[music playing]
[coughing]
MAN: You don't look too good.
Allergies.
MAN: I have to ask you a few questions first.
What, are you kidding me?
You never had to ask me any questions before.
MAN: What is your normal dosage of street grade heroin?
What, are you working for "Rolling Stone"
now or something?
MAN: The sooner we do this, the sooner we
can complete our transaction.
When did you last eat?
Come on, man.
Last night some time.
[music playing]
Hey, did you cop?
[music playing]
[car handle banging]
Hey, what the--
[car handle banging]
[music playing]
[car handle banging]
[music playing]
[banging]
[music playing]
[gasping]
[music playing]
COP: Rigor mortis?
No, he's not dead.
[music playing]
[MUSIC - HOLLY ROBINSON, "21 JUMP STREET"]
HOLLY ROBINSON [SINGING]: We never thought we'd
find a place where we belong.
Don't have to stand alone.
We'll never let you fall.
Don't need permission to decide what you believe.
I said, jump down on Jump Street.
Your friends will be there when your back is to the wall.
You'll find you'll need us 'cause
there's no one else to call.
When it was hopeless, a decision's what you need.
You've got to be ready to, be ready to jump.
21 Jump Street.
[chatter]
MAN [ON INTERCOM]: Number 21, Elliot Masche.
It'll never work, Masche.
A dodecahedron will become radically unstable on impact.
The surface planes are too large.
Something like this needs to be geodesic.
Can't you creatons see that a dodecahedron
is the perfect absorber?
I've checked and double checked it on a stress simulator.
Face it, Masche.
This puppy's going ballistic.
As God as my witness, this egg will survive.
[crowd yelling]
[music playing]
[shattering]
[crowd booing]
I have two words for you, Masche--
liberal and arts.
Next.
Whatever happened to the keg parties?
Come on, these guys are too busy discovering cold fusion
and a better egg carton.
And synthetic heroin.
I think you have some admirers.
[faint whispering]
There's one woman to every 10 men on this campus,
and it's good.
Oh.
[faint whispering]
[music playing] - Excuse me.
Where'd you transfer from?
MIT.
That explains everything.
Courtney.
Tom.
Everybody calls me Cortex, though.
Great.
Hey, Poole.
Cortex.
Bienvenidos, little buddy.
Thanks.
Say hi to Tom.
Hi, Tom.
Did you get a chance to get those readouts
from the mass spectrometer?
Yeah.
Got it right here.
You are a 13-year-old god.
Poole's a genius.
He gets these freelance research jobs
from little tech companies, and he
farms out the overflow to us.
Does he want to do a little research,
make a little extra beer money?
I'm saving myself for Dow Chemical.
You've been spotted.
Stay away from that guy.
Major league sleaze.
Mind if we join you?
Actually, I--
Hey, can't you see the lady's trying to study?
Shoo.
Go.
They don't have a clue.
Elliot Masche, comp sci.
Judy Hamilton, NI.
NI?
- Not interested. - Yeah.
Right.
How do you feel about Gershwin?
Maybe I didn't make myself clear.
I hold in my hand two tickets to see
Michael Feinstein at the Arlington Downtown,
a full Gershwin retrospective.
What do you say to that?
Is that a dickey you're wearing?
Take this home with you.
Look at it.
Touch it.
Be with it.
OK, dude. See you.
Bye.
You're new.
Oh, great.
Let's start with the MIT jokes.
No jokes.
You just look a little more adventurous
than the average guy around here, Tom.
How do you know my name?
It's my business to know things.
Is that right?
That's right.
So, what do you say?
You looking for a little excitement in your life?
What do you got in mind?
Well, actually, I don't have my stuff with me right now,
but if you meet me behind the dorms at 10 o'clock
tomorrow night, we can get into it.
All right.
OK.
10-4, then.
10-4.
[music playing]
It's too easy.
The guy had, like, a big flashing arrest
me sign on his forehead.
Yeah, but did he mention drugs?
He asked me if I was looking for a little excitement
in my life.
Maybe he was from the chess club.
Judy, it is so good to see you tonight.
Would you excuse us?
Oh, no.
Guys, please stay.
No, Judy, I, uh--
I got homework.
Yes.
Thanks, fellas.
You look uncommonly lovely this evening.
The sooner you guys can give me those Nasco readouts,
the sooner I can get us some money.
Later. [music playing]
The last time I saw her, she was--
Yes.
