Now and Again (1999) s01e09 Episode Script

[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]
[BOTH YELL]
[BOTH GRUNTING]
Sorry about that.
Oh, downsizing.
Oh. This is all happening so fast.
Shouldn't I be giving you a ring,
meeting your folks?
[INTRUDER YELLS]
Indian burn, Indian burn, Indian burn.
[INTRUDER SCREAMS]
MORRIS:
What are you doing?
Did you just bite him?
- I might have.
- And before that?
You gave him an Indian rope burn,
didn't you?
What's the matter?
Is it against the rules?
It's not like I noogied him
or anything.
[MORRIS SIGHS]
Hey, you wake a guy up
in the middle of the night
to fight for his life,
you can't expect perfection.
Give a person a little notice.
Come on,
it's not like I pulled his hair.
This is not working.
- What's not working?
MORRIS:- Mr. Wiseman,
I may seem omnipotent to you,
but in point of fact,
I have to answer to a group
of powerful men
who are monitoring
your progress and mine.
And frankly,
they're not satisfied.
- Not satisfied with what?
- With me.
Oh, don't misunderstand.
They think my work as a scientist
has been most impressive.
They think the actual
manufacturing process
has been a huge success.
But they're convinced my work as a--
I don't know.
Authority figure? Grand pooh-bah?
Chief overlord?
--breeder of warriors
has been less than successful.
- Come again?
- When you get down to it,
that's what I'm supposed to be doing,
Mr. Wiseman.
Creating and cultivating warriors
to safeguard the future of our country.
And frankly,
after all our many months of training,
you're really not much of a warrior.
Really? I don't know.
It's still early in the semester.
We haven't even gotten
to rape and pillage yet.
There's still the final
on loot and burn.
You're gonna grade on a curve,
aren't you?
Again, the feeling from on high
is this is not working.
- And it's my fault.
- All right. You win.
No more scratching,
no more kicking,
no more calling the other guy's
mother bad names.
- From now on, I fight by the book.
- Too late, Mr. Wiseman.
Your lack of discipline,
your lack of diligence,
the continued contact
with your wife and daughter
They're convinced
I can't do this job alone.
And I've come to believe
they're right.
Dr. Taylor is an expert in the field
of human physiology.
The science of how the muscles, bones
and nervous system work together
to create human strength.
My understanding is that he will be
with us for approximately three weeks.
I've never met him.
But last night I read a study
on maximizing strength thresholds
in the American infantry.
And it's clear to me
he knows what he's talking about.
Look, I'm sorry.
I know it's making you nuts that
they're sending another guy in here.
- I know it's probably my fault, but--
- Mr. Wiseman,
I have made my peace
with the decisions of those above me.
And whatever you have
or have not done in the past
is irrelevant at this point.
What is important is that
from this moment forward,
we concentrate on our work.
And that we show our visiting
colleague all the respect
to which he's entitled.
I've been instructed to show
Dr. Taylor every courtesy
and accord him the deference
I would a superior officer.
And I expect you to do the same.
Fine. Sure. I know.
But remember how you used to break
out in song every once in a while?
[PHONE RINGS]
Yes?
Dr. Taylor. Well, show him in.
I'm sorry, I'm not following you.
Whatever. Just show him in.
[CLEARS THROAT]
Dr. Morris, I presume?
I'm Dr. Taylor.
So is it the girl thing, the young thing
or some other thing?
- You're Dr. Taylor?
TAYLOR:- Yes.
From Washington?
Is there a problem?
I'm sorry.
Would you excuse me a moment?
Get me the Pentagon.
Sounds as if
you're very accomplished.
I suppose.
I'm Michael. Michael Wiseman.
TAYLOR:
Hi, Michael. I'm Dr. Taylor.
What?
It's warm.
Oh.
What's the deal?
There's something hanging
from the end of my nose, right?
You are truly unbelievable.
Well, thank you. I've always found
myself kind of remarkable.
You know, I've known me all my life,
and I for one can barely
tear myself away from me.
Hell, I'm damn near inseparable.
I'm sorry, it's just that where I work,
you're all we talk about.
It's like being an art student
and finally being able to see
the Mona Lisa.
Hey, you're a friend. Call me Mona.
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
[MORRIS CLEARS THROAT]
The president says hello.
So I guess
he's all yours.
MICHAEL:
Doc?
