The Hunting Party (2025) s02e13 Episode Script
Xander Wax
1
- Previously on
"The Hunting Party"
- I don't know what
I imagined
finding my mom would be like,
but it wasn't this.
- Look, I know it's hard
finding out the truth about
your biological mother,
but Lazarus--
- Just another psychopath
from the Pit.
- You have no idea
what you're into.
- She's trying to turn
serial killers into weapons?
- She's building an army.
[suspenseful music]
♪
[Pixies "Where Is My Mind"]
[dreamy indie rock music]
♪
- [laughs]
- With your feet in the air
and your head on the ground ♪
[items clattering]
[laughter]
- [clears throat]
- Try this trick
and spin it ♪
- [laughs]
- Yeah ♪
- Yeah ♪
It will collapse
if there's nothing in it ♪
And you'll ask yourself ♪
- [giggles]
- Where is my mind? ♪
Where is my mind? ♪
Where is my mind? ♪
♪
[aquariums burbling]
Way out ♪
[bell rings]
In the water ♪
See it swimmin' ♪
♪
- Got a live one here for you.
Just need your signature.
- I was swimmin'
in the Caribbean ♪
- Don't normally ask, but
what is this one?
- Phyllobates terribilis.
It's a poison dart frog.
They secrete a toxin
that causes paralysis,
heart failure,
and death within minutes.
There's no known antidote.
- If you say so.
Be careful with that, kid.
- Where is my mind? ♪
♪
Way out ♪
In the water ♪
See it swimmin' ♪
[frog ribbiting]
♪
With your feet in the air
and your head on the ground ♪
♪
Try this trick and spin it,
yeah ♪
Your head will collapse
if there's nothing in it ♪
And you'll ask yourself ♪
Where is my mind? ♪
Where is my mind? ♪
Where is my mind? ♪
- Mm-hmm.
♪
Nate.
Nate?
- [rasping]
- Nate!
♪
Nate!
Nate.
[screams]
- [rasping]
- Help!
Oh, my God!
Guys, help me!
♪
- [ethereal vocalizing]
[indistinct chatter]
- Do you all have any idea
how crazy this sounds?
- Yeah.
- Colonel Lazarus,
one of the
most highly decorated officers
in the United States military
is actually
a convicted serial killer
who was given a new identity
while she herself
was an inmate in the Pit
and then released
back into the world?
- She was the first graduate.
And now she's a true believer
in the value of the program.
- That's why she used
a false flag attack
against the prisoner transport,
to assume control
of the whole task force
so that she could
get her hands on more inmates.
- Mallory, she doesn't think
psychopathy is a disorder.
She thinks it's the next step
in human evolution.
- We get this is
a lot to take in.
- Well, good.
- Do you not believe us?
- Yes, I do believe you.
Problem is I'm not sure
anyone else will.
- OK, look, I know that
we've had our differences,
but we need you back in charge
of this task force
because right now,
we are working
for an actual psychopath.
- With your backing,
we can take her down.
Elizabeth,
this is not politics.
We need to take action.
- Everything's politics,
especially this.
Colonel Lazarus has
a lot of friends on the Hill.
So if you want my help,
I need rock-solid,
irrefutable evidence.
Get me proof
that she's gone rogue,
that this top secret lab
even exists,
and that inmates are
being hidden there.
Otherwise,
it's just she said, they said,
and my money's not on you.
But right now, you've still
got killers to catch.
- Morales, what do we got?
- Inmate L23, Xander Wax.
A self-checkout scanner
in Washington, D.C.
picked up
a partial fingerprint.
- You know this guy, Bex?
- I do.
He's not from D.C.
- Well, not all killers
go back home, apparently.
What are we dealing with?
- We are dealing
with a very smart individual,
highly educated.
Xander Wax was a biochemist
by training,
confirmed to have killed
at least ten people.
But that number is believed
to be a lot higher.
- How much higher?
- Estimates are north of 20,
but it's possible
he had as many as 40 victims
because his kills were
often mistaken as heart attacks
or strokes.
- Huh.
How'd he pull that off?
- He used highly lethal
animal venoms as poisons.
- Snakes, great.
- What made Xander
so difficult to catch
is that he had
no discernible victimology.
Instead,
he would leave neurotoxins
on public objects for random
people to interact with.
Gas station pumps,
buttons in an elevator,
sugar packets in a diner.
He didn't care who he killed.
For him, the thrill was
the randomness of it all.
He would relish in the feeling
of power and control
knowing that at any moment,
some unsuspecting victim
would come across
one of his laid traps.
The anticipation of it
was his high.
- How'd this guy get caught?
- They worked backwards
through his college days.
A suspicious dorm room death
was just the break they needed.
- He killed his roommate.
- It was his first kill
and his only impulsive,
targeted victim.
As is often the case,
Xander's MO evolved from there,
driven by his compulsive desire
to re-experience that thrill.
- All right, let's get to D.C.
before this monster
sets any more traps.
[tense music]
[glass shatters]
♪
[keypad beeps]
♪
[keypad beeping]
[low chime]
- Damn it.
Damn it.
[keypad beeping]
♪
[high chime]
♪
[hissing]
- [groaning]
[screams]
[groaning]
[wheezing]
♪
- [rasping]
Who are you?
♪
- That looks painful.
- [wheezing]
[dramatic music]
♪
- OK, but my point is,
humans twist themselves up
into knots
making up stories about
Adam and Eve, gods and souls
because people
desperately want to believe
that they're different than
all the other animals
that live on this planet.
We're superior.
Well, I got a little secret
for you, Doc.
We're just primates with
overactive imaginations.
- Expand on that.
- We don't have
any more right to exist
on this minor planet
of a very minor star
than some lizard.
Human civilization needs
to constantly be reminded
that we are byproducts
of chance, randomness,
entropy on a cosmic scale,
dispersion of energy,
mud brain.
And if my actions made other
people a little more self-aware
of the meaninglessness
of their existence,
I did them a favor
'cause the world is chaos
and we are all at its mercy.
- Wow.
I bet he's great at parties.
- Yeah, your average psychopath
doesn't usually express
this kind of deep nihilism.
Where does a guy like Xander
get it from?
- He had a fairly stable
childhood.
His friends and neighbors
described him
as gifted and kind.
However, unlike most serials,
there was one
traumatic incident
that shaped his interpretation
of reality.
When he was only ten years old,
his parents died
in a car accident.
They hit a deer,
lost control of the vehicle,
rolled off a 30-foot
embankment.
- Oof.
- He was in the back seat,
walked out with
barely a scratch.
- Yeah, I can see how
this kind of traumatic event
could really change
somebody's worldview.
- The experience left him
with severe attachment issues
and some major
unresolved trauma.
Even more so,
the loss of his parents
created his entire
life philosophy,
which was on full display
during his years of killing.
Exhibit A.
- Hey, do you know how long
sugar packets sit on the table
at some restaurants,
a typical diner?
You might find a Sweet'N Low
or an Equal that's been there
two, three years.
Course, most venoms
will break down eventually
over time with heat
and sunlight.
But if you could find
a cool, dark, sealed space,
like, um,
old sody pop vending machine,
get a little Boomslang venom,
that's an African tree snake,
little bit on
the pop top cap,
you are in business
for a year.
