Cult (2013) s01e01 Episode Script

Let's talk a little more about your followers.
What do you think draws them here, to you? They come because they want to belong.
To be a part of the unconditional love, the acceptance that I offer.
I offer them my family.
Billy, what do you say to critics who accuse you of preying on individuals at their most vulnerable? I don't prey on anyone.
I seek out no one.
I hear from every tiny, grim little corner of the world.
It is they who are seeking.
Seeking connection.
Which I provide.
Come on, Kelly.
Even if this place is Billy's, it doesn't mean he has your sister or her son.
Well, if Billy didn't take Meadow, then who did? What was it that latest vic kept repeating before he died? It was really weird.
He said, "These things snap off.
" What things? No no, no, that wasn't it; Not exactly.
It was, "Well, hey, these things just snap right off.
" Billy Grimm and his wack jobs are always spouting some nonsense, like they're revealing secrets to the universe.
With Billy, every word means something.
Like that map.
He wants me out here tonight.
He's never forgiven me for leaving him.
I've seen that car at Billy's compound.
Kelly, don't make this personal.
That's definitely the work of Billy's followers.
I'm calling for backup.
Phones won't work out here.
That's why Billy chose it.
Cover me! Come on! Come on! It's Meadow's husband.
Douglas, Douglas, where's Meadow? Where's my sister? Where's Meadow and Andy? It was Billy Grimm's people, wasn't it? Where did they take them? Douglas! Well, hey these things just snap right off.
Oh, dude, Douglas is dead! Cult's got him now.
All right, everybody, another great episode of Cult.
Don't forget tomorrow is Viewer's Choice at the Fan Domain Cafe, so get your votes in now.
Merriam.
- Merriam! - Nate? What? I've unlocked it.
The man in the wall that's the clue I needed.
Seriously? Next level? You can reach them? I think so.
What are you doing? It's just Go home to your husband.
Mr.
Fisher.
Morning, Skye.
You're in early this morning.
Yeah, I've got some research on blood splatter patterns I need to get to the Art Department.
How's the job working out for you? Second week and I couldn't be happier.
Glad you're happy.
- Hey, Mike.
- Morning, Gary.
Numbers were good last night.
Something else? Well, actually, yeah.
Um I was surfing the Web last night, checking out sites devoted to the show, the ones made by the fans Our fans put up some wild stuff.
Yes.
Most of the fan sites are amazing and cool and fun.
But then there are the other ones.
What other ones? The ones that you find if you follow certain links.
The ones that actually make it hard for you to find them.
We put up all sorts of special web content specific Yeah, no, I'm not talking about the official sites.
The people that posted these hard-to-get-into sites, they seem to have some sort of of special connection to the show.
Some of them actually seem kind of scared.
Scared? Scared of what exactly? The show.
Other fans.
Maybe both.
I'm not really sure.
I just thought you know, - we might want to know a little bit more about these - Skye, we're just a television show.
They're just fans.
You're right.
You're absolutely right.
- Good.
Good, good.
- And I got research and blood splatter and Yeah.
Come on, Bert, I wrote it the way you wanted me to with that sunshine in every line, relaxed kind of feeling.
You wrote it like you're still covering.
D.
C.
for the Post.
There are political reasons why the parking in this town is all screwed up, Bert, and you know that.
Jeff, The Word isn't the same paper anymore.
I only added two paragraphs.
I only cut two paragraphs.
Hey, Nate.
Jeff! Thank God I got you.
Where are you, man? What's the matter, Nate? I'm still freaking out here a little.
Definitely freaking out.
Come on, man.
I thought we talked about this.
I have to see you.
You should be at work.
Jeff, for God's sakes, you got to meet me.
Someplace public.
At the diner.
Promise me you'll come.
Come on, man.
You're my brother.
Okay.
Half hour.
All right, man, I don't want to get you mixed up in this.
I really don't.
I swore I wasn't gonna come to you again.
Not like this.
But this is different.
Nate, damn it, I I know you did your part more than your part after Mom and Dad died.
You are 20 years old.
When I was your age, I was in college.
- I had - I'll never be you Jeff.
Don't say that.
That's not what I meant.
It's just that I have my own problems these days.
I I know.
Your your job and Brenda.
Brenda's over.
Just tell me what the problem is, Nate.
You have no idea how much I don't want to get you mixed up in Nate.
I made contact with them last night, and I think they're after me now.
Who's after you? Wait, don't tell me, - don't tell me - No, it's not that.
I'm totally clean.
I swear.
Then what is it? A a TV show and I know how this sounds it's called Cult.
