Chimerica (2019) s01e03 Episode Script

We're looking for someone.
- Do you know who that man is? - I don't know this man.
Do you know who Maria Meng is? She's not Maria Meng any more.
She is Senator Dubecki.
We're working on a story.
He's Chinese and we think he might be undocumented.
His name is Wang Pengfei, or Jimmy Wang? Because we all know each other, right? "Lee, this is Alex Sguerra again.
It's about your Syria picture.
" Alex Sguerra, photojournalist.
Know her? - I work for a newspaper! - You WORKED for a newspaper.
Joy! Joy? Agh! Look over the stuff and take pictures of anything that looks interesting.
"My friends tell me you are looking for the Tank Man.
"My name is Tang Wen Lei.
" - "Mr Tang, can I call you right back?" - No, Lee.
I will call you.
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump hitting the battlegrounds hard in this final stretch of the campaign.
A series of new CNN polls shows a tightening race, especially in the swing states, with just five days away from Election Day.
"Let's check in with CNN's" - Do you think you can help? I don't know.
He says he's a freedom fighter, the Communist Party says he's a criminal.
But he's the only lead I have on the Tank Man right now.
I sent the photos that you took of the accounts at the flower shop to Zhang Lin to translate.
It was a bunch of cheques that he wrote back in the '90s, he says were made out to Maria Meng.
Oh! Senator Dubecki! Wow! It's a bit like Watergate, isn't it? You do realise with Watergate, it was the people breaking in who were the bad guys, right? - It will be OK.
- Yeah.
- Come here.
- Oh, sort me out.
- Don't be nervous.
- OK.
You know, the best thing is, they let you fly the plane.
I don't think they're going to let me do that! All you need is, uh, a special pen.
See? And then you just do that to take off and then that to land.
So if you take that with you, you'll be fine.
Come here.
Stop! No! Actually, let's not start that again.
I need to go.
Open the door.
Right.
Bye! Bye! I'll call you from Beijing! Hi.
Yeah.
Yes.
Can I leave a message for Senator Dubecki, please? Yeah, this is Lee Berger.
I'm a journalist with the New York Courier.
Can you just tell her I'm not interested in whatever donation she got from the Glorious City Flower Shop.
I just need an address for Wang Pengfei.
Wang Pengfei.
P-E-N-G-F-E-I.
Yes, this number.
That's right.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Bye.
My friends, the future is coming.
For thousands of years of Chinese history, we have been good citizens.
"We never asked for anything, we did as we were told.
"But today, we have the internet, "we have social media.
We can speak for ourselves.
"So this is a message for you, my 200,000 friends.
"Now is the time for us to finish the work we started in '89.
" I'm here to see Tang Wen Lei.
"Now is the time to end the corruption, the lies, the fake news.
"Now is the time for democracy in China!" So glad you found us, Mr Berger.
Mr Tang is just finishing his workout.
Lee! So glad you made it! Mr Tang.
Good to meet you.
Sit, sit! Thank you, Eileen.
I think what you are doing is very important.
'89 could happen again.
Another Tiananmen.
It just needs the right spark.
This is why it's so important you find him, the man who stood up to the tanks.
- I'd like to help you.
- Great.
So, what can you tell me? You first.
Sir, with all due respect It's not your life that is in danger.
Lee, my company became too successful.
Now the Party has turned on me again.
I have a $45 million apartment but no citizenship and an Interpol notice on my head! Do you have a name, Lee? Chang Song.
Do you know him? Yes.
Song was a good friend! I helped him escape to Hong Kong after.
Paid for his flight to Canada.
After that, I lost contact with him.
Wow! That's incredible! Are there any distinguishing details that you can tell me? - Was he tall, was he short? - Medium.
Medium? And black hair.
Black hair? Black hair.
OK.
Any idea why he might know Senator Dubecki? Maria? - What, you know her? - In the '90s.
A long time ago.
