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25 Episodes 1989 - 1990
Episode 0
53 mins
An academic psychologist puts his theories on teenage behavior into practice after his book becomes a best seller. Michael Terry, a psychologist who starts up a wilderness ranch in the picturesque Rocky Mountains to help teenagers in trouble with the law.
Episode 1
47 mins
Michael Terry is visited by Gabrielle, a romantic interest from before his marriage, who plans to spend the weekend at his ranch. To complicate Michael's routine even further, social worker Rachel Woods convinces him to accept an unidentified runaway teen at the ranch. Michael's hesitation was due to the fact that she did not appear to be a delinquent or abused and could quickly be released upon locating her parents. The next morning Jill, her first name being the only information he could wrestle out of the girl thus far, woke up quite ill and after being provided some comfort by Gabrielle, is taken to a doctor. The physician confirms Gabrielle's suspicion; Jill is pregnant. She refuses to identify the boy involved or her parents, insisting that she get an abortion so that they never find out. As if this isn't turmoil enough, a cougar begins killing-off ranch livestock. Fox Devlin, Michael's head wrangler, and Vic set out with tranquilizer guns to hunt down the offending beast.
Episode 2
47 mins
An obnoxious seventeen-year-old, while trying to impress several of his street-pals, pulls a gun on a man standing alone in a dark alley. Unfortunate for him, his victim-to-be is a cop on stake-out and he is immediately arrested. Sentenced to Michael's ranch, Marco sets about insulting and belittling everybody he encounters and goes as far as to attack Vic with a knife. While all are gathered in the yard they see a small airplane, obviously experiencing engine problems, crash in the nearby forest. As Michael Terry and Fox Devlin set out on a rescue mission, they are unaware of being followed by the boy. He watches as the pair extricate the injured pilot, the only occupant of the aircraft, and depart with him, headed back to the ranch and an awaiting ambulance. Marco then seizes the opportunity to search for valuables. In such a small plane he quickly finds what turns out to be the jackpot, a half million dollars worth of cocaine. Seeing nothing but a great deal of money in his future, he hides the drugs back at the ranch intending to ransom them back to their intended recipient. However, Philip Reid plans to move Marco to a detention facility in the morning.
Episode 3
47 mins
Paul, the son of good friends of Michael, has disappeared from home. It turns out that he has been enticed into joining a group of devil worshipers. Craddige, the high priest, is a retired schoolteacher who recruits teenagers to complete his band of satanists. Aside from attendance at ritual services, he has the children carry-out various illegal activities such as muggings, while remaining in the background himself. Michael manages to locate the home of Craddige, and in the middle of a service, grabs Paul and hauls him back to the ranch. Unfortunately, Paul's unwavering belief in Satan causes significant concern to all at the ranch. In the meantime, a teenager rock-star named Purple Vomit; her fans call her Purp; has been sent to the ranch to serve a thirty-day sentence. When she arrived, in a stretch limousine, all of the other teens went into a fan frenzy, much to the disapproval of Fox. Now Michael must deal with a very disliked Satanist and an adored idol.
Episode 4
47 mins
Jason, a recent addition to Michael's troubled teens group, slips into the city and brings his mentally slow brother Benjie secretly back to the ranch. Overwhelmed with worry for Benjie, their mother reports Benjie's absence to authorities. Meanwhile, Pin, working his usual corner, is robbed at gunpoint by two young boys, so he accepts Michael's invitation to come to the ranch for a few days. It will be the first time this city slicker has ventured into the wilds of rural B.C.
Episode 5
47 mins
Adam and his older brother have been in the business of distributing illegal drugs for a few years. They have enriched their take by cutting the original product and selling the modified version. Their source, having finally caught on to the rip-off, sends a pair of goons to solve the problem. Adam, while hiding on the fire escape outside their apartment, watches in terror as the thugs gun down his brother. Since he is able to identify the two men involved, the Crown arranges, through Reid, to have the boy sent anonymously to Michael's ranch to hide out until due in court. Here he meets two other recent arrivals, one who wants to befriend him, the other who wants to rip his head off. It is at this time that a magazine reporter, as previously agreed upon by Michael, shows up earlier than expected to compile an article about the rehabilitation process at the ranch.
