Unabomber (2026) Movie Script
[soft eerie music playing]
[eerie music continues]
[dogs barking in the background]
Mommy! It's teatime!
[woman] Where's Daddy, Kelly?
-I'm brewing the tea, of course.
-Come on, Mommy!
[woman] Over here?
-Here, trade you.
-Yeah.
[woman] Okay. Let's see
"Closet Dimension, San Francisco"?
Hey, do you know what this is?
Maybe it's a gift?
[Kelly] Teatime!
[eerie music continues]
[woman] Cheers.
[woman] Oh, did you make these?
-Teatime.
-Yummy.
-I'm gonna have some more.
-You're not done.
Mm! Yummy.
-[eerie music continues]
-[mother and daughter playing]
Is it your favorite tea too?
-[loud bang]
-[screams]
[alarm beeping]
[woman] Tom? Tom!
In North Caldwell, New Jersey,
an advertising executive
was killed Saturday
by a bomb in a package mailed to his home.
Authorities say they don't know
the motive for the bombing,
which killed 50-year-old Tom Mosser.
Authorities believe the attack was
the work of the so-called Unabomber,
who's blamed for similar explosions
over the last 16 years.
Fifteen attacks have killed two
and injured 23.
The Unabomber's targets
have often been airlines,
computer stores, and even colleges.
[woman] Forensic experts believe
the same person is responsible
for all the bombings since 1978.
Each has targeted people who work
in academics and high technology fields.
[eerie music building]
[man on radio] Jo, you in position?
We're open for business.
Fifty heads on Sutter.
Seventy-five on 5th.
I thought we chose to publish in The Post
because no one in San Francisco reads it.
Well, they're reading it today.
In an extraordinary decision,
The Washington Post and The New York Times
have published today
the Unabomber's manifesto.
The bomber calls his manifesto
"Industrial Society and its Future."
And in it, he urges a revolution against
what he calls the Industrial System.
The Times publisher wrote, quote,
"We're turning our pages over
to a man who has murdered people."
"But I'm convinced
we're making the right choice."
[man] How do you respond to critics
who say the FBI is bowing to a terrorist?
I'd say we're exhausting
every option we have to catch this killer.
I'm not seeing a match, Kap.
He'll be there.
Quantico placed him in the Bay Area.
He's not gonna risk
missing the first edition.
I got eyes.
White male, blue-collar.
-Fits the profile like a glove.
-How old?
35, 40 Fuck me, he's buying a bunch
of copies. Tell me we can grab him, Kap.
No objections?
-He's moving. We're gonna lose him.
-Go.
[upbeat music playing]
Turning right on 4th.
We're in the alley behind 26th.
He's running.
[music intensifies]
He's in the building. We need backup.
[dogs barking]
FBI! Open up!
[man grunts]
[men grunting]
Arms behind your back. Don't fucking move!
[man] Please don't kill me.
I don't know anything!
[male agent] Shut the fuck up.
[Kap] Move everyone off 5th.
I want a full EOD unit ready to go.
[man] Copy that.
Webb, take the bedroom.
Williams, get the living room.
[Williams] Take a look.
[Webb] All right. Bedroom's clear.
[man] Check the other rooms.
[Webb] All clear.
[Jo] Shit.
UNABOM wrote a 35,000-word manifesto
without one grammatical error.
This guy is dyslexic. It's not him.
He is a white, blue-collar male
living in the Bay Area, in his 30s,
with a grudge against elites.
We found bomb-making materials
in his apartment.
Metal pipes, batteries.
He fits Quantico's profile perfectly.
Their profile is shit.
I'm sorry, they wrote it 13 years ago.
It doesn't account for the manifesto.
The man wrote a treatise
on technology's threat to liberty.
That sound like the work
of some plumber to you?
Or a guy in his thirties,
would he call African Americans "Negroes"?
Hell, would someone
living in San Francisco say,
"Excessive density of population
is among the abnormal conditions
of modern society"?
Depends how long you lived there.
UNABOM is a man on a mission.
He sees the danger the future holds,
and he's willing to kill to stop it.
That is someone who is educated.
Someone who is intelligent,
who is passionate.
He's a crackpot.
We need real, physical evidence,
not just some words on a page.
Linguistics is the key to finding him.
That's why you brought me in.
We need to look at academics.
Fringe journalists, radical thinkers.
So you're proposing we do what?
Toss out 15 years of work
to start at square one?
[bell tolling]
In the Herman Melville book, Moby Dick,
Captain Ahab
nails a gold doubloon to the mast
and he promises,
"First man to raise the white whale,
he shall get this precious coin."
Now, as each man gathers
around the doubloon
[soft piano music playing]
they consider what it means to them.
Starbuck sees in the three peaks,
a metaphor for God's promises to man.
Stubb sees in the zodiac signs,
a parable of man's life.
And then there's little King-Post.
He doesn't see any images at all.
What he sees
is a lump of gold he can use
to buy a thousand cigars.
[students chuckle]
Now I know that you're thinking "What the
hell is he doing talking about Moby Dick?"
"This is supposed to be
a goddamn psychology class."
Now for that,
you can blame Herman Melville.
For being such a genius,
he unwittingly designed the most
powerful tool we have in psychology today.
And you could also blame me
for realizing it.
[boy] Ted, we're halfway through
if you wanna join.
[professor]
The Thematic Apperception Test allows us
to classify personality.
This boy.
Is this boy lonely?
Is this boy in peril?
Or is this boy merely waiting
for his dad to finish work
so they can go and play ball together
in the sunshine?
Examining the responses
allows us to define
who a person truly is.
In this class, we seek to build a full
and complete model of man's thinking.
That is our goal. That is our white whale.
[students chuckle]
[bell tolling]
Sorry, before you go,
just a little announcement.
This year,
the Harvard Psychological Clinic,
the Baleen, is conducting a study
into the science of debate.
Now, we're looking for students
to engage in weekly sessions
defending their philosophies on life.
For any budding philosophers out there,
this may well be the right time
for you to distinguish yourself.
Okay, thank you.
[knock on door]
"Sure, Roy, come on in." [chuckles]
Hey.
Hey, indeed. Look, this problem set's
giving us the royal shaft,
so we could use the boy wonder right now.
It's over there, you can copy it
if you want. It wasn't difficult.
[Roy] Not for you, maybe.
You're only 16, but you're
running circles around us in math.
Writing a novel there?
It's questions for this debate club
I'm trying out for.
[soft piano music playing]
[woman] I'm sorry, it's
K-A-C-Z-Y-N-S-K-I.
Great.
Follow me.
Theodore Kaczynski's here.
Theodore. Welcome to the Baleen, my boy.
Take a seat.
[music fades]
Ms. Morgan and I have been reviewing
the essays you submitted.
Very impressive.
Before we make the final selections
for our subjects,
we just wanted to get to know you.
Why is it that you would like
to participate in this study?
Well, I'm very interested in philosophy.
As you should be.
It's ideas that shape the world.
I agree.
So many people live their lives
without thinking about what it means
or how their actions affect other people.
And I think
we can treat each other better.
-Where are you from?
-Chicago.
[Henry] Chicago. [chuckles]
You know, I nearly took my skills
to Northwestern.
Remember that little adventure?
Oh, I do.
Hm
And then Harvard called,
and I had to say, "Sorry, boys, you lose."
[woman chuckles]
Do you miss it? Chicago?
I miss my brother, David.
He's only eight, but he's a swell kid.
And your parents?
They're from Poland.
Well, "Kaczynski," of course.
Hm.
You may recall, in class,
we spoke about the TAT.
-The Thematic Apperception Test.
-Exactly.
Ms. Morgan, if you please.
Theodore, I want you to
look at this picture and tell me a story.
As much detail as you can imagine.
Understood?
Go ahead.
The man was looking at something,
and the woman was looking at him.
Oh, come on.
You can give me more than that.
Anything at all,
anything that comes to mind.
[Ted] The man [clears throat]
was looking
away, and the woman, she was
[clock chiming]
just
[sighs hesitantly] Um
[Henry] Theodore.
I must say,
you are the perfect candidate.
I am?
Yes, you are.
There is something special about you,
and that's exactly what we're looking for.
Given that you are only 16 years old,
we need to get your parents' permission.
Do you see any problem with that?
[eerie music playing]
[man] Absolutely not.
You haven't even let me finish.
I don't need to hear any more.
You should be studying for your classes
and not pissing around
with this philosophy nonsense.
You introduced me
to that philosophy nonsense.
As dinner conversation.
Ideas can change the world.
They're important.
Money's important.
With a math degree from Harvard
and good marks
-Dad
-No! No more of this.
I'm sorry, dear.
Your father's been a grump all day.
I really want this, Mom.
I know, Teddy.
Sometimes we have to take
the path we're given.
Oh! [chuckles]
Your brother wants to talk.
[clears throat]
[boy] Hey, Teddy!
Are you having fun at school?
Yes, Davey. School is fun.
[Jo] You heard of Sylvan Learning Center?
He mentions it three times
in the manifesto. Three.
That's more than Boeing
and American Airlines.
So, what's the angle, disgruntled teacher?
Listen to this.
"A chorus of voices
exhorts kids to study science."
"No one stops to ask whether
it is inhumane to force adolescents
to spend their time
studying subjects they hate."
I want a list of every student Sylvan had
from 1950 to 1970.
Wanna swing by the office,
see what we can find?
[man] Uh, it's Saturday.
The kids have a game.
-Right.
-[phone ringing in the distance]
Tell 'em to break a leg. [sighs]
[phone continues ringing]
[phone ringing nearby]
UNABOM Task Force tip line.
Hey there, this is Agent Tess Vu.
I'm calling from HQ in D.C.
-Mm-hmm. Sure you are.
-Uh
Ma'am, I work under
Bureau Chief Louis Freeh,
and my badge number is 1109RHDKELZ.
Okay, so I got call yesterday
from an attorney I've worked with.
He has a client who thinks
he knows the identity of the Unabomber.
[music building]
Is there evidence?
[dramatic music playing]
An informant called in to the DC office.
He read the manifesto, thought it sounded
like this letter his brother wrote.
-Yeah, I'm not buying it.
-Did you even read it?
It's a linguistic match for the manifesto.
Anachronistic sayings,
subject matter, grammar
Why don't we just call up Penthouse, then?
They already offered
to print the manifesto.
-They'll run this as a centerfold.
-Leo.
In the entire manifesto,
UNABOM never once complains
about working in an assembly line.
He complains about parents, educators,
child-rearing, and so does this guy.
[Kap] "Cool-headed logicians"?
That phrase is in the manifesto too.
Yes, it is.
[Kap] So, who is this suspect?
Theodore Kaczynski.
Fifty-four, born in Illinois.
DMV places him in Lincoln, Montana.
He graduated from Harvard,
but got his masters at Michigan
before becoming a professor
at UC Berkeley.
Both schools where bombs
were planted, not mailed.
Find out everything you can on him.
We need more than a couple letters.
I will get it, Kap.
Leo, you go with her.
-Seriously?
-I can--
[Kap interrupts]
You run operations, you run behavioral.
You go together or you don't go.
I hate applied math.
It's just glorified vocational school.
What's the point of doing math
if you're not gonna apply it to anything?
Math should be like a puzzle.
Something to be solved
and tested as its own reward.
You got a letter from your mom.
Five dollars. [chuckles] You're rich.
[tense music playing]
Come in.
[tense music continues]
Great, I'll take you up.
I hope you prepared your subject well.
You'll be debating a grad student.
Come in.
[music slows]
Theodore, meet Mr. C.
