The Fades s01e06 Episode Script

In the beginning was the word.
And the word was shit.
The angry dead, the Fades Argh! Stand ready to overwhelm the living.
This programme contains some violent scenes.
And we're not ready.
Many people have left town already.
There's only one person that can do anything.
That's my best friend, Paul.
I'm not listening.
Paul! He's special.
So special that he died and came back to life.
He's Frankenstein meets Neo.
Paul's back! Back from the dead?! He closed an ascension point.
Ascension point's closed? What I am, who I am, has got to mean something.
You have 30 seconds to tell me everything I need to know about Paul.
He came back for a reason.
To stop you.
He's acquired powers that are freaky.
SHE SCREAMS And scary.
I don't want to be a killer.
You don't have to be one.
He's seen what coming if he makes the wrong choice.
THUNDER CRACKS If these powers have been given to me for a reason then maybe it's not to kill everyone.
Ascension's broken, I'll put it right.
You're signing a death warrant for everyone.
There'll be Reborns everywhere.
Do not walk away from me.
Don't walk away from me! Paul wants to set the Fades free.
But only one Angelic still believes in him.
I will find a way to kill you.
I didn't come back to be a monster.
I'm here to take you with me, Mac.
Where? Somewhere I can persuade Paul to follow.
I'll find a way to help you.
To free you.
Oh, good luck with that.
Except one.
I'm his weakness? Yeah.
In the beginning it was the word.
And the word was shit.
Now, who's seen my ET box set? Hm? The three-disc set with the original celluloid cut? I'm in the mood to cry.
Na-Nu, Na-Nu.
Get out.
RADIO: 'I just want to talk about my daughter, 'who's been missing for a few days.
' GUN CLICKS WIND BLOWS FLIES BUZZ CLOCK TICKS LOUDLY GUNSHO We're in the fucking Mayor's office.
We've won.
Everybody's leaving town.
There's no-one.
Ssh.
GUNSHO I would just like to know why we are not leaving town.
We'll starve here.
For someone who talked for a living, you're remarkably boring.
Paul can pick us off one by one.
That makes him the most dangerous person alive.
I've got people tracking him.
You can go and join them if you like.
We shoot him, we butcher him, then bury the bits everywhere from Land's End to John o'Groats.
John, we need to move.
We need to eat, John! No! Argh! Eat this.
We find him.
We kill Paul, and then THEN we move on.
THEY FEAST NOISILY THUNDER BOOMS HE BREATHES HEAVILY Ah! HE WHEEZES WATCH TICKS LOUDLY Paul.
Paul! Paul! HE GASPS What did you see? Ash.
Ash.
It's all ash.
I'm going to die.
Today.
Yeah? I've seen it before.
This world of ash is It was in my dreams.
It's today.
It's today, it's the end of everything.
Sarah had those visions.
I'm going to die.
Maybe we all are.
Paul, believe in your plan.
You can re-open ascension.
You need to be prepared.
Prove Neil wrong, OK? I'll never kill again.
THUNDER CRACKS We haven't much time.
Let's try the point I broke in the woods.
Yeah? Christ! Those things of his are everywhere.
'Latest reports from Garlow suggest little progress ' Mum, you're being thick.
Paul wants us to leave.
I'm supposed to be looking after you! Anna, this is my son.
There's no way I'm leaving him.
He's going to come back.
I know he is.
The last thing I said to him "You scare me.
" I told my son he scared me.
He is scary.
And the world is scary.
And unless we leave now, it's going to get scarier.
HOWLING What was that? They're outside.
DOOR RATTLES DOOR RATTLES AND THUMPS Right.
This is the place.
This is where Phil tried to bring you back.
Where you broke ascension.
It won't be easy.
No Angelic has ever re-opened an ascension point.
What shall I do? Just concentrate.
MOBILE RINGS It's Neil.
Give me that.
No.
I'm waiting on a call from Anna, to tell me when she's got out of town! She's not important right now.
Nor's your mum.
Nor's time.
Nor's your life.
Do you have any idea what's going on here? You need to be pure.
You need to selfless.
You need to be free from distractions.
Now, you may be all of those things but I'm not sure you're ready.
That's what Neil kept telling me I'm not ready.
Well, he wasn't wrong about everything, was he? Shit! No.
Wait! Don't come any closer! Argh! Thanks.
Paul, look.
What did I do? It's working.
The ascension point is beginning to open.
