The Librarians (2014–2018): Season 1, Episode 9 - And the City of Light - full transcript
A missing-person investigation uncovers what appears to be an alien invasion in a small rural town.
This is Victor Finch,
recording live for the
U-f-ology videocast.
It's day three of my search here
in the town of Collins Falls
and I've seen no sign
of the mysterious lights
reported in the sky.
Now, although the reports aren't frequent,
they are consistent, which
rules out the possibility
of a freak accident
or a misunderstanding.
Reports are only an am-1
on the Vallée scale.
That means lights but no contact.
I'm hoping to catch some more
of those weird energy traces before...
Run! They're here!
Run! Run!
It's an invasion!
Run!
Is there a problem, sweetheart?
Something's out there in the woods.
It's not an am-1 anymore, it's a Ce-3.
Close encounter of the third...
Kind.
I'm telling you, it's aliens.
There are no such things as UFOs.
Minotaur's, haunted
houses, Santa Claus, yes,
but UFOs, don't be silly.
A UFO nut goes missing in a town
where strange lights have been reported.
U.F.O.
Do not be deceived by
any physical manifestation
you may encounter, they're
absolutely not UFOs.
The only people I know
that believe in UFOs
are the same ones that think that Elvis
was the shooter on the grassy knoll.
Look, current estimates put the number
of habitable planets in
our galaxy at 11 billion.
So it is highly unlikely
that we are the only
intelligent life in this universe.
I'll tell you what.
We'll just fill in the crack
you're about to make
about us and intelligent life,
just skip right to the job.
Are you sure? It was quite cutting.
I promise to be properly offended.
I mean, I probably wouldn't have
even understood it at first.
But I'll be offended later.
Where's the fun in that?
The Vallée scale is how we
measure inter-planetary contact
using the degree of physical
evidence remaining on...
you're a UFO geek.
No, I'm sorry, it's just
you've never really,
like, geeked out about anything before.
Well, I just think that
if a super intelligent
powerful alien race arrives,
we should be prepared.
You're planning on selling out
the human race, aren't you?
I will absolutely sell out the human
race to our new alien overlords.
Don't fight them, they
know what's best for us.
So what's the plan, Baird?
We don't have a lot to go on here.
Independent journalist
Victor Finch went missing.
Was abducted by aliens.
I will break every bone in your body.
Hey, when did you say
this town was founded?
1953.
Huh.
Why?
Nine out of ten homes built in the 50s
were ranch style architecture.
These are like colonial
revival which would
put them on late 18, early 1900s.
Maybe they wanted a more
old-fashioned nostalgic look.
Yeah, that would explain the gas lamps.
Well, follow your instincts,
if you think something
is off about the town
you and Cassandra see
what you can learn about its history.
Find out if these lights are a new thing,
if there's a history of disappearances.
Jones and I will check out the spot
where the victim's truck was found.
- All right.
- Okay.
Excuse me, ma'am.
Ma'am?
I don't get a lot of
ma'aming around here.
Mostly just, "hey, Mabel."
Mabel.
That's an old-fashioned name.
Ah, well, I'm an old-fashioned girl.
It's an old-fashioned town.
Oh, these things?
Yeah, they haven't worked
in forever but I like
to tinker around with
them from time to time.
It'd be a sight to see them
all lit up, wouldn't it?
Yes, it would.
It'd look like Paris.
Oui, comme Paris.
Oh, well, mais ici, dans Collins Falls.
Mabel Collins.
Jacob, Jacob Stone.
- This is Cassandra Cillian.
- Hi.
Listen, we're the... we're the librarians.
Yeah, we're doing some research
on town histories, so...
Ah, that makes sense.
- Yeah.
- For once.
Is there someone we
could talk to about it?
- I would recommend the town archivist.
- Okay.
Family founded the place, so if they
don't know it, it ain't worth knowing.
All right, can you point
us in his direction?
- Mabel Collins...
- Mm.
Collins Falls, you're the archivist?
Brains, too.
I'm the archivist, notary,
volunteer fire chief and
chancellor of the exchequer.
Well, technically, treasurer
but since I ordered
the business cards, too,
who's going to stop me?
Not a lot of town government, huh?
Not a lot of town.
Not much interesting around here.
Et pourtant, je suis interesse.
We should probably ask
about that local history stuff.
Je pense Que vous etes interessant.
Or, like, anything at all.
Just...
I was kind of hoping
there'd be crop circles.
This looks like where
they found the truck.
Why park all the way back here?
Most hikers would park
closer to the roads
so if they get lost someone
will notice sooner.
Don't ask me.
I don't even get why people go hiking.
He didn't want anyone
to know he was here.
Or someone else moved the truck.
Who put a gas lamp in the
middle of the woods?
Victor Finch?
Only you people could lose a guardian.
Librarians, yes,
we go through them like tissue paper,
but a guardian?
Okay. It wasn't even me.
This cat right here.
I'd prefer to think
of it as she lost me.
I mean, one minute she's
all assault and battery
and the next she's beamed up into space.
Or you ran. You have no
idea what happened.
So you came up with the story to cover.
I can see how you think that but no.
No one beamed her anywhere.
Say's the guy with the teleporting door.
UFOs do not exist.
Say's the guy with the teleporting door.
Ah, look, see, there.
Col. Baird is still on the planet.
She's alive? She's safe?
She's still on the planet.
That narrows it down.
Magic is not an exact science.
If it were, it would be science.
Okay. So we assume that this
is another disappearance.
Then whatever happened to Col. Baird
is the same thing that
happened to Victor Finch.
It seems like a reasonable assumption.
Only now, that we found Victor Finch.
We got a witness.
Yes.
I'm telling you, I don't
remember anything.
What's the last thing you do remember?
I remember being in the woods.
I've been looking for the am-1.
Oh, that means lights
but no contact.
Yeah, yeah, what next?
Then nothing.
It feels like the whole
last day is just gone.
Mr. Finch, you've been
missing for three weeks.
What?
As requested, there's UFO equipment.
Why are you interested in that stuff?
I thought you said UFOs were a crock.
They are.
But the fools that chase them
can sometimes come up
with something interesting.
