Episode Guide

Season 3 (1998-1999)

"Jaunt, Part 2"

Episode 301
(aired the week of 9/27/1998)
Case # 89-8750

Log line: After splitting up due to professional and personal differences, the O.S.I.R. team unites when a scientist who vanished into the Arch reappears, giving them hope that another colleague may also still be alive.

Synopsis: As the third season begins, physicist Peter Axon is the only remaining member of the OSIR investigative team. His colleague, Dr. Anton Hendricks, is apparently dead, having disappeared into a mysterious apportation device known as the Arch, case manager Matt Praeger has tendered his resignation after differences with OSIR head Frank Elsinger and senior data analyst Lindsay Donner has left the team after running afoul of Praeger and revealing confidential information.

Meeting with Axon, Elsinger tells him he will accept Praeger's resignation if Axon will take over as case manager. Axon refuses, telling Elsinger that while he'd love the job, he won't accept it at someone else's expense. Frustrated, Elsinger nonetheless asks Axon to work as the physicist in the investigation of the Arch. Axon accepts.

Axon and Curtis Rollins, the case manager assigned to the Arch case, take their investigation to a remote area of northern Quebec after an RCMP officer finds a woman wandering alone in the sub-tundra. Appearing out of nowhere, the woman was taken to the police outpost infirmary for treatment of severe frostbite that has taken six of her fingers and half her foot. It turns out the woman is Dr. Joanne Bester, a scientist who, like Hendricks, had vanished into the Arch--then re-appeared 2,000 miles away! She begs Axon and Rollins to take her back to the Arch, a place where she apparently had an experience so euphoric that she will do anything to return. They refuse, telling her they won't move her anywhere until they know more about what's going on.

Axon hopes that Dr. Pester's appearance means there's a chance that Hendricks may still be alive. With Rollins and the RCMP officer, he returns to the site where Dr. Bester was found. Further investigation reveals high electromagnetic activity consistent with some sort of radio transmitter. Axon suggests that perhaps there is some sort of receiver in the area--a receiver for signals sent from the Arch. Their discussion is cut short, though, as two hooded men riding all- terrain vehicles, swoop down on them with guns blazing. Axon manages to knock one of the men off his vehicle but the other escapes. They take the man Axon apprehended into custody.

Axon begins to suspect that perhaps he was responsible for releasing Dr. Bester from the Arch, inadvertently doing so during his tests on the device. He decides to take Dr. Bester back to the Arch. With Rollins, Axon returns to the infirmary at the police station where they find the officer semi-conscious on the floor and the prisoner still in his cell, but there is no sign of Dr. Bester.

Returning to the area where Dr. Bester had been found, Axon begins excavations and uncovers a second Arch. He decides to take it back to the location of the first Arch so the team can examine the two enigmas side by side. Rollins chooses to remain and continue the search for Dr. Bester. In need of a senior data analyst to help with the investigation, Axon not surprisingly turns to Lindsay Donner. She is reluctant at first but when he tells her that Hendricks may still be alive, she agrees to rejoin the team. Her priority is to determine the location of Dr. Bester. As the only person to have survived the Arch so far, she is invaluable to the OSIR team. Donner also finds information on the man who remains in custody up north, a Finnish Army veteran who calls himself a Hunter or "Sami." As Donner explains, "Samis" are a rare religious sect thought to have vanished years ago. Reputed as a non-violent people, the "Sami" were said to have simply disappeared in times of war when their homeland was threatened. Donner suspects this may have something to do with why the two Hunters were so active at the site of the second Arch. Through phone records, Donner is able to track Dr. Bester's movements. She is clearly making her way back to the Arch.

Suddenly, Matt Praeger walks back into the OSIR lab--three months after tendering his resignation. He reassumes his role as case manager, taking over what has become a full-fledged search for a way to recover Hendricks from the Arch. During Axon's test of the two Arches, Dr. Bester suddenly appears, hobbling into view on a crutch. Following a medical examination by Dr. Claire Davison, who at first finds no heartbeat in her patient, Dr. Bester says she remembers seeing Hendricks in the Arch when she was there. The team accepts her offer to return to the Arch and lead him out.

Back at the police outpost, Rollins is warned by the Hunter to beware of Dr. Bester. The man says she will stop at nothing to return to the Arch and will take others with her if she must. Elsinger stubbornly refuses Rollins' request to call off the tests. Rollins then notices the other Hunter peering in the window at him. He dashes outside to confront the man but he is gone. Returning inside, he discovers that the first Hunter has vanished from his cell--which remains locked!

The test at the lab proceeds, with Donner accompanying Dr. Bester toward the Arches. The devices fire up, engulfing the two women in a whirlwind of light. As Donner tries to hang onto Dr. Bester, she asks her if she can see Hendricks in the Arch. Dr. Bester admits that she had never seen Hendricks there at all, then escapes Donner's grasp and disappears into the Arch.Two thousand miles away, Rollins thinks he sees Dr. Bester off in the distance, hobbling on her crutch across a barren stretch of land. He races out to her but when he gets there she is gone. All that remains is her crutch.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Colin Fox - Dr. Anton Hendricks
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
Maurice Dean Wint - Curtis Rollins
Peter Keleghan - RCMP officer
Janet-Laine Green - Dr. Joanne Bester

Written by: James Nadler
Directed by: John Bell

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"Comings And Goings, Part 3"

Episode 302
(aired the week of 10/4/1998)
Case # 75-1718

Log line: The O.S.I.R. team investigates when a past member of the O.S.I.R. group is given up for dead after disappearing into the Arch, and then suddenly reappears at a hospital.

Synopsis: Following a memorial service for Hendricks, who is believed dead after vanishing into the apportation device known as the Arch, the OSIR team members receive an anonymous phone call informing them that Hendricks is at a nearby hospital. Praeger and Axon rush to the hospital, where they find Hendricks unconscious and on a ventilator. The physician in attendance, Dr. Eric Thomas, tells them that their friend is suffering from an oxygen deficiency that may have been caused by being suspended without movement for a long period of time. He also tells them that no one saw how Hendricks got to the hospital. The hospital's security cameras cannot help either; their tapes have disappeared.

Going through Hendricks' personal effects, Praeger and Axon find part of a communications device their colleague was wearing when he vanished into the Arch in pursuit of his wife and daughter, who were apparently killed in a car wreck 12 years earlier. With no clues as to how Hendricks reappeared, they decide to try to find the anonymous phone caller, whose call had been recorded by the OSIR. Axon analyses the recording and concludes that the caller was Rollins, who had previously worked with Axon on the Arch case. He confronts Rollins, who tells him he had to help Hendricks anonymously because he was contradicting direct orders by doing so. As a result, Praeger and Axon begin to suspect that Elsinger may have his hand in the whole affair.

Back at the hospital, Davison is frustrated by Dr. Thomas in her attempts to help Hendricks. After stealing a blood sample, she determines that Hendricks' blood is delivering carbon monoxide to his lungs instead of carbon dioxide. In effect, he's being poisoned by his own blood and will likely die within a week. She decides to try an experimental procedure, injecting him with a powerful oxygent. In the meantime, Hendricks is slipping in and out of consciousness, mumbling about his wife and daughter and asking that he be returned to the Arch so he can rescue them.

Suspecting a link between the Arch and the car crash years before, Praeger visits Elsinger, demanding information about the original investigation into the accident. Elsinger confesses that he himself was the original case manager. He tells Praeger that he recently recreated the crash site and, using Axon's research into the Arch, managed to reactivate the wreck as a receiver for the apportation device. After doing so, Hendricks and his wife Catherine reappeared in the car with their daughter Nicole. Nicole didn't survive the apportation.

Catherine is reunited with her husband in the hospital, where Hendricks has slipped into a coma. Dr. Davison's experimental treatment is a success, however, and he regains consciousness. After he fully recovers, Hendricks and his wife return to the crash site and bid a touching farewell to their daughter.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Colin Fox - Dr. Anton Hendricks
Soo Garay - Dr. Claire Davison
Nigel Bennett - Frank Elsinger
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
Maurice Dean Wint - Curtis Rollins
Anthony Sherwood - Dr. Eric Thomas
Catherine Blythe - Catherine Hendricks
Leila Johnson - Nicole Hendricks

Written by: Tracey Forbes
Directed by: John Bell

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"Heartland"

Episode 303
(aired the week of 10/11/1998)
Case # 89-8777

Log line: When a forest area turns into a bone-dry wasteland virtually overnight, a government agriculture official turns to the O.S.I.R. team for help.

Synopsis: When a forest area turns into a bone-dry wasteland virtually overnight, a government agriculture official turns to the OSIR for help. The official, a biochemist named John Valentine, meets Praeger and Donner at the area. He tells them that the area, which spans some 600 acres, remains this way despite recent heavy rain.

Praeger and Donner split up to check out the area. They come across an injured man in the nearby woods. He is suffering severe dehydration and some form of psychosis, talking wildly about some sort of fire that engulfed him. Praeger and Donner take him back to the mobile lab for examination by Hendricks. There, he identifies himself as Joe Mansfield, an airplane mechanic at the nearby military base. He can't remember what happened to him or even why he was in the forest in the first place.

Outside the lab, Praeger encounters the local police chief, Phil Pratt, who has arrived to check on Mansfield's condition. Praeger senses that the chief is less than sincere. Meanwhile, at the lab, Mansfield vanishes while Hendricks' back is turned.

At that moment, Axon, who is surveying the barren site, is almost killed when he inadvertently ignites an underground pocket of hydrogen. Axon is shaken but unharmed.

In a follow-up interview with Valentine, Donner learns that the government gave the area to the Cree nation back in the 1960s as part of a land-claim settlement. Prior to that, the military had unearthed some remains while digging for an airstrip. It seems the area used to be a Cree burial ground. Valentine also tells Donner that the military base where Mansfield said he worked had shut down a year ago. As far as he knew the only work Mansfield did was helping out in his sister's store in town. Donner goes there to look for Mansfield.

At the store, Mansfield's sister tells Donner that she sent her brother to the doctor. At the doctor's office, Donner meets up with Mansfield and Dr. David Lands, a Cree elder. Mansfield refuses to talk to Donner and leaves the office.

Back in the area where Axon was nearly killed, Praeger and Axon count 20 holes that have been created by hydrogen explosions, but they are asked to leave the area by Pratt, who has arrived with some helpers to fill in the holes. The OSIR investigators comply but remain suspicious about the police chief. That evening, while Donner is looking over the area where the hydrogen pockets are exploding into the night, she is attacked by a knife-wielding Mansfield. Pratt, standing nearby, shoots and kills Mansfield.

As she performs an autopsy on Mansfield at Dr. Lands' clinic, Davison finds traces of some sort of virulent chemical in his spinal fluid. Praeger talks with Dr. Lands, who was seen at the site the night Mansfield was shot. Dr. Lands replies that he was doing nothing wrong, that he has a right to be on Cree land.

