New Amsterdam (2018) s03e07 Episode Script

1 [GENTLE GUITAR MELODY.]
- Whoa.
- Mm-hmm.
- Whoa.
- Oh, hello.
Oh, sorry, I had the TV on pause earlier.
Now it's not the only thing you have on pause.
[LAUGHTER.]
What's wrong? Where is that thing? I need to turn this off.
There we go.
Hey, Martin.
[EXHALES SHARPLY.]
Hey.
I like seeing you.
- Okay.
- Yeah.
Yeah, Martin, I can't.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
I can't.
You don't have to apologize.
I'm sorry, I just, you know.
I love you, I just These issues are I know.
I said you don't have to apologize.
[SIGHS.]
I get it.
Really.
It's late anyway.
[EXHALES DEEPLY.]
"We have seen some dark days.
"A deadly pandemic, its epicenter right here "in New York City.
"Americans dying by the thousands, "forced to face their fates scared and alone.
"Sometimes it feels like the storm will never end.
"But believe this: "It will end.
You will make it end.
" Those words were written in 1985 as this hospital faced, not the crisis we're in now, but a different one: The AIDS epidemic.
So, here to honor National HIV Testing Day, please welcome the man who wrote those words.
My personal hero, the former Medical Director of New Amsterdam, Dr.
George Helms.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE.]
Yes! All right! Whoo! Thank you, Dr.
Goodwin.
[CHUCKLING.]
I'm so proud to be here on a day when we offer free care to every HIV patient that has come through these doors.
Undocumented, uninsured, under-insured.
It's top-to-toe coverage, and it's on the house.
- [PAGER BEEPING.]
- Yes, amazing.
Luna's banned from daycare.
Banned? C-can't you just give her a detention or something? I'm sorry, Max, but we take biting very seriously.
- Biting? - Especially repeat offenders.
She's teething.
She's not a felon.
Look, let me come up there, and I will calm her down, and then you can give her a second chance.
We've given her three.
[QUIETLY.]
Three? Is any family around? My in-laws, but, uh, you know what our hours are like.
If she's not here, I'm never gonna I'm never gonna see her.
Marsha, I don't have a plan B.
Neither do I, Max.
I'm sorry.
I'll bring up Luna.
[QUIET EMOTIONAL MUSIC.]
[SIGHS.]
[UPBEAT INDIAN MUSIC PLAYING.]
Ig, Ig, look.
I told Casey I'd be out of the E.
D.
for like, ten minutes.
Yeah, no, any second now he's gonna walk through that door and his sweet smile's gonna light up that perfectly round bald head of his, kay? [DOOR OPENS.]
Surprise! Shut the door, shut the - He's not here yet? - Nope, nope.
Ig, look, I really got to go.
Fudge.
No, no, no.
Let me text Ella one more time.
Don't don't eat those.
- Say hi for me.
- Um, you know what? Actually I just wanted to pop my head in real quick, - and I got to get back to work.
- Wait, wait, guys.
Have you forgotten that he almost died? Okay, he had COVID, he had open heart surgery, then he battled through a hellish rehab.
Now today, our friend is coming back here and I want to celebrate him for ten minutes - of your time, please.
- [DOOR OPENS.]
- Surprise! - Aah! - Shoot! - Sorry I'm late, - I was working on my toast.
- Agnes - What, he's not here yet? - No.
Yeah, you know what? Give him my love.
- Just give him my love.
- C'mon, Floyd Just tell him to come into the E.
D.
and say hey.
Oh, Brunstetter, you're back on too.
Let me grab one more of these pastry things, - and then I am right behind you.
- They're called laddu and they're decorative, Brunstetter.
God, what is wrong with you people? Ten minutes! Guys, ten min Shut the door, at least.
- Just - [DOOR CLOSES.]
Great, now it says "Kapoop.
" And then you start placing one on each of the seats.
Oh, and please don't forget the pens, okay? Thank you.
Uh, why are you all jittery? Because we're about to be hit with an influx of HIV patients, and with 6 feet between each chair, I'm not sure we have enough hallway to accommodate them.
No, you know what? This feels more like the kind of freak-out you have when you're 24 hours away from becoming a mum.
Yes, Mina is coming tomorrow but I'm not her mum, I'm her aunt.
