Scorpion (2014–2018): Season 1, Episode 1 - Pilot - full transcript
Walter O'Brien and his team of super geniuses are assigned, by the government, to help land airplanes after the communication system shuts down.
Walter!
(woman screaming)
Breaching... go!
Immunity agreement and extradition waiver.
Sign them, and I'll tell you
how I hacked into NASA.
Corporal to command.
We have Scorpion.
He's just a kid.
OFFICER (over radio): Team
leaders maintain position 'til evac...
Target is acquired.
I just wanted the shuttle
blueprints for my wall.
(crying)
What's your name, son?
WOMAN: Walter?
Walter?
Are you listening?
Yes, you said “I didn't
see this coming at all.”
I can't believe you're breaking up with me.
I'll admit you have been patient.
Longest three months of my life. Mmm.
You're not easy, Walter.
I thought this might help.
Throughout our relationship,
you've accused me,
correctly, of being unable
to connect with your emotional states.
So... I mapped out
what I anticipate you'll experience
over the next few minutes.
You wrote a document to connect with me
- emotionally?
- Mm-hmm.
Now, this is a decision tree.
This is just to help you through the...
MAN: Hey! I pay you
to fix wireless, not talk.
You scheduled our breakup on a job?!
To be more efficient.
You may be trying, Walter.
But you're still a
million miles from normal.
Here you go, Burt. Your table's up here.
And your tea's waiting and
your eggs'll be up in five.
All right. You smell so good today.
What is that... new cologne? I love it.
MAN: Hey, kid! You're making a mess!
Paige! Again your boy's all over
- with the shakers!
- I know, he knows, I know.
He's just having a hard
time adjusting in school.
He'll be back next week. Promise.
Hey, honey. It's okay.
Mr. Gianakos just likes to keep things neat.
Remember we talked about
that kind of thing before?
Doesn't mean there's something
wrong with you, okay?
Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh...
PAIGE: Excuse me?
Can I help you?
No, but you should help him.
Wireless is up.
Don't yell at that boy.
♪ ♪
RADIO DJ: If you're sick of being broke,
for $108.3,
which month has 28 days?
All of them.
WOMAN: I actually know this one!
Uh, February?
RADIO DJ: We have a winner!
Idiots.
♪ ♪
Okay, so if my math is right... and it is...
we can siphon 700 kilowatts a month
through the fall before anyone even notices.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
What are you doing?
Over 30,000 shock-related
- accidents happen every year!
- WOMAN: Please.
I got this.
See? Power's up.
Why are you stealing electricity?
Just borrowing it until they
turn our power back on.
I thought we were paying the bills
after the Credit Nationale job?
SYLVESTER: I was.
I worked for three days on
this great loss algorithm
- for credit risk...
- You got lost in the numbers
and you forgot to pay the electric bill.
And the water bill and our rent.
And the payment
was all in cash, which got misplaced.
- It's somewhere... close.
- When's the last time you ate?
You mean, like, food?
Okay, it's cool, I finished
- the Lynwood job, Toby's picking up the fee.
- Toby?
Why not you? I built the contractor
an automated conveyance system
and he called me Sugar.
So I hit him in the mouth.
And Toby is where exactly?
♪ ♪
Shh! Keep your voices down!
Just for a minute!
(car speeding away, outside) Uh, Toby...
tell me you have the Lynwood payment.
First, can I note how I nearly
tripled the Lynwood payment?
So those thugs are chasing you down
to give you a big congratulations?
I beat them in poker! They're born chumps!
Pupils that dilate like saucers
whenever they had a good hand. Come on!
A Harvard-trained behaviorist
should know that people
- don't like to get cheated!
- I hate you.
- No, you don't.
- We have a combined I.Q. of nearly 700,
and we can't even pay our bills.
- We had a bad day!
- We've been at this two years!
The whole reason why I started
this company is because
we have more to offer
than just fixing routers!
Walter, I'm reading a
textbook panic response
to normal financial stressors.
Okay, if this thing is going south,
Walt, just let me know,
'cause I have a cousin who
owns a garage in Phoenix...
No matter how hard we try...
and I know we're all trying...
we're a million miles from normal.
(banging)
(shushing)
Yo!
(sirens wailing)
Hey, good.
Your timing's perfect.
A guy in there ripped us off.
I'll put a bag of pills in your pocket
fat enough to get you a room in Lompoc.
Understand?
Now, hit it.
Homeland Security.
- Is this you?
- No!
We're looking for Walter O'Brien!
It's a badge.
No, no, no, no.
Get out. Get out!
- Get out of here now.
- I wouldn't be here
if I weren't desperate, trust me.
“Trust you”?
- What is that... a joke?
- Who are you?
He's Federal Agent Cabe Gallo.
We worked together years ago.
The outcome was unfavorable.
Put it aside, O'Brien.
I need you.
45 minutes ago, there was
an automatic software upgrade
in the LAX control tower.
It had a bug.
- Now the entire system's down.
- Wa-wa-wait...
all the communications are down?
Contact's been lost between
Long Beach, LAX and Burbank.
Incoming flights have been diverted.
But the ones that were about
to start their descent...
56 of them... are out of comm range.
NSA's trying to work a satellite hook-up.
FBI's attempting a Morse code
signal from the observatory.
We need you on software.
Without landing guidance,
those planes run out of fuel.
SYLVESTER: And crash.
And crash, Walter!
Sounds like...
catastrophe is imminent.
So, go find someone else. Now.
How about a certified Federal check
for $50,000 in each of your pockets?
I ran checks on all of you.
Mechanical prodigy, world-class
shrink, a human calculator.
Brilliant minds working at half-capacity.
You want to do something meaningful?
Here's your chance.
You don't, people and metal
will be falling from the
sky in less than two hours.
It's your call.
Even with half my IQ, I wouldn't be
dumb enough to believe you twice.
“Put it aside”?
“Forget about it and move on”
is not an option for people
with photographic memories.
Give us a minute.
What the hell are you doing?
I was mirroring you so your
subconscious can relate to me.
I thought it would help you relax.
Do you think it's working?
Breaking this down logically,
we're not just going to
let those people fall out of the sky.
I'm telling you... I don't trust him.
I get it.
But without an influx of capital, these two
are just gonna go back to hacking banks.
And the next forensic analyst they run into
won't be as nice as you.
Now, personally, I'm cool,
I can handle myself.
Time is wasting.
We've got 56 planes to land.
WALTER: LAX Tower Control is the
main hub for all the other airports.
Fix the software there, it autocorrects
- in Long Beach and Burbank.
- So, the new software's
the glitch... first step is to
delete that, then download
the old software,
should be enough for the planes to land.
So you're doing it?
SYLVESTER: We go to LAX...
we fix the software, we are at a 90%
- chance of success.
- Grab your equipment.
Mine, too, please?
Must've been keeping tabs
on me to find me so quickly.
I got promoted to the L.A. office.
Only make sense that I would track you down.
Your body language suggests
that's about half the truth.
Of course, there's a 10%
chance that everyone dies.
You cross me on this, I'll go online...
and in less than a hour,
I will erase you.
(P.A. chiming)
CAPTAIN (over P.A.):
Sorry for the delay, folks.
We should have some more
information shortly.
Thank you for your patience.
Still no contact.
- Your cell?
- Nothing.
Back in the Air Force, I once dropped
down to 1,500 feet to catch a signal.
If we descend without comms,
we could run into another plane.
I'm sure there's an army of people
working on this as we speak.
TOBY: All right,
listen, when the FBI and the NSA fail,
do we get
some kind of bonus here? I'd be willing
to go double or nothing.
I'm just saying. Toby...
They were your top choice for this?
Walter O'Brien is one of the five
smartest people alive, so, yes.
DISPATCH: Be advised,
just got word from headquarters
there's a major pile-up on the 405.
