Previously onSalvation...Behold the savior
of the human race.
Dear God.
You destroyed the rail gun.No, you did.
You gave us the plans.
We still have 58 days to knock that bloody
space rock off its course.
DARIUS: I do have one last card left to play.
So we're gonna take a giant rocket ship,
bulk up its mass, and...
ram it into the asteroid.
But our scientists believe Tanz's plan
has a 20% chance of success.
Those federal bunkers, there's a spot for me,
but I can also bring my spouse and our children.
Grace, will you marry me?
The rail gun slugs you fired,
they're not gonna hit the asteroid.
The math is correct.
I personally checked it all.
The calculations used to program the rail gun
are the same ones we'll need to pilot the Ark,
and if they're off, then plan C...
Is no plan at all.
You're going up in the Ark? It's a suicide mission.
Whatever time I have left,
I want to spend with you.
The Ark is half mine!
I am the only one with the launch code.
No way in hell I'll ever give it to you.
[high-pitched humming]It's a sonic weapon.
Cover your ears!
Hello.JILLIAN [on phone]: Liam, it's me.
They have Darius.
DARIUS: Hummingbird.
What are you doing?!
I am Noah, and I believe you have my Ark.
DARIUS: What did I miss?
Something. It was right there.
No...
It all adds up.
Does it, though?
You promised you'd solve it.
You failed, Darius.
No, no, no, it's not over yet.
I-I, I just need a little more time.
We're out of time.
You're a fraud, Darius.
Never work for your heroes.
No, I-I'm-I'm not wrong.
Why? Because the great Darius Tanz can never be wrong?
I believed in you.
Wait. Wait, don't go.
I've almost got the answer. If I can--
If I can just solve for X...GRACE: You failed, Darius.
HARRIS: We're out of time. ALYCIA: You're a fraud, Darius.
The hummingbird is X.
[overlapping chatter]
JILLIAN: Never work for your heroes.
I just need to solve for X.
I'm not wrong. I can't be.
[whispering]: Darius.
Please stay with me.
I'm gonna get you out of here...
if it's the last thing I do.
[typing nearby]
Stop checking your phone.
We need to confirm these mass and velocity numbers.
How am I supposed to worry about math right now?
They'll get him back. Safe.
And even if we can figure out how to close
the communication gap with the Ark,
Darius comes home and, what, he hops on a suicide mission?
We still have time to figure out the communication gap.
It's not over yet.
[alarm sounds]
TESS: Ark hangar security breach.
Alycia, look.
What the hell?MAN: Out of the way,
get out of the way.[gunfire]
We're under siege.
We got to move. Come on.
MAN: Get on the ground!
Get down!
On the ground now!
[Nicholas chuckles]
Hello, Liam.
I told you we'd meet again soon.
You two?
NICHOLAS: Secure them.
Hey!
BASS: Liam... Please.
...it's time to accept.
[door opens]
[whispering]: Darius, we have to move now.
No. I can't leave my work.
Where are you going?
What does it matter, Nora? They left.
Bass and the rest of the selects, they're gone.
They're coming back for me.
Bass said I was chosen for Salvation.
It's a lie. They used us.
Like you used me? I know you took my key.
I know you snuck out. I will not be abandoned.
[gunshot][gasps]
MAN: Lay down your weapon...Stay there.
...and come out of the building with your hands over your head.
Don't move. I'll shoot.
I swear![gunshot] Aah!
[gunshot][body thuds]
MAN: Clear left? Status?
I got 'em.
Alonzo, I'm so sorry.
Darius?
Oh, my God.
I tried to stop them,
but they tortured him.
For what?
The launch codes.
They want the Ark.
But you didn't give them up... did you?
Salvation...
at last.
This can't be happening!
This can't be happening.
We have to stop them.Darius, hold on.
We got you.Grace.
Let's get him out of here.
[choking]
Darius?
Sit him back down.
Darius?
[monitor beeping]
Where am I?
Mr. Tanz, it's all right.
Just relax.
He's awake.