And a cool aunt doesn't freak out, thank you.
Uh, she's a 16-year-old girl.
You're never gonna be a cool anything.
Oh, shush.
I just mean I'm gonna provide a calm, accepting environment.
My role isn't to control her life, it's to follow her lead.
And whatever may come, this cool aunt - is just gonna roll with it.
- Ammeh Helen? [QUIET PLUCKY MUSIC.]
Mina.
I'm [CHUCKLES.]
I thought that you were coming tomorrow.
I flew standby.
I thought I'd surprise you.
Hi.
Um, yes, yes, you did.
I just, um Oh! I just wish you'd called.
[CHUCKLES.]
- I don't believe it.
- Believe it.
Full refund from the venue and from the caterer.
Damn.
What'd you have to do to pull that off? I played the "His mom has diabetes and he broke" card.
- I'm not broke.
- [LAUGHING.]
- Just say thank you, Floyd.
- Oh, I thank you.
So what's left on the cancelled wedding checklist? Nothing.
All our business is officially handled.
- We're done.
- Good, all right.
- How's Mama Nola? - Mama Nola's good.
Yeah, she's, uh, she's good.
And what about Floyd? Is he good? Uh - [DOOR OPENS.]
- Incoming.
Oh, uh, Evie, we got incoming.
- I got to go.
- Go do your thing.
Kwame Adu.
Passed out at HIV testing upstairs.
Pulse 140 and thready.
Kwame, I'm Dr.
Bloom.
You're in New Amsterdam E.
D.
We're gonna take - good care of you, okay? - Okay.
Okay, let's get him on the bed.
- Take a look at these.
- Okay, nice and easy.
- Okay.
- Nice and easy.
- Hey, Kwame.
- Yes? We got the results from the HIV test you just took.
- Uh-huh.
- It's positive.
No.
No, that that can't be true.
Kwame, I'm sure it's not the result that you wanted, but HIV isn't a death sentence anymore.
It's manageable.
- This can't be happening.
- Hey, hey, hey.
Look, just take it easy, all right? That test is wrong.
Okay, but the results also say that your pancreas is damaged.
That's why you're sick, all right? - You just need to relax.
- That test is wrong! - Okay - Okay? Okay? Just Kwame, Kwame, just have a seat right here.
- Kwame! - [GASPING.]
If you don't get treatment, you could die.
Okay, let him go, okay? You can't keep him here against his will.
His pancreas is gonna explode.
Then he's gonna be back.
Mariana, get Trauma room one ready for an acute pancreatitis.
Yes.
Uh, look out.
Oh, no, sorry about that.
Hey.
Hey, hey, Luna.
Running from Dada is a bad, bad move.
It's not very good, okay? If you keep doing it, - you're gonna be on time out.
- [CRASHING.]
Hey, that's just the way the world works.
Come here.
There are rules.
And we got to follow the rules, okay? And when people do bad things, they don't just get to To get away with it.
[PUNCHY DRUM SOLO.]
Dr.
Val! Uh, any word on the blood bank records? Yeah, here you go.
All we got on Howie Cournemeyer.
Interesting stuff.
- Cute kid.
- Yeah, she is.
Until she gnaws your face off.
Howie Cournemeyer donated blood in 1986.
- This is interesting why? - Oh, it's much less the when than the how much.
A thousand pints in a month? What, is he a whale? His blood type keeps changing.
Sometimes in a single day.
Oh, yeah, that whole thing's total B.
S.
Not sure how it'll help you catch a vandal though.
Okay, check this out.
His blood type changes, but his address stays the same on almost every donation.
Max with the detective skills.
Well, it's all about keen skills of observation.
Like I'm observing your kid eating a plant? - Hey, um - Hey.
What if I started chewing on you? That's enough plant-based eating for one day.
Okay, come here.
So we are daycare-less.
And, uh, recent development, we don't have a plan B.
Great story.
Sign these.
- Um, you love kids.
- Very much the opposite.
Right.
Let me rephrase that.
You love being my assistant, right? Yes, it's my childhood dream come true.
We would love to hang out with you, Sandra.
- 'Cause you're so cool.
- No.
Really? Please? I'm begging you.
- 'Kay, try cash.
