I'm Tom Swift, inventor, billionaire,
shoe collector extraordinaire.
But none of that was good enough for my dad.
I thought if I built him a spaceship to Saturn
I could earn his love.
But his mission ended tragically, or so I thought.
Turns out it was sabotage.
My father survived the attack
and sent me a message capsule
with the data I need to rescue him from space.
But it exploded when it entered the atmosphere.
Now I have to find
the pieces of that capsule and reassemble my dad's message.
A global conspiracy called The Road Back
is standing in my way,
so I can only trust my squad:
My best friend Zenzi, my bodyguard Isaac,
my adopted brother Lino, and my AI Barclay.
Together we're going to find my father
and bring him home.
(birds singing)
♪ Uh-huh ♪
♪ Oh, yes, honey ♪
♪ P-nah p-nah p-nah p-nah p-nah p-nah ♪
♪ Puh-puh-puh-puh ♪
♪ Peanut butter... ♪
This was not the plan, Tom. Get up!
♪ On a hardwood floor ♪
ZENZI: (laughs) What happened?
We took the wrong turn,
then we got caught in a chalk powder fun run,
then we were chased by the cops,
and wound up in a crop field
where you tripped and bumped your head.
Where is my grandfather's
original 1967 Swift Enterprises magnetic locator?
You mean the one that you said was reprogrammed to detect
the capsule piece's signature copper alloy?
♪ P-nah p-nah p-nah p-nah Puh-puh-puh-puh ♪
Hmm?
It was not.
♪ P-nah p-nah, puh-puh-puh-puh ♪
♪ Peanut butter ♪
Zenzi...
where is my custom red Bentley?
I waited six damn months for that, okay?
♪ 'Cause jam don't shake ♪
♪ Spread that jelly, spread it good ♪
♪ Peanut butter head... ♪
Don't ask.
♪ Work that trunk ♪
♪ Your Daddy's in jail ♪
♪ Raising hell ♪
♪ And your sister on the corner ♪
♪ Sister on the corner selling ♪
♪ Oh, yes, honey ♪
♪ P-nah p-nah p-nah p-nah p-nah p-nah ♪
♪ Puh-puh-puh-puh ♪
♪ Peanut butter... ♪
I'll ask about that crime against calfskin later.
Did we at least get the fourth capsule piece?
♪ Pay my dues ♪
(exhales)
Let's get to the airstrip and go.
♪ My Manolo Blahniks too ♪
♪ RuPaul, Paul. ♪
(hissing)
(electronic chirps)
AUTO-ATTENDANT: Decontamination complete.
Gonna finish getting cleaned up.
(phone chimes)
Ah. Lino says he and Mom are almost done
sourcing alloy for my father's rescue drone.
Glad something's going right.
You know, if you had only waited for Barclay
to come back online, we could've tracked
the capsule piece accurately.
Okay, we don't have time to figure out why
Barclay deactivated himself.
In three days, Earth will be at apogee.
I can send an unmanned rescue drone
to Saturn to save my dad.
We still have two pieces left to find before we can assemble
the full message capsule to locate him.
How are we going to do that
without Barclay?
I've tried jump-starting Barclay's OS,
but nothing's worked.
The only person
who might have answers... is Rowan.
You just want a reason to look at his face again.
No.
You know what?
(sighs) Barclay, who am I?
Barclay, are you shut down because of Rowan?
(drone chirps twice)
Are you responding to the name Rowan?
(chirps twice)
Rowan.
I have tried texting-- you know who--
and he's not even ghosting me.
He's gone full corpse.
(laughing) Okay, all right.
Well, while you're waiting for
the Ghost of Kissmas Past to hit you back,
you should talk to Isaac
about how you almost put your mouth on his mouth.
You've been avoiding him all day.
Oh.
You're talking avoidance?
Wasn't Congressman- who-could-get-it Eskol
blowing your phone up all mission?
Uh... no.
Those text pings blew our cover.
Those were reminders, and I stay on silent.
(scoffs) If you want us to have a chance of
getting those capsule pieces,
figure things out between you and Isaac.
(phone buzzing)
(mouths)
Rowan...
I have questions.
