The Irrational (2023) s01e01 Episode Script

People are irrational,
but predictably so.
We're more afraid
of flying than driving,
when the fact is, driving
is much more dangerous.
We know we should eat healthy food.
But then we give in to temptation.
We buy things we'll never, ever use.
We assume people are making
rational decisions,
weighing the pros and cons,
when most of the time, we're not.
Instead, we rely on instincts,
which are almost always wrong,
sometimes dangerously wrong.
One error in judgment leads to another,
which is why eventually,
someone ends up calling me.
Any ideas?
This is an FBI scene.
Virginia Troopers and DC Police,
stand by for FBI instructions.
Hi, Clay. My name is Alec.
You another negotiator?
No.
I would never work in law enforcement.
It pays crap, and that's
saying something coming
from a college professor.
Congratulations, by the way.
The FBI only brings me in
when they're really screwed.
I have to say, I'm impressed.
Most people who try this kind
of thing get arrested, or killed, but
you were smart about it,
with the baby and all.
I want what I asked for.
Don't worry. You'll get it.
The guy's a killer. We can't give
Just let him try.
I have spoken to the higher-ups.
We're authorizing a helicopter.
We are not authorizing a helicopter.
What I want to know from you is,
what kind of helicopter do you want?
What kind?
I've been doing some research.
It looks like the Sikorsky is faster,
but the Airbus has a longer range.
Do you have a preference?
Uh
Sikorsky.
Done.
I hope you know what you're doing.
Now, the Sikorsky will get you
a couple hundred miles,
but when you land,
you might have to kill the pilot, right?
Say again?
You could try to swear him to secrecy,
but probably you're gonna
have to kill him.
You know how you'll dispose of the body?
Never mind. You'll figure it out.
But you do need a plan for the baby.
Is she on breast milk or formula?
That's, of course, if you're
planning to hold onto her.
Shh.
You can put her in a dumpster.
Babies can survive for 24,
maybe 48 hours,
depending on how cold it gets.
We can get you some extra blankets.
Please, just let me hold her.
Would you shut up, lady?
Might be easier
if you leave the baby here.
But without her, I gotta be honest,
you won't have much leverage.
When the helicopter gets here,
do you want it to land
on the roof or in the parking lot?
I can walk through the pros
and cons if you like.
Got a clean shot.
Hold your fire.
Good choice.
Thanks a lot, man.
Hey.
What was it you did back there?
Paradoxical persuasion.
I overly embraced his idea to force him
to think it through enough to realize
it was a terrible idea.
And how did you know he
wasn't gonna pull the trigger?
It works about 95% of the time.
And the other 5%?
There's always outliers, Marisa.
And what if he had been an outlier?
He probably would have shot someone.
If it helps, statistically speaking,
more likely one of us than the baby.
That ability that you have
to completely divorce emotion
from reason is both
why I married you and why
You're no longer married to me.
Why we split up.
Tell your sister I said hello.
Good morning, Professor.
I have the surveys ready
for the intro class,
and I put together a pie chart for
you with the demographic breakdown.
Uh, this is Rizwan.
Today's his first day.
I just want to say
what a privilege it is
to join your research assistant team.
Phoebe showing you the ropes?
He's up to speed mostly.
"The Post" wants a quote about
the mafia guy you flipped.
Should I give them the one
about conflicting motivations?
I'll call them back. Anything else?
My roommate wants to know
if you really helped
the Rams win the Super Bowl.
Well, that was a risky experiment,
but it worked out for them.
Hello, hello.
I'm Alec Mercer.
Welcome to Applied Psychology 101.
If you're wondering
about what happened to my face,
it wasn't one of my experiments.
I was burned many years ago
on over 60% of my body.
And for the better part of three years,
I was in the hospital with
my body covered with bandages,
which were changed every day.
I-it was, as you can imagine,
very painful.
And the nurses believed
that ripping the bandages off
quickly was much better
than doing it slowly.
I disagreed, but they wouldn't listen.
I became deeply intrigued
by this idea that we repeatedly
and predictably make the wrong decisions
in many aspects of our lives.
And research could help
change these patterns.
