"On the Wire" is the ninth episode of the second season of The Zeta Project. It first aired July 20, 2002. With help from Bucky, Ro finally finds her brother.
Plot[]
It's another bright day, as Zeta and Ro are evading the ever relentless pursuit from the police and the NSA. They managed to evade Agents West and Rush in a Picto-convention with some physical costumes. Just then, a nearby vidphone terminal activates. It's Bucky. As a thank you for helping him out on several occasions, Bucky managed to track down Ro's long lost brother Casey and puts them in touch. Casey now works for a prestigious vid news company. Unfortunately, his boss recognizes Ro's face on the vid phone. He tries to convince Casey to report them to the government, saying it will be a huge story for him, and promising him a job as a producer if he follows through. Casey has doubts and asks for time to think on it.
His boss doesn't trust Casey to have the killer instinct to get the story and contacts Bennet himself.
Casey meanwhile spends some time with Ro and gets to know her and Zeta better. While traveling via hover trolley, Casey gets a call from his boss, who is with Agent Bennet. The NSA gets a fix on his cell phone's frequency and West and Rush board the trolley. Unfortunately, when Rush tells West to tell the driverbot to stop the trolley and flashing his badge doesn't work, he resorts to shooting the robot, causing the trolley to go out of control. Zeta is able to save the trolley before it collides with another. He and Ro then disappear.
However, upon returning to work Casey is accosted by his boss and Agent Bennet. Bennet claims that Zeta was only trying to save himself. He offers to drop the charges against Ro so Casey can take her home if he helps them. He contacts Ro and asks them to meet him on a viewing platform on the Golden Gate Bridge late that night.
Ro and Zeta walk right into the trap. Bennett offers Ro a deal, saying she will be released into her brother's custody. She says her brother would never have done something like this, and pulls away from Casey.
Casey asks her to trust him. She goes along with it and gets into the aircraft he is piloting.
Zeta makes a run for it and Bennett gives chase. The other agents attempt to open fire, but Casey continually flies in between them and the renegade synthoid, feigning poor piloting skill.
An accident occurs as one of the bridge cables snaps and hits Casey and Ro's craft. It goes down as Zeta leaps off the bridge after them, his extendable arm reaching as he dives. They disappear into a thick fog.
The agents finally find Casey and his boss mud-covered and arguing. Casey is fired and is told he'll never work in vids again. Casey tells him he doesn't care as text news is where the real news is. Bennet angrily tells Casey he'll be keeping an eye on him. Zeta and Ro slip away in the background.
Later, Ro finds a message left by her brother, where he apologizes for his actions and says he'll keep in touch through the classifieds in the text news. He promises to do his best to help Ro track down their parents. He then shows them his newest article, one where he shows Zeta for what he truly is: A hero.
Continuity[]
- This episode finally brings the search for Ro's brother Casey to a close.
Background information[]
Home video releases[]
Trivia[]
- The two picto fans are based on Joseph Kuhr and Robert Goodman.[1]
- Bucky's line, "Squirrel Girl. Yowza!" resembles Scrappy Squirrel's last line from the Animaniacs movie Wakko's Wish, "Squirrel chicks. Yowza!".
- The NSA warrant files are filled with the Lorem ipsum text.
Cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Diedrich Bader | Zeta / Zee Picto fan (uncredited) |
| Julie Nathanson | Rosalie "Ro" Rowan Squirrel Girl (uncredited) |
| Kurtwood Smith | Agent James Bennet |
| Dominique Jennings | Agent Rush |
| Michael Rosenbaum | Agent West Picto fan (uncredited) |
| Blayn Barbosa | Bucky Buenaventura |
| Lukas Haas | Casey MacCurdy |
| Luray Cooper | Dark Owl |
| Charles Kimbrough | Pat Jensen |