Ancient history.
Eileen? I'd like Lee to meet Justin Bieber.
Be careful.
There are people who want to find him as much as you do.
They are probably watching you already.
Ah! There he is, my little popstar! Isn't he cute? Mm! He was lying to me.
He was lying the second I walked in the door.
But he knows Maria Dubecki and I think he knows more about Wang Pengfei than he's letting on.
You can't keep coming here.
And you have to stop leaving batshit messages with Maria Dubecki's office! Her secretary called to ask if you had PTSD.
She left me a helpline number for you! - You want it? - No.
Do you know where Dubecki's going to be tonight? North Carolina.
There's a Clinton rally.
- Why? - Because when I went back to the flower shop, Wang Pengfei was gone and Dubecki helped him do it.
But he's illegal so he's not gone far.
Wait.
Why are you so sure that Maria is involved? You saw how fast she shut it down when we asked about Wang Pengfei.
It could be because she's from that neighbourhood, she cares about those people and she's a good fucking person! Oh, come on! She's clearly hiding something! Don't be cynical.
It's lazy.
Frank wants to know if you're still coming to the election lunch.
- Am I invited? - Sure.
It's tradition.
I've got to get back to work.
I'll see you later, OK? Mr Tang, how can I help you? "I came to you because the man you are looking for is important.
"I can help you find him, if you let me, "not play silly games with fake names.
"Chang Song!" The thing is, Mr Tang, I don't think you do anything unless there's something in it for you.
I want another '89! I want a democratic China.
You only want a democratic China so they don't throw you in jail.
- Is that such a bad reason? - Well, help me out with something, then.
You said you knew Maria Dubecki in the '90s? I was aware of her.
We all were.
How come? - "The White House is like the subway, Lee.
" You have to put in coins to open the gates.
Everybody knows it but no-one likes to talk about it.
What are you saying? That she took donations from China? If she did, the evidence will be hard to find.
"Maria was camera-shy back in '96.
"Lee, I have to go.
" Hey.
Hey, Hannah.
I don't have my pass.
That's probably because you don't work here any more.
- I know.
It's just I'm here for our meeting.
What? We don't have a Oh.
You better be quick.
People are mad at you up here.
I'm mad at you.
- I know, I'm sorry.
I just need to get into the morgue.
Hey, your girlfriend's on TV.
- "This is not just a native issue, it's an American issue.
" She almost got me arrested.
She's not my girlfriend any more.
I'm looking for anything on Maria Dubecki, or Maria Meng, from 1986, anything on political donations, especially with a Chinese connection.
So now there are, like, eight million images down here.
Anything pre '98 is going to be hard copy only.
There's a computer system but .
.
it might take you a while.
Thank you.
4373 "Questions asked over Democrat Party Funding.
" Hsi Lai Temple, California.
- That's Senator Dubecki, right? - Yeah.
So? So, any chance you remember that Clinton campaign finance scandal of '96? Yeah.
I was, like, five.
So? OK.
So Bill Clinton is trying to get re-elected and his campaign is spending a lot.
Later, it turns out that a ton of it is illegal contributions from donations back in China, filtered in through stores and restaurants and Buddhist nuns! I mean, forget about blowjobs from an intern, that's what he should've been impeached for! Yeah, but he wasn't.
- Sure, because they returned the cheques.
But there were 120 people involved who either fled the country or plead the Fifth.
There were 22 people who pleaded guilty to violating election law.
Somehow, Maria Dubecki managed to make everybody forget she was even there! Do you think this is the best time to bring this up? I feel like Hillary has enough on her plate already.
Yeah, no.
That's fine.
I mean, we were in the middle of a conversation, but whatever.
Hey, Zhang Lin.
What do you know about Tang Wen Lei? He's a very rich and powerful man.
But you don't get that rich in China without every yen being washed in blood.
"Anyway, I don't have time for this right now.
" Joy's been detained.
