Wild Palms: Encyclopedia II - Wild Palms - Plot synopsis

Wild Palms - Plot synopsis

In the year 2007, Harry Wyckoff (James Belushi) is a lawyer and family man. His wife Grace (Dana Delany) runs a clothing store, his daughter Deirdre has been a slow developer, yet to speak a word, and his son Coty (Ben Savage) - a television addict - has just got an acting job on a new sitcom, Church Windows, alongside famous actress Tabba Schwartzkopf (Bebe Neuwirth). However, Wyckoff is plagued by strange dreams - of himself being pursued by a rhinoceros, and of a strange tattoo of a palm tree.

Things begin to unravel one day when Wyckoff is visited by a former lover who he hasn't seen in fifteen years - Paige Katz (Kim Cattrall). She needs his help in tracking down her son Peter, who disappeared five years earlier. But Paige works for the Wild Palms Group, which Wyckoff's firm is going up against in court, and his meetings with her invite suspicion from both sides, leading to a promised promotion being removed, and Wyckoff leaving his job.

Luck comes Wyckoff's way when Paige introduces him to her boss - Senator Anton Kreutzer (Robert Loggia) - the founder of the Synthiotics religion, and the inventor of New Realism -- a philosophy which is not well described but has something to do with a form of virtual reality which Kreutzer has developed at his company Mimecom. Kreutzer's plan, he claims, is to use this technology at his television station - Channel 3 - the same station where Wyckoff's son is now acting. Church Windows will be the first show to air in this method, where the action will take place in living rooms across the country, and people will be able to interact with the reality. Out of nowhere, the Senator offers Wyckoff a job as head of the business department at Channel 3, which he accepts.

However, all is not well in the world. Dining with his old college friend Tommy (Ernie Hudson), Wyckoff sees another patron of the restaurant dragged away by a group of men, but no one else pays any heed to it. Then, Wyckoff sees similar things happening with police around town. However, he has no feelings of empathy for the victim, but agrees with the attackers - although he does not know why. When Coty goes to stay with Grace's mother Josie (Angie Dickinson), she asks if he has had the rhinoceros dream to which he responds that he has. She tells him to keep it secret, since it means he is special.

Then, in Grace's presence, Deirdre utters her first words: "everything must go". The peculiarity of this is furthered when Senator Kreutzer tells Wyckoff of a group called the Friends who killed his father shortly after the man had a fire sale, with a banner saying "everything must go". At a dinner party, Grace and Wyckoff run into Tabba and her "consort" Tully Woiwode (Nick Mancuso), whose sister Maisy is the woman who was dining with the man in the restaurant that Wyckoff saw, although she denies this.

Wyckoff continues to be stunned by the bizarre occurrences that begin going on around him - Grace sinks into depression over what she fears is a relationship between her husband and Paige; she and Wyckoff separately learn about the two political groups: the "Friends", and their enemies, the pseudo-fascist "Fathers", who would often steal the children of their enemies. Grace herself fears that Coty is not her son, but one who was switched.

Wyckoff slowly discovers that the Fathers - led by Josie, the Senator and Paige - are developing a grand plan involving the Mimecom technology, while the Friends - one of whom is Grace's incarcerated father Eli (David Warner) - are trying to fight back.

From this start, a deadly web of intrigue, betrayal and murder surrounds Wyckoff.

Wild Palms also stars:

• Charles Hallahan as Gavin, a colleague of Wyckoff
• Robert Morse as Chap Starfall, a singer
• Bob Gunton as Dr. Tobias Schenkl, Wyckoff's psychiatrist
• Aaron Michael Metchik as Peter, a boy who assists the Friends
• Charles Rocket as Stitch, a lounge comedian
• and Brad Dourif as Chickie Levitt, Eli's son and a cripple, who has intense knowledge of the virtual reality program.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Plot synopsis", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki