Mind Games (2014) s01e05 Episode Script
The Cauliflower Man
Ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh All right.
Don't pay my salary this week, and don't pay Megan -- she's technically freelance anyway.
And don't pay mine.
Don't pay Miles -- he's got a trust fund and probably some land masses in the Caribbean.
Uh, don't pay Sam.
Last in, first broke.
I'll talk to her.
Okay, well, since we're sending out pretend checks to actual creditors, I don't think this is the time to offer actual jobs to people who pretended to work here.
Sam does work here.
She's on the not-payroll.
End of discussion.
I know it's a tough reservation.
Because you keep telling me that it is.
Which is why I kept telling you not to make it.
W-- Because I have a job, mother -- an important one, one which -- no, I told you.
I'm -- I'm not his research assistant anymore.
In fact, I'm running a big case on my own.
Uh-huh.
Well, you don't want to hear how the sausage is made.
I mean, it's really complicated, so it's n-- no, we don't actually make sausage.
That's just kind of an expression that -- fine.
Look, um, uh, Thursday at 8:00.
I got to go.
I think it's time I take the lead on a case.
It's time for this puppy to ride without training wheels.
Uh, I don't think a-a small animal riding a bicycle is the kind of confidence imaging that you want to -- Miles, we are this close to having the bicycle repossessed.
Until we build up more of a client base, that's -- or client base.
Clark's taking the lead on everything.
Or a thing.
Don't worry.
You'll be with me every stroke of the pedal.
I worked at puregrow for 14 years until about a year ago, when I was fired, humiliated, and run out of biotech for trying to stop a dangerous, genetically modified product.
It's a gmo cauliflower, genetically altered to resist disease.
It's about to hit the market.
Internal studies showed that it significantly advanced puberty in lab mice and causes nerve damage, so who knows what it could do to humans? Is it true that they tried to put pig genes in an orange? Uh, I wasn't involved with the citrus -- it's an industry of barbarians.
They'll turn every household juicer into a countertop slaughterhouse if we don't do something.
Let's stick to the oversexed cauliflower for now.
Sorry.
A fellow researcher and I, Aaron blinken -- a close friend, a guy I hired -- we tried to halt it, but we were overruled.
So you went public with the science.
I tried to.
I went to the wall street journal.
But, like an idiot, I didn't take the documentation first, soPuregrow easily killed the story and ended my career.
And, of course, that shut blinken up, who won't even return my calls now.
He's transferring into marketing, at his own request, and I'm sure the, um Guilt must be eating him alive.
What is it you want from us? Friday is blinken's last day in research.
I need to get him to blow the whistle, using the documentation I should have leaked when I had the access.
Four days from now, he's not going to have the access anymore, either.
I don't see how we're supposed to get this guy blinken to blow the whistle when his friend was ruined for it.
He's already been conditioned not to do it.
But if we find associations that are more foundational -- like, we know he went to religious schools, s-so w-- puberty cauliflower's not supposed to be in stores yet.
Okay, we're not taking any chances.
The last thing you need is more puberty.
This is Mrs.
McKenna.
She'd like a word about her husband's case.
Oh, uh Oh, well, obviously, we're still in the, uh, research phase, but if you have any f-facts that you'd -- how about the fact that none of what he's telling you is true? You're saying your husband -- we're separated.
Which didn't stop him from calling me twice this morning, ecstatic that someone was going to vindicate him after every law firm and watchdog group in town had shown him the door.
It's not so easy to take on a whistle-blower.
He wasn't fired for being a whistle-blower.
He was fired for being a mess.
Alcoholism, erratic behavior, endless imagined grievances against his company, and now he blames it all on cauliflower-gate.
Did he tell you that he assaulted a puregrow executive the last time he was thrown out of the building? The last time? He's persistent, which is why I have a restraining order.
So does Aaron blinken, and he tried harder than anyone to help him.
There is nothing wrong with that cauliflower.
You will bankrupt Jim trying to prove otherwise.
He did make his first payment by signing over three unemployment checks.
But if he's making it all up, why is he clinging to this one charge? If your life fell apart, wouldn't you cling to anything that let you believe it wasn't your fault? Hi.
Busy? Look, um, I need my paycheck a little early.
My agent's actually putting me up for this huge laundry-detergent campaign, and my head shots have more of an "ibsen in the park" feel, and the campaign needs more of a comedy look.
I don't understand the difference.
I-I get it now.
Without new head shots, how's anybody supposed to know you can change your facial expressions? SoIf I don't pay that printer today -- I've got some bad news.
Uh, butOne sec.
Thank you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I really appreciate it.
Mwah! I won't forget it.
You're the best.
So I hid a few things.
They were nothing at all that was relevant to -- three arrests on puregrow property, nine charges of harassment and stalking, failure to show up to court-ordered rehab -- I'm good with police records.
You want me to keep going? Plus, the next time you start a conspiracy wall, you might want to at least toss a few stray theories up there.
I'm -- I'm just saying.
If your own company muzzled you and made you an accomplice -- the first arrest was over five years ago.
That's when they told me to keep quiet.
And I tried.
I tried for years, but I cracked, and then, when I finally went to the press, they -- they looked at me Like I hadTinfoil on my head.
Unless you have proof, and I know you don't, or every lawyer in Chicago would be lined around the block Let's get out of here.
I need to get out of here.
We'll be outside? I shouldn't have called my wife.
I knew it was stupid.
But the chance to prove to her and my daughter, that I'm not some loser nutjob drunk -- I'm sorry.
I have to give you your money back.
Hey, look -- hey.
I run a business.
Your reputation becomes my reputation.
You really expect me to roll the dice on you when everyone and everything is telling me not to? No.
Because you don't know what it's like to lose everything.
Your family, your credibility.
You've got it all together, so, umWhy blow it on me? Hey.
You okay? You practically flew out of the client's apartment.
I'm fine.
You sure this isn't the start of an episode? Because I -- if I need to get things together -- it isn't! If he needs some kind of mental-health day, or any other kind of day, then I assume we just dropped the case.
I think we should keep the case.
I took this off the client's conspiracy wall.
Look at the dates.
It's from a biotech trade publication announcing some glowing early studies of that gmo cauliflower half a year before McKenna's first arrest or altercation.
What do the dates have to do with anything? His wife says he cracked over some imaginary cover-up.
But if these first studies were before he had problems, an actual cover-up caused him to crack.
Uh, Ross, you don't have proof of that.
Not hard evidence, no, but how does someone go from Princeton summa cum laude, head of a major research division, to a hostile drunk in a handful of months? He was forced to sit on a criminal conspiracy.
And he just never mentioned it -- not even to his own wife? Well, gee, I can't imagine why everyone doesn't run to their wives the minute they start breaking federal statutes.
Look, if you're saying we should keep the case based on all the stupid husbands across the land I'm saying that I know what it's like to screw up and find that it's too late to fix it.
I believe this guy, and if we vindicate him, we not only stop a potential health crisis, we help him get his life back -- his wife, his kid back.
Clark, if you are up for it, I think we should keep the case.
O-obvious-- o-obvi-- obviously, if, um -- I-I think the next -- but we've Al-- we've already tried that one.
Judge -- judge -- the jury's out on -- the jury and the judge.
Oh! Jury's j-- you know what? Let's just start -- there's a -- if we s-- just burrow into the abstract, okay? Go.
Go.
