Sleeper Cell s01e06 Episode Script
Family
X-pert security offers you the guaranteed assurance that your facility will be safeguarded from any undesirables.
It's a nice speech, but this isn't fort knox.
Our biggest security threat is one guy punching out another guy over taking a parking spot.
I would think that a man in your position would take this a little more seriously.
I've been here for 20 years.
Locks on the gates and an alarm on the front door has worked pretty good so far.
Let me ask you a question.
Since 9/11, which facilities have risen as potential threats? Chemical plants.
Look, I know this song and dance.
You want to scare me into thinking everybody's a terrorist, and they're all out to get us, and they're going to do it by breaking into this factory.
Am I right? They won't need to break in.
They'll already be working here.
In the last factory, we found five sex offenders and eight illegals.
Now, the federal government are this close to regulating security procedures in plants such as yours.
If your hiring turns out to be that sloppy, who do you think your bosses are going to blame when their insurance premiums skyrocket? What am I going to do, fire everybody? An easier solution would be to enlist our services.
With your permission, we can conduct a thorough background check on all of your employees.
After all, not everyone is who they appear to be.
The average iraqi packing a hip-fired A.
K.
Won't hit a man past 25 meters.
But a vehicle? That's a juicy target.
It gives you three to five guys packed within two meters of each other, traveling on a narrow, predictable path.
Yeah, so you were walking, right? That's right, I'm walking.
Darwyn, hey.
Aren't you anita's son? Yeah.
Hey, he's in the service, too.
Used to be, used to be.
I never saw any combat, though.
According to the paperwork, neither have I.
Baghdad don't count as a war zone, even though we average two casualties there every day.
J.
C.
Jay clarence? Mm-hmm.
Helena's son? Yeah.
I knew you looked familiar, man.
I haven't seen you since we were kids, man.
We're cousins.
Your mom is my mom's big sister.
Oh, yeah, now I remember you.
What's up? So, you home for good now? Unh-unh, I go back next tuesday.
Times flies when you're not at war.
Yeah, I bet it does.
Darwyn? Why didn't you tell me you were coming? Because I know how much you like surprises.
And what did you do with your hair? Look at this scruffy thing.
I kind of got like a john shaft thing going.
I'm going to get my scissors out and even this all up for you.
See, no more homemade haircuts, ma.
No more.
You still got this old thing, huh, ma? It works, just not so good.
One way or another, I'm not missing a niners game.
I haven't missed throwing an opening-season barbecue in 15 years.
I promised you I wouldn't miss another one.
Oh, they never should have gotten rid of T.
O.
They've lost their edge.
But they got this new quarterback this season, so we'll see how it goes.
You got to be the only niners fan in compton.
Some things never change.
And speaking of things which never change you talk to your father recently? You should go see him.
Just because you work for the FBI doesn't mean you're not his son.
He's the one you need to convince on that topic, ma.
Baby, can you help me with this reception? I don't want to miss the opening kickoff.
It's great to see everybody.
I didn't even recognize J.
C.
How's aunt helena doing? Well, you can ask her yourself if you stay long enough.
She showing up for the game? Yep, and she's going to be staying here for a while, too -- her and J.
C.
'S two little sisters.
What? How come? Hmm.
Helena had herself an electrical fire last week.
Bad wiring is what the fire inspector said.
The whole diner went up.
They were lucky to even get out of there before it was too late.
Helena had every penny sunk into that place.
She can't even afford to pay rent on her apartment now, so I'm taking them in -- at least till she can get back up on her feet.
That's awful good of you, mom, but where they going to sleep? And who's going to feed those kids of hers? I got a little something saved.
I still get a teacher's pension every month.
Helena will sleep on the couch, and the two girls will share my bed.
And where are you going to sleep? I got me a cot in the garage that I'm going to move into the living room.
Don't you worry about me.
I'm going to be fine.
Be very nice to have some kids running around here, even if they're teenagers.
Oh! Ha ha ha.
What do you think of our chemical candidates? This one -- ernest jefferson.
I think he offers us the best opportunity.
Let this recording, along with our success in los angeles, inspire our brothers across the world, in numbers great and small, to take arms against the anglo-american regimes and every nation that sides with them.
With allah's blessing, we will remove the infidels and their apostate collaborators from the muslim nations.
Let this also be a statement to the american people that your government has brought upon you the wrath of the one -- Thomas.
I told you not to come, lynne.
Well, I -- I wanted to surprise you.
So.
This is your place.
It's like something out of james ellroy in "L.
A.
Confidential" -- so banal, it's filled with character.
Since when are you into popular fiction, mom? Oh, well, that's not fair.
You know I can enjoy anything, so long as it's not set in the present day.
It's good to see you, thomas, and, um, to be with you.
And don't worry, I'm not here to try to drag you back to château de emerson.
I'm just here to visit.
I'm only in town for two days -- just pop in, pop out.
But, um I would love to spend every free moment with you.
Is that really such a horrible prospect for you -- no, mom, I just -- it -- I'm really busy, you know.
I've got, uh responsibilities.
You know? I was actually just leaving.
Oh, uh, well, look, wherever you're going, if you're in a hurry, I could give you a ride, and, um, then maybe I could come back here or pick you up wherever, and I could take you to lunch or -- or dinner.
Okay.
Great, okay.
That'll give me a chance to fill you in on the symposium I'm leading tomorrow.
Sodium is detected in its compound by the bright-yellow coloration, which it imparts to flame when burned.
I, uh, I heard that sodium explodes if you put it in water.
Is that true? This is a science lab, so let's find out.
I'll fill it.
Okay, now, stand back.
Oh! Oh! Okay, the fun is over.
Everyone, now we get back to work.
Everyone back to their lab stations to prepare for lesson 5.