Your name's Mr. C?
Good to meet you, Theodore.
Take a seat.
[music turns eerie]
Is the professor here?
He and the other researchers
are observing from behind the glass.
As we said in the prompt,
you'll each take turns.
First presenting your ideas,
then challenging each other.
At the end of the debate,
we'll announce a winner based on
the persuasiveness of your argument.
But also your style, your delivery,
and your ability to keep composure.
-How will you tell that?
-Scientifically, of course.
These machines will measure
your heart rate and your muscle activity.
And from that, we'll be able to discern
your level of calm and conviction.
[eerie music continues]
Hold still, please.
Are you okay, Theodore?
Great.
Good luck to you both.
-[music fades]
-[tape whirring]
[Ted] Um
I go first, I believe.
Those are the rules.
[Ted clears throat]
Jeremy Bentham wrote
that a society should seek
to achieve the greatest happiness
for the greatest number.
That this was the only way
to make a better world.
But when I look at our society,
I don't see the greatest happiness.
[hesitating] I I see um
[tapping softly]
I see suffering.
I see men begging in the street.
Women and Negroes
living as second-class citizens.
I see the growth of our government.
The rise of corporations telling us
where to work and where to live.
So if you're not free,
that means you're suffering.
And right now in our country,
we do not have absolute autonomy.
Jesus Christ,
that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
[chuckles]
[exhales] Wow.
Absolute autonomy?
It's still my turn--
[Mr. C] Humans are social creatures.
Our survival depends on compromise,
working together.
Absolute autonomy is theoretical nonsense.
I didn't mean absolute--
What'd you mean? People should
be allowed to do whatever they want?
Shoot a kid in the street?
No, I have a few minutes left.
I was getting to that.
Just get to it now.
[silence]
Um But you're breaking the rules.
[shouts] Get to the point, retard!
Taxes.
Taxes.
Thoreau says we're forced to pay taxes,
but that money could go to immoral wars,
which makes us responsible
for that violence.
Those immoral wars
protect your freedom.
My brother lost both his legs in Korea.
Blown right clean off.
They took his pecker too.
All so you have the autonomy to sit back
and complain
that you're allowed to get a great job?
[loud bang]
[chuckles] The look on your face.
What kind of monster do you think I am?
Like I would ever hurt a little kid.
I'm not a little kid.
"I'm not a little kid."
Of course you are. Look at you.
You have the body of a 12-year-old
and the brains of a third-grader.
What do you study, anyway?
-[voice breaks] Math.
-Oh, then that explains it. You're a gear.
I'm good at math. So what.
That doesn't define me.
-[Mr. C] Oh yes, it does.
-No, it doesn't.
Here's your problem.
[eerie music building]
Your ideas are derivative.
Your arguments are trite.
You lack clarity, composure,
the ability to take criticism.
You are a gear.
One plus one, true or false,
that is your skill set.
The idea that you have anything
to teach the world is absolute insanity.
And the fact that you believe that
[pulse thumping]
means that there is something
seriously wrong with you.
-[pulse thumping faster]
-[music intensifies]
[alarm buzzes]
[man] Debate finished. Winner is Mr. C.
[eerie music continues]
Theodore?
Agent Driver, Agent Miller.
Welcome to D.C.
Thank you very much.
Hi.
The brother and his wife
are already upstairs.
Teddy and I had a special bond. [sighs]
We built a cabin
in the woods together, actually.
We'd drive out to Lincoln,
sleep in the back of my truck.
Watch the stars.
It sounds like you were close.
Ted always taught me things.
He'd help me with my homework. I mean,
how many kids had a tutor
that went to Harvard?
How did Ted like Harvard?
He loved it. You know.
Well, your parents
must have been very proud.
First one in the family to go to college.
Dad told everyone he knew.
Their father, Turk,
wasn't always the warmest man.
[clears throat] Um
He was diagnosed with cancer
a few years ago.
Terminal.
So,
one day he went out into the garage
and shot himself in the head.
[Jo sighs]
I'm so sorry, David.
How did Ted take that?
[David sighs]
He didn't show up to the funeral.
Sounds like
a pretty contentious relationship.
Ted ever threaten him? Get violent?
No. What? [scoffs]
He couldn't even stand to see violence.
Would you say that Ted holds grudges?
No, not really.
Does he get aggressive?
Did he ever threaten you?
No.
Does he have any training with explosives?
No.
Airline employees,
university professors, any beef with them?
No.
I'm sorry, why do you think
he's the Unabomber?
I don't.
-You sent us Ted's letters.
-I know. [sighs]
So you could prove
that he didn't write the manifesto
to anyone who might be suspicious.
He's talking about me.
From the very first sentence,
it just, it sounded like Ted.
Word choice, style?
Yes.
But mostly it was his tone.
So angry, condescending.
-That's just the way he writes.
-Yes.
Because he thinks
he's smarter than everyone else.
[exhales] You don't even know him.
I'm sorry, Lin, but you don't.
He's not a killer.
He's not capable of that.
Now, I know the text is similar,
but there must be a thousand
other people who write like that.
-[eerie music building]
-[David sighs]
-[phones ringing]
-[voices murmuring]
What the hell is going on?
Eddie?
[sighs] Package explosion in Sacramento
at the California Forestry Association.
One dead.
They find anything on the scene?
Local PD tagged some fragments.
Looks like him.
[tense music playing]
Fuck.
You've heard of him as the Unabomber,
the scariest criminal in America.
He killed his latest victim
only a month ago.
Officials are warning everyone
to be on guard
for a potentially deadly delivery.
It's called a bomb blanket. Now, let's say
you get a suspicious-looking package,
you'd slip it right here into this slot.
The blanket would contain the blast.
[man] To show how powerful the bombs
have been, investigators made a replica
that they believe is the same strength.
[music fades]
-That's three deadlines you've missed.
-Three, is it? Time sure flies.
The Agency's concerned
you're not prioritizing our work.
Especially considering
we're the ones footing the bill.
[sighs] My work is my only priority.
But it's not a linear progression.
Science doesn't follow straight lines.
You look, scratch, you search,
you dig, you stare,
you crush, you burn,
you recalibrate, then you start again.
That's the process.
Well, it seems to be a long process.
Your superiors,
they asked me for foolproof.
Foolproof.
Don't make me come back here.
[Ted] Professor Murray?
Yeah.
Theodore. [chuckles]
What can I do for you, Master Kaczynski?
I was wondering
if we could talk about the sessions.
No, we cannot.
I cannot discuss an experiment
outside of a clinical setting.
-You know that.
-I know, it's just
My debate partner,
he wasn't following the rules,
but he still won.
So I just wanted to know if there was
something wrong with my performance or
my ideas.
Because I just wanna do my best, for you.
Have you eaten?
[50's rockabilly music
playing in background]
I wanna be a philosopher.
-Go on.
-[Ted] Well, it's like you said.
Ideas shape the world,
and when I look around at our society,
it seems to me like it needs to change.
[Henry] I agree.
Do you read for pleasure?
I've read Melville.
You're in my good books.
More precious than any doubloon.
You really like him?
We have a lot in common, he and I.
When he was younger,
his father described him as
backward of thought
and slow of disposition.
Same with me.
That can't be true.
Ah, you see, I had a stutter,
and my eyesight was shoddy.
My mother used to call me defective.
So you know what we did, Melville and I?
We mutinied.
Melville found himself
on a sailing ship in Tahiti.
He lives with savages.
As soon as I could, I went to Europe,
battling against old ideas.
And people called me foolish.
Until I landed at Harvard.
And suddenly,
my folly appeared to be wisdom.
You asked me for advice, hm?
When the battle starts,
just keep up the fight.
[tense music building]
Ready for round two, Kemosabe?
By breaking the rules, you undermine
structural restrictions of these debates.
So from now on, I'm prepared to speak
whenever and however much I want.
Is that right?
No, you have to respond,
or you concede the point.
[tense music continues]
No, you have to respond,
or you concede the point.
No, you have to respond,
or you concede the point.
Jeremy Bentham
No, you have to respond,
or you concede the point.
You can't claim authority
simply because you're older.
And there he goes
with another personal attack.
We're teaching kids math
because society needs more technicians.
[music intensifies]
That's a straw man argument.
John Locke wouldn't agree.
Thomas Malthus clearly says
dumb, trite, glib, pathetic.
I'm not just talking about your arguments.
I'm talking about you.
[Turk] Did you read
in Scientific American?
A professor at Oxford,
she developed a litter
full of mice embryos in vitro.
-What does that mean?
-It was a rudimentary procedure.
I doubt it'd work on humans.
Yeah, especially if them damn Catholics
stop it from happening.
Davey. I got you an official Harvard pen.
It's in my bag,
why don't you go fish it out?
Tell us about school, Teddy.
Have you met any girls?
Mom, I I don't need a girlfriend.
Well, you must have some friends by now.
Right?
Ted, I can't find it.
Davey, stop. Here, I can look
Is that a report card?
[Ted stutters]
[sighs]
"Applied mathematics, C."
"Linear algebra,
D."
Teddy, is this real?
These classes are very advanced.
[Turk] What's going on?
You joined that piss-ass debate club.
-Didn't you?
-Please, listen.
If you have compelling ideas,
if they can help better the world,
it is your responsibility to share them.
-Professor Murray says--
-Screw Professor Murray.
He says that all men
have to choose their own path.
You are not a man.
What you are is an ignorant little child.
I'm ignorant? I mean,
how did I not realize this before?
I always thought you were so much
smarter than me. But you're not.
-You're an idiot.
-Teddy, please.
-How dare you.
-You're a butcher.
-You make franks for a living.
-You don't mean that.
-What are you trying to say, boy?
-Are you deaf?
Unless the question is T-bone or
porterhouse, your opinion is meaningless.
Well, this butcher
is pulling you out of school!
If I leave school,
you'll have to admit to all the neighbors
that the son you raised couldn't cut it.
That your prized pony
was a loser all along.
I'm going back to school
to study whatever I want,
unless you decide you wanna look like
more of a failure than you already are!
[sobbing] Teddy, what is wrong with you?
[shouts] You!
This whole stinking family!
That's what's wrong with me!
You've tried to ruin my life,
but I won't let you!
Not anymore!
-[dark music playing]
-[pulse thumping]
[soft] Mom
[Kap] That's where he lives?
Ted has one neighbor
half a mile down the road.
Other than that, the guy
lives completely in the wilderness.
He doesn't have electricity.
Or a phone.
-Or a heater.
-Or indoor plumbing.
To UNABOM, technology has a trade-off.
Having a phone line might be convenient,
but it also means that some technician
at Bell Atlantic knows who you're calling.
"We don't ride the railroad,
the railroad rides us."
Thoreau. He's a common
reference point for eco-terrorists.
In UNABOM's mind,
technology has chained us all together.
There's only one way to live truly free
in this world, and that's it.
Living on Walden Pond.
And what'd you find out from the brother?
She didn't get shit.
Uh, we found out that he is
a deeply disturbed individual.
We have a substantial
psychological profile--
-But no actual evidence.
-We still have the linguistics.
Doesn't lead to a warrant.
Linguistics doesn't justify
spending more time and resources
chasing a lead that isn't going anywhere.
[Jo] Well, at least I am doing something.
Three people are dead. Twenty-three people
have been injured, maimed, blinded.
Meanwhile, you've worked harder
trying to undermine me
than you have trying
to catch the guy responsible.
I've been working UNABOM seven years
before you came through these doors.
I have reconstructed bomb sites
from the fucking '70s.
I've seen victims with their arms
and faces blown off.