ROWAN (over phone): And I have answers.
I'm at your front gate. I need to speak with you.
Alone.
Let me put my Rowan uniform on.
(groaning)
TOM: Why did your blood fix the antidote that saved Isaac?
And why were you there in 2019 when Isaac saved my dad?
The Road Back injects their operatives
with a thallium antidote to build a tolerance.
And in 2019, I was assigned to tail Barton.
So you've been stalking my family for years.
Why did Barclay shut down
seconds after I said your name?
I will help you fix your AI if you help me first.
Are you familiar with Andrita Lehman?
The electromagnetics pioneer?
Yes. She's brilliant.
That's why The Road Back
plans to force her to make a dangerous weapon.
She's a target.
TOM: We have The Road Back's hit list
and Andrita Lehman
isn't on it.
You think that's the only list?
The Road Back is targeting hundreds of innovators.
And Andrita, she's...
She's my family.
(inhales)
So your family member just happens to be
a scientist targeted by a deadly global conspiracy?
I altered the intel on her location to buy us time.
Please.
I have no resources to help her
on my own.
But you do, Tom.
Why should I believe anything that you say?
What if I told you something that could get me killed?
When I found out about Andrita,
I also discovered that the head of The Road Back...
(sighs) ...is Susannah Robb.
Our biggest investor, Susannah Robb?
(stammering): What are you saying?
I took these in Eskol's office.
Susannah's family trust transferred
tens of millions of dollars
to Eskol's congressional campaign.
She basically bought him that office.
He owes her favors.
And her idea of a favor is a killing spree.
She used Eskol's company to attack my dad's ship.
You once told me I was on the wrong side.
I agree.
I'll help you fix Barclay after you help me fix this.
We have to get to Andrita before The Road Back does.
Please.
♪ ♪
Susannah "no volume in her hair" Robb
is the head of The Road Back.
Unbelievable.
She's been coming and going from Swift Enterprises
as a VIP guest for weeks.
(chuckles) And you know, Eskol pretended
like he just meet her the other day.
Unless maybe she doesn't tell him everything.
No.
They know each other well.
Sorry. I was listening.
Or maybe his little dates were also just an act.
(gasps) Rude.
Tom, come get your friend.
(chuckles)
Tom.
Hmm?
Answer.
why did you wear that shirt to go undercover?
Are we doing camouflage for a cotton candy factory?
(chuckling)
I know you ain't cracking jokes
in that Dress-for-Less suit.
Ho, ho, ho.
You look like a Kool-Aid accident.
Okay.
Not y'all two bonding. Ugh.
Anyways, Rowan the entertainer,
you said you altered Andrita's info with The Road Back,
right?
Why?
Andrita's keycard hasn't been swiped at her lab
in over a month.
What?
two days ago in a strip mall parking lot.
Well, when did she go off the grid?
ROWAN: I don't know.
I... I wasn't tracking her before this.
I came to you as soon as her name showed up on the list.
Is there security camera footage?
All the cameras had been disabled.
If that's accurate, it might be too late to save her.
♪ ♪
♪ Yeah, when you the GOAT ♪
♪ They don't want to smoke ♪
♪ I'm Tom Brady, watch me win one more ♪
♪ I'm Tiger Woods in the hood, know I'm good ♪
♪ I'm Drew Brees, this a breeze, understood ♪
♪ When you the GOAT. ♪
Hey, before we get there,
I just want to clear the air between us.
The air is pretty clear out here in Seattle, isn't it?
I...I'll bet you a Prada bag that the house
with the dedicated fiber optic line is hers.
(soft whirring)
ROWAN: What are those for?
Motion detection and video.
To keep an eye on the perimeter.
Andrita... business goals.
Mm!
When I get my life together like she has hers,
baby, it's over for all of you.
Door's open. Get behind me.
Oh, no.
They were here already.
Hey, stop right there!
Tom Swift?
TOM: Yeah.
Why the hell are you in my home?
TOM: You're in danger, girl.
We thought you were missing, and...
(whispering): Shh. I'm not missing.
I'm on leave.
Come. Come here.
(shushing)
Would you stop organizing?
I like it that way.