Mac was right.
I can This thing, it does have more than one use.
I'm a I'm an Angelic Swiss Army knife.
Try again.
It'll be very deep, so direct your power into the centre of it.
BIRDS TWITTER RUMBLING BIRDS CALL RUMBLING CONTINUES THUNDER CRACKS SHE BREATHES HEAVILY OK? Yeah.
Just a bad dream.
When I woke up and I saw you there, I I thought I was HE LAUGHS I can't believe you're real.
I'm real.
There's just so much that I don't understand.
There's so much I don't want to tell you.
SHE MOANS SHE PANTS SHE GROWLS HE SCREAMS HE YELLS SHE WHIMPERS GROWLING PANTING: Fuck.
Fuck.
What the fuck? What was that? Huh? What just happened? You OK? You sure you're OK? Cos I saw these There were these things at the school.
Sorry.
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.
It's just been a bit crazy.
It's just been.
.
Maybe, er You know, maybe you should just get me a glass of water or something.
Whatever it is, yeah? Whatever it is, we'll get through it together, OK? Am I supposed to be scared? I'm choosing not to be scared.
In case you were worried.
Not that I'm worried that you're worried.
I'm entirely without worry.
I'm worry-free.
Shut up! I'm warning you, answer your phone.
OK.
Here's fun.
Er do you have powers? Paul can do more or less anything.
What can you do? No? No, not biting.
OK, er Simpler question.
If you could be any superhero, which would you be? I'm really not interested in having this conversation.
Tell you who I'd be.
It's an odd one - Jesus Christ.
Hear me out.
I know, I know.
Blasphemous.
But Christ has special skills.
He can do miracles and all kinds of shit.
Actually, when I was 12, when I first read a Bible, I thought it was more than possible that I was the second coming.
It's John! Bingo! Jesus - lonely, very complicated relationship with my dad, big love of carpentry.
It just makes Shut up! Answer your phone, Paul.
I'm warning you, answer your phone.
I was an orphan.
No-one liked me very much.
I could see dead people.
So yeah, I thought it was quite possible that I was Jesus Christ.
Do you understand that? Now get up, we got to go.
Where? Your boyfriend's not answering his phone.
He's not my boyfriend.
He won't do what you want him to do.
You know that, don't you? You think I don't struggle to get him to do what I want? I mean, there was this one time, we was in this orienteering competition at Scout camp and he went totally maverick on me.
To cut a long story short, we ended up in Hereford.
We met this lovely couple there, but we came in a very bitter last.
But the thing is where he goes to if he thinks it's the right path, he won't be put off.
Because on the outside, he may look like a Hereford cream sponge, but on the inside, he's Spider-Man with balls, he's Batman without the wanking, he's Che Guevara meets Ross Kemp meets Alan Moore.
I know you're there, Neil.
Don't try and deny it.
You're there.
You're listening.
They've gone.
Right, Mum, no questions.
We leave now before they come back.
Anna, I Paul can look after himself.
And, just a reminder, I'm your other child! Just a minute longer.
BANGING ON DOOR Oh, God.
Shit! BANGING ON DOOR Paul! It's Neil.
It's you.
Thank fuck! Where's Paul? DOOR CLOSES So you haven't seen him either? No.
Shut up, sit down.
Sit down over there.
PHONE CAMERA CLICKS We have to re-open ascension.
It's the only way we'll ever get rid of all the Reborns at once.
It should have worked.
Look, you're knackered.
That's five times you've tried.
Maybe we need to try another ascension point.
No, we can't.
This is the last one in town.
Right, we're done here.
It's not going to work.
No.
No, no, no, no.
We try it again.
No, no, Paul, they're going to be looking for you.
It's not safe here.
I'm not I can do this.
PHONE CHIMES Neil.
Again.
Paul! You haven't got a clue.
MOBILE RINGS Oh, well, look at that.
You ready to talk now, are you, kid? He's in the woods.
Trying to re-open the ascension point.
Yeah? Why the fuck isn't he here, then?! Get after him! If Paul re-opens ascension, he'll obliterate us all.
The boy is your quarrel, we just need food.
My quarrel will keep us alive! He's just one boy.
Now, please, this time, get out there and kill him on sight.
Now, all of you, go! Now who's this? Shall I guess? What am I? What are we? OK.
Female voice.
Young.
Quite posh.
With a slight husk to it with just a hint of a salival gland out of control.