No one has worked harder than me.
And you have been
blindly following a profile
that did not account for the manifesto.
The manifesto is bullshit.
It's not a treasure map, Joanne!
It's a bunch of words.
-Like you've read it.
-Of course I read it!
Then maybe you don't give a shit
that another body
Okay, that's enough!
You two. Enough.
[Jo sighs]
[Kap] Name's Bill Iscove.
He's 48 years old,
and he works at a chemical
processing plant in Salt Lake City.
Quantico has flagged him in the database,
so, Leo, I want you to take the lead.
-You can't be serious.
-Jo.
You took your shot and you came up short.
UNABOM's not going to be waiting around
for you to find better evidence.
Now, let's act fast
before he kills more people.
[somber music playing]
It's not you.
Okay.
Talk to me.
"Our lives depend on decisions
made by other people."
[scoffs]
[whispers] Yeah.
"Science marches on blindly."
"Each individual must make a choice."
"Live inside the system
or live in the natural world
and trade power for freedom."
"Live in the natural world"
[somber music turns dramatic]
Montana.
Where are you?
Lincoln.
Lincoln.
[phone dialing]
Dean Kaplan, leave your message.
[phone beeps]
[Jo] Hi, Kap. Sorry things got so heated.
I'm gonna take a couple personal days.
Maybe spend some time in nature.
[upbeat dramatic music continues]
[music fades]
[man] He's an odd guy.
I see him around sometimes, wave at him.
Doesn't wave back.
-How long have you known him?
-A couple years.
You ever been to his cabin?
It's been a while.
He's got a mailbox
up on Stemple Pass Road.
From there it's just woods.
You have anything on his property
you could share with me? Records, or
Any violations? Does he carry a weapon?
What'd Ted do exactly,
if you don't mind my asking?
Property tax fraud.
Property tax?
Bet he owes you a fortune
on that land, huh?
Look. If you're gonna be
poking around up here,
you might wanna try to blend in.
You could borrow that jacket.
-[thunder roaring]
-[rain pattering]
[quiet somber music playing]
[distant scraping]
[thunder roars]
[Christiana whispers] Theodore's here.
-[Christiana clears throat]
-Theodore.
Wait.
We had canceled your session.
Did they not telephone your dorm?
No, I'm sorry. I
No, it's quite all right.
I'm glad you stopped by, actually.
I was just about to put
these invitations in the mail.
You've saved me a stamp.
There's to be a gathering I'm hosting.
A soire.
Colleagues past and present,
some students. Thinkers.
Why don't you join us?
But why would you invite me?
Dear boy,
I have never seen anyone dismantle
and rattle Mr. C's cage the way you have.
You've earned your place.
Three cheers for Theodore,
the lowly freshman
who shall soon be dining with the greats.
-[upbeat music playing]
-[voices murmuring]
There are gonna be
real intellectuals at this party.
I should prepare subjects of conversation.
No, Ted, you can take
one night off to celebrate.
Speaking of which,
a little double date via my buddy at BU.
What am I supposed to do with them?
You'll be fine. Apparently,
they have a weak spot for nerds.
Kant's categorical imperative says
you have to treat others
as you want to be treated.
It's the only universal moral law.
It doesn't matter
what your intentions are.
It matters how your actions affect others.
I disagree. Roy, what do you think?
Uh, I think uh [chuckles]
I told Joyce I'd show her
my record collection.
-Do you have any siblings?
-[Joyce] I do. I have a little brother.
[Roy] Little brother. What's his name?
I'm not sure he's too worried about
moral laws at the moment.
[door closes upstairs]
[upbeat 60s music playing in the distance]
So who are your favorite authors?
Um I don't really read fiction.
I just don't I
Too much to solve in the real world
to be making things up.
A man with strong opinions.
I respect it.
I like you, Ted.
Do you like me?
[exhales]
I think so.
[kiss]
[eerie music building]
[music surges]
Okay, uh
-Is something wrong?
-I have to study. I
[eerie music continues]
[music fades]
[eerie white noise playing]
[camera clicks]
[disturbing music building]
[uncanny creaking]
-[bird flutters]
-[disturbing music continues]
[music fades]
[panting quietly]
-[woodpecker drums]
-[trees rustling in the wind]
[camera clicking]
-[metallic snap]
-[squeaking]
[bell chiming]
[rabbit squeaking]
-[bell continues chiming]
-[door creaks]
[dark music playing]
[whispers] Fuck.
[bell continues chiming]
[bell chiming]
[twig snaps]
[bell chiming]
[music intensifies]
[music surges, fades]
[deep eerie bass playing]
[footsteps crunching]
[squeaking]
[bones snap]
[steps moving away]
[exhales]
[panting shakily]
-[music fades]
-[sighs]
[upbeat string music playing]
[man] There's no way Kennedy can win.
He's too Catholic and too young.
Jack's barely older than Junior here.
Isn't that right?
Uh, well, Plato said
the ideal ruler was a young man
who lived a life of simplicity
outside of the typical systems of power.
Friends, Romans, countrymen,
anarchists, dissidents, Soviet spies.
[guests laugh heartily]
Now, I knew that
our field of study and endeavor
was gaining traction and respect
back in 1943
when General "Wild Bill" Donovan
came to me and he said, "Murray,
the Office of Strategic Services
is putting together a group.
and it needs your help."
"Not on the front lines"
Thank God, for our boys' sake.
[guests chuckle]
"Not on the front lines."
"They need a psychiatric
evaluation of leadership."
"Okay," I said.
"Of who? Roosevelt?"
-"Churchill?"
-[gentle laughter]
"No," came the reply.
-"Adolf Hitler."
-[guests laugh]
I said, "Sure."
"Now, when do you think Mr. Hitler
might be able to sit for an interview?"
[guests chuckle]
I was working with Carl Jung in Geneva
when I met Harry.
[upbeat piano playing]
The three of us had
a profound intellectual connection.
And it gave Harry and I an idea.
What images would it take to unlock
the secrets of the human psyche?
The TAT.
Yes.
That's what the idea became.
Some of the original images
we used were my paintings.
Jung found them particularly
[sighs] expressive.
So much so that he did
a series of lectures about them.
And Harry,
he used to call them "the old standbys."
Ah!
Speaking of old standbys, here's mine.
[Christiana chuckles]
Whatever she's saying, I agree.
Nightcap?
I would love one.
[sighs]
So to us.
To us.
Hmm.
What about your dinner conversation?
Lively enough?
Yeah, it was very good.
I know you're being kind,
because I know those two.
And they can be particularly boorish
when it comes to their politics.
Oh no, they were interesting.
Yeah, it's me.
I have a hard time talking to people.
[Christiana] Hm!
Well, I find you to be
a natural conversationalist.
Yeah, but you're different.
I have these thoughts.
[piano stops]
I try to express them,
and people just stare at me.
What do you mean they stare at you?
Because they don't understand you,
they disagree with you?
Give me an example.
[sighs] Like, last week
I had a date with a girl.
Did something go wrong?
She kissed me.
And it didn't feel right?
She touched me, and her mouth was open.
It wasn't right or wrong,
or good or bad, it just
It just felt like [sighs]
she was Me and her
weren't even the same species.
Like she was a person,
and I was a Martian.
Can't have been that bad.
[clock tolling]
Sometimes I feel like I don't belong here.
Like I don't belong
with my family or my peers.
I don't even belong in this stinking body.
I think there's something wrong with me.
[Henry] You are different.
But that's not because
of any kind of defect.
It's because of your intelligence.
Your natural inquisitiveness.
Your ambition.
Just like us.
You're not alone.
-We are here for you.
-[tense music playing]
And we always will be.
[tense music continues]
Tax man.
[Jo] That's me.
-[country music playing on the radio]
-Thank you for this.
You hang on to it, for next time.
Next time I'll bring my own.
-Thank you again.
-Oh!
Records you asked for.
I appreciate it.
[pensive music playing]
-[door opens]
-[music continues]
I'd like to talk about Hobbes today.
Straight into it.
Why not? [sighs]
Hobbes says free will means
a person can do as he will.
-Wait, hang on.
-But then--
Sorry, I just have to ask you
something first.
And what's that?
[Mr. C] Well, I just
Hearing you talk about free will again,
that just makes me wonder
why do you care so much?
What are you trying to get at?
[Mr. C] I mean,
why do you care about people?
You don't seem to have any friends.
Your family obviously can't stand you.
After all,
you're not even a person, are you?
-Of course I'm a person.
-No. No, I don't think so.
What was that movie?
"They're here already!"
[snaps]
Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
That's it. You're one of those things.
You're a Martian.
What are you talking about?
[Ted on tape] She touched me,
and her mouth was open.
It wasn't right or wrong,
or good or bad, it just
It just felt like
she was Me and her
weren't even the same species.
Like she was a person,
and I was a Martian.
[Mr. C] A Martian. [laughing heartily]
[music turns dark]
How did you get this?
How do you think?
It gets even better.
[Ted on tape] Sometimes I feel
like I don't belong here.
Like I don't belong
with my family or my peers.
I don't even belong in this stinking body.
I think there's something wrong with me.
You don't belong in your body?
Let me guess.
You feel better wearing ladies' clothes.
You sick little pervert.
I bet you just look down
at that tiny little dick of yours,
and you just wish it would fall off.
Or wait.
Maybe you could wear it on your head
like a Martian antenna.
-[laughing]
-[music intensifies]
I think we can turn the light on now.
We're done here.
[man] Winner is Mr. C.
[music surges]
[tense music playing]
[Christiana] Theodore.
You're not supposed to be in here.
Theodore.
Ted.
Where's the professor?
He's not here.
Where is he?
Theodore! Wait!
-I wanna see my file.
-Your records are confidential.
Show me my file,
or I'll walk right in the Dean's office
and tell him what you all did to me.
Show me my file. Now!
[tense music continues]
[music turns darker]
What is this?
It's something much bigger than you.
Tell me what this is.
I have a right to know.
After the war in Korea,
a group of prisoners of war came home
changed.
They had somehow been reprogrammed
to support the Communist cause.
So the CIA asked the professor
to design an experiment to figure out
what happened, how they were broken.
What does that have to do with my ideas?
The professor chose me
because of what I wrote.
You were chosen because you were young,
and you rounded out the age bracket.
This was never about ideas.
This was about subjecting young men
to stressful situations
and seeing what made them submit.
[voice breaks] So this whole time,
when I said I wanted to be a philosopher,
you were just laughing at me?
[soft] No.
No, Theodore. I
[sobbing]
You can still be a philosopher.
Just not here.
Not in this place.
We'll close your file,
and remove your case from the study.
But the sessions aren't over.
You can choose to stop coming.
All right?
Please forget about all of this.
Forget about us.
[music intensifies]
[grunts]
-[Roy] What the hell? What's wrong?
-Get away from me!
Whoa! Hold on. Just talk to me.
-Why would I ever talk to you?
-What?
I don't like you! I've never liked you!
I only talk to you
so you'll leave me the hell alone!
-[somber music playing]
-[sobbing]
[music grows darker]
[music fades]
[eerie music building]
[music fades]
[Jo] Need a hand?
What are you doing here?
Linda told me
you'd gone to visit your mom.
-I told you everything I know.
-Okay, what happened in '78?
What do you mean?
The cabin.
You owned it, built it together,
and then he took you off the deed in 1978.
You told me that your biggest dream
was to be in nature together.
So what?
Am I a suspect now too?
I saw him, David.
And I saw the cabin that you built.
Why did you stop going?
That's none of your business.
Well, the land didn't change.
I assume you didn't change.
