Episode Transcript
1x02 Moral Waiver
Written by Samuel Baum and Josh Singer
Directed by Adam Davidson
[Random chatter in the background at The Lightman Group building. CAL is cutting open a taped, sealed packaged. Meanwhile, a man is hooking up another man, the TEST SUBJECT, to a hand-held polygraph machine.]
LOKER: Dr. Lightman, the guys from Homeland Security are here. They want your assessment of the new hand-held polygraph.
CAL: I'll be right there.
[CAL opens the box as the man in the second room begins asking the TEST SUBJECT easy control questions]
MAN: Do you work at the department of homeland security?
TEST SUBJECT: Yes.
[CAL removes a very Jurassic Park looking egg carefully from the box. He carries it past Loker who looks confused, but used to this type of thing]
LOKER: Yeah...
[CUT to the MAN asking the TEST SUBJECT questions]
MAN: Do you have black hair?
TEST SUBJECT: Yes.
WHITMORE: See, the hand-held measures cardio and galvanic skin response. It's the only polygraph ever developed with this kind of portability.
CAL [entering with the egg]: Well, not quite.
GILLIAN: Cal, you know secretary Miller from homeland security. [CAL shakes his hand] And this is Tom Whitmore, the new TSA deputy.
[CAL hands WHITMORE the egg]
WHITMORE: Uh, what the hell is this?
CAL: It's a lie detector. West-Africans used them first. When you're on trial, you hold the egg in your hands and if it broke it's a sign of anxiety. You were found guilty.
WHITMORE [laughing]: Well, I see our hand-held is a little more advanced.
CAL: Well, unfortunately both devices suffer from the same problem.
[CAL picks up a phone]
CAL [on phone]: Uh, Miss [insert name here*], would you mind?
[In the room, the MAN and TEST SUBJECT turn around as BEAUTIFUL WOMAN enters the room. She smiles and takes the polygraph from the MAN]
BEAUTIFUL WOMAN: May I?
CAL: Could you ask the control questions again please?
WHITMORE: What are you doing?
[CAL points to the monitor recording the test]
BEAUTIFUL WOMAN: Hi, do you work at the department of homeland security?
TEST SUBJECT [nervous]: Uh, yes.
[The results show he is lying, though he is not]
CAL [indicating results]: Uh-oh.
BEAUTIFUL WOMAN: Do you have black hair?
TEST SUBJECT: Yes.
[False results show again]
CAL: Whoops. The problem with all polygraph tests is false positives.
GILLIAN: Innocent people can fail if they feel an increase in any emotion--anger, fear, sexual arousal. Not just guilt. Your polygraph is no better than the egg at telling us which emotion it's responding to.
WHITMORE [angry]: No...
[Suddenly, the egg breaks in WHITMORE's hands and green slime pours out. CAL is obviously amused and GILLIAN tries to hide her smile]
CAL: Oh! I've been wanting to try that for years. You see, you would have been found guilty, but you were just angry. You should be spending your money studying the face.
[CAL presses a button on the control panel and the screen shows an image of a face, with all the facial muscles revealed and a few highlighted in red]
CAL: 43 muscles combine to produce a possibility of 10,000 expressions. Now, if you learn them all you don't need a polygraph.
MILLER [to WHITMORE]: How much did we spend on this damn project anyway?
WHITMORE: Uh, not much. I'm sure we could recoup most of our costs.
[WHITMORE crosses his arms and steps back as he speaks]
CAL: Now, that was lovely.
MILLER: What?
CAL: Gestural retreat.
MILLER: What's that?
CAL: He stepped backwards. Means he doesn't believe a word he just said. He's lying.
[CUT to video of NIXON speaking]
NIXON: I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got.
[NIXON takes a a step back and crosses his arms. He's lying]
[CUT to opening credits]
[At the Lightman Group building, Cal is using a micro-expression training program. The woman's face on screen flashes an emotion for a fraction of a second and Cal picks which emotion it is. He repeats this with various micro-expressions. GILLIAN comes in behind him]
CAL: What do you see?
GILLIAN: I see a skeptical, emotionally-distant scientist obsessing over facial twitches. Why are you doing micro-expression training?
CAL: Well, I've gotta start at triple speed. You know when you try and hide your emotions, they leak out at a fifth of a second? Well, this is testing me at a fifteenth of a second.
GILLIAN: Hmm, impressive.
[CAL turns to face her and GILLIAN smiles]
GILLIAN: You know who else is impressive on that thing?
CAL: Is this another attempt to get me to take Miss Torres under my wing?
GILLIAN: You need somebody to back you on the military case.
CAL: Well, I've got you for that.
GILLIAN: I'll be court side with Earl White. He's a freshman shooting guard. Hottest NBA prospect in the country. The College Athletic Association wants us to find out if he took a bribe to play for GWCU.
CAL: Well, we've got a meeting at Fort Meet in half an hour.
GILLIAN: Look, I'll . . . I'll met you there later, okay? But let's get Torres involved. She's a natural. She's got phenomenal instincts.
CAL: Doesn't mean she knows the science.
[TORRES pops through the door]
TORRES [to CAL]: Dr. Foster said you wanted to see me?
[CAL looks at GILLIAN, who just smiles back]
CAL [to TORRES]: What do you see?
TORRES: Anger.
[CAL hits another button on the screen, another emotion flashes]
TORRES: Fear.
[And another . . .]
TORRES: Sadness.
[CAL seems mildly impressed. She has gotten every one correct. GILLIAN looks like she wants to say "I told you so"]
CAL [to TORRES]: Let's go.
[CUT to a military base where soldiers are walking around in uniform and practicing at a shooting range.
MILITARY MAN: Specialist Sheila Lake has served with the 23rd mountain division for three years, two of those in Afghanistan.
[CAL and TORRES are in an open jeep with the MILITARY MAN shouting over the sound of the vehicle]
MILITARY MAN: Lake is asserting that she was raped by her platoon leader, Staff Sergeant Russell Scott. We'd like you to find out if the allegation's true.
[A SOLDIER approaches a woman, SHEILA, at the shooting range]
SOLDIER: Lake! Lake! Grab your gear and report to the staff judge advocate.
[Back in the jeep, TORRES closes a file on Russell Scott]
TORRES: Is Sergeant Scott being court-martialed?
MILITARY MAN: We're not there yet. [Exiting the jeep] Sergeant Scott's leadership is crucial to the tribal intelligence missions we're running on the Pakistani border. We start a court-martial proceeding, he'll be off the line for six months.
CAL: Then, I'm afraid we can't help you.
MILITARY MAN: Excuse me?
CAL: Hire us when you want the truth. Why waste taxpayers' money if that's not what you're after?
MILITARY MAN: Dr. Lightman, my first concern is the safety of every woman in that platoon. That's why we're investigating. But Sergeant Scott passed a polygraph.
CAL: Yeah, well, I bet his grandmother didn't think he did it, either. That's equally reliable.
MILITARY MAN: Look, Sergeant Scott is set to redeploy in three days. He's the only commander who can recognize hostiles on that border. Without him,the mission's more dangerous for every soldier in the 23rd. I certainly can't have a rapist in charge of the females in that platoon, but if I'm going to pull Sergeant Scott off the line, I need to know this
woman is telling the truth.
[CUT to a young man playing basketball in a stadium gym. His jersey says GWCU on it.]
GILLIAN: Six-five, moves like he's five-one. Could dunk at twelve, won the state championship at 14. National high school player of the year the last three years.
[GILLIAN and LOKER are standing on some stairs, watching the players dunk and shoot]
LOKER: I would not have pegged you for a hoops geek.
GILLIAN: You know the fifth-grade boy with the vintage Dr. J poster and the instant recall of his career stats? I was that boy.
[A man, JEREMY LEVINE, approaches and offers his hand]
JEREMY LEVINE: Dr. Foster? I'm Jeremy Levine with the athletic association. Thanks for coming down.
GILLIAN: Who doesn't enjoy a day watching Earl White do his thing?
JEREMY LEVINE [pointing to a poster of an older man on the wall]: Howard Taft certainly does. He's the alumni booster who allegedly paid Earl $50,000 to come and play for Carver. We'd like to investigate this quietly. Earl's a good kid. He
lost his mom last year. He's raising his brother on his own.
LOKER: Plus, he's gonna go pro this spring, and you don't want any more bad press for the "one and done" rule.
JEREMY LEVINE: Making kids go to college for a year before they turn pro forces them to take high school more seriously.
LOKER [dryly]: It also forces young superstars to play a year of college ball, jacking up ratings and revenues.
GILLIAN: Loker here has a hard time with half-truths.
[The practice appears to be finished, and Earl White comes over to GILLIAN, LOKER and JEREMY. His little brother is with him.]
JEREMY LEVINE: Earl white, Dr. Gillian Foster and her associate, Eli Loker.
EARL: You folks are the lie guys, right?
GILLIAN [smiling]: More the truth guys, but it depends on the case. Do you have some time to chat?
EARL: Uh, you know, I have to take my little brother home, and I got an econ midterm tomorrow. Need to get with the books, you know? But hit my cell later. Anything I can do to clear my name.
GILLIAN: Appreciate it.
[Earl's brother takes the ball and dribbles away. Earl follows him]
JEREMY LEVINE: Any quick reads?
LOKER: His speech was hurried, and he brought that basketball to his chest, creating a barrier between us. Those are both signs of anxiety.
GILLIAN: Well, that's something any college athlete might feel when he's been accused of taking a bribe. We're not magicians. We're scientists. We'll need to talk to Earl and the booster to spot any conclusive signs of lying.
[CUT to CAL and TORRES questioning SHEILA LAKE]
SHEILA: I'm not naive, okay? When you sign up to be one of four women in a platoon of 30 guys, guys who aren't gonna see another woman for six months, well . . . like they say in girl scouts, "Be prepared."
TORRES: So, you were harassed?
SHEILA: Porn in the latrines . . . Jody calls.
TORRES: Jody calls?
SHEILA [chanting/singing]: "I taught that bitch her left then right. Nailed her ass then left last night."
TORRES [quietly]: Got it.
SHEILA: Yeah.
TORRES: Did Staff Sergeant Scott participate in any of this?
SHEILA: He didn't make jokes or anything, but . . . oh, his hands were everywhere. He liked to walk in on us while we were changing, if we were in the showers.
[TORRES looks at CAL, but he is silently watching SHEILA]
TORRES: Tell us about the attack.
SHEILA: I was, uh . . . I was on my way back from a workout. Ran into him behind the mess. And he ordered me to strip.
[CLOSE UP of SHEILA's mouth as she grimaces. A tear rolls down her cheek.]
SHEILA: He grabbed me, he pinned me down and he assaulted me. I was sexually assaulted.
[CAL gets up a leaves without saying a word. TORRES catches up with him outside the room]
TORRES: Hey, what's up with the mime act?
CAL: You ask the questions, I observe.