Continuing to examine the holes, Axon discovers a trace of the same chemical that was found in Mansfield's spinal fluid. He determines that the substance may have come from chemical weapons that were buried in the area by the military. Some of the chemicals seeped down to the water table, separating the hydrogen from the water and sending it up to the surface. Searching the area further, Axon finds 10 such weapons, all filled with nerve gas. The team now realizes that Pratt has been digging up these weapons.

Donner takes a vial of the nerve gas to Valentine for his help examining it. But she is intercepted by Pratt and his men, who take her captive and hold her at a remote forest hideout where they have stored the weapons they have unearthed. She realizes how crazy Pratt is. He intends to use the weapons to expose the shortcomings of what he considers a corrupt government. Struggling to break free of her restraints, Donner breaks her vial of nerve gas on the floor. Wearing protective gear, Praeger and Hendricks rush into the cabin, where Hendricks injects Donner with an antidote. Pratt and his men succumb to the gas.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Colin Fox - Dr. Anton Hendricks
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
Andrew Airlie - John Valentine
Patrick Chilvers - Joe Mansfield
Ron Lea - Phil Pratt
Katie Griffin - Mansfield's sister
Graham Greene - Dr. David Lands)

Written by: John Dolin
Directed by: Stephen Williams

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"The Kiss"

Episode 304
(aired the week of 10/18/1998)
Case # 14-5345

Log line: The O.S.I.R. team is called into action when a mutilated cop is found dead and his body looks literally like the life was sucked out of it. Another cop is killed before they realize that it is the work of a dead criminal who has transformed himself into someone else's body to avenge his death against the police who killed him.

Synopsis: The OSIR is called into action when the mutilated corpse of a police detective who gunned down an escaped convict is found in a dumpster. The officer, Sgt. Nathan Cole, is discovered with his tongue bitten out, his eyes collapsed into his skull and, as would later be discovered in an autopsy, his organs shriveled to about 15 percent of their original size.

While investigating the area of the dumpster with Axon, Praeger encounters his ex-wife Jennifer, a newspaper reporter who was also on the scene when Cole shot the convict, Jeremy Olin. Also on site is a meddlesome television reporter named Fred Di Genova who tries unsuccessfully to gather information from the OSIR about the case.

Determining that fingerprints found on Cole's badge belong to a woman, Donner visits the police station to ask the other two officers who witnessed Olin's shooting whether Cole was seeing anyone. They tell her that he wasn't and emphasize that while their former partner was a tough cop, he was fully justified in shooting Olin.

That night, one of the officers, Bobby Fossett succumbs to the same fate as Cole. He is in bed with an unidentified woman who kisses him so violently, he cannot escape. The next morning, when he is discovered, it's as if, as Praeger says, he had the life sucked right out of him. Hendricks examines fingerprints found at the murder scene and concludes that while they are similar to those found on Cole's badge, these prints belong to a man. Axon matches the prints to those of Olin?? man who had been killed by Cole. Upon further examination, Axon and Hendricks conclude that the prints at both murder scenes belong to the same person after all. DNA testing of hair found at the scenes supports their theory: Somehow Olin has transformed himself into someone else and is avenging his own death.

Learning of Axon's amazing conclusion, Di Genova takes to the airwaves, openly criticizing the OSIR. for such a "ridiculous" explanation. After seeing the broadcast, an angry Praeger confronts Di Genova and becomes suspicious about the reporter's inside knowledge of the case. A scuffle ensues. Back at the OSIR lab, Praeger gives Axon the jacket he had been wearing when he tangled with Di Genova. Axon extracts a hair from the coat for DNA testing and, as Praeger expected, discovers a match for a hair found at the Fossett murder scene. But the hair is not Di Genova's. It belongs to Jennifer. They discover that Jennifer is being possessed by Olin, one cell at a time.

Meanwhile, Jennifer (now possessed by Olin) strikes again, killing the third officer, Carla Baines. Praeger later finds Jennifer at the morgue, where the narcissistic Olin has taken her in order to be near his own body. She tells Praeger about how Olin died, how he was unnecessarily gunned down by Cole and how the three police officers stood around and watched him die. She tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on him but, as she says, while "I breathed life into him, he breathed death into me."

When Jennifer transforms into Olin and attacks Praeger and is about to stab Praeger with a surgical knife when, suddenly, the tables are turned and it remains to be seen who among them will be left alive.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Colin Fox - Dr. Anton Hendricks
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
Bruce Vavrina - Sgt. Nathan Cole
Allison Hossack - Jennifer
Kent Staines - Jeremy Olin
Fred Williamson - Fred Di Genova
Mark Lutz- Bobby Fossett
Shannon Hile - Carla Baines

Written by: C.D. Frewer and F.J. Kennedy
Directed by: Doug Jackson

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"Absolution"

Episode 305
(aired the week of 10/25/1998)
Case # 56-9977

Log line: O.S.I.R. Case Manager, Matt Praeger, is institutionalized after he goes undercover as an arms dealer in order to get close to the arms dealer's son. Before Praeger gets a chance to examine the youth though, he is caught in the middle of a double cross during a drug deal and the boy is slain. Praeger thinks he is responsible and can't cope with the guilt. While he is being hospitalized the team uncovers a secret demonic cult whose members thrive on collecting human souls.

Synopsis: Praeger is institutionalized after a case goes tragically wrong. Working undercover as an arms dealer in order to gain access to a drug dealer's son - a teenager with ESP - Praeger gets caught in the middle of a double cross and in the ensuing shootout apparently fires the bullet that kills the youth.

Devastated by the incident, Praeger is admitted to the hospital until it is determined whether he is capable of testifying. Although the physician in charge, Dr. Simon Leeds, assures Hendricks that his colleague will receive the best care-through antipsychotic drugs and psychotherapy sessions-Praeger continues to spiral toward insanity, torn apart with guilt. Following a group therapy session, Praeger is sought out by Brad Casson, a fellow patient and professor of theosophy who warns him of a demonic cult operating within the hospital and tells him of his plans to break out.

Donner and Donahue visit the now incarcerated Manny Keeler, the drug dealer whose son, Adrian, was killed. Keeler recalls how his partner, Arturo Chavez accompanied Praeger to the rendezvous point where he was to exchange cocaine for firearms. He tells the OSIR investigators that he took Adrian along so the youngster could use his ESP to warn him of any danger. Just as Adrian called out that something was wrong, Keeler was shot by a gunman hiding on a nearby rooftop. As he struggled to his feet, he saw young Adrian die with Praeger standing behind him, gun in hand. It was at this moment that Praeger fell apart, escaping into a state of psychosis.

At the hospital, Praeger tells Dr. Leeds' assistant, Dr. Judith Taggart, that he can't remember shooting Adrian. She advises him that he must come clean and admit to his awful deed before he can hope for any sort of recovery. In another area of the hospital, Dr. Leeds successfully talks a female patient into admitting guilt in the death of her sister. Accompanied by a group of staff members, he gives the woman a goblet from which to drink, assuring her that she will have absolution if she does so. The woman takes a sip and falls to the ground, poisoned. As she dies, the last thing she sees is the face of Dr. Leeds transform into that of a demon.

Back at OSIR headquarters, Donahue informs Donner and Axon that the police have picked up a man named Dominic Dinardi. The man was caught trying to rob a liquor store with one of the guns that Keeler was going to get from Praeger before the shootout occurred. Dinardi admits he was at the rendezvous, hiding on a rooftop to provide protection for Chavez-but he insists it was Praeger who shot Adrian. The OSIR team decides to set a trap for Chavez. They plant a microphone on Dinardi in the hope of getting Chavez to incriminate himself. The plan works. Not only is Chavez the killer but he later admits that he planted the gun on Praeger after the shooting.

Meanwhile, Donner and Hendricks are alerted to what's going on at the hospital when the escaped Casson shows up at OSIR headquarters and tells them of a demonic cult that has taken over the institution. He refers to the cult as The Gatherers, so named because its members thrive on collecting human souls. They were the subject of a research paper he was working on when he admitted himself to the hospital in order to gather more information. The leader of The Gatherers is an ancient demon who over the years has occupied various human hosts in order to perpetuate the cult.

At the hospital, Praeger is finally convinced by the doctors to accept responsibility for Adrian's death. But as he is about to drink from the poisoned chalice, he remembers what happened at the rendezvous. Mustering his strength to resist drinking the concoction, he instead hurls it in the face of the cult leader (Dr. Leeds), bringing stunning results and, hopefully, closure to this draining case.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Colin Fox - Dr. Anton Hendricks
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
Nathan Carter - Drug dealer's son
Gary Krawford - Dr. Simon Leeds
Donald Burda - Brad Casson
Philip Granger - Manny Keeler
Waiter Alza - Arturo Chavez
Lisa Langlois - Dr. Judith Taggart
Bruce Tubbe - Dominic Dinardi

Written by: Damian Kindler
Directed by: Clay Borris

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"All Hallows Eve"

Episode 306
(aired the week of 11/1/1998)
Case # 65-9311

Log line: A horror novelist with multiple personalities struggles with the fact that someone is making her book all too real by committing murders exactly the same way they are described in each chapter of her best seller.

Synopsis: Praeger, Donahue, Axon and Donner visit the scene of a grisly, pre-Halloween murder of two college students who died after having their faces torn off. Checking through the victims' belongings, Donner finds a copy of "All Hallow's Horror," a novel written by Rebecca Royce.

As she reads, Donner discovers that the recent murder mirrors the one in the first chapter of the book. What's more, she learns that the house in which the students were killed once belonged to Royce's parents. Praeger and Axon visit Royce at a TV studio where she is taping an interview segment about her novel and pleading for the copycat killer to stop. They ask her if she has any idea who the killer might be, but she says she can't help them. She returns home with her agent, who horrifies her with a prediction that the murder will help book sales. After the agent leaves, the distraught Royce, who suffers from multiple personality disorder, regresses into the alternate personality of a little girl and falls asleep.

The killer strikes again, this time murdering the owner of a costume store, just like in the second chapter of Royce's novel. This time, though, a security camera caught the killer on videotape. Watching the tape, Donahue, Axon and Praeger see the apparition of a man walk into the store and kill the owner. As Donner points out, if the killer continues to mimic the novel, the next murder will take place in two days at a Halloween dance.