That leaves Ted.
He's [scoffs]
He has challenges. Anxieties.
The natural world brings him peace.
I didn't see a man at peace.
Just tell me what happened.
It was nothing. It was stupid.
Then why did he cut you off?
[sighs] There was a girl.
This lumberyard in Missoula.
She and Ted went on a date, but
he couldn't let it go.
He started going around town
calling her a slut and a whore.
I told him to knock it off,
but he got angry at me too. And then
Look, like I said,
it was this stupid grudge. I
You told me he didn't hold grudges.
David, I know you have doubts.
Somewhere, some small part of you thinks
your brother could be
capable of doing this.
[breathily] I can't
I can't do this. I
You can.
You're a good man.
And you're a good brother.
David, someone else is going to die.
And when they do, you will ask yourself
if that death is on you.
You will never be free of that guilt.
What if you're wrong?
What if I'm right?
I didn't realize
she was still keeping all this stuff.
[dramatic music building]
I need to use your phone.
[phone dialing]
-It's Kaplan.
-Kap.
I got him.
Don't tell me
you've been working Kaczynski.
I'll be at the Chicago branch
in 30 minutes. You'll be getting a fax.
It's a rough draft.
Of what?
The Unabomber manifesto.
[music builds]
[dramatic music continues]
[knife slashes]
[music fades]
Thank you.
[somber music playing]
Theodore?
I'm just here for my next session.
[Ted] Everyone hates someone
at one time or another.
Nobody can think or feel or act
in a completely moral way.
-[Henry] What's his heart rate?
-Sixty-five. Steady. Hasn't moved.
In fact, to those
who are highly socialized,
acting morally imposes
a severe burden on them.
[Mr. C] So you think the individual
should avoid society?
I mean, seriously,
where do you get these ideas?
They fall from the sky.
[papers rustling]
[knock on door]
[door opens]
[Henry] He used to submit.
Every session.
Week after week like clockwork.
Now, not only does he not submit,
he seems
unbothered.
Relaxed, even.
We need to get this paper done.
I've had another call from the Agency.
You just need to finalize
your conclusions.
[eerie music playing]
The entire premise of this study
is to show that all men can be broken.
Whatever we have done so far
is meaningless unless I break him again.
Our methodologies, our partial findings
have built and created
a certain level of expectation.
Academia awaits
and requires that specific result.
Surely not all of academia, Harry.
"Astounding. You managed to
induce submission in your subjects."
"Flawless efficacy.
Professor Barrus, Johns Hopkins."
This is just one letter.
[softly] No.
It's not just one letter.
"You are a titan
in a field of giants. Tulane."
"Your work is a new dawn in the field."
North Carolina. Stanford. USC.
Brigham Young. They're watching me.
At a certain point, you need to trust
the data and go with what it tells you.
[music intensifying]
This experiment is not over.
He's just a boy, Harry.
He's not just a young man.
He's a principal point of data
that must be claimed.
Broken.
[eerie music continues]
[dramatic music playing]
All right. This is a UTF operation
in conjunction with our friends in Helena,
so we need to keep the channels open.
Agent Miller here
will be giving us the rundown.
It's your show, Jo.
All right. The cabin is in
the middle of nowhere, literally.
So I'll need a team of four.
Nearest access point
is the sawmill where we'll stage EOD.
From there, it's about a half mile
walk by foot through the woods.
Once we detain Kaczynski,
bomb techs go in.
What's the plan to get him outside?
Ted's been known to hassle
the folks from Kennecott.
They do copper mining around here.
I knock on his door.
He'll come out to have a few words.
The man is a suspected bomb maker.
We have to be very careful,
assume the entire place has booby traps.
Yeah.
My guys were out
setting up the radio links.
They found these.
-[Leo] Bear traps.
-[man] Yeah.
You don't want to step in one of those.
[Leo] What's with the wire?
It's for decapitating bikers.
Snowmobilers in the winter.
[door opens]
Guys, can we have the RV?
[door opens]
CBS has Kaczynski's name.
-What?
-[Kap] Are you fucking kidding me?
-How the fuck did that happen?
-Maybe the local agents.
We're not ready. EOD is not staged.
Lovell hasn't even given the warrant.
They're running it in an hour.
[reporter] The public has a right to know.
This is the most expensive investigation
in American history.
This man has terrorized the nation.
He has killed three people, and you're
giving him the opportunity to escape,
and you are endangering the lives
of dozens of federal agents.
Agent Kaplan, the U.S. government
doesn't dictate what we report on.
-We're running it.
-Wait.
If you hold off,
we will give you something else.
Something bigger.
What could be bigger
than the name of the Unabomber?
How we caught him.
I need more.
It's big, and you will have exclusivity.
But if we tell you,
we have to have a deal.
If it's as good as you say,
we have a deal. You have my word.
-His brother turned him in.
-[tense music playing]
David Kaczynski.
Do we have a deal?
We can give you till end of day.
After that, we gotta run the story.
[Leo] We're approaching the site. Over.
Let's go get him.
It's all on foot from here.
God help us. Go.
Watch yourself.
[soft eerie music playing]
[soft clatter on porcelain]
[exhales]
It's nice to see you, Christiana.
It's a gift. For the professor.
[music fades]
I think I'll go first.
You know, it was the Greeks
that were the first society
to explore the secrets of the human mind.
They called it the "phrene."
And if was fractured or split,
they used the word "schizo."
So we've come to know
this disease of the mind as schizophrenia.
We debate philosophy in these sessions.
If you want to blabber about obscure
mental illness, I can find you freshmen.
In this case,
you are the right audience.
Over the years, I've revisited the work
of a colleague of mine, Kurt Schneider.
He developed the criteria
to diagnose schizophrenia.
The first of which
is a feeling that one
is not in control of one's own body.
That, for instance, a Martian is.
The second sign of schizophrenia
is a radical change in behavior.
[Ted] It's still my turn.
-[Mr. C] Humans are social creatures.
-Get to it now.
-You're breaking the rules.
-[Mr. C] Get to the point, retard!
[dramatic music building slowly]
[Henry] Look at that child.
Determined, yet obedient.
Lawful.
But how about him?
You are a slave to the rules!
Just some sputtering cog
in the authoritarian machine!
The third criteria is called insertion.
It's when a subject feels
that thoughts are not their own.
[Mr. C] So you think the individual
should avoid society?
Seriously, where do you get these ideas?
They fall from the sky.
[pulse thumping softly]
[Henry] The final criteria,
and perhaps the most telling,
is delusional perception.
That is when the subject feels
that a normal observation
contains special meaning.
[tape whirring]
We're teaching kids math when they
don't want to learn math. And why?
Because our society
now demands more technicians.
Why do you think
they make us live in dorms?
So we feel right at home
stuffed into a factory.
And if you can't see it,
well, I guess that just means I'm special.
[whirring stops]
When we first dined together,
you told me that
you wanted to be a philosopher.
That you wanted your ideas
to change the world.
Over the years, you have crafted
these theses about the industrial state,
and you speak of them
with such absolute fervor,
that that to you is proof
that you're on some enlightened path.
And yet
these words of yours,
has there ever been a single person
who heard them and agreed?
Because great ideas
are like fire.
They burn from man to man,
and these men who spark the fire,
they move not only nations, but nature.
[pulse thumping faster]
And then there's you.
[voice echoing] Alone in a cold dark room,
shouting enlightenment at the silence.
-[thumping builds]
-[music surges]
I know it's gonna be
very difficult for you
to accept the truth of your illness.
Schizophrenia is a very serious disease,
and you're gonna need to see
a medical specialist.
And I assure you, you'll have access
to the finest in the field.
-[woodpecker drums]
-[soft bass thumping]
[dramatic beat building]
[man] Ted?
Ted, it's Bill Ford.
Ted, I'm with the guys from Kennecott.
[exhales]
It's my turn now.
Conventional thinking holds
that science improved society.
We've got light bulbs so we can read,
medicine to cure disease.
On the track we're on,
with the right science,
we could completely end human suffering.
I agree.
Well, that's what they said 200 years ago.
Have we ended human suffering?
Has the Industrial Revolution
actually made anyone happier?
They just want to check out
the property lines.
We're gonna do a bit of poking, prodding,
and look for some posts and pins.
Ted, are you in there?
[soft thud]
[young Ted] So now we ask,
why doesn't science make us happier?
Let's take the automobile, for example.
You can't drive a car without stopping
at lights or obeying the speed limits.
You are describing minor inconveniences.
No, I'm describing chains.
[soft footsteps]
My property lines
are clearly and absolutely marked.
Why don't you come on out and show us?
Every advancement in technology
comes with a restraint.
What does that mean
for those who build the technology?
Do they have freedom?
I'm free to do as I please.
So you choose your own experiments?
I set the criteria for my own research.
The Central Intelligence Agency
gives you a carte blanche?
I don't work for any agency.
I am a revered professor
at Harvard University.
You're not revered.
You're not even respected.
[chuckles softly]
[scoffs]
[music intensifies]
-Let me get my hat.
-Ted, come on.
-[Ted] Get off me!
-FBI! Hands up!
-Hey! FBI! Hands up!
-Get on the ground!
Don't fucking move!
On your knees.
-[Ted grunts]
-Arms behind your back.
Beyond your utility,
and your parties your colleagues
don't give a heck if you live or die.
And I don't give a damn
about my colleagues.
Not even Professor Barrus?
Who?
Professor Barrus from Johns Hopkins.
How do you know that name?
He's a big fan of yours.
I'm sure you wouldn't want
to displease him.
How about Dr. Wilkins?
And Dr. Peters at Tulane?
He worships you. He thinks
you're "a titan in a field of giants."
-[handcuffs rattling]
-[Ted sighs]
Up.
Suspect apprehended.
I repeat, suspect apprehended.
You have been reading my mail.
Not reading, Harry.
[music intensifies]
You wrote them?
You needed approval so desperately.
You were a slave to their admiration.
This just shows
how unwell you are.
Entirely consistent with the psychotic
behavior you've displayed this year.
You mean those performances
I put on for your stooges?
You told me once you were fighting
for the betterment of mankind,
but did you ever actually
make anyone better?
Did you improve an actual person's life?
Heal an actual person's mind?
You sure didn't help me.
[soft bass thumping]
It was never about progress.
You weren't serving
your country or your field.
You were serving yourself.
Your ego, your legacy,
but you screwed that up too because
you couldn't even finish the damn study!
A parting gift.
I trust it'll make an impression.
If you felt this way
why did you keep coming back here
week after week?
[sustained note humming]
To show you I could.
[man] We need a tech on the south side.
[dramatic music building slowly]
[man] Careful.
[man 2] Tripwire. Northeast corner.
[music continues building]
[music intensifying]
-[man 2] We got a bomb!
-You hear that? Bomb detected!
[music fades]
[soft piano music playing]
Ted Kaczynski, you're under arrest.
[sighs]
[chuckles]
-[cheering]
-[music turns victorious]
Hey. Great work.
Thank you. You too.
[Kap] A toast?
All right. Congratulations, everyone.
Job well done. Thank you.
Thank you, all.
Great work, everybody.
Thank you so much.
[slams]
-[breaks whine]
-[honks]
[music softens]
Ted Kaczynski, the former mathematics
professor who's lived a reclusive life
in the Montana woods for two decades,
is being held on
a relatively minor weapons charge.
But it is enough to keep him in jail
while the FBI makes its case
that he is the man who has caused
such terror in the last 18 years.