Maybe the cauliflower man's not the only one we should be worried about.
Did you and Clark work all night? Yep, but I think Clark's really got it.
Was that really a good idea? Welcome, class, to what I call "a faith-induced truth-priming operation," which Miles and I devised to get our target, Mr.
Aaron blinken, to spill the nasty facts on his company and go from a staunch corporate apologist to a fist-pumping, memo-leaking whistle-blower in a single behavioral-psychological bound! All right, now, studies have shown that people who try to recall the ten commandments become dramatically more honest, actually passing up opportunities to cheat and lie, even if they can't remember a single commandment -- even the one about coveting other people's oxen.
If you're saying we need to buy some stone tablets and a chisel -- what I'm saying is that our target was raised on religion, and we're gonna remind him of it with the psychological equivalent of a sound truck and a -- pfft! Pfft! -- blinking neon light! Hey.
What? You are acting loopy, even for you, okay? Now, is it the money stuff? Did something happen at the client's apartment? What is it? Yes, it did.
We decided to keep the case, which means we only have three days to get blinken to release the documents, so I'd really like to get back to explaining my strategy.
But thank you very much for your concern.
Okay.
I thank you for being a part of the team.
N-- Megan! Listen.
You will pretend to be a college reporter profiling blinken for the alumni newsletter of his very Christian Alma mater, wheaton college.
Megan will be wearing an extremely low-cut blouse, specifically chosen to highlight some Jesus-friendly jewelry so that every available distraction reminds him of his religious principles.
Guys, I'm not genuinely religious.
What if he knows? And -- but you do have genuine breasts, which is a very potent delivery vehicle in any denomination.
Literature's clear on this.
We have selected, as the site of the interview, a sidewalk café that directly faces a church.
The entire interview's been scripted to pump him full of Christian teachings, so he'll be guided by religious symbols and ideas when Megan finally asks him about food safety.
And, for the icing on the cleavage -- and the christianity-filled cake Sam is going to cover up the gutter drain in front of the café and fill the gutter with dirty, oily liquid.
Dirt isn't just processed in the brain as physical dirt.
It's also immorality and dishonesty.
Studies show when you're dirty, you need to be honest, so we're gonna make blinken dirty, which means that during the entire interview, he has this deep, subconscious need to cleanse himself, in every sense of the word.
So that's our plan -- a bucket of slop? Is this really gonna work? Even handling a dirty piece of paper will make someone more ethical.
After all that oily liquid and religious priming, we could get this guy to confess to the Kennedy assassination.
Thunderbird three, do you copy? Did you Have a better name? I was gonna go with Megan, but that -- we are doing covert ops here, okay? Would you like everyone to wear a name tag? In three Two Life infiltration.
This operation's too risky.
We need to call it off and plan a new one.
It's your operation.
What about cleavage and, uh, christianity-filled whatever it was? We infil-- we infiltrate his life using fake memories, okay? He's been a fighter for food safety his whole life.
He -- he's got a history -- this is as sure a thing as I have seen, okay? A-and -- and if we pull out now, I mean, we -- well, let's just go.
Let's go! We have to call it off and plan a new one.
The type-one, uh, error rates are through the roof.
If Megan stands him up, we can't do this operation again, and blinken might run from any plan we try.
If Clark says we call it off, w-w-we call it off.
Do it! Thunderbird three, back to base camp.
It's over.
Now, how do we plan whatever it was that you were just saying? I don't -- okay, key stimuli.
It's like buttons.
You just push them.
Oh, that's wrong! Memory-based brain association -- the right parallel triggers -- the mentor effect! Is he first-born or second-born? Huh? He might be prone to alternative strategies -- tell Megan to get back down there now.
He's gone.
Well, is he prone to alternative strategies? Come on, guys! This is the ballgame, okay? We -- we We have to do the research! This all started at the client's apartment.
He said something, you saw something -- tell me what it was.
I want to get back to work, Ross.
I need to get back at work.
W-w-why'd you drag me away in the middle of the day -- because you lost it, and it matters.
A guy's future's at stake, and I'm getting worried about yours, too.
Just -- just tell me what triggered this.
Okay, I don't tell you how to do your job.
What?! Yes, you do -- Look, my job may be science, but it's notScience.
You know, sometimes it requires a change of strategy.
Does it require five? I have a process.
I'd be happy to leave you out of it.
What -- Beth, what are you doing here? I called her because I am cutting you out of the process until you tell me what's going on with you.
Nothing's going on with me, Ross!! I'm sorry.
I didn't go to bed last night.
Maybe that wasn't the best idea.
Keep him within these walls.
Make sure he doesn't leave.
And you -- get some rest, because tomorrow, you are coming up with a single, unchanging strategy to mop up the mess we left.
Hey.
Want to tell us what happened out there? Three days to go, and we just lost one of them -- that's what happened.
Clark's resting.
Beth's watching over him.
He'll be back here first thing.
His job may be science, but it's not -- hell of a business model, waiting for the fragile strategist to get his beauty rest when you said you could control his -- you're right, latrell.
Let's fire Clark and find somebody out of the phone book.
You need help spelling "brilliant visionary"? Miles, start coming up with ideas for Clark to review in the morning.
We came up with an idea -- a perfect idea -- and then we burned through it like an oil-drenched gutter drain.
How am I supposed to -- hey.
What happened? Your business-development guy told me everything blew apart! I trusted you! Our creative team identified some kinks in the strategy.
We're -- we're -- we're lucky we caught them in time.
We're working on a much more effective -- till you take my last dollar and run the clock out? One more swing at bat.
I promise you, I can get this done.
You know what's pathetic? You get all the swings you want.
You're the only hope I've got.
Hey, latrell.
Where's my paycheck? Ross said he was gonna talk to you.
He did.
So you know we can't pay you.
I also know that you can't pay Megan, but I just saw the head shots that she bought with her paycheck.
Maybe she'll give you a head shot, but I can't give you a paycheck unless Ross tells me to.
Ross, you and I need to t-- talk Something's wrong with Clark! about.
Okay.
H-Henry needs all of this! Beth! These aren't for you! I'm trying to do something nice for him.
How the hell did this happen, huh? But wait! Clark, listen -- this is for Henry! Listen to me.
It's your brother, okay? Come on! Clark! This is for Henry!! All right! Clark! Oh God.
Oh, my God.
You all right? I need to go home.
Will you p-please take me home? Will you please take me home? Okay.
Yes.
Yeah.
Okay, come on.
Come on.
Come on.
All right.
It's all fine here.
What if -- what if we prime toward -- okay, just lie down.
There you go.
Ooh.
Not fake exactly.
It's a great idea.
We'll do that.
Okay? But, uh, it's an associative Different a-analogs I don't understand what happened.
Years of self-conditioning's what happened.
That alarm is his failsafe.
He has to remember to turn it off every single day.
If he ever hears it beep, it means he's out of control.
And that's his signal to -- that's when he takes these.
It's 911 in a little plastic box.
I thought he didn't take medication, that it Stopped the music.
Normally he doesn't.
I wish he would, but, uh, every couple years, he has an episode, and that alarm sounds, and he takes an emergency course.
Risperidone's an anti-psychotic -- breaks the hypomania.
Lorazepam helps him sleep.
Um, how long is the course? Well, it could be 4 days, could be 14.
It takes a couple to build up in his system.
This isn't my fault.
Why -- no, you're right.
