The Peripheral (2022) s01e08 Episode Script

1
In our timeline Flynne
Fisher no longer exists.
It's fairly straightforward, gentlemen.
We advance from floor to floor,
killing or disabling
everything we encounter.
- What's your biggest fear?
- The past.
If you try to double-cross
me again, I will carve you up.
We got a situation on our hands.
I need that old man alive.
Technology that's been stolen from you?
It can be a deadly
weapon in the wrong hands.
Hey.
I I-I've been thinking.
Yeah?
Lying here.
About you and your sims.
How you can go back, reboot.
Wishing I could do it.
Go back to that level
with the dog again.
Shoot that bitch this time.
That's the thing about chess.
Checkmate and you're fucking done.
That's what makes life so hard.
No rebooting.
Unit 204,
requesting immediate
backup to 27 Bateville Road.
I got three parties down,
suspect at large, presumed armed.
I repeat: suspect at
large and presumed armed.
Copy that, 204.
10-52. Ambulance
being dispatched. Over.
I really wouldn't worry
about it at this point.
Do the best you can, maybe
get back to it in the morning.
Deputy?
EMT's got a pulse.
For who?
Dispatch, shots fired at
Clanton Urgent Med. 10-52
10-52. Requesting backup.
Mm-hmm.
- What is it?
- Uh, shots fired.
Clanton Urgent Med.
It's got to be our perp.
Reece is dead.
I heard, on the ride over.
They said that man
killed the sheriff, too.
And the Picketts.
Corbell's still hanging on.
But he killed Sheriff Jackman?
Tommy?
Yeah, he did.
Shot him dead.
If Dr. Nuland has her way,
your friend won't be the last.
I assume you'd like to stop her.
Yeah, of course.
I'd like to propose an alliance.
I have resources that
could prove quite empowering
to you in your world.
And it appears you have
the capacity to act in mine
in ways that might be beyond me,
considering the factors at play here,
which I've only just
become cognizant of.
What do you mean?
You have much more than
Cherise Nuland to deal with,
as daunting as the good
doctor undoubtedly is.
Your world is on a
threshold of its own Jackpot.
I believe, in my own way,
I can help you navigate
the coming storm.
If we're coming towards an agreement,
now might be the ideal
moment for you to issue
any ultimatums or
demands you might have.
My mama.
She's blind again and sick.
I need you to heal her,
like you promised you'd do at
the start of this whole thing.
Ma'am?
She's consulting the Aunties.
I'm very sorry.
It appears Mr. Zubov's technicals have
already attempted everything possible.
What, so you can't help her?
I'm afraid not.
The Aunties' best estimate
is, your mother has
another 554 hours to live.
Approximately 23 days.
I'll go talk to her.
Please do.
Flynne.
They promised us, Burton.
They promised us.
I know you're sad, Flynne, but
I had a strange feeling
when I first found out about the glioma,
concerning you.
I was lying there in that exam room,
just kind of letting it wash over me.
And I found myself thinking,
"Well, maybe it's not all bad.
Maybe Flynne will really
get to live her life now."
I've been living my life
exactly as I want to, Mama, okay?
I wouldn't have chosen any otherwise.
I know, and don't think
I don't love you for it.
You've been keeping us all
afloat for a long time now,
but you deserve more.
I thought
"Maybe they can sell
the house, if they want.
There'll be some money there."
"Burton will go on being Burton,
for better for worse, but "
" who knows what
Flynne might get up to?"
And it made me sort of
excited to think on it.
You having the chance to
become whatever you want.
Where are you off to?
I think your pills are kicking in, Mama.
I was just gonna let you rest.
Your father used to
call you our little acorn
when you were a baby.
Why?
Because even though you
were just a tiny thing,
he could sense the power
and strength inside you,
waiting for its chance to grow.
Just like a big old oak tree.
I miss him, Mama.
Me, too.
Promise me, Flynne.
You'll let that power grow.
Maria Anathema Ash.
