A Friend of the Family (2022) s01e02 Episode Script

1
[QUIET DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
They aren't back.
[SIGHS]
[STATIC CRACKLING]
[DISTORTED VOICE] Female companion.
Female companion.
Female companion.
You have been chosen.
We are Zada and Zethra.
Our planet is dying.
Jan Broberg, you must save us.
You are one of us.
It is time for your mission to begin.
- [RESTRAINTS RATTLING]
- [PANTING]
And please help keep Jan and
B safe while they're gone.
And please tell them
to bring us presents.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
BOTH: Amen.
Do you think that Jan and
Brother B got in a car accident?
[PHONE RINGING]
Hello, Broberg's.
- Hi, Bob.
- It's Gail.
Has she heard anything?
She's offered to pick
up the kids for school
since B's not here.
That is very thoughtful of you, Gail.
Of course.
You know, the boys have
the spirit of mischief
in them this morning.
Yeah, I hate to interrupt,
but have you heard
anything about Jan and B?
Uh, no.
But the manager at Pocatello Storage
said that he'd let me sneak a peak
inside the unit we
couldn't see last night,
so I'll head over there
after I drop the kids.
Oh, and I left word with the cousins
in Brigham City in case he stops by,
so I hope to hear back soon.
Well, let us know as soon as you do.
I will.
You know what?
How about I head to
Brigham City myself? Huh?
Oh, Bob, don't drive all that way.
He'll probably just pull up
here the minute you leave.
Oh, it's no trouble.
I'll leave right now.
You hurry back and park
yourself at home, all right?
In case he calls.
Suit yourself.
Bye now.
You hardly ate. Can
I make you a sandwich?
I'm not that hungry.
Can I come help look for Jan?
Yeah. Come on, get your coat.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
- [MECHANICAL WHIRRING]
- Female companion,
you have been assigned
a male companion.
The male companion
will help you with the mission.
Go to the front of the motor home.
[MACHINE WINDS DOWN]
B, wake up. B.
Dolly?
Oh, Dolly, you all right?
Oh, thank God you're okay.
Okay.
Where are we?
I don't know. [CRYING]
You're bleeding.
I am?
Oh.
I remember driving.
And the instrument cluster
on the car going crazy.
And I stopped.
And that's when I saw them.
Saw who?
These lights in a
in a circle, and they're right overhead.
And they came down right beside us.
And that's when a
couple of them emerged.
And they came, and they
pulled me out of the car.
And then they held me by my arms.
They didn't look
they didn't look
strange or funny at all.
I guess they can look
like regular people.
I said to them, I said,
"What do you want?"
And they said you.
And I
I tried to fight 'em off.
They were just too strong,
and then they overpowered me,
and then I I blacked out.
Next thing I know,
you're waking me up here.
Hey.
What is it?
They they talked to me.
They said their names
were Zada and Zethra.
[SIGHS]
And what do they want?
They said they need me
to save their planet.
They they chose me.
But why you?
They said
my mom is my real mom,
but my real dad is one of them.
Their leader.
How do they expect you to save them?
They said I need to
meet the male companion.
And I think that's you.
[SIGHS] My head is spinning.
They said that they'd be watching me,
and terrible things would happen
if I didn't complete the mission.
Like, Karen would go blind,
and Susan would have to take my place
because she's part alien, too.
And they'd vaporize my eternal soul.
Oh, honey.
Oh. Oh, oh, oh.
Hey.
Hey, it's okay.
Oh, I'm scared, too.
I'm scared, too.
Hey.
Here's what I know.
These people
they exist,
and we have to do what they say.
Whether they're people like
you and me from another planet
or angels or whatever they are,
we gotta do it.
But you know what else this means?
It means you're special.
I always knew you were,
but I guess I just
never knew how special.
I don't know how we'll get through this.
But I am just so glad it's you, Dolly.
[EERIE CHORUS VOCALIZING]
♪
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Hi, Dad. Hi, Karen.
Hi, Brother Broberg.
Hey, Freckle.
Jacob.
Why don't you guys go
and play in Susan's room?
You too, Bright Eyes.
