Black Bird (2022) s01e02 Episode Script

1
Do you like women, Jimmy?
What do you think?
I love 'em.
Yeah?
What do you like about them?
I like… their softness.
The way their hands feel in mine.
Making 'em laugh.
Blondes or brunettes?
I've dated every type.
Blonde, Asian, short, tall.
Big tits, small tits?
All kinds.
But good tits?
You don't like saggy tits,
or tits that point
in different directions?
Not for you.
Okay. So, outside of hotness,
great tits, great ass, great hair
Wait, you don't get hung up on hair.
What do you like about women?
Everything.
I got sisters.
Women are more…
kind.
I can chill with a woman
in a way I never could with a dude.
I can just be.
But what do you like about them?
I like this.
I'm not saying
anything's gonna happen, but…
possibility's there.
What don't you like about women?
Nothing.
What do you think
Larry Hall doesn't like about women?
How the fuck do I know?
So, what good are you to me?
You show me you can find
common ground with this man,
or you are wasting my time.
You said you dreamed
of killing women?
You said you dreamed
of killing women.
Larry.
What? I dre
It's not like that.
No, I don't dream of killing women.
I just have a lot of dreams
from killing them.
You know. And Gary says that he has
a lot of dreams about falling.
Uh-huh. Who's Gary?
My twin.
Gary also once told me
that he has a lot of dreams
about drowning.
But not killing women, right?
That's more your thing.
And tell me
what these dreams are like, Larry.
The dreams are like
It's like…
I'm kinda looking down on myself,
like I'm not in my body.
Do you remember
what your body is doing, Larry?
I can't tell you exactly.
I only remember
that it's something bad.
Where women are being killed?
Sometimes.
Yeah.
Do any of the women look like her?
She in any of your dreams?
I wanna go home now.
Okay, is she, Larry?
I wanna go home, Chris.
Larry, just look at the photo here.
- I wanna go home.
- Okay, but is she
- I wanna go home.
- Okay, I'll take you home.
- I'll take you home.
- Okay.
- Larry, it's okay.
- It's okay.
Can I talk to you outside?
It's okay.
We're good.
We got him in there
talking about his dreams.
That's all they are.
We don't have anything.
- Because you didn't let me get it.
- Larry talks big. That's it.
He did the same thing with us
in the Reitler case.
Well, if your high-end detective skills
can't be trusted, whose can, right?
- Don't fucking talk to me like that.
- I agree. Your tone's not helping.
Detective Miller,
I appreciate your passion here. I do.
But we do have our guy
in the Reitler case.
And it's as open and shut
as I've seen in ten years.
Why not go back to Illinois,
build your case for the Roach girl,
then come back to Indiana
where she was found
and take another run at Hall?
None of us would object to that.
We'll respect your sandbox,
and you respect ours.
Fuck your sandbox.
I don't know.
It was the way he said,
"Come back to Indiana
where she was found."
Made you think what?
Made me think they could steal the case
right out from under me.
- On what grounds?
- Thanks.
Well, Jessica Roach was abducted
in Illinois.
Probably killed there too.
That's inconclusive.
She was found, though, in Perrysville,
Indiana, and that is conclusive.
So, they can claim jurisdiction.
Yeah.
Except…
No. You say it.
Your moment.
Our suspect crossed state lines to
kill her, so, you know…
Federal.
Yeah.
Well, most US attorneys,
they don't try murder cases.
When they do, they've been known
to get their asses handed to them.
But Hulin just brought in
an assassin, Edmund Beaumont.
He used to be state's.
Tried a ton of capital crimes.
Hulin likes you?
Seems to.
Put a bug in her ear
about Beaumont.
If Hulin agrees to bring us in,
and she puts Beaumont on it…
Brian, you got a shot
at slamming the door on this guy.
Mark will lead the interview.
If Hall throat-kills women,
I don't want Lauren in the room.
Might spook him.
I have a guy
I'd like to use for the poly.
Mark could do the poly.
When are you cleared to part us?
I'm in court all week.
Then let's do the 15th?
It's a lot of time for things
to go wrong.
Marion or Wabash could claim jurisdiction
at any time. Hall could get a lawyer.
Jackrabbit, take off, kill again.
You brought this to us.
This is how we're gonna do it.
What are you smiling about?
I think you already picked me
for the job.
Yeah?
Yeah, I'm not sure
there ever was anybody else.
I got black belts
in karate and tae kwon do,
and I'm… charming.
And you're so bashful about it.
- You think it'll endear you to Hall?
- Possibly.
Maybe he'll wanna hang out
with the cool guy.
Here's your competition, Jimmy.
