Ghosted (2017): Season 1, Episode 1 - Pilot - full transcript

_

♪ ♪

(ELECTRICITY CRACKLING)

(ZAPPING SOUND)

(ETHEREAL WHOOSHING)

I may be in trouble.

If anything happens to me,
find Detective Leroy Wright

and Dr. Max Jennifer. They can help.

(GROANS IN SLOW MOTION)

Hey, uh, excuse me.

If you're really into the mechanics



of unmanned space flight, I'd
go with the one on the right.

Oh. It's a gift for my husband.
Always tough picking out.

Oh, yeah, I know how that goes.

- You married?
- Yeah.

Or no. Sort of.

Oh, are you going through a divorce?

No, no, no, no, nothing like that.
God, how awkward would that be?

No, uh, she was abducted by aliens.

Sweetie.

Okay, I know what you're thinking.
I am not crazy.

Come here.

- Actually, I was a professor at Stanford.
- Put down.

- Astrophysics. That is a cute child.
- Time to go. Yup. Okay.

- Let's go look at my phone.
- You know, even if I was crazy,



it doesn't mean you can't buy the book
for your husband. They're unrelated.

MAN: Listen here, Jermaine,

your dad and I spent 15
years together on the LAPD

before I started working
at this disgusting mall

and he always told me his dream
was for you to go to college.

So...

Aw.

SAT prep course?

- Dude, I'm 12.
- MOTHER: Jermaine, say thank you.

- That was very kind.
- JERMAINE: Thank you.

Turn to page 60, you little bitch.

There's a video...

(SHUSHING) Quiet.

Now, when you get to level
18, give me a call,

'cause there's some tricky stuff
I got to walk you through.

And if I hear that you haven't
been studying, I'm-a come

see you, and it's not gonna be pretty.
Do you understand?

Yes, sir. I understand you, sir.

Good, becau...

Oh, Eddie! Come on, man!

What's up, Leroy?

Other crazy people got
to drink out of there!

At least aim it! I got to mop that up.

Excuse me.

(MUTTERING): Pee in the damn fountain...

(SHOUTS)

♪

Oh, cool, you're awake. What's up?
How's it going?

I'm-I'm Max. What's your name?

- Leroy.
- Leroy. Hi.

I've been awake for a few minutes,
taken-taken stock of our situation here.

It appears we're-we're in the
back of some sort of van.

I see that.

What do we do? You have your uniform on.
What do we do?

First thing to do is remain calm.

- What do we do, man?
- Don't yell at me, okay?

- I'm not yelling at you. I'm not.
- Well, you just kind of

- yelled at me.
- Well, okay. I'm sorry.

"What do we do, man?"
Yeah, that was yelling.

I apologize.

Oh, dear. You're not
supposed to be awake yet.

- Who the hell are you?!
- Why did you take us?!

I'm Barry. I'm your kidnapper.

And I work for a top
secret government agency.

And, unfortunately, that's
all I can say about that.

That's not very fair, is it? I
work for the Bureau Underground.

We investigate the paranormal and
anything outside the scientific realm.

Is this a hidden camera show?
Where's Alex Trebek?

Wait, did Alex Trebek have
a hidden camera show?

- How did I miss that?
- Oh!

- Looks like we've arrived.
- What...

- Stay away from me! Stay...
- What are you doing?

What are you doing?

Nuh...

♪ ♪

What the hell?

Where are we?

And who are we? And what do we want?

I'm sure you must have
a million questions

that I'm not gonna answer.
Straighten your leg.

Wh-What are you doing?

I am measuring in case I need to
build you body armor. Or a coffin.

Probably just body armor.

They're awake!

- How are they?
- YOUNG WOMAN: Not great.

Gentlemen, I will keep this brief.

I am Captain LaFrey, and this
is the Bureau Underground.

Two days ago, one of our finest
agents, Mike Checker, disappeared.

That same day, he sent us this.

I may be in trouble.

If anything happens to me,
find Detective Leroy Wright

and Dr. Max Jennifer. They can help.

Checker thought that you can help,
and I hope like hell you can.

Here's my offer: one mission, two days.

- Are you in?
- Hell no.

Yeah, I'm sorry, but
why would we help you?

