Original subtitles

So, what's this test supposed to do?

[Woman]: Just say the first thing that comes to your mind.

Father.

I was a baby when he died in that fire.

Rage.

Ancient history.

Ascension.

Trap.

It's not magic, you know.

Sure, it is.

A new dress isn't gonna make the other kids suddenly like me.

I'm still gonna be Christa, the weirdo.

You are not a weirdo.

The girl who locked herself in the supply closet

when the fire drill went off.

Not a weirdo?

[Laughing]: OK, fine!

Then you're my weirdo friend,

and I want you to put all the other girls to shame.

Also, I prefer "sensitive."

[Both laughing]

It's pretty.

Is it your mom's?

Let's call it a souvenir somebody gave me.

Is it from your boyfriend?

[Chuckling]: He's no boy.

Oh my! Don't you ladies look wonderful?

Help me pick a dress?

I'll be right back.

Practice those lindy-hop steps I showed you.

The new maintenance tunnel, is that up and running yet?

I thought we weren't talking about work on these runs.

I'm the captain. I can change the rules.

- The new tunnel's complete. - And you'd call it a success?

Uh, air quality in Section 5 is passing inspection again.

And yet, nowhere in your report

was there a mention of Councilman Rose.

We needed him to vacate his quarters for 2 days.

He was recalcitrant.

I thought turning his thermostat up to 90°

might be a good way to encourage him.

[Laughing]: I want you to apologize to him.

Sir, I was doing my job.

And now I'm doing mine, Aaron.

At least half my job is political.

- I couldn't stand that. - Learn to!

The higher you rise,

the more compromises you're gonna have to make.

Find someone to take midwatch. I want you visible, tonight.

The crew should see the XO

on an important occasion like this.

[♪ Oldies on stereo ]

Chin up! Back straight!

I should be able to draw a line

from your earlobe to your ankle.

Jackie, the seams of your stockings are a disgrace.

Mmm! Never bend at the waist.

It's graceless.

Remember:

poised, elegant, confidant.

[Chuckling]

Don't you just love their uniforms?

They always look so perfect.

I'm thinking about apprenticing.

If spending 6 months

learning to put on lipstick and talk in a breathy whisper

is your idea of fun.

Not everyone aces their Apt Test, Nora.

There's no way I'm gonna end up cutting hair like my mom.

Besides, stewardesses get all the prettiest clothes.

Have you seen Lorelei?

She said she'd be here.

Are you coming to the party tonight?

To toast the glorious tin can? No thanks.

Try not to drool on the decorations, Nora.

All right, lay them down!

- Ah! - [Man]: Ah, man!

[Laughing]

You're on pig cleanup for a month.

[Men exclaiming, laughing]

[Stokes, whispering]: You son of a bitch!

[Clearing throat]

Get lost!

After you! After you!

[Door closing]

Nixon! Bordeaux!

What's Bordeaux?

Wine.

There's only 25 bottles

of Chateau St-Cloud '59 left.

After tonight, there'll be 24.

[Chuckling]

You know, they talk about wine a lot.

Who does?

Books.

Hmm! Well, bottoms up!

So, do you have what I came for?

Mmm! Yeah!

I'll be in my cabin at 21:00

after your little party.

Your cabin off the slaughter stalls...

Enticing!

[Scoffing]

Is that funny to you?

We had an understanding!

It's not funny, Stokes.

It's sad.

[Exhaling sharply]

Clean it up!

You look beautiful.

I'm sorry I have to miss tonight.

- Oh, don't smudge! - See you in the morning.

[♪ Woman singing Fly Me to the Moon ♪]

♪ Fly me to the moon

♪ And let me play among the stars ♪

♪ Let me see what spring is like ♪

♪ On Jupiter and Mars

♪ In other words...

You're looking good, sis!

Thank you!

I'm surprised to see you here.

What, are you afraid I'm gonna rain on your parade?

Excuse me. I could use a refill.

♪ And let me sing forevermore... ♪

Commander Gault!

Mrs. Vanderhaus, are you alone this evening?

It seems her husband

was assigned the midwatch suddenly.

Lorelei...

Captain's orders. Not my idea.

