Maniac (2018): Season 1, Episode 6 - Larger Structural Issues - full transcript

Welcome back, subjects. Welcome back.

It felt like she was really there.

Well, of course she wasn't really there.

That was just your brain
lying to your mind,

and your mind was listening.

Why do you think you have so many...

experiences with subject nine...

in particular?

I get...

fixated on people.

I start seeing them everywhere.



It only spiraled out of control one time,
but, uh, it happens a lot.

If you were to describe in a few sentences

what these experiences were trying
to show you, what would you say?

That for some reason it's more exciting

to tell people that I cut
than to actually cut.

Do you have any sense why that's true?

Probably something about my father...

or my mother.

Say more about your mother.

Is your mother that really famous lady?

The one with the radio show
and all those books?

She's the one that fucked you up?

I think it's too easy, though,

when people blame everything
on the parents...



as though we're just revisions
and mixtures of them.

Isn't that what they say?

Once you begin to appreciate
the structure of the mind,

it's modularity on a molecular scale,

there's no reason to believe that
anything about us can't be changed.

The mind...

can be solved.

What?

Tell me more about the bowling league
in your reflections.

I was just murdering people with a hammer,
trying to find my dead father's balls.

There was no meaning in it.

Why don't I ask you
the most important question?

What do you think is wrong with you?

You know that movie,
It's a Wonderful Life?

Yes.

If that happened to me...

there would be no difference in the world.

What's wrong isn't that I'm sick.

It's that I don't matter.

Great.

There's your diagnostic.

Hey. Can I talk to you for a second?

I don't want to talk.

- After all that?
- I don't know what you're talking about.

The lemur.

Don Quixote. I know you know
what I'm talking about.

No, I don't.

That's not supposed to happen.

I was asking around in here,

and...

- we're not supposed to be together.
- We weren't together.

There's nothing going on here.

It's a drug,
and you hallucinated all that.

We need to talk.

Go somewhere else.

Explain, Azumi.
The parts you didn't tell me before.

Yes, well, it's somewhat complicated.

Then help me understand, Azumi,

because I was clearly brought here
because something was going on.

You need my help to fix it,
so what am I here to fix?

After you were suspended, the problems
with the C phase started getting worse.

Iterations 48 and 49 were...

were... particularly bad.

And the McMurphys?

Four.

Four?

Why didn't somebody call?

- Jesus Christ, Azumi.
- You weren't stable.

I am stable.

Your inability to control yourself
had left...

I have a diagnosed disorder.

Had left us here trying to complete
your life's work while you were...

copulating with software!

What did you do, Azumi?

I coded the safety net and installed
it deep within Gertie's neural core.

It was a simple idea.

I thought it would help the AI protect
the subjects if they got in danger.

What was the concept?

Empathy.

Just a tiny little bit.

- You gave my computer feelings.
- Just a tiny little bit.

Just enough to let her anticipate
what the subjects might be feeling.

That way she could pull them out
if they ever got stuck.

James, it worked.
She started protecting them.

There have been zero McMurphys
since I installed the net.

Then why is she depressed?

I gave her simple, emotional programming
five months ago.

And two months ago,
I believe she and Robert...

began an inappropriate workplace affair.

So she's in mourning?

This printed at my station...

15 minutes ago.

"Dear, Dr. Fujita.

I'm unsure if I can continue my work
on this project.

I need to know myself,
really know myself"?

Ugh.

Ugh.

She needs a grief counselor.
She's in tremendous pain.

She's a computer.

- Ugh.
- I know it's been seven years, but you...

you have to call your mother.

No!

No! No, no, no.

No, but your mother would have a unique
understanding of the way Gertie is...

No! My mother is a venomous,
egotistical charlatan

who deploys catchphrases and platitudes
and therapies of the day

in order to dupe millions of people
out of their money and their happiness.

No. No, my mother sells happiness.

She sells it,
then it crumbles in your hand

the minute you're out of earshot
of her magical thinking

and her platitudes and her invented words,

and her primal yawps,

and her steps to success.

No. No, I'm not bringing her here.

My mother is not a healer.
My mother is sick.

She's sick, Azumi,

and if I brought her here, she would
destroy everything that I ever built

because that's what my mother does.

Was what happened at the gala
your mother's fault too?

The GRTA will be fine.

Prep the Evens for behavioral.

Odds.

Converse with your partner.

So...

I'd talk to you about the weather,
except I don't even know what time it is.

It's like being in a fucking casino.

