Once and Again (1999) s03e16 Episode Script

~ bufgelfly ~
Is this blouse OK?
- It's pretty.
- I look like his mother.
- Not his actual mother, but--
- Whose mother?
Aaron's. It's Family Day
at his board-and-care, I wanna look
Sane?
When you go there, what you feel
is how much work
it must be to be insane, I guess.
I've got my purse, my gloves
Were are my keys?
Why do you always know
where the keys are?
- I'm alert.
- Someone has got to be.
Wait, wait, you've got to take
the cookies we made for him.
- Give him a kiss for me.
- Me too.
Alright, see you later.
Bye, Mom.
Guess what?
Zoe, don't make me beg.
Jessie found these pictures
in the attic.
Of Aaron.
Like, when he was in high school.
He's always with all these girls.
And he was cute.
Like, deeply cute.
Look at this, he's juggling.
Did you know
Uncle Aaron could do that?
I didn't know he could do anything.
Annie?
You wanna tell us about your mom?
Annie's my third girl.
She's been here nineteen years.
And I have fourteen grandchildren.
And how are you doing, Miriam?
Miriam has done well here.
My wife, may she rest in peace,
before she died
always said that
this is where Miriam belongs.
I'm glad that she feels safe here
It's true, Herbie,
I'm his only child
It is also true that he is
my only child.
- Miriam.
- Yes, and you go, Daddy.
Go, Daddy lion.
- Roar, lion.
- Stop!
You're right, Herbie.
So, out of the blue, I get the call,
an independent living
situation has opened up.
They want me to recommend someone.
So you thought of Aaron?
I think he's ready, with help.
I mean, the place is close,
I'll check in, you and Judy
can go by whenever you want.
Think about it.
Miriam got me clocks
for my birthday.
She says,
"if you're gonna live independenty,
you need clocks."
Do you agree?
Well
Yeah, I guess.
That's Miriam's.
Sorry.
Miriam is a very wise woman.
I can see that, she seems really--
Miriam is a name in the Bible.
I think I knew that.
Where she walked,
fields burst into bloom.
Never heard you mention her before.
- She's in a movie.
- She is?
Casablanca.
We watch it every night after meds.
Just me and her.
When I have my own place,
I'm going to play golf,
grill chicken, and have dogs.
Miriam says the sky's the limit.
What does that mean?
That possibilities are endless,
I guess.
The sky is a phenomenon.
Yeah, Aaron, it is.
Like Miriam.
She said I should write things down.
"Aaron's list of dreams."
Long list.
I love her, Lily.
I only want to live independently
if I can independently live
with Miriam.
Have you talked to Shelley
about all this?
Where she walks,
fields burst into bloom.
- The girls made you some cookies.
- Chocolate chip?
So, you know this Miriam?
I think she is so beautiful.
Go, Aaron!
Why didn't you warn me?
He says that he loves her!
I know, isn't that great?
What?
Skip it.
Go on, say it, I already judge you.
Aaron doesn't know what he loves.
And this Miriam woman,
she looks like she can't
even take care of herself.
She's supposed to take care
of Aaron, too?
.
Yeah, isn't it where we come in?
Tomorrow, when you awake,
you'll fall deeply in love
with the first creature you see.
Does it bother you
that I have a crazy brother?
Doesn't bother me
that you have a crazy sister.
He says he loves this girl.
That's a good thing, right?
- I don't know.
She has him making
this list of dreams.
You should hear him.
He's never gonna be a golfer.
- Lucky him.
- I'm serious.
bad for him
to get ouf of balance.
Believe me, I've seen it.
So, love's bad.
Listen, before he was sick, he was
the most sensitive person I've ever met.
When it came to being in love
God, he had no sense of proportion.
I have no sense of proportion,
when it comes to you.
Somebody get that, please!
I'm doing my nails!
Grace?
I'm going, I'm going.
Hi. Mind if I smoke?
Excuse me?
What? It's good to ask, right?
