Alcatraz s01e02 Episode Script

Ernest Cobb

Hey, we got a new fish, boys.
Hey, welcome to the big house.
We'll get you in a cell, but first the boss wants to cast an eyeball on you.
The warden likes to welcome the new fish in person.
But he's king screw, and you'd do well not to piss him off.
Outside? Brisk air'll do wonders for a Johnson.
That's a heck of a shot, son.
What was the final body count? 15? Me, I can barely hit these cans at 20.
Tell me, how do you pick one? When they're all just little dots in your scope.
A feeling.
Word from McNeil island has you taking pot shots at a guard with a homemade single-shot.
Is that right? In the leg.
Which, given your skills, was purposive.
I wanted transfer, not murder.
Ten years on the rock, you'd be the first who'd come willingly.
What made our little island your favorite destination? A private cell.
My own private cell.
Mile and a half, from here to the shore.
In case you were getting ideas.
Situate him in his private cell.
Mr.
Cobb Any pointers? Drop your shoulder.
There are 47 slats in the picket fence.
Four, seven, one, two, three, four, one.
Please, let's just Let's just not.
Come on.
I won't shake it, I promise.
- It'll be fun.
- Okay, you promise? You have to run a register, do inventory and stock.
It's not all videogames and the first crack at DC's latest.
Got it, doc.
Hey, what's the new gig, anyway? I'm not supposed to talk about it.
Okay.
It's a task force.
Okay.
FBI, mostly, some police.
But I can't talk about it.
I'm a civilian authority.
Sounds cool.
Oh, it's cool, all right.
It's super-cool.
Oh, hot chick.
Don't look, don't look, don't look.
You looked.
That's my partner, from the task force.
No way.
Way.
Morning, doc.
Go stock something.
You want? No, thanks.
There's scary stuff in Dim Sum.
Sucks for you.
So Read your book last night.
"Tommy Mansen," my grandfather, "inmate 2002.
Life without parole for murdering his wife.
" A couple typos in there, but, uh What? Kidding.
Where's the rest? Rest of what? There's like six paragraphs for the other inmates, and only one paragraph for Tommy.
It's all I could find.
Did he really kill your partner? Yeah, we were chasing after him and didn't even know it.
Weird.
Chasing your own grandfather.
I wonder, who's next? One, two, three, four.
One, two, three, four.
There's 47 slats in the picket fence.
Four, seven, one, two, three, four, one, two Two, three, four, five, six, seven -47, 47, 47 - No! Hey, Hopper.
Becca, hey.
How's the new gig with the feds? Oh, you know.
So what's going on? Some kind of sniper.
SWAT's searching everything at 750 yards.
Area's on lockdown.
Who's the ride-along? He's a famous comic book writer.
The victims, are they, you know, still here? Look, homicides are never easy.
Well, before I met you, it wasn't really an issue.
I'm just saying.
You have to detach yourself from everything you see.
Don't let your emotions cloud your judgment.
Okay? Who've we got? You tell me.
Dead crows? Ernest Cobb.
Gotta be.
Wichita sniper.
He learned to shoot killing crows for farmers.
It's how he made a living after he left the orphanage.
All the kill shots were to the heart.
Oh, boy.
He does three shootings in three days, then he goes underground.
So we've got two teenagers and a guy in his mid-30s.
Was that Cobb's M.
O.
? Doc? Doc? How's the new partner working out? Hey, doc.
Take long, deep breaths.
Cobb's shootings were always random.
No M.
O.
, as far as his victims were concerned.
Random.
That just means we don't have enough information yet.
Or aren't sharing it.
Maybe I'm not cut out for this.
You know what kind of rifle Cobb used, back in the day? It's Winchester, model 70, I think.
No.
No.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Uses the same bullets as an M-40.
So the S.
F.
P.
D.
is assuming that he's using a modern weapon, but Cobb's maximum range with a Winchester is what? Probably 500 yards? Not 750.
So the buildings they're searching are too far away.
Nice work.
But that hill looks about right.
Guy on the midway Boom.
Ferris wheel Bam bam.
Casings should have popped this way.
I don't know, Rebecca.
He would've cleaned up afterward.
The guy was kind of O.
C.
D.
Okay.
What? Alcatraz.
