The Better Sister (2025) s01e05 Episode Script

1
Previously on The Better Sister
- [Nicky] You don't have to touch me!
- [Guidry] Ethan Macintosh,
you are under arrest
for the murder of Adam Macintosh.
They sent me a therapist.
Hey, that's good, right?
[McCabe] Some of these threats are coming
from a computer registered to
- The Real Thing.
- Well, that's my office.
Yeah.
Holding on to secrets?
Slow poison.
[laughs]
[Ken] Tell your sister what happened.
Your end.
He got into bed with me, Chlo.
You're gonna bring this up now?
May I offer you a martini?
[Chloe] Nicky, let's go home.
- Please.
- You brought me here.
Now I'm staying.
[tense music playing]
[Chloe] Sid Evans. He's a reporter.
You know, I'm not hiding my sister
for my sake.
- It's for Ethan.
- You want to talk about it?
Off the record.
[line ringing]
- [phone buzzing]
- It's her.
[chuckling]
[Bill] I need you to check
something out for me.
Before this girl gets herself killed.
- [Wanda Jackson sings "Whirlpool"]
- You've got me ♪
You've got me falling down and down ♪
Down and down and down and down ♪
You've got me spinning round and round ♪
Round and round and round and round ♪
Loving good and loving true
Five pounds
of strawberry shortcake for you.
[chuckles]
Can I tell you how boring
antitrust law is?
Is it as boring as this shift?
Because it is so slow today.
Hmm.
Maybe we need a little [clicks tongue]
I [stammers] I've got to concentrate.
All right. Of course, of course.
- Sorry, sorry.
- Time and place.
Yes, the time might be now.
Crazy, crazy over you
Uh, yeah, maybe I should go.
I don't want to
I don't want to get you fired here.
What? Don't you dare.
I love seeing you sitting back here
building our future.
[chuckles]
Your customers are coming.
[Nicky] Oh. Blanche.
Hello.
How are you today? You guys look so great.
We want to sit in your section.
[Nicky laughing] Oh, you better.
[Blanche] Is that your husband?
Now, no flirting, ladies.
He's busy studying.
He's gonna be a big-time lawyer.
We starting with Cokes or coffee today?
[quiet, tense music playing]
- [insects trilling]
- [birds chirping]
[groans]
[sighs]
[sighs]
♪
[moaning]
[panting]
Yes.
[moans] Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
♪
[groaning]
[sighs]
[match strikes]
[Chloe] Hi.
[Catherine over phone] Sid's holding
the article until closer to the trial.
It'll have more impact.
What's the target date?
That's out of our hands now.
[sighs] I'm not feeling good about this.
Maybe we should pull it?
Go for a run.
Hope my sister didn't outstay her welcome.
She's certainly got charisma.
Oh, God.
I'm afraid to ask what that means.
Nicky?
[quiet, tense music playing]
[sighs]
[sniffs]
♪
"As the legal guardian of Ethan Macintosh,
I hereby grant permission
to administer the antidepressant
fluoxetine, effective immediately."
Can we smoke in here?
You with the health department?
Yeah. Here's my badge.
Bloody Mary. Triple.
[sighs]
[sighs] Now I'm seeing things.
No shit.
My sister's schizo.
She sees floating lamps.
My father, dead five years.
My ex-husband, just murdered.
- Oh.
- Mm-hmm.
All kinds of lamps.
Maybe she's looking
for the light, your sister.
[chuckles] Not the type.
It's these fucking ghosts.
It would be nice if I could get an answer
if they're gonna just drop in.
I mean, my ex,
I don't even know what's there with us.
And, you know, he was right about me.
I was fucking right about him.
But my dad,
my dad, I would like
Aw, fuck.
Use me.
That's what I'm here for.
[quiet, ominous music playing]
What, you shy all of a sudden, Dad?
Hey.
You know the rules.
Do I?
Hmm. You're loaded,
you don't get him.
Ask.
Just ask.
How do you make peace
with all the terrible things you've done?
Can you be more specific?
He knows what I mean.
[barfly] No one talks about it.
Give me something.
He would've died.
For the country.
[laughing] Oh, fuck no.
Sometimes you got to fight your way out,
and country disappears.
