01x10 - Stillwater

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[STATIC]

♪♪

[ELECTRICITY CRACKLES]

[RUMBLING]

Cooper?

[RATTLING]

♪♪

Cooper!

♪♪

Mom?! Mom!

W-What's happening?!

[HIGH-PITCHED WHIRRING]

[SCREAMS]

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

SAM: I love wine country.

Hard to believe it's just
two hours outside the city.

Yeah, and a world away.

You know, one of my dreams

was to retire to the country
and own a winery,

like Francis Coppola or Kurt Russell.

But that was before I went all pre-hab.

I was gonna call it Swift Wines.

I even had an ad campaign.

"Swift Wines,

because other wines are not so swift."

Did you come up with that yourself?

Yeah. You like it?

Let's just say... not so swift.

- [LAUGHS]
- All right, come on. Stop.

I mean, it was a slow pitch
right up the middle.

Oh, wait. There's Stillwater just ahead.

I've never even heard of Stillwater.

- How did this kid find us?
- He's a fan of mine.

He read all those articles on us.

We're the only P. I. s
he's ever heard of.

And so, what, he said his mom disappeared

and local authorities
aren't doing anything about it?

Yeah, that's why he needs us.

And he didn't say anything
about what happened to her?

He did say he thinks
she might have been taken.

"Taken." Oh.

Because you never said anything
about her being taken.

By whom?

You know, he wasn't...
clear on that point,

but I'm sure he's gonna tell us
more once we get there.

♪♪

♪♪

You must be the P. I. s from L. A.
that Cooper hired.

Eddie Valetik. This is Sam Swift.

Hi.

I'm sorry you had to come
all the way out here.

We've got the situation
pretty much in hand.

- So you found Cooper's mom?
- Well, no.

So she's still missing?

Well, technically, yes.

So then the situation is not in hand?

It's barely been 18 hours.

I know Kay. I'm sure she'll show up.

Four out of five
reported missing-persons...

they're either found

or they return voluntarily
within 48 to 72 hours.

So, w-what's your plan? Just wait?

What's your angle here?
You just looking for publicity?

Maybe you're gonna use this
for a TV show or something?

We're just... We're just trying
to find the kid's mom.

You got a problem with that?

Yeah, I have a problem. This is my town.

We don't need outsiders like you

trying to make us look
like laughingstocks

by taking advantage
of some misguided kid.

You want to play Mulder and Scully?

Do it someplace else.

"Take advantage"? "Mulder and Scully"?

- What is he talking about?
- [SCOFFS]

Sam... What aren't you telling me?

I think you better let Cooper explain.

Mr. Valetik. Miss Swift.

I-I... I can't believe you came.
[CHUCKLES]

Come in, please. Come in.

Just promise to listen, okay?
A-And keep an open mind.

♪♪

Uh, watch your step.
I didn't touch anything...

figured you guys would want
to gather some evidence.

Thanks, Cooper. That's smart.

So how long's your mother been gone?

Since last night, about 14 hours.

And Sam says you think
she may have been abducted?

I don't think. I know. I saw it happen.

Why don't you tell Mr. Valetik

what happened from the beginning?

Uh, I go to Chico State.

I'm home for the summer,
taking care of the mom.

I'd heard the stories
about what's going on in town.

Stories?

I was upstairs sleeping
when I felt this vibration.

Then I heard my mom start screaming,

so I-I came downstairs,
and it was like daylight.

Light was coming in from everywhere,

and that was when I saw it
standing in the doorway.

- "It"?
- I-I could barely make it out

with all the light in my eyes,
but it was tall, thin,

and, like I told Miss Swift,
definitely not human.

"Like you told Miss Swift"?

Then I blacked out.

After I came to, my mom was gone,

but her wheelchair is still here.

She can't get around without it,

so she must have been taken.

And what exactly
do you think this thing was?

♪♪

- Aliens?
- Alleged aliens.

You knew about this,
and you still took the case?

The kid was crying when he called, okay?

He sounded desperate.

Desperate or crazy?

Why didn't you tell me about this?

- Because I knew you'd say no.
- Yeah, that's right.

And you know why I would have said no?

I want to say... aliens?

- You think?
- Come on, Eddie.

There are billions of planets
in the galaxy, okay?

Is it so crazy to think
that there could be other beings

roaming the vast universe?