- Yeah, okay.
I'll pay you.
Double? Triple.
Quadruple.
Whatever it takes.
Please.
Please take my baby.
- You're the best.
- What? She's the sweetest thing in the world.
Watch out, she does bite sometimes.
- Don't drop her.
Food, water.
- I've [UPBEAT MUSIC.]
Hello.
So sorry.
I'm sure this isn't how you imagined spending your first day in America.
But I-I have a patient who's in rough shape so if you need me, I'll be in the Oncology [CHUCKLES.]
What's what's funny? I'm sorry.
It's just like watching - Dr.
Helen on TV.
- Ah.
My father would watch you sometimes, and he'd say, "Look, that's your Ammeh.
" But it just felt so odd.
Like if he said my Amoo was Ryan Seacrest or something.
Uh, well.
Look, if, um, if it feels odd, calling me "ammeh," then, um, p-please don't.
But that would be disrespectful.
No, no, no.
No, I'm asking you to.
Um, I should be more like your big sister or your friend.
Your friend Helen.
That's what you should call me.
Just Helen.
"Just Helen," I know it's rude to be so direct, but can I get some tea? Oh, yes.
Um, course.
You don't even have to ask.
The cafeteria's on the fourth floor.
- Cool.
- Yeah.
- It is cool.
- [CHUCKLES.]
Hi, yes, I am in desperate need of a nanny, and I heard you guys are the best agency around.
No, thank you.
Well, I'm looking for someone in the mid-town area.
Uh, let's see, teaching experience is a must.
Bilingual is great.
Trilingual is better.
Uh, what else? CPR certified, obviously.
And, uh, oh! Like a wizard with vegetables.
I mean an actual wizard.
[BUZZER SOUNDS.]
Great.
Oh, that's great.
Yeah, that's amazing.
Um, um, starting tomorrow, if you have it.
[CHUCKLES.]
What when you say "ten-month waiting list," do you mean actual months or is that a figure of speech? Yeah? I'm gonna have to call you back.
Hi, are you Howie Cournemeyer? - Yeah.
- I'm Max Goodwin, medical director at New Amsterdam.
I knew you bastards would come for me one day.
I walk in this morning with HIV, and now I have cancer, too? [CHUCKLES DRYLY.]
I mean this can't be happening.
I can't even pronounce it.
Hemangiosarcoma.
And we don't know for certain that's what you have.
Okay, then what do you think I do? I mean, you just found a lump.
That could be anything, right? Hemangiosarcoma often occurs when HIV goes undertreated.
We won't know anything for sure until your MRI.
HIV is not supposed to be a big deal anymore.
I mean, I've been on my cocktail for years and I've been fine.
Now I miss a few check-ups - and I might die? - Let's not jump to conclusions.
[COUGHS.]
Oh, my God, what's happening? Okay, can somebody help please? - Get her to the E.
D.
! - [ELEVATOR BELL DINGS.]
He's back.
No pulse.
They found him in a parking lot.
V-TACH.
Charging at 360.
Shockable rhythm present.
[AED CHARGING.]
- Clear.
- Clear.
- Shocking.
- [CLICK.]
[MONITOR BEEPING.]
Screen for [MURMURS.]
.
- Airway is patent.
- [BEEPING SLOWS.]
He's back.
- Normal sinus rhythm.
- Pulse ox, 97.
- [DOOR SLAMS OPEN.]
- Kwame.
- Whoa, whoa.
Hey, hey! - Are you all right? - No, out.
You need to be out.
- I'm responsible for him.
- You don't have a mask! - I'm the president of his mission for the Church of Jesus Christ.
- Elder Shumway.
- It's gonna be okay.
I'm here.
I'll get the lidocaine drip ready.
Tell me what happened.
I can't.
You can tell me anything.
Remember? I was with a man.
I have HIV.
Please don't send me back.
I want to finish my mission.
The Church is all I have.
God is all I have.
Then why did you turn your back on Him? Your mission is over.
Elder Shumway, please.
Please! Please.
[WHISPERS.]
Hey, it's okay, it's okay.
Vijay! Oh, hey.
What's up? What's wrong? He's not coming.
No, I don't know.
He probably just forgot his glasses and he headed back to get them I just got an email.
