Reptilian

***Reptilian*** is the tenth episode and the season finale of the third season of the thriller horror docudrama found-footage television series Lost Tapes. It originally aired on Animal Planet on November 9, 2010. After the airing of this episode, there were talks of a fourth season, according to several Wikipedia users around mid-2011. However, as of 2021, Animal Planet has not confirmed whether or not there would be a fourth season and it is considered to be cancelled.

## Plot

In Fall (September) 2008, a dramatic rise in teenage disappearances in New York City prompted the mayor's office to assemble a task force to investigate the disappearances. Detectives John Sloan and Rhonda Ramirez were dispatched to follow a lead which suggested that secret underground raves in abandoned subway tunnels had something to do with the disappearances.

They apprehend Steven "Spike" Mills, who works for the rave organizers as a promoter. While interrogating him, they learn that the directions to the raves are marked by bizarre symbols which can only be seen in night vision cameras. As they journey into the tunnels, they hear a whistling sound, seemingly a means of communication, which Spike seems to understand. They are suddenly approached by a man with snake-like eyes, who is wearing a coat with a snakeskin-like texture that completely covers his body and obscures his face most of the time. The man marks their hands with stamps designed like the directional symbols, but says nothing, and they continue, Spike noting that Sloan got the "V.I.P. stamp."

They come upon the rave momentarily, and see another person in a coat walking down another tunnel. When Sloan questions Spike about what it is, he claims that he does not know--nor does he want to--and that the officers do not want to mess with the organizers of the rave. Nonetheless, they convince Spike to come along with them by threatening to revoke his immunity. As they begin investigating the area around the rave, they see another person in a coat, whose eyes seem to shine in the dimly lit room, watching them.

They continue into the tunnels and notice that no one seems to be following them, but suddenly see another person in a coat walking by at the end of the tunnel. Sloan walks ahead and sees what appears to be a gigantic lizard's tail disappear as someone or something climbs up a ladder. Sloan runs ahead, leaving Spike and Ramirez behind as he goes to apprehend the person. He draws his gun and follows strange sounds into a very dark part of the tunnels; he comes upon what appears to be a larder, where the bodies of some of the missing teenagers are hanging upside down from the ceiling. He sees a reptilian tail slither around a corner and follows it, coming out onto a catwalk. Suddenly, another victim's body, wrapped up in plastic, is thrown at him; Sloan only has time to utter, "Oh no," before he is suddenly attacked from behind as an unseen figure attempts to asphyxiate him.

Sloan passes out, but wakes up momentarily to see that it is one of the hooded people from before, who also has snake-like eyes, who attacked him. The hooded person drags him down the tunnel, and Sloan is unable to free himself or resist. Meanwhile, Ramirez and Spike come upon the larder, and see that there is a stationary camera watching them. Spike's camera reveals that there are many more symbols, comprising an entire language, all over the walls. With her gun drawn, Ramirez walks down a flight of stairs, and they hear hissing all around them. Spike keeps insisting that they simply leave and save themselves, but Ramirez refuses to leave without Sloan.

They discover more bodies, and Spike's camera reveals that the bodies' hands are marked with the same symbol that Sloan was given. Ramirez investigates something dripping from a catwalk above them, and they suddenly see Sloan on above them, face-down and wrapped up in plastic like the bodies. However, he is still alive. When their presence becomes known, the person who was dragging him runs away before they can see him. Ramirez runs to free Sloan before he can suffocate, and Spike, fed up with the situation, leaves on his own. Sloan tells Ramirez to leave him behind and get out while she can, but she refuses. She suddenly hears squealing and hisses all around her, and fires at a shape with a tail, but seems to miss. Another person suddenly appears below them, snarling at them and staring with piercing snake-like eyes, but she fires at him, too.

Ramirez frees Sloan, but the hissing is growing louder. Spike, meanwhile, is utterly lost and in a panic. As he tries to read the directions out of the tunnels, he sees another stationary camera above him. He tries to escape, but suddenly sees one of the hooded figures, who attacks him. Ramirez and Sloan try to escape as well, and Ramirez fires twice at another of the hooded figures at the top of a flight of stairs and hits her mark. She discovers Spike, who has suffocated to death, at the top of the stairs. Ramirez comes upon the body of the man she shot, who seems to be bleeding glowing blue blood, and removes his hood. For a brief moment, in full view of her camera, Ramirez sees that the man no longer looks like a human, and instead has a very scaly-looking face. Sloan yells for her to look out, but it is too late; another of the reptilians has snuck up on Ramirez and asphyxiates her with plastic wrap.

The bodies of Sloan, Ramirez, and Spike were never recovered. Though their surveillance equipment was confiscated, no arrests were made, and the task force was abolished because of "budget cuts." The raves continue to occur throughout the country, and with them the disappearance of those who attend them.