Underground (2016) s02e05 Episode Script
Whiteface
1 - Previously on Underground - Rosalee? PATTY: There's one man I know motivated to pluck the petals off the Black Rose.
Who among you is feeling bricky tonight? I seen you.
You're still the snake of a slave driver you was when you left Macon.
ELIZABETH: Those who make peace impossible make violence inevitable! You got chillun? They were the best thing in my life.
Little girl ran away.
Just kill yourself.
Go, go! Come on.
We got you.
Run, run, run Run, run, run Run, run, run Run, run, run Run, run, run WOMAN: I hear this is the best traveling minstrel.
MAN: Already sold out for the entire run.
MAN 2: Have you heard anything about the patron, Mr.
Powell? (plays riff) (applause) What is this? Why, hello! I'm Master White.
And I've been growin' cotton on this land since my granpappy blew on the hornpipe for good old King George.
(laughter) Oh, come here, you pretty little number.
The good Lord's Bible tells me I must lay down with the lamb - (laughter) - (whoops) Good evening.
It's like I'm looking in a mirror.
My name is Chester Whittingham, of Philadelphia's Whittinghams.
Welcome to the city of brotherly love.
- WOMAN 3: Did he just? - (patrons murmuring) Now, our good founder William Penn bent over at least three rivers to get this premium plot of land.
(booing) Now, he set out to be a holy experiment.
And Lord, did he experiment with every hole he could find.
Where do you think that crack in the Liberty Bell came from? (laughs) (chuckling) (man laughing loudly) Run, run, run - (laughing) - Run, run, run ELIZABETH: Dear Mr.
Still.
I apologize for my lapse in our correspondence as of late.
But your letters have been of great comfort.
Particularly as I stand on the precipice of tremendous uncertainty.
It's hard to untether how much I care about the cause with how far I am willing to go for it.
While I admire Georgia's resilient efforts towards peace, the fervor and forthrightness of John Brown's followers is hard to deny.
It speaks to the anger that has consumed me since John's death.
- (thud, glass breaking) - DEPUTY: Georgia Goodwin.
We know she's in here.
- (clattering) - DEPUTY 2: Go around to the back door.
DEPUTY: Where is Georgia Goodwin? Valentine, what's happening? It's the police; they're coming up.
Come on.
Get in.
- (shouting in distance) - Rosalee.
DEPUTY: Everybody out of your rooms, downstairs.
If you got your papers on you, we need to see 'em.
Are you Georgia Goodwin? You have no right barging in here.
- Shut your mouth.
- (grunts) (indistinct shouting) DEPUTY: Get down here.
Move.
You all right? - Is this your wife? - No.
SHERIFF: She fit the description but she says she ain't her.
I got a warrant here with Georgia Goodwin's name on it.
- Where is she? - What is the warrant for? Fraud, state of Virginia.
Harboring a fugitive of the law, that's what y'all are doing.
Keep it up.
And I guarantee all of you a trip across the river to my jail, but what I can't guarantee is that y'all will make it back.
Nobody's leaving here without a fight.
Is that right? Don't do anything stupid now.
Stop.
I'm Georgia Goodwin.
Get on it then.
In my desk, there's a black envelope.
Bring it to the jailhouse.
Just you.
Free papers.
MALE ELDER: Who bring unu this shame? MALE ELDER 2: Speak, girl.
Who give unu the devil blood? The ancestors bring unu back from dead.
They want unu speak.
Who poisoning we people? See? That poison ain't save unu.
It's got you shaking and sweating.
All of we save unu from that water.
You ain't got no family but we.
Unu can speak to we.
Embrace we.
Then we can embrace her.
This ain't about me speaking.
Y'all don't really want that.
'Cause then half of y'all standin' here would have to admit to takin' the devil's blood.
(murmuring) This ain't even about what I done.
It's about shamin' others so they don't do anything you don't want them to.
This here ain't family.
(indistinct chatter) I wish I talked when they been to shame me.
Sometimes it be harder to stand up to those you close to.
All them, even me father, want you for just smile pretty, be innocent.
Don't care what ya done, long as everything seem okay.
Sometimes I want to hurt myself.
Not like what ya done.
Just maybe slashin' my face.
Force everyone to look at how it feel on the inside.
That's the worst kind of control.
Destroying yourself 'fore they can.
They go on talk about why you try for drown yourself.
One say you was laying with the massa where you come from.
Say that why the mistress sent you away.
She jealous.
It true? Mostly.
But it ain't the why.
I want you teach me.
I want you teach me how for get massa for do what I want.
Why? What Hicks done to me, I ain't got no power to stop it.
And I want some.
(laughter) MASSA WHITE: No one threw anything at the stage today.
I say that's cause for celebration.
Join us, Mr.
Powell? I've got other business, but chase the bottom of a bottle on me.
Ah.
(sighs) I went looking for you backstage.
Should have known you'd be out here front and center.
Is everything in order for tonight? And our out-of-town guests? Settling into the hotel suites you provided.
The food.
The chefs are skinning all manner of beasts to feast on as we speak.
- And the balloons.
- Arrived this morning.
They've overtaken the parlor.
(chuckles) It's hard to believe there's just air in those things, isn't it? Especially considering how much it costs to ship them all the way from London.
It doesn't sound like you're ready for a party, Francis.
A party is you, me and Devi on a rainy night in Mayfair.
Your grand entry into Philadelphian society tonight's spectacle, just like this show.
How long do you think you can keep this going on? - Money's of no concern.
- Then what is? (scoffs) Winning.
I saw you winning with Devi.
What are you doing here? Calling all this attention to yourself.
We're not in London, anymore.
You're poking a bear.
I'm putting the bear down.
We're gonna be late for our appointment with the tailor.
I don't need another new suit.
I'm not gonna be in attendance for this one.
And why is that? 'Cause I feel like I'm watching a man carefully tie his own goddamn noose.
And I haven't been in America long enough to want to watch you hang.
(horse whinnies) Georgia.
Are you okay? We need to move the cargo.
What, they suspect we're a station? But the sheriff said "fraud.
" The arrest was due to a family matter.
- I will handle it.
- Georgia.
We don't have time to waste.
I saw your papers.
