Thirtysomething (1987) s02e17 Episode Script

[theme.]
[Michael.]
I really don't mind standing like this, sweetie.
if you'll promise that you're not going to try to make these into Christmas cards.
[Hope.]
Michael, just one smile, okay? That's all we need.
You promised you would do this.
Hope your mother likes these.
Well, I don't know.
- [Michael mutters.]
- Stop tickling me.
- I'm not.
- Michael, stop.
If you guys don't knock it off, we're going to have to forget the whole thing, and the yearbook is going to call you "camera-shy seniors.
" - Come on.
- At Sears, they give you a choice of backgrounds.
We could've tricked people into thinking we went to Yellowstone.
Oh, come on.
I pour out my whole heart and soul to you guys.
You want to know how many wallet prints you're going to get.
All right, done! Done! - Yay.
- Yay! - Good.
- Thank you very much, Janey.
Thank you, thank you-- When do you talk to the editors of the Philadelphia Enquirer? Tomorrow.
- That is so nifty.
- Nifty? Oh, shut up.
Did you call them, or they call you? [Hope.]
I called them.
"Come in, let's talk about what you can do for us.
" Oh, why am I attracted to smug women? Oh, I'm late.
Late, why? I thought we were going to go to lunch.
- Look, I got coupons.
- I've got a date.
Geez, you guys are modern.
It's just I promised somebody I'd meet them, that's all.
Oh.
Who, Gary? - Yeah.
- Gary, right? I told him that I'd help him shop for things for Susannah and the baby.
He's got a lot of nerve to ask you to do something like that after what you've been through.
- I offered to help.
- Oh.
- Thanks for the picture.
- Okay.
- Bye.
- Love you.
- Bye.
Goodbye, Janey.
[Janey.]
Bye, Mommy.
You know, sooner or later, you're going to have to talk to him.
I don't like her any more than you do, Melissa.
I don't hate her.
Just her ovum.
Have you considered the possibility that the two of them might be permanent? The day Gary gets permanent about anything is the day you'll see fish walking down Walnut Street.
- [Janey babbles.]
- I don't know.
I think this might be it.
Yeah? 10 bucks.
10 bucks says you can't teach an old Shepherd new tricks.
- Melissa.
- Nope.
One year from today, Susannah and that little bundle of joy are going to be footnotes.
- You're ser-- Melliss-- - I am.
Here.
Here's mine.
Put 'em up.
Put 'em up, cuz.
All right.
10 bucks, just to teach you a lesson.
Yeah, well, we'll see who learns what.
He may be your friend, but I've slept with him.
He's Houdini in a Peter Pan suit, and nothing's going to change that-- not Susannah, not a baby, not doing good deeds on Race Street.
Nothing.
[Gary.]
Don't push it.
you slide it.
[Susannah.]
I can't open the door.
[Michael.]
Here, let me do it.
Let me do it.
Come here.
There's a trick to it.
Remember? [Susannah.]
Right.
There's a trick to your front door.
There's a trick to your car door.
To turn on the hot water, you've got to turn it on with a twist.
Is there anything in your life that works the way it's supposed to? All right, look, we knew this was a possibility.
Shinbrotz confirmed it.
Now we deal with it.
- All right? - Great.
So why don't you get into bed? Doctor's orders.
- I cannot be sick.
- Well, you are.
I simply cannot be sick.
Page 179, I believe.
Yes, 179.
Here it is.
"Toxemia's not uncommon, but must be taken seriously.
You'll be fine as long as you stay in bed.
" I don't care what this says.
I'm telling you I cannot be sick.
Fine.
Why don't you get into bed while you're deciding who you're going to sue over this? You're enjoying this, aren't you? I can tell by that goofy "I'll take care of you" smile.
Come on, just get into bed.
- Relax.
- I'm relaxed.
Rosie and I will take care of everything.
This isn't going to work.
People are depending on me.
Yeah, yeah, I'm depending on you, and so is little Thor.
We are not naming this child Thor.
Yes, we are.
Thor if it's a boy and Ariadne if it's a girl.
In a pig's eye.
