Unprisoned (2023) s01e03 Episode Script

1
♪
CLAIRE: I don't know why
I let her live with us.
She keeps forcing her shitty
parenting advice on me.
- So the boundary setting we talked about is not working.
- [CLAIRE SCOFFS]
How do you set boundaries with
someone who just comes at you all,
"Aren't you worried Eva
doesn't have friends?"
Okay, maybe it would help
if you thought of your mother
like an aggressive bumper sticker, okay?
You don't have to ram into it.
You just let it float by like a cloud.
CLAIRE: No, it's too late.
She bullied me into
signing Eva up for soccer.
So now my kid hates me.
And the cleats that I bought on
Amazon are fucking golf shoes.
Listen, when my son was six, we
did basketball at the Hennepin Y.
After, like, ten minutes he was all,
"Are we really just running up and down
trying to put that one round
thing into that other round thing?"
[PAIGE LAUGHS]
So I pulled him out.
No, my mom would accuse
me of raising a quitter.
Oh.
What'd your mom say?
♪
[CHUCKLES AWKWARDLY]
Hi, everybody. Hi. Hi. Hi.
With my dad posted up in my guest room,
what is becoming really obvious to me
is my friggin' mom situation.
So if you're new here
[CHUCKLES] "Previously on"
there was my bio mom who I
could not pick out of a lineup,
my foster mom, wh
who is an actual saint,
and my dad's ex-girlfriend,
who kinda raised me
from the ages of 8 to 18
and who I never once called the M-word.
Like, not even once.
Never, never, never.
Okay. Most of us have
something called a mother wound.
I think that if you don't do the work
to heal the pain that
your mother gave you,
then you're gonna struggle
in your relationships.
Honestly, sometimes I like to think
of Lake Harriet as my mother
and just leave it at that.
Lake fucking Harriet?
- [PAIGE SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
- I was so there for her,
even during those
exhausting, bitchy teen years.
I appreciate that, baby.
You know, you never gave me a dime.
'Cause I had no dimes.
Oh, and what title do I get?
"The Third Not-Mom behind Mother
Superior and Lake Harriet"?
- When I was eight, I had this one mom
- EDWIN: Hey.
had me lighting her cigarette.
She called you Mom right
there, you see that?
She loved that.
She thought she was
Audrey fucking Hepburn.
- Nadine.
- What?
Baby, she hasn't forgiven me either.
Oh. At least she talks to you.
From her high fuckin' horse.
Nadine, you gotta give her time.
- [NADINE EXHALES]
- Come on.
You know, she owes me an apology.
Mm-hmm. No doubt. No doubt.
So what are you gonna do about it?
- When?
- Well
- Now?
- Oh.
- [GASPS]
- [EDWIN MUMBLES]
Oh. That's nice.
- EDWIN: Mm-hmm.
- Mm. It's a start.
- EDWIN: Mm-hmm-mm.
- [GASPS]
Oh, oh, right there, yeah.
Uh-huh. Ah Oh.
- [GASPS]
- EDWIN: Mm!
[NADINE LAUGHS]
NADINE: Oh, that's no fair. Come on.
♪
Mom, you're doing it again.
I am? Oh, I'm sorry.
[PAIGE LAUGHS]
Yeah, I'm-I'm not gonna
ask you this right now,
but do you feel like you're getting
what you need from me as a mother?
This isn't you asking right now?
Um, well
- [DOORBELL DINGS]
- Okay. Food.
♪
- Mal?
- Uh, hey.
Well, I requested a no contact delivery.
Ah, well, you got full contact.
Uh I don't know why I just said that
but here's your Vietnamese food.
Great. Thank you.
You're here to see my dad.
- I'm here to check on Edwin.
- Great. Okay, here he is.
- Hey.
- EDWIN: Hey.
My man. Uh, I didn't
know you were coming.
Well, showing up unannounced
is part of the deal.
- Oh.
- MAL: Yeah.
Okay, so this is private. Excuse me.
I'm gonna take this and
you can show Mal around.
Okay, but look here.
Do the thongs on delicate
and for twice the time.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Dear Lord.
- Okay. [CHUCKLES]
- Bye.
Uh, you wanna
- MAL: Yeah.
- Yeah. Come on.
[JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING]
MAL: Uh, shit, man.
You got all the jazz greats.
