The Wonder Years (2021) s01e19 Episode Script

And as the war in Vietnam continues on, American casualties have now surpassed 22,000 over Mama, more treats? They were able to save my arm, but all this sugar's gonna make them cut off my foot.
Don't stare at his arm.
Yo, Dean, come over here and gimme some skin! Okay, you got this.
Don't act weird.
Don't act weird.
Don Ugh.
You acted weird.
Oh, don't worry.
We'll get it.
How's it looking, Doc? Well, the good news is we removed 90% of the shrapnel in the arm without any nerve damage.
You should be able to live just fine with what's left.
Can he come home soon? He should be able to go home in a day or two.
But he needs to take it very slowly for a month or so.
I'll make sure he does.
Can you still play baseball? Oh, still the best you ever saw.
- Thank you, doctor.
- Mm-hmm.
There's some cupcakes waiting for you on the nurse's station.
Then I am done here.
Thanks, Doc.
So, how'd you get hurt? What happened? Um, it's a boring story.
Baby, I got off work early and I just thought I would Oh, hey, the whole family is here! Mr.
Williams, Dean, Kim, and you must be Mrs.
Williams.
I am.
And you are? Oh, M-Mom, Dad, this is Tammy.
Hello.
How do you two know each other? Oh, well, um, i-it's a funny story.
Tammy wrote letters to me every day in Vietnam through this program at her church.
Come to find out, we went to the same high school.
Well, I was there a lot earlier than you.
Tammy's been visiting me every day while you're at work.
Well, I'm glad Bruce has a good friend.
Catch up, Mama.
She's his girlfriend.
Be cool, Kim.
Um, well, I made some of your favorite butter cookies like I used to.
Well, oatmeal raisin is his favorite.
Mama's right.
They used to be.
Used to be? I guess you've been over there tasting everybody's cookies.
Um Nope.
I wasn't about to end up in the hospital, too.
Bruce had had plenty of girlfriends before.
I couldn't figure out why this one bothered Mama so much.
So, um, does your friend, Tammy, cook anything else for you besides cookies? Nothing as good as you.
I was old enough to know it wasn't really about the cookies.
My guess was it was the fact that Tammy was closer to Mama's age than to Bruce's.
By the way, I, uh, washed out that cookie tin so you can take it back to her.
And if Bruce dated an older woman with her own cookie tins, he didn't need Mama's anymore.
Who took my newspaper? You better use your good arm and fold it back.
Sorry.
I was just checking the want ads for a job.
Don't rush it, son.
The doctor told you to take it easy.
Yeah, I know.
I know.
I'm just ready to get my life going again.
And, Dad, I thought you'd be happy to have one less dependent.
Does your friend, Tammy, work? Yes, she does, Mama.
Does she know about the disability check you're getting from the army? She is not after me for my money, just my good looks.
Hey, Dean, ready to go to the park and practice your swing? Yes, I am.
I want you to teach me how to hit a home run.
You can't teach "Be somebody else.
" Baby, you didn't have to come all the way over here to drop this off.
Oh, it's no problem.
I'm taking Dean to the park, and you were on my way.
In spite of Mama's concerns, Tammy seemed nice to me.
And if Bruce was happy, we should be happy.
The park? Maybe you could take Joey? Uh, sure, sure, yeah.
Hey, Joey, get over here! Who the is this? What's up, Joey? Dean, this is my son, Joey.
I thought he was at your mama's for the weekend.
He was supposed to be, but she drank a little too much corn juice last night.
- Mm.
- I could smell it over the phone.
Hey, Joey, do you want to go to the park with Bruce - and his brother? - Yeah! All right, well, get on in there.
I'll be over to help you get ready.
All right, Joey.
Thank you so much.
And maybe this could help you guys bond a little better.
It will.
I'm starting to understand how Mama felt.
Didn't these people know that not only did Bruce have a cookie tin at home, he had a perfectly good little brother at home, too? So, uh, did you know she had a kid? Of course.