See?
These goggles, they're
some sort of aura filter.
There's an energy emission right
behind him there in the woods.
That's the clearing with the gas
lamp where Baird disappeared.
We need to know more
about those gas lamps.
Okay. Someone should go back
and talk to that town archivist.
- Oh, oh.
- Which should probably be me.
- Oh, I could... I could...
- No, you want to take this?
- No, I'll go... I'll go.
- You sure?
- I could come help.
- You guys keep busy.
- Do you want me to send Jones?
- No, no, no, no.
Okay. He's got it.
Hello.
- Hi.
- Hey.
Boy, this is a hell of an archive
you got here for a small town.
Well, you know, small towns. God help
you if you ever throw anything away.
Yeah.
Help you, Mr. ma'am?
Please tell me you've
taking that for a spin.
Me? No.
I've never left town.
- Really?
- Yeah.
Family obligations.
Well, family ain't easy.
No, it ain't.
Never even been down the
highway to New York City.
You travel?
Well, I got a new job,
gets me out a little bit.
- Okay.
- Up until a couple of months ago, though,
I've never been more than a tank of gas
away from my parents' front porch
'less it was digging
ditches out somewhere.
So what is it about the gas lamps?
You wanna bring Paris here
or you wanna make it
feel like you're there?
Don't get me wrong, it's a nice town,
just I've got a whole warehouse
full of memories of this place.
It'd sure be nice to have at least
one wall of memories of somewhere else.
Anything else.
No, I know what you mean.
Like not having a story
that doesn't start off, "you
remember that night at Jimmy's bar?"
Or "remember that waitress?
Oh, yeah, you remember her because
we go to that diner every weekend."
"You remember what happened
at the town barbecue?"
"Oh, which one, that one?"
"No, the other one?"
"That one? "No, the other one"...
Hey.
Yeah, just once,
I wanna be able to say...
Remember that waiter,
that little cafe of Pont Neuf?
Remember when the car
broke down in Moscow?
What was the name of that
hotel we stayed at in Athens?
Remember the view from the Eiffel Tower?
It was raining, but the
lights made everything glow.
Well, I,
I don't have quite
the imagination you do.
No, I made my choices and
I can't pretend otherwise.
Oh, it's... sorry,
this just must seem
pretty silly, I didn't...
No, no, no, I just... I can't.
Oh, okay.
But it was, you know, the reason I came
is because we have some
surveying equipment
that picked up some weird readings
off one of your gas lamps in the forest.
Show me.
Well, if I actually... I could
just see... can I see some plans?
My town, my archives.
- Yes. Sure.
- Show me.
Um...
Watch your step.
Thanks.
Hey, Mabel, you remember Cassandra?
This is Jenkins. This is Ezekiel.
You brought someone who
is not a librarian to here?
Yay!
So this is just how you found it?
Baird slammed the bloke
into it and then poof.
Poof? Someone went poof.
No, that's not... that's
a figure of speech.
He's Australian.
We don't even know what
he's saying half the time.
Do you have any idea what this is doing
out here in the middle of the woods?
No. I've never seen this one.
So far it seems pretty...
Ah!
What the hell?
- Optical illusion.
- Optical illusion?
No, that was Col. Baird.
You're right, it was
an optical illusion.
That's what we call them in Australia.
Col. Baird, you know, oi, sun in my eyes.
Thought I saw... thought I saw a Col.
Baird.
Well, wow, you really don't
expect me to buy that, do you?
I don't know, maybe.
Well, it's actually worked before.
Yeah, it does. It's weird.
Okay. You're not librarians.
Well, no, actually, we are, mostly.
But I really need you to trust me, okay?
I need you not say anything to
anyone else in town about this.
Look, if something's
going on in my town,
I need to know about it.
And I promise you... I promise,
I'll tell you everything I know.
I really need you to go
back to the archives
right now and dig up
anything on these gas lamps.
Do not hold out on me.
I accept all your apologies.
So what? Baird's a ghost?
Hmm, no, ghosts are
ectoplasmic entities.
Col. Baird was caught in some kind
of energy discharge, but what kind?
We need more data to narrow it down.
Precisely.
Fortunately, Mr. Finch provided us
with the right tool for the job.
Mostly, he was in the ballpark.
I've made a few adjustments and behold.
Now these lenses should
allow you to perceive
a range of energy frequencies,
hopefully, in better focus
than their predecessors.
Once we track the energies
down to their source,
we should be able to piece together
what happened and hopefully reverse it.
Ezekiel will take these.
Weird magic energy is
more of Cassandra's thing.
Okay. I see enough
psychedelic visions of my own,
so, no, thank you.
Yes, and you're the one that lost her.
♪I'm gonna go down the archive.
I wanna see if I can dig up
anything I can on these gas lamps,
see if I can tell where they came from.
I don't know.
Is there a problem, sweetheart?
This is not what it looks like.
Looks like you broke into my archives.
Hope you didn't break the lock,
because I'm also the
maintenance department.
Yeah.
You don't trust me?
Listen, whatever is going
on with these gas lamps,
it could be dangerous.
Well, if I can't stop you,
we can work together.
Early town records are this way.
- Yeah.
- It goes... right.
Energy flow is...
That way.
How strong?
Stronger-ish.
Okay.
Energy differential is positive,
it's growing, tulips, and roses, pansies.
But it's not random.
There's a design to it,
it's all channels and flows.
It's a circuit.
The energy is flowing through
gas lamps across the town.
Where is it coming from and why?
Your guess is as good as mine.
I'm pretty sure my guess is
actually way better than yours.
Look, I think I can triangulate
it back to the source.
I'm pretty sure you need me to...
Ah!
Wait, what?
So we're just like screaming
whenever the mood takes us?
Baird, she's here.
Here? Where?
I mean, is she okay?
She's annoyed with me,
so, yeah, she's fine.
She wants us to go that way.
Col. Baird, the source of
the circuit is that way.
So I think that's where we can
find out what's causing this?
I think she wants you to go on ahead
and for me to follow her this way.
Good plan. I can take care of myself.
Are you implying I can't?
No, Baird is.
