19:19

Season:

2

MLM Code:

#MLM-206

Production Code:

5C06

Original Airdate:

1997-11-07

Written by Glen Morgan & James Wong
Directed by Thomas J. Wright
Edited by James Coblentz

A Man living in a trailer park switches on a radio and several different television sets and listens to several news broadcasts simultaneously. The Man moves to a spot on his white linoleum floor and, using a marker, begins making brief notations about the news stories. Every inch of the floor is covered with his writing, all pointing to the last empty spot. It is here that the Man writes the word, "me." The Man steps outside his trailer and, bible in hand, experiences an apocalyptic vision: nuclear devastation and a field of ash.

Frank and Peter Watts join the search for a busload of missing children. Records indicate the vehicle's missing driver, Vernon Roberts, is more likely a victim than a suspect. The pair receive word that the bus has been located beneath a river. They join Sheriff Cayce-whose daughter, Jessica, is amongst the missing group-as the vehicle is towed from the water. Though the bus is empty, Frank receives a "hit" when he touches Jessica's backpack, seeing the same apocalyptic vision experienced by the Man at the trailer park.

Frank observes a white paint mark on the bus's emergency door. He tells Cayce that the perpetrator, and an accomplice, are using a white van to transport their hostages. A chase ensues when police spot a speeding white van on the highway. But the occupants turn out to be a group of meteorologists-storm chasers-hoping to link up with a violent weather system. The meteorologists warn Frank and the others that the storm front is capable of spawning a destructive tornado.

The Man and his Accomplice force Vernon and the children into an underground trailer buried in a field. The Accomplice performs a head count and realizes there were seventeen children and one adult abducted -- one shy of the number nineteen. The Man forces Vernon to identify the one missing child. Meanwhile, a clue-in the form of a passage from Revelation 19, Verse 19-airs on a local radio station. Frank realizes the perpetrator meant to abduct nineteen hostages. He and Cayce race to the home of the missing student. There they encounter the Man, who had broken into the house in an attempt to abduct the child. A struggle ensues, and the Man is taken into custody.

Frank tells Watts that the Man is not a criminal. To the Man, his mission is "a fight between good and evil." Watts tells Frank that the Millennium Group possesses a database of names of anyone who purchased a Bible by mail in the last ten years-a list which can be narrowed down to specialty items. Using the list, the pair locate the Man's trailer... and the markings on the linoleum floor. Later, the Man, now identified as Matthew Prine, states that World War III is inevitable... and that he is protecting the future. Frank realizes Prine kidnapped all the children because one of them is a peacemaker.

Lara Means notices that Prine scratches his hand whenever he experiences guilt. By analyzing a soil sample taken from Prine's clothing, it is determined that the children are entombed in an aluminum quarry. A deputy drives Prine to the quarry, and as the others watch via hidden camera, Prine inadvertently reveals the location of the tomb by scratching his hand. The Accomplice spots the police vehicle and opens fire. Frank and Cayce race to the scene, and as the Accomplice continues firing, a powerful storm suddenly erupts. A tornado descends from the sky, enveloping Prine-and lifting a huge cargo container off the tomb. After the winds subside, the children poke their heads out of the hole, one by one. Cayce rushes to his daughter and embraces her. Frank realizes that Jessica may be a future savior.