- We are.
- This is impossible.
Things have to be done.
We don't even have a crib yet.
I'm going to build one.
In the meantime, we can keep him in a cardboard box with some shredded newspaper.
It'll be done in time.
You'll see.
I'm going to hand turn the rails.
I'm not going to use a single nail.
It'll last for a hundred years.
It'll take a hundred years.
No, it won't.
- I can't figure it out.
- What? You're either wonderful or just nuts.
I kind of like you, too.
Stay in bed, relax, try to enjoy yourself.
Yes, sir.
[Woman.]
What's going on? [Hope.]
I thought all you did was housing advocacy and the project that Gary's involved with.
[chuckles.]
We're the Whitman's Sampler of social services.
Last time I counted, we were administrating-- or trying to administrate-- something like 20 different programs-- teen literacy, adult literacy, reproductive rights, child abuse, substance abuse-- notice a pattern? And you get results? Sometimes.
Sometimes it's too little, too late, but we hit for the average around here.
- Hey.
- Oh, Hi.
- Hi.
- Hi, sorry I'm late.
Oh, no problem.
Is Susannah still at the doctor's? - No, she's at home.
- Doctor's? Yeah, at my place.
She has to stay in bed.
- What's wrong? - It's what we thought-- toxemia.
- [Rosie.]
Oh, no.
- Oh, God.
Complete bed rest.
Maybe this isn't such a good day to do this.
- Oh, no, it's okay.
- Are you sure? Yeah.
yeah, let's do it.
Um, we finished this last night, so-- okay? I didn't have this much furniture in my first apartment.
Put a kid down in here, and you'd never find him again.
They have a way of making their presence known.
When did having a baby become such an industry? Oh, it's always been an industry.
You just weren't a targeted consumer before.
[sighs.]
Oh, man.
Doesn't it worry you that this secular religion has attached itself to a natural process? - They're just toys, Gary.
- Didn't you have toys? Yeah, I had Lincoln Logs.
They came in a big tube, made a great sound when you shook them.
My favorite was the box that the side-by-side refrigerator-freezer came in.
Oh, yeah.
Let's blow this place and raid the back of an appliance store.
She'll be okay.
Yeah, of course she will.
I just wish there was more I could do for her.
Actually I wish there was more she'd permit me to do How are you? Better.
- Good.
- Not good.
Better.
Am I allowed to thank you again for coming with me today? No, I should thank you.
I loved seeing the project, meeting Rosie.
Yeah? Yeah, Rosie's the best.
And there's a lot of things you haven't told me about the place.
I just didn't know how interested you'd be.
Oh, God, sometimes I wonder what you think of Michael and me.
Who, me? I think I might write about the project.
Well, I mean about Race Street and other places where people are trying to make things work, and it would be maybe for the Sunday Magazine, the Enquirer.
I'm going to talk to them tomorrow.
Oh, Hope, that would be great.
That would give us so much visibility.
A lot of our grants are up for renewal right now.
That would be really helpful.
I'm either going to write about social reform or designer running shoes.
Oh, how can I influence you? Buy your kid a teddy bear.
Hey, you know what? I think we could rig this up with a really small TV camera so we could spy on Alice and Trixie next door.
I don't know, Elliot.
They might think you're trying to look up their skirts.
This is strictly industrial espionage, Michael.
You've got to know what the competition's planning, what their next move's going to be, what color panties they're wearing.
- [Hope.]
Knock-knock.
- Hi, Hope.
Wow, I can't get over this place.
Yeah, it's amazing what you can do with only a couple of million.
So how did it go at the Enquirer? I'm going to take my husband to lunch.
That's how it went.
- Oh, no, you got it? - Uh-huh.
Oh, all right, I'm very proud of you.
Hey, I read a story in the Enquirer about Liberace's ghostly image coming out of a spaceship.
Philadelphia Inquirer, Elliot, not the National Enquirer.
That's good, too.
So what are you going to write about? Community-level social action, projects like Race Street.
I'm going to interview Ellyn about how the city gets along with these de facto advocates.
