Zoo (2015–2017): Season 1, Episode 9 - Murmuration - full transcript

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 specialities:

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.

Previously on Zoo...

The global pandemic your father believes

was about to emerge, it
appears it has arrived.

And that's why I had Monsieur Alves

bring the five of you together.

If you're not happy with the way

I'm handling my assignment,

you can feel free to replace me.

But until then, I'm gonna try
to do my best to reverse it.



And the answer to the question
you haven't asked me yet

is no, I'm not gonna cut loose

the member of my team who
killed Agent Ben Shafer.

All evidence suggests
she's the one who shot Ben.

Go get her.

I think these lions are
communicating with each other.

Long distance.

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.

We got it. This could be the answer.

The Mother Cell can cure the animals.

Dr. Morgan believes so, yes.

And he says that

he has the Mother Cell

and he's willing to give it back,

but he needs
something in return.

I have to tell my daughter why she's dying.

Your drug will cure her.

Her name's Clementine.

She's ten.

I'll expect a call from you

within 48 hours telling me where and when

I can get my medicine.

There should be more than enough
here to help your daughter.

It's a six-week course of treatment.

The protocol is simple... two pills,

three times a day.

The Mother Cell.

Please.

Now, please.

And I'll still let you keep the medicine.

This is Delavane.

Alert security.

We have an intruder on the executive floor.

White male, approximately six feet tall,

brown hair, glasses.

Where is he?

Don't know.

Elevator three's been
stopping on every floor.

And the camera inside is blacked out.

All right, start a
floor-to-floor search.

He does not leave this
building... you understand me?

Yes, sir.

All security personnel,
activate lockdown...

Now, you don't need to tell me.

He's one of your team.

Mitch Morgan.

What in God's name was he doing here?

- _
- Of course.

Damn it.

- Are you still standing there?
- Yes, sir.

- Why?
- It's about Agent Shafer.

- What about him?
- Well,

Agent Shafer was
in Biloxi on his own time.

No official case logs, no files, nada.

I know that, Agent Singer.

Well, I was going
through his phone records,

and he received multiple
calls from a Chloe Tousignant.

"Tousignant"?

Wait a minute, I know that name.

- Passenger manifests...
- Here.

I remember thinking, "How
do you pronounce that name?"

As it turns out, she's
on leave from the DGSE.

She's in French intelligence?

Oxymoron.

"28A.

Chloe Tousignant."

She and Jamie Campbell
are on the same flight

from Tokyo to Biloxi.

She's in D.C. at the same time as Campbell.

Good work, Agent.

Dig deep on Tousignant.

I want to know who she is and who she

was talking to before and
after she arrived in Mobile.

You got it, sir.

Oh, my God, you bastard.

It was for my daughter.

Even so.

You gonna tell me if you
could've saved your mother,

you wouldn't have done the same?

So, you did it?

You traded the Mother
Cell for the medicine.

No. I didn't.

- But you almost did.
- Yeah, I almost did.

For my daughter.

We're here trying to do this,

trying to come up with a
solution for everything,

and you would, you would
just give that away?

Look.

While I'm not trying to minimize any of it,

you're all focusing on
the wrong guy right now.

Okay? Delavane?

Not who we think he is.

How can you be so sure?

Maybe he had a good reason to be there.

Oh, get serious.

I saw his face. Trust me.

You're asking us to trust you?

I'm asking you to call
my character into question

at a later date.

Delavane was not at Reiden because it was

Bring Your Shadowy Interpol
Agent to the Office Day.

He was there because he works there.

Did he see you?

This is bad.

So you're saying...

the company that put us together

is the same company that
we're trying to take down.

It appears that way.

But why?

Why would Delavane put us together

if there was even a chance
of us uncovering the truth?

- Allo.
- _

- _
- _

- Huh?
- _

_

- So, what else, Mitch?
- What else what?

- What else are you lying to us about?
- Okay.

The Mother Cell...

- can we really use it to make a cure?
- Yes... theoretically,

it can be used to reverse the mutation.

"Theoretically"?

I believe that if we
introduce the Mother Cell

into the DNA of a mutated animal,

we could possibly synthesize a cure.

But here's the problem.

In order to do that, we need an animal

who has mutated and has not
been exposed to the Mother Cell.

But does such an animal even exist?

Every animal we've come into contact with

has been mutated because of Reiden.

Even if there is,

how would we possibly find it?

There are infected
animals on every continent.

I know. It's like trying to find

a needle in a stack of needles.

