Well back at work today finally! My first day at my new job was a little slow, what with the mountain of paperwork and documentation to surmount first, but by the end of the day I've got project work to do, and I'm ready to get into it tomorrow. What a change it is to work for a proper professional outfit, instead of the circus I was with before. These guys document, follow procedures, and have some actual structure. Once I wrap my head around it all, it'll be nice to have some order for a change, instead of the instability and chaos that previously ruled. It's also nice to be in the city with lots of people and things going on. I had a nice walk at lunchtime, and it was good to get out and see the world (especially after 7 weeks stuck at home). Overall, I'm feeling pretty optimistic about things. It's going to be a lot of hard work for a little while till I get settled in and understand fully what I'm supposed to be doing, but I think it's going to be a good move in the long run.
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Plot Synopsis:
Connor McLeod sits watching the wrestling at Madison Square Garden. He watches the wrestling and his mind drifts back to an ancient battle, Scottish highlanders in a bloody battle in the highlands. He suddenly gets up and leaves, going down into the parking garage. A man attacks him with a sword, and they fight. McLeod cuts Faziel's head off. Energy flares from Faziel's body, causing destruction throughout the garage, and coursing through McLeod. He hides his sword and runs when he hears the sounds of approaching sirens.
Flashing back to Scotland 1536, the clan McLeod ride out to battle. On the field of battle, a dark warrior tells the oppositions leader that ConnorMcLeod is his to kill. Both sides attack and fierce battle breaks out, but no one will fight Connor. The black warrior rides in and challenges Connor. He quickly stabs him through with his sword. Connor's clansmen comes to his aid and stop the warrior from severing Connor's head. The warrior tells Connor he will return.
Back at Madison Square Garden, Connor tries to leave but is apprehended by the New York police. He is using the name Russell Nash, and he is arrested for the murder of Faziel.
Back in Scotland 1536, Connor is read the last rights by the priest, and declared dead. Connor's woman weeps over his body.
The cops investigate the murder scene. Brenda Wyatt from police forensics has been called in to gather evidence. The police assume that Nash killed Faziel for his priceless antique sword, as he is listed as an antique dealer. Nash is questioned by the police about Faziel. Nash feigns ignorance, and provokes one of the officers into fighting with him. Without any solid evidence, the police are forced to release him.
The dark warrior is driving to New York. He checks into a hotel room as Victor Kruger. In his room he unpacks and assembles a very large sword.
Brenda is given samples of metal taken from Faziel's wound by the coroner. She analyses the metal and realises there must have been another sword involved. Back at the garage, McLeod is retrieving his sword, when Brenda arrives. Using a metal detector, she finds pieces of McLeod's sword embedded in one of the garage pillars. McLeod meets up with Brenda at a local bar. As he's leaving she follows him home.
On the way home, McLeod encounters the dark warrior. He has returned for him, and they fight in an alley. McLeod tries to protect Brenda who stumbles into the fight. Luckily a police helicopter arrives and interrupts the fight. McLeod warns Brenda to stay away from him and not to follow him again.
Back in 1536, the Clan McLeod think Connor is possessed by the devil because he is still alive and has recovered from his wound, when he was a corpse the night before. His woman declares that Connor is in league with Lucifer, and they drive him from the village, beating and pelting him with rocks. His clansman Angus banishes him even though the rest of the village want to burn him. He wanders off into the highlands.
Back in New York, McLeod is returning home. He goes into a room in his loft filled with mementos of his time alive. He remembers blacksmithing and building a tower with his new woman, Heather. As they finish making love, the Spaniard Ramirez arrives to speak with McLeod. He knows his story, and has come looking for him. McLeod is effected by a lightning storm, and Ramirez explains it is the Quickening he feels. Ramirez claims he is the same as McLeod.
Brenda distracts her captain, and then checks through the file on his desk, finding the pictures of Nash. Meanwhile, McLeod is repairing and resharpening his sword. He looks at a book about ancient swords, turning it over to reveal it was written by Brenda. He remembers Ramirez.
