Homeland s01e08 Episode Script

Achilles Heel

Air and naval forces of the United States launched a series of strikes against terrorist facilities Pan Am Flight 103 crashed into the the town of Lockerbie.
He has sanctioned acts of terror in Africa, Europe, the Middle East.
This will not stand, this aggression against, uh, Kuwait.
REAGAN: This relentless pursuit of terror.
PRESIDENT GEORGE W.
We will make no distinction The USS Cole was attacked while refueling in the port of Aden.
This was an act of terrorism.
It was a despicable and cowardly act.
The next song we're going to play for you is one of the good old favorites.
Until something stops him.
I'm just making sure we don't get hit again.
That plane crashed into the World Trade Center.
Thousands of people running.
We must and we will remain vigilant at home and abroad.
What the fuck are you doing? God! Fuck! I missed something once before.
I won't I can't let that happen again.
It was ten years ago.
Everyone missed something that day.
Everyone's not me.
Previously on Homeland: I appreciate you looking out for Jessica.
Like you did while I was gone.
You were my friend! You Carrie here.
It's me.
Where are you? I'm taking some time, from home.
I know I have oatmeal, but no Yorkshire Gold out here in the sticks.
Sorry.
How do you know the tea I drink? Did you spy on me? You are a spy, right? You're telling me the fucking CIA thinks I'm working for al-Qaeda? I think you're working for al-Qaeda.
We have a deal with Aileen.
What did she tell you? They were just told to buy the house, go about their business till a visitor arrived.
Which he did on Monday.
She's sitting with a sketch artist right now.
Ask me anything.
Why did they kill Walker and not you? I killed him.
Galvez, you up there? Affirmative.
Face the airport, Galvez.
We're looking for direct targets.
Reserve M-1.
That's a landing pad for Marine 1.
Oh, shit.
A mile is well within a sniper's range.
An expert sniper.
Saul.
We were wrong about Brody.
A P.
O.
W.
Was turned, but it wasn't him.
Aileen just I.
D.
'd Tom Walker.
He's alive.
He's the terrorist.
Yo.
Homeless vet here.
Hey, I fought your war.
Iraq-- ring a bell? Hey, come on, man.
I'm hungry.
Ma'am, ma'am? Ma'am? Nah.
Thank you.
God bless you.
God bless the little children.
Thank you, little man.
All right, all right.
Yo.
Hungry here.
Is this the man you saw? Your father? Is this your office? Yeah, yeah, this is my office.
I thought you were a spy.
I guess, in a-- in a way.
How can you spy on anyone sitting in here? Lucas, Lucas, come on.
Just What did we agree? That everything had to be secret.
Right, and what else? You get to ask your questions first.
Why'd you do that? Touch your nose? He told me he'd seen his father at school.
Watching him through the chain link.
It never occurred to me it could actually be true.
Tom was dead.
That's what they told me.
I know it's a lot to deal with.
You think? For years I pray Tom's alive.
Now you tell me he is, but he's turned into some kind of monster? I didn't say that.
Yes, you did.
"Brainwashed.
" That was the word you used.
Planning an attack on his own country.
That's what we believe.
So I don't know whether I should be celebrating or putting my son and I into witness protection.
What we need to do is find him before anything happens.
You can help with that.
How could he be alive all these years and not call? When you say he's changed, that's the only reason I believe you.
Carrie? Will you send in Mrs.
Walker, please? He needs your help in there.
Do you think you can do that? In Germany you said Walker died in the middle of the night.
He was killed, yes.
Beaten to death? I didn't see it.
I heard it.
But it was pretty clear.
Then they made you bury him? Yeah, outside the compound.
Just like I said in my original debrief and a hundred times since.
So you want to tell me what this is all about? I'm just reconfirming.
Oh, that's why they told me to drop everything and rush in here.
Well, his wife-- widow-- she's trying to close the file.
Just trying to oblige.
Like I said, mostly we were kept apart.
All I know for sure is he's dead.
Thanks.
I got what I need.
Thanks very much.
I didn't say anything.
Oh, so it's just a coincidence that I've been dragged in here to go over Tom Walker's death just two days after I told you I killed him? I didn't tell them what you said.
I would never do that.
Then why am I here? I can't say.
Oh, sure, of course not.
I can't.
You know, for somebody who lies all the time, I'd think you'd be better at it.
Brody Oh, please, just stop.
I'm sorry.
Fucking me to get information, is that part of the job description? Or do you get a promotion for showing initiative? What was that about? Nothing.
He's mad about having to answer the same questions over and over.
Okay.
He is.
