Powder (1995) Movie Script
All right, people, let's go!
Let's go!
Let's go, everybody!
We need your help here!
Come up here! Get in here, get in here!
She's close!
Vitals are down to nothing.
Here you go. Come on.
Let me get in here. You got her?
- We're clear. We're clear.
- I got it.
- All right, lift her up on three. One, two, three. Up.
- Who's hanging blood?
- Can you hear me? Can you hear me?
- Get in there. Get her prepped. Let's move!
Let's go! Let's go!
We need some room!
Spread it out, spread it out!
Let's make a hole! Come on!
- Get a sterile pack!
- Right down the hallway, please!
Let's go! In here!
Anna didn't make it, Greg.
- We tried everything.
The trauma was just too much.
The baby?
The baby, I'm concerned,
might have some abnormalities.
Outwardly, we can already tell
that the child has no pigmentation.
It's called albinism.
It's strictly genetic.
That's, that's-
Well, that's pale skin, right?
And pale eyes that are
usually more light sensitive.
- I want to see him.
- Greg, you have to remember that an unborn child...
experiences everything
that the mother experiences.
You take me to him.
You show me.
We'll do everything we can
for him, Greg. You know that.
What are you doing to him?
We're measuring his brain waves.
You don't have to do this now.
That's not my son.
That's not my son.
- That's not my son.
- Come on, Greg, let's go.
- That's not my son.
- You don't need this. For Christ's sake, let's go.
Not good, Sheriff.
- Jessie.
- Doug.
Thanks for making the drive.
- Are we still in Wheaton County?
- Barely.
- Did I ruin your Sunday?
- Well, I guess if somebody...
was going to have to,
I'm glad it was you.
Doug...
I can hear him again.
- He's movin' around down there.
- Tell me you didn't try to talk to him.
- You bet your ass I didn't.
- Good.
Miss Caldwell.
They said a boy, right?
I'm guessing
that's what it is.
The old man here
died last night.
The neighbors found him this morning.
- We figure the kid's his grandson.
- So where is he?
He won't come up
from the cellar.
He didn't report
his grandfather's death either.
We already know
he died of natural causes.
Doug, what am I doing here?
The neighbors say
he may be retarded.
One of them says deformed.
You know, physically handicapped.
I don't know.
I couldn't for the life of me
think of who else to call.
He's scared enough,
and I thought maybe you could...
come down and talk him out of there without
us having to go down and drag him out.
Jessie... the neighbors talk about him
like he's some kind of a phantom.
I haven't met one yet that
ever had a good look at him.
What are you telling me, Doug?
That the old folks
may have kept him down there...
like some kind of a family secret.
I don't know.
Boy?
I brought somebody to talk to you.
Hello?
Hey, my name is Jessie.
Are you okay down here?
You think we could
turn a light on?
Hey, if you're afraid,
you don't need to be. Not with me.
I'm not afraid.
What's your name?
Powder.
- Is that a name or a nickname?
- He was getting coffee and he fell.
He jus-
He just fell over and died.
I tried to help him.
- I tried. He-
- We know that.
Son, I told you,
you're not in any trouble.
- I'm sorry. I just want to see you.
- Why?
Well, come on. Nobody's gonna hurt you.
It's all right.
Give me your hand.
Come on.
What's your real name, son?
Jeremy Reed.
You've been down here
all night, Jeremy.
You must be starved.
Could you get us something to eat?
Anything. Sheriff?
We'll be all right.
Be right back.
Why didn't you tell anyone
when you knew he was dead?
Why didn't you call the police?
Grandpa said
there would be a day...
when he would die...
like Grandma died.
And that people would come...
and see me...
and try and take me away.
- Get back there. Keep an ear, but don't go down.
- Yes, sir.
Lucy, this is Barnum.
Go ahead, Sheriff. I'm here.
We're still out at the Reeds'. We got
something out here nobody's gonna believe.
- You don't live down here?
- Mmm.
I do most of the work
around the place...
at least until the sun
gets too high.
Then the sunglasses
don't even help.
Did you know they make
contact lenses now...
that can protect your eyes
from the sun all the time?
I read about them, but Grandpa
said they cost too much.
When's the last time
you were in school?
I've never been to school.
I read about it though.
But you said you
read all these books?
And... have you read this book?
Well, I know college kids who
couldn't wade through this one.
Pick a page.
Two hundred and sixteen.
"Where lies the final harbor,
whence we unmoor no more.
"In what rapt ether sails the world
of which the weariest will never weary?
"Where is the foundling's
father hidden?
"Our souls are like those orphans whose
unwedded mothers die in bearing them.
"And the secret of our paternity
lies in their grave,
and we must there learn it."
You know the whole book?
I know 'em all.
- Go clear 'em back.
- All right, everybody, let's move back.
- And I mean back beyond the vehicles. Let's go!
- Okay.
It's all right.
You don't have to be afraid.
You're afraid.
You're afraid for me.
Why don't you get in here.
I'll take that.
You ever see so many goddamn
lightning rods on one house?
I just got off the horn
with the coroner.
He said that old boy died of natural causes,
but there was evidence of fibrillation.
His body was juiced
with electricity.
That old man was laying
dead there all night.
You think the paramedics showed up
this morning and tried paddles on him?
Are you telling me the kid
electrocuted the old man?
What do you think,
he's Dr. Frankenstein?
I'm just sayin' that
that's more than an albino, Doug.
That is spooky.
I never thought we'd find a man
too white for you there, Harley.
Come on now, let me have it.
- Okay, come on, let's go!
- Hut! Hut!
- Down! Set!
- All right, set, you moron.
Hut!
I got him! Come on!
Don't let 'em fool you.
They spend most their time
tryin' to look tough.
You get to know 'em,
you find out they're...
mostly scared and lonely
just like everybody else.
- Come on!
- Fourth down! It's on the line!
- Hut! Go! Go!
- Geez, I'm open! I'm open!
- Yeah!
- I got him! I got him! Got him! Get him!
- Come on, come on!
Get the ball! Come on, catch the-
- Oh, man.
- Whoa.
What the hell is that?
You need to see him, Aaron,
to know what I'm saying.
You need to see him sitting out
in the hall right now...
'cause, I'm telling you,
I've never seen anything like him.
That's exactly what I mean.
Because of the way he's lived.
Uh, he doesn't seem
to know what things are.
I think things you and I
take for granted-
common, everyday objects,
simple ideas-
I just don't think
he's ever been exposed to them.
I mean, he's about the most well-read
teenage kid you could ever meet.
But in other ways...
I think he's a lot
like a little child.
Why you look like that?
You look like some kind of vampire
from outer space or something.
They kick you out
of cancer camp?
You got some kind of disease?
Don't look at me, man.
Did you hear what I said?
I don't like your eyes.
What's a new guy gotta do
the first day he gets here?
He's gotta do the due.
New guy, first day, first meal.
He's gotta wear his spoon.
You ever wear your spoon?
Well, you got two choices.
You can either wear it
on the end of your nose-
Why don't you show, Mitch.
Now, you can wear it
like that...
or you can wear it the other way,
which is up your ass.
You choose.
What are you doin'?
Jesus!
Poppa.
You see Steven?
He stayed three hours.
Did her more good
than them painkillers.
She was hurtin' all day
'til he got here.
He brought her that too.
- What happened out at the Reed farm today?
- I'm here, angel.
Something about a retarded boy
they got up at the state home now.
How the hell did you hear about that?
I guess I don't have to tell you
what I think about that.
- I'd love it if you didn't.
- The last thing we need up there...
is another mental defective
along with all that other trash.
Here you go.
I don't know what he is,
but retarded he's not.
Well, aside from the absence
of any and all body hair,
which is a condition
not too uniquely uncommon,
bottom line,
he's a very healthy young man.
In fact, with all that farm work,
I'd say you're in damn fine shape.
And the optometrist said
his contact lenses'll be here...
- the end of the week?
- They'll be callin' him "Ol' Blue Eyes"...
in time for the county fair.
- You guys are comin', right?
- Uh, you'll see a few of us there.
Hey, Doc, thanks for comin' out.
It's my pleasure.
Good day, Mr. Jeremy Reed.
Jeremy, listen, uh,
I want you to think about something.
We attend school in town
at Wheaton High.
You certainly wouldn't be at
an intellectual disadvantage there,
and I know most
of the teachers so-
Anyway, um, all I'm saying is,
if you'd like to attend school
one day next week, I can arrange it.
Will my contacts be ready by Monday?
- Come on, let's go. Okay?
- Hey, there.
- I left it in my locker.
- Hey, what is that?
- I'll go get it.
- Hey, check it out.