There's nothing left but you and it.
And "it" is?
Whatever's between you and the exit.
♪
You forgive yourself?
You act like a man,
live with what you did.
And if you're a woman?
More so.
You bear the burden of your choices,
and you move on
because sitting still will kill you.
Can I touch him?
♪
[Nicky] Yeah.
[breathes deeply]
That's good.
[crying]
[gentle music playing over speakers]
[engine revving outside]
[hip-hop playing quietly
over truck stereo]
The fuck?
Oh, fuck, Chloe.
- Sorry.
- [music stops]
I just saw you from in there
and thought I would come and say hi.
Well, hello.
Hi.
Hey, dawg, not now. Come on.
How's Ethan?
Do you know how many times
Ethan covered for you?
Yeah. Uh, I guess.
But this?
This was different.
I didn't expect you to lie to the police.
But I did want you to tell
the whole truth about my son.
'Cause he is loyal and kind,
despite the fact that his father
came down so hard on him.
Ethan didn't like Adam.
Do you like your dad?
Yeah, sure. He's all right.
Well, that's not what Ethan confided.
Fistfight you got into
right in front of him in your kitchen.
It was stupid. It was about Pizza Rolls.
Yeah.
Now imagine he
- turns up murdered.
- [scoffs]
You're fucked up.
How does that look
to the rest of the world?
Ethan never said a word to Adam
about you dealing drugs.
That pot he found in our house,
that was yours.
Maybe he should've.
[quiet, tense music playing]
What do you want?
If the court calls you to the stand,
just remember the good things, too.
You say anything to my mom
about, you know
what I do?
Clean this car.
It's fucking disgusting in here.
[Kevin scoffs]
[Dee] Working on those records
from those online threats, Nan,
those fucking
messaging platforms take forever.
Double-encrypted, end-to-end bullshit.
Think they're the flag-bearers
of the First Amendment.
Really, they're just providing
safe haven for pederasts.
- Am I right?
- What a world.
Meaning to say
[clears throat] Poppit stuff's on its way,
emails associated with all the usernames
making posts about Chloe Taylor.
Get it to you soon as possible.
All right, thanks, Dee.
Sooner's better, you know?
Yeah, of course.
[Guidry sighs]
- What's up with tech?
- Uh
Dee's working on the threats to the widow
coming from the office computer.
Cross our T's.
Path of thoroughness.
Listen, we're gonna time comes,
we're gonna want you on the stand
on this, Nan, representing us.
Yeah.
Nothing against Bowen.
No, no, he never
liked the kid for this anyway.
Heart wouldn't be in it.
Yours is the face that makes sense.
Right.
That is, if you think
you can stand the attention.
Uh, I can, most definitely.
All right, that's it.
Keep me posted.
[Bnny sings "Promises"]
I haven't been happy in years ♪
So what's a few more tears? ♪
[Ken] I read this in a
favorite book of mine this morning.
Mm, it's funny
how different lines strike you
different times, different ways.
"If I begin to feel daunted,
I'll go off by myself.
I'm like a cat that way."
Isolating, it can restore people like us.
But salvation is with each other.
Fuck yeah.
Our brothers
and lone sister.
Oh.
This is a stag meeting?
Because I'm I'm cool with it.
Before we begin, anyone counting days?
Yes?
Um
hours, actually.
Does anybody got a watch?
It's, like, maybe 45 minutes.
You want to share?
I just did.
I'm here.
You were a cat.
Now welcome back.
Anyone else?
[tense music playing]
[inhales deeply]
[exhales]
- [Nicky sighs]
- Excuse me.
You want to grab a coffee?
I-I got things to do.
Mm, wallowing?
[chuckles] Yep.
Using?
Not today.
My kid's trial date got set.
Well, that's a good thing, yeah?
Uh, depends how it goes, I suppose.
How are you here every day?
Like, what do you do for work?
I write books.
- Really?
- Mm-hmm.
- Like, self-publish?
- No.
Simon & Schuster does that for me.
Do you do you want one?
Wow, yeah.
I could, uh I could use
a good doorstop.
Shades off when you're insulting me.
You on an amends tour today?
I'm miles away from the steps.
Your advice sucked.
Just so you know.
