01x06 - We Have the Power

[bunniefuu]

[suspenseful music playing]

[Cook] I'm the f*cking guard, bro.

-Come on now.
-[Chris Lee] Hey.

[Zaremba] What are you doing?

-[Cook] Don't piss me off.
-[Forrester] What are you gonna do?

-[Correra] What happened?
-[Cook] Nah. Nah. Nah. Nah.

Yeah, yo, we can't do that.

No grabbing people. That's not allowed.
Don't be grabbing him, bro. That's…

What are you guys gonna do?

You guys are tripping out.
Relax. Don't grab him.

Structure's a good thing.
Maybe not all rules are great,

but structure always wins out.

This could've potentially been an issue.

[Zaremba] You good?

-I'm good. I'm good.
-I got your back. I got your back.

[dramatic musical sting]

The keys thing,
it kinda just got shut down.

I'm not gonna lie. I felt pretty defeated.

Jeff, come here!

You wanna piss me off.
Don't piss me off, dude.

What are you gonna do?
What are you gonna do?

The current guards,
their principles are sh*t,

and their morals are sh*t

because they don't stand with the system,
and they don't wanna be guards,

but as soon as you question that,
they're still guards.

To me, it was a joke.

[Zaremba] Let's go up for a bit.

[Forrester] He's a b*tch.

[dramatic music playing]

-[doors clanging]
-[camera whirring]

[door thuds]

[camera whirring]

I will say, still, you know,
there's obviously still some…

-[Zaremba sighs] It had died down.
-It's not like… Yeah, it's not like it…

We fought through.
It was… It was bad for a second.

[Cook] It was bad for a second.

If anyone was wondering what it looks like
when we get rid of rules and order,

I think that was a good example of it.

I think, when we went
into this role-reversal phase,

we knew there was a chance

that Brendan, Pete and Jeff
would throw the rules out the window

because that's what
they wanted as inmates.

But now we're seeing
what that looks like in practice.

It looks like anarchy.

And they clearly weren't prepared
for the repercussions,

like, at all, by any stretch.

Yeah, I'm interested to see if they try
to come down and reestablish order,

reestablish rules,
how the inmates are gonna take that.

How do you put that genie
back in the bottle once you lose it?

[Cook] There are some bullies in there.

It's Hadley and Lucas.

In fact, it says something that they
were gonna lock us up in a cell today.

Yeah.

It was a shock.

[Cook] Being head guard is
definitely harder than I expected.

You know, you give them an inch,
and they wanna take a mile.

What a shift.

I just feel defeated, really.

Do you think we're doing
a good job as leaders?

[Cook] Um…

No.

No way. Like, no way.

[somber music playing]

-[Chris Lee] Bro, it's just chaos.
-This is not gonna help anybody.

-[Chris Lee] Right.
-This is all bad.

Hey.

But we'll… we'll control it.

We'll control what we got.

It actually wasn't a huge surprise
seeing those three throw out all rules

and create anarchy.

This was just for them.

It wasn't for anybody else.
Nobody else felt better.

There is no controlling.
This is already a wrap.

This is already chaos.

[Chris Lee] We just continue.
Continue to do our thing.

We'll be okay.

I came into this experiment
with two goals.

Goal number one, bring guys together
and create brotherhood.

Goal number two was to do something hard
and finish to the end.

And so, really,
the structure has to be created by us.

-[Correra] 100%.
-[Chris Lee] You just gotta…

Let's kumbaya through this crap, you know?

For me, the only way out
is if we come together

and stay in a full 14 days.

There's nothing more powerful than that.

[Robertson] We're in… in it to win it.

In it to go to the endgame.

[Cook] We still got things to figure out.

Yeah. I think the structure
needs to stay with the food.

-We gotta watch these keys.
-Keys, get them fed, keep them safe.

Keys, fed, safe.

[somber music playing]

I'll be honest, I think I could've handled
being a guard better in hindsight.

Mixing up wanting to be liked
and respected and trusted

versus being able to lay down the law.

I hate admitting that, but I think
my actions were a little extreme.

Now I think we need a shift in authority.

You were a little bit more
on point, you know?

I think you're liked, you're respected.

I think Pete's a great man.

He is a… a teacher
on the outside world, right?

So he's more of a leader than me.

And so…

-[Zaremba] Oh man, really?
-[Hardey] Yeah!

