Previously on The Pretender.
- I've been thinking about Mom lately. - Me too. Every day.
Unlike everyone else around here...
I'm not afraid of your father.
Things haven't been the same since they got here.
You pull a gun on me, no big deal, 'cause I know...
you don't have the rocks to pull the trigger.
- [Gun Cocks] - You gonna shoot me?
Cafeteria closed?
Uh, Miss Parker.
Everyone's supposed to leave the Centre for today's fire security test.
Then why are you playing with matches?
I don't follow.
Hayes, if you're going to work for me...
you need to understand three things:
First, keep the tie straight.
Second, get a new tie.
[Chuckles] And the third?
Candy's for the clients.
[Clears Throat]
[Phone Ringing]
- [Beeps] - What?
- [Speakerphone. Mr. Parker] Ah, there you are, sweetheart. - Daddy? Is that you?
Unless you got another father somewhere I don't know about.
Listen, I tried you at the house.
What are you doing at the Centre on a Sunday, especially this Sunday?
False alarm on Jarod. Where are you?
I'm about to get on a Centre helicopter. I'll be in Blue Cove tonight.
But your vacation-
I didn't feel like layin' around on the beach.
I couldn't forget what day this is.
Thinkin' a lot about your mother.
- You have? - Surprised?
[Clears Throat] Um, um-
It's just that you've never called me like this...
on this day, I mean.
Well, when you get to where I am in life, regrets start to eat you up.
Listen, there are a lot of things I've been...
meaning to say to you and to her...
for a long time.
I'm here, Daddy, for-for you.
I'll be there at 7:00. Will you?
[Inhales] I was just leaving for the cemetery...
but we could go... see Mom together.
Yeah, for once it'll be just- just the three of us.
Wait for me.
- I'll be at home. - [Dial Tone]
Daddy?
[Sighs]
[Elevator Bell Dings]
Mama, no. Mama, no.! Let me go.
Please. Oh, no.!
Oh, no.! Let me go.
I miss you, Mom.
The anniversary of a parent's death can be a heavy cross to bear...
especially alone.
If you'd like company at the cemetery?
Thanks, but I won't be bearing the cross alone this year.
Your father?
[Sighs]
I have visited my mother's grave every year on the anniversary of her death...
but my father would never talk about it.
[Inhales] Why is it people wait until the end of their lives before...
they... face regrets?
Regret is born of, uh, buried emotion.
But your mother's death is a wound...
a wound not even the Parkers can ignore forever.
You've never seen him grieve, have you?
Until you do, until you can share your grief with him...
it will never heal.
Daughter... sad.
Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in.
- Stealing office supplies? - Hmm.
Reviewing your past attempts to catch Jarod.
- Not pretty. - [Sighs]
Splash a little color on, love. It-You look depressing.
[Phone Rings]
- Daddy? - Have you spoken to your father today?
- What the hell do you want? - I want to help you.
- Where are you now? - I'm leaving Blue Cove. What is it, Jarod?
Turn around and get back to the Centre as fast as you can.
- Why? - Someone is going to kill your father.
[Man Narrating] There are Pretenders among us.
[Jarod] I was taken from my family.
Thirty-six hours and he's already demonstrating more talent than any of our others.
How many people died because of what I thought up?
Since I broke out, I've spent every moment searching for my past.
[Miss Parker] He's a Pretender-
A genius who can become anyone that he wants to be.
- The Centre wants him alive. - Preferably.
[Miss Parker] He defends the weak and abused.
Life's a gift.
- You a doctor? - I am today.
[Jarod] Someone has ordered your father's assassination.
My source says there's a file in the Centre's mainframe tagged "Arkham".
Apparently, it explains everything.
Jarod, this is the wrong day for games.
I know what today is, Miss Parker.
The Centre took your mother away from you...
just like they took me away from mine.
Don't let them finish the job by killing your father.
My father kept you in the Centre your entire life, Jarod.
Why would you want to help him?
Because if he dies, my answers die with him...
and so do yours.
[Man] Jarod, I don't know about this.
Mr. Conti, I've spoken with Chris's former counselors.
We all agree he's ready for this climb, both mentally and physically.
