Flipper (1995–2000): Season 1, Episode 1 - Pilot - full transcript

When I was a boy, a very
special animal named Flipper

introduced me to a world
beneath the sea and ever since,

it's been my world too.

I want to learn everything I
can about it and especially its

dolphin inhabitants. If I don't
do anything else with my life,

I want to know how they
interact, how they learn, and

most of all, how they
communicate.

I mean, look at that. We ask
for the pyramid and she goes

and gets a pyramid. We ask for
the Kong, she went and got the

Kong. She's doing everything.
She understands. Yeah. I say

it. I'm going to say it.
Eureka.



I feel really good. I'm
going to go call my mom. Oh

dear, I saw a dolphin pull a
poodle on water skis once. Now,

that was something. Echo
location, have you ever heard

of it? Does it have something
to do with yodeling? Oh, you

spent way too much time playing
with your calculator. Well,

somebody has to the way you go
through money. Echo location is

dolphin sonard. If you could
echo okay, you could find those

expense reports you think I
hid. You could you could find a

three-inch disc at 1 00 meters
and send the highlights to

other dolphins. That's what we
just did. The Navy would kill

for something like that. Yeah,
they would and that's why we're

not going to tell em. Right?
Good win, right? Yeah.

Information, what city please?
Yeah, Key West. Okachika Naval

Facility.



Oh, come on.

Wait a minute.

Get the gate. Get the gate. You
don't know what this?

What's that? Is that a shark?
Lá na

OK?

Ok? Desencante You Ray Jock!
No, I'm not alright and you

know why?

The success or failure of this
entire project is hanging by a

10-cent piece of wire and I
can't get anybody to fix it. Uh

Keith, what? So much for the
mysteries of the deep. Catch

you at a bad time. I'm just
hanging in there as you can

see. Great news. Our problems
are over. Didn't know we had

any problems. You're $40, 000
over budget. I call that a

problem. 42. Excuse me.

Mike come on.

When the university finds out
about these overages, who do

you think they're going to
fire? You, Paul, no such luck.

Me, the administrator, the
pencil pusher, the number

cruncher. Oh, can you blame
him? $42, 000. That's a lot of

money. Just give this navy
scientist a chance. A chance? A

chance to do what? To teach the
kids how to salute, to run bed

checks every night? Look, I
don't want some hairball from

the military telling me how to
run a research institute.

Who's that? The hairball.
Name's Pam Blondel, civilian

scientist, trained as a marine
veterinarian but she's been

doing echo location research
for eight years. How much did

you say they want to give us?
12, 000 a month. That's the old

Flagler Road up there. Lab
facilities on that side.

Housing to residents along that
side. You house students here

too? Yep, 12 at a time. We have
two interns, one grab, one post

doc, and we have who's our
engineer type and me. Don't

worry about the students.
They're Doctor Rick's concern.

Doctor Blonde is a pure
researcher. There's no point to

research unless you share it.
But here, we all teach.

And this is the lab. It it's
sort of a stream of

consciousness laboratory. It it
reeks of science, imagination.

Deep ocean research is in that
corner. The refrigerator here

is for everyone to use but
watch out for the top shelf

because Amanda is running a
Mollusk experiment there and

Obermier accidentally ate half
of it. It was delicious. Pig.

Gable Reef just after sunrise.
Oh, I was looking for infrared?

No. Yeah. No. We're looking for
heat sources not pretty colors.

Just go back tomorrow and do it
again.

Now, I thought you only did
dolphin research. No, we do

anything that excites us.
Sharks, whales, plankton.

Aren't you spreading yourselves
with not good enough. The ocean

is our future. Instead of
studying it, we're treating

like a cesspool. Agriculture
runoff is putting fertilizer

and pesticide into it. Nets are
still catching fish

indiscriminately. Of course, we
put most of our emphasis on the

dolphins. It is going to be a
short start, right Cooper?

Well, you know me, the sooner
I'm out of here, the sooner I

can put away my stomach
medicine. Hey, Kim. Yeah, it's

alright. It's my son. I'll take
care of it. Son, wonderful boy.

Wonderful. Bike, why are you
scoring rocks at the dolphins?

Cuz I don't have a BB gun.
Mike, this is Doctor Ricks.

Nice to meet you.

Let's go have a look at our
star, shall we?

You look as thrilled about this
as I am. When do you get to

know me?

Somewhere in here is Aphrodite.

There she is. She's
magnificent. Where did you get

her? She was born and raised in
the Miami Siquam. They gave her

to us 4 years ago. Say hi.
Yeah, sure enough. This is Dr.

Blonde. Hello. I wonder if she
knows how much excitement she's

causing. Not as much as she'd
like to.

You think she's ovulating? He's
been a regular party animal.

Why don't I take you to a place
you can settle in? Okay. Take a

good look at her, buddy. She's
always in your hair.

Thanks a lot.