People have this romanticized, mythologized view of knights and squires and damsels in distress, when the reality -- as you well know, thanks to me -- is that knights and squires were nothing more than rapacious war profiteers and professional rapists.
Actually, not that unlike our early 21st century american military.
You know, um we were so happy when you finally realized how wrong it would be for you to stay in the army, thomas.
I mean, today more than ever, that is just not a life for a young man like you.
That was something even your father and I could agree on.
Well, there you go, mom.
That's why I did it -- to bring you two together.
I'll see ya.
You know, um I really am very proud of you.
you know, your dad is, too.
You've gone your own way, and you've built your own life, and I just want you to know that it makes me very happy to see it.
I love you, too, lynne.
Hey, who's the hot chick? The subject's name is ernest jefferson.
He works for an insecticide plant in glendale.
The man is in debt -- alimony, child support.
He hates his job.
He hates his life.
He's a confirmed loser and a soft target.
He gets off every night at 6:00, and he frequents this bar a few blocks from his work by the name of dick's den.
That's where you'll meet this black brother of yours.
We're not allowed to drink alcohol.
The rules of the house of islam can be broken in the land of unbelievers as long as it serves god's cause.
Now, you do what you need to do in order to make friends.
Why am I making friends with this guy? Because he has access to something we need.
What are you doing here, man? What, you're not happy to see me? This isn't the meeting place anymore.
You can't be seen here.
Aw, relax, man.
Just feeling a little left out, you know.
Neither of us is involved in whatever farik is up to right now.
Ilija's the go-to guy, man.
We both know that.
He and farik go way back -- the front lines outside sarajevo.
What about darwyn? What is that -- affirmative action? hey, man, I thought you left that skinhead, racist shit behind, man.
We're all brothers in islam.
Oh, my god.
What's going on? Don't ask.
I love this place, thomas.
It's so "american graffiti.
" Hello, are you a friend of thomas'? Well, I'm not sure.
Am I your friend, thomas? Christian, this is lynne.
Lynne, christian.
This is your mother? I thought she was your sister.
Oh, merci.
Charming and a good liar.
I like him already.
So, how do you two know each other? We go to the same mosque.
Oh, well, good for the both of you.
You know, I spoke to ruth myers the other day, and she was so impressed when I told her what you'd been doing with yourself.
We are surrounded by so much blind hatred of muslims.
It just makes your own spiritual awakening that much more significant as a cross-cultural act.
Did you ever think maybe I don't want to be talked about? Maybe I'm a little tired of being a topic of gossip for you and your friends? We were just sharing our pride in you, thomas.
So, how is it you speak french? Professional reasons.
I'm a medieval historian, and in medieval europe, the lingua franca was french.
Like english today.
Yes, unfortunately.
Listen, I have a good idea.
I was going to invite thomas to a symposium that I'm leading, and since you two are such good friends, perhaps you would like to come along, as well.
Christian's got a lot of -- yeah, I would love to.
Great.
When I came to this country, my parents put me in an all-american high school.
So, every day, the teachers would call out the names of attendance -- jonathan bradley, samantha peterson, jim brown, and jelena jovanavic.
That's horrible.
It gets worse.
In english, we had to read out loud to the class.
The students would laugh at me because of my heavy accent.
What? Is something the matter? No, just tell me, how does it feel to be sipping coffee and sharing pleasant conversation with a pseci? "Pseci" is a dog.
What are you talking about? Did my name fool you? If my parents had spelled my name the way they should have, with a "z" on the end, maybe then you would have known better -- ilijaz.
Do not play dumb.
You are serb -- christ worshipper, huh? What would your family say if they knew you were sharing a table with a bosnian muslim dog? My -- my family is from belgrade.
We were nowhere near the war.
Do you think that makes you exempt? My family was slaughtered! I saw my brother killed before my eyes.
We had nothing to do with it.
Please, believe me, ilija.
When you liked me in the classroom, I was still a serb, and you were bosnian.
I was christian, and you were muslim.
But we're here now in america.
Those things belong in the past.
Please leave them there.
I'm not american, and no matter how much you try, you will never be an american, either.
Hi.
You guys ready for the return of our lord and savior, jesus christ? When is he coming? Any day now.
Why don't you guys drop by one of our meetings on friday? I'll tell you all about it.
I'm at mosque fridays.
That's cool.
Why don't you drop by and hear what the bible has to say? Can't you hear, jesus boy? We're muslims.
You know, there are some things in the "koo-ran" that are actually in the true bible, as well.
It's the holy koran.
What matters isn't what it says in the book, man.
What matters is how you put it into practice in your life.
Muslims don't just serve god once a week when they step into church and then forget all about him for the next six days.
Think it over, man.
You know, jesus loves you.
Fucking religious fanatics.
What? So, uh, what time you get off? None of your business.
Oh, juanita.
Come on, girl, one night.
That's all I'm asking about is one night.
It'll change your whole life.
Why don't you go fuck yourself, ernie? Shit, that's what I'm trying to avoid.
Anybody sitting here? You, if you sit down.
Ahh! What you drinking? A slow, comfortable screw with a fat chick.
Never heard of one of those before.
Yeah, well, it's my own special drink, you know? You got your sloe gin, your southern comfort, your vodka and O.
J.
For the screw, and then sometimes they top it off with tequila and call it a slow comfortable screw with a mexican, or bacardi and it's a puerto rican, but I don't go for all that light shit.
I have 'em top it off with some corn liquor.
That's your fat chick, huh? Hell, yeah.
This shit will make you wake up the next day sore all over splitting headache, wishing you hadn't did what you did the night before -- just like you screwed a fat chick.
Yeah, well, I don't know much about that drink, but there ain't nothing wrong with a big woman, man.
No, see, that's just more layers for the players.
