Original subtitles

Dr. Daniel Critchley has just met a unique patient.

Either this man is insane, or the world is about to come to an end.

Come on, Dr. Critchley, how it goes? Another day in paradise, Charlie.

Good morning.

Good morning, doctor.

Good morning, Ann.

Your wife called. Their flight arrives at 6.30 p.m.

this evening. That's the gate and flight information. Great.

And there's a police officer waiting in your office with a psych evaluation.

An inmate?

No, he was arrested yesterday in the park.

Apparently he attacked someone for sitting on what he said was the wrong park bench.

Terrific. Is there any coffee?

Plenty of coffee.

No filters.

Hello, I'm Dr. Critchley. Danforth.

Thanks, officer. You can, uh...

You can leave. I'll take it from here.

As I said, my name is Dan Critchley. I'm a staff psychiatrist here at County.

You're being held on observation to determine

whether or not you're a danger to yourself.

Or to anyone else.

Well, then you better let me go right now,

because my being here is a danger to everyone.

Now, why would you say that?

Martin, do you mind if I call you Martin?

Suit yourself.

Why did you attack that man in the park? Was it someone you knew?

I never saw him before in my life.

Did you feel he was a threat to you?

To everyone.

What can you tell me about that behavior? What behavior?

The ritual you've been performing right there.

Ritual? I'm just reading the card.

This, this, that is a ritual.

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

It's nothing to be ashamed of.

You probably have obsessive-compulsive disorder.

It's a very treatable illness.

I don't have an illness.

You have an obsessive thought and a compulsion to do something about it.

So tell me, how much time do these activities take up on a normal day?

Martin, the sooner you talk to me, the sooner you can get out of here.

But if you refuse to cooperate, I can hold you indefinitely.

Suit yourself.

And you should understand that if I must, I will have you treated forcibly.

No.

That would be an error, a tragic error.

Something you'd regret for the rest of your life.

Why is that? Look, if I talk to you,

if I can convince you that I'm telling the truth, will you let me go?

Yes.

Do I have your word?

You have my word.

I remember as a child, looking out of the window, making a deal with myself.

If that bird...

Flew onto the telegraph wire, stayed there for more than, say, ten seconds.

Nothing bad would happen to my mother or father or my sister.

I started doing it every day.

What if the bird flew away?

Oh.

I get up in the middle of the night, flip the lights on and off 20 times,

or I'd space everything on my bookshelf exactly the same distance apart.

Then I know that everything would be all right.

With what, Martin?

Martin?

It's all getting so complicated.

It's harder to stop people from noticing.

Could you tell me how to keep people from noticing?

Listen, I can do a lot better than that.

I can help you stop.

I tried once.

And then... Hurry up, Martin!

Let's go swimming!

That step didn't count.

It was only the heel. Who are you talking to?

The next step's one that's really important. You're so weird, Martin!

I'm a weirdo! Ha ha!

I'm still not quite sure why I broke the pattern.

I guess I didn't like him making fun of me.

It was more than that.

I wanted to test it to find out what would really happen.

You might think you caused that car to hit your friend,

but nothing could be further from the truth.

Martin, did you hear what I just said?

Just a sec. What do you think would have happened if you hadn't finished?

Okay, let's talk about your family. Tell me about your parents.

Are they particularly religious?

No.

No, not really.

Do you have any hobbies? What do you like to do for fun?

Well, I don't really have a lot of free time.

It says here you're an architect.

I was.

Lost my job. Because of your activities?

Yeah, I quit.

My co-workers were talking about me, saying that there was something wrong with me.

Well, I didn't want to tell them the truth.

I didn't want them to think that I was crazy.

Marty, what are you doing?

I was just finishing up some revisions.

Uh-oh, I dropped my pen.

I only dropped the pen eight times instead of ten.

I knew I should have finished, but he wouldn't leave.

Hey, Marty, why don't we go grab some lunch?

We need to have a little talk with you.

I really just have to finish up here.

It's okay, Marty. You can turn it in an hour late.

Oh, excuse me. I seem to have mislaid my wallet. I won't be a sec.

It's okay, Marty.

It's on me.

After that, I was spending up to eight hours a day on them.

On the rituals?

Yes.

I lost my family, job.

I ruined my credits, alienated all my friends.

I was terrified of bringing harm to them.

Everything I'd ever worked for my whole life fell apart.

But it didn't matter.

I knew what was important.

Your boss's death wasn't your fault, Martin. It was a tragic accident.

And Billy?

It was a coincidence.

Come on. There are no coincidences.

Listen, Martin. Look, what would you do if the situation were reversed?

What if you had the contract?

Contract? Contract with whom?

With God.

Can you imagine the responsibility, the burden?

What if you were the only one holding it all together?

What do you think, you idiot? The world!

I'm holding the world together.

