In the year 2030, a new generation of the human race is coming of age, the first to do so since a global epidemic now referred to as “the Big Death” killed everyone over the age of puberty. One young man named Jeremiah is on a quest to learn as much as he can about his father’s involvement in the search for a cure, but it’s not easy going – electricity, gasoline, and any kind of working technology are rare commodities, and people have been known to kill anyone they even so much as suspect of possessing them.
Jeremiah’s immediate problems are much simpler, however – a wanderer named Kurdy has stolen his fish. Jeremiah catches up with Kurdy in a rough-and-tumble town, only to discover bigger problems. A woman named Theo has become the law in this town, but her rule isn’t one of justice, but one of violence. Jeremiah is approached by a young man named Simon, who claims to be seeking others who wish to bring civilization back as their parents once knew it, but Jeremiah turns down his approach. Theo and her men find a truck – with half a tank of gas – hidden just outside of town, and they wait to ambush the owners: Simon and his traveling companion. Theo viciously interrogates them, trying to learn where “the end of the world” is, supposedly a place with resources aplenty which she could use to her advantage. When one of Theo’s men reports that he saw Simon talking to Jeremiah, she has him rounded up as well. Kurdy, who has been trying to get Jeremiah to take him along on his travels, watches as Theo’s men beat Jeremiah and take him back to Theo’s compound. Kurdy is torn between safe inaction and risking his life to help someone he had no problem stealing food from the day before. Rather than a brash frontal assault against Theo’s armed thugs, Kurdy engineers a full-scale town revolt and uses it as a cover to break Jeremiah and Simon out.
Kurdy, Jeremiah and Simon make it to Simon’s truck, but Simon is fatally wounded during the escape. Before dying, he tells Jeremiah that the end of the world is a real place – and he tells him how to get there, and to deliver a message: the Big Death is returning. Kurdy is more eager to get out of town and sell Simon’s truck, but Jeremiah is determined to deliver Simon’s message, and find out if the end of the world Simon reffered to is the same as the Valhalla Sector his father spoke of before his death.
written by J. Michael Straczynski
series based on the comic book by Hermann Huppen
directed by Russell Mulcahy
music by Tim Truman
series main theme by Tim TrumanGuest Cast: Peter Stebbings (Marcus Alexander), Tricia Helfer (Erin), Kim Hawthorne (Theo), Daniel Gillies (Simon), Curtis Bechdholt (Matthew), Byron Lawson (Lee Chen), Kandyse McClure (Elizabeth), Robert Wisden (Devon), Teryl Rothery (Mary), Zak Santiago Alam (Sam), Alex Zahara (Ezekiel), Jada Stark (Gossip), Sean Tyler Foley (Gossip), Victor Da Costa (Gossip), Peta Brookstone (Gossip), Malik McCall (Kurdy’s Father), Terra MacLeod (Carol), Jenn Bird (Cherysse), Ryan Drescher (Michael), Devin Douglas Drewitz (young Jeremiah), Rayden Porbeni (young Kurdy), Haig Sutherland (Keith), Simon Wong (Phil), Mark Holmes (Guy in Crowd), Claude Duhamel (Ticket Cashier), Michael Scholar Jr. (Colin), Phil Trasolini (Seller), Dave Nystrom (Talking Jock), Haili Page (Young girl), David Coles (Skinhead leader), Charles Zuckerman (Skinhead), Colin Corrigan (Skinhead), Brahm Taylor (Man at pole), Darryl Quon (Market thug)
Notes: Seen here in one of her very first acting roles, Tricia Helfer didn’t appear again in Jeremiah, and neither did her character (who was replaced by Erin after the pilot); she would later rise to fame as Battlestar Galactica’s Number Six; Kandyse McClure, whose character does continue through the rest of season one, also became a semi-regular on Galactica as Dualla. Teryl Rothery is well-known to Stargate SG-1 fans as Dr. Janet Fraiser.
LogBook entry by Earl Green