Watson (2024) s01e05 Episode Script
The Man with the Glowing Chest
1
♪
YOUNG VOICE: To my classmates, faculty,
and to our distinguished guests,
my name is Taryn Quintyne.
It is my honor to
represent the class of 2016
as our valedictorian.
As your valedictorian.
(COUGHS)
Over the past four years,
we made lifelong friends.
We fell for our first boyfriend,
our second boyfriend
hey, maybe even our third boyfriend.
Excuse me.
Most of you know about
my challenge (COUGHING)
(CLEARS THROAT) I call it
"the bully." (COUGHING)
Taryn, one to ten, how bad is it?
Not today, please, not today!
- (COUGHING)
- Be honest with me, baby.
One to ten?
I'm calling, I'm calling.
(COUGHING)
♪
♪
DOCTOR: They can cure sickle cell now.
What a world.
The disease has been
around forever, I guess.
Someone figures out how
to slice up DNA strands,
change it and boom: cure.
We live in amazing times.
Who are they curing, exactly?
There are two versions on the market.
One costs $3 million.
The other's a bargain at two.
Insurance covers exactly none of it.
These things take time.
They shouldn't, but they do.
I'll let your hematologist
know you're back again.
We'll get you admitted.
Get you a blood transfusion
and send you home
with some pain control.
Hmm.
- Usual drill.
- Usual drill.
NURSE (OVER P.A.):
Code Blue in Room 3422.
Code Blue in Room 3422.
Th
The
SASHA: "The man with the glowing chest"?
Is that a metaphor?
Riddle, metaphor.
Expression of Watson's unchecked vanity.
I could puzzle it out,
but that's exactly what Watson wants.
(TEXT SENDS)
You want to talk about it?
Talk about what?
Honey, we've all written rage emails.
SASHA: You hitting send on that?
INGRID: I'm lead neurologist
on this Spinal Signal Project.
We're vetting candidates
for the surgery,
and the chairman keeps
rejecting my suggestions.
I'm lead neurologist.
Is that an official
title, or are you just
the only neurologist?
These people are going to have
AI implants in their
brain and spinal cords.
We're going to help
paralyzed people walk again.
The trial needs young candidates.
Oh, wow. Are you gonna yell
your way to get what you want?
I'm not yelling.
I'm typing.
(BANGING ON KEYBOARD)
(PHONE CHIMES)
We live in amazing times.
I mean, a divorced schmuck in Pittsburgh
can sink a few grand into
gene-editing equipment,
and boom: glowing chest.
Yes, yes, you did it, Hobie.
I'm not sure why you did it,
or even if it's safe, but you did it.
What do you mean you don't know why?
- (PHONE CHIMES)
- Glowing chest!
(LAUGHS) Ah, see,
that's the thing, Hobie,
I've never once looked at my chest
and said, "I wish
that thing could glow."
Well, yeah, why would you?
I mean, your pecs are glorious.
You're, like, in the top one
percent of chests worldwide.
Ah, stop.
Guys like me?
We need a little shine.
Right? Yeah, well, you're shining.
You have to admit it's a cool idea.
That's why you answered my
emails in the first place.
No, I recall emailing
you back to advise you
against hacking your own genome.
- So I just come to make sure you're okay and
- (PHONE CHIMES)
track the side effects
of amateur biohacking.
I yeah, wouldn't say "amateur."
I'm sorry, my colleagues
are having trouble
with the concept. You
mind if I take a picture?
No, no, no, go ahead.
You don't even need a flash. All right.
ADAM: That is a glowing chest.
I have so many questions.
Someone's been messing with CRISPR.
I've seen frogs engineered
with firefly genes.
But I have never seen that.
One man's tool to correct
genetic mutations is
another man's tool
Look at them.
- Mm.
- Look at us why?
'Cause it's obvious
what you're thinking.
What are we thinking?
INGRID: If that guy can get his
chest to glow, can he also ?
We can make a glowing penis.
We have the technology.
I'll alert the Nobel Committee.
(CHUCKLES)
Well, anyway, you're
the same as last week.
Everything's fine.
Yeah, I'm more than fine.
I'm glowing.
You're glowing. (LAUGHS)
- My guy.
- (PHONE CHIMES)
MARY: Her name is Taryn Quintyne.
She's been admitted to UHOP
five times in the past few months.
At 26?
Oh, sickle cell.
I got it.
She lives in more or less constant pain,
and she knows there's a cure out there
that no one will let her have.
Well, I could fix her in a single day.
I'm serious.
Look, sickle cell's genetic.
The breakthrough happened
when they developed CRISPR.
You can edit your own genome now.
It's a tool, these drug companies
just patented one way to use it.
So, yes, I could fix
her in a single day.
Of course, I'd have to
skip the clinical trials,
go around the FDA,
and then I'd be arrested,
but I could fix her.
John, join me back on Earth.
This woman had a stroke in our ER today.
They were slammed, and it was
20 minutes before they found her.
Taryn Quintyne suffered alone
for 20 minutes in my hospital.
I want to help her.
There's a clinical
trial coming together.
An alternate version
of the sickle cell cure.
I want to try to get Taryn into it,
but with her symptoms right now
she's in rough shape.
They'd never take her.
So figure out why the sickle
cell is worsening so rapidly,
stabilize her so she can
be eligible for the trial.
Right, I got you.
"I got you"?
That's it?
I mean, should there be more?
You're being very cooperative.
- Is that a problem?
- Not a problem.
Weird, maybe a little suspicious,
but not a problem.
Okay, well
I got you.
TARYN: Who is that?
Are you my doctor?
WATSON: Are you having
trouble seeing, Taryn?
Everything is blurry.
I hit the call button, and no one came.
Okay, I'm here now, I'm here now.
I need you to stay very still.
I'm gonna shine a light
into your eyes, okay?
What is wrong with me? Am I going blind?
Just give me one second.
Your eyes are bleeding from the inside.
♪
You want to put a needle in my eyeball?
- Take this thing off me, please.
- Okay.
The injections will help you with
I have spoken to four different people
since I was admitted.
Who is my doctor
and what is my treatment plan?
I'm so sorry, Taryn.
I didn't take the time
to introduce myself.
My name is John Watson
and I am your doctor.
Myself and a team of four specialists,
we're gonna take you on
as a patient at our clinic.
You're in good hands.
Now, my immediate plan
with your permission, of course
will be to give you an anti-vascular
endothelial growth factor injection,
which should help stabilize your vision.
You're gonna feel
pressure from a needle,
but it's not gonna hurt.
Okay.
All right.
Eye hemorrhaging isn't
a common side effect
of a sickle cell episode.
Was this your first time?
(GRUNTS) My first stroke, too.
The attacks have been
getting worse all year.
Well, your stroke seemed
to be relatively mild,
but considering your age,
the long-term trends
are very concerning.
Well, I have a journal in my bag.
Everything that's happened,
it's all in there.
Doctors' names, dates seen
prescriptions.
You're very organized.
I'm a software engineer.
Got to keep the code stacks tidy.
But data,
that's how I fight the bully.
And a lot of good it's doing me.
"The bully."
It's a good name for sickle cell.
Kicks you while you're
down. But I'll tell you what.
We're gonna help you punch back.
But first
I need to help you see again.
And I will tell you one
thing that I know for sure:
There's a cure for sickle cell.
You definitely shouldn't
be suffering like this.
According to this journal,
Taryn Quintyne has been
hospitalized five times in three months.
I'm sorry, that is too many times,
even for a sickle cell patient.
She is 26 years old.
Her symptoms are
presenting as sickle cell,
but maybe that's a misdiagnosis.
If hers was picked up
on a newborn screening,
methods back then were prehistoric.
