Scene
1 -
Dangerous Nighttime Drive in a City on Edge
INT. MAZDA - CONTINUOUS
SIXTO REYES (30s) nervously steers the Mazda. His daughter
LUCIA REYES, an 8-year-old with bobbed hair, a pink bomber
jacket and a birthmark, sits in the passenger seat, eating
chicken nuggets and doing homework.
The Mazda navigates around a burning cop car, turns down a
side street.
A group of ARYAN BIKERS clog the road, moving slowly,
looking for trouble. Sixto nervously eyes the temp gauge as
it creeps up... up... hitting the red... maxing out.
He nervously flips on the heater to release hot air from the
engine, tries to roll the window down – it's broken.
The car's an oven, crawling through the city on the hottest
night of the year. Beads of sweat stain Kayla's homework.
The Mazda creeps past a masked group running with bats and
bars. Shouts of "Go back to Mexico!" fill the night.
The 'check engine' light comes on.
Sixto looks in the rear-view mirror. A TATTOOED BIKER
follows on a motorcycle, his jacket emblazoned: AFN.
The car loses power. The interior light strobes, revealing
Sixto's terrified eyes in the rear-view mirror as the Mazda
disappears beneath a bridge marked by a sign - DOLLY LAKE.
Everything goes BLACK.
Genres:
["Drama","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
2 -
Urgent Search for Missing Child After Shooting
EXT. LOS ANGELES STREET - LATER
DETECTIVES RAE WHEELER and BEN HOLLOWAY walk through pools
of flickering streetlight towards Sixto's darkened Mazda,
which now sits crookedly with two wheels on the curb.
Wheeler – late 30s – sports a cheap windbreaker and shoes
she can run in. She carries a steaming paper cup from Mister
Coffee adorned with a smear of dollar-store lipstick.
2.
In stark contrast is Ben Holloway, a meticulously groomed,
well-built Black man in his early 40s.
They’re greeted by UNIs CAL Studdebaker (crew cut, mustache,
late 20s), and VINCENT GUERRERO, a Mexican-American man in
his 30s, trimmed mustache, 180 pounds of knotty muscle.
GUERRERO
CSI is on the way.
Sirens fill the air in every direction.
HOLLOWAY
Not anytime soon. Start processing.
Wheeler flicks on a small flashlight, peers through the open
passenger door of the car - Sixto is sprawled in the
driver's seat, half his face painting the window.
WHEELER
Who's the vic?
STUDDEBAKER
Sixto Reyes. No driver's license -
just a Mexican Federal Election Card.
A single shot with a .45. TOD
probably between 7:30 and 8.
The beam of Wheeler's flashlight falls on a piece of paper
on the seat. She leans in and picks it up - Lucia's
homework. It's half-completed in red pen, ending in a
scrawl. Wheeler shines the light on the car floor and sees a
half-eaten box of chicken nuggets, a red pen.
WHEELER
Shit.
HOLLOWAY
What is it?
WHEELER
(To Studdebaker)
You look at his phone?
STUDDEBAKER
Bagged it for CSI. I figured...
Wheeler holds her hand out. Studdebaker glares at her and
tosses over a sealed baggie with the phone in it.
Wheeler clicks through the phone in the bag...
WHEELER
We've got a missing kid.
3.
She holds it up, still in the bag: A pic of Sixto and Lucia
on the screen, both beaming happily.
Guerrero speaks into his radio...
GUERRERO
I need an APB on a tender-age missing
and endangered. We’re looking for a
10- to 12-year-old Hispanic female
(he scans homework to find name)...
Lucia Reyes. Between 4’8 and 5 feet,
weighing about 70 pounds, last seen
near Vermont and 83rd.
Wheeler tosses the bagged phone back to Studdebaker.
WHEELER
Get a copy of this photo to all UNIs
in a 10-block radius. Have Liz create
a tips website for Lucia right away.
Tell her to log any IP addresses that
visit the page before an official
announcement is made, which will
probably be 48 hours, maybe longer.
Wheeler surveys the scene, her eyes moving in every
direction.
STUDDEBAKER
You kidding me? Half the city is on
fire. We don't have time to track
down every illegal...
Wheeler notices the TATTOOED BIKER loitering in a doorway
across the street, eyeing the scene, before her glance falls
on an old security camera above a bodega up the street. It's
knocked sideways, pointing towards the road.
WHEELER
(To Holloway)
Let's get the footage from that
camera. We need a list of every car
that passed between 7:30 and 8.
Holloway turns to Studdebaker.
HOLLOWAY
Knock on all level 3 offenders in a
4-block radius.
STUDDEBAKER
In Dolly Lake? That's like half the
neighborhood!
4.
HOLLOWAY
Then you'd better run.
Genres:
["Crime","Mystery","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
3 -
Race Against Time: Uncovering Evidence
INT. BODEGA STORE ROOM – LATER
Wheeler and Holloway stare at a cheap TV hooked to a VCR.
They’re surrounded by liquor, scratch-off cards, old
Playboys. No one grows up dreaming of opening a place like
this – except for maybe this SHOPKEEPER, a 40-something
slimeball nervously biting his fingernails.
SHOPKEEPER
Can’t you take it to the station?
HOLLOWAY
We'll be taking it.
SHOPKEEPER
I mean now. Every minute you’re in
here I’m losing business.
HOLLOWAY
Hey, there's a guy with half his head
blown off less than a block from
here. Some monster’s taken a goddamn
girl. Her minutes are more important
than your minutes.
Wheeler's eyes are focused on the TV. The passing cars are
blurry, the angle's too high.
HOLLOWAY (CONTD)
No way we’re getting plates.
WHEELER
Bag up the tape. Get it to Marty. We
need to at least SWAG the makes…
Something on the screen catches her eye.
WHEELER (CONTD)
Stop. Rewind.
Holloway hits the rewind button.
SHOPKEEPER
Tick tick. No ring-ring on the
register. You gonna pay for this?
HOLLOWAY
Let me see your liquor license.
The shopkeeper blanches.
5.
SHOPKEEPER
You're not from the ABC.
HOLLOWAY
Now.
The shopkeeper vanishes from the doorway, no idea if they’re
authorized to do this or not.
WHEELER
Pause it.
The screen freezes. Wheeler squints. She taps the TV.
WHEELER (CONTD)
There. White 2014 Honda Civic.
HOLLOWAY
And?
WHEELER
Damage to the rear driver's side
panel by the tire well. See the
license plate? Covered in mud.
HOLLOWAY
Where you going with this?
WHEELER
You remember Rosa Martinez? Seven
years old, disappeared from Vermont
Vista in March of '17. A white 2014
Civic was caught on camera in the
area. Rear panel damage. Mud on the
plate.
HOLLOWAY
When's the last time you got your
shoes muddy in L.A.? You think he's
hiding his plates?
Wheeler’s already ejecting the video cassette, heading out
the door, through the bodega…
SHOPKEEPER
Funny thing. I can't seem to find
that license. Can I fax you...
But Wheeler’s past him, into the street, shouldering through
a gathering crowd of protesters.
6.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
4 -
Impulsive Pursuit: A Young Girl in Peril
INT/EXT. – UNMARKED CRUISER – LATER
Wheeler and Holloway's unmarked cruiser speeds through
nighttime LA. Wheeler drives, her eyes dancing with thought.
A talk show spills from the radio -
HOST (V.O.)
Come on, Larry! America has the most
well-funded police forces in the
world, and it has by far the highest
crime rates.
Wheeler reaches for a pack of cigarettes on the dash.
HOLLOWAY
So we see how many 2014 Civics in the
state. Run them against Studdebaker's
offender's list.
Wheeler grabs a smoke, lights it, takes a deep drag...
WHEELER
Then Lucia Reyes is dead. If this
guy's a serial abductor, he's not
keeping them alive. Running thousands
of registrations will...
HOST (V.O)
And yet the police force accounts for
over half the city budget!
Wheeler's face clouds with another thought.
WHEELER (CONTD)
Did you see the guy across the
street? In the...
The BUZZ of a phone interrupts her, rattling on the console.
The screen flashes 'Molly', with a pic of a smiling 33-year-
old woman with a happy 5-year-old kid. Wheeler ignores it,
pulls the cruiser up to a red light at an intersection.
HOST (V.O.)
...where unemployment among black men
is over 50%! Now, you redirect some
of that $1.2 billion police budget
into a jobs program, that's what we
mean when we say 'Defund...
Holloway punches the scan button on the car radio.
7.
HOLLOWAY
Dodgers game on? They got a new
center fielder.
Wheeler's not listening, she's looking past him -
HOLLOWAY (CONTD)
Dixon Tyler. Total phenom. Hit a
walk-off homer last night on the
first pitch he saw in the majors.
He catches Wheeler's stare, turns to look out his window...
A car idles in traffic a block west - A WHITE 2014 HONDA
CIVIC, damage to the rear driver's side panel
HOLLOWAY (CONTD) (cont'd)
You think?
She does. Wheeler stomps on the gas...spins the wheel...
lurches across a lane of oncoming traffic and down a narrow
alley...emerging in front of a SCREECHING BMW.
She guns the cruiser around a bus, weaving in and out. The
Civic appears ahead of them. Wheeler pulls around a limo,
moves behind the Civic - spots its muddy license plate.
Holloway grabs the police radio.
HOLLOWAY
Adam Five, code eight. We have a 10-
37 heading west on San Pedro. White
2014 Honda Civic. Plates not
identifiable. Request assistance...
DISPATCH
Copy that.
A FIGURE SUDDENLY SNAPS UP IN THE REAR WINDOW OF THE CIVIC:
a 7-year-old girl, gagged and blindfolded - ghostly in the
cruiser's headlights. Even in LA this is terrifying.
She raises her hands - bound with duct tape - BANGS
desperately on the rear window.
DISPATCH
Negative, Adam Five, do not pursue.
CHP is 20 seconds away...
The Civic accelerates, screeching into a narrow alley as the
cruiser speeds past.
Wheeler yanks the wheel... barreling down the next block...
a hard right... circling back at 80 MPH.
DISPATCH (cont'd)
Adam Five, do you copy? Do not
pursue.
The cruiser tears through the Wholesale District, an
arsonist's playground of cinder-block warehouses and
corrugated metal. The Civic is gone.
Wheeler turns right onto a desolate, weed-choked strip...
And then left, into the deep shadows of a gas silo,
sideswiping a trash barrel.
The cruiser roars out of the darkness into the blaze of
streetlights - the concrete shores of the Los Angeles
River - before emerging right behind the Civic.
A SUDDEN GUNSHOT AND FLASH OF LIGHT FROM THE CIVIC - the
door swings open and the GIRL TUMBLES OUT.
There's no way the cruiser can stop.
