Transatlantic (2023) s01e04 Episode Script

1
[crickets chirping]
[footsteps approaching]
[panting]
Whoa. Nice little place.
Mary Jayne.
Mary Jayne? Wake up.
They made it. They're here.
Oh.
Are you coming with me?
It's better for them not to see me.
It'll be fine.
Good luck.
[Bretherton] We have, uh,
six Lee-Enfield revolvers,
six .303 rifles,
300 rounds of ammunition for each.
Assorted grenades,
plastic explosives, and detonators.
I don't know
what we'll do with all that, but
- Long, tough fight ahead, ma'am.
- [Mary Jayne] Oh, well, merry Christmas.
[Bretherton] Happy Christmas.
Seven weeks to go, isn't it?
- Well, you'll be home by then.
- Think so?
If only Father Christmas would bring me
a Dakota to fly us the hell out of here.
- Oh. I had a Vega Gull for a while.
- Where's your plane when you need it?
I had to sell it to raise money
for this operation.
Huh.
Okay, so you will take the train
to Banyuls-sur-Mer.
Like I said, this is
the safe route through the Pyrenees.
And once you are here, you're in Spain.
Here are your new passports
and your change of clothes.
- You'll be dressed as vineyard workers.
- [chuckles]
- Okay.
- Uh, all right, men, moving out.
- Thanks.
- And, Ms. Gold
- [in French] Thank you so much!
- [man in English] Thank you.
[man over radio] This is Europe.
As the Nazis continue
their unencumbered march
across the continent,
Americans march to the polls.
If reelected for
an unprecedented third term in office,
President Roosevelt
promises to stay neutral,
but Republican candidate
Wendell Willkie insists
his opponent is secretly planning
to take the United States to war.
[foreboding music plays]
- [in French] Commissioner.
- [in English] Welcome, Gruppenführer.
The city's at your feet.
[officer chuckles] Very good.
Streets are very clean.
No trouble. No protests.
We have removed all rogue elements. Clean.
[in German] Very good.
[in English] Please enjoy Marseille.
I will see you tonight.
[jazz music plays]
[Varian sighs]
[Varian] Good morning.
Sorry. Couldn't resist.
[rooster crows]
- Oh.
- [chuckles]
I drank a lot worse in Soviet prisons.
We have to get Walter Mehring
out of here. This man is driving me nuts.
He's keeping me up performing
his full repertoire over and over.
His lyrics are funny.
How many times
can you listen to the Nazi marching tune?
He pissed off the Nazis so much,
Goebbels wants him dead.
Well, all the more reason
to get him out of this house
and over to Broadway as soon as possible.
Poor guy.
- Can't be easy with a target on your back.
- We all have targets on our backs.
The Nazis take themselves too seriously.
Do you think so?
I can't take Mehring to the office.
He'll just perform.
Will you take him
down to the Pelican, please?
I'll have Bill Freier meet you there
with Mehring's passport.
I can't. Gentlemen
[in French] Have a nice day.
[suspenseful music plays]
[speaks French]
[in English] Gentlemen.
[all] Hi.
- You're up early.
- Wanted to see the sunrise.
- Sure you did.
- [André chuckles]
[man singing in German]
[humming]
[chuckles]
[in English] Entertaining?
- Yes, and I need a lot of fuel.
- Oh!
[in German]
Comrades, take a look inside his pants ♪
- [in English] Thanks.
- Mm.
How'd it go?
I drew them a map.
I hope they can read it.
They're soldiers. They'll make it across.
You did well.
Thanks.
If Varian ever finds out about this,
he'll kill me, and then he'll kill you.
Varian won't find out.
And if he did,
he'll know we're doing the right thing.
Are you sure about that?
Of course.
Morning. Good morning.
[overlapping chatter]
[Varian] Good morning.
Thank you.
We'll be with you as soon as we can.
- Good morning.
- Hi.
I've got some good news for a change.
Oh.
I need coffee.
Real coffee, please.
[exhales]
What is the good news?
Freier finished Mehring's passport.
His work is actually getting really good.
Oh, this is excellent.
Would you have him meet
Albert and Mehring down at the Pelican?
Yes.
[indistinct chatter]
[in German] We grab your passport
and get you on the train.
By this time tomorrow,
you'll be eating breakfast in Spain.
[tires squeal]
- [in French] Come on!
- [in English] Men
- Let me settle my bill first.
- [officers speaking French]
[in French] I am paying.
