Leverage s04e11 Episode Script

Make it stop! Make it stop! Aaaah! Let me out! I won't die in here! You hear me?! Aah! Help me! Help! Help me! Is he, like, homeless or something? Not anymore.
You all right, man? I was this close with Ashleigh Berkowitz, man.
You and berserkertits? Yeah.
Until this happened.
Man, I want them out of the house first thing tomorrow.
The entire experiment? Yeah, move them to the psych building.
Come on.
Let's go.
So, Boston PD took this as part of an investigation? More like that was the investigation.
How do you mean? Their whole attitude was when a homeless man dies in a river, it's not a crime -- it's a heart attack.
I had to pay for the autopsy myself.
And? Heart attack.
Miss Schaevel, I'm sorry for your loss, but this is really not the sort of thing -- they moved his body.
Look.
This is a call for volunteers to participate in experiments studying the sleep patterns of people with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Your dad had PTSD? You know, just a little something to remember Vietnam by.
That's where he was when he died.
Look, you have to understand, these university experiments are run by undergrads.
I mean, kids -- literally.
Okay, so y-y-you're saying that you think your dad died, the kids panicked, they tried to hide his body.
I think that they thought that because he was homeless, nobody would notice, I mean, much less care.
I mean, help me prove them wrong.
I thought what you guys did was help people when nobody else would.
Travis Zilgram.
He's a 22-year-old senior with a concentration in psychology.
Now, the experiment seems to be his honors thesis, and it's a sleep study on patients with PTSD.
Until recently, they held these experiments in, like, a private farm facility, but after Schaevel's death, they moved it here, to the basement of the university psychology building.
Now, most people would dive into the question of, why did they move? I, however, am not most people.
You want to skip the "behold my genius" part and just tell us what you found? All right, all right, look.
In addition to studying psychology, Travis also serves as the student president of the order of the 206.
Part fraternity, part secret society, it was originally formed in 1874 by a group of university physicians and Shakespearean scholars.
"206" refers to the number of bones in the human body, which is why they refer to each other as Dustmen.
"Titus Andronicus.
" - Yeah.
- "I will grind your bones into dust and, with your blood and it, make a paste.
" Mm.
Clever.
C-creepy.
It's creepy.
It's not as creepy as the number of Dustmen that hold high positions in intelligence agencies around the world.
You got CIA, MI6, NSA, Mossad.
It's a feeder fraternity for spies.
Well, the file that the Boston PD had on Shaevel's death was closed within an hour and sealed by a federal order.
Somebody with a lot of juice is protecting Zilgram.
Dustmen take care of one another.
Yeah, but which Dustmen? What are they protecting? Well, why don't we just try asking, for a change? Hello.
Yeah.
Travis Zilgram, please.
I'm on hold.
- This the one? - Yep.
Subject has been awake for 72 hours.
I was gonna give him a couple more and then send him to you.
Three days.
We've got it pretty loud in there.
Would you like to hear? Nah.
Plus, it's very cold.
That seems to be the magic recipe.
Temperature near zero, volume 90 decibels, and just let them bake for two to three days.
And they do all this for, what, 50 bucks a day? Well, when you're homeless and hungry, you'd do anything for 50 bucks a day.
Look, your job is to break them.
Let me worry about how to soften them up for you.
Yo, Trav.
Phone.
Zilgram here.
Who's this? Who am I? I'm the cop holding a warrant with your name on it.
That case is closed.
Nice try.
Well, I got it reopened.
Merry Christmas, mother-- He hung up.
Shocking.
Yeah, hi.
Uh, Mr.
Conrad, please.
This is Travis Zilgram.
Safe to assume Zilgram's on the move? Ever been quail hunting, Hardison? - Do I look like I go quail hunting? - Ask him something like, you ever played a video game where you go quail hunting? You see, the birds, understandably -- they don't like to be shot.
So they hide in the bushes.
When you hunt, you have to beat the bushes with a stick.