It's not as if I specifically told you to keep him here! That was the one thing I asked.
He wanted to go the mall.
I couldn't keep him here.
I tried -- you couldn't handle him -- not for 45 minutes -- which is why you should have kept the money I gave you and gone away for good.
I couldn't do that.
I love him.
That's him in the other room, barely able to string two syllables together.
That was him at the mall, in need of a translator and physical restraints.
Love him? I don't think you ever knew him.
Where are you going? Going home, doing a very poor simulation of the brain state known as "sleep.
" You're the lead on the case, not Clark.
What's that supposed to mean? Clark could be in a drug-induced stupor for a week.
We have two days left to stop a very bad produce and vindicate a guy who's got nowhere else to turn.
This is all on you, so you might want to rethink the sleep part.
You're welcome.
I'm supposed to thank you for setting me up for catastrophic failure? Are you up for this or not? I'm not.
So when you asked to take the lead on a case, that was more of an honorary thing? I asked to take the lead on a case with Clark here to backstop me, not with Clark in some post-manic coma -- we've never adjusted a strategy before? We've never had to blow one because you wouldn't listen to me.
Also, our client might be a ranting lunatic -- he's ranting because he told the truth and got treated like a lunatic.
You want me to listen to you? Y-you want me to take your advice as seriously as Clark's? Here's your chance -- go back to your office and come up with something worth listening to.
Clark spent years developing an ironclad failsafe for himself.
How come he doesn't have one for a girlfriend? You're the first one who's ever made it this far.
I want to know everything -- what he needs to get through this and how I can give it to him.
He gets two of these a day.
Next dose is at 9:00 tonight.
Miss one, and he goes right back into his manic cycle -- delusion, psychosis, who knows what else.
Here.
His psychopharmacologist.
Call him if Clark gets dizziness, headaches, whatever.
This is toxic stuff.
It can be tough on his system.
And if there's any way you can help make the case for a shrink -- it's a tall order with Clark.
He thinks they should be buying sessions with him.
You have no idea what triggered this? No, but, uh, I'm gonna find out.
Hmm.
Hmm.
You should get that.
It could be important.
Well, I know it's not you calling from a mall.
Pretty baby He got drunk, then he got belligerent, then he passed out.
Well, at least he got the order right.
Hey.
I'm trying to prove you're not some crazy conspiracist drunk.
Can't say you're helping the cause.
Oh, there's no proving it.
You failed.
It's over for me.
Don't say that.
Come on.
We've got a whole team working on this.
I'm gonna make sure that you get this done.
Mm! Uh No! Of course I didn't! I-I-I'm -- I'm almost there.
Oh.
Deconstructed bloody-Mary sorbet.
Who knew? Any chance they could reconstruct mine? Maybe serve it with a cheeseburger? Tell us about this big case you're running.
Well, it's pretty technical.
Well, that's what Houdini said to his parents.
It's real science, though.
You make it sound like I'm bending spoons at a dinner party.
You know what we think about your job.
We've already talked about this.
You never finished your phd.
We've also talked about this.
You only want me to want what you want, such as a 19-course meal that somehow still leaves us hungry.
So we're the bad guys for wanting you to join your father's firm like Joseph and Carter? I want to make something on my own.
Have you tried a pottery class? I built that company for the three of you.
Thought you'd be the one to run it.
Is that why you want to see me fail? I manage your money.
I see how much you're lending that firm.
It's already failed.
We can drop that charade.
The only question is how much more are you willing to lose before you decide it's time to win? Miles, where are you going? To win.
I don't know.
Maybe get someDinner first.
What about that thing we tried on the insurance guy? I think it was called Priming.
It's all called that, isn't it? Uh, well, just one man's opinion, but if we're having this much trouble remembering what it's called, we probably don't have the best shot at pulling it off.
Hey! Where have you been?! Brain flanking! Ooh! Clark did a study.
He put people in brain scanners, and he found that sometimes, issues that are totally unrelated, like abortion and gun control, are actually deeply related in the brain, so he mounted this furious argument on abortion, and he wasn't able to get his subjects to move an inch.
But, amazingly, their brains were so worn out that he was able to change their mind on gun control with barely a struggle.
Their brains were too tired to argue on two fronts.
So, if we can figure out what's related to whistle-blowing in blinken's mind and we can attack that issue first His defenses will be down, and we can get him to cave on whistle-blowing.
That's it.
That's the strategy.
The problem is we're never gonna get blinken into a brain scanner to figure out what's related to whistle-blowing in his mind.
Can you get a brain scanner? I'm pretty sure that I can borrow one from the cbu psych department.
Then I can get him in it.
And how certain are we that this is gonna work? Well, it's Clark's research.
I don't know every dot and every comma.
But I'm pretty sure I can cobble it together.
We're talking about a product that could hurt people and a guy who's ready to drink himself to death because we failed him.
Cobbling ain't gonna cut it.
Do you want me to pretend I'm Clark when I'm not? Because we can't even have a conversation with him.
All right, look, uh, get started on whatever there is to get started on.
What are you doing? We got a plan.
We even know what to call it.
You heard Miles.
He knows about the research.
Clark is the only one who really knows how to pull it off.
Yeah, but I thought that Clark was in dreamland for the week.
I just need him awake for two minutes, just long enough to check Miles' work.
We got one shot to get this right.
And how are you gonna do that? Just stay here.
Help Miles get started, okay? With any luck, I'll be back to fill in the blanks.
Ross Hey.
What are you doing back so soon? Just worried is all.
You were right.
Those pills really leveled him.
Uh, where are they? I was about to give him his next dose.
I wasn't going to miss one.
Uh, look.
I'll do it.
Um, I want to make sure it gets done right.
I've got this.
No, I know.
I just, um He's my little brother, and I justI want to do it.
Of course.
Thanks.
It's nice that you came back.
All set? Yeah.
All set.
How are you feeling? Day two on risperidone, I usually feel like I got a thick, wet sock over my head, but I don't feel like I got a thick, wet sock over my head -- pretty good.
You got to tell me what triggered this.
Um Well, sometimes, these episodes aren't triggered by any-- It's dad.
It's Henry.
I know it is.
You said his name at the mall.
It's, uh -- it was a coffeepot.
A cheap, plug-in coffeepot.
It was at the client's apartment.
He's got the same coffeepot as dad.
I don't remember dad having a -- eh, you were in New York.
He had this little Furnished apartment.
I don't think you ever saw it.
I visited him a couple months before the crash.
And He threw it at me.
Full of coffee, too.
Dad was, uh, an out-of-control, angry drunk.
He was mad at himself -- me, Ross.
He was mad at me.
The mental case who finally pushed him over the brink, for mom kicking him out, for -- for his whole life going to hell.
He -- he had problems long before you did.
Yeah, well, mine made them worse.
Yours gave him a chance to finally deal with his.
He didn't take it.
I always feel I feel like I was the reason You think you were the reason that he got plowed and wrecked his car? You know how hard we tried to save him from himself? He didn't want to listen.
I am sorry for screwing up the case.
It didn't help that I didn't have Claire, just that stupid stress-relieving pig.
Somebody ought to get their money back for that.
It's not your fault.
None of it is.
But you got to remember, you didn't always have Claire.
But you're always gonna have me, like it or not.
Since you happen to be up, and, uh, since the thick, wet sock is off, we're in full-execution mode on the case.