Go and wash up.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
And I really think that we'll just know
it's one big misunderstanding.
Well, hey, Bob.
Any luck in Brigham City?
No, uh
We didn't, um
Why are you not at your house?
Oh, well, I figured Mary
Ann could use some company.
Jasper's home, if they call.
[EXHALES]
I went by the storage unit.
It was empty.
There was no motorhome.
But I'm still waiting to hear back
from a few relatives, so
It's time we ought to
alert the authorities.
Gail.
What do you do if you were Jenny?
Mm-hmm. Well, thank you for
filling me in on the situation.
Do you think this fella
might hurt your girl?
He'd never hurt Jan. We just
you know, thought we should contact you.
Sir, um well, I
And we would like to request
that you keep this confidential.
If you don't think she's in danger,
and you don't want to file
a missing persons report,
I don't know what there
is to keep confidential.
Since there's a minor involved,
I'd advise you to call
the local FBI office
just to keep them informed.
Uh oh, all right.
Thank you.
What did he say?
He said we should call
the local FBI office.
The FBI?
Mary Ann.
Mary Ann, please, I
just don't understand
- what good could come from this.
- [DIALING PHONE]
And I just think that
we should think about it
just for a minute, please. Please.
[LINE TRILLING]
Hello, you've reached the
Pocatello office of the FBI.
This office is closed
until Monday at 8:00 AM.
If this is an emergency,
please call the FBI's central
office in Butte, Montana.
- [HANGS PHONE UP]
- It's closed till Monday.
They said if it's a real emergency
to call the central office in Butte.
Central office?
If it's just to keep them informed
He'll be back by Monday.
If he's not, we call the FBI
first thing Monday morning.
He'll be back.
He will.
He will be.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Peter Welsh, FBI.
Sorry to sound like a broken record,
but what exactly is your
relationship with Robert Berchtold?
Well, he's practically
a member of the family.
He loves his children
like they're his own,
like we love his.
And he's a member of our church.
Sorry to interrupt. Pete?
One sec.
Excuse me.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
The police found
Berchtold's Ford Maverick
near Snake River about 12
miles south of American Falls.
They found Jan's jacket inside.
Driver's side window was
broken from the inside.
And whoever broke that
window cut their hand
because there was blood
on the driver's seat.
Do you think that he faked it?
That's exactly what I think.
Do you think it has something to do
with his illness, I wonder?
What illness is that?
He'd been seeing a counselor
for his manic depression.
It's one of the reason Gail, his wife,
said we ought to wait to call you.
His wife said what?
- Hey, give it back!
- No! I got it.
Hey, give that back.
[BOTH GRUNTING]
- Thank you.
- Of course.
Thank you.
Excuse me for one moment.
- Tried to
- I have it.
- So it's mine for the day.
- Boys.
Hey, I just need five minutes,
if you could settle down
and go play in your bedroom.
And play nice.
I'm sorry it's such a mess in here.
It's all right, Mrs. Berchtold.
Ma'am.
Did you did you notice anything
out of the ordinary about your
husband in the past few weeks?
He has his ups and downs, you know?
Um
I just wanna make sure that
we're not turning this
private situation into some
kind of big public nuisance.
This is not a private situation.
If your husband needs
help, he's not gonna get it
unless you help us bring him home.
Mrs. Berchtold, the
longer he's out there
with Jan Broberg, the worse this gets.
So is there anything that you remember?
Anything at all?
Are you aware of Berchtold
ever giving your daughter drugs?
- Oh, goodness, no.
- She's 12.
Why?
His wife saw him
emptying medicine capsules
into the toilet last week.
Did he ever give Jan any pills?
He gave us allergy pills for Jan
so she could go horseback riding.
There may still be some in the cabinet.
I'm gonna need those please.
We'll send them to our lab.
Of course.
[KNOCK AT DOOR]
[KNOCKING CONTINUES]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
- Hi.
- Hello.
I'm Dr. Alan Milstein,
Mr. Berchtold's psychiatrist
from the Albert Clinic out west.
I was hoping to speak
with the agent in charge.
- That'd be us.
- In private.
Sure.
Do you think that's the psychiatrist
that told B to listen
to those tapes of his?
