Connecting... (2020) s01e05 Episode Script

1
[discordant piano notes]
What's good, my fellow protesters?
Oh, we just finished making our signs.
You got yours yet?
Oh, no need.
I got this bad boy.
I'ma be yelling out
"Black Lives Matter!"
with a side of
[mimicking record scratching]
"No Justice, No Peace!"
We were just talking about
where everyone should meet up.
What's a better base to
attack white supremacy from?
The Pete's on Sunset
or the Pete's on Gower?
How about Roscoe's on Sunset and Gower?
I don't eat meat but if we're
buying, we're buying black.
They got coffee.
It feels like the whole
city's gonna show up.
The energy's crazy.
Yeah, I been 'Rona-safe, you
know, with other protests.
You know, just donating money and stuff.
But enough is enough.
Now I gotta get ten
toes down with my people.
We just gotta leave
before it goes sideways,
'cause the Pan Pacific one
got a little dicey at the end.
Yeah, let's make sure to get outta there
before those skater
boys come up from the OC
and start burning cop cars again.
Are you bringing anyone?
Paz maybe?
Oh, no, no. We broke
up for good this time.
Over and done with.
Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that.
She was another reason I
didn't hit the other protests.
I couldn't trust her potential
"make this about me" moment.
She kept tagging her photos
"protest, but make it fashion."
Plus, she faked like she
boarded up a looted store
for the 'gram.
So I broke it off.
So damn disrespectful.
- [cell phone ringtone]
- Oh, that's my mom.
And that's the fifth call.
I should probably answer it.
See y'all at the march.
Hey, baby.
Hey, Mom. How you doing?
You know that computer
we got at Circuit City?
Stopped working for me.
Toasters don't fly anymore.
Ma, that computer stopped
working on you ten years ago.
What happened to the
new laptop I got you?
Your cousin Dane, he has it.
He started college.
He says he needs it for his classes.
Ma, Dane's not in college.
He runs Ponzi schemes.
Like Bernie Madoff?
Aunt Brenda thinks he's
taking political science.
What you doing this weekend?
Besides sitting in your apartment?
You don't have to say
apartment like that.
And yes, I do have plans.
I'm headed to the protest.
No, uh-uh. Absolutely not.
Ma, I'll be fine. I'll mask up.
I ain't worried about no 'Rona.
I'm having a barbeque right now.
Ma, you should not be doing that.
Oh, boy, stop.
I am covered by the blood of Jesus,
and that is better than any mask.
Besides, these are people we know,
not like a bunch of
strangers at a protest.
I do not want you getting
all involved in that.
- Did you tell Michelle not to go?
- I don't have to.
Shelly knows how to
stay away from trouble.
Ma, I'm going with a safe group,
and all the other protests
have been peaceful,
- at least in the beginning.
- Benjamin, you are a target.
Now, you know how all of this started.
I cannot be one of those mothers.
Don't put me in that position.
Ma, I'll be fine.
Nothing's gonna happen.
- I'm just
- You just?
Every one of those boys
was just going to the store.
Just jogging, just
minding their own business.
Now they're gone.
So don't you tell me "you just."
You just stay home!
But you marched when you were younger.
You protested Ronald
Reagan, two George Bushes,
and Bill Clinton the summer after
you spent all summer
getting him elected.
- That was different.
- How is it different?
It's literally the same thing
we're marching for today.
Damn, that's bleak.
It's different because I said so.
I'm the mama, you the son.
And don't you question me.
Boy, I will fling this
house shoe across country
if I have to.
Do not doubt my
accuracy, nor my strength.
- [groans]
- What's wrong?
- I didn't throw the shoe yet.
- It's nothing. Just a stomachache.
Just coat it with some
ginger ale and crackers.
If that doesn't work, come home.
Nice try, Mama.
Well, I thought I'd give it a shot.
- [glass breaking]
- Ooh! I gotta go.
Your uncle Peanut, he's
trying to take over the grill
and he is as drunk as Cooter Brown.
Now, don't you go to them protests.
[screams]
Peanut! Put them tongs down!
Ah! I am so excited.
This is really going to
be a learning experience
for me, Richie, and the kids.
Don't you think this
could be a little dangerous
- for the kids?
- Uh
My grandfather marched across
India to get the British out.
