Zoo (2015–2017): Season 1, Episode 7 - Sleuths - full transcript

ABRAHAM: For centuries, mankind
has been the dominant species.

We've domesticated animals,
locked them up, killed them for sport.

But a series of recent events
seem to suggest

all across the globe
animals have decided "no more."

And so we were hired,

a team of people
from different backgrounds,

with different specialties.

An expert in animal behavior,

a journalist,

safari guide,

foreign intelligence agent,



and a veterinary pathologist.

Our task: To find out
what is happening with the animals,

why it's happening, and how to stop it.

NARRATOR:
Previously on Zoo:

The Mother Cell is in every single
product Reiden makes.

It's everywhere.

It's all over the world
and it can't be stopped.

- Where's your husband?
- Oh, my husband is back in Paris.

Although he never became
my husband.

I learned he was having
an affair with my sister.

You're talking about your daughter.

Her name is Clementine,
she's 10 years old,

she was diagnosed three years ago.

Why aren't you with her?



I've waited too long.

Uh, Jackson, hey.
Now's not really a good time.

Jamie, listen to me.
Ben killed the optometrist.

He isn't FBI.

I don't wanna hurt you.

Just give me the Mother Cell.

[GRUNTING]

Okay. That happened.

[GROWLING]

[GROWLING CONTINUES]

[SNARLING]

What is that?

The bears.

[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]

Oh, wait, I'm sorry. I...

No, no, no. I'm just...

- Hey, uh, I wasn't ready.
- We're good.

I have everything I need.

I should just turn myself in.

I know. You said that.

Just drink the iced tea.
It will make you feel better.

JAMIE:
Look, seriously, I...

I shot a man, an FBI agent.

I can't just walk away from that.

No, a man claiming
to be an FBI agent tried to kill you

and you defended yourself.

Quite capably, as Jackson says.

But we can't prove that.

So let's do something about it.

Let's prove that not-really-FBI-Agent
Ben Shafer was working for Reiden.

- Instead of...
ABRAHAM: We will.

- We will?
ABRAHAM: Yes.

- How?
- That I don't know yet.

But we'll figure something out.

Right now we worry
about keeping you safe, okay?

Forty-eight hours?

You said you could do it in two.

I did, and I can.

But only for repeat clientele.

Consider us old friends
and make it an hour.

I need a name.

For the passport.

Um...

Armstrong. Nancy Armstrong.

What are you thinking?

It's attractive, that's for sure.

I'm also thinking there's no way
we can take this to the government.

Not yet.

Let's assume for a second

that everything
that the chemist said was true.

That molecules
from this Mother Cell are in

every single one
of Reiden's products.

We still need proof

that this is what's causing
the aberrant behavior in the animals.

We need, uh...

I don't want to say a smoking gun,
that's way too dramatic,

but a bloody knife?

If we had a bloody knife, then perhaps
we could build a proper case.

We're going to Paris.

Not that I don't love that sentence,
but why? What's in Paris?

A pack of four Eurasian brown bears
were being studied

for migration and feeding habits.

Two days ago,
their trackers went offline.

The bio-lab assumed it was
just interference with the satellite.

Then, yesterday,
one of the bears showed up

in an apartment
in the 16th arrondissement

and nearly killed
the woman who lived there.

That bear is now apparently deep
in hibernation in a research facility.

Um, hibernating?

- In the middle of summer?
- Yes.

And the rest of the pack
are still missing.

MITCH: Sleuth.
- Pardon?

- A pack of bears is called a sleuth.
- Whatever. There...

- There's your bloody knife.
- Yeah, well,

if there's evidence of this Mother Cell
in that bear's bloodstream, then,

that would do it.

Perfect. When do we leave?

CHLOE: Jamie's passport
will be ready in an hour.

We'll have just enough time
to make our flight.

Where are you going?

Drugstore.

If we're getting on a red-eye to Paris,
I need some melatonin.