Another killer back from the Rock? We've got two days to catch him.
On March 21st, 1963, Alcatraz officially closed.
All the prisoners were transferred off the island.
Only that's not what happened.
Not at all.
ALCATRAZ EP.
2 - Ernest Cobb Inmates on the tier! Tier two on the ready! Hey, buddy! I see you.
I know you're in there.
You can't hide, buddy.
Leave me alone.
Mail call today.
Got a beauty from the missus.
She's staying with her sister and her sister's husband, who I bet a Lincoln is trying to poke her in the laundry room.
Anyways, they're asking for rent, which request the missus passes to me.
Even from a distance she is a piece of work.
Already she sent my entire shop salary.
These damn chicks.
I gotta No! That poor bastard.
Name's Jack Sylvane.
Where does he go? Solitary.
That's the last he sees of any of us.
Do you know him? No.
He's back.
Just like you're back.
Why? Are you working together? Where have you been, Jack, for the past 50 years? Who's watching me? You disappeared from Alcatraz in 1963 how did you get here? I don't know.
One minute, i was in my cell, and then I And then I wasn't.
When you were captured, they found this in your pocket.
Do you know what it opens? Did someone ask you to get it? Idon'tknow.
He's telling the truth.
All right, Jack.
Let's start at the beginning again, shall we? I found Cobb's storage box.
This isn't the only door without a handle, you know? There's another one in the file room.
And there are three buttons in the elevator that you can't press without a key.
He's got a whole operation, and we're only a tiny part of it.
Now you're the main part of our part, so what does he need me for? - I'm just - Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Who caught Jack Sylvane, doc? Hauser's people? No.
We did.
Cobb spent more time in solitary confinement than any other inmate on record.
Any issues with authority or had trouble following the rules? How'd they catch him the last time? Someone recognized him from the FBI's most wanted list.
But not before he shot his way through eight cities, from Denver to Anchorage.
Yeah, I don't think we can put a time-traveling sniper's face on the most wanted list.
Yeah, probably not.
So The hammer markings on the casing you found are a match For Cobb's gun of choice.
How could you possibly get a ballistics report in two hours? Does this lead to something concrete? Old rifle.
He would've had to get it at a specialty gun shop.
Then why are you still here? You wanted children.
Go babysit.
You know, Emerson, they're not so bad.
Tell me Hauser isn't the nutcase I think he is.
He's a little prickly sometimes, but he's all right.
You've been with him a while? With him, without him.
- - Urban Warfare in 3D.
Think I got a second amendment contact high.
Hello, Whitten.
Detective Madsen.
What an unspeakable pleasure.
You know, I thought the ATF took your license away.
All my wife's licenses are up-to-date.
Thank you, ma'am.
I just work here.
Never seen him.
Sorry.
Oh, wow.
That's a relief.
'Cause this guy's a suspect in this morning's shooting, so whoever sold him the gun is gonna be in a world of hurt.
Glad it's not you.
You know what? This individual did, in fact, come to the store a couple of days ago.
Picked up an old Winchester.
Model 70.
Prepaid credit card.
No name or address.
You know that without looking? Do you know how many 70s I've sold in the past ten years? One.
You know the drill.
Security footage, please.
Ooh, pause it there.
That a room key? Yeah, not that many hotels still use that kind of room marker any more.
Have to figure out which one.
Give us some space.
First prison where I eat the same as you.
Full bellies make a man less likely to cause upset.
You eat alone.
What was that, son? You need to speak up.
Alone.
You eat alone.
Oh.
"Honorable warden Edwin James, "I respectfully and kindly request a transfer "to deep lock in a solitary cell, "the purpose of which is for me to take meals in private "and abstain from communal visits to the yard.
"Also, I would prefer to be in a cell block where talking and fraternization was prohibited.
" Really beautiful letter, son.
Request denied.
No.
- No? - No.
This ain't a hotel, son.
You don't get to pick your accommodations.
A new cell, a quiet cell I'm gonna pick up this bone now and chew on it.
I'd prefer to do that in private.
Please, sir.
Please.
No! No! No! No, you can't! - So we sign in here? - Mm-hmm.
