Wonder Woman (1975–1979): Season 3, Episode 6 - Formicida - full transcript

[instrumental music]

[dog whimpering]

Are you satisfied now?

We've been in this corridor
three times.

We ain't seen nothing.

[dog whimpering]

Now you do what you wanna do.

I'm goin' back
and listen to the radio

and have me some supper.

[high-pitched squeaking]

[dog whimpering]



[dog barking]

[barking continues]

[barking continues]

What in tarnation
has gotten into you?

[rumbling]

Come on, Tiger!
Let's get out of this building!

[crashes]

[theme music]

♪ Wonder Woman ♪

♪ Wonder Woman ♪

♪ Wonder Woman ♪

♪ Wonder Woman ♪

♪ Wonder Woman ♪♪

[explosion]



[instrumental music]

(Steve)
You've heard about the building
that collapsed last night.

This is what's left
of two other buildings.

The city's still
trying to figure out

what caused them to collapse.

All the night watchman
could tell us was

that just before it happened,
he heard noises.

Noises?
Like what?

Well, he said they
sounded like, uh..

...a million little saws
or teeth..

I don't know.

He wasn't much help.

Have you found any
common denominators?

Possibly one.
Ownership of all the buildings

has been traced back
to a parent company..

'...GDH Enterprises.'

(Diana)
'Gideon D. Harcourt.'

They invented the phrase
"Industrial giant"

just to describe him,
I hear.

You think it's sabotage?

We really don't have
any evidence to that effect.

But considering the fact
that quite a few buildings

in this town are traced back
to his corporation..

Well...we'd better find out.

[telephone buzzing]

Yes?

Have you had the opportunity

to read the newspaper today,
Mr. Harcourt?

Another one of your buildings
is on the front page.

(Harcourt over phone)
Exactly as you predicted.

Now, I don't know how you're
doing this or why

but I do know you have a price.

'Now, what is it?'

Hard as it may be
for your materialistic

little mind to grasp,
Mr. Harcourt..

...I don't want money.

I want you to shut down
the Easton chemical plant.

Ecological blackmail?

[chuckles]
That's absurd.

You will shut down
your operations

at the plant immediately.

'Cancel any and all shipments
you plan to make'

of the EF-11 pesticide.

And destroy
the EF-11 formula..

...or I will destroy you.

Now, you listen to me.

I didn't build an empire
heeding threats

from people like you,
whoever you are.

(Formicida over phone)
'Well then, prepare to see'

that empire crumble,
Mr. Harcourt.

My name, by the way is
...Formicida.

[telephone ringing]

Diana Prince.

Diana, this is
Dr. Douglas Radcliffe.

We met last year
at the Western Securities

and Science Conference.

Radcliffe, uh..

- Oh! Right, the chemist.
- Listen, I'm bein' followed.

'I know who's responsible
for those buildings caving in.'

- What? You do? How?
- I can't talk now.

Just meet me outside
the old warehouse on Jefferson

55th at 6:30.

No one will be around then.

I'll tell you everything.

But please, Diana,
just be there.

[high-pitched squeaking]

I'm afraid we lost him.

(Formicida)
'You may have lost him'

but I just heard from another
one of my employees.

Doug intends to meet
someone later.

He doesn't know it yet.

But he's going to
meet us, too.

[dramatic music]

Diana?

Diana?

(Diana)
'In here, Doug.'

[music continues]

[music continues]

[music continues]

You check back in there.

[music continues]

[music continues]

Okay, boys, the fun's over.

No, Wonder Woman,
it's just begun!

Dr. Radcliffe and I
have an appointment.

[music continues]

thud

[high-pitched squeaking]

[door closes]

[engine cranking]

[tires screeching]

[coughing]

Hello, Doug.

'How's your head?'

The least you could do was
tell that goon squad of yours

to take it easy on me.

(Doug)
'Especially that witch.'

What rock did you
find her under?

Would you, uh..

Would you like
something to drink?

Stop simpering.

I knew you were the one

sabotagin'
Harcourt's buildings.

