Heels (2021) s02e06 Episode Script

1
[WILD BILL] Previously on Heels
[TOM] Man, we are losing money.
We are losing so much fuckin' money.
I'm such a fuckin' failure.
What's going on here, Willie?
Tom and I made an agreement years ago
that we would do whatever we need to do
to keep this place alive,
and you don't need to worry
about what those things are.
- Are they legal?
- Some are.
[STACI] Well, whatever
those other ones are,
we're not doing 'em anymore.
[COMMENTATOR] For those of
you wondering what was that,
that was The Condamned.
- [JACK] Ace Spade is back.
- [GULLY] Dystopia was
supposed to end the night up
with a ring invasion.
Instead, we end the night down
in front of a thousand people.
I am not used to having to
run everything by a partner.
Get used to it!
Or the lawsuit is back on!
So I have some thoughts
on how this should go.
Why should I let you book
what happens in my ring
and trust that you're actually
gonna go through with it?
Well, first off, you get
to punch me in the face.
- Yay, Dad.
- Yeah. Yay, me.
[BROOKS] Last year, total revenue
from professional wrestling
was 1.095 billion.
I guess I could grow to love
professional wrestling.
[GULLY] Brooks Rizzo just texted.
He's gonna be a little bit late.
We're not gonna start
the show without him.
So meet him out there for will-call,
sit next to him during the show.
If he needs anything, get it to him.
You were right about the women's league.
We'll make Gully put you in
a match with one of his women.
You get in that ring at Dystopia
and just say, "Shove it up your ass.
I'm here to sparkle".
And I'll be there to protect you.
[GULLY] Hey, listen up, Crystal.
This right here is a two-year
contract for you to join FWD.
You get the hell away from her.
You cannot buy Crystal Tyler.
She's no sellout
like you!
- [WHACK]
- [JACK GROANS]
Nice writing, Jack.
[EXCITING MUSIC]
♪
Wherever you are, Jack Spade,
this isn't over.
- Dystopia for life!
- [CROWD CHEERS]
[BROOKS] Excuse me.
Somebody told me that
you work with Crystal Tyler
- and the Spade brothers.
- I do.
I'm Brooks Rizzo.
I would love to know more about them.
Like what?
Everything. [SMALL LAUGH]
[MELLOW ROCK MUSIC PLAYS]
♪
[SINGER] I'm not waiting for ♪
The answer ♪
♪
I will ♪
Walk in the shore ♪
To find you ♪
To find ♪
The peace that's your own ♪
Where you come from ♪
All that you want ♪
♪
One that's your own ♪
Place to call home ♪
Won't be ♪
Granted ♪
What is fair in love ♪
Is fair in war ♪
♪
What is fair in love ♪
Is fair in war ♪
One ♪
To one ♪
What's love ♪
In war? ♪
♪
[MELLOW MUSIC PLAYS]
[DICK VALENTINO] Number three
on the Dick Valentino
"Top Ten Swerves of the Week"
is not out of WWE,
Ring of Honour, or New Japan,
but Florida Wrestling Dystopia.
In the build-up to
what's shaping up to be
a hot cross-promotion,
"God of Chaos" Charlie Gully
has stolen DWL's Crystal Tyler
- away from Jack Spade
- [MIMICS CROWD ROARING]
[DICK] and signed her to a new contract.
Visit Dystopia's Instagram
to see clips of this one, folks.
- This gal's a star!
- [MIMICS CROWD ROARING]
[DICK] The Duffy Wrestling League
out of Southwestern Georgia
has had a notable run recently,
with the defection of Rooster Robbins,
the injury to Bobby Pin,
and the addition of Rabid Ricky Rabies
and Hall of Famer Wild Bill
Hancock to their roster.
Absent in all of this
has been the Luchador Diego Cottonmouth.
Maybe Jack Spade just is not a fan
- of Diego Cottonmouth anymore.
- [DIEGO SIGHS]
But the big story is The Condamned,
the DWL's new hooded hell-raiser
on a vengeance tour.
Watch out for this guy, folks.
Your friend Dick Valentino
will invite The Condamned
to discuss the drama at work and play
in the hallowed halls of the DWL.
If you're making a mess,
make sure you clean it up.
I'm making a vision board.
It's a tool to help me
manifest my goals for my new gimmick,
"The Condamned", in the ring
but also my own personal goals in life.
You seem to distractedly be doing
a lot of very uncharacteristic stuff.
Not distractedly. Intentionally.
Mama, I'm realising that
I always looked at my mistakes
as like
malfunctions instead of what they are
choices, made by a dude
who's led an unexamined life.
Unexamined because
I've always been preoccupied,
playing four sports a year,
always in the car going to practice,
at practice, from practice, from a game,
working out, recovering, resting,
always trying to improve
so I can compete,
leaving no room for just
thinkin',
contemplating, reflecting.
How can I be a part of a greater good?