All right.
Okay, that's good.
I like that.
What's your name, youngblood? Darwyn.
Ernest jefferson.
Of course, everybody always calls me ernie j Juanita! Juanita bonita! Another one of these here for my man, mr.
Survival of the fittest, please.
I'm way too much of a lightweight for one of those.
A beer will be fine.
Our next speaker is a professor of medieval european history at berkeley as well as a well-respected member of the public policy community in northern california, and she's also a personal friend of mine.
I would like to ask you to join me in welcoming lynne ellen emerson.
For far too long, we americans imagined ourselves apart from history.
But the dramatic events of recent years should have proven to all but the most stubborn among us that even 21st-century americans are inextricably linked to history.
Hey.
In the world of science, no one questions the notion that for every action there is a reaction.
Oh, god, please, stop! Well, we now need to make those connections between america's foreign policy past and the disturbing present in which we americans find ourselves here at the dawn of the 21st century.
What the fuck are you doing? I'm making a recruitment video.
You're doing what? For the cause, man.
Once our mission is accomplished, we can be an inspiration to others.
I'm gonna send this to aljazeera.
What the fuck, man? You just smashed my fuckin' tape.
Now I don't have to smash your face in when farik finds out.
Anybody sees this, we're fucked, the whole mission is fucked.
You understand? Come on.
So, you gonna be okay, man? You need a lift home? Ain't nothing wrong with me, god damn it.
I can drive.
Come on.
Come on, you bitch.
Turn over.
Turn over, you fucking bitch! Fuck! Pop the hood.
I'll take a look.
That's bad news, man.
What? Timing chain is broke.
What does that mean? Means a thousand bucks, easy.
Are you fuckin' kidding me?! Oh, fuck! Shit! Shit! One fucking thousand dollars and a tow on top of that? Fuck me! Shit! Yeah, and you should do it in the morning, man, before they impound your car.
I got to work tomorrow and i done used up all my sick days.
Fuck! Fuck! Shit! Yo, just -- yo, relax, man.
Relax, all right? Everything gonna work itself out.
Shit, that's what I used to say.
Now fuckin' look at me.
Work in a shithole.
Ex-wife draining my sorry ass with alimony.
Teenage kid that won't even talk to me.
And no pussy that will even so much as flash a smile in my general direction if I don't pay 'em off with cash or weed.
You know what I wanted to be when I was younger? A deejay.
No shit? No shit.
Everybody said ernie J.
Had the gift of gab, you know, and I loved me some music.
The meters, stylistics, early commodores.
None of that later lionel richie solo shit.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is ernie J.
From midnight to dawn, sit back, relax, and enjoy.
Yeah, that was my dream.
So, what happened? Life, man.
Yeah, you know, life will always find a way to fuck you when you least expect it.
I got this, uh, sweet gig remodeling this house out in studio city, right? I do some contracting, you know, construction.
So, I get fronted all this money for this job.
I need a bunch of hard-core chemicals.
I'm talking about the kind of shit you can't just pick up at home depot, right? So, you need a contractor's license, which I don't have, so, I got to return all this money because I can't get this stuff.
Shit.
You know I work in a chemical plant.
Oh, yeah? What kind of chemicals? If the price is right any kind you need, brother.
What's up? Phosgene.
Son of a bitch.
They used that stuff in world war I.
It's a choking agent.
It's got a lot of uses -- paint thinner, pesticides, plastics.
In then wrong hands, that's a hell of a fuckin' weapon.
Yeah.
I just made the deal to get the stuff.
I should be picking it up any day now.
Something else on your mind? I need a favor, ray.
My mom is stretching herself thin trying to take care of some family.
So, I need you to take my next couple of paychecks and make them out to her.
Cover my bills as usual, but everything else, just put it in some phony I.
R.
S.
Letter or something.
It's a tax rebate.
No problem.
What do you think farik's up to with that phosgene? Never know until the last fucking minute with him.
But knowing farik, it's just another test run, man.
That warehouse, that's for something much bigger than 100 gallons of phosgene.
Hey, stranger.
Yeah, I deserve that.
Yeah, you do.
So, where's marcus? He's at the playground with my sister and her kids.
must be nice to have some extended family around.
I went to see my family the other day.
I haven't seen any of them in a long time.
They didn't visit you in prison? I didn't want my mom to see me behind bars.
My dad wouldn't have showed up anyway.
Oh, no? Why not? My mom was a methodist and my dad a member of the nation of islam.
So, she converted so they could get married, but eventually she decided she wanted to be more of a traditional muslim -- a sunni.
So that caused problems at home.
Yeah.
Yeah, you know, the nation and traditional islam have a lot of differences.
They can coexist in the same country, in the same city, but not under the same roof.
Anyway, after a lot of arguments and A lot of screaming, they finally just got divorced.
What were you doing in a synagogue? What are you talking about? My sister said she thought she saw you walking out of a synagogue in westwood the other night.
You said you were going to see your parole officer.
Yeah, I did see my parole officer.
Then I went for a job interview as a security guard at that synagogue.
But, uh once they do a background check, that's it.
Nobody really wants to hire an ex-con.
You've been gone a while.
Thinking maybe you feel guilty.
Maybe you want to make it up to me? Yeah.
You really, really want to make it up to me? Yeah.
What are you doing at 2:00? Let's welcome marcus' special guest, darwyn al-hakim.
This is darwyn.
I picked darwyn for V.
I.
P.
Day because he's nice, he's tall.
Darwyn is a muslim and I'm not, so that's why he's different.
Okay.
Any questions? My dad said that muslims don't like us and don't eat bacon.
Well, I'm a muslim.
You think I don't like you? I don't know.
I like marcus, and he's not a muslim.
So, why'd they fly planes into buildings? I'm sorry, I -- it's okay, it's okay.
