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The Lone Gunmen :: Pilot (01x01)
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Episode Information |
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| Title: | Pilot |
| Episode #: | 01x01 |
| Production Number: | 1AEB79 |
| Original Airdate: | Sunday March 04th, 2001 |
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At the E-Com-On Computer Corporation in Vienna, Virginia, party-goers are going inside while on the roof, two shadowy figures are slipping in through an air vent: Frohike and Byers. The party is for the new state-of-the-art research facility, but as the woman in charge talks about a new age in computer technology, a man in the crowd taunts her and asks about the new Octium IV chip they're developing. The man, Langly, demands the truth and reveals it's designed to keep tabs on the users.
Frohike and Byers rig a winch to drop into a room and notify Langly the tour is continuing to launch his protest when Frohike calls him in on his earmike tells him to shut up as they're in position. Langley fakes an allergy to peanuts and collapses. The guards are distracted and Frohike lowers himself into the room to steal the new Octium IV. They're all unaware that another bearded man is infiltrating Byers' computer system and takes control of the winch. Frohike goes up and down, while the guards discover that Langly has an earmike. The bearded man goes into the room and kisses Frohike, who recognizes him. The mysterious intruder then takes the chip and leaves Frohike dangling, and makes his escape to the restroom while the guards capture Frohike and Byers, and demand to know where the chip is. In the restroom, a beautiful woman slips out and watches the three men, the Lone Gunmen, taken away by the guards.
After an extensive full-body cavity search, the Gunmen return to their office in Takoma Park, Maryland. Byers is depressed that they failed to get the necessary evidence to protect the American people, and that their newsletter isn't reaching anyone. Frohike identifies the "man" with the beard as Yves Adele Harlow, and finds the bug she used to learn of their plans. They're interrupted when Byers gets a phone call informing him that his father Bertram is dead. The Gunmen go to the funeral where a number of military brass are assembled. At the end of the ceremony, Byers launches a rocket into the sky. Frohike tells Langly that Byers hadn't spoken to his father since he joined the Lone Gunmen, giving up a government pension. Langly spots someone who looks like Yves in her male disguise, but realizes the man is really a man, someone different. A friend of Byers' dad, Ray Helm, comes over and offers to talk about how he died. Helm shows them where Bertram supposedly went off the road on his own after falling asleep. Helm claims he was murdered and someone drove him off the road. Helm believes Bertram found out something and his employers, the government, had him killed.
The Gunmen go to Bertram's house and prepare to check his computer, but Frohike slips on the wet carpet, which appears to have been recently cleaned. The computer has been completely wiped and determine a scenario 12D text file from the Department of Defense has been deleted. Frohike goes over the carpet with UV and finds a stain indicating blood. Byers concludes his father was killed at the house and the car crash was faked two miles away.
Frohike and Byers check out Bertram's car at the salvage yard but it's already been wrecked. Meanwhile, Langly talks to fellow hacker Kimmy at a firing range and asks for help circumventing DOD security codes. Kimmy refuses but Langly notices Yves shooting at the range. She denies having the chip and dismisses their concern for the American people. Kimmy decides to help and the two go off to do some hacking.
Frohike and Byers go through Bertram's car and Frohike notes that Byers may not find out anything about his father that he can respect. Byers admits that his father talked about JFK and the American Dream, and wonders when Bertram stopped believing in them. The same stories made Byers believe in the American Dream, and team up with the others. Frohike then finds a control chip in the wreckage. They go back to the office where Langly and Kimmy are hacking the DOD mainframe. The control chip is capable of controlling the car using a handheld radio controller. Kimmy gets into the computer and locates Scenario 12D: a war game scenario dealing with airline terrorism. Kimmy starts to download it but he's detected and the DOD starts to track them. Byers has them continue the download despite the danger as the government starts to pinpoint their location. Frohike cuts the power over Byers' objections, refusing to endanger everyone. Meanwhile, the man at the other end knows who they are: Helm.
Byers is still trying to figure out why they shot his father at the house, and concludes someone else was shot. They go to the site of the car wreck and Helm arrives. The Gunmen reveal that they tested the blood and it belongs to someone else: the assassin sent to kill Bertram. They figure that the assassin accidentally shot himself. Bertram then used the assassin's remote control device attached to Bertram's car, and used it to fake his own death using the assassin's body. Helm insists they need to find Bertram but they want his help to get pass online security and identify Scenario 12D. He gives them his password, "Overlord," Byers goes back to his father's house and discovers Bertram collected all of his Lone Gunmen issues. Bertram shows up... and slaps him, saying he should have stayed out of it. Bertram explains that Scenario 12D is no longer a game, and a faction in the government plans to launch a terrorist attack against a domestic airplane in the middle of New York City to boost arms sales. The attack is planned for tonight but Bertram refuses to tell anyone as there's nothing he can do to stop it and the press won't run the story. Bertram condemns Byers for being naive but admits he knows what flight is going to be targeted. He mentions that Overlord is the one involved, and Byers recognizes the name.
Byers returns to the office where Helm and the other Gunmen are. He says Bertram is at his house and Helm prepares to leave. Byers warns Helm that Bertram doesn't trust him either but Helm insists on going. Byers figures that was the plan, to endanger him to bring his father out of hiding. He starts looking for hydrocarbon sniffers while Bertram arrives. He and his father go to the airport and plan to get on the plane and use the sniffers to find the bombs. They're unaware that someone is watching them, one of Helm's agents.
With the plane in flight, Byers and his father search for the bomb without success. Byers realizes that there is no bomb: Helm is going to use the remote control system to bring the plane down. Langly and Frohike hack into the airplane's control system and try to take control of the autopilot system. They find a modem protocol: Helm and his people are flying the plane and plan to crash it in 22 minutes at the World Trade Center. Bertram notifies the flight crew while Langly tries to override the protocol.The flight crew realize Bertram is telling the truth but there's nothing they can do.
With time running out and Langly unable to decrypt, Frohike goes to Yves and asks for the new Octium chip with the necessary processing power. He appeals to her conscience and notes that her name is an anagram of Lee Harvey Oswald. He threatens to reveal who she truly is and she caves. Meanwhile, the plane is over New York City and closing fast, and Frohike and Yves hook in the chip. Langly takes control and changes the plane's course just in time.
As they disembark, Byers suggest they go to the FBI and bring Overlord down, but Bertram refuses. He admits he sees his own younger enthusiasm in his son, and admits he was angry at Byers for giving up the government job. But now Byers has something he never had: courage. He plans to stay silent to protect himself, and warns Byers that he won't win.
Without proof, they can't run the story on the fake terrorist attack. Frohike reveals that he grabbed the Octium IV chip, and they've got a story to run.
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