03x03 - Sins of the Father

[bunniefuu]

Previously, on "sh**t"...

You ever hear of a group called "Atlas"?

There's no story here,
Nadine... Atlas is a boogeyman.

I work for Senator Hayes,

the head of the
Senate Intelligence Committee.

Can you begin to realize the things

that come across my desk?

You're having a heart att*ck, Senator.

I'm not worried about Atlas anymore.

Hayes' heart att*ck took care of that.

- It's over.
- Hayes is not the end of this.

I know a place where you'll be safe.

- This is a k*ll list.
- Who's Carlita Cruise?

Department of Agriculture.

Passports. She was prepared.

Why would somebody who works for the

Department of Agriculture have a go bag?

How much do you think
you know about your father?

Atlas and the Swaggers

have been interlinked
since the beginning.

I haven't heard the name
Jimmy Poole in a long time.

He had a good job lined up
at the slaughterhouse.

This was an ambush, Sheriff.

First guy was a decoy,

second guy was set up in there
waiting for me.

You were at Bama.

I wanna know why this company
offered Jimmy Poole a job.

Who's Jimmy Poole?

Jimmy Poole didn't k*ll my dad.

- There was a second sh**t.
- What'd you find?

Three b*ll*ts, like you said.

Someone left this patch on the body.

- What about the b*ll*ts?
- Two at grams,

and the bigger one at .

's a r*fle round.
My dad was k*lled by a sn*per.

[SOFT TENSE MUSIC]

♪ ♪

[INSECTS CHIRPING]

Where you been, Swagger?
You said morning.

Couldn't get here. VC ambush.

You still got the map?

You're late.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

You're late.

Fall back!

[INDISTINCT SHOUTING, g*nf*re]

♪ ♪

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

♪ ♪

Go, go, go!

[a*tillery WHISTLING, EXPLOSIONS]

Go, go.

Go, go, go!

Hey, where's O'Shea?

I don't know.

- sh*t, he must've fallen behind.
- God damn it.

Don't stop till you get
to the rally point.

- Sergeant...
- Go!

I'm sorry, Sarge. He came out of nowhere.

[SPEAKING VIETNAMESE]

Okay.

I'll be your prisoner, all right?

Take me.

Big rank. Let the kid be.

Sarge, don't do it.

Just come to me. Bring it on in.

[SPEAKING VIETNAMESE]

- [BLADE SLICES]
- [GRUNTS]

[BREATHING HEAVILY] All right, come on.

Let's go.

What the hell are you boys doing here?

I thought I told you assholes
to go back to the rally point.

Not without you, brother.
Nice throw, by the way.

Come on. Let's go.

♪ ♪

Sir, Lieutenant said you needed me?

You don't need to be
formal with me, Swagger.

Russo will be fine.

You and your men celebrating?

Uh, we were reading
some letters from home,

listening to a little Creedence.

You got a woman at home, Swagger?

West Texas, right?

Yes, sir. Her name's, uh, June.

I bet Miss June would be proud of you.

What you did today...

you saved your entire patrol.

Thank you, sir.

We're looking for educated
men like you to help us out.

It would be a promotion.

Give you and June
a real future after the w*r.

You interested?

Yes, sir.

That'll be all.

[KNOCKING] Hey.

What's in the box?

Some of my dad's things
my mom had put in storage.

I was hoping I'd find...

It's nothing. I'm almost done.

All right. You have visitors.

What?

Team Swagger. They picked up a stray.

All we got from the safe
so far is a k*ll list,

usual suspects, and a new name...

Carlita Cruise.

I take it Carlita's not the talking type?

No idea. She disappeared...

and left me with a nice parting gift.

Now, Julie said that
you made a pretty big discovery

at the cemetery...
something about your father?

Yeah.

Solotov kept saying that Atlas
and my dad were tied together.

I don't know if he's right or not,

but there definitely was a second sh**t

the night my dad was k*lled.

[SOFTLY] Oww.

All I got so far is Bama Cattle.

Uh, Bama, as in Red Bama?

You know Red Bama Junior?

No, I know Red Bama Senior.

He's been undersecretary for
the Department of Agriculture

for three administrations.

