Mission Impossible (1966) s01e10 Episode Script
The Carriers
Good morning, Mr Briggs.
This is Yanosh Passik, an enemy expert on American traditions, slang, and customs.
Passik is gathering some 200 agents who are in final training learning to act as Americans for a special operation.
All we know about the plan is that it will be some form of bacteriological warfare against the United States.
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to get into that training centre and stop Passik.
Make certain his plan fails.
Put him permanently out of business.
As usual, should you or any of your IM Force be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.
This tape will destroy itself in five seconds.
Good luck, Dan.
This is the objective.
The front appears to be a boarded-up old theatre.
Inside is an elevator.
Where does it go? Down four flights to a laboratory which is built like a bank vault.
Passik himself has the only key to the lab.
What about the security in the area? We did get an agent of ours in there once.
- Did he say anything about getting out? - As a matter of fact, he didn't.
- Why not? - He never got out.
- Dan.
- Yes, Roger? - Do you see this as a suicide mission? - No, I don't.
But you said there was no way out.
I didn't say that.
I said we couldn't get out.
During the next 24 hours, the candidates for the training centre will be arriving in small groups at 47 Opperstrat.
- Yeah? - Is this the house of Tiso Kastner? Who sent you? Lamb.
This way, please.
The first door.
Come in quickly.
Keep quiet.
Is this the house of Tiso Kastner? - Who sent you? - Lamb.
Your identification papers, please.
Tigran Portisch? You are not Tigran Portisch.
But I am.
From now on you are an American named Charles Cooper.
Memorise that name.
- Charles Cooper.
- You have no other identity.
- Is that clear? - I understand.
Marya Glinska? - You are now Gloria Cabot.
- Thank you.
Repeat the name.
Gloria Cabot.
Good.
Ho Min Tsung.
You are to become George Fong.
Do you understand? George Fong.
George Fong.
- And you are Raoul Overa.
- Yes.
Your American identity, Edward Gordon.
Edward Gordon.
I congratulate you on becoming a part of this magnificent enterprise.
In 30 minutes, we will be leaving for Willow Grove.
Hi.
Welcome to Willow Grove.
Sit down, please.
Make yourselves comfortable.
My name is John Peterson.
I'm sort of in charge here.
Now, I know you're all probably tired, and so I'll make this short and sweet.
This is the final stage of your training.
You're all expert at playing Americans or you wouldn't be here.
And when you leave, you'll be perfect.
In addition to myself, there is a cadre of monitors to help you.
They'll be observing you all the time.
Please ignore them unless they correct you for some reason.
You can identify them by this pin.
From time to time, we'll hit you with the unexpected.
We'll be testing you.
And when that happens, please remember, just be yourself.
You're all part of a very important and ambitious project.
Nothing has been spared to help you achieve perfection.
You'll see that we've created a town that is as typically, exactly American as anything that you'll encounter when you actually get to America.
Now, are there any questions? Yes.
What about our jobs? Oh, yes, I was getting to that.
Now, let me see.
Charles, you will Excuse me.
Like an American used-car salesman, I use first names as soon as I can.
Charles, you will work at American Field in Chicago.
George, you will be assigned to the Los Angeles Library.
I see.
Ed, you will do fry cook-work at a hamburger stand at Coney Island.
And Miss Cabot, you will be a dancer at Tiger-A-Go-Go in Philadelphia.
Oh, which reminds me You will attend classes in your jobs mornings and afternoons.
Meals are at any of our four typical restaurants.
Where will we be living? You will be at the women's dormitory, which is the Willow Grove Hotel.
As soon as you've found your room, would you report to our little discotheque across the street? And you three fellows will share a room in the hotel up the block.
Well, get yourselves settled.
And after you've had your lunch, report for your classes.
Schedules have been posted in your living quarters.
I hope you enjoy your stay here.
- Thank you.
- Good luck, Miss Cabot.
Good luck, Ed.
- George, good luck.
- Thank you.
Good In America, look a man in the eye when you shake his hand.
Yes, of course, I I understand.
Good luck.
All right, get your hands out.
- What is this? - You're coming with us.
But Why? We know who you are.
And why you are here.
Wait a minute.
