The Better Sister (2025) s01e02 Episode Script

1
Previously on The Better Sister
[publicist] The Real Thing's
editor-in-chief,
Chloe Taylor.
- [applause]
- [cheering]
Good evening.
Where is that husband of hers?
- Sorry I'm late.
- Hey.
You look gorgeous.
- This came for you.
- You know who this is from?
[Adam] Jesus, Chlo
They brought it to our house.
I'm hiring private security.
[gasps]
Oh, my God. Adam.
[tense music playing]
Did you ever report the threats?
A lot is said online.
It doesn't always cross over
into real life.
Glass contained in this section.
Undisturbed.
Someone staged this.
Does that make sense to you, Ethan?
[Chloe] Are you asking him to
put himself in the mind
of his father's killer?
Just letting you in
on our thought process.
[Bowen] Ethan needs to be
with his legal guardian.
Who, in this case,
is his biological mother.
- Hey, Nicky.
- Hey, sis.
[Bowen] Lab found Ethan Macintosh's DNA
under Adam's fingernails.
Well, that's a shame.
[insects trilling]
[Hank echoing] Chloe?
Chloe?
[Nicky muffled] Chloe!
[tense music playing]
[Nicky] Now I lay me down to sleep
Chloe!
She has risen!
[grunts, laughs]
I pray the Lord
my soul to keep.
♪
[Hank] You know,
this Wallace Lake is man-made.
Chloe?
[Nicky] And if I die
before I wake
bury me
- at Shadow Lake.
- [laughter]
[gasps] Chloe!
[Chloe] But this is Wallace Lake.
[Nicky] I like Shadow better.
[muffled gasp, screams]
[Nicky] Chloe! Chloe!
Chloe!
[Chloe gasps]
[Hank] Chloe!
[breathes deeply]
[exhales]
"My sister is here.
My husband has been murdered."
Even though I am
feeling anxiety about this
[inhales]
[exhaling] I release it.
[Blu Cantrell plays
"Hit 'Em up Style (Oops!)"]
And as the cash box rang,
I thought everything away
What the fuck is that music?
- Oops ♪
- There goes the dreams we used to say
It's just music.
There goes the time we spent away
It's just music.
But you cheated on me
It's just music.
- Oops ♪
- There goes the house we made a home
[growls]
There goes
[whispering] Oh, God.
What is that fucking music?
I mean, I don't know what's up
with this Ottolenghi guy.
- There's, like, 40 ingredients per crepe.
- [laughs]
I'll clean up soon as we're done.
It's okay, sweetheart.
Annalisa comes tomorrow.
We are making cheese crepes
with pistachios
and honey.
We just have to figure out
- Music off.
- [music stops playing]
Have some respect.
You guys can go ahead and eat without me.
I have a few things
I need to do at the office.
I'm meeting with Catherine's
cybersecurity guy. I have some questions.
But are you okay? The last thing
I want to do is leave, but--
- Oh, I'll be fine, it's okay.
- Yeah. I'm here.
We'll have dinner together tonight?
Something good?
Yeah.
I love you.
Love you.
[sentimental music playing]
That's a nice lipstick, Chlo.
You look good.
Thanks. Keep your phone on, okay?
So I can check in.
Yes, boss.
♪
[door closes]
Sisters, can you believe that?
[laughs] I smile every time
I think about it.
So, the boy's mother,
who's also the victim's ex-wife,
is the wife's sister?
And that's the way they all
became the Brady Bunch ♪
[laughter]
[Bowen] Nicole Macintosh.
Sister, mother, ex-wife from Ohio.
We're waiting on her phone records
to come through,
confirm whereabouts
at the time of the murder,
and the swabs came back
from the package Ms. Taylor received.
- The porno present?
- [Guidry] Yeah.
Um, fingerprints linked
to a Mrs. Karen DiManco.
What? A woman did that?
- Yeah.
- Jesus, that's the end
of civilization right there.
[Bowen] Uh, lives in Bayside,
a prior indictment for inciting a riot--
Hey, Bowen, would you stand up, please?
I can't see you.
[Bowen] Yes, sir.
Um, a prior indictment
for inciting a riot,
organizing a bus trip down to D.C.
on January 6,
but has a alibi
on the night of the murder.
I still want to meet her. Be fun.
Reaching out to the guests
at the dinner party
Ms. Taylor attended.
[Guidry] Feelers out to the boy's school,
connecting with the dean later.
The doorman who dropped him off,
I really think--
The big money is
The kid's DNA was found
under the victim's fingernails.
Yeah, I saw that. What do you make of it?
Some families are physically intimate.
- Ew.