Department of Agriculture...

it's the same as Carlita,
the missing Atlas agent.

That can't be a coincidence.

Why the hell would Atlas
wanna k*ll your dad?

No idea.

I'm gonna find out.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

- Pull.
- [DEVICE RATTLING]

Ugh, sh*t!

Reload it, Bert.

sh*t.

You guys need to shut
your mouth when I'm aiming.

You need to go easy on the trigger.

I didn't know your salary
included sh**ting tips, Bert.

How much is my dad paying you for that?

Pull.

[SIGHS]

[CAR DOOR SHUTS]

[TENSE MUSIC]

♪ ♪

Hey.

Salinger told you
to stay at the slaughterhouse.

Now, I don't see a lot of cattle

being processed out here.

I don't work for Salinger, Dad...

No, but he works for me,

and when I give him an order,
you follow it.

It's called chain of command.

Now, you really stepped in it
with that gas station business.

Going after Swagger with
a couple of illegals?

What in hell is wrong with you?

I'm really sorry. I am.

Yeah, I know you are, son,
but sorry don't count here.

You didn't break a vase.

I was just trying to help out
like we talked about.

You let me deal with Swagger.

Give me one more chance to get him.

If you could've got him,
he would already be got.

Now get on back to work.

Probably a lot of cow sh*t to sweep up.

♪ ♪

[g*n CLICKS]

[CLEARS THROAT]

What does Swagger know?

Well, he dug up his old man's body.

He's gotta know by now that
Poole isn't the only sh**t.

You want me to clean it up?

My son needs to learn that
the way you hit your target

is to know where its headed.

- [DEVICE CLICKS]
- Pull.

Nice.

The Capitol Hill crowd
doesn't come around this way.

I don't think the gentrification wave

has hit here yet.

How much did Carlita have in there?

About ten grand in small bills.

[SCOFFS] Petty cash for an Atlas agent.

She was expecting us.

Or someone else.

No, Memphis had it right.

I was more hoping than expecting.

How many others did you bring?

Just me. I'm not here for a fight.

You just had a g*n on us.

Man, you guys are dour. Did someone die?

I mean, other than the
people that you've k*lled.

We don't usually
put on a smile for someone

who tries to blow us up.

Sorry about that.
Call it a cheap alarm system.

These locators are getting
harder to find.

What do you want from us?

You're not the only ones
who wanna take down Atlas.

So you one of the good guys now?

I didn't say that,
but you know as well as I do

it's the only way off their k*ll list.

Them or you.

And why are you on the list?

Two up, two down.
That's how they prevent leaks.

Someone gets made,
they k*ll everyone around him.

Where do you fit in the
hierarchy? Up or down?

That's not important,
but here's a question.

Did you know you'd set off
such a sh*t storm

k*lling Senator Hayes?

- We didn't k*ll Hayes.
- Come on, Johnson.

Memphis has a headache,

and I don't have time for the bullshit.

Okay.

Let's say we're interested
in a partnership.

What's your plan?

First, let's go somewhere
I know they can't track us.

- Yo.
- Hey.

Do you have any coffee?

I usually just go for
a run in the morning.

Nadine sent me Jimmy Poole's prison file.

Is that a hard no on the coffee, though?

Poole was the guy who k*lled my dad.

Rick Culp was the security guard on duty

the day he broke out.

You follow?

Yeah, um, how does that
help us with Bama?

I don't know yet,

but I talked to Culp two days ago.

Asked him about Poole. He played dumb.

Next thing I know,
I got people sh**ting at me.

Seems to happen a lot with you.

Uh, just an observation.

[g*n CLICKS]

Let's go.

You know, I don't mind staying here.

I can just...

I like it. It's cozy, yeah.

You can put your shoes on or go barefoot.

Doesn't matter to me.

I'll grab my shoes.

[CLEARS THROAT]

[RADIO PLAYING POP MUSIC]

So you got some unresolved issues

with your father, huh?

My dad d*ed when I was pretty young too.

He was a corporate lawyer.
Worked all the time.

Got hit by a drunk driver
coming home one night.

I remembering being really mad
at him for working late again.

