SCIFILAND: CREATE YOUR OWN SCIFI SHOW
GIVE IN TO YOUR ANIMAL INSTINCTS
Made for scifiland's Create Your Own Scifi Show challenge.
(TEAM SIDEKICK)
Therianthropy is the term used to describe the the metamorphosis of humans into other animals. Werewolves, shape shifters, spirit gods, gods. The idea that humans can take on animal traits has a long history in legends, stories, tales, and lore. But it isn't a myth. These people exist. Human DNA bonded with animal DNA. A recessive gene, uncommon and rare. The human and the beast merge. The government project responsible for the study, extraction, containment, etc of these people? Menagerie.
Menagerie is based on a well hidden island prepared to deal with whatever human/animal combination that can come their way. And on the island, Extraction and Retrieval Team #11 is based. Their job? Find and safely capture any Therianthropes newly discovered.
Season One Plotline:
>The team has suddenly begun to accumulate gaps of time they cannot account for.
>Golden eagle feathers appear, and the dark secrets of Menagerie start to unravel.
>Bianca's past plays a key role.
Season Two Plotline:
>The Hunters have come to town.
>Wild animals must be tamed.
>The Golden Eagle reveals him/herself.
MEET THE TEAM
BIANCA Rhyerson played by HELENA Mattsson
Species: Human/Lynx lynx (Eurasian lynx)
Specialty: Combat/Tactical
Description:
Bianca is not a natural born Therianthrope. She is man made. Once the Therianthrope mutation was isolated, the government began testing to see if they could develop (and thereby control what animal the human DNA merged with) their own Therianthropes. Bianca was Trial #152. She was trained by the military, and then given a role on the retrieval team.
Bianca is a material girl at heart, and love shiny things. She is very dangerous, and, as one might expect from a wild cat, she can be a bit feisty. This is one girl who isn't afraid to use her claws.
Bianca is one of the few Therianthropes who have physical characteristics of the animal they have merged with. Bianca sports lynx ears and literal claws.
She is married to Adam.
Abilities: Flexibility, agility, and night vision.
ADAM Rhyerson played by GABRIEL Mann
Species: Human/Bubo virginianus (Great Horned Owl)
Specialty: Reconnaissance
Description:
Adam was working on a teaching degree when a chance encounter with an owl mutated his DNA. He was immediately brought in to Menagerie by the retrieval team at the time which included BIANCA. Once his skills were discovered, he was given the proper training.
Adam's eyes are the only physical characteristic of his mutation as they are large and immobile. This combined with his usual brooding silence make him seem unapproachable. However, Adam's silence comes from his training. His job is not to talk but to listen.
He works with his partner and wife, Bianca, and they are inseparable.
Abilities: Spectacular binocular vision, extraordinary hearing, and the ability to turn his head 270 degrees.
HEATH Latiese played by JOHN Cho
Species: Human/Suricata suricatta (Meerkat)
Specialty: Linguistics
Description:
Heath is the comedian of the group. His gregarious nature makes him friendly and easy to talk to. He is usually the guy the team sends out to make first contact providing that the target is not hostile.
Heath has no physical markings that reveal his mutation, and, to be honest, he often bemoans his lack of any real skills. However, he does have an ear for language and that makes him invaluable to the team.
He is the first person to meet Gail in the series Pilot episode, and Gail sticks close to him for lack of anyone better.
Abilities: Vocalization
GAIL Pierson played by NATALIE Dormer
Species: Human/Corvus corax (Northern Raven)
Specialty: Unknown
Description:
Gail is the newest member of the team. When she was pushed off a rather tall building, she surprised herself and everyone around to witness her fall, but spreading out a magnificent pair of black wings and gliding beautifully down to the ground.
Needless to say, the retrieval team picked her up quickly. Gail is taken to Menagerie in the pilot episode Fallen Angel, and she discovers she is the first bird Therianthrope to have the ability of flight.
Gail is rather stunned by her new abilities, new home, and new "friends". She does not do change well nor does she acclimate quickly.