You've been passing.
If you tell me what's going on, maybe I can help you.
It's none of your business.
MAN: Hey, nigger.
You ain't fooling nobody.
We're watching you.
- How dare you? - Elizabeth, don't.
Let's just go inside.
MAN: Run and hide.
We'll be waiting.
What happened to you? (grunts) You used to be the best tracker south of the Ohio.
Now it looks like you couldn't find your dignity if I drew you a map.
Yet here I sit on a bucket of shit with a proposition for you.
As irony has it I think it's irony, anyway I have a need to track down your white whale.
Negro girl named Rosalee.
Mulatto, well-made.
I know who she is.
All you got to do to get your freedom back is take hers away.
(grunts) Give him a bath before you put him on one of my horses.
(footsteps approaching) Why didn't you tell us? What would you have said if I had? I would have told you that what you're doing is crazy.
Mm-hmm.
And you would've tried to stop me.
- Going on runs with Harriet - I need to learn - how to steal my family back.
- putting yourself and the baby in danger.
I was being careful.
Careful? Rosalee, look at yourself.
You almost died.
What were you thinking? I was thinking about this baby.
When I realized I was even carryin', I was already on the road with Moses, learnin' so much.
This didn't even seem real.
It was still just me.
Everybody and everything I called home gone.
And I knew if I could learn a little more from Moses, maybe I could have it all back.
Then my belly started to grow, and it got very real.
Every time I saw myself holdin' this baby, Noah's baby, he was right there with me.
My mama was right there with me.
I need 'em, not just for me for both of us.
(sniffles) I feel so scared.
(sniffles) I can't do it alone.
Rosalee, listen to me.
You are not alone.
But if you kill this baby trying to get the rest of them back, you will be.
CLARA: Mama taught me how to make this 'fore she cross over on home to the ancestors.
I can't believe you ain't never had bread pudding.
Don't matter what I ain't had.
It's about what the massa ain't.
You ain't like the girls he used to, and that's good.
But I ain't like you.
They don't like dark skin.
How you think I got here? (grunts) You want me to get you some water? I'm fine.
Come on, let me fix your hair.
What's wrong with it? The hardest part ain't got nothin' to do with the way you look.
You got more than enough to get somebody into your bed, but you got to keep 'em there.
How I do that? All men feel like nobody listen to them.
- That's where you start.
- Ooh, but what about Shut your mouth and listen.
That's how you find out what he love.
Then you let him teach you 'bout it.
Men like to feel like they showin' you things ain't nobody else has.
I just pretend I like whatever he like.
No.
You got to find something real in the lie.
It's only believable if there's a part of you in it.
You teach your daughter this here? Nah.
I taught her to keep her head down.
I did it so she wouldn't have to.
And what happened to her? She ran away.
(grunting) I have to say, you haven't left behind much of a paper trail, Mr.
Pullman.
My man in Georgia is usually pretty good at background work, but he found next to nothing on you.
Your father, on the other hand there was a bit more on him, his being military and all.
Dishonorable discharge from the Georgia Militia.
Did he not agree with President Jackson? I ain't one much for history.
Yet here you are hunting an old bounty.
Huh.
What are you writin'? I'm told you have a son.
PATTY: I can clean up the rest, thank you.
(clears throat) Mmm.
I know you're thinkin' about that bottle.
When you're gonna get some.
That's good.
That's what I want.
A man who wants.
A man who needs.
A man who acts.
If I am going to cut a dog loose, especially where we're going, I am going to want a dog that can bite.
You can still bite, can't you? I can write a letter, if you want.
To your son.
LUCAS: We'll ride out with the wagons in both directions.
If anyone's still watching the house, that should draw them away.
You wait 20 minutes, then move through the tunnel with the men.
Thad and Elliot, take one wagon.
You head east.
Elizabeth and I will go west.
Just like always, you ride like there's nothin' to hide.
You're going with them? Two to a wagon makes more sense.
And they have no idea what they're riding into.
You didn't tell them.
It's not my secret to tell.
They know the risks of moving cargo.
Today's revelations don't change that.
Maybe you're right.
Maybe nothing happens tonight.
But it's reckless.
You're risking their lives to keep your secret.
It might make things easier on you, but it's not fair to them.
Is that what you think? That I do this because it's easier? I don't know what to think.
You won't talk to me.
What was your mother's favorite color? Blue.
You would be surprised how many times, in passing conversation, someone asks you a detail about your mother.
I made the details up so that I wouldn't slip.
Where she was educated.
The length of her hair.
Her favorite pianoforte.
And those details eventually amount to a person.
And when I close my eyes at night and I try to remember my real mother, it gets harder.
Every time.
And I'm terrified that one of these nights I'm going to close my eyes and see nothing.
The minute that these men took up the cause, the minute that they called themselves abolitionist, they put a target on their back.
I've lived with one most of my life.
There's nothing easy about this secret.
THAD: Miss Georgia? There's a man at the front door asking for you.
Are you expecting any more visitors? (footsteps approaching) (creaking) Does he still make Your blood rush? These days I'm just not sure how to feel Does he still make you run wild? Sadness And your lips were sealed As if you didn't care And your love was gone Calm before the storm You're free, you're free You're free, you're free You're free enough to find your feet You're also free enough to hide from me And I seek I seek, I seek, I seek I seek for something I can't see And maybe this is all a dream.
Tryna make a dolla out of 15 cent, try Tryna make a dolla out of 15 cent Tryna make a dolla out of 15 cent - Try, tryna make a dolla out of 15 cent - (clinking) Tryna make a dolla out of (chuckles) Friends of the enslaved, friends of the cause, I welcome you to my home.
I imagine my sudden appearance in your great city raises a lot of questions.
In less polite crowds, the question I can always count on pertains to my face, this scar.
A reminder of my own time in bondage.
I wish I had some dramatic tale of revolution and defiance to explain it, but truth be told, I got this - because my master was a crap shot.
- (chuckling) He and a friend were going on about this story.
A fellow puts a-an apple on his son's head.
Shot it clean off.
Soon enough, my massa put $100 against his knocking a McIntosh off of my head.
- He got close.
(chuckles) - (chuckling) Trust me, he got close.
