The Pretender s01e16 Episode Script

Under The Reds

I can't see anything.
I need to go lower.
The child is just below you, Jarod.
Collapse is imminent.
You have to abort.
I can save him, Sydney.
I can save him! - You have to abort.
- No! [Young Jarod Yelling.]
No.
! You're dead.
- I coulda done it.
- What? Save him? You can't save everyone, Jarod no matter how hard you try.
[Squeaking.]
[Man.]
Jarod Halstrom.
[Chuckles.]
He was the coolest Ph.
D.
we've had in this place.
He had a private grant, rented the lab from the university and paid me mucho dinero.
- What kind of research were you doing? - Nada.
All we did was eat Pez, watch Frankenstein movies and play with mice.
- The live ones anyway.
- Live ones? Yeah, half of them were dead or comatose.
See, Jarod used to inject them with something and then stare at them for hours.
It was kinda ghoulish.
Then he donated his little critters to the school when he left.
Except for this white one.
Jarod called him Jacob.
Jacob? - Hmm? - Nothing.
Well, Jarod used to carryJacob around in his pocket like it was his best friend.
- They're distant cousins actually.
- [Phone Ringing.]
Excuse me.
I have to get that.
No dead fireman or wounded cameraman.
Maybe he's getting bored.
Mm-mmm.
Jarod will never be bored in the outside world.
He's trying to save lives.
[Siren Wailing.]
We have a female, late 20s, leg fracture possible vertebral fracture with internal bleeding.
We started her on an I.
V.
of normal saline, wide open.
She's coding! Move! Come on, come on, come on.
Stay with me! Stay with me! [Man Narrating.]
[Elevator Bell Dings.]
[Broots.]
Uh, Miss Parker, have you seen Sydney? - Do I look like a leash? - He's, uh, he's missing.
Sydney's missing when he's here.
Well, actually, he was a no-show at the sim lab.
He left four sets of twins twiddling their, uh, 16 thumbs.
Sydney's a no-show for a roomful of human bookends? [Quietly.]
Security reported some drugs missing from the Centre pharmaceutical lab.
A nurse says she saw Sydney leaving there early this morning.
- [Elevator Bell Dings.]
- I'll talk to you later.
[Elevator Bell Dings.]
- [Chattering.]
- Your daughter needs you.
[Chattering Continues.]
- Trauma five, stat.
- She has a little girl.
Okay, we'll take it from here, Jarod.
Jarod.
- She has a little girl.
- Someone get him off my patient.
Jarod, we're done.
[Water Running.]
- All right, let's go.
- I'm gonna stay here for a while.
- She's goin' into surgery.
- I know.
I just wanna make sure she's all right.
Oh, no, no, no.
Look.
Okay, I've been only driving with you, what, a couple weeks, right? Take my word for it.
You get too personal with a client that's just energy you can't spend saving the next one.
All right? We do our best for these people, then we move on.
You can't train yourself to think that way, this job will kill you.
[Man.]
Not if I do it first.
Why don't I have proper treatment reports on your last five deliveries? - Deliveries? - Dr.
Fletcher, meetJarod Randolph.
I hope your partner's better at driving them in than he is at doing his paperwork.
I will get to that paperwork when I get a break, all right? I promise.
You better.
[Beeping.]
[Miss Parker.]
Sydney made quite a heist from the Centre pharmacy.
Cylin, triphenylmide d uh Diflutazenil.
Uh, a reversal agent a neurostimulant and an antidepressant.
Huh.
Great.
Great.
Now Sydney will turn up in some hop house, and we'll loseJarod's trail again.
Start decrypting his files.
Maybe there's a clue there.
- Uh Um [Clears Throat.]
- [Keyboarding.]
You're You're invading my space.
Close is good.
[Chattering.]
Why is there a severed animal's limb hanging from your rearview mirror? - It's a rabbit's foot.
- Technically, it's a paw.
What, you mean you've never seen one of those before? - It's lucky.
- Not for the three-legged rabbit.
[Dispatcher, Indistinct.]
Sure, yeah.
Coffee time.
Would you guys keep it down? I'm trying to sleep here.
You might get more rest if you turn down your music.
Self-hypnosis.
Trying to study while I sleep.
The New England Journal of Medicine.
I'm impressed.
Yeah? Tell the admissions board at Atlanta.
I am out of the E.
M.
T.
business come this fall, with a little luck.
Have you tried a rabbit's foot? - I'm a four-leaf clover person myself.
- Oh, man, Vargas is here.