- [Clark] Well, look, I brushed
my grandson's hair this morning.
Uh, you'd probably get the same results
if you did the swab on me,
but it's certainly not nothing.
Not nothing? I mean,
combined with lying about the alibi,
it's more than enough.
- Mm.
- [Guidry] The only missing items
were from his room.
Oh, and we've already,
uh, put in for the warrant
to search the Manhattan apartment.
- Good.
- [Bowen] We'll talk to the doorman there.
My money's on the kid, with a knife,
in a dirty hamper.
But I do want to talk to him again,
if the mothers allow.
[stammers] This family's
been broken wide open, Nan.
See, y-you want to walk alongside that,
not bulldoze through it, all right?
- [knock on door]
- Yeah?
Jake Rodriguez, here for his interview.
[Clark] Okay. Hey, house mouse.
- You need a fucking haircut.
- [others laugh]
You too, Serpico.
The hair or the mustache, your choice.
- Yes, sir.
- [Clark] All right, that's it.
Keep me posted. Guidry, hang back.
[sighs] Okay.
- [laughs]
- Go take a powder.
[Bowen] All right.
Listen, uh
there's no one else
I would rather have on this.
Thank you, Lieu.
But I can't have any bullshit
on this one, Nan.
It's not just the East-enders
paying attention.
Half of Manhattan is peering
through my window already, all right?
You bludgeon someone with a phone book,
I cannot bury it.
Oh, come on, boss.
They don't make phone books anymore.
Hardy har. Friendly warning.
Thank you.
[Bowen] What was that?
Wanted my fried catfish recipe.
Hmm.
- Mr. Rodriguez, thanks for coming.
- Yes. Oh, yeah. Of course.
Hope it wasn't too much trouble.
No. Not at all.
So, Ms. Taylor informed us
that you and Adam Macintosh
were working together
with a client, the Gentry Group?
- That's correct.
- Their website says, uh,
they "run logistics and operations
for developers all over the world,
taking a synergistic approach
to real estate acquisitions
and construction management,
from conception to execution."
Enlighten the common people.
[chuckles] Well, yeah. [stammers]
They help people build stuff.
That's, um Oh, uh, no.
- Thank you.
- Seem like a tea guy.
- Yeah.
- Two kinds of people in the world.
The calendar entries they sent over,
uh, said your firm met with them
for four days leading up to Adam's murder,
including the day of.
Your attendance was recorded in
all those meetings, except the last one.
Adam took that alone.
Yeah, it's not, uh, rare
for, uh, an associate
to have an additional meeting.
Is it common for them
to favor one over the other?
- What do you mean?
- The picking
and choosing of who they meet with,
is that a normal part of things?
You know, kept score of, far as say,
how making partner goes?
[chuckles] Uh, you'd have to ask
our boss, Bill Braddock.
How'd Adam seem in the days prior?
The same.
[Bowen] And when was the last time
you spoke with him?
- At Chloe's event.
- [Guidry] Right.
You three were close.
Well, we-- Yeah, we spent time together.
And when did you arrive out here?
I The day before last.
Yeah. I met with my contractor.
You had some free time,
you weren't at the meeting.
[tense music playing]
We had dinner afterwards.
Was it a date? You and the contractor?
[chuckles] Um
Not my type.
That's it.
He hated Adam.
Hates you, too, now.
- [chuckling] You think so?
- Yeah.
Let's get his phone records.
Get Fran in here to bag that cup.
[melancholic music playing]
[intercom buzzing]
Hi, who you looking for?
[Adam over intercom] Chloe Taylor.
It's Adam.
[cover of "Gimme Shelter"
by The Rolling Stones playing]
[Chloe] Hey.
- What are you doing here?
- [Adam] I was in the neighborhood.
[Chloe] Oh. Really?
Uh, no. No, not really.
[chuckles]
[door closes]
- [stammers] Need a little help?
- [chuckles] No, it's fine.
I'm just-- I'm gonna call the super.
It's-it's okay.
It's nothing a little Spackle won't fix.
[grunts softly]
My very life today
Yes. Thank you.
If I don't get some shelter
Ethan loves the little school
you found for him.
He's really happy there.
Oh, that's good.
Yeah. If you hadn't intervened, I don't
know what his life would be right now.
It's just a shot away,
it's just a shot away ♪
War, children
You regret helping us,
signing those papers.
No, no. My mom
[groans] Just
it hasn't been [sighs]
Well, you know.
She's still really angry at me
for doing that.
I miss talking to you.
- Well, Ethan's here and he's safe.
- That's not all it was about.
Fire is sweeping ♪
Over our very street today
I really got to get back to it. My work.
