Boy Swallows Universe (2024) s01e04 Episode Script

1
[footsteps approaching]
Letter.
[security window locks]
[gentle music plays]
[Eli] Dear Alex,
note my temporary change of address,
my dad Robert's place.
Gus and I are here
because Mum is in prison.
Gus has been getting back into painting,
partly to cover up the holes in the wall,
but they're all pretty weird.
Yesterday, he did one of me with red hair
leaving the big red chicken shop
on Barrett Street.
He called that one Better Red than Dead.
And now he's doing the story
of how our mum met our dad.
She never did tell us what made her
leave home and run off like that.
But anyway, for some reason,
she takes off hitching up north.
She's just outside Townsville
when some sicko bundles her into his ute
and he drives away
off into the cane fields.
They hit some roadworks,
so he has to slow.
Don't you say a fuckin' word.
- Fuck it!
- [gasps]
[tires screech]
[Eli] And then my mum just dives out
onto the tarmac.
[Frankie whimpers]
[driver] Fuck!
[truck engine revs]
[tires screech]
[man shouts]
[man] Hey, slow down!
[Frankie pants]
You're all right, love.
I got you. You're okay. You're okay.
Christ.
Thank you.
[hopeful music plays]
[Eli] Mum stared into the deep blue eyes
of the man who'd just saved her.
And that bloke was Robert Bell
G'day.
[Eli] my father.
[mischievous music plays]
[sighs]
[Robert] Mm
Uh
[bottles clattering]
[air hissing]
Fuck it.
Eh
Hello.
[sniffles]
Uh [exhales]
[coughs]
[grunts]
[sniffles]
[exhales sharply, sniffs]
Ah, yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Mm
Oh fuck. Fuck.
Oh fuck! Fuck!
[wineglass breaks]
Help! Help!
[yelping] Oh! Ow! Oh!
Ah! Ah-ah-ah!
Help! Help! Help!
- Dad, what the
- [Robert] Shit!
[Robert shouts]
[yelps] Ow!
What What'd you do that for?
- Your fucking pants were on fire.
- I took 'em off, you fuckwit.
[Gus pants]
[man 1] Everything all right, Robert?
[man 2 chuckling]
Okay, folks, show's over.
- [woman] Okay.
- Thank you.
- [chuckles] Come on.
- [Robert] Where are my glasses?
Eli, where are my glasses, mate?
Stinks of turps in here.
What happened?
[Robert breathes heavily]
I was just tryin' to get a drink.
Maybe you should go to the pub next time.
Well, maybe you should stop spending
my child support on paints and shit.
Maybe you should
go and take us to see our mum.
It's called agoraphobia, Eli.
Agoraphobia. Uh? "Fear of public places
with many people in 'em,"
as defined by the Oxford Dictionary.
- You can get someone else to take ya.
- Like who?
Well, I dunno.
Maybe your old mate Slim Halliday.
Slim won't go near the place.
- [phone rings]
- We already asked.
Don't answer that.
That'll be child protection.
And you two gotta
get your arses back to school
before they take you to foster care.
And do not give me that look, Eli Bell!
It's not my fault your bloody stepfather
got eaten by a shark.
[ringing continues]
Oh, I'm sorry.
All right, look,
I'm gonna pick up my dole this arvo,
and you can all go get us
some chicken and chips for dinner, hey?
Family dinner.
Yeah?
Chicken, chips. Tomorrow I'll be better.
[ringing continues]
Uh
Sorry, mate.
[line rings]
[Slim coughs]
[dramatic music plays]
[dramatic music continues]
[somber piano music plays]
[Slim coughs]
[Slim continues coughing]
[music fades out]
[Bobby] Tinkerbell.
Is it true your brother
cut your finger off with an axe?
It was an accident.
Want us to pay him back?
Gotta stand up for yourself, mate,
or you never know where it'll end.
- Next time, he might cut your dick off.
- [bullies chuckling]
- We're starting a gang. Wanna join?
- [Eli] Thought you were in Darren's gang.
[Bobby] Darren's left school
to help his mum with her business.
