Wild Palms | HD | Episode 1 | The Complete Series | Everything Must Go
164Wild Palms is a five-hour miniseries which was produced by Greengrass Productions and first aired in May 1993 on the ABC network in the United States. The sci-fi drama, announced as an "event series", deals with the dangers of politically motivated abuse of mass media technology and virtual realities in particular. It was based on a comic strip written by Bruce Wagner and illustrated by Julian Allen first published in 1990 in Details magazine. Wagner, who also wrote the screenplay, served as executive producer together with Oliver Stone. The series stars James Belushi, Dana Delany, Robert Loggia, Kim Cattrall, Bebe Neuwirth, David Warner, and Angie Dickinson. The episodes were directed by Kathryn Bigelow, Keith Gordon, Peter Hewitt and Phil Joanou.
In the United States in the year 2007, the right-wing "Fathers" dominate large sections in politics and in the media. A libertarian movement, the "Friends", opposes the government, often making use of underground guerrilla tactics. The Fathers' leader is California's Senator Tony Kreutzer, who is also the leader of the religious sect "Church of Synthiotics" (similar to Scientology) and owner of the "Wild Palms" media group. Kreutzer's TV station "Channel 3" is about to launch "Church Windows" - a new television format, which creates a virtual reality on the basis of popular shows like sitcoms, using a new technique called "Mimecom".
Harry Wyckoff is a successful patent attorney on the brink of becoming a partner in the law firm where he works. He has two children with his wife Grace, a perfect housewife who also moonlights as a boutique owner. His 11-year-old son, Coty has just been cast for the new "Channel 3" series while Deirdre, his 4-year-old daughter has been mute from birth. His mother-in-law is the impossibly chic socialite and artist Josie Ito, a woman of strong will and numerous connections. At night, Wyckoff is plagued by strange dreams of a rhinoceros and a faceless woman who has palm trees tattooed on her body.
One day, he is visited by a former lover of his college days - the alluring Paige Katz. Paige asks for his help in tracking down her son Peter, who disappeared five years earlier. Paige is closely associated with Kreutzer's "Wild Palms Group", which Wyckoff's firm is going up against in court and their meetings raise suspicions, costing Wyckoff his promotion. After this, he gladly accepts when Kreutzer offers him a job at "Channel 3" with a much higher salary.
In the wake of his new career, Harry's wife Grace becomes alienated from him and attempts suicide. To his dismay, Harry learns that Coty is actually the son of Kreutzer and Paige and that her search request was a plot to bring him and the Senator together. Meanwhile, Coty not only becomes a child TV star but also - due to his privileged upbringing and personal ruthlessness - a high-ranking member of the "Church of Synthiotics". Grace's mother turns out to be the Senator's sister who disposes of possible rivals with the same violently brutal means as her brother. Her only weak point is her former marriage to Eli Levitt, leader of the "Friends" and Grace's father (with whom she is still in love).
Kreutzer tries to get hold of the "Go chip", which supposedly will enable him to become a living hologram with unlimited power when it is combined with his hologram technology, mimizine drug, and synthiotics. He uses all means possible to acquire the chip but disgusted by his methods, his fiancé Paige gives information to the "Friends". Harry discovers that Peter, a boy who has connections to the "Friends", is his real son who was taken away by the "Fathers" shortly after his birth. Kreutzer, who suspects Harry of collaborating with his opponents, has him tortured and kidnaps his daughter Deirdre, while Josie throttles her own daughter (Grace) to death.
Harry joins the "Friends" and works to broadcast a recording of Grace's murder. The broadcast causes a social uproar. "Synthiotics" facilities and the campaign offices of Kreutzer (who is running for president) are attacked. Even a transmission of a fake video that shows Harry as Grace's murderer, and the secret execution of Eli can't stop the upheaval. Josie is brutally killed by a former victim, Tully Woiwode. Kreutzer finally manages to get hold of the "Go chip" and has it implanted, but not before it is secretly altered by Harry and Peter. Kreutzer reveals to Harry that he is his biological father, just before he loses cohesion and dissolves into nothingness. As Coty - now the leader of the "Fathers" - finds his followers dispersed, Harry, Paige, Peter and Deirdre escape the chaos. Despite this, Harry knows he must "go back" and lead the "Friends" against their enemies.