Penance (2020) s01e01 Episode Script

1
# Would you have it
any other way? #
I'm going in. All this palaver
to make plum pudding for one person!
It's not just any person,
it's your brother. Pass me the wine.
Uh-uh.
Oh, Mum! Mmm, mmm Mum!
Mmm. Mmm. Ha-ha!
Thanks. OK, what do you think? OK.
Oh
Eurgh!
THEY LAUGH
Oh, well, Rob'll love it.
He'd better. Mmm.
And I don't want any fighting
over Christmas.
Do you hear?
Same goes for you and Dad.
DOORBELL RINGS
DOG BARKS
I'm not going like this.
Right, I'll go.
The British Embassy were contacted
by officials in Thailand
earlier today.
As your local police station,
we've been informed that
a body's been identified,
believed to be your son, Rob.
No, no!
A group of young people
swimming late at night.
He must have got into difficulty.
He drowned.
No!
No! He was identified earlier today
by a travelling companion,
Ayesha Farewell.
Oh, well, she's, she's wrong.
She's She's wrong.
I'm afraid I have to ask you
to come to the station.
We'll need you to confirm
the evidence sent through
by the Embassy. No!
It won't be him, it won't be him.
LUKE SOBS
Please, Luke, make it not him!
Make it not Rob
Make it not Rob!
Make it not Rob! I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry, Mum!
I'm so sorry!
THEY SOB
LUKE CHINKS GLASS
Erm
Thank you all for coming to
celebrate Rob's birthday with us.
It's been two months
..and while I can't say
it gets any easier,
I can say how very grateful we are
for all the support and help
that you've shown us.
Rosalie.
Er, yes, erm, thank you.
Our son
..would have been 20 today.
To Rob.
ALL: To Rob.
Ayesha, can I talk to you
in private for a minute? Yeah, sure.
Rob had his place at
Physical Education College.
He had to be the strongest swimmer
on that beach.
We were pretty wasted.
Oh.
Why didn't anyone
notice he was gone,
call for help?
So, there were different groups
all along the beach.
He could've been with
any one of them.
And not one person noticed?
It wasn't like
I was looking for him.
I'm sorry.
The Thai police asked me
to identify him, so
LUKE: Rosalie?
You know, I thought
maybe you could help me
go through Rob's things.
You know, we could talk about him.
We weren't, you know, like that,
a couple.
They didn't find his phone.
Did he leave it on the beach?
I mean,
did someone pick it up?
I don't know.
I I have to catch my train.
It was a terrible,
tragic accident, Rosie.
Well, I'll never accept that.
Never! I mean, how can you
say that? He was your son!
Please, can you just calm down,
Rosie? Don't tell me to calm down!
We've talked this through, Rosalie.
Have we? What,
just like we talked about
your affair with Wendy?!
Oh, come on!
We really sorted that out,
didn't we? Please,
let's not go there again! Erm
It's been a long day.
I think we should give the family
some privacy, don't you?
He hit his head,
he was knocked unconscious.
SHE SIGHS
Rosie, love, please!
You know that he wouldn't
dive around
the rocks in the
middle of the night.
If you want to help each other,
you have to work together.
I can't. I
I can't move on the way
that you want us to. I
She wants me out. Oh
Please, if you want
to help me, just
just give me some space.
PHONE RINGS
RECORDED MESSAGE: Hi, you've reached
Maddie, sorry I can't get to
the phone right now. Please leave
a message after the tone
Answer your bloody phone, Maddie!
DOOR OPENS
DOG BARKS
Maddie?
Oh Oh, Maddie.
SHE SIGHS
MADDIE RETCHES
That's it.
PHONE RINGS
OK, yep. Thank you.
The school realises this is a hugely
difficult time for you.
But no problem booting her out!
We have every sympathy,
but constant truancy, disruption?
She was drunk in class
the other day.
How are things at home?
Could that be affecting her?
We, erm
We're not together at the moment.
Well, I suggest you pull together,
with regard to your daughter.
I'll consider one last suspension,
if you can find a way to help her
deal with her grief.
You can't explain the pain to
someone who hasn't gone through it.
Sometimes, it's almost physical.
It comes in waves.
It's like, erm
No
Thank you for listening.
