REPORT: MR. LEE
FILE #: 310

AT NIGHT ON THE CAMPUS OF SOME UNIDENTIFIED UNIVERSITY Miss Parker, Mr. Lyle and Willie the sweeper arrive at a greenhouse. Miss P. tells Lyle that apparently Jarod has been doing genetic engineering on plants there. Inside the greenhouse, we see the silhouette of a man working on the plants. Miss Parker sends Willie in to get Jarod out. Through the glass, we see him chasing the man outside, but when they catch him there, it turns out (what a surprise...) that it's not Jarod. It's Francis, the guy who waters the plants. When Lyle shows him a picture of Jarod, he identifies him as a scientist who used to work there, but as he already told "the other guy", he's gone now. Miss P. wants to know who else is looking for Jarod. Francis describes a blind Chinese man known by the name of "Mr. Lee".

ELSEWHERE IN A WAREHOUSE a blind Chinese man is talking to someone on the phone. He tells the person at the other end of the line that he has "absorbed" all the files on Jarod from his childhood to the presence. "He's quite an interesting man", the Chinese man, Mr. Lee, says. He also says that there are seven people he needs to speak with. "You get me those seven people, and I will deliver Jarod"

"IMPORTS - BY LUCKY CRICKET IMPORTERS INC. - FINE PRODUCTS FROM THE FAR EAST" the sign on the warehouse says. It's the same location as before, somewhat later. Mr. Lee leads a blind woman into the warehouse. It's Rachel Newton, a former photographer, whom Jarod had helped in the first season episode "Potato Head Blues", after she had lost her sight in a bombing. Mr. Lee tells her that Jarod is in some kind of trouble and that he needs to speak to her in order to help him. He wants her to tell him how Jarod helped her and affected her life. Rachel says she was drawn to Jarod right from the start, because he seemed to feel her pain and her fears. While she is talking, Anna, Mr. Lee's assistant, types important words into her computer and starts searching for them in newspaper articles and headlines.

Rachel's' mind flashes back, we see her in a room together with Jarod. Jarod asks her if she doesn't want to come outside, but she refuses, she's afraid. Jarod tells her that eventually she will have to come out sometime. Rachel replies the last time she went outside, she went to the roof top at City Hall, that's where the bombing took place. Jarod says she can't stop living her life because of one incident that was not even her fault. Rachel tells Jarod that she is able to remember every detail of every picture she ever took. She must have seen the bomber at City Hall that day, but she can't remember anything.

Rachel tells Mr. Lee that Jarod did more than emotionally connecting with her, it was like he became her. He understood and knew her better than she knew herself; the way he helped her, she says, was magical.

Her mind flashes back again. "Is this some kind of new therapy?" Rachel asks. "Call it a simulation", Jarod replies. He hands her camera to her and stimulates her with the smell of the chemicals she usually used to develop her pictures. But this time, he wants her to develop them in her mind.

He thus helped her to recreate the events of the day she lost her sight and enabled her to give him important clues about the bomber, but most of all he got her to face her fears and regain the strength and courage she needed to continue her life.

As Rachel leaves, she tells Mr. Lee that it's true what he said about losing one's vision but gaining an insight that others don't have. She knows Mr. Lee is not what he pretends to be, he's not going to help Jarod, he's trying to catch him. But she tells him he won't succeed, because Jarod is too smart for him.

AT THE CENTRE Miss Parker is determined to find out who this "Mr. Lee" is. She wants Broots to check out Jarod's last lair and the neighborhood if anybody might have seen Mr. Lee. Mr. Parker also seems interested in that mysterious man and want his daughter to keep Brigitte informed about everything.

AT A PENITENTIARY Mr. Lee is already talking to the second of "The Seven". It's Dr. Fein, whom we know from the second season episode "Back From the Dead Again". When Mr. Lee tells him he's looking for Jarod, Dr. Fein replies that he has been desperately trying to tell people about Jarod for 18 months now, but there is no trace of him, it's like he never even existed. Mr. Lee is very amused by Fein's frustration about being in prison and tells him that after all, he did bury an innocent man alive. Mr. Lee then gives Fein a chance to get revenge on Jarod by helping him to catch him.

Fein's mind flashes back. He remembers all about how Jarod had pretended to bury him alive in order to make him confess the murder of an innocent homeless man, whom he had used for experiments on a heart drug.

Again, Mr. Lee seems very amused at Jarod's way of handling things. He believes it's his way of dispensing emotional justice. [We see Anna type the word "justice" into the computer]

BACK IN THE WAREHOUSE Mr. Lee tells his contact person on the phone that he finds Jarod even more challenging now. He says Jarod greatest virtue, his desire to help other people and his determination for justice, will finally also prove to be his downfall.

SOMEWHAT LATER Mr. Lee talks to Susan Granger. She was the woman whom Jarod had contacted to help him find his parents in the first season episode "To Serve and to Protect". She says Jarod is in many ways the most compassionate man she's ever met [Anna types the word "compassion"] and that he connects with other people's souls in a very special way. The tragedy in this is, that Jarod is always so there for other people, while he himself, inside, is very alone.