LAX is unreachable for hours.
Repeat: LAX is a no-go.
- Copy that.
- TOBY: Call for a helicopter.
CABE: Air traffic's been shut down
until the situation is resolved.
No copter?
We're down to a 17% chance
- of success.
- LLOYD: Pipe down, Rain Man.
Call him that again, you better hope
the Feds have a good dental plan.
- This is what we get with a car
full of geniuses? - What you'll get
is a solution if everyone
keeps their mouth shut.
Everyone, quiet!
We don't need to go to LAX.
We just need a reliable wireless signal
with no chance of going down.
I just fixed one a mile north of here.
(tires squealing)
(sirens wailing)
(door bell dings)
Owner!
Agent Gallo, Homeland Security.
We need to commandeer your
diner for a national emergency.
You can stay.
But that's it.
Everybody out!
Come on! Everybody out! Come on, come on!
No, no, no, no, no.
You-you pay tomorrow. Come on.
Come on, out! Out! Out!
GIANAKOS: Come on!
What are you doing?
Any idea the bacteria on countertops?
Just from chicken alone,
there are over 20 diseases
you can get from exposure.
This is wildly upsetting.
No, no, no, no, you stay.
Uh, Nemos, no customers, no tips,
And I cannot leave Ralph here with...
Listen, my immigration status
makes me not so comfortable
around Federal agents.
You lock up.
Ralph?
Good to see you again.
CABE: Roughly 89 minutes until
the first plane goes down.
Their lives are in our hands.
PAIGE: Is there something wrong at LAX?
It's top-secret.
How can it be top-secret
if the guy who set up our
wireless is working on it?
Happy, script a POST check
after the system's stabilized.
Sylvester, run the odds on the patch
linking back into the software.
We do not want the same problem tomorrow.
Toby...
look for a saboteur.
Walter, look for coffee.
This is gonna take me, like, 90 seconds.
SYLVESTER: Screw this up, brains and guts
are gonna bounce all over town.
HAPPY: Actually, fuel
tanks ignite on impact.
You won't find a body part.
Eh, a blood-soaked spleen
could burn at a slower rate.
Hey, please check your language
around my nine-year-old.
Be decent in my place of work.
Thank you.
(door opens)
Secure channel to LAX.
Air traffic supervisor is on the line.
His name is Brooks.
Okay.
Mr. Brooks,
I'm hacking into airport security.
I'm gonna rotate your cameras
to point at the monitors.
I'll see it remotely, and I'll
walk you through each step.
Who am I on with here?
I am not comfortable with you hacking
- into anything at this airport.
- Then don't make it so easy.
To answer your question,
my name is Walter O'Brien,
and I was brought in to fix your
problem since you're not capable
of doing it yourself.
Look behind you.
Say hello to the camera, Mr. Brooks.
I'm at your 10:00. Our goal is to reboot
your computer and land those planes.
To do that, hit control C
right in between the flickers
at the exact moment that I say now.
Ready?
Now.
(beeps) (groans)
I missed. It's too fast.
Moving on, you, short sleeves
and tie, you in the glasses,
you code, right?
A little.
How'd you know?
Lucky guess. What's your name?
Randy. Randy, take Mr. Brooks's seat.
You guys are talking
about planes going down.
I'm just an intern.
You just got promoted. Sit down!
WALTER: Mr. Brooks, can you give Randy
the original installation disk to download?
That software was installed 15 years ago.
I have no idea where it is.
The company went out of business.
Where do you back up your data?
- Blackstern Data Storage.
- Okay, we can get a copy
of the old software from the backup server.
I e-mail it to Brooks, he clicks a link,
and the system is up and running
as if the corrupted software
was never downloaded.
Blackstern's on Ventura.
Northeast. Opposite
direction of the gridlock.
You should know that the data is backed up
to the latest software
every 12 hours on the five.
So in 20 minutes,
the last remaining useable software
will be corrupted. Happy, Toby,
get to the server and
get me that backup disk.
Sylvester, call the data center;
tell them we're on our way.
I'm gonna prep here to relay to LAX.
Bates, take 'em.
Stay in contact.
Walter, you tell that waitress
I'm gonna be right back.
Toby, in situations like this,
carelessness, mistakes, they will haunt you.
I know this from experience.
Walter, I'm always on point.
Have you seen my hat?
Here, I thought you might be thirsty.
Thank you.
Mm-hmm.
You have anemia.
It turns your fingernails pitted.
That's why your polish looks streaky.
You need more iron.
(chuckles) Okay.
I don't recall asking, Einstein.
Einstein had a 160 IQ.
- Mine's 197.
- Wow.
So you must know everything about me,
if you're that smart.
You have no-name sneakers, he has orthotics.
Whatever you have goes to Ralph.
The inflammation under your eyes
from lack of sunlight comes
from working two jobs...
As for the boy's father, I'd make
calculated assumptions
in the realm of interpersonal
communication issues.
Oh, so we split because I
have issues communicating.
And I thought it was
the blonde in Tahoe.
Who the hell are you to tell me
that my polish looks cheap?
That-that hurts my feelings.
Do you understand?
Yeah.
I recognize that.
I've been told things
like that a lot before.
And my polish streaks because Ralph does it.
He loves to paint, and don't tell me
that he needs help, either. He's challenged.
Have some empathy.
(sighs)
Challenged, huh?
Look at Sylvester and him.
Do you know what they're doing?
The matches are the king,
the jelly is the queen,
the sugar packets are the knights.
He's playing chess with a grand
master who's about to lose.
Walter, you see this?
Check mate in eight moves.
This kid is amazing!
And he doesn't like to paint your nails.
He does it because he wants
to hold your hand, but he can't
process physical contact.
So help him.
Or he will never connect with you.
I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news,
but your son is a genius.
HAPPY: Walter, we're
approaching the data center.
We should have the backup hard drive soon.
WALTER: Copy that, Happy.
Standing by.
(sirens wailing, tires squealing)
No, it's supposed to be open 24/7!
Looks like they cut out.
HAPPY: Walt?
We got a problem. No one's home.
You're the mechanical engineer!
Pick the lock!
I have my tools, but it'll take a lot longer
than the six minutes we have
before the bad software backs up
- onto the servers.
- Bates, get them in.
Step aside.
- Whoa!
- Are you insane?
You're the one putting hands on a Fed.
That is 75-millimeter,
six-layer polycarbonate casing.
It won't break,
but a round could deflect and kill somebody.
Walt, please don't let
the Fed talk anymore.
SYLVESTER: We're down to a
four-percent chance of success.
CABE: Five minutes from now, the
software we need disappears forever.
If that happens, 20,000 people die.
Hey, Ralph, let's go in the office, okay?
WALTER: We got to abandon the data center.
We got to pull the team back,
get four minds working together at once,
and then, maybe within an hour,
we'll be able...
By then, the first two
planes will be out of fuel.
Do you really think you can come up
- with an option by then?
- Hold on.
You're just accepting two planes going down.
We lose two planes to save 54.
That's a trade we're gonna have to make.
Contact the FAA and tell them
these two flights are terminal.
Agent Gallo is implementing
the greater good theory.
Loss is acceptable as
long as the resulting gain
is large enough.
No, it isn't. You save everybody.
Normal people save everybody.
- I'm not normal.
- I don't care!
Use that 197 IQ of yours.
Take a deep breath and reset.
Reset.
Reset, reset.
Happy, we need to reset the door lock.
We need to brown-out ten
blocks around the data center.
- Kill the electricity to part of Los Angeles?
- Mm-hmm.
Just turn it off in that one building!
We can't focus a surge that precisely,
but a brief power surge
will open up the door,
and we'll be able to get in.
You're gonna owe me a new slim pick.
All right, we need to find
a municipal junction box
that covers that area.
It should be on a commercial street.