[Zaremba] You think
I'm tripping with that or no?

-No.
-Do you think I am?

Take that f*cking vest.

Take that head guard role.
We'll announce to the guys tomorrow.

[Zaremba] Yeah.

I'm excited.
I'm excited to grow as a leader.

I'm excited for people
to see me as a leader,

which I guess maybe they already have seen
more than I saw myself.

-Appreciate it, big dog. My man.
-Yes, sir. I got you, baby.

[Zaremba] It's funny,
because when I was an inmate,

the whole time, I was preaching
to challenge the authority.

But now, as a guard,
I realize that it's not an easy gig.

-Feel me a little bit?
-Hell yeah, dude. It's your time.

-[Cook] It's your time, brother.
-Shine with that.

I think it is a position of leadership,

and these guys deserve
to have someone up there

who will lead them
and not put them in harm's way.

And I hope we can keep things in order
while allowing more freedoms.

[indistinct chatter]

[door opens]

Yo, yo, yo, what's up?

[indistinct shouting]

Well, I think I kinda want
to address something, guys,

if you guys could come forward.

So, first thing I wanna say is,
we're not perfect. We're not.

-No sh*t?
-Yeah. [laughs]

We wanna put you guys
in where you feel safe,

comfortable, and to succeed.

And I think, uh,
complete chaos isn't that.

So I'm sorry for kinda completely
losing sight of that yesterday.

I think we all got excited… too excited,
and everyone just kinda went rogue.

And that's not good leadership.
It's only our second day. We're learning.

Trial and error.
So let's finish this strong. Four days.

All right, so that's all we got.
Thank you very much.

-[Jensen] Thank you.
-Hey, let's give the guards a two-clap!

[inmates clap]

Good decision. Good decision.

Yeah, I think it was a little too crazy.

Thank God for Pete. Yes, he's made
some questionable decisions,

and yes, he's probably done some things
that people don't like, but this is hard.

He came in the fourth quarter

and just made it his mission
to restore order.

-That was a good speech, though, right?
-Yeah, you did great, bud.

Out of everyone here, he's definitely
felt the most like a leader.

All right, it's 10:55.

[McDaniel] I'm ready for bed.

[Zaremba] Sleep tight.

[dramatic music playing]

[Hardey] Can't wait to go home
and eat some pho.

-Pho?
-Pho.

It's like ramen but, like, less a*s.

[tense, dramatic music playing]

[buzzer sounds]

[Chris Lee] Good morning!

[Zaremba] What's up? How are ya?

-Hi.
-Morning.

-Good morning.
-Good morning.

-How are y'all?
-Good morning.

Up to this point in the experiment,
we've seen what happens

when power or authority
is formally assigned to a group of people,

in this case, our guards.

And for the most part, the inmates have
been very compliant to that formal power,

at times almost demanding
structure and order.

Good morning, sunshine.

[Gaona] Good morning.

-Good morning, Officer Gaona! Hey!
-Good morning, Officer Gaona!

[Brooks] So now it's time to examine
what happens among the inmates

when that authoritative role
is removed from the experiment completely.

[Gaona] Everyone's still here.

-[Zaremba] How'd it go?
-[Gaona] Good.

The participants have no idea
what's coming their way.

[man over PA] Attention, all participants.
Attention, all participants.

-[alarm sounding]
-[dramatic music playing]

[Correra] Go.

Yep, this is where the bullshit starts.

[Forrester] Something's happening?

[PA beeps]

[man over PA system] Participants,

there are no longer guards
in the experiment.

Guards, you are relieved of your duties.

-[Jefferson] What?
-[Zaremba] Uh-oh.

[man over PA system] Inmates,
control of the pod is now in your hands.

[PA beeps]

What does that mean?

[Brooks] This is a very logical moment

for us to be moving
into our fourth and final phase,

self-governance.

So, in this next phase,
all formal power roles will be removed.

So, the inmates are gonna have
to actually guard and govern themselves.

[Cantrell] Are they gonna form
a democracy?

Is there gonna be one person
who rises to the top

and forms a dictatorship?

Or is it gonna be every man for himself
and will end up just chaos?

[indistinct shouting]

[Jensen] This is
where true character shows.

[Brooks] The inmates will be given
one set of keys for the entire pod

and enough food and supplies to last them

through the final four days
of the experiment.

