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? The tv show.

It's called cult, but it's not just a tv show,

It goes beyond that.

You have no idea how much I don't want to get you

Mixed up in this. 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?

Some of the fans seem to have

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

He said the people after him were "true believers."

I can't find any mention of "true believers"

Related to the show.

True believers of what?

(yells) oh, I'm sorry.

You're billy grimm.

I'm your very biggest fan.

Jeff: Are people really that crazy?

They'd kill because of a television show?

(soul music playing)

I didn't tell the police anything.

Billy, I swear.

Not yet, but I know what you were

Going to do, libby.

(train whistle blows)

I don't know what you think you heard.

I hear everything.

You know that.

Secrets have a way of filtering back to me,

Which can hurt when they're about betrayal.

I didn't, billy.

I wouldn't betray you.

Yes, you would.

Billy, please.

Billy!

"as it was in the beginning, so shall it be in the end."

(screams)

(train whistle blows) billy!

Billy!

Hey, we've watched the episode a million times.

We know how it goes.

She's coming. Get ready.

(muffled screaming)

(soul music playing)

Billy (through speaker): I hear everything.

You know that.

Secrets have a way of filtering

Back to me, which can hurt

(train whistle blows) when they're about betrayal.

Libby: I didn't, billy.

I wouldn't betray you.

Billy: Yes, you would.

Libby: Billy.

Billy: As it was in the beginning,

So shall it be in the end.

(screams)

(laughter)

Whoo-hoo. That was awesome.

Jillian, you should see your face right now.

Okay, make sure you get that. Make sure you get that.

(hysterical laughter)

Best round of being billy yet!

Man, I love this game!

Yeah.

(laughter continues)

Billy (through tv): Secrets have a way of filtering back to me,

Which can hurt when they're about betrayal.

Libby: I didn't, billy.

I wouldn't betray you.

But you would.

Libby: Billy, please.

Jefferstein.

Thank you for coming.

At this place, but you planting yourself here

Is starting to get pretty strange.

Well, it's the only place I know

Where cult fans publicly hang out together.

(sighs)

Were you able to do what I asked?

For the record, hacking someone's e-mail

Is not what I would call an ethical use of my skills.

Yeah, well, I think my brother

Is in with some very scary people,

And I can't trust the police, so ethical or not,

I need anything I can get

On the days before my brother disappeared.

Yeah, well, that's where you're not gonna be happy.

The day you say he disappeared,

His entire e-mail account got wiped.

Everything?

Did nate do it?

Somebody else did it?

No way to tell.

But then, there was this.

You ever consider that your brother

May be playing you?

Man: We'll make it happen, steven.

You got it.

Get your people up to speed.

Peter.

Hey. What happened in there?

Same thing that always happens.

Two words. Steven rae.

Yep. Why? What's wrong?

Steven wants some special graffiti added

To the background of a scene we're shooting right now.

What's the graffiti?

Some new phrase he wants?

Not a phrase.

A symbol.

What's with the look?

(chuckles)

I thought I'd seen it somewhere before.

Trust me, I know the level

Of paranoia around here about inside information

Leaking to the fans.

And I know you think

There's some kind of strange connection

Certain fans have to the show.

Just saying, be careful, okay?

I don't want you getting kicked out of here.

You don't have to worry.

Good.

All these weird steven-isms are just his way

Of stirring up interest in the show.

(phone ringing) keep the fans interested,

Keep them watching his show.

I'll, um, check in with you later?

Skye?

Later, definitely.

Right.

Jeff, hey, I was just gonna call you.

I got something.

And I've got something.

That symbol, the one with the three blades?

Yeah, the one we saw on the wall of the trailer.

Steven rae is introducing it into the show.

It's never been used in the show before?

Never. Does anybody know what it means?

Steven doesn't tell anybody what he's thinking.

You said you had something?

Yeah, it's about nate.

E.J. Hacked his e-mail account.

He was online this morning.

This morning?

Well, that's great.

That-that means he's able to communicate.

Yeah, but he didn't communicate with me.

He sent a group e-mail.

A weird one.

"billy says it's starting again.

Tonight."

What does that mean?

What could be happening tonight?

I don't know.

(dance music playing)

Laura, sweet round.

Jillian so thought she was gonna die.

Whoo!