I think my kids can make
it from Hollywood Boulevard
to Beverly Hills.
Also, Ross is black.
I really need him to see all
those people fighting out there
to say that his life matters.
All right, and I'm not gonna be
one of those adoptive parents
who's tone-deaf about
the culture of his kids.
You're a good dad.
Not as good as Richie, but good.
Yeah, no one's as good as Richie.
Oh, oh, oh! Speaking of tone-deaf.
Did you hear Ben and Paz broke up?
- I sure did.
- So what are you waiting for?
Ditch the dating app and hop on his lap.
Ask him out!
Yeah, I think I'll probably
wait till after the protest
- for black lives?
- Please.
I once asked out a guy
at his grandma's funeral.
And what did he say?
I couldn't tell. He
was crying too hard.
The point is,
life is short.
And these times are heavy, so
Why not Marie Kondo him
and see if he sparks joy?
Yeah. Maybe.
You're not gonna ask him out, are you?
Probably not, no.
♪
What's with that bag of peas?
You trying to eat through osmosis?
It's nothing. Just a stomachache.
Like the ones you got in college?
You still get those?
Yeah, but this one seems worse.
I'm trying to chill it
out before the protest.
Ooh! That reminds me.
Mom called and told me to make sure
- you don't go to the protest.
- For real?
Let me guess, she told you to
wear your comfortable shoes.
No, if Mom doesn't
want me to do something,
she says it through a series
of passive-aggressive throat clearings
and "Well, if you think that's best."
That's how the women in
our family communicate.
Why does she do that?
She lets you do whatever you want,
but watches me like a Karen.
'Cause she knows I'm more
pragmatic than you are.
You are not more pragmatic than me!
I create detailed settlements
to allow multi-national
corporations to merge
without negatively
affecting global trade.
You draw cartoons.
Okay, you are potentially
more pragmatic than me.
But that doesn't mean I
can't make it to a march.
Okay, I'm not a baby. I'm a grown
[groans]
Kinda sound like a baby.
I can't miss this protest.
Change is coming. I can feel it.
Is it change or a kidney stone?
See, Garret?
Ben's going to the protest
even with a tummy ache.
Ben goes to a lot of
things with a tummy ache.
I'm still not going.
Well, if you think that's best.
[clears throat]
Seriously, G? Why not?
Because I've been to the protests.
I saw them as a teenager in '92.
And then I marched in '99 and 2012
and all the other times that
it didn't make a difference.
I'm not gonna go out
there to get my ass kicked
by a bunch of aggro cops
just because white people
finished binging "The Wire"
and making sourdough
Which, by the way, I do not understand.
Ciabatta is clearly the superior loaf.
The crumb is so much more open.
We need privileged voices to participate
if we want meaningful change.
We need all of us.
This is no way to live.
Aren't you tired of all these cops?
Yeah, and you know
what else I'm tired of?
False hope that says that if I march,
I can magically dismantle
a 400-year-old system
that I didn't even build.
Yeah, they made it.
Let them take it apart.
I'm gonna be in my backyard.
[groans]
Are you okay?
I got a recipe for a great tincture.
It relaxes the belly, calms things down.
Do you have any bambusa vulgaris around?
Baby, just say "bamboo" like a person.
Man, I don't even have salt right now.
Have you tried crackers
and ginger ale yet?
Yeah. Four sleeves, two bottles.
Honestly, I don't think
the sugar's helping out.
It's fine, I'm not
gonna miss the revolution
'cause I've got gas.
[groans]
Do you have any other symptoms, Ben?
I mean, I'm kind of achy, I guess.
I'm not sleeping great.
- Why are you looking at me like that?
- Ben, you cannot go to the protest.
Would you and Ma stop
treating me like I'm
No, Ben. Those are COVID symptoms.
So where can I get me some bamboo?
Okay, Ben. List your symptoms, go!
Same symptoms I always get.
My stomach hurts, then it stops.
But this started in college?
Who has a 10 year stomachache?
It comes and goes.
- It's not like every day.
- I don't know.
Saltines, ginger ale, and a
nap used to knock it right out.
This seems way worse.
- Are you regular?
- Aww, come on!
Oh, grow up, Ben. It's just poop.
They key to a man's health
is through his rectum.
Right?
I will not rest until I
know your bowel movements.