Wheeler leans into the steering wheel with all of her
weight. The car SQUEALS past the girl, the wind from the
tires ruffling her hair, careening past a teddy bear that's
fallen out, flipping over the embankment, into the barren LA
River, a ball of flame blooming from the car, swallowing it.
Fire... smoke...
Wheeler crawls out, stumbles through flaming oil puddles,
falls to her knees - in the smoke she sees the blindfolded
girl, her face bloody. Wheeler tries to take a step towards
her... collapses.
Above her, the sky fills with fireworks, the distant chants
of protests. Wheeler's eyes lock on the girl -
SHE'S NOT LUCIA REYES
Everything goes black.
9.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
5 -
Desperate Search in the Dead of Night
INT. MEDICAL CENTER ROOM - NIGHT
Wheeler's eyes flutter open - milky, lost, searching... she
seems to be in a hospital room.
She's attached to a machine by tubes, wearing a heavy rubber
respirator. She motions to a NURSE, who lifts it off.
WHEELER
(Gasping)
Where's... where's the girl?
She sits up - sees the infusion pump, the tubes.
WHEELER (CONTD)
I have to get out of here. We need to
find Lucia before morning.
NURSE
Sorry?
WHEELER
Only 2% of abducted children make it
past the first 48 hours.
NURSE
Easy now, OK? We're going to get a
doctor and a transition specialist in
here to discuss your situation.
WHEELER
A transition special...
Wheeler notices a clock on the wall: 10:18.
WHEELER (CONTD)
Is that AM?! Goddamn it.
She swings her leg over the side of the bed to stand, but
wobbles, falls. Her legs are Jello.
The nurse bends over. Wheeler grabs her arm.
A familiar voice from a silhouette in the doorway...
HOLLOWAY (O.S.)
You look like hell.
Holloway emerges from the shadows. His hair is gray. He's 40
pounds heavier. His armpits are bathed in sweat, showing the
outline of a sleeveless tee under a cheap dress shirt. HE'S
64 YEARS OLD.
Off Wheeler's shocked look...
10.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
6 -
Escape from a 20-Year Coma
INT. MEDICAL CENTER ROOM - LATER
Holloway stands at the foot of Wheeler's bed as the nurse
heads out of the room. The second she's gone he leans over
and starts unplugging Wheeler's tubes.
HOLLOWAY (CONTD)
We're cutting bait. They're refusing
to release you until you've had weeks
of ethylene injections and psych
evaluations, but I need you now.
Holloway leans over, helps her up.
INT. MEDICAL CENTER HALLWAY - LATER
Wheeler's draped in Holloway's trench coat, her arm slung
around his shoulders as they stumble down the hall.
HOLLOWAY
I palmed the nurse's pass. Just...
try to stay inconspicuous.
WHEELER
What the hell is going on, Ben?
HOLLOWAY
You remember having an accident?
WHEELER
Of course. We...
HOLLOWAY
You suffered a grade one TBI. A
subdural hematoma, the cerebral
cortex more or less destroyed. You
were vegetative, doctors said you'd
be dead within the week.
Wheeler's eyes move to the ground as a DOCTOR passes.
HOLLOWAY (CONTD)
I had an old girlfriend from college,
a specialist in neural stem cell
research. She recommended you for
immediate entry into an experimental
stasis program. Thought they'd be
able to fix you in four or five
years.
They pass an observation window looking onto a vast room
filled with cylindrical tanks, in each one a SUSPENDED
BODY - comatose, damaged, waiting for a fix to be invented.
11.
HOLLOWAY (CONTD) (cont'd)
That was 20 years ago.
Wheeler coughs up something sickly, black...
HOLLOWAY (CONTD) (cont'd)
She was always late. It's why we
broke up.
They come to a bank of elevators. Holloway beeps the nurse's
card on an emergency door. He pulls Wheeler into a stairwell
just as the elevator DINGS open and STAFF pour out...
A STAIRWELL - CONTINUOUS
WHEELER
Where's Molly? Call my sister.
Holloway just looks at her. Shakes his head.
WHEELER (CONTD)
Why are you shaking your head, Ben?
Why are you shaking your head!
As they move down the stairs Holloway pushes open a door...
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
7 -
Wheeler's Distress in the Hallway
INT. HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS
They limp down another hall, moving slowly through the
antiseptic, colorless world.
HOLLOWAY
After your accident Molly got a job
at UPS, but it didn't stick. Sam had
problems at school. Cover your eyes.
They both obscure their eyes as they move below a 360-degree
rotating camera.
HOLLOWAY (CONTD)
I did what I could to help. She held
on for five years, but eventually she
moved back to Missouri.
WHEELER
(distraught)
They went back to Carruthersville?
HOLLOWAY (CONTD)
And then... The Event happened.
A SECURITY GUARD passes, eying them with suspicion.
12.
WHEELER
The Event?
HOLLOWAY
A magnitude 9 earthquake on the New
Madrid fault line. 2031. Everyone
knows someone who lost someone.
Evansville is a ghost town. St Louis
is underwater.
Wheeler closes her eyes, trying to process what Holloway is
telling her. Holloway leans over, shoves open another
emergency door, an alarm RINGING.
HOLLOWAY (CONTD)
I'm so sorry, Rae.
Wheeler leans on Holloway, steadies herself -
Then vomits all over the stairwell.
Genres:
["Crime","Drama","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
8 -
A Drive Through a Futuristic City: Confronting the Past and the Unknown
INT. PARKING GARAGE - LATER
Holloway presses a button on his key fob and a battered
self-driving car glides up, its doors sliding open.
INT./EXT. HOLLOWAY'S CAR - NIGHT
Wheeler leans against the window, catches her confused
reflection - she looks the same as she did 20 years ago.
The car drifts through the city, Wheeler's ghostly
reflection floating over neon signs flickering in deep
pockets of darkness... the shadows of palm trees... a lone
white rhino in the brush... eerie phosphorescent swimming
pools... the orange glow of wildfires beyond the horizon.
HOLLOWAY
Everything's changed. Policing,
politics, people. They started de-
extincting species. Got woolly
mammoths roaming the old
Bloomingdales in Koreatown now. The
food is terrible - the gamma
radiation is even worse. They say
that someone's already been born who
will live forever.
WHEELER
Not if they live in Dolly Lake.
Holloway raises an eyebrow.
13.
HOLLOWAY
Downtown is filled with
Neanderthals - actual Neanderthals.
We thought it would be "educational"
to learn about our ancestors. But
their brains are tiny. Can't
function, incredibly violent. Now
they're stacked three to a room in
the old Cecil, living off of
government cheese. You won't believe
who the Zodiac was, and the Dodgers -
But Wheeler is somewhere else, in a long-gone place. Her
eyes are cloudy, lost, hurt. Holloway takes stock.
HOLLOWAY (CONTD)
Sorry. I'm rambling. I just - I don't
know the procedure here.
WHEELER
Let me at least have the Dodgers.
Holloway nods, shuts up. The neon reflection of a bar dances
in the dark sheen of the passenger window.
WHEELER (cont'd)
Salazar's is still open?
Holloway smiles, recalling nights from decades ago.
HOLLOWAY
Still do a free hard-boiled egg with
a shot of Chivas, any time of day.
The awkward silence returns for a moment.
WHEELER
I appreciate you doing what you could
for Molly. For Sam.
HOLLOWAY
Wish I could have done more. After
the accident I got a settlement from
the department. Between that and
selling the house, I had enough for
the monthly payments on your stasis.
I do some private dick work - getting
kids out of cults, insurance fraud.
Enough to keep my head above water.
Wheeler looks at him, shocked.
14.
WHEELER
Ben, no. Why the hell would you do
that?
HOLLOWAY
Murder police don’t quit on people.
We see a speeding train with no
brakes, what do we do?
WHEELER
We jump on.
Holloway looks out at the neighborhood they used to police
together. Gone are the fire-streaked tenements, the faded
missing posters, the smoke-damaged chicken shacks.
HOLLOWAY (CONTD)
And we ride it to the end of the
line.
Genres:
["Crime","Drama","Sci-Fi"]
Ratings
Scene
9 -
Investigating the Abduction in the Shipping Container Apartments
EXT. APARTMENT BLOCK - LATER
The car glides to a stop in front of a tower block made of
shipping containers clad in Russian logos. Holloway limps
out, Wheeler wobbling behind him, still unsteady.
Wheeler's eyes rise to the billboards stretching across the
skyline - they appear to be made of human skin. Hairy.
Sweating. Breathing. Sickly.
HOLLOWAY
(off Wheeler's look)
Anti-malaria-28 billboards - attract
mosquitoes. Trap 'em before they get
to Beverly Hills. Gotta protect the
tax base.
Holloway presses a sensor and the door slides open.
HOLLOWAY (cont'd)
Which reminds me. You hear a siren,
get inside FAST. Only happens maybe
once every year, but those mosquitoes
are no joke.
INT. HALLWAY - LATER
The pair trudge down a narrow hallway - burnt out lights,
piss-stained carpet, Russian trap music blaring from behind
scarred doors. Wheeler stops dead.
15.
WHEELER
The accident. What about the girl in
the road, was she OK?
HOLLOWAY
Anna Lozano. Was abducted from her
bedroom six days earlier.
FLASH: Anna Lozano lies in bed, clutching her bear. She
turns to see a DARK FIGURE in a ski mask looming over her.
HOLLOWAY (CONTD)
We think he was planning to hit the
Imperial Highway towards the Basin.
Kill Lozano and dump her in the pits.
The entrance ramp was closed by the
protests, so he circled back. It was
pure luck that we -
WHEELER
Who was he?
HOLLOWAY
Your guess is as good as mine. CHIP
found the Civic burning in the
Mojave. All ID marks scrubbed.
FLASH: TWO HIGHWAY PATROLMEN stand in front of a flaming car
in the desert.
HOLLOWAY (CONTD)
He kept her blindfolded. She never
saw his face, never knew where she
was.
WHEELER
What about Sixto? And Lucia Reyes?
Holloway stops outside a door. Presses his finger on a small
pad. CLICK. The door opens.
HOLLOWAY
That's why I needed you now, partner.
The past isn't through with us yet.
Genres:
["Crime","Mystery","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
10 -
Holloway's Grief and the Search for Answers
INT. HOLLOWAY'S APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS
A decrepit studio: takeaway boxes and old scratch-off cards.
A stained sofa with a shopping bag on it.
16.
HOLLOWAY
The sofa's all yours. And I picked up
some clothes for you down on
Santee's. Mi casa, su casa.
Wheeler takes in the scene, confused...
HOLLOWAY (CONTD)
Natalie left me twelve years ago.
WHEELER
Christ.
Holloway waves it off, steps into the kitchen area, grabs a
bottle of beer from a nearly empty fridge.