A medium--
Excuse me, sir.
We were here first.
Hey, they don't sell that moo goo goo goo here.
But I see they still serve idiots.
What did you say, zipper head?
I will not be intimidated by you.
Yeah?
[smack]
You OK?
[non-english speech]
[music playing]
[siren wailing in distance]
POOLE: Are you a smoker?
Yeah.
Are you the man?
Yeah, I'm the man.
And I'm a smoker.
Let's do business.
I just have to ask you a few questions first.
[music playing]
I'm sorry.
He just doesn't fit the drug dealer profile.
Why, because he's a foreign student?
I mean, we're not talking about a regular drug dealer here.
We're talking about a chemist who
knows how to manufacture variations
in the methylfentanyl.
There are dozens of people around here like that.
This guy acts like he's got me made for a cop, Judy,
and it's got him nervous.
OK, that's his locker.
I know.
I promise I'm not going to ask you to do this again.
You owe me big time.
OK, OK.
Come on.
That's absurd.
The Schrodinger postulate was disproven years ago.
By whom?
Mrs. Schrodinger.
Prove it, and you've got yourself a brand
new box of floppy disks.
You're on.
Now, if I could just find that journal.
Excuse me, Judy.
Funny you should mention about that Schrodinger journal.
You know, just yesterday, I was looking--
[chattering]
[music playing]
Hiya, toots.
How ya doing, babe?
Come on.
Atta girl.
Come on.
Be sweet.
That's it.
It's just a rat, man.
You saw it in your dorm room, you'd work
it over with a baseball bat.
That's different.
Are we expanding the frontiers of human understanding?
No, sir.
We're trying to make a buck.
Good.
I was worried there for a second.
I don't think Tom there approves of animal research.
What's a few rats to the crossing of the frontiers
of human understanding?
What, are you in search of some great truth?
There is no truth, only knowledge.
You don't really believe that.
I'm not here to believe, I'm here to think.
You know what Huxley said about truth.
He said, irrationally based truths are more
harmful than reasoned errors.
Reasoned errors?
Is that like the H-bomb?
When can you have this ready for me?
Tomorrow.
Just remember you need to have it done before ditch day.
All right.
Come on, Tom.
Let's go get a bite.
Well, I'd like to, but I've got to be somewhere.
The second I looked at you, I knew you were different.
Most of these guys--
most of these guys would be content working for IBM or RAM
for the rest of their lives, but you want more.
Am I wrong?
No.
What you mean, no?
No, you're not wrong.
Oh OK.
Because we need guys like you, guys
with certain specialized technical skills and street
smarts.
Do you have the stuff?
You like to cut right through the bull, don't you?
I like that.
I guess I don't need to tell you.
Be a little discreet.
How much do I owe you?
Tommy, if this works out, I'll owe you.
10-4.
The CIA?
Yeah.
You know, travel to exotic places,
meet interesting people, and kill them.
I hate those guys.
Well, at least we can cross him out as a suspect.
That's one.
What's going on with the Chinese connection?
Well, he's obviously shook up, but if I try a direct approach,
I might get him to spill.
[car honking]
If you two leave, I will find you, and I will shoot you.
Do you hear me?
Judy. Judy.
Elliot, what did I tell you?
When?
Last night, right after you tried to shove
the gold chain into my purse.
I don't recall.
I told you I was establishing a 50 yard perimeter
around my purse, and that we were going to call
that the Elliott free zone.
Remember?
Judy, do you really think we should
be airing out our dirty unmentionables in public?
I really have to go.
Catch you later, Judy.
Nice guys.
Elliott, up to this point, I have been motivated by a desire
to spare your feelings, but I realize now
that I've been worrying about wounding a rhinoceros
with a pea shooter.
I love the way your mind works.
Look, I know this is going to be hard for you to believe,
so I want you to listen to me very carefully.
I am not attracted to you.
I find you repellent.
I want you to leave me alone.
Have I made myself clear?
Let's take a ride and talk this over.
[groaning]
That's a 1947 MG TC.
It's perfectly restored.
It's pristine.
It's my most beloved possession.
Well, maybe my second most.
Elliot, seek help.
What?
[knocking on door]
[door slamming]
[knocking on door]
I'm not going anywhere.
I know who you are, and you can't stop
me from doing what I'm doing.
You'll have to kill me.
What?
Tell them that you have failed.
Who?
Your masters in Beijing.