The whole neurology department did.
Dr.
Kapoor just resigned.
He's not coming back.
Ever.
[UPBEAT FOLKSY MUSIC IN BACKGROUND.]
Okay, here's what I think is happening.
I think you're embarrassed because you and I talk every day.
And now you're worried that I'm gonna be mad because you've been lying to me literally the entire time.
But I'm not.
I'm not mad.
I know that you have one of those ancient answering machines that you can actually hear me leaving a message for you right now.
You can hear me talking.
So just pick up.
I'm not mad, I swear I'm not mad.
[LINE BEEPS.]
Okay, you know what? I am mad.
I'm pissed.
I'm furious with you because I'm your best friend.
You told the entire neurology department that you were resigning before you told me.
Y-you still haven't told me because you won't pick up the phone! Pick up the phone, Vijay! [LINE BEEPS.]
Do you want to know where I was when I heard your little announcement? I was at your surprise party.
Surprise! I planned you a party that you didn't show up to.
And you know, I don't I don't deserve this.
Vijay, I do not deserve this.
Unless I'm just your deluded work friend who's been putting himself on for years.
- In that case, by all means - [LINE BEEPS.]
Oh, n [GROANS.]
[LOUD SLURPING.]
Oops.
I forgot yours.
Um, Mr.
Cournemeyer.
Howie, listen No, you listen.
I'm not scared of you.
I knew what I was doing was against the law.
That was the point.
You're way too young to remember any of this.
But back in the '80s, at the height of AIDS? The healthcare industry failed its patients.
New Amsterdam failed its patients.
Gay men were treated like lepers.
Your nurses wouldn't even touch friends of mine with AIDS.
Just left them alone in the corners to die.
Let me assure you Big pharma? Boy, do not get me started I think that train's left the station.
Big pharma profiteered off the gay community's desperation to survive.
So I decided to fight on behalf of those who had it.
I became an activist.
Then I joined ACT UP.
And we did what we had to do.
To make things right, to make some noise.
And, so, yeah.
That's why I stole the New Amsterdam seal.
And why I encased it in a gigantic condom.
And no, I will never give it back.
Wow, that's, uh, impressive, actually.
But not why I'm here.
No.
Not for the big condom.
Uh, Mr.
Cournemeyer, I came here to ask you how, in March of '86, you orchestrated a scheme to donate a thousand pints of blood under your name? What? I would never have donated a single drop of my blood to your hospital, even to make a point.
But then why is your name Come to think of it, March of '86, I was in jail.
I demanded a coordinated national policy to fight AIDS by chaining myself to the Statehouse doors.
They heard me.
In jail.
Wrong guy, Doc.
[ALARMS BEEPING.]
Esophageal? No negative interactions.
I'm thinking variceal bleeding, likely from liver cancer.
[ALARMS BEEPING.]
BP's dropping.
Have you got that tube in yet? - I'm trying.
- STEMI ruled out at this time.
Looks a bit more distal.
About 2 centimeters should do it.
- Right - [INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
- There.
- Got it? I think so.
We should know once the bleeding stops.
- [ALARM SILENCES.]
- It's good for now.
Fingers crossed that it holds.
How did she let herself get so bad? Because apparently "HIV isn't scary anymore.
" Yeah, I guess some people need to be scared.
Have a seat.
I can't tell you about faith.
But I saw what your Elder did.
You shouldn't have to repent to someone who abandoned you at a time when you needed him the most.
Elder Shumway loves me like a father.
He knew I was gay.
He treated me with grace and acceptance.
All he asked of me was to not act on my desires.
He did not turn his back.
I did.
I threw God away.
And this disease, it means I will never get God back.
Is there a pill? A surgery? Anything to scrape these disgusting urges out of my body? Kwame, Kwame.
Brother, this is not disgusting.
This is who you are.
[SCOFFS QUIETLY.]
Sex is not who I am.
I am my community.
My family, my faith.
I am an Elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
That is who I am.
That is not that simple.
But it is that simple.
Think of the one thing you can't live without.
That is who you are.
Well, so I gave it some thought, and I realized I was being way too stringent with the nanny requirements, so here's what I'm looking for now.
Anyone.
I will take anyone.
Do you do you have anyone? Dr.
