The Lowdown (2025) s01e01 Episode Script

1
[dog barking in distance]
[muffled gunshot]
[dog barking]
["Sensitive Kind" playing]
Don't take her for granted ♪
She has a hard time ♪
You've got to know
She's the sensitive kind ♪
[chattering on radio]
[reporter] News this morning,
we're learning Dale Washberg was found
dead in his home late last night
after an apparent suicide.
Dale's death comes on the tail of a
controversial Heartland Press article
about the Washberg family's corrupt past.
As you can imagine, this throws
a new spotlight on the governor's race.
Oklahoma gubernatorial hopeful
Donald Washberg, Dale's brother,
had this to say about Dale's passing.
Whoo!
[music stops]
[clicks tongue] Oh. Nice.
[sighs] You break it, you buy it.
[Donald through TV] Dale was our family.
My little brother.
We-We ask for privacy
as we grieve this tremendous loss.
[sniffles, whimpers]
The investigation continues
into what happened
- Well, that's beautiful.
- We don't have a timetable on how long
this might take.
Stay with Fox 23
- What?
- That piece behind you.
It's a Joe Brainard.
You should know who Joe Brainard is.
You're standing in front of it
all day long.
Isn't that fantastic?
- Yeah, it's nice.
- It's nice.
It's a Joe Brainard.
It should be in a museum.
Oh. You think it belongs
in a private supper club?
It's nice. And there's a lot of art here.
Yeah, there's a lot of art here.
There's so much art here
that I don't think anyone would notice
if I slipped that in my pants
and walked right out.
Your pants are too tight.
- They are too tight.
- [butler] Mr. Raybon.
Yeah, uh, just one second, I'm talking.
[butler] They're ready for you.
Well [inhales sharply]
You'll have to remove your hat.
Dress code. [chuckles]
Oh, nice.
They brought the whole team, huh?
You work here long?
Okay.
- [sighs] Hey.
- Howdy.
- All right.
- Can we get you a drink?
- Yes, Lee, get a whiskey.
- No, I'm sober.
I'll just have a pilsner
and a New York strip, rare, crispy, okay?
Little A.1. too, if you don't mind.
If you got it.
- [chuckles] Nice to meet you in person.
- [chuckles] Yeah.
- We do have a lot of other business
- Yeah, I'm sure you do.
This place is so fancy.
I've never even been back here.
[executive] Well, yeah,
just some of the perks.
Yeah, I should have gone
in the investment firm business, huh?
Instead of rare books?
[inhales deeply] Hmm.
But you are a journalist too though,
right? Or, uh, some kind of writer?
I'm a "truthstorian."
Sorry, say again.
I am a Tulsa "truthstorian."
A "truthstorian"?
- What exactly is a "truthstorian"?
- I'm glad you asked.
I read stuff.
I research stuff.
I drive around and I find stuff.
And then I write about stuff.
Some people care, some people don't.
I'm chronically unemployed, always broke.
But let's just say
that I am obsessed with the truth.
How about that?
Hmm.
[executive] So this is the team.
- Bob, or Laughing Bob.
- [Lee chuckles]
- [executive] Johnson, or Big John.
- [Lee] Big John.
[executive] Cathy. Cathy's our favorite
for obvious reasons.
- And we have one more.
- Oh. Howdy.
- I take it you're Lee?
- Lee Raybon.
I'm Allen.
[grunts, chuckles] Strong grip.
You must be a rancher.
You must be a writer.
[all laugh]
[executive] No, Allen,
this here is a "truthstorian."
Asshole.
My antique guy, Ray, tells me you've been
trying to get a hold of me for a while.
Yeah, I'm super, super interested
in that, uh, church pamphlet you have.
Yes, it's very special.
Martin Luther King himself signed it.
It was at a North Tulsa church
that's no longer there.
Yeah, well, it must be very important
to the folks in North Tulsa.
Oh, yeah, I have, uh, a lot of Black,
uh-uh-uh, North Tulsa folks, uh, come in.
- Well, I mean, not just Black people.
- Sure.
- Mexicans too, uh
- Sure.
- Indians.
- Indians?
Uh The Oklahoma melting pot.
- That's why we love it.
- Yeah, I know.
That's why I think it's important
that that pamphlet
go back to the community
where it belongs.
- Come again?
- Yeah.
See, I wanna ask you a question.
How did you come by that pamphlet?
Interesting story.
My grandfather had an employee
And he gave it to you, right?
Exactly. Now,
can I ask you something real?
Yeah. I've been doing
a little research on y'all.
And, um I have some concerns.
- Oh, yeah?
- [Lee] Yeah.
Well, tell me about those.
Well, first off,
I'm curious why you're buying up
Black-owned business in North Tulsa?
That's a little weird.
Developing business opportunities
is part of our business.
Yeah, or it could be about consolidating
and killing the competition. [laughs]
Which is bad for the economy
and the people in North Tulsa.
You have big balls, Lee.
I do. [giggling]
[sighs] The bad news is,
we do have some other business
to attend to this afternoon, so
I hear you. Don't have to tell me twice.
Let me just leave you with a little
business card I made up this morning
in case you wanna call me.
Cathy.
