09x02 - The Trolley Problem

[bunniefuu]

This programme contains scenes which
some viewers may find upsetting and
some strong language

WIND GUSTS

THUNDER RUMBLES

THUNDER RUMBLES

THUNDER CRACKS

I'll just let it stew for a minute.

Nothing worse than a weak tea, is
there?

- Well, there are a few worse things,
but I know what you mean.

- Do you take sugar?
- No, thank you.

- I'll put one in anyway. It's good
for shock.

And you're sure you don't want a tot
of whisky or anything?

- I don't drink.
- Ah, very wise.

Is there anyone you'd like me to call?

- No. Thank you. I don't want to put
you to any trouble.

- It's only a cup of tea. Is cow's
milk all right?

- As opposed to what?
- Hmm.

Can I ask how long you were out there?

- Um, not sure. A couple of hours.

- And nobody stopped?

- No. Well, why would they? I suppose
I was just a man

standing on a bridge looking at the
view.

Must have been...

..20 or 30 people walk by.

- It's the bystander effect. The more
people there are,

the less likely any of them are to
help.

- Why did you stop?

- I thought you looked like a bit of a
lost soul.

Anyway, don't feel like you have to
say anything.

Um, I'm happy just to sit with you,
give you some space.

- Thanks. Um, I will just...

- HE SIGHS

- ..take some time.

- Yeah, of course. Yeah. I've got some
stuff to do anyway.

WIND GUSTING

- You went to Cambridge?

- McCambridge. It's an online college.
- Hmm.

Should've got a bigger frame. It looks
like it says Cambridge.

- Mm.

- Are you a doctor?

- I'm a therapist.

But don't worry, I'm not going to
charge my hourly rate.

- Is there much call for that round
here?

- Oh, you'd be surprised. I'm fairly
new to the area

but I've already got quite a full
client list.

- I suppose people go mad in the
countryside, don't they?

You're always hearing about farmers
blowing their brains out.

- Well, the isolation doesn't help.

But, yeah, that's part of the reason I
came out here -

to act as a listening post.

This is a neutral space where people
can feel able to say...

..whatever they want to say.

- Like Free Parking.

- Sorry?

- Like Free Parking in Monopoly. It's
a neutral space.

- Exactly! I'm Free Parking.

You can rest your boot here as long as
you like.

- They don't have the boot any more.

They changed it to a penguin in 2017.

The bird, not the biscuit.

- I'm not a big fan of games.

- I am.

- Can I ask...

..have you ever spoken to anyone about
your situation?

- What situation?

- Well, whatever it was that led you
to standing on that bridge tonight

contemplating...

..whatever you were contemplating.

- No. I haven't.

I mean, I can't even get through to my
doctor.

You've got to ring by 8:00, and then
it's engaged for 45 minutes.

They offer you a Zoom. I haven't got
strong enough Wi-Fi.

I mean, the whole thing is totally
f*cked!

- THUNDER CRACKS Yeah, you're right,
it is f*cked.

The system's under a lot of pressure.

I like to try and see my clients
face-to-face.

I can get a better read that way.

- What do people talk about?

- That's up to them.

- And what if people don't want to
talk?

- That's also up to them.

There's no one way of doing things.

I offer various mindfulness classes,

a sort of cognitive detox.

- What kind of classes?

- Oh, CBT, laughter yoga,
hypnotherapy.

- What's, um... What's laughter yoga?

- Um, it's a fairly new practice,

popularised in the mid-90s by Dr Madan
Kataria.

He conjectures that you don't actually
need comedy

or funny stories to trick the body
into the benefits of laughter,

so with these exercises you...you just
start laughing.

HE LAUGHS FORCEFULLY

And eventually...

HE LAUGHS

Ooh! CONTINUES LAUGHING

Hee-hee!

..you really start to benefit!

HE CHUCKLES WEAKLY

HE LAUGHS FORCEFULLY

- I don't know whether I'm laughing at
you or with you.

- It doesn't matter! As long as you're
laughing!

BOTH LAUGH

Ooh-ooh!

HE LAUGHS FORCEFULLY

OK, OK. Let's leave it there.

LAUGHS TURN TO SOBS

No, that's good. That's good.

HE SOBS

Let it all out. Come on.

HE SOBS LOUDLY

SOBS QUIETEN

HE SOBS

Here.

HE SOBS

These are the real tools of my trade.

- Thank you.

- HE BLOWS NOSE

- I'm sorry.

- No, it's...fine.

I've heard a lot worse, I can assure
you.

Do you want to talk about it?

You know, sometimes saying a problem
out loud can reduce...

- I think I might have k*lled
somebody.

