Copper s02e01 Episode Script

Mr.
Morehouse.
Mrs.
Haverford.
Tell me about Kevin Corcoran.
Is he prone to violence? Police! Yes, but he has an inherent nobility inside him.
- What's your name, darlin'? - Annie.
I'll behave! Please! No! If anything happens to Annie, I will cut you! What if Corcoran comes back? Then I will be by your side.
I hear you've been gallivanting around the town with Dr.
Freeman.
My wife? Her brothers were hung from that very lamppost.
She remembers the screams.
- Eva.
- Copper.
I'm not thinking courteous thoughts right now.
There are rumors about Johnny Reb burning down the city.
But if Lincoln wins, New York will burn.
You said it would just be Barnum's and the docks that would burn.
Remember me, Ellen? Tell me the truth.
I did, Kevin.
I shared a bed with your Ellen.
Things, they spun out of control.
I killed Grindle and her sister ended up the same way.
I must warn you even with treatment, your wife's going to suffer a great deal.
I killed my own daughter.
Our Maggie.
What's the matter? You never seen anything bleed? I have.
You live back there, the city? Yeah.
Too bad.
It's a nasty place, altogether.
Aah! Aah! Will you stop! Ah! Ahh! Hold still, you stupid bitch! You think you can steal business from me, do ya? Aaaah-aah! Aah-aah! Aah! Aah! Ahhh! Ahh! It was Buzzie Burke! He did this! Where's Eva? Buzzie's got her.
Welcome to the party, boyos.
Come on, sweetie.
Let's see what kind of pugilist you are, huh? Ah! Ahh! Aaah! Oh! Jesus.
Eva.
Eva, we need to get you stitched up.
Matthew! Matthew.
I take my stitches, I get cleaned up, and then I go home come on.
If I have to walk.
Hello.
That makes 67.
Nearly had to go kill another cat for more sutures.
Your husband is a comedian as well as a Sawbone.
Stay still, Miss Heissen.
Does Buzzie Burke know you brought Eva here? No.
And he won't be finding out.
I'm going to Hunt down that bastard.
Ahh! Another declined invitation.
This time, from the Buffalo Morehouses.
Are you truly upset by who's not coming to our wedding? I pray there's a steady stream of declinations.
I know what it is.
It's having a catholic stand up for you.
It's a scandal, Robert, and I don't know why you persist.
If not for a catholic, that catholic, I would not be here to whisk you away to wedded bliss.
Ahh.
The Irish race did not hold a knife to my throat.
Kevin Corcoran, your so-called best man, did.
Ahh! Ahh! Ahh! Have some opium.
Ahh! Ahhhh.
Ahh.
Yes! Pardon me, Mrs.
Haverford, but your guests are here.
You scheduled an evening recital.
Do give the ladies my apologies, James, but I'm suddenly feeling terribly unwell.
But, please, let the concert continue as planned.
I tried to wait up for you.
You need to make sure you rest.
Please, I feel good, these days.
How was work? Quiet enough.
Ahem.
Blood.
At least it's not mine.
Mrs.
Maloney stuck her head in.
She said Buzzie Burke's on a rampage.
That he is.
Do you remember what he did to my cousin Michael? Promise me you'll be careful.
I am.
I always am.
We'll get you cleaned up.
I'll make you some breakfast.
I'm sure I've got some rashers, fresh from the butcher.
Fine.
You started to sort out Maggie's things yet? I'll get you a plate.
a™ª death, with his sickle, stands nigh a™ª a™ª life's curtain soon will be fallin' a™ª a™ª listen, the angels are callin' a™ª a™ª mother, dear mother a™ª a™ª goodbye me father ran off to catch a boat on his own, the blackguard, so me ma, meself, and the left-alive twin, we made out for Cobh.
The twin died a day out.
What age were ya? Nine.
Christ.
When I was a kid, my old man was a stevedore.
One day, he took me to work with him.
A famine ship had come in, after a bad 9-week crossin'.
Tare an'ouns.
He took me down the hold.
I could barely breathe for the stink.
Black cloud of flies hovering.