GILLIAN [entering]: Dr. Lightman finds asking questions distracting. He prefers to watch.
CAL [pouring coffee]: You finish the psych profile on the guy she's accused?
[GILLIAN hands CAL some papers and he grabs them on his way to the other side of the room]
GILLIAN: Nice to see you, too.
TORRES: What's his problem?
GILLIAN: "Friendly fire." "Collateral damage." You can start with the lies in the language.
[Staff Sergeant RUSSELL SCOTT sits down in the questioning room]
TORRES: Bet they're not gonna end there.
[SCOTT is being interrogated and filmed]
SCOTT: Last Tuesday? I went to dinner. I had a few drinks at the NCO club. I stopped by the PX, and then
headed back to the barracks.
[TORRES is sitting across from SCOTT. GILLIAN and CAL are standing on the wall]
TORRES: Tell me again--start with drinks.
SCOTT: Drinks, PX, barracks. Toothpaste and deodorant. I have the receipt.
TORRES: You weren't anywhere near the mess hall?
SCOTT [annoyed]: I just said I wasn't.
TORRES: And you're telling me you didn't attack Specialist Lake?
SCOTT: That's exactly what I'm saying, and while we're on the subject . . .
CAL [coming behind SCOTT]: Okay. That's good. Thanks for your time.
[CAL slaps his shoulder and opens heads to the door with him. CAL touches his arm]
CAL: Whoa, quite a bicep you have there. You must really love the weight room, huh?
[TORRES gets an indescribable look of "What the hell?" and GILLIAN just looks amused]
CAL: I don't normally mix business with pleasure, but . . . I was wondering if you
fancy grabbing a drink later or . . .
SCOTT: Uh, I'm not gay and isn't this a little inappropriate?
CAL: Absolutely. Sorry.
SCOTT: Right . . . excuse me.
TORRES: What the hell was that?
CAL: I love a man in uniform, you know?
GILLIAN: The rape was unplanned, one time, with no additional violence. That suggests a power assertive rapist,
somebody who is obsessed with masculinity, who needs others to see him as a man.
CAL: If Sergeant Scott fit the profile, he would have reacted to my overture with one emotion-- disgust.
TORRES: There was no disgust, just surprise.
CAL: Correct. Eyebrows up, jaw down.
TORRES: Okay, but . . . the guy was totally amped up.
CAL: Yeah, but he showed no deception leakage, right? There's no sign of lying.
TORRES: He looked like he wanted to throw me across the room.
GILLIAN: A man charged with rape is even more likely to be angry if he's innocent.
TORRES: Well, they can't both be telling the truth.
CAL: They're not. Sheila Lake made two mouth shrugs when she was describing the rape. That's a classic gestural slip. It means she has no confidence in her words. The woman was lying.
[CUT to various pictures of politicians and celebrities making the same mouth shrug. Then we see Sheila Lake on a screen, the recording from her interrogation.]
SHEILA [on camera]: I was sexually assaulted.
[The screen pauses. The video is being played at the Lightman Group building, with CAL, GILLIAN and TORRES watching.]
TORRES: You really think a woman would lie about rape?
CAL: Unpleasant truths, pleasant truths, human mortality, a moustache on a woman--three things we'd all prefer to ignore.
GILLIAN: FBI crime reports have found that eight percent of rape allegations are false.
TORRES: Okay, but the army vets I worked with at TSA said that sexual assault was a big problem.
CAL: It doesn't explain the gestural slip.
GILLIAN: Lake's also not exhibiting any of the emotions a rape victim typically displays when recounting her story.
CAL: No shame . . . no fear. [He points at the screen]We should be seeing a lot of activity in the forehead, but there isn't any.
TORRES: Maybe she's got post-traumatic stress.
GILLIAN: Emotional numbing might explain her inability to express her feelings.
CAL: But not the mouth shrug.
TORRES: Look, I'm telling you, there's something off about Sergeant Scott.
[Everyone begins leaving the room.]
CAL: You know, I once had actors play out the testimony from a rape case in front of 30 federal judges. And you know the biggest predictor of whether they believed the man or the woman? The gender of the judge.
TORRES [angry]: You think I'm saying he's guilty 'cause I'm a woman?
CAL: Me, Darwin, and 2,000 years of evolutionary biology.
GILLIAN: Well, I think what Dr. Lightman is trying to say is that it's important not to let what you bring in the room affect what you see in the room.
HEIDI: Dr. Lightman?
CAL: What is it?
HEIDI [showing them the computer screen]: Harassment report. The platoon's Equal Opportunity rep just sent it over. Looks like it was filed anonymously last fall.
GILLIAN: It alleges Sergeant Scott surprised women in the showers and entered their barracks unannounced.
TORRES: Hmm, backs up Lake's story.
[The corner of TORRES' mouth lifts into a smirk]
CAL: You know, generally it's not a good idea to call your boss an idiot.
TORRES: I didn't say you were an idi . . .
CAL [interrupting]: But your buccinator did.
TORRES: That's not . . .
CAL: Oh, that's a pretty impressive combination of contempt and disgust.
TORRES: I'm . . . I'm S . . . I. . .
CAL: Apology accepted.
[CAL leaves and TORRES looks confused and angry]
GILLIAN: Head back to Fort Meade and check into the personnel files of the woman and the Sergeant. [Encouragingly touches TORRES' shoulder] And hang in there.
[CUT to CAL and GILLIAN walking outside around a fountain. There are people, benches and food stands]
GILLIAN: You should consider going a little easier on Torres.
CAL: Why? She's all false positives. See, that's the trouble with naturals. They don't see what's missing. They're all instinct and no science.
[CAL and GILLIAN are in line at a food stand. They approach the front, where a SWEATY MAN is serving food]
CAL: I'll have a falafel sandwich, please.
GILLIAN: And an Italian ice. Grape.
[CAL looks on skeptically as the man prepares their food]
CAL: You wash your hands today?
SWEATY MAN: Uh, yeah, of course.
[SWEATY MAN rubs the back of his neck]
CAL: Do you have any kind of pain in your neck?
SWEATY MAN: Uh, no. Why?
CAL: People touch it when they lie. It's a classic manipulator. You been to them bathroom today?
GILLIAN: Cal.
SWEATY MAN: Uh, no.
[SWEATY MAN almost rubs his neck again, but catches himself]
CAL: Oh, great. [raising his voice] Anybody else want a side of feces? Anybody? Side of feces?
[CUT to a large, elegant dining room, with athletic trophies and jerseys displayed on the walls.]
LOKER: If an alum took me here, I would want to play hoops for Carver.
GILLIAN: I bet it made an impression on Earl White.
LOKER: Why is it guys named White are always black and guys named Black are always white?
GILLIAN [smiling]: Am I going to be sorry you're here?
LOKER: Barry White, Jack Black.
GILLIAN: Does your radical honesty pledge mean you have to say everything you think?
LOKER: It's the only way to be truly honest.
GILLIAN: Let's turn it off while we're working, shall we? Now, what do we know about the booster?
LOKER: Uh, Howard Taft, forty-five, made his money on internet job boards, led the funding campaign
for Carver's new athletic center. Apparently, he likes giving back.
GILLIAN [shaking TAFT's hand]: Mr. Taft, thanks for agreeing to talk with us.
TAFT: Always a pleasure to talk Carver basketball, Dr. Foster.
LOKER: [shaking hands]: Oh, championship ring. Sweet. Must have cost a fortune online.
TAFT: Actually, I, uh, I earned it riding the pine for the '86 team.
[LOKER takes out a small electrical device and sets up a small microphone]
TAFT: What's that?
LOKER: It's a, uh, voice stress analyzer. It measures pitch and gauges anxiety.
GILLIAN: We find it's less about what you say than how you say it. Now, tell us about your relationship with Earl White.
[CUT back to The Lightman Group, where CAL is watching the recorded tape of SHEILA LAKE again. Three uniformed, female soldiers enter the room]
SHEILA [on camera]: He ordered me to strip. He grabbed me . . .
HEIDI: Oh, sorry. These are Specialist Lake's platoon mates.
CAL: Thanks for coming in. [indicating one soldier] I want to conduct individual interviews, so if you could come with me, you two stay here. Thanks, Heidi.
[The two remaining soldiers look around for a moment before one of them presses the play button on the video]
SHEILA [on camera]: Pinned me down . . . and he assaulted me. I was sexually assaulted.
[The soldiers look at each other, and then CLOSE UP on a steady red light watching them]
[CUT to LOKER and GILLIAN in an analysis room at the Lightman Group building]
GILLIAN: You finish the vocal stress analysis on Taft?
LOKER: Yeah. Check it out.
LOKER [on tape]: Oh, championship ring. Sweet.Must have cost a fortune online.
[LOKER is eating a snack and offers it to GILLIAN. When she looked inside, it is empty. She crumples it up]
TAFT [on tape]: Actually, I earned it riding the pine for the '86 team.
LOKER: Typical vocal stress on a typical question. That's Taft's vocal stress baseline.
GILLIAN: And given how irritating most people find you . . .
LOKER: It's a high tolerance baseline. He'd have to be extremely anxious for his pitch to spike above it, so . . . applying the baseline . . . you can see from the spikes that Taft had three moments of extreme anxiety.
GILLIAN: Let me guess. That's when he denied bribing our basketball phenom.
LOKER: Yep. Indistinguishable to the ear, but . . .
TAFT [on tape]: And, no, I didn't bribe Earl White. Really, I didn't give Earl a penny. A bribe? I barely know the kid.
LOKER: Thanks to the technology, we can see the stress in Taft's voice. The data suggests young Mr. White just came into a lot of money.
GILLIAN: But we've seen no uptick in Earl's spending habits.
LOKER: I talked to his friends. The guy's got no bling, he lives in a walk-up with his brother, he takes the bus . . .
GILLIAN: Earl's got a big payday coming as soon as he turns pro. Why take Taft's money if he's not going to spend it? The psychology's inconsistent. We need to get inside Earl's head.
LOKER: You want me to pull recent interview footage, see if he leaks anything when he talks about playing for Carver?
GILLIAN: Yeah. What's that last sound wave?
TAFT [on tape]: Always a pleasure to talk Carver basketball, Dr. Foster.
LOKER: That is when Taft met you. See how the graph is all scrunched up? It indicates arousal. Apparently the pine was not the only thing our aging jock wanted to ride.
[GILLIAN rolls her eyes]
TORRES [entering]: Hey, can I . . .
GILLIAN [leaving with TORRES]: Please.
TORRES: Staff Sergeant Scott has a past.
GILLIAN: He has a criminal record?
TORRES: A long one.
GILLIAN [reading TAFT's record]: I thought you couldn't get into the army with a record.
TORRES: You can't, unless they grant you what's called a moral waiver. It used to be just for misdemeanors, but the army is so stretched for recruits that they're using them to let felons in.
GILLIAN: Moral waiver. The army really has a way with words.