All right, so try not to burn the place down before we get back, okay? - [Elliot.]
Bye.
- Bye, Elliot.
And Hope, I was just kidding what I said about those panties.
- What panties? - I'll explain later.
Whose panties? [imitates Samurai.]
Why can't you have a regular dart gun like normal people? - Okay.
Did you take these on time? - Yes.
You're wearing a tie.
Why are you wearing a tie? I felt like it.
Driscoll.
You're gonna go meet Driscoll.
Oh, God, Gary, he'll eat you alive.
- I can't handle it.
- No, you cannot handle Driscoll.
You are too nice.
All right, no phone calls, stay in bed, and take it easy, okay? All right? Goodbye.
I'll talk to your later.
- Hey, Gary.
- Yeah.
Good hands.
Very funny.
That brings us to the Scarborough Appropriation.
And what about it? Well, it-- it went through.
Oh.
Good.
Nice work.
Thanks.
So how are you? I'm pretty good.
- Good.
- You? I'm okay.
Yeah, I'm okay.
You changed your hair.
So did you.
It's shorter.
Yeah.
- Guess we'll live, huh? - Huh? Oh, yeah.
Guess so.
Yeah.
Oh, wait, I think this is yours.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
It's a spoke wrench.
Oh, I sucked it up in the vacuum cleaner.
I hope it's okay.
It's fine.
Thanks.
Yeah.
Okay, send her in.
Better go.
Thanks for the wrench.
Don't mention it.
- Hi.
- Hi.
Excuse me.
Don't say it.
What? We work together.
- There is bound to be, you know, office-- - Intercourse? Right, that's exactly the word I was looking for.
Thank you.
What a pal.
What a pal.
Yes, yes.
Okay, okay, I'm all ears.
I 'm here, I'm focused, I'm ready for action.
- Let's work.
- All right, great You mind if I use this? No, I love the sound or my own voice.
Okay.
The idea is that with the cuts in the program-- Which is nationwide, by the way.
it's not just here.
Exactly.
What seems to be happening is that the community centers are helping the people to get the aid that's left.
Extra-governmental public resource interface centers if you want the Latin terminology.
How does it work? Well, some are very good and provide immediate benefits to people who go to them, and some are just well-meaning incompetents.
And some are the last of the anarchists, using the underclass as blunt instrument against the establishment.
How about this one that Gary's involved with, Race Street? Um, what about it? How do they rate? They're good.
They're very creative.
How so? Well, they're aggressive getting funding, very aggressive in fact.
So they'd be a good model as to how a project should be managed.
I really don't think I'm in a position to show favoritism.
But you do think it's well managed, right? Hope, will you turn the tape recorder off? Oh, this sounds serious.
No, really, I mean it.
Really? So did they really do something illegal? No, it's not illegal, but it's leaning towards unethical.
How much of a lean? Well, they applied for a grant to do statistical research on absent fathers.
- And? - They put one high school student on the project, and apparently put the rest of the money into unrelated work.
How much of a lean is that? - About 45 degrees.
- Yeah.
Well, it makes the grant committee look sloppy.
It makes the city look like idiots, which they do not like.
Right, and if you put this in your article, it's going to make Race Street look very bad.
Well, before I write anything, I have to ask Gary what this is all about.
Wait a minute, Hope.
Do you really think he knows about it? It's possible that it predates his involvement.
Great.
Then I get to tell Mr.
Integrity that his girlfriend fudged the truth to get what she wanted.
Are you still a girlfriend after you get pregnant? Isn't that an automatic promotion or something? You're being awfully whimsical for a man whose wife is holding a knife.
[music box lullaby.]
It isn't the shapes, Gary.
It's the motion they go for.
I do not want this kid's imagination to be restricted by official fantasies.
He or she is going to learn Winnie The Pooh from me and A.
A.
Milne, not Walt Disney.
- No television.
- No television.
Not even Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol? Well, I don't want to be a zealot with this.
You help with the grant applications, don't you, at Race Street? - Yeah.
- Can I ask you something? - Sure.
- There's this article-- [Man on P.
A.
.]
