My Unorthodox Life (2021) s01e03 Episode Script
Memoir Meltdown
1
[suspenseful music playing]
[knocking on door]
- [Miriam] Can I talk to you?
- Yeah, come in. How you doing?
- Good. Good to see you, Pops
- Good to see you
- Your hair's so long!
- Yeah, it's getting long
- Yeah, yeah
- Yeah
Um, actually I wanted to talk to you
about something
Sure, sure
Um, so, mm I've been wanting
to tell you this for a while,
but it was just hard for me,
I guess, to, like, bring it up,
but pretty much, I want to change
my last name to Haart
[suspenseful music playing]
Look, I-I see you're using
the Haart username in social media
- Mm-hmm
- It's like an entertainment name
You know, people in Hollywood,
they have, like, a persona
Yeah, it's not a persona
I want this name to be my legal name
I don't want to be associated with places
that I wasn't allowed to sing freely
- You sing here, with me
- Right, but only us two can sing together
But if another man came to this room,
it wasn't appropriate
That is that's painful to me
I guess, like, Haart, to me,
does, like, represent more of my life now
It is sad that the last name
makes you think of those memories
You know, names have a lot of meaning
There's always something
central of who you are,
that we identify with as a family
You know, your
your-your name is Miriam Hendler
I don't want
to be associated with that anymore
Everyone has free will,
so, you know, for you to choose a name
that, you know, gives you a better feeling
of where you are today,
I-I'll respect that
That's fine, that's fine. I love you
You're my daughter
- Mm-hmm. Thanks, Abba
- I'll always be there for you
- Okay
- That's it. [laughing]
- I'm very lucky to have you
- [uplifting music playing]
Aw. Thanks, Abba
I think my dad hit a point
where he knows where I'm at,
and so I'm so happy
that I got this off my chest,
and he knows that this is a path
I'm going down,
and that this path isn't going to change
- Hey
- Hey, how'd it go?
I think it went okay
- [Julia] Yeah?
- Yeah
Looks like your conversation
went a lot better than ours
Why, what's this face?
What is this face happening?
Don't be nice
because I'm gonna start to cry
- No, I don't want you to cry
- I love you
I love you too. Is everything okay?
Do you know that he went backwards again?
He's not talking to girls
He broke up with his girlfriend
Not watching television
We're right back where we started
We're not back where we started
It's just gonna be a phase
I fucking hope so
I'm blaming myself
for Aron becoming more fundamentalist
because it all happened in camp
that I paid for,
which annoys the whatever out of me
I mean, how dumb is that?
Ugh!
- He's gonna pray
- [Miriam] Right now?
[Julia] Yup
I just gotta believe ♪
I just gotta believe ♪
Throw it in the fire
Yeah this ♪
Is all that I need ♪
Just gotta believe ♪
[Batsheva] Oh my God, no way! [laughing]
- Wow
- That was ten
- On two
- One
- Okay
- Come get
Come get me, come get me! I'm gonna drop
[laughing]
I finally feel like I'm in a place
mentally and socially,
and just experiences-wise
and and work-wise,
like, I'm really happy
with where things are right now
[humorous music playing]
That's such a cute baby
I think babies are cute,
they just don't give me baby fever
[Ben] Such a cute baby
I feel like if I would get pregnant now,
like, I would I would regret it
I don't want to have a baby right now
What's the rush?
It's not a rush. It's been eight years
Ben would've had a baby,
if it was up to him,
when we were probably, like, 22
I feel that I did
the "married thing" young, at 19,
and I never had
any single years as an adult,
so I feel like I need a little extra time
than maybe some people
On top of being nervous
about you changing your mind,
I'm also nervous
about us possibly not being able to
Like, "Oh yeah, I'm young,
I'll get pregnant right away."
And for a lot of people,
it doesn't happen right away
I'm not going to pressure her
And if she still wants to wait,
at the end of the day,
she's going to be the one that has to
"have the baby," so it's her decision
I would just feel more comfortable
and secure in waiting
if we did something like a fertility test
or something
That's fine
If that'll make you feel better
- Like, I'm
- I would be at least a little comfortable
But if I'm get tested,
you're getting tested
- I don't have a problem with that
- Okay
That would be fine
I think that's healthy for both of us
Okay. I feel like that's fair
For now. Until you tell me it's 35
- It's not 35
- [kisses]
[upbeat music playing]
[Julia] Tomorrow, I need a meeting
with Mark. Probably 30 minutes
- [woman on phone] Okay
- The last thing is
I want a few minutes
with Anthony and Robert
- Thanks, my dear. Talk later. Mwah, bye
- Bye
- [Miriam] Hey, Mama. How are you doing?
- How's your internship?
- I have a question
- Which reminds me
There should be something in the app
where you can send questions
- A support page
- Like a support page
- Oh, yeah. 100%
- 'Cause right now there is nothing
Okay. Yeah, no, every app that I've made
has an "about" or "support"
or "feedback" button at least
Right now I'm interning at Elite
I really enjoy it
They're giving me projects
I'm super passionate about
And currently what I'm doing is working
on the Elite Model Look app
The app kinda sucks right now,
and so I'm giving it a giant facelift,
breaking it down and rebuilding it up
Once I have more of a rough draft,
I'll show it to you
You can approve or disapprove of whatever,
and I can iterate based on that
And again, the concept is good
The colors are good
because those are our colors
But it's just not user-friendly
The experience needs
to be re-vamped, yeah
[Robert] Libby is here
- [Julia] Oh, my God
- Wait. Who's Libby?
[Judy] My editor
who's publishing my memoir
- [Miriam] My goodness
- I know
- That's so cool, Mama
- [Robert] So exciting!
Aah! I'm so nervous
I wrote my story
This is my unedited,
completely, totally untouched,
stream-of-consciousness
cathartic brain dump of a manuscript
My entire story
up to the time I walked into La Perla
and beginning before I was born
- Cradle it, cradle it. Show it love
- Cradle it?
- What a weirdo
- [chuckles]
- Is this good?
- It's perfect
- Should I breastfeed it?
- Please don't do that
- Hey!
- Hello! How are you?
Oh my gosh, I'm so happy
to finally meet you in person
- Hello
- This is my daughter Miriam
[both] Nice to meet you
I thought it'd be interesting for her
to come and sit in
- Totally. That's awesome
- See the process
How are you feeling about it?
- Uh I'm almost done
- She's been writing like a fiend
Awesome. That's what
an editor loves to hear
I want young female readers
specifically to come to it
and see sort of what you went through
and to be empowered by that story
Because it isn't about Judaism,
it's really about fundamentalism,
it can apply to any kind
of fundamentalist upbringing
It can apply to any religion,
any philosophy,
any lifestyle where women are less than
- [gentle piano music playing]
- My hope is that it's an inspiring story
that will help other women,
whatever their situation is,
that they should realize that it's not
too late or that they're never too old,
or that whatever it is can be overcome,
because honestly if I can do it,
anyone can
And so I felt that it was important
to tell my story
You know, my experience,
even though it's a very extreme one,
there's so many women
who have a very similar experience
Maybe not to that extent,
but in their own lives,
they've got people holding them back,
telling them
what they're not allowed to do
So I do think
that it's important to tell the truth
But how do we balance that out
with not hurting people?
- You have to just put it out there
- [Julia] Right
- I was ridiculously honest
- I'm so happy. And you were
- "Yes, you were." I was
- You were!
Leaving the community was freedom
in every direction, sexual freedom
I think to ignore that sexual part
would be a mistake
But yeah, am I gonna be uncomfortable
that Joe Schmoe is gonna know
that, you know,
I scored in bed or something?
[laughing]
[Libby] I wasn't going to bring it up,
but since you did
- [Robert groans]
- My sexuality is a problem for you?
Doesn't my sexuality make you nauseous?
I was hoping it was reciprocal
Not at all. I'm so excited
- I want you to have relationships
- Just enthused by it
I'm enthused by thinking
about you being happy
[Robert] I hope you're happy
I don't necessarily need to think
about the intricacies of that happiness
- [Julia] Mm-hmm
- [Robert] Mm-hmm. [laughing]
[Libby laughing]
I already knew that
I don't know how that came in
Don't tell me that!
- [Robert] Help us, Lord
- Oh, my God
[Libby] I think that's great
'cause I think a big part of this
is an empowering document
in so many ways,
and this is a feminist story
In order to tell my story,
I have to say certain negative things
about my family, my upbringing
We need to really be careful
that I don't harm anyone in the process
So I think sooner rather than later,
it's really important
to let the people who are in the book,
let them know that this is coming
[Julia] The one I'll have the most
difficulty with could be Batsheva
When I left my community, it was
tremendously difficult for Batsheva
because I was the embodiment
frum tznius Rebbetzin
in my community
And all of a sudden, I was going against
every single thing I had taught her
So, you know, she was very cold because
she didn't understand what was going on,
and she was angry at me, justifiably so
I think, yeah,
what you're doing is so important
and sharing your story really matters
And so I think that nobody should stop you
from writing it as it is
It's
I am concerned that Batsheva
reliving, through my words,
that time period
when we were in such a bad place,
uh, it could bring back bad memories,
and I don't want it to damage
our relationship now
I think that's where it gets a bit tricky
I do have to tell my truth,
but I have to be sensitive to my children
- Libby, this has been great
- I'm so excited. [chuckles]
Can I get a picture
for Instagram before we go?