You might want to hear what Miles cooked up, based on your research, see if there's anything you might want to tweak.
I've never seen you so worked up on a case before.
I believe this guy.
And whatever hope he's got left on this earth, you're looking at it.
That means he doesn't just need me.
He needs you, too.
Well, then he's got me, too.
No, no, no.
That's not -- look, you're In a recovery process -- look, tweaking a third-hand account of Miles' second-hand strategy -- it's not gonna do it.
I'm on meds! I will promise Beth that I won't leave your side.
I'm coming to work, like it or not.
I'm fine.
I'm fine.
I'm fine.
So, just make sure blinken sees you.
But don't draw attention to yourself.
Yeah, I'll do my best.
Now! Go, go, go.
It's a parking garage, not a lunar crater.
Just walk normal! Was that enough? Mr.
blinken, Lisa Cole, department of public health.
I'm so sorry to drag you out of your office on what I understand is your last day.
Congratulations! Actually, I'm just moving over to -- did I mention that there was a toxic event in the parking garage? Key-card records show that you were there during peak hours of exposure.
Do you think I -- you know, I-I did see, uh -- well, there's a small chance you were affected, but these are neural toxins.
So, for health and legal reasons, I need to document that there was no damage to your brain.
Disclosure.
Enclosure.
Exposure.
We can't stall him much longer.
She's just making up stuff now.
It's like a bad poetry slam in there.
The stalling isOver.
All right, I found an issue that is directly tied to whistle-blowing in his head, and I've drafted an argument for Megan to use as she walks him back to his car.
Ha! Brain flanking's perfect! It never occurred to me to extrapolate the -- the principles of cognitive -- I started thinking about the modality effect, and then I started thinking about expertise reversal -- I know! I know! I know! Okay, okay, I get it.
This is the mensa version of a hug.
Now, what issue are we using to wear out his brain? Michael Jordan.
Are you having a breakdown now? I know it sounds crazy.
Brain connections often are.
But look at the amygdala.
Look at the hippocampus.
Okay, we interrogated this guy on everything short of the heating ducts in his attic, and, for whatever reason, his love of Michael Jordan and his fear of whistle-blowing line up on parallel neural circuitry.
We hit him hard enough on Jordan, we should be able to change his mind on -- on whistle-blowing.
Okay, so I am a diehard Miami heat fan who hates Michael Jordan and prefers -- what is this name? Leon? - Lebron.
- Oh, my God.
Just take all the time you need.
No.
This is wrong.
This is very wrong.
It's scripted.
I followed every -- it's too adversarial! To pull off a brain flank, Megan has to be in the same trusted in-group as blinken! She has to be a passionate bulls fan, too! Otherwise, he won't listen to her! You want her to be a bulls fan who hates Michael Jordan? That's exactly what I want.
I love the bulls, but lebron is better than Jordan.
I-I-is that so -- is that laughable?! Delusional? Contrary to the facts? If he thinks she's a bulls fan who lost her way, he'll argue 50 times harder and invest 50 times more in convincing her than if he thinks she just hates the team, so his defenses will be totally spent when we argue on the related issue -- whistle-blowing.
These are the same neuromodulation systems they use to get two small mice to fall in love with each other.
Come on.
I'm taking you home.
You're acting loopy.
No, no, no! I can't go home now! I -- I don't know the closing salvo, the final flank, t-t-the way we're m-making an argument on whistle-blowing.
I'm gonna pose as a grocery-store executive, and I'm gonna approach him about puregrow's policy.
No, no, no, no, no, no! It has to be the client! A-a-and we have to get him now, before -- hang on.
That's -- that's a bad idea.
No, it's the only idea! What could possibly connect Michael Jordan and our sad-sack client in the target's brain other than raw human emotion? They're old friends.
He's the emotional link.
What's wrong with the client? Clark! Anything in the academic literature about curing the mother of all hangovers? Not the red tie.
That'll just trigger his competitive instincts.
Not green -- that'll just prime him for aggression when we really want him to -- - Maybe, when this is over, I'll just use the green one as a noose.
Okay.
Ross, we're gonna lose a very short window of time here if we don't get moving.
There's no point of wearing out the target's brain if we just give it the rest of the day off.
Unfortunately, the target's brain and the client's liver are on slightly different schedules.
Oh, okay.
Hey, I got this.
All right.
Emphasize professional ethics.
No! Children's health! Get him to show you pictures of his children.
No! Get him to get you to show him pictures of your children! Better yet, get him to get you to get -- get him -- Clark! Clark! You are not okay.
As soon as this is over, you're going home.
You're taking your meds.
II feel great! You're still in a manic cycle.
What you need is more drugs and some rest, okay? No! Now, just take a break.
Ooh! Give us a moment.
Guys.
Come on.
Just give him a break.
Come on.
I can't do this.
You are the only one who can.
I-I ca-- I can't remember everybody's pointers.
I-I can't remember my own arguments.
My wife is right.
I'm a mess! All right.
All right.
Forget everything else.
Forget everything else and just be a mess.
This is an emotional appeal.
What's more emotional than a broken-down guy whose life is on the line? Why are you doing this for me? You don't know me.
And you're probably better off for it.
But the truth is, if I can get a mulligan, you sure as hell deserve one, too.
You know I got a court order.
I don't expect you to be my friend again.
I don't expect you to even talk to me again.
But This is the last chance for you to do what I tried to do a year ago -- what we both wanted to do five years ago.
I'm begging you.
Forget about the health risks.
Forget about trying to do anything for my family.
I need to know that I wasn't imagining the whole thing.
'Cause right now I'm not so sure anymore.
I can't do it.
Because I can't end up like you.
I'm sorry.
I've got a family, too.
Jim.
Wait.
We've obtained documents from an anonymous source that show biotech giant puregrow knowingly hid data from the fda Ha! data that suggests their gmo cauliflower could be unsafe for children Yes! This is a victory for scientific inquiry over shareholder profit -- for empirical, incontrovertible evidence over It's a victory for our client.
Cheers.
Oh.
Wow.
Since you were left out of all the news stories I thought someone ought to take you out to celebrate.
If that's something you'd like.
That's something I'd like very much.
Thank you For believing in my husband when no one else did.
Me included.
He has a habit of doing that.
My parents were right That I can't do this on my own.
That until you came back, I was just -- kept the case alive.
You came in with a plan after I torpedoed one that would have worked.
Look, I can't do this on my own, either.
You'd have had your own case weeks ago if I didn't need you for every one of mine.
Hey.
Oh, hi.
Oh, hey.
You okay? Aw.
Yeah.
Okay.
He hasn't left my sight, but now it's time to get him home and put him to bed.
I'll drive.
Oh, I'll drive him.
I can take it from here.
Wait, and just -- j-- can't it wait just a little bit? Because this is a perfect time for -- mnh-mnh.
Mnh-mnh.
for Miles and I to sit down and write down -- no, no.
Home, meds, bed.
obser-- okay.
Here's the interesting part.
Oh! I'm sorry.
Do you want to know the interesting part? Is it that I didn't want you to drive and now you're ignoring the speed limit? Brain flanking perfectly -- oh! No, give me, give me, give me, give me! No! No! No, no, no, no! Stop! Please pull over now so I can -- oh! Please pull over so that I can drive.
Look -- in the light of -- oh, look! There it is, like a backlit wheel of cheese! Please slow down! Art meets science fiction! We could mount an exhibit at the office! Pull over now.
