Original subtitles

(helicopter blades beat)

(sirens wail)

(leaves rustle) (glass breaks)

(car alarm blares)

(siren wails)

(woman screams)

(helicopter blades beat)

(gun fires rapidly)

(thunder rumbles)

(siren wails)

(thunder rumbles)

(helicopter blades beat)

(birds tweet)

(grunts)

(breathes heavily)

(dramatic piano music)

(somber piano and violin music)

(dramatic percussive music)

(monintor beeps)

(Jason gasps)

- Jason?

(ominous music)

- I saw it, I saw it.

- You're okay.

- It was so clear.

(percussive music) (all speak over each other)

I know everything now!

(Jason sobs)

I know everything.

(Jason sighs)

- Do you have to go today?

- We play every Wednesday, Eve.

(sighs)

- Did you pay the gas bill yesterday?

- I thought you put that in the mail.

(zipper rasps)

- I said I'd wait to see how much money you brought home.

(Jason sighs)

- Well, I don't have any patients again today.

(zipper whines)

I will put it in the mail at lunch.

Do you have any severance money left?

- Yeah.

Couple hundred.

I was thinking of saving it for Skye's crib.

- Good thinking, sweetie.

'Cause Logan's gonna need a good crib.

- Are you sure you can't stay?

- I'm already late, babe.

Hey, everything's gonna be okay.

(ball smacks)

(men mutter)

You ready?

Ready? You ready?

- Ah!

You got lucky on that one.

- [Jason] Having some good luck today, man.

- Well, I would too if I kept faking out

a half blind guy on his bad side.

- What, you're really gonna play the cripple card?

- I'm just saying, you wouldn't be half as good

if I was twice as sighted.

- Ah fuck, all right, man, all right.

No more fakes for the rest of the day.

- [Man] Game point.

- You see me?

- [Man] Oh. - [Jason] You see me?

- [Man] Oh, you think that's funny?

- [Jason] Here, see this.

- Oh, yeah, I saw that!

Woo hoo!

Oh, what's up now?

See, that's game.

- Get out.

- That's game, buddy.

So uh, how's Evie?

- She's good, man, she's good.

- Yeah?

Yeah?

- [Jason] She's good.

- That uh, that didn't sound convincing.

- Well she's pregnant, man.

How would you be?

- Luckily I'll never have to deal with that.

(Jason laughs)

- I don't know, man.

It's been a little hard for her since she stopped working.

It doesn't really help that I'm not bringing in much.

Might take a loan out from her dad, last week.

- Ah.

I didn't uh,

I didn't know you were hurting that much.

- Neither did I.

This is it.

- One more.

Ah, there you go.

- [Jason] Finally.

- But listen, if you need some money, let me know.

- No, no, no, we're good.

I'll be fine.

- [Man] You sure? - [Jason] Business oughtta

pick up soon, I just had my brochure,

sent it on Monday, so I oughtta see some business from that.

And the weather oughtta get shittier soon, so--

- [Man] Oh, there you go. - [Jason] Yeah.

- [Man] Doctor Jason Pyatt, suicide preventer.

(man laughs)

Well uh, all right, you know.

Let me know.

- Thanks.

I will.

- I know you got a lot of competition in this town.

- Yeah, but they're all 80.

I figure I got another year of struggling,

then they'll all croak and gimme their business.

But how 'bout you, man, how's class?

- You know, uh.

It's uh...

Ugh, sometimes I feel like I'm teaching

the future stars of America's Most Wanted.

I mean, you got the gangsters on one side,

the nerdy white kids on the other,

and the Asian mafia sprinkled everywhere.

- Shit, man.

Shouldn't you be carrying?

- Oh, I do.

- You serious?

- Hell yeah, I'm serious.

I carry every day.

(laughs)

- No, man, I guess,

I guess I would too under the circumstances.

- Hey man, I already lost this eye,

I'm gonna do what I can to save the other one.

- Yeah.

- No, they're really smart kids, though.

They seem pretty involved so far.

- It's a cool class.

- Hey, they relate to it, you know?

I'm teaching a group that's made up

of 70% delinquents about social issues and violence,

they have a lot to say.

- Yeah.

Hey, we still on for after work?

- I believe it's the only thing on your schedule.

- Oh, oh, touche huh?

(laughs)

- I mean if you're sure that's all right with Evie.

If she doesn't wanna come--

- Nah, she's fine, she's fine.

I'll see you at 6:30.

- Sounds good.

- All right.

I'll see you later, teach.

- I'll see you then.

- [Jason] Bye. - [Man] You keep that lisping

to a minimum, all right?

- [Jason] All right, all right, all right.

(percussive music)

Hello.

Thank you for calling Jason Pyatt's office.

Hello, thank you for calling Do...

What's up, this is Jase.

I'm really busy, holla back.

(pen clicks rapidly)

(Jason laughs)

- Doctor Pyatt?

- Yeah, can I help you?

- You can.

- Mister Darnell.

Sorry I didn't realize it was you.

- That's all right, Doctor Pyatt.

How is everything?

- Uh...

Yeah, things could be better.

- Work is slow?

- Yeah, all week.

- Yeah.

- How have you been?

What can I help you with?

- Well,

I just wanted to see a familiar face.

Talk to someone I could trust.

Speaking of which.

- [Jason] Mmhmm?

- I uh,

found this on a news stand.

Good picture.

Yeah.

But, I just don't know

if I can trust someone who uses balloon font.

Especially like--

- Mmhmm, tell me, please.

- "Dedicated to you happiness."

- [Jason] Dedicated to "your" happ--

- No, "you" happiness.

- That's brilliant.

Well, it got your attention, didn't it?

- Yes sir, you're right.

Effective, very effective.

