V: The Final Battle (Part 2)

Original Air Date: May 7, 1984

Part two of The Final Battle begins with Ham Tyler spying on Resistance Headquarters and taking photos. Sanchez and Mark try to surprise Ham and take him into custody, but Ham’s partner, Chris Farber, suddenly appears and disarms the two Resistance fighters. Making their way into the rebels’ building, Mike recognizes Ham. They’ve met before — in Laos, El Salvador, you name it — Ham blows it up, Mike captures it on video, and the people back home hate Ham for it. But this time, Ham has come to warn the Resistance that they’re doomed.

Tipped off from the previous night’s event, Ham has arrived as an envoy of a world-wide resistance network. He says the network is organized and has a plan, and the Los Angeles Resistance should sign up and coordinate their efforts. He also has a new kind of ammunition that cuts through Visitor armor.

Suddenly Father Andrew shows up with word from Ruby — she’s phoned from Visitor Security Headquarters to alert the group that shock troopers are on their way. The Visitors, along with collaborator police forces, then show up and storm the building. While the bulk of the Resistance force escapes through a back exit, Donovan, Ham, and Chris prepare an ambush for the Visitors. Ham holds off the troops, then detonates several explosives that kill the soldiers in pursuit. “Now that’s a waste of good luggage,” he comments as he surveys the Visitor casualties.

Meanwhile, Steven visits Eleanor at her home. She shows him a photo of her grandson, Sean, saying he’s apparently been “detained” and she wants him back. Steven then asks Eleanor to fill the position of world spokesperson following Kristine’s recent demise. With mock modesty, she accepts. Later, Steven gives the photo to Brian and tells him to find the boy. He doesn’t tell Brian who the kid is, just that he’ll be a nice present for Diana.

The Resistance makes their new home at an abandoned movie-location ranch. Harmony visits Willie, politely trying to mend fences. Despite everything that’s happened and what she now knows of the Visitors, she tells Willie she still likes him.

Mike has a plan to spring Julie from Diana’s clutches, but Ham says to forget it. He figures she’s already been converted and is “damaged goods.” Nevertheless, Mike vows they’ll get her back, with or without Ham’s help. Ham gives in, realizing that nobody on the team will give up on their leader.

On the L.A. Mother Ship, Diana is in the process of converting Julie. The technician notes that Julie has a congenital heart condition. He also reveals that the Resistance leader has a fear and loathing of anything abandoned or deserted, stemming from an early trauma. He’s able to determine it has something to do with being followed or chased, and Julie — as a child somewhere between five and eight years old — hid in a deserted building. Diana begins the process, making Julie think she’s wandering eerie corridors in a Visitor ship — and being chased by something with a heavy breathing sound. The unseen creature is saying her name, but Julie resists, forcing herself to realize it’s not really happening.

Diana increases the procedure to Level 2, and Julie imagines she is being attacked by some sort of monster. Again she resists, forcing herself to realize everything is a fantasy. Diana responds by going to conversion Level 3, and a bright beam of light from above begins to trace a circle around Julie. Diana offers her help to Julie — she says she can stop the pain. As Julie imagines a huge lizard coming toward her, she suddenly goes into cardiac arrest and collapses. It looks like the first session has come to an abrupt halt.

Below in a cramped warehouse, Mike and Ham meet with Martin. Ham doesn’t hide his distaste for Visitors, but Mike tries to be diplomatic. Martin brings news that Julie hasn’t broken yet, but she will. To free her, Mike needs help from the Fifth Column. Eventually, Martin agrees to hear their plan and see what he can do.

Out in space, another huge mother ship approaches Earth. It descends above L.A. and hovers near the ship already there. The new ship carries the Squadron Commander, Pamela. She shuttles to the L.A. Mother Ship where she’s greeted by Diana, Martin, and Barbara. Pamela brings the Leader’s greetings, as well as engineers and specialists for a special project. She says the Leader wants a schedule speed-up — if the project succeeds, they’ll be able to pump all the fresh water from southern California within thirty days. Because of the heightened Resistance movement and since she is a military commander, Pamela takes charge. She makes it clear that she goes by the military book and doesn’t play games.

Late one night, a distraught Robin tries to slit her wrist, but for whatever reason she cannot bring herself to do it. Robert discovers her, even as she keeps trying — Robin sobs that the baby won’t even let her kill it and she fears it’s turning her into one of them.

Back in the conversion chamber, Diana is continuing her attempt to convert Julie. Diana dials it up to maximum power, causing Julie severe pain. In the woman’s mind, she runs faster and faster but cannot escape her oversized reptile pursuers. Just as her heartbeat starts to become irregular again, Julie finally relents and accepts Diana’s help, and the pain goes away. Suddenly, Donovan bursts into the room armed with a Visitor rifle and breaks into the conversion chamber. Right before Julie passes out, she sees Donovan shot down by Jake.

Later in the morgue, the deceased Donovan is actually revealed to be a Visitor! Diana is livid that one of her own people would try to kill her. Steven reports that Fifth Column activity is spreading and being reported by all ships. Martin suggests they transfer their more important prisoners to Security Headquarters on Earth until the ship can be secured. Steven and Pamela agree, so Diana concurs.

Meanwhile, Maggie’s flirtations with Daniel Bernstein have landed them in his bed, where Daniel is all too happy to boast about his involvement with the Visitors. He reveals that an important prisoner transfer will be happening the next day, and he’ll be in command of his own troops. He even tells Maggie the exact time of the transfer (2100 hours), and she takes the information back to the Resistance. This is their chance to rescue Julie.

