Manhunter: Unabomber, Discovery Channel, Discovery Communications, Trigger Street Productions, Netflix

Persons Pursuit

Discovery Channel original true-crime drama Manhunt: Unabomber concluded on September 12, 2017.

#Manhunt season 2 has not been confirmed.

rotten tomatoes: 93%

metacritic: 71

imdb: 8.2

***SPOILERS AHEAD***




Manhunt: Unabomber, Discovery Channel, Discovery Communications, Trigger Street Productions, Netflix Manhunt: Unabomber, Discovery Channel, Discovery Communications, Trigger Street Productions, NetflixManhunt: Unabomber, Discovery Channel, Discovery Communications, Trigger Street Productions, Netflix


Ted Kaczynski, Manhunt: Unabomber, Discovery Channel, Discovery Communications, Trigger Street Productions, Netflix, Paul BettanyTed Kaczynski

“I want you to think about the mail for a minute.  Stop taking it for granted like some complacent, sleepwalking sheep and really think about it.  I promise you, you will find the U.S. mail a worthy object of your contemplation.  A piece of paper can cross a continent like we’re passing notes in class.  I can send you cookies from the opposite side of the world, and all I have to do is write your name on the box, put some stamps on it and drop it in.  And, you see, it only works because every single person along the chain acts like a mindless automaton.  I write an address, and they just… obey.  No question.  No deviation.  No pause to contemplate eternity… or beauty… or death.  Even you, for all your protestations of free will, if a box comes with your name on it, you can’t even imagine doing anything other… than obey.  Well, it’s not your fault.  Society made you this way.  But you’re a sheep, and you’re living in a world of sheep.  And because you’re all sheep, because all you can do is obey, I can reach out and touch anyone anywhere.  I can reach out and touch you… right now.” — Ted Kaczysnki

“They want you to obey.  They want you to be a sheep like they are sheep– obedient, unquestioning, piece of machinery.  Sit when told to sit, stand when told to stand.  They want you to give up your humanity, your autonomy for a paycheck, gold star, bigger TV.  The only way to be human, the only way to be free, is to rebel.  They’ll try to crush you.  They’ll use every tactic they have to make you obedient, docile, subservient, but you can’t let them.  You have to be your own master, whatever that takes.  Better to die a human being than to live as a purposeless cog in their machine.” — Ted Kaczysnki

“You tell yourself that you’re the ones in control.  They obey you, your technology, your machines.  But what would you do without your car, your telephone?  What if all the airplanes just stopped?  Ten years ago, computers were expensive toys.  Today, civilization as we know would fall apart without them.  You live in terror of a blackout, a computer crash, a car that won’t start, a phone that doesn’t ring.  So you construct your lives, your whole society so that won’t happen. Everything revolves around their needs, not yours.  They buzz, you jump.  They beep, you answer.  So ask yourself– who’s really in control?  You or them?” — Ted Kaczysnki

“Human beings are being permanently reduced to engineered products and mere cogs in the social machine, deprived of dignity, autonomy, and freedom.  The only option available to us is obedience.  We’re being turned into caged rats, distracted from the maze by the meaningless cheese we’re running after — status, promotion, money, nice cars, bigger houses, more TVs, blasted with entertainment, adjusted with therapy and Prozac till you don’t even want to be free anymore.  Or if you can’t be adjusted, the psych ward.  Or prison.  The only alternative, the only hope for us, the only way to break free… …is to blow the whole thing up.” — Ted Kaczysnki

“Agent Fitzgerald?  I am so glad to make your acquaintance at last.” — Ted Kaczysnki

“Agent Fitzgerald.  Oh, yeah, well, most people carry their cage with them wherever they go.  At least if I remain disgusted by this place, I know I’m still alive.  Still free in here.  Why you?  You wrote the document that put me in here.  Your linguistic analysis of the manifesto got them the search warrant, the search warrant got them the evidence– I am becoming very well acquainted with your work.  It is the product of great imagination.  What I really appreciate about you is that most people take language for granted, but not you.  You saw it differently and that is the first step toward becoming free– a shift in perspective.  Manifesto, for instance– I never liked that moniker.  It makes it sound like an unconsidered rant, and you and I both appreciate the power and specificity of words.  Manifesto versus article, insanity versus enlightenment, mental breakdown versus unextended leave from active duty.  You have had a change of life circumstance, since your work on the Unabom case, am I wrong?  Because of what I allegedly wrote?  What was it?  Just between us.  When did it all click?  No?  Well, for me, uh, it all began in Chicago.  One day this mockingbird began singing in the backyard there, you know, that puffed up confidence just belting out his song, and I began to realize that the mockingbird is singing the car alarm.  Ba-beep, ba-beep.  You know the one?  Rrr, rrr.  And I– I just sat there, listening to that poor, dumb bird for maybe an hour straight, thinking, ‘what have we done?’  How wrong that was, and it stuck with me.  I kept coming back to it, just trying to figure out where in the world we had gone so wrong that it had ended up here.” — Ted Kaczysnki


