The Swarm (2023) s01e04 Episode Script

1
It's in the water system.
We need to get them away
from the coast, from the water.
They found the Juno, Charlie.
Everyone was still on board,
when she went down.
I'm coming.
These are the locations
of the other attacks.
This is the migration route.
All the attacks are happening along it.
So, when you called me
was it just about work?
I know you were all very close,
so if you'd rather not watch
I want to know, what happened.
Lili.
- Pick a card.
- I know all your card tricks.
I got a new one.
For you.
C'mon. You're an idiot.
An idiot who likes you.
Very funny.
Ever since we were kids.
You never said
I'm saying it now.
Me too.
It's just a crab.
They like you.
Mesuli
Run, Lili! Run!
Come on!
It would've happened fast,
in water that cold.
Whether they were on deck or below.
It doesn't matter how fast it happens.
Nobody drowns quickly.
Your mind panics first,
trying to process what's happening.
Your senses in overdrive.
And then, fear
You think it can't be happening.
And then you realize it is happening.
You try to fight it, try to stop it,
even though you have no power over it.
Seconds slow down to
not minutes
to nothing, time no longer exists
You pray.
To something
Anything. And maybe
Maybe something listens.
But maybe it doesn't.
No matter what, it's not fast.
It's an eternity.
The recovery effort is still underway.
We're hoping to bring them back.
All of them.
But it's not easy.
All I can say right now
is that we are trying
to do everything to make that possible.
Of course.
I know that.
But I want you to know that
your daughter was
one of the brightest students
I had the pleasure of teaching.
Goodbye.
Professor Lehmann?
I'm heading back
to pack up the station for the winter.
I just wanted to say goodbye.
I know how difficult this is for you.
These things mark us.
They stay with us.
Change the way we see the world.
Charlie.
Get out there.
Don't hide.
What helps is other people.
Their support.
Call me when you get there.
I will.
There are no known sources
of bioluminescence
capable of creating a sustained glow
like the one we saw.
We've seen bioluminescent plankton
change the color of entire bays.
At the surface, yes.
But not as deep as that pod dove.
What about that sound?
Ever hear anything like that before?
Nope.
Could it be a distorted whale call?
It has similar structural
characteristics to whale song:
repetitive, rigid.
But I've never
heard one like that before.
What?
Nothing.
Sounds like you have something to say.
Back in the Cold War, the government
was testing all kinds of weapons:
planes, helicopters, flying bombs.
So what do they do
to keep people from finding out?
They leak "confidential" memos
about UFOs in America.
The public becomes obsessed with aliens,
never stopping to think that maybe
their government is doing practice runs
right in front of them.
Prepping war machines
before they fly over
some far part of the world
and wipe them off the map.
The point is,
sometimes
you have to question these things.
Because you better believe
they're expecting you not to.
People died, Jack.
Real people died.
People you know.
And you're sitting here,
telling me what, exactly?
That the military did this?
That the government got whales
to attack tourist boats and tugs?
I'm not telling you anything.
All I'm saying is that sometimes,
something is going on.
The evidence to date suggests
transmission is limited to
contaminated food and drinking water,
possibly person-to-person contact.
- Is it airborne?
- It doesn't seem to be, no.
Does it respond to drugs?
We've tried every drug
known to work against previous strains:
tetracycline, third-generation
cephalosporins, imipenem.
Nothing works.
For the moment, the only
course of action is containment.
You should put out a warning
against drinking, washing,
having any contact whatsoever
with any water
which is not boiled or bottled.
And all fishing off the Atlantic Coast
should also be suspended.
Dr. Granelli, I'm sorry,
but do you understand
what you are asking for?
The disruption to the region
such a measure will cause?
The economic impact?
If this strain of Vibrio vulfinicus
continues to contaminate water systems,
the economic impact
will be far more severe.
Yes, but, Dr. Roche,
you do not know for certain
the situation will worsen.
You are merely speculating
that it could worsen.
- Right?
- But
In all the years
I've been investigating pathogens,
this is the most deadly ever discovered.
And if we have learned anything
in recent years,
it's that
the consequences of not acting quickly,
decisively, can be fatal.
And I would not want to be the person,
elected or appointed,
who didn't listen to the experts
this time around.
- Hello?
- Isabelle?
- Yes?
- Why didn't you call, sweetie?
I tried 20 times. Not my fault
there's no signal in this dump.
I was worried.
- We're okay. Don't worry.
- How's Louis?
Not happy, because Dad
is making him do schoolwork.
They're arguing, as usual.
Good. Sounds like everything is okay.
Don't tell them I said that.
Don't worry.
When are you coming?
I don't know, hon. All I know is I can't
leave right now. It's impossible.
- Because it's getting worse?
- Yes.
As long as nobody touches the water,
we will get through this.
How long will it go on?