It's good manners? Right?
I took the long way.
Oh, hi, Aaron.
- Come in.
- Thanks, Grace.
- What's
- This is Miriam.
My better half.
Can you tell me what that means?
Hey, Uncle Aaron.
Miriam, I'm Grace and that's Zoe.
Hi Grace!
Hi Zoe!
I think it sort of says
that men are the worse half.
Oh, Lily!
Hi, we came to mix
on a social level.
I hope that's OK.
Do the people at the board-and-care
know that you're here?
Oh, here, it's have
Have candy, Lily.
Thank you.
That's so thoughtful.
How did you get here?
We took the bus.
We get free bus-riding lessons.
Sometimes I'm Rosa Parks,
except I won't let it get around.
The driver was Ralph Kramden today,
and I was Alice, his wife,
who he was married to
before Jackie Kennedy.
OK, well, can I take your coats?
Grace, can you get the tea cups
with the flowers, please?
What are these doing here? Grace?
Oh, it's a hostess gift.
I don't like to come empty-handed.
There's great studs in there.
Some of them were my husbands
and some were my wives and and
And you have a
a nice house and garden. Sorry.
It's OK.
Who would like some tea?
I do.
He likes mostly milk
and just a little tea.
I know.
What would you like, Miriam?
I wanna be with Miriam, Lily.
I know, you told me.
We ran away.
- We left the board-and-care.
- And we're not going back.
We wanna be together and they say no.
But I wanna be with her, Lily.
I need to be with her.
I have to be.
I have to have shoe trees.
And vacuum cleaners
and coffee cups and--
That's just ours.
Get out your list.
- What're we supposed to do?
- The first thing we do is call Shelley.
Are they allowed to just leave?
- I have no idea.
- Guys, it's not a prison.
Hold on,
Shelley will know what to do.
I don't know why
this is unnerving me so much.
I had a pound and a half
of shrimp in here. Where is it?
So, how did you guys meet?
We were on the same anti-psychotics.
Anti-tremor.
Oh, absolutely.
And we started talking.
And her teeth were
all musical notes.
Baby!
You never said that before!
Shelley, it's Lily.
So, what do we do?
Well, it's OK about Aaron, right?
For the moment, sure.
But Miriam should go home,
she's not authorized to stay with you.
Aaron should stay,
Miriam is not authorized to.
I don't know, running away
is enough drama for one day.
Let her stay one night,
I'll cover for you.
.
- It isn't?
It's not a prison, Lily.
!
- I said I'm on the phone!
I gotta go,
I'll call you in the morning.
What'd she say?
I guess they're both staying.
So, you guys will stay here tonight.
Jessie is at her mom's,
you can have the attic.
And then tomorrow,
Miriam has to go back.
What d'you mean?
Aaron, Miriam doesn't have permission
from her father to be out.
She doesn't need permission,
she voted in the last election.
I voted for Ralph Nader.
- Mom?
- Yes, sweetie?
Something's burning.
Sorry!
Lily, Lily, sorry!
Sorry, I was making tea.
- I'm good at tea.
- Then why didn't you put any water?
I'm scared. I'm scared, Lily.
- Other people's houses scare me.
- It's OK.
- We're all fine.
- We're fine, we're all fine.
OK, who wants
who wants ice-cream after dinner?
- Of course.
- We should eat first, right?
Where were we?
We were talking about going
to Aaron's apartment tomorrow
and then get Miriam home.
Aaron, listen, sweetie.
- She has to go.
- Why can't she come with us?
Honey, Shelley said
she had to go back.
- I'm not going back.
- That's for Miriam's father to decide.
- I didn't vote for him!
- I don't understand.
- The rules--
- I don't understand.
Listen.
No, no!
We need our own kitchen!
We need our own locks,
windows, and stuff like that.
- And windows.
- You'll have those.
What?
Why they want me to
be alone when I am already?
I don't understand!
The summer he was 18, Aaron decided
he wanted to go to clown school.
