Mr. Mercedes (2017–…): Season 2, Episode 6 - Proximity - full transcript

A visit from Lou elicits an unprecedented response from Brady, and Dr. Babineau pushes him to communicate. Holly begins to come around to Hodges' thinking about Brady. Armed with new intel, Hodges reaches out to Babineau and Cora.

NARRATOR: Previously
on Mr. Mercedes:

How's school and shit?
You don't talk much about it.

It's fucking Harvard. It's
Ivy League. Case closed.

MONTEZ: What you're saying
is he shouldn't still be lying here?

BABINEAU: I can't
make him sit up and talk.

- You led me to believe you could.
- Barry in R and D,

he just showed me this
prototype. It's an eye-brain thing.

What if you practiced what
you would say to Brady?

Fuck you, you sniveling little
prick. And you'll never hurt me again.

Did you know that Sadie thought
Hartsfield was communicating with her?

The moment Sadie jumped,
Brady's EKG, through the roof.



BILL: Can I get a copy of those reports?
- What are you doing?

MONTEZ: She's been
feeding you information.

I'm gonna walk through your
investigator's license review myself.

- Stay away from Mercy Gen.
- Montez threatened to pull our license.

DONNA: To knowingly go
down that same rabbit hole,

this time, taking
Jerome and Holly.

Do you even know what
the hell you're doing?

[BARKING]

- I don't understand. I don't understand.
- Someone killed my dog.

If you help me with this, I will forget
about what we discussed yesterday.

[♪♪♪]

♪ Oh, I shall not I
shall not be moved ♪

♪ I shall not I shall
not be moved ♪

♪ Just like a tree ♪



♪ Planted by the water ♪

♪ I shall not be moved ♪

♪ I'm on my way to heaven ♪

♪ I shall not be moved ♪

♪ On my way to heaven ♪

♪ I shall not be moved ♪

♪ Just like a tree ♪

♪ Planted by the water ♪

♪ I shall not be moved ♪

♪ Oh, I shall not I
shall not be moved ♪

♪ I shall not I shall
not be moved ♪

♪ Just like a tree ♪

♪ Planted by the water ♪

♪ I shall not be moved ♪♪

[LAUGHING]

BOY 1: Come on, Kermit.
Stop dragging your feet.

[BOY 2 LAUGHS]

BOY 2: Kermit,
Kermit. BOY 1: Ha-ha.

[♪♪♪]

Isn't the brain a
wonderful thing?

Remember that Dr. Seuss
book, Oh, the Places You'll Go!?

Heh. That pretty much
sums it up, don't you think?

Don't move. I have
your dick in a clinch knot.

Pretty withered, as peckers go.

My guess, one yank,
it'll come right off.

[YELPS]

Maybe I put it on eBay.

Although, I'm not sure
who would bid on it.

Ida, maybe.

Donna. No. Seen it.

Holly?

I used to have a choo-choo
train when I was younger.

Used to pull it around.

- Choo-choo! Choo-choo!
- Aah!

Where were we?

Yeah, the human brain.

Fascinating.

Look, this could be real or you
could be having a nightmare,

which would mean you
were having a dream of you

having a dream when
you were younger.

Let's think about that.

If, while asleep, the machinations
of the mind are complex enough

for you to be having a
dream within a dream,

all the while factoring
actual conscious obsessions,

is it any wonder

the line between reality and fantasy
sometimes gets a little blurred?

Okay, if this is a dream, then
you're likely to wake up any second.

In which case, if you
wanna ask me anything,

now is kind of the time, sport.

Go ahead.

Did you make that
nurse jump off the ledge?

Ooh. Interesting question.

Though it doesn't make
much scientific sense

for me to be able to control the actions
of other beings from my hospital bed,

does it, Kermie-Wormie?

That would make
me rather godlike...

and you a pretty dumb shit to be
picking a fight with the Almighty.

Oh, shit, where's my head?

Your morning routine.

You can't think straight without
your morning piss, can you?

All right, big guy,
I'm sorry. Up you get.

It's pee-pee time.

Come on.

Let's be having you.

Come on. You can do it.

It's pee-pee time.

Okay, big guy, lots to do today.

Choo-choo!

Okay.

Now, don't mind me.

