The New Stanford Prison Experiment (2026) s01e01 Episode Script

[somber music playing]
[woman] Have you ever been
inside of a prison before?
I've never been
inside a prison before, no.
[woman] Are you familiar with the original
Stanford Prison Experiment?
I don't know too much about it.
I just know that it got kind of crazy.
[man 1] I've been to jail plenty of times.
It's definitely giving me a little anxiety
not knowing what's coming.
Honestly, I have no idea
what to expect. [laughs]
[man 2] Worst-case scenario? Um…
I find out my…
inner monster
is stronger than I thought it was.
[cell doors slamming]
-[gentle music playing]
-[film reel whirring]
In the early '70s, an infamous
psychological experiment was conducted
known as the Stanford Prison Experiment.
It had 24 college students
as participants.
Half of them were assigned as guards.
The other half were named inmates.
It was meant to run 14 days,
but it got shut down after just six.
The guards escalated
their abuse of power fast.
[participants shouting]
[Lee] Aggression, humiliation,
psychological control.
Against the wall! Hands flat! Move it!
Move it!
[Brooks] And the lead researcher,
Philip Zimbardo,
famously concluded that power corrupts.
But what people don't talk about
is how much he influenced it.
There were ethical breaches,
encouragement to abuse, direction.
-[student] Line up right now!
-[students shouting indistinctly]
[Brooks] The line between observation
and participation got very blurry.
As a behavioral psychologist,
I've always wondered what would happen
if we re-ran
the Stanford Prison Experiment.
And in today's world, the study
of power couldn't be more relevant.
I'm joined in this experiment
by Trymaine Lee,
a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
who often reports
on power dynamics in America.
And Michael Cantrell,
a former federal correctional officer
with nearly 30 years of experience
inside correctional facilities.
Thirty participants,
all from diverse backgrounds,
all with varying reasons
for taking part in the experiment.
[man 1] It's a challenge,
and people aren't really
challenging each other anymore.
[man 2] Through this experiment,
I am looking to let go of control
to see how
I can even allow that to happen.
[woman] I always say
you always have one life to live.
Let's see what happens and go for it.
Eight will be chosen as guards,
the other 22, inmates.
[Brooks] And this time,
we'll be inside a real prison facility.
No interference. No bias.
Just observation.
To try and answer the question
that was asked over 50 years ago,
does power corrupt?
[dramatic music playing]
[somber music playing]
[brakes squeal, hiss]
[Major B.] Everyone off the bus.
Form a single file line
at the end of the bus and face me.
[Lee] There has never been
a more important time
to examine power than right now.
In society today,
there's a clear line between
those who feel like they have power
and those who feel powerless.
[Brooks] Just like in the world,
we're gonna see
how that ends for our participants.
Does it end in division
and strife and conflict,
or do they somehow come together?
All right, y'all follow me.
[gate beeping]
We're gonna walk straight
through the gates. Single-file line.
Y'all keep walking.
Just stay facing forward.
All right, stop.
I need four rows facing me.
If I call your name,
come stand next to me and face the others.
Hudson.
[tense, dramatic music playing]
Washington.
Gaona.
Berens.
Jefferson.
You know, one of the major differences
with our experiment
compared to the original
is that we have three female participants.
[Lee] And we've been contemplating
the role of gender here, right?
Do the women
assert themselves more or less?
That's a… formidable challenge.
Miloki.
Lee.
McDaniel.
You eight are the guards.
[exhales sharply]
The rest are inmates.
Holy shit.
[Major B.] Guards, follow me.
[Hudson] Would I rather be a guard
or a prisoner?
My personality and my persona,
I definitely would rather be a guard.
If somebody has a problem
with authority in general,
I absolutely want to break that person.
If they don't get broke, they're gonna be
a problem the whole time they're in there.
It's just like a wild horse.
Every horse can be broke.
If somebody does not want to comply,
then at some point, you're gonna
have to find their breaking point.
[man] Being an inmate,
that's gonna test my temper,
test my patience with people,
knowing that I didn't do anything wrong.
Yeah, I feel like I'd have
a little bit more conflict as a prisoner.
[man 2] I was a police officer
in Jackson, Mississippi.
I've gone my life not going to prison
and, here, I'm in a situation where
I'll be getting told what to do
day in and day out.
I haven't been told what to do
in over 20 years.
Looks like I'm free.
I'd rather be an inmate for sure because
I am a fifth grade social studies teacher.
I'm essentially a guard every day.
I'm a guard of fifth-grade children.
I don't want to be a guard anymore.
-Didn't see you standing here.
-You don't have to.
Just forget about me.
I'll just walk out of here.
The guards,
they're gonna have to be strict.
They're gonna have to be mean.
I don't want to.
-This is legit.
-Yeah.
I wanna have fun with it.
I wanna pull pranks on the guards.
I wanna test the experiment,
mess with the other inmates.
Follow me.
I'm excited just to mix it up.
It's gettin' real. Let's go.
[Brooks] This is a re-imagination of
the original Stanford Prison Experiment.
In this version,
there are four pre-planned phases
that are going to help us
get closer to understanding
how do power dynamics
influence people's behavior?
