Episode
Profiler: Into the Abyss
Overview
A burned-out Sam takes somber note of a psychic-turned-author (guest star Leland Crooke) whose cooperation with police in solving serial murders has taken a heavy toll on his emotional stability -- and worst of all, he's targeted by a serial slayer (guest star Dayna Gladstone) intent on putting him out of his misery. Back at the command center, John chafes under Bailey's strict policy and hard-nosed code of secrecy. Bailey has more problems at home when he attempts to rein in his trouble-prone teenaged daughter (Heather McComb).
Details
- Series
- Profiler
- Season
- Season 1
- Episode
- Episode 20
- Air date
- 1997-04-26
- Runtime
- 60 min
Episode context
Into the Abyss is Episode 20 in Season 1 of Profiler. It aired on 1997-04-26. The runtime is 60 min.
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Episode 19: FTX: Field Training Exercise
The task force comes under intense scrutiny when the FBI suspects that an insider is selling covert information, so a reluctant Bailey agrees to a mock field training exercise designed to root out the mole -- but he learns too late that one of the agents (guest star Michael Gaston) has a personal grudge against him. When one senior investigator (guest star Jack Conley) is found murdered in the command center, Sam tries to profile which one of the team's edgy members might benefit the most from trading FBI secrets. Meanwhile, Grace goes public with some personal news, and Nathan stands at the crossroads of the future of his bumpy marriage.
Episode 21: Venom (1)
Sam (Ally Walker) and the VCTF team are taunted by a diabolical serial killer (guest star Lori Petty, ""Free Willy"") who prefers to use a variety of exotic poisonous spiders and animals to kill her victims, while providing her pursuers with cryptic clues to her next murder. A frustrated Bailey (Robert Davi) is further irritated by a sexy private investigator (guest star Joan Severance, ""Wiseguy"") who tries to aid the VCTF, but it's the unit's chief nemesis--a jealous Jack of All Trades--who ironically can help the most. Elsewhere, Bailey asks Cooper (A Martinez) to replace John (Julian McMahon) on the team, and later takes drastic measures to curb his carousing daughter (Heather McComb).
More episodes from this season
Episode 18: Blue Highway
Sam and the VCTF investigate a series of fatal hit-and-run auto accidents on remote highways where the only clues are abandoned car hulks, a pattern which leads Sam to suspect a trucker (guest star Jim Wilky) who is reliving a traumatic accident from his childhood. Elsewhere: George is mugged and nearly killed in a video store holdup; Bailey feels responsible for his wayward teenaged daughter (guest star Heather McComb) when she hangs out with a rough crowd; Angel is very appreciative when John speaks to her art class
Episode 22: Venom (2)
Sam (Ally Walker) and the VCTF team are taunted by a diabolical serial killer (guest star Lori Petty, ""Free Willy"") who prefers to use a variety of exotic poisonous spiders and animals to kill her victims, while providing her pursuers with cryptic clues to her next murder. A frustrated Bailey (Robert Davi) is further irritated by a sexy private investigator (guest star Joan Severance, ""Wiseguy"") who tries to aid the VCTF, but it's the unit's chief nemesis--a jealous Jack of All Trades--who ironically can help the most. Elsewhere, Bailey asks Cooper (A Martinez) to replace John (Julian McMahon) on the team, and later takes drastic measures to curb his carousing daughter (Heather McComb).
Episode 17: Crisis
Sam is taken hostage by a zealous anti-nuclear scientist (guest star Robert Sampson) and a cadre of steely commandos after they capture a banquet room full of Washington, D.C. brass, and vow to kill them unless the President agrees to meet their demands to ban the bomb. When Bailey and the task force attack, the terrorists escape and are cornered in an airplane hanger, where a desperate Sam tries to ""profile"" the anguished scientist -- hoping to find a common bond that might save both their lives. A Martinez, Julian McMahon co-star
Episode 16: Film at 11
Sam and the task force probe a series of ghastly murders which are carefully videotaped and sent to TV newsrooms by the vigilante slayer (guest star Ron Kuhlman) who announces that the crimes are righteous retribution against guilty people who slip through the judicial system. When a young woman (guest star Sherri Howard) is kidnapped and thought to still be alive, the accelerated investigation narrows to former law students with strong opinions about crime and punishment.