- You think?

- Yeah. I'm not sure.

- OK. Do you feel able to give any
more...

- Look, I didn't ask you to drag me
from that bridge

and bring me back here, did I?
- No.

- No. No. So I don't want to be
f*cking analysed, all right?

Have a night off!

- THUNDER CRACKS

OK, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

- Can I use your bathroom, please?

- Sure.

Yeah, it's just through there. On the
left.

DOOR SQUEAKS OPEN AND CLOSES

WATER SPLASHES

FAINT CLUNK

THUNDER CRACKS

- Sorry for shouting.

- Oh, it's no problem.

- Did you do the drawing in the
bathroom?

- No, no, that's...that's my son,
Robbie.

He's... He's doing art A-level.

- It's good.
- Yeah.

Yeah, he's very talented. I'm proud of
him.

- I used to like drawing when I was at
school.

- Oh.

A lot of people find it very
therapeutic.

Robbie's quite a shy kid. It's good
for him.

His teacher says it really brings him
out of himself.

Would you like to take a...a seat over
by the fire?

So, um, what kind of things did you
like to draw?

- Oh, anything, really.

Landscape, portrait.

I wasn't very good.

- You'll have to let me be the judge
of that.

If you fancy it.

- So is, um...

Is this art therapy?

- It's whatever you want it to be.

Just express yourself.
- Ah.

- Here.
- Oh.

Um, well, I, um... I might...

I might draw you, then.

- Oh, of course. As long as you get my
best side.

I'm kidding, I don't really have one.

Hmm.

So I don't even know your name.

- Oh, um, it's Drew.

- Ah! My name's Blake,

as you probably saw on my diploma.

So do you work, Drew?

- I did. About a year ago I was
working as an assistant

at an estate agent's.

Just a high-street branch. It was
fine.

Didn't feel like the sort of thing I'd
do for ever, but...

..I was happy enough.

And one day, I was due to show a
potential client around

a rented property.

- SOUND MUFFLES:
- It was a six-month, short-lease
contract.

And when I arrived, there was this
girl waiting outside for me.

- MUFFLED:
- Have you got? I wanted a brown.

And I introduced myself and we went
inside.

And I could tell straight away

there was something not right about
her.

I mean, she'd definitely

been crying...

- THUNDER CRACKS

- ..and she was jumpy and distracted.

- SOUND GROWS INCREASINGLY MUFFLED
- Anyway, I showed her around.

Didn't take long.

- THUNDER CRACKS

- It was tiny.

- DREW'S VOICE DISTORTS

- But the next day...

- RAIN LASHES WIND GUSTS

THUNDER CRACKS

Jesus.

- Why did you drug me?

- I could ask you the same thing.

- Are you in the habit of doping
people that you bring back here?

- Of course not. You were acting
unpredictably.

You have a g*n. You said you'd k*lled
somebody.

- I said I MIGHT have k*lled somebody.

- It was a precautionary measure.

Anyway, are you in the habit of doping
people who save your life?

HE LAUGHS

- You didn't save my life.

I was waiting for you on that bridge.

I knew you'd be along at that time.

I've been watching you for quite a
while now.

- Why?

Look, if you're going to rob me, just
take what you want and go.

- That's not a very nice assumption,
you know.

You shouldn't put negative thoughts
into my head.

I'm in a very fragile state of mind!

- Yes, I-I can see that.

- I'm starting to wonder how good a
therapist you actually are.

- You should know my son, Robbie, will
be back any minute.

He's been on a night out with his
friends.

- I don't think so.
- It's true, I promise you.

Please.

Please, just let me go.

I know you're facing some
difficulties,

but you can turn this around, Drew.

- Oh, can I? Well, thank you very
much, Blake -

using your first name to establish
trust.

- Look, I don't mean to upset you but,
please...

..just tell me what you want.

- I want you to know what it's like to
be me.

- g*n CLINKS

OK, that's understandable.

- You read all these books?

- Yes.
- Really?

You don't just have them here to make
people think you're clever?

- No. I don't care what people think
of me.

- Who are these? Close family
relatives?

- No, they're psychiatric patients.

It's the Szondi test.

It's designed to reveal your innermost
traits.

You're supposed to choose the person

you find the most unsettling or scary,

who you'd least like to meet in a dark
alleyway.

HE TAPS g*n

- This one. Number six.

- She's the depressive.

It suggests you're repressing feelings
of self-loathing and guilt.

You have a predisposition to negative
emotions and inadequacy.

- That's not a very wise thing to say
to someone

with a g*n in their hand.

Number one looks like you. What's his
trait?

- He's the sadist.

- Oh, really?