(baby cooing)
I-I just can't let a woman on my vision board
leave yesterday's sandwich on her table.
I have insider information on The Road Back.
I came to Tom and his friends for help
once I discovered you were on their hit list.
And who are you, exactly?
You don't recognize him?
We can deal with that later.
All of The Road Back's targets are tech leaders
at the top of their field,
just like you.
Your expertise
in electromagnetism, hovercrafts...
We believe they want to manipulate your science
to create a weapon.
A weapon?
Even if this
shadowy cabal wanted the hovercrafts that I discussed,
the metal alloy that's needed for levitation...
doesn't exist...
We're not playing you.
ISAAC: These people came after Tom's father and made it
look like an accident.
Andrita, when will your husband be home?
My "husband" is a half-empty tube
in a freezer near Seattle.
TOM: Okay.
See, we stan a queen who does it all.
(laughs)
Just about all.
Hey, this chaos is my biggest achievement.
You'd be surprised at what you can achieve
when you let go of what you thought "perfect"
was gonna look like.
I chose me
instead of delaying my future.
I also never have to share takeout, so...
(alarm beeping)
I set up surveillance around the perimeter
of your property.
The motion sensor just got tripped.
(chimes)
The Road Back. They found you.
Let's go, come on.
They're a hundred yards out.
What if I talk to them
and explain that my research,
it can't be weaponized?
is one of their best assassins.
He'll kill you just to make sure.
Andrita, where do you keep
the baby's food?
The-the bottles? The formula?
Andrita!
We have to go before
we have no choice but to fight.
Then we split up.
And you take my baby with you.
I can't put my baby in harm's way.
And if they're after me,
then splitting up will buy you time to escape
by leading them away.
(baby crying)
Splitting up is the only way this works.
I would never build anyone a weapon willingly,
but if they get to my baby...
I'll help Andrita escape.
Then you'll have to stay hidden
until we can get you back to your baby.
We got to go now.
(crying): I love you so much, Kahlil.
Mommy loves you so much.
Here, keep him safe, please.
Oh. (gasping)
go out the back window. It leads to the lake, okay?
Here, take this with you.
I promise we're gonna get your son back to you, okay?
(pounding on door)
ISAAC: Come on, go.
(pounding on door)
TOM: Come on, Lil' K.
Look...
I made you a world-class stroller with more mods
than my dad's rocket ship and you're still not happy, huh?
(crying)
(crunching)
(laughing)
Okay. Word. Yeah.
These are my favorite, too.
Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm.
Okay, okay, all right. I heard you.
New baby swaddle time. (chuckling)
My dad and I invented this blanket for NASA.
The material's a classified synthetic that, apparently,
newborns love.
(cooing)
I made my fair share of Lino Burritos. (laughs)
(chimes)
(Kahlil babbling)
ISAAC: Rowan checked in on the secure line.
Andrita's safe and he's on his way back.
Also, um, hit me back real quick,
if you have a minute.
All right, Lil' K. Real talk.
(Kahlil cooing)
I shouldn't talk to Isaac about the whole
mouths hovering, near-miss make-out on him, right?
(Kahlil burps, babbles)
Exactly.
That would just make it weird.
(Kahlil burps, babbles)
Right, because...
What if it did mean something? (chuckles)
And what if I messed everything up?
(door clangs)
Bruh... Why would you enter all loud like that?
And don't be slamming my door like you pay bills.
ROWAN: Sorry.
How is he? (scoffs)
He was about to take a nap until someone decided to
stampede in like Black Beauty.
(Kahlil crying)
♪ Lala toto lala ♪
♪ Mama anakuja lala ♪
♪ Lala toto lala ♪
♪ Akupe maziwa lala ♪
♪ Pamoja na uji lala. ♪
It's a Kenyan lullaby.
That was...
...beautiful.
Beauty doesn't exist where I'm from.
A child's innocence is gone
from the moment they enter this Earth.
But Kenya seems like a wonderful place to grow up.
Born there.
Grew up... elsewhere.
Somewhere like where Andrita's from?
Why did you lie
about being a part of her family?
She didn't even know who you were.
Tom, leave it.
I'm trying to keep you safe.
(knocking on door)
AGENT: Tom Swift?
