Monsterland (2020) s01e01 Episode Script

[water splashing]
[gasping]
[bubbling]
[gasps, grunts]
[girl gasping]
suspenseful music playing ♪
♪
[distant horn blaring]
[car whooshing]
eerie music playing ♪
[thuds]
[exhales]
[clattering]
[clinks]
classical music playing on radio ♪
soprano singing opera ♪
opera music continues ♪
[child shrieking]
‐ Stop that. Stop.
Stop, that hurts Mama. Stop that.
Jack, stop. Stop! Stop, Jack.
[shrieking continues]
[yells]
Jack, stop. Stop.
I said no! Come here.
[shrieking]
Get in the bath now! Jack!
[construction machinery whirring]
That's it.
Lay back. Lay back. There you go.
[Jack chattering softly]
We're going in the house, yeah.
I got another one of those late notices.
‐ Mama!
‐ Well, then, you'd better check
your record books,
'cause I know I sent it over there.
‐ Mama!
‐ Under "Bev."
Same address Shit.
‐ Mama!
Mama!
‐ What?
‐ Can I have Dorothy braids?
‐ Eat your breakfast.
NEWS ANCHOR [on TV]:
Police are still searching
for a missing girl
who was abducted from her home
JACK: What's them abducted for?
‐ Them what?
NEWS ANCHOR [on TV]:
fear is a deadly attack
in south Louisiana.
TONI: Come on with that trash.
Remember our conversation?
‐ Yeah.
‐ Yeah, what'd I say?
‐ No scissors.
‐ That's right. No scissors.
That's good, baby.
Come on.
Come on.
[grunts]
bright music playing ♪
♪
Come on. Go, go, go, go.
Hey. Sorry we're late.
‐ Oh, hey, y'all. That's all right.
TONI: Jack ain't feeling so good.
‐ Oh, it ain't serious?
'Cause Beau catches every damn thing.
‐ Oh, no, no. Somethin' she ate.
Just a stomach thing.
‐ Child, baby. Look at them braids.
[slaps]
‐ Hey! Hey. She's just playing sweet.
What do you say to Miss Denise?
‐ Thank you.
‐ You're welcome, baby.
‐ Go on over there and play. Go.
[ship horn blares]
‐ Look, uh‐‐
‐ How's Beau doing?
‐ I talked to my husband.
‐ Oh‐‐
‐ Yeah, I talked to Derek.
I'm real sorry, but he's got his concerns.
[shrieking, hitting]
‐ Concerns about what?
‐ [laughs] Come on, Toni.
You know what about.
‐ I just asked a question.
‐ We just think it better
if Jack goes some other place
nicer than here.
‐ And where am I gonna get the cash
for someplace nice? Rob a bank?
‐ That ain't my deal.
There's a daycare on the island.
‐ Jesus. It's
‐ Kidz Corner.
‐ Kidz Corner?
‐ What?
‐ You know I can't afford to‐‐
‐ You know this was only supposed
to be temporary
after Bev. I ain't runnin' a charity.
‐ I can't barely afford‐‐ No, I know.
I know.
DENISE:
She can stay till Friday.
‐ All right.
‐ I'm real sorry.
‐ I said all right.
blues music playing over speakers ♪
[rat squealing]
[door opens]
TONI:
Sorry. Sorry I'm late.
Jack got some sort of stomach thing.
I don't know.
Gee. Thanks for caring.
‐ She okay?
‐ Oh, fuck off.
He drunk?
‐ Maybe.
Maybe dead.
‐ Hey, can I get the four‐tops today?
I gotta get some cash coming in.
‐ You gotta do Lee.
[Lee muttering]
‐ Oh, come on.
opera music playing ♪
[door slams]
[nozzle clatters]
[bell on door jingles]
‐ On, uh, two.
Is there a hotel here?
ATTENDANT: Huh.
‐ What's that?
‐ Ain't a real hotel town.
‐ Well, a motel, then.
‐ Motel took over by them offshore boys.
‐ Where do you sleep?
‐ Sorry?
‐ If there's no hotel
and the motel is occupied, then,
where do you sleep?
‐ Sleep at my house.
‐ Well, where is that?
‐ It's out a‐ways.
$4.26.
There's a diner.
Should be open if you're
looking for a hot meal.
Ain't no good, but it'll be hot.
NEWS ANCHOR [on TV]:
Police are still searching for
15‐year‐old Chrystina Harris,
a freshman at local
Grand Isle Central High.
‐ Got another one off the island.
