As Vasco is being taken away from the scene of the accident in a meatwagon, she opens her eyes. She's then seen in a pained struggle, stumbling back to HQ. Painkiller Jane is alive and pretty soon, well. Apparently she never knew she had this ability to heal herself - like those in the Doom movie with the 24th chromosome. With Agent Ford dead, her DEA partner Maureen Bowers is brought into the picture after she's investigated McBride behind the scenes. Bowers is at a home I think they share, crying over her friend when Vasco walks back in.
They find out, in this particular case at least, that the over-the-ear com-sets shaped like the brain-eating larvae from Stark Trek II: The Wrath of Khan are what allows "Hyde's assistant" to control Maureen and others. That and video cameras all over the building. Bowers is following Hyde closely, like an amateur, and she's seen.
The SF Vicodin squad can communicate to Maureen themselves, and Vasco - a friendly voice - gets through just in time. The cart Bowers is pushing goes through the window and she stays standing on the edge.
Somehow Hyde's assistant - who remains unnamed - knows she's been discovered and walks into a nearby police station. There, she can control a lot of people with guns. She goes ahead and does this without the com-sets. Vasco, figuring out that she can survive anything, gets up and withstands a barrage of bullets penetrating her at all angles that's painful to watch.
Vasco is able to stand up long enough to shoot Hyde's assistant with a microchip-shooting guns. I don't think the assistant is dead. Vasco ends up back in the emergency room of HQ, and she wants answers as to how she became who she is now.
The final scene is Hyde re-entering the hidden floor — 113th — of the Vonotek building, also known by child Jane Vasco as Emerald City. The 11th floor is bright white and sanitized. Hyde walks among rows upon rows of men in white undershirts and underpants, strung up by electrical wires, like sides of beef.
Pilot Episode Notes
They over-explain the clever bits - how the tracking bug got there, how Painkiller Jane in the opening minutes saw the shadows to know who to shoot in. There is narration a la Dark Angel and Magnum PI, but its not overdone. Painkiller Jane it seems is being set up as a strong woman in a man's world, more than able to hold her own. Her vulnerabilities will no doubt be made apparent in future episodes.
Article comments
1 - Temple Stark
Hmm, Painkiller Jane is being repeated tonight on the USA Network at 9 p.m. (Pacific time). IOW, in 25 minutes ...