The Imperfects (2022) s01e01 Episode Script

1
["Inferno" playing]
No halo ♪
Baby, I'm the reason why Hell's so hot ♪
Inferno ♪
[groans]
Baby, I'm the reason why bad's so fun
Hell's so hot ♪
Oh, so ♪
Terribly like terrible
She's the villain ♪
One as sweet as caramel ♪
- [saw whirring]
- [gags]
Think I'm getting butterflies ♪
But it's really
Something telling me to run away ♪
Well, you don't see that every day.
I don't want to see that any day.
Look at his heart.
That descending aorta
is twice the standard size.
And there's a third lung behind the heart.
Awesome. Too bad we had to kill the guy
to see all these cool insides.
We? That was all you, Scooby-Doo.
- I didn't do it on purpose.
- Tell that to his neck.
Oh, God.
So on top of all of this,
I'm now a cannibal.
Of course not.
- You have to be human to be a cannibal.
- You said we are human.
I said "technically."
If we're not human, what are we?
You're
[rock music playing]
[woman]
I had a good time, I had a bad time ♪
A volcano of cocaine
I climbed it in my mind ♪
Who are these people?
Why are we talking about this? ♪
You're way too good
At getting me in a mess ♪
Every time you're in my head ♪
I think of the knife under my bed ♪
I can't believe that I'm not dead ♪
But I'm not dead ♪
Don't die ♪
But I'm not dead ♪
I'm not dead ♪
I'm not dead ♪
Music is magic.
Bikini Kill got me through
Catholic school.
Hole's Celebrity Skin helped me dump
my first boyfriend and my third.
Brody Dalle gets my adrenaline pumping.
- Music is the blanket that keeps me warm.
- [rock music playing]
It's the flag I raise
when I'm tearing down the barricade.
It lifts me out of myself and
changes my perspective of the world.
It's how I know God exists.
So
in order for The Itchy Nipples
to share that magical experience
with your audience, we'll need
imported beer in our green room.
We look forward to touring with you.
Oh, my queen!
Well, it's no Kanye rider.
I'll take an imported lager over a Coke
and cognac slushie machine any day.
- Baby, you're freezing.
- It's nothing.
- Have you been forgetting your pills?
- The pills have forgotten me.
Next batch haven't arrived.
I'm stretching them out.
Yeah, but
You're cold, like
Like, hit-the-walk-in-clinic cold.
I am an ice queen when I negotiate.
So warm me up.
[rock music continues]
[Abbi] My parents never wanted me
to follow in their footsteps.
My dad was a Kalaripayattu champion,
but he never pushed me to compete.
The Seattle Times said my mom
makes the best baguette in the city,
but she never dragged me into the kitchen.
My parents wanted me
to find something I loved.
And what I love is science.
Because science
is truly the final frontier.
- Can't believe you sent that letter.
- Why wouldn't I? It's true.
It's desperate.
You might as well tell them you suffer
from a new genetic syndrome.
It's "suffered," past tense.
And that's the next paragraph.
Hey. Ignore her.
I think your letter's great.
It's you. Passionate. Honest. Real.
Oxford would be crazy not to take you.
- Thanks, Paul.
- Oxford.
What a waste of time.
If you want pure research, apply to Flux.
They're the DARPA of biogenetics.
- Blackwater of biogenetics.
- It's Oxford.
- Already?
- That can't be good.
I got the interview!
If I get this, I'll be moving to England.
I'll cancel my Internet
and get my power disconnected.
- I should donate that couch.
- Whoa, whoa.
You should probably get accepted first.
I'll also need
to get my medication rerouted.
Get your prescription transferred.
Can't. This stuff is hard to come by.
["Que Wea" playing]
I know ♪
[Juan]
It was my brother Alejandro's fault.
He was a huge comic book fan.
So I just grew up devouring El Puerto,
Sonambulo, Weapon Tex-Mex,
The Jaguar.
I loved it all.
But then I wanted to expand my horizons.
Well, Alejandro was unimpressed.
He didn't think Marvel, DC, or manga
could teach me about who I am,
where I came from.
I said I was a universal citizen,
but he said,
"No, you're a universal idiot." So
So I just kept reading them.
And then, you know,
life and stuff happened.
He wasn't wrong.
There were worlds to explore
and understanding those comics
we grew up with.