Oh, my God.
I'm so sorry.
That's awful.
- What are you doing about it? - I don't even know where she is.
I haven't heard anything for days.
You've got to get it in the newspapers.
The Hong Kong titles will print it even if the mainland ones won't right? She's a mom, get pictures of her kid.
Make sure they're cute.
She's a wife and mother, blah, blah, blah Sir, could you please step this way? Zhang Lin, I gotta call you back.
Take your laptop out of the bag, sir.
Do you have a warrant? We don't need a warrant, sir.
This is an issue of Homeland Security.
If you could open up your computer, we'll try not to inconvenience you too much today.
Sir - Did Senator Dubecki have you do this? - You're free to go, sir.
I'll be speaking to a lawyer about this.
I'm going to report you to the ACLU.
You can't do this.
"It's the year 2016! "Women are still making 79 cents on the dollar "compared to men.
"And I know that every man in here "will stand for Senator Clinton" Hey.
Should've been him, right? - I left my pass inside.
Can I get back in? - Sorry, man.
We're on enhanced security.
Oh, come on.
Do I look like a terrorist? In an Al-Qaeda way? No.
But, like, in a Timothy McVeigh guy-who-got-bullied-in-high-school way? Sure, I could see that.
Alex? Oh, hi.
Hey.
- Where's your crew? - Have you deleted Twitter or something? I got fired.
Oh, shit.
I'm sorry.
What happened? I wrote this thing on trans people using women's bathrooms, which it pissed some people off.
The left love to shit on their own.
- But I guess you know that.
- Yeah! Any chance you could use a wingman? I need to speak to Senator Dubecki and I stupidly left my press pass on the plane.
Wow, that is really stupid! - I know! Can you believe it? - Yeah, like, not at all.
"So tell me this, North Carolina" - Yeah? ".
.
tell me, North Carolina, "are you really, really happy that we're here tonight?" So one last question.
Alex, shoot.
Senator? Senator? Senator? No, I just have one question.
- What have I done? What have I done? - That's all we've got time for.
- Ask her where Jimmy Wang is.
- Senator? Do you know where Jimmy Wang is? I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about.
Excuse me.
We're going to wrap things up here.
Thank you very much! - What happened? - I don't know.
She was spooked, though.
Like, "just saw the twin you thought you drowned" spooked.
Want to tell me what this is about? Yeah.
Not here.
The Tank Man? Oh, my God, I thought he was dead! So, what are you gonna do now? I mean if donations from the flower shop implicate her in fraud, she's even less likely to help you.
Probably, she's going to jail.
- You think? - Maybe.
It's on the menu at least.
I don't know.
She's the only lead I have right now.
Hey, I-I wanted to say that I'm glad that I ran into you.
I'm sorry that I came down to your office.
I was A giant asshole? Yeah.
I thought maybe I could buy you a beer? I wish I could, but I have to drive up to Virginia tonight.
I'm still registered there.
Swing state.
We're gonna make it count.
- Right on! - All right - All right! Hey! What do you think was in his shopping bags? If I find out, you'll be the first to know.
"Is there any place "that's more fun to be than a Trump rally?" So, are you gonna vote for him? I'm on probation.
I don't get a vote.
That's why I know he's gonna win.
They locked up half the folks who would've voted for Hillary.
You know who started all that, don't you? Her damn husband.
Mm.
I hear ya.
- Hello! - "Hey.
" So the pen worked? - "No.
The plane crashed.
I'm speaking to you from beyond the grave.
" David Bowie says hi.
- So, did you miss me? - Depends.
Did you miss me? - Mm.
- Well, you seemed pretty fond of me when your arse was banging against the toilet door of a 747.
Hey, that was an act of charity! I've had more fun getting cavity-searched at the Russian border than that.
Hey, so you know Zhang Lin's friend Joy, she got arrested.
- What? Why didn't you tell me? - "I'm telling you right now.
