Co-Stars: Sean Bell (Mechanic/Gas Jockey); Andre Mayers (Reggie the Pimp)

Originally Aired: 15-Oct-2001; Written by: Gil Grant; Directed by: Holly Dale

Synopsis: Tracker’s very first episode opens with a mechanic/gas jockey working on a motorcycle at J.R. Auto Service, a rural gas station. He’s distracted from his work by the appearance of Rhee, who is shown diddling with a phallic-like gas nozzle in this scene of sexual innuendo. Rhee is an escaped male Vardian fugitive from Sar-Top Prison in the Migar Solar System, now inhabiting the body of a female Human prostitute having an impressively healthy bust, wearing a black leather halter, a red leather micro-mini skirt, fishnet stockings and 4-inch spike heels.

Mechanic/Gas Jockey, sauntering over and leering at ‘her’: "Slow day, huh?"

He eyes the no-name motel next door that features rooms with triple-XXX movies.

Rhee, trying out the words: "Slow ... day..."

Mechanic/Gas Jockey: "Well ... the way I figure it, you and I are in the same sorry boat. Why don’t you and I go..." He nods toward the motel, "... Kill a little time?"

He lights a cigarette.

Rhee, considering: "Kill..."

———————————————————————

Unbeknownst to her, the car’s breakdown is directly related to the strange electro-magnetic phenomenon that heralded Rhee’s arrival – and is currently bringing another, one who will forever change her life.

Mel, on her cell phone, pacing: "There’s got to be more than one service station in De Kalb County! Call another one! ... My car is dead here! ... I already told the other guy! Everything just stopped ... I don’t know how! It just stopped! ... First the radio, then the AC, then the engine ... Look! I need help here, okay? ... Just find somebody and get a tow truck out here!"

She disconnects and grunts at the phone.

———————————————————————

Next, the strange phenomenon is seen in the sky as a swirling cloudstorm with an orange-red vortex. A ball of glowing white light travels to Earth via the electrical wires and transmission towers, leaps with a burst into a bush and sets it aflame, looks around at the countryside a moment, then makes a high-speed dash through a small woodland.

Through other eyes the landscape is seen in natural gold, green and pastel shades abounding in sunlight. The woodland is then left behind as this being of light and energy comes to an open roadway (Illinois Highway 88) and approaches a billboard displaying the image of a handsome male underwear model in white Cole-brand Briefs. Then the glow resolves into a living rendition of the man’s physique, white briefs and all.

This light being is an alien Tracker (cop) by the name of Daggon who has come to Earth to recapture Rhee. He is of a species high on the evolutionary scale from the planet Cirron 17. Cirronians are highly enlightened beings (the seventh chakra) who are basically trying to get those from other planets to live a more peaceful existence and not kill or maim. But there’s a job to be done in stopping those who do that from achieving their goals.

While Rhee has taken over the body of a Human and thus can access the knowledge and memories of Humanity, the alien Tracker (later renamed "Cole") has essentially become a new lifeform and is pretty much clueless about Humans and their psychology. With the heaviness of the new form that now weighs him down he’s become brutally exposed and vulnerable, needing care, protection and nurturing. Although he could have taken over a Human lifeform just as Rhee did, he instead went this harder route, choosing to create one from an image and learning about it as he goes.

The upside is that, unlike Rhee (and later the other escapees), he doesn’t have to suffer the penalty for taking over an actual shell of a Human, having no choice as to what that shell looks like, its health, its age, its physical condition or its gender. And there must be genders on Daggon’s home planet because it’s later learned that he had a wife and daughter. Therefore, it isn’t surprising that he takes on the same gender here on Earth.

Yet although he’d taken his form from a billboard, Daggon isn’t a flat cardboard cutout. He can manipulate space and time. On the way to Earth he had the time, in the equivalent of hyperspeed, to do some basic homework. And as soon as he entered Earth’s sphere he began absorbing the engrams of mortal existence and the patterns of the planet’s lifeforms. While he could have materialized as a plant or an animal, he chose to metamorphosis as a Human. He therefore must have determined that the Human lifeform was the most likely one to enable him to do what he needed to do. And knowing that he would need to take on a Human form, he did what he no doubt does whenever he’s Tracking on strange worlds: he programmed himself to be able to quickly adapt.

He would therefore know much of the theoretical side of Humans, but the theoretical needs to be taken to the real so he’ll also be overloaded with information and processing it all will take time. When he took on the billboard model’s appearance, he was doing exactly that – taking on the appearance of a lifeform he had made himself intellectually familiar with. All the billboard provided was the gender, the looks and the superficiality.

———————————————————————

As Mel impatiently waits alone by her disabled car for a tow truck, she’s ranting and raving to herself in frustration: "Even when I was told it was a shortcut, it wasn’t a shortcut!"