That's why I started
to create Sugar Skull.
A kick-ass
private detective-slash-wrestler
Whose head is a sugar skull.
Yes. I think Alejandro would love it.
You created this?
Created, wrote, drew,
inked, colored, lettered.
But what I want to know, Mr. Ruiz
"Ruiz."
Where'd you get this printed?
Here at our institute?
On our equipment,
with our ink and our paper?
- How many did you print?
- That issue?
Like
Like 2000.
Two thousand?
This issue? How many other issues
did you publish?
Like only 11.
And they were way smaller runs.
Demand really picked up
after the Comic-Con review.
Your abuse of school resources stops now.
The Seattle Institute of Art
is not a mini-mart
for this kind of lowbrow drivel.
I'll give you 5% of my gross take.
- Twenty.
- Ten.
Ten.
Mr. Ruiz?
Are you all right?
Yes. Yes. I'm todo bien.
I'm just fine.
I'm just feeling a little bit dizzy.
You can take that someplace else.
- Yes. Thank you.
- Yep.
Because the diploid
was outnumbered by the polyploid.
[man] Hmm.
Because the diploid?
Was outnumbered
- By the polyploid!
- By the polyploid!
It's kind of a lame joke.
Oh, not at all. The biogenetics faculty
needs a little levity.
Oh, Ms. Singh,
you're a breath of fresh air.
- You're very impressive.
- Very impressive.
- Let me be the first to say
- I would love to be your thesis advisor.
I said it first.
Gareth, please.
The question is who does Abbi want?
She wants a female mentor.
Someone who's well aware of the struggles
that only a woman in STEM can face.
He would never understand you
the way I do.
That is very kind of you.
Would you excuse me for a minute?
- Where are you going?
- The restroom.
- She's mine.
- You're not going anywhere.
- Sorry.
- Do you mind?
- Sorry again.
- I just need I just
Excuse me!
- I'll excuse you anything.
- What?
- Abbi!
- Abbi.
- Let me tell you how I feel.
- Let me go!
Abbi, wait!
[all coughing]
[woman] Gareth, have you lost your mind?
On the road
On the road ♪
Time to move on
Fucked it up, just for fun ♪
When it happened, you called my name ♪
I went running like a dog
Who's been trained ♪
Don't care how, don't care why ♪
Don't care if I live or die ♪
Middle finger raised up high ♪
Never gonna stop till I get it all ♪
No good for you ♪
In your heart you know
It's probably true ♪
[discordant clashing, screeching]
You found someone not like me ♪
Caught between a memory and ♪
- [echoing] What's her problem?
- [high-pitched ringing]
Don't care how, don't care why ♪
Don't care if I live or die ♪
Middle finger raised up high ♪
Burning out at 105 ♪
I try and try ♪
What's wrong?
[high-pitched ringing]
Don't care how, don't care why ♪
Don't care if I live or die ♪
Middle finger raised up high ♪
[high-pitched ringing continues]
- [Rose] What was that?
- [PJ] She had an off night, Rose.
- It happens.
- [Simon] It's Bumbershoot all over again.
[PJ] Fuck sakes. Shut up, Simon.
What if she hears you?
- [Simon] She's inside.
- [PJ] Just finish loading the van.
- [voices echoing]
- [ringing continues]
[groaning]
[pop rock playing over speakers]
Again.
[PJ] Look, I know it's bad,
but it's not bourbon bad.
Liar.
Everyone thinks
it's another Bumbershoot, don't they?
"Tilda will get cold feet,
fuck it up at the last minute."
Fucking Simon.
I told him to keep his mouth shut.
Please. It doesn't take a rocket scientist
to know what those idiots are thinking.
Well, it's not gonna be
another Bumbershoot. Is it?
One more.
- Don't you think you've had enough?
- I can still hear you. So no.
We're gonna go.
Don't wait up.
[high-pitched squeal]
[pop music playing over speakers]
You look like ass.
Makes sense. I feel like ass.
You didn't get your pills yet, did you?
- How many days has it been?
- Three.
- Call the clinic.
- I already tried. Twice.
They're not answering.
You told me yourself
you're not supposed to miss a dose.
It'll be fine.
You're not fine. You're running a fever.
Let's go. I'm putting you to bed. Okay?
You're too good to me.
