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.

You made contact with who?

A 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!

We're trying to figure out who this man is.

His name was phillip kellian.

Phillip is the inspiration for billy grimm.

Phillip was a television writer when he first started out.

He was steven rae's mentor.

They wrote at least one script together.

How do you know that? I have it.

The prophecy of st. Clare.

St. Clare was designated the patron saint of television.

Television?

What the hell?

That's him. Phillip kellian.

(garbled speech over tv)

What's he saying?

Neural fusion?

Now do you honestly think he'll be able to find it?

There's messages here, but not like in the show;

They're different.

These messages can lead us to something

Hidden here in the church: A book.

That looks like billy grimm's book.

I don't know what spooked you,

But I did a full workup on meadow's boss,

This glen nash character.

Soup to nuts, the model citizen.

I saw the way andy reacted to him.

I mean, the poor kid was terrified, paz.

He peed his pants.

Something's not right.

(school bell ringing)

There they are.

Yeah.

They seem to be getting along just fine today.

What do you say, partner?

We got to hit that homicide in silver lake.

Okay.

(engine starts)

(screams)

Billy.

Meadow, my sweet.

Come.

(man wheezing, gasping)

You like that?

Please, billy...

In good time.

Have you done what I asked?

Yes, everything.

But kelly's not completely ready yet.

She will be soon, thanks to you.

You will understand, meadow.

You understand the simple arithmetic of need,

Hunger that can't be fed.

For me...

Life without my kelly...

It all adds up to nothing.

And for you, it is this.

(muffled screaming)

Enjoy.

(panting)

(muffled groaning)

(electricity crackles, muffled grunting)

(electricity crackles, muffled screaming)

(electricity crackles, muffled screaming)

That's enough, my sweet.

(panting)

For today.

I mean, billy's coming totally unglued.

Well, we're shooting

The final episodes of the season now.

We'll know soon enough where it's all headed.

Did you find anything on phillip kellian?

(sighs) there is nothing anywhere

About his freaky television church--

St. Clare's.

(sighs)

Well, at least we got phillip's crazy-ass book.

Except that it's written in gibberish.

Okay, here's something.

What?

In that weird tape we saw of kellian,

He used a couple of strange phrases.

Yeah, neural something. "neural fusion."

And another one: "coherent consciousness."

So, I searched them together, and...

Only three hits.

Yeah, all referencing the same article abstracts--

From 30 years ago.

Articles by kellian?

Um, no, it was written by somebody named kimble.

Dr. Robert kimble.

Dr. Robert kimble.

Dr. Robert kimble, family pediatrician, roanoke.

Dr. Robert kimble, veterinarian in phoenix.

Here we go.

Dr. Robert kimble, professor of cognitive science, ucla.

Well, that sounds like somebody who'd be

Writing about neural fusion. Yeah.

(voices overlapping)

I remember in school watching mice

Run through mazes,

Hunting tiny pellets of food.

(chuckles softly)

An apt analogy.

Except in those mazes, the pellets of food were real.

The answers we seek are just as real.

Every episode of cult brings us closer.

Brings nate closer.

If we succeed, isn't that enough?

If we succeed.

You have something to say?

Roslyn's death and annabelle's.

All the blood we've had to spill,

With nothing yet to show for it.

(voices overlapping)

And the other moon hill survivors and I...

How can we be confident that the answers

You say are hidden in the show are even real?

(chuckles softly)

Your parents,

All the survivors' parents,

They followed my father for almost two decades.

They believed in him.

I've given my life to finding out

Where that belief took them.

Where they went, why they never returned.

I have sacrificed much.

Compromised my daughter.

I'm not going to let the weakness of doubt stop me now.

Don't question my leadership again.

Woman: A visual illusion, commonly referred to

As an optical illusion, occurs when our perception of an image

Differs from that of objective reality.

So, in other words, what you see

Isn't always what you get.

Now, as you see in these examples,

Our mind's first impression is exactly that.

It's just an impression, right?

But once you better understand what it is you're looking for,

Your perception can change.

Curiously, some people make this cognitive leap from

One level of perception to another in a matter of moments,

While other people really struggle.

And, as far as we know, it's not a function of genetics.

It's just some minds see differently.