This could be hemoglobin
SC disease or
She has sickle cell.
Taryn Quintyne has sickle cell disease.
In fact, let me help.
This is a rare case where an
exclamation point is necessary.
I looked up her peripheral
smear today in the lab,
and she has sickle cell.
INGRID: Okay, so, opioids, fluids
The mystery here isn't what's
wrong with Taryn Quintyne.
No, the mystery is, why
do we live in a world
that could cure her, but won't?
STEPHENS: Because
we do?
WATSON: And what do we do about that?
Aside from the obvious answer.
- There's an obvious answer?
- Of course there is.
We have CRISPR.
We can easily replicate a cure
with a day of focused work.
Honestly, we could beat it.
Sorry. Science cured
sickle cell disease,
and you are unimpressed?
Well, the science is impressive,
but that's neither here nor there.
We can't duplicate the
cure because, of course,
that would be "illegal."
I don't think you need
air quotes for that.
WATSON: We can proceed on three fronts.
Make sure there's nothing
else wrong with Taryn
that's causing the
escalation of her symptoms.
Twins, you two supervise
a high performance
liquid chromatography test.
Monitor Taryn's recovery
from this crisis.
Decrease the frequency of the episodes
so she's eligible for clinical trials.
Dr. Derian, Dr. Lubbock, that's on you.
You can also look through her journal
for more clues while you're at it.
INGRID: You held up two fingers.
You said we'd proceed on three fronts.
You held up two fingers.
There's a cure for sickle cell.
The science is mediocre,
the cost is $3 million out of pocket,
and it's the property of
a lawyered-up monolith,
but it does exist.
Our patient will have it.
SASHA: Taryn can see.
The anti-VEGF injections worked.
Hydromorphone's helping with the pain.
She's on her way to some relief.
- Anything in her journal?
- She's getting worse.
More symptoms, more often.
The time between each
crisis keeps shrinking.
How would you do this?
I want this patient admitted
to my spinal project.
The chairman has dismissed
two of my candidates.
You're ruthless. How
would you get this one in?
I beg your pardon?
I am not ruthless.
Did you work group
projects in med school?
Mm. Okay, when you were on one,
and you didn't like how it
was going, what'd you do?
Took on all the work.
Offered to write up the project
so I could throw out any bad ideas.
Made sure the professors
knew who did everything.
I mean, you can't come out
and say that, obviously,
but there are ways.
You would beat up a baby
if it stood in between you and an "A."
Babies can't stand.
What do I do here?
Teach me your sinister ways.
(CHUCKLES)
All right.
"Gigi Grigoryan."
Who is she?
Someone I want in the trial.
You need to tell a story.
Why should it be Gigi?
Make a case, pull some heartstrings,
drop a hint as to what
could possibly happen
if the trial excludes deserving
young candidates like her.
You ruthless bitch.
You have to be subtle.
It's not a threat.
You're just voicing concern.
SHINWELL: You're quiet today, guv.
No. Big ideas brewing
in there tonight, eh?
I think I left the
lights on in my bathroom.
Strikes me that this plan of yours
Oh, I don't know, let's
review it, shall we?
Quick trip to New York City.
Mm-hmm.
Vague plans for a sit-down
with someone from a
major biotech company.
Mm-hmm.
No appointment of any kind.
None.
And this is meant to end
with the young lady getting
a $3 million product free of charge?
Well, I wouldn't say free of charge.
Their cure is just
sloppy and suboptimal.
They edit too much of the genome.
Why would you cut out an
entire chapter of a book
when all you have to do is
replace a single spelling mistake?
So, in exchange for access
to a cure that you describe
as "sloppy and suboptimal "
- Mm-hmm.
- you will
Improve that cure.
You know full well this
is a suicide mission.
Question is,
why are you taking it on,
- and what are you planning for after it fails?
- (PHONE BUZZING)
Stephens, what can I do for you?
We have to turn around.
(GROANING)
The pain came back all at once.
We threw the kitchen sink at it.
L-glutamine. Crizanlizumab.
Hydromorphone PCA so she can rest.
She shouldn't be having another crisis.
Another crisis, the same crisis,
one big crisis that hasn't
really stopped for months.
Who's to say?
The results of her high performance
liquid chromatography test came back.
She has a rare form of sickle cell.
Adam and I called five
different hematologists.
None of them have seen
this outside of textbooks.
Taryn's latest bloodwork.
Her hemoglobin levels are plummeting.
We'll keep giving her transfusions
and managing her pain
Why, so she can live in crisis
until her body finally quits on her?
I don't like this any more than you do,
but it's our best option.
(MOANS)
Morning, guv.
- Can I be of service here, guv?
- Actually,
I could use your advice.
It's about Plan B.
Which was Plan A all along.
This advice, though, it could involve
bringing you into something that
- could have implications down the line.
- Mm-hmm.
I'm saying it's not safe for us
to have the conversation I want to have.
And yet here we are.
Listen, I can make this patient better.
Thing is, I'd have to get around
the FDA, the administration at UHOP,
including Mary, and the law to do it.
(GASPS)
You're planning a job.
No, I wouldn't put it that way.
You're talking about a crime, yeah?
It is against the law for me
to cure Taryn Quintyne, yes.
So you're planning a job, then.
And to that, I say
you've come to the right man.
All righty, then. So,
when you are planning a job
Ah, there's that phrase again. "Job."
When you are planning a job,
first order of business
is limiting one's exposure.
That means as few
accomplices as possible.
I object to the word "accomplices."
Well, you object all you like.
If you go through with this,
you're gonna be putting your career
into the hands of other people.
Other people do not
share your interests.
Thank you for pointing that out.
Meaning, the fewer, the better.
Now, I'm already in,
but we'll take that as square.
You have plenty of information
about my criminal activities.
Now, I'll have some about yours.
"Criminal activities?"
Do not shy away from
accurate phrasing, guv.
It's not a good look.
So, me. The patient, of course.
Who else?
I need someone skillful to
help me with the procedures.
Hobie McSorley comes to mind.
- Hobie.
- Hobie.
The man who wants to turn
his knob into a glow stick?
Okay, well, he may aim
low, but Hobie's got game.
He already operates extra-legally.
Another bent man. That's good.
And actually, for what I need here,
I would take Hobie over
any of the fellows.
Yeah, the fellows.
Lovely young people,
but not hard folk.
I wouldn't trust a single
one of them to hold
up under questioning.
Maybe Ingrid.
Yeah, you're right.
They can't know. Agreed.
- What's next?
- Next?
Next, you recruit your gang.
(INDISTINCT P.A. ANNOUNCEMENT)
WATSON: Pain's not too bad?
Listen, we failed you, Taryn.
It's easy to say it like that, "we,"
because when everyone's to blame,
then, truly, no one really is.
But I'd like to offer you
something more than sympathy.
What is that?
With your permission,
I'd like to do a procedure
called base repair editing.
We'd start by drawing your blood,
collecting your stem cells,
then we create a base editor.
It's a microscopic tool that
would correct the mutation
that's causing your sickle cell.
From there, I'd drill into your shin,
tapping into your bone marrow,
where the edited cells will replicate.
You should feel better quickly.
Feel better?
I'm talking about a cure, Taryn.
And if things go the way I hope,
you'd be free of the disease.
The current cures on the market,
they require a stem cell ablation.
It's chemotherapy that
could leave you infertile.
This is different.
I could still have a baby?
- Yes.
- Now, I just need the guy.
(CHUCKLES)
Come on, an accomplished
software engineer,
valedictorian of
Allderdice, class of 2016?
Listen, I hope I'm not
overstepping my bounds,
but I find it hard to
believe that you're single.