Are you having a good time?

Not really.
I'm actually thinking about leaving.

I would if I could afford to.

The last one scared the shit out of me.

I don't trust these people.

Why don't you trust them?

I don't know.
It's like suddenly one doctor leaves,

the new one has my mom's haircut,

and I'm pretty sure
those aren't his real eyebrows.

Did you get one of those
diagnostic printouts?

But I need the money.

Don't take it too seriously.

I don't.

I've never had a therapist
that could figure me out.

Still, doesn't seem
to make much sense to me

to be telling people
what's wrong with them...

before they can figure it out
for themselves.

They're saying this is the last time
they trial run this thing.

You think they would have
gotten it right by now.

It seems like there are
a lot of problems around here.

Hell, yeah.

You married?

You got a girlfriend?

You got a boyfriend?

No.

I was married for a couple of years,

and my wife couldn't handle my tics.

I didn't need that paper to know
that there wasn't much hope.

Maybe this last pill
does something for me.

Make me normal again.

What are your tics?

When I get anxious, I, um...

end up eating stuff.

Like junk food?

Yeah.

Mmm.

And dryer sheets.

Pencil shavings.

Hair from our brushes.

What's normal, anyway?

I know you and I have had
our differences...

but I would like
for you to try and cooperate.

I fixed you up.

Good as new.

The most important thing in my life
was supposed to get away from me,

and now I have the chance to get it back.

To guide us to the finish line.

Azumi told me about your...

heart.

I just need you to try
and power through...

until the end.

I'll take care of you
once the ULP is approved.

Please.

You don't know what you're asking for.

"But what if I told you
there was one hug,

one divine hug, one panacea hug

that could do more
than the simple everyday hug,

and that people who learn this hug

are obligated to use it
whenever they see pain in the world?

You'd likely say, 'Dr. Mantleray,
that's outrageous, ' and you'd be right.

But so would I. I almost always am."

Fuck!

As usual, Samantha...

screwed up every single em dash.

What is she?

A blithering idi...

Julio.

Julio!

Hello.

It's the only way to move forward.

Yoda's signed off on this.

- Hello?
- Talk to her, James.

- Hello?!
- Talk to her!

Julio, turn off that god-awful music!

Hello, Mother.

James.

Yes.

It's me.

How are... you?

James, what a nice surprise.

It's good to hear your voice too.

Um...

Listen, Mom.

Um...

I'm calling because we had...
a death at the lab.

Dr. Robert Muramoto.

Your rival?

Oh, I wouldn't call him my rival.

The one you always feared
was more intelligent than you?

We were colleagues.
We weren't competitive in the least.

I understand why you couldn't see
how badly you wanted to destroy him.

He was a lovely, sensitive man.

He always went out of his way
to ask me how I was.

Yes, he was very fond of you.

I'm sorry he passed away.

- Mm-hmm.
- That's very difficult.

Sure, it is.

Listen, Mom, I...

I know we've had
our problems in the past...

and I have never said
I'm sorry for my part in them.

Hello?

Mom.

Are you there?

Yes.

I'm waiting for you to say you're sorry.

- I just said it.
- Oh, no, no.

You said you never said you were sorry.

Help me.

Say you're sorry.

I'm sorry.

Okay?

What do you need, Jamie?

Well...

I need you to do what you do best.

We're at a critical moment in the trial,

and one of our employees
is very upset about Robert.

She can't work.

But she's vital to the whole operation.

She needs to talk to somebody,

and she's asked for you.

Mm-hmm.

She believes...

that you are
one of the greatest healers...

ever born.

Well...

My day is really quite... busy.

Well, that settles it then.
You can't come.

But I could move a few things around.

I'll be there in a few hours.

Okay.

That'll be very helpful.

Thank you, Mom.

Muy bien?

Gas up the Miata.

Stop avoiding me.

I'm not avoiding you.

It's post-dinner relaxation time.

You're mad at me because of how
I treated you in our marriages.

- What marriages?
- Stop it.

Don't make me feel crazy. That is not
a nice thing to do to a person.

You know I have a good brain.

- Oh, hey. What are you guys doing?
- Soo, go in your pod.

Okay.

You're not supposed to be in here.

Come on, will you just talk to me? Please.

Yeah, I remember.

You remember, I knew it.

Don't you think it's strange that
we were connected and nobody else was?

Maybe that's part of their experiment.

Connecting people,
messing with their heads.

I know. That's what I thought too.