Yeah, yeah, right behind you.
This isn't weird at all.
In the original proposed layout town
hall was on this side of Main Street,
- Uh-hmm.
- They moved it.
Why?
I don't know, maybe they
changed their minds?
I don't know.
Okay, so there's a gas lamp
where they were gonna build it.
They moved it to put
a gas lamp there?
That doesn't... it doesn't
make sense to me.
Unless, the gas lamps were there
and they built the town around it.
Yeah, someone built a bunch of gas lamps
in the middle of nowhere
before the town was here.
I think you're reading just a
little bit too much into this.
Files.
What kind of files clink?
No, no, there's...
you wanna tell me what you're
really doing with those gas lamps?
Wardenclyffe Falls.
I thought this was Collins Falls.
Town?
We've already been to town.
That's not good.
If I show you, you have
to promise to help.
I promise you that I
will do the right thing.
Gas lamps were already here
because there was another town here
built by...
Nikola Tesla.
They're possessing people.
They're body snatching.
The lamp posts. It screwed with Victor.
Let's see what it does to you guys.
Wait.
Oh, Mr. Finch,
you scared me.
What are you doing out here?
Is there a problem, sweetheart?
You're not Finch, are you?
Oh. Sorry.
What...
- Hey, guys.
- Hi.
Up for a barricade?
A pack of body snatchers coming in hot?
No, listen, I know what's going on, okay?
There's another town before this
one that was on the same site.
It was called Wardenclyffe Falls.
Oh, okay. Yeah, I'll just
barricade by myself then.
It was built 100 ago, part of an
experimental site created by...
- and you're not gonna believe this...
- Nikola Tesla,
genius inventor, rival of Edison,
and pretty much the reason
why we have electricity
in our homes, also, get
the hell away from her.
She's trying to help us.
Are you?
No, she's not body-snatched.
Body what?
But they definitely are.
Norman, don't.
Norman? I thought your name was Victor.
Well, why don't we start with her
because this photo is dated 1915.
I told you I had family commitments.
This is it.
In 1915, Tesla was doing experiments
in wireless power transmission.
That was Tesla's dream.
Like Wi-Fi only for electricity.
Not just the Internet.
The gas lamps, they're
wireless power transmitters.
Prototypes.
But something went wrong.
We activated the system
and everyone got,
zapped, out of sync.
Out of sync with what?
The universe.
We were stuck in some
inter-dimensional border.
We could see the world,
we were aware of it,
but we couldn't interact with it.
That's what happened to Baird.
How many of you are there?
87 souls.
That sort of flux is inherently unstable,
how has it lasted this long?
Once he realized what had happened,
Tesla modified his
transmitters, the gas lamps.
To create an energy field
that would keep us stable.
Without them we cease to exist.
What about you?
I mean, you're still
in your original body.
I was in the main control room
when it happened, insulated.
Most of the people were
knocked entirely out of phase,
but I was winking in and out.
Tesla was able to anchor me in my body
by turning me into sort of
a grounding wire, I guess.
I've got a question.
- Yeah?
- What's with the body snatching?
It's necessary.
It's possible for us to
interact with the world
through others.
Interface with their nervous
system just enough to...
yeah, I'm not so concerned
with how you do it,
as to whether or not the bodies
you're riding are okay with it.
We only use them for
a couple of hours at a time.
Our energy field just
interferes with their memories.
They just lose a couple of hours
here and there like everyone does.
And what about that skin
you're riding right now?
You've been in there three weeks,
how much time is he losing?
- All right, easy.
- Easy?
I made a good living walking the line
between snatching and
borrowing but this?
These people have gone too far.
It was necessary.
Norman, we need their help.
Do you want to tell us what's going on?
We needed a body that we can hold on
too for a little longer, a stranger.
Someone in town that no one
would notice was missing.
It's the only way that
we could fix things
and we are so, so close to fixing things.
And you have a plan, young lady?
Let me show you.
Please.
Tesla cut a deal with the government,
they could have some of his patents
if they never touched the old facility.
They erased the records,
built over the town,
but they had to leave this dam.
Tesla spent the rest of his life trying
to figure out how to bring us back,
but he was never able to in his lifetime.
No, how could he?
I mean, dimensional reintegration
takes an enormous amount of energy,
particularly for people
who have been in flux
as long as you have.
This is a capacitor.
Tesla built a capacitor
to store the energy.
The turbines are at the dam.
I've been charging it for
the past hundred years.
Wow.
This way.
See there?
The outer casings on
the turbines are shot,
but the mechanisms still work.
A hundred years worth of charge?
That might just do it.
But we need everything to be ready fast.
The capacitor is old. It's failing.
So all of the work you've been
doing is to keep this running?
Yes, Norman's been doing his best,
that's why he needed a longer term body,
but even with that,
we need to activate it
in the next day or two or
it'll break down completely.
The energy gets discharged
and we'll be stuck.
We've been running tests every...
Which have caused atmospheric
disturbances, the lights?
Yeah.
All the UFO sightings,
it's from your apparatus?
I told you, no such thing as UFOs.
This may work.
But there's only so much we can do.
I mean, we're engineers,
but we're not Tesla.
Now that you know, will you help us?
Will you bring an entire
lost town back into the world?
Please.
You said you'd do the right thing.
Please.
I say no.
They're taking over bodies instead of
asking for help. You just don't do that.
They're asking for help now.
Yeah, only because they got caught.
They're people and they're trapped.
Can you imagine being
stuck for a hundred years,
watching the world go by?
Wanting to do things,
wanting to go places.
Look, all of this is
assuming that we can help.
Based on Tesla's plans, I give it
a fifty-fifty shot at working.
And if it doesn't work, then what?
If it doesn't work, the excess energy
gets dispersed through
the gas lamps circuit.
They'll destroy the lamps which is
the only thing keeping them stable.
So if the lamps go, they go.
Yeah. That's if they're
telling the truth.
This isn't a choice.
Right, wrong, true, false,
none of that matters.
Like it or not, it's the only
way to rescue Col. Baird.
I already promised to
do the right thing, so.
Well, they'll need
someone at the controls
to process the math
and adapt on the fly.