Hey, hey, guys.
Check that guy out.
Look, look.
Molecules.
When we speed up the course
of molecules, we get...
energy.
And, um, since we
are all basically...
just a mass of molecules,
what does our brain send out
to all the other parts of the body?
Lindsey?
Um, impulses.
Yeah.
Electric impulses.
Jeremy, turn your head
and look at Lindsey.
Yes. That's lovely.
That's very good.
You've just relayed electricity.
Your brain sent out
an electric impulse...
down to your neck muscles...
and, uh, what, what
turned your head,
besides the obvious?
What your, what your muscles
used to turn your head?
It's energy. Energy.
Always relaying,
always transforming.
And never ending.
Now looky here.
This is a, uh, a Jacob's ladder.
It's a science fair toy,
and it's, uh, built to show us
how electricity travels.
Okay?
Can we get the, uh, shutters?
Watch this.
Hey, cut it out.
Cut it out.
Ooh, look at this.
Blinding, isn't it? Now, who can tell me
why electricity travels?
Uh, boredom?
Huh, he tickles me.
No. No, potential.
Potential.
One side of this thing is positive,
while the other side...
has a strong negative pull.
And, uh, that's all the potential
that electricity needs to travel.
That's right.
That's pretty good. Don't I bring you
good, entertaining things?
But you get the idea that it does- You
know, it-it travels and just keeps going.
Did you ever-
What's your experience with electricity?
Did you ever, you know, run your feet
over a carpet like that and touch somebody?
- What happens?
- Static electricity?
That's right, that's right. Now, where
does it go when y-you touch somebody?
- It just goes out.
So ener- So, so electricity,
like energy, uh,
just-just, um, uh, recycles.
It flows in a cycle that d-doesn't end.
It-It, uh-
Are you all right?
Mr. Ripley?
Are you okay?
The local news and
those Channel 5 people are outside.
So is Jimmy Hobbs
from the newspaper.
- Tell them to go home.
- Oh, come on, Doug.
They ain't goin' anywhere 'til somebody
goes out there and talks to 'em.
Tell them there's no fatalities, no sex
scandal. That will get rid of them fast.
Goddamn it, Doug,
I sound like a moron...
- if I say more than five words to those people,
and you know it. - Well, if the shoe fits-
Dr. Tarentino,
you're wanted in Pediatrics.
But I can't do it. I've got
no authorization to do anything.
- I can't let you go anywhere-
- Hi, Doc.
Here we go, here we go. Doug, Doug, tell
Duane that it's okay for me to see that kid.
- Thank you.
- Donald, you're just the man I wanted to see.
I got 20 different kids
telling me 20 different stories.
Right. Uh, if I hadn't seen it myself,
I'd say it was impossible.
It was a model. For God sakes,
it picked him right out of his seat.
- What did?
- Hold it! Ho-Hold it, Doug.
The kid doesn't have a scratch on him.
Heart rate's a little irregular,
but nothing to indicate the kind of
electrical shock you're talking about.
Right, right! And he's got a hole,
uh, burned in his shirt...
the size of a bowling ball.
Something's happened here.
Something's happened here. I'm telling
you, with everything we know about science,
about the makeup of the human body,
what happened in that classroom
is impossible!
That kid attracted an arc
of electricity from 30 feet away!
And not just from the Jacob's ladder. I
mean, after a second, it was like it was...
comin' at him out
of the whole... building.
- You want to know why there isn't a hair on him?
- Why?
Because he is electrolysis.
It can't grow on him.
- Doc Roth?
- Yes?
- Can I see you for a minute?
- Excuse me.
- Excuse me.
- Dr. McGrail and Dr. Cain to C.C.U.
- Drink that in.
- Dr. McGrail and Dr. Cain to C.C.U.
I will.
Nobody saw him leave his room,
- but his clothes are gone too.
- Find him.
He can't have gotten far.
Dr. Brodnick, call 2-9-2.
- Dr. Brodnick, 2-9-2, please.
- Lucy, come in.
Hey.
Zack! Zachary!
Zack, come here.
Come here, boy.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Watch out. He bites.
The family before us
made him pretty mean, so-
Wow, I can't believe I'm looking at you.
Are you okay?
I didn't mean to scare anybody.
- The whole thing was pretty embarrassing really.
- Embarrassing?
You're kidding, right?
My grandma used to say
I have an electric personality.
Well, that was some light show.
I mean, people will
be talking about that...
to their grandkids'
grandkids around here.
I don't mean to stare,
but I had a bet with a friend...
that you have blue-grey eyes.
She says they're blue-green.
Looks like she's right.
Well, actually, you're...
you're both wrong.
Oh.
Sorry.
No, no, that's okay. Just kind of
took me by surprise, that's all.
Oh, well.
- You must feel
like you've got two heads...
- the way everybody
looks at you around here, huh?
Have you ever listened
to people from the inside?
Listened so close,
you can hear their thoughts...
and all their memories?
Hear 'em think from places that
they don't even know they think from?
What are you saying?
You can do that?
Are you sure you're okay?
Do you know how to get
to the interstate?
Yeah, it's um-
If you follow the train tracks,
you'll see the Redmond water tower.
Then, if you go across
the trestle, you'll see it.
- But you're really okay?
- I'm okay.
You better hurry.
They catch boys running away
from Central, I hear they get solitary.
Hey!
Stay away from
those electrical outlets, okay?
Bye.
I didn't know better,
I'd say you were headed for the highway.
Don't make me
come out there, boy.
Now, you're about to make me
a whole lot meaner. Trust me, son,
- you don't want to make me mad.
- Afraid.
I don't make you mad,
I make you afraid.
What was that?
I said that
you're afraid of me.
Duncan, get on back.
I can handle this.
I'm all right.
- I can see that.
- Then let me go home.
I don't want to go back
to that hospital.
We'll call the doc. If he says okay,
I'll take you back to Central.
Central's not my home.
I'm trying to tell you
as nice as I know how.
Now either you come with me without a fuss
or we're gonna have ourselves a problem.
You want me to cuff him?
Lucy, this is One.
We got him.
I'm coming back to the office.
...Doug.
You got a problem
with hospitals in general?
I don't like 'em.
Well, you can put me
on that list.
Worst day I can remember
was in a hospital.
What day was that?
The day I was born.
Let me get this straight, Jeremy.
You said that you've never been tested
for I.Q. before. Is that right?
And your grandmother tutored you.
Did she ever say
anything about it?
She said I was a fast learner.
Yeah.
Well, I think that's about to fall
into the "no shit" category.
Jeremy Reed, this is Dr. Aaron Stipler
with the State Board of Education.
- Jeremy.
These men and women are here...
because the results of your diagnostics
came back with a few surprises.
Please, sit down.
Miss Caldwell says you're
a very unique young man, Jeremy.
Hmm.
She also tells me that, um,
reading and your grandparents are the
only ways you've experienced the world.
Is that true?
What about a radio
or, um, a TV set?
- Surely you've watched some television at some point.
- He probably couldn't.
Didn't your grandparents
have a TV set, Jeremy?
I could never watch television.
- Are you saying you weren't allowed?
- Here, it probably just makes-
No.
Oh.
I'm saying I could
never watch television.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
That was- That was my fault.
l, uh- I was- I was just
trying to make them understand.
What the good doctor hasn't, uh,
let you in on yet is that...
- your test shows that you're a genius.
- Please!
Your I.Q. scored right
off the charts, Jeremy.
There isn't even a classification
for you, it was so high.
All of your tests indicate that you have
the most advanced intellect...
in the history of humankind.
Do you understand
what I'm saying?
If you thought I was that advanced,
would you ask me if I understood?
Jeremy,
these people are
in a position to help you.
Can they send me home?
- Can they send me back?
- No.
I'm sorry. They can't.
The fact is, the...
the farm's in probate.
Do you know what that means?
Of or pertaining to probate or a court
of probate, exempli gratia...
the official proving of a will
as authentic or genuine.
Or it can also mean the official,
certified copy of a will so proved.
Right.
Well, it-it seems that
the bank owns most of it.
I'm sorry.
Well, back to the matter at hand.
I have a few more questions
I have to ask you,
- Jeremy.
- You're not here to ask me questions.
You're here to find out
how I cheated.
That's the only way
you can make sense of it.
That's what you need to believe.
But I don't need you
to believe in me, Dr. Stipler.
- And I'm not interested
in any of your tests.
I'm not interested in you,
or anything else here.
I'm interested in going home!
- What the hell is going on here?
- What you already know.
I'm not like other people.
- Over there.
- Okay, do I got to hang it up too?
No, no, no.
Did you see that guy playing
in the football game?