MAN:
Yes, I understand.

Will he know who you are?

Okay, no, no, no.
I'm getting him now.

You've forgotten how to knock?

Have you heard of something
called the Mother Cell?

- The Mother Cell? What's that?
- I don't know.

But someone wants to talk to you.
He says that he has the Mother Cell

and he's willing to give it back,
but he needs something in return.

Transfer it.

[PHONE RINGS]

[WHISPERS]
Go.

[PHONE BEEPS]

[IN NORMAL VOICE]
Hello?

Hello.

Uh, you don't know me,

but you're gonna want to listen
very carefully to what I have to say.

Ripped By mstoll

How do we tell if he's been infected
by the Mother Cell?

Grab me that tray of test tubes
over there, will you?

I'm gonna take a blood panel

and hope
that some foreign elements show up.

If they do,

I'll compare their chemical structure
with the Mother Cell.

And if they match,

we've got our answer.

So, basically,
you're looking for a fingerprint,

- chemically speaking.
MITCH: Look at you.

Getting all science-y.

Ten drops each,
in each of those test tubes.

And as a backup,
we'll take a DNA sample.

Takes a little longer,

but might as well
while we're here, right?

Would you mind taking a swab
from our friend's mouth there?

[BEAR SNORING]

Sure.

[MONITOR BEEPING]

- He's waking up.
- Oh, that's okay.

- Says you.
- No, really. It's fine...

Even in hibernation,

a bear's heart rate increases
when a predator approaches.

It's nature's little warning signal.

Apparently, you're quite predatory.

Okay.

This good?

That's perfect. Put that in one
of those little baggies over there.

- Huh.
- "Huh," what?

His eye is normal.

Come take a look.

No defiant pupil.

That doesn't make any sense.

If he was exposed to the Mother Cell,

- his pupil should be...
- All big and scary.

Yeah. It should be.

WOMAN [IN FRENCH]:

MAN 1 [IN FRENCH]:

WOMAN:

MAN 1:

I think you're wrong.

You understand
what they've been saying?

- Enough of it.
MAN 2 [IN ENGLISH]: And you are?

[IN FRENCH]

MAN 2:
And, uh, what are you thinking?

Why is he wrong?

Look,
these aren't necessarily normal bears.

Exactly what kind of bears are they?

What do you mean,
they aren't normal?

JACKSON:
I don't know for sure.

But, uh, look, they won't necessarily
be acting like you'd expect them to.

And like she said,
bears of a sleuth stick together.

So if one entered the city,
most likely the others will too.

Perhaps they are traveling
underground?

The sewers, tunnels, the catacombs?

And that's why
they haven't been spotted.

From what we've already seen,

these bears,
they're unfazed by people.

So if they want food
before they hibernate,

they're gonna feed
on whatever's available.

There are more
than 300 miles of sewers

and tunnels that run under Paris.

I suppose we'd better get searching.

That was perfect.

You motivated them, maybe got them
looking in the right direction.

Chloe.

[BOTH SPEAKING IN FRENCH]

Uh, Jean-Michel Lion, Jackson Oz.

- Hey.
- Hello.

Jean-Michel is a civil engineer.

I did not know you were back.

Your sister said you left town.

I'm just here for a few days.

And why are the Americans interested

in a pack of missing French bears?

- I'm sorry, I can't tell you.
- Ah.

Secret affairs I understand,
but, uh, heh, bears?

If I could tell you, I would. But I can't.

Okay.

If I get any leads on where they
may be, I'll call you straightaway.

Thank you.

[IN FRENCH]

[IN FRENCH]

So that's him, huh? The ex-fianc?.

[IN ENGLISH]
That's him.

So there's two beds
in the guest bedroom.

And the sofa opens up
into a bed as well.

The most important question is:
Where is the wine?

I hear you French
are very famous for it.

In the kitchen. Help yourself.

So I... No defiant pupil?
What does that mean?

