Them (2021) s02e04 Episode Script

1
- [Diaz] No prints, no hair.
- [Dawn] No mistakes.
[Dawn] He's killed before.
Who could cross racial boundaries
like this and not be noticed?
[Diaz] A mailman? Garbage collector?
Or a policeman.
[So-Young] He's staring right at me.
It's him.
The Man with the Red Hair.
Burning the midnight oil?
How's your boy?
What's he do by himself all night
while you're working around the clock?
Your tests are normal.
How about we put you on a round
of beta blockers just to be safe?
Motherfuckers come.
- [stifled laugh]
- Straight fuck you up.
You fuck with me, homeboy
No, Edmund, you are not reading for this.
You said I'd be good.
- You said I'd be good.
- [crying]
- You said I'd be good!
- [whimpering]
[psychologist over headphones] When you
don't have a strong ego structure,
normally solidified in childhood,
it's like building a house
on an unstable foundation.
In an instant, the house can crumble.
[psychologist over headphones] The
foundation of our home,
our life, is created in childhood.
Stability, routine, ritual.
Think family dinners,
bedtime stories, birthdays.
It's so easy to take
these commonplace customs for granted,
but they are the floorboards
of a well-formed egoic structure.
If children don't feel safe,
acknowledged, celebrated,
a kind of emotional rot creeps in.
A psychic mold.
- [indistinct chatter]
- Left untreated, that mold can spread,
infecting its host
with an array of maladies.
[eerie music plays]
Sociopathy,
pathological tendencies
and, in some cases,
lead to violent behavior.
Hi, Dad.
I read about your book signing
in the Weekly.
I thought I'd come over.
[laughs softly]
Edmund?
W-What are you doing here?
I-I've been reading your book.
- Oh.
- It's really great.
Everything you wrote, it feels like
you're talking right to me.
Or about me.
You know, when you talk
about the cracked foundation?
Edmund, we should take a walk.
I'm not mad
you didn't mention me in the book.
Mm.
Even though I'm your son.
You mention Lacey.
Your patients. Strangers.
Edmund, let's take a walk together.
You know, I-I just feel all those things
you talk about, you know?
- I'm gonna take care of this.
- [Edmund] The mold,
rootless, untethered. [chuckles]
Edmund.
Mom.
Well, Edmund, what a pleasant surprise.
[laughs softly]
Let's go inside,
so-so we can all catch up.
No.
I want to talk here, with Dad.
Dad knows all about a rotten foundation.
And, you know, I've been thinking
about my foundation, thinking about
about my 12th birthday.
How I thought
we were on our way to Cheddar's,
but instead, you dropped me off at the
at that group home.
I just I just want to
Lacey?
Is that Lacey?
No. No.
- But I just
- Here, I want to talk to you.
That-that's Lacey.
I-I haven't seen her in so, so long
Edmund, you can't just
show up here like this.
Well, I'm sorry, I just, I-I
W-What? What? What? Do you need money?
No, no, I just [exhales]
I just want to know why
you left me on my 12th birthday.
[sighs]
We tried, Edmund.
We tried for so long.
Poured so much time and energy into you.
Sent you to a good school,
enrolled you in extracurricular sports
where we thought you would thrive.
- I liked acting.
- I wanted you to get out all that energy.
You know you had issues
controlling your emotions.
Throwing tantrums all the time.
You were 12, going through puberty.
All that entails.
Meantime, we had Lacey, our real
Our biological flesh and blood.
We had to make sure she was safe.
But why couldn't you give me
a solid foundation?
A blueprint.
Isn't that's what you do? Architect?
- [Edmund] You had years
- Some people just can't be fixed.
But-but maybe you didn't know
back then what you know now.
- I mean, you hadn't written the book yet.
- I've got to get back
Wait, wait, wait.
Dad, please, please! Please.
Okay, everything you wrote about is
exactly what I'm going through right now.
I'm not even sure what's real anymore.
I don't even know who I am, and I just
I'm just worried that something
really, really bad is gonna happen.
Then go seek help.
[eerie music playing]
[girl] Mom, can we get a gumball?
Okay, one gumball each.