If I could, I'd kill you right now.
Shame you can't.
You need it, don't you? No.
I can still cut your fucking throat out.
Now, what am I? Do you know what my favourite story from the Bible is, Sarah? I don't give a shit.
It's Genesis 19.
Lot, at the gates of Sodom, sees angels approaching.
What has this got? And he thinks to himself, "Now, I can't let the Sodomites, "my filthy neighbours, at these angels.
"These angels need protecting.
" What are you talking about? So he moved the angels into his inn.
But before long, the sodomites surround his inn and demand to be allowed to sodomise an angel.
Let's be honest, Sarah, who'd not sodomise an angel, given a chance? Lot knew it wouldn't be too long before his inn was pulled apart brick by brick.
"Let us fuck them, let us fuck them.
" Shut up.
So he came up with a plan.
And he went outside, and he took his virginal teenage daughters with him.
And he said to the sodomites, "I can't let you sodomise these angels.
Oh, no.
"But why don't you do your best on these daughters of mine instead?" I don't like this story.
It gets better.
'The next day, the angels led Lot, his wife and his teenage daughters 'out of the gates of Sodom and they burnt the city to the ground.
' And they told the family not to look.
However, Lot's wife turned round.
Maybe she wanted to see her daughter's rapists burn to death so the angels turned her into a pillar of salt for disobeying them.
This all meant, of course, that Lot and his teenage daughters were left to repopulate the entire continent on their own.
See? Every nation has it's bloody beginning.
And now it's time for a new nation.
Our nation.
And I won't even have to fuck my own daughters to make it happen.
You murdered me.
No, I freed you.
No.
Every revolutionary has blood on his hands.
Face it, Sarah, you're one of us now.
No.
No.
No, no.
Know what you are.
SHE SIGHS Wow.
Well, that reaction I wasn't expecting.
Jay?! Stay still.
Stay still.
Don't move.
What you doing here, Alice? Huh? What you doing here? Where's Mac? Where's my family? What've you done, Neil? Oh, I've got them, too, don't you worry about that.
They're safe.
They're back-up.
So she's not.
I mean, she's expendable.
Jay? Jay.
I promise you, you're going to be fine.
I promise.
Well, I need you to listen to me, then.
You have a gift, Paul.
We're going to use it.
We're going to kill John, lop the head off this thing, and then you'll kill them all.
One by one.
You'll kill all of them.
You're a killer, Paul.
No.
You need to listen to me.
Too many of the dead have come back.
We're past the tipping point.
A tipping point?! I told YOU about tipping points ages ago.
Don't start quoting me back to me.
No, but I told you, I'm not a killer.
We can find a way to fix ascension.
We can ascend them all.
There is no other way.
Why won't you listen to me? You do not mess with ascension.
This is the only way, Paul.
OK, Jay? I promise you.
I promise you'll be fine.
That's a bold statement to make.
GUNSHO JAY! What have you done?! She was just a girl! Now you'll do as you're told.
She was just a girl.
Not a Fade.
She's an innocent girl! "Innocent people will die.
" Those were my exact words.
I told you that.
I told you that.
This is your fault.
You're a fucking killer! No! NO! I'm trying to stop a killer, Alice! Someone has to stop John! Stop all of them! What are you doing, eh? I love you, Alice, but get out of my way.
You're good, kid.
Even you can't raise the dead.
Paul Aaaaargh! I'm making a mistake.
HE WHEEZES What did you see? Eat.
No.
Trust me, Sarah, this is the future now.
It's our time.
We've won.
If you've won, what's the gun for? The boy.
He thinks he can stop me.
Probably knows as much about warfare as I did at his age.
And I'm going to kill him.
Yes.
You are.
But no-one wins.
It doesn't matter, it's all ash.
You can have all the guns in the world.
The end is coming.
Where are my family? It's as simple as this, Paul.
I know where John is and I'm going there and you'll follow me and you'll kill him.
Or the others will die.
It's as simple as that.
Paul, don't do it.
You're not a killer.
There's no time! Paul.
Paul, just wait.
You're our last hope! Where are we? Where are we? I don't know.
We were blindfolded, remember? Paul's coming, right? LOUD THUMPS SHE WHIMPERS Mac! SHE CRIES OU Meg? Meg! SHE PANTS I thought you'd I'm looking for Mac.
He's got him.
He's got Jay.
He's got Anna.
He's got my daughter.
He only wanted the kids.
