Utopia Falls (2020–…): Season 1, Episode 10 - If I Ruled the World - full transcript

Aliyah devises a plan to reveal the truth of New Babyl during the Exemplar finals, but Authority Phydra is closing in on her, determined to stop Aliyah at all costs.

You know, it's not bad.

I'm so glad you're here.

How did you get in
without anyone seeing you?

I was laying low
in Industry Sector,

and snuck in when it got dark.

I was so worried about you.

Are you okay?

What's going on?

The Authority just arrested
Mentor Chapter.

They've been making arrests
all over the city.

Chapter said they raided
the factory you were hiding in,



and he thought they might
have gotten you.

No, I managed to escape in time.

Tempo warned me.

Tempo? Yeah.

The Authority got him too.

He sacrificed himself
to save me.

Look, what are we going to do?

We have to go to Chapter's room.

So how come the Authority
didn't find it?

Because I'm betting
they didn't know

what they were looking for,
or where to look.

Okay.

So we have the power to leave.

But not yet.



First, we have
a revolution to plan.

Are you sure she's coming?

Yes. I swear,

if this is just a ploy
for her to get first crack

at the breakfast fritters...
Aliyah.

Hey. Sorry we're late.

We?

Bohdi!

Sib!

You're crazy for being here.

If Mentor Watts catches you.

Nah, he's at the Exemplar stage.

He's making final arrangements
for tonight's performance.

Well, you're still crazy.

So you're all on board?

Do you even need to ask?

I'm asking cause it's not just
the Authority and the Tribunal

that we're going up against.

There are even bigger threats
to us out there.

I'm having a hard time
imagining anything bigger

than Authority Phydra.

Phydra may be dangerous,

but she still has to answer
to the Tribunal.

We're confident we arrested
the ringleaders in our sweep.

There are a few fugitives
on the run,

but they're of small
consequence.

Well done.

Catastrophe has been averted.

No thanks to you.

Pardon me?

You pressured me to release
Magnus 2 to placate Reform,

and then released the rioters

to appease those protesting
their incarceration.

Small gestures,
which have quelled the unrest.

Under your watch,
the Exemplar has become a stage

for open rebellion.

Citizens are defying
the First Law,

venturing beyond the city limits

to access forbidden knowledge
of the past.

Are you done?

Almost.

Your response to these troubling
developments has been weak.

You've proven yourself
an ineffective leader.

And New Carthage agrees.

You can't be serious.

Do I strike you
as the type of person

who would enjoy a good joke?

Please, take the chancellor
into custody.

Can I have everyone's attention?

Aliyah. Brooklyn.
I'd like a word.

Everyone else, please leave.

While I was initially displeased

with your performances sit.

I've come to respect
their mass appeal.

We even went so far
as to offer a compromise

to allow you to express
yourselves as you see fit,

provided you respected
tradition.

Now, there is a difference

between creative freedom
and actively inciting rebellion.

The Authority,
they'll allow the former.

But they'll respond very badly
to the latter.

What do you mean "badly"?

I mean exactly
what you think I mean.

I don't want to see
either of you hurt.

So, please, no more surprises.

Make sure Magnus
gets this message.

Come on, you can do
better than that.

Took you long enough.

I've been cleaning out
the tanks for over an hour.

And not doing
a very good job of it.

Why are we here?

Because I needed to talk to you,

and my friend
offered this place up

as one of the only
safe places left...

that we know of, anyway.
You could have picked a spot

that didn't need any help
with chores.

I heard you gave Phydra the slip

just as she was moving in
on you.

Yeah.

She got one of my friends,
though.

Yeah.

A lot of people got taken
across all four sectors.

Phydra's unleashed.

We're looking
at dark days ahead.

Then let's do
something about it.

‐ Like what?

Start a revolution. ‐.

What are you talking about?

Huh?

It's over. The Rising is done.

Their members
have been arrested,

and the ones
who weren't arrested

are in no position
to do anything.

But we are. We?

Yeah. We.

Reform Sector.

Bohdi...

Stop letting your anger
cloud your judgment.

The revolution was over before
it even got started, all right?

You know, I never figured you
as the type to give up.

What?

Yeah, you heard me.

Wait, are you shaming me
into helping you?

Is that it? Come on, kin.

What have you got to lose?
My freedom.

None of us have that.
We never did.

Well, close enough.
So you telling me

you're just going
to keep hiding?

Stay on the run and hope
that eventually the Authority

doesn't catch up to you?

Is that the kind of life

you're going to settle for?

But we got the means
to make it real.

A plan, and a shot
at changing everything.

But we need you and your
resources to pull it off.

You tell me that plan.

And if I'm still standing here
five minutes from now,

I'll think about it.

How are we going to get it done?