That way, you scare the birds into the sky, and there's a man waiting there with a gun and good aim, and he picks them off.
That is seriously messed up.
Why would y'all tell me something like that? Why do you know that? Okay, Sophie, Eliot, go to Boston PD, try to get in a little trouble.
- Hardison, you're with me.
- Where we going? - Quail hunting.
- Obviously.
Yeah, she's not gonna settle for anything under $30,000 in case you do not close this deal.
I got to call you back.
You the ones requesting the records on the Schaevel death? Guilty as charged.
Carla Crim.
- That's Carla Crim.
- Novelist, true crime variety.
Yeah, well, those records you requested -- sealed by a federal order.
- No idea what that means.
- She doesn't.
I live in a monarchy.
It means in this country, politics trumps justice every time.
But you think there was a case.
- Oh.
- A rookie on his first day could have told you that body was dumped.
And generally, people don't move a body unless they got something to hide.
I-I'm sorry.
You came a long way.
Wish I had something more to give you.
What if I want to get to know you better? Maybe take you to dinner, you know, talk shop, exchange certain things unofficially? To anybody who knows me, it's probably best if she calls me.
Oh? Uh Ohh.
Guess I accidentally left that file behind.
I'll be back in five minutes.
Kid's making me nervous.
He's not doing anything.
Yeah, but that's my point, you know? I mean, he should be panicking, and he's not.
He's just a kid, Nate.
How bad could it get? How many grown men said that about you while you were raining digital fire down on their lives? Now I'm nervous.
What? I'm getting some weird feedback.
It's like a -- like a whumpa-whumpa.
Wait.
What do you mean? What kind of whumpa-whumpa? I mean, how many kinds are there? There's seven of them.
Is it whumpa-pop whumpa-pop? - Are you being serious right now? - Hardison! It's like a-a whumpa-tink whumpa-tink.
All right, Nate.
You need to get out of there.
Yeah, well, it's too late.
Nate, who do you think that is? The CIA.
You know him? I know the type.
Dangerous.
My contact in MI6 is gone AWOL, so he's off the list you-- You -- are you just check -- you're checking out my -- - No.
- Wow.
What? He's got to be pretty high on the list.
Aren't that many people anymore in the CIA that rate heli-transport.
Well, whoever he is, he's not afraid to take risks.
I told you, they take this Dustman stuff pretty seriously.
All right, what's the point of secret societies? Why do we form them? What's their function? Keep secrets.
Unh-unh.
No, no, no.
To tell secrets.
So, if we want Zilgram's secrets, we need to become the people he tells them to.
How do we do that? Well, not we -- you.
Nate, he's here.
Just can't sit close.
Well, fortunately, nothing brings people together faster than a common enemy.
Who's the common enemy? Who do you think? Hello.
My name is Dr.
McClure, and I'm visiting from Holyoke.
Dr.
Bennett is feeling a little under the weather today.
Heh.
Since this is a game-theory class, I thought we'd start by, uh, by playing a game.
How about you? Do you want -- do you want to play? - Uh, sure.
- Great.
I need you to come up here.
There's a lot of security here.
Yeah, it's there to protect your privacy.
So, what year are you? Freshmore -- man.
First one, first year.
Yeah.
- Nervous? - Uh-huh.
Well, don't be.
We treat our volunteers very well.
Follow me.
Downstairs is restricted.
Now, Mr.
Zilgram is sitting in this chair because he's a very bad man.
Well, it's true.
I am.
You committed a crime.
And maybe it was an accident, but someone died.
It was your fault.
And you got away with it.
Not really.
No, he didn't get away with it because, for the purposes of our game, sitting in that chair means that Mr.
Zilgram has been arrested.
Okay? You had an accomplice.
Now, I'm gonna tell you the same thing I told him.
If you rat out your friend, I'll make sure you get a lighter prison sentence.
Now, the way we play this game is very simple.
You tell me whether or not you will do that, and I'll tell you whether you won or lost.
