The Pretender was created by Steven Long Mitchell & Craig W. Van Sickle
Jarod, an extraordinary individual capable of assuming anyone’s identity, escapes from a mysterious corporation called The Centre, which isolated him at an early age and exploited his genius. Now, Jarod aids those who have been wronged. In this episode, he gives surgeons who crippled a young boy a taste of their own medicine. Inside a simple hotel room, Jarod watches a DSA of himself as a young boy when he was a prisoner inside the Centre. Young Sydney looks into the camera and remarks that Jarod has demonstrated more talent than any of the other Pretenders. Shortly thereafter, Young Jarod asks Sydney about his mother and father.
In the present day, on the deck of the Martha Cook, Miss Parker and Sydney quiz the first mate about Jarod, who had been impersonating a sea captain in his effort to expose a company that contaminated an Aleut village by dumping chemicals at sea. Meanwhile, inside Queen of Angels hospital, Jarod, now Dr. Jarod Russell, comes to the aid of a young girl who swallowed a marble. He performs an emergency tracheotomy, saves the girl’s life and wins the respect of Gwen, a head nurse. Later, Jarod meets with Dr. Miles Hendricks, who runs the hospital, and Dr. Alan Trader, Chief of Surgery.
Back at the Centre, Miss Parker tells Sydney that Jarod’s ATM account is being monitored, and as a result, the Centre will be able to pinpoint his whereabouts when he makes a transaction. While searching Jarod’s quarters, Miss Parker happens upon an origami figure, which Jarod deliberately left behind as a clue to his motivation. Miss Parker identifies the figure as Onisius, the Greek god of retribution, who defends the weak and abused. Parker realizes Jarod sees himself as a vigilante out to protect the weak.
At the hospital, Jarod asks a young nurse, Nicole, to run a complete diagnostic test on a vial containing his own blood. Later, he also befriends an elderly Greek woman, Mrs. Nikkos, who suffers from constipation and hates hospitals and doctors. Jarod cancels Mrs. Nikkos’ surgery and has her drink some herb tea instead. At the Centre, Miss Parker grows excited when the head technician informs her that Jarod made an ATM transaction in Sante Fe, New Mexico. But it soon becomes clear that Jarod scrambled the ATM tracking system, making it impossible to pinpoint his whereabouts.
At the hospital, Jarod asks Andy, an x-ray technician, to look at a set of x-rays. Andy reacts with confusion, as the x-rays are of Kevin Bailey, a young patient of Dr. Trader’s who is confined to a wheelchair. It becomes apparent that the pre-op and post-op x-rays are identical: Both show a severing of the boy’s spinal cord. Andy finds this puzzling, as it means that someone copied the post-op x-ray and labeled it “pre-op.”
While relaxing with Hendricks and Trader at a fitness club bar, Jarod notices that Dr. Hendricks takes medication for a heart condition. The topic of conversation shifts to the hospital’s malpractice problems. Jarod mentions the Kevin Bailey case, which Trader quickly labels a “witch hunt” on the part of the media. Later, Jarod contacts Sydney by phone. He tells him he fled the Centre after he learned that his simulations were being used for nefarious purposes. As a result, many innocent lives were lost. Sydney claims these were military contracts and he had no way of knowing their ultimate application.
With his ATM account frozen, Jarod manipulates the stock exchange and makes off with five million dollars of the Centre’s money. Later, Jarod approaches Trader and tells him he may have made a serious error during surgery and inadvertently left a hemo inside a patient. Trader describes a solution that will allow Jarod to remove it without informing the patient, saving the hospital from potential litigation.
Jarod stages a phony fire inside the hotel where Sydney and Miss Parker are staying. During the confusion, Jarod, disguised as a fireman, approaches Sydney. He gives him instructions on how to retrieve the five million dollars but demands he be told the truth about his parents. Sydney assures Jarod that both his parents died in a plane crash. But Jarod informs him that a lab test shows a genetic anomaly in his blood something not present in his parents’ blood. As a result, it is impossible that he is their son. Sydney then claims he has only repeated the story the Centre fed him and he has no idea who Jarod really is. Suddenly, Miss Parker appears. Jarod escapes via an elevator.