Who has a cousin? Raise your hand.
You, too, miss graham.
I'm sure you have a cousin, right? Has your cousin ever done anything bad, like really bad? One time, my cousin, he ate the last piece of cake and blamed it on me, but I only had one slice.
I hear you.
So, if your cousin does something wrong, does that make your whole family bad? No.
No.
Well, I guess that's the point.
Just because there are some muslims that are bad doesn't mean that all muslims are bad, does it? No.
No.
But can you eat bacon? Yes turkey bacon.
You having fun? If I keep this up, I'm gonna break 200.
Pretty damn good.
If I'd wanted to be ignored, I would' stayed at home.
You mean like I was ignored when I was growing up and you were spending seminars, sit-ins? You know, I would really hope that by this point in your life you could understand all that.
I understand.
You left me at home to be raised by a 60-year-old black woman -- theresa loved you like her own son.
Fuckin' housekeeper, lynne.
Only one who ever bothered picking me up from school, taking me to a museum or a ball game.
Shit.
I'm sorry.
I don't know why I bother bringing all this stuff up.
We both know, the real reason you came here is to give your goddamn speech -- no, the only reason I attended that was to be close to you.
Afterwards, at the reception, I was the only one that was alone.
Then you shouldn't have come, lynne.
I didn't ask you to.
No, but you did call and ask me for money, didn't you? You know, you are so much like your father, and you totally let him off the hook every time -- every time! You know, `he wasn't there, either.
Well, can you blame him? Spending his entire life kissing your ass, listening to you babble on about another historical exposé revealing richard the lionhearted was a misogynistic, gay, war criminal.
And who the fuck cares, lynne?! Admit it! Your whole life is just an endless stream of pretentious bullshit.
No wonder you're alone.
You know, the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, "paradise is at the feet of the mother.
" Stay out of it, man.
You don't understand.
I'm alone in this country.
My wife is on the other side of the world.
And you have family right here.
So, you're right.
I don't understand.
It's freezing in here.
Got to be.
Phosgene only remains stable at 47 degrees fahrenheit or below.
That's him.
Who is that? It's my partner, man, from the contracting job, remember? Oh, okay.
$7,500.
Don't spend it all in one place.
If the place is worth it, why not? So, what do you guys use this for again? Strips away paint fast enough that we can repaint in hours.
It's for the big jobs.
Well, if I'd have known that, I'd have charged you $12,000.
Hold me tight.
Tighter.
You're sweet.
I haven't done that in a long time.
Your husband doesn't know what he's missing.
Yes, he does.
No, he gets laid all the time, you know, thomas' father? Yeah.
My husband, he's -- he's an english lit professor.
Very, very popular with the undergraduate girls.
All my efforts over all these years, and the only thing that works for me is history.
I judge it.
It doesn't judge me.
Do you have any idea how it feels to be despised by the people that you love? Yes.
I do.
Hashim abd al-aziz.
What are you talking about? Here.
Everything you ever wanted to know about faris al-farik, or hashim abd al-aziz.
The D.
O.
D.
Finally got back to me on the fort benning lead.
They found a name to go with farik's face.
Problem is the guy's been dead for 14 years.
Damn.
He ripped the identity off a dead guy.
Yeah, but look at those documents, darwyn.
This guy didn't just sneak across the border and get a fake social security card.
Those are official royal saudi land forces paperwork.
So there's somebody in the saudi military who falsified all the data on this guy as he came to the U.
S.
Military or the government.
The problem is, if we look into it, we risk taking a burn that could tip farik, or whatever the hell his fuckin' name is.
We have another issue.
Oh, yeah? Darwyn, I'll always go to bat for you, but I'm having a hard time looking the other way while my U.
C.
runs around town with a married woman and her kid.
Whoa.
Hold up, man.
W-what are you talking about? You talking about gayle? Her husband is dead.
She'a widow.
Is that what she told you? Her husband's serving a 20-year sentence in san quentin for vehicular manslaughter and drug trafficking.
She said he died in the accident.
There was an accident, all right.
He killed a couple of people.
And when the chp showed up, they found 650 grams of cocaine in his trunk.
Can you dig your head out of your ass long enough to handle this situation befo it boils over, darwyn? Can you hear me? Excuse me.
What's your problem, man? Trust me, thomas, you don't want to know.
What's that supposed to mean? It means I think I might miss someone.
Might miss who? Motherfucker.
You're damn right I am, tommy boy.
What do you mean by that? What do you think it means? It means I fucked your mother.
She was good.
Fuck with me?! That's enough.
Hey, hey, hey.
Who do I shoot first, huh?! Answer me! Which one of my brothers in islam do I put down first? I'm sorry, farik, he fuckin' -- he is a holy warrior for allah, same as you.
Is this how you serve god -- by arguing over this petty bullshit? And you, constantly sticking your dick where it doesn't belong.
Is that how you honor allah? I'm sorry, farik.
You want to kill him? Go ahead.
Maybe that will teach him a lesson.
Oh, and tommy? After you shoot christian, you might as well shoot the rest of us and then yourself because you would've destroyed everything we are here to do.
You're a good man, tommy and a good soldier.
Besides christian was just joking, right? Yeah, he's right.
I was just fucking with you, tommy.
I would never do something like that to you.
You're my brother.
I'm sorry.
Apology accepted.
Good.
Now let's pack up these dogs.
Yes? Got a delivery for anita al-sayeed.
What kind of delivery? It's a 34-inch tv and a satellite dish.
No, that's a mistake.
I didn't order anything -- No mistake, ma'am.
Your name and your address is right here.
See? It's from my son.
I'll be right back.
The weather today is perfect for our little experiment.
There's light, steady wind coming from the south.
Come on.
Get in the cage.