- [Libby] Sure. Let's do it
- Of the two of you?
Awesome
It's great
- Thank you so much
- All right. Follow me this way
- Now we just have to tell the kids
- Yeah
- How do you think it'll really go?
- I don't know, I haven't read the book
- And I think
- I think Ben will read it, and then Bat
Ben's very curious
Yeah, Ben will be curious
He's gonna want to read it
Bat, I'm worried! I'm worried that
she's gonna get super angry at me
- Maybe I should give it to you first
- Okay
And then you read it
and tell me how you think it'll go
when I give it to the other kids
But you can't tell the kids
I gave it to you first
- Mm
- And circle or, like, star paragraphs
that you think could be problematic
- With the kids or in general?
- With the kids
I'm really excited
to read your story. Seriously
All right. I've got my next meeting now
I'm excited to read it, Mama
It's gonna be amazing
- I love you
- Thanks, my love. I love you too
Stuck up in your mind
In the sunny boulevard, hey! ♪
Stuck up in your mind
In the sunny boulevard, hey! ♪
- Hey
- Hey
[guests all greeting]
- [Ben] Hello!
- [Batsheva] Hey!
[Ben] How are you? Hi
Looks really good
[indistinct conversations]
- [Aron] Good?
- Yeah. You look very handsome
Decided to pull out all the stops
with your hat today?
Ima decided
[all chuckle]
Hi
- Hey, love of my life
- Hello. [kisses]
- How are you?
- I told you it was a small party
- Yes. Okay
- [Julia laughing]
[Julia] Today we're celebrating
Robert's birthday
He doesn't know
that I've invited his friends,
a bunch of the people at work
that he's close to
He's going to be shocked
Fingers crossed
[Jennifer] He can wait a second
- [Katherine] Hello
- [Batsheva] Hey, Mir
Hey, how are you? It's good to see you
- This is Katherine. You guys met one time
- How's it going?
Yes, we did meet. You look really pretty
Katherine and I just started
going on dates together,
and so coming to Robert's party,
it was exciting for us to just
be together, especially even in public
But I'm kind of just
having fun with Katherine
We're not in anything serious
I'm not really looking
for anything serious
I kind of just wanted to invite her
as my plus-one
Who do you think is best dressed?
Who do I think is best dressed? Well
My little brother
Aron's hat is so cool. I love Aron's hat
- Hi
- [Miriam] It's so chic
Julia?
[indistinct conversations]
[Batsheva] Is Robert here?
[guests cheering and applauding]
Oh, my God, guys!
Robert!
Oh, my God, I thought this
was going to be a casual affair
It's a good thing
you didn't dress casually!
- Well, I mean, we never wear sweats!
- [Batsheva] No
- Oh, you never! Thank you so much
- This is a very small gathering
- [Robert] A very casual affair
- A few people
What about you, Aron?
You're about to go to a co-ed high school
- Yeah
- So exciting
Are you excited
to be amongst all the ladies?
Nope
You gonna be distracted
by all the the female bodies around you?
I find it weird to be learning with girls
[Julia] Aron is such a kind kid
He's just trying to do
what he was taught was right
So what I realized is I need to counteract
the influence he had at camp,
and the only way to counteract that
is to expose him to other influences
[Katherine]
You're making him uncomfortable
I am. Yeah, I'll stop
- You guys work at Elite?
- No, these are Robert's friends
College friends
At Manhattan School of Music
- Love it
- [Shlomo] You do a little opera?
I mean, I did opera too, but I'm a bass
I'm a very low voice
[Batsheva and Shlomo] Cool
- [Jennifer] I'm okay
- Thank you
[Jennifer] So tell me all about her
She was friends with Miriam met her,
like, through a Stanford friend
Okay
And I guess they're
they're going strong now
I 100% support Miriam if she really says
that she feels she's bisexual
and she wants to be with a woman
Um, I think Miriam's having fun
and hanging out
[Katherine] You have a little lipstick
[Batsheva] I'm just a little taken back
that she decides to do this
in front of all of her bosses
She's definitely different
from me in that regard
I don't want to know. Hm-mm. No, no, no
Ladies and gentlemen,
I invite you to go upstairs to the rooftop
for another Robert surprise
[all cheering]
[Batsheva] Mir, can I grab you
before you go out?
Sure
- What's up? Everything okay?
- [Batsheva] Yeah, you can just sit
- Okay
- How's it going? Love the outfit
- Thank you
- You look super cute
Thank you, so do you. [chuckling]
Watching you for for boobage
How's it going with Katherine?
We're just casually dating
Nothing serious at all
So, we're just having a good time
with each other
- That's nice
- Yeah
[Robert] Look at Mitzi! Aww!
[Julia laughs]
Mommy!
Robert, you need to sit here
- [Robert] Okay, let's go, Mom
- [Julia] You can bring Mommy
Come sit right over here
What do I do?
Open, baby, open!
[screams]
[laughing]
[guests cheering]
Oh, my God. One treatment of your choice
What will I have snatched?
[all laughing]
- [Miriam] What's up?
- As your big sister, I love you
- I care about you
- I know you do
And I just want you to be mindful
Okay
For instance, like when I saw you,
like, making out on the couch before
- Yeah
- I understand you're having a good time,
but, like, you just had this girl
like five seconds ago
from Ima's fashion show,
- and now you have this other girl
- Right
Ima's, like, big executive people
from Elite are here, right?
You don't want them getting
that, like, vibe from you. Like, I feel
If anything, I think
it's, like, fine to be bisexual
Not the bisexual thing,
nothing to do with kissing a girl
I wouldn't sit there on the couch
making out with Ben
But you're just very not PDA,
and I just don't care as much
Like, whatever
I don't think I should
stop doing what I want
based on what society thinks is too much
I'm trying to be myself,
and that's what's most important
That, to me, is what I fought
with my mom to do
[Batsheva] When I turned over,
it seemed like it was a serious
- You're on the couch, leaning back
- No, we weren't leaning back
- It was just a kiss
- It seemed like it from here
So, just again, just not appropriate
for the for the moment
Or, slash, in front of your bosses
Okay
I have one more little surprise for you
Because I did not want you
to sing for your supper,
I brought someone else
to perform in your place
- [singing opera]
- [guests gasping]
- [Robert yelling excitedly]
- [guests cheering]
[all cheering]
I'm so surprised by everything
that's happening at this party
It's not at all what I expected
The event is heartfelt
I felt really loved and so happy
to be there and just, you know
Every moment I feel like I'm part
of your family, part of your life,
- it makes me feel warm and happy
- I love you, Robert
So, I'm feeling good!
- [Shequida] I hear you're an opera singer
- A little
Come here. Come, touch me
There's children in the room
Sorry, young man, how are you?
[singing opera]
[Shequida] Here comes the high note
[both singing high note]
Shabbos
- [Ben] Okay
- So
- Should we go?
- Yeah, we're just gonna go
- [Shlomo] Good Shabbos
- Good Shabbos. [kissing]
- Love you. [kisses]
- I love you, too, Mom
- [Ben] Did you talk to Miriam?
- [Batsheva] Yeah
- How did it go?
- It didn't go as well
It didn't go as well?
No, she got a little heated
[upbeat song playing]
You here, Mir?
- [Miriam] 'Sup?
- Hey
Hey
Are you alone?
I'm alone
I have something that your mom said
you can only see first
Oh, my goodness. That! Oh, my God
Manuscript, baby. You want to read
through a little bit of it?
Um fuck, yeah. Seriously
One of the most important things for me
is having my mom's trust
And so she wants me not to tell
my siblings that I'm reading the book,
and I'm okay with that,
because at the end of day,
what's most important to me
is to keep my mom's trust and loyalty
I'm just going to start from the beginning
'cause I literally never learned
about Ima's, like, history or past,
she never talked too much about it
[Robert laughing]
I'm literally going to poke my eyes out
and, like, feed them to birds
Let me read you
this very important section
- Okay, okay
- Okay?
"After our wedding,
it was finally time to have sex!"
[laughing]
- Praise the Lord!
- Praise the Lord!
We're talking about your dad
- Oh, God
- "I got naked."
"I'd never seen a penis before."
