ReGenesis s02e09 Episode Script
Gene in a Bottle
Homeland Security's been keeping a close watch on two brothers.
Scientists.
Stefan and Vincent Manford.
David, you got to think these guys are up to something more than just sending wine to the President.
I think I'd like to meet them.
- The yeast is more of a vector.
- A delivery system.
You guys are trying to find a way to put a vaccine in bread? That is fucking brilliant.
They missed it, Vincent.
We knew they would, Stefan.
Going back to New York is a good thing.
They'll stick me.
I dumped their dope and that shit is worth, like, half a million bucks on the street.
- David.
- What is it, Bob? Emissions from cars and factories, trapped by the inversion layer.
Combined with the massive pollution moving across the Pacific, complicated by the gases emitting out of Mount Popocatepetl.
Theoretically, David, we could be heading towards a perfect pollution storm over Mexico City.
What the hell do you guys do here? Sulfuric acid at that pH level it'll melt things, flesh will burn on contact Now, there's a few hours left.
Forget it, we're not going get enough ammonia.
No, even if we tapped into U.
S.
supplies and got them here in time-- the pH of the cloud up to 2.
5 maybe if we're lucky.
Clear rain has a pH level of what? - We need something else.
- And a lot of it.
Authorities have decided to declare the high alert yellow flag Mexico City and outlying areas in a state of panic.
We cannot Roads are clogged, people are being forced onto buses, families are a little girl lost in the chaos of the evacuation.
Airlines have cancelled all flights to the Mexixo City airport.
The fucking water in the Gulf of Mexico! OK.
Ocean water has a pH level of 8.
5, right? And it's full of bicarbonates.
So here's what we're going to do.
The pH level of the acid is 1.
Ocean water's 8.
5.
We know that ammonia will easily neutralize the acid.
So we're going to dump in as much ammonia as we can get our hands on - in combination with the ocean water.
- And we got plenty of that.
Bob, what is the pH we can live with in the rain? - Five.
- We can live with, Bob.
Four point seven.
Four point seven.
OK.
So how much? How much? have landed in California.
Okay,we need water scoopers too, lots of them.
I'm on it.
David, we could add calcium carbonate.
Sure.
How much can we put in there before it turns to cement? Bob.
Bob.
- Three hours till it rains acid, David.
- Bob! Yes, we are pretty tied up right now monitoring the situation in Mexico City.
Anything? The planes are over Mexico City.
We'll know soon.
Okay.
Sorry, Governor.
A 50 percent increase in suicides? And you don't think it's related to the hurricane damage Katrina caused? Yeah, I agree, this is something we should look into.
So send us all your data.
Medical Examiner.
Police.
Psychiatric.
Everything you have.
Okay, bye.
Maman, qu'est-il arrivé ? Carlos, je suis dans le jardin.
Il pleut.
S'il te plaît, va dans la maison.
Non, non.
Je t'appelais pour te dire que tout va bien.
Quoi ? Oui, mes bougainvillées, mes arbustes, mes fleurs, la jardin entier se porte parfaitement bien sous la pluie.
Tout va bien.
Grâce à Dieu.
We decided ammonia alone would not work sufficiently to save the people.
So our scientists at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico recommended ocean water mixed with bicarbonate of soda and calcium carbonate.
It worked Brilliantly.
Never should have happened.
It will happen.
Again and again.
Mayko! - What? - This isn't a hotel.
Go home.
Get some sleep.
All of you, go home and get some sleep.
- Goodnight, David.
- Hey! Good work, everybody.
Thank you.
Good work Mayko.
David, I need to talk to you about a new case.
Can it wait till tomorrow, Caroline? I'm beat.
- First thing in the morning? - Promise.
- Okay, goodnight.
- Yeah.
Goodnight.
Hey Owen.
- You can read? - Yeah.
G ood.
- Where were you last night? - Just putting out some fires in Mexico.
Shit.
What'd you eat? I was waiting for you.
Oh.
Sorry.
I've got to take a shower.
So Go down to that 24 hour place and buy us something that doesn't look too disgusting, alright? All right.
Oh, uh.
Sorry.
This chick called last night.
Said Harlan died.
The funeral was today.
And the shiver starts tomorrow.
You OK? I'll go get the groceries.
- Hi.
- Shalom.
Laura I just got your message this morning.
I'm so sorry.
Thank you.
Can I get you a coffee, or some cake? No, I'm fine.
I don't think you know my sister, Hilda.
Hilda, this is David Sandstrom.
Harlan's friend, David.
Thanks for coming.
He spoke so highly of you.
Excuse us, Hilda.
- Nice to meet you.
- Me too.
So, Laura Steven, Julie, I asked you not to run through the house.
Laura.
What happened? The car was flattened.
When they finally got him out it was horrible.
He was drunk, David.
Harlan? The party.
It was his brother's birthday party, and I'm usually the designated driver.
But I was at home with two sick kids Laura, do not do that to yourself.
He was always in here.
Working away.
Taking care of us.
I admired him so much.
He always knew how to balance everything, you know.
His teaching.
His research.
You and the kids.
He was a good husband - and a good man.
- We had a lot of laughs.
Laura, if there's anything I can do for you.
- There is something.
- Name it.
Harlan was doing research for Lowy.
The funeral was just yesterday and they had a lawyer from the company come over here last night asking for Harlan's laptop and all of his files.
That's corporate paranoia.
See, they figure if you sign a contract with them, they own you and your first born.
I didn't give them anything.
It's just Harlan was working on something on his own.
Nights.
Weekends.
- What? - I don't know.
All I know is he said what he was working on could be a potential money-maker.
He said even millions.
You should get a lawyer to take a look at it.
- Isn't your brother? - He read the contract.
If it's directly related to what Harlan was working on, then Lowy owns it.
If not, it's mine.
I just don't know what it is.
You want an opinion? What's the name of this clown who came to see you last night? His card is over here.
This is everything.
His lab books His computer Take whatever you need.
Right.
If there's anything in here, I'll find it.
I'm a mensch.
It's going to be okay.
Hey Jill! Hey, what's up? Hey, Owen.
What are you doing out here? I'm waiting for David.
The prick at the front desk wouldn't let me in.
- It's cold out.
- You should do up your jacket.
Yeah Do you know where he is? Just thought maybe he could - give me some money for food or - You alright? Well, it's cold out.
Are you high? - What? - Owen, look at me.
Look at me.
- What are you doing? - What do you mean what am I doing? Coke? Crack? Crystal meth? Meth? Wow.
Do you know what you're doing to your brain? - Fuck you.
- Would you like to know? OK.
So I did a little meth.
What's the big fucking deal? That meth is carving a pathway through your veins trying to get to your brain and your spinal fluid.
And all of these chemicals: Norepinephrine, dopamine, S erotonin, are gushing out of your brain.
Pressure's going through the roof.
Your heart is racing.
You feel fantastic and one of these days, you're going to have a sweet little convulsion and die.
So that's the big fucking deal.
This is not really what I need, but Thanks, Mom.
Owen, don't walk away from me.
Nice.
Caroline.
What is all this? Suicide data from Arkansas? Oh, good it came in.
You're going to have to make sense of something that makes no sense.
- Sure.
- I want you to go through the data.
Put together a presentation to get everyone up to speed.
I think this is right up your alley.
Well, looks like he was randomly inserting promoter traps in a mice.