[sighs] Smuggler's Gulch?
I'm excited.
- Wow.
- [car door closes]
- [Chloe] Yes, um
- [engine starts]
hi, Agent Olivero.
You knew my late husband Adam Macintosh.
My name is Chloe Taylor.
Would you please return my call?
It's very important.
Thank you.
[suspenseful music playing]
Fucking disgusting.
[typing]
Wow.
- [typing]
- [whispering] You're a real loser, Chad.
[scoffs]
[knocking]
[gasps softly]
God, put some clothes on.
Come in for a minute.
Why are you ignoring
my messages and calls?
- 'Cause I don't want to talk to you.
- Why?
You told Bill about us.
Oh. So you went through
my phone when I left?
I'm not apologizing.
Th-That's not the only thing I saw.
What does Bill want you
to find in my house?
Bill wanted me to make sure
Adam didn't leave anything out here
that he shouldn't have.
Work stuff.
And I didn't want to bother you
about that,
so I told him I did it
just to get him off our backs.
And, uh
look, the other thing about us--
Yeah, beyond idiotic, pathetic.
Fucking Bill of all people.
He loves to leverage that shit.
- He's got a selective moral compass.
- Okay, wait.
I told Chuck, not Bill.
At the health club one night.
- [sighs] Fuck.
- I I was drunk.
- It was a mistake.
- Yeah.
I'm sorry.
What exactly did you tell him?
I I told him
I told him that
I was in love with you.
I told him I-I didn't know
if you felt the same way.
Hey.
How can I make this up to you?
Don't.
Stop, stop, stop, stop.
- Please. You know I can't.
- Shh.
- It's okay.
- Just stay away from me.
Stay away from me.
Is that what you want me to do?
[door opens and closes]
- [whispers] You got to go, you got to go.
- [Nicky coughing]
Uh, thank you so much,
uh, for stopping by.
What's going on there?
Nothing. Jake lives down the beach.
- [Nicky chuckles]
- You know, he's the one
that gave us the referral for Sanders.
That's a sick bod.
Hard to pull off that outfit.
Well, it's a wet suit, not an outfit.
- You were out late.
- Yeah.
Broke curfew. Sorry, Mom.
Well, I found your dress
outside by the pool,
and I did your laundry
and found this in your jacket.
Okay.
- Listen, I agree, okay? I agree.
- [Nicky stammers]
I think getting Ethan
on antidepressants was right.
Just, next time, when you're making
decisions for him, I want to discuss it.
Okay, yeah.
Of course.
So, what happened at Catherine's?
The worst wake I ever went to.
- What happened with the drinking?
- [sighs]
One phony douchebag after another
and you parading me around
in front of them.
You're right.
I'm sorry. It was awful.
Yeah.
Just
It's scary when you drink.
I just wanted to eat gazpacho with you.
[scoffs]
[quiet, tense music playing]
[sighs]
Hey, um
you want to continue
that conversation we started
about Dad, I'm here for it.
I've had enough of Hank today.
Can't bring that in.
They're just treats for my son.
He's only 17.
Food is easy to hide contraband in.
It's not allowed.
Sorry.
[dramatic music playing]
Mom. [sighs]
Hi.
- Oh, my God.
- I asked Nicky not to say anything.
- I'm fine. I'm fine. Really.
- Oh, my God.
[sighs] Okay.
I'm so sorry. I had things for you.
I had, um, food,
and they wouldn't let me bring it in.
I even had the dumpling soup
that you love.
- That cheap one.
- [laughs]
When I get out of here
- Right.
- we can eat
canned dumpling soup together.
[laughing] Okay.
- Have you been exercising?
- [laughs]
Why? Do I look good?
- Yes.
- [laughs]
I know you're on medication and
I just want to say I'm sorry I didn't
help you with that sooner.
How does it make you feel?
Comfortable in my skin.
Good.
- I really miss you.
- I miss you, too.
And everything just
- sucks without you.
- [laughs]
[laughs]
[sniffling]
- It's been good seeing Nicky.
- Yeah.
I bet it's been nice to get to know her.
Baby, what is it?
[sighs] It actually hasn't been
that long since I talked to her.
- Wh-What do you mean?
- We text.