- The anticipation of the kills
genuinely brought him joy.
It gave him a sense of control
in a completely
uncontrollable world
while simultaneously
expressing his view
that all life was random.
- He says here he would
check the news every morning
to see if someone had
been killed.
Listen to this.
"Inevitably, it was a letdown.
"Some grocery clerk
or meaningless housewife.
"All of the anticipation, the
wondering, immediately gone.
So I would set out
to do it again."
Eesh.
- He's been out
for a couple months.
It's plenty of time for one
of his traps to be in play.
[phone buzzing]
- Ross, what do you got?
- A body.
A man was found dead
two blocks from the mini-mart
where we first spotted Xander.
It's being reported
as a snake bite.
- Snake bite?
This time of the year?
It's hard to believe.
- DB's name is Bill Reese.
He was a reporter for
"The Washington Standard."
His body's already
at the morgue.
[suspenseful music]
- You can see
the puncture wounds there
in the back of
Mr. Reese's right hand.
Local tissue necrosis is common
with venomous snake bites,
as is the swelling.
- Is that the only bite mark?
Any idea what kind of snake?
- Early stage tox only confirms
the presence of venom,
not the species.
- OK, Morales,
I'm going to send you
a picture of the bite mark.
Let me know
if you can identify the snake.
- You got it, Bex.
- Who did you all say
you were again?
- Fish and Game.
- Right.
- Hey.
This seems like a lot of venom
for just one bite.
You sure about this?
- Given the enzymatic
degradation,
yes, I can assure you
the toxicology is correct.
Really,
there is no mystery here.
You gentlemen and lady
of the Fish and Game
are looking
for a very big snake.
And I'm sorry,
but you'll have to excuse me.
I have other cases
to attend to.
[suspenseful music]
- I don't think he bought
your cover story, man.
- Hey, Morales,
any update on that bite mark?
- After powering through
a personal phobia here,
turns out you can't
identify a species
based off of a snake bite mark.
Who knew?
But the necrotic appearance of
the skin around the bite mark
suggests a neurotoxin only
found in very exotic species.
- So not exactly local.
- No, far from it.
And that's not all.
Take a closer look.
[phone chimes, buzzes]
- Are bite marks normally
asymmetrical like that?
- Nope. An injection was
made inside the left one.
- An injection?
That'll be why Bill's
tox screens were so high.
Xander injected him with
more venom after the snakebite.
♪
- I'm always happy
to offer my customers
a discount
when they buy in bulk.
[snake hissing]
♪
- [chuckling] Whoa.
[snake hisses]
- Before the Pit,
Xander would kill anonymously.
He didn't care who he killed
as long as someone died.
But now, he's actually
choosing his victim
and hiding the murder
in plain sight.
- Yeah, and he did
a good job of it.
I mean, that ME was convinced
it was just a very big snake.
- That's the kind of tradecraft
CIA uses
to knock off enemy dictators.
- What, like a hit job?
- That's something Peck said.
Lazarus was
turning inmates into weapons.
What if Xander was one
of Lazarus's graduates?
Guys, she's behind this.
- If she is,
that means she sent Xander
after an
investigative journalist.
He must have been
close to something
she wants to keep quiet.
- Yeah, but like what,
the graduate program, the Pit?
I mean, the amount
of secret operations
Lazarus is a part of,
it could be anything.
- I say we call the locals,
ask them what they have
on the exotic animal
black market trade around here.
- Good idea.
I'm going to go to
"The Washington Standard,"
see if I can find out
what Bill was working on.
- OK, well, let's stay sharp.
If Xander is working
with Lazarus,
we got to assume she's already
tipped him off we're here.
♪
[snakes hissing]
- I've been looking for
this one for a long time.
He is a beauty.
- It's a she.
And she is, isn't she?
And highly illegal.
[tires screech]
Hey, don't run.
- Whoa.
Hey, easy, Tony.
We just want to talk to you.
Come back here for a second.
Whoa.
- I got permits
for all of those.
- Is that right?
Tony Sullivan?
According to the
Metropolitan Police,
you've been arrested
seven times
for selling illegal
exotic reptiles.
- Allegedly.
- Uh, Tony, you were convicted,
so it's not allegedly
if you actually served time.
Also, that is a coral snake.
- [grunts] Look, we're not
going to hassle you with this.
We just need to know
if you've ever seen this guy.
- Him? Yeah.
Bought a bunch
of little beauties--
scorpions and snakes
and spiders, whole shebang.
Guy definitely knew his stuff.
- All right, we need you
to tell us everything
you remember about him.
- Well, if I do,
will you let this slide?
- All I see is a man taking
his pets out for a drive.
♪
[tense music]
♪
- You're back early.
The case over already?
- Jen, what's going on?
- Xander's working
for Colonel Lazarus.
Command Center's not safe.
I'm running the rest from here.
- Are you serious?
- Mm-hmm.
[phone ringing]
Hassani.
- Morales, we got a lead
on Xander's plate.
X-ray, 3, 4,
Juliet, Quebec, 2.
- Just pulling up the VIN.
Got him.
His GPS puts him about
20 minutes from your location
heading west on Prospect.
- You're amazing.
Tell Bex we'll pick her up
on the way.
- Thank you for meeting me
on such short notice.
I know this is a troubling day
for everyone.
But I do need to talk to you
about Bill Reese.
- Bill was my mentor.
He was a tough bastard,
but he was our bastard.
Everyone here looked up to him.
- I've read some of his work.
He doesn't really
do fluff pieces, does he?
- Mm.
[mouse clicking]
- Do you know what
he was working on?
- Quite a few things.
- OK, look, I get it.
If you gave information to
a Fed without a subpoena,
every reporter in that room
would go running
out the front door.
But if Bill was
working on something that
put his life in danger,
I need to know
because all I'm trying to do is
ensure nobody else gets hurt.
I promise.
- Uh--
I heard it was a snake bite.
- The FBI doesn't
investigate snake bites.
- I see.
You know, Bill used to say this
job would eventually kill him.
But until then,
it's what kept him living.
He always knew how
to find the story.
♪
- He was writing
about Philip Beaumont?
Do you know why?
- No,
but when he gave me the book,
he said it was
just the start of something.
You should speak
with Daphne Williams.
I'll leave it to her
to decide what she will
and won't say about the piece.
- I'm sorry.
Who is Daphne Williams?
- Bill's protégé.
They were writing
the story together.
♪
[keyless entry chimes]
[tense music]
[phone ringing]
♪
- Hello?
- Daphne Williams,
my name is Special Agent
Rebecca Henderson with the FBI.
I really need
to speak with you.
Are you home right now?
- The FBI?
I'm going to need
a little more context here.
What is this about?
- Bill's death wasn't
an accident, Daphne.
- What do you mean?
- It was made
to look like one.
Look, I know you were
digging into Philip Beaumont.
I spoke with your editor.
We really need to talk.
- I'm not--
She told you to speak with me?
- Look,
why don't I take you in?
I can explain everything.
OK?
- OK.
- Where are you right now?
I'll meet you there.
- My house on Prospect.
- I'm on my way.
