Lois' Daily Planet

The Pretender

SHORT SYNOPSIS FOR
CRASH
which aired on Saturday, April 11, 1998

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PRETENDER SYNOPSIS FOR CRASH
The Pretender was created by Steven Long Mitchell & Craig W. Van Sickle

The series stars:
Michael T. Weiss as Jarod
Andrea Parker as Miss Parker
Patrick Bauchau as Sydney
Jon Gries as Broots
Jamie Denton  asMr. Lyle
Harve Presnell  asMr. Parker
Richard Marcus as Mr. Raines
Paul Dillon  as Angelo

The Pretender also stars (although not necessarily in every episode):

     Ryan Merriman (Young Jarod), Alex Wexo (Young Sydney), 
Ashley Peldon (Young Miss Parker),  Jonathan Osser (Younger Jarod)
 Sam Ayres (Sam the Sweeper), Willie Gault (Willie the Sweeper)
Pamela Gidley (Brigitte), Kelsey Mulroony (Debbie Broots)
 Zachary Brown (Young Kyle),  Jake Lloyd (Young Angelo/Timmy),
 Kim Myers (Jarod's mother, Margaret)
Jeffrey Donovan (Jarod's brother, Kyle), Marisa Parker (Jarod's sister, Emily)

This is EPISODE #39
Written By: Tony Blake & Paul Jackson
Directed By: Scott Lautanen


The episode begins in the airport lounge for Airista Airlines.  Jarod is reading a book about Nebraska.  A voice comes on the PA and announces Flight 105 to San Diego just as a young man named Daniel, to whom Jarod has been talking while awaiting the flight, comes and sits next to Jarod, upset because the airline oversold the flight and he got bumped.  He tells Jarod that the next flight doesn't leave for five hours.  He will be late getting to school and all of the classes for which he wants to register will be filled.  Jarod tells Daniel that he's in no hurry to get anywhere, "it's not like anyone is chasing me ... today," and offers Daniel his ticket.  At first Daniel doesn't want to take it, but Jarod insists.  They trade tickets, shake hands, Daniel wishes Jarod luck in finding his parents and Daniel starts to board the plane.  At the last minute, Daniel turns, waves at Jarod again and says, "Thanks, Jarod.  You really saved my life." Then he leaves.

At The Centre, Miss Parker gets off the elevator.  The index finger of her left hand is splinted.  Sydney sees her and asks what she did to her finger.  Miss Parker tells him that she broke it while mud wrestling, then asks Sydney what he did last night.  Miss Parker hands him Mr. Lyle's personnel file and tells him that her father wants a list of anyone they think might be Lyle's ally.  Mr. Parker has been running into resistance at the Triumvirate over a promotion and Sydney thinks that the fact that Miss Parker is the one who killed Mr. Lyle probably isn't helping her father's cause.

Broots interrupts, telling Miss Parker that something just arrived that he thinks she will want to see.  Tossing a "what now?" look toward the ceiling, Miss Parker follows Broots.  Jarod has sent three lockers - the kind you might find in the hallways at high schools.  Miss Parker opens the one that has her name on it and finds a yearbook for the class of 1983 at Douglas High School.  Douglas High School is in Nebraska.  Further inspection reveals that they all have the books in their lockers, along with a notice for a "15 year reunion" and a name tag.  Broots' name tag says "Ricky Sanders" on it.  Sydney gets "Professor Tom Greer."  Miss Parker's name tag says "Mrs. Ricky Sanders" on it.  Broots looks pleased, Miss Parker looks disgusted.  Jarod has put a post-it note in the front of the annual, written in the style that high school students often use.  It says, "Always stay the way you are.  Unless you want to survive."  Miss Parker tells Broots to run everyone in the annual - she's not traipsing off to "armpit Oklahoma" until she has more information.  Broots corrects her, saying that it's in Nebraska.  "Hell is Hell, Broots," she replies as she leaves the room.

Jarod is dozing in the airport lounge, waiting for the next flight out.  He's awakened by the sound of someone sobbing, turns and sees a small crowd of people near the ticket counter.  Jarod asks the girl behind the counter what happened and she tells him that Flight 105 crashed, near San Diego - there were fatalities.  Jarod is stunned.  He pleads with the girl to tell him if the young man to whom he gave his ticket, Daniel Fawk, is okay.  She checks her list and tells Jarod that Daniel's body was positively identified at the scene.  He's dead.  Jarod reels from the shock and half falls into a chair.