" It's not like you can do anything about it.
Why not? - Because you're over there working for a credit card company.
- So? - So I don't know how much, like, moral leverage you have.
What are you saying? I should quit my job, join the Red Cross or something? Jesus! I'm not suggesting that you start digging wells in Africa! Good, because I don't give a shit about Africa.
- That's nice, Tess.
That was very nice.
Just send me Zhang Lin's number.
"Sure.
" Obviously, I do give a shit about Africa.
I keep thinking this isn't happening, I'm going to wake up any minute.
And then I don't.
What about her phone? Maybe there's a way of tracing it.
I thought of that but, uh, it was in her handbag when they left it.
Are these both hers? She's from Hong Kong.
Dual nationality is very common there.
So? If she's got British nationality, they'll have to protect her.
Her name is Joanna Geary.
She's not the ambassador but she's two down or something.
Anyway, I think Ooh, shit, there she is! Miss Geary! Miss Geary! Sorry! Sorry, sorry! Erm, I'm Tess Kendrick.
I have an appointment with you.
Sorry, I've been called away.
Come back next week.
That's too late! This is Mrs Joy Fu.
They won't even release where she's being held, but she has a BNO passport, which means she's entitled to protection, and this is an illegal abduction.
She has dual status? She hasn't renounced her Chinese nationality? No.
- Then, her passport is simply a travel document.
It's not recognised on the mainland and Hong Kong belongs to China.
We no longer rule it.
No, we don't rule anything! We're just a washed-up, grey little island with no power except for a very loud voice which, for some reason, people still listen to.
If you're going to let an innocent woman sit in prison because you're afraid to use it, I suggest, respectfully, you consider what the fuck the point of you is.
Hm.
Very rousing.
Come back next week.
I'm so sorry.
- What are you going to do now? - I don't know.
I have to be careful.
Someone has to look after Ming Xiaoli.
"The relatives and friends of missing students visited makeshift morgues "attempting to identify loved ones who have disappeared.
"The army's attack on unarmed civilians has not intimidated these people, "it has angered them.
"The people on the streets do not speak of retreat, they talk about revenge.
" Ming Ma.
Ming Ma.
Let's get out and vote, Philadelphia, tomorrow! Let's make history together! Thank you and God bless you! - Who had the rigatoni? - Here! - Another bottle of the Barolo? - Can I get another Coke? - Do you want a coke? - Love one.
- Make that two.
Karen saw the Florida polls.
It's going to be a landslide for Clinton among swing Hispanic voters.
Trump's down in eight battleground states by five to eight points.
- Says who? Uh, the AP, CNN, NBC, ABC, ABC Fox News! Put your eyes back in your heads, I invited him.
- Sit down.
- Don't worry, I'm not staying.
- Can I grab you for a second? - Did you vote? Vote? No.
You know I'm not voting.
Who am I gonna vote for? Clinton.
You vote for Clinton.
The lady with the drones? I don't think so.
Oh, come on, Frank! No way New York isn't going for Hillary.
If he wants to make a protest, so what? Do you think you're owed some sort of bespoke candidate? Some artisanally-crafted, hand-picked, personalised avatar who doesn't offend you in any way? This isn't a fucking salad bar, Lee.
It's the most insane election in the history of this country and you don't get to ask them to hold the kale and give you extra tomatoes, you just take the thing that's not a giant shit in a plastic box! I would've voted for Bernie.
That's great! Hey, that's really great! Only he's not the fucking candidate! Sure, because you've been calling him unelectable from the start.
I didn't vote because a vote is a mark of trust and I don't trust any of them! You really wanna talk about trust right now, after what you did? I know what I did and I'm ashamed of myself.
But they're not.
They're shameless and we know it, and every four years we still vote in a new one.
Welcome to democracy! It's slightly less fucked-up than all the other options.
- I need to talk to you now! - Yeah.