Jarod discovers that Gwen has a prison record. He confronts her for the truth about what happened to Kevin Bailey. It turns out that Trader, an alcoholic, severed Kevin’s spinal cord when he moved him. Dr. Hendricks covered up the incident and threatened to expose Gwen’s past if she didn’t go along with the story. Gwen gave the pre-op x-rays to Hendricks, who made her promise to keep quiet about there existence.
After spiking Dr. Hendricks’ bottled drinking water with a substance that simulates a heart attack, Jarod arranges to play racquetball with Hendricks. When the doctor complains of chest pains, he is rushed to the emergency room, where Jarod pages Dr. Trader. Meanwhile, Miss Parker informs Sydney that she managed to pinpoint Jarod’s location at Queen of Angels Hospital. Fearing that Trader is too inebriated to perform the operation, Miles begs Jarod to step in. Jarod agrees to do so, with the proviso Trader reveal the location of Kevin Bailey’s pre-op x-rays. Once Jarod learns there whereabouts, he turns the operation over to a drunken Trader. A terrified Miles protests. When Jarod exits the room, he reports Trader as being drunk and asks Nicole to call security. Miss Parker and Sydney arrive at the hospital and begin searching the hospital rooms. Mrs. Nikkos tells them that a man just ran up the fire escape. Miss Parker gives chase not knowing Mrs. Nikkos lied. Jarod escapes and, impersonating an airline pilot, flies to San Diego.
Young Jarod | Kri kraw toad’s foot, geese walk barefoot. Kri kraw toad’s foot, geese walk barefoot. I finished my building. I’m finished! |
Sydney | This one has only been with us for only thirty-six hours and he’s already demonstrating more talent than any of our others. |
Young Jarod | Hey I’m finished. |
Sydney | Hi Jarod. I’m Sydney. I’ll be taking care of you for a while. |
Young Jarod | Why? Where’s my mom and dad? |
There are extraordinary individuals among us known as PRETENDERS. Geniuses with the ability to insinuate themselves into any walk of life, to literally become anyone. In 1963 a corporation called the Centre isolated one such PRETENDER, a young boy named Jarod. Locked in a controlled environment they exploited his genius for their “unofficial” research. Then one day, their PRETENDER ran away. | |
Sailor | Ma’am, the materials on board are highly explosive. |
Miss Parker | So am I. |
Sailor | I never agreed with the company about flushing our tanks at sea. I knew those chemicals had to be doing something nasty. Yeah, I’m glad Captain Jarod turned us in. You know I, uh, kind of miss the guy. Although, uh, he was a little weird. Everything with him was always twenty questions. And always the same subject. |
Miss Parker | Which was? |
Sailor | People |
Miss Parker | This belong to Curious George? |
Sailor | Yeah. Everything’s just as he left it. The company made sure of that. Say, uh, are you pulling my cork about Jarod not really being a captain? |
Miss Parker | Thank you for your help. |
Sydney | What is it? |
Miss Parker | Articles about that Aleut village where everyone was getting sick from the contaminated fish. |
Sydney | Hmm. |
Miss Parker | He must have been in quite a hurry leaving all this behind. |
Sydney | It’s got to be intentional. A breadcrumb. He’s trying to keep me close. |
Miss Parker | Your little monster needs his teddy bear, huh Sydney? |
Sydney | Jarod is not a monster. |
Miss Parker | Call him what you want Dr. Frankenstein. Just tell me where he is. |
Sydney | I don’t know where he is Miss Parker but I’m afraid I know what he’s up to. |
Nurse | Sir, don’t do this. Lie down. |
Son | Excuse me. Excuse me. My mother’s here for her exploratory. |
Gwen | You’re in the wrong place. You want admitting. Speak English honey. |
Son | She won’t speak English. |
Jarod | She says she doesn’t want to be cut open. She doesn’t trust doctors. I don’t blame her. |
Gwen | End of the hall. |
Paramedic | She swallowed a marble! BP’s 80 over 40! Pulse is 110. Rapid and thready. She’s cyanotic. |
Gwen | Okay! Get Doctor Shapiro. |
Nurse | He’s in OR 3. |
Gwen | Then page Doctor Trader! Okay, hold on sweetie, you’ll be fine. Nicole get ENT. Stat! Alright fellows let’s go. Let’s go. Move it. |