I don't know yet.

But it doesn't necessarily mean

that the bear wasn't affected
by the Mother Cell.

Blood labs should be back
in a couple of hours.

But why else would a bear be
hibernating in the middle of summer?

There are two types
of hibernation, okay?

One is what we normally think of:

Yogi Bear goes
into a deep suspended animation

to survive a winter
of scarce resources.

The other is when an animal
falls temporarily dormant,

so that resources
can be biologically redirected.

What does that mean, "redirected"?

Like a caterpillar
turning into a butterfly,

or when little kids sleep so deeply
when they're growing.

So you mean you think
that the bear's changing?

I think it's possible.

The question is,

into what?

[CELL PHONE CHIMES]

- Hey.
JACKSON: Hey.

Dinner's almost ready.

- Cool.
- And we should, uh, probably

talk about Mitch's new theory
about the bears.

Yes. Delavane wants to see me.

I'll be back as soon as I can.

Jamie, vino?

Thank you.

But it's "Nancy."
I should get used to saying it.

As far as names go, it's not so bad.

It was my mother's.

"Armstrong" was her maiden name.

Abdullah Balogun.

Sorry?

I had another name once too.

When I was 13 years old,

my parents were killed in a raid.

Me and my little brothers
were taken in by the rebels.

The United Republic Army.

Malik and Kalim.

The rebels fed us

and gave us shelter.

But then a few days later,
I was made to undertake a...

...initiation.

[MEN YELLING]

It was their way of breaking me.

Forcing me to...

...prove my loyalty to them.

They gave me a gun.

[MAN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

And a single bullet.

And told me...

...that I must choose...

...which of my two brothers
I should kill.

And I was told...

...that if I did not shoot one of them,

then they would both be killed.

I looked into the eyes
of my baby brothers.

So sweet, so gentle.

And I knew from that moment
that they were both condemned.

You see, one of them would die,

but the other,

like me,

would be turned into an animal.

[INHALES SHARPLY]

So I made the only decision I could.

I chose neither.

And I sent them both to a better place.

[GUNSHOTS]

Five years later,

I escaped from the army
and changed my name to Abraham.

And I went somewhere
they would never find me.

And even though I knew I did
the right thing for my brothers,

I've been spending my whole life
trying to make up for my choice

by protecting the people I care about.

My new family.

And now you are part
of that family too.

Miss Nancy Armstrong.

DELAVANE:
Killed him?

An FBI agent.

A dirty FBI agent. At best.

So you've just said. Who?

Who killed him?

I can't tell you.

A member of my team.

The good news is,
I've been tracking channels,

and there hasn't been any chatter.

None. It's almost as if they haven't
discovered his body yet.

But they will.

And whether he was a real FBI agent
on the take for Reiden

or posing as an FBI agent,
either case,

this is now a federal matter,

which means they won't stop
until they find out who killed him.

Which means, eventually,
they will find us.

And everything we are doing
will become public,

which will make it impossible
to do our job.

So, what are you saying?

You want me to turn them in?

I'm saying, Agent Tousignant,

that you may not have asked for it,

but nothing is more important
than the task you have been given.

To figure out what is happening
to the animals and how to stop it.

I am doing that.

As much as you may have come
to like them

and want to protect them,

none of the people on your team

are more important than your ability
to complete that task.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

Yes, sir.

How do we get past
the facial recognition?

No problem at all.

All we need is an employee
with top-level access.

Right, because why would
that be a problem?

CHLOE:
Hey.

How is it going?

Abe had an idea, a good one.

- About the bears?
- No. About Jamie.

She can't spend
the rest of her life running.

We have to get her out of it

by proving that Ben Shafer
was on Reiden's payroll.

Okay.

Reiden has an office here in Paris.

We're breaking in.

JACKSON: So the Paris Reiden office
only handles European contracts,

but their computer network is linked
to the central system back in Boston,

which means,
if we can hack into their system,

we can prove
that Ben Shafer was on their payroll.

