Limitless (2015–2016): Season 1, Episode 12 - The Assassination of Eddie Morra - full transcript

BRIAN: Previously on Limitless...

It's about time you and me talked.
Do you know who I am?

Everybody says
you're gonna be president soon.

Between me and you,
I don't even know if I'm gonna run.

The world needs to be willing to change
and it takes leaders who are willing

to cut through the noise
and play the game and win the game.

- That's you?
- I think so.

You belong to Mr. Morra now,
which means you belong to me.

When I'm on NZT, I can think through all
the different angles, every perspective.

Then shouldn't you have known that
I was gonna shoot Casey? You texted me.

- Yeah, I didn't think you'd shoot him.
- Lower your weapon.



But I did.

Sorry, ma'am,
gonna have to take a quick peek.

The senator's giving a speech
a few blocks down.

Senator...?

He holds office
in one of two legislative bodies

that make the laws for this country.

I know what a senator is.

Have a nice day, ma'am.

[BLEEPS]

Sir? They're ready for you.

OK.

[APPLAUSE AND CHEERING]

Thank you. Thank you. Please sit down.

You know, when the wars were done,
they didn't scrap this ship.



They found a new mission for her.

The Intrepid was used
as a recovery vessel...

MORRA". Piece of glass just caught the
light. Could be someone with binoculars.

I'd like to give the same dignity to
our veterans that we gave to this ship.

Someone's taking a shot at me.
Call it 3300 yards.

That'd be the longest kit! of at! time.

NZT. Piper.

She'll breathe out before she shoots,
so let's think this through.

Not on the table, obviously.
I could jump out of the way.

Not bad.
But what if the bullet just grazes me?

Yeah, that?! do.

[EXHALES]

[SCREAMING]

[PHONE CHIMES]

They need you upstairs right now.

BRIAN: I saw the news. 0! course! did.

The whole city was talking
about what happened to Senator Morra.

Let's review all the ways
this could go wrong.

Ah. Jarrod Sands, this is Brian Finch.

He consults with us on priority cases.

Mr. Sands is a security consultant
for Senator Edward Morra.

Brian and I know each other.

We are in a clandestine relationship.

The senator and I give him immunity
from the side effects of NZT

in exchange for him reporting back to me
on what you lot get up to.

That explains so, so much.

Should we just arrest him now, then?

If you like. Or I could take care of him
round the back.

OK, it's not in his best interest
to take that approach.

But Rebecca is wicked smart.
What if she figures it out?

The senator's sorry
he can't be here personally.

Anything my team can do to assist you.

Great.

We should also address the fact

that you are in
a clandestine relationship with Brian.

I'm guessing you give him immunity
to NZT side effects

and he tells you what we're up to?

That is so not true.

They know. Once I'm in the car,
nuke the building from orbit.

Yeah, it's the only way to be sure.

BRIAN: I imagined it
all kinds o! different ways.

Can we talk about Senator Morra's eyes
for a second? Amazing, right?

Blue.

But what really happened
was Sands basically ignored me

and they talked about hate mail.

Senator Morra has some powerful enemies
from a few different conglomerates,

but personally I'd be surprised
if they'd make a play for him.

Was there any evidence at the scene?

No evidence was found
at the sniper's nest

and the only information we got from
the two security guards on the scene

was a basic description of the woman
who they think was the shooter, so...

Yeah, unfortunately
we've had to use private security.

It's the best I can do
until the senator decides

whether he's gonna run for president.

We'll interview everyone
who works at the hotel.

Thank you, everyone. The senator will be
sincerely grateful for your help.

Rebecca? Can I have a word, please?

[SIGHS] How are you holding up?

I'm all right.

Um...

Boyle was the one
who had to pull the trigger.

But you were dating Casey Rooks,
were you not?

But it wasn't serious,

so that's why I never filled out
the status of relationship HR form.

L---

They're gonna make this an issue,
aren't they?

Like I was trying to hide something.

No, they're not,
because you're gonna sign the form now,

you're gonna backdate it
and I'll make it official.

- Why would you do that?
- Because you told me the truth.

And I don't think
you did anything wrong.

Rock's actions were entirely his own.

The form is just a bunch of lawyers
trying to save their asses.