Do you have some time for a very tired old man?

- [Jason] Yeah, of course, come on in.

You want a Red Hot?

- No.

Thank you.

- [Jason] You got the first hour free.

- [Mr. Darnell] Ooh.

(cello music)

- Can I offer you anything?

- No, I'm all right, thank you.

- Well, make yourself comfortable.

- I'd like to sit here if that's okay.

- Yeah, absolutely.

I'm glad you came in today.

Didn't have anybody else on the books, and uh...

Ooh, it's nice to see a familiar face.

Mind if I record this session?

- [Mr. Darnell] That's fine.

- [Jason] Thank you.

So when was our last session?

- It was June, I believe.

- [Jason] That long?

- Yeah.

- Mr. Darnell, I gotta tell you, you're my best customer.

- Well then I'm sorry to tell you

that I'll be leaving town for awhile,

I just came by to talk to a good friend one more time.

- Well, today is yours, sir.

- [Mr. Darnell] Good, good.

- So.

What do you wanna talk about?

- Well I'll tell you, it's a very important day for me.

I suppose at my age, every day's important.

- [Jason] Sure.

- You know, there's a lot of questions in life

that you can't answer until you've lived as long as I have.

- Well, that's why we're here.

- Yeah.

- [Jason] I'd like you to consider me a friend.

- Oh, I do, I do.

You know, I really appreciate all the talks we've had.

You know, your patience in our conversations.

I know I've been a bit coy about my past.

Really my life.

- I wouldn't judge you.

You can count on that.

- By my age, you cherish trust.

It's harder to find someone who'll really listen.

- Well certainly Mr. Darnell,

you have more than just me?

- A young man like you,

you know, he knows what he wants in life.

Dreams, goals, places he'd like to go,

things he'd like to see.

But you never really believe it until it actually happens.

Dreams fade with age, and they're replaced

with the harsh reality of what life brings to the table.

I waited for that time.

I had a wife, responsibilities, a career.

But my imagination got the better of me.

- So, you had a difficult time with life's little demands?

- No, no, there's supposed to be something more,

something I hadn't seen, but had to see.

But my life as I knew it would never allow me to see it.

- Did you ever find that?

(sighs)

- I...

- Take your time.

(sighs)

- Have you ever looked up at the stars and wondered?

- Yeah, yeah.

Always.

- I wondered, too.

I was fascinated by the universe.

Space, time.

Are we alone, what happens next?

I wondered so much, I felt like nobody saw what I did.

- Like you're a man in the world, beneath the world.

- Yes.

Exactly.

- Of course, I...

I've felt like that often.

But it's all in the manner I feel.

Perception is a powerful thing.

You've traveled a lot in your life.

- Oh yeah.

- When I was in school I had the opportunity

to visit the Louvre.

I wasn't really into art galleries,

not until I saw this one painting.

Most people wouldn't give it a second glance,

it's not as vast or as detailed as many other,

you know, paintings in that gallery.

My friends dismissed it immediately, but I didn't.

- What's its name?

- The painting?

- [Mr. Darnell] Yeah.

- It's called Nude Youth Sitting By The Sea.

I'll never forget it.

- I remember it.

- You've seen it?

- The Penitent Man.

- It's all perception.

- [Mr. Darnell] Exactly.

- My friend saw a man sitting on a cliff.

But I saw something so much more.

His tortured soul.

- Why do you think he sits there like that,

with his head buried?

- I, you know...

I always felt he was suffocated, stuck in a way.

Like he wanted to look forward,

wanted to see the future, but he couldn't.

He couldn't know what was coming.

- Why do you feel suffocated, Dr. Pyatt?

- Isn't this your session?

- Forgive me.

- No, no, no, no, don't worry, don't worry.

Maybe you're right.

- What if the boy by the sea is not

angry at the at the road ahead?

What if it's the road that came?

- I'm not sure I follow.

- What if he's haunted by things he cannot change?

- Does something haunt you?

- Something haunts all of us.

- Let's go back to what you were saying earlier.

You said there was something missing,

something you couldn't see but wanted to see.

Let's go back to that.

- I don't think it's something many people could accept.

- Well, it's my job to understand.

- Yes, I know it is.

And I'm sure you'll do your best.

But you'll think I'm crazy.

I never intended to follow science

into anything more than a hobby.

But I was curious.

Why things happen the way they do,

those questions that no one can answer.

But one day I understood.

It was as if all the forces in the universe

had come together in that one moment in space and time,

to deliver an answer to me.

All those things we cannot change but wish we could.

Something reached out and spoke to me,

and I understood.

To all those that wished

they could see the beginning of time.

To all those that've dreamed of witnessing

the first man climb out of the primordial slime.

Finally they could.

Since H.G. Wells it's been one of the greatest mysteries

and fantasies in human history, but not anymore.

I've been given the secret.

And it was so simple.

(people chatter distantly)

(horn honks)

- I have a hypothetical for you.

- Shoot.

- What if somebody came to you and said,

"Ovid, I can take you back to the moment

"your classroom was hit, to the moment you were injured."

What would you do?

- I'd call the cops.

- [Jason] I'm serious.

- What are we talking about, here?

- Will you just humor me?

- I'd think he was crazy.

- But what if were possible?

I mean, wouldn't you take that opportunity

to set things right?

- "Set things right"?

You mean save my eye?

Avoid the bomb somehow?

- Yeah.

- My life would be different.

You know when you were a kid, you'd see that crazy guy

walking down the street with one arm.

You point and you stare,

you whisper to your friends about him.

Well when you become the subject of those stares

it really turns the tables.

- So, hypothetically...

- Hypothetically if I could go back

and save my eye somehow?

Sure, it'd make my life easier.

- Yeah.

- But I wouldn't do it.

