Pilot (8 Mar. 1999)

Terminally ill Paul Turner is kept alive by a shadowy group in order to advance their unsavory scientific goals.

Director:

Mick Jackson

Writers:

Tim Kring, Howard Gordon

Stars:

Tim Guinee, Kristin Lehman, Sandra Quarterman

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Tim Guinee	...	Capt. Paul Turner
Kristin Lehman	...	Dr. Sidney MacMillan
Sandra Quarterman	...	Major Lynne Reese (as Saundra Quarterman)
Vivian Wu	...	Japanese Woman
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fulvio Cecere	...	Officer
John Finn	...	Special Agent Richard H. Hoffman
Robert Lewis	...	FBI Agent
Simon Longmore	...	Beltcher
William MacDonald
Michael Mantell
Sheila Moore
Michael Moriarty
Jane Perry	...	Nurse
Sarah-Jane Redmond	...	Mrs. Cynthia Ballard
Colin Roberts	...	Jeremy Ballard

Storyline

During the first Gulf War Paul Turner is part of a team of soldiers that investigates a destroyed bunker in which a biological agent was dispersed. He and his team are exposed, but 5 years later Paul is still alive, even thought the agent is fatal. Kept alive by receiving an injection just in time, Paul gets involved in a case of a missing boy because his best friend on the Iraqi mission is the chief suspect. Paul begins to suspect that the kidnapped boy isn't really the missing son after all, and his friend isn't what he seems to be, either.

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 March 1999 (USA)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Followed by Strange World (1999)

User Reviews

A great show died before its time

What I liked most about this show is that it presented very unique phenomenal situations-- ones you would immediately conclude could not possibly be explained without resorting to supernatural means--and then somehow still manage to give scientific, real-world (even if it was made up) explanations for how the situation came about.

In other words, it had the intrigue of X-files without the maddening frustrations of explanations never being given, or left hopelessly vague, or story lines simply being left unresolved. Sometimes that's a great thing, but every time and it's just a cop-out. This show never fell into that trap. Sadly, it was probably compared too much to X-files and never developed a following--perhaps simply because former "X-philes" (such as my husband and I) had given up on the predecessor from the very frustrations I mentioned.

The opening titles were also the best of any show I can remember. Not only would we actually watch them, but sometimes rewind and watch them twice. Wish it were on DVD.