"I wanted to know how it would feel
- [Miriam groaning]
- what it would be like to touch it,
- to hold it in my hand."
- Oh, my God!
- Oh, God
- Don't say my dad's name
"I was fascinated by how"
Please just say any other person's name
"John grew large and hard
when he saw my naked body."
Why are you reading this?
I'm sure your mom's
20-year-old naked body
- was snatched for the gods
- What?
Whoo, Lord
[exhales]
Hot. Very hot
"He tried entering me
but he wasn't hard enough
- Oy
- and so my hymen didn't break,
and all I felt as he moved back and forth
inside of me was discomfort."
- Oh God
- I'm I'm feeling discomfort
- It gets worse. You want to hear it?
- Oh God
I wonder how much of this book
is going to be that?
Okay, let's keep going
- Ooh, I just found my name!
- You did?
Yeah, should I read it?
- Yeah, read it
- Okay
"My daughter Miriam was a born rebel
She wanted to forge her own path."
"She always questioned everything
Literally everything."
"She was always in trouble for asking
questions that were inappropriate."
Wait. Do you remember doing that
and being there?
Yeah. No, I totally like always said,
"Why do women have to wear skirts?"
Like, also, "Why can't women sing?"
And "Why can't women do this?"
- Yeah. I always just asked why
- Mm
- Keep going
- Okay
"And so, out of the mouth
of my very brave little daughter
came pouring out all the questions
I'd been asking myself my entire life."
"Why should my life be so small?"
"Why should women be ashamed
and cover their bodies and skin?"
Did you read it this way?
Like, she's saying you're the impetus
for her shift in mindset
She was kind of the same way
as me when she was younger,
and she didn't want me
to repeat the same life she did
And so that was one of the reasons
why she was able to get out
I guess it was a team effort, you know?
Without her, I wouldn't be here,
and I guess without me,
she wouldn't be here either
I wonder what, like, Ima wrote
about the other siblings too, you know?
- Yeah, I wonder
- How they impacted things
I think it'll be
really interesting to see
- It's a little scary
- how everybody reacts
I hope that it makes, if anything,
Bat feel better about what happened,
you know? and not worse
- Miriam?
- Yeah?
Is that Shlomo?
- Hey
- [Miriam] Hey, what's up?
- Take my seat. I'm just headed out
- [Shlomo] Oh
Good to see you, babe. Peace
- I'll talk to you later
- [Robert] Yeah. See you soon
Peace out, Butter Scout
How was your day?
- Today was good. A little work
- Nice, nice. What kind of work?
- LSAT?
- LSA
Yeah. [laughing]
- Yeah
- How's it going?
Good. What you up to now?
Might get drinks with some friends later
You want to join?
- Yeah
- Yeah?
Sounds good
So, uh, did you see Ima's post?
- No
- No?
- No
- Oh, um
What was her post?
Ima posted a picture
with her publisher about her book
[suspenseful music playing]
- Interesting
- So now it's getting real
Yeah, totally
What do you think about it?
Um, I mean, like, I think Ima should
totally share her story, you know?
It's hard for me to hide from Shlomo
the fact that I have the book
And I don't want to lie,
but I also don't want
to break my trust with my mom,
and I want to keep her secrets
How do you feel about it?
- From, like, I guess, 2012 and on
- Mm-hmm
all for it
But, like,
things that are more family-oriented,
I mean, I don't know if I really want
that, like, being out there
What about the other siblings?
I'm sure it's gonna be
uncomfortable for Batsheva,
by reading the parts, uh, that happened,
like the time period
she wasn't talking with Ima
Mm
- To see what Ima's feelings were
- I don't know, yeah
- Might be a little hard
- I guess we'll find out
- I guess we'll find out
- Yeah
[upbeat music playing]
- Are you [laughing]
- "Home test for men."
- Okay, let me see what this is
- [laughing]
So, this one is,
like, a prick of the finger
I think I should just remind you
that this was all your idea
Blood sample. All right, let's do this
Ready? Hold on
Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Look at this
Let me get paper towels 'cause I feel like
this might get a little messy
[groans]
I hate pricks on the finger
'cause, I don't know, they're little,
they're tiny, and I'm nervous
[deep breath]
But if he'll feel more comfortable
with us waiting
if I take this fertility test,
then let's do it
[Ben] Here we go
[Batsheva] No. Just, put it on so I feel
that it's coming, and then
No, no, that's too on the side
- There
- Okay
[inhales sharply] Ow!
It really stings
Do not let this blood
drop of blood go to waste
I can't believe we have
to fill up this whole fucking tube
Oh, my God
- [Ben] Might have to do it again
- No, we're not
No, Ben, that's not funny. Ow
God, this is so hard
[Batsheva] It's gonna drop again. See?
You missed that whole big droplet
- Don't understand why make it so tiny
- I'm gonna throw up, actually
I need a second
- Are you for real?
- Yes
- You're really lightheaded?
- This is a lot, Bat. It's a lot of blood
I know,
it's coming out of my fucking finger
[Ben] This is disgusting
Ow
- [Ben] You're good. You're filled up
- Are you sure?
[Ben] Yeah, it's at the top
Oh, no!
- Oh my
- Are you fucking kidding me right now?
- Sorry
- Can I have a kiss? For my boo-boo?
- [kisses]
- Okay
Okay. All right
Congratulations, you've been tested
- Now you're up
- I'm sorry?
I said you're up
This is my turn. You have to listen
to my rules. Okay?
I'm in charge
I don't want to do it
Like jerk off on camera
You can go into the bathroom
unless you wanted me to join you
- I'm okay, thank you
- See you go into the cup. [laughing]
It looks like
when I get, like, a side of ketchup
- [Batsheva] Oh, my God
- at a restaurant
Normally, you're not allowed to waste
anything, waste any of your sperm
So in the ultra-orthodox community,
yeah, you are not allowed to
They call "wasting your seed."
Like, you're not allowed to, you know,
masturbate, or have ejaculation
outside of your marital intercourse
For medical reasons and for,
you know, situations such as these,
it's it's acceptable
- As you wish
- This was your idea. Let's remember
- I'm kinda regretting that now
- Shoot. Do well in there
- [Ben exhales heavily]
- You got this
Ben!
- [Ben] What do you want?
- Should I send you a pic?
- No, I'm good. I'm okay. Thank you
- [laughing]
[Ben] This is ridiculous
[toilet flushing]
- [Batsheva] How'd it go in there?
- That was rough
- [laughing]
- I don't want to talk about it
- Where is it?
- In the bathroom
- I have to get it?
- This is your project
This all better be okay
because I'm never doing that again
- Never?
- Nope
Strong words. I mean, actually,
this part for me was really fun
[upbeat music playing]
- [Miriam] Should we do one more round?
- Yeah
two, three, four, five, six, seven
So, those are topic cards
Heyo
- [Miriam] Hey!
- [Shlomo] Hey
- How's it going?
- [Shlomo] Good, trying this new game
It's like Cards Against Humanity,
but the Jewish edition
- You definitely need a third person
- Yes
[Shlomo] My card's bad
Why is your card bad?
You have seven to choose from
- [Shlomo] I know, but
- Okay
"The reason I got kicked out
of Hebrew school
was ignoring your Rabbi's friend request,
pretending shrimp is kosher."
Look at me, I'm the best Jew!
I should have done mine
"Splitting her Red Sea."
Oh! [laughing]
- [cell phone vibrates]
- [phone keyboard clacking]
Who are you texting, Bat? Someone cute?
[Batsheva] Did you guys see the post
that Ima posted about her book coming out?
[playful music playing]
I mean, I know Ima's going to be writing
a lot about her sex situations
Most people don't want to read
about their parents' sex lives
Weird! I'm not reading the book, so
So I'm planning on reading the book,
'cause there was, like, a couple of years
where we didn't know what was happening
And so, you're not curious?
I felt abandoned over those years,
so, like, to hear all the things
that she was busy doing,
like, I don't think that
It wouldn't be healthy for me to read it
and to resurface those feelings
My mom feels that the reason
that I have an issue
with her leaving the community
is because she did teach me
to follow this religion,
and then one day she was just like,
"I don't believe any of this
You shouldn't believe it either,"
and that that's my only issue
But what she doesn't realize is,
on top of that,
I also felt really abandoned
when she left
We really lost our relationship
I just like It's just weird to me
It feels like this different person
I don't need to know that other person
I know the person she is today
I never felt it was necessary to bring up
my feelings of anger towards her,
and my biggest fear about this book
is I'm gonna be forced in a corner
where I have to discuss our relationship
when we weren't in a good place
and we just weren't talking
The way I feel is just different
You know, I kind of want to know
what it was like for her
in those times
when it seemed all cheerful
[Batsheva] You have
a different relationship
- Right
- Has she said something to you?