Intriguing résumé.
How on earth did you end
up in Lev Zubov's employ?
It's a complicated story,
and not particularly relevant
- to what's prompted me to reach out to you.
- Which is?
The data Aelita West stole,
I know where it is and how to get it.
It's in Flynne Fisher's brain.
Lev Zubov knows this,
so the Klept will soon have
everything Aelita stole.
I don't want to live
in that world, Doctor.
Okay, well, Inspector Lowbeer
Clearly has her own agenda.
I don't know what it is,
but you can't depend on her to fix it.
You have to stop him.
Can you?
I can.
But it will require a drastic step.
More drastic than I had
hoped would be necessary
and come at an unspeakable cost.
How much time do I have?
Very little.
I suppose you'll be expecting a reward
for bearing me these ill tidings?
I want you to kill him.
Who?
Zubov.
May I ask why?
A breach of etiquette.
Well, it's not so easy, what you ask,
given his Klept status.
Unless
you'd be willing
to use your presence
in Mr. Zubov's household
to assist in the endeavor?
I would, with pleasure.
Excellent. I'll be in touch.
Your drastic step
What is it?
I'm afraid I will be
forced to alter conditions
in the stub in a
manner that will destroy
or invalidate decades' worth of studies,
vitally important research.
But I will cut off a limb
to save the whole body.
I don't understand.
The Jackpot.
I'll push it to the next level,
thus removing the girl from
the equation altogether.
Along with her home, town, family,
the whole benighted region.
Welcome back.
How's your mother?
Dying.
Which I guess you
suspected all along, huh?
I'm sorry, Flynne.
I presented a possibility as a certainty
to get you to do our bidding.
It was wrong.
You think we can still find your sister?
She's dead.
I can't see any way around it.
Wilf.
I'm sorry, Wilf.
I keep feeling like I'm
missing something obvious,
that I'm just too close to see it.
Aelita told me I had a
home when I was young.
She said I used to talk about it.
A lawn sloping down to a pond.
But my first memories
are of the transit camp.
The food queues.
Rain falling on the blue tarp.
A woman's face
who I've always chosen
to believe was my mother.
Though it's likely that's just fantasy.
What about your father?
They took all the men early on.
I have no memories of
the raids on the camps,
but Aelita told me
how they burned us out.
She took charge of me.
I would have died without her.
Where'd you go after that?
The streets, the ruins.
For almost three years.
And then?
I did something stupid.
Wolf! Wolf!
We were captured.
Cleaned up.
Aelita fought to keep us together.
She always pined for that life, though.
"When we were free," she would say.
So we ran off a few years
after we were adopted.
Aelita planned it.
Squirreled away supplies,
mapped our route back.
We lasted for eight months or
so in our own little kingdom.
We even made a flag for it.
The hand missing a thumb.
Why?
Aelita used to say we'd all
lived in a paradise once.
Before we evolved into what we are.
- Hmm.
- She claimed
every sin of ours originated
with the opposable thumb.
The ability to grip
tools, weapons, throats.
What happened after the eight months?
I fell sick.
I would have died.
Aelita brought me back in.
She gave up everything,
once again, to save me.
She really loved you, Wilf.
Inspector Lowbeer's
asked me to have a word
about her proposal.
But I'm afraid I'm not
quite certain what to say,
because one must always
assume she can hear us,
should she choose.
Is there something you want to tell me?
You feel like you can't?
I wouldn't put it quite that pointedly.
It's more of a shading
than a specific thing.
Well, why don't we link up again?
Why?
I can ask you questions.
You don't have to say anything.
I can just, I don't know,
draw my own conclusions
by the way that you feel.
How do you feel about Lowbeer?
I'd like to propose an alliance.
Lev?
You will never be fully yourself
until you embrace
that part of your soul.
Aelita?
The individual you know, his overture
or whatever you want to call it
it's gonna make me happy, is it?
Flynne Fisher?
Wilf Netherton?
