The Cleaner (2008) s02e01 Episode Script
Hello America
All right, Davis, we're live in five, four Last night I was lying in bed, trying to count the perfect moments from my life.
One time, when the world aligned itself, and everything became clear.
- I'm not on drugs, William.
- And right.
In a one-line statement citing personal reasons, Henderson Wallace, the widely-considered frontrunner to fill the senatorial seat vacated by Henry Farley pulled out of the Oregon state special election.
Although Wallace had no comment, his press secretary, Tracy Michaels, released this statement citing personal reasons.
I didn't do any drugs.
I didn't do any drugs.
I'm not on drugs.
Can a person on drugs run this fast? I don't think so.
I chased a guy who did a 4.
2 only on PCP, asshole.
I didn't do any speed, William.
Shit.
There's good news in the housing market, for renters that is.
The average rent fell 4 percent in the last three months in 79 major markets with Seattle leading the way, followed closely by Dallas and Kansas City.
- While the sellers - And we're out.
- of the real estate market's collapse, renters are reaping the rewards.
A new report shows that residential rent prices fell an average of 0.
4 percent in the last three months.
Seventy-nine major markets reported decreases in the average rent prices.
Seattle showed the greatest decline.
Wanna chase somebody, chase the dealers.
I have it all written down.
Names, corporations, governments.
Everything they're hiding, I have in this book.
I'm gonna give you names.
I will show you the foundation of my truth.
They're all out to get us.
And that's the news for today, Thursday, May 28th, 2009.
I'm Davis Durham.
Good night, America.
I'm not on drugs, William.
Get his ass in here.
I'm coming, Davis! It's all here, William.
It's all right here.
Take it Take it easy.
Davis, I'm trying to help you.
I don't think I've ever had a perfect moment.
Hell, I'm not even sure they even exist.
I could be a foosball player because I am that good.
Did you try it? - Keep on playing.
- Come on, Swenton.
All right.
Good times.
Are you really gonna live here now? It's temporary.
Soy? I thought I told you to stick with nut.
Yeah, bro.
Soy will give you boobies.
So temporary, like you gonna get your own place temporary or you're taking a break and moving back with Melissa and the kids? It's temporary, like this conversation.
You know what? It's about time you get a plant that grows up, William.
Don't mess with my plant.
You know, my Uncle Stanley drank soy for a year and now he's a topless dancer at the Boom-Boom Room.
You remember that.
- Hey.
- Hey.
What are you doing here? This mail came to the house for you, so Okay.
Lula wants new toe shoes.
- How much? - Eighty.
And that's the only reason you came down here? I don't know if you remember, but my parents are coming in to town.
Right.
The cruise they're taking to Mexico for their 40th anniversary leaves from Long Beach, so I forgot.
You don't have to, William, but No.
Stunt husband? How many days? Just for this week.
What did you tell them? Nothing.
Yet.
Okay, I'm in.
Thanks, William.
Plant looked a little thirsty.
Well, Melissa's certainly in a hurry.
I'm sorry? Oh, my God.
Michelle.
Didn't recognize me either, did you? Great to see you.
Hey, I've been seeing Davis on the news every night.
He's come a long way since covering the garlic festival in Gilroy, right? - We've been very fortunate.
- Come on in, come on.
Well, you know, you two have always worked a tight program.
How's yours been? A little looser.
Yeah, I heard you hit a few bumps in the road.
- Define bumps.
- Your-tires-fell-off bumps.
Yeah.
Well, distant past.
I'm not high, William.
I'm not using again.
That's not why I'm here.
Then why are you here? Is it Davis? In five, four You're watching the CDT Nightly News.
World News every hour.
Hello, America, I'm Davis Durham.
The economy continued its long slide with the Dow closing down again for the third week in a row.
Experts blame lower than expected earnings reports combined with the ongoing credit crunch for the disappointing numbers.
In other Wall Street news I don't know, there's something about you that kind of familiar, you know.
You know, I I actually do remember meeting you.
In fact, it was at your first meeting.
Really? Good memory.
Yeah, well, you know, I never forget a face.
You were standing in the back corner, sweating your balls off, hanging on to your coffee cup.
You just lost your scholarship to USC, right? Yeah, more or less.
Hey, is Davis still your sponsor? Hey, don't touch that.
That's his.
Oh, my bad.
Sorry.
Where you going? - Moving in the case, critics of local - Take a piss.
- raises questions of proportionality and fairness.
And that's the news.
I'm Davis Durham.
Good night, America.
This has been the CDT Nightly News.
World news every hour.
Where is he? Where is he? William goddamn Banks.
- Get out here.
- Yeah, I'll be right out.
Get out here.
You fall in? Come on.
- Hey, hey, hey.
- Hey.
How are you? I saw you come in and I could barely get through the last segment.
- Where you been? - I've been here all along, man.
Oh, look out.
Look out.
You don't wanna walk the streets with makeup on your face.
You know, people get the wrong idea.
- Oh, we miss you guys.
- Hey, we miss you guys.
So, you know, Michelle asks about you from time to time.
Oh, yeah? So, what's going on? How's the family? They're good, man.
Everyone's good.
Yeah? Melissa? - Good.
- You guys are doing well? Yeah, you know, we're hanging in there.
Oh, Hank, the toilet won't flush.
I'm on it.
Twenty-one years sobriety last week.
You believe that? Here, sit, sit.
Go ahead, go on.
Oh, you would appreciate this, William.
I'm working this story on the inside of the three big pharmaceutical companies.
I'm writing this book.
- Hey, I'm going to maintenance.
- All right, go, go, go.
I'm writing this book and I'm telling you, when I break it open, it is gonna rip the very fabric of our country.
- Okay? The very fabric.
- Sounds big, man.
But I don't have to bore you with this, okay? Listen, in any event, I'm saving celebrating my time for the Thursday meeting in Venice.