Nicole | Dr. Trader to OR 3! |
Gwen | 1 … 2 … 3 Hyper extend her head. Where the hell is Trader? |
Nicole | I’ve paged him but he’s not answering. |
Nurse | Her pressure’s falling! |
Jarod | Get me a 3cc size syringe and a size A ET Tube. |
Gwen | Get security to get this man out of here! What the hell do you think you’re doing? |
Nurse | She’s going into respiratory arrest! |
Jarod | She’s not breathing. Would you like to do the trach? |
Nurse | O2 set right down. |
Jarod | Prepare to ventilate. |
Gwen | NO! Get security!. Get a doctor! |
Jarod | I am a doctor. |
Security | What’s the problem Gwen? … Gwen? |
Swen | Leave him be. |
Jarod | Give me the syringe, remove the plunger. Give me the top of the et tube. Bag. |
Hendricks | What the hell is going on here? |
Nurse | Air entry on both sides of the chest. She’s pinking up. |
Jarod | Now that’s a nice sound. |
Jarod | Well, I hope I didn’t cause too much confusion this morning. |
Hendricks | Don’t apologize; you saved a life. |
Gwen | Oh, Dr. Hendricks, I need your signature on lines ten and fourteen please. |
Hendricks | FYI Russell. If you need anything done around here ask Gwen. I may run this place but she is the boss. |
Gwen | Thank you doctors. |
Trader | Miles. Sorry. I’m late. |
Hendricks | Dr. Jarod Russell, Dr. Alan Trader, Chief of Surgery. |
Jarod | Nice to meet you. |
Trader | I hear I missed you in action this morning doctor. |
Hendricks | Never seen a trach like that before. Is that a new procedure they’re teaching at Hopkins? |
Jarod | Well, actually I read it in a book. |
Hendricks | Well, wherever you learned it I appreciate you standing in for me like that. I don’t know what happened to my damn beeper but uh, won’t happen again. Brand new. Even takes messages. |
Hendricks | Please, sit down. Well your record at Hopkins was impeccable. We are honored to have you on board. |
Trader | Not many doctors with your credentials come to a hospital as small as ours. Why Queen of Angels? |
Jarod | Well I could tell you it was for the career opportunity but the truth is that you were the only hospital offering stock options. And rumour has it that you might be purchased by an HMO. |
Hendricks | We’ve been talking to some people. |
Trader | Don’t worry Russell. Stick with us and you’ll be driving a new Lexus in no time. |
Hendricks | But onto more important business. Do you play racquetball? |
Jarod | I’ve heard of it. |
Hendricks | Good. Good. We’ll have a game. Well welcome to Queen of Angels. We are thrilled to have you. |
Jarod | It’s a pleasure to be here. |
Miss Parker | Imagine my excitement at being recalled from Corporate. Only you could have created a mess big enough to put me back in the field. |
Sydney | I am thrilled to be working with you as well. |
Miss Parker | Hmmm, not for long. We’ve tagged Jarod’s account in Anchorage. He uses an ATM anywhere, and he’s ours. |
Sydney | Don’t underestimate him. If we’re to catch him we’ll need to be patient. |
Miss Parker | Look Syd, you may be satisfied in your laboratory probing small minds to solve big problems, but I have career goals that don’t include schlepping across the country chasing after Boy Wonder. |
Sydney | You were such a happy little girl. What happened to you? |
Miss Parker | I grew up Sydney. So should you. |
Sydney | This is a waste of energy. I’ve been through Jarod’s room a thousand times. |
Miss Parker | I haven’t. |
Sydney | What are you hoping to find? |
Miss Parker | He left a breadcrumb on the tanker and I’ll bet he left one here. Run the sim. |
Sydney | This is Jarod’s last project. When the black box on this flight wasn’t recovered he simulated the final moments of the crash. And using his innate pretender skills Jarod effectively became each member of the cockpit crew and pinpointed the cause of the crash for our clients. |
Miss Parker | Hell of an environment you keep him in, Syd. And with input like this we will find him masquerading as a postal worker. |
Sydney | He doesn’t masquerade. He’s a pretender. He becomes anything he wants to be. |
Miss Parker | Well the Centre should have stuck to computers for their simulations. They don’t run away. |