You're all rainbows and
unicorns, Ms. Fisher.
Wait.
Where was it?
What?
The hand with no thumb,
your secret place.
Christ.
I'm such a fool.
Should we call Zubov?
No.
We serve a new master now.
- You sure this is where it is?
- But it wasn't like this.
It was forest, trees
as far as you can see.
Wilf.
What took you so long, Wolf?
No more games, Aelita. Where are you?
Follow me. But not her.
No, she's the heart
of this. She's coming.
Eyes and ears, Wolf.
She shares hers with others.
Isn't that right, Ash?
She can leave of her own
accord, or I can send her myself.
Your choice.
- But
- Go home.
I'll tell you everything.
I give you my word.
Look familiar?
This is where the camp was,
where we first met.
You don't remember, do you?
I was too young.
You were seven, Wolf.
It was too young for many things,
but remembering isn't one of them.
The reason you don't remember
is 'cause you're not supposed to.
Aelita.
Our implants, turns out
they're rather complex devices.
And one thing that they do
do best is suppress memory.
Everyone knows that. They blunt trauma.
Well, do you want to know what
happened when I ripped out mine?
You lost your immunity
boost, among other things,
which I suspect you'll
soon come to regret.
No, I started to remember things.
Everything.
There's bodies here,
under this beautiful green turf,
thousands and thousands of bodies.
Dig a hole, love.
Your mother's here,
and your sisters and
your little brother.
And you'd remember them if
you'd just cut yourself free.
My family, too.
All slaughtered.
Give it to him.
Are you just gonna stand there
with your hands in your pockets?
Fucking pick it up.
Do you want to know who
killed our families, Wolf?
The Klept.
Your mate Lev's father and his sort,
'cause they were running things by then.
There was contagion in the camps,
and they wiped us all
out for fear of it.
And not just here, all over England.
It was a little coordinated effort.
Five million people
in under a fortnight.
Now, that's quite an
achievement, isn't it?
Don't you think?
So, yeah, they suppress our memories
because they still fear us.
Us?
I'm gathering them.
A little army of the dispossessed.
You know, render justice.
What could you possibly plan
to accomplish with this rabble?
Shatter a few windows?
I'm sure the Klept and
the R.I. will be terrified.
- All we need are the proper tools.
- Which are?
The secrets to every wonder
that the R.I. have ever built.
Infinity in the palm of your hand.
And where would you possibly get that?
Inside the girl's head.
That doctor give you
a probability or anything,
Jasper? You know, like,
ten percent chance of
survival, something like that?
He just said I should
prepare for the worst.
Well, I'm real sorry for your loss.
You know, we all are.
But, uh, he died like a
warrior king, didn't he?
- He's not dead yet.
- You know what I mean.
He went out fighting.
And we owe it to him
to carry on his legacy.
So, uh, guess I'm next in charge, right?
How you figure?
Well, I was always his number two.
- The fuck you were.
- All right, all right.
Let's say we approach
this thing like a
uh, what do you call it?
That thing that the Romans did
when, uh, there were three emperors?
Fuck, what was it?
Uh, a, uh
A triumvirate.
Yeah, that's it.
Yeah, but there's four of us.
Aw.
You can still drive for us, Jasper.
Wash our cars and shit.
Oh, absolutely, you-you do
a great job with them cars.
Now
Let's get a fresh one of these.
Go on.
I need your help ♪
Oh, and, um put it
on your uncle's tab,
if they're still honoring it.
You're the only one
who can save my soul ♪
Save my soul ♪
Open the fucking window.
What?
Open the fuck
You're gonna have to
clean that up now, Jasper.
Who should I drop off first?
Jasper?
You remember that fight
we had about Monopoly?
What time is it?
It's a little after 2:00.
We were playing Flynne and
Burton and Ella on Thanksgiving.
And, uh, I was way ahead,
and I was sort of feeling bad about it,
so I kept letting people borrow money
when it seemed like they
were about to go bust.