I began doing experiments.
And I found the nurses were wrong.
So I went back, and I told them.
And they promised that they
would change their practices.
One nurse admitted
that she simply assumed
that fast was better,
because for the nurses,
inflicting that pain slowly
was much worse.
I had never considered their pain.
There are great lessons
to be learned in this.
Do you have a question?
Yeah, uh, how'd it happen,
you know, your burns?
Drag racing.
I ran right off the road.
Gas tank exploded.
Anyway, let's get started.
Drag racing?
I was gonna go with tiki dancing
Hawaiian luau that got out of hand.
Why not just tell them the truth?
When I remember all of it, I will.
Uh, Professor.
This is Alec.
Madam Mayor. I'll be right there.
A young woman named Jasmine Curtland
was murdered last night.
The suspect is her ex-boyfriend,
Dylan Hayes, son of Senator Laura Hayes.
Laura is a friend and a political ally.
Even the allegations could
blow up her campaign.
And any delay in charging will smack
of preferential treatment.
Because it is preferential treatment.
I'm not interested.
Alec, I know Dylan.
Known him since he was a baby.
He's a good kid. No criminal record.
You've got plenty of resources
at your disposal, as does he.
He's a damn war hero.
Served with the Marines.
Honorable discharge
when his Humvee was hit
with an IED in Afghanistan.
He's the only one who lived.
Was he treated for PTSD?
I don't know. I do know he
developed a drinking problem,
but he was in AA,
and no history of violence.
What do you need me to do?
I need to know if he's guilty
faster than the wheels of justice turn.
If he didn't do it,
I'll do whatever it takes
to keep his name out of the press.
And if he did?
I will tell the DA
to move ahead full force.
I've instructed
the department to give you
all the access you need.
They're waiting for you downstairs.
I did it.
I killed Jasmine.
Where's his lawyer?
Well, he had a whole army with him,
but he just fired 'em.
Start at the beginning.
I was having a rough night.
It was the anniversary of the
attack where my friends died.
I wanted to drink,
but I went to a meeting instead
at St. Mel's on 45th.
I had a Coke, slice of pizza.
Thought I was okay,
but I guess I wasn't.
I ended up at some bar.
Ordered a beer,
then another.
Realized I was near Jasmine's place,
so I walked over.
- Jasmine's your ex-girlfriend?
- Mm-hmm.
She break things off with you,
or was it the other way around?
We were kind of on again, off again.
She thought I needed
to work through some stuff.
She was probably right.
What happened next?
One thing led to another. We had sex.
Did you use a condom?
I, uh yeah.
Think so.
In what position did you have sex?
Traditional missionary
I think we get the picture.
So what happened?
Did you get in a fight?
- I guess.
- You guess?
Yeah. We got in a fight.
She said it was really over this time.
I must've snapped.
You own a gun?
Did you have it with you last night?
No.
The gun was Jasmine's, for protection.
She had a stalker once.
I should've been the one protecting her,
not the one she needed protection from.
So how did her gun end up in your hands?
One thing led to another, I guess.
You said that before.
The gun just just went off.
What kind of gun?
A Glock?
SIG Sauer?
I don't I I don't remember.
What'd you do with the gun after?
I don't know.
Why'd you take her sweatshirt off?
I don't know, okay?
I blacked out.
I woke up in my car.
There was all this blood. I was scared.
I went to Jasmine's place,
and I and I found her.
Have you blacked out before?
How did it feel?
When you shot her.
Did you feel scared?
Feel angry?
Did it feel empowering?
Dylan. Dylan.
Try.
Try to recall.
I don't I don't know.
I I just remember
pulling the trigger.
Well, I guess that's that.
You think he did it?
You realize that you're talking
about sending a man
to prison for life, right?
Well, he confessed.
He did.
But I think he was mistaken.
When we remember things,
we remember images,
specific details.
He went to a meeting at St. Mel's.
He drank a Coke.
He ate a slice of pizza.
All that he recalled easily.
But when he talked about
what happened in the apartment,
different story.
He kept repeating the phrase,
"one thing led to another."