I don't know.
That's what we're trying to figure out.
I love you, Isabelle.
I love you too.
Altimeter is picking up
the seabed, Captain.
You wanna check these over?
Make sure we have the right coordinates?
Yeah, good to go.
Take us down to
six-seven point three-zero north,
eight point six-five east.
And then head downslope,
bearing three-two-two degrees
to six-seven point three-one north,
eight point six-three east.
Approaching target waypoint
at six-seven point three-one north,
eight point six-three east.
What the fuck?
Hovedstad had a ship in this area
the last couple of weeks.
Yeah.
And now you know why.
You knew?
No, no. But I
I suspected.
How?
Sato.
Sato?
Mifune knows a shareholder in a company
that manufactures
seabed mining equipment.
Hovedstad ordered its equipment
so they could test it.
Hovedstad's permit is for
exploration of oil and gas hydrates.
- Its permit includes pipe laying.
- For oil and gas.
No, no. You saw what they did!
Everything is torn up.
Everything is dead!
As far as the eye can see.
Does that look like pipe-laying to you?
No, of course not!
- And why didn't you tell me?
- Because I needed to know.
- If I had been lying to you?
- Yeah.
I was afraid that you'd try to stop me
from coming back out here if you had.
You really think
I'd let something like that happen?
That I'd knowingly turn my back
on what we just saw?
- It wouldn't be the first time.
- Oh, how dare you
What?
What?
Not not Not trust you?
Not think you'd drag me
into this charade of a research mission,
only to be taken advantage of, again?
How many times
do you want me to apologize for that?
Once? Twice?
A hundred times?
- God knows it's been more.
- So I should just
Well, I should just let it go then, huh?
Pretend that it never happened?
We were different people back then.
- I don't know, I guess I thought we'd
- Forget?
Moved on!
Yeah, well, so did I.
Yeah.
For what it's worth,
I don't think Tina knew.
How could she not?
The permit includes installation
technology for preparing the seabed.
For burying pipelines for oil and gas,
which is done
with the same trenching tools they use
to mine the sediment
on the continental slopes.
I read the permits, Sigur.
Unless you were looking for it,
it would have been easy to miss.
And if you go public with the story,
they'll find some way to claim the
permits cover the mining tests as well.
And if they can't,
they'll find someone to blame,
someone Hovedstad decides is expendable.
- It could very well be Tina.
- Tina?
She recommended you.
She convinced Hovedstad to bring you in.
If they want to throw someone
to the wolves, who better?
Alright.
So what do I do?
I don't know how many times
I've asked that same question.
All the different reasons I came up with
not to do something
when I saw something wrong.
Rahim and the other young ones
are right.
We didn't do enough.
We wrote papers and reports
for all the right causes,
and then?
We walked away.
And we left the real work,
the hard work, to others.
Yeah.
But before you decide anything,
you should talk to Tina.
I'll try.
- But after what I said
- Apologize.
Apologize?
Yeah. Sounds so easy when you say it.
The harder it is,
the more likely she is to accept it.
After first coming ashore
in South Africa,
the crabs have made landfall
in Rio de Janeiro,
Okinawa, Mumbai and Tangier.
Invasions of crabs
have become increasingly common
due to rising sea temperatures.
But attacks of this scale
are unprecedented.
Turns out we weren't the only ones
who came across the new mussel.
The mussel on the right was found in
Madagascar, at the harbor in Toamasina.
The one next to it
in Asunción, Paraguay.
And this one in Lake Victoria, Uganda.
The lab sequenced the DNA of all four.
They have the same
genetic barcode sequence.
What are the chances
of finding a new species
in so many different places
at the same time?
I can't think of a single instance.
There's something else
I ran a test on the clot
found in the brainstem of the whale.
And compared it to the white substance
leaking from
the mussel from the Barrier Queen.
I found a handful of organic compounds
common to both.
Some of which are pollutants.
But they appear in
lots of marine species.
In whales.
And in other mammals.
But not in mussels.
Not in mussels, no.
The sample from the Barrier Queen
is very fragile.
It decomposes as soon as
it's exposed to air.
But if you can get me another sample,
I can run a few more tests.
Name and ID, please.
Leon Anawak,
Vancouver Island Marine Institute.
I'm here to see Clive Roberts.
I'm sorry, sir,
this is now a restricted area.
- Please back your car up, sir.
- But I met him the other day.
Back the vehicle up.
This area is off limits.
I won't tell you again.
Oh, shit.
Hey! Hey, you!
Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck.
Hey!
Freeze!
Answer us!
Okay.
Don't shoot.
On your knees.
Hands behind your head.
Is that really necessary?
You want something to drink?
- Coffee?
- Please.
Could we get a couple of coffees?
Want to tell me what's going on?
- Am I under arrest?
- Not if someone doesn't press charges.