I just didn't want to let Mom and Dad know yet.
You know, I want to kind of ease them into it.
You know how they can get.
Yeah.
Like when they found out your last girlfriend was a Lutheran? Look, I know this wasn't a part of our plan, Dean, but I think you could really help me out with Joey.
You can relate to him more than I can.
Maybe be kind of a big brother to him.
You think you can do that? Oh, I get it.
He wants me to handle the big brother duties so he doesn't have to.
Okay.
Maybe I could be this kid's "Bruce.
" That's all right.
Whoo! Aah.
Whoo! Aah.
Whoo! You are a natural! I'm starting not to like this kid.
- Are you gonna get that? - Yeah, it's official.
I don't like this kid.
She's got a son? - This changes everything.
- Don't worry.
It's not like Joey knows about my disability checks.
He means should we assume she was married before? Or is she divorced? Or is she a widow? Okay, okay, I get that you both have a lot of questions, and I probably should've handled it better.
So why don't we invite Tammy and Joey over for dinner one night, then you can ask her all these things.
You miss combat that bad, huh? - That's a good idea, son.
- Mm.
It would be nice to get to know her better.
Yeah, she can bring her cookies.
Damn it, Lillian, nobody likes oatmeal and raisins.
Oh, this was going to be interesting.
What are your intentions with our son? Hm? To get him strung out on cookies.
How many children do you have, Tammy? Oh, I forget.
Is Tammy even your real name? Who's Tammy? Why, hello, Tammy! And this must be little Joey Aren't you adorable Please come inside I can't wait to get to know you better.
Ooh, whenever Mama didn't use periods, I knew things were about to get good.
What would you like to drink, Tammy? I'll have a glass of wine.
Thank you.
Uh, I-I'll take a ginger ale, please.
Hey, Dean, why don't you take Joey to your room and show him all your cool stuff? I bet he'd love that.
Go ahead.
Take your snack, too.
Why do you have all of this baseball stuff? You're not very good.
Shh! I'm trying to listen here.
So, Bruce tells me that you work.
What do you do? Oh, I'm I'm a receptionist at a doctor's office.
And the hours are really flexible, so that helps a lot with Joey.
- So, are you widow? - I wish.
Uh, just divorced.
I see.
Well, does Joey's father live nearby? Mom.
It's okay.
I-I don't mind it.
I would have a lot of questions, too, if I were them.
He, uh, moved to Birmingham with his mother, so Joey goes up to visit during school breaks.
Does he help out? I mean, he taught Joey how to accept a collect call, so that's something.
Mm-hmm.
I'm surprised you all haven't mentioned the age difference yet.
Well, there is that.
Well, Mama, you and Dad aren't the same age, either.
Son, three years apart is different than More than three years.
You know, a lady never tells her age.
I'm 41.
You? Ooh, cool! No.
Don't touch that! It's supposed to stay in the plastic.
You got fingerprints on it.
Okay.
That kid just took my "Daredevil" from mint to near mint.
I can only imagine what you all must think of me Older and divorced? I'm certain that's not what you had in mind for your son.
And if I'm being honest, I made a mistake marrying my high-school sweetheart.
And by the time I realized it was a mistake, I was already pregnant.
Uh-huh, knew it! Joey was a mistake.
And as much as I love Joey, it is definitely not easy.
Lillian, i-if I'm being honest, I-I would love to pick your brain about how you are able to work, raise a family, and keep a marriage.
Thank you.
That's very nice of you.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
What's happening? I guess it all comes down to prioritizing.
And, of course, I have Bill.
Oh.
Speaking of, Bill, Bruce told me that you are an amazing musician.
And And I'll be honest, I-I wasn't familiar with your music until I bought your 45.
Your vocals reminded me of a-an early William Smith.
You know about Smitty? Uh-huh! Sure do.
Y'all sing from the same place.
- The soul? - Mm, I was gonna say the knees.
All that begging and pleading.
Well, it was a blues cover.
You clearly have good taste.
