A Great Divide (2023) Movie Script
1
[soft ethereal music]
[soft chorale enters]
[music fades]
[birds chirping]
[laughs]
Honey, when you told me Alyse
bought a nice house out here,
I didn't know you meant this.
I'm pretty sure our old place
can fit inside this living room.
Right?
This isn't a house,,
this is a wooden castle.
[cell phone rings]
-Hey, Alyse.
-Hey, Isaac.
Just checking that you guys
made it there safe and sound.
-Yeah, we're here.
-How's the house?
Oh, my God, this is incredible.
Just lending us the car,
this house.
You are far too generous,
noona.
Oh, please. I'm like
six months older than you.
Do not call me "noona."
[laughs] Sorry.
Are you really sure
you want us to stay here?
I mean, we could always
go to a hotel.
[Alyse] No, no, enjoy it.
By the way, I ordered you
a "Welcome to Wyoming"
floral arrangement.
It's already on my card,
so don't even worry about it.
And I'm just so glad that
we could bring you on board.
You know you're
my number one guy.
Wow, um... [sighs]
I don't know what to say.
I just, um...
[distant] To be honest,
we really needed a change.
Out here, maybe Benjamin
can have the time
and space to process.
[Alyse] Well, it's great.
And we're going to do
everything we can
to get him into Riverton High.
[Isaac] Well, if he even
finishes his application.
He's still working on his essay.
But I mean, everything's...
[somber music]
My name is Benjamin Lee.
I'm 15 years old
from California.
I'm interested
in debate and chess.
[scoffs] No.
My name is Benjamin Lee.
I'm Korean.
My grandma immigrated
from Korea to the United States
when my mom was just a baby.
[speaking Korean]
[rustling]
[speaking Korean]
It's just an essay I have to
write to get into my new school.
[speaking Korean]
They want to see
if we're a good fit,
which we're probably not.
[speaking Korean]
Love you, Halmoni.
[speaking Korean]
[wind whooshing]
Now, tradition is so important
to us here at Riverton High.
So now the honor code
will be something
that's important
for you to remember.
Oh, honor, um, it might mean
something different
where you come from
at your old school.
Did you
have an honor code there?
-Oh!
-Hey, Ms. Jackson.
Here are the leftover shirts
from the ski team fundraiser.
Thank you.
Oh, before you leave, Hunter,
say hello to Benjamin first.
This is Benjamin.
He's thinking about
joining us this year.
Hey, Benjamin First.
[laughs]
Speaking of future Olympians,
that's Hunter.
He'll be in your same grade.
Yeah.
He actually placed
in junior nationals.
Slalom and giant slalom.
We have high hopes, right?
[giggles]
-[phone dings]
-I'm sorry.
[soft tapping]
[soft beep]
Ellie landed.
[sighs] Okay.
So in here, I have your schedule
along with the honor code.
And a little bit more
about our tuition and our fees.
But my guess is
since you live up on the crest,
you're not going to need
to pay attention to any of that.
Oh, and like I told you
on the phone,
we have all of our applicants
send us
that supplemental essay
on your family.
So the sooner
he can get that turned in,
the sooner we can
start your evaluation.
Of course.
It's been such a pleasure
getting to know you both.
Oh, Ellie would love that shirt.
Yeah? It's $15.
Oh, um, I think
I have a 20 in here somewhere.
You know what?
Consider it a gift.
-Well...
-[Ms. Jackson giggles]
Thank you, Ms. Jackson.
Go Otters!
Go Otters!
Ah, okay.
[door creaks]
[on PA System] ...maybe asked
to move and unattended vehicles
can be ticketed or towed.
You should talk
to your dad about your essay.
I'm sure he has
some stories to share.
-You know, once he gets started.
-Oh, I'm okay.
Grandma gave me
this box of photos.
It's full of stories.
Benj, honey.
Oh, oh! There she is.
Hey. [shrieks] Benj!
Hey, hi.
-Oh, let's get a selfie.
-Oh, okay.
[giggling]
So nice to see you again, Ellie.
Oh, another one
for your collection.
Oh, I love it.
Besties together again.
Do you remember it?
-I don't know.
-Come on.
Okay, go slow, go slow.
I'm sorry, wrong foot.
Okay, we have to get it
before I leave.
-Okay.
-Promise?
-Yeah.
-Okay!
[engine rumbling]
[loud horn blares]
It's nice that your parents
let you fly alone, Ellie.
Yeah. When I was 11,
they put me on a plane to Berlin
to go visit my grandmother.
Your parents are the coolest.
Well, they're a lot
more open-minded in Europe.
My roommate in college
was from France
and her family used to
send her bottles of wine.
[phone chimes]
You know, in Korea,
you can't even kiss in public.
Okay, Mom.
Wow! [laughs]
I love this fireplace.
$575.
$75 for delivery?
Oh, I could show you
to your room.
Yeah, that'd be great.
Why'd you even
accept the delivery?
You could have just said
it was the wrong house.
Jenna, let's not
make it a big deal.
"Nobody's home."
How hard is it to say that?
Okay, Jenna. We're new in town.
We're not supposed to
make waves.
Go Otters, remember?
-The Otters can kiss my ass.
-[gasps]
Well, we've always talked
about the importance of honesty.
[Jenna]
Yeah, when you're talking to me!
So, how have you liked
Wyoming so far?
Uh, well, the airport
and this house are super nice.
[distant yelling]
Sorry, it's my mom.
[nervous laugh]
This is your room.
[distant yelling]
-Go Otters?
-What?
You don't like angry otters?
No.
I mean,
"We don't want to make waves?"
"We're new in town?"
Benj, I thought you
were only here for the summer.
Yeah, it might be
a little bit longer than that.
What?
Wait, why didn't you tell me?
I didn't know
how to tell anyone.
You could have told me.
Especially you.
[sighs]
[bag zips open]
Anyways. So...
what do people do
here in Wyoming?
Hike, bike.
There's a lot
of bison and moose out here.
Wait, really?
I've never seen moose or bison.
Show me.
Oh, I have to go do my essay.
[sighs]
You can work on that later.
And...
My dad insisted I need boots,
so I brought these.
Come on!
All right.
[soft music]
[wind whooshing]
[laughs]
Hope my boots don't get dirty.
[muffled rock plays on iPhone]
You know Karri and Janet
are dating?
Wait, really?
Yeah. I saw them kissing.
-For real?
-For real.
Do you ever kiss another boy?
Would you?
Ha-- have you?
A girl or a boy?
Either?
I kissed Arnold Chen.
I mean, he wanted me to.
But I wouldn't date him.
Why not?
-[Ellie] Benj?
-What are you doing out here?
Who's asking
and why should we answer?
Oh, that's Hunter.
He... might be a classmate.
What, your big fancy house
not got enough
land on it already?
Oh, it's not our house.
And...
you don't own the woods
or whatever it is
you're trying to catch.
They all think it's funny
until you get bit by a rattler.
Got one already
out by Lake Nadine.
You're catching snakes?
Wait, I want to see one.
If the first video I post
is a snake,
Karri will totally freak out.
You caught a snake?
Yeah, caught a bunch.
But this area ain't safe.
Why don't you just
leave the woods to us?
We belong here.
Okay. You know what?
It was very not nice
to meet you, Hunter.
Come on, Benj, let's go.
Come on,
you promised me a bison.
[Benji] Yeah, okay.
[sighs]
[sighs]
-[Ellie] Whoa.
-[Benji] This is crazy.
[Ellie] It's like a corn maze.
[Benji]
Yeah, it is a corn maze.
[Ellie giggles]
It's a big tree, though.
-[Benji] Yeah.
-[Ellie] Watch out.
Whoa.
Whoa.
[indistinct chatter]
[Ellie] Shh-shh!
They're just like a lot.
[Benjamin]
El, we're really close.
[Ellie] Whoa.
-[giggles]
-Oh, my--
That-- that one's so big.
Oh, my God.
Hi.
[Bisons grunting]
[muffled whispering]
[indistinct chatter]
[indistinct chatter continues]
[man] Hey!
Stay away from the animals.
[slurring] You're not supposed
to bother the native species.
Get away from them.
Do not approach the animals.
Do you... understand...
what I'm saying?
Huh? No-- no touchee!
-Yeah, sorry, sir.
-Sorry.
Yeah, there we go. There we go.
You show a little respect, okay?
Because you people, what you do
is you think you can
just come in here
and pay your way
into this country.
But you know what? All this...
It's not yours.
It's not for sale.
Okay?
So you leave the wildlife alone,
and you get out.
Now.
Okay.
Go.
Go, go, go, go, go.
You know, this town
really knows how to lay down
a "Not Welcome" mat.
[wind whooshing]
[grunting]
[soft music]
[speaking Korean]
Ellie and I
were out looking at bison,
and this guy just started
yelling at us.
[speaking Korean]
[speaking Korean]
Halmoni, this photo,
was it of you as a girl?
Where was it taken?
[speaking Korean]
[Jenn in distance] Benjamin?
He's probably
working on his essay. Benj!
Omma's calling. We have guests.
[speaking Korean]
[sighs]
[Kent] We had so much fun.
Thank you for everything.
[Isaac] No, no, not at all.
Hey, Benj, say hi to my friends.
We all went
to Michigan together.
-[both] Go, Blue!
-[laughing]
Hi.
Nice to meet you, young man.
If you're ever looking
to blackmail your father...
-Ah! Ah!
-Ah!
I know, I know. I know...
Let's go inside, okay?
-Hi.
-Hi!
Oh, I'm a hugger. Get in here.
-Okay!
-I'm Kendra. How are you?
Okay, great. He's wearing blue!
[Isaac laughing] Oh, my God!
You know what? I would like to
-raise a glass...
-[glasses clinking]
...to our friend
and my new boss, Alyse Song.
And if she was here, this wine
would be a hell
of a lot more expensive.
-Nothing but the best for Alyse.
-Yes, hear-hear.
-Yes.
-Yes, I mean, right?
Look at this house!
I mean, who knew
there was so much money
in selling modular closets?
Actually, it makes sense
if you're from Jeju Island.
And in fact,
Alyse and I are both from Jeju.
So, Jeju is an island in Korea.
It grows the best
citrus fruit in all of Asia.
So, in Jeju tradition,
Chilseongsin is
the goddess of wealth.
-Chill-what?
-Chill-Samsung, honey.
-Ah...
-Close enough.
So, how you kids
like it here so far?
Oh, we saw a bison.
But the guy next door,
he yelled at it,
and so it ran away.
Then he yelled at us.
-That was kind of awkward.
-Yeah.
You must be talking about
old George McNather.
His family carved this town
out of the woods.
Still owns half the land
and most of the businesses.
He's a little
rough around the edges,
but if it weren't for him,
this town would
be nothing but M&M.
[mouthing] Meth and moose.
Huh?
Speaking of moose,
he single-handedly funds
conservation in the area.
Feds axed the parkland budget,
which is a good thing,
don't get me wrong.
I'm all for smaller government.
But after that,
McNather paid for the ranger
station out of his own pocket.
Yeah, I don't think Mr. McNather
likes having us around.
Because you're Asian?
Maybe because we're kids?
[clears throat]
Well, I don't believe
that the people here have
a racist bone in their body.
No, they really don't.
Okay, so this.
I mean, are these ribs?
I see, so this thing
in the center here,
do you take it out?
Yes, that's the racist bone.
[softly] Oh...
-[Kent coughs]
-Okay. [chuckles nervously]
No need to get political
about it, honey.
It doesn't help.
[Jenna] You know, some
of our friends in California
won't even leave their homes.
My aunt and uncle
even got hate mail.
"You effing Asians
are taking over America.
Go back to the country
you came from."
[Kendra sighs] Oh.
Well, I for one,
think it's great
when Asians
come to this country.
I mean,
everyone wants to be
a part of the American dream.
Uh, as long
as you're here legally,
I don't think where
you come from should matter.
It's like I always tell Alyse,
personally, I only see one race.
The human race.
I don't even see color.
Hey, um, would you like
some more wine, Kent?
Oh, never say never.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
That's-- um, that's white.
I've been--
I've been drinking red, so.
Um, I thought you said
you didn't see color.