What? He's helping Bich
run the restaurant now?
[Bobby] Her other business, bellend.
- I dunno anything about that.
- [Bobby] Sure you don't.
I heard your mum
got three to four years for dealing.
How's she going at Boggo Road?
Or haven't you been yet?
I hear they're all lezzies
or else having to fuck the screws.
[bullies chuckle]
If you're gonna visit,
you'd want to smarten yourself up first.
Give your hair a good shampoo, hey.
- I got 'im! I got 'im! Someone help.
- No! Ah!
- All right, open his arms.
- Calm down, mate.
[Eli] Oh, come on. Oh, fuck off, Bobby.
[dramatic music plays]
- Come on, guys! Come on!
- [boy] How does that feel?
[Bobby] Rub it in all over.
Nourish the roots, there you go.
- [boy] Nice.
- [Eli] Get off me!
[boy] How's that feel, Eli?
[dramatic music continues]
[Gus] Did you get the video?
[dramatic music fades out]
Hey, Eli.
[shower runs]
What happened?
It's just tomato sauce.
Bobby Linyette and his mates got me.
- Want me to do 'em over?
- No.
I should learn to fight my own battles.
Better red than dead, right?
[gentle piano music plays]
It gets better.
What does?
This life.
So good you'll forget it was ever bad.
[Eli] Sure.
How's that gonna happen?
It just will.
I've been here before.
What are you crapping on about, Gus?
We live the same life over and over.
Once you die, you go back
and do it again, same but different.
[scoffs] Slim had a different theory.
[chuckles] It's not a theory.
You and me died once already, remember?
And we came back.
Each time, I I try
and picture the mistakes we made,
so I know how to fix 'em.
Comes back to me
in random bits and pieces,
but it's just how the future speaks to us.
You remember that voice
on the red telephone, right?
Yeah.
Remember how you thought
you recognized it?
I think that was me.
[intriguing music plays]
Speaking to you from the future.
[intriguing music fades out]
Look.
Gus, I like it
that we're talking now, but
[inhales]
please, don't you
go fucking psycho on me.
Life's hard enough as it is.
[dreamy music plays]
[mouths] Help!
[dramatic music crescendoes]
[door buzzes]
[woman singing indistinctly]
[Frankie] Hey. Hey, guard!
Frankie, cut it out with these knock-ups.
What is it this time?
I'm still waiting
for contact with my kids.
- There's a phone. You got a phone number?
- Yeah, my ex's and he's not answering.
- [guard] So write to them.
- Yeah, I tried that. No reply.
[guard] Well, write to them again, maybe.
I know what's going on here.
Tell me. What's going on?
Fucking Tim Cotton doesn't want me
talking to my family.
- I've no idea what you're talkin' about.
- Ask Detective Cotton.
I just really wanna talk to my family
like everyone else does.
Can you tell him that? Please.
Frankie, love, we're just tryin'
to give everyone their lunch here.
Put any messages for the higher-ups
in the complaints box.
[door locks]
[dramatic music plays]
[fire crackling]
[roommate inhales]
Do you want a taste?
No.
No, thank you.
I need time to think.
[sighs, chuckles] Well, bloody oath.
[inhales deeply]
This is the place to do it.
[door buzzes]
[door opens in distance]
[door closes]
- [announcers speaking indistinctly on TV]
- [dramatic music fades out]
Mm Shit.
Here, have a look at that.
Look at that, boys.
You'll have to get your arses
back to school, quick-smart.
We'll go when you take us to see our mum.
Fine, all right.
Well, you'll get taken away from here,
you'll go into a foster home,
and then you can
grow up to be career criminals
like, you know,
your old mate Slim Halliday.
[Eli] She'll think we forgot about her!
Look, I'm not being a prick
for shits and giggles.
I'm tryin' to look out for ya.
[phone rings]
Don't answer that.
[ringing continues]
[ringing continues]
[phone rings]
[Caitlyn] This is Lyle Orlik.
A mid-level drug dealer from Darra
who reportedly went on the run.
Now, we all know heroin importation
is dominated by gangs out of Vietnam.