Sydney | But they’re not human. They can’t tell you how the crew was feeling as the aircraft lost power, how their emotions contributed to their fate. Jarod can. |
Miss Parker | Very very clever. Do you know what this is? |
Sydney | An origami angel but I haven’t figured out the emotional connection to him yet. |
Miss Parker | It’s not an angel. It’s wings are bent. It’s Onisius. The Greek god of retribution. He defends the weak and abused. |
Sydney | I’m impressed. How come you know so much about Greek lore? |
Miss Parker | I did a lot of frat boys in college. Here’s your breadcrumb Sydney. Your sociopath thinks he is some kind of vigilante getting even for the little guy. |
Jarod | St. Andrews Middle School, Queens. |
Ice cream vendor | It tastes better before it melts. |
Jarod | Oh right. This is good. This is really very good! Do they whip air into it to fluff it up? |
Ice cream vendor | I don’t make it pal. I just serve it. |
Boys Playing | Come on! Shoot it! Shoot it! |
Jarod | Now, this is fascinating. They, they win money by guessing word puzzles? |
Homeless Man | You’ve never seen Wheel of Fortune? What rock you been living under? |
Jarod | Uh, I’ve been busy. The Courtship of Miles Standish. |
Homeless Man 2 | Hey! We got us a little situation here. Uh, the ATM says that your bank account in Alaska has been frozen. No pun. Now maybe you’re happy but I’m out a Benjy for my efforts. |
Jarod | Did you do what I asked? |
Homeless Man 2 | My friend, it was an Oscar winning performance. |
Jarod | Thank you. |
Homeless Man 2 | You give me a c-note for finding out you’re broke? |
Jarod | We had an agreement. |
Homeless Man 2 | Hey, whatever sends you. Say, you know where to find me if you need me, huh? |
Jarod | Just a second. Come in. |
Nicole | Good morning Dr. Russell. Sorry to bother you. But could you go and talk to the Greek lady. She yells at everyone that goes into her room. No one understands what she’s saying. |
Jarod | Okay. I’ll be right there. Nicole. Do me a favour. Have the lab run a complete diagnostic testing on this. Put a rush on it. |
Nicole | Sure. |
Jarod | Thank you. |
Mrs. Nikkos | You a doctor? |
Jarod | I am today. You speak English. |
Mrs. Nikkos | When I feel like it. And I don’t need no operation. Hey. |
Jarod | This hurts doesn’t it? |
Mrs. Nikkos | Hell, yes. I haven’t gone for weeks. |
Jarod | Well you need to relax. |
Mrs. Nikkos | How can I relax with all these tests? And now they want to cut me open. |
Jarod | Okay if you don’t want surgery, I’ll cancel it. |
Mrs. Nikkos | No surgery? |
Jarod | No, we’re going to try something else. |
Mrs. Nikkos | You’re no doctor. You are human being. Mm-hmmm. |
Miss Parker | Sandy, make my day. |
Sandy | We have an ATM hit on Jarod’s Anchorage account. |
Miss Parker | Some genius. |
Sandy | Satellite feed should be up in … two seconds. He’s in Santa Fe, New Mexico. |
Miss Parker | Call the hangar and get the jet ready. |
Sandy | No, hold it! He’s not in Santa Fe. He’s in Rome, no, Luxembourg. |
Miss Parker | The little S.O.B. has scrambled the ATM system. |
Tech | Miami, Philadelphia, Barcelona. |
Miss Parker | Hello Jarod. |
Gwen | You cancelled Mrs. Nikkos’ surgery. |
Jarod | Yes I did. |
Gwen | Fine. You’re the doctor. As long as I don’t get blamed for anything. |
Jarod | And now I would like to try her on a herb tea called Cassia Senna. |
Gwen | Doctor, this is Queens. We don’t do tea. |
Jarod | We do now. And I would like the key to radiology please. |
Gwen | Well, Andy’s out to lunch but… |
Jarod | I know. |
Gwen | There you are. |
Jarod | Thank you. |
Gwen | Hi! |
Boy | Hi Momma. |
Gwen | How you doin’ little sugar baby? Ohhh, there he is. Bring Mommy lunch today? |
Boy | Guess what it is. |
Gwen | I’m hoping for tuna fish or peanut butter. |
Jarod | I could use a hand with these, that is if you have one free. |
Nicole | Oh God. It’s Doctor Russell. |
Andy | Dr. Russell? |
Jarod | I’m new. |
Andy | I’m, uh, embarrassed; but um, always a, always happy to help doc. Uh now. I don’t understand. Kevin Bailey is Doctor Trader’s patient. Any special reason you’re looking at these? |
