The Darwin Incident (2026) s01e01 Episode Script

Freeze! Everyone, put your hands up!
This is the Animal Liberation Alliance.
We're occupying this laboratory!
Hey! The hell you think you're doing?
Don't try to resist.
Anyone disobeys, we shoot all of you!
Hey, watch it! What if you hit someone?
- I know. I almost pissed myself.
- Idiot!
Go ahead! You're free now!
Listen up, you evil scum!
The ALA is putting a stop
to your cruel experiments as of right now!
You got that? We're the ALA.
Hey! Over here!
A chimpanzee?
What did those bastards do to it?
Is it injured?
No. She's pregnant.
She's having a miscarriage.
Pregnant? But why would they
At this rate,
she and her baby are gonna die.
Do you read me?
The local cops will have been
alerted by now. Time to bail out!
What should we do?
Let's get her out of here.
We can't just leave her!
These guys don't give a shit about
the state's Animal Protection laws.
All right! We'll get her in the van and
take her to the nearest animal hospital.
Hurry!
So, it's definite, then?
Yes. That's the official opinion of
the National Academy of Sciences.
They've confirmed it
through DNA sequencing
and the latest genome analysis technology.
There's no mistake. This baby is
a hybrid born of a human and a chimpanzee.
A "Humanzee."
In 1859,
Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species
was published.
This is truer than principles
Discovered by geniuses like XY
You are so captivating
That I can't take my eyes off you
We are merely beings who are just living
But we are beings unlike any other
You make me wonder
Actors caught in a drama
Unaware of the ending
Our "relationship chart" is still blank
And it bothers me
We only want to share laughter
Yet somehow end up hurting each other
It wasn't supposed to be like this
I wonder what principles or clues
Apply to our relationship
A stereo yearning to blend
Like left and right
Could it be love?
I don't know
Are we at odds?
I don't think so
It's a frustrating thing
And I can't even tell if it's real
Just how deep is our relationship?
Why can't it be measured?
I want to know you
I want you to know me
And what's the level of expectation
When we get to know each other?
I know nothing else but the long-sought
Love, and I want to seek it out
You make me wonder
Just beyond words
You make me wonder
Charlie!
Charlie, where are you? Answer me!
He's probably gone to the "jungle" again.
Calm down, Hannah.
Can you hear me? It's time to get going.
Come back and get ready for the day!
Charlie? Can you hear me?
Good morning, Mom, Dad.
Charlie, promise me you won't do
this sort of thing at school, okay?
You can't go jumping out of trees!
Why not?
Because normal high schoolers don't,
that's why not.
Goodness. Now hurry
and go get ready or you'll be late.
What a nice day.
It's the perfect weather
for your first day of school.
Guess so.
Are you nervous or something?
No, not really.
EPISODE 1
HUMANZEE
Okay.
Now, don't worry, Charlie, okay?
We've told the school all about you.
You're just going to learn
and make friends like a normal student.
It'll be fun.
Yeah. I know, Mom. Like a normal student.
- Have a great day.
- I will.
You should just go in with him,
if you're that worried.
At least for the first day.
Are you kidding me?
He's 15! He's too old to have
his parents hovering over him.
Any normal teenage boy would hate that.
I just hope everything goes okay
this time!
So, this weekend
Is he
Wow, that's a first.
Look at him.
Hey, did you guys see?
It's Charlie the Humanzee!
He's really here!
He's, like, half chimpanzee
and half human, right?
Yeah!
He's the child of a guy called
Dr. Grossman and a female chimp.
"Grossman created the Humanzee
using genome-editing technology.
He then disappeared immediately following
a raid by a radical animal rights group.
His whereabouts currently
remain unknown."
There you have it.
- Freaky!
- Freaky!
Check out this clip of Charlie meeting
the president at the White House!
Wild, right?
This was on the news!
Send me the link!
- Is this seat taken?
- No.
Guess the Humanzee uses a laptop too.
He really looks the part.
- There he is.
- It's really him.
Did you see Charlie?
Kinda cute, don't you think?
Totally! Bet he'd be a hit on Insta.
Why dontcha ask
for a selfie with him, then?
You can invite him to the club
while you're at it.
Great idea!
- Like, everyone would notice.
- Right?
I don't really want to go near him.
Did you know an adult chimp has
a grip strength of over 600 pounds?
For real?
He doesn't look so tough though.
He's, like, way cuter than a monkey!
- Hey, now.
- What's goin' on over there?
- Yo, what's up?
- Ozzy.
That Humanzee up in the tree
doing acrobatics or somethin'?
- Nah, it's a cat.
- A cat?
Aw, a kitty? Where?
See? Up on that branch.
Oh, yeah. There it is! Adorable!
Probably climbed up and got stuck.
Happened to our cat too.
What? That's not good.
It's crying! Poor baby.
They call the fire department or anything?
Not sure.
Oh, yeah! What about calling
the TV station? Would they help?
Hey, looks like we got a hero
on our hands. Who is that?
I think it's Lucy.
What? It's a girl?
Hey, that's misogyny.
That nerdy honors student?
Think she'll be okay?
- Ain't really her wheelhouse.
- You got this!
Yeah, seriously.
You're doing good. Keep it up.
It's scared.
It's okay. Come on, that's it.
- Nice catch!
- Nice catch!
- That was amazing, Lucy!
- Are you okay?
You've got this, honors student!
Come down nice and slow!
You'd look like a real jackass
if you fall now.
I'll pull you up, so don't move.
Okay.
There's no way.
Did you guys see that?
- Unbelievable!
- You're kiddin' me.
You're amazing. That was really awesome!
I thought I was gonna have a heart attack!
Thank you.
Here.
I don't think it got scratched up.
Okay.
- Thanks.