There's a layaway pickup at the front desk, a layaway pickup at the front desk.
[muttering.]
And we got into a thing about people, and Race Street was one example Well, it must be a mistake.
Whose mistake? Ellyn's, obviously.
That's just not the way we do things down there.
So you helped prepare this grant application.
Not this particular one, no, but I'm telling you that it's just not right.
Someone's got their wires crossed.
Well, it didn't sound right to me.
That's why I felt I had to ask you about it.
Sure.
I understand.
I'll talk to Rosie, but I'm telling you, we'd just never do anything like that.
[Rosie.]
Of course we did.
You lied on the grant application? No.
No, we never lie.
We did exactly what we said we were going to do.
We delivered.
But you used the grant money for something else.
Some of it went to pay for a 16-year-old's sonogram and pay the rent and to restock the food bank and a few other luxuries.
Bureaucracies never give you money for the things you need.
They only give you money for things you don't need.
So this isn't the only fudged grant.
How do you think we stay in business down here? That was a $25,000 grant to determine if the absence of parents causes family stress, and guess what.
It does.
$5,000 to develop a profile of the typical runaway, $3,000 to find if crack use impacts domestic violence, racial identity in the disenfranchised.
It's lots and lots of money to prove that the problems that we've got are actually problems and nothing to solve the problem.
It's a lunatic system, but you've got to humor a lunatic if you want something from him, and that's what we do.
That's how we help.
- [Gary stammers.]
- But what? [sighs.]
"Grant to develop a viable inner-city evacuation plan in the event of thermonuclear exchange or reactor meltdown.
" Hope told me, and I didn't believe her.
Wellit's not as if we're laundering money for the mob.
We're just doing the old urban dance of survival.
So what do I do? About what? About this-- Hope and the article.
I practically asked her to write the piece.
Now I feel like I've handed her a loaded gun.
Hope didn't look all that dangerous to me.
In fact she seemed pretty nice when she was here.
I think she's legitimately interested in what we're trying to do.
No, I've got to diffuse this.
I don't want Susannah getting upset, not now.
I think you're letting this get all out of proportion.
That's because you don't understand.
Hope and Susannah don't exactly hate each other.
There's more like a casual dislike.
Then I think you have to talk to her about it.
Which one? - Hi.
- Hi.
Why didn't you wake me when you came home? I thought you should sleep.
Come here.
Hi.
How you doing? You want something to eat or something? No, I'm okay.
[sighs.]
I can't work.
I can't smoke.
I can't drink.
This isn't a fetus.
It's a parole officer.
Come here.
- How you feeling? - Tired.
- Yeah? - Fat.
[chuckles.]
Did you bring home the material from the city services? Yes, yes.
I'll do it later.
My meeting with Ellyn Warren isn't until this Monday.
Okay? [murmurs.]
Oh, sorry.
Oh, God.
Am I going to feel like this for the rest of my life? Probably.
We used to put a rope behind a - A car? A pickup truck.
- A car.
Yeah, we used to fly down the street.
You guys were dangerous, huh? Oh, no.
Look at this.
Just what every baby needs-- a beeper.
Well, you can't be everywhere at once.
That's why these monitors are so great.
Squelch control, limits outside interference.
Squelch.
Is that like colic? Don't worry, you'll know colic when you hear it.
[mutters.]
I talked to Rosie about the grant applications.
Did you? Yeah.
Ellyn wasn't lying to you.
Was that the issue? Well, she wasn't.
Gold star for Ellyn.
It's amazing the hoops they make you jump through just because you want to help people.
I know what you mean.
I remember, when I was in college, I had this idea.
I'd have chamber music on the quad, and all we needed was a couple of folding chairs, and we'd have Mozart under the stars, and then the administration came charging in-- Student Activities Board-- and the whole thing stalled and fell apart.
The thing is I think they really enjoyed sinking the idea, and that's the sort of mentality we have to put up with at Race Street.
It's as if people are looking for ammunition, anything that could make the project look bad so they could shut us down, like grant applications.
That's the sort of thing that they look for, and if anyone were to hear about that or to read about that, you know, out of context-- That's why context is so important.
