All language subtitles for Altered Minds (Wechsler, Michael Z. 2013)_WEBRip.1080p.x264.AAC5.1_EN

Remember how you
used to love that, dad?

How we'd all build a snowman
after the first big storm,

and I would give it
the carrot nose,

the raisin eyes...

And Harry would give him
the cardboard violin.

Then Tommy, of course,
would make up these...

Ridiculous horror stories

about how the snowman was gonna
kidnap all the children...

and turn them into icicles

that would melt away
into the earth.

Harry?

Harry, do us a favor. Join us.

Come on, Harry.
Sit down.

Your glass.

Now, I'm keeping my family
by my side at all times.

My beautiful wife...

My lovely children.

Fight the good fight.

Now, speaking of something
that's not so funny,

does anyone know if Tommy is
going to make a house call today?

Lillian,
why don't you call Tommy?

Sure.

Does he have a name?

We already have somebody
to shovel the driveway, thanks.

I'm sorry to bother you.

Tommy shellner, I grew up about a
1/2 mile from here on Tennyson drive.

Shellner?
Wait a second.

Is your dad Dr. shellner?

Yeah.

We heard he wasn't well.

That's kinda why I'm here.

See...

We had a family dog
that died about ten years ago.

Dad had him cremated, and buried

in an urn somewhere
in this neighborhood.

He forgot where.

But now he wants
to find the ashes

so he can be buried
with it when he dies.

And I was hoping that maybe

you'd give me a few hours
to look in your front yard.

Dad was...

He was nuts about that dog.

I'll tell you what:

You give me an hour to dig,

I'll take care of those
icicles on the roof.

Plus all the ones up on your...

Up on your trees.

I'm sorry,
this just isn't a good time.

Icicles are dangerous.

Think about your kids.

The first winter living with us,

Tommy plucked icicles
off the house and the trees.

He said he was protecting
his new family.

This from a 5-year-old.

Tell me, Harry...

Is your brother still
looking for his dog?

He's been taking
the shovel out every morning.

I don't know
what he does with it.

I found this hanging
from your bedroom window.

You gotta deal
with this shit, ma.

Still high treason
to refuse your brisket, ma?

It's like communing
with the cow, ma.

Why don't you try communing

with some of my
string beans, wise-ass?

So, Tommy...

You said you weren't coming back
until you find the family dog.

You're back, so...

Did you find the family dog?

Leonard...

Will you go check on you
father and see if he's ok?

Please?

Oh, 25 years, ma...

Dad can't fix the faulty wiring?

Well, he says that it gives
the house character,

although I think that this...

Home has quite enough
character as it is.

That's a boat-tailed grackle.

I know this is a bad time...

Your son, Tommy, stopped by my
daughter's house this afternoon...

No, it's alright.

I wanted to make some
muffins for your husband.

I'm Elizabeth Robins.

Many years ago, your husband...

Tried to help my son,

Joseph.

This is my son.

Your husband,

he was the only doctor who never
gave up on my son after the war.

May god be with you
and your family.

Mrs. Robins?

I hope that your son is ok.

I hope so, too.

He left us a long long time ago.

Please, wish Dr. shellner
a happy birthday.

Something's up.

You're helping with the chores.

Maybe I just want to...

Spend some time with my mother.

Ohhh...

I think I'm gonna quit
the philarmonic.

But you're...

But you're one of
their best violinists!

Do you remember that...

Performance anxiety
i got rid of years ago?

I think it's back.

But it will pass, Harry.

Please, don't tell
your father a word about this.

You know how much he loves

watching you perform
in the orchestra.

Yeah.

You know what?

You're right.

I hate doing chores.

I'm not reading your obituary...

I wanna hear what my family has
written about me for "the New York times."

Mom?

Dad wants me to
read his obituary.

Nathaniel, can't you find
something better to do with your time?

Why don't you watch
the chaplin DVD?