She looks up to see someone coming towards her down the hard-packed dirt road. Through the rippling heat he wobbles closer, like a child first learning how to walk. Actually, lurching and staggering would be a better description. Daggon is struggling to gain control and grasp the nuances of corporeal form, awkward at finding himself occupying the weird and utterly alien physical body he’s created for himself.

Mel isn’t really alarmed until she realizes that the only thing he’s wearing is a pair of snug-fitting briefs.

She jumps into her car, quickly rolling up her window and locking her door just before he flops against it, grimacing and emitting strange grunting noises and inarticulate sounds, attempting to communicate with her.

Quite naturally, this strangeness scares her.

Mel, yelling at him in near panic: "What do you want!?! ... GO AWAY!!!"

Again and again she tries to start the confounded Mercedes ("Damn car! Oh, come on!") as Daggon then circles around behind it and comes to hang his head in through the open passenger-side window. Frightened, all Mel can do is gape and gasp at him.

He then moves to the front of the vehicle and bends down under the open hood.

Mel, spotting her expected tow truck approaching in her rear view mirror: "Oh! Thank God!" But then the truck barrels past down the road. "No! Stop!"

Quickly locating the problem, Daggon places a hand on the engine and a glowing light appears beneath it, magically starting the stalled engine, much to Mel’s surprise.

Suddenly Daggon whirls about with a grunt, somehow sensing that the driver of the tow truck – which has come to a stop in the middle of the road just ahead – is the evil Rhee. As an energy-based being he is able to tune in, so to speak, on the emanations of other lifeforms.

[Later, it will be learned that Rhee has already killed his first Human victim, the mechanic/gas jockey].

But Rhee has also sensed the presence of the Tracker.

As Daggon starts moving toward the tow truck, it takes off.

Seeing her way clear, Mel quickly gets out of her car, slams the hood down, and gets back in.

[Mel has a natural, girl-next-door quality that speaks of a normalcy that will be juxtaposed with the events she will soon find herself in the middle of. This quality makes it believable that she would care about other people and will reach out to help this obviously distressed man who has so unexpectedly lurched into her car and into her life. The monologue as she convinces herself to help this weird guy she’s found is both clever and funny].

Mel, driving her car parallel to the shambling man: "Hey! Are you okay? Do you need help?"

She looks him over and he stares back at her.

Mel: "I’ll stop for help the next place I see ... I just can’t let you in the car. There’s a lot of weirdoes out here. You understand that? ... Not that you are ... I’m not saying that..."

She smiles at him and he hesitantly mimics her expression, then turns away to keep walking.

Mel: "Look, I don’t know how you did it, but I’m really grateful you fixed my car. I really am ... But how about owing me something here? Where’s your clothes? ... What happened to your car?"

He stops to stare at her but doesn’t answer and she gives up.

Mel: "It’s a Rain Man thing, isn’t it?"

With a sigh she starts to drive away, Daggon watching her go, but then she pulls to a stop just ahead of him.

Mel, to herself: "I can’t believe I’m going to do this..."

[In spite of nagging doubts over her own good judgment, torn between her need to get back to her other inheritance, the Watchfire bar, and her concern over this admittedly strange man who just helped her, the upshot is that she’s always been a sucker for hard luck cases].

Daggon lurches over to her car, again hanging his head in the passenger-side window.

Mel: "Come on! Get in the car. Get in the ... car."

She reaches over and opens the door for him and he climbs awkwardly in, legs curled under him and facing her.

Mel: "Close the door ... Firma la porto!"

It takes him a moment to grasp what she’s telling him, but then he reaches over and closes the door.

Mel, smiling at him in greeting: "What’s your name? I’m Mel."

He moves his facial muscles in the same manner in response, but carefully keeps his teeth covered.

Mel: "All right. Just to Chicago and that’s it. Do we understand each other?"

There’s a short pause as she looks him over, still accessing, still edgy, but no longer truly afraid, only cautious.

Mel: "Good. What do you say we keep the chit-chat to a minimum?"

Ironically, it’s Mel who yammers away non-stop while Daggon stares at her, stunned at all that is pouring out of this alien creature’s mouth as she just about tells him her life’s story.

She hasn’t been very lucky in love; indeed quite the opposite. She’s caring and has clearly been raised to "do the right thing." Her yammering as she berates herself for this quaint characteristic is enough to say that, in many respects, she’s an old-fashioned girl with firm, old-fashioned values.

Mel: "... It was like there was this steep incline in the road of life, okay? ... Why waste my breath on that kind of situation? ... It wasn’t really close! I could not see wasting my life with yet another emotionally challenged man! You know what I’m saying? ... Don’t answer that! ... So! I drive two hours to tell him in person because that’s the right thing to do ... You think he even gave a rat’s ass..."

Then, as they drive past another Cole-brand Briefs billboard, Mel tells him: "You know, you look a lot like the Cole guy in the ... He really looks a lot like you." She then notices that he’s shivering. "You don’t look so good..." She reaches over and turns a knob on the console. "I turned the air conditioning down ... Better?"

