He Feedeth Among the Lilies
An ambulance quickly makes its way down a street. Several doctors rush in a patient from the emergency entrance and wheel him to the ER. But when they arrive they, the doctors and staff are shocked to see that all the medical instruments and devices are gone. And the room is completely barren. At the cavern, the Advocacy watch as their scientists (in the bodies of nurses) dissect a living human. "They always squirm" one of the alien scientist's observes as the human screams in pain. But the aliens realize something- the humans spoil too quickly in the cavern's radiation. The Advocates conclude that they must conduct the experiments outside the cavern. It will allow them a better selection of human subjects to use, and if they discover the secret of the human immune system they will easily win this war. At a U.S. Government safe-house, a couple tells Ironhorse and Harrison the tale of their abduction experience with the aliens. They say that they were drawn to the woods, and the aliens were looking for something. When asked to describe them, the wife said that they looked like a cross between a giant frog and a huge, slimy walnut. Ironhorse worries about the expense that it is costing but they continue with the interviews. Another abductee tells her tale of being abducted. She was suddenly outside her car when the aliens took her to some place that reminded her of a hospital and they put a thing over her mouth. And once they did that, she couldn't feel her jaw. The team speculate about what this could be. Suzanne surmises that it could be a form of mass hysteria. Ironhorse disagrees with the theory, stating that it has happened in different places and the story is rather identical. Harrison decides to probe further to find out what's going on. Another abductee discusses how he was riding his bike one day and suddenly everything turns green and he is unable to move. Then three people walk over to him and stick these wires into him. And all the while, he can feel them placing the wires inside his body. The next interview subject is Karen McKinney, who asks, "Am I crazy?" She reveals that she has been to doctor to doctor about this all. She gets nervous as she talks and Harrison practices a relaxation technique of his to calm her down. She then relates her story about going for a jog and then losing 10 hours of time somehow. As Ironhorse and Suzanne discuss the value of these interviews, Harrison slowly becomes enchanted by Karen. At the cavern, Advocate Horek tells the head scientist that, "Time grows short. We progressed little in our attempts to adapt to this alien environment." Advocate Xana then says, "As the humans pollute the air more and more- survival becomes questionable." "Theirs or ours?" Advocate Oshar questions. The scientist tells the Advocacy that she believes that they have solved the problem of spoilage of the human bodies they are studying. The aliens have taken over the bodies of two paramedics and have commandeered their ambulance so now they have a mobile surgery. "You have done well," Horek tells her. "I can do nothing without your counsel," the scientist replies. Horek says that now that this will spread panic and fear among the humans and Xana says, "To life immortal" as the scientist repeats it. Harrison is by the fireplace at the Cottage, lost in thought. Meanwhile, we see Karen running outside but a hand throws her down and the silhouettes of three aliens hover above her. They keep her down with some flashlight-like device that emits a green flash and keeps her paralyzed. The aliens then plant something inside of her. Karen awakens from the nightmare with a start. Her phone rings and she is startled to hear Harrison on the other end. He wants to see her at the hotel. He makes his way over there and asks her if she's been hypnotized before and all he wants to do is help her get to the bottom of it. He then asks her to dinner. The next morning, Ironhorse asks Norton and Suzanne if they have seen Harrison. He missed the morning interviews and his bed wasn't slept in. "Has he run away from home?" Norton quips. Harrison enters the lab and tells the team about his breakfast with Karen. He asks Suzanne if she could psychologically examine Karen. As they walk down the street, Karen and Harrison gaze at each other. They finally break down and kiss each other in the middle of the street. As they kiss, the ambulance with the alien paramedics drives by. Suzanne then examines Karen and does some word association with her. Suzanne says, "Alien" and Karen replies with, "Rape". Karen then breaks down and talks about something hurting her but she doesn't know what. Meanwhile the alien paramedics comment on how they like the fact that humans actually move away from the ambulance and they conclude that humans are fools. They get one driver to pull over and they exit the ambulance and use the flashlight-like weapon to paralyze him. They drag him out of his car and into the ambulance to study him. Harrison and Karen have dinner and he tells her that he can't tell her of the work that he does. He says he will eventually but he has to find a way. At Karen's room- Karen worries that Harrison's secrecy about his work will come between them. But the two gaze at each other and make love. At the Cottage, Ironhorse asks Norton and Suzanne about Harrison's whereabouts and Norton clues Ironhorse in on the obvious fact that Harrison has found a lady. Ironhorse decides to continue the interviews without Harrison. Karen has a dream about her and Harrison in bed in the morning, and the aliens tossing an unclothed Blackwood out the window. Harrison wakes her up from the nightmare and assures her everything is all right. At the Cottage, Harrison tells Suzanne he's ready for Karen to be hypnotized. Suzanne worries that Harrison's involvement with Karen will ruin his objectivity and he tells Suzanne that's why he has her doing the hypnotism. The aliens meanwhile place a metal thing over the abducted human's mouth. The aliens are going to put an implant behind his rib, harvest him for six months and when they retrieve him, they will learn about his immune system. Under hypnosis, Karen breaks down and remembers having something placed inside her, that they hurting her. Having seen enough, Harrison asks Suzanne to stop the hypnosis. Afterwards, Ironhorse, Suzanne and Harrison try to figure out the next step. Harrison wants to help Karen and find out if the aliens took something out or left something in. The following morning, Harrison reveals to Karen that she had a medical experiment conducted on her by aliens. After being skeptical initially, she reacts with great fear. She wonders if the aliens raped her and if there is something living inside her. Harrison gets a call from Karen who is having a bad night. He rushes to her hotel, but unfortunately, Karen is the next to be recalled. The implant inside her propels her to walk outside and the alien paramedics pick her up and throw her into the ambulance just before Harrison gets there. Harrison enters the hotel and we suddenly hear a Harrison voice over say: "I have no proof but I know in my heart the aliens have Karen McKinney." COMMENTS: I thought this episode was at turns scary and equally beautiful. The direction by George Bloomfield is lovely and the love scene with Harrison and Karen is very well done. It is very sensual yet done tastefully. Karen seemed a likely person Harrison would fall for- I think her pain was something that he could see in himself and drawn him to her. Tom Lazarus' script has some interesting social commentary via the aliens. The Advocacy's comments about pollution clues us in on the responsibility we have on this planet and makes us wonder if these creatures have a good case. If they really could care for the planet better since we are apparently doing such a poor job. Cynthia Belliveau was wonderful as Karen and the draft version of this episode was much different than the final version. The draft has Karen alive and safe, but too frightened of Harrison's involvement with the realm of aliens to continue her relationship with him. Harrison places his priority to the world and stopping the aliens, over his own heart. Crestfallen, he is alone at the Cottage, crying. Ironhorse stands at the doorway, seeing this and Ironhorse wants to comfort him but is completely unable to. I would have loved to have seen that ending although the final version was good too, but the draft version seemed very heartwrenching.
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The aliens try to solve the secret of the human immune system
Karen McKinney talks to Harrison
Karen's nightmare...