- Who's Vargas? - Max Vargas, State Board of Inspection.
I didn't think the inspection was going to be for another two weeks.
This guy is a bigger pain in the ass than the suits at the hospital.
Are those the same pains in the ass who call me at home looking for their paperwork? You must be Randolph.
What's it like being independently wealthy? - I beg your pardon? - Well, you've been here a month and you haven't done your W-4, so you must have a little nest egg stashed away somewhere.
It must have slipped through the cracks.
Well, it's my job to fill in those cracks.
Maybe you and I should go to the office and fill these forms in so the books have a semblance of order.
Oh, uh, Mr.
Vargas, Jarod and I have a union-guaranteed coffee break now.
You'll be using it to fill out these forms.
I'll have them on your desk first thing in the morning.
See that you do.
[Rolling Thunder.]
It's sweet that you talk to him, Sydney.
- Some people think they're not aware.
- Hmm.
He needs to know he's not alone.
- [Monitor Beeping.]
- Jacob.
I have discovered this experimental research the Halstrom Technique.
Jarod sent it to me.
It's a long shot, but it's our best hope.
I promised you I would never give up.
- [Honking, Crashing.]
- [Young Jacob.]
Sydney! Sydney! [Monitor Beeping.]
[Mr.
Chambers Reading.]
"While Sydney Carton "and the Sheep of the prisons were in the adjoining dark room "speaking so low that not a sound was heard Mr.
Lorry looked atJerry in considerable doubt and mistrust.
" [Jarod.]
He's a stockbroker from Alpharetta.
His name is Jerry Mitchell.
Queen of Mercy, this is Unit 45.
We've got a male, mid 50s, possible head trauma, you copy? Queen of Mercy? County General's closer.
Queen of Mercy's got the best Head Trauma Center in Atlanta.
I understand that, but this gentleman needs immediate Stabilize him.
I'll do the driving.
We could have had him in treatment at County eight minutes ago.
Hey, our stockbroker couldn't be in better hands.
- That's worth eight minutes of his time.
- I hope you're right.
I made a judgment call.
You got a problem with that? No.
No problem.
[Clears Throat.]
Nothing obvious on Sydney's e-mail.
Phone records are all Centre related.
You'd think he'd occasionally call a 900 number to spice up his life.
What about his regular mail? Medical journals, Plant World magazine.
- Book of the Week Club.
- Give me that.
Annual donation to the Mount Pleasant Home.
An historical society maybe? It's where he goes for Christmas every year.
Dr.
Corey.
I owe you an apology.
I should have relinquished the gurney.
Once we're in the E.
R.
, it's your patient.
Don't sweat it, Jarod.
At least your heart was in the right place.
By the way, that young mother you brought in is going to be fine.
That's wonderful.
I'm not used to seeing an E.
M.
S.
'er get so personally involved.
I find it difficult not to.
Sometimes I feel like I know what my patient is going through.
I know what you mean.
Is that why you're following up with Steven? I've seen this injury a hundred times and I'm usually able to stabilize the patient, but this one It's like I pulled out all the stops but he still got away from me.
Steven is lucky to have a doctor that cares so much.
Are you okay? It's just that you can't always help them enough, and I don't like that feeling.
Well, I think that goes with the job.
It doesn't make it any easier to live with.
You're not thinking of transferring someplace else? There's a research position at Cornell Med.
I'm thinking I'll have an easier time dealing with the mice.
Don't be so sure about that.
Look, do yourself a favor.
Really think about your decision.
This hospital needs people like you.
"It is a far, far better thing that I do "than I have ever done, "it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I've ever known.
'" How about a break before we start the next book? - He likes Dickens.
- Dickens is hopeful.
Even his saddest endings are uplifting.
I brought you some cocoa.
Appreciate your visits, Jarod.
You'd think you'd get enough ofhospitals in your line of work.
Well, this hospital could use some more volunteers.
How's Steven doing? They started him on a new treatment called the trefoil therapy.
It was developed at Yale.
It delivers neurostimulants directly to the hypothalamus.
Um, I have a friend who's in a coma.
They say it has a 20% success rate.
One out of five comes out of it.
- And four don't.
- He fits the profile.
They said if anyone would accept the treatment Steven would.
He's a fighter.
- Right, hon? - Right.
Do you mind? So, Steven was a wrestler.
Took first place in the state finals his senior year.
He was behind in two out ofhis five matches.
But he came back.
Pulled it out.
Well, you must be very proud.
He never gave up.
We'd cheer him from the stands.
