The next scene shows a young boy named Bryce playing a computer game of chess with an on-line opponent whose name is Joshua.  At the end of the game, Bryce asks Joshua if he wants to play another game and Joshua says he will, but suggests a face to face game.  We see Bryce heading somewhere, in the dead of night, on his skateboard.  When he arrives at his destination, he finds a chessboard set up in the middle of of the quad at Peachtree Community College.  Joshua approaches him from behind and Bryce is surprised to find that it's a grown man and not the 8th grade student he expected.  Before Bryce can flee, Joshua kidnaps him and as he drives away with Bryce in his car, the chess board and everything surrounding it blows up behind them.

At the police station, Jarod "Doyle" is packing up to leave ... his pretend to expose the crooked cop who killed his partner finished.  He says that he is heading to Minneapolis and when pictures of his Mother and Father are noted - says that he is hoping to update them soon, because he hasn't seen them in a while.  At the last moment, a call about a 13 year old boy being kidnapped comes through from dispatch and Jarod Doyle decides to stay on and take this one last case.

Jarod goes to Bryce Banks' house, where he learns that Bryce is 13 years old, a straight "A" student and a chess prodigy who is being pushed hard by his father, to stay on top, remain a winner.  Bryce's Mom says that she kissed him goodnight at about 10:30 the night before and when she went in to his room the next morning, Bryce was gone.

At The Centre, Mr. Parker tells Miss Parker that he needs her help.  She starts to sit down to listen to him, but soon realizes that he only wants to talk about Brigitte ... he tells his daughter that he doesn't know what's wrong with Brigitte ... she's been having mood swings, she has changed her hair color again and he found her crying in the shower.   Miss Parker tells her father that she does not know how she can help, but he pleads with her to "reach out" to Brigitte ... woman to woman ... to try to find out what's wrong and to try to make Brigitte feel more "accepted" in to the family.

In Bryce's room, Jarod is talking to his parents.   He tells them that he didn't think that anyone broke in to Bryce's room to "take" him -- no signs of a struggle, no fingerprints other than Bryce's on the window pane.   He shows them a framed picture of Bryce with his father at some chess tournament ... the glass in the frame is cracked and Jarod asks them why Bryce slammed it down hard enough to break the glass before he left (implying that Bryce may have run away).   Bryce's Father denies that there is anything wrong, but his Mother tells Jarod that Bryce wanted to go to a skateboard tournament over the weekend and his Father insisted that he enter the chess tournament instead.   Bryce was not happy with being forced to play by his father.

Miss Parker enters Brigitte's office ... she's going to try to have a womanly heart-to-heart with Brigitte to make her Father happy.   She doesn't see Brigitte, but hears her crying in the bathroom.   Peeking in, Miss Parker sees Brigitte injecting herself in the leg with some substance.  Afterwards, Brigitte stands up, and uses the mirror to erase the signs of having been crying.  Miss Parker returns to Sydney and Broots, without Brigitte having known that she was there.   She explains to them that she thinks Brigitte is a junkie.   Sydney says that her Father will never believe her and Miss Parker says that she will get proof.   Broots makes the mistake of asking her how she plans to do that ... and with one look he knows the terrible answer - he is going to be sent on another "mission" to obtain evidence. 

At the police station, Jarod has met Samantha Waters, a member of the Violent Crimes Task Force, a profiler who has been assigned to help on the case of Bryce Banks because they believe that it is related to several other kidnaping that have taken place over a number of years.   As they go over the records and evidence collected, he offers her a PEZ from a Popeye dispenser (Popeye Doyle - get it?) and she takes one - delighted at the childhood memory that it evokes.

Samantha notices Jarod's red notebook -- and realizes that the notes that are in it are written in a language that Jarod has invented.  She asks him what the writing is and he tells her that it is just something he made up to keep the wrong people from reading his diary.   Samantha is clearly intrigued by this and it's her first inkling that there might be more to Jarod than meets the eye.