This is the FBI. We just want to talk.
(knocking on door)
♪ ♪
Go hide in the study with Kahlil
until I get rid of them.
Isaac, Zenzi, put on your com-strips
and get down here.
The FBI is here and they want to talk.
You don't have to let them in.
We do that and it's a whole world of problems for us.
Oh, that's right, you're new here.
Hands on the wheel.
Yes, officer; no, officer;
and nothing about Andrita Lehman.
That's how we get rid of them.
(toy squeaks)
(panting)
(comm chirps)
Andrita Lehman's nanny found signs
of forced entry at the door.
And there was evidence of a struggle.
Oh.
Your jet wasn't in Seattle on a private airstrip?
Oh. (chuckles)
We're considering a West Coast hub for Swift Enterprises.
Yes, the Swift Horizons incubator
is launching multiple...
each of you separately? This'll go faster.
So you want to interrogate us?
We're just having conversations.
Starting with you.
Hmm?
♪ ♪
So you were looking for office space
in a remote area, near Andrita Lehman's home?
Near is a relative term.
I'm calling my lawyer.
(line ringing)
(phone buzzing)
(beeps)
Hey. I was, uh, starting to think
you'd lost your phone.
Hi. Uh, as my attorney,
I need you to give me some legal advice.
(chuckles) Uh-oh.
ZENZI: There are
some lovely FBI agents here at Swift Manor
who have offered many theories, but no warrant.
Do I have to talk to them?
Okay. Uh...
No, well, if they don't have warrants,
they, uh, can't conduct interviews.
My lawyer says no warrants,
no interview.
He's the best.
ESKOL: Zenzi, what's going on?
Uh, it's just a conversation.
I, um...
I know you've been wanting to work with me more closely,
which could be possible, if you can prove you're good...
...at-at your job.
But if you're not, then I'll have to move on.
(sighs) Okay.
Can-can we talk in person?
We can discuss our partnership later.
Goodbye.
No...
Maybe I should look for your mother and brother.
Hmm?
Ask them what they know about Andrita Lehman.
(sighs)
They're out of town at the moment.
Oh.
Listen, off the record,
I know you were at her house.
You want to start being honest with me?
25 weeks at Quantico and "off the record"
is your best interrogation technique?
(chuckles) Hmm.
You wouldn't last two weeks, let alone 25.
It's 20.
Quantico is 20 weeks,
which you would know if you were a real FBI agent.
(phone chimes)
TOM (over com-strip): Isaac, they're not FBI.
I took out this agent.
Stall the other.
Hey.
Hey, who are you people?
ISAAC: Hey, what's going on?
What did you do?
I've disabled all the security on the property.
You're officially off the grid.
Where are Andrita and the baby?
TOM: Far...
far away.
Where you will never find them.
(Tom chuckling)
Meanwhile,
my friends and I have to...
(quietly): Take cover.
♪ ♪
TOM: I have a plan.
Go to the elevator!
(grunting)
(groaning)
(both yell)
(groaning)
(Kahlil crying)
Okay, the flash bomb was rigged
with the same tech from the infrasonic cannon.
It should keep their inner ears spinning
while we get to the observatory.
ZENZI (over com-strip): Tom, Isaac!
Ah! I stayed
to stall them.
(moaning)
Ah!
I can see them.
I can take out the agent and maybe get my hands on Signet
so Zenzi can run.
TOM (over com-strip): Stand down.
I have an idea for how to get Zenzi and keep us all safe.
Isaac,
do you know where I keep my favorite massage oil?
ISAAC (over com-strip): Your what?
My silicon-based invention that allows for components
to enter smoothly into... chambers?
It, uh, rhymes with tube.
Wow.
My God. Yes. Yes, I know where you keep it.
We're going to church when Lorraine gets back.
Great. That. Get all of it and meet me in the observatory.
(Kahlil crying)
(electronic chirp)
Come on.
You'll keep the baby safe in the wine cellar.
Hang on, sis. We're coming.
(groaning)
Get up! Fight it.
ZENZI: Sit your ass back down!
(grunting)
Tom, this has to work.
I am not going to let anything happen to Zenzi.