The first phase is transformation.
[Cantrell] This transformation happens
in stages.
They're gonna go into booking.
-Lest we forget, we're in a real facility.
-Yes, we are.
Oh, absolutely.
And there's only one intake in the jail,
so they're sharing these walls
with actual inmates.
[tense, dramatic music playing]
[screaming in distance]
[Cantrell] And then you have the guards
going through formal guard training,
learning the same protocols
as good correctional officers.
You have the toilet here. So you wanna
make sure there's nothing in here.
Use a flashlight,
look behind the toilet, underneath.
[Cantrell] They're gonna get
their identity taken away,
and they're gonna be given uniforms.
[Major B.] This is your badge.
Don't disrespect it.
[Cantrell] The inmates will get
their identity taken away,
and they're gonna be given uniforms.
But how much of who you are can you keep?
-Yeah.
-Will it shine past the uniforms?
-Will it shine past the badges?
-Yeah.
[door buzzes, closes]
[indistinct shouting in distance]
[shouting continues]
Is this on purpose or serendipity?
Did they just happen to have two inmates
going nuts while we're waiting here?
[Foy] This is how jail always is, bro.
[chuckles] It's gonna be a long two weeks.
Dear Heavenly Father,
I ask you to watch over me.
[shouting continues]
[man] Being in that intake room,
I feel terrified.
I think it will definitely be
a test of courage.
-[shouting continues]
-[dramatic music playing]
[Sharp] You're waiting
for your name to be called.
[guard] Sharp!
[Sharp] It is like teleporting
into a completely different world.
-[guard] What's your full name?
-Jackson David Sharp.
[guard] Okay.
[Sharp] 100% I feel a loss of control.
[guard] Back against the wall.
Face the camera.
[shutter clicking]
[Sharp] You have no guarantee as to what
is gonna happen in terms of your safety.
-[man screaming in distance]
-[alarm sounding]
There's always somebody like that.
[guard] Sharp!
[man shouting in distance]
[Sharp] It does definitely feel
interesting to take off my clothes
and be assigned an outfit.
I think it's another aspect
of stripping you of your identity
and who you are,
making you just another number.
Paramore!
[Sharp] I feel like I am in jail.
[music fades out]
Okay, in front of you are a list of rules
that the inmates are expected to follow.
There's a lot of information
you're gonna have
and you need to explain that to them.
It's gonna be your job
to enforce the rules.
You have to take control.
If they fail to follow an order,
they'll go to lockdown.
Okay?
As soon as you yell "lockdown,"
they need to go in their cell.
If they don't go in their cell,
there's consequences.
They could have their phone time taken.
They could have their rec time taken.
You could put them in 23 and 1 lockdown.
[door slams shut]
[Major B.] That means they're allowed
one hour a day out in the day room area.
So we choose to enforce the rules?
That is gonna be your job
to enforce the rules.
I'm the CEO and founder
of a company called Next Level Pros.
One of the reasons
I've always been an entrepreneur
is that I always position myself
as the one that has the power
or the authority.
But I'm totally open for another leader
or somebody else, like, stepping in
as long as they can out-alpha me.
It's up to you to take control of the pod.
Don't lose the authority.
Don't be disrespected.
The ones that have tried
fighting against me
ends up being not a great situation.
[Major B.] Last thing
I'm gonna leave you with,
it's a slippery slope
to start bending the rules
and allowing inmates to break them.
At no point in time should you ever make
an inmate feel like you are not in control
while you are here.
Do I make myself clear?
[tense, dramatic music playing]
Let's go.
As this transformation phase
unfolds over the next couple of days,
I'm really curious to see
how the guards interpret the authority
that they have in that role.
In other words,
how are they gonna use that power?
That's right.
[Brooks] Will they ultimately abuse it?
And if the inmates sense that,
and it goes too far,
will they acquiesce to that power
and that show of force,
or will they somehow
push back and fight back?
Exactly.
Here comes our first inmates.
[sighs]
What the fuck am I doing here?
-[Lee] The second inmate coming in.
-[Brooks] Yup, number two.
Welcome to your home
for the next two weeks.
-This is it?
-Mm-hmm.
Hella small. The cells are so little.
[Zaremba laughs] That's what I said too.
Five star only. Oh, we got bunk beds.
Imagine being on the top shelf.
If you move in your sleep,
rolling right off, right on the cement.
Yeah, that's wild.
[Zaremba] Brutal. Just dropping a shit…
-I feel like you gotta… take turns.
-Take turns.
Inside, outside the cell.
-Wait till I leave the cell, then do it.
-Yeah, you're onto something.
This is small as hell.
It is small.
[Foy] As I walk into the pod,
there's three things I noticed.
It was small, there was no TV,
and there was no clock.
What time does the microwave say?
[Ellenburg] 8:51.
[Foy] That kind of sucks
because a lot of things
go by a clock in jail,
so you look at that a lot.
-Yeah!
-What'd you do time for?
Lots of shit. Driving without a license.
Trying to kill my little brother.
-Getting caught with a bunch of drugs. Uh…
-[Zaremba] That one's bad.
License one's okay.
We'll deal with that one.
Yeah.