[inhales]
Cutting off limbs as payback
is kind of their signature.
So you're saying Mr. Orlik
isn't actually a shark attack?
[inhales] "Ragged amputation
through the knee joint, cause unknown."
And did we track down who Frankie is?
Frankie Bell, Lyle Orlik's de facto wife,
was taken into custody a while back
for dealing and possession.
She has two sons, age 13 and 15,
enrolled at Greenview State School.
Now, the youngest, Eli,
showed up here the other day
with an injured hand, said bad people
had something to do with it.
- What sort of bad people?
- No idea.
He ran off when the police showed up.
Tytus had just arrived for a meeting
and Raymond Leary was trying to headbutt
his way through the front door.
Now, the hospital recorded
Eli's hand injury as a domestic accident.
Said his brother did it with an axe.
The 15-year-old?
My brother knocked me out
with a garden rake once when I was 15.
We were tryin' to re-enact El Cid.
The school won't give me their whereabouts
and I'm not sure they even know.
Why don't you hit up your mate Tim Cotton.
Perhaps he'll give us the skinny.
He's not my mate.
No, but he does fancy you,
which is the next best thing.
Come on, don't sulk.
Use your talents!
Get the story
and get this shit off my desk.
["Crazy Little Girl"
by Donald Height plays]
Crazy little girl ♪
She's a crazy little girl ♪
Oh she's crazy with her lovin'
That tender lovin' ♪
That cray-cray, cray-cray
Crazy, crazy little girl ♪
Hi Tim.
Caitlyn? Hello.
- You applying for a job here, are ya?
- I'm not sure I've got the qualifications.
Come on, it's just a snake.
How hard can that be?
Always thinkin' of her
That cray-cray, cray-cray, crazy ♪
- [bartender] What are you drinking?
- Uh, just water.
- You have to buy a cocktail to sit there.
- She is with me, Bonnie.
Go away. Love you.
- So?
- [Caitlyn] Asian drug wars.
I was looking through
some of the old revenge killings
going back over the last five years.
Mostly drug couriers, mostly unsolved.
Well, those interstate crimes
are tough to pin down.
New South Wales cops,
dodgy as all get-out.
[scoffs] What? Unlike Queensland cops?
I hope you are not judging
our high moral standards here.
Cray-cray, cray-cray
Crazy, crazy little girl ♪
So, Lyle Orlik?
Who, the shark attack guy? What about him?
His kid, Eli Bell,
showed up at the newspaper offices,
missing a finger.
Said he had a story to tell.
Did he?
- Well, I haven't spoken to him yet.
- Don't.
Our investigations are currently underway.
[exhales] I can tell you, off the record,
that Dustin Vang
is certainly on our radar.
[Caitlyn] The BTK gang leader
out of Sydney?
So you think Lyle Orlik
was probably a drug killing.
Listen, this is all strictly under
the dome of silence, you understand?
What? Until when?
Until we get something
that stands up in court.
You need to stay out of this one. You do.
- And how long is that gonna take?
- Months.
- Years.
- So there goes my whole story.
[Tim] Sorry, Caitie.
I promise you, you'll be the first to know
when we get close to a conviction.
Until then, it would help us
if you let this one through to the keeper,
if you're familiar with that term.
Mm. Sure. I get asked to do that a lot.
One of the reasons I hate fucking cricket.
[dramatic music plays]
[dramatic music crescendoes]
- [gasps]
- [knock at door]
[Poppy] Hello?
Are you expecting anyone?
[knocking continues]
- [Poppy] Hello?
- Coming.
[Eli grunts]
[blows raspberries]
Ah, hello, Miss Birkbeck.
Hello, Eli, is your dad at home?
Um
Yeah, he works night shifts.
[whispers] So he's just
He's just sleeping right now.
Wake him up for us, will you?
All right.
[indistinct police radio chatter]
- [Eli whispers] Dad. Dad. Dad.
- [Robert grunts] What? Fuck off.
Um, it's Poppy Birkbeck
with a police officer.
- She's got handcuffs on her belt and she
- Who the fuck is Poppy Birkbeck?
