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Pilot
Season One, Episode One
AlphasPilotPic
Air Date July 11, 2011
Written By Zak Penn
Michael Karnow
Directed By Jack Bender
Episode Guide
"Cause & Effect"

"Pilot" is the first episode of Alphas. It first aired on Syfy in a ninety-minute time slot from 10:00 pm to 11:30 pm on July 11, 2011.

Summary[]

Cameron Hicks is working at a grocery store when his cell phone rings. He answers, hears a warbling tone and reads a text message with a location and time. A mysterious figure wearing white gloves, The Ghost, is in the store when Cameron receives the call. People (an elderly woman in the store, the manager of the store, a woman pushing a stroller, an infant in a stroller and a man on the street) and media around him seem to be urging him that "It's time to kill" and "Pull the trigger." Cameron proceeds to a rooftop where he finds a sniper rifle left for him. He fires one round toward an unidentified building.

Dr. Lee Rosen is swimming in his backyard pool when he sees a government agent standing near the pool. The agent tells Rosen that Don Wilson is inside the house. Wilson gives Rosen a classified case file.

Bill Harken talks with his wife Jeannie before leaving home for the day; outside he finds that a large vehicle is blocking his driveway. He exercises his hyperadrenal capability and pushes the offending vehicle sideways out of his way.

Nina Theroux is stopped by a police officer for a traffic violation. After he writes a traffic citation, Nina uses her influencer capability to tell the officer to eat both copies of the ticket.

Gary Bell is being served breakfast by his mother. He uses his transducer capability to visualize media that most people can only see and hear with electronic hardware.

Rachel Pirzad enters the dry cleaning establishment owned by her parents. She asks the tailor to shorten the hem on one of her garments then tells her father that she will be working late. On the way out of the business, she pauses and uses her Synesthete capability to listen to the tailor and her father discussing her prospects. Her father says she will never find a husband with her "condition."

In response to Hick's sniper assassination, Wilson has Rosen gather the four gifted individuals (who Rosen calls "Alphas") to investigate. They track Hicks back to his apartment and capture him, finding out that he has been brainwashed by the Ghost. Using the Ghost's phone signals, they find him at an upscale hotel, and chase him until he jumps to his death from a rooftop patio.

Later, it's revealed that the jumper was another mind-controlled patsy, and the Ghost has followed the team back to their office. The Ghost takes Rachel hostage, but Hicks is able to control his ability well enough to shoot the mind-controller dead. Rosen gives Hicks an option; join his Alpha team or be put on trial for his brainwashed assassination.

Quotes[]

Rosen: Well, hello, Don. Just come right in, please.
Don Wilson: You eating grass again?
Rosen: Well, it's Asian Pennywort. It increases the blood flow and oxygen to the brain. It's quite an eye-opener. Want a bite?
Don Wilson: I don't eat shrubs.

Rosen: I understand, but my group...
Wilson: Has deniability, Rosen. It doesn't technically exist. So you do this for me and don't bust my balls.
Rosen: So refreshingly candid.

Jeannie Harken: I love you.
Bill: (to his wife) I feel sorry for you, woman.

Gary: I'm putting my lunch in the refrigerator.
Nina: Hi, Gary.
Bill: Hi, Gary.
Gary: Good morning. My mother doesn't want me to eat fast food so I have to eat what she makes me.
Bill: Got it.
Gary: And that's why my name is on it. Don't eat what's inside my bag.
Bill: So, what you're saying is I can eat your sandwich.
Gary: No, don't. That's my name.
Bill: No, I changed my name to Gary.
Nina: Bill...
Bill: I'm joking. It's a joke.

Rachel: I don't even think I'd know how to walk in those.
Nina: I've got a closet full of these. I'll hook you up.
Gary: Hook me up.
Rachel: Are you serious?
Nina: You want some, um, stilettos, Gary?
Gary: Yeah, hook me up.

Gary: Football, British. Golf, Miniature.
Bill: Does he ever stop?
Gary: Hey, you shut up.
Rosen: Gary, what did we talk about?
Gary: He started it.
Rosen: And how do we end it...?
Gary: I stop.

Rosen: So hostile. You weren’t breast-fed, were you?

Rosen: Now, you were saying? Residue, citrus rind...
Rachel: Oh.
Rosen: And nicotine.
Rachel: And an enzyme found only in Caucasians of Northern European ancestry.
Rosen: So, our assassin is, what, a jittery orange-eater from Norway?

Nina: Something's wrong here. A deadly assassin working in a grocery store. A hot, deadly assassin, but why would he...?
Bill: You're an absolute mess, woman. Have you no shame?
Nina: What? I like the blue-collar look.
Bill: And the...
Nina: And the bad-boy thing.
Bill: Sure.

Don Wilson: Another donut shop.
Rosen: Since they've opened, I've had to add another 20 laps to my swim.
Don Wilson: Half of these places are just a front.
Rosen: We need to talk about the shooter.
Don Wilson: One on every corner. More donuts than could possibly be consumed. You know, 40% of all small businesses are owned by foreign nationals.
Rosen: You know that's simply not true.
Don Wilson: Eh, it could be. You don't know.

Don Wilson: Have you ever heard of the Ghost files? No, don't answer that. Of course not.
Rosen: What Ghost files?
Don Wilson: I never asked you that.
Rosen: No, I'm asking you.
Don Wilson: What?
Rosen: What? Why do I feel I'm in a Beckett play when I talk to you?
Don Wilson: I don't know who that is, okay?

Rosen: You could have told me about this before. "I swear on my mother's grave."
Don Wilson: She's cremated.

Gary: If I fix it, I can get to drive the car.

Rosen: All Alpha skills come with a downside, Cameron.

The Ghost: You're on the wrong side of this.

Nina: Take this ticket and eat it. Take the carbon copy too.

Hicks: What, no downside for you?
Nina: Well, I don't count toothpicks or cut myself if that's what you're getting at.

Gary: I fixed the TV, I'm the driver.
Rosen: Not a chance.
Gary: You said that if I fixed the TV, I got to drive. You told a white lie.

References[]

Bill: I'm rehearsing for Jeopardy.

Bill is referring to the popular game show where must answer in the form of a question.

Production Notes[]

Reception[]

  • The series premiere drew in 2.515 million viewers, making it the most watched TV debut in Syfy's two year history.

Navigation[]

Alphas Season 1 Season 2
"Pilot" • "Cause & Effect" • "Anger Management" • "Rosetta" • "Never Let Me Go" • "Bill and Gary's Excellent Adventure" • "Catch and Release" • "A Short Time in Paradise" • "Blind Spot" • "The Unusual Suspects" • "Original Sin"
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