- Yeah.
- God!
What the hell is that thing
doing up here anyway?
Jessie told me you didn't
want to come up here.
I don't want to be anywhere
that's not home.
Jessie's trying so hard
to help you, kiddo.
If you're as smart as they say you are, you
know she's about the best friend you got.
The storm's over Poho County.
We'll be lucky to get a drop.
When a thunderstorm comes up,
I can feel it inside.
And when lightning comes down,
I can feel it wanting to come to me.
Grandma said it was God.
She said the white fire was God.
Do you believe in God, Sheriff?
That it was God who took my mother?
Anna!
Hey.
Took your mother?
Your grandfolks told you that?
I remember it.
Hello, John, Mitch.
What the hell are you
doing out this far?
What are you?
You're supposed to be at the lake,
skinny-dipping with the rest of the faggots.
You afraid you're gonna get a little
color on that marshmallow ass of yours?
Look, man, you'd
better get out of here.
- Oh, Johnny!
- How about it, huh?
What are you doin', man?
I could do you right now.
Right now, man.
One less freak in the freak show.
Come on, man!
It might go off!
Why don't you go suck
your old man off some more?
How about it, huh? You gonna show us
one of your little tricks?
Come on, John!
It's-
- Let's go!
- Yeah!
- All right!
- Look at it! Look at it! Look at it!
Oh, man!
A good hunter
don't hunt for the kill.
A good hunter
hunts for the hunt.
Now, that's a perfect hit
right there.
That's a perfect shot. That's
a clean kill right through the heart.
Y'all see that?
Now, what she's doing now-
It's just her nerves dyin'.
Suffering's minimal
when you know what you're doin'.
What the hell are you
doing out here?
Now listen to me.
You didn't see any of this,
you hear?
Now you just back
out of here, boy.
Now, now, stay away from it.
It ain't dead yet, stupid.
Well, what the hell's
with you, man?
Oh, let's get this moron out of here
before he gets himself kicked.
- What's he doin'?
- What's he doin'?
What do you think
you're doin', man?
Hey, come on!
- Harley?
- Let Harley go!
Oh, my God!
- Cut it out, man!
- Stop, man!
- Somebody do something!
- Say something, man!
- Are you okay?
- Somebody make him stop.
It doesn't matter what you do,
just make him stop!
- Somebody make him stop! Come on!
- Come on, man!
- Harley! He's giving him
a heart attack or something!
Let him go!
- Harley! Harley!
- Do something, John!
- Let him go, you freak!
- Do something, John!
- He's gonna have a heart attack.
- Let him go. Now. Let him go.
- Do it!
- Put the goddamn gun down, John.
Do it!
- Harley!
- Harley! Harley, calm down!
- Harley!
- Are you okay? Harley?
Break it up, guys.
Come on. Okay.
I left camp
for less than an hour.
When I get back, one of my deputies is being
hauled down the mountain in an ambulance.
The boys tell me that you gave him some
sort of an attack. It was like a seizure.
- Is that right?
- No.
Then what did happen?
Why won't you tell anyone?
I let him see.
I opened him up,
and I let him see.
He just couldn't see what
he was doing, so I helped him.
Sheriff-
You better start leveling with me.
Go ahead.
It's Maxine, Doug. She just called.
I'm on my way.
I gotta go.
I need you to think real hard
about telling me what happened.
Thanks, Jess.
Jeremy, please.
I want to go home.
Do you understand that?
I want to go home.
Look, whatever happened up there,
whatever you saw-
I saw that
I don't like what you do!
Any of you!
- Jeremy-
- No!
You pretend to be my friend,
the way you pretend everything!
A friend doesn't lock you up!
A friend doesn't take you
away from your home,
and say that it's for your own good!
How long do you really think
I'll let you keep me here?
She's all right.
I got nervous when I couldn't find you,
so I called the doc.
Harley just got admitted
over at County.
Give a call over there, will you,
Maxine? Find out how he's doing.
Listen, this is like
having your heart torn out every day.
Doug, there's no explanation why your
wife should still be alive right now.
Give me the short one,
will you, Doc?
She can't like seeing
this strain on you,
which may be why she's hanging on
through the worst pain of her life.
It's just gonna make it that much easier
if we get her back to County.
This is where
she wants to be, Duane.
She told me when she still could.
She keeps holding on.
I just don't know why.
And you won't.
Doug, she's past communicating.
You can't get inside of her head.
And if you could,
she'd probably tell you...
"Let me go."
Knock, knock.
Mind if I come in?
Hey, you-you
did something to me.
Um... you know,
I-I didn't figure it out...
until enough people looked at me like
I was crazy or told me to act my age,
but you, uh, uh, zapped me or l,
uh, zapped myself when I touched you.
But I've been- I-I've been running
around on this high like I was 18 again.
I've had more ideas
and more, more focus...
and... better sex
than I've had in ten years.
Do you believe me?
Well... why shouldn't you?
You know if what I say
is bullshit, don't you?
So you know when I say
I'm just here to talk...
that, uh, that I mean it.
Uh, say, did you-
Did you read any, uh, Einstein?
No? Oh, well-
Oh, I think you'd like him.
Um, he said he believed
in life after death.
Only because energy can
never cease to exist.
That it relays, it transforms,
but it doesn't stop ever.
Uh, and he said that if
we ever got to the point...
where we could use all our brain,
uh, that we'd be pure energy...
and that we wouldn't
even need bodies.
Now, um, wh-what would you
say to the possibility...
that because something
happened to you,
uh, something that never does
or isn't supposed to,
that you are, are closer
to that energy level...
than any one body has ever been?
I'd say, "So what?"
So what?
Jeremy, y-you know,
y-your life up 'til now has been...
that farmhouse and, uh,
and the 12 acres of earth.
You know, you've kind
of lived in books.
But I think you're starting
to find out now that the misery...
that you read about is real.
The tragedy is, is real
in all those stories, Jeremy.
Did you think that it wasn't?
I mean, my God, that deer hunt
- You think that's the dark side of man? Killing for pleasure?
I'm sorry. I'm really sorry,
but you haven't begun to see what we do.
We're- Jesus, we're stumbling around
in a very dark age...
basically just trying
not to kill each other.
So it hurts me when you say, "So what?"
because you are not
just different, Jeremy.
I think that you have
a mind that, uh,
that we won't evolve to for like, uh,
thousands of years.
You're maybe the man of the future
right here and now.
I don't know.
And I'm-I'm not here to hurt you.
Jeremy, I want
to be a-a-a friend.
I want to talk with you.
Well... I mean,
did you ever have a friend?
I don't need a friend.
Really?
Gee, I thought
you were a genius.
You know what I say is true.
Are you telling me you, like,
never shook anybody's hand before?
Ah, how do you do?
Hmm? Now we've been
properly introduced.
Want to see a trick?
Hmm.
Wow.
They were afraid
to touch me after a while.
My grandma and grandpa, they-
They got really scared.
What? To touch you?
Jeremy, that's not right.
No way.
That's not right.
Doug.
You've done a little
spring cleaning?
What the hell are you
doing here, Doug?
A couple of my deputies
told me that Harley Duncan...
got rid of every
goddamn gun in his house.
Said he dropped out of
the marksman tourney over in Butte too.
The one he wins every year.
I just ain't huntin'
no more, Doug.
Is that some kind of crime?
I just got lots
of other stuff to do.
You gonna stop
carrying one on the job?
If you can't pick it up and use it,
that's a liability.
I want you to level with me.
I already know you snuck off
hunting with the boys,
which is the last damn thing
you should have done.
Yeah, I know.
I know.
And I popped this pretty doe,
just up at Little Lake.
Let me tell you something, Doug. You ever tell
anybody I said this, I'm moving out of town.
That... kid?
He lays his hand on the deer
while it's still shakin'...
and then he touches me
at the same time.
Now, I can't figure out why...
'til my heart starts poundin'
and I'm shakin',
and I'm feelin' myself
hurt and scared shitless,
slippin' away in the goddamn dark.
That's the worst thing I ever felt.
It's like I could feel
that animal dyin'.
It's like I was
the goddamn thing.
- Aw, come on, Harley.
- Doug, I swear.
Now... I-
I just can't do it anymore.
I can't look at something down the
barrel of a gun without thinking about it.
I've tried it.
I'm telling you,
that thing ain't normal.
I'm telling you, he took whatever was
in that goddamn deer,
and he put it right into me.
I'm sorry, son.
Uh... Jessie said...
it may be okay
for you to come with me.
I don't know what it is you do.
I'm not even sure
I believe you can do it.
But if you can,
I need your help.
Doug Barnum, don't you do this.