[Conti] I wanna believe...
that hiking and mountain climbing are gonna help...
but ever since Chris's car accident last year...
we've tried therapists, retreats, vacations, everything.
- I just want the old Chris back. - That's why I'm here.
Chris lost his best friend. It takes time to heal from that kind of pain.
Spoken like a man who's experienced some loss himself.
I'm not giving up on your son without a fight.
Chris. Jarod Crockett.
Got a tough trail ahead of us if we're gonna beat these other teams back to the base camp.
You ready to climb this monster?
I'm ready to go home.
[Sighs]
[Broots] The truth is, I'd rather be home.
I'm missing my daughter's dance class.
The Arkham files, Broots. Focus.
It'd be a lot easier at my workstation. I don't know why we can't use the tech room.
- Because the tech room is the first place they would look. - Who? There's nobody here.
The people trying to kill my father.
What?
- Oh, God. I'm sorry. - Now you know what this is about.
Okay. Arkham.
Have you been able to reach your father?
His phone's dead. So's the radio on the chopper.
He lands on the Tower helipad in... four hours.
[Sighs] Sydney, when he called, he-
he was reaching out to me.
- Careful, Parker. - [Sighs]
He's disappointed you before.
Syd, you were there the day that my mother was killed.
Did you ever see him-
Hmm.
Grieve over her?
Tell me.
Moments after she died, your father told me never to speak about it-
not to you, Jarod, anyone.
He ordered me back to work as if nothing had happened.
Then- [Muttering]
What? What?
Then he said, "Life goes on."
Hmm.
[Angelo] Daughter sad.
Everyone sad.
[Panting] Daughter sad.
Ah. [Humming]
[Chris] This compass isn't working right.
- I think we're lost. - I think you're right.
Whatever. It's not my fault.
[Sighs]
You have to report positions to me.
We're a team out here. We have to communicate.
[Scoffs] You guides are all the same. You're all tryin' to bug me out.
Bug you out?
Yeah. Get me to communicate? You want me to talk about stuff.
Back off. I don't need your help.
You don't have to go through this alone.
Let's just climb, okay?
[Sighs] Well, that might be easier than you think.
"Jeep is dead. Have gone ahead to station."
You thinkin' what I'm thinking?
- What? - Shortcut.
We get this thing working, take the fire trail out of here...
- and we beat everybody to the cliff face. - I don't know.
Come on. We'll get done faster. It'll be our little secret.
- [Hood Unlatches] - You're good with secrets. Aren't you, Chris?
I got it.! I got Arkham.
[Squeaking]
- Arkham? - What are you doing here?
I live here.
You wheeze, and I'll shoot you.
[Broots] Uh, Miss Parker?
- We have a little problem here. - Open the file, Broots.
I can't. The file has a doorbell on it, and if I open it, a warning's gonna be sent-
Then whoever is behind this will know we're here. Ding-dong. He already does. Do it.
- [Typing] - Aw, it's encrypting.
- It's turning into gibberish. - Did you see what it said?
- Uh, "Neutralization, 1900 hours. '" - [Sydney] 7.00 p.m.
That's the exact time your father is due to land on the Tower helipad.
So it's true. You're gonna murder my father.
I have no knowledge of this.
You son of a bitch.
[Alarm Blares]
I'd say we're all in the dark on this one, Miss Parker.
- [Alarm Continues] - No computers, no phones, no power.
Doors are electronically sealed.
- Sublevel lockdown. - Designed to keep the Centre intact during a nuclear event.
Or a palace coup against my father?
- Override the lockdown. - Impossible.
If you think that I'm gonna sit here like one of your caged-
I'm trapped too, Miss Parker. My oxygen tank is almost empty.
Would I do that to myself?
Whoever is trying to kill your father now knows you're here...
and they'll come for you too.
- Raines has a point. - [Scoffs]
Now is it possible the lockdown has something to do with the fire security test?
There is no test, you moron. They wanted to clear the Centre.
Now I'm laying odds that Nosferatu has a sniper on the helipad.
I don't believe Raines had anything to do with this.
Wake up and smell the oxygen, Syd. He's behind everything.
Can you unlock the Arkham files?
I've got 'em on disk. It'll take a couple hours, give or take.
