The City and the City (2018): Season 1, Episode 1 - Beszel - full transcript

When the body of a woman is found in Bulkya Docks, an area that sits on the border between Beszel and Ul Qoma, Inspector Tyador BorlĂș notices similarities with an old case that has always haunted him.

TYADOR BORLU: Nowhere else
works like The Cities.

Beszel and Ul Qoma.

Since I was a kid, I have
unseen Ul Qoma as my parents

and teachers trained me.

But there are places
where the cities meet,

where it's hard to
observe the borders,

to see and unsee what you
should, and what you shouldn't.

[dramatic music]

It takes a lifetime.

I should know.

I'm a cop.



[dramatic music]

[water splashing]

[man shouting]

WOMAN: Bad dream?

Well?

Did you save me?

No.

[muffled announcement]

WOMAN: Thank you for
having me, Inspector Borlu.

Be safe.

Be safe, yourself.

[ringing]

Borlu.

WOMAN: Good morning, chief.



Officer Lizbyet Corwi here.

Got a lady to see you.

I'll be right down.

How's it going, Hatu?

Rain on the way, Mr. Borlu.

Rain in Beszel?

Now there's a surprise.

MAN: Yes, sir.

Be safe, sir.

The usual, Borlu?

Thanks.

You Corwi?

Want one?

Don't think so.

You call yourself a Beszel girl?

Don't call myself
any kind of girl, sir.

So where is she?

Volka Docks, about
six kilometers out.

You better step
on it, officer.

She's been waiting all
fucking night, chief.

All fucking night.

Yes, chief.

All fucking night.

A gang of baby kids found her.

One of them saw a
yellow van in the area.

LIZBYET CORWI: Dead girl,
always the same story, isn't it?

Except it isn't.

Well, I guess she's
been here around 12 hours.

Heavier than a broken heart.

MAN: There's dirt, dust.

I don't think she
was killed here.

Turn her over.

What's this brown stuff?

Oh, that's brown stuff.

[camera snapping]

Can you take some
without the flash?

MAN: Yes, sir.

Hooker.

This area be some dumped.

Hooker.

All right, then.

Let's get her out of here.

Just cover her up, will you?

Naustin is on
hooker duty, and he

thinks he's seen it all before.

Come a long fucking way.

Oh.

Fucking this, fucking that.

It's a man's man world, chief.

She had nice hair, didn't she?

Did she?

Drive up MeisterStrasz
by the arena, not

two-thirds of them are blonde.

Unless the pink was some shit.

Food for the kids and clothes
comes first, then crack.

Condition is way down the list.

Her hair is in better
condition than mine.

TYADOR BORLU: So not
that type of girl?

Someone fucked up?

Language.

Fucked up and doesn't care.

I want you on this.

This pussy commissar
wouldn't want me seconded.

Oh, Commisar Gadlem?

Oh, pussy gave it away, right?

[laughter]

[train sounds]

LIZBYET CORWI: Chief.

Heavier than a broken heart?

It just came to me.

TYADOR BORLU: Gunter Strasza.

That place, again.

[car honking]

Asshole!

Did you see that?

What, the Ul Qoma red car.

no, I didn't officer.

Fuck.

Shit.

Sir?

TYADOR BORLU: Why is
my office still being

used as a storeroom, commissar?

Because it still
is a storeroom.

We're short on space.

So, south suburbs,
young woman, stab wound?

May be a prostitute.

Who's your sub?

I've got a beat
cop helping me out.

Corwi, something.

Officer Lizbyet Corwi.

She knows the
area, she seems OK.

Keep her away
from polite company.

She spoke very
respectfully of you, sir.

Has she?

Keep it unofficial, then.

I was going to.

It's a strange area.

In very close proximity to
Ul Qoma around GunterStrasz.

A lot of cross hatching.

Are we sure she's from Beszel?

It's pretty much
total, though, isn't it?

I mean, it's what, 90% Beszel?

There are some
blocks here that are

off limits, that's about it.

Gunter Strasz, disputed zone.

She could have crossed
illegally through there.

TYADOR BORLU: Witnesses saw
a yellow van around here,

looks like a Beszel crime to me.

Maybe this case for Breach?