Jim Fitzgerald, Manhunt: Unabomber, Discovery Channel, Discovery Communications, Trigger Street Productions, Netflix, Sam WorthingtonJim Fitzgerald

Federal Bureau of Investigation profiler James Fitzgerald joins the Unabom Task Force in 1995.  One year later his linguistic analysis work would serve as instrumental in locating and convicting serial killer Ted Kaczynski a.k.a. the Unabomber.


Jim Fitzgerald, Manhunt: Unabomber, Discovery Channel, Discovery Communications, Trigger Street Productions, Netflix, Sam Worthington“You’re trespassing.  This is private property.  What are you doing in my house, Cole?  The Unabomber asked for me specifically?  Why me?  Well, that is me.  You were chasing tails for years before I came.  This guy– you got some nerve.  I found him, I caught him.  I put him in jail.  You know what?  I got my life back together.  I’m just gonna stay right here.  Tell Ted I’m busy.  You can order me.  Right.  Get out of here.  Get out of here.” — Jim Fitzgerald

“Yeah, yeah.  Yeah, I’m coming.  I’m coming!  Yeah.  You know I’m not great in crowds.  All right, look, who cares?  Dan, clean up down there!  Listen, it was amazing.  Thank you.  Look, I tried.  What?  Oh, yeah.  No, I-I got soapy hands.” — Jim Fitzgerald

“Dan, Dan!  Hey.  Hey.  Look who it is.  No, no, we’re just– we’re just cleaning up.  We’re trying.  It’s a zoo.  Ugh, you got to change him.  There you go.  It’s all right.  Right.  Yeah, come in.  No.  I wrote a parking ticket.  Mm.  Chief asked me to make it go away ’cause it was for a friend of a friend, and I didn’t.  Yeah, some people might.  You’re making fun of me.  You’re making fun of me, right?  Right?  Here, take these upstairs.  How many times do I have to tell you?  You talking about the emordnilap?  ‘Dad, it is I?’  Well, it’s a word thing.  It’s like a palindrome, except it spells one thing forwards and another thing backwards.  The first letter of each paragraph– D, A, D, I, T, I, S, I.  D, A, D, I, T, I, S, I– ‘Dad, it is I.’  D-A-D, I-T, right?  D-A-D, I-T, I-S I– ‘Dad, it is I,’  ‘Is it I, dad?’  It’s pretty cool, right?  I thought the– I thought the Unabom case was over.  Hey.  Okay.  Okay.  Go on upstairs now.  Now, what are you doing to me?  I have kids.  This here– this is from him, from the Unabomber?  But I’ve been away for four months, and I just got back.  I can’t just up and go ’cause of him, so… I can’t do that to Ellie and the kids.  I can’t do that to my family.  Here.  Good luck.  Hmm?” — Jim Fitzgerald

“Yeah.  Go and unpack.  Go, go.” — Jim Fitzgerald

“Hi.  So you’re a profiler?  You trained at the B.A.U.?  Some big bank robberies and a D.A. homicide task force in Philly had, like, 20 full-time agents.  It was pretty huge, pretty intense.  Whoa.” — Jim Fitzgerald

“So, what forensic leads do we have?  It’s not much to go on.  This is why they need us.  The profile is gonna focus the entire search.  It’s a big responsibility.  It’s exciting.  It’s an honor, sir.  I feel privileged to be under your command.  I studied your cases at the Academy– the Russian river killer, Hartford abduction.  Under any other agent, that would have ended in a murder-suicide, and, Agent Cole, Ohio Seven sting, busting the Bad Axe Militia.  I can’t believe I’m standing here.  I am– I’m eager to learn from you both.  So, what is this?  Where’s the rest of it?  Yeah, I will.  I will.  I’ll do my best.  It’s just a little different than I’m used to, ’cause in terms of a profile, they were a lot more scientific and a little bit longer.  The wood thing?  I can definitely do something.  I was expecting a support team.  Sure.” — Jim Fitzgerald