- Thank you.
- Oh, please.

I've been single
ever since I joined the Bureau.

Do you think I haven't
slept with anyone here?

We're busy. How else are we
supposed to meet people?

Eyes front, mate.
They got cameras in here.

I'll tell you everything. If we get
a name, you'll have it right away.

I was gonna email you.
Can you hit 15 for me, please?

Some friends of mine, we've been playing
this board game called Arkham Horror.

It's this cooperative thing
where you work together

to defeat the monsters
of the Lovecraft canon.

We could always use a fourth.

Sorry. You're probably really busy.

[QUIETLY]
You always come off as so desperate.

Hey, James, you know what?
That actually sounds pretty awesome.

Just give me a text, OK?

Oh, wait, I don't have your number.

We've got a name.

The woman who tried to shoot Mr. Morra
is Piper Baird.

- So you already know who did it.
- We're fairly certain.

Piper used to work for Mr. Morra.

Their parting of ways was not amicable.

We supplied her with NZT
until she went a bit mad,

declared war on Mr. Morra
and anyone associated with him.

She's been a total pain,
to be honest.

We're gonna find her
and we're gonna son the problem out.

But in the meantime,
your job is to make sure

that the FBI
never learn the name Piper Baird.

So you want me
to sabotage the investigation?

If the FBI finds this woman before
we do, she can tie the senator to NZT,

which means
Mr. Morra goes to jail or flees,

which means
no more booster shots for you.

If she manages to get to Mr. Morra
before we get her...

No more booster shots.

Until we have Piper Baird,
your fate is tied to Senator Morra's.

Do what you need to do
to keep them far away from that woman.

What happened with Casey
wasn't anybody's fault but his.

If someone's trying
to put it on Rebecca,

that's almost as ridiculous
as somebody trying to put it on me.

BRIAN: Boyle is still upset.
I told him he didn't need to kill Casey.

Fm guessing H! be hearing about it
for a while.

I paid attention with one ear

but mostly spent the drive
learning more about the woman

I was supposed to make sure
Boyle never found.

I don't know
what a typical assassin's background is,

but Fm pretty sure
it doesn't involve a scholarship

to study neurochemistry
at Johns Hopkins.

Completely normal childhood,
good kid, great student.

But when
her mother's Alzheimer's got bad,

Piper dropped out of school
to take care of her.

And after that, there wasn't much about
her, not until 14 months ago anyway.

Her boyfriend was stabbed to death
while he was asleep,

and Piper was in the apartment,
but she ran before the police got there.

She's their top suspect.

[HORN BLARES]

Spelman! What was that for?

You had that "zoned out" look
while I was talking.

...private security...
a woman between five four and five six

carried eight or so shopping bags
into the suite...

...didn't leave much behind
in the way of evidence...

A woman brought the rifle in
with a bunch of shopping bags.

We don't know anything else. That it?

You know that "I barely listen
to anything you say" recap thing you do?

It's rude.

BRIAN: There was no evidence at all
in the suite. Piper's thorough.

But I couldn't stop
staring at something.

There's fresh ink on this drawing.

Actually, I think it's eyeliner.
Barely even dry.

I wouldn't have noticed it
if it wasn't for the NZT,

which I think is the point.

Someone's testing me.

That's Piper. She's on NZT.

Why does she need the laser?
Why risk tipping me off?

She knew Pd have to be on NZT
to notice the painting.

Unless...

Dot, dot, dash. That's Morse code.
Is she sending me a message?

You OK, Finch? You look kind of pale.

- I'm OK.
- Any brilliant insights?

Uh, yeah.
The shooter apparently used the balcony.

How did we even function
before you came along?

OK, let's head back. I want you
to review the security footage.

See if you have
any more of those penetrating insights.

Find Sammy DePietro.

She might as well ask me
to find Bigfoot.

DePietro was a union leader with ties
to the Mafia. He vanished in the '70s.

Everyone assumes he's dead,
but no one's ever found the body.

And why does Piper
wanna talk to me anyway?

OK, you see that, right?

Piper's good, but she couldn't keep
her face off all the security footage.

You gotta trim those frames out.

And you gotta find everything you can
about Sammy DePietro.

I don't know why,
but Piper's testing you.