[all laughing]
She is good.
-Oh. Well, Ellie.
-[Kent] Yeah.
Oh, my goodness.
Look at Alyse.
It's obvious that Asians work
harder and are higher achievers.
And can you believe
what it takes
to get into college these days?
I mean, Asians have
to have perfect scores,
and we just write checks.
Wait, I-- I don't get it.
Let's just say in the tournament
of getting into colleges,
Asians have the hardest bracket.
Why do you think
we decided to move here?
Because they let
you ski every Friday?
Well, okay.
Here, half the kids
in high school go to college,
and half of them
go to the University of Wyoming.
Top schools
want kids from every state,
so it's a numbers game.
Back home, there's thousands
of Benjamin Lees.
Here, just one.
Benj is, like,
the smartest guy I know.
Wait, maybe the second smartest.
What? Is that Arnold Chen?
[Isaac] Yeah,
Benj will do fine right here.
He just has to get accepted
into a decent school here first.
[Jenna] Yeah.
[oven dinging]
Oh, does anybody
want more kalbi?
Guilty. [laughs]
I mean, yeah, please.
That'd be amazing.
[Jenna] Please, everybody
keep drinking except for Isaac.
[Isaac] I only get all
the kalbi.
[uplifting music playing]
[engine rumbling]
Nah, those are all bull snakes.
I-- I don't know why,
but the park's got
a bumper crop of them this year.
They got a little bite,
but they ain't venomous.
[snakes hissing]
-They all look exactly the same.
-Yeah, I know.
But they ain't the son bitches
we looking for.
Well, don't worry, kid.
I'll-- uh, I'll dump them back
where you found them.
-[door creaks open]
-[McNather] Drake.
How much do I donate
to the toilet bowl
of an organization?
Good afternoon, Mr. McNather.
-[toilet flushes]
-Where's your boss?
Uh, he-- well, he's in
the toilet bowl's toilet, sir.
[McNather clears throat]
[Tom sighs]
What can we do you for, George?
Have you seen them?
-Who?
-The goddamn Chinese folks.
You know,
they're squatting on our land.
And their kids?
Their kids
are scaring the wildlife.
You know,
they're spoiling my view.
'Cause they're running
all over protected public lands
like they own the place.
No, no, no, no,
we all know around these parts
that you're the one who owns
all the protected public land,
George. [chuckles]
Don't you back-talk me, Drake.
Your paycheck
comes out of my pocket,
not to mention
half the businesses
in this damn town.
Oh, come on, Mr. McNather.
Ranger Tommy
didn't mean any disrespect.
Hey, shut
your cakehole, Schlang.
You know, it's time that you two
no-ball-having morons
earned your pay.
So get on the phone.
Call immigration,
call disease control.
Just get these people
out of my town.
I don't care how you do it,
-Okay.
-You don't know squat, Schlang.
You haven't seen what I've seen.
These people,
they sneak
into this country all quiet,
and they bring in their money,
and they bring in their germs.
And you know what they leave us?
They leave desolation.
Hunter, what the hell
are you doing over there?
I don't know if you're dumber
than you're lazy
or lazier than you're dumber,
but if you want
to go trail riding,
you damn well better load
the goddamn bikes
in the goddamn truck.
Don't make me take off my belt.
[snakes hissing]
[McNather laughs]
Chip off your block, I see, huh?
Good.
[somber music playing]
[Tom clears throat]
[door shuts closed]
[birds chirping]
[phone buzzing]
[Benji] Oh, my God.
[doorbell dinging]
[knocking on door]
Hi, uh,
my name is Wyatt Schlang,
and I'm
an assistant park ranger.
I have some information
for you about our wildlife.
Oh, thank you very much.
Oh, uh, a donation
is always appreciated.
Oh, uh, yeah, um...
yeah.
Uh, I'd like to come inside
and show you
some of our materials.
We have to give you a better
understanding of the area.
Uh, thank you very much,
but that won't be necessary.
Really appreciate
you stopping by.
[clears throat] Uh...
you see, um,
the neighbor here, Mr. McNather,
owns a place
down by the clearing.
He told us about your kids,
the incident
approaching the wildlife.
He's not suing or anything,
but we have
this educational program.
Could be quite useful.
Sort of a service that we have
for newbies to the area.
Now, you could come
to the ranger office
later this afternoon.
We have a trip
booked to Yellowstone.
I'm packing lunch,
so we can leave.
Or I could just talk
your kids through it right now.
It won't take longer
than 15 minutes.
Um, sure. Come on in.
Uh, Benjamin, get Ellie.
-Oh, I'll get her. You go.
-Come on in.
Yeah.
It's a nice place.
I always wondered
who bought this house.
How long ago did you move in?
Uh, we-- we just got here.
Y'all from China?
Well, actually,
uh, we're from Korea.
Uh, like-- like BTS.
You know, like...
'Cause you're making me
a boy with love
Oh, my, my, my
My, my, my, my, my, my
No?
It's very nice, sir.
[Isaac]
I'm part of the BTS army.
I'm, uh, like, a colonel
in the army.
Okay, I'm so sorry.
I have to--
I have a phone call to make.
I'm-- it's--
a non-BTS phone call.
[Wyatt] You're doing
what you need to do.
-Yeah, we can just go upstairs.
-Yeah.
-Sorry about my dad.
-Yeah.
[whistling] Wow.
[sighs] Well...
Whoa. Okay.
[chuckles]
Uh, kiddos, uh, have a seat.
We've been getting
some complaints, so, uh...
I want to lay some ground rules
for our beautiful state here.
We are very respectful
of our animals.
Okay? See these?
These are snakes.
And we got good snakes
and we got bad snakes.
The good snakes help
keep the mice population down.
The bad snakes,
well, we got three different
kinds of rattlers.
And if you get bit by a bad one,
you're gonna want
to know which kind, okay?
Now this right here
is a bottle trap, okay?
Go ahead and, uh, stick
your little paw in there, kiddo.
It's okay.
-[Wyatt screams]
-[Benjamin gasps]
[Wyatt laughs] I'm just kidding.
What'd you--
Oh, it's fine, it's fine.
What'd you find?
Um...
I don't-- I don't know.
Well, you're gonna have
to pull your hand out
to see what it is, won't you?
Go ahead.
Oh. What was that? I don't know.
Try again. Oh. Oh, no.
Oh, bad luck.
Look at that.
Huh? Now, what happened?
Um, I couldn't get out
unless I let go.
That's right.
I want you to let that be
a life lesson for you, boy.
-Okay?
-[toy squeaking]
Here.
Sometimes
when you go into a place
to get something
that ain't yours,
might be hard
to get back out again.
Okay. So, uh, when you're
out there in the woods,
I want you
to look out for snakes,
traps, and moose,
and everything else.
Any questions?
Um, kind of--
well, sort of unrelated.
Who are you?
You can call me Wyatt.
What's your name?
Uh, El is fine.
Okay.
Goodbye, Eleanor.
Uh, it's Elia, actually.
[Wyatt] Okay.
Sure thing.
["So Beautiful"
by DPR Ian playing]
I think
I've got my sight for you
I don't mean to let it brew
-Wow, this is some good music.
-[Ellie] I know, right?
Oh, and track seven
is about a boy
who likes a girl
who likes him back,
but she can't
because she's already
dating another guy
who she only
kind of sort of likes.
Whoa.
Drama.
K-pop.
How do you guys put it?
It slaps.
[both laughing]
Looks like DJ El
has the dad seal of approval.
[chuckles]
Hey, babe, listen to this.
It was about an immigrant
in the early 19th century.
[Jenna] An immigrant?
From where?
I don't know. It doesn't matter.
Well, how could it
possibly not matter?
Is he from Europe,
and if so, what country?
He's not Asian
or African, obviously.
Hey, just listen.
All right? Here.
This is him
writing his first letter home.
"Well, I came to America
because I heard the streets
were paved with gold.
And when I got here,
I found out three things.
First, the streets
weren't paved with gold.
Second,
they weren't paved at all.
And third,
I was supposed to pave them."
-[all laughing]
-[Ellie] Wow.
[Jenna] Sounds like America.
And so is this. Zoink!
Come get
your funky love story
I love it
when the skies can't sleep
I left a message
encased in me
So bye-bye
So bye-bye
A flawless ending
So beautiful
It's great vocals, Dad.
-[Ellie] Bravo.
-Very beautiful.
[Jenna] Turn the music up, El.
-[Isaac] What?
-[all laughing]
Let's take a trip
down a dark place baby
Look for me now
I'm not that crazy
Let's talk about
what makes you happy
Because I know
I know
I'm calling for you
Come get your funky...
We're gonna get out of.
[laughs] Okay.
I love it
when the skies can't sleep
I don't know, I just--
-Arnold Chen?
-I know, it's like--
Do not bring up
Arnold Chen right now.
-Maybe I should ask him.
-No. No.
That's ridiculous.
Are you texting him?
-[Ellie] No, I have no service.
-[Benji] Good.
[Jenna] We are now standing
in the biggest
volcano crater on earth.
Whoa.
You can actually see
the rim of the crater
along that mountain edge.
And in fact, this whole area
was created by a super eruption.
Yeah, 5.6 million years ago.
You know?
It was actually
640,000 years ago.
-Dad. Dad.
-But I don't want to--
-I don't want to embarrass...
-Stop embarrassing me.
...in front
of his not girlfriend.
-She can hear you.
-Gullible.
-He's so gullible.
-Dad it's not that cool.
I left a message
encased in me
So bye-bye
So bye-bye
A flawless ending
So beautiful
[indistinct chatter]
[door creaks open]
[waitress]
What would you all like?
Yee-haw.
Um, I have a hankerin'
for something special.
What-- what do you--
um, what do you--
what-- what-- what do you have
in terms of specials?
Everything on our menu
is special.
Uh, we'll have
the steak sandwiches.
We don't have them anymore.
Aren't they having
steak sandwiches?
[waitress]
Those are our last ones.
[Isaac] Uh...
okay, um...
Oh, you know what?
Actually, the-- the bison
burgers sound equally special,
so we'll have four of those.
Great.
That's going to be $49.88.
Would you like
to round that up for George?
So are we still
talking about food?
If you make it $50,
then the extra change will go
towards the McNather Fund
for Local Conservation.
Well...
round that sucker up, ma'am.
-[Isaac fake laughing]
-[waitress] Great.
I majored in cowboy.
[Isaac sighs]
[Ellie] I'll see you at the car.
Mrs. Lee.
Um...
[Jenna sighs]
Mrs. Lee?
Yes, Ellie.
I don't mean
to be disrespectful or anything,
but do you really think
that they're being,
you know, racist in there?
I mean, they were really busy.
I just--
Come on,
let's just go find my dad.
No, no, wait, wait, just a sec.
Can I share something
with you, Ellie?
When I was in third grade,
I started in a new school.
And I was the only Asian girl
in the whole class.
There was this girl.
Her name was Leanne.
And she had
the most perfect blonde hair
and green eyes.
And she wore
the prettiest dresses...
that my parents
couldn't possibly afford.
And back then...
I'd go to my parents'
dry-cleaning store
after school
to help out, and just...
I hated it.
But I got to watch cartoons.
My favorite was Cinderella...
because I thought...
I could be a princess...
if I had the right dress.
One day, this lady came in,
and-- and
she dropped off this...
powder blue dress...
just like Cinderella's.
So, when my dad wasn't looking,
I-- I borrowed it.
I rolled it up
and put it in my backpack,
and I-- I decided
that I was gonna
wear it to school.
I imagined when I showed up...
Leanne would look at me
the way that I looked at her.
But when she saw me, she said...
"Why are you wearing my dress?"
And she said that...
since an...
since an ugly
Chinese girl wore it,
she couldn't wear it again.
And then all
the kids surrounded me...
called me a dirty thief...
and told me to go back
where I came from.
And then I just...
I, um...
just rolled up into a ball.
And-- and--
and then my-- my teacher,
Mrs. Maxwell, came to...
to get me,
and then she called my mom.
And do you know
what Halmoni did, Benj?
She said,
"I'm not gonna pick her up.
She's a thief."
So, Mrs. Maxwell,
um, drove me home.