Hey, Big John.
And, Bob. Appreciate your time.
You didn't think you was gonna get
your hands on that pamphlet, did you?
[clicks tongue, inhales sharply]
Sometimes you gotta wave with one hand,
while you're getting what you want
with the other.
And don't worry,
that church pamphlet's gonna be back
where it belongs soon enough.
[imitates gunshot sound]
Gotcha.
Cocksucker.
[clamoring]
That was great.
Gotcha.
[sighs]
[Donald through radio]
I wanna thank local and state authorities
for responding to this tragic matter
with the grace and dignity it deserves.
I know Dale's looking down on us now
from a better place
and no longer suffering.
[reporter] Would The New Yorker write an
article about a turd in the water park?
[editor] You're probably right.
But we've had three Woody Guthrie pitches
today alone.
I think we've exhausted stories
on Woody for now
- Oh, here he is, uh [clears throat]
- Shit.
How about that Washberg piece?
Trending nationally.
Yeah. Can I talk to you?
Did you hear? Dale Washberg.
Did you hear? Come here.
Hey, how y'all doing?
Take over, Olivia.
[Lee sighs]
Did you hear the news?
Dale Washberg committed suicide.
- Yeah, it's very sad.
- Yeah, it's very sad.
It also kind of demands
a follow-up article.
No, no, no. Lee, we are not doing
another Washberg piece.
The fucking guy is dead.
That's got nothing to do with us.
He was barely in my article.
- Still, we could get blamed.
- Why? For reporting the facts?
That article is unimpeachable.
- I went through it line by line.
- [sighing] Yeah, I know.
I was there with you for three
days on the couch eating takeout
- in a cloud of your vape mist.
- Yeah.
So, you know it's rock-solid.
- It's a historical piece about
- No, no.
the sordid roots of a powerful family.
It is about past corruption.
Yeah. That family is still corrupt.
What evidence do you have of that?
[stammering] That's where I need you.
I need to do a little bit more research.
What other stories
are you working on right now?
What other stories? [grunting]
[inhales sharply] All right, all right.
Actually, there's a development company
called Akron.
They're buying up a shit ton of property
in North Tulsa.
So, capitalism.
I'm not feeling very supported here.
Because you need to come to me
with a real pitch.
- Okay. You know the story about FDR?
- Which one?
The first time
he heard the name Adolf Hitler,
he knew the reason he was born.
I'm like that.
So you're saying you were born
to stop Donald Washberg?
I'm saying a faint heart
never fucked a bobcat.
No. The answer's no, thank you.
[stammers] What the
fuck y'all looking at?
[server]
I read your latest Washberg piece.
- [Lee] Mm-hmm?
- Pissing off the old money,
the racists and the ranchers.
Yeah, one and the same.
You oughtn't piss off rich folk.
How you expect to make money?
- [chuckles]
- Pancakes ain't cheap.
Yeah, I know.
It's always been my trouble, Sally.
- [chuckles]
- [door opens]
[patron grunts, sighs]
Mmm.
"Our sweetest songs are those
that tell of the saddest thought."
Huh. [chuckles]
Shelley.
Ah.
Well, "Don't matter who's in Austin,
Bob Wills is still the king."
- [laughs]
- [chuckles]
Willie Nelson. [laughs]
True poet of the South.
It's actually Waylon. Waylon Jennings.
- Oh, well.
- Doesn't matter.
I always get them mixed up.
Country white boys.
Long hair. W's.
You know that man?
Oh, don't get him started
about that family.
He'll start talking
about how old man Washberg
stole their land from the Indians.
Well, he did steal
[Sally] Hidden tunnels, stolen art,
kinky sex stuff, allegedly.
Wait till you read the new article.
Even better.
You know,
I've been reading those articles.
- That you?
- Yeah.
- Heartland Press?
- Yeah.
Anyway, I'm just finishing up
what I'm doing here, so
So you write hit pieces
about the future governor's family,
and then the guy's brother kills himself.
Listen, pal. [chuckles]
What are you doing here?
You're missing something.
I mean,
everyone here is missing something.
Waffles and coffee, you can make at home.
Something brings us
to Sweet Emily's at this hour.
Look around.
Just a bunch of night owls.
That's all I see.
[chuckles] No.
You see poetry.
Oh, no, no, no. Poetry turns my stomach.
Only poems I like are written
on the bathroom wall.
Well
If you truly believe that,
well, maybe you are a lost cause.
All right.
What are you missing?
I don't know.
But I'll find out.
Ah. Such good coffee. Mmm.
Sally made you a PB and J.
- [chuckling] Oh. My man.
- [chuckles] Yeah.
God bless you.
How's that little girl doing?
Not so little anymore.
She's probably looking at
- "InstaTok" as we speak.
- Hey, Lee.
- Can you please, please bring back
- Yeah.
- my Junior Kimbrough. I need it.
- Yeah, no problem, man.
Hey. [laughs]
Dan's asleep in his office again.
Hey, there were a couple of guys
came by looking for you earlier.
White guys.
- What, they go to the bookstore?
- Nah, they were out here loitering.
They loitered.
- Yo, Dan, wake up.