I'd say it's a shame that your sister's unaccompanied

when she looks so stunning tonight.

And you're stunning too, of course.

Lorelei's not happy with me.

We both have issues

with the other's taste in men.

[Scoffing]

Yeah, I'm just not feeling it.

[♪ Jazz ]

♪ Can't you see my heart is lost without you... ♪

[Inaudible]

Looks like one of your stewardesses has an admirer.

Maybe he likes her personality.

Councilman Rose, you're looking dapper.

Why, thank you!

And you are an absolute vision!

Captain, a word, if I may?

Mm-hmm!

It saddens me when I see a man

obviously unsuited for his position

exercising power over his betters.

I find myself hoping you're talking about my XO.

Well, maybe he's from the lower decks, I'm told.

I mean, perhaps, his family didn't teach him manners,

but he bullies his way into my quarters,

and he makes an announcement that I have to vacate.

He didn't give you advance notice?

That's not the point.

Have you seen the temporary quarters? They're horrible.

How did they expect me to live there?

And then for 2 days?

It's funny you should mention my first officer,

because he has something to say to you.

♪ Can't you see my heart is lost without you... ♪

Councilman Rose, I'm glad you're here.

Oh?

I've been wanting to apologize.

It was clearly inappropriate of me

to expect a man of your importance

to give way to petty maintenance issues.

Hmm! And the heat in my quarters just miraculously...

Faulty feedback line.

Hmm!- Regrettable.

Thank you for this opportunity to make things right.

Councilman, Captain.

Well, perhaps he's not a complete loss.

[Laughing]

Until now, Captain,

I thought the only good decision you ever made was your wife.

Have a good evening, Councilman.

Mm-hmm!

[Enzmann on film]: The time has come for mankind

to take longer strides.

We must move further down the line.

We must reach for the stars.

[Audience applauding on film]

Imagine the greatest journey ever undertaken,

a century-long sojourn to a new world

completed by the grandchildren

of the brave souls who embarked on this adventure.

[Grunting]

[Panting]

[Both moaning]

[Grunting, panting]

[Enzmann]: We are losing the space race.

Nora, have you seen Lorelei?

She told me she'd teach me the lindy hop.

How do I know?

Lorelei's always taking off somewhere.

You shouldn't be doing that.

It's none of your business, Christa.

Lorelei will probably be back when the band starts.

[Panting]

[Metal clanging]

[Footsteps approaching]

[Enzmann]: Our eyes must be focused on the stars

if we are to have any hope

of surviving this arms race, this space race,

indeed, this human race.

Have you seen Lorelei?

No, no. I'm sure she's around somewhere.

Esteemed colleagues, friends,

ladies and gentlemen, I give you...

Ascension.

[Audience applauding on film]

Lorelei? Lorelei?

Lorelei?

Lorelei!

[Screaming]

[♪ Rocket Manby Elton John ♪]

♪ And I think it's gonna be a long, long time ♪

♪ Till touchdown brings me around again ♪

♪ To find I'm not the man they think I am at home ♪

♪ Oh, no, no, no I'm a rocket man ♪

♪ Rocket man, I'm burning out of fuse up here alone ♪

♪ And I think it's gonna be a long, long time ♪

♪ Till touchdown brings me around again ♪

♪ To find I'm not the man they think I am at home ♪

♪ Oh, no, no, no I'm a rocket man ♪

♪ Rocket man, I'm burning out of fuse up here alone ♪

♪ And I think it's gonna be a long, long time ♪

♪ And I think it's gonna be a long, long time ♪

[Repeating]: ♪ And I think it's gonna be a long, long time ♪

[Bird chirping, dog barking]

- There you go, honey. - Thanks!

Oh, Harris, that light is still on in the car.

Harris, are you listening? You said you'd get it fixed.

Uh, it's just a reminder.

I'll take care of it this weekend.

Yeah, that's what you said last weekend.

What are you typing?

It's actually called texting, Dad.

I know that. What are you texting?

- Nothing. - I know what DIAF means.

It means: "Die in a fire."

[Sighing]

A kid was giving me a hard time,

no big deal, so I told him to DIAF.