Episode 6
47 mins
Susie Campbell is a seventeen-year-old hooker with an extensive juvenile record of prostitution and assorted other minor offenses accumulated over the past four years. Even with the total disapproval and warnings of Rachel Woods, Michael is sure he can help the girl and opts to include her among the group of troubled teens at his ranch. Upon arrival at the ranch, she is welcomed with hoots and whistles by the boys and with much less enthusiasm from the girls. That night, Susie gets into a roll-on-the-floor, hair-pulling fight with Cindy requiring Michael and Fox to break up. Seeing no other immediate solution but to separate the girls, he moves Susie to the spare room on the top floor of the main house. The following morning, Brent Paxton makes a substantial offer to purchase Michael's ranch as a development project. With absolutely no hesitation, Michael declines. That evening Susie, clad in a nightgown and finding Michael alone, approaches him seductively. When he tells her to get dressed, her response was to rip the top of her nightgown, deeply scratch his face and scream rape. Michael is charged with attempted rape and barred from his own ranch until the matter is resolved.
Episode 7
47 mins
Michael has had great success with rehabilitating young Jeremy and is to release him to his aunt tonight. Jeremy, however, is incredibly happy at the ranch and reluctantly leaves with his aunt. Very quickly he finds a way to be arrested once again and returned to the ranch. In the meantime, Michael's city friend, Pin, after rescuing what he believes to be a damsel-in-distress, is badly beaten by her boyfriend and hospitalized. In the midst of all of this chaos, Rachel informs Michael that Mr. Granger, an arrogant investigator from Social Services, will be at the ranch to determine eligibility for funding.
Episode 8
47 mins
Jody Dixon has just testified against her pimp Alvin Quinn. Outside of the courtroom, Alvin, known on the streets as the Mighty Quinn, and while barely being restrained by a pair of guards, threatens to kill Jody. Reid and Michael engage one another in an intense argument as to the demise of the young offender. Michael finally wins the battle and Quinn is sent to the ranch. At the ranch Quinn meets up with Tracy, the other prostitute that he handles, who was sent there a couple of weeks prior. Soon, Rachel arrives, extremely upset that Quinn is here, and takes Tracy to a group home. As she is departing the ranch, she states emphatically, that she will not allow any other girls to be sent to the ranch as long as Quinn is present. The next day Reid shows up with police officers accusing Quinn of severely beating Jody last night; or at least arranging that assault. Having no evidence, they are forced to leave the boy with Michael. Meanwhile, C.C. becomes outraged when he discovers that Vic has opened his love letter and refuses to feed, or share accommodations with, the ranch-hand.
Episode 9
47 mins
Lissa, a pretty teen, has recently arrived at the ranch from a detox facility where she was treated for a serious cocaine addiction. She has barely unpacked when her boyfriend, who is also her supplier, secretly shows up with a fix. Right away, she finds an unoccupied room where she snorts the much-needed drug. Unfortunately, the results were not quite as planned, and she soon passes out in front of Fox who immediately calls Michael. Very quickly, Michael gathers up the unconscious girl and takes her to Doctor Taylor. During her recovery, the doctor's son becomes enamored with the problem girl, much to the disapproval of his father. Now social services are insistent that the drug problem on the ranch be cleared up even though Michael assures Rachel that such a problem does not exist. If this isn't trouble enough, Fox shows Michael an election poster depicting his long-time acquaintance and local garage owner, Stan Pierce, as running for Mayor on a platform of ridding the community of a host of juvenile delinquents by shutting down the ranch.
Episode 10
47 mins
A small gang of teen punks, controlled by Troy, an ex-con, are extorting protection money from shop owners. The victims, mostly recent immigrants fearing for their lives, refuse to utter a word. When Diem's uncle refuses to pay, a pair of ruffians bust up his shop and steal the contents of the cash register. Diem chases them into the street where he fares poorly fighting the two. As the police arrive, the delinquents run off leaving Diem to be arrested. Michael takes the boy, who refuses to say anything, to join his group at the ranch. Now it's up to Michael to break the silence and prove Diem's innocence. Meanwhile, C.C. has a romantic fling whilst passing himself off as the owner of the ranch.
Episode 11
47 mins
Rachel brings Jackie Davidson and her daughter Jenny to the ranch asking Michael to house the teen for protection from her father. Jackie will return home to attempt to settle issues with her oft-times violent husband. Vic rides up interrupting the arrangements saying that the corral is damaged, and horses escaped, however, he has recovered all but one. Unbeknownst to them at this point, Clark, a recent attendee at the ranch, has just escaped from a mental health facility and is suspected of robbing a survivalist encampment of much military gear and weapons. With vengeance on his mind, he has stolen the missing horse, thereby managing to lure both Michael and Vic into the forest to recover the animal.
Episode 12
47 mins
Four drunken teens are joyriding along a desolate highway when they lose control of the car and roll down a hill. Shauna is dead and the others, relatively unscathed, having concluded that because they were drunk and driving a stolen car, calling the police would be a really bad idea, decide to bury her in the forest. The event however, leaves Karen completely devastated, thus a prime candidate for Michael's therapy. Back at the ranch, Vic, who wants to buy a motorcycle, pleads for a pay raise that Michael just cannot do at this time. Vic decides to go to the city to work for his uncle, leaving just Michael and Fox to provide the support needed by their group of troubled teens.