- [grunts]
Wake up. Come on, man.
I come out here, I said, "No loitering."
- What?
- Hey. Stash this, will you?
- Stash this?
- Yeah, just put it in the safe.
And go home. Your wife's gonna kill you.
- I was on the way out. Thank you.
- Okay.
- [neighbor] We got your back, Lee.
- Yeah, yeah.
[neighbor] No loitering.
["I Get Along
Without You Very Well" playing]
[lock clicks]
[sighs]
[inhales deeply, sighs]
[sighs]
[lighter clicks]
The fuck.
Who the fuck are you?
Get the fuck out of my house, all right?
- Get the fuck out of here!
- Ain't your bitch.
- [screams] Jesus Christ! [grunts]
- Oh, fuck. [inhales sharply, groans]
Oh, fuck. Don't. No, no, no!
[screams] Fuck!
- Damn it!
- You like that, you fuck?
'Cause it ain't gonna get any better.
You put my name
in that shitty fucking newspaper article.
- What the Heartland Press?
- [thug] Yeah, whatever it's called.
'Cause it's a long-form magazine,
all right?
- What?
- It's a long-form magazine.
- It's not a newspaper.
- I don't give a fuck
- if it's the bathroom walls.
- Okay. [panting]
You put my name in an article and you
call me a Nazi [scoffs] a skinhead.
- Yeah, we ain't bald no more.
- Well, that's a great disguise.
[groaning] Fuck.
You burned down a synagogue.
I had to put your name in the article.
I didn't even mean to do that.
I just went to light a bag of shit
on their porch,
and then everything swirled
out of control.
And only half the kitchen burned.
But you didn't print that
in your little newspaper, did you?
If anything, my treatment after
turned me to anti-Semitism.
- [thug] Uh-huh.
- Great, it happened.
You're both known skinheads. All right.
I had to write about it. It's what I do.
You ever think about how hurt
my fucking mom was?
- Your mom?
- Reading that shit in the newspaper.
I mean [inhales sharply]
I have people I report to, you know.
- People you don't want on your ass.
- Oh, really? [whimpers]
[chuckles, imitates whimpering]
Two for flinching, fucko.
Just don't make me come back
and do something worse.
I know you got a daughter.
And I know you got an ex.
Real pretty too.
And I will fuck you where it hurts.
- Wait, what?
- [grunts]
- [snoring, wheezing]
- [alarm beeping]
[groans, sighs]
Deidra. [clears throat]
Hey, my check didn't go through.
[Lee sighs]
- Listen
- What happened to your face?
[groans]
A couple of skinheads
broke in here last night.
[Deidra] What the fuck?
Yeah, it's just two of them.
Low-level guys, knuckleheads.
- It's not even worth, you know
- Damn.
- Well, my check didn't go through.
- Yeah, I told you
when you first started working here,
this is a rare bookstore.
- We don't make money.
- There's people in here all the time.
Yeah, well, selling used copies
of On the Road and Catcher in the Rye
does not pay the bills.
I live between big sales.
Universities, museums.
- [sighs] I need off half a day tomorrow.
- Why?
- Getting a tattoo.
- A tattoo?
- Of a pussy.
- A pussy?
You've got a Confederate
flag on your arm.
Yeah, it's called irony. White supremacy
masked as Christian iconography.
- The pussy's ironic too.
- Uh, how do you figure?
I don't know. It's a pussy on my arm.
Okay. [sighs, chuckles]
Listen, I got a painting I'm gonna sell.
I'm going to the Washberg estate sale.
They got a lot of rare books.
- Jim Thompson, first editions.
- Okay. Okay, boss. Pay me.
[ex-wife] You haven't given us
any money in a month.
- A month?
- It's expensive out there, you know.
- I know. I'm saving up for the thing.
- Oh, yeah? How's that going?
No, it's good We're almost there.
The down payment. First month's rent.
It's a duplex. It's super nice.
You're gonna like it. It's in Brookside.
- Wow.
- It's not in Brookside.
You drive through Brookside.
But we'll be out of the apartment soon.
The apartment? You mean the attic
on top of your bookstore? [giggles]
It's not an attic, okay?
And she happens to love it.
Yeah, of course she loves it.
She's a kid. She loves you too.
[stammers] What's that supposed to mean?
You love me.
- [chuckles] Shut up.
- What?
Come
Get it together, all right?
I don't wanna have to keep making excuses
for you.
- That's not fair to me.
- No, it's not.
[stammers] How's the new fella, hmm?
You really don't care.
- No, I do care.
- You don't care.
I do I do I do care. How is he?
He seems like a [clicks tongue]
- swell guy.
- [chuckling]
Well, if by that you mean he's got a job,
and I'm-I'm not gonna have to put him
in a nursing home by the time I'm 50,
then yeah, he's a hell of a guy.
See? You do still love me.
[sighs]
- You're the father of our child. Right?
- Mm-hmm.
- Yeah.
- There's only so much.
Got it. Got it.
Just Is he cool?
I'm worried he's not cool.
Yeah, he's cool.
- He's cool.
- Yeah?
- And he's sane, so that's different.
- Hmm.
But can you even afford a new place?
Come on.
