The Changeling (2023) s01e01 Episode Script

1
Once upon a time, a specific time,
July 5th, 1825 to be exact, 52
men and women sailed out of Norway
in an undersized sloop
they named Restauration.
These immigrants sought religious
freedom from persecution,
so they fled to America.
Not just an improbable
crossing, an impossible one.
How in the world did they make it?
They had help, that's how.
Tell me your journey, each of you.
Tell me your life's voyage,
and I will tell you who you are.
This fairy tale begins
in a library in Queens.
Hello! Hello!
I am in distress!
This is dire!
I am in need of a toilet!
Listen to my voice. Can you hear me?
I got ears, don't I? Look.
Well, you see I have ears
too, so why are you yelling?
I need a piece of ID before
I give you the bathroom key.
I don't have ID.
Leave your bags here with me.
These contain state secrets!
Okay.
Thank you, ma'am.
My pleasure.
- Hi. Hi.
- Do you need something?
I was gonna help you with him.
Oh.
Seems like you got that all figured out.
Imagine that.
Um Apollo.
As in Creed?
Actually, yeah, kinda.
Hmm.
Do you wanna go, like
Do you wanna go to
dinner dinner with me?
Mm-mmm.
Please.
No.
If Emma Valentine thought
Apollo Kagwa would give up this easily,
she was mistaken.
But to understand why and how in
the world, we must first go back.
Way back.
It was during the great
garbage strike of 1968
that Brian West met Lillian Kagwa.
How are ya?
I'm, uh I'm here to
see a Mr. Pavel Arsenyev.
Mr. Arsenyev, there's a
Oh, it's, uh, Brian
West. Uh, Brian West.
Brian West here to see you.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
He'll be right out.
Thank you.
I'm his parole officer.
I'm not supposed to
tell you that though,
so you gotta keep
that between us, right?
Kwagwa, that's an interesting name.
Kagwa.
Kwagwa. Kwaga.
I don't date white men.
Me neither.
Hey, Kragwa. Kragwa.
Lillian.
Lillian. Um, listen, uh,
a lot more monitoring needs
to be done around here,
so I'll be back, all right?
I'll see you later.
Hey. That man is bad for business,
and since he's so smitten with you,
that makes you bad for business, so
No, Mr. Arsenyev, I need this job.
I don't want to hear
it. Go. Get your stuff.
Hey, look who it is.
Modeling agency/money laundering
racket. Not smart, Pavel. Not pretty.
Not pretty at all. Back to jail for you.
You got me fired. New job pays half.
New apartment only has one room.
I liked it at the modeling agency.
Just give me a chance.
Never.
And he couldn't stay away.
Yes.
And that there is how Brian met Lillian,
but didn't go on a real
date until years later.
You know, there's this place
right around the corner.
It's really good. They have great, um
That's nice, but no.
Some may call that stalking.
Apollo called it persistence.
Personally, I enjoy the simple
things like a stroll through the park
- or something at the be
- No.
- Hey. Do you maybe just wanna go to
- No.
Yes.
Re Great.
Yeah.
- Boones Mill?
- Yeah.
Yeah, you haven't heard
of it. Population, 285.
Mmm.
It's just where my
parents landed, I guess.
Well, I bet your parents
have a lot of cool stories
- about Boones fucking Mill.
- I've never spoken to them.
Huh?
No, I mean, I'm sure I have
actually spoken to them.
I just don't remember the conversation
because they died when I was five.
- Oh, I'm s
- Don't Yeah. It's not a thing.
So, uh, how'd they die?
Unimportant.
Well, what happened?
- To them?
- Uh, to you.
Well, my sister Kim adopted
me. She's 13 years older.
Shit.
And Ms. Rook, the local librarian.
She would look after
me when Kim couldn't.
And she would let me and
my best friend, Michelle,
watch all the movies.
One day, I was 12, and I picked
up this movie at random
Well, random, it was the only
movie in the entire library
- that had Black people on the cover.