I wanna know how I'm going
to be remembered by the public.

I vote nobituary.

- Nobituary.
- Nobituary, dad.

I don't know what this "nobituary"
means, but I want my obituary.

Now, please.

Let me hear it.

Alright.

"Noted psychiatrist, Dr. Nathaniel
shellner, passed away from lung cancer.

"Dr. shellner is best known for
creating the post-traumatic crisis center

"for American soldiers returning
from war and suffering from PTSD..."

Say I lived to 102.

Nobody does fact-checks
anymore anyway.

Wait, I thought that we had
a family veto!

This is not a democracy
lillibug, please.

"He lived till he was 102.

"He was awarded the nobel prize in
1972 for developing a branch of psychiatry

"which was used to address
shell shock in war veterans.

"During the cold war,
from 1957 till 1968,

"Dr. shellner was
director of research

"at the joint-us military psychiatric
testing and evaluation center

"in Quantico, Virginia.

"President lyndon Johnson
called him a true American patriot..."

President Johnson?
He actually said that about me?

- Pop...
- ok, go ahead.

"Noted philanthropist,
Dr. shellner has a wife of 41 years.

"And four children.

"Three of them adopted,

"including horror novelist,
Tommy shellner.

"Biological son,

"Leonard shellner, now heads
the post-traumatic crisis center,

"continuing the work
of his late father."

The only thing I d change
is this mention of you

being my only biological child.

See, all my children
are blood to me.

There's nothing like hearing
your own obituary

to put you in the mood
for Charlie chaplin.

You know what, dad?

What do you say that
we all go outside

and build you a snowman?

Save the frostbite
for another occasion.

You know what I'd really like?

I'd like to hear
Harry play the violin.

Harry!

Sorry, dad.

I think I need some air.

That makes two of us.

Tommy!

Tell me about your new book.

Does it have a title yet?

The red Robin.

Our favorite bird.

Do you know how many baby Robins
you rescued in the past 30 years?

59.

What's even more remarkable is
that you didn't become an ornithologist.

You tell dad you quit therapy?

It's none of
your fucking business!

It is,

when your psychiatrist
is in my practice,

and I'm still your brother.

Therapy is for rough patches
and I've smoothed mine out.

Then why are you still trolling
around like a vagrant

looking for your dead dog?

What is so important
about this urn, Tommy?

If you just tell me where it
is, dad, I'll be on my way.

It's right in here.

Tommy!

Excuse me, can you please
remind your brother

who this evening is for?

You remember when
pop would draw a picture?

He'd say,

"just look at the picture,
whatever you want...

"Imagine it
and it will be yours."

Yeah, it's worked for me
so many times before...

But not now.

I have to have that urn,

but he's never gonna
tell me where it is.

Oh god, he doesn't know
where it is, Tommy.

Let sleeping dogs lie.

- I'm not talking about the dog.
- No shit it's not about the dog.

It's about your obsessions.

It's why you started writing.

Your stories cost me and
Harry years of sleep.

You know that?

You still have nightmares,
Julie?

I think I've gotten over
your ghost stories by now.

I'm not talking
about my stories.

Do you remember
when we used to...

Crawl into each other's beds
after having nightmares?

Yeah, of course.

So what if I was to tell you
that they were real?

What happened in kazan was real.

I don't know why
you're bringing this up...

I'm not talking about kazan.

I'm talking about this house.

See, se was 8 years old when
he had his tonsils taken out.

Then he changed.

Before the surgery,

I told him he could have
all the ice cream in the world.

And when he woke up,

he asked the nurses
for vanilla and then...

And they said
he couldn't have any.

He cried all night long.

See, that's when
i lost his trust.

Dad, ice cream
has never caused PTSD,

unless I missed that class.

Check.

Well, Leonard's right.

It wouldn't say much
for my character

if all my vagrant-like trolling was
caused by ice cream, would it?

What is it, Tommy?