“I just don’t see it.  I just don’t see the wood thing.  They want me to do a thing about FC’s erectile dysfunction.  It’s B.S.  This profile– this profile is B.S.  I think it’s got to go.  Let’s just start over.  Come here.  What’s the first trap we watch for as profilers?  Inherited assumptions.  So all these preconceptions we just toss out, come at it clean.  We know nothing about FC except what the evidence tells us,  so if we don’t assume that he’s an airline worker, what else points to Cincinnati?  All the bombs that he planted at the universities– was it because he’s a resentful outsider or because that’s where he felt most safe?  And here– all right?  Okay.  When he talked down on people with advanced degrees, is he actually low I.Q. with no higher education, or is he really smart, maybe he has a bunch of degrees and knows we’re gonna read this letter and is hoping that we don’t think too hard about it?  Exactly.  We don’t know.  We don’t know anything.  But you go by this profile, your mind is just gonna go like this.  So we start over.  Make a list, everything we need.  Yes!” — Jim Fitzgerald

“Respectfully, this is what I need to start over and build a profile we can all stand behind.  I know it’s a bump in time and resources, but this is going on the attorney general’s desk, it’s going in the press with your name on it, so we have to get it right.  This is my first.  Rsepectfully, all I’m asking for is the freedom to do excellent work for you.  That’s all.  Otherwise your profile is gonna hamper your investigation.  It’s not gonna help it.  Well, I’m not your stamp guy.  I’m your profiler.” — Jim Fitzgerald

“Natalie.  I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to just show up.  I just didn’t know where else to go.  It’s not over, and I need help.  Hey.  Look, look– we got a friend!  What’s your name?  Hey, hey.  Hey.” — Jim Fitzgerald

“They want me to go in and interrogate Ted.  They need me.  They need me to get the guilty plea.  I think that… I think I need to confront him and get some answers.  Answers for myself, so I can understand what happened to me– and where I should go from here.  What do you think?  Why would I want that?  What kind of person would want that?” — Jim Fitzgerald

“They interview 10,000 Nathan R’s, and then they turn to me and say that profiling’s a waste of resources.  Think about that.  Sacramento to do my job.” — Jim Fitzgerald

“You dropped it in the mail a week ago.  You want to be here.  You want to be here, touching this, savoring it.  But you can’t be here.  You can’t be here.  Ever– for any of them.  Why is that enough for you and not any other serial killer?  Never to see it, hear it, taste it, never to see Gil Murray’s body.  Because it’s not about him.  It’s not about him as an individual, is it?  These aren’t people to you.  They’re symbols.  You’re sending a message.  That’s why you use the mail, ’cause it’s a message.  It’s a hidden message.  And what does it symbolize?  What does it represent?  So, what are you trying to tell us, FC?  What are you trying to tell me?  ‘Dad, it is I.’  What are you trying to tell me, FC?  What are you trying to tell me?” — Jim Fitzgerald

“Your whole profile is built on the assumption that FC was one of the airline mechanics that United Airlines laid off in Cincinnati, and that he targeted American Airlines Flight 444 and United president Percy wood out of a personal grudge, right?  But let’s think about mail bombs.  He can’t hear them, he can’t see them, he can’t visit the site, he can’t view the bodies, anything.  It’s none of the satisfaction of revenge.  But he keeps bombing anyway.  Why?  Because these aren’t personal targets.  They are representational targets.  Gil Murray was a symbol of something for him.  All of his targets symbolize something for FC.  All right.  So he spends years perfecting the most untraceable, sophisticated mail bomb ever created, and then just picks random targets from a phone book?  I don’t think it was a random coincidence that these letters spell ‘dad, it is I,’ and I don’t think it’s a random coincidence that he’s targeting airlines, scientists, computers, forestry people.  I think it only seems random because we don’t know what connects them.  We can’t– we don’t know his code, and the reason that we don’t know his code is because we’re still assuming he’s a low-I.Q. pissed off airline mchanic when he’s actually been outsmarting us the whole time.  That only looks like a tail stand if you’re looking for proof the supposition that he’s an airline mechanic.  If you’re objective about it, it’s just a switch.  Do you ever think that the reason you haven’t got him in 17 years is that you’re underestimating him?  There is a powerful intelligence at work here, a deep personal philosophy underpinning all of FC’s actions.  Now, you figure out the philosophy, you can figure out the man, you can crack the code.  But not with this.  We have to start over.  Get rid of that and start over.” — Jim Fitzgerald