She's the school headshrinker.
Uh Oh
Open the curtain, will ya?
- [amusing music plays]
- Uh
Oh
Oh, Eli.
- Tell me, do you like her?
- She's all right.
I mean, she's quite nosy.
Annoying. But, yeah, she's all right.
Well, tell her I'll be right out
in a tick, okay?
- Okay.
- Okay.
He's just coming.
Okay.
I'm here. I'm here.
[exhales, inhales]
Gus.
Come here. Come here. Come here.
Come here. Tidy this shit up, will you?
We got visitors. Visitors.
Tidy this shit up, all right? Thank you.
Okay.
[Robert groans]
Hello, I'm Robert Bell.
Poppy Birkbeck, the school counselor.
[Robert] Eli's been telling me
about all the wonderful counseling
that you've been giving them.
We do our best.
- [glass shatters]
- [Robert] Hm
[Poppy] Getting to know the inner child is
the most important thing a school offers.
[Robert] True. True.
Educating the mind
without educating the heart
is no education at all.
Absolutely. I live my life by that quote.
It's Aristotle.
What a lovely old Greek fella, huh?
He loved to stroll.
[inhales sharply] Uh, this is PC Daley.
Yeah, it's nice to meet you, PC Daley.
The thing is, Robert
Um, may I call you Robert?
Yes, Pippy. Poppy.
The boys haven't shown up at school
for the last three weeks, and the fear
Yeah, well, we're all still adjusting
to our new situation
with the boys' mum being taken away.
We heard there was a fire.
Chip pan. You know, it happens.
- Anyone injured?
- [Robert] No, no, we're all good.
We're all We're good, we're good here.
[glass shatters]
- Do you mind if we come in for a moment?
- No.
No, of course not.
- Entering the residence.
- Yeah, copy that. Standing by.
[Robert] Just been doing
some spring cleaning, it's a little awry.
[Robert sighs]
[Poppy] Gus, Eli, this is PC Daley.
She's from
the Department of Child Protection.
How you doin'?
Yeah. Yeah. We're really good. Yeah.
- Sorry about your finger, Eli.
- Accident with an axe, I heard.
Yeah, it was. It was really stupid of me.
I shouldn't have done it.
[Poppy] Poor Gussie
must've been devastated.
Oh, Gus doesn't really do devastated.
Uh Why don't you have a seat, Poppy?
Why don't you boys make yourselves scarce
so we can get to know each other?
Chat and, uh
Oh, there we go. Sorry.
Um, thank you.
Maybe scare up some tea and bikkies, hey?
- Uh, okay, that's it, good boys.
- [Gus] Come on, Eli.
[Robert exhales heavily, groans]
Oh!
[Poppy] Uh
- [Poppy sighs]
- [Robert] Right, well
[Gus] "Tea and bikkies"?
[objects clattering]
[flies buzz]
It must be nice to have the boys home.
Oh, it's a great gift
and an even greater responsibility.
You understand they can't stay
away from school indefinitely?
Well, that's what I keep telling them.
Don't I, boys?
- [Eli] Yep!
- [Gus] Yep!
Whoa!
Whoa. Oh!
Fuck.
Our, uh, records indicate
that the boys haven't been
to visit their mother in prison yet.
No. No, it's been a busy time
for all of us.
Quite the file you got there.
It adds up.
[weakly] Yeah.
Obviously, the boys have experienced
a lot of trauma over the years.
The breakup of your marriage,
the criminal activity of their stepdad,
and now the removal of their mother.
[Gus] Here.
[quietly] Okay.
Um
[Eli exhales sharply]
[sighs]
Uh, thanks, Gus.
Uh, we'll speak to you
and Eli in a minute.
Maybe pack an overnight bag
for yourself and your brother.
Wait. Wait, what?
[dramatic music plays]
[Robert breathes heavily]
[Poppy] The thing is,
Robert, the staff at school
all value your sons immensely.
We all think they have exceptional minds.
Really quite exceptional.
So what's this about overnight bags?
So we're here
in the hope you can convince us
that we don't need to take action.