Hey, doc.
Ladies and gentlemen,
it gives me great pleasure to present
the future Realtors of America,
the graduating class of 1999.
Whoo! Way to go, Mom! Whoo!
I know you all join me
in wishing them luck
when they take their licensing exam.
- You really shouldn't have bothered--
- It's no bother.
- I cruise all the graduations.
- Oh, great.
So when's the big exam?
Um, the state gives the next one
in about two weeks.
I'm terrified.
I haven't taken a test in
- a while.
- All right. Well,
here is a little something that might
assuage some of that terror.
- What is it?
- Open it and you will see.
- I can't accept that--
GERALD:- Sure you can.
It's no big deal.
[GERALD CHUCKLES]
Well, I have always wanted
one of these.
That's my lucky pencil.
I used it to take the bar
the second time.
- That is very sweet.
GERALD:- Mm-hm.
- Just ignore the teeth marks.
LISA:- Heh.
Smile!
Copies will be posted
on the bulletin board.
- You can pick them up at your leisure.
GERALD:- Mm-hm.
- Uh, can you see anything?
- No.
Thank God.
I thought I was having a stroke.
HEATHER:
Here you go.
- Heather?
- Mom?
You remember Mr. Misenbach?
Yeah, I guess so.
The last time, there was a door
and a window between us, remember?
I'm going to get another cupcake.
- I am so sorry--
GERALD:- No, it's okay.
I have a boy about her age.
Of course, I only get to see him
on the weekends now.
- Oh
GERALD:- Which is good
because it's forced both of us
to become emotionally more efficient.
I have to compact all of my guilt
into two days' worth of overindulgence.
And he's forced to jam all of his anger
into 48 hours' worth
- of bad language and disrespect.
- Sounds delightful.
I hear it's a phase which ends
when you die.
[CHUCKLES]
All of which
is just my roundabout way
of telling you that I am
completely free during the week.
Look, it's okay, I understand.
- I just--
- You have to hit the books, I know.
Oh, Gerald--
GERALD:
Listen, good luck on the exam,
and it looks like I'm gonna be
in the market for a house pretty soon,
so maybe I'll give you a call then.
- I wish you would.
GERALD:- Absolutely.
What was he doing here?
[TAYLOR GRUNTS]
[GROANS]
You get that I'm trying to lull you into
a sense of overconfidence, don't you?
[TAYLOR GRUNTS]
You know, you caught me off guard.
I mean, I am the strongest man
in the world.
Uh-huh.
[TAYLOR GRUNTS]
[CHUCKLES]
I notice you're not wearing
a wedding ring.
Let me give you a little hint.
This kind of behavior
can turn a lot of guys off.
Very funny. Is the sense
of humor yours, or did we put that in?
Original equipment,
thank you very much.
- Stop that.
- Huh?
See how you're using your other hand
to help yourself up?
You don't need to do that.
That's the 45-year-old man in you.
You can get up without that.
Okay.
Hwoh!
- What's the diff?
- There's a huge difference.
I can teach a 170-pound
26-, 27-year-old how to fight,
how to train, how to maximize
his strength and speed.
There's not much I can offer
a middle-aged man who weighs what?
I don't know.
Two ninety-two.
You remember that, what you
weighed, after all these months?
I remember a lot of things.
Well, maybe that's not so helpful.
You're starting to sound
like Dr. Morris.
Heh. That's a compliment.
He's a very smart man.
Come over here.
I wanna show you something.
[CLEARS THROAT]
Closer.
Pick me up.
How do you mean?
I mean lift me.
Remember?
- Remember what?
- What it feels like.
- Look, Dr. Taylor--
- I mean the two of us combined.
We gotta be pretty close to 292,
give or take a couple pounds.
Oh.
Yeah, I guess.
For the purposes of our work together,
let's forget that man.
He's irrelevant.
I'm here to work with the man
I see in front of me.
The young, athletic man
I see in front of me.
Okay?
Sure.
I'm light as a feather to you, aren't I?
So how strong are you really?
You want more?
TAYLOR: Maybe we should
pick this up tomorrow.
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]
[GRUNTS]
- Aah!
- Mr. Wiseman!
[GROANS]
[SIGHS]
Well, it's clear Dr. Taylor's making
progress in the warrior department.
What are you doing here?
It's the middle of the night.
You were calling me,
saying my name in your sleep.