No, no. But it is crazy to think
that an advanced civilization

would just pop into Stillwater

to abduct a wheelchair-bound
woman from her living room.

- [DOOR OPENS]
- Look, I know how it sounds,

but she is not the first.

A-A-A bunch of other people in Stillwater

have been abducted in the last two weeks.

"A bunch"?

Yeah. Two that I know of for sure.

Hey, Cooper. Can you give us a sec?

Sure.

♪♪

Look, Eddie. His mom is missing.

Was it aliens? Probably not.

Okay, fine. Of course not.

But that means someone else took her.

The kid's all alone,
and he needs our help.

♪♪

Um, what kind of condition
does your mom have?

They think it might be MS.
Started two years ago.

Her paralysis has gotten steadily worse,

so she can't get around
without that wheelchair.

And you said you were upstairs
when you heard her scream?

Yeah. I wasn't feeling well,
so I went to lay down.

Then I heard her yelling out for me.

Are these divorce papers?

Yeah. Uh, last month my mom split up

with a mistake named Chuck.

He is not my dad.

I take it you don't like Chuck.

He was nice when they first got together,

but then my mom got sick.

Chuck helped her out for a while,

but then he had his own problems.

Became selfish, belligerent, drank a lot.

She couldn't put up with it,
so she kicked him out.

Well, looks like their split
was getting ugly and expensive.

Did Chuck ever get violent
towards your mom?

Yeah. Uh, she had to get a
restraining order against him.

But what I saw in the doorway,
that was not Chuck.

Well, you said you saw a bright light,

and that's a pretty big
light bar on his truck.

Yeah, but the thing was tall and thin.

Chuck is not that.

Cooper, you know how, uh,
light bends around people

when the light's bright enough
from behind them?

I mean, the light was bright enough.

I know what I saw.

Then is it possible
there's another explanation?

Your mom and Chuck had been fighting,

you come home, you hear stories
about abductions,

your mom screams, Chuck comes in,

you see someone standing in the
doorway, back-lit by a truck.

And since you weren't
feeling well, you pass out.

That does sound more logical than aliens.

You really think it was Chuck?

I think we need to talk to him.

♪♪

- Hey.
- Hey.

Sam said I could use her office
to study for summer finals.

Where is she, anyway?

Up in a town called Stillwater.

Some kid hired them.

He thinks his mom was abducted by aliens.

She probably was.

Stillwater was the site of
an alien craft landing in 1972.

- You're joking, right?
- Look it up.

[KEYBOARD KEYS CLACKING]

♪♪

You're not joking.

♪♪

Wait.

You just happen to know that. Why?

I had an encounter once,
so I read up on them.

They're pretty common.

Okay.

You're judging me.

No.

I'm not.

Mnh-mnh.

If there's been another abduction,

it's possible the alien craft is back.

I can put out feelers.

"Feelers"?

To the UFO community.

Oh. So not literal feelers?

I'll be out there.

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

EDDIE: Well, there's your UFO.

For the record, I liked
the alien story better.

How do you know it's better?

I mean, you think if there are aliens,

it's a cute, little E. T.?

What if it's a Predator that
just wants to rip your arms off?

Wow. Did you not get hugged
enough as a child?

♪♪

Eddie. Wait. Do you see that sign?

What, the "No Trespassing"?

We'll say we didn't see it.

No. That sign.

He's probably just trying
to scare people off.

"Probably"? Well,
that makes me feel a lot better.

There's blood.
The trail leads into the shed.

Is it me, or does that blood
look pretty fresh?

[g*n c*ck]

One more step, and your blood
will look pretty fresh.

You must be Chuck.

You must be trespassing.

We're private investigators.

We're looking for Kay Winston,
your ex. You seen her?

Not on purpose.

And I ain't got nothing to do
with her disappearance, either.

So you know she's missing?

Small town. People talk.

What's in the shed?

k*lled a deer yesterday.
I'm curing the meat inside.

- You mind if we take a look?
- Yes, I do.

You ain't cops. You ain't got a warrant.

You got no business here,

so I suggest you get the hell
off my property.

♪♪

Real charmer.

Can't imagine why it didn't
work out between him and Kay.

- What's our play?
- We check out that shed.

Well, I think we established
pretty firmly

that he didn't want you to.

He has to sleep sometime.

♪♪

What time is it?

