Persons Unknown s01e03 Episode Script

The Way Through

Previously on persons unknown: Janet, Janet! Okay, what the hell was that out there? Active denial system.
Transmits high-intensity microwaves.
How do you guys come up with "child abandonment"? There's something bigger going on here.
Mommy? Where are you? - Who is this? - He's one of them.
I'm just the same as you.
I shoot this guy and I go free? I leave this place, I get my daughter back.
Mom! We are not a bunch of rats in a maze! We're human beings! [ Grunting .]
All right, we're almost there.
How's our direction? Still due north.
Just keep digging.
Every bucket that we move is a bucket closer.
Yeah, closer to getting back home.
You've been saying that for a week.
[ Grunts .]
I still don't get it.
There's a field of microwaves? The pain gun.
There you go.
Ahh, let me see.
Yeah.
We're almost at 20 feet.
19 feet, 2 inches.
[ Groans .]
Keep going! [ Thud .]
What is that? What the hell is that? A steel barrier.
[ Grunts .]
What? Charlie: It's a wall.
Oh.
What are we gonna do?! [ Siren wails .]
What the hell is that?! What is that? Oh, my God! Everybody out! [ Indistinct shouting .]
Come on! Come on! [ Coughing .]
[ Indistinct shouting .]
Hurry up! Come on! Janet! [ Coughing .]
Mcnair: Come on, come on, come on, come on! Stay with me! Stay with me! [ Indistinct shouting .]
[ Coughing .]
Joe, Joe, she's not breathing.
Janet! [ Gasping .]
[ Coughs .]
There has got to be a way out of this place.
Maybe there isn't.
We're screwed.
Don't say that.
Hey, we spent a week digging that freakin' tunnel.
To be fumigated like cockroaches.
They stopped us aboveground, belowground.
Unless you can freakin' fly What's wrong? You all just gonna give up?! We're screwed.
We are screwed.
We're screwed.
Just shut up! Hey, hey, hey! Hey, stop it! Enough.
Enough.
We're gonna get out of this, okay, together.
I promise.
I will get back to my daughter.
I will.
I'm sorry.
I was wrong to yell at you.
Maybe we've all been wrong.
What do you mean? We've been trying so hard to escape.
Maybe we need to work harder not escaping.
Not escaping.
Help help find us.
Help help, like a Like a signal fire.
A signal fire.
Yeah.
A signal fire! The bigger, the better! Okay, we need to gather we need to gather everything in this town that will burn, okay? - Okay.
- All right.
Let's go! So, I'm waiting at the Metro restaurant.
Oh, geez.
Yeah, there's a table for two, reservations under your name.
I don't know what to say.
Well, say that you were interviewing that serial-killer suspect or that star of the cannibal reality show.
Actually, I'm I'm back on the missing-mommy story.
You said you were off that story.
It's taken a major turn.
Janet's mother abused her as a child.
Now grandma has got Janet's child.
Abuse does have a nasty front-page ring to it.
- Who's your source? - Well, it's He's It's complicated.
But it is a front-page story.
Not without a body.
Do me a favor.
Find me the sleaze on this story tomorrow.
I can do that.
Or you're off the story tomorrow.
I can do that.
Ooh, hoo, looking good.
Did you find those clothes in your room? Yeah.
Me too.
Oh, you know what these last few days have taught me? Um, that working out might not be such a bad idea.
We need to live every moment like it's our last.
Well, that makes sense, with your age.
[ Laughs .]
That's good.
Oh.
Security.
Perv alert, aisle five.
Aw, come on, now.
Don't be afraid of a real man.
Been there.
Sadly, for you, those days are over.
They don't have to be.
Hey! Oh! Ow! I have intimacy issues that can sometimes result in inappropriate violent outbursts.
My therapist doesn't think I'm making progress.
[ Coughing .]
Charlie: She hit you with a shopping cart? Tori's one crazy bitch.
Ah, there ought to be a lot to burn in here, huh? Stamps and stamp books and catalogs.
Maybe you should be looking for some self-defense items.
You think they're going to attack us? Maybe.
Or maybe one of us.
One of us? Look at my eye, bud.
These people can't be trusted.