Mm-hmm. (CHUCKLES)
Happened right before my last crisis.
George is a good guy, he just
got tired.
The hospital visits, the pain.
It's a lot.
This procedure
it sounds like the
answer to all of my problems.
Why is this the first time
I'm hearing about it?
No one's ever tried it before.
Now, I believe that it's safe,
and I believe that the
red tape is the only reason
you can't get it already.
This is not an approved procedure.
If we do this,
I'm putting my career in your hands.
You can't tell anyone what happened,
even when you start to feel better.
- You could lose your job.
- Yes.
If something happens, I
I could lose my freedom.
Why would you do this?
'Cause no one else will.
'Cause you deserve it.
And because I'm your doctor.
I'm sure you know the sickle cell trait
protected our ancestors against malaria.
Now it just causes
suffering in our community.
I'm sick and tired of
standing by watching
when I know that I can do something.
How would it work?
WATSON: We'll do it
before you get any weaker.
In my clinic tonight.
Dr. Watson asked me to tell
you that he's transferring
the current patient
to another department.
Is she stable?
Dr. Watson says her hematologist
can take it from here.
He instructs you two to
round on your other patients,
look through the referrals
for other cases of interest.
STEPHENS: Sounds like something
a normal doctor would say.
It does not sound like
something Watson would say.
What are you suggesting?
I'm not sure.
Maybe nothing.
So, I am taking a chip next week.
It's October already?
Snuck up on me.
Yeah. Five years sober is major.
I'd love it if you'd come.
Bring the woman you're
seeing if you like.
I'd love to meet her.
Wait.
Five years?
You started rehab
sophomore year of college.
I relapsed.
Lasted about a month.
Come next week, you
can hear all about it.
WATSON: It'll have to be late.
(ELEVATOR BELL DINGS)
Once everyone goes home for the night,
we can get started.
(ELEVATOR BELL DINGS)
(BEEPING)
(CLICKS)
That's the blood sample we
took when you were admitted.
My, um, colleague Hobie
has been editing your blood
according to my instructions,
and
here are the results.
Why are those ones glowing?
Firefly luciferase reporter,
for studying gene regulation.
That's how we know the
edit was successful.
Don't worry, you won't glow.
Oh, but if you wanted to,
this is what it looks like.
Hobie.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
But those those cells mean
it's working?
WATSON: So far, so good. Yes.
You have a mole on your shin.
I'm gonna use a tool called an
intraosseous drill to drill into it.
Now, if anyone asks,
I was concerned about the mole,
so I removed it as a precaution.
You're gonna cure my sickle cell
and cover it up as a mole removal?
That-that was my idea,
the mole bit there.
(CLEARS THROAT)
WATSON: The anesthetic
that I applied earlier
already has your shin numb.
The benzos will keep you
relaxed while I drill.
SHINWELL: This
works a treat.
Or you can squeeze my hand.
The ball. Thank you.
WATSON: So, once we've made the hole,
we'll infuse an IV full of
edited blood into your bone.
Over time, the healthy
cells will replicate
and replace the diseased ones.
And that's it?
No more bully?
That's what I expect,
that's what I believe,
but it is new science.
We both have a lot on
the line here, Taryn,
but it is your body.
If you want to back
out, now is the time.
Cure me.
♪
(TOOL WHIRRING)
(BEEPING)
- That's it?
- WATSON: Yes.
For tonight.
But if you are ever interested
in a different kind of
glow-up, you know who to call.
So, we'll monitor you over
the next couple of days,
but remember, even if you feel better,
you're gonna have to still say
that the pain comes and goes.
Taryn?
Sorry. Yeah.
Of course.
I can't believe that's all it took.
Thank you.
You'll need to sign
for the mole removal.
Guv.
Are you, by chance, the
man with the glowing chest?
You have a birthmark on your collarbone.
It's shaped a little bit like
the country of Luxembourg,
and it extends above
the hem of your shirt.
Shinwell, will you take Ms. Quintyne
to her room, please, while
I talk to my colleagues?
- Hobie, thanks for everything.
- Yeah.
- Good seeing you again.
- Yeah.
Good deduction with the birthmark.
Sometimes I forget how well
you all are coming along.
Something you want to talk about?
INGRID: Fringe scientist,
patient in need of a fringe cure.
We were just curious.
What happened in there?
Did you commit a crime?
ADAM: You're not saying anything.
You don't want me to say anything.
Whatever I might have done tonight
doesn't affect any of you unless
and until you know about it.
Then, if something happened,
there's a duty to report.
And see, that's when
things get complicated,
so my question to you is:
Why are you asking questions?
I'm good.
- Ignorance is bliss.
- STEPHENS: No.
I personally spent a decade studying
so I could get into
Hopkins for med school.
As some of you may
have noticed, I wrecked
my social learning
curve in the doing of it
and may have condemned
myself to a life of solitude
and broken relationships.
After all of that,
I chose you.
I chose this place as the
staging ground for my career.
I deserve t
We all deserve to know if
that was a stupid choice.
Taryn Quintyne is going to be fine.
She's gonna live a
long and healthy life,
all because of what I did tonight.
The procedure's called
base repair editing.
I think it's grotesque
that a young woman
should be condemned
to die at a young age
waiting for an easily obtainable cure.
And that's why I did it.
Now, if I've hired the people
I believed I was hiring,
I think you'll all see that.
If not,
I feel content
that I did the right
thing for my patient.
You all have a decision to make.
I will leave you to it.
(FOOTSTEPS RECEDING)
STEPHENS: We shouldn't
be in this position.
INGRID: We wouldn't be in this position
if you didn't bring us all down here.
We are a team! It's called camaraderie.
Are we just supposed to risk our careers
for Watson's act of hubris?
Your career's only at
risk if you're tied to it.
You weren't before, but you are now.
We're assuming this is
gonna be a catastrophe,
but what if Taryn just gets better?
You're going along with this?
Watson may be reckless,
but he's also a genius.
Why don't we just see what happens?
Watson said it himself
we have a duty to report.
True.
But the only people who know
that we know what we
know are Watson and us.
Even if this blows up,
as long as the four of
us don't say anything,
we're protected.
(SCOFFS)
Don't look so surprised.
Sasha's ruthless.
You're the only one who
hasn't said anything.
We have the knowledge
to cure Taryn Quintyne,
and yet we refuse to do it.
What else is there to say?
(SHINWELL CLEARS THROAT)
SHINWELL: The young lady's blood cells,
drawn after the procedure.
I'm no scientist,
so I'll leave the thinking to you.
♪
♪
Wow. Those look very good.
Thank you.
I haven't seen you before.
Are you, uh, one of Taryn's doctors?
I'm the medical director
here, Mary Morstan.
I'm just checking up on her.
Well, George Carver.
Yes, middle initial "W."
Yes, my-my parents
named me after the person
who came up with 300
ways to use a peanut.
- (CHUCKLES)
- I'm Taryn's
Um, we used to be together.
- Mm.
- We were a good team.
You know, the illustrator
and the STEM girl.
(CHUCKLES) Screwed up there.
So, how is she doing this morning?
- She's been asleep since I got here.
- Mm.
She gonna be okay?
Her vitals have been
improving the past few days.
- We're committed to helping her get
- George.
Hey. Taryn.
How are you feeling this morning?
Not too bad.
Maybe a little better.
MARY: Well, your
vitals look good, Taryn.
It's part of an encouraging trend.
You should be going home soon.
- (CHUCKLES)
- Oh, my God. (RELIEVED LAUGH)
Looking at your chart, these
look like typical treatments.
Did Dr. Watson try anything new?
Just the usual.
T-the bully has a mind of its own.
(LAUGHING): If I get a good window,
I don't ask too many questions.
