Original subtitles

Anya, this is how you were born.

Before you, it was impossible.

Seriously?

Welcome to Little Tibet.

I'm Airbnb-ing it for the summer.

So, Marco,

Seymour is a geneticist and an old friend.

An old friend she almost married.

So...

Seymour, Marco and I have been trying to have a baby.

And you're coming to me to...

To clear something up...

for Marco...

as an expert.

What's there to be an expert in?

I'm an evolutionary geneticist,

by the way.

Not a fertility specialist.

But your wife already knows that.

- Any scientist will do for this. - So why are you here?

Because this isn't a medical issue.

And some things are just too embarrassing

to bring to your doctor.

Marco claims that we can't get pregnant

because he's cursed.

He claims that...

From the horse's mouth,

if you don't mind.

My family and my teachers, my neighbors

said anyone who left the community...

- would never have kids. - Has anyone?

- No one leaves. - You left.

- Where did you grow up? - Queens.

Immigrant community?

Country of origin?

Tiny island in the Caribbean. I've never been there.

Oh? Where in the Caribbean?

I couldn't say.

Okay. Does this tiny island have a name?

Narval.

Narwhal?

- Really? - I didn't name it.

Oh, all right.

Your parents. Alive, dead,

- major illness, any-- - Uh, they... they died.

Like mine.

Your parents died in a car crash?

Dad died of a heart attack. Mom...

had breast cancer, but...

she's still alive.

You said your mom died.

No, I didn't.

You definitely did.

Awkward.

Oh.

It says here you were advised to start in vitro.

Are you?

Well, you should be popping out

Narwhal-Korean quintuplets in no time.

Great. Thanks for your time.

You still don't believe me.

- Libby. - I...

That's it?

You didn't even take my blood.

I thought scientists were supposed to be open-minded.

Okay.

You want some test.

Okay, Marco. I'll run some test, hm?

Let me... let me get my test-running equipment.

Here.

Open wide.

Hmm...

- Here comes the train. - I got it. Thanks.

Thank you.

Libby,

- I really gotta go. - Use the sink.

It's gross.

"Unicorn horn."

Getting to the Manhattan borough,

seven local trains.

Nice clothes.

Thanks.

I made them.

No way.

You're handy.

Red okay?

Oh, my clippings.

Yeah, I used to work for The Times

but I got bought out.

And now I work for Info, uh...

It's a local newspaper.

We cover crime and mayhem.

Um...

Yeah, how old are you?

The right age.

Oh...

I gotta...

I gotta type up my notes.

Mom.

Libby.

Hey.

Can I stay on your couch?

Just for a couple days, I...

I cook.

I clean, and...

I'll carry your bags up the hill.

Uh...

Sure.

You really carrying my bags?

Yeah.

All right.

- What about... - You want this one too?

- Can I? - All right.

What you looking for?

- Spices. Spices... - Oh...

Uh, well, if there is.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure...

I don't.

Here we go.

Oh.

Found pepper.

I'm not completely humiliated.

Thank you.

That's very sweet. Thank you. It looks delicious.

Mmm.

Wow.

So good.

A lot of pepper.

Wow, this is really good. Thank you.

You know, I...

know absolutely nothing about plants.

- First thing is the soil. - Okay.

- Yeah. - And what about...

No.

Oh!

That was just an excuse to touch you.

Okay.

Hey.

It looks great in here.

What's that?

Oh, I got that in Korea.

It's a hanbok.

It's a ceremonial wedding dress.

Did you get married in this?

No.

No.

That guy didn't work out.

Hm.

It's beautiful.

Oh, my god.

This wasn't your first time, was it?

Oh, my god.

I feel so old.

I always get so chatty after sex.

Men always wanna sleep.

I wanna talk.

Libby is not my real name, by the way.

It's Jisoo.

Jisoo.

Yeah.

That's what my birth parents named me.

Four parents.

Lucky you.

Yeah, I never looked at it like that.

They're all dead now.

Mine too.

- Thank you. - You're welcome.

Oh. Oh!

Oh!

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

Marco.

I'm pregnant.

Lots of history here.

Don't freak.

Oh, you found my bird.

Looks like him.

So do you wanna raise the kid religious or...

No.

You?

No.

Well, that's settled.

What religion are you, anyway?

Just...

