Goodbye Charlie

Season:

2

MLM Code:

#MLM-210

Production Code:

5C10

Original Airdate:

1998-01-09

Written by Richard Whitley
Directed by Ken Fink
Edited by Chris Willingham, A.C.E.

Inside a cheap motel room, Steven Kiley uses a "suicide machine" to end the life of a terminally-ill middle-aged man, Preston Williams. As Terry Jack's song "Seasons In The Sun" plays on a boombox, we see that Preston is, in fact, tied to a bed, his mouth covered with gray duct tape. Steven takes Preston's hand and forces the man's thumb down on an injection button, causing a lethal solution to enter his bloodstream.

Both Lara Means and Frank Black are contacted by the Millennium Group regarding Williams' apparent suicide, the latest in a series of such deaths. Though a note in the victim's handwriting suggests the death was self-inflicted, and an autopsy confirms Williams suffered from a terminal illness, Frank notices evidence--contusions on the wrist and adhesive particles on the mouth--indicating Williams was, in fact, murdered.

Meanwhile, Steven, who works as a volunteer manning the phones at the Seattle Crisis Center, locates his next victim: an anonymous female caller too afraid to speak freely about her illness. Steven locates the woman, whose name is Eleanor, and eventually befriends her. Eleanor is stunned when Steven describes her condition to the last detail.

Frank and Lara attend the funeral of another victim. A card attached to a display of flowers catches their attention. The oddly worded message is signed "Dr. Steven Kiley." A computer search turns up no physicians by that name... though Frank and Lara are certain they've heard the name somewhere before. A police officer staking out the motel where the suicides took place alerts Giebelhouse about a possible suspect. Frank and Lara rush to the scene, where they discover an unconscious Eleanor hooked up to a suicide machine as the song "Goodbye Charlie" plays in the background. But Steven was tipped off about their arrival, and has disappeared into the night.

Frank and Lara realize the suspect has been looting an abandoned hospital for the construction of his suicide machine. There they discover corpses stored inside slab drawers. Based on internal visions, Frank realizes the suspect is, or was, a doctor at the hospital. At some point, the doctor experienced an epiphany--and began trying to save lives by taking them.

Faking mental illness, Frank and Lara attempt to flush out their suspect at the crisis center. Through a process of elimination, the pair zero in on Kiley. They find him at a hospital, where he is employed as a nurse. Suddenly, Lara realizes the name "Steven Kiley" was a doctor on the "Marcus Welby" television series.

"Kiley," or Ellsworth Beedle, is taken to a police interrogation room for questioning. Records indicate Steven graduated from Harvard Medical School. Steven explains he switched from the role of doctor to nurse becauses the latter help people. During the conversation, Steven mentions another plane of existence that cultures in Tibet, West Africa and Mexico all believe in. Steven explains that he found the other plane when he assisted a terminally ill elderly woman end her life. Steven is released from custody due to lack of evidence.

Steven and several people from the terminal crisis center gather at the home of Mabel Shiva, the motel clerk who alerted Steven of the police raid when he was assisting Eleanor commit suicide. Frank realizes that Steven needs a release from the anxiety he experienced during the interrogation. He and Lara ride back to the motel, where they realize Mabel is Steven's assessor. The pair race to Mabel's home, but they are too late: everyone inside has taken their own life. Everyone except for Steven, who left behind a note reading: "It wasn't my choice."