Jarod | Any special reason that you’re in here half naked? I can be forgetful if you can. |
Andy | All right. Your problem is right here at the T-eighth. The eighth thoracic vertebrae was crushed severing his spinal cord; kid never had a chance. |
Jarod | No, that I understand; but look here. Now this is the pre-op and this is the post-op x-ray, but both of them are identical. How is that possible? |
Andy | It’s not. Someone must have made a duplicate of the post-op x- ray. You see that fogging in the corner there. The old processor we keep in the basement does that. I spilled some soda on it when I first started working here. The new processor’s fog-free. |
Nicole | Why would someone make a copy of a post-op x-ray and label it pre-op? |
Jarod | Makes you wonder. |
DSA 31 Oct, 70 | |
Young Jarod | I’m on the last flight of stairs; terrified of what I am about to do. My heart’s pounding. My hands are sweating. I can hardly hold onto the package I told everyone was curtain rods … Sydney is it possible for kids to forget their parents? |
Sydney | Keep your mind focused Jarod. Concentrate on the simulation. |
Young Jarod | As I near the window, I can here the sounds of the crowd rising from below. I can see them coming. How fast are they going Sydney? |
Sydney | Forty miles per hour. You know that. |
Young Jarod | My mouth’s dry. My hands are shaking. I raise the Mannlicher carbine. I can’t fire enough shots before the car goes under the overpass. I can’t. I can’t do this alone. He wasn’t alone. |
Jarod | He had to have help. Trader wasn’t alone either Sydney. |
Jarod | Good one. |
Hendricks | Good game. |
Trader | Don’t let it bother you. He never lets anyone win. |
Hendricks | At least Jarod’s competitive. |
Trader | He’s young. |
Hendricks | And you’re lazy. |
Trader | Yeah, well, there is that. |
Jarod | Calsix. You have a heart problem? |
Trader | Miles is a type A time bomb. Two heart attacks. One more and its bypass time. |
Hendricks | Which is why I play racquetball. And I need a refill. |
Trader | So do I. It’s my day off. You exercise your way. I’ll exercise mine. |
Hendricks | So, Jarod does Queen of Angels get a passing grade? |
Jarod | Absolutely. Frankly I expected there to be more fallout from the malpractice problems. |
Hendricks | Unfortunately that’s the cost of doing business. We’ve had our share of difficulties but I would put Queen of Angel’s record up against any hospital in the country. |
Jarod | Are you sure there’s no hidden land mines? Even with the Kevin Bailey case? |
Hendricks | Well, that was a tragedy, but lets face it. An orphan boy in a wheel chair make for sensational headlines. |
Trader | It was a damn witch hunt! |
Hendricks | Yes, once the frenzy died down the truth took over and we were exonerated. That is all behind us now. |
Kevin | Get serious. |
Jarod | It’s good. |
Kevin | Hasn’t anyone ever told you? You talk to strangers you end up on milk cartons. |
Jarod | My name’s Jarod. It tastes better before it melts. Your hands still cramp up when you wheel? |
Kevin | What would you know about it? |
Jarod | I have a good imagination. It’s gonna get better, I promise. |
Secretary | Sir, there’s a Shreve Harmon calling on line seven. |
Sydney | Shreve and Harmon built the Empire State Building. Put him through and trace the call. Very clever Jarod. Are you alright? |
Jarod | I’m broke. You froze my bank account. |
Sydney | I must have just missed you in Cincinnati. The flowers were still fresh. |
Jarod | Well my parents had been dead for thirty years, I figured it was time I said goodbye. |
Sydney | I want you to come home. |
Jarod | Huh, now there’s an interesting way of putting it. Home. |
Sydney | Why did you leave? |
Jarod | You’re the shrink Sydney. You want the truth? It’s because of the lies. Your lies. |
Sydney | What lies? |
Jarod | I found out the real application of my simulations Sydney. South Pacific Fleet simulation 118. You took my results and blew a ship out of the water. 133 people were on board. My outbreak simulation? You used it in the field. 46 people died of the Ebola virus Sydney! Simulation 27. Simulation 16. Simulation 42! |