Excellent.
The dogs we'll target next will have two legs instead of four.
It's a nice speech, but this isn't fort knox.
Our biggest security threat is one guy punching out another guy over taking a parking spot.
I would think that a man in your position would take this a little more seriously.
I've been here for 20 years.
Locks on the gates and an alarm on the front door has worked pretty good so far.
Let me ask you a question.
Since 9/11, which facilities have risen as potential threats? Chemical plants.
Look, I know this song and dance.
You want to scare me into thinking everybody's a terrorist, and they're all out to get us, and they're going to do it by breaking into this factory.
Am I right? They won't need to break in.
They'll already be working here.
In the last factory, we found five sex offenders and eight illegals.
Now, the federal government are this close to regulating security procedures in plants such as yours.
If your hiring turns out to be that sloppy, who do you think your bosses are going to blame when their insurance premiums skyrocket? What am I going to do, fire everybody? An easier solution would be to enlist our services.
With your permission, we can conduct a thorough background check on all of your employees.
After all, not everyone is who they appear to be.
The average iraqi packing a hip-fired A.
K.
Won't hit a man past 25 meters.
But a vehicle? That's a juicy target.
It gives you three to five guys packed within two meters of each other, traveling on a narrow, predictable path.
Yeah, so you were walking, right? That's right, I'm walking.
Darwyn, hey.
Aren't you anita's son? Yeah.
Hey, he's in the service, too.
Used to be, used to be.
I never saw any combat, though.
According to the paperwork, neither have I.
Baghdad don't count as a war zone, even though we average two casualties there every day.
J.
C.
Jay clarence? Mm-hmm.
Helena's son? Yeah.
I knew you looked familiar, man.
I haven't seen you since we were kids, man.
We're cousins.
Your mom is my mom's big sister.
Oh, yeah, now I remember you.
What's up? So, you home for good now? Unh-unh, I go back next tuesday.
Times flies when you're not at war.
Yeah, I bet it does.
Darwyn? Why didn't you tell me you were coming? Because I know how much you like surprises.
And what did you do with your hair? Look at this scruffy thing.
I kind of got like a john shaft thing going.
I'm going to get my scissors out and even this all up for you.
See, no more homemade haircuts, ma.
No more.
You still got this old thing, huh, ma? It works, just not so good.
One way or another, I'm not missing a niners game.
I haven't missed throwing an opening-season barbecue in 15 years.
I promised you I wouldn't miss another one.
Oh, they never should have gotten rid of T.
O.
They've lost their edge.
But they got this new quarterback this season, so we'll see how it goes.
You got to be the only niners fan in compton.
Some things never change.
And speaking of things which never change you talk to your father recently? You should go see him.
Just because you work for the FBI doesn't mean you're not his son.
He's the one you need to convince on that topic, ma.
Baby, can you help me with this reception? I don't want to miss the opening kickoff.
It's great to see everybody.
I didn't even recognize J.
C.
How's aunt helena doing? Well, you can ask her yourself if you stay long enough.
She showing up for the game? Yep, and she's going to be staying here for a while, too -- her and J.
C.
'S two little sisters.
What? How come? Hmm.
Helena had herself an electrical fire last week.
Bad wiring is what the fire inspector said.
The whole diner went up.
They were lucky to even get out of there before it was too late.
Helena had every penny sunk into that place.
She can't even afford to pay rent on her apartment now, so I'm taking them in -- at least till she can get back up on her feet.
That's awful good of you, mom, but where they going to sleep? And who's going to feed those kids of hers? I got a little something saved.
I still get a teacher's pension every month.
Helena will sleep on the couch, and the two girls will share my bed.
And where are you going to sleep? I got me a cot in the garage that I'm going to move into the living room.
Don't you worry about me.
I'm going to be fine.
Be very nice to have some kids running around here, even if they're teenagers.
Oh! Ha ha ha.
What do you think of our chemical candidates? This one -- ernest jefferson.
I think he offers us the best opportunity.
Let this recording, along with our success in los angeles, inspire our brothers across the world, in numbers great and small, to take arms against the anglo-american regimes and every nation that sides with them.
With allah's blessing, we will remove the infidels and their apostate collaborators from the muslim nations.
Let this also be a statement to the american people that your government has brought upon you the wrath of the one -- Thomas.
I told you not to come, lynne.
Well, I -- I wanted to surprise you.
So.
This is your place.
It's like something out of james ellroy in "L.
A.
Confidential" -- so banal, it's filled with character.
Since when are you into popular fiction, mom? Oh, well, that's not fair.
You know I can enjoy anything, so long as it's not set in the present day.
It's good to see you, thomas, and, um, to be with you.
And don't worry, I'm not here to try to drag you back to château de emerson.
I'm just here to visit.
I'm only in town for two days -- just pop in, pop out.
But, um I would love to spend every free moment with you.
Is that really such a horrible prospect for you -- no, mom, I just -- it -- I'm really busy, you know.
I've got, uh responsibilities.
You know? I was actually just leaving.
Oh, uh, well, look, wherever you're going, if you're in a hurry, I could give you a ride, and, um, then maybe I could come back here or pick you up wherever, and I could take you to lunch or -- or dinner.
Okay.
Great, okay.
That'll give me a chance to fill you in on the symposium I'm leading tomorrow.
Sodium is detected in its compound by the bright-yellow coloration, which it imparts to flame when burned.
I, uh, I heard that sodium explodes if you put it in water.
Is that true? This is a science lab, so let's find out.
I'll fill it.
Okay, now, stand back.
Oh! Oh! Okay, the fun is over.
Everyone, now we get back to work.
Everyone back to their lab stations to prepare for lesson 5.