- That boy should not be in this house!
- Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh.
- Go to bed, Maxine.
- If you heard the stories I've heard,
- you wouldn't want him in this house!
- Go on, go on.
- Go back to bed.
- I'm telling you, that boy should not be here.
Go to bed, Maxine.
She knows you're here.
Talk to me, woman.
Tell me what
I can do for you, Emma.
She can't go,
not until she knows
you're gonna get through this.
She says the both of you.
You and Steven.
Steven?
What the hell do you
want me to do?
What should I do?
Throw my arms around him?
She wants you to remember the snow
when Steven was younger.
And it was snowing.
You were all playing in it.
A snowball fight.
And she lost her-
Ring.
You lost your wedding ring.
You looked down at your hand,
and it was gone.
We all looked.
Me and Steven,
we dug through the snow all afternoon.
He came back
from school every day,
digging through the snowbanks,
thinking he'd find it.
She cried that you both
loved her so much.
The way each of you
looked so hard for it.
I remember that.
I do.
The silver box.
The silver box on the table.
Oh, no, Mama. No.
Oh, no.
He found it at the old house...
in a garden he was tilling.
He said he knew right away
what it was...
and that it was time to come home.
She says she believes
in miracles now...
and that you should too.
She thinks I'm an angel...
come to take her home.
And to bring you and Steven
together again.
Remind you how much you're still
in each other's hearts.
Everything about each other
we don't like.
You know that.
He loves you more than
any man in the whole world.
And she won't go,
she won't leave this place,
this room or this world...
until you know
that you still have a son.
She'd like to feel
the ring on her finger.
You can hear.
Oh, it's all right.
Angel, it's all right.
Good-bye, Emma, sweetie.
- Hurry!
- What?
- He's got him up there right now!
- What? What is-
He's got him up there
with your mama!
Poppa.
Why don't we just
tell them all to stop,
and they can just
take a picture or something.
Jeremy, are you okay?
They're wondering if I killed her.
Don't tell me you're
seeing inside them again.
What are people like
on the inside?
Inside most people there's
a feeling of being separate.
Separated from everything.
And?
And they're not.
They're part of absolutely
everyone and everything.
Everything?
I'm part of this tree?
Part of Zack barking over fences?
You're telling me that I'm part
of some fisherman in Italy...
on some ocean
I've never even heard of?
There's some guy
sitting on death row.
- I'm part of him too?
- You don't believe me.
It's hard to believe that,
all of that.
Well, that's because you have this spot
that you can't see past.
My grams and gramps had it.
A spot where they were taught
they were disconnected from everything.
So that's what they'd see
if they could?
That they're connected?
And how beautiful
they really are.
- And that there's
no need to hide or lie.
And that it's possible...
to talk to someone
without any lies.
With no sarcasms,
no deceptions,
no exaggerations...
or any of the things
that people use to confuse the truth.
I don't know a single person
who does that.
Hold out your hand.
Put your fingers up.
Wow.
Is that your heartbeat?
And yours.
Wow, this feels strange.
You're afraid someone
will see us holding hands.
You're really nervous
talking to me.
You don't think
you're pretty enough.
You feel alone.
You feel so alone.
Sometimes you just want
to break out of yourself.
Your father.
Your father hurt you
a long time ago.
You're so sad.
He made you so sad.
He thought you were,
you were ugly and...
and he kept saying you,
you weren't-
I'm so sorry.
Do you?
- Do you?
- Do I what?
Do you think I'm ugly?
I don't know what I think
when I look at you.
But sometimes I-I think...
I think you're the most
beautiful face I've ever seen.
What?
What in the name of God
do you think you're doing?
You having a good time
with my daughter?
Wonderful.
It's a good school,
and I feel good-
You think this is funny?
- Funny man, huh?
- Dad!
- You think this is funny, huh, lover boy?
- Would you stop?
- Now, I asked you a question, and I want
an answer. - Would you please let him-
- You think it's funny?
- Dad, he wasn't doing anything!
- Answer me!
- Mr. Kelloway!
Let him go.
I said, "Let him go." Dick Kelloway,
you take your hands off him now!
- I thought your boys had rules about fraternizing.
- I said now.
Keep your state trash
away from my daughter.
Christ, you know nothing happened!
Is that your expert opinion?
You keep that thing on a leash
or I'll slap a lawsuit...
on that state zoo that will shut it down
so fast it will make your head spin.
I am so sorry.
Powder.
- Oh!
- Too bad.
- Oh!
- Oh! Too bad it's mine!
Watch your pick!
Watch your pick!
Run it! Run it!
Run it!
Air ball!
Why don't you
take a picture, man?
Hey, Skye!
Does this look
like a genius to you?
Peeping Tom faggot, maybe.
You were gettin' an eyeful of him,
weren't you, light bulb?
You want to see what
a real man looks like?
Huh?
You think you can take me,
freak show, go for it.
In the meantime...
I keep the hat.
When you think you're man enough
to get it back, you take your best shot.
You think you're
man enough to get it back?
You take your best shot, tough stuff.
What did you say?
I'd beat you to shit
before you got this old hat back.
That's what he said to you
when he was drunk.
You were 12 years old,
and he took your father's hat.
It's the only thing your
real father ever left behind.
Your stepdad, John.
That's what he said to you.
"You think you're man enough
to get it back?
Then take your best shot,
tough stuff."
And then he beat you bloody
that night when you tried.
Hey, fuck you!
You had marks so dark,
you were embarrassed to suit up for gym.
I ought to kill you
right now, man.
I ought to slit your throat and
spit down it while I'm doing it.
Well, what do you know.
Boogeyman's afraid of lightning.
Come on!
- What's the matter, freak show?
- Leave him alone, Johnny! Jesus Christ!
- He's scared to death!
- Bullshit, Mitch!
He got a free show.
Now we get one.
Now that is white!
Look at that.
You're as bald as a baby.
He needs some color.
Doesn't he need some color?
You definitely need
some color, buddy.
Go get him.
Do it!
- Now you got some color.
- That's enough, John.
There's not much fight in you,
is there, freak show?
You really think
you can be like us?
Is that what you think, freak show?
Hey.
Hey, what the hell-
Holy shit.
Look at this.
Look. What's going on here?
Ah. Ah! Ow! Ow!
- What's going on?
- Oh!
- What's go- What's going on?
- What the-
Jesus!
His heart stopped beating!
- You son of a bitch!
- Zane! No, no, no, no!
- Don't touch him, man!
- What the hell are you?
- Don't touch him!
- Come on, you assholes!
Go and get some help now!
Do it!
Hey, what the hell do you
think you're doing?
- You got to be kidding me.
- Come on!
Just get away from him, man!
Stop it, man!
Come on!
He's gone!
Go get help, you idiots!
Do it!
Now!
Come on, man!
You gotta get outta here!
Let him go, John!
Listen! Listen!
I can get you out of here!
I-I've done it before!
Jeremy?
Oh.
They took everything?
Jeremy, listen to me.
We can track it all down.
We-We'll find every book.
Uh-
Why don't you look at me
and say something?
Jeremy, listen.
From the first moment
I saw you down here,
scared in the dark,
I had this feeling that...
that you would change
everything I knew.
And maybe...
this is not the right place
for someone as beautiful as you.
But if you come with me...
I promise you
we'll find a place that is.
Let's go.
Donald.
Just let him come on down,
Miss Caldwell.
We don't want no trouble from you.
What the hell you doin', Jess?
The right thing.
And if you don't see that,
then why don't you just turn
your head and please, please...
just look the other way.
- I don't know how to do that, Jess.
- Of course you do, Doug.
Christ's sake, just, uh,
you know, turn your head.
Just like that.
Let's do it.
He can't be out in this weather.
Where the hell are you
gonna take him?
Let's have a talk.
Come here. Come on.
Why don't you hit the road, Harley?
- Do what?
- I said get the hell out of here.
I'm not gonna
let this happen, Doug.
You're breakin'
the goddamn law.
- Lucy, this is Harley-
- I said go away.
Go ahead, Harley.
You're out of your goddamn,
motherfrickin' minds, you know that?
All of ya!
Lucy.
Lucy, this is Harley.
I need some help out here
at the Reed place.
A couple of units would be good.
Jeremy? Powder? Hey!
If you're gonna go,
you better go now.
Jeremy?
She didn't go someplace.
- Your wife.
- What?
I felt her go.
Not away.
Just out.
Everywhere.
"It's become appallingly clear...
that our technology
has surpassed our humanity."
Albert Einstein.
I look at you and l,
I think that someday...
our humanity might actually
surpass our technology.
Hey! God!
Powder!
Powder!