With our secret weapon.

The Exemplar.

The warning I let you off
with the last time you were here

evidently wasn't enough.

Tempo, Tempo.

What am I going to do with you?

Why don't you check
with my parents.

Your parents?

That's why you let me go
after I confessed

I burned down the Archive.

And why I'm here,
getting special treatment,

while all those other prisoners
are locked up what,

10, 15 to a cell?

You know, growing up, I always
just thought I was lucky.

How the breaks
always fell my way.

But I eventually
put the pieces together.

My parents may have given me up
when I was a baby,

but they've always been
a part of my life,

pulling the strings to make sure
things always worked out for me.

You're going to let me go again,
aren't you?

I am.

Another favor for my parents.

No.

Another favor to you.

Why do you care?

Because, Tempo,

I won't let my son
throw his life away.

Welcome back.

Thanks so much for this.

Of course, child.

Make yourselves at home.

Let's get them some lunch.

So, you're helping us?

Bohdi here has filled me in
on your plan.

And?

And I've revised your odds
of pulling this off

to hopeless to almost
impossible.

Look, once the truth gets out,
it'll spread. No stopping it.

We just need to get
the message out,

and there's no better stage
than the Exemplar.

Tonight's the night.

Have you guys
thought this through?

Say you pull this off
and you do come out on top.

Then what?
You think New Carthage

is just going to send you
a congratulations?

We're not ready for war.

We have friends out there
who can help us. New Lazarus.

I'm saying if you think things
are bad now,

it's only going to get
a lot worse.

Tell the people
the truth and let them decide.

You're assuming
they'll believe you.

They'll believe their eyes
once the Shield is down.

They'll see
the truth for themselves.

A whole other world

the Tribunal's been keeping
from them.

Okay, wait, two days ago
this plan would've been perfect.

In order to shut down
the Shield,

you need access
to the power core,

and that's deep in the heart
of Tribunal Headquarters.

Reia's locked up.

She's not helping us.

No.

But I know someone who can.

I'm sure this is a lot
to process.

Why'd you give me up?

Honestly?

Because I knew I wouldn't
be able to give you

the time or love
that you deserved.

So you were focused
on your career

and thought a kid
would hold you back.

I may have given you up,
but I never gave up on you.

I made sure you were
well taken care of

and were offered every
opportunity to succeed.

You pulled strings.
When I had to.

I wanted to make sure that my
son would never have to suffer

the way I did growing up.

And what was that like?

Lonely.

I ended up in Reform Sector
as a child

because of the mistakes
my parents made.

You can't imagine what it was
like for a 10‐year‐old

to go from having everything
to having nothing.

That builds resentment.

Well, you're a long way
from there now.

I got to where I am
by making hard decisions.

But, Tempo,
the hardest of them all

was leaving you in crèche care.

And my father?

He abandoned us
when he found out

that I was pregnant with you.

But went on to great success
in his own right.

Is he still alive? I don't know.

I had him ghosted
eight years ago.

But that's all in the past.

We should be talking
about your future.

I really appreciate
all that you've done for me...

but I don't need it,
not anymore.

I just

I just want to be allowed
to build my own future,

just like you did.

Of course.

You'll have a fresh start.

A whole new world
of opportunities.

What does that mean?

You're going to transfer me
to another Sector?

Of course not.

I'm sending you to another city.

Sweetheart.

I've been so worried about you.

I'm okay.

What's that?

It's a personal
recording device.

Aren't those forbidden?

I think you're the last person

that should be lecturing me
about that.

I found it in your mother's
belongings after she passed,

and I couldn't bear
to part with it.

Here, sit.

She's singing to you
when you were just a baby.

You know, like you,

your mother didn't always
obey the rules.

But she was careful.

I want you to be honest
with me about her.

I know she's alive.

No more lies to protect me.

I want the truth
about what happened to her.

Okay.

Your mother was a fiercely
independent woman.

She was constantly
testing the bounds.

One day, she told me
that she'd discovered

what she called
a vault of history

while on one of her excursions
beyond the city limits.

She described technologies that
would be banned in New Babyl,

discoveries that might even
predate the Great Flash.

She said that she'd found proof
of two cities beyond the wall.

She became obsessed.

I tried to protect her.

I told her that she was
being ridiculous.

You lied to her?

I was afraid telling her
the truth

would make her
even more curious,

and likely to put us all
in danger.

But I couldn't temper
her curiosity.

She wanted to investigate.

We argued.

And then I found out she'd been
bringing you to that place.

You're overreacting.
What do you want...?

I reacted badly.

It's not safe to bring
your daughter there.

Our four‐year‐old daughter!

She wanted to leave,

test the Shield,
find out what was beyond.

You go back to that place,
I will report you.

What else can I do?

