Paradise

We all lost something on our way here.

I didn't lose my wife. I know exactly where she was.

She was in a different city when it happened,

and she died because he didn't get her to a goddamn plane.

I saw her that night.

I saw her.

Got the news of the world right here.

Agent Pace, take them out.

People need to know that there are survivors,

-and I'm gonna tell them the truth. -No, you're not.

First Cal, then Billy.

It was her.

We take her down.

It's gonna be hard taking anybody down without weapons.

-There are weapons. -The sub-basement of the arena.

You just punch in a code. It's the day of my inauguration.

And I know how to get 'em.

Go upstairs and get your brother, pack a bag,

whatever you can fit into a backpack.

Hey, Carl, I need to call in that favor.

My flight is still on time. I need to finish packing.

Getting summoned to the principal's office for a lecture

-is the last thing I needed right now. -Yeah, I know.

She in trouble because of cake?

Yeah, a shitload of cake.

Hey, have you seen my blue jacket? I need to pack it.

What?

Well, either you have a problem with my jacket,

-or you have a problem with me. -I didn't say anything.

My work takes me to Atlanta.

-It's everything I've worked for, babe-- -I know.

I know.

Hey, if POTUS doesn't keep you late again tonight,

you could get home in time to kiss me goodbye.

Metro's been dicey this week.

-Might even get a quickie. -I'll be home by 5:00.

Mr. and Mrs. Collins.

Mr. Collins and, uh, Dr. Rogers-Collins, actually.

Of course. Come in.

Each eighth-grader was asked to explore an issue

that is negatively impacting our world today.

Presley's project was entitled "An Exhibition of Food Inequality."

-"Inequity." -I'm sorry?

The title of her project was "An Exhibition of Food Inequity,"

not "Inequality."

Inequities are the result of unjust inequalities.

-They're not the same. -Does the title matter?

The project was a bunch of BS.

- Excuse me? - Oh, boy.

Okay, uh, we got the title. We're good.

-Please continue. -According to the teacher,

Presley assigned each student a country or a class of society to represent.

She then passed out one piece of cake to each student

to show ideal global food security.

Afterwards, she redistributed the cake

to illustrate the current state of food inequity.

Yeah, she made Charlie a goddamn billionaire.

She took the cake away from everybody else and shoved it all at him.

She had all children representing poor countries

chanting at him to eat.

He ate so much cake--

Alright, okay, well, he didn't have to eat it.

She was making a point.

It was a nutjob project, and you know it.

-My daughter is not a nutjob. -Ter.

Five years from now, you ask those kids whose project made an impact--

Mrs. Collins, that's not the point.

That's not the point?

-Presley will be issued a warning. -Explore an issue,

that was the point, right?

She explored the shit out of that issue.

You wanted her to make a point, she made the point.

She made it so those kids are gonna think twice

before they toss half their macaroni in the trash.

-But you folks-- -Okay, Presley will be given

a stern warning, we understand. Thank you.

Charlie vomited in the garbage can.

The kid's humiliated, he's refusing to come to school.

Hey, hey, here's a thought.

Put his ass in the car and tell him he's going to school.

-Alright. -Try that.

He's gonna talk to me about who's a goddamn nutjob.

It's good to see you, Cliff.

-You love me so much right now. -Not even a little.

The strings we pulled to get her in this school,

we can't be pissing off the other parents like that.

Oh, come on. Those people call themselves parents?

That Charlie is like a proper bully.

Straight outta 1984. He's old-school Cobra Kai.

-The dirty duct tape incident? -With the toilet water?

-Uh-huh. -That was that Charlie?

-Uh-huh. -I thought it was Charlie G

-that was the bonehead. -Yeah, no, it was him.

X, your daughter didn't just do a hell of a project.

She pulled off the payback of the century.

You didn't need to make a scene.

That's all I'm saying.

Well, sometimes making a scene is the only thing you need to do.

Sweetheart, I love you. You are the kindest, calmest,

most centered human being on the planet.

But one day, you are gonna hit your limit.

One day, some poor bastard is gonna force you to make a scene.

And when that happens, tell you what...

I would not want to be the motherfucker on the other side of it.

Answer me this.

How much cake did this kid hold down before he yakked?

At one point,

Teri was looking like she might take a swing at the dad.

It's probably good she's getting out of town.

Atlanta again?

Yeah, she's making big leaps at her job.

She's, uh, she's amazing.

Well, I'll leave you to it, sir.

Hey, Collins, wait up.

Yes, sir?

Field trip. What do you say?

It's getting late. You don't wanna finish up here?

What's there to do?

It's all unfixable.

I want you to walk me through the Versailles protocol.

Where do they take me if the shit hits the fan?

I mean, I know you don't know any of the details

about what the actual shit might be and when it could hit said fan.

But from a logistical standpoint, how do they get me outta here?

-You know the protocol. -I don't, actually.

Marsha, you wanna come in here?

Xavier's gonna take me on a little walk.

We can call it a night.

Sounds good, Mr. President.

Don't keep him up too late, Xavier, it's a school night.

That's a promise.

Why are there still words on my sky? You said you were on it.

Turns out we can't take them down.

What do you mean you can't?

Whoever did this locked us out of the system.

- Carl Jenkins? - Oh!

Yes.

Yes. And this is Lucy.

What the fuck. How'd you get a dog down here?

It's why Xavier wants me to hide, in case they go searching.

Where do I go?

All I know is he said to stay put. Safest thing is to have you all here.

The kids are in the back room.

What are you doing?

You're leaving?

Dad told us to stay here until he came back for us.

I know what he said.

But, James, listen to me.

You know how you're always begging me to let you do cool shit?

Well, I'm gonna need you to do some cool shit for me.

Thank you.

It's quite the scene out there.

Let's cut the bullshit.

Let's, yes, um...

Well, I'm glad that you called me in, because whatever's going on out there,

we're gonna need some carefully crafted messaging

to calm the collective anxiety of all of the--

I'm sorry, I thought we just agreed to cut the bullshit.

"Whatever's going on out there"?

Agent Collins is what's going on, so no need for us

to act like we don't know what's what.

Xavier?

Wowza.

Screw a guy in the shower, and he doesn't even tell you

when he's gonna topple the city-wide status quo.

Men, am I right?

I... I picked you up off the floor, Samantha.

You violated the privacy of my home?

Here's the thing.

You love this city. I love this city.

If we want to preserve it,

you need to go have a nice meal with your man

and find out what he's up to.

He just checked in at the diner.

Strange out there, huh?

The last time you were in, you barely touched your cheese fries.

You wanna try again?

I'm good with the steak, thanks.

You know, I thought I was gonna miss real meat more.

I actually don't mind this plant-based stuff.

-Puts on a pretty convincing show. -Xavier.

Plus, there's this thing...

it has been caught in my head, Doc.

It was this thing from before.

Before the world ended, when we used to eat real meat.

I can't stop thinking about how they used to catch the cows to butcher them.

And back then, you wouldn't let your mind go there, but now...

can't stop thinking about it.

I can picture it, what it must've looked like...

sounded like.

How they corralled them,

and they shrank the space smaller and smaller

until the animals broke.

They would line up single-file

and march down a chute to their death.

All that muscle, all that heft, and they just surrendered.

And it makes you wonder if that's what she did to us.

Led us down here, corralled us, and sent us to slaughter.

Xavier, what's going on? What happened?

The president is dead.