Well, I won't do it.
Why not? 'Cause I'm not a snitch.
So you're saying you're irrational? No.
Then you're stupid.
'Cause he's gonna betray you 'cause that's what's in his best interest.
That's what he's gonna do.
What you're gonna do is, you're gonna go to jail for a very long time.
You will, you know.
So what we're doing here is -- I have just, uh, demonstrated -- is a classic form of prisoner's dilemma.
And what I'm gonna prove today, mathematically, is that in this situation, it's always best to betray your accomplice.
Give that man an award.
Bravo.
Bravo, sir.
Please stop.
I can't take no more.
Seriously, stop.
The problem with classic PD is that it doesn't take into account Hofstadter's theory of superrationality.
- Hofstadter's theory was - It was first paper in JIGT six months ago.
Or do you not get the peer-reviewed journals at your school? You know what? Y-you probably don't.
My bad.
Thing is -- that little one-act, it might impress the folks at Holyoke, but this ain't Holyoke, brother.
Quiet, everybody.
Quiet.
Hey! Hey, man, wait up.
You bodied that fool back there.
Yeah, a little bit, right? Where'd you learn all that? I just made it up.
Are you serious? - Yeah.
- Why? Because, man screw that guy.
That's why.
Nice.
Come on.
Are you kidding me?! Damn it! Hey, let me see that.
And your license.
Okay, if I just spoof this thing right here wrap a dot host inside this thing right here and we have a convoy.
Like it never happened.
For real? Yeah.
So, you're some kind of genius, huh? Maybe.
That's cool.
I'm super rich.
This afternoon, there's a party at our farmhouse -- hot chicks, cool guys.
You should come.
Yeah.
Sounds like a plan, man.
This is an experiment that tests how negative reinforcement affects learning.
On the other side of that mirror, we have a volunteer hooked up to a machine that can administer electric shocks.
This device signals the machine to shock the subject.
Shock ranges from very annoying to mildly painful but can't cause any serious damage to the volunteer.
So, now I'm gonna ask the subject a series of questions.
If he gets any of the questions wrong, what you do is use the device to -- okay.
- Yeah, you should wait -- - I didn't.
- until I ask a question and then -- - Oh.
if he gets the question wrong, you can use it.
Okay, yeah.
Just give it to me.
Give me the device.
Okay, I'm just gonna hang on to this while I read the instructions.
"Thank you for volunteering your time.
- In this study, you will --" - Ahh! Wha-- what? You obviously have it.
- I don't have it.
- Okay.
Give it to me.
You cle-- - Oh.
This? - Yeah.
Give it to me.
Come on.
G-give it to me.
Give it -- just give it to me.
Come on.
Don't touch me! Aah! Aah! Take back the night!! Soup is good food! Ooh-hoo! Okay.
We treat our volunteers very well.
Hey, you! Can I help you? Hi.
Ooh.
You don't remem-- sorry.
I thought you went to my gym.
No.
I mean, obviously, you go to a gym.
- Ooh.
- What, uh, you play ball? I play for the school.
Oh, yeah.
What number are you? My number's 42, baby, the real deal.
That's the number of days I've been off my meds.
And counting.
See ya.
Call me.
Make it 43.
Look at this manifest.
Every single one of these volunteers has the same address.
It's a homeless shelter.
Well, it makes sense.
There's a lot of PTSD among the homeless.
Okay, so that's where they go to recruit when it's time to start a new trial.
When's the next one start? Couple of days.
What are you thinking? Well, while Hardison's waiting on his invite to the little sewing club, I'll do what I do.
Whoa.
Whoa.
All right, if you'll selected, they'll hand you a pledge token.
You'll know when you see it.
Also, you need to be mingling.
I'm mingling.
With someone other than Parker.
They recruit the people they like.
This is -- it's a bad idea.
It's a real bad idea.
- It's bad.
- Hardison, relax.
You've pulled off a hundred cons.
