11x03 - Smoke Signals

[bunniefuu]

FRAN: What exactly
did you see out there?

I told you, he was huge and
wearing black leather and...

had some kind of w*apon.

- I think he wanted to hurt me.
- (SCOFFS)

This time of night in Central Park,

almost everyone wants to hurt you.

You said there's a group
of people in this city

under att*ck by the government.
Start there.

I worked at a lab assistant.

I'd sanitize equipment.

Prep samples.

I'd write reports.

That's how I got access to the files.

You ever heard of Operation Paperclip?

- No.
- It was a postwar program

where the U.S. used n*zi scientist

against the Russians
during the Red Scare.

- (ECHOING COUGHS)
- They'd crossbreed contagions,

test them on patients.

Mix animal diseases with human ones.

They were looking for something
that could be used as a w*apon.

They hit on something good,

but it was too big to be airborne,

so they engineered it
to thrive in mucous membranes.

- (HEAVY BREATHING)
- (DISTANT COUGHING)

And all of this happened on U.S. soil?

Nearby soil. Plum Island.

Even if that's true,

it was in the ' s right after the w*r.

What does it have to do with now?

The Cold w*r is heating up.

A year ago, they started bringing out

some of the golden oldies
and testing them again.

Testing? You mean on humans?

- (COUGHING)
- FRAN: Drug addicts, prisoners, homeless people.

They get them to volunteer for money.

They were experimenting with ticks

as a delivery mechanism

to spread the diseases.

They think some of the ticks got loose

and spread the disease
outside the island.

You know what I'm talking
about, don't you?

Patients have been showing up
with conditions

that should be rare, but...

now they're all over the place.

Some of them have weird skin rashes,

diarrhea, like from a parasite.

- They created it, all of it.
- Honestly,

conspiracy theories are dangerous.

They absolutely hurt
more than they help.

Medical misinformation,
which doctors like me

call the fear of science,

actually causes more infections,
a higher ratio of disease...

The people that created this were evil.

I think they made the disease
as painful as possible,

and they specifically targeted
the people they detest.

Why are you telling all this to me?

I read the article in The Native

about the infected deer on Fire Island

and how they were slaughtered.

And I suggest you look more closely

at some of the symptoms
your patients have

and go to the press.

With what?

I don't have any proof of anything,

and proof is everything.

And a study could take years.

Figure it out, and fast.

My life is on the line.

The people behind this know that I know.

Remember Karen f*cking Silkwood?

She's in a Texas cemetery now.

(GASPS)

(GROANS)

♪ ♪

(DOOR CREAKS)

(GROANS)

(DOOR CLOSES)

♪ ♪

I just want to get out of here.

Please. Just let me go.

(ELEVATOR BELL DINGS)

Help!

Help!

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

PATRICK: No matches on any
of the fingerprints.

None of them were in the database.

MARZARA: Missing persons?

Yeah, we're running
missing persons right now.

So far, no one seems to link up.

g*dd*mn it, when are we gonna
get some luck on this damn case?

Well, we may have some now, Chief.

I just need to get back to it.

This guy's got a hell of a story.

Might be relevant.

All right, keep me up to speed.

Sure.

You were telling me
what this guy made you do.

He kept me in a f*cking cage.

- He made me perform acts...
- What kind of acts?

- The kind I don't want people to know about.
- Right.

Can you just tell me how you
ended up at this guy's place?

Did he drag you off the street?
Knock you on the head?

I answered a pay phone.

Outside a leather bar.

- Which bar?
- The Ditch.

The guy was funny, made me laugh.

- PATRICK: Mm-hmm.
- STEWART: He told me where he lived.

So I decided, what the hell?

Wait, you agreed to meet
this guy over a phone call?

I guarantee you,
it's not the weirdest pickup

that's happened in this city.

Okay, can you just...

describe the guy who held you
and where this took place?

(BLONDIE'S "RAPTURE" PLAYING)

♪ ♪

(MUSIC CONTINUES MUFFLED)

(LIVELY CHATTER)

(LOUD KNOCKING)

(LIVELY CHATTER, LAUGHTER)

("RAPTURE" CONTINUES THROUGH SPEAKERS)

♪ Toe to toe ♪

- ♪ Dancing very close ♪
- We're looking for Sam.

♪ Barely breathing ♪

- ♪ Almost comatose ♪
- We're looking for Sam!

♪ Wall to wall ♪

- ♪ People hypnotized ♪
- That would be me.

- ♪ And they're stepping... ♪
- If the music's too loud,

we can turn it down.

It's not about the music.

I'm gonna need you
to ask your guests to leave.