Won a boxing championship
while serving with the Rangers
during Desert Storm.
So, I think he can handle himself.
Personable,
non-threatening demeanor,
and he doesn't have an ego
that announces itself
half an hour before he enters
a fucking room.
- So, pick him.
- Beaumont wants to.
You are full of yourself, and you are
full of shit. That's all he sees.
- Yeah, that's all you tell him.
- 'Cause that's pretty much all I see.
Why'd your parents divorce?
They had too much fire and passion,
but they loved us,
- and they wondered what we
- Bullshit.
Look, I didn't get along
with my stepfather, okay,
but I could care less
if my parents were
Bullshit!
Don't fucking waste my time.
Are you
You're leaving now?
All right, come on.
My mother fucked around.
I think.
My old man was always drinking,
never home.
And he might have been on the take,
so it was like growing up
in an earthquake.
We didn't have any choice
in any of it.
They just did what they did,
and we had to…
take it.
That house was
a fucking horror show.
Must have been lonely.
It was what it was.
If you end up in with Hall,
I want you to remember
who you were at eight.
Tap into it. Feel it.
Wear it like skin.
I don't like that skin.
Hall doesn't like his either.
Where are you with the file?
I…
Yeah, I've been looking
at the Jessica Roach killing again,
and I… I have a question.
How'd she die?
It's blacked out.
She was strangled.
But how?
- He used his hands, or rope? What?
- You tell me if you talk to him.
But you know.
I know.
Larry, thanks for coming down.
- Hey.
- Brought along a colleague.
This is Agent Ellenberg from the FBI.
Glad to meet you, Mr. Hall.
I'm Larry.
Just call me Larry.
Well, call me Mark.
Mark.
Do you need anything?
Water? Soda?
Water would be nice, yeah.
Want a water?
Yeah, let me get that.
Wanna have a seat?
What is this?
Waiver of rights.
It just says
you're okay talking with me,
answering a few questions.
Do you mind
if I look over it for a bit?
Sure.
This is consent for the polygraph.
I can't take that.
Why not?
Because I don't believe I'll pass.
Why do you think that?
It would
- Here you go.
- Thank you.
Could you just do
Would you mind leaving? I ju
Your energy makes me feel itchy.
Sure thing, Larry.
You know, I am sorry.
I'm just so tired right now.
I'm afraid to sleep.
I have nightmares all the time,
and I… and I get depressed,
like, bad.
Have you seen anyone about that?
Yeah, I went to a counselor once,
but it
He was young.
And he wasn't very helpful.
Yeah.
Well, besides the nightmares,
what else depresses you?
I'm very lonely.
That's hard.
Yeah, it is hard.
Like, I wake up alone.
I go to work alone.
I go to bed alone.
Some other guys, they have women.
They go to movies.
They eat pizza together.
And you wish you had that?
A woman who loved you.
Yes.
But you don't feel that's possible?
You don't think women like you?
No.
So…
What do you do with the urge…
to be with a woman?
Always push it down.
It's gotta be hard.
And it's probably what causes
the nightmares.
You know, you push it down,
it climbs right back up into your dreams.
Yeah, that's why I do such awful things
in my nightmares, it
That's all that they are, though.
It's just dreams, you know.
She wasn't in your dreams, Larry.
She was in your reality.
I thought she was.
No.
Can I touch her?
Sure.
Tell me how you met her.
She was riding her bike,
and I drove up
and I stopped to talk to her.
She was so very nice, you know.
Very nice at first.
And then she wasn't?
No, she was always nice.
It's just that she got sad,
real sad.
Well, when was this?
When she was sad,
she was in m
When she was in my van.
And then later in the field…
The field in Georgetown?
Yeah, it wa
in Perrysville, Indiana.
Right, do you remember
where exactly?
I do remember where it was exactly.
It was just past mile marker 16 on 1125.
Normally, I wouldn't remember that.
I might not remember it, but…
I didn't have time to bury her,
so I had to drive past
a few more times.
Tried to find an opportunity,
but I never found it.
It didn't happen.
I mean,
normally I bury all of them.
Them?
The girls.
How many have there been?
It's There
It's a few.
You know, I I'm
I just do things.
I'm not in control.
It's like that girl in Marion.
The college girl.
Now, you know her name, Larry.
Tricia Reitler, yes.
You know, the Marion Police arrested
another man in that case.
He didn't do it.
There was one in Wisconsin,
near one of the reenactments,
and some in Indiana.
I can't remember which ones I hurt.
It's just
I'm so tired all the time.
I'm always tired,
you know, and sad.
And what I don't like is
this guy in Marion
trying to take credit for my act.
He didn't fold the clothes.