- Look, if what
you're saying is true,
then my source is in danger,
too.
- What's important is that
we make sure you're safe.
Whoever your source is,
I promise
we'll protect them, too.
But right now,
stay in your house,
lock the door.
and leave your phone on
so that I can reach you.
Thank you.
I'll be there soon.
♪
[engine turns over]
[screams]
[tense music]
[screaming]
[siren wailing]
[tires screech]
♪
- I got someone in the car.
Daphne?
♪
- Morales, call an ambulance.
- Calling dispatch.
- Get her out, get her out.
Tell them to bring
an antivenom.
- Copy.
- Get her out. Get her out.
- Hey,
Xander's inside the house.
- Got her?
- Yeah.
Morales, make it quick.
She doesn't have long, OK?
[door crashes]
- Freeze.
♪
- Look who's here.
- Put it down.
Drop it!
Hands on the table.
♪
Hassani, jacket pocket.
- You might want
to be careful with that.
- Thanks for the warning.
♪
- Jacket.
Hands on the table.
- [sighs]
♪
Sit down.
Hands behind your back.
- Hey, Hassani.
- Yeah?
- Take a look at this.
♪
- OK.
Xander's not talking.
This is the story Bill
and Daphne were working on,
the one Lazarus
doesn't want getting out.
They got Dulles up there,
Whitmore.
They knew about the Pit, Bex.
- This looks way bigger
than that.
- The Institute
for Human Consciousness.
What is that?
- It's a think tank
run by Philip Beaumont.
Bill Reese gave his editor
a book about him,
the same book that
I found in Lazarus's apartment.
Places like The Institute,
they have their hands in
all sorts of government
projects, like the Pit.
- Do you think Beaumont and
this Institute created the Pit?
- Created it, ran it,
runs it, maybe. I--
- This is going
to take us weeks
to go through all of this.
♪
- This is what Lazarus
was hiding, yeah?
Reporters exposing the truth
about Philip Beaumont
and his role in the Pit?
Did he get her to send you?
- Who?
- OK, we know that Lazarus
sent you to bury this.
Unfortunately,
Daphne's going to live
and we have you
in custody here,
so I think it might be in your
best interest to start talking.
- You don't even know enough
to know how far from the truth
you are.
- OK, so why don't you
enlighten me?
- More fun to watch you guess.
♪
- Hey, where's his kit, Shane?
- Oh, his kit?
- Yeah, his kit.
- [scoffs]
What are you doing?
- So technically
under the Geneva Convention,
we're not allowed
to inject prisoners
with a lethal neurotoxin
from a deadly animal.
However, I'm not seeing
any labels on these vials.
Are you?
- Nope, no labels.
- It's probably just saline.
No?
- Yeah.
Right?
Plausible deniability.
Right, Hassani?
- What?
Yeah.
It's what we call
in clandestine services
a green light.
- Unless, of course, you just--
you want to start talking.
- You won't do it.
- [scoffs]
- I like a mix and match,
maybe a little blue in there.
- Yeah, go on.
- Yeah?
Should we put the blue one in?
- Yeah.
- What's that one do?
Last chance.
All right.
Gonna be really spicy.
- Wait, wait, wait, wait!
Please!
Please wait.
♪
- Xander told us everything.
Ever since the blast,
Lazarus has been looking
for her exit strategy.
She cut a deal with
a foreign government.
I mean, Xander
doesn't know who,
but she's looking
for a safe harbor for herself
and a handful
of her most prized inmates,
who she believes
can be transformed
into the next generation
of graduates.
- She's defecting,
trading top-secret military
assets for a cushy life
and immunity from prosecution.
- This is not
a golden parachute.
She is determined to keep
the graduate program alive.
That is why she's siphoning off
key inmates from the program.
- What can I do to help?
- We have a plan.
There is no chance in hell
that we're handing Xander over
to the transport team.
I mean,
they all work for Lazarus,
so we're going to transfer
custody to your office.
But Mallory,
we need a TAC team
about 20 deep
to go into the facility
with us.
And you have to look
outside of Cheyenne
because she has moles
all over the base.
- Yes.
I am fully aware.
[dramatic music]
Just tell me where to meet you.
♪
- Morales, you with us?
- All set up here.
Tracking your position now.
♪
- All right,
you guys can take him.
- Yes, ma'am.
♪
Mallory.
♪
Mallory?
- Whoa.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
- Hey, hey.
Easy, fellas.
We're the good guys here.
We're on the same team.
- Guys, what's going on?
♪
- Mallory, what's going on?
We had a deal.
What are you doing?
♪
- Three of you
really are quite something.
And it was a good plan.
But you know when people
make their biggest mistakes?
When they think they've won.
♪
- What have you done?
- Load them up.
♪
- Get off of me.
[tense music]
- Objective complete.
But you got sloppy.
♪
- Guys, guys.
Ben, get a QRF team mobilized
right now.
- What's going on?
- Now.
♪
[buzzer blares]
♪
- Outside.
- Yes, ma'am.
It's OK.
I told them not to
make these too tight.
[tense music]
Can we talk, just two of us?
- What are you going to do
with Bex and Hassani?
- Don't worry about them.
They're fine.
Completely unharmed.
You know, when I first arrived
at the Pit,
I thought my life was over.
My hopes, my dreams
were completely shattered.
And I was angry,
just like you are now.
But the life I wanted for
myself was so much smaller
than the life I was given
by Doctor Dulles.
Caitlin Taylor's life pales in
comparison to Evelyn Lazarus's
just like Shane Florence's
pales in comparison
to what your life could be.
There's so much more
within you.
You see that now, don't you?
That there's a future for us,
together.
Mother and son.
♪
- DNA does not make us family.
My mother is Shannon Florence.
My father is Gregory Florence.
Good people.
They raised me.
They made me who I am.
- They lied to you, Shane.
They took you from me
and gave you to strangers
because I was unwell.
But I'm not that person
anymore.
Shane, I am proof that
the graduate program works
and can continue to grow.
But they wanted to erase
the entire program,
and I refuse to allow it.
♪
- You blew up the Pit.
♪
You said it was Whitmore,
but
it was you.
♪
- Wasn't just me.
♪
- Anything?
- The Quick Reaction Force
is mobilizing now.
They'll be there
as soon as they can.
♪
- I am sorry about all of this.
Jen--[sighs]
I never meant to hurt you.
♪
Really.
♪
- If that's true,
if you really are sorry,
I'm going to give you one
chance to make things right.
The QRF team is already
on their way to the facility,
but I don't know how much time
Bex and the guys have.
This is your one
get-out-of-jail-free card.
If you help me save them,
I will let you go.
♪
I need access
to the lab's servers.
♪
- Psst.
Hey, roomie.
Do you remember me?
I've been thinking about you.
You know what's funny?
You pretended to be the girl
in the cell next to mine.
And I fell for it.
But now look at you,
the girl in the cell
next to mine.
You should have stayed retired,
Rebecca.
That's right.
Lazarus told me all about you.
This should be fun.
♪
- I sense that
something's on your mind.
You want to talk?
You want to talk about it?
- Oh, you got to be kidding me.
- Humor.
It's often used as a shield
to cover our true feelings.