- [intense music plays]
- [exhales]
Thank you.
[in English] Come. Come with us.
[man] Coming.
[car door opens]
[indistinct chatter in French]
[officer in French] Police! Stop!
[whistle blows]
Police! Stop!
[officer] Police! Don't move!
- Mr. Fry, you are under arrest.
- Follow us!
Just one minute!
[in English] What's all this about?
It's not about anything.
- That's how fascism works.
- Sh!
Oh.
[in French] Make a note.
Very clever. [chuckles]
Everybody in the car. Right now.
- Women and children stay here.
- [officer] Let's go.
[Jacqueline] You can't separate us.
We're a family!
It's going to be okay.
[officer] Everybody, go!
Come on, move it!
[officer speaking French]
[claps hands]
- And where is the small dog?
- The dog?
[in English] The dog.
[in French] Go!
[in English] You come with us.
[in French] Go! [claps]
[truck door closes]
[seagulls squawking]
[officer in French] Keep moving!
Don't stop.
- [Varian in English] Why come for us now?
- [André] Cracking down.
[Varian] But why now?
[officers speaking French]
- [man] Varian.
- They came to the villa too?
They searched the whole house.
It's ridiculous.
[officer] Keep going.
[man over radio] We'll be looking
for signs of whether Roosevelt's New Deal
has broken through Republican defenses
There's nothing new
about a seven-year-old deal!
- When's this election over?
- [Hiram] Tonight.
What is it?
- We have a meeting now with a
- Doog Nuggent.
Doug Nugent, American Computing Machines.
Looking for us to make introductions.
Excellent.
If the Republicans can pull this off,
ACM is exactly
the kind of American company
with a big future in Europe.
A future ambassador needs
friends in the right places.
[typewriter clicking]
[dings]
A gift from ACM.
Electrical typewriters.
First of their kind.
I have two US English keyboards
and one French.
I mean, we can even supply
German-language keyboards,
if you think it might be, um necessary.
Just switch out
these keys here for an umlaut
and that funky B that sounds like an S.
And I've also brought you this,
which I thought you might find
particularly useful tonight
when the results come in.
- Ta-da!
- [laughs]
This is how you can track
the electoral college.
What's an electoral college?
Uh, I would explain it to you,
but you'll never understand it
because it doesn't make sense.
Donkeys versus elephants.
And who do we want to win?
- [Patterson] Elephants!
- [whispers] Donkeys.
We have a strong two-term tradition
in our country, young man.
We believe in fresh starts.
Now, let's see where tonight brings us,
but I can already tell you
that Willkie is
the front-runner in these four states.
[chuckles]
American business is not comfortable
with Roosevelt's attempt
to turn the United States
into a dictatorship.
I have one final gift.
This one is a local product.
A 1916 vintage?
This must've cost a fortune.
Open it when Willkie wins, you know?
Did you know that you are working for
the next US ambassador to France?
[Patterson] We don't know that for sure.
- Uh, Doug, I can't accept this.
- You can and you will.
ACM is keen to take care
of the new decision makers in Europe.
Well, much obliged.
[laughs]
[mysterious music plays]
- This is Walter Mehring.
- What's going on out there?
It's a coordinated operation.
Arrests are being made all over town.
Okay. The Walter Mehring.
Oh.
400,000-FRANC REWARD
WANTED
[Paul] These posters are everywhere.
[in German] Oh my God.
[in English] Get him into a room upstairs.
[Petit] Arresting innocent people
in Marseille? Not a good sign.
[suspenseful music plays]
[in German] Come.
Good?
Albert, you know
I'm not a big fan of being alone!
You're not alone.
I'll be back to check in on you!
Good. Bring wine!
I will see what I can do.
Lock the door behind me!
Mehring. Lock the door!
[door locking]
[in English] Mehring's in his room.
Thank you for that.
He can't stay up there long.
He's got a train to catch.
Lisa's planning to take him
over the Pyrenees tonight.
[footsteps approaching]
[foreboding music plays]
[in French] We booked five rooms
under the name Schrader.
[Paul in English]
They're clearly planning something.
If you're going back upstairs,
you need a disguise.
Let's change clothes. Come on.
- [Paul in Fon] Where are you going?
- Outside.
[Paul] Stay here.
[in French] Cover for me.
I need to know what's going on.
[in Fon] Be careful.
[indistinct chatter]
[Varian in English] We need to find
someone who can tell us what's going on.
[in French] Shit.
