Medium s02e09 Episode Script

Still Life

Hello.
I'm Rod Serling, speaking to you this evening from somewhere just beyond the Twilight Zone.
Submitted for your approval or at least your analysis: the strange case of you, the viewing audience.
The bizarre events in this evening's episode of Medium cannot be confined to two dimensions.
Certain sequences of the story demand to be presented in 3D, so keep your glasses close at hand, seat yourself approximately six to eight feet from your screen, and whenever you see the logo in the corner-- that's it right there-- put your glasses on.
If you don't have them, don't worry.
You can still enjoy the episode.
And now hold on.
Our next stop, the Medium Zone.
I'm not really an art person, but ever since I was little girl, when I look at a work of art, I sense things about the person who made it.
I think it might be because really gifted people can't help but leave a piece of their souls on the canvas.
Ever wonder why the Mona Lisa is smiling or what's bothering Whistler's mother? I really believe if I were ever able to get to Paris and look at the original paintings, I might be able to tell you.
Like this guy here.
Look at his face.
What do you see? An artistic genius or a jilted lover? Creative fulfillment or massive self-loathing? Simple exhaustion or overwhelming depression? Vincent Van Gogh fell in love twice in his life, but was spurned by both women.
He ended up spending most of his short adult life in and out of mental institutions, until at the age of 36, after a ten-year frenzy of painting, he decided to end it all.
Van Gogh committed suicide at the height of his artistic powers.
Tragically, he sold but one canvas during his entire life.
If you like vital programs like the one you just saw, we urge you to give and give generously.
Oliver Wendell Holmes was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1902.
He is one of the most important justices in American history - and is sometimes called "The Great Dissenter" - What does that mean? He was called that because he disagreed so often with the other judges.
His important cases were But I don't understand.
I thought that disagreements were bad.
Mom Bridgette, Ariel's practicing.
Why don't we listen to what she has to say and we'll ask questions afterwards? I was listening.
Ooh, look at you.
Wow, Daddy, you sure look nice.
Did you hear the first part? I was riveted, and it's the fifth time I've heard it.
Now hang on one sec, and I'm coming over to hear the thrilling conclusion.
You're kidding, right? Well, it's the law of probabilities.
Every time you wear a tie, it goes into your coffee or your coffee gets on it.
Come on, this is your one tie.
Your boss asked you out to lunch.
Thought you might want to keep it clean.
I do want to keep it clean, but if I put this thing under my chin and anyone sees it, they're going to take away my "man" card, and we don't want that.
Ah, suit yourself.
Hello, ladies.
Now, you were saying? Daddy.
You still look nice, Daddy.
Okay See what I can do.
Ariel, finish making the lunches! And, Bridgette, honey, brush your teeth! Don't waste your time.
That one's had it.
You can't do that.
Yeah, that's one of the best parts of being dead.
Yeah, you just wait till it's your turn.
You'll see.
What are you doing here? I'm just visiting my only son and his only wife.
Go figure.
Boy's pushing 40, and every time he dresses up, he still fidgets like he's he's going out to have his class picture taken.
Forget it, forget it.
Just get him the one that's in your bottom drawer that you're saving for Christmas.
What? What do you want? Just concerned about my boy.
Now, we both know that he can't make grown-up decisions.
No, I'm sorry.
I don't know that.
Please What? What is your problem? You had no time for this man when you were alive.
Now you're dead you think you can just pop in whenever the hell you want and offer some fatherly advice?! Leave us alone! This is my bathroom! I'd like a little privacy! I'd like to be able to use the toilet, if you don't mind! Hey no problem.
I'll tell him to call back.
Tell who to call back? Detective Scanlon.
Any luck with that? No.
In my bottom drawer, there's a new one in a Christmas box.
Really? Wait, wait, wait, wait, give me the phone.
Thanks.
Hello? Oh, my God.
Who was it? I don't know.
They haven't found a body yet.
Doesn't look like you'd have to look very far.
We've been all over the park.
Nothing.
So far, all I've got is what looks like a couple of quarts of type O-positive and a vagrant who claims he heard a man and a woman arguing in here sometime last night.
I called the morgue.
No John or Jane Does were brought in.
Same deal with the hospitals.
You okay? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine.