At least Col. Baird will owe me one.
To make Tesla's plan work, we need
to get creative.
First we need to rebuild
the relay point up on the roof.
Tesla's blueprints called for
copper wiring, but carbon composites
will handle the voltage better.
The capacitor is falling apart.
So its harmonic resonance
may fluctuate unpredictably,
which means bigger is better.
We need the gas lamps
all cleaned and refurbished.
Spit-shined, fresh from the factory.
We only get one shot at this,
so let's not take chances.
So what's the deal, I mean,
you're in your own body,
why'd you just stick around
for a hundred years?
The gas lamps stabilize me, too.
If I cross the border of the circuit
I'd be as lost as anyone.
So that's why you didn't travel?
Yeah.
What's your excuse?
What do you mean?
I saw that look in your eye.
You looked at my postcards.
You like art, architecture,
to see the Taj Mahal,
the sphinx, the Sistine Chapel.
I can't go, I never could,
You just didn't.
Why?
My great granddad started
an oil riggin' outfit
in the 1800s and it did well.
Pride and joy of my father's life
and then there was a day
when the company started
going under and he was,
well, was in no condition
to run the place.
So...
Sick?
- Was he sick?
- Yeah.
Little bit of that, a lot of the drink.
You...
Stayed to run the family
company, that's a good reason.
It's an excuse.
I mean, every year I spent not leaving,
easier it was to stay.
And none of my folks,
none of my friends,
they never got 50 miles from home.
That's the way they liked it.
You spend time with people who...
Don't do something...
And you start feeling
like you can't do it.
That's how it goes.
And now that you know better?
I know better.
Hmm.
So how was your first kiss with a...
130-year-old woman?
Huh.
Takes a little getting used to.
Oh.
All set here. We're good to go.
Now, if everything works
correctly, Col. Baird
should be the first one restored.
She's not been in flux very long.
So it will not take as much energy
to reintegrate her into this reality.
Okay. Last in, first out, huh?
Oh, yes, without a doubt.
Well, assuming that Miss Cillian
and I have successfully
implemented the theoretical
scribblings of a mad genius
using abandoned equipment that's
been in water for a hundred years.
Good pep talk.
Norman?
We're ready.
Let's do it.
I can feel it.
Whoa. That's a big surge.
Did you do that?
No, I think it's just a...
oh, no.
The capacitor was amplifying
the harmonics exponentially.
What does that mean? Will it still work?
I don't know.
If this doesn't work the energy won't
just blow out the gas lamps.
It's going to blow
everything around it.
For how far?
For miles.
Hundreds of miles.
We need to shut it down.
If it works, will it still blow up?
No. But it's near as I can tell.
We only have a 50/50 shot at it working.
There are 87 people trapped here.
And there are 10 times as
many people living in town,
more in a greater blast area.
We didn't factor this into the risk.
I'll take that risk.
I won't.
No shutting down and no turning back.
I can't go on like this.
We can't go on like this.
We deserve to live.
No!
No, no.
Think, think, think, think, think.
Intertwining, interweaving,
music and melodies,
the key change.
Is it supposed to be making that noise?
What noise?
You guys hearing some kind
of high pitched beat?
Like, eh-ehhhh-eh-eh.
One short, one long, two short.
It's Morse code.
It's all for librarians.
Hey, something's wrong.
Come on.
You heard me.
Well, I did.
- What was that?
- Mosquito tone.
It's a high pitched sound that
only young people can hear.
No offense.
I adjusted the frequencies of the
turbines to send you a message.
Why, what's wrong?
We were.
If this doesn't work,
it's going to blow big.
Like, Tunguska big.
Yeah, but it might not
blow, it might work.
I'm so, so sorry.
I don't think we can take this risk.
If we stop it now, if we pull the plug,
the energy will discharge
safely, guaranteed.
Everyone will be trapped,
including Col. Baird.
I think she'd be the first
one to make that call.
I promised I'd do the right thing.
The relay on the rooftop,
it has an override switch,
we can turn it off from there.
I will endeavor to stabilize the
energy flow with Miss Cillian.
The rest of you, go.
Are you all right?
Yeah. All right.
We can't get through that.
Maybe I can.
I'm stabilized, I'm a grounding wire.
The energy would discharge through me.
With that much juice?
Even a grounding wire can burn out.
You have a better idea?
If I hold on to you, is that
going to ground me, too?
No clue.
All right.
All right.
Yeah.
Guys.
- What?
- What?
Company.
Just take care of it.
Are you okay?
Yeah.
Yeah, are you?
How about we just talk about this?
Or you can just wait there.
Eep!
I can't... I don't think I can walk.
All right.
This wire will help me bleed
off even more of the power.
What's the name of that waiter?
What?
One in the little cafe
off of Pont Neuf,
when we were in Paris?
Okay, short legs, good to know.
You're thinking of Budapest.
No.
Budapest was where
you lost your luggage.
Paris was...
You mean, Paris was the rain.
Baird, you're back,
it's working, it's working.
Remember the view
from the Eiffel Tower?
It was raining...
But the lights made everything glow.
Everything glow, yeah.
Stone, it's working! Oi!
Adieu, monsieur.
Up there.
Au revoir, ma'am.
It was working. It was going to work.
We don't know that.
Col. Baird was trapped for a day,
the rest of them had been
in there for a century.
We just... we just don't
know that it would've
held together long enough to help them.
It will really take
another hundred years
for the capacitor to
power up and try again?
There's no capacitor.
The discharge fried it.
The only thing that still
works are the gas lamps.
Which means they're all still trapped.
There isn't enough
energy for them to even
communicate with us.
It wasn't your fault.
Sometimes you just lose.
You did good, all of you,
but sometimes,
you just lose.
This bites.
Colonel, I thought you might want this.
What is this?
The appointment book.
The library, by its nature,
works on time scales
beyond the normal human lifespan.
If a librarian, for example,
built a new capacitor in a dam
with a few stabilizing design features
and let it charge for a century or so.
They'd want to make a note of it
so future librarians know
there's an appointment to keep.
Chop-chop.
Hey.
