Original subtitles

So tell me how this works.

I don't know.

I close my eyes. I open them. Same as you.

Let's just start at the beginning.

No.

Let's start it right now.

Fair enough.

I understand you've gone back to work.

Mm-hmm.

Okay, you're working with a partner.

New guy.

Big.

They just want someone to hold my hand until I know I'm okay.

And are you okay?

Yes.

Witnesses. Yeah, I interviewed about 20.

I was wearing the part, came out after it, but didn't actually see the cab

driver get shot.

But this one guy, Mr. Weaver, he lives right above the... Where is he?

He's over there, sir.

Thank you.

Good, thanks. I'm sorry, you saw the whole thing?

Um, well, not the crime exactly.

I just heard some shots, and then I looked out and saw some guy run away.

Where did he run?

It was up the block that way, and then into that alley around the corner. But,

uh, didn't I already tell you this?

Yes, and thanks for your help.

Thank you.

Sir, as I was trying to say, the witness is on the ground, confirmed.

There's a camera on that building over there. Go see if it caught anything

useful.

Thank you, sir.

I've been passed over for detective twice before this assignment, so I'm

pretty sure I'll still be in uniform if you hadn't requested me.

I didn't request anyone.

If you got promoted, it has nothing to do with me. They probably don't want to

waste anyone else's time babysitting me.

Now go check the camera.

And then what?

Then I go home.

Hey. Hey.

You're just in time to help me clean up.

You finished downstairs already?

Yeah. I did the study, too.

Oh.

You're quick.

I'd still be on the first wall.

Did she start redecorating the house after the accident?

Right after the funeral.

It's a common reaction, just looking for ways to start fresh.

Has she gotten to your son's room?

I don't think she's even been in there yet.

And then what?

I wake up.

Morning. Morning.

My turn.

I gotta go.

So, uh, what about the match?

What about it?

I was thinking of coming.

Whatever you want.

And you said the tennis is new?

Yeah. Well, sort of. His mom's, uh... was a very good player. She played in

college. She taught him.

He used to play a lot until he discovered football.

But he's decided to take it up again.

Since your wife's funeral.

Yeah.

What's the purpose of the rubber band?

Nothing.

It helps me keep things straight.

Green's Rex's favorite color.

I wear a red one with Hannah.

You mean in your dreams?

Yeah.

What else?

Morning,

Detective.

You see this coffee maker?

Uh-huh.

$600.

My ex-wife, she's more than one of these.

I told her she wanted a $600 coffee maker. She should not have married a

police. Eventually, we agreed on that.

Tell me what you see. I'll tell you what you miss.

Husband and wife victims?

Mm-hmm.

Helpful stab wounds, some signs to put up a fight. Also some signs that they

lost. Your money, wallet, purse?

Gone, along with one of the cars, a BMW.

All right, so what am I missing?

Hmm? Home invasion turned messy.

This is why I've avoided success at all costs. I mean, you work your whole life

to get some nice stuff just so somebody can come along and kill you for it.

Calendar on the fridge says the girl was out of practice.

Open the tracker down now.

Also says the parents should have been at a meeting.

Bet they wish they'd gone.

You smell that?

Come on, you know I've had a cold since the Clinton administration.

Ah, girls hear what had happened.

How do you know?

She hid in the closet, pissed herself.

So either she ran when the killer left, or he took her.

Damn, that's what I get for hoping.

People!

New deal!

And this has been happening since the accident?

Yeah.

It's fascinating.

Not to be insensitive, it's just that we come up with all sorts of ways to get

through the loss of a loved one, like your son taking up his mother's sport to

maintain some sense of connection with her.

But your mind, it simply created an entire reality where you haven't

actually lost your wife at all.

I don't think I've ever seen a coping mechanism quite like it.

An elaborate and ongoing dream in which you haven't lost your son.

relieving you of the obligation of dealing with his death.

Maybe.

I'm sorry?

Whether I'm with my wife or with my son, it all feels completely real to me. You

mean you're not sure which is a dream?

Meaning you can't tell whether you're awake or asleep at this very moment.

Incredible. Of course I'm awake.

I'm awake with my wife, and I close my eyes. I open them.

I'm awake with my son.