Thank you. Can you wait outside, please?
[DOOR SHUTS]
Mary Ann, Bob? Why don't you sit down.
This Dr. Milstein seems
to know quite a bit
about your family.
I'm not sure how to put this, but
Do you know what a pedophile is?
Is it a medical term?
Well, actually, I'm just
I'm just hearing the word
for the first time myself.
Apparently it's a condition
where an adult man develops
a fixation on young girls.
Fixation?
Like, he's obsessed.
And Dr. Milstein says
your friend Berchtold
may have this condition.
What's the treatment?
What do you mean, obsessed?
I honestly don't know.
[GORDON LIGHTFOOT'S "THE WATCHMAN'S GONE]
♪
Just like birds of a feather ♪
We too have followed the golden sun ♪
♪
It feels so good ♪
Knowing the watchman's gone ♪
And a goose went up
and started walking and walking,
- and then went "Ah!"
- [LAUGHS]
It was super scary.
Did it fly or just
give you a little beak?
It gave me a little beak.
[SONG CONTINUES ON RADIO]
I can't remember.
Did you take your
allergy pill yet today?
Here you go.
[LAUGHS] Good, good.
Remember to keep taking those pills.
That way you stay
B?
B, are you okay?
B, wake up.
- [WHIRRING]
- Your mission begins now.
You will have special child
- with male companion.
- B?
- B?
- The male companion
will tell you how.
Drive south.
- B, wake up.
- Drive south.
- [WHIRRING]
- [INHALES SHARPLY]
[GRUNTS]
Oh, hey. Hey.
What just happened?
It was them. They were talking to me.
The people from another planet.
What else did they say?
It is you. You're the male companion.
Whoa.
We got recording
devices on Gail's phone.
Thank you. And his
both Joe down in Ogden,
and a few others.
Hopefully something turns up.
But I want to talk to
you about going public.
Mr. Welsh, we talked about it,
and, you know, with the
girls' school finding out
if all of this is in the papers,
it could make things worse, not better.
Not to mention Gail and her boys.
They have it hard enough without him
to put food on the table.
I've got daughters, too.
I'm a religious man. Methodist.
You're good people. I can see that.
And you're trying to do the right thing.
Right now, the right thing
is whatever gives us the best chance
of getting Jan back.
Mr. Welsh.
Pete.
Pete
we just want Jan back.
Tell us what you would do.
I'd make sure every
newspaper in the U.S.,
Mexico, and Canada knew about it.
Then that's what we'll do.
Great. They'll stop every man
traveling with a little girl
for a thousand miles.
And if he tries to
go to a train station,
stop at a bank, cross a border,
we got him.
Remember, Jasper's
birthday's September 4th.
Just in case they ask.
Reason you're visiting Mexico?
Oh, just a little father/son time.
[SPEAKS SPANISH]
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
It's okay now.
Enjoy your stay in Mexico.
- Will do. [CHUCKLES]
- [SPEAKS SPANISH]
[GENTLE MUSIC]
♪
One Mississippi, two Mississippi,
three Mississippi
[QUIET CHATTER]
Elder Hinckley, we all wanna thank you
for coming to our town
to offer Bob and Mary Ann
your prayers and your wisdom.
It's truly been a blessing.
You're very welcome, Bishop Paulsen.
My the Lord bring us all peace,
understanding, and wisdom.
Amen.
I pray daily for Jan and those
who are working to bring her home.
And I pray for Brother Berchtold,
that he may be healed of his affliction
and return safely to his family.
Thank you.
I should go collect the boys.
Any news from the FBI?
Agent Welsh says that, um
two weeks is on the long side.
But we have faith.
[EERIE MUSIC]
♪
[RADIO STATIC BUZZING]
[THE MOODY BLUES' "THE AFTERNOON"]
♪
Tuesday ♪
Afternoon ♪
I'm just beginning to see ♪
That I'm on my way ♪
It doesn't matter to me ♪
Chasing the clouds away ♪
♪
Something ♪
Calls to me ♪
The trees are drawing me near ♪
I've got to find out why ♪
Those gentle voices I hear ♪
Explain it all with a sigh ♪
♪
[SOMBER MUSIC]
♪
[SNIFFLES]
I can feel it. She's still out there.
