Original subtitles

Previously on "Absentia"...

[Nick's voice] That reporter, Erica Lyle,

she wants to come over tonight

- and shoot a little footage. - Oh?

[Nick] Happy marriage. American dream.

- Are you sure? - Shut up.

[Emily screams] We're not here to kill you!

[gun blasts]

[men grunting, screaming]

- [Cal] Jesus, Emily! Stop! Minefield! - [clicks]

Why did you kill all those people?

Mistakes were made. They had to be cleaned up.

- [Emily] Who do you work for? - [trigger clicks]

No!

- [Emily] The hives. - What about the hives?

- Marco had 'em. - Farley had it, too.

And Valerie Chandris had it. It's a rash.

What is their connection?

[Emily's voice] Tommy, I found something,

and I really need your help.

[woman] You have no authorization, no warrant.

You are suspended without pay pending formal review.

[woman's voice echoing] Detective Tommy Gibbs

was one of Boston's finest.

He gave the force 15 years of his life.

15 years.

That's something.

Tommy was something.

Passionate, dependable,

and fiercely loyal,

not only to the badge, but to the people around him.

That crazy accent made him hard to understand

in Spanish or English.

[crowd laughing]

Yeah, his ego might have been a little more inflated

than Brady's footballs.

[crowd laughs]

But damn it if he wasn't the toughest,

most determined, relentless cop I know.

A good man.

A good officer.

A good friend.

So everyone raise a glass.

To Tommy.

- [all] To Tommy. - To Tommy.

Gone, never forgotten.

Losing someone... never is easy.

[sighs]

He was a good man.

I'm here when you need me.

[woman] So here we are...

drinking, laughing,

pretending Tommy's life was sunshine and roses.

It's a wake.

[laughs]

It's supposed to be a celebration.

It's a lie.

He was in a bad place before he died.

I suspended him.

Maybe I shouldn't've done it.

Maybe if I hadn't, then he wouldn't have...

Wait a minute, you think he was suicidal?

Yes.

And why did you suspend him?

He was working an off-book investigation

at Catalyst Diagnostics.

He broke into their facility and got caught.

They agreed that they wouldn't press charges...

- Excuse me, I'm sorry. - ...if I suspended him.

Synced & corrected by kinglouisxx www.addic7ed.com

[man] Order up.

[Emily] So, what do you think?

Um, well, signs point to suicide.

Yeah, but what about the bruise on his forehead?

Well, carbon monoxide poisoning causes seizures.

He could've smashed his head off the steering wheel.

I don't know.

Look...

if you wanna talk about Tommy, I'm here, okay?

Please eat something.

I'm not gonna finish those fries by myself.

What's going on with you?

What do you mean?

What?

[laughs] What?

You're glowing.

I think I'm kinda seeing someone.

- Yeah? - Yeah.

Who is she?

I don't wanna say.

Not yet. We're just still figuring it out...

[man] We gotta go.

- Okay. - Um, I'm happy.

Good. You deserve it.

Thanks. Uh, well, I gotta go.

[both laugh]

- Uh, it's good to see you. - Yeah.

Here, take some of these.

Okay. Bye.

This is nice. Eating together.

It's nice having you here for a change.

- Got a surprise for you guys. - [Alice] Mmm?

I have, um, used some of my banked vacation days,

and I got the rest of the week off.

I wish you'd told us sooner.

I'm getting slammed at work lately.

You can't move some things around?

My clients need me.

Um, how about we all do something this weekend?

Sure, yeah.

Yeah, that sounds... sounds good.

Let's do that. Let's get out of the city.

Drive up to Pelham. We can stay by Raymond Park.

Maybe.

They've got that rock climbing site up there.

- Sounds cool. - We can talk about it.

Okay.

You look great.

Is something big happening at work today?

Just something I threw on.

Flynn, let's go!

Yeah, I can take him.

Uh, no, no. Um... you just relax.