Just relax.

Just let it happen.

Take your fucking piss!

IDA: Seriously?

Yeah. I mean, it
was beyond vivid.

He was sitting right
on the edge of the chair,

string tied to me dick, tugging
on it like a little choo-choo.

Okay, I'm gonna make
a suggestion right now,

one that is sure to repulse you.

You're not gonna propose
sex again, are you?

Well, Bill, actually, I don't
think you're that lucky a guy.

So, no, what I'm gonna say is you
need to get yourself into therapy.

Oh, for fuck's sake.

Bill, you're sitting here, making room
for the possibility, however slightly,

that a vegetative man...

led you by your penis to
your bathroom on what?

On a dog leash?

No. It was just a piece of
twine. Sorry, no leather involved.

Look, I know it was
a dream, all right?

A dream no less preposterous
than your obsession

that Brady is a body snatcher.

Honestly, Bill.

You never had a
weird dream or two, no?

I'm talking about your reality.

Your procreational
digit was in a noose.

Now, I'm no shrink, but
I just think it represents

some sort of crisis in your
sense of your mortality.

[SCOFFS]

Give me a break.

And I'm not finished.

You know, it's rude to turn away
when someone's talking to you, right?

Especially when
that someone is me.

The fact that it's Brady...

there's puppeteering, and
then there's puppeteering.

Here's my question.

How fucked up do you wanna be?

WOMAN [OVER PA]:
Pharmacy, dial 33.

[♪♪♪]

Pathetic.

Deformed. Weak.

I had to have three
surgeries to fix what you did.

My perforated small intestines?

Oh, yeah.

Ulcers.

The internal bleeding almost
killed me twice in the first week.

You know, the worst of it...

It's been...

me against the world
my entire life, you know?

And I've had to rely

on being able to tell
the good from the bad,

to know danger when I
see it, and I didn't see you.

No, you didn't.

Oh, fuck.

I had this tricycle
when I was a kid.

It was the one thing
my parents left me.

My foster parents had it,

and I used to ride that
shit around the RV park.

And one day, this
couple came with their kid.

She was about the
same age as me. Megan.

And Megan's dad beat
the shit out of my foster dad,

said he'd stole from him.

He went inside the trailer,

and he brought back a TV
and a radio and some other shit.

And then he tried
to take my tricycle.

And I fought.

Ooh!

I fought them.

I fought them like
a little crazy maniac.

And finally, they held me down
and they flipped over the tricycle,

and underneath was a
name written in black marker.

I never noticed it before.

Megan.

That was the most
worthless that I've ever felt.

Until you stabbed me.

You know what I don't get?

You held that knife an
inch from my fucking eye.

Why didn't you
finish the fucking job?

I was painting a bigger
masterpiece that night,

and you got in the way.

That's what I don't get.

And I'm afraid
that if I don't get it...

I'm just gonna be
completely lost forever.

I need to know.

Why did you let me live?

Why did you show me mercy?

Fucking why?

Fucking why? For mercy?

You... Fuck.

[MONITOR BEEPING RAPIDLY]

RUTH: What's going
on here? Who are you?

I'm Lou Linklatter.

- You can't be here.
- I'm one of the people he...

- Get your hands off me!
- Security!

- Get your fucking hands off me!
- Security!

He doesn't need your protection.

[LOU YELLING]

Get your fucking hands off me!

Get your fucking hands off me!

Mercy was my mistake.

Get your fucking hands off me!

- What the hell's going on?
- It's Hartsfield.

- What?
- Hartsfield.

No. No.

[BANGING ON KEYBOARD]

[RAPID BEEPING CONTINUES]

Fuck. Fuck.

[BEEPING STOPS]

What exactly did he say?

He evidently didn't vocalize.

He made letters appear on
the screen, and then it vanished.

- You don't know what it said?
- That's all I know.

It was a lot of
chaos and confusion,

and that's how word
swirled its way down to me.

You know, in the
bowels of the fucking ER,

which is where
he transferred me.

Do we know anything
more about the visitor?

Rumor is it was one of his
victims, girl he stabbed at the gala.

Ah, shit.

Okay, well, if you hear more...

Don't come to
the hospital, Bill.

I will come to you.

