Rick, I was just visited by someone
from the federal government.
Does Marshall know you brought the mushroom here?
Marshall?
- Who are you? - I'm a mycologist.
You changed my son's life.
What did you use for the substrate?
- Was there dung? - Dung?
Do you think there's any way
you could get me something called…
TTX. I mean, the wrong dose of that,
I mean, even just a little bit, like, that'll…
that'll kill you.
Help! Help! I need help in here!
I need help!
- Wh… what…? - Shh-shh-shh.
The attendant's still outside.
I gotta sign out your corpse.
Oh, my arms are so… off or something.
Yeah, no shit, you took enough TTX to medically die.
Um, who is that?
Oh, uh, that's Wyatt.
Say hi, Wyatt.
Don't know your size, do know your style.
So how did you end up working for the DEA?
Oh, well, I was a contractor.
I take whatever mycology work I can get.
Knowing the spore dispersal radius of fungi
doesn't pay Wyatt's hospital bills.
So where are we headed?
To get back my tortoise.
They're in the gate.
Uh, your horse just defecated.
Some old railbirds say that's good luck.
I don't think so, though. It didn't look healthy.
I'll bet you twenty I can show you something
that'll blow your mind before this race is over.
Start with this.
Here's our mushroom man, Marshall Cuso.
And here is his former lab partner
and permanent friendzone crush…
- Hey, we don't know that… - Frances Applewhite.
The assistant to Reutical Pharmaceutical CEO
and generous BMW lender Rick Kruger.
Now, though, you see the first and the last horse over there?
Both those horses are owned by Jonas Backstein.
Jonas the Wolf? The Swiss finance guy?
Jonas Backstein sits on the board
of like ten huge companies.
Including Reutical.
Now… Who's following mushroom man?
That's us. Two loyal DEA agents.
Did you seriously make us salt and pepper?
I'm pepper because I'm spicy?
Here's our boss, Kenji,
and here above him is some kind of high up
Washington operator with expensive suits
and a bad attitude.
- Cecily. - Cecily.
Who probably had us split up.
To stop exactly this.
They're down to the wire, Adelina's Pride and Oil Man…
It's Adelina's Pride.
Now. Look over there.
Wouldn't it be interesting
if Jonas Backstein and Cecily were connected?
Probably even working together?
Dude. You shouldn't have shown me this.
They got guys here that sweep horseshit out of stalls.
Is that what we are? But for big pharma?
We're off that case, dumb-dumb!
This is supposed to be our vacation!
What if all we're doing
is helping the champagne drinkers in the winner's circle
wipe out all competition!
Do I get paid the same?
What they pay you for is to be a detective.
C'mon, let's detect. Let's go visit Marshall!
He's in jail, he's got time.
Okay, I don't think that's smart,
but I have a feeling you're gonna do it anyway.
I don't know, I… I just feel bad that he's in a little cage.
Dammit, Frances.
That there is a woman bunny, first of all.
Second, you know how this works. We test things!
Some bunnies spend some time in a cage
and people's lives get better!
Little fuckers wouldn't even exist if we didn't need 'em.
Now they're sitting in air conditioning,
getting all the food pellets they can eat
and a carefully calibrated dose of the best medicine ever!
Hell, I'd love to be one of these bunnies.
How're they doing, Coco?
Kiki. It's a small sample size,
but the initial animal tests look good.
"Good"? I'm hanging my ass fully out for "good"?
We're having a little trouble scaling up?
You know…growing the thing?
I know. I'm working on it. We're missing something
- but I can't… - I'm telling you,
the boys will be able to synthesize it.
Boys and Kiki.
If it's looking that good for these furry bastards…
Ah…
this is gonna be Reutical's biggest product ever,
my job's secure, we all get bonuses,
and we help a hell of a lot of people.
Win, win, win.
Someone is calling for you from jail?
Marshall? Is it Marshall?
Come on! Put him through!
Hello? Marshall?
Not Marshall. This is Hoang.
Hoang? Oh!
- You're his cellmate, right? - Yeah, I was.
Marshall told me that if anything bad happens, call you.
Then it seems like he hated you?
But I figured you'd want to know.
Hoang, what happened!