Well, I can assure you, Detective Britton, this is not a dream.

What?

That's exactly what the other shrink said.

Take a look at this.

Get out of the ass for a better angle.

Boom.

Mm-hmm. Hey, right there.

Turns right to the camera.

We keep a mental look at it.

Why would he do that?

Detectives, we've got another one.

Another what?

Dead cabbie.

Cab pulls up, door opens, two loud bands pop up, everybody scatters.

Driver runs up on the sidewalk while the suspect walks right into the crowd.

Skinny cowboy hat, big sunglasses?

Mm-mm, overweight, heavy beard, some kind of bald cap.

Well, that's wonderful.

We got a killer with those costume changes.

Let me guess, he got himself caught in camera again.

Hey, Jimmy, give him the photo.

Here you go.

Almost like he posed for it.

Now you start taking statements, I'll see if I can find anything out about the

driver. Yes, sir.

Captain's moving me.

Over to Western.

What?

Why? Calling it a promotion, which is what they call it when they split us up.

I figure they don't want my desk anywhere near yours.

You watch yourself with him.

Captain isn't moving me and getting a man to look over your shoulder for

nothing.

There's nothing for him to see. I'm fine.

Which is what I told him. And I'm being transferred.

So which is the faster way for him to get to where he wants to go?

Telling Chief what she wants to hear?

Or telling her that you're fine?

Detective, this is a safe place.

Doctor-patient confidentiality means that what you share with me stays with

me. I'm not here to judge. I'm here to help.

You're not here to judge?

My job depends on what you write down on that piece of paper. You're doing your

job, detective.

I don't see any reason to change that.

In fact, I see value in you returning to a familiar routine.

But the loss you've suffered is enormous.

And for your health, you have to process it and deal with it, and I can help.

But not if you don't let me.

Have you told your wife about what you were experiencing?

At first, I told her everything.

How we'd given up football and gone back to tennis.

About the girl who kept calling him.

I don't know. I think maybe I thought I could be a bridge or something.

Even if they couldn't see each other, maybe if I told her about him, it would

be like we were all still together.

No, but to her, he's not still alive.

And hearing about it, talking about it wasn't comforting.

It was torture.

Just as you continue to imagine a life with him, your wife is coping by

beginning to imagine a life without him. But I assure you, however she might

appear, she's not grieving any less.

Did she tell you why she wants to move?

She says it's too hard to live with the empty room upstairs.

And yet, you're determined to stay there.

For me, the room upstairs isn't empty.

Well, thanks for your help.

Yep.

Hey, Bert.

Yeah?

We got a stolen car found in the neighborhood. It's got to be how the

killer got to the scene. The neighbors say they saw it as early as 5 p.m. The

time of death is until 9.

So if he just wants to rip off a couple of rich people, what's he waiting for?

The girl.

She doesn't get dropped off until late 45, 15 minutes later. The parents are

dead and they're out of there. You say they're supposed to be in a meeting? Uh

-huh. So the guy thinks he's going to find her alone when he doesn't. He knows

her, he knows them. This wasn't a robbery.

This was a planned abduction.

I thought the watch came at her. Okay, come on.

I got something I gotta do.

Now? I just need an hour.

Two, max.

For what?

I told someone I'd be somewhere.

Yeah!

After two years playing football, I didn't expect him to end up in the

final.

Tara, I'm the coach.

All right, how are you doing?

He's exceptionally talented.

He had a very good teacher.

I'm so sorry.

Your wife was an amazing person.

Thanks.

You know, we used to play doubles together.

Very briefly.

She used to mop the floor with us kids who thought we were ready for the tour.

She's the one who should have played professionally.

You think so?

I did. She was better than me.

I guess the grind just didn't appeal to her.

Appeal to you, though?

Thought it would be a lot more winning Wimbledon, less qualifying in New

Jersey.

I don't really know what he's doing out there.

He just... It was his mother we used to talk to.

You know?

We've talked about it a little.

Really?

What does he say?

He misses her a lot.

Helps him miss her a little less.

Matt's point.

You know, if he wins this easily after a long layout, it may never get him to

practice.

Yeah!

Alex?

Hey.

Rex. Is something okay?

Hey, you're okay.

Okay.

That is the best show on TV.