And how are we gonna do that?

What, the hacking-into-the-system part
or the proving-it part?

CHLOE:
Both.

Here.

It makes more sense
if you drink this.

Okay. Uh, second part first.

I've done investigations
like this for stories I've written.

Corporations keep track
of every penny of their finances,

so if there's a payoff to Ben Shafer,

it'll be in their accounting records.

We just access the finances
and follow the paper trail.

Presuming that he used his real name.

Agreed.
It's not necessarily going to be easy,

but there's always something.

Uh, money that moves
from one account to another.

- Numbers that don't add up.
- A pattern.

That's your specialty, right?

Recognizing patterns.

Okay, you say

once we access their finances.

- How are we gonna do that?
JACKSON: That's the cool part.

See, as far as we can tell,

all top-level Reiden executives have
access to their computer network.

But the system doesn't use passwords.

It uses facial recognition.

So we just need to locate
an executive with access

and then trick their system
into thinking

they're signing into their account.

ABRAHAM:
And that's where you come in.

This is going to be a team effort.

Even Mitch.

We're presuming there are thousands
of documents to comb through,

so we're going to copy the records

onto a computer
with enough storage space.

The one in the animal lab.

And what's my role?

You get to have some fun.

- Thank you.
WOMAN: You're welcome.

[MAN SPEAKING IN FRENCH
OVER PA]

Hey, how's it going?

Almost there.

Six, seven, nine, seven,

dot, six, three, zero, dot, six, four.

Six, three, zero, dot, six, four.

Okay, got it.

- Good luck.
- Thanks.

[CELL PHONE RINGS]

Hey.

JAMIE:
Six o'clock, blue suit, dark hair.

He's Antoine Bellrose,
senior VP, financial strategy.

Got it. Bellrose, VP, finance.

Good luck.

- Why's she stopping?
- I don't know.

What's wrong?

The security guard over there,
I know him. He's ex-DGSE.

I can't do this.

He's gonna recognize me.

We have to get out of here.

We need to come up
with another plan.

No. I got this, give me your phone.

But Abe's right,
you got to get out of here.

[SPEAKS IN FRENCH]

Uh, Monsieur Bellrose?

[SPEAKS IN FRENCH]

Do you speak English?

- Yes.
JACKSON: Fantastic.

My name is Scott Polson.

Uh, I'm with the Msisimko Safari Camp
back in Africa.

Have you been to Africa, Mr. Bellrose?

BELLROSE: Africa?
- Heh. No, I didn't think so.

Neither did the Finance Department
in the States,

which is why they nominated you
for the trip.

What trip?

I knew that you didn't get our letters.
That's probably why you didn't respond.

For the work you've done,

you've been nominated
for a trip to Africa, all expenses paid.

You are joking, yes?

I mean, this is some sort of prank?

No, no joke, no prank.
Apparently,

you earned the company
a fair amount of money last year.

Yes, uh, I did.

Let me get my calendar out here.

We have open dates
in August and October.

- A little to the left.
- Though, um,

I would suggest the fall.
It's a much better time of year.

- Yes.
- So how does that work for you?

Sure.

[BEEPING]

All right, well, August it is. That's it.

Get your bags packed
and we'll be in touch, Mr. Bellrose.

- Thank you.
- No, no, don't thank us.

Thank your colleagues
back in the States.

Come on, come on, come on.

[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

Mademoiselle?

Oh, thank you.

Well, damn.

They actually pulled it off.

Dr. Morgan. Your blood labs are back.

- DNA profile too.
- Thank you.

Something is wrong?

No.

I was hoping there would be something
abnormal in the bear's blood work.

It turns out there is.

That's good news, yes?

Yeah, that's good news.

This DNA, however,
makes zero sense.

That's abnormal too?

It looks like it's changing.