Excuse me.

Excuse me, can you help us?

The class schedule said that dr. Kimble

Was to give the lecture.

Yes, dr. Kimble's the professor.

I'm allegra constantine; I'm his t.A.

Is dr. Kimble in today? We'd like to speak to him.

I am afraid he's not feeling well.

That's why I'm covering his class today.

Well, if he's at home, maybe we can talk to him

Over the phone.

I'm sorry, but I'm not in the habit

Of giving out my professor's

Home phone number. Is something wrong?

Who are you? What is this about?

My name's jeff sefton, I am a reporter.

And this is my assistant, skye yarrow.

We just need a few minutes to talk to the doctor.

Why?

He published some papers years ago...

30 years ago, on coherent consciousness...

And something called neural fusion.

He's out sick, and he's not taking calls.

I'm really sorry.

Oh, my god.

Who could've done this?

Oh, god.

(quietly): The true believers must have seen

The same tape that we saw at the church.

Means we're on the right trail. It also means they're tracking

This neural fusion stuff kellian was talking about.

What?

Oh, no, they broke my calculator.

Jeff.

Come look at this.

Screen captures from cult.

Appears dr. Kimble knows all about the show.

What do you mean dr. Kimble knows about the show?

What's going on?

Look, we think we know who did this.

I don't understand.

Dr. Kimble's in serious danger.

Allegra, where is he?

He's not out sick.

He's missing.

Dr. Kimble was afraid that something might happen.

He's been afraid ever since the first week

That show went on the air.

Hey. Want to run lines with me?

No, I'm good.

You okay?

Fine.

Did you have a spat with your little

Lady friend, kirstie?

I heard a couple crew members mention

They hadn't seen her today.

The crew has been gossiping about my private life?

They're crew guys, and she's super cute.

Plus, you two are adorable together.

Of course people are going to notice.

They should just try

Doing their job.

Maybe you should, too.

Allegra: I should call campus police.

I'm not sure

Dr. Kimble would want me to.

I don't know what I should do.

You say you kept dr. Kimble's disappearance a secret?

I think he might be hiding because of that show.

Do you know why he's afraid of cult?

No. I mean, it's just a tv show.

I don't understand

Why a tv show...

It's not the show, it's the fans

Of the show.

What did the professor keep in this drawer here?

Dr. Kimble's notes on neural fusion.

This is crazy.

Why would fans of cult

Want dr. Kimble's notes?

What is neural fusion?

It's a theory of dr. Kimble's.

I was working on this with him, too.

My notes were in there.

Is your name on those notes?

Yeah, of course.

We need to get you out of here.

What? Why?

For the same reason the doctor's in hiding.

The people who took these papers are dangerous.

If they find out that you're associated

With the professor's work,

They're gonna come for you, too.

These people are serious, okay? Trust us, we know.

(gasps)

Roger! Geez!

Be careful.

What's wrong?

I tried to sleep on it,

Wrap my head around some possible explanation

That didn't paint one or both of us

In an extraordinarily poor light.

You're scaring me.

Imagine how I felt when I dropped by

My good friend stuart reynolds' home

To drop off the cult script he asked for.

And what did I happen to see there

In stuart's swimming pool taking a leisurely swim?

Roger...

You, my dear kirstie! You.

I didn't cheat on you.

So, what?

You just, you just took a wrong turn,

Ended up half naked in

A wealthy playboy's swimming pool?

Please believe me. It's-it's not what you think.

Right.

I think you forgot, "he's just a friend."

No, he's my father.

Stuart's your father?

Please, just listen.

(whispers): Your father.

All this time...

You and stuart have just been playing me?

Oh, my god.

Oh, my god.

Why?

Some-some demented father-daughter fan craziness?

God, what is wrong with you? You're sick!

Stuart...

Sick!

(kirstie shrieks)

I do not ever want to see either one of you again.

Ever!

Get out of the way!

Allegra: I've never even seen this show.

Only heard about it because of dr. Kimble.

What exactly is this theory of dr. Kimble's?

And what were in those papers that were taken?

So, dr. Kimble's area of expertise is cognitive science.

30 years ago, he came up with this theory that

Tv could be ushering in an era

Of some sort of shared awareness,

A collective consciousness.