And if she says you can find DePietro,
then you can find him.

[SIGHS]

You heard Sands, man.

You don't have a choice.

Yeah, I know.

It's just that working against the FBI,
betraying Rebecca,

every time I do that,
it gets a little bit easier.

You sure you're not
slowly turning into Finch?

Building models with colored yarn?

- Actually, it's a diagram.
- Mmm.

But I see your point. Where is Brian?

Said he was running down a hunch.

And for what it's worth,
he seems pretty off his game.

Well, maybe he's internalizing
your attitude towards him.

- He's very sensitive.
- No, we're fine.

- How'd it go with Naz?
- All good. We just...

We're finishing up some paperwork.

I had some time to do some research.

These represent the five longest
confirmed sniper shots of all time.

The record belongs to a British officer
who sewed in Afghanistan: 2,700 yards.

He beat second place
by a whole football field.

This represents the deck of the Intrepid
and the hotel where the shot was fired.

3,315 yards.

She took a shot that would have beaten
the old record by six football fields.

- Wow.
- The round was standard.

It was fired
from an off-the-shelf rifle.

There was no new technology.

Nobody could make that shot.

Well, maybe she had some help.

Can you think of anything
that would help someone do something

that was otherwise impossible?

You're thinking the sniper was on NZT.

It's a lot of red yarn.

Yeah, and your tape's not as clean
as the way Brian would do it.

BRIAN: Find Sammy DePietro.
Sounded impossible at first.

But when you can plow through
50 years of files in a couple of hours,

interesting things
can present themselves.

Fritz Wunderlich.

You know, I was always more of
a Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau man myself.

As far as German opera goes.

What do you want, kid?

I know you're Johnny Opera Velardi.

What gave it away?

I know you have ties
to the Lotito crime family.

- Allegedly.
- Mm-hm.

I'm just a retired truck driver.

Mmm, I know, and you drove the truck

that carried the body of Sammy DePietro
in a steel drum

from where he was murdered
to where they stashed it.

Been questioned about it
15 different times.

Who are you?
You certainly don't look like a fed.

It's a long story.
Let's just say I'm a concerned citizen.

To be clear,
I don't think you killed him.

In fact, you probably didn't even know
what it was you were transporting.

I just wanna know
where you drove the truck that night.

Kid, that was 40 years ago.

Even if I could remember
where I drove that truck,

why would I start talking
after all this time?

Cos I'm gonna make you an offer
you can't refuse.

This is a bootleg
that even you don't have, Johnny.

You didn't know it,

but you were wiretapped
for almost 20 years by the FBI.

[WOMAN SINGS]

That's your wife.

She's singing to your son
when he was a baby.

It's beautiful.

It's Puccini.

I was sorry to read
what happened to her.

You know, my aunt had leukemia.

That is the master copy
and it is all yours

if you just tell me
where you drove the truck that night.

No one will ever know we talked.

The night Johnny Opera delivered
his truck with its mysterious cargo,

he came here.

He said a new concrete floor
had been poured.

So somewhere in all o! this concrete
lies the body o! Sammy DePietro.

But that's not why I'm here.

Obviously this is where
Piper's been hiding, but where is she?

[BLEEP]

Mom? Dad?

' Ha!
_ Hey!

- Brian!
- Hi!

Hi. ls everything OK here, guys?

Of course. Come, sit. We're just
getting to know your new girlfriend.

- What's wrong, Brian?
- Nothing. It's just...

I'm surprised to see you... here...
with my family.

How could you not tell us
that you had a girlfriend?

He had this whole elaborate plan
to introduce us.

I just kind of got tired of waiting.

Yes, well, our Brian likes to do things
in his own way, on his own time.

That's OK. I think I got him
pretty well figured out.

Piper was just telling us
about your first date.

' Oh. yeah?
- [BLEEP]

Ah! Oh, well, I assume
you're both gonna stay for dinner.

I don't know yet, Mom.

Piper. Quick word on the porch, please?

Thanks. We'll be right back.

I'm sensing some tension between
you and your dad. What did you do?

Listen to me,
my family is not a part of this.

You can't really believe that, not after
being around Morra for this long.

Did you tell anyone I was here?

Relax. I just need to know
if you're telling the truth.