♪
How are things at home?
I see you're married.
Oh, oh, ooh.
[chuckles]
Oh, were married.
You must be in so much pain.
[inhales deeply]
You know, in India
there are subcultures
who self-immolate
after the loss of a spouse.
[beep]
♪
But I think this is
going to work out for you.
[tense music]
♪
- I'm in.
I've got a visual.
- Look.
- There they are.
Wait, what are
these guys doing?
♪
- They're going to
blow the place.
- We had no choice, Shane.
They wanted to lock us up,
throw away the key,
and pretend the whole thing
never happened.
Their mistake
was underestimating
our will to be free.
♪
- How many other graduates
are out there?
- The reason
I am telling you all of this
is because
I need you to understand
that you are not safe here.
To the U.S. military, you're
an experiment, not a person.
We're the same.
I'm not the monster
you think I am.
Every life I took was because
it was either me or them.
And I will never go back
into a box.
- The QRF team isn't
going to make it in time.
What are we going to do?
♪
- We're going to give our team
a fighting chance.
- Colonel, the charges are set.
- We're ready to secure
the inmates for transport
to the airfield.
- Charges?
What's he talking about,
charges?
What about Bex and Hassani?
- It's time for us to leave.
- Let's go.
- Well, hold on. What's--
- Come on.
- Hey, hey.
You are out of your mind.
Don't do this.
Do not do this.
Don't do this.
♪
[doors buzz]
[indistinct shouting]
- Don't move.
Get back inside now.
- Let's go.
- Back into your cells.
- Close the gate!
- Nobody move.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
[tense music]
Get on the ground.
[TV on the Radio's
"Wolf Like Me"]
[energetic indie rock music]
♪
- Say, say, my playmate ♪
Won't you lay hands on me ♪
Mirror my malady ♪
Transfer my tragedy ♪
Got a curse I cannot live ♪
Shines when
the sunset shifts ♪
- [screams]
- When the moon
is round and full ♪
Gotta bust that box,
gotta gut that fish ♪
My mind's aflame ♪
We could jet
in a stolen car ♪
But I bet
we wouldn't get too far ♪
If ever there were
a lucky kind ♪
It's you, you, you, you ♪
♪
Hey, hey, my baby ♪
Let me know where you are ♪
Burned down their
hanging trees ♪
It's hot, hot, hot there ♪
We're howling forever ♪
Oh, oh ♪
We're howling forever ♪
Oh, oh ♪
[suspenseful music]
♪
- Bex.
[gunshots]
Go!
Bex.
Bex, get up.
Come on, Bex.
Open your eyes.
Stop! Put it down!
Drop it!
♪
- [groans softly]
Is she dead?
Looks dead.
- Stop talking.
I'm going to need you to put
your hands behind your back
and turn around.
- I told you.
I'm not going back
in that box.
Just do it.
Pull the trigger.
- No.
No, I'm not a killer like you.
- Shane.
I've seen your military record.
Killing comes naturally to you
because that's who you are.
Even now, you're thinking
about putting that bullet
through my brain, aren't you?
♪
You want to kill me.
♪
You hate me for taking
your sweet Bex,
don't you?
♪
Shoot me.
[distant gunfire]
♪
Shoot me!
♪
- [shouts]
♪
Turn around and put your hands
behind your back.
- I won't let them
put me back in a box, Shane.
- Yeah, you keep saying that.
Turn around!
♪
Bex?
♪
- [groans]
[indistinct shouting]
♪
- Bex!
- Main facility secure.
- Hey.
- All right, let's move.
- Hey, it's OK.
I got you.
I got you.
Hey, it's OK.
It's OK.
You're all right.
I need a medic!
- Send a medic to our 20.
- I'm OK. I'm OK.
- OK. I got you.
- I'm OK.
- Hey.
[suspenseful music]
- Team leader,
main site secure.
They're going to be OK, Major.
♪
- I'm guessing
the good guys won.
♪
But I wouldn't fault you
for going back on your word.
♪
- I'm going to give you
an hour.
Then I'm calling it in.
- What about him?
- An hour's fair.
- When someone
like me gets away,
there are going
to be questions.
You two are going
to need a story.
- No, we won't.
I'm going to tell them
exactly what I did,
and I'll face the consequences.
♪
- True blue Jennifer Morales.
♪
[Brian Seymour's
"Always Leaving"]
[mellow rock music playing]
♪
[door closes]
[footsteps approaching]
- Waving my hands ♪
- Starting without us, huh?
- Hey.
They let you out of
the hospital already?
Thought they were holding you
till tomorrow.
- Oh, they tried.
- Yeah.
I believe the phrase they used
was "causing a scene."
- OK, I am not a prisoner.
I got shot in the arm.
That is it.
Also, they don't have whiskey
at the hospital.
- Good point.
Why don't you guys
grab us a table,
and I'll get the first round?
♪
- What happens now?
We out of a job?
- With Mallory and Lazarus
out of the picture?
I don't know.
- Hassani left word at Langley,
though,
so we should know soon.
[Hassani ordering indistinctly]
Hey.
I haven't had a chance
to check in with you.
You OK?
- Me?
You're the one with
your arm in a sling.
- OK, you know what I mean.
Shane, you don't have to be.
♪
- Honestly, I think I'm OK.
I don't know. It's been
a weird couple of days.
[soft dramatic music]
♪
Yeah, ask me again tomorrow.
♪
- Plan to.
♪
- Mr. Hassani.
My boss would like a word
with you and your friends.
- Your boss?
[suspenseful music]
♪
Beaumont?
- I must admit I've been
watching you all for some time.
And our paths nearly crossed
on occasion,
but I was unsure where
in this grand disaster
your allegiances lie,
until now.
- Two reporters
from "The Standard"
were about to expose
a government conspiracy
with you at the center of it.
One of them is now dead.
The other is in the hospital.
So if you want to talk about
allegiances, Mr. Beaumont,
we might have a few questions
of our own.
- You're wondering
about Colonel Lazarus.
She sent her man
after Bill and Daphne.
You think that means
I was involved?
- Adds up.
You and your Institute
are all over Daphne's wall.
So--
- You helped build the Pit.
We know that.
You were involved
with Doctor Dulles,
with Whitmore Sciences.
You had a lot to lose
if this story broke.
- So why help break it then?
♪
You were the source they were
talking about, weren't you?
- You blew the whistle
on yourself.
- Leaking the story
was a desperate attempt
to do the right thing.
I've tried for years
to have the Pit shut down,
to put an end
to the secret experiments
and the graduate program.
With Lazarus gone, I can ensure
you have everything you need
to finish the job
of recapturing
all the remaining inmates.
♪
Together, we can end this.
- Look, I'm happy you're
reckoning with your conscience
and all, but you're correct.
Mallory's gone.
Lazarus is gone.
So you should be making the
speech to whoever is in charge
of the task force now.
- I am.
♪
Agent Henderson,
you are now in charge.
♪
Unless you want
to return to your position
as head of security
at the Royal Hearts Casino.
- What is this?
- It's a complete list
of the inmates.
- How are there so many?
- [inhales]
Because the Pit wasn't
just treating serial killers.
♪
They were creating them.
