American Gothic (1995) s01e17 Episode Script

As long as it's painful.
How about a fall down the stairs? Most accidents do happen in the home.
Or a hair dryer in the bathtub, that's always fun.
Fork in the toaster? Lucas doesn't cook.
We'll have to be more creative.
Killing him always been a fantasy? I figured out with the old, in with the new.
I think you're just jealous, 'cause he got Gail pregnant.
Please, I could have had if I'd wanted 'em.
That's a pleasant thought.
I think I'd better go find those files.
Relax, Doctor.
We haven't come to a conclusion yet.
Maybe we could just smother him in his own bed sheets.
Or you could perform surgery.
You certainly have the tools.
Selena, I really need to find those files for Yancy Lydon and he is convinced that Lucas stole them.
You have no sense of adventure.
Hey.
I'm in the man's bed, aren't I? Now, where do you think they are? What? The files.
Too late for that now, darling.
The master has returned.
You said he was out of town.
My mistake.
Better get your boots on.
You wanted this.
Call me crazy.
Come on.
I'll catch up to you.
What? I'm not ready to go yet.
Look, your ex-boyfriend, who just happens to be a sociopathic sheriff is about to find us in his bedroom and I don't think he's gonna offer us an espresso.
I want to kill him, Billy.
Enough with the games.
No game.
I really want him dead.
Selena, honey this was not safe sex.
"She was a Phantom of delight "When first she gleam'd upon my sight "A lovely Apparition sent "To be a moment's ornament "Her eyes as stars of twilight fair "Like twilight's, too, her dusky hair "But all things else about her drawn "From May-time "and the cheerful dawn.
" I'm here, Doris.
Always here.
Okay.
Excuse me, Mr.
Lydon? I'm sorry to disturb you but I need to know the dosage for Cecil Perkins' Lasix IV push.
Yes, sir.
Late night? You don't want to know.
Doris.
She's screaming.
Can you hear her? I owe you an apology, Yancy.
It's like she's drowning right in front of me and I can't do a damn thing about it.
I didn't get your files.
I trusted someone I shouldn't have.
It's okay.
This isn't your responsibility anyway.
What makes you so sure Lucas took 'em? He's punishing me.
By taking her medical records, he's made it impossible for me to find out what caused this.
I need to know what drugs were administered what her vitals were.
I need to do something, Doctor! I can't wait for Lucas anymore.
Wait for Lucas to do what? Sweetheart.
I've got to go back to the pharmacy.
Yancy, what do you mean? Wait for Lucas to do what? I just thought things would be different, that's all.
Feel free to read to her, Doc.
Wordsworth.
It's her favorite.
Dr.
Kelly, please call the operator.
Dr.
Kelly, please call the operator.
And along with Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin is the other member of our group who was not a president.
Now, can anyone tell me some of his accomplishments? Caleb? He invented the postal service.
That's right.
Anything else? He was the first ambassador to France.
Right again.
And he fathered a bastard.
Sorry, kids, slip of the tongue.
Morning, Ms.
Coombs.
Morning, Sheriff Buck.
Can we help you? Just in the neighborhood.
Just poking around.
Really.
Hope you don't mind me breaking in on you.
You studying money? Yes, we are.
Maybe I can help you 'cause the buck stops here.
That's a buck, isn't it, son? Yes, sir.
Who's that handsome devil? George Washington.
Sheriff George "I cannot tell a lie" Washington.
Father of our country.
Ms.
Coombs, draw that line.
We really need to get back to Work? Yeah, you're busy as a bee, aren't you? Draw the line.
Now.
When they put something on money that means it's pretty important.
Right? George Washington was our first president.
And they honored him on this side.
Now, what about the other side? What about here? An eagle and a pyramid.
It's a Masonic Temple.
A temple? Like this boy right here? Caleb Temple? Well, that's his name, ain't it? So, this side honors a temple.
Now, what's on top of the temple? An eye.
An all-seeing eye.
The third eye.
The mystical source of all power.
Sheriff Patience, Ms.
Coombs.
We're almost finished with our lesson.
Now, can you tell me what's written beneath the temple? Right there on that buck? Novus ordo seclorum.