Red coal carpet ♪
Mad bull lost your way ♪
War, children ♪
It's just a shot away,
it's just a shot away
Please.
War ♪
Murder ♪
It's just a shot away,
it's just a shot away ♪
Rape, murder ♪
It's just a shot away,
it's just a shot away ♪
War, murder ♪
[both moan]
It's just a shot away,
it's just a shot away ♪
Yeah ♪
It's just a kiss away ♪
[McCabe] Ms. Taylor? Jerry McCabe.
[Chloe] It's nice to meet you in person.
[McCabe] Tell me a little bit
about your problem.
It's been going on for quite a while,
these threats.
Which platform?
[Chloe] Well, Poppit, mainly, or
really any forum that mentions my name.
Um, you know, some of those names,
those screen names that I sent you
last night, they keep appearing.
Um
KillerChad69,
KurtRomaine.
A lot of those are just dummy accounts.
Takes longer to get into their servers,
get the subscriber's information,
identities linked to the email.
In a little time, I can get it for you,
but it wouldn't be admissible in court.
I just thought I was one of the good guys
trying to help people.
Come on, Ms. Taylor.
Saint Teresa had a Twitter,
they would call her a twat.
[chuckles]
Let me reassure you, Ms. Taylor,
I don't care how many
password encryptions,
spoofed IPs, concealing software,
fucking firewalls that they scramble,
public computers, borrowed, stolen.
I track them down.
So, these comments,
how often do they
become something more than that?
Like, how often
how often do people follow through?
Well, there's been an uptick,
last few years.
Some of these threats
are coming from a computer
registered to "The Real Thing."
[dark music playing]
Well, that's my office.
Yeah.
Sorry.
I'll be in touch.
♪
A case like this, we do our work
as quickly and quietly as we can.
We don't want anyone else involved.
[lawyer] We'll funnel
the press inquiries through us
so you don't have
to deal directly right now.
Less you say, the better you look.
I haven't found that to be true, actually.
Excuse me.
[sighs] What the hell is in Queens?
[lawyer] Pardon?
[knock a door]
- [Chloe] You're early.
- Always.
Bill sent, uh, Farris and Lazar over.
Farris. Hello.
Give us the room, please.
Certainly.
[Lazar] We'll be down the hall.
Not necessary.
I'll have replacements here
within the hour.
[Chloe] Thank you.
And, uh, thank you for the McCabe thing.
Of course. Jerry's the real deal.
You can trust him, unlike those two.
Have you had problems
with-with anyone here--
[Sonia] Sorry, Chloe,
I just wanted to clear these.
I know the smell of lilies makes you sick.
You remember my excellent
assistant Sonia Carter.
- It's wonderful to see you again.
- You as well.
[chuckles]
- Do your thing.
- Right. Um
So, how did you want me
to handle the press inquiries?
There's been over 75 since this morning.
All major newspapers,
international magazines, everybody.
- Funnel everything through legal.
- Mm-hmm.
Uh, forward all press questions
to me, please.
And, uh, copy me
on all future correspondence.
- I want them to know I'm listening.
- [Sonia] Okay, yeah.
Let's make a list, uh, who sent what.
Donate all the food
to the women's shelter.
The flowers can go in the break room,
and let's hang on
to the bakery stuff for my son.
How is Ethan?
I'm not really sure.
Oh, Sonia?
Um, if my sister calls,
- put her through.
- Oh, I
I didn't know you had a sister.
Yeah.
[Catharine chuckles]
- She's at my place.
- [Catherine] Is she using?
Sober, apparently.
Came to "help."
What about Adam's ex? Ethan's mother?
Oh, um, haven't heard from her yet.
[Catherine] When is your appointment
with Bill?
[Chloe] He didn't have time
till later today.
[Catherine] Oh, of course.
Didn't want to move
his standing "health club" appointment.
He's such an old whore.
- [laughs]
- Husband of his is a fucking saint.
[eerie music playing]
[Chloe sighs] Oh, my God.
[suspenseful music playing]
[sniffles]
[sighs]
You're in it.
There's nowhere else to be.
But you're not alone.
[exhales] Fuck.
In a few days,
I'll put something small together,
out at the beach,
away from all those fucking vultures.
So you can mourn with your
with your people.
Thank you. Thank you.
[sniffles]
[exhaling]
Your employees need to hear from you now.
Okay.
[door closes]
[muffled sob, sniffles]
[sniffles]
[breathing heavily]
[sighs]
[sniffles]
- [phone beeps]
- Hey, Sonia,
can you gather everyone in the lobby?
I'd like to, uh, say a few words.
- [Sonia over phone] On it.
- Thank you.
