Perception

Subs created by: David Coleman.

Who can tell me why we're having movie day?

Uh, you wanted to show us how you spent your summer vacation?

And people wonder why mad scientists abuse their assistants.

Sit down, Lewicki.

I showed those clips to pose,

one of the most fundamental questions we'll explore this semester.

What is an abnormal brain?

And how does having one affect behavior?

It could turn someone into a monster, like Mr. Karloff here.

But, more likely, it manifests in less dramatic ways.

Some abnormalities are structural, so they show up on a brain scan or an autopsy,

but others are sneakier and more insidious.

They're Neurochemical in nature, so we don't always know they're there.

Some of these abnormalities may be treatable with surgery or pills.

But one thing is certain.

Unlike old Doc Frankenstein...

We can't exchange one brain for another.

Like it or not, we are stuck with the three pounds of cauliflower we were born with.

Hot-guy alert.

At your desk. New assistant U.S. Attorney.

And... he's not wearing a wedding ring.

- What? - Yeah.

You look great, Kate.

What are you doing here, Donnie?

You guys already know each other?

This is my soon-to-be ex-husband.

And however soon that is, it will never be soon enough.

Okay, well, um, I think I'm gonna... go.

I was really hoping to avoid this exact moment of awkwardness.

Ha! How's that working out for you?

I got transferred back from D.C. a few weeks ago. And since I'm...

Pretty sure I'm the last person that you want to see, I've been avoiding you.

I got to say, I think that's a pretty great strategy.

Only now, it turns out I need your help.

You always want something, don't you, Donnie?

I'm retrying a capital-murder case that got overturned on appeal.

I need an expert psych witness.

Word in the building is you know the perfect guy.

Daniel, my man. You are looking good.

- Have you been working out? - What do you want, Paul?

What makes you think I want something?

Okay. I need a wing man.

Did hell freeze over and I missed it?

Oh, come on now just hear me out all right?

I met this woman... Elaine.

Beautiful, intelligent, and I finally got her to agree to go out with me,

but only if I bring a friend for... her friend.

Paul, are you on peyote?

No. Wh-why?

The "Romanian foreign-exchange student" incident?

That was 25 years ago. How do you even remember that?

Because, as anyone who's read Proust knows,

memories are triggered by the olfactory glands.

Bad memories, every time I smell garlic I think of Olga.

- No no, no, I know what this is all about. - Oh, do you?

You are nervous about meeting someone new.

But you've been on your meds for nine months now, and you're looking good.

You're feeling good. So, it's time, you know, to get back in the game, buddy.

Not gonna happen, Coach.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have an appointment.

- Skank got what she deserved! - Hey, just stay back! Hold it!

Meet Billy Flynn, member of the Road Ragers motorcycle gang.

Long history of violence.

- He's got a gun! - Oh!

When CPD went to arrest him,

he pulled a gun and accidentally shot himself under the chin

.22 caliber round lodged in his brain, but, miraculously, he survived.

Really? What was the damage?

That's the crazy part... oh. Sorry. It's a figure of speech.

I'm familiar with it.

He made a complete recovery, and then five years ago,

a federal jury sentenced him to death.

For doing what, exactly?

His wife, Amy Flynn.

After she left him, he tracked her down in Milwaukee,

dragged her back to Chicago, tortured her for three days...

And then brutally strangled her.

And they say chivalry is dead. Where do I come in?

Some lefty, anti-death-penalty lawyer convinced an appellate court

to give this scumbag a new trial based on "ineffective assistance of counsel".

Apparently, his first attorney never requested a competency hearing.

And you want me to determine if he's mentally fit to stand trial a second time.

I'm the FBI liaison to the assistant U.S. Attorney who's handling the case.

We want you to evaluate Flynn and be the government's expert witness.

Ah, yeah, now, let... yeah, I'm not sure that I...

Daniel come on, now, listen I know that you are not a fan of the federal government,

or of appearing in public, or a lot of things, but...

This is a very bad guy that we're talking about here,

and I could really use your help.

Well...

It's not every day I get to examine someone who survived a bullet to the brain.

Well, hopefully you can contain your excitement,

because we can't get in to see Flynn until tomorrow.

But I was wondering if you just felt like getting a cup of tea, catching up.

It's been a while.

I'd like that.

But I can't. I've, uh, got a previous engagement.