Curious, Daggon then pokes at another of the knobs, and seems startled when Human vocal sounds begin coming out. He listens intently to everything, then struggles to mimic the language from what he’s hearing on the radio, repeating an individual sound here and there ("uh-ven!" ... [Garbled] … "breh-sssts!"), all to Mel’s disquiet.

His attempting to talk isn’t so much to learn the meaning of the words yet, but to figure out just how to make his unfamiliar physical equipment – vocal chords, tongue, teeth, palate, lips and mouth – properly function.

———————————————————————

Somewhere along the way, Mel has provided Daggon with a pink-sequined stretch top and form-fitting pale gray sweatpants so he doesn’t have to run around in his underwear and he’ll thus be less conspicuous. But no shoes. Anyway, that’s what he is and isn’t wearing at the gas station/convenience store where she has stopped to refuel. While there he wanders the store and observes the conversations and interactions of the people around him. He’s soaking up Human habits and speech patterns like a sponge and it’s almost like he’s in sensory overload.

———————————————————————

While waiting for Daggon to return, Mel calls her bar to find out if the Karoke machine she ordered is in yet, and the Watchfire is first shown. Jess, the English barmaid, has a great deal of energy, dancing on the bar, pouring free tequila shots directly from the bottle down the throats of the customers, and in general brightening up the place. But Jess and Mel do not see eye to eye on the correct way to manage it.

Jess, answering the phone: "Hello! Watchfire!"

Mel: "Jess! It’s Mel. Listen, something came up and I’m going to be a little later than I thought ... Did the Karoke machine arrive?"

Jess: "Oh! Yeah! ... Aw, I sent it back ... It really sucked, Mel. But don’t worry! I upgraded!"

Mel: "You upgraded? What do you mean you upgraded!?"

Jess, shouting to be heard over the music and all the noise in the bar: "It’s just that a system like this needs a minimal amount of volume to be heard. This thing is now over a hundred DB’s!"

Mel: "What!?"

Jess: "Exactly!" She laughs, pleased with herself.

Mel: "You should have consulted me, Jess."

Jess: "I tried to call you but you didn’t pick up."

Mel: "Yeah, well, it’s been a ... strange day ... How much more did these DB’s cost me?"

Jess: "Mel! Don’t worry! It’s going to bring in a lot of business! Besides, I picked up a really good deal on the installation!"

Mel: "Yeah, I bet you did."

Jess hangs up the phone and returns to entertaining the customers.

Mel, into the disconnected line: "Hello?"

———————————————————————

In the convenience store, Daggon observes a man eating a candy bar. Hungry, he selects the same candy bar from the rack, sniffs it, and then starts to eat it, wrapper and all, in front of the store clerk as he walks out.

Store Clerk, shouting: "Hey! You gonna pay for that? Hey!"

He follows Daggon outside, still shouting, "Hey!" Then he makes the mistake of grabbing Daggon from behind, getting tossed a good distance across the parking lot for his trouble.

———————————————————————

Safely back in the car and away, Mel then gives her passenger hell for shoplifting: "You stole a candy bar! He had every right to confront you! What were you thinking?" She slaps his hands away from pulling at the shirt he’s wearing. "Stop it! You’ll stretch it! ... It was a gift from my grandmother ... We’re lucky he didn’t press charges, you know. We’re even luckier you didn’t break his neck! ..." She pauses to huff and puff, glaring sidelong at him. "Do you have anything to say!?"

In response, Daggon begins demonstrating what he’s learned so far, parroting back what he overheard in the store in perfect accent and inflection: "Do you sometimes feel ... not fresh?"

Mel: "What!?!"

Daggon: "Hello! John! John! Hello? It’s like I’m losing you, man! Yeah, yeah! Hey? Hello! Hello, John?"

Mel, snide exasperation: "The air conditioning is still off ... Would you like me to turn on some heat?"

Daggon: "You keep dissin’ me, I will smack yo’ black ass!"

He’s trying on the fit of Humanity, all to Mel’s on-going confusion and frustration.

Daggon suddenly senses something. Mel screams in panic as he abruptly reaches over, grabbing and twisting the steering wheel, forcing her to swerve off the road and come to a stop.

Mel, sputtering and then shouting: "What are you, crazy!?! Are you trying to kill us both!? ... What is wrong with you!?!"

Daggon climbs out of the car.

Mel: "Look."

He turns to look back at her.

Mel: "Good luck ... Okay?"

Mel drives off, probably relieved to be rid of him, as Daggon, seemingly following some strange pull, enters a nearby railroad yard through a hole in the wooden fence.

He curiously watches the train pass, then heads out into the railroad yard and toward the Chicago skyline.