[line ringing]
[automated voice] The mailbox is full
and cannot accept
- any messages at this time.
- [sighs] Of course it fucking is.
[line ringing]
[phone buzzing]
[exhales]
[grunts]
[sniffles]
- [grunts] Nicky?
- [Nicky over phone] Hey.
You doing okay?
[Ethan over phone] Yeah. [chuckles]
Where are you?
Down the hall.
Were you sleeping?
Yeah, those, uh, 300 crepes
really wiped me out.
[chuckles]
I was just saying hi,
checking in.
Cool.
Hello.
- Love you.
- [call beeps off]
[grunts softly]
[atmospheric music playing]
[inhales]
♪
♪
[sighs]
[exhales]
♪
Ooh.
[phone ringing]
Hey, sis.
[Chloe over phone] You never called me sis
when we were growing up. It's weird.
Everything's fine here.
- Ethan's sleeping.
- Great.
Well, your mailbox is full,
so delete your messages, okay?
Ah, yeah, shit, sorry. Um
I got a bunch from Mom saved on there.
Okay. I need to get
in touch with you, so
Yeah, okay. I got it.
- I'm serious, Nicole--
- [phone beeps]
[sighs]
[exhales]
[contemplative music playing]
[sighs, mutters softly]
[sighs]
[Nicky sighs]
[muttering softly]
[water spattering]
[Hank] A lot of sky.
Put it out of your mind.
Can't think about it.
[sighs]
Fuck off, Dad.
[sighs]
[indistinct chatter]
[exhales]
Hold this for me.
Good morning, everyone.
Thank you so much
for your kind notes and emails.
They've meant a lot.
I wish
[exhales] I wish I had a
a plan. [chuckles]
Or something wise to share.
But all I can say is
[sighs]
it's awful.
All of it.
And it's going to get rough,
so brace yourselves.
Because they are going to attack
this cause, this magazine, my family.
Whatever good will be tainted
by its connection to this.
This is, this is the perfect opportunity
for them to undermine
the difference that we've made.
But I promise that if you give me
your strength,
then I will give you mine.
[applause]
Thank you.
[dark music playing]
Also, I've hired a cybersecurity expert,
because someone in this room
is threatening me and my family online.
And that makes me sad.
But we will find out who.
It's just a matter of time.
Thank you.
[employees murmuring]
[Bowen] So, was it a regular thing,
you driving Ethan out there?
[Arty] Yeah, every once in a while.
You know, help out Ms. Taylor,
earn a few extra bucks.
I used to be a driver.
And after you dropped him off?
Met a buddy, bar out there.
Unlimited wings
if you get there before 6:00.
- [chuckles]
- You mind writing down his information
- Sure.
- bar's name?
Would you say you're close
with the family?
This job,
you get to know people pretty well.
Especially if they have kids.
And you watch them grow up, you know?
Chloe and Ethan are two of my favorite.
Mm. Any idea when
Ms. Taylor might be back?
I'll tell her you came by, though.
We'll wait. Thank you.
[mutters] Fuck
Thanks a lot.
[Bowen] Doorman's got an alibi,
and no dice on meeting with Adam's boss.
- What's the word on the warrant?
- Still waiting, should be soon.
That was my connect in county records.
Said Adam Macintosh's father died
while serving a 20-year sentence
for drug possession.
- And his mother?
- Welfare chiseler.
Deceased, it seems, paper trail's thin.
But absent father?
That may have made Adam
come down hard on his kid.
- Or give him everything he didn't get.
- Sometimes,
I suppose, but
I mean, imagine being him.
Everywhere you look, proof you made it.
The beautiful wife, the career.
Then your kid's a fucking pothead?
Just a shiftless blob in your house
who, every time you looked at him,
reminds you who you actually are
underneath your Brooks Brothers suit?
- You really got it in for Ethan, huh?
- No, no, no. No.
Trust me, I wish the mother
was the one who did this.
Look, no one likes watching
a wealthy woman fall more than I do.
[Bowen laughs softly]
I do not want that sweet,
soft boy to be guilty.
Whatever Ethan Macintosh's version
of feeling alienated,
like an unlovable piece of shit is,
that his overachieving,
fit father piled on about
I don't know, maybe Ethan got tired of it.
Maybe there are not enough
Gucci sneakers in the world
to make him feel adequate.
Maybe he stabbed him to death
just to shut him the fuck up.
Just saying.
Were you picked on a lot growing up?
Dyke from the Deep South.
What do you think?
Hmm.
Let's go wait inside.
Make everybody nervous.
- [gentle music playing]
- [indistinct chatter]
- Hi.
- [Bill] Oh, sweetie.
Mm.