HOLLOWAY
I was studying criminal justice at
UCLA when we met. Then I was a beat
cop. Then I made detective.
He puts the beer in front of a smart beer opener.
BEER OPENER
I'm sorry. You have no credits left.
Please visit your account...
He tosses the unopened beer in the sink, frustrated.
HOLLOWAY (CONTD)
Then I was working at Home Depot, had
a bad leg, and sold our house. I was
the train with no brakes - Natalie
jumped off before the cliff.
Wheeler notices a wall littered with tacked-up pictures of
Lucia, cut-out articles, photos of missing kids.
HOLLOWAY (CONTD) (cont'd)
Other PIs keep their notes in the
cloud, in unmarked data centers in
Bavaria or Romania. I'm old-school.
Wheeler leans in and examines an article from La Opinión,
the biggest Spanish-language paper in LA.
INSERT: HEADLINE: Hombre detenido por homicidio de niña de 6
años
17.
There's the pic of Lucia that was on Sixto's phone, and
below it a photo of CASPER NORWOOD, an obese 23-year-old.
Holloway stands over an open bottle in the kitchen area. He
polishes two glasses on his shirt, fills them with liquor.
HOLLOWAY
It'll have to be the hard stuff.
Wheeler studies Casper Norwood's eyes in the article.
WHEELER
You got him.
Holloway steps next to her, eying the newspaper. He hands
her the glass, drinks his in a gulp.
HOLLOWAY
Let's grab something to eat.
Genres:
["Crime","Mystery","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
11 -
Race Against Time: Uncovering the Truth
EXT. LI'S SUPPER CLUB - NIGHT
Wheeler and Holloway hobble through a parking lot towards a
neon-soaked diner: Li's Supper Club.
INT. LI'S SUPPER CLUB - CONTINUOUS
The pair sit in a booth, working on protein burgers.
HOLLOWAY
Norwood was found through
Studdebaker's door-knocking, if you
can believe it. Two previous
convictions for peeping. A couple
neighbors mentioned his name, said he
creeped them out. So Studdebaker
visited the apartment Norwood shared
with his mom, and get this - the
bathroom looked right down into
Lucia's bedroom.
Wheeler shakes her head. Grim.
HOLLOWAY (CONTD)
You could see an imprint of his nose
in the screen, from where he watched
her every day. Obsessed.
WHEELER
Physical evidence?
18.
Wheeler takes a big bite of her burger, looks down to see
insect legs sticking out - grimaces.
HOLLOWAY
They got a confession.
WHEELER
Who interviewed him?
HOLLOWAY
Studdebaker.
Wheeler stops chewing.
WHEELER
Studdebaker's not a detective.
HOLLOWAY
No, he's not. And Norwood has the
mental capacity of a 10-year-old. He
would've confessed to being the Black
Dahila killer if there was a lollipop
in it. His story didn't match the
details at all until the later
interviews. Couldn't find the body.
Holloway speaks to his phone...
HOLLOWAY (CONTD)
Open Casper Norwood's Crime-o-pedia
page. Actualize.
A life-size hologram of CASPER NORWOOD is projected - 6-
foot-something, 350 pounds - menacing but childlike.
NORWOOD HOLOGRAM
I killed her. I put a knife in that
little girl's stomach.
A kid at a neighboring table stares at the hologram -
HOLLOWAY
He lived twelve blocks from where the
Mazda was found. You think Lucia's
going for a leisurely walk with him?
WHEELER
He's not the guy.
HOLLOWAY
Didn't even own a gun. The public
defender was an addict, in a K-hole
the whole trial.
(MORE)
19.
HOLLOWAY (cont'd)
Norwood's mother hired me a week
ago - last-ditch efforts are kinda my
brand.
WHEELER
She has money?
Holloway shakes his head.
HOLLOWAY
Cal's started executing people
again - 16 since the end of last
year. Told her I'd take an IOU in
case she ever won the lottery.
WHEELER
What do you have to go on?
HOLLOWAY
Nada. He's going to fry in three days
and I'm at square one.
WHEELER
Three days?
The Norwood hologram lurches at the neighboring table. Off
the kid's SCREAM...
Genres:
["Crime","Mystery","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
12 -
Wheeler's Sleepless Night and Somber Jog
INT. HOLLOWAY'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Disaster footage from The Event plays on a Smart Wall.
Wheeler watches bleary-eyed on the sofa, unable to sleep.
PODCAST HOST (PRELAP)
Welcome back to Transitions, a
podcast about finding your way in a
new world.
EXT. LOS ANGELES STREET - LATER
Wheeler's feet pound the pavement as she jogs through the
city at 'blue hour', right before dawn. She's favoring her
left leg, clearly in pain. The more she grimaces, the harder
she pushes. She has ear buds in -
PODCAST HOST (V.O.) (CONTD)
We're speaking with ERMA's Dr. Neil
Matteson about the mental degradation
we're seeing in the first wave of
sleepers.
20.
Wheeler runs along a wide sidewalk, her footsteps powering a
chain of streetlamps that click to life as she passes.
PODCAST HOST (V.O.) (CONTD) (cont'd)
Should we start with Saturday’s
massacre on a bus in Bolivia? How
about the suicides in the Tokyo
hostel? What exactly is happening
here, Neil?
Wheeler runs faster, past a 'living skyscraper', its walls
covered in a slowly moving, carbon-eating fungus.
NEAL (V.O.)
Well, we know that the Lazurus Effect
starts with a void - a feeling of
nothingness in these people who have
awakened. Then, pressure builds...
Wheeler pounds through Dolly Lake, down the same street
where she found Sixto's Mazda. She pushes herself harder -
PODCAST HOST
One sleeper I spoke to likened it to
slipping into a warm bath. Then the
temperature starts rising in tiny
increments. On their own, the changes
are imperceptible -
Wheeler stops, bends over in agony. She stares at the spot
where the Mazda was, looking around in every direction.
PODCAST HOST (CONTD)
Until your realize you're being
boiled alive.
Everything has changed, except for the doorway where the
Tattooed Biker was. Her gaze lingers on it.
Genres:
["Thriller","Sci-Fi"]
Ratings
Scene
13 -
Investigating a Lead: Vincent Guerrero's Deportation
INT. HOLLOWAY'S LIVING ROOM - LATER
Holloway sits at a table with half a grapefruit and a stack
of old LA Times newspapers. He looks up as Wheeler enters.
HOLLOWAY
Couldn't sleep?
WHEELER
Been sleeping too long.
HOLLOWAY
Forgot to say, I have your stuff in
storage - got a locker on Pico.
21.
Wheeler looks at the stack of old papers.
WHEELER
What are you looking for?
HOLLOWAY
I thought I was looking for homicides
in Dolly Lake where a .45 was used,
but I ended up just looking at the
comics. You know -
He tosses the paper on the table.
HOLLOWAY (CONTD)
I reckon the original creator of
Taffy & Joe must have died in August
of 2015. The characters have totally
different psychological profiles
after that.
WHEELER
You got a pencil and paper?
Holloway raises an eyebrow.
HOLLOWAY
You have something?
WHEELER
Probably not. But remind me, who
worked Cal-Gangs for Hillside?
HOLLOWAY
In 2021? That would have been Vincent
Guerrero.
WHEELER
We need to talk to him.
HOLLOWAY
Deported. Turns out his parents had
entered the country illegally when he
was a baby.
WHEELER
They deported him to a country he
never lived in?
HOLLOWAY
Welcome to America. Where you been?
22.
Genres:
["Crime","Mystery","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
14 -
Reunion at the Port: Wheeler and Guerrero
EXT. PORT OF LOS ANGELES - DAY
Hulking machines and cranes rise out of the morning smog in
the decaying Port of Los Angeles.
Wheeler and Holloway march through the misty dockyards
towards a supervisor.
HOLLOWAY
We're looking for Vincent Guerrero.
SUPERVISOR
No breaks. He'll be off at 7.
HOLLOWAY
We're not checking regs. We'll be out
of your hair in two minutes.
SUPERVISOR
You have 90 seconds.
The supervisor hollers towards a GROUP OF MEN at the docks,
each in a drab olive uniform, each carrying an impossibly
heavy load of steel beams.
SUPERVISOR (CONTD)
Guerrero, get your ass over here.
One of the men turns around, revealing a faceless mech. He
notices Wheeler -
GUERRERO
Mother Mary, I must be dreaming.
Wheeler eyes the cold piece of machinery speaking to her...
WHEELER
I know how you feel.
Genres:
["Crime","Mystery","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
15 -
Investigating AFN and the Tattooed Biker
EXT. REPAIR ROOM - LATER
The trio stand in a mech repair room. Wheeler and Holloway
drink steaming coffee from paper cups as Guerrero unscrews
one of his arms, replacing it with a grab-loader.
WHEELER
You're in Mexico right now?
23.
GUERRERO
They deported us in waves. Whole
trains rumbling across the border to
Ciudad Obregon, over and over for
months. But then they couldn't fill
our jobs - turns out they still
needed us. So now I brain-bridge from
a wire mill in Juarez.
HOLLOWAY
You were one hell of a cop.
GUERRERO
Just a dock jockey now. Still hear
those trains, though, in my sleep.
Guerrero gazes out the garage door at the Vincent Thomas
Bridge, snaking through pink smog in the distance.
GUERRERO (CONTD)
This was my home.
HOLLOWAY
You ever run into AFN when working
Hillside?
GUERRERO
America First Now? Sure. They were
only about 40 strong in LA, but
bigger in OC and San Diego. Neo-Nazis
who targeted Mexicans, Jews,
Muslims - you name it. They
trafficked meth, guns...
WHEELER
Kids?
GUERRERO
Had my suspicions. Couldn't prove
'em. Why?
WHEELER
We're looking into the murder of
Sixto Reyes and the disappearance of
Lucia Reyes, back in 2023.
GUERRERO
Shot dead in a Mazda? I remember.
Wheeler holds up a pencil sketch of the tattooed biker.
WHEELER (CONTD)
This guy was nearby. AFN branded.
24.
GUERRERO
That looks like Sonny D'Alesio. He
was one of their leg-breakers, ran
AKs up through NoCal. You think he
had something to do with Lucia?
HOLLOWAY
Long shot. But it's the only shot we
got. Know where we can find him?
Genres:
["Crime","Mystery","Drama"]
Ratings
Scene
16 -
Uncooperative Receptionist at New Aon Center
EXT. DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - DAY
A sleek black-glass skyscraper stretches into a perfect
California sky. This is the New Aon Center, where billion-
dollar deals are as common as car fires on the 405.
HOLLOWAY (PRELAP)
We need to speak to Sonny D'Alesio.