Are you threatening
to take my boys away from me?
- [Daley] No one's threatening anyone.
- [Robert] No?
'Cause I think I've lived long enough
to know a threat when I hear one.
[Poppy] Robert.
You come in here
with your do-gooder sincerity,
and your
and your bloomin' interrogations.
Mr. Bell, there was a fire in your house
and serious injury to one of your kids.
It's not our job to put you at ease.
Oh, well, that's good to know,
'cause you're certainly not doing that.
The point is two boys
are now in your sole custody.
Because I'm their dad!
Your own police record
is not exactly spotless.
Look, I I I'm not gonna deny
that I have a problem
with the drink on occasion,
and one thing leads to another,
as we all know.
Disturbance of the peace.
Assault, occasioning physical injury.
Mostly Mostly,
I'll add, on the receiving end.
Ever against the boys?
Oh, look, maybe a clip around the ear
just to keep 'em in line.
[Poppy] Nothing more extreme?
[Robert] Look, I don't know what you're
What What are you accusing me of?
[Poppy] I'm not accusing, just asking.
Can we talk about Gus's artwork?
Yeah. I I
Let's. I'd I'd like that, Poppy.
Let's Let's talk about art.
[Poppy] These paintings,
they're very good.
For a 15-year-old,
they're actually quite exceptional.
But the choice of subject
is a little disturbing at times.
Active imagination.
It It runs in the family.
Jesus, God. How many files
have you people got on us?
This one is just Gus's school artwork.
I was saying to PC Daley,
for a long while, Gus has been stuck
on one particular image.
[Robert] Well,
there's no law against that, is there?
This is his entry
into the science fiction competition.
Good, it's good.
[Poppy] And this is his family portrait.
Yeah, it's
It's beautiful. It's beautiful.
He He likes car journeys. He always has.
Eli told me Gus was painting
a dream which both boys had.
He can describe the dream
very specifically,
the sound of the car engine
as it leaves the road,
the smell of upholstery.
Yes, that's our Eli.
He's big on the details.
The thing is,
shared dreaming is not unheard of,
but it's it's very unusual.
So, I wonder
if it would be more helpful for us
if we call this incident
what it really is?
Not a dream, but a memory.
[Daley] A car accident happened two days
after your wife left you, Mr. Bell.
Ah, come on. What do you gotta
to bring this shit up for?
In her initial statement, later retracted,
she said that she thought
you'd tried to kill the children.
Bullshit!
Retracted.
She was just upset with me.
- [Daley] So you didn't try to kill them?
- Of course not!
[sobs]
You people, you love this.
You're lovin' this, aren't you?
You are lovin' this.
[Poppy] No, Robert. I'm here in good faith
to listen to your version of events.
I'm sure we both want
what's best for those boys.
Oh, and what's best
is to take them away from me?
[Poppy] No one's saying that.
[sighs] It's what you're both thinking,
isn't it?
So, how's that gonna help?
You split 'em up.
All they got's each other.
You put 'em in foster care.
You tell 'em their dad's a monster.
[cries] I love the boys.
They're my boys.
Those days when they were little,
they were
they were the happiest times of my life.
[sobs]
[Daley] You drove them
into the countryside,
at night in their pajamas,
and the three of you ended up somehow
at the bottom of a lake.
Fuck!
Okay. All right,
I'm gonna tell you exactly what happened.
[dramatic music crescendoes]
["Reckless" by Australian Crawl
plays on radio]
[Robert] I was takin' the boys
out to Cedar Creek Falls
on a camping trip.
[giggling]
Their mum and I had been
going through some stuff.
But those boys, they love their campin',
under the stars.
[wheels screech]
I get these panic attacks
when when I get stressed,
and I've had 'em
since I was a little fella.
[screeching continues]
I got the shakes.
Real bad.
I was coming into a blind corner.
I couldn't see where I was going,
and I didn't realize
I was going as fast as I was.
["Reckless" crescendoes]
[dramatic music plays]
[car creaks]
[thuds]
[water pours in]
[Robert gasps]
[ominous music playing]
[Robert grunts]
[Robert] Come here!
