Cape Fear (2026) s01e02 Episode Script

1
[Max grunting]
[grunting]
[sighs]
[grunts]
[grunting]
[prisoner] Get him! Get that little bitch!
Kill him! Kill that little bitch!
[Max grunting]
- [shouts]
- [prisoner screams]
[weight plate clattering]
[grunting]
[groaning]
[distant laughter]
[heartbeat thumping]
[chattering on radio]
[officer 1] Where the hell is he?
Should we sit on the house?
He might come back.
Hey!
Don't move!
No, no, no! I'm not resisting! No, no!
I didn't know you were cops.
[groaning]
[grunts]
- [officer] Stay the fuck down.
- [grunts]
[nurse 1] Just a little pinch.
- [Anna] Anything from Grayson?
- [Tom] Not yet.
They're probably questioning Cady
down at the precinct by now.
[distorted] Anything
coming back to you yet?
Where did you go?
What did you take?
[normal] You were gone all day, Zack.
[Zack groans]
[Anna, distorted] It's Natalie.
Well, if you can remember where you lost
your toe, I can go put it on ice.
Stick it back on.
[normal] What is it?
- What is it? You okay?
- [grunts] It's hard to swallow.
May I please speak with a doctor?
Uh… With you in a minute.
- I'm gonna see if we can get you…
- [coughs]
[nurse 2] Clear.
- [patient screaming] No!
- [nurse 3] Stop, stop. Ma'am.
[stammers] Oh, God! Ma'am…
- Get off! Get your hands off me!
- [nurse 4] I need help!
[gasps]
Excuse me.
No cups.
[Max] Okay, Doc…
[continues indistinctly]
[doctor] I need you to stay very still
while I realign this.
[Max] How long are you gonna fuck with it?
Cops twisted it pretty bad
when they jumped me.
[doctor] It's not broken, okay?
It's just dislocated.
[Max] Are you sure?
- Have you done this before?
- Every day. Every night.
- [Max] This is the best way to do it?
- It's the only way.
- [Max] Okay.
- [doctor] No, no.
- Hold still now. Hold very still…
- Okay, sir, sir.
- Let me do it. I'll do it. I'll do it.
- No…
[bones crack]
[Max] There you go. Simple.
And now you are splinted, Mr. Cady.
[Max] All right. Thanks.
And he's all yours, detectives.
[detective] Thank you, Doctor.
Well, no one's responding.
It's like they all forgot about me.
I don't get how he lost a toe.
Where was your mother?
- Where was Tom?
- [person] Paul.
[knocking on door]
[Paul] I'm coming back to bed.
- Okay, well…
- [Paul] Sorry. Brittany gets insomnia.
- Good talk, Dad.
- Night.
[phone beeps]
- Let's fucking party!
- [screams] Jesus.
- [Natalie laughing] Callie.
- I got the drink. I got the spliff.
- Hey. Hey.
- [laughing] That's so good.
- Oh, my God.
- Gotcha.
I got what you like. Got everything.
[detective] Mr. Cady, um…
Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?
[Max] Is this where a wise man
would ask for a lawyer?
[detective chuckles]
Well, sir, you attacked
three police officers tonight.
I think a wise man
would want to cooperate.
Why don't you tell us what you've been
up to in the last 24 hours?
[Max] Your officers
did not identify themselves.
[detective] Your Airbnb was a guest house.
The property owner gave permission.
[Max] Listen, middle of the night,
whisper, whisper…
- The body just reacts.
- [snaps fingers]
You know I have brain damage?
[detective] Yeah,
about that brain damage. Um…
Does that ever make you hallucinate
or to see things?
Like, your deceased wife or child?
[Max laughs]
[detective] What is it?
Well, now I know who sent you.
[chuckles]
[detective] And what about that
amuses you, Mr. Cady?
Speak of the devil.
Grayson, I'd like to have a word
with Mr. Cady alone.
Oh, you know each other? Of course you do.
I think you should let us
handle this one, Ms. Bowden.
Actually, I do want to talk to a lawyer.
This lawyer.
You heard him.
Are they ever gonna finish this?
My dad fired another contractor.
[Callie] Mmm.
It's kinda hot when Tom gets aggro.
In that, "I used to be a marine
and I can bench-press you," kinda way.