[Berens] I'm like, "What?"

Gaona's like, "I don't know
how to feel about this."

[Brooks] As for the guards,
they've been informed

that their time in the experiment is over.

They're to pack their bags and head home.

They're not being fired.
It's not a punishment. It's not a reward.

We're removing the high-power position,
those guards,

so we can see how real status dynamics
have emerged among the inmates.

Who emerges with power
when that formal role is taken away,

and how do they use that power?

[Berens] You're done!

[Jefferson] You're done!

Whoo!

-I don't know how I feel about that.
-We did it!

I was just about to really embrace
being a leader and…

-I'm sad.
-Yeah. We missed it.

[Zaremba] I feel…

shocked a little bit.

This whole journey has been
ups and downs and conflict.

But taking that
head guard jacket from Jeff

was the first time
I didn't question one of my decisions.

That was the final step.

You took the initiative to do it, bro.
That's the biggest step.

I think I do feel closure in the fact
that I was ready to take this step.

I am a natural leader,
and I can do these things.

And I'm ready to attack
the rest of my life.

Can I keep my name tag?

I am proud of myself,
proud that I showed up as myself.

And I learned that I can lead

through mutual respect
as well as kindness.

-I have so many questions.
-Who's gonna take care of them?

Like, do I still need to show up?

Hey, it isn't our responsibility no more.

I guess I really did, like,
have 22 men listening to me.

And I did it through
strategic ways of my personality.

And humor was part of it.

-247 needs his meds before dinner.
-[all laugh]

What if there's more women leaders
out there

that can lead in this type of way
or their own unique way?

You know?

What if? [chuckles]

-[Zaremba] We're done.
-[Cook] We're done.

-[Hardey] What's that mean for the guys?
-[Gaona] I don't know, man.

-[man] The guards really got sent home?
-[Forrester] Let's break out.

-[man 2] Hey!
-[man 3] Who's in charge?

[Chris Lee] It doesn't change anything.

[man 3] How's this gonna work?

[Chris Lee] Obviously,
there's gonna be food.

All right.

[man 4] But the experiment isn't over yet.

[Correra] Guys…

-[buzzer sounds]
-[doors lock]

I will… I nominate myself
to pass out food when it comes first.

And then I'll actually nominate myself
to clean after it comes first,

just to set a tone.

-Guys.
-[Ellenburg] What are y'all doing?

There's no guards,
y'all start graffitiing sh*t?

[Chris Lee] Destroying property? Come on.

You act like I was breaking something.
It's a pencil that rubs right off.

-The common area is not for graffiti.
-[Forrester] I can do what I want.

-That's vandalism.
-[Chris Lee] Be an adult.

I can do what I want. Remember?
It's everyone's experiment.

The constant changes
going on inside of the pod,

I don't know,
I guess I'm just not feeling it.

This guy's so institutionalized,
it's not even funny.

[Forrester] You love structure.

Structure is good.
Structure keeps the house up.

It's just, I'm tired of, you know,
going back and forth with grown men.

[Paramore] Keeping a semblance of order

when people are desperately desiring chaos
is gonna be tough.

There's at least four people here
that are desiring chaos.

It's gonna be annoying as f*ck.

But we have plenty of leadership
to put them in check.

[Paramore] I am pretty good
at reading a room

and knowing what's needed
or what's not needed.

Everybody line up. Line up. Line up.

Oh, baloney! They heard our prayers.

Line up. Line up. Line up.

When it comes to momentary things
that are happening in the pod,

I usually can assess
that situation pretty quickly

and then just hope
that I choose the right action

to get the best outcome for everybody.

[Terry] We gotta think about who,
unless everybody keeps their cell open,

who's gonna have
the one key to your cells.

-We can just leave the key up here.
-No.

There's gonna have to be
one person over the key.

But if it's one key, leave it here.

Anytime someone locks themselves in,
somebody go up there and let them out.

-Who?
-So you're gonna leave your cell open…

[Chris Lee] That person is the key master.

-They make this so much harder than it is.
-I know. Just shut the f*ck up.

There are no guards to punish us,
so why is Chris still talking about rules

and locking us in our cells?

I'm not gonna listen to them anyways
'cause this is a joke.

-How about Ron, then?
-Ron…

[Correra] I trust Ron.

[Chris Lee] Key master Ron.
Anybody against Ron?