(chuckles) But that $100 he lost got me taken to the forge.
And them embers reminded a nigger like me what happens when you take money out of the pocket of a white man.
What I've learned on my journey to freedom is there is nothing in your past you cannot forge into a weapon.
What I got right here was a lesson in how to hurt them.
It's all about the money.
They ain't nearly so much cruel as they are greedy.
They are slaves to capitalism.
That's why I offered my home to Mr.
Still.
(chuckles softly) My story to you.
- But most importantly - my money to the cause.
Hey, hey, hey Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey This is our weapon.
This is how we hurt them.
A real go-getter For the money, I go ape gorilla If I go broke, I take your scrilla ROSALEE: I was playing a role.
Wore white powder three layers.
Rode the train all the way to Canada as Harriet's massa.
Ain't nobody stop us.
She said to me, "Act like you own the world, and that's exactly how they gonna treat you.
" Hmm.
(laughs) I'm sorry.
I've been talkin' this whole time.
Come on now.
Tell me.
What happened to you? Who took you? Oh, it don't matter.
I'm here now.
Just want to put all that behind me.
(sighs) There's something I got to tell you.
Noah (sighs) I, um What? I'm going back to get Momma and James.
Back-back back to Macon? But you hurt.
I'm healin'.
Gonna be fine soon.
And it ain't gonna be like when we ran the last time.
I know all the routes, all the safe houses and stations.
We gonna have help every step of the way.
I made a plan with Harriet.
Save up every little bit they give me at that hospital.
Bought two train tickets to Atlanta.
Same one we put Boo on.
It can take us there the whole way.
With with-with me playing your slave? Just like I did with Harriet.
Train leave in five days.
You aimin' for Christmas? You steal 'em Christmas night, be three more days 'fore work start up again.
We be in a safe house Carolina way by the time they even notice we gone.
Oh, Rose, that sounds like a good plan.
But ain't nothin' ever go as planned.
I know.
And I know I don't seem like much now, but Noah, I'm strong.
You found your way back to me just in time.
Noah, I know together we can do anything.
Oh, I hate animals.
Especially horses.
Why can't he just be like the other buckra and stay up in the big house? I'll do all the talkin'.
You just listen.
Take this.
- Are you okay? - I'm fine.
- Maybe we should come back another time.
- No.
- That's just what we need.
- (barking, Clara shrieking) Stop it, boy.
Hey, go on, get.
Sorry, master.
Sorry.
Didn't mean to disturb.
Dog probably just smelled the food.
- What are y'all doing 'round here? - I wanted to say sorry for how I was the other day.
You could have had me punished, but you didn't.
Miss Clara here was kind enough to help me make something sweet to thank you.
What is it? It's called bread pudding.
You like horses? I ain't never seen one as pretty as that.
Her name is Temple.
She's a war horse.
What's that? Horses have been one of man's greatest assets in warfare for centuries.
Temple's breed was used for cavalry charges during the Revolution.
She's strong.
Been with me most of my life.
But you know, her coat wasn't always so white.
What color was it? When she first came to me, it was gray.
But as she's gotten older (chuckles) her coat has turned silver, then white.
You know, most gray horses start off black with dark eyes.
Both fade over time.
Want to pet her? Oh, I couldn't.
Go ahead.
She's friendly.
(horse whinnies, Clara shrieks) (laughs) Don't laugh at me, huh? Me can't stand being laughed at.
I'm sorry.
She was just saying hi.
You don't have to be scared.
Here.
See? She just has to get used to you.
We need to be getting back to the quarters.
Did I do somethin' wrong? You got to leave him wantin' more.
Don't look back.
He watchin'.
You gonna come back for that basket a little after super.
After he done had his after-dinner whiskey.
That's when you stay a little longer.
(door creaks open) (footsteps approach) (door creaks shut) How is she doing? Restin' now.
I was real sorry to hear about John.
I appreciate y'all takin' care of her.
I'm glad you're back.
She needs you.
No, she done all right.
All them people she helped to freedom it's amazing.
(laughs) Last time we saw each other, we was runnin' from danger, now she runnin' into it.
She told you about the plan to rescue her family.
She want me to go with her.
Be back in Georgia by Christmas.
I know.
Going back right now to the hell we ran so hard to get away from that seems crazy, with her hurt like that.
She won't go if you don't go.
No, she need 'em.
She need 'em.
Her momma, her brother.
I ain't never had no family, but I'm-I'm startin' to understand the pull of it.
And I know it ain't so easy for her to just start over, but goin' back to Macon that'd be the last thing I want to do.
And that's how I been livin' my life, always at the point of just doin' the last thing I want to do.
I ain't never had no choice.
And now that I got one, I Then tell her that.
Be honest with her.
She will hear you.
If you don't go, she can't go.
Mr.
Powell, I'd like to introduce you to Frederick Douglass.
Your first autobiography was remarkable.
I haven't had a chance to crack the second, but I'm sure it will not disappoint.
I hear you've just returned from abroad.
- England.
- Oh, I spent some time in the Kensington area.
It's not my place of birth, but I was reborn there.
To be treated not as colored, but as a man.
One hopes we can achieve such here in America.
Tonight will certainly help us get closer to that goal.
We have exceeded our largest intake by a country mile.
Well, if it's one thing I've learned from your print, it's that the success of the abolitionist movement hinges on Northern public support.
And from you, sir, nothing inspires said support more than the heroism of the runaway.
I do have my concerns that we're often too public when we speak of our secret network.
There is a balance that needs to be found.
But tales of successful flight can inspire those yet in bondage to action.
While also cutting off their routes to freedom.
It's why I kept the exact details of my own escape out of my book.
We cannot overexpose it.
Says the most photographed man in the world.
(laughter) Touché.
But image is important.
A single photo can do more to alter the perception of the race than any vile words shouted in hatred.
Men like you need to be seen and heard as much as possible.
Talking is great, but I'm one for action.
Revolution, like that cracker from Kansas.
- John Brown.
- DOUGLASS: Mm, there is some distance between us and Mr.
Brown's methods.
But we do all agree that war is inevitable.
The world is getting hotter.
I think that means that emancipation is on the horizon.