[eerie music playing]
[button clicks]
[eerie music playing]
[soft eerie string music playing]
[upbeat orchestral music playing]
[music fades]
[eerie music continues]
[dogs barking in the background]
Mommy! It's teatime!
[woman] Where's Daddy, Kelly?
-I'm brewing the tea, of course.
-Come on, Mommy!
[woman] Over here?
-Here, trade you.
-Yeah.
[woman] Okay. Let's see
"Closet Dimension, San Francisco"?
Hey, do you know what this is?
Maybe it's a gift?
[Kelly] Teatime!
[eerie music continues]
[woman] Cheers.
[woman] Oh, did you make these?
-Teatime.
-Yummy.
-I'm gonna have some more.
-You're not done.
Mm! Yummy.
-[eerie music continues]
-[mother and daughter playing]
Is it your favorite tea too?
-[loud bang]
-[screams]
[alarm beeping]
[woman] Tom? Tom!
In North Caldwell, New Jersey,
an advertising executive
was killed Saturday
by a bomb in a package mailed to his home.
Authorities say they don't know
the motive for the bombing,
which killed 50-year-old Tom Mosser.
Authorities believe the attack was
the work of the so-called Unabomber,
who's blamed for similar explosions
over the last 16 years.
Fifteen attacks have killed two
and injured 23.
The Unabomber's targets
have often been airlines,
computer stores, and even colleges.
[woman] Forensic experts believe
the same person is responsible
for all the bombings since 1978.
Each has targeted people who work
in academics and high technology fields.
[eerie music building]
[man on radio] Jo, you in position?
We're open for business.
Fifty heads on Sutter.
Seventy-five on 5th.
I thought we chose to publish in The Post
because no one in San Francisco reads it.
Well, they're reading it today.
In an extraordinary decision,
The Washington Post and The New York Times
have published today
the Unabomber's manifesto.
The bomber calls his manifesto
"Industrial Society and its Future."
And in it, he urges a revolution against
what he calls the Industrial System.
The Times publisher wrote, quote,
"We're turning our pages over
to a man who has murdered people."
"But I'm convinced
we're making the right choice."
[man] How do you respond to critics
who say the FBI is bowing to a terrorist?
I'd say we're exhausting
every option we have to catch this killer.
I'm not seeing a match, Kap.
He'll be there.
Quantico placed him in the Bay Area.
He's not gonna risk
missing the first edition.
I got eyes.
White male, blue-collar.
-Fits the profile like a glove.
-How old?
35, 40 Fuck me, he's buying a bunch
of copies. Tell me we can grab him, Kap.
No objections?
-He's moving. We're gonna lose him.
-Go.
[upbeat music playing]
Turning right on 4th.
We're in the alley behind 26th.
He's running.
[music intensifies]
He's in the building. We need backup.
[dogs barking]
FBI! Open up!
[man grunts]
[men grunting]
Arms behind your back. Don't fucking move!
[man] Please don't kill me.
I don't know anything!
[male agent] Shut the fuck up.
[Kap] Move everyone off 5th.
I want a full EOD unit ready to go.
[man] Copy that.
Webb, take the bedroom.
Williams, get the living room.
[Williams] Take a look.
[Webb] All right. Bedroom's clear.
[man] Check the other rooms.
[Webb] All clear.
[Jo] Shit.
UNABOM wrote a 35,000-word manifesto
without one grammatical error.
This guy is dyslexic. It's not him.
He is a white, blue-collar male
living in the Bay Area, in his 30s,
with a grudge against elites.
We found bomb-making materials
in his apartment.
Metal pipes, batteries.
He fits Quantico's profile perfectly.
Their profile is shit.
I'm sorry, they wrote it 13 years ago.
It doesn't account for the manifesto.
The man wrote a treatise
on technology's threat to liberty.
That sound like the work
of some plumber to you?
Or a guy in his thirties,
would he call African Americans "Negroes"?
Hell, would someone
living in San Francisco say,
"Excessive density of population
is among the abnormal conditions
of modern society"?
Depends how long you lived there.
UNABOM is a man on a mission.
He sees the danger the future holds,
and he's willing to kill to stop it.
That is someone who is educated.
Someone who is intelligent,
who is passionate.
He's a crackpot.
We need real, physical evidence,
not just some words on a page.
Linguistics is the key to finding him.
That's why you brought me in.
We need to look at academics.
Fringe journalists, radical thinkers.
So you're proposing we do what?
Toss out 15 years of work
to start at square one?
[bell tolling]
In the Herman Melville book, Moby Dick,
Captain Ahab
nails a gold doubloon to the mast
and he promises,
"First man to raise the white whale,
he shall get this precious coin."
Now, as each man gathers
around the doubloon
[soft piano music playing]
they consider what it means to them.
Starbuck sees in the three peaks,
a metaphor for God's promises to man.
Stubb sees in the zodiac signs,
a parable of man's life.
And then there's little King-Post.
He doesn't see any images at all.
What he sees
is a lump of gold he can use
to buy a thousand cigars.
[students chuckle]
Now I know that you're thinking "What the
hell is he doing talking about Moby Dick?"
"This is supposed to be
a goddamn psychology class."
Now for that,
you can blame Herman Melville.
For being such a genius,
he unwittingly designed the most
powerful tool we have in psychology today.
And you could also blame me
for realizing it.
[boy] Ted, we're halfway through
if you wanna join.
[professor]
The Thematic Apperception Test allows us
to classify personality.
This boy.
Is this boy lonely?
Is this boy in peril?
Or is this boy merely waiting
for his dad to finish work
so they can go and play ball together
in the sunshine?
Examining the responses
allows us to define
who a person truly is.
In this class, we seek to build a full
and complete model of man's thinking.
That is our goal. That is our white whale.
[students chuckle]
[bell tolling]
Sorry, before you go,
just a little announcement.
This year,
the Harvard Psychological Clinic,
the Baleen, is conducting a study
into the science of debate.
Now, we're looking for students
to engage in weekly sessions
defending their philosophies on life.
For any budding philosophers out there,
this may well be the right time
for you to distinguish yourself.
Okay, thank you.
[knock on door]
"Sure, Roy, come on in." [chuckles]
Hey.
Hey, indeed. Look, this problem set's
giving us the royal shaft,
so we could use the boy wonder right now.
It's over there, you can copy it
if you want. It wasn't difficult.
[Roy] Not for you, maybe.
You're only 16, but you're
running circles around us in math.
Writing a novel there?
It's questions for this debate club
I'm trying out for.
[soft piano music playing]
[woman] I'm sorry, it's
K-A-C-Z-Y-N-S-K-I.
Great.
Follow me.
Theodore Kaczynski's here.
Theodore. Welcome to the Baleen, my boy.
Take a seat.
[music fades]
Ms. Morgan and I have been reviewing
the essays you submitted.
Very impressive.
Before we make the final selections
for our subjects,
we just wanted to get to know you.
Why is it that you would like
to participate in this study?
Well, I'm very interested in philosophy.
As you should be.
It's ideas that shape the world.
I agree.
So many people live their lives
without thinking about what it means
or how their actions affect other people.
And I think
we can treat each other better.
-Where are you from?
-Chicago.
[Henry] Chicago. [chuckles]
You know, I nearly took my skills
to Northwestern.
Remember that little adventure?
Oh, I do.
Hm
And then Harvard called,
and I had to say, "Sorry, boys, you lose."
[woman chuckles]
Do you miss it? Chicago?
I miss my brother, David.
He's only eight, but he's a swell kid.
And your parents?
They're from Poland.
Well, "Kaczynski," of course.
Hm.
You may recall, in class,
we spoke about the TAT.
-The Thematic Apperception Test.
-Exactly.
Ms. Morgan, if you please.
Theodore, I want you to
look at this picture and tell me a story.
As much detail as you can imagine.
Understood?
Go ahead.
The man was looking at something,
and the woman was looking at him.
Oh, come on.
You can give me more than that.
Anything at all,
anything that comes to mind.
[Ted] The man [clears throat]
was looking
away, and the woman, she was
[clock chiming]
just
[sighs hesitantly] Um
[Henry] Theodore.
I must say,
you are the perfect candidate.
I am?
Yes, you are.
There is something special about you,
and that's exactly what we're looking for.
Given that you are only 16 years old,
we need to get your parents' permission.
Do you see any problem with that?
[eerie music playing]
[man] Absolutely not.
You haven't even let me finish.
I don't need to hear any more.
You should be studying for your classes
and not pissing around
with this philosophy nonsense.
You introduced me
to that philosophy nonsense.
As dinner conversation.
Ideas can change the world.
They're important.
Money's important.
With a math degree from Harvard
and good marks
-Dad
-No! No more of this.
I'm sorry, dear.
Your father's been a grump all day.
I really want this, Mom.
I know, Teddy.
Sometimes we have to take
the path we're given.
Oh! [chuckles]
Your brother wants to talk.
[clears throat]
[boy] Hey, Teddy!
Are you having fun at school?
Yes, Davey. School is fun.
[Jo] You heard of Sylvan Learning Center?
He mentions it three times
in the manifesto. Three.
That's more than Boeing
and American Airlines.
So, what's the angle, disgruntled teacher?
Listen to this.
"A chorus of voices
exhorts kids to study science."
"No one stops to ask whether
it is inhumane to force adolescents
to spend their time
studying subjects they hate."
I want a list of every student Sylvan had
from 1950 to 1970.
Wanna swing by the office,
see what we can find?
[man] Uh, it's Saturday.
The kids have a game.
-Right.
-[phone ringing in the distance]
Tell 'em to break a leg. [sighs]
[phone continues ringing]
[phone ringing nearby]
UNABOM Task Force tip line.
Hey there, this is Agent Tess Vu.
I'm calling from HQ in D.C.
-Mm-hmm. Sure you are.
-Uh
Ma'am, I work under
Bureau Chief Louis Freeh,
and my badge number is 1109RHDKELZ.
Okay, so I got call yesterday
from an attorney I've worked with.
He has a client who thinks
he knows the identity of the Unabomber.
[music building]
Is there evidence?
[dramatic music playing]
An informant called in to the DC office.
He read the manifesto, thought it sounded
like this letter his brother wrote.
-Yeah, I'm not buying it.
-Did you even read it?
It's a linguistic match for the manifesto.
Anachronistic sayings,
subject matter, grammar
Why don't we just call up Penthouse, then?
They already offered
to print the manifesto.
-They'll run this as a centerfold.
-Leo.
In the entire manifesto,
UNABOM never once complains
about working in an assembly line.
He complains about parents, educators,
child-rearing, and so does this guy.
[Kap] "Cool-headed logicians"?
That phrase is in the manifesto too.
Yes, it is.
[Kap] So, who is this suspect?
Theodore Kaczynski.
Fifty-four, born in Illinois.
DMV places him in Lincoln, Montana.
He graduated from Harvard,
but got his masters at Michigan
before becoming a professor
at UC Berkeley.
Both schools where bombs
were planted, not mailed.
Find out everything you can on him.
We need more than a couple letters.
I will get it, Kap.
Leo, you go with her.
-Seriously?
-I can--
[Kap interrupts]
You run operations, you run behavioral.
You go together or you don't go.
I hate applied math.
It's just glorified vocational school.
What's the point of doing math
if you're not gonna apply it to anything?
Math should be like a puzzle.
Something to be solved
and tested as its own reward.
You got a letter from your mom.
Five dollars. [chuckles] You're rich.
[tense music playing]
Come in.
[tense music continues]
Great, I'll take you up.
I hope you prepared your subject well.
You'll be debating a grad student.
Come in.
[music slows]
Theodore, meet Mr. C.
Your name's Mr. C?