So you do listen.
I've never said otherwise.
Only that we didn't watch.
Is there something troubling you?
- This Dr. Taylor.
- Mr. Wiseman,
if you're experiencing
some discomfort
because of a misplaced sense
of loyalty to me,
rest assured I am fine with all of this.
If Dr. Taylor can enhance the value
of my project,
I'd be a fool to discourage
or thwart her participation in any way.
No offense, doc,
but it's not you I'm worried about.
I don't follow.
She's
very beautiful.
I've noticed that. Yes?
- I guess I'm just worried.
- About what?
Well,
in the nine months
since you gave me the big makeover,
it's not like I've been around
a lot of women.
For that matter,
and the 45 years before that,
it's not like I've been around
a lot of women.
[CHUCKLES]
Mr. Wiseman, she's just here
to teach you, nothing more.
I just
I have this instinct.
It's the way she looks at me.
Or this thing that's supposed to be me.
No one's ever looked at me like that.
Not even when I was 26.
I guess I'm just afraid
something might happen.
Hmm.
There's a word for that fear.
It's called narcissism.
Fine. Call it whatever you like.
But if there were some way
to make a change,
maybe get a man to take over?
Mr. Wiseman,
it must be obvious to even you
that this is all happening
well above my head.
But that notwithstanding,
I'm still at a loss
to understand what the problem is.
I mean, if something did happen,
so what?
Doc, I'm a married man.
Mr. Wiseman, that's simply not so.
You're a dead man.
And if your instincts
are at all accurate,
a very lucky one.
That was delicious. Thank you.
My pleasure entirely.
You ought to come
into the city more often.
Nothing better than a leisurely lunch
with a dear friend.
It's funny, I love being here,
but it really makes me miss him.
Coming in at night,
meeting him at the office,
grabbing dinner, a show,
and Michael falling asleep
in the second act.
Ha, ha. A man after my own heart.
A real patron of the arts.
Yeah. Well, he did it for me.
And that's what made it so special.
Hey, though,
you remember that time--
It must be at least 15 years ago
by now.
--I got all four of us tickets
to Oh! Calcutta!
Nothing but naked people
for two hours?
- Ha, ha.
- Michael liked that.
Michael liked that.
- Tsk.
- What?
I was getting ready for bed last night,
and it occurred to me
that the whole day had gone by,
and I hadn't thought of him once.
ROGER:
Lisa, sweetheart, that's a good thing.
It has been nine months.
[SIGHS]
That's it. I'm done.
Self-pity time is over.
So who am I this time?
- What do you mean?
- In the-- The--
Oh, yeah, yeah.
CFO of a very big
telecommunications firm.
Very important, very powerful,
very deductible.
I'm very flattered.
I'm actually this way.
Can I put you in a cab?
No, no, I have 20 minutes
till the train. I think I'll walk.
[PHONE RINGING]
Heather?
Hold on, I'm coming, I'm coming.
Hello?
No, she's not.
May I ask who's calling?
Well, hello, William McCyle,
a friend of Heather's from school.
[CHUCKLES]
William? William? You are doing fine.
Just take a breath.
There you go.
Now, why don't you give me your
number so that she can call you back?
Oh, no, hold it.
Okay, great. Shoot.
You were great today.
Stamina, concentration
I don't know how you do it.
I don't know either.
You really have to ask the doc.
He's the one who built it.
All I do is drive the thing.
No, I don't mean the exercise.
I mean the rest of it.
You live in this terrarium.
Don't you get lonely?
Don't you go crazy?
I mean, I'm single.
I'm free to come and go as I please,
and I get lonely.
I'd go crazy.
I do have a family, you know.
Yeah, I heard.
I mean, I read about them in your file.
But they can't keep you company.
They're not here with you.
Eh Sometimes I pick a year,
any year,
and I try to make my way through it.
Where were we on New Year's,
Valentine's Day
or my daughter's birthday,
wedding anniversary,
Lisa's birthday, my birthday?
What grade was my little girl in?
What was her teacher's name?
You hold all that in your head?
I try. I damn sure try.
What about the here and now?
What about the right this second?
What about it?
[MORRIS CLEARS THROAT]
MORRIS:
Sorry to interrupt, but it's 6:00.
Uh, Michael,
see you first thing tomorrow morning.
- Dr. Morris.
- Dr. Taylor.