Oh, yeah.
Did you know Thelonious
Monk used to be a pool shark?
Took his kid with him
when he ran tables.
Uh, I bet that kid knows what's up.
[MAL CHUCKLES]
Is there a pair of Stacy
Adams you don't own?
Man, I'm just getting started.
The plan is to expand my collection
as soon as I get the capital.
And my own spot.
Picking up what you're putting down.
Yeah, man.
So how's work going?
Oh, man, it's
It's just a lot of ingredients, dawg.
Uh In here.
MAL: So you're working
at the Parmesan Garden
- on Wayzata Boulevard, right?
- Oh.
Gotta come through
sometime, see you in action.
Oh, maybe give me a minute.
Before you come checkin'
on a grown-ass man,
telling everybody about my past, right?
His fettuccine Alfredo is bomb.
Oh, Finn, this is Mal, my grandson.
Hey.
This kid, man, is into a
whole bunch of magical shit.
Why don't you go get your
cards, Finn? Go ahead.
Yes. Yeah. My cards, cool.
As you can see, everything is organic.
You mean awful.
Paige, this isn't foster care.
As long as those Whole Food
containers aren't full of meth,
I don't need to see your fridge.
Right. Sorry.
It's just that I lived with a family
who put a kilo in my Barbie Dream House.
Sounds like fun for Barbie
and Ken, but rough for you.
Oh, well, it wasn't all bad.
I actually had one foster
family that I loved.
What went wrong there was
that he got out of prison
and took me to live with
his literal partner in crime.
And then when he went
back in, I stayed with her.
Nadine kept you out of
the group home, Paige.
You staying out of prison
would have done the same thing.
Come on. Now, you're always
talking about a healing.
Now you need to sit down
with Nadine and work this out.
Okay. Well
Yeah, if she's ready to apologize.
Oh, she's been talking about
an apology for a while now.
Okay, good.
♪
I'll see you at the weekly
pee in a cup meeting, brother.
All right. Okay. Have a good night.
♪
You know
I think you're good for him.
Oh, don't say that. [LAUGHS]
- No?
- No, no.
Okay. Okay, okay.
Well, this might be me
overstepping, but I get it,
about why you resisted so hard.
I mean, you've got this great new house
and here comes this
6'4" destabilizing force,
blasting Thelonious Monk.
Yes! Yes!
Yes!
He comes downstairs in
his PJs and he's like
this presence, you know.
I just keep thinking, "You're
supposed to be inside my phone.
That's where you lived for years."
And also, I have his
hands, which is super weird.
[MAL LAUGHS]
He's doing great.
Thanks to you and your dad hands.
Yeah.
♪
Good night, Paige.
Good night.
And, uh, good luck
with this Nadine person.
Oh, yes. Yeah, I think
I'm gonna need it.
I think you're right.
- [PAIGE CHUCKLES]
- All right.
- PAIGE: Okay. Bye.
- Bye.
♪
♪
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[SIGHS]
I like your top.
Oh. Thanks.
Your hair is very shiny.
I've been putting that Jennifer
Aniston collagen in my yogurt.
EDWIN: Skinny vanilla
latte with one Splenda
- Thanks.
- and goat milk.
Oat milk.
Y'all be puttin' anything in coffee.
It should be served simply black,
with a little bit of sugar.
- NADINE: That's right.
- [EDWIN AND NADINE LAUGH]
EDWIN: Oh. Okay.
So he tells me that you are
working at the mayor's office?
Yeah. I got my MBA.
I've done a lot since you amputated me.
Okay. Ladies.
There's been a lot of bad
blood, I understand that,
but I'm back now.
Paige, there's no reason for
this bitterness to continue.
No, yes, I'm just here so
that Nadine can apologize.
After that hit job you
did on me the other day?
Are you kidding?
PAIGE: I never mentioned your name.
Nadine, if my videos
upset you, unfollow.
- I just want a little respect.
- PAIGE: Okay.
A lousy brunch once a year.
Maybe a thank you.
- A thank you? For what?
- NADINE: Mm-hmm.
[SCOFFS] You act like
you're some kind of orphan.
You had a mother. Me.
Okay.
Nadine, you were scary.
Totally unpredictable.
Intense. Very, very yell-y.
NADINE: Oh, please. I gave
you ten years of my life.