[sighs]
Grace.
I'm right here.
I thought I'd lost you.
I need to get word to Liam.
Bass and Nick want the Ark. We need to get to Tanz.
Wait. No, it can't wait.
Get me out of here before it's too late.
Darius... it is too late.
The Ark is gone.
No. No, this is just a dream.
I'm gonna wake up.
H-How long have I been here?
44 days.
44 days?
You had a seizure, and you've been sleeping ever since.
That means that the asteroid is going to hit...
In three days.
We're three days away
from the end of the world as we know it.
♪
It's just a painkiller, Mr. Tanz, for the headaches.
No, no, I don't want anything.
I need to-- I need to think straight.
What the hell did they do to him?
Sonic torture is a brutal but effective way
of breaking someone down without leaving scars.
Expect headaches, memory loss, hallucinations.
It's like he suffered a major concussion.
Ms. Barrows, we're getting ready
to close down here at the Pentagon.
People are going home to their families.
Of course. Thank you for everything
you and your staff have done. Mm-hmm.
[door opens]
Grace, what's the plan?[door closes]
How are we planning on stopping the asteroid
without the Ark?
We're not.
Nuclear weapons?
That's insane.
They'll destroy the planet,
breaking the asteroid into pieces,
killing billions.Yes, I know.
We all know.
Frankly, we're out of options.
People are taking refuge in bunkers all over the world.
Yet you're still here.
Till tonight.
You and Harris...
We're supposed to move into the government compound
with Zoe.
[high-pitched ringing]
Darius. [groans]
Darius?
[ringing continues]
Grace... we can't launch those nukes.
What?
Wait, wha...?
I need to talk to the White House.
Now.
HARRIS: We've determined that
one coordinated nuclear explosion
will be the most effective,
controlled from one central hub, the Pentagon.
[door opens]
DARIUS: It's madness, what you're planning.
Mr. Tanz.Darius.
Nuking the asteroid, you're dooming the planet.
Actually, we're saving the planet.
Mr. Tanz, our scientists assure us,
this is the best course of action.
Well, they're wrong.
We've assembled an international coalition
of every nuclear power; it's historic what...
Historic ineptitude is what it is!
You'll blow it to bits, create enough shrapnel
to wipe out billions!
So, what are you suggesting?
We just wait for impact?
What if I told you that you don't have
to launch those nukes?
That the asteroid is not going to hit Earth.
[group murmuring]
What?
I've been running the calculations in my head
why the rail gun slugs never hit.
There's a reason, because the original math
was correct, which tells me there's some...
some gravitational anomaly
or some unseen dark matter
that's causing the asteroid to...
to move off its initial course.
GRACE: Wait, you're saying the rail gun slugs missed
because the asteroid's course has shifted?
HARRIS: Impossible.
All right, DoD has been running calculations for months.
It's the only explanation.
[sighs]
The answer is in the math, which I'm trying to solve.
There's something there.
Darius, can you give us something concrete?
Anything that can be verified?
DARIUS: I'm working on it.
Hey, I'm nearly there.
It's just, uh,
I just need to solve for X...
TREY: Mr. Tanz? Unless you can prove
with some certainty that what you say is true,
with three days to go, we have to do the only thing
that can save some semblance of humanity and launch those nukes.
We load the bunkers up tonight.
We launch those nukes in 12 hours.
Godspeed, everyone.
[door opens]GRACE: Darius?
What you said in there.
You really believe Samson will miss us?
I won't know until I follow this last theory.
But I need help, Grace.
My head's not right.
HARRIS: Exactly.
Why are you filling Grace's head with nonsense?
It's not nonsense.
It's a mystery to be solved.
As all science is.
Harris, if there's even a scintilla of hope,
I got to follow it.
We need to get to that survival bunker tonight...
...if we don't want to lose those spaces.
Let me know what you decide.
What now, mad scientist?
[knocking on door]
Liam. What?
Darius.
Get off your asses, people.
It ain't over till it's over.
[typing]
The asteroid, I don't think is gonna hit us.
