Flashforward (2009–2010): Season 1, Episode 17 - The Garden of Forking Paths - full transcript

I moved out of the house.
Olivia and me, we're--we're struggling.

Daddy and I love
each other very much.

But most of all, we love you.

I need to know exactly what
you saw in your flash-forward.

I wrote a formula on
your bedroom mirror,

and I think it relates somehow
to the global blackout.

You tell me what I need to know,

and you can walk out
of here right now.

Who are you?

You actually don't want to know
the answer to that question.

You, Agent Benford, you will
kill Agent Noh on March 15th



with the very gun you're
carrying right now.

I filed the paperwork
to destroy the gun.

The box is here,
but the gun is gone.

Dyson Frost shot a homeless
man with Mark's gun.

Vreede, I want you
to find that gun.

I think you know more
than you've told the FBI,

and what you do know is somehow related to
Demetri's death. Want to get married
tomorrow?

Then we get on a plane.
We go to Hawaii.

Maybe we don't ever come home.

Dyson Frost--where are we?
We're closing in,

but he's always one
step ahead of us.

Agent Benford? Dyson Frost.
I was anxious about coming in,

but it's time we talk.
I'll be in touch.

Hello, Charlie.



Flash Forward 1x17
The Garden of Forking Paths
Original Air Date on April 22, 2010

-- Sync by georgel24 --

Okay, charlie-bear,

we need you to tell us
what he looked like.

He was tall.

And do you remember
what he was wearing?

A jacket.

And what color was it?

I don't know.

Did he have glasses or a
watch or anything like that?

I don't know.

It's okay, sweetie. It's okay.

We wouldn't be asking you
if it wasn't important.

What you say could
help us find Demetri.

She knows that, Mark. She's trying.

Charlie, you're doing really good.

You know, sometimes...

Closing our eyes

helps us remember more.

You want to do that with me?

Hmm?

Good.

Come on.

What do you see now?

He knew my name.

Hello, Charlie.

But I didn't know who he was.

They make a mean cotton
candy here, don't they?

I'm not supposed to
talk to strangers.

Oh, well, I'm not a stranger.

If I were a stranger,
would I know your name?

Hmm?

I work with your daddy,

and I hear that
you're a big reader.

Do you like Dr. Seuss?

Yeah.

Me, too.

You know, my favorite is

"one fish two fish
red fish blue fish."

That one is for little kids.

Well, maybe.

You know, even grown-ups
can learn from that book,

'cause Dr. Seuss has
all the answers.

I like Horton.

Horton? Oh, that's a good one, too.

I mean, Horton's a trouper--

had faith to carry his
mission through to the end

even when others doubted him.

You know, Charlie,
I need you to do something for me.

I want you to give
this to your daddy.

Now it's very important.

Okay?

Bye-bye.

And then what happened?

Then he left.

We should get going.
We're done, right?

You did great.

We're so proud of you.

Sorry I didn't know all
the answers, daddy.

Oh, what are you talking about? Come here.
You were fantastico. Sweetie.

Hey, you were a great help.

We should go.

It was good to see you.

Yeah.

Thank you for coming in, Charlie.

You're welcome.

You know, Charlie, there's one
more thing you could do for me.

I have this jar of
jelly beans on my desk,

and I-I hate jelly beans.

I know you probably
hate jelly beans, too--

I don't hate jelly beans.

You don't hate jelly beans?

Really?

Why don't you come
help me out, then?

Help him out.

Come on and help me out,
then we'll be right back.

So what's your favorite kind?

I like the green ones.

I hate those. That was fast.

She got so big.

Yeah.

She seems okay though, right?

I think so...

I mean, as far as you can tell

what's going on inside
the mind of a 6-year-old.

She needs to talk to someone.

I-I really don't want that, Mark.

Well, look, we have a child
psychologist that works here.

Why not call her?
'Cause she doesn't need therapy.

She needs stability.
She needs to feel protected.

She needs to know there
aren't going to be scary men

asking her to deliver
messages to her dad.

She thinks you're gonna die, Mark.

Look!

He let me have all
the green ones. Wow.

Yes, he did. Do you want one? Yeah.

Can mommy have one? Yeah.

No, thank you.

Let's go, sweetie.

Zoey Andata to see Alda Hertzog.