[newswoman on TV] fired for
insensitive remarks
made at an awards ceremony last night.
If it wasn't for our helicopters,
the lighting would have been horrible.
[laughter on TV]
[Dawn] He just makes it so hard.
Husband's a cop.
[newswoman] in the African-American
community, showing how the police
It's not what we need right now.
My husband's a cop, too. Well, detective.
Oh, really?
- Which division?
- Robbery-Homicide.
Rampart. I'm Angela Smith.
Wendy McKinney. It's a pleasure.
It is, 'cause not many people understand.
They're so quick to criticize, but
they don't know what comes with the job.
The odd shifts, the long hours,
the horrible things they see.
Amen, sister.
Last Friday, my husband
didn't come home until 4:00 a.m.
Mine must've been at the same function,
'cause I'm not sure
he made it home that night at all.
[indistinct chatter on TV]
We must be married to the same man.
[Wendy laughs]
Was he out last Tuesday night, too?
- Last Tuesday
- [girls giggling]
Mom, the man's waving to us.
Okay, it's time to go, girls.
- Are we gonna see Daddy now?
- [Wendy] Yes.
And he may not be home much,
but when he is, he's great with the kids.
[TV plays quietly]
[phone ringing]
[footsteps approaching]
McKinney's not accounted for
the night of Maynard's murder.
Didn't come home all night.
What you got? Come on.
Checked with all
the other divisions about crimes
- that matched our perp's description.
- Mm-hmm.
Looked into an ex-con who lives
in El Monte, but he had a solid alibi.
Still tracking another potential lead,
but that guy might not even be
in the state anymore.
What about McKinney?
You really think he's a possible suspect?
Not yet.
But he fits the wit description,
he could have had access,
and he fucked with my family,
so I'm not ruling him out
until he's ruled out.
I had an old boss of mine
run his personnel history.
Found a bunch of comment cards and 181s.
Run-of-the-mill heavy-handed shit,
brutality complaints.
Never amounted to more
than a two-day suspension, but
there is one thing that stood out.
Homicide in '82.
- Lamar Watkins.
- McKinney was involved?
Yeah, well,
he was a patrol cop at the time.
First on the scene.
Yeah, another beat cop
questioned his version of events,
I.A. started an investigation.
What did the report say?
There is none.
Yeah, they closed the investigation
a few days after they opened it.
And the other cop?
He retired from the force a week later.
You get an address?
[knocking on door]
Yes?
Good afternoon.
I'm looking for a Mr. James Stenson.
- Why?
- I'm Detective Dawn Reeve,
Robbery-Homicide Division.
I was hoping to ask you a few questions.
- I can't help you.
- I believe you know Donald McKinney.
I'm investigating him.
- Good luck with that.
- He's trying to intimidate me.
He threatened my family.
I need to know how dangerous he is.
What do you want to know?
Why'd you leave the force?
Did it have anything to do
with the Lamar Watkins murder?
Anything we talk about,
it stays confidential.
Might be easier if I just show you.
McKinney and I were patrol cops
on the same beat back in '81.
He invited me to a party one night.
Some sort of initiation.
He wanted me to be in a group
he was a part of.
What kind of group?
Like blue code of silence
times a hundred.
At least that's what I thought it was.
At first.
Then the Lamar Watkins murder happened.
You think McKinney had
something to do with it?
I was a responding officer.
Some of the guys from the group,
they were already on the scene.
They said it was a gang retaliation.
But it didn't seem that way to me.
Any gang-related murder I've ever seen,
it was always GSWs, knife wounds.
Watkins's wife was present.
She was terrified to speak to any of us,
especially McKinney.
I took her statement.
She swore that those cops did that.
McKinney's report didn't match what I saw.
So I spoke up,
and that's when they came after me.
Guys in masks.
I couldn't prove it was them, but I knew.
As a initiation rite,
they tattooed an insignia
on my right calf.
Lost my mind one day,
pulled out a razor, and hacked it out.
I wish somebody had warned me.
McKinney is not one to mess around with.
[Deniece Williams: "Free"]
♪
Whispering ♪
In his ear ♪
My magic potion for love ♪
Telling him ♪
I'm sincere ♪
And that there's ♪
Nothing too good
- [echoes] Hi.
