Essex County (2023) s01e02 Episode Script

- KEN: Lester?
- (GASPING)
KEN: What are you doing out there?
- Nothin'.
- You excited?
I guess.
ANNE: It is so exciting.
- Are you gonna be okay?
- Of course.
Doctor?
On-call nurse.
Joy?
I'm Anne.
- Doug, I gotta go! (LAUGHING)
- DOUG: Please stay a bit longer!
Everything okay, Mr. Lebeuf?
Check-up day.
I'm fine!
I'm just out at your Uncle Lou's.
- I don't think he's okay.
- Huh?
- When's the last time you saw him?
- We've never been really close.
He isn't taking his meds.
Let me handle it. I will
take him on as my patient.
TEACHER: We're trying to be patient,
given everything he's gone through.
I know you're not used
to taking care of a kid.
- It's a lot of work.
- I can take care of my nephew.
You just gotta stay out of trouble.
- Great. Can I go to my room?
- Yeah, fine.
It has to be you.
You need to take care
of Lester when I'm gone.
KEN: I never had kids,
I never wanted 'em.
Lester? Shit.
Go grab a beer.
- Uh, Luke?
- Mm-hm.
Ken, right? Wanna get outta here?
I have my nephew.
He's my sister's. She died.
LESTER: Do you still
talk to him? My dad?
So I guess I'll never
get to meet him, huh?
I don't know about that.
It's not like Belle River's
on the other side of the world.
Hey, kid.
Hey.
(TRAIN WHISTLING IN DISTANCE)
Do you know who I am?
Of course I know.
You uh
you here all alone?
Yeah?
Good, 'cause I don't want any, uh,
whatever, you know?
It's just your uncle,
he's not gonna be too happy you're here.
He doesn't know.
I skipped school.
So, what's with the uh
What's with the get-up?
Oh.
Mm, I'm a superhero.
(CHUCKLING)
Um
Hey, you uh, you got your own phone?
You do?
Let's see here. What you got, pal?
- 555
- Mm-hm?
Yeah, you know what? You better
get outta here, pal, because uh,
I don't want anyone to see ya.
Hey, kid.
I like the mask.
Think it looks pretty cool on ya.
Thanks.
(CHUCKLING)
(CICADAS BUZZING)
(KNOCKING AT DOOR)
LOU: Yeah? What the hell do you want?
ANNE: Hi, Uncle Lou!
(SIGHING)
Hi. It's it's me, Anne.
I know who you are.
Did somethin', uh, happen?
No, no, no. There's no emergency.
I, uh I
How ya doin', Uncle Lou?
Well, you know.
Gettin' by.
Can I, um, can I come in?
Oh yeah, come in! Come in, come in.
- It's uh, your house too.
- Well (CHUCKLING)
not for a while.
Yeah, well. (CHUCKLING)
I guess I could do with
a little tidying up, huh?
Well, it's a big house to keep up with.
LOU: Gotta stay on top of her.
Coffee?
- Yeah.
- Oh, is your brother here?
Jimmy?
Uh, he's livin' back
in Belle River for now,
but no. Just just me.
Is he still playin' hockey then?
He hasn't played hockey
in a long time, Uncle Lou.
Boy, he takes after
his dad, if you ask me.
Even looks like him.
Skates like him too.
Same choppy stride.
Out of coffee.
- We got tea.
- Don't go to any trouble.
No, it's no trouble.
So, are you still driving then?
LOU: Huh? What's that?
I said, are you still driving?
LOU: No, a young fella down the road,
he uh, picks up some stuff for me.
They took my keys.
"They"? Do you mean Peter?
Oh, you mean fuckhead.
(SCOFFING)
You know, I work with him.
Oh.
You know that.
So, that's why you're here.
Why did you think I was here?
Look.
Come on, Uncle Lou. Let's sit down.
I don't need help.
I don't need a nurse.
- I'm fine on my own.
- That's not what I'm hearing.
Listen, I am here to help you.
You know, if you really wanna help me,
why don't you suggest
they send someone over who can
mind their own fuckin' business?
They're not sending anyone else.
This is it.
I'm it.
TEACHER: centimetres,
or 22 kilometres.
We wanna know what one
centimetre (INDISTINCT)
Charlene?
(CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY)
(DOOR CLANKING)
Thanks.
Hey.
You should wait till the bell goes.
- Why?
- (BELL RINGING)
To blend.
KEN: Mom!
(CLEARING THROAT) Hey.
Just you then?
Yeah. Yeah, Lester's at school.
Oh. Right.
I been busy in the field.
I'll try to bring him by sometime soon.
I've got some papers I
need your father to sign.
Bank says they need them
by the end of the month
or you won't get that
refinancing you want.
Mail them to him, Mom.
