PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal (1996–2000): Season 1, Episode 19 - Second Sight/Chocolate Soldier - full transcript

These stories are inspired
by the actual case files

of the Office of Scientific
Investigation and Research.

Do you have any discomfort there?

Yeah.

From inside or around the incision?

The incision.

You can get dressed now.

You're doing remarkably well,
Andrea, considering...

Considering I was almost dead?

Considering you just had
major abdominal surgery.

This is all good news.



Great.

Andrea, you're very fortunate.

Not every kidney transplant
goes as well as yours.

I know.

I'm really lucky.

Okay, I'll see you next week.

Hi.

I'm sorry.

I didn't mean to stare, but...

Do we know each other?

No.

No, it's just... you're awfully familiar.

It happens to me all the time.

Well, I'm sorry.



I didn't mean to bother you.

Taxi!

Are you alright?

I'm fine.

*** memories and perceptions are
typically generated within our minds

as a result of
external stimuli in our lives.

But is it possible for a mind

to be on the receiving end of thoughts,
memories and perceptions,

which originated from another person and were
transmitted without verbal communication?

What would this do to the
privacy of consciousness,

surely one of the
foundations of sanity?

Is there an explanation possible for
this potentially terrifying phenomenon?

How many times have you had the visions?

Twice.

And the woman you described seeing it,
do you know who she is?

No, I have no idea.

I've never seen her before in my life.

And you say a symbol appeared.

Right after, the first time,
it was burned into the brick.

What does that mean?

Why is this happening to me?

Well, you have just been through the
single most stressful period in your life.

What would the death
of your fiance and...

Andrea ?

Andrea?

It's happening again.

Andrea, look at me.

I feel like I'm gonna faint.

What is it?

Case Number 295-143,
Case Manager Connor Doyle.

We're investigating a
21-year-old university student

who claims to be experiencing
telepathic moments.

One incident was accompanied by
apparent psychokinetic phenomena

and was witnessed by
Investigator Lindsay Donner.

Here's your medical file.

Thanks.

You believe Andrea is actually
experiencing someone else's thoughts?

Well, I was ready to dismiss it
all to post-operative delusion.

But when we saw this...

Andrea has told me that there is a
gift of clairvoyance in her family.

And I know she takes that seriously,
but this is really out of my expertise.

The markings on the mirror
coincided with the psychic flashes ?

Well, they weren't there when we came in.

Listen, if you want to examine the mirror,
just take it out of here.

To tell you the truth,
I can't stand looking at it anymore.

Preliminary results reveal
carbon residue on the images,

which suggests that they were created by highly
localized combustion at a very high temperature.

We have two issues here which
may or may not be related.

Andrea's reported visions and
the psychokinetic phenomena.

I think it's a little early to
run experiments on the subject.

Anton, what possible explanation
do we have for Andrea's visions?

What could have triggered them?

Well, any number of things could be
post-traumatic stress disorder, hallucinations.

Has she been on any medication?

Yes.

She's on cyclosporine, clofuran, and sulfurine,
and they're all immune system inhibitors.

They're used to minimize the rejection
risk of her newly transplanted kidney.

Any relevant side effects?

Well, the main one, of course,
is the risk of infection.

That's because the immune
system is being suppressed.

But with clofuran, there have been cases
of psychosis, although it's extremely rare.

Psychosis ?

Sulfurine has only recently
been approved by the FDA.

In fact, St. Margaret's Hospital is the first one
to actually use this drug in a clinical setting.

See what you can find
out about sulfurine.

Lindsay?

Our background checks on Andrea
bear out her claims of clairvoyance.

It seems to have been
passed down maternally.

In fact, her great aunt was a clairvoyant
who worked with the police department

in locating missing persons and the
geological service in predicting earthquakes.

It's all in here.

Any leads on the woman whose reflection
allegedly appeared in the mirror?

Well, not so far.

If it were something to do
with her family, then...

Who's Leslie Norvell?

That's Andrea's cousin,
the donor of the transplanted kidney.

Lindsay, I want you to
stay here with Andrea.

Anton, let's you and I go back a few months

and make a closer examination of Andrea's
life leading up to these incidents.

First thing I want to do
is meet Leslie Norville.

Oh, hi.