Hendricks visits Royce and learns that she has five different personalities, including that of Johnny, the malevolent alter who actually wrote "All Hallow's Horror" and is fed up with Royce getting all of the credit. As he takes control of Royce, Johnny confesses to Hendricks that he committed the murders. Meanwhile, Praeger and Donahue are at the police station, interrogating Bart Haines, a former college classmate of Royce's who has also confessed to the crimes. Confined to a wheelchair, Haines was paralyzed years earlier after a prank by Royce and her college friends caused him to fall three floors. He tells a skeptical Praeger and Donahue that he doesn't know how he commited the murders; he experienced blackouts during which he felt someone else taking over his body. Suddenly Haines is possessed by Johnny. Haines leaps out of his wheelchair, flips over a table, pushes Donahue and Praeger aside, and escapes.

Learning that a Halloween dance will take place at Royce's former college, the OSIR team, including Davison, plots to catch the possessed Haines at the event. But he is ready for them. Haines, possessed by Johnny, captures Davison, carries her to the top of a staircase and holds her over the railing, ready to drop her just like Royce's friends did to him years before. Royce arrives with Hendricks and commands Johnny, who still has control of Haines' body, to let her talk to Haines.

In a fast and furious flash, personalities collide and it remains to be seen who'll survive.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Colin Fox - Dr. Anton Hendricks
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
Linda Blair - Rebecca Royce
Rosemary Dunsmore - Agent
Phillip MacKenzie - Bart Haines

Written by: Donald Martin
Directed by: Luc Chalifour

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"Palimpsest "

Episode 307
(aired the week of 11/8/1998)
Case # 60-0001

Log line: A woman architect possesses laten but exceptionally strong psycho-kinetic abilities that open a time portal when she struggles with finishing a new building before an incurable eye ailment leaves her blind.

Synopsis: Praeger, Donahue and Davison investigate after the body of an elderly woman is found in the basement of a soon-to-be demolished apartment building. The mystery surrounding the corpse's appearance grows when Davison concludes that the woman, who's wearing "futuristic" apparel, died of massive injuries sustained after a long fall. Despite the fact that the basement ceiling is only eight feet high, the floor under the woman has buckled from the impact.

The next day, a second body is found in the building. This time it is that of a man wearing old-fashioned clothing dating back to the 1860s. In his pockets are coins from that time and an antique trimming knife. His corpse is full of shards of broken glass. Miles later determines that the glass is made of a substance that is used by NASA but is not yet commercially available.

Praeger and Donner visit Valerie Wells, the architect of the new building to be erected on the site. Although Wells can offer no clues as to what's going on, Praeger has an uneasy feeling that he has seen her before. Wells is anxious that their investigation conclude so she can get on with the construction of the new building. At Donner's request, Wells provides a diagram of the area in the 1800s. Apparently, the current building used to be a tannery.

Praeger and Axon re-examine the room where the woman's body was found. Suddenly, the doorway into the room turns into a solid brick wall and thick dust overtakes them. Gasping for air, they are about to break a window when the doorway clears and they are able to escape.

Axon and Miles meet with the OSIR team and present their theory as to what is going on in the building, namely, the Palimpsest Effect. Miles explains that palimpsest refers to text on parchment that has been erased. After the parchment is reused, some of the original text bleeds through. In this case, says Axon, the building site would be the parchment and the architecture would be the text. In other words, pieces of the past still exist in the present building.

Since palimpsest is sometimes readable through the use of ultraviolet light, Axon decides to conduct an experiment aiming an ultraviolet beam at the building in an attempt to recreate the circumstances under which the two bodies appeared. Axon's test is overly successful as a third person, this time very much alive, suddenly appears in the building. He, too, is from the 1860s. His name is Wallace Nelsan, a Union Army deserter. Sentenced to death, he had escaped from jail and was hiding out in the tannery when he was suddenly whisked away.

Praeger calls in remote viewer Kate Azzopardi who, in a session with Nelsan, "sees" not only the past but also the future, actually visiting Wells' yet-to-be-built office tower. Leaving the OSIR lab, Praeger and Azzopardi have a chance encounter with Wells. Like Praeger before, Azzopardi recognizes her and again "sees" the tower, where she finds an elderly woman??he same woman who died in the basement. She notices a strong resemblance between the woman and Wells, and suggests that Hendricks perform a psychological examination of Wells. He discovers that Wells possesses latent but exceptionally strong psycho-kinetic abilities that could affect time. The stress of trying to finish her new building before an incurable eye ailment leaves her blind may have triggered this ability and opened the time portal through which Nelsan and the others passed.

In an attempt to close the portal and hopefully return everyone to their proper place in history (or the future), Hendricks takes Wells to the morgue to see the body of the elderly woman. Gazing upon her, Wells realizes that she is indeed looking at herself. Shaken, she collapses. As Hendricks helps her to her feet they notice that the body of the woman has vanished as has the nearby body of the other man. Nelsan too suddenly vanishes, apparently returning to his proper place in time and to a date with the executioner.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Colin Fox - Dr. Anton Hendricks
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
Marnie McPhail - Valerie Wells
Terri Hawkes - Kate Azzopardi

Written by: Paul Smith
Directed by: Craig Pryce

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"Return"

Episode 308
(aired the week of 11/15/1998)
Case # 96-5789

Log line: The O.S.I.R. team must try to save a colleague's wife when she is thought to be possessed by a spirit.

Synopsis: Hendricks has spent the day at the OSIR lab, working on a secret project for Elsinger. When he returns home, he is greeted by his wife, Catherine, who has recently returned from a mysterious apportation device called the Arch, into which she vanished 12 years ago. Initially ecstatic about his wife's return, Hendricks has become increasingly suspicious that all is not what it seems. Specifically, the failure of his wife to remember anything about their deceased daughter, Nicole, has convinced him that she is not the Catherine he knew. He suspects she is an "Old One," one of the restless spirits that he encountered while he was in the Arch looking for Catherine and Nicole.

Davison joins Hendricks and his wife for dinner. Hendricks reveals his suspicions about Catherine to his colleague, who suggests that the woman's memory loss may be caused by Alzheimer's rather than a possessing spirit. At Hendricks' request, Davison has a private conversation with Catherine but finds no indication that she is possessed.

The next night, Hendricks races into the OSIR research facility, pursued by Davison. Before she can enter, Hendricks extracts a vial from the lab's display cabinet and releases a virus into the lab, setting off an automatic security system that seals the entrance. He feverishly begins working on Elsinger's secret project - contained in a coffin-sized chamber. Praeger and Axon arrive but can't convince Hendricks to tell them what he's doing. Meanwhile, Davison has determined that Hendricks has released the deadly ebola virus into the lab.

Axon devises a way to gain short-term access to the lab by convincing the computer-operated security system that the virus is not dangerous. Accompanied by Donner, Praeger and Davison rush into the room. While Donner whisks Hendricks out the door, they hurry to the chamber containing the secret project. Praeger frantically scrapes away the frost that covers the chamber window, then turns away, horrified. It is Catherine. She is dead, sealed inside the chamber and cryonically frozen. Suddenly, the lab door automatically locks again, this time trapping Praeger and Davison.

Hendricks informs Donner that Praeger and Davison are in no danger: The virus is inactive, released by him only to keep the others out of the lab. He also admits killing his wife. Earlier that day, he had confronted the spirit within Catherine, verbally renouncing the "old one" and causing his wife to experience some sort of seizure. He took her to the lab and put her in the cryonics chamber on the slim chance that he might be able to revive her. He provides his research notes for Donner to forward to Davison.

Back at the research lab, Davison and Praeger desperately try to save Catherine - and, in the process, stop their friend from facing murder charges. It remains to be seen whether, with the help of Hendricks' notes, they can successfully revive Catherine and, if so, whether Hendricks can ever accept her as the "real" Catherine.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Colin Fox - Dr. Anton Hendricks
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
Catherine Blythe - Catherine Hendricks

Written by: James Nadler
Directed by: Bruce Pittman

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"Harlequin"

Episode 309
(aired the week of 11/22/1998)
Case # 82-8456

Log line: While investigating the bizarre death of an animal at a wildlife hospice, the O.S.I.R. team encounters what is thought to be a winged creature that has been reported in South America but whose existence has never been proven.

Synopsis: The OSIR investigates the unusual death of an animal at the Windsor Animal Hospice. The animal, a large South American rodent called a capybara, is found in its cage. Examining the body, OSIR zoologist L.Q. Cooper finds several puncture wounds and determines that the animal had been drained of all of its blood. Much to the chagrin of skeptical case manager Matt Praeger, Cooper theorizes that the killer may be a chupacabra, a winged creature that has been reported in South America but whose existence has never been proven. However, Dr. Bob Dalhousie, the assistant manager of the facility, agrees that the culprit may indeed be a chupacabra that has migrated north and has simply taken advantage of a familiar food source. He also tells Cooper of his desire to become a member of the OSIR.

Senior data analyst Lindsay Donner visits Cara Windsor, the manager of the hospice, to inquire about the credibility of Bob and Stuey Polin, the zoo worker who found the dead capybara. Windsor vouches for both men. Despite Praeger's suspicions of a hoax, the team begins to search for the capybara's killer in the parkland adjacent to the hospice. Bob helps the OSIR search but his over enthusiasm about the case captures the attention of Praeger, who begins to suspect that Bob is behind the whole thing.

While searching the woods, Cooper and Bob find the bloody remains of what could have been a chupacabra. Upon further examination, Cooper finds scaly skin samples under the animal's claws. The scales are shaped like interlocking diamonds, also known as a harlequin pattern. The team also discovers a footprint that indicates a bipedal, ape-like creature. The next day, chief science analyst Peter Axon encounters this creature in the woods but it flees before he can get a good look at it.Still suspicious of Bob, Praeger tells Cooper that he doesn't want Bob's help anymore. Cooper breaks the news to Bob who, given his aspirations of joining the OSIR, is extremely upset at being left out of the investigation. That night, Bob sneaks into the OSIR lab and steals one of the skin samples found on the chupacabra.

The following morning, Bob rushes to Cooper, telling him that he has just seen the "harlequin" creature. The two men race into the forest, where they find the body of Stuey Polin. A skin sample is found under his nails. Returning to the lab, Cooper notices that one of the skin samples is missing. Suspecting Bob, he goes to look for him--and finds him in the woods making fake footprints. Bob admits that he was manufacturing evidence in order to prolong the OSIR investigation and increase the chances of finding the "harlequin" creature. He also confesses to killing Stuey, who had learned what he was up to. He then pushes Cooper down an embankment and leaves him for dead.

That night, the OSIR team looks for Cooper, desperate to find him before the "harlequin" creature does. Bob joins in the search. Cooper, who has regained consciousness after his fall, struggles through the woods on a broken ankle. He encounters the "harlequin" creature which is about to attack when Bob suddenly appears and distracts the creature. The "harlequin" creature attacks Bob instead, then flees just as the rest of the OSIR team shows up. The creature is never seen again.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Colin Fox - Dr. Anton Hendricks
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
Maury Chaykin - Dr. Bob Dalhousie
Christine Brubaker - Cara Windsor
Greg Kramer - Stuey Polin

Written by: Larry Raskin
Directed by: Ron Oliver

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"Little People"

Episode 310
(aired the week of 11/29/1998)
Case # 79-0002

Log line: When two girls are frightened by what they claim are trolls, the O.S.I.R. team comes to investigate.

