Channel Zero (2016) s04e01 Episode Script

1 [EERIE MUSIC.]
[MAN AND WOMAN MOANING.]
- [GROANS.]
- That's every room.
Oh.
[BOTH BREATHING HEAVILY.]
Now it's our house.
[CHUCKLES.]
[BOTH MOANING.]
What do you think? Guest bedroom? For now.
Here you go, Mrs.
Hodgson.
To home.
To home.
[POP MUSIC.]
What one is unagi again? Eel? Mmm, oh, my God.
- Mmm.
Remind me, okay? - Mm-hmm.
Out front we got, um, climbing roses? - No roses.
- No roses? - No, I don't like roses.
- You don't like roses? That is new information to me.
Never knew that.
Roses are lazy and dishonest.
Dishonest? Ooh, pretty flower.
And then a minute later, you're bleeding.
Okay, or, you know, you could, like, pick it carefully and maybe you won't bleed.
Plus it's like, oh, look at me.
I'm a rose.
[CHUCKLES.]
Well then, you can put in whatever you want once we get done with the renovation.
I have this image of the house collapsing in a cloud of dust.
No.
See, Dad, he knew he was gonna raise a family here.
So, put a lot of work into this place.
Style is from the '80s.
Well, your mom gave us the house.
So, you know, let's not look a gift house in the mouth.
[BOTH LAUGHING.]
I'm just saying, as far as wedding presents go, you can't do much better than a house.
Yeah, 'cause this one has strong bones.
- You know I have unagi breath.
- I love unagi breath.
[LOUD THUD.]
Is that the basement? Hey.
Watch your step.
When your mom said she'd left a couple of things down here, I thought she meant, like, a box or two.
Watch out for spiders.
This is amazing.
Oh, no.
[LAUGHS.]
Jeez.
I found your second grade report card.
- Yeah? - Mm-hmm.
B in language arts.
- I'm proud of that.
- [LAUGHS.]
Oh, there's so much good stuff here.
Hmm.
I found a picture of us.
[SOFT THUD.]
[GENTLE MUSIC.]
[DOG WHINES.]
Wha - What is happening? - What? What is hap Where did you come from? Oh, my God.
Hey! - How did that dog just get in? - Oh, my God.
- Babe, did we just get a dog? - Uh, I don't I'm gonna name him unagi.
- Unagi! - Wait, wait, wait.
- I like big dogs, baby.
- Unagi, where are you? Can't be seen walking that little thing.
Where did you go? There you are.
Oh, my God.
[EERIE MUSIC.]
[GEOFFROY'S "SOAKED IN GOLD".]
Yeah you look Like you've been soaked in gold [DOG WHINES.]
Hi.
Oh, God.
You know, when I was a kid, I had a stuffed toy animal who looked just like this.
I left it somewhere when I was, like, five and I never - saw it again.
- Mmm, that's so sad.
- [STAMMERS.]
- Oh, my bad.
Oh, yeah? That's how you feel? That was an accident.
My fault.
Oh, yeah? You wanna You wanna start something you can't finish? No, I'm not trying to start anything.
- Is that what you're gonna do? - Jill, Jill.
Hey, you you [LAUGHS.]
Stop it! Your body keeps calling me [BOTH GRUNTING AND MOANING.]
Yeah you look [DOG WHINING.]
Like you've been soaked in gold Who gonna take that dog for a walk, huh? [BOTH BREATHING HEAVY.]
Okay.
[BOTH LAUGHING.]
- Yeah, you laugh.
- Uh-huh.
- Thanks, babe.
- Yeah.
[AGGRESSIVE ROCK MUSIC.]
- Ooh.
- Whoo! [LOUD BANGING.]
All right.
[BANGING.]
I think you guys are having too much fun in there.
[SHOUTING.]
- [SHOUTS.]
- [LAUGHS.]
We should start a band.
[BANGING.]
[CAR APPROACHES.]
[DOOR CLOSES.]
Uh, uh, uh, uh.
Back it up.
[MUFFLED ROCK MUSIC.]
[LOUD THUDS.]
Every blow is devastating.
Yo, this is the wrong room.
- What? - I'm just kidding.
[LAUGHS.]
So you were best friends since you were kids? I love it.
It's so romantic.
- So was meeting on Tinder.
- [CHUCKLES.]
So what was it like when you saw each other again? I dunno, what can I say? It was this immediate thing.
Mm-hmm.
And eventually I convinced her to move back here.
It's true.
I never thought I was gonna come back to this place.
Tom, is it weird living in the same house that you grew up in? Uh, yes.
So, um, for example, like, Jill found this trunk downstairs just full of old stuff from when I was a kid.
Like, spelling tests and shit like that.
Oh, did you notice that one of yours was down there? - Mmm.
- Okay.
Oh, my goodness.