Episode 13
47 mins
Michael, just a few months ago, managed to get an early release for Skate, a very successfully rehabilitated delinquent. This was accomplished with the help of Lionel, Michael's childhood friend and the man he bought the ranch from, who arranged for the boy to get a job at a local electronics warehouse. Now Michael has convinced Reid that he has another reformed boy who has a good job opportunity if an early release can be had. Reid agrees to set up a meeting with a judge providing Skate also appears as an example of a similar arrangement that is working out well. This plan crashes miserably when Skate is charged with robbing some $20,000 worth of electronics from his employer.
Episode 14
47 mins
Nathan, a high school genius-level student, is also a part-time cocaine pusher known on the streets as the Tinman. He and his partner, Ray, have a comparatively small operation that a big organization plans to take over by whatever means necessary. One night, Nathan is caught dealing and arrested. When sent to the ranch, Michael soon realizes that not only is the boy unremorseful of his illegal enterprise, but he is actually quite proud and boastful of his success; with every intent of returning to the business upon release. While the Tinman serves his time, Ray will continue to meet their customer's needs while hopefully fending off the competition. Shortly after arrival at the ranch, Nathan becomes friendly with Teddy, a pretty girl who had been sent here from a detox facility. As their friendship blossoms, so too do the problems.
Episode 15
47 mins
A teen who had crashed a vehicle into the Fraser River is referred to as John Doe because he claims to suffer amnesia and has no memory of who he is or where he is from. The boy does, however, manage to insult the judge who sentences him to thirty days incarceration. Although nobody believes that he is an amnesiac, Michael convinces Reid that the boy is repressing something that might best be discovered at the ranch. During his first night at the ranch, John insults and attacks an overweight boy who is fighting an eating disorder. At the same time, he befriends Eddy, a teenager who sleeps with a light because he dreads being in the dark. Little do the staff know at this time, the turmoil John is to inflict upon the ranch. In the meantime, Reid is abducted and held hostage by Zak who is intent on getting his girlfriend, Peggy, out of lock-up.
Episode 16
47 mins
Chris has been arrested for releasing, from the university medical laboratory, a dozen monkeys, into the wilds of the city. Sentenced to the ranch, she quickly becomes attached to Michael's latest acquisition, a donated, retired thoroughbred racehorse. Fox has plans to pamper the animal while offering his services to stud. It is during this time that Rachel Woods has her own challenges. First is a reformed problem-child, Lynda, who works part-time for the Youth Crisis Centre and wants to volunteer to assist at the ranch. Rachel just isn't sure that the girl is ready for that kind of involvement. Then there is the boy, nicknamed Rabbit, that she has placed with foster parents. Apparently, he has a teenage crush on Rachel and requests frequent meetings in her office. To exasperate her problems, arriving home one evening, she is accosted by a burglar who has stolen some confidential files on which she is working. Police are unable to locate the culprit.
Episode 17
47 mins
After an evening bowling outing, Buck and his father along with his father's buddy make a stop at an Asian religious building. Equipped with cans of spray paint, they set about the task of defacing the walls with racial slurs and hate slogans. As the police approach, the two adults successfully flee leaving Buck to the mercy of the law. Even after Reid warns the judge of the serious danger of placing such an extreme racist in a group of impressionable kids, she sentences him to Michael's ranch. Within hours of his arrival, Buck manages to infect the other boys with his hate beliefs while at the same time slurring Vincent, the previously accepted Asian member of the group. Although very inopportune in timing, Rachel has pressured Michael into including a young social worker trainee to experience his methods of rehabilitation.
Episode 18
47 mins
Three teens are clowning around on the Cleveland Dam. Moments after Beverly turns away to look upriver, she hears her friend, Fry, let out a scream. She then discovers her boyfriend, Garth, leaning over the edge holding Fry's jacket; the girl has apparently plummeted to the river far below. After Beverly's brief period of panic, Garth and Fry appear behind her laughing at the joke that they have just pulled. That evening, Michael escorts Megan, a lawyer who also happens to be Beverly's mother, on a dinner date. At the same time, Beverly is at a party with Garth and Fry when she encounters the two on the balcony, Garth this time pretending to hold Fry over the edge. Annoyed at their attempt to pull a similar trick, she gives Garth a push. Only, this time it was not a trick, and the push loosens Garth's grip allowing Fry to fall to the patio below. Beverly is arrested on the scene having confessed to causing the girl's fall. While Fry remains in a coma, Beverly, having been sentenced to the ranch, is suffering the anguish of knowing she was the cause of what might lead to the death of her best friend.