Oh, man Cult? But it's not just a TV show.
It goes beyond that.
Way beyond that.
That car.
Yeah, what about it? Please help me get away from this.
From a TV show? I even tried contacting the people who make the show.
Nobody would talk to me.
Nate, when I came back from D.
C.
, we agreed things between us would be different, okay? Now, call me crazy, but I was hoping that I'd actually get just a little support from you.
Just a little, Nate.
Just let me explain.
It all changed for me in Episode 9, when Billy told Kelly - No, Nate.
- Yeah, yeah, it's No.
You see, I have been through these obsessions of yours before, and I'm not gonna do it.
I if anything happens to me, find Merriam.
- Talk to Merriam.
- Merriam? What the hell are these? Just take them.
Please? You're killing me.
You really are, Nate.
Jeff.
Look, I'd love to come, but I'm still working.
How can you still be working? Come on, Skye, it's gonna be a great party.
Not tonight.
There's still some stuff here that I want to do.
Tell me this isn't about those fan web sites.
You're obsessing! I'm not obsessed.
I'm just interested.
They're not fans.
They're freaks.
Once again, you're gonna miss a great party.
At this point, a minimal, small chance, but we do have a shot at rain.
Mostly likely, it'll be Sunday night into Monday morning.
So, don't worry.
Your weekend plans are not going to be ruined by this.
But it is going to cool us down and give us cloudy skies.
Hey, you! Yeah, I'm talking to you.
My name is Billy.
Billy Grimm.
People say I'm dangerous.
Me? I'm completely harmless.
As for my followers well, I can't always vouch for them.
And they seem to be everywhere.
Some at your work, neighbors, your friends.
Maybe in your very own family.
And you know what? It could just be that you're next.
All new episodes this week on the CW.
Hello? Hello? Jeff?! Jeff, listen! Hey, Nate? Hey, this connection sucks.
I have warn you! Hey, where are you? Will be just right off.
What? Hey, these things just snap right off.
Jeff?! This is Nate.
Leave a message.
Nate? Nate, are you here? Nate? Not Nate Nate? Nate?! Nate? Nate! Listen, he called me around, uh, 11:00.
It it was a bad connection.
He was he was really freaked out.
And then, the called ended, and it was cut off.
I So, you think the call was cut off? It could have been.
I I really don't know.
But there's no sign of forced entry, or any aggressive contact.
The blood is contained, there's no splatter, so I'm a reporter, okay? My first job out of college was covering homicide in Boston.
Look, when are you gonna get the DNA back on that blood, so we know whether it's Nate's or not? Soon enough.
You and your brother get along? Fine.
We get along just fine.
Look, my brother was capable of getting caught up in some really screwy things, all right? When I talked to him earlier today, he was convinced people were after him.
And he kept talking about this TV show.
Hey, Lieutenant? Lookie, lookie.
Found it behind a heating grate in the bedroom.
Your brother into street pharmaceuticals, Mr.
Sefton? Listen, he's been clean for over a year, okay? I don't know what that is.
Maybe it's a stash he forgot about.
Pissed-off drug dealers love to leave messages.
This is not about drugs.
Then what? You turn this on? No.
It was on when I came in.
It's playing something he recorded.
Kelly, Kelly, Kelly.
Ignoring your captain's warnings about not harassing me? Where are they, Billy? I heard about your missing sister and her son.
How very distressing that must be for you.
It was your people, wasn't it? Joey Keller and his group? Joey took my sister to protect you.
To get me to stop.
Joey knows you made me your very own little personal cop mission.
Joey took them because he'll do anything you say.
Just as you used to.
You came to me at 17.
I was always there for you.
You were obsessed with me then, and you're obsessed with me now.
Because I know what you're capable of.
Joey will return my family, if you tell him to.
Joey is very loyal, but you have no idea how many followers are out there now.
What you have to understand is, even I have no idea the full number.
This is between you and me, Billy.
Don't make my family a part of it.
I sincerely wish you all the luck in the world finding them.
Take them.
You never know when something like these might come in handy.
Marc, what are you saying? It's all about the numbers, my friend.
Only the numbers.
Our audience is crazy passion.
Oh, sure.
Sure, sure, sure.
- The network loves the fan passion.
- Yeah? Loves it.
Look, admittedly, I'm new to the network and new to the show, but at Fox, I was the guy who kept Grass on the air for more than one season, and and I've got some definite ideas on how to course-correct Cult so it doesn't just end up a cult show.
- A cult show.
Look, Marc? - Yeah? You know Steven, you know how he works.
