STALKER: PILOT {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The first in this dramatic thriller series about the Los Angeles police who investigate stalking-related crimes. In this episode, a young woman, Kate, is murdered in her car when a masked assailant douses her with gasoline and lights a match. Elsewhere, Lieutenant Beth Davis of the Threat Assessment Unit lectures on the statistics of stalking crimes while an unknown man photographs a woman from a distance. The man is then introduced as Detective Jack Larsen, a womanizing homicide cop from New York and Davis' new colleague. She is immediately unimpressed by him and his attempts at humor and tells him that he will work with her for a month before receiving his own cases. They receive word of Kate's murder and head for her house, where Larsen notices a number of subtle clues suggesting that she has been afraid of a stalker for some time. They interview Kate's neighbor, Troy, who reveals that Kate briefly dated a Larry Meyers before finding out that he was married. Meyers admits to the affair but denies any wrongdoing, and Larsen wonders if Davis dislikes him because of his apparently sexist attitude towards her.
Davis then visits the hospital and interviews a college student, Perry, who was beaten up by his former roommate Eric for allegedly posting an explicit video of Eric and his girlfriend online. Perry claims that Eric shared the video himself but declines to press charges for the violence, saying that he wants to give his friend a "second chance." Eric, however, counters that Perry has exhibited strange behavior all along, though nothing provable, and Davis guesses that Perry is obsessed with his "friend" and is reacting badly to his rejection. Later, she returns to her own heavily-secured home, while elsewhere the masked man attacks another woman, Lori, though she escapes him before he lights the fire. Larsen continues watching the unknown woman and is then summoned to the hospital, where he and Davis question Lori. She explains that she has been harassed for some time and recently moved into Kate's old apartment after meeting her at the gym, and Davis concludes that the same man has been stalking both women. Larsen heads to the gym and questions the trainer, Kurt, who admits to knowing both women as well as Meyers, though Troy is also there and cannot provide an alibi. Davis finds disturbing letters in Lori's home, noting that it is common for victims to initially ignore their stalkers, and Larsen discovers a "secret viewing room" in a crawl space above Lori's bed containing Meyers' fingerprints.
Perry shows up in Eric's new dorm room and threatens him, though claims that he wants to "work it out." Meyers continues to deny his actions, though damning footage is found on his laptop, and Eric visits Davis, desperate for help and frustrated that no one seems to believe him, though she assures him that she has been through the same thing. The detectives then discover that Meyers has an accomplice, and his wife admits that he made a new "friend" at the gym and they realize that Kurt has a long record of crimes. Meyers admits that he and Kurt played a "game" of pursuing women from the gym, though it turned unexpectedly sinister when Lori rejected him, and though police are assigned to Lori's protection, Kurt enters her home through the floorboards and kidnaps her. He takes her back to the empty gym and declares that they will die together, but the police arrive and Larsen shoots Kurt before he can set them both on fire. Later, Larsen again questions Davis about her dislike of him, and when she informs him that she knows of his past indiscretions with women, he admits that he has made mistakes and is looking to atone. She declines to explain why she is drawn to stalking crimes, telling him to "be patient," and she later accosts Perry, roughly ordering him to stay away from Eric. When Larsen returns home, he is confronted by Amanda, the woman he has been following, revealed to be his ex-wife and mother of his son. She orders him to stay away from them, though he argues that he has the right to see his child. Davis carefully locks up her own home, unaware that she is being watched – by Perry. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: November 30, 1999 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:43:19
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 116189
- GENRE: Drama, police/detective
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/detective; Drama, mystery/suspense; Asian American Pacific Islanders Collection
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 2014-2015
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Kevin Williamson … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Lauren Wagner … Producer
- Meredith Zamsky … Producer
- James Thompson … Co-Producer
- Liz Friedlander … Director
- John Frizzell … Music by
- Dylan McDermott … Cast, Det. Jack Larsen
- Maggie Q … Cast, Lieutenant Beth Davis
- Mariana Klaveno … Cast, Detective Janice Lawrence
- Victor Rasuk … Cast, Detective Ben Caldwell
- Elisabeth Rohm … Cast, Amanda Tate
- Erik Stocklin … Cast, Perry Whitley
- Eric Lange … Cast, Larry Meyers
- Daren Kagasoff … Cast, Eric Bates
- Michael Grant Terry … Cast, Kurt Wild
- Melanie Liburd … Cast, Lori Carter
- Torrey DeVito … Cast, Kate Edwards
- Audrey Wasilewski … Cast, Mrs. Meyers
- Gabriel Bateman … Cast, Ethan Tate
- Alano Miller … Cast, Troy Gunn
- Merle Dandridge … Cast, Lisa Miner
- John M. Jackson … Cast, Man
- Chelsea Harris … Cast, Bella
- James S.W. Lee … Cast, Rick
- Michael Christian Alexander … Cast, Officer
- Ayo Sorrells … Cast, Sid Tech
- Ty Chen … Cast, Student #1
- Danielle Argyros … Cast, Student #2