Sydney | Jarod these were military contracts. I had no way of finding out about their ultimate application. |
Jarod | How many people died because of what I thought up? |
Sydney | You need to come home. I’m worried about you. I’ve been walking around your room and it feels … empty. |
Jarod | Well I can’t say I miss it. And by the way, ice cream is good. |
Sydney | Jarod this is getting serious. They brought in Miss Parker. |
Jarod | Uh oh. Well you’d better watch your back too Sydney. |
Sydney | What are you doing Jarod? |
Jarod | Using the skills you taught me. |
Tech 1 | I’m completely locked out here. I got nothin’. |
Tech 2 | Are you getting anything at all? |
Tech 1 | No, let me try a new access code. |
Miss Parker | Talk to me. |
Sandy | We’ve been locked out. Our client hired us to see if the Stock Exchange was vulnerable to manipulation. |
Sydney | Jarod spent four months on this simulation. |
Miss Parker | What’s the problem? |
Sandy | The client gave us 5 million to test Jarod’s results. |
Sydney | Jarod knew today was the day of the test. |
Tech 1 | Everything was going to plan until someone on the floor started to manipulate the markets. He’s stolen our five million. |
Miss Parker | Gee, I wonder who that could be? |
Sydney | Well at least we know where he is. |
Mrs. Nikkos | That’s some kind medicine you got there. I’m likely to laugh myself dead before I poop. |
Jarod | Laughter is very good medicine and so is reflexology. Nicole, massage these marks would you please. Thanks. |
Mrs. Nikkos | You gonna tell me the truth? |
Jarod | What truth? |
Mrs. Nikkos | A man who gives me the sun, who massages my feets and gives me stinky tea. Who are you? Oh so much sadness … and so much joy. |
Miss Parker | Comforting to know there are only 137 hospitals in the Metropolitan New York area. |
Clerk | Your rooms have been prepaid Miss Parker. |
Miss Parker | Prepaid? |
Clerk | In cash and the gentleman left this. |
Miss Parker | Not a word. |
Jarod | Alan. Hey! |
Trader | Jarod. Hi! Hi! Denise, I’ll have another ginger ale please. |
Jarod | Make that two ginger ales. |
Denise | Okay. |
Trader | Well, either you’ve just been mugged or it’s been one hell of a shift. |
Jarod | Four gun shot wounds, a lobectomy and a ruptured spleen. And I’m only half way through. Alan, I think I might have screwed up today. Really screwed up. |
Homeless Man 2 | Hey! How you doing? Yeah! I’m okay. Hey look, is this Trader’s exchange? Good. I gotta get a message to him. Yeah! |
Trader | So, what’s the trouble? |
Jarod | The lobectomy. I think I left a hemo inside when I sewed her up. |
Trader | No problem. |
Jarod | No problem? Do you think that’s going to make the HMO happy? |
Trader | Check her chart. If the white count is spiked you found your hemo. |
Jarod | Well, then what? |
Trader | Take it out. Tell her you found some internal bleeding. Hey, you’re the doctor. Ah! Always count on it happening on your lunch break, huh? Um. I’ve gotta get back. |
Jarod | Well thank you for the advice Alan. |
Trader | Yeah. |
Jarod | Come in. |
Nicole | Oh good you’re still here. The lab report on that blood workup you asked for. |
Jarod | Thank you. |
Nicole | Sure. |
DSA | |
Sydney | This one’s been with us for only thirty-six hours and he’s already demonstrating more talent than any of our others. |
Young Jarod | Hey I’m finished. |
Sydney | Hi Jarod. I’m Sydney. I’ll be taking care of you for a while. |
Young Jarod | Why? Where’s my Mom and Dad? Where’s my mom and da…. |
Announcement | Please evacuate the building. |
Jarod | Keep moving. Please remain calm. Keep moving and remain calm. Thank you. |
Miss Parker | Sydney down stairs. |
Jarod | Please make your way to the emergency exits. This way. Just one minute sir. |
Announcement | Please exit your room and proceed to the nearest stairway exit. |
Sydney | My God! |
Jarod | Sorry to wake you Sydney, but I needed to speak to you, face to face. |
Sydney | You look well. What’s this? |
Jarod | Instructions. For retrieving the Centre’s five million. Less my commission. Don’t look so surprised. I don’t want money. I want the truth. |
Sydney | What are you talking about? |