He was an amazing juggler.
While he was there,
he met a girl named Jaimie Davenport,
who trained horses
at the circus next door.
One night, he called to say
,
that he was gonna
marry Jaimie Davenport
and join the circus.
Get out your list.
It's OK, I'll remember.
What d'you mean,
they remind you of you and Sam?
How?
,
when it's working with someone,
and you start to
get that sense of
You know, your own list of dreams.
Judy, it's not the same.
Why?
You don't know what happens
to Aaron when he gets
- attached to someone.
- What do you mean?
Forget it.
I don't wanna see him hurt.
He's already hurt.
Look, Lily, he's never able
to want anything.
But now he wants things and it looks
to me like she's helping him get there.
And yeah, OK, maybe she could use a
bit more shampoo, a little less makeup,
but I think we should
thank God for her.
Do you have everything you need?
Got extra blankets,
it can get chilly.
You don't like me.
What do you mean?
I like you very much.
No, you don't.
I'm not very likable.
I, of course, had already
imagined the girl
that Aaron would marry.
I even had a name for her:
Caroline.
They'd meet at Oberlin,
backpack through Europe,
and read Steppenwolf
to each other in trains.
Miriam, how can you say that?
I know Aaron likes you a whole lot.
- You think so?
- I know so.
Caroline would be a pediatrician,
and every year she and I would go to
New York for 3 days to see some shows.
Aaron is going to get a job.
He's what?
Yeah, we need money.
I need real pearls,
and I don't believe
wives should work.
Are you saying
that he is getting a job?
Lesbians work, but not wives.
Jay Leno is a lesbian.
We're gonna be special guest stars
on his show, Tonight Show.
They'd marry in Paris,
Aaron and Caroline.
On one of those boats,
on the Seine, with the lights
what are they called?
Aaron, do you have
everything you need?
Yeah, I'm fine.
- You sure?
- Oh, yes.
Miriam has substantial breasts.
Night.
The blonde wig!
- I'm gonna say something terrible.
- Great, I've been waiting.
Zoe's right: she smells!
Well, Aaron smells a little, too.
Much much less!
He wants to marry her.
Can he?
take care of
him, she almost burned down the kitchen.
You almost burned down the kitchen.
That was Thanksgiving!
In their old days,
this would be so easy.
They would just
live with us forever.
You know, like Boo Radley.
What if my mother gets sick,
and your mother, which they will
because everyone dies.
What if they didn't have
we'd have to take them in,
which we have to--
You're spiraling.
Sorry.
Good night.
I wish Daddy were alive.
Not that he'd know what to do.
Another illusion shattered.
You know, those boats with lights,
in Paris on the Seine
What are they called?
Mom?
What is it, Zoe?
Can you hear them?
Stay here.
This can't be happening.
- Zoe.
- I wanna go back to bed.
How are the eggs?
Breakfast is
an important meal, Lily.
I'll keep that in mind
at my new place.
Remember this is the way
Grandma used to make 'em?
Grandma's kitchen
used to smell of onions,
and malt balls.
There's something
we need to talk about.
And I want you to try to hear me
and not get upset right away.
Miriam needs to go back
the board-and-care today.
After we go to your place.
Do you have a pencil?
Miriam says I should
write things down.
Yes, I know that.
- Mom?
- Just give me a second here, honey.
I'm putting down eggs.
- Eggs. It's good.
- I'm gonna have dozens of eggs.
Aaron, we've all talked about it
and we've agreed.
Miriam can come look
at your new apartment,
but after that, she has to go back,
she's not authorized to be here.
Do you understand?
Sometimes, things confuse me, Lily.
So I don't understand.
Miriam has to go back today.
Oh, sweetie.
I'd like to go upstairs,
if that's OK.
Of course, sweetie.
So, you're kicking her out?
I'm not kicking her out,
she can't be here, it's illegal.
What a relief.
Stop it, Judy.
What am I supposed to say?