And then for a while
I felt like it was my fault,

which of course I know it wasn't,

but, uh, I guess kids, you know,

sometimes feel guilty
about things that are

outside of their control.

So do adults.

Dude, do I look like a therapist?

I'm...

just making small talk, man.

That's what two people do
when they're stuck in a car.

Or they just sit in silence.

Fair enough.

[DOOR OPENS]

There's Culp. Let's go.

[CAR DOORS SLAM]

[TENSE MUSIC]

Little early in the day
to be tying one on, Rick.

I'm in a hurry.

I hope it's to the shower.

You smell like the ass end
of a whiskey barrel.

I don't have time for you, Swagger.

You lied to me about Jimmy Poole.

The hell I did!

Who paid you to help him escape?

How much you get, Rick?

Okay, he should not be driving.

Don't worry about it.

We're gonna be right behind him.

♪ ♪

Culp's been in there a really long time.

Hey, quit turkey necking.

Sorry.

Looks like they leveled up on security.

Spent some real money.

That explains it.

Red Bama?

Holy sh*t.

What business does that
backwoods drunk have

with the undersecretary of agriculture?

The kind that's so off-books

you gotta meet at a slaughterhouse.

I'd give you a sidearm if
I thought it'd calm you down.

Uh, no, I don't... I don't like g*ns.

Or cilantro, actually.

- I pretty much hate cilantro.
- Have you ever sh*t a g*n?

No.

How do you know you don't like them?

I don't wanna hold the power
of somebody's life in my hands.

You don't need a g*n to hold
the power of somebody's life

in your hands.

I told you, boy.

I wanna talk to your dad.

I'm running the operation.

Oh, so Little Junior's
all grown up now, huh?

All right, big man.
I want another , .

You got your money.

Yeah, for keeping my mouth shut,

but for... not for getting
Bob the Nailer off my back.

Bob the what, now?

[CHUCKLES]

All right, if you and your
daddy don't give me the cash,

I'm gonna tell Swagger everything I know,

then you can have some nice
father-son time in Polunsky.

Maybe you can share a cell.

[GRUNTS]

Find two men you can trust.

Burn his clothes.
Toss his body in the sh**t.

Take his car into the junkyard.

- I was handling it.
- You weren't handling sh*t.

Swagger's not some local loser
you can push around.

He's a professional,

and he's messing with my timeline.

We can't afford to be
one minute off schedule.

- You hear me?
- Loud and clear.

♪ ♪

They're moving his car.

That's it.

- We going in?
- No need.

But you wanna talk to Culp, right?

He's gotta come out of there eventually.

Not if he's dead.

[ENGINE TURNS OVER]

How do we know Culp is dead?

The guy who moved the car had
on polypropylene shoe covers.

He was trying to avoid blood.

- At a slaughterhouse?
- Yeah.

And then I saw the smoke
coming out the back.

They probably incinerated

anything they couldn't use for feed.

Did you know Culp was
gonna get himself k*lled?

- I knew it was possible.
- Why didn't you stop him?

Culp made his choice years ago.

Jesus.

Stop the car. Stop the car.

- No.
- No, sto... I can't do this.

I gotta get the hell out of here.

- I don't wanna be a part of this.
- You worked for Hayes.

I didn't know what he was into.

I didn't... it's... we can do
something about Bama, okay?

We need to call the police.

The only thing that happens then

is we make ourselves targets.

A man is dead because we baited him.

How do you just let that go?

'Cause we got bigger problems.

Well, excuse me if I...

put a value on human life.

Nadine didn't make me promise
to keep you in one piece,

I'd tell you to tuck and roll right now.

I'd just... [SIGHS]

Appreciate it if you'd clue me
into the plan next time.

Why? So you can cover my six

with your bachelor's in poli-sci?

I was an English lit major.

Poli-sci minor.

♪ ♪

This is cozy for a fallout shelter.

How long have you had this place?

Since I knew Atlas wanted me dead.

Anyone else know about it?

No one still breathing.

The government turned most of these

Cold w*r-era ones into museums,

walled off a few of the ones that were

too far off the beaten path for the tour.

Everyone should have a safe house.

The satphone is Atlas issued.

No one's called on it though
since my name got on the list.

Access is encrypted.

How's it work?