Synopsis: Praeger's daughter, Dana is sleeping over at the country home of her friend, Vanessa, when the girls hear a strange noise coming from upstairs. They follow the sound to the bedroom of Vanessa's adopted brother, Cameron, where they are shocked to see the boy's bed floating across the room toward the window. Cameron is fast asleep, oblivious to what is happening. When the two girls scream in horror, the bed suddenly drops to the floor and tiny, shadowy figures scamper through the open window and disappear into the nearby bushes.

The next morning, Praeger and the rest of the OSIR team arrive at the house to conduct an "unofficial" investigation. Examining Cameron's bedroom, Praeger and Cooper discover torn curtains at the window and scratches on the window sill. Cooper determines that the claw pattern indicates three talons. Then he sees what appears to be a footprint made by a tiny moccasin.

In a conversation with Vanessa and Cameron's mother Madeline, Donner learns that Cameron may have social and emotional problems stemming from his adoption. She also considers the possibility that he may be endowed with telekinetic powers and may have moved the bed himself.

While conducting an examination of the wooded area surrounding the home, Cooper and Axon find a small crop circle, in the middle of which is a dead crow, its wings and feet cut off. Because the bird has apparently been stabbed to death, Cooper dismisses any thought that it was attacked by animals. He suspects that it was either killed by the same creatures that entered Cameron's room??by Cameron himself.

Hendricks conducts a psychological examination of Cameron. He concludes that the boy is a "repressed, angry child" who is so obsessed with violence that perhaps he had killed the crow. He may even have set up the whole bedroom incident as a way to get attention. Meanwhile, Cooper accompanies Vanessa's mother as she searches outside for the family's missing cat. The woman tells Cooper that the house used to belong to her aunt, who constantly cautioned her not to go into the woods because of the "little people." However, the warnings were dismissed as the ramblings of a crazy old lady.

Cameron confesses to Axon that he hasn't been completely honest. But instead of claiming responsibility for the events, he tells Axon that he has been in contact with the "little people" who live in the woods. Scared that they might harm him, he has complied with their demands for various household items such as knives and knitting needles. He believes they were trying to kidnap him the night Dana and Vanessa came into his room. To prove he's telling the truth, he leads Axon to the trolls' home in the woods. It is a structure much like a termite mound but no trolls are to be found. However, they do find the cat. It has been stabbed to death with knitting needles.

Later that day, as Cameron sits in his room, the door suddenly slams shut and locks from the outside. A troll enters through the window and abducts Cameron. The team immediately begins to search the woods. Axon hears Cameron yelling for help and finds him in a tree, suspended in a net. Before he is able to free the boy, Axon is knocked unconscious from behind. The trolls tie him up but he regains consciousness and is able to break free. He grabs hold of Cameron, who's being dragged into the woods by the trolls and, after a tug of war, manages to pull the boy from their grasp. The trolls disappear into the forest. They are never seen again.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Colin Fox - Dr. Anton Hendricks
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
Heather Bertram - Dana Praeger
Erica Lancaster - Vanessa
Kyle J. Downes - Cameron
Deborah Grover - Madeline

Written by: Rick Drew
Directed by: Craig Pryce

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"The Winding Cloth"

Episode 311
(aired the week of 1/23/1999)
Case # 34-0872

Log line: The O.S.I.R. team travels to England to verify the authenticity of a 13th century burial shroud that belonged to a tyrant who enslaved his workers and dealt with his enemies by killing them and then eating their hearts. A modern-day Pagan cult steals the shroud to perform a ceremony which will bring back the evil tyrant.

Synopsis: British archaeologist Russell Beacham, a mentor and former lover of Donner, finds a 13th century burial shroud inside an ancient Druid coffin he unearthed near the Welsh coast. Although the coffin in which the "winding cloth" was found contained no human remains, it does have markings indicative of both Pagan and Christian religions. Similar to the Shroud of Turin, the cloth bears a shadowy portrait of a man. At Beacham's request, Donner and the OSIR team join him in London to verify the authenticity of the cloth and try to determine the identity of the man who was buried in it.

Donner, Praeger, Axon and Hendricks meet with Russell who informs them that he has also solicited help from a theological expert, Father Malachy Reilly. Upon closer examination of the shroud, the team notices that the shadowy image bears a Celtic medallion. Russell recognizes it as belonging to Ludac, a 13th century tyrant who enslaved his workers and dealt with his enemies by killing them and then eating their hearts. Known as the Duke of Hearts, he was eventually overthrown by his own serfs.

A scientific test determines the age of the shroud to be at least 700 years old. Hendricks examines blood stains on the cloth and concludes that the man had been impaled after he had been wrapped for burial. Father Reilly enters the lab and introduces himself, but doesn't offer any insight into the origins of the cloth. After the priest leaves, Hendricks is knocked out from behind and the shroud is stolen.

The OSIR team tells Russell that the cloth may have been stolen by a Pagan cult. Donner explains that the coffin containing the shroud was made of black oak, believed by Druids to have magical properties. Since modern-day witchcraft, called Wicca, is based on Druidic principles, she suggests they begin their search for the shroud at local Wiccan shops. Accompanied by Praeger, she visits a Wiccan bookstore, where Praeger notices a pamphlet detailing "The Children of Mathonwy." The brochure is adorned with the same symbol as Ludac's medallion.

While Praeger and Donner are at the bookstore, Russell is attacked in his office. Like Hendricks, he too is struck from behind. He is abducted and, later that night, is taken to a nearby park where the Children of Mathonwy cult are conducting a ceremony before the shroud, which is suspended on a framework before them. Russell is taken to the shroud and his throat is cut, the blood spilling onto the shroud. As he falls to the ground dead, the evil Ludac comes to life. Russell is found by police the next morning. His heart has been cut out.

Distraught over Russell's death, Donner talks with Father Reilly, who advises her to return home. Instead, she vows to stay in England until Russell's killer is found. She tells Axon and Praeger of her suspicions about Kathie Altman, Russell's teaching assistant and lover. Not only is Kathie less than upset over Russell's death, but she has been secretive about her academic background. Holding double doctorates in archaeology and human geology, Kathie may have been using Russell to find Ludac's grave. Donner suspects that Kathie may in fact be a member of the Children of Mathonwy.

Donner is proven correct. The next day, Kathie is found brutally beaten, left for dead by the psychopathic Ludac. Kathie admits being a cult member and tells Donner that the cult is meeting that night in the park??er a full moon that will secure Ludac's presence in modern time. Praeger and Donner venture into the park that evening and find the ceremony in session. As Donner sneaks toward the shroud, which is again suspended before the cult, Praeger is taken prisoner by Father Reilly! Shocked to discover that the priest is actually one of the cult leaders, Praeger is about to be killed when Donner rips the shroud. Ludac falls to the ground and vanishes. The police arrive and arrest the cult members, charging Father Reilly with murder.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Colin Fox - Dr. Anton Hendricks
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
Nicholas Campbell - Russell Beacham
Randy Hughson - Father Malachy Reilly
Camilla Scott - Kathie Altman

Written by: Rick Drew
Directed by: Clay Borris

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"Chango"

Episode 312
(aired the week of 1/30/1999)
Case # 50-0208

Log line: The O.S.I.R. team investigates when a colleague, who apparently died of a heart attack comes back to life at his own funeral. The team uncovers voodoo magic and must stop it before one of their own succumbs to the black magic.

Synopsis: Mitchell Kleinman, an OSIR senior data analyst, dies of an apparent heart attack at a Cuban-style neighborhood party. He and his fiancee Kanika are dancing to the infectious beat of the music when Mitchell collapses. Axon and Donner attend their colleague's funeral, where, at Kanika's request, the same music to which she and Mitchell had been dancing is played. The rabbi who's conducting the service suddenly hears scratching sounds coming from Mitchell's coffin. He opens the lid. Mitchell is alive!

Axon consults with Mitchell, who tells his friend that he was not dead, but that he collapsed into a trance-like state while at the dance. He could hear and see everything but couldn't move or speak. Despite a medical examination that indicates he has fully recovered from the bizarre incident, Mitchell remains shaken by the nightmare of nearly being buried alive and decides to quit the OSIR

Praeger and Axon meet with Donner, who informs them that Mitchell had been studying the mysteries of Santeria, a blend of Roman Catholicism and the religion of the Yoruba people that is often confused with voodoo. Donner then visits Kanika to gather more information as to what happened at the street party but the woman is unable, or unwilling, to help. That night, as Mitchell lies dying, Kanika performs a Santerian ceremony to try to save him. It doesn't work. Mitchell is later found dead, a bloody symbol painted on his forehead and a Santerian doll laid across his chest. Despite Axon's efforts to duplicate the events of the funeral service at which Mitchell was resurrected, this time death is final.

Hendricks and Davison perform an autopsy on Mitchell. Cutting into his chest, they are alarmed to see blood bubbling from the incision. They conduct a blood test and find what may be traces of scorpion venom.

Axon goes to the marketplace where the street party had been thrown and finds Kanika. He asks her about the ceremony she performed, specifically about the symbol she had painted on Mitchell's forehead. Kanika tells him that the symbol was the double-headed axe of Chango, the patron spirit of fire, thunder and lightning whose help she was seeking.

Donner tells her colleagues that a background check on Kanika revealed that the woman was previously married but was divorced shortly after meeting Mitchell. Her ex-husband is a musician, a clave player named Olavo Lopez. Axon returns to the marketplace to ask Kanika about her relationship with Olavo. She angrily replies that Olavo is no longer a threat to her, claiming that she has the protection of Chango. She goes home, where Olavo is waiting for her. He begins tapping his clave to the rhythm of her heart! As the tapping slows, so does her heart. She collapses.

The next day, Axon goes to see Kanika at her apartment but she has vanished. He searches the marketplace and finds her in a shed. She is in the same trance-like state that Mitchell had experienced. Hiding in the shadows, Olavo begins tapping his clave, this time to the rhythm of Axon's heart. When Axon finally collapses, Olavo places a live scorpion on his chest. He then puts a bridal veil on Kanika, awakens her from her trance and tells her of his plans to remarry her. He takes Kanika by the arm and leads her out of the warehouse.

As Praeger and Donner search the marketplace for Axon, they see Olavo with Kanika. Olavo flees leaving Kanika behind. She takes Praeger and Donner back to the shed, where they find Axon and the scorpion. Back at the lab, Hendricks asks Cooper to prepare an antivenom, which they inject into the entranced Axon. There is no response.

