Unstable (2023) s02e04 Episode Script

1
[whimsical music playing]
[exhales]
[snoring lightly]
- Jackson?
- [groans]
[bells clanging]
Whatcha doing, buddy?
Uh, it's an Einstein thing.
That when the bells drop, it wakes you up.
Because true insights happen
in the liminal state between waking
And dreaming, sure.
But why are you sleeping in the lab?
The bells didn't drop.
You have been working in here for days.
You need to go home, get in your bed,
and get a good night's sleep.
No. My focus is making sure
people forget about the retreat.
The retreat was weeks ago.
People don't care now.
- They've moved on. You need to move on.
- Everybody?
It's it's water under the bridge.
It will be when I come up
with the next big breakthrough.
That's what you'd do, right?
- It's what I would do, but you're not
- But I'm not what?
I'm not you? I know that.
I'm also a damn good scientist.
And in order for me to lead these people,
they need to see that.
- Yeah. Yeah.
- Uh-huh. Yeah.
Okay. All right. What you got cooking up?
[sighs] I'm glad you asked.
[inhales]
All we read about in the news these days
is people wanting to go to space.
- So everyone's looking up.
- Mm-hmm.
[whispering] I'm looking down.
Subsurface colonies.
Underwater. What's stopping us?
The water.
But it's it's a unique idea.
I gotta go back to sleep.
[theme music playing]
Um, hey,
so has Peter said anything to you yet?
About what?
- Letting me lead the bio-battery team.
- Can you slow your roll a little?
Okay, well, I wouldn't need to slow it
if you would just help a sister out.
[chuckles] If you wanna call the shots,
you have to be able
to advocate for yourself.
Yeah, well, that's easy for you to say.
You're good at speaking up.
I just get so blah.
- You know?
- Yeah.
Peter is a sweetheart.
All you have to do is walk into his office
and tell him what you want.
You got this.
'Sup, sluts. [chuckles]
- What did you just call me?
- We're not sluts.
Oh oh no. I didn't mean, like,
slutty sluts.
Just like, "Sluts."
[lid rattles]
Will you sluts excuse me for a second?
I need to go advocate for myself.
Hell, yeah.
- Yeah.
- [Ruby chuckles]
Sorry about my, uh, racy lingo earlier.
That's just how me and my new bestie
shoot the shit. [chuckles]
- What new bestie?
- Georgia.
Anna's intern?
Baby G is my main G.
- I don't love that for you.
- Why not?
She doesn't strike you as a tad deranged?
You don't even know her.
She's actually cool AF.
She's coming to drinks tonight.
- You should join.
- Somebody said drinks! Ha!
Yeah.
Yeah, Malcolm was saying we should
get to know Anna's intern better.
Sure, yeah, whatever.
Oh, good idea. Maybe a change of venue
will help me unlock that big breakthrough.
- Happens to my dad all the time.
- [Ruby] Hmm.
Oh, shit. You can clean that up.
Oh boy.
He's losing it.
I hope he doesn't
bring this energy home tonight.
[upbeat music playing]
[music ends]
Have you noticed something ever
so slightly off about Jackson recently?
Well, I do wonder
if we're putting too much pressure on him.
Are we?
By "we," I mean you,
and, uh, I think he's worried
that you're losing confidence in him.
That's ridiculous.
- Is it?
- Yes.
As his father and number one fan,
I have complete confidence in him.
But if you were losing faith
in his ability to lead,
maybe we should do something
to ease your mind.
Yes, you're right.
It's my mind that needs easing.
But what is it exactly that I'm proposing?
I think you're dancing around it,
but clearly you're considering replacing
him as our spokesman at BioTexpo.
Wow. Am I sure?
You're definitely willing
to consider other candidates.
And I think
you might already have one in mind.
I do, and I can't wait to hear who it is.
Well, my guess would be
you're on Team Peter.
But the problem with that
is he would have to be fully vetted,
and there's no way we could do that
in Jackson's emotional state
here at the office.
Well, then I'm sorry I ever brought it up.