[Robert panting]
[Robert grunts]
[Gus coughs]
[coughs, pants]
[coughs]
[music fades out]
[Robert hoots]
[Robert groans]
Eli.
[solemn music plays]
Eli. Eli, come on.
[sobbing] Jesus, don't go away.
I thought I was gonna lose Eli.
Help! Someone please help!
Eli, hey.
The bloke who who lived in the cottage
on the dam, he called for help.
Oh, please. Please!
I was shakin' him.
Callin' out to God
and prayin' to bring him back.
[Robert cries]
Oh, my beautiful boy.
- [coughs]
- [Robert sighs in relief]
It's okay. Come on. Come on.
- [man] The ambulance is coming.
- [Robert] Eli.
Oh Jesus, you scared me.
[Eli coughs]
[Eli cries]
[music continues]
When the ambos came,
they said that we weren't the first
to go off there.
And it was a miracle
that no one weren't really hurt.
[gentle music plays]
I think we were just lucky. [sniffles]
[blows nose, sniffles]
[Eli] Dad.
Oh, give give us a moment, boys.
We're We're We're busy.
Come on, come on, fuck off.
What do you want?
[Robert sobs]
Don't let them take us away, Dad.
We're not going.
- [Robert sniffles]
- We don't care what happened before.
Gus and me don't wanna live
anywhere else except here.
[Robert and Eli sobbing]
Robert, if you can assure me
the kids will be attending school again,
and you take them to see their mother,
then it's possible.
Look, I I know I've been a shit-ass dad.
I can do that.
I'm gonna turn over a new leaf.
You'll see.
You'll see, boys.
[Robert cries]
See you.
[lighter rasps]
[menacing, bass-heavy music plays]
Oh, come on.
- [Tim clears throat]
- [llama bleats]
God, you're an ugly bugger.
He probably thinks
the same thing about you.
Once had a guy who got done
for sexual offenses with one of these.
Females are better looking, yeah?
I don't think looks is a factor
if you're into sex with animals.
What's that for?
Cutting his fighting teeth.
So he doesn't take chunks
out of the other males.
About Lyle Orlik
The shark attack?
A couple of people are wonderin'
if that bloke could be still alive.
[scoffs] With an injury like that,
I'd say you'd have to be pretty lucky.
Did he strike you as a lucky man?
Not lucky at all
was my overall impression.
What do you use these for?
Cutting his toenails.
[llama bleats]
His son lost a finger
in a domestic disturbance, apparently.
Dangerous world out there.
A chick I know from The Courier-Mail
was sniffing around the story.
I'll speak to the boss.
See if he wants us to plug any leaks.
See, plugging leaks
is kind of what I'm most worried about.
- I strongly advise you
- Tim, let's just get this straight.
Unless you're paying us
and not the other way around,
you don't get to do
any "strongly advising."
I'm on your side, Ivan.
I'm just trying to keep
the, uh, shark attacks to a minimum.
Well, in that case,
maybe you should do your job.
Get those kids off the street
and maybe stop this journo from sticking
her nose where she's not wanted.
- Oh, I'm working on it.
- Clearly not well enough.
Just don't do anything drastic, right?
The journo knows to drop it,
and I'm gettin' the kids sorted.
- You do that.
- [scoffs]
Or else I'll have to do it for you.
- [shoe squishes]
- [Tim groans in disgust]
- Will you be all right?
- Yep.
[Bobby] Welcome back, Tinkerbell.
Can I make a wish?
[bullies laugh]
[solemn music plays]
[Slim] Dear Gus and Eli,
your old mate Slim here.
Been tryin' to ring you
a couple of times, but, uh, no answer,
so I assume you're busy with stuff.
[exhales]
Just to tell you that, uh
Well, just to report
that I've had a bit of bad news.
Just to say, I'd hate to part on bad terms
so if you fancy a spot of fishin'
[sighs]
[groans]
Fuck.
[rips paper]
Come on. Come on, I'll get your dinner.
Come on. Come on.
[music fades out]
Dad, we're ready.