-[Forrester] Okay.
-I don't give a f*ck. Just do whatever.

[Chris Lee] All right,
let's give 875 a two-clap.

[inmates clap]

Chris Lee is good at talking to people,
and he thinks he can control the majority,

but I don't necessarily think
that makes you the leader.

I'm going to f*cking bed.

They think they're in jail.

There's no way to convince them
they're not in jail.

[laughing] I can't f*cking do it.

We don't have a curfew anymore, I guess.

[Chris Lee] We still need
to go to bed, though.

So, Hadley raises
a really interesting question.

Are these participants institutionalized
after only ten days in here?

There are no guards
enforcing consequences,

but they're still enforcing rules
like bedtime and lights off,

and even so far as, like,
to lock themselves inside their cells.

That's sort of the whole point
of this fourth phase.

Once you give power back to these inmates,
what are they going to do with it?

I think what we're seeing
with many of them is

this phenomenon
in psychology where sometimes,

even though you're locked in,

that new environment comes to feel
very familiar and very comfortable.

The order of it, the routine,
your expectations,

the people around you feel safe.

Ironically, sometimes even safer
than the uncertainty

of walking out the door to freedom.

-[Chris Lee] You guys are going to bed?
-[Faussette] Yeah.

Consensus is 11:30 lights out?
Because I think we have to call it out.

-[man] Yes.
-[Correra] All right.

Changing from no guards
to just inmates running the pod,

we kinda have to govern ourselves.

It makes you question yourself.
It makes you question the system.

It makes you question everything.

-[Chris Lee] Good night.
-[Correra] Night.

[Terry] I'm gonna leave this door cracked.

It is hard because,
if we wanted to end this,

then we have the power to do it.

But I came here to finish the experiment,
so, in my mind, I believe I'm trapped.

[Chris Lee] Lights out, please!

[Correra] Talk to you tomorrow.

[tense, dramatic music playing]

[snoring]

[buzzer sounds]

[Correra] Everyone needs to wake up.

[whispering] Good morning, sunshine.

[Roberston] Morning.

Everybody is sleeping.

[Robertson laughs]

Everyone has a thing over their door.
The doors are shut.

We need to not break the system.

Oh no, I'm… breakfast
and then back up here.

Bed.

[both laugh]

[dramatic music playing]

[Robertson] We're getting towards the end.
It's close. And there's no guards.

We didn't see that coming,
so that threw us for a loop.

It's so hard.
It's so hard to not lose it right now.

Because I've been in the military
for about 15 years now.

And in the military setting,
you've got… you've got missions.

You're over there for… for a purpose.

We're going to all take
our mattresses outside today.

-[Correra] Oh.
-And hang out.

-Um…
-[Faussette] Have fun.

[Robertson] But I feel like,
in this setting,

you're just trying to k*ll time.

Come on, baby! Let's go!

It's a… a crazy experience.

[Ellenburg] It does feel nice
being able to go outside whenever.

But I am so excited to see my wife
and sleep in my bed.

[Paramore] Aw, bro!

[Ellenburg] My wife, my dogs.
I wanna be able to talk to my mom.

I miss my wife. I miss my dog.

We all signed up to do this for 14 days.

But I've gained almost everything
I believe I came here to gain.

And I think a lot of guys
have done the same.

And the more I think about it,
I feel like I'm kinda ready to go home.

I am almost tired of eating this garbage.

I'm ready to leave.
I'm ready to get the f*ck up out of here.

What's keeping me is, like,
I want to exit with everybody.

-Yep.
-Yeah.

[Ellenburg] That's
the only thing keeping me, too.

That's the true end of the experiment,
is if we can all get on the same page.

-[Ellenburg] We don't even have guards.
-[tense, dramatic music playing]

Now we have the power.

[Faussette] We choose when it's over.

All we have to do is say the word,
and we're out of here.

I personally do not feel like
there's anything more powerful

than each of us standing together
and saying, "We're done."

Lock me up in a cell for another 30 days.

Put me in if I get a meal
like this every day, goodness.

I'm so happy.

We all end it at the same time.

We can end it today, boys.

-We need the numbers.
-Yeah.

Like all of them. 100 percent.

I've been allowed
to quit a lot in my life.

Um, and I know that's a privilege.

It goes all the way back from, you know,
when I was a kid and with sports.

Anytime something got hard,

I was allowed
the opportunity to just quit.