Officer Stillman to cellblock "D.
"

Officer Stillman to cellblock "D.
"

Alda, it's March 15th,

the day that Demetri's
supposed to die...

And he's gone missing.

Maybe he's just in Cabo
with his new girlfriend.

Alda, shut up.

I need you to tell me
everything that you know...

Everything... Right now.

I already have.

I don't believe you.

The only reason that I
agreed to represent you

is because you said
there was more.

I know that you don't care if
Demetri lives or if he dies.

But I think that you do care

about getting the hell out of here.

Alda, we made a deal.

If you know anything...

Please.

Get me a hearing and we'll talk.

I've been held here for five
months as a material witness,

and I haven't been
charged with crap.

I'm sick of it.

I know. I applied for a
habeas hearing a month ago.

You know this. We are just
waiting for a court date.

Guess you should try
to expedite things.

There is no way that
we would ever be able

to get a hearing today.
And even if we could,

there's no judge that would be
able to release you in time.

Who said anything
about being released?

You want me to tell you
what I know about Demetri?

Get me a hearing today.

Mark's gonna meet
Frost in Union Station

like the drawing said,
but I want him covered.

We'll pick him up on the way out.

It's not gonna be that easy.

WAll the trains are stopped.
He won't be able to get out.

Frost is a genius, a planner.

He's not gonna walk into
what he knows is a trap.

Vreede, what do you
got on the painting

Frost used to send his message?

"Oedipus and the sphinx" by
jean-auguste-dominique ingres,

1808. Is Frost trying to
tell us something with that?

It's a bit of a stretch.

Well, he may be crazy,
but he's deliberate.

Could be meaning in
everything he does.

Why a carnival? Why Dr.
Seuss? Why Oedipus?

He's in love with
his mother? Right.

That, and maybe he's
trying to tell us something

about self-fulfilling prophecy.
By trying to escape his fate,

Oedipus set into motion the
very events he wanted to avoid.

So by trying not to get
shot on March 15th,

dem just walked into Frost's trap?

Something like that, yeah.

How do you know that by
trying to rescue him,

we're not gonna do the same thing

and end up sealing his fate?

I don't.

But I promised Demetri he wasn't
going to die today,

and I'm keeping
that promise.

The man you're about to meet--

he's brilliant but
a little eccentric.

We had to fake his
death a while back

in order to remove him
from the public eye,

and he's been...
difficult ever since.

So why rely on him?

There are only a
few people on earth

who understand the physics
involved in all this.

He's one of them. Just know that
if he gets too unmanageable,

we may ask you to take care of him.

Say the word and consider it done.

That's what I like
about you, Alda--

clean, efficient and
eager to please.

Careful of the dominos.

Who's your friend, Hellinger?

Alda Hertzog, this is Dyson Frost.

Dyson helped us engineer the
Raven River experiments.

Helped you?

I created them.

In any event,

he's one of the few remaining
participants still alive.

So... how are we doing?
Are we still on schedule?

October 6th.

I've set up global
monitoring stations

to track the
waveform's propagation.

So if Simcoe and Campos
find their dark matter,

then we're on our way.

Is the Q.E.D. ready?

The first one is.

The rest will take a bit more time.

That's astounding. It's hard
to imagine you're able to fit

that much microcircuitry
into such a small space.

Well, I'm brilliant, right?

There are only a few people
on earth who understand

the physics involved in all this.
He's one of them.

Just know that if he gets
too unmanageable,

we may ask you to take care of him.

I promise you that
when the time comes,

I'll be half a dozen
moves ahead of you.

Well, let's hope that
time doesn't come, then.

You can go now.

I just have to ask-
what's with all the dominos?

This is my garden...

And the white ones chart
the path of my escape.

That makes no sense at all.

It does if you live in my head.

Careful.

You move too much,
the gun will fire.

I call it the garden
of forking paths.

All those lines--

they're futures that branch off

of each critical decision I made.

For me it started
back in the '80s--

a place called Raven River.

We engineered hundreds--

even--even thousands
of flash-forwards.

Sometimes we jump 20 minutes.
Sometimes we jump 20 years.

But every time we jumped,
we saw a different possible future.

Take the day of the blackout.

Had we failed, a different
path would have opened up.

We succeeded, so we move on
to the next decision point--

a new path,
which brings us to today--

March 15th--

the most important fork of all.