It was like an hour,
and I was just in the backseat,
just crying.
And it wasn't
that I was embarrassed
or-- or, um,
or because my mom
wouldn't pick me up.
It was because
I couldn't be Cinderella.
I mean, I--
I couldn't even be Leanne.
[Jenna sobbing]
[somber music playing]
[wind howling]
Grandma, do you ever regret
coming to America?
I mean, mom says
she had a really tough time
growing up here.
[speaking Korean]
Oh, Busan?
Mom talked about
you being from Busan.
[speaking Korean]
[keyboard clacking]
[speaking Korean continues]
[Isaac humming]
Aw.
[Jenna] Are you sure
we should let him drive?
Well, he does have his permit.
Out here by age 15,
kids have their first gun.
So how's day two
of being
head closet guy in charge?
It's-- it's good.
Yeah, no, it's, um...
yeah, it's...
Okay, you don't need
to worry about that.
It's good.
[sighs]
["No Blueberries"
by DPR Ian playing]
[Ellie] Okay, you got
the first three, though, right?
-[Benji] Yes.
-[Ellie] Okay.
Just try. Well, just try.
-Okay. Okay. Okay.
-[Ellie] Ready?
I need a hostage free
I need a rocket ship
I need to run from
I like no blueberries
in my ice cream cake
No air to breathe
with that masking tape
I don't know anything past that.
-[indistinct].
-No. I bet you.
-Oh, my God.
-Oh!
Benj, you almost hit it.
Yeah, sorry. Uh, shoot.
-Sorry. Um...
-[Ellie] Um...
[car horn honking]
-Why is he driving up?
-Hit the road!
-What is he doing? Wait.
-What the hell?
Um...
Oh, my God.
[car beeping]
[banging on car]
Stop blocking the road,
you fucking nips.
Try turning on the car again.
Ben, try driving again.
Learn how to drive.
Drive your ass back to Tokyo.
Get it straight.
He's Korean and--
and I'm Chinese,
and Japan is an island,
so you can't drive there,
you moron.
You don't think
I know where you live?
[Ellie breaths heavily]
Sorry.
[sobbing]
El, El.
-You wanna go home?
-No, no,
That was... [sniffles]
[car approaching]
...that was just really scary.
Why would you want to stay here?
-[man whoops]
-[car door slams shut]
-[Hunter] Sorry.
-Yeah.
Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Where's your helmet?
I forgot it.
You think I'm gonna
let you ignore park rules?
You wanna ride your bike here,
you wear a helmet
or you stay behind.
Okay?
Fine. Jake, we're leaving.
He's gonna think about
what he's done.
Teenagers, am I right?
My God. All right.
Wait, what's going on?
It's Hunter.
[Ellie] Great.
Oh.
Hey, Hunter.
Here.
What the hell is that?
I know,
my mom chose the color, but,
you know, it's better than
sitting out here by yourself.
Cat ears. Really?
[Hunter sighs]
Whatever.
-I can make this work.
-[Benji] You do.
You know what?
We should document this
for posterity.
[Hunter] El.
Hey, let's take a selfie.
Okay. Uh...
[Ellie] Here. Um...
Oh, wait. I look terrible.
Okay.
Hey, um, what's your Instagram,
so I can send the photos to you?
Oh, uh...
-Sure, why not?
-[Ellie chuckles]
-Got a weird handle.
-Thanks.
Okay. And sent.
Cool. Yeah.
-Ha-- have fun biking.
-Yeah.
See you guys around.
You know, I've known you
for a long time.
Never seen that helmet before.
-Hey, it's not that bad.
-[Ellie laughs]
Wow.
Oh, look.
Front row seats.
There's a lot of holes
in the ground.
Yeah.
[chuckling] Wow.
-It's really beautiful.
-It's amazing.
[Ellie chuckles]
Hey, there's, like,
a little trail down that way.
-You see it?
-Yeah.
Uh, you mind
if we go take a walk?
Sure. Let's go.
[ethereal music plays]
Benj, I honestly don't think
I've ever experienced,
like, racism.
When I'm with my parents,
everyone treats me really nice.
If anything, they feel sorry
for me that I'm adopted.
But...
being here with your family,
I guess it's kind of
made me wonder
if it's, like, a problem.
That makes
little to no sense at all.
No, no, Ellie. Ellie.
I get it.
-It's beautiful.
-Yeah.
Hey.
-[Ellie chuckles]
-Wanna do it?
Come on.
[Ellie chuckles]
-Such a K-drama moment.
-[both chuckle]
You know, as long as I survive
my overbearing mother,
I'll be ready to...
Kiss? [laughs]
Yeah.
-When we're 18, though.
-Of course.
[both laughing]
You're beautiful.
You know this means
we have to find you one?
Oh, good luck with that.
I picked the best one.
So, you know,
you can go ahead and scour.
Look at that amazing view.
Okay? So you do you. [chuckles]
[Ellie] Benj...
I think something bit me.
-What?
-N-- no, I'm-- I'm serious.
Look.
Oh, my gosh, El,
that looks like a snake bite.
Did you see a snake?
N-- no.
I-- I-- I don't know.
-It's okay. Okay, um...
-Okay.
It's getting red. Benji.
Okay. Okay, come on.
Come on.
[Ellie breathing heavily]
-We gotta get to the car.
-Okay.
-Okay.
-I'm trying.
-Yeah. Okay.
-Ben, I can't do it.
-I can't.
-[both breathing heavily]
Benj, like, that's a fang.
That's a--
that's a fang in my arm.
-Hey, it's gonna be okay.
-[Ellie grunts]
-Okay?
-Okay.
[Benji] Hey! Help!
They can't hear you.
They can't hear you.
Look at me.
I'll be right back.
Okay.
[dramatic music plays]
Oh, God.
Hey!
[Benjamin breathing heavily]
Help!
Stop.
Hey.
Snake bite.
One mile outside Lake Nadine.
[radio crackles]
-How much further?
-I don't know.
I mean,
I thought she came from here.
Maybe there.
Ellie.
Ellie!
Wait, wait, wait,
wait, wait, stop.
Right there.
Okay. Okay.
Right there. Okay.
El. Oh, hey.
Hey, how are you feeling?
I wanna go home, Benj.
Let me see.
Oh, my gosh.
It got worse.
-Benjamin, I wanna go home.
-You're gonna be okay.
[Wyatt] How long ago
did this happen, kid?
A while ago. I don't know.
Okay, go to the truck.
Get the spade, the stick,
and the metal bucket.
What-- what bucket?
Wait-- she needs to
go to the hospital.
Do what I said, kid.
Hospital needs to know
what kind of snake it is.
-Go.
-[Benji] Okay.
God.
Okay.
All right, Ellie. Let's see.
You're gonna be okay.
All right, okay, okay.
Okay.
[Benji] Okay. Okay.
I got the bucket.
Okay. I got it.
Okay.
Where was she when she got bit?
That bush over there.
Great.
She's ours.
Hunter, come take her
to the truck.
Show me.
[Ellie groans]
-[Ellie groans]
-[Hunter] All right, come on.
[both groan]
Come on.
[wolf howling in distance]
[Wyatt] Let's see.
Where are you?
[sighs] Come on.
[laughs triumphantly]
There we go.
We got her.
Hunter, get over here!
Okay, put your light on it.
There you go.
Yeah, right there.
Hold your light.
[softly] Okay.
All right.
-[hissing]
-[Wyatt breathing heavily]
[in normal voice]
All right. Got it!
Hunter!
[laughs triumphantly]
What do you think
about that, kid, huh?
Let's get a photo
and send it to the hospital.
-[shutter clicks]
-Got it.
Great.
Kid, I want you
to take the spay,
I want you to chop his head off.
What?
I want you to kill it.
Let's go.
Why not just
put it in the bucket?
What are you, blind?
Slice of tooth.
You can't see
through those slanty eyes.
It's a goner.
You want it to suffer?
I-- I want to get out
to the hospital.
I want to get
to the hospital, too.
We need you to man up right now,
and kill the snake.
[Benji breathing heavily]
[softly] Okay. Okay. Okay.
[shouting] I can't! Okay?
I can't!
I mean, it's the snake
that hurt your girlfriend, kid.
What do you want?
[softly] Okay. Okay.
Oh. Oh.
[grunts, gasps]
[Wyatt] Good job.
Let's go.
-[Benji gasping]
-[Wyatt laughs]
Grab the bucket.
Let's go.
Let's get out of here.
Come on.
[Benji] Hey.
Hey, man.
Is she all right?
Ellie's fine.
Doctor bandaged her up
and gave her antibiotics.
Snake was a bull snake.
So wasn't poisonous.
Yeah, we've been getting
a lot of those this year.
They're eating up all the frogs
out by Lake Nadine.
You know,
I kinda miss the croaking,
but it's
our best fishing season ever.
They're hard to tell apart
from rattlers, though.
Yeah.
Sometimes good snakes
and bad snakes
look exactly alike.
Man...
the skies
are clear tonight.
You see that star up there?
That's Rigel.
You're into astronomy?
Yeah.
Rigel's the brightest star
in Orion's constellation,
which is...
[both] The hunter.
[both laughing]
My mom named me after it.
That's why I'm into
all that science fiction stuff.
Kind of dorky, right?
[chuckles]
Nah, it's pretty cool.
Man, sometimes I look up...
and I wonder if there's
anybody else out there...
or if we're all alone.
I wonder what they think of us.
They probably
can't tell us apart.
I mean, smog monsters
from Rigel V
probably think
we all look exactly the same.
Like good snakes and bad snakes.
[laughs] Yeah.
Anyways, my parents
are about to get here.
We have to go see Ellie.
You good?
Yeah. My house
is just up the road.
Uh, tell Ellie
that I'm glad she's okay.
[softly] Yeah.
And...
I'm sorry.
For what?
You were a big help today.
Yeah. I guess.
I'll see you around, then.
See ya.
[doorbell rings]
Mr. Lee!
Sure appreciate
you folks coming in.
So...
one of our volunteers reported
uh, an incident
over at Lake Nadine.
This might be
a little hard for, uh,
outsiders to understand,
but lake Nadine is what we call
a locally conserved public area.
Town ordinances
absolutely prohibit the harm
or hunting of wildlife
within the park boundaries.
Now, given the evidence...
I'm afraid we're gonna
have to press charges
against your son
for killing a wild animal
-on conservation territory.
-What?
Apparently Wyatt
even reached out to you,
gave you an introductory talk,
familiarizing you
with the laws of the area.
Yes, he came over, but he just
left his little brochure.
I'm trying to tell you that
there are penalties
for menacing or destroying
our local critters.
-I--
-This is serious.
Serious is a year in prison.
$50,000 fines,
plus civil penalties.
What? We can't afford that.
And it'll go on your record.
No, no, it wasn't my fault.
I didn't want to kill the snake.
No, no, Dad, I swear.
-Calm down.
-Believe me, please.
Okay, Benjamin,
let your dad take care of this.
Okay, I guess,
we're gonna have to go
get some legal advice.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, um, you can talk
to your lawyer, sure.
But once
the media gets wind of this,
things tend to
spiral out of control.
Yeah. I have a son myself.
-[Isaac exhales sharply]
-I wouldn't want to see
anything jeopardize
your son's future.
College is
right around the corner.
[Tom clears throat]
Now, between you and me,
if you made
a voluntary donation of the fine
to the park, we could
probably let this one go.
I can't. And...
Um, we-- we can't afford it.
This is not China, sir.
This is not California.
This is America.
And in America, we can do things
the easy way or the hard way.
Now, the easy way,
make this all go away.
Hard way
is you talk to your lawyer,
and the news gets out,
and the chance
to wipe this all away goes poof.
Your choice.
I would need
to hear from you by tomorrow.
$50,000 for killing a snake?
That-- that's crazy.
While snakes frequently
lose teeth
when struggling with prey,
it is not a problem
for them,
as they can regrow
any teeth that are lost
throughout their lifetime.
"Fun nature facts for kids."
[Benji] Okay, Mom.
[somber music plays]
[Jenna]
We can't let him blackmail us.
[Isaac] Jenna, stop.