“I’m going home.  I’m not writing that B.S.  Another bomb?  Hey, we just got handed a 56-page manifesto from the most elusive criminal in the world, something so important he wants both The Post and The Times to have it, and I just wanted five minutes in the lab to read it.  I’ll gown up, I’ll look over their shoulders.  It’s five minutes.  Yeah, I know, but it’s a big break in the case, and I’m here to be a word guy, all right?  Yeah.  ‘Dad, it is I’ tells us he likes word games and puzzles and that he thinks he’s smarter than everyone and that he can be sneaking on by us.  Which it’s kind of true, ’cause no one here noticed ’cause you all underestimated him.  He has problems talking to people.  That’s why he resorts to cyphers.  And he’s probably got daddy issues.  Now, I got all this from a one-page letter.  Imagine what I would get off a 56-page manifesto.  553254294.” — Jim Fitzgerald

“Oakland, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Sacramento.  It’s all the key locations associated with Unabom activity.  Where is he now?  Yeah, Rentech — it’s the site of the Hugh Scrutton bomb.  Why’d you come back?  Why this place?  Computer rental store.  Computers.  Technology.  What did these people symbolize to you?  You got to work early, you didn’t expect them to be there.  10 seconds, 20 seconds — that’s all you needed.  But she looked, and suddenly the Unabomber was flesh and blood.  A man, not a concept, and that’s why this scared you so much.  That’s why you stopped for six years… …even though it felt good to finally succeed.  He was reliving it, savoring it.  Which he never got to do in ’85 because of the eyewitness.” — Jim Fitzgerald

“T-H-E-N.  Thicker than water.  It’s not him.  I don’t remember seeing a spelling mistake in all those letters.  Does this guy look like the author of a manifesto entitled Industrial Society and its Future?  It’s just for our files.  Here.  What’s ‘pure wood?’  Right.  She’s thicker than wudder, right?  Thicker than wudder.” — Jim Fitzgerald

“Water.  Water.  So, one word, one tiny slip, and you think you know who I am?  I say one word slightly wrong, and you can all peg me as the Philly street cop out of his depth.” — Jim Fitzgerald

“Yeah?  What is this?  No, not the report, the document.  His document.  His manifesto.  For 17 years, the Unabomber has been trying to say something with these bombs, trying to send us a message, and now he lays it out, everything he’s been trying to tell us, and you don’t want to take the time to read it?” — Jim Fitzgerald

“Well my opinion, it’s a prank.  There’s no bomb at LAX.  FC cares about his reputation, his credibility.  He’s ashamed of his mistakes, and he tries to obliterate them.  He tries to hide all the joints in his bombs so we don’t see the work.  He’s obsessed with presenting this perfect public image.  He wants to be seen as intelligent, as logical, as superior.  But it’s a fragile self image, because he’s really just afraid that everyone’s gonna see his flaws.  Now, the bomb threat, that services his need for power.  You know, he enjoys making us squirm, but his reputation, that’s the most important thing he has.” — Jim Fitzgerald

“The document that put you in here… you wrote.” — Jim Fitzgerald


Ellie Fitzgerald, Manhunt: Unabomber, Discovery Channel, Discovery Communications, Trigger Street Productions, Netflix, Elizabeth ReaserEllie Fitzgerald

“Okay.  Hi, everybody.  Can you believe we’re even here celebrating my husband the FBI profiler?  I’m still pinching myself.  You were a rookie beat cop when we got married.  Jim, you were determined always to become what you saw as the best version of yourself, to become someone that your family, your sons could look up to and admire.  It’s not easy being married to a stubborn man.  I’m talking about you.  But it’s that damned stubbornness that got you through night school, on to the detective squad, into Quantico, and finally into the elite of the elite.  I admire that so, so much, so cheers, Jim.  Welcome home.” — Ellie Fitzgerald

“Did you have fun?  Well, I tried.  Aww.  Thank you.  Well, you know, I-I… I had fun.  It’s just hard waiting.  You know?  Put ’em on me.  Dan.” — Ellie Fitzgerald