Daniel Critchley, graduated with honors.

Nice.

Was that crooked?

A little.

See, that's a masking technique. You make it look as though you're interested,

but it's really one of your rituals.

Well, you think you're pretty good at your job, don't you?

I think my work has been effective over the years, yeah.

Well, I'm good at mine, too.

In fact, I've gotten so good at it through the

years that it's almost as natural as breathing.

If only I didn't see these patterns.

Patterns? What patterns?

Most people look right at them, but they never see them.

Huh?

And where do you see them?

Everywhere.

You see them here?

You see them now?

The number four seems to be a reoccurring theme with you, doesn't it?

Yes, one of the numbers. Eight, ten, even numbers.

Never three.

Five is good.

All right, tell me about the patterns.

Do the patterns instruct you on how to perform your rituals?

Yes, they're indicators. They point the way.

For instance, I dropped some garbage.

Out of it appeared this pattern.

What does that one do? Oh, you don't want to know. Tell me. What does it do?

It's not a big one.

You want to know? Yeah?

This keeps your tie blue.

This keeps the fish in the sea.

This keeps people from hanging themselves. Yeah,

see? There, you think I'm crazy, right?

Look, you don't understand.

I try to resist. Believe me, I fall back.

Once for a whole month.

I only brush my teeth five times a day instead of six.

Okay. What happened?

Well, nothing. So I grew bolder. I always go exactly the same way to work.

Well, I decided to go a different route every day for a week.

And?

Nothing.

Not a thing. I thought it was over. I thought the patents had been broken.

So, for the first time, I was finally able to relax.

Imagine what would happen if the US was just hours away from running out of gas.

People panicked that perishables would be the next thing to run out.

It ended where it all began, outside Stanlow Refinery in northwest Washington State.

The rioting broke out earlier this afternoon at the sleepy seaside vacation spot.

So far, police opened fire on us.

But then as I watched the glistening of violence on the news,

I realized the message is crystal clear. It's all total chaos without me.

The symmetry begins with me and ripples out

to the farthest regions of space and time.

I'm not allowed any random acts.

It's a vicious, vicious cycle, Martin. You have to break free.

That's not possible. Look, you're not listening to me.

I don't know why I was chosen,

but these thoughts playing over and over in my mind

like a tape locked in a loop, I... I hate it.

But I know it's necessary.

I know that it would be negligence of catastrophic

proportions if I were to shirk my duty, even for a moment.

Stop it. You're stronger than you think you are. It's not me I'm worried about.

This prevents a plane from crashing.

You know you're not holding planes in the air by going like this.

You have a medical problem.

You have a medical problem, as I told you, is treatable.

I'm going to treat you with a combination of behavioral therapy and medication.

I'll observe you for the next 72 hours and make

a determination where to go from there. Wait a minute.

You promised.

Our deal was you had to convince me, and I'm not convinced. No.

And the patient's ready.

Ready? Ready for what? Think I'm gonna start you on a naphronil.

It'll take effect almost immediately.

I'm not taking drugs. I'm not taking drugs, doctor.

No! Wait a minute! I have to be in control here! I have to stay in control!

You betrayed me!

I've got to be in control!

What are you doing? What's going on?

No, no, please, no.

No, no.

Give him a little stick.

No, no, no, don't, don't. Ow!

Oh, God!

Isolation.

Oh, that... Oh, I don't feel good.

It was... Oh.

Mm-hmm.

See that, Martin? You stopped.

The world's not falling apart.

You're gonna be okay.

Look.

Ann, have you seen my keys anywhere?

How would I know where your keys are?

Who put this filing cabinet in here?

Not me.

I thought you said we were out of coffee filters.

Ann?

Good night!

I think about it, and yeah, it makes sense.

Charlie! No one has any idea why the Cub Scouts leapt from the bridge or why

emergency crews have been so slow in responding for all calls for help.

Coming up in the next five minutes, sports, followed by weather... Charlie,

what the hell is going on?

Be with you in a second, Doc.

Thank you. No problem.

Meanwhile, on the lighter side of things,

they are still pulling the bodies out of the bubble

from the fiery wreckage of East-West flight 114,

which slammed into an office building downtown 20 minutes ago.

So bring those marshmallows.

Martin, wake up. Martin, you have to wake up. It's Dr. Critchley.

Wake up. Hello, Doctor.

Listen, horrible things are happening. A plane went down.

Now, my wife and daughter are due any minute. You have to resume the rituals.

Oh.

Great.

That medication you gave me did wonders for me. You were right.

No, no, no, no, no. You were right. Look at my tie.

Now, what's the pattern? Give me the pattern.

I like that tie.

The ritual for the planes.

I think it's better than the blue one. The ritual keeps them in the air.

Don't you remember the ritual?

Oh, that was such a long time ago.

I remember part of it was...