Do you have a warrant? Well? Now, look, mister, this is not Nazi Germany.
Who do you think you are? You.
What's your badge number? - Listen Listen! - No, you listen.
Listen! Now, I know my rights.
Unless you have a warrant, and can prove the charges against us, get out of here! Very good, Charles.
Excellent.
But you two can learn something from Charles.
You were much too quick to be bullied by authority.
That is not the American way.
Americans are not afraid of their police.
Remember that.
That's a little test we run on all our newcomers.
Excellent training.
Excellent.
Well, don't let me keep you from your unpacking.
See you later.
They're gone.
I don't think I'm cut out for this kind of work.
Who is? Not me.
Maybe Cinnamon is.
That's good.
That's good.
Little more leg.
And shake it.
That's right.
Now just relax.
Okay, honey, take a break.
Hey, honey, let's see you up here.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You both see the theatre? And the key Peterson has around his neck.
Cinnamon, you've got to get that key.
Before we get into the lab, I'll need to know what kind of culture I'll be up against.
All I need is a small sample to figure out what kind of culture it is.
I found the pump that's bringing the wastewater to the surface from the lab.
There should be dead culture in that water.
- Where is the pump? - In the alley, beside the theatre.
You're due in class.
Hot dog! Hot dog! - Hey, I'll take one.
- Could you pass this on, please? One moment! You're doing everything correctly but much too slowly.
These vendors have only an hour or two in which to sell their wares.
They must move rapidly, or they make nothing.
- But I must get the money.
- Let him throw the money.
Throw it.
Now, throw it.
And you throw the change back.
That's the way it's done.
Good.
Now, you may be working at a football stadium, a baseball park, a hockey stadium.
Whatever.
You must understand the game.
First, football.
The halfback.
The halfback What is it, Mr Cooper? I don't feel very well.
I think I better go to the dispensary.
All right.
Now go ahead.
The halfback.
Aren't you supposed to be in some class? Yes.
Yes, I am.
Well, what are you doing back here? Well, I I came out for a smoke.
Why would you come out here to do that? Well, this is one of our cigarettes from home.
I still have a few, and I Well, I just couldn't resist it.
So So like a schoolboy, you sneaked it? Well, yeah.
- All right, all right, get back to class.
- Right.
It's plague.
Septicemic plague.
- Are you sure? - No doubt about it.
It's the most virulent kind of plague there is.
A carrier just has to touch you, and you've got it.
That explains the jobs we're being trained for.
See, each one of these jobs has one thing in common, wide human contact.
Dancer in a discotheque, fry cook handling food all day, librarian, vendor in a ballpark.
Each of these jobs involves hundreds, if not thousands of contacts a day.
I think that each of these trainees is going to be infected with the plague without knowing it.
He'll be sent to the United States thinking he's on some kind of espionage mission or something, but before he dies, he'll infect thousands who, in turn, will infect thousands more.
It's a perfect plan.
Self-eliminating.
The carriers die thinking their disease is an accident.
When the last carrier goes, any trace of a plan or hope of pinning it on someone goes with him.
But how can they infect all the people training here without them knowing it? Easily.
The bacteria can be introduced through their food, the water, a number of ways.
When will they start that? They may already have started.
Then we may have the plague.
Isn't there something we can take, just in case? - Nothing before infection.
- What about after? Lmmediately after infection, a massive dose of lomycin will usually bring it under control.
Any later and Wait a minute.
I don't think they'll infect the carriers until just before they're ready to ship them out.
If they did, they might die before they had a chance to circulate the plague in the United States.
Then we'll have to stop them before they get that far.
How do we stop 200 infected people? - Maybe burn down the town.
- No.
They'd only rebuild and start again.
We've got to destroy those cultures without them ever knowing it.
They must never know why their plan didn't work.
- Barney? - Yeah.
After dark, signal Dan.
We'll be ready for him at 11:00.
Right.
First baseman Bill Webster comes into today's game with a.
317 batting average along with 19 home runs and 88 RBI's.
Johnson into his windup.
Hello.
The pitch.
A curve down and away, ball one.
Hi.
They play Webster deep and to pull.
Shortstop Necio is almost on the first-base side of second.