We were gonna grab a drink, wanna join?
Uh, not tonight, I got
somewhere I got to be.
Okay.
recording live for the
U-f-ology videocast.
It's day three of my search here
in the town of Collins Falls
and I've seen no sign
of the mysterious lights
reported in the sky.
Now, although the reports aren't frequent,
they are consistent, which
rules out the possibility
of a freak accident
or a misunderstanding.
Reports are only an am-1
on the Vallée scale.
That means lights but no contact.
I'm hoping to catch some more
of those weird energy traces before...
Run! They're here!
Run! Run!
It's an invasion!
Run!
Is there a problem, sweetheart?
Something's out there in the woods.
It's not an am-1 anymore, it's a Ce-3.
Close encounter of the third...
Kind.
I'm telling you, it's aliens.
There are no such things as UFOs.
Minotaur's, haunted
houses, Santa Claus, yes,
but UFOs, don't be silly.
A UFO nut goes missing in a town
where strange lights have been reported.
U.F.O.
Do not be deceived by
any physical manifestation
you may encounter, they're
absolutely not UFOs.
The only people I know
that believe in UFOs
are the same ones that think that Elvis
was the shooter on the grassy knoll.
Look, current estimates put the number
of habitable planets in
our galaxy at 11 billion.
So it is highly unlikely
that we are the only
intelligent life in this universe.
I'll tell you what.
We'll just fill in the crack
you're about to make
about us and intelligent life,
just skip right to the job.
Are you sure? It was quite cutting.
I promise to be properly offended.
I mean, I probably wouldn't have
even understood it at first.
But I'll be offended later.
Where's the fun in that?
The Vallée scale is how we
measure inter-planetary contact
using the degree of physical
evidence remaining on...
you're a UFO geek.
No, I'm sorry, it's just
you've never really,
like, geeked out about anything before.
Well, I just think that
if a super intelligent
powerful alien race arrives,
we should be prepared.
You're planning on selling out
the human race, aren't you?
I will absolutely sell out the human
race to our new alien overlords.
Don't fight them, they
know what's best for us.
So what's the plan, Baird?
We don't have a lot to go on here.
Independent journalist
Victor Finch went missing.
Was abducted by aliens.
I will break every bone in your body.
Hey, when did you say
this town was founded?
1953.
Huh.
Why?
Nine out of ten homes built in the 50s
were ranch style architecture.
These are like colonial
revival which would
put them on late 18, early 1900s.
Maybe they wanted a more
old-fashioned nostalgic look.
Yeah, that would explain the gas lamps.
Well, follow your instincts,
if you think something
is off about the town
you and Cassandra see
what you can learn about its history.
Find out if these lights are a new thing,
if there's a history of disappearances.
Jones and I will check out the spot
where the victim's truck was found.
- All right.
- Okay.
Excuse me, ma'am.
Ma'am?
I don't get a lot of
ma'aming around here.
Mostly just, "hey, Mabel."
Mabel.
That's an old-fashioned name.
Ah, well, I'm an old-fashioned girl.
It's an old-fashioned town.
Oh, these things?
Yeah, they haven't worked
in forever but I like
to tinker around with
them from time to time.
It'd be a sight to see them
all lit up, wouldn't it?
Yes, it would.
It'd look like Paris.
Oui, comme Paris.
Oh, well, mais ici, dans Collins Falls.
Mabel Collins.
Jacob, Jacob Stone.
- This is Cassandra Cillian.
- Hi.
Listen, we're the... we're the librarians.
Yeah, we're doing some research
on town histories, so...
Ah, that makes sense.
- Yeah.
- For once.
Is there someone we
could talk to about it?
- I would recommend the town archivist.
- Okay.
Family founded the place, so if they
don't know it, it ain't worth knowing.
All right, can you point
us in his direction?
- Mabel Collins...
- Mm.
Collins Falls, you're the archivist?
Brains, too.
I'm the archivist, notary,
volunteer fire chief and
chancellor of the exchequer.
Well, technically, treasurer
but since I ordered
the business cards, too,
who's going to stop me?
Not a lot of town government, huh?
Not a lot of town.
Not much interesting around here.
Et pourtant, je suis interesse.
We should probably ask
about that local history stuff.
Je pense Que vous etes interessant.
Or, like, anything at all.
Just...
I was kind of hoping
there'd be crop circles.
This looks like where
they found the truck.
Why park all the way back here?
Most hikers would park
closer to the roads
so if they get lost someone
will notice sooner.
Don't ask me.
I don't even get why people go hiking.
He didn't want anyone
to know he was here.
Or someone else moved the truck.
Who put a gas lamp in the
middle of the woods?
Victor Finch?
Only you people could lose a guardian.
Librarians, yes,
we go through them like tissue paper,
but a guardian?
Okay. It wasn't even me.
This cat right here.
I'd prefer to think
of it as she lost me.
I mean, one minute she's
all assault and battery
and the next she's beamed up into space.
Or you ran. You have no
idea what happened.
So you came up with the story to cover.
I can see how you think that but no.
No one beamed her anywhere.
Say's the guy with the teleporting door.
UFOs do not exist.
Say's the guy with the teleporting door.
Ah, look, see, there.
Col. Baird is still on the planet.
She's alive? She's safe?
She's still on the planet.
That narrows it down.
Magic is not an exact science.
If it were, it would be science.
Okay. So we assume that this
is another disappearance.
Then whatever happened to Col. Baird
is the same thing that
happened to Victor Finch.
It seems like a reasonable assumption.
Only now, that we found Victor Finch.
We got a witness.
Yes.
I'm telling you, I don't
remember anything.
What's the last thing you do remember?
I remember being in the woods.
I've been looking for the am-1.
Oh, that means lights
but no contact.
Yeah, yeah, what next?
Then nothing.
It feels like the whole
last day is just gone.
Mr. Finch, you've been
missing for three weeks.
What?
As requested, there's UFO equipment.
Why are you interested in that stuff?
I thought you said UFOs were a crock.
They are.
But the fools that chase them
can sometimes come up
with something interesting.
See?
These goggles, they're
some sort of aura filter.