[DOOR OPENS]

[DOOR CLOSES]

So, what was the
message, though?

It was unclear.

Was it in Latin?

Did you not hear me
say? It was unclear.

Do not snap at me, okay?

I'm not my mother's
snap-ee, and I won't be yours.

So I looked up the message
that the dog killer left.

It's occupandi temporis.
It's "seize the moment."

Some people use it
interchangeably with carpe temporis,

but others use
"occupandi" specifically

because "occupandi"
means more to occupy,

to inhabit.

So you think Brady's
inhabiting people?

You're worse than me.

Well, what do you
think he's doing?

I don't know.

I do have some good news.

Montez has agreed
not to pull our license.

- Really?
- Ha-ha. Yeah.

That is good.

If we find out
who killed his dog.

Okay.

So is there bad news?

Um...

Ah, no, no, not
"bad" bad. No, no.

I meant I've decided
to, um, entertain the idea

of psychological help.

Because?

What do you mean "because"?

Due to public fucking demand.

I mean, between yourself,
Jerome, Donna, Ida,

everybody's laying claim to me
being as mad as a box of frogs.

Wait, but we're
claiming that less now

because Brady could be
occupandi temporis-ing.

I mean, all my research
reveals it to be less far-fetched.

Yeah. Well, it's more
than just me obsessing.

You know what I mean?

I may have hallucinated
this morning.

How so?

I had a dream. It was different.

It was more... It was like sort of
a heightened reality or something.

It made me wonder if it
was a fucking dream at all.

Okay.

What did you see?

Him.

I mean, look. I mean, given
the case and how you obsess,

it would make sense that he
would invade your dreams too, right?

Yeah, that's another word
for "occupy," isn't it, "invade"?

Okay, so what else?

Donna thinks I'm not well.

Ida thinks I'm not well.

You know, I'm starting
to take the point.

I mean, why...

Just let's say for a second that
Brady can get inside of people.

Yeah...

What's possessing me
to try to get close to him?

Because if you see a
wrong, you try to right it.

[CHUCKLES]

Yeah.

SETH: Same thing as before.

When that girl came in, his
heart rate practically doubled.

- Brain activity? Coma levels.
- Who was she?

All she said was she
was one of his victims.

I need you to find her.

If she was treated here after the
attack, then she's in the system.

Okay, well, he's
got the fMRl today.

- We'll find out if he's in there.
SETH: I'll prep him for the magnet.

Oh, hey, Seth.

I want the results sealed
to everyone but me, okay?

Well, that's not protocol.

That's not protocol?

Does that look like protocol
lying in that fucking bed?

[♪♪♪]

So who was that girl?

What does she mean to you?

All right, listen to me, Brady.

We are both on the
same side, okay?

I'm your "get out of
vegetative state free" card.

Add to that, should you
be brought up for trial,

I'm your defense.

I've seen your orbital cortex.

I can point to the low
activity, the genetic variants.

I will testify that you had
no control over your actions.

Do you see what
I'm saying, Brady?

I'm not just talking about
bringing you back to life,

but a free life at that.

But to do that, you and I,
we need to work together.

Come on.

[♪♪♪]

BILL: Is this the only
camera you have?

MONTEZ: Thought it was enough.

He's got an odd kind
of swagger, doesn't he?

Heavy work boots.

Did you find any tread?

Right here.

Size 12 Timberland.

They sold 2300 of them in
the last five years in this county.

Fuck.

Okay, I've been through
combat, and I can't watch this shit.

Ah, Jesus.

Problem is you're not
telling me everything.

You're not.

So maybe this is a
good time to start, right?

I don't know much.

As for what you do know?

Our Dr. Frankenstein has
done some experiments

on regenerating the brain.

He's had some positive
developments with our friend.

That's why I was running a little
interference, tried to back you off.

So, what's your angle?

Come on. You haven't exactly
been playing by the book, have you?

You got an angle?

Maybe a little
celebrity of my own.

And what do I get?

Someone kills my fucking dog.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You know, I believe in God.

You know, like heaven and shit.

I figure when someone dies,
you can still connect with them.

I still talk to my mother.
I know she can hear me.

But with a dog...

it's all about, like,
the eye contact...

and the touch.

