The Invisible Man (2000 TV series)

The Invisible Man (also shortened to "The I-Man" in Season 2) is a Sci-Fi American television series starring Vincent Ventresca, Paul Ben-Victor, Eddie Jones, Shannon Kenny and Michael McCafferty. It aired for two seasons, from June 9, 2000 to February 1, 2002.
The plot revolves around Darien Fawkes (Ventresca), a thief facing life imprisonment who is recruited by a spy agency that is constantly short on funds, and given the power of invisibility via implantation of a special "Quicksilver gland" in his head. The gland allows Fawkes to secrete a light-bending substance called "Quicksilver" from his pores and follicles. The substance quickly coats his skin, hair, nails, clothes, and whatever he is carrying, and renders him invisible. He can consciously release the Quicksilver, which then flakes off and disintegrates. However, the Quicksilver gland was sabotaged at its creation by scientist Arnaud DeFehrn to release a neurotoxin that accumulates in the bloodstream and causes intense pain, followed by antisocial behavior and psychosis. The host requires regular doses of "counteragent" to keep him sane and healthy, which is controlled by the government agency. This series lasted for two seasons, before being cancelled due to cost issues and internal bickering between the Sci Fi Channel and its then-parent company, USA Networks. The show's first season ran concurrently in first-run syndication as well as on Sci-Fi.
The series uses its science fiction and action elements to explore a variety of themes such as freedom of choice, determinism, and state bureaucracy.
Plot.
"The Invisible Man" is both an action show and a comedy with buddy cop elements.
Episodes were generally of two types. Many centered on cases given to Fawkes and Hobbes by The Agency. These usually dealt with assassinations or government experiments that had run amok. During the first season, The Agency was given a nemesis agency called Chrysalis which was often behind the week's conspiracy.
Alternatively, episodes dealt with Fawkes' quest to have the gland removed from his head and/or to reduce his dependency on the counteragent. His unorthodox methods included reviving the mind of his dead brother and periodically contacting Arnaud DeFehrn, one of the gland's creators, though these encounters usually ended with one of the two in pain. The agency considered the gland too great an asset to remove so Fawkes' personal quest usually brought him in direct conflict with those in power.
Episodes usually begin with a voice-over by Fawkes who would open with a famous quote and comment about what he was currently thinking. The voice over would reemerge at the end of the episode to sum up Fawkes' opinion on the mission or allow him to voice lingering questions.
At the conclusion of the series, Fawkes had been given a new counteragent that permanently cured him of quicksilver madness- his body having become gradually immune to the standard counteragent- but after briefly returning to his old thieving career and another stint at the FBI, he returned to the Agency to continue fighting Chrysalis.
Characters.
The following is a list of characters featured in the American science fiction series "The Invisible Man". This list may not list characters that have only made guest appearances.
Minor characters.
David Burke (Kevin Fawkes) and Armin Shimerman (Thomas Walker) also starred together in the short-lived "The Tick" live action series.
The Agency.
The Agency is a U.S. government espionage and special operations agency, but one that is extremely secretive – so much that it doesn't have a proper name. Charlie Borden (known as "The Official"), the director of The Agency, explained that the organization takes on cases that the other agencies "can't, won't, or don't". References in the show point to the Agency as being a "Cold War relic".
The most curious characteristic of The Agency is how it keeps being "absorbed" by Federal Departments that are completely unrelated to intelligence. During the first season, The Agency was a division of the semi-fictional federal "Department of Fish and Game" (i.e. the Fish and Wildlife Service). In the pilot episode, it was explained this was due to the fact that at the time the Department of Defense was having budget cuts while the DFG had a surplus of money.
During the second season, The Agency changed departments several times, having been absorbed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Department of Health and Human Services, and (very briefly) the United States Postal Service before settling in the semi-fictional Bureau of Weights and Measures. All of this led to a running gag in which Hobbes and Fawkes are never taken seriously as federal agents, since their identifications always includes their unassuming department name.
Invisibility concept.
The series' concept of invisibility is explained through the existence of ""Quicksilver", a silver-colored synthetic hormone presumably created by Kevin Fawkes and his team of scientists and put inside an artificial gland through the "Project Quicksilver"" under the codename of "Project QS-9000". When secreted, the substance is initially liquid, but slowly solidifies over the surface of objects "like Saran wrap" (as explained by Kevin), at which point it "bends" light that would normally reflect in the covered surface before refocusing it behind the object. As a result, the object becomes invisible to the naked eye in a matter of seconds.
