#derrick ricard
PREMISE: Every January 1st, at the stroke of midnight, one very special child is born. The child, known as a Year, is the living embodiment of the new year. It has superhuman strength, ages at an advanced rate, and when the ball drops on December 31st, its life must end so that the passage of time can continue and a new year can begin. Most Years accept their fate. But sometimes, a Year doesn’t want to end. Sometimes a Year tries to escape. When this happens, special police officers—REVELERS—are tasked with finding and eliminating the renegade Year. This is not called execution. It is called “Ringing in the New Year.”
CHARACTERS: Derrick Ricard is the best Reveler in North America, but he’s beginning to have doubts about his work. Though he continues to track down Years, he can’t help but think there might be a different, more humane way to do things. Like all Revelers, Ricard can be identified by his special infrared glasses that are shaped like the designation of his target, and also by his tactical party hat.
1992, a beautiful and deadly Year, is the one Year that got away. She and Ricard fell in love, and when it came time for him to Ring in the New Year, he couldn’t bring himself to do it (S01.E23 – “A Kiss at Midnight”). 1992 has been in hiding ever since. Ricard would be a dead man if anyone ever found out that he got so close to a Year, and also that it’s technically been 1992 for the last 24 years.
NOTABLE EPISODE: 2009, a particularly crafty Year, is playing mind games with Ricard. Under increasing psychological pressure, Ricard starts to question the very nature of his own existence: Could it be that he’s been a Year the entire time, and his memories are just implants? The episode ends on an ambiguous note: 2009 is killed before he can answer any of Ricard’s questions, and Ricard begins to suspect that the top brass is trying to keep him from the truth (S06.E22 – “Tears in Confetti”).
CATCHPHRASE: “I’m not dropping the ball, I’m dropping you” / “For Auld Lang Syne.”
TRIVIA/MISCELLANY: The show spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on champagne for each episode.
