Perception

Subs created by: David Coleman.

So, I went fishing this weekend.

Caught a huge striped bass.

This big.

We're having it mounted in my office. Isn't that right, Mr. Lewicki?

Uh, whatever you say, Doc.

All right. So, even if my soon-to-be form teaching assistant

didn't roll over on me like a rat in a bad Mafia flick, you'd know I was lying.

Why?

Because it's a fish story.

But if I was a better liar..

I'd have a huge advantage.

Studies show the most convincing liars land the best jobs,

make the most friends, and get all the hot women.

So if I was really good at it, would there still be a way for you to bust me?

A polygraph, maybe.

Did you discover a male intruder in your home last night?

Yes.

Do you know the identity of this man?

No.

Did you see his face?

Yes.

Can you describe it?

No.

A polygraph's not a bad tool, but it only measures stress response.

In this class, we're interested in what goes on in the brain.

And if we were to put someone in an FMRI machine

and watch what happens when they make up a lie,

we'd see their Dorsolateral Prefrontal cortex light up like a Christmas Tree..

Because we use our brains when we lie.

We use our brains when we're being lied to.

But..

Can the brain ever lie to itself?

All right. So you've got office hours

from 1:00 to 3:00, and don't forget the meeting

with Dean Haley and that Hathaway guy at 4:00.

- Get me out of it. - Oh, okay.

- What am I supposed to tell him? - I don't know.

Use your Dorsolateral Prefrontal cortex and make something up.

Okay, so you want me to lie for you now?

- Think of it as practice. - For what?

For landing a new job when I fire you

for not getting me out of the meeting with Dean Haley.

Doc, that doesn't make any sense.

It's a paradox, Lewicki. It's not supposed to.

Oh, my goodness! Oh, God! I'm so sorry.

In a bit of a hurry, aren't we?

I'm gonna pay for your dry cleaning, okay?

My fault. I wasn't looking where I was going.

In fact, could we please make the lady another?

- No, it's fine. - I insist.

Chamomile tea.

Good choice.

I don't think you need any more caffeine.

Actually, the tea is for a friend, and I can handle my caffeine just fine.

Thank you very much.

- How about your liquor? - Excuse me?

Well, seeing as I'm buying the tea,

I thought maybe you could buy me a real drink.

7:00's good for me.

Thank you for the tea, and again, I'm very sorry about the shirt.

- Daniel. - Kate.

What, am I on some sort of government watch list?

Not yet.

Herbal tea. No milk, no sugar.

Now, I know you didn't come all the way over here just to bring me tea.

Meet Frank and Olena Prentice.

Looks like he won the lottery.

Actually, she cost him a bundle.

Mail-order bride from the Ukraine.

People actually do that?

Yeah. Why? Are you in the market for a wife?

No.

"Eastern Bloc Introductions".

They arranged for Frank to fly to Odessa to meet with prospective brides.

Before you know it, wedding bells.

But Frank has to come home while they wait for Olena's visa.

Immigration problems.

Then he gets a call from her broker saying it's gonna be another 100 grand

to get Olena into the states.

Now, Frank doesn't have that kind of cash.

So then the broker offers him alternative financing.

Code for "loan shark".

Exactly.

So Frank gets his new bride, but he can't keep up with the payments.

So then the loan shark tells him that they're going

to take Olena and make her work off the debt.

I'm guessing we're not talking about a nice office job.

Alexei Tupelov.

Suspected of running the largest prostitution

and loan-sharking operations in the Midwest.

The Bureau's been trying to nail this guy for years, but no one will testify.

He also happens to own Eastern Bloc Introductions.

- So it's a front company. - Yeah.

We think that the loan shark's one of Tupelov's boys,

and last night he made good on his threat.

Frank comes home, sees a blue Camaro parked right outside his house.

He goes inside. There's an intruder.

They fight.

The guy smashes Frank over the head with a lamp.

The live-in maid comes home from her night off, finds Frank unconscious,

calls the cops, but Olena is already gone.

Poor girl.

Yeah.

How can I help?

Here's the thing.

Frank can't give us a description of this guy, even though they were face to face.

Well, you said the intruder hit him over the head.

That could certainly affect his memory.

That's why I brought this to you. Frank's memory is fine.

He can describe everything that happened last night in perfect detail,

so how is it that he can't tell us what this guy looked like?

What the hell is that thing?

Whole-body-imaging scanner.

It wasn't here last time.

Yeah. New Security protocols. I'll meet you on the other side.

Daniel!

Daniel!

Daniel! Where are you going?

Do you have any idea the health risks those things pose?

Wh.. That? That's perfectly safe.

According to who? Some government regulatory body?

Like I really trust Uncle Sam to look out for my well-being.

Okay, listen, what exactly is it that you're afraid of?

Skin cancer, thyroid disease, mutated sperm.

M.. Mutated sperm?

Not to mention the violation of privacy.

I'm not about to let some $10-an-hour rent-a-cop check out my testicular region.

Okay. You know what?

We're gonna do this the old-fashioned way.

You're really enjoying this, aren't you?

Mr. Prentice, you told the police that you

struggled with the intruder for more than a minute,

that you were face-to-face the whole time.

Any distinguishing features or characteristics?

Well, I told them I've never been too good with faces.

The intruder.. Was it the same man you've been paying off?

Maybe. Well, they were about the same size.

But the guy that shakes me down usually wears one of those orthodox crosses..

A gold one on a chain around his neck.

What does your wife look like?

You got pictures of her.

What does she look like to you?

Blond..

Good-looking.

She got a good body.

D.. Do you really think I'm gonna spend all that

money to bring her over here if she's not hot?

The husband's a real charmer.

We find this girl, and then what?

She has to go back to that?

Here. Put this on.

- Why? - Just do it.

Okay.

And take these.

We're in the middle of an interrogation.

- What's going on? - Go with me on this.

Now, let's do something about that hair.

Frank, this is Miss Jones. She's a sketch artist.

She's gonna come up with a composite of the man who attacked you.

I sure as hell hope you're more help than that last girl.

You don't recognize her?

Why?

Have we met?

It's sensory impairment called Prosopagnosia..

Also known as "face blindness".

Even though Frank's vision is perfectly normal, he can't recognize faces.

He probably couldn't pick his own Mother out of a lineup.

Because of the blow to the head?

It can be caused by damage to the Fusiform Gyrus,

but Frank said he'd never been good with faces,

which means it's probably congenital.

Wait a second. This guy's had this bizarro

condition his entire life, and he doesn't know it?

How's that even possible?

Most Prosopagnosiacs develop unconscious strategies

for recognizing the people they know..

The way they dress, the context they see them in, their voice.

Great.

Well, according to Frank's statement, the intruder never spoke,

so even if we find the guy, our witness can't I.D. him.

Mm, Frank spoke to the loan shark at least half a dozen times.

He'd be able to recognize his voice.

We find the loan shark, get Daniel to help Frank I.D. him.

We grill his sorry ass until he tells us where Olena is.

Can I go now?

Frank couldn't pick anybody out of the photo array.

How do we know which one of Tupelov's guys to haul in?

How about we drop off Daniel back at campus and go find you a wife?

We know that your company is a front for Alexei Tupelov.

He's an investor. So?

So, you two are running quite a scam..

Rich American men foot the bill for pretty young girls to emigrate.

Then you shake the husbands down.

And if they don't pay, you force their immigrant wives into prostitution.

That's ridiculous.

Olena Prentice..

One of Tupelov's boys threatened to take her as collateral, and now she's missing.

That sounds like conspiracy to commit kidnapping and extortion to me.

Does that sound like extortion to you, Roger?