Mysterious Ways (2000) s01e01 Episode Script

Amazing Grace

I want you to be warm.
- Hey, get back here !
- Come on, Mom !
- No, you need to stay warm.
- Mom !
- Okay ? It's cold.
- Mom !
I want you to be warm.
Okay, honey ? Hey, what is this?
- What is this ?
- I slipped in the garage.
This is your new jacket, Matt.
- Come on !
- I'm sorry. I know, Mom.
It's okay. Have fun.
Stay close to the house, okay?
The Absolute.
Foundered off the coast of Florida in 1742.
Taken down everybody with her.
She sank fast.
When she hit the bottom, she split in two.
What kind of ship was it?
Florida Keys. A pirate ship?
It was a slave trader.
Row after row of slaves.
600 of them.
All chained below decks to prevent suicides.
And the mortality rate on these
ships was 20% maybe higher.
If an outbreak of smallpox
or dysentery occurred,
they'd take the sick person
and throw him overboard.
To the captain,
they were just damaged goods.
I did some research on the Absolute.
It turns out this ship was at one time
captained by one of the most
notorious slave traders of his era.
A man by the name of John Newton.
He captured thousands of Africans
and brought them to America
on nine separate jouneys.
But in his heart,
he always knew there was
something terribly wrong
with what he was doing.
So one night off the coast of America,
he went out on deck,
he raised his head to the heavens
and he asked for forgiveness.
Overwhelmed with emotion,
he wrote a simple poem.
30 years later,
that poem was put to music.
Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch
Like me
I once was lost
But now I'm found
Was blind
But now I see
John Newton never sailed again.
In fact, he spent the rest of his days
fighting against slavery.
One brief, yet miraculous moment out at sea
turns a wretched man's life around.
And ultimately ends up inspiring
generation after generation
with a simple song.
Through many dangers
Toils and snares
I have already come
Tis grace hath brought
Me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home
Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
No spontaneous respirations.
Pupils fixed.
No corneal reflexes.
94.7. He was in the water
at least 20 minutes.
Who pulled him out ?
Mother doesn't know.
She didn't see anyone.
Let's move!
Now I'm found
Was blind
But now I see
There's still no brain activity.
I'm very sorry.
How long before
He, uh
Once the ventilator is switched off,
it will be very fast and painless.
Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
Goodbye, buddy.
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost
But now I'm found
- Is there someone who can call for you ?
- No
Was blind
But now I see
Matt ?!
Is he alive ?
Matt ! Oh my God !
Here is Mommy.
Can you hear me ?
Oh my God !
Oh, my God, sweetheart.
Oh, my God.
You investigate. What did you call it?
- Miraculous
- Miraculous
- phenomena.
- phenomena.
Attack.
Roll over.
Okay.
One last time.
Fetch!
Get the ball!
Get the ball, get the ball,
come on, get the ball.
Get the ball!
There you are.
Hey.
You want a dog?
We've been through this.
I'll pay you.
Read the paper this morning?
No.
- Mrs. Taylor?
- Mm?
Sorry to wake you.
I'm Peggy Fowler.
I'm with the hospital.
Oh.
Good.
I thought you were another reporter.
No.
How's he doing?
The doctors say the next
72 hours are critical.
Do you see if there's
been any organ damage?
No.
He's quite a fighter.
I'm a psychiatrist with the hospital.
If you need anything, you can call me.
Thank you.
I understand from your file
that you divorced his father.
Have you contacted him?
No.
He should know what's happened.
Well, he never cared before.
Why start now?
Well, maybe I can call him
on behalf of the hospital.
We divorced when Matt was two.
We haven't spoken since.
I see.
Well, if you need anything,
anything, you can call me.
I'm always here.
Oh, jeez. I'm sorry.
God.
Excuse me.
Are you okay?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Can I help you?
Do I know you?
Uh, no.
You look awfully
I don't think so.
Because I
Listen, yeah, you can help me.
- I'm looking for Matt Taylor's room.
- Oh.
Are you a member of the family?
No. I'm an anthropologist.
- Oh.
- I teach at the university.
I'm sorry.
Declan Dunn.
I investigate miraculous phenomena.
You investigate for the
for the university?
No.
Actually, for myself.
You know,
the family's been through a terrible ordeal.
I'm certain they don't want
to speak to anybody right now.
Ah, I see.
You're the doctor, huh?
- Could I ask you
- No.
I'm the psychiatrist
affiliated with the hospital.
Psychiatrist, right.
If you have any questions, just write them
down, leave them with the nurse's station
and I'll be certain to get them to her.