Plus, [Chuckles.]
it's always the rich who get shanked by the inmates.
[ Chuckles .]
Maybe I can find some stuff in here.
Yeah.
Hi, baby.
[ Chuckles .]
[ Woman struggling .]
What the hell? - Aah! - What's wrong? Uh, nothing.
Exactly.
There's nothing in there but kids' toys and trading stamps.
Come on.
Come on, let's light this thing.
It's not lighting.
Come on.
It's not lighting.
Why isn't this Anything? What's up? God, what's going on? What is wrong with this stuff? This sucks.
It's like somebody doused everything with flame retardant.
[ Helicopter blades whirring .]
Oh, my God.
Hey, hey, look, you guys! Janet: Helicopter? - Hey! - Mcnair: Hey! - Hey! - Hey! Over here! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! [ Laughs .]
Hey, hey, hey! Yes! [ chuckles .]
[ Cheering .]
Hey, hey, hey, hey! Take cover! - Take cover! - Aah! Wait, Mnair, what are you doing? What is it? [ Screams .]
You all right? You all right? What hurts? What hurts? I'm all right.
I'm all right.
Come on, get up.
What's in it? Careful.
It may be hot.
Hot? What are they? Boxes.
What's in yours? Mine's empty.
Oh, what the hell? Mcnair: Damn.
I got one.
I got one, too.
Three gas masks.
Leaves four of us dead.
I hate this place.
We should all choose partners.
Okay.
Suppose we choose partners.
What happens to the partner without the mask if the gas begins to flow? Depends on the type of gas and level of exposure.
Could be fatal.
Here.
You should have this.
Really? - Thank you.
- Hey, why her? Put it on like this.
I need a mask.
- My daughter is all alone and I'm all she's got.
- Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
Your abandoned-daughter story, while poignant and touching, is not enough to move me to give you my mask.
How dare you? This is not a story.
How dare you? How dare you think that you're the only one with family out there? What if you had gotten the mask and I didn't, and I proceeded to tell you about my wife? Bedridden, suffering from painful metastatic tumors, counting on me for her every need? Would you give me your mask? Bill: Hey.
I thought you were the night manager.
I've been promoted.
Oh, really? You got a gas mask? No, sir.
But Help yourself to a complimentary umbrella.
What? Then we search the town for stuff to protect us.
We're not dead yet.
Let's go.
I'd like to help, too, if that's okay.
Thanks.
[ Cable-car bell dings .]
Edick: Two things, Renbe One never bring a bat to a gunfight.
[ Gun cocks .]
[ Bat clangs .]
And two there's no story with Janet's disappearance.
If there's no story they want me to kill you.
But I told them that you work in the gutter, and that you really understand how cheap human life can really be, and that you'd listen to reason.
Besides, who's gonna take over your column? That story about the conjoined twins running that white-slavery ring? That was freakin' amazing.
You got a laptop in there? No.
I'm sorry.
What? No.
Looks like a laptop to me.
[ Coughing .]
Hey.
Oh! Don't make me find you again, you understand? [ Coughing .]
Hey, you in there? Charlie! I need to ask you a question! Charlie: You cannot have my gas mask.
Hi.
I had a crazy dream.
Oh.
A dream? I'm asleep, but I feel this presence.
So I open my eyes.
And I'm back in my bedroom at home.
[ Chuckles .]
The weird thing is, you were there, carrying a big pillow.
You looked like you were crying.
So, you know, I ask you, "hey, what's the matter?" Guess what you do.
You jam the pillow in my face.
It's like you're you're trying to kill me.
I'm I'm sstruggling, and I'm suffocating.
And just as I'm running out of air, I wake up [Laughs.]
For real.
[ Laughs .]
I mean, why would I dream that you're a killer? I don't know.
[ Struggling .]
[ Crying .]
Can you imagine what it would be like to be smothered to death by somebody you know? You know, that burning feeling in your lungs as as you run out of air and you slowly lose consciousness.
Hey, uh, you want me to lock your door for you? Moira: You really think you can find something that will save you from a gas attack? I'm gonna try.
I've been in worse situations.
I was a guard at a military prison that held terrorist suspects.
