Lovecraft Country (2020) s01e08 Episode Script

1
[Bananarama's "Cruel Summer"]
[siren wailing]
[horn honks]
Everyone out of the street!
Please!
Move out of the street!
We don't wanna have to shut this down.
[siren wailing]
[retches]
All we can do is pray
for the Lord to protect
us from this evil.
They are butchering our
children without consequence!
My brothers and sisters,
I say no more!
[crowd] No more!
No more!
We are all angry over
Emmett Till's murder,
but we must organize
and fight using the law.
[uneasy music]
[indistinct shouting]
What's that smell?
It's gotta be one of the
hottest days of the year, and
It's him, isn't it?
- You wanna rest for a minute?
- Mmm-mmm.
We gonna be waiting for a while.
- I'm fine.
- Excuse me.
You sure? You wanna sit?
I'm fine, Tic.
- Hey.
- Oh, thank you.
Hey, boy.
Here, take mine.
Ruby.
Maybe it wasn't a good idea to bring Dee.
Ain't no getting around this.
Every Negro's rite of
passage in this country,
child or not.
Uncle George would've
wanted her to see Bobo.
No more! No more!
No more! No more!
- No more!
- No more!
[crowd] No more! No more!
This is a war, and we gonna win!
[crowd] No more! No more!
She's seen too much death already.
We should be protecting her.
Leti, this is not the place to
have this conversation again.
It's been a week. We need to tell her.
Her best friend just died.
Murdered. He didn't just die.
- Someone did this to him.
- Okay, murdered, yes.
I'm sorry. Murdered. I know that.
And as long as we wait to tell
her, her mother's not coming back.
We don't know that for sure. Leti
You said there was a flash
of light from Hiram's machine
and then Hippolyta disappeared.
Now, what makes you
think she's coming back?
[ominous music]
Where's Diana?
Shit.
She must've snuck off some place.
My brothers gonna stand right here,
and I'ma stand right here!
We don't want her roaming
the streets alone today.
- Go see if she's at the house.
- Okay.
I'll check mine.
I'll stay in line in case she comes back.
Okay.
Tic.
Yeah.
Yeah, I'll check the five-and-dime.
Sorry, excuse me. Excuse me.
- 'Souse me. 'Souse me.
- Sorry. 'Souse me.
Make a hole, please.
It's a cruel
-Cruel -Cruel summer
Leaving me
Leaving me here on my own
-It's a cruel -It's a cruel
Cruel summer
Now you're gone
[arcade machines dinging]
[bell dings]
[kids giggling]
- [screams]
- Huh?
[screams]
There ain't nothing to laugh about!
[tearful laugh]
[siren wailing]
Diana Freeman?
I said, are you Diana Freeman?
[foreboding music]
- Yes.
- This yours?
Captain won't ask you again, girl!
Uh-huh. Yes, it's mine.
Where's your mother?
She's on a trip for her job.
What's your mother's name?
What's her name?
It's Hippolyta.
Hippo-what?
Niggers and these African names.
Where'd she go on this trip?
She, um
didn't tell me.
Your mother been acting strange lately?
Kind of.
What do you know about magic?
Like in fantasy books?
[laughs]
- [whimpers]
- [screams]
- [speaking Language of Adam]
- Help! Help!
Let me go!
[hawks, spits]
[speaking Language of Adam]
[grunts]
- [speaking Language of Adam]
- [flies buzzing]
[coughing]
I can't I can't
bre I can't breathe!
[speaking Language of Adam]
[gasping]
Dee?
Diana!
[uneasy music]
Are you looking for a room?
I'm looking for Atticus.
Can't remember the last
time someone made me wait.
At least I had family to keep me company.
Teach me how to cast a spell.
You had my card for a very long time.
Why now?
It's my birthright.
You don't have enough whiteness
in you to sell that entitlement.
No. No.
No. Something's changed.
You're desperate now. To do what?
To protect yourself?
You managed to get Titus's pages.
Congratulations.
I wasn't sure you could pull it off.
People have died trying.
I hear Hiram lost an arm.
Horatio's stolen
pages are still out there.
I'd give you the orrery, but
I think what you really want is this.
An incantation isn't a spell.
The words aren't enough.
To cast, you need energy,
intention,
and a body.
That's how you upset
the balance of nature
without a disaster.
Perfect alignment.
What is that?
Protection symbol.
Trace it around the location
you're going to cast the spell in.
Geometric pattern.
What, in chalk?
Or in your blood.
Either is preferable to dust.
Good luck, cousin.