Meanwhile, Kanika tells Donner how Olavo used the clave to slow the rhythm of her heart. Donner then rushes back to the OSIR lab with an audio cassette of the music that revived Mitchell. The team plays it for Axon but there is still no response. Hendricks suspects Donner's idea may have failed because the rhythm of the music matched that of Mitchell's heart, not Axon's. Based on Axon's resting heart rate, Hendricks and Praeger are able to simulate Axon's heartbeat via computer and, by increasing its rate, manage to revive Axon.

Kanika returns home, where she again performs a Santerian ceremony, this time to avenge Mitchell's death. She is successful. Olavo is making his getaway, hurrying through the marketplace with airplane ticket in hand, when he suddenly feels weak. He falls to the ground dead, a group of scorpions burrowing out of his chest.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
Stewart Black - Mitchell Kleinman
Kathryn Winslow - Kanika
Lawrence Bayne - Olavo Lopez

Written by: Sarah Dodd
Directed by: Bruce Pittman

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"Solitary Confinement"

Episode 313
(aired the week of 2/6/1999)
Case # 22-6051

Log line: The O.S.I.R. team investigates after a prison inmate dies in a cell in which haunting memories become all too real.

Synopsis: O.S.I.R. Senior Data Analyst Lindsay Donner and Pathologist Claire Davison are called to the Newgate Correctional Facility after an inmate, Nick Harper, dies mysteriously while in solitary confinement.

Donner interviews the two guards who had taken Harper to solitary cell No. 216 but they are of little help. When they left Harper alone, he was very much alive. Harper's cellmate, Luis Sanchez, also fails to provide Donner with any clues as to what happened. Noticing in Sanchez's prison record that he too had served time in solitary‹for assaulting a guard‹Donner asks him if he had experienced anything unusual while he was there. He claims he didn't.

Returning to O.S.I.R. headquarters, Donner discusses the investigation with Case Manager Matt Praeger, Chief Science Analyst Peter Axon and Security Coordinator Ray Donahue. She informs them that Newgate was built in 1858, but a fire in 1943 destroyed most of the original structure, killing a hundred inmates. When the prison was rebuilt, the surviving wing became the solitary confinement block where Harper died.

Praeger observes Davison as she performs an autopsy on Harper's body. They are both shocked when she cuts into a lung and finds that Harper suffered from black lung disease, an ailment that afflicts coal miners.

The team decides that the best way to find out what happened at Newgate is for someone to go undercover as a prisoner. Axon volunteers and, after some pointers from ex-cop Donahue on how to fit into prison society, is whisked off to Newgate, where‹as convicted drug dealer Howard Blackson‹he is assigned to share a cell with Sanchez.

Axon confronts Sanchez in the exercise yard but, like Donner, gets nowhere when he asks what happened to Harper. Not only is Sanchez no help, but he starts a scuffle with Axon. Just as a guard is about to club Axon into submission, the prison's clergyman, Chaplain Hewitt , intercedes and escorts Axon back to his cell. Later, when the guards do a cell check, Axon deliberately grapples with them in order to be taken to solitary, where he can investigate firsthand what happened to Harper.

Axon's plan works all too well. As the door of cell No. 216 locks behind him, he suddenly finds himself standing in a field, staring at a large tree from which a noose is hanging. An old car pulls up and, to his amazement, two friends from his youth step out. But the friends are Kevin and Jason, both killed in an accident in which a teenage Axon was driving drunk. The two force Axon into the car which, to his horror, accelerates into the path of an oncoming pickup truck‹exactly as it did so many years before!

Just as the vehicles are about to collide, the cell door opens, jerking Axon back to reality and saving him from a surely fatal collision. Shaken, Axon returns to his cell, where Sanchez finally shares his experiences in solitary. He reveals that as a child he had a recurring nightmare about a creature that lived under his bed who would grab him by the ankles and attack him at any opportunity. He encountered this creature for real when he was in solitary.

At O.S.I.R. headquarters, Donner reports that she has learned that six prisoners have died at Newgate in the past four years‹from such strange deaths as smoke inhalation, drowning and hanging. She has also found out that Harper, who died of black lung disease, grew up in mining country near Cape Breton. Dr. Anton Hendricks suggests that perhaps whatever is in the prison is somehow absorbing and then reflecting the inmates' worst fears. Praeger decides that they must get Axon out of prison. He goes undercover himself‹as a guard.

Praeger learns that Axon has again been taken to solitary. As Axon is once more forced behind the wheel of the car with his two "dead" friends, Praeger and Sanchez rush to the mysterious cell No. 216, where they find a satisfied-looking Chaplain Hewitt looking through the window in the cell door, watching Axon receive, in the chaplain's words, "his punishment." Sanchez grabs the cell key from Hewitt and gives it to Praeger, who frantically unlocks the door and pulls Axon to safety. Sanchez then tugs the chaplain into the cell and slams the door behind them. Praeger and Axon look inside. The cell is empty. Sanchez and the chaplain are never seen again. With the disappearance of the chaplain, there are no more reports of paranormal activity.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Colin Fox - Anton Hendricks
Soo Garay - O.S.I.R. Pathologist Claire Davison
Peter MacNeill - Security Co-ordinator Ray Donahue

Guest Stars:
Billy Otis - as Nick Harper
Pat Mastroianni - Luis Sanchez
Graeme Millington - Chaplain Hewitt
Dominic Zamprogna - Kevin
David O'Connor - Jason

Written by: John Dolin
Story: Michael Teversham and John Dolin
Directed by: Ron Oliver

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"Valentine"

Episode 314
(aired the week of 2/13/1999)
Case # 44-3987

Log line: O.S.I.R. Senior Data Analyst Lindsay Donner becomes involved with a modern-day vampire while investigating a Valentine's Day Murder.

Synopsis: Alone on Valentine's Day, Donner visits a neighborhood after-hours club, where she catches the attention of the handsome bartender, Marc Hagan. Despite her attraction to Marc, Donner leaves, only to be called back to the vicinity the following morning when a body is found in the adjacent alley. The victim, a heroin addict named Kevin Vincent, had been bled dry. Donner recognizes the deceased from the nightclub and, with Praeger, goes to interview the club's owner.

The owner of the club turns out to be Marc Hagan. He tells Donner and Praeger that he didn't know the victim. Donner notices some Egyptian artifacts and a human skull on the counter behind the bar. Examining the skull, she finds that it has fang-like incisors, like those of a vampire. She also determines that it is genuine, which surprises Marc, who received the skull as a gift from a junkie friend who couldn't pay his bar tab.

Donner and Marc visit Sid, the junkie who had given Marc the skull. Sid takes them to where he had found it?? private grave site belonging to the Callum family. Donner notices that the most recent headstone in the family plot belongs to Caitlyn Callum, who died in 1993 at the age of 31. She decides to meet the widowed Reed Callum to find out more about his deceased wife and the strange skull that Sid had found. Despite her attraction for Marc, Donner also finds herself drawn to the wealthy, enigmatic Reed. When she describes the skull and its fangs to Reed, he tells her that it must have belonged to his great great uncle, Angus Callum, and that the man's strange teeth were merely a genetic abnormality. As for his wife, she had died of liver cancer.

The OSIR team gathers to discuss the case. Axon says that Angus's skull was probably buried separately from the rest of the corpse and over the years had been gradually pushed to the surface by frost heaves. Donner's research shows that Angus had been killed by a lynch mob that blamed him for a plague that had decimated their town. When Angus was reportedly seen after his death, his body was disinterred and decapitated. Donahue interrupts the meeting, claiming that the team's research into the history of a possible vampire may have been pointless. He declares that Kevin Vincent's death may have been a case of simple murder after all. Scouring through Kevin's police records, he has found that Kevin and Marc had been arrested together years earlier for the robbery of an electronics store. Marc had lied. Not only had he known Kevin, the two had been friends since high school.

Praeger returns to the nightclub to confront Marc, who tells him that he lied about Kevin because he didn't want to discuss Kevin's drug problems, that he wanted his friend to die with some dignity. He had been helping Kevin try to kick the habit but, when his friend showed up at the club the previous night he was obviously high. Marc threw him out, and that's when he must have been killed.

Disappointed by Marc's dishonesty, Donner tries to suppress her feelings for him and accepts a dinner invitation from Reed. While she is on her way to his house, Praeger and Donahue interrogate Sid. They learn that his group of friends not only included Marc and Kevin but also Caitlyn. He confesses that he had supplied Caitlyn with heroin to ease the pain of her illness. That night, another of the group's drug-addict friends, Debbie, is killed in the alley outside the bar.

After a romantic dinner with Reed, Donner blacks out. She wakes up the next morning in her car outside Reed's house. She is dazed and finds fang marks on both of her arms. After answering a call to visit the scene of Debbie's murder, she returns to confront Reed. He confesses that he is a vampire but insists that he didn't kill anyone, that Caitlyn is the murderer. He had turned her into a vampire to save her from dying of cancer. She is now quenching not her thirst for blood, but for heroin. He begs Donner to accompany him to the nightclub to stop Caitlyn from killing again.

As they enter the club, Reed transforms into a vampire and grows violent. Donner escapes his grasp and hides under a pool table. She then notices Caitlyn sleeping in the rafters. The vampire awakens and swoops down on her. She defends herself with a pool cue, which pierces Caitlyn's heart. Seeing Caitlyn die, Reed flies into a rage. He is about to strike Donner when Marc suddenly appears and plunges a pool cue into Reed's heart. Reed falls to the ground dead.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Colin Fox - Dr. Anton Hendricks
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
Anthony Lemke - Marc Hagan
C.J. Fidler - Caitlyn Callum
Tony Munch - Kevin Vincent
Richard Clarkin - Sid
Winston Rekert - Reed Callum
Suzanne Sutchy - Debbie

Written by: Sheila Prescott-Vessey
Directed by: Ross Clyde

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"Old Wounds"

Episode 315
(aired the week of 2/20/1999)
Case # 39-2101

Log line: The O.S.I.R. is baffled by a woman who was wounded while playing a virtual-reality war game. It turns out she was suppressing painful memories that are somehow causing her old scars to re-open.

Synopsis: Tessler Industries, a video-game giant, is testing one of its new virtual-reality war games at the OSIR Central Lab. Elsinger watches as Tessler researchers Adia Carling and Victor Granger begin to do virtual battle. Suddenly, Adia is knocked to the floor with a very real head wound. Elsinger calls for Praeger and his team to investigate.

While Hendricks bandages Adia's wound, Axon examines the special suit the woman had been wearing, one containing hundreds of electromagnetic sensors to monitor the player's movement and allow her to interact with the computer game. Axon determines that the outfit posed no threat to Adia's safety. He suggests that perhaps the game triggered some kind of latent paranormal ability in Adia.

