Now and Again (1999) s01e04 Episode Script

1
Before on Now And Again:
The United States government has,
since the conclusion of World War Il,
spent billions of dollars
in the hopes of one day actually
being able to build a man.
An American man.
A man who could do those things
mere mortal American men
are loathe to do:
travel in dangerous places,
take risks, wage war.
A man with the speed
of Michael Jordan,
the strength of Superman,
and the grace
of Fred Astaire.
We know you didn't choose
to die, Mr. Wiseman.
And your husband
left you and your daughter
a considerable sum in insurance.
Why in the world would we
give you public assistance?
I have no money.
Well, perhaps you should think
about getting a job.
I saw your family.
I know how precious they
must be to you.
But your government
can't let anyone know
about the existence
of this technology.
You reaching out
to anyone from your past
absolutely guarantees
your immediate and final death.
And the death
of whomever you confided in.
You're stronger
than any man on the planet.
You're faster
than any man on the planet.
I'm not really sure
I'm ready for a mission.
Somewhere along the way, have I
mistakenly given you the impression
that you have a say
in what you will and won't do?
You are an experiment.
My experiment.
I will tell you when
and what you will do.
You look beautiful.
In fact, you look more beautiful
than ever.
Thank you.
So are you gonna kiss me?
I only get one, right?
- Mm-hm.
- Would you mind?
You know the place.
Oh.
Wait a second.
Maybe there's something
you wanna tell me.
Maybe there's something
I should know.
- What do you mean?
- I mean, you've been gone
for eight months now,
that's a long time.
Things happen and people change.
Is there someone new in your life?
No, there's no one in my life.
There's nothing to tell you,
nothing that matters.
Just, I've missed you.
Mr. Wiseman?
Can you hear me?
Mr. Wiseman?
Mr. Wiseman?
It's a beautiful day ♪
In this neighborhood ♪
A beautiful day for a neighbor ♪
Would you be mine? ♪
Could you be mine? ♪
Were you dreaming
sweet dreams, Mr. Wiseman?
Where's that subway train
when you need it?
Mom, I need a check for $158
for the junior class trip to Washington
so I could see the monument
and buy souvenir T-shirts.
If I don't hand the money in
by today, they won't let me go.
Oh, good morning to you too,
Heather.
Hand me my purse.
Oh, God.
I don't think I have $158
- in the checking account.
- What?
Well, I was expecting a dividend
to come in the mail,
but it didn't come yesterday.
All I have is $43.11.
- Mom, this is not funny.
- No.
This is an adolescent rite of passage
you're screwing around with here.
Don't threaten me
with adult-onset mental illness
this early in the morning, darling.
I'm not ready.
- I need a check.
- I'll write you a check.
Just maybe don't hand it in
until the end of the day,
or give me a chance to move some
money over from the savings account,
or maybe sell a stock or something.
- Where we going?
- The study to get Daddy's passbook.
I can't believe you're
putting me through this.
- Through what?
- This stress.
Never knowing when the next hunk
of disposable income will appear.
I can't believe I'm listening to this.
Why? Why can't you believe it? You're
the one that brought me up spoiled.
It's not like that
was a choice I was in on.
And how do you expect me
to make the adjustment?
The same year
I have to take my SAT's.
Heather, get a grip.
- Wanna give me a hint?
- About what?
About why I'm wearing
this expensive suit.
You're wearing that expensive suit
because you're a successful
and accomplished man.
- I am?
- Absolutely.
I know that because
you're currently in the employ
of an even more successful
and accomplished man.
That would be you?
That's the brain I know and love.
So we're pretending to be
something we're not because?
Oh, we wanna look
at some commercial space for rent.
- We do?
- Mm-hm.
We're hoping to keep
this exclusively a high-tech building,
with T-1 connections on every floor,
as well as fiber optics and C-5's.
As you can see,
the views are spectacular.
And we would be willing to negotiate
build-outs with qualified lessors.
Well, this is fabulous.
It's exactly what we had in mind.
Would it be all right
if my associate and I spent some time
up here by ourselves?
Soak up the ambiance
before we make our final decision?
I don't see why not. It's not like
there's anything here to steal.
- Ha, ha.
- Forty-five minutes or so?
Forty-five minutes would be perfect.
Oh, um, I'm expecting
another colleague of mine.
If you see him on your way out
I'll send him right up.
Soak up the what?
What are we doing here?
Needed a place to have a meeting.
A place I could be sure
wouldn't be bugged or watched.
What makes you so sure
that this fills the bill?
If I didn't know I was coming here until
an hour ago, how could anybody else?