The autumnal equinox.
[uneasy music]
What's going to happen?
I'm going to achieve
what no one in the Order,
not even the all-powerful
Titus Braithwhite, could.
Immortality.
Dee, where the hell you been?
Everybody's out looking for you.
I ain't gotta tell you nothing!
You ain't my pops! He's dead!
So is my mama dead too?
Dee, your mama's on a "Guide" trip.
Where is she?
On a "Guide" trip!
You're lying.
She has to know about
Bobo. She'd come back.
She will, Dee, soon.
Stop fucking lying to me!
You're all lying to me!
Hey.
Dee.
Open this damn door, Dee!
Get your ass out here now!
Dee!
Dee! Dee!
[sobbing]
Diana, I know how you feel.
When I was your age,
they took my best friend too.
Thought that was the
worst of it, you know?
But white folks, they just keep coming.
More vicious and evil than the last time.
[radio crackles]
You know, your pops
and I, we learned early on.
No matter what you
do or how well you do it,
they always take it from us.
Stop that knocking at the door
-Let me in -Stop that knocking
-Let me in -Stop that knocking
It doesn't mean you
have to give it to 'em easy.
-Let me in -Stop that knocking
- You hear me, Dee?
- Stop that knocking
They come for you,
you damn sure make 'em work for it!
Stop that knocking, stop that knocking
Dee?
I'm coming in, okay, baby?
Let me in
Yeah, come on and love me baby
It will always be that way,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
[upbeat music on radio]
[disquieting music]
Hey!
You the maid?
No, I'm not the damn maid.
What'd you say?
Answer me.
Is everything okay here?
You know her?
Yes, I do. Is there a problem?
Not if you know her.
That mess on the other side of
town's got everyone up in arms.
Just making sure none
of it's finding its way
to our neighborhood.
Thank you. That's very much appreciated.
[somber music]
He looked like a monster.
[Alice Smith's "I Put a Spell on You"]
[emotional music]
I put a spell on you
Because you're mine
You better stop the things you do
I ain't lying
I ain't lying
You know I can't stand it
You're running around
You know better, daddy
I can't stand it
'Cause you put me down
And I don't care
If you don't want me
I'm yours
Right now
I'm yours right now
I put a spell on you
Because
Because
You're mine
- [groaning]
- [bones cracking]
I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you
[gasping]
[moaning]
[deep inhale]
[exhales]
[breathing shakily]
[uneasy music]
[siren wailing]
[tense droning beat]
[voices echoing]
[disquieting music]
[suspenseful music]
[eerie music]
What the hell?
Do you see that?
See what?
[man announcing over PA]
Rolling blackouts due to the heat
have delayed all southbound trains.
[song playing] Knocking at the door
Am dat you, Sam?
Am dat you, Sam?
-You had better stop
-Excuse me. Excuse me!
That knocking at the door
-Let me in -Move. Move!
-Let me in -Stop that knocking
Let me in
You had better stop
this knocking at the door
- Please!
- Let me in
Stop that knocking, stop that knocking
Move! Move! Come on!
You had better stop
this knocking at the door
Let me in
Stop that knocking, stop that knocking
Stop that knocking, stop that knocking
You had better stop
this knocking at the door
Let me in
You're a succubus.
In Korea, we call it a kumiho.
A nine-tailed fox spirit.
And you killed 100 men.
It is my nature.
What is your excuse?
When I have sex
and my lover climaxes,
my nine tails attach to
him, taking his life force.
That is how I am able
to see their entire lives
up till their deaths.
The last time with you,
when my tails came out
When?
When am I supposed to die?
- I don't know.
- But it's gonna happen soon?
Right? That's why you're here.
- I'm not sure.
- But you saw how it happened.
- Right?
- No.
I'm sorry.
This has never happened before.
No one has ever survived my tail
Shit!
Ji-ah, why are you here, then?
If you don't have any fucking
answers, why are you here?
Because she loves you.
Our shit wasn't real.
And I'm not dying.
Now get the fuck out.
[sighs]
What are you doing?
She needs to get the fuck out of here.
Leti, Leti, Leti. Leti,
she's gone. She's gone.
- She's gone.
- Good. I'm glad.
- Go with her.
- Leti, stop.
- I'm sorry.
- No!
I understand why you wouldn't
say anything when you got back,
but all the shit we done been through,
I had to hear it from her?
Leti, I didn't know
what to tell you, okay?
Or anybody!
You tell me the fucking truth!
I didn't know!
Leti, Leti, I didn't know what she was
or what happened to me that night.