INT. RECEPTION AREA - CONTINUOUS
Holloway and Wheeler stand in a tasteful reception area. A
RECEPTIONIST barely acknowledges them.
RECEPTIONIST
Mr. D'Alesio's in meetings for the
entire day. The week, actually. You
really need to call ahead.
WHEELER
We're detectives with South Bureau.
RECEPTIONIST
Then you'll need to speak with his
legal team first. Let's see -
She turns to her screen, punches a few keys.
RECEPTIONIST (CONTD)
I can pencil you in with his attorney
for Thursday the 14th, or - no,
that's no good, how about the 29th,
say 9:15, with Don Berman?
The receptionist finally looks up - no one's there.
Genres:
["Crime","Mystery","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
17 -
Confrontation in the Boardroom: D'Alesio and the Detective
INT. BOARD ROOM - CONTINUOUS
A GROUP of high-power businessmen circle a conference table.
25.
SONNY D'ALESIO, now 45, immaculate in a Brooks Brothers
suit, his tattoos lazered off, addresses the group -
D'ALESIO
In Phase one we anticipate a rollout
of 75 million across 36 countries.
He notices the room's attention has shifted towards an open
door, where Wheeler stands.
WHEELER
Sorry to interrupt. I need to borrow
Mr. D'Alesio for a moment.
D'ALESIO
I'm in the middle of a meeting, but
if you speak to Susan -
WHEELER
It's about an abduction and murder.
The execs stare at D'Alesio in shock.
INT. EXECUTIVE BATHROOM - LATER
D'Alesio pulls Wheeler into the executive bathroom. He locks
the door, turns on her -
D'ALESIO (CONTD)
What the fuck is wrong with you,
Detective?
WHEELER
Wheeler. Rae Wheeler.
D'ALESIO
I wasn't asking you your name, I was
asking what the fuck is wrong with
you. We're in the middle of a merger
meeting! And you come in, asking
about some old murder -
WHEELER
How do you know it's old?
D'ALESIO
What?
WHEELER
I said it was a murder. I didn't say
it was old.
He has no idea how to respond.
26.
D'ALESIO
The three best lawyers in LA are 80
feet away from me. You wanna talk to
me – talk to them first.
WHEELER
Sure. I’ll make everyone aware that
we’re investigating you for murder,
kidnapping and child sex trafficking,
and we'll see what those top lawyers
want to do next.
D'ALESIO
What exactly do you want from me?
WHEELER
Back in 2023, you were a block from
where an immigrant was killed and a
child was abducted in Dolly Lake, the
night of the protests. You remember
Lucia Reyes?
D'Alesio looks confused, not what he was expecting.
D'ALESIO
Wait, what?
WHEELER
You were muscle for AFN. I know how
much they love Mexicans - almost as
much as they love kids.
D'ALESIO
Muscle? Do I look like muscle? I was
just a cook! I invented a 3D printing
process that could manufacture meth
to deliver the perfect hit. It was
fucking revolutionary!
There's a KNOCK on the bathroom door -
WHEELER
Occupied!
D'ALESIO
Now that idea's going to save
people - kids - thousands of them,
millions, maybe. Personalized
medicine - that's what's going on in
that room you pulled me out of - the
merger with Ibunacore.
Wheeler stares at him, trying to get a read.
27.
WHEELER
You still using?
D'ALESIO
You kidding me? How many San Pedro
tweakers have lived long enough to
see the sun rise over Triton?
D'Alesio reaches into his pocket and pulls out his keychain.
D'ALESIO (CONTD)
No. I got two things when I got
clean. This, from NA -
He shows Wheeler the keychain - a St Christopher's medallion
inscribed with "Brothers in Recovery - Never Alone."
D'ALESIO (CONTD) (cont'd)
And this from my friends in AFN.
D'Alesio reaches into his mouth, removes his upper teeth.
With his sunken cheeks and caved-in face he looks pathetic,
powerless. He puts his dentures back in -
D'ALESIO
Some of the boys caught me outside of
an OTB when I told them I wanted out.
WHEELER
You know if they were running bodies
through Dolly Lake?
D'ALESIO
Look, from what I heard - and this is
just what I heard - some of the boys
used to game on Vermont. There was a
guy that ran a click-and-collect
service using storage lockers. The
Jolly Rancher.
WHEELER
What's his real name?
D'ALESIO
No idea. Never saw him. No one did.
That's why he'd use the lockers. He'd
turn over two, three girls a week.
WHEELER
How come he didn't have the whole
department on his ass with that kind
of traffic?
28.
D'ALESIO
He targeted illegals - knew that
parents wouldn't report 'em missing.
It was nuts back then - kids
disappearing in the middle of the
night, mothers out in the streets
with flashlights. You could never
tell if it was ICE or the Jolly
Rancher that got 'em.
WHEELER
You got anything else on this guy?
D'ALESIO
Not really. Just know he used to
drive a white Honda Civic.
Genres:
["Crime","Mystery","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
18 -
Holloway and Wheeler Strategize while Anna Lozano Receives a Distress Call
INT. HALLWAY - LATER
Holloway and Wheeler walk down a long hallway, passing execs
in suits along the way.
WHEELER
The Jolly Rancher grabbed Lucia...
HOLLOWAY
Took her to a storage locker and
secured her...
WHEELER
And was delivering the other girl to
a buyer.
HOLLOWAY
Out with the old...
WHEELER
...In with the new.
HOLLOWAY
We need to talk to the girl from the
Honda and see if she remembers
anything else. We need to find Anna
Lozano.
EXT. MARKET - DAY
A derelict open-air market by the shores of the LA River. A
labyrinth of stalls sit in the shadows of a Carbon-Eater.
29.
EXT. MARKET STALL - CONTINUOUS
Anna Lozano, a tough-looking brunette in her 30s, haggles
with a shopkeeper at a stall.
LOZANO
Thirty-seven bucks for one bag of
base?! That's two dollars more than
last month.
SHOPKEEPER
Tariffs on imports from New Texas.
Write to your congressman.
LOZANO
I have 33 dollars and 50 cents.
SHOPKEEPER
That's not even enough to buy at last
month's prices! Do I look like I'm
running a charity? Does this look
like a place where dying kids' wishes
come true?
LOZANO
Just front me 4 bucks until...
A BUZZING from Lozano's pocket cuts her off. She pulls out
her phone, looks at the broken screen.
INSERT: AN UBER-STYLE PRIVATE POLICE APP, 'Big Blue',
displays a map of LA with a blinking distress call: '415:
Man with a gun. $425'. Lozano hits 'Accept', slaps the
counter -
LOZANO (cont'd)
Hold that bag of base.
Genres:
["Crime","Mystery","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
19 -
Lozano's Self-Driving Confrontation
INT. LOZANO'S CRUISER - LATER
Lozano's self-driving rent-a-cruiser tears through the LA
dusk, past sooty shells of bungalows devoured by wildfires.
Lozano checks her .45 ACP - locked and loaded.
She peeks under her shirt, revealing a cheap-looking
bulletproof vest with a blinking red light.
She holds a finger to a Bluetooth bud in her ear -
LOZANO
Connect wth USAC armory. I need
remote charging for a USAC
bulletproof vest. PIN is Raiders6872.
30.
VOICE IN BUD
This is USAC. Payment for your charge
has been declined.
LOZANO
This is an emergency! I can pay in an
hour, but I need that charge now.
VOICE IN BUD
Sorry, without payment we can't
activate...
LOZANO
Wait - I have some CO2 credits.
VOICE IN BUD
That'll take some time. We'll have to
put them on the exchange, find a
buyer, transfer the money. It could
be up to an hour, we never know.
LOZANO
Do it.
The cruiser skids to a stop. Through the windshield we see a
shirtless MUSCLEHEAD menacing a 4-foot-tall NEANDERTHAL
PROSTITUTE in a garish Lemur-print halter top.
He has a gun on her, screaming...
MUSCLEHEAD
Gimme my ring back, bitch!
Lozano steps out of the vehicle.
Genres:
["Action","Thriller","Mystery"]
Ratings
Scene
20 -
Lozano's Standoff and the Fatal Intervention
EXT. OVERGROWN LOT - CONTINUOUS
The musclehead sees Lozano and takes off down an alley
between two houses. She races after him as he crashes
through a rotting wooden fence, not stopping, heading
through a yard, smashing through the door of a house...
INT. HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
Through the hallway of a family home - into the kitchen area
where a WOMAN holding a baby SCREAMS. Lozano's just a few
steps behind, sprinting out the back door...
31.
EXT. YARD - CONTINUOUS
Into a yard filled with old refrigerators, car parts, wet
clothes on washing lines. She moves slowly through the
labyrinth of debris, touches the bud in her ear -
LOZANO
Is that charge ready?
VOICE IN BUD
Still working on it. Not a lot of
interest in your credits right now.
A SCREAM comes from a neighboring house.
INT. HALLWAY - LATER
Lozano moves slowly down the hallway, gun drawn, moving past
an empty living room where a kids' program blares on TV.
A CRASH comes from a room at the end of the hall -
INT. KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS
Lozano moves into a kitchen - where the musclehead has a 12-
YEAR-OLD BOY in a chokehold, a gun pressed to the kid's
temple. Musclehead's eyes are bulging - he's clearly loaded
on whatever stuff the neanderthals are pushing.
LOZANO
Whoa, whoa. OK, let's chill -
She notices his gun - an old revolver, tape on the grip, no
fingerprint sensor.
LOZANO (CONTD)
Ghost gun, huh? Got a record?
MUSCLEHEAD
And no fucking way I'm going back.
LOZANO
Perfect. Let's not do that. It costs
$92,000 a year to keep someone in
Pelican Bay. Why should the taxpayers
pay that just because someone stole
your ring? That's twice what it costs
to send someone to Harvard.
The musclehead looks confused.
32.
LOZANO (CONTD)
No offense, but I'd rather send two
kids to college than you to prison.
Lozano slowly bends down, puts her gun on the floor. She
surreptitiously peeks at her bulletproof vest - red light.
LOZANO (CONTD) (cont'd)
Can I show you something?
She reaches for her pocket and musclehead swings the gun at
her, panicking.
LOZANO (CONTD) (cont'd)
Easy - just getting my wallet, OK?
Lozano opens her wallet, pulls out a scrap of paper.
LOZANO (CONTD) (cont'd)
You know what this is? This is my
ticket to a new life. I've been
carrying it for nearly 15 years
now,'cause you never know, right?
The musclehead still has the terrified kid in a vice grip.
LOZANO (CONTD) (cont'd)
When I was 16 I was going through
some bad shit. I mean, I had been
going through it my whole life, but I
was ready to say sayonara and exit
the building.
Musclehead nods - a spark of recognition.
LOZANO (CONTD) (cont'd)
But I made a deal with myself. I'd
give the universe one last chance to
show me that life was worth living.
