  |
|
|
by Brian Goad
| 457: Opportunity Knocks |
In the first episode that introduced us to Novacom was ?Opportunity Knocks.? In this episode Tom Riley is having some financial problems with the Timothy Center. So when Whit meets with the president of Novacom because of some frequency interference with Kid?s Radio and Novacom?s Radio testing, he finds out that Novacom is looking for some land for a radio tower. Whit tells Tom about this and in the end, Tom signs with Novacom for a leasing of his land but finds out he made almost the same amount on a party/retreat to help the Timothy Center out.
| 458: Red Herring |
In the first episode that introduced AREM, Alex and Cal get involved with trying to discover some information on Eugene Meltsner (who they saw own a hallway at Campbell College). They decide to go to the Campbell College?s website and get into some secret info that requires a password that they don?t have. Suddenly an instant message pops up from AREM, who they know nothing about. Then he gives Alex and Cal the password they need, ?Red Herring.? They try go further into the website, but the computer crashes. The police try to trace AREM, but find that he installed a modem at Whit's End to piggyback on and hack into the College site. Coincidentally, this episode was named ?Red Herring.?
| 460: Nova Rising |
Then on Feb. 3rd Nova Rising aired. Part of the episode dealt with Alex and Cal again as they got a job with Novacom to work on Novacom?s kids? section of their website. While searching for more info on the site they come across another site that requires a password. Again, AREM appears and though Alex says no to his offer for the password, he gives it to them. This times the password is ?Nova Rising.? So they type the password in and go through a bit of (possibly) illegal info on Novacom. The computer freezes, and Alex and Cal get fired.
Novacom also tried to buy BTV, but then they sold it back after Bernard wouldn't agree to their changes to the program.
| 462: The W. E. |
Novacom opened a "Kid's Center" that competed with Whit's End and caused a slow week. It caused Whit to think about changes to Whit's End and he even got an offer from "Mary Hopkins" to open a Whit's End in Connellsville.
| 463: Green Eyes and Yellow Tulips |
Novacom starts airing a show called "Destination Station" that is roughly modeled on the Imagination Station. Connie becomes friends with Mitch, a Novacom worker. Bart stages a protest of Novacom.
| 468:
Chains, Part 1 469: Chains, Part 2 |
Whit works on the construction of the new Whit's End in Connellsville while dealing with protests from locals in Oswald Heights. Tony breaks into his office and puts a book in there. He says that a bald guy asked him to do it. Whit investigates and finds a camera hidden in a book.
| 471: Fifteen Minutes |
Novacom starts a new show called "Real Crimes."
| 473: Breaking Point |
Whit is stretched beyond what he can bear while working on the new Whit's End. He hands the Imagination Station plans over to Barry Muntz, who steals them and takes off with the inner circuitry to the station. Barry hands the plans over to a mysterious character who sends him to another country. Whit tells Nick that he left out a vital component of the technology.
| 478: Strange Boy in a Strange Land |
Jared says his family is in the Witness Protection Program because his father found some scathing information about a company called Andromeda. He says his dad found a hidden camera in a book, which set off Whit's sense of intrigue. Jared's parting message, left in code: "Moved again. Beware Andromeda."
| 481:
Grand Opening, Part 1 482: Grand Opening, Part 2 |
The grand opening of Whit's End Connellsville is interrupted when Tony tells Whit that he sees the "bald guy" who told him to put a camera in Whit's office. Before Whit can talk to him, the bald guy disappears. Meanwhile, AREM shows up again to show Alex and Cal that there are cameras hidden in the bookshelf. Mary tells Whit that these were part of the plans the whole time and then takes him to a room that shows him every inch of the shop is being watched. Whit tells Connie that Andromeda owns Novacom and Andromeda is connected to the hidden cameras. Connie is concerned because Mitch works for Novacom. Whit goes to surveillance city where the cameras were bought and finds that Mitch bought them.
Whit shows Tom the hidden camera and also lets Mitch see it when he comes in. Mitch doesn't react much, but seems distant when Connie talks to him. Back at Novacom, Mitch finds a "Mr. Charles" there. Charles tells him "good job" for watching Mr. Whittaker and tells him to forget about the camera. He also tells him Mr. Dent has been "relocated" because he wasn't a team player.
Cal and Sarah find AREM on the computer at school. He leads them to the Andromeda Radio Wave study, the same place they were looking back in "Red Herring." They click on Medical Tests and the computer begins to print out. Unfortunately, it only gets one page out before the network shuts down. The page seems to be all encoded, but later the kids break the code. It says, "A Report on the Conversion of Brain Waves to Radio Waves, by Eugene Meltsner." The kids take the report to Mr. Whittaker.