Growing up, like, I didn't show a lot of
respect for authority when I was younger.
My mom spent lots of time
calling out of work,
having to come pick me up
for being in trouble in school.
I've done this plenty of times, bro.
My name is Larry, I'm 42 years old,
and I'm from St. Louis, Missouri.
But pretty much everybody
calls me Scary Larry.
If you add up all the days I've ever done
behind bars since I was born,
it'd probably be like 350 days.
Just a guesstimate.
[dramatic music playing]
[Foy] I was doing a lot of dumb things
when I was younger.
Skipping school,
smoking weed with my friends,
experimenting with other things.
Until I had my first kid,
and then I became an adult.
1000% my kids changed me.
Right now, I'm a glass blower,
and we have some smoke shops in St. Louis.
And now that I'm older,
I live my life off of
the more good you do for other people,
the more good'll come back to you
in your life.
Have y'all never been arrested before?
You gotta wait
till the Black people leave.
You're not allowed to ask us that.
That's a hard no-no.
[all laughing]
I just wonder how the people
who are guards are gonna act.
Just hope you don't get put in solitary.
That shit would be ass.
I will admit, I don't know
if it was just the psychology of it,
or the way
they called them out one at a time,
but, as I seen those guys, I was like,
"Oh, you guys are enemies now."
Yeah.
And I was sitting next to you on the bus
like nothing was wrong.
-Yeah.
-[Cook] You know what I'm saying?
Where are the guards at, man?
I wanna see the guards.
Where are the guards at?
-Here they go.
-[Brooks] Here we go.
So, these guys are the night shift guards.
Oh, got our names on here?
You just now noticed that?
I'd barely walked in here and I saw it.
Oh, Lord.
-Them are snazzy.
-Oh, legit!
[Lee] They're excited…
-[Brooks] They are.
-The badge and glasses.
Okay, it's kind of giving…
It's kind of chic.
Those are sweet.
-Hello.
-Right?
-Some women boss boots right there.
-I'd wear these.
[Chris Lee] Those are cool.
Those are awesome.
This first interaction inside a prison
between the guards and inmates
is gonna be critical.
The tone they set tonight
will dictate a lot moving forward.
-Okay, so game plan.
-Tell us, coach.
Game plan. So I'll come in,
I'll get everybody lined up.
-[McDaniel] Loud but respectful, I think.
-[Chris Lee] Loud but respectful.
Okay.
So, I lead teams on a regular basis.
I am the CEO of my company
and found a lot of success, yeah.
I've ran multiple nine-figure businesses.
Tonight, we're gonna be a little bit
more lenient, but I want you to chip in.
I want anybody when called upon, chip in.
I've always been
in a lot of positions of power.
I'm Chris Lee. I am 41 years old
from Pasco, Washington.
Growing up, the rule in our house was
at 12 years old,
we had to provide for ourselves.
And so I got my first job
when I was 9 years old.
And just that foundation in work ethic
has allowed me to be able to endure
difficult things throughout my life.
I launched my first business
at the age of 24.
And most of my career,
I've been an entrepreneur.
I love to make a buck.
Let's go!
Come on, baby!
Chalk up another one, let's go!
For me, power is influence.
Those that are able to influence to get
the things done that they want done.
And so, for me,
I'm influence-hungry, not power-hungry.
All right, let's go.
I'm a big believer that you attract more
bees through honey rather than vinegar.
And that when you have
the hearts of people,
they will do anything for you.
-Oh, here we are.
-Oh shit, someone's here.
Ladies and gentlemen,
boys and girls of all ages,
welcome to the night shift.
My name is Officer Lee.
This is Officer McDaniel,
Officer Gaona, and Officer Jefferson.
We're gonna be with you
the next couple of weeks.
You guys play nice, we play nice.
You guys don't play nice,
we have some consequences.
[Eldridge] That's fair.
[Chris Lee] That's fair, right?
That's fair.
As long as there's good mutual respect,
I'd love to have great conversation
and just build a cool culture inside here.
Anybody else wanna speak?
Anything to say for the group?
Uh, showers, what's up with that?
Just whenever you want?
-As long as we're not in lockdown.
-[Zaremba] Cool, cool.
[Chris Lee] Okay?
Group showers if necessary.
-[inmates protest]
-[Chris Lee] Ah, just joking.
I guess this dude, the guard dude,
is like a team builder guy.
He's a what?
His job is like
team building or something.
He looks like it, yeah.
He looks like a Ken doll, bro.
Good for him.
[Chris Lee] Anyways… Hey, listen. Listen.
We're gonna play a little spirit fingers,
a little spirit fingers
to be able to get it going.
Okay.
[Cook] From what I've gathered so far,
is it seems like Officer Lee
on the night shift,
he plays the guard role in a positive way.
[Chris Lee] So I say, "Ready, go."
And whatever I do,
if I do it and you do it, you're out.
[Cook] But it's very like…
[unenthusiastically]
"Okay, here we go," you know?
Let's go. [chuckles]
[Cook] That's a little much.
The night shift's, you know,
they seem… I call it Kumbaya.
Yo, it's the Kumbaya crew.
Ready… go!
Gone, gone, gone.