I threatened her.

Told her I would report her
to the Authority

if she didn't stop going.

The next day there was a fire,
at her lab.

No body was recovered.

And the Authority
officially declared her dead,

but I knew what really happened.

She staged her death
to protect us.

You told me she got sick.

What was I supposed
to tell a four‐year‐old?

That her mother burned to death?

Or that she abandoned her?

The point is,
she never came back for you.

She never tried to reach out.

She has. In her own way.

Our performances were inspired
by what we found at the Archive.

That's what me and my friends
have been calling it.

And we found it because
Mom lead us right to it.

Why would she do that?

Because she was
giving me the tools

to make things better
for everyone in New Babyl.

But to do that, Dad,
I'm going to need your help.

You know,
with everything going on,

I almost forgot how beautiful
my home sector was.

No offense to Industry.

Oh, Industry's not all that.

You know, when this is over,

you could move here.

I mean, if this works,

you'll be able to live
wherever you want.

No one will be able to tell you
what to do.

And if it doesn't work?

Then what?

Everything you just said,
I can have.

I just have to sing my heart out

and win the competition.

Okay, and what about
everyone else?

You know, you're not
the only one

who will be risking everything.

We're all putting our futures
on the line.

I know.

Look, I know that this
is hard for you, okay?

But back when Bohdi
was in Authority custody,

you convinced me
to take a stand.

You asked me to trust you.

So now I'm asking you
to trust me.

Gerald, what brings you by?

Gerald?

It's Aliyah.

She's planning something.

Again. Come on.

What is the meaning of this?

Aliyah 5. Where is she?

I haven't seen her
since this morning.

‐ ‐

‐ You.

Where's Aliyah 5?

I don't know.

Don't lie to me, girl.

Where's she hiding?

I said I don't know.

Hey!

Leave her alone.

She said she doesn't know.

Search this place.
She's here somewhere.

You know,
I was born in Nature sector.

But all I can remember
is Reform.

It's beautiful out here.

Yeah, it is.

You thinking about your father.

He said he'd do it,
but he seemed so worried.

I just need everything
to go as planned.

Hey, your father is the only one

who can get into
Tribunal Headquarters

and take down the Shield.

If you don't think
he'll go through with it,

we've got to come up
with another plan.

No. He'll do it.

I know he won't let us down.

This is meant to be.

I don't want to go.

I don't want to leave New Babyl
and everyone and everything

for this new city
you're talking about.

Hm. Well, you're in luck.

Given some recent events,

there is now an option
that would allow you to stay.

What is it?

The Exemplar.

One of the candidates
has dropped out,

and we need to replace her.

Who?

Your friend, Aliyah 5.

The timing couldn't be
more perfect.

What happened?

I made it clear to the finalists

that I would allow no further
rebellious displays.

Apparently, Aliyah was planning
to defy me.

How do you know she?

Her father reported her.

He did it for her own good.

The punishment would have been
much more severe

had she actually
gone through with it.

Where is she?
So, what do you say, Tempo?

What'll it be?

New Carthage or the Exemplar?

It isn't right.
A Progress candidate

has represented their Sector
in the finals

for 12 years running.

You will ensure
the streak continues.

Where is she?

On the run.

Probably with Bohdi.

I know how close
you and Aliyah were growing up,

and where things were headed...

until he came along.

And now you're sitting here
in custody

while your former girlfriend
is somewhere out there

with the boy who stole her
from you.

Okay.

I'll do it.

How many were you able to get?

Enough for everyone.

I hope this works.

Relax.

I got my best people
working on it.

They're rewiring all
the speakers across the city.

When it's time,

New Babyl will hear the message
we want them to hear.

Now I can guarantee things
on my end.

But I can't speak
for others, though.

My father won't let us down.

I'm just saying,
that's a pretty big ask.

Not any bigger than turning in
his own daughter.

If he was willing
to do that for me,

then shutting down the Shield
won't be a problem.

You got your father
to turn you in?

I'm actually more free
on the run

than I would have been
on stage at the Exemplar.

Plus, we need Phydra
to think she can trust him.

And he's okay with it?

No, but he did it
because he cares about me.

Reminds me of my father.

He turned me in for taking
bramble fruit from the market.

I miss him.

He's no longer with you?

No. I'm so sorry.

Yeah, he moved out last week.
Got his own place.

You know, it's just so quiet
without him around.

You sure you want to do this?

Yeah.

All right.

Good luck.

Yeah, you too, Sib.

You still here?

You're not going
to watch the finals?

Yeah, I'm not sure
I can bring myself to watch.

Don't worry.

She'll turn up.

And when she does,
we'll make sure she gets

all the help she needs.

Thank you, Phydra.

Get some rest.

Good night.

Good night.