But you're like [stammers]
a failed writer though.
I mean, 90% of writers
are failed writers.
And what is successful anyway?
Making money or writing the book?
I think writing the book.
So I was thinking
maybe we should just make things easy
and I'll live with Mom.
- It'll just
- Oh, Francis
But we can still see
each other like this.
Wait. Hold on. Hold on.
Just listen to me, all right?
I'll bet you anything in the history
of daughters and dads
that this kind of conversation
has happened a lot.
All right?
And I know that not one daughter
ever actually wanted
their father to say, "Okay, cool."
I know dads leave. My dad left.
I mean, dads leave. But I don't leave.
Got it?
Things are turning around
around here, okay?
I promise. Just, you know
You just have to hang in there.
[chuckles]
Okay.
Okay.
[chattering]
[line ringing]
Hi, hi, it's Vicky.
Leave your name and number.
[beeps]
[Vicky] That's the thing.
It's a little bit tricky
because Mrs. Washberg is actually
still living in the house. [chuckles]
So we're just doing our best.
Mr. Washberg's things are mostly
in the dining room and the den,
with a few exceptions.
So I'm gonna try to help you
find what you're looking for.
I think
You're gonna come through over here
You get that dirty,
they're gonna make you buy it.
[chuckles]
Fancy seeing you here.
Should have known you'd be here, Ray.
Well, I heard tell of rare books and I
First thing I thought was,
"My goodness, I'm gonna be blessed
with Mr. Raybon's presence."
Even though this is
the last place you should be.
I'm surprised you ain't wearing
a disguise. You trying to die?
Well, I'm like the Bee Gees, baby,
just stayin' alive.
So you're here for the books?
You're not here to dig up any more dirt?
- Ooh. Well, maybe a little bit of both.
- Hmm.
So you write an article about a man's
family, and then he kills himself,
and then you just show up
at the estate sale.
- It was not that linear.
- Uh-huh. Well, you need this.
I heard
that he was almost broke, Washberg.
Definitely the black
sheep of that family.
[whispers] That's what smells so bad.
The whole family hates him.
All of a sudden he commits suicide.
I mean, it does seem a little odd?
You think I'm crazy?
No, I don't think you're crazy.
He was gay.
He was closeted. And
he lives in Oklahoma.
- Man, that'd make me shoot myself twice.
- Wait, don't say that, okay?
[stammers] You're Captain Estate Sale.
You deal in dead people's stuff.
Come on, help me.
Is there a difference between a suicide
estate sale and a murder one?
- Whoa, whoa.
- Come on, Dale was crazy private.
He was impossible to write about.
I couldn't dig up anything on him.
Except he was always holding up
the family's business affairs.
- Oh, is that right?
- The kids all have to vote unanimously.
Dale always votes no,
and now Dale is dead.
- What the fuck happened to you?
- Don't worry about that.
You know what?
- You're a dirty man. A dirty, dirty man.
- I am.
Everything's connected.
Darkness is always afoot.
Because it is always afoot.
Well, you better watch out.
Donald could be your future governor.
Oh, that widow? She's crazy too.
- Batshit crazy.
- Man, she's just old white trash
- that married up, way up. [scoffs]
- Yeah, way up. [chuckles]
I heard she started
as a stripper at Avant,
then somehow graduated to rodeo queen.
I guess she had to suck off a lot
of bull cocks to get that crown.
[sighs] Can you imagine
being a stripper in Avant?
- Man, they don't even got a dollar store.
- [stammers] How do you know all this?
[chuckles] Antique mill, you know?
Yeah, well, where do they keep
the good books?
- Well, the best books are in his study.
- Okay.
- And so far they've left it intact.
- Ooh.
Maybe even left the brains.
[vocalizes]
Damn.
What the fuck?
[mumbles]
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [door opens]
- [Vicky sighs, groans]
Surprised you can't smell the blood,
Lee. [sniffs]
I can.
Hmm. Well, you're not supposed to be
in here by yourself.
I am supposed to let you in.
Locked doors don't stop Lee Raybon.
You know that.
Ah. So you're talking about yourself
in the third person now, huh?
- Finally happened.
- What finally happened?
Decide to quit fighting your nature.
What's my nature?
Narcissistic cowboy with a penchant
for seeming like the good guy.
But every now and then
that old familiar bug bites.
It's like a little brown recluse.
It just puts its venom in you
and then that's it,
you just decide to fuck up your life
until the venom wears off.
I hear he's got
Jim Thompson first editions.
- [chuckles]
- I was hoping for a copy of
- Mmm. Mmm, mmm.
- [speaks indistinctly]
Savage Night. After Dark, My Sweet.
- Any of that do anything for you?
- You have no idea.
[grunts]
- They're over there. Help yourself.
- Thank you.
[sighs] You're welcome. But I
have to wait outside these doors
because I'm gonna fucking
throw up if I stay in here. [gags]
[sniffs] Smells like blood. And you.
[giggles]
[grunts]
[sighs, clears throat]
[line ringing]
[phone ringing]
I like your sweater.
- Betty Jo.
- [Betty Jo] That man can't be here.
Who?
The journalist, the man in the hat.
[Lee] Oh, my fucking word. Nice.