Episode 15: Shadow of Angels (2) (a.k.a. Gestalt)
In this 2-hour episode, Dr. Sam Waters and the VCTF team investigate a series of bizarre murders where the victims -- including a U.S. Senator -- are either crushed or strangled with silver coins. The investigation leads them to Charles Vanderhorn (guest star James Coburn, ""The Magnificent Seven"" and ""Our Man Flint""), an aloof but powerful billionaire heading a well-connected aristocratic family. Also joining the probe is Nick Cooper (new series regular A Martinez, ""L.A. Law""), a terrorist and explosives expert who is romantically attracted to Sam. As the VCTF learns that the tightly knit killers are on a unified mission to punish the corrupt and overextravagant, they face a more primary case in their pursuit of the serial slayer Jack of All Trades -- which leads to a Costa Rican hideout where he is cornered at last.
Episode 14: Shadow of Angels (1) (a.k.a. Noblesse Oblige)
In this 2-hour episode, Dr. Sam Waters and the VCTF team investigate a series of bizarre murders where the victims -- including a U.S. Senator -- are either crushed or strangled with silver coins. The investigation leads them to Charles Vanderhorn (guest star James Coburn, ""The Magnificent Seven"" and ""Our Man Flint""), an aloof but powerful billionaire heading a well-connected aristocratic family. Also joining the probe is Nick Cooper (new series regular A Martinez, ""L.A. Law""), a terrorist and explosives expert who is romantically attracted to Sam. As the VCTF learns that the tightly knit killers are on a unified mission to punish the corrupt and overextravagant, they face a more primary case in their pursuit of the serial slayer Jack of All Trades -- which leads to a Costa Rican hideout where he is cornered at last.
Episode 13: The House That Jack Built
When Jack of All Trades, the inventive but frighteningly elusive serial murderer stalking Sam continues to toy with members of the VCTF team and their families, Bailey orders everyone into the task force's bunker-like command center as they scramble to devise a trap to ensnare Jack. Since their technologically brilliant quarry delights in eavesdropping and seeing them almost everywhere, the frustrated team uses Sam and Agent Grant as bait to flush Jack out into the open.
Episode 12: Learning from the Masters
When a series of murder victims are found arranged in elaborately staged tableaux, Sam deduces that the cold-blooded killer is replicating famous artworks with their lifeless forms. Her investigation plunges her into the avant-garde art world until she accidentally strays into the killer's lair, where he takes her hostage -- and prepares to use her for his latest three-dimensional ""masterpiece."" Meanwhile, Bailey gets chills when he discovers that clever serial killer Jack of All Trades has compromised the team's vital computer system. Julian McMahon co-stars.
Episode 11: Doppelganger
Sam confronts inmate Arthur deRhodes (guest star Edward Albert, ""Beauty and the Beast""), a former adversary and serial slayer whom she helped put in a prison for the criminally insane years before, over a recent murder that bears striking similarities to his modus operandi. However, when another ritualistic murder occurs, Sam wonders whether the culprit could possibly be the clever deRhodes -- or a copycat killer. All bets are off when deRhodes eventually escapes, and no one is safe -- especially Sam. Robert Davi also stars.
Episode 10: Shattered Silence
The separate kidnappings of two high-profile doctors (guest stars Scott Koes, Buddy Farmer) and the evidence left behind leads Sam to believe that the prime suspect is a patient with an incurable medical condition who is driven to take desperate measures. Meanwhile, Bailey is riddled with guilt when he develops a mutual attraction with the wife (guest star Patricia Charbonneau) of one the missing men. In addition, serial killer Jack-of-all-trades continues his quest to isolate Sam by terrorizing Agent Nathan Brubaker. Morag Dickson guest-stars.