PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal (1996–2000): Season 1, Episode 16 - The Light - full transcript

These stories are inspired
by the actual case files

of the Office of Scientific
Investigation and Research.

What have you got?

Male, African-American,
gunshot wound twice in the chest.

Universal precaution, double glove.

Can you hear me?
Sir, can you hear me?

Vitals dropping fast, respiration irregular.

Trauma one now. Guy got a name?

Rollins. Curtis Rollins.

Start a line at 02.

PP's dropping. 70 over 50, 60, 40.



Rosen saline. Rep a chest tube.

Pulse is threading. We're losing him.

What was Rollins thinking of ?

What's the difference ?

Going up on a bridge all alone.

No back up.
It shouldn't have happened.

Ray, he's dying.

Flat line !
Paddles !

Up tp 300 !
Charge !

- Nothing.
- Going again.

- Stand by.
- Clear.

What's going on with the lights?

*** power. Switch to backup.

He's back.



Has anyone seen Curtis Rollins?

Curtis Rollins,
he was just brought in here.

Anybody!

Curtis!

Curtis!

Is it possible for a spark of
life to endure after death?

It's difficult to dispute
the multitude of testimonies

from people who have been pronounced
clinically dead and then are revived

and claim to have undergone some form
of out-of-body or afterlife experience.

Did they discover the light?

In the following case in the Twin
Cities of Minneapolis St. Paul,

the OSIR confronted the most
radical and dangerous manifestation

of a near-death experience
it has ever encountered.

What's going on?

He's here.

Excuse me.
Are you another cop or family?

Neither. Frank Elsinger,
the Director of Operations OSIR.

Sir...

Could you give us a minute?

Sure. Don't be too long.

What were you thinking?

Shot twice. No official backup.
No clearance from me.

What happened last night?

I'd like to say you
should see the other guy.

I can't remember who
the other guy was.

Tell me everything.

Omit nothing.

We were wrapping up a
case in the North End.

And Curtis got a call.
He started acting strange.

He said something
important had come up.

And he left. Just like that.
It's not like him, so...

Tasha and I decided to follow him.
We ended up at the bridge.

We were a ways off.

The guy shot Rollins twice,

climbed up on the superstructure
of the bridge, and he jumped.

Jumped? From how high?

Thirty meters, at least.

He couldn't have survived.

I see.

Anything else?

Um...

Go on.

I could have sworn that I saw Rollins,
well, or somebody who looked like him,

walking out the door while
Curtis was still in trauma one.

Anyone else see this?

I'm tired and, you know, my eyes
are probably playing tricks on me.

Look, what's going on?
I mean, what happened here tonight?

I just spoke briefly with James Kirkland from
the Federal Serial Killers Profiling Unit.

Rollins spent some time
there a couple of years back.

Curtis was FBI?

Behavioral science.
They tell me he was good.

Getting into the mind of a psycho.
It's a hell of a thing to be good at.

What's the connection?

Well, I'm sure you've all
heard of the White Crow Killer.

Yeah.

From what we can piece together,

the White Crow Killer was the man
who shot Curtis Rollins last night.

Jim, I didn't expect to see you here.

I thought you'd be taking
the kids to hockey practice.

Frank, it's been a while.
How's Curtis?

Looks like he'll pull through.

How's his wife taking it?

She's doing as well as can be expected.

We informed her it's an internal matter,

and she'll be brought in to see him as
soon as we can clear up what happened.

Well, what happened?

The White Crow had been
quiet for two years.

Two bodies show up in the Twin
Cities area over the past month.

Curtis Rollins and the White Crow
in the same town at the same time.

Too much of a coincidence.

Curtis likes to know the current status
of the files he's worked on, so...

Are you sure it's the same killer as before?

Same scumbag victims, same telltale
markings on the chest, same cause of death.

Induced cardiac arrest.

Followed by a single shot to the
right temple after they were dead.

The ballistics is double checking.

Are those slugs they took
out of Rollins last night?

Nine millimeter.

I'll lay a hundred on the table right now

they match the slugs found in
the White Crow killer's victims.

Maybe that bastard died when he
fell off that bridge last night.

You found a body yet?

The current's pretty
strong this time of year.

How did Rollins end up
facing off with this maniac?

I don't know.
He didn't tell you?

Not yet.

He appears to be suffering from an
extremely selective form of amnesia.

We hope it's temporary.

Well, that's inconvenient.

I let Curtis down, Pete.

Damn, I should have followed my instincts.