The things I saw there were Wasn't even practicing my faith when I arrived there.
And by the time I left, I was devout.
Islam gave me clarity.
Well, I could use some clarity right now.
Maybe you could teach me something.
Maybe I could.
Hello? Anyone there? Hello? [ Bottles clinking .]
[ Shuffling .]
Who's there? [ Rustling .]
[ Bottles clinking .]
- Who the hell is back there? - Oh, no.
Hey, hey, hey! Don't sneak up on people like that! "Sneak"? Did you not hear me? No.
What the hell are you doing back here? Finding treasure.
I haven't had one of these since I was a kid.
Mmm.
Mnh-mnh.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's gas mask.
Yeah, well, you broke one, too.
- Which one? - Thou shalt not be an ass.
[ Buzzing, siren wails .]
Oh, no! No! Oh, no! Unlock the door, you bastards! Not gonna get gassed! Not gonna get gassed! I can't breathe! Charlie, just get a grip, okay? You're the one with the mask! I'm okay.
There's no indication that there's any gas here.
Oh, no! No! Get out of here! We're gonna die! Get off me! Get off! Grab that! Grab that! What? Okay.
Janet! Janet? [ Coughs .]
Janet? Hey! [ Coughs .]
There's no gas out here! Why?! You must be so comfortable sitting up there on your fat asses, filling this town with gas, making us go crazy! You think it's funny? Huh? Maybe you get off on it.
You have a thing for torture? You get all hot and bothered? You want to see something really hot? Come closer to the screen.
[ Electricity crackles .]
One camera down, a few thousand to go.
Whatever, it felt good.
My eyes hurt, my skin tingles, and I feel like I'm on fire.
That gas had a high level of toxicity.
You're lucky you got out of the store when you did.
It was horrible.
Yeah, it was.
At least you saw it coming.
There are some gases you can't see? Nitrous, methane, propane there are dozens of gases that are invisible to the naked eye.
What are we gonna do? "We"? What are you worried about? Hey, she was just trying to be supportive.
Just because we have gas masks and you don't doesn't mean we can't have some level of empathy for your predicament.
Sure.
Okay, look, we're not dead yet.
We've got this stuff.
Yeah, heavy rain gear for the body.
Yeah, and we got paint masks and goggles and construction helmets, and - We are so dead.
Janet: - We're not dead.
Look, I'm just saying.
Well, could you just say somewhere else.
Oh, fine! Sorry I brought up reality! Hello? [ Plays note repeatedly .]
Mcnair: Moira? Maybe you should [ playing slow-tempo music .]
Where'd you learn to play like that? St.
Mary's.
College? Mental hospital.
I was an orphan.
And the state orphanages were terrifying.
Anyway, I cried all the time, and they sent me to St.
Mary's for observation.
And the doctors there were really kind.
It was the first time in my life I ever felt safe.
But to stay there, I had to convince them that I was crazy.
And somewhere along the lines, I guess I convinced myself, too.
Play something else.
[ Playing mid-tempo music .]
[ Siren wails .]
[ Lock unlocks .]
Ahh.
Looks like Janet's looking for her husband.
And grandma's looking for him, too.
Deposit to an offshore account.
For what? Or who? Convenient phone number.
[ Ringing .]
[ Squealing static .]
[ Cellphone ringing .]
Renbe.
[ Squealing static .]
[ Beep .]
Hey.
I've been looking for you.
Here I am.
You know my wife was gravely ill for a number of years.
Yeah, I heard you mention her cancer.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Thank you.
And, um and and you get to a point where you realize that all the money in the world won't help someone you love who's in pain.
[ Sighs .]
Is that why you smothered her? What? Wait, what? Why would you say that? I saw it on TV in the TV repair store.
What you need to understand is that my wife was desperately ill.
Yeah, all the money in the world can't help someone you love in pain.
You said that.
It's very convincing.
"Very convincing"? Hey.
You know what? Don't sweat it.
[ Door opens .]
I found one tub of ice cream and one spoon.
Thank you.
[ Chuckles .]
Cherries jubilee.
My favorite.
For real, yeah.
After every single every one of my little-league games, my dad would, uh he would take me for a scoop.
Cherries jubilee.
