December ,
It's snowing outside.
There is no outside.
No yesterday.
Promise?
Matthew!
Matthew Adams.
It's my dad.
Matthew Adams.
Matthew!
Matthew doesn't know you.
I wanna see my son.
He was an orphan
when I met him.
Look, you son of a bitch.
- I know what you do.
- And I you.
You are manipulating
a screwed up kid.
- And who screwed him up?
- I demand to see him.
Call to him.
He has free will.
Matthew.
I want you to come home.
Beth wants you to come home.
Matthew!
Matthew!
He's got a new father now.
Father, I am free.
Good bye. - Matthew.
Classification : su1c1de
Matthew and I were
only a year apart.
People used to think
that we were twins.
So what made him join this group?
You mean cult.
Okay.
After Matthew's first year of college,
our mother k*lled herself.
Matthew kind of drifted after that.
So he joined this First Generation,
cut off old ties?
And this was ' .
Jonestown had just happened.
The Kool-Aid? / We were scared that
they were gonna do the same thing.
So we hired this deprogrammer.
- Remember his name?
- Yeah. Bill Crawford.
He got Matthew to a motel room,
but two days later he escaped.
While you were there?
No.
My dad and I left him alone
with Crawford.
The next morning,
Matthew was on our porch.
Dead from cyanide.
su1c1de?
Well, that's what we thought for all of these
years and there was even a note. But..
then I saw this.
Rescue Misson Turned m*rder?
Crawford's still in business, huh?
Last week he was working with
a girl who d*ed of an asthma att*ck.
Then he tried to cover up
and make it look like a su1c1de.
How did he do that?
Dosed her with poison,
forged a note.
And said she escaped?
Like your brother ?? supposedly dead.
We never should've left
him alone with that man.
Anna Mayes.
Can I..?
What's going on?
My lieutenant sent me.
We found a floater this morning
in the Schuykill.
- You call the updesk?
- No. I came to you 'cause um..
it's someone we know.
It's Scotty's girl.
Elisa?
Father, I'm free.
Good bye, Matthew.
- Standard su1c1de note.
- Or not.
The sister thinks maybe this deprogrammer
wrote it after Matthew d*ed in his care.
Deprogramming,
sketchy business.
What'd boss want with Valens?
- Don't know.
- Got the on this Matthew Adams?
years old, mainline kid was
pre-med at Penn for a year and dropped out.
Father was a surgeon, right?
He couldn't have liked that.
No, especially when Matthew
dyed his hair black,
started hanging out at the Arsenal.
- Arsenal?
- Punk spot.
Mohawks, slam dancing.
Yeah. He was into
that cult June of ' .
After he d*ed Vice stormed the place,
found a vial of cyanide for every member.
They were gonna pull
their own Jonestown.
Him dying might've stopped that.
I remember those
First Generation nuts.
Leader was named Warfield.
- What was he preaching?
- Erase the past,
come start a new generation
with him as their father.
Father Warfield is in prison now.
Chester.
Deprogrammer's our first stop.
- So what?
- You give Anna my job,
bring me out here to
break the news?
It's about Elisa, Scotty.
Is she in trouble?
They found her this morning
in the Schuykill.
Found her?
Yeah, looks like she jumped.
Nah, that can't be.
I'm sorry, Scotty.
Nah, cuz she wouldn't.
I spoke to Manny Fernandez at West.
He's got Anna working the case.
Well, then I gotta talk to Anna.
because...
No, she's scared of heights.
- And she was getting better.
- Yeah, I know.
I'm gonna walk.
Still working while
you were on bail?
Why shouldn't I work?
- I'm no thr*at.
- Till this last time.
It was an accident.
You dosed her with
strychnine accidentally?
You remember Matthew Adams?
Yeah, I remember every job.
You had an accident with him too,
used cyanide to cover your tracks.
- Off by a mile lady.
- Things go wrong.
' , deprogramming was
just being invented.
Look, that kid, he crawled out
of bathroom window of the motel.
I never saw him again.
You were obviously not above breaking
a few laws to get your work done.
If somebody you loved was
hold up with David Koresh in Waco,
wouldn't you want me to get him out
before the Feds lit that place up?
Tell us about Matthew.
It's like every job.
Started with a rescue.
You mean kidnapping?
Look, man, I was the good guys.
Matthew Adams?
Matthew Adams!
Get him.
