Brimstone (TV series)
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| Brimstone | |
|---|---|
| Format | Supernatural Drama |
| Created by | Ethan Reiff Cyrus Voris |
| Starring | Peter Horton John Glover |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | FOX |
| Original run | October 23, 1998 – February 12, 1999 |
Brimstone (1998-1999) is a short-lived Fox television series, featuring a dead police detective whose mission (assigned by the Devil) is to return 113 spirits who have escaped from Hell to Earth.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
In 1983, Ezekiel "Zeke" Stone (played by Peter Horton) was a New York City Police detective whose wife was raped. He tracked down and arrested the offender, named Gilbert Jax, who was cleared of the charges. Furious, Stone then murdered Jax in cold blood. Two months later, Stone was killed in an unrelated event and went to Hell for Jax's death. The Devil explains in the Pilot episode that this was both because he responded to rape with murder, and because he took pleasure in the killing, which prevented it from being justice. He died one of the most decorated cops in NYC history.
Fifteen years later, a breakout from Hell occurs, led by a pagan priestess named Ashur Badaktu, and 113 spirits escape. Because the Devil (played to much fan acclaim by John Glover) is powerless on Earth, (though he can change the rules sometimes, as he does in the episode with Gilbert Jax and Stone) he makes a deal with Stone: Stone will be returned to Earth to track down these 113 escapees, and if he can return all 113 to Hell (before one of them gets him) he will earn a second chance at life on Earth, and therefore, Heaven. The Devil seems to hinder Stone's work almost as much as he helps it, however, giving some information but withholding crucial facts, or giving only cryptic clues to where Stone will find the next of the escapees, apparently delighting in watching him become more irritable with his interference. It was suggested by an angel (in "It's a Helluva Life") that Stone served God's purpose as well as the Devil's by defeating the escaped souls and in the same episode the Devil attempts to trick Stone into swearing full allegiance to Hell in return for his wife's life.
Both Stone and the escapees have powers that would qualify as superhuman. Because they are in fact dead and immortal souls, they cannot be killed or injured or even caused pain, except by themselves or by other escapees, and they do not bleed. Stone wears the clothing he was killed in, and carries his issue service pistol which he has no need to load or reload (this facet however is called into question, as he did run out of ammo at the end of Season 1, Episode 9, "Lovers") and his detective's gold shield (in one episode he jokes, "Badge number 666"), neither of which sustain any damage, including from being hit with bullets. At the time of death, Detective Stone was carrying $36.27 in cash, the amount being a reference to the Book of Ezekiel, 36:27: "And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." Every day, Stone begins with this amount in his pocket to cover the day's expenses; the only practical advantage other than his hell-spawned abilities.
The eyes being traditionally the "windows to the soul", Stone is informed that if the eyes of Hell's missing are pierced - his own included - then the soul will be returned to Hell. Should he be returned, his mission would be considered a failure, therefore he would remain in Hell and another person would be chosen to return the fugitive souls. Some escapees have powers such as the ability to generate extreme heat or electricity; the Devil explains that the longer you spend in Hell, the more it becomes a part of you, literally. Even though Stone himself describes them (in the opening narration) as "the most vile creatures", some of the escapees seem no more evil than Stone himself.
Stone wears the name and pictographs of these souls as tattoos over his body; as each soul is sent back, his or her corresponding tattoo burns itself off.
Among Stone's allies were Maxine, the woman who owned the hotel where he stayed, and Father Cletus Horn, a blind priest who eventually learned of Stone's mission. Stone occasionally worked with police detectives Ash and Fraker. Much of the series' internal conflict was generated by the fact that Stone's wife Rosalyn was still alive and he couldn't resist staying away from her.
Brimstone ran for only one partial season.
Chiller begin airing Brimstone on July 28, 2007. 'New' episodes will then air Saturdays at 7PM Eastern with replays the following Monday at 8PM Eastern.[1]
[edit] DVD
Brimstone is 47th-ranked on TvShowsOnDvd.com's list of unreleased shows as of Dec. 13, 2007 at 11:19AM.
[edit] Cast
[edit] Main cast
- Peter Horton - Ezekiel Stone
- John Glover - The Devil
- Felix Alcala - Director
- Horacio Rodriguez - Director's assistant
[edit] Regular guests
- María Costa - Teresita/Waitress
- Stacy Haiduk - Rosalyn Stone
- Albert Hall - Father Cletus Horn
- Scott Lawrence - Lt. Fraker
- Lori Petty - Maxine
- Teri Polo - Det. Ash (Ashur Badaktu)
[edit] Episode list
- Altar Boys (Pilot) 23 October 1998
- Heat 30 October 1998
- Encore 3 November 1998
- Repentance 13 November 1998
- Poem 20 November 1998
- Executioner 4 December 1998
- Slayer 11 December 1998
- Ashes 18 December 1998
- Lovers 8 January 1999
- Carrier 15 January 1999
- Faces 25 January 1999
- It's a Helluva Life 5 February 1999
- Mourning After 12 February 1999
[edit] See also
- Reaper (TV series) - A 2007 CW series about a young man who is forced by the Devil to track down and capture escaped souls from Hell.
[edit] External links
- Brimstone at the Internet Movie Database
- Brimstone at the Open Directory Project
- Brimstone at TV IV