And that's why I'm here,
isn't it?

I couldn't let you
tell anyone, Doug.

You know what, Irene,
you just should

cut the charming
hostess routine

because it hardly
becomes a jail-keeper.

You should've never have sold
my pesticide to GDH Enterprise.

Our pesticide, Irene.

I worked on it too, you know.

It was wrong.

I needed the money.
I offered you half.

You wouldn't take that
or any of the credit, either.

It isn't the money
that made it wrong.

You know, most people
do what they have to do

and then get on with it.

'You never learned how
to do that, have you, Irene?'

Lives are at stake, Doug.

You know, Reenie, I'm..

I'm really sorry for make,
makin' you go through all that.

I don't hold anything
against you, Doug.

- You don't?
- No.

Not really.

You know..

[groaning]

...I believe that.

You've always been
a decent person and..

...I'm really sorry
that I was putting down

what you're tryin' to do.

If you let me, I really would
like to, to help you.

I don't believe it.

Well, it's, it's true.

It really is.

We've worked together once.

We can work together again.

Let's clear this
whole thing up together.

Okay?

- Oh, cut it out!
- Oh, come on.

Just stop it!
Cawley.

- Oh, come on, this is--
- Take him downstairs!

I've learned
a few things, Doug!

I may still be a simpering
weakling, but I've learned

that there are ways to
take care of users like you.

You're in a lot more trouble
than you think, Irene.

'I've already made contact
with an IADC agent.'

It's just a matter of time

before they blow your
little crusade wide open.

I know who you're meeting.

Her name is Diana Prince.

- Cawley.
- This is kidnapping, Irene.

Don't make it worse
on yourself.

'Irene!'

'Irene!'

(IRAC on speaker)
'Radcliffe, Douglas Emory.'

Holds a doctorate in
biochemistry from Ohio.

That's the one, Ira.
I'm looking for any connection

between him and GDH Enterprises.

[yawning]

Did you say something else?

No, I was just yawning, Ira.

It's because it's late,
not because I'm bored.

Perhaps you would
like to hear a joke?

No, no.
Thanks, anyway.

Uh, just the information
on Radcliffe.

Six months ago,
GDH Enterprises

purchased a formula

from Dr. Douglas Radcliffe.

A pesticide?

10:1 he's talking
about the pesticide

Harcourt's gonna start
marketing tomorrow.

It's called EF-11.

Have you seen this?

And 10:1 whoever is, uh..

...making disaster areas
out of Harcourt's buildings

'is also responsible
for Doug's kidnapping.'

Doug's kidnapping?

Yeah, I went to
meet him and, uh..

...he was abducted in front
of my very eyes by..

Well, uh, this is
the only clue I could find.

Ants?

They literally chewed their way
through solid flooring

and in an isolated area

like they were being
controlled or something.

Ira, a quick read-out.

You know, what you're saying
would sound a lot more

incredible if we hadn't
just been talking

about pesticides.

My thoughts exactly.

[beeping]

[whirring]

Identification of biological
life-form input completed.

Phylum, Arthropoda.

Class, insecta.

(IRAC)
'Order, hymenoptera.'

Family, Formicidae.

Okay, in plain
English, please.

Specimens are carpenter ants.

Well-known for their ability
to tunnel through wood.

Ants.

One more thing, Ira.

'Would you please cross-index'

'Radcliffe and or
GDH Enterprises'

with anyone in the scientific
community specializing in ants.

And give her
a read-out tomorrow.

Do you realize how late it is?
Look at this.

Now I do.

No wonder I was yawning.

Tomorrow, Ira,
and sweet dreams.

I wonder what Ira
would dream about.

[chuckles]
I shudder to think.

[beeps]

Goodnight, Rover.

[beeping]

(IRAC)
A roving computer module
such as yourself

could be of special value
in this investigation.

'Are you ready
for programming?'

[beeping]

Prepare circuits B-4

through CF-2
for programming.

