5ive Days To Midnight (2004) - 1x01 - Part One

It's been 10 years since J.T. Neumeyer's beloved wife Katherine died giving birth to their daughter Jesse. Since then, the brilliant physics professor's life has settled into a nice, comfortable routine. He has fallen in love with Claudia Whitney, a beautiful and sensitive woman, and Jesse has grown into a delightful and inquisitive young girl.

But on the tenth anniversary of Katherine's death, a strange chain of events is set in motion. First, a piece of debris falling from a construction site plunges through the roof of J.T.'s truck, embedding itself in the passenger seat. Then he and Jesse find a mysterious briefcase placed behind Katherine's grave. When J.T. cracks the lock, he finds an unsolved police case file marked "Prof. J.T. Neumeyer." He's shocked to see a crime scene photo of himself, dead. Underneath the picture is a yellowed newspaper clipping, dated five days in the future, which reports the circumstances of his murder in a sleazy strip joint.

At first, he suspects this is a twisted prank arranged by Carl Axelrod, a gifted physics student who is fixated on J.T. But when he finds a list of suspects in the file that includes Carl, Claudia, his brother-in-law Brad Hume, and a stranger named Roy Bremmer, he contacts Detective Irwin Sikorski, identified on the police report as the investigating officer.

The beefy, no-nonsense homicide cop figures it's all a hoax. After he points out various inconsistencies in the story, J.T. realizes he's right. After all, the body in the picture is wearing a blue parka; J.T. doesn't even own a blue parka. And he sure doesn't own the green Jeep Cherokee that, according to the police report, he'll be driving on the night of his death.

Relieved, J.T. returns home, tucks Jesse into bed and curls up with Claudia. Just as things are getting romantic, Claudia surprises J.T. with a gift: a parka — a blue parka. Just like the one the victim is wearing in the crime scene photo.