Z: The Beginning of Everything (2015) s01e01 Episode Script

1 Things are sweeter when they're lost.
I know, because once I wanted something and got it.
It was the only thing I ever wanted badly.
And when I got it, it turned to dust in my hands.
He had some character say that.
It was the way he always looked at things.
Tragically.
But it might as well have been about me.
It was always about me.
Right to the very end.
Or maybe it was about us.
Not that it matters.
Because all that came later.
- Be careful, Zelda.
- It's mighty high! You'll break your neck! Ish kabibble! He was dirty and lousy and full of fleas But he had his women by twos and threes God bless the bastard King of England - Zelda! - Zelda! What if someone sees? Good gracious! [laughing.]
Zelda! She eloped? Her mama and daddy think she's at her cousin Effy's house for the weekend.
Good night.
They'll be carrying on at 18 Montgomery Street when they find out.
Whatever possessed Nelly to do such a thing? - Lust.
- Zelda! Oh, come on, y'all saw them at that officer's dance.
They were all hot and bothered.
You know her daddy is never gonna let her marry a Yankee.
Zelda! [car honks.]
- Woo! - Zelda! Greetings, my jellies.
[wolf calls.]
They're sweet, but Montgomery boys are such three minute eggs.
I'm tired of their foolishness.
Well, they're not so bad.
That Harry Gunther's a real hoot.
If you like little boys.
Zelda! What time are we going to the dance tonight, kiddos? Where is it? Old city hall.
I can't be there 'til 9:30.
My daddy won't let me go to a dance down there.
Then don't tell him.
Zelda, those dances are rough.
There's no chaperone, and what if That's the point, scaredy cat.
[bell rings.]
What time is it? Oh, Dick's gonna pitch a fit.
I'll see you in the park at 9:30, Livy.
Bye, Ellie.
Let's just start without her.
Lil' Johnny's gonna bust out crying any minute.
In this house, we eat as a family.
Give me that baby, Tildy.
Oh, here.
How long are we supposed to sit here? Katie, I'm here! Oh, just in time, baby.
- Honestly, Zelda.
- Where are your shoes? They're in the hall.
They're all wet.
Am I gonna have to buy you new shoes? Judge, let's not talk about this right now.
They're fine, Daddy.
They just need to dry out.
Katie, I don't have a taste for roast tonight.
Can you make me one of your tomato sandwiches? Of course I can, baby.
We've been waiting on you going on 23 minutes, Zelda.
You are going to eat roast like the rest of us.
Well, you didn't have to wait for me.
We always wait for you and daddy always gets mad when you're late.
I guess I was just having too much fun.
- Zelda, go to your room.
- Why? Because you seem to forget that you're still living under my roof, which means I expect you to act like a human being, and not some swamp rabbit.
I don't see what you're so upset about, Daddy.
I'm here now, aren't I? Tildy, pass me that iced tea.
Zelda, I ask very little of you.
But being late for supper is disrespectful to me Never mind, I'm not really hungry anymore.
Sit down.
You're having an awfully hard time making up your mind tonight, Daddy.
Don't you push me, Zelda Sayre.
Katie, I'll take my sandwich in my room.
Oh, but darling, we've got a beautiful key lime pie for dessert tonight.
Well, then, I'll take a piece of that pie, too.
Butter beans, dear? I'm sorry, but you should hear what people say about her, Mama.
Eddie Timpson told me she was dancing cheek to cheek with Charlie Bumpass at that dance the other night.
She's just high-spirited.
She's just plain selfish.
What about that motor car she stole? Poor daddy.
There you are.
Jesus.
Lieutenant Hammond.
How nice of you to drop by.
One of these days, someone important's gonna notice when you disappear.
Oh, I suppose it's a condition to which we should all aspire.
These boots get any shinier, you'll be able to blind the Huns from a quarter mile.
[chuckles.]
Oh, anything I can do to aid the effort.
Well, you could aid the effort by training your men.
Oh, I think my boys are doing quite well.
Have you seen the trench they've been working on? They're a lot better at digging trenches than loading a stokes mortar, that's for sure.
Yes, and as I said, we are all very thankful for your quick thinking and cat like reflexes.
Uh, here is my token of gratitude, per your request.
Now, when you copy that out, do not change a word.
It took me four drafts to get it right.
Forgive the spelling.
It's not my strong suit.
"At night I recall your glorious smile.
"Those twinned twined" "At night I recall your glorious smile.
"That twinned, upturned of mirth and abandon, "and silvery dream, and I feel anything is possible.
" It's good, isn't it? I think I may have fallen a little bit in love with her myself while I was writing them.