You were a brilliant astrophysicist,

but Stanford, they called you crazy.

Well, guess what, I think they're wrong.

I can help you clear your name and
get your job back, Professor.

Okay, I'm in.

- Are you kidding?
- What?

I've never seen this
Checker before in my life.

Yeah, but he asked for us specifically.

- They kidnapped us!
- Okay.

What do you care what I do?

I'm just concerned that
this might be, like,

a package deal-type thing.
I'm getting the vibe

it's, like, a package
deal-type thing or...

I have to go. I have things to do.

Like what? Like meet up with my boys.

We meet at the Panera Bread every
morning and discuss world affairs.

And I'm kind of like
the unofficial leader.

Unless Jerry's there. Then it gets
all weird, 'cause they're not really

- into him like that. He's so aggressive.
- Right.

Well, that is incredibly
sad, Leroy, especially

since you were the best missing
persons detective the LAPD ever had.

Tell you what, you help me find Checker,

I'll get you back on the force.

The Bureau Underground was created
under the Truman administration

to protect humanity from paranormal
forces that threaten our existence.

Extraterrestrials,
poltergeists, cryptids.

- Have y'all seen a yeti?
- Yes.

Our field agents are
equipped with the latest

in weapons technology thanks to Annie
Carver, our weapons and tech expert.

Unidentifiable evidence is
handled by Dr. Barry Shaw.

If you ever tell anyone
of our existence,

we will do everything in
our power to make sure

no one believes a word
you say ever again.

Let's get to work.

Agent Checker kept us
largely in the dark

on his last investigation,
but we believe

that it had something to
do with travel through...

the multiverse.

MAX: The multiverse? I literally
wrote the book on the multiverse.

I know. He didn't ask for you
'cause he liked your smile.

Hold on. You mean... So this is real?

I was right?

Okay, ding-dong! Ding-dong!

If I'm gonna do this,
let's bring it back

to Earth for a second. Where
was Checker last seen?

Did you go to his house?
You talk to his wife?

Checker never married, no close
relatives, and his apartment was clean.

Do you have access to his
cell phone location records?

Cross-reference the cell
phone data with the location

of his credit card charges.

Lay those two maps on
top of one another.

What do we got?

Looks like a gas station
and a storage facility.

Bingo. Checker had a storage space.
Did you know about that?

No.

Start there. See what you find.
Good luck.

- You have 48 hours.
- (QUIETLY): Cool.

Ooh, is that from right now, or
when we got kidnapped, or...?

- Leave.
- I know. That's cool.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right.

MAX: You know, at MIT,
it was just, you know,

"Max Jennifer: Academic Superstar.

Blah, blah, blah." You know? I was...

Inside, I was still just
this angry teenager.

♪ And we try to see... ♪

Okay, I'm yammering. Uh, what about you?

W-What's it like being a detective?
Is it cool or is it weird?

♪ Bring me a higher love... ♪

Hey, what happened
with you and the LAPD?

♪ Bring me a higher love Oh, uh... ♪

- Nothing happened with you and the LAPD.
- ♪ Higher love ♪

Okay, great.

♪ Higher love... ♪

- What happened with you and the LAP...
- (VOCALIZING)

What happened with you

- and the LAPD?! What happened?
- (YELLING)

- Higher love!
- Hey! Listen, man.

You have a beautiful voice, okay?
There, I said it.

But if we're gonna be partners, we're
gonna have to open up to each other

- and have a conversation at some point.
- (TIRES SCREECHING)

Number one, we are not partners.

Number two...

- (DOOR OPENS)
- What are you doing?

Get out.

- What?
- Go ahead. Get out.

The yellow brick road ends here, Toto.

- Are you serious?
- Yeah.

- You want me to get out the car.
- I want you to get out of the car.

Take care.

Listen, Leroy, the past couple
years, I have lost everything,

and everyone, good in my life,
'cause they all think I'm nuts.

Okay?

So I need this. Please.

(SIGHS) Fine.

♪ ♪

(BRAKES SQUEAK)

What freaky stuff are you
hiding in here, Checker?

Books.

(GASPS) Oh, my God, Leroy.

This is amazing.

Checker was reading my book.
How cool is that?