- Oh!
- Oh!
Let's go!
Let's go, everybody!
We need your help here!
Come up here! Get in here, get in here!
She's close!
Vitals are down to nothing.
Here you go. Come on.
Let me get in here. You got her?
- We're clear. We're clear.
- I got it.
- All right, lift her up on three. One, two, three. Up.
- Who's hanging blood?
- Can you hear me? Can you hear me?
- Get in there. Get her prepped. Let's move!
Let's go! Let's go!
We need some room!
Spread it out, spread it out!
Let's make a hole! Come on!
- Get a sterile pack!
- Right down the hallway, please!
Let's go! In here!
Anna didn't make it, Greg.
- We tried everything.
The trauma was just too much.
The baby?
The baby, I'm concerned,
might have some abnormalities.
Outwardly, we can already tell
that the child has no pigmentation.
It's called albinism.
It's strictly genetic.
That's, that's-
Well, that's pale skin, right?
And pale eyes that are
usually more light sensitive.
- I want to see him.
- Greg, you have to remember that an unborn child...
experiences everything
that the mother experiences.
You take me to him.
You show me.
We'll do everything we can
for him, Greg. You know that.
What are you doing to him?
We're measuring his brain waves.
You don't have to do this now.
That's not my son.
That's not my son.
- That's not my son.
- Come on, Greg, let's go.
- That's not my son.
- You don't need this. For Christ's sake, let's go.
Not good, Sheriff.
- Jessie.
- Doug.
Thanks for making the drive.
- Are we still in Wheaton County?
- Barely.
- Did I ruin your Sunday?
- Well, I guess if somebody...
was going to have to,
I'm glad it was you.
Doug...
I can hear him again.
- He's movin' around down there.
- Tell me you didn't try to talk to him.
- You bet your ass I didn't.
- Good.
Miss Caldwell.
They said a boy, right?
I'm guessing
that's what it is.
The old man here
died last night.
The neighbors found him this morning.
- We figure the kid's his grandson.
- So where is he?
He won't come up
from the cellar.
He didn't report
his grandfather's death either.
We already know
he died of natural causes.
Doug, what am I doing here?
The neighbors say
he may be retarded.
One of them says deformed.
You know, physically handicapped.
I don't know.
I couldn't for the life of me
think of who else to call.
He's scared enough,
and I thought maybe you could...
come down and talk him out of there without
us having to go down and drag him out.
Jessie... the neighbors talk about him
like he's some kind of a phantom.
I haven't met one yet that
ever had a good look at him.
What are you telling me, Doug?
That the old folks
may have kept him down there...
like some kind of a family secret.
I don't know.
Boy?
I brought somebody to talk to you.
Hello?
Hey, my name is Jessie.
Are you okay down here?
You think we could
turn a light on?
Hey, if you're afraid,
you don't need to be. Not with me.
I'm not afraid.
What's your name?
Powder.
- Is that a name or a nickname?
- He was getting coffee and he fell.
He jus-
He just fell over and died.
I tried to help him.
- I tried. He-
- We know that.
Son, I told you,
you're not in any trouble.
- I'm sorry. I just want to see you.
- Why?
Well, come on. Nobody's gonna hurt you.
It's all right.
Give me your hand.
Come on.
What's your real name, son?
Jeremy Reed.
You've been down here
all night, Jeremy.
You must be starved.
Could you get us something to eat?
Anything. Sheriff?
We'll be all right.
Be right back.
Why didn't you tell anyone
when you knew he was dead?
Why didn't you call the police?
Grandpa said
there would be a day...
when he would die...
like Grandma died.
And that people would come...
and see me...
and try and take me away.
- Get back there. Keep an ear, but don't go down.
- Yes, sir.
Lucy, this is Barnum.
Go ahead, Sheriff. I'm here.
We're still out at the Reeds'. We got
something out here nobody's gonna believe.
- You don't live down here?
- Mmm.
I do most of the work
around the place...
at least until the sun
gets too high.
Then the sunglasses
don't even help.
Did you know they make
contact lenses now...
that can protect your eyes
from the sun all the time?
I read about them, but Grandpa
said they cost too much.
When's the last time
you were in school?
I've never been to school.
I read about it though.
But you said you
read all these books?
And... have you read this book?
Well, I know college kids who
couldn't wade through this one.
Pick a page.
Two hundred and sixteen.
"Where lies the final harbor,
whence we unmoor no more.
"In what rapt ether sails the world
of which the weariest will never weary?
"Where is the foundling's
father hidden?
"Our souls are like those orphans whose
unwedded mothers die in bearing them.
"And the secret of our paternity
lies in their grave,
and we must there learn it."
You know the whole book?
I know 'em all.
- Go clear 'em back.
- All right, everybody, let's move back.
- And I mean back beyond the vehicles. Let's go!
- Okay.
It's all right.
You don't have to be afraid.
You're afraid.
You're afraid for me.
Why don't you get in here.
I'll take that.
You ever see so many goddamn
lightning rods on one house?
I just got off the horn
with the coroner.
He said that old boy died of natural causes,
but there was evidence of fibrillation.
His body was juiced
with electricity.
That old man was laying
dead there all night.
You think the paramedics showed up
this morning and tried paddles on him?
Are you telling me the kid
electrocuted the old man?
What do you think,
he's Dr. Frankenstein?
I'm just sayin' that
that's more than an albino, Doug.
That is spooky.
I never thought we'd find a man
too white for you there, Harley.
Come on now, let me have it.
- Okay, come on, let's go!
- Hut! Hut!
- Down! Set!
- All right, set, you moron.
Hut!
I got him! Come on!
Don't let 'em fool you.
They spend most their time
tryin' to look tough.
You get to know 'em,
you find out they're...
mostly scared and lonely
just like everybody else.
- Come on!
- Fourth down! It's on the line!
- Hut! Go! Go!
- Geez, I'm open! I'm open!
- Yeah!
- I got him! I got him! Got him! Get him!
- Come on, come on!
Get the ball! Come on, catch the-
- Oh, man.
- Whoa.
What the hell is that?
You need to see him, Aaron,
to know what I'm saying.
You need to see him sitting out
in the hall right now...
'cause, I'm telling you,
I've never seen anything like him.
That's exactly what I mean.
Because of the way he's lived.
Uh, he doesn't seem
to know what things are.
I think things you and I
take for granted-
common, everyday objects,
simple ideas-
I just don't think
he's ever been exposed to them.
I mean, he's about the most well-read
teenage kid you could ever meet.
But in other ways...
I think he's a lot
like a little child.
Why you look like that?
You look like some kind of vampire
from outer space or something.
They kick you out
of cancer camp?
You got some kind of disease?
Don't look at me, man.
Did you hear what I said?
I don't like your eyes.
What's a new guy gotta do
the first day he gets here?
He's gotta do the due.
New guy, first day, first meal.
He's gotta wear his spoon.
You ever wear your spoon?
Well, you got two choices.
You can either wear it
on the end of your nose-
Why don't you show, Mitch.
Now, you can wear it
like that...
or you can wear it the other way,
which is up your ass.
You choose.
What are you doin'?
Jesus!
Poppa.
You see Steven?
He stayed three hours.
Did her more good
than them painkillers.
She was hurtin' all day
'til he got here.
He brought her that too.
- What happened out at the Reed farm today?
- I'm here, angel.
Something about a retarded boy
they got up at the state home now.
How the hell did you hear about that?
I guess I don't have to tell you
what I think about that.
- I'd love it if you didn't.
- The last thing we need up there...
is another mental defective
along with all that other trash.
Here you go.
I don't know what he is,
but retarded he's not.
Well, aside from the absence
of any and all body hair,
which is a condition
not too uniquely uncommon,
bottom line,
he's a very healthy young man.
In fact, with all that farm work,
I'd say you're in damn fine shape.
And the optometrist said
his contact lenses'll be here...
- the end of the week?
- They'll be callin' him "Ol' Blue Eyes"...
in time for the county fair.
- You guys are comin', right?
- Uh, you'll see a few of us there.
Hey, Doc, thanks for comin' out.
It's my pleasure.
Good day, Mr. Jeremy Reed.
Jeremy, listen, uh,
I want you to think about something.
We attend school in town
at Wheaton High.
You certainly wouldn't be at
an intellectual disadvantage there,
and I know most
of the teachers so-
Anyway, um, all I'm saying is,
if you'd like to attend school
one day next week, I can arrange it.
Will my contacts be ready by Monday?
- Come on, let's go. Okay?
- Hey, there.
- I left it in my locker.
- Hey, what is that?
- I'll go get it.
- Hey, check it out.
Hey, hey, guys.