- [tense music playing]
- [Miriam] Um
Um, not about that particularly
- Well
- I mean, at the end of the day,
like, none of us actually know
what's going to be in it
My stomach literally just dropped,
because I really want to talk
to my siblings about this book,
but I can't
So, yeah, time will tell
- [Shlomo] Time will tell
- when it comes out
But yeah, I did want to talk
to you about, like, our conversation
that we had at Rob's party
Like, we left a little bit on,
like, not the best note,
but, like, the whole reason
that I brought it up at all to you
was that, like, I'm your big sister,
and I always want to protect you
- Totally, totally understand
- Okay
Always share your opinions with me
- Okay. Love you
- [Miriam] Love you too
[intriguing music playing]
Let me get a plate
A fork and knife for you
When you don't have pancakes
and you want some bread
[Julia laughing]
I love your creations
Have some cinnamon
Oh, my God
On the side so you can decide
how much you want
So I'm just cutting it and
- Dipping it
- Dipping it
- Mm! It's really good!
- Right?
- That's actually really good
- I got you, Mama
Um
- So, you know you gave me your memoir
- Did you read it?
Let's just say I definitely did not
sleep too much last night
Why?
Bat and Shlomo asked me if I read it,
and so I had to say no
- Oh, my God
- Yeah
I'm sorry
I didn't want Miriam to tell anyone
because I haven't edited a single word
I just wrote it as it came out of my mind,
and my plan was
to show it to my other kids
once I gentle down some things,
once I tone down some language
Of course I was going
to tell them, I just
You know, it's it's difficult
I feel really badly
asking Miriam to keep it a secret
because now I've put her in a position
where she is uncomfortable
I'm finally in such a good place
with Batsheva
- Right
- We've really repaired our relationship
I just don't want it
to, like, backtrack, you know?
- Um
- They'd want to hear about it from you
No, of course
Well, I'm gonna fix it
Hey, there's one thing you can say
is we have a very interesting life
Yeah
If I could ♪
I would take my time ♪
Nah-nah-nah-nah ♪
The family is going
to the Hamptons this weekend
It was supposed to be
this relaxing, chill by the pool,
warm sunshine, tennis kind of weekend,
and I am now,
officially, freaking the fuck out
I've decided I have to now give Batsheva
and Shlomo the unedited manuscript
and to bite the bullet
and hope for the best
[upbeat music playing]
- Thank you. And this part
- [Ben] You getting in the water?
[Miriam] Shlomo, how's swiping going?
- Um, it's still
- [Ben] Swiper, no swiping?
- I'm swiping
- [Batsheva] Are you?
People aren't swiping back
No
We told you,
we need to update your profile
Okay, so, uh, what are you waiting for?
All right. Strike a pose
Pull your shorts up
so you can't see your boxers
- Problematic
- [Miriam] Why are you wearing boxers?
Your legs like, Ben's legs are too open
They're gonna get annoyed about that
And don't slouch
[Ben] Yeah!
- But don't be like
- I don't like that either
- [Ben] No
- [Miriam] Get it!
No, this isn't a fashion photo shoot
We're trying to make you look
cool and nice and relatable
- Approachable but
- No, don't do that
Yes, bro, get it!
Yaas!
Yeah. Hey, broski!
- [Batsheva] What's up?
- [Ben] Hey
[Julia] Hey, guys!
Look at everybody
Having a good time?
How was your helicopter ride?
[Julia] Easy as always
What happened to the sun?
We just get here and the sun goes away?
Well, if you drove up with us
- [mocking noises]
- If you came earlier, then maybe
[thunder rumbling]
- [Silvio] Storm is coming here, eh?
- [Julia] I hear that thunder
It'll be here in, like, five minutes
[thunder rumbling]
[Julia] It's really coming. Oh, my gosh
- It's about to pour
- [all] Let's go
- [Silvio chuckling]
- [Julia] I love you
[kisses] Thank you
for always being there for me
Remember it tonight
- Love you
- [Robert] Knock, knock!
[Julia and Silvio, in Italian accent]
Roberto!
Of course! Here is Roberto!
You look so chic, Mr. Hamptons!
Hey
[Julia] Super chic!
- One more kiss
- [Silvio] Yes
Yes, one more kiss
[kissing]
- Thank you. I love you so much
- Robert, it's all yours
Yes, thank you, Silvio
So, I'm going to need your help tonight
- Why, what's happening tonight?
- I'm gonna show the kids the manuscript
You want to do that
right before a relaxing weekend?
What are you trying to do to us?
It was perfectly sunshiny
I just start thinking about the fact
that I'm telling them,
and you don't understand,
there was a massive explosion of water
coming from the sky
- And of course, I don't believe in omens
- I believe in omens
Literally like [explosion sound]
like that
I keep on telling myself
that they are loving kids,
that they're gonna understand
my need for the book,
but my other part is thinking
Batsheva's never gonna speak to me again
- I'm going to serve a lot of alcohol
- Yeah, I was just going to say
There's going to be wine
I'm going to do it by dessert,
so hopefully everyone will
be a little sleepy
- Fat and happy
- Fat and happy
We're going for a a comatose audience
- Exactly
- I see that, I see that
Very strategic
- [suspenseful music playing]
- [rain pouring]
[indistinct conversations]
- Beautiful
- Thank you
- [Shlomo] Robert is here
- [Robert] I feel like I'm at a water park
Scooch in
so I can just, like, not get wet
- It's nice. Something very cozy about it
- [Ben] Calming, yeah
[Batsheva] I'll have some more
- [Silvio] These tomatoes
- [Julia] Tomatoes are incredible
What's not kosher?
This is the only plate
on the whole table that's not kosher
You know the food is really good
when it's quiet
- because everyone's eating
- Oh wow
You guys want to share the whispers?
What's happening?
- Um you say it, it's your thing
- It's my thing?
- [Batsheva] Yeah
- [Ben] Okay
We recently took a fertility test
[uneasy music playing]
- Uh
- Well, I told you about how Ben
wanted to have a baby, like
Ben, I thought we're not pressuring
Batsheva to have babies
Didn't we have this conversation,
you and I?
We had discussed not having kids
for a few years when we first got married
For like five years, we didn't, like
It was We were both
I mean, the three of us, we mutually
agreed on that, it was all great
And then, more recently,
like in the past 18 months or so,
we've sort of really developed into who
we want to be for the rest of our lives
We're very comfortable with where we are,
it brought up the conversation
- [Batsheva] He brought it up again
- Now
- Okay
- [laughing]
I would never, ever, ever
want her to feel pressured,
'cause having a child together
changes everything
- Your life is going to be basically over
- Right. It changes
It's not over. I don't want to have
this discussion. No, thank you
Let's make a bet. You're gonna have
a baby, you're gonna call me,
and you're gonna be like,
"Oh, my God. You're so right."
Your greatest joy in life,
you always say your children
- Yes
- So I want to do that in my life
So whenever you say those comments,
it really bothers me
- Please don't make those comments
- [Julia] I want you to have children
But every single time it's brought up,
you make the same comment
- You are too young, too young
- [Ben] Still making the "too young"
- [music stops]
- [rain pouring]
[Ben] I understand you want to wait,
we are living this incredible life
and we're very fortunate, but
to sort of help me
be comfortable with that,
I would feel comfortable
if we just knew that there wasn't a clock
Like, do your fish swim?
- Oh, God
- [Ben] Yeah
Everything is okay
- Yay! That's amazing!
- [Ben] Thank you
[Julia] No babies! Not yet!
I've got PTSD. I had babies up the wazoo
You want to have children?
Great. Wait until you hit 30
[thunder rumbling]
[Julia] Before you guys
talk about having babies
- [Batsheva] What is this?
- [Ben] Okay
I see my name
So, I know that you guys know
that I'm writing a book
- [suspenseful music playing]
- Now this is the unedited manuscript
So, I'm going to give them to you to read
I gave it to Miriam first a few days ago
I figured if she freaks out,
then I'm not giving it to anyone else
I will wait for the final version,
the clean, you know,
more appropriate version,
and then I'll give it to everyone else
I love you guys more
than anything on the planet
Everything I have done,
I have brought you with me
and I have done to make your lives better
Um, you very kindly mentioned
that you had given it to Miriam
Why was that?
[Julia] Honestly, the reason
that I gave it to Miriam first,
um, is because I figured Miriam
would have more of an ease
of reading the whole book
Like, right now, you're trusting
all of us to have the book
So I don't really understand why
giving it to me now
is different than giving it to me
three days ago
I didn't know whether I should give you
the unedited or the edited version
I feel lied to that she totally ignored
the fact that you gave her the book
and she knew about the book
We should be given
the opportunity to decide
if we're gonna be okay with something
Guys, you have to realize
this is new territory
I understand it's new territory
No one was trying to hurt you
You want to be part of the process, right?