What? I think I got a lead on Tom Walker.
Interested? Come on.
They called me back to Langley.
To answer more questions about Tom again.
You don't have to explain where you were.
Jess, you have every right to be mad at me.
I know I've been impossible.
And I know I can't just vanish for two days without hurting you all.
After eight years, what's two more days? What's that supposed to mean? You don't even care? Because I do.
Brody, I hung on for six years.
Six years after they told me you were dead.
Six years after a Marine came to the door and said they were going to start paying death benefits.
I waited for you because I wanted so much for you to be alive.
Then I screwed up.
I didn't wait long enough.
I screwed up.
But I can't keep paying for that.
You don't have to.
I can't.
Damn it.
Chris will be home soon.
It's not your fault.
None of it is.
That's what I'm trying to tell you.
And I don't want everything to fall apart.
Remember what you said about Walker when we found out he was watching his son? You said his family was his Achilles heel.
That's what got me thinking about this.
About what, exactly? His son spots him at school.
I thought maybe he'd try some other form of contact.
Well, I think he did.
Okay, press "Enter.
" It's right there.
Okay Phone records? Helen Walker's phone records.
Galvez got 'em for me.
Turns out there's something very interesting about them.
Look at the time stamps.
All on weekdays.
Made from various disposable cell phones.
S-So wait, Walker's been talking to his wife? No.
That's the point.
At 8:00 a.
m.
she takes the kid to school.
The calls come in when she's not there.
Listen.
What is it? Just listen.
Hey, this is Lucas.
And Helen.
Please leave a message after the tone, with your name and address, and the time you called, and the date, and why you called, and for who, and when And we'll call you back.
Depending on your answers.
His Achilles heel.
He calls just to hear their voices.
Who does? You can say; he's cleared.
This is Special Agent Hall, our FBI liaison on the Walker task force.
That phone message.
It's Walker's wife Helen and his son Lucas.
He calls when he knows they won't be there.
Why? Well, like Saul said, just to hear their voices on the answering machine.
To feel like he still belongs.
This is how we find Walker.
We get Helen to pick up one morning.
She draws him out while we track the GPS.
Well, how is her state of mind? Think she can handle it? - I can get her there.
- That's your plan? You wait for him to call and then cross your fingers that the wife doesn't sink this whole mess by saying something she shouldn't? I mean, we have a critical situation here.
A Marine sniper turned by Abu Nazir, - on U.
S.
soil, targeting his own country.
- Yeah.
That's what we told you.
Agent Hall has a suggestion how to proceed.
I was just telling the Assistant Director exactly how we tracked down Whitey Bulger.
Right.
You put ads on TV.
We took the lead.
We enlisted the public.
What I'm saying is there's things to do besides sitting here, waiting for him to call us.
Like you did with Whitey Bulger? Exactly.
Who it took you 20 years to find? Okay.
So, uh, we all know each other.
Walker's out there, we need to find him fast.
Assess what our approach should be, I'd like a recommendation on my desk in two hours.
Now, Agent Hall Somebody gonna get that? How about you? I'm not getting it, Not anymore.
Watch this.
Whoa! Well, I'm out.
I'll get it.
Where are all these aces coming from? I don't know.
I'm good at this game.
Hello? Mrs.
Gaines.
All right Elizabeth.
Uh-huh.
Yes, of course.
Who's Mrs.
Gaines? You know.
That lady at church with the chauffeur.
What's a chauffeur again? Like, one of those little dogs? I swear to God, you're like a half idiot, half moron.
Dana.
Well, seriously.
I'll ask.
She says she invited us to a party tomorrow night.
Oh, she did.
I forgot to get back to her.
I'm supposed to tell you we're gonna look back on it as the party of the year.
What does that mean? I don't know.
Do you want to go? We don't have to.
Are you guys joking? Elizabeth Gaines promises the party of the year, and you're actually thinking about not going? Well, I'm going if you're not.
Okay.
Uh, we'd love to.
Thank you.
Wow.
Thank you very much.
She's sending a car.
Around 7:00.
A car? Dad, when something good happens, you just gotta learn to say yes.
I've never heard you say anything remotely nice about Elizabeth.
How come we suddenly have to go to one of her parties? 'Cause the alternative is sitting here watching you pack.
I have to.
No, you don't.
I leave the day after tomorrow.
You don't have to leave, that's my point.
All your friends will be there.
I know.
You can explain to them.
The necessity of this precipitous departure.
Saul 'Cause I can't, for the life of me, after 25 years together? I don't understand.
Is this how you're going to be? Because I can't take a whole evening of it.