That's Latin.
Latin for "an old order of the ages is born anew.
" That's right, with each generation, there can only be one.
One who sees all, one who knows all and one who conquers all.
If you want to hurt me, you did.
If you're upset about Gail being pregnant, I'm sorry.
And if you ever soil my house again I'll cut out your heart and use it for a chammy.
Why do you think they call it the root of all evil? I rarely get involved with patients, Gail but when Dr.
Peale told me about you, I was intrigued.
Yes, I'm everyone's favorite science project lately.
Your baby is growing at a remarkable rate.
So I understand.
And since you're still in your first trimester Where's this It is odd, but not without precedent.
Are you aware that Lucas Buck has another child? Illegitimate.
Yes.
I just wasn't aware that it was common knowledge.
I've known the sheriff for a long time.
This is Caleb's mother's chart.
Seven weeks into her pregnancy, he weighed four and a half pounds.
My god! But at birth, his weight was normal.
His growth slowed considerably during the third trimester which is exactly the opposite of the usual pattern.
And he was healthy? Perfectly.
So, what do you make of this? I don't know.
But I wanted to share his history with you because I thought it might ease your mind.
Caleb's mother was my aunt, Doctor.
The day after she gave birth she committed suicide.
You think she knew something I don't? You said that if I gave that judge a placebo instead of his regular medication that I wouldn't be doing anything wrong I'd just be helping nature take its course.
Is that what I said? In return, you promised to help my wife.
Why did you take her file? Because I care.
She hasn't opened her eyes in 2 years, Lucas.
waiting for a change.
You haven't done anything.
I'm not God, Yance.
I can't snap my fingers and bring Doris back.
But that was the deal.
You said you could do something.
No.
I said, "an eye for an eye.
" You take care of the judge and I take care of your wife and all debts are paid.
She's still alive, isn't she? That's not living.
But you said that you'd give anything not to lose her, and you haven't.
This is what you've done? I know it's costly, but at least she don't eat much.
I thought that you could revive her, not just keep her breathing.
I don't remember making that distinction.
My god.
You bastard.
Friend to few, benefactor to many.
I'm ending this.
No.
She dies, you go to jail.
That's our deal.
No.
You've hurt too many people.
No more, Lucas.
No more.
What are you having, a party? Doctor says I should eat a lot of protein.
That's not all for you.
Man! What do you got in there, a football team? Shh.
What? Caleb doesn't know that I'm pregnant.
You keep eating like that, he's gonna figure it out.
Ms.
Holt? Don't tell him, okay, Ben? I just want to make sure that everything's all right.
Ms.
Holt? It's your call.
Anybody seen Ms.
Holt? She went to the store.
Oh.
Could you give me my allowance and she could pay you back? What do you need it for? Project.
How much do you get, bud? $5 a week.
$5! Here you go.
You got five singles? Yeah.
How's that? Great.
Thanks.
Hey, now.
You're not flimflamming me, are you? Me? You know, Lucas' son or not, he's still a pretty good What the hell are you doing? I'm hungry.
Gail, that's not anywhere near cooked.
I'm hungry.
Have an apple or something.
You don't want to eat that.
Why not? Because it's raw.
Are you all right? I'm fine.
I'm just hungry, that's all.
Let me take you and get you a cheeseburger.
No, I want this.
What's the matter with you? Nothing! Look, I'm just trying to tell you that I know what you're trying to tell me, Ben.
It's none of your business.
I'm hungry, my baby's hungry so why don't you just leave us alone.
You win the lottery? No.
You must be mighty rich to be cutting up all that money.
You know why our last name is Temple? 'Cause it was our parents' name.
Your parents, my mother.
My father is Lucas Buck.
See, here's the temple and here's the buck.
See? They go together.
Temple and Buck, that's me.
I don't know what you're talking about, Caleb.
You ever heard of the all-seeing eye, Merly? Yes.
What's your point? It's right here.
This is Lucas' voice I'm hearing.
Novus ordo seclorum.
An old order of the ages is born anew.
That's me, too.
Caleb, Lucas is a part of you.