[Dale] Hello, reader.
If you're reading this,
I'm probably dead.
- In the following pages
- [door opens]
[sighing] I don't know how,
but we did it again.
- I've been asked to ask you to leave.
- Leave? Why?
You write about the racist Washbergs
and then you show up
to buy the dead guy's stuff?
I hardly mentioned Dale. [stammers]
- Can I buy these?
- Scoot or I'm gonna get fired.
Let's go. Scoot, scoot, scoot.
[groans]
[sighs]
[Betty Jo] He was a good man.
He was a good man.
Thank you for your concern.
Thank you for your concern.
He was a good man.
He was a good man.
Now, here we go.
Now I'll find out who you are.
Is that a maroon Kia?
[Dale] Hello, reader.
If you're reading this,
I'm probably dead.
In the following pages,
you'll find an account of what happened.
Hopefully you have my whole library.
I've left notes in other crime books.
[Dale] I'm hoping whoever's reading this
has the means to make it right.
I don't have nobody, not anymore.
My family thinks I'm spent meat.
I've always been in the way.
Ever since I was a sickly child
in Skiatook.
It only got worse.
They don't appreciate my way of living.
There are other books in my collection
with my notes in them.
- Those books are
- [dog barks]
[shushes]
[whispering]
And I'm gonna say this plain as day:
Don't trust any of 'em.
Not even my wife.
She's a part of it.
[sighs]
[sighs]
[Dan] So file the fucking extension.
Yeah, come on in.
No, not you, my neighbor.
He's a fucking loon.
Best kind though. Keeps me entertained.
Yeah.
Okay, I'll see you at the golf course.
Hmm. Um, just
All right. Well, I'll see you
on the back nine then, you piece of shit.
[laughs]
- Y-You are. No, you're a piece of shit.
- [whispering] Ooh.
[whispering] Whoa.
- [imitating thud sounds]
- No, you're a piece of shit.
No, you are a piece of shit.
Because you're a piece of shit.
Well, probably Excuse me.
Probably because your mom's
a piece of shit too.
Fuck you, you piece of shit.
A piece of shit. S-H-I-toot.
- Son, you belong in the toilet. [chuckles]
- [grunts]
That sounds good.
All right, peace. Of shit. [laughs]
Sorry, that guy's a total, uh
- Piece of shit.
- Yeah, he's an asshole.
All right, listen,
I'm gonna need my painting,
and if you could store this for me?
Uh, is this expensive?
[Lee] Well, it's a one-of-a-kind
kinda deal.
No, no, no, no,
leave it in the plastic, please.
All righty.
- Texas by the Tail, huh? Is it any good?
- [chuckles]
- [safe beeping]
- Yeah, it's great.
I'll be back to pick it up shortly.
- Don't kill yourself there.
- Yeah, I got it.
Okay.
Thank you very much. Here's your club.
- There you go. Thank you, sir.
- Yup. [grunts]
Hey, what do you say we get
some lunch sometime?
- Yeah, man.
- You like Lebanese food?
There's this new
Walks out. Fucking piece of shit.
[Ray] Now, what do you need,
besides, of course, my good company?
- [vocalizes]
- [Ray] Oh. Come on.
Is that a real Joe Brainard?
You know it.
Wait a minute.
Where have I seen this before?
- Lee.
- Nobody needs to know where you found it.
Now I got my fingerprints all over it.
How much you want? [sighs]
All right, I can't officially sell it,
but [clicks tongue]
I was thinking 2,000
- 2,000? For a stolen
- Yeah. For a finder's fee.
- Oh, a finder's fee.
- Yeah.
- That's what we're calling it now?
- Worth a lot of money, Ray.
I can I can give you 1,500.
Okay, but sell it to
a super cool gallery.
Like Like one of the
nice ones, you know?
- Don't sell it to these cheesy white guys.
- [chuckles] Believe me,
I hide all the good stuff
whenever they come.
[whistling]
Either that or I tell them that
it was previously owned by a drag queen.
[Ray sighs]
All right, let's do
what we gotta do here.
- [mumbles] Oh, Jesus.
- [grunts]
Why do I have the feeling
that this ain't it?
- I need one more thing.
- I bet you do.
Yeah, it's just I need you
to go back to that estate sale
and get some of Dale's books for me.
- What?
- Yeah, the-the-the crime novels.
They're in his study. Uh [sighs]
- Well, why?
- Let's just say
I'm proving myself right again,
and they won't sell them to me.
Well, why don't you just hit up
your good friend Vicky?
- You two are tight as testicles.
- Nah, come on. Please, please, please.
All right, all right.
I got the bitch on speed dial. Hang on.
[cackling]
- [sniffs, grunts]
- [shushes]
Vicky. Hey, how are you?
I bet you're tired.
Oh, you're still there?
Well, you know, I was wondering, Vicky,
if you had sold those, uh, those books
up in Mr. Washberg's study?
- [whispers] Jim Thompson, crime.
- The Jim Thompson. Yeah, those.
Uh-huh. Yeah,
I'm a bit of a book freak. Uh-huh.
Now, give me a good price now.
I-I-I want 'em, but I don't need 'em.