It's 3:00 a. m.

The man likes his beer.

All right. Wait a second.
It looks like he's going in.

All right. When he shuts off the lights,

we'll go check out the shed.

You know, I kind of wish
there were aliens,

something out there
that's greater than all this.

Have you ever looked up

and wondered if there's
other civilizations up there

wondering about us?

When I was a kid, I would listen
to my dad on his ham radio,

and he'd talk to people from all over...

Mexico, Hawaii, Panama.

I remember this one night
we heard the strangest sounds,

like these high-pitched noises
and clicks.

My dad said they were aliens
from another world.

Did you believe him?

Of course I did. I was 10.

I mean, I used to build spaceship models

and pretend I was Han Solo.

And for months, I would sit
around that ham radio

and just wait for that sound
to come back.

[RADIO TUNING]

Did it sound like that?

No. That, uh... That was strange.

♪♪

He just turned the lights off.

Let's go.

[MECHANICAL WHIRRING]

Eddie?

♪♪

All right. You know there's got
to be some logical explanation.

What? 'Cause it sure as hell

wasn't the light bar on Chuck's truck.

We saw him go into the house,

we saw him turn off his bedroom light,

and when we ran in there,
he was gone, so where'd he go?

I don't know. Maybe he snuck out back.

And the "Close Encounters" light show?

Just that. A show.
Like... Like in the movies.

I mean, you of all people should
know about special effects.

Except lights like that require stands,

heavy equipment, beefy union guys, okay?

There was no evidence
of any of that around the house,

not to mention tens of thousands
of dollars to pay for it,

which, looking at Chuck's house,
I'm betting he doesn't have.

No sign of Chuck or Kay.

So where is he?

Well, knowing Chuck,
probably out on a bender.

Without his pickup truck?

Just like Kay was taken
without her wheelchair?

How does that make any sense?

We saw Chuck in his house just before...

Before what? The aliens came?

Did you get any video of it or pictures?

So, really, all I have to go on

is your word about the lights
or Chuck even being here?

Did you check the shed?

Yeah, it's a dead deer.

Look, I know you mean well,

but there's simply
no evidence of a crime here.

You folks have a nice ride back to L. A.

Did you see that?

He's trying to shut down
our investigation.

I mean, come on. Do you blame him?

Even I think our story sounds crazy.

We know what we saw.

Something is going on here, okay?

Whatever it is,
I bet the sheriff is in on it.

Or he isn't, all right?

And... And Chuck staged this whole thing.

Maybe he put on this whole show
to distract us

so he can take Kay's body from the shed,

and then he left town
to cover his tracks.

Left town in what?

His truck is still here.

Cooper said there had been
other abductions.

Maybe one of those people

can help us understand
what's really going on.

COOPER: There have been
whispers recently,

people going missing,
mysteriously returning.

People don't like to talk about it

because everyone thinks they're crazy,

but you guys saw it, too.

Well, we're not exactly sure what we saw.

Are you kidding?
We saw exactly what Cooper saw.

You said that you know other
people this has happened to.

Do you think one of them
might talk to us?

Even if they weren't taken by aliens,

it might help us figure out
what happened to your mom.

There's one guy... Arlo Hayes.

Said he was taken a few weeks back.

Where can we find him?

- Right now?
- Mm-hmm.

Uh, he almost always has breakfast

at the Five Corners Cafe.

[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS]

[CLEARS THROAT]

[CONVERSATIONS STOP, DOOR CLOSES]

♪♪

You get the feeling
we're not welcome here, either?

Well, either that or these people have

an odd way of showing their hospitality.

Maybe it's not just the sheriff
who's in on it.

Maybe it's the whole town.

- Excuse me.
- Hi.

We're looking for an Arlo Hayes.

Is Arlo looking for you?

Well, he will be when he finds
out I'm paying for his meal.

Thelma, bring me a steak
with all the trimmings

and a piece of pie.

[BELL DINGS]

Hey, Arlo. Mind if we have a seat?

We're wondering if we can ask
you a few questions.

Depends on the questions.

Well, we heard it through the grapevine

that you might have a story to tell.

Are you the private detectives
Cooper hired?

Well, I guess word travels fast
around this town.

Arlo, we just want to know what happened.

Look, Cooper is worried sick
about his mom.

Can you tell us anything
to help us find her?