Why haven't you unpacked yet?
Too many other fascinating

things to do. Well, why don't
you look at it like a vacation?

A long vacation. Yeah, forever.
In hell. Come on, we're next to

the ocean. There's dolphins
right outside our door. There's

millions of kids that would
trade places with you in a

flash. Good. Tell em I'm
already packed. We just got

here. It's hard to feel sorry
for you if you won't give it a

chance. I am going to get in a
run before dark. Have your

things unpacked by the time I
get back.

Peace.

Dia.

The

What do you want? But you're
full I'm here you know. You

probably don't even like this
dump anymore than I do.

Wait a minute. If you leave, I
can leave. What do you say?

Wanna help each other out?

Sounds like a yes to me.

Go. Go on. Get out of here. Go.
No. Not that way. Over here.

Go.

Yeah, I know.

Oh.

Stupid damn dumb drawer.
Problem?

No problem. I was just looking
for a file. You think echo

location was under E. Do you
know what's under E? Replace?

It's because the Eldor was
stuck. Thank you. I just found

that out. You know, you sound
kind of frustrated. Frustrated?

No. How do you function here?
There are some notes there.

There are some notes here.
There are abandoned

experiments. There are
misplaced records and there's

not a reference anywhere to
that electronic pumpkin you

used to communicate with the
dolphin. That's technical

stuff. That's all in
Overmeyer's head and see. You

gotta be kidding. It's two
little speakers in a plastic

shell. The shape of a dolphin's
melon so it sounds like a

dolphin and what else you
want to know? I have been

studying acoustic signal
processing for the past three

years. In one experiment, you
leapfrogged everything I did. I

would like to know how you
pulled it off. I I think we owe

it all to our amazing piling
system now which you've ruined.

Morning, class. Morning.
Alright, this we're going to

talk a little bit about algae
blooms and then we're going to

go right to work as usual.
Aphrodite is missing. No. No.

Come on. Aphrodites.

I checked the fence from top to
bottom and the gate was closed.

Yeah. This is a disaster. How
the hell did she get out? Don't

you know how those dolphins
are? They can jump like deer. I

warned you this would happen.
Dolphins don't jump fences.

That's why so many of them get
caught in tuna nets. Most

valuable dolphin on the planet
and this is how you protect

her. See, see? Why did it have
to be Aphrodite good one? Why

couldn't it have been you?
Let's go.

Spying on me. Um not not
exactly. Yes, exactly. I know

spying when I see it. I I bet
it happens a lot. You can leave

now. What is this place? Used
to be a beach club. It's not

anymore. Tourists are not
allowed. I'm not a tourist. We

kind of moved here. My mom
works at the Grassy Key

Research Institute. Well, Yeah.
My name is Mike. What's yours?

Maya. That's It was my
grandmother's. She was a witch

doctor. So am I. So be careful.
So you know Doctor Ricks? He's

cool. He likes dolphins. I
think they're a pain. You know

what? Maybe you're the pain.
Follow me.

What was that? They're tickling
you with their clicks.

Hey.

He's a ring leader. He won't
let you touch him. Why not?

He's a rogue. Steady boy. Stay
there. I'm a rogue too. Oh, I

am. You just don't know me yet.

Don't worry, he'll be back.
This is a magical place for

dolphins.

We're mermaids too. There's no
such thing as mermaids. Sure

there are. You just have to do
more than bang locks together

to see them.

She she will come back, right?
It's only a matter of time. If

she survives, she doesn't know
how to catch fish. She doesn't

know anything about sharks.
She's the man. Amanda? Yeah.

Organize the students. Walter,
go hire some boats, alright? We

gotta be back here in an hour.
We're going to go out looking

again. It's right here, this
sector, alright? I've already

done that one. If she survives,
what am I supposed to tell the

dean? Isn't there a better way
to try to find her than visual

reconnaissance? If you have a
better idea then you just let

me know. Hey, this is going to
cost me my job.

Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.
Whoa. It's too weak. It barely

puts out enough decibels to
cover the pool. You're going to

goose it up, right? You're
talking big bucks, amplifiers,

generators, speakers. Good one
will sign the checks. Want you

good one? Uh I'll sign
anything. I want to buy

tomorrow morning. Impossible.
No. Do it anyways. Please.

Whatever I can do to help, just
let me know. Why don't you call

your navy friends? Get the
whole sixth fleet down here. I

want to find this dolphin. So
do I. I'll bet you do.

Aphrodite will save you years
of research on your sonar

project. That has nothing to do
with it. I love dolphins.

They're the only reason I work
for the navy and they spend

more money on dolphin research
than anybody else. Look, I'm

I'm sorry between good one
being here and and losing

Aphrodite. I'm just a little
touchier than usual. I'll touch

are you usually? Come with me
on a search and find out. Oh,

thanks. I think I'll ride with
Walter. You know, I haven't

seen your little boy around
this morning. It was a long

night he slept in. Been a rough
adjustment. Rough year. He's

turning into a teenager. How
bad does he want out of here?