You'll do until
something better comes along.
- Oh, sorry.
- Nice art.
- Like the composition.
- Thanks.
- Who's the art professor?
- I thought you invited him.
[birds chittering]
[Juan groans]
[ominous music playing]
[speaking Spanish]
Juan?
Babe?
- [Juan] Hey. Hey, morning, sweetie.
- [water running]
You got up early.
[Juan] Yeah, I had the craziest nightmare.
It woke me up.
I was thinking about grabbing some coffee.
You want the regular? Three shots,
flat white with almond milk, right?
Don't talk about liquids. I need to pee.
Do you want anything else?
Juan. Open the door.
How about a copy of the New York Times?
It's like reading the Internet,
but on paper!
Juan.
Finally.
So did I do anything weird last night?
[Darcy] Besides pass out from two beers?
Um, nope.
Um, did anything happen at the party?
That professor tried to be
the last man standing.
I finally got him out of here around 2:00.
And then I crashed.
- "Terror of Tacoma"?
- [door opens]
[Darcy] Croissants.
What?
You asked if I wanted anything.
I'd like a croissant.
Um, do you wanna put on some clothes?
- [whimpers]
- [footsteps booming]
[creaking loudly]
[wet smacking]
It's Tilda, right?
You don't have to yell.
Little Juan.
It's only Juan now.
- What's it been, like, seven years?
- Yeah.
What a waste of a summer.
All those appointments.
[Juan] All those injections.
How's your? How's your band doing?
- You know The Itchy Nips?
- It's kind of hard not to.
Oh, whatever, stalker.
Just don't ask me to sign your chest.
People ask you to do that?
Chest, butt,
one guy asked me to sign his dick.
[chuckles] Actually, more than one guy.
What did? I mean, what did you do?
I tell you what I didn't do.
Use my own pen.
Wow, little Juan. You were so cute.
Yeah, well, not so little anymore.
Perv.
No. No. I didn't mean it like that. I
[stammering]
Of course, that too.
Ah! Perv!
No, it's not
[aerosol hissing]
Is Dr. Sarkov in?
- Jill Nye the Science Guy.
- It's Abbi.
- Oh.
- Hi.
There's nothing wrong
with having a healthy curiosity.
So I'm guessing no one else's
prescription showed up?
- Nope.
- No.
- Is Sarkov even here?
- He's in back arguing with somebody.
How do you know that?
[woman] Everything you're doing is wrong.
Legally and morally.
[Sarkov] Thank you for your input.
Why don't you get out
before I call the police?
You all need to leave!
Get as far away from this man as possible.
Don't talk to these people!
This is me dialing 911.
This isn't over, Dr. Fuckov!
"Dr. Fuckov." Never heard that one before.
Very original.
Why don't you try "Dr. Suckov"?
Don't listen to her. She's just some sort
of anti-genetics whack-a-doodle.
- Abbi! Abbi Singh!
- Yeah, hi.
- Tell me you kept up with the science.
- Genetics, actually.
- You inspired me.
- That's a big statement. Thank you.
I'm hoping to switch over
to the genetics program at Oxford.
- I taught Oxford for years.
- I know.
Then I turned 20 and moved to the States.
Great story. Gripping. I want my meds.
Yeah. We all need our meds.
Juan. Tilda. I got all your messages.
I'm sorry. My assistant's having a baby.
Which is gross.
She wanted me to deliver it,
and I was like,
"I'm not that kind of doctor."
I wouldn't even know
what I was looking at!
Are we supposed to follow him?
[Sarkov] Here they are.
My Wellness Program kids.
It's all your fault.
Because of you, I proved
that Acute Genetic Decay Syndrome
is caused by direct interaction
between environmental factors
and the human genome.
- Oh, I thought Dr. Burke discovered AGDS.
- She did.
But I proved it.
And once we proved it existed,
we developed the Sarkov method,
editing the DNA damaged by the AGDS,
and because of that
Well, let's just say
you are the seeds of an elusive future.
Pills, pills, pills.
Your pills are just over there.
They're around here somewhere, though.
But in the meantime, tell me,
how've you been feeling without the pills?
- Well, I wouldn't say I'm 100%.
- Okay.
I feel more like myself
when I'm on the pills.
Seems about right.
What they said.
Excellent.
