Original subtitles

Just tell me what the problem is, nate.

I made contact

With them last night and I think

They're after me now.

Who's after you?

A tv show.

It's called cult.

But it's not just a tv show.

It goes beyond that.

Jeff, if anything happens to me, find miriam.

Miriam?

Nate!

You work on cult?

Yeah, a researcher. Is there any reason

For me to believe that my brother's disappearance

Is related to this show?

Look, there's a place you might want to check out.

Miriam?

Do you know where nate is?

Is he all right?

He's not all right.

(woman gasps)

(phone rings)

Jeff? It's me. Hello?

It's nate. Thank god. Are you all right?

You put in the disc!

You never should have put... (static)

Nate!

Look.

You're next.

Next...

Next... Next.

Morning, partner.

What've we got?

Body. Buried.

Shallow grave?

Well, that would depend on how tall the victim actually was.

Forensics did a sounding.

There's a whole body mass down there.

This poor bastard

Was buried upside down.

I've never seen anything like this.

(faint gasping)

(heavy breathing)

Kelly.

(laughs) billy.

(laughs)

Welcome to my family.

Welcome to the blood.

(both laughing)

I know that look, kelly.

Billy's definitely behind this.

This is a message... For me.

You're telling me he killed this person

Just to send you a message?

I was closer to him than anybody.

And he wants me back,

Which means I'm the only person who can bring him down.

(bird squawking in distance)

(sighs)

(groans)

(clears throat)

Wow.

I didn't mean to crash like that.

What time did I...? I don't know.

Lost you around 4:00. (groans)

Great.

You've been watching the show?

Yeah.

Yeah, you know, nate kept this...

Crazy notebook, and I just thought if I could match

His notes to the... Something in the show,

It might-- I don't know-- give me a clue to where he is.

Nobody knows for sure if there are messages in the show or not.

Some fans believe there are.

Obviously nate believed that there was.

Skye: I've checked three different web sites.

I can't find anything in the local news

About miriam's suicide last night.

Well, nate said if something happened to him,

I needed to talk to miriam.

(sighs) she's still my link to finding him.

We saw her husband last night.

You know, there was something off about him.

Yeah.

Well, maybe he knows something,

And he's just afraid to talk about it.

(exhales)

I got to go.

Hey,

Thanks again... For everything.

You'll find your brother.

Don't worry.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

Zac: Had to lock it up.

That room was for cult fans, right?

Yup, which was all well and good,

Except I caught yet another guy in there with a concealed knife.

My brother's picture's up on one of the walls back there.

Maybe you know him-- nate?

Nate sefton?

Doesn't ring a bell.

Can I get you anything?

Yeah, man, I'll do a coffee, please-- black.

You guys play cult all the time?

It's a new favorite.

But we're also movies, music, gaming...

It's all about the fans.

Zac, I'm all done my shift.

(exhales) unless you need something.

No, kirstie, it's all good.

(phone ringing)

Hey, it's me-- billy.

So glad you're one of mine now.

E.J.: Boo!

Don't tell me I actually scared you.

(laughs) e.J. Thank you for meeting me here.

Yeah. You, here? Now I'm not completely shocked.

You never struck me as a

"stop for a half-caf latte on the way to work" kind of guy.

And speaking of work,

Bert totally did not buy your stomach flu excuse

For missing this morning's reporter assignment meeting.

Shh. Let's go talk over here.

(clears throat)

I need you to check something for me, okay?

(sighs) this disc

Uploaded something to my laptop.

Uh, some sort of identity-theft software.

You put a disc that looks like this in your laptop?

Just let me know what's on it, okay? And one other thing...

One more thing.

(sighs) a call came into this phone last night

Around 11:45 from nate.

Is there any way you could find out where it came from?

I could try.

Whatever you could do would be great.

Anything for you, jefferstein.

You know that.

Thank you.

Well... Oh, I almost forgot.

Omar at work gave me a message.

He said he checked with his lapd guys and got the last name

Of the woman who offed herself last night.

Last name was...

Livingston.

Miriam livingston.

That's fantastic. Thank you so much.

You're welcome.

(sighs)

(phone rings)

Woman: Cult productions. Please hold.