There's an energy emission right
behind him there in the woods.
That's the clearing with the gas
lamp where Baird disappeared.
We need to know more
about those gas lamps.
Okay. Someone should go back
and talk to that town archivist.
- Oh, oh.
- Which should probably be me.
- Oh, I could... I could...
- No, you want to take this?
- No, I'll go... I'll go.
- You sure?
- I could come help.
- You guys keep busy.
- Do you want me to send Jones?
- No, no, no, no.
Okay. He's got it.
Hello.
- Hi.
- Hey.
Boy, this is a hell of an archive
you got here for a small town.
Well, you know, small towns. God help
you if you ever throw anything away.
Yeah.
Help you, Mr. ma'am?
Please tell me you've
taking that for a spin.
Me? No.
I've never left town.
- Really?
- Yeah.
Family obligations.
Well, family ain't easy.
No, it ain't.
Never even been down the
highway to New York City.
You travel?
Well, I got a new job,
gets me out a little bit.
- Okay.
- Up until a couple of months ago, though,
I've never been more than a tank of gas
away from my parents' front porch
'less it was digging
ditches out somewhere.
So what is it about the gas lamps?
You wanna bring Paris here
or you wanna make it
feel like you're there?
Don't get me wrong, it's a nice town,
just I've got a whole warehouse
full of memories of this place.
It'd sure be nice to have at least
one wall of memories of somewhere else.
Anything else.
No, I know what you mean.
Like not having a story
that doesn't start off, "you
remember that night at Jimmy's bar?"
Or "remember that waitress?
Oh, yeah, you remember her because
we go to that diner every weekend."
"You remember what happened
at the town barbecue?"
"Oh, which one, that one?"
"No, the other one?"
"That one? "No, the other one"...
Hey.
Yeah, just once,
I wanna be able to say...
Remember that waiter,
that little cafe of Pont Neuf?
Remember when the car
broke down in Moscow?
What was the name of that
hotel we stayed at in Athens?
Remember the view from the Eiffel Tower?
It was raining, but the
lights made everything glow.
Well, I,
I don't have quite
the imagination you do.
No, I made my choices and
I can't pretend otherwise.
Oh, it's... sorry,
this just must seem
pretty silly, I didn't...
No, no, no, I just... I can't.
Oh, okay.
But it was, you know, the reason I came
is because we have some
surveying equipment
that picked up some weird readings
off one of your gas lamps in the forest.
Show me.
Well, if I actually... I could
just see... can I see some plans?
My town, my archives.
- Yes. Sure.
- Show me.
Um...
Watch your step.
Thanks.
Hey, Mabel, you remember Cassandra?
This is Jenkins. This is Ezekiel.
You brought someone who
is not a librarian to here?
Yay!
So this is just how you found it?
Baird slammed the bloke
into it and then poof.
Poof? Someone went poof.
No, that's not... that's
a figure of speech.
He's Australian.
We don't even know what
he's saying half the time.
Do you have any idea what this is doing
out here in the middle of the woods?
No. I've never seen this one.
So far it seems pretty...
Ah!
What the hell?
- Optical illusion.
- Optical illusion?
No, that was Col. Baird.
You're right, it was
an optical illusion.
That's what we call them in Australia.
Col. Baird, you know, oi, sun in my eyes.
Thought I saw... thought I saw a Col.
Baird.
Well, wow, you really don't
expect me to buy that, do you?
I don't know, maybe.
Well, it's actually worked before.
Yeah, it does. It's weird.
Okay. You're not librarians.
Well, no, actually, we are, mostly.
But I really need you to trust me, okay?
I need you not say anything to
anyone else in town about this.
Look, if something's
going on in my town,
I need to know about it.
And I promise you... I promise,
I'll tell you everything I know.
I really need you to go
back to the archives
right now and dig up
anything on these gas lamps.
Do not hold out on me.
I accept all your apologies.
So what? Baird's a ghost?
Hmm, no, ghosts are
ectoplasmic entities.
Col. Baird was caught in some kind
of energy discharge, but what kind?
We need more data to narrow it down.
Precisely.
Fortunately, Mr. Finch provided us
with the right tool for the job.
Mostly, he was in the ballpark.
I've made a few adjustments and behold.
Now these lenses should
allow you to perceive
a range of energy frequencies,
hopefully, in better focus
than their predecessors.
Once we track the energies
down to their source,
we should be able to piece together
what happened and hopefully reverse it.
Ezekiel will take these.
Weird magic energy is
more of Cassandra's thing.
Okay. I see enough
psychedelic visions of my own,
so, no, thank you.
Yes, and you're the one that lost her.
♪I'm gonna go down the archive.
I wanna see if I can dig up
anything I can on these gas lamps,
see if I can tell where they came from.
I don't know.
Is there a problem, sweetheart?
This is not what it looks like.
Looks like you broke into my archives.
Hope you didn't break the lock,
because I'm also the
maintenance department.
Yeah.
You don't trust me?
Listen, whatever is going
on with these gas lamps,
it could be dangerous.
Well, if I can't stop you,
we can work together.
Early town records are this way.
- Yeah.
- It goes... right.
Energy flow is...
That way.
How strong?
Stronger-ish.
Okay.
Energy differential is positive,
it's growing, tulips, and roses, pansies.
But it's not random.
There's a design to it,
it's all channels and flows.
It's a circuit.
The energy is flowing through
gas lamps across the town.
Where is it coming from and why?
Your guess is as good as mine.
I'm pretty sure my guess is
actually way better than yours.
Look, I think I can triangulate
it back to the source.
I'm pretty sure you need me to...
Ah!
Wait, what?
So we're just like screaming
whenever the mood takes us?
Baird, she's here.
Here? Where?
I mean, is she okay?
She's annoyed with me,
so, yeah, she's fine.
She wants us to go that way.
Col. Baird, the source of
the circuit is that way.
So I think that's where we can
find out what's causing this?
I think she wants you to go on ahead
and for me to follow her this way.
Good plan. I can take care of myself.
Are you implying I can't?
No, Baird is.
Yeah, yeah, right behind you.
This isn't weird at all.