I spent years out in the field looking out at the horizon.
Here's the thing about it.
You can't ever quite get to it, can you? We need to put him in a room with Harriet.
STILL: Did I tell you I've finally convinced her to speak? DOUGLASS: Oh.
The Earth might stop turning.
(speaking indistinctly) This party was an exclusive invitation.
Well, then, perhaps you should check the list again.
The last name is "Cannon.
" We've never met, but it seems we've both heard of each other.
"Negro man named Cato, copper-toned, fanciful dress.
Horribly burned on the right side of the face.
" Although you do look a little taller than five-foot-eight.
Massa Tom saw what he wanted to see, now didn't he? Only thing worse than his sense of measurement was his judgment in choosing a catcher.
Last I heard, they were stretching you out over killing a white man.
Maybe I have you to thank for some of the little pebbles in my garden.
We're not here to fight, Mr.
Powell.
We just want to talk.
When you're ready to do that, we'll be at the bar.
What do you want us to do? Keep an eye on 'em.
Make sure they don't disturb my guests.
Sir? It's not a problem until it's a problem.
It may be one soon.
Francis.
He's on his way back with a surprise for you.
From England.
How much time do we have? Boat was supposed to dock ten minutes ago.
Get these people out of here.
Politely and discreetly.
(chuckles) I apologize, gentlemen, but it looks like we're gonna have to call the night early.
HICKS: Be with me Be with me Be with me Be with me (speaking inaudibly) Be with me While I'm on This lonesome journey I want you To be with me Be with me I want you To be with me.
I am sorry.
I-I can't eat.
I can't hardly sleep thinkin' that something th-that I done did made you walk into that water.
I love you, Stine.
A-And I promise I ain't never gonna raise a hand to you again.
You ain't never raised no hand to me.
You don't even know me.
Wh-What you mean I don't know you? I-I know you.
Hicks, you don't even know yourself.
This thing we do, hurting each other over and over, we ain't come up with it.
We just retellin' the story they wrote for us.
You get hit out in them fields.
And that shame come and hit me.
And I let you, 'cause I got so much shame of my own for the things I done to survive that I think I deserve it.
No.
No, that's that gal.
Yeah, I seen y'all together.
She done got your ear and she's sourin' you on me.
It's over.
After all I done for you? That's it? You think you somethin' special.
You ain't.
You just like them empty blue bottles up in that table-tapper there tree.
All the good inside you been used up.
And now you empty, tossed out.
Just 'cause you was once in the big house lookin' down on the rest of us don't mean nothin'.
You're right.
Bein' in the big house, layin' with you, the opiates, they all just different ways of enduring life instead of living it.
I'm done with all that.
No, you ain't.
You'll be back.
(footsteps receding) (neighs) Whoa.
We should keep moving.
We've been riding for miles.
If they haven't stopped us by now, they're not going to.
I'm headed to Philadelphia soon.
The General's agreed to speak publicly to a small group of likeminded individuals.
The General? That's what the Captain calls Harriet.
I didn't know they knew each other.
Met at the start of the year.
He was completely taken with her.
She's agreed to recruit for him.
Recruit? Captain's always looking for quiet men of principle to be soldiers.
Quiet men of principle.
My husband John would have fit that description.
I wonder what he would have thought about Mr.
Brown's war.
What do you think of it? You should come with us to hear Harriet speak.
(brush crunching) - (gasps) - (grunting) Get off me! Get off me! (panting) You know what we do with nigger-loving slave-stealers? (shouts) (panting) Your friend want to be white.
That mean you want to be a nigger? 'Cause I'll brand you like one.
Do it.
What'd you say? (groans, pants) I am sick of hiding.
I'm sick of secrets.
I am a slave-stealer! So if you're gonna brand me, do it! Keep talkin' and you're gonna get an SS carved Do it! (Elizabeth screams) I'm gonna leave you out here for the animals.
(panting) We'll be watching you.
You don't stop what you're doin' I'll come find you again.
(shuddering breaths) (grunting) All right, let's talk.
We're looking for the Black Rose.
CATO: Never heard of her.
You knew her as Rosalee.
(chuckles) House girl.
I heard she did a number on you.
And your boy.
And I know she was running slaves, but I didn't know she was bumping into the likes of you all.
But if you want to catch her, I could tell you the secret.
Step one get out of my house! Let's all be careful.
That bust of Emperor Napoleon is an original Ferdinand Barbedienne.
Only one made.
Which means it's expensive.
Wouldn't want any bullet holes in it.
But you know what? I can afford it.
Shoot them! - (man yells) - Ring around (groans) Around the rosy Your pockets Overflow Your sharpened teeth - The blood - (gun clicks) The glimmer The kill The hunger kills.
(grunts) (grunting and yelling stop) Let's try this again.
How can we get to the Black Rose? You want to get at the house girl, you got to go through her momma.
She the only thing that girl care about.
Well, see, that wasn't so hard, now was it? You got what you want, now leave.
FRANCIS: Cato! (gun cocks) Noah.
Earlier, you asked what happened to me since last time I saw you.
I said it don't matter, but it do.
Ain't neither of us the same people that ran together.
Now, that boy you met in the whipping shed? All he cared about was getting North.
To freedom.
'Cause that's what they make you think, that freedom is a place.
But it ain't.
We make ourselves free by the choices we make.
While I was in that jail, I did just three things.
First, I thought about you every minute.
Second, I built the house we gonna live in brick by brick in my head.
All you got to do is pick a nice plot of land to call home.
And third well third, I I made you this.
Rose.
My first choice as a free man is you.
I'll follow you anywhere.
(sniffles) And way down We go-o-o-o-o And way down We go-o-o-o-o Say way down We go-o, go Way down we go Whoa, you let your feet run wild You should be coming with us down South.
I think I'm going to stick around here for a bit.
This is a really nice house.
Yeah, but for the fall, ooh My You two bring Momma back.
Look him right in the eyes Yeah Oh, 'cause they will Run you down, down till the dark Yes And they will run you down - (Clara giggling) - Down till you fall And they will Stine, Stine.
It work.
He asked me to come by the stable again tomorrow.
We kissed.
Ain't gonna be long 'fore he do whatever I want him for do.
