"My name is Roman." "Ten years ago, our ship crash-landed on earth." "We came here seeking refuge, but the humans thought that it was an invasion." "That night, I met a human girl who tried to protect me." "A girl I never thought I'd see again." "The surviving members of my race, the atrians, were rounded up and isolated inside a militarized sector." "Now it's 2024." "Seven of us have been chosen to attend high school as a part of a government integration program." "But the humans and atrians continue to distrust each other, while I fight to protect my people and the human girl who saved my life at any cost." "Previously on star-crossed:" "I found this in Julia's hospital room." "You saved her life." "It didn't happen." "Killing the daughter of the man who murdered nox will send a message that we're serious." "You stay away from emery." "I should say the same thing to you." "This is bigger than the two of us now." "Maybe it's safer if we're apart." "My parents are who they are, okay, but I am not a red hawk." "I don't believe you." "Let me explain!" "Don't touch me!" "Hey, what are you doing?" "No!" "Who are they?" "What are they doing here?" "English!" "I was just telling my son that someone reported we had restricted technology." "We don't have restricted tech, so you can just stop!" "They can threaten us all they want." "We have nothing to hide." "Actually, we do." "We're not allowed to have phones." "The only people with access to tech like that are the trags." "I found it hidden in your father's things a few weeks ago." "And you waited till just now to tell us?" "I-I didn't want you to know he-he had it." "I didn't want you to think that..." "What?" "To think that he was a terrorist?" "How could we ever think that?" "I've tried to access the phone, but I can't make it work." "Whoever filed that report knows that we have this." "If the guards find out..." "They'll paint your father as a trag." "We'll never be let out of the sector again." "We have to destroy it." "I'll get rid of it." "Outside the sector." "Relax." "As a trag, you'll have a front-row seat to their annihilation." "Yeah, I've already seen a trag get annihilated." "Can't say I liked it much." "What, you mean beaumont?" "He was a spy." "My mother had no choice." "Look, all I'm saying is I joined the trags because I want freedom for our people, all right?" "We need to tear down the walls of the sector." "So you can find eljida?" "That fairy-tale swampland you keep yapping about?" "Right now, we're the trags' best link to the outside world, so fall in line." "You remember what happens to trags who disappoint my mother." "How are you planning on getting rid of the phone?" "Don't worry about it." "You're not gonna destroy it, are you?" "The trags hated everything dad stood for." "There's no way he was one of them." "I have to find out what was on that phone." "Hey." "How are, uh, you doing?" "Happy to be back to my usual shade of pale." "Thank you very much." "You know I'm eternally in your debt for saving my life, essentially twice." "Right?" "Okay, so you've kept the secret of cyper." "Can I count on you to keep another one?" "Eternal... debt." "All right, then." "Isn't it illegal for atrians to have phones?" "Yes, but it's important that I find out what's on this one." "Machines aren't my thing." "But I think I know someone who can help." "Yeah?" "Yeah." "Okay, uh..." "We'll talk." "Mm-hmm." "It's nice to know Roman isn't freezing all humans out." "Yeah, I was just congratulating him on his speech at the commemoration event." "We should get to class." "As you can see, atrians have two hearts and two full sets of lungs." "Now, this, combined with their skin's ability to absorb oxygen from air and water, it makes their respiratory system..." "Superior." "Like everything else about us." "No, Teri, not superior." "Different." "The important thing to remember is that atrians' biological differences are due to their native environment, right down to their markings, which are bioluminescent in water." "Why's that?" "Sophia?" "To light our way." "Exactly." "It's called adaptive evolution, and, I mean, those aren't the only differences." "Um, physically, atrians mature faster than we do." "They're sensitive to things like salt and dry air, and they're allergic to a lot of our foods." "Like cilantro and pretty much anything with caffeine in it." "But in a lot of ways, atrians and humans are strikingly similar." "Yeah, some biologists even suggest a common origin." "Yes, Zoe?" "So, does that mean an atrian and a human could get their intergalactic freak on?" "Hypothetically, yes." "And how's their endurance?" "Are we talking marathon man or sprint and face plant?" "Blondie, you couldn't handle my endurance." "Better use protection." "Alien crabs don't just itch." "They bite." "Oh!" "I