That's just my opinion.
Um…
It's an experiment, right?
Ready… go!
Done. Winner.
[all applaud]
[Chris Lee] Hey,
let's give 078 a two-clap.
[all clap twice]
[Chris Lee] All right,
we're gonna have dinner. Let's go.
Seems sort of like
camp counselors and campers.
It really does.
And we'll see where this takes us,
but remember,
these inmates are being placed
in a very adverse environment.
And sooner or later,
they're bound to get disruptive.
You guys, go and grab your spoons
so you can eat your food.
[Zaremba] What is that?
[Terry] That's tuna, kinda.
-[Terry] Kinda.
-[Zaremba] That's disgusting.
[man] Bro, there's a fucking hair
in this, too. Disgusting, bro.
It's interesting to me
that they did not go over all the rules.
I agree with you. How are these
night guards gonna maintain control
if they haven't even
established rules yet?
In the long term,
that is not gonna work out.
All right, Officer Gaona's
gonna give you your cell numbers.
[Gaona] Yep.
In cell one,
we got inmate 158-254-768,
in cell one.
It's gonna be so interesting
in the coming days,
how folks survive with each other,
who becomes friends,
who becomes adversaries.
That's it.
We gotta shit in here together.
You know that?
I know. I'll get with it.
-I'll deal with it.
-It's fine.
Courtesy flush, bro.
You just flush right when it hits.
[Sharp] Okay.
Put a towel over you if you don't want
nobody to see your junk.
I ain't gonna be looking at your dick.
You ain't gotta worry.
-I won't look either.
-[laughs]
[Sharp] Larry's cool. He's funny.
When I found out
he was gonna be my cellmate,
I was a little bit excited,
but a little bit nervous.
This is my cellie right here.
Yeah, y'all trying to see,
this is my cellie right here.
Finna take over the jail.
I think it could go one of two ways.
I think he could either end up loving me
and we could become BFFs,
or he might end up trying to kill me
the way he told me
he tried to kill his brother.
[Gaona] 261-078, you're in 11,
and 280-925,
you are also in 11.
[Chris Lee] We've got 20 minutes
until lockdown.
-[Cook] First day, no nicotine.
-[laughs]
-Oh, boy.
-[laughs]
[Cook] What a vibe that's gonna be.
[tense, dramatic music playing]
-[Padilla] Whoo! Gonna be a rough.
-It's gonna be a rough.
When we first entered the cell,
that's where reality hit for me.
Now it's… This is it.
-They didn't give us no pillows?
-There's no pillows, bro?
Nah, we're gonna have to use…
That's what I'm saying.
It's very hard
being in that tiny little room.
[Chris Lee] All right,
lights out in cells!
The moment they close the cell…
[door slams]
…you can't get out.
So it's like, "What now?"
What's that?
[Padilla] Oh, this is the worst.
This is the worst.
[Nazarov] Good night, my dude.
[snoring]
[Faussette] This is way tougher
than I thought.
Wait. Who's that? Who's that?
That's Ronald.
-Right, the one who used to be a cop.
-That's right.
[Faussette breathing heavily]
Coming into this correctional facility,
I was fine during the day.
And then the sound
of the jail door closing,
it… like, I literally felt like
I could not breathe.
I was fine until the door closed.
[Pierce] Totally, totally.
[Faussette] And you know that
there's nothing you can do to get out.
And that was the first time
that I truly felt claustrophobic.
Chest got tight,
anxiety started kicking in.
Felt like there was a disconnect
between my mind and body.
[Pierce] It's totally understandable, man.
-It's crazy.
-[Faussette] Yeah.
[Pierce] It's tough. It's tough.
[somber music playing]
-[buzzer sounds]
-[doors unlock]
I probably woke up about four times,
five times last night.
Just like, "Fuck, I'm really in jail
and this is uncomfortable."
Coming back into this setting is just not…
I don't know, I didn't think it would
fuck with my head as much as it has.
I think one time I was dreaming that
I wasn't in jail and I woke up like, fuck.
I think many of them are feeling
surprised by how realistic it is.
As opposed to the earlier experiment,
this truly has felt like, seemed like,
and you're seeing it
with each one of them,
this is jail.
[Brooks] Okay, here comes
the new guard shift.
[Berens] Morning!
[Chris Lee] What up? How are we?
Last night,
the initial wave of guards came in,
buddy-buddy with these guys,
not setting strong boundaries.
-That's right.
-[Jefferson] Good night.
Now, the big question is,
this new shift of guards,
are they gonna present
a united front to the inmates?
Yeah.
Real quick before we go out there.
Obviously, any situation,
everybody's gonna have
different strong points, right?
And so, we all work together
to use each other's strong points.
If we set the tone in the morning
with an organized structure,
that really sets the tone for the day.
I feel like playing that role as a guard
is like anything that you do,
where you're in a leadership role
and you have the responsibility of that,
you have to put your foot down
and show them
who the bigger bull in the pasture is.
My name is Chet Hudson.
I'm from a small town
in Pelahatchie, Mississippi.
If you know where nowhere is
and then you take a left to nothing,
that's exactly
where I'm at in Mississippi.