Does Sands know where I am right now?

No.

[REGULAR PULSE BEAT]

I'm not here to threaten you.
I'm not gonna hurt your parents.

I just don't have much time.

I had to learn everything I could
about the person Morra is working with.

Yeah? What did you learn?

Classic middle child,
which explains your need for approval.

On the other hand, your fears of living
up to your successful older siblings

caused you to rebel
and reject mainstream success.

Resorbed Twin. You really thought
that was a reasonable band name?

The most important thing I learned

is that you grew up
surrounded by love and support,

which suggests a strong moral framework.

Why do you care
if I have a strong moral framework?

- And how long were you in there for?
- Seven minutes.

And I care
because I know how Morra works.

He has a way of corrupting good people.

You're one of them... same way I was.

So it's his fault
that you killed your boyfriend?

I didn't kill my boyfriend, Brian.

Morra did, or his people.

And why would they do that?

He came to me
when I was writing my dissertation.

I guess he'd read some of my work.

He told me about NZT, how he was trying
to alleviate the side effects

and how, if I could help him do it,
the pill might help my mom.

You invented the enzyme?

Well, me and some other people.
I don't know who they are.

Morra kept us all separate.

He has this way of making people think
he's a good person,

how, no matter what he does,
it's all for some greater good.

And one day I stopped believing that
it was about anything other than him.

So I stole a supply of NZT
and the enzyme.

And he framed me
for killing Colin as retribution.

That's when I decided
he needs to be stopped.

You're running out,

of NZT, or the enzyme, or both.

You know, something about the attempt
on Morra seemed desperate.

He has been on NZT
longer than any human being alive.

You had to know
that he would see that coming.

But you couldn't wait any longer
or you might miss your one shot forever.

I'm close to replicating the enzyme,

and when I get there,
his plan to keep NZT to himself,

to keep it from doing all the good you
and I know it could, that's all over.

If you saw me as a threat,
I'd be dead already, so what is this?

Presumably you want something from me.

You're under his thumb same way I was.

He took everything from my life
that mattered.

He'll do the same to you, trust me.

- There's only one way out.
- What is that?

You're going to help me
kill Eddie Morra.

Where are you going?

We can't just leave.
Your mom made meatloaf.

BRIAN: At the end o! the night,
I was no closer to knowing

if Piper was a disgruntled
former operative

or a victim of Morra and Sands.

If she was close to making that enzyme,

she could be another source
for the booster shot.

She could get me free o! the senator.

Saw Piper Baird today. Want a meeting.

Not with you. With him.

MORRA: I'll cosponsor a new one,
give you 40% of whatever you want,

which is better
than 100% of nothing, OK?

Well, give my best to Diane.

He's cheating on his wife. I bring up
Diane, makes him a little more pliable.

Did you kill Piper Baird's boyfriend?

[SIGHS]

She found you. I thought she might.

What does she want?
She wants to use you to get to me.

Did you kill her boyfriend?

The work we do...
it's in the shadows for now.

I operate in the dark because I have to.

I'd defend what we're building
to my dying breath,

but I wouldn't kill anyone

unless they're threatening
to do the same thing to me.

Is that an answer?

I didn't kill him. She did.

Piper Baird is brilliant,
but she is tortured.

And she's a liar.

After I cut her off,
she broke into one of my R&D facilities

and stole a year's supply of the enzyme.

And now she's running out
and she's desperate.

You're torn. I understand.
She's very convincing.

But she can't help you, Brian.

She doesn't know
how to make the enzyme.

In a way, you're lucky,

because, in this situation, the right
choice is the pragmatic choice.

And those don't come along every day.

Piper's not done with any of us yet.

One thing left for you to do.

And use the NZT wisely.

Don't you two know me
better than that by now?

I'm not gonna mean-mug you
on this one, Brian.

You know full well how this works.

You're due another shot soon
and this needs to happen.

Piper came after us and now
you're the fastest way to get to her.

Listen, son...

...defend what we're building, Brian.

When you're done, chuck it in the river.

It's untraceable.

Where the hell have you been? Boyle
and I have been trying you all morning.

Yeah, sorry. I had stuff to do.

We got an anonymous tip
in the middle of the night.