Points to a pile in the corner and says, "that's what the English have done to our people.
" A heap o' Irish a heap o' Irish all died on the passage.
Sitting in here, facing what you're facing Christ! Hanging for not one, but three, murders, ya Kevin know you're here? Fair enough.
Tell Kevin Corcoran when he gets to hell, I'll have the place all sorted for him.
Mmm.
Oh, it's amazing, how a good wholesome meal will just lift your spirits at the end of a bad night, hmm? a™ª And no one could save her a™ª a™ª and that was the end of a™ª a™ª sweet Molly Malone everyone! Hmm? Fair enough.
I'll go it alone.
a™ª Cryin' cockles and mussels, alive a™ª a™ª alive, oh! Mmm.
Now I'd like to stay and enjoy your generous hospitality, but, you see, Buzzie's got obligations to keep.
So enjoy your sleep.
And you, not a peep.
Well, let's have a hand for Brigadier General Brendan Donovan, ward boss of the 6th and a former member of this very department.
Welcome home, sir.
Thank you, captain! It's good, it's good to be back.
I miss the old 6th.
Now, I know that might sound a bit daft to some of ye.
I was so hungry for news of the old 6th that I even had my secretary send the newspapers by parcel, each and every day.
I read good news and bad.
I read of births and deaths and all the rough and tumble that life has to offer.
And, one night, I read this "the 6th ward is nothing more" than a cesspool of filth and vice where the idea of honest labor is as rare as the sober immigrant.
You have officers lounging in the doorways of brothels, refusing to enforce Sunday-closing laws; Egging on fighters, instead of interceding; And, in essence, aiding and abetting in the full-on spectacle that is "Satan's circus.
" Sounds like a grand old time, all right.
Heh heh.
Now, I don't mind a little honest graft, a little clean vice, but I want it contained and controlled.
I want it behind closed doors.
Make no mistake our critics partake in the same recreations, but, to them, we're scum.
We're the enemy.
We're the barbarians at the gates of Rome.
As for me? Ý see them as what stands in the way of our rising in society.
So We have to be smarter! Sharper! Better! We have to work harder to prove our worth.
You represent more than just yourselves! You represent your family, your church, your race, and, by God, you represent this ward and this department.
We cannot abide chaos.
Otherwise, we are nothing more than what they say we are.
Our time has come.
We will not only run this city, we will own every alleyway, every street, and every Avenue.
Now, you can be part of it, or you can get the hell out.
The first order of business is to capture the reprobate Boris "Buzzie" Burke.
Now there's a nice bonus in it for the man who does.
Go get the bastard.
Come on, lad.
Come on.
Come on.
Up and at'em.
You're all right.
You'll be all right now.
All right.
Go on, man.
Go on.
Come on in.
Ah.
Kevin Corcoran has sent an armed policeman to guard our door.
I'll be right outside, ma'am.
Everything is going to be just fine.
I shall treat Dr.
Hegel and return immediately.
The horse is lame.
Can't you go another time? Illness does not follow my schedule.
Besides, you know how much Dr.
Hegel means to me.
I plan to jump on the train and return before dinner.
It's going to be fine, Sara.
We're going to have fun, just the two of us.
Go on, doctor, go.
You are certain? Come on, the son of a bitch comes through the door, I'll give him a third eye.
Where did you come by such bravado? Not the easy way, honey.
Gen Donovan.
I heard you were back.
How was your war? Obviously not as bad as yours.
Well, if you're back to settle up with my old man please, no! I heard of norbert's situation from the front.
Course, we had business affairs together, but that can all be sorted, in time.
I had my accountants pull all the records.
To be honest, the first thing I wanted to do when I got home was to shake the hand of the man who saved New York.
Please.
I had a lot of help, mostly from your boys down in the 6th ward.
Good to hear.
They're a fine bunch of lads.
Did your contracting business suffer in your absence? I'm the kind of man who likes to think that everything suffers in my absence.
Since you're home in time, my wedding will not have to be so afflicted.
So I've heard! The wedding of the season.
It would be an honor to have Tammany Hall represented at the affair.
I never pegged you for the marrying kind, major.