At Visitor Security Headquarters, the Resistance prepares for their strike. Inside, a disguised Ruby will play the pivotal role of sabotaging the power supply. Daniel notices her and stops the woman, thinking for a moment that she seems famliiar. But he dismisses the thought, and Ruby makes her way downstairs using a stolen Visitor key. There, she’s discovered by a Visitor, but she blinds him with cleaning fluid and knocks him out with a large wrench Ham gave her. She then attaches an explosive to the power cabinet and gets in position to blow it up.

The prisoner transfer shuttle lands, and Julie steps out wearing a Visitor uniform. She’s escorted by Martin with Diana and Steven in tow. Ham shoots Martin in the leg as planned, and when he goes down, Resistance snipers open fire on the guards. Ham gives Ruby the signal and she kills the lights and the energy gate. In the darkness, a pickup speeds onto the property carrying Donovan. He grabs Julie, and the rebels race away, blowing up the shuttle as they leave.

Meanwhile, Daniel has been looking for Ruby and finally discovers her in the basement. He removes her mask and realizes he does indeed know her. Ruby pleads for him to let her go — she doesn’t know how he could have changed from the nice and honorable boy she used to know. She starts to walk away from Daniel, and he shoots her in the back.

Back at the movie ranch, Julie’s return is a bittersweet one, as the group holds a wake for their fallen comrade, Ruby. Ham tries to assume leadership of the group, or at least override Julie’s authority. Indeed, some of the group are unsure about Julie and how the conversion process affected her, but ultimately they decide to follow her — not Ham — as their leader. Unknown to everyone but Donovan, Julie has her own doubts — she worries that she might help the Visitors without even knowing it.

While she was aboard the mother ship, Julie received word from Martin about Pamela’s plan. They only have thirty days to strike the pumping station before southern California becomes a desert. Julie and Donovan plan a reconnaissance mission to survey the station.

Disguised as Visitor engineers and wearing devices that mimic the Visitors’ reverberating voices, the pair infiltrate the pumping station. The facility appears heavily guarded, but for the most part they go unnoticed. The pumping has already begun, and huge pipes lead up to a mother ship hovering above. Julie discovers that the pumps are running on a 24-hour cycle and pumping a million gallons every second.

The Resistance plans to enter the pumping station through a tunnel protected by a million-volt laser beam running through it. Their window of opportunity is a twelve-minute period during which the beam is deactivated while the Visitors switch to the Oregon power grid.

The raid takes place at night. Resistance snipers take out the guards on the outside catwalks, and Resistance members in Visitor uniforms take their place. The rest of the group moves into the main building where they wait for the beam to deactivate. The countdown begins and they move in, placing explosive devices in strategic locations. Donovan and Julie are discovered and the alarm is sounded, but they’re able to escape thanks to cover fire by other team members. As the group races down the beam tunnel toward their exit, a group of shock troopers follows them and hits Mark. Knowing he is badly wounded and the team needs cover fire to escape, he insists that Chris take Maggie — his recent fiancée — to safety. He then makes a valiant last stand and slows down the pursuing soldiers. Just as Donovan gets through the exit, the beam activates and the pursuing soldiers are instantly disintegrated. Then the explosives go off, destroying the station and releasing waves of water back to Earth.

Julie consoles Maggie, and mentions to Donovan that it’s a mistake to make plans like that. Mike disagrees, believing those plans are the things that give people hope. He says he wants Julie to make plans to be part of his and Sean’s life when everything is over. This causes Julie to have another breakdown about fears of her conversion, but her worries are interrupted by Polly Maxwell who calls them to see a news bulletin — on television, Diana and Steven stand behind Sean Donovan. Diana claims that the boy wandered into Visitor Headquarters and she’s asking the public for information to find his father.

Arrangements are made for a switch: Donovan for his son. Donovan knows he’ll be tortured, but he has to give himself up for Sean’s sake. He mentions to Julie they’d better move the Resistance base again just in case. The exchange is completed, and both groups go their separate ways.

On the mother ship, a Fifth Columnist named Oliver visits Donovan in his cell. He brings bad news: there’s no way to get Donovan out without jeopardizing the entire Fifth Column. He’s worried that Donovan will be coerced to identify members of the Fifth Column, so Oliver offers the Resistance fighter a suicide pill. But before Donovan can comtemplate the choice, they’re interrupted by Diana and a security squad who kills Oliver.

Soon, Martin watches nearby as Diana interrogates Donovan in a special room. The truth serum she uses seems to be working, and she tells Donovan to name his contact in the Fifth Column. He tries to supress the answer, but he lets slip that it’s Martin. The Fifth Column leader’s reflexes are quick — Martin shoots the guard while Diana flees the room. Martin and Donovan escape through the air ducts, but Donovan is still drugged and threatens to slow them down.

In an old, urban jail house where the Resistance has relocated, Robin’s water breaks (the fluid is green) but luckily Julie is nearby. She sends Harmony to get Willie. They setup a delivery area and Julie prepares to deliver the baby. Robert, Harmony, and Father Andrew are there too. The delivery seems fairly normal, and Julie announces it’s a baby girl! The child looks healthy and normal. But when they show Robin her child, the human-looking baby sticks out a very reptilian tongue at her mother. Robin goes into a fit, so they sedate her.

Then, a second baby makes its way out on its own — but this twin is very reptilian, complete with sharp teeth — and oddly human blue eyes...

To Be Continued...

Notes

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