Are you the people who called earlier?

We're looking for Leslie Norville.

Yeah, at your service.

Revisiting an old hobby of mine.

It just started again out of
the blue a few months ago.

You donated one of your
kidneys to Andrea Best.

Yeah, that's right.

See, a year ago a viral infection
left me completely blind.

I had a double cornea transplant.

It turned me right around.

It was like getting a
totally new lease on life.

So when I heard Andrea wanted a kidney, I...

Is that what this is about?

Is there some trouble with the transplant?

No, no, the transplant's doing very well.

She's been having some unusual
experiences which we're investigating.

Unusual experiences?

Have you had any peculiar incidents?

How do you mean?

Incidents that you would
characterize as voices or visions?

Have you ever felt as if you've experienced
the thoughts or feelings of others?

Well, I guess after the
operation I had some dizziness,

but telepathy or something
like you're talking about?

No, I don't think so, no.

Is that what Andrea's got?

Poor Andrea.

I had her and Brian over here for
dinner the week before it happened.

Death is always hard, but when someone young dies
abruptly like that, it just seems so arbitrary.

I'm sorry I can't be
much more help than that.

Not at all.

You've been very cooperative.
Thank you, Mr. Norval.

If you do remember anything unusual or if
anything out of the ordinary should occur,

that's our number.

Thanks.

Connor, I think you'd
better have a look at this.

I'm going to have some tea.

Do you want some?

Yeah, thanks.

That's Brian.

Brian?

We were supposed to be married in April, but
he was killed in a car accident six months ago.

I'm the lucky one and I got to live.

I'm so sorry, Andrea.

I haven't been in a car since.

You know,
you remember the strangest things.

Brian's shoe was thrown on
the hood just by itself

and I remember thinking, I wonder if
that's the last thing you'll ever see.

it's time for another pill.

Andrea?

Please, please make it stop.

I can't keep living like this.

A year ago, a viral infection
left me completely blind.

I had a double cornea transplant,
but it turned me right around.

It was like getting a
totally new lease on life.

Aside from the obvious, how do cornea
transplants differ from kidney transplants?

The corneas used for transplants
come from cadaveric sources,

people who are brain dead
but kept alive on life support systems.

The cornea can be quite peripheral to the immune
system, so there's much less chance of rejection.

He has no idea what inspired
him to paint that symbol ?

No, he said it came to him out of the blue.

He'd never painted
anything like that before.

Has Leslie Norville been on any
medication since the operation?

Sulfurine for a short time.

The same drug Andrea's been on.

Yes, I've been going through the
reports of the clinical trials.

Now, there have been some strange
side effects of the sulfurine.

Fluctuating blood pressure,
stimulation of the temporal lobes.

Where memories occur.

How could memories be linked
to transplanted organs?

Well, no one knows how memories work.

However, there's a theory floating around
that a subtle change in protein production

could actually cause changes in the
nerve cells where memory resides.

Protein production.

But how could proteins from the transplanted
organ get into the nerve cells in the brain?

And why would those proteins be the exact
ones that encode or influence memories?

Unless this new drug, sulfurine, is somehow
confusing or expediting the process.

So that memories are encoded not in
the temporal lobes but in other tissue.

It's possible.

Well, if that were true, then the complex
of memory would have first passed to Leslie

and then from Leslie to Andrea.

That's incredible.

I think we should take
Andrea off sulfurine now.

But then we'll lose the chance
of understanding what's happened.

I'd like to find out as much
as we can about sulfurine.

How is Andrea's condition?

Not good.

Our investigation has
complicated her life as it is,

and she feels that she's been shot
out of her own recovery process.

Shot out?

Do we know the name of the hospital where
Leslie Norville received his cornea transplant?

St. Margaret's.

The same hospital.

The organ donor was Eileen McKay.

He died September 1995, age 32.

Cause of death?

Accidental.

Massive cerebral hemorrhage
from falling high stairs.

- Next to kin ?
- Her husband.

Hazen McKay, 62 Tower Road.

This is it.

This is what?

This is the house.

I've been here before.

I mean, well, no, I haven't been
here before, but I know this place.

Hello.

Oh, my God.

Can I help you?

It's you.

Do you know each other?

I don't think so.

Yes.