Hey. (yelps)

Did not mean to startle you.

(sighs) no, peter, you didn't.

I'm... Just a little tired.

Yeah? Up all night working?

Something like that.

So, did you hear the latest about the new network exec?

Segal?

What about him?

Uh, he scheduled some big conference call

For this morning.

Apparently he was gonna lay down the law to steven

About the direction of the show.

(chuckles) well, I'm sure that went over big.

That's the thing: Call never happened.

Creep was a total no-show.

You still on this kick about the fans?

(sighs)

There are all kinds of people out there,

And the ones who watch this show seem to have

Some sort of sick connection to what we're doing.

Doesn't that worry you? No.

A show's got to have an edge these days

In order to break out.

What worries me is you're sniffing around things

That have nothing to do with your job.

Look... (clears throat)

You know how paranoid everyone is

About spoilers getting out.

Coded script pages,

Locked editing rooms.

Yeah. Steven rae's thing.

Steven rae. Yeah.

It's his show,

And our fans totally love everything he's doing.

Okay? So just hang in there.

You're doing good.

Kirstie: Yes. Of course.

I understand. I'll do whatever you ask.

(chuckles)

Haven't I proven that to you already?

Yes, I have the network executive right here.

(inhales sharply)

Would you like to talk to him?

(moans)

(whispers): Just kidding.

Yes.

I'll be sure that it's done.

Oh, please, it'll be my pleasure.

Do a good job on him.

(whimpering)

No...

No.

No!

(dog barking)

It's starting to be a thing with us.

A woman committed suicide right in front of me last night.

Kind of want to know what her husband has to say about it.

It's okay with you that I came?

What? Yeah, no, I'm actually...

Glad that you did.

She's space 139.

Look, take a look at this. I just got it.

I think it has something to do with that disk

I put in my laptop.

Hey, it's me, billy.

So glad you're one of mine now.

Did you sign up with the show's official web site?

Yeah, last night, for some special access. Why?

That text is something that the show sends out

To people who sign up. Everybody gets them.

How clever. (clears throat)

There's the husband.

What do you want?

We're here about your wife.

About miriam.

We're very sorry for your loss.

You were there last night.

Yeah, when my wife put a bullet in her skull.

Listen, we need to talk.

Your wife and my brother-- they knew each other.

Yeah, the cops told me that.

Just what the hell was your brother doing

Being friends with my wife, huh?

Well, the two of them shared a mutual interest.

A television show called cult.

Yeah. Never heard of it.

Why are you leaving? In such a hurry?

Just leave me alone! I just want to know

What happened to my brother, okay?

You wife was scared.

Scared enough to do what she did last night.

If you know something, anything...

I said leave me alone!

We only want to talk to you.

What was your wife so afraid of? What are you

So afraid of?

You get the hell out of here.

You get the hell out of here right now!

Just tell me what you know.

Just get out of here!

Tell me what you know.

Jeff, jeff... Get the hell out of here!

Okay.

Go on!

Where is she?

(no audio)

That's nothing.

Detective sakelik.

Mr. Sefton.

I take it you're here about your missing brother.

Yeah. Listen, we have

Something we want to talk to you about.

Miriam, the lady who committed suicide--

We went to see her husband.

You went to see him?

And he came at us with a shotgun.

What were you doing going to see him?

He knows something. And he's leaving.

You don't find that suspicious?

Suspicious?

His wife wasn't murdered. She committed suicide.

(scoffs)

You didn't float that crazy theory about her being afraid

Of a tv show, did you?

The connection between this man's wife and my brother

Appears to be that tv show.

Now, if you press him, and talk

To him again, maybe he'll tell you what he knows.

I've already talked to him.

Look, I don't know what you think you're doing...

I'm trying to find my missing brother!

You're harassing a man whose wife just killed herself.

He clearly knows something.

I'm just trying to find out what that is.

If the man pulled a weapon on you,

You file a complaint inside, first floor.

But do not second-guess my investigation.

Let me do my job.

It might be your best chance at getting your brother back.

Hope so.

Hello, kelly.

Billy.

Taking quite the chance showing yourself here.

I heard about the unfortunate young man found buried here.

Buried, I understand,

In a most unusual way.