In every country on Earth.

But without that needle,
we don't have a cure.

_

- _
- _

_

- We have to go. What happened?
- That was my colleague at the PGSE.

The FBI has issued a warrant for my arrest.

Jamie's, too.

Ben Shafer.

Oh, my God, Chloe.

I'm so sorry.

There's nothing to apologize for.

It's only a matter of time

before they connect the rest of you.

- We have to go, guys.
- Hey, hold on.

Go where, huh?

If the FBI is after us,
if Delavane works for Reiden,

- where are we gonna go?
- Yeah, I don't speak "spy," but...

pretty much feels like game over.

Henry's a lucky dog.

He's in perfect health.

- So no more pills?
- No more pills.

Do you think he's ever gonna be able

to help Clementine with her seizures again?

I'm hopeful. It may
just take some more time.

We'll see you in a couple of months, Henry.

You just take care of this
nice family of yours, okay?

And tell me what's going on.

I don't know what happened.

They just started making that awful noise.

It's okay. Shh.

Come on, Henry.

Good boy.

Come on, let's go inside.

Maybe we should not be standing
around in a clump like this.

Like the lady said,

if they're going to
treat us like criminals,

we need to act like criminals.

Everybody gets one.

Any calls you make, keep them short.

From now on, we pay cash for everything.

And no more contact
with family and friends.

Yeah, that's not gonna happen.

- Not for me, anyway.
- Why not?

'Cause I got to get these meds to Clem.

And FBI or not, I'm bringing 'em to her.

All right, guys, stop, just stop.

This, this isn't gonna work, okay?

We can't just be reactive to this thing.

We got to get out in front of it.

Now, we've been together
a couple months as a team,

we're doing pretty good, so now...

now we got to save our own asses,

and we got to save the world.

- That's a bit dramatic, but well said.
- Agreed.

- What's the plan?
- All right, first off,

it's time to go public with this thing.

Now, we need a more official
outlet than your blog, Jamie,

but we obviously can't risk
just walking into a news station,

so who do you know? Do you know
someone that you can contact?

- Yeah.
- Okay. Abe, take Mitch in the car

and go get those meds to Clementine.

Okay.

- What about us?
- I've got an idea for us.

Why wasn't I told about the existence

- of this Mother Cell?
- You're head of global security.

There are many things that you need

to know about to do your job.

The Mother Cell wasn't one of them.

I made it very clear when
I took this project on

I needed to know everything.

Information is a two-way street.

Imagine my surprise when I learned

that I was being blackmailed
by a member of your team.

I couldn't possibly have known
about Mitch Morgan's plan.

No, but you knew that
they found the Mother Cell.

Yes, and had I known of its
significance to the company,

I would have dealt with it appropriately.

Look, we can go around in
circles like this forever.

The point is, you kept me in the dark

- and compromised the operation.
- The point...

is that this team of yours was put together

to protect this company's position,

and they now possess the very device

that can destroy us.

Find them, get the Mother
Cell back, and end this.

- Sasha.
- Ah, good, you're home.

I was running out of small talk.

- Hmm?
- Your friends are here.

What?

You never mentioned Tommy

was in the Air Force.

After talking with Sasha,

we feel like we barely know you.

Excuse me.

- This is Wilson.
- Wilson, it's Jamie Campbell.

- Jamie, how are you?
- I have a story for you. I'm in Boston.

A story for me.

Why do you have a story for
me and not a story for you?

It's complicated.

- Can we meet?
- Sure, just come by the office.

I can't do that; like I
said, it's complicated.

Is there anywhere that
we can make this discreet?

- What's going on, Jamie?
- Look, this is... this is big, Wilson.

Career-defining.

I have to be an anonymous
source at the outset,

but-but not for long.

I just need someone I can trust.

You're serious.

Okay.

2:00. There's a warehouse at the corner

of Madison and Third Street.

- Are you in trouble, Jamie?
- I'm okay.

Thanks, Wilson.

Uh, 2:00.

I'll see you then.

Yeah, I'll meet you at the house.

Anything comes up, just
call me on this number.

Yeah, I had to change phones.

It's a long story.

Okay.

Bye.

We're going to your ex's house?

Maybe we should go somewhere

that the police wouldn't
think of, just in case.

Yeah, it might be the
worst idea I've ever had.

- But... thank you for coming with me.
- I'm not doing this for you.

I'm doing this for your daughter.

Look, I know what I did was wrong.

