Designated Survivor (TV Series)

Outbreak (2017)

Italia Ricci: Emily Rhodes

Quotes 

• Seth Wright : So, I just got off the phone with an infectious disease specialist at the CDC. This bug is a rapidly mutating pathogen that accelerates its host's lytic cycle.

  Emily Rhodes : English?

  Seth Wright : Uh, it makes your cells explode.

  Emily Rhodes : Maybe don't tell the press that.

• Dr. Tammy Bruner : I read an abstract recently about an experimental cancer drug called Extasis with interesting antiviral properties that seem to reduce the ability of viruses with a genome similar to the H7N9 to replicate.

  Aaron Shore : So not a prevention, but a treatment. That sounds promising. Where do we get it?

  Dr. Tammy Bruner : A guy named Carlton Mackie. He heads this cutting-edge pharma firm in Delaware called Benevax.

  Emily Rhodes : We're on it.

  Dr. Tammy Bruner : Meantime, we need to widen the quarantine to neighboring counties. This thing's getting away from us.

• Tom Kirkman : Okay, what do we got?

  Tom Kirkman : Thirty-two cases in the past twenty-four hours in South Carroll Parish. It's twelve fatalities.

  Emily Rhodes : Which means thousands are infected.

  Tom Kirkman : So what's the CDC saying? Is this as bad as Liberia?

  Dr. Tammy Bruner : Worse. It's influenza "A", likely avian origin. Highly contagious. Short incubation period facilitates the spread.

  Tom Kirkman : Could this be the superbug you've been worried about?

  Dr. Tammy Bruner : Well, I might have an answer for that if the CDC had some money for infectious disease research.

  Tom Kirkman : Just like when we were teaching at Columbia. Always trying to squeeze blood from a stone.

  Dr. Tammy Bruner : But that was for faculty pensions. This is about lives.

• Emily Rhodes : We have a shot at containment because the area is so isolated. They didn't even have state roads in some parts until the '70s.

  Aaron Shore : The FAA shut down all airports in a 200 mile radius. Same for NHTSA and highways.

  Emily Rhodes : And I told Governor LaSalle that we're at his disposal.

  Tom Kirkman : Okay, good. Aaron, I'm gonna want you to be the liaison between the World Health Organization and the UN. We also need to notify the Canadian and Mexican authorities.

  Emily Rhodes : HHS has activated the Strategic National Stockpile of vaccines and antivirals, so hopefully one of them will match this flu strain.

  Tom Kirkman : Emily, bring Seth up to speed. As soon as word leaks out, panic's gonna spread like wildfire. Let's get on it.

• Seth Wright : Hey, um, did you leave me a blueberry muffin?

  Emily Rhodes : I did.

  Seth Wright : That was really nice.

  Emily Rhodes : Yeah, I picked out all the blueberries, so don't make it a big deal.

  Seth Wright : Well, I won't now. Oh, uh, that zoologist from the National Museum wants to come by; the guy who's naming the animal after the president. He wants a photo op.

  Emily Rhodes : [sarcastic]  Bringing an alien species into the White House while we're fighting a possible pandemic that originated with animals is... a great idea.

  Seth Wright : Hey, I just work here.

• Emily Rhodes : Hey, new girl. You getting up to speed?

  Kendra Danes : Trying. It's a little, uh...

  Emily Rhodes : Intimidating?

  Kendra Danes : That's the word.

  Emily Rhodes : Just remember, it's another office building.

  Kendra Danes : Whose halls were walked by Lincoln, FDR, and Kennedy.

  Emily Rhodes : You'll get used to it.

  Kendra Danes : Really?

  Emily Rhodes : No.

• Aaron Shore : Ten more dead?

  Dr. Tammy Bruner : And eleven more in the ICU hanging on. The mortality rate of the patients in the hospital will be about 40%.

  Aaron Shore : Have we made any progress?

  Dr. Tammy Bruner : No. The viral gestation cycle is short. The patient's lungs are damaged, and the oxygen loss leads to organ failure.

  Emily Rhodes : What about our antiviral stockpile?

  Dr. Tammy Bruner : The South Carroll Parish strain is resistant.

  Aaron Shore : What about creating a new vaccine?

  Dr. Tammy Bruner : Even if you threw every brain from the CDC at it, it would take months.

• Tom Kirkman : What do you mean Carlton Mackie didn't deliver the medicine?

  Aaron Shore : He reneged, sir. He found another buyer.

  Emily Rhodes : Pharmacies whose clientele are willing to pay two grand a dose.

  Tom Kirkman : So the residents of South Carroll Parish will not get the medicine they need, while the residents in Cameron Parish will.

  Emily Rhodes : Yes, sir. It's all about the money; who has it, who doesn't.

  Lyor Boone : It's like Katrina on steroids, Mr. President.

  Tom Kirkman : Not if I can help it. Tell Kendra I'm gonna need her in federal court as soon as possible.

• Lyor Boone : [after a press briefing]  Seth's good.

  Emily Rhodes : Yep.

  Lyor Boone : The virus is better.

  Emily Rhodes : Yep.

  Lyor Boone : The NAACP wants to know why eight times as many people have died in a black parish than a white parish.

  Emily Rhodes : That's a fair question.

  Lyor Boone : I'm saying the president needs to devote more resources...

  Emily Rhodes : Look, we have the CDC, HHS, NIH, FEMA...

  Lyor Boone : I don't think we can contain this with acronyms, Emily.

• Tom Kirkman : How are we doing?

  Dr. Tammy Bruner : The Extasis is working, sir. It dramatically reduces the viral load so that the body's immune system has a fighting chance. The patients that we've administered it to are recovering.

  Tom Kirkman : Thank god.

  Dr. Tammy Bruner : Problem is we don't have enough. Not anymore.

  Tom Kirkman : Well, we lost a lot of time. We had to chase that son of a bitch into court.

  Dr. Tammy Bruner : Yes, sir, and this virus is moving much faster than we thought. We need more medicine.

  Tom Kirkman : Unfortunately, Mackie gave us everything that he had.

  Dr. Tammy Bruner : 10,000 doses, right?

  Tom Kirkman : That's correct.

  Dr. Tammy Bruner : I don't think that's all he had.

  Tom Kirkman : Why?

  Dr. Tammy Bruner : This medication is extremely expensive to develop. 10,000 doses is simply not a cost-effective production, especially for a company that invests as much into R&D as Benevax.

  Tom Kirkman : Right. We'll look into it. I'll get back to you as soon as we can. Emily, I want...

  Emily Rhodes : On it, sir.

• Emily Rhodes : Sir, Carlton Mackie's in the West Wing. Want me to bring him in?

  Tom Kirkman : No. He doesn't set foot in the Oval Office ever again.

• Emily Rhodes : [seeing Kendra resting in her office]  Looks about right. I hear you're off to a pretty good start.

  Kendra Danes : Oh, no, I guess. Maybe I'm just off.

  Emily Rhodes : You negotiated a settlement for the Emmitt Akin statue.

  Kendra Danes : That no one's really happy with.

  Emily Rhodes : You went to court to get medicine distributed to sick people.

  Kendra Danes : A bunch of whom died because we didn't get it there fast enough.

  Emily Rhodes : See? Firing on all cylinders.

  Kendra Danes : Feels like the whole job around here is just putting out fires. Is it always like this?

  Emily Rhodes : No. Usually, the flames are much higher.