Val! Ma'am, I will take a well-trained Saint Bernard at this point.
Okay, thank you very much.
So Howie couldn't really shed any light.
He did have a giant condom situation.
Not really sure what that's about, but I'll deal with that tomorrow.
- Makes sense.
- Does it? I need to track down the head of the blood bank from 1986, and problem is, his information on his W-2 is outdated, so I was wondering if you could ask the older staff.
Maybe they know him? Oh, yeah, sure thing.
What's the name? Uh, Dale Rustin.
- You sure? - Yeah, why? You know him? No, but the whole blood bank's been talking about him.
- He's upstairs.
- He still works here? No, he's a patient.
He's dying.
I'm sorry about that last phone call.
Um, I didn't mean to dump all that on you.
I love you, and I hope that you are okay.
But I gotta draw a boundary here, Vijay.
You need to pick up the phone, right now, or you and I can't ever be the same kind of friends anymore.
At all, really.
So pick up the phone.
Pick up the phone, Vijay.
[LINE BEEPS.]
[CALL ENDS.]
[SIGHS DEEPLY.]
Stage III Astrocytoma.
I'm sorry to hear that.
"New Amsterdam.
Shame then, shame now.
" You wouldn't know anything about that, would you? I had worse things to say about Medical Director Helms, but kids do use that hallway.
Dr.
Helms is a pillar of this hospital.
[SCOFFS.]
So you don't want to explain yourself? You just want to slander him anonymously? I'd slander him to his face if I thought anybody would care.
Try me.
In 1986, this hospital needed blood.
As so many did.
But sexually active gay men were banned from donating it in this country, even if they knew they were HIV-negative.
That's not Helms' fault.
It's [SIGHS.]
It's the way the world was then.
Gay men can't donate convalescent plasma for COVID right now.
So you tell me, what exactly changed? [GASPS/GROANS.]
I'm fine.
I was a gay HIV-negative man.
My friends were dying.
They needed blood.
I couldn't donate.
I was the head of the damn blood bank.
You know what that feels like? A person has to do something.
Has to act.
Like Howie Cournemeyer? [CHUCKLES.]
Howie was fearless.
I never met him, but God, was he inspiring.
He made it so simple.
Just do something.
Act up.
And I did.
You had gay men hide their identities and donate using Howie's name.
That's the best thing to do in a plague.
Give.
Help.
I got to see scared men going from helpless to heroes, drop by drop.
Until Helms found out.
He said he'd fire me.
My staff too.
Howie Cournemeyer would have kept fighting, but I needed my job.
So I shut the program down.
And that's something I have to live with for the rest of my life.
You refilled this hospital's blood bank in under a month during a pandemic.
You're a hero.
Yet you honor the man that made me a coward.
The world is burning, Dr.
Goodwin.
And you spend your day hunting me down for defacing a photograph? Shame then, shame now.
You came back.
Reynolds? What was that? What Kwame wants more than anything is to be a Mormon husband to a Mormon wife, and he thought he lost that.
He has lost that.
He's gay.
No, no.
He thought he lost that because he's HIV-positive, and he thought that meant that he couldn't have children.
Which is the cornerstone of his spiritual community.
Gay people can have children.
But between HART therapy and PrEP, of course, HIV can be untransmittable and safe for conception.
So I called the Elder, let him know that, and he feels there's a path for Kwame.
He even suggested that he can marry a woman who knows about his struggles.
Are you kidding me? You used the science of HIV to put someone back into the closet.
Well, that's That's what he wants.
So if he wanted to shoot himself in the head, where would you have stood on that? What if he wanted to leave the E.
D.
with a failing pancreas? You think I like this? I don't.
But we can't pick and choose when to respect our patient's wishes.
And being a Mormon is more important to Kwame than his sexuality.
Well, the guy he had unprotected sex with - disagrees with you.
- Oh, come on.
Nobody's torturing him.
He's choosing this.
Yes.
Yeah, he is choosing a life based on the idea that he has to be somebody that he's not.
Because there's something wrong with who he is.
Look, I get what you were trying to do here, Floyd, but we're talking about his heart.
Well, hello there.
So, I noticed that you went out earlier.
Yes.
With Kevin.
He's my old friend.