Uses a digital key
with a revolving pass code.

I was issued one.

How come I didn't get one?

Don't be jealous, Isaac.

I'm amazed Swagger hasn't
put a b*llet in your head.

He got over it.

- Mostly.
- Huh.

Good, because it's gonna take

more than you two to take Atlas down.

Half the agents in Atlas
don't even know it.

They're just pawns in a game

they don't know they're playing.

And Atlas is planning something big.

Why not run?

I mean, you had exfil plans.

You had papers.

Why did you stay?

They k*lled my wife.
There's no running from that.

The only way to get out is to die,

or k*ll the ones in charge.

To do that, we've gotta leap frog

the low-level agents, like us.

Operators are knuckle draggers
to Atlas... grunts.

They only tell us
where to put the b*llet,

but the cleaners are the star students.

They have to coordinate
with the higher ups

to know how to handle the bodies.

Direct contact with the sh*t callers.

Do you know any of the cleaners?

No, but I think I know
how to draw one out.

[SCOFFS] Wait, what, are you planning on

using yourself as bait?

- That's insane.
- It's the best way.

I mean, unless Isaac here

wants to man up
and be the worm on a hook?

Ladies first.

Thanks for worrying about me.

[TENSE MUSIC]

♪ ♪

Where you going?

Just walk in like you belong.
Nobody will say anything.

White man's privilege.
Give me your jacket.

Okay.

♪ ♪

It's velvet.

It's a little hot for velvet.

[SOFT LOUNGE MUSIC PLAYING]

Hi, hi, uh, Harris Downey.

Here on tour with my wife, Cookie.

Could you tell me more
about the golf pro?

I'm just not sure yet.

- It's this way, right?
- Oh, yes, yes, it is.

Oh, perfect. Follow me this way.

Your jacket's a little tight
in the shoulders, isn't it?

How long you work for Atlas?

Atlas?

That the guy that holds
the earth on his back?

Atlas holds up the sky, assh*le.

I work for myself, Mr. Swagger.

Company name is Bama Cattle...

and the U.S. Government, of course.

Then why did you pay Rick Culp

to help Jimmy Poole escape from prison?

No idea what you're talking about.

I saw Culp walk into your slaughterhouse.

Never saw him walk out.

I didn't know your dad,

but I've heard that he was
a self-righteous prick.

- Seems to run in the family.
- [CHUCKLES]

Well, there's nothing wrong
with having a moral compass.

What is morality to one
person can be sin to another.

Like my eating this rib eye.

There are over a billion people

who think that I'm sinning right now.

You didn't answer my question.

I don't know anyone named Culp.

Jimmy Poole was a criminal
through and through,

and if I'm remembering right,

your father's job was to catch criminals.

Poole was a better sh*t, I guess.

You offer a lot of criminals jobs?

'Cause his family said
you had one waiting for him

at Bama Cattle once he got out.

I felt sorry for his wife, Edie.

Something your dad and me had in common,

- from what I hear.
- [CHORTLES]

Uh, you ready to go?

This place is a little rich for my blood.

Also, they asked me to leave.

Who's your friend?

This is Harris Downey.

He used to work for Senator Hayes.

Tell me who was on the long g*n

the night my father was k*lled,

and I'll leave you
and your idiot son alone.

[UTENSILS CLATTER]

♪ ♪

All right, stand down. We're leaving.

You ladies are disappointing
the sh*t out of me.

[SHOUTING] Did you not hear me?

Come with me, Swagger.

You heard him, Swagger.
Get the hell out of here!

I saw you on the range earlier.

Not much of a sh*t, are you?

No, sir, but I'm working on that, sir.

Gutierrez can hit a target
at over a thousand yards

while I'm screaming
obscenities in his ear.

We have our rifleman.

- Are you cutting me, sir?
- [LAUGHS SOFTLY]

Of course not.

If I'm no good with my r*fle,
then why am I here?

Because your men
didn't leave you that day

near the Sepon River.

Because when I pulled you from that room,

every single one of those men

lifted their eyes from their w*apon,

even though they know if they did,

it would lose time from their assembly.

They respect you.

Leaders are born, not made.