[door slamming]
[music playing]
And you still thought I was working for the government,
even though I'm not Chinese?
I thought that maybe they had recruited
you out of one of the Vietnamese refugee camps in Hong Kong.
You're kidding.
You don't know the pressure that's been put on us here.
You begin to suspect everyone.
What kind of threats have been made against you?
Just after the massacre at Tiananmen,
those of us who were faxing and broadcasting information
back home received these letters.
I can't read Chinese.
The Party is proud of your scholarly achievements
in the United States, and is looking
forward to your return at the end
of the current academic year.
That doesn't sound much like a threat to me.
We weren't scheduled to return home this year.
Only those of us who were involved in the movement
received these letters.
They want to bring us back to rehabilitate us.
Rehabilitate you.
The entire freshman class at Beijing University
is serving two years in the Chinese army.
Look, you're in America.
They can't just-- the American government
won't let it happen to you.
Right after the massacre, the Beijing students
were on every front page and every television program
in America.
Now, the media has moved on to other stories.
Business as usual.
As they say, the business of America is business,
and a billion people can buy a lot of soda pop.
Well, I didn't gack.
Gack?
You know, throw up.
Happens all the time.
So that's good, right?
No.
It was a bum high.
What do you mean?
It was no good.
It just didn't cut it. - What makes a good high?
I don't know how to explain it.
Try this.
What is it?
It's an improved version of what you had before.
Better living through chemistry.
Exactly.
What do you think is going to happen
to him if we don't do anything?
Well, what can we do?
We don't work for the State Department.
He could get married to an American citizen.
I didn't mean you.
What about him?
He's not the marrying kind.
He's CIA, silly.
He likes Hanson.
Maybe he'll help.
Those guys don't want to get involved with anything
that doesn't stink.
Besides, who knows what they'd want in return?
Aren't you being a little harsh?
No.
Excuse me, but are you Judy?
Yes.
Why?
Well, I have a singing telegram for you from Elliott.
No, please.
[note on a pitch pipe]
[beeping]
His name is Smoker.
They call it Parkinsonism.
It resembles the symptoms of advanced Parkinson's disease.
He can't move.
He can't talk.
They found a vial of fentanyl in his pocket.
Just like the guy in the car?
Yeah, but with a few subtle differences, as if this guy's
still trying to perfect his product.
You know, with a $2,000 cash outlay
in chemicals and equipment, a chemist
could produce $1 billion worth of methylfentanyl.
We've got to stop this guy before he goes wide on us.
[beeping]
Drugs?
Designer drugs?
What do I know about designer drugs?
I'm not into drugs, man.
I smoked pot once.
I thought my dog was trying to arrest me.
No, but would you know how to take, like,
morphine and change it chemically,
but make it do the same thing?
You're not trying to get me to do something
I shouldn't be doing, are you?
No.
Well, I guess you'd try synthesizing molecules that
were similar, then do trial and error until you
duplicated that effect.
But if you synthesized the molecules in the lab,
would you know what it was?
A molecule's a molecule.
Oh, bummer.
This is not a well rodent.
You're not going to go getting sentimental on me, are you?
All you have is the letter, right?
That doesn't mean they've sent anyone after you.
It's something that one feels, a presence.
You've taken a lot on your shoulders.
Maybe it's the pressure.
I know the difference between anxiety and danger.
I see it every day in my work.
You know, you've been on a stakeout for a couple of days.
Next thing you know, you start to anticipate things.
Everybody that walks down the street
looks like a perpetrator.
I'm not imagining things, Harry.
There are organizations that can help you
with these kinds of things--
the ACLU, Amnesty International, Christic Institute.
You don't understand.
These people aren't concerned with public opinion,
only with maintaining power.
I just don't think at this point
that you need to be afraid.
I'm not afraid, but I am aware.
[music playing]
You know anything about this ditch day thing?
Some kind of a tradition.
All of the seniors are supposed to leave the campus
for the day, and the underclassmen,
they're supposed to try to break into their rooms.
You know, they've got to solve these puzzles
and math equations or something like that to get the room keys.
They call them stacks.
Well, maybe this would be a good chance to get
a look into Poole's room.
You think Poole's our guy?
What time was he supposed to be here?
Don't worry, he'll be here.
I hate doing this.
Well, you asked me to ask him.
Desperate situations require desperate measures.
Oh, here he comes.
I'm a little bit disappointed in you.