Well, I'll leave you two alone.
You had a mole removal last week?
Did Dr. Watson say why he'd do that
in the middle of a sickle cell crisis?
Uh, he was concerned about it.
Uh
I'm not sure, Dr. Morstan.
Maybe he just wanted to do something.
How many mole removals
have you done this year?
- I'm not sure.
- One.
You've done one, and
you did it last week
while your patient was in the
middle of a sickle cell crisis.
Last year, none.
The year before that, also none.
So what are we talking? Moles?
Taryn is going home today.
That's great.
- That's not great?
- It's great if it happened
in the normal course of business.
Look, I'm a little confused.
You come to me to stabilize a patient
in the middle of a crisis.
Taryn Quintyne is stable.
- So what are we talking about?
- Mm.
We're talking about a procedure
scheduled for no apparent reason.
I was concerned about the shape
and the spread of her mole.
We're talking about a
doctor with a huge ego
and a TBI that could be
compromising his executive function.
Okay, I'm sorry. Whenever a
patient needs special attention,
I am the first one you come to see.
When that patient improves,
then suddenly it's suspicious?
Is there anything you
want to tell me, John?
Yes.
I'm glad Taryn is feeling better.
(SIGHS)
TARYN: What's this for, again?
I gave a sample this morning.
Just some extra tests.
We'll have you out of
here in no time, Taryn.
Here you go, Dr. Morstan.
Anything else you need?
I've got it from here. Thanks.
♪
I understand one of
the biggest challenges
facing young companies
is talent retention.
You won't have that issue with me.
I want to stay in one place and grow.
- Your credentials are impeccable.
- Mm-hmm.
A magna cum laude graduate of CMU?
- Oh, come on.
- Why, thank you, fake hiring manager.
I do see that you've had some
short stints at a few companies.
Care to comment on that?
I had some health issues.
That's all in the past, though.
Well, I mean, you've
handled yourself impeccably
in this fake practice job interview.
Uh
Should we have sex?
(STAMMERS)
That's not how fake
practice job interviews end.
Not usually.
Fine. Well, give me a minute
to take your credentials
up the fake practice ladder,
but in the meantime
here are my initial thoughts.
Thank you, fake hiring manager.
Now we can have sex.
T-this is my office, ma'am.
(GASPS)
You okay? Baby?
(SHALLOW BREATH, PAINED GROAN)
Um How bad is it?
One to ten?
It this that's not it.
This is different.
My chest
(STRAINING)
Call Dr. Watson.
Patient is tachycardic, hypotensive.
Start a Norepi drip at
five mikes per minutes.
Looks like she threw
a pulmonary embolism.
We need to confirm with CT-PE.
WATSON: Page vascular surgery.
She needs to get to the
OR for an embolectomy.
(MONITORS BEEPING STEADILY)
There's another way to treat her.
She needs surgery.
Anti-clotting medication.
It'll also leave less of a trail.
In case anyone's wondering what
caused the pulmonary embolism.
You'll be covered.
The base repair procedure,
it's not responsible for this.
It isn't.
And I'm not thinking
about covering my tracks.
We have to figure out what caused this.
STEPHENS: First things first.
You say the base repair
editing didn't cause
Taryn's pulmonary embolism,
but what if you're wrong?
I'm not wrong.
Stop cutting me off.
We can't have a differential
while ignoring obvious
potential explanations.
The hole you drilled in her shin.
If it dislodged fat
cells from her bone marrow
into the bloodstream,
it could've caused
I believe the hole was clean.
It's still an experimental procedure.
If I caused this,
there's nothing we can do about it now.
I'll own it, I'll admit to it,
and it won't touch any of you.
But for five minutes,
can you join me in a world
where we help our patient?
INGRID: She's been
bedridden from sickle cell.
Immobilization can trigger a PE.
(SIGHS)
Maybe, but Taryn's
been bedridden before.
They're closing. The patient's stable.
- (DOOR CLOSES)
- (SIGHS)
Taryn has a copper IUD?
A copper IUD can't cause
a pulmonary embolism.
WATSON: Yeah, that's true.
But it might cause us to
overlook something that could.
You ruthless bitch.
I don't like it when you call me that.
Oh, no
I kind of love it,
if I'm being honest.
(LAUGHS)
The chairman told me you wrote
a referral for Gigi Grigoryan?
She got in.
Can't believe you did that for me.
SASHA: I saw how much you
were struggling, and I just
Well, you left a file out on your desk,
and a referral form,
it was just right there.
And, honestly,
it was painful watching
you flunk so hard.
(CHUCKLES) So you took over.
Queen of the group projects.
I should have known.
A+. See?
Catch more flies with honey.
Try, you catch more flies
by being an overachieving,
ruthless bitch.
Thanks, Sasha.
Um, I assume you didn't mention me?
In my referral?
Course not, in case
the chairman does have
something against you, now
he'll never know you were
the one who wanted her in.
Perfect.
How long have you been standing there?
A little while.
I drew three vials of blood from
Taryn Quintyne when she was here.
I haven't sent it to the lab yet,
but when I do
I suspect that I will see
fewer and fewer sickle cells
with each sample.
If I see that,
I'll start asking questions
about that mole removal.
You know I'll get to the truth.
What do you think the truth is?
Did you go around the FDA?
Did you do a procedure
that gave Taryn Quintyne a
life-threatening embolism?
You sent me a dying patient.
She might not have given up this
year, or maybe even next year,
but Taryn Quintyne was dying.
We can fix the problem.
A cure exists, but instead
of giving it to her,
it's sitting on some
shelf that she can't reach.
A shelf that no one
from Stanton Heights,
or Homewood, or Wilkinsburg,
or anywhere can reach.
I don't need a speech,
John, I just need the truth.
Well, the truth
is that there's a perfectly
logical explanation
for Taryn's pulmonary embolism.
It has nothing to do with
any type of secret procedures,
or anything else like that.
How did we miss this?
I can tell you all about that.
But first, you have a decision to make.
I can tell the truth to
you, or anyone else who asks.
Or you can deliver those test
results to your thriving patient.
(SIGHS)
(CROWD CLAPPING)
You don't get to five
years by gritting your teeth
and going it alone.
You don't get to six months that way.
Or 90 days or 30 days.
We do this together.
"We are like the passengers
of a great liner
the moment after rescue from shipwreck
when camaraderie,
joyousness and democracy
pervade the vessel
from steerage to Captain's table."
WOMAN'S VOICE: Dinner's ready!
Ten minutes.
Ingrid, come on.
It's Mom's birthday.
Mom's been gone 20 years, Gigi.
I'm sure she won't mind
if we eat a little late.
(CHUCKLES)
Fine.
Let me just finish this last thought.
(SIGHS)
I'm sorry, Gigi.
It's okay.
This can't be right.
It's right, Taryn.
We double-checked.
You're pregnant.
But I have an IUD.
That's why we didn't
think to test you earlier.
IUDs have a one-percent failure rate.
You got I want to say "lucky,"
but I'll follow your lead.
This is why I had the embolism?
It seems so.
It happens.
Pregnancy is a hypercoagulable state.
Are you okay?
I'm so much better than okay.
My body?
It is so beat up.
I got an IUD because
I gave up hope a long time ago.
(TARYN SOBS)
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
I need to call George.
Can I, uh Should I?
Can I have this baby?
You're okay.
Now, if you would've
gotten the existing cure,
the stem cell ablation may
have sterilized you forever.
Now, however it happened,
you're feeling better.
You have every reason
to be hopeful, Taryn.
Tell your boyfriend
you're gonna have a baby.
(LAUGHS)
Congratulations.
Thank you, Dr. Morstan.