You use this upside-down burial as an initiation into your cult.

Into my family.

But also as punishment for betrayal.

How did this man betray you, billy?

You look tired.

Has that captain or yours been overworking you?

Captain brazil?

Why did you kill this man?

I don't kill. You know that.

No, you do everything--

Intimidations, robberies, murder-- through surrogates.

You know that better than anyone.

I never committed murder.

But your department doesn't know

All that you did do for me.

I wonder what captain brazil would think

If he were to find out.

There's no proof I did anything.

Just as there's no proof

Of all the horrible things you accuse me of.

You see how very alike we are?

Both so clever in how we keep our darkest secrets.

I know this man betrayed you.

I hope you solve this, kelly.

And it'd be quite the feather in your cap.

Do any of them know nate?

If they do, they're not saying anything.

Of course, they could be lying.

Or they could just be fans of the show who can't let you...

...Let my paranoia run wild.

Yeah, easier said than done.

(phone ringing)

People say I'm... Dangerous.

So I just checked out miriam and her husband.

I found facebook pages, public records.

He's a long-haul truck driver; she's a stay-at-home mom.

Or was.

Their only son was killed in afghanistan two years ago.

They're members of the local church.

Miriam has family in idaho.

They're normal.

Listen, detective sakelik's not gonna believe any of this

Unless we can get corroboration.

Miriam's husband is our corroboration.

He's running away.

That's strange.

What?

Miriam's funeral's scheduled already.

So?

It's this afternoon.

Miriam's friends, other family.

If her husband doesn't want to talk, maybe one of them will.

You're thinking of crashing the funeral?

To get a source, I've done worse.

You got something?

So, who's this?

E.J., this is skye.

E.J. And I work together at the word.

She's our tech person.

Tech person. Nice.

Hi.

Yeah.

You told her about nate?

We can trust her.

She's adorable.

She's a kid.

Not that much of a kid.

I'm just saying.

Ah!

Where'd you get this thing?

Please tell me you got something.

I've never seen anything like it, and I've seen a lot.

I've designed a lot

Of my own share of crap to screw with people

Who screw with me.

Meet your new paperweight.

Two minutes into my scan,

My motherboard just started to fry,

And I checked this thing very carefully.

But actually, I didn't have to worry.

It cleaned itself. It's all just digital gibberish now.

There's nothing on it at all?

All the data has been replaced by some kind of symbol.

What do you mean, symbol?

There are thousands of micro-images in there.

What is this?

I enlarged one.

Here.

What the hell is this?

Jeff: That symbol--

Has steven rae ever used it on the show?

No, I don't recognize it.

What is steven like?

I don't know. Never met him.

You've not seen him around at the office?

Comes in, but it's very rare.

Well, he's the writer, right?

Writes every word of the show.

Sends us pages at the production office

At all hours.

Nobody knows where he's sending them from.

So the show should have his contact information, right,

His address?

Everything's done by cell phone and e-mail.

Yeah, I know.

"my soul is bereft of peace.

"I have forgotten what happiness is.

"so I say, 'gone is my glory.'

"the thought of my affliction and my homelessness

Is wormwood and gall."

Where is everybody?

Where is anybody?

"...And is bowed down within me."

He belonged to a church.

Certainly somebody would want to be here.

What about neighbors, friends?

(phone ringing)

"the steadfast love of the lord never ceases,

"his mercies never come to an end;

"they are new every morning;

"great is your faithfulness.

"the lord is good to those who wait for him,

"to the soul that seeks him.

"it is good that one should wait quietly

"for the salvation

Of the lord."

Come on.

I did what you said. It's all done. Look.

What is she doing here?

Just like you said.

Your wife's suicide put us

In a very difficult position.

Yeah, but just like you said, though.

What is that?

I don't know.

(car door closing, engine starting)

(gasps)

I mean, she's supposed to be helping me find my brother.

She is a police detective.

Miriam's husband handed something to her.

Maybe it was some sort of evidence.

I mean, she kissed him.

God. And then she said, "your wife's suicide

Put us all in a difficult position?"

Who in a difficult position?

Here she is.

Detective rosalind sakelik.

18 years with the lapd.

Nine commendations.