There's no Matthew Adams here.
Now,
or Charlie Manson here gets it!
Door!
- Matty.
- What's going on?
- We're here to help.
- Son, listen to me.
I'm not your son.
Tell him.
Your name is Matthew.
You live at ..
In three days, it's zero hour.
And everything will
be wiped away.
More. More!
You love the Sixers, but you cheer
for the knicks just to piss off dad.
Matt.
Please look at me.
Your sister's talking to you.
Three days till zero hour.
No more talking.
Shhh.
What was zero hour?
It was the cult's plan
for mass su1c1de.
But Matthew d*ed two days later.
Why k*ll himself a day early?
Maybe so we wouldn't stop him.
Look, I got a percent
success rate.
That Warfield character,
he really messed up
that kid's head.
Maurice Warfield.
Detectives Rush and Jeffries, Homicide.
Ah, the faces of the law.
So serious.
Desperate to hide you're the same
scared children you always were.
We're here about
Matthew Adams.
Lived with you, .
He was an artist.
His father tried to fill
his head with science.
And you tried to convince him
you were his father.
All I ever did to Matthew
was suggest he had a choice.
There's nothing criminal
about that.
Tax fraud and statutory r*pe
are another story.
Well, those are your laws.
Not yours?
I don't accept your authority.
I consider myself wrongly detained.
Just a misunderstood man
spreading a good word.
- Amen.
- And the good word was?
That you can erase your past,
choose your family.
Take you as their father?
- I love children.
- Probably sounded good to Matthew.
How'd you find him?
Like you found any lost soul in .
In a lost place.
Hey.
Do I know you?
No.
But I know you.
Really?
A rebel boy,
in combat boots and
Gucci socks.
- Poor little rich kid.
- You don't know anything about me.
I stole your thunder.
Not letting them finish.
You wanted to
get your ass kicked.
- Why would I want that?
- World's full of pain.
You wanna control
how you get hurt.
But you can't.
Screw you, man.
Okay.
Maurice sees things in people.
Right.
Like what?
And he needed a place to crash,
so he came home with us.
How does he end up dead?
Ask the commando who
came in and held a g*n on me.
He took Matthew away.
I never saw him again.
But you know he d*ed
from cyanide.
I heard that. / Which you
had stashed at the cult,
prepping for your mass su1c1de.
Don't believe the ghost stories.
There was no su1c1de plan.
- No?
- It wasn't even a cult.
Just an ideal.
And now?
First Generation is
a thing of the past.
Frannie looked over the autopsy, says
Matthew had abrasions on his back,
might have come from being dragged.
If someone moved him,
it goes from a su1c1de to homicide.
Maybe the deprogrammer?
Crawford hopped to plane
in Miami that night.
Records back it up.
Crawford's in the clear, boss.
Bad news.
Scotty's girlfriend.
They found her body
in the river this morning.
Where is he?
Home.
We gotta go there.
He needs time, Lil.
Alone.
Yeah, it's what he wants.
Obey the first generation.
Anything?
Uh...
One lift from the window.
Run it through AFIS tonight.
For a thing of the past,
the First Generation sure is organized.
Warfield got word to
the outside nice and quick.
Must be still around
in the cult from prison.
So who's his man
on the outside?
We'll check visitor logs tomorrow,
see who he had contact
with after we left.
You got nice neighbors.
They didn't see squat.
Warfield told us about two other
members, Nick and Alison.
We got a date with them
in the morning.
What's wrong with these cats?
Nothing.
You okay?
Scotty?
Yeah.
Hey, Scotty.
We're sorry.
Yeah, I told Elisa's mom
I'd pick up her stuff.
Oh yeah, of course.
You got the scene photos?
Not yet.
Cuz, uh..
I wanna see them.
No reason for that.
I wanna see them, Anna.
There was a note addressed to you,
supposed to hang on to it,
but I got a copy.
Where was it?
On her bed.
Hey, if you wanna talk..
Hey, I gotta jet.
- I wanna help you, Scotty.
- I'm good.
So, Nick. You were Maurice's
muscle back in the day.
I washed myself clean
of Maurice Warfield years ago.
Well, someone's
keeping the cult alive.
Any idea?
Sorry. I've baptized myself
in the name of the lord.
Thought you two were
thick as thieves.
For a time.
Anyone in the cult have
a reason to hurt Matthew?
