Dark Matter (2024) s02e06 Episode Script

1
["Present Tense" playing]
[inhales deeply]
[sighs]
[sniffs]
[sighs]
[engine starts]
Yes.
[inhales sharply]
[intriguing music playing]
["Climbing Up the Walls" playing]
[no audible dialogue]
[bell dings]
[Amanda] Um Could you come in
Wednesday afternoon for orientation?
- [applicant] Yes, that should work fine.
- Great.
- Yeah.
- Perfect. Your shift will start then.
[applicant] Okay. Perfect.
Thank you so much.
[Amanda] Thank you. Nice to meet you.
[applicant] Yes, nice to meet you too.
Have a good one.
- You too.
- Thank you.
[both] Bye.
Are you Charlie's dad?
Yeah. Hi.
Hi. [chuckles]
Jason.
[thuds]
[bird chirping]
[gasps]
You're a physicist.
I taught physics.
I don't actually know
what a physicist does.
[both laughing]
Well, we try and figure out
how the universe works.
- That's all?
- [laughs]
It's simple. [laughing]
What about you?
You always wanted to own a diner?
Uh
What I really wanted was to be a doctor.
Hmm.
But, um my mom has bipolar disorder.
And in a manic state,
she bought this place without telling us.
Put her house up as collateral
and cashed in my college fund.
Mom. Shit.
We had no choice but to drop everything
and make this restaurant a success.
And your family's still involved
in the restaurant?
My dad's gone.
And my mom,
she comes in a few times a week.
But she doesn't "work work".
She mainly drinks coffee
and talks to her regulars.
- [laughs]
- It's great.
It's sweet.
And your husband?
- Uh Divorced.
- Mmm.
But he ran the kitchen for a long time.
- [Jason] Uh
- Yeah.
Here he is.
You ready?
All right.
[Amanda] He's a great kid.
Yeah.
How's he doing?
Um Work?
He's doing great.
But, um Full disclosure
He told me you and your wife
are going through something.
Uh Okay, yeah.
Uh Some unsolicited advice
from a complete stranger?
Sure.
Your wife is probably going through a lot
right now.
You know, moving here,
her only kid leaving home.
Just existing as a woman over 40.
I'm sure you're a great dad.
I'm sure you're gonna keep showing up
and being there for him.
But don't forget about yourself
in all of it.
That's the mistake I made.
You're a physicist.
Go discover what the universe is made of.
- Hmm.
- [laughs]
[customer] Hey, [in Spanish] pa.
[in English] I needed that bacon
yesterday. Come on. Thank you.
Duty calls.
Oh, yeah.
It was really nice to meet you.
And you.
You give really good advice, by the way.
[laughing]
Bye.
[sighs]
[intriguing music playing]
[sighs]
[Blair] Hey.
- [chuckles] Hi.
- Hey.
- It's Oh, okay.
- Nice to see you.
[kisses] How are you doing?
Good, good.
Have a seat.
More coffee?
Uh, no, I'm fine.
Um I'll have some fries though.
- Yeah. Of course.
- Yeah, um Would you have some?
- Obviously, yeah.
- [laughs]
- Oh, Eduardo, this is Blair.
- Hey.
- Blair, this is [stammers]
- Hey.
- It's He's Charlie's roommate, Eduardo.
- Ah!
Hi, it's nice to meet you.
- Likewise.
- Uh Can I get a water?
Of course. Yeah, yeah. Be right back.
[Eduardo] Fries, please.
Uh To, uh, what do I owe the pleasure?
Daniela asked me to come and check up
on you. And so
Did she?
And Theresa's away for work.
- Oh. So you called me?
- Yeah.
Right. And maybe you're a bit bored.
- Just a bit.
- [both laugh]
That's a That's a lot of math.
- [Jason] Mmm, yeah.
- Yeah, no kidding.
- [Eduardo] What's going on?
- What are you working on?
Uh It's-It's entanglement.
Why?
I don't know.
Don't you ever wonder about things?
No. Not that kind of math, no.
- Okay.
- You getting anywhere?
Yeah. Yeah, it's starting
to make some sense to me, sure.
Okay, let's do this.
- What?
- I'm bored, remember?
So explain entanglement to me.
- And, Eduardo, you stay.
- Huh?
- Yay. [laughs]
- Uh [blows raspberries]
[bell dings]
Uh
- Okay, let's see.
- Thank you.
Uh Let's say these are particles, and
billions of years ago they were linked.
Okay.
- [Jason] Mm-hmm.
- How?
For the sake of this conversation,
let's say they
Particles were inside a star,
and the star died.
It went supernova and the particles,
individual particles,
were blown across the universe.
Entanglement means that
these particles are linked forever.
So whatever affects one affects the other.
Now the problem is the effect
of entanglement is instantaneous.
But why would that be a problem?