Does "Jack's Gal" mean anything? Hope you brought your appetite.
Absolutely.
It travels with me wherever I go.
So, I'm guessing you know this by heart.
Afraid so.
Probably eaten here at least twice a week for the last eight years.
So what do you recommend? What's good? Me? I recommend change.
I recommend that nobody eat in the same place twice a week for eight years.
It dulls the palate and mutes the soul.
I'm leaving Aerodytech, Joe.
I'm giving my notice at the end of the day.
Okay.
Well, congratulations, I guess.
Our loss is somebody else's gain.
So who poached you? Was it Grumman? Boeing? Nobody poached me.
I'm starting my own company.
And the reason I asked you to lunch is, well I need a partner.
I've got the financing, but I need a sounding board, a confidante, not to mention a gifted engineer.
Close your mouth, Joe.
You'll draw flies.
What do you do if someone knocks on the door? I don't open it.
What do you do if you smell smoke? I dial 911.
And what do you do if I want to watch something and you don't? I want a regular babysitter.
We don't need a regular babysitter.
I'm old enough to babysit, and besides, it's an emergency.
Right, Mom? Bridgette, honey, Daddy called at the last minute.
He wants me to meet him for dinner downtown.
There's something very important he wants to talk about.
I don't care! She's going to be mean to me! She's not going to be mean to you.
She's your sister.
Now come on.
Mom! Okay, come on, everybody out.
I'm going to be late.
Let's go.
Come on, out.
Out, out, out, out.
Go.
He says he's got to know in three days.
Something about the financing.
Well, what do you think? What do I think? I think it's scary and flattering, and scary and flattering, and scary and The guy's the best combination of businessman and engineer I've ever met.
I keep thinking about all these magazine articles I've read about Wozniak and Jobs getting together, about Bill Gates and Paul Allen.
I keep wondering if this is the beginning of something like that.
And then I keep thinking about the the company health plan, and my great parking space, and the company Christmas party-- the stupid stuff I've come to depend on.
H ey.
No fair.
Where'd you go? What does that say? What's what say? Jason Morrow.
Okay, tree with stuff hanging from it.
Nice.
I kind of like this one.
I wonder who she is.
She's so beautiful and her eyes are so sad.
Her eyes? Are you okay? Yeah I'm fine.
Sorry.
It just looked like Never mind.
You sure? What time did you tell the kids? Allison Allison.
Allison.
Quite a set of lungs on that one.
Must take after her mother.
Do you mind? Me? I'm dead.
I don't mind much of anything anymore.
Well, I do, so I'd appreciate it if you'd just go away.
I can't go away, Allie dear.
Not until I've I've said my piece.
About what? My son-- the entrepreneur.
Oh you know about that, huh? I know everything.
That's one of the perks of my current condition.
Now, look, far be it from me to stand in the way of my son's dream.
But trust me when I say that this new business venture is not the right way for him to go.
And why would I do that? Trust you, I mean.
What the hell's that supposed to mean? It means you never once supported any of Joe's decisions.
Even when you were alive.
I let him marry you, didn't I? Fine, be that way.
Just make sure that Joe knows that Versailles's running on fumes.
What? Just tell him that.
Versailles's running on fumes.
He needs to hear that.
It's important.
Thought you might want to know we got a positive ID on the owner of that blood we found in the park yesterday.
Gloria Soto.
Mexican citizen, but a frequent border-hopper.
That's how we had her DNA on file.
She was brought in on a solicitation charge in El Paso.
So that explains what she was doing in the park.
What? I've seen this woman before.
Last night, actually.
What do you mean? Like in a dream? It was in a gallery.
I was at this art gallery and this local artist, Jason Morrow-- I saw this woman in one of his paintings.
You sure it was her? Can you take me there, to that gallery? I don't think it'll help.
The painting in the gallery is of the back of her head.
Then how do you know it's Gloria Soto? Because she turned and looked at me.
Hello? Jason? Jason Morrow? Detective Scanlon.
This is Allison Dubois with the District Attorney's office.
We're, uh we're working a missing persons case and your name came up during the course of our investigation.
That sounds ominous.
Who's gone missing? Gloria Soto.
She's a Mexican, 34 years of age.
Very pretty.