We have some new members
in the group this evening.
Perhaps they'd like to share?
Only when you're ready.
My name's Jed.
Jed Cousins. I don't
remember a lot about my parents,
to tell the truth.
I was only four when they
they had the crash.
Me nan brought us up.
A right oldbattleaxe.
She always wore a scarf
round her head.
I swear she went
to sleep with that scarf!
I didn't give it to her easy.
I was I was a difficult kid.
Everyone cut me some slack
because the
poor lad had lost his mum and dad.
At 16, I left home
and went to London.
At first, I'd call
her once a week
..pretending I was doing
all these brilliant jobs
when, really, I was
..scraping by.
It was always next month
I was coming home.
A neighbour called
to say she'd passed.
I never thought much
about my nan before.
Now she's gone,
she's all I think about.
It's doing me head in.
I really liked your talk. I mean,
if liked is the right word to use.
Thanks. I can just picture your nan,
with that scarf.
THEY LAUGH
I'm pretty sure
she was bald under that!
I'm Rosalie.
This is my daughter, Maddie.
Hiya. Hi.
Was that your
your husband?
Er, no. My son.
I'm sorry. It's fine. Er,
thank you very much for speaking.
Very brave of you.
Thanks. Pleasure. Well done.
Thank you, Tom.
Er, Jed?
Erm, we haven't had dinner yet
and we live round the corner.
You're more than welcome.
I wouldn't want to
It's no trouble. It's just lasagne,
garlic bread.
It's not even dinner, more supper.
What would you call dinner,
if lasagne's supper?!
Ha-ha! Well, I'll take
that as a yes! Yeah.
Perfect.
MADDIE GIGGLES
DOOR OPENS
It's only me!
SHE WHISPERS: I know.
It's a young guy who we met
at counselling. Jed.
So, it went OK?
We'll get there.
All of us together again.
In time. I hope so. Hi, Dad!
I didn't hear you come in. Hi! Mwah!
Mmm! Just dropping by.
Erm Oh, er,
Luke, Jed. Jed, Luke.
Hello. Nice to meet you. You too.
Right, well, thank you for dinner,
or supper, whatever you call it.
You're welcome.
I'll, er I'll see yous,
see yous again?
Er, next week?
Sure. I'll show him out.
It was really nice
to have you over
And get this, he doesn't drink,
he doesn't smoke,
feels guilty about his dead nan.
He's really lovely.
I know. You don't have to say it.
Ooh!
There we go.
There you go.
Ha-ha! Strong hands.
Holding that. Ha-ha-ha!
That's a good shout. Here?
You'd make a good gardener.
Why would you do that?!
Why would I do what?!
No! No, don't do that!
Ha! All right, all right
Go on, give it me.
Give it me. Go on.
There you go.
Go on. Perfect, perfect, perfect
Agh!
No! Ha!
I'm not saving you!
Ha-ha-ha!
I'm going to have to go home
and get a change of clothes.
Oh, erm
You can take jeans and a T-shirt
from Rob's room, if you want.
Er, that might be difficult for you.
Yeah, it will be difficult, but
Er, you're kind of in my space, Jed.
And you're getting my
kitchen floor all wet.
SHE GIGGLES
Ha!
Go on.
How long have you been here now,
Jed? A couple of months or so.
Do you see a future for yourself
in the gardening business?
Yeah.
Maybe. Well, you must
have a vision of
where you're going to be in the
future? It won't be as a priest,
that's for sure!
THEY LAUGH
Right, bon appetit, everyone. Mmm!
Only work would keep
my son away from
your hotpot, Rosie.
SHE LAUGHS
Looks like you're going to be
man of the house
for a while, Jed. Ha!
Hardly. Stop it now, Fay. Stop what?
I'm as grateful to this young man
as the next person.
Look what he's done.
He's turned Maddie around.
I'm actually in the room, Gran!
My point exactly.
Shall we change the subject now?
Did your nan have
any man friends, Jed?
THEY LAUGH
Er, not that I know of.
She was into her books. Oh.
What sort of books?
Catherine Cookson?
Danielle Steel? Am I right?
More of a Trollope fan. Dickens.
I can't really remember,
to be honest. Outed for
the middle-class snob that
you are, Gran. Guilty as charged.