- So you wanna come? - Hey, I'd love to.
Great.
- They need you upstairs.
- Come tomorrow.
- I'll send my driver.
- Will do.
- Great seeing you.
- Good to see you too.
Okay.
So You know, I never really understood how you How your business works.
Well, it's actually pretty simple.
Someone has a problem, they come see me.
- What, beer bothering you? - Nope.
Bothering you? It's 5:00 somewhere in the world.
Or 8:00 in the morning here.
I get the I get the problem angle.
But what I don't understand is the remuneration.
Well, what's confusing to you, Marcus? I'm not confused, Jane.
I would like to know how he gets paid.
It's a fee-based service, Dad.
Oh, so in other words, a crack addict pays one thing and a pothead pays another? Actually, it's a sliding scale, but I still take the job even if the client can't pay.
So do you take a lot of pro bono? It's about 60-40.
You know, depending on the month.
Sixty-forty gonna keep your lights on? Sixty-forty's been great.
Sixty-forty doesn't pay for your child's tuition or the second on your house.
Oh, I make it work, Marcus.
I make it work.
Look, William, in this, you know, climate, I mean, job security is not such a bad thing.
Well, addiction isn't going anywhere.
By the way you structure your work, neither is your paycheck.
Look, what are you What are you driving at? Dad, eat your breakfast.
You're doing great, babe.
Seriously, why all the sudden interest in my work? We just wanna know if you two are doing okay.
We're doing better than okay.
Mom, Dad, we're doing great.
PK still your sponsor? Twenty-one years.
Is she gonna be there? Don't worry, William, she still speaks fondly of you.
- Really? - Sure.
You know, maybe you and Melissa could come out for dinner one night this week.
Yeah, I'll ask her.
Michelle would get a kick out of that.
She's dying, William.
Ovarian cancer.
I didn't even see it coming.
It's just One day she's at the doctor getting a checkup.
They find a cyst, they take a look and then My whole world just got knocked off its axis.
Seeing her in pain just about kills me.
But she's a strong one, you know.
I mean, she She gets up every morning.
She handles our lives.
She keeps everything going.
And I can barely Barely get out of bed.
Man, Davis.
If there's anything I can do, anything I can do for Michelle.
Well, just seeing you coming back around again, that's a That's a pretty good start.
Yeah.
Yeah, it was pretty good.
- Hi, how are you? - Hey.
Hey, PK.
William.
Hey, PK.
Welcome back.
It's been a minute.
How many minutes in five years? Well, I've been up here a hundred times before.
What I was like, what happened, what I'm like now.
You've heard the stories.
Speed, booze, my insane childhood, blackouts, fights, hospitals.
You've heard all that.
But what I wanna say today to the newcomers, and to everyone else too Life is as big as you wanna stretch it.
And if you shift towards bigger possibilities Sure, sure, we're We're all workers amongst workers, but I mean, we can still ask ourselves.
What is it that we really want and are we going to be okay if we get it? Can we be okay with success? Let's face it.
We can be rolling along, everything is in the right place, things are good.
Got enough money, a place to live and what do we search for? We search for the problem.
Just like old times, huh, William? Twenty-one years.
- Who would believe that? - Not me.
Hello, handsome.
Who the hell are you? What? What? What the hell's going on? - Sorry, buddy, the door's closed.
- Hey.
- Go, Swenton, go.
- What's he doing? Stop that damn car.
Your wife hired me to get you clean, Davis.
- Davis, stop.
- What? You're using speed and drinking.
I just celebrated my 21 st birthday! That's good.
I'll bake you a cake at my place.
- This is your tactic, your approach? - It is.
- Is this how you help people? - Yup.
- They request this help? - Oh, you'd be amazed.
Yeah, especially since I remember when you used to have to call me four times just to get through breakfast.
Right.
Hey.
"Oh, Melissa's giving me a tough time, Davis.
" "I can't find a job, Davis.
" Get me a syringe, get me a syringe.
"What matters, Davis?" You know, the things that are happening inside this room are not real.
The news doesn't matter.
- We watch it for entertainment.
- Calm down.
What I'm about to do will change the whole thing.
- Give me the syringe, Swenton.
- Pull the curtain off the whole business.
I don't got time.
Give me the syringe.
Hey.
No.
Hey, William, PK's here.
All right, Swenton, get on him.
Akani, get in here now.
Oh, buddy, we are going to spend a little bit of time together.
Get off me, you little leprechaun.
- Oh, I'm your lucky charm.
- Get off me.
Hey, William, I hope you make a lot of money at this.
I knew you weren't really coming back.
You don't have to explain.
Hey, dishonesty, sometimes in my job And if your job asks you to lie? Then I have to lie.
Okay.
I'd love to catch up, PK, I really would.
Catch me up.
Okay.
Lula's 14.
No.
William? - Davis.
- You're his sponsor.
Well, clearly if he's here, I'm not doing a very good job.
- Hey, PK.
- Hey, baby.
I don't know how I missed it.
Don't blame yourself.
Hey.
Oh, Davis told you.
- Michelle - Don't.
I don't want sympathy.
I just want you to help Davis.
He'll need to do the broadcast this afternoon.
Can you get him through that? Wait a minute.
This afternoon? He's got a drug clause in his contract.
- Doesn't he have a backup? - In Europe, on assignment.
He loses this job, he'll have nothing.
After I go, he'll have nothing.
I can't leave him with that.
Fix his makeup.
Five minutes to showtime.
You need to hold still, June bug.
You have got a little shine on that nose.
You look good enough to eat, June bug.
All right, Davis, listen to me, buddy.
I've been doing this job for a while.
And this goes against everything I usually do.
But I've known you for 17 years.
And I love you.
And I love your wife.
So I'm gonna get you through tonight.
One time only.
- Understood? - Understood.
Thanks.
And that's the news for today, Thursday, May 28th, 2009.