- Hey.
And I just got to be me ♪
What you want to do?
Free, free ♪
Whispering
[tires screech]
[grunts] Whoa.
Slow down.
My meter ain't even running yet.
You can park right over there.
You like privacy.
This your first time?
You want me to
unbutton your pants for you?
[moans softly]
How'd this happen to you?
Excuse me?
How'd you end up like this?
- Like what, baby?
- Like this.
What kind of life is this?
Well, what do you do to make ends meet?
- Lost my job.
- Hmm.
So what you being
all high-and-mighty for?
At least I tried.
- I was an actor.
- [woman laughs]
Oh, yeah? [laughs]
In what?
[woman chuckles]
Here.
- Hey.
- You want more? Hmm?
- Hey. Ow!
- Want more?
There.
There's some on the floor. Get it.
- Get it!
- [gasps]
Look at you.
Nothing but a traumatized child.
You got no ego structure.
Your life has no foundation.
Okay, date's over, man.
[locks click]
[woman gasps softly]
Let me out. Now.
You ever heard
of the Healthy Home Paradigm?
Unlock this door, motherfucker.
Do your parents know what you do?
I bet you don't even have parents
that care about you.
You're nothing.
You're invisible. [chuckles softly]
- Hey.
- You could disappear,
and no one would know it.
[pants, chuckles softly]
Hey, baby.
Baby, what you getting
all worked up for, huh?
Hmm? Come on.
Come on, baby.
Let's just do what we came here for.
Mm-hmm. [moaning softly]
[gasps, whimpers]
[woman panting loudly]
[woman whimpers softly]
You're him.
Aren't you?
- Let me out of here!
- Let me out of here!
- Open the door!
- Open the door!
- Let me out of here!
- [siren whoops]
[woman cries]
[policeman over P.A.] Step out
of the vehicle.
Put your hands
where we can see them.
Let us know if you find anything.
[detective] Mm-hmm.
[clears throat]
[Simms] So, you live
on Domino Street in Van Nuys.
- Is that correct?
- Yes.
[Marsh] What brings you downtown?
I've been all over today.
Is that right?
Looking for something special,
or are you just taking in the sights?
Well, I went to Hancock Park this morning
to visit my dad.
- He lives in Hancock Park?
- Yup.
Spent some time with him.
Then, I I took a drive.
- [Simms] Needed to clear your head?
- Yes.
You always come to the Figueroa Corridor
to clear your head?
No.
Never been there before tonight.
[Marsh] We interviewed
the girl you picked up.
[Simms] You left her in a state.
Sounds like you weren't her average john.
Yeah. What were you thinking
when you picked her up, Edmund?
Hey. Look at me.
You didn't want to have sex with her?
No.
What did you want with her, then?
Did you want to hurt her?
She said you started to.
She was real scared.
She was?
We found the VHS tapes.
That what's on them?
You scaring girls like her?
Hurting them?
[Marsh] Sixteen working girls murdered
in the last two years,
all from the Corridor.
At least ten have been linked
to the Southside Slayer.
The-The the Southside Slayer?
[scoffs]
[echoing] The Southside Slayer.
- To the Southside Slayer.
- The Southside Slayer.
The Southside Slayer.
- The Southside Slayer.
- The Southside Slayer.
Edmund?
[Edmund inhales loudly through nose]
[Marsh] Edmund?
[Edmund exhales]
[ominous music plays]
You ever kill a person before?
It's not the aftermath that's special.
It's about the process to get them there.
You know?
[VCR player clicking]
It's not the aftermath that's special.
It's the process.
The pain.
The pain.
The suffering.
The look in their eyes.
The look.
[exhales]
The look, the look.
The look in their eyes.
The light leaving them.
Their fear
frozen
forever.
Forever fro
"The fear becoming forever frozen.
"The fear becoming
the fear becoming forever frozen.
The fear becoming forever"
Each girl?
Equally exhilarating.
It's the little differences
that make each special.
Hmm.
Yeah.
Special.
[door opens]
He's not our guy.
- [Simms] What do you mean?
- [detective] False confessor.
He's a foot taller
than our eyewitness described.
