PREY
Transformations

"Transformations." PREY, seventh episode, first season. The hour-long weekly drama follows a bioanthropologist and her aides tracking a new species of man. Able to sense emotions, these ruthless new beings are determined to establish dominance. James Morrison plays Lewis, a "Mentor" who trains members of his race in terrorist tactics.

Kelly, a former captive of a member of the new species, and Dr. Ed Tate play gin rummy in his living room. She easily beats him, even though he has just taught her the game. She suggests they take a walk, insisting she's feeling better, so she and Ed get their coats. On the way out the door, she doubles over, clutching her stomach and crying. Ed rushes to his doctor's bag for a hypodermic needle to inject her.

In lab boss Dr. Walter Attwood's office, the captured new species terrorist Lisa is under interrogation while Tom Daniels and bioanthropolist Dr. Sloan Parker watch through the glass door. Tom, a member of the new species who has allied himself with the humans, knows she will not talk. Both he and Lisa know conventional interrogation techniques are a waste of time, so she shoots haughty glances back at the couple on the other side of the glass. Tom suggests certain drugs can break Lisa's will. Sloan wants nothing to do with that, even though Tom points out that "they" wouldn't hesitate to use drugs on her, despite her lofty ideals. Tom emphasizes the importance of capturing and stopping Lewis, who "has trained hundreds like her, and if we let him, he'll train hundreds more." Sloan asks to whom Lewis answers. Tom tells her Lewis answers to no one, yet there seems to be a master plan.

In an older industrial area, Attwood meets with his secret boss, a highly placed government official. Attwood not only runs the lab, but he works in some shadowy capacity with the federal government. The boss, who Attwood keeps posted in great detail, asks after Kelly and then Lisa. The boss, discreetly accompanied by a bodyguard driver for her black limousine, wants Lisa turned over to her. Attwood wants more time.

Ed has examined Kelly as best as he can with the medical supplies he has stored in his apartment. However, nothing seems to be wrong with her except for an odd rash on the back of her neck. Kelly has no idea where she got the rash, so Ed asks her if she got it in the cave. At first, Kelly hesitates to talk about the cave. Soon, she says she doesn't remember much about the time she and her friend Darcy had been held captive in a cave by the serial killer Randall Lynch, who is also a member of the new species. Ed asks if Darcy can add any more information, but Kelly says Darcy won't even speak to her.

At the lab, Sloan and Tom attempt to interrogate Lisa. Tom reminds Lisa that Lewis let her take the fall, but Lisa is proud to be the sacrifice for a larger purpose. She taunts them by questioning Sloan's dedication to her cause, which Sloan meets with firmness and clarity. As they leave, Lisa slyly speculates on a physical relationship between Tom and Sloan.

As they walk through the lab, Attwood asks Tom and Sloan how they did. He suggests they try other methods, but his boss from the government strides into the office with some burly agents and announces she is taking Lisa into custody. Unlike Attwood who follows her orders, Tom suggests they tag along.

Now after dark, the agents transport Lisa with Tom and Sloan following them in her car. Lisa propositions the agent sitting beside her in the back seat. Even though he rebuffs her advances, she grabs his pistol and shoots both him and the driver. She escapes into the night. Both Tom and Sloan get out of her car, but Tom orders Sloan to stay where she is and get back into the car. Soon after Tom and Attwood's boss rush to the car with the dead agents, Lewis slips into the back seat behind Sloan. He points a gun at her and orders her to drive.

At the lab, Attwood tries to calm Tom, who is berating himself for allowing Sloan to be captured. Attwood's boss tells them the escape was planned and that agents were following Lisa to get to Lewis. Attwood, who usually yields to her lead, is shocked at the sacrifice of the two agents Lisa shot. Tom tells Attwood's boss she has no idea of what she is up against. Her cell phone rings, which she expects to be the agents with a report for her. However, no one is on the other end of the line.

A transmitting cell phone lies open in the grass beside the bodies of two dead men. Lisa stands over them in front of a house with a railed porch. Standing, leaning against the rails and waiting is Lewis.

Tom and Attwood go to former police detective Ray Petersen to tell him what happened and to enlist his aid. Tom volunteers to go with Ray.

Lewis asks Lisa what she told her captors when she was in custody. Irritated he has asked her about what should be obvious to him, she tells him she told them nothing. Lewis looks at her with doubt. "I know how persuasive Tom can be." He walks away and adds as an aside, "I did teach him, after all." But Lisa considers Tom useless now because he only made a token effort to interrogate her. Surprised at this news about his former star pupil, Lewis refers to Tom as a "ferocious interrogator. Remarkable intuition." Then, he suggests they "see to" their "guest." He pushes open a door.

Sloan sits on the floor. Her hands are tied behind her back. Her feet are bound and tucked to the side. Sealing her mouth is a strip of duct tape, which Lisa rips away. She stands, leaning against the wall, enjoying Sloan's predicament.

Half as a host and half as a negotiator, Lewis asks, "Now. What would you like?"