Three for valor. She's like some sort of superstar

In the department. Consults with fbi on cases.

This doesn't make any sense.

All right, so we ask her?

And say what? She can just deny it.

(sighs)

(phone ringing)

(sighs)

My name is billy.

Ah, gee.

(sighs)

(sighs heavily)

There's not a lot online

About steven rae, is there?

(scoffs)

I told you, you'll never get to steven.

What did you say?

You'll never get to steven.

What's the matter?

You know, I appreciate everything you've done for me.

It's okay.

I want to help if I can.

But I'm just thinking.

When I went to the studio,

Asking about steven rae--

That's when you first approached me.

You've been so available to me through all this.

In fact, almost everything I know about this show

Has come from you.

Jeff, what are you saying?

Your primary message always seems to be,

"you'll never get to steven rae."

Why are you so anxious to help me?

(sighs)

You know what?

I really need to know why.

Hey, I haven't asked you for any explanations.

Washington post.

Lost your job for lying on a story.

There's no friends or family to help you find your brother.

That's your world. I respect that.

Well, I've got my private world, too, so, let me go.

Yeah, not until you tell me what you're doing here.

Really doing here. I'm here because I think you can help me.

(sighs)

(sighs)

My mother and I have lived

Ten years not knowing what happened to my father.

You said he disappeared

Investigating a story on union corruption.

No, that was...

The easy explanation that his bosses gave us, but...

Mom always suspected he was working on something else.

Something he thought was very big.

Two months ago, my father's attorney died,

And a box came.

In it were my father's work notes.

Most were for news pieces he'd already done,

But one was a story he was just beginning.

An investigation into a little-known tv writer.

A man named steven rae.

And there was one word prominent in his notes.

"cult."

That was ten years ago.

Steven only created the show last year.

So your job on the show is...

Yeah, I... I took it

To find out everything I can about steven rae.

To get close to him somehow.

I need to know

If he had anything to do with what happened to my father.

I've never told this to anyone else.

But you told me.

I trust you.

(sighs)

(phone ringing)

Yeah. E.J.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down.

Slow down. What?

What site? (whispers): I need your laptop.

Uh-huh.

Hang on.

Uh-huh. Uh-huh, yeah, I got it.

E.J., you're amazing.

Thank you so much. Okay, great. Bye.

Okay, so, e.J.'s gonna upload a map to a shared site.

She thinks she has a bead...

On the location that nate made that phone call from

Last night at 11:45.

(scoffs)

I mean, that's four city blocks.

But there's at least 50 businesses there.

Mm. I wish we could take this to the police.

To detective sakelik?

Until we know her connection to this,

We can't trust the police.

We're gonna have to figure out

Where nate made that phone call from on our own.

You know, this isn't far

From the studio, actually.

Wait.

What?

I think I know where this is.

Uh... It's a location

That cult has already shot at.

Where did I see that?

Nate may have been there before.

I bet that's where he made the phone call from last night.

Jeff: Wait. So cult shot here?

A billy grimm scene.

Now that's a scene I'd like to see.

(laughter)

Sorry.

Maybe not.

Now, how could nate have been here at 11:45 last night?

Let's go find the manager.

There's no way nate could have been here last night.

I mean, the place had been closed for hours.

Stop... There.

11:45.

It's nate.

(beep)

I mean, if he's not tied up,

Why isn't he trying to do something?

That's...

It's miriam's husband.

(static)

(beep)

No.

(both sigh)

I've called it in. Help is coming.

They're getting away. Damn it, kelly.

I can't... I can't stop the bleeding.

You've got to hang in there with me.

Just leave me, kelly.

Kelly: Look in my eyes. Just stay with me.

Stay with me, damn it!

I'm sorry. May I please stop us here?

Roger, can we just... Get through this?

Yeah, you're not even in this scene, rog.

I've read ahead to my scene upcoming.

You're the network.

Correct?

I'm actually a person, but yes,

In marc segal's absence, I represent the network.

Well, I've been speaking with segal about this

Very thing.

As I continue to embody

This character, put myself into billy's skin,

There are ideas that I'm anxious to incorporate.

And mark's reaction?