At the National Transportation Safety Board Field Center, near San Diego, Jarod Lindsey introduces himself to Clark Thomas and Diane Post.  Thomas says that he can't get paper clips when he requisitions them, but investigators he doesn't need, Washington sends right out.  Jarod's usual air of playfulness is noticeably absent.  He asks a few questions, tells them that he wants to be there when the flight recorder is opened, then turns and strides out of the hangar.

At The Centre, Broots tells Miss Parker that Ricky Sanders and his wife met overseas, while working as missionaries at a Catholic charity in Africa.  Sydney can hardly contain his laughter, and a half laugh, half snort emerges before he can cut it off under Miss Parker's glare.  Broots tells Sydney that Professor Greer only taught at the school for one semester, in 1983 - a class on obscure languages.  Professor Greer died in Hawaii, two years ago.  There are a list of names under "camera shy" - the students who didn't have their pictures taken for the annual.  Broots says that there is nothing unusual about any of them, except that two of them are dead.  Miss Parker tells Broots to book rooms for them in Townsend, Nebraska and he tells her that Jarod already did it - non-smoking rooms.  Miss Parker is not amused.

As the co-pilot of Flight 105 is brought out of the hospital, in a wheelchair, by his father, he is besieged by reporters.  Mr. Larsen tells them that Brandon is not allowed to talk to anyone until after he's given his statement to the NTSB, but the Brandon tells the reporters that he offers his prayers to the families who lost loved ones.  Jarod, Diane and Clark are waiting but Clark says that they should talk to the pilot first.  Jarod says that she suffered blunt trauma to the temporal lobe, which affects memory acquisition - and that means that the chances of her remembering the details are very slim.  He's right, the pilot, Angela Wiley, remembers practically nothing.  She does remember, however, the screams of her passengers, and it's haunting her.  She's suffering a first class case of survivor's guilt, wondering why eleven of her passengers died, but she didn't.  Jarod flashes back to part of the conversation he had with Daniel Fawk before he gave him his ticket, and heaves a heavy sigh of his own.

Back at the hangar, Jarod inspect the fuselage of the plane, trying to get a feel for it, trying to put himself inside the plane so that he can simulate, in his mind, what went wrong.  It's too soon.  He doesn't have enough information.

Sydney, Broots and Miss Parker are checking into the Grand Ballroom hotel.  Broots is impressed with the friendliness of Nebraskans.  Miss Parker thinks she's in "Hee Haw Hell."  After she nearly breaks the hand of one of the people from the reunion who casually touch her, Broots reminds Miss Parker that they need to blend in.  Sydney comes back with the keys.  He takes one for himself and says that "room 305 is for you two."   Sydney reminds "Mrs. Sanders" that the last thing they want is for someone to wonder why she's not staying with her husband.  Miss Parker says that there had better be booze in the courtesy bar, or someone is going to pay, and walks off, leaving a bewildered Broots behind.

At the hangar, Jarod is dismayed to find that the flight recording boxes have been opened without him.  Clark tells Jarod that they couldn't locate him and they don't have a lot of time to spare.  Diane tells Jarod that the evidence shows that the elevators were set at the wrong angle for landing.  Clark adds that, given the flight's reduced speed, the improperly set elevators didn't give the plane enough lift and that led directly to the crash.  Jarod wants to know who set the elevators.  Diane tells him that they don't know.  Jarod notices that the cockpit voice recorder is still on "lock."   Clark tells him that it's a malfunction.  Jarod says that he's never heard of that happening before, and Clark says that it's rare, but not without precedent - he even had it happen to him once, on a flight that he piloted.  Obviously, with the elevators being set at the wrong angle, the crash is the result of pilot error -- the question is ... which pilot?

Jarod wanders over to the table that holds the personal belongings of the people who were killed.  He comes to the small pile of Daniel Fawk's clothing and remembers more of the conversation they had while they were waiting for the flight to board.  He thinks about Daniel saying that he just wants to make his parents proud.  Jarod tells Daniel that he did make his parents proud.

In the co-pilot's room, Brandon Larsen's father, who is the head of Airista Airlines, tells Jarod and Diane that the sooner he can get his son behind a desk, the better - he doesn't care if Brandon ever flies again.  Diane tells Mr. Larsen that she and Jarod need to question Brandon alone.  Mr. Larsen is reluctant to go, but has no choice when Jarod says that the questioning is standard procedure.