I've got less than two or my father's dead! Do you understand?
Easy, Parker. Broots is doing the best he can.
[Sighs]
C-Could it be that the elevators have a backup power system?
[Sighs, Gasps] Hayes.
- Who? - My new Sweeper.
I left him a voice mail after I called you two.
His orders are to find me in the sim lab...
if he hasn't heard from me within the hour.
Well, that's now. We're in the clear.
That's if he got the message.
Parker family motto: "Never depend on anyone but yourself."
[Alarm Continues]
Give me the sim lab. This is Hayes.
Hello? Hello?
[Gasps]
I'm unable to contact the Centre, sir.
Keep trying.
Try it now.
[Engine Starts, Stalls]
Ah. Gonna have to push-start it.
I'm gonna pop the clutch. You give me a good push.
- Think you've got it in you? - Yeah, whatever.
- [Grunts] - You ready?
- [Grunts] - [Engine Starts]
- Jarod? - My brakes.!
Jarod!
[Tires Squealing]
Jarod!
Jarod?
Jarod!
[Raines] The Centre's original boiler system...
- extends through every sublevel, right up to the lobby. - [Alarm Blaring]
- Damn! - Tragically ironic how all this is happening...
on the anniversary of your mother's suicide.
Murder. And don't talk about her.
[Whispers] Please. Help me out of here.
[Young Jarod] I'll help you out of there.
Miss Parker.
- You okay? - Why wouldn't I be?
I just haven't seen you in a while, since-
since what happened to your mother.
She killed herself, Jarod. She was sick.
[Sighs]
- What's his name? - They call him Angelo.
Sydney says he's special, but I can't get through to him.
Maybe I can.
[Jarod] CrackerJack?
You never had them? The snack with the toy surprise.
Why would someone want a surprise in their food?
Surprise.
[Grunts]
- [Broots] You did it. - What about the elevator?
Oh, l-I found some tools, and-and look.
These. Walkie-talkies.
My father lands in 90 minutes. What about the Arkham file?
It'll take three hours at least.
[Wheezing, Coughing]
Sounds like he's got even less.
I'd better stay with Raines. His pulse is bad.
[Raines Coughs]
All right. Look, you don't hear from us in 20 minutes...
I want you to forget Mr. Clean and get out.
You're my fail-safe, Syd, in case we get nailed.
Wait, what? What do you mean, nailed?
[Alarm Continues]
Back, Broots.
Stay here.
Stop or you're dead.
Miss Parker!
- You can breathe now. - [Gasping]
Oh. Who is it?
Sweepers, but I don't know either one. Come on. Let's go.
Jarod? Jarod.
[Groans] Uh, oh.
What happened?
You flipped theJeep. Does it hurt?
Oh. Only when I blink.
- I gotta get you out of here. - [Screams]
[Panting] I think I broke my leg.
[Groans] Chris, you have to go get help.
They're- They're gonna send a stretcher.
When we don't show up, they're gonna come lookin' for us.
I could be bleeding internally. You have to get help.
Just-J-Just climb... over that cliff.
There should be a road. You can do it.
I can't. I can't.
[Miss Parker] Sydney, we're at the elevator.
[Grunts]
[Clears Throat]
What?
Oh. That's an old bullet hole.
Well, they-They haven't fixed that after all these years?
That's the Centre, always trying to send a message.
[Both Grunting]
Chris, you have to go get help.
Oh, God. Oh, my God.
Listen to me. You have to go get help.
- No, I can't. No, I can't do that! - Yes, you can.
[Panting] This is about your car accident, isn't it?
It's about how your best friend died.
You listen to me.
Accidents happen. People die. That is no secret.
- Why do you keep saying that? - Because I can help you if you let me.
Let me help you.
[Panting] Nick wanted to go for a shortcut that night.
He was going too fast. We s- We spun out, and we hit a tree...
and it jammed the steering wheel into him.
And what happened?
And then the cops got there, and his car was on fire...
and I was outside, and Nick was still inside.
Nick died instantly. You can't blame yourself for that.
That's what I'm trying to tell you. He didn't! I let him die!
I let him die.
I think you'll enjoy this.
I had one of those, uh, parental wake-up calls at breakfast.