missed you, too, sweetheart." "Guys." "Guys?" "Drake?" "I think that's enough." "If this class is too challenging for you, we can go back to flatworms." "Flatworms?" "Okay." "Everybody scroll down to page 17." "Flatworms." "Ooh, new girl already scoring blossoms." "Who are they from?" "No card." "Hmm." "Stargazer lilies." "Could be a clue." "Do you happen to know anyone from the stars, perhaps?" "Hey, Lukas." "You got a second?" "For you, fair lady?" "Thousands." "Do you like them?" "These are from you?" "Florist said they're called stargazers because their bloom faces the sky." "I wanted to apologize for what happened at the commemoration event with my parents." "You can't change who your parents are." "But you should've been honest with me." "I was afraid, if you knew the truth, it might scare you off." "I am scared of who your parents are." "But I'm a big girl." "I can handle the truth." "I can see that now." "Look, I promise..." "I'll never lie to you again." "I want to believe you..." "I do... but..." "I just can't right now." "Are you sure about this?" "Lukas is a genius with all things tech." "Yeah, but I barely trust you." "How can I trust him?" "Whoa, you know I'm on the atrians' side, ride?" "You, me, Julia." "Us minorities got to stick together, you know?" "You're minorities?" "We were until the atrians arrived." "I need whatever data you can retrieve off this." "Hybrid technology?" "Cool, huh?" "Yeah, these phones are cobbled together with whatever we can find or smuggle into the sector." "Power source and casing are atrian, but it's got a human SIM card and main memory." "I can work with that." "Whoa." "This baby's been wiped." "Some kind of auto-erase, set to trigger if the phone's been left idle too long." "See, I'm guessing that whoever owned it didn't want anyone to know what they were up to." "So the data's gone?" "Oh." "That's the wonderful thing about data." "It's never truly gone." "So step back..." "And watch the magic." "That's our swim team." "I've never been a part of something like that." "A team." "Even in the sector, I don't really have many friends." "I was hoping to find some on the outside, but... it's not that easy, is it?" "Friendships are tough." "Even for humans." "Swimming is important here?" "If our team beats Collier prep tomorrow, then they go to state finals." "The first time our dad took us to the lagoon by our house on atria, Roman just dove right in." "He's always been fearless that way." "But I needed a little nudge." "So my dad taught me to swim." "It's..." "One of the earliest memories I have." "The two of us in that lagoon." "It seems like you guys are incredible swimmers, based on everything Ms. benton was saying." "But there's nowhere to swim in the sector." "I haven't been in the water since we got here." "Hey." "You need to see this." "What's Eric's record, again?" "4:19." "Four minutes and 17 seconds!" "She broke form." "Is that what we call freestyle?" "Then why don't you race her?" "Head to head." "Because I'm not getting in the pool with a disease-ridden tattie." "That's why." "I'm just concerned for my daughter." "Have the atrians even been tested" " for any diseases?" " Yes, of course they have." "Mom, you should've seen her." "She broke Eric's state record!" "Like hell she did." "Hey, I've got an idea." "Why don't we let a dolphin on the team?" "Or an alligator." "They're really fast swimmers, too." "Come on, lots of athletes have physical advantages." "Michael Phelps..." "He had double-jointed ankles." "Are you saying you wouldn't want that on our team?" "Okay." "Enough." "Sophia..." "I encouraged her." "It's my f..." "No." "I wanted to do it." "I want to be on the team." "And I'm afraid that's not possible." "When your father and I negotiated the integration program, we both agreed that sports, at least at the start, might pose a security risk." "The meet is on school grounds." "You're saying you can't protect them at Marshall?" "Even if we did bring in additional security, okay, the board decided having atrians participate in sports would be disruptive to the other students." "They've been training for years..." "So you're leaving your best swimmer off the team?" "Right before a meet with Collier prep?" "If she took you guys to state, would that be disruptive?" "Stop encouraging her." "I don't think this is a good idea." "Well, I think it's a great idea." "I mean, you want to talk about unfair advantages?" "Collier makes state every year because they're a private school and can pull in the best athletes from the Gulf coast." "I mean, they're..." "They're a factory." "I say this year, we fight back." "See?" "What's the problem?" "I will talk to the board." "Okay?" "If I can reverse their decision, I'm counting on all of you to be on your best behavior." "Am I making myself clear?" "You