A woman matching the description
the security guards gave you

was found hiding
in an abandoned building uptown.

SWAT just picked her up.
Boyle's questioning her now.

- Who's that?
- Her name is Brandy Jo Hawkins.

She just confessed
to shooting Senator Morra.

BRIAN: That woman, Brandy Jo Hawkins,

she obviously didn't shoot
Senator Morra,

but she makes a great suspect.

She was one of the first female snipers
in the military.

She had four confirmed kills in Iraq,

then got kicked out of the military
for hitting a superior officer.

She was an easy target to be radicalized
by a grass-roots militia.

The way she told it,
Brandy had means and motive.

She knew details. She said a meth dealer
gave her an NZT pill.

Senator Morra wants the FBI
to stop looking for Piper.

Best way to do that,
give them a different shooter.

God knows how he got that poor woman
to take the fall.

OK, so Morra and Sands
have their patsy.

That leaves one thing
on their to-do list.

Piper. They want me to kill her.
She wants me to kill them.

Who do I side with?

Why should you side with anyone?
Who says you have to commit murder?

They do. They didn't give me an option
of not killing anyone.

Exactly. That's why
there's not even a question here.

You dance with the one that brung ya.
And that is Eddie.

Piper says
she'll create the enzyme soon.

She says she didn't kill her boyfriend.
But you don't know.

The only thing you do know
is that Eddie Morra can help you.

That's for certain.

I'm pretty sure about one thing.
You're not a killer.

No one's a killer.
Not until they kill, that is.

What are those things you're wearing?

All right, obviously
I'm having a hard time with this.

That's why you all are showing up.

So if I could just have a little
peace and quiet, I think that I...

Excuse me.

I'm not sure what I'm doing here,
but these things really make me itchy.

Join Team Badass, Ike.
You get cool leather jackets.

Leather sticks to my skin.

All right, enough!

DENNIS:
Oh, you're making this too hard, kid.

There's no way out of this.

I mean, one way or another, I'm gonna be
forced to do something that I can't,

and if I don't, I'll die
and it'll blow back on you guys.

- Who do you believe?
- What?

That's the first thing
you're gonna have to decide.

Is Senator Morra
a cold-blooded murderer

or did Piper Baird kill her boyfriend?

You're never gonna know,
so you have to go with what you feel.

Decide who you believe. Side with them.

And then you can really start thinking.

Meet me tonight.
I know what I have to do.

Brandy Jo Hawkins said she got NZT
from a meth dealer.

When's the last time someone
below wholesale had a pill to sell?

- Maybe 18 months? Why?
- Somethings wrong with her story.

Her blood test confirmed
that she had NZT in her system,

but I ran a full battery
and something else came back too.

She has Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

It's fatal.
It plays havoc with your coordination.

Yet she managed to get herself
into position, take an impossible shot

and avoid every surveillance camera.

Somethings not sitting right
with you either?

She was so smart along the way.

Then all of a sudden, barn,

an anonymous tip, she's sitting
right in our lap, telling us everything.

It just seems too easy.

And you know what else?

Her parents' house was in foreclosure
up until two days ago.

Right before we picked her up
the bank settled,

supposedly an accounting error.

Now it's theirs, free and clear.

Well, what if someone settled the debt
against her house

and in return she confessed to a crime
she didn't commit?

Because of her disease,
she'll be dead within the year.

This way, she gets to leave something
for her family.

If she's taking a fall, who's it for?

And why would someone on NZT
be targeting Senator Morra?

PIPER: So you believe me?

Yeah, I believe you.

BRIAN: I don't know I! I trust you.

PIPER: I came unarmed,
just like you asked.

You know Morra says you're psychotic?

And yet here we are.

Yeah.

You know what I think?

I think you know what needs to happen

and I think you know
you're the one to do it.

You just need a little help
getting there.

He'll take everything
that means anything to you, Brian.

He'll do it and he'll say
it had to happen to make a better world.

Would you take
your hands off me, please?

- What is that? You set me up?
- I'm sorry. It was you or me.

[GUNSHOT]

[TRAIN APPROACHES]

Wait. No.

[SCREAMS]

No!

SANDS: We got hold
of all the security cam footage.

No one saw your face.

And we had one of our people
from the NYPD

pull the gun with your prints
off the scene.