[tense musical crescendo]
♪
[dramatic music]
♪
- Previously on
"The Hunting Party"
- I don't know what
I imagined
finding my mom would be like,
but it wasn't this.
- Look, I know it's hard
finding out the truth about
your biological mother,
but Lazarus--
- Just another psychopath
from the Pit.
- You have no idea
what you're into.
- She's trying to turn
serial killers into weapons?
- She's building an army.
[suspenseful music]
♪
[Pixies "Where Is My Mind"]
[dreamy indie rock music]
♪
- [laughs]
- With your feet in the air
and your head on the ground ♪
[items clattering]
[laughter]
- [clears throat]
- Try this trick
and spin it ♪
- [laughs]
- Yeah ♪
- Yeah ♪
It will collapse
if there's nothing in it ♪
And you'll ask yourself ♪
- [giggles]
- Where is my mind? ♪
Where is my mind? ♪
Where is my mind? ♪
♪
[aquariums burbling]
Way out ♪
[bell rings]
In the water ♪
See it swimmin' ♪
♪
- Got a live one here for you.
Just need your signature.
- I was swimmin'
in the Caribbean ♪
- Don't normally ask, but
what is this one?
- Phyllobates terribilis.
It's a poison dart frog.
They secrete a toxin
that causes paralysis,
heart failure,
and death within minutes.
There's no known antidote.
- If you say so.
Be careful with that, kid.
- Where is my mind? ♪
♪
Way out ♪
In the water ♪
See it swimmin' ♪
[frog ribbiting]
♪
With your feet in the air
and your head on the ground ♪
♪
Try this trick and spin it,
yeah ♪
Your head will collapse
if there's nothing in it ♪
And you'll ask yourself ♪
Where is my mind? ♪
Where is my mind? ♪
Where is my mind? ♪
- Mm-hmm.
♪
Nate.
Nate?
- [rasping]
- Nate!
♪
Nate!
Nate.
[screams]
- [rasping]
- Help!
Oh, my God!
Guys, help me!
♪
- [ethereal vocalizing]
[indistinct chatter]
- Do you all have any idea
how crazy this sounds?
- Yeah.
- Colonel Lazarus,
one of the
most highly decorated officers
in the United States military
is actually
a convicted serial killer
who was given a new identity
while she herself
was an inmate in the Pit
and then released
back into the world?
- She was the first graduate.
And now she's a true believer
in the value of the program.
- That's why she used
a false flag attack
against the prisoner transport,
to assume control
of the whole task force
so that she could
get her hands on more inmates.
- Mallory, she doesn't think
psychopathy is a disorder.
She thinks it's the next step
in human evolution.
- We get this is
a lot to take in.
- Well, good.
- Do you not believe us?
- Yes, I do believe you.
Problem is I'm not sure
anyone else will.
- OK, look, I know that
we've had our differences,
but we need you back in charge
of this task force
because right now,
we are working
for an actual psychopath.
- With your backing,
we can take her down.
Elizabeth,
this is not politics.
We need to take action.
- Everything's politics,
especially this.
Colonel Lazarus has
a lot of friends on the Hill.
So if you want my help,
I need rock-solid,
irrefutable evidence.
Get me proof
that she's gone rogue,
that this top secret lab
even exists,
and that inmates are
being hidden there.
Otherwise,
it's just she said, they said,
and my money's not on you.
But right now, you've still
got killers to catch.
- Morales, what do we got?
- Inmate L23, Xander Wax.
A self-checkout scanner
in Washington, D.C.
picked up
a partial fingerprint.
- You know this guy, Bex?
- I do.
He's not from D.C.
- Well, not all killers
go back home, apparently.
What are we dealing with?
- We are dealing
with a very smart individual,
highly educated.
Xander Wax was a biochemist
by training,
confirmed to have killed
at least ten people.
But that number is believed
to be a lot higher.
- How much higher?
- Estimates are north of 20,
but it's possible
he had as many as 40 victims
because his kills were
often mistaken as heart attacks
or strokes.
- Huh.
How'd he pull that off?
- He used highly lethal
animal venoms as poisons.
- Snakes, great.
- What made Xander
so difficult to catch
is that he had
no discernible victimology.
Instead,
he would leave neurotoxins
on public objects for random
people to interact with.
Gas station pumps,
buttons in an elevator,
sugar packets in a diner.
He didn't care who he killed.
For him, the thrill was
the randomness of it all.
He would relish in the feeling
of power and control
knowing that at any moment,
some unsuspecting victim
would come across
one of his laid traps.
The anticipation of it
was his high.
- How'd this guy get caught?
- They worked backwards
through his college days.
A suspicious dorm room death
was just the break they needed.
- He killed his roommate.
- It was his first kill
and his only impulsive,
targeted victim.
As is often the case,
Xander's MO evolved from there,
driven by his compulsive desire
to re-experience that thrill.
- All right, let's get to D.C.
before this monster
sets any more traps.
[tense music]
[glass shatters]
♪
[keypad beeps]
♪
[keypad beeping]
[low chime]
- Damn it.
Damn it.
[keypad beeping]
♪
[high chime]
♪
[hissing]
- [groaning]
[screams]
[groaning]
[wheezing]
♪
- [rasping]
Who are you?
♪
- That looks painful.
- [wheezing]
[dramatic music]
♪
- OK, but my point is,
humans twist themselves up
into knots
making up stories about
Adam and Eve, gods and souls
because people
desperately want to believe
that they're different than
all the other animals
that live on this planet.
We're superior.
Well, I got a little secret
for you, Doc.
We're just primates with
overactive imaginations.
- Expand on that.
- We don't have
any more right to exist
on this minor planet
of a very minor star
than some lizard.
Human civilization needs
to constantly be reminded
that we are byproducts
of chance, randomness,
entropy on a cosmic scale,
dispersion of energy,
mud brain.
And if my actions made other
people a little more self-aware
of the meaninglessness
of their existence,
I did them a favor
'cause the world is chaos
and we are all at its mercy.
- Wow.
I bet he's great at parties.
- Yeah, your average psychopath
doesn't usually express
this kind of deep nihilism.
Where does a guy like Xander
get it from?
- He had a fairly stable
childhood.
His friends and neighbors
described him
as gifted and kind.
However, unlike most serials,
there was one
traumatic incident
that shaped his interpretation
of reality.
When he was only ten years old,
his parents died
in a car accident.
They hit a deer,
lost control of the vehicle,
rolled off a 30-foot
embankment.
- Oof.
- He was in the back seat,
walked out with
barely a scratch.
- Yeah, I can see how
this kind of traumatic event
could really change
somebody's worldview.
- The experience left him
with severe attachment issues
and some major
unresolved trauma.
Even more so,
the loss of his parents
created his entire
life philosophy,
which was on full display
during his years of killing.
Exhibit A.
- Hey, do you know how long
sugar packets sit on the table
at some restaurants,
a typical diner?
You might find a Sweet'N Low
or an Equal that's been there
two, three years.
Course, most venoms
will break down eventually
over time with heat
and sunlight.
But if you could find
a cool, dark, sealed space,
like, um,
old sody pop vending machine,
get a little Boomslang venom,
that's an African tree snake,
little bit on
the pop top cap,
you are in business
for a year.