What?
So you were in New York
and you didn't call him?
He's never given me his number.
So you couldn't just go
and knock on his door?
I did that once already, darling.
I invited him to dinner.
The man never showed up.
Perhaps I am old-fashioned,
but I do believe in order
for a man and a woman
to have a successful date,
both parties have to be in attendance.
Have you called that William boy?
No. And I'm not going to.
I don't want to encourage him.
- Oh, he seemed very nice to me.
- He's on the A/V squad, Mom.
I mean, he helps out in the library.
And last year,
he won a prize for selling
the most subscriptions
during our school's magazine drive.
I mean, a bicycle tire has more edge.
Edge?
Edge? Is that the new criteria?
Edge? Whatever happened to nice?
Nice? You're kidding, right?
No. Nice is-- Is nice.
And getting harder to come by,
I might add.
Look, I know from where you sit,
edge is thrilling and exciting
and whatever.
But the older you get,
the more you realize that life
is full of edge.
The discount stores
are bursting with edge.
But nice, they're always sold out of,
and if they have it,
it's never in your size.
Is that why you keep on
throwing the pygmy lawyer
back into the remainder bin?
- Heather!
- What?
Gerald Misenbach
is a very nice man. Very nice.
Just because of the fact that he's--
A little too short to reach the pedals?
Oh, child.
Whatever.
Doesn't change the fact
that on the inside--
You've seen his insides?
Mom? What are you doing?
You're going to call him
just to prove a point?
This is not gonna get me
to call William.
Just because you
like your love life bland,
doesn't mean that I
have to avoid the spice rack.
[HEATHER SIGHS]
Hello, Gerald Misenbach's machine,
this is Lisa Wiseman.
It's Wednesday, about 7:30, and--
- I'm getting so sleepy listening to this.
- Oh, let me turn down the TV.
- This concludes our broadcast day.
- There we go. That's so much better.
Um, so I just wanted to say hi.
And I wanted to thank you
for that pencil.
MINISTER:
Ladies and gentlemen, we stand here
about to rejoin Michael
and his lovely wife,
Lisa, in the sacred bond
of holy matrimony.
If anyone here knows a reason
that these two people
should not be joined together
for all eternity,
speak now
or forever hold your peace.
Wiseman and Taylor sitting in a tree,
K-I-S-S-I-N-G.
[CROWD LAUGHING]
[YELLS]
TAYLOR:
You okay?
- What are you doing here?
- I wanted to talk to you.
I felt badly about
what happened tonight.
It was completely inappropriate,
completely unprofessional--
[WHISPERING]
Shh. Come here.
They can hear every word.
[WHISPERING]
I just wanted to apologize.
I just wanted to make sure
that you weren't mad at me.
You sure?
Oh, man.
Oh, man.
Oh, gee.
- Oh, my.
- Hmm?
Good morning.
I hope I'm not interrupting anything.
[IN NORMAL VOICE]
No, of course not.
[CLEARS THROAT]
I promise I'll call you tomorrow.
Mm-hm.
[PHONE RINGING]
Heather, would you get that please?
I'm studying!
[SIGHS]
- Hello?
- Oh, hi, Heather.
It's Gerald Misenbach,
your mother's friend.
- Hi.
- Is your mother home?
- Yeah.
- Can I speak with her?
She's studying.
So I take it that's a no.
Well, you don't want her to fail,
do you?
Heather, let me be very clear
about something.
If you don't let me speak
with your mother,
I'm just gonna keep
calling back, see?
In other words, the faster
you put your mother on the phone,
the faster the two of us
can get off the phone,
and the sooner you can call your friends
or go online or order a pizza or--
You know what?
For a little guy, you sure play rough.
Mom! It's Mr. Misenbach!
- Gerald.
- Lisa.
So I got your message.
Oh, good.
Well, anyway, uh, you're welcome,
um, I'd love to, and I think.
Great.
Welcome and love to for what?
For the pencil. You called
and thanked me for the pencil.
Now I'm calling and saying
you're welcome for the pencil,
and the "I'd love to" part has to do
with when you asked me
what I was doing tomorrow night.
[LISA LAUGHS]
Oh, terrific. And the "I think"?
The "I think" is very complicated.
You see, the "I think"
depends on whether
you meant tomorrow
as in the day after today,
or tomorrow as in tonight,
because, you see, I've already
erased the messages,
and I'm unclear as to whether
you called me yesterday or today.