I mean, changing what happened would change my life

and everything I've done with it.

I mean, teaching overseas during the wars,

all those kids, who knows where they would be.

- Okay, you're right, you're right.

But who knows?

You coulda gone on to do other great things.

- Let other men do other great things.

I think I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing.

- Yeah, but I guess it'd be impossible to know.

- All right, let me put it to you.

What if your dad hadn't died when you were a kid?

- Yeah, I don't know.

- Yeah, but don't you think...

His death defined who you are.

- Yeah, in many ways.

- [Ovid] If you could go back and save his life somehow

do you think you'd be doing what you're doing?

- Well business as it is, maybe I shouldn't be.

- Come on, man.

I'm just saying our lives make us who we are.

And who knows if you'd be doing what you're doing,

who knows if you'da got a chance to?

- I guess if my dad was still alive I could've always

become that secret agent I always wanted to.

- All right, man, you asked for my opinion,

I'm just giving it to you.

- Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

You're right.

Thanks, man.

How's that sandwich?

- Oh, it's awesome.

Your salad good?

- Nah, not really.

- See?

Everything happens for a reason.

- [Jason] So.

Just to clarify.

You're telling me that you're from...

- [Mr. Darnell] Yes.

- [Jason] And you discovered some way to...

- [Mr. Darnell] Yes.

- Well I'd be very interested in hearing it.

- Oh, I'm sure you would.

My secret's worth a lot.

- Well, we are under doctor patient confidentiality.

- I know.

- Nothing you can say can leave these walls.

I encourage my patients to be as open as possible.

- Assuming that you really wanna keep your practice.

- Right.

- Do you?

- Excuse me?

- Do you wish to keep your practice?

Do you enjoy what you do?

- Of course.

This is my life.

I try to help people, like you.

- Why do you feel the need to help other people?

- I believe you walked into my office today.

- Do you take the time to help yourself?

- Are you trying to put me on the couch?

- I'm sorry.

I meant no disrespect.

- No, no, no.

That's fine.

Let's get back to your story.

- Yeah, you're right.

- Can you describe how the answer came to you?

- How is not as important as why.

- Okay.

What motivated you?

- Surely there are things in our lives

we wish could be changed.

When you get older, however,

you grow comfortable in the way things turned out.

That was not the case for me, Doctor.

- I see.

- Some of the worst crimes against humanity

are done with the best of intentions.

This was the greatest find in history,

and it was bound to revolutionize the way people live,

the way they thought.

By sharing it, not only did I think it would be

a great leap in science, but would be enhancing the world

with pure, unadulterated knowledge.

But knowledge is nothing without understanding.

I made a few calls, the reaction was immediate.

As you can imagine, it was much like yours.

A swift nod and a quick dismissal.

I was nobody.

I was not part of the well established scientific community.

I got the government to listen, they brought me deep inside,

surrounding me with the world's great scientists.

Not the ones you hear about.

They studied my work, cross-examined my calculations.

(laughs)

It was real.

Before I even had a chance to think about it,

the government was at my door

offering me the biggest check I'd ever seen.

I was young, inexperienced.

The amount of zeroes on that check

could've fixed a small country.

And they calmly slid it across the table to me.

- So you took the money.

- It was one of those moments

when you're presented with two roads.

If I'd known the road that I chose,

would I have made the same decision?

I would like to think no.

- So what happened after you took the money?

- I spent some, bought a new house, car.

Life was great.

I was, I was the most famous scientist in the world.

And I never considered myself a scientist.

It was newspapers and magazines,

and talk shows and movie premieres, and...

Everyone knew my face.

But really quickly, in a couple years it went public.

You cannot contain human curiosity.

Everyone's always looking for the next

great leap in technology, and this was it.

Got a question?

Some time, we'll give you the answer.

- Yeah, I do have a question.

So how does this thing work?

Anybody can just travel back?

- No, that's not what I intended.

You can't just give anyone the power to actually go back.

Think of the ramifications of that.

What I envisioned was more like a window in time.

- A window?

Like what, like a, like a big screen

where you could just see history?

- Overly simplified, yes.

Once it was released publicly,

people could see any time they desired

without directly affecting past events.

It was the only way to keep it safe.

So we thought.

- So theoretically, anybody could see anything.

- Think about it as memory recall.

Every man's experiences, they can revisit even vividly.

Now imagine events in time as memories for the world

in a space time continuum.

I discovered a way to harness that.

- Now you mentioned being able to see the creation of man.

I mean, you'd have seen humans assemble,

develop their gods and destroy each other.

I mean, Jesus Christ.

- He was just a man.

Imagine the devastation from a revelation like that.

95% of the world's population

believed in a God in some form.

The scientists and the politicians and eventually the public

were able to go back and see

the Christian son of God as a mortal man.

It shook the foundations.

Even atheists began to lose hope for the future.

Southern evangelists began lashing out violently

at anybody who supported the new discovery.

The world was more divided than ever.

The road to hell had been paved with good intentions.

And it was just the beginning.

- Well what happened, some kind of big war?

- Once the technology was simplified,

the government went to a few large corporations.

To develop it for high-end consumer use.

They figured it was a great way to build the world economy.

Like commercial missions to the moon or Mars.

They figured they could make a lot of money,

and they were right.

Only the most wealthy could afford it, at first.

But with any new technology price decreases with time.

People were going back to the beginning.

They were peering into new dimensions of space and time,

looking for positive proof of evolution.

The origins of man.

The mythic stories from ancient Greece.

It spread like wildfire,

and it formed civilization as we know it.

- If this techology existed, we could learn everything.

- Everything.

- I mean, think of what we could do.

What we could accomplish with that.

- Oh, the things we could accomplish.

I used to think like that when I was your age.

