope for the future of the human race. The prosecution argues that Adam should be turned over to the elders for the good of the colony. [Adam's defense speaks.]

In Adam's defense, Betty reminds the gathered colony members of their families back on Earth. She recounts Adam's good deeds while on his mission there. Betty suggests that what Adam did was to fight fate on their behalf. She appeals to the colonists not to deny the people on Earth their future, or at least a fighting chance to survive.

In the FBI office, Larue tries to convince Wilcox and Van Patten that their supervisor, Sandy Grushaw is acting suspiciously. Van Patten defends Grushaw, but Larue persists, asking why Vise is always one step ahead of them. He feels Grushaw has a secret...

Col. Vise's condition continues to worsen. The doctor now feels it is likely too late to save him. She decides not to use extraordinary measures to keep him alive. No family or friends have been available at the bedside. Unconscious, Vise's visions are of Adam MacArthur.

Meanwhile, Joe is defending Adam before the colonists. He says that Adam returned to Earth to get humanity "back on track", but also to see his family, as any of them would do.

Van Patten and Larue discover that their employment with the FBI has been terminated. Wilcox has been re-assigned to Alaska. Van Patten is incredulous at discovering that Grushaw has let them go. He tries to call Mother for more information. An unfamiliar voice answers the phone. At the other end of the phone line, a man wearing black gloves tells Van Patten that he has called the wrong number. The mysterious man pulls the phone cord from the wall, when the call is terminated.

"We're not some grand experiment. We're not God... None of us more or less than another, no matter what another race tries to tell us", Adam states to the assembled colonists. He explains that he won't stand by and leave humanity to its fate. Finally, he expresses concern about Col. Vise, who is dying in the hospital back on Earth. "He is not an evil man and he doesn't deserve to die", Adam insists, even though Vise had been trying to kill him.

Adam is returned to the metal grating that serves as his cell on the ship. The gathered colonists announce that they have been discovered by the elders and that the elders have decided Adam's fate.

Wilcox, Larue, and Van Patten are packing their things, saying their good-byes and leaving the office of the FBI. They realize that they cannot tell others their story, because no one would believe them.

At the hospital, Vise's time of death has just been recorded as 3:10. The hospital personnel cover his body and leave the room. [Vise, in wonder.]

But at that moment, a glow appears on his blanketed body. Adam MacArthur appears at the bedside and pulls back the blanket. Vise opens his eyes, looks at Adam and asks, "Am I alive?" Then he continues, "you... why?" Adam answers that he was wrong, that there was a bigger plan which he hadn't known about. Adam says that his mission is not over. He asks Vise to stop following him and then leaves the room.

Adam is last seen walking up the beach, as the sun sets...

[The Visitor leaves...]

synopsis written by Kefla