———————————————————————

Daggon’s in full Tracker mode now and he’s looking for something. He wanders onto a nearby police crime scene and, ignoring the yellow crime scene tape barrier, walks through it to get to the location of Rhee’s crime.

He lays himself down within the chalk mark outline of the victim (the mechanic/gas jockey) and the glow effect is seen again, this time through his entire body. Apparently, he’s sampling residual energy, or perhaps drawing information from the memories of the dying man, from the ground itself.

He’s accosted there by the just arrived Detective Vic Bruno, a Robbery/Homicide cop (and an old friend/lover of Mel’s) who is, all things considered, quite gentle and caring with him.

Vic: "Comfy down there, pal? Huh? ... Come on, pal. Get up. ... In case you hadn’t noticed, this is a crime scene. That’s what all this pretty yellow tape is for." Daggon stands up as Vic holds up the authority of his shield and continues. "Come on. Turn around. I’m going to need to see some identification. Huh? ID? Identification?"

Daggon: "I-I-I D-D-D."

He keeps his gaze averted, trying to appear as docile and non-threatening as he can.

Vic: "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Driver’s license. Social Security ... You got a name? Huh? Name? El nombre?"

Daggon remembers Mel saying, ‘What’s your name? I’m Mel’

Vic, coaxing: "Come on, buddy. It’s late. I don’t have time for this. What is your name?"

Daggon, now remembering Mel saying that he looked ‘a lot like the Cole guy’, responds: "C-o-o-ole."

Vic: "Okay ... C-o-o-ole. I’m gonna let you go, but stay outta here. This is a restricted area. Got it?"

Daggon quickly and quietly slips away as Vic turns his attention to answering his cell phone.

———————————————————————

The Watchfire is jumping as Mel comes in, but she and Jess are not agreeing on how Jess’ unconventional marketing approach is bringing in a genuine crowd – on a Tuesday night, yet! Jess comes across in exactly the annoying way one would expect of someone her age (23). First impressions are all of superficiality and her very appearance reeks of sexuality and a good time gal. But there is enough portrayed to indicate that things are not exactly as they seem.

Mel, delighted: "Well! You did it! You brought in a Tuesday night crowd! ... Look at all these people!" She suddenly realizes that something is wrong. "All these people are leaving! ... Why are they leaving?"

Jess: "It’s Tuesday night. They’re on cop-call. They’re moving on."

Customer, calling out: "Hey! Thanks for the free shots, Jess."

Jess: "Yeah, no problem."

Mel: "You gave them free shots!?"

Jess: "Oh, it’s a business investment, Mel. You know how it works. Once you get on the mailing list of the Great Pubs in Chicago, you get more customers..."

She then notices Daggon coming in the door, still wearing the very tight sequined pink shirt and gray sweatpants Mel gave him and still with bare feet.

Jess: "Look! There’s one now."

Mel gawks, stunned at seeing who it is.

Jess: "Oh! Oh, look ... It’s a shame ... But do you have any idea how much money a gay bar can rake in!?"

Mel: "What!? ... Gay bar!?"

Jess, greeting the new arrival: "Welcome to Watchfire ... Mmm ... Cool T-shirt."

Daggon, looking down at her: "I am Cole."

Jess, becoming flirty: "Uhh ummm ... Nice chest."

Daggon, spotting Mel staring at them and nearly walking through Jess to get to her: "I need ID."

Trying not to trip over the petite Jess, Daggon finally has to physically push her aside, patting at her chest as she had just done with his, nearly knocking her down.

Mel, to Jess as she steadies her: "Give us a second."

Jess, reluctantly: "Sure."

She returns to her station behind the bar.

Mel, turning her attentions to Daggon: "What are you doing here?"

Daggon, again trying to explain: "I need ID."

Mel, annoyed and suspicious: "Here’s the deal ... Cole ... I’m going to fix you something to eat. Okay? Then I’m going to call a Social Service agency ... find out where to take you ... I can’t do any more than that."

Unknowingly, by her acceptance of it, Mel has now made it official: Daggon’s Earthly name has become Cole.

———————————————————————

Cole is chowing down the food Mel has provided, sans utensils, mastering the concept of eating with his new Human form.

Mel, uneasily: "Jess ... you’re staring..."

Jess: "Just never seen anyone ... eat with such ... commitment..."

Mel, as Cole holds up an ear of corn and looks at her questioningly: "Corn."

He bites a chunk out of the corn, cob and all.

Jess: "You have a very aggressive eating style ... It’s sexy!"

Cole, dutifully repeating: "Sexy!"

Mel, indicating the customers at the bar with her eyes: "Jess..."

Jess, with a sigh, to Cole: "But if you need me for anything..." She leans over to playfully flip a lock of his hair. "Let me know. I’ll be out there."

She coyly smiles and winks at him, then heads back to work.