You are still --
Don't pay my salary this week, and don't pay Megan -- she's technically freelance anyway.
And don't pay mine.
Don't pay Miles -- he's got a trust fund and probably some land masses in the Caribbean.
Uh, don't pay Sam.
Last in, first broke.
I'll talk to her.
Okay, well, since we're sending out pretend checks to actual creditors, I don't think this is the time to offer actual jobs to people who pretended to work here.
Sam does work here.
She's on the not-payroll.
End of discussion.
I know it's a tough reservation.
Because you keep telling me that it is.
Which is why I kept telling you not to make it.
W-- Because I have a job, mother -- an important one, one which -- no, I told you.
I'm -- I'm not his research assistant anymore.
In fact, I'm running a big case on my own.
Uh-huh.
Well, you don't want to hear how the sausage is made.
I mean, it's really complicated, so it's n-- no, we don't actually make sausage.
That's just kind of an expression that -- fine.
Look, um, uh, Thursday at 8:00.
I got to go.
I think it's time I take the lead on a case.
It's time for this puppy to ride without training wheels.
Uh, I don't think a-a small animal riding a bicycle is the kind of confidence imaging that you want to -- Miles, we are this close to having the bicycle repossessed.
Until we build up more of a client base, that's -- or client base.
Clark's taking the lead on everything.
Or a thing.
Don't worry.
You'll be with me every stroke of the pedal.
I worked at puregrow for 14 years until about a year ago, when I was fired, humiliated, and run out of biotech for trying to stop a dangerous, genetically modified product.
It's a gmo cauliflower, genetically altered to resist disease.
It's about to hit the market.
Internal studies showed that it significantly advanced puberty in lab mice and causes nerve damage, so who knows what it could do to humans? Is it true that they tried to put pig genes in an orange? Uh, I wasn't involved with the citrus -- it's an industry of barbarians.
They'll turn every household juicer into a countertop slaughterhouse if we don't do something.
Let's stick to the oversexed cauliflower for now.
Sorry.
A fellow researcher and I, Aaron blinken -- a close friend, a guy I hired -- we tried to halt it, but we were overruled.
So you went public with the science.
I tried to.
I went to the wall street journal.
But, like an idiot, I didn't take the documentation first, soPuregrow easily killed the story and ended my career.
And, of course, that shut blinken up, who won't even return my calls now.
He's transferring into marketing, at his own request, and I'm sure the, um Guilt must be eating him alive.
What is it you want from us? Friday is blinken's last day in research.
I need to get him to blow the whistle, using the documentation I should have leaked when I had the access.
Four days from now, he's not going to have the access anymore, either.
I don't see how we're supposed to get this guy blinken to blow the whistle when his friend was ruined for it.
He's already been conditioned not to do it.
But if we find associations that are more foundational -- like, we know he went to religious schools, s-so w-- puberty cauliflower's not supposed to be in stores yet.
Okay, we're not taking any chances.
The last thing you need is more puberty.
This is Mrs.
McKenna.
She'd like a word about her husband's case.
Oh, uh Oh, well, obviously, we're still in the, uh, research phase, but if you have any f-facts that you'd -- how about the fact that none of what he's telling you is true? You're saying your husband -- we're separated.
Which didn't stop him from calling me twice this morning, ecstatic that someone was going to vindicate him after every law firm and watchdog group in town had shown him the door.
It's not so easy to take on a whistle-blower.
He wasn't fired for being a whistle-blower.
He was fired for being a mess.
Alcoholism, erratic behavior, endless imagined grievances against his company, and now he blames it all on cauliflower-gate.
Did he tell you that he assaulted a puregrow executive the last time he was thrown out of the building? The last time? He's persistent, which is why I have a restraining order.
So does Aaron blinken, and he tried harder than anyone to help him.
There is nothing wrong with that cauliflower.
You will bankrupt Jim trying to prove otherwise.
He did make his first payment by signing over three unemployment checks.
But if he's making it all up, why is he clinging to this one charge? If your life fell apart, wouldn't you cling to anything that let you believe it wasn't your fault? Hi.
Busy? Look, um, I need my paycheck a little early.
My agent's actually putting me up for this huge laundry-detergent campaign, and my head shots have more of an "ibsen in the park" feel, and the campaign needs more of a comedy look.
I don't understand the difference.
I-I get it now.
Without new head shots, how's anybody supposed to know you can change your facial expressions? SoIf I don't pay that printer today -- I've got some bad news.
Uh, butOne sec.
Thank you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I really appreciate it.
Mwah! I won't forget it.
You're the best.
So I hid a few things.
They were nothing at all that was relevant to -- three arrests on puregrow property, nine charges of harassment and stalking, failure to show up to court-ordered rehab -- I'm good with police records.
You want me to keep going? Plus, the next time you start a conspiracy wall, you might want to at least toss a few stray theories up there.
I'm -- I'm just saying.
If your own company muzzled you and made you an accomplice -- the first arrest was over five years ago.
That's when they told me to keep quiet.
And I tried.
I tried for years, but I cracked, and then, when I finally went to the press, they -- they looked at me Like I hadTinfoil on my head.
Unless you have proof, and I know you don't, or every lawyer in Chicago would be lined around the block Let's get out of here.
I need to get out of here.
We'll be outside? I shouldn't have called my wife.
I knew it was stupid.
But the chance to prove to her and my daughter, that I'm not some loser nutjob drunk -- I'm sorry.
I have to give you your money back.
Hey, look -- hey.
I run a business.
Your reputation becomes my reputation.
You really expect me to roll the dice on you when everyone and everything is telling me not to? No.
Because you don't know what it's like to lose everything.
Your family, your credibility.
You've got it all together, so, umWhy blow it on me? Hey.
You okay? You practically flew out of the client's apartment.
I'm fine.
You sure this isn't the start of an episode? Because I -- if I need to get things together -- it isn't! If he needs some kind of mental-health day, or any other kind of day, then I assume we just dropped the case.
I think we should keep the case.
I took this off the client's conspiracy wall.
Look at the dates.
It's from a biotech trade publication announcing some glowing early studies of that gmo cauliflower half a year before McKenna's first arrest or altercation.
What do the dates have to do with anything? His wife says he cracked over some imaginary cover-up.
But if these first studies were before he had problems, an actual cover-up caused him to crack.
Uh, Ross, you don't have proof of that.
Not hard evidence, no, but how does someone go from Princeton summa cum laude, head of a major research division, to a hostile drunk in a handful of months? He was forced to sit on a criminal conspiracy.
And he just never mentioned it -- not even to his own wife? Well, gee, I can't imagine why everyone doesn't run to their wives the minute they start breaking federal statutes.
Look, if you're saying we should keep the case based on all the stupid husbands across the land I'm saying that I know what it's like to screw up and find that it's too late to fix it.
I believe this guy, and if we vindicate him, we not only stop a potential health crisis, we help him get his life back -- his wife, his kid back.
Clark, if you are up for it, I think we should keep the case.
O-obvious-- o-obvi-- obviously, if, um -- I-I think the next -- but we've Al-- we've already tried that one.
Judge -- judge -- the jury's out on -- the jury and the judge.
Oh! Jury's j-- you know what? Let's just start -- there's a -- if we s-- just burrow into the abstract, okay? Go.
Go.
Maybe the cauliflower man's not the only one we should be worried about.
