The Invisible Man
The Invisible Man is a Sci-Fi American television series starring Vincent Ventresca, Paul Ben-Victor, Eddie Jones, Shannon Kenny and Michael McCafferty. Somewhat more successful than previous television series involving invisible secret agents, it aired from June 9, 2000 to February 1, 2002, lasting two seasons. The plot revolves around Darien Fawkes, a thief facing life imprisonment who was recruited by a low-rent spy organization and given the power of invisibility via implantation of a special "Quicksilver gland" in his head. The gland allows Fawkes to secrete a light-bending substance called "Quicksilver" from his pores and follicles. The substance quickly coats his skin, hair, nails and clothes and renders him invisible. He can consciously release the Quicksilver, which then flakes off and disintegrates. However, the Quicksilver gland was sabotaged at its creation by scientist Arnaud DeFehrn to release a neurotoxin that accumulates in the bloodstream and causes intense pain, followed by antisocial behavior and psychosis. The host requires regular doses of "counteragent" to keep him sane and healthy, which is controlled by said government agency. This series lasted for two seasons, before being cancelled due to cost issues and internal bickering between the Sci Fi Channel and its then-parent company, USA Networks. The show's first season ran concurrently in first-run syndication as well as on Sci Fi.
Episodes
Pilot (1)
Darien Fawkes is a con-man and thief who is captured for a third time. Rather then face California's three-strike law, he volunteers for an experiment conducted by his brother Kevin. Kevin and another scientist, Arnaud, have created a synthetic gland that secrets ""Quicksilver"", a substance that can bend light. They place the gland in Darien's head. He soon realizes what has happened and is none too pleased. Darien is even less happy when they discover the gland secretes Quicksilver into the recipient's brain, and enough of it drives the person insane. Darien learns to control his abilities, and soon discovers that Arnaud is up to something. Arnaud claims Darien is insane when he accuses the scientists, but then Arnaud's mercenaries break in, steal the information on the gland, and kill everyone except Darien. Darien goes to his ex-girlfriend, a doctor who is furious at him because he didn't reveal his past. She refuses to believe he can turn invisible, and then Darien is taken away by
Pilot (2)
Going to Mexico to investigate Arnaud, Bobby meets his new partner Bobby Hobbes: a veteran spy and near basket-case. They escape an ambush by French-Canadian spies. Meanwhile, Arnaud has had Darien's girlfriend Casey brought down to Mexico, planning on using her as a hostage. Darien goes to rescue her, prepared to kill Arnaud since Darien thinks he'll be going insane shortly. Arnaud plays his trump card: there's a counter-agent that will stave off Quicksilver madness, and he'll give it to Darien if he works for him. Darien refuses, escaping with Casey and blowing up the compound (although Arnaud escapes). Both the counteragent and the formula are destroyed, and Darien goes to visit his brother's grave one more time before going permanently insane. However, the Official meets him there and reveals that his Agency was working with Kevin, and they have the counter-agent as well. As long as Darien works for them, he'll get regular doses of the Counter-Agent. Reluctantly, Darien agrees.
The Catevari
A patient in a coma hidden away at a secret hospital recovers and escapes, killing the guards in the process with a poisonous touch. The Agency is called in to investigate, and Darien soon learns that the patient, a ""Catevari"" (named after a Latin story of a woman fed poison until her very touch was poisonous) was another experimental subject of the Agency, like himself. The Catevari goes after the The Official, and Darien manages to save his life by quick use of the freezing properties of Quicksilver. Darian ultimately confronts Catevari, who confronts him with the fact that they both have been messed up by the Agency and should join forces. Fawkes reluctantly decides to stick with those who have helped him, and the Catevari is killed.
Ralph
A young girl is a witness to an assassination by a sniper. Traumatized, she only speaks to her imaginary friend ""Ralph."" Darien, using his powers of invisibility, convinces the girl he is ""Ralph"" and tries to get her to talk about the murder. Eventually the hit man tries to kill the girl, and Darien manages to stop him. With his help, the girl starts to recover from her trauma, and leaves her ""imaginary friend"" behind.
Tiresias
Darien and Hobbes are assigned to help investigate an auditor's relative's suicide, and run into a man who can see the future and use it to his advantage.
Impetus
Darien encounters a bizarrely-aged woman and soon becomes infected with the same disease, causing him to rapidly age.
The Devil You Know
The Official is forced to resign because of Darien's screw-up, and he and Hobbes have a new boss to deal with.
Liberty & Larceny
Darien is contacted by his former mentor and partner, Liz, who wants his help. She wants him to return to his thieving ways and help her steal some FBI files on a mobster who has hired her. Initially reluctant, Darien eventually grows aggravated with the Agency's treatment of him and links up with her. Covertly using his powers of invisibility, Darien manages to get hold of the files, only to realize that the mobster plans to use them to kill a government witness against him. Darien tries to thwart the mobster and keep Liz safe, and manages to do so. The two of them part on relatively friendly terms.