- Mm-hmm.
- Quilombo.
- Okay.
It's about the uprisings in
Brazil, and it's just like
a ton of Portuguese people
just getting, like
- brutally killed by slaves.
- Oh!
That's fucking awesome.
Yeah, actually, it was watching
that movie that made me
- What?
- Oh, my God.
Do you know that I just
realized right this second
that movies are called
movies because they move.
Movies!
I haven't thought about
that one. It's true.
- Wow. Mm-hmm.
- Well, they do move. Mm-hmm.
Anyhoo. Um, Quilombo made me
realize how big the world was.
Bigger than Boones fucking Mill.
And I wanted to see it. All of it.
Mmm. What about your peeps?
Um, one sad story's
enough for the first date.
Hmm. Wow. One of your eyes
is bigger than the other.
- God.
- What?
That's not a bad thing.
That's a beautiful thing.
I think it's gorgeous, frankly.
You're the most gorgeous
person I've ever seen.
Ever known. I mean, your soul is
- My soul?
- Yeah.
Dude, no.
- I mean, think of the kids we'd have.
- Kids?
- I never cared if I had a boy, a girl
- Okay.
- twins, triplets, quadruplet
- Okay. Apollo. Stop. Seriously.
What? I mean, some people
wanna be an astronaut,
some people wanna be a scientist,
some people wanna be a zookeeper.
- A zookeeper? That's pretty cool.
- I just wanna be a good father
to the kid I end up having.
No, don't do that. Don't do
that look. Do a different look.
The reason I said no to you
when you first asked me out
And the six times after that.
And the six times after that
is because I'm moving to Brazil,
and I don't know for how long.
That can't be.
And yet, it does be.
No. No. I'm the god Apollo.
Excuse me?
- I am the god Apollo
- God.
and I command you to stay.
This is the final boarding call,
- flight 613 to São Paulo at Gate 530.
- Goodbye.
Final boarding call for
flight 613 to São Paulo.
All ticketed passengers,
please board now at Gate 530.
Sake?
I don't drink, but, uh
Idiots don't drink.
You don't drink?
Yeah. Idiot.
Thank you.
So, tell me something else.
What should I tell ya?
Well, you can't know anything
until you know everything,
so everything it is.
Everything it is, um
Well, I was born in Syracuse.
My family moved down here,
so I was raised in the city.
I spent a lot of time in the theater.
I used to love watching
the pictures, you know,
I'd sell my little candy,
try and make some money.
Uh, I grew up fast. You
know, New York, it
- Thank you.
- it'll do that to you.
I don't know what you're talking about.
He's just a friend.
He delivers groceries.
- You're so stupid.
- You fucking whore.
- Oh, I'm a whore?
- You're invisible.
Oh, I'm invisible?
Well, I'm not invisible
when I'm looking your micropecker
in its teeny-tiny, little beady eyes.
They drank a lot, and, uh
What are you looking at?
I, uh I didn't like
spending a lot of time at home.
I'm sorry.
No, I'm sorry. I should be, uh
I should be asking about you.
One sad story is
enough for a first date.
I want children.
Excuse me?
I want children. I do.
I want the chance to be a good
husband and a great father.
I think I could do that, you
know. I do. I-I want a redo.
Maybe we save the wedding
planning until after the movie.
Yeah. Maybe that's a good idea.
Welcome to Lubbick, Weiss
and Blackwood. That's me.
Let me show you to your desk.
It would be accurate to say
that Lillian's first
child and only child
was conceived in the beautiful blur
of 1977.
You making yourself a pappy show ♪
Melda ♪
You making yourself a bloody clown ♪
Up and down the country ♪
Looking for Obeah ♪
And your perspiration smell so strong ♪
Well ♪
Girl, you only wasting time ♪
General Service Unit. Our
car, it's run out of petrol.
Are you carrying any?
Identification.
You, get out. Open the boot.
We can open it from here.
Get out.
I would prefer to stay with my sisters.
Stop it. Hold it. Stop it.