That you'd be much happier
if Aaron never saw her again.
- That is so not true!
- I think--
--
- That their love is really touching
and beautiful and you should
support it with all your heart.
Oh, really.
OK, why don't we think about that?
Why don't we make a list, since lists
seem to be the new thing around here?
Number one,
how do they go to the store?
How do they cook
without burning the house down?
How do they do laundry?
Would they do laundry?
And god forbid, what if she gets
pregnant, or one of them gets sick?
There are answers to
every one of those questions.
Relationships are hard enough
when people have normal damage.
Aaron has never
handled his own life.
- Let alone hers.
- He loves her.
So what if they have problems?
I would think that if anyone
understand that,
it would be you.
Oh, great. So now I'm Cruella DeVil!
- I'm gonna see how he is.
cause clearly I don't care!
Why don't you both of you
just take them today?
I'll see it another time,
I have a lot to do here.
- That was a cat.
- Definitely.
I have my own bathroom.
You wanna see?
This is my kitchen,
this is my stove.
Cabinets are over here.
When my father heard
Aaron wasn't going back to school,
I remember him
screaming on the phone,
"I don't care
who the f--- this girl is,
you're not getting married
at nineteen years old!"
My refrigerator.
This is where I'll put the eggs!
Until my father went
down to Florida and just
brought Aaron back,
I don't even know how.
That's when he started to change.
This is my sunlight.
You happy for me?
We didn't know that he
was writing her five times a day,
calling her all hours of the night
and not going to class.
I guess we should have known.
I gotta say,
this seems like a great place, Aaron.
- Thank you, Rick.
- I wish I had my own apartment.
in the attic.
Dishes and sheets and stuff.
And I've got tons of stuff.
I've got four bun cake pans.
You could use a good bun cake pan.
Places need two people.
One person is a room,
but two
are a home.
Right?
Read read my list.
Mailbox
doorbell
cat sounds
somebody calling out supper
Ice trays.
I'm Herbert Miller, Mrs Sammler.
Miriam's father.
Yes, I know.
Please, come in,
it's cold out there.
It's not cold. Not for me.
Lemon or milk?
Lemon, thank you.
I had some biscottes somewhere.
Tell me, what was your brother like,
Mrs Sammler, before his illness?
It's Lily.
Well, he was
- God, that was a long time ago.
- But you do remember.
Yes. He was wonderful.
Was he?
He was kind of like a hero to me,
because he was
fearless and passionate and
I always envied
his depth of feelings.
People used to stop
my wife and myself in church,
and say "you have
a very beautiful daughter".
Of course,
we knew something was wrong.
It was there
by the time she was three.
I'm sorry.
Before I was the Lion King,
I was Gandhi.
And before that I was Rocky,
and before that, Errol Flynn.
Well, Robin Hood.
It's not bad company.
Mrs Sammler,
do you think Aaron can live on his own?
Well, he's
- He's on good medication.
- Because I don't believe Miriam can.
- How can you be sure?
- Because she was on her own once.
Because the president I voted for
said the government shouldn't pay
for mental hospitals.
People like Miriam should
take care of themselves.
It was her family
who should take care.
Except when the family
can't find her.
I'm a retired cop, Mrs Sammler.
And I know every street in Chicago.
It took me two months to find her.
Really?
And she'd been raped,
shot up with drugs
- beaten.
- Oh, my God.
Perhaps your brother is ready,
but Mrs Sammler, Miriam is not.
She's the most important thing
in the world to me.
And she will never be ready
to live on her own.
Miriam Rose.
I brought you gloves, dear,
it's cold outside.
Mr. Miller, this is my husband Rick.
My daughter Grace.
- Mr. Miller.
- My sister Judy.
And my other daughter Zoe.
Hello, Zoe.
- Put them on, dear.
- I don't want gloves.
I don't want gloves.
Alligator, carburetor,
masturbator
- Miriam.
- Herb!
I brought your medication.
No, I don't want my medication!
I want Aaron!