Ray, it's not your fault.
Hey, pull over. Stop right here.

What is it?

I could have sworn it...
There, there. Curtis! Curtis!

You saw him, right?

I don't know, maybe.

Where'd he go?

Couldn't have been, Curtis.
There's no way.

Let's go.

There's only one way to prove
that I'm not losing my mind.

I don't believe this.

I swear to you, we saw him outside
on the street not half an hour ago.

Then you must be mistaken.

He hasn't left this room, Peter.
I've been here the whole time.

- Did you get the tape?
- Yeah.

Is it cute?

- Yeah.
- Let's see it.

This tape is from hospital security.

Where are you going with this, Axon?

There, that's when I arrived.
Now watch.

There, freeze that.

This videotape was taken
at 10.54 p.m. last night.

Curtis was still in
trauma one at that time.

Initial case log entry file number 206132.
Case manager, Connor Doyle.

We've arrived at St. Paul, Minnesota.

to begin investigation into
an unexplained occurrence

involving a member of our organization.

We'll will be meeting with
the Director of Operations

for debriefing and directives
as to how to proceed.

Connor, good to see you.

Rollins has been shot.

He was declared clinically dead, then he was
revived and is now thankfully recovering.

He also seems to be in
two places at one time.

Apparently.

Now, I've decided to assign
Donahue to your team.

While with Jim Kirkland
and the feds still here,

you're gonna need a law
enforcement specialist.

What about us?

What can we do to help?

You two can go back to wrapping
out your original case.

Doyle and his team will take it from here.

But we were the...

You are both witnesses
or potential witnesses.

Let's face it, Axon.

You're too close to this one.

I see.

Sir.

Their contributions to an
investigation are usually invaluable.

Is Rollins aware of my
presence on this case?

It's your investigation.
He is your primary subject.

But he doesn't know.

I'll leave that for you to handle.

I heard you're being brought in.

How you feeling ?

Like I got kicked in
the chest by a horse.

I guess you get what you asked for.

i guess...

So...

Someone who could be my twin is
roaming around the Twin Cities.

First things first.

What were you doing on that bridge?

The killer called me.

I don't know how he found me,
but it was him.

He issued me some type of a...

...challenge.

Why did he call you?

Is that consistent with his pattern?

His pattern?

His pattern?

Based on what you know about the White
Crow killer, what might he do next?

I don't know.
What's going on here, Doyle?

I can't even remember.

That's what I'm trying to find out.

How long was Curtis Rollins clinically dead?

Nearly a minute, I'd say.

And when you and Dr. Burr attempted to
revive him, did anything unusual happen?

Something affected the
electricity on our floor.

When exactly did this fluctuation occur?

When your friend was flatlining.

The White Crow Killer case has
been open for half a decade now.

Five bodies in and around Los Angeles.

But the killer hadn't abducted a new victim
or dumped a new body in almost two years.

Last month, out of the blue,
two new bodies.

Here in St. Paul?

Followed by the discovery of
the same abduction victims dead.

Now as a behavioral scientist,

Curtis Rollins had assisted you in the
investigation of the White Crow killer.

He was one of the best at tapping
into the mind of a serial killer.

He likened it to your mind being
like a computer hard drive.

You store information in a variety of files.

White Crow killer occupies one of those
files in the mind of Curtis Rollins.

What kind of information was in that file?

The killer things, what the killer wants...

Understanding his insanity.

That's a pleasant thought.

Well, some of those files,

when they contain the profile of the killer,

you can't erase them when
you're done with them.

You just try and close
them and forget about them.

But there was always
approximately a week

between the day someone was abducted
and when the body was discovered.

What was the killer
doing with the abductees?

Conducting some kind
of medical experiments

where strange markings in the chest,

needle marks, IV puncture holes.

But to what end discovered the light?

Curtis felt the killer was trying to
discover some truth about the afterlife.

Where we go when we die.

Case log update.

While we wait for subject
Curtis Rollins' MRI results,

Hendricks will be taking him
through regressive hypnosis

to obtain a real-time
description of the shooting

and his subsequent experience
in the emergency room.

I want you to go back to the
night that you were shot.

I'm approaching the bridge.

There.

He's here.

Who?

The man who called me.

The White Crow Killer?

It has to be.

No one else would know.

Describe what happened next.

What did you discover?
Where do we go?

Where indeed.

I'm just glad to see we
truly understand each other.

Understand each other?

How can knowledge of life after death
be as important as life itself?

I know what I need to know.

What are you doing?

As a crow flies, I must end my journey.