I didn't I didn't believe
what she said, Leti.
Well, a part of you believed it.
That's why you kept it from us.
I thought I was protecting everyone.
Well, you done fucked up!
'Cause everybody but you done died
since you been back.
[somber music]
Where are you going?
I'm going to make it right.
What does that mean?
Atticus!
What does that mean?
I'm gonna cast a spell.
Wait, what?
When did you finish?
The night we found out about Emmett.
But you don't know how.
I met with Christina today.
I gave her the orrery key.
She told me how to cast it.
- Have you lost your damn mind?
- Leti, move!
You can't trust Christina!
And what if Ji-ah's right?
What if this is the way that you die?
Leti, I've already made up my mind, okay?
You don't get to make
those damn decisions
by yourself anymore.
There's too much at stake.
You don't think I know that?
I'm doing this for us. To protect us.
Our future.
We're surrounded by monsters, Leti.
I don't have a choice.
Tic, please.
Tic.
We can figure this out together.
Of course.
I'll be there soon.
A 14-year-old boy
was beat and shot to death,
then tied with barbed wire by the neck
to a cotton gin fan
and cast into the Tallahatchie River.
I know.
But do you care?
At all?
You want me to say yes.
I don't want you to say anything.
I want you to feel
what I feel right now.
Heartbroken.
Scared.
Furious.
Tired.
So fucking tired
of feeling this way over and over.
And I want you to feel alone
and shameful,
'cause I'm here, feeling this,
and you will never understand it.
I want you to feel guilty 'cause
For feeling safe
next to you and your privilege.
I should be on the South Side
with my people,
mourning a sweet little boy
who was taken from us.
You wanna know why I took that potion?
Because today of all days,
I didn't wanna be a Black woman
fucking a white man.
No.
What?
I don't care about Emmett Till.
I don't care about Roy Bryant
or J.W. Milam,
who'll never see
justice for what they did.
I don't care that half this
city's on the brink because of it,
and I don't think that
you really do either.
[uneasy music]
[exhales sharply]
Pain.
"It's like being unmade."
That's what you said
about the transformation,
but that's not what I saw
when I was fucking you.
I saw someone being reborn.
You took that potion
because you wanted to hide from the fact
that even on today of all
days, you were a woman
who wanted what she wanted.
Topsy with her yellow eyes
Tries to claw the one she spies
Follows them from tree to brook
Over, under every nook
Topsy has the wildest do
She just wants to dance with you
Jig, jig, jig, jig, jig
Leti! Where's Tic?
I don't know.
When's he coming back?
I don't know, Diana.
Go inside. Call your
uncle. Tell him you're here.
Wait.
Let me in
Leti?
- What?
- Behind you.
There's there's
[coughing]
You okay?
Get some water from the kitchen.
I'll be back soon.
Let me in
Let me in
Let me in
Stop that knocking, stop that knocking
You had better stop
this knocking at the door
Let me in
Stop that knocking, stop that knocking
Stop that knocking, stop that knocking
You had better stop
this knocking at the door
Let me in
[distant siren wailing]
Dee was here, but she snuck out again.
Did you cheat on my mama?
I had desires, but I never acted on 'em.
Not until after she was gone.
When I was a boy, eight years old,
pastor of my church, he
Got caught with another man in the park.
He said it was just a rumor.
[scoffs]
Palm Sunday morning,
police came in there
and snatched him off
the pulpit in handcuffs,
like he was some perverted
demon or something.
Next thing we hear, they
done put him in some asylum
and cut out half his brain.
I chose a life over a damn asylum.
Or a jail cell, or being found dead
in a bathroom of some public park.
Your mama lost everyone in the riots.
Massacre, really.
We both just wanted a family.
That's what our love was built on.
A'ight, yeah, it wasn't romantic,
but familial love is the strongest kind.
Well, you'll see one day.
God bless you to have kids.
[electricity humming]
Leti's pregnant.
She hasn't told me yet.
Aunt Hippolyta's not the only
one who went through the portal.
I went to the future.
That's my son.
Heavenly Father
I know You said
we were all meant to go through trials
and tribulations.
But this magic
That's haunting us
and testing us
it's like the devil.
That part, You left out.
And now, God,
the man that I love
I'm begging You, God.
I'm begging You.
Please, God,
please
protect him.
Put Your shield of armor around him
as he says that spell, God.
[sighs]
[groans]
And please, God,
extend Your grace to Emmett's family.
To Mamie.
[sighs]
In Your mighty name, I pray.