“Hey, guys.  Don’t pig out on Grandma’s cookies.” — Ellie Fitzgerald


Don Ackerman, Manhunt: Unabomber, Discovery Channel, Discovery Communications, Trigger Street Productions, Netflix, Chris Noth

Don Ackerman

“Hey, Fitz.  Come on.  Let’s go inside.  We need you to get into a room with Kaczynski, interrogate him, break him down, get him to plead guilty.  We need someone who can speak the Unabomber’s language, someone, uh, that he connects with.  Besides, Ted asked for you.  Specifically for you, and only you.  Listen, we have enough evidence to convict Ted Kaczynski 10 times over but if this goes to trial, he’s gonna make it a media circus.  Then we would be giving the Unabomber, Ted Kaczysnki, the biggest microphone in America, and his message is dangerous.  We need him to plead guilty.  Now, hold on, Cole.  Take it down, Cole!  Hey, Fitz.  Think about it.” — Don Ackerman

“Well, I love this guy already.  So, Fitz, we sent Genelli to bring back the best man he could find, and that is you.  Welcome aboard.  And here is what you’re gonna be working on.  That’s exactly why you’re here.  I want you to take that, flesh it out.  I’m gonna need 15 pages that can directly on Attorney General Janet Reno’s desk.  So make us look good.  What S.S.A. Cole means is that that summary is a distillation of 10 years’ work, so it’s got a solid foundation, and we don’t expect it to change, except for the wood thing.  That’s gonna play very, very well with the press, so I want you to dress that up a bit, uh, ‘a propensity for softness in the genital region,’ something like that– but nothing crude.  Nope.  It’s all you, Fitz.  But I know you can handle it.  Okay.” — Don Ackerman

“When your only tool’s a hammer, son, everything looks like a nail.  You’re a profiler, you think the profile’s gonna catch him.  Genelli’s a gearhead.  He thinks it’s all about his computer.  We got a guy that’s been working on the Unabomber stamp selection for the last five years.  To him, a $1 Eugene O’Neill stamp is the key to everything.  Now, I inherited that guy and I allow him to pursue that avenue, ’cause, uh, well, you never know.  But when I tell him to do something, I expect him to do it.  Even the stamp guy doesn’t think he’s the stamp guy.” — Don Ackerman

“Fitz, buddy, you’re breaking my heart.  You are part of a world-class orchestra here.  Lots of instruments. lots of virtuosos, and out of all these players, I’m pointing to you, and I’m saying now is the time for your solo.  Stand up, play your heart out so the whole world can hear you.  But you got to play with the sheet music that I’m giving you.  Because you may be a once-in-a-century talent, but if you can’t harmonize with the rest of the orchestra, I’m gonna have to send you home.” — Don Ackerman

“What do you got?  What’s the authentication number FC sent The Times?  It’s him.  Trisha, get Director Freeh on the phone, L.A.P.D. commissioner, FAA, and alert Janet Reno’s office, and make it clear we have a potential mass-casualty situation.” — Don Ackerman


Frank McAlpine, Manhunt: Unabomber, Discovery Channel, Discovery Communications, Trigger Street Productions, Netflix, Brían F. O'ByrneFrank McAlpine

“Congratulations, you are now officially FBI profilers.  As profilers, you’re going to encounter a lot of skepticism.  A lot of agents, good agents, think us quacks.  No.  We’re prisoners in the frontier of law enforcement.  We’re scientists of the mind, and, in the very worst cases, the FBI deals with, we will be our nation’s last hope. Welcome to the Behavioral Analysis Unit.  Supervisory Special Agent Jessica McGinity.  Wonderful work.  With accommodation for superior merit, Supervisory Special Agent James Fitzgerald.  Congratulations, Fitz.  Congratulations.” — Frank McAlpine

“Oh!  Put ’em up!  Look at this kid.  Hey.  Guess we missed the party.  Apologies, but… we have something urgent we need to discuss with you.  Six years and not a peep.  They thought he was dead, but now he’s back.  I want to send you.  It’s one month.  You go out there, build a profile, and come back to B.A.U. with a big gold star.  Do me a favor, Fitz.  Fitz, think about it.  Keep the photos.  The guy with his face blown off, he had a wife and kids, too.  Not if I see you first.  Thank you.” — Frank McAlpine