But like I said, my imagination got the better of me.

Civilizations come and go.

People live and die.

All for a reason.

These things I listed, they are times and places

we were never meant to see.

Some, including myself, argued

that human progression was as natural as time itself.

So we proceded.

All of society's mysteries and questions could be answered.

I spent so much time concentrating

on the fallout from travel that I

never considered the ramifications of viewing.

Men would look back and find the secrets

the government was hiding from them.

Why are the Kennedys being killed?

Two brothers, a son.

Scholars would look back at the savage nature

of European settlers who stole the country

from Native Americans.

The truth divided us.

And individually armed us.

The world lost faith not just in God, but in everything.

Anarchy replaced order.

Crime, corruption, destruction took over.

No one was afraid of anything anymore.

No more questions.

No more beliefs.

And all because I couldn't see down that road.

- Time viewing, huh?

But you're not actually viewing me, you're here.

You're actually sitting right here, so how is that possible?

- You don't believe me?

- It's not my job to believe you,

but I wanna understand.

So, so, okay, so you created this

amazing technology but not now,

some time in the future.

Now that technology only allows you to see,

so how are you here?

- I want you to understand why, moreso than how.

- You gotta understand that a man of reason

the things you're telling me are all impossible to accept.

- [Mr. Darnell] I understand.

- I've studied all this.

I've fantasized about it.

I mean, most scientists,

people like Albert Einstein--

- Hawking.

- Stephen Hawking.

They don't even believe something like this is possible,

yet you're sitting here telling me

that you're actually living proof that it exists.

- Yes, I am.

- The idea of taking a man, or a woman, from one time

and putting them into another that already happened?

It, there's just so many questions that arise from that.

- I was as skeptical as you are when I began.

- Okay, one of the biggest issues that comes up

right away is causality.

So if you change something in the past, then...

- The grandfather paradox is something

we all debated for a long time.

If Jimmy goes back into the past and kills his grandma,

will Jimmy or his family ever exist?

- Right.

So,

- I came to two conclusions about time.

Many theories existed.

But now I could eliminate the arguments

that travel wasn't possible.

Or that only forward travel was.

I did tests and experiments

that lead me to two possibilities.

Either time was circular, constant,

or when you went back it would create an offshoot.

- Like a separate timeline.

- That's right, a new branch of time,

moving forward, parallel to the original,

with its own events and outcomes.

- So which is it?

- A definitive answer to that question

is close to impossible.

Even if Jimmy goes and kills his grandfather

and wipes out his whole family in the process,

does time ultimately find its way to the same outcome?

Or is it set in a new direction, a new course?

Or does the original future coexist

with a separate timeline that Jimmy created?

Or, does Jimmy fail?

Maybe if Jimmy tried to do something

as significant as kill his grandfather in the past,

time or fate would not allow it.

The gun would jam.

Or a bird would get in the way.

(ominous thrumming music)

(mysterious click)

- I don't understand.

So, if you're from the future,

theoretically a time far after Jimmy would've

killed his grandfather wouldn't you see the changes it made?

- It's not that simple, Doctor.

Firstly, only the traveler would ever know.

If time had changed, we would never experience it.

To us, Jimmy never existed.

- Okay, okay, what if someobdy went back and killed Hitler?

- What if Hitler was killed?

- What?

- What if originally Hitler was killed?

And someone went back and changed it?

Kept him alive.

To us, we would remember it as our history.

As if it always happened.

Many people believe that time eventually corrects itself.

If Hitler was dead, someone would likely

step up and take his place.

Thank God, mercifully I've never had to test that theory.

- Yeah, but you can.

- I guess so.

- You being here brings all that into question.

I gotta drink, man.

You want a soda, a scotch, water, what?

- Glass of water'll be great, Doc.

So what's the diagnosis, Doc?

- Well,

you are either crazy,

a very, very accomplished pathological liar,

(water splashes)

or you're telling the truth.

- Does it scare you if I am?

- I think,

I think regardless of what happens now

there'll always be that curiosity.

I can safely say I've never seen anything like this before.

- Good.

That's all I could hope for.

- Guess what I still don't understand is how you're here.

Or if there's some other reason why you're here.

Is there?

- It's all about causality.

The only remaining question for our species is fate.

Can we change our path?

Or is it always set?

I didn't know if coming here would accomplish anything.

But I know if I didn't try and talk to somebody

about what I know, it would add

to the long line of regrets that I keep with me.

Maybe fate does exist, and maybe it doesn't.

Maybe it's our destiny to live with mistakes I've made.

Or it could be my destiny to change them.

- Or maybe our sessions have just

been leading up to this moment?

- That's why I came back, Doctor Pyatt.

Just for the possibility.

- I'm gonna force myself to remain skeptical,

as a sane man would, but,

with that being said I still gotta know more.

- Did you ever wish you could change things?

- Of course.

I don't think you're ever gonna be alone in that.

(sighs)

- There was a time when I lived to help other people.

Like you're doing.

You can go to bed at night with a clear conscience.

You wake up in the morning knowing,

that you're trying to make the world better.

You can do that every day, I had that once.

But it came with a cost.

- Did you begin to feel like your discovery

made you feel isolated somehow?

- Oh, yes I did.

But I had to lose everything before I saw that.

- If you don't mind,

what is "everything"?

- My friends, my family mainly.

After a while I pushed them away.

But not by choice.

- They didn't see what you did?

- No, this time I didn't see what they did.

Who would've guessed that I'd be rewarded

for opening Pandora's box?

I was once revered, but now I was hit with backlash.

If there was one singular cause that united people,

it was hatred over what I had done.

- How did that make you feel?

Was that painful?

- Of course.

But it was not the kind of pain you feel

when someone you love breaks your heart.