Good.
Way down we go 'Cause you gonna use him to get me off this island.
Say way down we go.
Who among you is feeling bricky tonight? I seen you.
You're still the snake of a slave driver you was when you left Macon.
ELIZABETH: Those who make peace impossible make violence inevitable! You got chillun? They were the best thing in my life.
Little girl ran away.
Just kill yourself.
Go, go! Come on.
We got you.
Run, run, run Run, run, run Run, run, run Run, run, run Run, run, run WOMAN: I hear this is the best traveling minstrel.
MAN: Already sold out for the entire run.
MAN 2: Have you heard anything about the patron, Mr.
Powell? (plays riff) (applause) What is this? Why, hello! I'm Master White.
And I've been growin' cotton on this land since my granpappy blew on the hornpipe for good old King George.
(laughter) Oh, come here, you pretty little number.
The good Lord's Bible tells me I must lay down with the lamb - (laughter) - (whoops) Good evening.
It's like I'm looking in a mirror.
My name is Chester Whittingham, of Philadelphia's Whittinghams.
Welcome to the city of brotherly love.
- WOMAN 3: Did he just? - (patrons murmuring) Now, our good founder William Penn bent over at least three rivers to get this premium plot of land.
(booing) Now, he set out to be a holy experiment.
And Lord, did he experiment with every hole he could find.
Where do you think that crack in the Liberty Bell came from? (laughs) (chuckling) (man laughing loudly) Run, run, run - (laughing) - Run, run, run ELIZABETH: Dear Mr.
Still.
I apologize for my lapse in our correspondence as of late.
But your letters have been of great comfort.
Particularly as I stand on the precipice of tremendous uncertainty.
It's hard to untether how much I care about the cause with how far I am willing to go for it.
While I admire Georgia's resilient efforts towards peace, the fervor and forthrightness of John Brown's followers is hard to deny.
It speaks to the anger that has consumed me since John's death.
- (thud, glass breaking) - DEPUTY: Georgia Goodwin.
We know she's in here.
- (clattering) - DEPUTY 2: Go around to the back door.
DEPUTY: Where is Georgia Goodwin? Valentine, what's happening? It's the police; they're coming up.
Come on.
Get in.
- (shouting in distance) - Rosalee.
DEPUTY: Everybody out of your rooms, downstairs.
If you got your papers on you, we need to see 'em.
Are you Georgia Goodwin? You have no right barging in here.
- Shut your mouth.
- (grunts) (indistinct shouting) DEPUTY: Get down here.
Move.
You all right? - Is this your wife? - No.
SHERIFF: She fit the description but she says she ain't her.
I got a warrant here with Georgia Goodwin's name on it.
- Where is she? - What is the warrant for? Fraud, state of Virginia.
Harboring a fugitive of the law, that's what y'all are doing.
Keep it up.
And I guarantee all of you a trip across the river to my jail, but what I can't guarantee is that y'all will make it back.
Nobody's leaving here without a fight.
Is that right? Don't do anything stupid now.
Stop.
I'm Georgia Goodwin.
Get on it then.
In my desk, there's a black envelope.
Bring it to the jailhouse.
Just you.
Free papers.
MALE ELDER: Who bring unu this shame? MALE ELDER 2: Speak, girl.
Who give unu the devil blood? The ancestors bring unu back from dead.
They want unu speak.
Who poisoning we people? See? That poison ain't save unu.
It's got you shaking and sweating.
All of we save unu from that water.
You ain't got no family but we.
Unu can speak to we.
Embrace we.
Then we can embrace her.
This ain't about me speaking.
Y'all don't really want that.
'Cause then half of y'all standin' here would have to admit to takin' the devil's blood.
(murmuring) This ain't even about what I done.
It's about shamin' others so they don't do anything you don't want them to.
This here ain't family.
(indistinct chatter) I wish I talked when they been to shame me.
Sometimes it be harder to stand up to those you close to.
All them, even me father, want you for just smile pretty, be innocent.
Don't care what ya done, long as everything seem okay.
Sometimes I want to hurt myself.
Not like what ya done.
Just maybe slashin' my face.
Force everyone to look at how it feel on the inside.
That's the worst kind of control.
Destroying yourself 'fore they can.
They go on talk about why you try for drown yourself.
One say you was laying with the massa where you come from.
Say that why the mistress sent you away.
She jealous.
It true? Mostly.
But it ain't the why.
I want you teach me.
I want you teach me how for get massa for do what I want.
Why? What Hicks done to me, I ain't got no power to stop it.
And I want some.
(laughter) MASSA WHITE: No one threw anything at the stage today.
I say that's cause for celebration.
Join us, Mr.
Powell? I've got other business, but chase the bottom of a bottle on me.
Ah.
(sighs) I went looking for you backstage.
Should have known you'd be out here front and center.
Is everything in order for tonight? And our out-of-town guests? Settling into the hotel suites you provided.
The food.
The chefs are skinning all manner of beasts to feast on as we speak.
- And the balloons.
- Arrived this morning.
They've overtaken the parlor.
(chuckles) It's hard to believe there's just air in those things, isn't it? Especially considering how much it costs to ship them all the way from London.
It doesn't sound like you're ready for a party, Francis.
A party is you, me and Devi on a rainy night in Mayfair.
Your grand entry into Philadelphian society tonight's spectacle, just like this show.
How long do you think you can keep this going on? - Money's of no concern.
- Then what is? (scoffs) Winning.
I saw you winning with Devi.
What are you doing here? Calling all this attention to yourself.
We're not in London, anymore.
You're poking a bear.
I'm putting the bear down.
We're gonna be late for our appointment with the tailor.
I don't need another new suit.
I'm not gonna be in attendance for this one.
And why is that? 'Cause I feel like I'm watching a man carefully tie his own goddamn noose.
And I haven't been in America long enough to want to watch you hang.
(horse whinnies) Georgia.
Are you okay? We need to move the cargo.
What, they suspect we're a station? But the sheriff said "fraud.
" The arrest was due to a family matter.
- I will handle it.
- Georgia.
We don't have time to waste.
I saw your papers.
You've been passing.
If you tell me what's going on, maybe I can help you.
It's none of your business.
