Whose Woods These Are
Season Two
US Airdate : 26 October 2002
UK Airdate : 04 November 2002
Shalimar (Victoria Pratt) and Brennan (Victor Webster) head to the Wilderness Base Camp in the Great Smokies to investigate the mysterious death of four hikers. Elsewhere in the forest, two teenagers are suddenly attacked by the creature but luckily, their video camera records the attack. Back at the base, Shalimar’s feral eyes flash gold as she hears screams and howling in the distance. Later at Sanctuary, Emma (Lauren Lee Smith), Jesse (Forbes March) and Adam (John Shea) review the teenagers’ footage while Brennan and Shalimar watch it simultaneously on a monitor in a high-tech motor home. Adam and Shalimar are convinced that the creature must be a mutant. When Shalimar and Brennan run into a man named Clay Preston (Scott Hylands), who is armed with a loaded rifle that he’s planning to use to kill the beast, they pretend to be animal rights activists and warn Preston of the dangerous nature of his mission. As they move deeper into the forest, they meet Grady Colt (Jeff Wincott), who claims to be a cryptozoologist researching a new species of animal.
Meanwhile at Sanctuary, Jesse and Emma uncover a police record that had been deleted. The report reveals that another victim, Nathaniel Block (Brad Garrick), had also been attacked, but survived and is being treated at Veterans Hospital. Back in the wilderness, Shalimar’s connection with the beast grows more intense as she and Brennan get closer to it. When Brennan heads down a trail to investigate, Shalimar suddenly finds herself face to face with the beast. She instinctively attacks the creature, but to no avail. Realizing that Shalimar is in trouble, both Brennan and Grady, who’s armed with a futuristic handgun, rush to her aid. They find her lying in the brush with a deep gash across her stomach. Just as Brennan hits the beast with a bolt of electricity, it turns and races off into the woods.
Arriving at Veterans Hospital, Jesse and Emma phase through the wall and use telepathic suggestion to sneak past the guards. Entering a sterile room filled with computerized equipment, they find a sedated Nathaniel Block bolted to a chair with electrically charged shackles. Back in the woods, Brennan watches Grady put on a headset. Eavesdropping on his conversation, Brennan learns that Grady is actually a government agent.
Brennan confronts Grady and a brutal fight ensues which sends the two men rolling down the mountainside. They come to a crash landing next to Preston’s dead and mangled body, but before they can react, the beast appears in front of them and attacks Grady before setting its sights on Brennan. When Grady insists that only his gun will stop the creature, Brennan grabs the weapon and is about to shoot when Shalimar appears. She stares into the eyes of the beast until it turns and runs.
Back at the hospital, Jesse and Emma learn that Nathaniel is a feral who was acquired from Genomex for Project 318 -- a secret experiment that is an offshoot of the space
program. His animal DNA was amplified in an attempt to turn him into an astronaut who would be able to withstand alien environments. When Nathaniel suddenly awakens and attacks Emma, she hits him with a psionic blast. After calming down, he begins to open up and talk about his mutant friend Michael, who became crazy from the same experiment. Guards suddenly burst in, but Jesse phases through the wall with Emma and Nathaniel in tow. Back in the woods, Shalimar convinces Grady to tell her and Brennan about Project 318 and mutant Michael Ward/the beast (Noah Danby). Grady explains that Michael came down with a virus during the experiment that is infectious only to ferals, and insinuates that Shalimar is now infected due to her wound. Moments later, Shalimar succumbs to an excruciating pain and falls to the ground. When Brennan turns to help her, Grady grabs his gun and takes off. Brennan contacts Adam, who begins working to find a cure for the virus, but Nathaniel quickly dies.
Back in the woods, Shalimar races off to find Michael, with Brennan close behind. The two find Grady holding Michael at bay with his gun. Grady fires his weapon but Michael dodges the bullet, attacks Grady and kills him. Brennan drags a dazed Shalimar out of danger. When she revives, she’s unable to see but takes off after the beast once again using her feral senses. She slips inside Michael’s underground lair and confronts him. Wracked by fever, she struggles to appeal to Michael’s former humanity, but he lunges at her and chases her outside. Brennan appears and shoots the beast with a tesla coil just as the rest of the Mutant X team arrives. The beast suddenly grabs Adam by the neck and asks Shalimar to choose whose life to save. Shalimar hesitates, but finally grabs Grady’s gun and kills the beast. Back at Sanctuary, Shalimar is cured of the virus, but the Mutant X team knows there’s no telling what their mutations leave them open to in the future.