And talk on the phone sometimes.
She gave me a flip phone, like,
five years ago at Grandpa's funeral.
We didn't actually start, you know,
um, talking until recently.
[tense, dramatic music playing]
[sighs]
Um
You know, I found that secret phone
in my office.
Yeah, Michelle said.
It's evidence now.
Is there anything in there
that I should know?
Anything incriminating?
Not about me.
Kevin's the only other person
who had the number.
Oh.
How's it been with Nicky?
She's-she's come a long way, right?
With her drinking and stuff?
I just can't wait for you to come home.
[birds chirping]
I love how he sleeps
with his little butt in the air.
- Are you okay?
- God, you know,
I always wanted a pool, and I just feel
like the blue of this pool is so weird.
Right?
All your art stuff is in the basement.
I just saw it.
Why don't you bring it out here,
keep your hands busy?
Yeah. Yeah, you're right.
Just fuck these fucking hormones.
Are you going to be able
to take care of our son today?
Of course.
Bye.
[mysterious music playing]
It's worse.
Like, like, she can't get out of it.
Chloe, I can't keep track
of the lies anymore.
Yeah, maybe. I
I don't know
if I can trust her around him.
[sighs]
You scared me.
Ethan told me about the phone
you gave him at Dad's funeral.
Then you sat in my car, lying,
pretending you don't know whose it is,
letting me believe
that it might be Adam's.
- I was protecting him. I--
- S-Stop.
Then you tell me this Dad story
right as we're trying to leave
to attend a memorial
for our murdered husband.
And it's, uh
it's bewildering to you
that I can't address it.
[scoffs] You said it didn't happen.
It did.
You were trying to shit on every little
bit of good that I got from our family.
I told you,
because I'm tired of carrying it alone--
You taught Ethan to lie to me.
And out of all the damage
that you have done--
Our lives are a lie.
Your life is a lie!
What did Ethan tell you?
[slow, mysterious music playing]
Look, um
You're right.
I'm sorry.
I am truly sorry
for everything.
- [sniffles]
- Really.
Yeah, well, it's not like
your apology just ends it.
'Cause one trespass leads to another,
leads to another,
and you're just nothing
without this constant drama.
Just a
fucking empty hole.
You're so mean sometimes, you know?
I'm gonna head to the city for a while,
till I can visit him again.
How was he?
You mean besides all
the fucking bruises on his face?
He asked me not to worry you. I--
You love this control.
- [sighs]
- Yeah, maybe you should just
try to act halfway clean
next time you see him.
Try to hide the fact
that we fucking hate each other.
[Sanders] Two sisters diverged
in the woods.
The pariah they erased
from their family history
now has sole access to that son.
It's the luckiest break
this broken woman has ever had.
Time alone with her sweet boy
while he's in the joint.
You like the kid.
- Yeah.
- [phone ringing]
He's the only mature one in that family,
- that's for sure.
- [chuckles] Yeah.
- Chloe's tech detective keeps calling.
- Why?
Must be following up
on the threats from her office.
So, an employee or two hates her.
Doesn't mean that they killed her husband.
And not to mention,
none of it's admissible in court.
- Right.
- Okay.
- So
- Mother-aunt and
Subpoenas are in process,
all the communications from the accounts
found on Ethan Macintosh's computer.
- And what about the burner phone?
- Irrelevant.
- Wasn't the defendant's.
- Uh, Adam Macintosh's work files?
The-the boss, Braddock, he-he got cagey
when we asked him about the case
that Adam had been working on,
the Gentry Group--
Why would we undermine our case
by looking like we were searching
for additional suspects?
The strength of our case relies upon
there being no other suspect
with as much supportive evidence.
Any evidence that might introduce
another potential suspect
would be the reasonable doubt
a jury needs to acquit.
So, why would we,
we, the prosecution, go looking for that?
Dom, that kind of dramatic effect
probably works in trial,
but at present, sounds like
you're reading slam poetry to slow kids.
- [scoffs]
- [laughs]
You cops are so thin-skinned.
Don't let him get to you.
That little kerchief in his pocket
invalidates anything he might say,
far as I'm concerned.
Listen to me.
His job is to speak in technicalities.
Yours is to find anything
that goes in either column.