It is excellent you came to see me
when you did.
It gives me a chance
to take blood samples,
check on your progress and,
if necessary, adjust your medication.
Respectfully, I don't need an adjustment.
I just need the medication.
I was fine until I ran out of pills.
Oh, baby girl.
This has really thrown you
for a loop, hasn't it?
Tilda, stay in your seat!
I'll make you feel better.
- No, no!
- Yeah.
- Um
- No, no, no! Sorry!
Ah! [groans]
- You see?
- [Tilda] What the actual fuck!
All right!
Let's get me some of that blood!
I take it that has something to do
with your condition.
It started yesterday.
If I'm around anyone
for an extended period of time,
they develop an unnaturally intense
attraction for me.
You're upset because you're attractive?
No, I'm upset because
I have hyperactive pheromones.
- Is that a thing?
- It's the only explanation.
Ooh, I can think of several others,
hypochondria, Munchausen's
- I'm not making this up.
- I'm not saying you're making it up.
But let's be honest,
things could be worse.
Like a lot worse.
I'd like to know
how things could get worse.
It sounds to me
like you've got a case of hyperacusis.
I don't have hyperacusis.
I have super hearing.
That's the same thing.
It could be permanent. But at least
you're alive and in one piece, mostly.
There you are.
Anything else you need to tell me
about your condition?
No. Just the blackouts. Nothing else.
If that's true, you are the least
problematic test subject I've had so far.
Really?
You know those medication commercials
where they have
that long list of side effects?
Yeah?
I long for the day where blackouts
is the worst thing on the list.
So
What other side effects
have other test subjects had?
That's doctor-patient privilege.
I thought you were a scientist.
It's all the same.
We all wear white coats
and have trouble with eye contact.
See? Ah.
Which hand?
I'm not a child.
No, you are a grown man
who makes comic books for a living.
- Graphic novels.
- Okay.
- Pineapple.
- Mm-hm.
- Sweet.
- Mm.
And take those.
- Thank you.
- Now, get out of here.
- You know
- No, get out of here.
Thanks.
- [door opens]
- Young people.
[siren wailing in distance]
[high-pitched ringing]
[groans]
Hey!
Hey!
- Hey!
- [Simon] Rose. That was great.
- [Rose] Yeah, you think so?
- [PJ] Yeah.
Really strong. Yeah.
You'll save us
having to audition a singer.
I hate auditioning.
[PJ] Tilda will be back on her meds,
and she'll be fine, all right?
But what if she's not fine? What then?
We'll lose this tour if she doesn't
get her voice back.
- Or whatever that was.
- Simon's right.
We need to make a call.
And it needs to be unanimous.
[PJ] Okay.
Okay?!
What the fuck?
[groans]
[Abbi] Leave me alone!
[Jules] Abbi!
- [girl] I just wanna
- [Jules] Abbi, let me in!
- Let me, Abbi! Please!
- [Abbi] No!
- [Paul] It'll just be you and me.
- [girl] I need you!
[Jules] Don't listen to them.
- I love you!
- Abbi!
- [Paul] Just let me in!
- [Jules] Abbi, please!
[Abbi] No! Leave me alone!
[boy] Open it!
[Paul] Abbi!
- Just us!
- [Jules] Abbi!
[Paul] Let me in! Please!
- Why did we do that?
- [Jules] I don't know what came over me.
- [Paul] Abbi, are you okay?
- [Jules] Why are you in the shower?
No.
Oh
[gasping]
[Burke]
After a single round of injections,
all areas of brain shrinkage
are showing signs of restoration.
CAG repeats in the patient's
HD gene have dropped to 10.
Two months ago they were
Forty-four.
- Hello?
- Sydney, I've had a breakthrough.
"Hey, Sydney, It's me, Alex.
It's been a while,
but is now a good time to talk?"
"Oh, actually, no. Not a great time."
If you can't talk, why take the call?
What breakthrough?
What are you talking about?
We were looking in the wrong place.
The side effects have nothing to do
with the edited DNA.
- It's not in the nucleus.
- Of course it is.
I know that because
I solved that problem without you
after you abandoned the project.
No, you haven't.
And I didn't abandon the project,
I proposed an alternative therapy
that you could not comprehend.
Your alternative therapy
was illegal and amoral
and arrogant.
And your process is flawed
and doomed to fail.