ROWAN (over com-strip): What's the plan? Divert and run?
Hell nah. We're not running.
You're going to stay hidden and safe.
And we're going to protect this house
and everyone in it.
The sound pulse will gradually lose strength.
Those bad guys won't stay down for long.
We have one shot to save Zenzi.
We're going to need something small and fast.
Swift Enterprises Planet-X Speeders.
I designed these at MIT to bring hand lotion
whenever I was feeling ashy on campus.
I'll modify them to spray
the frictionless, silicone-based lube--
I mean, "massage oil"--
I invented for Howard Homecoming.
(whirring)
All right, the floor's covered.
TOM: I have never
let another man wear my shoes.
Especially my Jordans.
But, for Zenzi,
I'll make an exception.
These aren't going to hold up on your... lube.
They will with the traction compound.
Nothing But Bondage.
A nano-epoxy resin I made for the tires on my Turbo S
back when I street raced.
I was undefeated, baby.
♪ ♪
Isaac,
why are you not wearing my Jordans, bruh?
I'm not wearing your damn shoes.
(hissing)
Zenzi, based on my very,
very good math, the battery powering
the sonic pulse is about to shut down.
When it does, run for the elevator
like Michael B. Jordan is next door
and Lori Harvey just left him for one of Diddy's kids.
(grunts)
(panting)
(crackling)
Keep your hands to yourself, bitch!
(grunting)
TOM (over com-strip): Lead them into
the lubed-up hallway,
and then slide.
You just had to say "lubed-up"?
Ah!
Zenzi!
(breathing heavily)
(grunts)
Sending power to the elevator.
(elevator chimes)
The first agent is still unconscious in the dining room.
We should tell Rowan to be on the lookout for Signet.
SIGNET: That won't be necessary.
I found that passage
to the cellar, where he was hiding like a coward.
(Zenzi grunting)
Rowan's alive. For now.
The Road Back has their own way of dealing with betrayal.
Now get me the scientist.
(electricity buzzing)
(Kahlil crying)
We can work this out.
You don't have to involve the baby.
Get me Andrita Lehman, now!
(buzzing)
(groans)
Stop, stop!
(pants)
or I drop him.
TOM: Okay.
Swift voice command activate: engage backup generator.
Turn the amplitude to maximum wattage.
(panting)
(Kahlil continues crying)
We'll bring Andrita Lehman to you.
I just have one question.
(soft buzzing)
Ever wish you could fly?
(grunts)
No!
(screaming) Oh, God.
(Kahlil laughing, cooing)
(cooing)
Andrita said levitation wasn't possible
unless the correct metal alloy existed for it to work.
Well, it does.
With the space blanket.
I tuned the EM wave
to repel the blanket's magnetic signature,
achieving... levitation.
(Kahlil giggling)
ZENZI: Hmm.
So now we're friends, huh?
ISAAC: He's alive.
We'll secure him until Rowan gets Andrita out of hiding
and brings her back here.
Thank you, Isaac.
And I can make sure
we have a clear window by telling The Road Back
that Andrita's still in the wind.
And I'll get the jet ready
to take the Lehman family to safety.
Or...
...do you want to take care of the jet,
and I'll, um,
secure that man in the elevator for you...
I'll take the man in the elevator.
Talk to him. Please.
I don't have a lot of people like Isaac in my life.
Yeah.
If we tell each other the truth,
then what if I hurt him?
What if I say the wrong thing,
and he just...
Tom, who cares?
You can't probability your way through emotion.
You two can handle a grown-man conversation.
Isn't that right?
(Kahlil coos)
Go on. I got this.
(sighs)
Yeah, he's gonna be just fine.
Two grown men.
(knocking on door)
(gasps) Nathan?
What are you doing here?
Can-can I come in?
On our first date,
I, uh, I told you that Native Son showed me
that we can't heal our nation
unless we start from truth, right?
Well, the truth is I'm living in fear.
In fear of what?
A secret organization called The Road Back.
Zenzi,
they own me.
The things that they make me do, I...
I can't have a life until I'm free of them.
What are you talking about?
For the longest time, I...
I've numbed myself to the compromises I've made.
Morally and...