I have 12 hours to prove that to the Pentagon
before they launch nukes that will destroy the world...
Is that all?Wait. Hold on, slow down.
LIAM: How is that possible?
If I slow down, we run out of time.
I... I need you to not ask questions.
Just do what I tell you.Okay. Okay.
What do you need?
I want you to hack
the government's nuclear weapons upon launch.
The way RE/SYST hacked the Russian missiles?
There isn't enough time.
If RE/SYST did it once, then you can do it again.
No, that was all Nero.
He masterminded that entire escapade.
DARIUS: Then track him down.
Have you forgotten they disowned me?
And I don't even know who he is.
But you're the best. You can do it. Figure it out.
Meantime, Grace, come with me.
Where are we going?
We need to find a hummingbird.
Now.
[elevator bell chimes]Figure it out?
RADIO HOST: As final preparations are being made
for the asteroid's impending arrival,
businesses are closed and families are hunkering down.
This is our final broadcast
for WDCC, Washington, D.C.
See you on the other side.
At least I don't have to worry about finding a parking spot.
[sighs]
[quietly]: Okay.
GRACE: Darius?
You still haven't told me
what this has to do with the asteroid.
That's because I don't know... yet.
My unconscious mind is trying to tell me something.
To, to solve X.
X, X, and X is th-the hummingbird?
No. The hummingbird's the metaphor.
For a long time,
scientists believed hummingbirds defied physics.
It turns out, they just didn't understand the physics involved.
♪ Why do the stars glow above?
There they are.
♪ Don't they know
♪ It's the end of the world?
♪ It ended when I lost your...
ALYCIA: He's frozen me out.
What? I can't believe he's ignoring you.
This is the end of the world. You said it's urgent.
Well, for all we know, he's gone underground by now.
Just like everyone else.
Okay, well, you must have some idea who it is.
Right? After all this time?
It's not quite that simple.
Alycia, this isn't the time to be coy.
We are hours away from annihilation.
Okay, listen, Nero is a title. Not a person.
Meaning?
The mask gets passed from one leader to the next,
without the rank and file members
knowing the exact identity.
So no one person gets too much power.
You know I was next in line?
Until I was burned.
All this loyalty to an organization, I don't get it.
RE/SYST... was the closest thing to family
that I've ever known.
Or a loving relationship, for that matter.
Alycia.
I know you still love her.
Jillian.
[sighs, sniffles]
And it's okay.
Thank you for riding out the apocalypse with me.
There's not gonna be an apocalypse.
We just need to get Nero to bite.
[glass clinking]Oh, my God.
I know a hummingbird won't save the world, Grace.
But it came to you in a vision.
Yes, a-a message from my unconscious mind,
which I'm trying to unlock.
Now, scientists throughout history have cracked
their greatest conundrums through dreams, metaphors.
Bohr, Kekulé, even Einstein.
He dreamt the theory of relativity
long before he ever figured it out.
Imagine that.He saw himself
sledding down a snowy mountain faster than the speed of light
so that the stars would change their appearance around him.
And now Darius Tanz
has his dream to follow?
What about you?
What... dream are you following?
Harris, the marriage-- I did it for Zoe.
So she could have a safe place
and, I don't know, maybe some hope.
And you're going with them?
Unless you can give me a reason not to.
I'm working on it.
ZOE: Mom.
Darius.
Wh-What's happening?
Ah... there it is.
There it is. There it is.
What?Hummingbirds shouldn't be able to fly, yet they can.
The rail gun shouldn't have missed,
yet it did.
I'm so close
to a breakthrough, I can feel it.
[sharp ringing][grunts]
Darius? Darius.
[exhales]
DARIUS: They change direction, on any plane,
and move back, as if they haven't moved at all.
As if they're just hovering.
But the human eye can't see it.
The human eye can't see it.
That's it.
[shouts] Grace!
That's it.
What does it mean?
We need to call Antarctica.
Mom, is Darius okay?[door opens]
[door closes]
I don't know.