So I packed a liter of Milagro and a
bottle of Valium I found in a purse
on the E Line, and I headed to the
Greyhound station.
MUSCLEHEAD
The one on Seventh?
LOZANO
Been there, huh? Where'd you go?
MUSCLEHEAD
Out Los Alamitos way.
33.
LOZANO
Shit, bet on the horses?
MUSCLEHEAD
Bad tip on a mudder.
LOZANO
They're always bad. That's why they
call it gambling.
Musclehead is easing up a bit, but he still has the kid in a
chokehold, the ghost gun squarely on Lozano. She peeks at
the vest - red light.
LOZANO (CONTD)
So at the station I figured I'd take
the next bus out to anywhere, and if
I still felt the same when I got
there... well, I'd Marilyn Monroe
myself in the biggest pool in town.
MUSCLEHEAD
Where'd you wind up?
LOZANO
Well, it turned out the next
Silverline out of town was heading to
some place called Saint Cloud.
MUSCLEHEAD
Never heard of it.
LOZANO
Me neither. BUT while I was waiting
with my ticket, I met someone.
MUSCLEHEAD
You're fucking kidding.
LOZANO
Nope - a guy who had just come into
town. We wound up drinking the
Milagro beneath the Hollywood sign,
the whole city spread in front of us.
It was beautiful. I had lived here
for 16 years without seeing that
sign. Two years later, I married him.
MUSCLEHEAD
So why you still got the ticket?
34.
LOZANO
Before I left the station I swapped
it for an open-ended one - never
expires. This is an escape plan. This
is the bag you bury in the ground,
then dig up 20 years later when
you're down to your last chance.
She holds the piece of paper out towards musclehead.
LOZANO (CONTD)
Feeling lucky?
Musclehead stares.
MUSCLEHEAD
For real?
LOZANO
You have to leave the gun, though. I
can't let you take a firearm on a
public bus.
MUSCLEHEAD
(almost tearing up)
It was just - it was my mother's
ring. It's all I have left of her.
Musclehead relaxes his grip and the boy falls to the floor,
scrambles away. Musclehead moves to put the gun down on the
kitchen table when TWO PRIVATE POLICE OFFICERS in black
uniforms CRASH THROUGH THE DOOR, sending Lozano sprawling.
The officers are heavily armored, sleek weapons raised -
BAM. BAM. BAM. - Musclehead's chest explodes with bullets.
Musclehead's eyes go blank. He falls, gripping the ghost
gun. As he smacks into his floor the gun goes off - BANG! -
striking Lozano in the chest as her bulletproof vest
simultaneously BLINKS GREEN.
A moment... then - LOZANO GASPS, still alive.
VOICE IN EAR BUD
Your vest has been charged. Feel free
to now proceed with assignment.
COP ONE opens the Big Blue app on his phone. He punches the
'ASSIGNMENT COMPLETED' button, smiles.
COP ONE
Nice pay day on this one.
35.
COP TWO bends over, picks up the paper that had fallen from
Lozano's hand, looks at it -
COP TWO
This your Starbucks receipt? Two Star
Points away from a free frappe.
He tosses it towards Lozano, who's still flat on her back.
She watches the receipt - the shared delusion of St Cloud, a
loving husband, and a second chance - flutter between her
and the unblinking eyes of the dead man.
Genres:
["Thriller","Mystery","Crime"]
Ratings
Scene
21 -
Lozano's Escape and Request for Help
EXT. OVERGROWN LOT - LATER
Lozano gingerly limps towards her cruiser, bruised and
defeated. She looks up to see Wheeler and Holloway.
WHEELER
Anna Lozano?
LOZANO
Blood from a stone.
WHEELER
Excuse me?
LOZANO
I just nearly died because I didn't
have $6 to get a carbon-binding
charge for my bulletproof vest. That
cruiser is a rental and I have about
30 seconds left on it. Whatever
you're trying to collect, I don't
have it.
HOLLOWAY
We're not collecting anything -
LOZANO
(surprised)
Really? Then can I borrow four bucks
for a bag of base? I'm good for it.
WHEELER
We wanted to talk to you about
something that happened in 2023.
A glimmer of recognition registers on Lozano's face -
LOZANO
You're Ben Holloway and Rae Wheeler,
aren't you? I've...
36.
The rent-a-cruiser suddenly pulls away on its own, tearing
through the lot, squealing into the street.
LOZANO (CONTD)
(watching the car
disappear)
Can I grab a ride?
Genres:
["Mystery","Crime","Sci-Fi"]
Ratings
Scene
22 -
Noche de los desaparecidos: A Bittersweet Quest for Justice
EXT. THE L.A. LIVE COMPLEX - LATER
Wheeler, Holloway and Lozano share drinks from a paper bag
as they walk through the ruins of the LA Live Complex.
LOZANO
I come here on this night every year,
like clockwork.
WHEELER
Why?
LOZANO
Noche de los desaparecidos.
WHEELER
Night of the disappeared?
Holloway looks pained at the mention.
LOZANO
What's wrong? Living memorials a
little too uncanny valley for you?
HOLLOWAY
It's not that. Those kids deserve to
be remembered. But every one is a
testament to my failure. If I knocked
on one last door - if I just checked
the house at the end of the street...
LOZANO
You two had the highest clearance
rate in South Bureau. You must have
knocked on more doors than most.
Holloway and Wheeler both look surprised.
LOZANO (CONTD)
I followed up on you. You couldn't
save everyone - but you saved me.
HOLLOWAY
We couldn't save Lucia Reyes.
37.
LOZANO
At least her killer's off the street.
Wheeler shakes her head - negative.
LOZANO (CONTD)
But they're executing him the day
after tomorrow, it's all over the
news!
WHEELER
We think the same man who took you
took Lucia. Anything you can tell us
could help. Anything small, that you
might have forgotten before?
LOZANO
Small? No. I have his DNA, though.
Wheeler and Holloway stop dead.
WHEELER
What? How? We need to get it to...
LOZANO
Found a hair on my teddy bear - they
had it in a locker for years before I
got it back. I tried to tell the
detective, but he wasn't interested
in hearing what an undocumented
Mexican had to say about a decade-old
case in the worst neighborhood in LA.
HOLLOWAY
Studdebaker. He's not a detective.
LOZANO
No, he's not. He's captain now.
Anyway, I've already had it analyzed.
No direct matches. No genealogical
hits.
HOLLOWAY
So we're back to square one?
But Wheeler notices something in Lozano's expression.
WHEELER
What aren't you telling us?
Lozano turns, unsure.
38.
HOLLOWAY
Norwood is going to die in two days.
If you know anything -
LOZANO
Six years ago I met a geneticist in
the Valley, an off-the-books guy.
I...I had him make a clone.
HOLLOWAY
Anna, that's a Class B felony!
LOZANO
I couldn't let him get away. He's not
going to stop killing - not until
somebody stops him.
Lozano hands a pair of glasses to Holloway. He reluctantly
takes them, puts them on -
The complex comes alive with dozens of glowing holograms of
missing Latino children. They run, jump rope, filling the
void with light. Holloway takes them in. It's sad, almost
magical, a digital heaven living just beneath our world - a
long way from the days of pictures on milk cartons.
LOZANO (CONTD)
This is my last door to knock on.
This is my house at the end of the
street.
A hologram of Lucia in a pink bomber jacket skips past
Holloway, sticks out her tongue. Holloway takes a long swig
from the bag.
Genres:
["Sci-Fi","Mystery","Crime"]
Ratings
Scene
23 -
Discovery of a Genetically Engineered Boy and the Ethical Dilemma
EXT. SUBURBAN STREET - DAY
A classic 4-bedroom house in the Valley - manicured yard,
white picket fence. The American Dream.
The front door opens and a family step out: A TANNED MAN in
Izod, a WOMAN in Burberry and sunglasses. Between them is a
BROWN-HAIRED BOY (6) in a soccer uniform.
Holloway's car idles across the street. Lozano nods towards
the brown-haired boy...
LOZANO
That's him. The parents are friends
of a friend, had been trying to have
a kid for years. Good people.
39.
Wheeler and Holloway size the kid up as he happily unwraps a
Jolly Rancher, pops it in his mouth.
WHEELER
They know who he is? How he was
created?
Lozano's silence answers the question.
LOZANO
Figured I'd wait until he reached
school age - 5, 6. Then I'd run his
photo through a digital trawler. Find
a facial match from an old photo on
the Internet. Who doesn't post photos
of their kids online?
WHEELER
I'm guessing this guy's family
weren't parents of the year.
An auto Range Rover pulls up. The family begin to climb in.
HOLLOWAY
We need to go old school. Literally.
Holloway pulls out his phone and - CLICK CLICK CLICK - he
snaps a series of photos of the brown-haired boy.
Genres:
["Crime","Mystery","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
24 -
Investigating the Abduction: Searching for Yearbooks
EXT. LOS ANGELES CENTRAL LIBRARY - DAY
A classic Mediterranean-inspired library in the shadows of
sleek skyscrapers.
WHEELER (V.O.)
Old yearbooks are kept in the
archive.
INT. LIBRARY - CONTINUOUS
They walk through an expansive Art Deco foyer, below the
iconic dome, the Greek bas reliefs, the two-ton chandelier.
HOLLOWAY
There must be, what, a couple hundred
elementary schools?
WHEELER
Seventeen minutes between Lucia's
abduction and the Civic appearing on
the tape. Back and forth. He has to
live within a 12-block radius.
40.
HOLLOWAY
About five schools, then. Based on
his profile and your description of
his voice and build, we can put his
age between 20 and 45 in 2021.
WHEELER
So we're looking for yearbooks
covering twenty-five years from five
schools.
Genres:
["Crime","Mystery","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
25 -
Racing Against Time: The Search for Lonnie Lee Prescott
INT. LIBRARY BASEMENT - CONTINUOUS
A huge, musty archive. Rows and rows of yellowing paper,
books and files, stuff that hasn't seen light in years.
Stacks of reviewed yearbooks sit in huge piles. The pile
they haven't looked through is worryingly small.
LOZANO
How do we know he didn't move to the
area after school?
Wheeler slams another book shut.
WHEELER
No one moves to Dolly Lake.
HOLLOWAY
Hot damn! I knew it!
He excitedly slaps a newspaper down.
WHEELER
What have you got?
HOLLOWAY
Creator of Taffy & Joe died in August
of 2015.
LOZANO
Wait-
Lozano grabs Holloway's phone, pulls up a photo he took of
the brown-haired boy, holds it against an open yearbook.
LOZANO (CONTD)
Hello...
Wheeler moves behind her, looks over her shoulder at:
41.