[chuckles]
What? It's not like you and him
are biologically related.
Why are you like this? [chuckles]
Don't get moody.
I like fun Natalie better.
[chuckles]
Come on.
I don't wanna be too gone
when they come back.
[chuckles] All right.
You can feed it to me.
You can't smoke a joint on your own?
You need me to, like,
chew it up and baby-bird it
into your mouth?
No.
Uh-uh. It'd be weird.
[both breathing shakily]
I'm sorry. [chuckles]
[phone buzzing]
Is that a phone?
My son came home with nine toes
right after your speech about
cutting off fingers and toes.
Wow. Your son lost his toe? What happened?
Well, he doesn't remember
because you drugged him.
- I drugged him?
- Yeah.
Huh. Why would I do that?
Max. I know you did this.
Then let me ask you again.
Why would I want to hurt you?
I can't read your mind.
I feel sorry for your son.
If he's on drugs and making bad choices,
that's not good for him.
But, well, he's young.
He can change. You did.
Don't.
- What?
- You don't know me.
- No?
- No.
I seem to remember
we have lots of things in common.
Like, difficult childhoods
and difficult fathers.
And, listen,
your son is lucky to have you.
And you're lucky.
You got everything you wanted.
Fuck you.
- [doctor] Zack Bowden?
- Oh, he's right over there.
- Mr. Bowden?
- Yeah.
I'm Dr. Minter. I'm a psychiatrist.
- Hi.
- May I speak with you?
Yeah. Uh, my wife will be back
in a sec. Um…
Where are you? Question mark.
[sighs]
Does your son use drugs?
No. No.
I mean, weed maybe, but no hard drugs.
Any family history of mental illness?
No, no.
Uh, my wife's dad. He-He may be bipolar.
But, uh, they don't keep in touch.
And on your side?
No. Mm-mmm.
Hmm. Is there anything going on
at home? School?
[sighs]
Uh…
Last year, Zack had a girlfriend his age,
and he had some, uh…
some intimate photos of her.
And he, uh…
was on a small group chat
with his friends.
And-And… But I guess one of them…
[distorted] …liked her too
and, uh, he told her.
Um…
[normal] I mean, he apologized,
but the school made an example out of him.
It just… It dragged on for months.
I… It's humiliating.
[distorted] And, uh,
he lost his friends…
[normal] …and he's been
withdrawn ever since.
[grunts]
[wood creaking]
[Callie] Oh, fuck. What is that smell?
[sniffs]
[inhales deeply, sniffing]
Oh.
[Callie] Oh, my God. It's a possum.
- [possum growls]
- [screams] Callie!
Shit.
Wow.
[Natalie] Oh, my God.
[Callie] What the fuck?
What is all this shit?
[phone buzzing]
[Natalie] It's fucking Zack's phone.
Oh, my God.
Can I get a doctor over here please?
I'll call you back.
We can keep going around and around.
You can tell the cops
that I go around cutting off toes
and tell them that I see my dead family.
By the way, you know
I didn't mean that literally, right?
Or you think after all these years
locked up I just became, like,
cuckoo-cuckoo and psychotic. Come on.
- I don't think you're psychotic.
- Oh.
I think you're guilty.
Anna, where are you?
[retches]
- Easy. Okay.
- [coughing]
After 17 years,
you think the first thing I'd do
is dismember a child?
To just fuck with his mom?
What the fuck did you do to my son?
And where the fuck is his toe?
- [phone beeps]
- [coughs]
Nat, I can't talk now. What is it?
He did it here. He did it in the house.
- [coughing]
- [stammers]
- In the den.
- [chokes]
Hey, he's choking!
You okay?
[nurse] Jesus.
Is that his toe?
- Yes.
- Why would I know that…
- Ms. Bowden?
- What?
It's your son.
[Anna] I don't think it's even possible
to bite off your own toe.
Well, apparently toes at the joint
don't take much force.
Doctor said, "Think of a baby carrot."
- What?
- I…
He must have come home
while we were at the fundraiser,
took whatever he took,
injured his toe in the house.
Then after we come home,
he goes out front,
which is why the alarm went off.
Someone did this to him.
Max was at the fundraiser with us.
He showed up in the middle.
Well, before that,
he was getting his driver's license.