Sweet memory.
Not really.
We'd sit and we'd have our ice cream and then he'd he'd list every one of my mistakes.
Well, it could have been worse.
You could have a lowlife father who abandoned a pregnant wife and has never even met his kid.
Like my daughter, Megan.
So the fact that your dad was at those games for you is a big deal.
Look at all these happy [ Sighs .]
Megan: Mommy! It can't be.
What, Janet? It's Megan and my mother.
It can't be.
It's impossible.
I know.
I know! But it is! It's Megan! Hey, hey, hey, hey.
Hey, hey, where are you going? Janet, wait, wait, wait.
Mcnair: What's up? I need that mask! Give it to me! Don't do this! Joe: Come here.
Whoa.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Come here.
Look at yourself.
I want you to look at yourself.
Look at yourself! Look at what they've done! [ Breathing heavily .]
Look.
Don't let them win.
It's all right.
It's all right.
Come here.
Shh, it's okay.
It's okay.
Look, Janet has just completely lost it.
Shh, here she comes.
I bet I can guess who you're discussing.
Look, I don't know what to say, except I'm sorry.
I've never done anything like that before in my life.
Well, it's not entirely your fault.
We're being held hostage by an invisible enemy using psychological warfare to break us down.
Things are only gonna get worse.
Oh, yeah.
[ Alarm blares, siren wails .]
Bill: My God! You got to help us! Hey! [ Indistinct shouting .]
Guys, we got to get out of here! We need help! Hold on! Hey! Oh, no.
Hey, you're not going anywhere, you little bitch.
Get this thing off, buddy.
Take it off! Get it off! Get it off! [ Laughs .]
Hey! Hey! Give it back! You give it back! Tori: Oh, God.
Oh, God.
[ Grunts .]
[ Talking indistinctly .]
It's not toxic.
The gas isn't toxic.
Open this door! [ coughing .]
Hey! Help me! Moira! All right, all right, I got you.
I got you.
[ Screams .]
I can't get it off! [ Gasps .]
Joe: Do Moira! Okay.
Here, here.
[ Coughing .]
Won't come off.
[ Coughing .]
[ Gasps .]
[ Coughs .]
You're all right.
Breathe.
Is everybody all right? Breathe, breathe, breathe.
[ Coughing .]
Deep breaths.
It's all right.
Relax.
God help us.
Allahu akbar.
[ Sighs .]
[ Speaking arabic .]
Oh, man.
[ Hawks, spits .]
Oh, hey.
Uh, look.
Uh, I think I owe you an apology.
I guess you do.
Yeah.
Got a little insane back there.
You got insane.
Yeah, well man's got to do what a man's got to do.
That's always been my motto.
Yeah, well Do unto others.
That's one of my mottos.
That's interesting, considering the whole murdering-your-wife thing.
You think you got all the answers.
No.
But I can tell when someone's lying.
You think I'm lying about my wife? I think you believe everything you told me.
I just don't think it's the truth.
You're not really a car salesman, are you, Mr.
Blackham? No, I'm not.
[ chuckles .]
[ Elevator bell dings .]
Where are you headed? To eat.
Shanghai Palace? Again.
We can't escape to find help.
No.
And we can't draw help to us here, so What do we do? Maybe the way out is the way through.
Which means what? It means that we ride it out.
Yeah, we ride it out to the end.
No.
The way through is acting like a shark.
"A shark"? Show no emotion.
Show no weakness.
Munch your enemies.
As long as you know who your enemies really are.
Compliments of the Shanghai Palace.
Good luck.
No.
Here you make your own luck.
Gomez: Not interested.
Robert, buddy, you don't even know what I've got.
It's Detective Gomez, and I know what you got.
It's confidential, it'll solve my toughest case, it'll cost me a C-note, and after you leave, I'll have to fumigate the precinct.
I can't speak to your insect issues, but I can solve the Janet Cooper disappearance case gratis.
I've located your primary suspect, pal.
Janet's ex-husband you know, the dirtbag that abandoned his pregnant wife? You know, it's a funny thing.
He works less than five miles from here.
Cooper's here? In San Francisco? Yeah.
Only his name's not Cooper.
And you're welcome.

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