What, my murder?

No.

Our murder.

You see, the thing is, Demetri,

in almost every future,

I don't live past today.

78% of the time,
you end up killing me.

Why?

Ah, self-defense,
stupidity, bad luck--

I could construct a
hundred scenarios.

The point is,
once we've glimpsed it,

the future wants to happen.
It gains weight.

It's like atmospheric
pressure bearing down.

And if we want to
escape that pressure,

we have to do something drastic.

Why the death trap?
Why don't you just kill me now?

Why even bother using Mark's gun?

I'm attempting to conform
to the predicted future

as closely as I can while still
allowing for the possibility

that we both might live.

I want to come in from the cold,
and you're my insurance.

Well, that makes me feel better.

Two birds, one gun.

You're insane.

Most oracles are, you know?

They--they see the future,

and the knowledge ends
up destroying them.

Well, I'm going now.

This is ridiculous. You said you
want to come in from the cold,

you want to share what
you know. Come on.

Come in from the cold!
Share what you know!

Careful.

I don't know what's
gonna happen, Demetri.

But in all likelihood,
one of us will die today.

Come on. Come back.

Doesn't have to work
out this way, man.

You hear me?!

You come back!

Bishop one, how's it going?

We've cloned the station's
cctvs for maximum coverage.

But so far, no sign of Frost.

Just make sure you don't spook him.

We're being discreet, sir.
I promise.

Last call. This is your
last call

for the number 2 train departing
from track 10.

Last call for the number 2 train.

Bishop one, this is bishop four.

I see white male in
a green army jacket,

approaching kingmaker.

Announcing a track change
for train number 7.

Now arriving on track 3.

Train number 7 arriving at track 3.

Disregard. He's moving on.

Well, that was the fastest
cholecystectomy I've ever seen.

Trying to catch up.
I got a late start

and a board full of elective cases.

Hey, maneesh, what inhaled
anesthetic did you use?

Sevoflurane.

Does anyone use halothane anymore?

In developing countries maybe,

but here it's pretty much
been replaced by newer agents.

So, uh, why the sudden interest
in old-school anesthesia?

Oh, it's complicated.

There's this formula
that Lloyd showed me.

Lloyd? Lloyd Simcoe?

Yeah. He thinks it has something
to do with the blackout.

So you're, uh,
talking to him again.

Anyway, he thinks the
formula for halothane

has something to do with it.

Oh. Interesting.

Yeah. Can you meet me in the P.
I.C.U.? Yeah.

I need to cannulate a
kid for E.C.M.O. Okay.

I knew you'd get a same day hearing

if you put your mind to it.
Hold here, please.

Is appendicitis supposed to
hurt on the right or the left?

Alda, please. I could
get disbarred for this.

Mm. Lost job, dead boyfriend.
Hard choice.

You arrange for all
these extra marshals?

You must think I'm a
really big cheese.

Don't flatter yourself, sweetheart.

This is standard procedure

for all of my lying,
psychopathic clients.

So just stay quiet
and follow my lead.

Oh, I'll be good. I promise.

Dr. Benford?

What's happened? Is Mark okay?

I need to talk to
you about a murder.

As a part of the investigation
into dem's disappearance,

we're looking into the
shooting of a homeless man

in a shelter downtown.
He didn't have any formal I.D. on him.

What does this have
to do with Demetri?

Mark's gun was used in that murder,

and we have reason the believe
that the man who took Demetri

has that gun now. Okay.

We were hoping that if
we could I.D. The guy,

we might uncover a
connection to Frost

that would lead us to him.

So once you find Frost,
you'll find Demetri.

Right. I went through
the victim's stuff

and, uh, found a
disposable cell phone.

The phone had an old text
message sent to your number.

My number? Why would he
possibly have my number?

Well, it was from October.
The contents were sensitive.

It said, "Mark was drinking
in his flash-forward."

Would you mind...

Just coming down to the morgue
and taking a look at the body?

You must know this man somehow.

Yeah, I'm sure I don't.

Well, he knew you,

and anything you know
could help Demetri.

Let me change.

All bishops, I have an
african-american boy,

blue shirt, superman backpack,
approaching kingmaker.

Are you Mark Benford?

That's right.

Some weird guy paid me
$50 to give you this.

Something's going down.