Right.
I mean, what if it isn't just Race Street.
What if fudging in order to get funds is widespread? If the system is open to that kind of abuse, then-- - Abuse? - It could be an important story.
This isn't a story, Hope.
This is about people's lives.
I know that.
Don't you think I'm capable of telling the whole story, context and all? It's my job.
It's what I do.
Oh, your job, right.
Yes, Gary, my job, which I take as seriously as you take yours.
What I do isn't a job.
You get up, you eat cornflakes, you go to an office.
That's a job.
It must be great being able to reduce life to the size of a nice, manageable desk blotter.
That's a great trick.
You're right.
It is a trick because life isn't manageable.
- Hmm.
- You don't believe me, huh? You just wait a few months until that little invader you planted in Susannah arrives, and then you tell me how much time you have for altruism or anything else.
This is going to show me places in Havertown and Broomall.
- Yeah.
Apartments.
- And houses.
- Houses? - Uh-huh.
Yeah, if I wouldn't keep a dog in an apartment house, it's not fair to have a baby in one.
Well, it doesn't seem very practical right now.
No, it would be great.
It would be great.
We'd get a place, and I could putter around.
I've always wanted to do that.
Can't you just putter around in a bigger apartment? It's not the same thing.
- Listen, I've got to go.
- Okay.
- Pill time.
- Yes, dear.
- Take it easy.
- Bye.
Bye-bye.
So the whole operation is crooked.
Oh, it isn't crooked.
- Corrupt.
- Nah, that's not corrupt.
I know corruption.
I think it says more about how public money's distributed than the groups using it.
I know a city councilman that can be bought for the price of a Cuba Libre.
- Who? - No.
I'm not wearing stockings, and when I'm not wearing stockings, everything's strictly off the record.
So Susannah lied in the grant application.
Not lied exactly.
More like expedient exaggeration.
So are you going to put it in the article? I don't think I have much choice.
- What? - Nothing.
Nancy.
It's just everybody gets a different amount of slack.
I let Elliot get away with things that you wouldn't deal with.
- Like what? - Get a life.
And Michael does things that would drive me crazy, but they don't seem to bother you.
- That's true.
- We have different rules for different people, so would you have more of a choice on this article if you felt differently about Susannah? [sizzling.]
There's something you don't see every day.
It's a closet.
Yes, but it's a tremendous closet.
Gary, trust me.
Your significant other will be thrilled with the dimensions of this closet.
- Michael.
- Yes, Gary? Would you like to see the big closet? That's okay, Gary.
I can see it from here.
Thank you.
[Gary groans.]
"Edison Towers.
" Why be subtle? Why not just call it Orwellian Nightmare? - You didn't like it, Gar? - What gave you that idea? I don't know.
I was just watching your jaw muscles clench on the way down to the elevator.
All these buildings, they look exactly the same.
How are you supposed to remember which one's yours? On your way to work every morning, you just leave breadcrumbs.
Why did she show me this? Did she really think I'd like it? It's in your price range, Gary.
[chuckles.]
I wanted a house.
Yeah, but you can't afford a house.
My parents bought their first house for 27 grand.
Really? That was during the Truman administration, wasn't it? Welcome to the economy, babe.
See, today the house you want-- $200,000 easy.
- 200,000? - 100,000.
Then you've got to think about utilities.
You've got to think about taxes, luxuries such as food, and then let's say you can manage the money.
Then you've got to think about the neighborhood and the sewers and the schools.
- Gad.
- That's called being a family man.
Oh, yeah, but why does it all have to be so-- So what, Gary? So middle class? Huh? Oh, that's right.
I forgot.
I'm sorry.
You're not buying into any of this bourgeois crap about making a home for the woman you love or seeing that your kid has it better than you.
This isn't better.
No, but this you can afford.
Let me tell you something, Gary.
This-- This is much better than a lot of people can manage.
This is boxes inside of boxes inside of a bigger box with central heating, central air, central light-- But you don't look at the buildings, Gary.
Look at the people.
You can make a family here.
You can make a family anywhere if you put your mind to it.