[beeping]

[speaking gibberish]

[speaking gibberish]

[speaking gibberish continues]

Success achieved again.

[beeping]

[telephone ringing]

Hello?

(Formicida)
'You failed to shut down'

'the Easton chemical plant'

'today, Mr. Harcourt.'

Phone calls in the middle
of the night?

You're cheapening
your act, Formicida.

So it looks like tomorrow
I'm going to have to hit

a little closer to home.

- Sorry, but I'm not frightened.
- 'Yet.'

'Just like you haven't destroyed
the EF-11 formula yet.'

[dramatic music]

The extra security guards
arrived a half hour ago

and have been briefed,
as have the staff.

Should she appear,
we'll have her, Mr. Harcourt.

- Good.
- And the Easton plant called.

They're sending over some
classified material.

That's fine.
That's fine.

Place this in the inner office.

After it's delivered, I'd advise
leaving the building quickly.

[dramatic music]

Oh, yes.
He's expecting this.

You may go right up.

- Hi.
- May I help you?

I'd like to see
Mr. Harcourt, please.

Mr. Harcourt has no appointments
for this morning.

Oh, well, see, he's not really
expecting me at a certain time.

- I called, but..
- You've called?

(Diana)
'Yes. I told him I'd be here.'

You see, I'm sure that
Mr. Harcourt

will want to talk to me
when he finds out who I am.

Guards.

Stop her!

Here's the package from
the Easton plant, Mr. Harcourt.

Your eyes only.

And, sir, we just got
a warning from the lobby.

- She's in the building?
- 'It appears so.'

Uh..

Hi.

[high-pitched squeaking]

You may leave us.

What are you running here,
a business or an army?

I would prefer to
keep this entire affair

away from the press.

But if you fail
to cooperate, I warn you

I have the power
to have you locked up

for the rest of your life.

Mr. Harcourt,
you've made some mistake.

(Harcourt)
'And I will not be trifled with'

'by backward-thinking fanatics.'

If your guards would give me
my purse, I will show you my ID.

You do not want ski resorts.

You clamor against
nuclear power.

And you rail against
all progress

'in the name of ecology.'

Did you hear that?

And now, with the world
on the edge of starvation

'you would deprive it
of the one pesticide'

'that would ensure
continued food supply.'

[clattering]
Well, I..

- What's that?
- It's coming from your office.

What is happening?

[dramatic music]

[glass shattering]

My Louis Couture's table!

My 19th-century walnut desk!

What in the world?

Ants.

Ants, Mr. Harcourt.

[music continues]

Ants.

[instrumental music]

Hey, relax.

Take a little break
on company time.

[music continues]

[music continues]

[music continues]

- They're in.
- And so are we.

[high-pitched squeaking]

(Diana)
'It was amazing, Steve.'

Those ants seemed
to be programmed

'to destroy Harcourt's office.'

Harcourt was frightened
enough to admit to me

that someone was trying to make
him close the Easton plant.

But not frightened enough
to comply?

Right. Which means that
whoever is behind this..

'...will undoubtedly
try something else.'

He or she is
apparently determined

to stop Harcourt from marketing
the pesticide.

Beep-beep!

Here comes our man.

'This must be from Ira.'

The information
you asked for last night.

Let's see. Hmm.

[sighing]

"Dr. Irene Janus
worked closely with Radcliffe

"in developing
the EF-11 formula.

'"She's an entomologist with..'

'...an intense
interest in ants."'

Look familiar?

(Diana)
No.

This is not the woman I saw
when Doug was kidnapped.

'In the light of her former
relationship to him'

and her interest in ants I think
maybe I better go visiting.

Got her address right here.

[beeping]

What's wrong with him?

Steve!
Steve, take a look at this.

Ants.
You don't suppose that..

Well, I've heard of
places being bugged before

'but this is ridiculous.'

Steve, how did he know
that they were there?

Our ever-faithful computer, Ira.

Ira told me this morning
that he programmed the Rover

to respond to and even generate

electronic patterns
emitted by ants.

You mean that...he can
communicate with them?