With all the Authority

focused on the Exemplar stage,

you should be able to achieve
what you need.

There's some
youngsters to see you.

We're here to help.

Who are you?

Vice Cartel.

How do you know?

Because I am too.

The original.

You're Vice Cartel?

The one that started it all.

Yeah.
Why didn't you ever tell us?

Honestly, because you guys
are good at singing and dancing,

but, uh, not so much art.

And I needed talent.

‐ Ouch.

All right.

Showtime.

Hello, my people.

It all come down to this.

Tonight, our finalists face off
for your votes,

and the right to be called
Exemplar champion.

Yeah!

This year's competition

has been full of surprises.

So why should these finals
be any different?

Unfortunately, candidate
Aliyah 5 has fallen ill.

Yes, yes.

As a result, candidate Tempo 3

has stepped in to represent
Progress Sector.

Brooklyn, Magnus, Tempo.

This is it.

Now I'll admit I'm not quick
to offer praise,

but it has been a pleasure

guiding you to this point
of the competition.

You're all incredibly
gifted performers,

and the potential for victory
lies within each one of you.

Good luck.

Tempo, you're up.

Let's get these finals underway

with our first candidate,

from Progress Sector.

Tempo 3.

And now it's time
for our next performance.

Representing Industry Sector,
Brooklyn 2.

When I was first chosen
as an Exemplar candidate,

I had no doubt that I would be
on this stage tonight

performing for all of you.

But all of that changed

when I found out
that I was dissonant.

I was scared, depressed,

and I started to doubt myself
because, all of sudden,

I wasn't who I thought I was.

But the truth that I eventually
discovered

is that being dissonant
does not make a difference.

Just like it shouldn't matter
where you're from.

Progress. Industry.

Nature. Or Reform.

We are all citizens
of New Babyl.

And the Exemplar
celebrates that,

which is why we're on this stage

performing for you together.

Aw!

No matter what others tell you
or what labels they give you,

you are in charge
of your future!

Come on.

Time to go.

Okay.

Wait, wait, wait.

What did you do?

You're not the only one
that can bring the house down.

Citizens of New Babyl.

Remain in your sectors.

Reform Sector!

It's Bohdi.

They don't want you
to know the truth.

But it's too late
for them to stop us.

Apollo, drop the track.

Hey, Keith!

Keith, I haven't seen you
in so long, man.

Come on, bring it in, Keith.

Y'all met Keith?
You seen Keith here before?

Hey.

Bye‐bye, Keith.

Right now,
everyone in all four sectors,

leave your homes,
leave the squares,

and get outside.

Look to the sky
and watch the lies crumble

as the Shield comes down.

Sage, tell us when it drops.

Sage?

What's going on?

The shield, it's not dropping.

Why isn't it dropping?

Oh, Gerald.

I don't understand.

Party's about to be crashed.

Bohdi 2,
Aliyah 5, stay where you are!

Something must have happened
to my father.

Aliyah, we got to go.

Exit south. Lights out.

We should stay together.

No, we have to stick
to the plan.

Okay.

Look, I'll see you soon,
Tribunal Girl, okay?

See you soon.

Okay, go. Go.

Bohdi 2.

Brooklyn?

Brooklyn, are you here?

Hey.

Welcome to industry.

You were right.
Nature is a lot nicer.

Sorry.

I, um...

I heard what you said up there.

Everyone did.

They can't stop you from
AUTHORITY GUARD: Hey.

Brooklyn 2.

Stay right there.

You're under arrest.

‐ ‐

We have to get out of the city.

No, it's too late.

They already blocked off
all the exits.

We have to go back to my gran's.
Let's go.

No, no, no. That's too far,

and there's too many guards
to get through.

So where do we go?

‐ ‐

Where's Aliyah? I don't know.

Aliyah?

Aliyah, are you there?

Aliyah.

Where are you going?

Back for her.

You can't.

They've got guards
stationed everywhere.

No one's getting in or out.

Maybe she slipped out
some other way.

She knows where to meet us.

Sib, you can't risk going back.

Over there.

They went this way!

Where are you going?

I've got to get out of here.
The Shield didn't drop.

We failed.
I have to find the others.

The Authority already
cordoned off all exit points.

You try to get out,
you'll only get caught.

For now, the safest place
for you is here.

Aliyah 5!

Freeze!

Don't move!

You're surrounded.

This song goes out
to all of you in the New Rising.

You're not alone out there.

You want to give her more time?

No.

She should've been here by now.

She's not coming.

We'll get help
and come back for her.

For all of them.

That disruptor you're holding
emits a tracer

that's been pinging your
location for the past few hours.

Where are Chapter and Aliyah?

Who are you?

My name is Anna.

I'm Aliyah's mother.