I love how these things work.
You know, you drop them in, they cozy up to the gene next to it, and say, "Hey baby, show me your goods.
" Yep.
It turns the gene on and the gene does what it's supposed to do.
Causes cancer, maybe cures it.
- Maybe it grows eyeballs.
- Yeah well You know multiple eyeballs, while very cool, would hardly be a reason to tell your wife you're coming into a boatload of dough, right? Actually I think these genes have something to do with sexual reproduction.
Multiple orgasms? I'd pay for that.
This one in particular, David This one here, it's always been a suspect.
So what was he looking for? - Was he a close friend? - Used to be.
Then he had kids and sort of disappeared into the bosom of his family.
Which is maybe something I should have done.
Good scientist? Very, but he was more you know, tortoise than hare.
Hard worker, never gave up.
You had to admire his tenacity, but if Harlan found something, he stumbled on it, no question.
Well, it's not going to be easy, to recreate his stumbling.
FL472.
He didn't finish a history on this one.
What do you make of this? It looks like some kind of code.
FL472.
Well, the mice are at the U of T.
So let's get the little guys down here, and find out what they do.
Owen, I need to speak with you.
Call me when you get this message.
- Owen? - No, elves.
All I know is that I took I spent 40, now I've got 60.
Well I have a pretty good idea what he spent it on.
I saw him about an hour ago.
He was flying.
- On what? - Meth.
You know the shit they're selling on the street these days.
Some of it's got lithium from batteries, lye, red phosphorus from matches.
It's poison, he's going to kill himself.
So I'm not going to get my money back, so is what you're saying.
What I'm saying is, if you ever see him again - which you probably won't - tell him to stop - which he probably won't - and then all you can do is wait for him to hit rock bottom, which he absolutely will.
Thanks for getting me into this.
// FIN PARTIE 1 Hey Carlos! Our visitors are here.
Thanks.
Welcome to NorBAC.
It's been a long time since I had a chance to do mouse work.
You usually work in breeding pairs.
Don't you? - Yes.
- Well according to these labels They're all boys.
Maybe there is something special about these males.
Harlan seemed to be studying reproduction, maybe he was studying male reproductive diseases: prostate cancer.
Hi guys.
We're waiting for you, david.
- What's going on? - Have a seat.
Mayko.
Okay, so This is the path of Hurricane Katrina in the summer of 2005.
Now, after major disasters, suicides in affected zones usually increase 30%.
- What are we talking about? - Just listen.
Okay? But the spike in the suicide rate from the area in question is actually a 50% spike.
And, it's not part of Katrina's path.
So, these people actually weren't affected by the devastation.
The increase in suicides started in New Orleans, as expected.
But then over the last year or so, it spread up through here and as high as Arkansas.
Suicide? Suicides don't "spread".
From what I've been told, suicide is higher amongst teens and seniors and usually there are different suicide rates for males and females, different races.
True.
But in the counties in the 50% zone, the results are the same across all demographics.
Even kids.
- Kids? - Wes contacted some families of victims.
One of them emailed me this.
- He's 7 years old.
- Cute.
Happy go-lucky.
Much loved.
Two days after this was taken, he grew severely depressed.
Two more days, and somehow he made his way to a bridge.
They found him a few hours later downstream, snagged on a branch.
- So people are killing themselves for no reason.
- Yeah.
They're happy, healthy.
And then sudden depression.
CDC's been tracking this for weeks.
They want us to have a look at it.
It sounds like a job for a bunch of shrinks, not NorBAC.
Come on David, don't you think this is weird? I mean, little kids little kids don't just kill themselves.
I thought you said everything was biology.
All behavior.
All emotion.
No, I said all behavior has a biological component.
Including depression? Yes.
Okay.
So let me reframe it for you.
Find me the biological component in suicidal people in the 50% zone.
- Sure, Caroline, piece of cake.
- Thank you.
I want to get somebody right on that.
What? Yeah.
Oh hi, Jim.
I got your number from Laura Sendak.
I'd like to get together with you, it's about Harlan's research.
Oh, I know you're interested.
Well if it's not prostate cancer "Mice sterile after promotor trap placed beside gene X-313 of chromosome 4.
Tested sperm, good motility, no pathology.
So what's wrong?" And it ends there.
What if he stumbled upon PEA3 mice? - What's that? - Well The males provide complete testosterone but are sterile.
The female mammary glands develop abnormally.
It's always been a bit of a race to figure out why.
- Worth money? - Well If it transfers to human infertility, yes.
We should look into that.
Absolutely.
What else? I don't know.
How long would it take to get female mice in heat? Five minutes.
There's always some downstairs.
Why? We're starting a reproductive gene, let's see what they got.
Okay.
Go.
It looks like he's more interested in the buffet, Bob.
He looks like he's about to take a nap.
I think generally that's done afterwards.
I want to try something.
Carlos, what are you doing? Males will kill each other.
Maybe these won't.
Still, it's not our experiment to experiment with.
Bob, I don't think they're going to fight.
I have a feeling that these boys would rather What? I suspect that he randomly placed the promoter trap next to a gene.
Yeah.
But that gene was the gene that determines sexual preference! No fucking way! - Harlan He did? - Maybe.
I think he had scientific evidence that being gay is genetic.
Okay.
Wait, wait, wait.
In a mouse! No.
If I had a dollar for every time cancer got cured in mice and they couldn't translate it to humans, I'd be a millionaire.
So let's just Let's just sit down.
What else could it be? Maybe it's a gene that makes the males smell like females and that's why they're humping each other.
- But they wouldn't hump the females.
- Oh, shit.
You know, he had a lot on X-313.
Okay, okay.
Bob, I'm going to need you to pull up that section of human DNA that corresponds to the mouse DNA.
On average, there's an 85% similarity between human and mouse genes.
Yeah, I know.
So there's a 15% likelihood that they don't match.
But I think if it's similar there's a high probability that it does exist in humans.
X-313 on chromosome 4.
Human DNA.
The corresponding region is on chromosome 8.
And Here's the gene.
Okay.
See here? And here? They look 99.
9% identical.
One amino acid difference.
And so wow.
Your friend was right, David.
This is huge.
Bob, I want you to go into the genome bank, and pull up males.
We'll compare them.
Then we'll know.
Of gay mice and gay men.
Match.
Match.
Close enough.
Match.
- Match.
- Ten of ten.
- Heteros.
- Match.
- Jesus match.
- Is this for real? - They all match! - Shit! This is incredible! OK, we should really keep quiet about this until we figure out the right way to deal with it.
Why? It's not our discovery, Bob, for one thing.
And then, you know, just putting it out there Help me out with this.
Well, the psychosocial impact of an announcement like this - could cause more harm than good.
- Exactly.
And there's something else.
Harlan said this was gonna make him rich.
Discovering the gay gene might bring you a lot of fame, but not necessarily fortune.
Unless you could find a way to affect the function of that gene.
What do you mean? - Never mind.
- It's okay, Bob.
Well, if you've got a gene that promotes a certain type of behavior, especially one that's considered undesirable in a lot of places amongst a lot of people, wouldn't you want to see if you can turn that behavior off? A drug.
Or a chemical compound to suppress the gene.
- Maybe it was his next move.
- It'd be my next move.
This makes a lot of sense.
I found a patent application for a molecule in Harlan's lab books.