TORRES: Uh, Sergeant Scott was arrested for possession, arson, assault and battery . . .
GILLIAN: He has an arson conviction?
TORRES: He was 16, but the assault's more recent.
GILLIAN: No, it's the arson that is significant. Arson and rape have an unusually high correlation. They're both crimes about the assertion of power.
TORRES: So with the arson conviction . . .
GILLIAN: Yeah. It makes the rape a lot more likely.
[CUT to CAL pouring a cup of coffee and watching a television in a break room]
MAN ON TV: We're seeing promising indicators in the pentium chip market. Techspring earnings should be strong as ever.
HEIDI: Hey, boss.
CAL: Call my broker, have him dump all my holdings in Techspring.
HEIDI: Okay. And, uh, I just spoke with Major Harris' office. I told them you were on your way.
[GILLIAN and TORRES enter]
[CAL, with some impressive TiVo program, rewinds the television]
CAL: Look at that hand shrug. It's not a good time to be investing in Techspring.
GILLIAN: We need to talk about Sergeant Scott.
CAL [taking TAFT's criminal record]: This is classified. How'd you get it?
GILLIAN: The same way you would have. Given the correlation between arson and rape . . .
CAL: Well, it's interesting, but it's irrelevant, I'm afraid. Turns out Lake's platoon mates had a rather a lot to say.
TORRES: Heidi said they wouldn't talk about the rape.
CAL: Well, I didn't bring them in to hear them talk. I brought them in to watch them listen.
[On CAL's wall, the video is displayed of the two female soldiers from earlier turning the interrogation tape on]
GILLIAN: They turned the video back on, huh?
CAL: Yep. It's human nature. They always flip the switch. Hey, natural. What do you see?
TORRES: Nothing. I don't see anything.
CAL: Exactly.
TORRES: I don't understand.
CAL: Well, look. The absence of emotion is just as important as the presence of emotion. Now, you, you need to learn that.
GILLIAN: When women listen to a rape victim they believe,they reflect certain emotions. They blush, avert their eyes, hunch their shoulders. These women exhibit none of that. They're not showing any reflectors.
TORRES: So they don't believe it. That doesn't prove anything.
GILLIAN: Lake lived with those women for three years and neither one of them is reacting. They know this rape never happened.
[CUT to interrogation room, where CAL is speaking to SHEILA LAKE]
CAL: You made a false accusation against your sergeant. That's a crime. And then there's the other women in your platoon. You know, we have MPs standing by. If your friends helped you plan this, they're as guilty as you are, right? They know you're lying, don't they?
[SHEILA looks away silently and does another mouth shrug]
CAL: Thought so. [To TORRES] Have the MPs arrest her platoon mates. They're all in on it.
SHEILA: No! Look, they had noth . . . They had nothing to do with it. It was my idea.
CAL: Sergeant Scott didn't rape you?
SHEILA: No. He didn't.
MILITARY MAN: Take Specialist Lake into custody.
TORRES: How could you do this? You know how hard it is for women in the military. The army has just started to take these claims seriously. There are victims out there who need help. A lot of them. You should be ashamed of yourself.
SHEILA: Ashamed? I may have lied, but I was doing the right thing. Okay? I was trying to protect my platoon. I was doing the right thing. I was doing the right thing!
[CUT to the Lightman Group building, where LOKER is speaking to and group of women in a room via speaker]
LOKER: Ladies, if you could, uh, wait in there, I will be taking you in one at a time.
TORRES [entering]: Playing out your favorite fantasies, Loker?
LOKER: Studying the psychological influence of uniforms on credibility. Lightman wanted to see how they affect people's ability to spot lies.
TORRES: Women in uniforms?
LOKER [smiling]: I do love my work. How's it going with Lightman?
TORRES: Uh, he's not my biggest fan.
LOKER: Well, that's just 'cause you're uneducated.
TORRES: Excuse me?
LOKER: Well, you're a natural. The few naturals Lightman's come across have one thing in common. No college degree. You haven't been asked to focus on verbal skills, so you focus on body language.
TORRES: You're saying I can't learn the science.
LOKER: I'm saying you didn't have to. That's got to be irritating for a guy who's spent two decades trying to see what you were born seeing.
TORRES: Thanks. That's very un-Loker of you.
LOKER: I've never been with a Latina woman.
TORRES: Don't push it.
[CUT to CAL, entering GILLIAN's office]
CAL: How's it going with the ballplayer?
GILLIAN [eating]: Ballplayers play baseball.
CAL: Yeah.
GILLIAN: Chicken dumpling?
CAL: Oh, no. Never eat meat I can't see.
[GILLIAN does to take a bite, but CAL stops her]
CAL: No. Really. No. You have no idea what's in there.
[GILLIAN puts the food aside and points at her computer screen]
GILLIAN: Take a look at this. Earl White just took state for the third time. The kid's on the list of every NBA scout in the country, but when asked about playing pro ball . . .
[A video of EARL WHITE begins playing without sound]
CAL: Chin thrust. He's angry.
GILLIAN: Very. Earl White should be on top of the world. Why is he secretly angry?
CAL: I spot the liars. You're the feelings department. Follow me. [GILLIAN stands] I got something for you. Okay, would you lie to right a wrong?
GILLIAN: Depends. Why?
[CAL opens a door and they enter another room]
CAL: Lake lied, but then said she was protecting her platoon.
SHEILA [flashback]: I'm doing the right thing.
CAL: She said it with conviction, and with no deception leakage.
GILLIAN: How does accusing your commander of rape protect the platoon?
CAL: That's what I asked myself. [A large screen has the three female soldiers from earlier] Okay, these are the individual interviews with her platoon mates. Watch what happens when they discuss Sergeant Scott.
SOLDIER #1 [on screen]: Sergeant Scott is a strong leader.
SOLDIER #2 [on screen]: I'm glad Sergeant Scott's in command.
GILLIAN: Concealed disgust.
CAL: Yep. Looks the same every time.
GILLIAN: They know he didn't rape Sheila Lake, but they feel intense disgust for him.
CAL: Made me think. What if Sheila Lake didn't lie about everything? What if she lied about the victim, but not the crime?
GILLIAN: So, you think Sergeant Scott raped someone else in the platoon?
CAL: The harassment report, arson conviction--both consistent with the profile of a rapist, right? What if the real victim is too scared to come forward?
GILLIAN: So Lake accuses Sergeant Scott to right a past wrong, and to protect the other women in the platoon. Do you think Scott raped one of them?
CAL: No. None of them is exhibiting any fear.
GILLIAN: It could have been someone who was transferred, or killed in combat.
TORRES [entering]: Hey, I thought we were done with this case.
GILLIAN: No. It's possible Sergeant Scott raped someone who used to be in the platoon.
CAL: Ah, your buccinator's playing up again.
TORRES: It's not . . . I didn't say . . .
CAL: Oh, look. Now you're embarrassed. Well, you have every reason to be. You did get it wrong, didn't you? I mean, Sergeant Scott didn't rape Sheila Lake.
GILLIAN: Cal . . .
CAL: What? She's the one making snide remarks. Look at her face.
TORRES: How do people work here?
CAL: Sergeant Scott redeploys within 24 hours. I want you to get a hold of military personnel. I want the historic roster for the platoon right away.
TORRES [leaving]: Got it.
[GILLIAN looks at CAL]
CAL: What?
[GILLIAN shakes her head and walks away]
CAL: Oh, what, now you're starting on me? Don't say something you'll regret. And I saw that.
[CUT to GILLIAN walking up to a food stand outside, where a young woman is working behind the counter]
GILLIAN: Can I have a muffin?
[LOKER walks up, showing up out of nowhere]
LOKER: Ah, no. No, no, no, you don't want the muffins here. They are terrible. They taste like sofa cushions covered with the moldy nuts your grandmother used to keep in that old jar on her . . .
GILLIAN: Okay, okay. Between you and Lightman, a girl could starve. Do you have something for me?
LOKER: Yeah, um . . . I've been watching a tape of Earl trying to understand what's behind the anger. Uh, nothing so far, but I did come up with this expression.
[LOKER flips through a few photos of EARL WHITE, each one showing him displaying the same, scrunched up expression]
LOKER: I've been throughthe facial coding book, and there's elementsof AU-four and AU-five. But it's not anger.
GILLIAN: No, it's not. Can we pull up full stats for Earl over the year?
LOKER: Sure. What emotion is it?
GILLIAN: It's not an emotion.
[CUT to CAL in his office, the television playing in the background]
MAN ON TV: And earlier, CEO Robert Rosiello tried to calm investors after Techspring shares plummeted in the wake of a subpar Q1 earnings report.
[TORRES enters his office with a file]
CEO ROBERT [on TV]: This is entirely unexpected. I'm sure we'll rebound in the second quarter.
CAL: You know, for a CEO, this guy is a terrible liar. You talk to personnel at Fort Meade?
TORRES: None of the women in the 23rd died in combat, but there's one who went awol. Rebecca Metz was on the 23rd's roster in Afghanistan. Went awol four months ago, shortly after her transfer request was denied.
CAL: She tried to transfer out of her platoon?
TORRES: That's not all. Here's a copy of the anonymous harassment report on Sergeant Scott. Handwriting's the same.
CAL: They have any idea where she is?
TORRES: No, but the number of awol soldiers has doubled since we invaded Iraq. I doubt they got the manpower to play that much hide-and-seek.
CAL: Well, she's got relatives in Baltimore, right?
TORRES: Yeah.
CAL: Hate to miss a family reunion.
[CUT to CAL and TORRES knocking on the door of a residential home]
OLD MAN: Hello? What can I do for you?
CAL: We're looking for your granddaughter, Rebecca Metz?
OLD MAN: She's not here.
CAL: Sounds good. [Taking his cane] You mind if I borrow this?
OLD MAN: What? Where are you going?
[CAL goes into the kitchen at the bottom of a staircase and throws some magazine to the ground.]
CAL [throwing cane on ground]: Help! Help!
[REBECCA METZ runs down the staircase]
REBECCA: Grandpa? Grand . . .
[She stops when she sees CAL]
CAL: Help.
[CUT to CAL and TORRES speaking to REBECCA in the living room]
TORRES: Sheila admitted she was lying, but she said she was trying to protect the platoon.
REBECCA [nervous]: I don't know what this has to do with me.
CAL: Sheila didn't make everything up. We know why you went awol.
TORRES: We're not here for the army. We just want to know what happened.
REBECCA: I, uh . . . never had a problem with Sergeant Scott in the states. He wasn't loud or gross like the other guys. But . . . but on our first day in Afghanistan, after curfew, he came in my tent.
CAL: He raped you?
REBECCA: The sergeant's in charge. He's supposed to have your back. My job is to say yes. Yes, sir.
TORRES: It happened more than once?
REBECCA: Almost every night over there for months. I couldn't take it anymore. When I got back, I just . . .
TORRES: You ran.