No, we don't, but...

I'm Hazen McKay.

What's this all about?

The first time it happened,
the visions.

It happened after I saw you.

Let me see if I understand this.

You're saying that you remember
this house like a deja vu?

Like a deja everything.

I don't understand that.

Andrea, how do you feel now?

Fine.

I don't feel it anymore.

The feeling of terror, I thought that
by being here it would bring it on,

but I don't feel it anymore.

It's gone.

Seeing Hazen McKay, the husband of
the woman who donated the corneas,

triggered Andrea's visions.

Now that she's no longer at the mercy of a
connection that she doesn't understand,

the visions have disappeared.

Andrea's starting to feel
that they won't come back.

And her biostat responses bear that out.

She's exhibiting typically
normal responses.

She's as sound as she ever was.

Although,

this does coincide with the fact that we took
her off the sulfurine as well as the clofuran.

Clofuran, that was the drug with
the psychotic side effects,

which is another reason why she may not
be experiencing the visions anymore.

Is just...

It doesn't explain the
burning images, does it?

Unless they were simply the result of
psychokinetic resonance or overflow.

We've seen that before.

Well, I'm glad to see her
so well recovered, at least.

Final case log.

Either because of the side effects from sulfurine
or because of her own latent clairvoyance,

Andrea Best was able to receive memories
from Eileen McKay via Leslie Norville.

We will continue to monitor
Andrea periodically.

But it seems that her visions have
vanished as abruptly as they began.

Connor Doyle out.

Hi, again.

Hi.

Sorry I'm late.

I was beginning to think
you didn't get my message.

Better late than never, right?

Right.

Come on in.

I just mean how different this
century is from any other.

I wonder what it's going to be
like a hundred years from now.

Well, thank you.

I'm having a hard enough time
coming to terms with my own time.

I have a picture of Brian
in that exact same spot.

It's the last photograph I have of her.

This is exactly how she
looked when I saw her.

Except the sleeve on her robe was ripped.

You can remember that
much from your visions?

That the sleeve was ripped?

It's incredible.

Although I'm remembering less and
less now, it's all sort of fading.

What was she like?

Eileen?

Do people still ask you about her?

Yeah.

That's like Brian.

People don't know what to say.

They want to say something, I know,
but they don't know what to say.

Does it get easier as the months go by?

It does.

The way I have mixed feelings about that.

Because you start to forget.

But I know she'd want me
to go on with my life.

Just as Brian, would you?

I'm sorry,
I was taking advantage of the moment.

It's not right.

No, no.

It didn't feel strange.

It felt right.

It's just...

You don't have to say anything.

No, I...

I think what you said was right.

And we do need to go
on with our lives.

And I want to.

Can I ask you something?

Have you been with
anyone since Eileen?

No.

Me neither.

But...

I like you.

God, this place feels so familiar to me.

Oh my God !

Andrea !

Andrea, are you okay?

He did it. He did it.
He killed her.

He would have killed me too.

That's why she had this terrible sense of
foreboding and fear that someone would die.

She was remembering Eileen McKay's murder.

And the octagonal design in the floor.

That was the last thing
Eileen saw before she died.

Yeah, it was in effect burned into the
consciousness of both Leslie and Andrea.

As if it were the last
message she ever gave.

Fortunately, it manifested itself
in time in Leslie's painting.

Otherwise, the story might have
had an entirely different ending.

Revised final log entry.

Eileen McKay's memory seemed
to have been transferred

through Leslie Norville to Andrea Best,

resulting in the discovery of the
truth about Eileen McKay's death.

Andrea Best, for someone who's undergone a
brutal ordeal, has recuperated very well.

Though she's experienced
no further phenomena,

she has promised to remain in
close contact with our office.

Connor Doyle, out.

This is not the only case of such a
nature which the OSIR has encountered.

A reasonable theory to explain
Andrea Best's experience

might be that on a cellular,
genetic, or molecular level,

impressions specific to one individual
are encoded strongly enough

so that in some medical donor situations,

these impressions could be physically
transferred from one person to another.

I'm Dan Aykroyd for Psi Factor.

We're going to talk
some sense into her.

Let's just get her to come home.

Hi, would you help our misson ?

I know I saw this damn truck pull in.

