Excuse me. Um... what's going on?
The landlord smelled something coming out of 6-B.
He went in and found a body.
Hi. Um, I'm friends with the woman in 6-B.
Can I... Can I please come in?
Yeah, sure.
- Come on. - Thank you.
He says he knows her.
- What's your name? - Adam Carpenter.
What's the nature of your relationship
to the deceased?
I'm the father of her child.
I'm sorry.
What happened?
No sign of forced entry.
Looks like natural causes.
Can't be sure till the coroner weighs in.
Did she have any known medical issues?
Uh, her prenatal doc said she had a low
red blood cell count, but that it wasn't
anything to be worried about.
Give me a call in the morning.
We'll take your full statement.
Can I have a... a minute in here?
Take your time.
The lab received a strange call
from the Fire Island Park Service this morning.
The rangers can't explain how the deer
are repopulating so quickly there
despite the culling earlier this summer.
I confess I can't explain it either.
The lab received a strange call
from the Fire Island Park Service this morning.
The rangers can't explain how the deer are
repopulating so quickly there
despite the culling earlier this summer.
I confess, I can't explain it either.
A virus? But how does it replicate?
Dr. Gallo's report on T-cell lymphoma
makes me suspect that it could be...
Dr. Gallo's report on T-cell lymphoma
makes me suspect that it could be...
No way to be certain, but my best guess
would be heart failure.
Sudden, bolt-of-lightning heart failure.
I'll know more when I get to her,
- probably tomorrow. - What about homicide?
I'm sorry?
- What if she was attacked? - Attacked?
Yes. Play it again.
I don't need to.
There are zero signs of a struggle on her body.
And I'm so sorry, but if you suspect something like this,
why wouldn't you bring that to the police?
I have my reasons.
Well, you're giving me reasons to make
an official report of this
and have you brought in for questioning.
I agreed to this as a favor to Patrick.
He said you needed some closure on what happened
to your friend Theo.
Look, Adam, there is no way
that these two cases are related.
I can get you more information
on Dr. Wells' body when I have it.
But your friend Mr. Graves...
no sign of struggle either.
He had pneumocystis pneumonia.
Undiagnosed, untreated and aggressive.
That was the primary factor in his death.
What is that?
It's a lung infection.
It's caused by a fungus.
Usually affects older patients who have weak immune systems.
Then how would it kill him that quickly?
The report says that he'd been tied up
crucifixion style.
He was hanging by his arms for what, hours probably?
That's what deprived him of oxygen.
That combined with the pneumonia,
he didn't have a chance.
Plus, toxicology found quaaludes in his system.
Those would have depressed his breathing to begin with.
Made it difficult for him to struggle or gasp
or whatever he would need...
And listen, that means Theo didn't suffer,
if that helps you.
So the cause of death was, uh...
Suffocation.
I know what you're trying to get me to say
because it feels like it would make more sense,
but I can't get there.
There's no proof of foul play, Adam.
Nobody was attacked.
The tragedy is that two lives ended far too soon.
I'm truly sorry for your loss,
but I don't see how these two cases are related
in any way.
I don't know how anybody else will, either.
Uh, thank you.
June 27, 1981.
Seven months ago.
I asked Adam to get me pregnant.
I used a turkey baster with his semen in it
to conceive this child.
A direct route of transmission.
And the timeline is making sense.
I say this because it's definitive.
My lab results are mirroring Adam's
and those of my other gay patients.
It's a development that leads me to suspect
that this disease could be sexually transmitted.
I know he suspects that something is wrong,
but he couldn't know how sick we all are.
Our defenses are down, our bodies are under attack.
Adam.
How am I gonna tell him?
Fungi and bacteria run rampant and unchecked.
Opportunistic infection.
Pneumocystis pneumonia.
Kaposi's Sarcoma.
I need to tell Adam as soon as he gets back.
I need to tell him all of this tomorrow.
Okay, there...
Results will take between seven to ten days.
I can have the front desk call you
to set up a follow-up appointment.
I already know what it is.
I just need you to confirm it for your records.
Oh, really? And what is that?
Kaposi's Sarcoma.
Doctor? Sorry.
I have... I have reason to believe
that this is sexually transmitted.
Adam, you're a young man. It's probably benign.
There's no reason to panic.
No, I... I need you to listen to me.
Um, there's something new out there,
and-and you need to be putting every colleague,
every medical body in New York
on high alert.
How do you expect me to get anyone
to take what you've just said seriously, exactly?
On your say-so.
I don't expect you to,
but you will have my results in seven to ten days,
and then maybe you can take me seriously.
June 2, 1981.
More tests came back today.
The deer on Fire Island are not the origin.
It makes me wonder if this Fran woman is on to something.
Did all this begin with a lab leak?
I was able to confirm that some of what she said about
the government experiments on Plum Island is true.
But weaponized ticks?
It feels absurd even entertaining this possibility.
But many of the rashes and fevers in my patients
match a cluster of cases in Lyme, Connecticut.
And now Rocky Mountain Labs wants us to send them
tick samples from all over Long Island.
They suspect that deer ticks are the actual carriers
of this, quote, "Lyme Disease."
But what about my gay patients with these changes
in immune function?
Similar reports of rashes and fever
shortly after trips to Fire Island.
From weaponized ticks? It doesn't seem right.
Simplistic. Far-fetched.
What's more likely is that I'm observing the effects
of an entirely new pathogen.
It was bound to happen.
It could have come from anywhere.
Wherever it came from, I'm having trouble
getting my work any serious attention.
The neglect faced by this community is criminal.
Surely others have noticed something by now.
I have to make more noise.
If you're looking for an autograph,
you'll have to wait till after the show.
Uh, I'm-I'm not here for an autograph.
Um, it's a matter of public health.
Really?
Well, it's very kind of you to finally show up.
Sorry?
I've been calling you guys for weeks.
We've been bleaching, scrubbing with ethyl alcohol,
following every protocol to the T, and still,
my patrons are getting sick.
Where the hell have you been?
I'm, uh, I'm not here from the Health Department.
I'm just a concerned citizen.
Um, I was hoping you could post these.
I brought some boxes of condoms in here, too.
Boxes?
Yeah. The checkout lady looked at me
like I was the Whore of Babylon.
There's something new going around.
Something deadly.
I'm just trying to keep as many people safe as I can.
It's my last show tonight.
And it doesn't feel safe around here anymore.
- Last show? - Mm-hmm.
End of an era.
I should have hung my tiara up years ago.
But I'm stubborn.
Holding on to an old dream.
But what a dream it was.
All that music, all that love.
Freedom incarnate.
Vitality without shame.
But it's gone now.
I've sensed it coming for a long time.
It's over.
Deadly, huh?
Well, go with God,
whatever that means to you.
I'm closing shop.
Now, listen, kid,
you are way too young to be thinking about
how not to die.
Don't forget how to live.
I told you.
I told you, I told you.
I told you.
Next.
Sir, he just said you're next.
Mrs. Read, uh, Patrick would have...
Aye-yi-yi. Gladiola.
No, no, no, no, goddamn it!
This is supposed to be open, goddamn it!
We want people to face what happened to you.
Why did you do this?
Patrick. Patrick.
- Patrick. - Gino.
Gino.
We need to start the service.
You're safe.
We're not safe, Gino.
Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org