Andy Genelli, Manhunt: Unabomber, Discovery Channel, Discovery Communications, Trigger Street Productions, Netflix, Ben WeberAndy Genelli

“McAlpine says you’re the best profiler in his class.  Maybe the best he’s got.  But you’re 10 years older than the rest of your classmates and I look at your resume, and I see you languishing for almost a decade as a beat cop, mostly on the graffiti squad.  You piss somebody off?  What happened?  So, what, you’re like the Serpico of parking tickets?  Some people would call that being overly literal.  Take a look at this letter.  Tell me what you see.  Explain.  Okay.  I’m Andy Ganelli.  I’m head of the Unabom Task Force.  Three new mail bombs more deadly than before.  The latest one yesterday– a timber lobbyist, Sacramento.  The news is gonna break on these tomorrow.  We’ve been playing it pretty close to the vest until we were sure it was him, and not a… …copycat, but it’s him, and we need a profile.  His most recent letter.  50 FBI agents have been going over that with a fine-tooth comb day and night for two weeks.  Not one of them saw the emordnilap, not even me.  I’ve had profilers working on this thing for 15 years, and we’re right back to where we started.  I need somebody that sees things differently, and like it or not, that’s you.  Good night.  Sorry to intrude, Mr. Firtzgerald.” — Andy Genelli

“You ever worked on a big op before?  Hmm.  Well, welcome to the Unabom Task Force.” — Andy Genelli

“We have done every kind of victimology.  His victims are random, totally unconnected to each other.” — Andy Genelli

“You said he had a personal philosophy, some message he’s trying to send.  You were right.  The New York Times called it in.  They got a package.  No, it’s something else.  They’re calling it the Unabomber Manifesto.” — Andy Genelli

“Well, ‘dad, it is I’ — he got that from reading.” — Andy Genelli

“You work at the San Fransisco Chronicle — you’re the only person who touched this?  Chief, you ready?  It’s bad.  ‘Warning– the terrorist group FC, called ‘Unabomber’ by the FBI, is planning to blow up an airliner out of Los Angeles International Airport sometime during the next six days.  To prove that the writer of this letter knows something about FC, the first two digits of their identifying number are 55.’  Is that number a match?  What’s the number he sent The Times?” — Andy Genelli

“Social Security?  Do you realize what this means?  This is gonna be the first major case solved by computer.  There’s no if, it’s driven by the data.  Think about all the data the government has on its citizens. Addresses, employment, military, census.  Eighty years of data, 250,000,000 people, but you can’t do anything with it because it’s scattered across dozens of different systems.  That’s why I built the MPP, to bring all that data together in one place for the first time.  I mean, look, FC’s authentication number looks a lot like a Social Security number, right?  So I did a search.  And it’s a match.  The number belongs to an Alan Meeks.  40-year-old white male.  Then I crunched the USPS data.  Look where Meeks has been living for the past 30 years.  He’s already in custody.  They arrested Meeks right here.  Recognize the place?  The Unabomber’s first kill returning to the scene of the crime.  They’re getting Meeks ready for interrogation right now, and I got to know if Meeks is the Unabomber.  What was he looking for here?” — Andy Genelli

“He sure does to me.  Here’s the thing, I don’t think you meant to kill anybody, I think you just wanted to send a message, to scare them a little.  Look, I believe you.  But these guys, they don’t.  And they’re hard asses.  So tell me how to stop LAX.  Help me help you.  If you make this hard for me… …I will make your life a living nightmare.  Wait.  Excuse me?” — Andy Genelli

“Meeks was in jail for half the time the Unabomber was active.  How come that wasn’t in my file?  Fitz, let’s go.” — Andy Genelli

“New Unabom letter sent to The Times.  New York is faxing it through.  Look at page 3.” — Andy Genelli


Stan Cole, Manhunt: Unabomber, Discovery Channel, Discovery Communications, Trigger Street Productions, Netflix, Jeremy BobbStan Cole

“Look at you.  You’re living like an animal now, huh?  Jesus.  You kill those yourself?  Well, I don’t want to be here, believe me.  But the boss needs you.  He says he’ll only talk to the person who actually caught him, and for some reason, he thinks that’s you.  Look, Fitz, we’re asking you, but we can order you if we need to.  You still work for the FBI, you remember that?  I get the forestry service out here–” — Stan Cole

