Scorpion (2014–2018): Season 1, Episode 5 - Plutonium Is Forever - full transcript
Walter and his team try to prevent a decommissioned nuclear plant from melting down, aided by a former member of scorpion.
WALTER: My name is Walter O'Brien.
I have the fourth highest IQ
ever recorded: 197.
Einstein's was 160.
When I was 11,
the FBI arrested me for hacking NASA
to get their blueprints for my bedroom wall.
Now I run a team of geniuses,
tackling worldwide threats
only we can solve.
Toby's our behaviorist.
Sylvester's a human calculator.
Happy, a mechanical prodigy.
Agent Cabe Gallo's our government handler.
And Paige? Well, Paige isn't like us.
She's normal and translates the world for us
while we help her understand her genius son.
Together, we are Scorpion.
♪ ♪
Now!
On the ground!
Do it right now!
I want to talk to Walter O'Brien!
I said we could come in for
an hour before school started.
That ended five minutes ago, bud.
Ralph, did you even touch your breakfast?
To move it over.
Hey, I gave you your own set
of Allen wrenches for a reason.
(chuckles)
I have them set by lens strength.
Ah, well done.
First optics test is you check
for spherical aberration.
Actually, the first test he
needs to do is long division.
So, he can't be late for school.
Do you really think we
need a test to determine
if he knows long division?
Point taken,
but he still needs to be at school on time.
Go downstairs and get your backpack.
Come on.
Can we run the test together after school?
Can't wait.
I'll be back in 20... what... what is that?
It's a centrifuge.
So, you guys have been up here for hours,
no breaks,
and I'll assume you skipped breakfast.
We're working here.
Ralph does the same thing.
Well, focus is normal when someone...
“Goes down the rabbit hole”"
You'll know.
What's a rabbit hole?
Dehydration, loss of sense of
time, antisocial behavior.
And how do you avoid that?
You avoid it by starting
a team like Scorpion.
Come, here.
TOBY: I'm seeing... ace of spades.
Wait a minute.
You think you're sneaky, huh?
I've never seen him happier.
He's in the right place.
This isn't your card?!
Is this your card?
Car, now.
Ralph.
Have a good day at school.
And don't listen to any of your teachers.
Happy.
Pick one... 20 bucks says I can
guess it in under five seconds.
Is this your way of asking for a loan?
You blew your money, didn't you?
Your ex-fiancée told you
to never call her again,
and you licked your wounds at a card table?
Wrong.
Cleaned up at a card table.
I got killed at craps.
Perhaps next time I should just call you.
Absolutely wrong.
Not that I would, but if I did,
what exactly would be so wrong about that?
We don't have the time.
See, that's why I gamble.
Walter! Why the hell aren't
you answering your phone?
(groans) I was working!
I need you to come with me.
Just you. Urgent.
What is it?
You know the name Mark Collins?
Yeah.
Let's keep this quiet.
CABE: Collins breached the
unmarked perimeter
at the military-controlled
Montero Nuclear Reactor,
about five miles from here.
Did he say why he did it?
All he's said so far is your name.
Wonder why that is.
I haven't talked to him in years.
CABE: General Ned Walker.
The reactor's under his command.
Mr. O'Brien.
Anything you can do to determine his intent
and threat level would be a huge help.
I'd like to get this buttoned
up as soon as possible.
How active is the reactor?
Not at all...
it's been decommissioned and
scheduled to be dismantled.
Basically, all we do is security.
Now, how do you know Mr. Collins?
Mark used to work at my company, Scorpion.
(whispering indistinctly)
COLLINS: Hi, Walter. Mark.
WALTER: So, what's going on here?
782.
CABE: What's that supposed to mean?
You have the second sharpest
brain in the room, use it.
782.
What, is that some kind of code?
WALTER: No, it's not code, it's days.
782 days since we saw each other.
Mark, these people aren't messing about.
Please, tell me...
why did you trespass at the reactor?
And why did you ask for me?
You're working with the Feds now.
I also heard about that close call you had
with the governor on that biohacking thing.
That wasn't reported.
How'd you hear about that?
No, he means, literally he heard it.
Mark's a radio... expert.
It's okay, you can say “hacker”"
He monitors nearly every signal
that passes through the air.
From truckers on CBs, to cell phone calls,
to military communications.
How long have you been spying on us?
Yes, please, Mr. Government,
go ahead and tell me
again how bad spying is.
(whispering): Mark.
How's your head?
Are we on solid ground now?
I could ask you the same thing, Walter.
But, yes, I'm as clear as a bell.
And I'm 100% sure that there's a problem.
I mean, come on,
I wouldn't expect these normals
to understand...
851.67, 851.69.
With a moderate isolation scheme
I achieved a ten to the second,
ten to the fifth uptick in BER.
CABE: What is he babbling about?
632, black.
646, green.
March 25.
You with me, Walter?
I knew I could count on you.
All right, there's not much time.
Need you to get to my house,
and open the notebooks.
Inside, you'll find everything you need
to make sense of it all.
Make sense of what?
Something big is happening.
That's not gonna suffice, son.
Come on, what is it they say
about time and being of the essence?!
Take him back to the cell.
Walter.
It's something big, Walter.
Guy says something big's coming,
then clams up.
Why is it you geniuses are
such a pain in the ass?
He's not to me.
He knows I understand his expertise,
the radio frequencies, time codes.
But I won't know for sure
exactly what he's going on about
until I see his notes.
So, I'm gonna have to call my team,
get them to meet us at Mark's house.
Gentlemen, we have zero interest
in opening the circle on this.
I will ensure their discretion, sir.
What was that about earlier,
about you keeping your head on solid ground?
Mark's always had the wrong idea about me,
it's best to leave it at that.
Also, best not to tell the team
whose house we're going to.
Guys, this way.
You know how much we love
a good mystery, Walter.
What exactly are we doing here?
Working.
PAIGE: Whoa, I bet this picks up
the country station nice and clear.
That is quite a fence.
Half-inch diameter rebar,
reinforced steel chain-link mesh.
Pure paranoia.
TOBY: When I rotated through
Bellevue psychiatric,
I treated a patient who
wore a diaper on his head
and called himself “King Poo Poo.”
This is crazier.
There can't be more than
a few people in California
with this much listening equipment.
Whose house is this, Walter?
Keep an open mind.
Mark Collins?!
Are you insane?
No, but Collins is.
Someone want to explain?
He was a member of the team,
it didn't work out.
With Collins, “Didn't work
out” is an understatement.
You lured us here.
Would you have come if you knew?
No.
Help us find the recordings
we're looking for. All we need is data.
Where's Collins?
He was arrested.
Of course he is.
All right, let's get a move on, come on.
PAIGE: My God, was he always like this?
WALTER: Looks like he had
a lonely few years.
Oh, tough for him.
What's the story with this Collins?
Well, if you didn't agree with him,
he'd argue with you until you did,
and he knew his mind games.
The worst of it was how he affected Walter.
He'd get in his head,
erase his good judgment
and forget we existed.
Guys.
We're supposed to be working here.
They really don't like this guy.
Maybe you should have told them up front?
Just saying, secrets breed mistrust.
2004, 2005 through 2014.
Playing all the hits from
the obsessive top 40.
Got the tape from March 25.
Cue up 6:32 a.m.
It's incredible work.
So, this guy was like you
guys, and then... this?
It happens sometimes.
With Mark, it was intense, though.
Like, if you played chess with him,
he'd make you doubt your every move.
And then “Blammo”... checkmate.
Against you?
CABE: Walter.
Walter.
Walter.
Walter!
What?
I said your name four times.
I'm good.
Play the tape.
6:32 a.m.