I think hearing us made him try harder.
[Jarod.]
I haven't been in many hospitals [Jarod.]
I haven't been in many hospitals but I really do believe that people in a coma they hear everything that goes on around them.
Enjoy the cocoa.
[Woman On P.
A.
.]
Dr.
Michaels to Admitting.
Dr.
Michaels to Admitting.
"Chapter One.
"Treats of the place where Oliver Twist was born and of the circumstances attending his birth.
'" Well, are you gonna open the letter? Yes.
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
For good luck.
All right.
I'll open it.
[Exhales.]
Oh, my God.
- I'm in! - All right! You're gonna make a wonderful doctor.
I'd better be.
I'm about to be $100,000 in debt.
If it isn't the invisible man.
I should, uh, call my family with the news.
I followed through on your paperwork.
Not only have you not filed your payroll documents you don't seem to have any documents that support your identity.
As far as I'm concerned, you don't exist.
I want your name, your address your Social Security number your next of kin, your references.
The whole kit, the whole caboodle, I want it now.
- Right after lunch.
- You better get writing or I'm taking you off the streets.
[Monitor Beeping.]
Let's increase the, uh, cylin to 436 milligram per liter.
- And the diflutazenil, let's go 275.
- All right.
You've been missing for three days, Jacob.
I can't keep covering for you with Mr.
Raines.
I've had personal business.
You never kept secrets from me.
Sydney, l I have ethical concerns about our work.
Don't start with that rubbish.
We're not doing anything wrong.
- Open your eyes, Sydney.
- They are open, Jacob.
I see the opportunity to do what we've been working for all our lives.
Get your mind off of your career for one second, will you? I'm talking about the children.
[Cell Phone Ringing.]
[Jarod.]
Hello, Sydney.
Any progress? [Sydney.]
Halstrom's Technique, it's just brilliant.
It could help a great many people.
One at a time.
How's Jacob? Nothing yet, I'm afraid.
Tell me, Jarod.
Why are you doing this? The medical profession.
It's about the relief of suffering.
Remember? [Phone Beeps.]
[Whistling.]
Hey, Jacob.
Jacob, how you doing? How you doing? Did you have a good day? Hmm? - Dr.
Corey, good morning.
- Hey.
I wanted to check on the status of the stockbroker that Rennert and I brought in yesterday.
We damn near had to life-flight him to County.
I thought this hospital had the best Head Trauma Unit in the city.
Head Trauma was downgraded months ago, along with a third of our budget.
You guys should keep up with current events.
What's with her? She's like you.
She cares too much.
[Chuckles.]
I can't wait till Thursday.
- What happens on Thursday? - My transfer came through.
- I am out of the E.
R.
- Sarah.
They need you here.
[Chuckles.]
Look, I have been through this with everyone I know.
I'll give your regards to the mice.
[Man.]
Let's go.
! Let's move.
! Right in here.
! - [Woman.]
What do you got? - [Chattering.]
[Woman On P.
A.
.]
Dr.
Fletcher to Administration, please.
Dr.
Fletcher to Administration.
Sydney.
- So, who's Mr.
X? - None of your business.
Your business is my business.
Jarod can wait.
I can't.
Go pack your bags.
You're coming with me.
You are not welcome here.
All I have to do is call the Sweeper team.
Mm-hmm.
I have priorities.
[Monitor Beeping.]
Who was on duty last night? Who was on du Somebody was here last night? Who was on duty? Don't you have that in one of your files? - If I did, would I ask you? - What did you lose? There's some personnel files missing, including yours, I may add.
Well, I'm not going to fill out any more paperwork.
You won't have to, Randolph.
Jarod.
Born in Seattle.
Attended Millbrook Elementary.
Photographic memory.
And I'm sure I have enough in here right now to run a background check on you.
I'm thinking about going into pediatrics.
What do you think? I think a doctor needs to have a strong sense of ethics.
What? Hey, where we going? - [Jarod.]
Trying out a different route today.
- Different route? Mm-hmm.
Peachtree Athletic Center to Queen of Mercy Hospital.
It's interesting.
There are two other hospitals that are much closer by.
Neither one of them are Queen of Mercy.
- What are you talking about? - Ethics.
Steven Chambers was injured during a wrestling match.
You and Rennert took him all the way from the athletic center to Queen of Mercy Hospital.
Explain to me why a seasoned E.
M.
T would take a critical patient so far out of the loop.
Jarod, we did the best we could.
By my calculations, it takes at least 25 minutes to get from the athletic center to Queen of Mercy.