In the original proposed layout town
hall was on this side of Main Street,
- Uh-hmm.
- They moved it.
Why?
I don't know, maybe they
changed their minds?
I don't know.
Okay, so there's a gas lamp
where they were gonna build it.
They moved it to put
a gas lamp there?
That doesn't... it doesn't
make sense to me.
Unless, the gas lamps were there
and they built the town around it.
Yeah, someone built a bunch of gas lamps
in the middle of nowhere
before the town was here.
I think you're reading just a
little bit too much into this.
Files.
What kind of files clink?
No, no, there's...
you wanna tell me what you're
really doing with those gas lamps?
Wardenclyffe Falls.
I thought this was Collins Falls.
Town?
We've already been to town.
That's not good.
If I show you, you have
to promise to help.
I promise you that I
will do the right thing.
Gas lamps were already here
because there was another town here
built by...
Nikola Tesla.
They're possessing people.
They're body snatching.
The lamp posts. It screwed with Victor.
Let's see what it does to you guys.
Wait.
Oh, Mr. Finch,
you scared me.
What are you doing out here?
Is there a problem, sweetheart?
You're not Finch, are you?
Oh. Sorry.
What...
- Hey, guys.
- Hi.
Up for a barricade?
A pack of body snatchers coming in hot?
No, listen, I know what's going on, okay?
There's another town before this
one that was on the same site.
It was called Wardenclyffe Falls.
Oh, okay. Yeah, I'll just
barricade by myself then.
It was built 100 ago, part of an
experimental site created by...
- and you're not gonna believe this...
- Nikola Tesla,
genius inventor, rival of Edison,
and pretty much the reason
why we have electricity
in our homes, also, get
the hell away from her.
She's trying to help us.
Are you?
No, she's not body-snatched.
Body what?
But they definitely are.
Norman, don't.
Norman? I thought your name was Victor.
Well, why don't we start with her
because this photo is dated 1915.
I told you I had family commitments.
This is it.
In 1915, Tesla was doing experiments
in wireless power transmission.
That was Tesla's dream.
Like Wi-Fi only for electricity.
Not just the Internet.
The gas lamps, they're
wireless power transmitters.
Prototypes.
But something went wrong.
We activated the system
and everyone got,
zapped, out of sync.
Out of sync with what?
The universe.
We were stuck in some
inter-dimensional border.
We could see the world,
we were aware of it,
but we couldn't interact with it.
That's what happened to Baird.
How many of you are there?
87 souls.
That sort of flux is inherently unstable,
how has it lasted this long?
Once he realized what had happened,
Tesla modified his
transmitters, the gas lamps.
To create an energy field
that would keep us stable.
Without them we cease to exist.
What about you?
I mean, you're still
in your original body.
I was in the main control room
when it happened, insulated.
Most of the people were
knocked entirely out of phase,
but I was winking in and out.
Tesla was able to anchor me in my body
by turning me into sort of
a grounding wire, I guess.
I've got a question.
- Yeah?
- What's with the body snatching?
It's necessary.
It's possible for us to
interact with the world
through others.
Interface with their nervous
system just enough to...
yeah, I'm not so concerned
with how you do it,
as to whether or not the bodies
you're riding are okay with it.
We only use them for
a couple of hours at a time.
Our energy field just
interferes with their memories.
They just lose a couple of hours
here and there like everyone does.
And what about that skin
you're riding right now?
You've been in there three weeks,
how much time is he losing?
- All right, easy.
- Easy?
I made a good living walking the line
between snatching and
borrowing but this?
These people have gone too far.
It was necessary.
Norman, we need their help.
Do you want to tell us what's going on?
We needed a body that we can hold on
too for a little longer, a stranger.
Someone in town that no one
would notice was missing.
It's the only way that
we could fix things
and we are so, so close to fixing things.
And you have a plan, young lady?
Let me show you.
Please.
Tesla cut a deal with the government,
they could have some of his patents
if they never touched the old facility.
They erased the records,
built over the town,
but they had to leave this dam.
Tesla spent the rest of his life trying
to figure out how to bring us back,
but he was never able to in his lifetime.
No, how could he?
I mean, dimensional reintegration
takes an enormous amount of energy,
particularly for people
who have been in flux
as long as you have.
This is a capacitor.
Tesla built a capacitor
to store the energy.
The turbines are at the dam.
I've been charging it for
the past hundred years.
Wow.
This way.
See there?
The outer casings on
the turbines are shot,
but the mechanisms still work.
A hundred years worth of charge?
That might just do it.
But we need everything to be ready fast.
The capacitor is old. It's failing.
So all of the work you've been
doing is to keep this running?
Yes, Norman's been doing his best,
that's why he needed a longer term body,
but even with that,
we need to activate it
in the next day or two or
it'll break down completely.
The energy gets discharged
and we'll be stuck.
We've been running tests every...
Which have caused atmospheric
disturbances, the lights?
Yeah.
All the UFO sightings,
it's from your apparatus?
I told you, no such thing as UFOs.
This may work.
But there's only so much we can do.
I mean, we're engineers,
but we're not Tesla.
Now that you know, will you help us?
Will you bring an entire
lost town back into the world?
Please.
You said you'd do the right thing.
Please.
I say no.
They're taking over bodies instead of
asking for help. You just don't do that.
They're asking for help now.
Yeah, only because they got caught.
They're people and they're trapped.
Can you imagine being
stuck for a hundred years,
watching the world go by?
Wanting to do things,
wanting to go places.
Look, all of this is
assuming that we can help.
Based on Tesla's plans, I give it
a fifty-fifty shot at working.
And if it doesn't work, then what?
If it doesn't work, the excess energy
gets dispersed through
the gas lamps circuit.
They'll destroy the lamps which is
the only thing keeping them stable.
So if the lamps go, they go.
Yeah. That's if they're
telling the truth.
This isn't a choice.
Right, wrong, true, false,
none of that matters.
Like it or not, it's the only
way to rescue Col. Baird.
I already promised to
do the right thing, so.
Well, they'll need
someone at the controls
to process the math
and adapt on the fly.
At least Col. Baird will owe me one.
To make Tesla's plan work, we need
to get creative.