Even the sturdiest of bachelors yearns for the solace of a steady love.
Then it must be love.
I heard your bride- to-be's dead husband was mortgaged up to his sideburns.
Mr.
Morehouse.
These are all the records we could find regarding your dealings with Norbert.
I'm always up for a good party.
Major.
I'm off to do my rounds of the 6th.
Amazing! And now a Tammany ape added to my wedding list.
Eavesdropping is not a charming quality in a bride.
Keep this up, and I will make you elope.
Oh, don't tempt me.
Mmm! In all the excitement, I nearly forgot great news.
What? They captured the traitor Kennedy in Detroit.
Oh.
Great news, indeed.
What are you doing? It's a lovely tune.
I told you not to touch my daughter's things.
Doctor, your condition that's why I summoned you.
I'm leaving for the desert.
I know, as well as you, dry air is my only hope.
So I will just say it.
I want you to take over my practice.
Doctor, I no longer live in Five Points.
Besides, I have a wife to consider.
How is Sara, since she lost the baby? Frankly, a lot stronger than I expected.
She learned, by watching me work all these years, how common such an occurrence can be.
I'm happy to hear she is well.
So, you will leave this ward in the capable hands of Dr.
Grimes.
That insult to the name "doctor" won't touch a patient darker than daylight! And you know what that makes the ones he refuses to treat? Lucky! Grimes has killed more babies than King Herod.
This ward needs you.
You're not being fair.
This is Five Points.
Fairness is an unknown quality.
Well, I would say rare, but not unknown.
But I cannot be its saviour, any more than you could.
I did not train you to heal so you might run off and tend livestock in the country.
You're over an hour late, reporting back to me, Detective.
Detective Corcoran is a hunter of men.
That is an endeavor to which no clock should ever apply.
Corcoran, have an oyster.
Princess bays, pulled fresh from the harbor this afternoon.
No, thank you.
Mmm.
Please, you need your strength for when you run down Burke.
Tell us, how goes the search? Frustratin'.
We've raided every location tied to Burke, even tore down the bandit camp by the river.
No sign of him.
Maybe he had the good sense to leave town.
Buzzie? No, don't count on it.
Keep turning over every stone.
He'll slither out, eventually.
Buzzie Burke was my first collar.
Really? What happened? The desk sergeant laughed me out of the precinct, said, "this man is untouchable," told me I was to apologize to Mr.
Burke.
And did you? I had no call to.
Christ, Corcoran, always with the righteousness.
Buzzie Burke made himself very useful to a lot of people, for a long time.
So what happened? He moved himself from the asset side of the ledger to the liability side.
You care to share what type of transgression can turn a man from king of the streets to a hunted dog? Corcoran! Buzzie Burke started to believe his own malarkey, Detective.
No, captain, thank you.
I have a firm rule one whiskey, always.
Clarity of mind.
Sorry, gentlemen.
Informant says Buzzie Burke's hiding out in a flophouse over on Baxter.
All right, then, go.
Good luck! I do miss being a copper, Sully.
Don't you? Hmm.
Ah! Oh! Ah! Andrew, I'll take the front.
- Get outta my way! - Get'im, boys! Outside, Buzzie! Go! Now! Take him down, boys! Turn him over! Turn him over! Christ! That ain't Buzzie Burke.
Jesus, you're right, that's bug-eye boyle.
Awfully sorry, missus.
Do you like country life? I was raised on a plantation.
I was born into isolation.
Oh, God.
I can last about an afternoon picnic in the park, then I start clamoring for action, movement! I've been a city girl all my life.
Berlin, hamburg, New York, new Orleans, London.
I was fond of the city, 'til the draft riots.
What they done to my brothers I can't find the strength to move past the memory.
I was in Five Points for the riots.
Still, I close my eyes and all I see is my brothers hanging from that damn lamppost.
You have every right to your rage.
Matthew says I can't let the memories poison me.
They weren't his brothers hanging from the lamppost.
No, they wasn't.
But he's right, you know.
Matthew is right about many things, but on this? Ý'm not so sure.
You do have a choice, as hard as choosing to focus on what's still to come may be.