They've got to be here somewhere.

There ! There they are !

Jill?

Oh Jill, thank God you're okay.

What have you done to our daughter?

- You almost hit my car.
- You're lucky I don't hit you, pal.

I'm sorry, is there a problem here?

Come on, let's go home.

Woo, Mom, you don't understand.

Can't live without, Bruce.
We'd do anything for him.

Jill, please listen to me.

You don't even really
know this young man.

Carolyn !

When two people love each other,

when they desire each other,
they shouldn't deny themselves those feelings.

Don't you agree ?

Who the hell do you think you are?

Mind control.

The power of one person to exert influence
over the will and thoughts of another.

Svangali, Wolf-Messing and Rasputin are examples
of individuals who may have had this capacity.

When this ability is possessed by someone with
ill intent, the effects can be devastating.

What if you could control the
desires and impulses of others?

How would you use this power?

I'm sorry, but I'm not sure
what we can do for you.

Lindsay, maybe you can explain.

Sure.

Well, Mr. and Mrs. Starling,

this was a preliminary assessment to
determine if we should open a file.

And really,
there isn't enough evidence.

Jill has been taken from us by
this Bruce Farrell character.

He made her go with him.
That's enough for me.

But we can't proceed without
your daughter's full cooperation.

But she's so young.
She doesn't know what she's doing.

Well, Jill is 20. Legally, she's an adult.

This may be matter
more for the police.

The police?
They're laying charges against me.

Assault. I barely touched them.

Maybe if we just talk to Bruce...

No, I'm not going to sit around and wait

until the little cult this guy's
got going turns into another Waco.

I've got a line on a deprogrammer.

Mr. Starling, that's not a good idea.

We'll pull her out of
wherever he's taken her,

lock her down and we'll
talk some sense into her.

Could you give us a second?

Lindsay, let's not walk away
from this one so quickly.

Would you mind telling me why
you're willing to break the rules?

I think there's more going
on here than meets the eye.

Why aren't you telling me, Mr. Starling?
What did you see?

I told you everything.

How did your wife react to Farrell?

No, I mean in the parking lot at the mall.

You hit him. Why?

Carolyn kissed him.

Really kissed him.

And it wasn't just the kiss.

It was the way that she looked at him.

What is it?

Jill's passport's gone.

You see, he's going to take her away.
She's going to get hurt.

Tell me again how your
daughter met Farrell.

At some concert.

Total loser, she called him.

And two days later, he shows up here, off they
go in his truck, no contact for two weeks.

Except this.

The mailed request for money.

Is this her handwriting?

She wants to check
mail to that address.

The post office box at the same mall
where you had the run-in with him.

$3,000.

He's not going to get a red cent.

I want my daughter back.

Send the check.

Doyle memo to file.

Trailed Bruce Farrell from the
mail drop to a farm he's renting.

We will attempt to establish
contact with Jill Starling.

***

Oh, I knew he would.

Why do you like it there, Jill?

It's peaceful, and Bruce is wonderful.

It's like a paradise.

What about your friends and family?

I have new friends now, and Bruce.

Your parents are worried about you,
you know.

Why?

My mom understands Bruce,
and everyone will understand soon.

Understand what?

Bruce's message.
His message of everlasting love.

Well, if she's calling for help,
I really don't hear it.

I know you don't like to
diagnose over the phone.

Yeah, even so.

Jill Starling is a member of a
classic pseudo-religious cult.

The situation for her is far from ideal,

but Farrell does seem to be providing
her with some emotional security.

Anton, tell me if I miss any steps.

She meets Farrell,

he tells her of an opportunity
for personal growth and love,

then he isolates her from
her friends and family.

No calls, no visits.

He changes her appearance,
breaks her down.

Then after no sleep and little food,

he surrounds her with a supportive
group of prior converts.

He destroys her individuality and
creates the identity he wants.

That's the process.

Manson did it.
David Koresh.

Except in this case,
at least according to Jill's parents,

he seems to be able to do all that
with just a few moments of eye contact.

How?

Well, there's one way to find out.

Thank you.

Ma'am, would you like to
help us with our mission?

Not today, thanks.

Help us with our mission?

You're coming loud and clear,
Lindsay.

How are you feeling about this?

