"The Pretender"

Episodes Recap/ Second Season:

EPISODE 1: "Back from the Dead Again": In an episode with a Halloween theme, Jarod poses as a professor of gross anatomy, while he searches for the answer to the recurrent nightmares he's been having about Mr. Raines, The Centre, and a ghastly experiment performed on him against his will. [For an in-depth recap of this episode you can link up to the Little Red Notebook site. Their recaps are VERY detailed and contain a lot of information.]

EPISODE 2: "Scott Free": Jarod poses as a one-armed safe cracker, while he also searches for something of a father-son relationship with Sydney. For an in-depth recap of this episode link up to the Little Red Notebook site.

EPISODE 3: "Over the Edge": Spiderman Jarod poses as a member of a USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) team and uncovers the truth about an "accident" that left a former USAR member suffering from a short-lived coma and amnesia. In this episode, too, Jarod tries to re-form a mental and physical link to his mother, Margaret; and blackmails Dr.Curtis into fnding out for him who shot Mr. Raines in Boston. For an in-depth recap of this episode link up to the Little Red Notebook site.

EPISODE 4: "Exposed": Jarod poses as a photographer to find out who's responsible for stalking and terrorizing fashion models. He also sends Miss Parker on a merry chase through the eastern seaboard to find out the truth of her own parentage. She's not necessarily Miss Parker! For an in-depth recap of this episode link up to the Little Red Notebook site.

EPISODE 5: "Nip and Tuck": Posing as a plastic surgeon, Jarod helps a young disfigured girl out of her self-imposed isolation, while he also exposes the truth about who's responsible for her disfigurement. We also learn in this episode that Angelo is "empathic", and that Kyle is back -- and stalking Miss Parker and Broots! For an in-depth recap of this episode link up to the Little Red Notebook site.

EPISODE 6: "Past Sim": When Jarod finds out that Mr. Lyle subverted one of his simulations to kidnap a State's witness and murder an FBI agent, he declares "war" on The Centre, and sics the Japanese mafia on Lyle and his conferates. Although this was advertised as a "holiday" episode -- [with the tag line "Hark the Jarod Angel Sings"] -- it really had nothing to do with Christmas. For an in-depth recap of this episode link up to the Little Red Notebook site.

EPISODE 7: "Collateral Damage": Jarod poses as an Army Ranger in order to discover the truth about a deceased Vietnam vet who was wrongfully accused of espionage and branded as a traitor. In the meanwhile, Miss Parker reluctantly bonds with Broots' daughter, Debbie, and finally opens a gift left to her by her mother on the day her mother died in The Centre. For an in-depth recap of this episode link up to the Little Red Notebook site.

EPISODE 8: "Hazards": While Jarod searches for the truth about a lethal chemical spill, he also attempts to heal a family torn apart by guilt, suspicion, and the attempted suicide of the father (who blames himself for the spillage). Meanwhile, Sydney hunts down a "monster" from his Nazi concentration camp past. For an in-depth recap of this episode link up to the Little Red Notebook site.

EPISODE 9: "FX": posing as stunt-coordinator Jarod Lugosi, Jarod exposes the truth about a special effects accident that left a stuntman critically burned. Meanwhile, at The Centre, Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots try to untangle the mystery about a man named Fenigor. They also discover that Angelo's real name is "Timmy", and that he was one of the children Miss Parker's mother had attempted to rescue along with Jarod. For an in-depth recap of this episode link up to the Little Red Notebook site.

EPISODE 10: "Indy Show": Jarod poses as a race car driver to expose the truth about a crash that left another driver hospitalized. The the meanwhile, Sydney discovers that his brother Jacob is out of his coma, thanks to a brain invading virus. The bad news is: Jacob is conscious but not lucid... and the virus that awakened him is also killing him. (We discover in this episode that it was SYDNEY who tried to kill Mr. Raines in Boston, but struck his oxygen tank by mistake.) For an in-depth recap of this episode link up to the Little Red Notebook site.

EPISODE 11: "Gigolo Jarod": Jarod takes on the role of an "escort/ gigolo" in order to discover the truth about the death of an eight-year-old boy who fell from a building that was, afterwards, marked for demolition. Although he offers his "services" to clients through a madam, he's reluctant to put out... until one of his female clients, a disgruntled housewife, complains about being "vaguely unfulfilled" by him. Sadly for some viewers, the advertisements for this episode were more titillating than the episode itself. For an in-depth recap of this episode link up to the Little Red Notebook site.

EPISODE 12: "Toy Surprise": Definitely a "Miss Parker episode", this one focuses on her mission to stop an assassination attempt against the life of Mr. Parker by Brigitte (who makes a reappearance for the first time after the yakuza incident in "Past Sim"). We see a softer side of Mister P in this one (sort of), and realize that perhaps Mr. Raines was not responsible for the death of Catherine Parker. In the meanwhile, Jarod is the apparent victim of an automobile accident and relies on an emotionally distraught teenager to save his life. For an in-depth recap of this episode link up to the Little Red Notebook site.

