Interior Chinatown (2024) s01e04 Episode Script

1
[typewriter keys clacking]
This place looks amazing.
[Lana Lee] Your brother was investigating
the Painted Faces.
[Willis Wu]
I grew up wanting to be like him.
That became my dream to be that guy,
the Kung Fu Guy.
You're an agent?
Well, it is my listing.
If you can rent it for me,
I might have other opportunities for you.
We'll take the orange chicken.
Orange chicken.
Do you even like Chinese food?
What should we get?
I don't know, man,
it's a Chinese restaurant.
That guy is amazing.
[Willis]
Someone was watching him.
And if there's surveillance,
there's gotta be videotapes.
I've just gotta get back in there
and find those tapes.
Now it's all on a database
in our tech room.
And that's controlled by Tech Guy.
[Willis] One last door to open.
On the other side,
I find out what happened to my brother.
[older brother]
Kung Fu Guy at your service.
[dramatic music plays]
[upbeat music playing]
Come here, this way.
Police, freeze!
No sign of your pal from Chinatown.
Don't worry. He'll be here.
He's already here.
[upbeat music playing]
♪
[yells]
[grunting]
Boy, are we happy to see you.
Carrey, meet our Chinatown insider.
Really great to meet you, Detective.
- Look forward to working together.
- [Carrey] Hmm.
Yeah, don't worry about him,
he hates everyone.
So, this is Kung Fu Guy?
This is Kung Fu Guy.
Is that what you're calling me?
You need a code name.
Is that gonna be a problem for you,
Kung Fu Guy?
Kung Fu Guy, at your service.
[thug groaning]
[thug groans sharply]
[upbeat music playing]
[grunts]
[typewriter keys clacking]
[typewriter bell dings]
[McDonough] [on monitor]
Over here. This way!
- [Willis] I wanted footage, I got footage.
- [Carrey] [on monitor] Freeze!
No sign of your pal from Chinatown.
[McDonough]
Don't worry. He'll be here.
[Willis] Apparently, the cops
are obsessed with my brother.
Weird, but I get it.
I grew up copying his moves.
["Iron Eagle"
by King Kobra playing]
Never say die ♪
Iron eagle ♪
- Nothing's forever ♪
- Now or ever ♪
- [older brother] Again.
- [sighs]
Never say die ♪
Iron eagle ♪
- Never look back ♪
- Never say die ♪
- [older brother] Again.
- [sighs]
- [grunting]
- Relax your shoulders.
[sighs]
Come on, again.
[grunting]
Knees in.
Good. Faster this time. Go again.
- I'm done.
- [older brother] Huh?
Done.
[older brother] You gave up, Will.
Never give up.
You go.
[older brother] [sighs] Alright.
[older brother exhales]
[soft instrumental music playing]
[yells]
[both laugh]
Come on, let's go get some food.
[older brother grunts]
Game over.
Game over, right?
But only one problem, right?
I can't die yet.
- [Lily] What? [chuckles]
- Right.
Because you haven't
asked Mom to marry you.
[Joe]
And if she say yes, I can die happy,
but only until she say yes.
And then, bang!
- [older brother] Dad.
- [Lily] Hyah.
[Joe] I knocked the guy out.
[Joe scoffs]
Now I'm hurt, right?
So my eye's swollen, my arm broken.
Even my face was broken,
but I got down on my knee
and I asked your mom
[Lily sighs]
"Will you marry me?"
And she said
Go take a shower.
[laughter]
[older brother] Yeah, I'm starving.
Can we eat?
[siren chirping, wailing in distance]
Alright, I gotta go.
[Lily] Hey, how about the dinner?
[older brother] Sorry, Mom.
Can I come?
[Willis]
Kung Fu Guy, that's the dream.
My dream anyway.
Is that gonna be a problem for you,
Kung Fu Guy?
[Willis] But hearing it like that,
it sounds different.
[Miles Turner] Hey, tech guy.
We got something we need you to look at.
On it.
Agent of the year
at Sunny's Travel in Chinatown.
Bludgeoned to death with her own trophy.
Zoom in. Enhance.
Enhancing.
Tech Guy over here, "Enhancing.
I'm Tech Guy, I say 'enhancing'
when I enhance."
You don't have to say it, just do it.