Breach?

We need to consider
every possibility.

Breach didn't manifest, sir.

It's a murder.

I'd like to get
and investigate it.

You don't want me to
put someone else on it?

Why?

You know why, Borlu.

I mean, Gunter Strasz.

First time you've been
back there, isn't it?

Everything's all right with you?

Everything's fine.

At least it was until
I walked in here.

MAN: And hello cause of death.

I'll get this to
a police artist.

Commenting on illegal
unificationist protests

today on Volka Stracz, Nat
Bloc leader Major Yorj Syedr

was critical of the coalition
government's failure

to deal with the rise of what he
termed dangerous and seditious

activism.

YORJ SYEDR: That bloc has a
duty to crush all unification

and activity in our city.

Our history teaches
us that Baszel and Ul

Qoma can never live together.

It would be a bloodbath.

Unificationists are at
best naive, and at worst,

enemies of the state.

[people shouting]

You get off on the
arty crowd, do you?

The Bohos.

Manny tries out halal, his mate
Mohammed's into gefilte fish.

It's very cool.

It's dry this side, isn't it?

Well, I'm at work.
What are you doing?

I'm always working, chief.

OK.

24 or five, good overall health.
- Other than being dead.

Which took place
around 10:00 PM.

That glass shard
pierced her heart.

Sexual activity?

He or her?

Not recently.

Neither of us.

And defensive wounds?

Came quickly when she
wasn't expecting it.

She had tattoos.
They all do.

Drugs?

Nothing heavy.

Just a bit of smoke is all.

I think we should mess
up her face a bit.

Bit of blood makes it sit up.

TYADOR BORLU: Right.

Let's get the poster
up, see what we can find

out about Ms. Nice Dead Girl.

[thunder]

Here it comes.

Hey, thanks for asking for me.

We're short-staffed.

Right.

Be safe.

TYADOR BORLU: If I look
hard enough at her face,

I can almost see someone else.

MAN: Ul Qoma.

Ul Qoma.
Ul Qoma.

Ul Qoma.
Ul Qoma.

Ul Qoma.

Ul Qoma.

Ul Qoma.

Ul Qoma.

Ul Qoma.
Ul Qoma.

Ul Qoma.
Ul Qoma.

Ul Qoma.
Ul Qoma.

Ul Qoma.
Ul Qoma.

Ul Qoma.
Be safe.

[people chanting]

MAN: Unification!

Unification!

I'm taking you down,
inciting people to breach.

Look behind me.

Look behind my shoulder now.

This is a breach.

Breach, yeah.

Fuck, well Christ.

You've got to help me.

I didn't see anything
we shouldn't.

About time.

Right, you lot.

I want all these
unificationists taken it now.

All of them.

Down the station, come on.

Everybody out now!

TYADOR BORLU: Unificationists,
spoiled kids who never grew up.

They don't get that the cities
is love hating each other.

It's what keeps us alive.

Nobody loves breach, but before
breach, there was only blood.

MAN: Beszel and Ul Qoma
[non-english speech]..

WOMAN: How are you?

TYADOR BORLU: - What
are they saying?

WOMAN: From space, Beszel
and Ul Qoma appear as one.

Jan walks the streets of Beszel.

He's thinking about Maria,
who at this precise moment

is walking the same streets in
the foreign city of Ul Qoma.

Jan only sees Beszel.

Maria only sees Ul
Qoma's glass and steel.

Did they do it?

Not in the original.

The do in Selznik
cut, of course.

TYADOR BORLU: Oh,
then breach manifests.

I'd like to see how
they portray that.

They wouldn't it's dumb.

They're not like
orcs or something.

Star-crossed lovers, able
to gaze into one another's

eyes across the Gulf
that separates them.

Are you sure we
should be watching this?

You're the cop.

You OK?

Stupid film.

I'm tired.

WOMAN: Be safe.

[brakes screeching]

Over there, sir.

Yellow Mercedes, Beszel license
plates, abandoned and unlocked.

You're not taking
anything out?

No paperwork or anything?

DETECTIVE: That's
how we found it.

Travel documents.

We could nick him
for that as well.

So, how do we
know this is her?

In the back.