[Jenna] Benj.
[Benji]
Can we still talk about this?
No. Go to bed, Benjamin.
I just need mom to tell me...
why she's fighting this.
Who's it for?
Me?
-Or you?
-I'm doing it for you,
me, your dad, and anyone else
who looks like us.
We have to do what's right.
I am tired of letting them think
that they can walk all over us.
You're tired?
Mom, I killed a snake
because I'm a dumbass
who didn't bother
to read the brochure.
That's what happened.
[Jenna] That's what
they want you to think.
To turn on yourself,
to-- to question yourself.
You know what?
I'm gonna call Ellie's mom.
Melanie's in TV.
She'll blow this up.
This is a bottle trap.
What do you mean, Benj?
The reason we can't get out
is because we won't let go.
Uh...
maybe because it's late,
but none of this
makes sense, son.
No, i-- it's like
what Halmoni says, right?
We reach into something
and grab it,
and now that we have it,
it's preventing us
from getting free.
What? Halmoni? [scoffs]
Don't be ridiculous.
Melanie, hi.
You want me to get
into a good college, right?
I want you to be quiet.
I'm sorry.
Um, yeah, no, Ellie's fine.
-The reason that I called is--
-[shouting] Mom!
Listen to me!
Okay, Melanie,
I'm gonna have to call you back.
I don't need you
to do all of this.
For what?
So I can get into Harvard?
All I need is you, Dad,
-Ellie, Halmoni.
-Halmoni?
Your precious Halmoni
never once did anything for me.
I had to do
everything on my own.
And that's fine.
I survived because I fought.
I fought like hell,
so you don't have to.
[sighs] They couldn't do this
if we were white.
[Isaac]
We'll report them to the police.
[Jenna] The police?
You really think
the cops are gonna believe us
over their next door neighbor?
Call a lawyer.
We can't afford a lawyer.
Okay, then call Alyse.
[mutters]
She stuck her neck out
for us already.
Look, we can't-- no, I'm just--
look, she gave me a job,
she loaned us this house.
No, we'll deal with this quietly
and leave her out of this.
Maybe we can come up with, like,
a compromise or, like, a--
like, a payment schedule
or something.
Payments?
They're framing our son,
and you want to
let him get away with it?
Look, how do you expect us
to move here and, like--
Oh, you know what?
Forget it, okay?
You don't get it.
Your father was a diplomat,
and you came to the states
to go to college
with your rich friends
like Kent and Alyse.
What does that mean?
That means that you've never
dealt with racism like I have.
You-- Wow.
[loudly] Really-- you think
I never faced
racism like you have?
Okay, let me tell you a story
from before we got married.
Okay, do we really
have time for this?
Actually, I've been waiting
15 years to tell you this story,
so the very least you could do
is give me 15 goddamn minutes.
When I first moved out
west after college...
I took a job at Morgan Lynch.
It was this low level position
in emerging market commodities
for a giant investment bank.
And I was the only non-white
person in the division.
Like, every other trader was,
like this gigantic
ex-football player.
I mean, I basically came up
to my boss shoulder, okay?
And I--
And I got assigned to cover Asia
because of this face.
But I had
something up my sleeve.
I know oranges,
because I come from Jeju.
Island of oranges.
So here I was,
this junior trader, a rookie,
turning over millions
for the division.
They even nicknamed me OJ
because I was killing it
in citrus futures.
My point is, I did my time.
I bowed my head
and cranked out cash.
And when the citrus desk head
announced his retirement,
I put my hand up and asked to be
considered to run the desk.
No one else
was remotely qualified
so my boss decided
to make me acting.
Head of Citrus Futures.
Acting? Okay, fine.
After they spent,
I don't know, six months
looking for
a permanent replacement,
I finally went to my boss
and told him
I wanted the job for real.
I wanted my name on that card.
And my boss looked at me
and he clapped me
on the shoulder
with his big, hairy hand.
He was like, "Isaac,
you make good money trading.
Why would you
want to be a manager?"
No, it-- I told him
it wasn't about the money,
it was about the respect.
It was the respect
that I earned.
And after all, they call me OJ.
I'm the Citrus King.
And you know what?
My boss laughed out loud
like a donkey.
And he was like, "Isaac,
the reason why they call you OJ
is because
when you first came in here,
they said you looked
like an oriental jockey.
An oriental jockey.
That's what OJ meant to them.
Not the fruit,
not even the football player.
They're mocking
my race and height.
And you know what I did?
I kept working there
as acting
Head of Citrus Futures
for five more years.
You know why?
Because you and I were dating.
You got pregnant, and I wanted
to have the money to marry you,
buy a house,
and take care of our family.
And every day
for five goddamn years,
when they called me
OJ, I'd smile
and I'd wave
and I'd be all polite.
That wasn't cowardice.
That was bravery.
Cause I did that
for you and for Benjamin.
And if Alyse, yes, Alyse,
hadn't come into my life
and saved me
from a life of eating shit...
I'd still be doing that today.
[Isaac breathing shakily]
Why didn't you tell me?
I could have worked
something out.
I know, I'm sorry. I just--
[inhales sharply]
It's fine.
Jenna, I just-- [scoffs]
We're here now.
And it was worth it.
And... [sobs softly]
honestly,
I would do it all over again.
I would do this all over again
because I love you.
[sobbing] I'm just--
[sobbing] I'm sorry.
[emotional music playing]
[sobbing] I'm sorry.
It'll be okay.
We'll figure it out.
It'll be okay.
[Halmoni speaking Korean]
I don't feel like it, Halmoni.
[Halmoni speaking Korean]
[gentle music building]
[speaking Korean]
[speaking Korean]
[singing in Korean]
[singing continues]
-[gentle piano instrumental]
-[singing continues]
-[singing stops]
-[music continues]
[music continues]
[music fades]
[birds chirping]
[gentle music building]
Benj.
Hey, Mom.
Ellie wanted to go to the store
before she leaves.
I just wanted to say
that I'm sorry about last night.
I deserve it.
I mean,
I don't think enough how much
you and Dad had to go through
to make sure I had a good life.
We all forget sometimes.
Did you know that grandma
went to Ewha University,
the most prestigious
women's college in Korea?
And your grandpa
went to Seoul National,
which is like
the Harvard of Korea.
Them coming
to the states for grad school
was a pretty big deal.
And they had to give
all that up because of me.
You know, I thought for a really
long time that the only way
to make grandma happy was for me
to get into a good college.
And when I didn't,
I pushed that on you.
I honestly think what would make
Halmoni happy is just...
for all of us to be happy, too.
You know, your father says
you're a shoo-in for Michigan.
-Go Blue.
-[chuckling]
Wherever I end up,
I'll get there on my own.
Not because you guys paid off
a ranger for my dumb mistake.
We'll figure it out, Benj.
Hey, I heard
you and Dad talking last night.
Did you guys have me
before you were married?
Uh, look at-- look at the time.
Um, it's-- it's burning.
I got-- I gotta get
that pie out of the oven.
-Bye.
-Mo-- mom? [Benji chuckling]
[sighing]
-Hey.
-Hey.
I got the helmet in the kitchen.
Come on in.
Sorry about that
and all the craziness.
I forgot
it was still in my truck.
Oh, no problem.
Yeah. Here you go.
[gasps] Keep it.
Looks better on you anyway.
So why'd you come over?
Is Ellie all right?
Yeah, Ellie's fine.
It's me who's not.
And you know why.
Look, you were there, Hunter.
You saw everything
that happened.
I know you're close
with Wyatt and everything,
but this could really
screw up my family.
What do you
want me to do about it?
Just be honest.
Decide if you're gonna be
a good snake...
or a bad one?
I gotta go, but...
all I'm asking you to do
is tell the truth.
[door shuts close]
I'm so glad you called me.
We all make sacrifices
for our kids, don't we?
What's a little money
compared to a whole future?
Can I start with a story?
-What story?
-He likes stories.
You like Godzilla?
I do.
Kim Jong Il,
dictator of North Korea,
was a huge Godzilla fan.
And back in 1985,
he kidnapped one of South
Korea's most famous directors
and made his own
Godzilla film called Pulgasari.
And in the movie,
Pulgasari is a creature
who grows bigger
when he eats metal.
And Pulgasari
protects his kingdom
by eating the iron weapons
and the armor
of the enemy soldiers
who tried to attack.
I'm sorry, but what does your...
silly little story
have to do with your son
deliberately killing
and endangered wild animal?
My husband's stories
can be long and boring,
but he always has a point.
[incoming message chimes]
[Isaac] And soon after,
Pulgasari becomes a worse threat
than the enemy soldiers.
And I'm saying
that if you rely on monsters
to protect you...
you just get bigger monsters.
[Benji]
How long has he been here?
[Ellie]
I don't know. Maybe 15 minutes.
-I think we're done here.
-[footsteps approaching]
[Ellie] Wait, wait.
Hi. Hi. Excuse me.
Yeah, um...
Sir, it wasn't me
that wanted to kill the snake.
Your guy, Wyatt, told me to.
Well, it's your word
against his.
And Wyatt, well, he's been
with us since he was your age.
Do you really think
that our community's gonna take
your word over his?
[Wyatt] I want you to kill it.
Let's go.
[Benji] Why not just
put it in the bucket?
[snake hissing]
[Wyatt] What are you, blind?
It lost it's tooth.
You can't see through
those slanty eyes?
It's a goner.
You want it to suffer?
[Benji]
I want to get out the hospital.
[Wyatt] I mean, it's the snake,
or your girlfriend, kid.
Benj. Girlfriend, huh?
[chuckling]
[shooting music playing]
Thank you so much
for coming, Ellie.
-Text us when you get home.
-I will.
Thank you, El.
We'll see you in California.
-Okay. Thanks.
-[Isaac chuckles]
-One last time?
-[Ellie giggles]
-Oh.
-Okay.
[Ellie giggling]
Such a K-drama
drama moment.
[Ellie giggling]
Okay.
Bye.
[on PA System] Vehicles
on the curb must be attended
-for actively loading--
-Loading and unloading.
-Yeah, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
-Yeah.
-[Jenna] Yeah, yeah.
-[Isaac] We're coming, sir.
-Oh, gosh.
-[Isaac chuckling]
[chuckles softly]
Oh.
Hey. Hey.
Mom, Dad.
Look.
[light snoring]
Wow.
-Shh.
-Sorry.
-[Benjamin gasps]
-Shh.
[speaking Korean]
Yeah, if Hunter
had intent to step--
[speaking Korean]
[laughing]
[speaking Korean]
Yeah, I finished it.
"My grandma grew up
in a land at war with itself.
Sometimes it feels like ours
is threatening to do the same.
When the world
shows us its fangs,
my dad might say,
'We need to smile
and be strong
for the sake of our loved ones.'
My mom might say,
'We need to stop rolling
into a ball and bite back.'
As for me, I am an optimist.
I think that someday
we won't be standing across
a great divide throwing
imaginary snakes at each other.
And that one day,
I'll have the chance
to see the beauty of the town
where my grandma grew up.
You might not be able to show
me in person anymore Halmoni,
But you'll still be with me.
You always will."
["No Blueberries" by DPR IAN]
I like no blueberries
in my ice cream cake
No air to breathe
without masking tape
Stop, please
I need a hostage free
I need a rocket ship
I need to run from
I like no blueberries
in my ice cream cake
No air to breathe
without masking tape
Stop, please
I need a hostage free
I need a rocket ship
I need a run from you
From you
I'm just kind of lost
I fall from you
Looking down a lot
I fall from you
I'm falling way too soft
I fall from you
Now tell me when to stop
Oh, no,
here we go again to this beat
Oh, no, tell me
why you want to be so sweet
Tell me
what's in your eyes, baby
Red, green, or blue
Welcome to the other side
I keep losing
my temper for you
I love it how you think
I'm always this cool
Excusez-Moi
I think I'm just a foo
Afraid of
what's in your eyes, baby
Red, green, or blue
Welcome to the other side
So now you've blown
all your covers
I got this blue
to make you come up
So when you think
it's almost over
I got this blue
to make you come up
So now you've blown
all your covers
I got this blue
to make you come up
So when you think
it's almost over
I got this blue
to make you come up
[soft ethereal music]
[soft chorale enters]
[music fades]
[birds chirping]
[laughs]
Honey, when you told me Alyse
bought a nice house out here,
I didn't know you meant this.