How you end up with this clown? Oh.
And that's when I caught him stealing from Bruce.
I knew I should've stopped him, told him to put it back in the drawer, maybe offered him something he could play with.
This was my moment of truth.
Bruce asked me to be like an older sibling to this kid, but was I going to be a Bruce or a Kim? Boys, time for dinner.
I chose violence.
It had been over an hour since Joey stole from Bruce's desk, and the kid hadn't cracked.
That little grifter had ice water running through his veins.
I was kind of impressed.
Well I hate to break this party up, but we should probably get going.
It is a school night.
Yeah, and I've got a couple job interviews in the morning.
I don't know why you are in such a rush to get back to work.
I mean, you're not even fully healed yet.
- Mm-hmm.
- Thank you, Tammy.
That's what we've been telling him.
- I feel fine.
- I was running out of time.
The kid was about to get away with it.
I had to come up with a subtle way to expose him.
Why don't we get going? Oh! Dean! What has gotten into you?! I-I'm sorry.
Just a little accident.
What's this? What is this? That's a Bronze Star.
Hm, that's weird.
He must've stolen it from Bruce's dresser.
Joseph.
Explain yourself.
I-I was gonna give it back, but I just wanted to bring it to school for show-and-tell.
So you stole it? No, no, i-it it's okay.
Um, I don't mind.
No, it's not okay.
Give it back now.
And when we get home, you are gonna get it.
Oh, I'm sure there's a belt here you could use.
I'm so sorry, guys.
I don't I don't know what's gotten into him.
He's not usually like this.
More importantly, when were you planning on telling us you were awarded the Bronze Star? It's, uh It's not a big deal.
It's a huge deal.
They only give it out for heroic action in combat.
They do a write-up about it and everything.
What's it doing inside your drawer in your room? Heroic action? Was that from when you got hurt? Mama, they pass those things out all the time.
The hell they do.
Why you downplaying it? 'Cause it's getting late, and Tammy needs to take Joey home.
W-Wait.
Wait.
So no one's gonna whoop this kid? Dean, go to bed.
All right, Dean.
Turns out Joey was grounded, which felt a pretty weak punishment to me.
But at least I was finally able to get some one-on-one time with my brother.
Here it comes.
Here it comes! Which clearly I needed.
All right, listen, that's okay.
I got an idea.
He had the time to teach me how to drop a perfect bunt and then he had to rush to get ready for this big loan interview he had.
I served in the military for two years.
I receive monthly disability checks which cover most of my expenses, and I found a promising lead on a new job which will allow me to repay my loan in less than a year.
You should know better than to ask your father for a loan.
He's gonna gouge you on the interest rates.
He's a credit risk.
We have to protect ourselves.
What's this you say about a job? Remember when I came home for Christmas, and they offered me a job at the bank? - Mm-hmm.
- Well, I took it.
The janitor position? It's only temporary.
I just want to have some cash coming in while I look for something else.
Son, this is a very physical job.
The doctor said you should heal before you do anything too strenuous.
And you have that disability money coming in, so what's the rush? As you can see, I'm looking to rent a new apartment.
I need first and last, plus a deposit.
Well, that's a lot for a bachelor pad.
Well, I want a two-bedroom so Joey can have his own room.
Have you lost your mind?! You and Tammy cannot live together! You are not married! Mama, it is 1969.
Get with it.
Kim, if you don't hush with all that me Mm.
Now is not the time.
How can I show my face in church? You are gonna have to tell your grandmother.
Both of them.
I'm a grown man.
I make my own decisions.
Not so grown that you don't need my money.
Son, what is going on with you? Ever since you got back, you've been going a mile a minute.
Why are you in such a hurry? Me and Tammy care about each other a lot, and this is something that I want to do.
I'll admit, my initial suspicions about Tammy were wrong, but you two barely know each other.
Let's just face it, she's an older woman with a kid.
Who nobody likes.
You don't want to waste her time playing house.
You know what? Don't worry about the money.