Nice job. Thanks, nigel.

Laura! Laura, laura!

Oh, you-you rocked it.

It was so incredible. Total immersion.

I have never felt such a rush in my entire life!

Definitely your best round yet, baby girl.

Everyone's saying it!

Congrats.

Listen, carey, tonight's game, it wasn't me.

What do you mean?

You sent the e-mail.

You run the game.

But I didn't run this round.

I didn't even know it was happening

Until I heard about the after party.

Seriously?

You-you didn't? No.

So who did?

Only one other person has the list of players.

Nate?

(phone ringing)

Hello?

Billy: My name is billy.

(voice skipping): B-b-billy.

Billy grimm.

You have no idea

How many followers are out there now.

(skipping): True believers. True believers.

They seem to be everywhere.

Some are at your work, neighbors,

Your friends...

(skipping): Your friends.

Hilarious, guys, but the game is over.

You're next.

(skipping): You're next, you're next,

You're next...

(tires squealing)

(thud)

(thud, rustling)

(rustling continues)

Hey.

Who are you?

Who are you?

I'm laura.

Oh, my god.

You're the brother.

You're jeff.

What are you doing here?

And how did you get in?

I've got a key; I-I used to live here.

I was nate's girlfriend.

Um, we were together for almost a year.

A year?

Nate never said anything about having a girlfriend.

(chuckles) he talked about you a lot.

You're a reporter, right?

Nate took that intro journalism class 'cause of you.

He was taking classes?

Yeah, he was so excited,

But he, uh, dropped out.

What happened?

I don't know.

He started getting all weird,

Obsessing on the show.

That,

All those clues from the show,

That wasn't here before.

How long since you've seen him?

A month.

Maybe more.

We were fighting about everything.

Him dropping out, money,

The game.

What game?

It was fun at first.

It wasn't supposed to be

Anything else.

"being billy."

Billy grimm?

Nate and I both loved cult.

We heard about this game

People were playing at other schools.

We thought it would be fun, so we started up on campus.

Well, what is it?

You watch the show? Yeah, a little.

So you know how billy's always doing something crazy.

Yeah, well, we'd set up a scene

Just like one of billy's,

Keep it all a secret.

And someone, one of the players,

Would grab them and put them in the scene,

Make it feel totally real.

And that's fun?

Yeah, I know it sounds weird,

But it's fun.

Amazing fun.

Never knowing if you're next.

Since nate went awol,

I've been running the game by myself.

But then today,

Nate started it without me.

Billy says it's starting again.

Yeah, it's his start signal.

How'd you know that?

I got into his e-mails.

I thought I could get a handle

About what the hell's happened to him.

After the game tonight,

Jillian--- the victim in the game--

She was killed.

The police say it was a hit-and-run.

Look, if nate is running this game on campus,

That means he's there, right?

Yeah. Means he's close.

And I can find him.

Skye: Coolidge hall, it should be up here.

Jeff: Being billy.

On the cult message boards about ten weeks ago.

It's a campus game like assassin.

Elimination.

Hvz?

Human versus zombie?

My friends and I used to play that one.

I think you and I had

A very different college experience.

(cell phone chimes)

I've had e.J. Forward all of nate's e-mails to my phone.

Anything yet?

No.

What is it?

Last night, as I was talking to laura

Telling her about nate, the whole story,

I'm listening to myself talk, hearing how crazy it sounds,

When it hits me.

What?

Nate's done something like this before.

Seriously?

Yeah. A few months after our parents died,

He went missing.

He was ten years old,

And I was worried sick out my mind

That something terrible had happened to him.

Maybe that was just some game for him,

And maybe this is just some

Twisted version of that game for him now.

Something happened to nate.

We both know he's come into contact

With these true believer fans of the show...

Fans who killed a man and nearly killed us.

Skye: This must be for that girl that died.

(sighs) jillian.

And all this stuff is seen in cult.

What is it about this show?

Hey. Hey.

So, how are you and andy doing?

I just try to keep him distracted.

Not that I know what I'm doing

Taking care of a kid.

He remembers the kidnapping. Has nightmares about it.

He remembered billy grimm?

Billy was good to him.

And he has no idea billy's the one that killed his dad,

And still has his mom.

Do you know a member of the blood named libby?

Why are you asking me that?