Unless you were suggesting
that we meet with him
somewhere secret outside the office.
What I'm always suggesting is we handle
things as professionally as possible
with complete transparency.
- I like your first idea better. Okay.
- Uh
Operation Secret Meeting
Outside the Office.
My house. Make it happen.
[uptempo instrumental music playing]
[music ends]
- [knocking]
- Hey.
- Hey.
- Hey, um, can I talk to you for a second?
- Uh, yeah, sure.
- Yeah?
- [Peter chuckles softly]
- Um
[clicks tongue]
So, uh, when I heard that Dragon
was acquiring your company,
I was just like, "Hell yeah!"
You know, not just 'cause we're friends.
Say, do you know where I could find a deal
on a rare painting or historical artifact?
Oh, no, that's not
Um Yeah, I don't know.
Oh, sorry.
Sorry, no, I I just, um
I was invited back to Ellis's house,
and I don't want to show up empty-handed.
- Oh, no. Yeah, of course not. Um
- Do you know what I mean?
Uh, you know what?
I would probably just do, like,
a nice bottle of wine, I think.
But don't go crazy and get one
that belonged to a duke or something.
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah. Wine. Regular wine.
[Peter exhales]
I'm still just a little starstruck
by the whole Ellis aura.
- You know? Yeah.
- Oh. Yeah, no, I know. I get it.
Was there I'm sorry.
Was there something
you, uh, wanted to talk about?
Oh, um
No. No, I just, uh
I You've got a lot on your plate,
so I just wanted to say hey.
- Always down for that.
- Okay, bye.
[whimsical music playing]
- This looks lovely.
- It will certainly be educational.
Indeed.
Christ. What's he doing here?
I could ask you the same thing.
I thought this was supposed to be
a secret? Jackson's fragile state?
Leslie can be trusted.
The question is, can she?
I just want to say once again,
I don't feel great
about keeping this from Jackson.
- It's for his own good.
- You're the boss.
And don't you forget it.
All right,
so when does the subject arrive?
The subject?
- Tonight's gonna be a pressure cooker.
- [Ellis] Mm.
What's he talking about?
Well, we need to find out
if Peter can stand up to the heat.
And Leslie's going to help with that?
He is a very gifted therapist.
Who better than him to find out
if Peter's up to the challenge?
Literally anyone else.
Oh, relax, Anna. I'm a mind-hunter.
Oh God.
- Don't worry, I'll put everything back.
- He always does.
- [Anna sighs]
- [doorbell ringing]
Oh, that's him.
[whimsical music playing]
Peter, Peter, charcuterie eater.
Come on in, dude.
Ellis.
[both chuckling]
Uh, sorry I'm late. Traffic was a little
- [Leslie] Hey there!
- Jesus!
[Peter exhales]
Ah, there it goes.
Uh [breathing shakily]
Good thing that didn't belong to a duke.
[Peter chuckles]
Interesting.
Thank thank you?
- It's not nothing.
- "Duke."
- What's this?
- Don't worry about it.
[whimsical music playing]
You're really gonna like Luna and Ruby
once you get to know them.
It'd be nice if you could
just kinda go easy on them.
Okay, Dad.
I mean, I want you
to be yourself, of course.
Will do.
Just not as much of yourself
as you are when you're with me.
Not everyone gets our humor.
We're silly sluts.
- [scoffs] I know how to win the room.
- [Luna] Hey.
What's up, slores?
It means slutty whores. [chuckles]
- Oh. [chuckles]
- [chuckles]
Good to see you skanks.
[uptempo instrumental music playing]
And then after
that National Science Award,
my parents started taking my interest
a little bit more seriously.
Of course, I was 13 when I won that award.
Not seven, like some people we know.
Ah! You've read
my autobiography, Being Ellis.
No, no, no. I devoured it.
[laughs] That's a cool story,
but I've got a question for you.
If you had 24 hours to live,
what would you do?
Ah Uh I don't know. I'd have to think
Don't think about it. Answer from the gut.
Okay. Um, uh I would give away
all my money and call everyone I love.
- I like that answer.