And I need the leader whose men

followed him into the sh*t that day,

one his men will never question.

- That's you.
- Yes, sir.

I'm honored, sir.

So stop spending your time
trying to be the perfect sh*t,

and start spending your time
studying this.

None of the others will know
what the real mission is.

Training will be intense...

not this bullshit timed r*fle assembly.

You think you can handle that, Swagger?

Hell yes, sir.

Half of this is redacted.

Your dad's patrol
was probably black budget.

That's my guess too.

Did he talk much about the w*r?

Nobody talks about that w*r,

especially not him.

We'd go hunting sometimes,
and not say a word for hours.

We both liked it that way.

Bob Lee, you know, uh...

your father's still gonna be dead

even if you find the man that k*lled him.

That's very deep, Harris.

I'm just saying...

that sometimes it's best
to leave things alone.

Or maybe talk to your wife about it.

I mean, is she... is she cool with you

being out on the road all the time?

She knows who she married.

Hey, I've never been married.

Most women I dated

lose their sh*t if I didn't
come home when I said I would...

except for Nadine.

She's really independent, you know?

She ask about me?

All right, the only name in
that file other than my dad's

is somebody who lives in Texas.

That's where we're going.

Did you call first?

Yeah, I didn't think so.

Is it... is the road like this
the whole way?

Anyone out here could be Atlas...

the woman with the baby stroller,

angry guy with the shitty briefcase.

Couple fighting by the coffee truck.

You think they'll show?

Carlita said this is
where she does her drops.

Wouldn't you stake it out?

Probably. Just not sure why

we're trusting a woman
who tried to blow us up.

Do we have a better option?

If we don't find our way up
the Atlas food chain,

we might as well dig our own graves.

: .

- Got it.
- Wait.

There.

[SIGHS] He made us.

- You sure?
- Let's go find out.

[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC]

♪ ♪

Operator's on your six.

Any sign of the cleaner?

Negative.

♪ ♪

[BOTTLE CLATTERING]

[g*nf*re]

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

[BOTH GRUNTING]

I always wanted to meet one of you.

Traitor's not a good look
for an operator,

and Russo has a long, long memory.

- Where is he?
- Eat sh*t.

[g*nsh*t]

♪ ♪

[GRUNTS]

Russo's location, I let you live.

Well, yeah, maybe, but Russo won't.

[GRUNTS]

- [DISTANT g*nsh*t]
- Let's move.

Carlita's gone.

Maybe she got what she wanted.

[SIGHS] We were worms on a hook.

So, um, I know this
is totally your thing,

but maybe... maybe try like
a good cop thing this time?

- What?
- You know?

Like, you know "Simon & Simon"?

Like, more like the younger
Simon than the older Simon?

Just a gentler kind
of approach here, maybe?

- Who's this Simon?
- Okay, it's a... it was a show.

It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter.

[EXHALES QUICKLY]

[CLEARS THROAT]

- Mr. Colby?
- Yeah.

- I'm...
- Bob Lee Swagger.

[SOFT MUSIC]

♪ ♪

[INSECTS CHIRPING]

We gotta clean our bunks, Tommy.

What?

Our bunks, man.

We gotta make sure
that they right as rain

before the Sergeant comes.

He's losing it.

[WHISPERS] Colby, hey...

you hang in there, okay?

Swagger?

That's right.

I can't, I...

I'm sorry, Swagger.

[STAMMERS] I'm so sorry.

Hang in there.

I can't, Sarge. I just can't.

You can do this, Colby.

Colby...

Hey, I give up.

Let me out, please?

I need water. I need water.

You... you said
you'd let me out if I gave up.

[TENSE MUSIC]

♪ ♪

[CAGE DOOR RATTLING]

♪ ♪

Just say the word, Swagger.

Always figured if Bob Lee
Swagger showed up at my door,

trouble would be right behind.

You preparing for battle?

Better to be prepared

than wind up with your d*ck hanging out.

Yes, sir.

This was such a bad idea.

You served with my dad.

We trained together.

Yeah, I couldn't get
much detail from his file.

Read like a black ops unit.

I don't know for certain.

I washed out.

He tried to help me, though.
He was good that way.

Always trying to make you better.