I know how it sounds.

It was a pretty crazy theory at the time.

I don't know. Maybe it was

Just ahead of its time. And since then,

Tv's gotten all the more pervasive.

I mean, it's everywhere.

It's on our computers, on our phones.

Terrorist attacks,

Earthquakes, royal weddings,

The olympics; what happens?

Everyone is glued to their televisions.

Everyone watching the same thing at the same time.

I heard of something like this.

There's a professor at princeton

Running something called the global consciousness project.

Yeah, exactly.

This tv show you guys are telling me about,

You say that it's drawing together like-minded fans,

And they're seeking out other fans

That are also drawn to the show.

Well, most tv shows have

Passionate fans that do the same.

No, not like cult does.

Allegra: Yeah, but that same

Shared appeal, that connection among

Millions of people not bound by borders or culture,

That's a form of what dr. Kimble is postulating.

That sounds more like mind control to me.

Allegra: Dr. Kimble's theory is simply

That television's impact on humankind

Might be more than anything we can currently fathom.

What do you think of all this?

What matters is the true believers' connection to it all.

And what was phillip kellian doing spouting off

About kimble's theories 30 years ago?

What are you doing?

Well, this part is arranged in proper groupings.

I thought you'd want to do the same with this side.

Yeah, my brother put up that side.

You don't see the pattern?

Maybe you can make out what's inside here.

Where did you get this?

Why?

Dr. Kimble has a book

With this exact same three-line symbol.

He said it had something to do with his past.

Can you decipher the contents?

No, dr. Kimble's book isn't like this.

What is this? Some sort of code?

Dr. Kimble's definitely

Gonna want to know about this.

You know where he is?

(crashing sounds, woman sobbing)

(sobbing)

(banging on door)

(door crashes open)

Woman: No!

Woman: Thank you, kelly.

Accessing such dark material

From one's past can be very scary.

But you being here for your sister means everything.

She said it would help her in her work with you.

I'm just glad I could help.

Meadow: The doctor says the only way

I'll make progress is if I...

...If we talk about

That night.

The night that mom and dad...

I know.

You won't be going through this alone.

I promise.

Jeff: Are you sure he's coming?

Yeah, he'll be here.

I didn't tell him I was bringing you though,

So I'm gonna have to explain.

(engine revving in distance)

Who the hell are you?

They're with me, professor.

Allegra brought us here to show you this.

Does this look familiar?

Belonged to phillip kellian.

I know. How did you get it?

Is phillip still alive?

We don't know.

Jeff: Do you mind putting that gun down?

We're not here to hurt you.

How did you get that if not from phillip?

We found it, hidden in some strange church.

Full of televisions?

Yes.

Look, you're hiding,

And you're afraid, and it has something to do

With the television show cult.

Skye: The people that you're hiding from,

They trashed your lab at the school.

It's true.

What do the two of you have to do with any of this?

The people that you're hiding from have kidnapped my brother

And they're holding him hostage.

Skye: Why are you hiding from them, professor?

The leader of the cult in that show, that billy grimm,

His look is based on phillip.

Yes, we know. Well, in the very first episode,

Did you happen to notice

The professor character?

The one with the history with billy?

The professor that billy brutally murders?

You think that character's based on you?

I know it's me.

And you saw that as some sort of threat against you.

What am I supposed to see? Phillip ended up hating me.

The crazier he got,

The more he seemed capable of violence.

Why did phillip kellian hate you?

(sighs)

Years ago, he found

My early work, sought me out, befriended me.

He saw my work as the foundation for his own crazy beliefs.

What beliefs?

That television wasn't just a common invention.

That television

Was some kind of malevolent force.

He took my theories and twisted them.

If you can't see it, looking isn't gonna help.

It's enough that you can.

But I haven't.

Not all of it.

Not yet.

If there are answers in the show about what happened

To my father and the other moon hill parents,

I'm sure you'll find those answers.

Soon.

Kimble: Started to see television

As something to be afraid of.

He managed to find some like-minded individuals

And eventually moved everyone to a property up in the mountains.

I visited them up there.

I tried to reason with phillip.

I even questioned my own theories,

But he was already too far gone.