Well, all right. Let's say these particles
are trillions of miles apart,
and the information travels between them
faster than the speed of light,
which is supposed to be impossible.
Right.
Even trickier is the fact that
whatever affects one particle
has an effect on the other.
So if I was to turn this coin to heads
Exactly.
They are essentially connected.
And they can influence each other.
[Eduardo] Can people be entangled?
Well, quantum physics is usually about
observing things at a subatomic level.
But, you know,
I suppose it's-it's possible.
It just would have to be something
other than--
- [in Portuguese] Ô, pentelho.
- Hmm.
[in English] Are you helping yourself
- Oh.
- to our customer's food?
Oh, that's my fault. I distracted him.
Oh, I know.
Yeah. Oh, Amanda, this is Blair.
- Blair, Amanda Lucas.
- Hi.
- Nice to meet you--
- I'm sorry, A-Ave--
- [Amanda] Azevedo.
- Azevedo.
- [laughs] Nice to meet you.
- You too.
- I need your help.
- All right.
- Nice to meet you.
- Excuse me.
This way.
[muttering]
All right, so
[door closes]
[chuckles]
That was a pretty good explanation
of entanglement.
- Yeah.
- Mmm.
I would have used a different prop.
But luckily I always keep a couple
of these with me at all times, you know.
Just in case.
[sighs]
Did you get that from Daniela?
No.
Okay.
Holy shit.
I felt terrible leaving you in that world
with the murder hornets, you know.
Well, you did the right thing
'cause I was not ready.
So, then what changed?
Amanda.
Yeah. It was something Amanda said to me
way before I even went into the box.
Uh She told me
that whenever she was dealing
with something emotionally difficult,
she would practice doing it or saying it
every day.
- And then when she got to the point
- Yeah.
where she could practice it
without freaking out,
she knew she was ready.
She's a wise one.
So, um
eventually I started to feel ready.
Thank you.
'Cause I had already worked out the
kind of world that I wanted to live in.
Someplace where
I could actually start over.
Just a place
without the watchful eye of the Internet,
somewhere where
I could get a fake fucking ID.
Just
a place
where I could feel truly anonymous.
- Until you ran into Daniela.
- Until I ran into D
[sighs]
Not just a Daniela,
which is what I thought.
Your Daniela.
The Dani married to the Jason that
I ran into in another fucking world.
I mean, how how is that even possible?
What are the chances?
Do-Do you think that [stammers]
that the box is entangling us,
the-the ones who use it?
I don't know.
Maybe we've always been entangled.
You know, maybe
we're drawn to the box
by connections formed
through the choices that we've made.
What's going on over here?
Oh, um
[sighs] I-I'm-I'm trying to shut down
the box in this world.
- That's why you're studying entanglement.
- Yes, yes.
I'm not sure it can be done.
Why not?
Because even if you destroy the box,
another will just respawn
when someone connects to this world.
Yeah, uh
Oh, shit. Fuck, I gotta go, um
Okay, I have an idea, and hear me out.
I got tickets to this gala.
It's an educational benefit.
It doesn't matter.
Theresa's out of town. You should come.
- I don't know.
- Oh, come on. Please, just listen.
You would be doing me a huge favor.
And there will be professors
and engineers and scientists
and people that you might actually
want to talk to. Please.
[sniffles]
Clearly you could use a night out.
[laughing]
- Uh
- 'Cause this is
[sighs]
Yo. Wake up, bro.
[groans]
- [sighs]
- [door opens]
- [door closes]
- [sighs]
[phone ringing]
[sighs]
[Charlie, through phone] Yo.
[Eduardo] You've reached
Eddie and Charlie's place.
- [Charlie] We're out.
- [both laughing]
- [message tone beeps]
- [Daniela] Hey, um Just checking in.
I hope things are good and, um
you're having an amazing time.
And, um I wanted to say, you know,
even though I'm away,
if you need me for anything, um
I'll be there, so just let me know.
And I'll keep trying you.
Okay, I love you so much.
Talk soon.
[call disconnects]
[bird chirping]
Hi there.
[gasps]
[in Spanish] Mija.
[inhales sharply]
[in English] Hey.
Hi, Papa.
It's so good to see you.
[Daniela mutters]
Didn't tell me you were coming.
Yeah.
Um Sorry.
[stammers]
Needed to get away
and I didn't want to worry you.
But I [breathes shakily]
I should have asked.
Oh, no. No. I'm thrilled you're here.
Yeah?
Yeah.
You can carry my bags.
- [laughing]
- What?
[in Spanish] Soy anciano.
[in English] Okay.
[inhales sharply]
- Good evening.
- Hey.
Hi, Blair.
[guest] Hi.
Are you some kind of celebrity?
Uh More like a mascot.
[Blair] Hey.
I'm a successful
Black female engineer, Jason.
People here are obsessed with me.