- [chuckles] Nice. Nice.
- All right.
- I'm poor as a church mouse, Vicky.
- [mumbles]
What? No.
All right, yeah.
Okay, well, I can do that.
Yes, thank you. Yeah, I'll come by today.
- Thank you, Vicky. You stay beautiful now.
- [hums]
All right.
I'm picking 'em up this afternoon.
- Beautiful. Well done. Well done.
- Price is 1500.
Well, I
- 1500
- Mm-hmm.
- 1500. Take it or leave it.
- [stammers]
Of course, that doesn't include
my finder's fee.
I gave that to you free
because I'm a friend!
["Outstanding" playing]
Man, what about the scammers
with the check-cashing place?
- The scam No. No, no, no.
- Over on Mingo
I wanna hit the skinheads again.
I really do. I'm onto something.
These guys are dumb as rocks,
but what they're into is
Hey, honey,
just go get your check with Martha.
All right, Cyrus.
Let me know when you need me again.
I got you. Cover up.
[Lee sniffs] Whoo.
- [Cyrus] This goddamn phone.
- [Lee] What? What is it?
You saw that big bowl of beautiful
just passed us in the hallway?
- Yeah.
- That's what's wrong.
I fired my photographer,
so now I gotta take my own damn pictures.
I can't seem to figure out getting this
photo out of the phone into my emails.
- Could you do me a favor, please?
- What?
Get the fuck out of my barber's
chair, please. Come over here.
- All right.
- Thank you.
- Why don't you just get an IT guy?
- Ah, shit.
- That was my fucking photographer.
- [sniffs]
Man! You look like mashed dog shit,
brother. You've been in a fight?
Just a little bit. Those two skinheads,
they didn't like the article I wrote.
You wanna double back around
and write another?
What should I do?
Invite 'em out for dinner? Buy 'em tea?
No, man, I want to set off a flare,
kick up the rocks,
and see what the roaches do at night.
I know these guys
are connected to the Washbergs.
[whispering] And I have hard proof
that Dale Washberg did not kill himself.
- Dale Washberg? You
- Hmm.
- You read my paper?
- Of course.
- It's booty and bad guys.
- [grunts]
No Pulitzer Prize winning,
no awards are coming.
- It is seedy Tulsa shit, all right?
- Yeah.
And all I wanna do is shame
some criminals, clean up my neighborhood.
I put the Washbergs in here,
they'll put me out of business so fast
my head will spin.
All right, new angle.
These skinheads,
they are running dope and girls,
all right?
Sex trafficking.
That's the word on the street.
- For real?
- For real.
You know,
I hate to see women being abused, man.
[kisses] Thank you, Mama.
She taught me that.
Dope, skinheads, sex trafficking.
Booty and bad guys in one article.
A thousand words, and I put 'em down.
I'll tell you what
Here, take this.
What's that?
Fucking Subway sandwich.
What do you mean?
- No, I know what it is, okay?
- Yeah.
- What am I supposed to do with it?
- Bro, you got beat up.
You're not my favorite swinging dick
in Tulsa, but I'll tell you this:
I don't want you out there getting hurt
doing something for me.
Doesn't have any bullets.
You're gonna have to rob a bank
or go to Bass Pro Shop.
All right. I'll go to Bass Pro.
- Got that thang on me.
- Hey. Stop.
Don't be a fucking idiot. Put the gun up.
It's not fucking Menace II Society
or New Jack City.
[grunts, clicks tongue]
- All right, how about an advance?
- What do you think I am? The Tulsa gusher?
- Fuckin' Heartland Press?
- Come on, man.
Just a little bit to get bullets,
grease the rails a little bit.
- A thousand words by midnight tonight.
- Thousand words by midnight tonight.
Got 200 bucks for you
and I got some advice.
- What's that?
- Don't be fucking stupid.
Got it. [grunts]
Fucking white men that care.
Saddest of the bunch.
[car door slams]
What's up, pedo?
- Hey, I got your paper.
- Hey.
Cool.
Who is that?
Oh. That's my cousin Waylon.
- He called me "pedo."
- [chuckles] Yeah,
- he's been calling you that.
- Why?
You drive that creepy white van.
You get paid?
Yeah. Well, no,
but I got a little something for you.
Okay. [imitates fanfare]
- What's this?
- It's just for gas, food, money.
There's more coming.
Okay. Uh, thanks.
- I like your pussy.
- Oh, thanks.
The tattoo, I mean.
Yeah, I got it.
No, it's just
It's-it's cooler than I thought.
I know.
- [whispering] Why is your cousin here?
- [sighs] He wants you to give him a job.
[Lee] Well, I can't afford to pay you.
[Deidra] What about security?
He just got out of McAlester.
He's a member of a native prison gang.
We don't need security. We're good.
You just got your ass kicked.
Yeah, so people get beat up.
It happens all the time.
Yeah, but this is your place of business.
That affects me too.
- Uh, yo, Waylon. I'm Lee.
- [Waylon] What's up?
So you think
you can protect the place, huh?
Yeah, I got you, dawg.
Yo, I'm Indian Mafia.
- Nobody fucks with us.