It was sort of a mass humiliation.

A public failure.

I felt like a fraud in my own house.

I created something revolutionary,

but revolution does not imply forward progress.

I felt like a fraud

because I wanted to make the world better.

- But instead it turned on you.

- Yes it did.

- And what about that other pain, did you feel that, too?

- For a time.

I had a friend.

- What, somebody who stuck by you through everything?

- Yes, he did.

Early on, he helped me with my work.

Became my partner.

- He must've really cared about you.

To see what others wouldn't.

- He understood that the outcome of my discovery

was not what I had intended.

Or he pretended.

- Something you wanna tell me?

Jason?

- Sorry, man, what's up?

- What's on your mind, man?

- I don't know if I can really talk about it.

- [Ovid] Why not?

- It's that old doctor patient privelege.

- All right, come on.

Just uh, don't tell me the dirty details.

What's going on?

- I just really wasn't prepared for today.

This old patient of mine came in off the street.

We'd been talking for about a year,

I didn't think anything of it.

I mean he's a normal enough guy.

I mean, you know, normal in a certain light,

but he sits down in so many words

he tells me that...

- What?

What, he's a robot, he's an alien?

- He's from the future.

- Ha ha, so he's crazy.

Is this why you brought up the whole changing--

- I've seen crazy before.

This guy was very convincing.

- All right, come on.

What's his angle?

Was he uh, trying to get money out of you or something?

- Come on, man, listen.

Just hear me out, I'm not an idiot, all right?

- All right.

- He just said some pretty scary stuff.

Look, let's pretend this guy's the real deal.

He comes in, tells me that the world's

gonna go dark in a few years.

And everything is severely screwed up.

And that he came back because he wanted

to see what he could do to change it.

That's why I brought that thing up before.

I just wanted to know what you would do.

- If the world gets worse and worse

over the next few years, then I'd say we had it coming.

I mean, who are we to play God?

What's done is done.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Ah, man, you're really hooked on this.

- What's up?

- You need to take some time off.

Spend some time with your wife.

How's your marriage, Jason?

- What do you mean, man?

My marriage is fine.

- You sure?

I mean, all you do is spend time with me,

playing basketball or at work.

- Okay, what happened to rituals, man?

- Come on, man, I love you, you're my best friend,

but uh, I mean you have a pregnant wife at home.

With your first child, she loves you.

And all you do is talk to me about work, week after week.

- I know.

- [Ovid] Are you sure?

- I just gotta get my head right.

I will.

- I just, I don't want you to mess things up for yourself.

- How can I mess things up with you in my corner?

- Okay, but I can't fight all your battles for you.

- I know, I know.

Especially in your condition, Jesus.

- Really?

(Jason laughs)

Ass.

- I'm serious, though, I can't save your marriage for you.

- Does that mean you're not gonna

write me love sonnets anymore?

- Nope.

Okay, maybe for your birthday, maybe.

- How do you do it, Doctor?

- I'm sorry?

- Manage your relationships?

Surely your wife is lonely while you're here at work.

Dealing with colorful characters such as myself.

What does she think of your chosen profession?

- Our marriage has its problems, but...

I mean, they always do.

She understands that this is my job

and this is what supports us.

And every relationship has its sacrifices.

- What does she sacrifice for you?

- That's uh, I don't think that's any of your business.

- How often do you see your friends?

- Let's backtrack, I don't wanna get derailed again.

Let's talk about your partner.

Now he was probably closer to you

than most people around you.

- Yes, he was.

He was one of the remnants of my life

before everything changed.

Although he was happy for me,

he thought that I should sit back

and enjoy the fruits of my labor with my family.

But I could not sit still.

I had to be involved in every adjustment,

every refinement to what I'd given to the world.

- Don't you mean what you had sold the world?

- Sold.

Yes.

I had to be at every demonstration.

I might as well have been government property.

- As your partner stood by on the sidelines.

- As everyone did.

Everyone that was close to me.

You know, in some ways,

my partner was more naive than I was.

Once the repercussions were being felt,

no one could've imagined just how bad it was gonna get.

He was there to adivse me, to comfort me even.

To see me through the storm.

Together we tried to pick up the pieces.

Tried to undo what I had done.

- Did any of it work?

- No.

- Why?

- We tried to stop the mass consumerization of it.

Plead with the government.

By this time the damage was too severe.

The technology was in too many hands.

Unsteady hands at that.

We tried to make attempts to set things right,

but it was futile.

That's when I decided, I have to go back.

Some how, some way, I had to go back.

I fell deeper and deeper into my work,

trying to push the boundaries of my initial discovery.

To allow for actual travel.

To send a man into the past.

My partner pleaded with me to stop.

But I couldn't.

I needed to know if change was possible.

That's around the time he turned on me.

- Now when you say he turned on you,

he didn't merely cut you out of his life, did he?

- Human beings were once again reduced

to mindless barbarians and I was responsible.

We would've been better off if a meteor had struck

and wiped the slate clean.

Or that a bomb had forced us to start all over again.

But I did it, I actually did it, Doctor.

See viewing was only the beginning.

But like a rudimentary computer it only took time

and development before a new model was born.

You harness a wormhole, speed up one end

and slow down the other end.

- Go on, go on.

- I can't.

- Mr. Darnell, you realize--

- Please, please, I can't.

Let's leave it at this.

- How does it work?

(tense music)

How does it work?

- You have to understand if I answer that question

you could rip a hole through everything as we know it.

- But that's why you're here, isn't it?

To change the past,

so you're gonna have to give me something.

- Doctor Pyatt I was under the impression it was never

a good idea to force a patient to divulge anything

they weren't comfortable with.

- I can't, um, I can't keep doing this.

- All right, all right.