I'm looking at my patient's MRI
and she's showing signs
of a full recovery
with no signs of side effects.
Congratulations.
You've delayed the inevitable,
but your patient will get side effects,
because it's not in the nucleus.
How did you come up with this theory?
Alex, what did you do?
You think you want to know,
and then I tell you and you're like,
"You shouldn't have told me."
Of course it is. I gotta go.
Can you put your ego aside and listen?
- Because this is important.
- My ego.
That's not what I meant.
Mm-hm. Goodbye.
Well, shit.
[Abbi] He gave us placebos.
Children's aspirin.
They're useless.
He told me
there was nothing to worry about.
- He lied.
- It could be an accident.
I told him about my situation,
he seemed relieved.
Your situation?
When I entered the Wellness Program,
my AGDS presented
as steatocystoma multiplex.
Benign cysts on my sebaceous glands.
Some geneticists postulate
that our sebaceous glands
generate pheromones,
which I think I can now prove,
because my pheromones
seem to be in hyperdrive.
People get aroused by me.
That was a long way across the stage
to tell us you smell sexy.
It can be a little more complicated,
if you're ace.
- I'm ace.
- Copy that.
- No.
- You don't smell sexy.
- You shouldn't do that.
- You smell kind of lemon-y.
- You're not turned on by me?
- No.
- No, no.
- I wonder why you're immune.
How did your AGDS present?
Didn't you have a vestigial tail?
No, that was another guy. I was the
Yeah, well, it doesn't matter what I was.
What matters now is that
I'm the Terror of Tacoma.
What?
Last night, I I blacked out and
turned into this.
- [laughs]
- Whoa.
You're a werewolf.
No, I'm a chupacabras.
Yeah. Well, my AGDS was messing
with my hearing and vocal cords.
Now I hear everything.
And I can do this:
At least you got an actual superpower.
It's kind of cool.
No. It's not cool.
My ears hurt all the time from the noise,
and I can't sing anymore.
But as Troy McClure says,
"Sweet liquor eases the pain."
A chupacabra, a banshee and a succubus?
Better than Jill Nye.
Chupacabra, a banshee,
and a succubus meet in a park.
What's the punch line?
We are?
I can't believe Dr. Sarkov
did this to us on purpose.
There has to be an explanation for this.
Yeah, well, I say we go and find out.
I'm gonna pop by the liquor store first.
Let's go!
- Dr. Sarkov!
- Juan!
Okay. Tequila's holding.
Make this quick.
Dr. Broke.
It's Burke. Who are you?
Your dirty little mistakes.
We need to see Dr. Sarkov. Is he here?
I have no idea.
I spoke with him,
but I haven't heard from him since.
Sorry, has his assistant returned?
We really need to speak to Sarkov.
This clinic's been closed for seven years.
Well, how are we supposed
to get our pills?
- How long have you been without them?
- Almost a week.
The medication
that Alex and I created for you
was meant to prevent side effects,
not undo them.
So resuming it would be a waste of time.
- So we're fucked.
- I wouldn't say that.
I would.
I need a drink.
There better still be a bottle there.
Scientists. So rude.
Here's something
you may not know about scientists. They
They hate it when people
discover something,
because it means they were wrong.
When I first proved
that seemingly unrelated increases
in novel genetic disorders were connected,
my research was questioned.
When I predicted
these disorders would accelerate,
leading to the irreparable distortion of
the human genome within three decades,
I was ridiculed.
There was only one other geneticist
who would give me the time of day: Alex.
- Alex?
- Dr. Sarkov.
[Tilda] Keep up.
Alex and I started
the Wellness Program together.
We recruited patients like you
with genetic disorders
that seemed to have developed de novo.
Without any parental genetic link.
Oh, yeah. Well, duh.
We
We devised a way to correct the errors
in your damaged genes
using a synthetic stem cell Alex created.
[Abbi] Synthetic?
You said you were using cells
harvested from our own bodies.
I did. We lied.
You experimented on us
without our consent?
Your parents signed the release forms.
This synthetic stem cell
could phagocytose your defective cells,
and then differentiate
into perfectly healthy replacements.
It's like updating the operating system
on a computer but on a genetic level.
- [Burke] Good analogy.
- Thanks.