I'll figure it out on my own.
What are we gonna do about this? I don't know.
I don't know.
I know this is the last thing you want to hear right now, but you're running the risk of Bruce doing exactly what you don't want him to do by insisting he does things your way.
Speaking from experience.
At the game the next day, I was excited to put Bruce's coaching to use and finally end my slump.
We're down by one.
All right, man, it'd be really great if you bring that runner in from third.
Don't worry, Coach.
I got this.
Of course, of course.
Now, if you want to lean way over the plate.
What? Nothing, nothing.
Y-You got it.
There it is! There it is! I knew you could do it, buddy! Safe! Hey, good job, good job! He missed my moment of triumph! This was too much.
First the brat steals my brother's medal, now he's trying to steal my brother.
I could not let this stand.
You're out! Oh, come on, man! Bruce took Joey home after the game, and I didn't have a chance to give him a piece of my mind.
So I rode my bike over to Tammy's to do it there.
The only thing worse than getting rejected is getting rejected in front of an audience Something I have a little experience with.
So I did what any mature person would do.
I got the hell out of there.
Bruce asked Tammy to marry him? He had a ring and everything.
He was down on one knee.
I hate to be the one to say it - Then don't.
- Fine.
I told you so.
Nobody say anything to Bruce about what Dean saw.
Let him tell us when he's ready.
We missed you at dinner.
Um, but I left something for you on the stove.
That's okay.
I'm not really hungry.
I have something that I want to tell you.
Really? Uh, 'cause we have no idea what that could be.
Dean, stop being a weirdo.
I didn't envy Bruce.
How do you tell your family you just got your heart broken by the woman they warned you about in the first place? I did something earlier today, but I realize there's something that I probably should've told you guys before.
Whatever it is, you can tell us now.
It was late, pitch black.
We were on patrol, ready to head back, when out of nowhere, we started taking fire.
We were pinned down.
I called for retreat and started pulling my men off the line.
I could see that we had three men down already, so my friend Brian and I went back to get them.
And we were able to pull them back to safety, but we were still under fire, and I guess that's when I got hit.
I called out to see if Brian was okay, but he didn't respond.
I was hurt, and I couldn't stay there I couldn't stay there and put my men in any more danger.
On the battlefield, you only have a second to make a decision.
Sounds like you really earned that Bronze Star.
That's what they, uh, say in the write-up that you asked about.
They call me some hero.
I can't even finish reading it.
I should've been able to save my friend.
We all wanted to tell him that he did the right thing and he could've died, but none of us could come up with the words that would make him feel better.
And I guess, in some way I was rushing things with Tammy, because after everything that happened over there, I Brian he won't get a chance to get married.
He won't get a chance to have kids.
I'm so sorry about your friend, son.
Those medals, they're not for us.
They're for everybody else.
Son you didn't get that star for what you did over there.
You got it for who you were before you went.
We always said that if anything ever happened to one of us, we would write to the other one's family.
But I don't know.
I felt so guilty, I couldn't even bring myself to do it.
Try.
If the situation were reversed, I'd want to hear from Brian.
I have a confession to make, too.
I know you saw me at Tammy's.
You barely cleared the hill by the time I came out the front door.
Now that we worked on your bunting, next is teaching you to pedal faster.
Come on, Dean.
Bruce actually paid attention at my next game and cheered me on from the stands.
And he wasn't alone.
He and Tammy decided not to move in together, but they were gonna keep dating.
Unfortunately, Joey was still her son.
Bruce's coaching made me the best bunter on the team.
But the other team caught on to me.
After sharing his experience with us, it seemed like Bruce was finally getting back to being himself.
Is this your friend Brian? Yeah, that's him and his little sister.
He always kept it in his pocket, just like I kept a picture of me, you, and Kim.
I'm sending these things over to his folks.
Looking at that picture of Brian and his sister, I felt a connection to them, too.
She's very pretty.
What's her name? Gwendolyn.
But he called her Winnie.