We still got a few weeks left till trial.
I know you don't love the kid for this,
and while I may disagree,
it either is or isn't him.
Is that Yogi Berra?
[laughs softly]
[phone chimes]
Oh. Google Alert for Chloe Taylor.
Tides have turned.
This is your problem.
Keeping tabs on there,
not in the real world.
Say what you're saying.
Look, go up there in the cloud and get the
messages off the burner phone yourself.
Go into town, make trouble
at the husband's office.
Rattle the boss's cage.
Be proactive, okay?
As long as it doesn't
take you too far astray,
be thorough,
follow the path as far as it goes.
You're a good detective.
Thank you, Nan.
- Shut the fuck up.
- [laughs]
[Ken on audiobook] "The meat stewed
in its own liquor, a near beige in tone.
A healthy oyster at least.
He had learned early
how to tell if one went bad.
Its flesh would be weathered, cloudy.
Brown, gray or black meant contamination.
Pink once in a while.
Red if it was really gone.
He always had a hard time
throwing the red ones out.
[slow, suspenseful music playing]
It felt odd that the sickest ones
were the brightest hue,
the most vital.
The ones that seemed closest to life
were nearest to death.
But there was no helping it.
They never came back from red.
He tossed them and went back, searching
for the fleshy beige
that meant there was life."
Jury selection is complete
in the case of Ethan Macintosh,
with the trial set to begin in two weeks.
The New York City teenager
who's been charged in his father's murder,
in what some have dubbed
the "Hamptons Homicide,'"
has benefited
from a speedy process all around.
Here today to provide analysis
is Michael Bachner.
[phone ringing]
This is Chloe Taylor.
[Olivero] This is Agent Olivero
returning your call.
You want to talk?
[Guidry] Yes, I want you
to be comfortable.
We just have different definitions
what that means.
Three fans in one bedroom
is excessive, that's all.
Your body is in revolt.
Please take some
of that primrose oil that I bought.
Hey, Detective.
Uh, honey, let me call you right back.
Yeah, I will.
Time for a change at the house, huh?
- That your wife?
- Perimenopause.
Tried to prepare her for it,
but she wasn't having it.
Blaming hot flashes on global warming.
But you know how that is.
I really don't.
Well, it's nothing to have shame about,
natural order of things.
I'm doing fine,
but they sell lube at the checkout.
Your sister here?
You know damn well she's in Manhattan.
Your partner's all over it.
- He's got a real hard-on for her.
- What a crazy turn, right?
Going from beloved do-gooder
to the world knowing
you stole your sister's life.
[slow, pensive music playing]
"Raised a monster, living in luxury."
And you out there working two shitty jobs
just to pay rent on
a Shaker Heights-adjacent apartment.
Where are you getting this from?
My partner and his Google Alerts.
Yeah. Not a lot of sympathy
left out there for your sister, though,
no matter how many Latin checkout girls
she pretends to care about.
- Here. I got you.
- No. I-I got--
You came off looking good, though--
the wronged mother.
You'd think
you were the one with the publicist.
All right, thank you, Cagney and Lacey.
I'm sure your wife's
sweating her menopausal balls off.
Oh, yeah, it's been hot at night,
I'll give her that. No relief.
You're living out there,
though, by the water,
central AC, the works.
Who could've predicted that?
See you in a couple weeks.
Oh, by the way, "Cagney and Lacey,"
it's a compliment.
It's gonna look great in there.
Twat.
[indistinct chatter]
[Olivero] Ms. Taylor.
I'm Special Agent Edward Olivero.
This is, uh, Special Agent Troy Younger.
- Hello.
- Let the lady sit, please.
Thank you.
Not a lot of room in here.
[Olivero] This one is breaking
my balls all day about my waistline.
- So, um, my husband.
- [Olivero] Oh.
- Our condolences.
- Thank you.
Thank you. Um
he told me he was working with you
before he died.
You know what's coming.
We can't confirm or deny that.
I can confirm
that he is dead because of it.
- Because of his work with you.
- [Olivero sighs]
Have you talked
to the detectives working this case
- about this theory?
- No.
'Cause there's not much we can do for you.
Well, I talked to the people
that I know at the law firm.