Good to meet you, Theodore.
Take a seat.
[music turns eerie]
Is the professor here?
He and the other researchers
are observing from behind the glass.
As we said in the prompt,
you'll each take turns.
First presenting your ideas,
then challenging each other.
At the end of the debate,
we'll announce a winner based on
the persuasiveness of your argument.
But also your style, your delivery,
and your ability to keep composure.
-How will you tell that?
-Scientifically, of course.
These machines will measure
your heart rate and your muscle activity.
And from that, we'll be able to discern
your level of calm and conviction.
[eerie music continues]
Hold still, please.
Are you okay, Theodore?
Great.
Good luck to you both.
-[music fades]
-[tape whirring]
[Ted] Um
I go first, I believe.
Those are the rules.
[Ted clears throat]
Jeremy Bentham wrote
that a society should seek
to achieve the greatest happiness
for the greatest number.
That this was the only way
to make a better world.
But when I look at our society,
I don't see the greatest happiness.
[hesitating] I I see um
[tapping softly]
I see suffering.
I see men begging in the street.
Women and Negroes
living as second-class citizens.
I see the growth of our government.
The rise of corporations telling us
where to work and where to live.
So if you're not free,
that means you're suffering.
And right now in our country,
we do not have absolute autonomy.
Jesus Christ,
that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
[chuckles]
[exhales] Wow.
Absolute autonomy?
It's still my turn--
[Mr. C] Humans are social creatures.
Our survival depends on compromise,
working together.
Absolute autonomy is theoretical nonsense.
I didn't mean absolute--
What'd you mean? People should
be allowed to do whatever they want?
Shoot a kid in the street?
No, I have a few minutes left.
I was getting to that.
Just get to it now.
[silence]
Um But you're breaking the rules.
[shouts] Get to the point, retard!
Taxes.
Taxes.
Thoreau says we're forced to pay taxes,
but that money could go to immoral wars,
which makes us responsible
for that violence.
Those immoral wars
protect your freedom.
My brother lost both his legs in Korea.
Blown right clean off.
They took his pecker too.
All so you have the autonomy to sit back
and complain
that you're allowed to get a great job?
[loud bang]
[chuckles] The look on your face.
What kind of monster do you think I am?
Like I would ever hurt a little kid.
I'm not a little kid.
"I'm not a little kid."
Of course you are. Look at you.
You have the body of a 12-year-old
and the brains of a third-grader.
What do you study, anyway?
-[voice breaks] Math.
-Oh, then that explains it. You're a gear.
I'm good at math. So what.
That doesn't define me.
-[Mr. C] Oh yes, it does.
-No, it doesn't.
Here's your problem.
[eerie music building]
Your ideas are derivative.
Your arguments are trite.
You lack clarity, composure,
the ability to take criticism.
You are a gear.
One plus one, true or false,
that is your skill set.
The idea that you have anything
to teach the world is absolute insanity.
And the fact that you believe that
[pulse thumping]
means that there is something
seriously wrong with you.
-[pulse thumping faster]
-[music intensifies]
[alarm buzzes]
[man] Debate finished. Winner is Mr. C.
[eerie music continues]
Theodore?
Agent Driver, Agent Miller.
Welcome to D.C.
Thank you very much.
Hi.
The brother and his wife
are already upstairs.
Teddy and I had a special bond. [sighs]
We built a cabin
in the woods together, actually.
We'd drive out to Lincoln,
sleep in the back of my truck.
Watch the stars.
It sounds like you were close.
Ted always taught me things.
He'd help me with my homework. I mean,
how many kids had a tutor
that went to Harvard?
How did Ted like Harvard?
He loved it. You know.
Well, your parents
must have been very proud.
First one in the family to go to college.
Dad told everyone he knew.
Their father, Turk,
wasn't always the warmest man.
[clears throat] Um
He was diagnosed with cancer
a few years ago.
Terminal.
So,
one day he went out into the garage
and shot himself in the head.
[Jo sighs]
I'm so sorry, David.
How did Ted take that?
[David sighs]
He didn't show up to the funeral.
Sounds like
a pretty contentious relationship.
Ted ever threaten him? Get violent?
No. What? [scoffs]
He couldn't even stand to see violence.
Would you say that Ted holds grudges?
No, not really.
Does he get aggressive?
Did he ever threaten you?
No.
Does he have any training with explosives?
No.
Airline employees,
university professors, any beef with them?
No.
I'm sorry, why do you think
he's the Unabomber?
I don't.
-You sent us Ted's letters.
-I know. [sighs]
So you could prove
that he didn't write the manifesto
to anyone who might be suspicious.
He's talking about me.
From the very first sentence,
it just, it sounded like Ted.
Word choice, style?
Yes.
But mostly it was his tone.
So angry, condescending.
-That's just the way he writes.
-Yes.
Because he thinks
he's smarter than everyone else.
[exhales] You don't even know him.
I'm sorry, Lin, but you don't.
He's not a killer.
He's not capable of that.
Now, I know the text is similar,
but there must be a thousand
other people who write like that.
-[eerie music building]
-[David sighs]
-[phones ringing]
-[voices murmuring]
What the hell is going on?
Eddie?
[sighs] Package explosion in Sacramento
at the California Forestry Association.
One dead.
They find anything on the scene?
Local PD tagged some fragments.
Looks like him.
[tense music playing]
Fuck.
You've heard of him as the Unabomber,
the scariest criminal in America.
He killed his latest victim
only a month ago.
Officials are warning everyone
to be on guard
for a potentially deadly delivery.
It's called a bomb blanket. Now, let's say
you get a suspicious-looking package,
you'd slip it right here into this slot.
The blanket would contain the blast.
[man] To show how powerful the bombs
have been, investigators made a replica
that they believe is the same strength.
[music fades]
-That's three deadlines you've missed.
-Three, is it? Time sure flies.
The Agency's concerned
you're not prioritizing our work.
Especially considering
we're the ones footing the bill.
[sighs] My work is my only priority.
But it's not a linear progression.
Science doesn't follow straight lines.
You look, scratch, you search,
you dig, you stare,
you crush, you burn,
you recalibrate, then you start again.
That's the process.
Well, it seems to be a long process.
Your superiors,
they asked me for foolproof.
Foolproof.
Don't make me come back here.
[Ted] Professor Murray?
Yeah.
Theodore. [chuckles]
What can I do for you, Master Kaczynski?
I was wondering
if we could talk about the sessions.
No, we cannot.
I cannot discuss an experiment
outside of a clinical setting.
-You know that.
-I know, it's just
My debate partner,
he wasn't following the rules,
but he still won.
So I just wanted to know if there was
something wrong with my performance or
my ideas.
Because I just wanna do my best, for you.
Have you eaten?
[50's rockabilly music
playing in background]
I wanna be a philosopher.
-Go on.
-[Ted] Well, it's like you said.
Ideas shape the world,
and when I look around at our society,
it seems to me like it needs to change.
[Henry] I agree.
Do you read for pleasure?
I've read Melville.
You're in my good books.
More precious than any doubloon.
You really like him?
We have a lot in common, he and I.
When he was younger,
his father described him as
backward of thought
and slow of disposition.
Same with me.
That can't be true.
Ah, you see, I had a stutter,
and my eyesight was shoddy.
My mother used to call me defective.
So you know what we did, Melville and I?
We mutinied.
Melville found himself
on a sailing ship in Tahiti.
He lives with savages.
As soon as I could, I went to Europe,
battling against old ideas.
And people called me foolish.
Until I landed at Harvard.
And suddenly,
my folly appeared to be wisdom.
You asked me for advice, hm?
When the battle starts,
just keep up the fight.
[tense music building]
Ready for round two, Kemosabe?
By breaking the rules, you undermine
structural restrictions of these debates.
So from now on, I'm prepared to speak
whenever and however much I want.
Is that right?
No, you have to respond,
or you concede the point.
[tense music continues]
No, you have to respond,
or you concede the point.
No, you have to respond,
or you concede the point.
Jeremy Bentham
No, you have to respond,
or you concede the point.
You can't claim authority
simply because you're older.
And there he goes
with another personal attack.
We're teaching kids math
because society needs more technicians.
[music intensifies]
That's a straw man argument.
John Locke wouldn't agree.
Thomas Malthus clearly says
dumb, trite, glib, pathetic.
I'm not just talking about your arguments.
I'm talking about you.
[Turk] Did you read
in Scientific American?
A professor at Oxford,
she developed a litter
full of mice embryos in vitro.
-What does that mean?
-It was a rudimentary procedure.
I doubt it'd work on humans.
Yeah, especially if them damn Catholics
stop it from happening.
Davey. I got you an official Harvard pen.
It's in my bag,
why don't you go fish it out?
Tell us about school, Teddy.
Have you met any girls?
Mom, I I don't need a girlfriend.
Well, you must have some friends by now.
Right?
Ted, I can't find it.
Davey, stop. Here, I can look
Is that a report card?
[Ted stutters]
[sighs]
"Applied mathematics, C."
"Linear algebra,
D."
Teddy, is this real?
These classes are very advanced.
[Turk] What's going on?
You joined that piss-ass debate club.
-Didn't you?
-Please, listen.
If you have compelling ideas,
if they can help better the world,
it is your responsibility to share them.
-Professor Murray says--
-Screw Professor Murray.
He says that all men
have to choose their own path.
You are not a man.
What you are is an ignorant little child.
I'm ignorant? I mean,
how did I not realize this before?
I always thought you were so much
smarter than me. But you're not.
-You're an idiot.
-Teddy, please.
-How dare you.
-You're a butcher.
-You make franks for a living.
-You don't mean that.
-What are you trying to say, boy?
-Are you deaf?
Unless the question is T-bone or
porterhouse, your opinion is meaningless.
Well, this butcher
is pulling you out of school!
If I leave school,
you'll have to admit to all the neighbors
that the son you raised couldn't cut it.
That your prized pony
was a loser all along.
I'm going back to school
to study whatever I want,
unless you decide you wanna look like
more of a failure than you already are!
[sobbing] Teddy, what is wrong with you?
[shouts] You!
This whole stinking family!
That's what's wrong with me!
You've tried to ruin my life,
but I won't let you!
Not anymore!
-[dark music playing]
-[pulse thumping]
[soft] Mom
[Kap] That's where he lives?
Ted has one neighbor
half a mile down the road.
Other than that, the guy
lives completely in the wilderness.
He doesn't have electricity.
Or a phone.
-Or a heater.
-Or indoor plumbing.
To UNABOM, technology has a trade-off.
Having a phone line might be convenient,
but it also means that some technician
at Bell Atlantic knows who you're calling.
"We don't ride the railroad,
the railroad rides us."
Thoreau. He's a common
reference point for eco-terrorists.
In UNABOM's mind,
technology has chained us all together.
There's only one way to live truly free
in this world, and that's it.
Living on Walden Pond.
And what'd you find out from the brother?
She didn't get shit.
Uh, we found out that he is
a deeply disturbed individual.
We have a substantial
psychological profile--
-But no actual evidence.
-We still have the linguistics.
Doesn't lead to a warrant.
Linguistics doesn't justify
spending more time and resources
chasing a lead that isn't going anywhere.
[Jo] Well, at least I am doing something.
Three people are dead. Twenty-three people
have been injured, maimed, blinded.
Meanwhile, you've worked harder
trying to undermine me
than you have trying
to catch the guy responsible.
I've been working UNABOM seven years
before you came through these doors.
I have reconstructed bomb sites
from the fucking '70s.
I've seen victims with their arms
and faces blown off.
No one has worked harder than me.