MAN: Hey, nigger.
You ain't fooling nobody.
We're watching you.
- How dare you? - Elizabeth, don't.
Let's just go inside.
MAN: Run and hide.
We'll be waiting.
What happened to you? (grunts) You used to be the best tracker south of the Ohio.
Now it looks like you couldn't find your dignity if I drew you a map.
Yet here I sit on a bucket of shit with a proposition for you.
As irony has it I think it's irony, anyway I have a need to track down your white whale.
Negro girl named Rosalee.
Mulatto, well-made.
I know who she is.
All you got to do to get your freedom back is take hers away.
(grunts) Give him a bath before you put him on one of my horses.
(footsteps approaching) Why didn't you tell us? What would you have said if I had? I would have told you that what you're doing is crazy.
Mm-hmm.
And you would've tried to stop me.
- Going on runs with Harriet - I need to learn - how to steal my family back.
- putting yourself and the baby in danger.
I was being careful.
Careful? Rosalee, look at yourself.
You almost died.
What were you thinking? I was thinking about this baby.
When I realized I was even carryin', I was already on the road with Moses, learnin' so much.
This didn't even seem real.
It was still just me.
Everybody and everything I called home gone.
And I knew if I could learn a little more from Moses, maybe I could have it all back.
Then my belly started to grow, and it got very real.
Every time I saw myself holdin' this baby, Noah's baby, he was right there with me.
My mama was right there with me.
I need 'em, not just for me for both of us.
(sniffles) I feel so scared.
(sniffles) I can't do it alone.
Rosalee, listen to me.
You are not alone.
But if you kill this baby trying to get the rest of them back, you will be.
CLARA: Mama taught me how to make this 'fore she cross over on home to the ancestors.
I can't believe you ain't never had bread pudding.
Don't matter what I ain't had.
It's about what the massa ain't.
You ain't like the girls he used to, and that's good.
But I ain't like you.
They don't like dark skin.
How you think I got here? (grunts) You want me to get you some water? I'm fine.
Come on, let me fix your hair.
What's wrong with it? The hardest part ain't got nothin' to do with the way you look.
You got more than enough to get somebody into your bed, but you got to keep 'em there.
How I do that? All men feel like nobody listen to them.
- That's where you start.
- Ooh, but what about Shut your mouth and listen.
That's how you find out what he love.
Then you let him teach you 'bout it.
Men like to feel like they showin' you things ain't nobody else has.
I just pretend I like whatever he like.
No.
You got to find something real in the lie.
It's only believable if there's a part of you in it.
You teach your daughter this here? Nah.
I taught her to keep her head down.
I did it so she wouldn't have to.
And what happened to her? She ran away.
(grunting) I have to say, you haven't left behind much of a paper trail, Mr.
Pullman.
My man in Georgia is usually pretty good at background work, but he found next to nothing on you.
Your father, on the other hand there was a bit more on him, his being military and all.
Dishonorable discharge from the Georgia Militia.
Did he not agree with President Jackson? I ain't one much for history.
Yet here you are hunting an old bounty.
Huh.
What are you writin'? I'm told you have a son.
PATTY: I can clean up the rest, thank you.
(clears throat) Mmm.
I know you're thinkin' about that bottle.
When you're gonna get some.
That's good.
That's what I want.
A man who wants.
A man who needs.
A man who acts.
If I am going to cut a dog loose, especially where we're going, I am going to want a dog that can bite.
You can still bite, can't you? I can write a letter, if you want.
To your son.
LUCAS: We'll ride out with the wagons in both directions.
If anyone's still watching the house, that should draw them away.
You wait 20 minutes, then move through the tunnel with the men.
Thad and Elliot, take one wagon.
You head east.
Elizabeth and I will go west.
Just like always, you ride like there's nothin' to hide.
You're going with them? Two to a wagon makes more sense.
And they have no idea what they're riding into.
You didn't tell them.
It's not my secret to tell.
They know the risks of moving cargo.
Today's revelations don't change that.
Maybe you're right.
Maybe nothing happens tonight.
But it's reckless.
You're risking their lives to keep your secret.
It might make things easier on you, but it's not fair to them.
Is that what you think? That I do this because it's easier? I don't know what to think.
You won't talk to me.
What was your mother's favorite color? Blue.
You would be surprised how many times, in passing conversation, someone asks you a detail about your mother.
I made the details up so that I wouldn't slip.
Where she was educated.
The length of her hair.
Her favorite pianoforte.
And those details eventually amount to a person.
And when I close my eyes at night and I try to remember my real mother, it gets harder.
Every time.
And I'm terrified that one of these nights I'm going to close my eyes and see nothing.
The minute that these men took up the cause, the minute that they called themselves abolitionist, they put a target on their back.
I've lived with one most of my life.
There's nothing easy about this secret.
THAD: Miss Georgia? There's a man at the front door asking for you.
Are you expecting any more visitors? (footsteps approaching) (creaking) Does he still make Your blood rush? These days I'm just not sure how to feel Does he still make you run wild? Sadness And your lips were sealed As if you didn't care And your love was gone Calm before the storm You're free, you're free You're free, you're free You're free enough to find your feet You're also free enough to hide from me And I seek I seek, I seek, I seek I seek for something I can't see And maybe this is all a dream.
Tryna make a dolla out of 15 cent, try Tryna make a dolla out of 15 cent Tryna make a dolla out of 15 cent - Try, tryna make a dolla out of 15 cent - (clinking) Tryna make a dolla out of (chuckles) Friends of the enslaved, friends of the cause, I welcome you to my home.
I imagine my sudden appearance in your great city raises a lot of questions.
In less polite crowds, the question I can always count on pertains to my face, this scar.
A reminder of my own time in bondage.
I wish I had some dramatic tale of revolution and defiance to explain it, but truth be told, I got this - because my master was a crap shot.
- (chuckling) He and a friend were going on about this story.
A fellow puts a-an apple on his son's head.
Shot it clean off.
Soon enough, my massa put $100 against his knocking a McIntosh off of my head.
- He got close.
(chuckles) - (chuckling) Trust me, he got close.
(chuckles) But that $100 he lost got me taken to the forge.