- Lawyers close ranks.
- But our door is always open to you.
So we can have
another elliptical conversation.
It's a condition of our position.
[sighs]
Do you want a cup of coffee?
My son is good.
And he will die in prison
for a crime he didn't commit.
He didn't do this.
He didn't do this.
[Olivero] I'll walk you out.
[whispers] I'll be right back.
[siren wailing]
Ms. Taylor, wait.
- Off the record?
- Yes.
Get into his office files
and ping me if you find something.
We need intel on the Gentry Group.
They'll never let me do that.
Don't ask. You're his wife.
His property is yours now.
So this is definitely part
of what happened to him?
If you can get me
something concrete, firm,
I can give you something real.
What'll I get?
You mention this conversation,
particularly to anyone
involved in your son's case,
prison time.
Other than that,
let me know what you want.
[uneasy music playing]
[sighs]
[camera shutter clicking]
[clicks]
[grunts]
I feel so betrayed.
- Like, how could she leave all this out?
- Right?
She mentions her mother
in her Congress testimony
but never a sister.
Exactly. Not a word.
She invented this whole other life.
"The Real Thing." Give me a break.
[Content Creator 1] I know, right? Like,
- what truth are we supposed to believe?
- [Nicky sighs]
[Content Creator 2] This is
triggering for you.
[Content Creator 1] It is.
She was on my vision board.
And I feel for her-- it's awful--
but you know karma, she always comes back.
Good episode title.
- Dipshits.
- [clicks]
[dog barking]
Oh. [chuckles]
Uh, I-I came for the Tupperware.
[Catherine] It's Nicky, Chloe's sister.
My daughter says hello.
[Nicky] Oh. Hey, hey, Janie.
[Catherine] Get your dog
or I'm gonna put it in a cab.
You said one night and a week later,
fucking Franzen is still here.
They may have thrown your Tupperware out.
- The dog's name is Franzen?
- Who cares?
Oh. Seems like more of a "Buck" to me.
Want a cappuccino?
This machine does everything.
Ah, no, I'm okay.
Good, because I don't know how it works.
Deena, please, the dog, it stinks.
[groans]
[Nicky chuckles]
[sighs] Sit.
I'm the only one
allowed to flutter in place.
Um, about your party, I just
You think I never
fucked a waiter at a wake?
I invented that move.
Still, I-I apologize.
Unnecessary.
Oh, but do stay away from my daughter.
She likes nothing more than an unavailable
hot mess of a straight woman.
Who said I'm unavailable?
[chuckles]
- She just wanted to buy my jewelry.
- Not even Etsy.
I'll buy some.
[chuckles] Yeah.
If you like it, great.
Look, I don't I don't really trust you.
But I think you love Chloe.
You don't like women very much, do you?
Excuse me?
Oh, you white girls and your mama issues.
Your mothers send you out in the world
just thinking about men,
so you fuck each other over
just to get one.
Thank God we don't do that shit.
We don't have the luxury.
We stick together.
We talking about white women right now
or Black women or?
You are sitting in my kitchen, so yes,
we are talking about Black women.
Well, just so you know, I don't see color.
[laughs]
You're fucking with me.
And I only hate some women.
Well, while you're hating on each other,
the man's world that we live in
just keeps on spinning.
You selfish bitches
just won't share with each other.
And all the while, the men, those fuckers,
they're moving the ball
down the field together.
They work together.
So, you want to grow up, play together?
Get some shit done?
Like a Black woman?
Like a motherfucking king.
[chuckles softly]
It's bad, the press.
We got to do something
to make Chloe look better.
I'll handle the optics.
[sighs] Thank you.
Anything else?
Yeah. You ever get lonely
in a house this big?
Stop it.
Never. [laughs]
[uneasy ambient music playing]
[sighs softly]
[phone beeps]
Hey, Nicky, um
I'm coming back to the house, so
clean up whatever mess you made
before I get there.
[sighs]
[Chloe] Um, what about sculpture garden
at MOMA, and then dinner at the Carlyle?
[Sheila] My sister and I went
to Carnegie Deli
on her 21st birthday trip.
I have seen that picture.
- Very big sandwiches. We could split one.
- [chuckles]
Sure. But don't you want to see a show?