I make them feel like their institutions
are exclusive but not excluding.
Yeah. Thank you.
- Thank you, thank you.
- Mmm.
That's one of the reasons
I brought you here.
- Mmm.
- Make me feel better.
Hey. Oh, my God.
That's That's my old professor.
Yes. And that is the other reason.
[Jason] Okay. Why is he walking toward us?
Because he knows me, Jason. He never
met the Jason of this world. It's fine.
- Blair.
- Hey. [laughs]
- You look amazing.
- Thank you. [smooches]
Uh, John, this is my friend Jason Stewart.
And Jason, this is Dr. John Lindley.
- Hey.
- Really big fan.
Well then, I'm looking forward
to chatting with you.
- [chuckles]
- [Blair] Of course.
- [announcer] All right, party people.
- Give me one second.
Can I have everyone's attention, please?
Thank you so much for being here.
The silent auction is now open.
So go bid excessively.
[attendees laughing]
And enjoy the night.
- Vance, is it?
- Mm-hmm.
Is that the Leighton of this world?
Listen, I have been
to several of these charity events.
No one from the family ever shows up.
It's good. Drink.
- Right. Yeah.
- Relax.
There's someone I've been wanting
to introduce you to.
[Blair] Mm-hmm.
Blair Caplan, this is Leighton Vance.
- Hello.
- [both chuckle]
And this is my new friend Jason
- Uh Stewart.
- Stewart.
- Hi.
- [Leighton] Stewart.
- Good to meet you both.
- [Jason] Likewise.
Hope you're enjoying the festivities.
- It's wonderful.
- Yeah. Yes, yep, you've
Excuse me.
- Of course.
- Well I guess I got to go too.
Sure.
Whoops.
Oh, wow.
[chuckles]
Does anybody still eat this besides you?
[chuckles] Now that's the good shit.
Yeah?
You know, you've been buzzing around
since I've been here.
Well, just wanna
get all your stuff unpacked.
Come, sit down.
[Daniela sighs]
Um
Okay.
How are Jason and Charlie?
Good. Um
Though I do really need to get back
to them so I'll probably leave tomorrow.
Oh, come on.
I just got here.
[chuckles]
I mean, how long has it been
since we were together?
Just the two of us?
[exhales deeply]
It's been a while since I've seen it.
I know that look.
I just
I need a little time.
You and Jason all right?
Yeah.
And Charlie?
He's doing okay in San Diego?
Yeah.
Now I remember
when you went off to school.
Well, I didn't know
what to do with myself.
This one day,
the house was just
Quieter.
Hmm.
I used to wonder what my purpose was.
[sighs]
Who am I now,
if not your father?
No.
[chuckles]
[sniffles] What? [laughs]
[chuckles] You're a little tight,
[in Spanish] mija.
[laughs]
[in English] Yeah.
[laughs]
["My Memories of You" playing]
[no audible dialogue]
[song ends]
[car horn honking]
[chuckles]
[sighs] Remember our night drives?
Yep.
["Steal Away" playing on radio]
Yeah, when you were little,
you couldn't sleep.
And I'd strap you in,
and we'd drive through the countryside.
Then you'd turn out the lights.
[both laughing]
I was crazy.
It was crazy.
[chuckles]
And I loved it.
Yeah. Look at the stars.
I still think about the day we met.
Oh, you were eight.
Mite of a thing.
Too shy to even look at me.
Well, Mom made me wear that dress I hated.
[chuckles] That's right.
She made you dress up
to meet her new boyfriend.
Yeah.
Oh, you were mad.
And scared.
Me?
Well,
I was not interested in being an evil
stepfather to some [in Spanish] mocosa.
[in English] And then you looked up at me
with those eyes,
and it was crushing.
I mean, how can an eight-year-old look
at me with the brokenness of an adult?
Same way you're looking at me now.
It's been many, many years
since I've seen that look.
It's a good thing
your biological father was already dead.
It's such a long time ago.
Yeah.
Some things in the past,
they don't stay there.
They sneak up on us.
Advice from an old man.
Ignoring it will not help.
It always comes up.
One way or another.
[door opens, closes]
You coming?
Where are we going?
You said you came here to paint.
Oh.
Yeah. Uh
It's been kind of a long time.
I'm not sure
I'm in the right headspace for it.
Well, calm feelings make for bland art.
I painted that
the day of my brother's funeral.
Let it out.
[door opens, closes]
["Walk on By" playing]
[no audible dialogue]
["Phantom (Redux)" playing]
So?
This is what I want, Blair.
To attend more galas?
[chuckles]
I want to be a real scientist.
Finally.
You know, the kind that
publishes groundbreaking papers.
Unlocks the wonders of the universe.
Well, you-you knew
the other version of me.
The magazine covers and the awards,
but-but he built things.
Built things. I never did that.
I know.