THEY CHUCKLE
I've had it easier than some.
Rosalie started out
as a care worker.
That's how we met.
Owner of three of the best
residential homes in the county.
Only because you
believed in me. Oh
Not bad, eh,
for a girl from the
roughest council estate?
You know, I kind of thought
you'd be from
all this. No.
No, my mum was left with two young
kids when my father bailed.
What's that silly saying -
"poor, but happy"? Ha!
But we were.
Poor is shite,
whatever way you look at it.
You know what it's like
to want things, though.
We've got a lot in common.
Yeah, of course we do.
Maddie.
Losing someone.
If that's what you mean.
No, it's, like, more than that.
I don't know, it's me
being stupid, I just
I feel like I've known you
a lot longer,
that's all.
It's weird.
You lost your mother, I lost my son.
Maybe that's
the connection you feel.
I think that we both have
to be careful not to
..not to get everything mixed up.
Yeah. Maybe you're right.
Oh, thanks for this. You're welcome.
Night. Night, Jed.
HEAVY BREATHING
KNOCK ON DOOR
DOOR OPENS
I've given Mrs Flynn last rites.
Her family's with her now.
Everything OK?
Yeah, I just
I just haven't been
sleeping very well.
Worried about Jed?
What do you mean?
Has he told you his real name yet?
His real name?
Jethro.
I Googled his parents' accident.
Why would you do that?
And looked up his nan's obituary.
Rita Cousins.
She did have a partner,
for many years.
He's mentioned in her obituary.
Jed said she was alone.
What have you got against him?
Nothing!
Seems perfect.
Maybe that's the problem.
PHONE BEEPS
Oh, shit!
DOOR OPENS
DOOR SHUTS
The alarm's gone off
in the cottage again. Oh!
What cottage? Oh, it's this old
shack in the middle of nowhere
that everyone loves except me. It'll
be the wind, or a fox, or something.
The police never check. I'll go up
there tomorrow to make sure. Well,
not on your own, Mum.
I'm coming with you.
You're not missing another
day of school, missy! Mum!
Maddie, I'm not listening to this!
Please, it's really important,
It's just, I don't want you
to go up on your own
Thanks, Mum. I'll feel better.
There's really no need.
I know. I just want you
to come home safe.
Thank you.
See you later. Bye.
Argh!
It's a power cut.
Happens here a lot.
Oh, it's been forced. Wait there,
I'll check upstairs.
No, nothing.
Must have been hikers, taking
a chance. They taken anything?
They didn't find them.
My mum couldn't afford much,
but she never missed our books.
There's some first
editions in there.
I bought them, over the years.
Valeria.
My heroine.
God, how I wanted a crystal pendant,
with magic powers, like hers!
Ha! Huh!
My mum bought me a glass one,
so I couldn't
I couldn't get a crystal one
after that.
Why not?
It would be like saying
her present wasn't good enough.
You're akind person, aren't ya?
Sorry, am I allowed to say that?
Ha! It's a nice thing to say,
why wouldn't you say it?
It's getting dark.
We should, er, we should go.
Maddie will be getting worried.
There we go.
Maddie?
I won't hurt you,
or your mum, again.
It was a mistake.
It was a shit mistake, Dad.
I really am sorry.
It's OK.
Since Rob,
well, everything else
feels like small stuff.
I'm sure I left them in the car.
I'm just going to check inside.
This is hopeless, Jed.
They must've come out of your hand
when that bird flew out.
It's too dark.
We'll have to look again
in the morning.
Right, OK.
Mum? Nah, it's me.
But she managed to get through.
She can't find her car keys, is all.
I'm going to stay the night.
OK.
CUTLERY SCRAPES
I'm not very hungry.
Did Rob enjoy coming here?
We used to have to bribe
Maddie to come up here,
but Rob was in his element.
We'd hike for miles in the woods.
He was an outdoors lad.
Knew how to take care of himself.
That's why it'll never sit with me.
My boy, drowning.
Not Rob.
I wanted to go back
to Thailand and ask questions,
see where it happened, but
..Maddie was out of control.
We couldn't leave her. And
..Luke and I couldn't stay together.
All that toxic anger between us.
And all we wanted was our son back.