Bishop five, pick up that kid

outside the West
entrance for questioning.

Bishop 5, 10-4.

Yeah?

Don't speak. I know
they're watching you.

But they can't hear what I'm saying,
so just listen.

I've got Demetri,
and I'll kill him if you don't do

exactly what I say.

Crank it up.

All I hear is ambient noise.

I want to come in,
and I can tell you when

and why the next
blackout will occur.

I want to help you,
but because I've parted ways

with my associates,
they're gonna do anything

to ensure that you don't
bring me in to custody.

Listen, we can protect you.

Don't speak!

You speak again,
and Demetri's dead.

If you understand, say "Figueroa."

Figueroa.

He just said "Figueroa."

It could be Figueroa
street in downtown L.A.

That should misdirect
your friends a bit.

Now I'm gonna direct
you to a new location

where we'll meet face-to-face

and discuss the terms
of my surrender.

When I hang up the phone,
this is what you're going to do.

All right, people. I want a
tap on that cell phone now!

We're scanning frequencies, sir,

but there are just too
many in the station.

Mark can draw him out, sir.
We just need to give him some time.

Time is the one
thing we don't have.

Now, Mark, if all my
directions are understood,

say... "Pico."

Pico.

He said Pico and Figueroa.

All right. I want two S.W.A.
T. Teams to the intersection

of Pico and Figueroa.

Perfect. And that number
that I jotted down

on the back of the polaroid?

Set your watch to
count back from it.

Now you know how long
Demetri has left to live.

Start running, Mark.
We'll see each other soon.

What's he doing? What's he doing?
Where's he going?

We're all eyes on Benford. He's leaving
the concourse. We can't lose him.

Go! Remember these instructions-
-

run to the men's room.
Throw the phone away.

If you bring a weapon,
Demetri will die.

There's a panel.

Inside you'll find a zoomcar
access card.

He's not here.
What the hell is he doing?

I'm here. Start driving north.
I'll give you directions on the way.

What the hell is
going on out there?

He's running.

Your honor, it is imperative to Ms.
Hertzog's well-being

that the metropolitan
detention center

order a C.A.T.
scan on her clearly distended

and painful abdomen.

Ms. Andata, the doctor
on call at M.D.C.

Examined Ms.
Hertzog not once but twice.

Isn't that right?

Yes, that is correct,
your honor, but--

and he's found no
evidence of appendicitis

in either of those examinations.

Now correct me if I'm
misreading the records.

No, Judge Sandoz--

I am misreading things?

I'm sorry. That's not what I meant.

But appendicitis is responsible
for over 20,000 deaths

in the United States alone, and I--

that's some very nice research,
Ms. Andata,

but I'm afraid it's not
relevant to your motion,

which is hereby denied.

And, Ms. Andata,

I suggest you think
twice before you bring

another frivolous claim
into my courtroom.

I will impose sanctions on
attorneys who abuse the process.

Understood, your honor. Thank you.

I'm sorry.

Don't look so worried.
I didn't say we had to win.

Then tell me. Where's Demetri?

I don't know.
But in my flash-forward,

I heard they found his
body in building seven.

Building seven? What-
what does that even mean?

That's all I know.

What am I supposed to do with that?

You're a smart girl.
I'm sure you'll figure something out.

But right now I've got
somewhere else I need to be.

Aah!

Holding cell 4. We got a
breach in holding cell 4.

All right, Mark. If you want
to save Demetri,

you're gonna have to come to me alone.

Head north on highway 57 into t
he Antelope Valley.

At the 31st mile marker,
you're gonna turn right

on an unmarked dirt road.

Follow the road 5 miles till
it comes to an end.

I left a compass for you in t
he glove compartment.

Get a bearing north and start
walking towards

the Temachapi Mountains for 1 mile.

If you make any outgoing calls,
or if anyone follows you,

Demetri will die.

No dental records,
no identifying scars.

Even his fingerprints
were scrubbed off.

Scrubbed off?

This guy definitely did
not want to be identified.

Come on, man. Throw us a bone, huh?

Is there anything
distinct here or unusual?

Demetri is running out of time.
Well, there is this.

Look at the limbic system-
huge hippocampus.

I'm thinking our John
Doe could have been

some kind of savant. Savant.

Savants can develop an
enlarged hippocampus

related to their
incredible memory capacity.