And then,
in the end, Burton came
back from nothing to win.
Hon, are you drunk?
You got mad at me after.
You said
I'd never amount to anything
if I didn't stop mistaking
weakness for kindness.
Oh, Jasper. I-I didn't mean that.
Yes, you did.
No. No. I really didn't.
The whole reason I married you
is 'cause of how kind you are.
Why'd you say that, then?
I guess I just wanted
you to win for once.
I felt like you deserved it.
Why are we having this conversation?
I was about to make a
huge fucking mistake.
How do you mean?
Nothing. I love you. I'll be home soon.
Atticus!
Fuck! Atticus!
Atticus, wake up, man! Atticus!
Fucking wake the fuck up.
Atticus! Atticus!
Cash, Cash, Cash, Cash!
Atticus!
Hey.
Atticus! Atticus!
Atticus, wake up!
Wake the fuck up. Atticus!
What the fuck?
Oh, fuck.
I heard about that train crash, Tommy.
That's not why I'm here.
Look, I know you've
been keeping secrets,
- Flynne.
- Tommy.
Ain't no need to give me a line.
I get it.
I got a, uh, phone call
from Homeland Security.
Right-wing militia chatter.
Serious enough for
Homes to sound the alarm.
Given all the weird things
that've been swirling
around you and Burton,
I need to know if you
know anything about it.
What is it?
They say they're planning
to blow up a missile silo.
And, you know, there's
that new, uh, Air Force silo
down towards Spring Creek, the big one.
Flynne, if you know
anything about this
I don't.
I got to go, Tommy.
Macon get the headset ready.
I got to go back.
Ash, Ash.
Where's Wilf?
Why are you back?
That silo explosion,
the one we saw in the Jackpot museum.
Cherise is trying to make
it happen in my timeline.
I'm sure of it.
You already knew?
What the fuck have you done, Ash?
The data you and Aelita
stole from the R.I.,
it's stored in DNA.
It's the shit in my head, isn't it?
The reason I've been having
these fucking seizures.
What is it?
The entire library, I suspect.
Enough to wreak havoc
in your world and mine.
And now Lev knows about it.
You have to understand,
if the Klept got hold of it
I told Cherise Nuland.
I had to.
And now she's gonna vaporize
my entire fucking state
just to make sure that Lev doesn't
get his hands on the data.
My life, my family.
Everyone that I love.
It's just a fucking
game to you, isn't it?
Winner takes all.
Where are you going?
I'm gonna win.
This is the real London.
At least the part they
haven't rebuilt yet.
They got their work cut
out for 'em, don't they?
Why are we here?
So we can talk without being overheard.
Cherise Nuland,
she's planning on blowing up
that silo over in Spring Creek.
Wiping all of us out, just
to make sure that I'm dead.
So I came up with an idea
to open up a new stub.
You saying what I think you are?
You want to reboot?
Like in a sim?
It could save us, Conner.
But I'm gonna need your
help and Lowbeer's, too.
It's a black hole.
In a sim, you can get to a level
where no matter what
you do you end up dying,
over and over, 'cause
you made some mistake
earlier in the game
without even realizing it.
You're trapped.
I'm sorry, my dear.
I wish it hadn't come to this.
When we first met, I asked
you if you had the power
to sever the connection to my stub.
Do you?
No.
What about opening a new one?
I'm afraid the delicate balance
of power that governs this world
would make such a step on my part
an outright declaration of war.
But I am aware of how one might do it.
I need you to open a new stub.
If I understand this correctly,
you're proposing a rather radical plan.
Cherise will think she won
and that you helped her do it.
We'd have access to all
the data that Aelita stole,
which would save my
world from the Jackpot.
You do realize how
daunting the odds are?
Perhaps an ally might benefit you.
Your brother, for instance.
Burton can't know.
If he finds out,
he's never gonna let me
go through with it, okay?
Conner said that he'd help.
Are you absolutely certain?