- I'll check the south.
- North.
Got one!
All right,
calculate the kilowatts it'll take
it'll take to overpower a surge
within a ten-block radius.
No, no, no, no, no.
Ooh. Not now, Sylvester.
CABE: Wait, wait, what are you doing?
I can't calculate without order;
it's my process.
My process involves my foot in your ass.
Hold on. Here.
One piece.
It's the biggest and the smallest,
so it's in order.
That works.
(horn blowing)
Uh, Sylvester, I don't want
to hurry your process...
500,000 kilowatts!
All right!
We need exactly 500,000 kilowatts.
Can you handle that?
Come on.
Who rigged our whole office this morning?
I'm on it.
Okay, ready?
Here we go.
(electricity crackling, power whirring down)
We're in. We're in!
There!
Not good.
We have less than a minute. Which one is it?
Okay, these servers run the facilities.
So the clients would be in the cage.
Yeah, this guy, he's the boss.
Cuff links, tie clip, anal micro-manager.
Makes all the calls as to
what gets stored where.
Look at his belt tail; he's a lefty.
So we eliminate the right-side servers.
He'd subconsciously put
a big client like LAX on
his dominant hand side.
There's still about 250 servers.
Okay, you think LAX, you think planes.
You think planes,
you think high, so eliminate
the bottom three shelves.
100 servers left. Ten seconds.
- Get on it!
- He's what, five-six, tops?
So it won't be the top shelf.
Napoleonic boss man would
never use a step ladder
in front of his employees.
So it's one of these...
This one!
Ah! Time's up.
(servers whirring)
How did you know for sure?
'Cause it says “LAX” right here.
Oh...
You are impressed.
He doesn't even know we're here.
He's wondering if those flashlights
can be powered by the heat
of the hand that holds them.
Or he's calculating the cubic
footage of the octagon clock.
He thinks about anything.
Everything.
Did you let him beat you, earlier?
No.
I-I had no idea he even liked chess.
SYLVESTER: Few parents meaningfully engage
with mentally enabled children.
It's not your fault.
It's just... how we are.
How did your parents handle it?
Oh, I-I haven't spoken to them in ten years.
(rapid beeping)
NSA satellite link failed.
Where the hell are your people?
That kid Toby doesn't exactly
fill me with confidence.
Toby grew up penniless, gambled
his way through school.
Even then, he got his doctorate
at the age of 17.
Sometimes people like us need...
repair... before we can fit into your world.
I know the aftermath was devastating.
I did keep tabs on you.
TOBY: Seat backs and tray tables up!
Those planes are as good as landed.
Endlessly patting himself on
the back, the whole ride here.
I just want a statue of me at LAX.
Now what?
Easy as sending a file.
Mr. Brooks, in a moment, you'll
receive a bug-free version
of the software.
All you have to do is open
your e-mail and click a link.
(rapid beeping) Wait.
The hard drive's frozen.
The files are corrupted.
They're useless.
We took it out as carefully as we could.
WALTER: How'd you transport it?
It was wrapped in a towel,
tucked in a door console
so I wouldn't drop it.
Was there an audio speaker in the door?
TOBY: Yeah. So?
What? The magnet erased the hard drive.
- It's useless now.
- No, no, no, no.
It's not my fault.
I didn't know anything about
magnets in car speakers.
You've stolen hundreds of them, Toby.
Oh...
No place on Earth has what we need.
CABE: FBI just texted.
They're out, too.
We're at less than one
percent, Walter...
You know what I'm going to tell you.
There was a fourth team.
Tracking the planes via radar.
Circling over the ocean...
fighter jets...
You'll shoot them down?
Same protocol was activated
on 9/11 to prevent
possible ground casualties.
Can you think of anything we can do?
(speed dial blipping)
Contact Director Merrick.
Tell him we need to
activate the fourth option.
PAIGE: Hey...
Walter.
I know what's going on.
Actually, uh, there's only
100 people in the world
who really know anything
and unfortunately, you're not one of them.
You're doing what Ralph does
when he doesn't understand
how to fix a problem.
He panics and shuts down.
When you don't know something,
you feel like you don't know anything.
For all practical purposes,
I have no right brain.
People with high IQ tend to have low EQ.
That's emotional quotient.
So these big speeches, pep talks...
they don't work on me.
They work on athletes,
they work on children,
they work on waitresses.
They don't work on people like me.
Oh, oh, I get it, I'm the dumb waitress.
- I never called you that.
- But I'm smart enough
to know that you're scared.
You don't know how to solve the problem
and you're terrified
because people will die.
Well, they won't die because of me.
And they won't live because of you, either,
because you're just giving
up and walking away.
Don't lecture me about how
people dying will make me feel.
I already know!
What does that mean?
Walter...
what does that mean?
Hey, sweetheart.
Let's go back inside, okay?
Yes, sir, I understand.
I'll draft an alert for the
Emergency Broadcast System ASAP.
Don't hang up.
Tell them there's still a chance.
Put a pin in that, sir.
We may have something here.
Software's on the planes.
They use a duplicate copy to
communicate with the tower.
Now, if they took off before
this morning's update,
like a flight from
Australia or New Zealand,
they'll still have the
bug-free software on board.
CABE: Okay.
But we still have the same problem.
What we need is seven miles over our head
and there's no way to get in touch
with the people who have it.
Yes, there is.
WALTER: Klemmer Airfield is 20 minutes away.
Get me there in ten,
and I can download that software.
If you're gonna shut down all the roads
that lead to Klemmer Airfield,
there's gonna be lots of moving parts.
I still think it's the wrong play;
the runways are too short there.
It's just a low fly-by.
There's a neighborhood next door.
If something goes wrong,
you take out half a block.
It's actually four blocks,
but I won't let that happen.
I don't know if that's going to be enough
to get LAPD to set up rolling road blocks.
We're talking about major
roads in a major city.
There's safety risks, there's procedure...
I know what you're doing.
You're covering yourself
in case of casualties.
I don't put protocol over lives.
Lives?
Suddenly you're worried about lives?
We can debate the past later.
Right now, if you want my help,
then let me make the calls
and see if I can't get this done for you.
Let's go.
I know he thinks he's helping,
but we don't have time for
bureaucracy right now.
Happy, if I hack you into the DOT,
can you manipulate the traffic signals?
They're on standard sequencers;
- don't see why not.
- So you shut down
the roads, we drive fast as hell,
we might be able to pull this off. Toby,
I need you to check the manifest...
For a passenger up there
whose phone is still on.
Walt, I got this.
- Don't worry.
- All right.
I'm gonna need to upgrade
my wireless antenna software
to pick up the signal from the plane,
so someone's gonna have to drive me there.
Um... I don't have my license,
but...
I'm more of a bus guy...
I-I understand the basic mechanics
- of-of how this works...
- Sylvester.
I really need you here, helping Toby.
But thank you, pal.
Uh, driving through L.A.
with nothing but green lights...
it's kind of always been a fantasy of mine.
At high speed? No.
Somebody's gotta drive.
Come on.
Your son needs you.
I've tried really hard,
but I've never been able
to fully connect with him,
not in the way that I've seen
him connect with you guys today.
What my son needs is
to see me help you.
Please, Walter.
You're a good mom.
Or a very bad one.
No, we need roads blocked the entire time.
Why do I need to call the highway patrol?
We're only staying on side streets!
(tires squealing)
What the...?
HAPPY: Okay, Walter,
I'm tracking you on the traffic cams.
They should start changing... now.
It's working!
Hold on!
(horn honking)
We're at 100.
This thing doesn't have air bags.
Well, you know, at these speeds,
they're useless.
Go faster.
There's 440 people on the flight.
They all have their phones off
'cause they're on a damn plane.
How the hell am I supposed
to communicate with them?
I'm checking Sigalert; you should head south
on Hilgard to Manning, then
Santa Monica to Bundy.
