Paper Girls (2022) s01e03 Episode Script

1
Something's not right.
We don't know that.
It doesn't stay open much longer.
They can still make it.
I don't know why they bother
to give us ETAs.
It's them.
I'm not getting a signal.
No, the Watch.
What?
No, no, that's
You need to get out of there.
- Wait.
- I said get out of there. Abort.
It's okay, the STF are here.
They made it out of 1988.
Juniper, don't do anything stupid.
What's happening?
Juniper?
Juniper!
Oh, no.
Oh, sh
Um
Okay.
Your name is Larry Radakowski.
You were born on March 12, 1978.
You are a member of the STF Underground.
Your mission is to protect the asset.
The asset lives in father's office.
If you're listening to this,
it's because they have stolen your memory.
This is your testimony.
Today's date is June 23, 2019.
Blue tongues don't lie.
Shit.
I've been expecting you.
Thank, God. What happened? Where are they?
I'm sorry.
Where's-where's my food?
Aren't you from Uber Eats?
No. Mm-mm.
No. No.
Oh, no. No, I-I'm sorry.
I just, I-I need you to
listen to something, okay?
I'm gonna put my hand in my pocket.
I'm gonna take out a tape
recorder, okay? It's okay.
I just need you to focus, all right?
Your name
is Juniper Plimpton.
You were born on October 13, 1978.
You are a member of the STF Underground
- Your mission is - Juniper
- Why would I say that?
- That's not right.
- Juniper, listen to it. You recorded this.
- Your memory
- No, that's not me.
Who are you?
You know me, Juniper.
I'm important to you.
I've been expecting you.
Where's my food?
I don't have your food.
Well, then you-you shouldn't be here.
Yeah, you're right.
If you are listening to this,
it's because they have stolen your memory.
This is your testimony.
Today is June 23, 2019.
Blue tongues don't lie.
Fuck! Fuck!
Oh, oh.
Ah, for fuck's sake.
Stop it, already.
Okay, okay.
We can do this, we can do this.
Emotionally, I'm gonna
Where are you, you pieces of shit?
Come on.
How could she have gotten
so far ahead of us?
We shouldn't have let her
go alone in the first place.
Maybe it's just me, but it didn't seem
like she was asking our permission.
Will you please get in the car?
- Thank God.
- Not this again.
How did you find us?
This is Stony Stream, not Manhattan.
Hey, I'm sorry, okay?
Oh, my God, you have it,
and you turned it on.
How did you turn it on?
Did you say anything to it?
I-I don't think so,
except for maybe, you know,
"holy shit," when I saw "System Armed"
- on the screen in front of my face.
- What?
Where? What does it say?
- It's just letters and numbers.
- Does it say how to get us home?
You need to tell me exactly
what that screen is saying.
W-Wait a minute, wait a minute,
weren't there four of you?
- Uh, Mac left.
- She did, she did what?
It's fine. It's okay.
- We know where she is.
- Where
We think.
I-I thought
Okay, then.
Hurry up!
Mother
Can I help you?
What?
Can I help you?
Oh, no, I'm good.
- I'm just waiting for my
- brother.
[buttons beeping
You were looking for me?
Holy shit.
You got old.
And you're an actual doctor.
How the fuck did that happen?
Hey.
As swipe.
It's me.
Look, I know it all sounds insane.
I wouldn't believe it either
if I hadn't lived through it.
But I got to tell you
you becoming a doctor
is almost as hard to believe.
If you turned out this good,
then I must be out there killing it.
Jesus, you look like Dad.
Grandpa, even.
How is Dad?
And Alice? Are they still together?
What about you?
Are you, like, married with kids and shit?
You some kind of playboy
with, like, nine hotties at once?
What?
My sister is dead.
She died of cerebral lymphoma
when she was 16.
Who are you?
Who put you up to this?
What did you say?
My sister has been dead
for 27 years.
I don't know what kind of sick
joke this is, but whoever
Dr. Coyle,
I'm Donna Metcalfe.
I'm the social worker here.
Just want to ask you some questions.
You're obviously a very troubled kid.