But that don't mean you have to be like him.
I know.
The day will come when you have to choose your path.
And I want you to be strong enough to resist his influence.
I know, Merly, I know.
Don't worry.
The buck stops here.
Honey, I don't know what's keeping you alive.
But I know you never wanted this.
I love you so much.
That's why I'm going to free you.
I'm gonna free you.
Soon as I take care of things.
What did you expect him to do? I don't know.
You should have seen the look on his face.
Selena, Lucas Buck always has a look on his face.
I mean, we broke into the guy's house.
He has a right to be pissed.
I don't know how to stop him now.
Stop him from what? Killing us.
I used to find these little eccentricities of yours endearing.
What's that? Your finger.
It's your third eye.
Okay.
And the part of the brain that's inside there's called the pineal gland.
Did you know that? It's all coming back.
Nobody's sure what it's for.
Less-evolved types think it's the source of some untapped power but we know better, don't we? It's the root of all evil, darling.
And it's Lucas' Achilles' heel.
What? It's how you kill him.
Selena, since we're still in the formative stages of our relationship, I'd hate to jeopardize it but I didn't realize you were insane.
It's him or us, Willie.
Yeah, well, murder's not on my resume.
You defiled his home.
You insulted his manhood.
Yeah, and you set me up.
I don't know what's happened to you but I'm going back to Lucas' to find those files.
When I see him, I'm going to apologize for ever being stupid enough to trust you.
And then Hell, then I am checking one of us into happy land.
Lucas? You in here? Look, I just want to talk to you.
Lucas? I'm going to have to get me a security system.
Oh, my god.
Jesus.
Did somebody shoot him? A bullet didn't do this.
Well, what happened? Billy, what happened? His third eye must have blinked.
What were you doing at his house? I wanted to talk to him.
And this is how you found him? Yeah.
Was anyone else around? Can we carry on this interrogation a little later? I'd like to help the patient.
Are you sure? Stop by my office when you're done.
Nurse.
How soon till he can talk? Don't know.
Walking may be a challenge.
He's gonna pull through, isn't he? It's too soon to tell.
He's still critical.
Can you tell me what this is? It's a trocar.
What's it for? In layman's terms, it's a hole punch for the skull.
We found this in the sewer behind Lucas' house.
And you think this is the attempted murder weapon? Looks that way.
Has your fingerprints all over it.
Yeah, well, if it's the one from our hospital, I used it this morning.
We found your fingerprints on Lucas' bedroom window.
You find a bloody glove, too? Look, I don't enjoy this any more then you do.
I didn't do it.
I'm sorry, Billy.
But I have to take you in.
I don't have any choice.
Deputy Healy? Yeah? The Sheriff's asking for you.
Hi, Lucas.
How you doing? Where's Caleb? I don't know.
We haven't told him yet.
I need to see him.
Bring him to me.
Okay.
You want Gail, too? No, just the boy.
Lucas.
Can you tell me who done this to you? Just bring me my son, Ben.
As I go, so will he.
Novus ordo seclorum.
Novus ordo seclorum.
Novus ordo seclorum.
Novus ordo seclorum.
Novus ordo seclorum.
Novus ordo seclorum.
Caleb? Hey.
What's going on? Evening, Dr.
Peale.
Look, I'm sorry about Lucas.
I know that You know what? You know he was my daddy.
Caleb, I know what you must be thinking, but believe me, I never Never laid a hand on what exactly, Dr.
Peale? Never laid a hand on Lucas Buck? Seems like you've had your hands all over my father's property lately.
What's this all about, Caleb? Messed up bed sheets, an open window.
You two barely got away in time.
Hold it right there.
Selena, she's very upset with my father.
She wanted you to kill him, didn't she? Stop it! A man like you will do anything to get what you want, right? What do you think? I think you're a dangerous man.
And if a person can't protect his own property from you he can't protect himself.
So it's true, Selena did want you to do it.
Selena belonged to Lucas, Caleb.
In more ways than you can imagine.
She was never really mine.
Now, Caleb, I don't want you to be scared.
But he looks pretty bad.
I ain't scared.
He's been waiting for you.