CAL: You need to come with us. Your platoon redeploys tomorrow. You can't let the army send those women back to Afghanistan with Sergeant Scott.
REBECCA: I can't go back.
TORRES: Well, what about Sheila? She lied for you.
REBECCA: I can't.
TORRES: Rebecca . . .
REBECCA: No! I . . .
CAL: Okay. Okay then. Sorry to barge in.
TORRES: What are you doing?
CAL: I'm going back to the base.
TORRES: But . . .
CAL [opening the front door]: Okay.
[CAL points to REBECCA and officers and soldiers come in]
TORRES: How did . . . Did they follow us here?
CAL: Oh, no. I called them.
[CUT to REBECCA in a military jail cell. CAL and TORRES are coming to speak to her]
REBECCA: Leave me alone.
TORRES: Rebecca . . .
REBECCA: I know you called the MPs.
CAL: Well, I had hoped you'd talk, but, yeah, I had them standing by.
TORRES: Rebecca, if you explain to us . . .
REBECCA: Don't you get it? Do you have any idea what it's like to be a woman in the military? You're either a bitch or a whore. And they're just waiting for you to fail, to admit you can't hack it.
CAL: Well, then, go to jail. That'll show 'em. Be all you can be.
TORRES: You're scared. You are still scared of Sergeant Scott.
REBECCA: I'm not afraid of him.
CAL: You're afraid of something.
REBECCA: I'm afraid they won't believe me.
CAL: It doesn't matter if they believe you. [leaving] They'll believe me.
[CUT to EARL WHITE sitting on a table outside, talking to a group of young people. GILLIAN and LOKER approach him, holding a basketball]
GILLIAN: Hey, Earl. Thanks for taking the time. By the way, I'm a big fan. [offering the ball] Would you mind?
EARL: Oh, no problem.
GILLIAN: Bet this will be worth a lot some day.
EARL: Oh, yeah. Autographs, shoes, bobble heads. Pro ball is big business.
GILLIAN [to LOKER]: See the chin thrust?
EARL: What?
LOKER: You thrust your chin out. That's a sign of anger.
GILLIAN: You do it whenever you talk about your pro career. I think it's because you're angry you're not gonna have one.
LOKER: Hey, Earl, catch.
[LOKER throws the ball and EARL catches it, wincing]
LOKER: We've seen that before, too. You make that face almost every time you catch a pass these days.
EARL: It's intensity.
GILLIAN: No, actually, it's pain. Doctors call it the primal face of pain. It's universal. So what is it, Earl? Carpal tunnel? Arthritis?
EARL: Look, you know how many hours I've spent shooting free throws? I've busted my ass on the court since I was nine. I'm raising my brother, trying to pay the rent--a big pro contract was gonna change all that. But you know who drafts
someone with erosive arthritis? Nobody.
GILLIAN: So you took the bribe.
EARL: Look, I could've gone pro out of high school, but the athletic association needs its big tournament, so I gotta spend my last good year playing college ball for nothing. Look, Mr. Taft's check was the only payday I was gonna get. Are you telling me you wouldn't have taken that money?
[CUT to Fort Meade.]
MILITARY MAN: I told the post commander this matter was settled. Sergeant Scott is vital to our efforts. He's supposed to be on a plane at 0100 hours.
CAL: I guess if the army's going to jeopardize the safety of women, it should be done on time, right?
MILITARY MAN: Private Metz was awol for five months. You're sure her allegation has merit?
CAL: I'm telling you she's not lying.
[They walk into some barracks, where Sergeant Scott is speaking to a military LAWYER]
MILITARY MAN: Sergeant Scott. I'm convening an article 32 court-martial hearing next week. Unpack your gear, son.
LAWYER: Major Harris, my client would like to avoid any unnecessary delay.
MILITARY MAN: He wants to plead out?
SCOTT: Our mission on the Pakistani border is critical to our safety here at home and I have a responsibility to my platoon. So, yes, I'm ready to plead guilty to fraternization.
TORRES: Fraternization?
LAWYER: Sergeant Scott had a consensual relationship with Private Metz.
SCOTT: Becky was my girlfriend, sir.
LAWYER [pulls out photo]: This photo was taken during the period when my client was allegedly raping Private Metz.
[In the photo, Sergeant Scott and Rebecca Metz are smiling with their arms around each other]
MILITARY MAN: Do you have others like this?
LAWYER: We have several, Major.
MILITARY MAN [to CAL]: You still want to tell me she's not lying?
[CUT to the Lightman Group building, where CAL and TORRES are looking at the photograph on a screen]
CAL: Isolate Rebecca Metz.
TORRES: There's something not right about her smile. She doesn't look happy.
[GILLIAN enters and looks, too]
CAL: Push in on her eyes. [TORRES presses some buttons] Brows up, pulled together.
GILLIAN: She's scared.
CAL [turning]: Hi. Yeah, it's a masking smile. She's smiling but her eyes say she's afraid. Very afraid.
GILLIAN: Will you pull up the masking smiles?
TORRES: Yeah.
[A few photos of politicians and celebrities pop up on screen]
GILLIAN: Miss South Carolina can't show fear to the judges; Sarah Palin has the same problem with the press. Rebecca Metz with her platoon leader.
TORRES: Right, she doesn't want to be involved with Sergeant Scott, but he's her commander, she's got to do what he says.
CAL [taking off his glasses]: He wants sex, right? She feels forced to give it to him. She can't say no. It's non consensual. It's rape.
GILLIAN: Army psychologists have reported several recent cases like this. They're calling it "command rape." It's comparable to sexual harassment, but much more extreme.
TORRES: When your boss makes advances, you're scared of losing your job. But if it's your platoon leader,
you're scared of losing your life.
CAL: Sergeant Scott redeploys tonight, we have to get back to Fort Meade.
[CUT to Fort Meade. CAL and TORRES are speaking to REBECCA in her cell]
REBECCA: They won't believe it was rape. Sergeant Scott never raised a hand.
CAL: It doesn't matter that he didn't attack you physically. You were coerced.
REBECCA: No one's going to see it that way. I never actually said no.
TORRES: He was responsible for your safety. You had to feel threatened.
REBECCA: I was terrified. Everyone knew if you crossed him, he'd make you drive lead.
TORRES: Drive lead?
REBECCA: Lead truck in the convoy. It's the most vulnerable to a roadside bomb. I had a friend die that way. I knew from the first time he came into my tent that if I said no, I'd be driving lead for a month.
TORRES: So you just took it. You never said no?
CAL: Well, that's what you'll tell Major Harris.
REBECCA: He'll never believe me.
CAL: Sure he will. We'll put you on a polygraph. They love them over there.
REBECCA: He'll never say it that way. Sergeant Scott never made me drive lead and he'll never admit he would have.
TORRES: She's right. We still don't have any proof that he was tying her safety to sex.
REBECCA: The truth isn't good enough for these people.
CAL: Who said anything about the truth?
[CUT to REBECCA hooked up to a polygraph machine]
MAN: Is your name Rebecca Metz?
REBECCA: Yes.
MAN: And are you a Private First Class with the 23rd mountain division?
REBECCA: Yes.
MAN: Did you have a relationship with Staff Sergeant Russell Scott?
REBECCA: No.
MAN: Private Metz, let me rephrase. Were you physically involved with Staff Sergeant Scott when you serving in Afghanistan?
REBECCA: Yes. He forced me to have sex with him.
SCOTT: We had a relationship!
MAN: He ordered you to have sex with him?
REBECCA: No. But he was my commanding officer, I didn't have a choice.
MAN: Did you ever refuse to have sex with Sergeant Scott?
REBECCA: Yes, once. He forced me to drive lead convoy for a week.
SCOTT: That's a lie!
MILITARY MAN: If she's lying, it graphs above the red bar here?
CAL: That's right. Machine says it's true.
SCOTT: Well, it's not true!
CAL: The polygraph says it is.
SCOTT: I don't care what the machine says. She's making it up. I never made her drive lead!
CAL: You never made her drive lead?
SCOTT: No!
CAL: I thought that duty rotates. You never made her drive lead?
SCOTT: I-I never made her drive lead! It's a lie!
LAWYER: Sergeant, you don't have to respond.
CAL: So, as long she was in a relationship with you, she never had to drive lead. Is that right?
LAWYER: Sergeant Scott . . .
CAL: Is that right, Sergeant Scott?
LAWYER: Sergeant Scott, don't . . .
CAL [raising his voice]: Is that right, Sergeant Scott?
LAWYER: You don't have to respond.
SCOTT: Yeah! Yeah, that's right. [Everyone is silent] What? What?
CAL: Well, her safety was in your charge. You traded her safety for sex.
LAWYER: Major Harris, my client doesn't understand . . .
MILITARY MAN: Yes, he does. What he did wasn't fraternization. It was rape. Arrest him under article 120.
[Two soldiers begin taking him away]
SCOTT: You don't know what the hell you're talking about. I'm a decorated soldier! I didn't do anything wrong!
CAL: Yeah, it sounds good.
[Outside, REBECCA is loading her things into a jeep. TORRES fills out some paperwork while CAL looks around. REBECCA drives by SHEILA LAKE, in handcuffs. REBECCA salutes her and SHEILA nods.]
[CUT to EARL WHITE shooting baskets at night on an empty, outdoor court. GILLIAN walks up]
EARL: What do you want, huh? I'm already suspended, they're taking away my scholarship, you hung me out.
GILLIAN: You're the one who took the bribe. Look, the system's broken, Earl.
EARL: And what am I supposed to do, huh? How am I supposed to take care of my brother?
GILLIAN: I heard you did pretty well on your econ midterm.
EARL: So?
GILLIAN: You want a degree. So I convinced Dr. Lightman to put our fee into a trust. Probably not enough for four years at Carver, but it'll get you through Maryland.
EARL: What if I don't want your money?
GILLIAN: Then throw it away. It's your call.
[CUT to CAL's office. TORRES is looking at the photos on CAL's wall]
TORRES: How did she do it? We both know Metz was lying about driving lead convoy. How did she beat the polygraph?
[CAL walks by and hands her a bottle]
TORRES: Valium?
CAL: Yeah. Takes the edge off. Mutes the emotional response.
TORRES: You . . . you drugged her so she could lie?
CAL: Never let the facts get in the way of the truth. You know, I wanted to . . .
TORRES: Yeah, I know. Thanks.
CAL: For what?
TORRES: You had a slight gratitude smile. What, you're surprised? Really? You know, just because I don't know your
science doesn't mean I don't know things.
CAL: You know, when you don't know the science, you don't see the whole picture. People can get hurt.
TORRES: What was that? What happened?
CAL: What?
TORRES: Shame. When you said people get hurt, you showed shame.
CAL: I don't know what you're talking about.
TORRES: You're lying.
CAL: Get used to it.