I hope you get the help you need.
Are you serious?
- This is what you fucking think?
- Hey.
- Fuck you, Dylan.
- All right, now,
there'll be no more of that.
Now let's go.
Okay, great.
Date of birth?
July 5th, 1976.
So, you're 43?
If you say so.
You look good for your age.
I ride my bike,
and I smoke a lot.
Where you from?
Nineteen eighty-eight.
I'm a time traveler.
It gets even better, though.
I'm actually a dead time traveler.
So, actually, technically, I'm a ghost.
Turns out, I kicked the bucket at sweet 16,
which is four years from now, so
I'm not dead yet, as you can see.
Are you on drugs?
I'm extremely concerned.
I mean, she's a runaway
with delusional tendencies,
- and she's really
- She's my kid, okay?
What?
I took a DNA sample from
the glass she was drinking from,
and it matched up.
I'm
I need you to get rid of her file.
I don't get rid of files.
I have a wife,
a family, I
I want to handle this
as quietly as possible.
Please.
Hang on, hang on.
You want a
you want your seat cooler on?
I'm okay.
So
how long was I sick for?
A while.
I mean, you
you weren't really sick that long.
How long was I really sick for?
Too long.
And for the record,
you were brave as fuck.
You want to know
how I ended up being a doctor?
It's because I knew
you wanted better for me.
It's why I got my shit together.
That doesn't sound like me.
You don't know who you're about to become.
That's not gonna work.
What kind of cheap-ass car
doesn't have a tape deck?
Hey.
Play Danzig.
This is mine, by the way.
I feel like I told you
not to take this thing
every morning for three years.
I told you I'd bring it back.
Mother
What the fuck is happening right now?
Tell your children not to hear my words
Hey.
Louder.
Much louder.
Mother
Can you keep them in the dark for life
Buckle up.
This is gonna get
intense.
Oh, mother
Seriously, buckle up.
All your
I will always love
Um
So, I'm sorry about what
happened back at the house.
- I didn't mean
- Yeah, no, it-it's fine, it's fine.
Uh, let-let's just chalk it up
to all of us being,
you know, um
stressed.
Okay? Uh
Gonna go see if I can, uh,
track her brother down.
Stay in here, okay?
No taking off again.
Excuse me. Excuse me.
I wonder if you can help me?
Oh, sorry, I don't
have any cash on me. I
Shit! Guys!
- Look! Look!
- What? What's happening?
Oh, my, oh, my God.
- Okay, okay. Move.
- Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
- He's kidnapping her.
- What?
- Oh, my God.
- We got to go. Go! Move!
Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
What the fuck?
That's not gonna start the car,
Tiff. What are you doing?
- I'm trying to turn them off, okay?
- Just drive, Tiffany!
- Jesus fucking Christ!
- I'm going!
- I'm going!
- Oh, my God.
Push in the gas pedal.
Why are we just sitting here?
- Oh, my God, you guys!
- Where are we going?
- I got it. I got it!
- Just follow him, okay?
- Go faster!
- I'm practically standing on the gas pedal.
What do you want from me?
- Push him off the fucking road.
- How?
Why are you driving so slow?
I can't even catch up to him, KJ!
Where's he taking her?
What does he want from her?
Please, just don't lose him,
whatever you do.
He's turning, he's turning,
Tiffany, he's turning.
I can see that.
Shit. I-I don't like this.
Where the hell is he taking her?
This is where we go to get murdered.
- Tiff, no. No one is getting murdered.
- Please don't say that.
No one is getting murdered, Erin,
because there is one of him and three of us.
Goddamn it, please let there be four of us.
Oh, what the fuck?
What the fuck? Who are you?
Who the fuck is following us?
What? What? I don't know.
- What, who
- They looks like kids.
- Who are they?
- I don't know. Who are you?
You're lying. What, are
they using child soldiers now?
I don't know.
Where are Heck and Naldo?
What? I-I don't know what that means.
Don't fuck with me, lady.
What happened to Heck and Naldo?
I swear to God, I don't know
what those words mean.
Now, please, please tell me where
you're taking me. Just let me out.