Does it sink? Does it float?
And again, this is not me asking.
- This is science.
- Okay, fine.
But I'm tying it in a
private chat just to Michelle.
I mean, I don't want
- [notification chimes]
- Okay.
Uh it's normal.
It's normal!
All: [cheering]
- That's good.
- Okay.
I bet it's an ulcer.
Rufus! Shush, shush.
Can you still smell and taste, Ben?
That's a big COVID indicator.
I think so?
Yep, my mouth still tastes mouthy.
Wait, I got a melon the other day
and I couldn't smell it at all.
Does that mean I have COVID?
No, that just means it's early June.
Stick to cherries until
the end of the month.
- [groans]
- Ben, you look like an extra
from "Saving Private Ryan."
Go to the hospital!
Hell no! I don't go to
hospitals when they don't have
a deadly airborne virus.
I have a terrific WhiteGlove
doctor I can refer you to.
She is wonderful with children.
You'd love her.
Okay, I'm gonna figure
this out on my own.
Thank you, everyone.
Ben, record your bowel movements.
Weight and frequency.
Actually, everyone should be doing this.
- [beep]
- Guys, I'm worried about him.
We need to get him to go to the doctor.
I'll talk to him.
He might be more open to it
without everybody in his business.
♪
Hey, sorry, that was a lot.
Everyone shouldn't have
We're just trying to
No, no, no. I'm sorry, G.
I shouldn't have been
on you about the protest.
If you don't want to
go, that's your right.
I'm just
I-I just feel like
there's something different
in the air this time.
Ben, you're sick.
You need to take care of yourself.
America isn't gonna
fix racism this week.
That's the point.
We know that.
We know this has been
going on all our lives,
as long as this country's been.
But now with everyone
home with no distractions,
white people are
starting to know it too.
G, it's 2020 and we're
still fighting for things
our parents, our
grandparents, fought for.
We got self-driving cars,
but we still can't even
walk through the park
without someone calling
the cops on us for nothing.
These protests are different.
You don't feel it?
We have everyone on our side now.
So many people were quiet last time.
Now is the time to get out there
and make the people in
power feel uncomfortable
and make some real meaningful change.
And if I'm not a part of
that in some small way
[groans]
Okay. How about this?
Go to the doctor.
If they sign off on your health,
go to the protest
and I will go with you.
- Really?
- Yeah.
If you can be hopeful, I can be hopeful.
Maybe now is the time.
You got a deal, G.
[cell phone ringtone]
Yo, I gotta take this.
- I'll hit you right back.
- Okay.
Wendeezy! How you doing?
What's good, B? I'm chilling, man.
How's LA? You famous yet?
Man, I'm a animator.
I'm never gonna be famous.
Two words: Walt Disney.
Yo, I was at your mom's
house today for a barbecue.
Man, it was lit. Look.
Wendell, we're in a pandemic
that is spread at places like barbecues.
Aww, relax, man. It was safe.
We was all outside.
Until we came inside
to watch YouTube videos.
I don't think that's how safe works.
Hey, man. You going to them protests?
Of course. Why wouldn't I?
Oh, I don't know. Maybe, uh
Maybe your mom wouldn't
want you out there?
Did my mom ask you to call me?
Man, look. I'm a grown ass man.
If I wanna go, I'm going.
Look, bro. I hate to say it,
but I kind of agree with her.
It is a little dangerous
out there right now.
Aww, come on. You too?
You're going in Atlanta, aren't you?
Oh, you know I am.
But think about who you are, man.
Look, I love you to death,
but you ain't about that life.
Whoo! Bruh. Listen, bruh.
I don't even put milk in my cereal, bro.
I'm gangsta. What you talking about?
- I want all the smoke.
- Bro, please.
You didn't even watch "Thriller"
without closing your eyes
until we were 17 years old.
Okay, but my fear of Michael Jackson
turned out to be justified.
Look, man. I'm not
saying you ain't tough.
But things can get crazy down there.
And if you in it, you gotta be in it.
Honestly, man, you got too much to lose.
- Wendell.
- Look, B,
you and Michelle are
everything to Dayleen.
A black mom with two
grown successful kids?
She's pitching a no-hitter right now.
She can't talk about it,
but that's what she's
trying to preserve.
Y'all have done too much
to get where you are, man.