Connie and Mitch are about to head bowling, but stop by his apartment to get bowling shoes. Connie sees Mitch's computer screensaver has a misspelling, so she decides to correct it. When she touches the computer, it makes an AREM sound!
| 483: Secrets |
When Mitch's briefcase falls open, Connie finds a picture of a girl in it. It's in an envelope with a Chicago postmark. She later remembers that it's the red-haired woman who put the modem in Mr. Whittaker's office. Mitch briefly mentions "Justine," a girl he dated back in Boston.
| 484-487: Plan B, Parts 1-4 |
A turning point in the story arc, Plan B follows the effects when Eugene Meltsner disappears with the research he's been working on.
Whit and Connie can't get in touch with Eugene and find that he's disappeared, leaving a web of unanswered questions. They eventually piece together that Eugene left about a week before to go to Chicago. There, he and Katrina got married at her father's deathbed just before he tells Eugene he's sorry he got him the job at the college. After this, Eugene and Katrina returned to Odyssey, downloaded all of his research onto a disk and delated all other copies. Then they completely disappeared. Meanwhile, Whit gets an e-mail from Eugene telling him to "Beware Andromeda."
Part 2: Collision Course (click for credits and character listing)
Jack and Joanne find out from Millie Shanks that Armitage was an Andromeda board member and the company was doing mysterious and questionable things. Arthur Dent meets the two of them later in their hotel room and sets up a meeting.
Meanwhile, Whit confronts Dean Rogers (Eugene's supervisor) who eventually tells Whit that the research was to convert brain waves to radio waves. Eugene just had a breakthrough before he disappeared. While therem, AREM arranges a meeting with Whit.
When Connie questions Mitch about the picture in his briefcase, he tells her that he's looking for the woman. He also tells her to be on the computer that evening.
That night, a series of dangerous and frieghtening events take place. First, Connie meets AREM who sends her a confidential report from the college. Then, Jack meets Arthur Dent, who gives him a package for Whit just before a car screeches around the corner and chases Jack's cab. Worst of all, Whit shows up to meet AREM, only to find that he was Robert Mitchell...and he's dead.
Whit arrives to tell Connie the horrible news, only to escorted to the FBI office. There, Agent Bourland tells the two of them some information about Monica Stone (a mercenary who works in high-tech espionage) and Bennett Charles (the "Enforcer" for Andromeda). Connie notices that Monica's picture is the same one Mitch had in his briefcase.
Jack arrives at the airport, only to find that the men in the car chasing him are there. He and Joanne mail the package back to Odyssey.
Back in Odyssey, Connie and Whit find his office ransacked. Soon after, he and Jack head off to the airport to pick up the package. At the post office, Monica Stone runs her car into theirs and steals the package.
Whit and Jack clean the bugs out of Whit's End, much to the chagrin of Mr. Charles and Monica. They also switched the package at the post office. Whit opens it and opens the disk on his computer. He can't decode most of it, but finds one file about an Andromeda Board Meeting, giving approval to Operation Think Tank. He also finds a Chicago address. After handing the disk off to Agent Bourland, Whit goes to Chicago to check out the address. There he finds Arthur Dent nearly dead in his apartment. At the hospital, Dent begs Whit to get him out of the hospital so he won't be killed.
Back in Odyssey, the whole gang attends a memorial service for Mitch. Mr. Charles shows up, too, but Connie drives him off. Connie finally tells Whit how important he is to her.
| 488:
Under the Influence, Part 1 489: Under the Influence, Part 2 |
Aubrey makes friends with Erica Colburn. Erica's father, Kevin, took Arthur Dent's place at Novacom.
| 490:
The Black Veil, Part 1 491: The Black Veil, Part 2 |
When a strange illness affects the people of Odenten (a neighboring town of Odyssey) and a town in Alaska, Jason and Whit wonder what's going on. Whit finds that it's the "black box" installed by the cable company. Upon opening the box, he finds it has identical circuitry to the Imagination Station...and it is sending out radio waves! (He makes connections to "Breaking Point" and "Plan B.") Before he can do anything, the boxes are taken away. Monica shows up in Alaska and makes contact with Jason.
| 492: Twisting Pathway |
Mr. Charles tells Kevin Colburn, Erica's dad, that he has to get the Imagination Station. Erica, trying to help her dad, tricks Nick and Aubrey. She plans a date with Nick so she can see the Imagination Station and then persuades Aubrey to talk to her in the library. They get locked in and the Imagination Station is stolen. Kevin Colburn has to leave town anyway.
| 493: Sheep's Clothing |
Agent Bourland and Whit find dead ends when searching for the Imagination Station. In Alaska, Monica steals the disk from Jason and e-mails the information, presumably to Novacom.