I'm pretty sure our old place
can fit inside this living room.
Right?
This isn't a house,,
this is a wooden castle.
[cell phone rings]
-Hey, Alyse.
-Hey, Isaac.
Just checking that you guys
made it there safe and sound.
-Yeah, we're here.
-How's the house?
Oh, my God, this is incredible.
Just lending us the car,
this house.
You are far too generous,
noona.
Oh, please. I'm like
six months older than you.
Do not call me "noona."
[laughs] Sorry.
Are you really sure
you want us to stay here?
I mean, we could always
go to a hotel.
[Alyse] No, no, enjoy it.
By the way, I ordered you
a "Welcome to Wyoming"
floral arrangement.
It's already on my card,
so don't even worry about it.
And I'm just so glad that
we could bring you on board.
You know you're
my number one guy.
Wow, um... [sighs]
I don't know what to say.
I just, um...
[distant] To be honest,
we really needed a change.
Out here, maybe Benjamin
can have the time
and space to process.
[Alyse] Well, it's great.
And we're going to do
everything we can
to get him into Riverton High.
[Isaac] Well, if he even
finishes his application.
He's still working on his essay.
But I mean, everything's...
[somber music]
My name is Benjamin Lee.
I'm 15 years old
from California.
I'm interested
in debate and chess.
[scoffs] No.
My name is Benjamin Lee.
I'm Korean.
My grandma immigrated
from Korea to the United States
when my mom was just a baby.
[speaking Korean]
[rustling]
[speaking Korean]
It's just an essay I have to
write to get into my new school.
[speaking Korean]
They want to see
if we're a good fit,
which we're probably not.
[speaking Korean]
Love you, Halmoni.
[speaking Korean]
[wind whooshing]
Now, tradition is so important
to us here at Riverton High.
So now the honor code
will be something
that's important
for you to remember.
Oh, honor, um, it might mean
something different
where you come from
at your old school.
Did you
have an honor code there?
-Oh!
-Hey, Ms. Jackson.
Here are the leftover shirts
from the ski team fundraiser.
Thank you.
Oh, before you leave, Hunter,
say hello to Benjamin first.
This is Benjamin.
He's thinking about
joining us this year.
Hey, Benjamin First.
[laughs]
Speaking of future Olympians,
that's Hunter.
He'll be in your same grade.
Yeah.
He actually placed
in junior nationals.
Slalom and giant slalom.
We have high hopes, right?
[giggles]
-[phone dings]
-I'm sorry.
[soft tapping]
[soft beep]
Ellie landed.
[sighs] Okay.
So in here, I have your schedule
along with the honor code.
And a little bit more
about our tuition and our fees.
But my guess is
since you live up on the crest,
you're not going to need
to pay attention to any of that.
Oh, and like I told you
on the phone,
we have all of our applicants
send us
that supplemental essay
on your family.
So the sooner
he can get that turned in,
the sooner we can
start your evaluation.
Of course.
It's been such a pleasure
getting to know you both.
Oh, Ellie would love that shirt.
Yeah? It's $15.
Oh, um, I think
I have a 20 in here somewhere.
You know what?
Consider it a gift.
-Well...
-[Ms. Jackson giggles]
Thank you, Ms. Jackson.
Go Otters!
Go Otters!
Ah, okay.
[door creaks]
[on PA System] ...maybe asked
to move and unattended vehicles
can be ticketed or towed.
You should talk
to your dad about your essay.
I'm sure he has
some stories to share.
-You know, once he gets started.
-Oh, I'm okay.
Grandma gave me
this box of photos.
It's full of stories.
Benj, honey.
Oh, oh! There she is.
Hey. [shrieks] Benj!
Hey, hi.
-Oh, let's get a selfie.
-Oh, okay.
[giggling]
So nice to see you again, Ellie.
Oh, another one
for your collection.
Oh, I love it.
Besties together again.
Do you remember it?
-I don't know.
-Come on.
Okay, go slow, go slow.
I'm sorry, wrong foot.
Okay, we have to get it
before I leave.
-Okay.
-Promise?
-Yeah.
-Okay!
[engine rumbling]
[loud horn blares]
It's nice that your parents
let you fly alone, Ellie.
Yeah. When I was 11,
they put me on a plane to Berlin
to go visit my grandmother.
Your parents are the coolest.
Well, they're a lot
more open-minded in Europe.
My roommate in college
was from France
and her family used to
send her bottles of wine.
[phone chimes]
You know, in Korea,
you can't even kiss in public.
Okay, Mom.
Wow! [laughs]
I love this fireplace.
$575.
$75 for delivery?
Oh, I could show you
to your room.
Yeah, that'd be great.
Why'd you even
accept the delivery?
You could have just said
it was the wrong house.
Jenna, let's not
make it a big deal.
"Nobody's home."
How hard is it to say that?
Okay, Jenna. We're new in town.
We're not supposed to
make waves.
Go Otters, remember?
-The Otters can kiss my ass.
-[gasps]
Well, we've always talked
about the importance of honesty.
[Jenna]
Yeah, when you're talking to me!
So, how have you liked
Wyoming so far?
Uh, well, the airport
and this house are super nice.
[distant yelling]
Sorry, it's my mom.
[nervous laugh]
This is your room.
[distant yelling]
-Go Otters?
-What?
You don't like angry otters?
No.
I mean,
"We don't want to make waves?"
"We're new in town?"
Benj, I thought you
were only here for the summer.
Yeah, it might be
a little bit longer than that.
What?
Wait, why didn't you tell me?
I didn't know
how to tell anyone.
You could have told me.
Especially you.
[sighs]
[bag zips open]
Anyways. So...
what do people do
here in Wyoming?
Hike, bike.
There's a lot
of bison and moose out here.
Wait, really?
I've never seen moose or bison.
Show me.
Oh, I have to go do my essay.
[sighs]
You can work on that later.
And...
My dad insisted I need boots,
so I brought these.
Come on!
All right.
[soft music]
[wind whooshing]
[laughs]
Hope my boots don't get dirty.
[muffled rock plays on iPhone]
You know Karri and Janet
are dating?
Wait, really?
Yeah. I saw them kissing.
-For real?
-For real.
Do you ever kiss another boy?
Would you?
Ha-- have you?
A girl or a boy?
Either?
I kissed Arnold Chen.
I mean, he wanted me to.
But I wouldn't date him.
Why not?
-[Ellie] Benj?
-What are you doing out here?
Who's asking
and why should we answer?
Oh, that's Hunter.
He... might be a classmate.
What, your big fancy house
not got enough
land on it already?
Oh, it's not our house.
And...
you don't own the woods
or whatever it is
you're trying to catch.
They all think it's funny
until you get bit by a rattler.
Got one already
out by Lake Nadine.
You're catching snakes?
Wait, I want to see one.
If the first video I post
is a snake,
Karri will totally freak out.
You caught a snake?
Yeah, caught a bunch.
But this area ain't safe.
Why don't you just
leave the woods to us?
We belong here.
Okay. You know what?
It was very not nice
to meet you, Hunter.
Come on, Benj, let's go.
Come on,
you promised me a bison.
[Benji] Yeah, okay.
[sighs]
[sighs]
-[Ellie] Whoa.
-[Benji] This is crazy.
[Ellie] It's like a corn maze.
[Benji]
Yeah, it is a corn maze.
[Ellie giggles]
It's a big tree, though.
-[Benji] Yeah.
-[Ellie] Watch out.
Whoa.
Whoa.
[indistinct chatter]
[Ellie] Shh-shh!
They're just like a lot.
[Benjamin]
El, we're really close.
[Ellie] Whoa.
-[giggles]
-Oh, my--
That-- that one's so big.
Oh, my God.
Hi.
[Bisons grunting]
[muffled whispering]
[indistinct chatter]
[indistinct chatter continues]
[man] Hey!
Stay away from the animals.
[slurring] You're not supposed
to bother the native species.
Get away from them.
Do not approach the animals.
Do you... understand...
what I'm saying?
Huh? No-- no touchee!
-Yeah, sorry, sir.
-Sorry.
Yeah, there we go. There we go.
You show a little respect, okay?
Because you people, what you do
is you think you can
just come in here
and pay your way
into this country.
But you know what? All this...
It's not yours.
It's not for sale.
Okay?
So you leave the wildlife alone,
and you get out.
Now.
Okay.
Go.
Go, go, go, go, go.
You know, this town
really knows how to lay down
a "Not Welcome" mat.
[wind whooshing]
[grunting]
[soft music]
[speaking Korean]
Ellie and I
were out looking at bison,
and this guy just started
yelling at us.
[speaking Korean]
[speaking Korean]
Halmoni, this photo,
was it of you as a girl?
Where was it taken?
[speaking Korean]
[Jenn in distance] Benjamin?
He's probably
working on his essay. Benj!
Omma's calling. We have guests.
[speaking Korean]
[sighs]
[Kent] We had so much fun.
Thank you for everything.
[Isaac] No, no, not at all.
Hey, Benj, say hi to my friends.
We all went
to Michigan together.
-[both] Go, Blue!
-[laughing]
Hi.
Nice to meet you, young man.
If you're ever looking
to blackmail your father...
-Ah! Ah!
-Ah!
I know, I know. I know...
Let's go inside, okay?
-Hi.
-Hi!
Oh, I'm a hugger. Get in here.
-Okay!
-I'm Kendra. How are you?
Okay, great. He's wearing blue!
[Isaac laughing] Oh, my God!
You know what? I would like to
-raise a glass...
-[glasses clinking]
...to our friend
and my new boss, Alyse Song.
And if she was here, this wine
would be a hell
of a lot more expensive.
-Nothing but the best for Alyse.
-Yes, hear-hear.
-Yes.
-Yes, I mean, right?
Look at this house!
I mean, who knew
there was so much money
in selling modular closets?
Actually, it makes sense
if you're from Jeju Island.
And in fact,
Alyse and I are both from Jeju.
So, Jeju is an island in Korea.
It grows the best
citrus fruit in all of Asia.
So, in Jeju tradition,
Chilseongsin is
the goddess of wealth.
-Chill-what?
-Chill-Samsung, honey.
-Ah...
-Close enough.
So, how you kids
like it here so far?
Oh, we saw a bison.
But the guy next door,
he yelled at it,
and so it ran away.
Then he yelled at us.
-That was kind of awkward.
-Yeah.
You must be talking about
old George McNather.
His family carved this town
out of the woods.
Still owns half the land
and most of the businesses.
He's a little
rough around the edges,
but if it weren't for him,
this town would
be nothing but M&M.
[mouthing] Meth and moose.
Huh?
Speaking of moose,
he single-handedly funds
conservation in the area.
Feds axed the parkland budget,
which is a good thing,
don't get me wrong.
I'm all for smaller government.
But after that,
McNather paid for the ranger
station out of his own pocket.
Yeah, I don't think Mr. McNather
likes having us around.
Because you're Asian?
Maybe because we're kids?
[clears throat]
Well, I don't believe
that the people here have
a racist bone in their body.
No, they really don't.
Okay, so this.
I mean, are these ribs?
I see, so this thing
in the center here,
do you take it out?
Yes, that's the racist bone.
[softly] Oh...
-[Kent coughs]
-Okay. [chuckles nervously]
No need to get political
about it, honey.
It doesn't help.
[Jenna] You know, some
of our friends in California
won't even leave their homes.
My aunt and uncle
even got hate mail.
"You effing Asians
are taking over America.
Go back to the country
you came from."
[Kendra sighs] Oh.
Well, I for one,
think it's great
when Asians
come to this country.
I mean,
everyone wants to be
a part of the American dream.
Uh, as long
as you're here legally,
I don't think where
you come from should matter.
It's like I always tell Alyse,
personally, I only see one race.
The human race.
I don't even see color.
Hey, um, would you like
some more wine, Kent?
Oh, never say never.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
That's-- um, that's white.
I've been--
I've been drinking red, so.
Um, I thought you said
you didn't see color.