I'm Davis Durham.
Good night, America.
And we're out.
Good one, Mike.
There you go.
It was terrific.
Your equipment.
All right, thank you very much.
There you go.
Take care.
Thanks, everybody.
Damn it.
I'm gonna give you names.
I will show you the foundation of our truth.
They're all out to get us.
Get his ass in here.
I'm coming, Davis! It's all here, William.
It's all right here.
Take it easy.
Davis, I'm trying to help you.
- I'm coming.
- Davis, I'm trying to help you.
Hang in there, Davis.
Stop him.
Stop him.
Come on.
Get him.
Go, go, go.
Look at you.
You're a natural.
Go, go, go.
Let's go.
Bitch! Davis.
Do not touch this.
Do not touch this.
This is, you understand This cannot be out of my hands.
I'm sorry.
This is the fact house calls are alive.
Alive and well.
This is not main street anymore with sweet octogenarians toting their polished leather cases.
- With their shiny metal clasps.
- Swen.
So is there any drugs or alcohol in here? Not since '81.
Right.
About the last time a decorator came through here too.
Kidding.
Tell William I'm gonna head back to town to finish the Aronesti case.
- Sure, all right.
- Okay.
I need some help in here.
He sits up there in his office behind his big wall of monitors.
- Grab my bag, my black bag.
- Yeah.
Open it up.
He knows exactly what I'm gonna say.
He does because he wrote it.
He knows what I'm gonna say tonight.
Open it up.
William, who are you trying to be, Marcus Welby? I didn't know pharmaceutical school was part of your calling.
Michelle, you tell them this is not appropriate.
Actually, Davis, it is.
Then pen case.
The syringe.
The antihistamine.
Yeah, that one.
I love you, baby, but you are all messed up.
No.
No, Michelle.
Okay, I got it.
With all the knowledge I have, I should be dead but I'm not.
You know why? Because I'm bulletproof.
It's okay.
Because I got a job that masks me in Kevlar.
- I'm bulletproof.
- You're bulletproof.
- You hear me? - I hear you.
You're bulletproof.
Yeah, you're bulletproof.
Hey.
I got that.
I got that.
Goddamn 3-pound bag of apples.
Hey, Granny Smiths.
Heaviest apple in the apple family.
I'm sorry about all the craziness back at the station.
He still moves pretty quick for a guy our age.
Your age.
He must have been doing about 60.
Speed kills.
So, what happens now? Well, we wait for the drugs to clear out of his system, then, hopefully, he'll be willing to accept help.
When were you diagnosed? Eighteen months ago, Stage 4.
Ovarian.
You still drink skim? Soy.
My daughter's lactose-intolerant.
You still in treatment? Done that.
Chemo, radiation, freaking shark-cartilage enemas.
Done with all of it.
What happened to you, William? You just disappeared.
I don't know.
Had some things I had to work out, I guess.
But you did relapse a few years ago? I mean, you never reached out to anyone? You wanna talk about it? I'd rather have a shark-cartilage enema.
I'm so tired.
Listen, why don't you lie down? I'll take care of this.
Go ahead.
Oh, thanks.
Thanks.
How you doing, William? Well, let's see.
I'm living at the shop, sleeping on the couch, eating takeout every night.
Sounds great.
I know I just disappeared on you, PK.
But I felt like I had to do it on my own.
And how's that working for you? Making my days.
Look, William, I just wanna make sure that you're okay.
Just from time to time, let me know you're having a good life.
Michelle? Michelle? - Okay, take it easy, take it easy.
- Oh, my God.
- My God, oh, my God.
- Let me give you something for pain.
- No, William - Michelle, what do you got? Michelle, what do you take? Ativan? Morphine? She's not gonna take anything until she knows he's clean.
Okay, just take it easy.
Just breathe.
All right, just take it easy then.
Slow it down, just breathe.
You're gonna be all right.
Let me Give me Give me your hand.
I need your hand here on my stomach.
- Here's my hand.
- On my stomach.
Okay, there's my hand.
I don't wanna die a junkie.
And if he sees me like this, he'll die one.
Wake up, Davis.
Wake up, you selfish bastard.
You're wife is out there right now, barely holding on, dying of pain.
- You don't get it.
- I don't get it? You don't get it, you dumb son of a bitch.
She's trying to be strong, for you.
But she can't do this on her own.
And she ain't gonna do nothing unless you get clean.
Do you get that, huh? Do you understand that? Why don't you help her, Davis? For once in your miserable life, why don't you help someone else? What? A little hard on him.
She's got 17 years without even talking an aspirin.
And now, because of him - Her choice.
- His doing.
It's life on life's terms, William.
Will you stop with the slogans, PK? - What he's doing - What's he's doing is being an addict.
He's behaving like an addict.
And I know you don't like it, but you know what it's like.
I need a meeting.
You go to your meeting.
Oh, that's right.
I forgot.
You do everything on your own.
Get you where you need to go.
Same old PK.
You back in my life a day and you're already nine miles up my ass and you've wonder where I've been.
William.
You don't understand.
They can't do the news without me.
- William! - You don't understand.
They can't do the news without me.
I don't wanna sedate you again, Davis.
You hear what I'm saying? I've gotta get down there.
You know how important I am? They can't do the news without me.
- I'm gonna strip him.
- What are you talking about? Well, I don't imagine you're gonna go anywhere without your clothes on, right? Can we get him off of me first, please? Naked definitely equals hazard pay.
Free and breezy.
Do whatever you want, all right? When you told me we were gonna eat at the beach, I thought we were gonna eat at the beach.
Well, what's the attraction? Anyway, birth, death.
Yeah, William, what is the attraction? I thought they might like the view.
Everything in between is complex.
It's hard to understand.
William, we lose everything and yet we're all afraid of loss.
And that, well, frankly - What, of PK's shitty beach house? - Lemonade, lemonade? Four lemonades, please.