He'd put it through various testing processes that make me think its utility was drug-related.
I think it might have had something to do with the mice.
- Order it.
- You can't.
But we can get a chemist to synthesize it for us.
Okay, do it.
Let's try it out.
- Hey, David.
- Owen, good to see you.
You going back to the loft? I thought I'd hitch a ride.
Sure, let's talk about some money first though.
I take it you borrowed some from me.
- What? - 200 bucks.
From my wallet on the dresser.
I don't know what you're talking about.
Look at me.
Hey! Look at me.
You sound a lot like your girlfriend.
- I don't have a girlfriend.
- Okay, well, your friend, Jill.
She's had it out for me from the start and I don't know what the hell she's been feeding you.
- Maybe the truth.
- Maybe bullshit.
I want you out of my place, Owen.
Gimme my keys back.
- I was gonna pay you back.
- Oh really? Would you get a job or you gonna steal the money from somebody else? The keys, Owen.
Come on! I was gonna pay you back! I'm not a thief.
Look, to show you there are no hard feelings, here's the rest of it.
And that's the last you're going to get from me.
The point I'm trying to make is that Western society is starting to accept homosexuality.
- Slowly, but yes.
- Yeah, but come on, it's come a long way.
And if this drug works, it could set it all back to attitudes of fifty years ago.
That your disease can be cured with this handy little pill.
But all I'm saying, David, is that men in different parts of the world would appreciate having a choice.
Well what about you, Carlos? What if you got tested and discovered that you didn't have the gene? Does that make you a pervert? Does it erase all the years you've spent fighting for who you are? Okay, look.
Let's just hang on to this for a little while.
We'll test the drug.
Think about what the fuck to do with it.
Let's not worry about it right now.
Okay? - Okay.
- Bob? Did you know lobsters are cannibals? It's true.
If put them in a cage together they'll eat each other.
Well, that's why I invited you over here tonight, Bob.
So you could eat them before they ate each other.
Thank you, David.
- Beer's here.
- It's about time.
So, what's going on? Well, we think we found Well, David's friend found the gene for sexual preference.
A gay gene? The gene for sexual preference.
So, what for women and men? Yes and no.
You see if a man gets it, he is more attracted to men.
If a woman gets it, she's more attracted to men too.
- So it's like a horny gene? - I guess so.
Bon appetit.
I don't know David, I think you're opening up some very delicate ethical issues.
What's the problem? Some redneck gets tired of the "homo" he's working with, just slips him a couple of pills in his coffee.
What about the US military? There goes the whole homosexuality deferment issue out the window.
And let's not even go there with the Christian Right.
- Anybody want ice cream? - God, I am totally full.
You find a gene, next comes a genetic test and then a cure.
Sorry, it must just be the baby.
We got our tests results back.
He's gonna be a boy.
Brown hair.
Blue eyes, But Mike's having second thoughts The baby's gonna be gay.
Sorry, Mayko.
Did you want ice cream? No, David I don't want any.
- Um Bob, ice cream? - Ice cream! I was miserable.
Now, for my heartburn, I take "Latrapsalin.
" And for my homosexual tendencies, I reach for "Gay Away", the dust that makes fairies fly away.
Fast acting Latrapsalin.
For heartburn relief when you need it most.
Carlos? - Ice cream? - Thank you.
So does the world really need a "cure" for homosexuality? - Is it a disease? - We're asking the wrong questions here.
Take the guys who built the bomb, right.
I don't think the question for them was ever "Should we build it?" They had to.
It was either them or the Nazis.
I think the questions that kept them up at night was probably Who's going to build it first? You know.
And what's going to be done with it? So what are we going to do with our bomb, guys? David, Caroline really wants us to get on this suicide thing.
- Okay, I heard you.
What? - Okay.
So the Brenner County report says: "suicide is normally associated with family breakdown, poverty, unemployment, drug abuse, alcoholism, and incarceration However, research shows recent suicides in the county no longer follow this pattern.
" It's the same old crap over and over, Mayko.
Everybody is saying something is wrong, I get it.
I know.
And no one is saying what it might be.
It looks like we're starting from scratch on this one.
Wes! Where the fuck are those body parts? If you mean the samples from the suicide victims, they'll be here this afternoon.
- .
3 ccs, right? - Right.
Any idea how long before this takes effect? No.
Even the chemist who put it together doesn't know what it was for.
Well, let's find out.
And David will probably want to know what happens.
I'll go get him.
// FIN PARTIE 2 Homosexual male, meet heterosexual females-in-heat.
Now there's a boy who knows how to tango.
David, you got an update on the suicides? I'm working on it.
I'm busy right now.
- Is this business or pleasure? - A little bit of both.
David, I've got two Governors calling wanting answers.
- Get on it.
- Okay.
Here.
Mayko, body parts.
- Oh.
Thanks, Wes.
- Update please, Mayko.
Caroline is breathing down my neck on this thing.
McGuinn's calling, Governors are all over him.
Where's our money going, what's the use of NorBAC, do you get it? - Chill out, Wes.
- I'm completely chill.
Okay.
Initial pathology on the suicides from Arkansas looks fine but neurotransmitter levels had spikes in dopamine and serotonin.
- What does that mean? - Well basically there's nothing grossly abnormal about the specimens but David thinks it points to a chemical imbalance somewhere.
- I see.
- So, we're going to run some tests and see if we can identify any chemicals that might be in the brain and hopefully that'll give us a clue as to what is causing this.
Thank you, Mayko.
Let me know what you come up with.
Sure.
Okay, so.
David wants blood to Sunnybrook.
Intestines to U of T.
Pulmonary to Queen's.
Heart tissue to Mt.
Sinai.
We're doing liver, kidney, pancreas and brain here.
What you'd do? Rob a Starbucks? No.
I picked up some bottles and cans and I did some panhandling but I didn't steal it.
- Look, I know I fucked up.
- You stoned now? - No.
- You were yesterday when you came looking for me.
I was on the street, and some guy offered me a toke.
Oh.
So you were just being polite, eh? Look, I know you're mad at me, and you probably don't want anything to do with me.
I'm sick, man I know I got a problem.
What do you want, Owen? I just I know I need to get better but that's hard to do out there.
I just need a place.
Look, I wanna beat this.
I do.
Come in.
I have no idea what that is, Bob.
I found a phorbol.
No one's ever seen before.
Bob, there's thousands of phorbols.
Actually, there are 1832.
This is 1833.
Okay, where did you find it? I found it in all the samples of the suicide victims.
Brains, and all the other organs.
Fuck PKC.
Maybe I made a mistake interpreting the data.
I doubt it.
PKC.
Protein Kinase C.
It is an enzyme that does important work in your body.
What does this protein do exactly? In the brain, too little, you get depressed.
Too much, you get bipolar.
- And both roads can lead to suicide.
- Exactly.
In a normal brain, you got regulators to control the level of PKC.
- Neurotransmitters.
- Right.
It's all part of normal nerve function.
But the neurotransmitters can get thrown off by these things called phorbols.
- Fur balls? - Phorbols.
We use them in the lab all the time in our experiments.
Like if you want to activate cancer growth in human cells.
- They also activate PKC.
- So that's it? Phorbols? Not exactly.
The people west of the Mississippi, they have a lot of a phorbol of some kind in their system.
And? Phorbols don't occur naturally in humans.