Marshall's gone. He was real sick in our cell.
They took him away, and…
he never came back.
So wait, Marshall is…
Marshall Cuso is dead.
Dead, hmm.
I've read about the barbarity of your American prison system.
How sad to see the evidence firsthand.
Uh-huh.
Truly it's still the land of the lonesome cowboy,
bleeding to death in Laredo.
So we're done with this? You're handling Reutical?
Loose ends will be tied.
It's Cuso.
C-U-S-O.
Come on. You guys know how these things work.
You're supposed to put a request in the system
and wait for approval.
Look, this is… important, okay?
And potentially urgent.
Okay, let me just see where he's at…
Cuso…
Oops… you just missed him.
Missed him?
Yeah, he's dead.
This might look like individual fungi
but their mycelium communicates with each other.
So, if a fungus needs help,
the network "knows" and transfers sugars,
water and minerals to a friend in need.
You think you're looking at a different fungi,
but what you're seeing is…
Shit.
Sorry, hi! I, um…got caught up in this thing at work.
No, no problem. Look, um,
I, uh, I know things have been rocky,
we've been distant.
Wait, why are you wearing a tie?
Oh, um, because it's a special occasion!
Oh, no. No, Nick,
please don't… please don't propose to me.
But, Babe, Babe wait, listen. I know last time wasn't ideal,
but let me try again.
No. No, no. This is not…
Oh, God, I…
Nick, you are not a bad guy, but I…
we, this, us…I…
we are not right. I…
- I'm not happy. - Okay, yeah, no, no, I feel you
but, like, we can get through that!
Nick, this is not… this…
this isn't gonna work.
No, no, Jonas, you're not hearing me, man!
This thing will change everything! Okay?
Reutical will not produce it.
No one will. Shut down your project.
Snuff it out. Eliminate all traces of it.
Shut it down? This is a slam dunk!
Immediately our number one seller!
I mean, it could replace everything!
Exactly. It could replace everything.
Every other drug we make, every drug our competitors make.
Replaced.
It would replace all the people that you employ.
All the scientists, the researchers,
even our sales reps.
To say nothing of the doctors,
the hospitals, the insurance people.
All of them. Out of business.
Well, maybe they should be out of business!
We can change the game here!
Cure everybody!
Richard, you're a medicine salesman.
Cure everybody, and you're out of business.
Why would anyone work?
Here in America, you have to work for your health care.
It's a good system. Dynamic.
It's not that popular…
The system that's taken such good care of you?
It would crumble. Imagine it, Rick.
Economies will collapse.
Cartels will arise with their own grip on the mushroom.
Killing rivals.
If this mushroom heals wounds, every fight is to the death.
Wars will be unimaginably ferocious.
We'd kill on a massive scale.
Everything black and white, no in-between.
None of the shade that brings life meaning.
Should I be healthy? I'm an occasional drinker.
I wake up with a hangover.
Balance.
You would try to cheat life?
Play God?
- But… - Richard, you let this go,
you'll be rewarded.
You needn't worry about this.
Or anything else, ever again.
Where are they? They've got to be here.
Oh, my God!
It's okay, Socrates, we're getting you out of here.
Socrates…
- Marshall? - Gah!
- What the fuck? - Ah!
- You're alive? - Yes, I'm alive.
I'm sure it would be simpler for you if I weren't!
Wh…Are you okay?
Oh, suddenly you care how I am?
I'm…
I'm fine.
Wait, how did you get in here?
Well, in this part of the city,
there's an abandoned subway line,
you simply access the laundry room.
But what about the door lock?
Well, that I just… I don't have to explain myself to you!
If anyone here has to explain themselves,
it's the one with the Reutical insulated water bottle!
Okay, let me just say that I'm actually pretty athletic,
but I've been dosed with tetrodotoxin, so…
Look, Marshall, I can explain…
Well, I don't want an explanation!
I want my tortoise and my mushrooms
- and then we'll be on our way. - We?
Is he… was he drawing on my wall?
Don't talk to my son.
I saved them. For you.
Oh, how noble of you!
Considering they were mine to begin with!
Hey, I helped grow them!
Socrates did more than you, he… ha!
You don't even know, do you,
how much more important this tortoise is than you!