It was here and then up on your shoulder. How

many times did you pat? How many times?

Was it four?

Was it four? Was it eight? What was it? You were doing this, right?

Was it four? So it's one, two, three, four. One,

two, three, four. One, two, three, four.

Is that what you were doing?

One, two, three, four. Is this right? Is it right?

Hello?

Never mind.

When you land, stay at the airport. Just stay there.

Doctor.

You have the contract now.

Maybe it takes a madman to know the mind of God.

Sandra has lost one of her five senses, but she's

about to gain another, a sense no one else has.

A sense that just might get her killed.

Raise your hand if you hear anything, even the slightest sound.

Maximum level.

Sandra, we talked about this. It was an experimental procedure.

There was always a chance there'd be no improvement.

I know this is hard.

Please!

Sandra, you've been deaf since the age of six. You've adjusted well.

Sandra, you've been deaf since the age of six. You've adjusted well.

I'm sorry.

You never will.

Hey, I got shot too.

I come to, Joey's dead, I got a gun in my hand.

Somebody dumbed me to look like that.

You'll excuse the court if we don't rush to set you free, Mr. Perez.

Y'all ain't hearing a word I said, man.

A witness saw you and the victim arguing just prior to the shooting.

They found bullets from your gun in the victim's body, Mr. Perez.

Someone clean his hands.

Blood.

Blood.

Sticky blood. Someone clean his hands.

His hand, that's where the gun was.

The gun was in his hand.

Never saw the shot.

Red blood, red mama.

Wipe it off.

Your Honor, the people would like to call Detective Bruce Malone

of the City Narcotics Squad.

Place your hand on the Bible, sir. Do you promise to tell the truth,

the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? I do.

I will help you, God.

I do help you, God.

Detective Malone.

You were the first officer at the scene of the shooting, am I correct?

Yes.

And can you tell the court how you came to witness the murder of Joseph Medina?

I was on a routine surveillance detail following Mr.

Medina on what looked like a large drug exchange. And what did you do?

I put the gun in his hand.

I hid nearby and watched the two suspects as they approached each other.

I saw Mr. Perez and Mr. Medina arguing.

And then what happened?

The defendant drew a gun and fired at the victim several times.

The victim returned fire, hitting the defendant in the leg before going down.

The defendant then emptied his weapon at Mr. Medina before I could move in.

I then announced my presence, disarmed the defendant,

and read him his rights. They're all the same.

Gangs, drugs. They killed Tim.

Please continue, detective.

At that time, the defendant confessed to shooting Mr. Medina in a fit of rage.

That's a damn lie, man.

This guy's framing me.

Order. The defendant will be silent.

Did Mr. Perez tell you why he shot Mr. Medina?

Something about Mr. Medina ripping him off, shortchanging

him on a drug shipment. Keep the money.

Pay for Tim.

Damn it, I didn't shoot nobody.

Somebody shot me.

One more word, Mr. Perez, and I will add contempt

to your list of charges. Thank you, Your Honor.

About the money, Detective Malone.

The defense claims there was over $400,000 being exchanged in that drug deal.

I never saw any money.

Just a bad scene.

The money on the bus.

I only wish I had acted sooner. Maybe then Mr. Medina

would still be alive. So help me, God.

I'll help you, God.

I killed him.

I can't do it.

Miss, wait a minute. I want to talk to you. Miss!

I'm not pretty. She knows.

Crush her throat.

I'm a public defender, Ms. McLennan.

The county is not going to pay for an investigation

based on a sketch artist's intuition.

Do you have any evidence?

Excuse me.

Court's about to start.

Knock yourself out.

You're dead.

You've heard the testimony of Detective Malone.

It was that man, that man, Fernando Perez,

who pulled the trigger and shot Joseph Medina.

Get the money.

Listen for her footsteps.

There you are.

Hold my hand.

My hand, deaf girl.

I'll kill you nice, I promise.

Let me make you quiet.

Quiet and deaf.

Deaf and mute.

Another kill. Why not?

Someone's mama. No, don't.

Think.

My mama, what about her?

Our mama.

Tim's hands.

My hands.

Sticky hands.

Sticky.

You know. I've seen you in court. You're just

a damn sketch artist. A deaf sketch artist.

How... How do you know?

Shut your eyes.

I smacked him. I smacked my little brother.

He ran across the street.

The gang shooting.

Into the bullets.

Bloody, sticky hands.

I never told Mama how I hit him.

Not even on her deathbed.

I'm sorry, Kim. I'm sorry, Mama.

How can you hear my thoughts?

I don't know, maybe because I write so much to him.

I'm forced, as you need it, to have someone hear yours.

All clean!

You have the right to remain silent. There's nothing left to say.

I won't trouble you anymore.

Forgive me.

A woman who needed to hear a voice.

A man who needed to be heard.

Be careful what you wish for.