- So where'd they come from? - I have no idea.
They belong in trees and stuff.
And there's something else.
This is a new one.
It's never been seen before.
Bart? David Sandstrom.
The Leafs are doing just fine, thank you very much.
Listen Oh absolutely.
Make it a hundred.
Listen, we found some phorbols in some suicide victims.
You know, I know it doesn't make any sense.
I don't know, Bart, that's why I'm calling you.
Well look, do you know of anybody who might be able to - Got a minute? - Hang on, Bart.
No.
What? I just got a phone call from Audrey Graves, remember her? Bart, just see what you can find out and call me back.
Thanks.
So, Audrey, eh? How's she doing? Health wise, pretty good.
Same with the baby.
She's back to work full time.
- Good.
- She wanted some answers.
About what? Harlan Sendak.
What about him? According to Audrey he was doing some work - for Lowy Pharmaceuticals.
- Yeah.
Lowy have filed an injunction that we - NorBAC - are not releasing research that belongs to them.
NorBAC has nothing to do with Harlan's personal research.
- Not according to Audrey.
- I don't care.
Harlan Sendak was a friend of mine.
And he died in a car crash last week.
So what's the problem? You've been spending a lot of time on this personal project? Yeah, so? So, you should have told me before using the lab's resources - and our scientists' time to help you do it.
- Come on, Caroline.
David, we entered into an agreement with Audrey Graves and American Pharmaceuticals.
No, you have entered into an agreement.
A 35 million dollar agreement, David.
So, if they want to have a look at some research that they feel is potentially theirs, we have an obligation to show it to them.
- It's not theirs.
- Then let them determine that.
No.
Not this stuff.
Not this time.
Okay? Just gimme a break with this one, Caroline.
- Excuse me.
- Hey.
Come on in.
- Anything else? - Yeah.
You work on any outside projects, you find a cure for the common cold, you buy a pencil, I want to know about it.
Understood? - Sure thing.
- Good.
- Carlos.
- Hey.
- Let's take a walk.
- What was that all about? Lowy Pharmaceuticals wants Harlan's research.
- How do you know? - I met with one of their lawyers.
I was trying to keep things personal, but now they're going after NorBAC, so we're running out of time.
The truth is, David, I don't think we can hold the research any longer.
If we give this to Lowy, they're going to figure out a way to make it their own.
I'm sure they will.
It's a very powerful discovery.
Yeah.
A discovery that was made by Harlan Sendak.
Maybe you should talk to Laura? See what she wants to do.
Man, I already got something in the works.
- I could have come up.
- Nah-nah, it's all right.
Did you want to talk to me about something? - It can wait.
- Okay.
You wanted to talk? Why did you let Owen back in? - What happened to "give the kid a chance"? - I'm sorry.
That was before I knew he was using.
Don't worry, he was clean when he came home.
He's lying to you, David.
How'd you know that.
I know addicts.
All right.
Okay.
My "thing" was prescription pills.
I went through treatment three times.
And the third time worked.
It was eleven years ago, okay.
- I've never gone back.
- Jill, I've seen you drink.
Recovering addicts didn't drink.
Right, well, alcohol was never my addiction.
Although I'm sure someday it could be.
Or cigarettes or God or Who knows? Um The only reason I'm telling you this is because I don't want you to get hurt by Owen, okay? You can't trust him.
He's not who you think he is.
What do you want me to do, Jill? Just watch your back.
Okay.
- Hey.
- Hey.
What's going on? Nothing.
What'd you do today? Just chilled here.
Got any plans for tomorrow? Not really.
- You do any shit today? - Meth? No.
Do you want to? Yeah.
Okay.
Um If you're going to stay here, we gotta do something about that.
I am.
I'm staying away from it.
No.
It's not just enough to stay away from it, Owen.
'Cause it's everywhere.
It's like It's like there's a bar on every block in this town.
Some days, I feel like I could hit every one of them.
You ever do that? Yeah, I've been known to.
Okay, yeah, on occasion.
But it's not a habit, you understand what I'm saying? Yeah.
Okay, so here's what's going down.
You're going to get some help and you're gonna enroll in a program that's going to get you off the drugs.
And then you're going to get a job.
And then you're going to get up every morning.
And you're going to go to work.
And you're going to live your life like, you know, a relatively normal human being.
- Okay.
- No.
Just I mean, yes, okay, but don't just say "okay", okay? Because this is what's going to happen, Owen.
Or that door's going to hit you on the ass on the way out, okay? David.
I'm going to do this.
I want to do this.
Okay.
Okay.
Keep it down.
Okay You want me to go in with you? Right.
Got it.
So, new city, new chance.
I know it's cheesy, but it's true.
Thanks.
See ya later.
- Mayko? - Right here, Jesus.
God.
Where's Harlan's hard drive? His lab books.
All his stuff? It was right here when I left yesterday.
That's weird.
Oh, no.
Thank you for telling me all this.
Harlan did some incredible work.
It belongs to you now.
- What is this? - That is a patent.
For the gene he discovered and a compound that will turn it off.
I was working all week with a lawyer friend of mine.
He wrangled it through the patent office for you.
So, now you can go to Lowy on your own terms if you want to.
- Could be worth millions.
- Or it could hurt so many.
Yeah.
You'll have to think about it.
Thank you.
It's hard.
We don't need millions of dollars.
My children need their father and I need Harlan.
I know.
I'm sorry.
What would he have done? I don't know.
I really don't know.
- All right, where is it? - Where's what? Harlan Sendak's research.
We don't come up with it, you're going to be arrested.
Your apartment is going to be searched.
Laura Sendak's house is going to be searched-- - It's in my car.
I-- - Go! You pull something like that again, I'm not going to cover your ass.
- I'm tired of this, David.
- Come on.
I thought it was my petulant, irresponsible behavior that you loved about me.
Okay.
Moving on.
Any more suicides? Yeah, two more further up the Mississippi in a place called Greanville, Arkansas.
They haven't had a suicide since 1981.
Well, I think it's time for a little field research.
So do I, so pack your bags.
Oh.
Where is it? I put it in here this afternoon, Caroline.
I fucking swear.
- David.
- I fucking swear.
Yes, I understand.
I'll have it sent over to you immediately.
No.
No one has any idea what happened to it.
Thank you, sir.
What do you think's going on around here? Well Doc, I'll tell you.
This is Middle America.
Folks around here don't get the big city blues.
We worry about the price of corn, not terrorist attacks.
Wes! I don't want excuses, I don't want theories, I want to know what happened to that research.
I think we should sit down and talk to David.
I think that Connor McGuinn would like that.
That'll get you in anywhere you want to go.
Find what you're looking for and let me know.
I'm not the enemy.
You think the water might be poisoned? - Could be.
- You think that's what killed the deer? - Ahhh.
Shit! - Both victims had phorbols.
McDonald had 4.
85 - and Deer has 6.
7.
- You know that guy Deer? - Yeah.
- Is a deer.
So, it's going to be a reality show about me meeting superstars.
The rock stars are going to act like supermodels and the supermodels like movie stars.
I have crystal.
Um No.
I clean these days.
- Do you mind if I do? - No, go ahead.
Fuck! Fuck! - Aah.
- What is that? - Concentrated retrovirus in medium.
- Shower, now! The Asian Brown Cloud was too close for comfort.
I don't want ever to have to do that again.