It's in you, isn't it? Yeah.
Come closer.
Could you do that for me? An old order of the ages Is born anew.
Code blue! Okay, let's go.
I got the defibrillator to go.
Stand away.
Come on, time it.
Clear.
Everybody, clear.
Damn.
Nurse, 250 joules.
Clear.
Again.
Clear.
Come on.
He's dead.
He's dead.
You asked me once, you said, "Who am I?" I said, "You're Lucas Buck.
" "You're Lucas Buck.
" I never liked you.
And I never liked your damn vest, neither.
You was always a man of your word to me.
See you on the other side.
I don't blame you for anything, Lucas.
I don't blame you for anything at all.
No, nothing at all.
Well, Lucas, you always tried to get me to see things the way you wanted me to.
You never could.
But I'll tell you, I'd give anything for an ounce of your clarity right now.
I don't know how this town's gonna function without you.
To tell you the truth I don't know how I am, either.
Go on.
Is this real, Lucas? Are you really dead? You know, I never believed you before, but I guess I should now.
You son of a bitch.
How could you let this happen? Didn't you know Didn't you know how much I loved you? I am carrying your child.
Please.
Save it for your memoirs.
You're more dead than he is.
That child will rot with you.
Doris.
You're not going to get any better.
I know that now.
I thought Lucas could perform a miracle.
I waited and I prayed.
But demons don't perform miracles, do they? Hmm.
Forgive me, Doris.
For not having the courage to do this sooner.
Oh, my god.
You've already gone.
You've gone without me.
Doris.
"A lovely Apparition sent" "A lovely Apparition sent" "Her eyes as stars of twilight fair" "Like twilight's, too, her dusky hair" Is this real? Does it matter? Thanks for the poetry.
It softened my dreams.
I love you.
I know.
Now, say it.
I can't.
You have to.
No.
Please, Doris.
Please.
Say it.
Goodbye.
Billy.
You gonna let me out of here? I'd like to.
Come on, Ben.
Look, you know I didn't do this.
What's that? I was hoping you could tell me.
We found it in the sewer along with that thing from the hospital.
Yeah, the trocar.
Right.
That look familiar? Wordsworth.
You like poetry, Billy? Hell.
I'm sorry.
We weren't sure because of the initials.
Wait, he put his initials in there? Who? The book doesn't belong to me, Ben.
I told you, I didn't kill Lucas.
But now we know who did.
"YL," right? Yancy Lydon.
The pharmacist? His wife's in a coma.
He reads that stuff to her everyday.
But why would he want to kill Lucas? Because he blames him for his wife's condition.
He's convinced that Lucas stole his medical files.
It was Yancy, Ben.
Now if you let me out of here, I can prove it.
Were the initials written in pen or pencil? How the hell should I know? Good answer.
Yes, well.
I was just finishing up the orders for the next shift.
Yes.
Yes.
Well would you mind if I take off early tonight? As you know, my wife Yes.
Thank you.
I really appreciate that, Dr.
Nerone.
Yes.
Yes, I took My daddy sent me.
Disconnect the phone.
Now you're going to get a taste of your own medicine.
Rita, have you seen Yancy? They let you go? Temporarily.
Have you seen him? Not since this morning.
He's probably in the pharmacy.
Billy.
His wife died.
You think that's just a coincidence that she's dead, too? I don't know.
I don't know anything anymore.
Caleb? Caleb? Ben, help me get him up! Look, he's going out.
Get him down.
Watch his head, keep him calm.
I'll get help.
No, there's no time.
I need something sharp, scissors Give me your pen.
My pen? Your pen, now get his hands out of the way.
Clear.
All right, hold him.
This is gonna sting.
Easy.
Just breathe, relax.
Just relax.
Show him the book.
We found this book outside Lucas' house.
Is this yours? I just saved your life, Yancy.
Now you can save mine.
I think you'll get a full confession from him once he can talk.
Right, Yancy? Mr.
Lydon, Mr.
Lydon.
Mr.
Lydon, was that little boy in here with you? Easy, just breathe, relax.
Breathe, relax.
Caleb? Caleb? The buck starts here.