I'll get you a clear path.
I think that's Agent Gallo!
Keep driving.
Guys, stay frosty.
I can't get the light on
Barrington to change over.
No, no, Walter...
No, no, no, no, no! No!
Oh... Oh, God.
What the hell was that?
Greater good theory in practice.
Now just get to that airfield
and don't make me regret this!
WALTER: We're almost there.
Toby, did you find a passenger
on one of those planes with an active phone?
Sylvester, I need more passenger names.
Novell software technology's too old
to do any this in five minutes.
And even if someone's phone was on,
how do we get in touch
with them at 36,000 feet?
Old technology!
That's it! We-we-we find someone
with an out-of-date analog phone.
The receivers are 10 times
stronger than smartphones.
They can get a signal up there.
All right, we lose anyone under 50.
Can't make over six figures.
Can't work for a tech company...
Salesmen!
Salesmen never turn off their phones.
They risk losing business.
And... duh duh duh duh duh duh...
Gordon Tooley!
Plastics salesman from Reseda
returning from a work trip.
Service is linked to a Retron A-64 analog.
Call him!
(phone ringing)
Hello?
Mr. Tooley, listen carefully.
This is Homeland Security.
There's an emergency on your flight.
We need your help.
Nice try, Sully.
I'll see you at work, ya putz.
Yeah, this isn't Sully,
'cause Sully wouldn't know that right now,
outside of your window are
the Santa Monica Mountains.
And right above them are two F-22s,
ready to shoot you out of the sky.
So I need you to get off your
ass, grab a flight attendant
and tell them to get
your phone to the pilot.
(engine roaring, tires squealing)
CAPTAIN: This is Captain Pike, standing by.
Captain Pike, you're carrying
an uncorrupted version
of control tower software.
Now, you need to e-mail it to me
so it can be downloaded at LAX.
Copy.
But our onboard wireless
only has a limited reach.
What do you want me to do?
Buzz the tower at 100 feet.
I should be able to grab your wireless.
Where will you be? We just arrived
at Klemmer Airfield; we called ahead.
Runway two has been cleared.
I'm right over Klemmer.
Could be there in less than a minute.
Time to advise the passengers.
Ladies and gentlemen,
please remain in your seats
with your seat belt fastened.
- Mr. O'Brien?
- Yes.
I've got a space cleared for you up here.
Thank you. Okay.
I've linked my computer up to LAX,
so as soon as I get the download,
they'll have it as well.
Here it comes.
WALTER: Captain Pike, maintain at 100 feet.
I should be able to catch your Wi-Fi signal
and download your software.
This is Captain Pike.
Do I have confirmation? Over.
Were you able to download that software?
No, there's too much of a speed
differential between a plane
and a stationary laptop. Over.
- Let's try again.
- Doing the same thing
but expecting a different result
is the definition of insanity.
It won't work.
Mr. O'Brien, I've got 240 souls onboard.
Please tell me there's
something else you can do.
I just solved the speed
differential problem.
Happy, I need you to
get me into a Ferrari 458.
Force the gas cap open.
There's an engine cover emergency release.
- All right.
- Left hand side of the engine bay.
Pull out the ECM chip.
(engine revving) Can you get that
plane about eight feet off the ground?
- Eight feet? What for?
- Can't risk missing
the wireless signal again,
so we're gonna have to hardwire it
- into the computer.
- You're the world's smartest computer guy,
and this comes down to
plugging something in?
PIKE: How exactly
- do you plan on doing this?
- We're gonna be driving
200 miles an hour underneath you.
- What?
- Yeah.
You'll only have seven
seconds to receive that file.
Any longer, we're not
gonna get this plane back up,
- and we will crash.
- On top of us?
That will not happen, most likely.
- Do it in one minute.
- Roger that.
Good luck.
You were in the Air Force, right?
Uh-huh.
You-you expect me to sit in this car
while a plane is right over us?
No, you're gonna be standing
up through the sunroof.
Oh, okay. All right, okay, okay.
You-You're gonna have to trust me now.
I will not let anything happen to you.
You're the one that said
you wanted to save everyone.
This is our only chance.
Preparing for second approach.
RANDY: Okay, we're in sync
with Mr. O'Brien's laptop.
Let's hope this works.
(engine roaring, tires squealing)
PAIGE: Oh, my God.
- You ready?
- No...
- Hit the roof panel.
- No.
Hit the roof panel. Okay, okay.
Do it now!
(breathing deeply)
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God!
All right.
(tires squealing)
Oh, my God!
CO-PILOT: Come on!
You got to reach it!
I can't reach it!
(groans)
Come on, reach for it. Just try!
Okay.
WALTER: Drop the cable!
Drop it now!
Come on, you got to get it! Now!
Reach!
I got it!
Yes!
I got it! Okay, it's in.
It's downloading, it's downloading!
- What's it say?
- I don't know, uh,
a few seconds; it needs a few seconds.
We're running out of road!
Still loading!
Oh, come on, pal, up...
Just a few seconds! Almost!
Oh, no, no! No, no! No, no, no, no, no!
No, hold on! Walter!
Walter! It's done! Hold on! Hold on to it!
It's going!
(tires squealing)
Got it! (groans)
Look out!
(screaming)
(tires squealing)
We're back on. (cheering)
Mayday, mayday.
Communications restored.
(cheering)
We'll have you all safely
on the ground in moments.
Please confirm.
(cheering continues)
Your mom did that.
(coughing, retching)
(laughs)
Deal's a deal.
(sighs deeply)
Paige...
she deserves a share.
I'll see to it.
When we worked together,
that didn't pan out the
way either of us wanted.
I was hoping, moving forward,
things could be different.
Moving forward?
I came to L.A. to start a
strategic response team.
At any given time, we deal with everything
from stolen nukes to missing kids
to counterfeit cash so good
it can collapse our economy
in less than a month.
The bad guys are getting smarter.
And I can't train my agents
to think like you do.
I have the full resources
of the U.S. government.
I need your help, and I think
you and your team need a home.
Here.
“Fixed salaries, cars,
research lab”...
You saw this coming.
It was your only logical move.
(sighs)
Okay, lips are parted,
leaning slightly forward.
You have something to tell us.
He offered us jobs.
Me, too?
We're a team, aren't we?
The waitress just left
to bring her son home.
You just missed her.
(knocking on door)
Walter.
Come in.
I know it's, uh, late.
I'm sorry. I just wanted to, um,
say thank you for your help today.
You're welcome.
You came all the way over
here to tell me that?
No, I also wanted to offer you a job.
Government-funded problem solvers.
Uh... why?
I'm-I'm not a genius.
No, but you are raising one.
That takes, uh, someone smart, brave...
Now, our work requires, uh,
interaction with people.
It's not our strength.
You want to know about your son,
I can translate him for you.
You translate the world for us.
It's, um...
salary...
plus benefits.
You're worried about not being
able to connect with Ralph.
That is a second chance.
For you, too.
With you and Cabe.
When I was 16, Cabe asked
me to develop tracking software
to drop military aid packages.
So months later, I, uh,
I turned on the TV,
and I saw bombs falling on Baghdad.
They were using my system,
and I designed it for speed over accuracy.
So 2,000 civilians died.
Walter, you...
you were just a kid.
Yeah, so is Ralph.
So tell him to ignore
any sentence that starts
with “normally.”
Make sure that he's not scared
of anything that he's capable of.
And he'll find it difficult to make friends,
and sometimes he'll feel like no one else
in the world likes him.
Yeah.
You just got to make sure that
he knows it's not his fault.
RALPH: Hi, Walter.
Hey, Ralph.
He-he doesn't talk to anyone but me.
He recognizes one of his own.
May I?
Thank you.
ELECTRONIC VOICE: Three, two, one.