INSERT: A yearbook photo of a 7-year-boy. The hair's
different, the eyes are colder, he's missing a tooth - but
it's A MATCH to the photo Anna holds next to it.
She reads the name printed below the yearbook photo...
LOZANO (CONTD) (cont'd)
Lonnie Lee Prescott.
HOLLOWAY
I'll make a call to the department, I
still know some guys. I'll see what
they have on Prescott, have them
bring him in for questioning.
Wheeler nods in agreement.
LOZANO
No. They'll need to know what
evidence you have.
Holloway, getting it now...
HOLLOWAY
And you'll go to prison for violating
the Sanctity of Life Act.
WHEELER
The clock's ticking on Casper
Norwood, Anna. They're executing him
tomorrow.
LOZANO
Just give me an hour to find a
different way.
Off their uncertainty...
LOZANO (CONTD)
All I'm asking is 60 minutes. You had
20 years.
Genres:
["Crime","Mystery","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
26 -
Investigating Lonnie Lee Prescott: A Suspenseful Ride Through Downtown Los Angeles
INT./EXT. HOLLOWAY'S CAR - NIGHT
Holloway's car rolls through the steely modern canyons of
Downtown Los Angeles.
HOLLOWAY
My guys didn't know much about Lonnie
Lee Prescott. No record, explains why
his DNA wasn't on file. There was a
242 at his family's house in 2010,
though, when he was a teenager...
42.
WHEELER
(to car's smart
system)
Call Vincent Guererro.
Holloway smiles at Wheeler, impressed -
HOLLOWAY
You're getting the hang of this.
BLEEP - an image of Vincent Guerrero fills the car. He's now
in his 50s, his muscle turned to paunch, a Dodgers cap
pulled over a sun-weathered face. He's on his cellphone,
walking through the neon-lit hellscape of Ciudad Obregón's
red-light district.
GUERRERO
Bueno?
WHEELER
Vince, you busy?
GUERRERO
On my way to the wire mill.
WHEELER
At this time of night?
GUERRERO
Efficiency KPIs, Rae, they measure
everything we do. You been under a
rock for the past 20 years?
WHEELER
Right. Any chance you remember a guy
named Lonnie Lee Prescott? You might
have handled a domestic assault in
2010, over on Roselia?
GUERRERO
You're talking 30 years ago.
HOLLOWAY
Prescott would've been 13 at the
time. Went to Penbrook.
Guerrero snaps his fingers in recognition.
GUERRERO
I remember, sucked on Jolly Ranchers
all through the interview.
Wheeler eyes an electronic advertisement soaring above
Wilshire: See your loved ones again! Visit The Chronicle!
43.
HOLLOWAY
He was being abused?
Wheeler's still locked on the ad: a montage of vibrant,
smiling people and St. Louis landmarks.
GUERRERO
No, he was the abuser - had a younger
sister. Family was terrified,
neighbors' cats kept disappearing.
What's going on?
Wheeler's attention snaps back to Guerrero.
WHEELER
We know that he was involved in
trafficking. And that he probably
killed Sixto and Lucia Reyes.
Guerrero's taken aback.
GUERRERO
You call it in?
HOLLOWAY
Looking for a warrant, but we're in
the wind. Any info you...
BLEEP. BLEEP. An incoming call cuts off Guerrero.
HOLLOWAY (cont'd)
Accept.
Guerrero disappears. Lozano's face fills the car.
LOZANO
I have $30,000 in counterfeit bills
for you. And some new clothes.
Sleazy, but the kind of sleazy that
someone with $30,000 would wear.
Genres:
["Crime","Mystery","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
27 -
Planning the Sting on the Jolly Rancher
INT. LOZANO'S LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
Wheeler and Holloway hunch over a laptop in a spartan
apartment as Lozano navigates a Tor browser.
LOZANO
You said his nickname was the Jolly
Rancher. I did some looking on the
Dark Web, found this.
INSERT: Web page - The Outpost.
44.
WHEELER
What is it?
LOZANO
It's like eBay, but for human
traffickers and hit men. Here...
She points at a series of messages from an account called
'Jollyranch_r'.
HOLLOWAY
You sure it's our guy?
LOZANO
I did my research. Used AI to track
down everything Prescott wrote
online. Same diction and syntax - all
the accounts use "I wonder if" rather
than "I think". Refusing to
acknowledge his own thoughts, it's a
distancing technique. Both misspell
words with double "r"s. Tracked him
all the way back to print classifieds
in the LA Times - he's been operating
for decades.
WHEELER
Sounds like our guy. What's he up to
now?
LOZANO
Still selling girls to other
dirtbags. They use a code for
business, but it's a simple Caesar
shift. They didn't even bother hiding
it in a Vigenère square
HOLLOWAY
This is all theoretical. We can't get
him on this.
LOZANO
That's why I set up a buy. Tonight,
11 pm at Candyland. You bring the
$30k, and when he shows you the girl,
you take him down.
Holloway and Wheeler exchange looks. This could work.
45.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
28 -
Double-Cross at Candyland
EXT. CANDYLAND NIGHTCLUB - NIGHT
Holloway sits in his idling car outside a seedy nightclub,
chomping on a cigar as men with LED tattoos pour out of
pimped-out cars that park themselves.
INT. CANDYLAND NIGHTCLUB - CONTINUOUS
Wheeler, decked out in tight jeans, wearing too much make-
up, descends a staircase carrying a satchel. The metronomic
sound of heavy bass thumps beneath the scene as she moves
across the club floor... past a PIG WITH HUMAN EARS covering
its entire body... her eyes searching the dim club... and
falling on a man in a corner booth.
He's nearing his 50s, drinking a bottle of beer. He notices
Wheeler and smiles - his teeth are rotting stubs.
INT. CANDYLAND NIGHTCLUB - LATER
Wheeler and Prescott sit in the booth, eying each other
warily. Prescott is sucking on a Jolly Rancher.
PRESCOTT
You got the 30, friend?
Wheeler's eyes move to the satchel beneath the table.
Prescott leans over, unzips the bag, shuffles through some
of the bills, carefully runs his fingers over one. All good.
PRESCOTT (CONTD)
Fine and dandy, cotton candy.
WHEELER
What's her name?
Prescott's expression hardens.
PRESCOTT
I said we're done talking - you
fucking deaf? Why don't you go buy
some new ears from Lana...
Prescott motions towards a woman at the bar. The ear-covered
pig cowers at her feat, cigar burns on its face.
Prescott slides a key across the table to Wheeler...
PRESCOTT (CONTD)
115 Pico. Number 14. Her name is
WHATEVER YOU WANT IT TO BE.
46.
Prescott stands up to leave. But RONNIE TANNER, 56,
overweight, drunkenly stumbles towards their table.
Wheeler's face freezes as she spots him. She turns away...
TANNER
(thick Arkansas
accent)
Rae?! Rae Wheeler! Oh my god, you
don't look a day over 35!
WHEELER
Sorry. You have the wrong...
TANNER
Ronnie Tanner! Caruthersville High,
remember? How are things? How's your
sis Molly - she had a kid, right?
Prescott looks panicky...
WHEELER
You're mistaken.
TANNER
Beth told me you had gone to the
police academy. I told her, I-
Prescott rockets up from his seat, grabbing a .38 from his
jacket, but Wheeler's already moving towards him, knocking
it out of his hands, sending it to the floor. She dives
after it as Prescott grabs her hair.
She strains for the gun, just out of her grasp. Prescott
SMASHES his beer bottle on the table just as Wheeler's
fingers grip the handle of the gun.
She swings the .38 towards Prescott as he comes at her with
the broken bottle. She pulls the trigger -
A RED LIGHT on the gun blinks - it doesn't fire.
Prescott IMPALES Wheeler with the jagged bottle.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
29 -
Prescott's Fatal Greed and the Mosquito Swarm
INT. HOLLOWAY'S CAR - CONTINUOUS
Holloway stares out the car's windshield, the car idling,
headlights on, eyes on the doorway.
47.
EXT. CANDYLAND NIGHTCLUB - CONTINUOUS
Prescott races out, satchel in hand. Holloway throws open
the car door, steps out...
HOLLOWAY
Hey!
But Prescott keeps going, huffing, running full speed
through the parking lot...
Tearing into the street...
Right into the path of a DASH BUS.
He's obliterated. A cloud of counterfeit bills swirl in the
streetlights as an ONLOOKER's scream echoes into the night.
Holloway turns back towards the doorway, sees the ear-
covered pig trot out, sees Wheeler stumbling into the
ghostly beams of the car's headlights.
Her shirt is soaked in blood. She collapses.
Suddenly a MOSQUITO SIREN WAILS
People in the streets panic, start sprinting in different
directions - running into shops, buildings, special
hermetically sealed booths.
A SWARM OF MOSQUITOES heads towards the scene, covering
streetlights and neon signs as it moves, bringing absolute
darkness with it.
Holloway eyes the approaching wave, eyes Wheeler on the
ground -
The cloud moves closer, the BUZZING of the swarm and the
SIREN creating a complete cacophony of noise.
Holloway hobbles as quickly as possible towards Wheeler,
towards the approaching swarm.
He bends over, gathering her in his arms, the swarm nearly
on top of them.
He limps back towards the car, dragging her, just a STEP
AHEAD OF COMPLETE DARKNESS...
48.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
30 -
Escape from the Black Cloud
INT. HOLLOWAY'S CAR - NIGHT
Holloway drags Wheeler into the backseat. The ear pig
follows, climbing in as...
Holloway slams the door, just as they're completely
swallowed by the black cloud.
SMART CAR SYSTEM
Visibility is zero percent. This
vehicle cannot operate until safe...
HOLLOWAY
Manual drive.
A steering wheel slides out into Holloway's hands. He slams
the car into reverse, peeling out of the parking lot.
He floors it through the darkness of the swarm, weaving
chaotically between stopped self-driving vehicles.
HOLLOWAY (cont'd)
No problem, Rae. No worries at all.
There's a doc two blocks from here.
Holloway roars around an abandoned rickshaw and SCREECHES to
a stop in front of a building with a blue neon cross.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
31 -
Desperate Measures in the Medical Center
INT. EZ MEDICAL CENTER - NIGHT
Holloway limps through the door of a spartan room,
struggling to support Wheeler's body. There's nothing but an
operating table and a machine that looks like an ATM.
He puts Wheeler on the table, and a laser scanner emerges,
zips over Wheeler.
ELECTRONIC VOICE
Your bill is now ready.
Holloway turns to the machine, places his thumb on a pad.
ELECTRONIC VOICE
Your payment has been declined.
Holloway's losing it. He smashes his fist into the side of
the machine.
A hand gently moves towards the machine - places a thumb on
the pad.
LOZANO
Only good thing about working for Big
Blue is the insurance.
Holloway smiles at Lozano in surprise and relief - but a
worried look crosses her face.