Oh.

Should I sign it?

- You should totally sign it, yeah.
- Right?

- He's clearly a fan.
- Shh. I'm trying to think.

All right.

Time for clues.

"Are you in the dark?"

What are you doing?

Damn, what is this?

Whoa.

LEROY: It all leads to
Waterbridge nuclear power plant.

What the hell?

- Max Jennifer, Ph...
- Let's go.

Yeah. Okay.

Annie hacked the perimeter security feed
at Waterbridge nuclear power plant.

Turns out Checker was
working undercover there

- before he disappeared.
- Affirmative.

We need you to get inside that reactor

and find out what Checker was doing.

Well, how are we gonna do that?

Those places are guarded
with, like, small armies.

Stand by, gentlemen.

(BEEPING)

- Hi. Yeah, the printer is jammed.
- Well, isn't that just the worst.

I'm gonna send over two of my best guys.

Just be quiet and follow my lead.

Uh, I did a little improv in
college, okay? I think I'm good.

- LEROY: We'll take it from here.
- Oh, actually,

if you could show me how to
fix it, that'd be great.

These things jam all the time.

- Just gonna set down my tools.
- Oh.

And this will probably be a-a
while, so you might want to...

Oh, that's okay. I'm not busy.

All right.

Uh, Max, you-you want to
show her how to fix it?

Sure, David.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

This is one of those, uh...
This is a copy machine.

Uh-huh.

I'm, uh, more of a fax machine guy.

"Max the Fax Machine Guy."

If-if my name was Max,
that's what it would be.

But my name is...

S-Steve.

- Okay. Well, Steve,
- Nice to meet you. Yeah.

Uh, that's actually a
fax machine; it's both.

This is both of those things.

- Two in one.
- Yeah, sure.

So since this is a-a-an
all-in-one wrap-around,

I think that's more your specialty.

LEROY: Well, I mean,

since I'm your boss, maybe you
should just go ahead and do it.

All right, but right before
this, I talked to Sanchez.

He promoted me. I'm in charge now.

- Congrats.
- LEROY: Well, that's interesting,

'cause Sanchez got fired.

- That's enough back talk, bro!
- Okay. Yeah, I'm gonna go.

No. I want you to see this.

- Why? She doesn't need to.
- (GRUNTS)

You will show me the
respect I've earned.

Yeah, I can't be here for this.

And... scene.

That was great. Did you feel that?
Could you feel it?

- Watch your face.
- What does that mean?

- Let's go. Let's go.
- Wait. You're not joking?

Whoa. Wow.

Uh, okay. This is our first mission.

It's a big moment. Uh... What do I do?

- Try being quiet.
- Okay.

Look.

That's weird. That looks
like a magnetic coil.

- What's it doing here?
- Get a pic; let's go.

Yeah, yeah. You're right. Uh... okay.

LEROY: Give me the phone.

How do you focus this thing?

- It's so blurry.
- (SCREAMS)

- You're not supposed to be here.
- You're right.

- Let's go! Let's go!
- (COMPUTER BEEPING)

Guys, stay calm, everything is
gonna be just fine, probably.

We're in the reactor room of building C.

Security's tracking us.
We need a way out now.

There's a door in the
northwest corner. See it?

Negative, negative! We can't go
that way. What else you got?

- (GUNSHOT)
- (SCREAMS)

Oh, oh. Is everything okay?

Get down to the lower level.

Hang in there, chaps. I'm
thinking of you. Oh, God.

MAX: I can't believe you
let me come with you.

You begged me, remember?

(WHINY VOICE): Leroy,
please, I need this.

- Everybody hates me. I'm a loser.
- (RAPID GUNSHOTS)

All right, bottom floor. To
your right there is an exit.

I'm gonna try and open it.

- (GUNSHOTS)
- (GRUNTS)

They have guns and bullets
and we are frightened.

- Annie.
- Sorry. Sorry, I hear that.

I hear the guns. I'm so sorry.

I repeat. We are very, very frightened.

LEROY: Come on, man. Let's go!

Annie, come on. Get 'em out of there.

ANNIE: Hold on.

Almost there.