Check that guy out.
Look, look.
Molecules.
When we speed up the course
of molecules, we get...
energy.
And, um, since we
are all basically...
just a mass of molecules,
what does our brain send out
to all the other parts of the body?
Lindsey?
Um, impulses.
Yeah.
Electric impulses.
Jeremy, turn your head
and look at Lindsey.
Yes. That's lovely.
That's very good.
You've just relayed electricity.
Your brain sent out
an electric impulse...
down to your neck muscles...
and, uh, what, what
turned your head,
besides the obvious?
What your, what your muscles
used to turn your head?
It's energy. Energy.
Always relaying,
always transforming.
And never ending.
Now looky here.
This is a, uh, a Jacob's ladder.
It's a science fair toy,
and it's, uh, built to show us
how electricity travels.
Okay?
Can we get the, uh, shutters?
Watch this.
Hey, cut it out.
Cut it out.
Ooh, look at this.
Blinding, isn't it? Now, who can tell me
why electricity travels?
Uh, boredom?
Huh, he tickles me.
No. No, potential.
Potential.
One side of this thing is positive,
while the other side...
has a strong negative pull.
And, uh, that's all the potential
that electricity needs to travel.
That's right.
That's pretty good. Don't I bring you
good, entertaining things?
But you get the idea that it does- You
know, it-it travels and just keeps going.
Did you ever-
What's your experience with electricity?
Did you ever, you know, run your feet
over a carpet like that and touch somebody?
- What happens?
- Static electricity?
That's right, that's right. Now, where
does it go when y-you touch somebody?
- It just goes out.
So ener- So, so electricity,
like energy, uh,
just-just, um, uh, recycles.
It flows in a cycle that d-doesn't end.
It-It, uh-
Are you all right?
Mr. Ripley?
Are you okay?
The local news and
those Channel 5 people are outside.
So is Jimmy Hobbs
from the newspaper.
- Tell them to go home.
- Oh, come on, Doug.
They ain't goin' anywhere 'til somebody
goes out there and talks to 'em.
Tell them there's no fatalities, no sex
scandal. That will get rid of them fast.
Goddamn it, Doug,
I sound like a moron...
- if I say more than five words to those people,
and you know it. - Well, if the shoe fits-
Dr. Tarentino,
you're wanted in Pediatrics.
But I can't do it. I've got
no authorization to do anything.
- I can't let you go anywhere-
- Hi, Doc.
Here we go, here we go. Doug, Doug, tell
Duane that it's okay for me to see that kid.
- Thank you.
- Donald, you're just the man I wanted to see.
I got 20 different kids
telling me 20 different stories.
Right. Uh, if I hadn't seen it myself,
I'd say it was impossible.
It was a model. For God sakes,
it picked him right out of his seat.
- What did?
- Hold it! Ho-Hold it, Doug.
The kid doesn't have a scratch on him.
Heart rate's a little irregular,
but nothing to indicate the kind of
electrical shock you're talking about.
Right, right! And he's got a hole,
uh, burned in his shirt...
the size of a bowling ball.
Something's happened here.
Something's happened here. I'm telling
you, with everything we know about science,
about the makeup of the human body,
what happened in that classroom
is impossible!
That kid attracted an arc
of electricity from 30 feet away!
And not just from the Jacob's ladder. I
mean, after a second, it was like it was...
comin' at him out
of the whole... building.
- You want to know why there isn't a hair on him?
- Why?
Because he is electrolysis.
It can't grow on him.
- Doc Roth?
- Yes?
- Can I see you for a minute?
- Excuse me.
- Excuse me.
- Dr. McGrail and Dr. Cain to C.C.U.
- Drink that in.
- Dr. McGrail and Dr. Cain to C.C.U.
I will.
Nobody saw him leave his room,
- but his clothes are gone too.
- Find him.
He can't have gotten far.
Dr. Brodnick, call 2-9-2.
- Dr. Brodnick, 2-9-2, please.
- Lucy, come in.
Hey.
Zack! Zachary!
Zack, come here.
Come here, boy.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Watch out. He bites.
The family before us
made him pretty mean, so-
Wow, I can't believe I'm looking at you.
Are you okay?
I didn't mean to scare anybody.
- The whole thing was pretty embarrassing really.
- Embarrassing?
You're kidding, right?
My grandma used to say
I have an electric personality.
Well, that was some light show.
I mean, people will
be talking about that...
to their grandkids'
grandkids around here.
I don't mean to stare,
but I had a bet with a friend...
that you have blue-grey eyes.
She says they're blue-green.
Looks like she's right.
Well, actually, you're...
you're both wrong.
Oh.
Sorry.
No, no, that's okay. Just kind of
took me by surprise, that's all.
Oh, well.
- You must feel
like you've got two heads...
- the way everybody
looks at you around here, huh?
Have you ever listened
to people from the inside?
Listened so close,
you can hear their thoughts...
and all their memories?
Hear 'em think from places that
they don't even know they think from?
What are you saying?
You can do that?
Are you sure you're okay?
Do you know how to get
to the interstate?
Yeah, it's um-
If you follow the train tracks,
you'll see the Redmond water tower.
Then, if you go across
the trestle, you'll see it.
- But you're really okay?
- I'm okay.
You better hurry.
They catch boys running away
from Central, I hear they get solitary.
Hey!
Stay away from
those electrical outlets, okay?
Bye.
I didn't know better,
I'd say you were headed for the highway.
Don't make me
come out there, boy.
Now, you're about to make me
a whole lot meaner. Trust me, son,
- you don't want to make me mad.
- Afraid.
I don't make you mad,
I make you afraid.
What was that?
I said that
you're afraid of me.
Duncan, get on back.
I can handle this.
I'm all right.
- I can see that.
- Then let me go home.
I don't want to go back
to that hospital.
We'll call the doc. If he says okay,
I'll take you back to Central.
Central's not my home.
I'm trying to tell you
as nice as I know how.
Now either you come with me without a fuss
or we're gonna have ourselves a problem.
You want me to cuff him?
Lucy, this is One.
We got him.
I'm coming back to the office.
...Doug.
You got a problem
with hospitals in general?
I don't like 'em.
Well, you can put me
on that list.
Worst day I can remember
was in a hospital.
What day was that?
The day I was born.
Let me get this straight, Jeremy.
You said that you've never been tested
for I.Q. before. Is that right?
And your grandmother tutored you.
Did she ever say
anything about it?
She said I was a fast learner.
Yeah.
Well, I think that's about to fall
into the "no shit" category.
Jeremy Reed, this is Dr. Aaron Stipler
with the State Board of Education.
- Jeremy.
These men and women are here...
because the results of your diagnostics
came back with a few surprises.
Please, sit down.
Miss Caldwell says you're
a very unique young man, Jeremy.
Hmm.
She also tells me that, um,
reading and your grandparents are the
only ways you've experienced the world.
Is that true?
What about a radio
or, um, a TV set?
- Surely you've watched some television at some point.
- He probably couldn't.
Didn't your grandparents
have a TV set, Jeremy?
I could never watch television.
- Are you saying you weren't allowed?
- Here, it probably just makes-
No.
Oh.
I'm saying I could
never watch television.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
That was- That was my fault.
l, uh- I was- I was just
trying to make them understand.
What the good doctor hasn't, uh,
let you in on yet is that...
- your test shows that you're a genius.
- Please!
Your I.Q. scored right
off the charts, Jeremy.
There isn't even a classification
for you, it was so high.
All of your tests indicate that you have
the most advanced intellect...
in the history of humankind.
Do you understand
what I'm saying?
If you thought I was that advanced,
would you ask me if I understood?
Jeremy,
these people are
in a position to help you.
Can they send me home?
- Can they send me back?
- No.
I'm sorry. They can't.
The fact is, the...
the farm's in probate.
Do you know what that means?
Of or pertaining to probate or a court
of probate, exempli gratia...
the official proving of a will
as authentic or genuine.
Or it can also mean the official,
certified copy of a will so proved.
Right.
Well, it-it seems that
the bank owns most of it.
I'm sorry.
Well, back to the matter at hand.
I have a few more questions
I have to ask you,
- Jeremy.
- You're not here to ask me questions.
You're here to find out
how I cheated.
That's the only way
you can make sense of it.
That's what you need to believe.
But I don't need you
to believe in me, Dr. Stipler.
- And I'm not interested
in any of your tests.
I'm not interested in you,
or anything else here.
I'm interested in going home!
- What the hell is going on here?
- What you already know.
I'm not like other people.
- Over there.
- Okay, do I got to hang it up too?
No, no, no.
Did you see that guy playing
in the football game?
- Yeah.