- You earned it. - [keys jangle]

Uh, you can take him tomorrow.

Okay.

All right, bye, you guys! Have fun in school!

Yeah.

It's us. It's us.

It's just us.

We tracked Rex Wolfe

to a small farmhouse outside of Zelena.

He opened fire, we returned.

A physical altercation ensued...

and a civilian was killed.

Wolfe fled.

Agent Byrne...

Agent Byrne and I pursued.

Wolfe stepped on a landmine, and he died instantly.

Well, it wasn't an optimal result,

but at least we get to close the book on this.

Close the book?

Sir, we still don't know why he killed his victims.

Wolfe said he was ordered to kill.

We can't ignore that.

The Son of Sam was ordered to kill by a dog.

Sir, this was a clear-headed soldier on a mission.

We believe there are people above him.

[sighs]

All right. You're free to pursue this...

quietly.

But whatever you bring me better be big.

Deputy Director Webb is coming up from Washington tomorrow.

Unfounded suspicion is not a good look.

- Understand? - Yeah.

Yeah. Thank you.

Listen, at least this maniac can't kill again, right?

Right.

Did you mean what you said... about trusting my instincts?

Yeah.

They let us track down a serial killer

halfway around the world.

Before Moldova, I found a connection

between Clay and Valerie...

medical tests they had done

at a place called Catalyst Diagnostics.

- Why didn't you tell me? - Because we didn't know each other,

and I didn't know what it meant.

So I asked a friend of mine to help me out.

Who?

Who?

A cop.

He, uh, he looked into it and now he's dead.

[Cal] Jesus.

Okay, I'm sorry.

And did he find anything?

I don't know.

He, uh, broke in, and then he got caught.

But instead of suing the city, they asked for Tommy's badge.

That sounds like someone wanted somebody to disappear.

I don't know what he found at Catalyst,

but I think it has something to do

with the fentanyl killings.

Come here, I need to show you something.

[sighs]

Oh, damn it.

[keys tapping]

[beeps]

[exhales]

- [muttering softly] - [phone call ringing]

[man] Hello?

[Nick's voice] Hey, man, it's Nick.

Hey, did you have a chance

to trace the recipient's IP address?

Just came through.

All the DMs came out of the Boston Mercy Hospital.

Yeah, uh, thanks. I appreciate it.

Valerie had diabetes.

- Clay had CTE. - Okay.

Farley was getting regular allergy shots.

And Ramos's wife said

that he had back pain from a ski accident,

so that's regular cortisone shots.

Turns out Marcos had asthma.

So that's five out of six.

All of the diagnostic tests were being run through Catalyst.

So that's what they have in common.

Another thing that they had in common were the rashes.

Each one of them had a rash.

They're getting different treatments and different shots.

And Catalyst, they don't manufacture medicine,

they just run the blood.

So how does that work?

[woman] He got allergy shots every week for years.

- Here you go. - Thank you.

But you said his behavior only changed recently.

Yeah.

Well, more like intensified.

Anything about the shots change? Anything out of the ordinary?

No.

Well, three weeks before Nathan was murdered,

his doctor called and said he was due for a flu shot,

so I arranged a traveling nurse service for him.

A nurse came and gave it to him.

And did Nathan have a reaction to that injection?

I think so. One sec.

Here it is.

Three days later he had me pick up hydrocortisone.

He broke out in hives.

Also, I don't know... the nurse guy, he was different.

- How? - Really big guy. Intense.

I asked him if he had any extra doses

because I thought I'd get a flu shot too, but he said no.

He didn't have any extra doses.

- I mean, that's weird, right? - Yeah.

It was him.

This was the person that gave Nathan Farley the injection?

Yeah. Yeah. Really creeped me out.

- Hey. - [Nick] Hey.

- You ready to go? - Ah, yeah.

Okay, quick question.

How do you feel about playing a little hooky today?

What?

How about you and I... spend the day together?

I'll call you in sick from school.