Okay. You want to know the truth?

There is no story.

I made it all up to get attention. Sorry.

Thelma, I'll take that steak to go.

Friendly town.

WES: It's nothing personal.

It's just these rumors
about aliens and abductions...

well, it's bad for Stillwater.

People come here for the wine.

We don't want to be the butt of jokes.

Well, we're not here to cause trouble,

just to solve a missing-person's case.

Tell that to my customers.

My winery up the road... we have
a world-class reputation.

What happens to that
if these UFO fanatics

get wind of these rumors,

try to turn this place
into the next Area 51?

Look, we're not out to hurt this town.

We just want to help Cooper
find his mother.

Stillwater's been burned before,
so we're careful up here.

Well, hey, the sooner we find
Kay, the sooner we'll leave.

Well, I hope you find her.
She's a good lady.

It's like we're in one of those westerns

where the town has a secret,

but they don't want strangers
to know about it.

[SIGHS] You know what's strange
is that we've been here a day

and we still don't have a clue
as to what happened to Kay.

Well, we have one clue
about what happened.

- Don't say it.
- Fine. I won't say it.

Aliens!

Excuse me.

Uh, sorry about that back there.

There's two kinds of folks in town...

those who've had encounters
and those who haven't,

and neither of them want to hear me talk.

But if you want to know
what happened, I'll tell you.

We're listening.

They took me from my house.

First, I heard the hum,

then I saw the lights, and then I saw it.

Tall, thin, coming toward me.

I tried to run,

but I was swallowed in the light.

Next thing I know... poof...
I wake up in their ship.

It was like a dream... dark... light.

And then they messed with my brain.

Messed with your brain how?

They made it so I couldn't speak right.

Every time I opened my mouth,

all that came out was gibberish,
like I had no control.

And how did you get back?

No idea. I passed out.

Next thing I knew, Harry Bueller found me

wandering dazed down Highway 126
and brought me in.

Where on 126?

Wait. Mile marker 119?

Yeah. That's where Arlo Hayes
claims was found.

Right here. Why?

Someone in the community sent me
this article back from '72.

Where'd you get this?

There's a vast online network of people

who communicate about all things alien...

sightings, abductions, encounters.

But look at the headline.

It says they took place near Elk Lake.

Right there... mile marker 119.

Okay, that's weird.

Not necessarily.

Maybe the craft that was sighted in 1972

has returned to the same spot.

Do you think it's odd that there were

spacecraft sightings up here in '72?

If you're an alien,
why would you come back now?

Really? That's what you find odd?

Look, I'm not saying it's an alien, okay?

But if Arlo was found here

and there were other sightings
reported here in the past,

then maybe it's all connected.

Connected to what?

What makes you think
Arlo's telling the truth?

Pretty sure he was telling the truth.

♪♪

Is she... She's alive.

But someone must have left her here.

It's ash.

The circle's been burned into the ground.

Stay here.

♪♪

♪♪

How are you doing, Ma?

Oh, I'm just so glad to be back home.

Her lying there in the woods
right where Arlo was found,

the scorch marks on the ground...

I-I'm waiting for a logical explanation.

I'm sure there will be once
we get her side of the story.

You know, you've been really
quiet ever since the woods.

What did you see out there?

Nothing.

Just movement. I don't know.

Thank you both so much.

I could've died if you hadn't
found me out there.

Yeah. What about before we found you?

You... Do you remember what happened?

Uh, after the light
and seeing that thing,

I woke up in some strange
dark space that I...

tried to call for help,
but words didn't make sense.

And then nothing
till I woke in the woods.

Your vitals are normal, Kay.
Strong, even.

I'm gonna run some blood tests,
but you seem to be fine.

Honestly, I feel better
than I have in years.

It's almost as if...

My legs.

Mom?

[GASPS]

W-W-What are you...

I can walk again.

I can walk.

I can walk.

[LAUGHTER]

♪♪

Oh, hey, Berto.
I'm gonna send you some names

of people who have been abducted.

Don't you mean allegedly abducted?

Yeah. See if you can find
any connection between them.

Are you okay? You sound spooked.

I'm fine. Is... Is Monica there?

Monica? Um... sure. Why?

Just put her on.

He wants to talk to you.

Yo, what's up?

Berto said that you've been
doing some research

into the 1972 abductions?