What's all this crap?

That's your brown stuff.

Rust.

DETECTIVE: It's her blood type.

We're waiting for
a definite much.

LIZBYET CORWI: The van
belongs to Mikhail Khurusch.

Yeah, I know.

Found his travel
documents in the van.

Naughty boy.

[rock music playing]

Shouldn't I have
a lawyer, then?

Where's your van, asshole?

It was nicked.

TYADOR BORLU: What was
all that junk in the back.

Nothing.

Small scale stuff, that's all.

TYADOR BORLU: What stuff?

I trawl skips.

Tellies, CDs, whatever the
other city is throwing out.

Like this decadent crap.

Whatever people are buying.

Where were you
Tuesday night, Mik?

Tuesday?

I had-- I can't think
with this so loud.

[music stops]

Why did you leave
your papers in the van?

LIZBYET CORWI: Leaving Ul Qoma
travel documents in a vehicle,

that's five years, asshole.

It was a mistake.

It happens to everyone.

Here's the thing, asshole.

Your van's a piece of shit.

But you need it.

You deal in junk.

But you don't report it stolen?

No insurance claim, nothing.

I just didn't get it together.

For three days?

Can I have it back?

It's a crime scene,
isn't it asshole?

Stop calling me that!

[smacking sound]

There's no need for that.

There is.

Jesus.

Was she hit?

Hit and run?

- You hit him.
- A girl died.

Someone killed her.

Chief, our friend in
there is distraction.

He's just in the way.

It's not him, is it?

He doesn't report his
van stolen for three days.

He's just scared his travel
rights will be revoked.

How come no one's
phoning in about our girl?

That is weird.

She should have friends, family.

How many flyers have
you seen on the street?

I don't know.

A few?

Worked up another print run.

I don't want to see her face
in tonight's papers as well.

OK?

[wizzing sound]

TYADOR BORLU: Breach
are everywhere.

Your closest friend, your
brother, your child, your wife.

They look just like you and me.

I knew there was another
city I dare not see.

Just there.

Just on the other side of
where I was permitted to look.

[muffled voices]

Stinking people I
have to deal with.

Stinking things you smoke.

[chuckling]

TYADOR BORLU: Maybe I should
just stick to the Klassnikos,

eh?

It was only a kid's toy.

How unsafe could that be?

You should have
given it back to her.

[ringing]

Hello.

WOMAN: Is that Inspector Borlu?

Yeah.

Who's this.

[garble]
- I'm sorry.

Can you speak up?

It's a really bad line.

WOMAN: I knew Mahalia.

The girl.

Mahalia Geary.

Yeah, just-- sorry,
just give me a second.

Can you just give me that again?

What was her name?

WOMAN: Mahalia Geary.

She was an American, too.

Mahalia.

Geary.

And you were-- a friend of hers?

WOMAN: I was her best friend.

Look, can you come
in and talk to me?

It's a really bad line.

WOMAN: I can't I can call you
from outside your country.

Right.

So, are you in America now?

Or where are you calling from?

WOMAN: I'm calling from Ul Qoma.

God, I'm talking
to you like this

and I don't even
believe all this shit.

What about Mahalia?

Did she believe?

Did she respect it?

WOMAN: She was into all of it?

All the underground.

You mean like she was
into the Unificationists?

Yeah?

WOMAN: More than that.

She needed to know everything.

Sorry, I don't understand.

What was she into?

Mahalia is dead because
she found out the truth.

How do you know she was dead?

WOMAN: Your poster.

In Beszel.

WOMAN: Ul Qoma.

You-- you can't have.

WOMAN: I can, and I am.

There are no
flyers in Ul Qoma.

[muffled voices]

WOMAN: I need to go.

So what is your name?

Shit!

[beep]

That was--

TYADOR BORLU: Every day since
Katrynia was taken from me,

I have to remind
myself of the rules.

Remind myself of the law.

She could be watching me.

I could be unseeing her.

She could be waiting
for me, calling

to me, from the other city.

They let the others go?

Yeah, because I told them to.

Why are they keeping me in?

Because I told them to.

My friends get
taken all the time,

and I never see them again.

Yeah, but not today, though.

Hey.