When a dog is gone, I don't
know, it's like the most gone there is.

Yeah, that's why
I got a tortoise.

You know, figures to outlive me,
so I don't have to concern myself

with talking to him in
heaven or any of that.

What do you mean, like a turtle?

I mean like a tortoise.

I don't care for turtles.

Who else was on the floor
when you were talking to Brady?

I was the only one in the room.

Yes, there were people
in the fucking corridor.

Doctors, nurses, and shit.

Wait a minute. There was, um...

There was a big guy.

He was pushing a
book cart or something.

But he couldn't have
fucking heard what I said.

I'm not going crazy. I was the
only one in the fucking room.

Who'd be so depraved
to stab an innocent dog?

That's another
reason for the tortoise.

Yeah, they got the hard shell.

All right, let me see if I can
check any of that stuff out.

BILL: The doctor's
name is Babineau.

B-A-B-I-N-E-A-U.

- Just see what you can pull up.
- Okay.

And can't you just
question him directly?

- I mean, see what he...
- No. Doctor-patient privilege.

Anyway, from what I'm gathering,
he doesn't figure to be forthcoming.

Just get on it, will you?

Okay. And where
are you heading now?

I'm meeting an
acquaintance for coffee.

An acquaintance?
What acquaintance?

Like, a "none of my
business" acquaintance

or a work-related acquaintance?

Jesus balls. Are we married now?

Oh, "Jesus balls" yourself.

Your vulgarity doesn't
work on me anymore.

Just get on Babineau,
would you, please?

MAN: Let's get him
stabilized. WOMAN: All right.

MAN: Okay, that's good.

WOMAN: I'll get that.
MAN: Just wheel it in.

You got enough tubing?

WOMAN: Give me a
little bit more. MAN: Okay.

[WHIRRING]

[WHIRRING STOPS]

[MACHINE PULSATING]

[RUMBLING]

[OBJECTS SHATTERING]

NARRATOR: We're soaring
over the Empire State Building.

At 102 stories high
and almost 1500 feet tall,

the Art Deco building was originally
part of an urban 18th century farm.

In the late 1820s, the
field was in the possession

of the prominent Astor family,

John Jacob Astor's descendants
building the Waldorf...

[RUMBLING CONTINUES]

[PULSATING CONTINUES]

[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE]

So how you doing overall?

Uh...

Pretty good. Pretty good.

[LOU SIGHS]

Oh, yeah, I mean,
you said "overall," so...

Heh-heh. Overall, I'm
doing really shitty, actually.

How are you?

Pretty much the same.

[SIGHS]

The word is...

that when you visited
him, his heart rate shot up.

So does that mean that he
somehow knew that I was there?

I don't know.

I mean, it's, uh...

To be honest with you...

I'm finding it hard to keep
up with the science of it,

but bottom line seems to
be that anything is possible.

Fuck.

Yeah, you and me both.

I thought that I was gonna
feel better going to see him.

That I'd get some
sort of, like...

closure or some sort of shit.

And I didn't.

I just feel fucking worse.

You know the worst part?

The worst part is that I kind of
felt bad for him lying there with...

all that shit in the bed.

I felt bad for him.

For Brady Hartsfield.

I don't wanna fucking feel
bad for Brady Hartsfield.

Did you say anything to him?

A couple things.

He stabbed me, so I
kind of had a bone to pick.

[LAUGHS]

[CHUCKLES]

Good for you.

I feel bad...

for everything that's
happened to you.

You tried to warn me.

Remember?

Told you you had the
wrong ice-cream man.

I feel like, um, when I
was standing in that room,

that he was still among us.

I don't know if
you've felt that.

I don't think he's gone.

You know what they say,
that nobody's really gone, right,

even after they die?

That, like...

they live on in the people
that they leave behind.

And for Brady
Hartsfield, that's...

That's you and me.

That's about it.

[TAPPING ON KEYBOARD]

All right, when I played the description
of the Empire State Building for him,

increased blood flowed to
the parahippocampal gyrus.

Then I played the commercial
about Taylor Swift's facial structure,

and it triggered the
fusiform gyrus region

just like a healthy,
conscious patient.

I mean, he's in there.

It's pretty clear.

Al? Al Jursak?