I feel it, too.
♪
I wish I knew what to do.
The Lord will guide us.
I don't care if we have
to find her ourselves.
No matter how much
time it takes, we will.
We will.
[COYOTES YELPING, BARKING]
♪
What's the matter?
You don't like it?
I do.
Come on.
You can tell me.
I was just thinking
about what Karen and Susan
are doing right now.
I really wish things would just
go back to the way they were before.
Well, I do too, Dolly.
I do.
Hey.
Come with me.
Look up there.
[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC]
What do you see?
I see the stars.
Right.
And that, up there,
that is where you are from.
That's where Zada and
Zethra are right now.
Every time you look at the sky,
I want you to remember,
your people need you,
and they're watching.
There's little kids up there, too.
Just like you.
They're on a dying planet.
And they're counting on you
to do everything you can to save them.
♪
- Hey, you look good in green.
- Hey, Joe.
Hi. Oh, that's a beautiful car.
Hey, can we get this beautiful lady
in this beautiful car please?
[PHONE RINGING]
Hey, you like this car? Half off.
I'm just kidding.
Who's got the phone?
No
- Just keep selling these cars.
- [RINGING CONTINUES]
This is Ogden Auto Traders.
This is Joe Berchtold speaking.
Hey, there, Joe.
How's tricks?
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
Good morning, Mary Ann.
We have news.
Hello, Mrs. Berchtold.
Where's Bob?
He's in Wyoming.
Why is he in Wyoming?
A psychic told his uncle
that Jan might be there, so
Bob doesn't believe in all that,
but he thought it
couldn't hurt to check.
Well, we'll have to proceed without him.
Joe Berchtold got a
call from his brother.
There's a dozen phone
lines at the dealership.
Berchtold must have known
that we couldn't tap them all.
All that Joe would say
is that Berchtold told him
Jan was safe.
Joe doesn't trust the FBI,
so I would like you, Mary Ann,
to call Joe and see if you can't get him
to talk about his
conversation with his brother.
You think that if he knew how
broken up we are about Jan,
he might help us more?
I can help, too.
I know Joe.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Joe? Mary Ann Broberg.
I've got Gail on the other line here.
We heard Bob called.
Uh, yeah, yeah. I already
I already told the FBI about it.
Could you tell us?
He just said that Jan
was safe. That's all.
Look, I'm not looking to get
mixed up into any of this.
Joe, did he say anything
about where he is, or
if Jan misses us?
Truth be told, I wish
he never called me, okay?
Look, I don't want any
trouble with the FBI,
but I'm real busy here.
I gotta go.
Joe.
It's Gail.
Did Bob say anything
about leaving us money?
Uh, no, nothing about that either, Gail.
It's just, I have all these bills here.
And I could really use some help.
Sell the Maverick.
I would, but the
thunderhead broke the window.
I could just about wring his neck,
and that car has no insurance, so
Yeah, that's a bum deal.
Hey, well,
how about you let me
know if there's any way
that you can think of me helping you,
and we'll talk real soon.
Now, take care, Gail.
Joe
If
if you talk to him again, I want you to
tell him how broken up Jan's family is.
How her dad and me can't sleep.
We just stay up at
night, thinking about her,
wondering if we're ever
gonna get to see her again.
I know that you're a decent man,
and you'd do anything that you could
to help us get her back.
So if there's anything
that your brother said
that could have slipped your mind
Look, I I really don't
want to get involved in this.
There was one thing, okay?
It all just sounded crazy to me, but
he's really worried about
those kidnapping charges,
so he said that the only
way that he would be able
to bring her back
without facing jailtime
is if you give him your permission to
To marry her.
[EERIE MUSIC]
♪
Absolutely not!
No way. That that's sick.
I'm as sick about it as you are,
but if it's the only
way to get her back
He is not going to marry
our 12-year-old daughter.
He's already married
to you, Gail.
No, no, no,
I'm not saying that we sh
I just think if there's a way
to shock him back into reality
Gail. Right now, I think it's best
that you go tend to your family at home.