He couldn't remember whether he
wore a condom when they had sex.
A former Marine couldn't remember
what kind of gun he fired.
Doesn't add up.
The real question is,
why would somebody confess
to a murder he didn't commit?
Hey, hey.
I got your text. Why am I here?
I convinced the mayor
to give me 48 hours
to prove Dylan Hayes is innocent.
She said the FBI was involved,
so I called the FBI.
You didn't call the FBI. You called me.
You called me for that hostage thing.
Barry called you for that.
You want me to call Barry?
You want to fill me in?
Marisa. Good to see you again.
Elise Bowen, District Attorney.
This is Alec Mercer.
The mayor told me about you.
You're the science guy.
That's Bill Nye.
I'm actually the behavioral science guy.
Can you tell us what happened?
She was shot in the chest
at close range.
No forced entry.
Probably knew her attacker,
or wasn't afraid of him, at any rate.
And the, uh
The bullet went through her chest
into a display full
of pressurized hair mousse,
and a couple cans exploded.
Is that an AA sobriety chip?
Dylan said he and Jasmine met in AA.
That a webcam?
Influencer.
Makeup and hair products mostly.
Anyway, we're just about wrapped up.
This case is pretty cut-and-dried.
You think so?
The guy confessed.
If Dylan told you he was innocent,
would you take his word for it?
Well, no, but
From a psychological point of view,
it's very strange.
I can ask for a polygraph.
That's useless in this case.
He obviously thinks he killed her.
Why would he remember doing
something he didn't do?
Last month, a two-year-old in Texas died
from being left in a hot car all day.
The father was certain
he dropped her off at daycare.
He remembered doing it.
That's awful, but how does that
Memory is fallible. We make mistakes,
sometimes tragic,
life-altering mistakes,
when we count on memory
when we shouldn't.
So if Dylan didn't kill Jasmine,
what do you think happened here?
I know where I'd start.
And what is so great
about this lip gloss
by my hot new sponsor brand, Cinnamon,
is that it literally goes with anything.
- Date night, girls' night
- Ooh.
She's right about that lip gloss.
She's an influencer.
You're being influenced, little sister.
Okay.
How popular is she?
She's got over 250,000 followers.
Any of 'em possible stalkers?
Pretty much all of them.
- Kylie.
- Hm?
You remember when you were seven
and you got lost in the mall?
Kind of.
It was the three of us.
It was the week before school.
You disappeared in Macy's,
and we finally found you next
to the frozen yogurt stand.
Oh, yeah.
Mom was wearing
that yellow dress, right?
I don't know.
It never happened.
Then why did you say that?
There was this experiment
done in the 1990s.
They convinced scores of adults
that they were lost in the mall
as children
to prove how easy it is
to trick our minds
into remembering things.
It is surprisingly easy.
For us easily influenced
mortals, you mean.
You want some dinner?
That's not dinner. That's barely food.
Why are you eating processed
pasta designed for toddlers?
You study human behavior. You tell me.
You are outside my field of study.
You know, you could get your own place.
But you chose to move in
with your little sister,
so you get what you get.
This living arrangement is temporary.
Until what?
Until Marisa takes you back?
Ooh.
Are you sure I wasn't lost in the mall?
There's no consequence
to you accepting
that you were lost in the mall.
No associated guilt, no penalty.
Do you have more of those?
What do you want them for?
An experiment.
Thanks for meeting me here.
No problem.
But what's this all about?
I wanted to better understand
how memory works,
specifically, how hard
it would be to convince
someone like Dylan he'd
committed a crime if he hadn't.
So I ran a little experiment.
I started with "lost in the mall,"
and I took it a step further.
I told them we were looking
at how we spend money.
I gave each of them $50
and a small shopping cart,
and I instructed them
that they had two minutes
to get as much food as they could.
What does that have to do
with Dylan's murder charge?
I'm getting to that.
The shopping was just a ruse.
Do you remember when you were
pushing the shopping cart
down the hallway, there was a table
full of lab equipment nearby?
That was very expensive equipment.
And when you walked by
with your shopping cart,
you scratched it.
- Are you sure?
- I'm afraid so.