And you have been
blindly following a profile
that did not account for the manifesto.
The manifesto is bullshit.
It's not a treasure map, Joanne!
It's a bunch of words.
-Like you've read it.
-Of course I read it!
Then maybe you don't give a shit
that another body
Okay, that's enough!
You two. Enough.
[Jo sighs]
[Kap] Name's Bill Iscove.
He's 48 years old,
and he works at a chemical
processing plant in Salt Lake City.
Quantico has flagged him in the database,
so, Leo, I want you to take the lead.
-You can't be serious.
-Jo.
You took your shot and you came up short.
UNABOM's not going to be waiting around
for you to find better evidence.
Now, let's act fast
before he kills more people.
[somber music playing]
It's not you.
Okay.
Talk to me.
"Our lives depend on decisions
made by other people."
[scoffs]
[whispers] Yeah.
"Science marches on blindly."
"Each individual must make a choice."
"Live inside the system
or live in the natural world
and trade power for freedom."
"Live in the natural world"
[somber music turns dramatic]
Montana.
Where are you?
Lincoln.
Lincoln.
[phone dialing]
Dean Kaplan, leave your message.
[phone beeps]
[Jo] Hi, Kap. Sorry things got so heated.
I'm gonna take a couple personal days.
Maybe spend some time in nature.
[upbeat dramatic music continues]
[music fades]
[man] He's an odd guy.
I see him around sometimes, wave at him.
Doesn't wave back.
-How long have you known him?
-A couple years.
You ever been to his cabin?
It's been a while.
He's got a mailbox
up on Stemple Pass Road.
From there it's just woods.
You have anything on his property
you could share with me? Records, or
Any violations? Does he carry a weapon?
What'd Ted do exactly,
if you don't mind my asking?
Property tax fraud.
Property tax?
Bet he owes you a fortune
on that land, huh?
Look. If you're gonna be
poking around up here,
you might wanna try to blend in.
You could borrow that jacket.
-[thunder roaring]
-[rain pattering]
[quiet somber music playing]
[distant scraping]
[thunder roars]
[Christiana whispers] Theodore's here.
-[Christiana clears throat]
-Theodore.
Wait.
We had canceled your session.
Did they not telephone your dorm?
No, I'm sorry. I
No, it's quite all right.
I'm glad you stopped by, actually.
I was just about to put
these invitations in the mail.
You've saved me a stamp.
There's to be a gathering I'm hosting.
A soire.
Colleagues past and present,
some students. Thinkers.
Why don't you join us?
But why would you invite me?
Dear boy,
I have never seen anyone dismantle
and rattle Mr. C's cage the way you have.
You've earned your place.
Three cheers for Theodore,
the lowly freshman
who shall soon be dining with the greats.
-[upbeat music playing]
-[voices murmuring]
There are gonna be
real intellectuals at this party.
I should prepare subjects of conversation.
No, Ted, you can take
one night off to celebrate.
Speaking of which,
a little double date via my buddy at BU.
What am I supposed to do with them?
You'll be fine. Apparently,
they have a weak spot for nerds.
Kant's categorical imperative says
you have to treat others
as you want to be treated.
It's the only universal moral law.
It doesn't matter
what your intentions are.
It matters how your actions affect others.
I disagree. Roy, what do you think?
Uh, I think uh [chuckles]
I told Joyce I'd show her
my record collection.
-Do you have any siblings?
-[Joyce] I do. I have a little brother.
[Roy] Little brother. What's his name?
I'm not sure he's too worried about
moral laws at the moment.
[door closes upstairs]
[upbeat 60s music playing in the distance]
So who are your favorite authors?
Um I don't really read fiction.
I just don't I
Too much to solve in the real world
to be making things up.
A man with strong opinions.
I respect it.
I like you, Ted.
Do you like me?
[exhales]
I think so.
[kiss]
[eerie music building]
[music surges]
Okay, uh
-Is something wrong?
-I have to study. I
[eerie music continues]
[music fades]
[eerie white noise playing]
[camera clicks]
[disturbing music building]
[uncanny creaking]
-[bird flutters]
-[disturbing music continues]
[music fades]
[panting quietly]
-[woodpecker drums]
-[trees rustling in the wind]
[camera clicking]
-[metallic snap]
-[squeaking]
[bell chiming]
[rabbit squeaking]
-[bell continues chiming]
-[door creaks]
[dark music playing]
[whispers] Fuck.
[bell continues chiming]
[bell chiming]
[twig snaps]
[bell chiming]
[music intensifies]
[music surges, fades]
[deep eerie bass playing]
[footsteps crunching]
[squeaking]
[bones snap]
[steps moving away]
[exhales]
[panting shakily]
-[music fades]
-[sighs]
[upbeat string music playing]
[man] There's no way Kennedy can win.
He's too Catholic and too young.
Jack's barely older than Junior here.
Isn't that right?
Uh, well, Plato said
the ideal ruler was a young man
who lived a life of simplicity
outside of the typical systems of power.
Friends, Romans, countrymen,
anarchists, dissidents, Soviet spies.
[guests laugh heartily]
Now, I knew that
our field of study and endeavor
was gaining traction and respect
back in 1943
when General "Wild Bill" Donovan
came to me and he said, "Murray,
the Office of Strategic Services
is putting together a group.
and it needs your help."
"Not on the front lines"
Thank God, for our boys' sake.
[guests chuckle]
"Not on the front lines."
"They need a psychiatric
evaluation of leadership."
"Okay," I said.
"Of who? Roosevelt?"
-"Churchill?"
-[gentle laughter]
"No," came the reply.
-"Adolf Hitler."
-[guests laugh]
I said, "Sure."
"Now, when do you think Mr. Hitler
might be able to sit for an interview?"
[guests chuckle]
I was working with Carl Jung in Geneva
when I met Harry.
[upbeat piano playing]
The three of us had
a profound intellectual connection.
And it gave Harry and I an idea.
What images would it take to unlock
the secrets of the human psyche?
The TAT.
Yes.
That's what the idea became.
Some of the original images
we used were my paintings.
Jung found them particularly
[sighs] expressive.
So much so that he did
a series of lectures about them.
And Harry,
he used to call them "the old standbys."
Ah!
Speaking of old standbys, here's mine.
[Christiana chuckles]
Whatever she's saying, I agree.
Nightcap?
I would love one.
[sighs]
So to us.
To us.
Hmm.
What about your dinner conversation?
Lively enough?
Yeah, it was very good.
I know you're being kind,
because I know those two.
And they can be particularly boorish
when it comes to their politics.
Oh no, they were interesting.
Yeah, it's me.
I have a hard time talking to people.
[Christiana] Hm!
Well, I find you to be
a natural conversationalist.
Yeah, but you're different.
I have these thoughts.
[piano stops]
I try to express them,
and people just stare at me.
What do you mean they stare at you?
Because they don't understand you,
they disagree with you?
Give me an example.
[sighs] Like, last week
I had a date with a girl.
Did something go wrong?
She kissed me.
And it didn't feel right?
She touched me, and her mouth was open.
It wasn't right or wrong,
or good or bad, it just
It just felt like [sighs]
she was Me and her
weren't even the same species.
Like she was a person,
and I was a Martian.
Can't have been that bad.
[clock tolling]
Sometimes I feel like I don't belong here.
Like I don't belong
with my family or my peers.
I don't even belong in this stinking body.
I think there's something wrong with me.
[Henry] You are different.
But that's not because
of any kind of defect.
It's because of your intelligence.
Your natural inquisitiveness.
Your ambition.
Just like us.
You're not alone.
-We are here for you.
-[tense music playing]
And we always will be.
[tense music continues]
Tax man.
[Jo] That's me.
-[country music playing on the radio]
-Thank you for this.
You hang on to it, for next time.
Next time I'll bring my own.
-Thank you again.
-Oh!
Records you asked for.
I appreciate it.
[pensive music playing]
-[door opens]
-[music continues]
I'd like to talk about Hobbes today.
Straight into it.
Why not? [sighs]
Hobbes says free will means
a person can do as he will.
-Wait, hang on.
-But then--
Sorry, I just have to ask you
something first.
And what's that?
[Mr. C] Well, I just
Hearing you talk about free will again,
that just makes me wonder
why do you care so much?
What are you trying to get at?
[Mr. C] I mean,
why do you care about people?
You don't seem to have any friends.
Your family obviously can't stand you.
After all,
you're not even a person, are you?
-Of course I'm a person.
-No. No, I don't think so.
What was that movie?
"They're here already!"
[snaps]
Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
That's it. You're one of those things.
You're a Martian.
What are you talking about?
[Ted on tape] She touched me,
and her mouth was open.
It wasn't right or wrong,
or good or bad, it just
It just felt like
she was Me and her
weren't even the same species.
Like she was a person,
and I was a Martian.
[Mr. C] A Martian. [laughing heartily]
[music turns dark]
How did you get this?
How do you think?
It gets even better.
[Ted on tape] Sometimes I feel
like I don't belong here.
Like I don't belong
with my family or my peers.
I don't even belong in this stinking body.
I think there's something wrong with me.
You don't belong in your body?
Let me guess.
You feel better wearing ladies' clothes.
You sick little pervert.
I bet you just look down
at that tiny little dick of yours,
and you just wish it would fall off.
Or wait.
Maybe you could wear it on your head
like a Martian antenna.
-[laughing]
-[music intensifies]
I think we can turn the light on now.
We're done here.
[man] Winner is Mr. C.
[music surges]
[tense music playing]
[Christiana] Theodore.
You're not supposed to be in here.
Theodore.
Ted.
Where's the professor?
He's not here.
Where is he?
Theodore! Wait!
-I wanna see my file.
-Your records are confidential.
Show me my file,
or I'll walk right in the Dean's office
and tell him what you all did to me.
Show me my file. Now!
[tense music continues]
[music turns darker]
What is this?
It's something much bigger than you.
Tell me what this is.
I have a right to know.
After the war in Korea,
a group of prisoners of war came home
changed.
They had somehow been reprogrammed
to support the Communist cause.
So the CIA asked the professor
to design an experiment to figure out
what happened, how they were broken.
What does that have to do with my ideas?
The professor chose me
because of what I wrote.
You were chosen because you were young,
and you rounded out the age bracket.
This was never about ideas.
This was about subjecting young men
to stressful situations
and seeing what made them submit.
[voice breaks] So this whole time,
when I said I wanted to be a philosopher,
you were just laughing at me?
[soft] No.
No, Theodore. I
[sobbing]
You can still be a philosopher.
Just not here.
Not in this place.
We'll close your file,
and remove your case from the study.
But the sessions aren't over.
You can choose to stop coming.
All right?
Please forget about all of this.
Forget about us.
[music intensifies]
[grunts]
-[Roy] What the hell? What's wrong?
-Get away from me!
Whoa! Hold on. Just talk to me.
-Why would I ever talk to you?
-What?
I don't like you! I've never liked you!
I only talk to you
so you'll leave me the hell alone!
-[somber music playing]
-[sobbing]
[music grows darker]
[music fades]
[eerie music building]
[music fades]
[Jo] Need a hand?
What are you doing here?
Linda told me
you'd gone to visit your mom.
-I told you everything I know.
-Okay, what happened in '78?
What do you mean?
The cabin.
You owned it, built it together,
and then he took you off the deed in 1978.
You told me that your biggest dream
was to be in nature together.
So what?
Am I a suspect now too?
I saw him, David.
And I saw the cabin that you built.
Why did you stop going?
That's none of your business.
Well, the land didn't change.
I assume you didn't change.
That leaves Ted.