How can I be a light and help.
And if we don't do that,
then we're just
wingin' it.
I don't wanna wing it anymore.
That's all fine.
But you appear to be
wildly swingin' from branch
to branch like a monkey.
Leaving Duffy, returning to Duffy.
Hatin' wrestling, rediscovering it.
Merging a gimmick with real life,
callin' that the result of reflection.
So while you are transforming
"winging it" into your vision
for who you should be,
consider the following:
earnin' a living.
Now, unless you're certain that
that glue
isn't gonna wind up all over
my dining room table,
you lay some newspaper down.
[MELLOW INSTRUMENTALS]
[TRAIN CROSSING BELL DINGING]
♪
Need us for background, Chief?
Uh, no, I'm good.
- Wait.
- Don't lecture me.
- One word is not a lecture.
- It is from you.
Please wait till we get good news.
We may not get good news.
Then save it until we get bad news
so there's more for us to drown
our sorrows with together.
[COUNTRY WESTERN MUSIC IN BACKGROUND]
[YOUNG WILLIE] I gotta say,
Bill, it's all so excitin'!
Amen! We are on the verge, Willie.
[WILLIE LAUGHS]
What do y'all think
Ted Turner's really like?
Ted Turner's just a good ole boy.
Stop movin' 'less you wanna
get real stuck like a pig.
I can't believe Ted Turner's
even talkin' about us wrestling on TV!
Because his man Eric Bischoff's
seen what we do.
'Cause word's out about
how we do what we do.
Now Ted's about to pay us
to do more of what we do.
W-C-W!
[BOTH CHANTING] W-C-W!
[ALL] W-C-W!
I'm gonna go ahead and stash
the liquor in the bathroom.
People get judge-y about
booze at work nowadays.
- Good idea.
- I have them on occasion.
[WILLIE] Hey. Just be yourself.
Seems to be workin' for me.
I was talking to Jack.
[ACE SIGHS]
Ace, look at you, all geared up.
Very method.
It's what he came to see, ain't it?
Damn it!
[WILLIE] What? What's wrong?
I forgot the crown.
Should I go home and get it?
- [JACK] I think we're good.
- [CAR DOOR CLOSES]
Okay. He's here.
- [DEBBIE] Brooks? Hi.
- [JACK] All right.
Deb's gonna bring him up.
Well, good luck to the both of you then.
Every question he asks,
ask three of him.
People love talking about themselves.
So, ferme la bouche.
- Always a good strategy.
- Yeah.
- Ferme la bouche, la douche.
- [WILD BILL CHUCKLES]
[WILLIE] Okay. Well, you
text us if you need rescuing.
- [ACE] Oh, we got this.
- All right, good, good luck.
That's pretty wet you're
gonna wanna wipe that off.
You think he's gonna be all right?
- Time will tell.
- Maybe we should go back in.
- We weren't invited.
- Exactly my point.
- Here we go again.
- [SIGHS]
Stay present and preoccupied.
Focus elsewhere
for more productive ends.
Let's rustle up the troops.
If we're gonna take this
promotion to the next level,
we gotta get a whole
lot better at this one,
tout suite!
- Staci Spade, lookin' sharp.
- [STACI] Morning, Bill.
- Morning, Willie.
- Morning.
- Did the meeting start?
- Just about to, I believe.
Do I have any food in my teeth?
My eyes are terrible.
- You're good.
- Thanks.
Fingers crossed.
I don't get it. Jack doesn't invite us,
the two people who made this
possible, and he invites her?
Why?
First of all, because she's his wife.
Second, same reason I'd invite her
if I was having that meeting.
A smart woman makes any man
look smarter and stable.
Just like you do for me,
ravishing princess.
I gotta get in the Dome.
My master class is about to begin.
[NEWSCASTER] Yesterday,
in a surprise verdict,
former football star OJ Simpson
was found not guilty of murder
in the case of Nicole Brown
Simpson and Ron Goldman.
With more on the story,
we're going to Tim Felix.
[TIM] That's right, I'm here now
Howdy.
Tom Spade to see Mr. Turner.
Yes, Mr. Spade, welcome.
I'll let Mr. Turner know you're here.
[JOE] There he is. Looking sharp, Tom.
Joe, I can't thank you and Eric enough
for your belief in me
in this introduction.
You're a heck of a wrestler,
Tom easy to do.
- Morning, Delores.
- Morning, Mr. Canniff.
Your boy OJ had a lucky day, eh?
Oh, he's not my boy, Mr. Canniff.
Ted is gonna love you.
Ted is just very invested in the talent
that represents his name
and his networks.
Don't BS him.
He's sincere. Real. Confident.
And that's why he's gonna like you.
Just be yourself.
I'm off to Houston.
I'll call you tonight.
[PHONE RINGS]
[DELORES] Ted Turner's office.
Can I help you?
Hi.
Meeting's still going.
That's a good sign.
