HOSTAGES: PILOT (TV)
Summary
The first in this thriller/suspense drama series, based on the Israeli series of the same name, about a doctor forced to fatally botch a surgery on the President of the United States at the risk of her family's lives. In this episode, Dr. Ellen Sanders, her husband Brian and their two children are held at gunpoint in their home by masked intruders. Twelve hours earlier, she gives a press conference about her plans to remove a non-malignant mass from President Kincaid's lung, and White House aide Quentin comments that the experience will endear him to voters. Elsewhere, FBI Agent Duncan Carlisle quickly and aggressively diffuses a hostage situation during a bank robbery. Ellen notices that a family photo is missing from her office, and Brian learns that a deal at work has fallen through. Maria and Archer, using code names, sneak into the Sanders' home to plant cameras, and Carlisle visits his comatose wife in the hospital. Brian coaches the boys' lacrosse team and finds a large amount of cash in a locker, and his son Jake and his friend Kevin falsely claim that they saved up to buy beer and fake IDs. Carlisle leaves his young daughter Sawyer with his father, telling him that he is indeed "sure about this."
Ellen arrives home early and prepares dinner, and Brian tells her about Jake's behavior and grounds him. The criminal continue watching the house and observe that all the "targets" are in place, and Carlisle is revealed to be the ringleader. Morgan leaves the house before dinner and an armed Maria tails her to a secret meeting with her boyfriend, Boyd, whom she does not want to introduce to her family. Jake receives a call from a Nico demanding the money that Brian confiscated, and he calls Kevin in a panic. He then finds the family dog seemingly dead and is grabbed by one of the hostage-takers, Kramer, and Brian receives a text from a "JC." Morgan returns home and prepares to take a pregnancy test, but the rest of Carlisle's team storms the house and holds the family at gunpoint. Removing their masks, they confiscate everyone's phones, and Carlisle informs Ellen that she is to kill the President during tomorrow's surgery or her family will be killed. Maria seals the windows and Ellen secretly trips the silent alarm, but Carlisle forces her to lie on the phone with the security company. When a cop arrives for a routine check, he hands Ellen the missing family photo, meaning that he is in on it, and Carlisle informs her that they have "thought of everything." Brian fights back, but is subdued, and Carlisle reveals that they have been watching them and that they know of Brian's secret affair.
Elsewhere, Kincaid assures his wife that Ellen will do the surgery well. Carlisle gives Ellen a vial of an apparently untraceable poison with which to inject Kincaid, though she tells him that he will never get away with it. Kramer finds that Jake is hiding his phone and Jake admits that he owes Nico money for drugs, and Kramer, feeling sorry for him, shows him that the dog was only sedated. Ellen considers cutting off her finger to evade doing the surgery but does not go through with it, and Carlisle reminds Kramer that they are "doing a bad thing for a good reason." He calls his father to check on Sawyer, and "their friend" Quentin is revealed to be involved as well. In the morning, Morgan feels ill and Carlisle catches her with a positive pregnancy test, but covers for her when Ellen checks on her. Ellen is shocked when Brian tells her to go along with the plan, and she bids farewell to her children and heads off to the hospital. She talks to Kincaid again and appears to prepare to kill him, but Carlisle's team and the Sanders then learn from the TV news that the surgery has been postponed for two weeks because Ellen has discovered that the President was given a dangerous blood thinner ahead of time. When the press questions her about the change, she pointedly says that she "doesn't give up that easily." Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: September 23, 2013 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:44:36
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 111859
- GENRE: Drama, action/adventure
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, action/adventure; Drama, mystery/suspense
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 2013-2014
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Rick Eid … Executive Producer
- Jonathan Littman … Executive Producer
- Jerry Bruckheimer … Executive Producer
- Jeffrey Nachmanoff … Executive Producer, Developed by, Director, Writer
- Omri Givon … Executive Producer, Created by
- Rotem Shamir … Executive Producer, Created by
- Chaim Sharir … Executive Producer, Based on the Israeli series created by
- Kristieanne Reed … Co-Executive Producer
- Alon Aranya … Co-Executive Producer, Developed by, Writer
- Scott White … Producer
- Michael Azzolino … Producer
- Joseph Berger-Davis … Associate Producer
- Ben Decter … Music by
- Jeff Russo … Music by
- Toni Collette … Cast, Dr. Ellen Sanders
- Tate Donovan … Cast, Brian Sanders
- Rhys Coiro … Cast, Kramer Daly
- Sandrine Holt … Cast, Maria Gonzales
- Billy Brown … Cast, Archer Petit
- Quinn Shephard … Cast, Morgan Sanders
- Mateus Ward … Cast, Jake Sanders
- James Naughton … Cast, President Paul Kincaid
- Dylan McDermott … Cast, Agent Duncan Carlisle
- Jeremy Bobb … Cast, Quentin Creasy
- Larry Pine … Cast, Burton Delaney
- Greg Brostrom … Cast, Janitor/Security Guard
- Tyler Elliott Burke … Cast, Boyd
- Nicholas Calhoun … Cast, Reporter #1
- Lola Cook … Cast, Sawyer
- Iris Delgado … Cast, TV Reporter
- Mark Doherty … Cast, Thug Leader
- Harriett D. Foy … Cast, Nurse Delores
- Lauren Kelly … Cast, Amelia
- Kenita Miller … Cast, Whimpering Woman
- Sandra Mitchell … Cast, News Anchor
- Josiah Nolan … Cast, Thug #2
- Marquis Rodriguez … Cast, Kevin
- Raushanah Simmons … Cast, Reporter #2
- Harry Sutton Jr. … Cast, Reporter #3
- Montego Glover … Cast
- Kevyn Morrow … Cast
- Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio … Cast