I just wanna know how he did it.
Brain dead?
Pulled the plug?
Here he is.
I'd like to know too.
I'm his mother.
Shannon Taylor, this is Declan Dunn.
It's a pleasure.
Physics lab.
Uh, I need case histories.
People drowning, coming back to life.
Duration under water,
body temperature, that sort of thing.
You ask about the EEG?
Yeah.
Nothing wrong with the machine.
So they say.
See what you can do up, okay?
Okay, bye-bye.
Can I buy you a cup of coffee?
Sure.
I'm perplexed by you.
Get in line.
You investigate, what did you call it?
- Miraculous
- Miraculous
- phenomenon.
- phenomenon.
That's right.
But not for the university.
No.
Is it a hobby?
It's not a hobby.
So you're trying to prove that
these miracles are real, or not real?
Real.
Through a process of elimination.
Find every possible explanation
until none are left.
And how many of these miracles
have you investigated?
63, but only 6 remain unexplained.
Unexplained?
They're actual miracles?
I'd like to think so.
I'm always looking for
that smoking gun though,
that one piece of evidence
that's completely indisputable.
Why?
Why, that's what people want, isn't it?
People like you, am I right?
Yes.
Well, I think that life's full of miracles.
Drive down a crowded street,
you find a parking space.
What about Matt?
I think what happened to
Matt is extraordinary.
But when you say it's the hand of God,
then I've got questions.
Such as what?
Like why God chose to revive Matt,
but yet he'd let another child drown.
I guess it all depends on what you think
the real miracle is, doesn't it?
I'll give you an example.
A few years back, I was deep
powder skiing until
It was just awesome.
Beautiful, most beautiful day of my life.
Right up until the avalanche hit.
And I heard it coming
but there wasn't anything I could do.
One minute I'm Jean-Claude Keeley,
and the next I'm trapped in a block of ice.
I thought I was gone.
I mean, nobody knew where I was,
and I was out in the middle of nowhere.
Then there's this kid.
He's on a snowmobile.
He's tooling around,
having a grand old time.
All of a sudden,
his snowmobile just cocks out.
No reason.
Just had it tuned up, plenty of gas,
but now nothing.
It won't even turn over.
But he's got a radio, so he calls for help.
While he's waiting for help to arrive,
the wind kind of kicked up.
So he reaches for the shovel
that he conveniently has in his pack,
and starts digging a windbreak in the snow.
About two feet into the dig,
he hit me in the jaw.
Wow.
- Ow.
- Ow.
The ski patrol came.
They dug me up.
That's amazing.
Yeah.
This kid, he gets back on his snowmobile,
and tries to fire it up one more time,
just to see.
And guess what?
It started?
Fired right up.
Oh, that's amazing.
Yeah.
But you see, the real miracle for me
was how my life changed after the accident.
I never really thought about
too many things before that.
Excuse me.
It's Matt, I've gotta go.
Cool.
Let's hit it.
Didn't mean to go on the ice.
I know.
It's okay, buddy.
Hey, I'm not mad at you.
Must've been scary, huh, Matt ?
The ice cracked.
I heard it.
Tried to run.
And that's when you fell through?
Tried to swim.
Kept sinking fast.
He was bundled pretty heavy.
Oh, yeah?
Cold, then real bright.
Lots of sparkles.
Bright light, sparkles.
Then what happened, Matt?
The hand grabbed me.
Did you see anyone else out there?
No, nobody.
What hand, Matt?
Hey, hey, hey, he's sleeping.
Come on.
You mind if I ?
Come in.
What a dump.
Excuse me?
I said, what a nice office you got.
I really like what you've
done with the space.
Thanks.
You should see my office.
I got books and charts and maps
and skeletons everywhere, it's a mess.
You know, I found a half-eaten
sandwich in there once.
There's a fossilized roast beef.
Oh, nice.
Is there something I can do for you?
Oh, yeah.
I wrote down my number on a piece of paper.
I was hoping you could call
me if Matt should wake up.
I'd really like to talk to him.
Okay.
What you working on?
I'm trying to locate Matt's father.
That's right, Shannon said she was married.
Divorced now, right?
Yeah.
Didn't sound like she'd want
anything to do with the guy.
She doesn't.
I don't know, that makes it weird
that she'd ask you to call him.
Uh, it's hospital policy.
All right.
Yeah, we contact both parents,
except I'm having trouble
finding a phone number for him.
He seems to be a bit of a wanderer.
Well, maybe it's not such a good idea
getting in touch with him.