[CAL grabs the bottle, puts it in his pocket and walks away]
LOKER: Dr. Lightman, the guys from Homeland Security are here. They want your assessment of the new hand-held polygraph.
CAL: I'll be right there.
[CAL opens the box as the man in the second room begins asking the TEST SUBJECT easy control questions]
MAN: Do you work at the department of homeland security?
TEST SUBJECT: Yes.
[CAL removes a very Jurassic Park looking egg carefully from the box. He carries it past Loker who looks confused, but used to this type of thing]
LOKER: Yeah...
[CUT to the MAN asking the TEST SUBJECT questions]
MAN: Do you have black hair?
TEST SUBJECT: Yes.
WHITMORE: See, the hand-held measures cardio and galvanic skin response. It's the only polygraph ever developed with this kind of portability.
CAL [entering with the egg]: Well, not quite.
GILLIAN: Cal, you know secretary Miller from homeland security. [CAL shakes his hand] And this is Tom Whitmore, the new TSA deputy.
[CAL hands WHITMORE the egg]
WHITMORE: Uh, what the hell is this?
CAL: It's a lie detector. West-Africans used them first. When you're on trial, you hold the egg in your hands and if it broke it's a sign of anxiety. You were found guilty.
WHITMORE [laughing]: Well, I see our hand-held is a little more advanced.
CAL: Well, unfortunately both devices suffer from the same problem.
[CAL picks up a phone]
CAL [on phone]: Uh, Miss [insert name here*], would you mind?
[In the room, the MAN and TEST SUBJECT turn around as BEAUTIFUL WOMAN enters the room. She smiles and takes the polygraph from the MAN]
BEAUTIFUL WOMAN: May I?
CAL: Could you ask the control questions again please?
WHITMORE: What are you doing?
[CAL points to the monitor recording the test]
BEAUTIFUL WOMAN: Hi, do you work at the department of homeland security?
TEST SUBJECT [nervous]: Uh, yes.
[The results show he is lying, though he is not]
CAL [indicating results]: Uh-oh.
BEAUTIFUL WOMAN: Do you have black hair?
TEST SUBJECT: Yes.
[False results show again]
CAL: Whoops. The problem with all polygraph tests is false positives.
GILLIAN: Innocent people can fail if they feel an increase in any emotion--anger, fear, sexual arousal. Not just guilt. Your polygraph is no better than the egg at telling us which emotion it's responding to.
WHITMORE [angry]: No...
[Suddenly, the egg breaks in WHITMORE's hands and green slime pours out. CAL is obviously amused and GILLIAN tries to hide her smile]
CAL: Oh! I've been wanting to try that for years. You see, you would have been found guilty, but you were just angry. You should be spending your money studying the face.
[CAL presses a button on the control panel and the screen shows an image of a face, with all the facial muscles revealed and a few highlighted in red]
CAL: 43 muscles combine to produce a possibility of 10,000 expressions. Now, if you learn them all you don't need a polygraph.
MILLER [to WHITMORE]: How much did we spend on this damn project anyway?
WHITMORE: Uh, not much. I'm sure we could recoup most of our costs.
[WHITMORE crosses his arms and steps back as he speaks]
CAL: Now, that was lovely.
MILLER: What?
CAL: Gestural retreat.
MILLER: What's that?
CAL: He stepped backwards. Means he doesn't believe a word he just said. He's lying.
[CUT to video of NIXON speaking]
NIXON: I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got.
[NIXON takes a a step back and crosses his arms. He's lying]
[CUT to opening credits]
[At the Lightman Group building, Cal is using a micro-expression training program. The woman's face on screen flashes an emotion for a fraction of a second and Cal picks which emotion it is. He repeats this with various micro-expressions. GILLIAN comes in behind him]
CAL: What do you see?
GILLIAN: I see a skeptical, emotionally-distant scientist obsessing over facial twitches. Why are you doing micro-expression training?
CAL: Well, I've gotta start at triple speed. You know when you try and hide your emotions, they leak out at a fifth of a second? Well, this is testing me at a fifteenth of a second.
GILLIAN: Hmm, impressive.
[CAL turns to face her and GILLIAN smiles]
GILLIAN: You know who else is impressive on that thing?
CAL: Is this another attempt to get me to take Miss Torres under my wing?
GILLIAN: You need somebody to back you on the military case.
CAL: Well, I've got you for that.
GILLIAN: I'll be court side with Earl White. He's a freshman shooting guard. Hottest NBA prospect in the country. The College Athletic Association wants us to find out if he took a bribe to play for GWCU.
CAL: Well, we've got a meeting at Fort Meet in half an hour.
GILLIAN: Look, I'll . . . I'll met you there later, okay? But let's get Torres involved. She's a natural. She's got phenomenal instincts.
CAL: Doesn't mean she knows the science.
[TORRES pops through the door]
TORRES [to CAL]: Dr. Foster said you wanted to see me?
[CAL looks at GILLIAN, who just smiles back]
CAL [to TORRES]: What do you see?
TORRES: Anger.
[CAL hits another button on the screen, another emotion flashes]
TORRES: Fear.
[And another . . .]
TORRES: Sadness.
[CAL seems mildly impressed. She has gotten every one correct. GILLIAN looks like she wants to say "I told you so"]
CAL [to TORRES]: Let's go.
[CUT to a military base where soldiers are walking around in uniform and practicing at a shooting range.
MILITARY MAN: Specialist Sheila Lake has served with the 23rd mountain division for three years, two of those in Afghanistan.
[CAL and TORRES are in an open jeep with the MILITARY MAN shouting over the sound of the vehicle]
MILITARY MAN: Lake is asserting that she was raped by her platoon leader, Staff Sergeant Russell Scott. We'd like you to find out if the allegation's true.
[A SOLDIER approaches a woman, SHEILA, at the shooting range]
SOLDIER: Lake! Lake! Grab your gear and report to the staff judge advocate.
[Back in the jeep, TORRES closes a file on Russell Scott]
TORRES: Is Sergeant Scott being court-martialed?
MILITARY MAN: We're not there yet. [Exiting the jeep] Sergeant Scott's leadership is crucial to the tribal intelligence missions we're running on the Pakistani border. We start a court-martial proceeding, he'll be off the line for six months.
CAL: Then, I'm afraid we can't help you.
MILITARY MAN: Excuse me?
CAL: Hire us when you want the truth. Why waste taxpayers' money if that's not what you're after?
MILITARY MAN: Dr. Lightman, my first concern is the safety of every woman in that platoon. That's why we're investigating. But Sergeant Scott passed a polygraph.
CAL: Yeah, well, I bet his grandmother didn't think he did it, either. That's equally reliable.
MILITARY MAN: Look, Sergeant Scott is set to redeploy in three days. He's the only commander who can recognize hostiles on that border. Without him,the mission's more dangerous for every soldier in the 23rd. I certainly can't have a rapist in charge of the females in that platoon, but if I'm going to pull Sergeant Scott off the line, I need to know this
woman is telling the truth.
[CUT to a young man playing basketball in a stadium gym. His jersey says GWCU on it.]
GILLIAN: Six-five, moves like he's five-one. Could dunk at twelve, won the state championship at 14. National high school player of the year the last three years.
[GILLIAN and LOKER are standing on some stairs, watching the players dunk and shoot]
LOKER: I would not have pegged you for a hoops geek.
GILLIAN: You know the fifth-grade boy with the vintage Dr. J poster and the instant recall of his career stats? I was that boy.
[A man, JEREMY LEVINE, approaches and offers his hand]
JEREMY LEVINE: Dr. Foster? I'm Jeremy Levine with the athletic association. Thanks for coming down.
GILLIAN: Who doesn't enjoy a day watching Earl White do his thing?
JEREMY LEVINE [pointing to a poster of an older man on the wall]: Howard Taft certainly does. He's the alumni booster who allegedly paid Earl $50,000 to come and play for Carver. We'd like to investigate this quietly. Earl's a good kid. He
lost his mom last year. He's raising his brother on his own.
LOKER: Plus, he's gonna go pro this spring, and you don't want any more bad press for the "one and done" rule.
JEREMY LEVINE: Making kids go to college for a year before they turn pro forces them to take high school more seriously.
LOKER [dryly]: It also forces young superstars to play a year of college ball, jacking up ratings and revenues.
GILLIAN: Loker here has a hard time with half-truths.
[The practice appears to be finished, and Earl White comes over to GILLIAN, LOKER and JEREMY. His little brother is with him.]
JEREMY LEVINE: Earl white, Dr. Gillian Foster and her associate, Eli Loker.
EARL: You folks are the lie guys, right?
GILLIAN [smiling]: More the truth guys, but it depends on the case. Do you have some time to chat?
EARL: Uh, you know, I have to take my little brother home, and I got an econ midterm tomorrow. Need to get with the books, you know? But hit my cell later. Anything I can do to clear my name.
GILLIAN: Appreciate it.
[Earl's brother takes the ball and dribbles away. Earl follows him]
JEREMY LEVINE: Any quick reads?
LOKER: His speech was hurried, and he brought that basketball to his chest, creating a barrier between us. Those are both signs of anxiety.
GILLIAN: Well, that's something any college athlete might feel when he's been accused of taking a bribe. We're not magicians. We're scientists. We'll need to talk to Earl and the booster to spot any conclusive signs of lying.
[CUT to CAL and TORRES questioning SHEILA LAKE]
SHEILA: I'm not naive, okay? When you sign up to be one of four women in a platoon of 30 guys, guys who aren't gonna see another woman for six months, well . . . like they say in girl scouts, "Be prepared."
TORRES: So, you were harassed?
SHEILA: Porn in the latrines . . . Jody calls.
TORRES: Jody calls?
SHEILA [chanting/singing]: "I taught that bitch her left then right. Nailed her ass then left last night."
TORRES [quietly]: Got it.
SHEILA: Yeah.
TORRES: Did Staff Sergeant Scott participate in any of this?
SHEILA: He didn't make jokes or anything, but . . . oh, his hands were everywhere. He liked to walk in on us while we were changing, if we were in the showers.
[TORRES looks at CAL, but he is silently watching SHEILA]
TORRES: Tell us about the attack.
SHEILA: I was, uh . . . I was on my way back from a workout. Ran into him behind the mess. And he ordered me to strip.
[CLOSE UP of SHEILA's mouth as she grimaces. A tear rolls down her cheek.]
SHEILA: He grabbed me, he pinned me down and he assaulted me. I was sexually assaulted.
[CAL gets up a leaves without saying a word. TORRES catches up with him outside the room]
TORRES: Hey, what's up with the mime act?
CAL: You ask the questions, I observe.
GILLIAN [entering]: Dr. Lightman finds asking questions distracting. He prefers to watch.
CAL [pouring coffee]: You finish the psych profile on the guy she's accused?
[GILLIAN hands CAL some papers and he grabs them on his way to the other side of the room]
GILLIAN: Nice to see you, too.
TORRES: What's his problem?