- God!
What the hell is that thing
doing up here anyway?
Jessie told me you didn't
want to come up here.
I don't want to be anywhere
that's not home.
Jessie's trying so hard
to help you, kiddo.
If you're as smart as they say you are, you
know she's about the best friend you got.
The storm's over Poho County.
We'll be lucky to get a drop.
When a thunderstorm comes up,
I can feel it inside.
And when lightning comes down,
I can feel it wanting to come to me.
Grandma said it was God.
She said the white fire was God.
Do you believe in God, Sheriff?
That it was God who took my mother?
Anna!
Hey.
Took your mother?
Your grandfolks told you that?
I remember it.
Hello, John, Mitch.
What the hell are you
doing out this far?
What are you?
You're supposed to be at the lake,
skinny-dipping with the rest of the faggots.
You afraid you're gonna get a little
color on that marshmallow ass of yours?
Look, man, you'd
better get out of here.
- Oh, Johnny!
- How about it, huh?
What are you doin', man?
I could do you right now.
Right now, man.
One less freak in the freak show.
Come on, man!
It might go off!
Why don't you go suck
your old man off some more?
How about it, huh? You gonna show us
one of your little tricks?
Come on, John!
It's-
- Let's go!
- Yeah!
- All right!
- Look at it! Look at it! Look at it!
Oh, man!
A good hunter
don't hunt for the kill.
A good hunter
hunts for the hunt.
Now, that's a perfect hit
right there.
That's a perfect shot. That's
a clean kill right through the heart.
Y'all see that?
Now, what she's doing now-
It's just her nerves dyin'.
Suffering's minimal
when you know what you're doin'.
What the hell are you
doing out here?
Now listen to me.
You didn't see any of this,
you hear?
Now you just back
out of here, boy.
Now, now, stay away from it.
It ain't dead yet, stupid.
Well, what the hell's
with you, man?
Oh, let's get this moron out of here
before he gets himself kicked.
- What's he doin'?
- What's he doin'?
What do you think
you're doin', man?
Hey, come on!
- Harley?
- Let Harley go!
Oh, my God!
- Cut it out, man!
- Stop, man!
- Somebody do something!
- Say something, man!
- Are you okay?
- Somebody make him stop.
It doesn't matter what you do,
just make him stop!
- Somebody make him stop! Come on!
- Come on, man!
- Harley! He's giving him
a heart attack or something!
Let him go!
- Harley! Harley!
- Do something, John!
- Let him go, you freak!
- Do something, John!
- He's gonna have a heart attack.
- Let him go. Now. Let him go.
- Do it!
- Put the goddamn gun down, John.
Do it!
- Harley!
- Harley! Harley, calm down!
- Harley!
- Are you okay? Harley?
Break it up, guys.
Come on. Okay.
I left camp
for less than an hour.
When I get back, one of my deputies is being
hauled down the mountain in an ambulance.
The boys tell me that you gave him some
sort of an attack. It was like a seizure.
- Is that right?
- No.
Then what did happen?
Why won't you tell anyone?
I let him see.
I opened him up,
and I let him see.
He just couldn't see what
he was doing, so I helped him.
Sheriff-
You better start leveling with me.
Go ahead.
It's Maxine, Doug. She just called.
I'm on my way.
I gotta go.
I need you to think real hard
about telling me what happened.
Thanks, Jess.
Jeremy, please.
I want to go home.
Do you understand that?
I want to go home.
Look, whatever happened up there,
whatever you saw-
I saw that
I don't like what you do!
Any of you!
- Jeremy-
- No!
You pretend to be my friend,
the way you pretend everything!
A friend doesn't lock you up!
A friend doesn't take you
away from your home,
and say that it's for your own good!
How long do you really think
I'll let you keep me here?
She's all right.
I got nervous when I couldn't find you,
so I called the doc.
Harley just got admitted
over at County.
Give a call over there, will you,
Maxine? Find out how he's doing.
Listen, this is like
having your heart torn out every day.
Doug, there's no explanation why your
wife should still be alive right now.
Give me the short one,
will you, Doc?
She can't like seeing
this strain on you,
which may be why she's hanging on
through the worst pain of her life.
It's just gonna make it that much easier
if we get her back to County.
This is where
she wants to be, Duane.
She told me when she still could.
She keeps holding on.
I just don't know why.
And you won't.
Doug, she's past communicating.
You can't get inside of her head.
And if you could,
she'd probably tell you...
"Let me go."
Knock, knock.
Mind if I come in?
Hey, you-you
did something to me.
Um... you know,
I-I didn't figure it out...
until enough people looked at me like
I was crazy or told me to act my age,
but you, uh, uh, zapped me or l,
uh, zapped myself when I touched you.
But I've been- I-I've been running
around on this high like I was 18 again.
I've had more ideas
and more, more focus...
and... better sex
than I've had in ten years.
Do you believe me?
Well... why shouldn't you?
You know if what I say
is bullshit, don't you?
So you know when I say
I'm just here to talk...
that, uh, that I mean it.
Uh, say, did you-
Did you read any, uh, Einstein?
No? Oh, well-
Oh, I think you'd like him.
Um, he said he believed
in life after death.
Only because energy can
never cease to exist.
That it relays, it transforms,
but it doesn't stop ever.
Uh, and he said that if
we ever got to the point...
where we could use all our brain,
uh, that we'd be pure energy...
and that we wouldn't
even need bodies.
Now, um, wh-what would you
say to the possibility...
that because something
happened to you,
uh, something that never does
or isn't supposed to,
that you are, are closer
to that energy level...
than any one body has ever been?
I'd say, "So what?"
So what?
Jeremy, y-you know,
y-your life up 'til now has been...
that farmhouse and, uh,
and the 12 acres of earth.
You know, you've kind
of lived in books.
But I think you're starting
to find out now that the misery...
that you read about is real.
The tragedy is, is real
in all those stories, Jeremy.
Did you think that it wasn't?
I mean, my God, that deer hunt
- You think that's the dark side of man? Killing for pleasure?
I'm sorry. I'm really sorry,
but you haven't begun to see what we do.
We're- Jesus, we're stumbling around
in a very dark age...
basically just trying
not to kill each other.
So it hurts me when you say, "So what?"
because you are not
just different, Jeremy.
I think that you have
a mind that, uh,
that we won't evolve to for like, uh,
thousands of years.
You're maybe the man of the future
right here and now.
I don't know.
And I'm-I'm not here to hurt you.
Jeremy, I want
to be a-a-a friend.
I want to talk with you.
Well... I mean,
did you ever have a friend?
I don't need a friend.
Really?
Gee, I thought
you were a genius.
You know what I say is true.
Are you telling me you, like,
never shook anybody's hand before?
Ah, how do you do?
Hmm? Now we've been
properly introduced.
Want to see a trick?
Hmm.
Wow.
They were afraid
to touch me after a while.
My grandma and grandpa, they-
They got really scared.
What? To touch you?
Jeremy, that's not right.
No way.
That's not right.
Doug.
You've done a little
spring cleaning?
What the hell are you
doing here, Doug?
A couple of my deputies
told me that Harley Duncan...
got rid of every
goddamn gun in his house.
Said he dropped out of
the marksman tourney over in Butte too.
The one he wins every year.
I just ain't huntin'
no more, Doug.
Is that some kind of crime?
I just got lots
of other stuff to do.
You gonna stop
carrying one on the job?
If you can't pick it up and use it,
that's a liability.
I want you to level with me.
I already know you snuck off
hunting with the boys,
which is the last damn thing
you should have done.
Yeah, I know.
I know.
And I popped this pretty doe,
just up at Little Lake.
Let me tell you something, Doug. You ever tell
anybody I said this, I'm moving out of town.
That... kid?
He lays his hand on the deer
while it's still shakin'...
and then he touches me
at the same time.
Now, I can't figure out why...
'til my heart starts poundin'
and I'm shakin',
and I'm feelin' myself
hurt and scared shitless,
slippin' away in the goddamn dark.
That's the worst thing I ever felt.
It's like I could feel
that animal dyin'.
It's like I was
the goddamn thing.
- Aw, come on, Harley.
- Doug, I swear.
Now... I-
I just can't do it anymore.
I can't look at something down the
barrel of a gun without thinking about it.
I've tried it.
I'm telling you,
that thing ain't normal.
I'm telling you, he took whatever was
in that goddamn deer,
and he put it right into me.
I'm sorry, son.
Uh... Jessie said...
it may be okay
for you to come with me.
I don't know what it is you do.
I'm not even sure
I believe you can do it.
But if you can,
I need your help.
Doug Barnum, don't you do this.
- That boy should not be in this house!
- Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh.
- Go to bed, Maxine.
- If you heard the stories I've heard,
- you wouldn't want him in this house!
- Go on, go on.
- Go back to bed.
- I'm telling you, that boy should not be here.
Go to bed, Maxine.
She knows you're here.
Talk to me, woman.
Tell me what
I can do for you, Emma.
She can't go,
not until she knows
you're gonna get through this.
She says the both of you.
You and Steven.
Steven?
What the hell do you
want me to do?
What should I do?
Throw my arms around him?
She wants you to remember the snow
when Steven was younger.
And it was snowing.
You were all playing in it.
A snowball fight.
And she lost her-
Ring.
You lost your wedding ring.
You looked down at your hand,
and it was gone.
We all looked.
Me and Steven,
we dug through the snow all afternoon.
He came back
from school every day,
digging through the snowbanks,
thinking he'd find it.
She cried that you both
loved her so much.
The way each of you
looked so hard for it.
I remember that.
I do.
The silver box.
The silver box on the table.
Oh, no, Mama. No.
Oh, no.
He found it at the old house...
in a garden he was tilling.
He said he knew right away
what it was...
and that it was time to come home.
She says she believes
in miracles now...
and that you should too.
She thinks I'm an angel...
come to take her home.
And to bring you and Steven
together again.
Remind you how much you're still
in each other's hearts.
Everything about each other
we don't like.
You know that.
He loves you more than
any man in the whole world.
And she won't go,
she won't leave this place,
this room or this world...
until you know
that you still have a son.
She'd like to feel
the ring on her finger.
You can hear.
Oh, it's all right.
Angel, it's all right.
Good-bye, Emma, sweetie.
- Hurry!
- What?
- He's got him up there right now!
- What? What is-
He's got him up there
with your mama!
Poppa.
Why don't we just
tell them all to stop,
and they can just
take a picture or something.
Jeremy, are you okay?
They're wondering if I killed her.
Don't tell me you're
seeing inside them again.
What are people like
on the inside?
Inside most people there's
a feeling of being separate.
Separated from everything.
And?
And they're not.
They're part of absolutely
everyone and everything.
Everything?
I'm part of this tree?
Part of Zack barking over fences?
You're telling me that I'm part
of some fisherman in Italy...
on some ocean
I've never even heard of?
There's some guy
sitting on death row.
- I'm part of him too?
- You don't believe me.
It's hard to believe that,
all of that.
Well, that's because you have this spot
that you can't see past.
My grams and gramps had it.
A spot where they were taught
they were disconnected from everything.
So that's what they'd see
if they could?
That they're connected?
And how beautiful
they really are.
- And that there's
no need to hide or lie.
And that it's possible...
to talk to someone
without any lies.
With no sarcasms,
no deceptions,
no exaggerations...
or any of the things
that people use to confuse the truth.
I don't know a single person
who does that.
Hold out your hand.
Put your fingers up.
Wow.
Is that your heartbeat?
And yours.
Wow, this feels strange.
You're afraid someone
will see us holding hands.
You're really nervous
talking to me.
You don't think
you're pretty enough.
You feel alone.
You feel so alone.
Sometimes you just want
to break out of yourself.
Your father.
Your father hurt you
a long time ago.
You're so sad.
He made you so sad.
He thought you were,
you were ugly and...
and he kept saying you,
you weren't-
I'm so sorry.
Do you?
- Do you?
- Do I what?
Do you think I'm ugly?
I don't know what I think
when I look at you.
But sometimes I-I think...
I think you're the most
beautiful face I've ever seen.
What?
What in the name of God
do you think you're doing?
You having a good time
with my daughter?
Wonderful.
It's a good school,
and I feel good-
You think this is funny?
- Funny man, huh?
- Dad!
- You think this is funny, huh, lover boy?
- Would you stop?
- Now, I asked you a question, and I want
an answer. - Would you please let him-
- You think it's funny?
- Dad, he wasn't doing anything!
- Answer me!
- Mr. Kelloway!
Let him go.
I said, "Let him go." Dick Kelloway,
you take your hands off him now!
- I thought your boys had rules about fraternizing.
- I said now.
Keep your state trash
away from my daughter.
Christ, you know nothing happened!
Is that your expert opinion?
You keep that thing on a leash
or I'll slap a lawsuit...
on that state zoo that will shut it down
so fast it will make your head spin.
I am so sorry.
Powder.
- Oh!
- Too bad.
- Oh!
- Oh! Too bad it's mine!
Watch your pick!
Watch your pick!
Run it! Run it!
Run it!
Air ball!
Why don't you
take a picture, man?
Hey, Skye!
Does this look
like a genius to you?
Peeping Tom faggot, maybe.
You were gettin' an eyeful of him,
weren't you, light bulb?
You want to see what
a real man looks like?
Huh?
You think you can take me,
freak show, go for it.
In the meantime...
I keep the hat.
When you think you're man enough
to get it back, you take your best shot.
You think you're
man enough to get it back?
You take your best shot, tough stuff.
What did you say?
I'd beat you to shit
before you got this old hat back.
That's what he said to you
when he was drunk.
You were 12 years old,
and he took your father's hat.
It's the only thing your
real father ever left behind.
Your stepdad, John.
That's what he said to you.
"You think you're man enough
to get it back?
Then take your best shot,
tough stuff."
And then he beat you bloody
that night when you tried.
Hey, fuck you!
You had marks so dark,
you were embarrassed to suit up for gym.
I ought to kill you
right now, man.
I ought to slit your throat and
spit down it while I'm doing it.
Well, what do you know.
Boogeyman's afraid of lightning.
Come on!
- What's the matter, freak show?
- Leave him alone, Johnny! Jesus Christ!
- He's scared to death!
- Bullshit, Mitch!
He got a free show.
Now we get one.
Now that is white!
Look at that.
You're as bald as a baby.
He needs some color.
Doesn't he need some color?
You definitely need
some color, buddy.
Go get him.
Do it!
- Now you got some color.
- That's enough, John.
There's not much fight in you,
is there, freak show?
You really think
you can be like us?
Is that what you think, freak show?
Hey.
Hey, what the hell-
Holy shit.
Look at this.
Look. What's going on here?
Ah. Ah! Ow! Ow!
- What's going on?
- Oh!
- What's go- What's going on?
- What the-
Jesus!
His heart stopped beating!
- You son of a bitch!
- Zane! No, no, no, no!
- Don't touch him, man!
- What the hell are you?
- Don't touch him!
- Come on, you assholes!
Go and get some help now!
Do it!
Hey, what the hell do you
think you're doing?
- You got to be kidding me.
- Come on!
Just get away from him, man!
Stop it, man!
Come on!
He's gone!
Go get help, you idiots!
Do it!
Now!
Come on, man!
You gotta get outta here!
Let him go, John!
Listen! Listen!
I can get you out of here!
I-I've done it before!
Jeremy?
Oh.
They took everything?
Jeremy, listen to me.
We can track it all down.
We-We'll find every book.
Uh-
Why don't you look at me
and say something?
Jeremy, listen.
From the first moment
I saw you down here,
scared in the dark,
I had this feeling that...
that you would change
everything I knew.
And maybe...
this is not the right place
for someone as beautiful as you.
But if you come with me...
I promise you
we'll find a place that is.
Let's go.
Donald.
Just let him come on down,
Miss Caldwell.
We don't want no trouble from you.
What the hell you doin', Jess?
The right thing.
And if you don't see that,
then why don't you just turn
your head and please, please...
just look the other way.
- I don't know how to do that, Jess.
- Of course you do, Doug.
Christ's sake, just, uh,
you know, turn your head.
Just like that.
Let's do it.
He can't be out in this weather.
Where the hell are you
gonna take him?
Let's have a talk.
Come here. Come on.
Why don't you hit the road, Harley?
- Do what?
- I said get the hell out of here.
I'm not gonna
let this happen, Doug.
You're breakin'
the goddamn law.
- Lucy, this is Harley-
- I said go away.
Go ahead, Harley.
You're out of your goddamn,
motherfrickin' minds, you know that?
All of ya!
Lucy.
Lucy, this is Harley.
I need some help out here
at the Reed place.
A couple of units would be good.
Jeremy? Powder? Hey!
If you're gonna go,
you better go now.
Jeremy?
She didn't go someplace.
- Your wife.
- What?
I felt her go.
Not away.
Just out.
Everywhere.
"It's become appallingly clear...
that our technology
has surpassed our humanity."
Albert Einstein.
I look at you and l,
I think that someday...
our humanity might actually
surpass our technology.
Hey! God!
Powder!
Powder!
- Oh!
- Oh!