In crude fashion, yes.

Well..

...in that case, little buddy,
we are about to take a trip.

[mumbling]

[high-pitched squeaking]

It seems that good Dr. Janus
is going to have company.

Mr. Harcourt,
you've got to look

at the latest
analysis reports on EF-11.

We've been testin' it
on laboratory animals.

I-I'm going out
to the Easton plant.

It has the potential
of being more than

a hundred times as toxic
as DDT, Mr. Harcourt.

Countries intending
to buy EF-11

will be usin' a minimum
of three pounds per acre.

Roughly the equivalent
of 300 pounds of DDT.

It's supposed
to be powerful.

No, but you see,
when it combines

with water
and specific pollutants

it becomes toxic,
not just to insects

but to wildlife,
and eventually to humans.

The tests prove it.

Then redo the tests.

- What?
- Redo the tests.

[beeping]

Rover, can you tell me..

[dramatic music]

[whispering]
Rover.

[beeping]

Rover.

[piano music]

[piano music continues]

I'll be with you
in a moment, Diana.

Oh, it's alright,
Dr. Janus.

Chopin is one of
my favorites.

[applauding]

It's not often
I have an audience.

Oh, doesn't...Dr. Radcliffe
like music?

I know he's here, doctor.

I'm not certain why or how

but I know that you kidnapped
him just like I know that..

'...you're the one
making the threats'

'on Harcourt's pesticide plant.'

I'm afraid you're gonna
regret your involvements

in all this, Diana.

The IADC is involved,
not just me.

And they know I'm here.

We crusaders are
a dangerous lot.

Aldo!

Right here.

[dramatic music]

No one is to enter these gates
today, do you hear?

No one.

Let's go.

I can almost hear
the questions

going round and round
in your respective heads.

How can a plain, passive

mousy little person like her

expect to make
GDH Enterprises knuckle under?

Well..

Here, ladies and gentlemen.

[chuckles]

Here's your answer.

A hormonal formula..

...I developed from
my ant friends themselves.

[dramatic music]

[music continues]

[music continues]

Being so weak and shy

is what interested me
in ants in the first place.

This potion helps me unlock

those latent and natural
abilities in myself

which coincide
with those of the ants.

Hymenoptera formicidae.

They're everything I'm not.

Social, well-organized

purposeful and strong.

Did you know an ant can lift
over 50 times its body weight?

What's the matter, Doug?
I'm still not your type?

'What a shame.'

Why haven't you put this

"Discovery"
to good use instead of--

I am putting it to good use.

Go on, Doug,
tell her what I'm doing.

What's she talking about?

The EF-11 pesticide formula,
I sold it too soon.

What he sold Harcourt was
an incomplete formula.

Incomplete because
in its present form

EF-11 when saturated
with ordinary water

'and exposed to
airborne sulfates'

becomes a deadly poison.

Our tests weren't
really conclusive.

Not when you sold out
to Harcourt for over

a million dollar's worth of
night life they weren't.

But mine were.

Two months later.

Within four years, EF-11
will seep into the food chain

of those countries using it
and cause irreversible damage.

'It'll make DDT
look like nothing.'

Harcourt starts
marketing it today.

I'll help you stop him.

[scoffs]
I found out the surest way

to see that
something doesn't get done

is to trust it to
government bureaucrats.

Cawley. Aldo.

No.

I've made other plans.

[dramatic music]

Goodbye.

[high-pitched squeaking]

They're flesh eaters.

Doug, I want you to
untie my hands

and I will get us
both out of this.

(Doug)
'There's no way.
I can't reach you.'

[music continues]

[music continues]

[music continues]

Move the chair over.

(Diana)
'Well, that's not gonna
help for very long.'

Come on, just do it.

[Rover beeps]

Wait.

Rover?

[beeping]

Rover, the ants.

'Tell them to stop, can you?'

[beeping]

[high-pitched squeaking]

[beeping]

Cavalry in computer form?

- Don't knock it.
- I'm not. I'm not.