Praeger watches as Hendricks performs a follow-up examination of Adia. As he attaches sensors to her head and wrists to monitor any unusual electromagnetic patterns or brain-wave activity, Hendricks notices a severe scar on her left arm. She becomes upset and rips the sensors off as well as the bandage on her head. After they manage to calm her, Praeger and Hendricks stare in disbelief. Adia's head wound has healed completely.

The next day, Hendricks informs Praeger that Adia's head wound wasn't new. The scar tissue that remained after the wound healed was old. The woman also has old scars on her wrists and her left forearm. Hendricks suspects that the game may somehow be re-opening these old wounds. To verify this, Praeger and Axon decide to re-create the game during which Adia was hurt.

Lindsay Donner asks Adia about the old scars. Adia tells her she had been injured in a car accident. Donner also learns that Adia was born and raised in China before attending university in Hong Kong, where she met and fell in love with Victor. Although she is still shaken from the mishap in the testing lab, Adia agrees to participate in Praeger and Axon's re-creation.

Adia is again hurt while playing the game. This time, a bullet wound appears in her shoulder. As Hendricks struggles to stop the bleeding, Adia heals herself. Hendricks again follows up with a medical examination, during which he finally wins Adia's trust. She tells him that her real name is Ning Lee.

Donner does a background check on Ning Lee and discovers that she is an illegal immigrant who was denied sanctuary as a political refugee because of a lack of proof that she would be in peril if she returned to China. She also learns that Ning Lee had been imprisoned in Hunan before escaping and making her way to Hong Kong.

Adia is leaving the OSIR Central Lab when she is intercepted by immigration officers who take her into custody. Praeger tries to stop her from being taken away and is arrested by the senior officer, Ted Harman. Both Adia and Praeger are detained at a motel, with Praeger being released following a check of his credentials. He remains on the scene, where he is joined by Elsinger.

Harman is interrogating Adia when her wrists suddenly begin to bleed. Praeger and Elsinger call for Hendricks, who arrives to take care of Adia. Hendricks suggests that perhaps Ning Lee has suppressed painful memories that are somehow causing her old scars to re-open. He wants to hypnotize her to allow her to confront these memories. Harman agrees to let the OSIR team take Adia back to their lab for the hypnosis--as long as he is permitted to observe.

The hypnosis works. Adia is taken back four years, when she was an 18-year-old student caught up in the violence of the Tiananmen Square rioting. She received a blow to the head and was shot in the shoulder before being taken into custody. As before, those old wounds re-open but, with Hendricks' prompting, she is able to heal them. Adia then relives her time in prison, where she was tortured by a guard wanting information about the riot's organizers. The guard set fire to her blouse. Back at the lab, the sleeve of Adia's blouse bursts into flames, which Hendricks quickly smothers. Adia is unharmed. She has successfully confronted her memories. After seeing Adia relive the horrors of the prison from which she escaped, Harman decides to support her claim for sanctuary.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Colin Fox - Dr. Anton Hendricks
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
Marie V. Cruz - Adia Carling
Scott McCord - Victor Granger
Stewart Arnott - Ted Harman

Written by: Jim Purdy and Paula Smith
Story: Jim Purdy
Directed by: Luc Chalifour

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"The Observer Effect "

Episode 316
(aired the week of 2/27/1999)
Case # 22-2989

Log line: Things take a disturbingly personal turn when the O.S.I.R. investigates a UFO sighting.

Synopsis: The OSIR investigates after a UFO is sighted in the woods near the private community of Poplar Glen. In fact, two of the residents, Andi Douglas and Todd Pennebaker, not only claim to have seen a strange, bright light in the night sky but tell the OSIR that they were actually abducted by the extraterrestrial visitors.

Interviewed separately by Donner and Hendricks, Andi and Todd present remarkably similar stories: They were taken by the bright light to the aliens' craft, where they were examined by small, sinister, human-like beings. Since their abduction, they have had recurring headaches and, even more disturbing, strange telepathic powers. In an interview with Donner, Todd suddenly begins talking about Donner's relationship with her boyfriend, Marc. Similarly, Andi talks to Hendricks about his relationship with his wife, Katherine. Both Donner and Hendricks are shaken by Andi and Todd's inexplicable knowledge of their personal lives.

Praeger visits with Gavin Richter, the president of Poplar Glen's community association, and asks whether Andi and Todd had exhibited any psychic abilities prior to their abduction. Gavin laughs at the very idea, taking a perverse delight in the fact that the OSIR members have found themselves personally involved in the case they are investigating. He reminds Praeger that, in archeological terminology, they are experiencing something called "the observer effect." Gavin then leaves Praeger to attend a meeting of Poplar Glen's residents who have quickly grown tired of the OSIR's investigation and ask Gavin to evict Praeger and his team from the community. One of the residents, Grifter, speaks up in defense of the OSIR, however. During a heated debate, he manages to convince the others to let the investigators do their job.

The next day, Praeger and Axon notice a vintage sports car in the driveway of one of the residents, Randall Clarke. Although the vehicle is over 30 years old, the odometer reads zero. Opening the hood of the car, Praeger finds the engine in pristine condition, as if new. Puzzled, Axon checks the odometer on a nearby van. It also reads zero. Clarke suddenly appears, extremely angry that Praeger and Axon have trespassed. In a fit of rage, he admonishes Axon, telling the scientist that he'll never amount to anything more than a name on a gravestone on Bell Island, Axon's hometown. Like Donner and Hendricks, Axon is shocked that a stranger would know about his personal life.

Still upset by Todd's knowledge of her relationship with Marc, Donner visits Todd at his home. He tells her only that there is a part of Marc she doesn't want to see, then asks her to leave. As she closes the door behind her, she hears a gunshot inside the house. She rushes back in and finds Todd dead. He has killed himself.

When Davison conducts an autopsy, she is shocked to find that Todd's organs are like those of a newborn. Davison leaves the lab with Praeger. They come across Poplar Glen resident Jane Geist sitting on the steps of her house, sobbing. She tells them that she too had been abducted and is worried that she might meet the same fate as Todd. They take her back to the OSIR lab, where Donner and Hendricks interview her. Like Andi and Todd, Jane is able to discuss personal matters with them?? goes one step further. She can "see" the car accident in which Donner will die, an accident in which Marc has a chance to save her life, but doesn't. Donner desperately asks Jane when this will happen. Jane can't - or won't - tell her.

Praeger and Axon find the community's power transformer but it is inoperative. Still, Poplar Glen is getting power somehow. Axon goes in search of the mysterious power source and ends up on the property of Randall Clarke. Furious, Randall strikes out with an electrical charge that shoots from his fingertips. Axon is knocked unconscious. When he awakens at the OSIR lab, he has completely lost his memory.

A frustrated Praeger visits Gavin, demanding answers. As Randall enters the room, Gavin confesses that the whole thing has been a test, that the OSIR investigators were being studied to see how they would react to emotional stress. Randall then tells Praeger that the OSIR team will be leaving with them! Praeger stares in disbelief as Randall's eyes become milky white. Randall and the other residents are the aliens!

Praeger is taken into the woods by Randall and the community's security officers while Donner and Hendricks are escorted to the area by other Poplar Glen residents. To their relief, Gavin is able to convince Randall to let the OSIR members go. He argues that it wasn't their fault that they had been chosen for testing or that they had exceeded the expectations of the aliens. As the bright light appears in the sky, Gavin and the others gather to await transport. Desperate, Donner asks Gavin if Jane's premonitions would come true. He smiles, then replies, "You'll see."

The bright light takes the group away. A similar light infiltrates the OSIR lab, bringing Todd back to life and taking him away too. Davison and Axon watch in bewilderment. As Todd disappears, Axon's memory suddenly returns.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Colin Fox - Dr. Anton Hendricks
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
Harlan Ellison - Grifter
Alison MacLeod - Andi Douglas
Matt Cooke - Todd Pennebaker
Jonathan Welsh - Gavin Richter
Damir Andrei - Randall Clarke
Heather Hodgson - Jane Geist

Written by: Damian Kindler
Directed by: Giles Walker

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"School Of Thought"

Episode 317
(aired the week of 4/12/1999)
Case # 33-3016

Log line: The O.S.I.R. team goes undercover at a reform school after students begin exhibiting psychokinetic abilities.

Synopsis: The OSIR team investigates after an auto shop teacher at Royalton Custodial School is crushed against a wall by a car. Three of his teenage students - Tanya, Gloria and Marty - had been working on the vehicle before it inexplicably sped into the teacher. When Axon lifts the hood of the car, he finds it has no engine. He concludes that the "accident" could be the work of a student with telekinetic ability.

Background checks on the students reveal that Gloria is a former street kid who has bounced around foster homes, Marty is a troublemaker who has spent three years trying to finish his high school diploma and Tanya, who was diagnosed with depression 18 months ago, has created problems for her adoptive parents through truancy, shoplifting and arson. A fourth student who captures the team's attention is Warren, the school bully who has been a gang member since he was 12. To determine which of the students has telekinetic powers, the team goes undercover - Praeger as a drama teacher, Donner as a gym instructor, Axon as a science teacher and Hendricks as the school doctor.

Donner gets a glimpse of telekinesis firsthand while coaching basketball. Warren is making fun of Tanya's inability to shoot a basket when she suddenly launches the ball toward the hoop. Rebounding off the rim, the ball accelerates and strikes Warren in the chest, knocking him head over heels.

Remembering the CIA had a paranormal unit until a few years ago, Donner decides to hack into the agency's computer database to see whether its records cover anything similar to what's been happening at Royalton. She is able to gain access for only a few seconds when she is booted off-line by the CIA's security system. She tries again later, and comes across a database called Project Fledgling, a discontinued project that catalogued children's psychokinetic abilities.

Again, Tanya demonstrates her abilities. While Praeger and Axon are standing in the school hallway with Royalton's vice principal, Ms. Holton, they see Tanya, Gloria and Marty arguing by Tanya's locker. Suddenly, Tanya's locker falls, trapping Gloria underneath. Gloria escapes with a minor cut on her arm.

Donner approaches Tanya at lunch time outside the school, trying to win the girl's trust and learn about her trouble with the other two students. Marty, watching from nearby with Gloria, begins staring at a power generator that is suspended on a hydro pole near Donner and Tanya. The generator sparks and rips loose. Donner is able to pull Tanya to safety just as the generator crashes to the ground.

Axon learns that Gloria also has special abilities. Demonstrating the power of magnetic fields to his science class, he enlists Gloria's aid to help him show how a spinning top can be suspended between two magnetic fields. But the top suddenly flies across the room, narrowly missing Warren, who had been taunting Gloria.