‐ Got another one what?
NEWS ANCHOR [on TV]:
Others fear this may be another
in a deadly string of attacks
by the south Louisiana killer
whom authorities have nicknamed
The Blind Butcher.
‐ Why do they call him that?
‐ 'Cause that's how he leaves the victims.
‐ How?
‐ Like burger meat.
[snap, clattering]
[rat squealing]
‐ Oh.
[splashes]
Well, fuck, Janine.
[Janine grunts]
‐ Just let it drown.
[rat squealing]
[rat squeaking]
[clattering]
[doorbell rings twice]
JACK:
Are you my daddy?
TONI:
Hey, hey. Sorry about that.
Hi.
‐ Hi.
‐ Come on in.
TONI and DONNY:
Happy birthday, dear ♪
‐ Jack ♪
Happy birthday to you ♪
[blows raspberry]
Blow 'em out.
[blows]
Ooh, yay!
[Toni claps]
I'm gonna go get a knife.
[paper rustling]
[clattering in drawer]
DONNY: Uh
‐ Squirt gun.
‐ I thought it was a boy.
‐ What? Oh, no, she‐‐ She loves it.
She likes everything to play with.
She ain't picky or nothing.
Here you go.
DONNY: So how is your‐‐
TONI: I couldn't believe‐‐
DONNY: Oh, I'm, I'm sorry.
TONI: Oh, no, I, I‐‐
You go ahead. [chuckles]
‐ I said, uh, how's your grandma?
‐ Oh, uh
‐ Her died.
DONNY: Oh.
‐ Yeah.
She passed last January.
Heart gave out.
Hope you like vanilla. [chuckles]
‐ So you need money?
‐ What?
‐ 'Cause I‐‐ things is kind of tight.
‐ No, no, I‐‐ Oh, no.
‐ They're always working us
for cheap, and you‐‐
‐ No, no, no. Jack‐‐ I just thought‐‐
Jack's been asking about you, so
LION [on TV]:
Oh, scared, huh? Afraid, huh?
How long can you stay fresh in that can?
[laughs]
Come on, get up and fight,
you shivering junkyard!
Put your hands up,
you lopsided bag of hay!
SCARECROW [on TV]:
Now, that's getting personal, Lion.
TIN MAN [on TV]:
Yes. Get up and teach him a lesson.
SCARECROW [on TV]:
Well, what's wrong with you teaching him?
TIN MAN [on TV]:
Well, well, well, I hardly know him.
[Toto barking on TV]
LION [on TV]:
Well, I'll get you anyway, pee‐wee.
[commotion on TV]
[slaps on TV]
DOROTHY [on TV]:
Shame on you!
LION [on TV]:
What did you do that for?
I didn't bite him!
‐ Jack, time to make doe‐doe.
‐ Mm‐mm.
‐ Don't be a pest. I said bed.
‐ I gotta get a bath first.
I always do.
[sighs]
LION [on TV]: Is my nose bleeding?
DOROTHY [on TV]:
Well, of course not.
[splashing]
[splashing]
woman singing on radio ♪
[Jack shrieking]
TONI: Jack? Jack, what is it?
‐ She just kept moving around.
JACK: It burns!
TONI:
Oh, hey. Hey, it's okay.
It's okay. Here we go.
[spraying]
DONNY:
Hey. Stop. What the hell?
‐ Jack, stop.
‐ Stop that.
‐ Stop that, Jack.
‐ Stop that. Stop! I said stop!
[loud slap]
JACK: Ow!
‐ Hey, get off of her!
[Donny yells]
[Toni grunts]
tense music playing ♪
♪
Jack.
Jack. Jack.
Jack.
Jack. Jack.
Jack.
Jack.
Jack. Come on.
[groans]
[chokes, coughs]
[coughing]
Jack. Jack.
Jack, you're okay.
Jack. [sobbing]
[coughing]
Okay.
Okay. You're good.
You're good. You're good. Yeah.
You're good. You're good.
You okay?
Okay. Yeah.
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry.
[Toni sobbing]
[door squeaks]
[wings flapping]
opera music plays on car radio ♪
‐ Hey, uh, could Ramona watch Jack
a couple of days next week?
Just short‐term?
‐ Eh, I don't think so.
‐ Come on. She don't got a job or nothin'.
‐ She's chasing after three grandbabies.
That's employment enough.
‐ What?
‐ You got a table.
[bell on door jingling]
‐ What can I get ya?
‐ What's good?
‐ Nothin'.