- Yesterday.
- So then tomorrow's tonight.
It is.
Tomorrow's tonight, or it could be.
Heh. What I mean
is tonight works for me.
Well, if it works for you,
it works for me.
That would be great.
Should I pick you up about 8:00?
Sure, that'd be nice.
Great.
MORRIS:- Six o'clock. Quitting time.
- Oh, good.
TAYLOR:- Good work today.
- Oh, good.
I thought about what
you said yesterday.
And I changed my mind
and made that call.
You know what I'm talking about, right?
About making that change?
Oh, good.
I knew you'd feel that way.
I'm gonna go wait in the kitchen.
I can't stand to see you
caged this way.
Oh, good.
Here's the key to the door
and the code to the alarm.
I rigged the security system
so that at 8:00, you're safe to leave.
Oh, good.
I was hoping you'd feel that way.
Meet me on the corner
of 65th and 5th. I'll be waiting.
MORRIS:
Mr. Wiseman, your dinner's ready.
Oh, good.
- Wasn't sure you were gonna come.
- Neither was I.
- If the doc finds out--
- The doc, what?
What you did you did on my orders,
my say-so.
Don't worry about the doc.
He's not worried about you.
What's that supposed to mean?
It means no wonder you're obsessed
with who you were
instead of who you've become.
You're locked up all the time
with nothing to do
but dwell on the past.
I wanna give you a here and now.
I wanna give you a right this second
to help you forget all that.
Is that okay?
I don't know.
What are we gonna do?
Anything you want.
- Anything?
- Anything. It's New York.
The symphony,
the opera, a fabulous hotel
Anything.
- Anything?
- Anything.
[CHEERS]
- Oh, wait
- Who's gonna hold me?
[LISA SHRIEKS]
[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
[CHEERS THEN WHISTLES]
- You sure you don't want one?
- You know what's in those things?
Do I ever.
- Oh
- Mm.
What, no toast?
To this.
And to nice.
Nice. That's nice.
TAYLOR:
What?
MICHAEL:
What, what?
You look like you're someplace else.
Ah, you know, looking at the city,
it reminds me of stuff.
You know, things I've done,
places I've been, things I've seen.
Like?
I don't know.
You ever seen Oh! Calcutta?
It's not important.
I had a really nice time tonight.
Really nice.
- Full moon.
- Mm.
GERALD:
Give me a hint.
Huh?
Oh, no, I just
I just can't help but think about all
the other moons I have looked up at.
- Hmm, really?
- Yeah.
You mean this isn't your first time?
This isn't your first moon?
This could have a serious effect
on the dowry conversations.
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
I come here a lot.
My place is nearby.
Well, I sure didn't mean
that the way it sounded.
Yeah.
I'm really glad you called.
Me too.
- Are you cold?
- Yes.
Come on. Come here. Come on.
Uh
I'm sorry.
- Gerald, I'm sorry.
- It's okay. Whatever it is, it's okay.
Well
You, sir, are something.
And I gotta believe
she must be something.
Yeah. She is.
Why don't you take my car--?
What? No.
No, it's fine. I'll send for it tomorrow.
- I'm just down the street.
- Gerald,
just point me in the direction
- of the nearest subway.
- I need to be alone.
[CHUCKLES]
And I have a feeling
you wouldn't mind being alone either.
By the way,
I'm a really horrible driver.
GERALD:
Mm?
Joke.
Can I say one thing to you?
Anything.
You're wrong. And I don't care.
We are great together.
And I'm perfectly happy to wait
until you catch up with me with regard
to this particular line of thinking.
Wow.
"Wow." I like that better than "nice".
I feel funny about leaving you here.
Are you sure you're gonna be okay?
I just need to be alone for a while.
I'll head back to the townhouse
in an hour or so.
I think I'll call Washington tomorrow.
See about having myself reassigned.
Have them change that lock
and the alarm code too.
Goodbye, Michael Wiseman.
Good evening.
Good evening.
Oh, what can you do?
I was never sure it would work.
You're not going to tell him?
No. What would be the point?
He loves her. Whether I like it or not,
whether it's convenient for me or not,
the man loves his wife.
It's not your fault, lieutenant.
You did a fine job.
- Thank you, sir.
- You really were quite convincing.
It wasn't hard.