Twenties (2021) s01e02 Episode Script

1
- Previously on "Twenties"
- Are you late
with your rent again?
- Now I've hit rock bottom.
- So you wanna be my assistant.
- That's the job, right?
- It doesn't mean
that you wanna do it.
- If you wanted to be a writer,
you'd be writing every day.
- Why don't you stop
micromanaging my life
and worry about
why you and Chuck
ain't had sex
in three months.
- What's the point
of speaking your mind
if you're only gonna
apologize for it?
I do need a writers PA.
- Longer hours and less money.
- Yep.
- I'll take it.
- You start tomorrow.
["I've Got the World
on a String" playing]
♪
- Congrats, bitch.
You finally got a job.
- I know it's not
the job you wanted,
but at least it's a job
on a scripted show.
And it's about a black woman
with a messed up, sad life.
You know all about that.
- I'm just happy
to be in the mix.
'Cause eventually,
one of the writers
is gonna ask
to read my script,
and when they do,
they gonna be like,
"Oh, shit.
This is amazing."
Then they gonna call up Ida B.
and be like,
"Ay, yo, Ida,
"why you got her
running around here
"grabbing coffee
when she need to be
in the writer's room
dropping gems?"
- That's not gonna happen.
- You need to
will it into existence.
- Marie, you don't know.
- Yes, I do.
You need to be the best
writer's PA they've ever had.
That's the only way
you're gonna move up.
- Oh, make no mistake,
I'm gonna slay.
- When I teach yoga
at that office,
it always feel like
the aura needs to be cleansed.
There's too much ego
and not enough vulnerability.
You should take some sage
with you.
- I'm not wasting
my good sage on them.
- I'm gonna give you
some unsolicited advice.
- That is the only advice
you give.
- Don't be late.
- I won't.
- You want me to walk with you?
- No, I'm good.
- Only speak when spoken to.
- It's not a plantation.
- Yes, it is.
Massa just happens
to be a crazy black woman.
Oh, and don't mess up
the coffee orders.
You'll never live it down.
And the writers assume
that if you can't get
their coffee right,
then you're not worth
the minimum wage
they're paying you.
- Hmm.
- Oh.
And don't fall under her spell.
She's a showrunner, not Prince.
Ida develops really close
relationships with people,
particularly women.
She takes them on trips,
calls them
all hours of the night,
tells them her deep,
dark secrets.
Things get really intense,
and then, out of nowhere,
she gets bored
and never talks to them again.
One of the girls she ghosted
tried to commit suicide.
- [sucks teeth]
I heard she moved back home.
- Same difference.
- Well, I'll try my best
not to make eye contact.
All right, boos, I gotta go.
- You wanna do some breathing
exercises before you go?
Nah, I'm all right.
[hip-hop beats]
- I'm so proud of her.
♪
- She's going the wrong way.
- This shit
is a girl blunt ♪
I only smoke girl blunts ♪
[shutter clicking]
- Yeah, yeah ♪
- Nah, that's too chip, right?
- Yeah ♪
- Nah, I look like I gotta pee.
♪
[shutter clicks]
Ooh, sexy!
But not too desperate.
Perfect, you can use that one.
[printer whirring]
I wasn't gonna
take another one.
["I've Got the World
on a String" playing]
♪
- I've got the world ♪
On a string ♪
Sittin' on a rainbow ♪
Got the string ♪
Around my finger ♪
[dramatic musical flourish]
What a world ♪
What a life, I'm in love ♪
♪
I've got a song
that I sing ♪
I can make the rain go ♪
Anytime I move my finger ♪
Lucky me ♪
Can't you see I'm in love? ♪
- Don't touch that!
That's a prop.
- Life is
a beautiful thing ♪
- To your left
is the soundstage
where "Shark Summer"
was filmed.
See those rocks?
They're Styrofoam,
but people usually take them
for granite.
[shutters clicking]
Oh, she is very stylish.
Or he.
Or maybe that's a they.
Unclear.
Well, to your left,
you will see another studio.
[elevator dings]
[upbeat music]
♪
- What? ♪
[stuttering vocalizations]
- Hey, sis.
- What? ♪
- That's Courtney.
Remember me?
I'm Ben's boo!
[squeals]
Welcome, girlfriend.
- What the
- [laughs]
I knew I felt a kinship.
- Thanks.
What do you do here?
- Oh, I'm Ida's assistant.
I wanted to tell you
the other night,
but it wasn't about me.
[both chuckle]
Hey, the writers
haven't gotten here yet,
but when they do, I'm sure
they'll want their coffee.
- Cool.
