प्लॉट

While the team tries to identify their prisoner and Jacob hiding Kirsty from Colefield, Rice and Colefield both end up searching for Jacob, but for different reasons. Kirsty makes some revelations of her own. Colefield enlists the help of Pembroke, and must make a choice about which side to help.—kamas716

Jacob has placed Kirsty in hiding to keep her safe from Mike. He then contacts Mike to arrange for a face-to-face meeting to discuss terms. Mike has arranged with Frances to recover the deleted files on Jacob's work computer. Hoyle has not yet revealed his true identity, allowing himself to be referred to simply as John Doe. Angela has noticed a scar on Hoyle's neck which suggests to her that he's had a thyroidectomy. Fr Harman is attempting to chat with Hoyle, but Hoyle is more interested in taunting him about his lymphoma than he is in talking about himself. Fr Harman does seem to hit a nerve, however, when he asks Hoyle about his trips to South America. Hoyle seems unduly interested in the rain forests and ecosystem and in expounding about humans being the real parasites.

Kirsty is getting bored just sitting around, watching Jacob work on his laptop, looking up information about Robert March. When Jacob says that he needs to go out for a bit, Kirsty waits until he's gone, and then she goes down to the lobby. Oddly, the night watchman isn't at his desk. From the surveillance cameras, it looks like he's sitting alone in his car in the parking garage, so Kirsty goes down there. As she gets closer, she realizes that he's not alone. Jacob is with him and is sucking blood from the watchman's neck. Kirsty screams and tries to run. The next thing she knows, she's back upstairs, lying on the floor. The guard is leaning over her. His neck is unmarked, and he explains that she passed out in the garage.

Fr Harman has had enough of Hoyle's parables, moralizing, lies, and ultimatums. 'It's time we got some facts,' he says to Angela. Fingerprinting Hoyle doesn't work because, like any other medium, they don't record. After restraining him on a table and flooding his room with UV light, Angela performs a physical examination but, when she attempts to draw blood from a vein, she gets back air. An autopsy is next ('I think you'll find that's the correct term for dissecting dead tissue,' explains Fr Harman.) to confirm that the scar on his throat is indeed from a thyroidectomy.

Mike and Frances are pouring over Jacob's recovered files. They notice several articles regarding a nuclear scientist named Paul Hoyle sent in to cover the cleanup at Chernobyl. He suffered severe radiation poisoning, developed thyroid cancer six months later, and then disappeared. Why would Jacob be interested in Hoyle?

Hoyle informs Fr Harman that he wishes to make a full confession. Being a priest, Fr Harman cannot refuse. They spend 45 minutes alone together. Since that goes against protocol, Rice listens to the tape of their conversation. He cannot hear Hoyle's comments, of course, but those of Fr Harman are very clear (Why did you cross over? What would I be losing if I crossed over?) and very incriminating. A search of Fr Harman's medicine chest reveals an untouched bottle of prednisone prescribed by Dr Angela March. Rice confronts Angela with this information. Angela explains Fr Harman's lymphoma and that he's not yet taking the medication because he wishes to remain clear-headed until the end of this case. 'Yeah, well, maybe he thinks he doesn't need it,' Rice charges.

Meanwhile, Jacob has been explaining himself to Kirsty. By the time Mike meets with Jacob, Kirsty already knows all about Jacob, about Code 5s, and about the reason Mike murdered Jack. Mike fears for Kirsty's safety, but Jacob assures him that Kirsty doesn't want him to rescue her, that she is all right, and that she will remain that way...if he cooperates. They want Robert March's remains in exchange for Kirsty. Mike locates March's remains in the cold storage crypt and shows the canister of red residue to Frances, asking her to help him make the exchange. When Mike won't tell Frances what it is, she refuses to help and tells him that she doesn't want to see him again.

Angela has begun to put the pieces together. One of the things that Fr Harman mentioned on the tape was 'poison,' and thyroid cancer is a classic symptom of radiation poisoning. Angela thinks they should be looking into the nuclear industry. One scientist of note, they discover, is Paul Hoyle, who developed thyroid cancer as a result of the Chernobyl meltdown, so Angela and Rice pay a visit to the Ecowatch offices. They learn from the files that Hoyle was very interested in 'nuclear winter,' a situation in which enough dust from either a meteorite strike, volcanic activity, or a nuclear blast, is propelled high enough into the atmosphere to circle the globe and block out the sun for up to 12 months. 'Synthetic blood isn't about peace,' Angela concludes. 'It's about war.'

While Angela and Rice are speaking with the Ecowatch spokesperson, Frances comes in looking for the same information. Rice recognizes her as Mike's friend, and they force her to accompany them to their headquarters. Fr Harman impresses upon her that they want to help Mike, too, and that it's important she tell them what he's been asked to do. 'It's about chemicals,' is all she can offer, because Mike hasn't told her everything. But it's enough. Where is Mike, he asks, but she refuses to say, so she is introduced to Paul Hoyle, the man who died five years ago. In front of Frances, Fr Harman neutralizes him. Hoyle explodes, and Frances gives.

It is time for the exchange between Mike and Jacob. The meeting place is a bridge spanning the Thames. Jacob is there with Kirsty. Mike brings the canister. Rice and Angela watch from a nearby window, their guns loaded and ready. Fr Harman approaches Mike, Jacob, and Kirsty. Mike aims his gun on Jacob, Jacob grabs Kirsty, and Fr Harman explains to them all that it really IS peace the Code 5s want...FINAL peace. They's why they've been cherry-picking scientists for the past 10 years. That explains their obsession with blood pollution and the environment, their research with mass infection (to ease the takeover) and genetic engineering (to replace recruitment). Nuclear winter, with no daylight for 12 months, will give them enough time to grab power and then exterminate humans. That's why they want synthetic blood...as a substitute, not as an alternative. It's their Eden, and humans are not invited.

As Jacob is about to bite Kirsty, Mike sets the canister on the bridge. Jacob releases Kirsty, opens the canister, and spills out the residue. Then he slits his own wrist and lets his blood flow onto the remains. At that moment, Rice neutralizes Jacob, just as the blood and residue begin to bubble. In a few moments, it has reconstituted...into Jack Beresford. 'It's what you wanted,' Mike says to Kirsty. Jack is happy to be back among the living. When he notices Kirsty, he tells her to get a life and jumps into the river. Rice grabs Mike, but Fr Harman tells Rice to let him go. He's helped them learn how the Code 5s regenerate. That's what's important.

Epilogue: Angela pays a mournful visit to her husband's remains, still entombed in the cold crypt. Fr Harman starts taking his prednisone. Kirsty slaps Mike and walks away after asking him whether he thought bringing Jack back would teach her a lesson. Why did you do it? 'I tried everything else,' is Mike's reply. Later, as Mike walks along the Thames, Jack appears from the shadows. 'Let's keep in touch,' he says and disappears into the darkness. [Original synopsis by bj_kuehl]