(PAPERS RUSTLING)
Claire used to do this stuff.
Somebody's gotta do it and it
sure as hell ain't gonna be me.
Tell your father to sign over the farm
and we can be done with this.
Mom. Just please.
Fine.
So, how is our boy doing, anyway?
He's good. He's good. He's, uh
he's quiet. (CHUCKLING)
He's a dreamer. (CHUCKLING)
Yeah, it's like his mom.
(SCOFFING) She wasn't quiet.
(BOTH CHUCKLING)
No. No. I, uh, I
Mom.
(MAVIS SNIFFING)
(CRYING)
(SIGHING)
I worry for him.
Well, you worried for me.
Look how well I turned out.
Yeah, I'm worried for him to.
Well, it is what it is.
Well, that's it.
What?
You sound like you're
just givin' up on him.
MAVIS: I'm not.
It's not about giving up.
It's about being realistic, Ken.
(KEN SCOFFING)
What chance does a boy
have without his mother?
(DOOR OPENING, CLOSING)
Peter tells me that
you've been having trouble
remembering to take your meds.
Well, they give me so goddamn many.
I I don't know what
half of them are for.
ANNE: Okay, well you
still have to take them.
You can't mix them with booze.
Just a few beers here and there.
Listen, Lou,
the county wants to know that
you can look after yourself.
Otherwise you're gonna have
to go into a nursing home.
Yeah, I get it.
You want the place.
What?
- Are you kidding me?
- Come on!
Don't bullshit me.
You wanna stick me in some goddamn home
and you get the place back.
What would I want this place for?
All I see here is hard work.
You think I don't have
enough on my plate?
Or is it for the happy memories?
I don't need help, and I never have.
Okay. Well, if that's what you want,
then you are gonna have to show them
that you can look after yourself.
I'll talk to your doctors,
we'll get straight on the meds,
but you have to agree to
play ball with me, okay?
Lou?
Is that a plan?
(SLIGHTLY LOUDER) Do we have a plan?
Oh my God, that hurt!
I'm not deaf.
(CHIRPING)
KEN: You like feedin' 'em, huh?
I guess.
It's better than cleaning up their poo.
Yeah. (CHUCKLING) That's for sure.
It's an all-you-can-eat buffet.
I started naming 'em. That's Frank.
Yeah, maybe you shouldn't do that.
You'll get too attached.
- Uncle Ken.
- Yep?
How do you talk to someone
who makes you nervous?
Like uh, like a girl?
Well, I mean, you know,
it wasn't really girls
that made me nervous,
but, um
I hear they like it if you
ask them a lot of questions.
Hmm.
(PHONE VIBRATING)
I think the uh, hockey
game is on tonight.
Maybe we can check it out?
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(IMITATING ENGINE NOISES)
Go.
Slow down, slow down!
(IMITATING HIGH-SPEED ENGINE)
We're gonna crash! Brace!
(SOFT SPLASHING)
Hey, kid!
You made it!
What are you doin'?
Oh, I'm uh, I'm spear fishing.
Shit.
Fishes are fast!
DAWN: Ken.
- (PHONE RINGING)
- I am so sorry to keep you waiting.
Oh, it's no problem.
Yeah, so, it's been three months
and I thought I better get
the paperwork moving forward.
Claire's will gave
you temporary custody.
We need to file a court
order to make that permanent.
But we cannot move on that
until the biological father
signs the notice
waiving parental rights.
We sent Mr. Lebeuf the notice
shortly after Claire passed.
Nothing came back.
Can't we get around that?
He hasn't been in his life at all.
No, I'm afraid not.
- Let's send him another one?
- (SIGHING) Okay.
All right? Has his address changed?
Last I heard, he's in Belle River.
I'll track it down.
Hey, we'll get there.
(CICADAS BUZZING, BIRDS CHIRPING)
Want a smoke?
I'm 11.
Okay, Turbo?
Yeah. I just
I had a dream about a place like this.
- Yeah?
- There were these things, in there.
What kind of things?
Just like monsters or something.
Monsters?
- Really?
- Yeah.
Well, if there really
are monsters in there,
well then, you know,
chances are they don't
come out till after dark.
That buys us some time.
Time for what?
Build us some traps! Eh?
Perimeter defenses.
We gotta get the high ground.
You know, maybe build a fort up there.
That sound good? Yeah?
Then we can just like,
peg those pissers off as
they come crawlin' out.
- How's that sound?
- Yeah, I guess.
All right! That's what we'll do.
So uh, where's uh where's your uncle?
How did you uh how did you escape?
He's, uh, he's busy on the farm.
Yeah, he's busy on the farm.
So, what did they, um
what did they, uh, what
did they tell you about me?
Just that you played hockey.
What else?