After the gland's implantation on Darien's brain, its secretion can be jumpstarted by the acceleration of his heart rate and the excretion of adrenaline, triggered by the sensation of fear or tension, although he eventually learns how to control its flow and to consciously secrete it through intense body training. As Quicksilver does not reflect light, it does not absorb it either; this drops the covered surface's temperature "below freezing;" however, it serves to insulate Darien against the extreme cold or heat. It is also stated that Darien can suffer from "premature visibility" if he gets distracted or loses focus on remaining invisible, and extreme adrenaline surges can affect his control over the gland (in one instance, for example, Darien had to abstain from engaging in sexual activity as his body would automatically secrete Quicksilver during the adrenaline surge). When in control of the process, Darien has demonstrated the ability to turn only parts of his body invisible, such as quicksilvering his eyes so that he can see in the infrared spectrum, turning his head invisible to lure his enemies into close range by making it appear as though he has shot himself, or concealing his arms or legs so that he could pass as a handicapped person for investigative purposes.
In addition, Darien acquires other invisibility properties such as "quicksilvering" other objects and even persons (like he does to Hobbes in "Cat & Mouse"). He is also able to "see" objects or persons rendered invisible (as shown in "Money For Nothing, Part 2", when he can see Arnaud covered with Quicksilver). This property is explained by the fact that Quicksilver can absorb other types of radiation, such as infrared and ultraviolet, despite not reflecting pure light itself (which explains why quicksilvered persons can be detected on thermal imaging sensors or lenses). When he was temporarily blinded by an assassin's blindness-inducing weapon, Darien was not only able to limit the damage by automatically turning invisible when the weapon hit his eyes - thus giving his vision a chance to heal where others exposed to the weapon were permanently blinded.
Quicksilver Madness.
The main drawback of the Quicksilver gland is the periodic "Quicksilver Madness": a flaw engineered by scientist Arnaud DeFöhn causes the gland to leak Quicksilver into the brain of the host, leading to a breakdown of higher cortical function, initially causing a lack of inhibition. The eyes become bloodshot and short bursts of pain result, but the host maintains most control over his behavior. However, as the situation progresses, the pain becomes more severe until the host enters the "madness", at which point the pain ceases but the host begins to exhibit violent behaviour accompanied by apparently vastly increased physical strength, pain tolerance, and possibly even resistance to injury, as his "darker impulses" are released. The whites of the eyes become completely red at this stage.
In the two-part episode "Money for Nothing", Darien has his counteragent confiscated by The Official as a way to force him into handing over cash he stole from DeFöhn's casino. This results in Darien entering a higher stage of Madness called "Stage 5" (implying that the Quicksilver Madness has at least four earlier stages). In this stage, the eyes become silver due to Quicksilver leaking through the host's lacrimal ducts. This stage leads to a complete loss of inhibitions, as well as psychotic behaviour, euphoria and megalomania, although the host seems to regain ability to plan and focus, which is lost at the lower stages. This stage is significantly more difficult to reverse, requiring specialized counteragent. It is stated that if Stage 5 Quicksilver Madness is not reversed within approximately 12 hours, its effects will probably become irreversible.
To prevent Darien from going into Quicksilver Madness, his Quicksilver levels are "monitored" by a tattoo of a snake devouring its own tail divided into segments, placed on his arm by Claire. When Darien has a fresh supply of counteragent, the snake is completely green, but it becomes progressively red as the Quicksilver saturates Darien's body (spreading faster when Darien turns invisible), allowing the Agency to keep track of his Quicksilver levels. Over time, Darien's body became increasingly resistant to the counteragent, but Claire was eventually able to discover a formula that Arnaud had developed which permanently cured Darien of the Madness by the end of the series.
On one occasion, Claire was able to turn the gland off with a special injection, thus preventing quicksilver seeping through Darien's body, but this procedure was of limited effectiveness as prolonged suppression of the quicksilver could have triggered a cerebral hemorrhage and killed Darien.
Home media.
The first season of "The Invisible Man" was released on DVD for Region 2 as a two-part collection in March and April 2003. "The Invisible Man" – Season One was released as a complete Region 1 DVD set on March 25, 2008. The Region 1 DVD set also includes the first episode from Season 2.
The Region 1 release, however, contains the alternate version of "Money for Nothing, Part II," (where Hobbes attempts to take Darien into custody) instead of the episode that the fans had chosen (where Hobbes joins forces with Darien). No explanation has been issued for this, and may simply be included on the second Invisible Man DVD release, as it was in the release for the UK.
The Region 1 release also features the episodes in widescreen 16/9, unlike the Region 2 one which had the episodes in full screen 4/3.
The second season is not available on DVD.
Streaming.
Both seasons of the series are available for streaming on the NBC.com app in cropped 4:3 instead of the original widescreen aspect ratio. The version of "Money for Nothing, Part II" is the episode that the fans chose (where Hobbes joins forces with Darien).