You need a drink.
I am so overwhelmed, I haven't even had
a moment to grieve, by the way.
My sister sucks the air
- out of every room she's in.
- Hmm.
[Bill] When you lose someone
in a snap, that'll rock your world,
no matter how you felt about them.
I loved Adam.
Of course you did.
My first lover. Lucas?
So gorgeous.
He had AIDS back when
there was nothing that could be done.
No meds, nothing.
I knew he was gonna die.
But one night,
he went for a walk on the beach and
- killed himself.
- Jesus, Bill.
I had our dinner on the stove.
Shrimp and jalapeños.
Not to make it all about me,
but let's do, anyway.
[Chloe scoffs]
Ugh, the questions, they just never end.
I don't even know where Adam was
the last day of his life.
I don't know what he was doing.
And w-what is this company, Gentry?
They seem like
every other group we represent,
but I'll have one of the younger attorneys
check it out.
Okay, thank you.
I cared for your husband very much.
Such a hard worker.
Relentless.
[both] Thank you.
To the relentless men we loved.
I may just stay here and get shit-faced.
[Chloe chuckles]
- Mmm.
- [phone ringing]
Excuse me. This is my doorman.
- Hey, Arty. Is everything okay?
- [Arty over phone] Two detectives here
looking for you.
I told 'em you weren't home.
I'm on my way.
[sighs] Hampton detectives
are at my place.
Hopefully they have some news. Oh.
I found this Lyft receipt.
Adam's, from two nights ago.
He wasn't where he said he was.
Leave it with me.
I'll check it against his other expenses.
Hey, you didn't fire the lawyers
I sent over this morning, did you?
Catherine.
Get an attorney referral from Jake.
Lawyer up. Now.
Okay.
[dark music playing]
I need you to check something out for me,
before this girl gets herself killed.
- Thank you, Arty.
- Anything you need.
[Guidry] Ms. Taylor, forgive the drop-by.
We were in town on other business.
Oh.
Oh, I thought you had information
about who could've killed Adam.
- No. Sorry.
- How's your son?
Come. Let's talk upstairs.
[elevator bell dings]
[Garbage plays
"Only Happy When It Rains"]
You can't appreciate it ♪
I'm only happy when it rains ♪
You know I
[Chloe] Music off.
Music off.
[Nicky] Hello?
- Hey.
- Oh, hey.
[Chloe] Hi.
My sister Nicole.
There are, uh,
Detectives Guidry and Bowen.
Yeah. We-we spoke on the phone.
- Nicky.
- Um, is Ethan still sleeping?
He's okay.
Let's sit.
This won't take long.
[Guidry] Yeah. I'll just get right to it.
Records show your husband owned a handgun.
[Chloe] Yes, Adam was
concerned with safety.
My profile was rising,
and that brought
unwanted attention to the family.
I never wanted a gun in the house.
I asked him to get rid of it,
he promised me he would.
- We're just not gun people.
- [Guidry] What do you mean,
"gun people"?
Our father served in Vietnam.
He saw combat and he hated
any firearm of any kind.
Yeah. Yeah.
Not sure we need to be sharing all this,
but yeah, bayonet man, more like.
- Where's the gun now?
- [Chloe] Oh, I-I don't know, um--
I'm sorry, why are we talking about guns?
The murder weapon was a knife.
Just trying to get a full family portrait.
- Uh-huh.
- And not for nothing,
nine-millimeter takes eight months
to legally register,
including submitting fingerprints,
an affidavit signed by you.
It's a lot of effort to lose track of.
- [scoffs]
- Also, was this the same gun
that Ethan took to school?
Uh, I'm sorry. What? He what?
That was just all a misunderstanding.
That's not what the headmistress
at Ethan's school said.
I don't understand
how that's relevant at all,
whereas I have some information
that might be relevant.
- Adam charged Lyft rides
- [Nicky clears throat]
in the last few days
to our personal credit card.
He was dropped
at an intersection in Queens.
If Adam had been working,
those would've been
on the business account.
Oftentimes, when people
get dropped off at intersections
instead of exact addresses,
that's about other,
you know, bad behavior.
Our marriage was strong.
I've also hired a private
tech security company
to track the cyber threats,
and I'm assuming
that you guys haven't
followed up on that, either?
Oh, our people are on it.
Oh, okay. Well, those threats
are coming from someone in my office.
So when I have any more information, I--
- Mom?
- Whoa. You need to go back to your room.
[Guidry] Actually, we have
a few more questions for Ethan,
if it's okay with you two.
- What do you mean, "more"?
- It's fine. I'm-I'm good to answer--
- No.
- [Chloe] It's okay
- if he wants to answer your questions.