[WILD BILL] One would think.
So how long till we're on WCW Nitro?
Not in our control. In due time.
How do I let 'em know I don't
wanna just be your valet?
By being the best valet you can be.
Boo. Bad answer.
We just gotta make each
spot in our matches shine.
Word will get around
that you wanna wrestle.
We just gotta work hard
and do whatever they ask
before we ask for what we want.
But we still got to speak up.
We speak up by making
ourselves indispensable.
With no drama.
That's no way to get ahead fast.
You watch how soon we climb the ladder
not by asking for anything
but by being hard-workin' and reliable.
[WILLIE LAUGHS]
Mr. Turner begs your pardon,
but he'll be just a few more minutes.
[WILLIE] What the hell could
they still be talking about?
Yachts.
I'm gonna get some more smokes.
Uh you got any dough? I'm skint.
I'll get some snacks too.
More than beef jerky this time!
[WILD BILL] Will do, milady.
Even pay you back with
interest, once we make it.
[LAUGHS] Splurge.
More time Tom's schmoozing Ted,
more rich we're gonna be.
Don't bank that cash yet.
Money changes people.
Especially 'fore the money comes.
For all we know, Tom's up there
cutting us out.
He would never do that.
Judas betrayed the Son of
God for 30 pieces of silver.
Ted Turner's got a Fort Knox of silver.
[WILLIE LAUGHS]
[DOOR OPENS]
I beg your pardon, Mr. Spade,
but Mr. Turner needs to reschedule.
How come?
I'm not always aware of
the reasons, Mr. Spade.
But I'll reach out this week
to find something convenient.
Well, today was convenient.
I have my own obligations I put aside.
- I understand.
- Not sure you do.
I'd like to just pop in and say hello.
He's not there, Mr. Spade.
Now you're just messin' with me.
I been sittin' here
this whole time, eyes open.
I did not see him leave.
He has a separate entrance.
Now, I'll reach out later this week,
when I know the rest of his schedule.
Please do. I have a schedule too.
[KNOCK ON DOOR]
Jack, uh, Mr. Rizzo has arrived.
[JACK] Thank you, Debbie.
Brooks, welcome.
Jack, good to see you again.
It was a bit of a chaotic
introduction backstage
down there at Dystopia.
We have to keep our heads
down and the kayfabe up.
That's my brother Ace.
Wow. That was really
something last night.
- Pleasure to meet you, Ace.
- [ACE] Thank you so much.
Sorry I couldn't stay at the show.
I had to duck out
and hide in Jack's car.
It's all good. I get it.
We appreciate you comin'
to see us here in person.
We know Duffy's out the way.
[ACE] Of everything.
I like the drive here,
all the winding roads,
and then, uh, pulling up on
the water tower, the neon sign.
You got a lotta character in this town.
We grew up here.
- Our dad
- God rest his soul.
bought this place three decades ago.
[ACE] He died last year.
He saw potential.
May I get you some coffee?
Sure. Thank you.
Hey. Sorry, I'm late.
Brooks, this is the lovely Staci Spade,
who thankfully spilled a beer on me
at a Georgia/Florida football
tailgate 10 1/2 years ago.
[STACI] Yeah. Being clumsy paid off.
I got this handsome piece of
meat called Jack out of it.
Pleased to meet you.
- Mrs. Spade.
- No, please, call me Staci.
W-we're so appreciative
you're taking time
to get to know more about us.
There you are. Maybe sit.
- Got you right here.
- Oh, yeah.
Uh, as I was telling Jack on the phone,
our streaming platform Continuum
is looking to add a sporting element
to our programming portfolio.
- I wish I knew what that meant.
- [LAUGHTER]
It means that we're
a fledgling streaming service
that just got a big round of funding.
So now we're being
considered for a merger
with an even-bigger streaming service,
if we can exponentially
grow our subscriber base.
And professional wrestling,
I'm learning,
is very big business.
Very.
We wanna build something
from the ground up.
So maybe you can all
tell me what you're about.
Let's start at the beginning.
The first time I went off the top rope
- was the day I turned two.
- [LAUGHTER]
[WILD BILL] All righty!
I'm instituting a lecture
series here at the DWL.
So open your minds, shut your mouths,
and take your fuckin' seats.
- [LAUGHTER]
- [DEBBIE] Wow.
The elephant in the room
is not an elephant.
On these very premises,
there is a man from
an entertainment entity
interested in the DWL.
When he leaves, we will learn
how piqued his interest is
and what it might mean for our future.
Part of what it means
is validation for what
we've accomplished.
We have drawn attention to Duffy.
- Whoo!
- Whoo!
- [DEBBIE] All right!
- [DIEGO] Yeah.
But that's done.
It's in the past.
Right now, every one of us
needs to be thinking,
"What can I do to make our
visitor's interest pay off?"
We all have one thing in common.
One day we showed up here
with a version of
- knock-knock. I wanna wrestle.