need to think about this." "You're making yourself a target for the red hawks." "Or any nutjob with a gun." "We're already targets." "I'm just saying we should avoid taking any unnecessary risks." "Risks?" "Like keeping dad's phone?" "That's different." "This is what dad wanted for us, Roman." "To be with the humans, part of their world." "I know you want to figure out what dad was up to." "But this is how I am choosing to honor him." "Hey!" "That was cool, what you did, backing Sophia." "If you're a secret red hawk, you're a pretty terrible one." "Look, you don't have to accept my parents or trust them." "I'm not asking you to do that." "But you can trust me." "I'm not my parents." "I'm not... a red hawk." "I'm beginning to realize that." "I just wanted you to think I was normal, at least for a little while." "Hey." "I spent half my life in and out of hospitals, dealing with allergies and injections." "I know what it's like to want to feel normal." "In that case, I have three words for you, then." "Carb." "Load." "Dinner." "It's a tradition." "The night before a meet, the swim team goes to the bug to load up on pasta." "And you should come." "I've never been one to pass up a free meal." "So I've been able to recover a big chunk of data." "But it looks like the only thing this phone ever did was text back and forth with one other phone." "Just one?" "Yep." "And all the texts have just been times and dates." "Every few days, up until a few weeks back." "My guess is someone was setting up meetings." "Clandestine-style." "And that's it?" "Well, I did find a video file attached to an incoming text." "I mean, it was all encrypted, but..." "I probably can get it to play." "It's just gonna take some time." "You keep it overnight." "It's safer with you than in the sector." "Mom?" "What happened?" "Seu guards were just here with electronic scanners." "They were angry that they didn't find anything." "They know about your father's phone." "I-I don't know how, but they know." "It's okay, Roman." "We can trust castor." "I told him I gave you the phone to destroy." "Do you still have it?" "It's gone." "I took care of it." "Do you have any idea why my father would have had that phone?" "No." "But the trags were using the..." "My father wasn't a trag." "I know that, Roman." "But it doesn't take away the fact that he was hiding it for a reason." "Are you certain no one could connect the phone to you?" "Or this family?" "Like I said, it's gone." "This is Matt bandell, reporting from edendale, a town buzzing from the news that Sophia, daughter of slain atrian leader nox, will swim for Marshall high in tomorrow's state semifinals." "Apparently..." "You know that tulane scholarship you've been angling for?" "All this coverage could put you over the top." "You really think anyone's gonna want to watch a human swim when there's mer-martians in the pool?" "Incoming." "Hey." "Hey." "I heard there'd be pasta." "All you can eat." "You know, I read that the whole carb-loading thing is actually just a myth." "You think it's just an excuse for me to gorge myself with fettuccine Alfredo?" "Mmm, maybe." "Well, have you heard the myth about the girl who took a guy up on a date even after he did something stupid?" "No." "I haven't heard that one." "Well, I guess some myths have some truth." "A date?" "That's what this is?" "That so bad?" "No." "Not at all." "Smile for the camera." "Oh!" "Got a tip you might be carrying some illegal tech." "What?" "What?" "From who?" "Assume the position." "What are you doing?" "!" "You should be protecting her!" "He's clean." "Let go!" "Move!" "Move!" "I don't suppose any of you have heard of Jackie Robinson." "Well, he was one of the greatest athletes in American history." "But because of the color of his skin, it took some time before he was allowed to play in the majors." "I take it he was also met with a warm welcoming?" "He was called names, spit on, even physically attacked." "But the important thing is..." "He never rose to the bait." "So you're saying suck it up?" "Throughout American history, sports have been a crucial path to acceptance for minorities." "But it's not enough to be good at what you do." "Or even great." "I need all seven of you to be exemplary." "Model citizens." "That means behaving in a way that is beyond reproach and never resorting to violence." "You, young lady, need to learn to use your words." "You want words?" "How about..." ""Screw this"?" "Teri..." "Why should we put up with this?" "Being paraded around in front of the masses like freaks... for you?" "No." "For me." "And not just me." "For my dad." "Please..." "Can I count on you guys?" "Give her a break, Teri." "Freedom, right?" "That is what we're fighting for." "Whatever." "You want to go swim against those unmarked monkeys, go for it." "Just make