Oh, good. Company's here.
Be nice.
This fellow's an old friend.
- Mr. Murphy.
- Dr. Morris.
- We meet again.
- Yes, we do.
Let me introduce.
Michael, right?
Right.
I received the birth announcement.
I'm part of the family.
- Okay, and your name again?
- No one really knows.
Just call him Murphy.
Anna Lee. That was her name.
That was her name. Anna Lee.
Look, you don't wanna do this.
I was 32 years old.
The Air Force sends me back
to college so I can learn Japanese.
So I walk into the classroom
and I see Anna Lee.
I can't believe
you're telling him this.
Oh, man.
Did God have a party
the night he cooked her up.
I mean, one look at her,
and this gal, man,
I mean, she just turns my mind
into Maypo.
So I start doing what you do
and make it my business
to bump into her in the hall,
sit next to her in class,
and eventually I say,
"Hey, you, me. What do you say?"
Excuse me?
He's showing up at her dorm room
at all hours of the day and night.
He's intimidating her friends,
and we don't know it at that time,
but he's got her phone bugged.
Ha, ha.
What, you don't find that romantic?
Well, the point is, who appears
and tells me to lay off
or else he's gonna bust
my freaking cranium, huh?
None other than
No. Not you, doc?
Did you actually say "freaking"?
It was a long time ago.
I was very young.
It was great.
Two guys beating the living crap
out of each other.
And it wasn't until an hour later when
we were both lying in the infirmary
that we realized that we
were both there on the CIA's dime.
- Remember?
- So, what happened to Anna Lee?
I don't know. Ask him.
Six days later, I saw this other girl
in the library.
I heard she works
in the Trust Department
at a bank in
Providence, Rhode Island.
A couple of kids.
Wow.
Anna Lee. Mm.
You heard about Davenport, right?
- Uh-uh.
- Died in Abu Dhabi 14 months ago.
Somebody sold a list of agents' covers
to the Saudis.
Two day later, they found him
hanging from a bridge.
Wow.
Same thing happened in the Hague
six months after that.
Four agents, years of work,
all of it gone.
Sold for a couple of hundred thousand,
we're guessing.
Man, you're just full of good news,
aren't you?
Have you kept in touch
with Jimmy Lucic?
J.J.?
Man, I haven't heard from him
in, pfft, forever. Why?
Yeah, well, he left the life
three years ago.
Cashed out and bought
a huge penthouse in Hong Kong.
No sooner does he get there,
then he's diagnosed with lupus.
Can't tolerate the sun.
Buys a top-floor apartment
in one of the tallest buildings there is
and has to live with the shades drawn
all the time.
Really?
Well, how's he getting on?
Other than his health concerns,
very well.
Too well, in fact.
We believe he's developed
a lucrative business
inducing his old friends
to sell state secrets
which he then sells to our enemies.
That's the reason we called.
Can I count on you?
I'm a pro.
I know who I am.
I know what I do.
Well, I don't.
Who is this guy
and what does he do?
I don't really expect you to do it.
We know he was your friend.
Think of it as a training mission
for the kid.
Am I the kid?
I don't mean to seem dense,
but am I the kid?
He's a virgin.
Again, I know I'm interrupting the flow,
but am I the virgin?
So he would actually
be handling the, uh, elimination?
Do you have a minute?
- What are we talking about here?
- An assignment.
- What kind of assignment?
- Overseas, out of the country.
Aren't you leaving something out?
A sleep-over assignment. All the kids
have a tough time with it at first, but-
But what's this about elimination?
What do you mean by elimination?
Mr. Wiseman, let's stop being coy.
You know exactly what we mean
by elimination.
You're right, I do. And I won't do it.
- Really?
- Yeah.
This can't be a surprise.
I told you, you would be called upon
to do things normal American men--
But you never said anything
about elimination.
I can't do that.
Oh, yes, you can.
Any man can if he has to.
And, Mr. Wiseman, you have to.
You made a deal,
just like I made a deal.
Now my marker's being called in.
So that means
your marker's being called in.
So you will go and do this little job
for king, country, and Dr. Morris.
And you will do it swiftly
and you will do it skillfully.
And in return you will be allowed
to live another day.
Oh, thanks for coming back.
I was afraid
I wasn't gonna see you again.
- We need to talk.
- What's the matter?
You haven't been completely
honest with me.
- About what?
- About who you are.
About what you've become.
- Lisa
- Don't take this the wrong way,
but I think I liked it better
when you stayed dead.
Wait a second, don't say that.
It's bad enough being a widow.
But being a widow who knows
that her late husband
is running around with
who knows who, eliminating people
I haven't eliminated anybody yet.