I thought only books in English were permitted here.
Since I've started this project, I have spoken and read so much English I'm afraid I'm forgetting my own language.
Here we go.
The pitch, Slider Johnson didn't like that call.
Stupid game.
I can't understand why it's so popular.
Then why do you listen? I have to.
I must know about everything American.
The success of this entire project depends upon it.
I have no time for anything else.
Not even time to buy me a drink? You have made a mistake, Miss Cabot.
American women are seldom so straightforward.
They pretend to be coy and reserved.
Rarely do they come right out and ask a man such a question.
Not even if they're attracted to the man? Well, Americans are not as frank about such things as we are, comrade.
There's so many things about them that I don't understand.
Well, that's what I'm here for, comrade.
To teach you.
You're doing very well.
- Come on, jive with me, huh? - No.
Well then, let's try something else, huh? It's getting very warm in here.
We're alone.
You can be yourself.
I think I'd better go.
Oh, not yet.
- How soon? - I'll be ready when you are.
Free them! We still have a few seconds before the acid eats through the line and about another minute before the auxiliary generators cut in.
What are you doing there? What? This building is off-limits to the trainees.
- Well, we didn't know.
- This door is locked.
Do you think the door would be locked if we wanted people to get in? Well, we thought you were just Cooper! I have been watching you.
This is the second time I have found Why, every light in the town is out.
That makes it very cosy, doesn't it? Perhaps, but I'd like to know why they went out.
Passik? What's the matter? Who is it? What is the matter? Who is there? Barney, get rid of this.
Enough plague cultures to kill five million people.
Iomycin.
How many of you are there? Don't be foolish.
Just do as I do.
Be careful.
This will neutralise the culture.
But no more than three drops or they'll know someone's tampered with them.
You know, it's sort of a shame it had to end like this.
I was becoming very fond of you.
Yes, I understand what you mean.
It's the same with me.
These are the last two.
Careful, Rollin.
Pull your hands out! That's a deep cut.
I don't think this will help.
It's already in your bloodstream.
Hurry up.
Passik will be here in two minutes.
Get that gown off, but be careful not to touch anything with that hand.
The elevator's on its way up.
We've got to get out of here.
You have to get this intravenously.
We need a hypodermic.
- Come on - There must be one.
Passik cannot find us inside the lab.
Snap it up.
It's coming down.
Come on.
- Come on.
- There's got to be a hypo.
Come on! - No hypodermic.
- Let's go.
Get back to work.
Let's make it look good for Passik.
Drop it, Cooper! Put your hands behind your heads.
You might actually have gotten that open in another hour or two.
Take them to my office.
And get someone to weld that scratch.
You will tell me what I want to know.
Who are you? Who sent you here? We are about to play a little game that you may have heard of.
Colonel Yakov to see Major Passik.
I am sorry, sir.
This has expired.
Soldier, you are courting trouble.
I am sorry, sir.
Now, listen very carefully.
Call Major Passik and tell him that Colonel Yakov wishes to see him.
The Major's expecting us.
Hurry.
Perhaps we should make our game a little more interesting.
Passik! I am Colonel Yakov.
Colonel, the NVD has no authority here.
You are wrong.
These four trainees of yours were intercepted by enemy agents who are now within this installation.
And they are now my prisoners, Colonel.
They were caught trying to get into the laboratory.
Trying to get in? - They did not succeed? - They did not.
Are you certain of that? Absolutely.
Are you doubting my word, Colonel? No.
I will take the prisoners to NVD headquarters for questioning.
- Get up.
- I would prefer - to deal with them here, Colonel.
- No, that will be impossible.
You see, they have information that we must have and we have methods for getting it from them.
Just be sure that the one who is known as Cooper dies slowly, Colonel.
Very slowly.
I've got to give you this somehow.
Yeah, but it's not going to be easy without a hypodermic.
- Could you do it intravenously? - Absolutely, but how? Cinnamon, give me your purse.
Here's what I need.
Roll your sleeve up.
Roger, give me the bottle.
Go ahead.
Will he be all right? Yes.
But as soon as we get across the border we'll all have to get treatment.
We've all been exposed to him.