Should've hooked this thing up a long time ago.
Uh, Darius?
What, uh...
what's in Antarctica?
Ice T. Not the rapper.
A facility that studies neutrinos.
Neutrinos.
Invisible high-energy subatomic particles
given off by-by massive expenditures of energy,
you know, like, li-like supernova,
black holes, that sort of thing.
The lead researcher, Dr. Carson.
I need to talk to him.
Hopefully, he is still there.
WENDELL: Oh, crap. Hold on.
International Consortium of Transient Extreme Astrophysics,
Dr. Wendell Carson.
Please hold.Carson.
It's me, Darius Tanz.
Tanz?
I haven't seen you since you were on TV.
You were president, then you weren't.
That was weird.
Carson, there isn't much time. I-I-I need you to sober up.
Fat chance.
They left me here, Tanz. To die.
Carson, I'll send people for you,
the entire cavalry, if you can just help me here.
Did you record any unusual neutrino bursts
in the last few weeks?
Something in the...
in-in the ecliptic plane in Leo?
Neutrino spikes?Yes.
Oh, hell if I know.
Hey, are you all right, Tanz?
You look like you could use a drink, too.
Hey, Dr. Carson.
Hi. Uh, Grace Barrows, White House Senior Advisor.
I'm gonna need you to get yourself some coffee.
And get Mr. Tanz the information he needs.
This is the difference between life and death,
between the survival of the planet
and the end of the world as we know it.
Give me an hour, some caffeine,
and, uh, I'll look over the hard data.
I-I'll ring you back when I have an answer.
Okay, thank you.
Grace, I need, um...What?
I need to, uh... I-I need to sleep.
Here? Yes.
Grace.
How much time do we have left until they...
until they launch those nukes?
Seven hours.
There's something I need you to do for me.
Nothing? Still?
Come on, Alycia, there has to be some other way.
I've tried everything.
I've checked the old IRC rooms, I've sent up flares,
I've even left messages at the old dead drops.
Okay, what if, what if we went public?
What if we broadcasted wide?
Liam.
You could be in Rhode Island
in a few hours, in time to be with your mom.
We can't give up, Alycia, not now.
We're not... giving up.
All I'm saying is
that everyone should be
with someone they love in the end.
[computer alert chimes]
That's him, that's him.
NERO: LadyHawk,
Galileo, aren't you two a pretty pair?
You have 60 seconds. What do you want?
Darius Tanz has a plan, but the clock is ticking, literally,
and I have to believe that you do not want
to incinerate the planet any more than we do.
So what is this plan?
He doesn't think the asteroid is going to hit,
and he needs us, you, to hack those nukes,
like you did before,
and stop them destroying the planet unnecessarily.
Why should I believe anything you say?
It's the end of the world.
Why would I lie to you? Nero, bury the hatchet.
Before I do what you ask,
I'll need to verify what you're saying.
How are you gonna do that?
Leave that to me.
I'll be in touch shortly.
We got to tell Darius.
[chuckles]
One box. That's all we're allowed in the bunker.
Hard to decide what to take...
...what to leave.
Harris... Don't.
No apologies.
We had a deal. This was an arrangement
to keep you, Zoe, our grandchild safe.
Whatever's going on with you and Darius doesn't change that.
What's going on is that I'm trying to help him.
Help us.
And-and I will do everything and anything to stop...
The inevitable?
Grace.
Darius is talking nonsense.
All right, he's not well.
Maybe... or maybe not.
[exhales] God, Grace, it's time
to let go.
Look, this is not a dream, okay?
This is reality. We need to face it.
The one thing that's kept me going all this time,
the one and only thing, is hope.
And, yes, the shades are drawn, it's dark out there,
but there's still a sliver of light coming through,
and until that's gone, I'm not giving up on this world.
I'm sorry, I'm just not.
Now, Darius asked me to do one more thing for him.
Oh, God.I need to see Jillian.
She's still in lockup.
I'm aware. Isn't it time you let her go?
The government decided
not to release prisoners, in case...