Mel, apologetically explaining: "I inherited Jess when I inherited the bar from my grandmother ... Kind of a package deal ... Along with the pile of bills, a lack of customers ... It’s a long story. But she’s a very good kid ... She just tries too hard sometimes ... So don’t be offended, okay?"

Cole, shivering: "Air conditioning."

Mel: "I know ... You must not like air conditioning, do you?"

Cole: "No."

Mel: "Right."

She turns to walk away.

Cole, reaching out to hold her back: "Must find Rhee."

Mel: "Rhee?"

Cole, indicating the active police crime scene (where he had been) being shown on the TV news and haltingly trying to find the proper words: "Rhee ... takes life."

Mel, looking up at the TV screen: "This Rhee ... kills people?"

Cole, indicating himself: "Don’t take life."

Mel, nervously eyeing him: "Good ... Good."

———————————————————————

Cut to Rhee, now in the hooker’s tenement apartment and adjusting to Human quirks and lifestyle, discovering a lamp, changing music stations on the stereo, wearing jewelry and applying makeup. As she’s smearing on lipstick and getting it all over her face, her pimp arrives.

Pimp, gesturing with his cell phone: "Did my baby forget how to use one of these or something?"

Rhee, mimicking his gesture: "Or something."

Pimp: "Been trying to call my baby since six o’clock. I bet you been too busy out there hustling up business. Ain’t that right? Huh? I got a date lined up for you in one hour. His name is Joel. And Joel likes it rough."

Rhee: "Rough." She seems to really like that idea.

[Note: Although it’s never mentioned, according to the guest cast the pimp’s name is Reggie].

———————————————————————

The scene flips back to the Watchfire where Mel has changed a liquor order and where she attempts to explain to Jess how she came to be shepherding Cole.

Jess, going through a case of liquor: "Mel, did you sign for this delivery?"

Mel: "Yes. Why?"

Jess: "There’s supposed to be three cases of vodka and one of gin. Not two and two."

Mel: "I changed the order."

Jess: "Why? Most people like martinis with vodka."

Mel: "A lot of people like gin."

Jess: "Only old people drink gin martinis."

Mel: "I ... drink gin martinis."

Jess: "Really!?"

Mel: "Look, Jess ... It’s my bar now, okay? ... I do some things differently."

Jess, sarcastic: "That you do."

Mel, knowing what she’s referring to: "For the record, I do not make a habit out of feeding guys off the street."

Jess, retorting: "Maybe not normal guys..."

Mel: "He’s not that ... abnormal."

Cole, approaching, stripped down to his briefs again: "More corn."

Mel, turning and gasping at him: "What ... are you doing!?!"

Very agitated, Mel hurries over and hands him a coat from off of a wall hook, demanding: "Put this on!"

When he doesn’t comply, she grabs it from his hands and drapes it over his shoulders. Trying not to stare at his near-nakedness, she keeps her gaze fixed at a spot on the ceiling and Cole mimics her.

Mel: "Button it!"

He doesn’t understand and just looks at her.

Mel groans and shields her eyes with one hand, saying: "Follow me!"

She leads him back upstairs to her apartment, Cole following with his hand also shielded over his eyes, much to Jess’ amusement.

Mel, scolding: "You can’t keep doing that ... walking around that way!"

Cole: "What ... way?"

Mel: "Without clothes!"

Cole, allowing the garment she’d draped on him to drop to the floor: "Feels strange."

[The weight of skin and bone are bad enough for this being of light. Clothes are an added burden].

Mel, going over a closet: "Look! I’m sure my ex-meaningless-boyfriend probably left some of his clothes here ... I want you to put them on..." She holds out some items of clothing to him, neatly folded. "And then ... I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to leave."

Cole, startled: "Leave?"

Mel, gently but firmly: "You need more help than I can give you ... I’ll just make the call I talked about earlier. Okay? ... We’ll find a place for you to spend the night."

Cole covers her hand with his own, sharing his energy with her, and gazes at her meaningfully with a hopeful look on his face. Through all their interactions, Cole’s eyes do a lot of his talking for him. Those warm, hazel-brown eyes are a lethal weapon and Mel is susceptible. It can be said that he was partially hypnotizing her, deliberately tuning in on the connection that exists between their two lifeforces and manipulating her emotions and responses, able to naturally (or artificially) calibrate his being to hers. Thus, when his energy passes to her, she’s aware that something profound just happened and she becomes flustered.

Mel, nervous, flustered and confused with a ‘what the hell just happened!?’ expression on her face: "One night ... One night ... That’s it ... One night." She edges over toward another door with an strained smile. "It’s a spare room." She opens the door and invites him in. "Make yourself at home."

———————————————————————

Cut to Rhee, now wearing several pounds of costume jewelry with her makeup ill-applied and smeared all over her face. She seems fascinated by a parked convertible sports car (Joel’s?) when her pimp angrily comes up to her.