MAN: But, sir, I'm almost certain
there will be a major problem
unless we find a way to
run the SCADA update.
Nothing until 6:46.
Channel went dark for 14 minutes.
Who is that on tape?
A scientist at the reactor,
talking over an internal radio.
And “SCADA”?
These old reactors run on
ancient 1980s technology.
SCADA is the brain that
controls the rest of the system.
And it needs to be kept up to date.
What are they covering up?
Collins has been down here for years
capturing everything he
could about his neighbor,
the Montero Nuclear Power Plant.
Rising ocean temperatures,
radiation levels near the plant.
Right, so the water's getting warmer,
more radioactive, and then someone
at the power plant says there's a problem.
Poof, communications went blank.
Collins is alerting us to a major problem
at the reactor that's
being actively ignored.
Why on earth would someone do that?
Standard bureaucratic cover-your-ass.
Shocking to think that would
extend to nuclear materials,
but it does.
Okay, so we pass this on
to the army, and we are done here, right?
WALTER: No.
Collins wouldn't have called us
unless he thought it needed our expertise.
Since when does he call us?
General Walker said he needs our help.
Who knows how dangerous this situation is?
Exactly. Guys, what's happening here?
We just took a job upgrading
an ancient nuclear power plant.
End of story.
Want to know what's really happening here?
Mark Collins is back in our lives.
If this nuclear power
plant doesn't melt down,
the team might.
Oh, oh, this is wonderful.
The creepiest place on earth.
We'll upgrade the system.
We'll be gone in two hours.
Without speaking to Collins, correct?
General's coming.
General.
All right.
Somebody educate me.
You guys wait here.
Now, Collins intercepted discussions
about the reactor's software and computers.
Now, the ones that regulate
the nuclear core temperatures
were installed in the late 1980s.
Walter believes that the software
should've been completely
updated 15 years ago.
WALTER: Standard bureaucratic
mentality is to go cheap,
patches on patches.
This whole system becomes a house of cards.
But I'm looking at a core temperature gauge
- in the green.
- Yeah, well,
there are shoddy indicators
all around this place.
Mind if I try something?
Thank you.
The plant's got time-worn fail-safes,
but we're supposed to believe
some rambling lunatic
we found in a field?
Well, a brilliant mind with a likely 190 IQ.
(whirring)
General, you had a loose fuse.
Oh, no.
Why don't you play the tape?
General, let me show you something.
MAN: The problem is, it stopped regulating
and a SCADA update is risky as hell.
God help us if it fails.
That's Dr. Fitzsimmons, lead
safety officer of the plant.
Yeah, on a cell call to his wife
saying that the reactor software
is failing to regulate the
nuclear core temperatures,
and he's too scared to say anything.
Now, he's the one that runs
your safety checks, correct?
And he just moved to
Pennsylvania six weeks ago.
His replacement hasn't been hired.
The only regular traffic here
are the MPs guarding the perimeter.
The reactor's inoperative.
It's in cool-down mode
for the next eight years
until it can be dismantled.
WALTER:
Except it's not being properly regulated.
So it's not cooling down, it's overheating.
Now, the system needs SCADA updates.
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition.
You know, I confess to a basic knowledge
of the technology here,
so if we're facing the next
Fukishima, tell me that.
General, I can fix this,
- and as soon as Collins gets here, we begin.
- Collins?
So the guy in the tin foil hat
is gonna walk us out of this?
Look.
From listening to chatter,
Collins diagramed this exactly.
Patches on patches.
Now, if we try to upgrade using
the wrong building blocks,
it could fry the whole system.
Collins' knowledge of this
mess could help prevent that,
and given the core temperature,
I'd say we have 18 hours
before it starts to overheat.
Don't even say the word “meltdown.”
Keep him in handcuffs with a
gun at his back for all I care.
We need him.
TOBY: A little more on Collins?
He's what my teachers used to call me,
- “A bad influence.”
- He and Walter
would push each other and
just get lost in the work.
Theoretical algorithms for days.
No breaks, no food, no sleep.
They'd barely speak.
Sometimes we'd lose Walter for weeks.
It's called a savant dissociative state.
- Not pretty.
- Then what?
Mark just disappeared.
Thin air.
Walter was pretty affected.
Simply put, Mark is disruptive.
So, project manager, does today
strike you as a good day
for disruptive?
CABE: You going to talk to our man?
Yes.
Good. I may not know that
much about geniuses,
but I do know when
someone's keeping a secret.
Okay.
You're making a lot of unilateral decisions
to include a guy no one else wants.
They'll have to deal with it.
I'm trying to keep this facility
and four million people from getting cooked.
You obviously have a very
different relationship
with Collins than the others,
and you miss it since he left?
Yes, exactly.
Or is it that he's now
alone living in squalor,
and you feel bad for him?
You know I don't think emotionally.
That's your job, okay?
Which you're certainly
not making it easy to do.
A little insight would help everyone.
(whooping)
(grunting) Wise choice, my friend.
Come on, let's get to work.
(sighs) The gang's all here.
I love it!
Sylvester, my brother! Come on.
Well, come on!
Now, this is a two-pronged attack.
There's two computers
that need our attention.
First there's this one.
It runs the reactor.
Exactly whom are we taking orders from?
Both of us.
We need to download the
reactor calibrations from here.
For the civilians?
Reactor calibrations tell the
computer if hot is too hot,
so it knows what's an
alarm and what's normal.
Can't update the system without
getting that information
here first.
Did you get smarter, Sylvester?
I think I've always been this smart.
Right.
Second thing we need to do
is to prep the system for the SCADA update.
Otherwise,
it would be like putting a new V12
in an old Model T.
Happy, you and Toby can handle that.
I do not like him handing out assignments.
It's efficient, Happy.
We're here to do a job.
Now, the main computer, that's near here?
We're at the reactor.
The mainframe is in this building here.
About a quarter mile across the campus, max.
All right.
Come on.
Get a move on, people.
We have a job to do.
Remember what I said.
Oh, my God.
This technology predates my birth.
Well, hello. We come to you
from the distant past.
(computers whirring)
Are we seriously supposed
to stop a nuclear meltdown
with this junk?
You are and you will.
He really tests my nerves.
Prepare the SCADA system upgrade.
We'll be there in ten minutes.
- Hey.
- Mm-hmm?
Thanks for letting me help with this.
It was efficient.
Some things never change.
Except now you're getting paid.
Team's coming together.
You got a girl.
You've been spending too
much time in your basement.
You could've called
the cops or the military,
but you-you chose us.
Why?
Do you ever think about
any of our old projects?
We were making a lot of progress
on our super symmetry theory.
Maybe when we wrap up here,
you could show me the new data?
Maybe you owe me one?
You do understand
I wasn't pleased with the
way that things turned out.
Was that “EQ” Walter?
Maybe you could reminisce later?
Focus on the work right now.
Boss man's right.
Okay, uh, for this section of code,
you're gonna need RPL and PARADOX.
WALTER: This OS isn't corrupt?
It's like they have their own language.
Imagine that kind of intensity
for three weeks straight.
And he just disappeared, no trace?
Walter wouldn't discuss it.
COLLINS: Okay.
We're good to download
the reactor calibrations.
Sylvester, you're on.
Wait.
We have not run a full diagnostic.
If we don't stress-test
the system circuitry,
it could be us melting this place down.
What's she talking about?
When we upgrade,
it will pump a lot of electricity
through this junk pile.
If this system has flaws...
old wiring, rat-chewed insulation...
we want to know now and
where so we can fortify.
No, that's a waste of time.
We're not rebuilding a motorcycle engine.
Look, that test alone
could overload the system.
Walter, I know what I'm talking about.
Not more than I do.
Would someone make the call here?