sure you smoke 'em." "Hey." "The guards searched me on my way into school this morning." "Did you tell anyone about the phone?" "Did Lukas?" "No, of course not." "Where is he?" "We need to destroy it right now." "I think he's in the computer lab." "But, Roman..." "Last time I saw Lukas, he said he'd almost decrypted that video." "Thanks." "Hey." "Hey." "I was just asking Roman about his calculus notes." "Don't." "If you can't tell me the truth, that's fine, but please don't lie to me." "I got you a present." "Seriously?" "I figured you needed some new racing threads if you're gonna be the talk of edendale." "It's awesome." "Thank you." "Oh, my God." "What's wrong?" " This is over." " Roman..." "I'm talking to my sister, not you." "I know you want to honor dad..." "But I am not gonna let you risk your life to do it." "I love you, but I'm gonna drag you out of that pool if I have to." "No..." "You won't." "Sophia..." "Roman, let her go!" "You made your point." "It's not about making a point." "It's about keeping my sister safe!" "That's my job." "No, your job is to support her." "You have no idea what you're talking about." "I know you didn't want me in the sector because you thought it was too risky." "I know you wanted me to leave the carnival because you thought I was in danger." "But here I am." "You're here safe because I protected you." "What are you talking about?" "Just let me do the same for my sister." "So, I haven't played it yet." "Thought I'd wait for you." "Ready?" "Take him to my office." "Do you know the penalties for having a phone in the sector?" "Confiscation of family property, criminal prosecution, being sent to the crate." "I said I know." "Not to mention what it would do to the integration program if it got out that an atrian student had a terrorist comm device." "It's nof mine." "I know." "It was your father's." "How did you know that?" "Our techs were able to retrieve that much, but nothing else of use." "This is over, Roman." "No, no, no, this is not over." "My father is dead, and I'm not even sure" "I know who he was anymore." "Why did he have that phone?" "Who was he meeting?" "I knew your father." "And I can tell you he was no terrorist." "Now, I will make sure that the seu guards back off your family, but if you want to honor your father's memory, my advice would be to forget you ever saw this." "Roman, you okay?" "I was worried they might have thrown you into atrian juvie." "That video text you decrypted." "I saw the sender's number in sondiv." "If I gave you that number, could you find the phone?" "The one that sent the messages?" "Yeah, probably." "But maybe we shouldn't." "Dude, those guards are serious." "Please." "This is important to me." "It's about my father." "Whoa." "The phone belonged to nox?" "Why would he have a phone?" "I'm not sure." "But whatever his reasons were, he was willing to risk everything." "That's why I have to find that second phone." "Okay, I've set this up to ping the phone that sent the text." "Ping?" "Yeah, um, we send the signal out to the other phone, and if it's on, we get a ping, like an echo." "It'll help us find the direction." "What are our chances of finding it?" "Are you atrians familiar with the saying" ""a needle in a haystack"?" "Do it." "Oh." "What?" "What's wrong?" "Did it work?" "No, it's... it's saying the other phone is within a few hundred yards." "It's here." "At school." "Hey, Sophia?" "There's a lot of hate from Collier about an alien swimming for Marshall, but I'm really looking forward to it." "Thanks." "I appreciate that." "A peace offering." "It's a sports drink..." "my pre-race ritual." "What's in it?" "Uh, fruit juice, electrolytes, that sort of stuff." "Cheers!" "Good stuff, right?" "Oh, there's some caffeine in there, too." "Wait a minute." "You aliens are allergic to that stuff, aren't you?" "Maybe that will slow you down." "Guys, is that supposed to happen?" "Sophia!" "Sophia?" "Guys, she can't breathe." "I need to get help." "Hey." "Sophia." "Move, move, move, move, move!" "Sophia." "Try to breathe." "Give her room." "I said, get back." "Why don't you get back... tattie lover?" "Who you calling tattie?" "Roman?" "Roman?" "There's something wrong with Sophia." "Huh?" "The paramedics are on their way, but..." "Go!" "Somebody call 911!" "Help me get her to the locker room." "No, you shouldn't move her." "Listen, I can help her, but I can't do it here." "Trust me." "What did you give her?" "Caffeine?" "It's not my fault she drank it." "What you're saying makes me feel unwelcome and fills me with rage." "There." "I used my words." "Keep her going." "Just breathe, Sophia." "Just breathe." "Right." "Okay." "Paramedics are on the way." "She's my sister." "I've got this." "No, you don't." "She's an atrian." "You don't know the first thing about this." "Please