Pimp: "Look at you! What’s going on with you!? I told you he liked it rough. Rough don’t mean not breathing! Are you nuts!? You know who’s going to have to clean up your mess? Me, that’s who!" He grabs her arm and tries to pull her along. "Come on ... Let’s go! Get in the car!"

Rhee, weary of his hassling, grabs him by the face and gets rough.

Rhee: "Like rough."

A crunching sound is heard that could be bones breaking.

———————————————————————

Late at night, awakened by something, yawning and padding through the upstairs hall in her white robe and fuzzy white slippers, Mel notices an intense white light leaking out from under the door of Cole’s room.

Mel, calling out: "Hello? ... Everything all right?"

She hesitantly opens the door and Cole quickly stops whatever it was he was doing. The glaring light abruptly vanishes and she finds him sitting at her computer.

Mel, almost panicky: "What was that? ... That light ... What was that light?"

He sits there silently, just watching her.

Frightened and eyeing him warily, Mel slowly backs out of the room and closes the door.

Cole opens his fisted hands to reveal two small metallic geometric shapes, a cube and a pyramid, floating and whirling above his palms.

———————————————————————

The next morning the two gals are talking, Mel explaining where she found Cole while they tidy up the bar.

Mel: "Okay! I admit it! I never should have picked him up ... Besides the obvious, there is really something wrong about this guy, Jess ... I can’t quite put my finger on it, but ... it’s not natural ... Very far from natural."

Jess: "Well, he’s got a great chest ... So, where did you find him, anyway?"

Mel: "Highway 88 ... A few miles outside of Owensville."

Jess: "Eighty eight?"

Mel: "Yeah..." Then noticing Jess’ strange expression as she turns away, "What?"

Jess: "Nothing."

Mel: "What!?"

Jess: "There was a murder near Highway 88 yesterday ... It’s all over the news ... Where is he, anyway?"

Mel, uneasily, looking up: "Where he’s been all night. Sitting in front of that computer..."

Jess, trying to be reassuring: "Mel ... I’m sure he’s no murderer. He’s just a little weird ... And who’s to say what’s normal and what isn’t, anyway?"

As they try to convince themselves that he couldn’t possibly be the murderer, Cole traipses through the room stripped down to briefs once again and helps himself to the microwave from behind the bar.

They fall silent, gawking at him.

Cole, explaining: "I need to read thermal patterns."

[His language skills have certainly improved even though no one has said such a phrase around him. He already knows the words and their meaning inasmuch as anyone can know them who has simply absorbed a dictionary. He just needs the physical practice at voicing it]. 

Mel, watching him head upstairs with the microwave: "I gotta talk to Vic."

———————————————————————

Mel finds her Detective friend, Vic Bruno, at the scene of yet another murder (this time it’s the pimp).

Vic, as Mel is lead over to him and he comes over to greet her: "Mel..."

Mel: "I heard your call come in on the scanner."

Vic chuckles: "You know, I thought you got rid of that thing when you remodeled the bar, huh."

Mel, ruefully: "Yeah, well ... No matter what I seem to do to hip up the place ... I think it’s always going to be a cop bar."

Vic: "Yeah, that will be fine."

Mel: "So, how’ve you been, Vic?"

Vic: "Good, good ... I’m really good."

Mel: "Listen, I know this isn’t the place, but ... I really need to talk to you about ... a situation..."

Vic, nodding: "Sure."

Voice on the side: "Detective!"

Vic, to the voice: "Give me a second!"

At that moment, for a quick instant, Mel sees Cole watching her from just outside the police tape.

Vic: "Look, Mel. Can it wait at all? I mean, this is my second dead body in less than twenty four hours."

Mel: "Yeah. Yeah, of course." She looks again, but Cole has vanished. "I’ll call you."

Vic: "Promise?"

Mel: "Promise!"

Vic: "I’d like that ... You look good."

Mel hotfoots it back to the Watchfire, still needing answers.

———————————————————————

Mel, barging into Cole’s room: "Okay! That’s it! I want answers and I want them now!"

Cole: "Rhee was the one ... who took life."

Mel: "I am not talking about Rhee! I’m talking about you! Who are you? How did you get to that crime scene so fast? ... Why do you talk like you talk? What is with this light and the computer and..." She stops and looks around, momentarily brought up short by all the extensions made to her computer system. "What the hell is all this?"

[He’s cobbled together some Earth technology to enable him to Track Rhee, a detector to pick up the hormonal changes that will indicate where the Vardian is].

Cole, still working: "Needed more power ... Rhee ... likes to kill ... Makes hormone ... when excited ... It can be measured."

Mel, becoming excited herself: "I’m getting it! ... I am getting it now! This has all been a ruse. Some kind of deep cover thing. Am I right? You needed a base of operations, some place where nobody would suspect you – not to mention an identity where you wouldn’t have to answer any questions! Yes? ... Of course! A chopper got you there and back! Of course! ... You’re a government agent!"

Cole: "Yes, Mel."