I don't think you're gonna find a waiter here, William.
That's where insurance comes in.
You're not You're not trying to sell me an insurance policy, are you, Marcus? No, no, no.
I'm just trying to give you a little piece of mind in the form of a job.
- Selling insurance.
- With my company.
No, no, no, it's not as crazy as it sounds.
- Okay.
- Look, the job Job isn't fancy.
It starts at 55 a year, but if you sell well - Would you like to get that, babe? - No, I wouldn't like to.
- And apply yourself.
- Maybe I should.
Then six figures are certainly not out of reach.
Hey, hey, hey.
- Damn it.
- Get back.
Hey.
Why is Arnie chasing a naked man down the beach? That's Davis Durham, the newscaster.
Why is he in his underwear? That's awesome.
So how did he get out? I asked you a question.
Oh, no, no, no.
See, you only have to come at me with your ho-ho all up in my face once before I decide to get out of the way.
- Everything okay? - It is now.
Swen, shift's up.
Get out of here.
Leaded or unleaded? Leaded, please.
Thanks.
- Tea? - Green tea.
Cures cancer, don't you know? Nice lunch with the in-laws? Let's just say the food was better than the view.
You know, I think the best thing about getting sober was meeting Davis.
Yeah, well, you know, after seeing him naked, I totally understand.
I know you're not supposed to make your sobriety about somebody else, but Davis and I was 18.
He was at my first meeting.
- You both were.
- Yeah, I was just out of county too.
Looking fine too, I might add.
Really, even out of jail, you had your looks.
It was the smell.
Oh, my God.
I was court-ordered to go right to the meeting.
They should've ordered your ass to buy a bar of soap.
You and Davis hanging out at the back wall.
- Trying to disappear.
- Trying to sneak out.
Oh, and he knocked over the coffee urn.
And you tried to piss off a bunch of drunks.
You just take away their coffee.
Going around, taking everyone's order.
Then we went to the little Greek diner next door and got a cup for everybody.
Please don't be angry at Davis.
It's hard for him, what I'm going through.
Look, Michelle, you can't You can't wait for him to be okay.
I know you're afraid to use again.
I know.
I made a promise.
It's not about breaking your promise or your sobriety.
Swinging dicks in Malibu, William? Is that part of your program too? Hey, it worked for you for 23 years.
Yeah, you're right.
You're right.
You gonna be okay tonight with the pain? Yes, I am.
When he's clean, I'll be ready.
Okay.
- You got this? - I've got this.
All right.
What crawled up his ass? If it was you, William, I would want you to take the drugs.
Well, if it were me, I could because you wouldn't fall apart on me.
You need a pillow between your knees.
Oh, shit.
You know, they are absolutely, undeniably still there for one another.
While here we are.
We have our health.
What's left of our sanity.
Oh, so very little after that.
And we We can't seem to string it together.
Why? Dating back to 1989? No, seriously.
Why? You don't have to sleep on the floor.
Oh, I think I do.
Seriously, William, we're not 19 anymore.
And there's one thing I'm certain of.
That for better or worse, we have exhibited in the past that we are entirely capable of - Of what? - Lying next to each other.
And what else? What? What's wrong? I'm gonna miss you.
Sure you got everything, Mom? - Sure we forgot something.
- I know.
- Happy anniversary, Mom.
- Thanks, darling.
William? - You keep that job in mind now, huh? - Will do, Marcus.
Okay.
Sweetie? - Bye, Dad.
- Love you.
Love you.
- Bye, Mom.
- Travel safely.
Goodbye.
- Good seeing you.
- Take care.
Okay.
Don't jump off the boat.
Love you.
Take lots of pictures.
Thanks for doing this.
You're welcome.
I'll get the rest of my stuff.
Take the damn manuscript.
Take it.
Jesus, Davis.
You know, it's actually okay to put on a towel or a sheet.
When Michelle was diagnosed, I lasted three weeks before I called an old doctor buddy and started using.
Go ahead.
Take a look.
It's my big conspiracy is that my doctor friend writes me fake scripts.
There's nothing in that book, William.
You ready to stop? Say it.
This is Day 1 of my sobriety.
I'm a lying drug addict, one day sober.
And I wanna stop.
Welcome back.
Put this on.
Put it on.
That's going to the Goodwill tomorrow.
Well, I'm ready, PK.
I'm ready to get back.
I'd be much more comfortable if you had on a pair of pants right now.
But if I can't do this for her right now Davis, you've gotta do it for you.
Was.
Twenty-one great years.
It was for me.
At least that's what I thought.
But that That really isn't the only reason, is it? If we just do it for us, PK, how can we give anything to anyone else? That kiss is familiar.
You kind of resemble a guy I met Real smart aleck from Pittsburgh.
I'm sorry you had to see the monster, baby.
- Me too.
- Put some pants on for God's sakes.
I couldn't stand to see you in pain.
But I didn't I didn't know how to shut it off.
I don't know what I'm gonna do without you.
I'm not ready to let you go.
Hello, America.
I'm Davis Durham.
And these are the top stories from around the world tonight.
In Libya, allied forces have agreed to a treaty that would allow warring factions to form a cease-fire until agreement terms of the land in question could be reached.
In domestic news, our next story takes us to Louisiana.
If you haven't been to New Orleans in the last few years Do you like this here? I liked it better at our house.
Looks pretty good.
We're not having sex again, William.
Love you, babe.
I love you too.
This is liquid morphine prescribed by your doctor to help control your pain.
Once we begin treatment, you cannot stop its course.
Because your body will be too weak to beat the kick.
You understand? Oh, my.
You really never meant to give any of us perfection.
It simple comes down to the level of imperfection we allow to seep into our moments of fireworks.
And if we can do that, if I can do that, let a little perfection into the imperfect, let that little bit of mess not destroy the beauty of my life, then I finally have what may be the closest thing to perfect I'll ever really know.