♪ Night in rapture. ♪

- (MUSIC FADES)
- So, you're admitting to me he was held in here.

He was in here, but he was not held.

- Do you see a lock?
- Could've been one before.

There wasn't. It was consensual.

It was a game.

He was into it. (SCOFFS)

I've never seen anyone more into it.

Could he have actually been frightened,

- and you misinterpreted?
- SAM: No, not a chance.

He's not the first gentleman
I've entertained down here.

And it won't be the last.
I could offer you a session.

Don't be a smart-ass.

These are very serious accusations.

Then why aren't you locking me up?

You're not arresting me

because he won't press charges.

He won't press charges
because there's nothing

that happened down here
that both parties didn't want...

and enjoy.

So you see, you've ruined my evening

for no reason at all.

There were two very talented
young photographers

who had their first
gallery exhibition...

Something happened down
here, and you are right,

he's not gonna press charges.

But not because nothing happened here,

because he is worried
about his reputation.

(SAM SCOFFS)

(CAGE DOOR CLOSES)

That's something you're
familiar with, isn't it?

I'm happy to play this act

in front of your little
buddy over there.

I know what you're into.

And I know what you know about pain.

♪ ♪

(WHISPERS): Don't f*ck with me...

Detective.

We're done here.

(SAM SNIFFLING)

GINO: So he just denied
everything and you believed it?

- (BRUSHING TEETH)
- PATRICK: Yeah. He said it was consensual.

And the kid doesn't want
to press charges.

That's a relief.

- (TAPS TOOTHBRUSH)
- No paperwork for you.

Gino, the dungeon room does not
match the room you were in.

Sam is not the guy.

- (TOOTHBRUSH CLATTERS)
- Come here for a second.

I worked with an artist
down at the paper

to come up with a sketch

based on what I could remember.

This could be something to go on.

(SIGHS)

I don't think it's enough to go on.

I don't think you were
in your right state of mind

to remember anything
about this guy's face.

Why are you shutting me down?

You're a cop. Protect and f*cking serve.

All right, what do you want me to do?

Stop creating obstacles.
Stop lying to me.

Oh, c-can you just not?!

Oh, you... Your ex-wife came to me

with a box full of your secret gear.

- Can I just not what?
- Okay,

Gino, yeah. I like to go
to leather bars.

Okay? I used to go to leather bars!

Are you happy now?

But you felt you had to lie to me.

(WHISPERS): I had to
lie to everybody about it.

Why?

I don't know.

There's nothing to be ashamed of.

Yeah. True.

But it's hotter when
it feels like there is.

GINO (CHUCKLING): Oh, God.

By that logic,

m*rder should be a f*cking blast.

Well, for somebody in this city, it is,

and they have to be stopped.

Look, Gino, I thought
I was onto something

with this Stewart guy and the pay phone,

- but that...
- I've spoken to a handful of people

who have all mentioned the pay phone.

Maybe that's the way
that we catch this guy.

Great, but I am not a private detective,

and I have to answer to people.

Can you imagine everybody
down at the precinct

laughing at me when I say

that I want to stake out a sex phone?

But-but isn't that what you want to do?

Even if it's...

wrong?

Even if it's... bad?

Even if you know you shouldn't?

Gino.

Doesn't it make you...

a little hard?

Sneaking off to a leather bar like that

without asking for permission?

You're not afraid of
a little punishment, are you?

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Got another cig?

My last one.

- (HORN HONKS IN DISTANCE)
- Buy you a drink?

I'm waiting for someone.

- (SIREN WAILS IN DISTANCE)
- (WOMAN SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY)

(PHONE RINGS)

Hello?

WOMAN: ¿Puedo hablar con Isabelita?

Yeah, you have the wrong number.

♪ ♪

- (PHONE RINGS)
- Hello?

MAN (OVER PHONE): Why don't
you tell me what you like to do?

- (SIREN BLARING IN DISTANCE)
- Why don't you tell me what you're into?

(PHONE RINGS)

Hey, buddy, this is for me, okay?

Do you like that idea?

- (PHONE RINGS)
- Hello?

MAN : I'm into f*cking
with faggots over the phone.

(SIREN WAILING IN DISTANCE)

(PHONE RINGING)

♪ ♪

Hello?

CALLER: You must be tired

standing there all this time.

Aren't your feet sore?

It's not been that long.

Hours, by my count.

PATRICK: So you're watching me, huh?

For a little while.

Wow. Now you have my attention.

Where do we go from here?

I guess that depends on

how far you're willing to go from here.

I will go wherever you want me to go.

I'm not talking about location.

I'm talking about intention.

So am I.

CALLER (OVER PHONE):
I'm going to give you an address.