So was Passik.
Yes, but he doesn't know it.
This is Yanosh Passik, an enemy expert on American traditions, slang, and customs.
Passik is gathering some 200 agents who are in final training learning to act as Americans for a special operation.
All we know about the plan is that it will be some form of bacteriological warfare against the United States.
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to get into that training centre and stop Passik.
Make certain his plan fails.
Put him permanently out of business.
As usual, should you or any of your IM Force be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.
This tape will destroy itself in five seconds.
Good luck, Dan.
This is the objective.
The front appears to be a boarded-up old theatre.
Inside is an elevator.
Where does it go? Down four flights to a laboratory which is built like a bank vault.
Passik himself has the only key to the lab.
What about the security in the area? We did get an agent of ours in there once.
- Did he say anything about getting out? - As a matter of fact, he didn't.
- Why not? - He never got out.
- Dan.
- Yes, Roger? - Do you see this as a suicide mission? - No, I don't.
But you said there was no way out.
I didn't say that.
I said we couldn't get out.
During the next 24 hours, the candidates for the training centre will be arriving in small groups at 47 Opperstrat.
- Yeah? - Is this the house of Tiso Kastner? Who sent you? Lamb.
This way, please.
The first door.
Come in quickly.
Keep quiet.
Is this the house of Tiso Kastner? - Who sent you? - Lamb.
Your identification papers, please.
Tigran Portisch? You are not Tigran Portisch.
But I am.
From now on you are an American named Charles Cooper.
Memorise that name.
- Charles Cooper.
- You have no other identity.
- Is that clear? - I understand.
Marya Glinska? - You are now Gloria Cabot.
- Thank you.
Repeat the name.
Gloria Cabot.
Good.
Ho Min Tsung.
You are to become George Fong.
Do you understand? George Fong.
George Fong.
- And you are Raoul Overa.
- Yes.
Your American identity, Edward Gordon.
Edward Gordon.
I congratulate you on becoming a part of this magnificent enterprise.
In 30 minutes, we will be leaving for Willow Grove.
Hi.
Welcome to Willow Grove.
Sit down, please.
Make yourselves comfortable.
My name is John Peterson.
I'm sort of in charge here.
Now, I know you're all probably tired, and so I'll make this short and sweet.
This is the final stage of your training.
You're all expert at playing Americans or you wouldn't be here.
And when you leave, you'll be perfect.
In addition to myself, there is a cadre of monitors to help you.
They'll be observing you all the time.
Please ignore them unless they correct you for some reason.
You can identify them by this pin.
From time to time, we'll hit you with the unexpected.
We'll be testing you.
And when that happens, please remember, just be yourself.
You're all part of a very important and ambitious project.
Nothing has been spared to help you achieve perfection.
You'll see that we've created a town that is as typically, exactly American as anything that you'll encounter when you actually get to America.
Now, are there any questions? Yes.
What about our jobs? Oh, yes, I was getting to that.
Now, let me see.
Charles, you will Excuse me.
Like an American used-car salesman, I use first names as soon as I can.
Charles, you will work at American Field in Chicago.
George, you will be assigned to the Los Angeles Library.
I see.
Ed, you will do fry cook-work at a hamburger stand at Coney Island.
And Miss Cabot, you will be a dancer at Tiger-A-Go-Go in Philadelphia.
Oh, which reminds me You will attend classes in your jobs mornings and afternoons.
Meals are at any of our four typical restaurants.
Where will we be living? You will be at the women's dormitory, which is the Willow Grove Hotel.
As soon as you've found your room, would you report to our little discotheque across the street? And you three fellows will share a room in the hotel up the block.
Well, get yourselves settled.
And after you've had your lunch, report for your classes.
Schedules have been posted in your living quarters.
I hope you enjoy your stay here.
- Thank you.
- Good luck, Miss Cabot.
Good luck, Ed.
- George, good luck.
- Thank you.
Good In America, look a man in the eye when you shake his hand.
Yes, of course, I I understand.
Good luck.
All right, get your hands out.
- What is this? - You're coming with us.
But Why? We know who you are.
And why you are here.
Wait a minute.
Do you have a warrant? Well? Now, look, mister, this is not Nazi Germany.