You're right, I'm, I'm sorry.
Crystallize.
- [computer trilling]
- Brighten.
Brighter. More. Brighter.
Way too bright. Less.
Crop it. Sharpen.
Just run facial recognition.
- We can't do that.
- Actually, we can.
It's part of the new system upgrade.
I don't like change.
Sarah, change can be good.
- Look at that
- Look.
It's the owner of the bus company
Chinatown Dash.
Okay, team, let's snag
ourselves a teamster.
[Sarah Green] Let's roll.
Okay, uh, catch me up.
[sighs] You're not gonna believe this.
Look what I found.
Carrey and McDonough.
Okay, who are these guys?
They were the original lead detectives
before Green and Turner.
- [Lana] No shit.
- [Willis] Yeah.
McDonough is the baby-faced rookie,
and Carrey is the older, wiser,
beatdown-by-the-street veteran.
It's some kind of internal video database.
It's all out of order, but there are
so many video clips of my brother,
- almost like a compilation of
- [Sarah] [on radio] Lee, where are you?
You gonna make us wait all day? Let's go.
This is good. This is really good.
- Yeah?
- [Lana] I'm gonna help them
solve this bus murder,
but they clock out early on Friday,
so we should, we should work together
and find more videos,
build a timeline and figure out
his last known location.
- Together?
- [Lana] Yeah.
Yeah. Um, I can get us
some snacks or, you know,
we can get a couple of those
energy drinks from the machine,
they're like pretty cool.
Yeah, okay, cool,
I'll see then, it's a date.
[Willis] What?
[soft orchestral music playing]
[telephone ringing]
[grunts]
[ringing continues]
Golden Palace.
Hey, it's me.
Are you coming in today?
[Willis] Fatty, I need your help.
[line beeping]
Hello?
[telephone ringing]
[Fatty] No, I need your help.
People are ordering stuff
I didn't even know we had.
Like, what the fuck is crab rangoon?
Okay, um, Fatty, it's about my brother.
Great, well, if you see him,
tell him we need his help
at the restaurant too.
[Willis] I'm serious,
I found a database of videos
of my brother at the police station.
Ow.
It's way more than I even imagined.
I'm gonna need you
to keep covering for me
- until I can get through everything
- What? No.
[Willis] and find out what happened
with this Task Force.
Lana's actually gonna be
working with me. Alone.
Oh, okay, I see what's happening.
I stay here and clean bathrooms
while you make eyes at Detective Lana.
Just don't become
one of those guys who disappears
as soon as he get a girlfriend.
I'll hold the fort down,
but hurry up and come back.
[Willis] Thanks, man.
["Here Comes the Hotstepper"
by Ini Kamoze playing]
Hit it ♪
Nah, na, na, na, na, na ♪
I, I I gotta go.
There's a bunch of white people
lined up outside the restaurant.
[Willis] Oh, yeah? That's crazy.
Like a lot.
Murderer ♪
Pick up the crew
in-a de area, murderer ♪
[line beeping]
[sighs]
Guy with a girlfriend.
- Colleagues?
- Hey.
[speaks Cantonese]
Can we just pretending
to be happy couple for today?
Aye.
[indistinct conversations]
Oh, hang on.
So sorry we're late.
You came.
Look at you.
Oh. My husband, Joe.
Joe, yes, sifu, I remember.
I love your ads, yes.
What? It's true.
[Lily chuckles]
Hey, where's your husband?
What do you mean?
You said to bring partners.
Oh, I meant Jade partners.
- Oh.
- [Betty] It's okay, it's fine.
Your husband's more than welcome to stay.
What's that?
Ah, dan tat, remember from
[speaks Cantonese]
- the most popular
- [Betty] Ah.
They've been there for 20 years.
Yes, yes, I know. That's so nice.
Although, would you mind
if we keep this shut?
Crumbs. The furniture's all staged.
Of course. [chuckles]
Come on in, I want you to meet
Yeah, don't touch.
- I want you to meet some people.
- I'll take it in the kitchen.
[indistinct chatter]
- [upbeat music playing]
- [grunting]
[body thuds]
- [both] My God.
- [computer trills]
[Willis] Okay, so we're gonna
find clips of my brother
starting with him getting recruited
then once you find a clip, you isolate it,
then you cut here,
cut here, and then
you drag and, uh, drop it.
