Here is the the official synopsis for Aaron’s episode of THE DEAD ZONE.
TOTAL AWARENESS (#3005)
EPISODE PREMIERE: July 4, 2004LOGLINE:
Johnny (Anthony Michael Hall) and a rebellious young woman with a strange gift for numbers (Lauren Lee Smith) team up to expose the use of a total information awareness system for domestic surveillance.SYNOPSIS:
News of Maine Senator Thomas Marshall’s death is announced on the radio as psychic Sylvia Tesich (Karin Konoval) drives an upset young woman named Gibson (Lauren Lee Smith) out of town. Suddenly, a truck flies through the intersection and crashes into their car, leaving Sylvia dead. A video camera watches a shaken but unhurt Gibson as she grabs Sylvia’s purse before fleeing. Meanwhile, at a department store, Johnny (Anthony Michael Hall) and Bruce (John L. Adams) are shopping for J.J.’s (Spencer Achtymichuk) birthday present when Johnny experiences credit card problems and begins to feel that all the security cameras are trained on him.Later that day, a telemarketer interrupts Johnny as he tries to get to the bottom of his credit card problems. The caller is actually Gibson, who is posing as a cruise line operator and is phoning Johnny from a parked car outside. During the call, she scribbles numbers on her forearm as she sees visions of rapidly flashing numerals.
During a game of laser tag at J.J.’s birthday party later that day, a strange man and woman, Adams (Phillip Mitchell) and Roth (Jeanie Cloutier), approach Johnny with real guns. However, the mysterious Gibson grabs Johnny just in time to rescue him. She pulls him into an outside alley and quickly disappears as Rob Coulter (Aaron Douglas) of Argon Security approaches. Coulter tells Johnny that he’s with “Operation Prime Target” and is tracking Gibson, who has murdered three psychics from the remote viewing program in which Johnny participated. He reveals that one of the victims is Johnny’s friend Sylvia Tesich, and that Gibson is now after Johnny. When Adams and Roth reappear, Coulter tells Johnny they’re part of his team. Claiming they’ve probably just saved Johnny’s life, the trio insists on escorting him home.
At the house, Johnny is hit with a vision of Gibson entering his front door and punching in his alarm’s security access code. He tells Coulter that Gibson has been there and Coulter’s team begins searching the house. When they tap into Johnny’s security system with ease, Johnny grows suspicious – and suddenly notices the abundance of Argon logos in his home. But when he questions Coulter, Coulter is secretive, claiming his operations are classified. Reviewing the home security cameras, they see Gibson enter the house about 20 minutes before they arrived, shutting off the security system for three minutes and then resetting it before she leaves.
Coulter leaves to phone his boss, Dr. Scanlon (Kevin McNulty), who urges him to hurry up since they only have 48 hours until the Senate hearing. Scanlon orders Coulter to find Neal Pynchon (Diego Diablo Del Mar) and to keep Johnny close. While Coulter is distracted, Johnny picks up a Tarot card Gibson left behind. The contact triggers a vision of Sylvia and Gibson’s car crash, revealing that the traffic light at the scene was green in both directions.
Meanwhile, Gibson, who is parked outside Johnny’s house in a stolen car, calls 911 to report that two suspicious men are parked in front of “her” house and gives the operator Johnny’s address. Inside the house, Coulter shows Johnny footage of Sylvia’s car crash from his laptop after sensing Johnny’s growing suspicion. When the police arrive and Coulter goes outside to intercept them, Johnny gets a call from Gibson and races outside to meet her.
Walt (Chris Bruno) arrives on the scene, informs Coulter that he is the legal authority in Penobscot County, and demands to talk to Johnny. When Johnny is nowhere to be found, Walt places Coulter under arrest. En route to the station, Coulter explains he and his team are working for the Department of Defense and are trying to protect Johnny, but Walt is skeptical. Within minutes, however, Walt’s authority is overruled and Coulter is released.
Later that night, Gibson drives Johnny to a secluded area, where she explains that she sees numbers just as he sees visions. She then reveals that Argon won a contract to take over the remote viewing program for the Defense Department. All the psychics were then tested against Argon’s new top-secret system known as Carnosaur, a monster intelligence-gathering program used as a tracking filter and linking into security videos, phone taps, satellite feeds, and facial recognition software. According to Gibson, Neal Pynchon designed Carnosaur with good intentions, but grew suspicious of its actual use by Scanlon and his team. When Neal asked a couple of psychics in the remote viewing program to investigate, it ultimately cost them their lives.