In a firm voice, Sloan says, "To know why you're holding me. Why you haven't killed me."

"Is that a complaint?" Lewis steps toward her and squats beside her. With his face inches from hers, he asks, "Would you like to die now?' With his finger, he brushes a curl from her face. "Answer me? Would you?"

Sloan stares ahead. "No." Her previous strength has frozen into immobilization.

Lewis' face looms next to hers. "You probably think Tom is going to heroically burst through that door to rescue you." He gets closer still and traces the tip of his nose along her cheekbone. "Are you in love with him?" Sloan remains silent, except for her breathing.

With mock surprise and awe, Lewis softly teases, "You are. Aren't you? Come on, Sloan. You can be honest with me." He nuzzles her eyelash with his nose. "I know how special Tom is. What do you love most? His intelligence?" Lewis brushes his forehead against hers. "His courage?" Sloan nearly faints and closes her eyes.

Lewis asks her, "Have you become intimate?" He answers himself, "Naw. You're probably smart enough to know how hopeless any relationship between the two of you would be." Sloan, inhales sharply, as if to speak, but Lewis silences her by resting two fingers against her lips. With his fingers, he traces around her mouth, almost dips them between her lips, only to open his palm and jam it over her mouth. Sloan's eyes widen. His hand almost covers her nose and could easily smother her.

With his hand over Sloan's mouth, Lewis looks up at Lisa. "I think I like her better with her mouth shut." As he stands up, Lisa with a satisfied smirk steps forward to replace the tape over Sloan's mouth.

At the lab, Ed makes Kelly a cot so she can get some rest while they wait for the results of her blood test. Attwood tells Ed about what happened to Sloan. Ed is ready to run out after her himself, but Attwood tells him to stay and help Kelly. Ed's computer beeps to indicate it's finished analyzing the blood sample. He is surprised to find that Kelly's DNA differential with the rest of the human population is 1.3 per cent. The new species’ differential is 1.6 per cent. Ed knows Kelly is human but wonders if Lynch had tampered with her DNA when she was his captive. He wonders if Kelly is an experiment that failed. Attwood then suggests that the new species could alter anyone's DNA, including Sloan's.

Tom and Ray do not have much to say to each other in Ray's car. Tom says he understands Ray's hatred, which he has sensed. Ray wonders why both species can not peacefully co-exist. "Isn't this what a truly advanced species would do?" Tom agrees. Ray's cell phone rings. The men who tailed Lisa have been found dead "right on Lewis' doorstep."

Attwood meets Ray and Tom at the house. Tom asks where Tom's boss is, but Attwood has had enough and does not inform her of their current activities. They discuss the option of storming the house and reject it as too risky to all concerned. Lewis steps out onto the porch and tells Tom to come in unarmed. Tom gives his gun to a skeptical Ray. Lewis addresses both Ray and Attwood by name and tells them he will know immediately if they try to storm the house and then he will kill both Tom and Sloan.

Lisa waits inside the entry hall. She flips him to the floor to pat him down for weapons. Lewis takes Tom to the kitchen to Sloan. Tom demands Sloan be cut loose. Lewis clicks open a knife and hands it to Lisa, who cuts the ropes around Sloan's wrists and ankles. Tom rushes to Sloan and pulls the tape off her mouth, checks on her condition and hugs her.

Shocked at the compassion shown by his star pupil, Lewis says, "What happened to you, Tom? I want to know."

Tom answers his teacher. "I couldn't fight them anymore, Lewis. I couldn't do the things I was asked to do."

"You turned out to be a coward."

Tom disagrees. "A realist. Because we can co-exist."

"That, at least, should provide you some solace in your final moments." Lewis pulls a pistol from the back waistband of his trousers. "Which are now upon us." He tells Lisa to hold Sloan. Lisa pushes Tom away from Sloan. Tom stands up.

Lewis offers, "Would you like to say some poignant farewell to one another?"

To Lewis, Sloan says, "Go to hell."

Lewis offers, "Last chance." Tom goes to Sloan, clutches her with both hands by the back of her neck and gazes deep into her eyes. Lisa sneers out of disgust, either for this display of inter-species romance or out of jealousy because a mere human has the affections of Lewis' prize student.

"Do it," Sloan orders while still gazing into Tom's eyes.

"Of course." When Lewis chambers a round in the pistol, both Tom and Sloan jump but maintain their gaze into each other's eyes. Lewis swings his pistol toward Lisa and kills her.

Shocked, Tom demands to know what he is doing. "Don't worry," Lewis replies. "You'll be the first to know." He orders Tom and Sloan to lie on their stomachs and face the wall. After they do so, Lewis pulls the pistol's slide again. Sloan and Tom brace for the shot, but all they hear is the kitchen door swinging.

Tom runs to the door, but Lewis is already gone. After leaving the kitchen, Tom runs into Ray and Attwood, who have rushed through the front door. Ray wonders why Lewis killed Lisa. Tom tells him its certainly part of Lewis' plan, whatever that may be. Ray suggests they leave before the police arrive.

