CONTAINMENT {PILOT} (TV)
Summary
The pilot of this remake of the Belgian television series “Cordon,” about the efforts to combat a virulent epidemic in Atlanta, Georgia.
The story begins on Day 15 of the outbreak, as heavily armed National Guardsmen storm the streets and try to induce order amongst the panic-stricken citizens. Panic and chaos run rampant as people lay dying in the streets, looters try to make off with goods, and people scream for help. On Day 1, at Atlanta Midtown Hospital, schoolteacher Katie Frank leads a class field trip to visit sick patients there; her son Quentin is a member of the class. They see a man delivering a cage of lab rats into the hospital’s infectious disease ward. One doctor, Rita Sanders, has been quarantined and is apparently suffering from some sort of disease. She recalls her activities and realizes that she likely caught the disease by accident from a Syrian immigrant patient who was discharged. Meanwhile, Atlanta policeman Major Alex “Lex” Carnahan makes another attempt to have his girlfriend Jana move in with him, but she experiences a panic attack which he indicates has occurred before. She decides not to move in with him, frustrating him immensely. He leaves to attend a briefing at the Georgia Department of Public Health.
At the briefing he and the other members are filled in about the incident between Dr. Sanders and the Syrian patient, discovered to have fraudulent identification documentation. The police are ordered to arrest the Syrian patient. The meeting is joined by Sabine Lommers of the Department of Health and Human Services, who indicates that the situation is much direr than they realize. Meanwhile Teresa, a pregnant teenager working in her mother’s grocery store, has an encounter with her boyfriend Xander. Her mother wishes her to give the child up for adoption, although she and Xander plan to run away together. Lex learns about the conditions of the virus experienced by Dr. Sanders: it replicates rapidly and is highly infectious, but is not immediately identifiable to the medical experts. Dr. Sanders’ symptoms worsen as she coughs up blood and experiences discoloration of the eyes.
Katie’s class performs a song for the patients at Atlanta Midtown. Katie meets Dr. Bobby Carver, who offers to fill in for Dr. Sanders and take the kids on a tour of the hospital. Lex’s friend and co-worker Jake calls Jana to upbraid her for her behavior towards Lex; they dated briefly but she broke up with him. Lex sends Jake and his men out to search for the Syrian patient. Katie’s class prepares to leave the hospital, but Dr. Carver stops them and brings them back inside to quarantine them, as they may have been exposed to the virus. Jana arrives at her workplace, a data recovery company. Sabine meets with Lex personally at Atlanta City Hall, believing that he will be an asset because of his leadership skills. She hopes to use him as a “face” to keep the public calm during the outbreak, although Lex suspects ulterior motives since the man they are searching for is of Middle Eastern origin. Sabine admits that this is a factor in concerns about potential bioterrorism. Lex still feels as though the truth is being concealed from him and is hesitant to cooperate with Sabine. Sabine admits that if they mishandle their response, the consequences could be disastrous for the entire city.
Jana finally answers her phone after ignoring calls from Lex for the entire day. They apologize to each other for their behavior, and Lex warns her about the virus outbreak, asking her to stay with him for the time being. She says that this time she will stay with him permanently and is ready for commitment. Jake learns secondhand through Lex that the virus appears to be spread by contact with bodily fluids. Jake enters te house where the man who picked up the Syrian patient lives. The man admits that the patient, Sayid, is his nephew, and that he snuck into the country earlier that week in order to escape a Syrian militant group which tried to recruit him. He claims that Sayid went to the hospital to care for a cold he caught during the flight. They find Sayid bedridden in his room and attempt to take him away, but Sayid flees. They prevent him from leaving, but not before he accidentally sneezes on an officer. Katie discovers that Quentin and another boy are missing and go in search of them. Jake is asked to stay at the hospital as a precaution to ensure that he is not infected. Katie encounters him and he offers to help her search for the kids.
Jake and Katie manage to get into the infectious disease ward, where they believe Quentin and his friend went. They see Dr. Sanders and another patient sprawled out on tables, possibly dead. At the CDC office in Atlanta, Sabine leads a conference updating the attendees about Sayid’s condition: he experiences extreme spasms, bleeding, and seizures eventually culminating in his death. Dr. Sanders dies soon thereafter, and Sayid’s family begins to experience symptoms and are taken into custody. Sayid is labeled patient zero of the disease, and the virus is deemed extremely contagious and 100% fatal. Katie finds Quentin and his friend and brings them back to the other children. Katie and Jake formally introduce themselves and she explains that she shares custody of Quentin with his father’s parents. They are informed that the hospital is being put on lockdown for the next 48 hours, preventing anyone from leaving. Sabine presents further research by doctors: the virus has been identified as “H7N2,” a type of avian flu not previously transmissible to humans. It appears that the virus has been genetically manipulated in order to make it capable of infecting humans. Sayid’s belongings were discovered to contain a vial of the agent used to spread the disease. Sabine believes that this is an act of bioterrorism and recommends full quarantine procedures; Lex and other “non-essentials” are asked to leave the meeting while sensitive information is discussed with top-level officials.
Teresa attempts to board a train to go see Xander, but the train suddenly leaves the station without boarding any passengers. The police close the station and ask everyone to leave. Lex leaves a message for Jana telling her to go straight to his apartment, and Jake makes a panicked call from the hospital informing him of his situation. He blames Lex for potentially exposing him to the virus. Lex confronts Sabine and says he will do whatever she asks as long as he is kept informed of her intentions. She reveals that she intends to institute a “cordon sanitaire,” placing an entire sector of the city on quarantine in order to contain the virus. The cordon around the zone goes up and angry citizens gather around it. Teresa is caught within the cordon and neither she nor Xander can get to each other. She returns to her mother’s store; Jake joins Katie and her class in their isolation wing. Lex goes out on the street and attempts to quell the angry crowds gathering around the cordon. He spots Jana on the other side of the cordon and calls out to her, but she does not hear him. Xander is brought to the ground by an officer as he tries to get inside the cordon, but Xander breaks it up and calmly explains to him that he cannot get in. News cameras pick up Lex’s talk with Xander. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CW
- DATE:
- RUNNING TIME: 0:42:14
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 123929
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: TV - Drama
- SERIES RUN: CW - TV series, 2015-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- David Nutter … Executive Producer, Director
- Julie Plec … Executive Producer, Writer
- Carl Joos … Executive Producer
- Joseph Berger-Davis … Associate Producer
- David Gyasi … Cast, Major Alex "Lex" Carnahan
- Christina Moses … Cast, Jana
- Chris Wood … Cast, Jake Riley
- Kristen Gutoskie … Cast, Katie Frank
- Claudia Black … Cast, Sabine Lommers
- George Young … Cast, Victor Cannerts
- Hanna Mangan Lawrence … Cast, Teresa
- Trevor St. John … Cast, Leo
- Elyse Levesque … Cast, Dr. Rita Sanders
- Nadine Lewington … Cast, Suzy
- Yohance Myles … Cast, Dennis
- Karan Oberoi … Cast, Dr. Bobby Carver
- George Young … Cast, Dr. Victor Cannerts
- Demetrius Bridges … Cast, Xander
- Nadej K. Bailey … Cast, Britney
- Charles Black … Cast, Bert
- Zachary Unger … Cast, Quentin
- Adin Steckler … Cast, Mary
- Ronny Mathew … Cast, Sayid