War of the Worlds/The Prodigal Son

The Prodigal Son
Season 1, Episode 16
Airdate	February 6, 1989
Teleplay by	Herbert Wright
Story by	Patrick Barry
Directed by	George McCowan
← 1x15 He Feedeth Among the Lilies	1x17 → The Meek Shall Inherit
War of the Worlds — Season One

The Prodigal Son is the sixteenth episode of the first season of War of the Worlds.

Jared Martin (Harrison Blackwood), Lynda Mason Green (Suzanne McCullough), Philip Akin (Norton Drake)

and Richard Chaves (Colonel Ironhorse)

Special Guest Stars: James Purcell (McGinnis), Robert Morelli (Sgt. Fitzpatrick)

and John Colicos (Quinn)

Also Starring: Boris Khaimovich (Alien Cop), Elliott McIver (Cop), Michael Rudder (Advocate #3), Ilse Von Glatz (Advocate #2)

Featuring: David Calderisi (Advocate #1), Randall Carpenter (Margo), Jim Yip (Hwang), Dan Delabbio (Sanchez)

Plot Overview

Just before he and the others are to meet before the U.N, Harrison grants the personal request of an invitation from a hermit artist known only as Quinn. It's not long before Harrison discovers Quinn is not only an alien, but has been immune and trapped in his host body since 1953. Fortunately, Quinn is not working with his own kind, as they hunt him down so they may take from him the immunity to Earth's bacteria. Instead, he hopes to carry out their mission of global conquest with the goal of setting himself up as their leader. The first step is having Harrison deliver an ultimatum to the United Nations.

Notes

Teaser Quote

"I have nothing really against humans, but as a group, they stink. I say, kill them all."

Base Three

• Three aliens are sent after Quinn. Another three are sent to help in the retrieval.

• The number of colonists from Mor-Tax en route to Earth is 3 million.

The Number 23

• The address for Quinn's studio is 23 Canal Street.

Locations

• New York City, New York (United Nations)

Timeline

• Millions of colonists are expected to arrive in "less than five years." This would most assuredly be in 1993.

• Mor-Tax being 40 light-years away would imply this is the time it takes to transverse the space between. This would mean the colonists left in 1953, the year of the invasion, and that the invasion force itself, which reached the solar system in 1938, left for Earth in 1898.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Through Quinn, Harrison learns a great deal about the aliens previously unknown. This includes details about their planet Mor-Tax and the colonists expected to arrive.

• It's revealed that the aliens are often seen wearing sunglasses because they are photophobic due to the fact that Earth's sun is brighter than Mor-Tax's dying star.

• Aliens can gain information upon touch. Unfortunately for anyone who has knowledge of what they need, it involves penetrating the skull to make contact with the brain.

Characters

• Quinn has been trapped inside a human body since 1953. With no other apparent survivors, he was forced to adapt to continue the alien mission. Decades later, this has left him with a unique psychology to his kind, still determined to take over Earth, but no longer dedicated to the collective of his species, individual and willing to compromise.

Referbacks

• Quinn reveals that he knows about Dr Clayton Forrester's Ezekiel Project and that Sylvia Van Buren calls Harrison "Harry".

• Quinn refers to the events of "The Resurrection" as "the awakening".

Trivia

The Show

• Quinn is said to be the Supreme Commander of the army.

• Quinn is the only alien to say anything in alienspeak, but with an English dialect.

Allusions and References

• Quinn shares many parallels to the artilleryman from the H.G. Wells novel. Both are soldiers from a defeated army who plan a new world. The artilleryman's plan involved going underground, while Quinn's travels and has a secret home underground in New York's tunnel system.

Memorable Moments

• Quinn's introduction, which ends him with putting his own unique take on the tradition alien mantra.

Goofs

• When Norton reads Harrison's letter, he opens his mouth and starts to say something, but when it cuts to another shot, the reaction is slightly behind.

• When Ironhorse is talking to Fitzpatrick and rolls up his sleeve to check his watch, he doesn't appear to be wearing a watch.

• When Harrison tells Quinn not to slip while climbing the ladder, not only are his lips not moving, but it's obvious that he's played by a stand-in.

Quotes

• Quinn: To Life Immortal... sucker.

• Norton: You've been invited to meet Quinn.

Ironhorse: Really? The hermit artist.

Harrison: Yes, Quinn himself: master of light, the sculptor of celestial harmony...

Ironhorse: The phoney who sells art that disappears when the lights are turned on.

Harrison: I'll ignore that.

• Quinn: I am Quinn.

Harrison: (offering his hand) Harrison Blackwood.

Quinn: I dislike being touched.

Harrison: That's understandable in this age.

• Quinn: I have to protect the location and absolute privacy of my studio.

Harrison: Well, your secrets are safe with me.

Quinn: Are they? We'll see. My work is only possible with solitude.

Harrison: We share that need, Quinn.