Happy, we've only got one shot.
If your diagnostic crashes the system,
then we have a meltdown in 17½ hours,
and we might not have enough time
to rebuild the system from scratch.
If Collins runs the download
before the system's ready for
it, we have a meltdown now.
Happy's never liked me.
Her opposition is personal.
It's not based on knowledge.
Knowledge that I have of this
reactor that she doesn't.
Trust me.
I have complete confidence in this.
Well, you'd better be right, son.
Because there's no do-over.
Don't do it, Walter.
SYLVESTER: Okay.
We are downloading the reactor calibrations.
Four-minute ETA.
Walt, a minute outside.
Yeah.
You might have just bought
yourself some good will
for that trespassing charge.
I'm just glad to be of service, General.
Don't ever take
someone else's side over
me in public again, Walter,
or I will disappear on you
faster than Collins did.
You're taking this personal.
It was business.
I was trying to avoid a meltdown.
I already stopped a meltdown... yours.
Ten-day bender with Collins,
and who pulled you out of it?
You were damn near starved,
muttering to yourself.
I practically had to force-feed you.
I remember.
When he bailed,
it was the best thing for us.
And him being back is the worst.
And if he stays,
and you take another trip
down the rabbit hole with him,
you are on your own.
I am not going through that again.
Happy...
Happy!
What is this?
I know you're upset.
The note expresses a few things
that might make you smile.
Are you kidding?
I'm going toe-to-toe with Walter
and you hand me a mash note?
When you feel the time is right, read it,
and you will understand
why I gave it to you.
Pretend I know a little
about the human psyche.
“Rebuilding a motorcycle engine.”
Collins always loved digging that knife in.
You love rebuilding motorcycle engines.
It's hardly the breadth of my ability.
Screw him. This computer could
still use a circuit test.
We can at least do half this job safely.
(typing)
Sylvester?
Almost done downloading the
old reactor configuration.
Okay.
The others were always very sharp, Walter,
but they were never us.
(explosion)
(alarm blaring)
Oh, no.
Happy, what do you see?
The backup generator in
chamber one blew out.
Walter, I think it's my fault.
It happened right after
I-I ran the system check.
Happy, I told you not to!
WALKER: We evacuate now,
before all the containment doors close.
Containment?
Why am I thinking this isn't a drill?
No, this is what you get
when an aging system is held together
with duct tape and a Hail Mary for 30 years.
(beeping, hissing)
Cooling system! Radiation leak!
Get out of here now!
(alarm continues blaring)
O'Brien, get your ass in gear!
No, we're still downloading.
If I leave now, we're all dead.
I can still fix this.
Give me an ETA.
(beeps)
Got the reactor configuration.
We can upgrade the system
in the computer room.
If we get out alive.
(alarm continues blaring)
The containment doors are closing!
Should we tell them that if
the core temp keeps rising
at this rate, we're less than
60 minutes from full meltdown?
Maybe hold that off until they're out.
Hurry!
Come on, Cabe, come on!
Go, go, go!
Get to the door, get to the door!
PAIGE: Walter!
Paige, get to the door! Walter!
(shouts)
There's got to be a way
to get them out of here.
(grunts) Guys, there's a door
at the end of the walkway
over the cooling room.
It must be defective
'cause it's closing slower than the others.
But you'd better move your asses.
(alarm continues blaring)
Over there, the door!
(grunts)
Cabe!
Cabe!
Hurry.
Cabe! Cabe! It's not gonna hold!
Go now!
Cabe, it's not gonna...
Go! Go!
There's got to be an
override here somewhere.
Ah, damn it!
Calculate fast, Walter!
How much time to get me out of here?
You hold on tight.
I'm gonna figure this out.
What's going on?
Walter's safe. Cabe's trapped in there.
(alarm blaring in distance)
Thanks to you.
Hey, how about you settle down?
Oh, that's cute.
The tell-it-like-it-is shrink
making up for his pal's mistake.
All right, I got it...
layout of the entire power plant.
There's got to be an escape route
for Cabe in here somewhere.
No. No!
The monitor won't let me see the full size.
- Print it.
- Okay, good idea.
(printer whirring)
Are you kidding me?
Come on, you slow bastard!
(printer buzzes)
Okay, I'm sorry I yelled.
Guys, where are we?
The reactor blueprints won't print,
the monitor's frozen.
This is bad.
(explosion in distance)
HAPPY: It just got worse.
That's radioactive steam escaping.
Walter?
Cabe?
A pipe just broke.
I need to know if that steam's contaminated.
The structural integrity
of the building you're
in may be compromised.
Answer the question.
It's a large room;
if you're out in ten minutes,
it won't be worse than a couple of X rays.
What's the likelihood I'm gonna
get out of here in ten minutes?
(microphone beeps)
He knows the greater good would be to
forget about him and concentrate
on stopping the meltdown.
We can't let him die.
You're actually worried about a man's life?
That's not the Walter O'Brien I remember.
You can help him. Doesn't need all of us
to upgrade the system.
We could solve two problems at once.
The effluent pipe.
Pumps water out of the
reactor and into the ocean.
He could get in it and ride it
out away from the power plant.
Which one is it?
I don't remember off the top of my head.
I recorded radio chatter about
it last cooling system check.
June of '04. It's back at my house.
It's five minutes away.
Take him.
Under guard.
Happy, go with him,
translate the schematics.
TOBY: Hey, Collins, you lay
off her, or we have an issue.
Happy and Collins might not
play nice together. Can you...
I'll go with them.
Walter, do I want to hear
the stats on how this might turn out?
Cabe.
Walter?
I'd say, best guess,
you have a one-in-three chance.
Walter, if my life is in the
hands of this Collins guy,
I need to know if you're hiding something.
Three years ago,
I had him committed to an asylum.
Fantastic.
(panting)
June 2004.
(tape rewinding)
Three minutes until Cabe
gets radiation poisoning.
Listen to this.
MAN: Effluent channel,
outbound to ocean, Pipe 6, Chamber 19-A.
PAIGE: Walter, Pipe 6, Chamber 19-A.
How certain are we?
Totally certain.
Unless they changed it
in the last ten years,
which is possible.
Cabe, we found the one pipe
that's gonna get you out to safety.
CABE: What'll the other pipes do?
Don't think about that right now.
Okay. But for the record,
if you're wrong and I get killed,
I'm gonna be very pissed off.
Yeah, I'll be pissed off if
you don't start running now.
Cabe, Chamber 19-A is down
the hall ahead of you.
And the pipes have access hatches.
You drop in it,
it should carry you out to safety
about a hundred yards from shore.
Okay, I'm ready.
Hey, listen, kid,
if this doesn't work out...
I'm glad I got to know you.
Okay.
A man gives you what could
be his last good-bye,
and you say “Okay”?
You could use some time on the couch.
I may be seeing you soon, sweetheart.
He's in.
Gonna say a little prayer for him right now.
I don't really believe in death.
First rule of physics:
energy can't be created or destroyed;
it just changes shape.
But still.
Ladies.
Mister, are you okay?
Never better.
Give me an update.
Less than 30 minutes to stop the meltdown.
Now, step one was the reactor calibrations,
which we downloaded.
This is step two...
we're programming SCADA update.
When we're finished,
we can send it to the reactor remotely.
The moment this update hits the reactor,
it's programmed to drop all
of the core temperatures
to a normal level.
Which means the meltdown is
100% no longer a threat, correct?
Correct. And then I get hammered.
What if this doesn't work?
You got roughly 45 minutes.
Take your car, get Ralph,
drive like hell past the
Santa Monica mountains.
Radiation cloud should pool up
in the San Fernando Valley basin.
You might be okay.