GILLIAN: "Friendly fire." "Collateral damage." You can start with the lies in the language.
[Staff Sergeant RUSSELL SCOTT sits down in the questioning room]
TORRES: Bet they're not gonna end there.
[SCOTT is being interrogated and filmed]
SCOTT: Last Tuesday? I went to dinner. I had a few drinks at the NCO club. I stopped by the PX, and then
headed back to the barracks.
[TORRES is sitting across from SCOTT. GILLIAN and CAL are standing on the wall]
TORRES: Tell me again--start with drinks.
SCOTT: Drinks, PX, barracks. Toothpaste and deodorant. I have the receipt.
TORRES: You weren't anywhere near the mess hall?
SCOTT [annoyed]: I just said I wasn't.
TORRES: And you're telling me you didn't attack Specialist Lake?
SCOTT: That's exactly what I'm saying, and while we're on the subject . . .
CAL [coming behind SCOTT]: Okay. That's good. Thanks for your time.
[CAL slaps his shoulder and opens heads to the door with him. CAL touches his arm]
CAL: Whoa, quite a bicep you have there. You must really love the weight room, huh?
[TORRES gets an indescribable look of "What the hell?" and GILLIAN just looks amused]
CAL: I don't normally mix business with pleasure, but . . . I was wondering if you
fancy grabbing a drink later or . . .
SCOTT: Uh, I'm not gay and isn't this a little inappropriate?
CAL: Absolutely. Sorry.
SCOTT: Right . . . excuse me.
TORRES: What the hell was that?
CAL: I love a man in uniform, you know?
GILLIAN: The rape was unplanned, one time, with no additional violence. That suggests a power assertive rapist,
somebody who is obsessed with masculinity, who needs others to see him as a man.
CAL: If Sergeant Scott fit the profile, he would have reacted to my overture with one emotion-- disgust.
TORRES: There was no disgust, just surprise.
CAL: Correct. Eyebrows up, jaw down.
TORRES: Okay, but . . . the guy was totally amped up.
CAL: Yeah, but he showed no deception leakage, right? There's no sign of lying.
TORRES: He looked like he wanted to throw me across the room.
GILLIAN: A man charged with rape is even more likely to be angry if he's innocent.
TORRES: Well, they can't both be telling the truth.
CAL: They're not. Sheila Lake made two mouth shrugs when she was describing the rape. That's a classic gestural slip. It means she has no confidence in her words. The woman was lying.
[CUT to various pictures of politicians and celebrities making the same mouth shrug. Then we see Sheila Lake on a screen, the recording from her interrogation.]
SHEILA [on camera]: I was sexually assaulted.
[The screen pauses. The video is being played at the Lightman Group building, with CAL, GILLIAN and TORRES watching.]
TORRES: You really think a woman would lie about rape?
CAL: Unpleasant truths, pleasant truths, human mortality, a moustache on a woman--three things we'd all prefer to ignore.
GILLIAN: FBI crime reports have found that eight percent of rape allegations are false.
TORRES: Okay, but the army vets I worked with at TSA said that sexual assault was a big problem.
CAL: It doesn't explain the gestural slip.
GILLIAN: Lake's also not exhibiting any of the emotions a rape victim typically displays when recounting her story.
CAL: No shame . . . no fear. [He points at the screen]We should be seeing a lot of activity in the forehead, but there isn't any.
TORRES: Maybe she's got post-traumatic stress.
GILLIAN: Emotional numbing might explain her inability to express her feelings.
CAL: But not the mouth shrug.
TORRES: Look, I'm telling you, there's something off about Sergeant Scott.
[Everyone begins leaving the room.]
CAL: You know, I once had actors play out the testimony from a rape case in front of 30 federal judges. And you know the biggest predictor of whether they believed the man or the woman? The gender of the judge.
TORRES [angry]: You think I'm saying he's guilty 'cause I'm a woman?
CAL: Me, Darwin, and 2,000 years of evolutionary biology.
GILLIAN: Well, I think what Dr. Lightman is trying to say is that it's important not to let what you bring in the room affect what you see in the room.
HEIDI: Dr. Lightman?
CAL: What is it?
HEIDI [showing them the computer screen]: Harassment report. The platoon's Equal Opportunity rep just sent it over. Looks like it was filed anonymously last fall.
GILLIAN: It alleges Sergeant Scott surprised women in the showers and entered their barracks unannounced.
TORRES: Hmm, backs up Lake's story.
[The corner of TORRES' mouth lifts into a smirk]
CAL: You know, generally it's not a good idea to call your boss an idiot.
TORRES: I didn't say you were an idi . . .
CAL [interrupting]: But your buccinator did.
TORRES: That's not . . .
CAL: Oh, that's a pretty impressive combination of contempt and disgust.
TORRES: I'm . . . I'm S . . . I. . .
CAL: Apology accepted.
[CAL leaves and TORRES looks confused and angry]
GILLIAN: Head back to Fort Meade and check into the personnel files of the woman and the Sergeant. [Encouragingly touches TORRES' shoulder] And hang in there.
[CUT to CAL and GILLIAN walking outside around a fountain. There are people, benches and food stands]
GILLIAN: You should consider going a little easier on Torres.
CAL: Why? She's all false positives. See, that's the trouble with naturals. They don't see what's missing. They're all instinct and no science.
[CAL and GILLIAN are in line at a food stand. They approach the front, where a SWEATY MAN is serving food]
CAL: I'll have a falafel sandwich, please.
GILLIAN: And an Italian ice. Grape.
[CAL looks on skeptically as the man prepares their food]
CAL: You wash your hands today?
SWEATY MAN: Uh, yeah, of course.
[SWEATY MAN rubs the back of his neck]
CAL: Do you have any kind of pain in your neck?
SWEATY MAN: Uh, no. Why?
CAL: People touch it when they lie. It's a classic manipulator. You been to them bathroom today?
GILLIAN: Cal.
SWEATY MAN: Uh, no.
[SWEATY MAN almost rubs his neck again, but catches himself]
CAL: Oh, great. [raising his voice] Anybody else want a side of feces? Anybody? Side of feces?
[CUT to a large, elegant dining room, with athletic trophies and jerseys displayed on the walls.]
LOKER: If an alum took me here, I would want to play hoops for Carver.
GILLIAN: I bet it made an impression on Earl White.
LOKER: Why is it guys named White are always black and guys named Black are always white?
GILLIAN [smiling]: Am I going to be sorry you're here?
LOKER: Barry White, Jack Black.
GILLIAN: Does your radical honesty pledge mean you have to say everything you think?
LOKER: It's the only way to be truly honest.
GILLIAN: Let's turn it off while we're working, shall we? Now, what do we know about the booster?
LOKER: Uh, Howard Taft, forty-five, made his money on internet job boards, led the funding campaign
for Carver's new athletic center. Apparently, he likes giving back.
GILLIAN [shaking TAFT's hand]: Mr. Taft, thanks for agreeing to talk with us.
TAFT: Always a pleasure to talk Carver basketball, Dr. Foster.
LOKER: [shaking hands]: Oh, championship ring. Sweet. Must have cost a fortune online.
TAFT: Actually, I, uh, I earned it riding the pine for the '86 team.
[LOKER takes out a small electrical device and sets up a small microphone]
TAFT: What's that?
LOKER: It's a, uh, voice stress analyzer. It measures pitch and gauges anxiety.
GILLIAN: We find it's less about what you say than how you say it. Now, tell us about your relationship with Earl White.
[CUT back to The Lightman Group, where CAL is watching the recorded tape of SHEILA LAKE again. Three uniformed, female soldiers enter the room]
SHEILA [on camera]: He ordered me to strip. He grabbed me . . .
HEIDI: Oh, sorry. These are Specialist Lake's platoon mates.
CAL: Thanks for coming in. [indicating one soldier] I want to conduct individual interviews, so if you could come with me, you two stay here. Thanks, Heidi.
[The two remaining soldiers look around for a moment before one of them presses the play button on the video]
SHEILA [on camera]: Pinned me down . . . and he assaulted me. I was sexually assaulted.
[The soldiers look at each other, and then CLOSE UP on a steady red light watching them]
[CUT to LOKER and GILLIAN in an analysis room at the Lightman Group building]
GILLIAN: You finish the vocal stress analysis on Taft?
LOKER: Yeah. Check it out.
LOKER [on tape]: Oh, championship ring. Sweet.Must have cost a fortune online.
[LOKER is eating a snack and offers it to GILLIAN. When she looked inside, it is empty. She crumples it up]
TAFT [on tape]: Actually, I earned it riding the pine for the '86 team.
LOKER: Typical vocal stress on a typical question. That's Taft's vocal stress baseline.
GILLIAN: And given how irritating most people find you . . .
LOKER: It's a high tolerance baseline. He'd have to be extremely anxious for his pitch to spike above it, so . . . applying the baseline . . . you can see from the spikes that Taft had three moments of extreme anxiety.
GILLIAN: Let me guess. That's when he denied bribing our basketball phenom.
LOKER: Yep. Indistinguishable to the ear, but . . .
TAFT [on tape]: And, no, I didn't bribe Earl White. Really, I didn't give Earl a penny. A bribe? I barely know the kid.
LOKER: Thanks to the technology, we can see the stress in Taft's voice. The data suggests young Mr. White just came into a lot of money.
GILLIAN: But we've seen no uptick in Earl's spending habits.
LOKER: I talked to his friends. The guy's got no bling, he lives in a walk-up with his brother, he takes the bus . . .
GILLIAN: Earl's got a big payday coming as soon as he turns pro. Why take Taft's money if he's not going to spend it? The psychology's inconsistent. We need to get inside Earl's head.
LOKER: You want me to pull recent interview footage, see if he leaks anything when he talks about playing for Carver?
GILLIAN: Yeah. What's that last sound wave?
TAFT [on tape]: Always a pleasure to talk Carver basketball, Dr. Foster.
LOKER: That is when Taft met you. See how the graph is all scrunched up? It indicates arousal. Apparently the pine was not the only thing our aging jock wanted to ride.
[GILLIAN rolls her eyes]
TORRES [entering]: Hey, can I . . .
GILLIAN [leaving with TORRES]: Please.
TORRES: Staff Sergeant Scott has a past.
GILLIAN: He has a criminal record?
TORRES: A long one.
GILLIAN [reading TAFT's record]: I thought you couldn't get into the army with a record.
TORRES: You can't, unless they grant you what's called a moral waiver. It used to be just for misdemeanors, but the army is so stretched for recruits that they're using them to let felons in.
GILLIAN: Moral waiver. The army really has a way with words.
TORRES: Uh, Sergeant Scott was arrested for possession, arson, assault and battery . . .
GILLIAN: He has an arson conviction?
TORRES: He was 16, but the assault's more recent.
GILLIAN: No, it's the arson that is significant. Arson and rape have an unusually high correlation. They're both crimes about the assertion of power.
TORRES: So with the arson conviction . . .