- Hit that pose,
take that flick ♪
Check your angle,
post that ♪
- You want me
to take that for you?
- Oh, nah.
I like a selfie.
- Hit that pose,
take that flick ♪
- Good morning, ladies.
all: Good morning.
Hattie, what are you doing?
- Uh, waiting for someone
to tell me what to do.
- That's your first mistake.
This isn't a classroom.
It's a job.
- Be a self-starter.
- I'm gonna do a coffee run.
What can I get you?
- A vanilla latte
with almond milk.
I don't do dairy.
I'm lactose intolerant.
- Well, truth is,
we're all lactose intolerant.
Dairy is the devil's food.
- [laughs]
Yeah.
[indistinct chatter]
[phone tapping]
- Hattie, the writers are here.
[sweeping orchestral music]
♪
[indistinct chatter]
- So you want
a caramel macchiato
with a little bit
of foam on top.
No foam on the top?
You want a little bit
of drizzle on top?
You don't? Okay.
A regular black coffee,
no cream, no sugar, no nothing?
Okay, so you want a chai latte
with two shots of espresso
and a little bit of cinnamon
on top?
Got you.
How do you have everyone's
coffee order already?
They order the same thing
every day.
I typed it up a while ago
so I could have their coffees
ready when they got here.
- Why did you just watch me
chase all the writers down
like a crazy person?
- You looked so happy
with your little pen and pad,
I didn't wanna take that
away from you. [laughs]
I'd lose the badge
if I were you.
- That's the last time
I swipe right on someone
who has a profile pic taken
from a super-high angle.
- [laughs]
- Marie, you're so lucky.
What do you mean?
- You have
the perfect relationship.
- There is no such thing.
I feel like you just gotta find
somebody you can work with
and then go from there.
It's kinda like Build-A-Bear.
[dramatic ringtone plays]
- Shit.
- Hi, Ma.
- Mother's beauty.
- How much this time?
- Oh, Christ with a capital C.
I hope you're not so
wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am
with that scrumptious Chuck.
You know, foreplay
is a girl's best friend.
- Hi, Mrs. Owens.
I'm here, too.
- Oh, hello, Nile.
How's your Zumba class?
- It's Nia,
and I teach yoga.
- How wonderful for you.
- Ma, I'm about to go
into the office so could
you just spit it out, please?
- Okay, I need 5K to raise
a table at a blackjack game.
The pot is brilliant
life-changing, really.
- Even if you win, your life
is gonna look exactly the same.
- Oi, my winnings paid
for that unforgettable day
at Disneyland when you were 12,
young miss.
- So don't get cheeky with me.
- I don't have time for this.
- Think about it, darling.
Please.
I've had a rough go
of it lately.
[mellow music]
[keypad beeps]
- My mom's crazy, too.
♪
[dramatic music]
♪
- All right, go ahead
and ring all that up.
That should be good.
[cell phone ringing]
What up, Ni?
- How's your first day going?
- [sucks teeth]
I already have a nemesis.
- So soon?
- Yep, she's black.
And her name Courtney.
It must be hard being
a black girl with a white name.
Why is she your nemesis?
- I don't know,
but she's acting like
I stole her bike.
- Try to send her love
and light.
- I ain't sending her shit.
All right, Nia, I gotta go.
[line disconnects]
- Okay.
- Damn.
- Here you go.
- II got it.
Oh, thanks, though.
- Mm- hmm.
You must work at the studio.
- Yeah, not for long
if these coffees get cold.
- Thanks.
- Mm-hmm.
I'm Idina.
- Cool.
[upbeat music]
[indistinct chatter]
♪
- [inhales sharply] Um,
they usually put the letter A
on the cup
to signal the beverage was made
with almond milk.
- Damn it.
It was loud as hell in there.
And I had a gang of orders.
- So what?
- Wasn't nobody talking to you.
- Look, I always get
the same exact thing as Ida.
I figure
if I wanna be just like her,
I should order like her, too.
- That's weird, but okay.
- You can give her mine.
- [sucks teeth]
- [laughs]
- Thank you.
- Yeah.
I'll drink the devil's latte.
I have the genetics for it.
- Have you found the next
Barry Jenkins yet?
- Shut up.
- Look, I commend you
for wanting to find
black auteurs,
but the truth is,
most of them aren't that great.
- When was the last time
you read a script
written by a black person?
When was the last time
you had dinner
with a black person?
Besides me.
- I'm not interested in making
straight-to-Redbox movies.
Do you know
there's a movie called
"Who Made the Potato Salad?
- I am aware.
Hattie's mom made us watch it
with her last Christmas.
You know, I didn't hate it.