Thank you.
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
♪
YOUNG VOICE: To my classmates, faculty,
and to our distinguished guests,
my name is Taryn Quintyne.
It is my honor to
represent the class of 2016
as our valedictorian.
As your valedictorian.
(COUGHS)
Over the past four years,
we made lifelong friends.
We fell for our first boyfriend,
our second boyfriend
hey, maybe even our third boyfriend.
Excuse me.
Most of you know about
my challenge (COUGHING)
(CLEARS THROAT) I call it
"the bully." (COUGHING)
Taryn, one to ten, how bad is it?
Not today, please, not today!
- (COUGHING)
- Be honest with me, baby.
One to ten?
I'm calling, I'm calling.
(COUGHING)
♪
♪
DOCTOR: They can cure sickle cell now.
What a world.
The disease has been
around forever, I guess.
Someone figures out how
to slice up DNA strands,
change it and boom: cure.
We live in amazing times.
Who are they curing, exactly?
There are two versions on the market.
One costs $3 million.
The other's a bargain at two.
Insurance covers exactly none of it.
These things take time.
They shouldn't, but they do.
I'll let your hematologist
know you're back again.
We'll get you admitted.
Get you a blood transfusion
and send you home
with some pain control.
Hmm.
- Usual drill.
- Usual drill.
NURSE (OVER P.A.):
Code Blue in Room 3422.
Code Blue in Room 3422.
Th
The
SASHA: "The man with the glowing chest"?
Is that a metaphor?
Riddle, metaphor.
Expression of Watson's unchecked vanity.
I could puzzle it out,
but that's exactly what Watson wants.
(TEXT SENDS)
You want to talk about it?
Talk about what?
Honey, we've all written rage emails.
SASHA: You hitting send on that?
INGRID: I'm lead neurologist
on this Spinal Signal Project.
We're vetting candidates
for the surgery,
and the chairman keeps
rejecting my suggestions.
I'm lead neurologist.
Is that an official
title, or are you just
the only neurologist?
These people are going to have
AI implants in their
brain and spinal cords.
We're going to help
paralyzed people walk again.
The trial needs young candidates.
Oh, wow. Are you gonna yell
your way to get what you want?
I'm not yelling.
I'm typing.
(BANGING ON KEYBOARD)
(PHONE CHIMES)
We live in amazing times.
I mean, a divorced schmuck in Pittsburgh
can sink a few grand into
gene-editing equipment,
and boom: glowing chest.
Yes, yes, you did it, Hobie.
I'm not sure why you did it,
or even if it's safe, but you did it.
What do you mean you don't know why?
- (PHONE CHIMES)
- Glowing chest!
(LAUGHS) Ah, see,
that's the thing, Hobie,
I've never once looked at my chest
and said, "I wish
that thing could glow."
Well, yeah, why would you?
I mean, your pecs are glorious.
You're, like, in the top one
percent of chests worldwide.
Ah, stop.
Guys like me?
We need a little shine.
Right? Yeah, well, you're shining.
You have to admit it's a cool idea.
That's why you answered my
emails in the first place.
No, I recall emailing
you back to advise you
against hacking your own genome.
- So I just come to make sure you're okay and
- (PHONE CHIMES)
track the side effects
of amateur biohacking.
I yeah, wouldn't say "amateur."
I'm sorry, my colleagues
are having trouble
with the concept. You
mind if I take a picture?
No, no, no, go ahead.
You don't even need a flash. All right.
ADAM: That is a glowing chest.
I have so many questions.
Someone's been messing with CRISPR.
I've seen frogs engineered
with firefly genes.
But I have never seen that.
One man's tool to correct
genetic mutations is
another man's tool
Look at them.
- Mm.
- Look at us why?
'Cause it's obvious
what you're thinking.
What are we thinking?
INGRID: If that guy can get his
chest to glow, can he also ?
We can make a glowing penis.
We have the technology.
I'll alert the Nobel Committee.
(CHUCKLES)
Well, anyway, you're
the same as last week.
Everything's fine.
Yeah, I'm more than fine.
I'm glowing.
You're glowing. (LAUGHS)
- My guy.
- (PHONE CHIMES)
MARY: Her name is Taryn Quintyne.
She's been admitted to UHOP
five times in the past few months.
At 26?
Oh, sickle cell.
I got it.
She lives in more or less constant pain,
and she knows there's a cure out there
that no one will let her have.
Well, I could fix her in a single day.
I'm serious.
Look, sickle cell's genetic.
The breakthrough happened
when they developed CRISPR.
You can edit your own genome now.
It's a tool, these drug companies
just patented one way to use it.
So, yes, I could fix
her in a single day.
Of course, I'd have to
skip the clinical trials,
go around the FDA,
and then I'd be arrested,
but I could fix her.
John, join me back on Earth.
This woman had a stroke in our ER today.
They were slammed, and it was
20 minutes before they found her.
Taryn Quintyne suffered alone
for 20 minutes in my hospital.
I want to help her.
There's a clinical
trial coming together.
An alternate version
of the sickle cell cure.
I want to try to get Taryn into it,
but with her symptoms right now
she's in rough shape.
They'd never take her.
So figure out why the sickle
cell is worsening so rapidly,
stabilize her so she can
be eligible for the trial.
Right, I got you.
"I got you"?
That's it?
I mean, should there be more?
You're being very cooperative.
- Is that a problem?
- Not a problem.
Weird, maybe a little suspicious,
but not a problem.
Okay, well
I got you.
TARYN: Who is that?
Are you my doctor?
WATSON: Are you having
trouble seeing, Taryn?
Everything is blurry.
I hit the call button, and no one came.
Okay, I'm here now, I'm here now.
I need you to stay very still.
I'm gonna shine a light
into your eyes, okay?
What is wrong with me? Am I going blind?
Just give me one second.
Your eyes are bleeding from the inside.
♪
You want to put a needle in my eyeball?
- Take this thing off me, please.
- Okay.
The injections will help you with
I have spoken to four different people
since I was admitted.
Who is my doctor
and what is my treatment plan?
I'm so sorry, Taryn.
I didn't take the time
to introduce myself.
My name is John Watson
and I am your doctor.
Myself and a team of four specialists,
we're gonna take you on
as a patient at our clinic.
You're in good hands.
Now, my immediate plan
with your permission, of course
will be to give you an anti-vascular
endothelial growth factor injection,
which should help stabilize your vision.
You're gonna feel
pressure from a needle,
but it's not gonna hurt.
Okay.
All right.
Eye hemorrhaging isn't
a common side effect
of a sickle cell episode.
Was this your first time?
(GRUNTS) My first stroke, too.
The attacks have been
getting worse all year.
Well, your stroke seemed
to be relatively mild,
but considering your age,
the long-term trends
are very concerning.
Well, I have a journal in my bag.
Everything that's happened,
it's all in there.
Doctors' names, dates seen
prescriptions.
You're very organized.
I'm a software engineer.
Got to keep the code stacks tidy.
But data,
that's how I fight the bully.
And a lot of good it's doing me.
"The bully."
It's a good name for sickle cell.
Kicks you while you're
down. But I'll tell you what.
We're gonna help you punch back.
But first
I need to help you see again.
And I will tell you one
thing that I know for sure:
There's a cure for sickle cell.
You definitely shouldn't
be suffering like this.
According to this journal,
Taryn Quintyne has been
hospitalized five times in three months.
I'm sorry, that is too many times,
even for a sickle cell patient.
She is 26 years old.
Her symptoms are
presenting as sickle cell,
but maybe that's a misdiagnosis.
If hers was picked up
on a newborn screening,
methods back then were prehistoric.
This could be hemoglobin
SC disease or
She has sickle cell.
