The Final Conflict

Dr. Blackgaard has come back to Odyssey for one last scheme - to seize the strange mineral beneath Whit's End and use it to unleash the deadly Ruku virus on the world. But Jason has a secret of his own: he's been working for the government all along, and now the trap is set. While Bernard drains the getaway van's fuel and the Israelites corner Jellyfish in the tunnel, Blackgaard's whole conspiracy - the vandalism, the recall of Tom, the lies at city hall - comes crashing down. Then comes chilling news: the tunnel under Whit's End is wired with explosives, and Jack has slipped inside... not to save the building, but to plead one last time for Blackgaard's soul. Blackgaard refuses, presses the detonator, and brings the tunnel down - yet Jack walks out alive, crediting nothing but God's grace. As the dust settles, Whit's End stands battered but standing, and the sky over Odyssey clears at last.

Found on Darkness Before Dawn Album 25 · 12 episodes

The run See every episode

0328 Hard Losses With the election looming, an anonymous tip ignites a scandal that threatens to drive Odyssey's mayor from office - and an unwelcome face from the past returns claiming to know who's really behind it.

0329 The Return As a recall election shakes Odyssey and strangers insist they've seen Edwin Blackgaard in places he's never been, the town faces the unsettling possibility that its darkest chapter isn't as closed as everyone believed.

0330 The Time Has Come With everything he loves stripped away, a brilliant skeptic turns his own invention inward to search his past for an answer his mind has long refused to give.

0331 Checkmate With Whit's End shuttered and a shadowy rivalry escalating, Jason's plan to outmaneuver the Bones puts everyone he's protecting in danger.

0332 Another Chance With Whit's End quarantined and the town turning against its defenders, Richard Maxwell risks everything on a dangerous bargain to expose the truth behind Odyssey's troubles.

0333 The Last Resort With time running out and a friend in the hospital, a covert plan to copy a laptop from inside the enemy's theater uncovers something far more dangerous than anyone suspected.

0334 The Final Conflict As a long-buried secret comes to light, the people of Odyssey race to stop a dying schemer from seizing what lies beneath Whit's End - and one man walks into danger alone, hoping to save more than the town.

1 of 2 0335 Love Is in the Air Eugene's carefully planned reunion with Katrina collides with the arrival of a mysterious woman from Jason's past, tangling everyone at Whit's End in a web of jealousy and mistaken affections.

2 of 2 0336 Love Is in the Air While wedding bells seem to ring at Whit's End, tangled feelings, jealous hearts, and two departing planes force everyone to say what they really mean before it's too late.

0337 W-O-R-R-Y With picture day and a school-wide spelling bee looming, two friends learn that faith works differently for problems you can't control and problems you can.

0338 Easy Money Two friends who want expensive street hockey gear take very different paths to pay for it - one through hard work, the other through a fast-talking older kid's shortcuts.

0339 Do, For a Change A new Christian's short fuse and a know-it-all's overflowing head put two very different believers to the test as they learn what real spiritual change requires.

1 of 2 0340 Pokenberry Falls, R.F.D. Fresh out of seminary, George Barclay flies his family to a picture-postcard New England town to weigh a pastoral call - only to find the postcards may not tell the whole story.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 12 more roles

3 featured characters

Rodney Rathbone Steve Burns Dale Jacobs Phil Lollar Sam Johnson Kyle Ellison

9 supporting roles

Dr. Regis Blackgaard Earl Boen Philip Glossman Paul McCusker Jellyfish Jerry Houser Myron Horowitz Jerry Houser Billy MacPherson David Buller Professor Bovril James Greene Lieutenant Shaw Bob Smithouser Police Commander Bob Luttrell Mort Gunderson Bob Luttrell

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Phil Lollar Writer · Director Paul McCusker Writer · Producer Bob Luttrell Sound Designer · Producer Chuck Bolte Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 3 min

Jason tells Jack the secret he has kept: he has served as an analyst for the National Security Agency through most of his adult life, while Whit has acted as a consultant. Blackgaard needs the mineral beneath Whit's End as a catalyst for TA-418, a compound that allows the deadly Ruku virus to adapt to air, water, dirt, and other conditions. With enough of the mineral, Blackgaard could sell a stable virus, threaten nations, and use its other undiscovered properties for even greater power.

The agency confirms Jason's identity and orders the police to cooperate. The Israelites surround Whit's End, while Bernard and Eugene watch the maintenance road. Bernard finds a rented van belonging to Professor Bovril near the tunnel entrance and secretly siphons out its fuel. At another point on the perimeter, Sam and Billy see Jellyfish enter the tunnel carrying his laptop, followed separately by Rodney.

Blackgaard's latest collapse is not merely part of his performance, though his public response is. From the hospital, he announces that poor health forces him to withdraw from the mayoral race, asks that Tom's recall continue, and leaves Glossman to face the reporters. He then slips through a back stairwell to meet Bovril and finish removing the mineral from Whit's End.

Inside the tunnel, Rodney demands Jellyfish's laptop. Sam, Billy, and the other Israelites close in too, and they reveal that Richard is alive and able to identify Jellyfish as the man who tried to kill him. Jellyfish throws the laptop as a distraction and runs, but the Israelites surround and capture him. Rodney proposes joining forces with Billy, only to learn that the police also have plans for him.

At the hospital news conference, Bart expects Blackgaard to endorse him for mayor in exchange for allowing the Electric Palace to be destroyed. Glossman denies making the promise and reminds Bart that Blackgaard truly owns the store. Furious at being used, Bart tells the reporters that Glossman and Blackgaard planned the vandalism and Tom's removal. News arrives that Jellyfish has implicated both men. Glossman refuses further questions and demands a lawyer, but he and Bart are taken into custody.

Jellyfish's detailed laptop records expose the conspiracy. He also reveals that Blackgaard has wired the tunnel with explosives, intending to destroy whatever mineral remains and finally eliminate Whit's End. As the police call the bomb squad, Jack quietly disappears.

Blackgaard discovers that Jellyfish has vanished and sends Bovril away in the loaded van. The van runs out of fuel near the park, allowing Bernard, Eugene, and the Israelites to stop the professor. Police surround Whit's End, but Jack has already entered through a hidden opening he found during his walks. He confronts Blackgaard alone in the tunnel.

Jack refuses to become a hostage and says he is prepared to die. He has not entered to save the world, Odyssey, or even Whit's End, but to plead for Blackgaard's soul. He urges him to surrender and accept the redemption Jesus offers. Blackgaard says his soul cannot be redeemed because he sold it years ago. Jack answers that he sold it cheaply, because Christ valued it enough to give His life for it.

Blackgaard reveals that he has contracted Ruku and refuses to endure the death it will bring. Though he tells Jack to run, Jack will not abandon him, and Blackgaard will not surrender. Blackgaard presses the detonator. The tunnel explodes and collapses, throwing Jack and Blackgaard in opposite directions.

Sam finds Jack alive in the woods near the maintenance road. Jack does not know how he escaped and credits God's grace. Blackgaard has died in the blast. Professor Bovril says the mineral might have produced an antidote that would have kept him alive, but Jack knows physical survival would not have saved the soul Blackgaard continued to reject. He had been offered one last chance and refused it.

With the conspiracy exposed, the city council recommends postponing Tom's recall indefinitely. Whit's End has suffered structural damage where the ground collapsed, but repairs should take only a few weeks. Above the ruins of Blackgaard's plan, Odyssey's sky clears into another beautiful day.