FILMOGRAPHY

SUNRISE

Season 1, Episode 43
Production Code: Unknown
Original Air Date: May 21, 2003
Written by Frederick Rappaport
Story by Katrina Cabrera Ortega
Directed by Tim Matheson

Summary

      In New Mexico, at the Sangre De Cristo Mountains, Amber, Marty, Wesley, Eve and Noah are in the middle of digging up dirt inside a cave in an attempt to win a GPS Internet Contest. The five friends manage to unearth an ancient box, however it appears to be older than they anticipated. Marty, who studies archaeology, recognizes the box is actually of Aztec origin and likely comes from the 16th century. He opens the box to discover an ancient pot covered by a piece of cloth. They find blood in the pot under the cloth. Liquid blood. Amber, wanting to have her picture taken with the pot, accidentally falls over while holding it, spilling the blood everywhere. Within seconds, the sunlight disappears even though it's the middle of the day. They step outside the cave to realize that the sun has completely dropped out of the sky and the temperature is dropping rapidly.

      Two hours later the sun is still not apparent in the sky. As the five friends huddle for warmth inside the cave, they listen to the radio where they discover that the entire planet is slowly becoming frozen. Amber tries to call home but they don't have any cell phone reception where they are. Each person tries to figure out why the sun dropped out of the sky, but it's Marty that comes up with the reason... that it was their fault. By spilling the blood, they made the sun disappear. Marty then tells them that within a few days the Earth's atmosphere will thin out and evaporate and temperatures will drop to below 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Marty then tells them that there is a possibility to solve all these problems... he tells them that the pictographs on the box they discovered explain how they can bring the sun back... but it requires a human sacrifice so that the blood in the cup can be replaced and then buried again in the cave. No one wants to believe him, until he discovers an ancient knife in the bottom of the Aztec box. Unwilling to kill anyone just yet, they decide to gather wood and water in order to keep them comfortable and from freezing to death. While the fire roars, Amber goes up to Eve and tells her that she realizes it's her own fault for having spilled the blood from the cup.

      The next day, the sun still hasn't risen by 7 am, giving the friends little hope that the sun will rise again. Amber realizes she'll never see her family again while her boyfriend Wesley realizes that the whole world is coming to an end. Eve, however, reminds them that they still have the option of sacrificing one of themselves. They all start to argue about how on earth they decide who gets sacrificed while Noah starts brandishing the knife. Suddenly he drops to his knees; the atmosphere has thinned out faster than expected and he's having problems breathing. Marty is surprised that the air is thining out so fast and he realizes that they're running out of time. Eve decides that they'll pull twigs to find out who dies, and whoever pulls the short one is to be the human sacrifice. Slowly, one by one, they pull twigs. In the end, it's Amber that pulls the short twig. Frantically she asks her friends if they're actually going to go through with it. She looks at her boyfriend desperately, asking him if he'll stop them but he says nothing and walks away. Amber starts to freak out when suddenly Noah hits her over the head with a huge rock causing her to drop to the ground. She shrieks wildly as her friends pin her down as her boyfriend cowers in the corner. Marty finally slams down the knife into her chest.

      After the deed is done, a crying Wesley sits watching old footage on his video camera of him and his friends having a good time while Amber smiles at him onscreen. Marty places the cup full of blood into the box and buries it. Within seconds of the box being buried, the sun rises rapidly into the sky. The remaining four friends rush outside where the sun is shining brightly and the temperature finally warms up again. Eve turns on the radio where they hear the news story that the planet actually passed through an extremely rare low temperature zone. Noah freaks out realizing they killed Amber for nothing. But Marty and Wesley believe that it was the human sacrifice which brought the sun back. With no solid answer as to whether Amber's death was necessary, the four friends stand around the cave in shock.

Summary written by Chelle

Cast Listing

Sarah Carter	-	Amber
Jonathan Jackson	-	Marty
Michael Pena	-	Noah
Tyler Labine	-	Wesley
Lauren Lee Smith	-	Eve