Also, Zack just assigned me
to the director's
passion project,
"Rosa Parks: Before the Bus"
- Don't let 'em tokenize you.
- Please.
You love being
the only black man here.
- It does have its advantages.
- Yeah, you get to act like
you're the authority
on all things black.
- That's not true.
You spent the last staff
meeting talking about
how much you love
"Black Pussy,"
which was written
by a white writer.
- The working title
is "Black P."
And I found that script
to be very entertaining.
- Really?
That script entertained you?
- It surprised me.
- You know
what would surprise me?
- What?
- If you put your D
in a black P.
- Tried it once,
and it wasn't for me.
- What happened?
She wasn't loud enough for you?
- Actually, she wasn't.
- I'm sure Lauren screams
every time you look at her.
- Actually, she does.
- No wonder you have
delusions of grandeur.
[knocks]
- Hey, Marie.
Ah!
This is what I love to see.
Two of my favorite employees
going toe-to-toe.
- Hey, Zack.
- Hey, so how's
the Rosa Parks movie coming?
I heard Tiffany Haddish passed?
- Yeah, her schedule
just got a little crazy.
- [groans] Okay.
- But I did get a call
from Misty Copeland's reps,
and apparently they wanna
do the Raven Wilkinson story.
- Ohh.
I don't know who that is.
- She was the first
black ballerina
with a major company.
- [sighs]
I'm over the whole
"first black" thing.
You think she'd be down
to do "Black Pussy"?
- No.
No, I don't think
she'd wanna do that.
- 'Cause of the title?
- It's because
of a lot of things.
- Cardi B might be interested.
- Are you serious?
- I'm friends
with her Pilates teacher.
- No, you're not.
- Yes, I am.
- Oh, my God!
- I'll set a freakin' meeting.
Bro, I could kiss you
right now.
- Oh, you've gotta wait.
- [laughs]
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
[somber hip-hop music]
♪
[sensual R&B music playing]
- Whatever it is
that you do ♪
When you do
what you do to me ♪
♪
- Breathe in the peace,
beauty and perfection
of this moment.
- I am.
- My heart starts
beating triple time ♪
- Thank yourselves,
thank your hearts,
thank your bodies
for committing
to this class today.
You brought your whole selves,
and I appreciate you.
Have a beautiful day.
Namaste.
all: Namaste.
♪
- Thank you for
deepening my stretch.
- It was my pleasure.
- Look, I'm going
to the helipad tonight
to look at some stars
if you wanna roll.
- I accept.
- [chuckles]
Dope.
Meet me there at 8:00?
- Well, let me get your number
so I can text you
when I get there.
- Oh, I don't have a phone.
- What?
- They interfere
with human connection
and the authentic experience
of the world.
- [laughs]
Are you serious?
- I hope you don't think
that's weird.
- It is weird.
- [laughs softly]
Just meet me out front.
I'ma be the only black dude
there wearing moccasins.
8:00.
[soft music]
- How's your first day going?
- Pretty good.
- What's pretty good mean?
- Um, it means it's going well.
But I guess it could be
going better.
- And what would
make it better?
- If I could be closer
to the writing part.
- The writing part?
- Yeah, well,
I'm a creative person,
so I guess it would be cool
if I could see you guys
do some creative stuff.
- I'll keep that in mind.
- Okay.
But just so you know,
I'm just happy to be here.
I don't need you
to do anything more
than you're already doing.
Seriously, I'm good.
I am blessed
and highly favored.
- Why do you do that?
- Do what?
- Ask for what you want
and then apologize for it.
- I didn't realize
that's what I was doing.
- Lauren, where are those
sketches that Diana wanted?
[papers rustling]
- Don't do that.
- I'll never do it again.
- Here. Take these over
to the art department.
- Where's that?
- Figure it out.
- Where the hell
is the art department?
- You want a map?
["Spaceships"
by Tank and the Bangas]
- Look at all the money ♪
Look at all the money ♪
Money fallin' from the sky ♪
I got my hands out,
I got my hands out ♪
- That girl is a blizzard ♪
Ice cold thing,
that's a winter ♪
But my family goes off
like a meter ♪
I got a Hummy, go ♪
That's my guzzler ♪
[phone chimes]
- What?
[frantic music]
♪
- Uh-huh.
No, I gave myself
that note already.
- [indistinct speech]
- I'm already on it.
- Damn.
- I need advice.
I'm about to go on a date.
- Yoga dude?
- Yes.
- Since when is there
a yoga dude?
- But there's a problem.
- Already?
- This negro don't believe
in phones.
- I don't even know
what that means.
- He doesn't have a phone.
- How does he live?
- Turn around, now.
- But I'm already dressed.