Tommy?

What?

- Dad...
- mmmm?

Please tell me
what I need to know.

The only thing
i have to give you,

if you're really
looking for your dog,

is right there.

Happy birthday, pop.

Please read the preface...

It'll explain why I'm
looking for the urn.

And please read it out loud.

"Dedicated to
Dr. Nathaniel shellner.

"I named this book after
the very first bird

"he introduced me to,

"the winged friend

"that began my love affair
with creatures of flight.

"I always associated the Robin

"with the love that
i felt towards my father,

"papa, my protector.

"Death is his first
living memory.

"He and his sister

"witnessed their parents
savage and barbaric murder.

"Civil wars packed the state's
orphanages beyond capacity.

"At 4 years old,
he slit his wrists

"over a sink
of putrid yellow water..."

I vote that we read
something happier.

"His botched suicide
was his first lesson in irony.

"For had he never tried
and failed to take his life,

"he would never have known
the love of the man

"who would come to be
his and his sister s protector.

"He was an American psychiatrist
working with the peace corps.

"He was a gentle,
big bear of a man

"the orphans called
'Mr. levis, '

"because that s all
he ever wore,

"and Russian children
were obsessed with blue jeans.

"So taken with them
was this doctor that one day,

"instead of giving them levis,

"he gave them plane tickets

"and asked them
to come back home with him...

"To America."

Continue!

"When the siblings arrived in a
prosperous suburb of Philadelphia,

"they joined a family
with one adopted son

"and an older biological child.

"For the first 3 years,
they wore blue jeans,

"and knew nothing
but happiness and love.

"But everything would change...

"But everything would change...

"With the nightmares.

"They always occurred
in the same place:

"A dark, dank area inhabited

"by three silhouetted
figures wearing

"muted grey hospital scrubs.

"These are the masked men
he would refer to as...

"The shadow doctors.

"His scalp was penetrated
by industrial needles.

"Sleeves were drilled
into his cranium,

"electrodes were slid into place

"where they grazed
the gelatinous area

"of brain tissue...

"sending volts of electricity

"down his pathways and
into the brain,

"it's how they destroyed his will
and primed him for programming.

"They split his personality
into different alters,

"personalities that sprung to life
when triggered by secret commands,

"alters that who would do things

"this boy would never do
in his true pure state.

"As they manifested each alter,

"they needed to test
their separate consciousness.

"The shadow doctors
would bring forth a baby Robin.

"The chick was placed
into the boy s hands

"but the boy was not himself,

"but an alter.

"With no conscience,

"He tore off the young hatchling's
head with his bare hands.

"Cut to 25 years later,

"and the boy is now a man

"and the man is having
the nightmares all over again.

"The experimentation...

"The shadow doctors.

"This man goes to hypnotherapist
to dig deeper into his head

"to find out what's really happening
and that's when the alters come out.

"And to prove

"to him that it happened,

"they told him about the urn.

"Inside the urn,

"are his...

"Future missions...

"As well as the codes to dismantle
the programming and give him back

"his will which
they had taken away, so now,

"in order to save himself,

"and his siblings,

"he must find the urn,

"stealthily hidden by the
head shadow doctor."

Papa,

my protector.

Time to wake up.

Tommy!

My son! My son!

Slow, slow.

Don't get dizzy.

Slow.

Here you go.

Ok.

Honey.

Unless he tells me
where the urn is,

there's no point in me
sticking around here.

I'm gonna be dead
one way or another.

If I don't get those codes...

Alcohol, imagination and too
much time on your hands,

that's what this is.

The truth comes in three stages:

First it's ridiculed,
then it is violently opposed,

then it becomes self-evident.

I don't want to hear anything more
about this, Tommy, you need help.

Course you d say that.

'Cause he kept you
in the dark like the rest of us.

Do I have to explain to you
how much this man loves you?

You know who else loves his
patients? Joseph Mengele.