- [LIGHT LAUGHTER]
Each of us surmised we had something
other people might marvel at.
Which is a little presumptuous.
And a little insane.
Truth is, no one needs what we do.
We are the very definition of
a nonessential industry,
one we've invited ourselves into.
You gotta ask yourself,
"Do I have what it takes?"
Some might say,
"Yes, Bill. I worked hard.
I paid my dues".
Don't.
Entitlement is a sin.
"Hard work pays off" is one
of the biggest lies in life.
Hard work is just hard work.
Will it pay off?
Shit, flip a coin.
This business is littered with folks
who worked their ass off,
got jack shit to show for it.
We better be askin'
"How can we be exceptional?"
I am lookin' for keepers
of the flame here, folks.
Come up with something great.
Go back through history.
Elizabethan drama, commedia dell'arte
the average storytelling mode
lasts a generation
before it becomes too familiar,
too trite.
The vessel no longer serves as a conduit
for a vital and heartbreaking narrative
on which the human soul thrives.
It becomes dismissible.
That is where we are with wrestling
at the tail fucking end.
About to become dismissible,
a useless vessel.
Let me state again:
no one is asking us to wrestle.
Our risk of life and limb is our choice.
So what promise will we make to
ourselves to make it worth it?
[SOFT, STIRRING MUSIC]
Pick up a pen and a notebook
and start writing down
what you want from this endeavour
and what you are
willing to do to get it.
Only then can we start
working on our goals together.
Freedom!
- [ALL WHOOPING]
- Freedom!
[GULLY] All right, Rooster.
Make this one count.
- Action.
- [ROOSTER] All I keep
hearing about is The Condamned.
See, as long as I got this belt
the only name that should be
coming out your mouth
is Rooster Robbins!
But it's cool. Ha ha ha. I get it.
The Condamned, he cool.
And it's like he ziplined
right out the pages of a comic book.
Flying around the arena
like he's Superman.
Ha ha ha ha! Whooping
on a group of ten men.
So I'm callin' out The Condamned.
I'm callin' out Jack Spade.
I'm callin' out all of
my so-called friends
that didn't have my back
when I was in the DWL.
And when we meet oh, yeah,
when we meet, I want the hero
that y'all chose over me.
Yeah. I want The Condamned!
I want him in a last man standing match.
No more magic tricks.
Nowhere to run! Nowhere to hide!
Just you, me, one on one,
till there's one of us left standin'!
Oh, yeah.
And if you got the guts to show up
I'll put this belt on the line.
Boom!
Fantastic. Okay.
Just do it one more time.
Slow it down a little bit.
You're talkin' too fast.
Look, I ain't slowin'
it down to be corny.
Yeah, I don't know about corny.
Just slow it the fuck down
every once in a while
so I know what you're saying.
- People know what I mean.
- The people.
I'm the people. I'm the people,
and I don't know what you're saying.
And I wrote it.
- [PAUL] Hey, Charlie.
- [GULLY] Yes, sir.
I got the engagement numbers
from last week's show.
Crystal had the biggest pop we
ever had for a lady wrestler.
Holy shit.
Crystal.
Crystal.
- More Crystal.
- I can read.
[PHONE TUNE PLAYS]
The fuck you want?
Well, don't you have
the prettiest mouth?
Fuck you. Whadda you want?
I want Crystal.
And not in the biblical sense.
In the financially remunerative sense.
In the "we both know she's a star
who's never gonna get her due
in a world where Jack and Ace Spade
come first, second, third,
and fourth" sense.
Yeah, well, I want a '55 Corvette
and a bottle of Macallan 25,
but we all learn to live
with disappointment.
[CHUCKLES] Willie, we've been
dancing around each other
a while now, and if there's a moment
to jump ship, this is it.
Things are about to become
highly rewarding down here.
This Brooks Rizzo fella
seems to be real sweet on me.
You sure you're the only one
he's sweet on?
Times a-wasting, Willie.
This train is leaving the station.
You want me jumping off
ships, jumping on trains?
What the fuck's going on?
Sounds like a shitty trip.
[GULLY] I want Crystal
to defect to Dystopia.
For real, not for kayfabe.
And I want you to be her
front-of-house manager.
You should've been
front-of-house a long time ago
not skulking in the shadows
like Miss Havisham
in her fuckin' wedding veil.
[WILLIE] Maybe I like the shadows.
Yeah, that's like saying
you like anal warts.
You could have been Crystal.
I don't live in the past.
Go talk to Crystal.
Float it out there.
Send it up the flagpole.
See who salutes.
And while you're wondering
who you're gonna pledge allegiance to,
I want you to just have a think
about what you want, Willie.
For yourself.
For your future.
- Tick-tock, Fucky.
- [BEEP]
[SOMBER MUSIC PLAYS]
Hey, heard you were heading to Atlanta
for Ted turnaround number two.
Second attempt at round number one.