That's my name.
What can I do you for?

I'm Bill Hodges. I'm
a private investigator.

PI?

You mean like Magnum?

- Mm. No, sir.
- No, no. Baretta, huh?

Nor him.

May I ask you a few
questions if you've got a minute?

Well, I kind of do
have to get home soon

because I promised
Reggie I'd give him a haircut.

Yeah? Who's Reggie?

He's my brother.

See, I give him haircuts,
he makes me soup.

That sounds like a good plan.

Do you remember a Mr. Montez?

- The district attorney man.
- Yeah, yeah.

Remember the first time that
he visited Brady Hartsfield?

- Were you in the room?
- No. Oh, no, no, no, sir.

Dr. Babineau told everyone to
give him and Mr. Montez total privacy.

Okay. All right, well, listen,
do you mind me asking you,

where were you
yesterday afternoon?

I... I don't remember.

- You don't remember?
- No, sir.

That happen to you
often, you don't remember

- where you were yesterday afternoon?
- Well, I don't know...

Most of the times, I do,
but sometimes I don't. Heh.

Well, if you remember, will
you remember to call me?

Yes, mister. Yeah,
sure. I will, sir.

What you got going
on your door there?

Oh. Oh, that's
just probably blood.

- Blood?
- Yeah.

You know, we get it
in our shoes in the ER.

You know, blood, urine, feces.

You don't wear booties?

Oh, no. We absolutely do, but
sometimes they tear, you know.

Actually, a lot of
times, they tear.

- Let me clean it off for you.
- No, you don't have to do that.

- No, no, no.
- No, but it's...

It's okay. You okay with that?

You okay if I clean the blood
off your car there, Mr. Jursak?

Of course, of course.

You know, mister, you
really are a nice man.

Yeah, you have
yourself a good afternoon.

You too, sir. And thanks
again for, you know...

[CAR DOOR CLOSES]

[ENGINE STARTS]

- This is fantastic. Felix.
- Yeah.

He communicated.

He communicated.

I mean, as far as "fuck offs"
go, this one can be monetized

for a billion dollars, and who
knows how many multiples.

Yeah.

Why the ambivalence?

[SIGHS]

Honestly?

Kind of scared me a little bit.

And, you know, first on a,
"What have I done?" level.

And second?

Well, he's a killer.

He's murdered people.

I was suddenly afraid of him.

Well, what do you
think he's gonna do?

He's just gonna hop out of
the bed and come after you?

No.

All I can say is I
was frightened.

Do you know what the most
terrifying thing in the world is?

Success.

So maybe you and I should
both be scared shitless.

Felix, we did it.

You, you did it.

Do you realize how close you are
to becoming a household name?

And not just in the medical
industry. This is huge.

Maybe. Heh.

I am so proud of you.

- What are you doing?
- Oh, you don't know what I'm doing?

Why don't we go upstairs?

Why? We don't have kids yet.

What have you got
against kitchens, huh?

Cornell undergrad,
Columbia Medical,

and he did his residency at
New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

Mr. All America right here.

His wife, Cora,
works for Vitalta.

A pharma company?

HOLLY: Yeah. Uh...

Made its name with
ErythoFlo. It's a stroke drug.

- ErythoFlo.
- Mm-hm.

ErythoFlo. Hmm.

It says it's 98 percent similar to a drug
created by a Jiànkang Ni Pharmatech.

- Jiànkang Ni...
- Does that help us at all?

HOLLY: Let's see.

Hmm. Well, here's a photo of
Cora with the CEO of Jiànkang Ni.

This photo was taken one year
before ErythoFlo hit the market.

That's interesting.

Okay, look, check this out.

Amnesty International does
not like Cora Babineau's friends

over here at Jiànkang.

Let me see.

It says they filed a lawsuit alleging
civil-rights violations in prisons.

Look, gag orders all
around a month later.

Okay, but what is a
pharmaceutical company

doing in prisons?

Give any more thought to my suggestion
about getting some psychological help?

Why do I need a shrink
when I got you, Ida?

Well, if that's an
invitation for my analysis...

You are an addict,

and Brady is your drug.

That it? That all you got?

He brought an
intensity to your life,

an adrenaline high, a dopamine
rush, call it what you want.