[dramatic music playing]
[Hudson] I mean, I'd like to say
that I'm a pretty cool dude.
Like, I mean, uh…
When I walk in, people are like,
"Hey, there's that guy," you know?
I just carry myself in a confident manner.
If another country wanted to know
what it looked like in America,
I would love for them to be able
to just, like, look at me in my profile
and be like,
"That guy right there," you know?
"He represents America."
Not America, but just 'Merica, you know?
Killed a turkey today.
Outdoors.
Very much self-made.
I kinda had to figure life out
at a very, very young age.
And the cold, harsh, honest truth
that you cannot word it any better
other than just life doesn't owe you shit.
We're the bigger ones,
so we can be the enforcers, the muscle.
We'll be the muscle and the dickheads.
Yeah. He's got the keys,
I'm the one… the organizer.
-Yeah.
-Yeah. There you go.
-[Miloki] Let's do it.
-[Hudson] Let's do this.
-[Washington] Let's roll.
-[Berens] Here we go.
[Washington] First time being a cop.
You know, what we're gonna see now
is the guards are gonna come in here
and they're gonna bring
the inmates out of their cell
and get them to do bed checks.
You ain't asking them to get up.
You're telling them to get up.
What y'all are gonna do
is have your beds nice, neatly made.
That's how we gotta start our day,
with a folded bed.
Control is what they're looking for
all throughout the day.
Even something trivial
like bed checks, that's a tool.
That's a tool that they use
to control and show their authority.
All right. I like the bottom bunk.
That top one still looks pretty rough.
Whatever that is, redo it.
Sorry.
[Hudson] Hey,
we're not showering right now.
[Cook] I'm sorry.
No, we done said that 100,000 times.
When am I supposed to shower?
You're gonna shower
when we tell you to shower.
We gonna allot time for showers.
Right now is not the time.
[Hudson] We're also not leaving our cells
without clothes on either.
Every time you're out of your cell,
you ought to be wearing
that yellow uniform.
You can't come out with your top off.
While you're inside your cell,
you can do what you want.
-Okay.
-Out here, you need to wear the uniform.
Hey, go back to your cell for right now.
[Hardey] Before we even went in,
I already knew.
I was like, "Yeah, bro." [sighs]
I was like, I just knew
he was gonna be like, not cool, bro.
[Cook] Oh, Hudson? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
-I hate him.
-[laughing] Yeah.
-[Cook] Not a good guy.
-[Hardey] You know it's bad when…
-Or he's taking this way too seriously.
-He is taking it way too seriously.
One of the two. Either he is
a good guy in the real world,
and he's just taking this role
way too seriously.
-And he's making himself a jackass.
-Uh-huh.
Or he's not a good dude.
Yeah.
All right, y'all.
We're gonna get everybody to line up.
If anybody is inside of their cell,
we need you to come out.
[Hudson] Get over here and get in line.
[Washington] All right, listen up, y'all.
We're gonna go over
a few things real quick.
-[indistinct chatter]
-Yo! Yo! It's our time.
All right, the way that this is gonna go
is y'all kind of set the tone for it.
We got certain expectations
that we expect out of y'all.
And as long as everybody's doing that,
we're gonna make this
the best possible experience for y'all.
The least that y'all wanna cooperate,
the worse it's gonna get, okay?
975, can you come out
of your cell, please?
We're all out here right now. Thank you.
Like that guy. Don't be that guy.
There's absolutely no sense
in causing chaos for no reason.
[tense music playing]
We're gonna keep this pod clean.
And this ain't a pig pen.
Y'all's mama ain't here.
Your wife ain't here.
We're all grown men, okay?
And then, again, have enough respect
not to be walking around here
with no clothes on.
[Cook] In my opinion,
it was a little easier
having boxers
to go to the shower and come back.
But I understand now,
and I will abide by the rules.
[Hudson] Okay.
But last night it was told that
the showers are open until we go to bed.
So it was told we can go and use them…
And that's how
they're running theirs on nights.
Okay?
We are going to refer to each other
by inmate numbers, okay?
[Brooks] Already look at the difference
in their demeanor.
The day shift is much more firm
compared to the night shift.
Go immediately to your cell
when lockdown is called.
And they've already read them the rules.
Yeah. But this means
that the shifts are inconsistent.
[Hudson] Y'all are gonna get breakfast.
As we move forward, this is gonna cause
stress and tension with the inmates,
not knowing who's in charge.
Yeah, that's right.
[Foy] Oh, oatmeal! I hate oatmeal!
Oh, fuck!
And they ain't even give us no sugar.
This shit's horrible.
And I'm not gonna eat it.
Two meals in a row I didn't eat.
Fuck this.
It's fucking stupid.
I don't wanna do this for 14 days, man.
I'm not doing this.
I'm not joking.
This is where I become a not nice person.
That's Larry.
He's so angry about it.
It's as if lockdown, the meals,
this new shift's heavy-handed style,
-it all triggered something deeper.
-Right.
I still don't know
why I said I would do this.
Before we got to the jail,
I wasn't too worried about it.
But coming back into this setting,
it definitely brings back memories.
Not a great feeling.