I'm glad Ted finally broke
himself free six months later.
You want company on the ride up?
It's still all so exciting.
Willie, I need to let you
in on something.
Somethin' serious.
Um
Are you and Carol splitting up?
- No. Why would
- Sorry.
Forget I said that.
I was just worried about y'all.
I just noticed tension lately.
They just want me up in Atlanta.
I don't wanna go to the meetin'.
I don't wanna be riding up
for moral support.
They just want me right now
for the WCW.
They don't want Bill?
No, they don't.
Least not yet.
I hope to get some more insight
after I sign my own contract.
And since they don't want Bill,
they don't want me as his valet.
It's a terrible business.
Doesn't have to be.
I'll bring you and Bill up there
once I knit myself
into the organisation.
If you say so, I believe you.
And don't tell Bill.
I want to tell him in person.
I'll tell him when I get back.
Tom.
[HEAVY, EDGY MUSIC]
♪
Hey, Willie.
Is the big meeting over?
[WILLIE] Not yet.
Well, it's a long meeting.
So that's gotta be good, right?
Yeah, well, not always.
Um, listen, I
I just got a phone call.
Kind of a weird one from Gully.
He wants you to make your
kayfabe defection real.
He wants you at Dystopia permanently.
Well, he's an idiot.
No one's disputing that.
You don't actually think
I should do it, do you?
I think that you and me
I think we need to stop
letting other people
make our decisions for us.
I think we need to
start seeing things clearly
for what they really are.
He wants to bring me on as
your front-of-house manager.
- You ever done that?
- [LAUGHS] No.
- Do you even want to?
- I've never thought about it.
Well, I bet you'd be good.
He's just saying things
he thinks I want to hear,
his audience is so much bigger,
and Brooks Rizzo's talking to him too,
and this is my chance to cash in.
Do you think I should do it?
No.
But I think you deserve
to know what's out there.
Your offers.
I mean, look, if Jack lands
a deal with this Continuum guy
and it pays off, great.
Great. We never had this conversation.
But even if that doesn't work out,
there's still the women's division here.
Yeah.
As long as Jack can put together
the money to get it going.
[SOMBER MUSIC]
♪
There's all the friends
that I've made here,
you know, everything that
we're building together.
Yeah, well, sometimes
people get so comfortable
with the "building",
they get scared of the "getting".
Look, I'm not telling you what to do,
'cause I don't even
know what I would do.
The good part is we don't gotta decide
until we see how it all plays out.
And now you got some choices.
[CRYSTAL SIGHS]
[BACKGROUND CHATTER]
[JOE] Thank you for being patient, Tom.
Ted's got a lot going on.
But he wouldn't be meeting with you
if he didn't want to meet with you.
Go in there and knock him dead.
Thanks, Joe.
Will do.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS]
♪
Mr. Spade, I'm so sorry,
but Mr. Turner has
got to reschedule again.
- [JOE EXHALES]
- There's a way
you treat people, and this is
not the way you treat people.
This is not the way!
Look, Tom, please don't do this.
You don't do this Joe! I'm a man.
You don't treat a man like this.
I don't care how much money he has,
how many yachts he's got,
how soft his hands have become.
It appears he doesn't know what it means
to be a man any more other
than to let other men wait.
This is some goddamn bullshit!
Now, Tom, come on, man.
This is big business we're talking here.
All due respect,
I'm not some fuckin' fool
Ted Turner has on a chain he can yank
whenever he feels like it. Fuck him!
[JOE] Tom.
[RUNNING FOOTSTEPS]
- [WILLIE GASPS]
- Howdy.
- He's back!
- Can I buy that Porsche now?
[TOM] Not today. But soon.
How'd it go?
It went less well than I had wished.
But that's how things go sometimes.
- What was he like?
- I don't know.
Didn't get to meet him again today.
But one day I will,
and only then will Ted Turner discover
he disrespected the wrong person twice.
I told Joe and Eric I'm
stepping away from the deal.
The fuck are you talking about?
What deal?
What are you fuckin' stepping away from?
Don't you fuckin' talk to me that way.
I'll talk to you whichever way I want.
You didn't just have your
future in your hands, Tom,
you had all of ours!
[TOM] Calm down.
I already got a call in
to Vince's people.
They heard Turner was circling us.
They want nothing more
than to crush him,
and we're gonna help 'em do so.
Ted Turner disrespected the
wrong authentic good ole boy.
You're a fuckin' lunatic.
I'm a fuckin' maverick.
Oh, and by the way, Bill, going forward,
I think it's best if Willie
comes on as my valet,
especially if we're gearin'
up to go to the WWF.
We'll break in somebody new for you.
Well, I think that'd be Willie's call.
It was.
[HEAVY MUSIC PLAYS]
♪
[GRUNTS]
You're always fiddlin' with something.
Well, you press too hard
on a key, it'll break.
Boneheads don't think about that.
