Rubicon (TV series)

Rubicon (2010) is an American television series, broadcast on the AMC television network, about an intelligence analyst at a national think tank in New York City called the American Policy Institute (API), who discovers that he may be working with members of a secret society that manipulates world events on a grand scale.

Season 1

Gone in the Teeth [1.01]

Miles: If a client doesn’t know what questions to ask...

Will: We tell them what questions to ask.

Miles: An adversary doesn’t know how far they’re willing to bend, I’m thinking we try the same thing.

Will: This for next week’s North Korea session? [Miles nods] Has it been done with success?

Miles: Brezhnev’s loaded on vodka at an orgy negotiating SALT II with Carter. He refuses Carter’s every ask. Cy Vance tells Carter to agree to Brezhnev’s asks...

Will: But then repeat them back using his own instead of Brezhnev’s.

Miles: Yeah. Carter shouts louder and louder over Brezhnev’s ladies but by the time he’s done, Brezhnev says he’s glad Carter saw the light and they had a deal.

---

Kale: [at Daniel's funeral] We have something pressing to discuss, Will. Daniel’s position is too integral to leave open, even for the week or month good decorum would demand. [pause] I know the full scope of your history with Daniel. I’ve always known. So while I’d like to put off this conversation, I can’t. Those I answer to, upstairs and elsewhere, are eager for resolution. Knowing how closely you worked with Daniel, I assume you know the breadth of his responsibilities. I’d like you to step into his position.

[Will shakes his head.]

Will: I’d say I’m better off staying where I am, but I don’t even believe that’s true anymore. Might be best for me to leave.

Kale: I expected that. Take a few days to think it over. If your mind doesn’t change, I’ll accept your answer, and your resignation.

---

Ed: What did Daniel tell you about me?

Will: You were among the brightest in a building full of bright people. Trusted. Keys to the kingdom... Ed, can I come in?

Ed: Sure.

[Ed double-bolts the door.]

Ed: Keys to the kingdom. And then...

Will: You got confused. Things unraveled.

Ed: Daniel never would’ve said that. Someone else spoke those words. You believe everything you hear? Not as advertised. Not at all. You were supposed to be sharp. That’s what he told me. Things didn’t unravel, Will. I started comprehending.

Will: Comprehending what?

[Ed unlocks the door.]

Ed: A month or two, a year or two. Time’s a whore. As for whom I was playing, who do any of us ever contend with?

Will: What were you comprehending, Ed?

Ed: The work we do: genesis, progress, judgement. Who is it used by?

Will: Our employers.

Ed: You do know they hide in plain view, don’t you?

Will: Who’s “they?”

Ed: They? They’s them! What’s the matter with you?

---

Will: [about Daniel] I know how this is going to sound, but all the rituals, his rituals, how superstitious he was...

Maggie: Slow down.

Will: His biggest phobia by far was the number 13. Respected and feared it, constantly watched out for it.

Maggie: Will, can you lower your voice?

Will: He’d never step on an elevator, boat, taxi or train whose serial number started or ended with 13, was divisible by 13, aggregated to 13, was divisible by 13...

Maggie: Your voice, Will.

Will: His car hasn’t been retrieved yet. It’s still in the parking lot at the train depot where he left it. [pause] Where he supposedly left it.

Maggie: Supposedly?

Will: His car is parked in spot 13.

Maggie: Maybe he didn’t notice the number.

Will: He saw the number.

Maggie: Maybe he needed to get to work, saw the train pulling up and it was the only space open.

Will: There is no way Daniel Haddas would park there.

Maggie: If Daniel didn’t park there...

Will: He never boarded that train.

Maggie: But his remains were identified.

Will: I know...

Maggie: So how were they found there in the wreckage?

Will: I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know.

Maggie: What happened was horrible. But Daniel’s gone. He boarded the train and it crashed. He died along with 36 strangers. Maybe there is no why.

Will: There’s always a why.

The Outsider [1.04]

Kale: I'm going to assume you all can manage Will's absence without me looking too closely over your shoulders. Let's put Yuri/Beck aside for the moment. CIA just sent over a new field report from an agent in Jakarta - a member of the Indonesian Mujahideen Council who has provided very solid information in the past. It looks like we may have a window of opportunity to eliminate Kateb.

Miles: Eliminate? Can't we grab him?

Kale: No, Jakarta won't sanction it. The best we can do is a Hellfire strike from a Predator.

Grant: How soon?

Kale: The day after tomorrow. NSC wants an assessment.

Tanya: In 72 hours?

Kale: The bad guys aren't going to sit still because you've got more reading to catch up on.

Grant: When is Will back from his teacher's pet tour?

Kale: Wednesday. You guys prep the file. He can help you write the final. [pause] And you're going to have to be unanimous. No split decisions when it comes to irreversibles.