Make it there in minutes,
and we'll see what you've got.

PATRICK: I don't know
what you look like.

CALLER: That's part of the fun.

You'll have to find me.

CAMERON: ... Louis's problem.

It was called... I kid you not...

a fistula.

HANS: That's not an ailment.

That's something you pay big bucks for.

CAMERON: But fear not,

a courageous surgeon agreed to operate,

after experimenting on volunteers

- from the local jail.
- Hey.

What do you got back there?

CAMERON: They gave up their lives...

(HANS VOCALIZES)

What do you need?

Maybe you could use a little toke.

CAMERON: ... the surgeon came
up with a medical implement

- to cure Louis's fistula.
- (WHIMPERING)

(HOLDS HIGH NOTE)

(MEOWS)

What's your name, anyhow?

I'm waiting for someone.

That's too bad.

And I would tuck that g*n

more deeply into your
waistband, friendo.

Not everybody in here is
as nice to cops as I am.

(NEARBY APPLAUSE)

(HANS YELPS)

♪ ♪

(EXHALES SLOWLY)

- All right.
- (SETS DRINK DOWN)

(LIVELY CHATTER)

(PURRS, MEOWS)

♪ ♪

(CHAINS RATTLING)

PATRICK: I think you're expecting me.

MAN: I give off that vibe.

Weren't you the one
I spoke to on the phone?

Hmm?

Well, I speak to a lot of
people on the phone.

I am happy that you were one of them.

- Oh, yeah?
- Mm-hmm.

Why don't you answer the question?

Don't you remember who
you talk to on the phone?

I think we're compatible.

- Get your palms on the wall.
- Yeah.

- Huh?
- Yeah, uh-huh. (GROANS)

You always start off this way?

(BREAKING HEAVILY)

Yeah, you always walk
around with one of these?

- Hmm? Huh?
- What?

What's this? No one wants that.

Huh?

You never can be too careful
these days, right?

f*ck.

♪ ♪

All right.

(BREATHING HEAVILY)

Oh, God. Yeah.

(CHUCKLES)

- (BREATHING HEAVILY)
- (GRUNTS) f*ck.

Oh, yeah.

- (SIGHS)
- (CHUCKLES)

(GRUNTS)

(MAN CRIES OUT, PANTS)

(CHUCKLES)

(GRUNTING)

(SCREAMING)

♪ ♪

(SIGHS)

f*cking cats.

(BOTTLES RATTLE)

Hello?

WOMAN: Something is coming for you.

What did you say?

(TRACKS RATTLING)

ADAM: You have any idea
why he didn't k*ll you?

He's a vet.

He stopped when he saw my tattoo

and thanked me for my service.

(PHONE RINGING)

Look.

That's him.

Best as I can remember him.

Definitely not Big Daddy.

Two K*llers?

That we know of.

You think you can take some around?

I have a date at The Ascension Bar.

I can do that.

All right, well, just be careful.

If you're walking around
asking about the Mai Tai k*ller,

you could be next.

Who's the guy?

Theo Graves.

The photographer.

Please, just watch yourself.

His lover is, uh, is very powerful.

And, uh...

I've been hearing some
dark sh*t about him.

(SCRUBBING ON FLOOR)

It's not the first time
I've scrubbed blood

off of this floor.

Just not usually this much.

What do your New Jersey benefactors

think about all this mess?

They like it when no one north of th

is talking about it.

Well... they are now.

Look, this place is gonna be
packed again tonight.

There's no cowards
when it comes to getting laid.

Have you seen him before?

This man kidnapped me.
I think he's the k*ller.

Yeah. He was here
the other night, I'm sure.

You can just feel the dark
energy when he's around.

I thought it was 'cause
maybe he was in Vietnam.

- Those guys are all f*cked-up.
- No, that's him.

He needs to be captured.
I'm tired of waiting for help.

- (SCRUBBING)
- Please.

Just let me put some of
these flyers up here.

This sketch needs to be seen
on the evening news.

It needs to be on the cover of
The Post like Son of Sam.

Okay.

Just... careful with the tape.

Can't have you tear
the paint off my wall.

(MUFFLED MUSIC PLAYING)

Can I help you?

I'm, uh, I'm just here for a drink.

Perhaps you're unfamiliar
with The Ascension Bar.

We are a "members only" club.

To become a member, you must be out,

you must be employed,
and you must never bore me.

Well, I'm out and I have a job.

Can't guarantee that last part, though.

My friend, who I'm meeting, can.
He's a... he's a member.

What's his name, sweetheart?

- Theo Graves.
- Oh!

Why didn't you say so?