Gibson adds that Neal disappeared shortly thereafter, leaving Sylvia a dart with a note urging her to find him. He hoped she would be able to track him psychically, knowing anything else would be traceable. When Johnny grabs the dart, he is hit with a vision of Neal playing darts at a bar in Keyhole, New Hampshire and he and Gibson head to off to find him.
Coulter later discovers that Gibson and Johnny have changed vehicles and have tricked his team into tracking the wrong car. At a truck stop in New Hampshire, Gibson and Johnny hitch a ride on the back of a truck heading towards Keyhole. That night, Coulter catches up with Johnny and Gibson’s abandoned car at the truck stop, and after reviewing the security camera footage, identifies the two of them as they boarded the truck.
By this time, Johnny and Gibson have gotten off the road and are waiting for a train at an electrical substation when they realize security cameras are watching them. Anxious to get off Coulter’s radar, they break the camera, head towards the highway, and hitch a ride with a tow truck. Finally arriving in Keyhole, the two find the bar Johnny saw in his vision and question the bartender and the locals there. After everyone denies knowing Neal, Johnny grabs a dart and is hit with another vision, which leads him to Neal’s rustic cabin. Gibson follows Johnny and realizes that being so isolated in the country has impaired her ability to see numbers.
Still hot on their trail, Coulter, Adams, and Roth arrive in Keyhole with orders to kill Neal, Johnny and Gibson. Back at the cabin, Neal is overcome with guilt when Johnny tells him about Sylvia’s death and he decides to make a run for it. As he begins packing, Johnny is spun into another vision upon grabbing a photograph of a young woman named Amy (Jory Gillies). In the vision, he sees Neal with a bottle of Scotch as he watches security footage of Amy being robbed and killed at an ATM. Johnny reveals his vision and Neal explains that he created Carnosaur with good intentions – specifically to catch Amy’s killer. Discouraged by Scanlon’s use of Carnosaur to ruin lives, Neal wants to give up the fight, but Johnny and Gibson persuade him to reconsider.
Suddenly, Johnny is hit with a terrifying vision of Coulter and his team assassinating them in the cabin. Snapping out of it, he sees a red dot targeting him and dives for cover. As the three lay on the floor in the dark, Johnny grabs a flashlight and Neal reaches for his rifle. When Coulter enters wearing night vision goggles, Johnny blinds him with his flashlight and Neal shoots him in the arm. Grabbing the gun, Johnny rushes outside to find Doug the Bartender (Ken Roberts) and local residents Fitch (Michael Roberds) and Lewis (Mark Red Sky) standing over Adams and Roth with rifles. Introducing his fellow off-the-grid neighbors, Neal explains Doug is a former New York cop, Fitch is retired F.B.I., and Lewis is an angry pure-blood Mohawk.
Johnny questions Coulter, demanding to know what the psychics could have seen that was worth killing them for. Coulter insists that the information is classified. Determined to get answers, Johnny grabs him, triggering a vision of Coulter murdering Maine Senator Thomas Marshall. Intent on proving his guilt, Johnny, Neal, and Gibson head out of the blackout zone for the local bar. There, Neal tries to access Carnosaur from Coulter’s laptop but finds the password has been changed.
Just then, Doug, Fitch, and Lewis enter with Coulter’s team in custody. Johnny suggests they take the three to a hospital, but recommends they take their time. Back in town, Gibson’s psychic abilities with numbers are restored, and she is able to come up with the password through her exposure to Coulter. Meanwhile, Neal and Gibson have been growing close to each other during the whole ordeal. Working together, they gain access to the system and find the condemning footage of Scanlon killing the senator. Scanlon is ultimately arrested, and the Senate Intelligence Committee moves to schedule hearings on the appropriation for the Carnosaur system.
Neal and Gibson, who have fallen in love, escape to a deserted island, while Johnny picks up where he left off – spending time with J.J. and getting used to being a dad.
CAST CREDITS:
Johnny Smith – Anthony Michael Hall
Sarah Bannerman – Nicole Deboer
Walt Bannerman – Chris Bruno
Bruce Lewis – John L. Adams
Gibson – Lauren Lee Smith
Sylvia Tesich – Karin Konoval
Rob Coulter – Aaron Douglas
Adams – Phillip Mitchell
Roth – Jeanie Cloutier
Dr. Scanlon – Kevin Mcnulty
Neal Pynchon – Diego Diablo Del Mar
Doug The Bartender – Ken Roberts
Fitch – Michael Roberds
Lewis – Mark Red Sky
Amy – Jory Gillies
PRODUCTION CREDITS:
Written by – Michael Cassutt
Directed by – Kevin Speckmaier
Source: USA Network | The Dead Zone – The Show – Episode Guide: Total Awareness