Stop!
Arthur.
Arthur!
Arthur! Arthur! Arthur!
Arthur! Arthur!
I will never let anything happen to you.
I will protect you
with my breath and soul.
Hey, would it be weird
to name a Black kid Rocky?
Hmm?
Wouldn't be weird to name him Apollo.
Apollo.
Yeah.
Hey, you are the god Apollo.
And they lived happily ever after.
Or at least for a few years.
By Apollo's fourth birthday,
Brian West was gone. Vanished.
They're coming.
Bad dream?
- It was so strange.
- Hmm.
It's this, um, dream that I used to have
all the time when I was little.
About what?
My dad.
My dad, he left when I was four.
But in the dream, he
finally comes back home.
Does he stay?
I never get to that part.
In real life, he never came back.
I'm sorry.
Shit.
"The Sorcerers of Dobu."
Granny and Pops died in each other's
arms, left behind this collection.
Mmm.
Nice books here.
Some of them look good enough to steal.
I'm just I'm just kidding.
It's a joke.
I am going to take all
of these for a hundred.
- Deal.
- Deal?
- Yeah.
- Great.
Lubbick, Weiss and Blackwood.
Yes.
Thank you.
Books.
Yes!
Hello, my name is Apollo Kagwa.
Okay. I am the god Apollo.
I am the god Apollo.
Apollo would find himself wondering
if he actually was frightening.
Why else would his father have left him?
Check 14.50.
Okay.
Mmm. "Witches Still Live." Okay.
Okay.
"Aleister Crowley."
"Some men are born sodomites,
some achieve sodomy and some
have sodomy thrust upon them."
Whoa! Oh! Oh.
What? This will sell for
at least ten thousand.
How?
- Okay.
- The find of his life,
- and no one there to share the news.
- Wow. That is crazy.
Apollo Kagwa missed her.
Apollo.
Dad?
Dad?
Dad?
"A baby is a dream made real.
But dreams are the
fairies' favorite meal."
Apollo had always loved reading,
but when he held this
one, it was different.
That was your father's box.
Apollo, where did you find this box?
You're coming with me.
Shit.
I'm coming home tomorrow.
My flight doesn't arrive
until late at night,
and you might not even be
interested in seeing me anymore,
but if you were, I'd love your face
to be the first one I find in arrivals.
Thank you.
Attention, passengers on flight
873 with service to Munich,
your gate has been changed to 540.
Will passenger A. Dos Santos
come to the arrival information desk.
Oh.
You waited.
All right.
When I got to Salvador,
I stayed with a family in a
neighborhood called Itapuã.
There was a lake there, a
lagoon, called Lagoa do Abaeté.
Mmm.
They told me not to
go, but I didn't listen.
They told you not to come.
And yet, here you are.
Why is that?
Because I am not frightened.
You should be.
Three wishes. For your life. Emma.
How do you know my name?
Three wishes, before
these three knots are tied.
For now.
After.
And beyond.
Be careful what you wish for, Emma.
Yes.
Don't cut!
One must be so careful
what one wishes for.
When it falls off my wrist,
those three wishes will come true.
Do not cut it. Não corta-la.
- That's what she said. Mmm.
- You're weird.
So this thing's been on my
skin for more than six months.
Let me see.
Huh. It does look sturdy.
But you know what?
I am the god Apollo.
Começou.
Emma, with me, all three of
your wishes will come true.
I promise.
You may kiss the bride.
Nice. Okay, let's do it.
Let's see.
Yeah. "Shit got real."
All right.
Yes. Yes, I am.
Um And then the last one.
What?
What? Oh, my God.
Mmm.
Goddamn. Okay.
Hi.
Forty regular?
Yeah. Y Three for Michelle Tramble.
Forty regular?
Oh.
Yeah. I'm sorry. I know
you meant my jacket here.
Could I get
- Sir.
- Huh? Whoa. Okay.
Uh I will do that.
Nice.
Okay. Just go Oh.
