- Title: Intelligence – Patient Zero
- tv.com: link
Following an outbreak in Texas, Gabriel (Josh Holloway) and Riley (Meghan Ory) head down south in search of patient zero who Gabriel discovers bears an uncanny resemblance to a murderer (Ronnie Gene Blevins) executed by the state only one week before the spread of the virus. Not only is the killer still alive, but they learn he some kind of a connection to the Pentagon’s secret biological weapons program which will do anything (including risk the lives of thousands) to keep the truth from coming to light.
Although they eventually catch up to the still breathing executed prisoner turned escape lab rat, Gabriel and Riley face new problems when she becomes infected with the disease and the General’s (Nick Searcy) clean-up squad shows up with orders to wipe the scene clean, which includes leaving no witnesses.
Other than the cyber-render which gives Gabriel a lead on the convict (which almost no one believes as he has to fill in much of the image to make a match) his skill set turns out to be not all that useful in a high-risk scenario that puts an expensive governmental resource in far too much danger. Although she offers some initial token resistance at the beginning of the episode, Riley doesn’t do much to fight the assignment as the show continues to play the pair more as partners rather than asset and protector. The result is a so-so episode that works on the strength of the characters’ relationship and the fact that they must take the dangerous, murderous, and suicidal killer alive.