I feel like you haven't checked with Mom about this.

Well, she's got a lot on her mind right now.

I know I haven't been around much... lately.

But I wanna make it up to you.

What do you say?

- Yeah, cool. - Yeah?

[intercom beeps]

[man on PA] Michael Crawford, 3-4-0.

Michael Crawford, 3-4-0.

Hey, listen, I was thinking...

we should go away somewhere.

How?

I have... I have family, work.

Well, they'll still be here when we get back.

Okay, wait. [chuckles]

I have to go.

[woman on PA] Dr. Richard. Dr. Richard.

Me and Donny were on duty.

We saw there was a breach in the archive room.

Donny went down to apprehend him.

We were just doing our job.

[Cal] Well, we're investigating Detective Gibbs, not you.

So can we please see the footage?

All right.

Okay.

Oh, we got another angle.

[mouse clicking]

What?

No, that's outside. N... no.

So that's it?

- That's all you got? - That's all.

- Got any cameras in the archive room? - [man] No.

Can you take us down to the archive room?

[man] Not without a warrant.

[Emily] A man was killed over this,

and you're gonna hold us back just because of some paperwork?

- Byrne. - [man] Look, I like my job.

Without my boss's okay, this is the end of the tour.

[Cal] Okay. We'll come back with a warrant.

Thank you, sir. Byrne.

- Why would you do that? - We've gotta work up a warrant.

You know we need to see what Tommy found.

Come on, Byrne.

If you wanna make the case, we'll get a warrant.

- Hey, Dad? - Yeah, what's up, buddy?

Never mind.

You know you can talk to me about anything, right?

Uh, you got mad last time.

[sighs]

Is this about Tyler Brandon Mills?

Yeah.

Yeah, I... I wasn't mad at you.

I just had a lot on my mind.

I just think it was pretty awesome.

And, like, you took out a terrorist.

That's all.

I... I try my best.

I just wonder if I've got what it takes.

Like a life-or-death situation.

Hey, you know what this is?

- A plant? - It's moss.

Grows on the north side of trees and rocks.

So?

Well, it's... it's easy to get lost out here.

You know where north is and

you can always find your way home.

The compass on my phone works pretty good, too.

Yeah, you're a real smart-ass, you know that?

Let's fill this thing up.

I'm glad I was too sick for school today.

Me, too.

Okay, how about this one. Um, leaves with three...

[both] ...leave them be.

[Nick] Okay, you know that one.

And you know what they say about snakes?

[Flynn] What?

[Nick] Never pee on them.

[Flynn chuckles]

[whirring, creaking]

[zapping]

[engine starts]

[beeps]

[beeps]

[beeps]

[gasps]

[crying]

Okay, you have the fentanyl killer case

and the Tyler Brandon Mills case reports, right?

- I do. I do, yes. - Here we go.

[elevator dings]

Here comes Director Webb.

Good afternoon, sir.

- Julianne. - Foster.

- How are you? - Hey.

It's been too long.

- How's Boston been treating you? - Not too bad, yeah.

- How's Quinn and Blake? - Growing like weeds.

Oh, of course. I can imagine.

[Crown] All right, come on.

Thanks for picking him up from school.

Actually, we took the day off.

Nick, school is important for Flynn.

Routine is a key part of his therapy.

I'm starting to think that Flynn doesn't need to go to therapy.

He should be with us... his family.

He spent his childhood thinking his mother was dead.

He met and lost his biological grandmother in days,

and then Warren's health scare.

Trust me, he... he... he needs Dr. Oduwale's

support and expertise.

We all do.

Maybe he'd need less of Dr. O's support

if you weren't so distracted lately.

Are you really putting this on my job

when you've barely been home?

You take a few days off and think you're father of the year?

I think I'm doing my best.

How much more shit am I gonna get

about being busy for a few weeks?

Weeks? You've been a stranger for months.

Ever since the miscarriage.

I was giving you space.