So you owe me, and you owe me
here, and you remember that.

You know this girl?

She dead?

She's dead.

Mahalia.

So what?

She makes contact with the
Unificationists in Ul Qoma,

right?

Yeah.

But she risked it.

Crossed illegally, joined
our meetings here in Beszel.

She was trouble.

She could have brought
Breach down on it.

The shit that she was into.

What shit?

It's crap.

Like weed, decadent Yank shit.

Like?

Orciny.

Have you heard of Orciny?

[footsteps]

[keys jangling]

[door opens]

Follow me.

Suppose I got a call.

Let's pretend.

A friend, a girlfriend
of Miss Nice Dead Girl.

She sees our flyer.
- Girlfriend wants to help?

Turns out Nice Dead Girl is
into dodgy underground stuff.

Like your friend
from the train station?

No.

Way dodgier than Unifs.

I just-- I just had a hunch that
he might have contact with her.

You had a hunch?

A hunch.

Hey, I'm on the team, right?

I can't tell you and
make you an accessory.

I thought this
was hypothetical?

It is.

I can't act on
this information.

The friend, the girlfriend,
was calling from Ul Qoma.

She saw the flyer in Ul Qoma.

There aren't any
flies in Ul Qoma.

Right.

Jesus Christ on the cross.

That girl's name
is Mahalia Geary.

She lives in Ul Qoma.

She wound up dead in Beszel.

So, now you are an accessory.

Thanks, chief.

Well.

You said you wanted
to be on the team.

They never found
her, did they?

Sorry?

What are we talking about?

Your wife, last
seen on GunterStrasz.

You've read the report.
You know what happened.

She disappeared.

Happens every day in every city.

So, maybe she's OK.

Maybe she's living
another life somewhere.

Her case was handed over
to Breach, wasn't it?

Yeah, well this one won't be.

WOMAN: When in
Beszel, see Beszel.

500 years ago, Beszel
welcomed the modern world,

and adopted the Anglicized
tongue of the first traders.

When in Ul Qoma,
see only Ul Qoma.

MAN: Welcome to Beszel.

When in Beszel, see Beszel.

All visitors must
report immediately

to Tourist Training.

Let's do this.

Mrs. And Mrs. Geary?

Mr. Corwi.

No.

I'm Inspector Tyador
Borlu of the Beszel ECS.

This is Officer Lizbyet Corwi.

We're deeply sorry
for your loss.

Thank you.

We know it's been an
arduous trip for you.

Will take it to your hotel
so you can get some rest.

We just want to do what we
came here to do, officer.

We need to see her.

Of course.

TYADOR BORLU: Corwi.

Take those, please.

Babysitting duties, OK?

No sightseeing.

They stay in the hotel until the
official handing over the body.

That could take months.
Yeah, I don't care.

While they're here, they don't
even take a piss without me

knowing about it, all right?

Come on.

Shall we get you into the car?

I'll take that.

We'd like to speak to
some of Mahalia's friends,

talk to your professors.

I'm afraid that won't
be possible, Mr. Geary.

Mahalia's university
is in Ul Qoma.

You know how it
works here, John.

I just want to meet
the people who knew here.

Mr. And Mrs. Geary, you have
to remember that Beszel and Ul

Qoma are separate cities.

The authorities demand
strict, overt decorum.

Do they really?

There is usually
a mandatory two-week

introduction for visitors.

That's a load of crap.

Lower your bullshit.

Not just ours, Mr. Geary.

Breach are cross-border
police force.

We all come under
their jurisdiction.

It's your choice.

Mr. Geary, you have to
understand, we don't see them,

they don't see us.

That's the way it is,
the way it's always been.

So if you so much as look at a
person, or a building, or a car

that's in Ul Qoma, and
Breach will come for you.

Believe me, you don't want that.

I'm sorry.

TYADOR BORLU: Foreigners
are either bemused or

irritated by us and our laws.

This couple, they hated us.

We had done this
to their daughter.

Sorry.

Reduced her to meat
for the mortuary.

[sobbing]

MAN: Borlu.

Go get coffees.

We have released
that Unif nutter.

Yeah, well that Nutter was
part of my investigation.