No one but Warfield himself.
Why's that?
False gods can be wrathful.
We don't speak cult.
Matthew crossed him,
after his three days.
Three days?
Initiation rite.
Spend three days
in total darkness.
Sounds fun. / Matthew came out
knowing just what he wanted.
Son?
I was..
I was so alone in the dark.
You don't have to be.
Not any more.
I remember.
All of it.
No memories.
No past, no pain.
You can let all that go now.
I can?
Come on.
Matthew.
We want you to stay here.
With us. If you want.
Really?
Will you stay?
I wanna show you
what a family is.
What love is?
I want that.
Then choose someone.
Anyone.
To love.
Alison.
Alison. Come on.
Is it okay?
Matthew has chosen you.
I love you.
And she loves you.
You'll be together one month,
no more.
You understand?
I understand.
So this Alison was
Warfield's squeeze.
But Matthew wanted that.
Did they obey the one month rule?
No.
They fell in love.
So you're saying Warfield offed Matthew because
he was banging her past the cult expiration date?
I'm saying he defied Maurice.
And Maurice did not like
to be defied.
You got a nice shop.
- You own it?
- All the designs are mine.
I work for myself.
You still think about Matthew?
The love of your life gets snatched at gunpoint
and you never lay eyes on him again.
What do you think?
We heard you were Maurice's girl.
He had a lot of girls.
Any chance you were special?
He didn't like Matthew choosing you?
No. It was more important to Maurice
to be a father figure than anything else.
So when your month
with Matthew was up...?
Maurice said we could stay together.
Any idea who's keeping
the cult going for Maurice now?
He had a lot of sway
over a lot of people.
Guy could make you follow
him into a burning house.
How did he get you?
I was at the end of
a bad marriage.
He made me feel special.
Alison, how do you get out
from underneath someone like him.
For me, it was when Matthew d*ed.
Biggest lost of my life.
You think Matthew k*lled himself?
I don't know.
We were all pretty messed up.
What if we told you now
it was a homicide?
I guess I'd ask if you've
looked at his dad.
Why?
I spent summers here
as a lab tech.
Build character.
Methyl iodide,
thallium,
Cyanide.
Doctor Boyle said she saw you.
I thought maybe you came to talk.
We ran out of things
to talk about a long time ago.
Then what are you doing here?
You'll find out.
Looking for narcotics?
What? 'Cause I might be
a dope fiend, right?
- Baby, let's go.
- Is she one of them?
She loves me.
Those zombies are
controlling your mind, Matthew.
No, that's your specialty.
You're just ike your mother.
A total headcase.
Don't talk about her. / You take
after her in all the worst ways.
I will never forget the secret.
The secret?
I don't know what it was.
But Matthew hated his dad for it.
- And with everything going down..
- What was going down?
Maurice had a plan.
Zero hour.
The su1c1de.
- That's not what it was.
- Then what?
It's gonna be the ultimate
loyalty to Maurice.
We were all gonna
k*ll our fathers.
So zero hour wasn't mass su1c1de?
Mass patricide.
vials of cyanide for dads.
So then our boy Matthew was
going to k*ll the surgeon?
Maybe the dad knew what was
going down, b*at him to the punch.
The timing's suspicious.
The day before he was targeted to die?
Or maybe it has to do with
the secret Matthew mentioned.
Prints are back on your window.
Whoever broke in ain't in the system.
We get a list of visitors
authorized to see Maurice?
Yeah.
- It's long.
- He's had that many blood relatives?
Turns out he fathered
a fair amount of kids in his day.
Every cult you ever read about,
the leader's doin' all the ladies.
It's good to be king.
Talk to the dad, see if he had
advance word on zero hour.
The sister's here.
Matthew wouldn't do that.
That's what they were planning.
I'm sorry. / I mean he and
my dad had their problems but...
Matthew wasn't himself.
Why couldn't I reach him?
His girlfriend said something
about the secret..?
He told her that?
No details.
My father wanted
the things he wanted them.
When Matthew was pre-med,
everything was great.
And when he dropped out?
Dad blamed mom.
They fought.
It was ugly.
So was the secret about her?
When you work at the lab this summer,
all that garbage has to come off.
Well, maybe I'm not working
at the lab this summer.
What's that?
My friend Sonnet needs an apprentice
to stretch the canvases and mix paint.
Your friend, the pot head?