Oh my god!

Why do you think so many presidents
called dad a true American patriot?

I guarantee you it wasn't for
shocking mice and hypnotizing apes!

Mengele, Tommy!

Nathaniel, please,
take something.

You'll feel better.

Your father is dying.

And all he can think about is
his emotionally-distraught son

who compares him to a Nazi.

We re worlds past
emotionally-distraught, mom.

Leonard, please.

Tommy.

Back in '74,

I had a patient who
served in Vietnam.

Traumatized beyond anything
I've ever seen in my practice.

Returns from his tour of duty

convinced that
he's a silent assassin

working for the U.S. government.

A victim of
mind-control experimentation...

Project bluebird.

Says after the war, he was
kidnapped by CIA operatives...

Locked away,

tortured for 6 months

till they broke him
into different personalities.

But his military record showed
he was actually in my lai.

See,

beneath the imaginary story
was the real story.

When the incident at my lai
was brought up,

he had no memory of it at all.

He fought to hold on to
the fictional conspiracy

that haunted him.

This is called
dissociative amnesia, Tommy.

So powerful is the mind,

so imaginative the psyche...

Yours is no different.

The things you had
seen as a child

were unleashed to you
in exactly the same way.

Now,

what you've written here,

is a compelling

piece of fiction.

That's all it is,
it's just fiction.

Oh, I have news for you, Tommy.

We cremated the dog,

but we never buried
him in an urn.

We just spread his
ashes out in the backyard.

That's it.

I may be the writer, dad,

but that's not fiction!

I'll find it myself.

Ok, thank you.

Barnabis can take him tonight.
I reserved a bed.

Hospitalization is
not an option.

I can get through to him.

Why don't you feed him
some vanilla ice cream?

Tell him you're sorry,
maybe that'll work.

Or I could run out, get an urn.

No, ma, ma!

It's ok.

Cleaning is how
i retain my sanity.

Why don't you give your father
one of your massages?

Julie, if you ever give up photography,
you could do this for a living.

Thanks.

Thanks a lot, dad.

Your mother tells me you're
thinking of moving back home.

Don't do it for his sake, Julie.

It's not just about Tommy.
Mom s gonna need help.

Some of the best advice
i ever got was

not from a psychiatrist.

If you love somebody,
set them free.

You're just saying that
because I'm a sting fan.

No, I'm saying it because
i love you and because

I want you to have a life
outside of your brother.

This is my problem to fix.

I'm his protector.

If a man fails his family,
he fails life.

I was never the cause
of your suffering, Tommy.

Never.

But I did it.

What?

I don't have the urn.

But I have the codes.

One,

twenty-seven,

and fourteen, fifteen,

sixteen.

Those are our birthdays.

Yeah.

It's easy to know when to
send you and your siblings out

on a classified mission.

- You're lying.
- Yeah, of course, I'm lying.

And you know how you know?

Because everything you said
tonight was horseshit.

No matter how deep you dig,

the only thing you'll
find is more shit,

and more lies!

Let me just not waste your time
and cut to the truth...

- Tell me!
- I'm going to die!

Yeah, your protector.

The man who saved your life...

many times.

You're regressing to the state
before I adopted you.

You had lost your parents.

You were terrified.

You were helpless.

I know, I've been there too.
I've been to that place.

I know the feeling well.

I'm not the monster
in the closet

with the electrodes
and the drills, Tommy.

I'm just the guy that held you,
and wouldn't let you go

until you could stand
on your own two feet.

I don't want you to die.

Yeah, you know what?

Neither do I.

So let's just enjoy the time
that I'm still here...

Together.

And just laugh at death.

Thank god for chaplin!

Tommy!

I thought you liked
"the gold rush".

And you almost had me...

With your "I'm not the monster
in the closet" speech.

Tommy!

It's like this
whole fucking house

is part of some experiment.

You guys think it's an accident
that dad's drawings

fill every inch of
wall space in this house?