He examines Rhee’s hormonal detection map (it looks like satellite imagery) on the computer screen.

Cole: "Rhee ... kill again ... Soon..." Then, as if he’s ashamed to ask, "I need your help, Mel."

———————————————————————

The next scene, Mel and Cole are racing over back roads, Cole barking out directions from a laptop ("That way") and pointing out the way to go, following the bloodthirsty Rhee, who is in the process of merrily killing yet another innocent victim in a commandeered car.

Cole: "Faster!"

Mel: "I’m going as fast as I can!"

This time he enhances their speed with the additional input of his energy into the Mercedes’ electrical system through the ignition. Steadily, they gain ground until they’re right behind Rhee.

Rhee abruptly swerves to the left and Mel screams in fright as they suddenly find their way blocked by a large dump truck. She frantically twists the steering wheel to evade a collision, following in Rhee’s wake.

Mel, as they came to a stop, steam billowing out from beneath the hood: "We’ve blown the engine!"

The additional input of his Cirronian energy has proven too much for the old, primitive engine.

Both Mel and Cole then realize at the same moment that Rhee is turning his commandeered vehicle around and accelerating with every intention of ramming them.

Mel, screaming in horror: "COOOOOLE!!!"

Going into hyperspeed, Cole gets out of the car and leaps high into the air, spinning to gain momentum and have the necessary force to kick a moving vehicle many times his weight well off its course and away. His desperate maneuver works, but it jolts him back into real time and slams him to the ground with punishing force, leaving him badly weakened and gasping for breath.

Cole, choking out, waving Mel away while struggling to regain his equilibrium and his footing as she comes rushing to his aid: "Mel ... Go! ... Move!"

Mel, leaning in the passenger side window: "Please! I need help! He’s going to kill me! Please!"

Zin, with a quick look at Rhee: "Okay! Get in!"

As Rhee curiously watches those proceedings, Cole manages to pull himself up and grab him from behind. They grapple a moment, but Cole has the upper hand and throws him a good distance. Rhee scrabbles to his feet as Cole closes in on him and they warily circle each other.

Rhee: "Here we are again, Tracker!"

Cole: "You will go back, Rhee."

Rhee, chortling: "But I’m having so much fun down here!"

Cole: "It ends here!"

Rhee: "I don’t think so."

Cole drops into a defensive stance as Rhee lunges, and this time he’s the one thrown and nearly bested.

Cole, as they take each other’s measure again: "You will pay for your crimes."

Rhee: "Having trouble talking? Of course. You didn’t take a Human lifeform. They teach you so much."

Cole: "Not teach to kill."

Rhee, taunting: "No need. I had a lot of practice with your wife and daughter."

One can see Cole’s anger as he takes on Rhee again, showing his grace (or potential grace) and considerable dexterity as opposed to the brute strength of the Vardian. The fight is dramatic with Rhee using heavy objects as flying missiles with his telekinetic abilities and trying to batter Cole senseless with a heavy length of pipe. But performing such mental feats of telekinesis requires a great deal of concentration, leaving Vardians at their most vulnerable. Cole dodges and blocks the worst, waiting for his opening and taking quick advantage of it the moment it comes with a sliding kick.

Rhee, flat on his back but still taunting: "Your daughter went slowly."

Cole hefts the heavy pipe Rhee had tried to skewer him with, apparently with every intention of ramming the end of it through the Vardian’s smirking face, deflecting his aim at the last possible moment to drill it into the ground a mere inch from his head.

Rhee begins hastening to his feet but Cole swings the pipe and clobbers him with all he has.

Cole, producing his Collector: "So will you."

Rhee’s life essence is then painfully ‘Collected’ (extracted) from the Human body he inhabits.

[Note: Although Cole is quite calm about it when he’s Collecting an alien lifeforce, he was certainly pissed-off enough during the fight. He obviously knows anger as an emotion].

———————————————————————

Cole looks up as the wormhole re-forms in the skies above the powerlines, sensing the other escapees (he has no trouble fine-tuning the energy source of the 218 lifeforms). But he needs to leave if he is ever to get back to his home world. But should he? He first goes to see to Mel and encounters her ‘rescuer.’

Zin, smugly: "I was really hoping you wouldn’t feel the energy of the escapee’s lifeforces. But ... you have what you came for, now go ... Better hurry ... The wormhole’s collapsing."

Cole, shocked at recognizing a familiar old friend: "Zin! You did this?"

Zin, baitingly: "It’s time for you to leave. Now."

Cole: "Rhee was test of wormhole?"

Zin: "Bingo!"

Realizing he’s been betrayed, Cole begins moving toward him, but stops when Zin reveals that he has Mel as a captive in his car and threatens her life.

Zin: "Make this easy on her and leave."

Cole: "How many..."

Mel, whimpering with fright: "Cole..."

Zin, to Mel: "Shut up."