EPISODE 13: "A Stand Up Guy". Jarod -- as Jarod Puzo -- does a double-pretend in this episode: portraying a counterfeiter working for the mob and an undercover agent working for the US Justice Department trying to figure out who was responsible for the murder of another RICO agent. Meanwhile, Miss Parker discovers that Mr. Lyle is still alive (minus one of his thumbs), and has butchered a department full of Centre operatives in order to get his hands on a Centre computer chip which holds a set of secret genetic codes (that may be linked to Jarod). When Mr. Parker sends Miss Parker out to assassinate Lyle, Miss Parker is caught in a battle with her own conscience: does she obey and protect her father by committing murder, or does she let Lyle live? For an in-depth recap of this episode link up to the Little Red Notebook site.

EPISODE 14: "Amnesia". Jarod is bludgeoned in the head by a drug-running trucker and left to die, but is then found by a chatty opportunist named Argyle. Suffering from exposure, a concussion, a high-fever and amnesia, Jarod is able to do little to protect or defend himself when Argyle decides to make him a prisoner in a warehouse basement, after Argyle finds out he can get some money from The Centre for returning Jarod to them. While Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots are subjected to a "T-Board" interrogation, Brigitte shows up again... now as "Bridget", and minus her phony British accent... and rushes to the warehouse to snag Jarod. [The scene during she "mounts" him and assaults him with her gun is both provocative and highly disturbing.] For an in-depth recap of this episode link up to the Little Red Notebook site.

EPISODE 15: "Bulletproof". When he discovers that two young boys were deprived of their father-- a SWAT team member was killed in the line of duty -- Jarod joins the "Turbo" SWAT team to find out how the man really died. In the meanwhile, Jarod sends Sydney a birth certificate from 1974 that connects Sydney to a lost-love.... and the son, Nick, he didn't know he had. For an in-depth recap of this episode link up to the Little Red Notebook site.

EPISODE 16: "Silence": Jarod works as a criminal reconstructionist and uses play-therapy to help a child-witness overcome trauma that left him mute and unable to tell the authorities who was responsible for the shooting of a DEA agent. In the meanwhile, Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots discover another one of the "unlucky ones": a child (now grown to adulthood) whose mind split into two distinct personalities as a result of the trauma imposed on him by Mr.Raines (in and out of The Centre); and Jarod tries to come to terms with his own "shattered" childhood. For an in-depth recap of this episode link up to the Little Red Notebook site.

EPISODE 17: "Crash": Jarod relinquishes his seat on an airplane to a young man who needs to get to San Diego quickly in order to register for college classes. When, a few hours later, he learns that the airplane had crashed before reaching its destination and that the young man is dead, Jarod insinuates himself in to the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) to find out what caused the crash. In the meanwhile, Jarod sends Miss Parker, Broots and Syndey to Nebraska to attend a high school reunion, which supplies them with clues about Mr. Lyle's bizarre childhood... and establishes in their minds the very real possibility that Lyle isn't dead. For an in-depth recap of this episode link up to the Little Red Notebook site.

We personally liked this episode a lot, and so have added some extra images from it for the entertainment of the fans.

EPISODE 18: "Stolen": While finishing one pretend as a doctor in a hospital, Jarod is on hand when an eccentric millionaire is brought in (on the verge of coma) for medical attention. When Jarod learns that the millionaire's son has been kidnapped, Jarod assumes the identity of the millionaire in order to negotiate with the kidnapper for the boy's release. As he fights to rescue the boy, Jarod is bombarded by repressed memories of his own childhood kidnapping (by The Centre), and is nearly captured by Miss Parker before the millionaire's son can be found and set free. For an in-depth recap of this episode link up to the Little Red Notebook site.

EPISODE 19: "Red Rock Jarod": Jarod is lured to a small desert town by a bogus e-mail transmission he believes will lead him to information about his family. When he arrives in the town, however, he's immediately arrested by the local police and turned over to Mr. Lyle (who forces the police chief's cooperation by kidnapping the chief's wife and burying her alive in the desert). Lyle takes several photographs of Jarod in order to prove to The Centre that he really has Jarod in custody, and then threatens to cut off one of Jarod's thumbs so Centre lab technicians can use it to run a DNA analysis (thus verifying that the man in the photographs is really Jarod). To Lyle's surprise, Kyle returns in time to rescue Jarod, but eventually pays a dear price when he and his brother try to escape as Centre operatives move in to re-capture them. For an in-depth recap of this episode link up to the Little Red Notebook site.

EPISODE 20: "Bank": Jarod lures Miss Parker back to the Dover Town Bank in Delaware to give her some letters that her mother had penned immediately before her death, and to introduce her to the mysterious Mr. Fenigor. Although both Jarod and Miss Parker plead with Fenigor to tell them what he knows about Catherine Parker's murder and Jarod's family, Fenigor is unable to tell them much because he's severely injured when the bank is held up by robbers. We do find out that Jarod was part of a Centre project called PRODIGY and that "Red Files" contain some of the information Jarod and Miss Parker need to sort out the puzzles of their pasts. For an in-depth recap of this episode link up to the Little Red Notebook site.

EPISODE 21: "Bloodlines": The second season finale and a cliffhanger, this one was a "doozey" of an episode. We learned that Miss Parker has a fraternal twin (who could be Angelo or Mr. Lyle), that Sydney planted a bomb in Sl-27, that The Centre was working in cahoots with a fertility clinic called NuGenesis in order to re-establish a new Pretender program, that a "man in a dark suit" murdered Catherine Parker, and that the same man was Jarod's father. Phew! For an in-depth recap of this episode link up to the Little Red Notebook site.

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