(ALARM BLARING)

- Got it.
- (BEEPS)

MAX: Okay, the magnetic coil

at the power plant was illegally
syphoning electricity,

which means there has to be a
second coil somewhere receiving it.

But what do they need
all that power for?

I bet Checker knew and they got him.

LaFREY: Annie, see if there are any

large-scale deviations
in the magnetic field.

We find that second coil...

We find Checker.

Yes.

BARRY: Meanwhile, how are
you guys doing, huh?

I know getting shot at can be stressful.
Can I get you anything?

Yes. I'll take a PB and J.

- Good... Yes.
- No crusts, extra "J."

- Yes. Mm-hmm.
- No PB.

- (COMPUTER BEEPING)
- Captain, large-scale disturbance

in the magnetic field downtown.

This is it. This is it.

Go. Go, you guys. Get downtown.
It's Checker.

We getting paid for this?

LaFREY: Quickly.

MAX: Come on, Leroy.

(TIRES SCREECH)

So, in the multiverse, there's
another universe exactly like ours.

So there's another me,
there's another you,

but that Max and Leroy probably
don't even know each other, right?

What about Kevin Spacey?

- Kevin Spacey.
- Is there another Kevin Spacey?

Well, yeah, sure.

Really good example...
of course there is.

I think we got the best Kevin Spacey.

Yeah. Well,

- I mean, s...
- Keyser Soze.

- I'm sorry?
- Keyser Soze.

But actually, what I
was kind of getting at

was, if it is possible to travel through
the multiverse, like Checker asserts,

then we are open to
attack from anywhere.

I got a question.

- Yeah.
- What happened with your wife?

Well, you know what happened;
I told you, she was abducted.

But the night she
disappeared, what happened?

She, uh... You know,
we were just at home.

Um, we'd had a small fight.
Actually, not that small.

Um, and she was, you know, she
was just like packing a bag.

- She was packing after a fight?
- Yeah, Leroy.

People do all kinds of things
when they get abducted.

They're riding a bike...
Bam, you're abducted.

- I mean, that...
- Your wife left you, Max.

- No, she did not.
- I've seen it a thousand times.

She's probably on a beach in
the Bahamas with Kevin Spacey.

No. No, she wouldn't do that to me.

Look do you think that I haven't
questioned my own sanity, Leroy?

I do, all the time. But I have
faith that I'm not crazy.

Well, I don't.

MAX: What are you doing?
What's going on?

Leroy.

You're staying here 'cause
you're certifiably nuts

- and you might get me killed.
- No, no. Leroy. Wait.

- (SIGHS) Thank you.
- No. Forgot my Fitbit.

Got to get my steps in.

What?

Leroy!

Leroy!

This is a real bummer, man!

(SIGHS)

(CLATTERING NEARBY)

Whoa!

Leroy!

Leroy!

Leroy!

Whoa! Whoa!

(QUIETLY): Come on,
Checker, where are you?

(WHIRRING)

(SCREAMS, GRUNTS)

Max!

What the hell, man?! I
could have died in there!

- What is wrong with you?
- Aw, somebody need a hug?

Everything's a joke for you.

- You know?
- Want to go

to an independent coffeehouse
and talk it out?

What happened with you
in the LAPD, anyway?

Don't go that way.

Let me guess, you did
something psychotic.

- Am I getting warmer?
- Leave it alone.

Why don't you tell me, then, what
happened with you and the LAPD?

I got my partner killed!

I made the collar going
in without backup,

he followed and got shot... is
that what you want to hear?

Not really. I mean, that's...

an incredibly sad story.

- I'm so sorry.
- I locked you in the car...

'cause I didn't want it to happen again.

That's a very thoughtful thing
to do, as it turns out.

And... if you don't mind,
I'd like to take you up

on that hug you offered earlier.

I know you were kidding,
but check this out.

There we go, yeah.

- (PATTING LEROY)
- See?

Hey! That thing attacked the car.
Checker might be in there.

- Stay your skinny ass behind me.
- Okay.

(QUIETLY): Something's
going on over there.

My God, this is so scary.

Lift me up. I'm gonna
peek through the vent.

Yeah, okay. Or-or just, like,
for logistical reasons,

maybe we do that the other way around?

- Why?
- Um... no... Yeah, no, you're right.