No one would blame you if
you wanted a head start.
If it doesn't work, I'll go get Ralph.
But it will.
I believe in us.
Yeah, well, us is all I've got.
(phone ringing)
Tell me it's done.
The reactor's safe?
Yeah, I can talk you through the reboot.
Hold on.
COLLINS: Numbers are my photo albums.
Days elapsed since significant occurrences.
I change them every morning.
That's my birthday.
My mother's birthday.
So, I'm still trying to
piece out your role here.
No offense, but you're clearly not a genius.
No.
But my son is enabled, like you.
Oh.
Walter's trying to repair
his youth through your son.
No, he cares about Ralph, and
Ralph is crazy about Walter.
Of course he is.
Walter's the Pied Piper of geniuses.
We all worship him.
What he's capable of, how he makes us
feel special for being special.
That's why it hurts so much
when he throws you away
when he's done with you.
Walter would never do something like that.
I was his experiment, once.
The highest IQ that he'd ever
seen, other than his own.
Until I couldn't color in the lines
the way that he wanted me
to, and then I was gone.
How many times has he avoided conflict
by telling you he's fine?
You get about 1,000 “I'm fines”
before you realize that nothing is fine
and you are getting shown the door.
And then you realize that
you're an experiment, too.
You...
and your son.
Update's complete.
Now we just need to compress the file,
send it from here to the reactor computer
and no more nuclear meltdown.
Sylvester, can you start the compression?
I can do that, yeah.
This is like War Games.
When Matthew Broderick
avoided nuclear calamity
with minutes to spare?
That film had a grouchy general, too.
Not a movie guy, huh?
Good work.
Usually saving millions of
lives gets a bigger response.
Just thinking.
Yeah, well, you're always thinking.
You're worried about Collins.
I'll make sure the authorities
know that he was cooperative.
No...
That's not it.
When I had him committed, I did
it because he needed help,
and for the team.
But there's a part of me that knows...
- that I did it for myself.
- How's that?
When he and I would get into that state,
where nothing exists but thought...
it can be a wonderful place,
but it can be terrifying.
Because you don't know if
you can come out of it.
Part of me knows that
I had Collins committed
to see if other people could
pull him from that place...
in case I ever got to the point
where I couldn't be pulled out on my own.
Bull.
You did the right thing.
This Collins fella?
He's got you questioning yourself,
making you think you did the
wrong thing, but you didn't.
He does have a long history of that.
Oh, no.
What's going on?
This override was just switched
to manual 20 minutes ago.
He knew Happy would run the diagnostics,
he made her think that
she did something wrong
when she didn't...
Just like he does in chess.
Makes you doubt your every move.
He wanted to show up the team.
Yeah, to prove his worth.
Mark... no.
What the hell's he done now?
There's a piece of gear called an RF DAC.
It converts digital signals into analog
and we need it to send the
update from this computer
to the control room.
Collins set this all up.
WALTER: It's how Collins structured it.
He planted a Trojan horse
he knew would be triggered
once Happy ran the system test.
General, I'm sorry to say
there's a third step.
We need analog antennas.
We've got them at the base.
But that's a half an hour away.
We need to get to Mark's house.
Good God, how many times
are you going to play right into his hands?
We should figure something out here.
I do not want to go to him.
I know I shoved him down your
throats, but please trust me.
I'm gonna need a sidearm.
Warning system!
Three minutes till a meltdown!
It's two minutes and 12 seconds, actually!
WALKER: What the hell is this?
This is our only chance.
- PAIGE: Walter!
- HAPPY: Why is an alarm going off?
Because we have two minutes
to avoid a meltdown.
I need your access codes
for the antennas to send an analog signal.
(typing)
Didn't work, Mark.
Mark, it didn't work.
Why you looking at me like that, Walter?
I need the code. That's all we need.
That's the same look you gave me the day
that the ambulance came to
take me away for two years.
The code, Collins.
Nine-five-one.
No, that's not it.
Could've sworn it was 951.
WALTER: 951 days ago,
Mark and I disproved
a section of the Higgs boson theory.
COLLINS: Excellent work!
It's 1199.
What is happening here?
COLLINS: I know Walter found out
that I set this whole thing up.
I was listening to your
conversation at the reactor base.
The whole place is mic'd.
Just over a minute left!
What the hell's the holdup?
Just give us the damn code!
Or what?
You'll shoot me?
That only guarantees you'll fail.
Walter, how do you stand for
such intellectual inferiors?
- The code!
- COLLINS: I told you.
It's 1199.
WALTER: One-one-nine-nine.
1,199 days ago...
it was May 20, it was a Thursday...
we stayed up all night in a diner
discussing the quantum
mechanics of time travel.
We could have accomplished
anything together,
but you ruined that.
You hate me for what I did. I get it.
And I always debate my decision,
but this isn't the right solution.
And having me locked up was?
Do you have any idea how badly that hurt me?
(alarm whooping sharply)
There's less than a minute.
Do you think I'm afraid to die, Walter?
I'm not afraid to die.
My life ended the day that you destroyed
our partnership, our friendship.
I just wanted to show you
that I could save everyone.
I just wanted back on the team.
PAIGE: Walter, that's it.
The day his life ended, the day he lost you.
Seven hundred and eighty-two days.
What's the date?!
August 22, 2012!
No! (gunshot)
(Collins groaning)
Look out, Sylvester!
Come on, come on...
All right, code's in, signal's up.
Did it work?
Walter?
(alarm whooping)
(alarm fades away)
We're good.
(exhales) Oh...
I know this might be awkward,
but I, for one,
am against Mark rejoining the team.
The wound was through
and through. Clean exit.
They just brought him
back from the hospital.
I should have kept a closer eye on Collins.
Well, why didn't you?
I was focused on the upgrade.
You were focused on a friend.
You were trying to make right
what happened between you guys.
So you trusted him.
That implies I feel guilt.
Acting like a human
being is never a mistake.
Means you're evolving.
It's nice to see that
you're capable of that.
COLLINS: This is pretty ironic, isn't it?
First day I see you in years...
I'm back to lockup.
I showed you the outer
limits of your intelligence
and you couldn't handle it.
You couldn't risk me, or anybody else,
jeopardizing your team,
your precious cyclone.
They are worth it.
Why them?
Toby, Happy, Sylvester...
they can't touch my abilities.
So why wasn't there room for one more?
But there was.
Paige.
She binds us.
I'm going away.
But I'll get out...
Maybe I'll see you back down
the rabbit hole, Walter.
I... hope not.
♪ ♪
Hey.
Hey.
I never... thanked you
for what you did for me back then,
with Collins.
Pulling me away from that darkness.
I didn't do it for a thank you.
I did it because you're...
my friend.
I won't let you down again.
So, um...
Toby going after Collins
to protect your honor?
What was all that about?
The shrink's crazier than all of us.
What a surprise.
♪ ♪
Hey, everyone.
WALTER: Hey. Uh, did we have,
uh, a meeting scheduled? I...
No. No, we just dropped by.
Because even after you
save the world,
you're still all lost in thought,
doing your own separate projects.
Tonight we have a group project.
Chicken piccata.
I don't think we have a chicken thermometer.
Well, pizza would be more efficient.
We're all going to get out
of our own heads for a while
and cook Italian.
Sounds fine.
Um, can you just...
Okay.
If you're trying me out to see
if I work with this team...
- Paige...
- If that's what's happening, and that it could
end up being a failure and I could get
discarded one day, just tell me.
I can handle it. But don't do it to Ralph.
He's grown attached to the team...
especially you... and I
don't want to see him hurt.
You are one of us.
We can't do this without you.
Good?
Let's go cook some chicken piccata.
Measure twice, cut once.