Time of death was around midnight last night.

Train tracks, 20 miles west of palm springs.

We had to pull the dental records

To get her I.D.

Um...

Libby is, uh...

Was very close to billy.

Shared his bed.

She was supposed to meet me today.

She was gonna give up billy.

Kelly, how come I've never heard

You speak of this libby woman before?

Andy. Come on.

Thank you so much for inviting me.

My pleasure.

(sighs)

Dinner the other night was fantastic.

And to be honest,

I didn't think you were serious

When you said you wanted to invite me to set.

So, I mean it. Thank you.

The show is shooting on location today.

So, we've got the run of the studio.

This is where billy lives.

(laughs)

Okay, one more, one... No, no, no!

Jeff: He was happy here with you.

Okay, okay, okay.

Why didn't he tell me?

I think he wanted to impress you.

You'd seen him screw up so many times

That he wanted to do one year here,

Do it well before he told you.

He didn't have to do that.

Between us, I think there was another reason.

He thought you never got a real college experience

When you were at ucla, because with your folks gone,

You had to take care of him.

And from what he told me, that wasn't exactly easy.

We had our moments.

Hey, maybe he felt guilty...

Once he started

Having a life here.

Laura!

He shouldn't have.

Stop it. Okay. Cut.

(cell phone vibrating)

Sorry.

So, carey, all these pins?

Places where laura and nate set up reenactments.

Skye: There are a lot of them.

Being billy was ultra-secret and ultra-cool.

Nate and laura were the king and queen.

Laura got totally wrapped up in it.

In the game?

In being cool. In the power it gave her.

What about nate?

I think laura making being billy a glorified drinking game came

To bother him, when he started to see something deeper

In the show.

Whatever it was.

(door shuts)

What's wrong?

That was, uh, nigel.

He said people are talking about how

It's too big of a coincidence;

Jillian dying right after being a victim of the game.

That it wasn't an accident.

Oh, come on. That's just stupid.

And do you believe this girl's death had something

To do with the game?

And that nate is somehow behind it?

You didn't see nate a month ago, jeff.

He was saying all this stuff

About how real the show was,

How it was reaching out, and...

I don't know.

I don't know.

Jeff... We'll find nate.

There will be an answer to all of this.

I'm just afraid of what it's gonna be.

I can't believe I'm actually here.

Where it all happens.

Where it begins.

Where it happens, where a show really starts

To live its life is out there with the fans.

It's like billy's watching over everything.

Maybe he is.

(giggles)

Something cold to drink? Sure.

Allow me.

Showing your niece around set?

So funny you are, marty.

A delicate mix of self-righteous and judgmental.

Oh, you didn't think that's funny? Hmm.

Not at all? Marty here was saying

How much she'd love to meet you, kirstie.

Oh.

It's very nice to meet you.

No, the pleasure is mine.

The role of kelly is so... Conflicted.

Which you play so well. Thank you.

And you're so bad.

Bad?

The way you treat billy.

Oh, um, well,

Enjoy the rest of your tour, kirstie.

Thank you.

Did I say something wrong?

Not in the slightest.

It's a bunch of college kids getting worked up

Over something that isn't necessarily true.

Yeah, but what if it is?

I mean, what if this girl was killed

Because of this game, and that nate,

Maybe with these true believers,

Maybe acting alone, had something to do with it?

I mean, there was so much I let him go through

Growing up alone that I...

I mean, what the hell would I know about being a parent at 18?

Do you want to help him?

Of course I do.

Then don't guess.

The year after my father went missing,

The detective on his case,

He told my mom and me they were working a theory

That my dad had been paid off to bury

An organized crime story.

That he'd taken the money and left us.

I was 14, couldn't have weighed more

Than this jerk detective's beer gut.

I just started wailing on him.

That must have been quite the sight.

The point is, I choose to believe

That my father wouldn't do that.

That he couldn't.

Even though he wasn't there to tell me I was right.

Skye, I wish I had your faith, really.

But nate...

You say you don't know your brother, but you do.

Deep down, you do.

You wouldn't put your whole life on hold

To find him if you didn't.

(cell phone chimes)

Nate just sent another e-mail.

"meet me. I'll tell you everything.

"21b basement, halmon hall.

If you don't come alone, I won't be there."