I want him back!
I'm sorry. No, don't apologise.
I can't pretend
to understand what that
pain must feel like
..but I do know that
..losing someone and not getting
the chance to say goodbye
..it feels unfair.
Yeah.
CUTLERY SCRAPES
If you're cold, there are more
blankets in the cupboard.
Goodnight.
DOOR OPENS
Jed, what the?!
You were calling me. Just
get out!
Just get out of my room!
Found 'em.
Like I thought, they were
in the grass, by the car.
Great.
Thanks. You're welcome.
You were calling me.
What?
I didn't know you were asleep.
Well, you misheard.
I think about you too.
Where's your flat?
I can drop you off. I need to
get some stuff I left at your house,
before you say you don't want me
coming round so much. Jed
It's OK, I get it.
I'm used to being brushed off.
I'm just rubbish to the likes of
you, now you're up in the world.
Don't think that!
It's all right, I get it!
I heard my name being called
..loud and clear.
RAISED VOICES
Oh, my God!
Yaz! No! No!
Maddie! Oi, oi! Maddie! Back off!
Mum! Stay where you are! Mum!
What do you want? Do you want money?
I can get you money! Shut up!
Oof!
Agh! Agh!
Hey Agh!
Oof!
Think you're a big girl, do you?
They're not going to be around
to save you next time, Maddie!
There's not going to be
a next time! Fuck off!
If I catch you around here again,
you better start running,
because if the police don't
catch ya, I fucking will!
Get the fuck out of here!
They came out of nowhere.
Are you OK? Are you all right?
They won't be coming back.
SHE SOBS
They're not from round here.
One day, Yaz and a gang started
I don't know,
talking to me outside school.
Talking about what?
Stuff.
I dunno, we had a laugh.
Never got her surname?
Never asked any questions?
Just had a laugh?
They'd take things from me.
Money, jewellery.
We know how these gangs operate,
Maddie. Did they ask you
to sell drugs at school?
Answer them, Maddie.
Nothing heavy, just benzos.
All the girls are on them.
Oh, Jesus Christ! Sorry, Dad, Mum!
It just took my mind off
things here. I did stop.
First, it was like they were
OK with it, and then today,
it was give them more money instead.
Am I in trouble?
Will I have to go to court?
If we find them.
Thanks.
Thanks for what you did, Jed.
DOOR CLOSES
Maddie's out with her dad. Erm,
you can wait in here, if you want.
Ah
I, erm
I brought you something.
Open it.
Open it.
Er, I can't I can't accept that.
Jed
Jesus!
Stop, I don't want this.
You want me.
I wasn't sure. It's not true.
Yes, it is. You have to leave now!
I think about you all the time.
Stop it. Allthe time.
DOOR OPENS
Hiya!
Jed's helping me out with
the new security. You are a star.
And it'll be a relief to know you're
around this evening, because
I'm taking my lovely wife
out to dinner.
You understand it was never
Wendy that split us up.
It was losing Rob.
We can never be whole again,
I think we both know that, but
..maybe we could be
the bits that are left over,
put back together somehow
HIS VOICE FADES
DOOR OPENS
Hi.
What's wrong?
Where's Jed?
He's talking about leaving.
Did he say why?
His job's shaky,
his flat
I don't want to talk about it, Mum!
SHE SIGHS
I didn't know
where else to go. Rosie,
no mother loses a child
without major consequences.
You need to deal with your grief.
Is that what's wrong with me?
I don't trust myself, Tom.
What I'm thinking, I
I've been having these
..these weird dreams,
and just crazy stuff.
Mixing everything up, but I
After a death,
the family has to re-group.
Spend some time together.
Just the three of you.
Heal yourself through the memory
of Rob. OK, that sounds
a bit priest-y, but
I've lost myself, Tom.
You're the strongest
woman I know, Rosie.
Go find yourself again.
Our Father,
who art in heaven.
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
on Earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses.
As we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
If Jed was to move in,
could I trust you
to be sensible? Ha-ha!
FATHER TOM: Get that boy
out of your house now,
before something terrible happens.
Don't worry, I know what I'm doing.
I want you out of my house!
I've lost my son, I won't lose
my daughter as well!
All I want
is you. Ah!