Taryn Quintyne has sickle cell disease.
In fact, let me help.
This is a rare case where an
exclamation point is necessary.
I looked up her peripheral
smear today in the lab,
and she has sickle cell.
INGRID: Okay, so, opioids, fluids
The mystery here isn't what's
wrong with Taryn Quintyne.
No, the mystery is, why
do we live in a world
that could cure her, but won't?
STEPHENS: Because
we do?
WATSON: And what do we do about that?
Aside from the obvious answer.
- There's an obvious answer?
- Of course there is.
We have CRISPR.
We can easily replicate a cure
with a day of focused work.
Honestly, we could beat it.
Sorry. Science cured
sickle cell disease,
and you are unimpressed?
Well, the science is impressive,
but that's neither here nor there.
We can't duplicate the
cure because, of course,
that would be "illegal."
I don't think you need
air quotes for that.
WATSON: We can proceed on three fronts.
Make sure there's nothing
else wrong with Taryn
that's causing the
escalation of her symptoms.
Twins, you two supervise
a high performance
liquid chromatography test.
Monitor Taryn's recovery
from this crisis.
Decrease the frequency of the episodes
so she's eligible for clinical trials.
Dr. Derian, Dr. Lubbock, that's on you.
You can also look through her journal
for more clues while you're at it.
INGRID: You held up two fingers.
You said we'd proceed on three fronts.
You held up two fingers.
There's a cure for sickle cell.
The science is mediocre,
the cost is $3 million out of pocket,
and it's the property of
a lawyered-up monolith,
but it does exist.
Our patient will have it.
SASHA: Taryn can see.
The anti-VEGF injections worked.
Hydromorphone's helping with the pain.
She's on her way to some relief.
- Anything in her journal?
- She's getting worse.
More symptoms, more often.
The time between each
crisis keeps shrinking.
How would you do this?
I want this patient admitted
to my spinal project.
The chairman has dismissed
two of my candidates.
You're ruthless. How
would you get this one in?
I beg your pardon?
I am not ruthless.
Did you work group
projects in med school?
Mm. Okay, when you were on one,
and you didn't like how it
was going, what'd you do?
Took on all the work.
Offered to write up the project
so I could throw out any bad ideas.
Made sure the professors
knew who did everything.
I mean, you can't come out
and say that, obviously,
but there are ways.
You would beat up a baby
if it stood in between you and an "A."
Babies can't stand.
What do I do here?
Teach me your sinister ways.
(CHUCKLES)
All right.
"Gigi Grigoryan."
Who is she?
Someone I want in the trial.
You need to tell a story.
Why should it be Gigi?
Make a case, pull some heartstrings,
drop a hint as to what
could possibly happen
if the trial excludes deserving
young candidates like her.
You ruthless bitch.
You have to be subtle.
It's not a threat.
You're just voicing concern.
SHINWELL: You're quiet today, guv.
No. Big ideas brewing
in there tonight, eh?
I think I left the
lights on in my bathroom.
Strikes me that this plan of yours
Oh, I don't know, let's
review it, shall we?
Quick trip to New York City.
Mm-hmm.
Vague plans for a sit-down
with someone from a
major biotech company.
Mm-hmm.
No appointment of any kind.
None.
And this is meant to end
with the young lady getting
a $3 million product free of charge?
Well, I wouldn't say free of charge.
Their cure is just
sloppy and suboptimal.
They edit too much of the genome.
Why would you cut out an
entire chapter of a book
when all you have to do is
replace a single spelling mistake?
So, in exchange for access
to a cure that you describe
as "sloppy and suboptimal "
- Mm-hmm.
- you will
Improve that cure.
You know full well this
is a suicide mission.
Question is,
why are you taking it on,
- and what are you planning for after it fails?
- (PHONE BUZZING)
Stephens, what can I do for you?
We have to turn around.
(GROANING)
The pain came back all at once.
We threw the kitchen sink at it.
L-glutamine. Crizanlizumab.
Hydromorphone PCA so she can rest.
She shouldn't be having another crisis.
Another crisis, the same crisis,
one big crisis that hasn't
really stopped for months.
Who's to say?
The results of her high performance
liquid chromatography test came back.
She has a rare form of sickle cell.
Adam and I called five
different hematologists.
None of them have seen
this outside of textbooks.
Taryn's latest bloodwork.
Her hemoglobin levels are plummeting.
We'll keep giving her transfusions
and managing her pain
Why, so she can live in crisis
until her body finally quits on her?
I don't like this any more than you do,
but it's our best option.
(MOANS)
Morning, guv.
- Can I be of service here, guv?
- Actually,
I could use your advice.
It's about Plan B.
Which was Plan A all along.
This advice, though, it could involve
bringing you into something that
- could have implications down the line.
- Mm-hmm.
I'm saying it's not safe for us
to have the conversation I want to have.
And yet here we are.
Listen, I can make this patient better.
Thing is, I'd have to get around
the FDA, the administration at UHOP,
including Mary, and the law to do it.
(GASPS)
You're planning a job.
No, I wouldn't put it that way.
You're talking about a crime, yeah?
It is against the law for me
to cure Taryn Quintyne, yes.
So you're planning a job, then.
And to that, I say
you've come to the right man.
All righty, then. So,
when you are planning a job
Ah, there's that phrase again. "Job."
When you are planning a job,
first order of business
is limiting one's exposure.
That means as few
accomplices as possible.
I object to the word "accomplices."
Well, you object all you like.
If you go through with this,
you're gonna be putting your career
into the hands of other people.
Other people do not
share your interests.
Thank you for pointing that out.
Meaning, the fewer, the better.
Now, I'm already in,
but we'll take that as square.
You have plenty of information
about my criminal activities.
Now, I'll have some about yours.
"Criminal activities?"
Do not shy away from
accurate phrasing, guv.
It's not a good look.
So, me. The patient, of course.
Who else?
I need someone skillful to
help me with the procedures.
Hobie McSorley comes to mind.
- Hobie.
- Hobie.
The man who wants to turn
his knob into a glow stick?
Okay, well, he may aim
low, but Hobie's got game.
He already operates extra-legally.
Another bent man. That's good.
And actually, for what I need here,
I would take Hobie over
any of the fellows.
Yeah, the fellows.
Lovely young people,
but not hard folk.
I wouldn't trust a single
one of them to hold
up under questioning.
Maybe Ingrid.
Yeah, you're right.
They can't know. Agreed.
- What's next?
- Next?
Next, you recruit your gang.
(INDISTINCT P.A. ANNOUNCEMENT)
WATSON: Pain's not too bad?
Listen, we failed you, Taryn.
It's easy to say it like that, "we,"
because when everyone's to blame,
then, truly, no one really is.
But I'd like to offer you
something more than sympathy.
What is that?
With your permission,
I'd like to do a procedure
called base repair editing.
We'd start by drawing your blood,
collecting your stem cells,
then we create a base editor.
It's a microscopic tool that
would correct the mutation
that's causing your sickle cell.
From there, I'd drill into your shin,
tapping into your bone marrow,
where the edited cells will replicate.
You should feel better quickly.
Feel better?
I'm talking about a cure, Taryn.
And if things go the way I hope,
you'd be free of the disease.
The current cures on the market,
they require a stem cell ablation.
It's chemotherapy that
could leave you infertile.
This is different.
I could still have a baby?
- Yes.
- Now, I just need the guy.
(CHUCKLES)
Come on, an accomplished
software engineer,
valedictorian of
Allderdice, class of 2016?
Listen, I hope I'm not
overstepping my bounds,
but I find it hard to
believe that you're single.
Mm-hmm. (CHUCKLES)
Happened right before my last crisis.