[Marsh] Well,
the wit must've been mistaken,
'cause the kind of shit this guy's
- copping to
- It's an audition, Marsh.
He's running lines.
He's a washed-up actor. Those tapes?
I just watched him practice
this exact monologue 50 fucking times.
Guy's crazy, not ours.
Hey, what the fuck is wrong with you,
you son of a bitch?
- Why you wasting our time with this shit?
- Hey, hey, hey. Hey.
- [Simms] Not worth the paperwork.
- [Edmund panting loudly]
[Simms] He's nobody.
[door closes]
[sniffles, pants]
[eerie music plays]
[screams]
[whimpers]
[whimpers]
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
[distant shouting]
[insects trilling]
[distant gunshot]
[distant gunshots]
- [dogs barking]
- [gunshot]
[gunshot]
- [indistinct chatter]
- [gunshots]
[chatter continues]
[two gunshots]
[chatter, whooping]
[gunshots]
[gunshots]
[indistinct, lively chatter]
[gun clicks]
[automatic gunfire]
[indistinct chatter continues]
[ominous music plays]
[laughter, chatter continues]
[lively chatter continues]
[gunshot]
[tattoo gun buzzing]
[two gunshots]
[lively chatter continues]
[panting softly]
[gunshots]
[loud gunshot]
What are you doing here?
I should go.
[chuckles] You're not going anywhere.
[gunshot]
[officer] Hey, what's going on out here?
- What the fuck?
- [gunshot]
[McKinney] I'll ask you one more time.
What are you doing here, Reeve?
You picked up my son yesterday.
Scared the shit out of him.
I just wanted to talk to you about it.
Clear the air.
So you followed me out here?
From my house?
To talk to me?
What are you really doing here?
- [indistinct chatter]
- Keep away from my family, McKinney.
Would love to. Just say the word.
Stay calm, all right?
I'm calm.
You guys calm?
- Yeah, I'm dead fucking calm.
- [Dawn panting]
Look.
I don't know why you're here,
and I don't care.
Just stay the fuck away
from me and my family.
Here's how this works.
You don't go anywhere near me.
This never happened.
[ominous music plays]
[panting]
- [keys jingling]
- [panting]
[engine starts]
[tires screeching]
♪
[insects trilling]
[eerie music plays]
♪
[film projector clicking, whirring]
- [children laughing]
- [woman] Make a wish
and blow out the candle.
Who's ready for cake? Let me hear you.
[kids] Me!
- [party horn blows]
- Hey, you guys, come on. Come over here.
Sit down. Come on.
Let's have a story.
[laughing]
Today's your special day.
How old are you now?
I'm six.
[woman] Mommy's big boy.
Do you like your presents?
- What'd you get?
- A bicycle.
Can I go play now?
[woman] Happy birthday, my sweet boy.
[water running]
[faucet creaking shut]
[water dripping]
Baby, I-I didn't know you were home.
[Dawn] You ever worry
that you're a terrible mother?
You're a wonderful mother.
[Dawn] I wasn't talking about me.
Baby?
Why are you lying to me, Ma?
Lying?
What's in the box?
You don't think I know
about the box in your closet?
What's in it, Ma?
What's in the box?
Nothing.
You're lying.
You're lying.
[Kelvin] Gramma?
Gramma, are you okay?
[clock ticking]
[insects trilling]
[grunting]
[both grunting]
- [grunting]
- [blows landing]
- Edmund?!
- [Edmund grunts]
[Donovan gasping, groaning]
- [grunts]
- [Edmund panting]
- [Edmund groaning]
- [panting, groaning]
- [clang]
- Ooh. [laughs]
[Edmund panting]
[Donovan grunting]
Stop.
You don't have to do this.
[Edmund groaning]
[grunting]
[sighs]
[engine starts]
[sighs softly]
[clock ticking]
Ma?
What are you doing up?
Ma, is everything okay?
Is Kel all right?
[Athena breathing shakily]
[Athena] I love you so much.
And your father
he loved you very much.
And you need to hear
how much we loved you.
Ma, you're scaring me.
Tell me what's going on.
[sniffles]
You were adopted.
The heart medication
that your doctor prescribed?