- Yeah.
- Have you come across any

pictures or artist's renderings

of what people claim
that these aliens look like?

Just vague descriptions...
tall, thin, gray...

but if you'd like, I can ask for one.

Ask who?

I found someone here in L. A.

Says he was abducted
in Stillwater in 1972.

Okay, all right. Well, see what you find,

and then send me any information ASAP.

Got it.

[CELLPHONE BEEPS]

Wait. We're researching aliens now?

Send what ASAP?

Uh, I asked Berto to look for links

between Kay, Arlo, and Chuck.

Told him to send me anything he finds.

Well, whatever he finds,

I don't think it'll explain
what we just saw.

Eddie, that was crazy. She walked.

Maybe the trauma
jolted her system, you know?

Like those... those people
that get hit in the head

and all of a sudden
they wake up speaking French.

What are you suggesting?

That aliens swooped in and healed her?

No.

Maybe.

Dr. Drake, can we ask you something?

How do you account for Kay's recovery?

Oh, well, I can't, really.

Though it's quite rare,

spontaneous reversal of symptoms
can happen.

Thanks.

There's got to be an explanation.

Okay, well, if you get one, let me know

because this is really
starting to freak me out.

You know, Arlo is the one
who sent us to those woods,

and it's almost like he knew
exactly where to find Kay.

Whatever's going on, he knows
more about it than he's saying.

Yeah, I was in Stillwater back in '72.

The fact is, I'd come home to die.

Did you say "die," Mr. Carberry?

I had terminal cancer, 29 years of age.

The doctors gave me three months to live.

But clearly you survived.

And I attribute it
to the life-altering events

of October 11, 1972.

What happened?

I thought my time had come.

White light filled my room,

and then I saw them...

tall, thin, gray,

coming toward me.

And then what happened?

I woke in a dark place.

They were around me, over me,
laying their hands on me.

I felt a sense of peace.

Days later, I... I was found
unconscious in the woods,

right near that spot that's on your map.

And you know what they found

when they took me to the hospital?

What?

Nothing.

The tumors had vanished.

I was completely cancer-free,
as I remain to this very day.

They cured you?

I haven't had so much as a cold
in 46 years.

These aliens...

can you tell me exactly
what they looked like?

They've come back, haven't they?

I always knew they would.

♪♪

Well? Are you convinced?

Yeah.

That he's got some major game
as a storyteller.

Josiah Carberry's story has been
exhaustively documented.

Even if the story is true,

doesn't mean it has anything
to do with what's going on now.

It has everything to do with it.

I don't know anything more
than what I already told you.

So it was a coincidence that you sent us

to the area where we found Kay?

I never sent you anywhere.
I was just trying to be helpful.

I didn't know where she was. How could I?

Arlo, let me ask you this.

Did you have an illness
or medical problem

when you were abducted?

I had Bell's palsy...
you know, droopy face.

Want to know what was weird?

It went away right after they took me.

What about Chuck?
Does he have any health issues?

Chuck had a lame arm over a year now.

Nerve damage or something.

That's right.

Remember he pulled his g*n on us
with one arm?

Thanks, Arlo.

Arlo, Kay, and then Chuck...

it's people with health problems
that are being abducted,

like in '72.

Look, healing aliens? Come on.

It's got to be some kind of a hoax.

A hoax where people are taken and cured?

Maybe that's what they're doing
to Chuck right now.

[CELLPHONE RINGS]

Valetik.

Hey, so Josiah Carberry

was able to identify a picture
of his abductors.

I'm texting it to you now.

- All right, thanks.
- Who was it?

- [CELLPHONE CHIMES]
- Uh, just... just give me one second.

♪♪

That's impossible.

- Hey.
- What is this?

Nothing, all right? It's just...

What? What's wrong?

♪♪

Oh, my God. You saw this? In the woods?

This is what you weren't telling me?

[WHISPERS] I'm not sure what I saw, okay?

Yes, you are. I can see it in your face.

That's why you're pushing
this whole hoax theory.

You don't want to admit that you saw
something that you can't explain.

We need to go back there.

Where? The woods?

The truth is out there.
Eddie, we need to find it.

♪♪

SAM: Maybe Josiah Carberry was right.

Maybe they're back.

[SIGHS] They're not back,
and you know why?

Because they were never here.

Or they never left.

What if it's like "Cocoon"

where the aliens heal all the old people?