People have this romanticized, mythologized view of knights and squires and damsels in distress, when the reality -- as you well know, thanks to me -- is that knights and squires were nothing more than rapacious war profiteers and professional rapists.
Actually, not that unlike our early 21st century american military.
You know, um we were so happy when you finally realized how wrong it would be for you to stay in the army, thomas.
I mean, today more than ever, that is just not a life for a young man like you.
That was something even your father and I could agree on.
Well, there you go, mom.
That's why I did it -- to bring you two together.
I'll see ya.
You know, um I really am very proud of you.
you know, your dad is, too.
You've gone your own way, and you've built your own life, and I just want you to know that it makes me very happy to see it.
I love you, too, lynne.
Hey, who's the hot chick? The subject's name is ernest jefferson.
He works for an insecticide plant in glendale.
The man is in debt -- alimony, child support.
He hates his job.
He hates his life.
He's a confirmed loser and a soft target.
He gets off every night at 6:00, and he frequents this bar a few blocks from his work by the name of dick's den.
That's where you'll meet this black brother of yours.
We're not allowed to drink alcohol.
The rules of the house of islam can be broken in the land of unbelievers as long as it serves god's cause.
Now, you do what you need to do in order to make friends.
Why am I making friends with this guy? Because he has access to something we need.
What are you doing here, man? What, you're not happy to see me? This isn't the meeting place anymore.
You can't be seen here.
Aw, relax, man.
Just feeling a little left out, you know.
Neither of us is involved in whatever farik is up to right now.
Ilija's the go-to guy, man.
We both know that.
He and farik go way back -- the front lines outside sarajevo.
What about darwyn? What is that -- affirmative action? hey, man, I thought you left that skinhead, racist shit behind, man.
We're all brothers in islam.
Oh, my god.
What's going on? Don't ask.
I love this place, thomas.
It's so "american graffiti.
" Hello, are you a friend of thomas'? Well, I'm not sure.
Am I your friend, thomas? Christian, this is lynne.
Lynne, christian.
This is your mother? I thought she was your sister.
Oh, merci.
Charming and a good liar.
I like him already.
So, how do you two know each other? We go to the same mosque.
Oh, well, good for the both of you.
You know, I spoke to ruth myers the other day, and she was so impressed when I told her what you'd been doing with yourself.
We are surrounded by so much blind hatred of muslims.
It just makes your own spiritual awakening that much more significant as a cross-cultural act.
Did you ever think maybe I don't want to be talked about? Maybe I'm a little tired of being a topic of gossip for you and your friends? We were just sharing our pride in you, thomas.
So, how is it you speak french? Professional reasons.
I'm a medieval historian, and in medieval europe, the lingua franca was french.
Like english today.
Yes, unfortunately.
Listen, I have a good idea.
I was going to invite thomas to a symposium that I'm leading, and since you two are such good friends, perhaps you would like to come along, as well.
Christian's got a lot of -- yeah, I would love to.
Great.
When I came to this country, my parents put me in an all-american high school.
So, every day, the teachers would call out the names of attendance -- jonathan bradley, samantha peterson, jim brown, and jelena jovanavic.
That's horrible.
It gets worse.
In english, we had to read out loud to the class.
The students would laugh at me because of my heavy accent.
What? Is something the matter? No, just tell me, how does it feel to be sipping coffee and sharing pleasant conversation with a pseci? "Pseci" is a dog.
What are you talking about? Did my name fool you? If my parents had spelled my name the way they should have, with a "z" on the end, maybe then you would have known better -- ilijaz.
Do not play dumb.
You are serb -- christ worshipper, huh? What would your family say if they knew you were sharing a table with a bosnian muslim dog? My -- my family is from belgrade.
We were nowhere near the war.
Do you think that makes you exempt? My family was slaughtered! I saw my brother killed before my eyes.
We had nothing to do with it.
Please, believe me, ilija.
When you liked me in the classroom, I was still a serb, and you were bosnian.
I was christian, and you were muslim.
But we're here now in america.
Those things belong in the past.
Please leave them there.
I'm not american, and no matter how much you try, you will never be an american, either.
Hi.
You guys ready for the return of our lord and savior, jesus christ? When is he coming? Any day now.
Why don't you guys drop by one of our meetings on friday? I'll tell you all about it.
I'm at mosque fridays.
That's cool.
Why don't you drop by and hear what the bible has to say? Can't you hear, jesus boy? We're muslims.
You know, there are some things in the "koo-ran" that are actually in the true bible, as well.
It's the holy koran.
What matters isn't what it says in the book, man.
What matters is how you put it into practice in your life.
Muslims don't just serve god once a week when they step into church and then forget all about him for the next six days.
Think it over, man.
You know, jesus loves you.
Fucking religious fanatics.
What? So, uh, what time you get off? None of your business.
Oh, juanita.
Come on, girl, one night.
That's all I'm asking about is one night.
It'll change your whole life.
Why don't you go fuck yourself, ernie? Shit, that's what I'm trying to avoid.
Anybody sitting here? You, if you sit down.
Ahh! What you drinking? A slow, comfortable screw with a fat chick.
Never heard of one of those before.
Yeah, well, it's my own special drink, you know? You got your sloe gin, your southern comfort, your vodka and O.
J.
For the screw, and then sometimes they top it off with tequila and call it a slow comfortable screw with a mexican, or bacardi and it's a puerto rican, but I don't go for all that light shit.
I have 'em top it off with some corn liquor.
That's your fat chick, huh? Hell, yeah.
This shit will make you wake up the next day sore all over splitting headache, wishing you hadn't did what you did the night before -- just like you screwed a fat chick.
Yeah, well, I don't know much about that drink, but there ain't nothing wrong with a big woman, man.
No, see, that's just more layers for the players.
All right.
Okay, that's good.
I like that.
What's your name, youngblood? Darwyn.