And then I met you.
And I realized that I don't want to compromise anymore
because I want to be worthy of a future with you.
But for there to be any way that's gonna happen,
I need to get out of The Road Back.
Will you help me?
What do I have to do to prove to you that this is real?
Tell me who is the head of The Road Back.
I...
I tell you that and...
...everything changes.
Susannah Robb.
I already knew that.
What?
Thank you for telling me the truth.
I am done lying.
♪ ♪
So am I.
♪ ♪
(buzzing)
(on voice mail): Hi, it's Zenzi.
I can't come to the phone right now,
but if you leave me a message,
I'll call you back as soon as I can.
Hey.
I owe you a talk.
Hey, you don't owe me anything.
(sighs)
That moment that we had the other day
when we almost kissed.
I just want you to know
that you are really important to me.
And you're important to me, too.
I care about you...
I love you.
Just not like that.
Are you upset at that?
At how weird things have been between us.
(laughing)
Tom, your life is my first priority
from the moment I wake up, to the moment I go to bed.
And getting involved,
that would complicate things and put you at risk.
I don't want that to happen.
And I agree. Look,
I don't want my life at risk, either.
I'm too cute to die.
(laughing)
It would've been a... good kiss though.
Felt real in the moment.
Because only Denzel
could pull that level of acting off.
Unless you were thinking about somebody else.
Huh?
And if you were...
...maybe you should go tell them.
Mm-hmm.
(sighs, clears throat)
(gasps)
And you saved mine.
With our combined research for levitation.
Consider this a formal invitation
to Swift Enterprises' desire
to invest.
As long as you stay in hiding until things are safe,
you can practice all the science you want.
And I've already fabricated new identities for both of you,
so that way, you can live a life.
Thank you.
But where exactly is "safe hiding"?
TOM: Hmm.
How about Kenya?
I heard the Great Rift Valley is a thing of beauty.
And they've got some dope lullabies, too.
(Kahlil cooing)
♪ ♪
Hey.
Oh. (stammering)
I told you not to open the door without...
I thought you were my food delivery.
Sorry. Uh, it's okay.
I, uh... I had to talk to you.
All that weirdness between Tom and me...
Oh, you don't have to explain.
I'm happy for you.
You know, you and Tom always kind of had this thing...
No, Tom wasn't the problem.
When I came out of that coma
and almost kissed him...
...I was thinking about you.
I think about you all the time.
I know I shouldn't because we work together, but I...
I needed to tell you.
Can you say something?
You know, the old me would've said
all the right things in this moment
to make this all okay so that you could feel comfortable
and I could compartmentalize, but I...
I can't do that anymore.
You're saying you don't think there's something between us?
I'm saying that it doesn't matter
because it's too late.
Today, I realized that I am
stronger and braver
than I have ever given myself credit for.
ESKOL: Zenzi, where do you keep your bottle opener?
Thinking that we should open this bottle of red.
(exhales)
Isaac, I...
Have a good night.
♪ ♪
(whirring)
Thank you for rebooting Barclay.
I should be thanking you.
If you hadn't saved Kahlil,
my whole life would've...
I couldn't have lived with the guilt.
I have to ask.
Andrita isn't really family,
is she?
Why lie to me, Rowan?
Because I didn't think someone like you
would help someone like me.
I needed a favor,
but I have nothing to offer you in return.
Maybe offer me a little faith
that there is more to me than just fits.
Hmm? (chuckles)
I believe you now.
(both laugh)
I don't know why
I'm feeling this vulnerability vomit,
but you have a way of making me
open up.
That never happens.
Why not?
Because you can fall.
Or you can fly.
Uh... Ooh. Yeah. Ah.
Come here.
What are you doing?
And why are you always taking off your shirt?
This shirt is made out of a material I designed
with clotting agents to help heal wounds.
(shushing)
You got a lot of wounds.
(electronic chirps)
ROWAN: As long as Neck Breaker
and the other hostages don't check in,
my cover with The Road Back is preserved.
I picked up some internal chatter, and
Susannah Robb is planning something deadly and big.
Then we need to find out what it is
and stop her.
Captioning sponsored by CBS
Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org
(dings)