- The anticipation of the kills
genuinely brought him joy.
It gave him a sense of control
in a completely
uncontrollable world
while simultaneously
expressing his view
that all life was random.
- He says here he would
check the news every morning
to see if someone had
been killed.
Listen to this.
"Inevitably, it was a letdown.
"Some grocery clerk
or meaningless housewife.
"All of the anticipation, the
wondering, immediately gone.
So I would set out
to do it again."
Eesh.
- He's been out
for a couple months.
It's plenty of time for one
of his traps to be in play.
[phone buzzing]
- Ross, what do you got?
- A body.
A man was found dead
two blocks from the mini-mart
where we first spotted Xander.
It's being reported
as a snake bite.
- Snake bite?
This time of the year?
It's hard to believe.
- DB's name is Bill Reese.
He was a reporter for
"The Washington Standard."
His body's already
at the morgue.
[suspenseful music]
- You can see
the puncture wounds there
in the back of
Mr. Reese's right hand.
Local tissue necrosis is common
with venomous snake bites,
as is the swelling.
- Is that the only bite mark?
Any idea what kind of snake?
- Early stage tox only confirms
the presence of venom,
not the species.
- OK, Morales,
I'm going to send you
a picture of the bite mark.
Let me know
if you can identify the snake.
- You got it, Bex.
- Who did you all say
you were again?
- Fish and Game.
- Right.
- Hey.
This seems like a lot of venom
for just one bite.
You sure about this?
- Given the enzymatic
degradation,
yes, I can assure you
the toxicology is correct.
Really,
there is no mystery here.
You gentlemen and lady
of the Fish and Game
are looking
for a very big snake.
And I'm sorry,
but you'll have to excuse me.
I have other cases
to attend to.
[suspenseful music]
- I don't think he bought
your cover story, man.
- Hey, Morales,
any update on that bite mark?
- After powering through
a personal phobia here,
turns out you can't
identify a species
based off of a snake bite mark.
Who knew?
But the necrotic appearance of
the skin around the bite mark
suggests a neurotoxin only
found in very exotic species.
- So not exactly local.
- No, far from it.
And that's not all.
Take a closer look.
[phone chimes, buzzes]
- Are bite marks normally
asymmetrical like that?
- Nope. An injection was
made inside the left one.
- An injection?
That'll be why Bill's
tox screens were so high.
Xander injected him with
more venom after the snakebite.
♪
- I'm always happy
to offer my customers
a discount
when they buy in bulk.
[snake hissing]
♪
- [chuckling] Whoa.
[snake hisses]
- Before the Pit,
Xander would kill anonymously.
He didn't care who he killed
as long as someone died.
But now, he's actually
choosing his victim
and hiding the murder
in plain sight.
- Yeah, and he did
a good job of it.
I mean, that ME was convinced
it was just a very big snake.
- That's the kind of tradecraft
CIA uses
to knock off enemy dictators.
- What, like a hit job?
- That's something Peck said.
Lazarus was
turning inmates into weapons.
What if Xander was one
of Lazarus's graduates?
Guys, she's behind this.
- If she is,
that means she sent Xander
after an
investigative journalist.
He must have been
close to something
she wants to keep quiet.
- Yeah, but like what,
the graduate program, the Pit?
I mean, the amount
of secret operations
Lazarus is a part of,
it could be anything.
- I say we call the locals,
ask them what they have
on the exotic animal
black market trade around here.
- Good idea.
I'm going to go to
"The Washington Standard,"
see if I can find out
what Bill was working on.
- OK, well, let's stay sharp.
If Xander is working
with Lazarus,
we got to assume she's already
tipped him off we're here.
♪
[snakes hissing]
- I've been looking for
this one for a long time.
He is a beauty.
- It's a she.
And she is, isn't she?
And highly illegal.
[tires screech]
Hey, don't run.
- Whoa.
Hey, easy, Tony.
We just want to talk to you.
Come back here for a second.
Whoa.
- I got permits
for all of those.
- Is that right?
Tony Sullivan?
According to the
Metropolitan Police,
you've been arrested
seven times
for selling illegal
exotic reptiles.
- Allegedly.
- Uh, Tony, you were convicted,
so it's not allegedly
if you actually served time.
Also, that is a coral snake.
- [grunts] Look, we're not
going to hassle you with this.
We just need to know
if you've ever seen this guy.
- Him? Yeah.
Bought a bunch
of little beauties--
scorpions and snakes
and spiders, whole shebang.
Guy definitely knew his stuff.
- All right, we need you
to tell us everything
you remember about him.
- Well, if I do,
will you let this slide?
- All I see is a man taking
his pets out for a drive.
♪
[tense music]
♪
- You're back early.
The case over already?
- Jen, what's going on?
- Xander's working
for Colonel Lazarus.
Command Center's not safe.
I'm running the rest from here.
- Are you serious?
- Mm-hmm.
[phone ringing]
Hassani.
- Morales, we got a lead
on Xander's plate.
X-ray, 3, 4,
Juliet, Quebec, 2.
- Just pulling up the VIN.
Got him.
His GPS puts him about
20 minutes from your location
heading west on Prospect.
- You're amazing.
Tell Bex we'll pick her up
on the way.
- Thank you for meeting me
on such short notice.
I know this is a troubling day
for everyone.
But I do need to talk to you
about Bill Reese.
- Bill was my mentor.
He was a tough bastard,
but he was our bastard.
Everyone here looked up to him.
- I've read some of his work.
He doesn't really
do fluff pieces, does he?
- Mm.
[mouse clicking]
- Do you know what
he was working on?
- Quite a few things.
- OK, look, I get it.
If you gave information to
a Fed without a subpoena,
every reporter in that room
would go running
out the front door.
But if Bill was
working on something that
put his life in danger,
I need to know
because all I'm trying to do is
ensure nobody else gets hurt.
I promise.
- Uh--
I heard it was a snake bite.
- The FBI doesn't
investigate snake bites.
- I see.
You know, Bill used to say this
job would eventually kill him.
But until then,
it's what kept him living.
He always knew how
to find the story.
♪
- He was writing
about Philip Beaumont?
Do you know why?
- No,
but when he gave me the book,
he said it was
just the start of something.
You should speak
with Daphne Williams.
I'll leave it to her
to decide what she will
and won't say about the piece.
- I'm sorry.
Who is Daphne Williams?
- Bill's protégé.
They were writing
the story together.
♪
[keyless entry chimes]
[tense music]
[phone ringing]
♪
- Hello?
- Daphne Williams,
my name is Special Agent
Rebecca Henderson with the FBI.
I really need
to speak with you.
Are you home right now?
- The FBI?
I'm going to need
a little more context here.
What is this about?
- Bill's death wasn't
an accident, Daphne.
- What do you mean?
- It was made
to look like one.
Look, I know you were
digging into Philip Beaumont.
I spoke with your editor.
We really need to talk.
- I'm not--
She told you to speak with me?
- Look,
why don't I take you in?
I can explain everything.
OK?
- OK.
- Where are you right now?
I'll meet you there.
- My house on Prospect.
- I'm on my way.
- Look, if what
you're saying is true,
then my source is in danger,
too.