I called you about
getting another sample.
- I couldn't get through.
- That's no reason to jump the fence.
There's someone
who wants to talk to you.
We're getting them on the line now.
Just tell the truth.
You're in enough trouble already.
You don't want to be lying to anyone.
Okay.
Just to be clear:
you returned to
the Port of Vancouver because?
Because I needed
another sample of the mussels,
which I picked up
the first time I was here.
When we examined it,
we discovered several features
not seen in other species of mollusks.
We also found a substance
we hadn't seen before.
We were unable to run
a full battery of tests
because it deteriorated so quickly.
But
But we're pretty sure
it's a new species.
A new species unique to Japan?
Or Vancouver?
We believe the Barrier Queen
picked up the mussels in Tokyo.
We haven't found them in these waters.
But they've been found elsewhere.
And not just in the Pacific.
I'm sure you can understand our desire
to contain this threat to shipping.
I do.
So if you could send me the information
about the other locations
where the mussels have been found
I will.
And any new locations you might hear of.
As well as any other information
you think we should know.
Sure.
Mr. Sato, I promise you
I didn't come here to cause trouble.
You made that very clear, Mr. Anawak.
And on my part,
I'm sorry that you felt
you needed to do something so rash
to get the sample you needed.
In the future, we'll make sure
you get everything you need.
- What do you think?
- He's holding back.
- He's afraid.
- Clearly.
But he could also be hiding something.
A new species of ice worms,
mutated mussels,
both of which present
a clear threat to shipping.
It can't be a coincidence.
Heard you had a rough night.
Yeah.
Wanna talk about it?
- I screwed up.
- It happens.
They pulled a gun on me.
- You broke into a secure facility.
- Just to get a handful of mussels.
Leon, think about it.
What do you think they saw?
A PhD candidate from VI?
Or some First Nations kid
looking for something to steal?
You've got to be more careful.
I should've told Dr. Oliviera
to send someone else.
- Why?
- What do you mean, "why?"
- You just told me why.
- I told you to be more careful.
That comes as news to you?
No
But it's different
when it happens to you.
First time a cop pulled a gun on me,
I threw up, all over his shoes.
The guy was so disgusted, he let me go.
I couldn't get away quick enough.
You feel safe here, I get it.
We all do around our own.
But what you're gonna
have to figure out is:
Who's going to decide
how you live your life?
You?
Or the people who wanna keep you small?
Hey, Rahim, it's Dad.
Your mum tried to call you
about your sister's birthday.
We would love to see you and Max there.
Take care.
Oh God.
See you soon.
Thank you.
Take care, now.
Hello?
Hey. I was just passing,
saw you were back.
Thought I'd say hi.
Come in.
Okay.
I think I have some tea.
Maybe milk, if it hasn't gone off.
Sounds lovely.
Whoa. Maybe not.
I'll take mine black.
Good choice.
So how long are you back for?
- Depends.
- On what?
How long it takes me
to pack up the station for the winter.
Well, I'd offer to give you a hand,
but not if it makes the work
go any faster.
Then I won't ask.
Good.
How's that tea doing?
What's up with you?
Hey.
You're through to Tina Lund.
Please leave a message
and I'll get back to you.
Tina, it's me.
Call me, please. It's important.
What's up?
I've been thinking
about the sound we heard.
And I'm wondering
if anyone else picked up on it.
In the Pacific
or anywhere else in the world.
We could check
the Sound Surveillance System.
I'll try reaching out
to the World Oceanographic Commission.
Maybe they can put us in touch
with other organizations
which monitor oceanic sounds.
- What do you think?
- I think it's a good idea.
And it's got me thinking.
This is going
to sound like a stretch, but
I met someone who I think
you should try and contact.
Her name is Dr. Samantha Crowe.
Astrophysicist.
She might be able to offer
some less conventional thoughts.
I'll see if I can track her down.
- What time is it?
- Just gone five.
The mackerel are running,
I've got to catch the high tide.
I'll bring you some.
No, you won't.
Go.
There's coffee.
Hi, Charlie. It's me.
Just checking to see
you got back safely.
No news from this side.
I'll be working late again,
so you're not going to bother me.
So give me a call. Bye.
Charlie.
Thanks for the message.
Thirty.
How did that happen?
Wish you were here to soften the blow.
We could relive
some of last year's madness.
Maybe not. Considering.
Anyway, hope the reason
you're not answering
is because you're
with that hot guy from the boat.
Miss you.
Charlie. Thanks for the message.
Thirty.
How did that happen?
Wish you were here to soften the blow.
We could relive
some of last year's madness.
Maybe not. Considering.
Anyway, hope the reason
you're not answering
is because you're
with that hot guy from the boat.
Miss you.
Miss you.
Miss you.
Miss you.
Miss you.
Miss you.