Oh.

Man: I am exploring the dialectic of a post-colonial symbiosis...

Between the otherness of the object and the objectification of the other...

Daniel: Uh, Caroline. You want to get the hell out of here?

You have no idea how much.

Its dialectic roots are as epistemologically reductive.

As they are reductively epistemological.

Oh, the things I could have done with that hour of my life.

I could have arranged my books in the order in which I bought them...

Learned to count to 100 in Sanskrit.

Or written an epistemologically reductive analysis of the phone book!

What?

Mm.

- This is terrible. - Thank you very much.

I don't mean the kiss. The kiss was great.

- You're gonna have to fill me in. - Oh, come on, Daniel you know what I mean.

I was your psychiatrist.

You haven't been my psychiatrist for months, we agreed to be friends.

But maybe that was a mistake.

I knew it was ethically and emotionally dicey given your relationship with Natalie.

Natalie was a delusion.

Based on a chance encounter you had with me 25 years ago.

And now when you look at me, you see her. You're obviously confused.

I have never been clearer in my life.

You are Caroline Newsome. You grew up in Grosse Pointe.

- You have terrible taste in music. - I do not.

Olivia Newton-John, Air Supply. Need I go on?

You're a brilliant diagnostician with a soft spot for stray animals,

but you can't have pets because you're allergic.

You hate Cilantro, you're impatient with cab drivers, and you smell like lavender.

I am falling for you, Caroline, and I'm pretty sure you feel the same.

But if you want to ignore that to avoid crossing some arbitrary ethical line,

well, then, I'll walk away... right now.

But I'm not confused. I know exactly who you are.

And where have you been all night?

Lewicki, you do realize this is my house.

And that I'm a grown man with no curfew.

Okay, but I was worried sick, Doc. The least you could have done is call.

Okay, mother. Next time, I'll call.

You got laid.

I beg your pardon?

Oh, yeah, you did. You got laid.

I mean...

Up top, Doc. Come on.

- No, I am not... - Up top. Hey, right here, come on.

- Mm! - So, who's the lucky lady?

Please tell me your full name...

And the date and place of your birth.

William Hollis Flynn.

June 10, 1977, Danville, Illinois.

Do you know why I'm here?

To make sure my brain's working good so I can stand trial again.

That's correct.

I'm gonna ask you some questions to test your memory and cognition, all right?

Yes, Sir.

What day of the week is it?

Uh, it's Thursday.

Can you name all the cities you've ever lived in?

I grew up in Chicago, and I was in Lexington...

In a trial, do you know what a prosecutor's job is?

Yeah, try and put criminals like me in jail.

Count backwards from 100 in groups of 3.

94, 91...

- 88... - Can I have a look at that?

Did you always like to draw?

No. Just since I been in prison.

So after you got shot?

Yeah, I guess so.

A friend asks if he can borrow your new car.

- What do you do? - If I don't need it, then, sure, why not?

Someone you just met invites you over for dinner.

They're making eggplant. You hate eggplant. What do you say?

I never had eggplant.

Well, imagine you that you had and you really couldn't stand the taste.

Well, I guess I'd ask if they had something else, or...

Maybe I'd pretend like I liked it so that I didn't hurt their feelings.

Billy, do you know why you're on trial?

Because I killed Amy.

Why did you do it?

Because I was angry, I guess, because... because she left, you know?

But all the bad things I done to her,

I can't blame her for wanting to get away from me.

And when I woke up in the hospital, I just kept asking myself over and over...

"What kind of person does that"...

"To somebody they love?"

What the hell was all that eggplant crap?

I need to get him to the university for a brain scan.

- Are you nuts? - Hey! Cool it.

You asked Daniel to do this. Let him do it his way.

You know what a bureaucratic nightmare that is, Kate.

I'd have to file a writ of temporary release, get an escort.

Oh, gee, I'm so sorry if you'd have to expend a

little effort for once in your life, Donnie.

Wait a minute. Are you that Donnie?

- Is he that Donnie? - Yes, he's that Donnie.

So you talk about me.

Okay, "that Donnie". Here's the deal.

- I need an MRI. - Why?

It seemed pretty clear to me in the first two minutes that the guy is competent.

Hell, he's downright articulate.

You have more than enough to form an expert opinion.

Exactly, expert. I'm the expert.