No. No, no
I just don't want to be lied to
[thunder rumbling]
[closing theme music playing]
[suspenseful music playing]
[knocking on door]
- [Miriam] Can I talk to you?
- Yeah, come in. How you doing?
- Good. Good to see you, Pops
- Good to see you
- Your hair's so long!
- Yeah, it's getting long
- Yeah, yeah
- Yeah
Um, actually I wanted to talk to you
about something
Sure, sure
Um, so, mm I've been wanting
to tell you this for a while,
but it was just hard for me,
I guess, to, like, bring it up,
but pretty much, I want to change
my last name to Haart
[suspenseful music playing]
Look, I-I see you're using
the Haart username in social media
- Mm-hmm
- It's like an entertainment name
You know, people in Hollywood,
they have, like, a persona
Yeah, it's not a persona
I want this name to be my legal name
I don't want to be associated with places
that I wasn't allowed to sing freely
- You sing here, with me
- Right, but only us two can sing together
But if another man came to this room,
it wasn't appropriate
That is that's painful to me
I guess, like, Haart, to me,
does, like, represent more of my life now
It is sad that the last name
makes you think of those memories
You know, names have a lot of meaning
There's always something
central of who you are,
that we identify with as a family
You know, your
your-your name is Miriam Hendler
I don't want
to be associated with that anymore
Everyone has free will,
so, you know, for you to choose a name
that, you know, gives you a better feeling
of where you are today,
I-I'll respect that
That's fine, that's fine. I love you
You're my daughter
- Mm-hmm. Thanks, Abba
- I'll always be there for you
- Okay
- That's it. [laughing]
- I'm very lucky to have you
- [uplifting music playing]
Aw. Thanks, Abba
I think my dad hit a point
where he knows where I'm at,
and so I'm so happy
that I got this off my chest,
and he knows that this is a path
I'm going down,
and that this path isn't going to change
- Hey
- Hey, how'd it go?
I think it went okay
- [Julia] Yeah?
- Yeah
Looks like your conversation
went a lot better than ours
Why, what's this face?
What is this face happening?
Don't be nice
because I'm gonna start to cry
- No, I don't want you to cry
- I love you
I love you too. Is everything okay?
Do you know that he went backwards again?
He's not talking to girls
He broke up with his girlfriend
Not watching television
We're right back where we started
We're not back where we started
It's just gonna be a phase
I fucking hope so
I'm blaming myself
for Aron becoming more fundamentalist
because it all happened in camp
that I paid for,
which annoys the whatever out of me
I mean, how dumb is that?
Ugh!
- He's gonna pray
- [Miriam] Right now?
[Julia] Yup
I just gotta believe ♪
I just gotta believe ♪
Throw it in the fire
Yeah this ♪
Is all that I need ♪
Just gotta believe ♪
[Batsheva] Oh my God, no way! [laughing]
- Wow
- That was ten
- On two
- One
- Okay
- Come get
Come get me, come get me! I'm gonna drop
[laughing]
I finally feel like I'm in a place
mentally and socially,
and just experiences-wise
and and work-wise,
like, I'm really happy
with where things are right now
[humorous music playing]
That's such a cute baby
I think babies are cute,
they just don't give me baby fever
[Ben] Such a cute baby
I feel like if I would get pregnant now,
like, I would I would regret it
I don't want to have a baby right now
What's the rush?
It's not a rush. It's been eight years
Ben would've had a baby,
if it was up to him,
when we were probably, like, 22
I feel that I did
the "married thing" young, at 19,
and I never had
any single years as an adult,
so I feel like I need a little extra time
than maybe some people
On top of being nervous
about you changing your mind,
I'm also nervous
about us possibly not being able to
Like, "Oh yeah, I'm young,
I'll get pregnant right away."
And for a lot of people,
it doesn't happen right away
I'm not going to pressure her
And if she still wants to wait,
at the end of the day,
she's going to be the one that has to
"have the baby," so it's her decision
I would just feel more comfortable
and secure in waiting
if we did something like a fertility test
or something
That's fine
If that'll make you feel better
- Like, I'm
- I would be at least a little comfortable
But if I'm get tested,
you're getting tested
- I don't have a problem with that
- Okay
That would be fine
I think that's healthy for both of us
Okay. I feel like that's fair
For now. Until you tell me it's 35
- It's not 35
- [kisses]
[upbeat music playing]
[Julia] Tomorrow, I need a meeting
with Mark. Probably 30 minutes
- [woman on phone] Okay
- The last thing is
I want a few minutes
with Anthony and Robert
- Thanks, my dear. Talk later. Mwah, bye
- Bye
- [Miriam] Hey, Mama. How are you doing?
- How's your internship?
- I have a question
- Which reminds me
There should be something in the app
where you can send questions
- A support page
- Like a support page
- Oh, yeah. 100%
- 'Cause right now there is nothing
Okay. Yeah, no, every app that I've made
has an "about" or "support"
or "feedback" button at least
Right now I'm interning at Elite
I really enjoy it
They're giving me projects
I'm super passionate about
And currently what I'm doing is working
on the Elite Model Look app
The app kinda sucks right now,
and so I'm giving it a giant facelift,
breaking it down and rebuilding it up
Once I have more of a rough draft,
I'll show it to you
You can approve or disapprove of whatever,
and I can iterate based on that
And again, the concept is good
The colors are good
because those are our colors
But it's just not user-friendly
The experience needs
to be re-vamped, yeah
[Robert] Libby is here
- [Julia] Oh, my God
- Wait. Who's Libby?
[Judy] My editor
who's publishing my memoir
- [Miriam] My goodness
- I know
- That's so cool, Mama
- [Robert] So exciting!
Aah! I'm so nervous
I wrote my story
This is my unedited,
completely, totally untouched,
stream-of-consciousness
cathartic brain dump of a manuscript
My entire story
up to the time I walked into La Perla
and beginning before I was born
- Cradle it, cradle it. Show it love
- Cradle it?
- What a weirdo
- [chuckles]
- Is this good?
- It's perfect
- Should I breastfeed it?
- Please don't do that
- Hey!
- Hello! How are you?
Oh my gosh, I'm so happy
to finally meet you in person
- Hello
- This is my daughter Miriam
[both] Nice to meet you
I thought it'd be interesting for her
to come and sit in
- Totally. That's awesome
- See the process
How are you feeling about it?
- Uh I'm almost done
- She's been writing like a fiend
Awesome. That's what
an editor loves to hear
I want young female readers
specifically to come to it
and see sort of what you went through
and to be empowered by that story
Because it isn't about Judaism,
it's really about fundamentalism,
it can apply to any kind
of fundamentalist upbringing
It can apply to any religion,
any philosophy,
any lifestyle where women are less than
- [gentle piano music playing]
- My hope is that it's an inspiring story
that will help other women,
whatever their situation is,
that they should realize that it's not
too late or that they're never too old,
or that whatever it is can be overcome,
because honestly if I can do it,
anyone can
And so I felt that it was important
to tell my story
You know, my experience,
even though it's a very extreme one,
there's so many women
who have a very similar experience
Maybe not to that extent,
but in their own lives,
they've got people holding them back,
telling them
what they're not allowed to do
So I do think
that it's important to tell the truth
But how do we balance that out
with not hurting people?
- You have to just put it out there
- [Julia] Right
- I was ridiculously honest
- I'm so happy. And you were
- "Yes, you were." I was
- You were!
Leaving the community was freedom
in every direction, sexual freedom
I think to ignore that sexual part
would be a mistake
But yeah, am I gonna be uncomfortable
that Joe Schmoe is gonna know
that, you know,
I scored in bed or something?
[laughing]
[Libby] I wasn't going to bring it up,
but since you did
- [Robert groans]
- My sexuality is a problem for you?
Doesn't my sexuality make you nauseous?
I was hoping it was reciprocal
Not at all. I'm so excited
- I want you to have relationships
- Just enthused by it
I'm enthused by thinking
about you being happy
[Robert] I hope you're happy
I don't necessarily need to think
about the intricacies of that happiness
- [Julia] Mm-hmm
- [Robert] Mm-hmm. [laughing]
[Libby laughing]
I already knew that
I don't know how that came in
Don't tell me that!
- [Robert] Help us, Lord
- Oh, my God
[Libby] I think that's great
'cause I think a big part of this
is an empowering document
in so many ways,
and this is a feminist story
In order to tell my story,
I have to say certain negative things
about my family, my upbringing
We need to really be careful
that I don't harm anyone in the process
So I think sooner rather than later,
it's really important
to let the people who are in the book,
let them know that this is coming
[Julia] The one I'll have the most
difficulty with could be Batsheva
When I left my community, it was
tremendously difficult for Batsheva
because I was the embodiment
frum tznius Rebbetzin
in my community
And all of a sudden, I was going against
every single thing I had taught her
So, you know, she was very cold because
she didn't understand what was going on,
and she was angry at me, justifiably so
I think, yeah,
what you're doing is so important
and sharing your story really matters
And so I think that nobody should stop you
from writing it as it is
It's
I am concerned that Batsheva
reliving, through my words,
that time period
when we were in such a bad place,
uh, it could bring back bad memories,
and I don't want it to damage
our relationship now
I think that's where it gets a bit tricky
I do have to tell my truth,
but I have to be sensitive to my children
- Libby, this has been great
- I'm so excited. [chuckles]
Can I get a picture
for Instagram before we go?