| 494: Box of Miracles |
Novacom releases the Novabox, the culmination of everything they've done. Agnes Riley and Arthur Dent (who has been hiding at Hillingdale Haven), both use the box. Tom takes Agnes home, but Mr. Dent is suddenly missing from the home. Whit finds that Whit's End in Connellsville is owned by Andromeda. Jason vows to find out what's on the disk that Eugene sent him.
| 495: The Unraveling |
Connie goes to Maine to talk to Mitch's sister and gets Mitch's backstory. His girlfriend Justine was murdered by Andromeda while he was working in Boston. The Andromeda Board moved the project to Odyssey where Mitch eventually transferred.
Back in Odyssey, Mandy, Cal, and Alex investigate strange buying habits and find that the Novabox seems to be influencing people to buy stuff. Not only that, you can't turn it off!
| 496: Exceptional Circumstances |
Mandy, Cal, and Alex tell Connie what they've learned. Connie gets the information to Mitch, who is alive in the Witness Protection Program. Mitch has been trying to use the information from the disk Arthur Dent gave Jack to decode information from the Novacom and Andromeda computers. With Connie's information, he begins to put the pieces together.
Whit
getts back Whit's End Connellsville. Jason talks to Duncan Mathis (sister to
Monica Stone), a paraplegic who was a "guinea pig" for the Novacom
experiments. Jason finds that Duncan's condition was Monica's fault. Duncan
says that Dean Rogers contacted the Andromeda people after Eugene left and they
were only interested in changing radio waves to brain waves—mind control.
Jason also finds that the effects of the box reverse themselves, to the point
that people are worse off than they were before. Whit takes this news to Tom,
but he doesn't want to listen.
| 497: Expect the Worst |
Mitch has a breakthrough using the information from the kids...the Novabox is being used to make people buy things. He predicts the outcome of an election and Agent Bourland agrees...it's time to take action.
Monica confronts Charles, asking him if the box really helps the handicapped. His evasive answers and thinly-veiled threats show the path to take.
Agnes gets worse and Tom has to take her back to Hillingdale. He tells Whit that he wishes Novacom never came to town.
Cal decides to climb the tower to try to stop Novacom. As Alex watches, he says there's something very weird. Tom runs up, warning that the tower is to explode. Moments later, it does. Cal barely makes it down with his life (in fact, he is unconcious). The police believe Tom blew up the tower because there is evidence that matches him. His attourney Michael Fraiser tells him that they will get him off by reason of insanity. As the trial begins, a prayer vigil commences at Whit's End.
| 498: Exactly as Planned |
As the prayer vigil at Whit's End continues, Fraiser presents his entire case against Novacom and Andromeda to clear Tom's name. Stephen DeWhite (Jared's dad) testifies that Novacom tried to take over the airwaves around the world. Monica testifies about how she was used to steal information about Eugene's research. Mitch testifies about the minutes of an Andromeda meeting, implicating Andromeda in Armitage Shanks's death, their theft of the Imagination Station, and their opening of Whit's End Connellsville to achieve these goals.
Meanwhile, Alex and Whit track down Arthur Dent at the Timothy Center, the culprit who actually blew up the tower. The case against Tom is dropped. Charles flees Novacom headquarters just before the FBI storms the place. Jason and Mitch find evidence about a "launch day," which Arthur Dent confirms as the day Novacom would have gone "global" with their technology. Dent says the day can't happen because the tower is down, but Cal reverses this by revealing that the there was nothing at the top of the tower. It had only been a decoy.
Tom and Whit find the real tower on Forrest Mountain just as Jason and Bourland find the worst news of all. The launch day is today.
| 499: Exit |
Just as the chairman leaves the tower with the launch day sequence on track, Tom and Whit arrive. The chairman dispatches Charles, who kidnaps Connie. Whit leaves, per Charles instructions, while Tom tries to stop the countdown under direction of Jason over the phone. They find that the launch is actually connected to the Imagination Station (which is why Novacom needed it all along). They can't stop the countdown.
Mitch rescues Connie with Nick's help. Whit calls Jason at Novacom and tells Tom to use Applesauce to destroy the Imagination Station. At the last moment, the Imagination Station melts down and stops "launch day." The chairman is foiled.
Charles and Monica go to jail. Mitch and Connie walk into the sunset to have macoroni and cheese with salami sandwiches. Tom says goodbye to Agnes at Hillingdale. Whit starts working on a new Imagination Station. And Eugene phones Whit, telling him that he feels responsible for the whole mess. He says he'll explain later... It's all been quite an adventure.