Pilot (PBW)

"Pilot" is the first and debut episode of Season 1 of Pidge Between Worlds. It is the first episode overall. It premiered on November 26, 2019.

Synopsis
"Words."

Plot
Two teens snuck along the side of the metal building, careful that they were light on their feet to avoid drawing walkers. The one behind looked behind them uneasily, then back toward his friend in front.

“Pidge… what are we even scavenging out here?” Hunk whisper-yelled to her. Pidge turned sharply and held up a finger to her lips and pointed nearby, where at least a dozen walkers were ambling around aimlessly. They reached the corner of the building, and Pidge waved Hunk around the corner and over to an entrance.

“I just know there’s some good stuff in here, come on!” She quietly waved him in as she entered first. Hunk huffed and followed.

“That’s not specific enough to answer my question!” Their voices began to echo throughout the vast expansive interior.

“We need more supplies, dude, no biggie!”

“What are we even going to find in this place? I don’t even see anything in here, it’s so dark! What if there’s walkers in here! What if we’re walking right into a herd--!”

“Hey! Hunk, relax, alright? We’d be hearing them if they were in here with us, we’re not deaf.” She stopped walking when she spotted a smaller room within the warehouse. Grinning to herself, she moved toward the door faster.

“Ahh, perfect!” Pidge celebrated as she entered the room, Hunk shortly behind.

“You’re seriously confusing me. What are we doing here?” He asked, tone much more serious this time. Pidge halted and her eyes trailed to the floor.

“I’m… just looking for something.” She replied quickly. She spotted some boxes in the corner and smirked triumphantly.

“Ohhh yes! Jackpot!” She pulled out a knife and cut open the tape along the top of the box. Hunk watched with sheer confusion yet curiosity as she dug through packing peanuts and pulled out a rectangular thin case.

“What’s… that?” Hunk asked after Pidge didn’t say anything.

“This, my dear Hunky, is Dark Days. One of, if not THE, best show to ever air on TV! Season one just barely finished before… all of this happened. Kinda coincidental that I loved a show about an apocalypse filled with undead people shortly before it actually freakin’ happened.” She chuckled.

“So we came all this way… for a TV show DVD?” Hunk asked.

“Dammit, Hunk, you don’t get it!” She shouted, turning away from him. Hunk sighed, feeling a little guilty.

“Then help me understand. I know you’re hurting. It’s barely been a week since…” Hunk decided it was best to not finish that sentence, “I just get worried, okay? When you get sad you push away a-and I don’t want you to have to go through this on your own. Just… are you willing to ‘let me in’ so to speak?” He asked. Pidge turned and lunged herself into Hunk’s arms.

“H-He liked this show, too. It was like our show. I know he’s gone, I just… wanted this. To remember the good.” She explained quietly. Hunk’s mouth made a small “o” shape and he nodded.

“Ohhh… I understand now. I know if I could find something to remember… my mom, I would.” He smiled.

“Oh, god! You’re grieving too and I’m making it all about me, I’m… sorry.” Hunk shook his head quickly.

“No! No, it’s okay! We’re in this together. Being with you is… well, it kinda helps.” He gave a lopsided grin and shrugged. Pidge stared at him, then just laughed.

“You’ve always had a way with feelings.” She patted his shoulder and turned back towards the door. “We can head back now, looks like I’ve gotten what I came for.”

The two friends exited the warehouse, walking side by side as the walkers behind them moaned amongst themselves.

About twenty minutes later, Pidge and Hunk approached the beach house as they walked down the street. A walker ahead of them snarled at them, but Hunk drove his knife through its chin up into the head, and pulled it out smoothly. They came up the sidewalk and at the door, Lance was there waiting for them.

“So, what’d you get? Anything good?” He asked. Hunk eyed Pidge for a second before sighing, feigning sadness.

“Nothing. We even checked a whole warehouse. Place was literally ransacked.” He groaned.

“Seriously? Damn, that’s terrible.” Lance replied.