Yeah, playing stereotypes, okay? Nigerian princes, Saudi billionaires, British people -- no offense.
But look, Sophie, this is different, all right? I-I got to be me, but, like, cooler, and you can't fake cool.
- Parker? - Come on.
I don't -- I don't want to get up.
I don't -- I-I don't -- I don't want to get up.
No.
I know.
Remember the other night when you were playing with your pretend friends? They're real.
Look, they're -- they're not pretend.
They're just not in the same room with me.
They're an elf, a dwarf, and a thing with a tail.
I'm pretty sure they're pretend.
Remember when you took the thingy with the glowing thingy and then you used it to kill the guy who was on the shiny stuff and then also there was all this magic? I-I think so.
That was so cool.
I mean, how many people here are cool enough to kill the guy with the thing? Yeah, you know what? You're right.
That was pretty cool.
Yeah.
I'm gonna get our That actually worked? No.
But the fact that she thought it would work -- that worked.
Bro, you been in the corner since you got here.
- What's up? - I'm chillin', man.
Look, if you're not having a good time, you don't need to stay.
Oh! That's probably my fault, huh? What? A guy can have his hands all over a girl, and he gets a medal for it! But when it's the other way around, oh, suddenly, I'm a slut.
Well, you know what? Fine! Yeah.
Take that.
Dude.
Nice.
R-real nice.
They're here.
Already recruiting.
There's three meals a day Take your time.
Look for a way in.
Seat's taken.
I said, "seat's taken.
" Take it easy, all right? Don't do that.
Don't do that.
Don't touch my food.
I just got back from Iraq, and after what I've seen over there, if you think I won't take you down, then you're crazier than I am.
Army, right? Rangers? No.
Green berets.
Ho! Something like that.
How about you? Semper fi.
You know what it means? In English? - Most people don't.
- It means "always faithful.
" That's the promise a marine makes to his country.
They don't tell you it only goes one way.
If this country was known for keeping its promises, we wouldn't need marines, would we? You got that right, brother! You guys just got to fill this out Hey, if I can get you in on something, you want to make a little money? And boom.
All right.
There you go.
Record's clean.
But no more jaywalking, you mad, reckless son of a bitch.
Yo, Harry! HP.
- Who's HP? - 'Sup? It's, like, a nickname 'cause I'm like a wizard with computers.
Tomorrow morning, first thing.
Don't be late.
Nate I'm in.
Come on, let's go, guys.
Nate, I'm in.
Look, let me just break it down for you.
You agree to participate in good faith, and, in exchange, we agree to provide and 50 bucks a day.
$50? Now, this is, as they say, non-negotiable.
They had me at "food.
" Now, you will always have the right of walk-away.
No one will keep you here against your will.
If you do walk away, then you don't get paid.
The order of the 206 is not a fraternity.
It's a brotherhood.
The next seven days will be the worst of your life.
But if you make it through, then you're one of us.
Let's get started.
- Down to your boxers! - Get down! Strip! Let's go! Strip! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! Ho-ho-ho! What the hell is this?! Ho-ho-ho! Are you kidding me?! Tighty whiteys, huh? Where's your self-respect? - Get him out of here.
- Let's go.
Move.
Better luck next year.
We're 30 seconds in, and you're already down one?! Oh, I'm gonna have the time of my life this week! On the other side of campus is the TSE plaque.
Run to the plaque, memorize it, and be back in less than an hour.
- Go! Go! Go! - Let's go! Move! Move! - Get out of here! - Go! Let's go! Do you know who I am? You're the guy in charge.
Do I look like a psychologist to you? No.
I'm here dancing for my food, just like you.
You've got your part to play, and I've got mine.
And what's your part? Inside that envelope is a word.
Go ahead.
Read it.
You and I are gonna play a game.
The rules are simple.
I'm gonna try to get you to tell me that word.
You are gonna do whatever it takes to keep it secret.
For every day you're successful, you'll earn another 100 bucks.