You became more alive when
Brady Hartsfield entered your life.

He even unwittingly opened
you up to love with Janey.

It certainly wasn't his intention,
but he made your life richer,

more exciting, more thrilling.

He brought you back
from the dead, Bill.

Which...

might explain why you're trying
to bring him back from the dead.

That's very impressive, Ida.

Here's the thing.

It's not my imagination
that's bringing him back.

He communicated
with a doctor today.

Really?

That's the rumor.

So the official line to
anyone who tells me I'm mad

is that I'm gonna ride the
madness out just a little bit longer

before I start flirting
with ways to get rid of it.

- My God.
- Yeah, I know.

- Bill, I found
something - Yeah...

On the doctor and his wife.

- They're mixed up in something.
- What?

Well, before we get into that,

the preliminary results came back
from the blood on Library AI's car.

It's canine.

[HOLLY CHUCKLES]

Yeah.

Cheers.

MONTEZ: Do me a favor.

If I go to break this guy's fucking
neck, just look the other way.

We'll have none of that. We could
be dealing with diminished capacity.

- I think this guy's a bit of a simpleton.
- A simple man doesn't stab a dog.

- There's nothing simple about this case.
- He killed my fucking dog.

[♪♪♪]

Seems to be the refrain.

Motherfucker.

Easy.

- Police!
- Police!

- Hands where we can see them.
- Reggie!

Reggie!

MAN 1: Back door clear!
- Get the guy.

- Hey! MAN 2: You got him?

AL: Don't mess with me.
- Al! Al!

- Hey, Al!
- You motherfucker!

You killed my fucking dog!

Fuck you, you piece of shit!

I didn't do anything!

- Fuck you!
- Get your hands off my fucking brother!

AL: I swear I
didn't do anything!

Hey, check it out.

[AL SOBS]

AL: Oh, no, no.

I didn't do anything.

So they found the bloody gloves
and the knife, so he must be guilty.

You would think so.

But you don't think.

You know when
you can smell evil?

Well, you can sniff
the lack of it sometimes.

I mean, no motive, no record.

Makes as much sense as Sadie
McDonald diving off that roof.

And one thing that Sadie
and Library Al had in common...

- Brady Hartsfield.
- Mm-hm.

Okay, so this is everything I
have on the doctor and his wife.

She has some serious ties to
this pharma company in China

that just so happens to be working
on this big brain-regeneration drug.

- Wow. JEROME: Yeah.

Just park that for a second.

Just take a seat,
Jerome, will you?

What are you doing here?

Uh...

Tech support?

Thought any more about school?

I'm on break.

You going back?

I don't know.

I kind of like it here.

Yeah, that was my concern.

Well, what's not to like
about this place? I mean...

This is our lives.

It's your summer fling.

What if I want this life?

Who'd want this life?

Hey.

Me.

Why?

[SIGHS]

Because there's a world
that nobody talks about.

A world that lives under the surface
of what we say is the world, you know?

The fuck you talking about?

This world, it's the blood,

the oxygen, the air, you know.

The lower GI system,
the things we can't see,

but it's actually really
keeping us alive.

Go on.

I wanna be part of that world.

That's fine.

Be a part of it with
a Harvard degree.

Harvard's lies and the
whole subtext language,

that's the complete opposite of
what's leaving people's mouths.

You know that, right?

It's actually fucking
designer labels.

And $100,000 cars,

and people calling me
"bro" and "homey" and "yo"

just because they
swear that they're cool,

or they're on some sort
of hipster-friendly wave,

or this whole
postmodern, meta-pseudo

"I'm not really racist, but
I'm actually fucking racist."

It's fucking...

It sucks.

It really sucks.

You lost me at subtext.

It's just cold and empty.

This doesn't solve things.

This would do it for now.

And maybe you're right, Bill.

Because I don't know anything.

I don't know shit.

No...

- Read those.
- Okay.

There is nothing here for him.

He's got an opportunity
that very few people get.

If there's one thing I
learned from my mother,

the hardest thing about
parenting is knowing when not to.

What the fuck does that mean?

Here, leave this.

[MONITORS BEEPING]

So here's our golden boy.

This isn't Vitalta equipment.

It's ours.

It prevents muscle atrophy.