‐ They pay you to say that.
‐ Got zero strength to bullshit.
‐ I'll have a hamburger.
‐ You want one burger or twenty?
‐ Sit down and have a conversation.
‐ Yeah, I know all about conversation.
‐ This one's talk only.
‐ My foot.
tense music playing ♪
♪
mariachi music
playing over speakers ♪
‐ So, Toni,
how long have you worked here?
‐ Mm‐mm.
You want conversation,
you gotta make talk.
‐ All right. Um
My name is Alex.
‐ Where you from, Alex?
‐ Uh, nearby.
‐ You lyin' already.
‐ Why do you assume that I'm lying?
‐ 'Cause you ain't talkin' flat.
Folks around here sound like
they fired the letter G
from working the damn alphabet.
‐ I'm here doing a job.
‐ Offshore?
‐ Mm‐hmm.
‐ Then you better heal up
and get a straight story.
'Cause trouble don't make pay day.
‐ Well
I'm no trouble.
‐ Yeah, and I'm the Queen of Sheba.
‐ If I was trouble,
then why aren't you afraid of me?
‐ [chuckles]
Maybe I got a death wish.
‐ Is that so?
‐ Maybe. Maybe I ain't scared of bullshit.
'Cause you're chock full.
‐ I like you.
‐ You want something from me.
‐ What's that?
‐ Don't know yet.
‐ Huh.
Are you even old enough to smoke?
‐ Old enough for lots.
But we ain't talkin' about me.
‐ Mm‐mm.
How about a game?
If you could be anybody else
in the world
Who would you be?
‐ [chuckles softly]
Life don't work like that.
[sniffles]
‐ Oh, yeah? So how does life work?
‐ I see it like this.
When you're born,
when you a little baby?
‐ Mm‐hmm?
‐ There's a million yous you could be.
Doctor, lawyer, bank robber,
happy, sad‐‐
All different kinds of versions of you.
And then you start going through life,
and you make this choice
This one, that one.
And one by one,
those versions sort of go off,
like, they die in a sort of way.
And then finally, you end up who you is.
The end.
‐ You really think that?
‐ Maybe.
Maybe I'm just trying to make
a hundred bucks.
‐ Do you live around here?
‐ There it is.
‐ Well
[clattering]
[child shrieking]
[shrieking continues]
JANINE: Jesus fucking Christ!
PEDRO:
What the hell's the matter?
‐ Jack! Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
Baby, what is it?
Are you hurt? You get hit?
What the hell happened?
Hey! Denise!
Hey, I'm talking to you!
What happened?
‐ Your daughter's a damn psycho,
is what happened.
‐ Fuck you.
‐ Fuck me. Really?
‐ Yeah, fuck you!
‐ Really? You wanna say "fuck you" to me,
after all‐‐ I was watching her.
‐ You were supposed to be watching her.
Well, then, what happened, 'cause she
covered in about a bucket of blood.
‐ She bit the mailman.
Yeah. With her teeth.
Bit into him.
Latched, like a fuckin' dog would do it.
‐ Well, then, what'd he do to her?
He must have hurt her.
‐ He put the mail in the wrong
fucking slot. I don't know.
He just shown up
and she went ballistic on him.
‐ He must have done something.
What'd he do?
‐ Come on, Toni. Wake up.
The other day she threatened Beau
with the scissors.
‐ What?
‐ He could have gotten seriously hurt.
‐ I talked that out with her.
You calling me a bad mother?
‐ No. No.
‐ Then what, what are you saying, Denise?
‐ No!
‐ What are you saying?
‐ I'm just saying something
is seriously wrong with your daughter.
I'm real sorry.
[screams]
‐ [screams]: Fuck!
[water spraying]
[microwave beeping]
somber music playing ♪
♪
[power clicks off]
TONI:
What?
‐ Nothing.
‐ What's the matter?
‐ It's cold.
‐ I don't give a shit if it's cold.
It's food. You eat it.
MAN [on TV]: The Bible tells us that
no one can hide from God.
[door closes]
‐ Why is she here?
‐ Look, so I couldn't get any misoprostol.
TONI: What?
You told her?
‐ I won't say anything. I swear.
‐ Cool, she cool.
TONI: What happened?
I thought your cousin was cool.
‐ Well, she went to El Paso for the break.
TONI: Why?
MEREDITH: I think to visit her dad.
‐ What she gotta visit her dad for?
‐ I don't know.
‐ Fuck.
‐ I guess it's, like,
court ordered or something.