You buy a show like this, you're buying one man's vision.
Especially on this show.
I know.
Steven's got this whole man-of-mystery, - never-seen-in-public thing.
- Correct.
But it would be in everyone's best interest for Steven to hear what I have to say.
And the sooner, the better.
I'll pass that on.
Oh, uh, uh, tell Steven that I definitely look forward to getting creative with him.
Creative? Good.
I must say, Mr.
Sefton, I'm so glad The Post is willing to give a close look at our show.
Oh, well, I'm happy to do it.
I'm particularly interested in the show's impact on the people who watch it.
Oh, our fans are the greatest.
Word of mouth on the show is fabulous.
Makes my job as a publicist so much easier.
Are you aware of any particular influence, you know, the show has, beyond the show itself? Beyond the show? I'm not sure what you mean.
Maybe if I could talk to Steven Rae.
Ann here tried to send you some promotional materials, but the Washington Post e-mail on your business card is no longer valid, so she called The Post.
You don't work for The Post anymore.
Look, I'm sorry, but I just need a few minutes to speak to Mr.
Rae about his show.
You damn fans will do absolutely anything to try and get to Steven.
Call security, get them here now.
Listen, I honestly could give a damn about the show.
It's my brother who's the fan, and he's he's gone missing.
It's a new one.
Handle this.
Quite a hurry there, friend.
Uh, excuse me.
Hey.
I heard what you said about your brother.
Jerry? Yeah? She's over here.
Come on.
In here.
Is this all for the show? Yeah.
You don't watch? No.
My brother does.
Apparently a lot.
And he's disappeared? Yeah.
So, you you work on Cult? - Yeah, researcher.
- Well, then you might know.
I mean, is there any reason for me to believe that my brother's disappearance is related to this show? When I last talked to my brother, he was scared, and according to him, it had everything to do with this show.
I, uh I hung on to his phone.
I I thought there might be something, but all the calls and texts have been deleted.
Can I? Yeah.
See, delete doesn't mean permanent, not if you know what you're doing.
I used to work on a Bruckheimer show.
Who's Meadow? Meadow? Recent call history and texts all from somebody named Meadow.
"Where are you? Call me.
" Don't do this.
"You don't know what they'll do to you.
" Who the hell is Meadow? Well, there's a character on the show, the sister of the main character her name is Meadow.
She's missing, too.
Look I'm all my brother has.
If I don't try to find him, nobody will.
Look, there's a place that you might want to check out.
I can show you.
Come on.
The Fan Domain? It's where fans come to watch their favorite shows.
Especially Cult.
So, what is it about this show that has everyone so Hooked? It's not like any other show.
It totally gets under your skin.
Come on.
The hard-core fans are this way.
What exactly are they doing here? Watching.
Looking for clues, connections.
They believe there are messages coded in the show, that there's this whole other level of mystery thing that the fans love.
What kind of mystery thing, exactly? That's my brother.
He's dressed like a Billy Grimm guy.
Hey, Skye.
What was it you said about this green dress again? It's meant to be like the dress worn by the character Meadow in the show she was wearing it when she was abducted.
One second.
Nate said if something happened to him I needed to find someone named Merriam.
- What are you looking for? - Role players.
Web sites devoted to fans who dress up like the characters.
And they like to get together, have these events.
It's all extremely underground.
Damn it, Joey, where is my sister! Where is she? If Billy knew that you found me, he's gonna be mad at me, really mad.
I'll see that you're protected.
You'll protect me from Billy? What have you done with my sister and her son? Joey Storage shed.
Myers Woods.
I've been to that shed, and they're not there.
But you didn't really see! You know Billy.
You need to look beyond what's right in front of you or you will never find his answers.
I don't want Billy mad at me.
Joey, don't! No! I got it.
- Wh what is it? - A site dedicated to role players.
They're talking about an event.
Yeah, a role-playing event.
It's going on right now.
Where are you going? I'm going with you.
- Really? - You kidding? So, you are a reporter? Yeah.
Oh.
My father was a newsman.
Oh, yeah? Yeah, but not in print, he worked in television.
He worked the local news here in Los Angeles.
Quentin Yarrow.
Oh, yeah.
I remember him.
He was good.
I remember something about him around the time I was going to college.
Yeah, I was still in high school.
He was working on a story on union corruption.
Everybody told him to back off, but my dad No way.
And then one night he just didn't come home.
Never was a clue to what happened to him.
To this day, my mom and I don't know if he's alive or I know what it's like to have somebody you love go missing.
We're here.