Her mind flashes back to the day Jarod walked into her office. "How can I help you?" she asks. With a voice filled with pain and a face full of desperation, Jarod answers "I don't know who I am".

She explains to Mr. Lee, that her job is to find missing children. [Anna types "Missing children"]. She thought she had seen it all, until she heard Jarod's story.

Her mind flashes back again. Jarod shows her a picture of his mother and asks for help. She tells Mr. Lee that she wasn't able to give Jarod the information because some people showed up and destroyed it before Jarod could even take a look at it. But that only seemed to inspire Jarod even more. Over the past three years, he has helped her to reunite nine children with their families, each time refusing to take any credit or recognition for it.

AT NIGHT, OUTSIDE THE WAREHOUSE: Miss Parker, Mr. Lyle, Broots and Sydney are waiting in their car. Broots has been able to track Mr. Lee. It seems Mr. Lee has pretty much of a reputation in Hong Kong, not only for finding people, but also for making them disappear in little pieces.

ON THE PHONE Mr. Lee tells his contact person that Jarod is very complex and that it may get more difficult to find him than he had anticipated at first. He says Jarod is very "Yin and Yang", dangerous, and yet in control, full of great pain, but a source of healing for others. He's capable of bringing justice against the powerful, but still showing mercy to the weak. He helps the lost to find themselves but is unable to discover his own true nature.

Suddenly, Mr. Lee hears something outside and realizes that he has "visitors".

OUTSIDE Lyle advises Miss P. to be patient. Then, with the words "Let me show you how this is done", he opens the door of the car, which produces a beeping "door-open" sound in the car's security system. Without further ado, Miss P. drives the car right through the glass wall of the warehouse. But they are too late, Mr. Lee has left already.

All they find is a document written in Braille (It comes in very handy that Sydney was once blind himself...). Sydney explains that it is a list of people Jarod used to know and whom Mr. Lee is interviewing. Miss P wants Broots to trace all the calls in and out of the building, to find out who Mr. Lee is working for (it must be someone at The Centre, otherwise he couldn't have gotten the list in the first place).

AT THE CENTRE Mr. Lyle, Miss Parker and Sydney interview Bernie Baxley, the Elvis-imitator Jarod had befriended in "Curious Jarod", season one. Mr. Lee has already talked to him. Bernie says he wanted to know how he felt about Jarod, every minute since they first met.

His mind flashes back. "I'm trying to understand this" Jarod says, "you dress up in a rented costume and you pretend to be a dead singer?". Later, Bernie was to find out that Jarod was the only one who really cared about what he was going through.

His mind flashes back again. In Bernie's dressing room, he tells Jarod that he has just been fired. He is depressed and helpless and says that he wants to quit the "Elvis-business" after 24 years. But he is also scared of being himself.

But Jarod helped him to face his fears, Bernie says, and to find himself again. He admits that Jarod rubbed off on him a little, but he thinks that it was also the other was around. In a last flashback, we see Jarod saying good-bye to Bernie, imitating Elvis' voice, saying "Well, thank you verrry much". After that, Bernie left Vegas and never went back. Now he owns his own Elvis-place and seems very happy with it. And although he broke his hip about a year ago, which keeps him from being able to dance, he still remembers what Jarod had taught him, to never give up. He gives the three of them a sample of his newest act with a puppet called "Tiny-King". Miss P. is "very amused" and tells Sam to get "The King" out of there.

Sydney is sure now, that Mr. Lee has been interviewing these people concerning their emotional connection to Jarod, in order to anticipate his next move.

Broots comes in and tells them that he has managed to trace the calls from the warehouse back to...Mr. Parker's office.

IN A DIFFERENT LOCATION Mr. Lee tells Anna that their next "subject" may not be willing to cooperate. Anna says she will bring him in. IN A PARKING LOT Anna pretends to have trouble with her car, when Lyle comes over to help her (we've already learned he's a sucker for beautiful Asian women...). When he turns around to check the engine, Anna knocks him out.

BACK IN MR. LEE'S NEW LAIR Anna takes off Lyle's blindfold and handcuffs. Mr. Lee is already waiting for his new "subject" and welcomes him in Chinese (at least I believe it was a welcoming...). Lyle is not very pleased, so to speak, about his being kidnapped and refuses Mr. Lee's request to sit down. When Lee tells him that it is important that he knows about Lyle's relationship with Jarod, Lyle answers by asking him about his relationship with Jarod. Mr. Lee replies that he is not in the position to ask questions. As Lee turns around, Lyle takes Lee's cane, trying to "teach him some manners". But with a few quick Karate moves and faster than one can look, Lyle ends up on the floor with a nasty bruise under his left eye. Lee asks him again to sit down and tell him his story. Much more cooperative now, Lyle asks "What do you wanna know?".