Nothing, I guess. Just...

"Hello, Jisoo."

Uh, I need to go.

Thirty-eight, thirty-nine.

Almost six weeks again.

Thank you.

This seriously is my fault.

Why aren't you jerking off?

I have to take the samples and then get to work.

Twenty-three...

Oh, shit. You made me lose my place.

Thirty-six...

Thirty-eight...

I can't have kids.

Cursed.

What are you talking about?

The doctor says we're fine.

We just have to keep trying.

You're not listening.

I'm cursed.

Libby, I really gotta go.

¶ Standing around just ¶

¶ For seven days a week ¶

¶ I won't even get no ¶

¶ Singing on fee ¶

Never gets old.

When do I get to drill into a Neanderthal?

How are Rosalind's humans coming?

Where are my notes?

Oh, thank god.

Maybe I'll let you try after you finish those. Okay?

Yes.

Hey, Rosa.

We should have some results by now.

But we really don't have good sequencing depth.

Well, a PCR approach

isn't gonna get us the proof that we need.

Anyway, I thought biogenetics people

use targeted capture on UCEs all the time?

Those baggies from my pocket,

you ran those with Rosalind's human

Neanderthal comparisons, right?

Uh, I wasn't supposed to.

Shit.

Look.

- Oh, weird. - Cool, right?

Wait, am I not in trouble?

Go back to sleep.

Hi.

I need another sample to rule something out.

Wow. Okay, uh, you changed the place.

You processed the samples?

Yeah.

Well,

kind of. My assistant did.

What's wrong?

Um, probably nothing.

Just contamination.

Like a dust mite or something.

Those Q-tips weren't exactly sterile.

He didn't come all the way up here for that.

Okay. Uh...

Ever heard of ultra-conserved elements, UCEs?

It's okay. A lot of geneticists haven't either.

Well, basically, they're bits of DNA

conserved over millions of years.

Pretty amazing because they don't change

- from species to species. - Seymour.

I've been helping some of my colleagues

who study them, but...

it's not exactly in my wheelhouse.

- Seymour... - Here.

Just look.

Don't you see?

Right, um...

Of course, uh...

Okay.

Let's try...

Let's try this.

This line, it's normal.

Zero UCE mutations.

These blue dots show UCE mutations

and DNA samples from living humans.

There's never more than one or two

because UCEs are ultra-conserved elements.

And mutations just means changes.

Most components of DNA mutate all the time.

But for whatever reason, UCEs don't.

And that's why they're kind of cool to study.

So these blue dots, they're you.

Where am I?

These red dots,

they're from Neanderthal fossils.

Why is he talking about Neanderthals?

That's his area of expertise.

My colleague wants to compare the UCEs

of the Neanderthals I study

to the UCEs of Homo sapiens sapiens.

As you could see, they're identical.

- Sapiens sapiens? - Modern humans.

So Seymour says Neanderthals were humans, too.

Same species but different subspecies.

Neanderthals and modern humans interbred.

By most definitions, that makes them

the same species.

We're Homo sapiens sapiens,

they're Homo sapiens neanderthalensis.

You remembered my preferred classification.

They had sex.

And babies.

We still have Neanderthal DNA in our genome.

But that's beside the point.

Okay.

These dots, they're UCEs of mice.

Horses.

They're chickens.

They're all identical. That's the way it should be.

Now...

my grad student accidentally ran your samples

along with the UCEs of Neanderthals

and Homo sapiens sapiens.

Remember...

these blue dots,

they're yours.

They're identical with Homo sapiens sapiens

and Neanderthals.

And this dot,

that's you.

Honestly, it's probably nothing.

Is this why we can't get pregnant?

Let's see what the second sample tells us

before we jump to conclusions.

Hm?

Is this private?

Totally confidential.

Who's "M"?

Oh, right, confidential.

The Human Genome Project

is a way of exploring on molecular cells.

The DNA in just one of our cells

could stretch six feet long.

The DNA double helix contains...

Hey, Rosalind.

This paper of yours, still about that hypothesis?

Good morning to you, too.

- All-nighter, huh? - Mm-hm.

- Which hypothesis? - Embryo fitness.

Hypothetically, could any incompatible UCE profiles

lead to loss of fitness in an embryo?

- Why? - Here.