If it's gonna make you feel better,

take a swing at me.

Serious, go ahead.

Believe me, that's the last
thing you want right now.

- That sound, it's not normal, is it?
- I'd say that's pretty far from normal.

Ta!

Couple of months ago in Cape Town,

the crew of a fishing trawler reported

how a flock of razorbills
attacked their boat.

People were convinced they
were after their haul of squid.

But the captain was convinced
they were after the crew.

He described the sound the razorbills made

as they circled overhead like cicadas.

- Let's get out of here.
- Yes, you drive.

Beautiful home.

My guess is that a government agent

couldn't afford the water
bill for a place like this.

Good thing you're not a government agent.

You have no idea who I am.

Or what I am capable of.

You work for Reiden Global.

- That is all we need to know.
- Maybe.

Maybe not.

On the other hand, I
put your team together.

- I know everything about you.
- Exactly.

Why would you do that?

Especially if you knew
Reiden was responsible

for the very thing you
wanted us to investigate.

Our culpability is hardly
a foregone conclusion.

Oh, it will be when we're done.

The Mother Cell's pretty damning proof.

Why are you here?

What do you want?

We want what you promised
when you hired us.

Resources, information, access.

We want you to help us make a cure

to reverse the changes we're
seeing in the animal kingdom,

and... we want you to come clean,

let the world know about the Mother Cell

and Reiden's role in all of this.

Clearly you're not that naive.

If we do that, we will be met by
billions of dollars of lawsuits,

Reiden will be destroyed.

We are offering you a chance
to be part of the solution.

Do that, and maybe, just maybe,

the court of public
opinion will go easy on you.

I have a different suggestion.

You give me the Mother Cell,
and I let you walk away.

What's that mean?

I'm very good at my job, Ms. Tousignant.

I know the FBI just issued

a warrant for your arrest
and that of Ms. Campbell.

Soon, they will link the rest
of you to Agent Shafer's murder,

and then they will realize

that your very team has
been present at the source

of so many of these animal incidents.

It's not hard to imagine
that they will come to believe

that you yourselves are the cause.

- That's absurd.
- If you say so.

And once that happens,

anything you say to try to indict Reiden

will be met with understandable disbelief.

Give me the Mother Cell,

and I'll see what I can
do about helping you out.

The answer's no.

No, this is not a negotiation.

Then I suppose there's
nothing left to discuss.

- You agree with him, Ms. Tousignant?
- Of course.

Then you are making a mistake.

No, we're not.

You're the one making a mistake.

See, we've got nothing to lose.

You, on the other hand...

When this is all gone,

don't say we didn't give you a chance.

- So Delavane just stonewalled you guys?
- Didn't even blink.

Guys...

he is going to make a phone call.

To men who get paid a lot of money

to make other men disappear.

Other men and other women.

How are we at a point

where that doesn't even sound insane to me?

Okay, guys, let's not get carried away.

- How long until we talk to your friend?
- Wilson? About an hour.

So we stay hidden until then.

Look, even if he buys our story

and we end up on the
front page of the paper,

that doesn't solve our bigger problem here.

We still need to find
a cure for the animals.

How do we do that?

Do you still have Leo
Butler's ledger in your bag?

Can I see it?

Process of elimination.

Okay.

This contains a list of every
location around the world

where Reiden products have been used.

All right? Since we need to find an animal

that hasn't been exposed
to Reiden products...

We can eliminate any animals
in that particular area.

Exactly.

Hey, come on, guys. Really?

- How does $100 sound?
- Sold.

Hey, want to take it easy

on the spending money?

- We just lost our benefactor, remember?
- True.

That's gonna be the title of my book:

How to Save the World
on Eleven Dollars a Day.

Okay. We know the lions in L.A.

- were given Reiden feed.
- Right.

There's hundreds of locations here.

So why haven't all the animals

in these places been affected?

Uh, maybe some animals are
more susceptible than others.

Some people smoke and don't get cancer.

- All right, what's the next entry?
- Agra.

India.

We're going to need a few more drinks.

We just got access to the CCTV.

20-block radius around

where Tousignant's cell
phone last pinged a tower.

And...

facial recognition got a hit.

- Where is she?
- Not on Tousignant.

On Campbell. I just sent you the footage.

- When was that?
- Hour ago.

Southeast corner of
Williamsburg and Talbert.

- Singer.
- All right.

Serial number 1028...

1245...

1107.

- I want to know everybody she's talked to.
- Copy that.