Okay, cool.
- Cool.
- It's pretty straightforward.
Well, this is your setup, and
I actually got you
your own swivelly chair.
[Lana] Oh.
- Yeah.
- Thanks.
Unless you don't like to swivel,
we can just
Do I like to swivel?
You see this? How's this for a swivel?
You're gonna get dizzy and throw up
if you keep doing that.
I feel so nauseous already. Thank you.
I got some snacks,
some slim pickings at the machines,
but we got potato chips, cookie.
- Cookie?
- Cookie.
Cool. Well, I'll take these and, um,
actually I got you something else.
[Lana] Mm.
Your very own, uh, toothpick buddy.
- Ah.
- Yeah, so now you can, um
- Pick my teeth?
- Yeah.
Anytime you want.
Just And then there's more.
Anytime you need a fresh one,
you can just go for it.
This is unbelievable.
Thank you.
That's all yours.
That's very sweet.
[Willis] Drinks from the machine.
To, uh
to Kung Fu Guy.
To Kung Fu Guy.
[gentle piano music playing]
That's so bad.
Hey, my name's Lana Lee.
I used to be a Krav Maga instructor,
- but now I'm a, I'm a detective.
- Assistant instructor.
- [chuckles]
- I almost choked.
Alright, I guess we should
probably get back to work.
Okay. Thanks.
[music continues]
["The Champ"
by Ghostface Killah playing]
That one.
[grunting]
[screams]
Godzilla bankroll ♪
Stones from Stilion ♪
Yo I ain't got it all,
that means I barely home ♪
- [groaning]
- Trailblazer stay ballin' ♪
Revenge is my arts is crafty darts ♪
While y'all stuck on Laffy Taffy ♪
Wonderin' how y'all get past me ♪
I been doin' this before
Nas dropped the Nasty ♪
- Yep. That's one.
- My wallos I did 'em up ♪
Them bricks I send 'em up ♪
My raps y'all bit 'em up ♪
For that now stick 'em up ♪
This place is amazing.
[McDonough] Keep up, kid.
[Carrey] The Painted Faces.
- [Lana] The Painted Faces?
- [older brother] [on monitor] Okay.
[Lana] Wait, this is it.
Opera masks?
They're a ruthless organization.
They've long pulled
the strings in Chinatown.
Then why haven't
I heard of them until now?
[McDonough]
We're starting a special Task Force.
You're gonna be the muscle
that cleans up this neighborhood
and takes these bad guys down.
[Carrey] If you see
any of the Painted Faces, you page us.
Here, so we can reach you.
Keep it close.
You will not regret this.
["The Champ" continues]
He's our guy.
He'd better be.
I've done walked on fire,
never got burnt ♪
Stepped on glass, never got cut ♪
And broke a few nose bones, yo ♪
Light off a round or two ♪
At certain dudes
where they dropped they phones ♪
Yo, this straight crack,
even my hand got tooken to jail ♪
For writing murder,
my wrist couldn't take it in bail ♪
They left my fingers for dead ♪
Told 'em I ain't had nothing
to do with the writing ♪
I hold you down
when you be squeezing that lead ♪
Shopping sprees,
with my mans on the corner ♪
Watch Ds rolling in threes
in them purple capris ♪
A gritty bop, my watch is bigger ♪
Wallo's with the gold tassels,
your old slave ♪
With Starkey Love on the shackles ♪
And I stay fly underwater,
my toes is iced out ♪
Poofed the nails off,
ya faggots can figure the price out ♪
It's chump change,
y'all bitch go get my coco ♪
Get my slippers, before I go gun ho ♪
Can't stop drinking this.
[trills, beeps]
[hip-hop music playing]
Oh. He has his shirt off a lot.
[yells]
He's so cool.
[music continues]
[screaming]
[music ends]
[indistinct conversations]
Uh, excuse me,
I don't think this is ours.
Okay. Well, good news,
I put it on your table,
so it's yours now.
Oh, but we haven't even ordered yet.
Yeah, you've been hiding in the kitchen
for like 20 minutes.
Okay. [sighs]
What would you like?
Oh, um, I'm not sure.
You're not sure?
After all that? Huh, my favorite game.