(Jason sighs)

I know this must be frustrating.

I can't give you everything, it just wouldn't be safe.

- I'm listening.

- You say you like science?

- I do.

- Then go back and read the concepts

presented by Hawking, Einstein, Lewis.

Light speed, black holes, wormholes.

They were so close.

There was just one small piece missing.

I'm sure you're aware,

that you're somewhat familiar with the concept of wormholes.

- Sure, yeah, they're fascinating to wonder about.

- If you don't mind, could you tell me what you know?

- Um...

They're a consequence of Einstein's

theory of general relativity.

A wormhole in theory would,

act as a shortcut or a passage way through space and time.

- The physics are even simpler than your definition.

A wormhole creates a tunnel

effectively cutting through two locations in space time.

- Yeah, yeah, therefore eliminating the need

for three dimensional travel through space.

No more rocket ships.

I like Stargate, too.

- Oh, wow, Stargate.

It's been a long time since I've seen that movie.

Who was that guy in it,

he was really good in that old western?

- What, Kurt Russell?

- Kurt Russell, he was good, wasn't he?

- Listen, nothing you are telling me is new information,

all right, the theories about wormholes have existed

for a long time, but nobody knows if they actually exist

or how to find them.

- But I do.

They're everywhere.

Just a matter of seeing them or harnessing them.

- But you haven't explained either.

How do you see them?

How do you harness them?

A machine, some sort of gateway?

- Of course you need a machine to sustain a wormhole.

But this is where I stop.

I have given you the gun.

Let me keep the bullets.

- Please, continue.

- I found a way to go back.

I was alone, but I found it.

My old partner was the only one that knew,

but for now, it'll stay that way.

The only question is, can the ripples I create

be enough to change the future?

Or create an alternate one?

- Ripples?

- Think of the water in that glass as time.

Time moves forward constantly, untouched,

as still as the water.

Go back and try to change something,

(fist bangs) (recorder rattles)

and it creates a ripple effect.

Change has to catch up with time.

(Mr. Darnell sighs)

And everything around it either changes, or suffers.

- Unless the ripples were always meant to happen.

- That's what I wanna find out.

The truth is, he had every reason

and every right to want me dead.

I would've done it myself if I'd thought

that would change anything.

- Would you say you have suicidal tendencies?

- I feel that ultimately I will have to

pay for my sins with my life.

I now am only here to set the wrong things right.

My parter pursued me at great length

once he knew what I had done.

And as much as I felt it was on my shoulders

to set everything right, he was convinced

that anything I did to fix the present

would continue to make matters worse.

- Have you ever thought that he may be right?

- He might be.

I don't know yet.

I think it's worth the risk.

I'm just afraid of what lengths he might go to,

to see his mission through.

- And your wife?

Did you lose her, too?

- You know that saying,

you don't know what you've got until you lost it?

- Sure.

- When I was a young man, she kept me steady.

I cannot remember the precise moment

where it all fell apart.

It was gradual.

Like a small scale of illusion.

Just somewhere down the line,

she realized I couldn't give her what she needed.

I didn't even put up a fight.

I apologized, watched her walk away.

- Did you love her?

- Yes, I did.

- And you just let her go?

- I might not have loved her if she'd stayed.

How can I respect someone who stayed

with someone that couldn't even respect themselves?

- Well I think if you love somebody,

you make it work through anything.

I think it's that simple.

Have you ever considered you couldn't handle

being there for her because you didn't want it?

Or you were afraid of it?

- Doctor Pyatt, if you weren't sitting here talking to me

right now, what would you be doing?

- I'd be sitting here waiting for somebody else to talk to.

- You wouldn't be home with your wife?

- This is my job.

It's what makes us money.

- You're a psychologist without patients.

That would explain that ridiculous brochure.

No, you wouldn't be sitting here doing nothing,

because Doctor, this is your escape.

By being here, you don't have to face your problems.

You know what I'm saying is true.

Maybe you have as much reason

for being on that couch as I do.

- You can't even begin to understand my situation.

- Yes I can.

- Oh, well then by all means, don't stop there.

(violin and piano music)

- Relationships demand constant attention.

I thought I understood that.

It was only when my wife told me

that she didn't love me anymore,

that i realized that I hadn't given enough of myself.

Relationships demand constant attention or they fail.

From someone that learned a little too late,

make her your priority over all things.

Your passions, your job mean nothing

in the face of love, true love.

I've experienced a lot in my lifetime,

both good and bad.

You're a young man, you don't wanna be pushing 80

sitting in a psychologist's office,

reminiscing about what you wish you'd done differently.

Trust me.

One morning you wake up

and forget to kiss your wife good bye.

And suddenly you can't remember the last time you did.

(sighs)

- So I guess I'm gonna talk to you,

'cause I think you can hear me.

Feels like it's been a while since we talked.

(monitor beeps) (Evelyn sniffs)

Tracy called this morning.

I guess there might be a new temp agency

I could sign on with, so there's some hope.

Listen, no one knows

how long it's gonna be until you wake up.

My mom said she'd move in to help,

while you're, while you're away.

And I'm really dreading that.

So you need to come to.

I need you.

And she does, too.

I've been alone a lot lately.

Without a job and you at work,

and I've had a lot of time to think.

I haven't done much else with my time.

The bills keep piling up.

And I notice how big the hole gets when you're gone.

I miss you.

And I just keep trying to piece together

where everything went wrong.

When did it get so bad for us?

It doesn't seem like it's been six years.

I remember, I was working downtown,

and you came in early in the morning

and your tooth was cracked in half.

And you were freaking out, your voice was so high-pitched.

And we rushed you to the chair,

and the doctor turned the TV on to try to calm you down

but that didn't work.

And we numbed you, but apparently not enough

because when I went to start working on your filling

you just screamed.