- Hey.
- Hey.

- How's the map coming?
- Slowly.

So far, we've eliminated two thirds of Asia

and most of North and South America.

- You okay?
- No.

Listen...

I know you guys are too nice to say it,

but Agent Shafer, Delavane...

all of this is my fault.

Whoa, whoa, hey. This
is not your fault, Chloe.

- Yes, it is.
- No, it isn't.

We all fell for Delavane.

It's not your job to read people.

I'm the one who's supposed
to analyze a situation

and determine the truth.

I could not even see what
was right in front of me.

Not even that... that my sister

slept with my boyfriend.

Okay, you got me there.

That was, um...

that was pretty bad.

How am I supposed to
trust my instincts again?

I don't know.

You just do.

And if you're not sure...

you can ask for help.

Her car's not here.

I don't think it's a good
idea for us to linger.

Back when Audra and I were together,

she had an amazing ability

to lock herself out of the house.

Twice in one day, if you can believe that.

So we developed a system
of hiding a spare key.

That's the same noise

we heard the sparrows make.

Yeah, but those aren't sparrows.

It's like they're talking to each other.

I know that birds have
a universal warning call.

But nothing resembling a common language.

Is it just me, or...?

- Audra. Where are you?
- I'm at the park with Clem.

We're trapped.

The birds...

Mitch, there's hundreds of them,
and they're attacking people.

I can barely hear you.

- You're... you're at the park?
- Yes.

Over here!

- Watch out!
- Over here!

- Run!
- Run away!

- You have to run!
- Oh! No, no!

They're biting me!

Audra?

- You can do it!
- Audra!

Run! Please, please...

Audra, tell me what's going on.

Audra?

Audra!

- Damn it.
- What happened?

Let's go.

She said they're at the park.

The birds are attacking.

- Do you know which park?
- Yes.

So this Mother Cell

- is Reiden Global's secret sauce?
- It's used across product lines,

from agricultural to consumer

to commercial to pharmaceutical.

If Reiden's name is on it,
the Mother Cell is present.

And now it's out in the wild,

accelerating massive changes

to the genetic makeup of
animals across the globe.

You know, a reporter on my desk

was attacked by a bird this
morning on her way to work.

Is it possible that that was because...?

Yeah. Yeah, it could be.

- And you have proof of this?
- We have the Mother Cell itself.

Damn, Jamie.

Not to mention reams of data, okay?

Internal Reiden documents.

Experiments our own scientist has performed

- on the mutated animals...
- I told you this was big.

- Can you help us?
- Yeah. Yeah, I can help.

Oh, thank you so much, Wilson.

FBI! Don't.

Lay your weapon on the ground.

Slowly.

My name is Chloe Tousignant.
I'm DGSE operative.

I know who you are, Ms. Tousignant.

Maybe I was unclear on
the exact pronunciation,

but I do know that you're not DGSE.

Not anymore,

anyway.

- Jamie Campbell.
- Yes.

Ben Shafer was a friend of mine.

- I'm so sorry.
- You're sorry?

I loved him like a son.

- What does your "sorry" do for that, huh?
- She has nothing to be sorry about.

She shot him in self-defense.

He tried to kill us.

- Why would he do that?
- Because your friend

was working for a corporation
called Reiden Global,

and we'd uncovered some things

Reiden would rather have remained secret.

Ben Shafer was FBI special agent.

He was dirty.

- Excuse me?
- Your friend was dirty.

He was taking money from Reiden,

using his position to cover up their mess.

In over 20 years of law enforcement,

I've only discharged my weapon three times

in the field.

Imagine that.

Three times.

Right now I just want to
blow your little head off.

Run!

Go! Go!

- My God, Jamie, you didn't tell me.
- Go!

Sorry!

What if we use sound

to repel the birds?

- What?
- Like the oscillator you built in Rio.

Yeah, maybe that would work,

but we don't have an oscillator.

And even if we did, we
don't have time for a maybe.

So, what are we going to do?

I got something.

- What is it?
- I was here last year.

- In Boston for a conference.
- Yes?

And there was a Dalmatian
outside our hotel.

Got hit by a motorcycle.

- Mitch, I don't...
- I was there! I saved the dog's life.

Its name was, uh, uh... Rufus!

- Rufus?
- Rufus was the dog's name.

His owners were very grateful.

Mitch, you've lost me.

Dalmatian, firehouse dog!

Why are they just sitting there?

What are they waiting for?

It's gone.