I should go check on the boys, anyhow.
You take care.
Let me know.
[DARK MUSIC]
♪
We are not letting
him marry our daughter.
Of course not.
But you don't need to worry about that
because Mary Ann did such
a bang-up job on that call.
- I did?
- You did.
The fact that Berchtold asked
his brother to rely a request,
it means he's going to be calling back,
and when he does,
we've got a shot at
tracking his location.
[COUNTRY MUSIC PLAYING ON RADIO]
Holdin' on ♪
Barely holding on ♪
♪
You want a cigarette?
Quit a couple years back.
The smell makes me sick.
So you guys gonna be here all week?
[PHONE RINGING]
[CLICKING]
This is Joe Berchtold speaking.
Joe, it's me.
What'd the Broberg's say?
I'm sorry, who is this?
It's me. It's Bob. Who else would it be?
I'm sorry, Bob, you're
sounding kind of different.
Where are you?
What'd the Brobergs say, Joe?
They said they were
interested in your offer.
They said that? They said "interested"?
Uh, yeah, yeah. They want to do it.
You feel pretty good
they're not stalling
- or nothing like that.
- Yeah, yeah.
They just they need
some time, you know,
to figure out all the paperwork.
Okay, good. Good, good, good.
Tell 'em the sooner, the better,
okay, for all of us.
Well, I should go.
Hey, Bob, you didn't
say, how's Jan doing?
How's Jan's doing?
The heck you talkin' about, Joe?
I don't know, they asked
me to check in on her,
see how she was doing.
They're worried about her, Bob.
Well, you just tell them
to worry about that paperwork.
Bye now, Joe.
It's been real rainy here, you know?
Are you getting a lot of rain by you?
Joe, you know I'm not gonna
talk to you about my location.
'Cause I wouldn't wanna put
you in that kinda position.
What kinda position is that?
I just don't know what I would do
if somebody got in the way of my life
and the way I live it.
Even if that somebody was you.
Are you are you threatening me, Bob?
You just take care, brother.
[HANGS UP]
How was that?
Did we get him?
[KNOCK AT DOOR]
Bob, Mary Ann.
We tracked him to a hotel
in Mazatlán, Mexico.
And we're confident that Jan
is with him, very close by.
The Mexican authorities are
working to apprehend him now.
But, I have to warn you,
Jan, when she returns, she
she may not be herself.
What do you mean?
It's possible that
she could be influenced
like Patty Hearst.
Jan's no Patty Hearst.
We need her birth certificate.
We'll send that down by messenger
- to the federales.
- I'll go get it.
I'll bring it with us on the plane.
Actually, we would
advise against you two
getting on a plane right now.
It could be dangerous.
And, heck, you don't
even speak the language.
Let's just let the
Mexican police handle this.
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
Mrs. Broberg, are you all right?
Jan's birth certificate
is gone. He took it.
I know it was him.
It's all right. It's all right.
We'll find some other
documentation to send out.
Pete Agent McDaniel,
we are very grateful
for everything you've done for us,
but unless is it against the law
for us to book a flight to Mexico,
we are booking a flight to Mexico.
[COYOTES BARKING, HOWLING]
[FOOTSTEPS]
B! B.
- Wake up, hurry.
- What is it, Dolly?
They're here. The people
from another planet.
[BLINDS RATTLE]
Shit.
[DOOR CREEKS OPEN]
[OFFICERS SHOUTING IN SPANISH]
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
- Take me, not her.
- [OVERLAPPING SHOUTING]
[CRYING] What are they doing?
- It's okay.
- You're hurting him! Stop it!
- Let him go! No, don't!
- Whatever happens,
it's the mission,
remember about the mission.
We'll finish the mission!
- Just leave him alone!
- [SHOUTING IN SPANISH]
It's okay.
- [SPEAKING SPANISH]
- No! Leave me alone!
- Get off me!
- [SPEAKING SPANISH]
We'll finish the mission, I promise.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Where are they taking us?
- It's okay.
- [SPEAKING SPANISH]
[RADIO CHATTER IN SPANISH]
♪
Dolly, it's okay. Dolly, it's all right.