Like this could be
a big waste of time.

Are my biostats registering?

Everything's online.

Now let's hope he shows.

Stand by, he's here.
I want to make sure I get his attention.

Whoa! Are you okay?

Yeah, I'm sorry.
My head's just somewhere else today.

Hey, what's your name?

It's Lindsay.

Lindsay? What's wrong?

Hey, hey, look at me !

I, um...

I don't know.

Why don't you come with me

and we'll talk about
changing everything

and making a better world.

Donner's reacting to something.

Pulse and respiratory
radar on the rise.

Lindsay. where have you been ?

Hi !

Sorry to barge in,

but we should have been in
down-town nearly an hour ago.

I see, this isn't gonna work out.
Perhaps another time.

Donner ?

Did you see that ?

Lindsay !

What?

I have no recollection of this.
I can't believe it.

Your galvanic skin response has shot
up remarkably during this encounter.

Do you find him attractive?

No. I mean, he's not my type.

I obviously had no control
over what I was doing.

This could be some kind
of spontaneous hypnosis.

Or a drug he managed to slip her.

But when?
You were watching the whole time.

Let's see if we can find anything
out of the ordinary Lindsay system.

What about the investigation?

I've seen enough.

We'll expedite protocol.

We get round the clock
surveillance in Farrell's place.

I'll be in.

It's freezing out there.

Oh, Bruce, Jill and the others
just returned from shopping.

Who's this?

That's her. Get her in the car.

Jill, I'm warning you.
Don't leave me.

Jill?

What are you doing?
Stop it!

- Carolyn, get in the car.
- Let go of me!

- Mrs. Starling...
- Bruce!

You don't want to do this.

Stop it! Let go of me!

I don't want to go! Stop it!

Carolyn!

Bruce !

Bruce, stop them !

Jill, you can't live without me.

Jill ? Jill, what's wrong?

Shawn, something's wrong.

Jill!

Hang on, honey.

Pull over! Pull over!

Okay, come on.

Jill !

Oh God !

What happened ?

I don't know.

She just started gagging,
and then she collapsed.

Jill ? Jill ? Oh, God,
what's wrong with her?

Doyle here.

We've intercepted the car.
Stand by.

We have to get her to
a hospital immediately.

Oh, my God, what have we done?

What have we done?

It's all right.
It's all right.

She's going to be okay.

Case log entry, file number 734138.

Investigation into one Bruce
Farrell has officially commenced.

Farrell appears to exercise an
unknown form of mind control

with potentially deadly results.

Jill Starling is in a deep coma.

She's dying.

Is there any cause for her condition?

She has an overabundance
of adorphins in her system.

Which can produce an effect
not unlike that of morphine.

Yes,
and like an overdose of morphine,

it's suppressing her respiratory system.

Is it possible that Farrell could
have caused this reaction in her?

Well, I don't see how.

But after seeing his effect on Lindsay,

I'm not going to say no.

We were grabbing a bite at the food court.

Some kid walks into the first to
hand over trust with a small bomb.

Being the hero,
Bruce stopped the robbery,

but the bomb went off.

Well, that incident was the
defining moment in Farrell's life.

But before that...

I go to movies.

This is from a video dating service.

I like westerns.

I-I-I don't understand w-w-why
some women don't like me.

I-I think I-I can be a lot of fun.

That's the Bruce Farrell
everyone I talked to knew.

And now?

This interview was
conducted a month later.

- After the bomb explosion.
- Yeah.

We're speaking with Bruce Farrell, the hero,

who last month stopped
and saved several people

by taking the brunt of a bomb explosion.

Bruce, what were you thinking?

What was I thinking?

Actually, at the time I just felt,

hey,
those people need me.

That's pretty much all I could think about.

Maybe we ought to go
somewhere to discuss it.

It's quite the recovery.

That reporter, she's one of
the women living at the farm?

Amanda Sanderson.

The day after that interview
she quit her job to be with him.

Her husband still can't believe it.

The wound from the explosion.

Some of the fragments entered his brain ?

Yes.

Well, from the angle it may
have creased his hypothalamus,

that part of the brain
would regulate sexuality.

Providing him with some
PK ability to attract

and control women sexually.