What exactly did you do for him? Watch him fall deeper into a coma? Rennert made the judgment call.
I looked at Rennert's record for the last five years.
He took at least 30 patients to Queen of Mercy Hospital that should have gone somewhere else.
Thirty patients with expensive injuries that have insurance to pay for it.
God knows how many other people ended up like Steven Chambers.
A doctor has to have ethics, Julie.
People's lives are in their hands.
There had been a a Hawks game that night, and we hit the spillover traffic.
We just sat there.
All I could do was to talk to Steven, you know, try to keep him awake while Rennert kept telling me, "We're doing the right thing.
" You could have filed a complaint against him.
It was my first week under the reds, Jarod.
It took all the guts I had just to tell him we were going the wrong way.
Rennert, he warned me never to second-guess him in his rig.
I didn't want any trouble.
I just I just wanna help people.
[Raines.]
Broots.
Mr.
Raines.
Where are they? Who? l-I'm not sure.
Um, that is, l-I know where I think they might be.
- Tell me.
- Well, uh They weren't very specific.
They both just took off without saying much.
How's your little girl? You know, uh they they did say something about the Mount Pleasant Home.
Sy-Sydney goes there from time to time.
I know where he goes.
[Nurse.]
I've increased the dosage.
You're aware it's three times more than you originally requested? - Mm-hmm.
- All right.
I had no idea.
[Sydney.]
Not many people do.
Sydney, what happened? [Young Jacob.]
I'm talking about the children.
What's so troubling about children, for God's sakes? - Do you know how we got those children? - I know what I need to know.
No, no, you know what the Centre wants you to know.
You You always do this.
You always push away what doesn't fit into your pristine view of the world.
And all you wanna do is poison the good things in your life.
- Sydney.
! - [Crash.]
[Raining.]
Jacob.
Jacob! Jacob! - Jacob! - [Sydney.]
It was my fault.
I knew the road, knew every curve.
Sydney, it could have happened to anybody.
Uh-uh.
A later simulation byJarod suggested otherwise.
I should be the one lying in that bed.
[Monitor Beeping.]
[Monitor Beeping Faster.]
Jacob.
Jacob, are you there? Jacob.
""I should not let you depart from me thus.
' ""You should, lady, and I know you will,' rejoined the girl, rising.
"You will not stop my going because I have trusted in your goodness.
"' It's a lovely story.
I'm eager to see how it turns out.
For the best, I'm sure.
I brought you some coffee.
Thank you.
I don't think he's going to wake up.
[Jarod.]
Don't say that.
I've given up hope.
I know Richard has too.
He just won't admit it.
There's still so much you could try.
The hospital therapy It failed.
The treatment's run its course.
Did they try increasing the dosage? Increasing, decreasing, diluting.
It's just not working.
There's another therapy I know about.
It's called Halstrom's Technique.
You can't give up.
Steven's fought so hard.
There's a boy in Cleveland.
He needs a heart.
We're trying to decide what to do.
At this point, it would take a miracle.
Just in case, I want to finish this with him, so he knows how it ends.
""Of what use then is the communication you have made, 'said Rose.
"This mystery must be investigated.
"' Jacob.
[Sighs.]
- I can save him! - You have to abort.
I can save him, Sydney.
No! - You can't save everyone, Jarod.
- Well, I had to try.
- [Sighs.]
- [Cell Phone Ringing.]
- Yes.
- Sydney.
Halstrom's Technique it's flawed.
The effect is only temporary.
Thanks, Jarod.
Thanks.
I have, uh, tried to come here as often as I can but my work keeps me occupied.
I miss you.
Were you aware all this time? Jacob, the night of the accident it stayed with me.
I promised you I would do everything in my power to bring you back.
You shouldn't be lying here.
You didn't deserve this.
SL-27? - Why wasn't I told? - It doesn't concern you.
It's Centre business.
- Is he awake? - I'd like my question answered.
- Answer my question.
- He's awake.
- Is he talking? - Not yet.
- Don't let him.
- Sir? Jacob is a threat to Centre interests.
You have an obligation to protect those interests.
Do you have a problem with that? - No, sir.
- A Sweeper team will be sent to assure you don't.
Make sureJacob never wakes up again.
[Rolling Thunder.]
[Phone Beeps.]
Hey.
Another day on the lifeline, eh, Jarod? Hmm.
Mr.
Rennert, would you leave Mr.
Randolph and me - alone for a moment? - We were just about to start our shift.