I'm sorry, I don't know that name.
Maybe you'll know the face.
No.
I've never actually seen this woman before.
Wait a second.
Are you telling me that she never posed for you? That's right.
I don't use models.
Actually, Gloria was a prostitute.
I don't use those either.
But if you could tell me how my name came up, perhaps I could be of a little more help.
Allison Allison, you okay? Yeah, I-I'm fine.
Could could I trouble you for a glass of water? In that back room over there.
What are you doing? It's not just me, right? You see her face, too? Plain as day.
Want to tell me again, Mr.
Morrow, how you never met Gloria Soto? Good morning.
Good morning.
Um, if I could just have a word.
Excuse us.
Sorry.
I'm sorry.
That's my office.
I know, I know, and honestly, we've been in there all of three minutes.
He insisted.
And he is? David Morrow-- worth conservatively a quarter of a billion dollars.
Or at least his late wife was.
Okay.
And late last night, apparently on your say-so, his son was ordered held in connection with some missing persons case.
So he called his good friend the mayor, who called you At 3:30 this morning And told you to get down here and convince me to let him go.
Well, I'm sorry to disappoint His Honor, but as he very well knows, I can hold a suspect, any suspect, rich, poor or otherwise, without actually charging him for 24 hours.
No, he knows that.
It's just-- since there's no firm evidence to actually implicate this man, we were wondering if you could possibly see your way clear No, I can't.
And you tell the mayor I have a bathroom full of blood and a team of professional investigators telling me that Jason Morrow is connected.
That's enough for me, and it should be enough for the mayor.
Mr.
District Attorney, David Morrow.
Mr.
Morrow.
I couldn't help but overhear the tail end of that exchange.
Look, just so everyone's intentions are clear-- when this evening rolls around, if you still don't have enough evidence to charge my son, I will be filing a lawsuit against you and the City of Phoenix for wrongful arrest.
You thank the mayor for his help.
I'll see myself out.
It's not here.
I'll get it.
Hello.
Oh, good morning, sir.
You did? Well, I'm sorry.
I lost it.
I found it! Joe found it.
It's Devalos.
He was trying to call me on my cell phone.
Yeah, I can be there at 10:30.
Fine.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Look at you.
You're as nervous as a cat.
I-I haven't been to a lawyer since we bought this house.
You have your little list of questions? Do I ever.
I got my health insurance packet, Aerodytech contract, my pension fund statements.
You know, the irony is I'm going to spend the whole day with this guy, and then when it's over, I'm still not going to know whether to do it or not.
I'm sorry, honey, I wish I had an answer.
What good are you? I'll show you what good I am.
Does the name "Versailles" mean anything to you? Used to be a big fancy building in France.
Why? Well, your father showed up again here last night.
And he told me you shouldn't go into business with Andrew because Wait, I want to get this right "Versailles is running on fumes.
" "Versailles is running on fumes?" It was the middle of the night, and it was your father.
He told me you needed to hear that.
Thanks, Dad.
I'll be sure and tell that to the lawyer.
Do I look okay? I'm paying this guy $250 an hour, and I'm worried about what I look like.
You look like a captain of industry.
You look like an admiral of industry.
Admiral's bigger than captain, right? I have no idea.
I got to go.
I understand, Judge, but I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you I think you're making a mistake.
Jason Morrow is our only connection to this missing woman.
Respectfully, I disagree We will work harder, sir.
You count on it.
No warrant.
The judge seems to feel that we're reaching.
So, I guess Jason Morrow's car, home, studio-- they're all off limits? Well, we can still hold him for another 10 hours, but unless we have any physical evidence that he was involved in the disappearance of Gloria Soto, he'll walk.
I wish I could tell you that I had a dream last night that would narrow down the search for the body.
But so far I've only been able to see things when I look at one of Morrow's paintings.
Well, in that case, I think you'll appreciate the homework we've assembled for you in the conference room.
every one of them a Jason Morrow original.
Figure it'll keep you busy for the rest of the morning.
Wait, I thought that we couldn't get a search warrant on his studio? We couldn't.
I spent most of last night visiting all the local galleries, flashing my badge and asking if the Phoenix P.
D.
could "borrow" everything they had by Jason Morrow.
