Scent of Danger

***Scent of Danger*** (alternatively titled ***Scent of Murder***) is a Canadian television film directed by Peter Svatek and based on the novel *Scent of Murder* by Cynthia G. Alwyn. It was produced by Carlton America and premiered in the United States on Animal Planet on October 20, 2002.

## Plot

The film begins with a mysterious man walking into a house at night while the family, the Hendricks, are asleep. He slips their daughter Zoe a drink and carries her away. The next day, FBI agent and dog trainer Brenna Shaw is called in along with her search and rescue dog Brie and friend, ex-cop turned private eye Chris Milos, in joining the search, led by Carol Blue and Rob Garrett. Inside the house, Brie finds a note in Zoe's bed reading "Best Served Cold" and later the cup used on Zoe is found in an abandoned building in the woods. Brenna alerts the other agents before finding the man holding Zoe on the bridge. The man drops Zoe into the river and leaves, but Brie manages to rescue her. Carol finds a smokehouse containing a crate and candles and reveals that the man was planning to use it for Zoe in a ritualistic murder. Soon afterwards, the Hendricks move out of state for their daughter's protection.

While working with Chris and her friend Connie, Brenna begins receiving threatening emails from a man named Gideon. Connie prints out the emails for Brenna to show to Carol, who tells her to correspond with Gideon in order to reveal who he is. When Gideon eventually does call and reveals that he has seen pictures of Brenna's dogs, Brie and Feather, Brenna realizes that he is in her house. The FBI arrive to find him gone, and Brenna is left to take up temporary residence in Chris' house with Brie and Feather for her own safety.

The next day, Brenna and Chris receive word that a four-year-old boy has gone missing, and Gideon has left a note for Brenna and his van contains a cup with the same drink he used to drug Zoe. The FBI form a search party to comb the woods. Brenna and Brie, working with Rob, soon realize that Gideon has left multiple false trails for them, while the FBI receive word that the boy was in a closet and never left the compound. The trail leads to a bicycle armed with a bomb, which goes off and kills Brie. Devastated by her dog's death, Brenna blames herself and decides to pull herself out of the case and acts coldly towards Chris and Carol when they try to convince her to return. She eventually agrees to return to work and begins training the inexperienced Feather in search and rescue.

Using evidence from Zoe's mother Lori and interviews with Gideon's past relations, the team finds that Gideon was a computer specialist in the Navy who later tried to sue Zoe's father, Tom, in a video game case for an idea he claims was stolen from him, after which his wife left with their daughter and died in an accident; as a result, he has spent the past ten years kidnapping and murdering five year old children in order to recreate his pain in their families, with Zoe's kidnapping also serving an act of payback against her father. Soon after, Gideon kidnaps Denise Johansen, whose father was also against him in the video game case and traps her in the river inside a barrel with depleting oxygen tanks. Brea and Feather find Gideon and follow him to a cliffside, where he holds them back at gunpoint. Brenna initially keeps her gun down at first, but then distracts Gideon with a glowstick thrown at him and Feather attacks him, causing him to fall off the cliff to his death. Brenna and Feather then rest of the party, and they rescue Denise. With Gideon gone, Brenna's life returns to normal as she and Feather move on, and she enters a relationship with Chris.

## Cast

* Sherilyn Fenn as Brenna Shaw
* Costas Mandylor as Chris Milos
* Emma Campbell as Carol Blue
* James McGowan as Gideon
* Ellen David as Connie
* Steve Adams as Rob Garrett
* Cary Lawrence as Lori Hendricks
* Bruce Dinsmore as Tom Hendricks
* Alicia Ducasse as Zoe Hendricks
* Vlasta Vrana as Dr. York
* Victoria Van Ryswyk as Denise Johansen
* Genevieve Cooke as Denise's mother
* Kody McWilliams as Nick
* Vincent Leclerc as Agent Pearson

## Reception

Ann Hodges of the *Austin Chronicle* gave the film a B+ grade, writing: "With children involved, *Scent of Danger* generates some real suspense. And if it isn't a series pilot, it should be. It has all the necessary elements for a K-9 crime-fighting show, including an ending that leaves the door open."

## References

1. ↑ Review: Dogs rescue Animal Planet film in 'Danger' (chron.com)