- It's very sweet.
Okay, you nailed that one,
but don't get too cocky.
What are you talking about, man?
This guy's a trip.
Can you solve this in under a minute?
Oh, snap, a Rubik's Cube. I haven't solved
one of these since what? College?
Time starts now.
[tense music playing]
- I was enjoying what Peter had to say
- Shh! Let the man work.
[Leslie] Thirty seconds gone.
- What's the matter? Pressure
- Boom. Still got it.
I can see now
that you, too, have a brilliant mind.
When it comes to puzzles,
I can just dial in.
- Just don't ask me to spell Mississippi.
- Oh, spelling was never my strong suit.
Great minds share similar flaws.
You know what the nastiest flaw is? Lying.
Wouldn't you agree, Peter?
- Sure.
- Hm.
Is that a polygraph?
Military grade.
Shall we take her for a spin?
[sinister sting plays]
All posters on the wall ♪
How fun is this?
Hello. What's up, guys?
Oh, Jackson,
didn't expect to see you here.
I thought
you'd be at that meeting. [chuckles]
What's this? What meeting?
Oh. Uh, um
- No, never mind.
- What's she talking about?
Peter and Anna
are at your dad's house for drinks.
Guess your invite got lost in the mail.
- [Georgia chuckles]
- I told you not to say anything.
Oops, sorry.
- So, we all knew about this?
- Uh, everyone except Ruby.
Peter mentioned it to me too.
He was, like, really excited.
Huh.
So what?
My dad invited Peter and Anna
over for drinks.
This has no bearing on me whatsoever.
- I love how healthy you sound right now.
- Yeah.
Not like I'm worried
about Peter stealing my thunder.
Peter feels so terrible
about how things went down with you guys,
so he would not try anything.
Even if he did,
your dad would shut it down.
- That's right. He would. Yeah? Right?
- Absolutely.
- And so would Anna.
- [Ruby] Mm-hmm. Yeah.
[Georgia] Hmm.
- What?
- I'm not starting any drama tonight.
- Thank you.
- Especially about Anna.
So you do think she's up to something?
Well, let's just say
Anna's always out for Anna.
Trust me.
So then, she'd be going
behind my dad's back with all this? Why?
[chuckles]
'Cause she's got
some big master plan with Peter.
You guys, when you talk like this,
you sound crazy.
[Ruby scoffs]
I wouldn't put it past her.
You guys don't know her like I do.
- Guys, I'm fine. Seriously. I'm good.
- [Ruby] Mm-hmm. Totally.
I'm cool.
I'm cool as a cucumber right now.
- I'm gonna go.
- No.
- Why would you rile him up like that?
- You're the one who brought it up first.
And you're the one who wouldn't let it go.
There it is.
I've been telling her
to be more assertive.
And I've been telling her
to tone it down. [chuckles]
- How am I doing?
- Not great.
You really don't need to do this.
I'd actually rather you didn't.
Oh, yes, Peter, if the pressure
is too much for you
It's fine. I always wanted to try one of
these since I saw it on The Bachelorette.
Great. Uh, let's start with an easy one.
Have you ever betrayed your country?
I don't think so.
All right. Did you get The Da Vinci Code?
Uh, no.
What bodily function
do you wish would just go away?
- The the premature stuff.
- Okay.
- That doesn't happen, but I'm just saying.
- I'm gonna put that as a yes.
Would you describe me
as conventionally handsome?
- There is some leading-man energy.
- Am I interrupting something?
- Oh, Jackson, it's great to see you, man.
- Yeah, hi.
Son of a bitch, he means it!
This is precisely why I wanted everything
to be out in the open.
So you need to go and talk to your son now
before everything gets out of hand.
Or we could say it's all your idea.
Okay, I'll do it. Hey, buddy.
- Hey.
- [Ellis] Hey, guy.
Yeah, I didn't expect you.
Let me get you a beverage.
I can't believe this is happening
right now. What a betrayal.
- Okay, I can explain.
- No, let me explain.
Anna has Peter over right now
to bond with you so he can leapfrog me.