I mean, having a baby is like-- that's like knocking over the first domino.
After that, all you can do is stand back and watch.
What did you think, because you and Susannah weren't getting married, thinks were going to be different? We are different.
I'm different.
Sure, of course you're different, Gary, but we're all working with the same raw material here.
You see, Gary, in my experience I've come to learn that life is made up of six basic activities-- eating, sleeping, goofing off, work if you're lucky, sex if you're really lucky, and looking for a place to park.
These are the basic genetic building blocks, so you do the best you can with what you got.
Thanks.
Gary did this? - Yep.
- It's good.
He's good.
He's okay.
He's got a lot to learn.
Well, Monday he sees Ellyn Warren about the Housing Intervention Program.
They're just going to cut him off at the knees.
Warren is a friend of his.
That's exactly why she'll do it.
She's punishing him for being with me.
All of his friends hate me.
You're just upset about the article.
Article, what article? - Let's see, one foot.
- [Janey mutters.]
Oh, nope.
Okay.
Look who's here.
Come here, sweetie.
- [Janey.]
Daddy.
- Oh, big girl.
- Here.
- [Michael chattering.]
Sit down for a little-- - Hi, how was house hunting? - Hello, girls.
- Oh, it was interesting.
- Depressing.
Well, if somebody would volunteer for bath time, I will start dinner.
Oh, come on, sweetie, want to take a bath? [growls.]
You can play "hide the sponge up Daddy's nose.
" Oh, my goodness, pumpkin, you're getting big.
- Want to ask you something.
- Shoot.
Actually, I want to ask you not to do something.
- Gary.
- Don't use the thing about the grant applications when you write the article.
Gary, I cannot believe you're asking me to do this.
People won't understand.
It could do a lot of damage, and I can't let you do that.
You can't, Gary? I don't think you have a choice here.
This is my decision, mine the and paper's.
It's an editorial decision.
- It's a personal decision.
- How do you figure that? Because you wouldn't be doing this piece if I didn't know Susannah, and the fact of the matter is I do know Susannah, which is why you can't be objective about this.
Is that so? Yes, because, you see, if you were objective about it, you'd see what this kind of press would do.
We're trying to help people down there.
You are playing fast and loose with the facts and public money.
We are doing what we have to do to make a bad system work.
Are we quoting Poindexter or North? Okay, who are we kidding here? We both know what this is really about, don't we? Well, you have such a clear-eyed insight into my motives, please enlighten me.
- What is this about? - You think I don't know? You think I don't hear that tone in your voice or see that dismissive look? You don't like Susannah.
- Gary.
- This business about the grant is a non-issue.
If it were someone else, you'd be going off to bat for her and the project, but it's not somebody else.
It's Susannah.
Maybe you feel threatened by her.
- I feel threatened? - Yeah, yeah.
You think you're being a courageous journalist, but you can't tell me that the idea of sticking it to Susannah doesn't appeal to you just a little bit.
Why don't you just admit that.
Is that who you think I am? Is that the kind of petty, diminished view you have of us? Well, you're either an idiot, or you're completely blind, or maybe you're right, and if that's the case, I can't imagine that your conscience would allow you to sit at our table and share our food.
You're supposed to be in bed.
I'm much too angry to remain horizontal.
- Angry? - Why didn't you tell me about your friend's wife? - Hope.
- Yes, Hope.
Why didn't you tell me she was writing a slam piece on the project? - Rosie tell you that? - No, don't change the subject.
- Answer my question? - Because I knew it would upset you, which it has.
That is not what's upset me.
You are protecting me.
All right, yes, yes.
Since when did I ask for your big, strong, masculine protection? When did I give you my power of attorney? I did what I thought was right, okay? I am not your invalid wife.
- I am perfectly capable of fighting my own battles.
- Of course you are.
I cannot fight them if you withhold information from me.
It's not like that, and you know it.
There's a different spin on this.
You know this woman.
This woman knows us.
We all know how we feel about each other-- Thos who are permitted to know.
How dare you cut me out on this? You want to get in bed so we can talk about this? No, we're going to talk about this right here.