And them embers reminded a nigger like me what happens when you take money out of the pocket of a white man.
What I've learned on my journey to freedom is there is nothing in your past you cannot forge into a weapon.
What I got right here was a lesson in how to hurt them.
It's all about the money.
They ain't nearly so much cruel as they are greedy.
They are slaves to capitalism.
That's why I offered my home to Mr.
Still.
(chuckles softly) My story to you.
- But most importantly - my money to the cause.
Hey, hey, hey Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey This is our weapon.
This is how we hurt them.
A real go-getter For the money, I go ape gorilla If I go broke, I take your scrilla ROSALEE: I was playing a role.
Wore white powder three layers.
Rode the train all the way to Canada as Harriet's massa.
Ain't nobody stop us.
She said to me, "Act like you own the world, and that's exactly how they gonna treat you.
" Hmm.
(laughs) I'm sorry.
I've been talkin' this whole time.
Come on now.
Tell me.
What happened to you? Who took you? Oh, it don't matter.
I'm here now.
Just want to put all that behind me.
(sighs) There's something I got to tell you.
Noah (sighs) I, um What? I'm going back to get Momma and James.
Back-back back to Macon? But you hurt.
I'm healin'.
Gonna be fine soon.
And it ain't gonna be like when we ran the last time.
I know all the routes, all the safe houses and stations.
We gonna have help every step of the way.
I made a plan with Harriet.
Save up every little bit they give me at that hospital.
Bought two train tickets to Atlanta.
Same one we put Boo on.
It can take us there the whole way.
With with-with me playing your slave? Just like I did with Harriet.
Train leave in five days.
You aimin' for Christmas? You steal 'em Christmas night, be three more days 'fore work start up again.
We be in a safe house Carolina way by the time they even notice we gone.
Oh, Rose, that sounds like a good plan.
But ain't nothin' ever go as planned.
I know.
And I know I don't seem like much now, but Noah, I'm strong.
You found your way back to me just in time.
Noah, I know together we can do anything.
Oh, I hate animals.
Especially horses.
Why can't he just be like the other buckra and stay up in the big house? I'll do all the talkin'.
You just listen.
Take this.
- Are you okay? - I'm fine.
- Maybe we should come back another time.
- No.
- That's just what we need.
- (barking, Clara shrieking) Stop it, boy.
Hey, go on, get.
Sorry, master.
Sorry.
Didn't mean to disturb.
Dog probably just smelled the food.
- What are y'all doing 'round here? - I wanted to say sorry for how I was the other day.
You could have had me punished, but you didn't.
Miss Clara here was kind enough to help me make something sweet to thank you.
What is it? It's called bread pudding.
You like horses? I ain't never seen one as pretty as that.
Her name is Temple.
She's a war horse.
What's that? Horses have been one of man's greatest assets in warfare for centuries.
Temple's breed was used for cavalry charges during the Revolution.
She's strong.
Been with me most of my life.
But you know, her coat wasn't always so white.
What color was it? When she first came to me, it was gray.
But as she's gotten older (chuckles) her coat has turned silver, then white.
You know, most gray horses start off black with dark eyes.
Both fade over time.
Want to pet her? Oh, I couldn't.
Go ahead.
She's friendly.
(horse whinnies, Clara shrieks) (laughs) Don't laugh at me, huh? Me can't stand being laughed at.
I'm sorry.
She was just saying hi.
You don't have to be scared.
Here.
See? She just has to get used to you.
We need to be getting back to the quarters.
Did I do somethin' wrong? You got to leave him wantin' more.
Don't look back.
He watchin'.
You gonna come back for that basket a little after super.
After he done had his after-dinner whiskey.
That's when you stay a little longer.
(door creaks open) (footsteps approach) (door creaks shut) How is she doing? Restin' now.
I was real sorry to hear about John.
I appreciate y'all takin' care of her.
I'm glad you're back.
She needs you.
No, she done all right.
All them people she helped to freedom it's amazing.
(laughs) Last time we saw each other, we was runnin' from danger, now she runnin' into it.
She told you about the plan to rescue her family.
She want me to go with her.
Be back in Georgia by Christmas.
I know.
Going back right now to the hell we ran so hard to get away from that seems crazy, with her hurt like that.
She won't go if you don't go.
No, she need 'em.
She need 'em.
Her momma, her brother.
I ain't never had no family, but I'm-I'm startin' to understand the pull of it.
And I know it ain't so easy for her to just start over, but goin' back to Macon that'd be the last thing I want to do.
And that's how I been livin' my life, always at the point of just doin' the last thing I want to do.
I ain't never had no choice.
And now that I got one, I Then tell her that.
Be honest with her.
She will hear you.
If you don't go, she can't go.
Mr.
Powell, I'd like to introduce you to Frederick Douglass.
Your first autobiography was remarkable.
I haven't had a chance to crack the second, but I'm sure it will not disappoint.
I hear you've just returned from abroad.
- England.
- Oh, I spent some time in the Kensington area.
It's not my place of birth, but I was reborn there.
To be treated not as colored, but as a man.
One hopes we can achieve such here in America.
Tonight will certainly help us get closer to that goal.
We have exceeded our largest intake by a country mile.
Well, if it's one thing I've learned from your print, it's that the success of the abolitionist movement hinges on Northern public support.
And from you, sir, nothing inspires said support more than the heroism of the runaway.
I do have my concerns that we're often too public when we speak of our secret network.
There is a balance that needs to be found.
But tales of successful flight can inspire those yet in bondage to action.
While also cutting off their routes to freedom.
It's why I kept the exact details of my own escape out of my book.
We cannot overexpose it.
Says the most photographed man in the world.
(laughter) Touché.
But image is important.
A single photo can do more to alter the perception of the race than any vile words shouted in hatred.
Men like you need to be seen and heard as much as possible.
Talking is great, but I'm one for action.
Revolution, like that cracker from Kansas.
- John Brown.
- DOUGLASS: Mm, there is some distance between us and Mr.
Brown's methods.
But we do all agree that war is inevitable.
The world is getting hotter.
I think that means that emancipation is on the horizon.
I spent years out in the field looking out at the horizon.
Here's the thing about it.
You can't ever quite get to it, can you? We need to put him in a room with Harriet.