Come on, Michael,
we both know where this is heading.
- But, Lisa
- Shh.
Heather's coming.
I don't want her to know her father
commits mortal sins for a living.
It's not my living.
It's what I do to live. But--
Hi, Daddy.
Hi, sweetheart. How are you?
Daddy, the kids at school are saying
you kill people for a living.
They're wrong, Heather.
I haven't actually killed anybody.
Not yet.
Well, if you do kill somebody,
I mean, could you come into school
and talk about it on Career Day?
Career Day?
Good morning.
I'm calling about the exceptional career
opportunity for motivated self-starters.
Uh-huh.
So, what you're saying
is that you're looking for me
to make an initial investment
of $50,000
so that I can have
my own vending machine route?
Great.
My previous employment history?
Um, now, is that really an issue?
I mean, I freely admit
I have never sold time shares before.
No, I do.
I absolutely understand the question.
Although that was really more
of a kind of volunteer kind of a thing.
When was the last time I got paid?
Uh, I'm sorry, I'm on the cell
and you're-- You're breaking up.
No. I'm sorry.
I did not know
that's what you meant by "hostess".
No, I'm not purposely trying
to waste your time.
No, I will not tell you
what I'm wearing right now.
And this is a prime spot,
and the owner is very anxious
to have a tenant in here.
- This is just perfect.
- Oh, good.
Would you mind if my associates and I
took a little look around by ourselves
for a half hour or so?
Certainly.
- You are shameless.
- Mm-hm.
Lucic lives 46 floors up
in the penthouse of this building,
which takes up the entire floor
and is serviced by its own elevator.
What are we doing?
His rent is probably killing him.
This elevator is monitored
around the clock
by no less than four television cameras
and a like number of microphones.
Even the outside of the elevator car
is under video surveillance
sO no one can sabotage it.
In addition,
this is a very high-security building
with 16 cameras in the lobby.
Doormen, security personnel,
et cetera.
Even the fire-escape stairs
are completely monitored.
- How do we get in?
- Gee, maybe we don't.
Gosh, I was really up for this.
All the utilities, pipes, cables
are funneled through access tunnels
that run underneath all the buildings
on this square block.
Our idea is to get you
into one of the buildings
on the other side of the block,
and have you make your way
through this tunnel
back to the basement
in Lucic's building.
Why? What's in the basement?
- An elevator shaft.
- But you said--
I said that the elevators
were monitored.
I said, the outside of the elevator car
was monitored.
I did not say
the shaft was monitored.
You see this cable?
Every time this elevator goes up,
this cable goes down.
Every time the elevator goes down,
the cable goes up.
Whoa, whoa, whoa,
I think I see where you're going here.
You want me to what?
Hold on to a steel cable and have it
pull me 46 stories in the air?
No, I want him
to hold on to a steel cable,
and you to hold on to him.
- Mom.
- Shh.
I'm trying to write my résumé.
What's the problem?
Well, the problem is
it only takes up a third of the page.
No matter what I do to the margins,
there's no font big enough
to make up for the fact that
my life only fills a third of a page.
Is that bad?
No, no, not really, not if you're 9.
Well, maybe you just need
to elaborate.
Elaborate? How?
Well, like this thing from 1981,
waitress.
June through August?
First of all,
don't call yourself a waitress.
You-- Get up for a second.
You were a hospitality consultant
in the food-service industry.
- A hospitality consultant?
- Don't you read the papers?
Nobody has a job anymore.
Everyone's a consultant.
- Really?
- Absolutely.
And let's lose this
"June through August” thing.
Just 1981.
Don't be so specific. It's the details
that'll get you into trouble.
Only offer dates
on a need-to-know basis.
Need-to-know, huh?
And let's list all the languages
you speak fluently.
I don't speak any languages.
Gesundheit.
You see?
You're much too modest, Mom.
And what was that musical
we went to see last year?
Les Misérables.
Wow, French too.
You're unstoppable, Mom.
And what was Daddy's
favorite breakfast?
Huevos rancheros.
When I get through with you,
you'll be the freaking U.N.
Go ahead.
Excuse me?
You looked like you wanted
to ask me something.
Yeah, well, uh,
the obvious thing, probably.
I have a mother.
I take her to church sometimes.
She says to her friends,
"This is my son."
"He works in world affairs."
"He makes sure there's a tomorrow
for us to wake up to."
I don't understand.
There really are good guys
and bad guys in this world, Mike.
And the bad guys are badder
than anything you can imagine.
I just
I just don't know if I can do this.