[BEAR GRUNTS]

[MONITOR BEEPING]

- I think he's waking up.
- Yeah.

Cannot be good.

Hand me some
of that sedative over there.

[BEAR SNORING]

What the hell?

WOMAN:
What?

Bent the needle.

Can you...?

Feel this.

Feels like armor.

I don't understand.
How is that possible?

I don't have a clue.

[BEAR GROWLS]

[MONITOR BEEPING RAPIDLY]

[GROWLING]

- Okay, don't move.
WOMAN: Aah!

Aah!

Dr. Morgan, no!

Dr. Morgan.

Dr. Morgan, are you all right?

Uh, yeah.

JACKSON [OVER PHONE]:
You injected it with what?

A microchip, with an RFID tracker.

What? Why do you have
a microchip with an RFID tracker?

MITCH: In case anyone had any plans
to release it back into the wild.

How about this?

Don't ask questions, just be grateful.

Okay, where is he now?

MITCH:
Same as five minutes ago.

He's running through the woods,
alongside the highway.

It looks like
he's headed towards the, uh,

- "Meudon" Forest.
- The Meudon Forest?

Yeah, that's what I said.

The Meudon Forest is south,

but according to the people
from the bio-lab,

that bear lived west,
in les Hauts-de-Seine.

JACKSON:
So if he's not headed home,

he's headed towards the other bears.

Listen, you know how we talked
about the bears changing?

Well, I think they've developed
some kind of endoskeleton.

- What do you mean?
- A hard shell,

like a hard shell underneath its skin.

Wait a minute, a shell?

You got to be kidding me.

Sadly, no.

Okay, so the wildlife services
and the police are waiting for us

on the other side of the Meudon.

What are you doing here?
Told you I was fine.

Well, I came to make sure
you were as fine as you said you were.

- Well, you missed quite a party.
JAMIE: Yeah, I can see that.

Hey, that's a nice little scratch.

- I know, it's hot, right?
JACKSON: Okay.

We're at the forest, Mitch,
northwest corner. Where's the bear?

In the woods.

Due west of you.

Looks like about...

...500 yards in.

It looks like Park Services
are already there.

[GUNSHOTS]

[MAN YELLING]

So is one of you going to tell me
what is going on here?

What do you mean?

That bear has some kind
of super thick skin.

Huh? It took three tranquilizer darts
to bring it down.

Is this some kind of next-gen weapon

that your agency
is experimenting with?

No.

No!

Still no leads on the other three bears?

No, but Park Service
is going to cordon off

the woods and do a grid search.

If they are here, we'll find them.

Okay, we'll help you look.

Sure.

What is it?

Where's your friend, Jackson?

JACKSON:
Over here!

ABRAHAM:
Jackson.

Ice-cold.

He's been dead
for at least a few days.

What is this place?

It's Fort de Ch?tillon.

It was built in the 1870s,
from the Prussian War.

They tore most of it down
40 years ago.

What is it, rafiki?

Bear scat.

Multiple tracks.

Must be three of them.

[IN FRENCH]

Delightful.

JACKSON:
Abe, look at this.

Does that hole look big enough
for a bear to get in?

[IN FRENCH]

CHLOE:
Huh?

CHLOE:

[IN ENGLISH]
Guys, I mapped this place for the city.

It's a maze in there, you'll get lost.

- Do you have a gun for me?
CHLOE: No.

[GROWLING]

[ABRAHAM HUMMING]

Really?

What?

It comforts me.

[SNARLING]

What is that?

The bears.

They're snoring.

Oh, my God.

[SNORING]

There's no signal.

I can't call this in.

There's only two of them.

Where's the third?

Come on.

[WHISPERING]
Okay, guys. That's three.

Can we go now
and alert Wildlife Services?

Let's go.

When we were living together,

I was always the one
who killed the spiders.

What is it?

This is where the bears were sleeping.

Are you certain?

I remember the debris right there
in that corner.