Who? Oh, someone called Neil! Please, don't do this.
Remember what you did in the woods.
It didn't work.
Shut up! I'm not a superhero.
I let Jay die.
No, Neil shot Jay.
Fuck off, Alice! What you doing here? The kid finally gets it.
Go away! I won't let that happen to Mac and Anna.
I'll do it.
I'll do it, Neil.
Come on, you're better than this.
I'll do it, whatever you want.
Good.
Do you know my first clear memory of you? It was when Dad moved out for the first time.
We must have been about six.
This little boy who just turned up and slept in my brother's room for a week.
He was upset.
Seemed like the right thing to do.
I hated him for having you.
And I hated him for having the opportunity to walk in at any moment and see you in your underwear.
We used to play this game.
We had these two Superheroes.
His was called 'lron Skull', mine was called 'Supercop'.
Mine could do things with a crossbow and an axe, his could break walls with his bare fists.
I mean, basically, they were our Dads.
We decided the only reason they left us as to become Superheroes.
So it was OK if they walked out on us and treated us like shit.
Because they had bigger things to do.
Abandon me, abandon me, abandon me only to save the world, Dad.
We used to play at heroes and now he's a real live one.
HE LAUGHS So why isn't he here yet? FOOTSTEPS APPROACH Listen.
Is that? BOTH: HELP! HELP! There's two of us.
We're been tied up.
We're so pleased you're here! DOORS BANG AND RATTLE You want to know my first memory of you? If this is dirty, Mac Your plays.
Oh, God the plays! You were the princess in the tower and the knight would come and save you and, you'd beat the shit out of him.
THEY BOTH SOB We're going to die here.
Neil! Go near him and I'll shoot.
Sarah.
Why? Why? Go! Go! What the fuck do you think you are doing?! THEY SCREAM AND GROAN You can't win.
You can't beat him.
It's pointless.
GUNFIRE There once was a boy called Paul Who had an enormous ball.
He had pants specially made.
But he never got laid.
That poor unfortunate Paul.
You go.
I'm quite talented at these.
You do what we came here to do.
There once was an orphan called Neil Who didn't know quite how to feel Abandoned at birth and lacking in mirth He He He's turned into a bit of a dickhead, really.
GUNFIRE HE GROANS Neil, are you hurt? Did I shoot you? I think Neil is dying, Paul.
I'm not hurt! It's a pity.
It's quite some ride you know, dying.
I think you especially would get a kick out of it.
And then maybe you'd understand what I'm all about.
Don't it's me you're still one of us.
Us?! What's us? We're an extinct species? Helen's dead.
Higgy's dead.
Maddie's dead.
Phil's dead.
I'm dead! I understand! I've been watching you my whole life I don't feel sorry for you.
Your whole life 70 years I've suffered! Who the fuck do you think you're talking to!? The Angelics are over.
That's not for you to decide.
There's always been something.
A defence.
Look at Paul! You know, when I died we couldn't find anywhere to ascend so we travelled across Europe, sneaking onto cargo holders, getting burnt by soldiers as they squeezed on between us.
All the points were closing.
Death is unfair! Accept it! Everyone else did! Why couldn't you? So I went home and stood by ascension and I waited.
I waited.
And it didn't happen.
So now you take without asking.
Lives, hopes, dreams Sarah Sarah was a good girl and you've broken her.
We're supposed to be the best! And I wasn't.
Well, then you should have tried fucking harder! SHE SOBS until eventually they built a shopping centre over the spot.
A shopping centre.
For 70 years, I visited, frequented, haunted that place.
Shopping centre.
And yeah, your Sarah came to me, Neil.
Paul! Kill him! That's what we're here for! It seemed quite a fitting end for her actually.
A failed Angelic dropping to her death in a failed shopping complex.
Do it, kid! Now! Don't let me down, Paul! You think about Mac.
Wow.
That's a turn up for the books.
Yesterday you didn't want to hurt anyone and now you're a fucking assassin.
You turn on a sixpence, Paul.
What has Neil done to you? Only what was necessary.
Necessary? That's an interesting word to use there, Neil.
What was necessary? Jay.
What about Jay? Don't get distracted, Paul.
Not now Jay was necessary.
He killed her didn't he? Paul, did Neil kill your girlfriend? Is that how much you wanted me dead, Neil? God, I'm flattered.
Enough! Do it Paul, now.
Do it.
Go on Paul kill me.