[in English] You know what's strange?
I think I've been on this boat before.
What?
Name rings a bell for sure.
The SS Sinaia.
Oh my
I'm so sorry. Excuse me. Excuse me.
- This is because of us. It has to be.
- That doesn't make sense.
[Varian] Mary Jayne.
Sorry.
Thomas.
Fancy seeing you here.
[sighs]
You all right?
- Not really.
- We're fine.
Where's Lena?
Well, they raided the whole office,
but they only took me.
So none of this makes sense.
Arresting American citizens. Why?
Vichy has been so careful
about staying in America's good graces.
- Maybe Madame Nouget reported us.
- Madame Nouget would never do that.
- We're harboring fugitives in the villa.
- Impossible.
Well, all of our behavior
is not exactly legal.
What behavior?
The fake passports
and the black market currency exchange.
You're always telling me
I'm not doing enough.
- And now I'm doing too much?
- We all do the best we can.
Do we, now?
I'm sorry.
Could one of you please explain to me
why you both look so guilty?
[Mary Jayne] Well, okay.
I have to tell him.
We've been working
with British intelligence.
British intelligence?
The first group of POWs is
going over the F-route tonight.
The That woman that came up to me
in the hotel lobby, she work for you?
We work for her.
But Mary Jayne's only been doing this
to keep the ERC afloat.
Oh!
We need money.
- What happened to your trust fund?
- We're on the same side.
It's not that simple.
There's more at stake
than our personal relationship.
You have put the entire ERC in jeopardy.
An American working in the interest
of foreign intelligence abroad.
That is not a joke.
That's treason.
They're not gonna kill me
because I helped some of our allies
escape from a war zone.
No? Treason is punishable by death
in the United States, Mary Jayne.
- Understand?
- It won't get there.
How the hell do you know?
[Varian] This is ridiculous.
No wonder we've been arrested.
[suspenseful music plays]
[indistinct chatter]
[knock on door]
[Albert in German]
Mehring, it's me. Open up!
Albert, I saw Wehrmacht in the corridor.
Are they after me? Do they know I'm here?
No.
Ah. Thank you!
- Walter
- [grunts]
Listen.
[Walter] Yes.
We can't risk leaving here right now.
Do you understand?
You are going to miss your train.
- Excuse me?
- [Albert] I know you are scared.
I'll figure out a way to get you out.
But you're safe here.
But
Just be patient.
[Walter] Patient? I'm surrounded by Nazis!
Then keep the door locked
and only open it when you hear my voice.
Understood?
Yes.
[door locks]
[officer] Young man!
[suspenseful music plays]
I need service.
[in English] I need service.
Yes. Of course. How can I help you?
Steam and press.
Creases sharp in all the right places.
Got that?
Yes.
[breathing shakily]
[footsteps receding]
- Merci beaucoup.
- [woman] Merci.
[Albert] Steam and press.
Are you okay?
[Albert] A real Nazi. In the flesh.
You've never come face-to-face
with your oppressor before, have you?
No.
Not like this.
For me, that happens every day.
It's easy to see who is who.
The French are white. We are Black.
We eat their food, learn their language.
The Nazis are exporting across Europe
what we experienced in the colonies.
The fear, the violence,
the sense you are less human
for daring to have your own culture.
- [overlapping chatter]
- [car horns honk]
It's crazy out there.
The police are clearing the streets.
- But why?
- [Paul] For the Nazi takeover.
Schrader ordered the dining room closed
for dinner with the chief of police.
[Albert] Here in the hotel?
- This is my chance.
- Chance for what?
To kill him.
I need a knife, a letter opener, anything.
Easy! Easy!
Paul, I have spent the last seven years
of my life running.
Yes, I'm helping here, and I know that,
but I'm helping other people
as everybody's running away.
So the least that I can do,
if I'm gonna die anyway,
is to take
one of those bastards with me.
Okay. Okay.
Okay.
At least let's make a plan
to get Mehring out of here first.
[in German] The Führer paints
A landscape full of blood ♪
Hitler's painting ♪
Picasso can pack it in ♪
With his eraser, he deletes all Jews ♪
But his brush
Is as small as a tiny mouse ♪
The Führer calls
And Goebbels limps on by ♪
"I've just one ball," says Hitler ♪
And then he shows it off ♪
So Goebbels offers one of his! ♪
Who needs two when you have a Führer? ♪
Oh, the Führer! ♪
Raise your arms!