One time, when the world aligned itself, and everything became clear.
- I'm not on drugs, William.
- And right.
In a one-line statement citing personal reasons, Henderson Wallace, the widely-considered frontrunner to fill the senatorial seat vacated by Henry Farley pulled out of the Oregon state special election.
Although Wallace had no comment, his press secretary, Tracy Michaels, released this statement citing personal reasons.
I didn't do any drugs.
I didn't do any drugs.
I'm not on drugs.
Can a person on drugs run this fast? I don't think so.
I chased a guy who did a 4.
2 only on PCP, asshole.
I didn't do any speed, William.
Shit.
There's good news in the housing market, for renters that is.
The average rent fell 4 percent in the last three months in 79 major markets with Seattle leading the way, followed closely by Dallas and Kansas City.
- While the sellers - And we're out.
- of the real estate market's collapse, renters are reaping the rewards.
A new report shows that residential rent prices fell an average of 0.
4 percent in the last three months.
Seventy-nine major markets reported decreases in the average rent prices.
Seattle showed the greatest decline.
Wanna chase somebody, chase the dealers.
I have it all written down.
Names, corporations, governments.
Everything they're hiding, I have in this book.
I'm gonna give you names.
I will show you the foundation of my truth.
They're all out to get us.
And that's the news for today, Thursday, May 28th, 2009.
I'm Davis Durham.
Good night, America.
I'm not on drugs, William.
Get his ass in here.
I'm coming, Davis! It's all here, William.
It's all right here.
Take it Take it easy.
Davis, I'm trying to help you.
I don't think I've ever had a perfect moment.
Hell, I'm not even sure they even exist.
I could be a foosball player because I am that good.
Did you try it? - Keep on playing.
- Come on, Swenton.
All right.
Good times.
Are you really gonna live here now? It's temporary.
Soy? I thought I told you to stick with nut.
Yeah, bro.
Soy will give you boobies.
So temporary, like you gonna get your own place temporary or you're taking a break and moving back with Melissa and the kids? It's temporary, like this conversation.
You know what? It's about time you get a plant that grows up, William.
Don't mess with my plant.
You know, my Uncle Stanley drank soy for a year and now he's a topless dancer at the Boom-Boom Room.
You remember that.
- Hey.
- Hey.
What are you doing here? This mail came to the house for you, so Okay.
Lula wants new toe shoes.
- How much? - Eighty.
And that's the only reason you came down here? I don't know if you remember, but my parents are coming in to town.
Right.
The cruise they're taking to Mexico for their 40th anniversary leaves from Long Beach, so I forgot.
You don't have to, William, but No.
Stunt husband? How many days? Just for this week.
What did you tell them? Nothing.
Yet.
Okay, I'm in.
Thanks, William.
Plant looked a little thirsty.
Well, Melissa's certainly in a hurry.
I'm sorry? Oh, my God.
Michelle.
Didn't recognize me either, did you? Great to see you.
Hey, I've been seeing Davis on the news every night.
He's come a long way since covering the garlic festival in Gilroy, right? - We've been very fortunate.
- Come on in, come on.
Well, you know, you two have always worked a tight program.
How's yours been? A little looser.
Yeah, I heard you hit a few bumps in the road.
- Define bumps.
- Your-tires-fell-off bumps.
Yeah.
Well, distant past.
I'm not high, William.
I'm not using again.
That's not why I'm here.
Then why are you here? Is it Davis? In five, four You're watching the CDT Nightly News.
World News every hour.
Hello, America, I'm Davis Durham.
The economy continued its long slide with the Dow closing down again for the third week in a row.
Experts blame lower than expected earnings reports combined with the ongoing credit crunch for the disappointing numbers.
In other Wall Street news I don't know, there's something about you that kind of familiar, you know.
You know, I I actually do remember meeting you.
In fact, it was at your first meeting.
Really? Good memory.
Yeah, well, you know, I never forget a face.
You were standing in the back corner, sweating your balls off, hanging on to your coffee cup.
You just lost your scholarship to USC, right? Yeah, more or less.
Hey, is Davis still your sponsor? Hey, don't touch that.
That's his.
Oh, my bad.
Sorry.
Where you going? - Moving in the case, critics of local - Take a piss.
- raises questions of proportionality and fairness.
And that's the news.
I'm Davis Durham.
Good night, America.
This has been the CDT Nightly News.
World news every hour.
Where is he? Where is he? William goddamn Banks.
- Get out here.
- Yeah, I'll be right out.
Get out here.
You fall in? Come on.
- Hey, hey, hey.
- Hey.
How are you? I saw you come in and I could barely get through the last segment.
- Where you been? - I've been here all along, man.
Oh, look out.
Look out.
You don't wanna walk the streets with makeup on your face.
You know, people get the wrong idea.
- Oh, we miss you guys.
- Hey, we miss you guys.
So, you know, Michelle asks about you from time to time.
Oh, yeah? So, what's going on? How's the family? They're good, man.
Everyone's good.
Yeah? Melissa? - Good.
- You guys are doing well? Yeah, you know, we're hanging in there.
Oh, Hank, the toilet won't flush.
I'm on it.
Twenty-one years sobriety last week.
You believe that? Here, sit, sit.
Go ahead, go on.
Oh, you would appreciate this, William.
I'm working this story on the inside of the three big pharmaceutical companies.
I'm writing this book.
- Hey, I'm going to maintenance.
- All right, go, go, go.
I'm writing this book and I'm telling you, when I break it open, it is gonna rip the very fabric of our country.
- Okay? The very fabric.
- Sounds big, man.
But I don't have to bore you with this, okay? Listen, in any event, I'm saving celebrating my time for the Thursday meeting in Venice.
- So you wanna come? - Hey, I'd love to.
Great.
- They need you upstairs.