What about you? What about what this man, Buzzie Burke, has done to you, carving his initials in your back? How will you move past that? First, with your help, I will heal my flesh.
And then, I will have this pretty little artist boy that I know come into the paradise and paint a picture of Buzzie Burke's face on the bottom of the new privy that I'm having built.
And, until I die, every day, before I squat, I say, "good morning, Buzzie.
How are you doing today?" Don't shoot! Ýt's Matthew! Oh, shit.
Agh! Hey, Dr.
Freeman! Dr.
Freeman! It's okay.
I'm right here.
Please don't tell Corcoran.
I was only taking a piss.
You were to protect my wife and Eva.
Come on, doc, at least be a good nigger about it.
You have got to be kidding me.
Ah! So here I is, Buzzie Burke, in the flesh.
Sit! Ahh! Close the door.
So I hear you'se looking for me.
So I says to meself, "Buzzie", why don't you save that cute whore copper the trouble? Why don't you go down there, "see what he wants with Buzzie Burke.
" Please, Kevin, please.
Silence, woman.
Don't you dare soil yourself.
Let's put that gun down there, copper.
That's it.
Now, come on, no copper worth his salt only carries one shooter.
Let's see the other barking iron you've been carryin'.
See? There you have it.
Now, let her go.
Aah! Ah! Now, you and me, we's gonna get real intimate-like, hmm? Come closer.
On your knees.
Buzzie.
Closer.
I want to smell that pretty hair o' yours.
Mmm! Just like the missus here, hmm? Come on, don't be shy.
I won't bite.
Not like that whore friend of yours who took me ear off.
You should've stayed out of my little duet with Eva Heissen, you should've.
But you didn't, did ya? You thought you were some kind of hero.
Close your eyes.
Close'em.
Aah! Aah! Enjoy your new home, princess.
Mmm! They tell me there's a copper here.
I guess the poor, wee lad wasn't cut out for life in the tombs.
Every morning, me Johnny, he says to me, "mummy", I love you bigger than all Americay.
" Corcoran, let's go.
It's all right, Mrs.
McGrath.
We'll do everything we can to locate John's killer and find your other son.
Another Five Points guttersnipe meets his maker prematurely? Surprise, surprise.
It's tough one son dead, the other missing.
I hope you don't consider that a coincidence.
I like what I've heard about you.
You went off to war and fought like a spartan, but, when ordered to, you came back to the city and fired upon your own during the draft riots.
Can't say that's my proudest achievement.
Yes, but, you know what an oath means.
You know what chain- of-command means.
Excuse me, General Donovan, sir.
I don't mean to trouble you.
No trouble at all.
I was let go when they closed the Tannery on Mott and, uh, well, I'm ablebodied, uh see? I'm not looking for a handout, but I have nine little ones, sir.
Can you swing a hammer? Like a demon, sir.
Go down to the buildings department.
Tell Walton that the organization sent you.
Thank you, sir.
Hmm.
How's Miss Heissen? She's as tough as any master sergeant I met in the army, general.
Please, call me "Donovan".
She stands to gain from Buzzie Burke's demise.
How's that? With Buzzie dead, his whores and his gaming operations have to land somewhere.
Besides, I'd say she paid for it in blood.
She could use it.
I hear they keep raiding her uptown joint.
Ah, those boys in the 16th are tough.
But, by taking in Buzzie's business, she would more than make up for what she's losing uptown.
Mmm.
Only sayin', if I'd have beat my brother dead, I'd skip town, too.
Detective! Would you please come up? Do you have any news of me boys? Yeah.
We looked into your son's death.
Apparently, your boys were famous for knocking each other about.
And they were known to the police.
Only one time! That toothless bitch, Mary Monahan, said they'd broken in to her place, but it wasn't me boys! Jesus, let's not lie to the cops now.
Oh, piss off, Mr.
see-you- once-in-a-decade himself.
How would you know? Be surprised if you remembered our names.
We think Michael beat his brother to death and ran off.
Are you mad, copper? Sure, they fought, like any boys their age, but their love for one another was fierce powerful and wee Michael would never leave me alone, no matter what he done.