I mean, you do have an idea
- Hey, cute-face.
- but the two of us combined Hi.
- Hey! Here he is! Father of the bride!
- Hey, I know your face.
Yeah.
Okay.
I'm glad you're so jovial.
Nice jacket.
- Thank you.
- Anything?
- No, nothing good.
- Good try, anyway.
Mm-hmm. Yes, please. And a bourbon.
- Yeah, please, a double-shot bourbon.
- Okay.
I hear that you two are going to the
planet of natural childbirth next.
I'm sorry, but that's just one
step too far for me. It's dangerous.
- Okay, stop.
- What?
- And you sound like my mother-in-law.
- She clearly reads the news.
Yeah, well, you are forgetting
that my sister is a doula,
- and she's gonna be right there with us
- Can you pass
in the living room.
- In your home?
- Yes.
- I thought you just meant no drugs.
- No.
- No. No. Nope to home births.
- Stop.
You are not third-world
peasants or wealthy white folks
- or anti-hospital punks.
- Hot damn.
You have been and always will be
the most stubborn person I know.
Mm-hmm. Yeah, probably.
Now I find out you two
only seem like sane people.
- Are you okay?
- Hey.
- Um, yeah, I'm good. Yeah.
- Yeah?
Thank you.
Entrées?
- Mmm.
- Oh, yeah.
I'll have the organic Long Island duck.
That shit is $75.
I'm gonna do the organic
Colorado lamb, please. Well done.
Hmm.
Um
Yeah, I think I'm gonna
just do more bread, please.
Thanks, just a little bit more.
What?
I think this noisette
is going to come back up.
You all right?
Uh, I think I'm gonna
go find the bathroom.
- Okay. It's
- Do you need a hand?
- Mm-mmm. Thank you.
- I'll go
And no, stay with Michelle. I'm good.
- All right. Yell if you need me.
- Thank you.
There's a nude photo of your wife
in an art gallery in Norway.
Well, is it color or black-and-white?
She told me about how you
waited for her at the airport
when she came back from Brazil.
Very sweet. Big points for you.
But she had some adventures
while she was down there.
I know she told you about some of 'em.
Yeah, she told me about the, uh,
- red string thing.
- Three wishes!
- Okay.
- That was a bold move you made, Apollo.
Let me tell you. I liked that.
Well, I mean, I, um, kept
the little string thing
to remind me of my promise to her. Here.
- See.
- I ain't touching that woo-woo thing.
By the way, you should be proud.
You already made two of
those wishes come true.
And I know she ain't wanna
tell you what they were.
Bad luck. But fuck it.
I'ma just blame it on the booze.
A good husband. A healthy child. And
Emma met a Norwegian photographer
while she was down there in Salvador.
- What?
- They go exploring,
and they find this decayed factory.
At some point, this dude has to go pee.
He leaves the camera. Emma decides
that she wants to be in a photo.
One that she takes herself.
Emma sets the timer,
walks into the shot,
pulls off her dress, and
takes that photo nude.
Well, a gallery owner bought the photo,
displayed it and never took it down.
Sorry, I don't think I'm following.
She was looking into that camera
lens like a fucking sorceress, Apollo.
It's frightening.
Right. And the the
Norway guy, who who's he?
I'm trying to tell you
something important,
and you focused on bullshit.
Okay.
I'm trying to tell you Emma's third wish
in a way that won't break her trust
because it's the only one
that hasn't come true yet.
Okay.
- I'm listening.
- They're just over here.
- Sir? Sir, it's your wife.
- Huh?
- Your wife needs you.
- What do you
Hold on to me, babe. Hold on to me.
Yeah, come on.
- All right, we need to find, uh um
- Wait, wait. Michelle.
No, she'll be fine.
She'll be fine, okay?
Don't worry about it. We need to find
All right, I'm gonna call a ambulance.
- No, no, no, no. Don't. Don't. Don't call.
- Why?
- Apollo, we're doing this at home, okay?