He just sent that to laura.

What do you want to do?

Anybody in here?

Nate?

Laura?

Look.

The feather earring, the spotlight.

Props from last night's train reenactment? Yeah.

Looks like we missed him.

If laura already met nate here, where did they go?

There's a hard drive and a printer.

Someone's been working down here.

It's jillian.

Laura was right.

Someone was there taking pictures.

This wasn't an accident.

She was run down.

(cell phone chimes)

What is it?

"billy says it's starting again."

Nate's started another round of the game.

Are you sure this is okay?

I mean, all those stories you hear

About steven rae and how secretive he is.

I'm the star of the show-- what's he going to do, fire me?

Episode 8.

The taxidermy scene? Mm-hmm.

Can I?

(grunts)

This scene, it was so emotional.

I can't imagine where that comes from.

Over and over again.

Take after take.

How do you do it?

You find something of yourself in the character, use that.

It's a muscle-- gets stronger with practice.

I was thinking it may have also been...

Something from your childhood.

When you were a kid, you got stuck inside a... What was it?

Uh... A factory?

How you know about that?

You were playing hide-and-seek.

No one found you for two days.

I've never told anybody about that.

Your hometown newspaper.

Found it online.

Well, that story just broke my heart.

Made me fall in love with you a little.

Do you know how rarely people surprise me?

(quiet laugh)

What the hell?

Take it.

(chuckles)

What?

Take it.

It's yours.

It's billy's.

It's yours.

(both breathing heavily)

(knocking)

Carey, can we come in?

Yeah, sure. What's up?

Where's laura? Um, I haven't seen her

For maybe a half hour.

She ran out of here in a hurry.

What's that?

Stuff used in last night's reenactment.

There's a new round of the game going on.

Yeah, I saw.

A lot of the players are leaving campus.

They don't want to be the next victim.

In case the whole jillian thing wasn't an accident.

Yeah, well, that's, uh, that's probably a good idea.

Look, um, I got to go, but you can stay.

Just, when you close the door, pull it till it locks.

Thanks.

Laura's laptop.

There's only one file on here.

It's a video.

(grunting)

Come on. Come on!

Douglas!

Willie, these things just snap right off.

(screaming)

It's jillian.

(crying)

It's the reenactment.

Hey, look at this.

What are those numbers?

If it's a date, it can't be when it was filmed.

(sighs) no, wait.

It's the same thing.

Except that's laura.

This is part two,

Except the last shot is missing.

It's a placeholder.

Laura's the next victim.

You look so angry.

Anger will age you, you know.

You killed libby, you bastard.

I don't know what you're talking about.

She died in an accident.

A tragedy, yes, but the police haven't

Ruled it a homicide, have they? You found out.

She was going to tell me where you're keeping my sister.

I almost forgot.

I got you something.

You and libby had such a special bond, didn't you?

Remember?

When you met her in that park?

When she was living on the streets?

She reminded you of yourself, of course.

You came home that day, filled with such joy.

Saying you were ready to bring someone new into our family.

And I remember her initiation,

Which you performed.

How by then she loved you

Like family.

You used her love for you

To have her break the one rule that matters:

Never betray your family.

This, darling, is on you.

Yes, this is about the campus game being billy.

Laura, it's skye. Call me back as soon as you get this.

Her name is laura spottswood. It's urgent-- call me back.

No, I'm not a part of the game.

No, she didn't put me up to... This is urgent!

Okay, okay, okay, you know what? Just, never mind.

Just, just forget the whole thing-- forget it.

Campus police have been jobbed

By laura and her friends too many times before

In the past; they said they'd send somebody around later,

Which means never.

Skye: Why make a video like this?

If anybody saw it, you'd be admitting to murder.

I still don't get the numbers.

If it's a date,

It's may 15, 2011.

That's not a date that's been mentioned in the show.

It's not a date.

What?

Come here, look at this.

This can't be a date.

No, it can't.

The train crash that they reenacted

With jillian last night-- it's from episode 12.

It came right near the beginning.

About three minutes, seven seconds in? Yes!

Libby died in the first few minutes of the show.

Three minutes sounds about right.

These are time codes from moments in the show.

Episode 5.

Kelly cuts off billy's supplies to his compound 15 minutes in.