Clem! Clem!

No!

Oh! What's happening?

More bad news.

Wilson's out.

His executive editor
called Reiden to follow up.

And let me guess... five minutes later,

their lawyers were slapped
with a cease and desist

by the Reiden legal team.

They are good at what they do.

Maybe we should just turn ourselves in.

- What good would we be in custody?
- At least we could tell our story.

What... to a roomful of
cops who want to try us

for murdering a federal agent?

We can't just give up.

So, what are we gonna do?

We cannot go to the press.

We cannot go to the authorities.

You're right.

The only people that can help us now

are in this room.

Hey, guys.

There was
also a separate bird attack

at Bowler Park in Brighton.

Three adults were killed;
16 others were injured,

including four children.

City and state officials
are currently investigating

whether the three attacks are related.

Residents are being asked to use caution

when outdoors.

It's getting bigger.

The animals are getting more aggressive.

If it keeps progressing like this,

it won't matter what we decide to do,

because by then, it will be too late.

We have to do something now.

Fine. I agree.

But what?

FBI intel suggests there are
five suspects in the house.

Two women, three men.

One of them is former French intelligence.

Another is ex-military.
I expect them to be armed.

But we may have innocents...

a mother and a little girl...

- so be careful.
- Yes, sir!

Hey.

- You okay?
- I don't know.

I just want to get out of here.

- How did you get these drugs?
- All that matters is that you have them

and that Clem's gonna be okay.

And what about you

- and your friends?
- We'll figure something out.

- Hey... let me see your eye.
- Oh, it's fine.

I'm sure it is.

But I'm a doctor, remember?

Let me see it.

Thank you.

You saved our daughter's life.

And you saved mine.

- I'm sorry I've been so hard on you.
- It's okay.

I think I tend to bring that out in people.

Perfect.

Beautiful as you always were.

I still don't understand why we have to go.

Sweetie, you saw what happened
with those birds, right?

It's not safe here.

We're gonna go and see
Justin's parents in Maine.

He's gonna join us there.

It'll be good for Henry
to be out of the city.

Remember, keep an eye

on Henry, right? If he
does anything weird...

I will, Daddy.

I understand.

- Honey, you can't take them all.
- I'm not.

Just a few.

Okay.

Leave some room for your clothes.

Jackson, do you remember when you showed me

all those pictures of the walls

- in your dad's compound?
- Yeah, of course.

There was one picture in particular

that had a list of traits...
uh, Felidae, Carnivora,

all the big cat taxonomies.

- Specifically, leopards.
- I remember.

There has to be a reason for that.

What if your dad was
searching for a cure, too?

- What if that's our needle?
- Leopards?

Have we ruled it out yet?

Okay, leopards are found in India,

the Arabian Peninsula,
the Himalayan foothills,

sub-Saharan Africa...

But we've ruled out most
of those areas already.

Yeah, but there are some areas in Africa

where there's no reported Reiden activity.

Okay... last year,

six people killed in a small
village near the Zambezi River.

- Zambia, Africa, 13 injured.
- Zambia. Nothing.

Double-check the ledger,

- make sure you didn't miss anything.
- Double-checking.

Okay, then,

six months ago, five
separate leopard attacks

in villages along a 20-miles stretch

of the Luangwa Valley.

And... Zambia's largest
agricultural company

is owned by one of
Reiden's biggest critics.

That might explain why
Reiden products aren't being

- used there.
- And...

There's nothing. No
mention of Zambia anywhere.

I think we just found our needle.

Police!

FBI!

- Clear.
- Clear.

Clear.

- House is empty, sir.
- All right.

I don't want to be a buzzkill,

but it's about 7,000 miles to Zambia.

It's gonna take more than a police scanner

and some dirt roads to get us there.

You're right... don't be a buzzkill.

One thing at a time.

Hey.

Listen. Do you guys hear that?

Yup.

We've been hearing it all day.
Different species of birds,

all making the exact same noise.

Mitch thinks the birds are
developing a common tongue.

You think the eagles
can talk to the finches.

Can talk to the skua, can talk

to the black-headed grosbeak...

There are maybe 300
billion birds in the world.

Imagine if they could
all talk to each other.

If that's true,

they could send a message
around the world and back.

Let's just figure out
a way to get to Zambia.

Quick.

Look on the bright side:

Your hiring instincts are good.

They found the Mother Cell.

And they think they can
use it to make a cure.

It's a shame they won't live
to find out if they're right.

I'll make the call.