He didn't fold the clothes, did he?
- No.
- No.
Because he didn't break the zipper,
and he didn't feel bad about it.
And that's why
I folded the clothes.
Yeah.
I need a confession form
and a computer.
I'll set you up in the bullpen.
What
What's this about the clothes?
Tricia Reitler's clothes were found
in a park about 10 miles from campus.
That, and a bloody earring was
ripped from her ear,
her blood was on her jeans,
and her zipper was broken
where her jeans had been taken off of her.
- She fought him.
- None of this is public information.
- We need a warrant on his home.
- On it.
And on his vehicles.
You're a county
sheriff's investigator.
I'm Chief Investigator.
And you just reeled
in a serial killer.
Well, we haven't done shit yet.
Let's close him.
You're all set.
- We got it?
- Yeah.
He just asked
if he should contact a lawyer.
Almost there.
- Come on.
- Okay.
- Gotta go.
- Yeah.
Mark.
Okay, I got it.
- Go. Yeah.
- Print it?
Fucking thing.
This is what I did?
I didn't do this.
I didn't.
Yeah, but you did, Larry.
You did.
No wonder
why I can't sleep at night.
Oh, God.
Oh, God.
Larry…
it'll be all right.
Nothing's ever gonna be
all right again.
Forget how I'm doing.
How you doing?
I'm, you know, whatever.
I don't know, Dad.
How are you?
I'm weak.
My left side is
I forget my keys, a lot.
You know, shit like that.
What are you gonna do?
It is what it is.
Sammy taking care of you?
Too much.
I can't take a piss
without her asking me what color it is.
I said, "It's yellow."
"Yeah, but dark or light?"
Yeah, you.
Well, good for her, you old prick.
Listen to her.
Yeah, yeah.
Seriously, how you doing in there?
Jimmy, time's up.
Dad, I gotta roll.
Talk soon, okay?
Yeah, sure.
Stay safe.
You too.
What?
What?
You could've told him
you went blind in one eye
for a couple of days last week.
Who wants to hear that?
Or you got trouble
walking or talking some days.
- Just s You know, will you stop it?
- What?
- Just stop!
- What?
Just, you know
What?
Stop.
Me and my son, we have a shorthand.
We say things without having to say them.
- You don't say anything at all.
- That's what I just said.
Yeah, have some more wine.
Take your purple pill.
Hey, Jason!
Thanks, we're moving on.
Close it up.
Seen these yet?
As nasty as the house?
One of 'em is.
Uh-huh.
What about the other one?
First ERT guy said, to his expert nose,
it smells like three things.
Chemical cleanser, Armor All,
and denatured alcohol.
The one thing in the world
Larry Hall keeps clean.
Right?
So, no more dentist?
Hall was a janitor.
Worked nights
on the same three office buildings.
Company said no janitor they ever had
cleaned half as good as Larry.
That's why you never found
his victims' DNA in his van.
Bingo. What's the other salient fact
that made Hall such a competent killer?
He grew up digging graves?
Starting to ace the quizzes now.
What about his twin?
Gary?
You read about
fetofetal transfusion syndrome?
Yeah, I didn't know what it meant.
It happens in the womb
when one twin imbibes
more of the placenta blood than the other.
Essentially, Gary drank
crucial parts of Larry
before they were born.
Holy shit.
So, Gary got the looks and the brains
and some athletic ability,
and Larry got… being Larry.
They get along?
Gary is Larry's biggest defender.
My brother's not well.
He's weird as shit,
but he's harmless.
Gary, I'm gonna need you to take
two steps back.
Your brother confessed
to two murders.
He's just He's so desperate,
you know? For attention.
When we were kids,
he'd try out lies just to lie, all right?
He lies just to get a reaction.
He ever mix the truth
in with those lies?
See if anybody catches it?
We're just regular people here.
Okay?
We don't kill people.
We don't know people who kill people.
How'd you get him to tell that story
you wanted to hear?
All I wanted to hear was the truth.
All you wanted to do
was to close your fucking casebook.
So you put an idea in his head because
you knew he'd say what you wanted him to,
because he's impressionable.
Well, that cuts both ways,
motherfucker.
I'm gonna check on my mother.
If you can't tamp down your
natural alpha male qualities completely,
and I doubt you can,
be a Gary to Larry Hall.
Make him feel
like you're his brother.
Always looking out for him,
never judging.
All right.
Well…
We've got a plane to catch.
What?
Audition's over.
You got the role.
Jimmy.
Now.
- Hey, hey.
- Marshal, how you doing?
Doing well.
How you doing?
Here.
You gotta put them back on
when we get to Springfield,
but until then, you good.