“Basically, we have no forensic leads.  No DNA, no prints.  But we did have a couple good ideas.  We discovered that he gets his addresses out of one particular edition of Who’s Who, so we interviewed just about every librarian in the country– nothing.  Makes his bombs out of junk, so we did a national junkyard canvass– no dice.  But we figure eventually he is gonna screw up, and maybe he already did.  Over the years, he’s been mailing typed letters– nothing worth reading until this letter that he wrote to the New York Times.  Now, the letter itself is blah-blah-blah, but forensics found this on the envelope– ‘call Nathan R.’  We figure he wrote himself a post-it note on top of the letter.  And that is our first real lead.  FBI agents are interviewing everyone called ‘Nathan R-something’ in the country.  Plan B is to find Nathans with ‘R’ middle names.  And that is it.  Enjoy your afternoons.  Don’t forget to tip your driver.”– Stan Cole

“Low I.Q., formerly employed by an airline.  Mechanic or technician, no higher education, possibly little to no high school, grew up in Ohio– Cleveland or Cincinnati likely– currently resides in the Bay Area.  It’s our current profile, my own summary of it.  Welcome to the real world.  Quantico’s a long way away.  Mm.  There’s a theory FC is obsessed with wood.  Maybe he has erectile dysfunction.  Since he blew up this Mosser guy– moss– it’s like a plant, so that can go in your profile now.  15 pages, clean, no typos, and wood, a lot of bullet points, a lot of big words, a couple weeks, get it turned in, get you back home.  If you want to hear some war stories, come out for a beer tomorrow.  We’re going to Freddy’s– old-school San Francisco.  You’ll like it.  Yeah.”– Stan Cole

“How many profiles have you created, outside the classroom, I mean?  Well, there you go.  So let me explain to you how this works.  Your job is to fulfill the duties laid out to you by S.A.C.  That’s Ackerman.  He gave you parameters, now go execute.  All right, let me walk you through it.  You know what these are?  These are profiles of the Unabomber, and we’ve got them all.  You want to know where he lives?  Okay.  In a house with a room that his wife and kids know never to go into.  Or maybe with his mother– a Norman Bates thing going on.  And this is a classic.  It’s 20 full pages by the legendary John Douglas about how the Unabomber maintains his car right down to the air freshener, which is royal pine.  Now, we’ve had every top profiler in the business come through here, and every single one of them says he’s got to start all over, and every one of them says something completely different, so pardon me if I’m a little skeptical of your profession.  Now, Ackerman brought me in here to keep this investigation focused and on track.  We’ve been running around in circles for years, and it’s time for that to stop.  So instead of 100 different contradictory profiles, we’re going with one backed up by concrete forensic evidence, and that’s the profile that I gave you.  The only way we’re gonna catch the Unabomber, same way we catch anybody, that’s forensics.  It’s plain and simple.  Now, you could spend six months coming up with the world’s most accurate profile, but that’s not what we’re looking for.  We’re looking for 15 pages, no typos, and wood, and we want to take it to the press next week.  Now, I understand that you’re a brilliant guy.  I do.  McAlpine says you can see all kinds of stuff hidden in letters and that’s great, so take the Unabom letters and find wood.  Okay?  So, right now, all that’s required of you is obedience.  Understand?”– Stan Cole

“Oh-oh!  There he is.  It’s our head shrinker come to mingle with the commoners.”– Stan Cole

“Right.  We’ve got hard forensic evidence that he’s a trained airline mechanic.  Look.  Batteries soldered in series, encased in a wire cage just like airplane power bricks, he’s an expert at casting and shaping aluminum.  And look.  Look at this new stitch he’s developed.  It looks exactly like an airplane tail stand on a 747.  We’ve had pilots confirm that.”– Stan Cole

“If you screw this up, we’ll crucify you.  There’s a system here, a process, a process that begins with complete forensic analysis — thorough, unhurried, uncorrupted by meddling rubberneckers.  You are here to wait and to do what you’re told.  A big break in this case comes when we pull a fingerprint off one of those pages, when we find another Nathan R.  A single strand of hair would be far more valuable than anything you are gonna get from reading the guy’s rant.  Yeah, case friggin’ closed.  We wait for forensics — a month, a year, however long it takes.  And meanwhile, if you want to see some real police work, step inside.  You’re up.  You still want to tell us about ‘dad, it is I?’  Okay.  Logistically what are we talking about here?  You’ll get your 56 pages after forensics is finished.  Goodbye.  Yeah, it’s Cole.  What?!  Where?”– Stan Cole