You know, time- [Sighs] sure flies.
My little Debbie, she tells me she knows what she wants to do in life.
[Chuckles] She's 10.
Anyway- [Clears Throat] she says-
You ever think of getting out ofhere, Broots?
- Excuse me? - The Centre. Leaving?
Taking Debbie andjust going somewhere... else.
Yeah. [Chuckles] Actually, lots of times.
Do it. Don't worry about what other people will think.
Don't... buy into the false...
security of staying put.
If you think that that's what you need to do, then do it.
Do it for Debbie-
[Exhales] but do it now.
Because the next elevator you get on-
[Sighs]
[Clicks Tongue] l- I never knew your mother, Miss Parker...
but l- I bet the choices she made...
had everything to do with her little girl.
So what does Debbie want to do with her life?
She says she... wants to be just like you.
- [Laughs] - [Laughs]
There we go. We're goin' to the lobby.
[Alarm Continues]
[Whispers] Wait for me.
Oh! [Grunting]
'Ello, love.
I'm gettin'real sick of you.
Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk. You should not have searched the mainframe.
And where exactly are Broots and Sydney?
I thought stooges traveled in threes.
By the way, fire drills are for pyros and grade-schoolers.
Can't blame a girl for trying.
If you were at the cemetery, crying your little eyes out like you're supposed to be...
you wouldn't be in this tricky little mess, now would you?
Don't you think it's time to turn off the faucets?
How appropriate you die in this elevator.
Just like Mummy.
If there is one place I'm not dying, it's here.
[Bell Ringing]
- [Cables Squealing] - [Grunts]
[Squealing Stops]
- Miss Parker? You've been shot.! - [Groaning]
[Broots] Looks like a flesh wound. Must've been a ricochet.
- Yeah, off my arm. - You're bleeding pretty badly-
- It's nothing. - No. Sit down!
- [Groans] Oh! - I mean it.
Where the hell are we?
- W-We're on, uh, SL 26. - Yeah, that's right.
- [Screams] Oh! Ow! Ow! - [Elevator Bell Dings]
- Oh. - Nice shot.
- Oh. [Groans] - [Tools Rattle]
Shh. I hear something.
Wait, wait. You're not going out there.
Here.
I wanna kill her, not screw her.
Well, can you think of anything better?
[Panting] I got your back.
Oh, now I feel better.
Bet you never thought you'd get paired with a coward, huh?
Is that what you are, Chris?
- [Sniffs] - Is that what Nick would think of you?
What happened that night?
We were inside the car, upside down, when I came to.
And I looked over at Nick. He was stuck under the steering wheel.
There was blood everywhere.
And he's lookin' over at me, his eyes all scared...
like they're beggin' me to help him.
Then the fire started comin' in, and the smoke.
And I just sat there, frozen.
I can still see his eyes.
What did you do?
I slid out of the car-
[Sniffs] and I crawled away.
[Crying] And the flames grew bigger...
and I could hear his voice calling me from the fire.
[Sniffs]
[Crying] I should have burned, Jarod...
'cause I should have died.
Nick was pinned inside that car. You couldn't have saved him if you wanted to.
No, 'cause I ran away.
If you stayed in the car, Chris, you would have died.
Your response was human.
I ran away.
I know what loss is like.
I watched my brother die in a car accident.
Not a day goes by that I don't blame myself...
that I don't... think of something that I could have done.
But as time went by, he forgave me.
I hear his voice inside of me, just like you hear Nick's.
What would he want you to do now?
- [Clattering] - Wait, Miss Parker. Careful.
Did you hear that sound?
Oh! I'm officially in hell.
- Give me that walkie. - Angelo.
Broots, how's the Arkham file coming?
[Typing] Two hours.
Great. My father lands in one. You gotta get me back to the lobby, Broots.
[Sighs, Typing]
Tasty.
Daughter... sad.
You miss your mother, don't you?
She used to give me these.
It's just me and my daddy now, but he's always working.
My mom and I used to talk about things.
She would brush my hair, or we'd read together.
My mom's gone too.
I talk to her though.
Her voice is inside me, just like your mother's is inside you.
[Angelo] Mom. Trying to hurt Mom.
D- Daddy.