George is a good guy, he just
got tired.
The hospital visits, the pain.
It's a lot.
This procedure
it sounds like the
answer to all of my problems.
Why is this the first time
I'm hearing about it?
No one's ever tried it before.
Now, I believe that it's safe,
and I believe that the
red tape is the only reason
you can't get it already.
This is not an approved procedure.
If we do this,
I'm putting my career in your hands.
You can't tell anyone what happened,
even when you start to feel better.
- You could lose your job.
- Yes.
If something happens, I
I could lose my freedom.
Why would you do this?
'Cause no one else will.
'Cause you deserve it.
And because I'm your doctor.
I'm sure you know the sickle cell trait
protected our ancestors against malaria.
Now it just causes
suffering in our community.
I'm sick and tired of
standing by watching
when I know that I can do something.
How would it work?
WATSON: We'll do it
before you get any weaker.
In my clinic tonight.
Dr. Watson asked me to tell
you that he's transferring
the current patient
to another department.
Is she stable?
Dr. Watson says her hematologist
can take it from here.
He instructs you two to
round on your other patients,
look through the referrals
for other cases of interest.
STEPHENS: Sounds like something
a normal doctor would say.
It does not sound like
something Watson would say.
What are you suggesting?
I'm not sure.
Maybe nothing.
So, I am taking a chip next week.
It's October already?
Snuck up on me.
Yeah. Five years sober is major.
I'd love it if you'd come.
Bring the woman you're
seeing if you like.
I'd love to meet her.
Wait.
Five years?
You started rehab
sophomore year of college.
I relapsed.
Lasted about a month.
Come next week, you
can hear all about it.
WATSON: It'll have to be late.
(ELEVATOR BELL DINGS)
Once everyone goes home for the night,
we can get started.
(ELEVATOR BELL DINGS)
(BEEPING)
(CLICKS)
That's the blood sample we
took when you were admitted.
My, um, colleague Hobie
has been editing your blood
according to my instructions,
and
here are the results.
Why are those ones glowing?
Firefly luciferase reporter,
for studying gene regulation.
That's how we know the
edit was successful.
Don't worry, you won't glow.
Oh, but if you wanted to,
this is what it looks like.
Hobie.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
But those those cells mean
it's working?
WATSON: So far, so good. Yes.
You have a mole on your shin.
I'm gonna use a tool called an
intraosseous drill to drill into it.
Now, if anyone asks,
I was concerned about the mole,
so I removed it as a precaution.
You're gonna cure my sickle cell
and cover it up as a mole removal?
That-that was my idea,
the mole bit there.
(CLEARS THROAT)
WATSON: The anesthetic
that I applied earlier
already has your shin numb.
The benzos will keep you
relaxed while I drill.
SHINWELL: This
works a treat.
Or you can squeeze my hand.
The ball. Thank you.
WATSON: So, once we've made the hole,
we'll infuse an IV full of
edited blood into your bone.
Over time, the healthy
cells will replicate
and replace the diseased ones.
And that's it?
No more bully?
That's what I expect,
that's what I believe,
but it is new science.
We both have a lot on
the line here, Taryn,
but it is your body.
If you want to back
out, now is the time.
Cure me.
♪
(TOOL WHIRRING)
(BEEPING)
- That's it?
- WATSON: Yes.
For tonight.
But if you are ever interested
in a different kind of
glow-up, you know who to call.
So, we'll monitor you over
the next couple of days,
but remember, even if you feel better,
you're gonna have to still say
that the pain comes and goes.
Taryn?
Sorry. Yeah.
Of course.
I can't believe that's all it took.
Thank you.
You'll need to sign
for the mole removal.
Guv.
Are you, by chance, the
man with the glowing chest?
You have a birthmark on your collarbone.
It's shaped a little bit like
the country of Luxembourg,
and it extends above
the hem of your shirt.
Shinwell, will you take Ms. Quintyne
to her room, please, while
I talk to my colleagues?
- Hobie, thanks for everything.
- Yeah.
- Good seeing you again.
- Yeah.
Good deduction with the birthmark.
Sometimes I forget how well
you all are coming along.
Something you want to talk about?
INGRID: Fringe scientist,
patient in need of a fringe cure.
We were just curious.
What happened in there?
Did you commit a crime?
ADAM: You're not saying anything.
You don't want me to say anything.
Whatever I might have done tonight
doesn't affect any of you unless
and until you know about it.
Then, if something happened,
there's a duty to report.
And see, that's when
things get complicated,
so my question to you is:
Why are you asking questions?
I'm good.
- Ignorance is bliss.
- STEPHENS: No.
I personally spent a decade studying
so I could get into
Hopkins for med school.
As some of you may
have noticed, I wrecked
my social learning
curve in the doing of it
and may have condemned
myself to a life of solitude
and broken relationships.
After all of that,
I chose you.
I chose this place as the
staging ground for my career.
I deserve t
We all deserve to know if
that was a stupid choice.
Taryn Quintyne is going to be fine.
She's gonna live a
long and healthy life,
all because of what I did tonight.
The procedure's called
base repair editing.
I think it's grotesque
that a young woman
should be condemned
to die at a young age
waiting for an easily obtainable cure.
And that's why I did it.
Now, if I've hired the people
I believed I was hiring,
I think you'll all see that.
If not,
I feel content
that I did the right
thing for my patient.
You all have a decision to make.
I will leave you to it.
(FOOTSTEPS RECEDING)
STEPHENS: We shouldn't
be in this position.
INGRID: We wouldn't be in this position
if you didn't bring us all down here.
We are a team! It's called camaraderie.
Are we just supposed to risk our careers
for Watson's act of hubris?
Your career's only at
risk if you're tied to it.
You weren't before, but you are now.
We're assuming this is
gonna be a catastrophe,
but what if Taryn just gets better?
You're going along with this?
Watson may be reckless,
but he's also a genius.
Why don't we just see what happens?
Watson said it himself
we have a duty to report.
True.
But the only people who know
that we know what we
know are Watson and us.
Even if this blows up,
as long as the four of
us don't say anything,
we're protected.
(SCOFFS)
Don't look so surprised.
Sasha's ruthless.
You're the only one who
hasn't said anything.
We have the knowledge
to cure Taryn Quintyne,
and yet we refuse to do it.
What else is there to say?
(SHINWELL CLEARS THROAT)
SHINWELL: The young lady's blood cells,
drawn after the procedure.
I'm no scientist,
so I'll leave the thinking to you.
♪
♪
Wow. Those look very good.
Thank you.
I haven't seen you before.
Are you, uh, one of Taryn's doctors?
I'm the medical director
here, Mary Morstan.
I'm just checking up on her.
Well, George Carver.
Yes, middle initial "W."
Yes, my-my parents
named me after the person
who came up with 300
ways to use a peanut.
- (CHUCKLES)
- I'm Taryn's
Um, we used to be together.
- Mm.
- We were a good team.
You know, the illustrator
and the STEM girl.
(CHUCKLES) Screwed up there.
So, how is she doing this morning?
- She's been asleep since I got here.
- Mm.
She gonna be okay?
Her vitals have been
improving the past few days.
- We're committed to helping her get
- George.
Hey. Taryn.
How are you feeling this morning?
Not too bad.
Maybe a little better.
MARY: Well, your
vitals look good, Taryn.
It's part of an encouraging trend.
You should be going home soon.
- (CHUCKLES)
- Oh, my God. (RELIEVED LAUGH)
Looking at your chart, these
look like typical treatments.
Did Dr. Watson try anything new?
Just the usual.
T-the bully has a mind of its own.
(LAUGHING): If I get a good window,
I don't ask too many questions.
Well, I'll leave you two alone.