GILLIAN: Yeah. It makes the rape a lot more likely.
[CUT to CAL pouring a cup of coffee and watching a television in a break room]
MAN ON TV: We're seeing promising indicators in the pentium chip market. Techspring earnings should be strong as ever.
HEIDI: Hey, boss.
CAL: Call my broker, have him dump all my holdings in Techspring.
HEIDI: Okay. And, uh, I just spoke with Major Harris' office. I told them you were on your way.
[GILLIAN and TORRES enter]
[CAL, with some impressive TiVo program, rewinds the television]
CAL: Look at that hand shrug. It's not a good time to be investing in Techspring.
GILLIAN: We need to talk about Sergeant Scott.
CAL [taking TAFT's criminal record]: This is classified. How'd you get it?
GILLIAN: The same way you would have. Given the correlation between arson and rape . . .
CAL: Well, it's interesting, but it's irrelevant, I'm afraid. Turns out Lake's platoon mates had a rather a lot to say.
TORRES: Heidi said they wouldn't talk about the rape.
CAL: Well, I didn't bring them in to hear them talk. I brought them in to watch them listen.
[On CAL's wall, the video is displayed of the two female soldiers from earlier turning the interrogation tape on]
GILLIAN: They turned the video back on, huh?
CAL: Yep. It's human nature. They always flip the switch. Hey, natural. What do you see?
TORRES: Nothing. I don't see anything.
CAL: Exactly.
TORRES: I don't understand.
CAL: Well, look. The absence of emotion is just as important as the presence of emotion. Now, you, you need to learn that.
GILLIAN: When women listen to a rape victim they believe,they reflect certain emotions. They blush, avert their eyes, hunch their shoulders. These women exhibit none of that. They're not showing any reflectors.
TORRES: So they don't believe it. That doesn't prove anything.
GILLIAN: Lake lived with those women for three years and neither one of them is reacting. They know this rape never happened.
[CUT to interrogation room, where CAL is speaking to SHEILA LAKE]
CAL: You made a false accusation against your sergeant. That's a crime. And then there's the other women in your platoon. You know, we have MPs standing by. If your friends helped you plan this, they're as guilty as you are, right? They know you're lying, don't they?
[SHEILA looks away silently and does another mouth shrug]
CAL: Thought so. [To TORRES] Have the MPs arrest her platoon mates. They're all in on it.
SHEILA: No! Look, they had noth . . . They had nothing to do with it. It was my idea.
CAL: Sergeant Scott didn't rape you?
SHEILA: No. He didn't.
MILITARY MAN: Take Specialist Lake into custody.
TORRES: How could you do this? You know how hard it is for women in the military. The army has just started to take these claims seriously. There are victims out there who need help. A lot of them. You should be ashamed of yourself.
SHEILA: Ashamed? I may have lied, but I was doing the right thing. Okay? I was trying to protect my platoon. I was doing the right thing. I was doing the right thing!
[CUT to the Lightman Group building, where LOKER is speaking to and group of women in a room via speaker]
LOKER: Ladies, if you could, uh, wait in there, I will be taking you in one at a time.
TORRES [entering]: Playing out your favorite fantasies, Loker?
LOKER: Studying the psychological influence of uniforms on credibility. Lightman wanted to see how they affect people's ability to spot lies.
TORRES: Women in uniforms?
LOKER [smiling]: I do love my work. How's it going with Lightman?
TORRES: Uh, he's not my biggest fan.
LOKER: Well, that's just 'cause you're uneducated.
TORRES: Excuse me?
LOKER: Well, you're a natural. The few naturals Lightman's come across have one thing in common. No college degree. You haven't been asked to focus on verbal skills, so you focus on body language.
TORRES: You're saying I can't learn the science.
LOKER: I'm saying you didn't have to. That's got to be irritating for a guy who's spent two decades trying to see what you were born seeing.
TORRES: Thanks. That's very un-Loker of you.
LOKER: I've never been with a Latina woman.
TORRES: Don't push it.
[CUT to CAL, entering GILLIAN's office]
CAL: How's it going with the ballplayer?
GILLIAN [eating]: Ballplayers play baseball.
CAL: Yeah.
GILLIAN: Chicken dumpling?
CAL: Oh, no. Never eat meat I can't see.
[GILLIAN does to take a bite, but CAL stops her]
CAL: No. Really. No. You have no idea what's in there.
[GILLIAN puts the food aside and points at her computer screen]
GILLIAN: Take a look at this. Earl White just took state for the third time. The kid's on the list of every NBA scout in the country, but when asked about playing pro ball . . .
[A video of EARL WHITE begins playing without sound]
CAL: Chin thrust. He's angry.
GILLIAN: Very. Earl White should be on top of the world. Why is he secretly angry?
CAL: I spot the liars. You're the feelings department. Follow me. [GILLIAN stands] I got something for you. Okay, would you lie to right a wrong?
GILLIAN: Depends. Why?
[CAL opens a door and they enter another room]
CAL: Lake lied, but then said she was protecting her platoon.
SHEILA [flashback]: I'm doing the right thing.
CAL: She said it with conviction, and with no deception leakage.
GILLIAN: How does accusing your commander of rape protect the platoon?
CAL: That's what I asked myself. [A large screen has the three female soldiers from earlier] Okay, these are the individual interviews with her platoon mates. Watch what happens when they discuss Sergeant Scott.
SOLDIER #1 [on screen]: Sergeant Scott is a strong leader.
SOLDIER #2 [on screen]: I'm glad Sergeant Scott's in command.
GILLIAN: Concealed disgust.
CAL: Yep. Looks the same every time.
GILLIAN: They know he didn't rape Sheila Lake, but they feel intense disgust for him.
CAL: Made me think. What if Sheila Lake didn't lie about everything? What if she lied about the victim, but not the crime?
GILLIAN: So, you think Sergeant Scott raped someone else in the platoon?
CAL: The harassment report, arson conviction--both consistent with the profile of a rapist, right? What if the real victim is too scared to come forward?
GILLIAN: So Lake accuses Sergeant Scott to right a past wrong, and to protect the other women in the platoon. Do you think Scott raped one of them?
CAL: No. None of them is exhibiting any fear.
GILLIAN: It could have been someone who was transferred, or killed in combat.
TORRES [entering]: Hey, I thought we were done with this case.
GILLIAN: No. It's possible Sergeant Scott raped someone who used to be in the platoon.
CAL: Ah, your buccinator's playing up again.
TORRES: It's not . . . I didn't say . . .
CAL: Oh, look. Now you're embarrassed. Well, you have every reason to be. You did get it wrong, didn't you? I mean, Sergeant Scott didn't rape Sheila Lake.
GILLIAN: Cal . . .
CAL: What? She's the one making snide remarks. Look at her face.
TORRES: How do people work here?
CAL: Sergeant Scott redeploys within 24 hours. I want you to get a hold of military personnel. I want the historic roster for the platoon right away.
TORRES [leaving]: Got it.
[GILLIAN looks at CAL]
CAL: What?
[GILLIAN shakes her head and walks away]
CAL: Oh, what, now you're starting on me? Don't say something you'll regret. And I saw that.
[CUT to GILLIAN walking up to a food stand outside, where a young woman is working behind the counter]
GILLIAN: Can I have a muffin?
[LOKER walks up, showing up out of nowhere]
LOKER: Ah, no. No, no, no, you don't want the muffins here. They are terrible. They taste like sofa cushions covered with the moldy nuts your grandmother used to keep in that old jar on her . . .
GILLIAN: Okay, okay. Between you and Lightman, a girl could starve. Do you have something for me?
LOKER: Yeah, um . . . I've been watching a tape of Earl trying to understand what's behind the anger. Uh, nothing so far, but I did come up with this expression.
[LOKER flips through a few photos of EARL WHITE, each one showing him displaying the same, scrunched up expression]
LOKER: I've been throughthe facial coding book, and there's elementsof AU-four and AU-five. But it's not anger.
GILLIAN: No, it's not. Can we pull up full stats for Earl over the year?
LOKER: Sure. What emotion is it?
GILLIAN: It's not an emotion.
[CUT to CAL in his office, the television playing in the background]
MAN ON TV: And earlier, CEO Robert Rosiello tried to calm investors after Techspring shares plummeted in the wake of a subpar Q1 earnings report.
[TORRES enters his office with a file]
CEO ROBERT [on TV]: This is entirely unexpected. I'm sure we'll rebound in the second quarter.
CAL: You know, for a CEO, this guy is a terrible liar. You talk to personnel at Fort Meade?
TORRES: None of the women in the 23rd died in combat, but there's one who went awol. Rebecca Metz was on the 23rd's roster in Afghanistan. Went awol four months ago, shortly after her transfer request was denied.
CAL: She tried to transfer out of her platoon?
TORRES: That's not all. Here's a copy of the anonymous harassment report on Sergeant Scott. Handwriting's the same.
CAL: They have any idea where she is?
TORRES: No, but the number of awol soldiers has doubled since we invaded Iraq. I doubt they got the manpower to play that much hide-and-seek.
CAL: Well, she's got relatives in Baltimore, right?
TORRES: Yeah.
CAL: Hate to miss a family reunion.
[CUT to CAL and TORRES knocking on the door of a residential home]
OLD MAN: Hello? What can I do for you?
CAL: We're looking for your granddaughter, Rebecca Metz?
OLD MAN: She's not here.
CAL: Sounds good. [Taking his cane] You mind if I borrow this?
OLD MAN: What? Where are you going?
[CAL goes into the kitchen at the bottom of a staircase and throws some magazine to the ground.]
CAL [throwing cane on ground]: Help! Help!
[REBECCA METZ runs down the staircase]
REBECCA: Grandpa? Grand . . .
[She stops when she sees CAL]
CAL: Help.
[CUT to CAL and TORRES speaking to REBECCA in the living room]
TORRES: Sheila admitted she was lying, but she said she was trying to protect the platoon.
REBECCA [nervous]: I don't know what this has to do with me.
CAL: Sheila didn't make everything up. We know why you went awol.
TORRES: We're not here for the army. We just want to know what happened.
REBECCA: I, uh . . . never had a problem with Sergeant Scott in the states. He wasn't loud or gross like the other guys. But . . . but on our first day in Afghanistan, after curfew, he came in my tent.
CAL: He raped you?
REBECCA: The sergeant's in charge. He's supposed to have your back. My job is to say yes. Yes, sir.
TORRES: It happened more than once?
REBECCA: Almost every night over there for months. I couldn't take it anymore. When I got back, I just . . .
TORRES: You ran.
CAL: You need to come with us. Your platoon redeploys tomorrow. You can't let the army send those women back to Afghanistan with Sergeant Scott.
REBECCA: I can't go back.
TORRES: Well, what about Sheila? She lied for you.
REBECCA: I can't.
TORRES: Rebecca . . .
REBECCA: No! I . . .