You see a sketch of a bird,
right?

That's not a wing,
that's a fucking code.

They're all fucking codes!

Look at this!
Look at this!

You see a picture of a little
boy with his parents, right?

You look closer,

you see the guiding
hand of a mad man!

This isn't our home.

It's a cryptic,
psychiatric agenda!

And you!

Oh, you are a monster.

This is a valium.

Take it, Tommy.
It's not a request.

You're never gonna forgive
yourself for tonight.

Hey sis, what do you say,
you me and Harry,

we make one for old time's sake?

Cut it out, Tommy!

I will get the carrot nose
and the blueberry eyes.

Hey, you look cool.

There we go, now he looks good.

He's missing something,

missing something.
Here we go.

See, this way, old frosty
here...

Will let everybody
know that visits,

what a normal
fucking family we got.

Now, give him a name.

What the fuck is your problem?

Worst thing in the world
i can do

would be to move
back home for you.

Dad was right!

What are you talking about?

I can't cure you, Tommy.

I won't.

Let the rumpus begin.

Harry,

the last time you had those
tremors, you were in therapy.

Harry?

What is it?

My sleep...

I...

I don't anymore.

Fire.

I see children on fire.

I just stand there,

watch them burn.

I know it sounds ridiculous.

But I feel like I've done
something bad.

I feel...

I wake up and I feel like a...

I feel like a murderer.

Jesus fucking Christ!

How long have you
been this way, Harry?

I don't know.

Be honest, Harry.

It started when Tommy moved in.

Harry, how can I help you to
make you feel better? Tell me.

I don't know, I...

I just...

I just need to believe that
nothing went wrong in this house.

Why?

What do you think happened?

I don't know.

Do you think...?

Do you think I had people

perform mind-control
experiments on you?

I don't know.

I just...

I just wanted to express myself,
that s all.

The power lines must have
frozen.

Then try explaining why the rest
of the block has electricity.

I had to block the transmission.

Tommy?

Tommy?

There's thousands of
microscopic sleeves in my skull,

this is how the
electrodes access my brain.

These wires dad won't fix,
they're not faulty.

They're set up with
transmitters...

No!

Please!
If you have any cell phones,

turn them off for the
remainder of the flight!

If he wasn't your son, you'd
already have him committed.

I won't abandon Tommy,

or any of my children.

You're not abandoning
your children,

you're abandoning your reason.

Harry, where are you going?

Looking for the ashes
of the burned children?

Look, everybody has a right
to investigate their past.

Dad said my parents were killed
by rebels, what else?

Harry, we never held
anything back from you.

Did I do something vicious?

No, Harry, no!

Did I kill anybody?

Did I set fire to a home
filled with kids?

No, that s preposterous!

Maybe...

You're shielding me, too.

Maybe you're shielding
all of us.

Don't do this to dad, Harry.

Fuck you, Leonard.

What are you doing with these?

I was about to ask you
the same question.

Before we bought the house,
it came with a bomb shelter.

Your mother kept the original
photos until we made our bid.

- I've been in that room.
- That's impossible!

We sealed it up,

grew the garden over it
immediately after we moved in.

Then how would I know that space
if I've never seen these pictures?

Maybe you heard your father
talk about it.

No, I've seen that space
so many times before!

I know that room!

I know that room too.

I don't know how I do,

but I've definitely seen
that room before.

This is freaking me out.

- I don't fucking believe this.
- Dad...

I remember this, it was...

Dank...

Really stuffy,
not a lot of room to move,

really tight little space.

The floor was made of concrete,
and it smelt a lot like

- rubbing alcohol.
- Rubbing alcohol.

Who s bullshitting who, doctor?

Somebody please tell me
what the hell is happening?

This family has bought
the farm and the fertilizer.

Where is it?

Tommy, that place was
sealed decades ago!

Which way was it?

The garden?