[Kale leaves]

Tanya: Irreversibles?

Grant: People you can't un-kill.

---

Tanya: So it's a no-brainer. He's a bad guy.

Grant: This kind of assessment requires us to build a solid foundation.

Miles: [to Tanya] You do realize that "surgical strike" is a euphemism for a thermobaric warhead capable of demolishing this entire block?

Grant: Can we at least agree that Kateb is a legitimate target for lethal action?

Miles: If we take this guy out, we gain nothing new. No intelligence, no leverage, no real justice. Just one less player on a crowded field.

Tanya: Kateb is more than just another player. He's a symbol. He's an al-Qaeda rock star.

Miles: Executive Order 12333 prohibits assassination unless the target is specifically engaged in combat against the United States. None of this evidence points to Kateb attacking the United States.

Grant: He's a leader of al-Qaeda.

Miles: He leads a few dozen kids around the jungles of Indonesia in black pajamas. This schmuck doesn't keep me up at night.

Tanya: Will you sleep better after he beheads a few more innocents?

[Maggie enters]

Maggie: You guys need anything?

Tanya: Balls.

Grant: I think we're going to need lunch.

---

Miles: With a second source confirming this, our chance of success jumps to over 60%.

Tanya: Where do you even get these numbers?

Miles: Uh, data. Remember that?

Grant: We're never going to have a second source in time. We've got to proceed or not on the basis of this report.

Miles: Then we're still below 50%. Any way to get a visual confirmation of Kateb's arrival at the location?

Grant: No.

Miles: Then we don't know this is real.

Tanya: Real? Source reliability quotient 71%? Targeting accuracy differential 4.3? You want to throw numbers at the problem? You think that's real?

Miles: [to Grant] She doesn't belong here.

---

Truxton: We want to avoid anything that would undermine our ability to act as an effective partner to the Secretary and the Pentagon. We simply lack the resources this kind of reporting would require. Even the preparation...

Col. Mitchell: I hope you won't mind if we skip the foreplay.

Truxton: Certainly.

Col. Mitchell: You don't have to explain to us why you want to keep that bra-burning Congresswoman from poking into your business. Nothing could be clearer. But with all due respect Truxton, why should you be spared the same financial sodomizing we're subjected to twice a year?

Truxton: I see. You want to know what's in it for you.

[The colonel smiles]

Truxton: What's in it for Col. Mitchell, Will?

Will: We maintain a unique position in the intelligence community. By virtue of our inter-jurisdictional portfolio, API is...

Col. Mitchell: Can you please get to the point?

Will: Colonel, API sees everything. We ask for it, we get it. FBI, Homeland Security, Treasury, CIA, NRO, NSA...

Blue suit: We are aware.

Will: We like to share with our friends.

---

Fredrick Trident: If this were entirely our decision, we'd be more than happy to keep the entire intelligence community off limits to Congress. But there are some political realities in play that make that impossible. [stands and begins gathering his things]

Truxton: A final thought if I might. [Trident sits] When you left your house this morning wearing that tie, perhaps your wife stopped you at the door. Perhaps she told you how good you looked in that tie. How handsome it was. While I'm sure you love your wife, might I suggest that you have many reasons to distrust her judgment about your tie. Maybe she has a fond memory of another time you wore it. A sentimental attachment. Perhaps she knows your tie collection, and is simply glad you didn't wear one of the ties she dislikes. Perhaps she sensed you were feeling a little fragile and felt like bucking you up a bit. Now imagine for a minute that you sit down here with us, and I say to you how much I admire that tie. Instantly you have another opinion. You don't know me, my taste. We have no sartorial history. No emotional attachment.

Frederick Trident: Yes, but I know you've come here looking for my help.

Truxton: Certainly. No one, no analyst, is without bias, without agenda, without blind spots. [pause] The gentleman to my right is a remarkable intelligence analyst. He is skilled in pattern recognition, systems analysis, and emergence theory. But in truth, his greatest asset for you is that you don't know how he thinks. You don't know how he lives. You don't know what motivates him. You don't know his taste in ties. [pause] You can trust him.

Cast

• James Badge Dale - Will Travers
• Jessica Collins - Margaret "Maggie" Young
• Lauren Hodges - Tanya MacGaffin
• Dallas Roberts - Miles Fiedler
• Christopher Evan Welch - Grant Test
• Arliss Howard - Kale Ingram
• Miranda Richardson - Katherine Rhumor
• Michael Cristofer - Truxton Spangler
• Roger Robinson - Ed Bancroft
• Peter Gerety - David Hadas
• David Rasche - James Wheeler

External links

• Rubicon quotes at the Internet Movie Database
• Official site