This is from the show.
I remember when we shot out here.
Now! Come on! Get out of my way! Go! Let's go! Hello? Is everything okay in here? Leave me alone! We don't know you.
Who are you? I don't know you! Merriam? Merriam, my name is Jeff Sefton.
I think you know my brother, my brother, Nate? How can we help you? Nobody can help me.
Do you know where Nate is? Merriam, is he all right? He's not all right.
I never should have gotten involved in any of this.
They'll be coming for me next.
Oh, God Oh Who? Who will be coming for you? Well hey these things just snap right off.
I just told you.
Her name is Merriam and she knew my brother.
- And she killed herself? - Right in front of us.
Yes.
And your brother knew this Merriam because they? Because they watched this this this show together.
The victim's husband we asked him about this television show of yours.
It's not mine.
He said his wife never watches TV.
Well, he's lying.
Maybe he watches, too.
Listen, I know how this sounds, okay? But I am telling you, there is a connection between this show and what just happened.
Yes, you are telling me all of this.
And I have a big problem with that.
You used to work for The Washington Post.
A reporter.
Very well regarded.
A real comer.
That is, until they fired you.
You lied on a story, just completely fabricated the source.
Six decent cops went to jail because of that story.
They went to jail and they're still in jail because they're dirty.
But in order to get that story, you lied.
And now here you are with a missing brother, a woman with a bullet in her skull, and you're telling me everybody else is lying.
Listen everything she said about my story about the cops Hey.
You don't owe me any explanations.
What was it that Merriam said, something about things snapping off? "Well, hey these things just snap right off.
" Yeah, my brother said the same thing.
That's from the show.
Thanks for everything.
You sure know how to show a girl an interesting time.
The essence of simplicity.
All these you see living here now, they're just the tip of the iceberg.
I've been to that shed, and they're not there.
But you didn't really see! You know Billy.
You need to look beyond what's right in front of you or you will never find his answers.
Forensics was all over this place If your sister was here, they would've found something.
Come on, Kelly, this is crazy.
Look beyond what's right in front of you.
What do you see? Andy! Auntie Kelly.
Come here.
Oh, you're okay.
It's not Meadow.
Billy Grimm likes his boxes.
That body was in a box.
It's a barrel, it's not a box.
Billy's far more precise than that.
Whether it was Billy or not, it's our case now.
Just give it to someone else.
Captain assigned it to us.
Can't.
Meadow's still out there.
This is our case.
Yeah.
Yeah, I told you, I'm on it.
What? Yeah, yeah, you should see all the crazy fans out here.
If Steven would just listen to me, the show would be huge.
Yeah, I I put Fisher on notice.
There's a new marshal in town.
That's great.
Back to one, let's take it from Colin's first line.
Reset the body.
Uh, yeah, this is Skye.
Jeff, hi.
Any word from Nate? Yeah, I could probably get away.
Why? What I'll be right there.
Hello.
Yo.
What's up? Yup, I'll see you at the club in an hour.
All right, here we go.
Ready? And, same place, and action.
So, tell me.
Well, dead less than 24 hours.
Massive blood loss.
Blood drained out pretty fast.
Didn't happen here, though.
Lots of blood at the missing kid's apartment this morning, too.
The DNA came back on that.
The blood in the chair wasn't the kid's.
Could be this guy's.
Could be.
Something tells me the older brother the reporter is gonna connect to all of this.
Oh, thank God you're here.
Listen I'm really sorry I keep involving you in this.
I'm already involved.
So, where is it? Nate hid it in a place he knew only I would find.
So what's on the disc Kelly finds on the show? When Kelly puts it in, it co-opts her computer.
Uploads all of her personal information.
It lets Billy Grimm's people totally hook into her life.
Then what? Nobody knows, Steven hasn't sent us that part yet.
He's the one I have to get to.
You'll never get to Steven.
Watch me.
Is this Nate? Yeah.
What is that? What do you see? It's, uh, it's a bunch of blank spaces.
What was it Nate said, again? "Well, hey," these things just snap "right off.
" You sure that you want to do this? Whatever it's gonna do let it.
- Hello? - Jeff? Jeff, it's me.
It's Nate.
Thank God.
All you all right? - You put in the disc? - Yeah.
How did you know? Where are you, Nate? I had no idea what it really meant.
You never should have put it in.
Tell me where you are.
Walk away, Jeff.
Whatever you do, do not try to find me.
Don't even think Nate? Nate! Look at it.
You're next.
You're next.
You're next next next next next next next next My name is Billy.
People say I'm dangerous.