You can't tell mom and dad
about this, you hear?

This is our little secret.

Nobody else can know.

You're blinded
by your devotion to Tommy.

Look what it's cost to Harry.

I know that I took
that photograph.

And it scares
the shit out of me because

I can just feel that
something bad is gonna happen

to Tommy and Harry because of
the person in the foreground.

It's just your head
playing tricks, Julie.

Of course
you're gonna say that...

Because that person is you.

Jesus Christ!

So, now I'm part of
dad s imaginary foot soldiers?

If dad wanted to recruit,

he certainly wouldn't have to look
any further than his own eldest son.

What did I ever do to you,
Julie?

That's a very good question.

What did you do to me?

You got Tommy's virus,
all of you.

He's poisoned you against me.

I wouldn't give him
that much credit.

Thirty-five nests
we counted that year.

Now he's turned the Robin into
some horrible symbol of...

Child abuse.

Remember that weekend
you went to the conference,

and I visited my mother,

in '85.

That's when he began to change.

He was eight years old.

There's some...

There's something
that's always bothered me.

Leonard was taking care
of the kids.

I asked him if something
happened while we were away

and he said nothing.

Leonard always felt
threatened by the others.

I think he felt we gave them

preferential treatment
and he resented that.

Look at him now.

How he's thrived.

What I think mom is trying
to say is that maybe I raped,

molested and tortured
Tommy and the others.

No...

It seems to me
like the women of this family

would like to point to me
as the culprit.

- Talk to Julie lately?
- Oh, Leonard.

Don't lie.

- Always hated me.
- That's absurd!

You and dad, both...

You treat them a little better.

I accepted that.

I got the genes,
but I didn't get the attention.

And I understood why.

But I'd be lying if I said
i didn't take that personally.

I never acted on it...

Not like how you're suggesting.

You have no idea
what the hell I'm thinking.

Sorry, dad.

I love you both,

but I remember the exact date

your biological son

mattered a lot less
in this house.

January 14th...

1981.

That's when
you brought Tommy here.

Who the fuck is that?

If you don't give him a name,

he'll turn the children
into icicles.

What are you doing, Harry?

I saw the red Robin, Tommy.

Red Robin?

I know...

I know who started the fires

that killed the children.

I know who made the
pathways in your skull.

The Robin's in the
kitchen, Tommy.

I saw it.

You want the Robin?

It'll lead you to the urn.

What do you mean
it's in the kitchen?

You're not making
any sense, Harry!

I saw the Robin, Tommy.

It all made sense.

Harry!

Tommy!

Tommy, what happened?

Harry!

What did you do to him, Tommy?

He's going to be ok.

What have you done?

He's gonna be ok.

He tried to shoot himself.

He only grazed his ear,
but he's gonna be ok.

But why?

You've no right
to ask that question.

You have to give him a name...

He'll turn all the
children into icicles...

What? Harry!

If you don't give him a name,
he'll turn the children into icicles.

What? you're what?

Icicles will melt away
into the earth.

Leonard, call an ambulance!

Mom, no ambulance.

Tommy?

Mother...

Tommy!

Harry said the red Robin
was in the kitchen.

I don't understand,
the red Robin?

He said it's what
did this to us.

This doesn't mean
i think you're right,

or I believe anything
you've said.

Never seen these keys before.
What are they for?

Torture chamber?
Bomb shelter?

I don't know.

Harry said the red Robin's
in the kitchen.

That must be
what he's talking about!

Leonard, stop!

Stop it!
Leonard, stop it!

Stop that! Stop it!

Tommy! Tommy!

Tommy!

Leonard, stand up!

What are you doing?

He's mine now.

Can you sit down?

Leonard, where you taking him?

Leonard!

Hey, what just happened?

Where's Tommy?

Leonard, where is Tommy?

Fuck you!

Leonard!

Leonard!

Leonard!

Leonard!

Here, sweetheart.

Take it.