give us some privacy." "Roman, I'm not going anywhere until the paramedics arrive." "All right?" "If you can use cyper to save her, why don't you?" "I can't while she's here." "It's anaphylaxis." "She's having an allergic reaction." "Emery, are you sure?" "This happened to me enough times." "I should know better." "I can fix this." "What are you doing?" "!" "She's all right." "All right?" "It's okay." "Hey." "Hey." "Let her go!" "Come on!" "Screw it." "Ooh!" "Seriously?" "Deal with it." "The next person to throw a punch will be expelled." "The meet is canceled." "Collier, head to the locker room." "Marshall, to the auditorium." "Now!" "Due to your actions, the Marshall swim team will be suspended from competition." "You'll forfeit all further matches." "Your season's over." "Are you serious?" "Wait." "It's not their fault." "It's mine." "No." "I put the integration program on the line today." "I trusted you all, and you let me down." "Still... when nox, one of the founding members of this program, passed away, many feared that his dream would die with him, but after today's events..." "I know that's not the case." "True, the meet was an unqualified disaster, but for the first time in history, humans and atrians were fighting alongside each other." "You were fighting for each other." "And I view that as a victory..." "One I can build on, so there will be no further disciplinary action." "You can go." "Wait." "We came here to swim." "After everything that's happened, can we at least have that?" "What's the point?" "We already forfeited the meet." "There's no one here to see it." "We're here." "The pool is yours." "One hour." "Don't think I'm taking it easy on you because you almost just died." "Don't think I'm taking it easy on you ever." "On your marks, get set..." "Go!" "Thank you." "So, cyper is real?" "You know." "That's how Roman saved you." "Honestly, I'm relieved." "I hated having to lie to you." "Why couldn't you just tell me the truth?" "Cyper only works when it's mixed with atrian blood." "If people found out that it could cure disease and bring you back from the brink of death..." "Atrians would become lab rats." "But Roman should know he can trust me after all we've been through." "He wanted to protect you." "Just knowing about cyper could be dangerous." "People would kill for that kind of information." "That still doesn't explain why he's been avoiding me." "Well, all I can tell you is that he cares about you and he'd be with you if he thought he could, which changes everything." "Right?" "I don't need to be protected all the time." "That's not the relationship I want, but I am glad he has you and Lukas to talk to... really." "So we're okay?" "Always." "I'd better go." "Hey." "So much for normal." "You mean most high schools don't get into interstellar brawls?" "Or save aliens from medical crises." "Nope, just us." "What happened there?" "I, uh, tried to punch a Collier swimmer and missed, but this vending machine is real unhappy about getting in my face." "You know, I'm quite a virtuoso with a first aid kit." "Hey." "Hello, earth to Roman." "So," "I lost the signal." "I had it, but then it started moving off fast like someone was driving away." "Uh, t-towards the sector?" "No, somewhere into the burbs." "You were right..." "About joining the swim team..." "I was naive." "I'm the one who should be apologizing." "I was being overprotective." "And holding back the people I love... that's not..." "It's not serving anyone." "It's just, with dad gone," "I feel like I'm the one who's supposed to be looking out for you, you know?" "He would have been so proud to see what you did today." "Did you ever find out what dad was doing with that phone?" "I know he wasn't a trag." "But he was communicating with someone outside the sector." "It must have been important enough for him to keep it a secret from us." "Well, whatever the reasons are," "I'll get to the bottom of it." "But not tonight." "No, not tonight." "I'll tell the seu guards to back off Roman's family." "I destroyed nox's phone." "Does Roman suspect anything?" "Roman suspects everything, but he doesn't know for certain that I was the one who ordered the search." "Make sure things stay that way." "You can count on me." "I appreciate it and I'll repay the favor, but, castor, do not try to leverage this or use it against me." "That's not a mistake you can afford to make." "I wouldn't dream of it." "Glad to be of service." "Show daddy how you swim." "Let's get in." "Do you want to get in?" "Should we get in?" "Yeah?" "Are you seeing this, nox?" "Here we go." "Yeah." "He's amazing." "Our son is amazing." "Show daddy how you swim." "Come on, show him." "Show him." "Yeah." "Yeah, there you go." "Oh, you're doing great." "Captioned by  media access group at wgbh  access." "Wgbh." "Org"