Okay, you were in jail, I thought you were dead,
I wanted a plan.
Plan? I had a plan!
Hiding in the woods in an ice cream truck is not a plan.
Hoping my high school lab partner
can beat an arson charge is not a plan!
I took it to the experts who know what they're doing
and I'm going to help a lot of people.
Mm-hmm, sure. Including yourself, right?
Nice suit, by the way.
You really think Reutical would ever release
something like this?
You didn't just fool me, you fooled yourself.
I'm, um… I'm happy you got out.
Hoang thought you were dead.
I am dead. Consider me dead.
Wow, great, amazing, perfect.
That little shit.
Okay, Kiki! I realized what we need!
We're gonna need a tortoise,
many tortoises, the plural of tortoises…
"tortoisi"…
What the f… What happened? Where is everything!
I got the email last night. Rick didn't tell you?
What? Tell me what? No!
We got a new data set from the tests.
Unacceptable mortality, I guess?
- They shut it all down. - Mortality?
That's impossible. That's not how it works!
This came down from way above my pay grade.
If they say we're done, we're done.
What? No! No. Unh-unh! This isn't right!
Hi. I need to talk to Rick!
Oh, my God, don't we all.
- Where the hell is he? - Quit. "Took a buyout,"
whatever you want to call it. I dunno.
He carried his own stuff out, which is surprising.
- I'm calling him. - Oh, no, I tried.
- He won't answer. - This is bullshit!
Yeah, I know! Like, I get this job,
and not even a month in, I have to reassign?
It looks like I'm a flake, and I'm not a flake.
Wait. What am I gonna do now? What's my job?
Am I out?
Let's see…
217. Cuso.
This is it.
And no autopsy yet?
Oh, yeah, we're all rushing to perform autopsies on inmates.
Okay, wait a second. I remember this one.
I know he was released to a funeral director.
Who's claiming his body that fast?
- Amelia? - Amelia Mushrooms?
I wish we hadn't poked into this.
This just gets more interesting.
Marshall…
Where have you been, brother?
Zane, I don't have a lot of time.
- Socrates needs help. - The Peruvian?
C'mere, come here! C'mere! Put him up on that counter.
Yep, put him right there. Okay, great.
Oof. He doesn't look so hot.
You don't look hot, either, Marshall.
That's a weird shirt. What's going on, man?
Look, it's a long story. He hasn't been eating.
I'm gonna help myself to some food, okay?
If you can't take care of him…
that's a big responsibility, Marshall, shame on you!
I can't… Zane! I had to leave him with a…former friend.
- It doesn't matter. - Yeah, okay, I get it, yeah,
oh, why entrust a gorgeous specimen like this
to your half-brother Zane, a well-trained herpetologist…
Zane, you're not a trained herpetologist!
Self-trained. I gotta get one.
I've been working my South American contacts.
They keep offering me songbirds and iguanas and shit,
and I keep saying, "solo tortugas!"
Hey! Hey! Do you like this? What I'm doing to you?
Okay, don't.
Well, um, cool. Are you gonna pay for all that shit, or…?
This is all I've got, right now.
I don't have access to my accounts, okay?
And listen, I wasn't here, do you understand?
You never saw me.
And you might never again.
Huh.
And would you say that your work is causing undue stress?
Actually, I'm feeling quite happy.
I'd had a few difficult situations at work,
but I managed to resolve them all to my satisfaction!
That's good! And do you feel like
if you were forced to scale back,
that you have a good support system in place?
Scale back?
Why would I do that?
Mr. Backstein, we need to have a serious talk.
Ugh… God…Dammit! Fuck!
Hey.
Hey! Frances!
Rick? What the fuck?
Where have you been?
Wanna be in business?
As long as I'm presumed dead, nobody should be looking for me.
Hopefully some of the equipment is still here.
And I have a trailer. It's not much, a little rustic
but I think if we fix it up…
Rusty?
Aw, hey! Turtleman!
I didn't think we'd be seeing you again!
Yeah, I'm back.
What's with the lights and everything?
Back, huh?
Boss'll probably want to see you.
The…boss?
I think you're gonna like what we've done with the place.
Turtleman!
Hello, Marshall.