Then Alex realized he could use
the synthetic stem cell
to completely replace the human genome
with a superior design of his own.
We disagreed over the direction
our research was going and parted ways.
So, what's this have to do with our pills?
Your pills kept
your modified cells stable.
Alex was never able to replicate
that stability in his later experiments.
All of his test subjects
seem to have developed
unfortunate side effects.
Because they all had
so much more artificial DNA.
[Burke] That's my theory. Yes.
Why take us off our pills? Why now?
To see if we develop side effects.
He did this to us to see
if we'd develop side effects.
He ruined my life because he could.
I'm not even human anymore?
Probably. Technically, no.
Technically, yes.
[Tilda] Well, that's fucking great.
No, no. This isn't her fault.
It's not not her fault either.
- I wanna help.
- [Juan] You said you parted ways,
but are you still working on
the synthetic stem cells?
I've continued to focus my research
on a cure for AGDS.
Alex thinks we've solved that problem.
- These are the synthetic stem cells?
- Various iterations of them.
- I need to find out if he's right.
- But can you fix us?
I can try.
It would be easier with Alex.
Well, let's get him.
[Juan muttering indistinctly]
May I?
[Juan] When you said "Technically, yes,"
did you mean we're still human
or we're not humans anymore?
Of course you're still human.
Technically speaking.
- Someone's coming.
- Are you sure?
I have super hearing
'cause you turned me into a guinea pig.
I was trying to help.
In case you haven't noticed, I still am.
- Have we met?
- Like the composition.
Abbi.
Give me those.
- What the fuck!
- No!
Abbi!
[Juan] Tilda? [shouts in Spanish]
Last chance.
- Are you okay?
- Fuck.
Yeah.
- Holy shit.
- Shh, shh
What the fuck do we do?
Get the fuck out of here.
Good Juan. Good boy.
Good Juan.
Good boy. Good boy.
Holy shit.
[Tilda] Hi, buddy.
Juan.
Hey. Juan-Juan.
Hi.
- Where am I?
- Burke's house.
BT-dubs, she's got
a killer wine collection.
That better not be a '74 Chateau.
It is.
This was not my idea.
No, no.
It makes sense.
Oh, well, then, it was totally my idea.
Well, you mind?
Promise not to kill me?
Absolutely.
All right. As you wish.
Ay, no. Oh, no, no, no.
How did he get here?
We stole his body.
What? You moved the body?
That's, like, the worst thing you can do.
Ah, I'd argue that killing him
was the worst thing to do.
- Thought you might want these.
- [Juan] Ow.
You said we are human.
I said "technically."
If we're not human, what are we?
- [Burke] You're
- I'm a killer.
I'll never be Juan Ruiz,
Eisner winner, graphic novelist.
- I'll be Juan Ruiz, murderer.
- Technically, you could be both.
We should call the police.
Calling the police
is what normal people do.
We're not normal people anymore.
Look at it this way.
This guy tried to kill us,
you saved my life,
then you tried to kill me,
so you're batting .500.
[Abbi]
Enhanced lung capacity, enhanced cardio.
It's like everything's been super-sized.
Have you ever seen
anything like this before?
Once. But it didn't look this good.
I think Alex is nearly there.
Nearly where?
Is this what Dr. Sarkov's
"superior genome"
is supposed to look like?
I can't say for sure, but
That's my science!
What?
The vascular structure in this lung.
That was my idea, not his.
- [gasps] Oh, wow, it turned out great.
- This guy's another experiment.
Say you guys were the starting point,
this is the closest I've seen Alex
get to his finish line.
So if Dr. Sarkov wanted this,
then what's this guy's side effect?
- What's wrong with him?
- [Burke sighs]
I have no idea.
["Gigantic" playing]
And this I know
His teeth as white as snow ♪
- [blood circulating]
- Does anybody else hear that?
It sounds like
running water?
[beating]
Madre
He's alive.
He's alive.
Guys, I Oh!
Where's Sarkov?
Where is he, you monsters?!
Where's Sarkov?!
A big, big love ♪
Gigantic, gigantic, gigantic ♪
A big, big love ♪
Gigantic, gigantic, gigantic ♪
A big, big love ♪
A big, big love
A big, big love ♪
A big, big love ♪
A big, big love
A big, big love ♪
A big, big love ♪
A big, big love
A big, big love ♪