"Cocoon" was a movie.

Yeah, well, the writers
have to do research.

Maybe it was based on something real.

You know what is real?

Spontaneous remission.
Happened to my uncle.

He had lung cancer,

then his tumors just disappeared.

No treatment, no aliens, nothing.

Okay, maybe if that happens once,

but we're talking at least three times.

That is more than just a coincidence.

What about that thing you saw?

Easy. It's just a simple delusion.

I've been hearing about these
aliens nonstop, so I saw one.

Do you realize that you're trying
to make sense of this case

by arguing that you're delusional?

Makes more sense than the alternative.

[WARBLING]

What's that?

[WARBLING CONTINUES]

Eddie?

What the hell is that?

♪♪

It can't be.

- Okay, did you just see that?
- Yes.

- Was it the same one as before?
- Yes.

So not a delusion?

No. Unless we're both having it
at exactly the same time.

[WARBLING CONTINUES]

♪♪

- [MECHANICAL WHIRRING]
- Uh-oh.

♪♪

♪♪

[RINGING]

This is Eddie Valetik.

Leave your name and message,
and I'll get back to you.

Still no answer?

Sam's phone's going
straight to voicemail, too.

And I can't track them.
Their batteries must be dead.

Or they're out of cell range. Way out.

You don't think that...

They went back to the woods.
Neither of us can reach them.

Monica, there's no such thing as aliens.

Then where are they?

[SIGHS]

[MECHANICAL HUMMING]

♪♪

♪♪

Hey. Wake up.

Where are we?

I don't know,

but I don't think it's Stillwater.

What's down there?

I can't reach the floor,
if there even is one.

What's the last thing you remember?

We were in the woods,
and we saw that thing,

and then there was that bright light.

Does this feel like...

The dark space that Kay and Arlo
described? Yeah.

[ECHOING] Hello?
Is there anybody out there?

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

I'm trying really hard not to think it.

Okay, just tell me this is
an elaborate hoax.

It's... It's an elaborate hoax.

I don't believe you.

Want to know why I don't believe you?

Because you don't believe you.

How long do you think we've been in here?

My watch stopped.

Phone's dead.

Mine too.

Eddie?

Yeah? If we get out of this,

we need to get the hell
out of Stillwater.

[RUMBLING]

What was that?

♪♪

You see anything?

I'm not sure that I want to.

[SIGHS] I'm sorry.

For what?

For getting us into this.

You were just trying
to help a distraught kid.

That's what we're supposed to do.

Yeah, but if it weren't for me,

we wouldn't be trapped
in some bizarro enclosure

that may or may not be a spaceship,

in which we may or may not get probed.

- We're not gonna get probed.
- The alternatives?

Yep, not too pleasant
to think about, either.

That is not gonna happen, okay?

Because we're gonna get out of here.

How? We don't even know where "here" is.

Well, this floor is
some kind of grid, right?

So it's got to be connected to something.

Wait.

I think I can make out
some kind of shape.

All right, well, maybe
that's a way out of here.

[ECHOING] Doesn't look like a w-w-w-w...

Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh...

[ECHOING] Sa-Sam, why can't you...

Wh-Wh-Wh..

[GARBLED SPEECH]

♪♪

♪♪

[GROANS]

It's day.

This is the same place we found Kay.

How you feeling?

Other than a whopping headache,

I don't feel experimented on.

- You?
- No, same.

We must have been there,
wherever there was.

Well, they did something to us.

I seriously couldn't speak.

All right. Wait. Where are you going?

Well, those lights that we saw
before we were taken

came from over there.

Seriously? You want to go back there?

Yeah. I want to know
what the hell's going on.

[SIGHS]

This is it.
We were taken right around here.

No lights. No spaceship.

Yeah, but what caused that?

They look like craters.

Or a spaceship landing.

♪♪

Dead birds.

There's dozens of them.

These birds have no sign
of any kind of impact.

No burns.

It's like they just fell from the sky.

What else fell from the sky?

SAM: So, you have
a theory about all this?

Yeah. Just...

not willing to believe it.

Me neither.

In fact... I don't think it was aliens.

We weren't sick. They didn't heal us.

A-As far as I can tell,
they didn't do anything,

so why did they take us?

Maybe we were getting too close to them.

So they brought us closer,
inside the ship?