You said that you didn't wanna talk about it.

For a few days, not forever.

It's like I don't exist to you.

You don't spend time with me. You barely even look at me.

Well, does someone else have that covered now?

- What is that supposed to mean? - Why were you at a hotel?

I took an afternoon to decompress.

Sure you did.

You're being insane.

[echoing] Byrne?

Byrne?

Go home.

I'll call you if I find anything.

There are hundreds of people with the name Quill

in Massachusetts alone.

Yeah.

Hey, keep 'em coming.

Thanks.

Hey, you're that guy from the FBI.

You brought down that terrorist. Put his drinks on my tab.

- This guy's a national hero. - No.

No.

I saw you on TV. You were amazing.

[stool clatters]

- Hey, you all right, pal? - Yeah, I'm fine.

Thanks.

[pounding on door]

[Nick] Emily.

Emily, you in there?

I, uh... it's Nick. I need to talk.

Yeah, okay, I'm coming. One second.

[Nick] Okay.

Oh, um... I, uh...

- What happened? - [sighs]

I think Alice is cheating on me.

What?

Yeah, I found, um...

I found some emails from some...

some... some messages.

Wait, uh, emails? What are you talking about?

[stammering] I don't... I don't... I don't know.

I don't even know who they're from. I don't. I just...

[grunts]

I... I don't... I don't even really know what they mean.

Because they don't mean anything.

What are you talking about?

I know I do.

- I know I do. - Nick, I don't believe that.

She doesn't seem like that. She would never hurt you.

- She's seems so... - Safe?

No, loving.

And loyal.

I guess you never really know someone, do you?

Maybe it's for the best.

What are you talking about?

- Hey. - Hey.

[whispering] No. No. No.

Why not?

Hmm?

- Hmm? - We don't get to go backwards.

You ever, um...

do you ever think about

what could've been?

No.

Mmm.

- We can't erase what happened. - Mmm.

[phone ringing]

- Hello? - It's Cal. I've got something.

- Hey. - Hey.

- Can I come in? - Yeah.

Yeah?

So... I think I found Quill.

- Can I show you? - Yeah, go ahead.

So, Quill is a research project

run out of Saugus University.

It was started in the late '70s with government funding.

They handed out hundreds of grants.

It was like a science incubator.

But then in the mid-80s, the funding dried up.

Is there any connection to Catalyst Diagnostics?

No.

- Well, what about Rex Wolfe? - Not yet.

But, there is this guy.

He's still a professor at Saugus.

Ulf Maston.

You recognize him.

No.

You know, maybe we... maybe we, uh,

we talk to him in the morning, right?

We'll see you in the morning.

What's going on over there?

All right, I'll get outta your hair.

Those are foster kids from the Barrett house.

Some of them were Shen experiments, like Laurie.

I couldn't let it lie.

Detective Gibbs was helping me with that too.

Good night.

Night.

[locks click]

[thunder rumbling]

[Cal] He's in Building 60. Let me find out where it is.

Okay.

[thunder rumbling]

[distant voices echoing]

[sighs]

[Alice] Good morning.

[thunder rumbling]

Alice.

I'm sorry.

There's been a lot going on at work.

A lot I...

a lot I couldn't talk about.

We can talk now.

[rain pattering]

I didn't kill Tyler Brandon Mills

during that convoy.

What?

Another man killed Mills.

And then he put a gun to the back of my head.

I thought he was gonna kill me too.

Oh, my God.

All I could do is just lay there.

And then he left.

But the interview you did with Erica Lyle...

It... it was a lie.

And I... I wanted to tell you what really happened.

That I... that I was afraid that I was gonna die.

And that I felt like a coward.

I wanted to tell you that.

I'm no hero.

I ran from, uh...

I ran away from our s... our son...

uh, when he... when he was struggling

and... and because I didn't... I didn't know how to help him.

And then I ran away from you after the miscarriage be...

because I was afraid to... to face the pain.