Any more communication?

No, nothing since "fuck off."

CORA: Hey, Brady.

How you doing in there, big guy?

I'm Cora.

I'm very much looking
forward to meeting you.

Wow, you're kind of cute.

Doc, babe...

you did not tell me about wifey.

Holy shit.

What can I do to get you to
come out of that coma, huh?

[♪♪♪]

[MONITOR BEEPING RAPIDLY]

Hey, wait, his
heart rate's going.

I do have that effect on people.

Excuse me, Dr. Babineau?

My name's Bill Hodges.

Might ring a bell or not.

First of all, let me congratulate
you on your fine work, both of you.

You've made remarkable
progress with Mr. Hartsfield.

I'm sorry. I don't
know what you mean.

He's in a coma, one
that's likely irreversible.

You know, modesty, I admire.

False modesty, not so much.

Word is all over the hospital
and a bit beyond its walls as well

that Brady has an
ability to communicate.

Uh, who told you
he communicated?

I have several sources. I'm
gonna get right to the point.

That would be nice.

I've done my research
on you and you.

You may have done
some on me. It's irrelevant.

I have a special relationship
with Brady Hartsfield.

You said that you were
getting to the point?

I did.

I can understand
your impatience.

Time is money, right?

And you've got a lot
riding on Brady's recovery,

you and your Chinese
pharmaceutical affiliates.

Okay, so here's
where I can be of help.

Now, you want Brady
to emerge, all right?

It's possible, in fact probable,

that the only person
who can really get to him

is the one who
already got to him.

That would be me.

So I'm offering.

Let me be part of whatever
protocols you've got going here.

I can get that crazy bastard
to crawl out of his hole.

- How exactly do you...?
CORA: We appreciate your offer,

but there are no protocols at
play here out of the ordinary.

And as far as my private
corporate interests,

none of them have any bearing
on Brady Hartsfield or his treatment.

So it's just a funny
coincidence, then,

that your company makes
a brain-regenerating drug

that could make you billions of
dollars, should it prove to be effective.

Yeah, it certainly
is a coincidence.

I mean, funny or not,

I guess that does depend
on one's sense of humor.

It's fucking funny.

Now, let me be
perfectly honest, okay?

I know what you're doing.
I know what you're up to.

If you wake this
particular brain,

you'll be opening a box that
you may not be able to close,

and shit so ugly you cannot
even imagine it will spill out.

So let me be there
if it happens, okay?

I'll even provoke the fucker.

That way, if he does show up,

I can put the cuffs on him
and we bring him to trial.

And if he doesn't
come out of hiding?

We ship him to
a secure facility.

No. Never happen.

Are you serious?

Hundred percent, never happen.

You're risking lives?

I think you're being a little
dramatic and a tad unhinged.

Were we looking for help, we
would truly appreciate yours.

Mm-hm.

You know, that sad fuck is your
lottery ticket only if he wakes up.

The best bet to provoke him?

Right here.

What's in it for you?

He killed people dear to me,

and given what's been
going on in your hospital lately,

I'm not sure that his
potential has been capped.

I'll take him dead, I'll take him alive,
I'll take him shipped out outside the city

where he cannot hurt people.

But this in-between shit...

it makes me nervous.

Yeah, I really do
understand that.

I wish that we could help you.

You need to wish harder.

We need to move faster.

You need to wake him up.

Because some private
detective came and told...

He's working for
somebody, Felix.

My bet's the police.
Maybe FBI, I don't know.

What? Why?

What, you think that he's coming
to us because he wants justice?

Please. Who does that?

That fat Smurf is on
somebody's payroll.

And it's either government surveillance,
or worse, it could be corporate.

You need to wake Hartsfield up
before this all blows up in our faces

and it all gets shut down.

They have no grounds
to shut us down.

If anything, we're on
stronger turf than ever.

He's sniffing around in
our Chinese protocols,

and it's making
me fucking nervous.

Why?

Cora, why?

So you know that they
tested it on monkeys.

Yeah.

They didn't stop there.

What are you saying?

In a prison in China, they
gave a test group Cerebellin

and they gave a
control group sugar pills,

and the test group complained
of blinding headaches,

persistent nausea,
exhibited signs of palsy.