[WILD BILL]
I know you don't need any help.
[WILLIE] Nope.
[SIGHS] Lotta déja vu happening today.
Jack's not gonna blow this.
[WILLIE] You say that with
a lot of confidence.
Only way to say it.
You said the same thing about Tom once.
Been a long time.
Long time.
Don't think you realise
when a person does a thing
like you did to me, Willie
That's a fork in the road.
It was one fork when Tom told
us he walked out on Turner.
It was another fork when he told me
that you were his valet now, not mine,
that you'd suggested that
like he was the shooting star
you wanted to hitch your wagon to,
and I'd never do anything.
Two forks sends a person real off-course
from where they were.
Evidently, it puts them on
a plane with their dick out.
- I ended up in a lotta places.
- [WILLIE] Hmph.
I just don't think you realise, people
not just you people don't realise
what they do to each other.
They just collide off each other.
Never look back to see the
wreck, what got wrecked, who.
In some cases, wouldn't matter,
the wreck sped off anyway.
Didn't we have a long talk
about this in the parking lot
a while back?
Why are we doin' this again?
I dunno.
Wasn't that long of a conversation
in the parking lot.
I'm not trying to build you
a cross and nail you to it.
And yes
we did chat about this briefly.
But now that we're around
each other, daily,
I
I'm just humbled
by how I can be struck blind
by something that
happened to me long ago
and how there's still
it leaves this ache.
And yet I understand
that if something like
that's happened to me,
I've done the same to others,
left them some
unacknowledged, unresolved aches.
[SOFT, STIRRING MUSIC]
♪
I don't want that head-on
collision anymore.
I want to let you in front of me.
I want to say, "Turn left here",
or give some directions,
instead-a "Fuck you",
and cutting you off.
I don't need directions.
[WILD BILL] All right then.
Is it quiet in here?
Is it?
I don't know. Listen.
- Guess it is.
- [CHUCKLES]
Place used to be a madhouse.
[CAROL] Sure did.
Kids crashin' through here
with their hair on fire.
Ace playing that awful
guitar up in the attic,
Jack whackin' baseballs
or tryin' walkout music
in the basement.
Both of them flyin' in here
and shoutin' through supper.
Yeah. That was good noise.
Maybe I could bring
some crickets inside.
Few frogs.
Get the volume back up a bit.
Hmm. No, thank you, sweetheart, I
got enough noise up here still.
What do you hear?
No.
That I'm gonna lose DWL
if I can't pay the mortgage
on the Dome.
And if I lose the DWL,
then I can't pay
the mortgage on our house.
If I lose that, then I'm gonna lose
Stop writing.
Writing?
Worst things don't have to
happen in real life
just 'cause they'd make a good angle.
How many seats do you think
a good "real life"
would sell, huh?
Why don't you call Bill?
Just this once? I'm sure he would help.
Carol, I told you I don't need his help.
But we do. Clearly, we do.
I hear ya.
Seems to me I've been saying a
lot of stuff for a long time
that you say you hear.
But nothing you hear seems to
change things for the better.
And I need you to hear this, Tom.
This life that we're living now,
you talk about losing the DWL,
losing this house
that's not the life
I was supposed to have.
It's not the life you promised me.
You are a very persuasive man, Tom.
I was a foolish woman for
wanting so hard to believe you.
The vow was good times and bad, yes.
But if you can't start figuring out
how to make the bad times good again,
it's time for me to go.
I mean it, Tom.
Boys are grown.
We don't gotta do this no more.
[MOODY MUSIC PLAYS]
♪
Howdy. Uh, name's Tom Spade.
I'm here to visit one of the sets.
[SECURITY GUARD] What project?
Oh, uh
"Heaven Forbidden".
Some Christian film thing.
- I'm seeing Bill Hancock.
- Hell yeah.
You know Wild Bill.
That's awesome. "Let the night roar!"
Wow.
This is really cool
you're getting to do this.
Do what?
To do your Make-A-Wish wish.
Get to spend a day with Mr. Hancock.
Guess there's no age limit
on Make-A-Wish then, huh?
[SOFTLY] That motherfucker.
If you don't mind, I'd like
to include you in my prayers.
Oh, hey that'd be nice.
Thank you.
Hope you have a great day, sir,
and good luck with
the time you have left.
- [BELL RINGS]
- [PERSON] Rolling!
[MAN] Twenty-five, Baker. Take five.
And action!
[WOMAN] Where am I, Jerahmeel?
[WILD BILL]
Why, you're in Heaven, Sally.
[SALLY] Heaven?
So then that means that I'm
[WILD BILL] Dead. Yep, 'fraid so.
But look on the bright side.
Least you're here and not elsewhere.
You mean down there?
Like down there down there?
No, child. I'm talking about
where you just came from the hospital.
Oh. Oh my!
I'm young! I'm not old anymore!
You're your perfect age
when you were your best self.