[all laughing]
She is good.
-Oh. Well, Ellie.
-[Kent] Yeah.
Oh, my goodness.
Look at Alyse.
It's obvious that Asians work
harder and are higher achievers.
And can you believe
what it takes
to get into college these days?
I mean, Asians have
to have perfect scores,
and we just write checks.
Wait, I-- I don't get it.
Let's just say in the tournament
of getting into colleges,
Asians have the hardest bracket.
Why do you think
we decided to move here?
Because they let
you ski every Friday?
Well, okay.
Here, half the kids
in high school go to college,
and half of them
go to the University of Wyoming.
Top schools
want kids from every state,
so it's a numbers game.
Back home, there's thousands
of Benjamin Lees.
Here, just one.
Benj is, like,
the smartest guy I know.
Wait, maybe the second smartest.
What? Is that Arnold Chen?
[Isaac] Yeah,
Benj will do fine right here.
He just has to get accepted
into a decent school here first.
[Jenna] Yeah.
[oven dinging]
Oh, does anybody
want more kalbi?
Guilty. [laughs]
I mean, yeah, please.
That'd be amazing.
[Jenna] Please, everybody
keep drinking except for Isaac.
[Isaac] I only get all
the kalbi.
[uplifting music playing]
[engine rumbling]
Nah, those are all bull snakes.
I-- I don't know why,
but the park's got
a bumper crop of them this year.
They got a little bite,
but they ain't venomous.
[snakes hissing]
-They all look exactly the same.
-Yeah, I know.
But they ain't the son bitches
we looking for.
Well, don't worry, kid.
I'll-- uh, I'll dump them back
where you found them.
-[door creaks open]
-[McNather] Drake.
How much do I donate
to the toilet bowl
of an organization?
Good afternoon, Mr. McNather.
-[toilet flushes]
-Where's your boss?
Uh, he-- well, he's in
the toilet bowl's toilet, sir.
[McNather clears throat]
[Tom sighs]
What can we do you for, George?
Have you seen them?
-Who?
-The goddamn Chinese folks.
You know,
they're squatting on our land.
And their kids?
Their kids
are scaring the wildlife.
You know,
they're spoiling my view.
'Cause they're running
all over protected public lands
like they own the place.
No, no, no, no,
we all know around these parts
that you're the one who owns
all the protected public land,
George. [chuckles]
Don't you back-talk me, Drake.
Your paycheck
comes out of my pocket,
not to mention
half the businesses
in this damn town.
Oh, come on, Mr. McNather.
Ranger Tommy
didn't mean any disrespect.
Hey, shut
your cakehole, Schlang.
You know, it's time that you two
no-ball-having morons
earned your pay.
So get on the phone.
Call immigration,
call disease control.
Just get these people
out of my town.
I don't care how you do it,
-Okay.
-You don't know squat, Schlang.
You haven't seen what I've seen.
These people,
they sneak
into this country all quiet,
and they bring in their money,
and they bring in their germs.
And you know what they leave us?
They leave desolation.
Hunter, what the hell
are you doing over there?
I don't know if you're dumber
than you're lazy
or lazier than you're dumber,
but if you want
to go trail riding,
you damn well better load
the goddamn bikes
in the goddamn truck.
Don't make me take off my belt.
[snakes hissing]
[McNather laughs]
Chip off your block, I see, huh?
Good.
[somber music playing]
[Tom clears throat]
[door shuts closed]
[birds chirping]
[phone buzzing]
[Benji] Oh, my God.
[doorbell dinging]
[knocking on door]
Hi, uh,
my name is Wyatt Schlang,
and I'm
an assistant park ranger.
I have some information
for you about our wildlife.
Oh, thank you very much.
Oh, uh, a donation
is always appreciated.
Oh, uh, yeah, um...
yeah.
Uh, I'd like to come inside
and show you
some of our materials.
We have to give you a better
understanding of the area.
Uh, thank you very much,
but that won't be necessary.
Really appreciate
you stopping by.
[clears throat] Uh...
you see, um,
the neighbor here, Mr. McNather,
owns a place
down by the clearing.
He told us about your kids,
the incident
approaching the wildlife.
He's not suing or anything,
but we have
this educational program.
Could be quite useful.
Sort of a service that we have
for newbies to the area.
Now, you could come
to the ranger office
later this afternoon.
We have a trip
booked to Yellowstone.
I'm packing lunch,
so we can leave.
Or I could just talk
your kids through it right now.
It won't take longer
than 15 minutes.
Um, sure. Come on in.
Uh, Benjamin, get Ellie.
-Oh, I'll get her. You go.
-Come on in.
Yeah.
It's a nice place.
I always wondered
who bought this house.
How long ago did you move in?
Uh, we-- we just got here.
Y'all from China?
Well, actually,
uh, we're from Korea.
Uh, like-- like BTS.
You know, like...
'Cause you're making me
a boy with love
Oh, my, my, my
My, my, my, my, my, my
No?
It's very nice, sir.
[Isaac]
I'm part of the BTS army.
I'm, uh, like, a colonel
in the army.
Okay, I'm so sorry.
I have to--
I have a phone call to make.
I'm-- it's--
a non-BTS phone call.
[Wyatt] You're doing
what you need to do.
-Yeah, we can just go upstairs.
-Yeah.
-Sorry about my dad.
-Yeah.
[whistling] Wow.
[sighs] Well...
Whoa. Okay.
[chuckles]
Uh, kiddos, uh, have a seat.
We've been getting
some complaints, so, uh...
I want to lay some ground rules
for our beautiful state here.
We are very respectful
of our animals.
Okay? See these?
These are snakes.
And we got good snakes
and we got bad snakes.
The good snakes help
keep the mice population down.
The bad snakes,
well, we got three different
kinds of rattlers.
And if you get bit by a bad one,
you're gonna want
to know which kind, okay?
Now this right here
is a bottle trap, okay?
Go ahead and, uh, stick
your little paw in there, kiddo.
It's okay.
-[Wyatt screams]
-[Benjamin gasps]
[Wyatt laughs] I'm just kidding.
What'd you--
Oh, it's fine, it's fine.
What'd you find?
Um...
I don't-- I don't know.
Well, you're gonna have
to pull your hand out
to see what it is, won't you?
Go ahead.
Oh. What was that? I don't know.
Try again. Oh. Oh, no.
Oh, bad luck.
Look at that.
Huh? Now, what happened?
Um, I couldn't get out
unless I let go.
That's right.
I want you to let that be
a life lesson for you, boy.
-Okay?
-[toy squeaking]
Here.
Sometimes
when you go into a place
to get something
that ain't yours,
might be hard
to get back out again.
Okay. So, uh, when you're
out there in the woods,
I want you
to look out for snakes,
traps, and moose,
and everything else.
Any questions?
Um, kind of--
well, sort of unrelated.
Who are you?
You can call me Wyatt.
What's your name?
Uh, El is fine.
Okay.
Goodbye, Eleanor.
Uh, it's Elia, actually.
[Wyatt] Okay.
Sure thing.
["So Beautiful"
by DPR Ian playing]
I think
I've got my sight for you
I don't mean to let it brew
-Wow, this is some good music.
-[Ellie] I know, right?
Oh, and track seven
is about a boy
who likes a girl
who likes him back,
but she can't
because she's already
dating another guy
who she only
kind of sort of likes.
Whoa.
Drama.
K-pop.
How do you guys put it?
It slaps.
[both laughing]
Looks like DJ El
has the dad seal of approval.
[chuckles]
Hey, babe, listen to this.
It was about an immigrant
in the early 19th century.
[Jenna] An immigrant?
From where?
I don't know. It doesn't matter.
Well, how could it
possibly not matter?
Is he from Europe,
and if so, what country?
He's not Asian
or African, obviously.
Hey, just listen.
All right? Here.
This is him
writing his first letter home.
"Well, I came to America
because I heard the streets
were paved with gold.
And when I got here,
I found out three things.
First, the streets
weren't paved with gold.
Second,
they weren't paved at all.
And third,
I was supposed to pave them."
-[all laughing]
-[Ellie] Wow.
[Jenna] Sounds like America.
And so is this. Zoink!
Come get
your funky love story
I love it
when the skies can't sleep
I left a message
encased in me
So bye-bye
So bye-bye
A flawless ending
So beautiful
It's great vocals, Dad.
-[Ellie] Bravo.
-Very beautiful.
[Jenna] Turn the music up, El.
-[Isaac] What?
-[all laughing]
Let's take a trip
down a dark place baby
Look for me now
I'm not that crazy
Let's talk about
what makes you happy
Because I know
I know
I'm calling for you
Come get your funky...
We're gonna get out of.
[laughs] Okay.
I love it
when the skies can't sleep
I don't know, I just--
-Arnold Chen?
-I know, it's like--
Do not bring up
Arnold Chen right now.
-Maybe I should ask him.
-No. No.
That's ridiculous.
Are you texting him?
-[Ellie] No, I have no service.
-[Benji] Good.
[Jenna] We are now standing
in the biggest
volcano crater on earth.
Whoa.
You can actually see
the rim of the crater
along that mountain edge.
And in fact, this whole area
was created by a super eruption.
Yeah, 5.6 million years ago.
You know?
It was actually
640,000 years ago.
-Dad. Dad.
-But I don't want to--
-I don't want to embarrass...
-Stop embarrassing me.
...in front
of his not girlfriend.
-She can hear you.
-Gullible.
-He's so gullible.
-Dad it's not that cool.
I left a message
encased in me
So bye-bye
So bye-bye
A flawless ending
So beautiful
[indistinct chatter]
[door creaks open]
[waitress]
What would you all like?
Yee-haw.
Um, I have a hankerin'
for something special.
What-- what do you--
um, what do you--
what-- what-- what do you have
in terms of specials?
Everything on our menu
is special.
Uh, we'll have
the steak sandwiches.
We don't have them anymore.
Aren't they having
steak sandwiches?
[waitress]
Those are our last ones.
[Isaac] Uh...
okay, um...
Oh, you know what?
Actually, the-- the bison
burgers sound equally special,
so we'll have four of those.
Great.
That's going to be $49.88.
Would you like
to round that up for George?
So are we still
talking about food?
If you make it $50,
then the extra change will go
towards the McNather Fund
for Local Conservation.
Well...
round that sucker up, ma'am.
-[Isaac fake laughing]
-[waitress] Great.
I majored in cowboy.
[Isaac sighs]
[Ellie] I'll see you at the car.
Mrs. Lee.
Um...
[Jenna sighs]
Mrs. Lee?
Yes, Ellie.
I don't mean
to be disrespectful or anything,
but do you really think
that they're being,
you know, racist in there?
I mean, they were really busy.
I just--
Come on,
let's just go find my dad.
No, no, wait, wait, just a sec.
Can I share something
with you, Ellie?
When I was in third grade,
I started in a new school.
And I was the only Asian girl
in the whole class.
There was this girl.
Her name was Leanne.
And she had
the most perfect blonde hair
and green eyes.
And she wore
the prettiest dresses...
that my parents
couldn't possibly afford.
And back then...
I'd go to my parents'
dry-cleaning store
after school
to help out, and just...
I hated it.
But I got to watch cartoons.
My favorite was Cinderella...
because I thought...
I could be a princess...
if I had the right dress.
One day, this lady came in,
and-- and
she dropped off this...
powder blue dress...
just like Cinderella's.
So, when my dad wasn't looking,
I-- I borrowed it.
I rolled it up
and put it in my backpack,
and I-- I decided
that I was gonna
wear it to school.
I imagined when I showed up...
Leanne would look at me
the way that I looked at her.
But when she saw me, she said...
"Why are you wearing my dress?"
And she said that...
since an...
since an ugly
Chinese girl wore it,
she couldn't wear it again.
And then all
the kids surrounded me...
called me a dirty thief...
and told me to go back
where I came from.
And then I just...
I, um...
just rolled up into a ball.
And-- and--
and then my-- my teacher,
Mrs. Maxwell, came to...
to get me,
and then she called my mom.
And do you know
what Halmoni did, Benj?
She said,
"I'm not gonna pick her up.
She's a thief."
So, Mrs. Maxwell,
um, drove me home.