STILL: Did I tell you I've finally convinced her to speak? DOUGLASS: Oh.
The Earth might stop turning.
(speaking indistinctly) This party was an exclusive invitation.
Well, then, perhaps you should check the list again.
The last name is "Cannon.
" We've never met, but it seems we've both heard of each other.
"Negro man named Cato, copper-toned, fanciful dress.
Horribly burned on the right side of the face.
" Although you do look a little taller than five-foot-eight.
Massa Tom saw what he wanted to see, now didn't he? Only thing worse than his sense of measurement was his judgment in choosing a catcher.
Last I heard, they were stretching you out over killing a white man.
Maybe I have you to thank for some of the little pebbles in my garden.
We're not here to fight, Mr.
Powell.
We just want to talk.
When you're ready to do that, we'll be at the bar.
What do you want us to do? Keep an eye on 'em.
Make sure they don't disturb my guests.
Sir? It's not a problem until it's a problem.
It may be one soon.
Francis.
He's on his way back with a surprise for you.
From England.
How much time do we have? Boat was supposed to dock ten minutes ago.
Get these people out of here.
Politely and discreetly.
(chuckles) I apologize, gentlemen, but it looks like we're gonna have to call the night early.
HICKS: Be with me Be with me Be with me Be with me (speaking inaudibly) Be with me While I'm on This lonesome journey I want you To be with me Be with me I want you To be with me.
I am sorry.
I-I can't eat.
I can't hardly sleep thinkin' that something th-that I done did made you walk into that water.
I love you, Stine.
A-And I promise I ain't never gonna raise a hand to you again.
You ain't never raised no hand to me.
You don't even know me.
Wh-What you mean I don't know you? I-I know you.
Hicks, you don't even know yourself.
This thing we do, hurting each other over and over, we ain't come up with it.
We just retellin' the story they wrote for us.
You get hit out in them fields.
And that shame come and hit me.
And I let you, 'cause I got so much shame of my own for the things I done to survive that I think I deserve it.
No.
No, that's that gal.
Yeah, I seen y'all together.
She done got your ear and she's sourin' you on me.
It's over.
After all I done for you? That's it? You think you somethin' special.
You ain't.
You just like them empty blue bottles up in that table-tapper there tree.
All the good inside you been used up.
And now you empty, tossed out.
Just 'cause you was once in the big house lookin' down on the rest of us don't mean nothin'.
You're right.
Bein' in the big house, layin' with you, the opiates, they all just different ways of enduring life instead of living it.
I'm done with all that.
No, you ain't.
You'll be back.
(footsteps receding) (neighs) Whoa.
We should keep moving.
We've been riding for miles.
If they haven't stopped us by now, they're not going to.
I'm headed to Philadelphia soon.
The General's agreed to speak publicly to a small group of likeminded individuals.
The General? That's what the Captain calls Harriet.
I didn't know they knew each other.
Met at the start of the year.
He was completely taken with her.
She's agreed to recruit for him.
Recruit? Captain's always looking for quiet men of principle to be soldiers.
Quiet men of principle.
My husband John would have fit that description.
I wonder what he would have thought about Mr.
Brown's war.
What do you think of it? You should come with us to hear Harriet speak.
(brush crunching) - (gasps) - (grunting) Get off me! Get off me! (panting) You know what we do with nigger-loving slave-stealers? (shouts) (panting) Your friend want to be white.
That mean you want to be a nigger? 'Cause I'll brand you like one.
Do it.
What'd you say? (groans, pants) I am sick of hiding.
I'm sick of secrets.
I am a slave-stealer! So if you're gonna brand me, do it! Keep talkin' and you're gonna get an SS carved Do it! (Elizabeth screams) I'm gonna leave you out here for the animals.
(panting) We'll be watching you.
You don't stop what you're doin' I'll come find you again.
(shuddering breaths) (grunting) All right, let's talk.
We're looking for the Black Rose.
CATO: Never heard of her.
You knew her as Rosalee.
(chuckles) House girl.
I heard she did a number on you.
And your boy.
And I know she was running slaves, but I didn't know she was bumping into the likes of you all.
But if you want to catch her, I could tell you the secret.
Step one get out of my house! Let's all be careful.
That bust of Emperor Napoleon is an original Ferdinand Barbedienne.
Only one made.
Which means it's expensive.
Wouldn't want any bullet holes in it.
But you know what? I can afford it.
Shoot them! - (man yells) - Ring around (groans) Around the rosy Your pockets Overflow Your sharpened teeth - The blood - (gun clicks) The glimmer The kill The hunger kills.
(grunts) (grunting and yelling stop) Let's try this again.
How can we get to the Black Rose? You want to get at the house girl, you got to go through her momma.
She the only thing that girl care about.
Well, see, that wasn't so hard, now was it? You got what you want, now leave.
FRANCIS: Cato! (gun cocks) Noah.
Earlier, you asked what happened to me since last time I saw you.
I said it don't matter, but it do.
Ain't neither of us the same people that ran together.
Now, that boy you met in the whipping shed? All he cared about was getting North.
To freedom.
'Cause that's what they make you think, that freedom is a place.
But it ain't.
We make ourselves free by the choices we make.
While I was in that jail, I did just three things.
First, I thought about you every minute.
Second, I built the house we gonna live in brick by brick in my head.
All you got to do is pick a nice plot of land to call home.
And third well third, I I made you this.
Rose.
My first choice as a free man is you.
I'll follow you anywhere.
(sniffles) And way down We go-o-o-o-o And way down We go-o-o-o-o Say way down We go-o, go Way down we go Whoa, you let your feet run wild You should be coming with us down South.
I think I'm going to stick around here for a bit.
This is a really nice house.
Yeah, but for the fall, ooh My You two bring Momma back.
Look him right in the eyes Yeah Oh, 'cause they will Run you down, down till the dark Yes And they will run you down - (Clara giggling) - Down till you fall And they will Stine, Stine.
It work.
He asked me to come by the stable again tomorrow.
We kissed.
Ain't gonna be long 'fore he do whatever I want him for do.
Good.
Way down we go 'Cause you gonna use him to get me off this island.
Say way down we go.