I mean, after everything
Shannon's been through,
maybe it's such a stir of trouble.
Trouble?
As opposed to what you're doing?
What am I doing?
Encouraging people to believe
in miraculous phenomena.
That's more troublesome than helping
a family through a difficult time.
Believing gives hope.
It's dangerous.
Dangerous?
Yes, it's like parents
praying over a sick child
instead of taking him to the hospital.
Or people spending their life savings
to get to Lourdes for an easy cure.
Yes, it's dangerous.
Sorry to bother you.
It's okay.
All right, if he comes around,
will you give me a call?
Okay, doggie.
It's okay, doggie.
Nice dog, nice dog.
Ah!
You scared me.
What are you doing here?
I was gonna ask you the same thing.
Oh, you know, I was
just snooping around.
Seen a crime sort of thing.
How'd you find out I was here?
Shannon, she said you were
going for a dive in the lake.
Oh, yeah.
Now you're pretty sure I'm crazy, huh?
The water is freezing.
It's freezing!
Yeah, it's cold.
Good thing for Matt, though.
You know, I read about a few
cases where drowning victims,
uh, they're, after being
in freezing water, they,
they're precipitated
Are you okay?
Do you need some help?
No, I got it.
Right, the, um, it's the cold water.
It lowers the metabolism.
Huh?
- The cold water slows the metabolism.
- The cold water slows the metabolism.
Increasing a chance of survival.
- Right.
- Right.
So no miracle?
Probably not.
Still like to know how he
got out of there, though.
And the other stuff he
talked about, you know,
the sparkles, the bright light.
May not be a miracle, but,
still makes a pretty good
mystery, don't you think?
Yeah.
Right
- Listen, I just I, wanted to
- Huh ?
I wanted to apologize about earlier.
Oh, yeah?
- I'm usually not so, um
- Hostile ?
I was gonna use the word passionate.
Passionate's good.
It's just that I've read
about cases like this.
A bright light is often seen
during a near-death experience.
Yeah, I know, I know.
The bright light thing.
But you gotta ask yourself, why?
Why the bright light?
Wish fulfillment.
Seeking comfort in one's
belief in the afterlife.
Yeah.
Or maybe it was just a bright sunny day.
Hey, come here.
I wanna show you something.
Come here.
Come on.
Well, um
It's fine.
It froze last night, it took a dance floor.
Come on.
Give me your hand.
Ready?
Oh!
Prefectly safe.
Come on.
Come on.
And at the time of the day
that Matt had his accident,
the sun was shining, it would crash right
over the top of that tree right there.
Right into the hole.
This is where it fell in.
Come here.
The bright light.
Can you see?
Bang, right into the hole.
Hey, look at this.
It's a submerged tree
branch about 18 feet down.
Huh?
So, you're not nuts after all.
I wouldn't go that far.
Look at this.
Is that the bottom?
Excellent log.
Quarters.
Is this significant?
I don't know.
You hungry?
Nice dog.
You can have him.
No thanks.
You're sure ?
Yeah.
Damn.
What breed is it?
I don't know.
Collie, Spaniel, Terrier, part Wookie.
Huh?
Must have been a hell of a party, huh?
What's his name?
Don't know that either.
I just call him Mole.
- Mole?
- Yeah.
He's got this little
doodad on his belly.
Kinda looks like a
Well, here, take a look.
Moley, come here,
Holy Moley.
Come here.
Look at this.
What's it look like to you, right there?
A mole.
Right.
But to the good people
of Buckshot, New Mexico,
it's a dead ringer for the Virgin Mary.
By the time I got that
into their heads, though,
they were pretty angry,
so I'm gonna be packing.
I got him as a prize.
You ready?
Where is he going?
Don't worry about him.
He'll catch up.
Where are you going?
Home.
You can't leave your dog here.
I don't even see him anymore.
Liberal.
But it's cold.
What is it?
Footprints.
Add bloodhound of the list.
So what were you like
before the avalanche?
Oh, I spent most of my time
angry at one thing or another.
Didn't have a job, didn't want one.
Drank too much, too much just didn't
How about you?
Kind of like you were
before the avalanche.
Only, without the antropology doctorate,
without the drinking.
Sure got the anger.
How you doing?
Listen, we were just up top of the lake,
and I came down here.
I was wondering if you
happen to see anybody.
You got any money?
Are you okay, ma'am?
It's a nasty cough you got, ma'am.
You gonna be all right?
Listen, you didn't happen to see
anybody come down from the lake.
Get out of here.
How many times I gotta tell you?
Go on, get !
Damn leeches.