I'm going to be this way whether we go out or not.
The difference is at Elizabeth's they'll be serving champagne.
Okay.
We go.
For old times' sake.
But my flight does leave the next morning.
Right.
And I'm going to be on it.
Right, right, right, right.
I heard you.
What? Are you okay? I'm a little busy, actually.
Can I come in? Estes put me in charge of the task force.
Congratulations.
Yeah, to you.
It was on your recommendation.
And because of the phone idea, which was also yours but somehow became mine when you handed it to me today.
This can't wait? No.
Saul, you look out for me.
You always have and You saw me arguing with Brody earlier today.
I wasn't honest with you about that.
Yeah.
I kind of got that.
When the surveillance on Brody was shut down I contacted him.
Personally.
How personally? At a support group first.
And then we saw each other.
A few times.
Look, I was chasing the wrong guy.
"Chasing," good word for it.
Well, it's it's moot, now.
It's over.
It should never have happened.
Do you get that? Yeah, I do.
Why else would I be here? And like I said, it's over.
You okay? Yeah, I'll survive.
Well, with any luck Tom Walker calls his wife tomorrow morning, we track him down and we're all heroes by noon.
Come on.
Get some sleep.
See you tomorrow.
Saul.
We're good here.
The son's just leaving for school.
Helen Walker? She seems okay.
I was about to give her a last-minute pep talk.
Great.
We're good to go then.
You sound jazzed.
Better than last night, anyway.
I was weaned on inter-agency noncooperation.
Nothing makes me happier than seeing the FBI stand around with their dicks in their hands, watching us work.
Lovely.
They're ready to trace the call.
If it's even him.
It will be.
When he calls, you need to engage him.
Keep him talking.
So you can find him.
So we can help him.
Is that what everyone on this task force is saying, "let's help Tom Walker"? Helen, it's important you understand.
He hasn't done anything wrong, not yet.
We're all working to keep it that way.
Okay, we're a little early here.
Are you set? Talk to me.
What the hell sort of trace is that? Wild routing through a series of numbers.
Two continents so far.
Okay, just hit Mumbai.
She needs to pick up before it goes to voicemail.
Helen.
Helen, you need to get that.
Hello? Hi.
This is Diane.
Do you need your carpets professionally steam-cleaned? Okay, cut this, please.
Well, we have a special offer just for you.
Right now you can get up to five rooms professi Cut it.
Thank you.
Reset, please.
There, see? You can do it.
I can't.
I don't even know what to say.
He misses you.
And Lucas.
That's why he calls.
You need to show him you feel the same way.
How? By saying I gave up, got remarried? No.
By saying you've told Lucas about him, you've shown him pictures, enough that he actually recognized him.
You've kept him alive in your son's thoughts.
When Tom calls tell him that.
Hello? Fuck.
He hung up.
I don't see any GPS data.
Tell me we have something.
Signal originated at cell towers in northeast D.
C.
Call was most likely made within a mile of there.
So what do we have on street cams in the area? Ivy City, coverage is sketchy.
Well, let's see it, come on.
Where's facial recognition? There you go.
Again.
Chris.
What are you doing? I don't want to miss the car.
It's a hired driver, he'll come to the door.
It's not like he's trying to avoid detection.
Have you noticed? What? They're not fighting.
He's here.
Mom! Dad! The driver's here! Sweet! Come on, check it out! So.
How do we look? Swear to God, I must be adopted.
You look beautiful.
You can stop staring now.
I'm not.
Yes, you are.
I can feel it.
So do you, by the way.
You look handsome.
Who's gonna tell me that when you're halfway around the world? We're chasing this guy at work.
plus the FBI.
He's got this fatal flaw, this weakness we're trying to exploit.
Carrie calls it his "Achilles heel.
" What is it? He loves his wife.
Let someone start believing in you Let him hold out his hand Let him touch you Hi, there.
And watch what happens There she is.
Oh, will you excuse me? Sure.
Okay.
Saul, Mira.
Good to see you two together, finally.
It must be great to have her back.
I hope she never leaves.
He's even crankier than usual when you're gone.
Do us a favor, stay put this year.
Is that Vivian? Excuse me.
Well did I accidentally hit a nerve? Accidentally? I doubt it.
Well, I may have heard rumors.
Oh, my God! Look at them.
Excuse me.
Don't you look lovely.
Thank you.
Thank you for sending the car.
You didn't have to.
Oh, well, I wanted to be sure you actually made an appearance.
Saul? Do you know Saul? Yes.
Yes, we've met.
A couple times.
This is my wife Jessica.
Saul Berenson.