Jarod and Diane explain to Brandon that the voice recorder in the cockpit malfunctioned, so his recollections are very important.  Perspiring heavily, he tells them that they had just received their instructions for final approach and everything seemed fine.  Then, suddenly, the plane stalled.  Angela was concerned about the mountain and Brandon saw the plane's wings shearing of parts of trees.  Jarod asks Brandon if he'd like some water, but he declines, saying that the pain killers are making him feverish.  He goes on to say that some of their gauges must have malfunctioned.  Diane tells him that all of the gauges were working fine, but the data indicated that the elevators were set at zero, instead of at 20 degrees, and that's what caused the stall and ultimately, the crash.  Brandon begins to look extremely uncomfortable, and tells them that he and Angela are good friends, having logged over half a million miles together.  But, he says, when he called out "elevators 20 degrees" on the check-list, Angela gave him a positive.  Brandon says that she must not have been paying attention.

As they are leaving, Diane tells Jarod that it was pilot error and the pilot's name is Angela Wiley.  Jarod isn't sure.  He tells Diane that pain killers don't cause fevers.  Diane defends Brandon, saying that maybe he was just a nervous wreck.  If she had been in a plane crash and then had to turn in her friend, she'd be sweating, too.  Jarod asks her if that's what she really believes - and without waiting for an answer, walks away.

In their hotel room in Nebraska, Broots is telling Miss Parker that she should look at this trip as a small vacation from The Centre - who knows?  She might even enjoy it.  Miss Parker tells Broots that the people there are dead from the neck up and they don't even know it.  Broots says, "Why?  Because the people in the lobby have been married for 14 years and go to church on Sunday and coach Little League?"  He says that he wishes his ex-wife and he had been that lucky.  Miss Parker isn't buying any of it.  She asks Broots just how hard he fell on his head, when he fell off the turnip truck.  Broots asks Miss Parker what's so great about her life ... forced to stay at The Centre until she catches a guy that was stolen from his parents, haunted by the murder of her mother, forced to compete for her father's attention with a bald headed lunatic that drags around an oxygen tank ... Miss Parker has had enough of the banter and tells Broots to be careful.  Broots says that he only meant that he'd take a Sunday sermon and a Little League game any day, over that.

Sydney knocks at their door and he has another yearbook from Jarod.  By the "camera shy" list, there is another yellow post-it note.  It says, "Not every picture tells a story ..."  Handing Broots his name tag, Miss Parker says, "Coming, dear?"

In Angela Wiley's room, Clark and Diane are telling her that the blood test for both she and Brandon came back negative, so there won't be any felony charges, but, based on Brandon's statement, she will be charged with negligence.  Clark advises her to contact the pilot's union and get an attorney.  Angela is devastated.  She was already riddled with guilt over the crash - but to be told that she was directly responsible for it ... she begins to sob.  Jarod reminds her that since the cockpit recorder malfunctioned, they only have Brandon's word for what happened.  He tells her that if she can remember anything at all ... but Angela says she cannot remember and continues to sob.

Back at the hangar, Jarod inspects the cockpit recorder for himself and finds that it didn't malfunction at all - it was demagnetized.

In Townsend, the reunion is winding down.  Miss Parker couldn't be happier and is heading for the door when the head of the reunion committee puts up a slide of one of the "camera shy" students who has passed away, named Bobby Bowman.  There was no graduation picture, so they enlarged a picture from the "Farmer's of Tomorrow Club."  Broots grabs Miss Parker's arm.  Bobby Bowman is Mr. Lyle!

Jarod is checking Brandon Larsen's record at the lab.  He says that on Brandon Larsen's last FAA physical, his macro static blood count was 10.  On the tests that were performed after the crash, the count was 15.  Jarod says that he thought macro static blood counts never varied.  The technician says that they don't vary.  Jarod asks her who brought in the blood samples and she tells him that the chief investigator, Clark Thomas, brought them in.

At the hangar again, Jarod eavesdrops on a phone conversation between Diane and Clark.  Diane is concerned about the points that Jarod brought up - Brandon sweating, and the fact that pain killers don't cause that.  Clark tells her not to be swayed by Jarod, the evidence is very clear and he wants her report ready to go in the morning.  As Jarod watches Clark, Mr. Larsen comes up to him and hands him a white number 10 envelope, when Clark quickly puts in the pocket of his jacket.  Jarod remembers part of his conversation with Daniel.  A basketball player, Daniel told Jarod that one school tried to give him an illegal payoff, but his dad taught him that you can never go wrong by doing the right thing, so he turned them down.  Aloud, Jarod wonders what Clark's dad taught him.