And there's no trace of you being there.

For a botched plan, it went quite well.

Drink that.

I killed her.

We got a DNA sample.

It was Piper Baird on those tracks.

What, you didn't think
we'd double-check your work?

Believe it or not, I know
exactly what you're feeling right now.

Do you know what I did after my first?

I rang my Year 4 teacher,

cried like I was
one of those Sabine women.

Why her, I don't know.

Practically confessed.

I'm lucky she didn't turn me in.

How do you live with it?

All things pass, Brian.

The volume of your feelings right now,
they'll go down.

This is hard, but it's like a baptism.

You're an initiate now.
You're a part of the real world.

The strong eat the weak.

Same as it ever was.

All right, OK. You picked the wrong day
to come in late.

Senator Morra came by
to thank us all personally.

Oh, too bad I missed it.

GoatWhore?

Yeah. I liked them in high school.

It freaks the people around here out,
so leave it up.

I have a question for you.
You don't have to answer right now.

But if you spend some time with it,
I think it might help you.

Why are you trying so hard to hold on
to the person you were before NZT?

That's who I am.

Well, it doesn't have to be.

I remember Eddie Morra.
He was a terrible writer.

And he lacked the self-discipline
and awareness to do anything about it.

I couldn't wait to get rid of him
and become someone else.

But you...

We're different
from other people, Brian.

We become more different
with every pill we take.

You don't have to run from that.
You can embrace it.

I don't wanna be someone else.

I think you do.
You're just not willing to admit it yet.

You're on NZT.

You're above the kind of concerns
that you're letting weigh you down.

Put them down, walk away.

You'll feel so much lighter.

I promise.

No, I wasn't followed.
I went exactly the way you told me to.

Three cabs, two subways, avoided
every camera from Federal Plaza to here.

Not easy to do, by the way, in the most
photographed city in the world.

Really not easy to do without NZT.

I know what you're thinking.
"She's alive."

Also, hopefully,
"I thought for sure he'd killed her."

Because, let's be honest, you're not
the person we're trying to fool here.

I'm not killing Eddie.
I'm not killing anybody.

And if you wanna keep up this war
between you guys, then that's on you.

But in the meantime I've got an idea.

Luckily I know a lot about jumping
in front of subway trains,

and she, disturbingly,
knows a thing or two

about stealing cadavers
and rigging them under subway platforms.

There was just one more thing.

We were fairly certain
Sands would check the DNA

of the body found at the scene
just to be sure it matched Piper.

Since we couldn't put Piper's DNA
into a dead body,

I suggested we do it
the other way around,

tum the body into Piper,
at least in the system.

I also knew Sands
would be watching the whole time,

so we'd have to make it look perfect.

You should come away with me.
I have a lab setup.

I'm gonna figure out
how that enzyme works, Brian.

You can be free of Morra for good.

The people I love aren't gone yet.
They're here.

If I leave...
I might as well kill them myself.

Can I give you some advice?

Just drop this war with Morra.

Figure out how to make that shot
and live your life.

You don't get it yet.

If someone doesn't stop Morra, no one's
gonna be able to just live their life.

The whole world's
gonna be very different, Brian.

You can't play both sides forever.

You have to leave the country now,
like we agreed.

If Morra ever finds out
that you are still alive,

then everything
that means anything to me is gone.

You have a nice family.

I hope I get to see you again
under better circumstances.

[I DAN DEACON:
WHEN I WAS DONE DYING]

♪ >A' When I was done dying
My conscience regained

♪ >a' So I began my struggle
A nothingness strained

♪ >a' Out a flash made of time
my new form blasted out

♪ >a' And it startled me so
and I burst out a shout

♪ >a' At which my legs ran frantic
like birds from a nest

♪ And I ran until drained
leaving no choice but rest

♪ So I fell asleep softly
at the edge of a cave

♪ But I should have gone deeper
But I'm not so brave

♪ >a' And like that I was tom out
and thrown in the sky

♪ And I said all my prayers
because surely I'll die

♪ >a' As I crashed down
and smashed into earth, into dirt

♪ >a' How my skin did explode
leaving only my shirt

♪ >a' But from shirt grew a tree
and then tree grew a fruit and l... a'