Judgement Day is a fictional television show wherein the family of a murder victim are allowed to get revenge on the perpetrator who murdered their loved one. The principle of the show is simple enough the convict is given a twenty minute head start and dropped off at a location of their choosing, in their eye a camera is implanted showing the audience where they are and what they see. They also have a chip implanted that can provide a lethal electrical shock to their system which can be triggered by the tazer of the person hunting them or to an equal or lesser degree by the executives who can use it on them if they leave the containment area of the hunt, try to take a hostage, or attempt to hide somewhere. If the person being hunted is able to survive for twenty four hours they are instead given life imprisonment rather than being killed.
Today Allison Channing hunts down Declan McMahon, who is believed to be a killer of her sister Kaitlin. However, Declan, being a petty criminal, claims to be innocent.
The show begins with the 'opening' of the show Judgement day. When asked why he has chosen to participate in Judgement Day he responds simply that he 'Has no Choice' and coldly tells the judge that this isn't a matter of justice, merely the haves culling the have-nots, to which the Judge replies that there isn't anyone she thinks is more deserving of culling. Declan is then escorted from the courtroom to be given the 'Customary twenty minute head start' as he is leaving he tries to tell Allison that he didn't kill her sister, which only provokes her to respond that him saying that only makes it easier for her to kill him. The viewer is also introduced to Jack Parson who is the producer of the show and is quite enthusiastic, telling the rest of the staff for the show how this will be their big break and will turn their network into a major player. Parson is also with a man from the network referred to as 'Ev' who feels distrustful at the idea of the show, mostly due to the danger of convicts being released into populated cities and the danger they could pose, it is also revealed that he tried to convince the network to avoid taking the show on as he viewed it as perverse but was outvoted, a fact which Jack Parson brings up with some relish. The perspective switches to Declan is dropped off in a part of town near where his brother works, with an aim to find evidence that apparently will prove that he was framed. His brother tells him that he has evidence but can't give it to him here, that they need to meet in a safe place. Declan then tries to find Allison and explain his innocence to her, even offering to show her the evidence that would exonerate him.
She seems ready to attack him with the tazer but hesitates, eventually Declan retreats as it seems she will kill him. He starts heading to meet with his brother, and during this perspective jumps between himself, Allison, the producer and the 'Judgement Day' show itself. The evidence his brother found was the old security tape, which he discovered had been tampered with, removing signs of another person entering the building where the murder took place, this also makes Declan wonder if the network itself framed him, since the police would have been more focused on finding the real killer if they had such information available. He also takes more drastic action, going so far as to use a grapefruit spoon to remove the eye that has a camera in it, handing it to his brother who dons a ski mask and heads out with the eye in a different direction from Declan, hoping to buy him time. Declan eventually searches out and confronts Allison in her home, showing her the footage and arguing that it proves that at least something underhanded was going on. She contacts the network to try to get a clearer idea of what was going on while Declan gets a call from his brother and goes to meet with him. Allison hearing from Jack that Ev was the likely perpetrator for the frame up as he seemed quite eager to use the 'zapper' to take out Declan. However it is soon discovered that Jack was the one who manipulated the surveillance footage as the actual perpetrator was under the age of 18 and thus couldn't have the death penalty applies. Declan confronts him with a newly installed camera eye and manages to record Jacks confession as well as his attack on Allison and Declan himself. The episode ends with Declan hunting Jack through the streets, saying that he still considers the show a moral outrage and when asked why he's participating then he says simply that he 'Doesn't have a choice.'