Episode 19
47 mins
Chad steals a car from a car lot and after inflicting significant damage there, drives off speeding and swerving dangerously, thereby attracting the attention of police. A high-speed chase ensues ending in his arrest after his vehicle is crippled by a spike belt. The judge sentences him to Michael's ranch where he alienates everyone with his frequent outbursts of rage. Soon, Chad's stepfather, a Provincial Deputy Minister, convinces the judge to overturn her decision and send the boy to a correctional detention facility because the difficult teen needs control and discipline. Michael, although unhappy with Chad's behavior thus far, truly believes that he is salvageable and that his politician stepfather has ulterior motives in his actions.
Episode 20
47 mins
A boisterous party is happening in a luxury apartment when Pin delivers a ticket order. As he departs the building, he notices a drunken teen girl fumbling with her purse on the hood of a car. A short discussion results in Pin driving the intoxicated young lady home in her car. However, that was not to be because they were soon pulled over by police. It is four in the morning when Michael receives a phone call from a confused Pin, now charged with car theft, seeking assistance. Michael immediately gets a lawyer acquaintance to secure Pin's release. Pin goes his own way to attempt to prove his innocence, while Michael seeks out the girl involved. After locating her, Michael quickly determines that the girl, Sarah, has a serious drinking problem and has no memory of the actual events. With the majority of his activity centered in the city, ranch staff and their wards have ample opportunity to prepare a surprise party to celebrate Michael's fortieth birthday.
Episode 21
Sat, Dec 1, 199047 mins
Marty, a paraplegic teenager relegated to a wheelchair since the accident that crippled him a year ago, has honed his computer skills to a highly accomplished level. However, as computer savvy as he is, he remains quite naive as to the ways of the world, so to entertain himself, he randomly hacks into sites, without knowledge or concern as to whom they belong. Unwittingly he repeatedly hacks into a bookie's site causing tremendous concern to the criminal owner who is determined to eliminate the problem. It is at this point that Marty's mother, completely unaware of his hacking activity, arranges with Rachel to have Marty stay at the ranch. Michael, after completing refinements around the ranch to accommodate Marty's special needs, welcomes the boy with open arms. Meanwhile, Vic and C.C. have the teens involved in paintball war games.
Episode 22
47 mins
When Rachel arrives at the ranch with Marie, a fifteen-year-old fearful girl with serious anger issues, Michael assures her that she will be safe here. The following morning Fox discovers that a stream, the prime source of water for the ranch livestock, has been contaminated. Michael, Vic and Pin, who is vacationing at the ranch, set off on horseback travelling upstream in an attempt to locate the source of the pollution. They eventually locate the point of origin amongst a sea of garbage and assorted toxic waste containers. They also find a very ill young girl, alone, in a cabin. Michael scoops up the girl and rushes off to a medical clinic, leaving Vic and Pin behind to investigate the site. The two are soon captured by the girl's brother, her father and a cohort who, after learning the name of their ranch, lock them in the basement of the cabin. It seems that this trio of misfits, now intent on getting the girl back, have long been involved in the illegal disposal of toxic waste.
Episode 23
47 mins
On a dark evening Sherri Brenton is walking alone through Baker Park when she is hailed by a drunk concerned for her well-being. She fires several rounds in his general direction from the handgun she is carrying. Alerted by the gunfire, a nearby police patrol soon arrests the girl. It seems that the pretty teen had been brutally raped in the park six months ago and to this day remains in a traumatic state, still unable to cope with that unresolved terrifying experience. Reid and Rachel, after a somewhat heated debate, finally agree to recommend a court appointed evaluation of the teen at Michael's ranch. Meanwhile, Pin is being forced out of the city by the Skulls, a vicious street gang quickly gaining control of his neighborhood. It also happens that Michael is soon to release Digger, a member of the Skulls, after a three-month, completely unsuccessful, rehabilitation period. It just isn't possible to win them all.
Episode 24
47 mins
A man who is unable to pay his $50,000 debt to a loan shark is thrown to his death from the roof of a high-rise by a pair of collection thugs. The deceased, as the agent for Earl Forrest, a once famous but now has-been singer, had used the songsters name to secure the loan, thereby leaving Earl responsible for the payment. In the meantime, Earl's son, Steve, has been sentenced to Michael's ranch where he meets up with three other teenage boys who are attempting to start their own band. Steve is quite a gifted guitarist and is immediately invited to join the group. After some sweet-talking, Pin is persuaded to act as their manager and sets out to arrange a means to promote the fledgling band. Michael now has the ominous task of pacifying his staff who find themselves increasingly annoyed by the loud practice sessions, while blocking Earl's attempts to bring his son home, and still be supportive of the boys.