He's got a bulletproof alibi.
What?
[Tom sighs]
What, Zack just did this to himself?
No.
I want to go home.
I know, honey. I know.
They just need
to keep you overnight, all right?
Yeah, okay.
Okay, I'm gonna go check on Natalie.
- Okay.
- I'll be back.
- Okay.
- Okay?
Bye.
Bye.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, stop.
- I gotta take a piss.
- Oh.
[grunts]
- Here you go. I got you.
- No, I'm…
I don't need you to walk me in, Dad.
- I'll keep the engine running.
- Yeah.
I heard that a little piggy went missing.
Does it hurt?
N-Nah, not much.
That's good.
[splint clatters]
[water running]
Your parents will take good care of you.
Fuck my parents.
[Zack] Mmm.
You good?
Yeah.
I'm so tired. Let's go up.
Presidential suite awaits.
[sighs]
[breathes deeply]
[sighs]
- [gasps] Oh, God. Sorry.
- [chuckles]
Anything new on Zack?
Um, your dad is still at the hospital.
I'm going back.
[sighs] I saw a possum in here.
I think it might be living in the wall.
Actually, I heard scratching
the other day.
Do you know what all this stuff is?
No.
And you've never seen him
do anything like this before?
Never.
He just doesn't really talk to me anymore.
Danny said he met some girl online.
Apparently she's dirty hot.
Great. [chuckles] That's great.
[Natalie chuckles]
Oh. By the way, I found his phone.
I don't know his password, but…
Oh.
Thank God we can always count on you
to be okay.
[phone buzzing]
Oh.
Noa, I cannot come in today. I just…
Are you serious?
How?
Both of them? What the fuck?
[Ray] They think Bunny shot Byron,
then she collapsed. Heart attack maybe.
But she worked for years to get him out.
Sounds like he went back out
after you dropped them off.
Came home out of his mind, drunk or high.
Neighbors heard a fight,
screaming, bang bang.
You know, people don't
make the kinda sense you want them to.
No, I need to see.
Yeah, I thought you would.
[shutter clicking]
We don't need to be right here.
Yeah.
He told me he wanted to go
to the Indy 500. Take his mom.
I mean, what the fuck?
Hey, listen.
Prison is a first-hand education
in the different ways a man can change.
I mean, it could build a man up
or break him down,
or turn him into something
his own mom won't recognize.
So don't blame yourself.
Hey, look. Timing isn't great,
but we need to talk about
another innocent guy.
Not Max. Ruben.
He wants to drop his appeal.
Well, he can't give up now.
He gets executed in six weeks.
That's why you need
to go on down to Tarwater today
and talk some fucking fight back into him.
I… I can't.
Zack is, um… He's in the hospital.
What happened to Zack? He okay?
I'll sleep a lot better
when I know the answer to that question,
but he's getting discharged soon,
so I gotta go home, okay?
I'll talk to Ruben tomorrow.
[Tom] Look who the cat dragged in.
Hi, Mom.
Sweetie.
You must be starving, huh?
You want something to eat? Hmm?
Uh. Nah, nah.
Uh, black coffee from
Savannah Coffee Roasters would be nice.
Okay. You got it.
Oh, did they give you
instructions and stuff for your foot?
No showers. Wear the boot till Friday.
- Gonna be nice and ripe, huh?
- Mmm.
They let me keep it.
Oh, the boot?
Uh, nah. The toe.
Oh.
I'm gonna go change.
Okay.
[sighs]
Say what you're thinking.
I'm thinking there's a shit ton
about what happened to our son
that we don't know,
and the less that we know,
the harder it's gonna be to help him.
And I'm thinking the best thing we can do
to help him, is just be here for him.
Well, you say that
as if I'm suggesting otherwise.
Sorry, it's just
this whole Byron thing and…
Just feels like everything
is falling apart, doesn't it?
[grinder whirring]
Who's this girl that he met online?
Jesus. Right.
After last year with Sophia,
Zack has an online girlfriend
we know nothing about.
Think we should ask him if,
uh, she gave him the drugs?
Right.
Look, we need to know how this happened.
Yeah.
Zachary.
How you feeling?
Um, fine.
You remember anything?
Like after you left,
did you meet up with someone,
like, maybe that girl from the Internet?