When your dad first
contacted me after the w*r,

he was asking questions
about the men running the unit.

Got k*lled two weeks later.

That's when I moved up here.

You were thinking
they're coming for you too.

You're not supposed to ask questions.

It's the first thing they taught us.

Maybe you should heed their advice.

[CAR APPROACHING]

[FOREBODING MUSIC]

♪ ♪

Too late for that.

♪ ♪

[GLASS AND WOOD CLATTERING]

[GRUNTS]

Harris, stay low!

I'll call an ambulance.

Mantel piece.

The shadow box.

Take it.

I got it.

Trap door in the kitchen.

[SHAKY VOICE] It leads to a crawl space.

Harris, when I say go,

you run to that trap door
as fast as you can.

He's dead.

Pull your sh*t together!

If you go into shock,
you're no good to either of us.

Got it?

Yeah.

[g*nf*re]

[HEARTBEAT THUDDING SLOWLY]

[MUSIC ESCALATES]

♪ ♪

We need Downey alive!

All right, run to the car.
I'm gonna lay down cover.

- I don't think I can...
- Do it!

Okay.

[g*nsh*t]

[g*n CLICKING]

[GRUNTS]

[BOTH GRUNTING]

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

[GRUNTING]

[GRUNTS]

[BOTH STRAINING]

- Ah!
- [SHOUTS]

[g*nsh*t]

[BREATHING SHAKILY]

♪ ♪

Oh, sh*t.

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

Now can we call the police?

Those men weren't just coming for me.

They wanted you.

Why?

You must know more than you think.

Man, I told you.
We can't go to the police.

Atlas has their hands in everything.

You're being paranoid.

We call , I guarantee you

a truck full of good ole boys
with ARs will show up.

I don't know anything about Atlas.

You sure about that?

'Cause Red's sending his dudes
after you for a reason.

Fine... you know what? You got me, okay?

I'm a... I'm a spy.

Harris Downey,
international man of mystery.

Well, you must know something,

even if you don't know what you know.

Where are we going?

Somewhere safe.

[ENGINE TURNS OVER]

[SIGHS]

[DOOR OPENS]

See?

Not so easy to get
Bob Lee Swagger, after all.

[DRINKS POURING, GLASSES CLINKING]

What are you talking about?

I told you it wasn't easy.

Even Salinger couldn't get it done.

Heard he and his boys
got sh*t in the woods

like a couple of dogs... [LAUGHS]

[GRUNTS]

[TENSE MUSIC]

Salinger is dead because of your mistake.

Now don't you go on
peacocking around me again,

or I will feed you to Swagger myself.

♪ ♪

Ugh. Carlita fu... ed us.

She cleared out.

Atlas is just better at this than us.

For all we know, they grabbed her
when we were chasing that agent.

Bullshit. She played us.

Of course you're not angry.

I'm saving it for the right time.

Yeah, well, now we're back with nothing.

We might have something.

Atlas satphone.
We just need to access it.

[SCOFFS]

♪ ♪

She left her password generator.

[SIGHS] Of course.

She wanted us to take out that agent

so she can intercept the cleaner herself.

Guess this is our consolation
prize for being duped.

What?

I'm just wondering

how many more of you are out there...

former Atlas agents
with a personal grudge.

[LAUGHS SOFTLY]

You look like a new man.

I guess I am.

I wanted to be the first one

to officially welcome you to the family.

This family have a name?

[CLEARS THROAT]

Thank you.

You're gonna have
to get used to staying here

until we can find a place to put you.

Yeah, I'll be okay as long as, uh,

nobody else dies on top of me today.

Yeah, man, I know that was some...

heavy sh*t, but,

you kinda kicked ass.

Thanks.

Smart man.

Again, thank you.

No, not you, dude... Colby.

That patch is from the Phoenix program.

And this one was buried with my dad.

That's why there's so much
redacted intel in here.

Hayes used to meet with a bunch

of old Phoenix guys once a month.

I always just thought it was
some veterans' outreach.

That's weird.

Government said the Phoenix
program ended after the w*r.

What if they just changed their name?

To... Atlas?

♪ ♪

If Phoenix became Atlas,

then my dad was
one of the founding fathers.