She tells Jarod that she thinks that Bryce felt invisible to his Father - that Mr. Banks was pushing Bryce to be something that he never could be ... a star.   Jarod and another Detective go back to the Banks' house and question Bryce's parents about a recent chess game that took place at the Peachtree Community College.  He tells them that he thinks the kidnapper may have been stalking Bryce at that event.   Bryce's Father is irate with this suggestion - the thinks the police are taking the wrong route to find his son and he tells Jarod so.  Bryce's Mother remembers a journalist that seemed odd at the season's first tournament -- he said he wanted to do a feature on Bryce, but Bryce hadn't even made it to the semi-finals yet.   The Detective with Jarod tells the Banks that he'll see what they can track down.

Back at the Centre, Broots sneaks in to Mr. Parker's office.   No one is there, so he heads to the bathroom and retrieves from the trash can, the syringe that Brigitte used to inject herself with something earlier.   As he is getting ready to leave, he realizes that Brigitte and someone else have entered the office.   There's no way out of the bathroom without being seen, so Broots turns off the light and peeks out of the door, trying to see what's going on.   From his vantage point, he can see Brigitte ... she is kneeling in front of Mr. Parker's chair (the chair back prevents Broots from seeing who is sitting in it) and she is saying that "sometimes a girl has to do, what a girl has to do."   Broots is astounded and upset ... he thinks he's watching a "nooner" and he's not happy about it!   He pulls out his cell phone and calls Miss Parker and begs her to "do something" because there are freaky things going on in her Father's office ... things that shouldn't be going on during normal business hours!   In the middle of the conversation he hears Brigitte talking about "cleaning up the mess before it stains the pants" of the chair's occupant -- and he realizes that whoever is in that chair will be coming into the bathroom!!   He hangs up on Miss Parker and hides in the shower and peers out of a tiny space between the glass and the floor . 

He can only see the feet of the man who walks in there, and Broots thinks that it must be Mr. Parker, until the person drops a handkerchief and when he reaches down to retrieve it, Broots sees that the hand of the man in the bathroom is clad in a red glove ... without a thumb!! 

It is not Mr. Parker at all ... it's Lyle!!   Brigitte calls to him to "hurry up" saying that "it's kind of hard to finish this without you."  As he takes a last look at himself in the mirror, Lyle replies saying,  "If your husband finds us in his office, we'll both be finished."

Using some forms he filled out at the tournament, Jarod and the other Detective were able to track the journalist, Joshua Meyers, to his home.   The living room is a shrine, dedicated to Bryce Banks.   A gunfight ensues, but in the end, Jarod is able to subdue Meyers physically.   To everyone's surprise, he does not fit the description of the man who is thought to have abducted Bryce ... when Jarod asks him what he has done with Bryce, he will only reply that "His name is Joshua.  He is my brother now."

Meanwhile, Bryce is being held somewhere else by the man who abducted him.   The man is subjecting Bryce to brainwashing techniques.   One of the many messages that appear on the large screen in front of Bryce is, "My name is Joshua."

At the police station Samantha Waters tells Jarod that she has been going over the case files and she thinks now that there may be two kidnappers.   She realizes that the man they picked up, Joshua Meyers is actually one of the boys that was kidnapped years before.  Somehow he has been re-programmed to think that his name is Joshua Meyers. 

As he hands over Brigitte's used syringe to Miss Parker, Broots is explaining what he thinks he saw happening in Mr. Parker's office to both her and Sydney.    He tells Miss Parker that he has both good and bad news.   The good news is that Brigitte is a lot happier.   The bad news is that it is Mr. Lyle who is making her that way.   Miss Parker doesn't understand, so Broots tries to explain it to her in his usual shy way.   Sydney asks Broots if he is absolutely certain, and Broots tells him that he's really only about 82% certain since he never saw the actual act.   Miss Parker is appalled at the thought of Brigitte and her brother doing something like this behind her Father's back and says that it will certainly break his heart to find out about it.