It's on video.
They all confessed.
I'm so sorry.
Is this gonna affect my grade?
Are you gonna call my parents?
Okay, yeah, I did it. But come on.
Who leaves expensive lab
equipment in a hallway anyway?
Every single one of them
confessed to something they didn't do,
just like Dylan did.
They didn't confess to murder.
Anyone can confess to anything
given the right circumstances.
If Dylan didn't do this,
whoever did it is still out there.
You know, sushi doesn't travel well.
Oh, sorry. I meant to meet you.
- Mm.
- I lost track of time.
You're starting to run up a tab, bro.
What is it?
Wes Banning is up for parole.
No.
The hearing's this week.
"The suspected lone wolf
attacker was convicted
"of two counts of federal hate crimes
"for possessing explosives
and building the bomb
that killed 13 people."
And injured one.
I can't believe they'd even
consider letting that man out.
They have to,
because he was never convicted
of the murders themselves.
- Because
- They couldn't place him at the scene.
You mean I couldn't
place him at the scene.
Alec, it's been almost 20 years.
You have to stop holding onto that.
It left a rather lasting impression.
I may not remember my past,
but maybe I can help Dylan remember his.
Okay, so not the same thing.
Dylan doesn't remember
because he was drunk.
And alcoholics tend to lie.
There's one place they don't.
What do you mean?
Hello?
Where are you going?
To a meeting.
Professor?
Oh, good. You're here.
Where's Phoebe?
She's still a bit peeved at me
for the shopping cart experiment.
I put her in charge of the lab tonight
to restore her sense of control.
You're new, so I thought
you would enjoy seeing
how we do things outside the lab.
Why are we here?
Uh, Jasmine and Dylan met in AA,
so it seemed a good place to start.
You know, my uncle's been
sober ten years 'cause of AA.
This is, uh, kind of supposed
to be a safe space.
A woman was murdered
in her apartment, Rizwan.
Sometimes safe spaces aren't
as safe as they seem.
So are we just gonna talk
to everyone here
to see if anyone knows
who Jasmine's stalker is?
No.
They're going to talk to us.
Hear me. It's called
the cocktail party effect.
You're in a crowd.
You're talking to one person.
Everything else becomes background noise
until you hear something like
your name or the word "fire"
or the word "sex."
See? Everyone hears the word "sex."
In this case, we're gonna say
the name "Dylan" a few times.
Dylan?
Excellent job.
And if Dylan's friends are here,
they'll come over and talk to us,
and we'll get some clues.
Hm?
Heard you guys talking about Dylan.
Are you a friend?
Oh, I'm his sponsor, Ray.
This is Jeff.
Alec.
You don't mind me asking,
how'd you get the, uh
Oh, this.
Yeah, I I got drunk.
I tried to fix the oil burner.
Burned down my house and 60% of my body.
Jeez. Talk about hitting bottom, huh?
I suppose you guys heard
that Dylan got arrested
for killing Jasmine Curtland?
Yeah. You know, it's hard to believe.
I just didn't think Dylan was the type.
Hey, Jeff.
Excuse me.
I feel like I let the guy down.
You know?
I should've been there for him.
And maybe if I had been,
he wouldn't have
Excuse me.
Alec here.
Professor, it's Detective Chou.
Listen, you might want
to swing by Jasmine's place.
Why? What's going on?
There's another suspect in her murder.
I would never hurt Jasmine.
She taught me so much. She inspired me.
Why'd you break in?
Because I wanted something of hers
to keep forever to remind me of her.
It was stupid. I'm sorry.
So this is what you took?
Lip gloss?
Okay, we're gonna need
to take your statement.
That's the wrong lip gloss.
I'm sorry, what?
The the cosmetic line
that Jasmine endorses is
called Cinnamon.
This is a different brand.
This isn't hers, is it?
Lila, I think I can get
the good police officers here
to forget the last 20 minutes
ever happened
if you tell me now
why you're really here.
That bitch ruined my life.
Okay, so I know I've only
been sober eight months.
But part of being sober is being honest.
So I have to tell the truth.
And I'm not knocking Lila.