She used to draw these stories Like, these made-up characters or whatnot And there was this one guy, he was what? He was a juggler or something? Um, what was his name? It was like, uh, Pretzel Pretzel Man.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
Or, like, Pretzel Pete or something like that.
And Pretzel Pete, this guy could just bend into these positions and just, like, leg No, okay, I had gone to the circus, and I had seen this contortionist.
And I just made up this contortionist clown guy and drew him in these little stories that I would write.
[GIRL SINGING SOFTLY.]
- Pretzel Jack.
- Pretzel Jack.
- That was his name.
- [BURPS.]
[BURPS.]
[CHUCKLES.]
Anyway, Pretzel Jack.
Ladies wear to register 14, please.
Ladies wear, register 14.
[LOUD CLATTER.]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
- Hey.
- Hey.
All right.
[BREATHING RHYTHMICALLY.]
So, what do you wanna do about food, huh? [DRAMATIC MUSIC.]
Should we order something? What's the matter? Jill.
Who was that woman? What woman? At the store.
[SIGHS.]
Okay, uh, her name's Sarah Winters.
She and her husband, they live out in Mayor Hill, and we redid their master bedroom.
I guess she wasn't happy.
Did you sleep with her or something? Don't, okay? Let's Let's just not.
Did you? Just answer me.
- Tom.
- I'm not your father.
I'm not gonna do what he did.
Even if I had slept with her, for the record, that would have been, like, way in the past.
So, I mean, look, you can look her up, okay? You can call her.
You can confirm.
We did some work for her.
She wasn't happy.
You wanna call her? - I'm sorry.
- No, I shouldn't have snapped.
[SIGHS.]
I love you.
I trust you.
- I really love you.
- Mmm.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]
I love you, too.
[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING.]
- Hey, Jill? - [DOG WHINES.]
What's up? Hey, can you come down here for a second? [DOG WHINES.]
[DOG WHINES.]
Actually, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, okay.
Don't come down yet.
Just picture the far wall down here.
- Okay.
- You got it? - Got it.
- Describe it for me.
- It's just a wall.
- But what else? - I mean, what's on it? - Nothing.
You sure? Is there a picture on it? I mean, like, is there a Like, is there a window? Is there, uh, maybe, like, a door? There's no window or door.
Okay, come, come, come.
Come down here.
I just I don't get it.
I don't remember any door here.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]
Yeah.
Yeah, I grew up in this house, and I don't even remember a door.
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS.]
[PHONE CLICKS.]
Why would I never notice this? There's no keyhole.
There's no air coming through.
This thing is solid.
So, where do Where does it go? - [CELL PHONE VIBRATES.]
- [EXHALES SHARPLY.]
Beats me.
Okay.
My mom's never seen this door, either.
[EXHALES.]
This really freaks me out.
I don't know.
Maybe it's, uh Maybe it's that "Berenstain Bears" thing.
You know, with a different spelling? Or, like, that movie "Shazaam" with Sinbad that everyone swears existed? I don't I don't know.
[GRUNTING.]
- What the fuck? - Yeah, man.
Screws are hidden.
Can't remove the hinges.
It's not some weird memory thing.
There was no door.
Now there's a door.
Jason, you understand that's, uh, impossible, right? Come on.
We all remember.
Did your dad build that door in that wall in your basement? Do you believe that? So somebody snuck into our house in the middle of the night and installed a door? I didn't say that.
I just said what I'm sure about it.
There was no door.
What Do we call the cops? "Yes, officer, I have a door in my basement.
" No.
Now we open it.
[SLAMMING.]
[GRUNTING.]
[GROANS.]
[HEAVY BREATHING.]
You could hear it's hollow.
There's a space or a passage or something behind there.
Yeah, yeah.
- You go again.
- It's not working.
You're drunk, dude.
I have an idea.
What [GRUNTING.]
- Try further down.
- [GRUNTS.]
Down by the knob.
- Down here? - Yeah.
[GRUNTS.]
I already tried this.
- [GRUNTS.]
- Watch your hand, babe.
[GRUNTING.]
[GUN COCKING.]
What the fuck, Jason? Oh, my God.
- Hey, no.
- It's an enclosed space.
- What are you doing? - Go by the stairs.
- Cover your ears.
- Oh, my God.
- Jason, no.
- You want it open or not? Just cover your ears.
Going again.
[SHELL CLINKING.]
[GUNSHOT.]
[GUN COCKING.]
[GUNSHOT.]
[GUN COCKING.]
[GUNSHOT.]
Okay, okay! All right, stop! [GUNSHOT.]
Jason, stop! [GUNSHOT.]
Fuck! All right.
Baby, you okay? - My head.
- Here, take this.
- Oh, God.
- Jeez.
Fuck, Jason.
Oh, man.
Guys.
Did the trick.
[CLANKING.]
[WIND BLOWING.]