Just watch where you put that coffee; we break anything, we pay for it.
Give us a call if you see something.
Where are you going? I'm going to go look for a tree with a hundred pairs of sneakers dangling from it.
"Self Portrait.
" Jason, it doesn't look a thing like you.
Good-bye, my darling.
Hello? How much you know about local high school football? Not much.
Why? It turns out the Flagstaff Cougars have this funny little tradition.
Every year the graduating seniors tie their cleats together and throw them over the branches of a dead ash tree near their favorite drinking spot in the woods.
If I give you directions, how soon can you be here? One adult female, one male child.
Forensic techs figure they've been here at least 20 years.
Which means she couldn't possibly be Gloria Soto.
And unless Jason Morrow was one very advanced toddler I'm guessing he's not our killer.
We're 20 hours into the custody of Jason Morrow, and we're still no closer to finding the body of Gloria Soto.
We have, however, found two bodies that we weren't looking for, but we can be reasonably certain that our suspect had nothing to do with their deaths, given the fact that he was a toddler at the time.
I don't know what to tell you.
All I can say is, I saw Gloria Soto being buried in that grave.
No, you didn't.
You saw her mother, Inez Soto.
We I.
D.
'd her off her dental records.
They matched a missing persons report her family filed in Mexico in 1982.
Apparently, the Mexican authorities forwarded it to us at the time.
Someone spent about a half a day looking into it, and then it sat in a drawer until this afternoon.
Oh, my God, she looks exactly like her daughter.
I thought I saw someone digging a grave for Gloria, but I must've seen someone digging a grave for her mother.
Now, here's an interesting factoid-- care to guess who Inez was working for when she disappeared in '82? According to the file-- David Morrow.
Wait a second, the woman whose corpse you just found worked for Jason Morrow's father? According to her family, she was working for him as a maid, making money to send back home to Mexico to her daughter.
Had a son, too.
Tomas.
He was born here in the States.
Disappeared when she did.
That must've been the boy, the same one I saw in Jason's paintings.
I have a present for you, by the way.
A little something, to, uh, complete your collection.
Where did this come from? Stopped by to see Jason Morrow in his holding cell to see if his plush surroundings triggered any new recollections about Gloria Soto.
He was working on it the whole time I was there-- I asked him if I could see it.
He told me to keep it.
Good-bye, my darling.
Feel better, little baby.
There were two little babies-- there had to be.
There was Inez's son, and there was Jason.
Jason was a witness.
He doesn't remember anything; he was too young.
But it's all in there.
Every time I see one of his paintings come to life, I'm seeing what happened through his eyes.
I-I'm sorry, I'm not sure I follow you.
Well, think about it.
He couldn't have killed the mother and son.
But he could have seen his father do it.
Look, I think what happened to Inez and her son is terrible.
From what little I remember of them, they were nice people.
But if you're suggesting that I had anything to do with their deaths We just wanted to ask you a few questions.
Well, considering the fact that you just released my son after incarcerating him for 24 hours, you'll forgive me if I'm not feeling especially cooperative.
You ever been convicted of a felony, Mr.
Morrow? Yes, I was arrested several times, but I'm guessing that you already know that.
Heroin possession, right? It happened over 20 years ago, Detective.
A youthful indiscretion.
More like three youthful indiscretions, actually.
What about assault and battery charges your wife filed? Emily dropped those charges.
It was a misunderstanding.
Now, are you finished, or do I need to call my lawyer? No, no.
I've only got one more question for you.
Why'd you kill Inez and her kid? She hear something she shouldn't have? Try to blackmail you, maybe? That's your theory? I killed her to protect my money.
That's a good theory, it's clever, except for one thing.
Everything you see here, none of it belongs to me.
It never has.
My wife's family didn't particularly like me, and I'm guessing that had something to do with the arrest that you mentioned.
While my wife was alive, we lived off of her trust fund, and after my wife passed, all of the assets were transferred to my son Jason.
Okay? This house is his.
Everything.
He lets me live here.
He gives me an allowance, I guess you could call it.
Okay.
Maybe you two had an affair.
She called it off Detective, you're embarrassing yourself.
I told you not to play with that boy! He can make you sick.
He can kill you.
Now, tilt your head back.
Dr.