Ernest jefferson.
Of course, everybody always calls me ernie j Juanita! Juanita bonita! Another one of these here for my man, mr.
Survival of the fittest, please.
I'm way too much of a lightweight for one of those.
A beer will be fine.
Our next speaker is a professor of medieval european history at berkeley as well as a well-respected member of the public policy community in northern california, and she's also a personal friend of mine.
I would like to ask you to join me in welcoming lynne ellen emerson.
For far too long, we americans imagined ourselves apart from history.
But the dramatic events of recent years should have proven to all but the most stubborn among us that even 21st-century americans are inextricably linked to history.
Hey.
In the world of science, no one questions the notion that for every action there is a reaction.
Oh, god, please, stop! Well, we now need to make those connections between america's foreign policy past and the disturbing present in which we americans find ourselves here at the dawn of the 21st century.
What the fuck are you doing? I'm making a recruitment video.
You're doing what? For the cause, man.
Once our mission is accomplished, we can be an inspiration to others.
I'm gonna send this to aljazeera.
What the fuck, man? You just smashed my fuckin' tape.
Now I don't have to smash your face in when farik finds out.
Anybody sees this, we're fucked, the whole mission is fucked.
You understand? Come on.
So, you gonna be okay, man? You need a lift home? Ain't nothing wrong with me, god damn it.
I can drive.
Come on.
Come on, you bitch.
Turn over.
Turn over, you fucking bitch! Fuck! Pop the hood.
I'll take a look.
That's bad news, man.
What? Timing chain is broke.
What does that mean? Means a thousand bucks, easy.
Are you fuckin' kidding me?! Oh, fuck! Shit! Shit! One fucking thousand dollars and a tow on top of that? Fuck me! Shit! Yeah, and you should do it in the morning, man, before they impound your car.
I got to work tomorrow and i done used up all my sick days.
Fuck! Fuck! Shit! Yo, just -- yo, relax, man.
Relax, all right? Everything gonna work itself out.
Shit, that's what I used to say.
Now fuckin' look at me.
Work in a shithole.
Ex-wife draining my sorry ass with alimony.
Teenage kid that won't even talk to me.
And no pussy that will even so much as flash a smile in my general direction if I don't pay 'em off with cash or weed.
You know what I wanted to be when I was younger? A deejay.
No shit? No shit.
Everybody said ernie J.
Had the gift of gab, you know, and I loved me some music.
The meters, stylistics, early commodores.
None of that later lionel richie solo shit.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is ernie J.
From midnight to dawn, sit back, relax, and enjoy.
Yeah, that was my dream.
So, what happened? Life, man.
Yeah, you know, life will always find a way to fuck you when you least expect it.
I got this, uh, sweet gig remodeling this house out in studio city, right? I do some contracting, you know, construction.
So, I get fronted all this money for this job.
I need a bunch of hard-core chemicals.
I'm talking about the kind of shit you can't just pick up at home depot, right? So, you need a contractor's license, which I don't have, so, I got to return all this money because I can't get this stuff.
Shit.
You know I work in a chemical plant.
Oh, yeah? What kind of chemicals? If the price is right any kind you need, brother.
What's up? Phosgene.
Son of a bitch.
They used that stuff in world war I.
It's a choking agent.
It's got a lot of uses -- paint thinner, pesticides, plastics.
In then wrong hands, that's a hell of a fuckin' weapon.
Yeah.
I just made the deal to get the stuff.
I should be picking it up any day now.
Something else on your mind? I need a favor, ray.
My mom is stretching herself thin trying to take care of some family.
So, I need you to take my next couple of paychecks and make them out to her.
Cover my bills as usual, but everything else, just put it in some phony I.
R.
S.
Letter or something.
It's a tax rebate.
No problem.
What do you think farik's up to with that phosgene? Never know until the last fucking minute with him.
But knowing farik, it's just another test run, man.
That warehouse, that's for something much bigger than 100 gallons of phosgene.
Hey, stranger.
Yeah, I deserve that.
Yeah, you do.
So, where's marcus? He's at the playground with my sister and her kids.
must be nice to have some extended family around.
I went to see my family the other day.
I haven't seen any of them in a long time.
They didn't visit you in prison? I didn't want my mom to see me behind bars.
My dad wouldn't have showed up anyway.
Oh, no? Why not? My mom was a methodist and my dad a member of the nation of islam.
So, she converted so they could get married, but eventually she decided she wanted to be more of a traditional muslim -- a sunni.
So that caused problems at home.
Yeah.
Yeah, you know, the nation and traditional islam have a lot of differences.
They can coexist in the same country, in the same city, but not under the same roof.
Anyway, after a lot of arguments and A lot of screaming, they finally just got divorced.
What were you doing in a synagogue? What are you talking about? My sister said she thought she saw you walking out of a synagogue in westwood the other night.
You said you were going to see your parole officer.
Yeah, I did see my parole officer.
Then I went for a job interview as a security guard at that synagogue.
But, uh once they do a background check, that's it.
Nobody really wants to hire an ex-con.
You've been gone a while.
Thinking maybe you feel guilty.
Maybe you want to make it up to me? Yeah.
You really, really want to make it up to me? Yeah.
What are you doing at 2:00? Let's welcome marcus' special guest, darwyn al-hakim.
This is darwyn.
I picked darwyn for V.
I.
P.
Day because he's nice, he's tall.
Darwyn is a muslim and I'm not, so that's why he's different.
Okay.
Any questions? My dad said that muslims don't like us and don't eat bacon.
Well, I'm a muslim.
You think I don't like you? I don't know.
I like marcus, and he's not a muslim.
So, why'd they fly planes into buildings? I'm sorry, I -- it's okay, it's okay.
Who has a cousin? Raise your hand.