You want the answer, don't you?

Goodbye, Curtis.

I wish you luck.

I'm... shut.

Everything is going dark.

Curtis, you're going to be fine.
Everything is fine.

Now I want you to go forward in time,
but later that night.

You're now at the hospital.
Tell me what's happening.

Very noisy...

Lots of people shouting.

It's so loud.

That's better.

Paddles !

Up it to 300 ! Charge ! Clear !

Nothing. Going again !

Stand by ! Charge ! Clear !

What's going on with the light?

I'm leaving myself.

It's over.

Describe what you're seeing.

I'm floating high above everyone.

Part of me is outside myself.

Watching myself.

The light is so...

... beautiful.

It's getting brighter.

Blinding me.

What's happening?

Goodbye, Curtis.

Goodbye, Curtis.

Wish you luck.

He's... gone.

What do you mean he's gone?

The doctor saved me,
but I'm still a part of me, not me,

but I'm still out there somewhere

- And the...
- And, what ?

He's taken something from me,
from my mind, something he shouldn't have.

He's suffering from select amnesia.

I could not access his profile
of the White Crow killer.

Seemed to have vanished
completely from his mind.

Secondly, he described
a near-death experience.

Now that in itself is not unheard of, but the
notion of his corporeal self, duplicated...

And now we have at least two
reported sightings in the city

of someone matching Curtis's description.

Not to mention the hospital security tape.

It's impossible they could have just wandered
out of his room and not told everybody.

He's been under a security watch

and hooked up to heart
monitors since he was admitted.

I suppose Rollins could
have a twin somewhere.

He would have told us
about something like that.

Well, we just have to treat
him like any other subject.

That's extremely difficult to do, Connor.

Tell me about it.

Excuse me,
where can we find Dr. Burr?

Her office is down at the end of the hall.
She should still be there.

I dropped off some charts
to her about an hour ago.

Thank you.

Key seems to be what Rollins
went through in the trauma room.

I want to hear Dr. Burr's
version of the events again.

Case file update.

A witness to the events Dr. Katherine
Burr was apparently abducted

sometime between 9 and 10 this morning.

A rag dust and chloroform
was found on the floor

and that is the killer's signature phrase.

Complete with feather.

Let's face it, the White
Crow killer is still alive.

The feather will be sent out for analysis

but I'll bet it's just like the others.

A crow feather?

Except crows are black as far as I know.

Why a white crow feather?

Crows are sometimes perceived as
symbolic bridges to the afterlife.

If you wish to upset the law
that all crows are black,

you must not seek to show that no crows are.

It's enough to prove a
single crow to be white.

William James.
Very good, Professor.

Our killer may have
discovered a white crow.

Symbolic bridge ?

Look, what's different
about this crime scene?

The handwriting.

It's a good try,
but it doesn't look like an exact match.

So this could be a copycat crime
or the work of an accomplice?

No, the killer's MO was
that he worked alone.

Besides, this signature phrase
was never released to the public.

No appointment scheduled for today.

It doesn't appear to be any
sign of a struggle either.

Dr. Burr may have known her abductor.

Or at least got a look at him.
Her desk faces the door.

Wait a minute.

What is it?

There !

Very clear.

Looks like our feathered
friend left us a thumbprint.

This could be the break
we've been waiting for.

Yeah?

Some kids were throwing
rocks when they found it.

Forbes.

Dr Stanley Forbes.

Early on he was a prime
suspect for the White Crow.

He's our man.

Are you sure ?

Well, the slugs they dug
out of Rollins last night

match the bullets found on
the previous seven victims.

And we found shells on nine millimeter.

They're consistent with the White Crow's.

Looks like dr Forbes here has
been dead for a couple of days.

Which begs the question: who
abducted dr. Katherine Burr?

Jim...

Could I have a word ?

Here's a possibility.

One of our...

Okay.

Those fingerprints we lifted
from the doctor's office...

Let me guess.

They match Curtis Rollins.

Case log update.

We have reason to believe that
someone resembling Curtis Rollins

is imitating the crime pattern
established by the White Crow Killer.

Environmental monitoring and surveillance
phase to be initiated immediately.

Special Agent Kirkland is
feeling some pressure from above.

How so?

As far as his superiors are concerned,

Rollins is now a suspect in the
abduction of Dr. Katherine Burr.

Now, he doesn't think it's possible,

but professionally it would
be his duty to investigate.

Now, due to the personal
regard he has for Curtis,

he bought us a couple of days.

Get to the bottom of this.