- Okay, okay. Yeah. [chuckles]
Well, I mean, like, one
one gang tries to fuck with us, but
Who are they?
Uh, some prison shit. Deadly Natives.
Yeah, it's just,
we go back and forth all the time.
- It's all good though.
- Are they dangerous?
[clicks tongue]
They're called "Deadly Natives."
- [chuckling] What the fuck you think?
- Okay.
But, yo, hey, don't even trip
'cause we're deadlier.
Plus they ain't gonna come fuck
with a bookstore.
Half those motherfuckers are They're
half retarded. They can't even read.
- Yeah, okay, I
- All right, look, hey, hey.
Leave the bad guys to me, pedo.
[chuckling]
I got you, dude. Yo, I'm a killer, dude.
I've killed people.
Fucking [imitates gunshots]
Uh, Waylon, I don't
have any money, right?
And I can't pay you
till the end of the month.
And even then, if I don't make a big
sale, I won't be able to pay you, so
Yo, as long as I could sleep here,
you report to my PO,
do my paperwork every week
Sleep here?
- Well, yeah. Fuck, they broke in at night.
- [sighs]
No sense in me sticking around
scratching my ass all day, dude.
Hey, you tell me to fuck up
any motherfucker and I will do it.
You just say the
word. I kill people. Lee.
Okay, all right. You know what?
Let's give it a month. See how it goes.
- [clears throat] Okay.
- All right. [chuckles]
["Mona" playing]
Whew.
Shit.
[song fades]
["Take Me" playing]
- [cattle mooing]
- [gate clanks]
[auction chanting]
Mama will not believe this.
Exactly. It's not everybody who's gonna
take you to this, right?
But you can count on your dad
to come through on the important things.
[sighs]
Uh-oh.
Here comes trouble.
[cattle mooing]
[Donald] How are you?
Nice to see you. Good to see you.
Yeah, see? Portrait of an asshole.
- Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
- [applauding]
You gotta be kidding me.
No, no, I'm not politicking today.
Just buying some cattle.
Guy's been politicking his whole life.
[attendee] I'm with you
all the way, Governor.
Oh, you know something? You squeezed it
out of me now. I wanna say something.
Folks, I'm here
to bring this state back to the basics.
- Mm-hmm. Oil and beef.
- [Donald] Oklahoma is about
Wait for it.
good country folks.
That's the way I intend to keep it.
We love oil and we love beef,
and if you like those things
If you like those things,
now, you best vote for me
- [cheering]
- all right?
- [attendee 2] Hear! Hear! Yeah! Amen!
- [Donald] Is that about right? Yeah?
I can count on you? Is that right?
Thank you. Let's focus on the beef today,
shall we? All right.
God bless you, man.
And you're in our thoughts too, Betty Jo.
[Betty Jo] Thank you.
All right.
Oh, now. Whoa.
- Oh, my. Very strange indeed.
- What?
What? Tell me.
All right. You see the clown
that was just talking, right?
- See the woman next to him?
- Yeah.
Her husband committed suicide a week ago.
Now she's sitting
with her dead husband's brother
and, I mean, do they look cozy to you?
- Yeah.
- Yeah, right?
- It's weird, right?
- Yeah, very cozy.
You knew they would be here, didn't you?
That's why we're here, isn't it?
No, I mean, I-I wanted to bring you here.
Mm-hmm.
This is even better.
It's like we're on a stakeout.
Right? That we are, that we are.
And popcorn too.
Fuck. Here we go.
- [Lee] Get point 3-8.
- [Dan] That's just .38.
How'd you get all these?
Just trading with people.
I'm not much of a gun guy.
Wow, these will kill a man, huh?
- These are bullets, okay?
- No, I know.
- And if you kill someone, then I can't
- Yeah. I'm not gonna kill anybody. Okay?
I just mean these are
These are good bullets.
Lee, listen, if you kill someone,
I'm a tax attorney.
- [Lee] Right.
- [Dan] Okay? I can't do capital
[Lee] Who are you talking to?
[Dan] Under no circumstances
did you get these from me.
Hello again, Mr. Maroon Kia.
[Lee] But what about self-defense, right?
Come on. That's
Self-defense? If you get yourself in
a situation and there's no other option,
then, yes, I understand that,
but under no circumstances
- did you get these from me.
- Did I get them from you.
You could've said
that in the first place.
You wanna follow me?
You keep following me, baby.
Come on. I got something for you.
You know, my grandma told me
not to stick my hand in the hornet's nest
unless I wanted to get stung.
Pain is only temporary.
- Until it ain't.
- Hmm.
You know, there's
nothing worse than a white man who cares.
I keep hearing that.
[mumbling]
[car approaches, stops]
Come on. Come on, come on,
come on, fuck face!
[sighs]
All right.
[sighs]
[chuckling] Yeah.
[sighs]
[Berta] "Oh, yeah."
- [Blackie] Motherfucker.
- [Berta] Go down.
- Is that so? You motherfucker.
- That's enough. No!
- No! No. No!
- Let's go! Come on!
- I'm not getting in there.
- [all shouting]
- Watch your fucking fingers.
- Get down!
[thuds]
Yeah, right.
You're probably 12 years old living
at your fucking mom's house, dude.