You ever pause your dreams, Ralph?
Yeah.
Ever rewind them?
Sometimes.
Yeah, me, too.
(woman screaming)
Breaching... go!
Immunity agreement and extradition waiver.
Sign them, and I'll tell you
how I hacked into NASA.
Corporal to command.
We have Scorpion.
He's just a kid.
OFFICER (over radio): Team
leaders maintain position 'til evac...
Target is acquired.
I just wanted the shuttle
blueprints for my wall.
(crying)
What's your name, son?
WOMAN: Walter?
Walter?
Are you listening?
Yes, you said “I didn't
see this coming at all.”
I can't believe you're breaking up with me.
I'll admit you have been patient.
Longest three months of my life. Mmm.
You're not easy, Walter.
I thought this might help.
Throughout our relationship,
you've accused me,
correctly, of being unable
to connect with your emotional states.
So... I mapped out
what I anticipate you'll experience
over the next few minutes.
You wrote a document to connect with me
- emotionally?
- Mm-hmm.
Now, this is a decision tree.
This is just to help you through the...
MAN: Hey! I pay you
to fix wireless, not talk.
You scheduled our breakup on a job?!
To be more efficient.
You may be trying, Walter.
But you're still a
million miles from normal.
Here you go, Burt. Your table's up here.
And your tea's waiting and
your eggs'll be up in five.
All right. You smell so good today.
What is that... new cologne? I love it.
MAN: Hey, kid! You're making a mess!
Paige! Again your boy's all over
- with the shakers!
- I know, he knows, I know.
He's just having a hard
time adjusting in school.
He'll be back next week. Promise.
Hey, honey. It's okay.
Mr. Gianakos just likes to keep things neat.
Remember we talked about
that kind of thing before?
Doesn't mean there's something
wrong with you, okay?
Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh...
PAIGE: Excuse me?
Can I help you?
No, but you should help him.
Wireless is up.
Don't yell at that boy.
♪ ♪
RADIO DJ: If you're sick of being broke,
for $108.3,
which month has 28 days?
All of them.
WOMAN: I actually know this one!
Uh, February?
RADIO DJ: We have a winner!
Idiots.
♪ ♪
Okay, so if my math is right... and it is...
we can siphon 700 kilowatts a month
through the fall before anyone even notices.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
What are you doing?
Over 30,000 shock-related
- accidents happen every year!
- WOMAN: Please.
I got this.
See? Power's up.
Why are you stealing electricity?
Just borrowing it until they
turn our power back on.
I thought we were paying the bills
after the Credit Nationale job?
SYLVESTER: I was.
I worked for three days on
this great loss algorithm
- for credit risk...
- You got lost in the numbers
and you forgot to pay the electric bill.
And the water bill and our rent.
And the payment
was all in cash, which got misplaced.
- It's somewhere... close.
- When's the last time you ate?
You mean, like, food?
Okay, it's cool, I finished
- the Lynwood job, Toby's picking up the fee.
- Toby?
Why not you? I built the contractor
an automated conveyance system
and he called me Sugar.
So I hit him in the mouth.
And Toby is where exactly?
♪ ♪
Shh! Keep your voices down!
Just for a minute!
(car speeding away, outside) Uh, Toby...
tell me you have the Lynwood payment.
First, can I note how I nearly
tripled the Lynwood payment?
So those thugs are chasing you down
to give you a big congratulations?
I beat them in poker! They're born chumps!
Pupils that dilate like saucers
whenever they had a good hand. Come on!
A Harvard-trained behaviorist
should know that people
- don't like to get cheated!
- I hate you.
- No, you don't.
- We have a combined I.Q. of nearly 700,
and we can't even pay our bills.
- We had a bad day!
- We've been at this two years!
The whole reason why I started
this company is because
we have more to offer
than just fixing routers!
Walter, I'm reading a
textbook panic response
to normal financial stressors.
Okay, if this thing is going south,
Walt, just let me know,
'cause I have a cousin who
owns a garage in Phoenix...
No matter how hard we try...
and I know we're all trying...
we're a million miles from normal.
(banging)
(shushing)
Yo!
(sirens wailing)
Hey, good.
Your timing's perfect.
A guy in there ripped us off.
I'll put a bag of pills in your pocket
fat enough to get you a room in Lompoc.
Understand?
Now, hit it.
Homeland Security.
- Is this you?
- No!
We're looking for Walter O'Brien!
It's a badge.
No, no, no, no.
Get out. Get out!
- Get out of here now.
- I wouldn't be here
if I weren't desperate, trust me.
“Trust you”?
- What is that... a joke?
- Who are you?
He's Federal Agent Cabe Gallo.
We worked together years ago.
The outcome was unfavorable.
Put it aside, O'Brien.
I need you.
45 minutes ago, there was
an automatic software upgrade
in the LAX control tower.
It had a bug.
- Now the entire system's down.
- Wa-wa-wait...
all the communications are down?
Contact's been lost between
Long Beach, LAX and Burbank.
Incoming flights have been diverted.
But the ones that were about
to start their descent...
56 of them... are out of comm range.
NSA's trying to work a satellite hook-up.
FBI's attempting a Morse code
signal from the observatory.
We need you on software.
Without landing guidance,
those planes run out of fuel.
SYLVESTER: And crash.
And crash, Walter!
Sounds like...
catastrophe is imminent.
So, go find someone else. Now.
How about a certified Federal check
for $50,000 in each of your pockets?
I ran checks on all of you.
Mechanical prodigy, world-class
shrink, a human calculator.
Brilliant minds working at half-capacity.
You want to do something meaningful?
Here's your chance.
You don't, people and metal
will be falling from the
sky in less than two hours.
It's your call.
Even with half my IQ, I wouldn't be
dumb enough to believe you twice.
“Put it aside”?
“Forget about it and move on”
is not an option for people
with photographic memories.
Give us a minute.
What the hell are you doing?
I was mirroring you so your
subconscious can relate to me.
I thought it would help you relax.
Do you think it's working?
Breaking this down logically,
we're not just going to
let those people fall out of the sky.
I'm telling you... I don't trust him.
I get it.
But without an influx of capital, these two
are just gonna go back to hacking banks.
And the next forensic analyst they run into
won't be as nice as you.
Now, personally, I'm cool,
I can handle myself.
Time is wasting.
We've got 56 planes to land.
WALTER: LAX Tower Control is the
main hub for all the other airports.
Fix the software there, it autocorrects
- in Long Beach and Burbank.
- So, the new software's
the glitch... first step is to
delete that, then download
the old software,
should be enough for the planes to land.
So you're doing it?
SYLVESTER: We go to LAX...
we fix the software, we are at a 90%
- chance of success.
- Grab your equipment.
Mine, too, please?
Must've been keeping tabs
on me to find me so quickly.
I got promoted to the L.A. office.
Only make sense that I would track you down.
Your body language suggests
that's about half the truth.
Of course, there's a 10%
chance that everyone dies.
You cross me on this, I'll go online...
and in less than a hour,
I will erase you.
(P.A. chiming)
CAPTAIN (over P.A.):
Sorry for the delay, folks.
We should have some more
information shortly.
Thank you for your patience.
Still no contact.
- Your cell?
- Nothing.
Back in the Air Force, I once dropped
down to 1,500 feet to catch a signal.
If we descend without comms,
we could run into another plane.
I'm sure there's an army of people
working on this as we speak.
TOBY: All right,
listen, when the FBI and the NSA fail,
do we get
some kind of bonus here? I'd be willing
to go double or nothing.
I'm just saying. Toby...
They were your top choice for this?
Walter O'Brien is one of the five
smartest people alive, so, yes.
DISPATCH: Be advised,
just got word from headquarters
there's a major pile-up on the 405.
LAX is unreachable for hours.
Repeat: LAX is a no-go.
- Copy that.