¶ It's hard to open up my eyes ¶

¶ When I feel like I've been blind ¶

¶ All of my days ¶

¶ Now I'm wandering Through the haze ¶

¶ And the world It looks so crazy ¶

¶ Maybe that's just me ¶

¶ Maybe it's just me ¶

¶ We all find our secrets ¶

¶ Patient in the shadows ¶

¶ Right there Where we left them waiting ¶

¶ No matter how far we run ¶

¶ They run right beside us ¶

¶ Our demons know our names ¶

¶ Better than anyone ¶

Hypothetically, could incompatible UCE profiles

lead to loss of fitness in an embryo?

If the mother's and father's UCEs

were similar enough

to allow for fertilization at sub cell division.

Eventually, embryogenesis can't proceed.

So with this loss of fitness,

could you still get a positive early pregnancy test?

Hypothetically? Sure.

If loss of fitness

shows up several weeks after fertilization.

Thank you, Rosalind.

You've been a great help.

I'd love to meet some

of your hypothetical subjects sometime.

Yeah, me, too.

What's loss of fitness?

Sit down.

You were talking about me?

Wow. Okay. What are you doing here, huh?

What is that?

What's loss of fitness?

When an embryo loses the ability to develop itself.

All right?

My colleague and I

were discussing the hypothetical.

What's with the paper?

I have more questions.

We weren't together that long.

About DNA.

Genetics.

Why don't you and Libby just come by tonight?

The blood test results will be here by then.

Oh, hi. Sorry to interrupt.

I'm Endo.

- Marco. - Nice to meet you, Marco.

I like your name. Marco starts with M.

All right. Let's go.

Where are we going?

So I was pregnant?

We think so.

Who's "we"?

We think your miscarriages

were caused by your incompatible UCE profiles.

The UCEs that you two pass on to your embryo

are too different.

We think your embryo can develop only so far

before it... breaks down.

Who's... "we"?

- Nobody. - Then why say "we"?

Can it be fixed?

Well, if we can find the right gene or genes.

If UCEs are really the issue,

if I could study more samples of Narval DNA,

and if gene modification works for this,

then, maybe.

- What do you need? - An embryo.

Next time you get pregnant, come to me,

and I'll have a colleague harvest your eggs--

- Are you crazy? - Second option?

Collect samples from other Narval people

to see if they share Marco's variant UCEs,

or...

if he's a freak.

The curse is real.

That's funny?

I think it's cool.

No, I think it's extremely cool.

The curse?

It could be your culture's way of explaining

a biological phenomenon.

Infertility with the general population.

You called me a freak.

I don't think you're a freak.

I think you're the first identified member

of a new species of humans.

I should add,

I've never been this close to a man before.

It's not...

unpleasant.

Will you help me get samples from your people or not?

It's the only chance for the two of you

to have a baby.

I need you to borrow Rosalind's swab kits.

Why don't you borrow them?

Because I'm going to distract her

while you borrow them.

- Hey. Ah. - Oh.

Hey there.

Want some candy?

Oh, my god.

Thanks for unlocking it for me.

It's not that funny.

Here.

Okay.

What now?

I'll wait in the car.

Please go.

I'll stay with the car.

No, that's okay.

Excuse me, sir.

- Are you Narval? - No English. No, no, English.

- Are you Narval? - No, no English.

Are you Narval?

Roosevelt? Gracias.

So, where is little Narval?

There is no little Narval.

At least not the way you're thinking of it.

Wow. Mama mia.

Guava!

- We're closed. - Oh.

Can I help you?

Yeah, I'm trying to find this bookstore.

Is... Is this it?

Um, where did you get that?

Do you know him?

Sorry.

That's my husband.

Where is he?

Uh, in a car, a few blocks from here.

Take me.

So...

you grew up around here?

What do you mean I'm a different species?

Well...

How does one define a species?

One major criteria is, can they reproduce?

Another is, can their offspring reproduce?

If they can't, it's a pretty good indication

that they're a different species.

Damn.

All right.

It's just a technical designation.

It doesn't make you any less a member

of the human family.

You seem really excited about a technical designation.

Fausta.

I left you.

I know, I tried to call my, my grandfather.

- You know what? - Oh, you should go.

Libby! Libby!

Hey!

- Hey. Hi, I'm Seymour. I'm... - No! No...