You can help us online with missions every week.
Remember, only you know the whole story.
Register online at regenesistv.
com.
Scientists.
Stefan and Vincent Manford.
David, you got to think these guys are up to something more than just sending wine to the President.
I think I'd like to meet them.
- The yeast is more of a vector.
- A delivery system.
You guys are trying to find a way to put a vaccine in bread? That is fucking brilliant.
They missed it, Vincent.
We knew they would, Stefan.
Going back to New York is a good thing.
They'll stick me.
I dumped their dope and that shit is worth, like, half a million bucks on the street.
- David.
- What is it, Bob? Emissions from cars and factories, trapped by the inversion layer.
Combined with the massive pollution moving across the Pacific, complicated by the gases emitting out of Mount Popocatepetl.
Theoretically, David, we could be heading towards a perfect pollution storm over Mexico City.
What the hell do you guys do here? Sulfuric acid at that pH level it'll melt things, flesh will burn on contact Now, there's a few hours left.
Forget it, we're not going get enough ammonia.
No, even if we tapped into U.
S.
supplies and got them here in time-- the pH of the cloud up to 2.
5 maybe if we're lucky.
Clear rain has a pH level of what? - We need something else.
- And a lot of it.
Authorities have decided to declare the high alert yellow flag Mexico City and outlying areas in a state of panic.
We cannot Roads are clogged, people are being forced onto buses, families are a little girl lost in the chaos of the evacuation.
Airlines have cancelled all flights to the Mexixo City airport.
The fucking water in the Gulf of Mexico! OK.
Ocean water has a pH level of 8.
5, right? And it's full of bicarbonates.
So here's what we're going to do.
The pH level of the acid is 1.
Ocean water's 8.
5.
We know that ammonia will easily neutralize the acid.
So we're going to dump in as much ammonia as we can get our hands on - in combination with the ocean water.
- And we got plenty of that.
Bob, what is the pH we can live with in the rain? - Five.
- We can live with, Bob.
Four point seven.
Four point seven.
OK.
So how much? How much? have landed in California.
Okay,we need water scoopers too, lots of them.
I'm on it.
David, we could add calcium carbonate.
Sure.
How much can we put in there before it turns to cement? Bob.
Bob.
- Three hours till it rains acid, David.
- Bob! Yes, we are pretty tied up right now monitoring the situation in Mexico City.
Anything? The planes are over Mexico City.
We'll know soon.
Okay.
Sorry, Governor.
A 50 percent increase in suicides? And you don't think it's related to the hurricane damage Katrina caused? Yeah, I agree, this is something we should look into.
So send us all your data.
Medical Examiner.
Police.
Psychiatric.
Everything you have.
Okay, bye.
Maman, qu'est-il arrivé ? Carlos, je suis dans le jardin.
Il pleut.
S'il te plaît, va dans la maison.
Non, non.
Je t'appelais pour te dire que tout va bien.
Quoi ? Oui, mes bougainvillées, mes arbustes, mes fleurs, la jardin entier se porte parfaitement bien sous la pluie.
Tout va bien.
Grâce à Dieu.
We decided ammonia alone would not work sufficiently to save the people.
So our scientists at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico recommended ocean water mixed with bicarbonate of soda and calcium carbonate.
It worked Brilliantly.
Never should have happened.
It will happen.
Again and again.
Mayko! - What? - This isn't a hotel.
Go home.
Get some sleep.
All of you, go home and get some sleep.
- Goodnight, David.
- Hey! Good work, everybody.
Thank you.
Good work Mayko.
David, I need to talk to you about a new case.
Can it wait till tomorrow, Caroline? I'm beat.
- First thing in the morning? - Promise.
- Okay, goodnight.
- Yeah.
Goodnight.
Hey Owen.
- You can read? - Yeah.
G ood.
- Where were you last night? - Just putting out some fires in Mexico.
Shit.
What'd you eat? I was waiting for you.
Oh.
Sorry.
I've got to take a shower.
So Go down to that 24 hour place and buy us something that doesn't look too disgusting, alright? All right.
Oh, uh.
Sorry.
This chick called last night.
Said Harlan died.
The funeral was today.
And the shiver starts tomorrow.
You OK? I'll go get the groceries.
- Hi.
- Shalom.
Laura I just got your message this morning.
I'm so sorry.
Thank you.
Can I get you a coffee, or some cake? No, I'm fine.
I don't think you know my sister, Hilda.
Hilda, this is David Sandstrom.
Harlan's friend, David.
Thanks for coming.
He spoke so highly of you.
Excuse us, Hilda.
- Nice to meet you.
- Me too.
So, Laura Steven, Julie, I asked you not to run through the house.
Laura.
What happened? The car was flattened.
When they finally got him out it was horrible.
He was drunk, David.
Harlan? The party.
It was his brother's birthday party, and I'm usually the designated driver.
But I was at home with two sick kids Laura, do not do that to yourself.
He was always in here.
Working away.
Taking care of us.
I admired him so much.
He always knew how to balance everything, you know.
His teaching.
His research.
You and the kids.
He was a good husband - and a good man.
- We had a lot of laughs.
Laura, if there's anything I can do for you.
- There is something.
- Name it.
Harlan was doing research for Lowy.
The funeral was just yesterday and they had a lawyer from the company come over here last night asking for Harlan's laptop and all of his files.
That's corporate paranoia.
See, they figure if you sign a contract with them, they own you and your first born.
I didn't give them anything.
It's just Harlan was working on something on his own.
Nights.
Weekends.
- What? - I don't know.
All I know is he said what he was working on could be a potential money-maker.
He said even millions.
You should get a lawyer to take a look at it.
- Isn't your brother? - He read the contract.
If it's directly related to what Harlan was working on, then Lowy owns it.
If not, it's mine.
I just don't know what it is.
You want an opinion? What's the name of this clown who came to see you last night? His card is over here.
This is everything.
His lab books His computer Take whatever you need.
Right.
If there's anything in here, I'll find it.
I'm a mensch.
It's going to be okay.
Hey Jill! Hey, what's up? Hey, Owen.
What are you doing out here? I'm waiting for David.
The prick at the front desk wouldn't let me in.
- It's cold out.
- You should do up your jacket.
Yeah Do you know where he is? Just thought maybe he could - give me some money for food or - You alright? Well, it's cold out.
Are you high? - What? - Owen, look at me.
Look at me.
- What are you doing? - What do you mean what am I doing? Coke? Crack? Crystal meth? Meth? Wow.
Do you know what you're doing to your brain? - Fuck you.
- Would you like to know? OK.
So I did a little meth.
What's the big fucking deal? That meth is carving a pathway through your veins trying to get to your brain and your spinal fluid.
And all of these chemicals: Norepinephrine, dopamine, S erotonin, are gushing out of your brain.
Pressure's going through the roof.
Your heart is racing.
You feel fantastic and one of these days, you're going to have a sweet little convulsion and die.
So that's the big fucking deal.
This is not really what I need, but Thanks, Mom.
Owen, don't walk away from me.
Nice.
Caroline.
What is all this? Suicide data from Arkansas? Oh, good it came in.
You're going to have to make sense of something that makes no sense.
- Sure.
- I want you to go through the data.
Put together a presentation to get everyone up to speed.
I think this is right up your alley.
Well, looks like he was randomly inserting promoter traps in a mice.