- Look, it's been discredited for
decades.

It's just there as a talking point.

- Hmm, well, let me give you a talking
point.

You might know this one.

Imagine there is a runaway train
thundering down a railway track,

and looking ahead you see that there
are five people

standing on the line. Now, you're
standing next to a lever

that will send the train on a
different route.

However, you notice that there is a
single person

standing on this side track.
- Yes, yes, the trolley problem.

Do you pull the lever and k*ll one
person

or do nothing and five people die?

- Exactly. So what would you do?

- Well...it's just something to
engineer

a moral debate, isn't it?
Utilitarianism vs deontology.

- In English!

- HE SIGHS Do you focus on the best
outcome

or the most moral one?

Pulling the lever is essentially

choosing to m*rder - clearly not the
moral choice,

but saves the most people.

It's the difference between k*lling
and letting die.

- So what would you do?

- Well, it's all hypothetical,

but sometimes the right choice is to
do nothing.

- I thought you'd say that.

All right, what if there is a third
option?

You can throw yourself on the line,

stopping the train and saving everyone
- all six people.

Would you do that?

- Hmm. So the dilemma becomes a
trilemma.

Well, in that case, I suppose it
depends on who the people are.

You know, if it's Shakespeare,
Einstein,

Gandhi, Galileo and Mary Berry...

- Mary Berry?
- Oh, come on,

she's a national treasure!

..then, yeah, probably I would. But,
um...

if it was Hitler, Genghis Khan and
Gregg Wallace,

then maybe not.

- I don't think you're taking this
very seriously, Blake.

- Then why don't you tell me what this
is all about?

STOOL SCRAPES

- What do you remember

about Ellie Dawson?

- Who's Ellie Dawson?

- A former patient of yours.

- Oh, well, in that case, even if I
could remember her, which I can't,

I wouldn't be permitted to discuss it
with you.

Doctor-patient confidentiality and all
that.

- You're not a doctor!
- Well, therapist, then.

- Oh, well, anyone can call themselves
a f*cking therapist.

"Oh, boo-hoo! My kids have all grown
up.

"What am I going to do with the rest
of my life?

"I know, I'll enrol at McDonalds
University

and do a psychotherapy course, print
my own diploma from home!"

- McCambridge Online is a
well-respected educational hub,

and anyway I don't have to justify
myself to you.

- Am I a therapist because I'm talking
to you now?

- No.
- Why? What's the difference?

- Cos I don't tie my patients up

and force them to listen to my
ramblings.

- Oh, no, you're far more sly than
that, aren't you?

- What do you mean?

- Ellie Dawson.

She came to you with low mood,

depression, abandonment issues.

You put her on a course of anti-psych
dr*gs,

the same ones I gave you just now. And
then what happened?

- I honestly have no idea who you're
talking about.

- Let's jog your memory, then.

Luckily, she, um...

..she recorded some of your meetings
on her phone.

Like you say, it's important to have
safeguarding measures in place.

- I never consented to these
recordings.

This is a violation of my privacy.

- Shut the f*ck up!

- BLAKE ON RECORDING: And how does
that manifest itself,

the negativity you were just talking
about?

- Um...

I have fights with my mum.

I-I drink.

A lot.

- That's fairly common for a girl of
your age.

What are you? 18, 19?

- 22.

- You look younger.

- I-I cut myself.

- Where?

- My arms.

And my legs.

- That's not too bad.

I've seen far worse.

D-Does it hurt when you touch them?

- A-A bit.

- May I?

Turn it off.
- Listen.

- Do you, um...

..want to take your jeans off, just so
I can see the leg?

- Do-Do I have to?

- No, not if you don't feel
comfortable.

You can send me some pictures if you
like.

Please, just turn it off.

I'll give you my private email
address.

THUNDER CRACKS

I remember Ellie. Of course I do.

She was a client, briefly,

and then we became romantically
involved.

It was unethical, yes, but it wasn't
illegal.

- Why did you take out a restraining
order on her?

- She was young and delusional. She
became obsessed with me.

She was estranged from her father and
she saw me as some kind of...

Oh, Christ.

It's you, isn't it?

You're Ellie's dad.

- I was.

She's dead.

- I'm so sorry.

- I knew I was partly responsible for
what happened.

I drove her away.

I was too strict, too mean about her
mother.

I could see that she was becoming
withdrawn.

I put some money in her account.

"Go and see a therapist," I said.

I failed my daughter.

I made the wrong choice.

- Is that what you meant

when you said you thought you'd k*lled
someone?

- I want you to confess to everything
you did to her.

- What?
- Everything.

You got her hooked on dr*gs,

you used her, abused her, and then
you..