Jarod awakens from a sleep troubled by the things that he and Daniel Fawk talked about, while waiting for the plane.  He calls Sydney and tells him what happened.  Sydney tries to comfort Jarod by telling him that while we all like to think that we control what happens around us, it's really just an illusion.  Jarod takes more comfort in the sound of Sydney's voice than in anything he says and the conversation quickly ends.

Broots has found that according to the Omaha coroner, Bobby Bowman died 16 years ago - and he was killed by his father.  They could never get a perfect ID on his body because it was both headless and badly decomposed, but it was found in the bed of his father's pick-up truck.  Miss Parker tells Broots to get back to Blue Cove and see what he can find on Lyle's early years at The Centre.  She and Sydney are going to meet Lyle's mother.

Lyle's mother tells Miss Parker and Sydney that Bobby was adopted and that he was a good boy until he was about 15 years old, and then he just seemed to snap.  As she's talking to Miss Parker and Sydney, she's feeding two dogs - but the dogs don't exist.  She goes on to say that, after a while, her husband just couldn't deal with Bobby's mood swings and he felt that Bobby needed discipline, so he started locking Bobby in the shed, out in the back.  She says that she felt that was a little harsh, but her husband told her that the roof didn't leak and there were no "vermin" in the shed - she's momentarily distracted - walks to the door and yells at the dogs that aren't there to stop barking and get inside to eat.  Sydney finds a picture of Lyle with another boy and asks "Bobby's" mother if the boy is Bobby's friend.  She scowls a little and says that his name is Jimmy Radloff, but he died.  She said that it was a sad day for Bobby ... he and Jimmy went hiking one day, but only Bobby came home.  Jimmy just disappeared, without a trace.  She goes on to say that she thinks Jimmy ran away because he came from a terrible family.  She says that "Lyle and I always thought she was daffy as a loon," talking about Jimmy's mother.  "Lyle?" questions Sydney.  She tells them that "Lyle" was her husband's name, although he always insisted that Bobby call him "Mr."

Jarod stops by Angela's apartment.  She's sitting in the dark, on the couch, with a gun next to her.  Jarod tells her that the gun isn't the answer.  Angela tells Jarod that all she ever wanted to do was be a pilot.  Jarod tells her that the findings were only preliminary.  Angela tells him that there will be civil suits and she can't face the families.  Jarod tells her that he doesn't believe the accident to have been caused by her.  He tells her that the people who lost their lives didn't have a choice and asks her not to dishonor their memory by taking her own.  Putting out his hand for the gun, Jarod asks Angela to give him the chance to prove her innocence.  She gives Jarod the gun.

Bobby's mother says that after Jimmy Radloff died, Bobby was uncontrollable.  There was nothing to do but lock him in the shed.  One time, she says, he hit his father with a shovel and she's pretty sure that was what pushed Lyle over the edge into doing what he did - although, she did think that cutting off his head was a bit extreme.  Miss Parker wonders where her husband is now and she tells her that he's in solitary confinement at Topeka penitentiary.  Sydney tells Miss Parker that the shed measures 8 x 10 - same as a prison cell.

On the tarmac at the airport, Jarod approached Mr. Larsen and tells him that he's received a rather disturbing tip that Brandon was using prescription drugs that are not on the FAA authorized list.  Mr. Larsen replies that it's ridiculous.  Jarod says that accusations this serious will still require an investigation.  Mr. Larsen says that there are many pilots wanting to fly for an airline and never enough positions - he wouldn't put it past one of them to make unfounded allegations, just to open up a slot.  Jarod tells him that he has no choice.  Mr. Larsen tells Jarod that he always has a choice.  Jarod tells Mr. Larsen to tell it to the victims of flight 105, and walks away.

As soon as Jarod is out of sight, Larsen calls Clark Thomas and tells him what happened.  Jarod is "capturing" the cell phone call - listening in.  Larsen reminds Clark that he promised to head the investigation off.  Clark tells him that he'll get right on it.

Jarod is working on the voice recorder, demagnetizing it and recovering the data.  He thinks about the conversation that he had with Daniel while the cylinder is demagnetizing.  When it finishes, Jarod is able to understand enough of the recording to hear Angela telling Brandon that she told him to pull the elevators two notches, him apologizing, then Angela screaming at him to pull up, pull up!

