Perception

Perception is a drama centering around Russell 'Rusty' Whitaker. He is a man that has grown up with stressful events surrounding his life. He has a loving fiancé Paige that is his rock, and security blanket. Rusty has difficulty coping with his stress, and often time he falls victim to hallucinating. Rusty suffers from the mental illness known as Psychosis. During an 'episode' stemming from Psychosis, Rusty fails to make the difference between what is real and not real. Often times Rusty will find himself seeing people, or hearing things that are not there. In this pilot episode, we meet Rusty a few years after his illness has taken over; however, he does not know that he is sick. In his mind Rusty is on the run from a organization that he used to work called, 'The Agency.' They specialized in conspiracy theories that dealt with assassination attempts on the president of the United States' life. Before Rusty broke from the agency, he was working on a particular theory that involved his fiancé Paige. He felt it was necessary to go on the run to protect her. Ever since then Rusty has been eluding the agency. He has not acted alone though. Rusty has a partner named David Moore who has helped Rusty stay one step ahead of the agency this entire time. One day the agency manages to learn that Paige is on a list that contains 5 other names. They plan on assassinating the president. The agency pressures Rusty into handing over the list in exchange for Paige's life. Before Rusty can make a decision, he falters from yet another 'episode' where he fears that the agency has hired someone to kill both he and Paige. After he attempts to kill this innocent person who happens to be doing yoga in the park, Rusty is ordered by a judge to be sent to a psychiatric hospital for further evaluation. This is where it is revealed that Rusty is diagnosed with his mental illness. The doctor believes that the agency, and other elements of his life where made up in his mind. Not knowing what to think, Rusty is visited by David who tells him that the agency has kidnapped Paige. The two make a daring escape from the hospital. The next morning Rusty finds himself still in his bed at the hospital. Confused as to why he is here, Paige explains that he was hallucinating in his room the entire time as she watched helplessly from the other side of his door. Paige finally admits to Rusty that he is sick, and that he needs help. We end here.