[LIGHTS CRACKLING.]
Wait, Jill, Jill, let me go first.
[GUN CLICKING.]
Why are you reloading? You don't know what's down there.
What the fuck? Another one? Hey, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Great, this one's locked, too, so Go back up the stairs a little.
[GUN COCKING.]
No, Jason, do not fire that thing down here.
- Okay.
- Are you fucking kidding me? [SIGHS.]
Jesus Christ, man.
Okay, how far did we go? We went, what, sideways about 45 feet, something like that? Yeah, mm-hmm.
About halfway to the neighbor's house, right? You know who lives there? O'Connells used to live there.
Let's go knock on their door.
Yeah, you get rid of the shotgun.
Yeah, of course I'm gonna get rid of the shotgun.
I'm not a maniac.
Come on, Jill.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]
[KNOCKING.]
[DOGS BARKING DISTANTLY.]
I hope we're not waking them up.
- Hey.
- Hey.
What's up, man? Sorry if we're waking you up or anything.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- Uh, we live next door.
- Yeah, yeah.
I, uh I saw you earlier in the yard.
- Right.
- Everything okay? - Um - Yeah.
Yeah, we just have kind of a weird question.
You do know it's midnight, right? 'Cause this kind of feels like the start of a horror movie.
[CHUCKLES.]
Well, this is gonna sound funny.
- Um - Can we see your basement? [CAT PURRING.]
[MEOWING.]
So much for that theory.
Is this all your stuff? Uh, no, it, um, belongs to the people I'm renting from, I guess.
- The O'Connells? - Yeah, yeah.
The O'Connells? They're still alive? God, 20 years ago, they were already old.
Yeah, I've never met them.
I guess they're in Florida.
- [CAT MEOWING.]
- Okay, okay.
You come here, um, for work or Uh, no, I'm actually I'm working on my Ph.
D.
You know, it's funny, in Jungian psychology, doors are kind of a thing.
This whole deal with your basement is is fascinating.
I'd love to come over and maybe check it out sometime.
Sure, yeah.
Sometime.
Uh, hey, sorry to bother you so late.
- We're gonna - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Uh, no no worries.
Um, let me know if you get it open.
I'm curious now.
Um, thanks.
- Bye.
- [CAT MEOWS.]
[SMOOTH ELECTRONIC MUSIC.]
[SIGHS.]
Okay.
- What? - A for effort.
[GUNSHOT.]
[GUN COCKING.]
[GUNSHOT.]
[GUN COCKING.]
[GUNSHOT.]
[GUN COCKING.]
[ELECTRIC SAW BUZZING.]
[KNOCKING.]
[KNOCKING.]
What about this door makes you feel so unsafe? That it's there.
But don't you think the most obvious explanation is that Tom's father built a storage area under the house Maybe a wine cellar? It's not a wine cellar.
It goes too deep.
[UNSETTLING MUSIC.]
Well, last time we were talking about your Your parents.
Wanna get back into that? I don't know.
I mean, that's why you first came here, right? Trust issues.
There's something else.
Tom made some phone calls.
Uh-huh, to? I don't know.
They're all at night.
And then the other day, I saw him arguing with a woman I don't know.
It felt personal.
So do you think that's who he's calling? Uh, why don't you ask him? [SIGHS.]
Look, I I know these things are are not easy.
There's There's no training.
I mean, when we're in love, we're we're basically trusting amateurs to do heart surgery on us, right? Wanna know two things that eat away at a marriage? Secrets and distrust.
They feed off one another.
You keep secrets, your partner distrusts you.
So you keep even more secrets.
You cannot let suspicion fester.
You gotta discuss it.
Then it looks like I'm going over the phone bill.
Well, you are.
[CHUCKLES.]
What do you wanna do? I want to call the number.
Mmm.
Do you love your husband? I love him very much.
But? Just because you love somebody doesn't mean you really know them.
Jillian, your parents' marriage was an anomaly, and it does not have to cast a shadow over yours.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]
- Hey.
- Hey.
Where are you going? I gotta run by Jason's real quick.
Okay.
- Be back in a little bit.
- Okay.
Love you.
[CAR DOOR OPENS, CLOSES.]
[CAR ENGINE STARTS.]
[CAR APPROACHING.]
[RUMBLING.]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]
[DOOR OPENS.]
[FOOTSTEPS.]
[DOG WHINES.]
[ELECTRICITY FLICKERS.]
[DOORKNOB CLICKS.]
[DOOR CREAKS OPEN.]
Shit.
Come on.
Come on.
[GASPS.]
Must have found an open window, unlocked door.
No, he didn't break in.
He was already inside the house.
Now, for what it's worth, uh, I'd be surprised if that situation in your basement is up to code.
Hey, can you at least leave a car here? You know, keep an eye on the place? Yeah, I can do that for tonight.