Why not just knock us out
and leave us in the woods?

Are you trying to understand
the motivation of aliens?

That's just it.

I-It doesn't feel alien.
It felt human, like theater.

Like we were taken
for the sake of being taken.

Like someone wanted us
to think we'd been abducted.

Why?

Maybe to scare us away.

For what?

[CELLPHONE RINGS]

Thank God our phones are working again.

Valetik.

We've been trying
to reach you since last night.

Where were you?

It's a long story.

- We have time.
- We don't.

Can you check if there are any
reports or 911 calls made last night

about any unusual activity
around Elk Lake?

What kind of unusual activity?

Whatever comes up...
Weird noises, strange lights.

Strange lights? You were abducted.

- No, we weren't.
- No, we weren't.

- No, they weren't.
- I'm pretty sure they were.

Also, see if you can find out

who owns the property around Elk
Lake and what it's used for.

- I'll check it out.
- Oh, wait. One more thing.

C-Can you see if there's
technology out there

that can scramble a person's speech?

The aliens scrambled your speech?

I'll see what I can dig up.

Meantime, I did find a few links
between Kay, Chuck, and Arlo.

Over the last couple years,
all three developed

health problems involving
some form of paralysis,

and they all went on disability
around the same time.

- Who treated them?
- That's another link.

They were all diagnosed
by the same doctor...

Dr. Maria Blunt.

I'll send you the address.

♪♪

MARIA: Sure, I've heard
the locals' rumors,

but I don't know anything
about alien abductions.

Do you know what caused
your patients to get ill

all around the same time?

Bad luck, I suppose,

but for a while there,
I thought it was environmental.

Environmental?

Motor neuropathy caused by toxic exposure

can sometimes masquerade
as other diseases like MS.

Uh, is that treatable?

It can be, if you can identify
the specific toxin

the patient was exposed to.

In fact, I thought it had something to do

- with all those birds.
- Birds?

Two years ago, hundreds of birds
dropped out of the sky.

Cause was unknown.

Could have been avian flu,

but some of us suspected pesticides.

I was trying to get the EPA
to do some testing,

but then Dr. Drake showed up,
and that was that.

What do you mean? He bought my
practice a few months back.

I hated to give up,

but he offered me twice
what it was worth.

No way I could refuse that.

♪♪

Berto, I need you to run
background on Dr. Sheldon Drake.

He owns a medical practice in Stillwater.

- On it.
- [KEY CLICKS]

And I got some info
on the area around Elk Lake.

It was state-owned
up until a few months ago.

Then as a part of budget offsets,

they sold a chunk of it to developers

looking to build cottages on the lake.

All right, thanks. Keep us posted.

♪♪

You really Dr. Drake has
something to do with all this?

Who buys a medical practice
in a place like this

for twice what it's worth?

Maybe he really likes wine.

Yeah, well, then he could have
set up his own practice

or bought another.

It's like he wanted those patients.

And the timing... a few months back?

That's right around the time
the Elk Lake property was sold.

I don't think the timing's a coincidence.

We need to follow him, see where he goes.

[CAR DOOR CLOSES]

♪♪

T-T-Take m-m-me too-o-o
y-y-your le-e-e-ader.

What is that?

It's called speech jamming.

Your own voice is projected back to you

with a very slight time delay.

It's so disruptive to your brain
that it renders you incoherent.

So that's how the aliens did it.

Let me try.

[SIGHS]

Hey, M-M-Mo...

I cou... cou-cou-co-co...

[CHUCKLES] For r-r-r-r...

Freaky. [CHUCKLES]

SAM: What's Dr. Drake doing
at a storage building

in the middle of nowhere?

It's not really the kind of
place you make a house call to.

Eddie. Oh, my God. No way.

Wait. Do you see that?

Hazmat suits, like in "E. T."
or "Close Encounters."

Maybe it is aliens, and
this is a government cover-up.

What do you think's inside?

There's only one way to find out.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Eddie?

Look.

♪♪

♪♪

So, either it sleeps standing up or...

It's a costume on a mannequin.

It's still creepy.

These drones, high-intensity lights...

everything you need
for a high-tech light show.

- [WARBLING]
- [GASPS]

I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry.

But I was right. It was human.

Yeah, but why?

Maybe it is the government,

and they're using
the alien story to cover up

whatever is really going on.