Come on in. I'll get you a seat.

- (LIVELY CHATTER, LAUGHTER)
- My name's Dunaway.

♪ ♪

Uh, I was wondering,

have you seen this man in the club?

He looks like every
other white boy to me.

- What did he do?
- We think he's the Mai Tai k*ller.

- I read about that in The Native.
- I work there.

- Uh, do you mind if I posted some of these really quick?
- No f*cking way.

You'll have this place
look like it's a bus station.

I'd rather die than surrender my style.

What about a big guy into leather?

Goes by the name Big Daddy?

- Have you seen him?
- No.

But if you do... (CHUCKLES)
... give him my address.

Oh, hello.

Hey, doll.

Your little friend is in there.

I'll take you to him.

- (MUSIC PLAYING SOFTLY)
- Thank you.

- Hi.
- Hi.

Two domestic beers, please.

Tonight we're drinking beer.

Why?

Because I want to feel
what it feels like

to be the typical American man.

I would like to...

experience the liberation of banality.

Is that what you think of me?

(CHUCKLES)

- Why did you invite me here?
- Whoa.

Don't you think the Budweiser's
enough banality for the evening?

(SIGHS) You have this boyfriend.

You hook up at parties and in the bars.

I mean, none of that's
my scene, you know?

I don't want to get my hopes up
for someone...

THEO: Thanks.

You trying to ask me to go steady?

(CHUCKLES)

Have you seen this man?

(HENRY SIGHS)

"Have you seen this man?"

"If so, pl..." Is that your number?

Yes. I know who this is.

He slithered in here last night.

Didn't get lucky, though.

And you didn't call the police?

Hello, .

This is The Brownstone.

There's a man trying
to pick up another man.

Call Kojak and the Mod Squad.

I moved here when I was ...

I was a runaway from Wyoming...

and between the hitchhiking
and the Trailways,

men tried to m*rder me three times.

Another one tried an hour after
I crossed the GW into Manhattan.

And over the years,
I have lost friends and...

acquaintances and lovers

to men with knives and g*ns and fists

and broken bottles.

And if I had tried to find out
what happened to all of them,

I wouldn't be here now. Would I?

I hate to ruin your night, but
here's what happened to me.

The last time I was here,

I was drugged by a drink
that you bought me,

kidnapped, tortured
and I barely got out alive.

Mm.

I'm sorry that happened to you.

I didn't drug you.

This has nothing to do with me.

- Keep telling yourself that.
- (FLYERS RUSTLE)

It won't protect you or anyone else.

(JOY DIVISION'S "SHADOWPLAY" PLAYING)

(DOOR OPENS)

♪ ♪

(RUMMAGING)

♪ ♪

♪ To the center of the city ♪

♪ Where all roads meet,
waiting for you ♪

♪ To the depths of the ocean ♪

♪ Where all hopes sank,
searching for you ♪

♪ I was moving through
the silence without motion ♪

♪ Waiting for you ♪

♪ In a room with a window
in the corner... ♪

No. I'm sure I've never
seen his face before.

Has your boyfriend seen him, maybe?

Maybe. I don't know. Why?

I don't know, I hear
he's into some dark stuff.

Maybe they travel in similar circles.

Sam's never k*lled anyone.

Did you know he likes
to tie men up and t*rture them?

- Who brought Big Daddy to you to photograph?
- Sam did,

but Big Daddy's dead.

- Uh, no, he's not.
- Yes, Adam, he is.

ADAM: Because Sam told you so?

Can you honestly trust him, Theo?

♪ In the shadow play... ♪

When Sam and I first met,

he wasn't like he is now.

When you get away with
everything for so long,

you start to lose the difference
between right and wrong.

Big Daddy is alive.

I've seen him. He's out there.

And Sam knows something about it.

Then I'm gonna find him.

If he is alive.

Uh, we didn't order those.

SERVER: Complements
of the man at the bar.

- (DOOR RATTLING)
- DUNAWAY: It's locked.

We're locked in! Help! Help!

♪ ♪

- Why would someone do that?
- He's gone.

Well, he has to still be in here.

The door's locked from the outside.

What?

- (GASPS)
- (GLASS BREAKS)

(MAN SCREAMS)

♪ ♪

(SCREAMING)

(SCREAMING)

So, you want my permission
to secretly draw samples

- from patients at this facility?
- Only specific patients.

Gay men who present with
the symptoms I described.

Ms. Wells, there is a strict procedure

before any of this can be authorized.

There's the IRB,

the-the consort statement
for randomized trials,

a full departmental review.

All of which could take months or more.

Well, this is not
the Tuskegee Institute.