Tedesco said we have to be sure to get every drop of blood off you.
Keep your eyes open.
guess we'll be giving you a call, and, uh, you can come down to the station to make a statement.
That was productive.
Actually, it was.
You saw something in there? I saw Inez Soto again when I was looking at that painting.
She was giving one of the boys a bath.
Sounds like a hot lead-- I mean, she was the maid.
No, it wasn't like that-- she was scared of something.
She mentioned the other boy, she said he was sick.
And she mentioned a doctor.
Tedesco.
Dr.
Tedesco.
It seemed important.
A name-- now, that I can work with.
Oh.
Hmm.
Mm! After a long day of hard work, I really look forward to a brewski.
Hmm, well, then, my dear, you are doomed for an evening of disappointment.
A man-- a man with a mask-- came into our house and stole all of our brewskis.
Mm.
So I'm sitting in our $250- an-hour lawyer's office and I think it's hour three and he says to me, "Is it true the fellows from Versailles Capital are funding you and Andrew? " And all I could think of is "Versailles is running on fumes.
" And I was, like, "I don't know".
I mean, I do know.
At least I strongly suspect based on our conversation this morning.
But I don't know.
So what do you do? I pretended my phone was vibrating, that it was a call from you.
I told him I had to wrap up this meeting and I got out of there and I went over to Andrew's house, and I just asked him.
And? And he said, "Keep it under your hat, Joe, but yes, "Versailles Capital has agreed to provide 100 percent " of the startup funding for Gossamer.
That's the name we came up with-- Gossamer.
" That's a great name.
That's a beautiful name, my emperor of industry.
So what are you going to do? I already did it.
I told him I couldn't join him.
Told him I wouldn't.
Did you tell him why? Did I tell him my dead father told me the money's not going to come through? No, I didn't.
I don't know why.
It was a spur-of-the-moment thing.
But, Joe, maybe you could find somebody else to fund you guys.
Maybe but I already told him.
I'm sure he's out to somebody else by now.
I'm so sorry.
I would've missed the Christmas party.
And my great parking space.
Mm-mm-hmm.
And we do have a hell of a health plan.
You're a liar.
I should get that.
The girls Oh! Wait, you just sit.
I'll get it.
Hello? Tracked down this guy Tedesco.
Turns out he's an immunologist, one of the first pediatric AIDS specialists in Phoenix.
I I don't understand.
Was Inez's son sick? D-Did he remember him? He doesn't remember anything.
He passed away in '86, but his wife still has all his old medical files in the garage, and I badgered her and she let me take a look.
And? And he never treated Tomas, but get this.
He did treat Jason Morrow.
Turns out Jason's parents were both intravenous drug users, but only mom got sick.
Apparently she passed AIDS to him in the womb.
According to the file, Jason's case was terminal.
Life expectancy, four years, max.
Wait a second, how is that possible? Jason's got to be at least 25.
Actually, no.
He's not.
He's dead.
You led us to his body.
Oh, my God, that little boy in the grave.
Wasn't Inez Soto's son.
Tomas Soto's still alive, only he thinks he's Jason Morrow.
Mr.
Morrow, thank you for coming in on a Saturday, sir.
I'm only here because my son asked me to come down and join him.
He's waiting in the conference room.
Right this way.
Jason.
You all right? I'm fine.
Why did they bring you down here? To formally apologize.
Jason, the city of Phoenix sincerely regrets holding you in connection with the disappearance of Gloria Soto.
We recognize it as an ordeal and a massive inconvenience and for that, we sincerely apologize.
Fine.
That's a start.
But if you think it's going to make us stop our lawsuit, you're wrong.
I can assure you, I'm under no such misapprehension.
Good.
Then we'll see you in court.
Probably sooner than you think.
What's this? It's a medical report on Jason Morrow.
Your son.
It dates back to 1982.
You got this from Dr.
Michael Tedesco? His widow, actually.
Imagine Jason's surprise when he heard that he'd been diagnosed with AIDS at birth.
Seems like the type of thing you'd mention Dad.
I don't know where you're going with this, Manuel, but you know damn well that file is protected under doctor-patient confidentiality.
Absolutely.
But since Jason here is supposedly the patient, he found the contents fascinating.