The world's coming to an end ♪
As Goebbels limps to ultimate victory ♪
Jews, artists, and Commies
Have already been shot ♪
There is just one missing ♪
Himself ♪
Then we'd have quiet ♪
- [knocking on door]
- [Albert] Walter!
- [knocking on door]
- Walter!
Put this on.
Are you drunk?
No.
Mm.
Now I am.
Let's go.
Hurry up.
[whistling]
Uh
Commissaire Frot?
[in English] To what do I owe
this pleasure?
I found your American friends.
- Who?
- Who? Varian Fry and Mary Jayne Gold.
[chuckles]
- They're not my friends.
- Yes. But they have been arrested.
[Patterson] On what grounds?
Maréchal Petain is visiting Marseille
today with his, uh, Nazi colleagues,
so we cleared the city for a parade.
You arrested American citizens
because of a parade?
It was a question of national security.
[Patterson] What do the Americans
have to do with that?
I am not at liberty
to comment on ongoing investigations, but
[Frot chuckles]
But, uh, you should know, Mr. Patterson,
that we've had them both
under observation in recent days.
[suspenseful music plays]
[taps box]
Since when?
Where are you holding them?
On a ship.
Down at the docks.
The SS Sinaia.
I just wanted to deliver the news to you
in person,
given your
your private relationship
with with Ms. Gold. [chuckles]
[marching band music plays]
Albert
[in German] I'm missing the hat!
They'll know I'm an imposter!
Shit. We have to go back to the hotel.
No, absolutely not.
Come on.
You stay here.
[Walter] Has everyone here been arrested?
I do not know.
[Albert] Um
[in English] Whatever you're looking for,
sir, you won't find it here.
This is not what it looks like.
- Stand back!
- [Albert] He's not a Nazi.
It's a disguise.
- I am Walter Mehring.
- He's Goebbels' public enemy number one.
What did you do to him?
Well, I I write, I sing.
Everyone's a critic.
I've seen your face on the poster.
[Albert] We need somewhere to hide.
[man] Well, it's not safe.
We all have to go.
[indistinct chatter]
You must eat.
[sighs]
The secret of survival is
to think like a soldier.
You eat when you can,
and you rest when you can.
[door opens]
- [gasps]
- There you are. Varian Fry.
[Varian] What is going on?
Why have we been arrested?
- I'm here to make sure you're still alive.
- Well, get us out.
It's not up to me.
Take a message to the captain of the ship.
Ask him if he remembers
the Berlin Defense of 1930,
and if so, would he like a rematch?
- What?
- Just ask him, please.
I'm just here
to check on innocent American citizens
inadvertently caught up
in this morning's police action.
The police know about us.
What are you talking about?
There is no "us."
It ends now.
Is this a joke?
Unless you're here to help me, get out.
You must never speak of me
to anyone again.
- Okay?
- [scoffs] Are you kidding me?
I'm never gonna think about you
if I can help it.
[Varian] Ask him.
[door closes]
We sent all our congregants home
immediately when we heard about the raids.
But I thought
the police weren't targeting French Jews.
Ah, they weren't. Until they were.
[man 1] Here. Put this on.
- [man 2] It was just a matter of time.
- [Albert in German] All right.
[in English] Are they taking Marseille?
- [man 2] I don't know.
- We need to save the Judaica.
The only way out of here
without calling attention to ourselves
is to blend in.
That's why the rabbi and I
shaved our beards.
Come.
The bus stop is at the end of the street.
We'll take him there.
Thank you.
Goodbye.
[in German] Follow the rabbi.
That bus will take you to the villa.
Stay there.
You will be safe.
Go!
[whistle blowing]
[seagulls squawking]
[in English] Mr. Fry, we meet again.
The man who checkmated me
three times in a row.
[Varian] Capt. Dubois.
I assume you're not in Europe
as a tourist this time.
How did you and your boat
get involved in this little stunt?
Not by choice.
I remember you as a man of honor.
Captain, may I speak freely?
Over a rematch.
We're getting about eight to ten people
out a week over the Pyrenees.
It's steady, but it's inadequate.
Who's "we"?
There was a small group of us in New York.
Put together a committee
with some important German émigrés.
Thomas Mann, Theodor Adorno.
They wanted to rescue
some of their friends, their colleagues,
the greatest thinkers
and artists in the world.
We needed someone on the ground.
I was the only person that volunteered.
No one in the US wants to see clearly
what's happening here in Europe.
And now I don't know who to trust.