In his lab, Ed fears Sloan shares Kelly's fate as a guinea pig, so he quizzes her over the phone about what happened to her with Lewis and Lisa. Sitting in a restaurant with Tom, Sloan hangs up her cell phone and Tom notices she is still shaking. Sloan emotionally tells him he saved her life and impulsively takes his hand in both of hers and kisses it. As if a switch has been tripped, she coolly asks Tom what he thinks Lewis has planned. Tom tells her Lewis is known for his varied and inventive strategies, one of which appears to be playing out before their eyes.

Tom's attention has been attracted by a news report on the restaurant's TV. An interviewer has Lewis on camera. Posing as a clinical psychologist from Chattanooga one who has worked with families of cult members, Lewis is identifying the killers of Lisa as members of a dangerous cult. He specifically identifies Tom Daniels as "an enforcer, hit man. Keeps cult members in line." Lewis adds that Tom is responsible for 26 murders. Lewis also identifies Tom's "accomplice" as Dr. Sloan Parker. The broadcast includes photos of both. Tom and Sloan try to slip out of the restaurant, but they are not the only ones watching TV. Other restaurant patrons do double takes as they walk past them.

Ed is working at the microscope when Kelly finally wakes up from what she describes as her best sleep since the cave. He tells her about her DNA differential. Teary-eyed, Kelly asks what it means. Frightened, Kelly wonders what they - Lynch and other members of the new species -- have done to her.

Sloan and Tom go to her apartment so she can pack some things. She asks how he could be responsible for 26 murders. Tom says Lewis fabricated most of the evidence against him. A knock on the door turns out to be Attwood, whom they ask to use his government contact to get them off the hook with the police. But Tom sees police cars pull up outside the building, so they leave the apartment with Attwood staying behind to delay the officers.

After dark, Ray returns home. When he gets out of his car, Sloan and Tom step out of the shadows. They ask Ray what evidence the police have on them. Ray gives them the gloomy news, that officers had found Tom's prints, hair and blood samples at the scene of Lisa's murder. A nondescript sedan, obviously police surveillance, pulls up in front of Ray's house. Ray tells Sloan and Tom to leave and get as far away as they can.

Ed tries to call Kelly's friend and unfortunate hitchhiking companion Darcy to find out what she remembers about the cave. However, Darcy has disappeared and her parents hang up on him. Kelly, with a harsh edge in her voice, asks Ed what he is doing. Ed, noticing Kelly is different, asks how she is. She says she is fine and uncharacteristically sasses him. She shakes off his usually comforting touch and accuses him of ulterior motives. She dares him with a brazen proposition and then beats on and attacks him after he declines her offer. Beating him exhausts her, so she collapses unconscious into his arms. Her legs buckle under her, and Ed gently lowers her to the floor.

The story of Sloan and Tom as suspected cult murderers is front-page news. Ed has the newspaper on his desk and is dialing the phone when Attwood comes in. While Ed waits for an answer, he holds up the newspaper so his boss can read the headline and see the photos. Ed is trying to contact Sloan because he's afraid Lewis has altered her DNA, so Sloan could become as sick as Kelly.

Ray tells a police detective friend that Sloan and Tom had nothing to do with the murders, that they are being framed by Lewis. The detective tells Ray he sounds crazy. After Ray leaves him, the detective calls Ray's old boss Lt. Quinn over the radio. The detective tells Quinn, "I think you're right. I think he's working for them now."

Kelly is asleep in Ed's bed. She wakes up very groggy and asks Ed where she is and what happened. Ed tells her what happened is not important. She tells him the worst part of her illness is waking up and remembering what has happened. Ed tells her he's close to figuring it out. Kelly wants to go back to sleep so she can forget her situation for awhile.

Tom and Sloan are walking on a street in a town they hope is far enough away from city news reports. But they are not. As townspeople watch them, a police car with lights and sirens blazing finally approaches them. They run down an alley, with officers in pursuit. Tom and Sloan run into an old factory. The cops follow them. In an abandoned office area, Tom spots an old heavy safe lying on its back. He opens it with little effort, lifts the lid and tells Sloan to get inside. He follows her in and pulls the door shut. The officers soon come into the office area and try to open the safe, but even two officers can not get the lock to budge. Giving up on the safe, the cops move on.

In the parked black car, Lewis listens to the radio news. The newscaster says authorities expect imminent capture of the perpetrators of "the so-called cult murders."

After dark, Tom and Sloan run through a park. To a badly winded Sloan, who is bewildered by their lack of options, Tom says, "Welcome to my world."

An older but restored car pulls into a dark alley where a black car waits. Lewis accepts delivery of a black case, lined with foam rubber cradling a huge hypodermic needle and a vial.

Excited over a possible lead from his old medical school advisor, Ed rushes into his bedroom to get Kelly ready to go back to the lab for another blood test. However, Kelly is unresponsive and Ed can not rouse her. He checks her pulse and is shocked to find none.

To Lobby To TV Listing