- You're-you're-you're
- Shut up.
Jesus. Ow.
You guys okay?
Shit. Go! Go! Run!
Stop.
Keep quiet.
No! No! No!
- Open the door!
- Let us out of here!
Back up.
I said stay quiet,
and we'll talk in the morning, okay?
You don't remember meeting her?
We were in Cleveland for that conference.
I-I think you were there.
Hole-in-the-wall Irish place
downtown? Maybe you weren't.
It's my father's side of the family.
My father's mother,
- so the O'Hallerans, really.
- Hm.
Uh, her mom is my cousin Penny.
Same great-grandfather.
Anyway, uh, Penny,
not unlike a lot of the O'Hallerans
and a lot of the Coyles, for that matter,
has-has always struggled with,
you know
- What?
- Um, various substances.
And she showed up tonight out of the blue
and told me she was checking herself
into rehab.
That takes a lot of courage.
It does. It does. I'm really proud of her.
And, uh, and that's why
I wanted to be as supportive
as I possibly could be.
And since we have the extra room,
I knew that you wouldn't want
Kimberly to end up staying
with strangers when she could be
staying with us.
Of course
she should stay with us.
She's family.
It-it won't be for very long,
just while Penny's inpatient.
You must be exhausted, Kimberly.
Let's get you settled for bed.
Yeah, you know, my friends call me Jo.
It's my middle name. I like it a lot better.
I never met a Kimberly that I
didn't want to beat up.
All right, then Jo.
Let's find you some pj's.
Put the put it under the window.
I'm trying. Stop.
- And pull down.
- Shh.
Don't tell me to "shh."
Pull it down, don't push up.
You're doing the wrong thing.
I keep trying. Can't get it off.
Do they still hurt?
Yeah.
But, uh
the good news is
my migraine went away.
I can't see that stupid scroll anymore.
I'm not sure that's good news.
You know, Mom Mom was right.
Should've never taken this stupid job.
Hey, M-Mom wasn't right.
Okay? We fought for this job.
You know that.
True.
You remember that?
I do.
Yeah
I'll never forget that look
she gave me when I got home.
Ooh, she was
so pissed.
You got home?
I did.
Uh, hey, hey, come here.
Come over here. Get over here.
Come over here.
I think we should all have some breakfast.
That wasn't an invitation,
that was an order.
Okay, okay, okay.
Come on.
Nobody's hungry?
- KJ?
- Stop.
Please,
don't hurt us, okay?
Who do you work for?
Um
I, uh
I-I'm freelancing
right now, but I-I
was working for Callum & Fields.
Who are they?
- They're patent attorneys.
- Okay, for Christ's sake.
Where did you get it?
It was given to me.
Do you know what it is?
I know it's important.
You know, I don't
know if this is helpful, but,
um, when I'm near that thing, I
see a screen that pops up
in front of my face
- that's just scrolling.
- You know, what, lady?
I might look stupid, but I'm not.
One more time.
Where did you get it?
One of the guys that brought us
here gave it to me.
- Are you STF?
- Hey.
I don't know what that means.
We're paper girls.
I don't know what that means, either.
We deliver newspapers.
The Cleveland Preserver.
The Cleveland Preserver's
been shut down for 20 years.
You traveled.
How?
We're not really sure, um, but
they had a capsule and just brought us here.
- Who?
- We-we don't know.
They were not much older than us,
and their faces were scarred.
Yeah,
like they had been in some kind of bad fight
or something.
Where are they now?
They, um
they were shot.
There was some kind of ambush,
and they were killed.
I'm sorry.
Did you see who did it?
They looked like soldiers.
They had on this armor. It was white.
Wow.
It looks like everything
went right for you after I died.
Sorry.
I didn't mean that like, um,
like a "fuck you" or something.
You're not dead.
You're standing right in front of me.
How'd you sleep?
Good.
That bed is so nice.
- Bliss, right?
- Yeah.
It's my favorite mattress in the house.
I think I like having a rich brother.
How about hardworking brother?
Call it what you want, moneybags,
but I'll tell you what I need right now.