- Hello! - It's just words on a screen.

They're not just words on a screen.

There's a world in here, and when you type on it,

you become part of that world.

You change it.

You have to take responsibility for that.

Harris, something's happened with your father.

[Woman on PA]: Dr. Morris, please dial 112.

Dad!

Why is my father restrained?

Restrained. "The quality of mercy is not strained.

"It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

"Upon the place..."

He was agitated earlier. That's why we called.

His visitor seemed--

Visitor? I'm his only visitor, and he barely knows I'm here.

"Beneath, beneath me,

"beneath you,

"beneath the vault of heaven,

"we make all anew."

Dad, can you talk to me for once?

I don't know the man, but he's still on the grounds.

I passed him just outside talking on his phone.

We still need more information.

Why are you harassing my father?

You're the son, Harris.

Look, um...

I'm really sorry about what your father's going through,

the stroke, and what it's done to him.

It must be hellish to see him that way.

I'm Mark Hayes.

And I didn't mean to upset him.

I've admired Dr. Enzmann for years.

I'm doing my dissertation on his work.

You're an academic.

Yeah.

I'm finishing my Ph.D.

on the history of the early space program.

It's tragic to me

that most people don't know who your father is.

He inspired me.

He inspired me too.

Yeah, I guess it's kind of hard to top a dad

who escaped from the Nazis,

and then developed rockets for NASA, huh?

Hmm!

You ever hear of Project Ascension?

I haven't heard those words in years.

Your father was convinced

that the US could launch an interstellar spacecraft

right then in the '60s with the technology we had.

I mean, you can't go faster than the speed of light,

so the original crew would never see the new world,

but their descendants would.

Quite a dream Dad had!

[Whispering]: I think he did it.

I was taking you seriously.

No, wait a minute! Look! Wait, wait, wait! Look, look, look!

They had the means, right? Kennedy was a fan.

Think of what it might be like! A mission like no other!

Imagine the people that went!

Hundreds of people out there in space

in a world that never knew the summer of love,

Betty Friedan, the autobiography of Malcolm X, The Clash,

fresh from Father Knows Best exploring the universe.

I work for the government.

Do you have any idea how incompetent it is?

Do you really think that they could do something like this

and no one would know?

NASA's projects were out in the open,

but Ascension was the military.

It was top secret.

What do you do?

I'm an engineer. I evaluate government contracts.

Enlarge your capacity for wonder, Harris.

Your father did.

What was the name of the article he wrote for LIFE Magazine?

"I Reach for the Stars."

And look where he ended up.

Look, before you write me off,

go see one of your father's old associates,

whoever's still alive.

Maybe they'll talk to you.

Thanks, but I'll skip humiliating myself.

You could claim your father's legacy for him.

This is real...

and the world should know.

[Woman on PA]: Do you have what it takes

to make a difference?

Apply for a Safety Officer Apprenticeship today.

Good morning, ladies!

[Male voice]: On Ascension, safety is our priority.

[Keypad beeping]

[Computers beeping]

XO, sir, I've been looking for you.

You weren't in your quarters.

I didn't sleep there, obviously.

Is that an issue?

No, sir, of course not.

It's just, the captain's been looking for you.

Carry on.

[Sighing, sniffling]

[Flash bulb popping]

What happened?

It looks like she fell and hit her head.

I'm sorry, Duke.

How am I gonna tell my wife her sister's dead?

Every kid on this ship knows this place

like the back of their hand.

What are you saying?

I'm saying it's hard for me to believe it was just an accident.

Marks on her wrists... It could be from a rope.

Wow! Agatha Christie would be impressed!

Or have you been reading Raymond Chandler?

All right, then!

You're chief safety officer. What's your theory?

She had too much to drink at Launch Day.

She came out here for a midnight swim,

like we all did when we were kids...

- Hmm! - ...only she slipped.

Like Dr. Bryce said, an accident.

Take her to the medical centre.

She's been out here way too long.

You really believe this wasn't an accident?

Look, I know it may sound crazy--

I want you to look into it.

If there is the slightest chance,

we need to be sure.

Captain, I don't have any experience with this.

Nobody does.

Vanderhaus is your chief safety officer.