You got mad testes, dog.
Come on, you can change inside.
Change?
So you're in street clothes,
'cause you're not going in as a transfer.
Only the warden
and the chief shrink know
you're anything other than
a scumbag arms dealer
who got sentenced
to Springfield time.
You scared?
I'll get over it.
Don't.
Comfortable people get cocky,
and cocky people fuck up.
Prefer you didn't fuck up.
This recent arrest
hopefully will put an end to the fears…
Yeah, I'll get him to blab
in the car.
Well, it's a long drive,
flat country.
Who knows how many he'll cop to?
'Cause they don't give a shit, Pat.
They think they're dealing
with some harmless weirdo,
who likes confessing
to shit he didn't do.
Yeah, I'll call you
if I hear anything.
We've apprehended a suspect in
the abduction and murder of Jessica Roach.
But through the diligence
of the officers you see behind me…
Fuck me.
…we believe
Larry DeWayne Hall may be responsible
for the deaths
of as many as four more young women.
Are you saying
you captured a serial killer?
No one likes Rob Roy
more than Braveheart. No one.
- That's what I keep telling him.
- It is more historically accurate.
Says who, Liam Neeson?
Edward the Longshanks did not die
on the same day as William Wallace,
and the Battle of Stirling
didn't take place
God, it doesn't matter.
Yeah. One's a great movie,
the other stars Jessica Lange.
Hey, Jim, I need you
over here for a bit.
Sure.
Give me a minute.
No minute.
Come on.
You wanna be out of prison yesterday,
right?
And the feeling's only gotten worse
since we dangled this carrot, correct?
Like a clock tick, tick, ticking away.
Right?
Don't let the clock rule you.
Don't approach Hall too early,
or he'll know we sent you for him.
- I hear you.
- Besides the warden and Dr. Zicherman,
I'm your only other safety line.
When I visit you
treat me like your girlfriend.
Slip me tongue,
grab my ass, whatever.
- Grab your ass?
- Yes. Cop a feel. Do what it takes.
Should we practice now?
Hey, cool guy,
keep dicking around here.
It's just your fucking life.
If shit hits the fan,
you get to Zicherman or Warden Price,
and have them call me ASAP.
And, Jimmy, do not get any time
added to your sentence, understand?
If you get time tacked to your sentence,
it supersedes our deal.
It will be beyond our control.
You'll be stuck doing
Springfield time.
What if I have to defend myself?
Don't maim anyone.
And don't get caught.
Hey, Jim.
Take care of yourself.
I thought you were coming with us.
I'll see you in a month or so.
Yeah, I heard him
making noise in there.
Go and check him out.
Going right.
You two need
any more pictures with him?
I can hold the camera.
Here we go, Larry.
You really got nothing
to say to me, Larry?
Never struck me as the quiet type.
Seemed like the kinda guy who'd like
a good jaw session to start your day.
My mom used to say
that I could just talk paint off a wall.
That changed a little bit
as I got older.
Decided to appear
like the strong, silent type.
Mostly to get laid, but
I do enjoy having a good chat
You know, I kept trying to tell you
that they were just dreams.
I kept telling you,
but you kept pushing.
You forced a fake confession
out of me.
Is that how you see it?
Who put that idea
into your head, Larry?
Now, why does everybody think I need
my ideas to come from someone else, huh?
I'm smart.
I've got ideas.
I'll bet you do.
I'd like to hear
about a couple of 'em.
Maybe ones that involve girls?
Gary got me a lawyer.
So it was Gary.
Yeah, but
No, but…
The lawyer said that I wasn't to say
another word to you.
Is that right?
Well, I don't know if that lawyer
is looking out for you, in my opinion.
'Cause you twist
what I have to say.
We didn't twist your words, Larry.
You told us about your dreams.
We documented it,
and you signed a confession.
Which was coerced!
No.
The confession was coe
We are coming, Father Abraham
300,000 more
Hey, Larry.
Take it easy.
From Mississippi's winding stream…
Larry.
We leave our plows and workshops
Our wives and children dear
With hearts so full of utterance
With but a silent tear
Hey.
Take it easy, all right?
We are coming, Father Abraham
300,000 more
From Mississippi's winding stream
And from New England's shore
Okay.
You got kids?
Yeah, I got a son.
He's five.
Man, loved five.
It's the perfect age.
They think you're a god.
Yeah, but now, Brittany?
Shit, she's nine, going on
"Fuck you, Daddy. You don't understand."
Shit, I'll take that
over dirty diapers any day.
Yeah. Bigger the kid,
bigger the problem.
Yeah, says the man
who hadn't wiped an ass in a while.