Pretty bad. Bad enough to do
something stupid? Don't blame

Mike for this.

This is it. That's a transistor
not a transducer to the left.

What? Right here then. Wrong
way. Wrong way it'll be out of

phase. Uh

You can't, I've been getting.
Ow, mom. I caught some rays

today. Where have you been?
Dolphin Cove. We've talked

about this. You know you're
supposed to call me.

Bathroom break. What do you
mean that's the third one in an

hour? Make some more coffee,
will you? I think we're low.

So you met Maya huh? How'd you
know that? She practically

lives at Dolphin Cove. She says
she wants to be a mermaid. She

already is.

She told me how to pet dolphin
when you were a kid. Yep. My

best friend name is Flipper.
Dumb names ran in our family.

They used to call me Bud. So
what was it like growing up

with a mom? Horrible. It's good
to hear. What? Well, I didn't

have one.

I don't want to feel like I
missed out or something like

that. You know, my dad raised
me. I bet you that was cool.

Yeah. Yeah, for a while until I
got about your age and then you

started ragging on me about my
friends and ground and stuff

like that. And this is the part
where you tell me it's good for

me, right? No, this is actually
the part where I tell you it's

going to get worse before it
gets better. You just have to

get used to it. Gotta be able
to take a left when you're

supposed to take a right if you
know what I mean. Not according

to my mom. Moms aren't always
right. What's going on?

Aphrodite is still missing.
Most of the boats and lower

keys looking for. Maybe she
likes it out there. She's lost

and frightened. If we don't
find her, she will die.

Ah.

Try it again. Try it again.
Wait, let me get a half turn.

No. We need more amplification.
We've gotta have an underwater

range of at least five
kilometers. 10 if we can. If I

had another day. No, you've got
2 hours. She hasn't eaten since

yesterday. She's surrounded by
predators. Alright, I'm doing

the best I can, okay? If I make
it, I make it. If I don't,

then, you'll just have to stick
your head underwater and yell

real loud. Uh alright. Look,
there's there's gotta be a way

to solve this. We've got a
frightened animal out there

Let's just stop arguing

Where are your girlfriends?
Have you got any new ones like

one baby named Matthew Tiger?

I've gotta find her. Maybe I
can get it back before

something bad happens to her.

You.

Help me. Please help me.

You.

Piece of junk.

Yeah. No. It's dad. Widen over
my economy. Oh. He dies. He

swims. He snorkels but you put
him on a deck of a boat and his

legs turn to jelly. Diable
trait to have when you're doing

ocean research. I don't know
but without him, we'd be out of

business. We're out of business
anyway.

Fried. Where you going? Hold
on. I got an A plus in shock.

Wanna live dangerously? Always.

Ready? Yes, go. Yup.

Hey, help me.

It's flooded. What do we do
now? We start over.

Come here.

And

My foot's caught. I I can't
move it. The tide's coming in.

I have to get help.

Free.

Yes. Come here. Good girl. Come

Let's watch her for a couple
days. Try 11 months. I think

she made some friends out
there. She stopped for a chat.

Oh, I think she wants a
cigarette. Naughty girl. Let's

check your appetite. You found
her? She's alive? Aphrodite is

alive? Yeah, good one. Now, you
can start eating soft foods

again. Alright, I'm going to go
to town and get a real gate

latch. While you're at it, get
a real gate.

Doctor Riggs. What's up? It's
Mike. He's over there.

It was my fault. Aphrodite,
high-letter goal. I'm scared.

It's alright. Aphrodite is
alright. You're going to be

okay. You understand?

Go get my knife. Let's do my
glove lock. Hurry. Okay, Don't

cut off my butt. Relax. I'm
just going to use it to pry.

Oh, no. That's all we need.
Hang on. But this is going to

get a little tricky. There's a
big way coming.

You.

What the hell?

You alright?

Thanks, buddy. All you want.

Excuse me. What are you doing?
Just me, making a new place for

myself. Oh, just a little place
for yourself, huh?

What you did for Mike and me.
Thank you. I don't mention

that. No, I I I don't know how
I could ever repay you. You

could start by getting your own
desk. This one's mine. Really?

Mm hmm. Really. When's the last
time you used it? Every day.

Every day. Mm hmm.

I've been doing a lot of field
work lately. Here. Hold this.

Excuse me.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, what
are you doing?

Do you think I could have my
own phone? Oh, yeah. I'm

going to jump right on that.
Any other request while you're

in it? Oh, I'm glad you asked.
Look it over. We'll talk.

How about calling him Flipper?
Don't be ridiculous. What's

wrong with it? Flipper is not a
name, it's a fern. How would

you like to be called Foot? His
name is Flipper. Is not. Is

too. I'm the mermaid. It's not
up to you. It is too. Is not.

Is too. Is not. What do you
think? Do you like Flip It?

Lies over the sea

of the ocean