Mutant X Articles: 1/24/03 "The Grift"
Comics Continuum 1/24/03
NEW MUTANT X EPISODE: "THE GRIFT"
A new episode of Mutant X, "The Grift," is scheduled to air in syndication this week. The episode is written by Elizabeth Keyishian and directed by Oley Sassone. Below the photos is a plot synopsis, complete with spoilers. Click on the thumbnails for larger images.
Unwanted emotions sweep over Brennan while he watches a video e-mail from his ex-girlfriend, Becky (Christina Cox), asking him to meet her. As he drives through his old neighborhood, a young boy, Connor (Patrick Salvagna), darts in front of his car. When Brennan stops, Connor approaches and explains that Becky is waiting for him in a nearby alley. Becky informs Brennan that Connor is his son and pleads for his help. Suddenly, police and feds surround them and Brennan instinctively shoots bolts of electricity at the men, which allows for him, Connor and Becky to escape. Meanwhile at Sanctuary, Adam (John Shea), Jesse (Forbes March) and Shalimar (Victoria Pratt) examine blurry images from police cameras. Seeing an explosion of powerful electrical charges, Adam is not sure if they're coming from a weapon or a new mutant, and sends Jesse to investigate.
In the car, Becky tells Brennan that she lifted a briefcase full of cash and a disk from Congress candidate Daniel Foster (Jack Langedijk) who will stop at nothing to get it back. Fearing for her and Connor's safety, Becky is planning to blackmail Foster into buying the disk back from her and needs Brennan's help. After much debate, he agrees knowing that Connor's life might be at risk. He calls the team on his comlink and lies about his whereabouts, but Emma doesn't buy his story.
Meanwhile at campaign headquarters, ex-marine Stephan Bailey (Alan C. Peterson), who's defense contract is dependent on Foster winning the election, reminds Foster that he'll surely lose if word gets out that the disk is missing.
Certain that Brennan is up to something, Emma and Shalimar search his room and find Becky's email. Across town Connor takes Brennan to where they hid the disk while Becky calls Foster and demands two million dollars for the safe return of the disk. Back at Sanctuary, Jesse confirms that Brennan had been involved in the police incident earlier that day while Shalimar and Emma search the database for information on Becky.
Meanwhile at Bailey Industries, Bailey shows Foster six QJ-14's -- reanimated bodies of dead soldiers that are virtually indestructible. If Foster is to win election, he plans to create an army of them using federal funding. He then shows a picture of Becky to two of the powerful QJ-14's and orders them to kill her and retrieve the disk.
When Shalimar comes across a photo of Becky and Foster at a fundraiser, she shows Adam who recognizes Bailey in the background and becomes suspicious. After lunch at Doolan's Diner, Connor distracts the waitress while Brennan retrieves the disk from the broken jukebox. Exiting the diner, they see Shalimar and Emma who reprimand Brennan for his actions. Suddenly, Connor gets a phone call from Becky who is surrounded by QJ-14s and Brennan and Connor speed off to her rescue. The two arrive at the warehouse just as a QJ-14 scans Becky's brain and learns she knows the location of the disk.
Brennan uses his powers to divert QJ-14 A (Tig Fong) and B (Dean Copkov) allowing Becky and himself to escape. In the Mustang, Brennan puts the disk in his laptop and discovers it contains a list of illegal contributions made to the Foster campaign. After sending Becky and Connor to a motel to hide, Brennan returns to Sanctuary to enlist the teams' help.
Back at the motel, a distraught Becky informs Brennan that Connor has been kidnapped and they must bring the disk to the park gazebo in one hour. When Brennan leaves to call Adam, Becky contacts Foster to make arrangements for the switch. Overhearing the conversation, Connor becomes upset that Becky has set Brennan up and rushes to the park to warn him.
At the park, Jesse and Shalimar pose as civilians to provide Brennan back up. Just as Brennan sees the QJ-14's approaching, he hears Connor call out to him and knows he's been set up. Happy that Connor is safe, Brennan sends him out of harms way as the soldiers close in. As Baily and Foster watch on a monitor, Foster has a sudden change of heart and decides to come clean to the public. This infuriates Bailey and he shoots Foster dead.
Escaping the QJ-14s, Brennan arrives back at the motel and hears Becky yelling at Connor for foiling her plans and tells him that Brennan is not really his father. Infuriated, Brennan confronts Becky about her dishonesty as two QJ-14s approach the room.
As the team hovers above the motel in the Double Helix, Adam searches for the frequency that controls the QJ-14s. The soldiers bust through the hotel door just as Shalimar and Jesse appear. They help Brennan battle the two QJ-14s while Connor and Becky hide in the bathroom. Just in the nick of time, Adam locks onto the signal and the QJ-14s collapse. Watching on a monitor at his company headquarters, Bailey suddenly realizes that he is no longer in control of the QJ-14s. Adam then uses the signal to turn the rest of the QJ-14s against their creator Bailey.
Later, Connor and Becky say their goodbyes to Brennan, who promises Connor that he'll watch out for him.
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