Jarod questions Joshua Meyers, shows him the picture of himself as a child and tells him that his name is not Joshua ... it is Theodore Reed.   But "Joshua" has been living his new identity for too long and cannot accept this.  He speaks about "Father" and about how Father's sons who go into the woods never come back out.  He is unable to say anything past that.   On the other side of the two-way mirror, Samantha Waters is watching the questioning and is quietly prompting Jarod regarding what to ask.  In spite of the fact that he cannot hear her, Jarod follows the same line of questioning that Samantha is advising.   It's a strange and freaky phenomenon - something that isn't lost on Samantha.

Afterwards, Jarod and Samantha discuss the interrogation and why it couldn't and didn't progress any farther than it did.   Once again, Jarod begins finishing Samantha's sentences regarding why Joshua Meyers "shuts down" when asked difficult questions.  She is clearly growing more curious about Jarod Doyle with every statement he makes.   Samantha and Jarod agree that whoever is really behind the kidnappings is probably brainwashing Bryce now ... and if Bryce fails to measure up, is able to resist the brainwashing, in 26 hours, he is going to end up dead in some woods - like all of the other children who were kidnapped by the same person over the past dozen years.  Time is running out.   They need to find Bryce quickly and both Jarod and Samantha are acutely aware of that.

Again, Samantha speaks to Bailey, her boss at the Violent Crimes Task Force.   She asks him to try another type of search to see if any or all of the missing boys had something in common.  This time, she wants him to search to see if any or all of the boys felt themselves to be "invisible" to their real Fathers ... if they were having problems relating as Father and son. 

In his room, Jarod is watch a DSA of himself and Raines ... Jarod has just won a chess match and Raines is expressing his pleasure with Jarod's performance.   Jarod asks, if having won, it will mean that he can see his parents again.   Raines tells him that it has already been explained to Jarod and that "we're your family now."  He goes on to tell Jarod that he almost thinks of him as a son ... and lightly caresses Jarod's face to drive the point home.   Even watching the DSA is clearly making Jarod angry and sick.   His viewing of it is interrupted by a loud knock at his door and he closes up the DSA player and goes to see who it is.

Jarod opens the door and is surprised to find Samantha Waters there.   After some awkward moments on the threshold, he finally invites her in.   His room is sparsely furnished and is in a state of mild disarray.   Samantha notices ... Jarod sees that she notices ... tries to explain it away by saying that he is "in between" places right now, so nothing has really been organized.   Samantha brushes off the excuse and tells Jarod that she is only curious about one thing ... she wants to know why Jarod has been lying.

Jarod feigns innocence - pretends to not understand what she is talking about.   Samantha goes on to say that when she watched the tape of Jarod's interrogation with Joshua, she could see the connection ... a child ... taken from his family ... confused ...   Jarod still admits nothing - says that the interrogation couldn't progress any farther than it did because Joshua was programmed to shut down.   Samantha begins to talk about Jarod's room ... she says that he has his whole life laid out around him.   She is right ... all over are the signs of Jarod's freedom ... a can of Clay-Doh, a Mr. Potato Head figure, PEZ dispensers ... Jarod tries to write it off to a classic displaced childhood.   Samantha isn't buying that.   Jarod becomes more abrupt and tells her that his life has no bearing on the case.  In an attempt to keep Jarod dialoguing, Samantha tells him that her Mother died when she was very young and her Father was never around.   She was, she says, raised by her best friend's family.   She asks Jarod if he was raised by foster parents.  He replies that you might call them that.   Samantha asks him why this case is so important to him.   Jarod says that he is just dedicated.   Samantha thinks that Jarod is more like Joshua than he would like to admit and tell him that.   Jarod gives her a long stare, but says nothing.

Bryce's kidnapper is on the phone, talking to "Father," telling him that his new son is almost ready.   Bryce tells the kidnapper that his name is "Joshua" but he's not as brainwashed as he appears to be and take the first opportunity to try to escape.  He doesn't get away ... and his kidnapper tells him that if "Father" rejects him, he will be taken to the woods and he will never, ever, come out again.