Did you and Clark work all night? Yep, but I think Clark's really got it.
Was that really a good idea? Welcome, class, to what I call "a faith-induced truth-priming operation," which Miles and I devised to get our target, Mr.
Aaron blinken, to spill the nasty facts on his company and go from a staunch corporate apologist to a fist-pumping, memo-leaking whistle-blower in a single behavioral-psychological bound! All right, now, studies have shown that people who try to recall the ten commandments become dramatically more honest, actually passing up opportunities to cheat and lie, even if they can't remember a single commandment -- even the one about coveting other people's oxen.
If you're saying we need to buy some stone tablets and a chisel -- what I'm saying is that our target was raised on religion, and we're gonna remind him of it with the psychological equivalent of a sound truck and a -- pfft! Pfft! -- blinking neon light! Hey.
What? You are acting loopy, even for you, okay? Now, is it the money stuff? Did something happen at the client's apartment? What is it? Yes, it did.
We decided to keep the case, which means we only have three days to get blinken to release the documents, so I'd really like to get back to explaining my strategy.
But thank you very much for your concern.
Okay.
I thank you for being a part of the team.
N-- Megan! Listen.
You will pretend to be a college reporter profiling blinken for the alumni newsletter of his very Christian Alma mater, wheaton college.
Megan will be wearing an extremely low-cut blouse, specifically chosen to highlight some Jesus-friendly jewelry so that every available distraction reminds him of his religious principles.
Guys, I'm not genuinely religious.
What if he knows? And -- but you do have genuine breasts, which is a very potent delivery vehicle in any denomination.
Literature's clear on this.
We have selected, as the site of the interview, a sidewalk café that directly faces a church.
The entire interview's been scripted to pump him full of Christian teachings, so he'll be guided by religious symbols and ideas when Megan finally asks him about food safety.
And, for the icing on the cleavage -- and the christianity-filled cake Sam is going to cover up the gutter drain in front of the café and fill the gutter with dirty, oily liquid.
Dirt isn't just processed in the brain as physical dirt.
It's also immorality and dishonesty.
Studies show when you're dirty, you need to be honest, so we're gonna make blinken dirty, which means that during the entire interview, he has this deep, subconscious need to cleanse himself, in every sense of the word.
So that's our plan -- a bucket of slop? Is this really gonna work? Even handling a dirty piece of paper will make someone more ethical.
After all that oily liquid and religious priming, we could get this guy to confess to the Kennedy assassination.
Thunderbird three, do you copy? Did you Have a better name? I was gonna go with Megan, but that -- we are doing covert ops here, okay? Would you like everyone to wear a name tag? In three Two Life infiltration.
This operation's too risky.
We need to call it off and plan a new one.
It's your operation.
What about cleavage and, uh, christianity-filled whatever it was? We infil-- we infiltrate his life using fake memories, okay? He's been a fighter for food safety his whole life.
He -- he's got a history -- this is as sure a thing as I have seen, okay? A-and -- and if we pull out now, I mean, we -- well, let's just go.
Let's go! We have to call it off and plan a new one.
The type-one, uh, error rates are through the roof.
If Megan stands him up, we can't do this operation again, and blinken might run from any plan we try.
If Clark says we call it off, w-w-we call it off.
Do it! Thunderbird three, back to base camp.
It's over.
Now, how do we plan whatever it was that you were just saying? I don't -- okay, key stimuli.
It's like buttons.
You just push them.
Oh, that's wrong! Memory-based brain association -- the right parallel triggers -- the mentor effect! Is he first-born or second-born? Huh? He might be prone to alternative strategies -- tell Megan to get back down there now.
He's gone.
Well, is he prone to alternative strategies? Come on, guys! This is the ballgame, okay? We -- we We have to do the research! This all started at the client's apartment.
He said something, you saw something -- tell me what it was.
I want to get back to work, Ross.
I need to get back at work.
W-w-why'd you drag me away in the middle of the day -- because you lost it, and it matters.
A guy's future's at stake, and I'm getting worried about yours, too.
Just -- just tell me what triggered this.
Okay, I don't tell you how to do your job.
What?! Yes, you do -- Look, my job may be science, but it's notScience.
You know, sometimes it requires a change of strategy.
Does it require five? I have a process.
I'd be happy to leave you out of it.
What -- Beth, what are you doing here? I called her because I am cutting you out of the process until you tell me what's going on with you.
Nothing's going on with me, Ross!! I'm sorry.
I didn't go to bed last night.
Maybe that wasn't the best idea.
Keep him within these walls.
Make sure he doesn't leave.
And you -- get some rest, because tomorrow, you are coming up with a single, unchanging strategy to mop up the mess we left.
Hey.
Want to tell us what happened out there? Three days to go, and we just lost one of them -- that's what happened.
Clark's resting.
Beth's watching over him.
He'll be back here first thing.
His job may be science, but it's not -- hell of a business model, waiting for the fragile strategist to get his beauty rest when you said you could control his -- you're right, latrell.
Let's fire Clark and find somebody out of the phone book.
You need help spelling "brilliant visionary"? Miles, start coming up with ideas for Clark to review in the morning.
We came up with an idea -- a perfect idea -- and then we burned through it like an oil-drenched gutter drain.
How am I supposed to -- hey.
What happened? Your business-development guy told me everything blew apart! I trusted you! Our creative team identified some kinks in the strategy.
We're -- we're -- we're lucky we caught them in time.
We're working on a much more effective -- till you take my last dollar and run the clock out? One more swing at bat.
I promise you, I can get this done.
You know what's pathetic? You get all the swings you want.
You're the only hope I've got.
Hey, latrell.
Where's my paycheck? Ross said he was gonna talk to you.
He did.
So you know we can't pay you.
I also know that you can't pay Megan, but I just saw the head shots that she bought with her paycheck.
Maybe she'll give you a head shot, but I can't give you a paycheck unless Ross tells me to.
Ross, you and I need to t-- talk Something's wrong with Clark! about.
Okay.
H-Henry needs all of this! Beth! These aren't for you! I'm trying to do something nice for him.
How the hell did this happen, huh? But wait! Clark, listen -- this is for Henry! Listen to me.
It's your brother, okay? Come on! Clark! This is for Henry!! All right! Clark! Oh God.
Oh, my God.
You all right? I need to go home.
Will you p-please take me home? Will you please take me home? Okay.
Yes.
Yeah.
Okay, come on.
Come on.
Come on.
All right.
It's all fine here.
What if -- what if we prime toward -- okay, just lie down.
There you go.
Ooh.
Not fake exactly.
It's a great idea.
We'll do that.
Okay? But, uh, it's an associative Different a-analogs I don't understand what happened.
Years of self-conditioning's what happened.
That alarm is his failsafe.
He has to remember to turn it off every single day.
If he ever hears it beep, it means he's out of control.
And that's his signal to -- that's when he takes these.
It's 911 in a little plastic box.
I thought he didn't take medication, that it Stopped the music.
Normally he doesn't.
I wish he would, but, uh, every couple years, he has an episode, and that alarm sounds, and he takes an emergency course.
Risperidone's an anti-psychotic -- breaks the hypomania.
Lorazepam helps him sleep.
Um, how long is the course? Well, it could be 4 days, could be 14.
It takes a couple to build up in his system.
This isn't my fault.
Why -- no, you're right.
It's not as if I specifically told you to keep him here! That was the one thing I asked.