Just I don't know.
Just that you got hurt,
and you were a little
bit different after that.
Different?
(SCOFFING) Different how?
Just different.
Was that your uncle that
said that or was it her?
No. No, I-I I don't know.
(UNDER BREATH) Different.
Aunt Anne told me that
you worked at the garage.
She used to help my mom out a lot.
You know, before she died.
Yeah.
She does that.
What's this I hear,
you don't like hockey?
Huh? So, what do you like?
Well, I like comics mostly.
Comics, like what, like comic books?
- Yeah, like Marvel or DC.
- Oh yeah?
- Stuff like that.
- Cool.
All the good ones.
But I like to draw, mostly.
- You draw your own comics?
- Yeah.
Hand 'em over, lemme see.
Lemme see, lemme see this.
Let's see.
Wow.
These are frickin' awesome, kid.
- Really?
- Yeah!
You think maybe, uh
you think maybe I
could take this one, or?
- Sure.
- It's gonna go on the wall.
- Sure!
- Yup.
That's awesome.
What is, uh, what's this guy do?
That's the Red Vesper.
- Oh, yeah?
- Yeah.
What's his superpower?
Um, he can fly.
He can kill monsters.
- He is so strong.
- Yeah?
Well, this guy would come in handy.
- You kinda look like him.
- (CHUCKLING)
You wanna go grab a cheeseburger?
I think I gotta go.
Yeah, oh, okay.
Well yeah, you wanna
You wanna throw your bike
in the back of the truck?
I'll take you halfway.
All right.
Okay.
The Red Vesper, is he fast?
Well, he can fly faster.
Oh, so I could probably
run faster than him.
I'll race you up to the truck.
- No, I'll race you.
- One, two
You're gonna be sitting here still!
(SOFT SNORING)
(STATIC HISSING)
(ENGINE HUMMING)
Oh.
And there we go, buddy.
Red sky at night.
What?
Oh, it goes, uh,
"red sky at night, sailor's delight.
"Red sky at mornin',
sailors take warnin'."
It was just uh, something
my dad used to say.
Hey, uh,
you wouldn't have any interest
in hanging out again
next weekend, would ya?
- That would be awesome.
- Yeah?
Okay, good.
Just remember to just
keep it between us, yeah?
Well, you are my dad.
That's true, but uh,
I don't have any official kinda
capacity or whatever, you know?
So, just keep it between us for now.
Wait a second.
I uh, I got somethin' for ya.
- It's for you.
- No!
Wow.
Well, you should probably get goin', eh?
Don't want Kenny to ask
too many questions. Let's go.
- You get goin'.
- See ya next weekend.
Drive safe!
LUKE: I got this place when
my aunt, my godmother died.
My endless reno gave me a good reason
to leave all the crazy out west.
Being too
Too chatty is not a problem you have.
No.
I just, uh,
I really do gotta take off.
All good.
What is this little
- Things I do not
- (CHUCKLING)
(GRUNTING)
- No, no, no.
- This is
Let me do it right, lemme do it right.
- You gotta It goes
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- All the way through.
- Ooh!
- All the way through.
- Jesus.
It's all about the fold.
(CHUCKLING)
(CLEARING THROAT)
- Back so soon?
- Yep.
- Go figure.
- Coffee?
Um, yeah, I better go decaf.
Decaf comin' up.
(SOFT MUSIC PLAYING OVER RADIO)
Here you go.
Another patient locally?
No.
What was your name again?
Joy.
Right. Yeah, that's amazing.
Do you like your work?
- Rough day?
- (CHUCKLING) Yeah.
Yeah, you could say that.
My work is fine. How about you?
Yeah, I like it.
It gives me a lot of perspective.
Can I, uh, get you anything else?
No, I'm good.
I'm takin' a break.
(UNDER BREATH) Oh, fuck.
I know who you are.
Yeah, I figured.
Kinda fun pretending though, wasn't it?
Can I have one of those?
I bummed it from the cook.
What do you want?
I don't, uh
I don't want a scene here.
I don't know. I, um
I thought I'd regret it if
I didn't meet you. Thought
I thought maybe it would
help me know what to do.
It's not like you were an angel.
(CHUCKLING) Okay.
So, you two actually
talked to each other?
- That's interesting.
- (WRY CHUCKLING)
Fuck you.
It's funny.
You're just another person.
Keep it.
I have to go.
I didn't mean to hurt anyone.
None of us do.
(TV ANNOUNCER SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)
But it's three-nothing, they're
comin' back the other way
- (DOOR CLOSING)
- ANNOUNCER: There's a shot!
KEN: Hey.
Uh, it's getting late.
I was getting worried.
Um, yeah. I was just down by the creek
with some of my friends from school.
Well that's good, makin' friends.