I could get some really good seats
through the magazine.
Great sorrow of my life, losing my sister.
I know.
[somber music playing]
I want you to know
that I'm quite proud of you.
All that you've done here.
Thanks, Mom.
What a view. [chuckles]
Yeah, you want to go sit outside?
[sighs] No.
But you know what would
really make me proud,
is if you made up with your sister.
[sighs]
Yeah, it's not really that simple.
I know. I know.
But make it happen.
You did all this. You can do that.
For me.
[Nicky] Really, Hank?
You got nothing for me, huh?
I thought you'd have
all kinds of tips and tricks
for getting bloodstains out.
[sighs] Maybe, uh,
human's different than
fish or rabbit.
[quiet, tense music playing]
[breath trembling softly]
[line ringing]
[Ken over phone] Hello?
Hi. I-I got your number
off the stag sign-in sheet.
I-I'm listening to your book.
Oh, yeah? Which one?
I don't know. Uh
I just like the sound of your voice.
I-I like what you said about
red oysters.
Mm. What are you doing?
Uh, sprucing up a bit, for my sister.
What does it look like where you write?
Uh, well, there are lots of books,
lots of windows.
You doing okay?
I need a favor, if you've got a minute.
Yeah. I'm right here.
Would you pray with me?
- [sighs]
- Sure.
I'm on my knees.
You're on your way to standing up.
[shaky exhale]
[door opens]
[door closes]
[tense ambient music playing]
[soft knock on door]
[door closes]
- Oh, hey.
- Hey.
I moved out here.
Give us space.
You've been busy.
[sighs]
Your hair looks really good.
Yeah.
Yours, too.
[chuckles]
So, um
What are we wearing to this thing?
All right, um
- Try this one.
- [sighs]
That's the back?
This is like a little baby bib.
No, it's beautiful.
Um [sighs]
Okay, just so you know,
I-I might have some information
about what Adam was involved in.
Some good he was trying to do
that pissed off some really bad people.
Did you give Sanders this vague update?
I can't really be specific, okay?
It's-it's very serious,
and I could get in a lot of trouble.
Okay, we're picking outfits to wear
to our son's murder trial, Chlo.
[ominous music playing]
All right, there are other
parties with other interests involved.
- Okay?
- Uh-huh. Okay.
Um
and they think I might have access
to something that
they may have use of.
Maybe something
that might have made Adam a target.
And what do these other people
with other interests
maybe want you to do about it?
Get it for them.
Okay.
Whatever Deep Throat garage
you meet these fuckers in,
you tell them they don't get shit
unless they publicly
state that whatever Adam was into
could've led to this,
that there are other people with
legitimate reasons for wanting him dead.
[sighs] Good.
Okay.
Looks like he was keeping busy, too.
[sighs] Yeah.
♪
Ooh. Wow.
Oh, you look good.
[Nicky chuckles softly]
Because I look like you.
[sighs]
[phone chimes]
Fuck.
[phone chimes]
"According to our sources,
Nicole Macintosh drank and popped pills
and was dangerously neglectful
to young Ethan,
leading one day to his near-drowning.
Chloe Taylor didn't steal her husband
and son from her sister.
She saved them."
[inhales deeply]
[exhales]
[Nicky] Chlo, you ready to go?
[tense music playing]
Yeah.
Nicole, did you try to drown your own kid?
What happened that night?
Nicole, Nicole!
What kind of drugs were you on?
- Oxy? Molly? Quaaludes?
- Wait. What is going on?
- Nicole, are you still using?
- Fuck off.
Ethan stabbed his father to death
because you're a terrible mother.
- What do you have to say about that?
- Move back. Move back.
- Keep walking. Just keep walking.
- How long did you stay
in the psychiatric hospital?!
- Leave us alone!
- Did you tell them all this?
- Move back.
- Huh?
- Thank you.
What did you do?
♪
[mouthing]
All rise.
[Arty] When Ethan was a little guy,
he used to like
to help me shovel snow
from the front of the building.
He liked to sprinkle salt on the sidewalk,
make sure no one slipped.
He loved
watching it chew through the ice,
you know?
And not for nothing. Uh
his mom is one of the best.