Can we talk about the so-called
extra virgin olive oil industry?
Beaucoup fraud.
(chuckles) Kid's a natural.
I have the fourth highest IQ
ever recorded: 197.
Einstein's was 160.
When I was 11,
the FBI arrested me for hacking NASA
to get their blueprints for my bedroom wall.
Now I run a team of geniuses,
tackling worldwide threats
only we can solve.
Toby's our behaviorist.
Sylvester's a human calculator.
Happy, a mechanical prodigy.
Agent Cabe Gallo's our government handler.
And Paige? Well, Paige isn't like us.
She's normal and translates the world for us
while we help her understand her genius son.
Together, we are Scorpion.
♪ ♪
Now!
On the ground!
Do it right now!
I want to talk to Walter O'Brien!
I said we could come in for
an hour before school started.
That ended five minutes ago, bud.
Ralph, did you even touch your breakfast?
To move it over.
Hey, I gave you your own set
of Allen wrenches for a reason.
(chuckles)
I have them set by lens strength.
Ah, well done.
First optics test is you check
for spherical aberration.
Actually, the first test he
needs to do is long division.
So, he can't be late for school.
Do you really think we
need a test to determine
if he knows long division?
Point taken,
but he still needs to be at school on time.
Go downstairs and get your backpack.
Come on.
Can we run the test together after school?
Can't wait.
I'll be back in 20... what... what is that?
It's a centrifuge.
So, you guys have been up here for hours,
no breaks,
and I'll assume you skipped breakfast.
We're working here.
Ralph does the same thing.
Well, focus is normal when someone...
“Goes down the rabbit hole”"
You'll know.
What's a rabbit hole?
Dehydration, loss of sense of
time, antisocial behavior.
And how do you avoid that?
You avoid it by starting
a team like Scorpion.
Come, here.
TOBY: I'm seeing... ace of spades.
Wait a minute.
You think you're sneaky, huh?
I've never seen him happier.
He's in the right place.
This isn't your card?!
Is this your card?
Car, now.
Ralph.
Have a good day at school.
And don't listen to any of your teachers.
Happy.
Pick one... 20 bucks says I can
guess it in under five seconds.
Is this your way of asking for a loan?
You blew your money, didn't you?
Your ex-fiancée told you
to never call her again,
and you licked your wounds at a card table?
Wrong.
Cleaned up at a card table.
I got killed at craps.
Perhaps next time I should just call you.
Absolutely wrong.
Not that I would, but if I did,
what exactly would be so wrong about that?
We don't have the time.
See, that's why I gamble.
Walter! Why the hell aren't
you answering your phone?
(groans) I was working!
I need you to come with me.
Just you. Urgent.
What is it?
You know the name Mark Collins?
Yeah.
Let's keep this quiet.
CABE: Collins breached the
unmarked perimeter
at the military-controlled
Montero Nuclear Reactor,
about five miles from here.
Did he say why he did it?
All he's said so far is your name.
Wonder why that is.
I haven't talked to him in years.
CABE: General Ned Walker.
The reactor's under his command.
Mr. O'Brien.
Anything you can do to determine his intent
and threat level would be a huge help.
I'd like to get this buttoned
up as soon as possible.
How active is the reactor?
Not at all...
it's been decommissioned and
scheduled to be dismantled.
Basically, all we do is security.
Now, how do you know Mr. Collins?
Mark used to work at my company, Scorpion.
(whispering indistinctly)
COLLINS: Hi, Walter. Mark.
WALTER: So, what's going on here?
782.
CABE: What's that supposed to mean?
You have the second sharpest
brain in the room, use it.
782.
What, is that some kind of code?
WALTER: No, it's not code, it's days.
782 days since we saw each other.
Mark, these people aren't messing about.
Please, tell me...
why did you trespass at the reactor?
And why did you ask for me?
You're working with the Feds now.
I also heard about that close call you had
with the governor on that biohacking thing.
That wasn't reported.
How'd you hear about that?
No, he means, literally he heard it.
Mark's a radio... expert.
It's okay, you can say “hacker”"
He monitors nearly every signal
that passes through the air.
From truckers on CBs, to cell phone calls,
to military communications.
How long have you been spying on us?
Yes, please, Mr. Government,
go ahead and tell me
again how bad spying is.
(whispering): Mark.
How's your head?
Are we on solid ground now?
I could ask you the same thing, Walter.
But, yes, I'm as clear as a bell.
And I'm 100% sure that there's a problem.
I mean, come on,
I wouldn't expect these normals
to understand...
851.67, 851.69.
With a moderate isolation scheme
I achieved a ten to the second,
ten to the fifth uptick in BER.
CABE: What is he babbling about?
632, black.
646, green.
March 25.
You with me, Walter?
I knew I could count on you.
All right, there's not much time.
Need you to get to my house,
and open the notebooks.
Inside, you'll find everything you need
to make sense of it all.
Make sense of what?
Something big is happening.
That's not gonna suffice, son.
Come on, what is it they say
about time and being of the essence?!
Take him back to the cell.
Walter.
It's something big, Walter.
Guy says something big's coming,
then clams up.
Why is it you geniuses are
such a pain in the ass?
He's not to me.
He knows I understand his expertise,
the radio frequencies, time codes.
But I won't know for sure
exactly what he's going on about
until I see his notes.
So, I'm gonna have to call my team,
get them to meet us at Mark's house.
Gentlemen, we have zero interest
in opening the circle on this.
I will ensure their discretion, sir.
What was that about earlier,
about you keeping your head on solid ground?
Mark's always had the wrong idea about me,
it's best to leave it at that.
Also, best not to tell the team
whose house we're going to.
Guys, this way.
You know how much we love
a good mystery, Walter.
What exactly are we doing here?
Working.
PAIGE: Whoa, I bet this picks up
the country station nice and clear.
That is quite a fence.
Half-inch diameter rebar,
reinforced steel chain-link mesh.
Pure paranoia.
TOBY: When I rotated through
Bellevue psychiatric,
I treated a patient who
wore a diaper on his head
and called himself “King Poo Poo.”
This is crazier.
There can't be more than
a few people in California
with this much listening equipment.
Whose house is this, Walter?
Keep an open mind.
Mark Collins?!
Are you insane?
No, but Collins is.
Someone want to explain?
He was a member of the team,
it didn't work out.
With Collins, “Didn't work
out” is an understatement.
You lured us here.
Would you have come if you knew?
No.
Help us find the recordings
we're looking for. All we need is data.
Where's Collins?
He was arrested.
Of course he is.
All right, let's get a move on, come on.
PAIGE: My God, was he always like this?
WALTER: Looks like he had
a lonely few years.
Oh, tough for him.
What's the story with this Collins?
Well, if you didn't agree with him,
he'd argue with you until you did,
and he knew his mind games.
The worst of it was how he affected Walter.
He'd get in his head,
erase his good judgment
and forget we existed.
Guys.
We're supposed to be working here.
They really don't like this guy.
Maybe you should have told them up front?
Just saying, secrets breed mistrust.
2004, 2005 through 2014.
Playing all the hits from
the obsessive top 40.
Got the tape from March 25.
Cue up 6:32 a.m.
It's incredible work.
So, this guy was like you
guys, and then... this?
It happens sometimes.
With Mark, it was intense, though.
Like, if you played chess with him,
he'd make you doubt your every move.
And then “Blammo”... checkmate.
Against you?
CABE: Walter.
Walter.
Walter.
Walter!
What?
I said your name four times.
I'm good.
Play the tape.
6:32 a.m.
MAN: But, sir, I'm almost certain
there will be a major problem
unless we find a way to
run the SCADA update.
Nothing until 6:46.
Channel went dark for 14 minutes.