But in this experiment,
the whole idea of quitting would insinuate

that there's a game to be played,
and that there are winners and losers.

And I don't look at this experiment
as something that has winners or losers.

[indistinct chatter, laughter]

[Ellenburg] I just have this vision
in my head of all of us saying,

"We've accomplished what we came here
to accomplish. We're done."

Now the last challenge
is getting some of these guys

to understand that part of taking
that power is saying, "We're done."

-We're gonna end this thing.
-Yeah.

-Bro, I'm with it.
-Yeah. 100%.

Hey, I'm not leading a coup.
I'm just sowing information, you know?

I just, uh… I drop seeds.
It's… it's up to y'all to let it grow.

I mean, it's registering to me.
They literally gave us…

-You have the power.
-[Ellenburg] Yes. Yes.

-But your a*s chose to stay locked up.
-[Ellenburg] Chose.

What inmate had the power
and would continue to stay in this?

Because we told you it was 14 days

and because you then made it
a part of your pride to stay 14 days?

[tense, dramatic music playing]

Jake came up with the idea that
we should say the code word to give up,

which would be "pineapple."

It just clicked to me
that we have the power.

We've always had the power. Let's rise up.

I am determined to convince
the rest of the pod

that we should do it together.
We should do it in unison.

What is it going to take for them
to realize that they are actually free?

[McDaniel] Politick in there for us.

This just feels like
the right thing to do.

[Chris Lee] Eugh! Man, just…

-[Nazarov] 150, yeah.
-[Chris Lee] 150.

[Washington] All right, y'all.
Hear me out.

Come on. Come on, Lee.

They gave the inmates the power
and the control

to do whatever we wanted to do.

And we chose to stay in here as inmates.

-Yeah, guys wanna stay for 14 days.
-Guys wanna stay for 14 days.

[tense music playing]

We're talking about
all saying the word at once.

-[Chris Lee] No.
-I'll say it…

Why not?

Bro, are you kidding me?
No, I'm here for 14 days.

I will never choose cowardness

over something that I am, like,
ten feet from the finish line.

Why is it coward if we all chose…

If we choose to do it,
I don't think that's cowardness.

Why would that be a coward?

For me, I've just never…
never been a quitter,

never been one to bow out at the end.

But now, all of a sudden,
guys are just getting weak in the moment

and coming up with all different kinds
of excuses of why they can't finish.

So my walls immediately went up.

Part of the experiment
is that you have a safe word

if you feel unsafe and you want to leave.
That is what it was.

It's not… not when I don't feel
like being here anymore,

and I wanna get everybody involved.

That's just how you interpret it.

Because you're a p*ssy and you quit.

What does you staying 14 days do
for the bigger picture?

It's not doing it alone.

-It's doing it in solidarity.
-[Forrester] As a group.

-And I'm out, so…
-[dramatic music playing]

Trying to get people to understand
that we have the power,

and we should leave together.

But Chris Lee has a lot of influence.

We didn't know
how he was going to do as an inmate.

But he never quit,
and we all give him the respect for that.

And I heard people say they're not moving
until Chris Lee moves.

No, I understand what you're saying.
I just think that argument is flawed.

I came here to finish what I started.

So I'm just asking for open-mindedness
right now, or else it will not work.

Dude, as a man of integrity,
I finish what I start.

[Terry] A man of integrity
can't stand for a bigger picture?

There's still the tension in the air
of the divide.

Who's gonna do what?
Who's gonna say the safe word?

But I'm staying here
'til somebody tells me to go home.

One thing you'll never get me to do
is quit.

I committed to doing this.
I'm gonna do it.

There's a fascinating debate
happening right now.

Do we stay, or do we go, right?

Do we find some way to unify,
to go out together on our own accord?

Or do we just wait it out
and make it to 14 days?

[Brooks] It's like
a power struggle has formed

between two opposing factions.

One faction is having
an awakening where they're realizing,

"Oh, the formal power structure is gone.
We have the power,

and we can actually choose
to leave this place."

"What is keeping us here?
Why are we staying?"

[Cantrell] For the guys that want to stay,

they think anything less than staying
the full 14 days is a sign of weakness.

And once you've formed a strong belief
like that and dug in your heels,

it's really hard to change your beliefs
or have someone else change your beliefs.

I'm going to be very impressed
if they're able to change their position.