- [Nicky] You're not gonna-- No. Not a--
- [Ethan] Nicky, it's-it's--
- [Nicky] It is not fine at all.
[Nicky] Absolutely-- Go to your room!
I'm your mother.
Go to your room. That is final.
[dramatic music playing]
Okay.
This innocent visit is now over.
[Bowen] All right.
- [Guidry] One more thing--
- No.
- You speak to our lawyer.
- [Guidry] Results showed
Ethan's DNA under Adam's fingernails.
[Nicky clears throat]
Thank you for your time.
We're leaving now.
It's a beautiful apartment, Ms. Taylor.
- Really lovely.
- Kick yourselves in the ass
on the way out.
[door closes]
That bitch is a problem.
Well, you know, it-it really doesn't
help us, you acting like white trash.
I'm sorry, that's what
you're worried about?
How we look?
Hey, do you understand
what is going on here?
- Do you, Chloe?
- Yes, I do.
- I'm getting a referral for a lawyer.
- A referral?
- I'm getting a referral.
- Wake up, Chloe.
They think Ethan killed his father.
- [shushes]
- His DNA. What the fuck?
Would you stop?
- What is taking you so long?
- Just stop.
- Get the lawyer.
- Stop it.
- Give me a minute. Give me a minute.
- Jesus Christ, Chloe.
You let him talk to them alone?
He is a minor.
- Just give me a minute.
- [exhales]
Okay?
Can tell that one's very familiar
with criminal justice.
Sorry about that element of surprise.
You're good.
Maybe we, uh, go to the courthouse,
check up on things?
[Guidry] Thought you'd never ask.
- [Chloe] Hey, Jake, hi.
- [Jake over phone] How you doing?
Uh, yeah, we're, um, we're holding steady.
- [laughs]
- Anything that I can help with?
Yes, I need a criminal lawyer.
With-with experience with juveniles.
Yes, with-with experience, um,
representing teenagers.
For Ethan?
Yes, for Ethan. Right away.
- Please.
- Uh, yeah, no problem.
Just, uh, give me a moment.
- What's he saying?
- Shut up. Just
- Just shut up.
- What?
No, no, sorry. Not you. Not you.
[Jake clears throat]
Uh, I think I know someone.
Should I call them
or do you want to call them?
No, no, I-I trust you.
Just make the call. Please make the call.
- Okay. You got it.
- Thank you.
Okay, so we got somebody or what?
We got somebody, but what is
what's wrong with you?
- What-what is this?
- What is what?
- Are you on something?
- Am-- [scoffs]
- What?
- What is this?
What is this energy?
- This, like, tweaking
- [scoffs]
- thing?
- This is not tweaking.
Well, what to you need?
You need to call your sponsor?
Call your sponsor.
You need to go fuck yourself.
Oh, is that in one of the 12 steps?
- I'm gonna go take a shower.
- Please, please,
- go take a shower.
- Hey.
- Please get out of my face.
- Is the lawyer
- on the way or not?
- I'm handling it.
Yeah? Those two jerk-offs?
- They are coming back for sure.
- We don't know that.
- Chloe
- Go, go.
- get your head out of your ass.
- [groans] Go!
[sighs]
[panting]
[grunts] God!
[dark music playing]
[phone chimes]
[phone ringing]
[groans softly]
Hi, Bill.
[Bill over phone] Hey.
Who'd Jake recommend?
Uh, Michelle Sanders. You know her?
Do I? Smart move.
How's your sister?
[sniffles] Um, aggressive
and inappropriate.
Uh, probably high.
They can't help themselves, the addicts.
They chew up everything in their path.
We'll talk soon.
[sniffling]
[somber music playing]
This isn't her usual
"voicemail's been full
for three weeks and now
the phone's now dead" routine, Mom.
She is way worse.
You've got to find some compassion.
Pray on that.
- I don't pray anymore.
- That's nothing to be proud of.
Do you know that Adam doesn't feel safe
with her in the house?
Careful there.
Not your place.
I came home to see this for myself.
- She's drinking all day now?
- Nicole has been through a lot.
Oh, okay. And that justifies
her not doing what she needs
to do for her son?
Mom, she's not a Vietnam vet.
- Dad had real demons.
- That mind of yours, such a gift.
There's a baby involved.
Exactly. You have no idea
what pregnancy does to some women.
Okay.
I see. So, I'm not a mother, therefore,
oh, I couldn't possibly understand.
Why does it always have to be
a fight with you?
Because you are as sick as she is
if you are gonna fucking enable
this behavior just--
Look inside yourself.
This is not about the baby.
[dark music playing]
Chloe?
You're still here.