But if I learn that word before the end of the experiment, you get nothing.
I won't physically harm you, but other than that, any means necessary.
Do you really think promising not to hurt me is your best first move? Well, haven't you heard? Torture doesn't work.
Depends on the torture.
Depends on the man.
When do we start? We started as soon as you walked into this room.
Where have you been? Don't you eyeball me, leech.
I don't want you in my room any more than you want to be here.
So why don't you do us both a favor and tell me the word? 'Cause if you make me work for this, I'm not gonna send you home with your tail between your legs.
I'm gonna cut the damn thing off! I'm gonna break you into pieces! So we start tomorrow, then? "Here, said she, is your card, the drowned Phoenician sailor" The sailor has eyes made of? Pearls.
The hanged man fears? Water.
The one-eyed man has how many staffs? - None! - Three! Ho-ho-ho.
Do it again! To the plaque and back! One hour! Come on, ladies! Let's do it! I said run! Nate, this experiment is not about sleep.
They got a professional interrogator in here.
I think they're trying to find new ways to break people.
They're not trying to cure PTSD! They're trying to cause it! How you holding up, Mac? No talking! And that is how you jailbreak a phone.
So, you have this dorm room all to yourself? Yeah.
Then do mine next, HP.
I got you.
I got you.
I said no talking! Get back in line! Don't think.
Just answer.
Fruity or acidic? Fruity.
Great.
One more time.
Gut reaction.
Dry or racy? Dry.
You ever count them? Counted what? You know.
The people you've killed? Give me a ballpark.
It's got to be a big number, right? You think asking me about my past is gonna open up old wounds? Maybe put me off balance a little? Make me easier to break? I'm just trying to get to know you better.
Why does that question make you so nervous? Is that what all this is for you? Are you trying to punish yourself for the things you've done? I think that's it.
I think the reason why you won't give me your word and walk out that door is 'cause you think you deserve to be here.
What do you want to know? Names? Dates? Locations? You want to know what food was on their breath? Their eyes -- what color their eyes were? You want to know the last words they spoke? You want to know which ones deserved it.
Or, better yet, the ones that didn't? Do you want to know which ones begged? Do you know why I remember these things? I don't know.
You don't know? 'Cause I can't forget.
So there's nothing you can do, no punishment you can hand out that's worse than what I live with every day.
So, to answer your question, no.
No, I haven't counted.
I don't need to.
All right, we're -- we're done for the day.
He's the CIA guy from the chopper.
They call him Mr.
Conrad.
He's definitely the one protecting Zilgram.
That's got to be our focus.
We got to find a way to make him believe that protecting Zilgram is not worth his trouble.
Won't be easy, Nate.
The Brotherhood Of Dust runs bone deep.
I'm so sleep-deprived, I'm starting to talk like them.
This rush week is torture.
What's that noise? That's my teeth chattering.
It's 20 degrees in here, but at least there's no music.
Don't worry about me, Hardison.
You got rush week to deal with.
"Black ops"? "Black ops"? Anyone? Clan match against Phi Kappa Gamma tonight.
I want to rip their freaking throats out! HP, you play? I dabble.
Shh! No more questions about my past? Oh, I'm trying a new approach.
You're not thirsty? Yeah.
I am.
Want me to get it printed? Don't bother.
He didn't touch it.
This guy's good.
Could you get a print off this? Look, I'm sorry I'm late.
I just got caught up playing games with the guys.
I was kicking some butt.
Hey, HP.
Here's your homework, HP.
What? Oh, wow.
I kind of dropped this class.
You mean you dropped it, uh, before or after you asked me to write a 10-page paper on the history of cross-stitching in America? Parker, I don't really go to this school.
You know that, right? Yeah.
Yeah.
I guess I didn't really do your homework.
Get in there.
The question I'm trying to answer is whether he's active or not.
Those are known associates.
Well, the good news is, I can answer your question.
Bad new is, he's definitely active.
Leave a message! Hey, um, Parker.