You and I are gonna have to cover a little ground before I let you out on the street again.
All right.
I ran a background check on you, despite your lack of paperwork and some interesting data spewed forth.
Because the onlyJarod Randolph I could find in the state archives weighs 286 pounds and he's black.
It's time you put your cards on the table, mister.
I can't even verify that you're trained for this job.
And despite the mountain of phone calls that I've received praising you I need to know that the people you're assisting are in the right hands.
Well, I guess my luck just ran out.
Gimme one good reason not to call the cops.
[No Audible Dialogue.]
So, I heard that, um, Vargas rode you pretty hard last night, huh? I think there's gonna be some changes in this unit.
[Woman.]
Unit 45, this is Dispatch.
We have a cyclist down on the corner of Peachtree and Dunwoody.
[Siren Wailing.]
[Man On Radio.]
Nine-year-old male with a blocked airway, unconscious, not breathing.
- [Continues Indistinct.]
- [Woman.]
We copy.
[Groaning.]
- It's okay.
- [Groans.]
Gonna take good care of you.
Just relax.
Pupils are uneven.
We should C-spine him.
Look at that.
Guy can afford a Rolex, you think he'd invest in a helmet.
Guess I'm the lab rat now, huh, Doc? [Groaning.]
Sydney's in the lounge.
Keep an eye out.
Mr.
Raines insists I watch.
- [Plastic Gloves Crinkling.]
- We're done here.
He slipped back into the coma.
He wrote something down first.
I'm happy for you.
Somebody paged me? - That was me, Dr.
Corey.
- Oh.
Here.
- What is this? - Jarod wanted you to see this.
Steven Chambers? A case can be made for negligence on Rennert's part.
You may want to listen to this.
[Siren Wailing On Walkie-Talkie.]
[Rennert.]
Uh, Queen of Mercy, this is Unit 45.
We've got a down cyclist, uh, possible head injury.
Queen of Mercy? Grady Memorial is a faster run.
I'm not going through this again, all right? Queen of Mercy's my call.
Rennert, this guy is fading on me.
Then you keep him alive till we get to Queen of Mercy! Come on! [Chattering.]
[Man.]
Coming through, people.
[Knocking.]
What are you doing here? - Hey.
- Hmm.
Is this what someone's life is worth to you? Hey, I don't know what this is about.
This is about you and this ambulance driver endangering the lives of patients so you can cash in on their insurance.
It's about watching a young man's lifejust fade away.
Steven Chambers trusted you.
You didn't care about his life.
All you care about is what's inside this envelope.
No, no, no, this is a setup, man.
This is not fair.
What's not fair is Steven Chambers's parents are gonna have to unplug the machines that are breathing life into their only son.
- I'm outta here.
- Come with me, sir.
Hey, wait a minute.
What are you doing? Hey! Hey! Oh, man.
- Thi - Oh, Rennert.
You might need this.
"I have said that they were truly happy "and without strong affection and humanity of heart "and gratitude to that being whose code is mercy and whose great attribute is benevolence to all things that breathe" We need to do this.
"Within the altar of the old village church "there stands a white marble tablet "which bears as yet but one word: "Agnes.
' "There's no coffin in that tomb; "and may it be many, many years before another name is placed above it.
"But if the spirits of the dead ever come back to earth "to visit spots hallowed by the love, the love beyond the grave "those whom they knew in life "I believe that the shade of Agnes sometimes hovers around that solemn nook.
"I believe it, nonetheless "because that nook is in a church "and she was weak and erring.
'" [Sustained Tone.]
"The end.
" All done.
It's good that Oliver found a family.
- Darling.
- I know.
[Priest Praying, Indistinct.]
[Sobbing.]
Godspeed, my son.
[Sobbing.]
[Takes Deep Breath, Exhales.]
You were right, Sydney.
Well, I have to get back to work.
So, you're staying.
Who wants to be around a bunch of mice anyway? - Where you going? - Cleveland.
[Female Dispatcher.]
Airlift four, what's your E.
T.
A.
? [Man.]
Uh, we'll be touching down in 15 seconds.
Out.
[No Audible Dialogue.]
[Monitor Beeping.]
- Any change? - No.
Since he, uh, slipped back into the coma there's been nothing.
- It's not fair.
- What isn't fair? Some people, they just fight so hard, but they just don't make it.
Oh, you can't save them all, Jarod.
You may be a Pretender, but you're human.
Right.
Halstrom's Technique did it help at all? It helped enough.
[Phone Beeps.]
[Mews.]

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