At a time when being a
single mom was just a drag,
not a social media venture.
EDWIN: Listen, y'all.
I mean, y'all going at it
like mother and daughter.
I don't know why we can't just
call this what it is, family.
- NADINE: Hmm.
- PAIGE: I'm a mom now, so I'm very clear
that what I got from
you is entirely different
from what I had with Carole Nelson.
So that is why I say that
she is my mom and you are not.
Oh, is she so perfect?
'Cause Edwin says you haven't
seen her Bible-toting ass in years.
That's true, Paige. It's the truth.
You just treat us all the same,
you ungrateful little
♪
I think we're done here.
♪
Get your purse.
Fuck that woman and Daddy too.
He's defending Dollar
Store Sharon Stone?
He has to, because if he sees me,
he'll collapse from the
shame of disappointing me.
- You mean us?
- Yes, us.
[BOTH SIGH]
Why don't we see our mom anymore?
I don't know.
Wait. Let's change that.
You know what?
- BOTH: Let's!
- [BOTH GIGGLE]
No, no, no, no, no, no.
But you don't get to drive.
- Yes, I do. Please.
- No.
- No. No.
- Yes.
- Get in the backseat.
- No, no!
[ORGAN MUSIC PLAYING]
- FINN: Mom?
- PAIGE: Yeah?
You think God knows we only
come to church once a year?
God grades on a curve.
[CONGREGATION SINGING INDISTINCTLY]
This place makes me so happy,
Finn, I want that for you.
I don't usually talk about
Jesus Christ as my savior,
and Dad's church is
like, fuck the patriarchy,
but if you need peace, it'll do.
And let's face it
I know. I'm a mess.
I need peace or an exorcism. Or both.
♪
- You stop talking.
- I didn't say anything.
♪
- PAIGE: Hi, Mrs. Nelson.
- CAROLE: Hi.
(WHISPERING)
[SINGING CONTINUES]
- Sorry.
- Hi, Mom.
PASTOR NELSON: Good morning.
Welcome to worship.
You who are here in the sanctuary
and those who are joining us online.
Remember, you used to baptize your
beanie-babies in the holy water?
Yes, I wanted them to
live in God's grace.
What you got was a lotta wet plush.
Girls. Shh.
- Shh. Please.
- Sorry. Sorry.
Esti.
PASTOR NELSON: have
sincerity with one another.
And love, love deeply.
♪
Behold the place and people
who gave me unconditional love,
and spankings when I needed them.
Carole taught me that
Jesus doesn't steal candy,
play with matches,
- or forget to take His Ritalin.
- CONGREGATION: Amen!
Who I am and the life I have now,
I owe it all to Carole.
[OVERLAPPING VOICES]
I'm so glad you're here.
Me too.
And if it took your
daddy crashing in again
to get you back here,
well, then God bless him.
♪
♪
FINN: You know, she
never actually cooks.
Well, Paige, you've made such a
warm and lovely home for yourself.
I really love this farmhouse
sink and these cabinets.
Thank you.
I chose that color, Mom.
[SCOFFS]
It looks like something
that cute Christian couple
on HGTV would do.
You know, she's part Korean.
I do know that.
I keep track of these things.
PAIGE: Fu Man alive.
Man alive.
- PASTOR NELSON: You okay?
- I'm fine. I'm fine.
What is "man alive"?
- That's Lutheran for "fuck."
- [DOORBELL DINGS]
- Wow.
- [BOTH CHUCKLE]
These are for your dad.
Oh!
Oh, he didn't tell you
that he hates hydrangeas?
No, he didn't mention that in
our many talks about flowers.
Oh. Oh, well, you know,
there's 75 different
species of hydrangeas.
I love these.
Wow.
Ah!
Everybody, meet the world's
handsomest babysitter of ex-felons
who also has fantastic taste in music,
uh, Mal Kennedy.
Hi. I'm Carole.
Paige's mommy.
Oh, pleasure to meet you.
Whoa, Mal is delish.
Okay. Down, girl.
It's so nice that Edwin has
someone looking after him.
I mean, it's gotta be tough
reacclimating to society.
Oh, no doubt, Carole.
Uh, Edwin, if you're in need of a job,
I have a colleague at
Saving Grace Thrift Store.
His mission is hiring folks
no one else will touch.
EDWIN: Thanks, reverend,
I'm good. Thank you.