Libby! Libby!

Hey! Hey!

I can explain.

- Hey, I was seven! - Let me go.

Seven!

So you're married, huh?

I'm not married. We're not married!

Yes, we are.

Well...

so are we.

To his ghost.

What?

I'm married to his ghost.

He's not dead.

Well, yes, he is. So am I.

I couldn't get away when you didn't show

they married us.

Then they killed us.

Uh...

Yeah, I need... I need a cup of coffee.

She's confused.

You're not helping.

Libby. Libby!

No. Hey, hey, hey.

Why didn't you tell me?

- I didn't know about-- - Oh, yeah,

you didn't know about your mom?

An arranged marriage?

Who are you?

Uh, I'm Doctor Seymour Livingston.

I'm helping them have a kid.

That's impossible.

Are you Narval?

Look.

I know we were supposed to be married.

We were engaged when we were kids.

And Fausta's grandfather was our minister.

He follows the old ways.

A Narval engagement

is supposed to be on the beach on Narval Island,

but we couldn't afford it.

So we did the next best thing.

We got to Coney Island at like 5:00 a.m.

so no one would see us.

Well, we grew up in the city

but we weren't allowed to leave the neighborhood even as adults.

Everyone is afraid of the curse.

After the ceremony, he gave us a minute to talk.

That was when we decided to run away together.

I want to ride the roller coaster.

You wanna? Let's go.

I was joking.

What are you? Like six?

Leave with me.

Right before they marry us.

What about the curse?

If we go together, it won't matter.

The train station.

Right before they marry us, can you remember?

I waited for her on our wedding day

but she didn't show.

Or maybe her grandfather stopped her.

I never meant to leave on my own.

I didn't even know how to use the subway.

That night we met, I tried to go home.

But my mom pushed me out.

I knew I was dead to them.

But I didn't know they married Fausta

to my ghost.

I'm sorry.

You know what?

I need a cup of coffee.

Hey, hey, hey.

That means I wanna be alone.

- Hey. - Oh.

Okay, okay.

- Marco, your mom is here. - Yeah?

- Hey. - Come here.

They're not going to like you.

It's fine. I've heard this before.

It's because you're an outsider.

Let me speak first.

Hi, I'm Doctor Seymour Livingston.

I know about your curse.

Hello.

Hello. Anyone home?

Hi, guys.

My son is dead.

Literally or figuratively?

Because he's outside, sitting in a car.

Tell them what you want.

Okay.

Do any of you speak Narval?

Hi, nice to meet you.

Excuse me. Sorry. Thank you.

Hi, nice to meet you.

Um...

What's going on?

Her daughter left to marry an outsider.

She said...

if the curse is broken, then maybe she can come back.

Do you think they can have a baby?

Yes.

I think it's possible.

That's why I need more samples,

to confirm that you're all alike in the same way.

And then what?

Oh, it's a little complicated.

We have the technology to edit people's genes.

That part's pretty straightforward.

But it's only been used in China.

There could be unintended consequences.

Mm, what does that mean?

Well, to start with,

uh, medical side effects.

It's hard to know without years of testing.

I'm not trying to obfuscate, I...

I mean, look.

Even if everything works out, and it might,

there could be social consequences.

Once people find out that you're a distinct species,

they may...

Well, maybe no one will care,

but we humans don't have the best track record

with appreciating diversity.

From a scientific perspective, you're very, very interesting.

How did you get this way? Where did you come from?

There are so many questions.

And a lot of people will wanna know the answers.

It could bring attention.

It won't.

Because you'll keep it a secret.

I will do my very best.

And the answer is no.

Take me to my son.

Let him go! Stop!

Leave him alone!

The car's around the corner.

Wait here.

Leave him alone! Stop it!

Hey!

Leave him alone! Leave him alone!

Get off of me! Get...

Guayaba! Guayaba!

Guayaba! Guayaba!

Hey.

Hey.

What are they saying?

We call them an ass.

It's a good description.

You married my son.

I did.

You wanna have his baby?

Do you think that this doctor can help us?

Yes.

Okay.

Okay.

How did you get the men and women

to talk to each other?

They just do here.

See her?

Her daughter fell in love with a Colombian,

and they forbade her to get married

so she ran away.

My grandfather declared the girl and her mother dead.

What about that guy?