And afterwards you had the nerve to ask me out.

You were still all swollen at the time,

and you looked like a balloon

and sounded so ridiculous.

What happened?

I mean, when we were dating

you used to come by work from time to time

just to surprise me, or say hello on your lunch break.

Was it the baby?

Does the responsibility scare you?

When you come out of this,

I want to start again.

Because, without you, our family doesn't work.

God, I'm so confused.

And the police can't even identify the man who shot you.

God.

Ovid came by to check on me today.

To see you.

You really know how to choose your friends.

He cares a lot for you, for us.

I hope you realize that.

(monitor beeps) (tense music)

(Evelyn's voice is drowned out by music and beeping monitor)

- The price of my ambition extended

far beyond my wife, Doctor, it was everything.

Where I'm from, there are no taxes, no IRS.

No gas stations or fuel pumps, no warfare.

No Ronald McDonald's, no shitty movies,

we don't make those anymore.

Human kind had acquired all the information

it could ever desire, and it was maddening.

Once you put the power of God into the people's hands,

they don't believe in anything anymore but themselves.

- So, are you a natural skeptic.

- I haven't always been, remember I've seen what happens.

I've seen men kill whole families

because they didn't believe in their god.

Politicians murder each other for control.

Corporations playing chess with peoples' lives

for a percentage.

In a way, time has shown me

that people are just fucking selfish.

And I'm no different.

Like Icarus, I flew too close to the sun.

(recorder clicks)

You gonna get that?

- You can't expect any rational mind

to believe that you're from the future.

- I know, that's why I'm telling you.

- You certainly can't expect me

to believe what you're saying.

- You must realize how important it is

for you to keep an open mind.

I imagine you've got something of a feel for me

by this point.

Surely you see that I have a sober mind.

And despite the fact that I sincerely believe

what I'm telling you here,

I show no signs of lunacy.

- I think it's still a bit early

for a full diagnosis on that.

- You're still trying to wrap your head around me, huh?

- There are just a lot of questions that need to be asked.

All right, so far everything that you've told me

requires no shred of proof or any irrefutable data.

- What do your instincts tell you?

- Being a man of science myself,

going on instincts is not something I commonly do.

- Even if you don't believe I'm from the future,

you can't ignore the plausibility of my story.

And being a man of science, you must consider it.

And this is where I get off.

(poignant strings music)

- Wait, what?

- I've already allowed this conversation

to go on too long.

- Now hold on, I mean, I have sat here

and listened to your stories, your lectures,

your, what, your life lessons.

I've sat here as this conversation became

far more than a therapy session.

You can't just, you can't play games with people like this.

- I'm sorry.

- That's it?

- That's all I have.

- Oh.

- Your life may've been easier had I not entered it.

But if you don't mind, I selfishly will cherish

the talks we've had.

You've reminded me of a world that's worth it.

And I'm grateful.

You ever hear "fools walk in where angels fear to tread"?

- Thank you.

- No, no, no.

- Oh, I got it.

- No, man, we--

- No, lunch is on me.

- I appreciate it.

- No problem.

Oh hey, thank you.

- Hey I'm sorry about earlier.

I mean you were totally right about everything you said.

- I know.

- And I promise you'll see less of me.

- Good.

(laughs)

You know what I mean.

- Yeah, yeah.

- What?

- Today was just so crazy,

I can't get it outta my head.

- It definitely doesn't happen every day,

but take my advice.

Separate your work life from your home life.

You know when you married Evie you made a commitment.

I mean, you had your chance to bail out.

- I don't wanna bail out, I love her.

- Then why don't you do something tonight to show her?

- Shit.

Gotta put the gas bill in the mail.

- That's not exactly what I meant by--

- No, no, no, no, I just remembered though,

but I know what you mean.

I will.

- Let me know how it goes.

- Yeah sure, I'll just film it for you.

- Really?

- No, man, what is a matter with you?

- I just haven't had a lot of time for a sex life, lately.

I mean, I gotta take what I can get.

- All right, man, I'm gonna head home.

- [Ovid] All right. - [Jason] I'll catch you later.

- [Ovid] Okay, you give the Missus the best for me, okay?

- [Jason] I will.

(Jason grunts)

- Hey you know, give her a kiss for me.

- Always.

- Yeah, a nice big juicy one.

That wasn't very nice.

(low percussive music)

(violin and quick percussive music)

- What brings you in?

- Uh, some special flowers for my wife.

- Okay.

Anniversary, birthday?

- Uh, kinda a little make up.

- Been there before.

Right over here.

- Let's go with the red.

- Sounds good.

Got a nice assortment here that actually

somebody backed out on,

so it's already got the baby's breath,

a nice green mix all with it.

- How much is that?

- [Florist] $59.99.

- Yes, let's do it.

- Okay.

Okay, I've actually got some change for that right now.

- Awesome.

- Here's 40.

- Thanks so much for that.

- [Florist] Yeah, feel free to look around,

I'm just gonna set these down for you.

- [Jason] Awesome, thanks a lot.

- Thanks again.

- Yeah, yeah.

(hinge squeaks)

(tense music)

(quick, tense music)

(leaves rustle)

(door squeaks)

- Look at me, look at me.

What are you doing?

- Let me go.

- No, no, no.

- [Ovid] Let me go. - [Mr. Darnell] No, no, no.

Give me a chance.

I'm here, I'm gonna fix this.

- You ruined everything, Jason.

- If you're so goddamn smart, what are you doing here?

- [Ovid] It's the only way. - [Jason] It works.

- [Ovid] It's the only way.

(elevator button buzzes)

- Please.

Just give me a chance.

I can fix it.

- Get out of my way, or I will put you down.

- Oh, sorry!