♪♪

♪♪

[BEEPING]

You can't be here.
This is a restricted area.

Eddie, it's Chuck.

This is a sterile area.
You have to get out of here.

You abducted him?

N... I-I didn't abduct anyone.

I'm healing them.
I'm... I'm making them better.

Step away. Sam, call the sheriff.

Please. I'm... I'm fixing him.
That's what they want.

That's why he brought me
to town, why he hired me.

Why who hired you?

♪♪

[DOOR CLOSES]

What's going on?

Just trying your world-class wine.

The 2016.

What is it that I'm tasting in it?

I mean, there's a hint of lies
and notes of...

what is that, pesticide?

I think you're mistaken.
We don't use pesticides.

Only you did, two years ago.

We're an organic winery.

You were until your vines
were threatened.

And from the methyl parathion you used,

we're guessing a weevil outbreak.

Yeah, that's nasty stuff...
methyl parathion.

Especially if you don't know
what you're doing.

One little spill can do
a lot of damage to humans,

not to mention birds.

No, I... I never...

Yeah. Yeah, you did.

And then you panicked

and buried the evidence on state land

where you thought no one would find it.

And the state sold the land.
They were gonna develop it.

They were gonna dig up everything

and find out what you did.

See these people?
They did seasonal work for you.

They remember the leaking barrels.

They remember
walking through those puddles

that you claimed was just
harmless liquid fertilizer.

You lied to us.

Didn't tell us we'd been exposed.

You thought it would all blow over,

but then we started getting sick.

You knew we could sue you
for everything you were worth,

so you used those stories from '72

to fix the damage you'd done.

Guys, this... this is ridiculous.

None of this is true.

EDDIE: Dr. Drake told us everything...

how you paid him a fortune
to treat their neuropathy

without letting them know the cause.

The lights we saw in the woods,
the hazmat team?

That was you digging up the barrels

trying to get rid of them again.

Hello, Wes.

♪♪

Deputies found your spaceship.

It was staged in an old grain elevator

in the back part of Wes's property.

I still can't believe what
he was able to get away with.

Wes has deep pockets.

Winery's his hobby,
but he made a fortune in tech,

including, by the way,

developing strobe-light weapons
for the military

designed to incapacitate the enemy.

So that's how he did it.

I guess he figured it was better
to spend a million on his hoax

rather than lose hundreds
of millions in settlements.

Well, it was kind of genius

using Stillwater's
healing-alien story as cover.

I mean, the lie was so big,

it was almost impossible
not to believe it.

Well, all the folks here
wanted it to be real.

Hell, I did, too, and that's why
they didn't want you poking around.

Oh, I understand. They thought
they had something

that made Stillwater special
and didn't want to share it.

Oh, Stillwater is special.

Just not like that, it turns out.

Thank you both for getting
to the bottom of this.

♪♪

So, turns out
it wasn't aliens in Stillwater.

Not this time,
but they still haven't found out

what happened in '72.

You really think Josiah Carberry
was cured by extraterrestrials?

I don't think it's beyond
the realm of possibility.

You never told me
about your close encounter.

I don't think you'd understand.

Try me. I might surprise me.

You'll probably mask your discomfort

with the unknown by making
dismissive comments,

but, suffice it to say,
I was touched by an alien.

Physically touched?

And ever since, I've had
the ability to read minds.

[SCOFFS] Okay.

So what am I thinking?

You're thinking...

"She can't read minds,

but if she can, I'm in big trouble."

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

I'm just kidding.

I did see a UFO once,

but it didn't give me
the power to read minds.

However, I can usually tell
what you're thinking.

I'm a psych student.
I don't have to read minds.

I read behavior.

We should play poker sometime.

No, not strip poker.

♪♪

So, Wes McManus's wines...

not so swift.

Oh, wow. Really?

How long have you been waiting
to say that?

- Pretty much all day.
- Yeah.

And, you know,
I'm actually kind of bummed

that there were no real aliens.

Me too.

Really? I was expecting you
to say, "I told you so."

From the guy who actually
thought he saw an alien?

Besides, I kind of like

thinking that there is
something else out there,

something more.

[RADIO TUNING]

Uh... Sam?

I took it from Wes's warehouse.

I got ya. You totally
thought it was aliens.

- Hmm. Not so swift.
- Ah! [CHUCKLES]