No way.

I watch Total Garbage TV and I don't even watch that. Come on, it's about

models. I think that holds a different appeal for a 15-year-old boy than it

does for me.

What about you, Michael?

You have a favorite show?

Yeah, I like the one with the deranged chef.

Really?

I always thought Mama quoted that.

No, that's me.

Why, you like it?

It's okay.

Did you see the one where I made that guy... It's fine.

Sorry.

Yeah.

Yeah, I gotta take Rex home and then I can take him if you want. Yeah, I get

her out of town You sure that's okay I'll be right

there Thanks Dad

um,

I'm glad you came today me too

It's your idea or Tara's?

She's good at this kind of stuff.

All right.

I'll see you at home. I won't be late.

I promise.

What do we got?

A lot of security found the parents' car.

Now, from the blood trail here, it looks like the kidnapper takes the girl out of

the stolen Beeman and sticks her into whatever was parked in Space 572.

Take a look.

That was drizzling an hour ago. The crime got shot these before the ground

dried. Now, the plan is we're going to get the plate numbers of all the cars in

the lot, see if anybody saw anything.

See if they remember what was parked in space 572. Mm-hmm.

Actually, let's see if they remember what was parked behind them in space

611. 611.

Why?

Well, look, they both got a dry spot about the same, so I figure 611 left the

same time as 572.

Whoever was parked in 611... Probably the last person to see the kidnapper's

car. Wait a minute, sir. You're saying you want to ask people about the space

the car wasn't parked in?

You know what? I'll call myself.

Just send me all the numbers. I'll call from home.

You okay?

Yeah.

How's Rex?

I mean, how's he doing?

He lost his mother.

How's anybody supposed to handle that?

Don't forget, we have dinner tonight.

Reservations at 8 o'clock.

Mm-hmm.

Um, do me a favor. Don't wear any of your suits from work.

They creep me out.

Hey, Vega!

Yeah? Who pulled the tapes?

The security tapes? Yeah. We've seen them like a hundred times.

This guy.

Once he ditches the disguise, he can come back and stand in the crowd all

day. We'd never know it. Why would he do that?

Think about it. Look into the camera, the disguises. He loves that he can

practically turn himself in and we still can't catch him.

I'm willing to bet he likes to have a front row seat to watch his flail. Now,

we run the tapes for the hours after the murders.

Maybe we can catch a face that pops up in both crowds.

Yeah. Blackbeard in a wig matching the eyewitness descriptions turned up in a

dumpster 15 blocks from the second cab murder scene.

Managed to pull a single red hair from the wig.

We'll run the DNA.

Oh, great.

Yeah, but the database is so small.

Unless he's been in some serious trouble before, we probably won't get a hit.

All right, thanks.

Well, we know we're looking for a redhead.

That's something, right?

Yeah. Pull the tapes.

All right.

First stop, 611 Waverly.

All right, Ginger. Where are you? What did you say?

Ginger? No.

611 Waverly.

At the restaurant. When the first cabbie got killed.

That's the address.

Why?

There's a Waverly parking lot out by the docks, right?

Well, what does that have to do with this?

Fred? Hey, you okay?

Play the tape.

Well, I'd say it's entirely reasonable.

It's even expected that these sorts of details would begin to cross over.

The things you're wrestling with in real life are likely to manifest themselves

in your dream.

But I knew about the Waverly parking lot in Space 611 before I knew the address

of the first cab driver murder.

So how could I have dreamed it before I knew it?

But did you?

You said yourself they were on the paperwork.

You were at the location.

Even if you didn't consciously note it, your brain might have.

And if it found it important enough, the details, Waverly and 611, would...

simply manifest themselves in your dreams via this imaginary parking lot.

Or I really saw it in the parking lot first.

And it's repeating itself now in this dream here to tell me that there's

something important going on there.

Detective Britton, as I said, there's no therapeutic value in allowing you to

pretend that your realities are interchangeable.

There's no kidnapped child.

There's no car in a parking lot, and sadly but crucially, there's no world in

which your son survived the accident.

Well, with all due respect, Doctor, I don't know that that's true.

If it isn't, then there's a kidnapped girl who needs my help.

Okay, so then let me ask you this.

Which murder came first?