Hi.
The bar's through there.
Grab a drink and I'll introduce you around.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Elizabeth you have that look.
Well, they are perfect, aren't they? For what? What are you up to? You've been poking around about Brody ever since he became the poster child for D.
O.
D.
You have some plan in the works for him.
Oh, I have a plan for everyone, you know that.
You're grooming him.
For what exactly? By the end of the evening you just might find out.
All tucked in finally.
I've never heard so many reasons not to go to bed.
Oh, he's not even asleep yet.
Matt's up there reading to him right now.
He seems very devoted to your son, Matt does.
You were lucky to find him.
Yeah, I was, very.
And despite everything, being married to Tom, that was lucky, too.
I mean having him in my life, those years before he left.
What about you? Me? Who's in your life? Oh, I met somebody.
But I don't think it's gonna work out.
So that's what we're tasked with, my squad, to safeguard this, this artwork, I guess you'd call it.
It's in the one presidential palace that's still held by the enemy.
So we shoot our way into the palace, we engage multiple targets down this long hall.
We finally get into the room where this is, this-this national treasure we've risked our lives for, this solid gold bust of Saddam and somebody's already replaced it with a Mr.
Potato Head.
Will you excuse me, gentlemen, for one second? Sure.
Thank you.
Would you excuse me? Okay, I have to ask.
I know what you're gonna say.
So I'm not imagining.
Everyone's being really nice to us, yes.
It's weird.
And that guy Head of the Democratic National Committee.
His wife practically jumped me.
She said, "I want you to think of me" "of me as your new best friend"? Exactly.
What's going on? I don't know.
Want to get some air? Yes.
What are you thinking about? I'm thinking about all the things that happen in people's lives that pull them together or split them apart.
The million little events, coincidences the outside forces.
Mira leaves tomorrow, right? I've been there myself, Saul.
Three times.
I know what it looks like, what it feels like.
If you ever need to talk to somebody, believe it or not, I'm a good listener.
You know, you were asking what Brody's being groomed for.
You're about to find out.
Make yourself useful.
Get the Brodys to the library.
Capitol Hill is calculating the political fallout following the press conference by Eighth District Congressman Richard Johnson caught in a sexting scandal, sending nude and seminude pictures of himself to a number of Congressional interns, charges he vehemently denies.
This is a setup, a persecution.
The facts will show these accusations to be completely without merit.
My wife and I are gonna get through this together.
And no, I have absolutely no intention of deserting my office or the voters who put me there.
The Congressman pledged to disprove the allegations and serve out his term.
House Minority Leader Ellen Randall expressed disappointment at the news and has called for an Ethics Committee investigation to determine whether any other violation He'll be gone in two days.
I have an idea who might replace him.
The impact of the scandal on Johnson's status as Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
The Congressman has been a fierce opponent of the administration's efforts to allocate more funding for unmanned surveillance and drone strikes in the Middle East.
"Dick Johnson?" Really? That's his name.
Well, he should think about changing it if he's gonna be doing stuff like that! You're drunk.
Not as drunk as I bet Dick Johnson is right now! You saw how everyone was looking at you, right? They were looking at you.
They were looking at you.
This was a really nice date, Sergeant Brody.
You showed me a really good time.
Dick Johnson.
Wow.
My feet are killing me.
Oh, shh! How was it? Fancy.
You guys said you'd be in bed by 11:00.
It's Ice Age, Mom.
I think I missed this one.
Not one.
You missed, like, three.
What's wrong with the elephant? It's a woolly mammoth, Dad.
Shh! Here.
Move over.
I'm coming in.
Your arm okay? Hmm Mmm, popcorn.
I'll have some of that.
Mmm.
Hello? Tom, is that you? Tom? Lucas said he thought he saw you at his school.
Holy shit! Hey, Carrie, we're live.
You sure? Yeah.
I didn't hear it ring.
Notify the FBI team on the ground, then patch me in.
Where's Helen? I don't know.
Saul, we're on.
Get up.
I am, Carrie.
I'm up.
No GPS data.
Phone must have it blocked.
Well, get past it so I'm not just guessing here.
Okay, I'm on it.
You don't have to say anything.
I know you're listening.
I can feel you there.
Okay, I think we're there.
Got it.
Tac One, immediate left onto New York Avenue.
Proceed five blocks, then left.
And I need you to know that I never gave up on you, I never lost hope.
But Lucas, he was getting so big And a boy needs a father, that's what you always said.
And it it wasn't enough, me raising him on my own not if he was to have a future.
Our son.
But I never stopped loving you never.
Not for one second.