- [Libby] Sure. Let's do it
- Of the two of you?
Awesome
It's great
- Thank you so much
- All right. Follow me this way
- Now we just have to tell the kids
- Yeah
- How do you think it'll really go?
- I don't know, I haven't read the book
- And I think
- I think Ben will read it, and then Bat
Ben's very curious
Yeah, Ben will be curious
He's gonna want to read it
Bat, I'm worried! I'm worried that
she's gonna get super angry at me
- Maybe I should give it to you first
- Okay
And then you read it
and tell me how you think it'll go
when I give it to the other kids
But you can't tell the kids
I gave it to you first
- Mm
- And circle or, like, star paragraphs
that you think could be problematic
- With the kids or in general?
- With the kids
I'm really excited
to read your story. Seriously
All right. I've got my next meeting now
I'm excited to read it, Mama
It's gonna be amazing
- I love you
- Thanks, my love. I love you too
Stuck up in your mind
In the sunny boulevard, hey! ♪
Stuck up in your mind
In the sunny boulevard, hey! ♪
- Hey
- Hey
[guests all greeting]
- [Ben] Hello!
- [Batsheva] Hey!
[Ben] How are you? Hi
Looks really good
[indistinct conversations]
- [Aron] Good?
- Yeah. You look very handsome
Decided to pull out all the stops
with your hat today?
Ima decided
[all chuckle]
Hi
- Hey, love of my life
- Hello. [kisses]
- How are you?
- I told you it was a small party
- Yes. Okay
- [Julia laughing]
[Julia] Today we're celebrating
Robert's birthday
He doesn't know
that I've invited his friends,
a bunch of the people at work
that he's close to
He's going to be shocked
Fingers crossed
[Jennifer] He can wait a second
- [Katherine] Hello
- [Batsheva] Hey, Mir
Hey, how are you? It's good to see you
- This is Katherine. You guys met one time
- How's it going?
Yes, we did meet. You look really pretty
Katherine and I just started
going on dates together,
and so coming to Robert's party,
it was exciting for us to just
be together, especially even in public
But I'm kind of just
having fun with Katherine
We're not in anything serious
I'm not really looking
for anything serious
I kind of just wanted to invite her
as my plus-one
Who do you think is best dressed?
Who do I think is best dressed? Well
My little brother
Aron's hat is so cool. I love Aron's hat
- Hi
- [Miriam] It's so chic
Julia?
[indistinct conversations]
[Batsheva] Is Robert here?
[guests cheering and applauding]
Oh, my God, guys!
Robert!
Oh, my God, I thought this
was going to be a casual affair
It's a good thing
you didn't dress casually!
- Well, I mean, we never wear sweats!
- [Batsheva] No
- Oh, you never! Thank you so much
- This is a very small gathering
- [Robert] A very casual affair
- A few people
What about you, Aron?
You're about to go to a co-ed high school
- Yeah
- So exciting
Are you excited
to be amongst all the ladies?
Nope
You gonna be distracted
by all the the female bodies around you?
I find it weird to be learning with girls
[Julia] Aron is such a kind kid
He's just trying to do
what he was taught was right
So what I realized is I need to counteract
the influence he had at camp,
and the only way to counteract that
is to expose him to other influences
[Katherine]
You're making him uncomfortable
I am. Yeah, I'll stop
- You guys work at Elite?
- No, these are Robert's friends
College friends
At Manhattan School of Music
- Love it
- [Shlomo] You do a little opera?
I mean, I did opera too, but I'm a bass
I'm a very low voice
[Batsheva and Shlomo] Cool
- [Jennifer] I'm okay
- Thank you
[Jennifer] So tell me all about her
She was friends with Miriam met her,
like, through a Stanford friend
Okay
And I guess they're
they're going strong now
I 100% support Miriam if she really says
that she feels she's bisexual
and she wants to be with a woman
Um, I think Miriam's having fun
and hanging out
[Katherine] You have a little lipstick
[Batsheva] I'm just a little taken back
that she decides to do this
in front of all of her bosses
She's definitely different
from me in that regard
I don't want to know. Hm-mm. No, no, no
Ladies and gentlemen,
I invite you to go upstairs to the rooftop
for another Robert surprise
[all cheering]
[Batsheva] Mir, can I grab you
before you go out?
Sure
- What's up? Everything okay?
- [Batsheva] Yeah, you can just sit
- Okay
- How's it going? Love the outfit
- Thank you
- You look super cute
Thank you, so do you. [chuckling]
Watching you for for boobage
How's it going with Katherine?
We're just casually dating
Nothing serious at all
So, we're just having a good time
with each other
- That's nice
- Yeah
[Robert] Look at Mitzi! Aww!
[Julia laughs]
Mommy!
Robert, you need to sit here
- [Robert] Okay, let's go, Mom
- [Julia] You can bring Mommy
Come sit right over here
What do I do?
Open, baby, open!
[screams]
[laughing]
[guests cheering]
Oh, my God. One treatment of your choice
What will I have snatched?
[all laughing]
- [Miriam] What's up?
- As your big sister, I love you
- I care about you
- I know you do
And I just want you to be mindful
Okay
For instance, like when I saw you,
like, making out on the couch before
- Yeah
- I understand you're having a good time,
but, like, you just had this girl
like five seconds ago
from Ima's fashion show,
- and now you have this other girl
- Right
Ima's, like, big executive people
from Elite are here, right?
You don't want them getting
that, like, vibe from you. Like, I feel
If anything, I think
it's, like, fine to be bisexual
Not the bisexual thing,
nothing to do with kissing a girl
I wouldn't sit there on the couch
making out with Ben
But you're just very not PDA,
and I just don't care as much
Like, whatever
I don't think I should
stop doing what I want
based on what society thinks is too much
I'm trying to be myself,
and that's what's most important
That, to me, is what I fought
with my mom to do
[Batsheva] When I turned over,
it seemed like it was a serious
- You're on the couch, leaning back
- No, we weren't leaning back
- It was just a kiss
- It seemed like it from here
So, just again, just not appropriate
for the for the moment
Or, slash, in front of your bosses
Okay
I have one more little surprise for you
Because I did not want you
to sing for your supper,
I brought someone else
to perform in your place
- [singing opera]
- [guests gasping]
- [Robert yelling excitedly]
- [guests cheering]
[all cheering]
I'm so surprised by everything
that's happening at this party
It's not at all what I expected
The event is heartfelt
I felt really loved and so happy
to be there and just, you know
Every moment I feel like I'm part
of your family, part of your life,
- it makes me feel warm and happy
- I love you, Robert
So, I'm feeling good!
- [Shequida] I hear you're an opera singer
- A little
Come here. Come, touch me
There's children in the room
Sorry, young man, how are you?
[singing opera]
[Shequida] Here comes the high note
[both singing high note]
Shabbos
- [Ben] Okay
- So
- Should we go?
- Yeah, we're just gonna go
- [Shlomo] Good Shabbos
- Good Shabbos. [kissing]
- Love you. [kisses]
- I love you, too, Mom
- [Ben] Did you talk to Miriam?
- [Batsheva] Yeah
- How did it go?
- It didn't go as well
It didn't go as well?
No, she got a little heated
[upbeat song playing]
You here, Mir?
- [Miriam] 'Sup?
- Hey
Hey
Are you alone?
I'm alone
I have something that your mom said
you can only see first
Oh, my goodness. That! Oh, my God
Manuscript, baby. You want to read
through a little bit of it?
Um fuck, yeah. Seriously
One of the most important things for me
is having my mom's trust
And so she wants me not to tell
my siblings that I'm reading the book,
and I'm okay with that,
because at the end of day,
what's most important to me
is to keep my mom's trust and loyalty
I'm just going to start from the beginning
'cause I literally never learned
about Ima's, like, history or past,
she never talked too much about it
[Robert laughing]
I'm literally going to poke my eyes out
and, like, feed them to birds
Let me read you
this very important section
- Okay, okay
- Okay?
"After our wedding,
it was finally time to have sex!"
[laughing]
- Praise the Lord!
- Praise the Lord!
We're talking about your dad
- Oh, God
- "I got naked."
"I'd never seen a penis before."
"I wanted to know how it would feel
- [Miriam groaning]
- what it would be like to touch it,
- to hold it in my hand."