I love how these things work.
You know, you drop them in, they cozy up to the gene next to it, and say, "Hey baby, show me your goods.
" Yep.
It turns the gene on and the gene does what it's supposed to do.
Causes cancer, maybe cures it.
- Maybe it grows eyeballs.
- Yeah well You know multiple eyeballs, while very cool, would hardly be a reason to tell your wife you're coming into a boatload of dough, right? Actually I think these genes have something to do with sexual reproduction.
Multiple orgasms? I'd pay for that.
This one in particular, David This one here, it's always been a suspect.
So what was he looking for? - Was he a close friend? - Used to be.
Then he had kids and sort of disappeared into the bosom of his family.
Which is maybe something I should have done.
Good scientist? Very, but he was more you know, tortoise than hare.
Hard worker, never gave up.
You had to admire his tenacity, but if Harlan found something, he stumbled on it, no question.
Well, it's not going to be easy, to recreate his stumbling.
FL472.
He didn't finish a history on this one.
What do you make of this? It looks like some kind of code.
FL472.
Well, the mice are at the U of T.
So let's get the little guys down here, and find out what they do.
Owen, I need to speak with you.
Call me when you get this message.
- Owen? - No, elves.
All I know is that I took I spent 40, now I've got 60.
Well I have a pretty good idea what he spent it on.
I saw him about an hour ago.
He was flying.
- On what? - Meth.
You know the shit they're selling on the street these days.
Some of it's got lithium from batteries, lye, red phosphorus from matches.
It's poison, he's going to kill himself.
So I'm not going to get my money back, so is what you're saying.
What I'm saying is, if you ever see him again - which you probably won't - tell him to stop - which he probably won't - and then all you can do is wait for him to hit rock bottom, which he absolutely will.
Thanks for getting me into this.
// FIN PARTIE 1 Hey Carlos! Our visitors are here.
Thanks.
Welcome to NorBAC.
It's been a long time since I had a chance to do mouse work.
You usually work in breeding pairs.
Don't you? - Yes.
- Well according to these labels They're all boys.
Maybe there is something special about these males.
Harlan seemed to be studying reproduction, maybe he was studying male reproductive diseases: prostate cancer.
Hi guys.
We're waiting for you, david.
- What's going on? - Have a seat.
Mayko.
Okay, so This is the path of Hurricane Katrina in the summer of 2005.
Now, after major disasters, suicides in affected zones usually increase 30%.
- What are we talking about? - Just listen.
Okay? But the spike in the suicide rate from the area in question is actually a 50% spike.
And, it's not part of Katrina's path.
So, these people actually weren't affected by the devastation.
The increase in suicides started in New Orleans, as expected.
But then over the last year or so, it spread up through here and as high as Arkansas.
Suicide? Suicides don't "spread".
From what I've been told, suicide is higher amongst teens and seniors and usually there are different suicide rates for males and females, different races.
True.
But in the counties in the 50% zone, the results are the same across all demographics.
Even kids.
- Kids? - Wes contacted some families of victims.
One of them emailed me this.
- He's 7 years old.
- Cute.
Happy go-lucky.
Much loved.
Two days after this was taken, he grew severely depressed.
Two more days, and somehow he made his way to a bridge.
They found him a few hours later downstream, snagged on a branch.
- So people are killing themselves for no reason.
- Yeah.
They're happy, healthy.
And then sudden depression.
CDC's been tracking this for weeks.
They want us to have a look at it.
It sounds like a job for a bunch of shrinks, not NorBAC.
Come on David, don't you think this is weird? I mean, little kids little kids don't just kill themselves.
I thought you said everything was biology.
All behavior.
All emotion.
No, I said all behavior has a biological component.
Including depression? Yes.
Okay.
So let me reframe it for you.
Find me the biological component in suicidal people in the 50% zone.
- Sure, Caroline, piece of cake.
- Thank you.
I want to get somebody right on that.
What? Yeah.
Oh hi, Jim.
I got your number from Laura Sendak.
I'd like to get together with you, it's about Harlan's research.
Oh, I know you're interested.
Well if it's not prostate cancer "Mice sterile after promotor trap placed beside gene X-313 of chromosome 4.
Tested sperm, good motility, no pathology.
So what's wrong?" And it ends there.
What if he stumbled upon PEA3 mice? - What's that? - Well The males provide complete testosterone but are sterile.
The female mammary glands develop abnormally.
It's always been a bit of a race to figure out why.
- Worth money? - Well If it transfers to human infertility, yes.
We should look into that.
Absolutely.
What else? I don't know.
How long would it take to get female mice in heat? Five minutes.
There's always some downstairs.
Why? We're starting a reproductive gene, let's see what they got.
Okay.
Go.
It looks like he's more interested in the buffet, Bob.
He looks like he's about to take a nap.
I think generally that's done afterwards.
I want to try something.
Carlos, what are you doing? Males will kill each other.
Maybe these won't.
Still, it's not our experiment to experiment with.
Bob, I don't think they're going to fight.
I have a feeling that these boys would rather What? I suspect that he randomly placed the promoter trap next to a gene.
Yeah.
But that gene was the gene that determines sexual preference! No fucking way! - Harlan He did? - Maybe.
I think he had scientific evidence that being gay is genetic.
Okay.
Wait, wait, wait.
In a mouse! No.
If I had a dollar for every time cancer got cured in mice and they couldn't translate it to humans, I'd be a millionaire.
So let's just Let's just sit down.
What else could it be? Maybe it's a gene that makes the males smell like females and that's why they're humping each other.
- But they wouldn't hump the females.
- Oh, shit.
You know, he had a lot on X-313.
Okay, okay.
Bob, I'm going to need you to pull up that section of human DNA that corresponds to the mouse DNA.
On average, there's an 85% similarity between human and mouse genes.
Yeah, I know.
So there's a 15% likelihood that they don't match.
But I think if it's similar there's a high probability that it does exist in humans.
X-313 on chromosome 4.
Human DNA.
The corresponding region is on chromosome 8.
And Here's the gene.
Okay.
See here? And here? They look 99.
9% identical.
One amino acid difference.
And so wow.
Your friend was right, David.
This is huge.
Bob, I want you to go into the genome bank, and pull up males.
We'll compare them.
Then we'll know.
Of gay mice and gay men.
Match.
Match.
Close enough.
Match.
- Match.
- Ten of ten.
- Heteros.
- Match.
- Jesus match.
- Is this for real? - They all match! - Shit! This is incredible! OK, we should really keep quiet about this until we figure out the right way to deal with it.
Why? It's not our discovery, Bob, for one thing.
And then, you know, just putting it out there Help me out with this.
Well, the psychosocial impact of an announcement like this - could cause more harm than good.
- Exactly.
And there's something else.
Harlan said this was gonna make him rich.
Discovering the gay gene might bring you a lot of fame, but not necessarily fortune.
Unless you could find a way to affect the function of that gene.
What do you mean? - Never mind.
- It's okay, Bob.
Well, if you've got a gene that promotes a certain type of behavior, especially one that's considered undesirable in a lot of places amongst a lot of people, wouldn't you want to see if you can turn that behavior off? A drug.
Or a chemical compound to suppress the gene.
- Maybe it was his next move.
- It'd be my next move.
This makes a lot of sense.
I found a patent application for a molecule in Harlan's lab books.