Okay? She's a nice girl.
But I did some digging
into her product line,
and they are tested on animals.
Lila says they're not.
But they are. I can only
This better be good. I had dinner plans.
She outed Lila
as a bunny killer and a liar.
Influencers can get very
competitive with one another.
She admitted to writing
threatening notes to Jasmine.
That's why she broke in here,
to keep the police from finding them.
I wouldn't call that
a motive for murder.
The FBI is going
through Jasmine's laptop
for any other correspondence.
But her alibi seems to check out.
What will you do about Dylan?
Most likely, we'll be
filing in the morning.
It's possible that Lila wasn't
the only person burned
by Jasmine's influence.
We also have an ex-boyfriend
who says he killed her.
Was Lila in AA?
Not that I know of.
The police found
a five-year sobriety chip here
the day Jasmine was killed.
She said she'd been sober
for eight months.
- Maybe it was Dylan's.
- Yeah, maybe.
Why are you so sure he's innocent?
I'm not sure about anything,
and I don't think you should be either.
Oh, right.
Hi.
- Hi.
- I was just wondering,
uh, did any prints show up
on that sobriety chip
from Jasmine's place?
I can I can check with the techs.
They're going through her laptop.
Is that really why you came by?
Can I come in?
Oh, wow.
I like what you've done in here.
You don't have to say that.
No, I do.
The walls look better this color.
Alec.
What's up?
It's Dylan, isn't it?
His trauma is bringing
all your trauma back.
Come on, Marisa.
What he went through in Afghanistan?
He survived while his friends died,
just like you.
The nightmares, are they back?
- I've had a nightmare or two.
- Mm-hmm.
You talk to Dr. Stevens?
I know everything he knows
and then some.
Do you find it the least bit ironic
that the behavioral psych
professor won't see
a damn psychologist?
You are never gonna
get closure on the past
unless you deal with it in the present.
Well, in the present,
Wes Banning's
parole hearing is this week.
We both knew this day would come.
Any chance they'd let him out?
I don't know.
You gonna go?
I have to.
My injuries could sway the parole board.
It's the identifiable victim effect.
- Alec.
- I I am the only one
who can be there, Marisa.
I owe it to the ones who can't.
I understand.
I know you do. It was your case too.
My first one.
You were not what I expected
when they told me
the FBI wanted to talk to me.
Oh, no? What did you expect?
I don't know, some old
white dude with a mustache.
We must have been
fresh out of mustaches.
I guess now you wish you hadn't
drawn the short straw on that day, huh?
I'm Agent Clark.
Alec, whatever happened,
whatever will happen,
I will never regret the day that we met
or anything after that.
They found something
on Jasmine's laptop.
They're sending it now.
I know anonymity is sacred.
Lives can be ruined when I name names.
But what about my life?
I told him that we weren't
right for each other,
but he just couldn't take no
for an answer.
AA saved me, and because of him,
it wasn't safe anymore.
I had stopped going to meetings.
I
I guess I'll tell you guys
about it tomorrow.
It was on her hard drive.
She never got a chance to upload it
because she was killed shortly after.
Which is when Dylan arrived.
It's like I said,
it's always the boyfriend.
Charges have been filed today
against Dylan Hayes,
son of Senator Laura Hayes,
in the murder of his ex-girlfriend,
social media influencer
Jasmine Curtland.
Oh, it's you.
You got more weird sex questions?
Dylan, how long have you been sober?
Almost six months.
So you don't have
a five-year sobriety chip?
No. Why?
Dylan, this is important.
Is there anyone else in AA
that might have had
something against Jasmine?
I don't know.
Everyone thinks you're guilty, Dylan.
You realize I'm probably
your best shot here, right?
Why are you helping me?
Because because I think
you're innocent.
I'm not.
Of course you feel
guilty about what happened
in the war, but that has nothing to do
with what happened to Jasmine.
But don't worry. If I'm wrong,
there's an excellent chance
you're going to jail.
But if I'm right and you don't help me,
most likely, no one's gonna
find out who really killed her.
She stopped coming to St. Mel's.
How come?