You know, she takes care of us.
Not just at Christmastime, either.
Coffee and the like.
She listens, remembers names.
She's good people.
Ethan's cool. You know?
Not like the other kids from the city.
Doesn't care how big your house is
or what kind of car you drive.
[chuckles softly] Dude's even got
a knight costume under his bed.
[Kevin chuckles]
Like, one he takes really good care of.
Dude even polishes it.
[light laughter]
But, yeah, he's real cool.
And he's my brother.
When we went to Kevin Dunham's house
to deliver the news,
Ethan Macintosh acted
as if the information wasn't new to him.
Fifteen years-plus on the job,
that type of reaction,
that was a first.
Like he wasn't surprised.
Like he knew it was coming.
Like he'd thought about it before.
I've been the headmistress
at Casden High School for 20 years.
Ethan's father wanted to transfer him
to military school after junior year.
And Adam discussed this with me,
and I told Ethan about it.
I thought it might get him to comprehend
the gravity of his situation.
What did Ethan say when you told him about
his father's plan for military school?
He said
"He can't do that to me.
I'll find a way to stop him."
[sighs]
[reporters clamoring]
[reporter] These last weeks, the defense
has tried to paint Ethan Macintosh
as a good kid,
while the prosecution
has aimed to shed light
on his oftentimes threatening relationship
with his father.
As he takes the stand
for cross-examination today,
everyone is wondering
what the young man might say.
Just came in from tech.
Took her long enough.
Got to get it to Dom Willis.
Are you sure about this, Nan?
You're the one who always says
what happens up there online isn't real.
Well, this sure is.
Would you say the circumstances
around your moving
to New York and Chloe becoming
your mother were traumatic?
I was two.
[Willis] What was the story you were told?
My mom always said
that my biological mother had issues
and that she needed to deal with them
and she couldn't be the mother I needed
and everything happens for a reason.
Was this reinforced?
This version of events.
We didn't talk about my-my other mom.
So it wasn't mentioned ever?
Forbidden even?
Like, without saying it was.
Keeping secrets and leading double lives--
this is what your family is about.
Objection, Your Honor.
Overruled. Go on, please.
We see it in ghettos,
what some refer to
as "underserved communities."
Mostly Black, brown.
The corrosive impact of neglect.
The link between early trauma
and propensity for violence later in life.
[Sanders] Objection.
Your Honor, spare us the irrelevant
- cultural observations.
- [Edelman] Overruled.
But, uh, let's wind it down, counselor.
We're used to drawing these parallels
in low-income communities.
But it's also true for wealthy white kids.
Human.
No matter how much money your folks have.
They broke you early
and they broke you good, didn't they?
[Nicky] Oh, this fucking asshole.
Quiet in the courtroom, please.
[whispers] Where the fuck
is he going with this?
Unfortunately,
many of these things
were beyond your control.
And yet here we are,
living with the results.
- [Nicky scoffs]
- We talked about
how Chloe was a busy
and committed public figure.
We also talked about Chloe's public role.
How it led to threats against her
on various platforms.
Some of these threats
were coming from a computer
that was registered
to The Real Thing magazine.
We know this.
But what we have yet to talk about
was that that computer was stored
in Chloe Taylor's home
- and used by Ethan.
- [whispers] What is that?
And one of the most avid posters
on those sites,
someone by the name of Kurt Lo Mein,
that account was linked
to your email, Ethan.
It was you, wasn't it?
Reading posts that were threatening rape.
Rape.
Against your mother.
Death threats.
Threats you read from users
with whom you engaged.
But some of these posts
were actually about your father.
In one exchange, Kurt Lo Mein posts--
Objection. The counselor is testifying.
Ethan, would you mind reading this for me,
starting with the username?
[tense music playing]
"Kurt Lo Mein:
She'd be better off if he were dead."
"CHAD69: You want her
all to yourself, Kurt?"
"Kurt Lo Mein:
Off him? I'd do it.
Look at that face.
You know he deserves it."
Ethan, did you make these comments?
Yes.
[gallery gasping, murmuring]
Why?
'Cause it's how I felt.
How did you feel?
♪
[shuddering]
Like there were times I wanted him gone.
[somber music playing]
♪
♪
♪