Great, may I? Can I ask you something? Do you know how these guys are coming back, and who's you know behind it? 'Cause I have some theories involving wormholes, but how is it you seem to just accept everything that's happening, like it's not the biggest thing ever? How I feel about what's happening doesn't change the fact that it is happening.
Thanks.
That helps a ton.
This is the place.
Manager I.
D.
'd Cobb.
Room 123.
I've called Hauser.
He'll be here momentarily.
No, no, no.
We can't risk Cobb slipping away.
Stay behind until I say it's clear.
Police! Clear! There's 47 slats in the picket fence.
Four, seven.
One, two.
Lucy, get down! Oh, my God.
Oh, my God! Doc, get out of here! Call an ambulance! Come on! Go! Stay with me, Lucy.
Stay with me, okay? Her pulse is weak.
She's lost a lot of blood.
The blood pressure's dropping.
Where are you taking her? St.
Mary's.
What happened? She was at the window.
He must have been sitting on the room, watching, waiting for us.
Whose fault is that? He played us, like he knew we were coming.
Do these guys know we're chasing them? What does that matter? Look, if I knew how they got here or what they want, maybe this wouldn't have happened.
Stoptalking! This is what I know, that Cobb is still out there, and as long as he is, he will continue to kill, and that is all you need to know.
She's alive.
But she's in a coma.
Doctor says it might be temporary, but it also might be not so temporary.
Hello, Jack.
Was she a target? I don't know.
Was she a target? Answer me.
I don't know.
That's a shame.
Maybe Dr.
Beauregard can jog your memory.
This is weird.
And awful.
The only thing we can do to help Lucy now is to find Cobb, Okay? Okay.
What's that? Those are the cities where Cobb shot people.
Lucy must have set up a database on the '63s.
Those are the first five victims.
Hauser said Cobb didn't have an M.
O.
, that his shootings were random.
Yeah.
What if they weren't? What if he used the randomness to hide his real victim? And who was that? There's always a girl.
She's about 15, but she's in every shooting, just like the carnival.
Who's the 16-year-old in his life? I don't know.
He grew up in an orphanage.
He ran away when he was 12.
He did go looking for his birth mom, though.
Found her when he was 20, but she slammed the door in his face.
And she would have been in her 40s, not 16.
What do they mean to you, Cobb? What are you doing? Cobb's been ahead of us the whole time, and I'm trying to get ahead of him.
This was his cell.
Found a box in the file room filled with letters that were never delivered.
This one's for Cobb.
Why didn't he get it? Well, when you're an inmate and you want to get letters, you have to give the warden a list of names.
Cobb didn't have a list.
From Eloise Monroe.
"Dear Ernest, you probably don't remember me, "but I was there the day you came to find your mom, "who's my mom, too.
"Which, I guess, means we're brother and sister.
"I'm sorry she was unkind to you.
"She's never been one for surprises.
"I Hope it'll be okay if we're pen pals, "because I always wanted a big brother to look out for me.
Sincerely, Eloise.
" So Cobb didn't even know she tried to contact him.
Nope.
Looks like you were right.
What do you mean? So I'm Cobb, and I finally find my mom, I get up the courage to go see her, she slams the door in my face.
But not before I see she's got another kid not much younger than me, a 16-year-old girl.
And this one she actually took the trouble to raise.
Why her and not me? If I'm Cobb, I'm pissed.
Is Eloise still alive? No, I checked.
Died in a car accident nine years ago.
Well, we know the why.
Let's find the where.
I'll keep digging.
- Pier "C".
- 15 minutes to go.
Bring in outside "B.
" On your feet.
It's time for count.
Open 114.
There's 47 slats in the picket fence One more time.
Get up.
Oh! Oh! Welcome to solitary.
Your days of elbow-rubbing and hobnobbing are over.
No mess hall, no work detail, no talking.
Just you and your cell, 24/7.
Open 212! Okay.
You been here all night? Yeah.
What's that? Son of a bitch made himself a scope.
Does it work? Yeah, it works.
Holy crap.
I can see cars, hills, people He just sat here, staring at the city At people waiting.
For what? The day he could kill them.
Come on.
Good morning.
I gotta hand it to you.
You could have done anything, jumped a guard, fire-bombed your cell, heck, you could have took a page from your own playbook and made yourself a gun.
But you showed real smarts.