Let's go sit on the quiet step for a minute.
So Pennsylvania, that's gonna be tight, right? - Oh, Hillary for sure.
What the fuck is in your Kool-Aid? Do you have a personal number for Maria Dubecki? Why? What's going on? - Remember the Clinton campaign scandal in '96? Millions of illegal Chinese donations at DNC? Vaguely.
Exactly.
No-one does because we give the Clintons the kind of pass we never give Trump! And when it all came out we were more interested in Princess Diana's drunk chauffeur.
My God, what are you saying, the Chinese killed Di? Those bastards! Don't do that.
I pulled clips from the fundraiser at the Hsi Lai temple in '96 where Al Gore accepted cheques for $100,000.
That's Senator Dubecki, back when she was Maria Meng.
She was there, and I think she took an illegal donation from the owner of the Glorious City Flower Shop, and Wang Pengfei, or Jimmy Wang, or whatever the fuck his name is, he was working there at the time.
So, she thought that you were after her when we just wanted to know about Wang Pengfei? - Exactly.
- Shit! If this gets out You know that she's been leading the Clean Finance Coalition the last three years? - Yes! If I could just reassure her Or if you could call her You call her, that's better, and tell her that we think we know who he is.
Lee, it is fucking Election Day! I'm not gonna do that! Please, Mel! She called the fucking TSA on me! I tried her office ten times, she won't talk to me.
- Of course she won't! - Right, because she's scared! - No! She won't talk to you, Lee, because you are not a journalist any more.
You will never be a journalist again.
And, baby, until you start accepting that, you are going to go fucking nuts! I need that number.
Why? So some guy who took a great photo 27 years ago can complete his difficult second album? You think you helped make the Tank Man? That's bullshit! Point and click, that's all you did.
And now you want to recycle an old photograph and turn it into a crusade? It's not a crusade, Lee! It's desperate masturbation! I am so sorry.
Look, why don't you come stay with us for a while? You can stay "Polls just closed in 14 more states.
" .
.
including two huge ones, Texas and New York.
"The states we are watching at nine eastern - it's a long list.
Get ready.
"Michigan, too close to call.
"Arizona, too early to call.
"Colorado, too early to call.
" Sounds good.
I'll talk to you later.
- Can I help you? - Excuse me? I said, can I help you? What are you doing here? I wanna know what you're doing here! Hey! Hey! You tell Dubecki she can't do this! I'm not scared of you! Who are you working for? Get out of the car! Calm down! - She's watching my fucking apartment! Get off of me! Get the fuck away from me! ".
.
too early to call.
" "Texas has been awarded to Donald Trump.
"Texas stays red.
"As does Kansas.
No wobble there.
" "Sportsman Paradise, Louisiana - "eight electoral votes projected to Donald Trump.
"Nebraska, projected to Donald Trump.
"The State of New York reliably blue "and its 29 electoral votes stays with Hillary Clinton.
"North Dakota - Trump.
"To go with it, South Dakota - Trump" "Listen, I don't trust you" Hello, Lee.
But I don't have any other options right now, so I "I need you your help.
"Can you get me Senator Dubecki's number?" "You'll need to give me his name.
" His name's Wang Pengfei.
Thank you, Lee.
I will call you in one hour with the information you need.
".
.
in terms of battlegrounds, Florida, too close.
"Ohio, too close to call.
"Georgia, one of the early closes" "You'll need to give me his name.
" "His name's Wang Pengfei.
" "We use political hacks to make deals with China "and then we lose almost $500 billion a year with China "and we want to know what's wrong with us.
" "They use their smartest, toughest, meanest people.
" - It's OK.
It's OK.
- "We use dumb people.
We use hacks.
" "I've done a lot of business with China.
"I think China's great.
I've made a lot of money with China.
"I have the biggest banker in the world from China as my tenant.
"I sell condos, I have the Bank America Building in San Francisco, "another big building in Manhattan that I got through China.