[Zack grunts]
I still don't remember.
[Tom] We're worried about you, Z.
You gotta talk to someone.
About what I don't remember?
Well, Dr. Carlisle's sessions are gonna be
three days a week now. Okay?
And we'll also do some joint sessions.
Both of us.
I'm gonna hang on to this.
[Zack] Oh, no. I can take my phone.
- Uh, what is your passcode?
- Give me my phone back.
I'm not telling you that.
What is this picture? Hmm?
[Zack] What picture?
- Fucking bitch!
- [Tom] Hey, hey, hey, hey.
- Give me my phone back.
- Don't call your mom a bitch.
- Mom, give me…
- You'll get it back when it's safe, okay?
- Hey, listen! Just calm down, please.
- Get off me! Dad.
Mom!
[sighs]
["Midnight Run" playing on radio]
[crickets chirping]
[home security system]
Backyard motion sensor.
[intense music playing]
[panting]
[exhales deeply]
[gate creaks]
Brandon? Brandon?
Hey, Tommy.
You're gonna get yourself shot.
[chuckles] Couple of country club liberals
like you and my daughter
ain't gonna shoot nobody.
Right.
You just know if Anna saw you
she'd throw you out.
She's my goddamn daughter.
I can leave something
on the porch if I want to,
and both of them are my grandkids.
So I just… I got something for Natalie.
I got her some soccer spikes.
She likes to play soccer, right?
She likes that Megan Rapinoe.
Those are the Megan Rapinoe shoes.
I mean, it's not her shoes.
That-That-That-That-That-That's…
That's her… the model of it.
Okay.
That girl…
She could've played for the men's team.
- Okay. Okay. Okay.
- She-She would've kicked ass too.
Natalie's birthday was weeks ago.
Anna doesn't want you here.
Just take the box.
I'm trying to do something nice, damn it.
[stammers] You…
Tell Anna that I would love to see her…
when she's ready.
I'm gonna do you a favor.
I'm not gonna tell her you came by.
Good night, Brandon.
When she's ready. When she's ready.
[Max hums]
[music playing on radio]
[Max grunts]
[sighs]
[humming]
[sighs, grunts]
[clicks tongue]
[sighs]
[clicks tongue]
[sighs]
- [door slams]
- Who the fuck are you?
Hey.
What the hell is wrong with you, dog? Huh?
You ain't even bark.
Man, this dog, I think it might be broken.
Look at him.
An animal chained up for too long
comes to learn that nothing
he would do matters.
He's become a dead dog walking,
can't you see?
He doesn't even hear his master's voice.
Well, dumbass dog doesn't know
how to roll over or nothing.
And he definitely doesn't know how to bark
at strange individuals in the yard.
A man like you who defends what he has
needs a strong, dangerous dog.
Yeah, you're right.
Well, I think I could take him
off your hands if you want,
because I work at the Humane Society
over on Sallie Mood Drive, you know?
And you come by tomorrow
and you say Max sent you.
Because there's a dog there, a new one,
who's perfect for you, because he's a…
he's a Mexican pit bull with a head like…
as big as mine
and he would've ripped out
my throat like… [imitates chomping]
[clears throat]
That's what you need, my friend.
What, you saying I can trade
this dog in for that one?
Like a car or something?
Yeah, I'll arrange that for you.
And his name is Tu Polla.
You got that? You're not gonna
forget his name or my name?
So, when you go there,
what will you say exactly?
- Max sent me.
- Yeah?
- Right?
- Yes.
Max. I'm here to pick up Tu Polla.
- [in Spanish] Your dick.
- [in English] That's right.
- Yeah.
- You got a dog.
[children chattering]
Mmm.
[person humming]
[humming continues]
[tense music playing]
[Anna] Who the fuck are you?
[Tom] Are you in here?
So he's been messaging this girl.
The texts delete
so I only have the last few days,
but there are thousands of them.
How long you been sitting in here?
You trying to make me feel guilty
for looking into this girl
who's got Zack wrapped around her finger?
No. I'm trying to get your attention
because you get tunnel vision.
Forgive me if I have tunnel vision
about who drugged our son.
Doesn't matter whether it was
some online gamer girl or Max Cady,
or the Savannah Bananas
who gave him drugs.