Look, listen, we can do it
without the pills.
TONI: Fuck! Fuck!
How?
‐ Sunny knows.
She did it on Brittni Veaux.
‐ You weren't supposed to say.
‐ Oh, sorry.
‐ And it worked?
SUNNY: Three days after,
it just came out in the toilet.
[Toni sighs]
‐ Look, you could call Donny again.
‐ I called him ten hundred times.
‐ You could ask your grandma.
TONI: No!
‐ Her grandma's a Jesus freak.
MAN [on TV]:
and sail west.
But the Lord found Jonah.
[sermon continues TV]
[sermon continues TV]
MAN [on TV]: Adam and Eve
heard the voice of the Lord God
walking in the garden after they had
rebelled against His word.
They thought they could hide themselves
behind their fig leaves in amongst
the trees of the garden
SUNNY:
It's gonna hurt like hell,
but don't move, okay? Real still.
tense music playing ♪
♪
[Toni inhales]
[exhales]
[groans]
[Toni groaning]
[panting]
‐ I can't
[sobbing] I can't
SUNNY: What'd she say?
MEREDITH:
Stop, stop. She said stop!
[distant construction site noises]
‐ You want a sandwich?
‐ Yeah.
[sighs]
country music playing over speakers ♪
[bell on door jingles]
JANINE:
We closed now.
[radio clicks off]
[keys jingling]
Got $52 cash tips.
‐ I don't want your money.
I want to know where Toni lives.
eerie music playing ♪
♪
[Toni exhales]
[engine zooming]
♪
[imitating animal noises]
opera music playing over radio ♪
ominous music playing ♪
opera music playing on car speakers ♪
[clattering]
[footsteps approaching]
‐ Who is it?
[wind whistling]
[slow footsteps]
[knocking]
[door squeaks open]
‐ A thousand dollars.
For a place to stay and to get
my vehicle off the road.
One night.
TONI:
This is my house.
‐ I got your address from the waitress.
‐ [whispers]: Janine.
ALEX [whispers]:
I won't hurt you.
I just need to get off the road.
‐ Yeah? What's the catch?
‐ There's no catch.
[car engine starts]
[brakes squeak]
[engine turns off]
‐ What you got in there?
[slams]
Bathroom's over there.
Sorry about the power.
‐ Thank you.
‐ Who are you running from, anyway?
JACK:
Mama?
TONI:
Hey.
Hey, baby.
You awake? Come on, come on.
[groans]
She don't do so good with men.
‐ It's okay. I won't bite.
JACK:
What happened to your face?
ALEX:
Oh.
I got into a fight.
Had to sew it up.
[whispering]
TONI:
Yeah, like a scarecrow.
[Jack whimpers softly]
♪
[faucet turns on]
[shower water running]
♪
♪
[shower water continues]
♪
[wind chimes chime outside]
‐ What do you want to be
when you grow up?
‐ I am grown up.
‐ You're just a kid.
‐ So what does that make you?
My babysitter?
I never thought about it.
‐ [whispers]: Everybody thinks about it.
‐ Um, I guess, once,
I had this feeling like,
I don't know, something was coming.
I didn't know what life was gonna be,
but I knew there was gonna be one.
Then Jack came,
and that pretty much killed that.
‐ How so?
‐ Uh, she's messed up.
She has fits.
I don't know. I thought it was 'cause
of this or that, but
Truth is, um
‐ What?
‐ I think she know nobody want her.
Not me, not her daddy.
Nobody.
She's mad at the whole world
for making her get born.
I love my kid.
‐ But you're trapped.
‐ Jesus, you a shrink or somethin'?
[Toni sighs]
What's in the trunk of your car?
‐ Can't tell you.
‐ Such a damn liar.
[loud thud]
suspenseful music playing ♪
[door clatters, squeaks open]
suspenseful music playing ♪
♪
‐ You wanna know what's inside of them?
[screams, pants]
[breathing shakily]
Pick one.
‐ What?
‐ It's okay.
Pick one.
[panting softly]
[whispers]: Good.
Open it.
[Toni breathing shakily]
[gasps, grunts]
[panting]
[gagging]
[panicked panting]
[Toni gasps]
‐ Please.
Please.
I got I got a little girl. Please.
Please! Please. Please.
[Toni panting]
No, no.
♪
[Toni gasping, panting]
intense music playing ♪
♪
music intensifies ♪
[birds chirping]
‐ Mama?
‐ What?
[groans] What?
‐ [softly] There's a lady.