Who is that on tape?
A scientist at the reactor,
talking over an internal radio.
And “SCADA”?
These old reactors run on
ancient 1980s technology.
SCADA is the brain that
controls the rest of the system.
And it needs to be kept up to date.
What are they covering up?
Collins has been down here for years
capturing everything he
could about his neighbor,
the Montero Nuclear Power Plant.
Rising ocean temperatures,
radiation levels near the plant.
Right, so the water's getting warmer,
more radioactive, and then someone
at the power plant says there's a problem.
Poof, communications went blank.
Collins is alerting us to a major problem
at the reactor that's
being actively ignored.
Why on earth would someone do that?
Standard bureaucratic cover-your-ass.
Shocking to think that would
extend to nuclear materials,
but it does.
Okay, so we pass this on
to the army, and we are done here, right?
WALTER: No.
Collins wouldn't have called us
unless he thought it needed our expertise.
Since when does he call us?
General Walker said he needs our help.
Who knows how dangerous this situation is?
Exactly. Guys, what's happening here?
We just took a job upgrading
an ancient nuclear power plant.
End of story.
Want to know what's really happening here?
Mark Collins is back in our lives.
If this nuclear power
plant doesn't melt down,
the team might.
Oh, oh, this is wonderful.
The creepiest place on earth.
We'll upgrade the system.
We'll be gone in two hours.
Without speaking to Collins, correct?
General's coming.
General.
All right.
Somebody educate me.
You guys wait here.
Now, Collins intercepted discussions
about the reactor's software and computers.
Now, the ones that regulate
the nuclear core temperatures
were installed in the late 1980s.
Walter believes that the software
should've been completely
updated 15 years ago.
WALTER: Standard bureaucratic
mentality is to go cheap,
patches on patches.
This whole system becomes a house of cards.
But I'm looking at a core temperature gauge
- in the green.
- Yeah, well,
there are shoddy indicators
all around this place.
Mind if I try something?
Thank you.
The plant's got time-worn fail-safes,
but we're supposed to believe
some rambling lunatic
we found in a field?
Well, a brilliant mind with a likely 190 IQ.
(whirring)
General, you had a loose fuse.
Oh, no.
Why don't you play the tape?
General, let me show you something.
MAN: The problem is, it stopped regulating
and a SCADA update is risky as hell.
God help us if it fails.
That's Dr. Fitzsimmons, lead
safety officer of the plant.
Yeah, on a cell call to his wife
saying that the reactor software
is failing to regulate the
nuclear core temperatures,
and he's too scared to say anything.
Now, he's the one that runs
your safety checks, correct?
And he just moved to
Pennsylvania six weeks ago.
His replacement hasn't been hired.
The only regular traffic here
are the MPs guarding the perimeter.
The reactor's inoperative.
It's in cool-down mode
for the next eight years
until it can be dismantled.
WALTER:
Except it's not being properly regulated.
So it's not cooling down, it's overheating.
Now, the system needs SCADA updates.
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition.
You know, I confess to a basic knowledge
of the technology here,
so if we're facing the next
Fukishima, tell me that.
General, I can fix this,
- and as soon as Collins gets here, we begin.
- Collins?
So the guy in the tin foil hat
is gonna walk us out of this?
Look.
From listening to chatter,
Collins diagramed this exactly.
Patches on patches.
Now, if we try to upgrade using
the wrong building blocks,
it could fry the whole system.
Collins' knowledge of this
mess could help prevent that,
and given the core temperature,
I'd say we have 18 hours
before it starts to overheat.
Don't even say the word “meltdown.”
Keep him in handcuffs with a
gun at his back for all I care.
We need him.
TOBY: A little more on Collins?
He's what my teachers used to call me,
- “A bad influence.”
- He and Walter
would push each other and
just get lost in the work.
Theoretical algorithms for days.
No breaks, no food, no sleep.
They'd barely speak.
Sometimes we'd lose Walter for weeks.
It's called a savant dissociative state.
- Not pretty.
- Then what?
Mark just disappeared.
Thin air.
Walter was pretty affected.
Simply put, Mark is disruptive.
So, project manager, does today
strike you as a good day
for disruptive?
CABE: You going to talk to our man?
Yes.
Good. I may not know that
much about geniuses,
but I do know when
someone's keeping a secret.
Okay.
You're making a lot of unilateral decisions
to include a guy no one else wants.
They'll have to deal with it.
I'm trying to keep this facility
and four million people from getting cooked.
You obviously have a very
different relationship
with Collins than the others,
and you miss it since he left?
Yes, exactly.
Or is it that he's now
alone living in squalor,
and you feel bad for him?
You know I don't think emotionally.
That's your job, okay?
Which you're certainly
not making it easy to do.
A little insight would help everyone.
(whooping)
(grunting) Wise choice, my friend.
Come on, let's get to work.
(sighs) The gang's all here.
I love it!
Sylvester, my brother! Come on.
Well, come on!
Now, this is a two-pronged attack.
There's two computers
that need our attention.
First there's this one.
It runs the reactor.
Exactly whom are we taking orders from?
Both of us.
We need to download the
reactor calibrations from here.
For the civilians?
Reactor calibrations tell the
computer if hot is too hot,
so it knows what's an
alarm and what's normal.
Can't update the system without
getting that information
here first.
Did you get smarter, Sylvester?
I think I've always been this smart.
Right.
Second thing we need to do
is to prep the system for the SCADA update.
Otherwise,
it would be like putting a new V12
in an old Model T.
Happy, you and Toby can handle that.
I do not like him handing out assignments.
It's efficient, Happy.
We're here to do a job.
Now, the main computer, that's near here?
We're at the reactor.
The mainframe is in this building here.
About a quarter mile across the campus, max.
All right.
Come on.
Get a move on, people.
We have a job to do.
Remember what I said.
Oh, my God.
This technology predates my birth.
Well, hello. We come to you
from the distant past.
(computers whirring)
Are we seriously supposed
to stop a nuclear meltdown
with this junk?
You are and you will.
He really tests my nerves.
Prepare the SCADA system upgrade.
We'll be there in ten minutes.
- Hey.
- Mm-hmm?
Thanks for letting me help with this.
It was efficient.
Some things never change.
Except now you're getting paid.
Team's coming together.
You got a girl.
You've been spending too
much time in your basement.
You could've called
the cops or the military,
but you-you chose us.
Why?
Do you ever think about
any of our old projects?
We were making a lot of progress
on our super symmetry theory.
Maybe when we wrap up here,
you could show me the new data?
Maybe you owe me one?
You do understand
I wasn't pleased with the
way that things turned out.
Was that “EQ” Walter?
Maybe you could reminisce later?
Focus on the work right now.
Boss man's right.
Okay, uh, for this section of code,
you're gonna need RPL and PARADOX.
WALTER: This OS isn't corrupt?
It's like they have their own language.
Imagine that kind of intensity
for three weeks straight.
And he just disappeared, no trace?
Walter wouldn't discuss it.
COLLINS: Okay.
We're good to download
the reactor calibrations.
Sylvester, you're on.
Wait.
We have not run a full diagnostic.
If we don't stress-test
the system circuitry,
it could be us melting this place down.
What's she talking about?
When we upgrade,
it will pump a lot of electricity
through this junk pile.
If this system has flaws...
old wiring, rat-chewed insulation...
we want to know now and
where so we can fortify.
No, that's a waste of time.
We're not rebuilding a motorcycle engine.
Look, that test alone
could overload the system.
Walter, I know what I'm talking about.
Not more than I do.
Would someone make the call here?
Happy, we've only got one shot.
If your diagnostic crashes the system,
then we have a meltdown in 17½ hours,
and we might not have enough time
to rebuild the system from scratch.