- TOBY: Call for a helicopter.
CABE: Air traffic's been shut down
until the situation is resolved.
No copter?
We're down to a 17% chance
- of success.
- LLOYD: Pipe down, Rain Man.
Call him that again, you better hope
the Feds have a good dental plan.
- This is what we get with a car
full of geniuses? - What you'll get
is a solution if everyone
keeps their mouth shut.
Everyone, quiet!
We don't need to go to LAX.
We just need a reliable wireless signal
with no chance of going down.
I just fixed one a mile north of here.
(tires squealing)
(sirens wailing)
(door bell dings)
Owner!
Agent Gallo, Homeland Security.
We need to commandeer your
diner for a national emergency.
You can stay.
But that's it.
Everybody out!
Come on! Everybody out! Come on, come on!
No, no, no, no, no.
You-you pay tomorrow. Come on.
Come on, out! Out! Out!
GIANAKOS: Come on!
What are you doing?
Any idea the bacteria on countertops?
Just from chicken alone,
there are over 20 diseases
you can get from exposure.
This is wildly upsetting.
No, no, no, no, you stay.
Uh, Nemos, no customers, no tips,
And I cannot leave Ralph here with...
Listen, my immigration status
makes me not so comfortable
around Federal agents.
You lock up.
Ralph?
Good to see you again.
CABE: Roughly 89 minutes until
the first plane goes down.
Their lives are in our hands.
PAIGE: Is there something wrong at LAX?
It's top-secret.
How can it be top-secret
if the guy who set up our
wireless is working on it?
Happy, script a POST check
after the system's stabilized.
Sylvester, run the odds on the patch
linking back into the software.
We do not want the same problem tomorrow.
Toby...
look for a saboteur.
Walter, look for coffee.
This is gonna take me, like, 90 seconds.
SYLVESTER: Screw this up, brains and guts
are gonna bounce all over town.
HAPPY: Actually, fuel
tanks ignite on impact.
You won't find a body part.
Eh, a blood-soaked spleen
could burn at a slower rate.
Hey, please check your language
around my nine-year-old.
Be decent in my place of work.
Thank you.
(door opens)
Secure channel to LAX.
Air traffic supervisor is on the line.
His name is Brooks.
Okay.
Mr. Brooks,
I'm hacking into airport security.
I'm gonna rotate your cameras
to point at the monitors.
I'll see it remotely, and I'll
walk you through each step.
Who am I on with here?
I am not comfortable with you hacking
- into anything at this airport.
- Then don't make it so easy.
To answer your question,
my name is Walter O'Brien,
and I was brought in to fix your
problem since you're not capable
of doing it yourself.
Look behind you.
Say hello to the camera, Mr. Brooks.
I'm at your 10:00. Our goal is to reboot
your computer and land those planes.
To do that, hit control C
right in between the flickers
at the exact moment that I say now.
Ready?
Now.
(beeps) (groans)
I missed. It's too fast.
Moving on, you, short sleeves
and tie, you in the glasses,
you code, right?
A little.
How'd you know?
Lucky guess. What's your name?
Randy. Randy, take Mr. Brooks's seat.
You guys are talking
about planes going down.
I'm just an intern.
You just got promoted. Sit down!
WALTER: Mr. Brooks, can you give Randy
the original installation disk to download?
That software was installed 15 years ago.
I have no idea where it is.
The company went out of business.
Where do you back up your data?
- Blackstern Data Storage.
- Okay, we can get a copy
of the old software from the backup server.
I e-mail it to Brooks, he clicks a link,
and the system is up and running
as if the corrupted software
was never downloaded.
Blackstern's on Ventura.
Northeast. Opposite
direction of the gridlock.
You should know that the data is backed up
to the latest software
every 12 hours on the five.
So in 20 minutes,
the last remaining useable software
will be corrupted. Happy, Toby,
get to the server and
get me that backup disk.
Sylvester, call the data center;
tell them we're on our way.
I'm gonna prep here to relay to LAX.
Bates, take 'em.
Stay in contact.
Walter, you tell that waitress
I'm gonna be right back.
Toby, in situations like this,
carelessness, mistakes, they will haunt you.
I know this from experience.
Walter, I'm always on point.
Have you seen my hat?
Here, I thought you might be thirsty.
Thank you.
Mm-hmm.
You have anemia.
It turns your fingernails pitted.
That's why your polish looks streaky.
You need more iron.
(chuckles) Okay.
I don't recall asking, Einstein.
Einstein had a 160 IQ.
- Mine's 197.
- Wow.
So you must know everything about me,
if you're that smart.
You have no-name sneakers, he has orthotics.
Whatever you have goes to Ralph.
The inflammation under your eyes
from lack of sunlight comes
from working two jobs...
As for the boy's father, I'd make
calculated assumptions
in the realm of interpersonal
communication issues.
Oh, so we split because I
have issues communicating.
And I thought it was
the blonde in Tahoe.
Who the hell are you to tell me
that my polish looks cheap?
That-that hurts my feelings.
Do you understand?
Yeah.
I recognize that.
I've been told things
like that a lot before.
And my polish streaks because Ralph does it.
He loves to paint, and don't tell me
that he needs help, either. He's challenged.
Have some empathy.
(sighs)
Challenged, huh?
Look at Sylvester and him.
Do you know what they're doing?
The matches are the king,
the jelly is the queen,
the sugar packets are the knights.
He's playing chess with a grand
master who's about to lose.
Walter, you see this?
Check mate in eight moves.
This kid is amazing!
And he doesn't like to paint your nails.
He does it because he wants
to hold your hand, but he can't
process physical contact.
So help him.
Or he will never connect with you.
I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news,
but your son is a genius.
HAPPY: Walter, we're
approaching the data center.
We should have the backup hard drive soon.
WALTER: Copy that, Happy.
Standing by.
(sirens wailing, tires squealing)
No, it's supposed to be open 24/7!
Looks like they cut out.
HAPPY: Walt?
We got a problem. No one's home.
You're the mechanical engineer!
Pick the lock!
I have my tools, but it'll take a lot longer
than the six minutes we have
before the bad software backs up
- onto the servers.
- Bates, get them in.
Step aside.
- Whoa!
- Are you insane?
You're the one putting hands on a Fed.
That is 75-millimeter,
six-layer polycarbonate casing.
It won't break,
but a round could deflect and kill somebody.
Walt, please don't let
the Fed talk anymore.
SYLVESTER: We're down to a
four-percent chance of success.
CABE: Five minutes from now, the
software we need disappears forever.
If that happens, 20,000 people die.
Hey, Ralph, let's go in the office, okay?
WALTER: We got to abandon the data center.
We got to pull the team back,
get four minds working together at once,
and then, maybe within an hour,
we'll be able...
By then, the first two
planes will be out of fuel.
Do you really think you can come up
- with an option by then?
- Hold on.
You're just accepting two planes going down.
We lose two planes to save 54.
That's a trade we're gonna have to make.
Contact the FAA and tell them
these two flights are terminal.
Agent Gallo is implementing
the greater good theory.
Loss is acceptable as
long as the resulting gain
is large enough.
No, it isn't. You save everybody.
Normal people save everybody.
- I'm not normal.
- I don't care!
Use that 197 IQ of yours.
Take a deep breath and reset.
Reset.
Reset, reset.
Happy, we need to reset the door lock.
We need to brown-out ten
blocks around the data center.
- Kill the electricity to part of Los Angeles?
- Mm-hmm.
Just turn it off in that one building!
We can't focus a surge that precisely,
but a brief power surge
will open up the door,
and we'll be able to get in.
You're gonna owe me a new slim pick.
All right, we need to find
a municipal junction box
that covers that area.
It should be on a commercial street.
- I'll check the south.
- North.
Got one!
All right,
calculate the kilowatts it'll take
it'll take to overpower a surge
within a ten-block radius.