What, like a "rain
man" sort of thing?

Exactly. Yeah, no, I'm sorry.
I've never seen this man in my life.

You sure? Mm-hmm.

Well, there's a box
of stuff we found

under his bed in the shelter.
It had an address book in it.

Perhaps there's something
in there that'll explain

his connection to you.

I'd do anything to help Demetri,

but I'm not connected to him.
Olivia, you are.

You just don't know how.

So here we are again, Mark.

Time for you and me
to save the world.

You got my messages and
followed the instructions.

I'm impressed. So I'm flattered.

Where's Demetri?

Most of my associates
wanted you dead months ago.

But I resisted

because I wanted to see
things through to this day.

Why me?

Because I don't trust
the rest of the FBI.

Nor should you. We found a mole.

And you think that makes you safe?

You have no idea.

Here.

Put those on, and we'll talk.

Mind if I have a
little water first?

Be my guest.

At this point, it's Demetri's
minutes you're burning.

Gasoline! It burns!

Siphoned from the gas tank. Aah!

Get up! Uhh!

No more games, Frost.
Where's Demetri?

This is not the way it
was supposed to play out!

Yeah, building seven. That's it?

There's gotta be at least
a million building sevens

in all of Los Angeles,
and how do we even know

it is Los Angeles? I'll run
it through the system.

And of course, Alda could be lying.
Demetri told me--

He warned me about-- Zoey, stop.

Sit, please.

I'm gonna have Janis
flag every building seven

in the vicinity of your house,
the FBI and the wedding chapel.

We'll start there, and we'll
keep sweeping until we find him.

How? How could you
possibly do that in time?

We have the most sophisticated
search technology in the world

and a team of agents who won't
rest until he's back safely.

We're gonna find him.

Listen to me! I'm tired
of playing around, Frost!

Where's Demetri?

You already know where he is!
I gave Charlie all the answers!

You gave my Charlie the answers?!

What the hell are
you talking about?

Get up. Get up. Get up!

Start walking.
We're running out of time.

I know! The whole world is!

Quiet. Walk!

But in the end,
you're gonna be saved

by the lady you see every day.

What are you talking about,
huh? What? Start walking.

Listen! Listen carefully to
what I'm about to tell you.

Move!

Someone followed you here.

No one followed me.

Not today, Mark.

Shh, shh.

Stay with me, Frost.
All right? Stay with me.

You gotta tell me where Demetri is.

What's going on,
Frost? What's this all about?

What are you doing?

I... I did what I did...
For a reason.

How do I stop this?
What do I need to know?

Mm? What do I need to know?

Tell me where Demetri is.
Stay with me, Frost, all right?

Stay with me. You gotta
tell me where Demetri is!

I need Frost's car. Demetri!

Damn it!

Damn it.

Where have you been, Frost?

"Oedipus and the sphinx" by
jean-auguste-dominique ingres.

Ingres.

Proceed to the highlighted route.

So what brings you guys to
the neuroscience center?

Well, Dr. Ebbing,
we're investigating the murder

of a homeless man in
a shelter downtown.

We found something of yours
among the victim's belongings

when he died.

My address book--obviously,
stolen from my office.

Well, we think the guy
may have been a savant.

Perhaps he was one
of your patients.

Uh, it's possible.
He doesn't look familiar.

Savants are referred to me
from all over the country,

and any number of them
have eidetic skills..

That's photographic memory

Some of my patients are
like human video cameras.

You know, they're
compelled to record

staggering quantities
of information--

phone books, encyclopedias,

the entire Sunday "New York Times."

So any one of your patients

could have lifted this
phone book. Exactly.

There's really no one particular
person who maybe stands out

as a candidate? Sorry.

Oh, you're-
you're a trauma surgeon?

Yeah.

Savants--not your usual
terrain, are they?

I guess I'm branching out.

Turn left ahead.

You have arrived at your destination.

Demetri!

Demetri!

Any luck finding Mark?

GPS request just came
in from Antelope Valley.

It is possible that we could get
a lead on where he was going.

Do they have data?

We're waiting on that.

Why the hell not--
I'm trying! It's not our satellite!

Come on, come on!

Yes!

Wedeck.

Look, I've got no
time for explanations.