“This is why we shouldn’t stay here for much longer.” Keith cut on, walking over abruptly, “The supplies we have are running low as it is, rationing is getting tougher, and now we can’t even find anything else.” Lance groaned even louder.

“Can we go one day without hearing you say this, mullet?” He cried. Keith glared.

“Why the hair? What did it ever do to you?” He asked.

“It ran away from the 80s and it needs to go back there.” Lance smirked. Keith grit his teeth and stormed upstairs.

“Ha. Looks like I win that round.” Lance proudly declared.

“You realize your ‘rivalry’ is all in your head, right? Keith doesn’t even care.” Pidge said as Lance looked at her, pouting.

“Anyway, Hunk, you and Lance should go upstairs. I wanna show you guys something.” She said excitedly, pushing both boys up the first few stairs until they continued up on their own.

Pidge took off her backpack, taking out the Dark Days DVD and setting the backpack down in the living room. Her mom sat on one of the couches, talking with Nancy and Marcus.

“Oh, Katie! You’re back! Find anything?” She asked. Pidge shook her head quickly, running over and giving her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Nope! Nothin’ out there, anyway I’ll be upstairs with Lance, Hunk, and Keith so don’t worry okay bye love youuuuu!” Pidge rambled quickly as she dashed upstairs with the DVD in hand.

“Well… okay! Love you, too!” Colleen called after Pidge ran off.

Upstairs, Pidge burst into the bedroom, making Hunk flinch.

“God, you scared me!” He whined. She ignored him, and instead sat the three boys on the bed.

“Okay, are you guys ready for the most awesome experience of your life?” Pidge smirked, holding out Dark Days for them to see.

“Oh, hey that’s Dark Days!” Lance noted. Keith looked at him, and he shrugged. “What? That show was all over the internet before! I know things!” He muttered.

“ANYWAY, I want you guys to watch it with me!” She exclaimed happily. She flipped the DVD over and her eyes seemed to bulge out of her head.

“NO WAY!!!!!” She practically screamed, “Episodes 12 and 13 of Season one are on this DVD!!! They NEVER got the chance to air before the world went to hell! NOBODY has ever seen the end resolution to Season one! Well… maybe Ross Lynch or Jennifer Lawrence has, but what’re the chances of running into them anyway?” Pidge hopped up and down, practically vibrating with excitement.

“Well, put it in the DVD thingy! I’m… kinda intrigued.” Lance pressed. Pidge nodded, getting on her knees and opening the DVD player. She set the disc in its rightful spot and closed it back. She then turned on the TV, switching so that the DVD would play on screen. She then tried to hit “Play”, but the controller didn’t seem to register.

“Come on! No! Work, you fuckface!” Pidge groaned at the remote.

“I think you have to do it manually from the DVD player box.” Keith said.

“No shit.” Pidge grumbled, moving forward and pressing the button. Again, nothing happened. She began pressing the button rapidly.

“Come on! I just want to--!” Pidge was cut off as the DVD box began to spark a strange neon blue light.

“What the hell…” Lance, Keith, and Hunk all whispered. Pidge watched as the blue electrical light slithered up her arm. She started to pull away when she realized it was pulling her towards the TV.

“What the fuck is this?! ''Help! What the FUCK?!?!''” In an instant, all three others were pulling back on Pidge, but the strange entity was stronger than all of them combined.

“Don’t let go! Don’t let go!” Pidge yelled as Hunk gripped her waist, Lance held her hand, and Keith pulled at her leg.

In a split second, more blue light shot out, enveloping all four of them in a big space. Hunk watched in horror as they all began to get pulled in.

“Hang on! Whatever’s happening is going to get bumpy!” He warned. The four of them cried out as, all in one second, they dissolved into particles and flew into the TV screen. The blue light zapped out and the room fell silent.

There’s a numbing ache in her head, as Pidge’s eyes slowly flutter open. She instinctively reaches up to rub her temple, groaning in discomfort. Her vision clears, and she finds herself staring at… a plain, plaster ceiling. The environment around her sets in… she’s laying on something soft and cushiony.