What about you, you got kids?
No.
You got a wife?
- No.
- Girlfriend?
- Nothing serious.
- You a lucky man. Shit.
Lucky man.
Look, man, I can't. I can't do this.
Let's just go back.
No, you can do it.
- Come on, bro.
- Hey, you got this.
What if Beaumont changes
his mind, huh?
Backs out?
Then I'm stuck there.
In five minutes
that shift change is gonna happen.
And that's the only time that we have
to get you in there
without setting off smoke signals
from one end of the complex to the other.
The time to do this is now.
I'm out.
Fuck.
That's not cool, man.
That asshole
can never walk back out those doors.
You're our way to guarantee that.
Fucking look at me!
Whatever you decide to do right now,
Beaumont will never forget it.
I will never forget it.
Final answer?
Fuck it.
Let's do it.
Yes!
My man.
That's a good call, Jimmy. Smart.
I gotta treat you
like a scumbag again, man. Sorry.
All right, let's go.
How'd he strike you?
He didn't fill me
with an overwhelming sense of confidence.
Well, that will be moot
in about an hour.
At trial,
Mr. Hall's entire theory of defense
boiled down to a simple proposition.
Due to a personality disorder
that makes him susceptible to suggestion
and pathologically eager to please,
he confessed to a crime
that he did not commit.
When Mr. Hall's attorney,
Mr. DeArmond,
attempted to call an expert witness
in the field of false confession,
Judge Baker refused to permit
Dr. Ofshe's testimony.
Since the verdict hinged on Mr. Hall's
state of mind during his confessions,
Dr. Ofshe's testimony would've gone
to the heart of Mr. Hall's defense.
Further,
several aspects of the confession,
Mr. Hall signing his name in block letters
when he is perfectly capable of cursive,
Mr. Hall signing a statement
over the name Larry DeWayne Daniels,
give further credence to
a state of mind that was suggestible.
Further, the interrogating officer
in his initial confession
was described by fellow officers
as intimidating to Mr. Hall
and resistant to his initial answers.
Mr. Hall's appeal is hereby granted.
Counsel, join me in chambers.
- It's getting closer, Mom.
- Yeah.
What's our clock?
A month.
And she's putting a hearing
for the second appeal on the docket.
Oh, fuck off.
Really?
Keene's not moot anymore.
- We need him to step way up.
- I told him to move slowly.
If he blows the approach to Hall
Hall spooks.
End of story.
But if he moves too slowly,
Hall walks into the free world,
buys himself another van
and a box of zip ties.
Hey, Larry.
We need you in the boiler room
as soon as you finish up.
Looks like
they forgot about you, man.
Sorry about that.
Welcome to Springfield.
Empty your pockets.
All right, clothes go in there, bud.
Follow me.
Cough.
Spread 'em.
Here you go.
Follow me.
Chow's in ten.
Which way?
Just follow the crazy train, bud.
Hang in there.
First week's the toughest.
How's it coming?
It's pretty fucked up.
How long to fix?
A machine is like a
It's like a person, Mr. Burden.
Hygiene matters.
And this boiler,
it was neglected for years.
That neglect has allowed
for filth to spread everywhere.
Every crevice is infected,
every valve, every locknut.
So, how long?
Want me to bring you something
from the mess?
Yeah, just a sandwich.
Will do.
Thank you.
What you mean?
Get the fuck out the way, ese.
Hey.
How can you do homework like that?
I just can.
How?
First time I get less than straight A's,
then it's an issue.
Brian Miller.
How do you feel about today?
Good?
Wouldn't be the word I'd use.
I wanna take another look
at all the cases Hall's a suspect in,
but take a particularly hard look
at Roach and Reitler.
Second guess all my case work?
No, I want you to work it with me.
- It's a Hail Mary, but
- It's a waste of time.
You're such a fucking pussy.
A what?
Okay.
Work it with me.
Okay, good night, Lauren.
No. Hey, hey.
I have a guy inside with Hall.
You what?
A guy inside.
A cop?
No, a civilian.
What you're doing isn't police work.
It's fucking desperation.
Good night.
Yeah, can you connect me
to prisoner 8611167, please?
James Keene.
What is that?
Chocolate chip?
It's pistachio.
Jimmy!
I don't understand.
You have to have a record of him.
I just talked to him last night.
Well, maybe you've got the spelling wrong.
It's K-E
Okay
Okay. Say he was transferred.
Wouldn't you be
Wait a minute.
I gotta go to court to get it?
He's gone.
What?
Gone where?
That's good.
Lights out!
All right, lockdown.
Thanks, Larry.
Yeah.
Night, Larry.