A neglected boy (Adam Hann-Byrd) finds comfort when he meets an alien in a crashed spaceship.
Opening narration
| "The longing for adventure and discovery burns in the heart of every child. But no drive is stronger than a child's need for a parent's love." |
Plot
Kevin Buchanan is a high school outcast. He is picked on by jocks and ostracized by the other geeks. Kevin has also never been close to his father Alex, who favors Kevin's more popular, athletic brother Josh. One day, while out in the woods with his dog Cody, he finds a space ship crash landed and a mysterious stranger inside. The stranger calls himself Captain Turner, and he instructs Kevin on how to bandage him up and heal the wounds he has suffered in his landing. Turner explains to Kevin that he has been flying a top-secret experimental aircraft. He momentarily loses consciousness, revealing his true form—he is really a telepathic, shape-shifting alien named Tyr'Nar. He tells Kevin that he is an interplanetary law enforcement officer who was transporting a fugitive prisoner back to his world when the prisoner broke free and caused the ship to crash.
When Kevin first finds Tyr'Nar in the wrecked ship, Tyr'Nar is pinned under heavy debris from the crash and can not move. He puts a thin patch on the top of Kevin's hand, which gives him super human strength. It is explained that the patch is a neuro-muscular enhancer. Tyr'nar gave him the patch to lift the debris off of him. As Kevin is leaving the wrecked ship to head back home, Tyr'Nar lets him wear the patch home, saying that you never know when you can use a little extra strength. The patch allows him to fight back against the bully he has encountered at school, seriously injuring the bully in the process. Tyr'Nar and Kevin grow close through the support and understanding the alien gives the boy.
It is ultimately revealed that Tyr'Nar is the prisoner, not the law enforcement officer. Tyr'Nar reveals his sinister side when Cody runs back to the spaceship without Kevin, and is devoured by Tyr'Nar. Later, Kevin's friend Brad is walking in the woods alone and finds the spaceship. He goes in to explore it and see Tyr'Nar. However Tyr'Nar, who is able to read people's thoughts, has assumed the shape of Cindy, a popular and attractive cheerleader at the school whom Brad was thinking of at the time. Brad is attracted to her, lets his guard down, and gets close enough to be attacked by Tyr'Nar. Brad is killed by Tyr'Nar to keep from revealing the ship to anyone else.
Kevin goes back to the ship carrying Alex's tools. Tyr'nar had requested them under the guise of fixing his ship. However, it is revealed that as a prisoner himself, he is wearing an ankle bracelet that keeps him from leaving the ship without being disintegrated. While Kevin is producing the tools, Alex arrives and confronts the alien. Alex discover Brad's body hidden in the ship and a fight ensues. Kevin gives Alex the strength patch to help him fight Tyr'Nar, and during a break in the fighting, Tyr'Nar is able to cut the bracelet off his ankle. The bracelet is thrown to the side of the ship, near a perimeter zone that sets off the bracelet. Both Alex and Tyr'Nar scuffle and end up in the same area as the bracelet. One of the two touches the bracelet and is disintegrated. Alex is lying there alone, looking dazed. Kevin and Alex walk back home together and Kevin admits that Tyr'Nar could have killed him, but Alex states that Tyr'nar was quite fond of him and that he saved his life. During a hug, it is revealed that Tyr'Nar had taken Alex's form. It is implied that the alien intends to live with the Buchanans using Alex's form, which Kevin accepts.
Closing narration
| "It is said that love and truth walk hand in hand. But if the need is great enough, can we learn to love a lie?" |
Notes
- A virtually identical alien race, albeit one that showed no shapeshifting ability, appeared in the Stargate SG-1 Season One episode "Fire and Water".
Cast
- Adam Hann-Byrd as Kevin Buchanan
- Chris Potter as Tyr'Nar / Captain Turner
- Lynda Boyd as Danielle Buchanan
- Myles Ferguson as Brad
- Daniel Hugh Kelly as Alex Buchanan
- David Kopp as Josh Buchanan
- Will Sanderson as Nelson Tyler
- Danielle Evangelista as Cindy Parker
- Chris Wilding as Mean Kid #1
- Jonathan Ndukwe as Mean Kid #2
- Sal Sortino as Janitor
- Kevin Conway as the Control Voice (voice)