No, no, no, no, no.
Ooh. Not now, Sylvester.
CABE: Wait, wait, what are you doing?
I can't calculate without order;
it's my process.
My process involves my foot in your ass.
Hold on. Here.
One piece.
It's the biggest and the smallest,
so it's in order.
That works.
(horn blowing)
Uh, Sylvester, I don't want
to hurry your process...
500,000 kilowatts!
All right!
We need exactly 500,000 kilowatts.
Can you handle that?
Come on.
Who rigged our whole office this morning?
I'm on it.
Okay, ready?
Here we go.
(electricity crackling, power whirring down)
We're in. We're in!
There!
Not good.
We have less than a minute. Which one is it?
Okay, these servers run the facilities.
So the clients would be in the cage.
Yeah, this guy, he's the boss.
Cuff links, tie clip, anal micro-manager.
Makes all the calls as to
what gets stored where.
Look at his belt tail; he's a lefty.
So we eliminate the right-side servers.
He'd subconsciously put
a big client like LAX on
his dominant hand side.
There's still about 250 servers.
Okay, you think LAX, you think planes.
You think planes,
you think high, so eliminate
the bottom three shelves.
100 servers left. Ten seconds.
- Get on it!
- He's what, five-six, tops?
So it won't be the top shelf.
Napoleonic boss man would
never use a step ladder
in front of his employees.
So it's one of these...
This one!
Ah! Time's up.
(servers whirring)
How did you know for sure?
'Cause it says “LAX” right here.
Oh...
You are impressed.
He doesn't even know we're here.
He's wondering if those flashlights
can be powered by the heat
of the hand that holds them.
Or he's calculating the cubic
footage of the octagon clock.
He thinks about anything.
Everything.
Did you let him beat you, earlier?
No.
I-I had no idea he even liked chess.
SYLVESTER: Few parents meaningfully engage
with mentally enabled children.
It's not your fault.
It's just... how we are.
How did your parents handle it?
Oh, I-I haven't spoken to them in ten years.
(rapid beeping)
NSA satellite link failed.
Where the hell are your people?
That kid Toby doesn't exactly
fill me with confidence.
Toby grew up penniless, gambled
his way through school.
Even then, he got his doctorate
at the age of 17.
Sometimes people like us need...
repair... before we can fit into your world.
I know the aftermath was devastating.
I did keep tabs on you.
TOBY: Seat backs and tray tables up!
Those planes are as good as landed.
Endlessly patting himself on
the back, the whole ride here.
I just want a statue of me at LAX.
Now what?
Easy as sending a file.
Mr. Brooks, in a moment, you'll
receive a bug-free version
of the software.
All you have to do is open
your e-mail and click a link.
(rapid beeping) Wait.
The hard drive's frozen.
The files are corrupted.
They're useless.
We took it out as carefully as we could.
WALTER: How'd you transport it?
It was wrapped in a towel,
tucked in a door console
so I wouldn't drop it.
Was there an audio speaker in the door?
TOBY: Yeah. So?
What? The magnet erased the hard drive.
- It's useless now.
- No, no, no, no.
It's not my fault.
I didn't know anything about
magnets in car speakers.
You've stolen hundreds of them, Toby.
Oh...
No place on Earth has what we need.
CABE: FBI just texted.
They're out, too.
We're at less than one
percent, Walter...
You know what I'm going to tell you.
There was a fourth team.
Tracking the planes via radar.
Circling over the ocean...
fighter jets...
You'll shoot them down?
Same protocol was activated
on 9/11 to prevent
possible ground casualties.
Can you think of anything we can do?
(speed dial blipping)
Contact Director Merrick.
Tell him we need to
activate the fourth option.
PAIGE: Hey...
Walter.
I know what's going on.
Actually, uh, there's only
100 people in the world
who really know anything
and unfortunately, you're not one of them.
You're doing what Ralph does
when he doesn't understand
how to fix a problem.
He panics and shuts down.
When you don't know something,
you feel like you don't know anything.
For all practical purposes,
I have no right brain.
People with high IQ tend to have low EQ.
That's emotional quotient.
So these big speeches, pep talks...
they don't work on me.
They work on athletes,
they work on children,
they work on waitresses.
They don't work on people like me.
Oh, oh, I get it, I'm the dumb waitress.
- I never called you that.
- But I'm smart enough
to know that you're scared.
You don't know how to solve the problem
and you're terrified
because people will die.
Well, they won't die because of me.
And they won't live because of you, either,
because you're just giving
up and walking away.
Don't lecture me about how
people dying will make me feel.
I already know!
What does that mean?
Walter...
what does that mean?
Hey, sweetheart.
Let's go back inside, okay?
Yes, sir, I understand.
I'll draft an alert for the
Emergency Broadcast System ASAP.
Don't hang up.
Tell them there's still a chance.
Put a pin in that, sir.
We may have something here.
Software's on the planes.
They use a duplicate copy to
communicate with the tower.
Now, if they took off before
this morning's update,
like a flight from
Australia or New Zealand,
they'll still have the
bug-free software on board.
CABE: Okay.
But we still have the same problem.
What we need is seven miles over our head
and there's no way to get in touch
with the people who have it.
Yes, there is.
WALTER: Klemmer Airfield is 20 minutes away.
Get me there in ten,
and I can download that software.
If you're gonna shut down all the roads
that lead to Klemmer Airfield,
there's gonna be lots of moving parts.
I still think it's the wrong play;
the runways are too short there.
It's just a low fly-by.
There's a neighborhood next door.
If something goes wrong,
you take out half a block.
It's actually four blocks,
but I won't let that happen.
I don't know if that's going to be enough
to get LAPD to set up rolling road blocks.
We're talking about major
roads in a major city.
There's safety risks, there's procedure...
I know what you're doing.
You're covering yourself
in case of casualties.
I don't put protocol over lives.
Lives?
Suddenly you're worried about lives?
We can debate the past later.
Right now, if you want my help,
then let me make the calls
and see if I can't get this done for you.
Let's go.
I know he thinks he's helping,
but we don't have time for
bureaucracy right now.
Happy, if I hack you into the DOT,
can you manipulate the traffic signals?
They're on standard sequencers;
- don't see why not.
- So you shut down
the roads, we drive fast as hell,
we might be able to pull this off. Toby,
I need you to check the manifest...
For a passenger up there
whose phone is still on.
Walt, I got this.
- Don't worry.
- All right.
I'm gonna need to upgrade
my wireless antenna software
to pick up the signal from the plane,
so someone's gonna have to drive me there.
Um... I don't have my license,
but...
I'm more of a bus guy...
I-I understand the basic mechanics
- of-of how this works...
- Sylvester.
I really need you here, helping Toby.
But thank you, pal.
Uh, driving through L.A.
with nothing but green lights...
it's kind of always been a fantasy of mine.
At high speed? No.
Somebody's gotta drive.
Come on.
Your son needs you.
I've tried really hard,
but I've never been able
to fully connect with him,
not in the way that I've seen
him connect with you guys today.
What my son needs is
to see me help you.
Please, Walter.
You're a good mom.
Or a very bad one.
No, we need roads blocked the entire time.
Why do I need to call the highway patrol?
We're only staying on side streets!
(tires squealing)
What the...?
HAPPY: Okay, Walter,
I'm tracking you on the traffic cams.
They should start changing... now.
It's working!
Hold on!
(horn honking)
We're at 100.
This thing doesn't have air bags.
Well, you know, at these speeds,
they're useless.
Go faster.
There's 440 people on the flight.
They all have their phones off
'cause they're on a damn plane.
How the hell am I supposed
to communicate with them?
I'm checking Sigalert; you should head south
on Hilgard to Manning, then
Santa Monica to Bundy.
I'll get you a clear path.
I think that's Agent Gallo!