We're gonna miss the bus.
[Robert groans uncertainly]
It's visiting hours for Mum.
[Robert sighs]
[mischievous music plays]
All right, look, uh, boys, um
I can't do this. Sorry.
The fuck, Dad, you promised.
What do you mean you can't do it?
Yeah, I dunno.
I dunno. She still hates me,
and she blames me
for the car accident stuff, it's
It's all right. We'll just explain to her
like you explained to Miss Birkbeck.
It's not good.
It's She She won't believe it, mate.
- No.
- Get his trousers.
All right. Okay.
Dad, they won't let us visit Mum
without you. You're coming.
Yeah, look, I'm sorry, mate. I'm sorry.
- Just grab him.
- No. What?
- [Eli] Grab him and I'll put on his pants.
- No.
- [Eli] Hold him, Gus! Hold him.
- Agoraphobia! Agoraphobia!
- No, no, no!
- [Eli] Yes.
- Yes!
- Oh God.
Oh God. Oh God.
Uh
[Eli] What is it now, for fuck's sake?
[Robert] My heart. I'm serious.
- [Eli] No. Stop.
- Call an ambulance.
- There's nothing wrong with your heart.
- There is. Call the ambulance.
I'm not kidding.
Dial triple zero. Dial triple zero.
[breathes rapidly]
[Eli dials]
- [siren wailing]
- [gentle music plays]
[Robert moaning lightly]
Right, step back, we've got him.
All right, Robert. Breathe.
Head up. You're gonna be all right.
We're takin' you in for a check-up.
- Has this happened before?
- All the time, mate.
Anxiety attack.
I'll do an ECG and his blood chemistry.
You'll have him back this evening.
[Robert breathes deeply]
[Robert] Hello, Jim.
[Jim] Hey, Rob.
[door buzzes]
[indistinct inmate chatter]
- Hey.
- Sorry, Frankie, they're not comin'.
- What do you mean, they're not coming?
- The boys' father had a medical emergency.
They pitched up late at the front desk
but they can't get in without an adult.
Nah, fuck that.
[guard] Hey, hey, hey! Frankie, come on.
Don't make a scene.
I wanna see my boys.
- I wanna see my boys!
- [guard] Frankie!
Frankie, if you don't behave,
we'll take away your visiting rights.
You won't see no one
this side of Christmas.
[Frankie] I wanna see my boys!
I wanna see my boys!
[repeating] I wanna see my boys!
[Eli] Mum!
[Gus] Mum!
Mum!
Mum!
[Eli] Mum!
Oi, you two.
Fuck off, or I'm callin' the cops.
[thunder rumbling]
[dramatic music plays]
[roommate] Mm
Go on, then.
[somber music plays]
[roommate moaning softly]
[shudders]
[inhales]
Hey, Shelly.
[Shelly] Hey, Gus.
- [object thuds]
- Oh.
Thanks.
How's your mum going?
Uh, I dunno yet.
Um, Dad was gonna take us to see her.
I like your mum.
Give her a big hug from me.
I don't think you're allowed hugs
in prison visits.
Nah, well, you can't really do it
on crutches either, so
How is the treatment going?
There isn't one.
Muscular dystrophy.
The worst kind.
Nothing you can do for it
except watch it get worse.
After a while,
I'll be too weak for crutches,
and then I'll have a wheelchair
until I'm too weak to breathe.
But miracles still happen, hey.
You're talking again.
Fuck miracles.
Tell me how I can help.
[chuckles softly]
[Gus] You want a burger?
[Eli sighs] Whatever.
[dramatic music plays]
[Eli sighs]
[phone line rings]
- [coins plunk]
- [Eli] Yeah, is this Gill?
I need to arrange a meeting
with Slim Halliday.
Eli.
I'm a friend of his.
Just to say
that I really need some advice.
[dramatic music continues]
[dramatic music continues]
[Eli] Catching anything?
Couple of little ones.
You back at school now?
[dramatic music fades out]
Yeah.
[Slim coughs]
The cops made us go.
- That's the ticket. Been to see your mum?
- She's not even answering our letters.