Amen.
[exhales sharply]
I didn't figure you as a woman of faith.
[tense music]
I wasn't.
But I died
and was resurrected.
That wasn't a miracle.
It was magic.
Are they really so different?
Walking on water, curing the blind,
raising the dead.
Perhaps my father
considered himself godlike
when he resurrected you,
but he was just a mortal,
confused that being powerful
and being able to
manipulate those around him
made him more.
Most men with god complexes
wanna live in heaven,
but not hell,
failing to understand that God is both.
[scoffs]
Is that what you want?
To be God?
I'm sure you didn't summon
me here to find out what I want.
These are negatives of Titus's pages.
- They're yours.
- If?
If you make Atticus invulnerable.
No.
Not for Atticus.
For you.
Wait.
[speaking Language of Adam]
[cries out]
[gasping]
Mark of Cain.
My father's invulnerability spell.
I was the first to realize
you could use it to heal someone.
[suspenseful music]
[indistinct chatter]
[glass bottle clinks]
["Stop That Knocking"]
Let me in
Let me in
Let me in, let me in
Let me in, let me in
Let me in, let me in
Let me in, let me in
Let me in, let me in
Let me in, let me in
Let me in, let me in
Let me in, let me in
Let me in, let me in
Let me in, let me in
Let me in, let me in
Let me in, let me in
Let me in
Stop that knocking, stop that knocking
Stop that knocking, stop that knocking
You had better stop
this knocking at the door
Let me in
[siren wailing]
Should've never gave Christina
the keys to Hiram's machine.
It doesn't matter.
She can't use it.
It's broken.
So what? Hippolyta.
What, she trapped in the future?
Maybe.
It was chaotic.
White folks were rioting.
I was only there for a second
before the woman in the hood came in,
shoved a book in my hand,
pushed me back through the portal.
With the robotic arm.
[chuckles]
"George Freeman's writings were inspired
by his heroic father,
a Korean War vet."
You read it?
It's our family story.
Some of the details are different.
Christina's a man.
Uncle George survives Ardham.
And Dee's a boy named Horace.
[uneasy music]
But there's enough similarities to it,
makes me think there's some truth to it.
Please tell me there's a happy ending.
Christina sacrifices me
to become immortal
on the autumnal equinox.
That's in five days.
I know casting a spell can kill me,
but I also know I gotta
take every chance I can
to live for my son.
What should I do?
You know, son
I always thought my death would come
at the end of a white
man's bullet or a rope.
Magic's so much more jazz.
Didn't you tell me that part
of casting was intention?
Yes, sir.
Well, it's my intention
to do whatever I can
to save my son and my grandson.
Even if it kills me.
We don't know how much magic they know.
We can't just come at them.
And her pioneering has
made this bitch a local celebrity.
Is my mama dead?
Probably.
What did you do to me with your spit?
Couldn't have you telling
anybody about our little chats.
What happens if it gets me?
[ominous music]
[grunts]
I can remove it.
The curse.
But you have to do
something for me first.
You know what an orrery is?
Yeah, I know what an orrery is,
and my mama's name is Hippolyta!
It's Greek, asshole.
[laughs]
You bring me the one
from the Winthrop house,
and I'll save you from
whatever's following you.
Fuck you, pig.
And it fucking stinks in here!
To hell with the girl.
She's already dead.
It's time to get what belongs to me.
I am here today to
acknowledge and represent
the African-American girls
whose stories don't make the front page
of every national newspaper.
[cheers and applause]
Whose stories don't
lead on the evening news.
I represent the African-American women
who are simply statistics
instead of vibrant, beautiful girls
full of potential.
For far too long, these names,
these Black girls and women,
have been just numbers.
[bones crack]
I'm here to say "Never
again" for those girls too.
I am here to say
that everyone should
value those girls too.
[screams]
To honor the girls, the women of color,
who are murdered at
disproportionate rates
in this nation.
I urge each of you
to help me write the
narrative for this world
and understand so that
these girls and women
are never forgotten.
[panting]
[screams]
"In flood, he water
shall be reprieved from death."
That don't make any sense.
Let me see.
Where?
"In flood water,
he shall be reprieved from death."
You switched up the words.
Yeah, I tend to do that sometimes.
What you mean, "sometimes"?
I'm dyslexic, boy.
Since when?
Since I've been a boy.
Shit, any other secrets
you keeping from me?
Jeez.
Come on, man, let's just do
this before I lose my damn nerve.
[ominous music]
[siren wailing]
[speaking Language of Adam]
Amen.