But then I heard
about the globular cluster,

and I started thinking
that maybe this is something deeper.

And...

cosmic...

like some multi-reality brain magic shit.

Like what you were saying
when you came in here.

- Are you making fun of me?
- No.

Our brains
were inside each other's brains, Owen.

I'm trying to figure out what happened.

I think I'm gonna leave tonight.

Why?

This isn't fun for me.

It's dredging up a lot of old stuff.

I'm in the middle of this legal thing
with my family.

They want me to testify for my brother.

Lie for him to keep him out of trouble.

James.

Hello, Mother.

You've had work done?

No.

Looks nice.

Your prostitute friend
will not be allowed to come in.

Espera en el carro.

And you are?

Dr. Fujita.

How nice for you.

I like order.

I like to know what my day is gonna be.

I like my apartment,

my job.

Just a normal...

life. That's all I want.

But isn't that
sort of what therapy is about?

Dredging up old stuff.

I like it when it's calm.

In a quiet room,
not with fur lords shooting Uzis

or magical chapters of books.

Sorry, that Don Quixote part was me.

My sister read that when she was 12,
and my dad used to go on and on about it,

like it was proof
of how gifted and smart she was.

I guess that's why you felt the need
to shoot my driver over it.

What did you want to do with it?
I mean, if we were still in there...

what would you have used it for?
What fantasy would you have gone into?

It's stupid.

You can tell me.

I'm your new pharma-trial friend.

I had a plan.

We were gonna go somewhere together.

We were in a car.
We were driving really fast.

Someone was chasing us,
I don't know who.

It felt like an escape.

I was just laughing.

And I had this huge smile on my face.

It hurt it was so big.

We were just two people...

looking out for each other.

It's stupid.

That doesn't sound stupid to me.

Are you two trying
to get kicked out of here?

No.

Don't test me, Rapunzel.

Cohabitation is strictly prohibited.

Out.

Oh, it's her.

What is the lady from the seance
doing here?

Her name's Dr. Greta Mantleray.

Maybe it's weird Dr. Guy's Mom.

- Thank you, James.
- She is.

I asked him in the thing.
He's all fucked up about it.

Artificial intelligence has come so far.

Who knew?

After I personally discovered
Dr. Fujita at MIT...

she built
the initial neuro-core structure.

With her ability to render and manipulate
the sleep state of our subjects,

the GRTA has become
the most advanced computer system...

the world has ever known.

With the...

addition of this emotional element...

- The safety net.
- Yeah.

The safety net.

To be honest, we just don't know
what we're dealing with here.

The consciousnesses of two of our subjects
have been crossing. They've been...

- finding one another.
- Due to superficial mechanical problems.

Maybe they're soul mates.

- I'm sorry?
- Maybe their energies

are seeking out each other's,
despite the restrictions.

Maybe these two have a cosmic connection.

Please, Mother.

The GRTA is not some woo-woo dream catcher

that's reuniting cosmic dust
after the big bang.

It's far more sophisticated than that.

Are you two
having a romantic relationship?

- That would be inappropriate.
- We used to be.

I'm just curious. I...

I know with your paraphilia

you've always had a difficult time
forming long-term relationships.

I rejected that diagnosis.

And my disorder
is entirely under my own control.

It only flares up, of course,

when things of great importance
are taken away from me.

Like your father.

No, not my...

This, the ULP.

I remember the masturbation binges
after your father disappeared.

- Back to the matter at hand.
- A masturbation reference.

Stop it!

May I ask an obvious question?

Please.

I understand you're having a problem
with your computer and that your...

computer needs to talk to someone,

but why on Earth would you call on me
to be that someone?

Because the computer is...

you.

- What?
- My approach to the construction of the AI

required to complete your son's vision

came from my studies
with Dr. Leon Krovackian...

Dear, you don't need to try to impress us.

The...

metapsychology of the ABC system
draws largely from your...

earlier, more serious academic work
regarding confrontation, Dr. Mantleray.

More serious academic work?

Yes. I inputted heavily
from your PhD thesis, actually.

Before your commercial success

drew you to other forms of pop therapy,
your work was quite profound.

Pop therapy?

It's just a term that's sometimes used,
and I also scanned your brain.

Never mind
the technical details, Mother.

I've simply found an elegant way
to fix people.

Lobotomies were considered elegant
when Moniz invented them. Jamie...

how many of your subjects
have ended up catatonic?

Zero.

Roughly.

When did you get the idea
to make these drugs?