- You should be in bed.
- I will go to bed when we're finished dealing with this.
You're endangering yourself and the baby.
Now, get to bed.
You are not going to weasel out of this by being right on this one point.
Okay, do I have to carry you? You'd probably drop me.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
I'm going to bed.
Are we tucked? We were read to, we were tucked, and we are asleep.
What did you read to her? Oh, 101 Dalmatians.
Oh, I know, but Dalmatians is a good one.
I took you to see that on a date, remember? Pongo and Perdita-- they're such a happy couple for dogs.
Hmm, much more stable than Lady and the Tramp, really.
There the cultural differences were just too great.
What is it? Hmm.
Have we lost it? I mean, are we the totally compromised sellout that Gary and Susannah think we are? Yes.
Thank you for clearing that up.
What did you think I was going to say? Well, I was expecting a carefully constructed defense of our lifestyle.
Oh.
We're working on a family here.
Maybe that is being selfish.
Maybe we should spend more time worrying about what surrounds our family.
You know what I realized the other day? Janey is going to be 14 in the year 2000.
Uh-huh, 14.
That is plenty old enough to ask us why the world is the way it is.
What are we going to say, "Sorry about the ozone, sweetheart, but we were a little focused on your preschool?" Maybe Gary and Susannah are entitled to hate us.
I don't think they hate us.
I think they're afraid.
Afraid of what? I think they're afraid of the kind of intimacy required to be a family.
Some people-- Some people avoid it by doing work.
Some people, they avoid it by doing good deeds, but that's not a life.
I mean, life isn't only the things that you do It's who you do the things for.
How's the article? It's finished.
[phone beeps.]
Yup.
Shove them in.
Gary? - How are you, Ellyn? - I'm just fine, Gary.
- How are you? - I'm fine myself.
- You look fine.
- Thank you.
So did you get a chance to go over the background material we sent over? Uh-huh.
Good.
- Hi.
- Hi.
I didn't know whether to knock or to let myself in.
Gary gave us a key a couple of years ago when he broke his ankle.
Can I come in? Sure.
You weren't sleeping, were you? No, that's okay.
- How are you feeling? - Puffy.
Uh, well, you shouldn't worry about it too much.
If you take care of yourself, everything will be okay.
That's what they keep telling me.
I brought you something.
It's this article that I've been working on.
I guess you've heard about it.
I wanted you to read it.
I want to make sure it's accurate as far as Race Street goes.
You didn't have to show me this.
Yes, I did.
I realized, in talking to Gary, that-- well, he expressed doubts about my motives.
Anyway, it's what I wrote, and if you think that it's biased, then we can talk about it, but I'm not going to leave out facts.
I can't do that.
Did Gary ask you to leave things out? No, he just felt there was room for misinterpretation, and-- yes, he asked me to leave things out.
Did you tell him to go chase a cat? - Basically.
- Good.
He doesn't have the right to ask you to do that.
Nobody does.
I think he was trying to help you.
Ah, I'm sure.
Not a malicious bone in that man's body, but look out for his good intentions.
This is all pretty new to him.
Me, too.
He'll be okay.
I hope so.
I, uh-- I wasn't prepared for this level of disruption.
It will stabilize.
Honest.
- How about you? - Me? You feeling okay after the-- - Miscarriage? - Yeah.
Maintaining a level strain.
I was sorry when I heard.
Gary told me.
- Thanks.
- I wanted to call, but I didn't know what to say.
I understand.
And after all, we don't really know each other really well, do we? No, we don't.
All very impressive, the outside evaluations, the support documents.
So there's no problem? No, Race Street is certainly in the running.
[phone rings.]
But a lot of other people put in for this grant, so a council board has to meet and blah blah blah blah you know, processes and procedures.
There's always process and procedure.
Ellyn, is there any way to expedite this? Speed is relative in government, Gary.
Yes, I know that.
I know that.
I just think it would be best for everyone if we could get a decision as soon as possible.
- Of course.
- Right.
I mean, like, before a certain issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer comes out.
