Devs (2020): Season 1, Episode 5 - Episode #1.5 - full transcript

("Oh I Wept" by Free playing)

♪ Oh, I wept ♪

♪ For days ♪

♪ Filled my eyes ♪

♪ With silly tears ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

♪ But I don't ♪

♪ Care no more ♪

♪ I don't care if ♪

♪ My eyes get sore ♪

♪ I take my seat on the train ♪



♪ And let the sun
Come melt my pain ♪

♪ Come tomorrow
I'll be far away ♪

♪ In the sunshine
Of another day ♪

(♪♪♪♪♪)

♪ A worried mind ♪

♪ Makes it so hard to bear ♪

♪ Hard to live ♪

♪ And hard to care ♪

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪

♪ But I don't ♪

♪ Care no more ♪

♪ I don't care if ♪

♪ My eyes get sore ♪

♪ I take my seat on the train ♪



♪ Oh, yeah ♪

♪ And let the sun
Come melt my pain ♪

♪ Come tomorrow
I'll be far away ♪

♪ In the sunshine
Of another day ♪

(♪♪♪♪♪)

- (music fades)
- (gurgling, indistinct shouting)

(gasping)

So, Jamie. Tell me...

What exactly is the story
between you and Lily?

Actually, don't tell me.
I'm gonna guess.

You're a puppy dog.

And you're devoted to her,
forever and ever.

And you'll do
anything she wants,

in case she chucks you a bone.

I hit the bull's‐eye, didn't I?

(gasps)

(gurgling)

(gasping)

(whimpering)

(breathing heavily)

(snorts)

Okay.

You're good. Let's talk.

So, in case you don't know,
my name is Kenton,

I'm the head of security
at Amaya.

And I've got a problem.

My problem is I have to contain

a very complex situation.

But the situation
is refusing to be contained.

In fact... (chuckles)

it's cascading.

Once a cascade starts,
the impulse is to panic.

You feel like you're standing
in front of an avalanche

with a fucking bucket and spade.

(sighs)
But I'm not panicking.

I'll tell you why.

Long ago...

(inhales sharply)
when I was about your age,

(exhales slowly)
maybe a little older,

I was in the CIA.

I was based in Hong Kong,

and we were working
towards what we called

"The American Century."

(sniffs) The Twentieth Century
was all about war in Europe

and Communism in Russia
and Asia,

but the Twenty First Century
was going to be all for

the stars and stripes.

Things seemed to be
going pretty well.

The Soviet Union had collapsed,

Europe was nicely weak
and stable,

and on my beat,

a popular uprising
had started on mainland China.

The focus point was Beijing.

Hundreds of thousands
of demonstrators

had occupied Tiananmen Square.

Wouldn't fucking budge.

And at a certain point,

my bureau chief called us
into his office and said...

China was finished.

Whatever the government did
wouldn't make a difference.

The protests would spread
across the country,

the system would collapse.

The tipping point was reached.

The cascade was unstoppable.

You know what happened next?

The Chinese government

sent in soldiers and tanks
to Tiananmen Square,

shot everybody they could.

Took the revolution by the neck

and crushed the fucking life
out of it.

Today, China is the most
powerful force on the planet,

the most powerful force
the world has ever known.

And it turned out to be
the Chinese Century.

(inhales sharply)
Story over.

My point?

Everything's containable.

But only if you're willing to do
what it takes.

I'm willing to do what it takes.

Do you believe me?

(whimpering)

You are a dissident,
I am a tank.

Do you believe me?

(shuddering) Yes.

I think you believe me.

But I need to be sure.

‐(bone cracks) ‐(screams)

Shut up!

Shut up.

Shut up.

Whatever you
and Lily were doing,

whoever you were talking to,

whatever you're planning,
it stops right now.

Unless you do
exactly as I say...

no one you care about is safe.

Are we clear?

Yes.

Good.

(distorted whimpering)

(whimpering continues)

(sound distorts to static)

(speaking Mandarin)

(whirring)

Oh, Jesus.

(music playing over radio)

(man speaking indistinctly)

Hey. Are you okay?

Sorry. Yeah. I'm fine.

If you want to be left alone,
that's okay.

I can leave you alone.

It's nothing serious.
No one died.

You just broke up.

Well... that counts as serious.

I guess.

So... yeah, I feel like shit.

Presumably you broke up
for a reason.

Uh‐huh.

Because he's not the right guy.

Yeah.

So, it is what it is.

That was blunt.

You're absolutely right.
I"m... I'm sorry.

You know what, I was
talking to myself. Not you.

What do you mean?

I'm in the same boat.

Except a few months further
down the line.

And I've become seriously expert
at beating myself up.

So, I say shit like
"It is what it is,"

because it makes me feel
like I am assertive...

instead of a punching bag.

In other words, ignore me.

Actually, to be honest,
you're right.

It is what it is.

Don't worry.

Break‐ups aren't all bad.

It means you have the endless
pleasure of dating ahead of you.

Christ. What a thought.

Seriously,
however bad you remember it,

it's so much worse.

I mean the app thing
is out of control.