- Oh, my God!
- Oh, God
- Don't say my dad's name
"I was fascinated by how"
Please just say any other person's name
"John grew large and hard
when he saw my naked body."
Why are you reading this?
I'm sure your mom's
20-year-old naked body
- was snatched for the gods
- What?
Whoo, Lord
[exhales]
Hot. Very hot
"He tried entering me
but he wasn't hard enough
- Oy
- and so my hymen didn't break,
and all I felt as he moved back and forth
inside of me was discomfort."
- Oh God
- I'm I'm feeling discomfort
- It gets worse. You want to hear it?
- Oh God
I wonder how much of this book
is going to be that?
Okay, let's keep going
- Ooh, I just found my name!
- You did?
Yeah, should I read it?
- Yeah, read it
- Okay
"My daughter Miriam was a born rebel
She wanted to forge her own path."
"She always questioned everything
Literally everything."
"She was always in trouble for asking
questions that were inappropriate."
Wait. Do you remember doing that
and being there?
Yeah. No, I totally like always said,
"Why do women have to wear skirts?"
Like, also, "Why can't women sing?"
And "Why can't women do this?"
- Yeah. I always just asked why
- Mm
- Keep going
- Okay
"And so, out of the mouth
of my very brave little daughter
came pouring out all the questions
I'd been asking myself my entire life."
"Why should my life be so small?"
"Why should women be ashamed
and cover their bodies and skin?"
Did you read it this way?
Like, she's saying you're the impetus
for her shift in mindset
She was kind of the same way
as me when she was younger,
and she didn't want me
to repeat the same life she did
And so that was one of the reasons
why she was able to get out
I guess it was a team effort, you know?
Without her, I wouldn't be here,
and I guess without me,
she wouldn't be here either
I wonder what, like, Ima wrote
about the other siblings too, you know?
- Yeah, I wonder
- How they impacted things
I think it'll be
really interesting to see
- It's a little scary
- how everybody reacts
I hope that it makes, if anything,
Bat feel better about what happened,
you know? and not worse
- Miriam?
- Yeah?
Is that Shlomo?
- Hey
- [Miriam] Hey, what's up?
- Take my seat. I'm just headed out
- [Shlomo] Oh
Good to see you, babe. Peace
- I'll talk to you later
- [Robert] Yeah. See you soon
Peace out, Butter Scout
How was your day?
- Today was good. A little work
- Nice, nice. What kind of work?
- LSAT?
- LSA
Yeah. [laughing]
- Yeah
- How's it going?
Good. What you up to now?
Might get drinks with some friends later
You want to join?
- Yeah
- Yeah?
Sounds good
So, uh, did you see Ima's post?
- No
- No?
- No
- Oh, um
What was her post?
Ima posted a picture
with her publisher about her book
[suspenseful music playing]
- Interesting
- So now it's getting real
Yeah, totally
What do you think about it?
Um, I mean, like, I think Ima should
totally share her story, you know?
It's hard for me to hide from Shlomo
the fact that I have the book
And I don't want to lie,
but I also don't want
to break my trust with my mom,
and I want to keep her secrets
How do you feel about it?
- From, like, I guess, 2012 and on
- Mm-hmm
all for it
But, like,
things that are more family-oriented,
I mean, I don't know if I really want
that, like, being out there
What about the other siblings?
I'm sure it's gonna be
uncomfortable for Batsheva,
by reading the parts, uh, that happened,
like the time period
she wasn't talking with Ima
Mm
- To see what Ima's feelings were
- I don't know, yeah
- Might be a little hard
- I guess we'll find out
- I guess we'll find out
- Yeah
[upbeat music playing]
- Are you [laughing]
- "Home test for men."
- Okay, let me see what this is
- [laughing]
So, this one is,
like, a prick of the finger
I think I should just remind you
that this was all your idea
Blood sample. All right, let's do this
Ready? Hold on
Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Look at this
Let me get paper towels 'cause I feel like
this might get a little messy
[groans]
I hate pricks on the finger
'cause, I don't know, they're little,
they're tiny, and I'm nervous
[deep breath]
But if he'll feel more comfortable
with us waiting
if I take this fertility test,
then let's do it
[Ben] Here we go
[Batsheva] No. Just, put it on so I feel
that it's coming, and then
No, no, that's too on the side
- There
- Okay
[inhales sharply] Ow!
It really stings
Do not let this blood
drop of blood go to waste
I can't believe we have
to fill up this whole fucking tube
Oh, my God
- [Ben] Might have to do it again
- No, we're not
No, Ben, that's not funny. Ow
God, this is so hard
[Batsheva] It's gonna drop again. See?
You missed that whole big droplet
- Don't understand why make it so tiny
- I'm gonna throw up, actually
I need a second
- Are you for real?
- Yes
- You're really lightheaded?
- This is a lot, Bat. It's a lot of blood
I know,
it's coming out of my fucking finger
[Ben] This is disgusting
Ow
- [Ben] You're good. You're filled up
- Are you sure?
[Ben] Yeah, it's at the top
Oh, no!
- Oh my
- Are you fucking kidding me right now?
- Sorry
- Can I have a kiss? For my boo-boo?
- [kisses]
- Okay
Okay. All right
Congratulations, you've been tested
- Now you're up
- I'm sorry?
I said you're up
This is my turn. You have to listen
to my rules. Okay?
I'm in charge
I don't want to do it
Like jerk off on camera
You can go into the bathroom
unless you wanted me to join you
- I'm okay, thank you
- See you go into the cup. [laughing]
It looks like
when I get, like, a side of ketchup
- [Batsheva] Oh, my God
- at a restaurant
Normally, you're not allowed to waste
anything, waste any of your sperm
So in the ultra-orthodox community,
yeah, you are not allowed to
They call "wasting your seed."
Like, you're not allowed to, you know,
masturbate, or have ejaculation
outside of your marital intercourse
For medical reasons and for,
you know, situations such as these,
it's it's acceptable
- As you wish
- This was your idea. Let's remember
- I'm kinda regretting that now
- Shoot. Do well in there
- [Ben exhales heavily]
- You got this
Ben!
- [Ben] What do you want?
- Should I send you a pic?
- No, I'm good. I'm okay. Thank you
- [laughing]
[Ben] This is ridiculous
[toilet flushing]
- [Batsheva] How'd it go in there?
- That was rough
- [laughing]
- I don't want to talk about it
- Where is it?
- In the bathroom
- I have to get it?
- This is your project
This all better be okay
because I'm never doing that again
- Never?
- Nope
Strong words. I mean, actually,
this part for me was really fun
[upbeat music playing]
- [Miriam] Should we do one more round?
- Yeah
two, three, four, five, six, seven
So, those are topic cards
Heyo
- [Miriam] Hey!
- [Shlomo] Hey
- How's it going?
- [Shlomo] Good, trying this new game
It's like Cards Against Humanity,
but the Jewish edition
- You definitely need a third person
- Yes
[Shlomo] My card's bad
Why is your card bad?
You have seven to choose from
- [Shlomo] I know, but
- Okay
"The reason I got kicked out
of Hebrew school
was ignoring your Rabbi's friend request,
pretending shrimp is kosher."
Look at me, I'm the best Jew!
I should have done mine
"Splitting her Red Sea."
Oh! [laughing]
- [cell phone vibrates]
- [phone keyboard clacking]
Who are you texting, Bat? Someone cute?
[Batsheva] Did you guys see the post
that Ima posted about her book coming out?
[playful music playing]
I mean, I know Ima's going to be writing
a lot about her sex situations
Most people don't want to read
about their parents' sex lives
Weird! I'm not reading the book, so
So I'm planning on reading the book,
'cause there was, like, a couple of years
where we didn't know what was happening
And so, you're not curious?
I felt abandoned over those years,
so, like, to hear all the things
that she was busy doing,
like, I don't think that
It wouldn't be healthy for me to read it
and to resurface those feelings
My mom feels that the reason
that I have an issue
with her leaving the community
is because she did teach me
to follow this religion,
and then one day she was just like,
"I don't believe any of this
You shouldn't believe it either,"
and that that's my only issue
But what she doesn't realize is,
on top of that,
I also felt really abandoned
when she left
We really lost our relationship
I just like It's just weird to me
It feels like this different person
I don't need to know that other person
I know the person she is today
I never felt it was necessary to bring up
my feelings of anger towards her,
and my biggest fear about this book
is I'm gonna be forced in a corner
where I have to discuss our relationship
when we weren't in a good place
and we just weren't talking
The way I feel is just different
You know, I kind of want to know
what it was like for her
in those times
when it seemed all cheerful
[Batsheva] You have
a different relationship
- Right
- Has she said something to you?