Jarod is interrogating Joshua Meyers again and Samantha is watching the process intently from the other side of the two-way mirror.   Jarod is telling Joshua that his new Father gave him all of the things that he wanted but didn't get from his real Father ... but that to please his new Father Joshua was made to kidnap other innocent children and take them into the woods to die.   Joshua is shutting down, he can't cope with this information. 

Miss Parker goes to see her Father, to tell him about what she thinks has been going on between Brigitte and Lyle.   When she gets to his office, she finds him  celebrating  something with Brigitte and Lyle.   She tries to get him to speak with her privately, but he resists, saying there are no secrets among family.   Just as she is about to tell him everything, Sydney and Broots enter the room and tell her that it is urgent that they speak to her, alone, outside.   Once there, Broots tells her that he checked the contents of the syringe that Brigitte was using.  Sydney tells her that it contained a fertility drug!   She goes back in her Father's office only to find that he has some "happy" news that he wants to share with her ... Brigitte has just told him that they are going to have a baby!   Mr. Parker tells Miss Parker that these are "happy days."   But it is obvious that Miss Parker is far from overjoyed.   She steps up, until she is face to face with her Father, and even he can see that something is not right ... the smile disappears from his face as he listens to his daughter whisper, "Happy days indeed."

Jarod has managed to get the Joshua that is being held a the police station to reveal the location where Bryce was being held.   The police burst in ... only to find it abandoned.   Jarod sees the word "Rejected" flashing on the screen that was used to attempt to brainwash Bryce and screams for everyone to find the woods ... he knows that Bryce's time has finally run out!   The police and Jarod arrive in the woods just as the kidnapper is about to cut Bryce's throat.   While the police distract him by holding him at gunpoint and yelling at him to drop the knife, Jarod comes up from behind him and yanks him away from Bryce, who he was using as a human shield.   Jarod and the kidnapper roll down the hill and Jarod begins to beat the man and does not stop until he is pulled off by the Detective.  Bryce is safe and Jarod runs to him, holding him and telling him that "it's okay."

Bryce is playing in the finals of a chess tournament.   Jarod is watching and Bryce's Mother comes up to him and tells him that they cannot thank him enough for giving them a second chance with their son.   She is hoping that Bryce's Father will begin to appreciate Bryce more as a son, with other interests than chess.   Bryce wins the tournament and seems to enjoy doing it.

At the police station both of the Joshua's are being taken away to spend some time in a mental hospital.   Samantha tells Jarod that their families will be seeing them later - that 10 years is a long time.  Jarod tells her that a child never forgets the people who love him, causing Samantha to give him another questioning look.  The question is, Jarod goes on ... Who is Father?

Meanwhile the two Joshua's are taken to a van that will transport them to the mental facility.  One of the Joshua's asks the other what will become of them now.   The other Joshua answers that they no longer matter ... only Father matters and he is out there, waiting to rebuild his family. 

And the screen fades to black for the end of The Pretender segment ....

The Profiler synopsis is bare bones, and done from memory ... which means that there is a lot left out of it and that some parts may not even be entirely accurate.  I'll vouch for the gist, but I won't go any farther than that.   Just as I got to this part, my VCR not only ceased to play, it refused to let me remove the tape from it!   I thought I was very clever ... because the last time I had problems, I purchased a "back-up" VCR and have had it all ready to go ever since - as protection against my usual one failing to work.   It never occurred to me that my original VCR would fail to cough up the tape!!  A back-up VCR, without a tape to play in it, doesn't do a lot of good ... Oh, well, since this synopsis is for Pretender fans and not Profiler fans, the short recap should be enough to tell you how the story ends ... there was no Centre involvement in this portion and very little from Jarod, so you won't be missing much Pretender related information.

During The Profiler segment, in the mental institution, before their families have arrived ... both Joshuas wake up in the middle of the night, at precisely the same moment.   From false molars, they each extract a potassium cyanide tablet and break it with their teeth.   Both die almost immediately.