You don't have
an investigation.

You think you're going to
receive long distance calls

without me knowing about it?

That caller was a close
friend of Mahalia Geary's.

Which you didn't
tell me about.

Because I didn't want
to incriminate you, sir.

Because that caller had
seen one of our flyers,

and she'd seen it from Ul Qoma.

Right.

We're going to the
Oversight Committee.

We're going to invoke Breach.

This is my case.

A girl from Ul Qoma
winds up dead in Beszel,

border transgression.

It's a Breach case.

Yeah, but Breach
didn't manifest.

Borlu, I understand why
you don't want to hand over.

I get it.

I really do.

Your wife.

But this is the world.

Breach is Breach.

I'm not risking it.

Wasn't sure how
you liked it, sir.

Good news?

We're referring the
Geary case to Breach.

Shit.

Yeah.

MAN: Looking very
sharp, Mr. Borlu.

Yeah, well.

I'm the one in the dock.

MAN: Sorry to hear
that, Mr. Borlu.

Be safe, sir.

How long you've been a cabbie?

Provisional at
the moment, sir.

Still need my Besz
transport license.

It's just waiting
on police approval.

Well, maybe I can help you.

I'd be grateful for that, sir.

Besz favors, that's
how we survive.

Strange, isn't it, Copula
Hall, bring in both cities?

Makes me feel, well, a
bit guilty, I suppose.

TYADOR BORLU: Cupula Hall, the
neutral heart of both cities.

This is where the
Oversight Committee

will decide if Mahalia
Geary breached or not.

Breach can snatch
this away from me.

They have before.

LIZBYET CORWI: Hey.

I spoke to Khurusch,
the van driver.

Yeah?

I hope you got a stepladder
and kicked him up the ass.

I didn't need to.

Someone else already had.

Someone scarier than me.

Made him keep his mouth shut.

Yeah?

My guess the same someone who
made him believe his travel

documents in the van.

He was set up.

Have a look at this.

Especially 31-04 and 90-09.

Yeah.

I'm know.

I'm your divine
fucking messenger.

You're welcome.

You were right.

Yeah, absolutely sir.

I know you're not
comfortable with this.

Well, like you said, sir.

It's not worth the risk, is it?

Well, good.

That's good.

Madam Chairman, I'd like to
thank the Oversight Committee

for their time on this matter.

We won't keep you a moment
longer than necessary.

Inspector Tyador Borlu
will make our case

for an invocation of Breach.

Inspector Borlu.

Thank you.

Afternoon.

Mahalia Geary, 24,
North American.

She applied successfully
to become a PhD student

at the Institute of
Archeology in Ul Qoma,

and was attached to the
long term dig at Bol Ye'an.

Then, a few days
ago she disappeared.

WOMAN: From Ul Qoma?

From Ul Qoma.

But turns up in Beszel.

And this time she's dead, in the
back of a stolen Besz vehicle.

So, as you can see, we have a
serious problem on our hands.

On your hands,
Inspector Borlu.

This dead foreign
girl is your problem.

[non-english speech]

Yes, if Mahalia was
subverting the border,

this must go to the Breach.

[non-english speech]

Trust in Breach, absolutely.

Except breach didn't manifest.

No manifestation, no breach.

These things that have
happened in the past.

Mistakes are rare, but
not without precedent.

Everything points
to a border violation.

Let Breach deal.

It's typical of the coalition
to relinquish Besz autonomy.

If you'd taken a harder
line, there'll be

no need to ever invoke Breach.

WOMAN: Thank you, Major Syedr.

This is not a political event.

Invoking Breach in
cases such as this

has been standard
protocol for years.

If I may, I was handed
something before I came in.

It might be pertinent
to our investigation.

Can I play it?

What's this, Borlu?
What are you doing?

TYADOR BORLU: Just
bear with me, sir.

What are we looking at?

It's CCTV footage
from the border

crossing under Cupola
Hall, the night

before Mahalia disappeared.

OK.
There.

That's our van.

Whoever stole it was
crossing over into Ul Qoma.

And just bear with me.

[tape whizzing]

So, there it is again,
crossing back into Beszel.

We believe, with the
body in the back.