Med schools aren't really impressed
with mixing paint all summer.
I dropped out of Penn.
And I'm applying for art school.
Did you know about this?
- It's what he wants.
- It's what you want.
- I want him to be happy.
- Maybe he can end up with pill popper.
Dad, Matthew's a great artist.
You know, I just.. Forget it.
I'll go to med school.
You know, if I'm so awful,
why don't I just k*ll myself?
You're drunk again.
This time, I'll do it.
- You're embarrassing yourself.
- I will, I will.
Then k*ll you, already.
Otherwise shut up.
Forget them.
You're going to art school.
I'll find a quiet place
in the middle of nowhere.
That's where I'll go.
Can I come?
And when the police came,
he made us say that we all saw it.
But only he did.
That's why Matthew
hated him so much.
But not you?
I was the good girl.
I went to medical school.
Tried to forget.
But I never did.
Do you think
your dad k*lled her?
I don't think so.
I don't know.
I didn't want my family's
ugliness exposed.
Maybe you didn't want anyone
checking the prints on the g*n.
My wife's death was
ruled as su1c1de.
- So was Matthew's.
- Lucky man, aren't I.
Two of my three family
members checked out on me.
Did you know your son
was plannig to k*ll you?
- No.
- Kinda suspicious,
Matthew dying saved your life.
I tried to save my son,
not k*ll him.
How about your wife?
Did you k*ll her?
I watched my wife
sh**t herself in the face.
That almost k*lled me.
- Okay.
- As for Matthew,
have you ever looked into
the eyes of someone you loved
and realize the person
you know is gone?
Yeah.
At what point do you give up?
I know you're there, Matty.
That you hear me.
He's been at this
for hours.
Why don't you let me take over?
My father will rescue me.
- You won't win.
- That man, Matty,
he's just like dad.
They just wanna control you.
Tell you how to live.
Promise me you wouldn't
let that happen.
Remember?
That quiet place
in the middle of nowhere?
Enough, Beth.
I know you remember.
Hey, hey.
Where do you think you're going?
Home,
to my father.
Oh, Matthew.
Why wasn't I ever good enough?
You hated me
because I was like mom.
No.
You k*lled her.
Matthew.
What do you want from me?
I wanna forget you.
I don't wanna feel
bad any more.
Okay.
You win.
It's your life.
Get in.
I'll take you wherever
you want to go.
I'm a surgeon.
I know when
I've lost a patient.
Where'd you take him?
Back to that place.
He got out of the car,
never looked back. / So you saw him
walk back into the cult the night he d*ed.
I saw that man Warfield
welcome him back.
You never told
your daughter about this?
She'd hate me.
And I couldn't afford to
lose anyone else.
Scotty.
I got your message.
I couldn't get back. Sorry.
I've been worried about you.
I'm with her family.
What can I do to help?
Tell me where we are in this job.
Maybe you shouldn't
be here right now.
Well, then you tell me
where I should be.
Thought you could
break into my house
chase me away, Maurice?
I didn't break in anywhere. / We know
you're still running the game on the outside.
We also know about the patricide.
Patricide? Now, last time you said
I was planning a mass su1c1de.
Which one is it?
Well, you said you never saw
Matthew after the kidnapping.
But he came back.
- Two days later.
- Says who?
- His dad.
- Well, that doesn't mean I k*lled him.
Add to that,
your deputy Nick fingered you.
Nick did?
I see what he's doing.
Nick is the keeper
of my congregation.
I thought the cult was dead.
He's supposed to lead
until I get out.
But I guess he sees a chance
to keep me locked up forever.
So Matthew came back.
And we were all thrilled.
Except Nick.
- How come?
- Because with Matthew gone,
he could try to get his wife back.
His wife?
Alison.
Alison and Nick were married?
And Nick did not like
sharing her.
You saying he k*lled Matthew?
I know they said it was a su1c1de.
But, nah..
su1c1de's for cowards.
Matthew was brave.
Talk more about that.
What? su1c1de?
Well.
"It's a screw you to the world."
- "I never really loved any of you."
- Is that right?
- Forget it, let's go.
- No, no, no.
What else does it proof?
Defective thinking,
- Narcissism..
- Keep going.
And that the so-called
loved ones have failed.
Keep talking!
So is Valens in the wood shed?
Boss said he'd keep it in in-house.
Keep it out of I.A's hands.