In case what? The asteroid doesn't hit?
It's either coming or it's not.
Make up your mind.
[lock buzzes, latch clicks]
[door opens]
Grace.
[both sigh]
Are you okay? Yeah.
Hey, Darius. Darius, we found him.
We found Nero.
Liam.
Darius?
Are you...
Shh.
We tracked down Nero, asked him to hack nuclear weapons,
and you're sleeping?
Thinking. Putting the pieces together.
Waiting for Ice T, not the rapper or the drink.
Darius, everyone is running around like headless chickens
'cause you said the asteroid is not going to hit.
Yes. The hummingbirds led me
to Ice T and neutrinos and...
Now I'm nursing an incredible headache,
which I'm trying to work through, if you don't mind.
Jillian, the rail gun.
Something went wrong.
It wouldn't have worked anyway.
Darius wanted you to know
not to blame yourself for what's happening.
It would have happened anyway.
[crying]
Oh, my God.
It's okay, honey. It's okay.
I tried to keep him safe.He knows that.
He knows that.
I need you to tell me something.
When Darius was in that room,
did you notice him having
any hallucinations?
Yes.
Did he say anything coherent
while he was incoherent?
Oh, um, God, I don't know.
He mentioned hummingbirds, like, a lot. Yeah.
That much I got.
Is there anything else you can remember?
I don't know.
He said, "Get ready," like...
like he was preparing for something.
Get ready... for what?
JILLIAN: Grace.
Can you call my dad and, um...
and tell him that I love him?
Can you tell him
that I'm sorry for everything?
[lock buzzes, latch clicks]
Grace doesn't need to tell him.
You should do it yourself.
You're free to go, Jillian.
[crying]
Harris. Thank you for doing that.
They're shutting power down.
Grace, there's no new information.
Nothing's going to change.
We have to report to that bunker in less than five hours.
Are you coming with me or not?
I have to get this information back to Darius.
"Get ready."
It could mean something. If there's a reason
not to launch those nukes, we shouldn't do it.
Grace, the only thing standing
between us and the end of humanity
are those nukes, and I intend to launch them,
no matter what.
DYLAN: Not if I have anything to say
about it.
Dylan?
Hey, Dad.
Do you have any idea how much agony you've put me through?
You could've let me know you were alive.
It was my turn to assume the mantle of Nero.
I did what I had to do to protect our work
and my life.
The government killed our people, or have you forgotten?
You were behind all of it?
RE/SYST, taking the world hostage with those nukes.
I used my army like you used yours,
to get things done, and we did.
We built a solar sail with international cooperation.
You threatened to drop nuclear weapons on New York City.
It was a bluff.
All of it was.
I never intended to hurt anyone.
Why come back now?
I'm being asked to hack those nukes
to stop you from destroying the planet.
Asked? By who?
Darius Tanz.
[laughing]: This... this is insanity.
Literally.
There was a time where I would've done it
just because it was you.
But...
it's the end, Dad.
The stakes are way too high,
and... I'm gonna be a father.
You know?I went to see Zoe
to say good-bye, and she told me everything.
Dylan.
The leaders of the world have come together
to make one last attempt to save humanity,
exactly what RE/SYST wanted.
Credible, thoughtful minds
have come to this consensus,
and Darius is anything but right now.
We all wish there was a better way,
but the time for wishful thinking is over.
Zoe and I,
we're in this together.
And I want to be with her no matter what.
HARRIS: And you should be.
I have a place for you in a bunker.
I want you to take my spot, but, Dylan, those nukes,
they are the last best hope we have.
And in five hours,
I'm going down to that war room and doing my job.
Come hell or high water.
What the rest of you do, it's up to you.
[crying]
ALYCIA: Liam?
We need to tell Nero to call this off.
[footsteps approaching]
Liam, look at him.
He's making no sense.
Those nukes will at least give the people in the bunkers
a fighting chance.
My last hours, and I let... Don Quixote
take me on another one of his wild rides.
I'm sorry.
Everything we've done...