Quinn: And perhaps other needs as well, Harrison.

• (Quinn is showing an art piece to Harrison)

Harrison: Oh my God. It's a masterpiece.

Quinn: Is it? Do you not find it sterile, cold, and a bit lonely?

Harrison: Not at all, no. It's as alive as you and I. What do you call this?

Quinn: "The Universal Truth".

Harrison: And the cost, Quinn?

Quinn: What cost is truth?

Harrison: That sounds like I'm not going to be able to afford this.

Quinn: Don't worry. I'm a reasonable man.

• Quinn: Tell me, Harrison, do you believe there's life in outer space?

Harrison: How could I not?

Quinn: That answer reminds of the little old Irish lady who, when asked if she believed in ghosts replied, "No, but they're there."

Harrison: Is that where you derive your inspiration from, Quinn, from the stars?

Quinn: It is the source of all invention, of imagination itself, and of Life Immortal.

Harrison: You've made contact with aliens?

Quinn: Long ago. It seems forever. But I can remember every detail as clearly as if it were happening right now.

Harrison: Where did this happen?

Quinn: California, near your hometown.

Harrison: In 1953?

Quinn: Yes, Harry. Do you mind if I call you that? I know Sylvia does.

Harrison: You know about Sylvia?!

Quinn: And Dr. Forrester, and all about his secret alien study called the Ezekiel Project.

Harrison: Quinn, if you have any information about aliens, tell me.

Quinn: Oh, I'll tell you, Harry, but just about one alien. I'll tell you all about one who did not fall to the bacteria in the great invasion, one who was stranded alone, 35 long, lonely years on a hostile alien planet... called Earth.

Harrison: You're an alien.

Quinn: Oh, no, Harry. You're the alien.

• Quinn: I am of a superior race from a dying solar system in the constellation humans call Taurus... roughly here. 40 light years away... beyond time and beyond space. In '53, our army came to conquer this small planet and to purge its surface of all parasites.

Harrison: Including humanity.

Quinn: Especially humanity, Harry, of which you are a pathetic, miserable, bacteria-ridden part! (punches Harrison in the face, knocking him off the chair) But if you think you can escape, try. No, in fact, I insist on it. Just walk out the door, Harry, or I'll kill you where you lie. (activates his magnetic handcuff and pulls Harrison back to him, stopping him from escaping) Like my gift, Harry? It doesn't come off until I take it off. And that will be one of two ways. My choice: dead or alive.

Harrison: I want to live, Quinn, but I'm not afraid of death.

Quinn: Death on what scale, Dr Blackwood? Yours? Your country? Or total planetary annihilation? Because that's what's coming... (grabs Harrison by the throat) ...unless someone stops this war!

Harrison: If this is a peace offering, Quinn, you have a strange way of showing it.

Quinn: Just call it the hard sell.

• Harrison: What's that explosion?

Quinn: Why do you think they call them "trap" doors?

• Harrison: Why are we running from your own kind, Quinn?

Quinn: Because I want to live. I've gotten rather used to the idea in a very human way.

Harrison: Half alien, half human?

Quinn: Yes, and half crazy from living in this zoo you call society. Inside this primitive host body is the secret of alien immunity to bacteria on this filthy planet.

Harrison: You're the exception to the rule.

Quinn: Exactly. And if the Advocacy captures me, they will take a vital organ out of me to get the secret for themselves... and I die.

Harrison: And our world dies with you. Quinn, why don't you just change bodies and - and disappear into a crowd?

Quinn: Because I can't, Harry. The same genetic twist that keeps me alive has trapped me inside this ugly shell. They know who I am and what I look like. I know - I told them years ago, but no one ever came after me until the awakening.

• Harrison: Why do you hate humans so much, Quinn?

Quinn: I have nothing really against humans. Some of my best friends are humans. But as a group they stink and you know it. I say, kill them all.

Harrison: Is this the only way to end the war, Quinn? Why can't we start here and now, between you and me, some interspecies dialogue which, for all we know, might bring peace?

Quinn: Dialogue, no. Demand, yes. You will tell the U.N. Security Council leaders tomorrow night that 10% of the human race will be allowed to live, only if they follow my orders. The rest will be poisoned. Otherwise, total annihilation is inevitable. It's an offer you can't refuse.

Harrison: That's not a peace offer, Quinn; that's the slaughter of billions of innocent people!

Quinn: This is a fact.

Harrison: Why? Why our planet?

Quinn: We come from an ancient world, Harry. A garden planet called Mor-Tax. But our sun is dying. And without light there is no life. Earth is the closest planet by far to continue our eternity under a new sun in a new world... a world you don't deserve. A paradise your kind treats like a toilet. You're all vermin, a plague this planet can well do without.

Harrison: We belong here, Quinn. You don't!

Quinn: We are the future, Harry. In less than five years, three million colonists will arrive here from Mor-Tax and an army of thousands out there right now works to slaughter all of you, but I offer mankind a compromise.