Who do you think you are? You.
What's your badge number? - Listen Listen! - No, you listen.
Listen! Now, I know my rights.
Unless you have a warrant, and can prove the charges against us, get out of here! Very good, Charles.
Excellent.
But you two can learn something from Charles.
You were much too quick to be bullied by authority.
That is not the American way.
Americans are not afraid of their police.
Remember that.
That's a little test we run on all our newcomers.
Excellent training.
Excellent.
Well, don't let me keep you from your unpacking.
See you later.
They're gone.
I don't think I'm cut out for this kind of work.
Who is? Not me.
Maybe Cinnamon is.
That's good.
That's good.
Little more leg.
And shake it.
That's right.
Now just relax.
Okay, honey, take a break.
Hey, honey, let's see you up here.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You both see the theatre? And the key Peterson has around his neck.
Cinnamon, you've got to get that key.
Before we get into the lab, I'll need to know what kind of culture I'll be up against.
All I need is a small sample to figure out what kind of culture it is.
I found the pump that's bringing the wastewater to the surface from the lab.
There should be dead culture in that water.
- Where is the pump? - In the alley, beside the theatre.
You're due in class.
Hot dog! Hot dog! - Hey, I'll take one.
- Could you pass this on, please? One moment! You're doing everything correctly but much too slowly.
These vendors have only an hour or two in which to sell their wares.
They must move rapidly, or they make nothing.
- But I must get the money.
- Let him throw the money.
Throw it.
Now, throw it.
And you throw the change back.
That's the way it's done.
Good.
Now, you may be working at a football stadium, a baseball park, a hockey stadium.
Whatever.
You must understand the game.
First, football.
The halfback.
The halfback What is it, Mr Cooper? I don't feel very well.
I think I better go to the dispensary.
All right.
Now go ahead.
The halfback.
Aren't you supposed to be in some class? Yes.
Yes, I am.
Well, what are you doing back here? Well, I I came out for a smoke.
Why would you come out here to do that? Well, this is one of our cigarettes from home.
I still have a few, and I Well, I just couldn't resist it.
So So like a schoolboy, you sneaked it? Well, yeah.
- All right, all right, get back to class.
- Right.
It's plague.
Septicemic plague.
- Are you sure? - No doubt about it.
It's the most virulent kind of plague there is.
A carrier just has to touch you, and you've got it.
That explains the jobs we're being trained for.
See, each one of these jobs has one thing in common, wide human contact.
Dancer in a discotheque, fry cook handling food all day, librarian, vendor in a ballpark.
Each of these jobs involves hundreds, if not thousands of contacts a day.
I think that each of these trainees is going to be infected with the plague without knowing it.
He'll be sent to the United States thinking he's on some kind of espionage mission or something, but before he dies, he'll infect thousands who, in turn, will infect thousands more.
It's a perfect plan.
Self-eliminating.
The carriers die thinking their disease is an accident.
When the last carrier goes, any trace of a plan or hope of pinning it on someone goes with him.
But how can they infect all the people training here without them knowing it? Easily.
The bacteria can be introduced through their food, the water, a number of ways.
When will they start that? They may already have started.
Then we may have the plague.
Isn't there something we can take, just in case? - Nothing before infection.
- What about after? Lmmediately after infection, a massive dose of lomycin will usually bring it under control.
Any later and Wait a minute.
I don't think they'll infect the carriers until just before they're ready to ship them out.
If they did, they might die before they had a chance to circulate the plague in the United States.
Then we'll have to stop them before they get that far.
How do we stop 200 infected people? - Maybe burn down the town.
- No.
They'd only rebuild and start again.
We've got to destroy those cultures without them ever knowing it.
They must never know why their plan didn't work.
- Barney? - Yeah.
After dark, signal Dan.
We'll be ready for him at 11:00.
Right.
First baseman Bill Webster comes into today's game with a.
317 batting average along with 19 home runs and 88 RBI's.
Johnson into his windup.
Hello.
The pitch.
A curve down and away, ball one.
Hi.
They play Webster deep and to pull.
Shortstop Necio is almost on the first-base side of second.
I thought only books in English were permitted here.