And I have to say,
your best self looks pretty perfect.
[SALLY GIGGLES]
[DIRECTOR] Cut. We got it, moving on!
W you sure?
Feel like I could have
done that last line
a little sexier.
It was great, Bill. Gotta move.
[TOM] Ha ha!
You're an angel guess
that makes me the devil.
[WILD BILL] Ha ha, sure as shit does.
- Hey.
- Good to see you, Billy.
[WILD BILL] Come on, man. It's too hot.
- Want something cold to drink?
- All right.
Hey.
[TOM CHUCKLES] That was pretty good
with that Make-A-Wish shit back there.
Ha ha. Been doing it for years
to anybody who comes to see me.
Hydrate.
Pretty good.
Dialogue in this thing stinks.
Fuckin' think?
It's based on this Christian
romance book series
for horny church ladies.
Plot's about how when you get to heaven,
you turn young and hot again
and you start fucking
other hot dead people
and also hot angels like me. [CHUCKLES]
So what happens
when the husband or wife dies
and shows up in heaven?
Bingo. Love triangle.
Or an unholy trinity.
[WILD BILL] Ah. That's good.
Wish we had shit
half that good in there.
So to what do I owe
the pleasure of your visit?
Uh, well
Bill, they're ready for you.
[WILD BILL] Christ Almighty,
Wesley, already?
That was not five minutes.
How long you here?
Oh, for-for the night.
I had business in town.
Got a hotel.
You wanna meet up for happy hour?
I know a place we can get
wings and beers, tie one on.
I got a late call tomorrow.
- It's not that late.
- Spread my cheeks
- and eat this ass, Wesley.
- Okay.
King Spade's in town.
[TOM] Just just give me a call, Bill.
- We'll eat.
- Guy's such a legend.
Sure is.
I wish I had balls like him.
Nice to meet you.
Don't let him stay out
too late tonight, please.
[TOM] No promises.
[WILD BILL] And I got my bucket
right under my skirt here.
Who wants to pick the special card?
I need everybody's first name
so when I'm in the blackout
at the Oscars
[WILD BILL] I swear to God,
Tommy, I wish it was a porn.
Oh, bullshit.
I do.
Then it'd be okay that
the script's garbage.
I could walk up
to the dead lady and say,
"Hey, I got that big ole dick
you heard about".
- [LAUGHING]
- Boom! We're off.
Well, what are you shootin' tomorrow?
Maybe you can work it in somewhere.
[WILD BILL] Mm
Scene where I comfort a dead guy
who just found out
his dead wife's getting stuck
- by a World War II pilot.
- [BOTH LAUGH]
Should have just done porn.
[TOM LAUGHS]
Well, I bet this pays better.
- Maybe so.
- Yeah?
How much does it pay?
[POP MUSIC OVER SPEAKERS]
[AHEM] Well, this is
the sequel, so I got a bump.
And the first one's
a big earner on Redbox.
I get $350,000 for three weeks.
Hard to say no.
Damn.
That's a good paycheque, brother.
Yeah. But after managers,
lawyers, taxes and shit,
it's only about 200 in my pocket.
[SMALL LAUGH] Only 200 grand.
But if I do a couple of these a
year, it's a nice side hustle.
[WILD BILL CHUCKLES]
You can't even ask it
this time, can you?
After the previous asks.
Two decades on the road and in the ring.
Two decades.
And this chicken wing dinner
might be the best performance
of my life.
Pretending like we're still pals.
We ain't?
[LAUGHING] Hey, sweetheart.
Can I borrow a pen?
Four hundred and sixty-seven
thousand dollars
I have loaned you to date.
No, Tom. We aren't pals.
I'm a ATM.
Once every year and
a half, two years or so,
I get a text or a call
I got to fire up the kayfabe,
make like my best friend
didn't break my fucking heart
just so I can give him
50 grand I'll never see back.
Well, Poor Wild Bill,
got to make a living
doing what he loves, huh?
Like you didn't?
Not for fuckin' millions of dollars.
And whose fault is that? 'Cause
it sure as shit isn't mine.
How was I supposed to
vouch for you, Bill?
You're a clown who talks about
his dick all the time.
You are a dick all the time.
Oh. So it's my fault then.
Is that what you want to hear?
It's my fault.
I shit the bed, I fucked it all up,
and you're a rock star.
Bravo!
Don't give me that self-loathing crap.
You got a family, Carol and those boys.
You got the life.
It's not everything
we thought it would be.
Yeah, well, the alternative is exactly
what we always knew it'd be.
I don't know what to say. I don't
It's the way these things go sometimes.
[AHEM] But let's be honest.
We never broke it down bluntly.
Once you and Willie decided
to kick me to the curb,
that was a motivating factor.
So I thank you.
If you hadn't been
so expedient with my ass,
I may have never had
the stones to think about
nothing but myself.
I was gonna bring you up when I made it.