And when Lucas said he thought he'd seen you that day at his school, my heart was so glad.
Just the thought of it was a miracle.
And I don't care why you're back, I don't.
Just that you are.
Helen.
Oh, baby, I've done a horrible thing.
No, Helen, no.
Don't! Don't! They're tracing this call! You got to get out of there! You hear me?! Get out now! Patch me into the tac team.
Okay, you're connected.
Do not lose the target! He's not the target! He's my husband! Okay, what's your position? Okie Street pushing east.
He's moving towards the rail yard.
Negative.
That position would be too exposed.
We've got a sighting.
No, he'll stay where there's cover.
Hello? Galvez, what just happened? I'm not sure.
I think Tac One is down.
Where? What is his position? Mount Olivet Street.
Olivet.
Okay, they're on him.
Following.
Target in sight.
No.
Wait.
What do you mean? They need to flank him on the next street.
Contain him, but stay back.
Galvez, tell me you copy.
It's too late.
They're in.
He's running! Gun! FBI! Do not move! Show me your hands! Show me your hands now! FBI! Do not move! Do not move! Do not move! Folks, I need you to stay back.
Stay back, all of you.
Behind the barricade.
Anyone care to tell me what happened? The tac team followed Walker here.
Two casualties.
Local Muslims here for morning prayer.
We cleared the building, including the Imam.
I think I saw him outside.
Looked very unhappy.
Walker assaulted our team leader.
Took his weapon.
Operating theory is that he fired first.
That's very much in dispute.
Where's Walker? We're looking.
Meaning you have no idea.
We were right on top of him.
We'll find him again.
It better be soon.
This is a nightmare.
I couldn't agree more.
Suggestions? The way I see it, we're down to one option.
We go public about Walker.
Appeal for help finding him.
And what about what happened here? Call him a terrorist.
What happened here won't matter much.
Saul? I'll draft the language.
Let's regroup at Langley.
The sooner we get this done, the better.
Who is it? It's okay.
Go back to sleep.
What are you doing here? There's something you need to know.
Not at 6:00 in the morning.
Tom Walker is alive.
You're lying.
No.
It's not possible.
It's true.
I killed him with my own hands, just like I told you.
No.
Abu Nazir made you think you did.
There's a manhunt on for Walker.
He's somewhere in the area.
We're going public with the information in a few hours.
I thought you deserved to hear it first.
I wanted to tell you at Langley, but I couldn't.
It was still classified.
But I need you to know that I did not betray your confidence to anyone.
I would never do that.
I knew for a fact an American P.
O.
W.
Was turned.
I didn't know Walker was still alive any more than you did.
Don't hate me because I thought it was you.
I don't hate you.
You just did what you had to.
Just did your job.
No, it wasn't just my job.
Is she? CIA.
Mira, I'm so sorry.
We had a severe meltdown.
Two innocents were killed.
Muslims waiting for morning prayers.
I got it, I got it, I got it.
It's okay.
No, it's not okay.
I said I'd be here to make breakfast, take you to the airport.
I'm already late, Saul.
I'm here now.
I'm here.
It's better I take a cab.
You know how far it is from here to Delhi? Well, we're still going to talk.
Sure.
I'll text you.
Please don't do this.
When I woke up this morning, Saul, you were gone, and it hit me that there hasn't been one day since I've been home that you were there at night and then you were still there the next morning.
And I couldn't even remember when was the last time you were home for 12 straight hours.
And I don't think you could remember either.
It's my weakness.
My Achilles heel.
Every time they'd call me, I'd go.
I'm gonna miss my plane.
The first news reports about Walker hit the air less than five hours ago.
We've already had nearly 2,000 sightings.
All of them probably nothing.
If I'm Walker I'm burrowing into my hole right now.
Carrie? We're going to have tips a mile deep by morning.
It'll be tough to wade through.
We'll need to prioritize.
I had a kind of epiphany today.
About Walker? I wish.
No, about me.
I'm going to be alone my whole life, aren't I? Fault, zone two.
A war hero, and now he's at the top of the FBI's Most Wanted List.
Could this be just an extreme case of PTSD, or is Walker a member of al-Qaeda? This isn't some troubled vet.
The FBI called Walker a credible threat with ties to subversive elements.
Right here in D.
C.
? That's correct.
Walker? Are you crazy? The entire country is looking for you.
You can't be here.
You people told me Walker was dead.
My friend.
You told me I killed him.
You made me believe.
I don't know! Really, really! You have to talk to Abu Nazir! I'm through talking with Nazir, and you can tell him that.
Tell him it's over.

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