"I mean, China's great.
" I'm wondering what kind of country we're coming home to.
Well, he's not going to win.
I mean, I was working for this company back in the UK and they have about 4 to 5,000 pieces of information on every voter in the country, and they were only giving him a 20 percent chance, so And where are they getting this information? - You don't want to know.
Actually, you already know, you just don't want to know you know.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the captain has turned on the 'Fasten Seat Belt' sign.
"Please take your seat and fasten your seat belt.
" CNN can report that Hillary Clinton has called Donald Trump to concede the race.
"She has called Donald Trump to say "that she will not be president and I'm not sure of the exact words, but probably to congratulate the President-elect Donald Trump" - Lee? Are you there? Hey, hey, hey, hey! Oh, you fucking idiots! Did you completely ignore Brexit? I mean, what part of Britain having a nervous fucking breakdown did you not underst Oh, God! What What's happened? Let me see your sweetheart OK, I need to clean that up.
Sit down.
Sit down.
"So, uh, Hillary" "Donald Trump is now the President-elect.
" "Jubilant at Trump campaign headquarters.
" "Just like her campaign aides, it was very difficult for Hillary" - No.
"It is my high honour and distinct privilege "to introduce to you "the President-elect of the United States of America, "Donald Trump.
" What's going on? Where the fuck are you? "Do you have Dubecki's number?" Things are very bad for me, Lee.
There's a price to pay for telling the truth.
They're sending me back.
I had to cooperate.
"It's my only hope.
" Did you give Wang Pengfei's name to the Party? I had no choice.
No, no! You had a choice! This is a man's life we're talking about.
This is a man's life we're talking about! Lee, you have to find him before they do.
Is he in danger? "Mr Tang, is Wang Pengfei in danger?" Hey, hey! What the fuck's going on? Sorry.
What's happening? "Now it's time for America" Lee, are you all right? No, I'm fine.
I just Something came up.
Can I borrow your phone? What? I just need to borrow your phone.
OK.
Let's see.
What's the passcode? It's 2016.
Yeah, I know, I know, it's I just have to run over and babysit for Nathan for a little bit.
"I pledge to every citizen of our land "that I will be president for all Americans" - I'll be back.
- ".
.
and this is so important to me.
" Hey.
Hey Hey! "Hello.
Who is this?" Sorry, Senator.
I thought she had it in the bag.
How did you get this number? I need to know where he is.
Are you serious? Now? Do you have any idea what we're waking up to tomorrow? I mean, do you get that? OK, so I didn't want to do this, but .
.
but, OK, I have these files Could you see if you could find me a power bar or something? I skipped dinner.
Thank you so much.
No! Stay where you are! What files? The Hsi Lai Temple, 1996.
Your hair was longer and there was a cheque from the Glorious City Flower Shop in your purse.
Come on! Trump's probably in bed with Russia and you expect anyone to give a shit over an accounting error from 20 years ago? "It wasn't an accounting error.
" It was fraud.
On a massive scale.
What I'm concerned about is that people remember those kinda pictures.
"Bullshit.
" Al Gore was all over Hsi Lai, it didn't hurt his career any.
Sure but you get what happened tonight, right? You're a rich white guy, you can lie, you can cheat, you can grab pussy, we'll still trust you with the White House, but you're a middle-aged women, you put your emails in the wrong folder, we'll fucking execute you.
Al Gore's daddy was a senator, your daddy sold cheap ceramics.
"Worst of all, you're not even white.
So the way I look at it, you're gambling on the American public being real enlightened on a night we just got proof we're living in the Dark Ages, so you know it's your funeral.
There's a storm coming, Lee.
I hope it picks you up and drops you in the fucking Hudson.
I need to hear from you by tomorrow.
I know you won't believe me but I'm really sorry about this.
Lock her up! - Loser! - Thank you.
That's how democracy works.
That's how, uh, this system operates.