- Come tomorrow.
- I'll send my driver.
- Will do.
- Great seeing you.
- Good to see you too.
Okay.
So You know, I never really understood how you How your business works.
Well, it's actually pretty simple.
Someone has a problem, they come see me.
- What, beer bothering you? - Nope.
Bothering you? It's 5:00 somewhere in the world.
Or 8:00 in the morning here.
I get the I get the problem angle.
But what I don't understand is the remuneration.
Well, what's confusing to you, Marcus? I'm not confused, Jane.
I would like to know how he gets paid.
It's a fee-based service, Dad.
Oh, so in other words, a crack addict pays one thing and a pothead pays another? Actually, it's a sliding scale, but I still take the job even if the client can't pay.
So do you take a lot of pro bono? It's about 60-40.
You know, depending on the month.
Sixty-forty gonna keep your lights on? Sixty-forty's been great.
Sixty-forty doesn't pay for your child's tuition or the second on your house.
Oh, I make it work, Marcus.
I make it work.
Look, William, in this, you know, climate, I mean, job security is not such a bad thing.
Well, addiction isn't going anywhere.
By the way you structure your work, neither is your paycheck.
Look, what are you What are you driving at? Dad, eat your breakfast.
You're doing great, babe.
Seriously, why all the sudden interest in my work? We just wanna know if you two are doing okay.
We're doing better than okay.
Mom, Dad, we're doing great.
PK still your sponsor? Twenty-one years.
Is she gonna be there? Don't worry, William, she still speaks fondly of you.
- Really? - Sure.
You know, maybe you and Melissa could come out for dinner one night this week.
Yeah, I'll ask her.
Michelle would get a kick out of that.
She's dying, William.
Ovarian cancer.
I didn't even see it coming.
It's just One day she's at the doctor getting a checkup.
They find a cyst, they take a look and then My whole world just got knocked off its axis.
Seeing her in pain just about kills me.
But she's a strong one, you know.
I mean, she She gets up every morning.
She handles our lives.
She keeps everything going.
And I can barely Barely get out of bed.
Man, Davis.
If there's anything I can do, anything I can do for Michelle.
Well, just seeing you coming back around again, that's a That's a pretty good start.
Yeah.
Yeah, it was pretty good.
- Hi, how are you? - Hey.
Hey, PK.
William.
Hey, PK.
Welcome back.
It's been a minute.
How many minutes in five years? Well, I've been up here a hundred times before.
What I was like, what happened, what I'm like now.
You've heard the stories.
Speed, booze, my insane childhood, blackouts, fights, hospitals.
You've heard all that.
But what I wanna say today to the newcomers, and to everyone else too Life is as big as you wanna stretch it.
And if you shift towards bigger possibilities Sure, sure, we're We're all workers amongst workers, but I mean, we can still ask ourselves.
What is it that we really want and are we going to be okay if we get it? Can we be okay with success? Let's face it.
We can be rolling along, everything is in the right place, things are good.
Got enough money, a place to live and what do we search for? We search for the problem.
Just like old times, huh, William? Twenty-one years.
- Who would believe that? - Not me.
Hello, handsome.
Who the hell are you? What? What? What the hell's going on? - Sorry, buddy, the door's closed.
- Hey.
- Go, Swenton, go.
- What's he doing? Stop that damn car.
Your wife hired me to get you clean, Davis.
- Davis, stop.
- What? You're using speed and drinking.
I just celebrated my 21 st birthday! That's good.
I'll bake you a cake at my place.
- This is your tactic, your approach? - It is.
- Is this how you help people? - Yup.
- They request this help? - Oh, you'd be amazed.
Yeah, especially since I remember when you used to have to call me four times just to get through breakfast.
Right.
Hey.
"Oh, Melissa's giving me a tough time, Davis.
" "I can't find a job, Davis.
" Get me a syringe, get me a syringe.
"What matters, Davis?" You know, the things that are happening inside this room are not real.
The news doesn't matter.
- We watch it for entertainment.
- Calm down.
What I'm about to do will change the whole thing.
- Give me the syringe, Swenton.
- Pull the curtain off the whole business.
I don't got time.
Give me the syringe.
Hey.
No.
Hey, William, PK's here.
All right, Swenton, get on him.
Akani, get in here now.
Oh, buddy, we are going to spend a little bit of time together.
Get off me, you little leprechaun.
- Oh, I'm your lucky charm.
- Get off me.
Hey, William, I hope you make a lot of money at this.
I knew you weren't really coming back.
You don't have to explain.
Hey, dishonesty, sometimes in my job And if your job asks you to lie? Then I have to lie.
Okay.
I'd love to catch up, PK, I really would.
Catch me up.
Okay.
Lula's 14.
No.
William? - Davis.
- You're his sponsor.
Well, clearly if he's here, I'm not doing a very good job.
- Hey, PK.
- Hey, baby.
I don't know how I missed it.
Don't blame yourself.
Hey.
Oh, Davis told you.
- Michelle - Don't.
I don't want sympathy.
I just want you to help Davis.
He'll need to do the broadcast this afternoon.
Can you get him through that? Wait a minute.
This afternoon? He's got a drug clause in his contract.
- Doesn't he have a backup? - In Europe, on assignment.
He loses this job, he'll have nothing.
After I go, he'll have nothing.
I can't leave him with that.
Fix his makeup.
Five minutes to showtime.
You need to hold still, June bug.
You have got a little shine on that nose.
You look good enough to eat, June bug.
All right, Davis, listen to me, buddy.
I've been doing this job for a while.
And this goes against everything I usually do.
But I've known you for 17 years.
And I love you.
And I love your wife.
So I'm gonna get you through tonight.
One time only.
- Understood? - Understood.
Thanks.
And that's the news for today, Thursday, May 28th, 2009.
I'm Davis Durham.
Good night, America.
And we're out.