It was because
of your father's heart condition.
But you don't have his condition.
He's not your biological father.
And I'm not your biological mother.
[soft, haunting music plays]
[gasping]
You see, we couldn't have
our own children.
And you were this
this very special gift.
The final piece to our family.
I planned on telling you
when you got old enough to understand.
But by that time, you were
so well-adjusted and
and happy.
- I just couldn't steal that away from you.
- I can't.
- I can't. I can't.
- [Athena] You are my baby.
And I was your mother.
[sniffles]
I can't do I can't do this.
- I can't.
- This is all she left.
Ma, I can't. I can't do this.
[Athena] Your birth mother.
- What?
- [Athena] I never wanted you
- to feel like you were missing anything.
- [Dawn] What?
Stop, stop, stop.
- [Dawn] Stop, stop.
- That you were damaged in any way.
Stop talking! Stop talking!
- Ma, why you yelling at Gramma?
- Oh, go to your room! Just go, just go.
- Just go! Just go, please.
- [Athena] Please, please don't go.
We can talk about this.
[door closes]
[inhales deeply]
[crying]
[ "I Won't Grow Up"
from Peter Pan playing]
Are you ready for today's lesson? ♪
Yes, sir ♪
Then listen to your father ♪
And repeat after me ♪
- I won't grow up ♪
- I won't grow up ♪
I don't want to go to school ♪
I don't want
to go to school ♪
Just to learn to be a parrot ♪
Just to learn to be a parrot
Make a wish.
What is this?
Make a wish and blow out the candle.
[panting]
[Donovan] Edmund.
Please, let me go.
I don't want to wear a tie ♪
- Or a serious expression ♪
- Or a serious expression ♪
- In the middle of July ♪
- In the middle of July ♪
And if it means I must prepare ♪
To shoulder burdens
with a worried air ♪
I'll never grow up,
never grow up, never grow up ♪
Not me
Where am I?
Never gonna be a man, I won't
[wheels rolling]
Anyone who wants to try
and make me turn into a man
[Donovan whimpers softly]
- I don't want to grow up ♪
- I don't want to grow up
[clicking, whirring]
[ominous music playing]
[children laughing on film]
[woman] Make a wish
and blow out the candles.
- Edmund, were you in my apartment?
- [woman] Yay!
Who's ready for cake?
Let me hear you!
- [children] Me!
- Why do you have these?
- Today's your special day.
- [woman] Today's your special day.
- How old are you now?
- [Edmund] How old are you now?
- [boy] I'm six.
- [Edmund] I'm six!
- Mommy's big boy.
- [Edmund] Mommy's big boy.
- Do you like your presents?
- [woman] Do you like your presents?
- [woman] What'd you get?
- [Edmund] What'd you get?
- [boy] A bicycle.
- [high-pitched] A bicycle.
- Can I go play now?
- [Edmund] Can I go play now?
- [woman] Happy birthday, my sweet boy.
- Happy birthday.
My sweet boy.
[static]
[Edmund] Please state
your name for the camera.
Please.
[Edmund] Please
slate your name for the camera.
My name is Donovan Wright.
[Edmund] And I'll be reading for the role
of Young Donovan Wright.
Say it.
I'll be reading for the role
of Young Donovan Wright.
[Edmund] Today's your special day.
How old are you now?
I'm six.
[Edmund] Do you like your presents?
What'd you get?
A bicycle. Can I play?
[Edmund laughing]
[laughing]
I'm sorry. It's just that, you know,
you're so bad. [laughs]
Try it again.
Action.
A bicycle. Can I go play?
Again!
A bicycle.
[chuckles]
Can I? Can I please
[crying]
[audio rewinding]
[woman] Mommy's big boy.
Edmund
Please.
Brother.
[Donovan panting]
[Edmund scoffs]
[panting]
[Edmund snickering]
[indistinct chatter on film]
[Edmund laughing]
[Edmund sobbing]
[Edmund crying]
[screaming]
- [film chatter continues]
- [Donovan moaning]
[grunting]
Damn it.
- [bone breaking]
- [screaming]
[quiet, eerie music plays]
♪
[pulsing electronic music plays]
♪