You weren't entirely candid with me, were you, Officer Hanson?
All right, we're undercover.
I'm sure you can appreciate that.
That's all well and good, Tom, but a relationship
has to be based on honesty.
Honesty?
You're a spy.
Isn't that the pot calling the kettle covert?
He didn't mean that.
What do you think the boys at Langley
would say if they found out I tried
to recruit an undercover cop?
They'd harass me for the rest of my life.
And Tom, I'm not the sort of guy who deals well with ridicule.
I'm sorry.
Accepted.
All right, about the situation.
Sangwa is a Chinese national--
I know the situation.
You do?
Can you help him?
We can go operational with him.
That way, he'd be under our protection.
Operational?
Yeah, he can come work for us.
- Let's go. - Come on.
Come on. Pull it.
You've got a chip on your shoulder, don't you?
Well, excuse me.
Look, there's nothing I can do in an official capacity,
but since I like you guys and we're
all Americans here, how about if I give you
a little bit of information?
And what might that be?
The name of the Chinese operative on this campus
who's harassing your friend.
Hey, Poole.
Poole, how come none of us ever get to see
what the other guys are doing?
What do you think?
Come on, think.
What is it that I get by being the only one
who has all of the information?
Power.
And power rules the regime.
Next year, I'll be gone.
It'll be someone else's regime.
If you use your head, maybe it can be yours.
Yeah, but I was just wondering--
Don't wonder so much.
Besides, you should get used to knowing only your little part
of the project.
That's how it works at Lockheed, Douglas, Hughes,
all of the places where you might wind up.
I just think that maybe, we have a right--
Look, it's ditch day tomorrow, and I want to finish my stacks.
Do me a favor.
Take these over to Dickstein's.
Tell him I need the compounds by tomorrow night.
Now, please.
[music playing]
Research subject statements in this area
have proven anecdotal, and therefore, unreliable.
In order to complete the research phase of this product,
it is necessary to have some subjective understanding
of its consumer appeal.
[music playing]
[car driving by]
[door slamming]
Hello, Elliot.
Judy, I know you're not going to be able to resist
trying to get into my room.
You know me so well.
There is a small--
wait, who am I kidding?
There is a fabulous token of my affection in there
with your name engraved on it if you manage to get in.
What do you mean if I manage to get in?
I could've made it easier for you,
but I didn't want to diminish the thrill of the pursuit.
Elliot, wild horses couldn't keep me out of your room.
I know.
MAN: Come on, Elliot.
The guys said they're going to leave without you
if you don't hurry up.
You guys ready?
Well, let the games begin.
[music - devo, "whip it"]
DEVO [SINGING]: Crack that whip.
CORTEX: I don't know.
I feel weird about invading his privacy.
Come on.
Poole would want you to try and get into his room.
He's got the toughest stacks.
We'll never get in.
I guess you're right.
I mean, after all, you're only 13.
What's that supposed to mean?
Don't worry. I'll do it.
I'll take care of it.
Fine, take care of this yourself.
You'll never get in without me.
[papers rustling]
Oh, I'm sorry.
It's OK.
Hey, aren't you, uh, Sangwa's friend?
Yes.
What's your major?
Organic chemistry.
Perfect.
You're my partner.
So I'm trying to break into his room,
and his stack is all about mutant isotopes.
I can't.
Wait, what do you mean you can't?
I just have to do something.
Do something more important than ditch day?
What are you, a secret agent or something?
No, of course not.
Well, then, let's get to work.
It's a map of the campus.
What does the card say?
It's a calculus equation.
Let me see it.
Looks like it's a tracking formula for an orbital ellipse.
Yes.
Yes, it does.
Oh, he has a you are here sign marked
at the dorm and an ellipse around the perimeter
of the campus.
Now, if we assume that this storm is one of the foci,
that formula will give us the other focus
on the map, which must be the location of the next clue.
Obviously.
You want to work it out?
Go ahead.
Thanks.
[music - devo, "whip it"]
[clearing throat]
Did Anthony Poole leave a message here?
To whom?
To whom it may concern.
CORTEX: Good thinking.
[music - devo, "whip it"]
We have to beat him at poker?
I don't know anything about poker.
Stand aside.
So what do you think, guys?
Are we going to be able to figure this out?
- Piece of cake. - Can of corn.
That's soup.
Masche is not a very highly evolved thinker.
So can you give me some kind of time estimate?