On a Scottish lake, Ramirez is training McLeod, and they are trading insults. Ramirez responds by tipping him into the lake, and Connor complains that he cannot swim. Ramirez tells him he can't drown because he is Immortal. McLeod walks across the bottom of the lake, surfacing to attack Ramirez on the shore. Ramirez easily avoids his attack, and then starts to tutor McLeod in proper swordsmanship. Ramirez explains to Connor about the time of the Gathering, when the few who are left will gather to fight for the Prize. He explains the only way they can die is if his head is severed from his neck. He is safe only on holy ground, and they will all fight until only one is left. They train and practice until Connor is finally able to beat Ramirez.
Later, Ramirez warns McLeod that he must leave Heather because they cannot have children, and it will be too painful to watch her age and die. Ramirez explains that he has been alive for over 2,000 years, and when his last wife died he was shattered, and he does not wish him to experience that pain.
Back at McLeod's tower, Connor tells him of the black knight. Ramirez tells him he is the Kurgan from Russsia, and explains that he is the strongest and most evil of the Immortals. He must help stop the Kurgan or mortal man will endure an eternity of darkness.
Ramirez is entertaining Heather while McLeod is away when the Kurgan arrives. Ramirez attempts to protect Heather. They fight in the tower, and leave it in ruins. Ramirez manages to slash across the Kurgan's throat, but doesn't sever his head. The continue to fight and the Kurgan gains the upper hand, taking Ramirez's head, and raping Heather.
Back in New York, Brenda has come to see Nash, and is asking about a japanese sword with the metal in the blade folded 200 times. McLeod invites her to dinner. The police are watching Nash and they report back that Brenda was talking to him. Rachel, McLeod's assistant in his shop, asks what to tell people when they ask about him. He flashes back to World War I, when he found Rachel in the rubble of a destroyed building, and saves her from the Nazis.
Rachel tells him that she knows he is lonely and he should find someone to be with. McLeod leaves to go on his date with Brenda. He arrives at Brenda's place, and quickly discovers her hidden tape recorder, a .45 pistol, and the police unit watching her home. He seems amused by her deception, and tries to get the truth from her. He brings a bottle of brandy from 1783, and then tells her about the events of the year. She asks about the gift he bought for her, and when she opens it she finds her book. She realises the jigs up, and he confronts her. She tells him she just wants to see the samurai sword, because it shouldn't exist. She says its far too advanced for the time it was made. McLeod leaves her.
Flashing back, McLeod has built a new home near his ruined tower with Heather. We see a montage over time as Heather slowly ages, and dies. He stays with her to the end, unchanging.
McLeod meets with Castigere, another Immortal who has come for the gathering. They talk of the Gathering and decide to have a celebration. McLeod remembers the last party they had in 1783, when McLeod had a drunken duel with Mr Bassett on Boston Common. Bassett becomes frustrated when he is unable to kill McLeod despite repeatedly stabbing him with his rapier. He eventually turns his duelling pistol on his man servant and shoots him in the buttocks.
The Kurgan is fighting with Castigere. An American military veteran driving past witnesses the fight, and gets out armed with a machine gun. He witnesses the Kurgan take Castigere's head. He unloads the entire machinegun clip into the Kurgan, and when he goes to look for the body, the Kurgan stabs him with his sword. Kurgan takes the Quickening, then flees into the street, stealing a car with a little old lady in it, and then terrorising her all over the city.
The cops go to see the veteran in the hospital, and question him about the swordsman. They show him Nash's photo, and he confirms it wasn't Nash. The veteran tells them about Kurgan's scar across his neck. He can't understand how he got up after he filled him full of lead. He then tries to tell them about the Quickening, and the cops dismiss him as a kook.