I need some smokes,
and some donuts,
and then I'm gonna go to the metal yard,
and we'll break some shit.
I will not be buying you smokes.
There's a really good
donut place up the street,
and I'm sad to report
that the scrap metal yard
is now the Misty Pines housing development.
That doesn't sound like progress.
I couldn't agree more.
But before we do anything,
we're gonna go to the hospital
and get some of your blood drawn.
What? Jesus, do you still not believe me?
I'm gonna make sure you never get sick.
Uh, I also have breakfast here,
if it's easier.
How about some muesli?
What the fuck is muesli?
Donuts it is.
Very strange.
What's that?
I'm not seeing release records.
Well, maybe
she hasn't been released yet.
No, that would be indicated. Uh
It's just a bunch of non responsive answers,
fake birth year,
some nonsense about being a ghost
traveling through time,
and then nothing.
So, she's not here, and she's not not here.
- That would seem to be the case.
- Wow.
21st century bureaucracy
is at an absolute nadir of efficiency.
Uh, we are a small department servicing
- a large and extremely
- Who took that statement?
One of our most experienced case workers
Just give me a name.
Excuse me, but you cannot just march
in here and demand
So, I can rough you up
and get the name that way,
or you can just give it to me.
Either way, I'll make it so you'll forget
everything that happened.
The roughing up is optional.
What's your pleasure?
Ow. Look.
Okay, come on.
Come on, come on,
come on, come on.
Come on.
Shit!
Yeah, I'm sorry about that.
Hey.
Hey, come back here.
Those were his friends.
Your friend saved my life.
Mine, too.
We're in the middle of a war.
The men you saw being murdered were members
of an organization called STF.
Standard Time Fighters.
Its mission is to combat the Old Watch.
The soldiers in the forest?
- Exactly.
- When are they from?
The Old Guard?
Old Watch.
Also the future, but
earlier than the STF.
Yeah, I know, it's-it's a lot.
Trust me.
Essentially, the Old Watch is hell-bent
on keeping things exactly the way they are.
Which, not coincidentally,
keeps them in power, and the STF
is working to course-correct
the moments in history
when mankind lost its way.
So your friends
are the good guys, right?
Yeah.
That doesn't make sense.
How do they fix things
without disrupting
everything that comes after?
Well, first off, you wouldn't
even know it if they did or not.
- But couldn't it cause
- And secondly,
that's an Old Watch
talking point. It's bullshit.
Things will be disrupted. They need to be.
The Old Watch are
basically a group of-of
rich reactionaries who
well, they outlaw time travel
because it threatens
the future that they thrive in.
A future that should've
never been allowed to happen,
of vanishing resources,
- indefensible income disparities
- That sounds just like now.
I didn't say the war was over.
Every minute, two steps forward,
one step back,
but, trust me, I've heard what
it's like in the STF's time.
This is worth it.
What is?
The fight.
All this sacrifice.
Are there STF like you in every time?
Of strategic importance, yes.
- We go by "the Underground."
- Oh, okay,
this-this is all a
little over their heads
No, it's not.
I'm following.
So, the soldiers,
these Old Watch, they're-they're bad guys?
Well, they feed people to dinosaurs, so,
what do you think?
Did he just say dinosaurs?
- I think so.
- Now things are changing again,
and I'll be ready.
The Old Watch is closing in on us.
You girls
- you girls are targets now.
- What?
- Why?
- They didn't do anything.
Yes, they traveled out of their time.
That's a capital offense.
Who is that?
Doesn't matter.
Follow me.
Hey, but
well, there's another one of us out there.
- What?
- There's another paper girl from 1988.
- How-how can we get to her? We
- Where is she?
We got separated.
Well, I'm sorry to have
to tell you this, but
your friend is probably dead.
You saw what they did to Heck and Naldo.
Sorry about the tasing, by the way. Uh
That's not who I am,
I swear.
My name's Larry.
Erin.
Can I trust you?
I don't know, Larry.
- What do you want us to say to that?
- You can see the screens?
Yeah.
Then I need to show you something.
There might be a solution
to our current problems.