It was like an hour,
and I was just in the backseat,
just crying.
And it wasn't
that I was embarrassed
or-- or, um,
or because my mom
wouldn't pick me up.
It was because
I couldn't be Cinderella.
I mean, I--
I couldn't even be Leanne.
[Jenna sobbing]
[somber music playing]
[wind howling]
Grandma, do you ever regret
coming to America?
I mean, mom says
she had a really tough time
growing up here.
[speaking Korean]
Oh, Busan?
Mom talked about
you being from Busan.
[speaking Korean]
[keyboard clacking]
[speaking Korean continues]
[Isaac humming]
Aw.
[Jenna] Are you sure
we should let him drive?
Well, he does have his permit.
Out here by age 15,
kids have their first gun.
So how's day two
of being
head closet guy in charge?
It's-- it's good.
Yeah, no, it's, um...
yeah, it's...
Okay, you don't need
to worry about that.
It's good.
[sighs]
["No Blueberries"
by DPR Ian playing]
[Ellie] Okay, you got
the first three, though, right?
-[Benji] Yes.
-[Ellie] Okay.
Just try. Well, just try.
-Okay. Okay. Okay.
-[Ellie] Ready?
I need a hostage free
I need a rocket ship
I need to run from
I like no blueberries
in my ice cream cake
No air to breathe
with that masking tape
I don't know anything past that.
-[indistinct].
-No. I bet you.
-Oh, my God.
-Oh!
Benj, you almost hit it.
Yeah, sorry. Uh, shoot.
-Sorry. Um...
-[Ellie] Um...
[car horn honking]
-Why is he driving up?
-Hit the road!
-What is he doing? Wait.
-What the hell?
Um...
Oh, my God.
[car beeping]
[banging on car]
Stop blocking the road,
you fucking nips.
Try turning on the car again.
Ben, try driving again.
Learn how to drive.
Drive your ass back to Tokyo.
Get it straight.
He's Korean and--
and I'm Chinese,
and Japan is an island,
so you can't drive there,
you moron.
You don't think
I know where you live?
[Ellie breaths heavily]
Sorry.
[sobbing]
El, El.
-You wanna go home?
-No, no,
That was... [sniffles]
[car approaching]
...that was just really scary.
Why would you want to stay here?
-[man whoops]
-[car door slams shut]
-[Hunter] Sorry.
-Yeah.
Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Where's your helmet?
I forgot it.
You think I'm gonna
let you ignore park rules?
You wanna ride your bike here,
you wear a helmet
or you stay behind.
Okay?
Fine. Jake, we're leaving.
He's gonna think about
what he's done.
Teenagers, am I right?
My God. All right.
Wait, what's going on?
It's Hunter.
[Ellie] Great.
Oh.
Hey, Hunter.
Here.
What the hell is that?
I know,
my mom chose the color, but,
you know, it's better than
sitting out here by yourself.
Cat ears. Really?
[Hunter sighs]
Whatever.
-I can make this work.
-[Benji] You do.
You know what?
We should document this
for posterity.
[Hunter] El.
Hey, let's take a selfie.
Okay. Uh...
[Ellie] Here. Um...
Oh, wait. I look terrible.
Okay.
Hey, um, what's your Instagram,
so I can send the photos to you?
Oh, uh...
-Sure, why not?
-[Ellie chuckles]
-Got a weird handle.
-Thanks.
Okay. And sent.
Cool. Yeah.
-Ha-- have fun biking.
-Yeah.
See you guys around.
You know, I've known you
for a long time.
Never seen that helmet before.
-Hey, it's not that bad.
-[Ellie laughs]
Wow.
Oh, look.
Front row seats.
There's a lot of holes
in the ground.
Yeah.
[chuckling] Wow.
-It's really beautiful.
-It's amazing.
[Ellie chuckles]
Hey, there's, like,
a little trail down that way.
-You see it?
-Yeah.
Uh, you mind
if we go take a walk?
Sure. Let's go.
[ethereal music plays]
Benj, I honestly don't think
I've ever experienced,
like, racism.
When I'm with my parents,
everyone treats me really nice.
If anything, they feel sorry
for me that I'm adopted.
But...
being here with your family,
I guess it's kind of
made me wonder
if it's, like, a problem.
That makes
little to no sense at all.
No, no, Ellie. Ellie.
I get it.
-It's beautiful.
-Yeah.
Hey.
-[Ellie chuckles]
-Wanna do it?
Come on.
[Ellie chuckles]
-Such a K-drama moment.
-[both chuckle]
You know, as long as I survive
my overbearing mother,
I'll be ready to...
Kiss? [laughs]
Yeah.
-When we're 18, though.
-Of course.
[both laughing]
You're beautiful.
You know this means
we have to find you one?
Oh, good luck with that.
I picked the best one.
So, you know,
you can go ahead and scour.
Look at that amazing view.
Okay? So you do you. [chuckles]
[Ellie] Benj...
I think something bit me.
-What?
-N-- no, I'm-- I'm serious.
Look.
Oh, my gosh, El,
that looks like a snake bite.
Did you see a snake?
N-- no.
I-- I-- I don't know.
-It's okay. Okay, um...
-Okay.
It's getting red. Benji.
Okay. Okay, come on.
Come on.
[Ellie breathing heavily]
-We gotta get to the car.
-Okay.
-Okay.
-I'm trying.
-Yeah. Okay.
-Ben, I can't do it.
-I can't.
-[both breathing heavily]
Benj, like, that's a fang.
That's a--
that's a fang in my arm.
-Hey, it's gonna be okay.
-[Ellie grunts]
-Okay?
-Okay.
[Benji] Hey! Help!
They can't hear you.
They can't hear you.
Look at me.
I'll be right back.
Okay.
[dramatic music plays]
Oh, God.
Hey!
[Benjamin breathing heavily]
Help!
Stop.
Hey.
Snake bite.
One mile outside Lake Nadine.
[radio crackles]
-How much further?
-I don't know.
I mean,
I thought she came from here.
Maybe there.
Ellie.
Ellie!
Wait, wait, wait,
wait, wait, stop.
Right there.
Okay. Okay.
Right there. Okay.
El. Oh, hey.
Hey, how are you feeling?
I wanna go home, Benj.
Let me see.
Oh, my gosh.
It got worse.
-Benjamin, I wanna go home.
-You're gonna be okay.
[Wyatt] How long ago
did this happen, kid?
A while ago. I don't know.
Okay, go to the truck.
Get the spade, the stick,
and the metal bucket.
What-- what bucket?
Wait-- she needs to
go to the hospital.
Do what I said, kid.
Hospital needs to know
what kind of snake it is.
-Go.
-[Benji] Okay.
God.
Okay.
All right, Ellie. Let's see.
You're gonna be okay.
All right, okay, okay.
Okay.
[Benji] Okay. Okay.
I got the bucket.
Okay. I got it.
Okay.
Where was she when she got bit?
That bush over there.
Great.
She's ours.
Hunter, come take her
to the truck.
Show me.
[Ellie groans]
-[Ellie groans]
-[Hunter] All right, come on.
[both groan]
Come on.
[wolf howling in distance]
[Wyatt] Let's see.
Where are you?
[sighs] Come on.
[laughs triumphantly]
There we go.
We got her.
Hunter, get over here!
Okay, put your light on it.
There you go.
Yeah, right there.
Hold your light.
[softly] Okay.
All right.
-[hissing]
-[Wyatt breathing heavily]
[in normal voice]
All right. Got it!
Hunter!
[laughs triumphantly]
What do you think
about that, kid, huh?
Let's get a photo
and send it to the hospital.
-[shutter clicks]
-Got it.
Great.
Kid, I want you
to take the spay,
I want you to chop his head off.
What?
I want you to kill it.
Let's go.
Why not just
put it in the bucket?
What are you, blind?
Slice of tooth.
You can't see
through those slanty eyes.
It's a goner.
You want it to suffer?
I-- I want to get out
to the hospital.
I want to get
to the hospital, too.
We need you to man up right now,
and kill the snake.
[Benji breathing heavily]
[softly] Okay. Okay. Okay.
[shouting] I can't! Okay?
I can't!
I mean, it's the snake
that hurt your girlfriend, kid.
What do you want?
[softly] Okay. Okay.
Oh. Oh.
[grunts, gasps]
[Wyatt] Good job.
Let's go.
-[Benji gasping]
-[Wyatt laughs]
Grab the bucket.
Let's go.
Let's get out of here.
Come on.
[Benji] Hey.
Hey, man.
Is she all right?
Ellie's fine.
Doctor bandaged her up
and gave her antibiotics.
Snake was a bull snake.
So wasn't poisonous.
Yeah, we've been getting
a lot of those this year.
They're eating up all the frogs
out by Lake Nadine.
You know,
I kinda miss the croaking,
but it's
our best fishing season ever.
They're hard to tell apart
from rattlers, though.
Yeah.
Sometimes good snakes
and bad snakes
look exactly alike.
Man...
the skies
are clear tonight.
You see that star up there?
That's Rigel.
You're into astronomy?
Yeah.
Rigel's the brightest star
in Orion's constellation,
which is...
[both] The hunter.
[both laughing]
My mom named me after it.
That's why I'm into
all that science fiction stuff.
Kind of dorky, right?
[chuckles]
Nah, it's pretty cool.
Man, sometimes I look up...
and I wonder if there's
anybody else out there...
or if we're all alone.
I wonder what they think of us.
They probably
can't tell us apart.
I mean, smog monsters
from Rigel V
probably think
we all look exactly the same.
Like good snakes and bad snakes.
[laughs] Yeah.
Anyways, my parents
are about to get here.
We have to go see Ellie.
You good?
Yeah. My house
is just up the road.
Uh, tell Ellie
that I'm glad she's okay.
[softly] Yeah.
And...
I'm sorry.
For what?
You were a big help today.
Yeah. I guess.
I'll see you around, then.
See ya.
[doorbell rings]
Mr. Lee!
Sure appreciate
you folks coming in.
So...
one of our volunteers reported
uh, an incident
over at Lake Nadine.
This might be
a little hard for, uh,
outsiders to understand,
but lake Nadine is what we call
a locally conserved public area.
Town ordinances
absolutely prohibit the harm
or hunting of wildlife
within the park boundaries.
Now, given the evidence...
I'm afraid we're gonna
have to press charges
against your son
for killing a wild animal
-on conservation territory.
-What?
Apparently Wyatt
even reached out to you,
gave you an introductory talk,
familiarizing you
with the laws of the area.
Yes, he came over, but he just
left his little brochure.
I'm trying to tell you that
there are penalties
for menacing or destroying
our local critters.
-I--
-This is serious.
Serious is a year in prison.
$50,000 fines,
plus civil penalties.
What? We can't afford that.
And it'll go on your record.
No, no, it wasn't my fault.
I didn't want to kill the snake.
No, no, Dad, I swear.
-Calm down.
-Believe me, please.
Okay, Benjamin,
let your dad take care of this.
Okay, I guess,
we're gonna have to go
get some legal advice.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, um, you can talk
to your lawyer, sure.
But once
the media gets wind of this,
things tend to
spiral out of control.
Yeah. I have a son myself.
-[Isaac exhales sharply]
-I wouldn't want to see
anything jeopardize
your son's future.
College is
right around the corner.
[Tom clears throat]
Now, between you and me,
if you made
a voluntary donation of the fine
to the park, we could
probably let this one go.
I can't. And...
Um, we-- we can't afford it.
This is not China, sir.
This is not California.
This is America.
And in America, we can do things
the easy way or the hard way.
Now, the easy way,
make this all go away.
Hard way
is you talk to your lawyer,
and the news gets out,
and the chance
to wipe this all away goes poof.
Your choice.
I would need
to hear from you by tomorrow.
$50,000 for killing a snake?
That-- that's crazy.
While snakes frequently
lose teeth
when struggling with prey,
it is not a problem
for them,
as they can regrow
any teeth that are lost
throughout their lifetime.
"Fun nature facts for kids."
[Benji] Okay, Mom.
[somber music plays]
[Jenna]
We can't let him blackmail us.
[Isaac] Jenna, stop.
[Jenna] Benj.