I want my life!
I'm very sorry about this.
- Tell them!
- Grace, can you get Zoe upstairs?
Tell them, tell them!
One person
is just a room.
- What do you mean?
- Tell them.
What do you mean,
"one person is just a room"?
He wants to live with my daughter.
Can I ask him how he plans to do it?
Will you be able to give her her
medication, keep her from wandering off?
- Make sure she doesn't injure herself--
- Don't talk to him this way.
That's the problem. People will.
Daddy, please, no!
Lily, please.
Aaron needs Mr. Miller
to leave right now.
Sorry.
You love your brother, Mrs Sammler,
I can see that.
But you know what I'm talking about,
don't you?
- I don't know anything anymore.
- Sure you do.
I'm asking you a simple question.
Your brother deserves an honest answer.
Look at them both.
Do you believe
that this could ever work?
No.
I'm sorry.
My Aaron!
Miriam, let's go.
I want Aaron! I want my life!
It's OK.
- No, not yet.
- You mind if I go upstairs to get--
- Yes, I mind!
Very well, then I'll be in the car.
If she's not down within an hour,
I will make the call.
It's OK, Aaron.
- I think I should go upstairs.
- I'm sorry.
When she gets tired,
.
Go ahead.
I can't believe you.
- Gracie
- Grace, give you mom--
You think everyone has
to be just like you to be happy.
Well you don't seem
so happy to me, Mom!
- Why do you get to decide?
- I didn't decide anything.
- Just how he should live his life.
- She's his daughter, he's deciding!
Why does it hurt you for Aaron
to have one little moment of happiness?
This isn't happiness.
There is no happiness.
.
How can you say that?
I don't see how we can
decide that for him--
Honey, what do you know
about any of this?
Judy knows. Don't you?
Tell him about Jaimie Davenport.
It was 20 years ago. What, he got
upset when she broke up with him.
Upset doesn't exactly describe it.
What are you talking about?
I found him, Rick.
He wasn't answering our phone calls,
so I went up to Madison,
and I found him in his room.
He hadn't eaten and
he hadn't slept and there was
blood everywhere.
Old blood,
because he had been cutting himself
a little at a time for two weeks.
And he was practically dead.
Why? Because this girl dumped him.
That's what happened
the last time Aaron was in love.
How could I not know this?
Why didn't you tell me?
Cause you were in high school.
Because Daddy made me promise
to never ever tell anybody.
You think I don't want
Aaron to be happy, Judy?
I would give anything
for Aaron to have one day
one minute of happiness.
My dad drove up and he brought
Aaron home and put him in a hospital.
And he's been there,
more or less, ever since.
He's packing, and
I'm 3 hours late at the bookstore,
so I'm gonna go.
I still think you're wrong.
And I can't believe you
didn't trust me enough to tell me.
Judy, it wasn't about trust,
it was about fear.
And I'm really sorry.
I had to use your bathroom.
That's OK.
- Can I come in?
- Of course.
It's your room.
So glad you remembered.
Grandpa's initials.
Philip Allan Brooks.
I love old suitcases.
- Can I sit with you?
- Yes.
- I know you like to be asked.
- I do, thank you.
I liked your place.
It will be fun to visit--
What do you mean?
I'm gonna go back
to the board-and-care.
I can't leave something
which I've never had,
which is something of my own.
You mean someone.
I mean her.
I know.
Do you?
I know.
He's still there.
I know.
Maybe we should talk to Miriam.
He was the lead detective
on those 8 nurses who got
murdered a thousand years ago.
It was a big deal
if you lived in Chicago.
I met Aaron for the first time
at your dad's funeral.
Remember?
And then
I wound up alone with him
in the kitchen that first day.
He was so nice.
He's incredibly nice.
And I was thinking
"This is the loneliest
person I've ever seen."
I could have been that lonely.
But I got lucky.
What do you mean?
I got lucky.
I found this
phenomenon.
Rick, he's never gonna be lucky.