She don't want you going down
there and risking all of that.
[groans]
Damn. What's wrong with you?
You like a R&B singer
about to hit the chorus.
It's nothing, just a stomachache.
Man, you still get those?
Here's what you do.
You grab a 40 ounce, put
a tablespoon of salt in it,
drink it down as fast as you can.
It'll knock you right out.
Yeah, I'm not doing that.
I told Garret I'm going to the doctor.
- Yeah, your funeral.
- [firework cracks]
Ooh! I gotta go.
My neighbor came up on some
heavy duty ass fireworks.
We about to put on a
show before the march.
I'll catch you later, man.
Hey, Wendell.
You got a lot to lose too.
You've changed your whole life around.
You be safe out there.
Thank you, man. I appreciate that.
But I'm built for this.
I'll be fine.
[light music]
♪
Ben! How are you feeling?
What did the doctor say?
- It isn't COVID.
- Yes! Oh, my God, thank God.
She says I have an ulcer.
Rufus was right. Can you believe that?
What? How do you get
an ulcer with abs like that?
She said it was from stress.
That makes sense.
First a pandemic, then
George Floyd, then
No, she says something like this
has been building inside me for years.
She said years of stress causes
stomach liner to deteriorate.
So, I guess it's from George Floyd
and Breonna Taylor
and Tony McDade
and Eric Garner and Sandra Bland
and Trayvon Martin and Rodney King
and Emmett Till and
I'm I'm sorry. I can't
I can't imagine what it's
like to walk around with that.
You know, I've always
told myself that I'm fine,
that I'm okay, that
things don't bother me
That I'm safe.
But I guess my body disagrees with me.
So what about the protest?
I gotta go get my prescription.
I mean, I wanna go.
But my doctor says I should limit
my stressful situations right now, so
No, of course.
Do you need anything? Is
there anything I can do?
No, I got it.
I need to take some
time and process this.
I'll talk to you later.
.
What is a gun to a
man that surrenders? ♪
[protestors chanting]
What's it gonna take ♪
For someone to defend her? ♪
If we all agree that
we're equal as people ♪
Then why can't we
see what is evil? ♪
I can't breathe ♪
You're taking my life from me ♪
I can't breathe ♪
Will anyone fight for me? ♪
Hey. How are you feeling?
Pretty useless. Sipping on ginger ale
while the revolution's
happening four blocks away.
- How was it?
- It was you know, it was okay.
Annie, you don't have to
downplay how great it was.
It was amazing. Sorry.
It was amazing.
[sighs] So you met up with everyone?
Yeah, but then I ran into
an old friend from Orlando,
so I kinda lost track of the group.
Oh! Garret came.
What? Are you
Man, I should have been there.
No! Ben, you're sick.
Well! That was something.
What happened? I lost track of you.
I lost track of everyone.
You guys, have you ever tried to control
two uncontrollable toddlers
in a crowd of 20,000 people?
They both removed
their masks immediately.
The leashes we got for
them were not working.
And to top it all off,
Visage almost ate a
hot dog off the street.
I know I did that in front
of the Abbey ten years ago,
but we're not discussing that.
Ben, you should have seen
your little activist god-kids.
You would have been so proud.
I mean, they had these little megaphones
and they were just
screaming, "Say her name!
"Bwe-yona Tay-wor!
Say his name! George Foyd!"
If you only knew how
long we practiced that.
George Floyd,
Bree-ah-na Tay-lor.
Oh! Ben, how are you feeling?
I'm okay, I just feel
awful for missing
Aah, that was incredible!
What happened? I hate
that we got separated.
It was impossible not to.
There was so many people there.
So many people. And
it was so inclusive.
Y'all, I've been to marches in the past
where we'd start chanting
"Black Trans Lives Matter"
and it wouldn't really catch on.
But today!
Today people were shouting
for Tony McDade and Nina Pop!
Man, I can't believe I missed it.
I'm sorry, it was just special.
I mean, right, guys?
Oh, guys! Things
went bad at the protest.
- What?
- What?
Is everything okay?
- No, no. It's Garret.
- What? What about Garret?
Oh, my God, he was only
there because of me.
Rufus, what happened?
Okay, let me set the table here for you.
The tension was so palpable,
you could cut it with a knife.
People screaming, fed up.