Samantha thinks that Bryce is doing a little too well, adjusting after his ordeal.   Over his Father's objections, she questions him, tells him to call her if he needs her.   His parents have taken away his modem, so they feel that he is now safe.   Since "Father" is still out there, however, Samantha and her group aren't so sure.

Meanwhile, Bryce's real Father is pushing him again ... wanting him to practice, practice, practice for chess tournament after chess tournament, and Bryce is no happier than he was before.   He checks the mail, opens an envelope that is apparently addressed to him, sees something that triggers some hidden memory and leaves the house.

Giving in to his wife's plea to be less of a taskmaster to Bryce and more of a Father, Mr. Banks grabs a basketball and goes outside, calling to Bryce to come out and "make some baskets with him."   He gets his answer in the form of an explosion that turns Bryce's room into a memory.

After much investigation, Samantha and her group are fairly certain that Bryce was not in the room at the time of the explosion.   An ATM withdrawal gives them a clue regarding where Bryce has gone ... he has gone to "Father."   Once he arrives, Father spends time doing all the things that Bryce likes to do and waits until Bryce brings up the fact that there is work to be done and that perhaps they should be doing it.  Father agrees and puts Bryce to work, attempting to hack his way into secret CIA files.

Bryce eventually succeeds and finds the case files for an old project that dealt with brainwashing.  Father asks him to continue the work and to find out where all of the people in that project are now.   Bryce does this and soon after we see him standing behind one of the people from the project, waiting to get into an elevator.  Bryce enters the elevator with the man, leaves a shopping bag by the man's feet and then steps out, just before the doors close.   Moments later, the elevator is blown to bits, killing everyone in it.

Samantha and her team have been alerted to the fact that Bryce has hacked the CIA computers and realize that Father is planning to kill all of the people related to the project that was exposed by the hacking.   Aside from the man killed in the elevator, there are only 3 more people left alive - one other member having died before.   Two of the men from the project meet in an abandoned parking lot, late one night, and while they are talking about their peril, Father flips a switch and blows up the car in which they were meeting.

Meanwhile, Jarod has exhumed the body of the team member who supposedly died earlier, only to find that in the casket is the body of a child ... about the same age as Bryce.   He and Samantha determine that the team member who should have been in that casket was about to go public about the brainwashing experiments they were working on and that someone sent him a letter bomb in order to silence him ... except he didn't open the letter bomb - his son, Joshua, did.   He let everyone believe that it was he who died, in order to be left alone long enough to plot his revenge.

Working on finding the identity of the last remaining member of the team, they discover the man to be Bryce's real Father!   This explains why the kidnapper and murderer, known as Father, wanted Bryce and eventually got him.  He wanted the child of the man who was the head of the team.   He has planted a bomb in Bryce's real Father's house and plans to have Bryce set it off, then, perhaps, keep Bryce as his own son.

Father's whereabouts are made known and everyone arrives, just as Father is trying to get Bryce to press the button that will kill his own parents.   Samantha talks Bryce out of pressing the button and Father is captured.

Bryce is returned to his family, but before Jarod or Samantha's group can question Mr. Banks to find out about the project that caused all of this, a car arrives and the man inside of it talks to Bailey.   After the conversation, an angry Bailey tells his team that they must let the Banks family go - there's nothing he can do about it.   On cue, Bryce and his parents walk over to the waiting car, which drives away - leaving everything behind and no clues regarding where the family will be relocated.   Obviously, Mr. Banks is still working for some secret government organization -- trying to perfect the brainwashing techniques that could be used for creating, for example, the perfect solider.

Later, one of Samantha's team gives her a computer disk, which has information on it that he says might be helpful to Jarod in locating his family.   Samantha takes the disk and returns to the place where she last saw Jarod ... but it is empty and clean ... Jarod has disappeared as effectively as the Banks family.   Samantha holds the disk in her hand, having been unable to give it to Jarod ...

As the screen fades to black ....

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