If you knew you could do it,
I'd be worried.
Gentlemen, it's a 14-hour flight.
I suggest you
get all the rest you can.
Food's up front, head's in the back.
Ah. Frau Wiseman.
Gesundheit.
Okay.
So you want a job
in the fashion accessories business?
It would be helpful to me if we could
fill in some of the blank spots.
Blank spots?
Well, um, being a "hospitality
consultant in the food-service industry”
- is a laudable job for a young woman,
- Ms. Masters--
uh, particularly during the summers
when she's going to college.
- Let me explain--
- And especially
if she's allowed to keep her tips.
Thank you for seeing me.
But it hardly constitutes
a work history.
I'm sorry that I wasted your time.
Or for that matter even a life history.
And you will only
be wasting my time
if you insist on leaving
before we finish this meeting.
Thank you. Now
Why don't you tell me who you are,
where you've been,
and why are you here?
I'm Lisa Wiseman.
I've been married for 17 years,
and I have been a mother
for 15 years.
My husband was killed in an accident
about eight months ago
and I need a job.
I have a worthless degree
and no experience to speak of.
But I am, as they say
in the classifieds, highly motivated.
And, yes, I would be interested in a job
in the fashion accessory business.
In fact, I would be interested
in any business that would have me.
And why would I be interested
in hiring you?
Your ad said "mature".
"Mature executive assistant.”
But the truth is, I don't actually think
of myself as mature.
I think of myself
as not exactly immature,
so I thought that I would
qualify by default.
The ad said some other things too.
Yes, yes. It said something
about a benefits package?
Yeah, it also said
"60 words per minute".
Right, right, that would be
what the "W.P.M." stood for.
Do you type at all?
Oh, at all, I type.
You are very nice,
taking your time talking to me.
Thank you.
Oh, have you seen my two boys?
No.
- Attractive, aren't they?
- Uh-huh.
One day in 1986,
their father comes home from work
and tells me he's fallen in love
with a piano tuner.
A 26-year-old piano tuner.
I mean, I don't even know
where the switch is
to turn off the oil burner
in the summer.
I don't know
how to fill out my own taxes
and I certainly don't know
how to make a living.
I always used
to make these headbands
and give them to my friends as gifts.
Howie and the boys,
they made such fun of me.
And then one day I thought,
why don't I try selling these?
And so I did,
to, um, the local beauty parl--
- No, I mean sell.
- Heh.
And then I started selling it
to boutiques.
Think about it.
Anyway, I'm not going to
offer you that job, Mrs. Wiseman.
Yeah, I kind of figured that.
No, not because you can't type.
You can learn to type.
But the truth of it is,
as grateful as you'd be to me today
for giving you that job,
that's how much you'd resent me
six months from now
when you were bored to death
with it.
Whatever you say.
You're a smart woman.
It oozes out of every pore.
So stop pretending
you don't know anything.
You can't have lived the life
you've lived for 17 years,
made a home, raised a family,
and not have learned something.
Not be interested in something.
Find out what that is,
and then find a way
to make a living at it.
That's what the boys do.
Where are we going?
I'm right behind you.
Okay, I'm coming.
Oh, Lisee.
Hi, Daddy.
I just wanted to let you know
that speech you made on Career Day,
that was the best.
I really have to go.
And bringing in that dead guy
as a visual aid, that was classic.
Excuse me, sweetheart.
Where you going, Daddy?
Are you leaving?
Goodbye, Daddy.
Mommy, aren't you going to
say goodbye to Daddy?
Mommy?
Ah. Everybody sit tight.
We got a scheme
to get you boys through Customs,
and to where you have to go.
You can thank me later.
Aw, gee, you missed my big entrance.
Yoo-hoo, reveille.
Come on out, we gotta
kill somebody in cold blood.
Kid, stop kidding around
and open this thing.
Yeah.
How you doing?
To be honest with you,
I'm a little stiff.
- Ah. Killer humor.
- Ha, ha.
Lung capacity.
It's not what it should be.
It's not karmic justice.
It's too many Cuban stogies.
You need a hand?
No, just a minute.
Are you actually gonna be able
to do this?
Why? You wanna do this yourself?
No.
I'll take that hand now.
Stop looking at me that way.
Everything's gonna be fine.
Come on.
Let's find us an elevator shaft.
So how does this work?
Am I supposed to say "shazam”
or something?
I mean, can't you just twist
that lock apart with your bare hands?
It will all be over soon.
You know the most shocking part?
Twenty minutes from now,
after you pull that trigger,
your life will be no different.
The world won't end
and your nose won't grow longer.
The big secret of life:
Everybody dies, Michael.