You got 20 minutes to decide
and you still don't know
what you want, do you?
No.
Well then, why don't you
just say that? Say it.
Say, "My name is Caitlin
and I don't know what I want."
How did you know my name is Caitlin?
[sighs] Look, I'm just a waiter.
I can't solve
your existential indecisiveness.
So how about you
just give this a try, okay?
- You might like it.
- Wow.
- Or not. I don't care.
- [customer] Hmm.
Oh, my God
[excited chatter]
[Fatty] Welcome to Golden Palace,
what do you want?
Could I hear the specials?
Every dish is special.
Okay, well, um, what would you recommend?
I recommend you pick before I walk away.
[both snickering]
- What's so funny?
- [both laughing]
Okay, you know what?
That's it, I'm, I'm out.
Who are all these white people?
Where did they come from?
I don't know.
[Uncle Wong] And where's Willis?
Excuse me, can I get a photo?
- With him?
- With me?
I mean, yeah,
you're the mean waiter, right?
We read about you in the paper.
So how about that photo?
[light upbeat music playing]
- I'll do it for money.
- [customer] Oh, yeah.
- How about ten bucks?
- Yes.
[camera shutter clicks]
Detective
you're gonna wanna see this.
[Willis and Lana] My God.
[mouth full] I bet you anything
the video store owner did it.
[mouth full]
Absolutely no chance.
All my money's on the housekeeper.
- What?
- Yeah.
Are you kidding? That's obvious.
If I don't if I'm not right,
I should lose my job.
Ooh, well,
the Golden Palace is hiring, so
Not this girl.
[Willis] I don't get why
there's so much footage of my brother.
[Lana] You know, he was working for them.
[Willis] Yeah, but
maybe they didn't trust him.
[McDonough] I still don't like this.
Well, hey, if he's got nothing to hide,
we got nothing to worry about, do we?
[McDonough] So
why'd you join the force?
My mom.
She raised me all by herself
in a tiny little place down by the tracks.
She always believed in me.
So what's your backstory?
[indistinct chatter on monitor]
Hey, you know, you can
talk to me about anything,
and, you know
[sighs] What time is it?
[laughs] We're getting delirious.
- Oh.
- [Lana] Ah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, oof.
- It's late.
- I'm gonna call it.
- Yeah, me too.
- Yeah.
Yeah, man, I was just about to say that.
[Lana] Do you need a ride home?
Yeah, sure.
- Okay.
- Thanks.
I'm gonna get my stuff.
I'm gonna pack up.
[sighs]
[Lana sighs]
Take this honey bun.
[Carrey] Did you page him again?
- [McDonough] Yeah, no answer.
- Fuck!
- Idiot.
- [McDonough] Don't worry.
We are asking a lot of Kung Fu Guy.
What if he can't handle it?
He's just a kid.
He is just a kid, but he's special.
[Willis] Apparently, the department
watches everyone.
- [McDonough] He'll come through.
- [Willis] Even their own.
He lied to us about the Painted Faces.
I need to make sure we can trust him
or this whole operation may fall apart.
[Lana] Find anything interesting?
Nope.
Um, but you're right, housekeeper.
Ha! I knew.
Why you doubt me? You ready?
Yeah, yeah, just packing up my things.
[sighs]
[Lana]
Come on, Willis, move, let's go.
[Willis] Yeah, I'm just
getting my glasses and stuff.
[Willis sighs]
Big interrogation tomorrow.
Cool. Good night, Randall.
[Randall] Good night, Willis.
[Willis sighs]
Uh, hey, um, I forgot
to turn off the computer,
and the CPU's gonna overheat,
so, um, why don't you just go on?
Uh, I could Don't you need a ride?
No, I have, uh, I have my bike.
Okay. Um
Uh Oh.
Okay.
So I can reach you.
Oh.
Thanks.
Good night.
- [Willis] Yeah.
- It was a good night.
- [Willis] Oh.
- And good night.
[Willis] Good night too. Good night.
Yeah. All right, I'll see you later.
[soft dramatic music playing]
It's from the ad?
[Betty] Yes, body language.
It says, this is a person
you can trust with your money.
[Lily] I, I know I'm really new
in this industry,
but I'm fast learner.
You saw what I did with laundromat, right?
Mm-hmm.