He'd put it through various testing processes that make me think its utility was drug-related.
I think it might have had something to do with the mice.
- Order it.
- You can't.
But we can get a chemist to synthesize it for us.
Okay, do it.
Let's try it out.
- Hey, David.
- Owen, good to see you.
You going back to the loft? I thought I'd hitch a ride.
Sure, let's talk about some money first though.
I take it you borrowed some from me.
- What? - 200 bucks.
From my wallet on the dresser.
I don't know what you're talking about.
Look at me.
Hey! Look at me.
You sound a lot like your girlfriend.
- I don't have a girlfriend.
- Okay, well, your friend, Jill.
She's had it out for me from the start and I don't know what the hell she's been feeding you.
- Maybe the truth.
- Maybe bullshit.
I want you out of my place, Owen.
Gimme my keys back.
- I was gonna pay you back.
- Oh really? Would you get a job or you gonna steal the money from somebody else? The keys, Owen.
Come on! I was gonna pay you back! I'm not a thief.
Look, to show you there are no hard feelings, here's the rest of it.
And that's the last you're going to get from me.
The point I'm trying to make is that Western society is starting to accept homosexuality.
- Slowly, but yes.
- Yeah, but come on, it's come a long way.
And if this drug works, it could set it all back to attitudes of fifty years ago.
That your disease can be cured with this handy little pill.
But all I'm saying, David, is that men in different parts of the world would appreciate having a choice.
Well what about you, Carlos? What if you got tested and discovered that you didn't have the gene? Does that make you a pervert? Does it erase all the years you've spent fighting for who you are? Okay, look.
Let's just hang on to this for a little while.
We'll test the drug.
Think about what the fuck to do with it.
Let's not worry about it right now.
Okay? - Okay.
- Bob? Did you know lobsters are cannibals? It's true.
If put them in a cage together they'll eat each other.
Well, that's why I invited you over here tonight, Bob.
So you could eat them before they ate each other.
Thank you, David.
- Beer's here.
- It's about time.
So, what's going on? Well, we think we found Well, David's friend found the gene for sexual preference.
A gay gene? The gene for sexual preference.
So, what for women and men? Yes and no.
You see if a man gets it, he is more attracted to men.
If a woman gets it, she's more attracted to men too.
- So it's like a horny gene? - I guess so.
Bon appetit.
I don't know David, I think you're opening up some very delicate ethical issues.
What's the problem? Some redneck gets tired of the "homo" he's working with, just slips him a couple of pills in his coffee.
What about the US military? There goes the whole homosexuality deferment issue out the window.
And let's not even go there with the Christian Right.
- Anybody want ice cream? - God, I am totally full.
You find a gene, next comes a genetic test and then a cure.
Sorry, it must just be the baby.
We got our tests results back.
He's gonna be a boy.
Brown hair.
Blue eyes, But Mike's having second thoughts The baby's gonna be gay.
Sorry, Mayko.
Did you want ice cream? No, David I don't want any.
- Um Bob, ice cream? - Ice cream! I was miserable.
Now, for my heartburn, I take "Latrapsalin.
" And for my homosexual tendencies, I reach for "Gay Away", the dust that makes fairies fly away.
Fast acting Latrapsalin.
For heartburn relief when you need it most.
Carlos? - Ice cream? - Thank you.
So does the world really need a "cure" for homosexuality? - Is it a disease? - We're asking the wrong questions here.
Take the guys who built the bomb, right.
I don't think the question for them was ever "Should we build it?" They had to.
It was either them or the Nazis.
I think the questions that kept them up at night was probably Who's going to build it first? You know.
And what's going to be done with it? So what are we going to do with our bomb, guys? David, Caroline really wants us to get on this suicide thing.
- Okay, I heard you.
What? - Okay.
So the Brenner County report says: "suicide is normally associated with family breakdown, poverty, unemployment, drug abuse, alcoholism, and incarceration However, research shows recent suicides in the county no longer follow this pattern.
" It's the same old crap over and over, Mayko.
Everybody is saying something is wrong, I get it.
I know.
And no one is saying what it might be.
It looks like we're starting from scratch on this one.
Wes! Where the fuck are those body parts? If you mean the samples from the suicide victims, they'll be here this afternoon.
- .
3 ccs, right? - Right.
Any idea how long before this takes effect? No.
Even the chemist who put it together doesn't know what it was for.
Well, let's find out.
And David will probably want to know what happens.
I'll go get him.
// FIN PARTIE 2 Homosexual male, meet heterosexual females-in-heat.
Now there's a boy who knows how to tango.
David, you got an update on the suicides? I'm working on it.
I'm busy right now.
- Is this business or pleasure? - A little bit of both.
David, I've got two Governors calling wanting answers.
- Get on it.
- Okay.
Here.
Mayko, body parts.
- Oh.
Thanks, Wes.
- Update please, Mayko.
Caroline is breathing down my neck on this thing.
McGuinn's calling, Governors are all over him.
Where's our money going, what's the use of NorBAC, do you get it? - Chill out, Wes.
- I'm completely chill.
Okay.
Initial pathology on the suicides from Arkansas looks fine but neurotransmitter levels had spikes in dopamine and serotonin.
- What does that mean? - Well basically there's nothing grossly abnormal about the specimens but David thinks it points to a chemical imbalance somewhere.
- I see.
- So, we're going to run some tests and see if we can identify any chemicals that might be in the brain and hopefully that'll give us a clue as to what is causing this.
Thank you, Mayko.
Let me know what you come up with.
Sure.
Okay, so.
David wants blood to Sunnybrook.
Intestines to U of T.
Pulmonary to Queen's.
Heart tissue to Mt.
Sinai.
We're doing liver, kidney, pancreas and brain here.
What you'd do? Rob a Starbucks? No.
I picked up some bottles and cans and I did some panhandling but I didn't steal it.
- Look, I know I fucked up.
- You stoned now? - No.
- You were yesterday when you came looking for me.
I was on the street, and some guy offered me a toke.
Oh.
So you were just being polite, eh? Look, I know you're mad at me, and you probably don't want anything to do with me.
I'm sick, man I know I got a problem.
What do you want, Owen? I just I know I need to get better but that's hard to do out there.
I just need a place.
Look, I wanna beat this.
I do.
Come in.
I have no idea what that is, Bob.
I found a phorbol.
No one's ever seen before.
Bob, there's thousands of phorbols.
Actually, there are 1832.
This is 1833.
Okay, where did you find it? I found it in all the samples of the suicide victims.
Brains, and all the other organs.
Fuck PKC.
Maybe I made a mistake interpreting the data.
I doubt it.
PKC.
Protein Kinase C.
It is an enzyme that does important work in your body.
What does this protein do exactly? In the brain, too little, you get depressed.
Too much, you get bipolar.
- And both roads can lead to suicide.
- Exactly.
In a normal brain, you got regulators to control the level of PKC.
- Neurotransmitters.
- Right.
It's all part of normal nerve function.
But the neurotransmitters can get thrown off by these things called phorbols.
- Fur balls? - Phorbols.
We use them in the lab all the time in our experiments.
Like if you want to activate cancer growth in human cells.
- They also activate PKC.
- So that's it? Phorbols? Not exactly.
The people west of the Mississippi, they have a lot of a phorbol of some kind in their system.
And? Phorbols don't occur naturally in humans.