‐ I hope you don't mind.
I had to borrow some clothes.
‐ Who are you?
‐ Come on. I made coffee.
‐ Okay.
Go watch TV.
[cartoons playing on TV]
[coffee pouring]
WOMAN:
Why don't you sit down?
‐ Who are you?
‐ I'm a friend.
‐ What was that? You talkin' code?
Where's Alex?
I think he's a murderer.
Bad Butcher, or whatever the hell.
‐ Yeah, Alex is a sales clerk from
Bloomington, Indiana.
‐ And you know him?
‐ In a sense.
‐ I said quit talkin' code.
[chuckles softly]
‐ I do like you.
I know him, because
I am him.
tense music playing ♪
♪
They're called "alternatives."
Modified shells that allow you
to appropriate another physique,
and human experience.
TONI:
So, like
skin suits?
‐ Yes.
‐ You're wearing one right now?
‐ Yes.
‐ [whispers]: That's fucked.
‐ [laughs] That's what I thought, too.
‐ So, so, what?
You, you wanna take my skin?
‐ No. I just wanna tell you
anything you want to know.
‐ Uh Uh
Does it hurt?
‐ Less every time.
‐ How many times?
‐ Eighteen.
‐ Shit.
So you are Alex.
‐ Yes.
‐ Well, who you runnin' from?
‐ Uh, his name is Mr. Grey.
bright music playing ♪
♪
He looks like a man,
but don't be fooled.
He is as far from human as they come.
He is some kind of monster.
Maybe even the devil himself.
He'd go out nights, looking for victims.
Seduce 'em, skin 'em.
He has infinite appetite.
Pain. Pleasure.
He's obsessed with humanity.
He picked me for an accomplice.
Guess he could tell I was in the market
to shed my skin.
Eventually we acquired enough
to last a lifetime.
But done never seemed to be done.
It was the girl that made me see
he'd lost control.
She was only fifteen.
And he got her.
And then he became her.
I couldn't bear to see
such a young life lost.
And I had been a part of it.
It had to stop.
‐ So, what'd you do?
[gasps]
[splashing]
[thuds]
You killed him.
‐ Maybe.
I thought I saw him once.
After.
Yeah, maybe he can't die at all.
It's hard to know the rules
when you're playing someone inhuman.
Yeah, if he is alive,
he will want his stuff back.
And he won't stop.
‐ So, just give it back.
‐ Never.
I was trapped.
Small town. Bad job.
Other shit, too.
But now, it's like being born again.
I can be anyone.
Feel everything.
Strike a match, and walk away.
New skin, new life.
You see?
‐ Mm‐hmm.
‐ That is what you showed me.
‐ But you killed all those people.
You helped him.
‐ Sometimes,
you have to live with what you've done
in order to live.
soft music playing ♪
♪
[clattering]
♪
♪
‐ Where we going?
TONI:
Where you wanna go?
‐ I wanna go to Beau's house.
‐ No, no. Someplace new.
Gonna get a new house.
New lives.
New everything.
‐ New names?
‐ Yeah. [laughs]
New names, too.
What do you want yours to be?
BOTH:
J‐I‐L‐L.
‐ Okay, and your mom's name?
‐ Her name is Isabelle.
‐ Okay.
Isabelle.
[thuds]
[thuds]
ANITA:
Excuse me?
Hi.
TONI: Hi.
Sorry.
We're trying to get back on the One.
Are you from here?
‐ No. Sorry.
We're just here seeing friends.
That's my daughter, Jill.
We're from Denver.
‐ I got a cousin in Denver.
‐ Oh.
‐ My cousin said last winter
they got 18 inches of snow.
‐ Oh.
Yeah. It snows a lot.
We like to build snowmen, Jill and me.
In our yard.
She likes to put the carrot for the nose.
‐ Oh, that's cute.
‐ Sorry?
‐ I said that's real cute.
‐ Yeah. Yeah. She'll, she'll be
playing out there for hours.
‐ Mm.
‐ I worry about her catching a cold.
'Cause
'Cause I'm a nurse.
Yeah.
‐ So you see it all, I'm guessing.
‐ I, I do.
I don't get scared of blood
or nothin' like that.
I like taking care of people.
Taking
Taking
[Jack shrieking]
[glass shattering]
[Jack screaming]
[loud, shrill shrieking]
[shrieking, kicking]
tense music playing ♪
[screaming]
[construction noises]
[screaming, kicking]
[Toni screams]
solemn music playing ♪
[laughing]
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