Pidge’s eyes widen, and she swings her legs around -- almost falling off the top of a bunk bed. She lands on the floor with a soft ‘thud’, and looks around the room frantically.

“H-Hello??” She calls out. It’s a small, ordinary, undecorated dorm room.

What happened…? She can barely remember anything…

“... Pidge?” She snaps to attention, recognizing Lance’s voice, slightly muffled from behind the closed door to the room.

“L-Lance??” Pidge runs for the door and pulls it open, practically falling into the hall. She catches sight of Lance before her, Hunk and Keith looking around in confusion beside him -- a few other opened doors are to her right, down the hall.

“Hey-- hey!” Lance catches her and gently shakes her by the shoulders. “Breathe! Breathe, breathe, you’re okay…”

Pidge looks between them, her breathing slowing down to a natural pace. “A-Are you guys… a-are we… where… where are we?”

“I dunno about you guys, but my head is killing me…” Keith grumbles, sighing and rubbing his forehead with a wince. “What were we doing before…? Watching that dumb show…?”

“Dark Days isn’t dumb!” Pidge suddenly shouts, before her eyes widen. “... wait, that… that’s right! Dark Days! W-We were gonna watch, and then we…!”

Hunk slowly raises an eyebrow as Pidge’s lips curl into a wide grin. “P-Pidge?” He reaches a hand out towards her. “You uh… okay?”

“I-I think… I think we’re in the show!” The girl gasps, pulling away from the three and hurrying down the long and desolate hall. “C’mon, c’mon!”

Keith blinks, watching after her in disbelief. “... I-I think she hit her head harder than the rest of us.”

“W-Well we gotta make sure she’s okay!” Hunk runs after the girl. “Hey! Pidge!! Wait!!”

Lance and Keith share a concerned stare, the Cuban teen grimacing. “We… gotta get the hell out of here.”

“Did someone break in and drug us?” Keith asks him, as they pick up the pace after the other two. “Were we kidnapped or something?”

“I don’t know! Dammit, I can’t remember!” Lance replies.

Pidge isn’t paying attention as she runs -- she’s too caught up in the delusion of a fantastical world before her. The girl doesn’t realize how wide her grin is… or where she’s running.

“GAH--!!”

She snaps from her trance the moment the floor below her leaves and she’s hurtling head first down a flight of stairs.

“OH LORD--!” Her glasses tumble to the landing below as Pidge rolls forward, only coming to a stop when she collides with the wall. “GWAH!!”

She whines and rubs her head, landing flat on her back. Steps on the stairs make her reach for her glasses, and her vision barely clears fast enough to see a hand reaching for her.

Pidge looks up at a blonde male, tall and skinny and dressed casually in a button-up and blue jeans.

“A-Are you alright??” He asks, reaching for her. “I-I heard you fall!”

Pidge instantly leaps up to her feet. “W-WARREN--!”

Starring
🇨🇴 🇨🇴
 * Bex Taylor-Klaus as Katie Holt
 * Ross Lynch as Warren Dotson
 * Jeremy Shada as Lance McClain
 * Tyler Labine as Hunk Garrett
 * Steven Yeun as Keith Kogane

Guest Starring
🇨🇴 🇨🇴
 * Renee Faia as Colleen Holt

Co-Stars
🇨🇴 🇨🇴
 * Anna Graves as Nancy McClain (No Lines)
 * Cliff Curtis as Marcus Garrett (No Lines)

Ratings
How would you rate the Pidge Between Worlds episode "Pilot" out of ten? If the score is low, I would love to hear your feedback on ways to improve! 10/10 9/10 8/10 7/10 6/10 5/10 4/10 3/10 2/10 1/10 0/10

Deaths

 * None

Trivia

 * First appearance of Katie Holt.
 * First appearance of Hunk Garrett.
 * First appearance of Lance McClain.
 * First appearance of Keith Kogane.
 * First appearance of Colleen Holt.
 * First appearance of Nancy McClain.
 * First appearance of Marcus Garrett.
 * First appearance of Warren Dotson.