- [tense music playing]
- [Miriam] Um
Um, not about that particularly
- Well
- I mean, at the end of the day,
like, none of us actually know
what's going to be in it
My stomach literally just dropped,
because I really want to talk
to my siblings about this book,
but I can't
So, yeah, time will tell
- [Shlomo] Time will tell
- when it comes out
But yeah, I did want to talk
to you about, like, our conversation
that we had at Rob's party
Like, we left a little bit on,
like, not the best note,
but, like, the whole reason
that I brought it up at all to you
was that, like, I'm your big sister,
and I always want to protect you
- Totally, totally understand
- Okay
Always share your opinions with me
- Okay. Love you
- [Miriam] Love you too
[intriguing music playing]
Let me get a plate
A fork and knife for you
When you don't have pancakes
and you want some bread
[Julia laughing]
I love your creations
Have some cinnamon
Oh, my God
On the side so you can decide
how much you want
So I'm just cutting it and
- Dipping it
- Dipping it
- Mm! It's really good!
- Right?
- That's actually really good
- I got you, Mama
Um
- So, you know you gave me your memoir
- Did you read it?
Let's just say I definitely did not
sleep too much last night
Why?
Bat and Shlomo asked me if I read it,
and so I had to say no
- Oh, my God
- Yeah
I'm sorry
I didn't want Miriam to tell anyone
because I haven't edited a single word
I just wrote it as it came out of my mind,
and my plan was
to show it to my other kids
once I gentle down some things,
once I tone down some language
Of course I was going
to tell them, I just
You know, it's it's difficult
I feel really badly
asking Miriam to keep it a secret
because now I've put her in a position
where she is uncomfortable
I'm finally in such a good place
with Batsheva
- Right
- We've really repaired our relationship
I just don't want it
to, like, backtrack, you know?
- Um
- They'd want to hear about it from you
No, of course
Well, I'm gonna fix it
Hey, there's one thing you can say
is we have a very interesting life
Yeah
If I could ♪
I would take my time ♪
Nah-nah-nah-nah ♪
The family is going
to the Hamptons this weekend
It was supposed to be
this relaxing, chill by the pool,
warm sunshine, tennis kind of weekend,
and I am now,
officially, freaking the fuck out
I've decided I have to now give Batsheva
and Shlomo the unedited manuscript
and to bite the bullet
and hope for the best
[upbeat music playing]
- Thank you. And this part
- [Ben] You getting in the water?
[Miriam] Shlomo, how's swiping going?
- Um, it's still
- [Ben] Swiper, no swiping?
- I'm swiping
- [Batsheva] Are you?
People aren't swiping back
No
We told you,
we need to update your profile
Okay, so, uh, what are you waiting for?
All right. Strike a pose
Pull your shorts up
so you can't see your boxers
- Problematic
- [Miriam] Why are you wearing boxers?
Your legs like, Ben's legs are too open
They're gonna get annoyed about that
And don't slouch
[Ben] Yeah!
- But don't be like
- I don't like that either
- [Ben] No
- [Miriam] Get it!
No, this isn't a fashion photo shoot
We're trying to make you look
cool and nice and relatable
- Approachable but
- No, don't do that
Yes, bro, get it!
Yaas!
Yeah. Hey, broski!
- [Batsheva] What's up?
- [Ben] Hey
[Julia] Hey, guys!
Look at everybody
Having a good time?
How was your helicopter ride?
[Julia] Easy as always
What happened to the sun?
We just get here and the sun goes away?
Well, if you drove up with us
- [mocking noises]
- If you came earlier, then maybe
[thunder rumbling]
- [Silvio] Storm is coming here, eh?
- [Julia] I hear that thunder
It'll be here in, like, five minutes
[thunder rumbling]
[Julia] It's really coming. Oh, my gosh
- It's about to pour
- [all] Let's go
- [Silvio chuckling]
- [Julia] I love you
[kisses] Thank you
for always being there for me
Remember it tonight
- Love you
- [Robert] Knock, knock!
[Julia and Silvio, in Italian accent]
Roberto!
Of course! Here is Roberto!
You look so chic, Mr. Hamptons!
Hey
[Julia] Super chic!
- One more kiss
- [Silvio] Yes
Yes, one more kiss
[kissing]
- Thank you. I love you so much
- Robert, it's all yours
Yes, thank you, Silvio
So, I'm going to need your help tonight
- Why, what's happening tonight?
- I'm gonna show the kids the manuscript
You want to do that
right before a relaxing weekend?
What are you trying to do to us?
It was perfectly sunshiny
I just start thinking about the fact
that I'm telling them,
and you don't understand,
there was a massive explosion of water
coming from the sky
- And of course, I don't believe in omens
- I believe in omens
Literally like [explosion sound]
like that
I keep on telling myself
that they are loving kids,
that they're gonna understand
my need for the book,
but my other part is thinking
Batsheva's never gonna speak to me again
- I'm going to serve a lot of alcohol
- Yeah, I was just going to say
There's going to be wine
I'm going to do it by dessert,
so hopefully everyone will
be a little sleepy
- Fat and happy
- Fat and happy
We're going for a a comatose audience
- Exactly
- I see that, I see that
Very strategic
- [suspenseful music playing]
- [rain pouring]
[indistinct conversations]
- Beautiful
- Thank you
- [Shlomo] Robert is here
- [Robert] I feel like I'm at a water park
Scooch in
so I can just, like, not get wet
- It's nice. Something very cozy about it
- [Ben] Calming, yeah
[Batsheva] I'll have some more
- [Silvio] These tomatoes
- [Julia] Tomatoes are incredible
What's not kosher?
This is the only plate
on the whole table that's not kosher
You know the food is really good
when it's quiet
- because everyone's eating
- Oh wow
You guys want to share the whispers?
What's happening?
- Um you say it, it's your thing
- It's my thing?
- [Batsheva] Yeah
- [Ben] Okay
We recently took a fertility test
[uneasy music playing]
- Uh
- Well, I told you about how Ben
wanted to have a baby, like
Ben, I thought we're not pressuring
Batsheva to have babies
Didn't we have this conversation,
you and I?
We had discussed not having kids
for a few years when we first got married
For like five years, we didn't, like
It was We were both
I mean, the three of us, we mutually
agreed on that, it was all great
And then, more recently,
like in the past 18 months or so,
we've sort of really developed into who
we want to be for the rest of our lives
We're very comfortable with where we are,
it brought up the conversation
- [Batsheva] He brought it up again
- Now
- Okay
- [laughing]
I would never, ever, ever
want her to feel pressured,
'cause having a child together
changes everything
- Your life is going to be basically over
- Right. It changes
It's not over. I don't want to have
this discussion. No, thank you
Let's make a bet. You're gonna have
a baby, you're gonna call me,
and you're gonna be like,
"Oh, my God. You're so right."
Your greatest joy in life,
you always say your children
- Yes
- So I want to do that in my life
So whenever you say those comments,
it really bothers me
- Please don't make those comments
- [Julia] I want you to have children
But every single time it's brought up,
you make the same comment
- You are too young, too young
- [Ben] Still making the "too young"
- [music stops]
- [rain pouring]
[Ben] I understand you want to wait,
we are living this incredible life
and we're very fortunate, but
to sort of help me
be comfortable with that,
I would feel comfortable
if we just knew that there wasn't a clock
Like, do your fish swim?
- Oh, God
- [Ben] Yeah
Everything is okay
- Yay! That's amazing!
- [Ben] Thank you
[Julia] No babies! Not yet!
I've got PTSD. I had babies up the wazoo
You want to have children?
Great. Wait until you hit 30
[thunder rumbling]
[Julia] Before you guys
talk about having babies
- [Batsheva] What is this?
- [Ben] Okay
I see my name
So, I know that you guys know
that I'm writing a book
- [suspenseful music playing]
- Now this is the unedited manuscript
So, I'm going to give them to you to read
I gave it to Miriam first a few days ago
I figured if she freaks out,
then I'm not giving it to anyone else
I will wait for the final version,
the clean, you know,
more appropriate version,
and then I'll give it to everyone else
I love you guys more
than anything on the planet
Everything I have done,
I have brought you with me
and I have done to make your lives better
Um, you very kindly mentioned
that you had given it to Miriam
Why was that?
[Julia] Honestly, the reason
that I gave it to Miriam first,
um, is because I figured Miriam
would have more of an ease
of reading the whole book
Like, right now, you're trusting
all of us to have the book
So I don't really understand why
giving it to me now
is different than giving it to me
three days ago
I didn't know whether I should give you
the unedited or the edited version
I feel lied to that she totally ignored
the fact that you gave her the book
and she knew about the book
We should be given
the opportunity to decide
if we're gonna be okay with something
Guys, you have to realize
this is new territory
I understand it's new territory
No one was trying to hurt you
You want to be part of the process, right?
No. No, no
I just don't want to be lied to
[thunder rumbling]
[closing theme music playing]