But there's no choice
if you want to meet someone.

And I don't mean
meet someone special,

I mean, literally, meet anyone.

Well, I think I've done enough
cheering you up.

Yeah. Great job.

(chuckles) I'll see you around.
On Tinder.

No.

No, me neither.

I'll see you around here.

Sure.

(door closes)

‐(static) ‐(distorted chatter)

(indistinct chatter)

(sighs)

MAN (through laptop):
Look down there.

Would you really feel any pity

if one of those dots
stopped moving forever?

If I offered you 20,000 pounds
for every dot that stopped,

would you really, old man,

tell me to keep my money,
or would you...

calculate how many dots
you could afford to spend?

Free of income tax, old man.
Free of income tax.

Lily...

(exhales sharply)
I'm in love with you.

Whoa.

It's the first time
either of us have said that.

You are creative,

you are unexpected,

funny,

clever,

hot.

Awesome in every way.

So, yeah. I'm in love with you.

I'm in love with you too.

(sighs) Really?

Mm‐hmm.

(chuckles)

Cool.

(laughs)

MAN (through laptop):
you can save money nowadays.

MAN 2: Lot of good
your money'll do you in jail.

MAN 1:
That jail is in another zone.

- (Sergei breathes deeply)
- (film continues indistinctly)

MAN 2 (through laptop): I should
be pretty easy to get rid of.

MAN 1: Pretty easy.

Gun. Barrier. Sensor.

The dual slit experiment.
I'm sure you are all familiar.

A stream of single
quantum particles,

let's say photons, are fired
at two slits in a barrier.

Now, mysteriously,
the single photon

appears to pass through
both slits at the same time,

as evidenced
by the interference pattern

that starts to appear

when the photon hits
the back sensor.

We conclude that
the single photon

is somehow
interacting with itself.

And now we have
prima facie evidence

of the superposition
of quantum particles,

that they can exist in more
than one place at the same time.

That idea makes us
uncomfortable.

We're not used to things

being in more than one place
at the same time.

It's in conflict

with our direct experience
of the world.

I am not in a superposition,
I am standing only here.

And you
are not in a superposition,

you are sitting only there.

So, we decide
we need more information,

we place a detector
on one of the two slits,

so we can tell when the photon
is passing through.

But as soon as the detector
is activated,

the interference pattern
on the back sensor disappears.

The superposition photon
has suddenly collapsed

to a classical single position.

The photon is now only
in one place.

The act
of our observing the particle

has somehow changed it.

It's a complex problem,

which leads to a
simple question.

- What the hell just happened?
- Now watch.

I asked the professor
to provoke her.

LECTURER: There is no shortage

of proposed answers
to that question.

The Copenhagen Interpretation,

which states
that the act of measurement

affects the system.

Please.

The Penrose Interpretation,

which suggests
that the wave function collapse

is caused
by space‐time curvature.

But I wanna talk to you

about the Von Neumann‐Wigner
Interpretation,

which states
that human consciousness

is the key modifier
in decoherence.

Are you fucking kidding?

Katie?

You're offering a lecture
on Von Neumann‐Wigner?

Eh‐‐ Are you serious?

Half the people in this room
are undergrads,

they might actually believe
what you're saying.

There are many interesting
conjectures within the theory.

It's dualist bullshit.

Which is the worst kind
of bullshit.

- You would prefer...
- The Everett Interpretation.

- Which you didn't even mention.
- Ah. Everett.

Whose interpretation states

that there is no change
to the superposition

of the humble quantum particle.

Rather, there is a change
to the entire universe

It states that the macroscopic
superposition exists.

And just so we're all clear
what that means...

it means the universe
is constantly splitting,

like the trunk
and branches and twigs.

Of an infinitely large tree.

And on that tree,
all possible worlds will exist.

All possible events will happen.
All histories, and all futures,

a near infinite number of times.

It's deterministic,
it's supported by the math,

and it's supported
by the experiment.

But it's not supported
by the real world.

Whatever.

(clears throat)
Enjoy, dweebs.

- MAN 1: (laughs) Bye.
- (clears throat)

(indistinct muttering)

(sighs) Von Neumann‐Wigner.
A fucking joke.

FOREST (echoing):
Katie? Katie? Katie? Katie...

Yes?

Uh, one of your professors
is a friend of mine.

She's told me
you're the best student

she's had in years,
perhaps ever.

That's nice.

She also told me...

your family can no longer cover
your college fees.

I want to pay
for your college fees...

and offer you a job
when you graduate.

Who are you?

Do you understand
what I'm asking?

Yes.

I do.

Is it madness?

Is there a world
in which it could work?

(indistinct chatter)

(vocies harmonizing)

(keyboard clicking)

Whoa. This is
way better than last time.

My sugar cube doesn't have
a single error package.

LYNDON: I got a few here
in the shell.

KATIE: Are those errors?

I think those are actual gaps
in the structure.

Oh... yeah, you might be right.

The skull is good too.

I'm now at 1.2 times 10
to the power of 18.

Still clean.

I mean look
at these sucrose molecules.