Brenda is researching Nash's background and discovers that his identity belongs to a child that died young. She trails back through history, a succession of newborns that died, and their identity's taken, the previous identity leaving their posessions to the new identity. She has the handwriting on the birth certificates checked and compared to Nash's, all the way to 1796.
At a cathedral, McLeod goes to light a candle for Heather to remember her on her birthday. The Kurgan arrives and threatens McLeod, telling him Castigere is gone and they are the last. He provokes McLeod, and says he will come for him soon.
Brenda confronts McLeod about his past. He takes her to his treasure room, and tells her the truth. He stabs himself to prove to her that he is telling the truth. They end up kissing and making love. The next day at the zoo, McLeod tells Brenda that it won't work and he cannot get involved again. The Kurgan spies on them, and abducts Brenda when she gets home. He then calls McLeod and tells him to come meet him or Brenda will die.
McLeod goes to the Silvercup Building. He finds Brenda tied to the Silvercup sign, and the Kurgan attacks while he is freeing her. A fight breaks out atop the sign, moving down to the rooftop when the sign falls from its mounting. They fight on the roof, and they both fall through a skylight to the warehouse below. McLeod gets the upper hand and manages to cut further through Kurgan's neck, severing his head.
McLeod wins the prize, his mortality, and supreme knowledge. He goes to start a new life with Brenda.
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Plot Synopsis:
Special Agent John Kruger (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is assigned to make people disappear for the witness protection program. Mobsters have broken into an informants home and are terrorising them when Kruger arrives and deals to them. He then fakes the informants death, and helps the couple to disappear. The cops arrive to find the home ablaze.
Back at the Justice Building, John changes the couples fingerprints and dental records to match the corpses he substituted them for in the house fire. John's workmate Robert Deguerin (James Caan) comes to speak to him. John gets assigned a new witness to protect; Lee Cullen (Vanessa Williams) to protect. She worked for a Defence Contractor, Cyrez, and has uncovered some illegal dealings.
The FBI watch as Lee goes to collect evidence from her employers. She goes into the security vault to copy the data from the secure server. While there she makes two copies of the data. As she's leaving, security ask her to report to the director's office. He confronts her about copying the data. The director discovers the camera Lee is carrying, pulls a gun on her, but turns it on himself committing suicide. During the ensuing confusion, Lee manages to escape to the FBI.
Kruger meets with Lee to explain her new identity, and she refuses to give up her life, and goes home. The FBI check the data disc into evidence, and the clerk takes the disc and gives it to someone else. Lee arrives home and checks the second disc, but finds she is unable to run the program because it must be used on the secure corporate server. The disc's program alerts security officers at the company. She calls her friend at a newspaper and lets her know what's happened.
Some men arrive and murder the FBI watching Lee's house. They then start shooting at Lee using a high-tech railgun from Cyrez. Kruger arrives to protect Lee as the shooting starts. They dodge the shots, until John is forced to improvise a trap destroying her house so they can escape. John offers to hide her until the hearings.
Higher up, politicians connected to Cyrez are starting to panic. Orders are given to clean up the mess. John takes Lee to stay with a person in China Town. He tells her he works alone, so if anyone comes looking for her on his behalf, shoot them.
John meets with Robert who tells him someone has been murdering their suspects, and they suspect a mole in Witness Protection. He tells them they have to go meet their witnesses face to face. They go to check in on Alice, a witness of Roberts. A gunfight breaks out, and Robert kills Alice. He fakes giving her mouth-to-mouth when the other agents come in. He then cuts off her air. He plants evidence on the man near Alice's body - a photo of Lee. Robert asks John where she is, and John tells him Atlanta.
Back on the plane, en-route to Atlanta, Robert drugs John. John realises he's been drugged, but manages to text his warning code to Lee. They intercept the cell phone call and divert the plane to New York. When John awakens, Robert has murdered another agent and framed him. John pulls a concealed knife, and stabs Robert. He then grabs and parachute and escapes out the plane door. Unfortunately he drops the chute, and is forced to sky dive after it. He gets it, puts it on, and opens it. Robert has the plane turned around and tries to ram John. He becomes entangled in his chute, but manages to free himself and open the reserve. It opens a little too late though, and he slams into a wrecked car in a junkyard.