Honestly.

We lost a child.

And I was... I wasn't there for you.

Or for... for us.

And you know what? You were... you were right.

I... I really... I did.

I thought that I could home for a couple days and I could...

I could fix everything.

It was my fault, too.

I should have told you what I was going through.

For a while now,

I haven't been sure what my place is.

If I really belong anywhere.

I thought working would make me feel valued.

- But you're... you're valued... - I know. I know.

But it's not just that.

I've been

restless.

Okay.

And...

I met with Dr. Huang the other day.

[sobbing] She said...

she said I won't be able to have a baby.

Hey.

I wanted to build a family with you.

But... you have.

You have built a family.

With me.

What are you doing here? This is a restricted area.

- Um... - Get out of here!

I'm looking for Ulf Maston.

I'm Ulf Maston. Who are you?

I'm FBI.

I need to talk to you about Project Quill.

Project Quill. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, you called. Yeah, follow me.

So, this is Project Quill, or what's left of it.

It was a, um, psychobiology incubator.

The goal was cross-pollination.

Information sharing.

Talking across projects and... and disciplines.

We were originally funded to look into PTSD.

How to help soldiers returning from Vietnam

and, later, other conflicts.

Handle trauma.

It was becoming a big problem.

Now, if you could take a lid off the, uh, the old rat cage there.

Okay, little fellow. [chuckles]

There we go.

Oh, there. Doesn't hurt at all.

Hey. Okay, if you could just hold on to him.

- Yeah. - Thank you.

- [rat squeaking] - [Emily] Hello.

Right. Follow me.

So, how do the rats figure in?

Well, it turns out that the body

has a very specific biochemical response to stress.

Different subjects respond differently

when subjected to trauma.

These are your test subjects?

As they were during Quill. Yeah.

Rats are often vilified as disease-spreading monsters,

but they're very intelligent social creatures.

Did you know they live in communities?

No.

A rat will often take care of a member of their group

if it becomes injured or sick.

- They protect each other? - They can.

And... and individual rats respond differently

to stress and trauma, just like people.

See, I've been working for years

to distill which hormone leads to the most resilient response.

Why are some people more effective

in the face of stress?

Why do some fall apart?

See, if I could bottle the right chemical combination...

just imagine what an amazing boon that would be,

not just for soldiers returning home from war, but for society.

Did you have any luck with the rats?

I... I bred these rats myself,

and they come as near as possible to what seem to be

the most resilient combination of various stress chemicals.

Does... does it work?

Not as I predicted, as often happens in science.

[beeping]

- Oh. Oh. - There we... oop!

But it's interesting.

Whoa!

[rat squealing]

[rat squealing]

So, the serum works,

but not the way I thought it would.

These rats can withstand stress.

There are fewer heart attacks.

Better odds of survival in a fight, but...

they've become more aggressive.

Violent. Murderous, even, toward their fellow rodents.

This is Special Agent Isaac.

Professor Maston.

It was never my intention.

Project Quill lost its funding decades ago.

Most of us scattered.

Did you ever experiment on people?

Oh, no, no. What'd you have to put someone through.

No, there are prohibitions on, uh...

on that sort of thing.

But do you think anyone might have tried?

I mean, to continue the experiments on people?

Many years ago I... I... I had a collaborator.

A behavioral psychologist.

Pushed the envelope on that sort of thing.

But that was a problem right away.

Oh.

Oh, Lu Fang didn't last long at Quill.

- [Cal] Who? - [Ulf] Lu Fang Shen.

He was a... a brilliant theorist.

[man's voice echoing] Shen was looking

for a very specific profile.

You had what he was looking for.

[Ulf, muffled] Came to a bad end, I'm afraid.

[gasping, panting]

[groaning, grunting]

[Emily panting] Get it together.

Get it together.

[gasping, panting]

[squeaking]

[gasps]

Calm down.

[panting] Calm down. Calm down.

[screams]