vljohnson@watrose.UUCP (Lee Johnson) (10/31/84)
Due to popular demand, here is the summary of the first weekly episode of V. The author of this synopsis reserves the right to make stupid mistakes in it. SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER V: The Series Episode One -- A Synopsis The action begins on the 1st anniversary of the Visitors' departure from the Earth (Liberation Day). The Fifth Columnists who remained behind have managed to blend in with humanity fairly well. Martin has a job as Donovan's assistant, and William (the nerd) is working for Elias as a butler. Diana is under wraps by the authorities and is being brought to trial. Enter a new character: Nathan Bates. Bates is the head of "Science Frontiers", the company responsible for the Red Dust toxin which drove the Visitors away, and which, coincidentally, manufactures the antidote which keeps the Fifth Columnists alive. Bates' company is also in charge of the analysis of the captured mothership, now grounded in some nameless desert in the States. Heading the effort aboard the ship is Dr. Juliet Parrish, whose progress is being obstructed by certain "security codes" which Diana has left behind. Bates, being something of an unsavory character, contracts Ham Tyler (who now owns a business which provides "security services") to arrange Diana's "assassination" as she is brought to trial. Bates' reasons seem to be motivated by money--he hopes to squeeze as much scientific knowledge out of Diana as he is capable. Tyler's motivation is much more basic--he wants to kill her. According to their agreement, Tyler is to get possession of Diana once Bates is finished with her. Donovan and Martin, covering the arrival of Diana at the trial, witness the assassination attempt. Diana is whisked away in an ambulance and Donovan, in his hard-headed style, steals a helicopter to follow it, taking Martin with him. As the ambulance passes underneath an overpass, a truck which was not seen previously emerges, to head in the opposite direction. Donovan is immediately suspicious, and follows the truck to a remote retreat, where Diana is unloaded and confined in an oxygen tent as a precaution against the Red Dust. (The assassin's bullet turns out to have been a tranquilizer dart.) Bates visits her there, offering her the chance to remain living in exchange for various scientific advances which Diana has knowledge of (e.g., the cancer vaccine). Donovan is content to let Diana have her day in court; Martin, on the other hand, believes she deserves nothing short of death, and is quite willing to act as her executioner. Martin knocks Donovan unconscious outside the hideout and enters to confront Diana. He rips open the tent to expose her, but is interfered with by one of Bates' guards. After a brief struggle, Martin is subdued by Diana. When Donovan regains consciousness, the cabin is in flames. Martin, who has been gravely injured in some undisclosed manner, manages to reach Donovan outside the burning building. He reveals that Diana has escaped with Martin's last antidote pill, giving her twelve hours of life. He also warns Donovan that Diana has a homing device with which she will call back the fleet. Shortly thereafter, Martin dies. Meanwhile... There is a bit of activity focusing about Elizabeth, the half-human, half-alien child of Robin Maxwell. An attempt to interview her by a television news crew is unsuccessful when some strange psychokinetic power forces the helicopter away. Shortly after, while Robin is away (for some reason which I forget) and in the care of Dr. Maxwell, Elizabeth complains of a pain in her arm. Her scratchings at it reveal a hideous, pulsing, puffy, oozing dermis underneath, looking very much a Visitor's hide would if it were pink. Complications soon ensue, and Maxwell calls Juliet Parrish to help tend Elizabeth. She is unable to break her fever, and raises the ominous possibility that Elizabeth is turning into one of THEM. Elizabeth runs away to a cave whose entrance is infected with venomous snakes (which curiously disregard her presence). Maxwell and Parrish track her to the cave (and get past the snakes, which DON'T disregard their presence). Once inside, a strange green pulsing light is seen to be emanating from a corner of the cave, where Elizabeth is encased in a translucent cocoon, undergoing a transformation. Occasionally, tortured screams are heard coming from it. Maxwell and Parrish are helpless to interfere, for fear of killing her. Meanwhile... Tyler has a run-in with Bates and somewhat abruptly terminates his services to Science Frontiers. Bates follows up by sending a professional killer after Tyler. Tyler and Donovan separately arrive at an automated deep-space tracking station (run by some of the most pitiful excuses for "computers" I have ever seen!). Diana has been using the facility to broadcast her come-and-get-me signal to the fleet. The two men happen upon each other and subsequently confront Diana there. A shooting match follows. During that time, Diana's twelve-hour lease on life expires. She grasps at her throat (probably more as a psychological reaction than anything else) and runs from the buildings, chased by Donovan. Tyler stops the transmission in classic style: He riddles the equipment full of machine-gun bullets. In the middle of the chase, a Visitors' shuttle craft drops from the sky. Diana hastens to board the ship, slowed up only slightly by Donovan, who is pumping about a half-dozen bullets into her without effect. She boards the ship, and the craft is gone. As the shuttle leaves the Earth behind, Diana realizes that both she and her rescue party did not succumb to the lethal Red Dust. At the close of the episode, she asks her pilot: "How many of our ships are still in the solar system?" "Enough," the reply comes. The last scene of the movie shows a point of view looking behind the far side of the Moon, where at least seven (and probably more) of the motherships are hovering in formation. Ominous music plays in the background. The show closes with the caption: "To be Continued". ---------- Can't wait for this week's! Regards, Lee Johnson (USENET: vljohnson@watrose)