Robert lands and figures that John would have sent Lee to the New York Zoo. He sends his team of hitmen there. Meanwhile, John is on his way to New York in an acquired tow truck. One of the men finds Lee at the zoo, and tells her John sent her. She shoots him and runs off. The other men search for her and eventually pursue her into the reptile house. John arrives crashing the tow truck through the zoo gates. John shoots out the glass on the alligator exhibit, freeing the creatures. They start attacking the hitmen.
John and Lee hide out in a church. John makes contact with his captain and explains what's going on. He tells him he'll make contact again when he has proof. Lee shows John the second disc she made, but explains they can't use it outside of the Cyrez building. John goes to ask for help from the mob informant he rescued at the beginning.
Johnny agrees to help them. Robert is already watching Cyrez with his men. Johnny arrives disguised as a pizza delivery man. He fakes a heart attack to get into the building infirmary. John and Lee arrive disguised as paramedics. The Cyrez security team detect John accessing the disc but can't understand how he isn't running it from the server room. One of the technicians suggests he must be running it from a terminal in the building. They try to locate the terminal through the network. John discovers the Russian Mafia are buying the railgun weapons that day at midnight. The technicians finally track John to the Director's office. The security team burst in shooting. Robert grabs Lee as they try to escape.
Johnny goes with John to the Baltimore docks to stop the arms sale. His cousin Tony runs the docks and can help them find the ship the weapons are going on. They enlist the help of Tony and his mob crew. John contacts his boss and tells him where the arms deal is going to happen.
The mob guys create a diversion while John sneaks onto the docks. Hitmen armed with the railguns start sniping at John. He manages to get one of the weapons away from them, and starts using it against them. He disrupts the arms sale, and ends up fighting with Robert atop one of the shipping containers. Lee escapes from the Russian mob guy that is holding her aboard the ship. The wiseguys start shooting at the Russian mob guys. Robert is bought in by John, but looks like he might escape justice. John is cleared, and fakes Lee and his death in an explosion outside the courthouse. He then erases Robert and the corrupt Senator by arranging to have Johnny leave their limo on the train tracks. Their car is destroyed by an oncoming freight train.
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Plot Synopsis:
In the Borg Collective, Picard stands in an alcove, as we're taken through the ship, showing Picard's assimilation into Locutus of Borg. Picard opens his eyes in his ready room. Some Borg device bursts out of his cheek, and he wakes up. The communicator alerts him to a message from Starfleet. A colony on a Federation planet has been destroyed by the Borg. Picard briefs the command crew, that a single Borg ship is on its way to Earth. Picard reports that they won't be going to Earth's defence, as Starfleet has assigned them to patrol the Neutral Zone. Picard feels they don't trust him since he was assimilated by the Borg previously.
Out in the Neutral Zone, Picard is reduced to inspecting reports of space dust, and comets. Picard listens to Starfleet's communications as they engage the Borg cube. Picard listens as the fleet is massacred by the Borg. He reaches a decision, and decides to take the Enterprise to Earth.
Meanwhile, Worf is fighting the Borg with the USS Defiant. He is taking damage when the Enterprise arrives and begins attacking the Cube. When the Admiral's ship is destroyed, Picard takes command of the fleet. He can hear the Collective inside his head, and orders the fleet to attack a seemingly harmless section of the Cube. The fleet opens fire, and the Cube is destroyed. Just as it is about to explode, a smaller Borg Sphere leaves the larger Cube and continues on to Earth.
The Sphere opens a portal into the past, and escapes through. The Enterprise becomes caught up in its temporal wake, and detects that the Borg have assimilated Earth in the past. Picard follows them through to correct the changes in the past.