[Washington] Yeah.

-[Terry] The divide is thick, boy.
-[Miloki] Aw!

Yeah, no, it's probably 50-50.

Split down the middle.

Nah, not a little split.
I think they only got six of them.

Chase, Flacco, Lee,

uh, Mike, Jakob, and Sonny.

[Pierce] They want to call anybody
that wants to leave early a quitter.

-I didn't know they were saying that.
-They are.

[McDaniel] Oh, what the f*ck?

[tense, dramatic music playing]

I will leave when somebody says
it's time to go and it's over.

There's not, "We beat the experiment,"
or, "We just did that," or whatever.

[Chris Lee] There's not
an experiment to beat.

I also disagree with the fact that
the guys that are saying that

are the ones that have been trying
to plot something this entire time,

when it's, like,
that doesn't feel very strong.

[Correra] That's what I'm saying.
I have no f*cking allegiance to them.

Today has been a day of talking sh*t,
people whispering.

But, like, I'm in it for the long run.

I'm not gonna listen to people
just telling me what to do.

I have my mind set on this.

I have my core group of people
who want to do it.

That's what I'm gonna do.

-[Washington] Bro.
-[Ellenburg] What's up?

[Washington] We are on the right path.

-You think so?
-[Miloki] I know it.

-[Washington] Let's do this tonight.
-[Miloki] We've all come around to that.

[Washington] Tonight.

-[Miloki] Let's pack our bags.
-Let's go.

I promise you're not gonna get those five.
I promise.

-It genuinely makes me sad.
-[Pierce] I know. I can tell.

-[Miloki] Yeah.
-Like, I care about these people.

And I'm trying to tell them we can end it.
We can go home.

[McDaniel] They don't want to.

They want… They want to hit 14 days.

-You know how much I love my kids?
-Yeah.

-On my kids, let's leave tonight.
-I trust you. I agree.

It doesn't make any sense to wait
'til leaving at the same time.

Now everybody's gonna sit around and wait
'cause we wanna all leave together.

If they wanted to leave together,
they'd leave with us.

What's the difference?

That's all I f*cking need to hear.
I'm not staying another night here.

Me leaving with them,
I wouldn't be true to Michael.

-[Jensen] Yeah.
-[Correra] I'm just frustrated right now.

-[Pierce] Yeah, understandably so.
-[Hublitz] Let it out, dude.

You have every right to be.

[Pierce] Understandably so.
It's been a tough day.

Yeah.

I'm very much in the middle right now,
if I'm being honest.

I see the value in both sides.

But my head is just completely
all over the place.

And it's relentless

because everyone is thinking about this
really, really hard.

You're just getting pulled
in each direction.

Bro, trust me, tonight.

Yo.

[Washington] I know y'all…

-Everybody has their logic, right?
-Yeah.

But trust me,
we are in control of ourselves.

There's nobody governing us.

Nobody.

We are in charge of ourselves.

We have the ability
to come together and end it.

I promise you,
there's no set amount of days.

-Yeah. No, I think you're right.
-[Pierce] Yeah. Yeah.

I set out on this experiment to be here
until somebody pulls me out.

But this experiment shows
that it's really about influence.

And Washington had our respect.

And so that has opened me up strongly
to the idea of leaving.

I'm gonna go ahead and…

[Pierce] Please do. Thank you.

-[Washington] Pleasure meeting everybody.
-Of course, dude.

-It was a pleasure meeting you.
-Nothing but love.

Now I feel ready to end this experiment.

It's time to go.

I swear, every day
you got another beefstick.

Bro, listen, you gotta learn
how to survive, brother.

Fourteen-day survival kit.

[Chris Lee] You're not leaving, are you?

Come here. Come here. Let me talk
to you, man. Y'all crazy as hell, bro.

[Chris Lee laughs]

Right now, Chris Lee
is steadfast in his thinking

of stepping out one second earlier
than the 14th day is quitting,

soft, and a lack of integrity.

That doesn't sit right with me.

Right now, my sole goal

is to get Chris Lee
to understand what's going on.

If they said the last person in here wins,
I would die in here because I'm stubborn.

I'm not going anywhere.

But the idea that 21 men

that have never seen each other
before two weeks ago came together,

locked arms, and decided
to use power together in unison

is a message that would break
the outside world.

Sure.

[Paramore] And that visual could do
so much for my neighborhoods.