Trying to hurt Daddy. Daughter sad.
- Mmm. - Wait. What-
- Don't touch that. - [Typing]
He's speeding it up.
- Mmm. Goldenhawk down. - What?
There's no sniper. She sabotaged the helicopter.
Goldenhawk... down.
[Beeping]
[Broots] It's a distance-sensitive triggering device.
- A what? - A triggering device.
As soon as the helicopter gets within 100 feet of the Tower...
an explosive device goes off...
the helicopter loses control and crashes.
But it looks like an accident.
Exactly.
Toy surprise.
I told you. I don't want any.
Ah. Surprise.
It's a D.S.A.
And it's dated the day of my mother's death.
- Where's Jarod? - He's been taken to his space, Mr. Parker.
- Mmm. - What happened to Catherine?
My wife was, uh, very sick.
[Young Sydney] Troubled, yes...
but suicide?
You'll never discuss this incident with anyone... ever.
Not with Jarod, and especially not with my daughter.
Go home. Now.
I want you back in this laboratory tomorrow, ready to work.
Life goes on, Sydney.
Life goes on.
[Crying]
Daddy sad.
- God, no. - [Sniffs]
You must save Daddy.
- [Crying Continues] - Oh. Let's finish this.
[Broots] The boiler hatch should be right over there.
[Sydney On Walkie-talkie] Miss Parker, where are you?
We're at SL 26, headed for the boiler.
You've got to hurry. Your father lands in less than 30 minutes.
- Tell me something I don't know. - Miss Parker, up there.
The boiler goes all the way up to the lobby.
Let's hope I'm not too late.
[Beeping]
Everything's in place.
Thirty minutes to Centre airspace and the triggering point.
[Groaning]
[Sighs] You ready?
Yeah, I think I am.
Jarod, um-
Hurry back.
[Exhales]
- [Broots] Maybe I should go with you. - No, I can move faster alone.
Whoa. Whoa.
Twenty-six floors in 15 minutes. Are you sure you're okay to do this?
- Do you remember the code to the power bunker? - I got it, Broots.
- Okay. Good luck. - [Groans]
- Oh. Aaah! - [Hissing]
Huh. [Panting]
Oh.
Yes!
[Alarm Continues]
Oh.
Syd, I'm in the lobby. Hayes is dead.
- Raines isn't far behind. - [Wheezing]
I'm plugging him into the Centre's oxygen system. Get the power on!
Put the walkie to his ear.
- You don't have time, Parker. - Do it!
Are you trying to kill my father?
[Wheezes] No.
Who is?
The same people who killed your mother.
- Who? - [Gasps]
- [Wheezing] - He's blacking out.
[Whispers] Thank you.
Miss Parker, you got five minutes.
[Breathes Deeply]
- [Beeping] - [Beeping]
[Mr. Parker] Centre's in sight. It'll be good to be home.
[Beeping Continues]
[Both Grunting]
- Hello, love. - You just don't give up, do you?
Drop the accent. Nobody's buying it anymore.
[American Accent] Fine with me, bitch. Too much damn work anyway.
That's the problem with you Parkers. You never finish what you started.
You look finished to me.
[Rapid Beeping]
[Beeping Stopped]
You okay?
Yeah. Nick would be proud.
Yeah, I know. He told me.
Thank you.
Son, your dad's waiting for you.
Bye.
[Engine Starts]
[Vehicle Departs]
- Sorry for the false alarm, but it was for a good cause. - Your leg is broken.
I eat a lot of ice cream. Calcium. It's good for you.
[Sighs] Bridget will be dealt with. I want you to know.
Let's not talk about that now.
[Sighs] God, it's-
It's beautiful here.
You've never been back?
Not since the burial. Couldn't bring myself to face her.
From now on, every year we come here together.
- The things I've wanted to say- - You don't have to say anything, Daddy.
It's just good to have you back.
Are you okay?
Life goes on.
[Cell Phone Ringing]
- [Ringing Continues] - [Groans]
- [Phone Beeps] - Parker.
[Jarod] I'm glad your father is all right.
- Thank you, Jarod. - You miss her.
- [Sighs] Yes. - She misses you too.
- How can you be so sure? - Read the card.