And you know what you discover
when you've been doing this
as long as I've been doing it?
Nobody's really
that damn important anyway.
Great men die
and the world goes on.
Bad men die and the world goes on.
We have our work to do.
This is mine.
It's gonna be yours.
Wow.
Makes me wish
I used the john on the plane.
How are we supposed
to get up there?
Grab my feet.
Are you sure
this is the best way to do this?
Don't argue.
The elevator is gonna come down
any minute now.
- When it comes down, we go up.
- Okay.
Houston, we have lift-off.
Oh, man.
How we doing?
Not very well, frankly.
I don't know if I can hold on
much longer like this.
Look above your head.
See that bracing?
I'll try and get you close enough
so you can grab hold of it.
How you gonna do that?
I really appreciate you telling me
that everybody dies eventually
and nobody really matters.
Without that little bit
of sage wisdom,
what's happening to you now
might really upset me.
I'll make you a deal.
You get me through this,
and I'll take care of the, uh--
The other.
Hey, J.J.
I didn't know that they had
funnies in that paper.
- Murphy, how did--?
- I had, uh, some help.
I see.
Uh, I was hoping
this was a social call,
but you're here at the behest
of your Uncle Sam, aren't you?
Well, he did pick up the airfare.
Would you mind terribly,
I mean, for old time's sake, if I?
Go ahead.
Just drop the paper
and get up very slowly.
I don't suppose I could get you
to turn around, could I?
Uh-uh.
Uh
Would you mind
if I, uh, wash my hands?
Seems a bit beside the point
given the business at hand,
but have at it.
While you're tidying up,
let me ask you your professional
opinion about something.
A cryptographic codebook.
You know, the kind that contains
nuclear launch codes?
How much would such an item
be worth to you and your friends?
What are you doing?
What's going on here?
I'm asking a question.
I'm exploring a possibility.
I'm no spring chicken, my man.
So if J.J. here can make
an old civil servant's retirement
just a little bit more bearable,
maybe I wouldn't
have to kill him after all.
You're selling him secrets?
That's treason.
One million dollars for each of you.
I have it here. It's in the house.
- It's in a safe, in Krugerrands.
- I can't do this, Murphy.
What do you mean
you can't do this?
Which part of this
is making you uncomfortable?
Having a million dollars to live on
or you no longer being
an indentured slave
to the United States government?
- I can't allow this to happen.
- I don't understand you, kid.
What are you saying here?
- That you'd rather I kill him?
- Aah!
Three million.
Look, he's gonna give that
to our enemies.
Security is gonna be compromised,
lives will be lost.
Four million dollars.
No, Murphy, I can't.
You can't kill. You can't not kill.
You can't do much, can you, kid?
I'm giving you a gift.
It's not just the money.
I'm saving you from the life.
Do you have any idea
how long and how well you can live
on $4 million here in Asia?
Doesn't matter to me. I can't do it.
Well, what's the alternative?
I mean, it's not like
you're gonna kill him or anything.
What did you do?
He's a traitor, Murphy.
And you're a traitor too.
Oh, come on,
you know better than that.
That thing may slow me down a little,
but it's not gonna stop me.
Don't do this, kid.
You're making a huge mistake.
You think killing me, killing this guy,
you're gonna be some kind
of big hero? A big patriot?
You're gonna be a garbageman
just like me.
Somebody everybody needs,
but nobody wants around
after the deed is done.
So let's be smart.
Let's get our codebook back
before this guy bleeds all over it.
And we'll make a better deal.
A bigger deal.
You've done this before?
Well, I know some people.
Some big money guys.
In the Hague? In Abu Dhabi?
Well, you know what they say
about your retirement.
It's never too soon to begin saving.
Yeah, that's what I thought.
Me too.
Morris, what?
Haven't figured it out yet, Murphy?
The kid's good, isn't he, Murph?
Admit it, he had you.
Sorry, left my blood squibs
in my other suit.
So this has all been one big setup?
Well, we had to know.
Good men suffered
because of what you did.
Yeah, well, that's, uh--
That's too bad.
But we're not in America.
And you have no jurisdiction here.
And it took me a really long time
to understand what you meant.
Then it hit me.
The one thing I have always had,
always taken pleasure in,
the one thing I really know
something about is homes.
I made a home.
I bought a home. I can sell homes.
I like homes.
And I know you have to go to school,
and I know you have to get a license,
and I know you don't get paid
unless you sell something--
Until you sell something.
And I am fine with all of that.
Well, that's a very
impressive attitude.
- Do you have a résumé?
- No.
I'm beginning one today.