Yeah.
[sighs]
Mm hmm
[inhaling]
Oh, you smell so good.
Herbal Essences.
Oh, I got to get dressed.
And then I thought
we could take Ethan to Samosky's
and get some doughnuts.
What do you think?
♪
[sighs]
- Mom?
- [Nicky] What?
[Ethan] Mom. Uh
[panting]
- This is so messed up.
- [Chloe] What, what?
- What is it?
- This is a tabloid.
This Th-They print anything.
Baby, nobody's gonna believe this.
- [Nicky] Oh, my God. That cop leaked this.
- [Ethan] What?
[Nicky] She talked to your school
about what happened
- with the gun.
- It was a mix-up.
The gun got put in the wrong bag
when we were going between houses.
The whole thing was
blown out of proportion.
Uh, yeah. But when was this?
Last semester.
- [building phone ringing]
- Okay
- Hello?
- [Arty] I'm sorry, Ms. Taylor.
The detectives are outside with NYPD.
There's nothing I can do
if they're headed up.
Okay, Arty. Thank you.
Their detectives are back with more cops.
- You should put some clothes on.
- Take care of Ethan.
- Don't worry about me and my clothes.
- Mom!
Why are they back? What's going on?
I don't know, baby.
We're gonna figure it out.
May need to cuff the real mother.
Maybe put her outside.
Are you crazy?
You can't move white women around.
Maybe you can't, but I can.
Kid's yours.
[indistinct radio chatter]
[elevator bell dings]
Search warrant for the premises.
Need two stationed at the door.
They'll start in the bedrooms.
[Nicky] Chloe,
did they show you the warrant?
- [Chole] I-I have it.
- [Nicky sighs] Jesus.
Wait, they're searching everywhere?
Is that legal? Huh?
[Bowen] Our right to hold you in place
while the search is being conducted.
[sighs] I don't know--
Hey, this for my jewelry business, okay?
- What do you do with this?
- I stick it up your ass.
- Really?
- Yep, bag it all, Alex.
- What? You don't--
- [officer] Detectives, the lawyer's here.
Who's the commanding officer here?
- Finally.
- [Guidry] Detective Nan Guidry.
My partner Matt Bowen.
I've got four officers searching
the premises.
Michelle Sanders. I've been hired
by the family as counsel
for Ethan Macintosh.
May I see the warrant, please?
"Reason to believe Ms. Taylor is
holding evidence of a crime"?
[Guidry] The warrant speaks for itself.
Hang on a sec, guys.
Stop the search back there.
This warrant is
for all areas that the suspect,
Mr. Macintosh, has access to.
Now, you're treating Ms. Taylor
and her son as if they are co-occupants
without making any attempt to discern
between separate living spaces.
Now, I'm assuming,
with an apartment this size,
that some portion of the space is
devoted to business, correct?
Yes.
Ethan never uses the office.
It's solely for my writing
and my husband's law research.
And I have proof in our tax returns,
if you need it.
- It's a lawful write-off.
- Not necessary. Okay. Okay.
The office is off-limits.
That's where we'll be.
[quietly] Good. Thank you.
[breathing unsteadily]
[Chloe] Ethan, look at me. Look at me.
The cops are just trying to gather
all the information that they can, okay?
Just like at the house.
This has nothing to do
with the crime scene processing
they did in East Hampton.
They are looking for criminal evidence
based on probable cause
against a specific suspect.
- Well, what-what does that mean? Who?
- They have information we don't.
Ethan.
Do you have an idea what that could be?
Maybe
Kevin said something different than I did.
- What do you mean?
- Ms. Taylor, hang on.
I was on the beach by myself
for a little while the night Dad died.
But that's not what you told the police?
No. I told them
that we were together all night.
Why did you lie?
What is wrong with you?
- Ethan, I know you didn't do this.
- Of course he didn't do it.
- Are you family?
- What?
- This is my sister.
- And Ethan's mother.
Biological. Ethan lives with me.
Okay. Why was he even talking
to police without a lawyer?
I don't know. I've never,
I've never been arrested, unlike you
- Why did you lie? [mutters]
- who knows this kind of things.
Enough!
Emotions are running high, I get it,
but I need to speak to my client.
I need to talk to him privately.
So
- [scoffs]
- if you wouldn't mind, ladies.
Please.
[quiet, dramatic music playing]
[Nicky scoffs]
- [sighs]
- Okay.
It's just us now.
Son, I promise I'm gonna protect you,
gonna help you as best I can.
But you got to do
something for me, too. All right?
[muffled arguing]
Yes, ma'am.
You can't speak with the authorities
anymore without me present.