And that's when he threatened me.

If my theories were wrong,

Then everything he stood for was wrong.

I stopped going up there.

And you haven't seen phillip since?

Never thought of him or his crazy beliefs.

Not until cult premiered.

And there on my television was

A professor character who dared to disagree with billy grimm,

And was murdered because of it.

Phillip isn't the man you should be afraid of.

We think it's his son stuart.

Stuart?

Do you know him?

Well, yes, of course.

I should be afraid of him?

Jeff: We believe he's behind all of this.

You know, you may not like what I find.

I built the entire true believer organization,

Collected an army of willing fans,

Found you and the other readers like you--

All of this.

And you think I did it

Without considering every possible outcome?

There's always something hidden you can't see coming.

I know.

I thought I was just a fan of a very cool tv show.

Eh, you do what you do and let me do what I do.

But understand the clock is ticking down.

And remember your brother jeff's good health

Depends on you

Doing precisely as I wish.

Jeff: Do you know what happened?

He was just a boy when I knew him.

He was very young.

But I do remember the two of them

Fencing for hours. Fencing?

Phillip was born in europe.

Fencing had to do with the family business.

What family business?

I forget the name,

But I know that they were famous for making knives.

I still don't understand

How tv fans can be doing all this.

Dr. Kimble-- he seemed really scared.

Well, he's not wrong, allegra.

These people have killed to get what they want.

You need to get yourself somewhere safe.

Just in case.

Do you have somebody that you can go stay with?

My grandmother, I guess, in north hollywood.

Anyone out of state?

No. Listen, I'm going to do

What I should have done from the start.

I'm going to call the police about the...

Wait a second.

Is this your apartment building?

Oh, my god. That's nancy, my roommate.

Skye: That's dustin again.

Jeff.

What's going on?

They're here for you.

(banging on door)

(grunts) no!

Please, no... Please.

No!

(muffled screaming)

No! (squishing thud)

(man grunts)

(sighs)

(sniffles)

Kelly?

Yeah.

I don't... I don't know what I would do.

I've spent so many years trying to forget.

I just... I don't... I don't know.

And, meadow, how about you?

If you could face your parents' killer.

(muffled groaning)

The church teaches us to forgive, doesn't it?

Yes.

Meadow: I believe...

...That's what I would do.

(dance music playing)

Hi. Hi.

Hey.

(clears throat)

Something wrong?

Yes.

Roger.

He saw me.

At the house.

What?

Yesterday, I was in the pool, and...

He was bringing you the script from the show.

I didn't know, dad.

There was no way either of us could have known.

Everything we've done with roger...

...Ruined.

I'm so sorry.

He was our ticket to get to steven rae.

And we had roger poised,

Like a dog ready to obey his master.

Maybe I can fix it.

No.

Stay away from him.

You understand?

But I think if I...

Stay away.

Allegra: My roommate's going to be okay.

She said she came home

And found people going through our place.

Yeah, 'cause they're looking for you.

Because you work with dr. Kimble.

He's just a college professor.

I'm just a t.A.

How is this happening?

Look, you're tired.

Why don't you go lay down and get some rest.

Okay.

Kimble said phillip kellian came from a family

Who owned some famous, old knife company in europe.

Yeah, knives-- how appropriate.

Okay, well, I searched, and I found nothing

Associated with the name kellian.

So I started looking at family-owned companies.

Now, the town most famous for their knives

Is the town of thiers in France.

I searched there, and...

Reynolds coutellerie.

Over 100 years old.

Do you see?

Yeah, the true believers' symbol

Is based on this knife company's brand.

Reynolds.

That's him.

We got him.

When his father and the parents disappeared

And child protective services came,

They must have reunited him with his family in europe.

He took the original family name.

And the money.

I mean, he has all sorts of holdings.

Real estate, other businesses...

Whoa.

What?

Well, there was an announcement in the trades.

It says that he opened a film development company.

Film?

Guess where he opened up

His offices.

The same studio where we film cult.

Oh, man.

He's been under our nose this entire time.

(whimpers, screams)

(gasps)

(gasping, screaming)

Kelly?

Kelly, oh, god.

Kelly. Kelly. Meadow.

Meadow, I... I saw him in my bed.