Left before you were born.

Or I was born.

And his wife died so he came back.

- She was like Libby. - Korean?

Jamaican.

My grandfather doesn't talk to him either.

So they're all dead in here, just like us.

Your grandfather is really a dick.

Your mom takes in a lot of people, you know.

She took me in.

She'll come around.

Yeah.

Sara, right? Uh...

- What's your last name? - Garcia.

Marco's mom?

- Is that all? - Uh...

Is there something I can help you with?

Yeah.

Do you have paper?

Uh, where's your... What's your address?

Okay.

Bookstore.

Who's next?

I speak a lot of Spanish at work.

But, but this, what you speak, it...

it has a lot of the same words, but it isn't Spanish, right?

Mm, maybe yes, maybe no.

Well, I'm guessing...

"guava" isn't the fruit.

No.

That makes sense. Okay.

- Is there a Narval dictionary? - Huh?

A Narval dictionary.

I could help you make one.

- We can... So like... Okay. - Yes.

Oh.

I'll do my best.

I promise.

This is how we say goodbye.

Good. Good.

- It's a start. - I'll work on it.

- Hey. - It's time to go.

No, it's not.

You want a family with my son?

Then I will teach you Narval.

Thank you.

Good luck.

- Go. Go. - Okay.

What did you talk to my mom about?

Language.

Communication.

You shouldn't.

I shouldn't what?

Nothing. It's...

Yeah, exactly.

Is this supposed to, uh...

No, you can't do that.

Why?

It's my mom's hello.

You gotta find your own.

Show me.

Keep your eyes on the ground.

Show respect where the others walked.

Now make a familiar animal sound

to show that we're both of the same world.

Like this?

Ca-caw!

Ca-caw.

Okay.

If the sounds match. We do this.

Now you.

Want some help?

Sure.

You have no idea what I went through

- to get these. - You mean IRV?

Boss, these are people. Not Neanderthal bones.

It's a bit of a cheat.

I was going to apply

and treat them as pre-existing data.

Well, you'd still need informed consent to publish.

At least that's what they taught us

- in legal and ethical. - They're informed.

I know.

All right.

I kind of promised to edit their genes.

No.

I had no choice.

They could care less about their place

on the hominid family tree.

All they wanted was to have kids with the people they love.

What do they call themselves?

Narval.

Codename.

Good idea.

This is insane.

Well... yeah.

If you wanna steer clear of this,

I think now would be a good time.

Hey.

- Good luck with your deadline. - Thank you.

They're just notes.

I can't be late.

Marco.

Hi.

Uh...

Were you serious about teaching me Narval?

Salty.

Narval.

Seawater.

So we never forget where we come from.

Narval.

Can I write that down?

Good. Good.

Go away.

Marco thinks I am writing an article.

Oh.

Aren't you?

Oh, don't look at me like that.

You can't write crime and mayhem columns

for the rest of your life.

Hey, this is your story, too.

We could collaborate.

I'm gonna publish.

Not now but eventually.

As soon as I get more data.

Don't worry, I'll protect their identity.

No wonder you're still single.

You were with him, weren't you?

I was with your mother.

She's teaching me.

She squirted my face, okay?

Stop, stop, stop.

Look, you're acting paranoid.

I told you it was just notes. Like, like a diary or a journal.

So why didn't you ask me to teach you?

You're really asking me that?

Your mother offered.

She invited us to dinner.

Said to bring your cebolla.

Take it that doesn't mean onion.

Is that one Narval?

Can you stop pointing?

Well...

Oh, why do you care?

I'm curious.

That one.

Thank you so much for having us.

Get inside, get inside. Come on, come on.

No, no, no...

You still remember where he lives, right?

Good.

Come back after you've delivered the cebolla.

Hm!

It's a bill for Fausta's funeral.

Can I give you a bill for yours, too?

They actually held a funeral?

Um, he has the results.

Okay, I'll get straight to the point.

I processed your cheek swabs, and the conclusion is...

you don't have the unique variant

that brought me here.

Marco is the only one with the unusual gene.

Everyone else is normal.

I'm sorry, I can't help you.

You said we were different.

I ran every conceivable test.

I was wrong.

What about the curse?

I don't know. It... It might not be genetic.

We'll see another doctor.

You could.

But I wouldn't recommend it.