Okay.

Let's get out of here. Come on.

[GROWLING]

Stand your ground.

All right? Don't...

Don't run,
but don't let it think you're a threat.

- No!
- The other bears.

We gotta stop him.

Aah!

[CHLOE SPEAKS IN FRENCH]

[COCKS GUN]

- You okay?
- Yes.

JACKSON:
Hey! Hey, bear!

Look right over here!

Come get me!

So my friend can shoot you
in the back!

Huh? Come on over here!

Hey, Mr. Bear!

Right over here! That's right.

Right over here!

Nicely done.

Anytime.

[INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER]

[CHLOE SPEAKS IN FRENCH]

[IN FRENCH]

[IN FRENCH]

[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

This is the DNA profile
of our bear from the lab.

And this is the same bear's DNA...

...six years ago,
when he was first tagged.

- It changed.
MITCH: Mm-hm.

Because of the Mother Cell.

- Uh, yes and no.
- What does that mean?

MITCH:
Okay, think of it this way.

None of the Earth's creatures
are born perfect.

Right? We all have genetic anomalies.

Be it a birthmark,
double-jointed wrists, webbed toes.

But the anomalies
that become the norm

are the ones that are adaptive.

That are more useful to survival,
like opposable thumbs.

What does it have to do with animals?

The traits we've seen.

The bear's endoskeleton,

the bats flying abnormally high,

lions seemingly communicating
over long distances...

They all make their species
more capable of survival.

- Stronger, better.
- And what I think...

Just like our ancestors
developed opposable thumbs,

I think the Mother Cell is just
accelerating these mutations

in the animal kingdom
that we would see occur naturally,

but not for another
several generations.

Maybe a couple hundred years
from now,

depending on how long it takes us
to screw up the planet.

But we're seeing it now
because of the Mother Cell.

But here's the good news...

If the Mother Cell can make
a naturally-occurring situation worse,

maybe it can do the opposite.

MITCH:
Correct.

But what's the opposite?

The Mother Cell can cure the animals?

Dr. Morgan believes so, yes.

He says it will take some time
to figure out

how to alter
the Mother Cell's chemistry

to make a vaccine,

but he's convinced
that his reasoning is sound.

Wow.

- This is...
- Exciting. Yes, I know.

And the answer to the question
you haven't asked me yet is no.

No.

I'm not gonna cut loose the member
of my team who killed Agent Shafer.

And if you're not happy with the way
I'm handling my assignment,

you can feel free to replace me.

But until then, now that I know
what's happening to the animals,

I am gonna try to do
my best to reverse it.

If that's okay with you.

You surprise me, Miss Tousignant.

Thank you.

I believe you're waiting for me.

I'm Clayton Burke.

I had to lie to my wife.

She doesn't understand
why I had to rush off to Paris

and miss
our 24th wedding anniversary.

And I have to tell my daughter
why she's dying,

even though there are people
who have a medicine

that can save her life.

Her name's Clementine.
She's 10.

We first discovered she had
Glazier's Syndrome when she was 7.

So, basically,

as long as she can remember,
she's been the kid who's dying.

I'm sorry.

That's not what I want
to hear from you.

What I want to hear is:

"Yes, of course,

your daughter can have the drug
that can cure her."

Followed by the question:

"When can we deliver it?"

Well, I'm assuming you applied
for the Stage 3 trials

and your daughter was rejected
because she's too young.

Maybe I'm not being clear.

I don't want her placed in a trial.

Seven years of wildly successful trials

is enough to convince me
that your drug will cure her.

Three months of pills...

...and she'll be symptom-free.

And how do you expect me to do that?

The entire program
is under intense FDA screening.

Every dose is accounted for.

Not my problem, is it?

I'll expect a call from you

within 48 hours, telling me where
and when I can get my medicine.

The Mother Cell.

How do we even know you have it?

Have a nice day.

Ripped By mstoll