- Just go on the date
and then ghost his ass.
- You can't ghost somebody
that ain't got no phone.
This some serial killer shit.
I saw a story on "20/20"
about a dude
who used to take his dates
to look at the stars
and then strangle them
behind a giant telescope
with his jump starter cables.
I was, uh
- Digging your own grave,
one personal phone call
at a time?
- Why not get weird?
Let's get weird ♪
Why not get weird?
Let's get weird ♪
- What do you do?
- I
I'd rather not say.
- Is that because
you're a serial killer?
- No.
[laughs]
No, it's cause
I don't like labels.
You know what I'm saying?
There's what we do
and then
there's who we really are.
- So what are you?
- Technically,
I'm a photographer.
- How do people book you?
- [laughs]
I have a email.
I'm not Amish.
Look up.
- What?
- Look up at the stars.
Now look at them
with your phone.
- Oh.
- It's not as good, is it?
- No, it's not.
- No, exactly.
I'd rather just
be in the moment
than always trying
to capture it.
- But isn't that your job
as a photographer,
to capture
unforgettable moments?
- Well, this is an
unforgettable moment right now.
Standing under the stars
with you.
[romantic music]
What's better than that?
How could a person
possibly capture this?
You know,
it's not just a moment.
Thisthis is a feeling.
♪
[phone chimes]
[sighs]
[mellow music]
[phone tapping]
- This is the one.
- This one's $25 less.
- Negro, please, it's $25.
- Yes, it's $25 today.
But that's $1,000
20 years from now.
- How are you so cheap?
You have a trust fund.
- That's how I got
a trust fund.
Look, my great granddaddy's
motto was,
"Money talks, but it only
knows two words: good bye."
- I don't even want it anymore.
- What?
Don't be that way.
I'm just trying to look out
for the future
and our three kids.
- I thought we said two.
Well, I've been thinking,
and an even number of kids
feels boring.
Yeah, three means we had two,
went through some shit,
decided we still
loved each other
and accidentally
[dramatic ringtone plays]
- Oh, no.
Yes, Mother?
- Finally!
Why haven't you picked up
any of my calls?
I've been trying you all day.
Is it a yes or a no?
- Ma, it's not like
you're asking me for 50 bucks.
- Hey, hey, hey.
Hello, Mrs. Owens.
- Chuck, darling!
I have told you
to call me Shirley.
I didn't know she was with you.
I hope I'm not interrupting.
- Actually, you are.
Shirley, you have
a gambling problem.
I'm serious, Shirley.
I know the associate producer
of "Iyanla: Fix My Life."
Don't make me call him
and get you on the show.
- Ma, I will get you
half of the money,
but you have to get the rest
somewhere else.
- That'll work.
- Why'd you do that?
- Because she's my mother.
- You can't keep
letting her do this.
- I know.
I love you.
- I know.
[mischievous music]
♪
- Aim higher.
- I'm sorry, but do you have
some sort
of vendetta against me?
- I'm trying to help you.
- By disrespecting my dreams?
- You're dreaming about winning
a Black Folks United award?
- What's wrong with that?
- Why would you want an award
from an organization that voted
"Me and You, Your Momma
and Your Cousin, Too"
best movie of the year?
- I like that movie.
- [scoffs]
- [chuckles]
I won't let Ida know
you entered the shrine.
- Does this ever
get any easier?
- I'm sure it will
once Courtney gets over
hating you for taking her job.
- What?
- I might as well
pour all the tea.
She applied for your job,
but didn't get it
at the last minute.
Ida just told her that
someone needed the opportunity
more than she did.
That person was you.
- May I?
- Yes, you may.
- Good night.
[chuckles]
- If you had a phone,
I would text you
all the freaky things
I might do to you
the next time I see you.
- [laughs softly]
I thought you were celibate.
- There are plenty of freaky
things I can do to you
that have nothing to do
with intercourse.
- Don't text about it.
Be about it.
["What a Diff'rence
a Day Makes" playing]
♪
[women vocalizing softly]
- What a difference ♪
A day made ♪
♪
24 little hours ♪
[man and woman
moaning passionately]
Brought the sun
and the flowers ♪
♪
Mm ♪
Where there used
to be rain ♪
[phone chimes]
My yesterday was blue,
dear ♪
Today,
I'm a part of you, dear ♪
- [groans]
- My lonely nights
are through dear ♪
♪
Since you said
you were mine ♪
[phone chiming]
Lord, what a difference
a day makes ♪
[indistinct vocalizations]
[bassy electronic music]
- Hey ♪
Hey ♪
Hey ♪
Hey ♪
♪
Hey, hey ♪