That's why I brought you here.
You know, baby's first step
into this world's scientific community.
- You're here.
- [chuckles]
And I meant what I said.
You're the smartest person
I've ever known.
Ever.
I think you mean the other guy.
Same hardware.
[chuckles]
I'm gonna go.
- [both chuckle]
- No, but thank you.
Like, really.
- You're welcome.
- Okay, thank you.
You belong here.
One day.
One day.
[chuckles]
It's a banger.
Sorry?
The song.
It's a banger, right?
Yep. [chuckles]
Feels like we met before.
I
I go to a lot of these things.
Probably.
No, it's not that.
I'm just about to head out.
I adopted Murphy
when you didn't come back.
Never really been a cat person.
And I just hated the idea of him
going to a shelter when you didn't return.
What happened to him?
[sighs]
He was loved and comfortable
until the end.
[chuckles]
[stammers]
I should've been
a better friend to you, okay?
I should have done more testing
before you got into that box.
[scoffs]
Yeah.
But I seem to recall I insisted.
[chuckles]
[chuckles]
That Jason you were with
he's from another world too?
[scoffs] What are the odds?
Impossible.
Impossible odds.
Blair, listen.
Can we go somewhere and talk?
Leight, honestly, you know what,
I'm not trying to get mixed up
into whatever it is you're doing here.
- I don't want--
- Listen, listen, listen.
I need to show you something.
What's that thing you used to say?
"There's no calories in looking."
Right?
[sighs]
[sighs]
I'm gonna go for a walk.
You wanna join?
Oh, I am on a roll.
Okay. See you in a bit.
[phone ringing]
[sighs]
[breathes shakily]
[ominous music playing]
Everything okay?
Uh
Uh, I think I
I need to go to the hospital.
What? What? What's wrong?
You know, I I thought it was strange
that you were just here when I got here.
Maybe I'm having a stroke,
and this is this is all in my head.
What do you mean? What?
But your painting
I I know those brushstrokes
to be my daughter.
But I also know that I
I just spoke to my daughter
in San Francisco.
- [both breathing shakily]
- Okay, okay.
You're okay.
Oh, my God.
You're okay.
Your daughter. She
She is in San Francisco
and she's here.
[inhales sharply]
Can we sit?
Let's go sit.
I'm gonna try and explain.
Well
Well [clears throat]
at least pizza is the same in this world.
[both chuckling]
Yeah.
I guess that's the truly essential item
on the checklist, right?
Mmm.
Safety, economic prospects and pizza.
[laughs]
Mmm.
[clicks tongue]
Look, I know it's not the ideal birthday.
But, uh
No. It's not even my birthday yet.
Well, it does fall on a school night, so
Yeah.
I appreciate the gesture, really.
And I know it's not the same
without your mom.
But
I happened to rent Uncle Buck. [chuckles]
[chuckles] It seems almost the same
in this world if you
I don't know.
- No? [clicks tongue]
- No.
And we do have Max's ashes.
We can skip it.
Really, are you sure?
Yeah.
I met Max.
What?
I saw Max
in my travels.
Yeah. [stammers] When I was alone.
I was in a world
where he got a heart transplant.
[sighs]
And you [stammers]
Did you talk to him?
Yeah.
What was he like?
Uh He's
He was quick-witted.
He He was He was empathetic.
[clears throat]
And [stammers]
He was kind of
a little bit of a dick actually. [laughs]
[chuckles] What, seriously?
[sniffles]
He was perfect.
Yeah.
Uh Tell me everything.
He, um
Well, at first
I thought it was you actually.
What? I'm sure he loved that.
- [both chuckling]
- It didn't go down so well.
[laughing]
[knocks on door]
Thank you.
[Leighton] Hey.
I came.
You came.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious.
So yeah.
Follow me.
Okay.
[elevator dings]
[Blair] How long have you been here?
[Leighton] Almost two years.
I had an operation set up
in a different Chicago
- [door closes]
- which is a lot more like our world.
Kept attracting attention.
- Police?
- Mm-hmm.
Too many eyes in modern cities.
I wouldn't have imagined you ever wanting
to live in a world with less tech.
[chuckles] Oh,
the upside outnumbered the down.
After bringing something as simple
as a microprocessor,
and then later the first home computer
to market here,
I solidified my access
to the resources we needed.
Resources for what?
My new project.
[Blair] Mm-hmm.
["Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" playing]
- [metal clanking]
- [door closing]
[Blair sighs]
[Leighton chuckling]
[grunts]
This way.
[clears throat]
[typewriter keys clicking]
[Blair] What is this place?
[Leighton] Freight tunnels built in 1900,
abandoned in '59, sealed off in '92.
I figured, logically, that
they're likely to exist in a similar state
in any world you or I can access.
We repaired most of these
and added some infrastructure.
Here we are.
What the fuck?