What matters is Zack.
We gotta be present for him.
We gotta get back to normal.
So I need you to do that with me
if you can.
We got shit to do in the real world.
[Sophia] Hello.
Sophia. Uh, it's me, Zack.
What do you want?
I just wanted to say that I'm… [sighs]
I am just… I'm so sorry. Again.
- I shouldn't have, um… Uh, I don't…
- [static on phone]
- I'm just…
- [disconnect tone]
[sighs]
- [gate alarm buzzes]
- [guard] Ramirez, you got a visitor.
[sighs] These lawyers don't know
when to quit.
- [eerie music playing]
- [gate closes]
[in Spanish] Hello, Ruben.
You know who I am?
Then you know this is
the last place I want to be.
Then why are you here?
I heard you were going to
drop your appeal.
SJLP sent you.
I told them I'm done.
[speaks Spanish]
I came to tell you one thing…
…that your pain has meaning.
Your pain, you can embrace it
and turn it into strength.
[Ruben sighs]
[in English] You know, it's funny hearing
them words coming out of your mouth.
I heard some shit about you.
I'm surprised they let
a motherfucker like you back out.
I didn't start out a motherfucker.
They made me a motherfucker.
I became a motherfucker to survive.
And you…
[in Spanish] I never killed anyone
until they stuck me in this fucking place.
This place gets to you!
Just last week, I was right where you are.
You think your story is over,
but it isn't.
Maybe it isn't even your story.
Maybe you have a much
greater purpose… underneath.
Ruben!
[speaks Spanish]
Zack.
Zack, what do you think you're doing?
Zack.
Where are you going?
The doctor said to walk on my foot,
so I'm…
You know, I'm just going for a walk.
Sophia told people you called her.
Please tell me you're not
going over there right now.
Just… I… I wanna apologize.
You can't fix it. You need to move on.
Everything's easy for you.
Perfect athlete, perfect grades,
perfect daughter.
Nothing is easy for me.
It's fucking exhausting.
They don't even see me.
Mom and Dad don't know us.
And we don't know them.
They do want what's best for us.
At least for you.
You're their real kid. [chuckles]
They like you more though.
Come on. Let's go home.
[Zack] I got it. I can walk.
Not actually disabled, I just lost a toe.
[Natalie laughs]
You're not gonna wander off
into the night, are you?
I'm good.
Promise?
Night.
Night.
[tense music playing]
[sighs]
I'm sorry.
It's been an intense few days.
You know, I just keep thinking
about something that Noa said,
how it would be bad
for us if Max turned out to be guilty.
- [sighs]
- But there was hard evidence against him.
He was emotionally abusive to his wife.
Luminol found blood in his house
and in the trunk of his car…
Amy Brancato confessed.
She had the murder weapon.
He could have given it to her.
And… [stammers]
…she did him one last favor
by shooting herself in the head?
He could get people to do things.
I know… I know that I sound paranoid.
- I'm sorry, I…
- Amy Brancato was fucking him
and wanted his wife gone.
So, all the evidence we thought
pointed to Max, actually pointed to Amy.
Let's say you're right.
Don't you feel guilty?
We did what we thought was right.
Right?
Can we just put this behind us?
Just get back to normal? Together?
Yeah. Yes.
[Tom sighs]
[inhales deeply]
[groans]
You turned off the alarm?
[chuckles] You're welcome.
Nothing so pressing you can't sleep
an extra hour, right?
No, I guess not. But…
Shit. Shit! Fuck!
Should've thrown that damn phone
in the pool.
- [Anna sighs]
- What's on fire now?
Noa, I am so sorry.
I am going in to talk to Ruben right now.
Just yesterday got away from me.
Calm down.
Ruben rediscovered an interest
in saving his own life
after Max Cady drove out
and gave him some kind of pep talk.
Why would Max Cady go and talk to him?
Well, he came by the office,
wanted to know what he could do to help.
I said,
"How do you feel
about going back to prison?"
Listen, the man's a gift
from the nonprofit gods.
And he's about to do a sit-down
with The Times too.
Give us some love.
Wait, he's doing an interview? When?
[Noa] Right now.
They're setting up here
in the office as we speak.
- [Max] Do I look good? Do I look good?