It's a cab driver.

So you begin working on one case here in reality, and then suddenly you begin

working another case there in your dream.

And we should also talk about the kind of case that you're working in your

dream.

A missing child.

It's the very issue you're struggling to come to terms with.

So your subconscious turns it into a case you have to solve.

I understand the pain you feel, detective, but that pain... is echoing

in your dreams to tell you you have to deal with it and not to ignore it.

And when you do, these dreams, fantasies, will end.

And eventually, so will your pain.

You're saying as soon as I decide which one is dead, then they'll stop showing

up in my dreams?

I believe that's very likely.

What? Nothing.

It's just nice to be out.

You already applied?

What?

You think I'm too old?

Oh, I'm sure you can do keg stands for the best of them. I just... What about

your work?

I quit.

Really?

Okay.

Uh, and where are the schools at?

Well, one of them's in the city and the other one is in Oregon.

Oregon.

Is that why you wanted to get dressed up and come out?

Have this little chat?

No, I wanted to get dressed up and go out because I think it's time we start

doing things again.

I'm in a restaurant in New York like this.

Fancy place.

You pretended to be a food critic and got us that great table, that huge meal,

all for free.

What made you think of that?

I was just thinking about how persuasive you can be.

You want some wine?

Yeah, I think.

I think we should get pregnant.

I know, I know it's fast.

And say what you will about us not working through our issues yet, but it's

not about replacing him.

Okay, it's not.

I just know that I'm gonna want to have another one.

And I don't want to be 100 when he's in high school.

How do you know?

I'm gonna be a boy.

When he's in high school and you said so.

How do you know?

I don't.

Yeah.

So what do you think?

I think we should think about it.

For a while.

Okay? Mm-hmm.

How's the house coming along?

Just one more room?

Yeah.

Did I tell you about my partner's kid playing tennis?

Hm?

This kid reminds me of you.

Oh. You know? We hit the ball. I mean, 25 aces in the

final. I mean, he crushed the surface. Like, he poured his whole body into it,

you know?

shoot the forehand and catching it like you're always saying damn it michael i'm

sorry you can't do that to me are you having these dreams again

i have one he's gone i miss him too michael

desperately

Well, you know, he's explaining to me stuff about sleep, dreams, how

everything works.

Is it helping?

Yeah.

I feel better every time I open my eyes.

You suddenly seem very concerned about what's real and what's not.

Dr. Lee said a couple of things. I'm having trouble letting go of.

I think it's useful to ask yourself why you might have created a therapist who

is so confrontational.

Is that your vision of how this should work?

No, it's the whole point. Why would I invent someone who argues with me?

Dr. Lee would say that the reason that you're so gentle, agreeing with me,

because you're... because you are me.

So it's his very nature that has you somehow focused on the idea that he's

real.

and has this all suddenly feeling like your dream.

Okay.

What?

Just give me a minute.

What are you doing?

Here.

Turn to any page.

Just pick one.

And now pick a spot about halfway down and start reading out loud.

The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second

year by the people of the several states.

And the electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite...

What's going on? What am I doing here?

Have you memorized the entire Constitution?

No. Then if this is a dream, and your son has really died instead of your

wife, and you're just making all of this up, explain to me how you could

turn to a random page and start quoting it back word for word.

Tell Dr. Lee that Dr.

Evans says that it's not as simple as he made it sound.

Why would you do that?

You seem distracted by this fear.

That Dr.

Lee had made some sort of bulletproof argument, and I just thought that... He

said nobody should...

Constitution. So how could I do that?

It's me.

Where are you? I mean, I don't know where you are, so I'm not sure what's

going on.

It would be great to hear your voice, okay?

Just give me a call.

Rex? Rex?

No, no, no.

She should be here.

She's here.

I'm still here.

What's going on?

I was calling your name. Why didn't you hear me calling your name? Listen to me.

Listen to me. It's okay.

All right? I'm not going anywhere.

Mr. Rand.

Can you at least tell me what we're looking for? Maybe I can help.

I'm not sure.

Then why are we here?

I had a dream about it.

Or I'm having a dream.

What? Nothing.

Look, we still have partial face matches from the tapes to look over, okay?

We got witnesses from the other scene.

The witness?