- Maybe she's embarrassed.
- About what?
She didn't do anything wrong.
Yeah, well, you know,
women are weird sometimes.
Reckon that the screws
don't want us to speak to her,
in case we agree to spill the beans
about Lyle and Ivan Kroll.
I'm sure she misses you, mate, but
she'd want you blokes
to just forget about all that stuff
and get on with your lives.
Send her a plum pudding for Christmas.
She won't get it. They're stopping
our mail from getting through.
Yeah, they do that sometimes.
There are other ways
besides Her Majesty's Postal Service.
Like what?
Hang on a moment.
You get a bite?
Nibble.
So, what other ways?
Well, there's this fella I know.
George Masoumi.
He's been doing fruit deliveries
to Boggo Road for the past 12 years.
Guards know him,
and agree not to check
the false bottom of his crates.
So what does he smuggle?
Whatever you like.
Cigarettes, sexy underwear.
[Eli chuckles]
What's the point
of sexy underwear in prison?
[Slim chuckles]
Another of life's enduring mysteries.
So, if I wanted to get a parcel
in secret to Mum,
then I could just give George money.
Nah, you wouldn't have to pay him.
I helped his brother
through a long stretch of porridge,
so he owes me.
- What do you want to send her?
- Escape equipment.
Oh, wake up, Eli. She'll get caught
and they'll double her sentence.
You got away with it.
Yeah, but I had nothing to lose.
I was in there for life.
- She'll be out in four Christmases.
- Four years, Slim.
I'll be 17.
[voice breaking] I'm sorry.
I just really miss her, you know?
I've got no grown-ups now.
It's just you and Robert.
Yeah, I know. But four years is nothing
in the great scheme of things.
And she'll get time off
for, you know, good behavior.
Just knuckle down at school.
Make her proud of you.
- [rod clicking]
- Whoa, hold on.
[coughs]
You got another bite?
Yeah, it's that mangrove jack.
Bloody must weigh about ten kilos now.
I been stalking it ever since I came here.
Clever as all buggery.
It'd be a bloody shame
to shuffle off before it does.
Reckon you still got
a few years yet, Slim.
Not really.
Oat cell carcinoma. Stage four.
How many stages are there?
Four.
[hesitantly] So, how long
have you got left?
Just a couple of months.
- Couple of months?
- [coughs]
No, no, Slim. Slim.
Why haven't you told me?
Yeah, I was gonna write you a letter, but
[clears throat]but, you know,
I'm not much chop with that.
Please tell me you're getting treatment.
Not gonna put that shit in me.
Better ways to die.
But you can't die, Slim.
You're the only dad we've got left now.
Robert's your dad.
And, to be honest,
I've probably taught you
about as much as I can.
You need to get the treatment, Slim.
I need you to stay alive.
Please.
"The moving finger writes,
and having writ moves on."
"Nor thy piety, nor pity
shall lure it back to cancel half a line."
"Nor all thy tears wash out a word of it."
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam,
best fuckin' poem ever written.
[coughs]
Grab the rod! Grab the rod!
It's the fucking fish!
Grab it! Grab the rod!
- Yeah. Pull him in! Pull him in!
- Is that a bloody shark?
No, it's that bloody mangrove jack
I told you about. Pull the bastard in!
Come on, get him! Come on.
Come on, give 'im some line.
Give 'im some line.
Let him play a bit.
You know, make him fight for it!
[Slim coughs]
Put a brake on!
Put the brake brake brake on it!
Damn it! Let it just
Don't leave him, just
[inspiring music plays]
Oh my God! Oh my God!
We got him, he's coming up.
[straining]
Oh, no, you don't. Come on, you.
Oh my God.
Slim, I've got him!
Slim, I got him! I got him!
Slim, grab the net.
[dramatic music plays]
[thunder rumbles]
Slim, please.
Talk to me, Slim.
Please, Slim, wake up.
Wake up, Slim. Please.
Help!
Help!
Help, please!
Help!
[dialogue imperceptible]
[dramatic music continues]
[dramatic music continues]
[gentle music plays]