What are you thinking?

Well, if we can assume the White
Crow killer will act consistently,

and the apparent Rollins duplicate is
continuing with the killer's agenda...

Then we have until Thursday
to find Dr. Burr alive.

Now, Katherine, I want you to relax.

As I'm lowering your body
temperature to 33 degrees Celsius,

I'm going to induce cardiac arrest via an
injection of potassium, in effect killing you.

Because your blood has been cooled,
brain damage should be minimal,

but I don't have
to tell you that.

After several minutes, I'll raise your body
temperature and hopefully resuscitate you.

And then we'll talk again.

Why are you doing this to me?

You were dead.
I saved your life.

Exactly.

And that's why you, of all my subjects,
should be able to tell me what I want to hear.

You're crazy.

And now...

... we wait.

This is the videotape that was found on Dr.
Forbes after they dragged him from the river.

He'd wrapped it in plastic
and addressed it to Rollins.

Obviously,
he wanted someone to find it.

Focus, Darnell.

The victim is Darnell Jenks.

He was a drug dealer
from the East Side.

His body was found two weeks ago,

three days after this tape was made.

He's essentially killed Jenks,

and now he's bringing him back to life.

Why?

Listen.

Will we be punished for our sins?

Is there life after death
for the likes of you and me?

What did you see?

I don't know.

What did you see?

It was dark.

I don't know.

What do you want to hear?

What did you see?

What did you see?

I don't know.

I don't know.

Okay, Katherine.

I understand.

I realize I'm asking all of you.

I had hoped that as a medical person,

a good person,

you would provide me with a
better class of observation.

Maybe you went away from us long enough to
truly discover what awaits one after death.

You take a little break
and then try again.

No !

No !

Nothing! I saw nothing!

There isn't anything after.

You disappoint me.

What are you doing?

You can't stop me, Doyle.

Don't even try.

Like it or not, Curtis,
you're the primary subject.

You're under FBI scrutiny as well.

Besides, you're in no shape...

I can do the job.

Once you recover.

Look, I don't like being
left out of what's going on.

I don't like being examined.

I don't like being probed.

And I don't...

What?

I don't like how things are progressing.

We're moving as quickly and
as deliberately as we can.

There's someone out there who appears to be
me in every way, who may be killing people.

It's my life that's on the line.

That's why I'm on the case.

Can I help?

Yes.

What makes this guy tick?

Why does he do what he does?
What's his next move?

Don't you think I would
tell you if I knew ?

That part of my mind is a blank.
It's gone.

Then you'll have to re-familiarize
yourself with the case.

Here's the file.

You're a behavioral scientist.
You have that skill.

Use it.

How's he doing?

Well, we're about to find out.

What is it?

Physical and psychological
trauma that Rollins has suffered.

I'm concerned as to whether he'll ever be able
to effectively lead an investigation again.

I'm aware of that possibility, sir.

But we need his help.

Understood.

Special Agent Kirkland can't
stall his superiors much longer.

How are you planning to proceed?

- Rollins...
- For...

Curtis has reviewed the evidence collected
by the feds and watched the videotape.

He has some theories.

Dr. Forbes was looking for definitive
knowledge about the afterlife.

To what end?

He was obsessed with looking
for the answer he wanted.

But apparently his experiments failed.
He's killed seven innocent people.

Not so innocent.

In Forbes' eyes, these were
people that were essentially evil.

He chose them because they
represent part of the answer.

However, Dr. Katherine Burr
doesn't fit the pattern.

But if your duplicate abducted her, and he
now has the mind of the White Crow killer,

perhaps it's some form of revenge.

Revenge?

Maybe she wasn't supposed to
bring Rollins back from the dead.

Look, theories are getting us nowhere.

How are we going to
locate Curtis's double?

Curtis, you okay?

Come on, let's get you back to the hospital.

Case log update.

Continue to sweep the city and try
to locate the apparent duplicate.

Have established environmental monitoring
and surveillance at the hospital.

Subject is resting and
remains under observation.

We're standing by, Connor.
Nothing to report. Over.

I copy that. Any word from
the other surveillance sites ?

Negative.

Should we re-evaluate our sweep approach ?

Not yet.
Let's give it to the end of the day.

Doyle out.

Curtis !

I'm surprised to see you up and around.

Thanks.

What's the matter, Curtis ?

Donner, who gave Rollins
permission to leave his room?

He is in his room, Connor.

He hasn't left it all day.
There must be some mistake.

Target is in the east wing.
Surround the area.