My sugar is sweet!

I think the mouse is sweet.

- STEWART: The mouse is dead.
- He's still sweet.

He's got a cute little face.

Forest. I think we're good.

We can try
to extrapolate inwards.

Cool.

So do it.

Okay.

(typing)

Let's see.

Silence from the team.

So, it worked?

Yeah. (chuckles) It worked.

- Keep going.
- Keep extrapolating?

You mean outwards?

Why not?

We'll run out of memory
pretty fucking quick,

but, yeah, why not.
No harm it can do.

(typing)

(choral music playing)

Fuck.

And he made a house
called a cocoon

and he stayed in there
for, like, two weeks.

More than two weeks

and puff, and puff,
he was a butterfly.

A beautiful, nice,
beautiful butterfly.

The end.

- FOREST: Is that the end?
- AMAYA: Yes...

the end.

(birds chirpin (dog barks)

Hey, sweetheart.
Just wondering where you are.

The milk. Shit.

No, totally forgot.

I was going over papers
all morning and...

Uh, anyway, yeah, I forgot.

Are you?

Yeah, I see you.

So, look, bring Amaya back,

and then I'll take the car
and go to the store.

I'll get stuff for dinner too.

I don't know. Pasta?

(laughs) I know
we can discuss it in 30 seconds!

- We can also discuss it now!
- (car horn blares)

(glass shattering, car rolling)

(car horn blares)

(dog barking)

No.

No!

No!

No! (sobbing)

No.

(shouting)
No! No! No!

No! No! No!

(sobs)

Do you think any of them

understand what we're really
doing here?

I'm not sure.

I'm not sure you even understand
what we're really doing here.

What do you mean?

I think Devs is how
you've put yourself on trial.

It's judge and jury.

If it works,

determinism precludes free will,

and you're absolved,
you did no wrong.

But if it doesn't work,
you had choices.

And you're guilty.

And if it doesn't work,
I'm damned.

Yes. Pretty much.

What's my place in this trial?

You're a witness.

No.

I'm the lawyer for the defense.

I'm gonna make
my opening argument.

Are you ready?

Um... no.

Yeah.

If I, uh...

If I asked you to do me a favor,

but I couldn't tell you why,

do you think you could trust me,

and not ask any questions,
and just do it?

Ne... I'm being serious.

Okay. So, I need you to get Mom.

And get Lucy and Tom
and their kids.

And take them to the place
we used to go on vacation

when me and Lucy were kids.

Ne, the hotel by the lake.

For one week.

And I don't care what
any of them say about school,

or jobs, or feeding pets,
or anything, I just...

They have to do it.
You have to make them do it.

I said I can't tell you why.

No, Dad, you...

You know how I work
for an internet security firm?

Well we've been subcontracting
for the NSA

and a foreign power
hacked our system

and got all
our personal details.

So, the NSA instructed us to...

to make sure our
immediate families were safe,

until they made everything...
okay.

Yeah, we've got
major protection here.

Guys with guns, you name it,
'round the clock.

So, will you do it, Dad? Jebal.

Thank you.

Yeah, I'm totally fine.
(laughs)

I love you too. All you guys.

Okay, Dad. I've got to go.

Ye‐‐ Yeonlaghallkeyo.

Okay. Bye.

(grumbling)

(shudders)

(sighs)

So I need to add
an important caveat

to our working relationship.

I'm not going to prison.
Do you understand?

You need to fully take that
on board.

You don't need to worry about
going to prison, Kenton.

I disagree.

I killed a guy,
I put his girl in a nuthouse,

and I terrorized her friend
into silence.

Hopefully that does the trick.
But if it doesn't...

and I feel this shit
is catching up with me,

then the terms of our deal
are null and void.

I will act
in a self‐interested manner.

What does that mean?

I just told you.
I'm not going to prison.

You can't fuck me
without fucking yourself.

Lily Chan is a threat.

It's not in your power
to kill her, Kenton.

Have we met?

I didn't say you lack
the ability to kill her,

I said it's not in your power.

Well, I'll tell you what.

You just let me worry
about that.

(door opens, closes)

(sighing)

LILY'S FATHER:
(mutters in Mandarin)

(sighs)

(speaking Mandarin)

("Oh I Wept" by Free playing)

(sighs)

♪ Oh, I wept ♪

♪ For days ♪

♪ Filled my eyes ♪

♪ With silly tears ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

♪ But I don't ♪

♪ Care no more ♪

♪ I don't care if ♪

♪ My eyes get sore ♪

♪ I take my seat on the train ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

♪ And let the sun
Come melt my pain ♪

♪ Come tomorrow
I'll be far away ♪

♪ In the sunshine
Of another day, yeah... ♪

(♪♪♪♪♪)

Lily?

Lily?

I'm getting you out.

‐(mumbles) ‐What?

I love you, baby.

I wish you did, but you don't.
It's just the dope talking.

Come on. Let's go.

♪ Now I've left
It all behind... ♪

That's it.

There you go.

Okay.

("Oh I Wept" continues)

(guttural vocalising)