[Benji]
Can we still talk about this?
No. Go to bed, Benjamin.
I just need mom to tell me...
why she's fighting this.
Who's it for?
Me?
-Or you?
-I'm doing it for you,
me, your dad, and anyone else
who looks like us.
We have to do what's right.
I am tired of letting them think
that they can walk all over us.
You're tired?
Mom, I killed a snake
because I'm a dumbass
who didn't bother
to read the brochure.
That's what happened.
[Jenna] That's what
they want you to think.
To turn on yourself,
to-- to question yourself.
You know what?
I'm gonna call Ellie's mom.
Melanie's in TV.
She'll blow this up.
This is a bottle trap.
What do you mean, Benj?
The reason we can't get out
is because we won't let go.
Uh...
maybe because it's late,
but none of this
makes sense, son.
No, i-- it's like
what Halmoni says, right?
We reach into something
and grab it,
and now that we have it,
it's preventing us
from getting free.
What? Halmoni? [scoffs]
Don't be ridiculous.
Melanie, hi.
You want me to get
into a good college, right?
I want you to be quiet.
I'm sorry.
Um, yeah, no, Ellie's fine.
-The reason that I called is--
-[shouting] Mom!
Listen to me!
Okay, Melanie,
I'm gonna have to call you back.
I don't need you
to do all of this.
For what?
So I can get into Harvard?
All I need is you, Dad,
-Ellie, Halmoni.
-Halmoni?
Your precious Halmoni
never once did anything for me.
I had to do
everything on my own.
And that's fine.
I survived because I fought.
I fought like hell,
so you don't have to.
[sighs] They couldn't do this
if we were white.
[Isaac]
We'll report them to the police.
[Jenna] The police?
You really think
the cops are gonna believe us
over their next door neighbor?
Call a lawyer.
We can't afford a lawyer.
Okay, then call Alyse.
[mutters]
She stuck her neck out
for us already.
Look, we can't-- no, I'm just--
look, she gave me a job,
she loaned us this house.
No, we'll deal with this quietly
and leave her out of this.
Maybe we can come up with, like,
a compromise or, like, a--
like, a payment schedule
or something.
Payments?
They're framing our son,
and you want to
let him get away with it?
Look, how do you expect us
to move here and, like--
Oh, you know what?
Forget it, okay?
You don't get it.
Your father was a diplomat,
and you came to the states
to go to college
with your rich friends
like Kent and Alyse.
What does that mean?
That means that you've never
dealt with racism like I have.
You-- Wow.
[loudly] Really-- you think
I never faced
racism like you have?
Okay, let me tell you a story
from before we got married.
Okay, do we really
have time for this?
Actually, I've been waiting
15 years to tell you this story,
so the very least you could do
is give me 15 goddamn minutes.
When I first moved out
west after college...
I took a job at Morgan Lynch.
It was this low level position
in emerging market commodities
for a giant investment bank.
And I was the only non-white
person in the division.
Like, every other trader was,
like this gigantic
ex-football player.
I mean, I basically came up
to my boss shoulder, okay?
And I--
And I got assigned to cover Asia
because of this face.
But I had
something up my sleeve.
I know oranges,
because I come from Jeju.
Island of oranges.
So here I was,
this junior trader, a rookie,
turning over millions
for the division.
They even nicknamed me OJ
because I was killing it
in citrus futures.
My point is, I did my time.
I bowed my head
and cranked out cash.
And when the citrus desk head
announced his retirement,
I put my hand up and asked to be
considered to run the desk.
No one else
was remotely qualified
so my boss decided
to make me acting.
Head of Citrus Futures.
Acting? Okay, fine.
After they spent,
I don't know, six months
looking for
a permanent replacement,
I finally went to my boss
and told him
I wanted the job for real.
I wanted my name on that card.
And my boss looked at me
and he clapped me
on the shoulder
with his big, hairy hand.
He was like, "Isaac,
you make good money trading.
Why would you
want to be a manager?"
No, it-- I told him
it wasn't about the money,
it was about the respect.
It was the respect
that I earned.
And after all, they call me OJ.
I'm the Citrus King.
And you know what?
My boss laughed out loud
like a donkey.
And he was like, "Isaac,
the reason why they call you OJ
is because
when you first came in here,
they said you looked
like an oriental jockey.
An oriental jockey.
That's what OJ meant to them.
Not the fruit,
not even the football player.
They're mocking
my race and height.
And you know what I did?
I kept working there
as acting
Head of Citrus Futures
for five more years.
You know why?
Because you and I were dating.
You got pregnant, and I wanted
to have the money to marry you,
buy a house,
and take care of our family.
And every day
for five goddamn years,
when they called me
OJ, I'd smile
and I'd wave
and I'd be all polite.
That wasn't cowardice.
That was bravery.
Cause I did that
for you and for Benjamin.
And if Alyse, yes, Alyse,
hadn't come into my life
and saved me
from a life of eating shit...
I'd still be doing that today.
[Isaac breathing shakily]
Why didn't you tell me?
I could have worked
something out.
I know, I'm sorry. I just--
[inhales sharply]
It's fine.
Jenna, I just-- [scoffs]
We're here now.
And it was worth it.
And... [sobs softly]
honestly,
I would do it all over again.
I would do this all over again
because I love you.
[sobbing] I'm just--
[sobbing] I'm sorry.
[emotional music playing]
[sobbing] I'm sorry.
It'll be okay.
We'll figure it out.
It'll be okay.
[Halmoni speaking Korean]
I don't feel like it, Halmoni.
[Halmoni speaking Korean]
[gentle music building]
[speaking Korean]
[speaking Korean]
[singing in Korean]
[singing continues]
-[gentle piano instrumental]
-[singing continues]
-[singing stops]
-[music continues]
[music continues]
[music fades]
[birds chirping]
[gentle music building]
Benj.
Hey, Mom.
Ellie wanted to go to the store
before she leaves.
I just wanted to say
that I'm sorry about last night.
I deserve it.
I mean,
I don't think enough how much
you and Dad had to go through
to make sure I had a good life.
We all forget sometimes.
Did you know that grandma
went to Ewha University,
the most prestigious
women's college in Korea?
And your grandpa
went to Seoul National,
which is like
the Harvard of Korea.
Them coming
to the states for grad school
was a pretty big deal.
And they had to give
all that up because of me.
You know, I thought for a really
long time that the only way
to make grandma happy was for me
to get into a good college.
And when I didn't,
I pushed that on you.
I honestly think what would make
Halmoni happy is just...
for all of us to be happy, too.
You know, your father says
you're a shoo-in for Michigan.
-Go Blue.
-[chuckling]
Wherever I end up,
I'll get there on my own.
Not because you guys paid off
a ranger for my dumb mistake.
We'll figure it out, Benj.
Hey, I heard
you and Dad talking last night.
Did you guys have me
before you were married?
Uh, look at-- look at the time.
Um, it's-- it's burning.
I got-- I gotta get
that pie out of the oven.
-Bye.
-Mo-- mom? [Benji chuckling]
[sighing]
-Hey.
-Hey.
I got the helmet in the kitchen.
Come on in.
Sorry about that
and all the craziness.
I forgot
it was still in my truck.
Oh, no problem.
Yeah. Here you go.
[gasps] Keep it.
Looks better on you anyway.
So why'd you come over?
Is Ellie all right?
Yeah, Ellie's fine.
It's me who's not.
And you know why.
Look, you were there, Hunter.
You saw everything
that happened.
I know you're close
with Wyatt and everything,
but this could really
screw up my family.
What do you
want me to do about it?
Just be honest.
Decide if you're gonna be
a good snake...
or a bad one?
I gotta go, but...
all I'm asking you to do
is tell the truth.
[door shuts close]
I'm so glad you called me.
We all make sacrifices
for our kids, don't we?
What's a little money
compared to a whole future?
Can I start with a story?
-What story?
-He likes stories.
You like Godzilla?
I do.
Kim Jong Il,
dictator of North Korea,
was a huge Godzilla fan.
And back in 1985,
he kidnapped one of South
Korea's most famous directors
and made his own
Godzilla film called Pulgasari.
And in the movie,
Pulgasari is a creature
who grows bigger
when he eats metal.
And Pulgasari
protects his kingdom
by eating the iron weapons
and the armor
of the enemy soldiers
who tried to attack.
I'm sorry, but what does your...
silly little story
have to do with your son
deliberately killing
and endangered wild animal?
My husband's stories
can be long and boring,
but he always has a point.
[incoming message chimes]
[Isaac] And soon after,
Pulgasari becomes a worse threat
than the enemy soldiers.
And I'm saying
that if you rely on monsters
to protect you...
you just get bigger monsters.
[Benji]
How long has he been here?
[Ellie]
I don't know. Maybe 15 minutes.
-I think we're done here.
-[footsteps approaching]
[Ellie] Wait, wait.
Hi. Hi. Excuse me.
Yeah, um...
Sir, it wasn't me
that wanted to kill the snake.
Your guy, Wyatt, told me to.
Well, it's your word
against his.
And Wyatt, well, he's been
with us since he was your age.
Do you really think
that our community's gonna take
your word over his?
[Wyatt] I want you to kill it.
Let's go.
[Benji] Why not just
put it in the bucket?
[snake hissing]
[Wyatt] What are you, blind?
It lost it's tooth.
You can't see through
those slanty eyes?
It's a goner.
You want it to suffer?
[Benji]
I want to get out the hospital.
[Wyatt] I mean, it's the snake,
or your girlfriend, kid.
Benj. Girlfriend, huh?
[chuckling]
[shooting music playing]
Thank you so much
for coming, Ellie.
-Text us when you get home.
-I will.
Thank you, El.
We'll see you in California.
-Okay. Thanks.
-[Isaac chuckles]
-One last time?
-[Ellie giggles]
-Oh.
-Okay.
[Ellie giggling]
Such a K-drama
drama moment.
[Ellie giggling]
Okay.
Bye.
[on PA System] Vehicles
on the curb must be attended
-for actively loading--
-Loading and unloading.
-Yeah, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
-Yeah.
-[Jenna] Yeah, yeah.
-[Isaac] We're coming, sir.
-Oh, gosh.
-[Isaac chuckling]
[chuckles softly]
Oh.
Hey. Hey.
Mom, Dad.
Look.
[light snoring]
Wow.
-Shh.
-Sorry.
-[Benjamin gasps]
-Shh.
[speaking Korean]
Yeah, if Hunter
had intent to step--
[speaking Korean]
[laughing]
[speaking Korean]
Yeah, I finished it.
"My grandma grew up
in a land at war with itself.
Sometimes it feels like ours
is threatening to do the same.
When the world
shows us its fangs,
my dad might say,
'We need to smile
and be strong
for the sake of our loved ones.'
My mom might say,
'We need to stop rolling
into a ball and bite back.'
As for me, I am an optimist.
I think that someday
we won't be standing across
a great divide throwing
imaginary snakes at each other.
And that one day,
I'll have the chance
to see the beauty of the town
where my grandma grew up.
You might not be able to show
me in person anymore Halmoni,
But you'll still be with me.
You always will."
["No Blueberries" by DPR IAN]
I like no blueberries
in my ice cream cake
No air to breathe
without masking tape
Stop, please
I need a hostage free
I need a rocket ship
I need to run from
I like no blueberries
in my ice cream cake
No air to breathe
without masking tape
Stop, please
I need a hostage free
I need a rocket ship
I need a run from you
From you
I'm just kind of lost
I fall from you
Looking down a lot
I fall from you
I'm falling way too soft
I fall from you
Now tell me when to stop
Oh, no,
here we go again to this beat
Oh, no, tell me
why you want to be so sweet
Tell me
what's in your eyes, baby
Red, green, or blue
Welcome to the other side
I keep losing
my temper for you
I love it how you think
I'm always this cool
Excusez-Moi
I think I'm just a foo
Afraid of
what's in your eyes, baby
Red, green, or blue
Welcome to the other side
So now you've blown
all your covers
I got this blue
to make you come up
So when you think
it's almost over
I got this blue
to make you come up
So now you've blown
all your covers
I got this blue
to make you come up
So when you think
it's almost over
I got this blue
to make you come up