Yeah.
The R.I. has several ancillary
sites at undisclosed locations.
Stub portals, they're called.
Even the guards don't
know where they are.
They're Peripherals, piloted remotely.
The Peripherals guarding
the facility will be
just as strong as you are.
Send me to one.
I've arrived.
May I be of assistance?
Maybe.
Can I ask you a question?
Is it still queasy when you get back?
Or did they fix that?
When you wake up in your real body,
after your shift in
this Peripheral's done?
Damn it.
You really think you
could escape me so easily?
You have a bad habit
of taking control of
dying things, Cherise.
You have no idea all
you're putting into peril.
They're all here, aren't they?
All these other lives?
And all I got to do is
choose where I want to begin.
Wait.
I will find you.
I give you my word.
Oh, I wouldn't be so sure, Cherise.
I think I want to be the hunter now.
You see, I know exactly where you are.
And you have no idea where I'm gonna be.
Not without the coordinates.
No, no, no.
You saying what I think you are?
You want to reboot.
Like in a sim?
It could save us, Conner.
But I'm gonna need your
help and Lowbeer's, too.
If I can pull it off,
there'll be whole new
versions of us there.
Ones that Cherise will
have nothing to do with.
We'd be safe there.
But dead in our own world.
Unless I'm already gone.
Then she'd have no reason
to blow up that silo.
Fuck.
Burton said in Texas
you once shot somebody
two kilometers out.
Burton's full of shit.
It was at least three klicks.
This thing that I'm talking about
it'd have to look
like Lowbeer sent somebody
as a favor to Cherise,
solving her problem for her.
You understand what
I'm asking you, Conner?
Yeah.
I get it.
What about this world?
We done with it?
No, we'll be back.
Why?
'Cause I'm gonna kill that bitch.
Yeah?
Yeah.
I know it's a lot, Conner.
But if it helps any,
I've made peace with it.
I'll just take a walk
out past Hawthorne Creek.
And I'll count back from ten in my head.
Ten.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
So
shall we get to work?
Yeah, you promise every time,
but you end up spending the whole meal
talking with your father,
while I'm trapped with your mother.
My mother enjoys your company, Dominika.
Which is lovely and extremely
flattering, I'm sure.
But as you're well aware,
the sentiment isn't
entirely reciprocated.
So if you could just spare
me a moment of your
Oh, Lev. What have you done?
Nothing. I swear.
I love you.
I'm sorry, gentlemen,
there seems to be some
Have a seat.
I was supposed to meet my father
Your father sends his regrets.
Wasn't feeling well.
Not in the best of health.
You understand.
As such, he asked us to speak with you.
About what?
Accepted practices here in London
since the Putin diaspora.
Mm, how we get along, survive.
Did I do something wrong?
The Research Institute,
placing us at risk.
It's unacceptable. Absolutely.
There's a price, son.
Listen, gentlemen.
My recruitment of an asset
inside the Research Institute
was nothing outside of the norm.
I was trying to exploit an opportunity.
But I deeply regret if I did anything
that you feel could
jeopardize our standing.
I assure you that was never my intent.
I, uh, sincerely apologize
and can only hope that you forgive me.
Should see your fucking face!
We get it.
It is always in our interest
to keep tabs on the R.I.
Not only for moneymaking opportunities
but to protect our own interests.
Business, otherwise.
None of that matters
now. Time to cut bait.
Do whatever you have to do.
Just cauterize the wound.
Your asset, any affiliates
come back to you,
they need to vanish.
All of them?
When there's a blight on the branch
and it threatens the other trees,
what does the orchard keeper do?
Chops the fucker down. Burns it.
Not just the branch either.
The whole fucking tree.
Your wife looked lovely, Lev.
And the children?
This here is us warning you.
You understand?
Cauterize the wound, son.
Or the orchard keeper
will be coming for a visit.
With an axe.
You hungry?
Hmm? Where's that fucking waiter?
Salud.