I don't think he's gonna be back.
[INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER.]
You want to feel better, get an alarm system.
ADT, Frontpoint.
Hey.
Sorry about this.
- They take anything? - No.
That's good.
You mind if I ask you a question? Go ahead.
Do you believe that some things You know, people or places Are just special? I don't mean supernatural, but, you know, neuroscientists, quantum physicists, they'll they'll get there eventually.
But not yet.
Um, does this have something to do with our house? I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to weird you out.
Really, I do that sometimes.
- Um - No.
I'm gonna let you go.
I'm sorry.
I hope this all gets, you know, sorted out.
[GENTLE MUSIC.]
You wanna go to a hotel? This is our house.
[SIGHS.]
Okay.
- Hello, Jill? - Oh, sorry.
Tell her I'll get some new samples for her tomorrow.
You sure you're okay? Yeah, uh, I'll see you when you get home.
Okay.
I love you.
Love you.
[PHONE DIALING.]
[LINE TRILLING.]
- Hello? - Hello? Who is this? Is this Sarah Winters? Yeah.
Who is this? This is Tom Hodgson's wife.
Tell him to stay away from me.
I don't want to get a restraining order, but I will.
[PHONE BEEPS.]
Jill? Hey.
What's going on? You tell me.
You're the one sitting in the dark.
Talk to me.
I called Sarah Winters.
[SIGHS.]
What? You were involved with this woman? And you're still pursuing her? No.
You called her five times in three days.
I'm not pursuing her.
[SIGHS.]
Why you combing through the phone bill? - Clearly I need to.
- No.
No, you don't.
This is just like when we started dating.
Everything's sinister.
Nothing's what it seems.
It's always some big secret.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that your anxiety now is coming from moving back here.
I'm not the source of it.
I thought we were done with this.
Where are you going? I just need some time to think.
I'll call you in a couple hours.
[DOOR OPENS, CLOSES.]
[CAR DOOR CLOSES.]
[KNOCKING.]
[SIGHS.]
Two nights in a row, huh? Come in.
[KNOCKING.]
- What's going on? - Hey.
Um, is this a bad time? - Do you have someone here? - No, come in.
He just pounded on his head over and over again.
[ANNOUNCER CONTINUES INDISTINCTLY.]
- You want a beer? - Uh, no, thanks.
[TURNS TV OFF.]
Uh, I I need to talk to you about Tom.
What's going on? I know he's your friend.
And that's why I'm asking you because maybe you know him better than I do.
And I wanna think you're a decent enough person, you're not gonna lie to me about something as important as this.
Is he cheating on me? No.
Why would he sneak out to a house in Byrd Park and not tell me about it? I have no idea.
Who's Sarah Winters? [LOUD RATTLING.]
[UNEASY MUSIC.]
What was that? Well, something must have fell.
Hey, I don't know any house in Byrd Park.
Maybe just ask him about that.
But bring it down a notch.
'Cause nothing's going on with Tom.
Okay? If nothing's going on, then why do I feel so fucking sure something's going on? Do you really want me to answer that? What does that mean? You can't blame him for something crazy your dad did - 20 years ago.
- Don't gaslight me.
How am I gaslighting you? By making me think it's all in my head.
Don't.
Your level of suspicion is in your head.
It's from you.
The call is coming from inside the house, baby.
- What? - Did I make up a phone bill with a bunch of calls? Did that just jump out of my head and land in the mailbox? You need to be talking to him about this, not me.
Well, maybe I did and maybe he walked off like a coward.
Tom is not a coward.
Your dad was a coward.
- Don't get confused.
- Don't talk about my dad.
- Okay? - Okay, well, I'm just saying, you're talking about my best friend.
Maybe it was his bad luck to fall for you.
'Cause what you really need is somebody who's as fucked up as you.
What is that supposed to mean? - Maybe he's too good for you.
- Like who? - Like you? - No.
In what world would I be coming on to you right now? Are you fucking kidding me? I can't tell if you're protecting him or you're going behind his back or both.
But you're doing exactly what he does.
You're trying to make me doubt myself, - and I'm sick of it! - You are actually crazy.
Honestly, I feel bad for you 'cause - it's kinda not your fault.
- No, no.
What happened back then didn't make me crazy.
It made me cautious, and I'm grateful for that.
When I said the name Sarah Winters, - I saw you react.
- React? - I don't know any Sarah Winters.
- Stop lying to me! You came here with your mind already made up.
[GRUNTING.]
[SHOUTING.]
What the fuck? [SHOUTING.]
[SCARED BREATHING.]
[GROANS.]
[REPEATED STABBING.]
Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop! [HEAVY BREATHING.]
[GASPS.]
[GASPS.]
Don't you remember you told me you love me baby [SONIC YOUTH'S "SUPERSTAR".]
You said you'd be coming back this way again baby I love you I really do