LOZANO (cont'd)
Ben. Don't move.
A mosquito probes Ben's neck. He freezes, not daring to even
breathe. Lozano moves her hand slowly towards him, raises it
above his neck, smashes the insect.
She looks at Ben with concern.
LOZANO (cont'd)
Did it get you?
HOLLOWAY
I don't think so.
LOZANO
You don't think so or you know?
HOLLOWAY
No. It didn't get me.
Lozano looks at him warily, unsure.
Wheeler gurgles on the table, struggling to speak as the
medical machine kicks into action...
WHEELER
115 Pico. Number 14.
She opens a clenched fist... a key clatters to the floor.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
32 -
Wheeler's Disappointment and Reflection
INT. HOSPITAL - DAY
Wheeler watches a Smart Wall from a hospital bed.
News footage fills the wall - a burning cop car in the 600
block of Dolly Lake - trails of blood - two dead private
cops hanging from the overpass above Greene Street.
FEMALE NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
...Execution-style. That means Dolly
Lake has no active police force at
this time, officially becoming a dark
district.
50.
Wheeler looks dejected, shuts off the wall.
HOLLOWAY (O.S.)
The Governor stayed Norwood's
execution with 12 minutes to spare.
Wheeler turns to see Holloway standing in the doorway. He
walks over, sits by the bed, takes off his fedora.
WHEELER
Yeah. Saw it on the news.
HOLLOWAY
The DA will review his file. He'll be
exonerated, freed in a month.
WHEELER
And Prescott?
HOLLOWAY
Dead right there. Address was for a
storage unit, had two of 'em. They
pulled a girl from the one with a
key, the other was filled with
trophies. Looks like stuff from at
least 16 other girls. They're still
sifting through it.
WHEELER
We shoulda gotten him 20 years ago.
Holloway grunts in agreement.
HOLLOWAY
Found Lucia's jacket and a .45 ACP in
his family's home. Ballistics matched
it to the bullet that killed Sixto.
Strange thing is, the gun was
registered to Sixto.
WHEELER
He was killed with his own gun?
HOLLOWAY
So much for protection.
Wheeler's expression clouds, thinking on this.
BEGIN MONTAGE:
- BEACH/MEDICAL CENTER: Wheeler runs across the sands of a
tropical beach, huffing. She bends over, winded, and the
beachscape suddenly vanishes, revealing she's on a treadmill
in a medical evaluation room. A TECHNICIAN takes notes.
51.
- MEDICAL CENTER: Wheeler sits in front of a large screen
displaying various images; boiling water, a fogged-up
window, a dead body wrapped in plastic, a merry-go-round, a
3-legged cat. A scanner runs over her head, registering.
- MEDICAL CENTER: A CLERK passes a bag to Wheeler. She
empties it on a counter; a smashed cellphone, cigarettes,
car keys with a Dodgers key ring.
- WHEELER'S APARTMENT: Wheeler carries a box into an
unfurnished apartment. Holloway enters behind her, walking
the ear pig on a leash.
- DINGY GYM: Wheeler boxes an ATLAS 24X TRAINING ROBOT. She
lands a few jabs before the bot gets her with a light left
cross. Wheeler counters, landing a succession of hard body
blows, launching into a vicious uppercut, flooring the bot.
Then she's on top of it, out of control, battering it. The
bot's eyes go dark as Wheeler's pulled off by an instructer.
- WHEELER'S APARTMENT: Wheeler and the ear pig sit on a
sofa, watching an old Dodgers game on the Smart wall. A buff
young player, DIXON TYLER, 25, launches a mammoth home run.
- DEAD-END STREET: Wheeler approaches a sun-beaten garage
and lifts the old steel shutter, revealing a candy-red 1968
Mustang. Her car keys dangle in her hands.
- WHEELER'S APARTMENT: Wheeler and the ear pig sprawl on the
couch as Wheeler reads the LA Times. The cover proclaims:
LAPD Chief ties Prescott to 6 more bodies.
On the Smart wall, Dixon Tyler, now 33 and bearded, ropes a
double - not quite the same power.
- SUBURBAN STREET: Wheeler sits in the driver's seat of the
red Mustang, staring at a quaint white home. She holds a
photo up to it - in the photo the house is blue, and 5-year-
old Sam Wheeler laughs happily on a swing set in the front
yard as Molly Wheeler pushes him.
A MAN emerges from the house, notices Rae staring. Wheeler
pulls away.
- WHEELER'S APARTMENT: Wheeler tries to operate a 3D food
printer in the kitchen while simultaneously watching a
Dodgers game on the living room's wall. The stadium has
changed, floating electronic ads are everywhere. A PITCHER
with a mechanical arm unleashes a devastating curve, and
Dixon Tyler, 39 and heavyset, strikes out. The 3D food
printer spits brown maker everywhere.
END MONTAGE
52.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller","Mystery"]
Ratings
Scene
33 -
Frustrations Amidst Grief: Wheeler and the Coffee Machine
INT. CITY HALL - DAY
Wheeler's hand wraps around a sleek Glock 19; a green light
on the gun blinks.
A bored clerk slides some papers across a counter.
CLERK
Your gun has now been bio-paired and
can only be fired by you. All spent
bullets will contain your unique
signature. Head to window 6.
Wheeler starts to move off, when Holloway stops her.
HOLLOWAY
I'll drop off the paperwork if you
grab us a couple coffees.
Wheeler looks at him, confused.
HOLLOWAY (CONTD)
I'm out of CO2 credits.
INT. VENDING AREA - LATER
A TV plays overhead as Wheeler stands at a coffee machine.
ON TV: Disaster footage from The Event plays under a
newscaster's somber voice.
NEWSCASTER (V.O.)
And as we approach the anniversary of
The Event...
Wheeler struggles with the coffee machine, which is refusing
to acknowledge her thumbprint - red light.
NEWSCASTER (V.O.) (cont'd)
...Americans across the country
gather to share their memories, and
their grief.
Wheeler eyes the TV - families at a makeshift memorial.
She wipes her hand on her shirt. Presses her thumb to the
coffee machine again - red light. She's getting agitated.
ON TV: A woman juggles a cute baby.
53.
WOMAN
The hardest part is not being able to
put her to rest. Mama's body still
being in that sunken...
Wheeler tries her other thumb. Red light.
Genres:
["Action","Thriller","Crime"]
Ratings
Scene
34 -
Disaster Support Group Meeting at the Celestial Church of Christ
INT. CITY HALL - CONTINUOUS
Holloway makes his way across the floor, paperwork taken
care of. He pokes his head into the vending room...
INT. VENDING AREA - CONTINUOUS
HOLLOWAY
Remember, two sugars -
The coffee machine is smashed to pieces. Holloway sees the
disaster footage on TV, looks at Wheeler.
EXT. THE CELESTIAL CHURCH OF CHRIST - NIGHT
A squat church that's seen better days. The sign on the
marquee reads: "The Event Support Group Tonight".
JERRY (PRE-LAP)
I've been spending a lot of time in
The Chronicle.
INT. CHURCH HALL - CONTINUOUS
A circle of people sit on folding chairs in a snug church
hall. Wheeler watched as JERRY, a pony-tailed man, speaks.
JERRY
I mean, I know lots of people do. But
I didn't even lose anyone in The
Event. I just hang out in Swingles.
It's a karaoke bar in the Holiday Inn
by the airport. It's - I don't know,
I just like it better there. There's
this blonde, Louise, always drinking
the same Bloody Mary.
GROUP LEADER
And how about you, Rae?
Wheeler is silent for a moment, unsure where to begin.
54.
WHEELER
When I was 11, we went to the mall in
Carruthersville. My mother was trying
to get on as a cashier at Sears.
Condition of her probation, so
everything was riding on this.
The group's confused, not sure where she's going with this.
WHEELER (CONTD)
While my mother was talking to the
manager, my sister Molly wandered off
to watch cartoons in the electronics
section, just for a minute, because
we didn't have a TV at home. But 5
minutes passed... 10... 15.
A few murmurs of concern from the group.
WHEELER (CONTD) (cont'd)
So I tried to tell my mom, I said,
'Molly's gone. Molly's gone, ma!' But
she kept shushing me. I went to tell
the security guard, but then noticed
he was gone too. So I went into the
mall and I looked everywhere. Then I
found this disused utility closet in
a service hallway by the old food
court. I could hear something. It -
The GROUP LEADER cuts her off.
GROUP LEADER
Sorry to interrupt. This group is
more for practical matters. Like how
to deal with insurance companies who
won't pay catastrophe claims or -
LILLY, a 30-year-old brunette, pipes up.
LILLY
Shut the fuck up, Ted.
GROUP LEADER
It's a liability issue. We're not
therapists.
Lilly lights a cigarette, takes a long drag.
GROUP LEADER (CONTD)
You can't smoke in here, Lilly.
An older woman shoots Lilly a look that could kill...
55.
OLD WOMAN
You can't smoke anywhere.
Genres:
["Thriller","Mystery","Crime"]
Ratings
Scene
35 -
A Casual Encounter with Cigarettes and Secrets
EXT. CHURCH HALL - LATER
Lilly loiters outside the hall, smoking, as Wheeler exits.
The sleeve of Lilly's jacket is pulled up, revealing a
forearm covered in tattoos.
These tattoos will eventually send Wheeler on a blood-soaked
quest through the secret history of Los Angeles, but right
now they look like a classic tableau - a coiled mamushi
snake, the coordinates for Mesa Huerfanita, New Mexico, a
moon hidden by a partial eclipse - no indication that
they'll one day lead to a pile of bodies in the Getty
Center's glass elevator.
Wheeler motions towards the cigarette -
WHEELER
Where'd you get that?
LILLY
You gonna bust me?
WHEELER
Nope. I'm just out.
Lilly passes her a smoke.
LILLY
Got a guy on Alameda
She lights Wheeler's cigarette, eyes her...
LILLY (CONTD)
You know, people like you, the really
fucked up ones, they're the ones who
usually wind up living their lives in
the Chronicle. Like Jerry in there,
creeping around a depressing airport
singles bar, stalking a dead woman.
WHEELER
Guess I'm kinda out of the loop.
Lilly stares up at the night sky, ablaze with satellites.
LILLY
Out of the loop is the best place to
be.
(MORE)
56.
LILLY (cont'd)
The Chronicle's auto-rendered from
CCTV footage, Snapchats, pics of
dinners, social media check-ins,
cell-phone data. You know how they
have those, those maps that let you
zoom in on any place in the world?
It's like that, but with time.
Wheeler shakes her head -
WHEELER
I spent my whole life trying to get
out of that shit town - not going
back in in some video game.
She turns to walk away.
LILLIE
Hey - your mom get the job at Sears?