Keep driving.
Guys, stay frosty.
I can't get the light on
Barrington to change over.
No, no, Walter...
No, no, no, no, no! No!
Oh... Oh, God.
What the hell was that?
Greater good theory in practice.
Now just get to that airfield
and don't make me regret this!
WALTER: We're almost there.
Toby, did you find a passenger
on one of those planes with an active phone?
Sylvester, I need more passenger names.
Novell software technology's too old
to do any this in five minutes.
And even if someone's phone was on,
how do we get in touch
with them at 36,000 feet?
Old technology!
That's it! We-we-we find someone
with an out-of-date analog phone.
The receivers are 10 times
stronger than smartphones.
They can get a signal up there.
All right, we lose anyone under 50.
Can't make over six figures.
Can't work for a tech company...
Salesmen!
Salesmen never turn off their phones.
They risk losing business.
And... duh duh duh duh duh duh...
Gordon Tooley!
Plastics salesman from Reseda
returning from a work trip.
Service is linked to a Retron A-64 analog.
Call him!
(phone ringing)
Hello?
Mr. Tooley, listen carefully.
This is Homeland Security.
There's an emergency on your flight.
We need your help.
Nice try, Sully.
I'll see you at work, ya putz.
Yeah, this isn't Sully,
'cause Sully wouldn't know that right now,
outside of your window are
the Santa Monica Mountains.
And right above them are two F-22s,
ready to shoot you out of the sky.
So I need you to get off your
ass, grab a flight attendant
and tell them to get
your phone to the pilot.
(engine roaring, tires squealing)
CAPTAIN: This is Captain Pike, standing by.
Captain Pike, you're carrying
an uncorrupted version
of control tower software.
Now, you need to e-mail it to me
so it can be downloaded at LAX.
Copy.
But our onboard wireless
only has a limited reach.
What do you want me to do?
Buzz the tower at 100 feet.
I should be able to grab your wireless.
Where will you be? We just arrived
at Klemmer Airfield; we called ahead.
Runway two has been cleared.
I'm right over Klemmer.
Could be there in less than a minute.
Time to advise the passengers.
Ladies and gentlemen,
please remain in your seats
with your seat belt fastened.
- Mr. O'Brien?
- Yes.
I've got a space cleared for you up here.
Thank you. Okay.
I've linked my computer up to LAX,
so as soon as I get the download,
they'll have it as well.
Here it comes.
WALTER: Captain Pike, maintain at 100 feet.
I should be able to catch your Wi-Fi signal
and download your software.
This is Captain Pike.
Do I have confirmation? Over.
Were you able to download that software?
No, there's too much of a speed
differential between a plane
and a stationary laptop. Over.
- Let's try again.
- Doing the same thing
but expecting a different result
is the definition of insanity.
It won't work.
Mr. O'Brien, I've got 240 souls onboard.
Please tell me there's
something else you can do.
I just solved the speed
differential problem.
Happy, I need you to
get me into a Ferrari 458.
Force the gas cap open.
There's an engine cover emergency release.
- All right.
- Left hand side of the engine bay.
Pull out the ECM chip.
(engine revving) Can you get that
plane about eight feet off the ground?
- Eight feet? What for?
- Can't risk missing
the wireless signal again,
so we're gonna have to hardwire it
- into the computer.
- You're the world's smartest computer guy,
and this comes down to
plugging something in?
PIKE: How exactly
- do you plan on doing this?
- We're gonna be driving
200 miles an hour underneath you.
- What?
- Yeah.
You'll only have seven
seconds to receive that file.
Any longer, we're not
gonna get this plane back up,
- and we will crash.
- On top of us?
That will not happen, most likely.
- Do it in one minute.
- Roger that.
Good luck.
You were in the Air Force, right?
Uh-huh.
You-you expect me to sit in this car
while a plane is right over us?
No, you're gonna be standing
up through the sunroof.
Oh, okay. All right, okay, okay.
You-You're gonna have to trust me now.
I will not let anything happen to you.
You're the one that said
you wanted to save everyone.
This is our only chance.
Preparing for second approach.
RANDY: Okay, we're in sync
with Mr. O'Brien's laptop.
Let's hope this works.
(engine roaring, tires squealing)
PAIGE: Oh, my God.
- You ready?
- No...
- Hit the roof panel.
- No.
Hit the roof panel. Okay, okay.
Do it now!
(breathing deeply)
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God!
All right.
(tires squealing)
Oh, my God!
CO-PILOT: Come on!
You got to reach it!
I can't reach it!
(groans)
Come on, reach for it. Just try!
Okay.
WALTER: Drop the cable!
Drop it now!
Come on, you got to get it! Now!
Reach!
I got it!
Yes!
I got it! Okay, it's in.
It's downloading, it's downloading!
- What's it say?
- I don't know, uh,
a few seconds; it needs a few seconds.
We're running out of road!
Still loading!
Oh, come on, pal, up...
Just a few seconds! Almost!
Oh, no, no! No, no! No, no, no, no, no!
No, hold on! Walter!
Walter! It's done! Hold on! Hold on to it!
It's going!
(tires squealing)
Got it! (groans)
Look out!
(screaming)
(tires squealing)
We're back on. (cheering)
Mayday, mayday.
Communications restored.
(cheering)
We'll have you all safely
on the ground in moments.
Please confirm.
(cheering continues)
Your mom did that.
(coughing, retching)
(laughs)
Deal's a deal.
(sighs deeply)
Paige...
she deserves a share.
I'll see to it.
When we worked together,
that didn't pan out the
way either of us wanted.
I was hoping, moving forward,
things could be different.
Moving forward?
I came to L.A. to start a
strategic response team.
At any given time, we deal with everything
from stolen nukes to missing kids
to counterfeit cash so good
it can collapse our economy
in less than a month.
The bad guys are getting smarter.
And I can't train my agents
to think like you do.
I have the full resources
of the U.S. government.
I need your help, and I think
you and your team need a home.
Here.
“Fixed salaries, cars,
research lab”...
You saw this coming.
It was your only logical move.
(sighs)
Okay, lips are parted,
leaning slightly forward.
You have something to tell us.
He offered us jobs.
Me, too?
We're a team, aren't we?
The waitress just left
to bring her son home.
You just missed her.
(knocking on door)
Walter.
Come in.
I know it's, uh, late.
I'm sorry. I just wanted to, um,
say thank you for your help today.
You're welcome.
You came all the way over
here to tell me that?
No, I also wanted to offer you a job.
Government-funded problem solvers.
Uh... why?
I'm-I'm not a genius.
No, but you are raising one.
That takes, uh, someone smart, brave...
Now, our work requires, uh,
interaction with people.
It's not our strength.
You want to know about your son,
I can translate him for you.
You translate the world for us.
It's, um...
salary...
plus benefits.
You're worried about not being
able to connect with Ralph.
That is a second chance.
For you, too.
With you and Cabe.
When I was 16, Cabe asked
me to develop tracking software
to drop military aid packages.
So months later, I, uh,
I turned on the TV,
and I saw bombs falling on Baghdad.
They were using my system,
and I designed it for speed over accuracy.
So 2,000 civilians died.
Walter, you...
you were just a kid.
Yeah, so is Ralph.
So tell him to ignore
any sentence that starts
with “normally.”
Make sure that he's not scared
of anything that he's capable of.
And he'll find it difficult to make friends,
and sometimes he'll feel like no one else
in the world likes him.
Yeah.
You just got to make sure that
he knows it's not his fault.
RALPH: Hi, Walter.
Hey, Ralph.
He-he doesn't talk to anyone but me.
He recognizes one of his own.
May I?
Thank you.
ELECTRONIC VOICE: Three, two, one.
You ever pause your dreams, Ralph?
Yeah.
Ever rewind them?
Sometimes.
Yeah, me, too.