Cole: "... have come?"

Zin, boasting: "Two hundred and eighteen of them."

Mel: "Prisoners!?"

[Cole hadn’t told her the whole story at this point so how did she know they were prisoners? Maybe it was an inference based on the whole Rhee thing. He had conveyed to her that Rhee was a killer, so it’s not a huge stretch].

Zin, to Mel: "Will you shut up!"

Zin: "Well, you know what they say. ‘Never trust a Vardian’. Sorry."

Mel, now terrified: "Cole?"

Zin, to Mel: "Okay."

Cole: "You, a scientist."

Zin: "Yes and, unfortunately for my planet ... a not particularly appreciated one."

Mel, finally realizing what she’s really dealing with: "Your planet!?!"

Zin: "If you don’t enter the wormhole now, I will kill her ... NOW!!!"

As Cole tries to get to Mel, Zin blasts him with a with a bolt of telekinetic energy from his hand and he’s unceremoniously tossed and once again slammed to the ground, the breath knocked out of him.

[What was the nature of Daggon and Zin’s relationship? Why doesn’t Zin kill him when he has the chance? Can he kill him? The two were actually good friends before travelling to Earth].

Mel, shrieking in terror: "COOOLE!!!"

Zin clutches his hand on Mel’s chest, short-circuiting her nervous system and stopping her heart with a Vardian power pulse, throws her out of his car into the roadside ditch, then drives off.

Whimpering, Cole staggers over and cradles Mel’s near-lifeless body. He places his hand on her heart and repeatedly compresses her chest, sharing his life energy with her to restart it, hoping it will work to bring her back. Then, realizing what his presence has done to her, he begins to weep.

[Did Cole give Mel part of his lifeforce? If so, why didn’t he become weakened like Lontoria did in "The Miracle" when she gave him her lifeforce? (Cole said that she’d be basically Human because it would take many Earth years for her lifeforce to regenerate). Or did Cole do something else to Mel? He likely gave her  Cirronian-style CPR because a spark of life still remained and he didn’t have to use too much of his lifeforce in doing it. Maybe a ‘jump-start’ to get her heart beating again and her diaphragm functioning so that her lungs would breathing again (In "What Lies Beneath" he said that he’d "re-energized" her lifeforce). With Lontoria, Cole was nearly dead when she had to bring him back and thus she had to drain herself. And when Mel gave Cole ‘the juice’ in "What Lies Beneath" all she was doing was ‘reminding’ his body of who he really is, ‘resetting’ his polarities as it were].

Cole, heartfelt, as she awakens: "I am sorry."

Opening her eyes, Mel is surprised to find that he’s gently stroking her throat and crying. She reaches up a hand to smooth away his tears.

Mel: "You’re crying."

Cole: "What is?"

Mel: "It’s what happens when we care."

Cole, begging: "I need ... your help, Mel."

Mel: "I know."

Cole then gathers Mel up into his arms to carry her home.

[Note: No wonder he's crying. He has endangered her by seeking the help that he needs. He has decided to involve himself in this game and it’s not something of his choosing. And he knows that his participation will be dangerous for those he comes to care about. While it can be said that he knows he cannot leave the escapees here to wreak havoc on the people of Earth, there is more at stake than simply 218 baddies on the loose. In the scheme of total Earth baddies, 218 extra ones is hardly noticeable, certainly not a significant enough number for someone like Daggon to go to all the trouble].

———————————————————————

At the Chicago train station, Zin awaits the passengers from the 805 commuter train from Bloomington, Illinois, arriving on Platform 9. He nods with a smug cat that swallowed the canary look on his face as 217 more disguised escapees arrive in their stolen Human bodies and subtly acknowledge him as they pass by.

———————————————————————

As Cole carries Mel off down the country road, away from the scene of her near-death and resurrection, he tells her: "They are here. I can feel them ... I have to find them, Mel."

———————————————————————

The next morning in the empty bar, Mel informs a dubious Jess that Cole isn’t a bad guy and that she’s going to allow him to stay on full-time as a handyman and to use her spare room upstairs ...

Mel: "It’s just temporary ... He needs a place and ... we could use some help ... He’ll do odd jobs!"

Jess, sarcastically agreeing: "They’ll be odd, all right."

Mel: "He’s really not a bad guy when you get to know him ... He’s actually a lot like us."

Jess: "Uh huh ... So! Where’s he going to stay?"

Mel, pointing up towards her apartment: "There!"

———————————————————————

In his room above the Watchfire, Daggon grimly deposits Rhee’s lifeforce into his containment vessel and looks a little worried about how he’s going to Track and Collect the rest of these very dangerous creatures. And he’ll be forced to wage this one-man hunt inside a heavy and unfamiliar ill-clothed Human body.

Note: There are no opening credits or theme shown for this first episode at all. It begins immediately from blank screen and the lead actor credits start to roll a minute or so later.