Presumed Guilty
Season One
US Airdate : 20 April 2002
UK Airdate : 3 April 2002
At a vacant loading dock, Marc Griffin (Paul Popowich), a mutant with the power to steal people's memories, argues with his girlfriend, Megan Alexander (Jocelyn Snowdon). She is insistent on him going into the underground for protection. Frustrated and enraged, Marc shoves Megan, sending her plummeting down a flight of stairs. Adam (John Shea), who has an appointment to meet with the couple, arrives only to find Griffin kneeling over his lifeless girlfriend. Before Adam can react to the situation, Griffin fixes him with a mesmerizing stare, collapsing him to the ground.
As Adam slowly regains consciousness, he finds Griffin standing over him wielding a gun, and Megan lying motionless on the floor. Griffin, grief-stricken over Megan's death, blames Adam for her murder. Confused and with no memory whatsoever, Adam shakes his head in disbelief. Hearing the sounds of approaching police sirens, Adam escapes out of the loading dock not knowing who he is, or where he is going.
At Genomex, Lena Blake (Tiara Sorensen), a mutant with a protective second eyelid and the ability to fire a toxic vapor from her mouth, informs Eckhart (Tom McCamus) about Marc and his ability to absorb people's memories. Lena vows to Eckhart that she will capture Griffin and bring him back to Genomex for observation. Meanwhile at Sanctuary, the Mutant X team becomes increasingly concerned when they try unsuccessfully to contact Adam on his comlink. When the team sets out to search for Adam, Jesse (Forbes March) spots a police sketch of the suspect wanted for the murder of Megan Alexander. To their surprise, the suspect is Adam!
Outside the local police station, Lena greets Griffin with a blow of her toxic vapor, which renders him temporarily blind and under her control. Suddenly, Adam appears and hits Lena with a powerful kick that sends her flying. Adam drags the blinded Griffin down the alley, and they escape to the safety of Megan's apartment. Adam informs him that he needs his help in bringing back his memory. Griffin continues to insist that Adam is responsible for Megan's death, but Adam senses that Griffin is lying. Fed up with Adam's questioning, Griffin leaves the apartment and is immediately captured by two agents, who haul him off to Genomex. Minutes later, Emma (Lauren Lee Smith) and Brennan (Victor Webster) find Adam outside of Megan's apartment. Not recognizing them, Adam prepares to fight when a police car suddenly arrives and arrests him for Megan's murder. Meanwhile, back at Genomex, Lena and Eckhart prepare to retrieve Adam's memory, including security codes and safehouse locations. During the procedure, however, they find that Adam's memory contains an overload of information. Since Griffin is only able to recite disjointed scientific equations, Eckhart deems him useless and is ready to dispose of him. Suddenly, Griffin reveals that he knows the location of Sanctuary.
In the meantime, Jesse and Brennan pay a visit to Adam in jail, informing him that Griffin has stolen his memory and framed him for the murder of Megan. Realizing that Jesse and Brennan are telling the truth, Adam asks them to spring him from the jail cell and bring him back to Sanctuary. With a sizzling arc of electricity, Brennan blasts the jail cell's electronic lock, setting Adam free.
Back at Sanctuary, Adam scans the database in an effort to absorb and restore as much knowledge to his brain as possible. Meanwhile, Brennan, Jesse and Shalimar (Victoria Pratt) work to upgrade Sanctuary's security system to prevent Eckhart, Griffin and Lena from breaking in. They realize they're too late, however, when the threesome appears inside Sanctuary accompanied by a contingent of agents who are ready to take over. Without hesitation, the Mutant X team takes down Lena and the agents, while Emma uses her telempathic powers to force Griffin into returning Adam's memory to him and confessing the truth about Megan's death. With his memory restored, Adam finds himself face to face with Eckhart. Without a beat, Adam strikes Eckhart with a powerful punch, which knocks him senseless. The Mutant X team looks on with pure satisfaction, knowing the old Adam is back.