He's [scoffs]
He has challenges. Anxieties.
The natural world brings him peace.
I didn't see a man at peace.
Just tell me what happened.
It was nothing. It was stupid.
Then why did he cut you off?
[sighs] There was a girl.
This lumberyard in Missoula.
She and Ted went on a date, but
he couldn't let it go.
He started going around town
calling her a slut and a whore.
I told him to knock it off,
but he got angry at me too. And then
Look, like I said,
it was this stupid grudge. I
You told me he didn't hold grudges.
David, I know you have doubts.
Somewhere, some small part of you thinks
your brother could be
capable of doing this.
[breathily] I can't
I can't do this. I
You can.
You're a good man.
And you're a good brother.
David, someone else is going to die.
And when they do, you will ask yourself
if that death is on you.
You will never be free of that guilt.
What if you're wrong?
What if I'm right?
I didn't realize
she was still keeping all this stuff.
[dramatic music building]
I need to use your phone.
[phone dialing]
-It's Kaplan.
-Kap.
I got him.
Don't tell me
you've been working Kaczynski.
I'll be at the Chicago branch
in 30 minutes. You'll be getting a fax.
It's a rough draft.
Of what?
The Unabomber manifesto.
[music builds]
[dramatic music continues]
[knife slashes]
[music fades]
Thank you.
[somber music playing]
Theodore?
I'm just here for my next session.
[Ted] Everyone hates someone
at one time or another.
Nobody can think or feel or act
in a completely moral way.
-[Henry] What's his heart rate?
-Sixty-five. Steady. Hasn't moved.
In fact, to those
who are highly socialized,
acting morally imposes
a severe burden on them.
[Mr. C] So you think the individual
should avoid society?
I mean, seriously,
where do you get these ideas?
They fall from the sky.
[papers rustling]
[knock on door]
[door opens]
[Henry] He used to submit.
Every session.
Week after week like clockwork.
Now, not only does he not submit,
he seems
unbothered.
Relaxed, even.
We need to get this paper done.
I've had another call from the Agency.
You just need to finalize
your conclusions.
[eerie music playing]
The entire premise of this study
is to show that all men can be broken.
Whatever we have done so far
is meaningless unless I break him again.
Our methodologies, our partial findings
have built and created
a certain level of expectation.
Academia awaits
and requires that specific result.
Surely not all of academia, Harry.
"Astounding. You managed to
induce submission in your subjects."
"Flawless efficacy.
Professor Barrus, Johns Hopkins."
This is just one letter.
[softly] No.
It's not just one letter.
"You are a titan
in a field of giants. Tulane."
"Your work is a new dawn in the field."
North Carolina. Stanford. USC.
Brigham Young. They're watching me.
At a certain point, you need to trust
the data and go with what it tells you.
[music intensifying]
This experiment is not over.
He's just a boy, Harry.
He's not just a young man.
He's a principal point of data
that must be claimed.
Broken.
[eerie music continues]
[dramatic music playing]
All right. This is a UTF operation
in conjunction with our friends in Helena,
so we need to keep the channels open.
Agent Miller here
will be giving us the rundown.
It's your show, Jo.
All right. The cabin is in
the middle of nowhere, literally.
So I'll need a team of four.
Nearest access point
is the sawmill where we'll stage EOD.
From there, it's about a half mile
walk by foot through the woods.
Once we detain Kaczynski,
bomb techs go in.
What's the plan to get him outside?
Ted's been known to hassle
the folks from Kennecott.
They do copper mining around here.
I knock on his door.
He'll come out to have a few words.
The man is a suspected bomb maker.
We have to be very careful,
assume the entire place has booby traps.
Yeah.
My guys were out
setting up the radio links.
They found these.
-[Leo] Bear traps.
-[man] Yeah.
You don't want to step in one of those.
[Leo] What's with the wire?
It's for decapitating bikers.
Snowmobilers in the winter.
[door opens]
Guys, can we have the RV?
[door opens]
CBS has Kaczynski's name.
-What?
-[Kap] Are you fucking kidding me?
-How the fuck did that happen?
-Maybe the local agents.
We're not ready. EOD is not staged.
Lovell hasn't even given the warrant.
They're running it in an hour.
[reporter] The public has a right to know.
This is the most expensive investigation
in American history.
This man has terrorized the nation.
He has killed three people, and you're
giving him the opportunity to escape,
and you are endangering the lives
of dozens of federal agents.
Agent Kaplan, the U.S. government
doesn't dictate what we report on.
-We're running it.
-Wait.
If you hold off,
we will give you something else.
Something bigger.
What could be bigger
than the name of the Unabomber?
How we caught him.
I need more.
It's big, and you will have exclusivity.
But if we tell you,
we have to have a deal.
If it's as good as you say,
we have a deal. You have my word.
-His brother turned him in.
-[tense music playing]
David Kaczynski.
Do we have a deal?
We can give you till end of day.
After that, we gotta run the story.
[Leo] We're approaching the site. Over.
Let's go get him.
It's all on foot from here.
God help us. Go.
Watch yourself.
[soft eerie music playing]
[soft clatter on porcelain]
[exhales]
It's nice to see you, Christiana.
It's a gift. For the professor.
[music fades]
I think I'll go first.
You know, it was the Greeks
that were the first society
to explore the secrets of the human mind.
They called it the "phrene."
And if was fractured or split,
they used the word "schizo."
So we've come to know
this disease of the mind as schizophrenia.
We debate philosophy in these sessions.
If you want to blabber about obscure
mental illness, I can find you freshmen.
In this case,
you are the right audience.
Over the years, I've revisited the work
of a colleague of mine, Kurt Schneider.
He developed the criteria
to diagnose schizophrenia.
The first of which
is a feeling that one
is not in control of one's own body.
That, for instance, a Martian is.
The second sign of schizophrenia
is a radical change in behavior.
[Ted] It's still my turn.
-[Mr. C] Humans are social creatures.
-Get to it now.
-You're breaking the rules.
-[Mr. C] Get to the point, retard!
[dramatic music building slowly]
[Henry] Look at that child.
Determined, yet obedient.
Lawful.
But how about him?
You are a slave to the rules!
Just some sputtering cog
in the authoritarian machine!
The third criteria is called insertion.
It's when a subject feels
that thoughts are not their own.
[Mr. C] So you think the individual
should avoid society?
Seriously, where do you get these ideas?
They fall from the sky.
[pulse thumping softly]
[Henry] The final criteria,
and perhaps the most telling,
is delusional perception.
That is when the subject feels
that a normal observation
contains special meaning.
[tape whirring]
We're teaching kids math when they
don't want to learn math. And why?
Because our society
now demands more technicians.
Why do you think
they make us live in dorms?
So we feel right at home
stuffed into a factory.
And if you can't see it,
well, I guess that just means I'm special.
[whirring stops]
When we first dined together,
you told me that
you wanted to be a philosopher.
That you wanted your ideas
to change the world.
Over the years, you have crafted
these theses about the industrial state,
and you speak of them
with such absolute fervor,
that that to you is proof
that you're on some enlightened path.
And yet
these words of yours,
has there ever been a single person
who heard them and agreed?
Because great ideas
are like fire.
They burn from man to man,
and these men who spark the fire,
they move not only nations, but nature.
[pulse thumping faster]
And then there's you.
[voice echoing] Alone in a cold dark room,
shouting enlightenment at the silence.
-[thumping builds]
-[music surges]
I know it's gonna be
very difficult for you
to accept the truth of your illness.
Schizophrenia is a very serious disease,
and you're gonna need to see
a medical specialist.
And I assure you, you'll have access
to the finest in the field.
-[woodpecker drums]
-[soft bass thumping]
[dramatic beat building]
[man] Ted?
Ted, it's Bill Ford.
Ted, I'm with the guys from Kennecott.
[exhales]
It's my turn now.
Conventional thinking holds
that science improved society.
We've got light bulbs so we can read,
medicine to cure disease.
On the track we're on,
with the right science,
we could completely end human suffering.
I agree.
Well, that's what they said 200 years ago.
Have we ended human suffering?
Has the Industrial Revolution
actually made anyone happier?
They just want to check out
the property lines.
We're gonna do a bit of poking, prodding,
and look for some posts and pins.
Ted, are you in there?
[soft thud]
[young Ted] So now we ask,
why doesn't science make us happier?
Let's take the automobile, for example.
You can't drive a car without stopping
at lights or obeying the speed limits.
You are describing minor inconveniences.
No, I'm describing chains.
[soft footsteps]
My property lines
are clearly and absolutely marked.
Why don't you come on out and show us?
Every advancement in technology
comes with a restraint.
What does that mean
for those who build the technology?
Do they have freedom?
I'm free to do as I please.
So you choose your own experiments?
I set the criteria for my own research.
The Central Intelligence Agency
gives you a carte blanche?
I don't work for any agency.
I am a revered professor
at Harvard University.
You're not revered.
You're not even respected.
[chuckles softly]
[scoffs]
[music intensifies]
-Let me get my hat.
-Ted, come on.
-[Ted] Get off me!
-FBI! Hands up!
-Hey! FBI! Hands up!
-Get on the ground!
Don't fucking move!
On your knees.
-[Ted grunts]
-Arms behind your back.
Beyond your utility,
and your parties your colleagues
don't give a heck if you live or die.
And I don't give a damn
about my colleagues.
Not even Professor Barrus?
Who?
Professor Barrus from Johns Hopkins.
How do you know that name?
He's a big fan of yours.
I'm sure you wouldn't want
to displease him.
How about Dr. Wilkins?
And Dr. Peters at Tulane?
He worships you. He thinks
you're "a titan in a field of giants."
-[handcuffs rattling]
-[Ted sighs]
Up.
Suspect apprehended.
I repeat, suspect apprehended.
You have been reading my mail.
Not reading, Harry.
[music intensifies]
You wrote them?
You needed approval so desperately.
You were a slave to their admiration.
This just shows
how unwell you are.
Entirely consistent with the psychotic
behavior you've displayed this year.
You mean those performances
I put on for your stooges?
You told me once you were fighting
for the betterment of mankind,
but did you ever actually
make anyone better?
Did you improve an actual person's life?
Heal an actual person's mind?
You sure didn't help me.
[soft bass thumping]
It was never about progress.
You weren't serving
your country or your field.
You were serving yourself.
Your ego, your legacy,
but you screwed that up too because
you couldn't even finish the damn study!
A parting gift.
I trust it'll make an impression.
If you felt this way
why did you keep coming back here
week after week?
[sustained note humming]
To show you I could.
[man] We need a tech on the south side.
[dramatic music building slowly]
[man] Careful.
[man 2] Tripwire. Northeast corner.
[music continues building]
[music intensifying]
-[man 2] We got a bomb!
-You hear that? Bomb detected!
[music fades]
[soft piano music playing]
Ted Kaczynski, you're under arrest.
[sighs]
[chuckles]
-[cheering]
-[music turns victorious]
Hey. Great work.
Thank you. You too.
[Kap] A toast?
All right. Congratulations, everyone.
Job well done. Thank you.
Thank you, all.
Great work, everybody.
Thank you so much.
[slams]
-[breaks whine]
-[honks]
[music softens]
Ted Kaczynski, the former mathematics
professor who's lived a reclusive life
in the Montana woods for two decades,
is being held on
a relatively minor weapons charge.
But it is enough to keep him in jail
while the FBI makes its case
that he is the man who has caused
such terror in the last 18 years.
[eerie music playing]
[button clicks]
[eerie music playing]
[soft eerie string music playing]
[upbeat orchestral music playing]
[music fades]