Yeah. The guy from 611, Weaver. Mm-hmm.

He said he saw the killer.

Run up the street, turn left into the alley.

Yeah, all the witnesses confirmed that he ran in that direction. That's what

the security tape shows. I mean, that's what happened.

Did you go up to his apartment and look out of his window?

No, why would I?

Everyone had the same story.

There's no window on the other side.

If you're on the ground, you can see the alley from here. You can see the killer

turn into it. From up there, there's no way you know that.

Unless you're the one who actually did it.

Is there another entrance?

Yeah, in the back.

Cover.

Hey!

Lever! Stop!

Police officer, get out of the way!

Guy had an apartment full of costumes, teaches eighth grade math.

You were joking, right?

No, what?

Coming back here because of a dream.

I mean, that's not what we came, right?

As you're doing stuff like that, it's the sort of thing they've been asking me

about. What have you been saying?

Nothing.

Mike, you've been staring at that pavement for the last hour. I think it's

told you what it knows.

Look, the blood trail led right to the car in 572.

Why does it matter what was parked in 611?

I mean, don't you think if they would have seen anything like, say, a bleeding

little girl being forced out of one car and into another, that we would have

heard from them by now?

Wait.

Wait, that's it?

What's it?

We assume that these vehicles left at about the same time. Okay.

What if I left at exactly the same time? You see that dry patch right there?

That's a tow hitch.

It wasn't a pickup truck here. It was a trailer, an RV in 611.

We got four camper hits in the same area we canvassed for sex offenders.

Three of them are sitting in their driveways, and they're sending teams to

check them out.

And the other just turned up by a lake in the foothills.

Ranger says the guy's been there since Monday.

Day of the murders?

Uh-huh.

I seen his ID.

Does the guy have red hair?

Red hair?

What?

No reason.

Okay, look, tell them to keep a distant perimeter.

We're on our way.

Moving up.

What do you got?

Suspect's inside with the little girl.

Yes, sir.

It's the best approach.

Didn't I tell you what would happen if you tried to get away?

She says he kept talking about marrying her.

That the Lord had brought them together.

You want to tell me how you knew he had red hair?

A hunch.

Been a cop for 20 years. I only seen hunches on TV.

So you're going to stick with that?

Uh-huh.

Okay.

She got family to go to?

In a hut or something.

I'm not even sure she understands what happened yet.

Remember when you used to think that solved and fixed meant the same thing?

Your mind will allow you to go endlessly back and forth between these realities

if you let it.

You've created a mental Mobius strip.

How would you like me to help you if you're not willing to participate in a

realistic examination of your situation?

I never said I needed help.

They did.

I'm fine.

Your blood alcohol level was elevated the night of the accident, wasn't it?

I didn't have anything to drink.

Well, that's what you said.

But the medical report says that it was elevated, was it not?

Have you considered the possibility that your condition comes not so much from a

benevolent desire to keep your son alive, but an intense need to shield

yourself from your own responsibility for his death?

It does raise a whole host of questions.

I'm telling you.

There is no way that I drank that night.

But you don't remember anything about what led to the accident?

No. Maybe this is all your way of trying to help yourself remember.

Just as you seem to work out your cases in your dreams, perhaps the fact that

your wife survived in one and your son in the other, or that you have different

partners in each.

is actually all a way of getting you to think about that night.

Clues, so to speak, about what actually happened.

Detective Britton, this fantasy is far from benign. While your brain should be

resting, recharging, your subconscious is using it to hold up a detailed and

complicated alternate reality.

If we don't deal with that, this situation will eventually become

unsustainable.

Look at your hand.

The moment of panic, of confusion that led you to do that to yourself, that's

just the tip of an iceberg.

The thing is, Doctor, yes, I still see my wife and my

son.

But I've also watched both of them lowered into the ground.

And when you see a loved one buried,

You have one thought over and over and over again.

And that's it. You would do anything, anything to get them back.

So if you're telling me that the price of seeing them, of feeling them,

of having them in my life is my

sanity, it's a price I will happily pay.

come and see you and talk to you as long as they make me but trust me

when it comes to letting one of them go i

have no desire to ever make progress

I will.

Thursday, March 1st, 10, 9 Central, on NBC.