Make him proud.
End this thing.
End it Paul, you'll be a hero.
Do it.
A hero? A hero? Fuck you.
Fuck you both! No! You stay down.
Either of you I will, I'll kill you.
You know when I was a kid, I used to pretend my Dad was a superhero.
What's your dad got to do with your Paul?! Now! Because he was a selfish bastard, he just left us! Left my mum in a mess.
And I won't be selfish.
Not like him, and not like you, either of you.
All this big talk, neither of you give a shit about the world.
You said I couldn't live two lives, Neil.
That was the ONE thing you were right about.
I have to choose.
And really, the choice is easy.
I can re-open Ascension.
And I'm ready to do it.
You leave this room, Mac will die.
It's as simple as that.
I promise you that, Paul.
Yeah, I know, Neil.
And I may die too.
But Mac would want me to do this.
I hate to say it, Paul, but Neil's right.
You're not leaving this room.
Yeah? CRASHING AND GUNFIRE Where are you going? The shopping centre.
It was an ascension point.
It was the first to close.
It's the place.
Paul, I've seen the future it won't work.
So have I.
Then don't go.
If we don't go it can't happen! It's where you died.
It's where it all started.
Come with me.
You've seen what happens.
Yeah.
I have.
And what's the point of seeing the future if you can't change it? Find my friends.
DOOR BANGS AND RATTLES SHE SCREAMS If you could be any character in any film what would it be? The character Living Person in the film I Don't Want to Die Here! ET.
For me, ET every time.
But the question is, what character would you be? ET, Mary, Keys, Michael, Elliot? I'd be Gertie I think.
Yeah, Gertie every time.
Cynical, yet romantic, young yet wise.
Neil? Where is he? Where is John? He's gone.
Thank you.
Thank you or coming for me.
Fuck off.
So where are we going? As far away from this town as it's possible to be.
Ever heard of the Orkneys? Where are the kids, Neil? She told me what you did, Neil.
Chris.
Chris! My God Oh, my God! SHE SOBS Where's my daughter? Where's my son? Where's my daughter?! I had to control the boy.
I did the right thing, Sarah.
Always.
Don't tell me I was wrong.
Don't tell me we were fighting the wrong battles.
Fighting the wrong battles? You were losing the wrong war! I am what I am I'm an Angelic.
Not any more.
You're as much of a Fade as I am.
You're right, it's over.
It's over.
WATCH TICKS BANGING If we're going to die, I may as well tell you why I think we'd make a great couple.
Frankly, it'd be easier to just die.
Two reasons.
First reason.
Because we're really similar.
If you're going to come kill us come and do it quickly, please! I don't believe in chalk and cheese.
I believe in chalk and chalk and you and me.
Low self-confidence.
Chalk that.
Low self-confidence from feeling overwhelmed by the exact same person, Paul.
Chalk that.
He's getting in! Over exuberance conversationally yours with aggression, mine with interesting anecdotes to mask the fact that we see the world quite cynically.
Chalk that.
We're both funny, chalk that.
We both like the same people.
Paul, Jay, your Mum.
Chalk that.
I'm going to stick chalk up your japseye when we get out of here.
Second reason, because I've been in love with you since I was ten.
And you've sort of loved me since then too.
Ash.
I'm the ash.
I've got to get higher.
So, this is inevitable.
No.
It isn't.
I can free you.
I meant I'm here to kill you.
Listen, I'm trying to make it right.
I can, I can make it right.
Really.
For 70 years of pain? Let me do this.
I just need to get up there.
One shot.
Don't try and stop me.
KEEPS FIRING BUT CHAMBER IS EMPTY Mac! HE SCREAMS Yeah.
You're making a mistake.
John, he can do it.
Let him.
It's what you've always wanted.
To ascend.
Not any more.
I want to live.
SHE GASPS LOUD RUMBLING Nooo! Aaaarrrrggghhh! RUMBLING STOPS BIRDS TWEE WATCH TICKS Some party, eh? You want to hear the good news or the bad news? Good news, er We're alive.
Bad news I'm going to be your brother in law.
What?! You really aren't.
Anna has decided she's in love with me.
She really hasn't.
She wants me so much she can't control herself.
She really doesn't.
Paul.
Really? What happened here? What did you do? CLAPS OF THUNDER I told him.
I told him, you don't fuck with ascension.
And where's Jay? Paul? Where's Jay? HE SOBS