- So where'd they come from? - I have no idea.
They belong in trees and stuff.
And there's something else.
This is a new one.
It's never been seen before.
Bart? David Sandstrom.
The Leafs are doing just fine, thank you very much.
Listen Oh absolutely.
Make it a hundred.
Listen, we found some phorbols in some suicide victims.
You know, I know it doesn't make any sense.
I don't know, Bart, that's why I'm calling you.
Well look, do you know of anybody who might be able to - Got a minute? - Hang on, Bart.
No.
What? I just got a phone call from Audrey Graves, remember her? Bart, just see what you can find out and call me back.
Thanks.
So, Audrey, eh? How's she doing? Health wise, pretty good.
Same with the baby.
She's back to work full time.
- Good.
- She wanted some answers.
About what? Harlan Sendak.
What about him? According to Audrey he was doing some work - for Lowy Pharmaceuticals.
- Yeah.
Lowy have filed an injunction that we - NorBAC - are not releasing research that belongs to them.
NorBAC has nothing to do with Harlan's personal research.
- Not according to Audrey.
- I don't care.
Harlan Sendak was a friend of mine.
And he died in a car crash last week.
So what's the problem? You've been spending a lot of time on this personal project? Yeah, so? So, you should have told me before using the lab's resources - and our scientists' time to help you do it.
- Come on, Caroline.
David, we entered into an agreement with Audrey Graves and American Pharmaceuticals.
No, you have entered into an agreement.
A 35 million dollar agreement, David.
So, if they want to have a look at some research that they feel is potentially theirs, we have an obligation to show it to them.
- It's not theirs.
- Then let them determine that.
No.
Not this stuff.
Not this time.
Okay? Just gimme a break with this one, Caroline.
- Excuse me.
- Hey.
Come on in.
- Anything else? - Yeah.
You work on any outside projects, you find a cure for the common cold, you buy a pencil, I want to know about it.
Understood? - Sure thing.
- Good.
- Carlos.
- Hey.
- Let's take a walk.
- What was that all about? Lowy Pharmaceuticals wants Harlan's research.
- How do you know? - I met with one of their lawyers.
I was trying to keep things personal, but now they're going after NorBAC, so we're running out of time.
The truth is, David, I don't think we can hold the research any longer.
If we give this to Lowy, they're going to figure out a way to make it their own.
I'm sure they will.
It's a very powerful discovery.
Yeah.
A discovery that was made by Harlan Sendak.
Maybe you should talk to Laura? See what she wants to do.
Man, I already got something in the works.
- I could have come up.
- Nah-nah, it's all right.
Did you want to talk to me about something? - It can wait.
- Okay.
You wanted to talk? Why did you let Owen back in? - What happened to "give the kid a chance"? - I'm sorry.
That was before I knew he was using.
Don't worry, he was clean when he came home.
He's lying to you, David.
How'd you know that.
I know addicts.
All right.
Okay.
My "thing" was prescription pills.
I went through treatment three times.
And the third time worked.
It was eleven years ago, okay.
- I've never gone back.
- Jill, I've seen you drink.
Recovering addicts didn't drink.
Right, well, alcohol was never my addiction.
Although I'm sure someday it could be.
Or cigarettes or God or Who knows? Um The only reason I'm telling you this is because I don't want you to get hurt by Owen, okay? You can't trust him.
He's not who you think he is.
What do you want me to do, Jill? Just watch your back.
Okay.
- Hey.
- Hey.
What's going on? Nothing.
What'd you do today? Just chilled here.
Got any plans for tomorrow? Not really.
- You do any shit today? - Meth? No.
Do you want to? Yeah.
Okay.
Um If you're going to stay here, we gotta do something about that.
I am.
I'm staying away from it.
No.
It's not just enough to stay away from it, Owen.
'Cause it's everywhere.
It's like It's like there's a bar on every block in this town.
Some days, I feel like I could hit every one of them.
You ever do that? Yeah, I've been known to.
Okay, yeah, on occasion.
But it's not a habit, you understand what I'm saying? Yeah.
Okay, so here's what's going down.
You're going to get some help and you're gonna enroll in a program that's going to get you off the drugs.
And then you're going to get a job.
And then you're going to get up every morning.
And you're going to go to work.
And you're going to live your life like, you know, a relatively normal human being.
- Okay.
- No.
Just I mean, yes, okay, but don't just say "okay", okay? Because this is what's going to happen, Owen.
Or that door's going to hit you on the ass on the way out, okay? David.
I'm going to do this.
I want to do this.
Okay.
Okay.
Keep it down.
Okay You want me to go in with you? Right.
Got it.
So, new city, new chance.
I know it's cheesy, but it's true.
Thanks.
See ya later.
- Mayko? - Right here, Jesus.
God.
Where's Harlan's hard drive? His lab books.
All his stuff? It was right here when I left yesterday.
That's weird.
Oh, no.
Thank you for telling me all this.
Harlan did some incredible work.
It belongs to you now.
- What is this? - That is a patent.
For the gene he discovered and a compound that will turn it off.
I was working all week with a lawyer friend of mine.
He wrangled it through the patent office for you.
So, now you can go to Lowy on your own terms if you want to.
- Could be worth millions.
- Or it could hurt so many.
Yeah.
You'll have to think about it.
Thank you.
It's hard.
We don't need millions of dollars.
My children need their father and I need Harlan.
I know.
I'm sorry.
What would he have done? I don't know.
I really don't know.
- All right, where is it? - Where's what? Harlan Sendak's research.
We don't come up with it, you're going to be arrested.
Your apartment is going to be searched.
Laura Sendak's house is going to be searched-- - It's in my car.
I-- - Go! You pull something like that again, I'm not going to cover your ass.
- I'm tired of this, David.
- Come on.
I thought it was my petulant, irresponsible behavior that you loved about me.
Okay.
Moving on.
Any more suicides? Yeah, two more further up the Mississippi in a place called Greanville, Arkansas.
They haven't had a suicide since 1981.
Well, I think it's time for a little field research.
So do I, so pack your bags.
Oh.
Where is it? I put it in here this afternoon, Caroline.
I fucking swear.
- David.
- I fucking swear.
Yes, I understand.
I'll have it sent over to you immediately.
No.
No one has any idea what happened to it.
Thank you, sir.
What do you think's going on around here? Well Doc, I'll tell you.
This is Middle America.
Folks around here don't get the big city blues.
We worry about the price of corn, not terrorist attacks.
Wes! I don't want excuses, I don't want theories, I want to know what happened to that research.
I think we should sit down and talk to David.
I think that Connor McGuinn would like that.
That'll get you in anywhere you want to go.
Find what you're looking for and let me know.
I'm not the enemy.
You think the water might be poisoned? - Could be.
- You think that's what killed the deer? - Ahhh.
Shit! - Both victims had phorbols.
McDonald had 4.
85 - and Deer has 6.
7.
- You know that guy Deer? - Yeah.
- Is a deer.
So, it's going to be a reality show about me meeting superstars.
The rock stars are going to act like supermodels and the supermodels like movie stars.
I have crystal.
Um No.
I clean these days.
- Do you mind if I do? - No, go ahead.
Fuck! Fuck! - Aah.
- What is that? - Concentrated retrovirus in medium.
- Shower, now! The Asian Brown Cloud was too close for comfort.
I don't want ever to have to do that again.
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