I used the world's best sequencers and software,

far more powerful and expensive

than anything you'll ever find in a doctor's office.

They'll give you the same results.

But it won't be for free.

Can I come in?

Hm.

I lied.

Everyone else shares the same gene as you.

Did you hear me?

I said I lied.

You're not a freak.

- No, Marco, stop, stop, stop! - Whoa...

What the fuck, Seymour?

Why are you jerking us around?

I conducted a thought experiment.

After I got the results, I asked myself.

What do I need to publish this finding?

I've never researched living humans.

It's not like you ask a bone for permission

before you extract its DNA.

Turns out there's a whole layer of bureaucracy in place

to protect people.

I won't bore you with it,

but once you get through all the red tape,

it turns out that getting samples from humans

is extremely difficult.

And you Narval humans...

forget it.

You're hard to find. You don't trust outsiders.

And other than the people that Libby found

at the bookstore,

nobody wanted anything to do with me.

That's a problem.

If I wanna publish,

I need more samples.

Which means more people, which means more permission.

I asked myself,

how in the hell am I going to do that?

I could go back to the bookstore

and ask them to recruit their Narval friends,

but unless I'm missing something,

they have none.

They are the outcast of little Narval.

Then I thought,

what if through some miracle

I found out where Narval Island was

and went to the mythical source?

Do I ask around, "Hey, can I have your DNA?"

Yeah, somehow I don't think that would work.

Then,

I thought,

"To hell with it."

I may not have enough data to publish in a top journal,

but I, I could give some talks,

I, I, I could apply for some grants.

I may not get a Nobel but, hey, I could live it up.

But...

only problem is,

I kind of like you guys.

I respect your desire for privacy.

And what happens when I release my discovery?

The scientific community descends.

And your privacy?

Poof.

And here's the kicker.

If other scientists found out

that I had promised to edit your genes,

I'd lose my job.

I wouldn't be able to protect you.

Oh, so noble.

So you'd lose your job?

Among the scientific community,

using gene-editing technology on humans

is a big no-no.

And for now,

I would be a pariah.

So...

...I can't publish without harming your people

or destroying my career, so I...

I give up.

I won't publish.

Bummer.

You know, all you said so far is,

"I'm not gonna risk my career to help you."

The thought experiment isn't over.

Marco,

how many Narval people do you think there are?

I have no idea.

I don't either.

But it can't be that many.

That's not necessarily a good thing

when you're dealing with editing people's genes.

I don't wanna be the reason for a population collapse.

If the population is small enough,

and enough Narval decide to have non-Narval kids by gene editing,

the Narval people could die out.

So why not make the baby a Narval?

I don't want the kid to suffer from the curse.

Exactly.

A Narval baby has to reproduce with another Narval.

That's a tiny, tiny, tiny subset of the population.

Kind of limits your dating options,

don't you think?

But I think that's a small price to pay

to prevent population collapse.

- Should I go on? - No.

Okay, why... why are you telling us this?

Because I trust you.

I believe you can handle the whole picture.

And I promised to help you have a baby.

And I intend to keep that promise.

Even if it's not with me.

¶ Far away in another life ¶

¶ I walked my land Proud and free ¶

But...

I knew it.

Oh, you're gonna like this one.

The baby has to be Narval.

What if we don't want to have a Narval baby?

I won't set the wrong precedent.

It's a Narval baby or no baby.

I edit Libby's DNA, or I edit no DNA.

¶ Far away from... ¶

Um... one more thing.

You can't tell anyone it's yours.

I... I won't be the guy

people go to to edit their genes.

Make something up.

You adopted.

You, you got a sperm donation.

As long as a Narval believe they can't have babies this way,

I don't care.

You want me to lie.

¶ Far away In those distant lands ¶

¶ Life's hard But living is good ¶

¶ There the hunt Leaves no blood on my hands ¶

¶ There I would roam ¶

¶ My far away home ¶

You wanna show Mommy and Daddy

how the roller coaster sounds?

Anya.

Did you find your sound?

Do you wanna know how you were born?

Before you, it was impossible.

¶ But they don't know The pain in me ¶

¶ 'Cause they can't know What I can see ¶

¶ I'm surrounded by misery ¶

¶ I'd like to be ¶

¶ Always free ¶

¶ Far away home ¶