At a human settlement in Montana, Zephram Cochrane and Lily are heading home after a night of drinking at the local tavern. They see a bright light in the sky that begins shelling the settlement with energy bolts. The Enterprise arrives with minimal damage, and detects the Sphere firing on the settlement. Worf fires quantum torpedoes and destroys the Sphere. Picard realises the date is April 4th, 2063, and the Borg were attempting to disrupt First Contact. Picard leads an away team to the settlement.
They beam down to find devastation. Picard leads a team into the missile complex under the settlement. They find extensive damage to the complex, but find the prototype warp ship mostly undamaged. Lily fires on them with a machinegun, before collapsing due to radiation exposure from the damaged warp ship. Lily is transported back to the ship for medical treatment. Riker and Troi are assigned to locate Zephram Cochrane. Geordi beams down to aid in repairs to the warp ship.
Back aboard the Enterprise, Engineering has noticed some strange behaviour within the environmental systems. A team is checking for faults in the Jefferies Tubes when they are attacked. Picard hears the Borg again, and realises something is wrong aboard the Enterprise. Picard and Data return to the ship leaving Riker in charge.
Medical is having systems failures, when something starts trying to bash the doors down. Worf reports that there are system failures on the lower decks to Picard. Picard realises the ship is being adjusted to be more hospitable to the Borg. They transported over when the Enterprise's shields were down, and are now attempting to assimilate the ship. Data locks out the main computer to stop the Borg from gaining control of the entire ship.
Crusher is forced to wake Lily up so they can escape the Borg. She activates the EMH program to act as a diversion while they escape. When they escape into the Jefferies tube network, Lily runs away. Picard takes command of some security teams, and leads them to Engineering on Deck 16 to try to stop the Borg.
Meanwhile, Troi has located Zephram Cochrane, back in the bar getting drunk and dancing badly. Riker arrives and angers Cochrane when he turns off his loud music. Troi has been drinking with Cochrane, and is pretty drunk. She declares Cochrane nuts, then collapses onto the floor. Cochrane returns to his bad dancing and loud music.
Picard discovers the Borg have already begun converting the Enterprise corridors, building new alcoves and Borg technology into the ship. Data feels anxious, so Picard suggests he deactivate his emotion chip. They advance toward Engineering, running into Crusher's group. She warns Worf that Lily has escaped. The team begins to encounter Borg, and Enterprise crew members that are being assimilated. The Borg ignore them until they attempt to gain access to Engineering. They begin to attack and for awhile the teams phasers stop them, until the Borg adapt their shielding. Worf and Data begin attacking them in hand-to-hand combat. Picard opens the Engineering doors, but is attacked by more Borg. The team retreats, but loses Data as he is grabbed and dragged under the Engineering doors. Some team members are captured and assimilated. Picard kills one team member to end his suffering. They flee into the Jefferies tube network, where Picard runs into Lily. Lily takes his phaser and threatens him with it.
Data awakens to find himself restrained to a Borg assimilation table in Engineering. The Borg Queen introduces herself to Data, and attempts to seduce him to gain access to the computer network.
Meanwhile, Riker explains to the truth to Cochrane. They attempt to prove their story to Cochrane by showing him the Enterprise-E through a telescope. He eventually believes them, and Riker explains that they need him to conduct his warp flight in the morning as he will make first contact with an alien race. This race will come and this will lead to the eventual creation of the Federation. Cochrane agrees to help them.
Meanwhile, the Borg are advancing through the ship, assimilating crew members. A team reports to Worf that the Borg have halted their advance on Deck 11. Picard takes Lily to a room with an observation window so he can show her she's in space. Picard manages to calm her down, and explains what's going on.