We-we-we don't experiment
on patients in secret.

No, I-I can't sanction
what you're asking for.

I'm sorry. If it got out,
it would mean my job.

Isn't that a small price to pay
for saving lives?

Well, that-that's an assumption
without any evidence.

I'm trying to get the evidence.

Well, then use the proper
channels, Ms. Wells.

- That's why they're there.
- (SIREN WAILING IN DISTANCE)

- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- (PHONE RINGS)

Whitely?

(SIREN WAILING)

EMT: You got anyone else
on call, I'd bring them in.

- We got a lot more coming.
- SURGEON: What the hell happened?

Fire at one of the gay bars.

Maybe arson. Place was packed.

We got four dead already.

(WOMAN CRYING)

- (LINE RINGS)
- It's me.

I need you to prep blood kits
as fast as you can.

- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- (ADAM COUGHING)

ADAM: It was the k*ller.
The Mai Tai k*ller.

The guy who gave us
the drinks at the bar.

Who else would do something like this?

Adam, half the people in this city

would love to burn down a gay bar.

Not me. Where else
would I go get a drink?

(WHEEZING)

(COUGHING)

Are you okay?

- (EXHALES, COUGHS)
- Sounds like smoke inhalation.

All right, just lie down so I
can check your breathing.

- No, I don't need...
- Adam, just let him.

- Get off of me! I'm fine!
- Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey.

Get your hands off me!

- Adam, would you relax?
- We need to do something, Theo.

This man's suffering
from respiratory distress.

Come on, let's get him on this bed.

(COUGHING)

- ADAM: Let me go!
- Adam. Hey. Adam, relax.

You're acting like a f*cking lunatic.

(OUT OF BREATH): Theo,
you need to find Gino Barelli.

He's a reporter for The Native.

Tell him what happened.

It was the Mai Tai k*ller at the bar.

- Gino Barelli.
- Okay.

♪ ♪

- (PHONE RINGING)
- (BUSY CHATTER)

The fire is coming.

Can I use this?

Thank you.

(LINE RINGING)

Hi, Gino Barelli?

GINO: What is this?

- Why do they have you tied up?
- He's here, the Mai Tai k*ller.

He was at the bar.

He sent us Mai tais.
He's here. You need to find him.

(ADAM COUGHING)

Have you seen him?
He came in with the others.

He's very, very tall.

- You couldn't miss him.
- Uh, I think he was in .

Where's the guy that was just in here?

I don't know. He left.

- You just let him walk out?
- He had first-degree burns

on his forearms and
some smoke inhalation.

He was fine.

- f*ck!
- When'd he leave?

Maybe five minutes ago,
but I didn't sign him out.

Gino, Gino. What are we doing?

Let's just split up.

I'll go this way, you go that way.

PATRICK: Come on.

- (PHONE RINGING)
- (MACHINE BEEPING)

(PEOPLE COUGHING)

You ever d*ed before?

Then you don't know how it feels.

I thought I did, but...

now I do.

I saw him,

the one who b*rned us.

He's coming for us all.

Not just the boys, all of us.

All of us.

♪ ♪

HANNAH: Adam?

Jesus, you were in the fire.

Why are you tied up?

Long story.

What are you doing here?

You don't work here.

HANNAH: I'm doing research.

I need to draw your blood.

You look good. You've
got that glow thing.

(GROANS) Do you have one of those, um...

pictures?

An ultrasound? No.

ADAM: But everything's okay?

HANNAH: Yeah.

I feel good about what we did.

Me, too.

This is very important.

It's related to what you've
been going through.

♪ ♪

(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT OVER P.A.)

- How much longer?
- HANNAH: Just two more vials.

I don't like hospitals.
The floors are always dirty.

It's just a few more minutes.
I'm trying to help you.

(MACHINE BEEPS)

What are you doing? No, no.
You really should get some rest.

I just took eight vials of blood.

- No.
- Please!

♪ ♪

(ELEVATOR BELL DINGS)

(HORN HONKS)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Hey.

(GRUNTS, GROANS)

(DOOR BANGS SHUT)

(FOOTSTEPS DEPARTING)

(DOOR OPENS)

♪ ♪

(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT OVER P.A.)

(PHONE RINGING)

Hey! Hey!

♪ ♪

(ELECTRICAL CRACKLING)

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

(SIREN WAILS IN DISTANCE)

(MUFFLED SCREAMING)

(SURGICAL TAPE CRACKLES)

(GASPS SOFTLY)

I would never spill
the blood of another vet,

but this is different.

You'll just freeze to death.

It's a peaceful way to go.

(GRUNTS)

- No! No!
- (POUNDING)

No!

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