Just trying to stay warm.
And who the hell are you?
Go ahead.
Why don't you give me that psychiatrist
affiliated with the hospital bill.
I doubt you're gonna hurt anybody.
Oh, no.
I caught one of them stealing
from me the other day.
She busted open that
machine with a crowbar,
and ran off with close to $50.
In quarters?
She?
Oh, that old woman.
I chased her halfway up the mountain
before I came back to call the cops.
We couldn't find the money,
so we couldn't prosecute her.
What you doing there?
I'm drawing.
What you drawing?
He was wearing it.
Who?
Who was wearing it?
The man who pulled me out of the water.
The man who pulled you out
You remember what he looked like?
I couldn't see his face.
The light was so bright.
All I saw it's this.
Then he
Then he
Then he what, buddy?
It's okay, honey.
Then,,,
Matt ?
Mattie?
Matt ?
Mattie ?
What's wrong?
What's happening?
Matt ?
Call the nurse.
Nurse!
What's
Nurse !
What happened?
Oh, God.
Doctor, do something right now!
It's okay, it's gonna be fine.
He was fine a minute ago.
Heart rate's tacking.
Keeper 102.
Benco 1 gram, gent 120.
Put him in trend
No !
Come on, Mattie !
It's in shock.
Come on, Matt, stay with me.
Come on, buddy, Matt.
Matt, can you hear me?
Come on, Matt.
Stay with us, buddy, come on.
Matt.
Matt, can you hear me?
Can you hang on here?
Will he be all right?
All we can do is wait and
keep monitoring his condition.
His body's been weakened
considerably by the trauma,
but he's a pretty tough guy.
I'll be back in an hour.
Are you okay?
Yes, where?
Come in.
Okay, great.
Thank you.
I finally got a lead on Matt's father.
You're not still
looking for him, are you?
I think it will help
Matt with his recovery.
What about Shannon?
She still has some unresolved issues.
Seems like she resolved
his issues just fine
when she walked out on him.
Yes, walking out on him was good,
but she still has some unresolved anger,
which is not good.
Kind of like you?
Excuse me?
Well, maybe you should, you
know, deal with your anger
before you go telling
other people what to do.
My anger?
Hmm?
Oh.
What happened to you, Peggy?
Hmm?
I don't have time for this, Declan.
Come on, make time.
Two years ago, my husband
was brought to this hospital.
He was broadsided by a drunk
driver going 50 miles an hour.
He was in pretty bad shape.
He lapsed into a coma.
There was nothing we could do but wait.
So our church rallied around us.
We prayed day and night.
My faith was strong, and I knew,
I knew that he would be healed.
A week later, he woke up.
Just like that.
The doctors were amazed.
We were ecstatic.
He improved steadily for three days.
But on the fourth day, in the
middle of the night, he died.
It was It was so cruel.
So, you keep looking to
see if miracles are real.
I already know my answer.
Excuse me.
An old lady, homeless, stole
some quarters from the laundromat.
We arrested her, but she
didn't have the stolen money,
so we couldn't hold her.
Just waited for her clothes
to dry out, and released her.
Her clothes were wet when you found her?
Soaked to the bone.
Remember she's wearing
a cross around her neck,
like a gold cross?
Not that I remember.
Why, did she steal that too?
Did she give you a name?
The only name she'd give us is Mother.
Mother, huh?
That's it ?
That's it, Mother.
You get him?
Yeah, I got him.
Remind me why we're here again.
I told you I have a theory.
Yeah, what is it?
Just watch.
One minute.
Down the weight.
Oh.
What's that for?
It's about how long he held his breath.
The weight is for the
water filling his lungs.
Another extracurricular project
on the university's dime?
No, no.
I can explain this.
Actually, Miranda might be able to
explain this one a little better.
Go ahead.
Will it interest me?
Probably not.
Then don't explain it.
Just assure me it will not keep you
from doing your real job.
Rest assured.
Nice job.
Shut up.
It's rising.
It's floating.
Your theory
The man you're looking for is drunk.
He's an abusive drunk.
I didn't want my kid growing up
in a house like that, so we left.
Matt doesn't remember that man.
He
He's created this
loving, caring man that Matt believes
will one day come back to him.
And I can't break his
heart with the truth.
- Well, maybe he's changed.
- No.
People don't change.
They do.
Declan!
I know how Matt got out of the water.
When Matt fell through the ice,
the initial force of his plunge,
combined with the weight and
the water filling up his clothes,
sent him sinking right to the bottom.
The water was extremely cold.
He tried to swim, but he couldn't.