If Collins runs the download
before the system's ready for
it, we have a meltdown now.
Happy's never liked me.
Her opposition is personal.
It's not based on knowledge.
Knowledge that I have of this
reactor that she doesn't.
Trust me.
I have complete confidence in this.
Well, you'd better be right, son.
Because there's no do-over.
Don't do it, Walter.
SYLVESTER: Okay.
We are downloading the reactor calibrations.
Four-minute ETA.
Walt, a minute outside.
Yeah.
You might have just bought
yourself some good will
for that trespassing charge.
I'm just glad to be of service, General.
Don't ever take
someone else's side over
me in public again, Walter,
or I will disappear on you
faster than Collins did.
You're taking this personal.
It was business.
I was trying to avoid a meltdown.
I already stopped a meltdown... yours.
Ten-day bender with Collins,
and who pulled you out of it?
You were damn near starved,
muttering to yourself.
I practically had to force-feed you.
I remember.
When he bailed,
it was the best thing for us.
And him being back is the worst.
And if he stays,
and you take another trip
down the rabbit hole with him,
you are on your own.
I am not going through that again.
Happy...
Happy!
What is this?
I know you're upset.
The note expresses a few things
that might make you smile.
Are you kidding?
I'm going toe-to-toe with Walter
and you hand me a mash note?
When you feel the time is right, read it,
and you will understand
why I gave it to you.
Pretend I know a little
about the human psyche.
“Rebuilding a motorcycle engine.”
Collins always loved digging that knife in.
You love rebuilding motorcycle engines.
It's hardly the breadth of my ability.
Screw him. This computer could
still use a circuit test.
We can at least do half this job safely.
(typing)
Sylvester?
Almost done downloading the
old reactor configuration.
Okay.
The others were always very sharp, Walter,
but they were never us.
(explosion)
(alarm blaring)
Oh, no.
Happy, what do you see?
The backup generator in
chamber one blew out.
Walter, I think it's my fault.
It happened right after
I-I ran the system check.
Happy, I told you not to!
WALKER: We evacuate now,
before all the containment doors close.
Containment?
Why am I thinking this isn't a drill?
No, this is what you get
when an aging system is held together
with duct tape and a Hail Mary for 30 years.
(beeping, hissing)
Cooling system! Radiation leak!
Get out of here now!
(alarm continues blaring)
O'Brien, get your ass in gear!
No, we're still downloading.
If I leave now, we're all dead.
I can still fix this.
Give me an ETA.
(beeps)
Got the reactor configuration.
We can upgrade the system
in the computer room.
If we get out alive.
(alarm continues blaring)
The containment doors are closing!
Should we tell them that if
the core temp keeps rising
at this rate, we're less than
60 minutes from full meltdown?
Maybe hold that off until they're out.
Hurry!
Come on, Cabe, come on!
Go, go, go!
Get to the door, get to the door!
PAIGE: Walter!
Paige, get to the door! Walter!
(shouts)
There's got to be a way
to get them out of here.
(grunts) Guys, there's a door
at the end of the walkway
over the cooling room.
It must be defective
'cause it's closing slower than the others.
But you'd better move your asses.
(alarm continues blaring)
Over there, the door!
(grunts)
Cabe!
Cabe!
Hurry.
Cabe! Cabe! It's not gonna hold!
Go now!
Cabe, it's not gonna...
Go! Go!
There's got to be an
override here somewhere.
Ah, damn it!
Calculate fast, Walter!
How much time to get me out of here?
You hold on tight.
I'm gonna figure this out.
What's going on?
Walter's safe. Cabe's trapped in there.
(alarm blaring in distance)
Thanks to you.
Hey, how about you settle down?
Oh, that's cute.
The tell-it-like-it-is shrink
making up for his pal's mistake.
All right, I got it...
layout of the entire power plant.
There's got to be an escape route
for Cabe in here somewhere.
No. No!
The monitor won't let me see the full size.
- Print it.
- Okay, good idea.
(printer whirring)
Are you kidding me?
Come on, you slow bastard!
(printer buzzes)
Okay, I'm sorry I yelled.
Guys, where are we?
The reactor blueprints won't print,
the monitor's frozen.
This is bad.
(explosion in distance)
HAPPY: It just got worse.
That's radioactive steam escaping.
Walter?
Cabe?
A pipe just broke.
I need to know if that steam's contaminated.
The structural integrity
of the building you're
in may be compromised.
Answer the question.
It's a large room;
if you're out in ten minutes,
it won't be worse than a couple of X rays.
What's the likelihood I'm gonna
get out of here in ten minutes?
(microphone beeps)
He knows the greater good would be to
forget about him and concentrate
on stopping the meltdown.
We can't let him die.
You're actually worried about a man's life?
That's not the Walter O'Brien I remember.
You can help him. Doesn't need all of us
to upgrade the system.
We could solve two problems at once.
The effluent pipe.
Pumps water out of the
reactor and into the ocean.
He could get in it and ride it
out away from the power plant.
Which one is it?
I don't remember off the top of my head.
I recorded radio chatter about
it last cooling system check.
June of '04. It's back at my house.
It's five minutes away.
Take him.
Under guard.
Happy, go with him,
translate the schematics.
TOBY: Hey, Collins, you lay
off her, or we have an issue.
Happy and Collins might not
play nice together. Can you...
I'll go with them.
Walter, do I want to hear
the stats on how this might turn out?
Cabe.
Walter?
I'd say, best guess,
you have a one-in-three chance.
Walter, if my life is in the
hands of this Collins guy,
I need to know if you're hiding something.
Three years ago,
I had him committed to an asylum.
Fantastic.
(panting)
June 2004.
(tape rewinding)
Three minutes until Cabe
gets radiation poisoning.
Listen to this.
MAN: Effluent channel,
outbound to ocean, Pipe 6, Chamber 19-A.
PAIGE: Walter, Pipe 6, Chamber 19-A.
How certain are we?
Totally certain.
Unless they changed it
in the last ten years,
which is possible.
Cabe, we found the one pipe
that's gonna get you out to safety.
CABE: What'll the other pipes do?
Don't think about that right now.
Okay. But for the record,
if you're wrong and I get killed,
I'm gonna be very pissed off.
Yeah, I'll be pissed off if
you don't start running now.
Cabe, Chamber 19-A is down
the hall ahead of you.
And the pipes have access hatches.
You drop in it,
it should carry you out to safety
about a hundred yards from shore.
Okay, I'm ready.
Hey, listen, kid,
if this doesn't work out...
I'm glad I got to know you.
Okay.
A man gives you what could
be his last good-bye,
and you say “Okay”?
You could use some time on the couch.
I may be seeing you soon, sweetheart.
He's in.
Gonna say a little prayer for him right now.
I don't really believe in death.
First rule of physics:
energy can't be created or destroyed;
it just changes shape.
But still.
Ladies.
Mister, are you okay?
Never better.
Give me an update.
Less than 30 minutes to stop the meltdown.
Now, step one was the reactor calibrations,
which we downloaded.
This is step two...
we're programming SCADA update.
When we're finished,
we can send it to the reactor remotely.
The moment this update hits the reactor,
it's programmed to drop all
of the core temperatures
to a normal level.
Which means the meltdown is
100% no longer a threat, correct?
Correct. And then I get hammered.
What if this doesn't work?
You got roughly 45 minutes.
Take your car, get Ralph,
drive like hell past the
Santa Monica mountains.
Radiation cloud should pool up
in the San Fernando Valley basin.
You might be okay.
No one would blame you if
you wanted a head start.
If it doesn't work, I'll go get Ralph.
But it will.
I believe in us.