All of it at the border
crossing at Cupola Hall.

Looks to me like the
van crossed legally.

Yes, it does, doesn't it major.

No breach.

MAN: Borlu.

Borlu!

What was that?

Where did that tape come from?

The Oversight Committee
don't seem to think

it's a case for Breach, sir.

Nor does Major Syedr.

What does Major Syedr
have to do with anything?

Seems very hard being on
the same side as the major.

Yeah, what?

He's very keen for me
to stay on the case, sir.

You know, back then, there
were certain voices asking

for your permanent suspension.

I was the one
sticking my neck out,

saying you needed the work
to get through it all.

Well, thanks for
the favor, sir.

I thought you were
doing all right, Borlu.

Maybe I was wrong.

Now, did Mahalia have
any special friends

she could talk to?

Not boyfriends, if
that's what you mean.

Girlfriend, someone
she could confide in.

She had lots of friends.

She was-- she was a
very outgoing girl.

How was she getting
along with her studies?

Her professor seemed
to think she was

doing excellent in her work.

And if Mahalia was happy, then--

Was she?

There were always
dramas, you know.

TYADOR BORLU: Well,
that's her age, isn't it?

You have kids
yourself, inspector?

No, I don't.

No, you don't.

She was always saying that
people were on her back.

I don't--

People were pissed at her.

I told her to come
home for a vacation.

Which people?

Dissidents.

Reds, TCs, whatever
you want to call them.

WOMAN: You're
getting it mixed up.

I'm not mixing up anything.

MRS. GEARY: Sorry,
did she mention TCs?

What is that?

True Citizens.

There are an extreme right
wing nationalist group here

in Beszel.

They're connected to Major
Syedr's Nat Bloc party.

Such an ugly place this is.

Whatever.

She made them all mad at her.

We just want to see
justice done, OK?

The embassy is working on it.

We're confident.

TYADOR BORLU: We'll find
whoever's responsible,

I promise you that.

You still have the
death penalty here.

Just going to the pool.

Good idea.

Ground floor, sir.

Geary is coming
down to the pool.

Roger that.

DETECTIVE: Shit.

[muffled voices]

[train clacking]

[men grunting]

[ringing]

Hello.

MAN: Mr. Borlu, I have a long
distance person to person.

Oh, yeah.

MAN: Call will be recorded,
as standard protocol.

Professor Ul Nadi?

It must be a terrible
time for you.

MONA UL NADI: Yes.

We're all in shock.

Mahalia was a very
special young woman.

Yeah.

Well, I'm just trying to trace
any close friends of hers.

Do you have any ideas?

MONA UL NADI: Well,
maybe Yolanda.

Yolanda?

Yolanda Stark, another American
student here, helping out

at the Bol Ye'an dig.

Yeah.

She-- she knew
Mahalia well, did she?

MONA UL NADI: Certainly.

They were both fascinated
by Ul Qoman mythology.

Right.

MONA UL NADI: She was a
real little Bowdenite.

Sorry, she was a what?

MONA UL NADI: A Bowdenite.

Someone inspired by David
Bowden's early work.

It's him I blame for
Mahalia's lack of focus.

He encourages a certain
adoration from female students.

David Bowden.

MONA UL NADI: He dreamed
of a subversive idea

of a third city hidden
between Beszel and Ul Qoma.

Orciny, he called it.

Very provocative.

Stirred up a lot of trouble.

This book, "Between
The City And The City"

is still illegal in
Beszel, actually.

You won't find it [garble].

What?

Hello.

[music playing]

[muffled voices]

TYADOR BORLU: Whatever this is,
whatever happened to Mahalia,

to Katrynia, I need
to look further

than Beszel, across
the border where people

pass one another like ghosts.

To that other place.

I will find the answers,
whatever they do to me.

It is my duty, and my penance.

[music playing]

WOMAN: Inspector Borlu.

Senior Detective
Quissima Dhatt?

Welcome to Ul Qoma.

First time in Ul Qoma?

First time in a long time.

Big changes, you'll see.

TYADOR BORLU: I need to
find that girl who called

me, talk to anybody Mahalia
knew or worked with,

find out who Geary was meeting.

[music playing]

[men chanting]