I'm at an abandoned army
depot 46 miles northeast

of Antelope Valley.
I'm standing in front

of two dozen or so warehouses.
Dem's inside one of them.

If I don't find him in
three minutes, he's dead.

Oh, my God.

Mark-- building seven.

Building seven.
Seven? How'd you know?

Alda Hertzog.
She--she told me it was

a very important
piece of information.

None of these buildings
have numbers on 'em!

Yes, they do. What?

Rooftops. Mark, where are you?

I'm three buildings up from
the South end of the complex.

Okay, they numbered them even/odd.

It's the fourth
building on the right.

Get an ambulance just in case.

Demetri!

Mark?

Demetri! Are you alone? I'm alone.

Talk to me. Talk to me.
What's going on? Okay.

What is this?

There's a rig with your gun,
and it's pointed at me.

I can't move.

You got about two minutes
and change to do something.

Easy.

All right. Garage door
auto-firing pistol.

Easy. There's wires around
the barrel--sensors.

You monkey with any of that stuff

or try to put anything between
me and the gun and-- it fires.

Right. It fires. All right.

Okay. All right.
What are you doing?

I'm gonna push back against
the trigger mechanism

to see if I can try to-
try to do what?

I can't stop the timer,
but maybe I can move the gun.

This is it.

This is it. My hand. My gun.

Just like Nhadra said.

85 seconds. No pressure.

One, two, red and blue.

Tell Zoey-- tell Zoey
I love her, okay?

Tell her yourself.

Frost said Charlie gave
me all the answers.

"One fish two fish
red fish blue fish."

"One fish two fish
red fish blue fish."

Is that Dr., uh, is that Dr. Seuss?

One, two, red, blue.

If I pull the wires in that order,

maybe I could try to
disengage the gun. Mark.

Whichever way this goes,
no regrets, okay?

No looking back.

No regrets.

No regrets.

It's gonna work.

If I can just move the gun.

Come on. Come on.

Come on, come on.

Gunshots

Sloppy work, buddy--

bleeding all over yourself.

I'm just having an off day.

You okay?

I'm friggin' great.

Yeah, you should be.
It's March 15th, and you lived.

Frost said he saw
different futures.

Whoa.

His map of the future.

He called it his, uh,
garden of forking paths.

You think it's safe to stand now?

Well, only one way to find out.

Stay low.

On the count of three.

One, two, three.

You gotta be kidding me.

Oh, no.

Gotta love this guy.

Even in death,

he manages to screw us.

Good thing Mark saved the day,

since all we found
was a phone book.

Hi there. Can I get a small--

she'll have a small soy latte,
no foam, extra shot,

half sugar, half aspartame.
Okay, now you say your thing.

Say it. Say the thing you
were gonna say. You say...

How do you know my coffee order?

Yeah, that's what you say.

I say I have stood behind
you in this line many times.

You always order the same way.

No, I've never ordered
from this cart before.

I have stood behind you
here in this line,

on this day, many,
many times.

And you always order the same way.

My name is Gabriel.
You deserve a break today.

Oh, okay, hi. Yeah.
My name is Gabriel.

Come on, buddy. Don't touch this.
You can't touch this.

You know what? Let's just... Yeah.

It's about the Raven
River experiments.

The Raven River experiments.
What experiments?

That's what my friend
wanted to talk to you about,

only he's dead now,
and it--it's up to me.

What friend?

My friend. He's dead,
although technically

he's still my friend.
He texted you.

What do you know about the text?

The flash-forwards... The blackout.

Sir, I think, uh,
you need to come and talk to us.

No, you don't say that.
You never say that.

Can't touch this! Can't touch this!
Can't touch this!

Listen, just a few-
just a few questions.

The dominos are falling, Olivia.

You got through the day.

Boss.

What was all this?

Oh, this? This could have
been the break we needed,

the key to the mosaic
investigation--

Frost's personal road
map of the future.

According to Demetri, the guy
had hundreds of flash-forwards.

So this crazy-ass map charted
all the moments he saw

leading up to today and beyond.

What do you mean?

There were events on here that
occurred after April 29th.

You remember any of them?
Mm-hmm. A few.

One stood out, though.
It was all the way up by the top--

the furthest one from today.

All the other various
branches seemed to lead to it.

December 12, 2016.

And after the date...

It just said "the end."

The end of what?