- [SPEAKING SPANISH]
- It's all right, Dolly.
Please don't leave me.
Don't touch her. Hey!
It's you and me. It's you and me, Dolly.
It's okay. It's okay.
It's okay, Dolly. It's you and me.
[DOOR SLAMS]
♪
[WHISPERING] Dolly.
Dolly, can you hear me?
- Doll
- Silencio.
Okay.
Sir? Officer?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Silencio.
Hey.
Two minutes.
Vamos.
- Hey.
- B!
- Hey.
- Are you okay?
- Did they hurt you?
- Did you let that man touch your arm?
- No.
- All right, good.
Do you remember what they said?
You are not to have any contact
with any man other than
your male companion.
All right?
And that goes for you
so-called father on Earth.
That's especially for Bob.
You gotta remember, okay?
You're different. You're special.
All right, you're not
like the other kids.
Okay?
Come here. Come over here.
Do you remember how we talked about
at some point there would come a time
where we would both be tested?
Yes.
That time has come.
What's gonna happen?
What are we gonna do?
Well, you don't want
them to make Karen blind,
and you don't want them to
send a new companion, do you?
- No.
- Okay.
- [THUD]
- [SHOUTING IN SPANISH]
Okay, okay.
Then your dedication to
the mission cannot waver.
We don't have a lot of time.
So Zada spoke to me directly.
Said they are going to be
watching us all the time,
and they're gonna look
like regular people.
We're not gonna know who they are.
And we need to follow
four important rules.
Okay, number one,
we can't tell anyone
anyone about Zada or Zethra
or their people.
Do you understand?
Two, we cannot tell
anyone about the mission.
Three
you can't say a word to anyone
about how the allergy
pills make you sleepy.
- Okay.
- Okay?
Four, you can't tell anyone about the
the baby stuff.
Okay?
You understand?
Say it back to me.
Don't don't tell
about Zada and Zethra
- or the mission.
- Mm-hmm.
- Or
- The pills.
- And?
- And the baby.
- Good, yeah. Okay.
Okay, good.
This is it.
This is it, Dolly, okay?
You break any of those rules,
they're gonna punish Karen and Susan
and your mother, too.
And I don't want that to happen.
Okay, 'cause I love them.
And I know I want you to love them, too.
All right, you understand?
All right.
I got you something.
- [BANGS ON DOOR]
- Tiempo!
Just a second, please.
Just a second, please!
This
This is a reminder of the mission
and a symbol of our bond
which makes everything okay.
[DOOR OPENS]
I don't know what's gonna happen to me,
but I'm gonna stay strong
for you, Dolly, okay?
And you stay strong for
me. You stay strong for me.
I'm gonna be with you always.
I'm gonna be with you always.
Okay? I'm gonna be with you always.
Please let me stay with him, please.
All right, I love you.
I love you. I love you.
And I always will!
I love you!
[THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS'
"DEDICATED TO THE ONE I LOVE"]
While I'm far away from you ♪
My baby ♪
- I know it's hard ♪
- B!
For you, my baby ♪
Because it's hard for you, my baby ♪
And the darkest hour ♪
Is just before dawn ♪
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
Each night before you go to bed ♪
My baby ♪
Whisper a little prayer ♪
[WHISPERING INDISTINCTLY]
♪
Are you okay?
Where's B?
What's gonna happen to him?
We need to focus on
getting you home, all right?
Be right back.
Why can't he come with us, though?
I know, I know. We can
talk about all of this.
♪
While I'm far away from you ♪
My baby ♪
Whisper a little
prayer for me, my baby ♪
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
What is this?
[GENTLE MUSIC]
She's here!
♪
Karen! Sue!
Jan!
Muah.
- Hi.
- I missed you so much!
I'm so glad you're home.
Oh, thanks for watching them, sis.
♪
We have to show you something, come on.
- She's home.
- [SIGHS]
She's home.
[EERIE MUSIC]
♪
♪
Please protect Mom and Dad
and Karen and Susan and B.
And please bless me to be
able to complete the mission
I was born to do.
And save Zada and Zethra's planet
and the dying children there.
In Jesus' name, amen.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