For somebody that's been to jail
and spent time in jail,
like, why am I here?
I haven't been frustrated like this
in a long time.
I feel like I'm gonna snap on somebody.
This is turning me back
into the fucking person I used to be.
I've spent a lot of time
bettering myself as a person,
and I don't wanna be that guy no more
because I'm a good person now.
[tense, dramatic music playing]
Our escape is literally right here.
We just open this gate.
You ever climb barbed wire before?
-That shit will tear you up.
-That's, uh… Well…
I was just looking, officer!
[inmates chuckle]
I wasn't doing nothing wrong.
From an experiment standpoint,
I just think it's interesting
to try and test the waters.
In a few days,
I'll start messing with the guards.
-You down?
-Hell yeah.
I was thinking about
locking one of them in my cell.
If it's an experiment,
variables are supposed to change.
We know what happens
if we follow the rules.
What we don't know is how will they react
if we one time just say no.
[Terry] They gonna take you to solitary.
You really wouldn't…
-You really would hate that.
-Yeah.
Listen, outside of this,
yes, I'm very by the rules.
I follow the rules of society.
Here is the classroom.
Thing is to keep the lessons fun,
keep the kids engaged.
If I'm bored teaching it,
they're bored learning it.
My work really does mean everything to me.
Sure, I get annoyed.
The kids say "6-7" a million times.
But there's not a day that I'm at my job
where I'm counting down the hours.
Who do you think's trouble
out of all these kids?
[laughs] You.
In my classroom, a lot of these kids don't
have male role models in their lives.
I am it for them.
So I'm doing this because
I'm teaching them
to be curious about life.
[dial tone]
[Zaremba] As a history teacher, I know
that some of the most important moments
in history
came from people questioning authority.
And this experiment
is the perfect opportunity
to show my students
that it's okay to stand up to power.
And that's what makes it fun.
Who's in cell three?
Have y'all showered?
Do y'all need medicine?
Imma take my…
Imma take my medicine and I'll go.
You're gonna take your medicine
when he tells you
you're gonna take your medicine.
But we're all gonna wait.
Take this medicine, little bro.
[laughs]
[menacing music playing]
[Zaremba laughs] That was bad.
[laughing]
[Eldridge] Pete is very interesting.
Talking back to the guards in the pod.
And for me, I try to be as respectful
of the guards as I can be
because being an asshole to the guards
is not how I want
my story to play out in here.
I just want my son
coming out of this experience to know
authority's not always right,
authority's not always on your side.
But authority is still authority.
[Padilla] 975,
little things that he's doing is like, yo.
Chill, bruh, 'cause if we gotta do a 23-1
'cause of you,
then we about to have a problem.
Well, that's okay, he gonna learn
when they sit his ass in that 23-1.
I feel like he just likes
to cause problems on the pod.
And I feel like Peter has his mind made up
about this experiment.
And he's just…
It's just not somebody I'm rocking with.
[Foy] I'm fucking starving.
[Hardey] What time is it, bro?
-Check the microwave.
-That time's wrong.
[Berens] It's nine minutes off.
[Zaremba] You should fix it.
[Berens] 975,
you cannot be touching the microwave.
Steer clear of this area.
[Eldridge] What's Pete doing? Pete?
Yeah, don't change it. Don't change it.
Just leave it how it is, bro.
Bro, come on, man.
Pete.
[microwave beeping]
[Eldridge] Yeah, get your dude, man.
In here,
there's consequences to everything.
Now, because you have
no control over yourself
to where you cannot stop touching stuff,
those situations will only create
more chaos for the group.
Did you change it?
[Zaremba] Yeah, I did.
Everyone had a freakin' meltdown.
Yeah, 'cause we been rocking like that
since last night, bro.
Who cares?
Man, what are you, the clock manager?
I can be, bro.
Well, I'm making it
the actual time it actually is.
See, now Pete is creating a real issue
for himself with the rest of the group.
-I know.
-[whistles]
All right, we're about
to go out there for recs.
Freedom!
What about that microwave?
-They're still ginned up, right?
-Yeah.
[Brooks] I think this moment
actually says a lot about conformity.
There are years and years
of psychological research
showing that people will go
to great lengths
to go along to get along,
to not stir the pot.
We're seeing a lot of these guys
not stirring the pot
with the exception of Pete.
All right, obviously,
975 being a pain in the ass.
So we will be taking their microwave.
People that never really had to take
responsibility for their actions,
people that have never just
been bitch-slapped with reality,
those are the ones that,
if you give an inch, they'll take a mile.
Some people need an attitude adjustment.
-Is this the guards' place, though?
-Oh, absolutely. I--
Oh, here we go.
[tense, dramatic music playing]
[Lee] That's an infraction
that cost everybody.
-Oh, so this is a collective punishment.
-[Lee] That's right.
[Eldridge] Bro! Bro, ain't no way
they took the microwave, bro.
-[Zaremba] They stole our microwave.
-Yup.
[Eldridge] I'm a little salty
about that one.
It was just peaceful just knowing
what the time was.
Can't even do that now.
There's no clocks in here.
We just had that microwave.
That's one thing we can control in here,
is the fact that we have the time.