He wanted to go the mall.
I couldn't keep him here.
I tried -- you couldn't handle him -- not for 45 minutes -- which is why you should have kept the money I gave you and gone away for good.
I couldn't do that.
I love him.
That's him in the other room, barely able to string two syllables together.
That was him at the mall, in need of a translator and physical restraints.
Love him? I don't think you ever knew him.
Where are you going? Going home, doing a very poor simulation of the brain state known as "sleep.
" You're the lead on the case, not Clark.
What's that supposed to mean? Clark could be in a drug-induced stupor for a week.
We have two days left to stop a very bad produce and vindicate a guy who's got nowhere else to turn.
This is all on you, so you might want to rethink the sleep part.
You're welcome.
I'm supposed to thank you for setting me up for catastrophic failure? Are you up for this or not? I'm not.
So when you asked to take the lead on a case, that was more of an honorary thing? I asked to take the lead on a case with Clark here to backstop me, not with Clark in some post-manic coma -- we've never adjusted a strategy before? We've never had to blow one because you wouldn't listen to me.
Also, our client might be a ranting lunatic -- he's ranting because he told the truth and got treated like a lunatic.
You want me to listen to you? Y-you want me to take your advice as seriously as Clark's? Here's your chance -- go back to your office and come up with something worth listening to.
Clark spent years developing an ironclad failsafe for himself.
How come he doesn't have one for a girlfriend? You're the first one who's ever made it this far.
I want to know everything -- what he needs to get through this and how I can give it to him.
He gets two of these a day.
Next dose is at 9:00 tonight.
Miss one, and he goes right back into his manic cycle -- delusion, psychosis, who knows what else.
Here.
His psychopharmacologist.
Call him if Clark gets dizziness, headaches, whatever.
This is toxic stuff.
It can be tough on his system.
And if there's any way you can help make the case for a shrink -- it's a tall order with Clark.
He thinks they should be buying sessions with him.
You have no idea what triggered this? No, but, uh, I'm gonna find out.
Hmm.
Hmm.
You should get that.
It could be important.
Well, I know it's not you calling from a mall.
Pretty baby He got drunk, then he got belligerent, then he passed out.
Well, at least he got the order right.
Hey.
I'm trying to prove you're not some crazy conspiracist drunk.
Can't say you're helping the cause.
Oh, there's no proving it.
You failed.
It's over for me.
Don't say that.
Come on.
We've got a whole team working on this.
I'm gonna make sure that you get this done.
Mm! Uh No! Of course I didn't! I-I-I'm -- I'm almost there.
Oh.
Deconstructed bloody-Mary sorbet.
Who knew? Any chance they could reconstruct mine? Maybe serve it with a cheeseburger? Tell us about this big case you're running.
Well, it's pretty technical.
Well, that's what Houdini said to his parents.
It's real science, though.
You make it sound like I'm bending spoons at a dinner party.
You know what we think about your job.
We've already talked about this.
You never finished your phd.
We've also talked about this.
You only want me to want what you want, such as a 19-course meal that somehow still leaves us hungry.
So we're the bad guys for wanting you to join your father's firm like Joseph and Carter? I want to make something on my own.
Have you tried a pottery class? I built that company for the three of you.
Thought you'd be the one to run it.
Is that why you want to see me fail? I manage your money.
I see how much you're lending that firm.
It's already failed.
We can drop that charade.
The only question is how much more are you willing to lose before you decide it's time to win? Miles, where are you going? To win.
I don't know.
Maybe get someDinner first.
What about that thing we tried on the insurance guy? I think it was called Priming.
It's all called that, isn't it? Uh, well, just one man's opinion, but if we're having this much trouble remembering what it's called, we probably don't have the best shot at pulling it off.
Hey! Where have you been?! Brain flanking! Ooh! Clark did a study.
He put people in brain scanners, and he found that sometimes, issues that are totally unrelated, like abortion and gun control, are actually deeply related in the brain, so he mounted this furious argument on abortion, and he wasn't able to get his subjects to move an inch.
But, amazingly, their brains were so worn out that he was able to change their mind on gun control with barely a struggle.
Their brains were too tired to argue on two fronts.
So, if we can figure out what's related to whistle-blowing in blinken's mind and we can attack that issue first His defenses will be down, and we can get him to cave on whistle-blowing.
That's it.
That's the strategy.
The problem is we're never gonna get blinken into a brain scanner to figure out what's related to whistle-blowing in his mind.
Can you get a brain scanner? I'm pretty sure that I can borrow one from the cbu psych department.
Then I can get him in it.
And how certain are we that this is gonna work? Well, it's Clark's research.
I don't know every dot and every comma.
But I'm pretty sure I can cobble it together.
We're talking about a product that could hurt people and a guy who's ready to drink himself to death because we failed him.
Cobbling ain't gonna cut it.
Do you want me to pretend I'm Clark when I'm not? Because we can't even have a conversation with him.
All right, look, uh, get started on whatever there is to get started on.
What are you doing? We got a plan.
We even know what to call it.
You heard Miles.
He knows about the research.
Clark is the only one who really knows how to pull it off.
Yeah, but I thought that Clark was in dreamland for the week.
I just need him awake for two minutes, just long enough to check Miles' work.
We got one shot to get this right.
And how are you gonna do that? Just stay here.
Help Miles get started, okay? With any luck, I'll be back to fill in the blanks.
Ross Hey.
What are you doing back so soon? Just worried is all.
You were right.
Those pills really leveled him.
Uh, where are they? I was about to give him his next dose.
I wasn't going to miss one.
Uh, look.
I'll do it.
Um, I want to make sure it gets done right.
I've got this.
No, I know.
I just, um He's my little brother, and I justI want to do it.
Of course.
Thanks.
It's nice that you came back.
All set? Yeah.
All set.
How are you feeling? Day two on risperidone, I usually feel like I got a thick, wet sock over my head, but I don't feel like I got a thick, wet sock over my head -- pretty good.
You got to tell me what triggered this.
Um Well, sometimes, these episodes aren't triggered by any-- It's dad.
It's Henry.
I know it is.
You said his name at the mall.
It's, uh -- it was a coffeepot.
A cheap, plug-in coffeepot.
It was at the client's apartment.
He's got the same coffeepot as dad.
I don't remember dad having a -- eh, you were in New York.
He had this little Furnished apartment.
I don't think you ever saw it.
I visited him a couple months before the crash.
And He threw it at me.
Full of coffee, too.
Dad was, uh, an out-of-control, angry drunk.
He was mad at himself -- me, Ross.
He was mad at me.
The mental case who finally pushed him over the brink, for mom kicking him out, for -- for his whole life going to hell.
He -- he had problems long before you did.
Yeah, well, mine made them worse.
Yours gave him a chance to finally deal with his.
He didn't take it.
I always feel I feel like I was the reason You think you were the reason that he got plowed and wrecked his car? You know how hard we tried to save him from himself? He didn't want to listen.
I am sorry for screwing up the case.
It didn't help that I didn't have Claire, just that stupid stress-relieving pig.
Somebody ought to get their money back for that.
It's not your fault.
None of it is.
But you got to remember, you didn't always have Claire.
But you're always gonna have me, like it or not.
Since you happen to be up, and, uh, since the thick, wet sock is off, we're in full-execution mode on the case.
You might want to hear what Miles cooked up, based on your research, see if there's anything you might want to tweak.