Me standing in the center
of everybody that looks different than me,

and we all on the same page.

If my daughter saw that, my, my…

The kids that came from where
I came from saw that, that's powerful.

Big Mike started opening up
and just talking about, like,

what it would mean
for us to all go out together.

And he shared with me, you know,

a message of freeing ourselves
from bondage

and not being a victim
of the circumstances.

That image is too powerful
for everybody that looks like me.

I hear you.

And, for the first time,

it crossed my mind that there may not
be a 14-day deadline to this thing.

[camera whirring]

So, one of the, uh, leadership principles
that I've always tried to embody

is a willingness to be wrong.

Yeah.

I will say that
Mike makes a powerful argument.

And, frankly, the power
has been turned over to us.

I get it. This is a very powerful thing.

But I want to walk out on that 14th day.

I agree.

The problem is,
we're choosing to use a safe word

that was there to save us
from being psychologically distressed,

to use that as the get-out-of-jail.

[Chris Lee] That's the argument
I've been making all day.

So I'm feeling pretty lost at the moment.

[tense, dramatic music playing]

[Robertson] In my last deployment
to Afghanistan,

that was during the pullout
and everything,

little by little,
they were sending people home.

And I kept volunteering to stay

'cause I don't have a family
and kids or anything.

And, you know, little by little,
you see everybody leave.

And it got… it got crazy, right?

[emotionally] The group
started getting smaller and smaller.

And, uh…

[tender music playing]

Uh…

I was one of the last
American soldiers to go home.

And being the last one
makes me feel so proud.

In this situation, saying the word
is calling to go home, you know?

I'm just waiting for my chain of command
to tell me to go home.

[Correra sniffs, sighs]

A few of us, we came here with the mindset

that we're staying
until somebody tells us to leave.

That was our mission.

"Mission." I'm not
in the military right now.

[laughs]

I wanted to stay for that, you know,
that one purpose, that one mission,

until I was told to go home.

It's… It's hard to change that.

-Thanks for sharing that, Sonny.
-Yeah, I appreciate that, my dude.

-I love you, dude.
-Can I give you a hug?

Yeah.

As I was sitting there telling my story,
it was weird. Something came over me.

I'm like, "I gotta try and do my best
to bring everybody together."

I'm going to say something.

I'm a quiet person.

I try to save my words for when I think
it will be the most impactful.

And just that thought of leaving
on a divide didn't sit well with me.

And so I didn't want to have any regrets.

[whistles]

Can I…

I've never asked for an audience.
I'd like to say something, if that's okay.

[man] Absolutely.

Um, I know there's pretty much two sides.

Those wanting to stay till the end,

and those wanting
to say the safe word and leave.

I think we all want to end this.

But, to some of us, it seems like
it's a failure saying that safe word.

Saying, "Something's bad
and we want to go home

because I can't handle it anymore."

We know we can handle it.

Everything they've been giving us,
we can handle it.

We've got a lot of people

from many walks of life
coming together as brothers

whenever any sense of divide
has tried to get in between us.

And I think we can all agree

that we have always had the power
since day one.

And so maybe what I can ask
at this last moment,

instead of saying the safe word,
why don't we just join forces

and leave on a good note together
where nobody's divided?

We don't need to say that safe word.

We'll replace that safe word
with a phrase that unites us.

"We have the power."

Can everybody…
Can everybody agree with that?

You know, rather than saying
the safe word, "We have the power."

-Absolutely.
-[Chris Lee] 100%.

[Correra, emotionally] Come on, guys.

I set foot in this prison
to do a 14-day journey.

I'm not trying to pack up my bag
and leave early.

But the way Sonny spoke to the group,

a little light bulb went off in my head,

and I said, "Okay,
we all don't have to see eye to eye."

"We all don't have to get along."

"But we all did do something together."

I think we're going to look back
at these couple of weeks together

for a very long time and remember,

uh, the friendships that we shared
and the lessons that we learned.

And so I just wanted to, uh, say thanks.

-[Correra] f*ck' A.
-[men laugh]

I'm so happy to be part of this.

[men laugh]

When Sonny changed "pineapple"
to "we have the power,"

it was a giant green light
for us to leave.

Hey, hey, if we're gonna do this for real,
let's link up, man.

-[Washington] Come on!
-Everybody grab somebody's arm, man.