Mr. Lee says he wants to know about Jarod's motivation to help others and why he keeps running but does not vanish. Lee believes that Lyle's relationship with Jarod is unique, after all, Lyle did try to kill him.

"All in the interest of science", Lyle replies, as his mind flashes back to a day a few years ago. During three weeks in October, three weeks that had been erased from Jarod's memory for a long time, Mr. Lyle and Mr. Raines had repeatedly conducted flat-lining experiments with him. After giving him an overdose of cardiac medication, Raines resuscitated Jarod. When Jarod didn't recover immediately, Raines was forced to revive him with several repeated blasts from the de-fib paddles (see second season episode "Back From the Dead Again").

Mr. Lee also reminds Lyle that he kidnapped Jarod and killed his brother Kyle. [Flashback to the episode "Red Rock Jarod"].

There is one more thing he doesn't understand, Mr. Lee says: Why hasn't Jarod killed Lyle yet, after all he's done to him?

AT THE CENTRE Miss P. wonders where Lyle is, but then she and Sydney decide to start questioning the next person without him. It's J.R. Miller, the boy whose life Jarod had saved twice in "Red Rock Jarod". First, by giving him first aid when he was in shock, caused by his heart condition, second, by donating his brother's heart to him after Kyle's death. J.R. says he would do anything to help Jarod if he was in trouble. He also says that Mr. Lee seemed very interested in the fact that Jarod just knew that J.R. was sick. The boy tells Sydney and Miss Parker that ever since Jarod had saved his life, he keeps in contact with him by phone. But he doesn't just call to check on him, he wants to know how J.R. is really doing, he's almost like an older brother to him. Apparently, Mr. Lee thought that was very important.

When J.R. is gone, Miss P. asks Sydney if he thinks Mr. Lee will really be able to predict Jarod's next move and catch him. "Unless we get there first...", Sydney replies.

Broots comes in and tells them that the phone call he had traced to Mr. Parker's office wasn't for him. A new line had been installed there just recently. Of course Miss Parker already knows whose line it is: Brigitte's. Broots also says that Brigitte just talked to Mr. Lee on the phone and then left in a limo, Lee's limo.

IN THAT SAME LIMO Brigitte asks Mr. Lee how he found Jarod. He explains that by interviewing the people, he is now able to understand how Jarod thinks and feels. Anna adds that they have broken the code, the pattern of his behavior. According to Mr. Lee, Jarod has a special need to defend people who have been abused by power. And because of this need, Jarod is drawn to predictable situations, such as childhood traumas and things related to the guilt he feels over the abuse of his work as a pretender. Anna has been searching for potential scenarios and has been able to isolate the one that will lead them to Jarod.

AT THE CENTRE Miss P. is mad at the prospect that Brigitte might be the one to bring Jarod in. Mr. Lyle comes in, looking terrible. "You oughta see the other guy" he replies, when Sydney wonders about his exterior. "I was abducted by several of Lee's men ", he lies, "they obviously got the best of me, but I put a whole lot of hurting on them in the process. Lee questioned me for hours, but finally gave up. Had his enforcers drop me off in the middle of nowhere". "Well you can thank Brigitte for your 'quality time' with Lee" Miss P. replies gloating over her brother's mishap. (Come on, Lyle, nothing to be ashamed of, just an old blind man and a girl...*smile*)

In the meantime, Broots has been able to track the signal from Brigitte's cell phone. they get on their way immediately.

AT A FACILITY FOR THE MENTALLY CHALLENGED A Chinese family thanks Jarod for all he's done for them and their little boy. The boy is partly paralyzed and probably deaf, or at least unable to speak, but otherwise fine and doesn't need to be in that hospital. Jarod has provided him with a computer that enables him to communicate. Apparently, the hospital had intentionally misdiagnosed some of the patients and kept them there only for their insurance money.

OUTSIDE THE FACILITY Mr. Lee, Brigitte and Anna have arrived and are about to go inside to capture Jarod, when they hear a helicopter. In it are Miss Parker, Mr. Lyle, Sam and Willy.

In his office, getting ready to leave, Jarod hears the helicopter as well.

Outside, Brigitte gets mad at her future "step-children" for stealing her the show. Mr. Lee tells them to stop arguing and reminds them what they're here for.

They all enter the building, except for Anna, who looks up and sees Jarod standing in the window.

When the "team" enters his office, Jarod is already gone. All they find is a letter from Brigitte to Mr. Parker, asking for permission to use the services of Mr. Lee. Jarod had known all along...

"You blew it, angel" Miss P. tells Brigitte. But Mr. Lee is sure that somebody must have informed Jarod about their arrival: Anna.

Outside, the helicopter takes off, in it are Anna and a smiling Jarod. He thanks Anna for all her help, but she replies that she owed him for all he's done for her family. The little boy Jarod got out of the hospital was her nephew. Anna had made sure that Jarod got the time he needed to help him.