The Value of Secrets
Darien comes to the aid of a female scientist who may be able to remove the Quicksilver gland.
Separation Anxiety
Hobbes starts trailing his ex-wife, and gets arrested as a stalker. Hobbes believes his ex-wife Vivian's new fiance is a crook. Darien thinks he's jealous, but it turns out Hobbes is right, and they're assigned to the case. It turns out that the fiance is an undercover agent for Naval Investigations. They all team up to find the culprit in an illegal arms sale. They get captured but Darien manages to escape with his invisibility, and capture the bad guys. Hobbes is impressed with the fiance, Brock, and reconciles with Vivian.
It Hurts When You Do This
While suffering from memory loss and undergoing hospitalization, Bobby witnesses a strange experiment and later he and Darien investigate related disappearances.
The Other Invisible Man
The Official is assault by an invisible man and Fawkes is suspected - Darien and Hobbes work to clear Darin and find the true assailant.
Reunion
Darien gets called to his hometown to investigate the appearance of his dead brother Kevin.
Cat & Mouse
Unable to craft their own invisiblity gland, the Chinese government sets out to steal the American one. Unfortunately, they have the idea that Bobby Hobbes is the invisible member of the team. Fawkes and Hobbes go into hiding, but Bobby gets nervous. After several chases, Hobbes apparently dies in a car crash. It's a set-up, but he turns up at his own funeral to look on from a distance, and is captured there by the Chinese. The Agency tracks him to the Chinese embassy, and Fawkes goes in to rescue him. It turns out the whole operation is a ploy to lure out the real American Invisible Man. Fawkes manages to escape with Bobby before they can drain the Quicksilver out of the gland, setting the place on fire.
Beholder
A ghoulish hitman uses a laser to blind any witnesses to his killings. Fawkes and Hobbes trace him to a blind model who the killer is romantically involved in, but the assassin escapes, blinding Fawkes in the process. Since he was turning invisible when the laser hit him, the effects are temporary, and he can still see if he covers his eyes with the quicksilver formula. Unfortunately, that aggravates his growing insanity. The blind model helps him to deal with his blindness, and the two become romantically involved. Fawkes figures out that the assassin's most recent victim was merely a lure to get his real victim to the man's funeral. Fawkes, overwhelmed by Quicksilver Madness, throws the assassin to his death.
Ghost of a Chance
Darien, the Keeper and Hobbes head south of the border to Santa Ruego to convince the Prime Minister to vote against installing the Biox chemical weapon system. How? By having Fawkes pretend to be a ghost and persuade the superstitious Minister to vote against the system's installation. Unfortunately, another ""spirit"" is haunting the Minister: ""La Llarona,"" a ghost who can drown men with a kiss. She confronts Darien and it is revealed she is a member of a shadowy organization that bio-engineered her with the ability to breathe water and exhale it under pressure. In the battle over the Prime Minister's vote, Darien eventually manages to drive her off and get the vote, despite the mutual attraction the two ""freaks"" share.
Flowers for Hobbes
Hobbes and Darien are on the trail of a sperm thief. A college professor is using the sperm to isolate intelligence-causing genes, and put them into a retrovirus. Hobbes is accidentally infected and soon begins to become more and more intelligent. But the partners discover that the gene therapy is lethal. Bobby becomes smart enough to create a cure...but refuses to do so, preferring to die smart then live dumb. Darien infects himself, leaving Hobbes no choice but to come up with a cure to save his friend.
Perchance to Dream
A series of bizarre killings involve murderers who have no connection to the victims. The Keeper becomes the next unwitting ""murder,"" as she is part of a insomnia-research project. The project's scientists are using the device to program their subjects to become assassins. The Keeper's sanity is threatened if she can't complete her ""assignment."" Fawkes and Hobbes eventually mange to bring in the scientists, and come up with a means to break the Keeper of the programming (by faking the death of her ""victim"") before she goes mad.
Frozen in Time
Kate Easton (The Value of Secrets) is on the run from Allianora. Easton is grabbed before Darien can get her to safety and put into cyrogenic suspension by Allianora's (as yet unidentified) employers. The people Allianora work for are collecting scientists for future use under their control. The Agency manages to capture Allianora, but she proves impossible to crack. So Darien secretly cuts her a deal: he'll betray the Agency and help her escape if she'll betray her bosses and help him rescue Kate. Both of them end up double-crossing each other, and Darien ends up in a cyrogenic tube when Allianora scrambles his tracking signal. He manages to escape using his invisibility and rescue Kate. However, when he returns with the Agency, the warehouse and the remaining scientists are gone.