Yeah, this man is my model parolee.
- Oh, come on.
- Okay? He hasn't missed a single check-in
and already gainfully employed,
making pasta for people
who still eat gluten.
Is that right?
- God is good, Carole.
- Oh.
MAL: All the time.
- EDWIN: All the time.
- MAL: All the time.
Hey, Pastor Nelson, you
think I could see that card?
I might be looking for a job soon.
Well, of course, Finneas. There you go.
Okay, everybody, please grab a plate.
Help me take this stuff out
to the dining room, okay?
- Thank you.
- CAROLE: Yeah.
- [DOORBELL DINGING]
- Oh.
- Let me get that.
- PAIGE: I'll get it.
- No, I'll get it.
- EDWIN: Now, baby, now
♪
Edwin said we were having
Sunday family dinner.
PAIGE: He did?
I brought vodka.
Fuck.
EDWIN: Hey.
- Ah! Hi. I'm Nadine.
- Hi.
- Paige's mom.
- MAL: Uh
Nadine. Hi. Yes. Nice to meet you.
Ah! I know this one.
Give your glam-ma a hug.
- FINN: [UNENTHUSIASTICALLY] Hi.
- NADINE: Oh.
Hey.
PAIGE: When did that woman meet my son?
- EDWIN: He went with me to get my
- I don't care.
I don't want her in his life.
I don't want her in my life.
I don't want her in my house.
You brought her to my house, my
new sanctuary, my Sunday dinner.
You are ruining everything.
- Ruining everything.
- Yes, everything.
Paige, the woman just
walked through the door.
She just was into the family.
Oh, God.
EDWIN: Can't you just take a chill?
Come Come here.
- [LAUGHTER]
- You see?
You see these people?
They love you.
They're happy for you.
Don't you wanna be one
of the happy people?
I am happy.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS]
Okay.
Okay. How about this?
Let's agree,
Nadine and I, we did
some fucked-up shit.
Okay, I'm-I'm listening.
But your inability to forgive
is putting you and
my grandson in a cage.
- No, no, no.
- Yes.
You did the fucked-up shit. You.
Okay. You wanna be right
or you wanna be free?
You pick.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS]
♪
PASTOR NELSON: And thank You, Lord,
for bringing us together again.
And, Lord, we thank You
for this bountiful meal
prepared by our precious daughter Paige
who we love so much.
PAIGE: Mm.
And we welcome home Edwin,
who has struggled, Father
God, to live in your name,
but who, like all of
us, is reborn in Thee.
ALL: Amen.
- PASTOR NELSON: And
- Oh.
PASTOR NELSON: We thank Carole
for being the heart
and soul of this family.
In the name of the Father, and
the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
ALL: Amen.
And thank the Lord
for all the mothers
who didn't get checks from the state
and still did a fuckin' great job.
A-fucking-men.
[WHATCHA SEE IS WHATCHA GE
BY THE DRAMATICS PLAYING]
Let's eat.
What you see ♪
Is what you get ♪
What you see ♪
- [LAUGHTER]
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Paige, in her brand-new Stride Rites
Oh, yes!
CAROLE: steps off the sidewalk
right into the road.
She really wanted to
ride in that ambulance.
- Yeah.
- Why would you do that?
Yeah. The EMT looked like John Stamos.
Do you know who John Stamos is?
[LAUGHTER]
Luckily, Mom grabbed you
before you got clipped.
Yes. Yes, you did.
Because you were always my hero.
CAROLE: Aw.
How about when I took us
to that Madonna concert?
EDWIN: Yeah.
We wore those matching white outfits.
NADINE: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
We were one sharp-looking family.
Do you remember that time
that you talked the warden
into letting us see my dad?
That was Maximum Mommy Nelson.
What does that even mean?
Oh, we drove 500 miles to Leavenworth
so your mom could see your dad.
We took her twice a year.
But this visit, well, Edwin had been
moved into solitary confinement
And Carole started thumping her Bible
and the warden's heart
grew three sizes that day.
The end.
[CAROLE CLEARS THROAT]
Paige, this pot roast is tasty.
Oh, thank you. It's my mom's recipe.
Finn, can you pass the salt?
Sure.
Are you serious right now?
Seasoning my food.
Tastes like white people made it.
The recipe did come from my
mother's Swedish cookbook.