I've never seen you so worked up on a case before.
I believe this guy.
And whatever hope he's got left on this earth, you're looking at it.
That means he doesn't just need me.
He needs you, too.
Well, then he's got me, too.
No, no, no.
That's not -- look, you're In a recovery process -- look, tweaking a third-hand account of Miles' second-hand strategy -- it's not gonna do it.
I'm on meds! I will promise Beth that I won't leave your side.
I'm coming to work, like it or not.
I'm fine.
I'm fine.
I'm fine.
So, just make sure blinken sees you.
But don't draw attention to yourself.
Yeah, I'll do my best.
Now! Go, go, go.
It's a parking garage, not a lunar crater.
Just walk normal! Was that enough? Mr.
blinken, Lisa Cole, department of public health.
I'm so sorry to drag you out of your office on what I understand is your last day.
Congratulations! Actually, I'm just moving over to -- did I mention that there was a toxic event in the parking garage? Key-card records show that you were there during peak hours of exposure.
Do you think I -- you know, I-I did see, uh -- well, there's a small chance you were affected, but these are neural toxins.
So, for health and legal reasons, I need to document that there was no damage to your brain.
Disclosure.
Enclosure.
Exposure.
We can't stall him much longer.
She's just making up stuff now.
It's like a bad poetry slam in there.
The stalling isOver.
All right, I found an issue that is directly tied to whistle-blowing in his head, and I've drafted an argument for Megan to use as she walks him back to his car.
Ha! Brain flanking's perfect! It never occurred to me to extrapolate the -- the principles of cognitive -- I started thinking about the modality effect, and then I started thinking about expertise reversal -- I know! I know! I know! Okay, okay, I get it.
This is the mensa version of a hug.
Now, what issue are we using to wear out his brain? Michael Jordan.
Are you having a breakdown now? I know it sounds crazy.
Brain connections often are.
But look at the amygdala.
Look at the hippocampus.
Okay, we interrogated this guy on everything short of the heating ducts in his attic, and, for whatever reason, his love of Michael Jordan and his fear of whistle-blowing line up on parallel neural circuitry.
We hit him hard enough on Jordan, we should be able to change his mind on -- on whistle-blowing.
Okay, so I am a diehard Miami heat fan who hates Michael Jordan and prefers -- what is this name? Leon? - Lebron.
- Oh, my God.
Just take all the time you need.
No.
This is wrong.
This is very wrong.
It's scripted.
I followed every -- it's too adversarial! To pull off a brain flank, Megan has to be in the same trusted in-group as blinken! She has to be a passionate bulls fan, too! Otherwise, he won't listen to her! You want her to be a bulls fan who hates Michael Jordan? That's exactly what I want.
I love the bulls, but lebron is better than Jordan.
I-I-is that so -- is that laughable?! Delusional? Contrary to the facts? If he thinks she's a bulls fan who lost her way, he'll argue 50 times harder and invest 50 times more in convincing her than if he thinks she just hates the team, so his defenses will be totally spent when we argue on the related issue -- whistle-blowing.
These are the same neuromodulation systems they use to get two small mice to fall in love with each other.
Come on.
I'm taking you home.
You're acting loopy.
No, no, no! I can't go home now! I -- I don't know the closing salvo, the final flank, t-t-the way we're m-making an argument on whistle-blowing.
I'm gonna pose as a grocery-store executive, and I'm gonna approach him about puregrow's policy.
No, no, no, no, no, no! It has to be the client! A-a-and we have to get him now, before -- hang on.
That's -- that's a bad idea.
No, it's the only idea! What could possibly connect Michael Jordan and our sad-sack client in the target's brain other than raw human emotion? They're old friends.
He's the emotional link.
What's wrong with the client? Clark! Anything in the academic literature about curing the mother of all hangovers? Not the red tie.
That'll just trigger his competitive instincts.
Not green -- that'll just prime him for aggression when we really want him to -- - Maybe, when this is over, I'll just use the green one as a noose.
Okay.
Ross, we're gonna lose a very short window of time here if we don't get moving.
There's no point of wearing out the target's brain if we just give it the rest of the day off.
Unfortunately, the target's brain and the client's liver are on slightly different schedules.
Oh, okay.
Hey, I got this.
All right.
Emphasize professional ethics.
No! Children's health! Get him to show you pictures of his children.
No! Get him to get you to show him pictures of your children! Better yet, get him to get you to get -- get him -- Clark! Clark! You are not okay.
As soon as this is over, you're going home.
You're taking your meds.
II feel great! You're still in a manic cycle.
What you need is more drugs and some rest, okay? No! Now, just take a break.
Ooh! Give us a moment.
Guys.
Come on.
Just give him a break.
Come on.
I can't do this.
You are the only one who can.
I-I ca-- I can't remember everybody's pointers.
I-I can't remember my own arguments.
My wife is right.
I'm a mess! All right.
All right.
Forget everything else.
Forget everything else and just be a mess.
This is an emotional appeal.
What's more emotional than a broken-down guy whose life is on the line? Why are you doing this for me? You don't know me.
And you're probably better off for it.
But the truth is, if I can get a mulligan, you sure as hell deserve one, too.
You know I got a court order.
I don't expect you to be my friend again.
I don't expect you to even talk to me again.
But This is the last chance for you to do what I tried to do a year ago -- what we both wanted to do five years ago.
I'm begging you.
Forget about the health risks.
Forget about trying to do anything for my family.
I need to know that I wasn't imagining the whole thing.
'Cause right now I'm not so sure anymore.
I can't do it.
Because I can't end up like you.
I'm sorry.
I've got a family, too.
Jim.
Wait.
We've obtained documents from an anonymous source that show biotech giant puregrow knowingly hid data from the fda Ha! data that suggests their gmo cauliflower could be unsafe for children Yes! This is a victory for scientific inquiry over shareholder profit -- for empirical, incontrovertible evidence over It's a victory for our client.
Cheers.
Oh.
Wow.
Since you were left out of all the news stories I thought someone ought to take you out to celebrate.
If that's something you'd like.
That's something I'd like very much.
Thank you For believing in my husband when no one else did.
Me included.
He has a habit of doing that.
My parents were right That I can't do this on my own.
That until you came back, I was just -- kept the case alive.
You came in with a plan after I torpedoed one that would have worked.
Look, I can't do this on my own, either.
You'd have had your own case weeks ago if I didn't need you for every one of mine.
Hey.
Oh, hi.
Oh, hey.
You okay? Aw.
Yeah.
Okay.
He hasn't left my sight, but now it's time to get him home and put him to bed.
I'll drive.
Oh, I'll drive him.
I can take it from here.
Wait, and just -- j-- can't it wait just a little bit? Because this is a perfect time for -- mnh-mnh.
Mnh-mnh.
for Miles and I to sit down and write down -- no, no.
Home, meds, bed.
obser-- okay.
Here's the interesting part.
Oh! I'm sorry.
Do you want to know the interesting part? Is it that I didn't want you to drive and now you're ignoring the speed limit? Brain flanking perfectly -- oh! No, give me, give me, give me, give me! No! No! No, no, no, no! Stop! Please pull over now so I can -- oh! Please pull over so that I can drive.
Look -- in the light of -- oh, look! There it is, like a backlit wheel of cheese! Please slow down! Art meets science fiction! We could mount an exhibit at the office! Pull over now.
You are still --