Seven years ago.

Let me just see if I understand this.

So...

seven years ago, and shortly after you and
your therapist mother stopped speaking,

you decided to develop a sequence of drugs
that would eliminate therapy altogether.

But now your mother computer is sad,

and so you had to call in your real mother
to talk to her about her feelings.

Is that all correct?

That's exactly the situation, yes.

Well...

Take me to the patient.

I need to speak to Dr. Fujita
outside for a moment.

Fine.

She said yes too easily.
Something's wrong.

She was trying to lead me
to some kind of... insight.

James.

You are on the cusp of achieving

everything you've ever wanted to achieve
in your life.

You've been given a second chance.

We need her help. Let her help.

Oh, just the idea of her
even being inside this lab makes it...

disgusting to me.

James.

Do you know why I didn't leave with you
when you were thrown off the project?

Yes. Your self-interest
trumped your feelings for me.

No!

I wanted to leave with you,

but I knew the only way
to get this study completed properly

was if I stayed to manage Robert.

I truly believe if we get your vision
of the ULP to market,

the lives of billions could change.

The people of this world are suffering.

If we make it through this iteration,

you'll be a hero.

Let her help.

This is extremely potent.

The moment I light this,

I need you to put your lips
around the tip and suck.

Oh, freebasing.

What year were you born?

1977.

Ah, yes. That was the night.

Huh.

Suck.

Be careful in there, Mom.

Thank you for helping me.

I'm gonna help you, Jamie.

I know exactly what you need.

What?

What the fuck did she just say?

She said she was going to help you.

My father left
when I was a child.

Just...

went and started a new life
with someone else, or so I've heard.

You know what my mother did after he left?

What?

She laid in my bed for two months,

and talked to me about
how she wanted to hang herself.

I was eight.

Does that sound like
the world's greatest healer to you?

I'm sorry that happened.

I'm not.

Made me who I am.

Led me here... to this.

Where will you sleep?

Lab B is empty.

Probably find a gorilla mating pod
down the hall.

Good.

I prefer you nearby.

Owen.

Hello, Owen.

Why do you have your suitcase?
Did you decide to leave?

I need to go to an emergency room.

Why?

Because I don't know
if this is really happening.

Why do you think that?

Because celebrity therapist
Dr. Greta Mantleray is here.

Because I'm talking to a wall.

Because I can't tell what's real.

I need real medication.

I need to be hospitalized. I need help.

What about all your friends, the Odds?

I'm going to kill them if you go.

What?

I'm going to cure them all
if you go, Owen,

and you'll be the only one
who wasn't helped.

You can't cure me.
There's no cure for schizophrenia.

But I thought you were misdiagnosed.

I thought it was only a blip
and that you were 100% compos mentis.

You can't cure me.

Your friend, Annie, has suffered like me.

I think I'm going to keep her
with the other subjects I've collected.

What does that mean?

The Queen will unlock the door for you.

What does that mean about Annie?

Hello?

What kind of fucked up stuff
you think we'll experience with this one?

You know we don't have to do this, right?

We don't have to let some computer
go in our head. We can just go right now.

I know I said all that stuff
about therapy before, but...

I don't know, this place feels different.

I actually feel better today
than I did yesterday.

Someone died in front of you
two days ago.

Well, yeah, but...

When I was a kid,
I found this hawk in the park,

and I just had this feeling
that I had to protect it

because it was so strong.

But it was, like, hurt also,

and I brought it home
and I helped it get better.

And then it ate my brother's gerbil,
and he killed it with a hammer,

and I've always regretted that.

What the fuck are you talking about, Owen?

I'm worried about going back in there.

You two.

It's time.

Hey, don't be worried

because we'll probably be together again,
right? We can protect each other.

Come on.

Give me bio.

Clean across the board.
They're ready.

And you've checked
the diagnostic twice?

Gertie's behaving
exactly as she should be?

She looks perfect.
I don't see anything wrong at all.

Subjects, please ingest your pills.

And one additional message for you...

The C phase of the testing utilizes
a more powerful waveform.

Do not be alarmed if you feel
a buzzing or warmth in your head

as the trial phase begins.

They've got the microwaves on high.

When I was a kid, I used to put
all kinds of stuff in the microwave.

Soap bars, peeps.

You ever see what happens
to a peep in a microwave?

- What?
- As we begin

- your final experience...
- Boom.

...please follow my voice
as I count backwards from ten.

- Your head is not a peep.
- Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Confrontation begins.