Since I've started this project, I have spoken and read so much English I'm afraid I'm forgetting my own language.
Here we go.
The pitch, Slider Johnson didn't like that call.
Stupid game.
I can't understand why it's so popular.
Then why do you listen? I have to.
I must know about everything American.
The success of this entire project depends upon it.
I have no time for anything else.
Not even time to buy me a drink? You have made a mistake, Miss Cabot.
American women are seldom so straightforward.
They pretend to be coy and reserved.
Rarely do they come right out and ask a man such a question.
Not even if they're attracted to the man? Well, Americans are not as frank about such things as we are, comrade.
There's so many things about them that I don't understand.
Well, that's what I'm here for, comrade.
To teach you.
You're doing very well.
- Come on, jive with me, huh? - No.
Well then, let's try something else, huh? It's getting very warm in here.
We're alone.
You can be yourself.
I think I'd better go.
Oh, not yet.
- How soon? - I'll be ready when you are.
Free them! We still have a few seconds before the acid eats through the line and about another minute before the auxiliary generators cut in.
What are you doing there? What? This building is off-limits to the trainees.
- Well, we didn't know.
- This door is locked.
Do you think the door would be locked if we wanted people to get in? Well, we thought you were just Cooper! I have been watching you.
This is the second time I have found Why, every light in the town is out.
That makes it very cosy, doesn't it? Perhaps, but I'd like to know why they went out.
Passik? What's the matter? Who is it? What is the matter? Who is there? Barney, get rid of this.
Enough plague cultures to kill five million people.
Iomycin.
How many of you are there? Don't be foolish.
Just do as I do.
Be careful.
This will neutralise the culture.
But no more than three drops or they'll know someone's tampered with them.
You know, it's sort of a shame it had to end like this.
I was becoming very fond of you.
Yes, I understand what you mean.
It's the same with me.
These are the last two.
Careful, Rollin.
Pull your hands out! That's a deep cut.
I don't think this will help.
It's already in your bloodstream.
Hurry up.
Passik will be here in two minutes.
Get that gown off, but be careful not to touch anything with that hand.
The elevator's on its way up.
We've got to get out of here.
You have to get this intravenously.
We need a hypodermic.
- Come on - There must be one.
Passik cannot find us inside the lab.
Snap it up.
It's coming down.
Come on.
- Come on.
- There's got to be a hypo.
Come on! - No hypodermic.
- Let's go.
Get back to work.
Let's make it look good for Passik.
Drop it, Cooper! Put your hands behind your heads.
You might actually have gotten that open in another hour or two.
Take them to my office.
And get someone to weld that scratch.
You will tell me what I want to know.
Who are you? Who sent you here? We are about to play a little game that you may have heard of.
Colonel Yakov to see Major Passik.
I am sorry, sir.
This has expired.
Soldier, you are courting trouble.
I am sorry, sir.
Now, listen very carefully.
Call Major Passik and tell him that Colonel Yakov wishes to see him.
The Major's expecting us.
Hurry.
Perhaps we should make our game a little more interesting.
Passik! I am Colonel Yakov.
Colonel, the NVD has no authority here.
You are wrong.
These four trainees of yours were intercepted by enemy agents who are now within this installation.
And they are now my prisoners, Colonel.
They were caught trying to get into the laboratory.
Trying to get in? - They did not succeed? - They did not.
Are you certain of that? Absolutely.
Are you doubting my word, Colonel? No.
I will take the prisoners to NVD headquarters for questioning.
- Get up.
- I would prefer - to deal with them here, Colonel.
- No, that will be impossible.
You see, they have information that we must have and we have methods for getting it from them.
Just be sure that the one who is known as Cooper dies slowly, Colonel.
Very slowly.
I've got to give you this somehow.
Yeah, but it's not going to be easy without a hypodermic.
- Could you do it intravenously? - Absolutely, but how? Cinnamon, give me your purse.
Here's what I need.
Roll your sleeve up.
Roger, give me the bottle.
Go ahead.
Will he be all right? Yes.
But as soon as we get across the border we'll all have to get treatment.
We've all been exposed to him.
So was Passik.
Yes, but he doesn't know it.