CAL: Okay. Okay then. Sorry to barge in.
TORRES: What are you doing?
CAL: I'm going back to the base.
TORRES: But . . .
CAL [opening the front door]: Okay.
[CAL points to REBECCA and officers and soldiers come in]
TORRES: How did . . . Did they follow us here?
CAL: Oh, no. I called them.
[CUT to REBECCA in a military jail cell. CAL and TORRES are coming to speak to her]
REBECCA: Leave me alone.
TORRES: Rebecca . . .
REBECCA: I know you called the MPs.
CAL: Well, I had hoped you'd talk, but, yeah, I had them standing by.
TORRES: Rebecca, if you explain to us . . .
REBECCA: Don't you get it? Do you have any idea what it's like to be a woman in the military? You're either a bitch or a whore. And they're just waiting for you to fail, to admit you can't hack it.
CAL: Well, then, go to jail. That'll show 'em. Be all you can be.
TORRES: You're scared. You are still scared of Sergeant Scott.
REBECCA: I'm not afraid of him.
CAL: You're afraid of something.
REBECCA: I'm afraid they won't believe me.
CAL: It doesn't matter if they believe you. [leaving] They'll believe me.
[CUT to EARL WHITE sitting on a table outside, talking to a group of young people. GILLIAN and LOKER approach him, holding a basketball]
GILLIAN: Hey, Earl. Thanks for taking the time. By the way, I'm a big fan. [offering the ball] Would you mind?
EARL: Oh, no problem.
GILLIAN: Bet this will be worth a lot some day.
EARL: Oh, yeah. Autographs, shoes, bobble heads. Pro ball is big business.
GILLIAN [to LOKER]: See the chin thrust?
EARL: What?
LOKER: You thrust your chin out. That's a sign of anger.
GILLIAN: You do it whenever you talk about your pro career. I think it's because you're angry you're not gonna have one.
LOKER: Hey, Earl, catch.
[LOKER throws the ball and EARL catches it, wincing]
LOKER: We've seen that before, too. You make that face almost every time you catch a pass these days.
EARL: It's intensity.
GILLIAN: No, actually, it's pain. Doctors call it the primal face of pain. It's universal. So what is it, Earl? Carpal tunnel? Arthritis?
EARL: Look, you know how many hours I've spent shooting free throws? I've busted my ass on the court since I was nine. I'm raising my brother, trying to pay the rent--a big pro contract was gonna change all that. But you know who drafts
someone with erosive arthritis? Nobody.
GILLIAN: So you took the bribe.
EARL: Look, I could've gone pro out of high school, but the athletic association needs its big tournament, so I gotta spend my last good year playing college ball for nothing. Look, Mr. Taft's check was the only payday I was gonna get. Are you telling me you wouldn't have taken that money?
[CUT to Fort Meade.]
MILITARY MAN: I told the post commander this matter was settled. Sergeant Scott is vital to our efforts. He's supposed to be on a plane at 0100 hours.
CAL: I guess if the army's going to jeopardize the safety of women, it should be done on time, right?
MILITARY MAN: Private Metz was awol for five months. You're sure her allegation has merit?
CAL: I'm telling you she's not lying.
[They walk into some barracks, where Sergeant Scott is speaking to a military LAWYER]
MILITARY MAN: Sergeant Scott. I'm convening an article 32 court-martial hearing next week. Unpack your gear, son.
LAWYER: Major Harris, my client would like to avoid any unnecessary delay.
MILITARY MAN: He wants to plead out?
SCOTT: Our mission on the Pakistani border is critical to our safety here at home and I have a responsibility to my platoon. So, yes, I'm ready to plead guilty to fraternization.
TORRES: Fraternization?
LAWYER: Sergeant Scott had a consensual relationship with Private Metz.
SCOTT: Becky was my girlfriend, sir.
LAWYER [pulls out photo]: This photo was taken during the period when my client was allegedly raping Private Metz.
[In the photo, Sergeant Scott and Rebecca Metz are smiling with their arms around each other]
MILITARY MAN: Do you have others like this?
LAWYER: We have several, Major.
MILITARY MAN [to CAL]: You still want to tell me she's not lying?
[CUT to the Lightman Group building, where CAL and TORRES are looking at the photograph on a screen]
CAL: Isolate Rebecca Metz.
TORRES: There's something not right about her smile. She doesn't look happy.
[GILLIAN enters and looks, too]
CAL: Push in on her eyes. [TORRES presses some buttons] Brows up, pulled together.
GILLIAN: She's scared.
CAL [turning]: Hi. Yeah, it's a masking smile. She's smiling but her eyes say she's afraid. Very afraid.
GILLIAN: Will you pull up the masking smiles?
TORRES: Yeah.
[A few photos of politicians and celebrities pop up on screen]
GILLIAN: Miss South Carolina can't show fear to the judges; Sarah Palin has the same problem with the press. Rebecca Metz with her platoon leader.
TORRES: Right, she doesn't want to be involved with Sergeant Scott, but he's her commander, she's got to do what he says.
CAL [taking off his glasses]: He wants sex, right? She feels forced to give it to him. She can't say no. It's non consensual. It's rape.
GILLIAN: Army psychologists have reported several recent cases like this. They're calling it "command rape." It's comparable to sexual harassment, but much more extreme.
TORRES: When your boss makes advances, you're scared of losing your job. But if it's your platoon leader,
you're scared of losing your life.
CAL: Sergeant Scott redeploys tonight, we have to get back to Fort Meade.
[CUT to Fort Meade. CAL and TORRES are speaking to REBECCA in her cell]
REBECCA: They won't believe it was rape. Sergeant Scott never raised a hand.
CAL: It doesn't matter that he didn't attack you physically. You were coerced.
REBECCA: No one's going to see it that way. I never actually said no.
TORRES: He was responsible for your safety. You had to feel threatened.
REBECCA: I was terrified. Everyone knew if you crossed him, he'd make you drive lead.
TORRES: Drive lead?
REBECCA: Lead truck in the convoy. It's the most vulnerable to a roadside bomb. I had a friend die that way. I knew from the first time he came into my tent that if I said no, I'd be driving lead for a month.
TORRES: So you just took it. You never said no?
CAL: Well, that's what you'll tell Major Harris.
REBECCA: He'll never believe me.
CAL: Sure he will. We'll put you on a polygraph. They love them over there.
REBECCA: He'll never say it that way. Sergeant Scott never made me drive lead and he'll never admit he would have.
TORRES: She's right. We still don't have any proof that he was tying her safety to sex.
REBECCA: The truth isn't good enough for these people.
CAL: Who said anything about the truth?
[CUT to REBECCA hooked up to a polygraph machine]
MAN: Is your name Rebecca Metz?
REBECCA: Yes.
MAN: And are you a Private First Class with the 23rd mountain division?
REBECCA: Yes.
MAN: Did you have a relationship with Staff Sergeant Russell Scott?
REBECCA: No.
MAN: Private Metz, let me rephrase. Were you physically involved with Staff Sergeant Scott when you serving in Afghanistan?
REBECCA: Yes. He forced me to have sex with him.
SCOTT: We had a relationship!
MAN: He ordered you to have sex with him?
REBECCA: No. But he was my commanding officer, I didn't have a choice.
MAN: Did you ever refuse to have sex with Sergeant Scott?
REBECCA: Yes, once. He forced me to drive lead convoy for a week.
SCOTT: That's a lie!
MILITARY MAN: If she's lying, it graphs above the red bar here?
CAL: That's right. Machine says it's true.
SCOTT: Well, it's not true!
CAL: The polygraph says it is.
SCOTT: I don't care what the machine says. She's making it up. I never made her drive lead!
CAL: You never made her drive lead?
SCOTT: No!
CAL: I thought that duty rotates. You never made her drive lead?
SCOTT: I-I never made her drive lead! It's a lie!
LAWYER: Sergeant, you don't have to respond.
CAL: So, as long she was in a relationship with you, she never had to drive lead. Is that right?
LAWYER: Sergeant Scott . . .
CAL: Is that right, Sergeant Scott?
LAWYER: Sergeant Scott, don't . . .
CAL [raising his voice]: Is that right, Sergeant Scott?
LAWYER: You don't have to respond.
SCOTT: Yeah! Yeah, that's right. [Everyone is silent] What? What?
CAL: Well, her safety was in your charge. You traded her safety for sex.
LAWYER: Major Harris, my client doesn't understand . . .
MILITARY MAN: Yes, he does. What he did wasn't fraternization. It was rape. Arrest him under article 120.
[Two soldiers begin taking him away]
SCOTT: You don't know what the hell you're talking about. I'm a decorated soldier! I didn't do anything wrong!
CAL: Yeah, it sounds good.
[Outside, REBECCA is loading her things into a jeep. TORRES fills out some paperwork while CAL looks around. REBECCA drives by SHEILA LAKE, in handcuffs. REBECCA salutes her and SHEILA nods.]
[CUT to EARL WHITE shooting baskets at night on an empty, outdoor court. GILLIAN walks up]
EARL: What do you want, huh? I'm already suspended, they're taking away my scholarship, you hung me out.
GILLIAN: You're the one who took the bribe. Look, the system's broken, Earl.
EARL: And what am I supposed to do, huh? How am I supposed to take care of my brother?
GILLIAN: I heard you did pretty well on your econ midterm.
EARL: So?
GILLIAN: You want a degree. So I convinced Dr. Lightman to put our fee into a trust. Probably not enough for four years at Carver, but it'll get you through Maryland.
EARL: What if I don't want your money?
GILLIAN: Then throw it away. It's your call.
[CUT to CAL's office. TORRES is looking at the photos on CAL's wall]
TORRES: How did she do it? We both know Metz was lying about driving lead convoy. How did she beat the polygraph?
[CAL walks by and hands her a bottle]
TORRES: Valium?
CAL: Yeah. Takes the edge off. Mutes the emotional response.
TORRES: You . . . you drugged her so she could lie?
CAL: Never let the facts get in the way of the truth. You know, I wanted to . . .
TORRES: Yeah, I know. Thanks.
CAL: For what?
TORRES: You had a slight gratitude smile. What, you're surprised? Really? You know, just because I don't know your
science doesn't mean I don't know things.
CAL: You know, when you don't know the science, you don't see the whole picture. People can get hurt.
TORRES: What was that? What happened?
CAL: What?
TORRES: Shame. When you said people get hurt, you showed shame.
CAL: I don't know what you're talking about.
TORRES: You're lying.
CAL: Get used to it.
[CAL grabs the bottle, puts it in his pocket and walks away]
Transcript typed by Amanda a.k.a. Sunpac
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Lie to Me belongs to the FOX network. I don't own the characters or story, or anything else for that matter.
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For comments or questions please
e-mail thatonewebmaster@yahoo.com
Lie to Me belongs to the FOX network. I don't own the characters or story, or anything else for that matter.
The ONLY thing I claim ownership of is this tiny little website :]