Police and National Guard in body armor.
Everyone's sweaty. No water in sight.
All of us pressed shoulder to shoulder,
joined in the spirit of change.
And then I saw
Do you know who Christine Lahti is?
- Of course!
- No.
Rufus, stay focused.
So I went up to her, you
know, a safe six feet.
Plus I was wearing a
full scuba breathing unit.
Anyway, Christine Lahti couldn't
understand what I was saying.
So I showed her a picture
of herself on my phone.
But then her friend said
she wasn't Christine Lahti
- and that I should leave.
- Ah, diva!
Rufus, what happened to Garret?
I'm getting there, I'm getting there.
Hold your goats.
Next thing I know,
there's a deafening pop.
All hell breaks loose.
I'm being pushed and
pulled like a piece of kelp
in an ocean of bodies.
If I can just get to the sidewalk,
I know I'll be fine.
I wade through the undulating crowd
towards the relative
safety of the sidewalk.
And then
I get there, I make it.
- And?
- I'm getting there!
Not to the sidewalk, to my point.
I already made it to the sidewalk.
- Rufus!
- Rufus!
So I get to the sidewalk, and just then,
I see Christine Lahti getting
sassy with a group of cops
and the cops are getting heated.
And I'm pretty sure
that something pretty bad's
about to happen to this woman
that I am pretty sure is
either Christine Lahti,
or, you know, now that
I'm thinking about it,
it might have been Annette Bening.
- No!
- Rufus, I swear to God.
Guys, Garret's been arrested.
Oh, come on! I was just getting to that.
[light music]
Brother-in-law!
Man, are you okay?
I should be asking
you. What happened?
We were supposed to be
Martin and John Lewis
getting into good trouble!
I know, man.
My stomach messed everything up.
But I heard you got arrested. You good?
Yeah, I'm cool.
- Arrested, but cool.
- What happened?
Well, we were walking down the street
and some front-line guys got
rough with a group of women
so I jumped in to help and
got caught up in the mess.
They zip-tied me, threw
me in the paddy wagon,
took me down to the station.
Michelle got there before we did, so
She bailed me out in, like, two hours.
Not everybody was so lucky.
Man, I have never been more thankful
to be married to a lawyer.
Man, you told that way
more succinctly than Rufus.
Where's Michelle now?
She's still down there,
offering pro bono legal help
to some of the other protesters.
She bailed out Annette Bening!
I feel so bad.
Like, you literally weren't
gonna go until we talked.
- And now
- Ben, I'm fine.
How's your stomach?
It isn't COVID.
- It's a stress ulcer.
- Of course it is!
What do you mean, "Of course it is"?
Rufus was right.
You know how insufferable he's gonna be?
Yeah, he does not need that win.
Ben, you can lift all the weights
and drink all the green
juice that you want,
but you still gotta take
care of here and here.
I just never had a problem with that.
Any time I was in
college and it got tough,
I just threw some Anita
Baker on Zune and I was good.
You're not a kid anymore, Ben.
You're a Black man in America,
and if that doesn't
get you a stomachache,
I don't know what will.
Also, you had a Zune in college?
It was the superior product.
I don't care what anyone says.
What's wrong?
I'm just bummed I couldn't
be out there with y'all.
I feel like I let my people down.
I feel like a coward.
Ben, these protests
begin and then they end.
We have to go out on the street
and risk our lives every day.
You are not a coward.
You beat the odds. Not
all of your friends did.
Some of them didn't
make it past 21, right?
But look at you! You're an animator.
Did anyone ever tell you
you could be that growing up?
No. If anything, I got in trouble
for drawing too much. I
did not listen in school.
Exactly!
But then you turned it into a career.
You draw images that young Black kids
can see themselves in,
drawn by somebody who looks like them.
In your life and in your art,
you show people the
texture of Black lives
and why they matter.
Who you are, what you are
Your entire existence
is a form of protest.
And me marching and yelling and you not
does not add or take away from that.
The only place that we should all be
is in the voting booths on election day.
Thanks, G.
I appreciate that.
Though, you know
I did get arrested for our people, so
I technically did do more than you.
Oh, yeah, two hours in a holding cell.
You're basically Nelson Mandela.
Attica! Attica!
Wrong prison, man.
[laughter]
[sighs]