Donner is out walking with her boyfriend Marc when they are intercepted by federal agents who take them into custody. Donner, who got the feds' attention when she hacked into the CIA database, is able to convince one of the agents to take her to the OSIR lab, where Praeger will vouch for her. Praeger does so and, with Donner's help, also manages to coax the agent into telling them about Project Fledgling. He informs them that the project studied children with telekinetic and paranormal powers. But the project failed and was disbanded years ago. The CIA believes that the founder of the program, Marla Cook, somehow managed to hang onto three of the subjects, presumably with some sort of revenge plot in mind. He shows Donner and Praeger a picture of Cook. It's Ms. Holton!

That night, the team returns to the school and finds Tanya and Marty in the gymnasium. They try to convince the students they don't need the guardianship of Ms. Holton, who is watching from a balcony above the gym floor. When Ms. Holton flies into a rage, Tanya and Marty combine their powers and send her tumbling over a railing to the floor below. The students are taken in by the OSIR for safekeeping and study - but is Project Fledgling really over?

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Colin Fox - Dr. Anton Hendricks
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
Lindy Booth - Gloria
Don Dickinson - Teacher
Elisabeth Rosen - Tanya
Marc Cohen - Marty
Keith White - Warren
Margot Kidder - Ms. Holton
Anthony Lemke - Marc
Rodger Barton - Agent

Written by: Rick Drew
Directed by: John Bell

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"Y2K"

Episode 318
(aired the week of 4/19/1999)
Case # 00-9873

Log line: The O.S.I.R. becomes engaged in a deadly race against time after two computer programmers are killed while trying to develop an anti-Y2K program. They uncover a virus that programmers are contracting through the computer. It must be stopped or risk worldwide chaos because the virus is bent on destructing every anti-Y2K project on the web.

Synopsis: Two freelance computer programmers enter Veritec Industries, a computer software company where they are trying to develop a solution to the Y2K problem that will ensue on Jan. 1, 2000, when computers will confuse the new date for the year 1900. As a result, computer systems around the world may fail, affecting everything from ATM machines to air traffic control systems. After passing through security via a retinal scanner, the pair - Gerald Duvaney and Harvey Bishop - enter a sealed lab and begin work. A few minutes later, they go into convulsions and, with blood pouring from their eyes and ears, fall to the ground dead.

The OSIR team arrives at the Veritec lab to investigate. Hendricks determines that something has caused the two men's brains to simply collapse. Meanwhile, Axon tests the air in the lab for traces of any virus or contagion that may have caused the deaths. He finds none.

Conducting an autopsy of the programmers, Davison finds a tumor-like growth that has invaded the cerebral cortex of the two men. While she doesn't know what the growth is, she determines that it is neither a tumor nor a bacterial virus.

Although Praeger decides that Veritec must remain closed while the OSIR conducts its investigation, Veritec CEO Kristine Ambrose assures him of her company's full cooperation??uch to the chagrin of her cost-conscious second in command, Bob Yardley, who's concerned that it will affect Veritec's work on not just Y2K but also a number of government contracts. Bob leaves the building, using a wall-mounted retinal scanner to pass through security. Praeger and Kristine watch through the window as Bob drives away and then stops for no apparent reason in the middle of the parking lot. They rush out to his car, where they find him dead. Like the others, he is bleeding from the eyes and ears.

Praeger learns from Kristine that Bob came to Veritec after the departure of the company's co-founder, Sergei Kolek. After leaving Veritec, Sergei became a math professor and then, after learning he had AIDS, decided to live in seclusion in the country. Praeger and Donner decide to pay him a visit.

Axon performs a diagnostic check on the computer where the programmers had been working, hoping to find out how far along they had gotten in their Y2K project before they were killed. He is interrupted by Elsinger, who presents the seemingly outrageous theory that perhaps the men had contracted a virus through the computer. Axon is both startled and suspicious at Elsinger's suggestion that inanimate technology could somehow affect human physiology.

Praeger and Donner meet with Sergei at his backwoods cabin and are surprised at how familiar he is with the OSIR's work. Sergei explains to them that he had once been approached by Elsinger, who wanted him to join the OSIR, apparently impressed by his work at Veritec. Preferring seclusion over bureaucracy, Sergei turned Elsinger down. After being briefed on the deadly events at Veritec, Sergei admits that, given rapid technological advances, anything is possible, even a computer sending a virus into a biological environment.

Sergei leaves the room to take his medication. When he doesn't return, Praeger and Donner go to look for him. They find him in a back room, sitting in front of his computer, dead and, like the others, bleeding from the eyes and ears. Praeger and Donner notice a clock on the computer screen that is counting down. It's a bomb! They rush out the front door of the cabin, barely making it to safety as the building explodes behind them.

Still intrigued by Elsinger's suggestion that a biological virus could have been spread by a computer, Axon discusses the theory with Hendricks, who tells him that the first thing the virus would need is a point of entry. Axon suddenly realizes that the retinal ID scanners would provide one. With help from Hendricks and Davison, he learns that he's right. They tell him that scarring they found in the eyes of the four victims during autopsy indicates that a laser had indeed penetrated their retinas.

Praeger and Donner meet with Axon. Donner has learned that Sergei had co-authored a book on Y2K that contained a chapter on cybergerm warfare, which would explain Elsinger's interest in hiring him. Axon tells them that it must have been Sergei who downloaded the deadly virus into the company's security system, and that he had also managed to transmit a very large computer file to the Veritec mainframe before he died, although Axon doesn't yet know what that file contains. They are interrupted by a phone call from a frantic Elsinger, who orders them immediately to the Veritec lab. It seems the file Sergei sent to Veritec contains a computerized version of himself, bent on the destruction of every anti-Y2K project on the web. Axon and the rest of the OSIR team must scramble to purge "Sergei" from the system or risk worldwide chaos.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Colin Fox - Dr. Anton Hendricks
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
Dan Petronijevic - Gerald Duvaney
George Chiang - Harvey Bishop
Janet Kidder - Kristine Ambrose
Patrick Galligan - Bob Yardley
Stephen Russell - Sergei Kolek

Written by: C.D. Frewer and F.J. Kennedy
Directed by: Ron Oliver

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"John Doe"

Episode 319
(aired the week of 4/26/1999)
Case # 09-8509

Log line: An amnesiac janitor is who suffers from severe headaches and a recurring nightmare in which he sees a woman stabbed to death enlists the help of the O.S.I.R. team to figure out his past. The team learns that he is a convicted murderer who is participating in the "clean slate" program where his entire memory is erased including all recollection of his gruesome crime.

Synopsis: Axon and Elsinger run tests on an EMF (electromagnetic field) laser cannon in the lab at Tessler Industries. The test calls for the cannon to destroy a missile guidance system. But the experiment fails when the laser device overheats. Dejected, Elsinger and Axon leave the lab. A janitor enters to clean up, but instead resets the cannon and successfully destroys the missile guidance system. Axon returns just in time to witness the event and attempts to detain the janitor, who disappears when Axon's back is turned.

The next day, Donner finds the janitor leaving the Tessler facility. He tells her his name is John Doe, a moniker given to him by doctors after he showed up at a hospital with no identification and no memory. Hendricks interviews John and learns that the man suffers from headaches and a recurring nightmare in which he sees a woman stabbed to death.

When Axon learns John has been evicted from his apartment, he lets John stay with him for a few days. Sleeping on Axon's couch, John is awoken by the nightmare. He tells Axon it is more than just a dream, that the woman's murder is a memory - he watched the woman die but can't remember who she was. An MRI scan by Hendricks reveals John's brain contains a couple of small, unidentifiable objects. There is also what appears to be a surgical scar on the back of John's neck.

That night, an intruder breaks into Axon's apartment. When Axon inadvertently interrupts the burglar, the two scuffle. John wakes up and runs to Axon's aid. He viciously pummels the intruder to the point of death. The man is taken to hospital with a broken nose, broken cheek and massive concussion. Donner and Praeger visit the hospital and encounter a strange man in the patient's room. The man, who refuses to identify himself, tells them to leave. They do and, meeting Donahue in the hallway, learn a pair of handcuffs and some duct tape had been found in the possession of the intruder. Apparently, he had intended kidnapping Axon - or John.

After another examination by Hendricks, John is able to access the doctor's computer and see his MRI report. Meanwhile, Donner learns that the man in the hospital is a corrections department agent and the stranger in his room was Vincent Schecter, supervisor of the department's local branch. Donner and Praeger visit Schecter, who tells them that John's real name is Wesley Addison, a professor of biophysics and chemistry who had been convicted of killing his wife and son five years before. Sentenced to life imprisonment, Wesley was released as part of the corrections department's "Clean Slate" program in which microchips were implanted into his brain, erasing his memory and rendering him harmless.

Back at the Tessler lab, Wesley uses the laser cannon on himself, configuring the device so that it will destroy the implants in his brain. After being subjected to the laser, he falls to the ground, where Axon finds him semiconscious. Wesley has been successful, though, and remembers his name. Before he can recall anything else, Schecter and a team of guards arrive and take Wesley away, presumably to kill him. Wesley escapes, though, killing the guards and taking Schecter back to the lab, where he intends to use the laser to execute Schecter. The OSIR team arrives and tries to talk Wesley out of killing Schecter. They are unsuccessful - until Donner shows him an old newspaper article about how he killed his wife and son. Finally, Wesley's full memory returns and, horrified at killing his own family, he takes Schecter's place in front of the laser cannon. Using a remote control to trigger the weapon, he kills himself.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Colin Fox - Dr. Anton Hendricks
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
Michael Ontkean - Janitor
Christopher A. Bondy - Vincent Schecter

Written by: Damian Kindler
Directed by: Giles Walker

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"The Tribunal"

Episode 320
(aired the week of 5/3/1999)
Case # 89-9997

Log line: The O.S.I.R. investigators face charges of negligence following the disappearance of a young woman who's had an alien encounter.

Synopsis: Praeger, Donner and Donohue are transporting Rebecca Fellows, a young woman who's had an alien encounter, when their van is engulfed in a bright light. Apparently emanating from a UFO, the light temporarily blinds the OSIR investigators, who recover only to find that Rebecca has disappeared.

The next day, Elsinger informs the investigators that not only have they been removed from the alien-encounter case but will be facing an inquest into the allegedly irresponsible behavior that has resulted in several deaths during their alien investigations, the most recent victim being Rebecca, the niece of a UN ambassador. Officially, the team is being charged with negligence and misuse of resources. Elsinger informs Praeger that he won't be able to help them defend themselves because he has been assigned to a case overseas.

Praeger represents his team as the proceedings get under way, with Rollins, an OSIR Case Manager and former criminal lawyer, serving as advocate. The tribunal consists of Edward Norstrom, a senior analyst with the National Intelligence Agency; Henry Thomas Langstaff, military attach?o the UN Security Council; and Gertrude DeWolfe, CEO of a covert think tank attached to NATO. The prosecutor is Calvin Finch, a young attorney who is as ruthless as he is confident.