That's why this meeting is happening.
[Leslie] So, define beauty.
- Is that what's happening?
- Yeah. It's pretty obvious.
In fact,
I think she didn't do it at the office,
so I wouldn't make waves.
Well, whatever's happening,
I think that Anna
is just very concerned about you.
She's concerned about herself.
She's pulled the wool over your eyes.
She's a sneaky little Brit.
What if she is just concerned
that you're hanging on by a thread?
[scoffs] No.
No, this is Anna up to no good with Peter,
and it ends now.
- Right now.
- [Leslie] Okay, this is a tricky one.
Why do I love so hard?
I don't know, buddy.
Maybe because you have a really big heart.
It's a curse.
Okay, I think
Peter's been in the hot seat long enough.
Why don't we all give the polygraph a try?
- Um, or we could just be done with it.
- No. Anna, why don't you strap in?
No, thank you. I think
we've had our fill of the polygraph.
Not me. But I'll go next, I guess.
And then whoever's next will go.
- Probably Anna.
- Okay.
[Jackson] Chop-chop.
[groans] I'll just sit here
and slide this stupid thing on.
No, it's not a stupid thing.
[smacks lips] Okay. Can I go?
- Yep.
- Uh
Was I invited tonight? No.
Was I surprised
to find out that Peter was? Yes.
Leslie, how am I doing?
Oh, it's a little whiny,
but so far, it's all true.
Well, how about this?
Did you steal my shampoo
when you moved out?
- Um, no.
- Ha! Look, it's going crazy.
- You're lying.
- I was in a rush. I just grabbed it.
I knew your hair looked silkier.
You've always been jealous of me.
Maybe we give the guy a bit of a break.
Maybe let's let's
let's start a new activity.
Mm, no. Actually, Anna, you're up next.
Well, don't skip me. It's my machine.
Okay. Sure.
Anna, you're on deck.
All right, yeah.
So you gotta just watch the needles there.
All right, do your worst.
Okay, Leslie. How long
have you lived with my dad?
Uh, I don't know. I guess it's been
around 3,800 billable hours.
Wait, this guy's a lawyer?
[laughs] No. He's my live-in therapist.
Oh! Oh, I was getting
cousin-who-survived-an-accident vibes.
So you're really a therapist?
I'm not just a therapist.
I'm a life coach. I'm a guru.
I'm a board-certified CEO whisperer.
Leslie's helped me
through a very dark time.
Are you, uh, doing better now?
Yeah. Oh no, no.
No, I'm I'm much better now.
In fact, I may not even need him anymore.
- [Ellis, Leslie laughing]
- [Anna chuckles]
[laughing]
[exhales] Well, uh, you know,
it's fun to laugh with your friends.
Uh, the work that we're doing
is very serious.
[needles oscillating]
He's lying.
No, if I was lying,
this would be going way crazier.
There it goes again.
Looks like a lie.
Mind-hunter becomes the mind-hunted.
What are you doing? We need that!
Let's go fix it together, Jackson.
Downstairs. It broke. [laughs]
[Jackson] Okay.
[whimsical music playing]
- What the hell was that up there?
- I don't know.
I was just trying to buy some time while
we cook up one of our signature schemes.
There's no "we," Leslie.
I am fixing this so that I can expose Anna
for the snake that she is.
Don't worry about that thing.
That cuff was too tight anyway.
My whole arm is tingling.
Would you have me stand around
while Anna helps Peter leapfrog me?
Hey, Peter's coming
for the both of us, you know?
I can feel it in my chest.
He wants me out of the picture.
Or at least the guest house.
All right. Here's the plan.
I create a code-red scenario.
I watch Peter crack under the pressure,
and you swoop in like Joe Cool.
Then Ellis is gonna forget
about everything Peter said about me.
And then we'll all go back
to being a happy family.
[chuckles] Dude, whatever it is
you're talking about, I'm out.
Perfect. You'll have deniability.
Just remember, when the shit goes down,
you keep calm and Jackson on.
Keep calm and Jacks-on.
[sinister music plays]
Okay, good news, everyone.