I think Jade Properties
needs Chinatown expert.
This could be me. It should be me.
You know, I live there for over 30 years,
I raised my children there,
I know everywhere in Chinatown.
I know everything about Chinatown
and I speak Mandarin, Cantonese,
and I speak English.
I know it's not perfect,
but it's good enough
and, you know,
just, just give me a chance.
Enough.
When you make the sale, stop talking.
That's one of the things you'll learn.
Learn from you?
Yes, I'm gonna give you a chance.
- [Lily] Oh, my God!
- But don't make me regret it.
You won't. [laughing]
- I want that. I want
- Okay.
- Betty, so Thank you!
- Okay. Okay.
- Okay, thank you.
- [woman laughs in distance]
- What was that?
- [laughter in distance]
Joe.
[Joe] Lily and I were still dating, right?
So we out there, you know,
and then we round the corner, right?
Six guys rushed at me.
Wah, wah, wah, wah-wah-wah-wah!
And one guy went [gagging]
Grab me by my neck.
[panting] So now he's choking me
and I can't breathe free.
And I said Oh, man,
I'm thinking to myself,
"Okay, a few more seconds,
and and I'm finished."
But then something hit me.
What? What hit you?
I can't die yet.
I haven't asked Lily to marry me.
[all] Aw.
After all these years,
your husband is still the star.
You should take him to all your events.
Yeah.
And the guy was like
on top of me like this, right?
And I said, suddenly,
I didn't even know it myself, bang!
[all exclaiming and laughing]
Oh, careful.
[laughter]
I knocked the guy out.
[guests applauding]
I don't get it.
You mess up every order.
You're so bad at your job.
But they love it.
It's like the more
I treat them like shit,
the more they show up.
Doesn't make any sense.
I just want my old life back
when no one noticed me,
or how many beers
I stole from the kitchen.
Oh, I noticed.
[Uncle Wong sighs]
Listen, Fatty.
You are a lot like me.
What?
I'm not an unreasonable cheapskate
who dresses like shit.
Someone that the community relies on.
I mean, we're more like a wedge
you stick under a wobbly table.
Oh, God, no, are you
We keep things balanced.
Are you trying to teach me a lesson now
in personal responsibility?
No, don't do that, it's gross.
I don't wanna hear that shit.
Things have been getting wobbly for me.
I need you to stick around here
to help hold things up.
Please.
Alright, fine, I'll be your
stupid table wedge metaphor.
[sighs]
- [customer] There he is!
- [excited chatter]
Everybody shut the fuck up!
One at a time, you barbarians.
[laughter]
[cheering]
[McDonough] [on monitor]
Yeah, no answer.
We're asking a lot of Kung Fu Guy.
What if he can't handle it?
- He's just a kid.
- He is just a kid, but he's
[beeping]
[Willis] "Operation Kung Pao"?
Okay, that's just racist.
What even is that?
[computer beeps]
Oh.
[dramatic music playing]
Oh, my God.
[computer beeps]
Whoa.
[tense music playing]
Huh.
[Willis scoffs]
[keyboard keys clacking]
Where are you going?
[faint chatter on tape]
[tape whirring]
[tape whirring]
[older brother] the Painted Faces.
[tape whirring]
[older brother whistles]
Who's he meeting with?
[Willis] Enhancing.
[soft tense music playing]
[exhales]
[music grows ominous]
[keyboard keys clack]
[Willis] It doesn't seem real.
[Willis] But there he is,
the head of the Painted Faces.
My brother?
[older brother] Okay?
[soft tense music playing]
[Willis] Something's wrong.
That's not the guy I knew,
or was he just pretending?
Did I even know him, the real him?
I don't know what's real anymore.
[soft eerie music playing]
[muffled chatter on monitor]
[older brother] [on monitor]
the Painted Faces.
[muffled chatter continues]
the Painted Faces.
the Painted Faces.
[muffled chatter continues]
[soft tense music playing]
[Miles] That's our suspect,
the scrawny tech guy?
What is he in for, mislabeling a file?
[Sarah] Exactly, I don't know
what his deal is.
Detective Lee brought him in.
[Lana] Don't make me ask you again.
- [Willis gasping]
- Why did you lie to me?
You said you were going home,
so why are you still in the precinct?
We're supposed to be partners.