Half hour, tops.
OK, read me the numbers.
360.
We'll try 36.
Next?
23.
And seven, right?
That is correct.
After you.
[speaking chinese]
You know what's happening here, Li.
[typing]
How much do you have left?
$1,500, and we're betting all of it.
Sheesh, you've only got a pair of threes.
You ever heard of bluffing?
Yeah, but if you lose, we're finished.
That's why they call it gambling.
How dare you accuse me?
You are the counter-revolutionary.
You are the traitor.
Your propaganda doesn't impress me.
You didn't do this out of ideology.
Tell me, Li, what did they offer you?
Your own telephone?
An automobile?
The apartment of someone that you turned in?
You don't know what you're talking about.
In America, they have a saying about corruption.
They say that it all begins with a cigar.
They offered you a cigar, and you took it, gladly.
You would have done no differently.
You will be sorry, Sangwa.
I am sorry.
I thought you were a friend.
This is how things are going to work.
I'm a police officer, and I can arrest you right now
for breaking and entering, malicious mischief,
and I can probably throw in a civil rights violation
somewhere.
But I figured that would get you in a lot
of hot water with your boys back in Beijing,
so I'm going to help you out.
I'm going to let you get the hell out of my country tonight.
I think we bought some time.
[typing]
OK, we've set him up.
He thinks we're bluffing again.
We'll make him chase us.
[typing]
He's going all in.
OK, sucker.
Let's see what you got.
A straight.
Say hello to Mr. Flash.
CORTEX: Yeah, baby got new shoes.
We win.
Oh, wait, the clue.
OK, let's go.
[music - devo, "whip it"]
DEVO [SINGING]: Crack that whip.
Give the past the slip.
Step on a crack.
Break your momma's back.
When a problem comes along, you must whip it.
Before the cream sits out too long, you must whip it.
When something's going wrong, you must whip it.
Now, whip it into shape.
Shape it up.
Get straight.
Go forward.
Tom.
DEVO [SINGING]: Move ahead.
Tom, I don't want to rush you, but, um, it's getting late.
Everybody will be back soon.
Yeah, I'll try to hurry along for you.
[music - devo, "whip it"]
DEVO [SINGING]: You must whip it.
You will never live it down, unless you whip it.
No one gets away, until they whip it.
I say, whip it.
Whip it good.
Now, whip it into shape.
Shape it up.
Get straight.
Go forward.
Move ahead.
Try to detect it.
It's not too late to whip it into shape.
Shape it up.
Get straight.
Go forward.
Move ahead.
Try to detect it.
It's not too late to whip it.
Whip it good.
[engine roaring]
MAN: It's calculated already, man.
It should work. Try it.
I guess when you score straight 800s on your SATs,
you don't think about things like checking under doormats.
What fun would that be?
It's not there.
It's unlocked.
God.
[music playing]
Get back.
[music playing]
His name is Poole, captain.
He was our chemist.
This ought to be a recipe for the synthetic heroin.
Any more of the stuff around?
From what Cortex here tells us, we don't think so.
And where does he get this information?
He helped cook the stuff up, but he-- he didn't know.
Was Poole a user?
No, he just didn't feel he was getting enough information
from the street junkies.
You see, captain, there is one big question that they
couldn't answer for him--
why?
[music playing]
Don't worry, you have plenty of time.
Be sure to call my friends if you need a place to stay.
Thank you.
My cousin says that he has plenty of room
for me until I can find a place of my own.
Well, when you get settled in, let us
know how to get ahold of you.
As soon as I can afford a new fax machine,
you'll be the first people outside of China
that I contact.
Give me a minute.
Are you sure you want to do this?
Once I get settled, I can continue the struggle.
Then, I'll be OK.
I want to tell you something, and, uh, I
don't want you to take it the wrong way, all right?
Sure.
It might be a long time before you can go home.
And America is a great place to be,
but only if you let yourself be here.
I mean, if your head is somewhere else,
it can be real lonely.
Are you saying I should forget about my country?
I'm just saying that you may have to adjust.
It might turn out that--
well, that this becomes your country.
And if you learn to accept it--
I appreciate your concern, but China
will always be my country.
Wherever I may be, my heart will be there.
I know you feel that way now, but--
I will always feel that way.
In this country, everybody bends with the wind.
I do not.
You have done a lot for, Harry.
You will always have my friendship.
[music playing]
You think he's going to be OK?
[music playing]