I'm just messing with you, dude.
Come on.

Thank God. Okay.

Okay.

(PANTING)

MAX (WHISPERING): Checker.
They got Checker.

- You see Checker?
- Yeah.

Nice.

You got to let me down.

- Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
- What happened?

Remember the big guy? The big guy
from the... the power plant?

- Yeah.
- He's in there.

He took his own head off, and he
just, like, set it on a table.

Hey, when I left you back at the car,

- Yeah?
- did you get super high?

Because you sound stupid.

- Oh, I sound stupid. Really?
- You sound stupid.

See for yourself.

(STRAINED GRUNTING)

MAX: Oh, my God.

(STRAINED GRUNTING CONTINUES)

- What the...?
- Right?

Listen to me, we have to distract him.

We have to get that big guy out of there

- Yeah.
- so we can go in and get Checker.

Good, good, that's good. Okay,
you go in and grab the head.

When he follows you out, I'll
stay back and get Checker.

Or, just, like, as a different idea,

you go in there and you get the head...

What, you're scared of heads?

It's okay, we're all scared
of something, you know?

I'm scared of ducks.

- You're scared of ducks? Well, you...
- I don't trust them.

You know what, don't even talk about
'em, don't even talk about 'em.

Fine. I mean, what-what am I thinking?

I'm not gonna go in and get the head?

- You got to go get the head.
- Of course. Yeah.

♪ ♪

(WHISPERS): Hey, what's up?

(SCREAMS)

(SCREAMS)

Abort!

(SCREAMS)

(SCREAMING)

(SCREAMS)

(HEAD GROANING)

What the hell is this thing? Shut it up.

Um, excuse me, sir? Hi. I-I'm
gonna need you to be quiet.

- (GROANING)
- Sir, I don't want

to have to ask you again.

(GROANING CONTINUES IN DISTANCE)

- Shut up.
- Shut up.

- I swear, I'll do it.
- No, let's be nice, let's be nice.

- (GASPS IN PAIN)
- He bit me, he bit me.

Shut up.

He's biting me, he's biting me.

It hurts, hurts.

(PANTING): All right, listen...

Aah! Oh!

- (GUNSHOTS)
- Take it, take it.

You okay?

- Yeah.
- Come on.

We got to get to Checker before he does.

Yeah.

He's gone.

(WHIRRING)

The roof.

Checker!

Checker.

It's real. It's all real.

Hey! Don't move.

- Uh, please don't hurt me.
- Who are you?

And who put your head back on?

I didn't...

I-I don't remember anything.

They took Checker up...
up in the spaceship.

Spaceship?

Oh, come on... you didn't just see that?

You're sure you're not high?

MAX: Okay, so he said

that something was
controlling his body, right?

So my theory is, is that the light

was some sort of extraterrestrial
or multidimensional life force

that had taken over his body.

- Why was the head yelling?
- The head should not have been yelling.

That is a good question.

And one that we intend to answer.

I'm kind of sorry to see you both go.

But a deal is a deal.

Leroy, we're gonna get you
back on at the LAPD. And, Max,

Stanford is a no-go, but good news is,

we got you reinstated at the bookstore.

Whoa, whoa. Hold on. No, no, no.
No. Our mission isn't over.

Look, I just found out that everything I
was called crazy for believing is real.

- We can do something about this.
- LEROY: I want to find this dude.

- I mean, we were right there.
- Yeah.

("HIGHER LOVE" BY STEVE WINWOOD PLAYING)

All right. All right.

Gentlemen... welcome to
the Bureau Underground.

♪ Think about it ♪

(CHUCKLES): What?

♪ There must be higher love ♪

Congrats, man.

Wow!

Congrats to you, partner.

- Okay, you just called me part...
- Shwaa!

I, uh, I just heard the good news, huh?

Congratulations.

Nice to have a couple of dudes

in the old henhouse. Ugh.

(CHUCKLES) Yeah, he doesn't
have a lot of male friends.

- Or any friends at all.
- What's going on over there?

Oh, uh, that's just a group of people

we've been monitoring who have

a remarkably similar
abduction story to your...

big man today.

- Oh, my God.
- LEROY: What?

That's my wife.

(SCREAMS)