You had a mole removal last week?
Did Dr. Watson say why he'd do that
in the middle of a sickle cell crisis?
Uh, he was concerned about it.
Uh
I'm not sure, Dr. Morstan.
Maybe he just wanted to do something.
How many mole removals
have you done this year?
- I'm not sure.
- One.
You've done one, and
you did it last week
while your patient was in the
middle of a sickle cell crisis.
Last year, none.
The year before that, also none.
So what are we talking? Moles?
Taryn is going home today.
That's great.
- That's not great?
- It's great if it happened
in the normal course of business.
Look, I'm a little confused.
You come to me to stabilize a patient
in the middle of a crisis.
Taryn Quintyne is stable.
- So what are we talking about?
- Mm.
We're talking about a procedure
scheduled for no apparent reason.
I was concerned about the shape
and the spread of her mole.
We're talking about a
doctor with a huge ego
and a TBI that could be
compromising his executive function.
Okay, I'm sorry. Whenever a
patient needs special attention,
I am the first one you come to see.
When that patient improves,
then suddenly it's suspicious?
Is there anything you
want to tell me, John?
Yes.
I'm glad Taryn is feeling better.
(SIGHS)
TARYN: What's this for, again?
I gave a sample this morning.
Just some extra tests.
We'll have you out of
here in no time, Taryn.
Here you go, Dr. Morstan.
Anything else you need?
I've got it from here. Thanks.
♪
I understand one of
the biggest challenges
facing young companies
is talent retention.
You won't have that issue with me.
I want to stay in one place and grow.
- Your credentials are impeccable.
- Mm-hmm.
A magna cum laude graduate of CMU?
- Oh, come on.
- Why, thank you, fake hiring manager.
I do see that you've had some
short stints at a few companies.
Care to comment on that?
I had some health issues.
That's all in the past, though.
Well, I mean, you've
handled yourself impeccably
in this fake practice job interview.
Uh
Should we have sex?
(STAMMERS)
That's not how fake
practice job interviews end.
Not usually.
Fine. Well, give me a minute
to take your credentials
up the fake practice ladder,
but in the meantime
here are my initial thoughts.
Thank you, fake hiring manager.
Now we can have sex.
T-this is my office, ma'am.
(GASPS)
You okay? Baby?
(SHALLOW BREATH, PAINED GROAN)
Um How bad is it?
One to ten?
It this that's not it.
This is different.
My chest
(STRAINING)
Call Dr. Watson.
Patient is tachycardic, hypotensive.
Start a Norepi drip at
five mikes per minutes.
Looks like she threw
a pulmonary embolism.
We need to confirm with CT-PE.
WATSON: Page vascular surgery.
She needs to get to the
OR for an embolectomy.
(MONITORS BEEPING STEADILY)
There's another way to treat her.
She needs surgery.
Anti-clotting medication.
It'll also leave less of a trail.
In case anyone's wondering what
caused the pulmonary embolism.
You'll be covered.
The base repair procedure,
it's not responsible for this.
It isn't.
And I'm not thinking
about covering my tracks.
We have to figure out what caused this.
STEPHENS: First things first.
You say the base repair
editing didn't cause
Taryn's pulmonary embolism,
but what if you're wrong?
I'm not wrong.
Stop cutting me off.
We can't have a differential
while ignoring obvious
potential explanations.
The hole you drilled in her shin.
If it dislodged fat
cells from her bone marrow
into the bloodstream,
it could've caused
I believe the hole was clean.
It's still an experimental procedure.
If I caused this,
there's nothing we can do about it now.
I'll own it, I'll admit to it,
and it won't touch any of you.
But for five minutes,
can you join me in a world
where we help our patient?
INGRID: She's been
bedridden from sickle cell.
Immobilization can trigger a PE.
(SIGHS)
Maybe, but Taryn's
been bedridden before.
They're closing. The patient's stable.
- (DOOR CLOSES)
- (SIGHS)
Taryn has a copper IUD?
A copper IUD can't cause
a pulmonary embolism.
WATSON: Yeah, that's true.
But it might cause us to
overlook something that could.
You ruthless bitch.
I don't like it when you call me that.
Oh, no
I kind of love it,
if I'm being honest.
(LAUGHS)
The chairman told me you wrote
a referral for Gigi Grigoryan?
She got in.
Can't believe you did that for me.
SASHA: I saw how much you
were struggling, and I just
Well, you left a file out on your desk,
and a referral form,
it was just right there.
And, honestly,
it was painful watching
you flunk so hard.
(CHUCKLES) So you took over.
Queen of the group projects.
I should have known.
A+. See?
Catch more flies with honey.
Try, you catch more flies
by being an overachieving,
ruthless bitch.
Thanks, Sasha.
Um, I assume you didn't mention me?
In my referral?
Course not, in case
the chairman does have
something against you, now
he'll never know you were
the one who wanted her in.
Perfect.
How long have you been standing there?
A little while.
I drew three vials of blood from
Taryn Quintyne when she was here.
I haven't sent it to the lab yet,
but when I do
I suspect that I will see
fewer and fewer sickle cells
with each sample.
If I see that,
I'll start asking questions
about that mole removal.
You know I'll get to the truth.
What do you think the truth is?
Did you go around the FDA?
Did you do a procedure
that gave Taryn Quintyne a
life-threatening embolism?
You sent me a dying patient.
She might not have given up this
year, or maybe even next year,
but Taryn Quintyne was dying.
We can fix the problem.
A cure exists, but instead
of giving it to her,
it's sitting on some
shelf that she can't reach.
A shelf that no one
from Stanton Heights,
or Homewood, or Wilkinsburg,
or anywhere can reach.
I don't need a speech,
John, I just need the truth.
Well, the truth
is that there's a perfectly
logical explanation
for Taryn's pulmonary embolism.
It has nothing to do with
any type of secret procedures,
or anything else like that.
How did we miss this?
I can tell you all about that.
But first, you have a decision to make.
I can tell the truth to
you, or anyone else who asks.
Or you can deliver those test
results to your thriving patient.
(SIGHS)
(CROWD CLAPPING)
You don't get to five
years by gritting your teeth
and going it alone.
You don't get to six months that way.
Or 90 days or 30 days.
We do this together.
"We are like the passengers
of a great liner
the moment after rescue from shipwreck
when camaraderie,
joyousness and democracy
pervade the vessel
from steerage to Captain's table."
WOMAN'S VOICE: Dinner's ready!
Ten minutes.
Ingrid, come on.
It's Mom's birthday.
Mom's been gone 20 years, Gigi.
I'm sure she won't mind
if we eat a little late.
(CHUCKLES)
Fine.
Let me just finish this last thought.
(SIGHS)
I'm sorry, Gigi.
It's okay.
This can't be right.
It's right, Taryn.
We double-checked.
You're pregnant.
But I have an IUD.
That's why we didn't
think to test you earlier.
IUDs have a one-percent failure rate.
You got I want to say "lucky,"
but I'll follow your lead.
This is why I had the embolism?
It seems so.
It happens.
Pregnancy is a hypercoagulable state.
Are you okay?
I'm so much better than okay.
My body?
It is so beat up.
I got an IUD because
I gave up hope a long time ago.
(TARYN SOBS)
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
I need to call George.
Can I, uh Should I?
Can I have this baby?
You're okay.
Now, if you would've
gotten the existing cure,
the stem cell ablation may
have sterilized you forever.
Now, however it happened,
you're feeling better.
You have every reason
to be hopeful, Taryn.
Tell your boyfriend
you're gonna have a baby.
(LAUGHS)
Congratulations.
Thank you, Dr. Morstan.
Thank you.
(BREATHES DEEPLY)