- Right. Okay. Okay.
Um
- Uh.
- Chambers Street.
Ah, yes, Chambers Street.
Come on.
You're doing good. You're doing good.
Sorry. Excuse me.
- Okay? All right.
- Yeah.
Just right here. Just right
here. Hey, don't leave!
Oh, good, good, good. All right.
Big step. We're almost
there. There we go.
- You don't wanna sit?
- No, I just wanna stand here.
- What time is it?
- Showtime, ladies and gentlemen!
It's showtime!
Oh, my God.
- Yeah, I could ask them to stop the music.
- No, it's fine. Just leave it.
You all right? You're doing good.
Okay, I think I'm gonna puke.
- Huh? You wanna sit?
- I wanna sit.
- All right.
- Yeah. Yeah.
You doing good, all right.
You're doing good. Okay?
That guy's amazing!
- Ten stops, that's it. Just ten stops.
- Mmm. Okay.
Why did you only eat bread?
- The food was so good.
- Bread? I loved the bread.
The bread was good. Brea
It was delicious bread.
It was the best bread What?
- Ow.
- It's all right.
You giving her trouble, aren't you?
- Well, we can't wait to meet you.
- We can't wait to meet you.
But you need to wait about 15
minutes, baby. Okay? Fifteen.
Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Okay.
All right, all right, all
right, all right, uh
Just-Just-Just-Just stay with me.
Just focus. Focus. It's okay.
It's okay, baby. It's okay.
We're gonna get that fixed.
Ow.
Yo, what's up with your girl?
Yo, she's pregnant.
- It's happening now.
- Okay. She-she's having a baby right now.
Um, can one of you guys go
find the conductor, please?
Go get the conductor now!
I'll go. I'll go. I'll go.
- Please.
- Thank you.
- What's your name?
- I'm Cowboy.
I moved from Dallas around
ten years back with my parents,
so everybody just calls me Cowboy now.
- But my real name
- Great. Cowboy, that's a great name.
Can you do me a favor and help me
get my wife to her feet, please?
- I got you.
- We're gonna go on three.
You ready? One, two,
three. All right. Easy.
- Easy. Easy.
- Fuck.
- Thank you.
- That's good. Thank you.
It's all right. Good job.
- Yo, do you guys got something to drink?
- Uh, Red Bull?
No. No. Uh
Oh, that water right there.
Ma'am, do you mind if
I used that real quick?
Thank you. Thank you so much.
I got you. Here you go, babe.
Here, there you go. That's it. Good.
Come on, chug that water.
Goddamn.
Do you know when this
thing's gonna start moving?
- Do you know when it's gonna start moving?
- We lost power on the third rail.
This train ain't moving.
I I'll go back and radio to send
EMTs, but it's gonna take a while.
It's all right.
You and me, huh?
Mmm. Hey, it's okay.
- I need to push now.
- It's okay. Okay. All right.
All right. No problem.
Hey, could you guys go?
Just give us some privacy. Make sure
no one's looking at us, all right?
- Just go away. Go!
- Yeah, I got you. Brian, get this end.
I got this end. Come on.
Here we go. You ready
to go down? You're ready.
No showtime for you,
ladies and gentlemen.
Easy, easy. Slo-Slow.
Slow, slow, slow, slow.
All right. There you go.
You're good. You're good.
You're good. All right. All right.
Now what I need you to do right now
is push for me, all right? Big breath.
Come on.
You got it. You got it.
Come on, you got it. Good.
One more. One more.
You got it. You got it.
Come on.
One more. One more, baby.
There it is.
Hey, hey.
It's a boy.
Hi.
Sh-Should we name him Brian?
I like that name.
Can I I wanna touch him.
Hey.
Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
Hi.
Hi.
That's my baby.
Hi.
First comes love.
Then comes marriage.
Then comes a baby in a baby carriage.
Get off me!
Tell me your journey, each of you.
Tell me your life's voyage,
and I will tell you who you are.
- Apollo, you're coming with me.
- No!