He saw a bright light, right?
The time of day when he had his
accident was 9.43 in the morning.
The sun clears the trees
at just the right angle
and shines in through
the hole into the ice.
He even said he saw sparkles.
And that's when he saw
the person who saved him.
Now, he says he couldn't see a face,
but he saw a cross, that
picture that he drew.
He couldn't hold his breath.
His lungs fill up with water, right?
But then just as he's
about to lose consciousness,
he feels like he's being
grabbed by a big hand.
That big hand was a
submerged tree branch.
The outside of his jacket is nylon.
It's designed to breathe.
As you can see there's a big stain on the
back covering a good portion of it, right?
Yeah, he slipped and fell in the garage.
It's a good thing he did.
That oil stain sealed the fibers,
effectively waterproofing it.
That, combined with the plastic bags
and the air trapped by his feet,
sent him floating
back up to the surface,
where he was grabbed and
pulled out of the water.
Yeah, but by who?
A homeless woman named Mother.
She had just robbed the
laundromat in Darwin.
She made her escape by
heading into the woods.
She ended up at the edge of the lake.
And that's when she saw Matt.
Now, maybe she hesitated for
fear of getting in trouble.
She didn't want to get arrested.
But in the end, she did the right thing.
She went out onto the ice
and looked in the hole.
And at that moment, the
coins that she was carrying
fell into the water and
drifted to the bottom,
the sparkles, as they went down.
When Matt floated back to the surface,
she pulled him out.
Heck, when the sheriff found her,
she was soaking wet.
She could have even jumped
in and pushed him out.
Did you talk to this woman?
I haven't been able to find her yet.
I'm in a little trouble.
If you could do me a favor and when
you do find her, bring her here.
I'd like to thank her.
You bet.
What?
What's wrong ?
I think you should see this.
Oh, Mr. Nolan.
Hi.
Piggy Fowler?
Oh, yeah.
How do you do?
Hey, sweetie, look.
It's you.
Because of Mother's heroic deed,
little Matt is alive
and well.
And his very happy mother,
along with the proud people of Darwin,
want to say thanks.
If only they could find her.
Stay.
Stay.
Sit.
Hey.
Hey.
I've been looking for you everywhere.
Where you've been ?
You the one told everybody
I saved that kid?
Sure I am.
I didn't save that boy.
You didn't?
No, I didn't have nothing to do with it.
You just tell them all to leave me alone.
If you're worried about the police
prosecuting you for stealing those coins,
that's not going to happen.
Hey, you did steal the coins, right?
Okay.
And you ran out by the lake, right?
How did the coins
get in the lake again then?
I threw them in.
Why?
Didn't want the cops
to catch me with them.
You didn't see the boy drowning in
the lake when you were out there ?
I didn't see nothing.
I'm trying to tell you that.
Were you wearing
a necklace the other day?
What?
A necklace.
A gold cross.
I can't even scrape together enough
for food, let alone a necklace.
Look.
Look, you just tell them all
to leave me alone, you hear?
I didn't save that boy.
Leave me alone.
Okay.
Hi, Declan.
Hey.
Declan Dunn.
This is Hal Nolan.
Mr. Nolan, it's a pleasure.
We're going to see Matt right now.
Matt, Shannon.
This is Mr. Nolan.
Hal.
Hello, Shannon.
Matt, this is your grandfather.
That's right.
Your dad.,,
I'm his father.
I've been looking for you
for a lot of years now.
Where's my dad?
He died, eight years ago.
He got killed in the Gulf War.
He made a lot of mistakes in his life.
Wasn't the best father or the
one of the best husbands
he should have been.
Joined the Navy in 91.
Second patrol.
In the middle of the ocean,
he made a vow to himself that he'd
turn his life around, and he did.
He was a changed man.
Matt, I want you to see something.
He carried this always with himself, and he
said it was his most treasured possession.
Matt
Your father,
my son,
he was a hero.
Saved eight soldiers
before he died.
All eight of them,
they called me.
They said he spoke about you every day, and
he couldn't wait to get home and find you.
And make things right again.
With both his
United States Navy.
They gave that to your dad
for bravery in battle.
That's called the Navy Cross.
I know that
he'd want you to have that.
His grace hath brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home.
Amazing grace
Hey, Pegg
Hey.
Unexplained?
I don't know why bad
things happen, Peggy.
Or good things, for that matter.
Reasons aren't always clear.
There's always reason.
What you do,
it's
weird.
I know.
But you still want it out, don't you?
Now that's a miracle.
Yeah.
It's a miracle.
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