- What's important is that
we make sure you're safe.
Whoever your source is,
I promise
we'll protect them, too.
But right now,
stay in your house,
lock the door.
and leave your phone on
so that I can reach you.
Thank you.
I'll be there soon.
♪
[engine turns over]
[screams]
[tense music]
[screaming]
[siren wailing]
[tires screech]
♪
- I got someone in the car.
Daphne?
♪
- Morales, call an ambulance.
- Calling dispatch.
- Get her out, get her out.
Tell them to bring
an antivenom.
- Copy.
- Get her out. Get her out.
- Hey,
Xander's inside the house.
- Got her?
- Yeah.
Morales, make it quick.
She doesn't have long, OK?
[door crashes]
- Freeze.
♪
- Look who's here.
- Put it down.
Drop it!
Hands on the table.
♪
Hassani, jacket pocket.
- You might want
to be careful with that.
- Thanks for the warning.
♪
- Jacket.
Hands on the table.
- [sighs]
♪
Sit down.
Hands behind your back.
- Hey, Hassani.
- Yeah?
- Take a look at this.
♪
- OK.
Xander's not talking.
This is the story Bill
and Daphne were working on,
the one Lazarus
doesn't want getting out.
They got Dulles up there,
Whitmore.
They knew about the Pit, Bex.
- This looks way bigger
than that.
- The Institute
for Human Consciousness.
What is that?
- It's a think tank
run by Philip Beaumont.
Bill Reese gave his editor
a book about him,
the same book that
I found in Lazarus's apartment.
Places like The Institute,
they have their hands in
all sorts of government
projects, like the Pit.
- Do you think Beaumont and
this Institute created the Pit?
- Created it, ran it,
runs it, maybe. I--
- This is going
to take us weeks
to go through all of this.
♪
- This is what Lazarus
was hiding, yeah?
Reporters exposing the truth
about Philip Beaumont
and his role in the Pit?
Did he get her to send you?
- Who?
- OK, we know that Lazarus
sent you to bury this.
Unfortunately,
Daphne's going to live
and we have you
in custody here,
so I think it might be in your
best interest to start talking.
- You don't even know enough
to know how far from the truth
you are.
- OK, so why don't you
enlighten me?
- More fun to watch you guess.
♪
- Hey, where's his kit, Shane?
- Oh, his kit?
- Yeah, his kit.
- [scoffs]
What are you doing?
- So technically
under the Geneva Convention,
we're not allowed
to inject prisoners
with a lethal neurotoxin
from a deadly animal.
However, I'm not seeing
any labels on these vials.
Are you?
- Nope, no labels.
- It's probably just saline.
No?
- Yeah.
Right?
Plausible deniability.
Right, Hassani?
- What?
Yeah.
It's what we call
in clandestine services
a green light.
- Unless, of course, you just--
you want to start talking.
- You won't do it.
- [scoffs]
- I like a mix and match,
maybe a little blue in there.
- Yeah, go on.
- Yeah?
Should we put the blue one in?
- Yeah.
- What's that one do?
Last chance.
All right.
Gonna be really spicy.
- Wait, wait, wait, wait!
Please!
Please wait.
♪
- Xander told us everything.
Ever since the blast,
Lazarus has been looking
for her exit strategy.
She cut a deal with
a foreign government.
I mean, Xander
doesn't know who,
but she's looking
for a safe harbor for herself
and a handful
of her most prized inmates,
who she believes
can be transformed
into the next generation
of graduates.
- She's defecting,
trading top-secret military
assets for a cushy life
and immunity from prosecution.
- This is not
a golden parachute.
She is determined to keep
the graduate program alive.
That is why she's siphoning off
key inmates from the program.
- What can I do to help?
- We have a plan.
There is no chance in hell
that we're handing Xander over
to the transport team.
I mean,
they all work for Lazarus,
so we're going to transfer
custody to your office.
But Mallory,
we need a TAC team
about 20 deep
to go into the facility
with us.
And you have to look
outside of Cheyenne
because she has moles
all over the base.
- Yes.
I am fully aware.
[dramatic music]
Just tell me where to meet you.
♪
- Morales, you with us?
- All set up here.
Tracking your position now.
♪
- All right,
you guys can take him.
- Yes, ma'am.
♪
Mallory.
♪
Mallory?
- Whoa.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
- Hey, hey.
Easy, fellas.
We're the good guys here.
We're on the same team.
- Guys, what's going on?
♪
- Mallory, what's going on?
We had a deal.
What are you doing?
♪
- Three of you
really are quite something.
And it was a good plan.
But you know when people
make their biggest mistakes?
When they think they've won.
♪
- What have you done?
- Load them up.
♪
- Get off of me.
[tense music]
- Objective complete.
But you got sloppy.
♪
- Guys, guys.
Ben, get a QRF team mobilized
right now.
- What's going on?
- Now.
♪
[buzzer blares]
♪
- Outside.
- Yes, ma'am.
It's OK.
I told them not to
make these too tight.
[tense music]
Can we talk, just two of us?
- What are you going to do
with Bex and Hassani?
- Don't worry about them.
They're fine.
Completely unharmed.
You know, when I first arrived
at the Pit,
I thought my life was over.
My hopes, my dreams
were completely shattered.
And I was angry,
just like you are now.
But the life I wanted for
myself was so much smaller
than the life I was given
by Doctor Dulles.
Caitlin Taylor's life pales in
comparison to Evelyn Lazarus's
just like Shane Florence's
pales in comparison
to what your life could be.
There's so much more
within you.
You see that now, don't you?
That there's a future for us,
together.
Mother and son.
♪
- DNA does not make us family.
My mother is Shannon Florence.
My father is Gregory Florence.
Good people.
They raised me.
They made me who I am.
- They lied to you, Shane.
They took you from me
and gave you to strangers
because I was unwell.
But I'm not that person
anymore.
Shane, I am proof that
the graduate program works
and can continue to grow.
But they wanted to erase
the entire program,
and I refuse to allow it.
♪
- You blew up the Pit.
♪
You said it was Whitmore,
but
it was you.
♪
- Wasn't just me.
♪
- Anything?
- The Quick Reaction Force
is mobilizing now.
They'll be there
as soon as they can.
♪
- I am sorry about all of this.
Jen--[sighs]
I never meant to hurt you.
♪
Really.
♪
- If that's true,
if you really are sorry,
I'm going to give you one
chance to make things right.
The QRF team is already
on their way to the facility,
but I don't know how much time
Bex and the guys have.
This is your one
get-out-of-jail-free card.
If you help me save them,
I will let you go.
♪
I need access
to the lab's servers.
♪
- Psst.
Hey, roomie.
Do you remember me?
I've been thinking about you.
You know what's funny?
You pretended to be the girl
in the cell next to mine.
And I fell for it.
But now look at you,
the girl in the cell
next to mine.
You should have stayed retired,
Rebecca.
That's right.
Lazarus told me all about you.
This should be fun.
♪
- I sense that
something's on your mind.
You want to talk?
You want to talk about it?
- Oh, you got to be kidding me.
- Humor.
It's often used as a shield
to cover our true feelings.
♪
How are things at home?
I see you're married.