Diseased
Hobbes and Darien meet with one of Hobbes' contacts to set a trap for their arch-enemy, Arnaud. Arnaud manages to escape Darien with the aid of a smoke canister, which turns out to contain a biological weapon. Darien is soon displaying flu-like illness symptoms, and is excreting black, contaminated Quicksilver. The Official and the Keeper send him to a military hospital...which Arnaud has already infiltrated. He plans to remove the Quicksilver Gland from Darien's skull via surgery, but the illness complicates matters. He must kidnap the Keeper to cure Darien so he can gain an uninfected Gland. Darien manages to escape and, overwhelmed by madness, almost kills Arnaud. The Keeper manages to stop him but Arnaud escapes. (Copyright 2002 Steve Crow)
The Lesser Evil
Allianora (from ""Ghost of a Chance""), the Woman in Black, contacts Darien and invites him to join the Organization (i.e., Chrysalis). He is understandably reluctant, but she shows him top secret Agency files that show they are planning to replace him with a more cooperative Gland recipient. He investigates and finds the information to be true, but also discovers that the plan was for him to be the replacement for his predecessor. Remaining loyal to the Agency, Darien attempts to infiltrate Chryalis, and even takes up their offer to ""kill"" Allianora, suspecting the bullets are blanks. They are, but she is wary of him once he ""proves"" he is willing to kill her. Darien then tries to infiltrate Chrysalis' computer banks, but is caught. Before they can remove the gland, Allianora frees him, setting the HQ building on fire. She disappears once more.
Money for Nothing (1)
To bolster Agency funds, the Official comes up with a plan where he, the Keeper, and Hobbes will go to one of Arnaud's casinos and, using Darian's invisibility powers, break the bank. The first part of the plan goes well, but Darian decides to steal the remaining $7 million of the casino's money on his own. When confronted by the Official, Darian denies the theft. In response, the Official cuts off his supply of the counteragent. Arnaud contacts Darien and offers him the counteragent in return for the money. Stalemated with the Official, and with quicksilver madness coming on, Darien is tempted, but Arnaud mysteriously disappears. Darien talks with Arnaud's imprisoned brother Huiclov, who refers him to a doctor that Arnaud was visiting. darien goes to the hospital to the doctor, already red-eyed with madness. The Official has sanctioned an outsider to bring in Darien, taking an unhappy Hobbes off the case. Hobbes tracks Darien to the hospital on his own, and manages to find him with a
Money for Nothing (2)
Presumably the audience voted yes to Hobbes' decision to join Fawkes. Darien, in end-stage Quicksilver Madness, is now obsessed with finding Arnaud. Hobbes sticks close by trying to keep him from killing random bystanders. They catch up to Arnaud, but Hobbes helps him escape when it appears that the maddened Darien will kill him. Darien abandons Hobbes, who is then approached by Arnaud. Arnaud has a malfunctioning Quicksilver gland of his own, and needs to use Darien's as a baseline to get his own fixed. In return, he'll give Hobbes Stage Five Counteragent to reverse Darien's advanced condition. Hobbes helps capture Darien, and a surgeon, Dr. Reynolds, manages to adjust Arnaud's gland. Darien gets the Counteragent, but before it can take effect he tries to kill Arnaud. Arnaud escapes during the distraction when the counteragent kicks in. Later, Arnaud goes to visit Reynolds when he realizes that the surgery did not go quite right, and he is permanently invisible.
It's a Small World
Thanks to a leak in Chrysalis, Hobbes and Darien get the goods on a politician that Allianora is trying to bribe. Realizing they have a leak, Chrysalis takes unspecified measures to stop the leak. Allianora visits Darien and tries to force him to give up the name of their contact, but he refuses and the two end having making (invisible) love. The next morning Bobby and Darien meet with the contact, only to have him killed by a Chrysalis ambush. The Keeper soon realizes that Darien was bugged with nanobots during his...encounter with Allianora. They transmit everything he sees and hears. The Official fake-executes Darien while they put an insulated helmet on him to make Chrysalis think he's dead. They then investigate a pharmaceutical firm and discover Chrysalis plans to attach the nanobot bugging devices to students at an elite school. While Hobbes and the Keeper stop them, Darien tries to lure off the Chrysalis strike team to the school pool. Using a pair of goggles, he prevents them
About The Invisible Man
- Creators
- Matt Greenberg
- Cast
- Vincent Ventresca, Paul Ben-Victor, Eddie Jones, Shannon Kenny, Brandy Ledford, Michael McCafferty
- Genres
- Comedy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Drama
- Content rating
- TV-PG
- Original language
- English
- Production countries
- United States of America
- Status
- Ended
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