We are partners,
I just, I, I wanted to tell you,
but I was afraid.
Afraid of what?
What are you afraid of, Willis?
Of you and what everyone
would think of him, okay?
He's not a criminal!
[scoffs] No.
He's just a kid from Chinatown.
[Miles] Oh, he's in it now.
In what?
[Sarah] He sure is. No way out.
Hello?
Can you hear me?
[muffled] Can you hear me?
[soft eerie music playing]
[Miles] This is what
you wanted, right, Willis?
Be part of the case.
Be careful what you wish for.
- [Lana] Book him.
- [Willis gasps]
Wait!
[intense music playing]
[eerie music playing]
[Joe] Will!
Did you find him?
Please, tell us you found our son.
He supposed to be home days ago.
Look harder! What if he's hurt?
He not hurt, I trained him to be strong.
You train him too hard,
you pushing him away!
You smother him.
And you, why do you
have to dig in the past?
Why, Willis?
[gasps]
[breathing heavily]
[gasps]
hopes and dreams ♪
Never say die, iron eagle ♪
- [cell phone beeping]
- Nothing's forever, now or ever ♪
Never say die, iron eagle ♪
- [beeping continues]
- Never look back, never say die ♪
[man whistles]
[eerie tense music playing]
Who are you?
[older brother] Don't give up.
Don't ever give up
on me.
No one can ever know about this.
They won't understand.
I don't understand.
Were you talking to the Painted Faces?
It's you now, Willis.
You're the only one that can help me.
[soft tense music playing]
[jarring stinger]
[gasps sharply]
[sighs deeply]
[sighs]
[keyboard keys clacking]
[Carrey] [on monitor]
McDonough, your Kung Fu Guy
is not who he thinks he is.
He's not one of us.
[somber music playing]
[McDonough] I'm alone.
Okay, I just wanna talk.
Put the gun down.
[older brother]
Look, this is what's gonna happen.
You're gonna let me disappear
right now.
And if you don't, if you don't
I'm gonna kill you.
[gunshot on monitor]
[Willis] No.
It can't be.
I don't believe it.
[keyboard key clacks]
[trills]
[sighs deeply]
[dramatic music playing]
[indistinct chatter]
[Willis] My old life.
I could go back, forget what I saw.
But I know my brother.
There's more to his story.
I can't go back now.
Hey. Hey!
Don't ever leave me here alone
that long again.
[Willis] I told you I was
gonna be gone for the night.
That was two days ago.
What?
Yeah, I've been covering for you at work.
I'm sorry, I
I must've lost track of time.
Wait, have you been
at the station all weekend?
[sighs]
Okay, I, I, I don't know,
maybe we should just
cool down the investigation.
No, no, no, it's okay, it's okay.
I'm just worried about you.
Look at yourself.
Okay [sighs]
I'm happy to see you.
Just come inside, alright?
It's been crazy in here.
I'm like a table wedge, but it's cool.
- I, I, I, I
- No, it's okay.
- Uncle knows we're taking beers.
- [Willis] I can't. I can't.
- I can't. I, I
- No, no, just come and have a beer.
- No, no, Fatty, I can't.
- [Fatty] Just one beer.
[Willis] I can't go back. Okay?
[sighs]
Just tell Uncle I quit.
What?
Hiding in shadows ♪
What do you mean you quit?
Where we don't belong ♪
Living in darkness to hide our wrongs ♪
You and me ♪
At the dark end of the street ♪
[customers cheering]
You and me ♪
I know time is gonna take its toll ♪
We have to pay for the love we stole ♪
[traditional erhu music playing]
[zipper unzips]
[button clicks]
[music continues]
[creaking on tape]
[rattling on tape]
[phone dialing on tape]
[line rings]
Detective Carrey.
the Painted Faces.
[static on phone]
[traditional erhu music continues]
[store door bell rings]
[rings]
[tense music playing]
[water dripping]
[music continues]
[creaking]
[music continues]
[Willis]
What was he doing down here?
What was he so afraid of?
[music continues]
And who was he meeting?
[video game music on arcade game]
That song, I recognize it.
It doesn't seem real.
But I know where he was going.
The last place I'd expect.
[music continues]
My God.
[dramatic orchestral music playing]
[music continues]
[fanfare plays]