Evelyn's smile isn't glorious.
It's kind of crooked.
Well, no matter.
She'll believe that you think it's glorious.
Which will make her feel glorious, which will make her smile be, in fact, more glorious.
A real romantic, aren't you? Why would any man choose to be otherwise? Now, excuse me.
I will probably be dead three months from now.
No time to waste.
I have a legacy to create.
You'll be dead long before anyone reads that novel of yours.
Yeah.
I can live with that.
[chuckles.]
Thanks for the letter, Fitzgerald.
Tomorrow, teach your boys to load a goddamn mortar safely.
If we're gonna die for our country, we ought to do it in France, not Alabama.
Yes, that is my top most priority, Hammond.
[knocking.]
Baby, you're not going out.
I'm not staying in.
There's a dance at city hall.
The Judge is already fit to be tied.
What do you think, Mama? Should I wear this one or the pink? I don't know, at least wear stockings.
Please tell me you're wearing a corset.
If you don't wear a corset, people are gonna think you're A speed? Things are different now, Mama.
Besides, the war industries board told us not to wear corsets.
Not to buy corsets.
There's a difference.
Oh, good Lord.
Smell that sweet alyssum.
It always reminds me of Mama in the garden at Mineral Mount.
What's the matter? [chuckles.]
What do you think? I think you should put on some stockings.
[chuckles.]
Mama.
I ran into Professor Wisner at McCormick's this morning.
He said you haven't been to ballet class in a couple of weeks.
I'll go back eventually, Mama, I promise.
What is it, exactly, you're doing that's keeping you from your obligations, my girl? I'm doing my patriotic duty.
By going to dances every night and staying out to all hours? Mama, these boys are facing death in the trenches of France.
It is the least I can do.
Bye, Mama.
Oh, baby, wait.
What is it? Livy's waiting for me.
Let's not rile the judge any more tonight.
Come here.
Now you just try to be quiet.
Mind those rosebushes, baby.
[jazz music plays.]
The night smelled of khaki and cigarettes.
The war was finally here, in all of its disordered grandeur.
I felt its urgency.
If I waited, it might be gone forever.
Come on! Hey, miss, you want to dance? Come on, you little bearcat.
[cheering.]
A good man is hard to find You always get the other kind Just when you think that he's your pal You look for him and find him Foolin' around with some other gal Then you rave, yes you rave To see him lying down in his grave But if your man is nice, take my advice Hug him in the morning, kiss him every night Give him plenty of love, you know what I mean And treat him right 'Cause a good man nowadays Is hard to find Time's up! My turn! Whoa, whoa, fella.
She promised me this dance.
Your mama's calling.
Back off, carrot top.
I can dance with both you boys.
No need to scrap.
Oh, my Lord! Let's get out of here! [laughing.]
Wait, my bag, my bag, my bag.
What a night! Those boys are crazy, though! It was glorious.
I never had so much fun.
We gotta get home.
- Oh, ladies? - Cigarette? We don't smoke.
Come on, Zelda.
It's awful late.
Why don't you let us walk you ladies home? Why should we? Yeah, why should we? We can walk ourselves home.
Because you're not gonna find two more amusing fellas in this whole group of regimental monkeys, I can tell you that.
Well, you don't seem that funny right now.
That's what the gin's for.
So, how's about it, ladies? Well, all right.
But no getting handsy.
No going to the devil, Private Harold.
Remember, all our daddies tote guns.
You watch yourself, Zelda.
I'm fixin' to.
Bye, now.
You got one of those for me? So, where are you from, Private Landon? Uh, my name is Lloyd.
But I like Landon.
It suits you.
Chicago.
Just outside Chicago, actually.
Where are they sending you, Landon? Just received orders to join the 67th on Long Island.
And then we're on to the Marne to fight the Huns.
France? Well, aren't you just terrified? Hell, no.
I've never been abroad.
This is my first time out of Chicago, and I'm, uh I'm ready to see the world.
My ma keeps sending me these letters telling me to see the Eiffel Tower.
And the Arch du Triumph or however they say it, but she doesn't understand I'm gonna be covered in mud in some trench on the front lines.
Not on a grand tour.
They, uh try to have us write our Last Will and Testament before we go.
But I ain't gonna do that.
It seems like bad luck to me.
Nothing's gonna happen to you.
Yeah.
I know.
I'm gonna leave Montgomery.
- You are? - Yeah.
Where are you gonna go? Baltimore.
Philadelphia.
Someplace that's not the South.
I like the South.
The women are beautiful.
And the food is aces.
I'm sick of all these old buildings.
Old people, old houses.
Everything's old here.