[scoffs] At my work, pussy.
["Tulsa Sunday" playing]
[Lee] Hey. [grunts]
- Damn it.
- [bottles clanking]
[groans, pants]
Let me out, you fuckers!
Hey! Let me out!
- Shut the fuck up back there.
- Motherfucker. You make one noise,
we got someone
at your daughter's fucking school.
[sighs]
Fuck.
So you see him?
There he is.
Sorry, I
I told you never to come by my work
or anywhere in public.
- But we got
- I don't care if it's
at the grocery store.
You do not come to me in public.
Again, sorry.
What do you want?
Well, we got something
that your boss is gonna love.
Mm-hmm.
Who's my boss?
I guess you're the boss?
I'm not a boss.
[Blackie] Whoever your boss is,
you're gonna love it.
Yeah, either one of 'em. Uh-huh.
Fuck you talking about?
Look, I know we fucked up before
with the last one.
That's why we're so happy to report,
boy, have we made up for it.
All right, follow me.
I'm-I'm following you?
- Is that a yes?
- Yeah.
I-I-I'll follow you anywhere, Allen.
Allen?
[stammers] Shit.
- [sighs]
- [Berta] Seems pretty pissed.
[grunting, panting]
Fuck.
[Blackie] What the fuck is he doing?
- What?
- I don't fucking know.
You want us to get out?
- Well?
- I guess we're getting out.
- Here?
- Yeah.
- Us?
- I don't fucking know.
Fuck.
[Blackie] Hey, Allen. Beautiful spot.
So, like we were saying,
we're real sorry about the thing.
- [Allen] Shut the fuck up!
- Whoa!
- [Blackie] Allen, what are you doing?
- [Allen] Down on your knees.
[Blackie] Let's just talk. Come on.
- [Allen] Get down.
- [Blackie] No.
Let's make this up. Allen, please.
- [gunshot]
- [grunting, panting]
[Berta] Oh, fuck. Oh, shit.
Hey, hey, no. I'm fine
- [gunshot]
- [Lee grunting, panting]
[footsteps approaching]
[water splashes]
[Lee grunting, panting]
Shit. [grunts]
[engine starts]
[car departs]
Hey! Help me! Get me out of here!
- [grunts] Hello?
- [pounding]
- [pounding continues]
- [child 1 belches]
- [child 1] Hmm? Someone's there.
- [Lee] Hey. Hey, kids.
Hi. Hey. Hey! Right here!
Hey, kids, hey!
[Lee] Hello!
Are you in the trunk?
[Lee] Yes! Yes!
Yes, I'm in the trunk! Help me!
Let me out!
What if you're a murderer?
[Lee] No, I'm not a murderer.
I'm being murdered.
Let me out. Let me out.
Are you letting me out?
No, no, no, don't go. Don't go.
I'm nice. I'm good.
[child 1] Sorry, man.
"Sorry"? Let me out!
[car approaching]
Hello?
- [engine stops]
- [door opens]
- Hello?
- [door closes]
- [flies buzzing]
- [footsteps approaching]
Who are you?
Bob Wills is still the king, Lee.
What are you doing here?
- I've been following you.
- God
- Just
- [Lee] Let me out!
- Just hold on.
- [Lee grunts]
- [groans] Just hold on.
- F-Fuck!
[Lee screaming]
- Fuck.
- All right, now listen. Now listen.
[screams] Fuck. [pants]
- What the fuck are you? No.
- Let me explain.
- I swear
- Okay.
I'll put it in your fucking head.
Right now.
- Calm the fuck down.
- I'll do it. I'll do it.
- Calm the fuck down. Okay?
- [groaning]
- Hey!
- Shit, fuck. Shit.
[mumbles, screams]
Stay away!
[cackles]
You crazy bastard.
I'll see you at Sweet Emily's.
Motherfucker.
[cackling]
Goodbye, motherfucker!
Ha!
[sighing]
Shit. [grunts]
Fuck.
What the fuck? Wow.
[Francis]
I liked your Heartland Press article.
What? What, you read it?
- [scoffs]
- What'd you like about it?
It just felt like you.
- Really? Hmm.
- [chuckles] Like
when I'm talking to you.
The way you write about Tulsa.
There's bad things about it,
but underneath it's really good.
[breathes shakily]
Yeah.
Watch me now. Watch me now.
- [sniffs, grunts]
- [line ringing]
[ex-wife] Hello?
Yeah, hey, hey. It's me.
I just I wanna let you know that,
um [clears throat]
we're good on time and, um, you know.
Just, uh, letting you know
I-I got the money
for the-the house and stuff, you know?
Told you I was good for it. [panting]
Oh.
Okay, well, that's great.
Yeah, right?
Well, we're at the park, and, uh,
Johnny's with us, just so you know.
Oh.
Okay. Cool.
Yeah, right. Gotcha.
See you in 30?
Uh
Thirty. Yeah.
You know what? Make it 40. Forty's good.
All right, that's fine.
See you at the park.
Okay. All right, see you then.
- ["Stranger in a Strange Land" playing]
- [panting]
[exhales sharply]
Gotcha.
[song continues]
[song ends]