Studied that rule book till you found the perfect infraction.
"Number 28, daily routine.
"Stand by your cell door, facing out.
Remain there till the bell signal sounds again.
" Simple.
Elegant.
You committed the smallest breach in the most public of ways, and you forced my hand.
You win, son, fair and square.
There's just one thing.
Open up! I believe you two fellas know each other.
Oh, wait.
Wait.
Y-you can't.
You can't.
Well, hell, buddy, it ain't so bad, no you can't! Son, this is my prison.
I can do whatever the hell I like.
No.
No, no, no, no, no, you can't! Well, that man makes me nervous.
You must have done something real bad, shut shut Because this right here is the worst cell in the place.
Shut I believe you.
I gotta say I know, I know, I know I mean, that view right there, that view of the city, I mean, that is unbelievable, - because we're looking - Stop it! - At people right there - Stop it! - No, no, no - All the people run around, and all we can do is sit and watch it and think about all the things that we're not having right now Stop.
Stop.
Shut shut your mouth! - Shut up! - That's I mean, that's torture it is, it's torture.
Shut it! - No! - For the trumpet will sound! And the dead shall be raised imperishable! And we will all be changed This shocking footage was captured just a few hours ago at a local Columbus super store, where an unidentified shooter opened fire on the store's It's his third shooting.
Brutally killing three, and wounding many others.
Police are investigating - We missed him.
- No.
Lucy wasn't part of his pattern, it's number two.
We've got one more shot.
Let's get back to work.
The view narrows our search to three miles covering North beach and Telegraph Hill.
Both of the shootings happened at the highest vantage point in that area.
Can you remove the structures that weren't there in '63, the ones Cobb wouldn't have seen from his cell? Uh, let me see.
Okay, got it.
This is a photo of the buildings that are there now, and these are the buildings that Cobb could see in 1963.
How's Lucy? She's stable.
But the doctors say there's no telling the extent of the damage.
What do you got? This is what Cobb saw from his cell every day.
He even made a scope and studied the view.
Just imagined it over and over.
And these are the buildings high enough to be used as a vantage point.
Yeah, from the rooftops he could shoot down at pier 31 or Fort Mason.
That's where we're gonna find him.
Let's take a ride.
I got this one.
Alive, I want him alive.
in the picket fence.
Picket fence.
There's 47 slats in the picket fence One, two, three, four There's 47 slats in the picket fence.
One, two, three, four.
One, two, three Cobb! in the picket fence.
47 slats.
Drop your weapon! Three, four, five I know you met your mother! She had a daughter, and you saw her, Cobb.
You saw your sister.
You know she wrote you a letter? Her name was Eloise.
She lived at 47 Kaley Street, your sister.
- Go to hell.
- She wanted to know you.
She wanted a big brother.
Go to hell! Okay, Cobb, I'm putting down my gun.
Are you ready? I'm coming out.
Here's the gun.
All right? My hands are in the air.
I have the letter.
I can show you.
She's not out there.
Your sister's not out there.
- Shut - Cobb! Don't move! -Don't move! - Oh.
Is he right-handed? Yeah.
No more shooting.
I don't think I can hack this.
- Doc - No, I mean it.
I mean, Hauser doesn't need me, and what we're doing, stone-cold killers and dead bodies, and someone I actually know getting Right in front of me.
This isn't a comic book world, is it? I mean, real people are gonna die if we don't catch these guys.
It's okay to feel this way, doc.
It comes with the job.
I'm afraid I'm not gonna be good at it.
Well, too late.
You already are.
I want to you go home, get some sleep, and get ready for the next one, because I need you.
Thanks.
Close it up.
I could have killed you today.
But now you're here, you're gonna wish I had.
I hate to see it's come to this, trussed up like a Christmas hog, but your penchant for insubordination seems insatiable.
Time and again, you've found your way back into solitary, and damned if I can figure out why.
But not to worry, son.
I've studied and researched and found a doctor who, with God's will, might could be able to help you.
If anyone can figure what's gone amiss in that noggin of yours, it's this little lady here.
Welcome to Alcatraz, Dr.
Sengupta.
Thank you, warden James.
Hello, Mr.
Cobb.
My name is Lucille Sengupta.
I'm here to help you.

Previous EpisodeNext Episode