Episode 403 "Happy Birthday, Matt Praeger"
On his birthday,
Praeger is the first to arrive at Great Lakes Resort to investigate a haunting reported by
resort owner Bert Kay. A mysterious man, dressed in yellow, has been seen wandering the
grounds. As Praeger is left alone to search the site, a transformation takes place and the
sign over the entrance to the grounds changes to read "It's Your Time." Into
this alternate dimension, Stone arrives, dressed in yellow, and lures Praeger to a strange
destination - the set of a television game show called 'It's Your Time.'
Stone sits at a desk and interrogates Praeger about his personal life. As odd as he finds
her behavior, he plays along - convinced that she's in on an elaborate birthday gag at his
expense. But as she relentlessly continues her research, Praeger becomes increasingly
annoyed and begs her to give up the joke.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team members - Donner, Axon and the real Stone - have arrived
at the resort to assist Praeger in the investigation of the haunting, but Praeger is
nowhere to be found. The surreal game show begins. The Host explains that, on his
birthday, Praeger is being given an opportunity to re-examine his life.
Praeger's opponents turns out to be his OSIR colleagues - all dressed in yellow. Round
One, played against Hendricks, seems to be rigged so that Praeger will lose but he byands
that he be allowed to compete fair and square. Praeger wins the round and, at that moment,
he catches a brief glimpse of the mysterious man in yellow. In Round Two, Praeger is
suspended upside down by a rope around his ankles. Donner appears, and holds up a tarot
card to Praeger. The picture on the card indicates that he is in limbo - with no real
home, failed relationships and no commitments. In this state, Praeger must answer one
question correctly, or be lowered into a pit of steaming lava. The question is 'What is
love?' to which he finally answers 'Love is truth' - but admits that he wouldn't recognize
either.
For Round Three, Praeger's opponent is Axon. Praeger is horrified when he is shown an
image of his daughter, Dana, sitting in a boat adrift in a lake with her hands tied to her
lap. Praeger must find Dana before time runs out; Axon's job is to stop him. Praeger
suddenly finds himself deep in the woods where, once again, he sees the mysterious man in
yellow. This time, he recognizes the man as himself. 'Yellow Matt' motions to Praeger to
follow him into the woods. Desperate to get to Dana before time runs out, he follows, and
finds his daughter with just 30 seconds left.
Meanwhile, Praeger's colleagues are extremely concerned about his long absence and sense
that he is in trouble. As he faces the many challenges of the game, they have been
tracking a signal on their monitors - a cold spot which appears and disappears at various
points on the grounds of the resort. Stone finds another cold spot - with a much stronger
reading than the original one - right near the entrance to the resort. The team suspects
that this new reading may indicate a portal through which Praeger has entered into another
dimension.
In a special Bonus Round, Praeger must choose between himself and Dana - and one of them
must die. The OSIR team senses an overwhelming feeling of helplessness as the portal image
changes and shifts - then starts to shrink. They fear that they have lost Praeger forever.
The portal is gone but the cold spot is still out there - with seemingly no way now to get
back to reality. Everything now depends on how Praeger faces his most difficult challenge