Ok.

Call in the children.

Tommy's fine.

Barnabis is on its way.

You'd better have yourself
a stiff drink.

I don't drink.

Neither did your mother.

In 1957, I was appointed
director of research

at the joint-us
military psychiatric

testing and evaluation center

at Quantico, Virginia.

I was selected to be

on the front line of
our war against communism.

The office of
special services and the CIA

launched a campaign,

mk-ultra,

to root out the enemy...

Not by the use of
bullets or bombs but...

By the use of the brain
as a weapon of choice.

Sure, I was a lead
psychiatrist in my field.

But there was another reason
that they put me in charge.

You see,
i was only 8 years old...

When my family was visited
by the friends of Stalin's regime,

and I had my first
real taste of...

Communism.

A few years into the campaign,

when we were told that
we'd be experimenting on...

Russian spies,

north vietnamese
prisoners of war,

suspected Chinese subversives,

I thought...

"This is my chance
to get even with those...

"Fucking communists!"

I thought of that
8-year-old boy...

And what he saw...

And I thought...

How I could

make him forget

about that awful day forever.

Years later
into the experiments,

I realized that the patients

were not what I was told,
enemies of America.

They were Americans.

Mostly soldiers.

Men who were
so traumatized by war,

they didn't even know
who they were.

"Expendables,"
our government called them.

Men who could be
easily programmed.

But...

The experiments went on,
regardless.

But I resigned when
Leonard was born.

Anyone touching my children,
the thought of that was...

Please, believe me,

when I tell you that
nobody in this family

has ever been experimented on.

This is a joke, right?

You...

You're saying that
you're one of those...

Scientists in Tommy's story?

That isn't true.

He's not well.

This is the morphine.

How I wish that was so.

Nathaniel!

You know it's a lie! You're
not capable of those things!

Look at the great things
that you've done.

This is Nathaniel shellner,
this is my father,

not some mad scientist.

You're exhausted.

And you're sick.

And you're desperate
for Tommy's attention.

So much so that
you'd incriminate yourself,

that you would ruin
your entire life's work.

You lied.

- Leonard!
- Leonard!

Stop it, he can't breath!

Stop!

Leonard! he can't breathe!
Get off!

Please, let go!

Mom!

Tommy!

Tommy!

There was a time

before we adopted

when you would take
these long business trips.

And...

I never asked why or where.

I never meant
to keep you in the dark.

We weren't allowed to tell
anyone, not even our spouses.

But if you would've told me,

I would've said choose me
or crimes against humanity.

And then maybe we wouldn't be
where we are this evening.

I never laid a finger
on those children.

Maybe you didn't,

and maybe you did.

You certainly touched
other people s children.

Lillian, soldiers who were
far past the breaking point,

before the agency
got hold of them.

And what about our kids?

When we found them, weren't
they past the breaking point?

I quit working
for the government

before we adopted them.

Yeah, but they keep you
on a short leash.

And you are still in touch
with you cronies.

Nathan...

Did you experiment

on our children?

Never.

Never!

Vietnam vets,

political prisoners,

random civilians.

How many?

Maybe 500 or 1,000.

The records were shredded,
you know.

Give him what he came for.

Give him a fucking urn.

Truth comes out.

There is enough morphine in
this syringe to kill five people.

You think I want
to inject you with this?

Get arrested
for murdering my father?

Be locked up,

truth never comes out,
that's just...

- Tommy, what are you doing?
- You stay back!

See, now you confessed
your sins to the family...

And now I want the fucking urn.

Where is it, dad?

Tommy.

I told you the Robin
was in the kitchen.

You have a concussion, Harry.

If you don't give him a name...

Christ!

He'll kidnap all the children...

I know the fucking story, ok?

And turn them into icicles...

I don't really care about
the icicles right now, ok?

He...

Will kidnap the children
and turn them into icicles.

It was never a story, Tommy.