- Your old friend? - Yes.
You've been in New York five hours, and you've got an old friend? He's a friend from the internet.
From when we were kids.
I see.
And he's, um, how old? I'm not sure.
Can I go to your office now? Mina.
Did you get my texts? I was busy.
Busy.
Is there a problem? I thought you said to treat you like a friend.
Yep, absolutely.
And I didn't text any of my friends to tell them that I was hanging out with Kevin.
Yes, no, of course.
It's just, um, you've never been to New York before.
Oh, it's a lot like Tehran, just a little less crowded.
I'll see you when you're done? [SIGHS.]
Max, you wanted to see me.
Hey, George.
I, uh I heard about Howie Cournemeyer.
Oh, I know how that looks.
If I let that continue for one more day, it would have been an unmitigated disaster.
It did circumvent a ugly, very discriminatory regulation.
No, no, it violated federal policy.
I may have been a maverick, but I wasn't about to become a criminal.
The liability alone would have crippled us.
What did you do with all that blood? Disposed of it.
Even though all donated blood is screened? You threw it away, George.
You could have helped people.
And you chose not to.
You know, the last time I checked, those were still the FDA guidelines.
And as far as I can tell, you aren't doing a damn thing about them either.
[PHONE RINGS.]
- Ella? Hi.
- Hey, hey, Dr.
Frome.
Hi, are you okay? What about Vijay? What's happening? No, hey, we're good.
We're all good.
Um, I just have to be quick 'cause he doesn't know I'm calling you.
I heard your messages.
Okay, well, I'm glad somebody did.
Yeah, uh, Iggy, you have been so good to him.
- To me.
- [EXHALES.]
You deserve to know what's going on.
You know, honestly, Ella, I don't I don't really care anymore, so Vijay's doctor told him he's never gonna work again.
Um, about a month ago.
He didn't want to believe it.
He kept saying that the guy was crazy, didn't know what he was talking about.
But, um, a couple days after, he got ready, and decided to come into the hospital early, and surprise everybody.
Um, he couldn't make it out the front door.
He won't talk to me about it.
He won't talk to anyone right now.
So, um, that's why I had to call.
- You know, so you'd know.
- Yeah.
Uh, a couple days ago, he told me a story about you.
About a patient who thought he was dead? Yeah.
Yeah, I remember.
And Vijay said how much you helped the guy.
Helped his fiancée to understand.
And Vijay said that he might have saved the guy's life but But you saved his soul.
That's what you do.
Dr.
Frome, you just go around saving souls.
[SIGHS.]
I learned from the best.
[SNIFFLES.]
Great news.
It's just a hemangioma, which is a collection of, of blood vessels that should disappear on their own.
Oh, my God.
Thank God.
- Okay.
- So, next step is to adjust your antiretrovirals.
I'll need to see you back here tomorrow.
Oh, my God, I'm so behind on work.
There's no way I can come in tomorrow.
Your HIV care is important, Karla.
Yes, I know it's important, but it didn't give me cancer, right? Didn't almost kill me.
So can I call you when I come back up for air? Perfect.
Next time I see you, it'll be in the morgue.
You are walking out of here.
You're lucky, 'cause the kind of cancer we thought you had is deadly, and it's God's own luck that you don't have it.
If what you take from this is that you can continue treating your HIV like it's hay fever, then I have no doubt I'll be seeing you very soon, whether you have room in your schedule or not.
Um, tomorrow's good.
I can take him from here.
Ah, this one.
This one, unfortunately.
You mind? I don't retract a word I wrote.
Shame then, shame now.
Yeah, well, I hope you don't, because you were right.
Dale, I'd like you to meet Howie Cournemeyer.
- Mr.
Cournemeyer - Howie.
Excited to meet you.
You know, the gay blood ban? It's not just a regulation.
It's hate.
We should be ashamed for allowing it.
So I'm initiating a new policy regarding the gay blood ban.
I'm ignoring it.
And Howie is our first donor.
You can't.
They'll strip your funding.
[WHISPERS.]
Yeah.
Well, then we'll just take them to court.
And when we win, they will throw that bigoted law in the trash, thanks to you.
I've been screaming about this nonsense for 30 years, and nothing happened.
Look what you did.