Oh, Gary, don't worry about Hope's article.
I'm sure there's nothing in that article that we don't know already.
Yeah, maybe, maybe, but You know, Gary, we take hits from the press all the time.
- It helps keep us honest.
- Maybe.
You and I both know this isn't a First Amendment issue.
Then what kind of issue is it? Well, I don't want personalities to interfere with the work that's being done down at Race Street.
Wait, whose personalities? Ellyn, come on.
I mean, none of you like Susannah, so-- Ah, gee, Gare, if I had to restrict myself to only working with people I like, I would have made the move to lighthouse keeping - a long time ago.
- Look, there's some resentment here, mainly from Hope, that came through loud and clear when I talked to her about the piece.
You talked to her about the piece? Yeah, I didn't want her personal feelings to interfere with her judgment.
You mean, you asked her to pull the grant stuff from her story? I don't think it has any business in her story.
Uh-huh, and how did she react? React? She didn't try to crease your scalp with an ashtray or anything? - Ellyn-- - Gary, you're always after Hope and Michael for their compromised lifestyle.
Did you really expect her to flip off her integrity and sink the facts because you were embarrassed, or-- sorry-- that you thought you'd be setting back the sacred cause of reform? Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to get any further with you than I did with her? Gary, Gary, don't you know that the first rule in negotiations is never walk out? Walk out, and it's over.
You stay, and there's always the chance that you can convince your opponent or wear her down.
Look, nothing I say is going to change the decision you obviously already made.
Gary, what exactly do you think is going on? You think this is some kind of conspiracy against your girlfriend? This isn't a country club.
This is municipal government, and I'm just doing the best job I know how to do.
Oh, yes, your job, of course.
How could I ever forget that? You, Hope, Michael, you all have your jobs.
It's great.
Oh, give me a break.
Tell me something.
Do you love Susannah? What does that have to do with anything? Tell me.
Do you love her? - Yes.
- Okay.
Then tell me that you want this for me because you love Susannah.
Don't pretend it's about Race Street or helping people.
Tell me you want this because she's important to you.
Gary, how do you expect to get what you want from people if you can't be honest with yourself about why you want it? Nice suit, Gare.
[doorbell rings.]
[door opens.]
Hi.
Hello.
I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute.
Do you want to come in? Michael's upstairs with Janey.
No, I'd rather do this in the open.
Do what? I was out of line yesterday.
I'm sorry that I said those things.
I'm sorry that you said those things, too.
I wish there was some way I could take them back.
Too bad, you can't.
Yeah.
Too bad.
Did you mean them? I thought I did.
Now I'm not so sure.
The ground isn't quite as solid as I thought it was.
It never is.
Wellyeah.
You know, most of my life has been ideas, ideas and concepts.
I sort of had an experimental model of a life full of theories and equations.
And then out of nowhere, really, here comes Susannah, and fate decides if it's time to see if theories work.
How are they holding up? Well, the theories are valid.
The logic's completely sound.
It's just that I built the model in a vacuum.
I didn't factor in gravity and-- and friction and panic.
I guess I'll just have to do some adjusting.
Partially your fault, you know.
- My fault? - Your and Michael's.
You have the gift of having a family.
I admire you like I admire Fred Astaire.
- You make it look so easy.
- Easy? Oh, God.
I was just sitting inside thinking about all the things that have happened in the past few months, some of them are pretty scary, but when you ad them up-- you know, you look at the good and the bad to see how it balances-- I think you'd have to admit that all in all, this year really sucked.
Right? But we're still barking our shins on the furniture and lurching toward the future and that counts for something.
Just getting through counts for something, doesn't it? Yeah, I guess it does.
You want some dinner? No.
I've got to get home.
Susannah, you know.
- Thanks, though.
- Welcome.
- Say hello for me.
- Okay, I will.
Hey, Shepherd.
Hey.
Cute kid.
Yeah, we like her.
Well, see you guys later.
All right? - Bye, Gary.
- Bye.
[Janey babbling.]
Closed-Captioned By J.
R.
Media Services, Inc.
Burbank, CA And dance by the light of the moon