He definitely understood what I was talking about,

And he was gonna get into it with steven,

Make sure steven was more malleable

About changes in his scripts.

Well, roger,

Once mark returns, I'm sure he will follow through

On all that you and he talked about.

But for now, this is steven rae's show,

And it's everyone's job here to make it work,

Not try to change it.

Yes?

I, of course, can and will

Work with the material given.

Shall we proceed?

I'm ready.

(laughs) (clears throat)

Okay, um, I'm just gonna take it

From a couple lines back, okay?

Yeah, yeah.

What if he pulls the shotgun again?

He was with my brother after he disappeared.

That bastard's gonna have to shoot.

(sighs)

He's pulled out.

(whispering): What are you doing?

He left in a hurry.

Maybe something's still inside.

(whispering): So you're gonna break in?

My brother could have been here.

Look, you don't have to be a part of this.

I mean, you've been incredible,

But we are definitely down the rabbit hole here,

And my brother's disappearance

May have nothing to do with steven rae.

Or it could have everything to do with him.

I'm not going anywhere.

(sighs)

Oh, look.

The wallpaper is missing.

(whispers): That's what he brought to sakelik

At the cemetery.

Yeah.

Looks like there was writing on the wallpaper.

Some of it bled through.

It's like the writing in nate's notebook.

Jeff.

Same as on the disk.

It's that strange symbol.

(thumping)

(whispers): No, no.

(thumping continues)

Oh, my god.

Who did this to you?

They don't think they can trust me.

Miriam's suicide spooked them.

They stripped everything out of here.

No one would've seen anything.

You were with my brother.

Where is he? Where is nate?

I should never have let miriam watch the show.

You know, she only watched to get closer to me.

What did you do with my brother?!

No! I couldn't help her.

I couldn't help her.

I should've helped her.

It's better this way.

(thump outside)

I knew they'd come back.

Who?

Who would come back?

True believers.

True believers?

(thump outside)

Do you smell that?

Smells like propane.

They need to finish the job.

Let's go. No!

Come on! Hey!

Come on. Come on.

Hey.

These things just snap right off.

Let's go.

You okay?

Are you?

(laughs)

Here.

You understand what I want you to do with this?

Make sure it gets into that girl police detective's hands.

Discreetly.

Tomorrow is the anniversary of her initiation into the blood.

This is my gift to her.

It will allow her to solve that murder she's investigating.

Well, solve it in a way that won't involve us.

But her superiors will be satisfied.

(chuckles)

Knowing kelly as well as I do,

I can't think of a gift that she will appreciate more.

(chuckles)

Skye: I've been checking the late los angeles news feeds.

The trailer fire is mentioned, but...

It's been tagged a propane leak.

An accident.

One fatality.

We could've stayed, talked to the police.

And told them what?

There was a bunch of mysterious writing on the wall,

But it's all ash now?

Right, and their beloved detective sakelik

Was seen lip-locking the victim earlier today.

Miriam's husband said the people after him were true believers.

True believers of what?

I don't know. I've been surfing around.

I can't find any mention of true believers related to the show.

Are people really that crazy, they'd...

Kill because of a television show?

You know, nate said he wanted out.

Is he one of them?

We find these true believers,

We find nate?

Well, I've decided to keep my brother's apartment.

Why?

In case somebody comes looking for him.

In case there's something hidden here I haven't found.

(sighs)

Hey, are you, are you home?

I'm still at work.

Trying to catch up,

And I'll probably be going in half an hour.

Listen, just watch yourself when you're going home tonight, okay?

Okay.

(phone ringing)

(sighs)

Man: Hey, josh, steven rae on line 2.

Peter: Hey.

How was your day?

Nothing special.

Yeah, ours was a bear.

And it's not over yet.

Gonna be here late.

So, got us some cuban.

Know it's your favorite.

That sounds great.

What is this?

(sniffs)

Looks like soot.

I haven't the faintest idea.

Probably gonna need to nuke that.

You're right.

(grunts)

Oh, I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry.

No, there's no harm, really.

No harm at all.

You're him, aren't you?

You're billy grimm.

You know the show?

(chuckles): Are you kidding?

I'm your very biggest fan.

Captioned by media access group at wgbh access.Wgbh.Org