Game's started. Wanna watch?
I was actually just gonna
go upstairs to my room.
You sure? I got pizza.
Coke in the fridge.
No thanks.
(SIGHING)
ANNOUNCER: and just wide.
Defense can't get a
hold of it, and it's (UNCLEAR).
(MEN CHATTING INDISTINCTLY NEARBY)
- (UNCLEAR).
- Pfft. Whatever, same shit.
No, it's not the same shit!
You still workin' on your (UNCLEAR)?
(MEN CHUCKLING, CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY)
PUDGE: Well, look who it is!
Hey, your brother looks like
he's about to shit himself.
You're telling me this kid can skate?
Fuck off, Pudge.
Hey.
Don't listen to 'em.
It may be the big city and the
guys may be a bit older than you are,
but they're also a bit fatter too, huh?
PUDGE: Hey, Lou.
Last I checked I had
three more goals than you.
- Okay?
- THOMPSON: Did you? Looks like you ate about
three more rolls, too, Pudge.
- (CHUCKLING)
- Fuck you, Gordie.
All right, heads up, Badgers.
Coach is on his way in.
- All right, boys, listen up.
- DEKE: Listen up!
We haven't won a goddamn
game in the last seven.
- Seven, boys. Seven!
- That is goddamn embarrassing.
GD embarrassing, boys.
COACH: For the fans, for the boss,
for yourselves, and worst of all, to me.
Now this Kitchener team has
been just about as bad as us
for the last little while,
so there's no excuses!
No excuses, boys!
Since this is your first game, Vince,
I'm gonna put you on
your brother's line.
Think you can handle that?
- Good.
- (MUMBLING)
'Cause if you screw this up,
I'm gonna send you back
to Essex fuckin' County.
You can bale hay or whatever
the fuck it is you do down there.
- Balin' hay, boys! Let's go!
- (CHEERING)
He's just joking. You're okay!
Now let's go do what we do best, huh?
- Yeah.
- Huh?
- You and me.
- Uh-huh.
Let's do it!
- Let's do it, baby.
- Hey!
I just wanted to wish
you guys good luck.
- Hey, Lou.
- How you doin'?
Good.
Hey! We're in Toronto. We made it!
Yeah, what are you worrying about? Hm?
It's just like when we
were kids on the pond.
Except this time, I'm
not tying your skates.
Let's just go have some fun.
- Hmm?
- Yeah, I know, I just
- I just don't wanna let down the boys.
- Are you kiddin' me?
Just wait until they see you out there.
And I always got your back. Okay?
Let's go show 'em what we can do.
Come on.
(CROWD CHEERING, ECHOING)
ANNOUNCER: Here comes
Lebeuf doing it again!
- Holy moly, what a hit!
- (CHEERING)
Here comes oh, what a move!
(CROWD CHEERING)
He shoots, he scores!
(CHEERING)
The Badgers make the play-offs
for the first time since '48!
I picked this up.
I got held up.
You got held up?
Come on.
Joy
I love that that's her name.
She's not obvious.
I'm almost impressed.
How long have you known?
A month.
So, what is this?
What are we doing?
It just happened, you know.
I don't know. It just
- You should understand.
- Yeah, I do.
I had what you have,
and I gave it up, for this.
I thought if I saw
Joy, that maybe it would help
me to figure out what I feel.
And?
I think I feel jealous.
Because you have what I gave up.
And I am furious at myself for doing it.
- Give him a call, then.
- That ship has sailed.
But I do keep wondering why
I have to be good,
all my goddamn life.
What do you want me to do?
Do you love her?
I don't know.
(PHONE VIBRATING)
Hello?
What? Where?
Okay.
I have to go.
What? Now?
Hey, Johnny.
Hey, Anne.
He was pretty confused when I found him.
Don't suppose this helped much.
I Thank you so much for calling me.
I really appreciate it.
Yeah.
You okay?
Uh
I mean, he's he's gonna be fine.
No, no, it's not This
This is where my mom and
dad had their accident.
Shit.
- Anyway.
- Yeah.
- Lou.
- Mm.
Come on, bud.
Come on.
Let's go, Lou.
(SIGHING)
We gotcha.
- Easy, now.
- Come on.
Come on, let's get in the car.
Thank you.
I'll uh, send someone to get
the tractor in the morning.
All right. Thank you.
Hey, come on. Get in the car. Hey.
Watch out. Watch out. There you go.
(LOU GROANING)
(POLICE CAR ENGINE STARTING)
(GROANING)
What the hell are you doing?
- I don't know.
- I mean, what are you doing here?
Why here?
I don't
I don't know what's
happening to me.
Okay, Lou. Okay.
Uncle Lou, we'll go home.
(ENGINE STARTING)