[SOBS.]
Hey, I'm finishing my chart on Karla.
Any surprises at discharge? Uh, no.
She just needed a little bit of tough love.
- Scared her to death, huh? - [CHUCKLES.]
Love it when you get all Mama Bear.
A quality that's deserted me now that there's a Baby Bear in my office.
Um, honestly, Mina walked all over me today, and I'm just letting her do it.
I I don't know what to say.
Just talk to her like she's a patient.
But she's not.
I mean her father's just died, she's in a new country.
If someone should be playing bad cop with her, it really shouldn't be me.
I barely know her.
I'm not her aunt at all.
Really, I'm just [CHUCKLES.]
some woman.
My sister and I, we're both addicts who only trust chaos and are incapable of having intimate relationships.
That's what happens when no one gives you boundaries.
You're all Mina has now.
You've got to be her mother, her aunt, her friend.
Her everything.
And if you can't do that then, yeah, you're right.
You're just some woman who doesn't deserve her.
Those are wise words coming from someone that let a stranger live in our storage closet.
Well, you can't win 'em all.
- [CHUCKLES.]
- Good luck.
[SIGHS.]
[CLEARS THROAT.]
- Hi! - Here's Baby Dahmer.
That bad? When she wasn't gnawing on me, I checked out some parenting blogs.
Um, apparently biting's pretty normal, so I wouldn't, like, beat yourself up.
Yeah, I guess it's their way of, I don't know, acting out.
I she's trying to tell me she's missing something.
Yeah, her data plan, by the looks of it.
Her grandma.
Oh, problem solved.
Can't she just spend more time with her? Uh Gwen would love nothing more.
And that's bad because? Just means I can't do this on my own.
Max.
I don't think you're supposed to.
Days like this make me think of His mysterious ways.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION.]
[CLICK.]
[VIDEO CALL RINGS.]
Hey.
Floyd.
Did the Venmo not go through? No, no, everything's all good.
Uh, I was just thinking.
Well, not thinking.
I, uh I know that Know what? That I made a mistake.
Floyd, I You know that old school joint, - "If loving you is wrong" - Floyd.
I know you feel me.
I do.
[CHUCKLES.]
I do.
But I also know that I'm nobody's wrong.
And if I were your right, we wouldn't be having this talk thousands of miles apart.
But if our love was real, you know, we can cover that.
The "if" is doing all the lifting in that statement.
You saying it wasn't real? I'm just saying that whatever it was, it obviously wasn't enough for you.
You need to own it, Floyd.
You made your choice.
And so have I.
Evie [SOMBER PIANO MUSIC.]
[LINE RINGS.]
- Hi, Gwen.
- Is everything okay? No, no, no, everything's fine.
Um, uh Well, we were just wondering if, um, you might be able to come over.
Uh, a few days a week? I think Luna really needs ya.
And, uh, I think I really need the help.
["BY THE TIME IT GETS DARK" BY YO LA TENGO PLAYING.]
Baby, every cloud has a silver lining Baby, every dog really has its day And it matters to me to see you smiling Why don't we blow all your cares away Yesterday's gone and will be forgotten And today is where every new day starts - Hey.
- Hey.
How was your day? Ugh, long.
How 'bout yours? Oh, my God, so long.
So long.
Can you remind me whose bright idea it was to put a full-length mirror in our bedroom? Uh, yours? [CHUCKLES.]
Course.
Glutton for punishment.
[EXHALES DEEPLY.]
Vijay resigned today.
Oh, no, really? Yeah, I was really upset about it for most of the day, actually.
Selfishly.
- He validates me, you know.
- Mm-hmm.
Waiting most of my life for a father figure to tell me that I'm good enough.
Now he's gone.
- Hey, I'm sorry.
- [SIGHS.]
It's okay.
Because I, um, I think it's time that I start to feel like I'm good enough on my own.
I want to look in this mirror and I want to see someone Good enough.
By the evening we'll be laughing Just wait and see all the changes there'll be By the time it gets dark You are more than good enough.
By the evening we'll be laughing You're beautiful.
Just wait and see all the changes there'll be By the time it gets dark No.
No, no, no, Leave 'em on.
Leave 'em on.
By the time it gets dark By the time it gets dark