It could be that this near-death experience

has given him a feeling of invincibility

and women are drawn in by
this newfound confidence.

Could this explain Jill's condition?

This classic experiment

where the pleasure center of a rat's brain
is wired directly to a lever

and the rat presses and presses
and presses on this lever,

releasing unlimited endorphins,

not eating, not drinking,

dying for pleasure.

What do these women see in him?

Why don't they just leave?

Maybe they can't.

I hope you're hungry.

When are you going to do
something useful for me?

What about that interview
at the TV station?

Bruce, you know I don't work there anymore.

But we could try again.

My message has to be delivered.

All of you listen.

I must find a new way to be heard.

You displease me.

You're useless.

Leave.

Now.

You can't live without me.

Farrell's profile suggests that once
he's taken advantage of the women,

he gradually loses interest
and essentially discards them.

Can't we go in and physically remove
the other women from the farm?

No. It seems Farall can shut down a
woman's will to live once she leaves him.

Well, Amanda is suffering from
the same conditions as Jill.

I could prescribe antidepressants, but I
have to wait till their breathing stabilizes.

And that could take too long.
Connor, we have to intervene.

He hasn't done anything the
authorities can charge him with.

We have to come up with some solid
evidence, something we can prove.

I'm convinced this is all about ego
gratification to serve some greater agenda.

Prior to the bombing incident,
Farrell was unremarkable.

Although he applied to
several police forces.

He was turned down. Why?

Same reason he washed out of the army.
Inability to accept authority.

Unless it's his own.

But interestingly, some terrorists,
particularly bombers,

like to create the crises in order
that they can step in and save the day.

And typically, they're men like Farrell with
an abiding interest in law enforcement.

There's something about the robbery and
the bomb going on that just don't add up.

As to how he attracts women, I think we're
dealing with a physical reaction here.

In Donner, it was easy to miss.
But with the other two women,

we found an unusually high level of an odd
carbon-based chemical in their systems.

What is it?

We don't know yet,
but it resembles civetone, a pheromone,

a chemical scent used by some
mammals to attract their mates.

Never proven effective on humans.

But if that does explain
why women are drawn to him,

then that also gives us
a weapon to fight back.

Well, there's a series of drugs
with counteract endorphins.

With the right dosage, I might be
able to bring Amanda and Jill around.

And if that works,
how do we help the women still in the house?

Someone needs to confront Bruce Farrell.

Let's give it some time.

Lindsay ?

Are you okay?

Yeah, I think so.

It's just that...

What?

I feel... I feel drawn to him.

To the farm.

I hope you realize the beauty
of what we are creating here.

As one of you leaves,
another takes her place.

Lindsay has joined us to
serve a special purpose.

What is that purpose?

I have built something.

A bomb ?

You'll take it to the
police training academy.

Let's move in.

When I step in, in the aftermath,
everyone will know my message.

I won't do that for you.

Don't contradict me.
You can't live without me.

Yes, I can. We all can.

W-W...

What are you saying?

I am a hero to these w-women, and I am
going to be a hero again, to everyone.

You were a fraud.
The bank robbery, I checked into it.

You knew the kid.

Told him where all the weak
points in the bank were.

Set it up so you would
look like a hero.

B-But the explosion, I-I s-saved those people.

That wasn't supposed to happen.
You screwed up. You always screw up.

You can't live without me.

Farrell!

Final log entry.

Conspiracy charges have been
brought against Bruce Farrell.

Donner's reverse psychology
appeared to successfully counteract

whatever mind control power Farrell
may have had over the women.

Unfortunately, three of the women still refuse
to leave the compound and await his return.

Davison's anti-endorphin serum appears
successful in helping Amanda Sanderson

and Jill Starling recover
from their comatose state.

We will continue to monitor
Bruce Farrell's activities,

but for the moment,
this cult has become inactive.

Doyle out.

Help our mission, sir ?

Unlike the situation which
developed at Jonestown,

the OSIR in this case was able to intervene
and prevent what could have become

a difficult and dangerous
set of circumstances.

However, it seemed that Bruce Farrell
possessed a mesmerizing influence

beyond that used by religious cult leaders
to gain control over their followers,

and he used this ability to corrupt
love for his own selfish benefits.

Subtitle created by Adr1an