I got this thing fixed.
So, Anna, come on over.
Um, no, thank you.
Can we just get back to our nice,
normal meeting without any more games?
No more games?
I'm down for no more games. Why don't
we get everything out in the open?
Have a conversation
like a couple of adults.
What's actually going on tonight, Anna?
We thought it would be nice
to get to know Peter a little better.
- Anna's idea.
- Fine.
- Totally her idea.
- It was my idea.
See, I know there's more to it than that
'cause you kept it a secret.
- Why'd you do it, Anna?
- Yeah, why'd you do that, Anna?
Because you insisted.
[Anna clears throat]
- I did?
- If you're not going to tell him, I will.
You should tell him.
Okay. [inhales sharply]
Ellis wanted to secretly vet Peter
for BioTexpo
because his confidence in you is wavering.
- What?
- [Leslie] All right, this is a robbery!
Now get down on the floor!
Everybody, get down!
[Anna] Leslie?
[Leslie] God!
Ouch.
[Leslie groaning] Something's wrong. Help!
- Oh my God.
- I think he's having a heart attack.
Uh, he's not. Trust me.
- [Leslie groaning]
- [Peter] We should call 911.
No, no, no! Everybody knows 911's a joke.
- Public enemy. We'll call my guy.
- [Leslie moaning]
Peter, you can chill.
You don't need to call anyone. He's okay.
No, no, I think Peter's right!
Of course,
'Cause Peter's right about everything.
Just give him the whole freaking company.
He collapsed on the ground
clutching his chest.
Obviously, there's some mental stuff
going on.
[Leslie grunts]
I need to tell you something.
[sniffles] It was me under the mask.
- There's a lot to sort out.
- [Leslie coughs]
[Leslie groans]
I don't think that's helping.
[sinister music plays]
[indistinct radio chatter]
Looks like Leslie did have a heart attack,
but he's stable now.
Is he gonna be okay?
Maybe. The 911 guys are taking him.
They just have a bunch of medicine
and equipment I don't have.
It's a pretty cool setup.
I don't want you
to get the wrong idea about tonight.
This is not how
it was supposed to go down.
No. Tonight's on me.
I worked myself up into a frenzy.
I convinced myself that this was
all Anna plotting against me.
And the truth is I didn't want to face
what was going on here.
You don't think that I have it.
And I wouldn't either,
so I'm sorry about tonight.
Uh, Leslie is asking for someone
to ride with him in the ambulance.
I'd do it, but I have a thing.
Really? Really?
You want me to Okay.
I'll just come back tomorrow
and get my car, I guess.
I don't even know that dude.
It's a small ambulance,
so it's gonna be tight.
[Peter] Great.
[smacks lips] Well, that was a disaster.
- Looks that way.
- [sighs]
To the untrained eye.
Excuse me?
Disasters are where leaders are born.
That apology from Jackson to me
took gigantic balls.
- I
- With balls the scale of that child's
I don't
I think he still has it.
The balls of a leader.
["Broken Jaw"
by Foster the People playing]
Don't want to talk about it ♪
What do you see
When you dream about it? ♪
I had been broke down from my enemies ♪
I'm drifting further from my memories ♪
Malcolm, you are not gonna believe
- What's up, homie?
- What are you doing here?
I was watching a movie with Malcolm,
but he passed out. He's a lightweight.
- [chuckles]
- [chuckles] Um, you're kinda in my bed.
Are you mad?
[chuckles softly]
[Jackson exhales]
I know why ♪
But you said, I don't know ♪
You said, I don't know ♪
- You said, I don't know ♪
- [Jackson sighs]
You said, I don't know ♪
Every day I'm fighting
'Cause I can't leave it ♪
I feel the weight
Then I come back down ♪
Watch from the sides
And I try to reach out ♪
Just a little bit closer
Then I come back down ♪
Pushing me, pushing me,
I can feel it, yeah ♪
Just a little bit higher
Then I come back down ♪
Climbing over people
'Cause I've been blinded ♪
I'm waiting, I'm waiting around ♪
[song ends]