...solar sails, gravity tractors, EmDrives, rail guns,
what the hell has any of it amounted to?
[laughs]
Nothing.
[quietly]: Nothing.
Nothing!
[gasps]
[crying]
It's over.
I'm sorry.
JILLIAN: Liam?
Jillian.
[crying]
I came to say good-bye.
Don't go. Please.
[insects chirping]
GRACE: You sure this is what you want?
To be with him?
We'll take care of each other, no matter what.
What about you?
You should be with the one that you love also, Mom.
Zoe, I...
I've made my decision.
I'm not leaving you.
Mom.
I don't need you.
But Darius does.
And if you still believe that there is hope...
...go.
[crying]
[quietly]: It's time.
[phone ringing]
TESS: Darius, you have an incoming call,
from International Consortium of Transient Extreme Astrophysics.
Darius? Darius.
Ice T is calling.
Crap.
Tanz. I almost gave up there.
Sorry. Carson, wh-what did you find?
The damnedest thing.
You were right, about the neutrino burst.
There were two, actually, that coincided
with the activity you mentioned.
Only, these bursts happened inside our solar system.
I've never seen anything like it.
LIAM: Okay, so there was
a massive burst of energy...
At exactly the same time the rail gun slugs
missed the asteroid.
Meaning what?
I was right.
Carson, thank you. I'll be in touch.
You're sending the...
Liam, can't you see? Our math was correct.
The asteroid did move.
But the trajectory, it hasn't changed.
Exactly.
Because it's a hummingbird.
It moved, and then it moved back.
Oh, that's... that's crazy talk.
Yeah, the only kind we have left, it seems.
Okay, all right, fine. Suppose you're right.
What do we do?
So long as Nero is stopping those nukes,
we're all right, for the moment.
But he's not stopping them.
DARIUS: What?
In less than an hour, Harris is gonna push that button.
No! No, w-we can't let him. No. Come on.
We have to... This is it. T-This is the moment!
We have to go now!
Who's coming with me?
Me.
I'm going.
What the hell? Count me in.
Okay.Okay. Alycia, come on.
You know, I'm good here.
Good luck.
Sir, the access codes to the global nuclear arsenal
have been confirmed.
All silos are on line,
and all submarines are at launch depth.
Awaiting your order.
Thank you, General.Yes, sir.
[tires screeching]
Ugh, damn it, I thought the loading dock was our way in.
Try the south entrance.Everything's been locked down.
This is it. This is the way in.
What are you doing?
What do you think? Hold on.
JILLIAN: Oh, my God!
[tires screeching]
SOLDIER: You in that vehicle! Hands up in the air!
SOLDIER 2: Hands where we can see 'em!Ms. Barrows?
President Tanz?Gentlemen,
we need to speak to Secretary Edwards right now.
Ladies and gentlemen,
we will endure.
But make no mistake:
what happens here in the next few minutes
will change the world forever.
DARIUS: Harris, stop!
Damn it, Darius, you really are insane.
No, he's not.
I've got the proof that I need. There isn't enough time
to fully explain, but you need to call off the launch.
Darius, you have to fully explain,
otherwise it's happening.
I need one reason not to destroy that asteroid. One.
[quietly]: Because...
...it's not an asteroid.
[whispers]: What?
♪
Abort launch.Sir.
You heard me. Abort launch. Stand down the missiles.
All of them. Do it!
You heard the man. Abort launch.
Notify all personnel to stand down.
MAN: Command Alpha-Zero, abort all.
MAN 2: Copy that, abort. Stand down.
MAN 3: Abort launch. All personnel, stand down.
MAN 4: Affirmative, Alpha-Zero. Abort confirmed.
[quietly]: What have I done?
Let's go and find out, shall we?
[chuckles softly]
♪
It stopped.
What's it doing?
Hovering.
[laughs softly] Like a hummingbird.
If it's not an asteroid, what the hell is it?
Whatever it is...
...it's here.
Captioning sponsored by CBS
and TOYOTA.
Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org