I had to get launched first.
That's just business.
That had nothing to do
with our friendship.
[WILD BILL] Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Wrote my accountant's number on there.
Next time, just call him.
- Thank you.
- [WILD BILL SIGHS]
Hey, uh, uh, Bill.
[SIGHS]
About the money. Listen, uh
don't, uh don't tell Carol.
Please. Or my boys.
It
it's embarrassing.
You're a fucking genius, Tom.
I mean it. You are.
I thought you'd protect me
from being a clown.
Thought I'd spend my whole
life playing your shit.
Instead I'm doing "Heaven Forbidden".
Godspeed, brother.
[BLUESY MUSIC PLAYS]
♪
Hey, honey. I, uh, sorry.
Sorry to call so late.
I went out with a couple
guys from the autograph expo.
But good news
they-they want to invest.
So we're good for a while.
So this was
a successful trip.
Ha.
Uh, well, I'll see you tomorrow.
I love you.
Bye.
"This place is made of pure love"
I told you I can't
sign anything for free,
per my contract.
[SECURITY GUARD] Sorry, it's not that.
Someone left something for you.
- Who?
- That Make-A-Wish man
from yesterday. It's your script.
He said tell you thanks
for making his wish come true.
[DOOR CLOSES]
[ANTICIPATORY MUSIC PLAYS]
♪
[BOBBY] He's walking to his car.
Hmm. It looks like he's sending a text.
- Or he's maybe writing notes.
- [DEBBIE] Notes are good,
- Phone call would be better.
- Phone call is not better.
He could be calling his barber.
Mm. His hair's pretty short.
Fine, his dentist. His mother.
We should all call our moms more often.
- Every day.
- Mine's dead. But I agree.
[JACK] Okay, team.
It's nothing yet.
But it's not not nothing.
Brooks Rizzo is clearly
looking to be impressed.
And we have the opportunity
to impress him by showing him
that what we do here
is special and unique
and groundbreaking and
revolutionary and perfect
for what he needs
whatever that may be.
Because to tell y'all the truth,
I don't really know
what all this involves.
But I do know that we got to reach up.
We got to take it.
We have to work harder than we
ever worked before, all of us.
We need to take this promotion.
We need to turn it into
what it always should have
been all along opportunity.
That's a rare thing.
And I don't want to look back and think
this was our one chance
and we just let it slip away.
I believe in all of you.
You've always believed in me.
So let's say we do this together.
[WILD BILL] D-W-L!
[ALL] D-W-L! D-W-L!
D-W-L! D-W-L!
[CHANTING GROWS MUFFLED, ECHOES]
[MUFFLED] D-W-L! D-W-L!
[CHANTING CONTINUES, MUFFLED]
[SOFT, EMOTIONAL MUSIC]
- [CLICK]
- [DIRECTOR] And action.
[MAN] Sally said she's not
coming back to me.
She's in love with
a World War II veteran.
- What do I do?
- What do you do?
You're in heaven, Sam!
Surrounded by beauty.
Maybe you just need
to open your eyes and realise
the reason they call them soulmates
is 'cause you're not supposed
to meet 'em down there.
You're supposed to meet 'em up here.
[DIRECTOR] And cut! We got it.
- [BELL RINGS]
- Great work. Let's move on.
Uh, can I get one more, actually?
Sorry, Bill, we gotta go.
One more take. For me, please.
Okay. Let's go again, one more time.
Settle please.
- [CREWPERSON 1] Roll sound.
- [CREWPERSON 2] Sound speed.
[CREWPERSON 3] Scene 13. Take nine.
- Mark.
- [CLICK]
And action.
Sally said she's not coming back to me.
What do I do, Jerahmeel?
This place, it's made of pure love.
But if you love something,
you can hurt it.
And it can hurt you. Purely.
Not sure God accounted for that.
I fell for a girl up here once,
knew it the moment
she walked through that gate.
She'd died young, and
we had a while together.
And then one day,
a man she'd loved down there showed up.
And when he walked in,
she looked at him
the way I looked at her.
That was a long time ago.
Forever ago maybe.
I don't know what
I'm saying, just that, uh
just 'cause this is heaven
don't mean it can't be hell.
- [DIRECTOR] Cut.
- [BELL RINGS]
- Shit, man.
- [DIRECTOR] That was
Damn.
Thanks.
[PHONE CHIMES]
Carol.
Long time no talk, missy.
[CAROL] Bill, I just thought
you should know,
Tom shot himself this morning.
What?
Shot himself in the head.
[UNEVEN BREATHING]
I just I just
[CAROL] He was too proud
to ask you for help.
But you could've helped him anyway.
You could've done something,
anything for him.
You'll have to live with that, I guess.
[CRYING] Yes.
Yes, I will.
Carol, are you okay?
- You have a nice evening.
- [BEEP]
[SOMBER MUSIC]
♪
[SOBS]
[CLEARS THROAT]