Then people don't follow the rules,
so they're making up their own rules.
Maybe they're right to do so.
When the world is upside down,
which way is north?
I'm doing two trips
back and forth to Martinique this winter.
Cargo is light.
About 200 people light.
I can't send my refugees as stowaways.
Then find another way.
The offer stands.
Checkmate.
Our goal is to
consolidate internment camps
along the Eastern Front.
The logistics of moving so many people
across Europe
are complicated, of course.
But not impossible.
And
And we are ready to help
with everything you have in mind,
because we are ambitious
here in Marseille.
And we take the Jewish problem
very seriously.
Good.
[Frot] And we await the day
when our great country
will be free of their foreign influence.
There is only one great country in Europe.
Yeah. Of course.
Of course.
I beg your pardon, Gruppenführer Schrader.
France has been infected.
But with your help, Gruppenführer,
soon, one day,
all these people will be under my heel.
Our. Our Our Our heels.
[coughs]
[in French] Cheers.
Cheers.
[indistinct chatter]
[in English] How did it go?
I got Mehring safely out of town again,
and I brought this back.
- Wait, no. No, no.
- Paul, don't try to stop me.
[Paul] No.
Hey, hey, hey, it's too dangerous.
- Pull yourself together.
- [Albert] Stop!
Take a deep breath. If you go through
with this, we are all going to die.
Varian has been arrested,
and the police raided the villa.
And MJ?
They took her too. They are being held
on a boat down at the docks.
Go. Go.
[sighs]
So we've been arrested
because of a parade.
That is what
the captain of the ship said, yes.
It's ridiculous.
Look for logic
and you will be disappointed.
If we're lucky, they will release us,
and tomorrow we'll find ourselves
exactly where we started today.
But by then,
we will know that it was paradise.
[chuckles]
[door opens]
[in French] You are all free to go.
[indistinct chatter]
[Varian sighs]
- [in English] All right, let's go.
- Yes.
Come on.
[dramatic music plays]
Varian.
Oh God, please don't look at me like that.
I'm exhausted.
Can we do this in the morning?
Just
You were relying on me for the money.
- You said you had the money!
- At first, I did.
But then then I didn't wanna let you down
or let down the
I understand.
Are you sleeping with Patterson?
Are you sleeping with Thomas?
- Don't you dare
- It was once.
It was once, and I only did it
because I thought
he'd help me with my father.
[scoffs]
- All in the name of the operation.
- No, it's the truth. Varian!
We are on the same side here.
It's you, me, and Thomas.
[footsteps approaching]
[Varian] Lisa?
The police arrested
a group of British soldiers in Banyuls.
- What?
- They were carrying a map of my route.
Written on a fashion magazine.
Was it you?
I
We had one way out.
Now we have nothing.
How could you be so stupid?
Mr. Fry,
thank you for bringing André home.
A telegram came for you.
[Varian] Thank you.
[suspenseful music plays]
[Jacqueline] Something from your wife?
It's nothing.
Varian.
I'm going to bed.
- [André] Good night.
- [refugees] Good night.
[sighs]
God
[sighs]
[Walter] Mr. Fry.
- You won't believe the day I've had.
- [Varian] I am all ears.
Just let me see if Roosevelt is still
the president of the United States.
[man on radio]
Despite strong isolationist sentiment
across a nation
just emerging from the Great Depression,
the American people
have broken tradition tonight
to reelect President Roosevelt.
He has defeated
dark horse candidate Wendell Willkie,
a businessman who had
never run for political office.
Is this a mandate
to join Great Britain's bruising battle
against the Nazis?
Europe holds its breath
[scoffs]
[chuckles]
[Albert] Mary Jayne!
I came straight to the docks.
And then that that captain said
that you were held all day?
[Mary Jayne sighs]
What are you doing out here?
Are you okay?
I'm working with the British.
You were right.
And Lisa's route over the Pyrenees
was just compromised because of me.
- I'm sure you were only trying to help.
- [Mary Jayne scoffs]
I just keep thinking about
all the people in Chicago
who think
what's happening here has
nothing to do with them.
You know, people like my father,
who voted to stay out of this war
and protect American lives.
They haven't put anybody in jail.
They don't have any blood on their hands.
[sighs]
You know,
none of us can predict
the exact consequences of our actions,
but knowing that
does not justify inaction.
Otherwise, what does it mean to be alive?
Okay.
[somber music plays]
[sniffles]
[theme music plays]