It was never a story.

Back in '74, I had a patient
who served in Vietnam.

Returns from his tour of duty

convinced that he's
a silent assassin

working for
the United States government.

Victim of
mind-control experimentation...

Project bluebird.

We cremated the dog,

but we never buried
him in an urn.

It's like this whole
fucking house...

Is part of some experiment.

You should know what growing up
around civil war could do to a child.

I've seen that space
so many times before,

I know that room!

So powerful is the mind.

So imaginative the psyche.

The truth comes in 3 stages.

First it is ridiculed,

then violently opposed,
then it becomes self-evident.

I'm not the monster
in the closet...

With the electrodes
and the drills, Tommy.

Dad, please tell me
what I need to know.

What you've written here is a
compelling piece of fiction.

That's all it is, just fiction.

I'm Elizabeth Robins.

Many years ago, your husband...

Tried to help my son,

Joseph.

This is my son.

One of our first experiments,

he was deployed,

never heard from again.

Oh my god...

Oh my god!

You can't tell mom and dad
about this, ok?

This is our little secret,
nobody else can know.

If they found out that I went
away, they're gonna kill me.

You guys can handle things
while I'm away, just...

Don't let any strangers
in the house.

Leonard!

You're dead!

I've worked with your father.

I know he's away on business, so

I thought I'd surprise
his children with some presents.

What's his name?

He doesn't have a name.

Well I heard if you
don't give him a name,

he'll kidnap all the children

and turn them into icicles.

What's your name?

I don't have one.

The shadow doctor told us

if we gave him a name,

he'd turn us all into icicles.

That way, we'd never
remember who he was.

Doctor shellner.

I never understood

why I became
so scared of icicles

suddenly in my adult life.

I know you kids must be scared.

But you must look at me
as your guardian angel,

here to protect you.

The world...

Is a dangerous place.

So we have to hide.

You're gonna have to
learn to trust me.

Get off him!

Trust what I'm doing
is in your best interest.

Stop it, please!

Trust I'm gonna care for you
as if you were my very own.

Trust.

72 hours and you
already have that gaze.

This is great progress,
my little ones.

Are you vietnamese?

You know, i was never in my lai.

But your dad put
a chip in my head

so I couldn't remember
the experiments.

He convinced me
i burned children alive.

Fires...

That's all I ever dreamed about.

I couldn't sleep
the last 5 years.

You have the gaze.

You know I'm not here
to hurt you, honey.

Right?

I'm not the monster
in the closet.

This is your dad's
parting gift to me...

An urn.

He kept me awake for a week,

forced me to stare at it,

hypnotized me to believe...

I killed my own mother...

And cremated her.

Your father had a strange
fascination with birds.

How he knew one was split from
the self and ready to be an alter.

To take a baby bird's life

meant one was
successfully altered.

Beautiful creatures,

harbingers of spring.

But seasons come

and go.

Now, your turn.

You must kill without
conscience or regret.

Don't worry.

I'm your protector.

As I thought...

You aren't primed
for programming yet.

I was just like you.

See, your dad...

Gave me a transorbital lobotomy,

hammered a pick like this
right through my eye socket,

freed me...

Get back here!

If you don't give him a name,

he'll turn all the
children into icicles!

If you don't give him a name...

He'll turn all the
children into icicles.

You, sonofabitch!

Tommy! Tommy!

Your children are ready
to serve their country, doctor.

Oh my god!

My children...

Oh my god!
What has he done to you?

Sit down.

I thought I could undo what

Joseph had done.

That I could make it
as if it never happened.

I already succeeded
in programming Harry to

forget what happened
to his biological family.

So I knew that

the science worked.

I thought experimentation could
be used to good ends, and...

It was my problem to fix.

Your mother and
Leonard never knew.

I was responsible.

Dad wants to talk to you.

It's ok.

It's ok.

A monster...

A monster who loves his children

more than life

is still a monster.