You, too, miss graham.
I'm sure you have a cousin, right? Has your cousin ever done anything bad, like really bad? One time, my cousin, he ate the last piece of cake and blamed it on me, but I only had one slice.
I hear you.
So, if your cousin does something wrong, does that make your whole family bad? No.
No.
Well, I guess that's the point.
Just because there are some muslims that are bad doesn't mean that all muslims are bad, does it? No.
No.
But can you eat bacon? Yes turkey bacon.
You having fun? If I keep this up, I'm gonna break 200.
Pretty damn good.
If I'd wanted to be ignored, I would' stayed at home.
You mean like I was ignored when I was growing up and you were spending seminars, sit-ins? You know, I would really hope that by this point in your life you could understand all that.
I understand.
You left me at home to be raised by a 60-year-old black woman -- theresa loved you like her own son.
Fuckin' housekeeper, lynne.
Only one who ever bothered picking me up from school, taking me to a museum or a ball game.
Shit.
I'm sorry.
I don't know why I bother bringing all this stuff up.
We both know, the real reason you came here is to give your goddamn speech -- no, the only reason I attended that was to be close to you.
Afterwards, at the reception, I was the only one that was alone.
Then you shouldn't have come, lynne.
I didn't ask you to.
No, but you did call and ask me for money, didn't you? You know, you are so much like your father, and you totally let him off the hook every time -- every time! You know, `he wasn't there, either.
Well, can you blame him? Spending his entire life kissing your ass, listening to you babble on about another historical exposé revealing richard the lionhearted was a misogynistic, gay, war criminal.
And who the fuck cares, lynne?! Admit it! Your whole life is just an endless stream of pretentious bullshit.
No wonder you're alone.
You know, the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, "paradise is at the feet of the mother.
" Stay out of it, man.
You don't understand.
I'm alone in this country.
My wife is on the other side of the world.
And you have family right here.
So, you're right.
I don't understand.
It's freezing in here.
Got to be.
Phosgene only remains stable at 47 degrees fahrenheit or below.
That's him.
Who is that? It's my partner, man, from the contracting job, remember? Oh, okay.
$7,500.
Don't spend it all in one place.
If the place is worth it, why not? So, what do you guys use this for again? Strips away paint fast enough that we can repaint in hours.
It's for the big jobs.
Well, if I'd have known that, I'd have charged you $12,000.
Hold me tight.
Tighter.
You're sweet.
I haven't done that in a long time.
Your husband doesn't know what he's missing.
Yes, he does.
No, he gets laid all the time, you know, thomas' father? Yeah.
My husband, he's -- he's an english lit professor.
Very, very popular with the undergraduate girls.
All my efforts over all these years, and the only thing that works for me is history.
I judge it.
It doesn't judge me.
Do you have any idea how it feels to be despised by the people that you love? Yes.
I do.
Hashim abd al-aziz.
What are you talking about? Here.
Everything you ever wanted to know about faris al-farik, or hashim abd al-aziz.
The D.
O.
D.
Finally got back to me on the fort benning lead.
They found a name to go with farik's face.
Problem is the guy's been dead for 14 years.
Damn.
He ripped the identity off a dead guy.
Yeah, but look at those documents, darwyn.
This guy didn't just sneak across the border and get a fake social security card.
Those are official royal saudi land forces paperwork.
So there's somebody in the saudi military who falsified all the data on this guy as he came to the U.
S.
Military or the government.
The problem is, if we look into it, we risk taking a burn that could tip farik, or whatever the hell his fuckin' name is.
We have another issue.
Oh, yeah? Darwyn, I'll always go to bat for you, but I'm having a hard time looking the other way while my U.
C.
runs around town with a married woman and her kid.
Whoa.
Hold up, man.
W-what are you talking about? You talking about gayle? Her husband is dead.
She'a widow.
Is that what she told you? Her husband's serving a 20-year sentence in san quentin for vehicular manslaughter and drug trafficking.
She said he died in the accident.
There was an accident, all right.
He killed a couple of people.
And when the chp showed up, they found 650 grams of cocaine in his trunk.
Can you dig your head out of your ass long enough to handle this situation befo it boils over, darwyn? Can you hear me? Excuse me.
What's your problem, man? Trust me, thomas, you don't want to know.
What's that supposed to mean? It means I think I might miss someone.
Might miss who? Motherfucker.
You're damn right I am, tommy boy.
What do you mean by that? What do you think it means? It means I fucked your mother.
She was good.
Fuck with me?! That's enough.
Hey, hey, hey.
Who do I shoot first, huh?! Answer me! Which one of my brothers in islam do I put down first? I'm sorry, farik, he fuckin' -- he is a holy warrior for allah, same as you.
Is this how you serve god -- by arguing over this petty bullshit? And you, constantly sticking your dick where it doesn't belong.
Is that how you honor allah? I'm sorry, farik.
You want to kill him? Go ahead.
Maybe that will teach him a lesson.
Oh, and tommy? After you shoot christian, you might as well shoot the rest of us and then yourself because you would've destroyed everything we are here to do.
You're a good man, tommy and a good soldier.
Besides christian was just joking, right? Yeah, he's right.
I was just fucking with you, tommy.
I would never do something like that to you.
You're my brother.
I'm sorry.
Apology accepted.
Good.
Now let's pack up these dogs.
Yes? Got a delivery for anita al-sayeed.
What kind of delivery? It's a 34-inch tv and a satellite dish.
No, that's a mistake.
I didn't order anything -- No mistake, ma'am.
Your name and your address is right here.
See? It's from my son.
I'll be right back.
The weather today is perfect for our little experiment.
There's light, steady wind coming from the south.
Come on.
Get in the cage.
Excellent.
The dogs we'll target next will have two legs instead of four.