- This is where it ends.

Right here, right now. (knee thumps)

- [Jason] Yeah. - [Man] Have a good night.

Oh, hey, watch the elevator, it's really slow today.

- Yeah, does it ever go faster?

- [Man] Later.

- [Jason] Yeah.

- [Man] Night!

(door squeaks)

(gun fires)

(gun fires)

(Evelyn screams)

- No!

(gun fires)

(Jason cries out)

(gun fires)

(Evelyn sobs)

(rewinding audio tape chitters)

- [Voiceover] I'd been given the se.

(tape recorcer clicks)

(toilet flushes) (water trickles)

- With that device, you have a device.

The device.

When the singer have flown off requiring gravity.

We could harness the combined collection

of wormholes to lead through space itself.

And with that previous formula,

secured,

we could eliminate three dimensional travel through space.

At the fraction at the energy thought to be required for it.

(tape recorder clicks)

- Jason...

Please tell me what's happening.

I'm in the dark.

Who were those men, and why did he shoot at you?

Please.

(tape recorder clicks)

- Please.

Try to keep an open mind.

Okay. - [Evelyn] All right.

- Okay.

Do you remember where I took you for our second date?

- [Evelyn] Yeah.

- Tell me, please.

- Gasworks Park, on the big hill.

You wanted to show me the stars.

- Do you remember what I said to you there

before I kissed you?

- [Evelyn] Jason, I don't understand what--

- I looked up.

I looked up at the sky,

and I said, "Evelyn,

"this is my canvas."

And the possibilities,

oh, the possibilities are endless.

I see 'em now.

The possibilities.

The possibilities are laid out in front of me,

like a pattern of stars.

- What happened?

What happened to you?

- That man with the gun, okay?

He wasn't a bad man.

- He tried to kill you, Jason.

- That was Ovid.

- [Evelyn] What?

- That was Ovid.

- Ovid, our friend Ovid,

your best man, Ovid? - [Jason] Yeah, yeah.

- [Evelyn] Jason, Jason, - [Jason] He came back.

- [Evelyn] how is that possible?

- He came back.

He's Ovid.

50 years from now.

Today a patient of mine came into my office.

We've been talking for about a year.

And I didn't think anything of it.

But he told me,

he told me a fantastical story.

About a man who made an amazing,

an amazing discovery, that changed everything,

but it didn't change it for the better.

It made everything worse.

It made it much worse.

And I knew he wasn't crazy.

But I couldn't believe what he was saying,

because I couldn't accet it to be true.

But it was.

It is.

- The other man in the hallway, that was him.

- [Jason] Yeah.

- Well who was he?

- It was me.

(Evelyn exhales forcefully)

- [Evelyn] I don't understand! - [Jason] Please, please,

please, please, please, please,

just try to keep an open mind, okay?

He came back,

to warn me about the future.

Hey.

This is one of the most difficult moments of my life.

This thing could,

it could fix everything.

It could solve all of our problems.

Easily.

We'd have, we'd have money.

And we'd have freedom.

We'd have time.

Look in my jacket.

Look in my jacket.

Look at the inside pocket.

Look closer.

Look closer.

- Is this a joke?

- No.

- And so what, you,

you discovered a way to...

- Yeah.

- Jason, I wanna believe you,

I really do. - [Jason] Please believe me.

I'm not crazy.

I'm not crazy.

- You better not be. (Jason sobs)

- Well maybe after Logan's born.

(both laugh shakily)

- I don't think Skye will give us that much trouble.

Do you?

- No, no, of course not.

Oh, Eve.

I'm so sorry.

I'm so sorry.

I haven't been there.

I haven't been there at all.

I'm sorry.

It's gonna be different, okay?

It's gonna be different.

(both sob)

It's gonna be different.

It's all gonna be different.

Oh.

- So, what do we do now?

I mean, I guess we have to call someone, right?

I mean, someone has to do some tests on this discovery.

I mean, you have to, you have to have someone

confirm it before you sell it, right?

- [Jason] No, I don't think I can.

- What do you mean?

- I don't think I can do it, Eve.

I don't think I can do it.

- I don't understand, you just sat there and told me

that this would fix all our problems.

- [Jason] I did, I did.

- Well then am I missing something?

- Well you didn't hear what he said,

okay, you didn't hear what he said.

This thing destroys everything.

- Well if this is all true,

I mean how could you turn your back on it?

You said yourself, this is an amazing discovery.

- Why would my best friend wanna kill me?

Why would he want me dead?

No, if this is the chance to go back and make

this thing right, then-- - [Evelyn] No, this would fix

everything, Jason.

We need that money.

We need it badly.

- We'll get the money.

We'll get through this, this is--

- And, I mean...

What, are we just gonna keep this to ourselves?

I mean, the world should know about this.

- There are some things the world should never know about.

- [Evelyn] But Jason, I think that if you--

- Do you trust me?

- [Evelyn] Jason, I think--

- Do you trust me?

I'm sorry.

Do you trust me?

- Yes.

- Then please,

just try to understand that I can't do this.

(tape recorder clicks)

(audio tape thumps in trash can)

(Jason sighs)

- Get some sleep.

(Jason sighs)

We'll leave in the morning.

- Oh, look at you, walking around already.

We'll have you back on that basketball court in no time.

Doctor?

Hey, you there?

- Yeah, sorry.

Just a bit fuzzy.

- Well, we're lucky that's all it is.

We were worried we were gonna lose you

for a minute, there.

- Yeah, not this time.

- Got a little, got a little.

(Ovid groans feebly)

All right, all right, all right, come on now.

I got it, thank you.

- You ready?

(poignant violin music)

(dramatic piano music)

(somber piano and violin music with a slow beat)

(subdued orchestral music)