First we need to rebuild
the relay point up on the roof.
Tesla's blueprints called for
copper wiring, but carbon composites
will handle the voltage better.
The capacitor is falling apart.
So its harmonic resonance
may fluctuate unpredictably,
which means bigger is better.
We need the gas lamps
all cleaned and refurbished.
Spit-shined, fresh from the factory.
We only get one shot at this,
so let's not take chances.
So what's the deal, I mean,
you're in your own body,
why'd you just stick around
for a hundred years?
The gas lamps stabilize me, too.
If I cross the border of the circuit
I'd be as lost as anyone.
So that's why you didn't travel?
Yeah.
What's your excuse?
What do you mean?
I saw that look in your eye.
You looked at my postcards.
You like art, architecture,
to see the Taj Mahal,
the sphinx, the Sistine Chapel.
I can't go, I never could,
You just didn't.
Why?
My great granddad started
an oil riggin' outfit
in the 1800s and it did well.
Pride and joy of my father's life
and then there was a day
when the company started
going under and he was,
well, was in no condition
to run the place.
So...
Sick?
- Was he sick?
- Yeah.
Little bit of that, a lot of the drink.
You...
Stayed to run the family
company, that's a good reason.
It's an excuse.
I mean, every year I spent not leaving,
easier it was to stay.
And none of my folks,
none of my friends,
they never got 50 miles from home.
That's the way they liked it.
You spend time with people who...
Don't do something...
And you start feeling
like you can't do it.
That's how it goes.
And now that you know better?
I know better.
Hmm.
So how was your first kiss with a...
130-year-old woman?
Huh.
Takes a little getting used to.
Oh.
All set here. We're good to go.
Now, if everything works
correctly, Col. Baird
should be the first one restored.
She's not been in flux very long.
So it will not take as much energy
to reintegrate her into this reality.
Okay. Last in, first out, huh?
Oh, yes, without a doubt.
Well, assuming that Miss Cillian
and I have successfully
implemented the theoretical
scribblings of a mad genius
using abandoned equipment that's
been in water for a hundred years.
Good pep talk.
Norman?
We're ready.
Let's do it.
I can feel it.
Whoa. That's a big surge.
Did you do that?
No, I think it's just a...
oh, no.
The capacitor was amplifying
the harmonics exponentially.
What does that mean? Will it still work?
I don't know.
If this doesn't work the energy won't
just blow out the gas lamps.
It's going to blow
everything around it.
For how far?
For miles.
Hundreds of miles.
We need to shut it down.
If it works, will it still blow up?
No. But it's near as I can tell.
We only have a 50/50 shot at it working.
There are 87 people trapped here.
And there are 10 times as
many people living in town,
more in a greater blast area.
We didn't factor this into the risk.
I'll take that risk.
I won't.
No shutting down and no turning back.
I can't go on like this.
We can't go on like this.
We deserve to live.
No!
No, no.
Think, think, think, think, think.
Intertwining, interweaving,
music and melodies,
the key change.
Is it supposed to be making that noise?
What noise?
You guys hearing some kind
of high pitched beat?
Like, eh-ehhhh-eh-eh.
One short, one long, two short.
It's Morse code.
It's all for librarians.
Hey, something's wrong.
Come on.
You heard me.
Well, I did.
- What was that?
- Mosquito tone.
It's a high pitched sound that
only young people can hear.
No offense.
I adjusted the frequencies of the
turbines to send you a message.
Why, what's wrong?
We were.
If this doesn't work,
it's going to blow big.
Like, Tunguska big.
Yeah, but it might not
blow, it might work.
I'm so, so sorry.
I don't think we can take this risk.
If we stop it now, if we pull the plug,
the energy will discharge
safely, guaranteed.
Everyone will be trapped,
including Col. Baird.
I think she'd be the first
one to make that call.
I promised I'd do the right thing.
The relay on the rooftop,
it has an override switch,
we can turn it off from there.
I will endeavor to stabilize the
energy flow with Miss Cillian.
The rest of you, go.
Are you all right?
Yeah. All right.
We can't get through that.
Maybe I can.
I'm stabilized, I'm a grounding wire.
The energy would discharge through me.
With that much juice?
Even a grounding wire can burn out.
You have a better idea?
If I hold on to you, is that
going to ground me, too?
No clue.
All right.
All right.
Yeah.
Guys.
- What?
- What?
Company.
Just take care of it.
Are you okay?
Yeah.
Yeah, are you?
How about we just talk about this?
Or you can just wait there.
Eep!
I can't... I don't think I can walk.
All right.
This wire will help me bleed
off even more of the power.
What's the name of that waiter?
What?
One in the little cafe
off of Pont Neuf,
when we were in Paris?
Okay, short legs, good to know.
You're thinking of Budapest.
No.
Budapest was where
you lost your luggage.
Paris was...
You mean, Paris was the rain.
Baird, you're back,
it's working, it's working.
Remember the view
from the Eiffel Tower?
It was raining...
But the lights made everything glow.
Everything glow, yeah.
Stone, it's working! Oi!
Adieu, monsieur.
Up there.
Au revoir, ma'am.
It was working. It was going to work.
We don't know that.
Col. Baird was trapped for a day,
the rest of them had been
in there for a century.
We just... we just don't
know that it would've
held together long enough to help them.
It will really take
another hundred years
for the capacitor to
power up and try again?
There's no capacitor.
The discharge fried it.
The only thing that still
works are the gas lamps.
Which means they're all still trapped.
There isn't enough
energy for them to even
communicate with us.
It wasn't your fault.
Sometimes you just lose.
You did good, all of you,
but sometimes,
you just lose.
This bites.
Colonel, I thought you might want this.
What is this?
The appointment book.
The library, by its nature,
works on time scales
beyond the normal human lifespan.
If a librarian, for example,
built a new capacitor in a dam
with a few stabilizing design features
and let it charge for a century or so.
They'd want to make a note of it
so future librarians know
there's an appointment to keep.
Chop-chop.
Hey.
We were gonna grab a drink, wanna join?
Uh, not tonight, I got
somewhere I got to be.
Okay.