Why don't you get him to do it?

He's handled nothing worse

than petty theft or a drunken brawl.

She's family. He can't entertain the idea.

He won't be happy.

Look, I can't worry about his feelings, Gault.

I have to take care of 600 souls.

- And you don't want a panic. - Exactly.

Imagine what it would do

if they thought a neighbour was a killer.

Trust me, you don't want to trigger a fight or flight

when flight isn't an option,

so just keep this under the radar for the time being.

Are we clear?- Clear.

OK.

[PA system buzzing]

Attention, please! This is Captain Denninger.

It pains me to report this,

but last night, we lost one of our own in a tragic accident:

Lorelei Wright.

Those who knew her

said she was a beacon of light and vitality,

a light that has been extinguished all too soon.

Her passing reminds us all of the fragility of life.

Our hearts go out to those she leaves behind.

Thank you.

[EKG monitor beeping]

Is a full autopsy really necessary?

I'll also need a blood analysis for alcohol, drugs

and any other tests you can think of.

Does the captain really believe

that Lorelei was murdered?

I'm looking into it,

but remember, the official story is that it was an accident.

What the hell are you doing, Gault?

I just have a few questions for Mrs. Wright.

Hasn't my family been through enough?

It's fine. If it's important, it's fine.

Thank you, ma'am.

[Sighing]

If there is anything I can do...

Thank you.

Had Lorelei been upset about anything, recently?

Did she have a boyfriend?

All the boys were interested in her.

That's no secret.

She didn't run around

like some lower-deck trash.

Can you think of any reason

that someone might wanna harm her?

Oh!

Of course not! What are you implying?

Duke, what is this about?

You know what? That's enough.

My family and I would like to be alone now.

Of course.

I'm sorry for your loss.

[Crying]

[Marilyn whispering, indistinct]

[Sobbing and sniffling]

[Inaudible]

Let me help you.

We told your mom you're here.

[EKG monitor beeping]

Lorelei...

She's dead?

Yes. You were in a state of shock.

We gave you a sedative.

She was my only friend.

[Christa panting]

Christa? Christa?

In the Glau Room, they're watching.

[Christa panting]

They're watching!

Nora, chloral hydrate, 500 milligrams!

[Panting, crying]: No, no, no!

The Globus sees all!

Nora, the sedative!

[Christa panting]

Is she going to be all right?

[Sighing]

Yeah!

I think so. She just needs to rest.

Nora, could you excuse us for a moment, please?

I didn't wanna say anything before,

but when I administered Lorelei's psych-eval,

I found some troubling things.

Like?

Frustration, depression, rage.

She felt like her life wasn't her own.

The crisis.

Usually, the crisis is a normal part of coming of age.

We all have to deal with the fact

that we have no control over our destiny,

that this was chosen for us before we were born.

It hit me when I was 14,

the unfairness that I couldn't be a pro baseball player

or a secret agent.

Back on Earth, you could dream as big as you wanted.

Your parents could allow any illusions to die naturally.

There were an infinity of possibilities to try.

We don't have infinity. We only have the ship.

We're born in it. We die in it.

But with Lorelei, the crisis seemed more intense,

unnerving in a way I've never seen before.

I was afraid of what she might do.

[Lorelei]: So, what's this test supposed to do?

[Juliet]: Just say the first thing that comes to your mind.

Father.

I was a baby

when he died in that fire.

Rage.

Ancient history.

Ascension.

Trap.

We have a camera at the entrance to Water Reclamation.

The beach is a blind spot.

There! This is the time-stamp you asked for,

but as you can see, nobody enters or exits.

How could she have gotten down there without being seen?

There has to be another way to the beach.

Pull video from the Commons, track her movements,

find out where we lose her.

Yes, sir.

Mr. Gault?

May I have a word?

Give me a moment.

Emily, they already know I wasn't in my cabin last night.

Coming to me here, it's too risky.

I had to see you.

Of course!

I'm sorry about your sister.

There's something I have to tell you.

Lorelei was seeing someone: James Toback.

Why didn't your mother tell me?

He's from the lower decks. He works in Water Reclamation.

She was embarrassed.