Donner, Axon and Hendricks are discussing the case at the OSIR lab when Axon finds himself being drawn to a strange plant that is on a nearby table. He reaches out to touch it and is apparently stung by the plant. He bandages the wound. Praeger, excused from the proceedings until his testimony is needed, joins the team at the lab. Axon points out that the only way for them to win their case is to prove that they weren't responsible for the fate of the victims. In other words, they must prove that aliens exist.

Rollins joins the investigators and tells them that Finch intends to forward the evidence to the police when the inquest is over so that criminal charges can be laid. Furious, Axon storms out of the room. He looks at Rollins as he brushes past but, instead of seeing Rollins, finds himself looking at Alan Tremblay, a victim of alien abduction the team had encountered in a previous case. Axon blinks and looks again, this time seeing Rollins.

The next day in the tribunal, Hendricks is asked about Tremblay. According to the doctor, Tremblay's abduction by aliens had somehow left him able to communicate with plants and other forms of unintelligent life. Donner is then called to testify about a case in which three people under the influence of aliens were killed by a beam of light during an eclipse. Axon also testifies about a case in which a man had been implanted with an alien transmitter. Following his testimony, he hurries to a washroom and is violently ill.

Praeger is called to the stand to review a case in which he was abducted and cloned by aliens. During his testimony, he mentions metallic disks that were found during the investigation. He tells the court that the disks were used to transport people back and forth from the alien ship. Despite Finch's ridicule, Praeger sticks to his story.

In the washroom, Axon lies in a stall desperately fighting his illness. He overhears two men talking about the case. It's Norstrom and Finch. Norstrom tells Finch that if he successfully prosecutes the OSIR team, he will be rewarded with the political posting of his choice. Axon peers through the crack in the stall door as Finch leaves the room-and momentarily sees an alien form where Norstrom had been.

Hendricks examines Axon back at the OSIR lab. Axon's hand is badly infected. While Hendricks goes to the lab's library to try and find out what virus could have caused such an infection to occur so quickly, Axon sleeps. He is awoken by the voice of Alan Tremblay, who tells him that his race - a harmless, alien race of scientists - needs Axon's help to defeat the alien "grey men" who want to take over the world a piece at a time. The first thing on the evil aliens' agenda is to discredit the OSIR team. Tremblay apologizes for having the fern hurt Axon but says it was necessary in order for him to be able to see the aliens. Axon asks how he can help and is told that he already knows how. Axon sees the compass-like pattern of metallic discs suspended on the wall behind Tremblay.

Back in court, Norstrom is announcing that the OSIR team has been found guilty when he is interrupted by Axon, who storms into the room and, with a shiny, metallic disk in hand, tells the court that a clone and its counterpart can't exist in the same place. He drops the disk on the floor, then another, and another. A bright light forms inside the circle of discs, revealing the real Norstrom within. The Norstrom clone transforms into his true, alien form and disappears in a flash of light. There is another flash as Rebecca Fellows appears inside the pattern with the real Norstrom. They are both safe.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Colin Fox - Dr. Anton Hendricks
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
Tammy Lee Marvin - Rebecca Fellows
Maurice Dean Wint - Curtis Rollins
George R. Robertson - Edward Norstrom
Robbie Rox - Henry Thomas Langstaff
Maria Ricossa - Gertrude De Wolfe
Vincent Corazza - Calvin Finch
James Allodi - Alan Tremblay

Written by: Jean Hurtubise
Directed by: John Bell

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"Forever And A Day, Part 1"

Episode 321
(aired the week of 5/10/1999)
Case # 29-8321

Log line: While investigating the case of a psychic healer, the team becomes embroiled in a trail of deception and murder which leads to the upper echelons of the O.S.I.R.

Synopsis: Psychic healer Nicholai Mosher and his wife, Katrina , have just successfully restored the sight of a blind woman when they are interrupted by a group of men who identify themselves as OSIR agents and take Nicholai into custody. Nicholai is taken to the OSIR central lab, where Elsinger has enlisted the aid of Hendricks to test the man's healing powers. Michael Byrne, a terminally ill 12-year-old boy, is brought into the lab and Nicholai is asked to heal him. Not only is he unsuccessful, but the boy dies during the experiment.

The next day, Praeger confronts Elsinger, furious that the boy had been involved in the experiment instead of being in the hospital. Frustrated by Elsinger's apparent lack of concern, Praeger decides to have his team investigate, and find out why Elsinger is suddenly so interested in psychic healing. Donner meets with Hendricks and asks who else attended the experiment. Hendricks says Elsinger had observed from a separate, darkened room with a couple of other men, but he couldn't see their faces. Donner then accesses the central lab's computerized security system, to find that Grant Tessler, the head of Tessler Industries, was on the list of visitors the night of the experiment. She also watches surveillance footage and sees the man who brought Nicholai to the lab is a military friend of Elsinger's. While Donner and her colleagues have encountered the man while working on other cases involving Elsinger, they do not know his identity.

Praeger and Donahue take a photo of the mysterious man to the Moshers, who identify him as the man who had taken Nicholai into custody, falsely identifying himself as an OSIR investigator. Thinking he is about to be charged with fraud given the boy's death during the experiment in which he took part, Nicholai strikes Praeger and flees. Praeger and Donohue give chase, only to find Nicholai dead on the street just seconds later. He had been stabbed.

Axon attains a copy of an OSIR surveillance videotape that was shot while the Moshers were curing the blind woman. He enhances the tape with infrared imaging, which shows that there was no aura of energy extending from Nicholai to the woman. Instead, it emanated from Katrina. She is the real healer. Katrina decides to use the powers that help her heal in a very different way - to avenge Nicholai's death. She targets the observers who watched the experiment in the lab. The day after the military man dies in what appears to be a case of spontaneous combustion, Grant Tessler is killed in his office by an apparent windstorm. Katrina's next victim is Tessler Industries president Dr. Kristine Amrose, who inexplicably drowns while in a sealed room in which there isn't so much as a glass of water. It becomes apparent to the team that Katrina is using each of the four elements - earth, wind, fire and water - to avenge her husband. Praeger and Donohue take her into custody.

Donner receives a mysterious phone call requesting a late-night meeting in an alley to discuss the case. She attends the rendezvous and finds herself staring at her former OSIR colleague, Michael Kelly. He tells her she and the team screwed up, and they should have let Katrina finish her work.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Colin Fox - Dr. Anton Hendricks
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
Victor Young - Nicholai Mosher
Tamsin Kelsey - Katrina Mosher
Alex House - Michael Byrne
Janet Kidder - Dr. Kristine Amrose
Michael Moriarty - Michael Kelly
Marcus Parilo - Man

Written by: James Nadler
Directed by: Ron Oliver

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"Forever And A Day, Part 2"

Episode 322
(aired the week of 5/17/1999)
Case # 29-8321

Log line: The O.S.I.R. team members work on a secret project -- they must find and exorcise a demon - named The Chairman - whose identity has remained a mystery to the team for years. They believe The Chairman to be an evil, immortal being who controls a series of interlocking companies, including Veritec, Tessler Industries and the O.S.I.R.

Synopsis: Michael Kelly and Donner continue their discussion, with Kelly explaining the OSIR needs to exorcise its own demon - namely The Chairman - the identity of whom has remained a mystery to the team. After the two are joined by Praeger, Kelly produces a series of photos of the man he believes to be The Chairman. While the pictures were taken over the past hundred years, the image of the man hasn't changed at all. Kelly suggests that The Chairman is this evil, immortal being who controls a series of interlocking companies, including Veritec, Tessler Industries and the OSIR. Although skeptical, Praeger decides to investigate Kelly's claim.

Praeger is visited by Axon, who's been working on a secret project for Elsinger that, as Axon tells Praeger, seems to have special and very personal significance for Elsinger. In fact, Elsinger is so concerned that the work be completed quickly, he assigns Rollins to provide security for Axon as he finishes the project.

Rollins meets with Praeger and tells him the secret project involves mapping out an anonymous individual's genetic code. They are joined by another OSIR case manager, Jane Halliwell, whose team has been studying progeria, the same age-causing disease that killed Michael Byrne, the 12-year-old who had been used in Elsinger's recent psychic-healing experiment. Rollins tells Praeger that the genetic code of the subject in Axon's research is a close match to that of Michael Byrne.

Tracing the drugs that had been prescribed to young Michael, Hendricks learns that the boy had been kept at St. Beatrice's Hospital. Meanwhile, Davison compares DNA found on the bed sheets where the boy died with data provided by Axon about the individual whose genetic code he has been mapping. Davison concludes that Axon's subject and Michael were father and son.

Elsinger shuts down the OSIR central lab, sealing Hendricks inside with Axon and asking the doctor to help Axon complete the project. Donner and Praeger, meanwhile, break into the basement of St. Beatrice, where Donner hacks into the mainframe of the hospital computer. She is able to learn the identity of Michael's father. He is Francis Xavier Byrne. Returning to the OSIR field lab, they find a picture of Byrne in Veritec's annual report. He is the same man who was in Kelly's photos. He is indeed The Chairman, and he is immortal.

Back at the central lab, Hendricks gets a firsthand look at Axon's work and learns his colleague is experimenting with gene splicing, trying to come up with a cure for progeria by creating a replacement gene that could be injected into a patient suffering from the disease. If successful, Axon's new drug would not only cure progeria but would be the first step in artificially creating immortality. Elsinger attains some vials of the untested substance developed by Axon, then sneaks into Axon's office and deletes the scientist's research files from his computer.

Byrne goes to Praeger and Donner, demanding they find Elsinger and the vials. Hendricks' research reveals that while Byrne has lived an extremely long life, his metabolism is beginning to slow down. In fact, the doctor estimates that Byrne will be dead in a few months.

While the new drug is too late to save his son, Byrne believes there is a chance it will save him and, in desperation, takes Praeger hostage in order to force Elsinger to return and give him the cure. His plan works. Elsinger and the team go to St. Beatrice's, where Byrne is holding Praeger in his private office. Elsinger provides Byrne with the vial and a syringe. Thinking it will cure him, Byrne gives himself an injection and undergoes a horrific transformation, literally growing hundreds of years old in just a few seconds. He falls to the floor, dead. Axon accuses Elsinger of knowing that the injection would kill Bryne. Because the genetic deviations that made Byrne stay young while his son grew old were the opposite of each other, Axon's drug would logically be a cure for one but a poison to the other. Elsinger refuses to deny or admit to the accusation.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Colin Fox - Dr. Anton Hendricks
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
Maurice Dean Wint - Curtis Rollins
Leigh Lewis - Jane Halliwell
Alex House - Michael Byrne
Michael Moriarty - Michael Kelly

Written by: James Nadler
Directed by: Stephen Williams

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