Jarod | Who am I? Did the Centre adopt me? Was I bought or was I stolen? And where are my mom and dad. |
Sydney | Jarod we’ve been over this a thousand times. Your parents died in a plane crash. |
Jarod | Yes I know the story Sydney. It’s been burned into my brain for thirty years. You see. I did a little checking. There’s this genetic anomaly that’s in my blood that should be in my supposed parents. But it’s not. Therefore it’s impossible that I’m their son. So the truth, for once. |
Sweeper | I thought you quit. |
Miss Parker | Shut up. Where were you going Sydney? Damn it! |
Sweeper | What? |
Miss Parker | No smoke. Outta my way! |
Sydney | I’m sorry Jarod I didn’t know. You have to believe me. But it doesn’t matter. |
Jarod | It matters to me. I am not gonna be your little science experiment anymore, Sydney. I can be anything I want to be. You trained me well. I can be a doctor, I can be an engineer, I can be an astronaut for God’s sake. |
Sydney | And so much more. |
Jarod | But I don’t know who I am! Tell me who I am. |
Sydney | I don’t know either. At the time I had no reason to question what the Centre told me. I swear. |
Jarod | Prove it. Give me tomorrow’s code to the Centre’s mainframe. The truth about who I am has to be in there. |
Sydney | You know I can’t do that. |
Jarod | Sydney you stole my life! Please give it back to me. |
Miss Parker | Sydney! Shoot him. |
Sydney | 7512. Go! No! No guns. |
Miss Parker | Let me go! Make up your mind Sydney. Be a scientist or a mommy. You can’t be both. |
PA | Your attention please. Final call for all passengers departing on the Atlantic Special to Washington DC with stops in Trenton, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Now boarding on platform 12. All aboard please. |
Jarod | Excuse me. Gwen! Gwen! |
Gwen | Dr. Russell. |
Jarod | Can I speak to you for a minute? |
Gwen | Is there a problem? You’re not supposed to have that. |
Jarod | I knew that Trader was involved. What I couldn’t figure out was why would anybody help him cover it up. |
Gwen | I don’t know what you’re talking about. |
Jarod | I didn’t either until I found this. It’s a printout of your record. Who else knew you were in prison besides Trader? |
Gwen | Who the hell are you? |
Jarod | Someone who doesn’t think that what happened to Kevin Bailey’s fair. |
Gwen | And you think I do? You don’t know what it took for me to get back on my feet. I’ve got a job, I’ve got a good man, I’ve got a beautiful baby boy. I don’t want to lose them. |
Jarod | I don’t want you to lose anything. Just tell the truth. |
Gwen | What would you do if your wife came home and told you that she’d been a crack head and a convict? |
Jarod | I’d say she paid her debt and I’d ask her why she didn’t trust me enough to tell me the truth. At least that’s what I think would do. |
Gwen | You don’t know how scared I am. |
Jarod | I think I do. |
Gwen | I had to page Dr. Trader that night at the Silver Rail. We all knew he drank but nobody wanted to admit it. I showed him the x-rays. Even I knew that the boy should have been stabilised. But he insisted I was wrong and… |
Jarod | He was the doctor. |
Gwen | He severed the little boy’s spinal cord when he moved him. But it was Dr. Hendricks who covered it all up and threatened to expose my past if I didn’t go along. See uh, when Trader realized what he’d done he gave me the pre-op x-rays and told me to burn them. But I couldn’t. I went to Dr. Hendricks instead. I don’t know why I thought it would do any good. He’s been covering for Trader for years. He took the x-rays and he made me swear that I wouldn’t tell anybody that he had ’em. He said he might be able to use them for insurance. |
Jarod | Thank you. |
Gwen | Dr. Hendricks isn’t going to give you that film. He’d rather die than risk that hospital sale. |
Trader | Dr. Trader. |
Jarod | Alan? It’s Jarod. We need to talk. |
Trader | About what? |
Jarod | Uh, not on the phone. Can you meet me today at the Silver Rail. At noon? |
Trader | I’ll be there. |
Jarod | Thanks Alan. |
Jarod | Miles, Jarod Russell. |
Hendricks | Jarod! What can I do for ya? |
Jarod | How about another game of racquetball? |