...you dumped her when she became an
inconvenience.

- No. No, no, no. I cared for her.

But as I said to the police at the
time,

she had all these issues when she came
to me.

I was in no way responsible for her
death.

- Really? So you didn't go and visit
her in her room

at the Metropole Hotel on the 15th of
October,

breaking your own restraining order?

- No.

- The coroner's report stated

that she would have taken the overdose
at approximately 3am

and that it would have taken...

..about three hours for her to die.

A man matching your description

was seen leaving the hotel at ten past
four in the morning.

- Seen by who?
- Never mind.

Whoever that was could have seen that
she'd overdosed

and could have saved her if they'd
raised the alarm, but...

No.

I suppose it's the difference between
k*lling...

..and letting die.

- I didn't do anything.

- Exactly.

- HE PICKS UP g*n

- You write it all down.

A full confession.

Sacrifice your job, this cosy little
life you've built,

and admit that you were there

and that you were directly responsible
for her death.

And then my Ellie can rest in peace.

- OK

OK, I'll do it. I'll throw myself in
front of the train.

But I will need to...

So the whole su1c1de story was made
up?

- A desperate man with nothing left to
live for.

I knew it would get you on side.

- Clever.

But one thing to bear in mind, Drew.

If you're going to coerce someone with
a spud g*n...

..make sure you take the potato out of
the barrel.

SLICING THUD DREW SCREAMS

HE GROANS

HE GROANS

THUNDER CRACKS

HE PANTS

BREATHING SLOWS

DREW GROANS

HE CRIES OUT

WIND GUSTS

THUNDER CRACKS

HE PANTS, MOANS

HE CRIES OUT

HE GROANS

SOFT CLATTER

- Hello?

- GLASS SMASHES NEARBY

THUNDER CRACKS

HE GROANS

THUNDER CRACKS

This is one of the problems of living
in the countryside -

you're an easy target for burglars.

"I came home early to find my house
was being robbed

"and I was viciously att*cked.

"He had a g*n.

"At least, I thought it was a g*n.

"And so I hit him. Hard.

"I didn't mean to k*ll him. It was
self-defence, Officer."

- Is this how you make all your
problems go away?

- Well, what choice do I have?

I can't have all that business with
Ellie dredged up again.

I have my reputation to consider.

- So you came out here where no-one
knows what you really are.

- Look, your daughter was the one who
was hounding me.

She made me feel unsafe.

I have my son to think about.

Now, get on your knees.
- No, please, Mr Chambers!

- On your knees.

- If you k*ll me here now, there'll...

..there'll still be a police
investigation.

- I should have let you jump off that
bridge when I had the chance.

Actually, that's it, of course.

- What?
- You said yourself



looking longingly into the river.

I should just take you back there.

Me bringing you here was the side
track.

I should have just let the train take
its course.

- So you're just going to throw me
into the water?

- That's up to you.

You can go willingly or otherwise.

But I do think it's the best solution.

- You could still do the right thing,
Mr Chambers.

Father to father, I...

I am begging you.

- Which is what?

- Confess to what you did to Ellie.

There's still time.

Don't let me die not knowing.

Please.

- As I said before,

I didn't do anything.

- OK.

- Get in!

- I've left my coat.

- For God's sake!

- I won't go anywhere.

- Don't you move.

- Mr Chambers...

..when you get my coat,

you should look in the right-hand
pocket.

- THUNDER CRACKS

HE DIALS

BOY:
- Hello?

- Robbie? Is that you?

- Dad!

Dad, please, I-I can't breathe.
- What?

- You've got to help me.
- C-C-Calm down. Where are you?

- I don't know where I am. It's...
It's dark. I'm in a box.

- What do you mean, you're in a box?

- I think he's buried me somewhere.

Dad, please, please get me out.

- Robbie, calm down. Listen, tell me
what's going on.

- He said you'd come get me.

He said everything'd be fine.

He said you'd do the right thing.

Dad? Please. I...

I can't get out.

- It's OK.

It's OK. I-I'm going to find you!

Please. Tell me where he is!

- Dad?

Where are you?
- Don't do this to him,

I beg you, please. Tell me where he
is.

I'll do anything.
- You made your choice.

Now we're the same, you and I.

- Dad...I can't get out.

- If you do this...
- Dad!

- ..you're k*lling my son.

- Dad, help me. Please.

- I didn't k*ll him.

- I can't breathe.

I need you to help me.

Please, you've got to get me out.

- You let him die.

- Help me, please, Dad!

- No!

DREW SCREAMS

- Where are you? What's going on?

I can't get out, Dad.

Please, please!

Help me, Dad. Please!

Dad!