Back in Engineering, the Queen reveals herself to Data, and reactivates Data's emotion chip. She has had synthetic skin grafted to his arm in an attempt to tempt him to her side. Picard takes Lily through the ship past the Borg. Picard fires at the Borg, and leads them into the Holodeck. He activates his Dixon Hill program, and deactivates the safety protocols. Picard pulls a submachinegun from one of the goon's cases, and opens fire on the Borg. Lily realises that Picard gunned down his own crewmen, and is stunned at his callousness. Picard locates the neuroprocessor, and checks it to find out what the Borg are working on.
Back in Montana, Barclay is nervously harassing Cochrane. Geordi explains to Cochrane how everyone worships him. Cochrane seems to be struggling with all the hero worship.
Picard arrives back on the bridge and receives a report from Worf. They discover the Borg are building a beacon on the deflector to summon more Borg from the Delta Quadrant. Picard decides to take a team outside onto the hull to stop them.
Cochrane has run away, and Geordi and Riker pursue him. Cochrane explains that he's not a great man, and didn't want to build a warp ship out of any great motive, he just wanted money and women.
Picard, Worf, and Hawk venture out onto the deflector dish. They attempt to release the magnetic couplings holding the deflector dish onto the ship. They come under attack from the drones assembling the beacon, and Hawk is assimilated. He turns on Worf and Picard, but Worf kills him with a Klingon knife he'd bought along. They release the dish, and destroy it as it drifts away from the ship.
The Queen has attached more flesh to Data's frame. She is still attempting to turn Data to the Borg ideal. Data tries to escape, but halts when his flesh is injured and he feels pain for the first time. Data finds himself unable to remove the flesh. The Queen kisses Data and uses her sexuality to seduce him. Surprisingly he reciprocates.
The Queen quickly realises her deflector dish plan has been disrupted, and changes to an alternate plan.
Back on Earth, the repairs have been completed, and the team are preparing Cochrane and the Phoenix for launch. Cochrane is hung over, so Riker and Geordi go along to help out.
A crew member reports to Picard that the Borg are once again advancing through the ship. Worf suggests they destroy the ship, and Crusher agrees. Picard refuses and they argue. Lily confronts Picard and he refuses to give in, even though his personal experience is coloring his judgement. Enraged, Picard destroys the display of previous Enterprise's on the wall. Lily points out an analogy to Picard and Ahab from Moby Dick. Picard finally relents and agrees to destroy the ship. The crew prepares to evacuate. The auto destruct sequence is activated. Picard apologises to Worf, then sends the crew to their escape pods with Lily. Picard stays, after hearing Data in the Collective.
The Phoenix launches from it's silo in Montana. Cochrane finally realises the enormity of what he's achieved. Picard goes to Engineering and finds the doors open for him. The Borg Queen confronts him as Locutus. She shows Picard what she has done to Data. Picard offers to give himself up to become a companion to the Queen, if she releases Data. She releases Data but he will not go, he is Borg now. The Borg Queen commands Data to unlock the computer core and deactivate the self destruct, which he does.
Cochrane prepares to activate the warp drive. He sees the Enterprise out his window. Data brings the sensors online and targets the Phoenix. He fires but the torpedoes just narrowly miss the Phoenix. The Queen realises Data has betrayed her, and he smashes the plasma coolant tanks, spraying the coolant throughout Engineering. Picard and the Queen climb up hosts to avoid the coolant which liquefy's organic matter.
The Phoneix goes to warp. Data rises from the coolant to drag the Queen back down, where her organic flesh is dissolved. All the Borg drones aboard the ship malfunction and shutdown. Picard activates the environmental systems and pumps the coolant out. He finds the Queens cybernetic skull and spine, and snaps them, finally killing her. Picard helps Data who has had his skin dissolved too. Data admits to being tempted by the Queen for 0.68 seconds.
The alien ship arrives in Montana and makes first contact with Zephram Cochrane. The Vulcans step out and and greet them with "Live Long and Prosper". The Enterprise returns to the future. Cochrane is busy introducing the Vulcans to loud music and drink.