Of course.
You gave her some flavorless recipe.
I gave her a sense of style,
appreciation for fine art and education,
and she still doesn't respect me.
CAROLE: Oh, Nadine. Nadine.
Can I Can I Can I say,
is that we all poured
everything we had into Paige.
I even did some mothering along the way.
But this is not a competition now.
YOUNG PAIGE: I mean, isn't it?
Maybe a competition is
exactly what this needs to be.
Ladies and gentlemen, the challenger,
Nadine Gregory,
also known as Our Lady of Shade.
[CHEERING]
[DANCE MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
MAL: Yeah!
♪
Hey! Oh!
Ohh!
[INDISTINCT YELLING]
♪
And from the legendary
House of Reformation,
Carole Nelson!
MAL: Ohh!
♪
YOUNG PAIGE: Jesus walks
and so does Carole!
She can do all things through
Christ who strengthens her.
♪
Oh, damn!
I forgot, the woman
got schmoney-schmoves.
Hold up, Daddy's making
his presence known.
Damn right. I was there with
the hairbrush and the grease
layin' down them baby
hairs, baby girl. Get that.
Bish, he left this
hair with white women.
Okay. Okay, that's on me. That's on me.
I'm the first person who let you down.
Shut up and dance!
How about you dance?
♪
Whoo!
♪
Whoo!
♪
Whoo!
EDWIN: [ECHOES] Paige?
Paige?
Baby girl, if you can't forgive Nadine,
how in the world you
ever gonna forgive me?
I want to be the kind of
mother who teaches my son
how to forgive no matter what,
even if I don't think it's possible.
And I don't know if I can do that.
Okay.
Uh
Um
Nadine?
I've said a lot of
things through the years,
but I think you're right, I-I
have not ever said thank you.
So
thank you for, um,
teaching me about Madonna.
And Warhol.
And
where voguing really came from.
I'm very grateful.
So Um
Just thank you, thank
you for what you did do.
[VOICE BREAKING] You're welcome.
So are you gonna start
calling me Mom now?
Let's not ruin the moment.
♪
Thank you, baby girl.
She said be honest ♪
With how you feel ♪
♪
I said that's easier said than done ♪
♪
EDWIN: So, real quick.
I just need to say
♪
I don't need you
covering for me anymore.
I don't need you to be tangled
up in what I got going on.
You feel me?
Okay.
FINN: I knew it wasn't right,
but it was right, you know.
Yeah.
I appreciate you having my back, son.
I got you, Grandpa.
♪
I can tell, son.
Oh, the, um, the card.
♪
I said just trust the way you feel ♪
She said that's
easier said than done ♪
♪
Well, it is ♪
[VOCALIZING]
♪
[MAL SIGHS] Take a seat. I'll clean.
- Oh, no, no, no, no. No.
- I can clean.
No, I feel like I need to
scrub the shit out of something.
Okay.
Well, all things considered,
I think dinner was really nice.
Yeah. Nobody got stabbed
with a butter knife.
That's what I meant by
"all things considered."
Look, you got a bunch of people
who love you, who cared
enough to stay connected
and actually fighting over you.
That is a beautiful thing.
Even if one of those people has
a Cluster B personality disorder.
[GASPS] Yes! Yes!
Right.
Thank you. I feel so validated.
Oh, I can validate you.
Oh, my God, you're
gonna kiss me right now.
I mean, I didn't know that I was,
- but now I am.
- Now you are.
- Yeah.
- Okay.
♪
- Hey.
- FINN: Hey.
I actually really liked church.
And the pot roast.
And our family.
♪
Good night, Mom.
Good night, Finn.
Where do you focus? ♪
♪
Nothing's going wrong ♪
Try to be open ♪
♪
By still tryna be strong ♪
Nothing really matters ♪
Not afraid to fall ♪
'Cause I wanna let it in ♪
I wanna sink and swim ♪
I wanna try to win ♪
So let me fall ♪
Won't you take this ride my way ♪
I just wanna be the one
that you love at all ♪
Let it go and help you find your way ♪
There's no reason why we
can't have a little more ♪
See, they're runnin'
but there ain't no race ♪
Might outlast, but in the
end no one's keeping score ♪
Take a minute come
and ride my way ♪
WOMAN: Woo-hoo! [LAUGHS]