He's gone. He's not here.

And-and billy. Billy?

He was here, too.

No one's here; just me, okay?

I'm here.

You're safe.

Shh.

I'm so sorry, kel.

No, don't.

Putting you through this, it's...

No, you're not responsible.

Neither one of us are.

We'll be okay.

The two of us, strong together.

Like back then.

Like always.

I love you.

You know I love you.

Yeah.

Shh.

Will you stay with me?

Yeah.

(elevator bell dings)

Stuart's office is next door to petros pictures.

Skye: It must be the next door.

♪

(whispers): Jeff.

These are surveillance cameras.

Yeah, and they all show places around the studio.

That's the cult production office.

And the actors' trailers.

This reynolds guy is spying on cult,

On the cast and crew.

He's using nate to decode some kind of message in the show.

With his money, why wouldn't he also

Try to get whatever inside information

He can get his hands on?

(soft clattering)

(whispers): We got to go.

Man: There's just no way

We're going to make this budget work.

We're going to have to hold that.

Well, should I order some food

If we're going to be here all night?

(elevator bell dings)

♪

♪

What's wrong?

Just keep an eye out.

Well, there's no way they're ahead of us.

Listen, reynolds knows we're on to him.

All he had to do

Was make a phone call.

Did you turn the lights off?

No.

Unless allegra did.

Wait, wait.

They're inside. Allegra.

(shrieks)

Go-go-go-go-go-go!

(engine starts, tires screech)

What the hell?

They've never shot at us before.

Everything's changed now. We know who stuart reynolds is.

So, what, they're gonna kill us?

Not if they can't find us.

(knocking on door)

Kirstie: Roger, please, just open the door.

(knocking)

Talk to me.

Please.

What do you want me to do?

Because I'll do it.

Anything.

(knocking)

I'm not going anywhere until you talk to me, roger!

Please!

Tell me how I can ever trust you again.

Can you do that for me, kirstie?

Do you love me?

I know you do.

And you know how much I love you.

You want to know how you can trust me?

Okay.

I'm putting my life in your hands.

If my father even knew I was here,

Even if I talked to you,

He'd be angry.

He'd be so angry.

And you don't know my father when he's angry.

(sniffles)

My life is in your hands.

And if that's not worthy of trust...

He won't hurt you.

I won't let him.

(sobs softly)

Cameron: We know damn well how he'll react.

You can't, stuart.

Stuart: Oh, I can.

And I will.

Look at him,

He's obsessed.

A dog with a bone.

He's not searching for us now, he's doing it because

He wants to do it, needs to do it.

In any event,

I won't be giving him a choice anymore.

(voices overlapping)

You know what this is, don't ya?

It's what we were looking for

At st. Clare's church.

My father's notebook.

It was in your brother's possession.

We know

He was in the church at the same time we were.

Imagine that.

And there's no way he could have found it without your help.

Our deal

Has now, uh...

Adjusted, nate.

Your brother's well-being as a condition of your

Cooperation?

Well, that's no longer how we're gonna play this game.

Now, I will tell you

What's gonna happen to your brother.

You want that news to be good?

You'll decode this.

With speed.

There's no alternative for you now.

No way out of this for you.

Or your big brother.

Am I making myself clear?!

♪

Jeff: Okay.

Is everything to your satisfaction, mrs. Smith?

Just how I'd always pictured it,

Mr. Jones.

(sighs) let's see.

60 for the cab, 30 for the room,

That leaves us with just under 300.

I can get more tomorrow.

Yeah, but not near here.

We have to be careful,

Stay invisible.

God, we were shot at tonight.

(whispers): Yeah.

We should be safe here though, for now.

And after all of this, I mean, even if we get through it,

How are we supposed to get back to our normal lives?

What would you be doing tonight?

You know, if we weren't...?

I would, uh...

Probably still be at work.

Or, uh, at a late-night movie with friends.

Watching tv.

(chuckles)

How about you?

I don't know.

Probably chasing down some story.

Holed up in a fleabag motel.

(loud bang outside)

I don't think that was anything.

(whispers): Jeff...

...Are we gonna be okay?

We didn't bring this.

But if stuart reynolds wants a fight, he's gonna get it.

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