Well, shit, it can't hurt!
You feel anything?
No.
You?
Fuck.
Didn't work.
You ever done anything like this before?
No. It's my first time.
You sure?
You have your money.
[speaking Language of Adam]
- [grunts]
- [groaning]
[tense music]
- [grunts]
- [groans]
[wheezing]
[grunting]
Get her up! Get her up.
[moaning]
- [grunts]
- [wheezing]
- [grunts]
- [moans]
[grunts]
[grunts]
[groaning]
[gunshots]
[moaning]
Why would anyone wanna die like that?
[dramatic music]
[gasping and moaning]
[wheezing]
[whimpering]
Don't know why
[sobbing]
There's no sun up in the sky
Stormy weather
[sighs]
Since my man and I
Ain't together
Keeps raining
All the time
Are these from Emmett's wake?
Life is bare
Did you see him?
Mamie was brave enough
to show the world
what they did to her son,
and I wasn't even brave enough
to take a few damn pictures.
Choosing what was best
for yourself in that moment
was a different kind of bravery.
You can't feel guilty for
protecting yourself first.
[sighs]
I'm pregnant.
Damn it, Leti.
Oh, you've really gone and
gotten yourself into it now.
Don't even know the half of it, Ruby.
You should've stayed your ass at Marvin's
instead of following that man to Ardham.
Yeah, I know all about magic
and how George really died.
That white man you staying with?
Only a man some of the time.
Christina Braithwhite.
[uneasy music]
She got you spying on us or something?
How can you even ask me that?
Because she came to me
and tried to get me to
do the same damn thing.
She's playing you, Ruby.
No, I'm getting exactly what I want.
And what is that?
Magic.
She gave me a potion that
can turn me into a white lady.
- Yeah.
- [scoffs]
And I finally got that
job at Marshall Field's,
and you know what I learned?
I don't wanna be white.
I'm just sick of forgiving
every space that I enter
'cause it's not for me.
I wanna create my own space.
I can do that with magic.
Christina's gonna teach me.
Ruby
Leti, you need to get up here now!
[suspenseful music]
Letitia Lewis.
We have a warrant to search the premises.
What the fuck?
- [banging on door]
- Go back to your rooms.
Leti, let me handle this.
I don't want your baby born in jail.
Shit.
What is this about, Officer?
- We got a tip
- Move.
that known Nation of Islam
radicals were organizing here
in retaliation for Emmett Till.
- That's bullshit.
- Leti.
Let's go.
What the hell just happened?
Our house is protected. That
motherfucker knows magic.
Well, now he knows that you do too.
- [gunfire]
- [both screaming]
Get down!
- [glass shattering]
- [gunfire]
[both screaming]
[uneasy music]
[metal scrapes]
[suspenseful music]
[screams]
[screaming]
[distant gunfire]
[glass shattering]
[ominous music]
[distant and echoing] Leti! Get down!
Dee! Dee!
[grunting]
I'm coming!
Dee!
Let me go!
Let me go!
What's wrong, baby?
[crying out]
[screaming]
[suspenseful music]
[siren wailing]
[gunfire]
Get your fucking hands up!
Hey!
I said get your fucking hands up!
Get your hands up, boy!
No!
No! No!
[gunshot]
[bullet whistles]
[monster growls]
[monster roaring]
- [gunfire]
- [screaming]
[monster growls]
[screams]
- Leti!
- What the hell is that?
Leti!
Oh, God!
Tic!
[siren wails]
Go back!
Go back!
[grunts]
No! No!
[screaming]
[screams]
- [monster growls]
- [gunshots]
[monster roars]
[grunting]
Go! Go!
[monster growling]
[screaming]
[gunshot, booming]
[screaming]
[glass shatters]
[monster growls]
[monster shrieks]
[screams]
[mysterious music]
The spell worked.
[Alice Smith's "Sinnerman" playing]
Oh, Sinnerman
Where you gonna run to?
Sinnerman
Where you gonna run to?
Sinnerman
Where you gonna run to?
All on that day
Well, I run to the rock
Please hide me
I run to the rock
Please hide me
I run to the rock
Please hide me
All on that day
But the rock cried out
"I can't hide you"
The rock cried out
"I can't hide you"
The rock cried out
"I ain't gonna hide you"
All on that day
"I said," Rock
What's the matter with you, Rock?
"Can't you see I need you, Rock"
Devil was waiting
All on that day
Power
Power
I cried, "Power"
I cried, "Power"
I cried, "Power"
I cried, "Power"
[holding note]