But it's what happened
to the control group

- that ended the experiment.
- Jesus, what happened?

They all committed suicide.

The test group?

The control group.

The one on the sugar pills.

- Why would sugar cause...?
- It wasn't the sugar.

The test group got into their
minds and fucked around in there.

You're telling me the test
group caused the control group

to take their own lives?

It's possible.

It's very possible.

And you didn't think
to tell me this before?

I'm under strict
confidentiality.

I'm your fucking husband!

They're my employer.

[SCOFFS]

Fuck.

Felix.

Fuck me.

Hey.

Do not turn this into
something it's not.

What the fuck am I
turning this into, Cora?

- I just need you to stay focused.
- It's not hard to connect you

- to Jiànkang Ni.
- No one's gonna care about that,

no one's gonna give two shits if
you get in there and you open him up

and you get him talking.

You. You put your forceps
on his regrown tissue

and you tell him that
if he doesn't speak,

you're gonna rip it
out of his fucking head.

How am I supposed to
justify craniotomy at this point?

I don't know. You had no choice

- due to increased intracranial pressure.
- What if they don't buy it? What then?

I do not function well
from a state of fear, Felix.

Neither do I!

Are you fucking kidding me?

You don't get it, you don't
understand, and you can't understand.

Because you were born safe.

Oh, come on. Don't
give me that shit.

You lied to me.

If he remains in a coma,
Felix, and they get a warrant,

we're never gonna survive this.

We will never survive.

[SIGHS]

That...

That detective may be nothing more
than what he represented himself to be.

I know a man on a
mission when I see one,

and I do not want to
be that man's mission.

Fuck.

How's it going, buddy?

Whoa. No visitors.

And I'm under specific
orders to restrict your access.

Well, I'm overriding
those orders.

And you are?

The district attorney in charge
of reducing your career to rubble,

should you piss me off.

I'm Antonio Montez. I'm
here to interview the suspect.

GUARD: Yes, sir.

I might have more
luck on my own.

All right, go for it.

[♪♪♪]

BILL: Here we are again.

[SIGHS]

Ollie, ollie, oxen free.

That's what we used to say as kids
when we were playing hide-and-seek,

trying to get
people to come out.

[IN SINGSONG VOICE]
Ollie, ollie, oxen free.

Come on out, Brady.

Come out, come
out, wherever you are.

[IN NORMAL VOICE] Don't worry.
I haven't come to kill you this time.

Actually, it's more
to say thanks.

It's been pointed out to me, and I
think the penny has finally dropped.

Wittingly or unwittingly, you...

"enriched my life,"
quote-unquote.

Last year, I was alone.

I was drinking myself to death.

Now I have friends,
a community, a job,

satisfaction even, that I
helped put an end to some evil,

specifically yours.

Who knew that you
could make me happy?

Make me whole, anyway.

[BRADY PANTING]

So wait, wait.

This is where you
get in my head?

My head?

I don't think so, you fat fuck.

Anyway, that's all. Just came
to say thanks and goodbye.

Fred.

Fred. The fuck are you?

All right, it'll be in there a hell
swing and a month ago there.

Jesus fucking Chri...

It's borderline stalking now.

You okay?

Fine.

Really?

Really, yeah.

I remember the big
speech you gave me.

I've given you many.

Yeah, the one about after
your husband either died

or faked his death to
escape your clutches.

That one.

Mm. I remember.

Well, you said you didn't
know how you'd go on,

so you just started by
making breakfast, right,

and then you went to the
library or the store or whatever. I...

Yeah, I fucking lost
interest at that point.

Anyway, the point was that
you just woke up and did stuff

and then some more stuff,
and suddenly, you had a life.

One you wanted, even.

I'm doing that.

I just wake up, I go to work,
mostly with people I like,

I come home, I have a
beer, say hello to a tortoise,

sometimes a stalker.

I mean, I don't know
if it's a life, but...

it's a start.

[♪♪♪]

It's a start.

There's no sex in it for you.

[BILL LAUGHING]

God.

Good night, Bill.

Jesus Christ.

[BOTH LAUGH]

Good night, Ida.

Good night.

[CHUCKLES]

[CELL PHONE CHIRPING]

[♪♪♪]