Good one, Mike.
There you go.
It was terrific.
Your equipment.
All right, thank you very much.
There you go.
Take care.
Thanks, everybody.
Damn it.
I'm gonna give you names.
I will show you the foundation of our truth.
They're all out to get us.
Get his ass in here.
I'm coming, Davis! It's all here, William.
It's all right here.
Take it easy.
Davis, I'm trying to help you.
- I'm coming.
- Davis, I'm trying to help you.
Hang in there, Davis.
Stop him.
Stop him.
Come on.
Get him.
Go, go, go.
Look at you.
You're a natural.
Go, go, go.
Let's go.
Bitch! Davis.
Do not touch this.
Do not touch this.
This is, you understand This cannot be out of my hands.
I'm sorry.
This is the fact house calls are alive.
Alive and well.
This is not main street anymore with sweet octogenarians toting their polished leather cases.
- With their shiny metal clasps.
- Swen.
So is there any drugs or alcohol in here? Not since '81.
Right.
About the last time a decorator came through here too.
Kidding.
Tell William I'm gonna head back to town to finish the Aronesti case.
- Sure, all right.
- Okay.
I need some help in here.
He sits up there in his office behind his big wall of monitors.
- Grab my bag, my black bag.
- Yeah.
Open it up.
He knows exactly what I'm gonna say.
He does because he wrote it.
He knows what I'm gonna say tonight.
Open it up.
William, who are you trying to be, Marcus Welby? I didn't know pharmaceutical school was part of your calling.
Michelle, you tell them this is not appropriate.
Actually, Davis, it is.
Then pen case.
The syringe.
The antihistamine.
Yeah, that one.
I love you, baby, but you are all messed up.
No.
No, Michelle.
Okay, I got it.
With all the knowledge I have, I should be dead but I'm not.
You know why? Because I'm bulletproof.
It's okay.
Because I got a job that masks me in Kevlar.
- I'm bulletproof.
- You're bulletproof.
- You hear me? - I hear you.
You're bulletproof.
Yeah, you're bulletproof.
Hey.
I got that.
I got that.
Goddamn 3-pound bag of apples.
Hey, Granny Smiths.
Heaviest apple in the apple family.
I'm sorry about all the craziness back at the station.
He still moves pretty quick for a guy our age.
Your age.
He must have been doing about 60.
Speed kills.
So, what happens now? Well, we wait for the drugs to clear out of his system, then, hopefully, he'll be willing to accept help.
When were you diagnosed? Eighteen months ago, Stage 4.
Ovarian.
You still drink skim? Soy.
My daughter's lactose-intolerant.
You still in treatment? Done that.
Chemo, radiation, freaking shark-cartilage enemas.
Done with all of it.
What happened to you, William? You just disappeared.
I don't know.
Had some things I had to work out, I guess.
But you did relapse a few years ago? I mean, you never reached out to anyone? You wanna talk about it? I'd rather have a shark-cartilage enema.
I'm so tired.
Listen, why don't you lie down? I'll take care of this.
Go ahead.
Oh, thanks.
Thanks.
How you doing, William? Well, let's see.
I'm living at the shop, sleeping on the couch, eating takeout every night.
Sounds great.
I know I just disappeared on you, PK.
But I felt like I had to do it on my own.
And how's that working for you? Making my days.
Look, William, I just wanna make sure that you're okay.
Just from time to time, let me know you're having a good life.
Michelle? Michelle? - Okay, take it easy, take it easy.
- Oh, my God.
- My God, oh, my God.
- Let me give you something for pain.
- No, William - Michelle, what do you got? Michelle, what do you take? Ativan? Morphine? She's not gonna take anything until she knows he's clean.
Okay, just take it easy.
Just breathe.
All right, just take it easy then.
Slow it down, just breathe.
You're gonna be all right.
Let me Give me Give me your hand.
I need your hand here on my stomach.
- Here's my hand.
- On my stomach.
Okay, there's my hand.
I don't wanna die a junkie.
And if he sees me like this, he'll die one.
Wake up, Davis.
Wake up, you selfish bastard.
You're wife is out there right now, barely holding on, dying of pain.
- You don't get it.
- I don't get it? You don't get it, you dumb son of a bitch.
She's trying to be strong, for you.
But she can't do this on her own.
And she ain't gonna do nothing unless you get clean.
Do you get that, huh? Do you understand that? Why don't you help her, Davis? For once in your miserable life, why don't you help someone else? What? A little hard on him.
She's got 17 years without even talking an aspirin.
And now, because of him - Her choice.
- His doing.
It's life on life's terms, William.
Will you stop with the slogans, PK? - What he's doing - What's he's doing is being an addict.
He's behaving like an addict.
And I know you don't like it, but you know what it's like.
I need a meeting.
You go to your meeting.
Oh, that's right.
I forgot.
You do everything on your own.
Get you where you need to go.
Same old PK.
You back in my life a day and you're already nine miles up my ass and you've wonder where I've been.
William.
You don't understand.
They can't do the news without me.
- William! - You don't understand.
They can't do the news without me.
I don't wanna sedate you again, Davis.
You hear what I'm saying? I've gotta get down there.
You know how important I am? They can't do the news without me.
- I'm gonna strip him.
- What are you talking about? Well, I don't imagine you're gonna go anywhere without your clothes on, right? Can we get him off of me first, please? Naked definitely equals hazard pay.
Free and breezy.
Do whatever you want, all right? When you told me we were gonna eat at the beach, I thought we were gonna eat at the beach.
Well, what's the attraction? Anyway, birth, death.
Yeah, William, what is the attraction? I thought they might like the view.
Everything in between is complex.
It's hard to understand.
William, we lose everything and yet we're all afraid of loss.
And that, well, frankly - What, of PK's shitty beach house? - Lemonade, lemonade? Four lemonades, please.
I don't think you're gonna find a waiter here, William.