And if I'm not present, you simply say,
"I'm not talking without my lawyer."
Nothing else, just that.
Say it ten times.
[faintly] I'm not talking
without my lawyer.
[clearly] I'm not talking
without my lawyer.
- But is he, like, sick in the head?
- I'm not talking without my lawyer.
Like, is he crazy?
- Look at him. He's a good kid.
- [sighs]
Chloe, he looks
like a fucking monster right now,
because that's how these
motherfuckers are painting him.
Oh, my God.
Enough with the Jerry Springer antics.
Oh. Oh, sick burn, 1998.
[both sigh]
[phone ringing]
Hi, Catherine.
[Catherine] You saw
this article about Ethan?
Yes, of course I saw it. Who wrote it?
I want his name and his number.
They're all named Jimmy over there,
those raving assholes.
Is it true?
- All right. Call me when you can.
- [sighing]
- [mumbles]
- Okay, don't-don't even worry
about that fucking article.
It's It'll be someone else
in ten minutes.
Would you like to just pretend
to be civilized for a second
- while we try to figure this thing out?
- [mutters]
How about you stop kissing
cops' fucking asses?
- What?
- Mwah, mwah, mwah.
What-what are you fucking talking about?
Which ones?
[stammers] Borat or whoever the hell
- that mustache guy thinks he is.
- Well, at least he's the legend
of the two.
Oh, yeah, that's true.
She is a fucking dick.
Yeah.
[Nicky] Bad as a bitch with a bone.
- I know.
- we got to--
- [Guidry] Ladies.
Search has concluded.
Please return to the living area.
- "Return to the living area"?
- Yeah, it's annoying.
Okay, they fucking
found something, Chlo.
- What were they looking for?
- What are they gonna find?
- I don't know.
- We didn't do anything.
Suspect, stand over here, please.
Wait. Hey, don't fucking
call him a suspect. Okay?
- Nicky. Nicky. D-D-Don't scare him.
- Mom?
- [Nicky] Honey, it's not--
- Mom?
[Guidry] We found
the supposedly stolen items
from the Long Island home
hidden in the suspect's room
- [Nicky] What?
- [Guidry] wrapped in a trash bag
in the back of his closet.
- Bloodstain on the right shoe.
- Ethan?
[Guidry] Proof the suspect
took these items
- after murdering Adam Macintosh
- [laughs]
in an attempt
to make it look like a robbery.
My client is a minor.
He is invoking all applicable rights,
including those to silence
and to an attorney.
Hey, don't touch him!
- Ethan.
- [Nicky] You don't have to touch me.
- [Guidry] Ethan Macintosh,
you are under arrest
for the murder of Adam Macintosh.
[Nicky] No, no, no, no
Before we ask you any questions,
you must understand what your rights are.
You can decide not to answer
any questions, not to make any statements.
You understand what
I'm saying to you, Ethan?
- Okay-- Do not engage with my client.
- Just trying to make sure--
- Do not engage with my client.
- Take it easy, Counselor.
- This is easy.
- Okay, come on. Ethan.
I'm not talking
without my lawyer's permission.
Okay. Come on. You can get out of my way.
Ethan, I'm so sorry.
Baby, I'm gonna fix it.
- I promise.
- [Nicky] Just stop.
Just don't touch me. Jesus!
Watch your words, Mom.
[Nicky] Please stop touching me.
[Guidry] If you continue to struggle,
we're gonna arrest you, too.
Okay.
[breathing heavily]
No.
Ethan!
[sobs] Ethan!
[Adam] Ethan!
Ethan!
[baby Ethan coughing]
[Ethan cries]
[Tracy Chapman sings "For a Dream"]
Nicky. Nicole, Nicole.
[panting]
Nicole, wake up. Wake up. Wake up.
[coughing]
One big happy family
Stay here.
That snapshot can't be found
Ethan.
- [coughing, cooing]
- Ethan.
- It's all right
- Nicky!
- [Ethan fussing]
- Are you okay?
Nicky.
I imagine we are gathered ♪
This time not dressed in black
[Chloe sighs] Thank God you were there.
[Adam sighs] If I don't put
an involuntary psych hold on her tonight,
she'll be back in the house tomorrow.
And then the cycle will start
all over again
until she ends up killing my son.
[scoffs]
What do you need?
Someone else in the family
asking for it, other than me.
Your mother said no.
I need you.
For Christmas and for New Year ♪
I wish and I resolve ♪
But I'm disappointed by myself ♪
Jesus and Santa Claus ♪
I want to believe ♪
She's been saved
and he's been redeemed ♪
And it's all right, it's all right ♪
For a dream ♪
[tense music playing]
♪
♪
♪