Abilities: Flight
OTHER CHARACTERS
MICHAEL James played by BRUCE Campbell
Species: Human/Scalopus aquaticus (Common Mole)
Description:
He's the team's tech guy. He supplies them with all the coolest toys. He is also completely blind. Despite this, he has gotten the team out of many scrapes.
He gives completely awful advice, but is never in bad temper. He hardly ever comes out of his technology cave, and the team very seldom sees him in person. However, in the episode Man in the Mirror he is forced to come out of hiding to help the team with a difficult case.
MARIA Bryce played by SALLI Richardson-Whitfield
Species: Human
Description:
The head of Menagerie project, Maria is one of the very few people on the island who is completely human. Her decisions are often callous as she seems to care little for the lives of the Therianthropes, and the team doesn't like her very much. She is particularly interested, however, in Gail.
She is incredibly intelligent, and works hand-in-hand with the scientists working on the Menagerie project. She was instrumental in the isolation of the mutation and the creation of Bianca.
She guards the secrets of the Menagerie project very well. However, in the season finale The Caged Bird Sings Maria is forced to face the music in a rather gruesome way.
SAUL and ANGELICA Alantine playing by MICHAEL Fassbender and VIVA Bianca
Species: Human
Description:
After the season finale The Caged Bird Sings, the world finally knows about Therianthropy. In Season Two, Saul and Angelica are introduced as the heads of an organization known as the HUNTERS who have sworn to hunt down and eradicate all Therianthropes.
EPISODE PREVIEW
EPISODE ONE: FALLEN ANGEL
Gail is pushed off a rather tall building only to grow wings and fly. The Retrieval Team is sent in. A resistant Gail is then taken to Menagerie.
EPISODE TWO: LIFE AQUATIC
Sailors start washing ashore claiming they've seen a mermaid. Gail goes on her first retrieval, and Bianca finds the first golden feather after losing a night's worth of memories.
EPISODE THREE: MASS PRODUCTION
Lose one finger, grow one back. One man seems to have miraculous regenerative powers. The team goes in to retrieve him, but he isn't interested in coming with them.
EPISODE FOUR: POISON IVY
Men start turning up dead. Poisoned. But there doesn't seem to be anyone the police can suspect. Except the woman all the men went home with. This high paid call girl claims she has no clue how they died, but she's the last person to see each of them alive.
EPISODE FIVE: METAMORPHOSIS
A little boy has wrapped himself inside a cocoon. The team has dealt with a butterfly Therianthrope before, and they know that the boy does not have very long to live after he emerges from his cocoon. It's a race against time as the team works to find the boy before it is too late.
EPISODE SIX: A RIVER IN EGYPT
Bianca meets her match when a pretty Persian springs a trap on the team. Split up and confused, a simple retrieval turns into a test of skill, trust, and love.
EPISODE SEVEN: MAN IN THE MIRROR
Michael must leave his technology cave when the team requests his help on a retrieval of the top priority: a chameleon who can blend in easily with all his surroundings. The team all realize they have all lost time.
EPISODE EIGHT: THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA
Women start dancing with a mysterious stranger only to sell their soul to the devil. At least that's what locals claim has happened when the mysterious dancing partner's feet look like goat hooves.
EPISODE NINE: SPEAK NO EVIL
Heath's brother has gone missing, and he asks the team for their assistance in finding him. When they do, things don't go as expected.
EPISODE TEN: ON A DEAD MAN'S CHEST
Gail's ex-Fiancée is found dead in his apartment complex. Raven feathers found at the scene of the crime peg Gail as the murderer, and Gail can't remember the 24 hours in which the crime took place.
EPISODE ELEVEN: HUMANITY
Bianca reveals her past to the rest of the team when she is forced to comfort a crazed, scared, and possibly dangerous target.
EPISODE TWELVE: WITCHING HOUR
Gail wakes up chained and alone in a laboratory on Menagerie island. She has no memory of how she got there, and she is certain that she is slowly loosing her mind. Meanwhile, the team, sans Gail, are hunting for a rogue Therianthrope who escaped the island and started killing people.
EPISODE THIRTEEN: THE CAGED BIRD SINGS
The secrets of Menagerie are let loose. Maria falls prey to her wild instincts, and the team is in for a devastating surprise when they finally realize why they've all lost time.