Harrison: What happens to the ones that you spare, Quinn?

Quinn: I will have them put on reservations far from my kind. The world will be a better place for it, and we will live life immortal.

Harrison: Even if I was to convey this grisly offer to the U.N., how do I know that your kind would accept this idea, especially coming from a renegade like you?!

Quinn: Because I am Muura-esuk, one who knows. Supreme Commander of the army. I sacrificed everything. I left my mate, my children, my home, to come here to make a refuge for my dying race. But our ruling class thought only of its own glory, ignoring the warnings of our scientists.

Harrison: Yes, I know that problem well.

Quinn: The army will accept me to quickly win this war. Earth is a new world with new rules. We are thousands ruled by only three, the Advocacy. But now, Harry, I will rule alone.

Harrison: And me?

Quinn: You... You will make the final selection: Who among you lives... and who dies.

• Harrison: Indulge me, Quinn. Answer me just one question.

Quinn: Hmm?

Harrison: Do you realize that you're unique?

Quinn: What's your point, Harry?

Harrison: My point is that you've lived here for so long that you're more human than you are alien.

Quinn: Don't try my patience. I've very little left.

Harrison: That's what I mean. The truth is that you've lived here for 35 years in torment and suffering in a terrible kind of loneliness. Now you're revolting against your condition. Despite the pain, you want to live, Quinn. That's a human feeling.

Quinn: What I've done, I've done to survive. No matter what you read into it.

Harrison: From what I know of your people, they are short on humour and they are long on murder. Do you think that millions of alien society are going to - going to accept that body, that mind and its human feelings, let alone allow a half-breed like you to lead them? No, Quinn, your kind is intolerant in its superiority.

Quinn: Your kind murders anything different from its own. Yours is the killer race, Harry. Not mine.

Harrison: But we have learned the value of tolerance, Quinn, and your species hasn't. Tolerance is, and always will be, the saving grace of humanity.

Quinn: Tolerance, Harry? What good is tolerance to me?

Harrison: Because if you want to live, Quinn, humans will tolerate you. They might even celebrate half-alien identity. But your kind - your kind will squash you! They will kill you out of fear.

Quinn: I will rule this planet and anybody who stands in the way will die.

Harrison: That's been tried before, Quinn. Maybe not by one man operating all by himself --

Quinn: Oh, but I'm more than one, Harry. I have you. And if you're good, really good tonight, Harry, the United Nations will end this war.

Harrison: And put you on a throne?

Quinn: You better pray that they do. Because if this fails, you'll be extinct, along with all the rest of your God-forsaken species.

• Ironhorse: If anyone spots Dr Blackwood, I want you to contact me immediately.

Sanchez: Yes, sir. But what if our target is about to evade capture, Colonel?

Ironhorse: Sanchez, Dr Blackwood is not a target... till I say he's a target. So I damned well better be the one who does any shooting.

Sanchez: Just a manner of speaking, sir.

Ironhorse: Well, if that manner becomes trigger-happy, you better hope the enemy gets you before I do. Do you understand, soldier?

Sanchez: Yes, sir.

• Harrison: Why do you use New York's tunnels, Quinn?

Quinn: Believe it or not, the light above hurts my eyes.

Harrison: How ironic. That's what you came here for.

• McGinnis: Your death will that of a hero.

Quinn: No, I must live! I know this planet and its lifeforms. I will rule in place of the three!

McGinnis: No, we live to serve the three.

• Harrison: I can see why you've lasted so long, Quinn. You're a real survivor.

Quinn: When you live in the jungle you learn many things about survival. (beat) Now it's back into the jungle for me.

Harrison: And me?

Quinn: You gave me my life, Harry. I give you yours. Twist the crystal on your bracelet. You're free.

(Harrison looks down to take off the bracelet; he looks up to find Quinn gone)

Harrison: Quinn? Quinn!

Quinn: We'll meet again, Harry.

• Ironhorse: Is that you, Harrison?

Harrison: Yes, Colonel, it's me. The one and only. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't put in any new holes in me to prove it.

• Ironhorse: You've been under Quinn's influence for a long time. How do I know you're not one of them?

Harrison: Well, I could tell you a joke. But if you didn't get it - and you might not, Colonel - you might just shoot me out of spite.

• Harrison: 35 years ago, a great invasion force of aliens nearly obliterated mankind in an all-out attack from the stars. They came here in these spaceships, and they fell from the sky dead... or so we all thought. Earth was saved from interstellar conquest by the presence of common bacteria found on this planet, but they were not dead, as my adopted father, Dr. Forrester, tried to warn everyone. They were only asleep. Dr. McCullough?

Suzanne: They are capable of inhabiting human bodies, a perfect cover which allows them to roam our cities undetected, unnoticed.

Ironhorse: We are at war, gentlemen, and we had better win.

Harrison: There won't be any second chance.