Nice and slow, my friend.

Where you taking me ?

One thing at a time,

Let's just get outside.

Put the scalpel down.

Slowly.

Do it now!

Case log update.

After successfully apprehending
Curtis Rollins's duplicate,

we are proceeding with tests to try to determine
how and why this phenomenon took place.

An additional note.

Dr. Katherine Burr has yet to be located.
Doyle out.

It's remarkable.
They're physically identical in every way.

Other than the wounds Curtis received
from being shot on the bridge.

And their separate personalities.

Rollins had compiled a detailed profile
of Dr. Forbes, aka the White Crow Killer.

And somehow the near-death experience
transferred that profile to his duplicate self.

And the duplicate himself, in effect,
has become the White Crow Killer.

Forbes' mind in Rollins's body.

Any theories as to how
the duplication occurred?

Or why the profile went
with the duplicate?

Perhaps he subconsciously
was motivated by a desire

to uncover whatever Dr. Forbes had
discovered about the afterlife.

And the only part of his mind that
would be able to achieve that discovery

would be the profile of Forbes.

Exactly.

Somehow he subconsciously manifested
a corporeal duplication of himself

imbued with that memory.

Well, what do you suppose Dr. Forbes
discovered about life after death?

That would remain with dr.
Forbes or Rollins duplicate.

Or with Rollins himself.

I was dead and now I'm alive.

Sounds bizarre to hear me
say those words, doesn't it ?

That's what happened.

I feel I should be... different.

Am I different ?

Only you can answer that.

Something did happen to
you bug clinically dead.

What exactly ?

It may have been some
timeline convergence

which intertwined the distinct physical
elements of two parallel dimensions.

Your near-death experience may have
propelled an alternate life existence

into the here and now.

However,
we have no idea what might happen.

If those two parallel dimensions converge...

We need your help.

Talk to him, one-on-one.

I don't know...

Katherine Burr may still be alive.

You're her only hope.

Professor Rollins,
good to see you again.

Where is she?

Direct as always.

Dr. Burr...

I can't tell you that.

You should understand
that better than anyone.

Why would I understand
abducting an innocent person,

subjecting them to
horrible experiments?

Your mind understands more of that
kind of thing than you'd care to admit.

Plus, doesn't it intrigue you?

I know it intrigues you.

What does life after death hold for us?

Why did this happen?

Why have I duplicated into you?

I'm part of you.

We had to complete my work.

It's so simple.

The part of me and you
realized when you were dying

that I was going about it all wrong.

I was using the wrong subjects.

Evil people.

Unprincipled, immoral waste.

But when that angel
of a doctor saved you,

we realized she was the key.

She would have the answer.

You and I did this together.

But there is no answer, is there?

You found nothing.

That's not true.

Yes it is, Dr. Forbes.

You've searched and searched.

You've killed people.

And all for nothing.

My work is not for nothing.

Then why did you commit suicide,
throwing yourself off that bridge?

Because I can't believe that the answer
is you're better off dead than alive.

Stop.

You are a failure.
All your work is for nothing.

No. No. No!

You okay?

Where'd he go?

He's gone.

Curtis, who am I?

Still Connor Doyle, I hope.

He's gone back into you.

Go to that part of your mind.

Where is Dr. Katherine Burr?

No.

I can't go there.

Come on, we haven't got much time.

Try and warm her up.

- Charge !
- Clear !

Nothing.

Going again. Come on !
Come on !

- Charge !
- Clear !

One, two, three, four, five !

One, two, three, four, five.

One, two...

Come on, Katherine, come back !

Curtis...

- One, two, three...
- Curtis !

No !

You did it.

She's back.

Katherine !

Katherine, can you... can you hear me?

Get away from me.

Get away from me.

You sick son of a bitch.

Dr. Burr's okay.
We're here to help.

File number 206132.
Final log entry.

Dr. Katherine Burr is on her way
to a successful physical recovery,

although her experience left
her emotionally shaken.

Curtis Rollins is also showing
no apparent ill effects.

Doyle out.

The complex links between body and mind
are only now beginning to be understood,

and we still have more
questions than answers.

Somehow an exact physical copy
of case manager Curtis Rollins

was generated in the instant
of his near-death experience.

Furthermore, the corporeal
duplicate presence

absorbed the memory which was foremost
in his mind, at the moment of trauma.

That of a serial killer he'd been
tracking with near-deadly results.

Is there life after death?

The search for the answer continues.

I'm Dan Aykroyd for Psi Factor.

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