In Brandon's room, Jarod uses the recording to wake him up.  Jarod tells him that he knows the truth about the drugs he was taking, about switching the blood tests, about him being the one responsible for the accident.  Brandon tells Jarod that his father just took over and started the "spin control" and no one ever says no to him.  Jarod asks him if he doesn't think that it's time that someone did - then leaves the room.

Miss Parker and Sydney are interviewing Lyle in his prison cell in Kansas.  He says that he hated Bobby, but he didn't kill him.   Lyle tells them that Bobby was fine until the counselor from the adoption agency started showing up when Bobby was about 15.  They spent too much time together, Lyle says.  Sydney notices that the wall is covered with cards that look like the padlock that was on the shed.  Lyle says that it's someone's idea of a sick joke - one has arrived every month since he was incarcerated.  He says he uses them to keep track of time, but last month, they stopped coming.  Miss Parker tells Sydney, under her breath, that it's because Mr. Lyle is dead.

Back at the airport, Jarod is packing a parachute, then doing something to the wing on a small plane.  He tells Diane that he wants her to hear something and plays the tape he recovered for her.  He installs a switch on the plane, then calls Clark Thomas and tells him that there is something he wants to see him about.

The next day Mr. Larsen shows up at the plane where Clark Thomas is waiting to meet Jarod.  He tells both of them that he's uncovered some new evidence about the crash - the kind that you have to see to believe.  He takes off with Clark in the co-pilot's seat.  As they approach the ridge where flight 105 crashed, Jarod asks Clark to take over for a minute, saying he has to go in the back.  As Jarod walks by Larsen, he encourages him to take his seat, so he'll have a better view.  After a quick consultation with Thomas, to make sure there was nothing incriminating left on the mountain, Larsen calls out to Jarod - asking what the flight is all about.  Getting no answer, he looks over his shoulder, into the back of the plane.  There's no one there.  Jarod has parachuted out. 

When Clark tries to pull the plane up to get over the top of the mountain, he finds that he has no lift.  Jarod comes on the radio and tells them that there is a way to fix the problem, but it comes with a price ... the truth about whose fault the crash of flight 105 was.  He reminds them that the voice recorder is taking down what they say and, this time, Clark won't be able to demagnetize it.  With 50 seconds remaining before they hit the mountain, Thomas caves in and admits that he took a bribe from Mr. Larsen to rig the accident report.  Larsen finally admits that he gave the bribe to Thomas and Jarod tells Clark about the toggle switch under his seat.  With seconds to spare, he's able to pull the plane up and over the mountain.  Jarod tells them that there is only enough gas in the tank to get them back to San Diego and there will be a police car waiting for them when they get there.

At the Centre, Miss Parker tells Sydney that she isn't buying his theory about Lyle.  Sydney insists that Miss Parker listen to him - he's certain that what Jarod has been trying to tell them is that Lyle faked his death again and is still alive.  Broots arrives and says that there are no actual Centre files on Lyle - just the date of employment and the date of termination.  However, there is a copy of the Statement of Final Decree of Adoption in his file, with his original name being listed as Bobby Arkham.  Miss Parker is forced to agree that the only reason that paper would be a part of his Centre record is because The Centre arranged for the adoption.  Taking no chances, Miss Parker tells Sydney to get Lyle's body - they'll run a DNA test.  Broots tells Miss Parker that she can't do that, because The Centre had Lyle cremated.

At the Topeka Penitentiary, the original "Mr. Lyle" receives his monthly lock in the mail and puts it up on the wall.

At the hangar in San Diego, Angela Wiley thanks Jarod for saving her life.  Jarod says his final goodbye to Daniel Fawk by going to talk to his parents, to give them back Daniel's things from the plane and to tell them that their son died because he gave him his seat.  Mr. and Mrs. Fawk invite Jarod in, to tell them about the time that he spent with their son.

And the screen fades to white...

Guest Stars:  Lynn Blades (Reporter), Matt Clark (Lyle Bowman), David Denman (???),  Viktoria Fisch (Technician), Dann Florek (Don Larson), Judith Hoag (???), Jeffrey Hutchinson  (???), Linda Janello (Crying Woman), Joel McCrary (Butch), Mary McDonough (Mrs. Falk),  Justine Miceli (Diane Post), Nancy Parsons (???), Lisa Anne Peterson (Airline Rep), James  Pickens, Jr. (Clark Thomas) and Elizabeth Sampson (Kelly)



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