Yeah, well, us is all I've got.
(phone ringing)
Tell me it's done.
The reactor's safe?
Yeah, I can talk you through the reboot.
Hold on.
COLLINS: Numbers are my photo albums.
Days elapsed since significant occurrences.
I change them every morning.
That's my birthday.
My mother's birthday.
So, I'm still trying to
piece out your role here.
No offense, but you're clearly not a genius.
No.
But my son is enabled, like you.
Oh.
Walter's trying to repair
his youth through your son.
No, he cares about Ralph, and
Ralph is crazy about Walter.
Of course he is.
Walter's the Pied Piper of geniuses.
We all worship him.
What he's capable of, how he makes us
feel special for being special.
That's why it hurts so much
when he throws you away
when he's done with you.
Walter would never do something like that.
I was his experiment, once.
The highest IQ that he'd ever
seen, other than his own.
Until I couldn't color in the lines
the way that he wanted me
to, and then I was gone.
How many times has he avoided conflict
by telling you he's fine?
You get about 1,000 “I'm fines”
before you realize that nothing is fine
and you are getting shown the door.
And then you realize that
you're an experiment, too.
You...
and your son.
Update's complete.
Now we just need to compress the file,
send it from here to the reactor computer
and no more nuclear meltdown.
Sylvester, can you start the compression?
I can do that, yeah.
This is like War Games.
When Matthew Broderick
avoided nuclear calamity
with minutes to spare?
That film had a grouchy general, too.
Not a movie guy, huh?
Good work.
Usually saving millions of
lives gets a bigger response.
Just thinking.
Yeah, well, you're always thinking.
You're worried about Collins.
I'll make sure the authorities
know that he was cooperative.
No...
That's not it.
When I had him committed, I did
it because he needed help,
and for the team.
But there's a part of me that knows...
- that I did it for myself.
- How's that?
When he and I would get into that state,
where nothing exists but thought...
it can be a wonderful place,
but it can be terrifying.
Because you don't know if
you can come out of it.
Part of me knows that
I had Collins committed
to see if other people could
pull him from that place...
in case I ever got to the point
where I couldn't be pulled out on my own.
Bull.
You did the right thing.
This Collins fella?
He's got you questioning yourself,
making you think you did the
wrong thing, but you didn't.
He does have a long history of that.
Oh, no.
What's going on?
This override was just switched
to manual 20 minutes ago.
He knew Happy would run the diagnostics,
he made her think that
she did something wrong
when she didn't...
Just like he does in chess.
Makes you doubt your every move.
He wanted to show up the team.
Yeah, to prove his worth.
Mark... no.
What the hell's he done now?
There's a piece of gear called an RF DAC.
It converts digital signals into analog
and we need it to send the
update from this computer
to the control room.
Collins set this all up.
WALTER: It's how Collins structured it.
He planted a Trojan horse
he knew would be triggered
once Happy ran the system test.
General, I'm sorry to say
there's a third step.
We need analog antennas.
We've got them at the base.
But that's a half an hour away.
We need to get to Mark's house.
Good God, how many times
are you going to play right into his hands?
We should figure something out here.
I do not want to go to him.
I know I shoved him down your
throats, but please trust me.
I'm gonna need a sidearm.
Warning system!
Three minutes till a meltdown!
It's two minutes and 12 seconds, actually!
WALKER: What the hell is this?
This is our only chance.
- PAIGE: Walter!
- HAPPY: Why is an alarm going off?
Because we have two minutes
to avoid a meltdown.
I need your access codes
for the antennas to send an analog signal.
(typing)
Didn't work, Mark.
Mark, it didn't work.
Why you looking at me like that, Walter?
I need the code. That's all we need.
That's the same look you gave me the day
that the ambulance came to
take me away for two years.
The code, Collins.
Nine-five-one.
No, that's not it.
Could've sworn it was 951.
WALTER: 951 days ago,
Mark and I disproved
a section of the Higgs boson theory.
COLLINS: Excellent work!
It's 1199.
What is happening here?
COLLINS: I know Walter found out
that I set this whole thing up.
I was listening to your
conversation at the reactor base.
The whole place is mic'd.
Just over a minute left!
What the hell's the holdup?
Just give us the damn code!
Or what?
You'll shoot me?
That only guarantees you'll fail.
Walter, how do you stand for
such intellectual inferiors?
- The code!
- COLLINS: I told you.
It's 1199.
WALTER: One-one-nine-nine.
1,199 days ago...
it was May 20, it was a Thursday...
we stayed up all night in a diner
discussing the quantum
mechanics of time travel.
We could have accomplished
anything together,
but you ruined that.
You hate me for what I did. I get it.
And I always debate my decision,
but this isn't the right solution.
And having me locked up was?
Do you have any idea how badly that hurt me?
(alarm whooping sharply)
There's less than a minute.
Do you think I'm afraid to die, Walter?
I'm not afraid to die.
My life ended the day that you destroyed
our partnership, our friendship.
I just wanted to show you
that I could save everyone.
I just wanted back on the team.
PAIGE: Walter, that's it.
The day his life ended, the day he lost you.
Seven hundred and eighty-two days.
What's the date?!
August 22, 2012!
No! (gunshot)
(Collins groaning)
Look out, Sylvester!
Come on, come on...
All right, code's in, signal's up.
Did it work?
Walter?
(alarm whooping)
(alarm fades away)
We're good.
(exhales) Oh...
I know this might be awkward,
but I, for one,
am against Mark rejoining the team.
The wound was through
and through. Clean exit.
They just brought him
back from the hospital.
I should have kept a closer eye on Collins.
Well, why didn't you?
I was focused on the upgrade.
You were focused on a friend.
You were trying to make right
what happened between you guys.
So you trusted him.
That implies I feel guilt.
Acting like a human
being is never a mistake.
Means you're evolving.
It's nice to see that
you're capable of that.
COLLINS: This is pretty ironic, isn't it?
First day I see you in years...
I'm back to lockup.
I showed you the outer
limits of your intelligence
and you couldn't handle it.
You couldn't risk me, or anybody else,
jeopardizing your team,
your precious cyclone.
They are worth it.
Why them?
Toby, Happy, Sylvester...
they can't touch my abilities.
So why wasn't there room for one more?
But there was.
Paige.
She binds us.
I'm going away.
But I'll get out...
Maybe I'll see you back down
the rabbit hole, Walter.
I... hope not.
♪ ♪
Hey.
Hey.
I never... thanked you
for what you did for me back then,
with Collins.
Pulling me away from that darkness.
I didn't do it for a thank you.
I did it because you're...
my friend.
I won't let you down again.
So, um...
Toby going after Collins
to protect your honor?
What was all that about?
The shrink's crazier than all of us.
What a surprise.
♪ ♪
Hey, everyone.
WALTER: Hey. Uh, did we have,
uh, a meeting scheduled? I...
No. No, we just dropped by.
Because even after you
save the world,
you're still all lost in thought,
doing your own separate projects.
Tonight we have a group project.
Chicken piccata.
I don't think we have a chicken thermometer.
Well, pizza would be more efficient.
We're all going to get out
of our own heads for a while
and cook Italian.
Sounds fine.
Um, can you just...
Okay.
If you're trying me out to see
if I work with this team...
- Paige...
- If that's what's happening, and that it could
end up being a failure and I could get
discarded one day, just tell me.
I can handle it. But don't do it to Ralph.
He's grown attached to the team...
especially you... and I
don't want to see him hurt.
You are one of us.
We can't do this without you.
Good?
Let's go cook some chicken piccata.
Measure twice, cut once.
Can we talk about the so-called
extra virgin olive oil industry?
Beaucoup fraud.
(chuckles) Kid's a natural.