I want to go someplace shiny and new that's not obsessed with the past.
Well, this is it, Landon.
I don't even know your name.
Miss Zelda Sayre.
Well Miss Zelda Sayre.
Do you think you could wait for a fella like me? Oh Probably not.
I don't wait for anyone.
Good luck in France, Landon.
I hope you get to see the Eiffel Tower.
It is 1:30 in the morning.
I'm sorry, Daddy.
I went for a walk with Livy, we must have lost track of time.
Zelda, why must you always lie? I'm not lying, I I saw you kiss that Yankee.
And I can smell the gin and cigarette smoke all over you.
[scoffs.]
Ish kabibble.
Zelda Sayre, you come back here.
You do not walk away from your father when he is addressing you.
I am ashamed that a daughter of mine is just a little hussy, kissing strange men in front of all our neighbors with absolutely no sense of propriety.
Well, isn't that the way hussy's do? You just think you can do as you please, but that's not the way life works.
Trust me, I know.
I know.
Mama says conflict develops the character.
Idn't it divine? Would you like to try it on? I don't know.
I might like this green one.
[scoffs.]
Are you sure your mama would let you wear a dress that short? Bless your heart for your concern, but honestly, I'm looking for something a bit more au courant.
That is exactly what Coco Chanel showed in Paris this spring.
You can't get more au courant, dear.
You're right, I'll probably have to go to New York to find something more up to date than these old things.
Oh, Lord, look at the time.
[thunder.]
Just in time.
Mrs.
Baker's been fussing about tardiness all morning.
Good morning, everyone.
The war continues.
And so, we must continue, even redouble our efforts for membership and productivity.
Today, we work on leg and body bandages.
One of you holds the bolt of the fabric.
That person is the rollee.
How'd it go last night? I'll tell you later.
That sounds interesting.
Not to the Judge.
I had a letter from Arthur Brennan yesterday.
Was it thumbs under or forefingers under? Fingers.
Who's Arthur Brennan? That boy from Atlanta with the rich daddy.
He enlisted.
He's down in El Paso.
Sent me his pin and said he'd write every day.
But you don't even like him.
I know.
Tattle later, ladies.
Tattle later, ladies.
Important though your affairs may be, Important though your affairs may be, our brave young men would appreciate your giving their welfare more speed and attention.
[giggling.]
What are you wearing to the dance tonight? At the country club? I'm not going to that thing.
But it's a benefit for our boys.
I know, I'm just tired of that set.
I've dated every single one of them.
They're so safe and predictable.
That's why last night was so fun.
At least they're men, not props.
What else are you gonna do? Stay home and read a book? Oh, Zelda, just the person I was hoping would be here.
Hello, Mrs.
Riggs.
I am in charge of the entertainment for the benefit tonight, and we'd so love it if you would come and perform one of your little ballet solos for the crowd.
It is always such a hit with the young people.
Right, girls? That's right.
I can't think of anything better than watching Zelda do her little dance.
Let me talk to Mama.
See what she thinks.
All right, dear.
You let me know.
All right.
Come on, Zelda.
Just do it.
I don't want to, Ellie.
I haven't practiced in weeks.
I don't want to look like an idiot.
You'll be the best looking idiot in the room.
I think it's a wonderful idea.
You're a beautiful dancer.
And all those boys you like will be there.
Leon Ruth, Dan Cody, John Sellers.
I would rather drown myself than spend another minute with those bloated, spoiled Montgomery boys, Mama.
Not one of them has read a book or has any opinion about anything unless it's the latest football game or automobile.
That's not fair, baby.
That John Sellers is right smart.
And so is Peyton Mathis.
He already has his own business.
I don't like that Mathis boy.
He's too old to be gallivanting with you and your group.
He's a rooster anyway.
What does that mean? I don't need to hear about any of that.
I just don't want you taking up with that Mathis boy.
Oh, Judge, Sara Riggs is really in a fix.
She needs Zelda to be the entertainment tonight.
Zelda's old enough to make her own decisions.
Thanks, Daddy.
I don't have anything to wear.
Oh, you just leave that to me, baby.
I'll take care of it.
[classical.]
[applause.]
- Zelda, that was wonderful.
- Thank you.
Who is that saint? That's Zelda Sayre.
And she's no saint, Goldilocks.
[chuckles.]
[indistinct chatter.]
May I? Excuse me.
Thank you.
Thank you, Peyton.
Anytime, darling.
Zelda.
You got me all steamed up.
Let's go for a ride.
No, wait, I don't feel like leaving just yet.
Aw, sure you do.
I'm sorry, old man, I believe this is my dance.
[classical music.]