WHEELER
Failed the piss test.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller","Mystery"]
Ratings
Scene
36 -
Wheeler's Surreal Time-Travel Experience
EXT. DOWNTOWN STREET - LATER
Wheeler walks down a quiet street, stops in front of a pawn
shop. The window is filled with unloved gadgets: old 3D food
printers, VR projectors. Her eyes fall on an ancient iPhone.
INT. WHEELER'S APARTMENT - LATER
Wheeler sits at a table in the living room, taking apart her
broken phone that was returned to her at the hospital. An
old Dodgers game plays on the smart wall.
ON SMART WALL: Dixon Tyler steps to the plate. He's getting
on now - 41, bigger beer belly, grey beard, hunched a bit.
ANNOUNCER
And that'll bring up Dixon Tyler.
Dixon has already announced his
retirement, and can you imagine a
more dramatic way to end a career
then stepping to the plate in game
seven of the 2034 World Series, down
one with a runner on second?
Wheeler forces the broken SIM card holder open. She looks up
as Dixon swings, well behind the pitch...
57.
ANNOUNCER (CONTD)
Swing and a miss. And the Dodgers are
down to their last strike.
Wheeler puts the SIM into the phone from the pawn shop.
The pitcher hangs a curve. Somehow, Dixon turns on it...
ANNOUNCER (EXCITEDLY)
And Dixon launches a shot down the
left field line! It's hooking...
Wheeler's eyes snap to the game. The ball travels over the
wall, staying just inside the foul pole, where it's caught
by a 24-YEAR-OLD GIRL. She jumps with joy, showing off the
ball to a WOMAN next to her, the crowd in a frenzy.
ANNOUNCER (CONTD)
Home run! Home run! Unbelievable!
OTHER ANNOUNCER
And Dixon Tyler says goodnight and
goodbye from Seattle! What a finish -
to the game - to a career!
Wheeler moves in front of the Smart wall, stunned.
WHEELER
Rewind 5 seconds.
The ball travels over the fence again, the girl catching it.
Wheeler's eyes are wide with shock.
Genres:
["Thriller","Mystery","Crime"]
Ratings
Scene
37 -
Finding Lucy Reynolds: A Digital Investigation
INT. WHEELER'S CAR - LATER
Wheeler speeds down the street, her old-school 2020 phone
pressed to her ear...
WHEELER
Anna, what was that trawler you used
to try and find Prescott?
INT. LOZANO'S LIVING ROOM - LATER
Wheeler watches as Lozano uploads a still photo from the
archaic phone onto her computer...
An image of the girl happily showing Dixon's homerun ball to
a WOMAN IN GLASSES.
58.
LOZANO
It's not great. But it only has to be
good enough.
She launches the trawler, thousands of images flashing
quickly across the screen...
LOZANO (CONTD)
Bingo. Here's your girl - Lucy
Reynolds.
Lozano clicks on a VIDEO: a 20-year old girl with a
birthmark: quirky, cute, and obviously Lucia Reyes.
Genres:
["Thriller","Mystery","Crime"]
Ratings
Scene
38 -
Interrogation and Confrontation at Guerrero's Apartment
EXT. APARTMENT - DAY
Wheeler and Holloway rap on the door of a modest apartment
in a scuzzy complex. Vincent Guerrero opens it.
GUERRERO
Detectives. What a surprise.
INT. APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS
Wheeler and Holloway step into a tiny apartment. It's a
dump, but a lovingly decorated one.
GUERRERO
You want an iced tea or a clamato
juice or something?
Wheeler holds up the photo from the World Series - points at
the woman in glasses.
WHEELER
This is your sister Cindy. Lives
outside of Winters, right?
Guerrero wipes a glass on his shirt, pours himself a drink.
GUERRERO
How about tequila? Got a sandworm in
it - straight from -
WHEELER
And this is Lucia Reyes.
GUERRERO
(glancing at photo)
Shit. Everything lives forever now.
59.
WHEELER
I got your KPIs from the wire mill. I
know that you went to Prescott's
after we called you. That you planted
the gun and jacket.
FLASH: The dark interior of a storage unit is shot through
with light as its shutter rises. A faceless mech stands at
the entrance, holding a bloody pink bomber jacket and gun.
Guerrero takes his shot of tequila, pours two others.
WHEELER (CONTD)
The only thing I don't know is: who
shot Sixto?
Guerrero passes them the two shot glasses.
BEGIN FLASHBACK
Genres:
["Crime","Mystery","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
39 -
Sixto's Fatal Misstep: A Tragic Encounter in Dolly Lake
EXT. STREET - NIGHT
Sixto's Mazda rolls beneath the bridge in Dolly Lake, the
temp gauge maxed out. It runs out of power, dying on the
side of the road. Sixto's panicking, drenched in sweat. He
looks in his rear-view, sees Sonny D'Alesio dismounting,
coming up fast, armed to the teeth.
Sixto reaches over Lucia to pop open the glove compartment,
reaching in blindly, eyes in the rear-view, D'Alesio now
just steps away. Sixto yanks the .45 out, swivels towards
D'Alesio, the gun slipping in his sweaty hands. Lucia tries
to catch it - BANG - Sixto's brains paint the Mazda window
just as D'Alesio races past, oblivious to the drama inside.
EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS
Guerrero walks down Vermont as he hears the gunshot. He
picks up his pace, running towards the Mazda. The passenger
door opens, Lucia spills into the street, silently crying.
Guerrero reaches her, lifts her into his arms. He peers into
the car, sees the blood.
He looks around for a moment, unsure of what to do. Then he
grabs the gun from the car, makes his way across the street
with Lucia, unseen, and ducks into an alley. He takes her
bloody pink bomber jacket, rolls it around the gun, jams it
up inside a disused water pipe covered in decades of rust.
He pulls out his cell, makes a call.
60.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
40 -
A Moment of Understanding and Redemption
EXT. ALLEY - LATER
A vehicle pulls up at the end of the darkened alley.
Guerrero walks a crying Lucia to it, opens the back door,
gives her a hug, and sits her inside the car.
He shuts the door, nods to the woman in glasses (Cindy)
who's driving, and watches as they pull away into the night.
Guerrero turns, heads out the other end of the alley...
EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS
And emerges onto Vermont. He crosses to where Studdebaker's
working the Mazda, bagging up Sixto's phone.
Wheeler and Holloway head towards them.
GUERRERO
CSI is on the way.
Sirens fill the air in seemingly every direction.
HOLLOWAY
Not anytime soon. Start processing.
END FLASHBACK
INT. APARTMENT - DAY
WHEELER
Why did you do it?
GUERRERO
I knew Lucia from the block. Mom OD'd
a couple years back. You know what
they did to undocumented kids with no
parents, Rae? They put 'em in
detention centers - four to a cell in
cages - the older kids taking care of
the younger kids, changing goddamn
diapers. And if they couldn't find
any relatives, they just stuck 'em on
a bus to Reynosa.
He takes another quick shot of tequila - eats the sandworm.
GUERRERO (CONTD)
Stop by the Reynosa station some
time. Count the number of cartel
members waiting for kids to get off a
bus alone.
61.
Wheeler's about to speak but cuts herself off as her eyes
travel behind Guerrero...
GUERRERO (CONTD) (cont'd)
We got into this job to help people.
I was done walking away. Weren't you?
Lucia Reyes, 34, stands in the doorway, cradling a baby.
Wheeler smiles at her - there's a kinship in being alive
after everyone's dug your grave.
Wheeler downs her shot, opens the door to leave.
WHEELER
I'm just starting.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
41 -
Captain Studdebaker's Confrontation with Reporter Lozano
INT. CITY HALL - DAY
JOURNALISTS mill around an empty podium. Captain Studdebaker
(40s), stands in the wings. Anna Lozano approaches.
LOZANO
Good turnout, Studdebaker. Busting
Prescott is a big moment for you.
STUDDEBAKER
I wasn't aware you were joining us.
LOZANO
Oh, I've got plenty to say.
STUDDEBAKER
I don't think so, Anna.
LOZANO
Here's what I want. I want Rae
Wheeler and Ben Holloway to get their
jobs back. And I want on - I'm sick
of being a dial-a-cop.
Studdebaker laughs.
STUDDEBAKER
Are you out of your mind?! Wheeler's
a ticking time bomb and Holloway's
what, 100 years old?
62.
HOLLOWAY
OK. Well, I'll make sure to tell KTLA
that if it wasn't for us, Lonnie Lee
Prescott would still be killing kids
and an innocent man would have been
executed. I believe that's called a
scoop.
Studdebaker's smile vanishes.
STUDDEBAKER
I can give you Malibu. No crime.
Maybe a drunk driver every month.
LOZANO
We want Dolly Lake.
Studdebaker stares at her in disbelief.
Genres:
["Crime","Thriller"]
Ratings
Scene
42 -
Wheeler's Somber Investigation
EXT. STREET - NIGHT
Wheeler walks towards a glowing storefront, the only source
of light on the coal-black street.
She disappears down a staircase beneath a flickering sign:
Visit The Chronicle!
BEGIN MONTAGE:
- SEEDY SHOP: The light of a scanner runs over Wheeler's
face.
- MOLLY AND SAM'S TRAILER: Wheeler watches Molly (45) and
Sam (16) through the window of a trailer. Molly puts a
birthday cake on the table. Sam blows out the candles.
- SOCCER FIELD: Wheeler watches Sam chase a pass down the
sideline, kicking a shot wide into a Food Lion parking lot.
- COMMUNITY CENTER: Wheeler watches Molly in a COMMUNITY
CHOIR singing Goodbye Yellowbrick Road. Molly looks happy.
- SCHOOL LUNCHROOM: Wheeler watches Sam eat lunch alone.
- MAIN STREET: Wheeler follows Molly down a street, through
an alley, watching as she disappears through the back door
of The Hideaway strip club.
- SCHOOL: A kid slams Sam against a locker in a dilapidated
school as Wheeler looks on. Sam falls, his nose bloody.
63.
- LAKE: Sam and Molly share a nighttime picnic on the shores
of a lake. Am explosion of fireworks lights the sky above
them. Molly puts her arm around Sam, films him on her phone.
-EMPTY MALL PARKING LOT: Wheeler watches as Sam sits alone
on the hood of a rusting car, smoking a joint. It begins to
rain, Sam's getting soaked - he's unfazed.
- PARKING GARAGE: Molly clomps across an empty parking
garage in an unused building, nervously looking behind her.
Wheeler follows, confused. Why is she here? Molly heads
towards an idling box truck... opens the door, climbs into
the passenger seat, disappearing into the darkness of the
cab. A BEAT before...
A GUNSHOT explodes in the night. A FLASH illuminates the cab
for a split-second, revealing Molly executing the driver.