Hendricks | Why would you want another game so soon after I crushed you Russell? |
Jarod | To return the favor. How about today, at noon? |
Hendricks | Well, It’s your funeral. |
Jarod | Well, we all have to go sometime. |
Hendricks | Point, game, match. Toss me my water will ya? |
Jarod | Sure Miles. |
Hendricks | So Jarod, why this self torture? |
Jarod | Well you know, I figure I let you win a few games, I earn your pity, you cut me a better stock option. |
Hendricks | But my pity doesn’t come cheap. Let me tell you something. You ran me all over that court today. You are getting better. |
Jarod | I’ve been practicing. |
Hendricks | Ah. But I won. |
Jarod | You okay Miles? |
Hendricks | Jarod. |
Jarod | Miles? Could somebody call an ambulance. |
Denise | Doctor Russell says he’s running a bit late. |
Trader | Show me a doctor who isn’t, huh? I’ll have another quick one. |
Jarod | Get OR three set. Dr. Hendricks is having a heart attack. |
Nurse | Roger that. | Jarod | Pulse is 112 and thready. BP is dropping from 75 to 60. I want you to start him on a nitro drip and get him prepared for surgery, stat! |
Miss Parker | You lied to me. Last night you told me that Jarod came here to return the five million. All he really wanted was the mainframe code. |
Sydney | It was the least I could do. He was lied to about his parents. So was I. |
Miss Parker | Stop pouting. It was need to know. You didn’t. Anyway you’ve done us all a great favor. You see I tagged Jarod’s file. He logged on this morning. |
Sydney | Where is he? |
Miss Parker | Queen of Angels Hospital. They’re bringing the car around now. Let’s go. |
Sydney | The Centre wants him alive. |
Miss Parker | Preferably. |
Jarod | Miles, we were unable to bring in a cardiologist fast enough. But don’t worry, I’ve paged Dr. Trader. |
Hendricks | No. |
Jarod | He’ll take care of you Miles. He took care of Kevin Bailey. |
Hendricks | No. Please. You do the operation. |
Jarod | Okay. Okay, o-o-okay Miles. No problem. But first… you tell me where Kevin Bailey’s pre-op x-rays are. | Hendricks | Behind the Punjab painting in my office. Now, you do the operation Jarod. |
Jarod | I-I-I’d like to Miles, I really would but that wouldn’t be ethical. You see I’m not really a doctor and you’re not really having a heart attack. Trader, he’s all yours. |
Trader | Okay. Let’s do this. |
Hendricks | Jarod. Jarod! |
Miss Parker | We’ll start on the first floor and work our way up. Jarod does not leave. |
Jarod | Nicole? Would you page security and have them stop Doctor Trader from operating. He’s drunk. |
Nicole | Oh my God! |
Jarod | Yeah. |
Miss Parker | You get that side. |
Sydney | Jarod! |
Mrs. Nikkos | Guess what? Guess what I did today? |
Jarod | Oh! Well that’s great. |
Miss Parker | Sorry! He’s got to be in one of these rooms. |
Mrs. Nikkos | Arghhhhhhh! |
Miss Parker | Let’s go! |
Mrs. Nikkos | Hey! A man! He went up the fire escape. |
Miss Parker | He’s heading to the roof. |
Sydney | Jarod! |
PA | Your attention please, Flight 1428 to San Diego will be departing from Gate 12. Please have your boarding passes ready. |
Attendant | You’d better board sir. You don’t want to miss the flight. |
Jarod | Don’t worry. They’re not going anywhere without me. |
NEW YORK, NEW YORK — Jarod, an exceptional individual who is capable of assuming any identity, has escaped from a mysterious corporation called The Centre. And they want him back. Miss Parker and Sydney find they’ve just missed Jarod helping a tanker ship in Alaska. Now, Jarod aids those who have been wronged and brings the real criminals to justice. This time, Jarod is a surgeon who exposes the truth behind a botched operation that turns a young boy into a paraplegic.
- Jarod Discovers: Ice cream, Wheel of Fortune
- Jarod’s Pretends: Sailor on a tanker, Doctor, Wall Street Broker, Fireman, Airline Pilot
- Jarod’s Last Names: Russell (referencing Steven Jay Russell, famous real-life impostor and “pretender”)
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CULTURAL REFERENCE
TRIVIA In this first episode, young Jarod is played by Jeffrey Shepard instead of series regular Ryan Merriman.
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