And then a follower is caught stealing food

And is then buried alive in the greenhouse.

They must have one on campus.

Here it is.

Mathers horticultural center.

(slow, steady thumping)

(slow, steady thumping continues)

Carey?

What the hell?

She, she's crazy!

She was gonna kill me!

(dialing, line ringing)

Why-why are you doing this?

Hang up! Hang up and I'll tell you about nate!

I was the last to see him.

Operator: 911, what's your emergency?

Tell me.

A week ago, he showed up here on campus looking for laura.

He was all wired, saying he'd made contact.

Contact with who?

You either see it or you don't.

See what?

The messages.

You've seen messages? In the show?

Some. Nate's seen more.

You're insane!

No. You're a poseur!

You don't know cult!

Not like nate does, not like I do!

You made a drinking game out of something

You don't really understand!

What has nate seen?

He wouldn't tell me.

But I found another way.

How to show them what I'm willing to do to be one of them.

True believers?

The video?

You killed jillian,

And you're gonna kill laura to make a... An audition tape?

Episode 12.

Billy says it:

"as it was in the beginning, so shall it be in the end."

You just had to be able to see it.

Jeff!

Jeff.

Oh, we need to get you help.

I can guarantee you

That my house is a lot more comfortable than my trailer.

(chuckles)

I look forward to it.

Thank you...

For an amazing night.

And you'll call me?

Try to stop me.

(chuckles)

Mmm...

(dialing)

It's me.

It was perfect.

Went exactly as it was supposed to.

Jeff: You gonna be okay?

I'm going home for a while, though.

I'm not sleeping at that dorm again.

Not with carey still out there.

I understand.

It's more than that.

I don't want anything to do with being billy.

And at school, that's how everyone knows me.

How they knew nate.

I'm sorry I doubted him, jeff.

You and me both.

But thanks for telling me how he was... Before all this.

That's the thing.

He was the best.

Well, I wish I'd known you two together.

You remind me of him.

Your intensity.

Or maybe the fact that you're searching for something.

What do you mean?

It's just this feeling.

And that's the best way I can say it.

Nate was searching for something.

You mean in the show?

I think the show, and what he could see in it was... An answer

To a question that had been in him for a while.

If that makes any sense at all.

Find him, okay?

I'm sure as hell gonna try.

Skye: How is she?

As well as can be expected.

She said police checked carey's laptop.

Confirmed she hacked

Nate's e-mail account.

What did they say about carey's video?

That's definitely evidence that she killed jillian.

Well, there's nothing they can do until they find carey.

I hate that I thought nate could have murdered somebody.

I tell you,

I've never been so happy to be wrong in my life.

What is this?

It's from episode 12.

As it was in the beginning, so shall it be in the end.

That line's got to mean something.

It's been bugging me ever since carey referenced it.

So, I did a little digging.

Okay, check it out.

"as it was in the beginning,

So shall it be in the end."

I pulled the audio track from episode 12.

These are the first words of the episode, the beginning.

Man: True or false.

And these are the last words of the episode.

Woman: I should have believed her.

Now listen if I play it faster.

"true or..." "...Believed her."

And even faster.

"true... Believer."

True believer. True believer.

True believer. True believer.

Seriously?

Well, you tell me. And that's not all.

Do you remember the first images of carey's film?

Yeah, it was the man in the wall from the show.

I couldn't figure out why she included it,

But this is the soundtrack from that scene.

Willy, these things just snap right off.

(gasps)

(dramatic soundtrack music plays)

Yeah?

It's not just music there.

It's some unusual sound design.

I know how some fans can fixate on

Something like this.

So, I played it backwards,

And I heard this.

(reversed speech)

What am I supposed to be hearing?

Okay, then I slowed it down.

(reversed speech)

What was...? Is that a voice?

Even slower.

(reversed speech plays three times)

That sounds like...

"kill for us."

(distorted): Kill for us.

Kill for us.

Maybe carey heard it.

You know, took it as an invitation

To impress the true believers.

So you're saying this is the proof

That there are hidden messages in the show?

Or that unbalanced fans like carey can perceive things

In the show as messages.

I don't know.

I mean, you could probably find hidden wordplay

Like that in-in any show.

But cult isn't any show.

We need to keep digging to find out the truth.

To find...

Nate.

I knew you'd find me.

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