She said something about some guy
who kept hitting on her at meetings.
I didn't think it was a big deal.
Did she say anything else about him?
Anything at all?
Only that he came to every meeting.
He was a regular.
Rizwan.
My uncle's gonna want this back.
A man's life is at stake.
I'm sure he'll understand.
So what's the plan?
More cocktail party effect?
Not exactly.
Tell me what you know about reciprocity.
Uh, chapter six, your second book.
Uh, if someone shares
something intimate or private,
you feel a strong obligation
to share back.
You've done your homework.
Reciprocity is a very strong instinct.
Programs like AA depend on this concept,
whether they know it or not.
Hi. I'm Alec.
Hi, Alec.
If you're wondering about my face,
I don't talk much about how it happened.
Because the truth is,
I don't remember it
not the important parts, anyway.
Admit it. You were impressed.
Well, maybe not impressed exactly.
Really?
I forgot my backpack.
I'll be right back.
I usually make up stories
about the scars.
Car accident,
cooking incident,
oil burner mishap.
But it's just a way to avoid the truth.
I can still hear the blast.
I can still smell the explosives.
I can still feel the searing,
scorching pain
of fire on my skin.
But I can't recall a single damn thing
about the bomber.
All those people died.
I should've died.
And the person responsible
could walk free
because I can't remember.
Good to see you, man.
So, uh, you didn't, like,
make all that up, did you?
Of course not.
I knew that.
Hey, uh, hell of a story, man.
It is. Uh, I was surprised
how cathartic it was to share it.
There's something I've been
wanting to talk about myself.
D-do you got a minute?
Of course. That's why we're here, right?
So the thing is, if I hadn't
gone to that birthday party
when I was seven years old,
I figure my whole life
turns out differently, you know?
But hey, you're sober now.
That's all that matters.
Have you reached
your five-year mark yet?
Five? No.
This summer, it'll be my one-year.
Nah, the only guy
I know here who's, uh
who's past five years is, um
Ray.
Will you excuse me for a second?
Yeah.
Hey, Ray.
I believe you dropped this.
Oh.
Thank you.
I was looking for that.
Call my ex-wife
and tell her to get here
as soon as she can.
Okay.
You know, you don't appreciate
remote car keys
until you have a car
that doesn't have one.
That's an amazing ride.
You like it?
Thought it would help me
get over my divorce.
Mm. Didn't work?
It mostly reminds me
of what I'm trying to get over.
Hey.
I went to see Dylan.
He told me that he doesn't even
actually remember shooting Jasmine.
Made me think of how crazy memory is.
Your memory ever play tricks on you?
Not that I know of.
Mine does.
For years, I remember the day
I was burned being a Sunday.
I found out later it was a Saturday.
I don't know why that matters,
not really.
I wonder how Dylan feels,
about to go to jail
for something he doesn't even remember.
You know, they never found
the murder weapon.
Oh.
That's where it went.
Do you have a plan for how
you'll dispose of my body?
Don't start that shrink crap with me.
I know who you are.
I saw you on the news.
You working with the cops?
If I say yes, do you kill me?
I don't mind dying very much,
but I've never had the opportunity
to do a study like this,
so I have to ask.
Are you considering all
the pros and cons right now?
We can talk it through if it helps.
I happen to be an expert
at making better decisions.
How about you stop talking?
If you kill me, I stop talking.
That's a pro.
My ex-wife would agree with you.
The con though is, without me,
you're really on your own
with the police.
- I'm warning you.
- I just want you
to ask yourself if you're
making the best choice here.
Shut up.
You're obviously a smart guy,
the way you framed Dylan
for Jasmine's death.
I just wanted her to go out with me.
She kept saying no.
Probably an indicator
that she didn't want to go out with you.
I liked her.
And she would have liked me too
if she had just given me a chance.
But she didn't, did she?
She said she was gonna tell Dylan,
that she was gonna tell everyone.
She was gonna go online,
say that I was some kind of predator.
You know, before AA,
I was a worthless drunk.
Now I'm getting certified to be
a substance abuse counselor.
Things were finally starting
to go right.