I'm pissed. Like, I'm actually pissed.
I know it's a small thing,
but when you're in a place like this,
like, small things become big
and anything can set you off.
[Zaremba] You guys are so dramatic.
-You're being sarcastic about it.
-[Zaremba] 'Cause it's fine!
-You're missing the point.
-You guys are fucking tripping.
You're a lost cause.
Lost cause.
I can tell you're very privileged.
-Yeah, for sure. For sure.
-I can tell that, bro.
If you guys were not reacting like this,
they wouldn't have took it.
They wouldn't have cared.
You guys made them do that
by tripping out about it.
That's a fact.
Bro, for your birthday,
I'll get you a microwave
with the right time. How about that?
Hey! I promise you, bro,
I'm gonna make it hell for you.
[Zaremba] You're losing it.
[Eldridge] No, we know that this is…
No, I'm gonna be right here.
I can't look at the time,
you're not gonna enjoy nothing.
-All I wanted was the time in here.
-You're losing it. Take a breath.
-[Eldridge] You take a breath. Back up.
-[Zaremba] You're losing it.
[Zaremba] You're losing it.
No, you're losing it.
Back up, like I said.
[Zaremba] Think about
what we're arguing about.
It's absurd. And that's when I realized
the experiment was starting
to get to a lot of people's heads.
And it is just an experiment,
at the end of the day.
I think everyone in there
kinda has lost sight of that.
I'm not gonna change.
I'm pissed off about losing the microwave.
Shut up!
Everybody! How about that?
-Now, what's going on?
-We're just having a conversation.
-[Zaremba] My man's lost to the sauce.
-One at a time.
-[Zaremba] He needs to--
-375!
Are you still running your gums?
No. No, officer. I'm not.
Pop them one more time and that's it.
He has no respect, bro.
-[Zaremba] Respect this.
-Hey!
Put him in lockdown till 6:00.
Good, I don't wanna be around this
microwave psychopath anyways.
You're the psychopath,
you privileged sucker.
[Hudson] We'll talk about that.
For right now, he's going into his room.
-[Zaremba] Microwave crazy person.
-Enjoy lockdown. Leave me be.
[Brooks] This is a big moment
in the experiment.
We're seeing the first punishment
levied against an inmate here.
It's interesting to me that the anger
from Derrick and other inmates
seems to be directed almost exclusively
at Pete and not at the guards
for levying this pretty punitive
collective punishment.
Which is dangerous for him.
If I hear anything about a microwave
clock again, I'm gonna lose my mind.
[somber music playing]
All right, I don't know if you noticed,
but the microwave was downstairs.
Um, 975 was kind of playing with it,
trying to adjust it.
And we're like, "Don't do that."
Anyways, we took the microwave away.
And everyone got upset.
And 975 and 30 got into an argument
where we had to go and intervene.
Yeah, everybody starts ganging up on 975.
And instead of just being like,
"Hey, guys, I fucked up, sorry."
He gets all, like, real defensive.
So then I put them in his cell.
Officer Chet seems to be, like,
really wants to exercise a lot of power
and like a little bit more of fear-based.
Typically, in fear-based leadership,
from what I've seen,
there is a lot more abuse of power.
So we told 975, "You're in lockdown,
at least till our shift's out."
So do not give them
the microwave back, please, tonight.
I think most people
in a prison-type environment
would expect that fear-based
leadership is the only way that works.
But my goal has always been
to prove that wrong.
-I've had it.
-Have a great shift.
Appreciate it. Thanks, guys.
-[Washington] Y'all good?
-See you later.
[Berens] Everybody looks so refreshed.
-[Chris Lee] Oh, we got pizza.
-[McDaniel] Hell, yeah.
Man, they took away the microwave?
-[McDaniel] Dude.
-Dude, come on.
The guy was just trying
to change the time.
-[McDaniel] Yeah.
-Come on.
-[McDaniel] He was messing with it, okay?
-Yeah, like, cool.
-[McDaniel] There's nothing else to do.
-Good for him! [giggles]
I've been doing everything to establish
relationships with the inmates
where there is one
of mutual respect and trust.
And I'm a big principles guy.
I'm a big believer that rules
are given to us as guidelines
that sometimes deserve to be broken
to be able to accomplish the greater good.
Woo, woo! Night shift! Come on!
As a leader, I always say,
what's the right thing to do
in this moment?
[energetically] Good evening!
"Good evening." That was creepy.
Line up! Line up!
-It's time for the night shift.
-[laughs]
[Zaremba] Help me!
Let me out of here!
The Microwave Chronicles, dude.
The lamest reason to be locked up ever.
Good morning. Free me!
[McDaniel] Let's go!
Welcome back to the land of the living.
Line up, please.
Line up against that wall.
Against that wall.
[Jefferson] Line up.
Okay, so we come in peace,
bringing a peace offering.
[Zaremba] An offering?
We're gonna
bring the microwave back.
[Zaremba] Yes! Yes!
We'll take it until they take it from us
in the morning, but we'll take it.
-They gave them back the microwave?
-[Zaremba] We'll take it for the night.
What a move.
Chris claims to be doing this
for the inmates
as though it's the honorable thing to do.