That's where insurance comes in.
You're not You're not trying to sell me an insurance policy, are you, Marcus? No, no, no.
I'm just trying to give you a little piece of mind in the form of a job.
- Selling insurance.
- With my company.
No, no, no, it's not as crazy as it sounds.
- Okay.
- Look, the job Job isn't fancy.
It starts at 55 a year, but if you sell well - Would you like to get that, babe? - No, I wouldn't like to.
- And apply yourself.
- Maybe I should.
Then six figures are certainly not out of reach.
Hey, hey, hey.
- Damn it.
- Get back.
Hey.
Why is Arnie chasing a naked man down the beach? That's Davis Durham, the newscaster.
Why is he in his underwear? That's awesome.
So how did he get out? I asked you a question.
Oh, no, no, no.
See, you only have to come at me with your ho-ho all up in my face once before I decide to get out of the way.
- Everything okay? - It is now.
Swen, shift's up.
Get out of here.
Leaded or unleaded? Leaded, please.
Thanks.
- Tea? - Green tea.
Cures cancer, don't you know? Nice lunch with the in-laws? Let's just say the food was better than the view.
You know, I think the best thing about getting sober was meeting Davis.
Yeah, well, you know, after seeing him naked, I totally understand.
I know you're not supposed to make your sobriety about somebody else, but Davis and I was 18.
He was at my first meeting.
- You both were.
- Yeah, I was just out of county too.
Looking fine too, I might add.
Really, even out of jail, you had your looks.
It was the smell.
Oh, my God.
I was court-ordered to go right to the meeting.
They should've ordered your ass to buy a bar of soap.
You and Davis hanging out at the back wall.
- Trying to disappear.
- Trying to sneak out.
Oh, and he knocked over the coffee urn.
And you tried to piss off a bunch of drunks.
You just take away their coffee.
Going around, taking everyone's order.
Then we went to the little Greek diner next door and got a cup for everybody.
Please don't be angry at Davis.
It's hard for him, what I'm going through.
Look, Michelle, you can't You can't wait for him to be okay.
I know you're afraid to use again.
I know.
I made a promise.
It's not about breaking your promise or your sobriety.
Swinging dicks in Malibu, William? Is that part of your program too? Hey, it worked for you for 23 years.
Yeah, you're right.
You're right.
You gonna be okay tonight with the pain? Yes, I am.
When he's clean, I'll be ready.
Okay.
- You got this? - I've got this.
All right.
What crawled up his ass? If it was you, William, I would want you to take the drugs.
Well, if it were me, I could because you wouldn't fall apart on me.
You need a pillow between your knees.
Oh, shit.
You know, they are absolutely, undeniably still there for one another.
While here we are.
We have our health.
What's left of our sanity.
Oh, so very little after that.
And we We can't seem to string it together.
Why? Dating back to 1989? No, seriously.
Why? You don't have to sleep on the floor.
Oh, I think I do.
Seriously, William, we're not 19 anymore.
And there's one thing I'm certain of.
That for better or worse, we have exhibited in the past that we are entirely capable of - Of what? - Lying next to each other.
And what else? What? What's wrong? I'm gonna miss you.
Sure you got everything, Mom? - Sure we forgot something.
- I know.
- Happy anniversary, Mom.
- Thanks, darling.
William? - You keep that job in mind now, huh? - Will do, Marcus.
Okay.
Sweetie? - Bye, Dad.
- Love you.
Love you.
- Bye, Mom.
- Travel safely.
Goodbye.
- Good seeing you.
- Take care.
Okay.
Don't jump off the boat.
Love you.
Take lots of pictures.
Thanks for doing this.
You're welcome.
I'll get the rest of my stuff.
Take the damn manuscript.
Take it.
Jesus, Davis.
You know, it's actually okay to put on a towel or a sheet.
When Michelle was diagnosed, I lasted three weeks before I called an old doctor buddy and started using.
Go ahead.
Take a look.
It's my big conspiracy is that my doctor friend writes me fake scripts.
There's nothing in that book, William.
You ready to stop? Say it.
This is Day 1 of my sobriety.
I'm a lying drug addict, one day sober.
And I wanna stop.
Welcome back.
Put this on.
Put it on.
That's going to the Goodwill tomorrow.
Well, I'm ready, PK.
I'm ready to get back.
I'd be much more comfortable if you had on a pair of pants right now.
But if I can't do this for her right now Davis, you've gotta do it for you.
Was.
Twenty-one great years.
It was for me.
At least that's what I thought.
But that That really isn't the only reason, is it? If we just do it for us, PK, how can we give anything to anyone else? That kiss is familiar.
You kind of resemble a guy I met Real smart aleck from Pittsburgh.
I'm sorry you had to see the monster, baby.
- Me too.
- Put some pants on for God's sakes.
I couldn't stand to see you in pain.
But I didn't I didn't know how to shut it off.
I don't know what I'm gonna do without you.
I'm not ready to let you go.
Hello, America.
I'm Davis Durham.
And these are the top stories from around the world tonight.
In Libya, allied forces have agreed to a treaty that would allow warring factions to form a cease-fire until agreement terms of the land in question could be reached.
In domestic news, our next story takes us to Louisiana.
If you haven't been to New Orleans in the last few years Do you like this here? I liked it better at our house.
Looks pretty good.
We're not having sex again, William.
Love you, babe.
I love you too.
This is liquid morphine prescribed by your doctor to help control your pain.
Once we begin treatment, you cannot stop its course.
Because your body will be too weak to beat the kick.
You understand? Oh, my.
You really never meant to give any of us perfection.
It simple comes down to the level of imperfection we allow to seep into our moments of fireworks.
And if we can do that, if I can do that, let a little perfection into the imperfect, let that little bit of mess not destroy the beauty of my life, then I finally have what may be the closest thing to perfect I'll ever really know.