It's me -- Hardison.
Look, listen, I just wanted to talk about, you know, what happened earlier because -- Um c-c-call me back.
Hello.
Hardi-- hello? Hey, what's happening, man? Come on through.
All right.
I'm in? Read it and find out.
Put it on.
Hardison? Nate, we have a problem.
Eliot, we need you on the outside.
Why? What happened? They made Hardison, snatched him 10 minutes ago.
Where'd they take him? We don't know.
Give me five minutes.
Five minutes? We're gonna do things a little bit differently today, all right? I ask, you answer.
Now, I got four minutes to prove your theory wrong.
What theory? That torture doesn't work.
Where is he?! Where is he?! I know where they took Hardison.
All right, don't do anything until Mason gets here.
Took you long enough.
Holy crap.
That felt good.
I'm really happy with the new members this year.
I think that we've got a good batch.
Cheers.
Wonderful to see you.
Thank you for coming by.
So, what did you want to talk to me about? Mason's got it under control now, but I'll get you the details later.
Would you excuse me? Brothers, gather 'round.
We have some new members to welcome.
We have a warrant for the arrest of Travis Zilgram.
Just take that.
Hey, guys, just Boston PD.
Up against the wall.
Let's go.
I'm gonna be out in an hour, anyway, so why bother wasting my time? Because it's fun! Obviously.
So much fun.
What are you doing? Just having a little fun.
Okay.
Got it.
Here.
Lean on me.
Lean on me.
Nerd! You hear me? You were never gonna be one of us! You're no Dustman.
You're a geek! Should I tell him it's the age of the geek? He'll figure it out eventually.
Good! You're awake.
What am I doing here? Pay attention.
Where'd you get that? It doesn't really matter, does it? We have it.
We have lots of it.
It's not gonna do you any good.
See, I've got friends in places so high, you don't even know they exist.
Are you talking about Mr.
Conrad, Travis? We arrested all your friends, all your little Dust bunnies.
- Brothers.
- Whatever.
You do bad things long enough, eventually it catches up with you -- even in America.
Mr.
Conrad's in even more trouble than you are.
Unless he starts handing people over, he's going down the hard way.
I suggest you beat him to the punch -- unless you think he'd rather go to prison than throw you to the wolves.
What I'm gonna prove today, mathematically, is that in this situation, it's always best to betray your accomplice.
I made recordings.
Phone calls, meetings, every interaction I had with him -- hours of it.
What would I get for that? Well we'll talk to our boss and get back to you.
Sign of good faith.
Don't you dare.
Don't you dare.
I want to call my dad! Hello? I'm still here.
- What? - What's going on? Watch it.
I'm gonna be out in an hour, anyway, so why bother wasting my time? Because it's fun! Obviously.
Right here.
What do you think? There.
Perfect.
Good! You're awake.
Watch it, dude.
Fellas, look.
I mean, wait.
- Travis Zilgram? - Let's just talk.
- Turn around, please.
- No, come on.
Let's go.
What are you looking at? You really think he has hours of tape on Conrad? If he does, he won't for long.
As for Zilgram, all we had to do was scare him.
Rational choice took care of the rest.
Mr.
Conrad.
What the hell happened to you? I have a message for you, Dustman to Dustman, that somebody didn't want me to deliver.
Move along.
Let's go.
I made recordings.
Phone calls, meetings, every interaction I had with him -- hours of it.
What would I get for that? - Well - Okay.
I'm impressed.
We'll talk to our boss and get back to you.
But what is it that you want? Withdraw your protection.
Let the system do its work.
Let him stand trial for the death of David Schaevel.
Hello? Look, I-I'm still here.
Prisoner's dilemma, kid.
Guilty on all counts.
I thought the jury was still deliberating.
Doesn't mean they haven't reached a decision.
Well, I guess it's my turn to be impressed.
I hope this has all been worth it, Mr.
Ford.
Worth what? Attracting my attention.
Here we go.