It's true about Nick Logan's
congregation. Check it out.
This is a list of family
allowed to visit Maurice,
these are the members
of Logan's church.
Same list.
So Logan's the number two
in charge till Maurice goes out.
But he figures that if Maurice stays
in for m*rder, he'll be number one.
Classic power struggle.
Whatever happened to
old-fashioned cult loyalty?
I'll talk to Alison and see
how possessive hubbby was.
Let's go back to the preacher.
Hey, Scotty.
Hey.
I, uh.. snapped out, I know.
Sorry.
Most people wouldn't try to come
back two days after something like this.
I ain't most people.
Yeah.
It won't happen again.
I need your g*n, Scotty.
Just for a little while.
You want my badge, too?
No, the badge is yours.
Elisa was in a lot
of pain, Scotty.
It wasn't a su1c1de,
what happened.
Wasn't there a note?
But it wasn't like that.
I mean, if she jumped
or something..
It'd be more apologizing,
that she couldn't make it.
Well, what did she say?
It was about the good stuff.
When we were kids.
Scotty, that's how sometimes
people say good bye.
No. No,
she wrote about this..
this birthday party.
Her friend turning and
how we're both there
sneaking looks and talking
about how the river smells,
and how in her head,
she's waiting for the light
to fade so I can hold her hand
in the dark
and no one would see.
Don't tell me
that note is the end.
It's the beginning.
I should get back.
Yeah.
Turns out you're just watching over
Maurice's flock until he's released, Nick.
I'm a minister to
a hundred people.
You're a stand-in
for a psychopath.
It's my congregation.
They look to me,
not Maurice.
He told us about Alison.
Must've hurt.
Some guy slipping it
to the wife in front of your face.
Maurice let them be together.
That why you k*lled Matthew?
Over her?
I didn't k*ll anyone.
Guy gets kidnapped you figured this is
my chance to slide back in with the missus.
But the kid's back
two days later, ruins everything.
It made me angry.
- But I didn't k*ll him.
- Then who did?
The real psychopath.
Who's that man?
No one.
Welcome home, son.
Baby, you came back.
They took him away to brainwash him.
We have to know if they got to him.
He came back, he's pure.
I'm ready for tomorrow..
Zero hour.
- Never been more ready.
- We have to be sure.
Go upstairs.
You wait for her.
Nick's right.
If he's tainted,
he could ruin the plan.
I'm in charge of zero hour.
Let me decide if he's okay.
And if he's not?
It'll be the biggest loss of my life.
Alison was in charge of zero hour?
Maurice gives her all the
important assignments.
Gives? Present tense?
She's diehard, like him.
Nick and I got married
when I was .
Smart, right?
How long did it last?
Oh, less than a year.
I was all too glad to forget
our past when we met Maurice.
Was Nick the jealous type?
Why do you ask?
It takes a lot of rage dumping
kid's body on his father's doorstop.
Unthinkable.
You know Matthew made it
back to the cult that night.
No,
I would've seen him.
His father drove him there.
Is it too hot?
No, but I could use some honey.
Sure.
Hands behind your head.
This is a mistake.
On your knees.
All your own designs, right?
You got her, Rush?
She's the one who
broke into my apartment.
More than that,
she k*lled Matthew.
- You can't prove that.
- You had the cyanide.
Promised to k*ll him if
the outside had gotten to his head.
Poor Matthew.
His sister ruined him.
She got through.
I had no choice.
I thought I'd lost you.
You'll never lose me.
So, you're ready for zero hour?
That's why I came back,
we have to get out of here.
What?
What Maurice wants us
to do, it's crazy.
They got to you.
Baby, he wants us to k*ll people.
We're wiping out the past.
We can't do that.
But, we can move on.
To a quiet place in
the middle of nowhere.
Just me, you, my sister.
We'll go to police,
we'll tell them about zero hour.
And then, we're free.
Does your family know
you're doing this?
My dad drove me here.
We didn't say a word the whole drive.
- Baby, we gotta hurry.
- Okay.
Okay, but
we can't just run away.
We have to leave Maurice a note.
Okay. Yeah, fine, whatever.
Just write,
Father,
I'm free.
Good bye.
Sign it.
I don't need a father anymore.
Just you.
Do you feel it yet?
It'll just be a minute now.
Alison.
I'll leave you
on his doorstep.
I came back to save you.
And I'm saving you.