Mr.
McGrath.
Detective.
She's out of her head.
So where have you been? I was serving my new country and she was furious with me for volunteering.
She's always giving out about why the hell an irishmen would go to fight to free the niggers, huh? But I felt it was my responsibility.
We're Americans now, you understand? Yes, we are, despite all the bastards telling us we're not.
What about your boys? I may not have been around as much as I wanted to, but no father deserves to lose a child.
I mean, my boys I loved them, but they were wild, brutal to one another.
Of course, a mother would be blind to all that.
You know Irish mothers and their sons, sir? Are you a veteran, yourself? I was with the 71st.
That's a grand outfit.
I was with the 69th.
Got some shrapnel too close to my heart for them to operate.
I guess I'll carry the pieces to my grave, hmm? There's no escaping what the war's done.
Please, copper! Nothing but one heartbreak after another, since I got here.
But me sons, they're me heart and soul.
That's John on the left, Michael on the right.
Promise me you won't stop? I already promised you.
Nothing's changed.
What news of the traitor Kennedy? Has he left Detroit? Is he en route? There is nothing, as I have said.
Repeatedly.
There must be some word.
What is your fascination with the traitor Kennedy? How dare you question me.
Status quo.
Kennedy has not left the Detroit jail.
Sara Freeman, madame.
Oh, Sara.
I almost forgot.
I was so pleased when Dr.
Freeman told Robert that you'd agreed to help me prepare for my wedding.
This is madame gautier.
This is Sara Freeman.
Sara, this is where you shall work.
It's so beautiful.
I am a widow, therefore white shall not be my color on the day.
I'm thinking peach, green, blue something in pastel.
I cannot seem to make up my mind.
Madame, I insist! Pink, pink, pink.
Sara, what do you think? Come on.
I'm hiring you because I trust your skills, therefore I value your opinion.
With your skin tone, I would choose the gold.
Marvelous.
Gold, it shall be.
Oh, God.
Ugh.
He's not the other McGrath boy.
Well, whoever he is, there's a real Five Points way to die in the gutter, with a wild dog chewing the balls off ya.
I run a clean house.
You do right by me, I do right by you.
There are no flim-flams here.
No mickeys will be slipped, no customers robbed.
I expect good, honest whoring.
That's all.
Any questions? Buzzie made us do asswork.
Are you gonna, too? If you so choose, but for a premium.
Now, go upstairs.
Richie will show you your rooms.
Looks like Buzzie's demise is going to be good for business.
Kevin.
What brings you in at this unusual hour? Just wanted to check in on you, grab a quick drink to celebrate.
The end of Buzzie Burke? That, and I'm on my way to the courthouse to watch Francis Maguire get what's coming to him.
Come.
The weapon, uh, the gun listed here the, uh, lemat spring action revolver, right here in black and white.
I know what's listed there.
You do? The bullets matching to the gun, they're listed here as well.
Yes, your honor, they are, however, that evidence has, um well, that evidence has gone missing, apparently.
So you stand before me with nothing but your prim little moustache and your impish demeanor? According to the law You say "the law"? This is a mockery of the law! You and your cronies want our streets to be ruled by the law of the jungle? So be it.
And you, Mr.
Maguire, a copper, sworn to uphold the law, two of your victims were women.
What kind of man victimizes women in the most foul manner? Why, someone who is no man at all, but an Irish beast.
I shall rue the act of freeing you for the remainder of my days.
Get him out of my sight! Your honor.
Next! Here's the next case, your honor.
Congratulations.
The bill will come due, Mr.
Maguire.
Ah, grand old five points.
Home, sweet bloody home.
a™ª Did you hear the news that's goin' round? A™ª Two boys dead, several more missing.
That's a hell of a story.
I can't have a repeat killer hunting my streets.
Welcome to the druids.
The fake-cash gang.
A gun, a knife, they're just tools to get a job done.
When do we start? When Kevin and I were first courting, there was a kind of beauty to the silences, but not anymore.
I am not asking you to come with me! It's the rebel Kennedy! We'll be there on the day that he hangs.