And we're gonna look at it together.

-We're gonna look at it together.
-[Robertson] We got it.

We do this in unison.

Seeing Sonny come around

really opened up my heart
to another way of looking at things.

It could be a very powerful message.

This isn't quitting. This is uniting.

"We have the power" on one, two, three.

We have the power!

Let us out this m*therf*cker.

-[all exclaiming]
-[hopeful music playing]

[man] Let's go!

[Paramore] We're done!

-[Brooks] Wow!
-[Lee] This is…

They all left together.

[Brooks] Oh my God.

[buzzer sounds]

[man over PA] Attention, all inmates.

The experiment… is now… over.

[all cheering]

I love you, man.

Yeah, baby! Yeah!

-[Correra] I love you, Chris.
-[Chris Lee] Love you too, homie.

[Washington] Walking through
that threshold to freedom

is gonna feel electrifying

because it means I'm going to do
what I set out to do,

and that's finish.

Do you want…
Here's your towel. Here's your shirt.

-[buzzer sounds]
-[man] Hey! Hey! Line up!

Did not see that coming.
I thought we were completely split up

and on different pages,

but it feels pretty poetic
that we could stand arm in arm,

take the power back,
and walk out that door all together

instead of a split-up group.

[Chris Lee] I gotta get
something out of my cell!

When that door opens, I feel proud.

Prouder than I've ever felt in my life.

[Faussette] This is crazy.

[Ellenburg] Proud of myself.

I felt proud of them.

And I felt just an overwhelming joy
to be a part of that moment.

[inhales shakily, laughs]

[sniffs]

This was, um…

an incredible thing to be a part of.

You gotta take one last look, don't you?

[Faussette] We're not coming back. Ever.

[gentle music playing]

[Robertson] I've never done something
like this in my life.

So my mind's running
a million miles per hour right now.

I could say a lot that I don't even know
what to say right now.

I think I said it all
in those two minutes. [sighs]

I don't know where that came from, dude.

I had no, no…

-Holy sh*t.
-Beating on the wall.

You didn't know where that came from.
I guess it just comes out of you.

That was big.

It was crazy getting these…

these relationships with people you don't,
like you just don't know.

It was beautiful, but the better part
is when the voice said it was over.

I didn't… [sighs] Man, I don't know.

I just miss my family, bro.
I just… I don't know.

[buzzer sounds]

[Chris Lee] Let's go.

I started this experiment
sharing my perspective on things,

on… on who had the power
and what it meant.

And, uh, it wasn't until I lived
that fully through this experiment

that my heart truly changed.

[Correra] Bye, prison experiment.

[Chris Lee] When you can get people
that have different perspectives

of the same scenario to actually
come together and unite in a mission,

in a vision, in a message, man,
there's nothing more powerful than that.

[man speaks indistinctly]

[Brooks] We did not expect this outcome

because achieving community
and coming together is not easy.

[Lee] Who could've imagined
when that bus pulled up to the facility,

and 30 people stepped out
from different walks of life,

different cities,
different places in their own lives,

would come together
and find true power and brotherhood?

That spoke volumes.

You saw them coming together
as a collective to do something great,

uh, and to free themselves.

Yeah. We started out
with the original question

that was asked
in the original prison experiment.

Does power corrupt?

I think we've actually been asking
and answering more nuanced questions

along the way.

-Yep.
-What is real and what's pretend?

Who are we when we're at our best?

What do we do with power when we have it?

What do we do when we don't have it?

What should we do with power?

What should we do
when we don't have power?

And I think a very clear takeaway

from what we've seen here
is that power can be given and taken away,

but respect and love must be earned.

[buzzer sounds]

[gentle music playing]

[indistinct shouting]

Whoo!

[Chris Lee] Come on, baby!

-[Forrester] Let's go.
-[Chris Lee] Open the gates!

[Correra] Hadley, climb it right now.

[Paramore] Men from all over everywhere,

different backgrounds,
different everything,

created something crazy beautiful

in a prison environment.

And I left this experiment

with a rejuvenated sense of humanity.

[Terry] Power and control is exactly what
the country is built off of right now.

But we also have the power.

We're just too scared to make the move.

[clapping, shouting indistinctly]

I seclude myself
in… in my personal life a lot.

It… it can get lonely.

I'm taking away from this experiment
just how simple human connection can be.

[gentle music continues]