I never told you because it wasn't true.
I mean, I fired this doctor.
He misdiagnosed you.
I mean, obviously, look at you, you're fine.
So what was wrong with me? You suffered from a rare form of pediatric pneumonia.
I took you to a clinic in Switzerland.
You recovered.
And you have documentation to prove that? My client is not obliged to produce medical records of any kind.
It was very important to you that Jason stay alive, wasn't it? Of course.
He's my son.
Right.
And after your wife, Emily, passed, if Jason hadn't survived his bout of-- what'd you callit, "pneumonia"-- you would have been cut out of the family money, wouldn't you? Mr.
District Attorney, I demand to know, are you accusing my client of something here? Only murder.
Two counts for now.
Probably three when all is said and done.
This meeting is over.
Jason.
Sit down, Dad.
Jason, I don't know what they've been telling you, but it's not true.
David, we should go.
Your wife died of AIDS in 1982.
You knew your son didn't have long to live, and you knew that when he died, your last connection to your wife's family money would die with him.
So you did the only thing you could do.
You went looking for a replacement.
And luckily you didn't have to look far.
Your maid's son was about the same age as Jason.
She was an undocumented immigrant, somebody you thought nobody would miss.
So you killed her.
And then you did something unthinkable.
You killed your own diseased child, and you raised Inez Soto's healthy boy as your own.
Jason none of this is true.
Well, there's a simple way to prove that.
Jason has agreed to give us a blood sample.
If you're willing to do the same, and the DNA indicates that the two of you are, in fact, related, then we'll know that all of this was just a product of our overactive imaginations.
Come on, Dad.
Doesn't even hurt.
At the end of the day, we can show them how wrong they are.
Manuel, you know you cannot compel my client to give you a DNA sample.
You're right.
But I can compare the sample I already drew from Jason to the DNA from Inez Soto's remains.
In fact, it's being done right now.
And if the comparison shows me what I think it's going to-- that the man raised as Jason Morrow is in fact Tomas Soto-- then I'll have more than enough to make a case against your client.
You're welcome to go somewhere and wait it out if you want, but I'll be on your ass the whole time.
Or we can stay right here and talk about a deal.
Who knows, you tell me where Gloria Soto's body is, I'll even consider taking the death penalty off the table.
My card's higher.
You sure? I'm this sure.
I call.
I win! No, you don't.
I have an ace.
You have a one.
Daddy, doesn't four beat one? Sorry, kiddo.
Ace beats all.
Ha! Hey, nobody told me we were having a barbecue.
Hey.
How'd it go? Well, the father confessed to everything.
He even told us where he buried Gloria Soto.
Congratulations.
Oh, I guess there's good news all around.
I had an interesting call.
It seems they're having a hard time filling Andrew's position, and guess what? They want me to interview for the job.
Way to go, Emperor! I'm going to go change; I'll be right back.
Hey! Hey! See? Everything works out for the best.
Apparently.
Thanks, I guess.
Ah, one thing, though.
Um, that firm of theirs, that Gossamer thing? It's actually going to be a success.
It's actually going to do all right.
Not, not huge, but all right.
What? I don't understand.
Well, I just didn't want you to see it happen later and get angry with me.
I mean, like I said, everything works out for the best.
Well, wait a second.
Now I'm not so sure it has.
Trust me.
If he took that partnership, he'd spend the next 12 years working 70-hour weeks.
And he'd have told himself that he was doing it for you, for the kids.
And he wouldn't have known that he was losing you guys until it was too late.
Are you crazy? Lose us? Joe could never lose us.
Uh, not all at once.
It happens gradually.
Late night by late night, weekend by weekend.
Before you know it, you miss a birthday, then an anniversary.
And then one day your kid is packing up to go to off to college, and you realize you're saying good-bye to a stranger.
So you thought Joe was going to turn into you? I knew he was.
I saw it.
No, you're wrong.
It wouldn't have happened that way.
Joe is not like you.
And I don't care.
Joe and I are grownups.
We have the right to know the truth.
That was our risk to take.
I don't know.
It's 1:00 on a Saturday afternoon.
You're home.
He's home.
The burgers are almost ready.
And your little girls have cards stuck to their foreheads.
Days like this-- why would you risk them for anything?
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