“Yeah, but you weren’t, and a lot of people might be, so count your blessings and shut up.  Frederick Benjamin Isaac Wood, FBI Wood.  Return address 549… Phil, now tell me where we are on refraction beam scanners.  No, it’s got to be mobile.  You can’t bring items onto the airport to be scanned.  Jesus, Phil.  You’ve got to do it on the runway.  We got to just do it plane by plane.  Unbelievable.”– Stan Cole

If this is the guy.  Meeks is ready!  Let’s get over there.  This could really be him.  ‘Pure wood.’  Read ’em and weep, Fitzy.  That’s the Unabomber.  It’s a spelling mistake.  So what?  You get drunk, you get a tattoo–  we pulled everything we could– Cali, Federal.  You’re telling me you don’t have Iowa Bureau of Prisons records in your MPP?”– Stan Cole

“Wudder under the bridge.  Tabster, stone cold.  Fitz, Burkhardt, conference room.  Fitz!  Now!  Well, you’re talking about three different dossiers and I don’t have them, so– hold on a second.  We’re dealing with a major airport shutdown here, so write up a three-page synopsis, clean, no typos, and we’ll give it a look.  Yep.  All right.”– Stan Cole


Tabby Milgrim, Manhunt: Unabomber, Discovery Channel, Discovery Communications, Trigger Street Productions, Netflix, Keisha Castle-HughesTabby Milgrim

“Fitz.  You have that new profiler smell.  Tabby Milgrim.  I’m your new partner.  Well, I’m the UTF’s whole behavioral unit.  Come on.  Let’s get you out of this craziness.  PB today.  Sorry.  Night school in psych sucks, but… plus, U San Raffaele is about a fart and a half away from losing its accreditation, but whatever.  As long as I squeak out a master’s before they go under, we’re all good.  Hell no, bruh.  I’m just a street agent.” — Tabby Milgrim

“10,000 Nathan R’s.  Nope.  Yeah, right.  Mildly.  Come on.  S.A.C. Ackerman wants to meet you.” — Tabby Milgrim

“What is it with men and their dongs?  You should write it.  Write that report– you’ll be on CNN tonight.  What, just toss it all?  They’ve been saying ‘airlines, mechanic from Cincinnati’ for years now– consistently.  There must be some reason.  I… wow.  Yeah.  I don’t know.” — Tabby Milgrim

“You’re a cog in the machine, Fitz.  Embrace it, bruh.  Hey, where you going, bruh?” — Tabby Milgrim

“Dude, where have you been?  Why ain’t you downstairs?  Didn’t Genelli tell you?  Fitz, you got to get down to forensics now.” — Tabby Milgrim

“Fitz, dude, you got to check this out.  It’s friggin’ sweet.  Cool, right?  Oh, yeah.  Now, that’s my partner, right there.” — Tabby Milgrim

“Anything?  Damn.  You heard that, too?  What Fitz has with this hoagie.  Wudder?  Come on.  Philly.  I’ve never heard you say pierogi, but you do say wudder.  I like wudder.  It’s part of who you are.  Are you seriously pissed off?  About what?  Dude!  Are you serious?” — Tabby Milgrim


Natalie Rogers, Manhunt: Unabomber, Discovery Channel, Discovery Communications, Trigger Street Productions, Netflix, Lynn CollinsNatalie Rogers

“Okay, on Tuesday, we discussed regional dialects and linguistic prescriptivism.  See you next week.  What happened to you?  Where’d you go?  Where have you been?  You know, I tried to find you.  I called your office, your home.  I talked to your wife– everything.  The Unabom case is over.  It was over two years ago.  You have to have some place you can go– family, somebody other than me.” — Natalie Rogers

“Winston and Jasper.  Look, I-I have to defend my dissertation in a couple weeks, so I have to work tonight.  All right, I’m gonna take these guys to the kitchen.  Why don’t you– why don’t you take a shower?  You can sleep on the couch.  Come on!  Come on!  You have the answers.  You proved that Ted’s the Unabomber.  And what makes you think that he has answers to any question that matters?  You wanted this.  You wanted him in your life.  Secretly, somehow you wanted this.  That’s the answer.  That’s the only way I can make sense of what happened.  You wanted him in your life more than you wanted anyone or anything else.” — Natalie Rogers



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