She wants to maintain this image of her as a perfect lady,

but it wasn't the truth.

She was with James the night she died.

I told her she had to stop seeing him,

but she threatened to expose us.

You should've told me.

She wouldn't have done it.

Lorelei could be selfish at times,

but not cruel, not like that.

[Men laughing]

I can't keep doing this, Stokes.

Sure you can, Niels.

We have an agreement. I take such things seriously.

If the grain silos are off by more than 3%, they'll know.

Rotate from the stores evenly. Skim a little at a time.

No one will notice...

at least not for a decade.

Safety officers came by Water Reclamation today

looking for me.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm down, James!

Lorelei's dead, and they're looking for me.

What'd you tell them?

[Man]: Hey, hey!

[Panting]

You need to learn some manners, Pup!

Get him outta here!

[James grunting]

Her blood-alcohol level was elevated,

but not enough to incapacitate her.

However, she did have sexual intercourse

within hours of her death.

What about the marks on her wrists?

Your XO might've been right about those rope burns.

She had contusions on her torso and a broken collarbone.

So it wasn't an accident?

I also found a fibre strand in her teeth.

There is a good possibility she was gagged.

And the autopsy revealed

another surprise:

a small puncture wound in the roof of her mouth.

What caused it?

All right, let me know if any new information

comes to light, OK?

Thank you.

[Door closing]

Why is the good doctor calling so late?

Should I be jealous?

What's that?

A bullet, which begs the question:

How did a gun get on this ship?

[Woman on PA]: Nathan, please report to Midline.

[Men and women talking, indistinct]

It was a .22 Short, I looked it up,

an uncommon cavalry even on Earth.

How'd it get on the ship?

There were no firearms on the manifest.

- It must've been smuggled. - And kept hidden for 50 years?

Someone knew what they were doing.

It wasn't powerful enough to puncture the hole

or damage the hydraulic systems, just enough to kill.

I put in an official comment in the log

and communicated with Earth.

Why use the gun now?

The Rubicon, maybe?

Once we pass that point of no return,

we won't have the resources to be able to go back to Earth.

We're gonna have to continue on to Proxima no matter what.

People are getting anxious.

Yeah, I'm ordering a search of the ship.

If Vanderhaus and his Jackboots start flipping beds

and rooting through underwear drawers, it will cause a panic.

What's going to happen

when the crew finds out a murderer's on the loose?

If you tip our hand with that, the killer will dump the gun.

Give me a chance to find him.

Anyone else gets hurt, it's gonna be on you.

Nora, breakfast!

- Where are you going? - To the terra lab.

I don't want you running around

on the lower decks right now.

Dr. Choi's having a workshop. I wanna go.

You've committed to a medical apprenticeship with me.

Maybe I'm uncommitting.

Where is this coming from?

I know that Lorelei's death

has been hard on you,

but this is your future we're talking about.

Don't take it lightly.

That's why I wanna explore my options.

Is everything OK?

I'll come by the clinic after.

Don't look at me that way.

You have plenty of time to find a new apprentice.

She lost a friend. She'll come around.

[Men talking, indistinct]

[Woman on PA]: Have a friend feeling blue?

Sign them up on...

Lucy, I'm home!

I placed the treasure

of cinema and literature before you,

and this is all you remember.

I came looking for books about how police solve crimes.

"The voice of thy brother's blood

"crieth unto me from the ground."

Or I suppose sister in this case.

There are no absolute secrets on board this ship.

Someone always knows,

and someone always talks in the end.

I heard a rumour about you.

The captain wants me to investigate Lo--

A rumour about you and a woman--

Tristan and Isolde, Lancelot and Guinevere--

a woman not lawful for you to love.

Who said that?

You know how these stories end.

Camelot's gone, the heroes are dead

and the woman enters a nunnery.

It's always stories with you. I came here to talk nonfiction.

The captain wants me to investigate Lorelei's death.

Police manuals were written for people on Earth

where cops walk the beat,

and there's an infrastructure in place to deal with criminals.

- Then what do you suggest? - Try Philip Marlowe.

He walked the mean streets alone.

Read detective stories?

That's your idea?

They made a number of movies

if you're too lazy to turn a page.