You couldn't have killed her
after you left Dylan
because the FBI checked your alibi.
So you must have killed her before.
You didn't bring a weapon,
so you probably didn't plan
to actually kill her.
So what happened? You threaten her?
I didn't pull out the gun, okay?
She did.
Obviously, you got it out of her hand
and into yours.
You didn't know how you were
gonna get out of it.
Then you thought of Dylan.
You knew the police would
suspect the ex-boyfriend.
You drug his drink.
You put the sweatshirt in his car.
As his sponsor, you would've
been his first call.
He trusted you completely,
and you abused that trust
to protect yourself.
Made him think he'd relapsed,
helped him "remember."
Everything Dylan told the police,
you planted into his head.
Dylan didn't have a beer, did he?
He didn't even go to Jasmine's, did he?
She was gonna ruin my life.
So you took hers and ruined Dylan's.
You're either gonna kill me
or go to jail, probably both.
So you may as well tell me
if I got it right.
Yeah. All but one thing.
I'm not going to jail.
Hey.
- Hey.
- Hey.
- Did you take him alive?
- Mm-hmm.
The car?
Totaled.
What were you thinking,
running after him like that?
It's not every day that I get
to talk to a criminal
before he commits another crime.
I thought I could help him
make a better decision.
Of course you did.
I was making headway
until you showed up.
You still think that
because you cheated death once,
you can do it again.
- Mm, mm.
- Mm, yeah.
Hey there.
Oh, I didn't mean to interrupt.
Just wanted to see how you're feeling.
I've been better.
But then, I've been worse too.
I can attest to that.
I just wanted to let you know
Dylan's been released.
All the charges have been dropped.
That's good.
That's good. I'm glad.
Would you ever consider
doing some work for our department?
You have my number.
Hope you feel better soon.
I see you.
You are a magnet
for powerful women in law enforcement.
What are you talking about?
I'm not interested in Elise.
Mm, because you're still
in love with your ex-wife.
And no car or hot DA
is gonna change that.
You think she's hot?
Yeah, a little bit.
But she's got nothing on the OG.
Endgame?
I'm still shipping you two.
Dylan.
Come on in. Have a seat.
I just wanted to thank you.
I could have gone to jail
for the rest of my life
if you hadn't stepped in.
I'm sorry for what happened to you, man.
I still remember doing it.
How can that be?
Memory is the great conman
of human nature, Dylan.
It lies to us.
It's lied to me.
Memory and imagination work
the same way.
Once Ray planted those lies
in your mind,
your brain was no longer able
to distinguish between the two.
So how do I make it go away?
Imagine something else happened.
And think about that every day
for a hundred days.
Eventually, the bad memories fade.
They're replaced with better ones.
And that does it work?
For some.
You know, it works
for the other memories too,
of Afghanistan.
The ones you tried
to drown with alcohol.
You can't just try not to drink.
You have to replace it
with something else
that helps you move forward.
For me, it was my work.
I've been meaning to go back to school.
Maybe give that a try.
You know, I hear the psych
department at Wylton's not so bad.
Name and DOC number, please.
Uh, Wes Banning,
A4261.
I'm going to read some information
for the record now.
The Virginia Parole Board will consider
an independent quality
conditional release
of all adult offenders
who petition for pardons
You came.
Wouldn't be anywhere else.
Protection of society by facilitating,
as appropriate, the timely integration
of offenders back into society.
Would you like to make
a statement, Mr. Banning?
Yes, I would.
Um
to the family members that are here,
I'd like to say I'm sorry
for what I did.
I take full responsibility
for my actions.
And I've learned
from my time in prison.
If you are released,
do you think you'd be likely
to commit crimes again?
Yes.
I'm kind of a bad seed,
to tell you the truth.
If you let me out, I'll probably
bomb another couple churches.
Given the lack of remorse
and intent to commit other crimes,
this board has no choice but to deny
the petitioner's request for parole.
Did you see his face?
- The plates?
- No, nothing.
Whoever that was scared Banning so much
that he'd rather stay behind bars.
Banning wasn't a lone wolf.
Someone else is pulling the strings.
And whoever it is, is still out there.