Don't you see?
Everyone in this house--
Judy, you and Grace,
you're lost in your own
romantic fantasy.
This woman can't love him
because she can't see him.
I's not her fault; I understand that.
It's just the way it is.
I don't know, Lil.
Sometimes I think
romantic fantasy is all we have.
I have to get this going.
After we left Aaron at the hospital
that night, Daddy took me to dinner.
Chicago-style pizza deep-dish crust.
"When I'm gone, you will
have to take care of him", he said.
I laughed at him, "What do you
mean, when you're gone?"
It snowed that night.
A record.
There's always some record.
I forgot my suitcase.
- It's OK, Aaron.
- I know.
I'm ready. I don't want
to keep my father waiting.
You know I can't go against
what your father thinks is best.
I know.
Cause you have a life.
- I do?
- Yeah.
You have enough for six lives.
Your life makes me nervous.
Aaron says there's kids
I have even met.
Oh, you mean Rick's kids.
Too many people to worry about.
I worry too much about
one person.
You mean about yourself?
I worry about Aaron.
So do I.
I worry that he won't
get the things he wants.
Oh, you mean
his list.
Oh, he's never going
to get those things.
Not most of them, anyway.
See
Aaron looks at things,
and they say,
"You'll never have me."
They turn away.
But I don't turn away.
In my eyes he sees
"maybe".
And that's what I am:
his maybe. His maybe.
He should go to his place.
On his own.
He shouldn't go back to the
too many crazy people.
Will you tell him that?
Will you tell him that for me?
I tried to convince him.
I'll tell him.
I tried to convince him, Lily.
Lily, I did.
But he only listens to you.
You really love him, don't you?
He's my list of dreams.
Can I sit with you for a minute?
Sure.
Well?
Aaron is assaulted by his emotions.
It's almost as if
his own feelings
were somehow toxic
to him.
God knows, he's very emotional
about your daughter.
Exactly.
Which is why I've been trying
from plunging
into something they couldn't handle.
I know.
Cause if Aaron gets
his heart broken,
he might not survive.
And I'm not being dramatic,
it could literally kill him.
So?
We have an agreement, then?
Maybe not, cause I
You know, Mr. Miller,
I think I finally realized
that Aaron is never ever
going to get better.
He's gonna die a very sick man.
And I think that's been
the hardest thing for me to accept.
There's nothing to protect,
cause he suffers so much already.
The question is,
is there a chance
that something that's not suffering,
that's beautiful,
even if it's temporary.
- Mrs. Sammler.
- Lily.
Lily.
I'm a cop.
In my job, I had to accept who
people are and what they're capable of.
Miriam is limited.
There's no chance.
Just because they're limited
at some things doesn't mean
they're limited at everything.
You know, just now, I was
watching them, sitting on the sofa?
And I realized that
all I've been asking myself is
"Are they gonna hurt each other?
Are they gonna get robbed
and killed or who knows what?"
It never occurred to me to ask
if she loves him.
Because I didn't think
they were capable of it.
She really
really loves him, Mr. Miller.
I have no doubt about that now.
For 35 years now,
it's been nothing but this.
Nothing but the call every 3 weeks
that she'd injured herself
Or that they wanted to
change her medication, and I
just don't know how to hope anymore.
I understand.
But it's not about us or our hope.
So what?
Let 'em move in together
and be a disaster?
Yeah.
Or just less of a disaster.
Or maybe, God willing,
just a big mess.
It couldn't be much worse
than half of people's lives I know.
She'll drive him insane.
God help him
if he doesn't fit into her movie.
My father would've said
something like that.
He had a restaurant, Phil's.
We loved Phil's.
Come inside, it's cold.
All right.
So Aaron and Caroline
would get married in Paris,
and I would meet a handsome
French artist who lived in a loft.
And at night we'd go out
on those boats,
those damn boats with the lights
on the Seine, what are they called?
Bateaux-mouches!
Oh, well.
Whatever.