- There you go. There you go.
- Ah!

- Rover, I love you.
- Aw, I love you, too.

Call Steve Trevor
at the IADC

and tell him
what's happened here.

Tell him to see that the Easton
plant is evacuated immediately

'cause I'm sure that's
where they went.

You know, there were ants
in those things she carried
outta here.

She must intend to
destroy the plant

like she did those buildings.

Hey, what about you?
You gonna be okay?

Yeah, I'll be alright. I've..

I've got the cavalry
on my side, remember?

[beeping]

We're just about ready to start
pumping the mixture

into the tanks
at the loading dock.

Good. Good.

Mr. Harcourt, the plant manager
just got a call, sir

from the IADC ordering us
to evacuate the plant.

Probably just another
crank call.

No, sir. He said that
Steve Trevor told him--

It was just another
crank call!

Yes, sir.

- All set.
- Good.

The few hundred ants
that you placed inside

will muster a force of
ten million.

So why do you have to go in?

Can't you signal the ants
from out here?

Destroying the building
isn't enough.

I've got to neutralize
the pesticides

that he's already manufactured.

If it spills, it will poison
everything within ten miles!

[dramatic music]

[music continues]

[high-pitched squeaking]

[Rover beeping]

(Wonder Woman)
Come on, Rover.
We've got to save the plant.

Okay, we ready to go?

Whee! That was great!

Okay, little buddy,
do your stuff.

[beeping]

Empty.

Rover.

Do you think you can
find those ants

and tell them to stop
like you did at the house?

[beeping]

- Alright. You're sure?
- Sure, I'm sure.

Alright,
now I want you to hurry.

And be careful.

Don't worry about me.

[music continues]

Hey, you!

[music continues]

[music continues]

[music continues]

Hey! Nobody's supposed
to be in here!

[music continues]

[Rover beeping]

What? Wait a minute.

Oh, uh, down this way.

Now I've got it, this way.

Are you gonna tell me
that you have not

received orders to evacuate
this building?

I will not be harassed into
abandoning my endeavors

by you, the IADC
or anyone else.

Harassed?
This whole building is about

to come down, Mr. Harcourt.

Now stop your
operations and evacuate.

[creaking]
That sound.

[music continues]

Diana Prince has proved
that the pesticide

you're about to
market is toxic.

Do you really want manslaughter
on your conscience?

Have the people clear
the building.

[alarm blaring]

Come on!

[beeping]

[alarm blaring]

[mumbling]

[alarm blaring continues]

Is everyone out
of the building?

Somebody..
I don't know who.

But somebody's
in the control room!

Come on, you've got to
get out of here.

No! The pesticide
has to be neutralized.

Help me, please.

Help me!

Help me!

Let me.

Two thousand!

The temperature of the mixture

has to reach 2000!

[lever creaking]

Come on!

Come on!

We did it!

- Come on.
- No, no, no.

It's too late.
We'll never get out, never.

[alarm blaring continues]

[Rover beeping]

What happened?

[alarm stops]

I believe it's the cavalry,
Dr. Janus.

Reenie, you're safe.

And you're Reenie again.

Sorry to disappoint you.

No, look, I'm sorry
for everything I did to you.

You had to become that creature
for the things that I did.

I'm responsible
for everything.

Save it for
the judge, doctor.

Maybe you'll get lucky.

Maybe the court
will assign you a woman.

I'm the one who's
responsible for this

'and the buildings,
and for her.'

I intend to face up
to everything

but do you think after I do

that maybe you'll
help me to start over?

Well, this can make you forget
how you created Formicida

if that's what you want.

It certainly is.

You know, I can't figure out

why that building is
still standing.

I'll show you.

[Rover beeps]

About time you remembered me.

[Janus chuckles]

[mumbling]

He talked the ants
out of it?

Well, Diana always said
he has a way with words.

[laughing]

Aw, shucks, it was nothing.

[theme music]

♪ Wonder Woman ♪

♪ Wonder Woman ♪

♪ Wonder Woman ♪♪