Oh, oh, ooh.
[chuckles]
Oh, were married.
You must be in so much pain.
[inhales deeply]
You know, in India
there are subcultures
who self-immolate
after the loss of a spouse.
[beep]
♪
But I think this is
going to work out for you.
[tense music]
♪
- I'm in.
I've got a visual.
- Look.
- There they are.
Wait, what are
these guys doing?
♪
- They're going to
blow the place.
- We had no choice, Shane.
They wanted to lock us up,
throw away the key,
and pretend the whole thing
never happened.
Their mistake
was underestimating
our will to be free.
♪
- How many other graduates
are out there?
- The reason
I am telling you all of this
is because
I need you to understand
that you are not safe here.
To the U.S. military, you're
an experiment, not a person.
We're the same.
I'm not the monster
you think I am.
Every life I took was because
it was either me or them.
And I will never go back
into a box.
- The QRF team isn't
going to make it in time.
What are we going to do?
♪
- We're going to give our team
a fighting chance.
- Colonel, the charges are set.
- We're ready to secure
the inmates for transport
to the airfield.
- Charges?
What's he talking about,
charges?
What about Bex and Hassani?
- It's time for us to leave.
- Let's go.
- Well, hold on. What's--
- Come on.
- Hey, hey.
You are out of your mind.
Don't do this.
Do not do this.
Don't do this.
♪
[doors buzz]
[indistinct shouting]
- Don't move.
Get back inside now.
- Let's go.
- Back into your cells.
- Close the gate!
- Nobody move.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
[tense music]
Get on the ground.
[TV on the Radio's
"Wolf Like Me"]
[energetic indie rock music]
♪
- Say, say, my playmate ♪
Won't you lay hands on me ♪
Mirror my malady ♪
Transfer my tragedy ♪
Got a curse I cannot live ♪
Shines when
the sunset shifts ♪
- [screams]
- When the moon
is round and full ♪
Gotta bust that box,
gotta gut that fish ♪
My mind's aflame ♪
We could jet
in a stolen car ♪
But I bet
we wouldn't get too far ♪
If ever there were
a lucky kind ♪
It's you, you, you, you ♪
♪
Hey, hey, my baby ♪
Let me know where you are ♪
Burned down their
hanging trees ♪
It's hot, hot, hot there ♪
We're howling forever ♪
Oh, oh ♪
We're howling forever ♪
Oh, oh ♪
[suspenseful music]
♪
- Bex.
[gunshots]
Go!
Bex.
Bex, get up.
Come on, Bex.
Open your eyes.
Stop! Put it down!
Drop it!
♪
- [groans softly]
Is she dead?
Looks dead.
- Stop talking.
I'm going to need you to put
your hands behind your back
and turn around.
- I told you.
I'm not going back
in that box.
Just do it.
Pull the trigger.
- No.
No, I'm not a killer like you.
- Shane.
I've seen your military record.
Killing comes naturally to you
because that's who you are.
Even now, you're thinking
about putting that bullet
through my brain, aren't you?
♪
You want to kill me.
♪
You hate me for taking
your sweet Bex,
don't you?
♪
Shoot me.
[distant gunfire]
♪
Shoot me!
♪
- [shouts]
♪
Turn around and put your hands
behind your back.
- I won't let them
put me back in a box, Shane.
- Yeah, you keep saying that.
Turn around!
♪
Bex?
♪
- [groans]
[indistinct shouting]
♪
- Bex!
- Main facility secure.
- Hey.
- All right, let's move.
- Hey, it's OK.
I got you.
I got you.
Hey, it's OK.
It's OK.
You're all right.
I need a medic!
- Send a medic to our 20.
- I'm OK. I'm OK.
- OK. I got you.
- I'm OK.
- Hey.
[suspenseful music]
- Team leader,
main site secure.
They're going to be OK, Major.
♪
- I'm guessing
the good guys won.
♪
But I wouldn't fault you
for going back on your word.
♪
- I'm going to give you
an hour.
Then I'm calling it in.
- What about him?
- An hour's fair.
- When someone
like me gets away,
there are going
to be questions.
You two are going
to need a story.
- No, we won't.
I'm going to tell them
exactly what I did,
and I'll face the consequences.
♪
- True blue Jennifer Morales.
♪
[Brian Seymour's
"Always Leaving"]
[mellow rock music playing]
♪
[door closes]
[footsteps approaching]
- Waving my hands ♪
- Starting without us, huh?
- Hey.
They let you out of
the hospital already?
Thought they were holding you
till tomorrow.
- Oh, they tried.
- Yeah.
I believe the phrase they used
was "causing a scene."
- OK, I am not a prisoner.
I got shot in the arm.
That is it.
Also, they don't have whiskey
at the hospital.
- Good point.
Why don't you guys
grab us a table,
and I'll get the first round?
♪
- What happens now?
We out of a job?
- With Mallory and Lazarus
out of the picture?
I don't know.
- Hassani left word at Langley,
though,
so we should know soon.
[Hassani ordering indistinctly]
Hey.
I haven't had a chance
to check in with you.
You OK?
- Me?
You're the one with
your arm in a sling.
- OK, you know what I mean.
Shane, you don't have to be.
♪
- Honestly, I think I'm OK.
I don't know. It's been
a weird couple of days.
[soft dramatic music]
♪
Yeah, ask me again tomorrow.
♪
- Plan to.
♪
- Mr. Hassani.
My boss would like a word
with you and your friends.
- Your boss?
[suspenseful music]
♪
Beaumont?
- I must admit I've been
watching you all for some time.
And our paths nearly crossed
on occasion,
but I was unsure where
in this grand disaster
your allegiances lie,
until now.
- Two reporters
from "The Standard"
were about to expose
a government conspiracy
with you at the center of it.
One of them is now dead.
The other is in the hospital.
So if you want to talk about
allegiances, Mr. Beaumont,
we might have a few questions
of our own.
- You're wondering
about Colonel Lazarus.
She sent her man
after Bill and Daphne.
You think that means
I was involved?
- Adds up.
You and your Institute
are all over Daphne's wall.
So--
- You helped build the Pit.
We know that.
You were involved
with Doctor Dulles,
with Whitmore Sciences.
You had a lot to lose
if this story broke.
- So why help break it then?
♪
You were the source they were
talking about, weren't you?
- You blew the whistle
on yourself.
- Leaking the story
was a desperate attempt
to do the right thing.
I've tried for years
to have the Pit shut down,
to put an end
to the secret experiments
and the graduate program.
With Lazarus gone, I can ensure
you have everything you need
to finish the job
of recapturing
all the remaining inmates.
♪
Together, we can end this.
- Look, I'm happy you're
reckoning with your conscience
and all, but you're correct.
Mallory's gone.
Lazarus is gone.
So you should be making the
speech to whoever is in charge
of the task force now.
- I am.
♪
Agent Henderson,
you are now in charge.
♪
Unless you want
to return to your position
as head of security
at the Royal Hearts Casino.
- What is this?
- It's a complete list
of the inmates.
- How are there so many?
- [inhales]
Because the Pit wasn't
just treating serial killers.
♪
They were creating them.
[tense musical crescendo]
♪
[dramatic music]
♪