- Yes.
Hey.
I'm coming in.
So much for taking it easy.
[interviewer] Max, you're the
ultimate victim of what you have called
the criminal injustice system.
But I have to ask,
why did you plead guilty?
Well… [sighs] I was under pressure.
Mm-hmm. From who?
That's the past.
Tabitha, today, all I want is
to help other people that face injustice,
like Ruben Ramirez, right?
And thank God for groups like SJLP
that fight for Ruben.
It's hard to believe
you don't dwell on the past.
But what's the past, anyway?
A museum full of-of-of dead things.
[Tabitha] Well, you had
an unusual childhood, didn't you?
You didn't meet your father
till you were 13 years old?
[inhales deeply, exhales] Yeah. My father.
Okay, my father was an American soldier
stationed in
the south of Spain. [chuckles]
- He had his fun.
- Okay. [chuckles]
He got a pretty young Basque woman
pregnant and she didn't want a kid.
So, uh, you know, it was not…
It was no… no picnic growing up with her.
You know what I mean?
But at least her cooking was pretty good.
That's why I went
into the restaurant business.
- [Tabitha chuckles]
- So, at least I have that.
And, uh, yeah.
And then, when I was 13,
she killed herself.
Yeah. Boop. Jumped off a building.
And, uh, I was sent to America to live
with my father.
No more family in Spain,
never been back there.
And when I got
to North Carolina… [chuckles]
…I-I-I-I-I don't know.
I was… I was, like, lost.
I-I didn't even speak English, you know?
[Tabitha] Did your dad teach you?
No. No. No. No, my father had a new life.
Uh, he was breeding dogs.
Had a… had a new family
and he did not want some
bastard mongrel, uh, around, I guess.
Oh, how painful.
[sound warbles]
[Max] It was tough, but I had to adapt.
And I did adapt.
I learned to be strong.
It gave me a sense of morality.
[inhales sharply, sighs]
You know, uh, an old friend said
to me just the other day
that, uh, it's never too late to fix
what we've broken
and all my life, I wanted just one thing.
My own family.
And I could see it in my head.
A wife, a daughter, a son.
Maybe a house with a big backyard.
A swimming pool, maybe.
Even a cat passing by. I don't know.
Uh, uh, maybe it's too late for that.
I don't know, but I was an impatient boy,
but I'm a patient man.
And I'm just getting started.
[dramatic music plays]
[Noa] What?
Motherfucker.
- [Tom] Everything okay? Anna? Hello?
- [breathes shakily]
Didn't we just say we were gonna focus
on Zack? Just try to get back to normal?
Yeah. You're right.
[Tom] You don't sound convinced.
Is there any way Max could know
about what we did?
[Tom] No one knows but us.
No one will
because no one needs to, right?
Right.
We did what we thought was right.
You're looking at a four-bedroom,
four-and-a-half-bath.
The kitchen,
uh, watch your step here,
has all new stainless steel appliances.
Oh, and the private terrace leads
to a beautiful garden.
All of the staging furniture is available
for purchase, at a price.
And the bonus room above the garage
could be used as a home office
or a playroom.
Is it just you? [stammers] Any kids?
Other than your fur baby here.
He's not gonna leave any business
in the house, is he?
No.
Um, what about a short escrow?
And I'll waive all the contingencies.
I could see what's possible. [chuckles]
I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude,
but I know who you are.
Can you afford this?
Don't worry about money.
I'm gonna be compensated for my pain.
Okay. [chuckles]
Is there someone
at your bank that I could chat with?
You know what they say. Trust but verify.
Yeah. You know another thing they say?
That if you are falsely convicted,
you will feel a different kind of PTSD
than other prisoners,
because you lose faith in all the systems
that were supposed to protect you,
like-like laws and money.
So, the only system you know
is the system of fuck you.
- But, Gloria, you're not in that system.
- [Gloria chuckles]
You're not. You're still in the other one.
- Correct? [chuckles]
- [Gloria] Yes.
Don't worry, my dear.
I'll get you that info.
And I'll come in over asking.
How much over asking?
[groans]
Can you give me a minute
to get the feel of the place?
Of course. [chuckles]
Alone, if you don't mind.
All the way outside, please.
[door closes]
[exhales]
[sound warbles]