- I think I got a pretty awesome video.
Lemme see?
He's just leaving.
I'm so glad the kitty cat got down safely.
Guess he really is half-chimpanzee, huh?
No.
- I'm saying it's impossible.
- What is?
Even chimps can't move like that.
There's no animal on Earth
that can do what he just did.
Hi. Okay if I sit here?
Hi. Okay if I sit here?
I'm pretty sure
you can sit wherever you like.
Right.
Hey, you know about this?
There was this philosopher who suddenly
wondered what it was like to be a bat.
Like, how do bats hear things?
How do they experience things?
He thought about it for ages
and finally came to the conclusion
that if you're not a bat,
you'll never know!
Pretty funny, right?
There a question in there?
I've always wondered.
What's it like to be a Humanzee?
Do you see the world differently
from the rest of us?
I wonder about that too.
What's it like to be a human?
I'm Lucy!
Thanks for saving me earlier!
Wanna be friends?
Okay.
I took the cat to the principal's office.
They're gonna put up posters to try
and find it a foster home!
Yeah?
By the way--
Hey, hey, Charlie.
Will you take a selfie with me?
Sure.
- Whoo-hoo!
- Me too! Me too!
Hey, what school
did you attend before this one?
What middle school did you go to?
Is that the veggie lunch?
Do you not eat meat, Charlie?
Or maybe you can't?
I'm pretty sure I can,
but I don't remember eating any.
My adoptive parents are vegan.
Vegan? Really? That's amazing!
I tried a plant-based diet once.
I lost ten pounds!
Hey, you hear that?
So the Humanzee's a vegan.
What a joke!
Ozzy!
Hey, Charlie's progressive!
Yeah! You're worse than a monkey, Ozzy!
You little
Come on, leave it.
Progressive? What a load of bull!
What about all those vegan terrorists
in New York and LA, huh?
- Smashing glass, covering everything in
- Ozzy's family runs a diner.
graffiti, ruining people's businesses!
That's just a few people.
Got nothing to do with Charlie.
Okay, then.
Seeing as you're so progressive
and enlightened, let me ask you something.
Sure.
Vegans believe animals' lives
are all equal, yeah?
So you shouldn't
discriminate against species.
That's a badass philosophy, no question!
But how 'bout this?
Say there was a mouse carrying
a deadly disease,
and it was about to bite you.
And the only way to stop it was Bang!
To take the gun in your hand
and shoot the poor lil thing.
What would you do?
After all,
its life's worth the same as yours!
Would a kind-hearted vegan give up
their own life for a single mouse?
I know. I'd run away super fast.
You can't! That's out of the question.
Okay, well, I'd go to the hospital
with the mouse right after it bit me!
That way the hospital can make a medicine.
That's so smart!
This is idiotic.
If it was me
I think I'd shoot the mouse dead.
Hey, come on now!
That mouse's life is just as valuable
as your own!
Wouldn't you feel sorry for it?
But if I didn't shoot it, I'd die.
See?
You can call yourself a vegan,
but it's all the same in the end!
Ozzy. Come on, that's enough. Let's go.
You're honest though. I like you!
You're half wild animal, after all.
Animals have to be ruthless.
It's survival of the fittest!
That's the harsh reality,
the law of the jungle! Right?
But
if you were the one carrying the disease,
I'd shoot you dead too.
What did he just say?
Scary, right?
What he said earlier
If you were the one carrying the disease,
I'd shoot you dead too.
Charlie.
- Charlie?
- There was a spider.
I took its food away from it.
Let's go. Bert is waiting at home
with freshly brewed cups of coffee.
- Well? How was your first day?
- How, like?
Like, did you enjoy it?
Think you'll make friends?
I hope you haven't been
jumping out of any trees.
Nope.
I didn't jump out of any trees, Mom.
- It worked! And right on time too!
- Cheers!
It's already on social media!
Meat eaters, watch out!
But it looks like a small kid was there.
Yeah.
And?
I just
This is our opening salvo.
We're declaring war.
And in war,
collateral damage is unavoidable.
Right! I know that, of course, but
A kid?
All right then, tell me this.
What about all the little animals
that must've gotten caught in the blast?
If you're worried about the lives
that have to be sacrificed,
why are you only focused
on the human beings?
Listen up!
The ones who really deserve our pity
are the animals
who are strung up and skinned alive!
The animals who are born
just to be murdered!
You're all warriors who have
relinquished your human privileges
to stand up for
the equal rights of all animals!
Aren't you?
We are!
Sound the trumpets, raise the battle cry!
Bring the hammer down on humanity!
I've posted on all the sites,
claiming responsibility for the attack.
It's already causing a nice ruckus.
I bet.
Those armchair activists will finally
sit up and take notice.
They'll see that if you want
to change the world,
first you have to wake it up
with a slap in the face.
Damn right!
And the reborn ALA
is gonna be on the front lines!
Our next target is this little guy.
Charlie?
That's right! It's been 15 long years.
And what a swell kid he's grown into.
We've got to get ahold of him somehow
for the ALA's war.
Our war.
You might be the one I'm searching for
Make this moment last forevermore
Starting my day just the same as always
Even when night ends
And then the dawn finds its way
Hey, that's why I rush back into the flow
Facing all these
Super crazy hectic days I know
Singing while it's stabbing my brain
Just like filling up the holes remained
I'll keep on breaking through
Without stopping
Even if insane
Are you sure?
I know it's boring, right?
I pray softly
Even if I live how I want, I'm lonely
Stacking fragile things
That will fade someday
Just same as you
I am also just lonely, fall away
Turn It Up!
There's no way I can stop now
Turn It Up!
Let it sway with a gentle sound
Turn It Up!
Every thought I have of you
Turn It Up!
Riding straight to happiness too