-Sure.
-But I think he likes being liked.
[Brooks] Yeah, it's hard to know
what someone's motives are.
Some people are nice because
they truly care about other people.
Other people are nice
because they ultimately want something
for themselves.
And it makes sense that these inmates
might be feeling skeptical
about Chris's motives.
[Cantrell] Sure.
-[applause]
-[indistinct chatter]
-[Chris Lee] Okay.
-[Foy] Fucking stupid.
-What's that?
-[Foy] I gotta take a poop.
[Chris Lee] Okay.
-[Brooks] Larry seems fed up.
-[Cantrell] Absolutely.
For someone like him
who's been in jail before,
to see these inconsistencies
between the day shift guards
and the night shift,
this is causing confusion and stress.
And I think that's what
we're seeing out of him right now.
[Chris Lee] Oh, let's give it up!
[inmates cheering and applauding]
Hey, can I get Officer McDaniel
a two-clap?
[inmates clap twice]
Whoo!
My man. My man.
[flush handle rattles]
Now I can't flush my shit?
What the fuck kind of place is this?
[banging on door]
My… my toilet won't flush.
[banging on door]
[Foy] It won't flush.
[Chris Lee] Two flushes per hour,
that's it.
[Foy] What?
[Chris Lee] It only flushes
two times per hour.
[Foy] Two flushes an hour.
Nobody fucking said anything about that.
-I'm not doing this.
-[bangs on door]
I'm fucking over it. Fuck this.
Sure don't want to sit in here
and smell my own shit
'cause I can't flush the fucking toilet.
This is fucking ridiculous.
Get me the fuck out of here.
Get me out.
Pineapple. Pineapple.
Pineapple. Pineapple.
Did you hear the word?
Larry just said "pineapple."
-[Lee] He's dropping out.
-Wow!
Sit here and smell shit all fucking day.
[Brooks] In this experiment,
it's important that participants
can have the freedom
to leave at any point.
And the word "pineapple" is intended
to be used when participants feel
under threat of psychological
or physical harm or distress.
Fucking stupid.
Nobody that has changed their life
to not come back to this place, um…
They shouldn't be put back in here.
Yeah, I think
I'm just gonna go home, y'all.
[guard] Just stand by.
Real shit. Nah, I'd rather just go home.
[gentle, somber music playing]
I already did that,
and I'm not trying to do it no more.
It's as simple as that.
Take me home. [laughs]
[indistinct chatter]
Get me out of here, bro.
[Correra] I can't believe
Larry quit already.
It's cray. Yo, my… My thing is,
what was the point of coming out here?
You knew it's… It's a prison.
What did you expect?
[Brooks] He is feeling like he had evolved
maybe past the person he was
when he was in jail,
and now this is bringing him back to that.
[McDaniel] Good night. Good night.
[Chris Lee] Keep good hygiene!
Clean your toilets!
Please, don't make me go tell the guards.
Please, just… I cannot do this.
I am not going to make it.
100%, I'm not going to make it.
Pineapple. Pineapple.
-Cell 8. Cell 8.
-…says he's not gonna make it.
-Is that Jackson?
-[Brooks] Yes. That's Larry's cellmate.
Larry tapping out
was probably the kick in the knee for me
that brought me to the ground.
He is a tough guy who has probably
done this for a long time.
And I'm just watching him be so mad.
That was kind of the turning point.
He's probably feeling,
if a former inmate can't make it 14 days,
there's no way he's going to make it.
That's right.
[Sharp] I feel nervous in this environment
and, with the guards at this point,
there are a lot of red flags.
I 100% do not want to do this.
[somber music playing]
I think it speaks to the fact
that this is not a game.
This should not be taken lightly.
I think the reality is
they are stressed out.
There is anxiety.
People wanted to do it
as if it was, like, survivalist camp.
-It's not survivalist camp.
-Right.
This is a prison facility.
I can't help but think that
the inconsistency among these two shifts
in the way they're applying
structure and rules
has something to do with building
this environment of uncertainty
that's causing some of this stress
and anxiety amongst these guys.
[Brooks] That's right.
[Zaremba] The guards have let
their guard down, ironically.
They don't have cohesion
in their operation.
And it seems as if the guards are almost
having a power struggle within each other.
How were the daytime guards?
-Caused a lot of friction.
-A little petty.
[Zaremba]
Between the whole microwave issue
and now people leaving the experiment,
it's obvious to me that they're starting
to lose control of the pod.
If I was the sheriff,
I would get my deputies
on the same page of like,
"Hey, we gotta be a unit
before all chaos lets loose."
[Zaremba] We gotta switch some variables.
We gotta just do something, man.
I came here to test
the boundaries of this experiment.
And honestly, this might be
the perfect opportunity.
So I'm thinking it's time.
All it takes is having the courage
to stand up
and just band together and do something.
Because there is 20 of us.
There's four of them.
And the only difference
is the clothes that we have on right now.
We low-key have more power
than them, though.
This is our chance to prove
that they don't actually control us.
If I can gather
enough people to get on my side,
we can possibly overtake this whole thing.
Fortune favors the bold.
[dramatic music playing]
[dramatic music continues]