You youngsters and your stenopads!

Your fingers probably aren't up to the challenge.

[Laughing]

There's also Hitchcock, Fritz Lang--

OK, movies! I got it!

What did Lorelei watch?

She liked movies like Beach Partyor Gidget,

anything with blue skies and sandy beaches.

There was something else.

This is the last thing she checked out.

The night of the fire.

Are you ready to open old wounds?

I can take it.

I learned from the best.

The video card... She kept it.

Why?

[Crickets chirping]

What are you doing here?

It's OK. Don't leave.

Lorelei brought me here sometimes.

If she brought you here, she must've liked you.

Or maybe she just wanted someone to paint the clouds.

You painted those? She told me she did.

Lorelei said that if she was born on Earth,

she would've lived on the beach and surfed all day.

Maybe one day, we'll see a real one.

We'll never touch the land, much less see a beach.

That's not true. We'll get there.

We'll be old, but we'll see it.

Then what?

Conquer the wilderness like pioneers in covered wagons?

Yes, and build a new world.

[Chuckling]: Face it. Our grandparents screwed us.

They sent us on a one-way ticket to nowhere.

How can you say that?

This ship was a trillion-dollar payday.

50 years ago, some people lined their pockets,

and then sent us out here to die.

They sent us

to ensure life would go on no matter what.

Read the history books.

People on Earth weren't saints.

Lorelei told me some of the lower-deckers

didn't believe in the mission.

I guess she meant you.

It doesn't matter if you're staring at a star chart

or the bottom of a bottle.

We're all going to the same place:

nowhere.

And none of us have a choice.

I think you're a little crazy.

[Chuckling]

Probably.

You know how deep that tank goes?

40 metres, maybe?

That's wrong.

It goes all the way to hell.

[Sniffing]

[Moaning]

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

Whoa! Where are you going?

I'm finished.

Well, I'm not! Get back here!

I'm gonna give back those silk dresses you gave me.

It's not polite to return a gift.

As captain's wife,

it wouldn't be proper to dress too extravagantly.

Yeah, well, when I'm captain,

you can dress as extravagantly as you like, OK?

Yeah, and when is that gonna happen?

The council has moved

to unseat my husband 3 times already, unsuccessfully.

Well, that's before this girl died.

An accident in Water Reclamation

isn't gonna change anything, except to put up guard rails.

It wasn't an accident.

That investigation into her death?

Strictly covering their ass.

My sources think the girl was murdered.

Please! Your sources are paranoid.

They think your husband is deliberately downplaying this,

making it seem pro forma,

when, actually, this is quite serious.

- To prevent a panic. - Hysteria, fear...

Let me tell you this:

Any man who can't control his ship,

does not deserve to have the word "Captain"

in front of his name.

so come back here and finish what you started.

It is fun to keep a man waiting.

You know what else is fun? Surprises.

[Councilman Rose chuckling]

Because finishing what you started

is never as good as starting something new.

I love the way you think.

Mmm!- Mmm!

[Elevator beeping]

They found her lying there like that.

She hasn't said a word.

Thank you for calling me.

You know, when I was pregnant with Nora,

I would come up here

and daydream about what Proxima was like.

I'd imagine plants and animals I'd never seen before.

I like your necklace.

It's a seahorse.

There aren't any in the aquariums.

No. No, we didn't bring any.

The only ones are back in the oceans on Earth.

It's beautiful.

Christa,

you see that star cluster?

Alpha Centauri is binary, 2 suns orbiting each other,

but when we zoom in a little closer,

we can see a third.

That's Proxima. That's where we're going to live.

You're wrong. There's no life there.

There! That's life. That's where we have to go.

Everything else is death.

Next time, on Ascension...

[Christa]: Sometimes, I think I know things.

Like, I can still feel it underneath everything,

like a skull under the skin.

This is about the captain

denying the lower deckers a voice!

[Men grunting]

We're heading to a huge ion cloud

unlike anything we've seen.

We have 30 minutes to save the ship!

[Carrillo]: The crew isn't safe.

This is my father's legacy.

I won't have it tarnished.

Where were you the night of the Launch celebration?