"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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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...
synopsis written by Kefla
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