The Boroughs (2026) s01e05 Episode Script

[chilling, suspenseful music playing]
[Wally] Any monsters?
Not yet!
[Judy] What the hell is this place?
No idea.
Any monsters now?
[both] No!
I'm coming down!
Okay.
Whoops. Got it.
Ooh…
Okay.
Oh! Weapon.
A weapon, weapon. I need a weapon.
No.
Ah!
- [Sam] Almost there, Wally.
- [Wally] Okay.
How many more?
[Sam] Yeah. Just a couple more.
- There you go.
- Oh!
- You all right?
- Yeah, yeah. Living the dream.
[Judy] Guys!
Come look at this!
[Sam] Jesus Christ!
[Judy] Lord, today.
What is it?
It's my address.
This is my address.
So, Renee,
Art and Judy, Sam, Jack, me.
It's the whole cul-de-sac.
[Sam] Blood trail.
- It's leading that way.
- Uh-huh.
Toward the desert.
Well, let's kill a monster.
[bold, heroic music playing]
[music trails off]
[TV signal drones]
[intriguing, unsettling
intro music playing]
[music trails off]
Anneliese?
Darling?
[opera music playing faintly]
[rhythmic thumping]
What a shame.
She was so young.
[breathy, unsettling whispers]
[erratic glitchy bursts]
[gasps]
["Belshazzar (feat. The Tennessee Two)"
by Johnny Cash playing]
Well, the Bible tells us about a man ♪
Who ruled Babylon and all its land ♪
Around the city he built a wall ♪
And declared that Babylon
Would never fall ♪
[resident 1]
Have a wonderful day, Mr. Shaw!
He called his Babylon "Paradise" ♪
Upon his throne he drank and ate ♪
But for Belshazzer it was getting late ♪
[resident 2] Morning, Mr. Shaw.
- Hey there, Mr. Shaw.
- Good morning, Mr. Shaw.
His kingdom was divided
It couldn't stand ♪
[song trails off]
[phone ringing, buzzing]
It's 8:58, Hank.
Sorry. Waited as long as I could.
Business is for business hours.
Yeah, well, I got a situation here.
I pay you to handle situations.
I've been meaning
to talk to you about that.
I mean, I think I might deserve a raise.
Is that so?
Yeah, well,
I've had a lot on my plate lately.
I mean, between Scar going missin'
and the 75th anniversary and Sam Cooper--
I am handling Mr. Cooper.
I've already put in a call
to his daughter.
Okay, look, I don't need much.
Just enough
to keep up my energy, you know?
Well, unfortunately, your portion
was agreed upon when you joined the team.
But if you're finding
your duties too difficult,
I know Ernest is angling for a promotion.
You could always switch.
He could take your job,
and you could babysit
the kids downstairs full-time.
That won't be necessary.
Good.
So whatever the situation is,
I'm sure that you will do your job
and take care of it.
Yes, sir.
[sighs heavily]
[suspenseful music playing]
Well,
looks like you and me
are going on a little trip.
Can't have anybody tracking us, now.
So where's that phone?
[Paz struggling, muffled]
Smile.
[Hank] Renee.
Huh!
You nabbed yourself an old lady?
[muffled] Fuck you!
It's against company policy.
[music trails off]
[Anneliese] Good morning.
Oh, sorry.
I didn't see you there.
How are you feeling?
You're gonna have to speak up
because I left my robot ears at home.
Robot ears?
It's what I call my hearing aids.
[Anneliese scoffs]
I asked how you're feeling.
[Art] Oh.
Like an old man who had a few too many.
Uncle Nearest got you.
That he did.
[both chuckling]
Funny.
I didn't notice your robot ears
in the bar.
Huh.
How did you do it?
Do what?
I saw your hair
turn from black to gray
with my own eyes.
[Art chuckling]
[uneasy music playing]
I think Uncle Nearest got to you too.
There are wonders in The Boroughs.
Tucked away.
Hidden.
Buried.
But I've seen them.
And I suspect
that you have too.
We can help each other.
If you trust me.
Lady, I appreciate your help.
I really do.
But I'm just an old guy
who had a few too many.
Now, if you'll excuse me,
I'd like to get dressed
and get home where I belong.
Say hi to Judy.
[tense, frantic music playing]
Wally! I don't know
where the hell you are,
but I need to talk to you, okay?
So you better drop
whatever it is you're doing--
[pounding at door]
Oh, this better be you.
Morning, Renee.
Mind if I come in?
Why?
I caught a break
in your missing quartz case.
Not a good time.
Make time.
No! No!
[tense, frantic music playing]
No!
No! No! No!
Oh! Oh God!
Help! Help!
[kettle whistling]
[Hank shushing]
[whistling increases in volume]
[whistling trails off]
[Judy] These tunnels go on forever.
[Wally] Anything?
[Sam] Nothing.
- [Judy] We've lost the trail.
- [Sam] Just give me a minute.
- [Judy] Sam!
- [Wally] Oh, let him look.
We've come this far.
[Wally groans]
How many bullets do you have in that?
Got three.
And her name is Ethel.
You named your gun?
I didn't want the kids
to know there was a gun in the house.
I wrote some stories.
Got a few death threats.
Mmm. Ethel's a cute name.
[Judy] She's named after Ethel Payne,
the first lady of the Black press.
She broke the big stories.
Not that fluff and puff they put on me
before they pushed me out.
[Wally] You know,
we all set out to change the world.
And most of us end up changed by it.
[Wally coughing in distance]
[suspenseful music playing]
[faint whispering]
[Sam] This way!
[Wally] Found more blood?
Yeah.
If you don’t marry that girl by six,
we’re out of the money.
I said stand still.
[Stooge on TV] Moe, I'm blind!
You burnt my eye out!
Get a towel, Moe. Get a towel.
[Three Stooges continuing faintly]
[orderly] Come now.
Classics never die.
Hello, Claire. I'm Blaine Shaw.
- Thank you for agreeing to meet with me.
- You said it was important.
Is my father okay?
Ah, uh…
Walk with me, please?
You know, I am extraordinarily proud
of The Boroughs.
But The Manor may be
my single greatest accomplishment.
I know it may seem strange,
but everything you see here
is based on cutting-edge research.
I thought we were gonna be talking
about my father.
We are.
Well, he doesn't… belong here.
The signs can be subtle at first.
Well, there's nothing subtle about my dad.
He, uh…
He broke into our mortuary, Claire.
[scoffs] What?
He said he needed to say goodbye
to a recently deceased neighbor.
Yeah, well, maybe he did.
Well, perhaps.
But that doesn't explain why he then
forced the corpse's mouth open.
Or why he proceeded to start ranting
about monsters when I confronted him.
Well, my father's not crazy, so…
No.
Nobody here is crazy.
They just… need a little extra help.
Now, take, um, Mike Ellis there.
Every day for 20 years,
Mike rode the bus to work
with his best friend, Charlie.
When Mike developed dementia,
he would ask where Charlie was.
Every day.
And every day,
his family would remind him
that Charlie was dead.
So every day, Mike reexperienced
the death of his best friend.
And then one morning,
his children found him wandering
real streets in search of a real bus stop.
So they brought him here,
where Mike can safely wait
for his best friend in peace.
How charmingly patronizing of you.
People suffering from dementia,
they don't experience time like you and I.
It's not a straight line for them.
It is an open ocean, and they're lost.
Adrift.
But this is a safe harbor
for the people we love.
Talk to your father.
See for yourself.
Before someone finds him
wandering the streets like poor Mr. Ellis.
[uneasy music playing]
[music trails off]
It's still warm.
That's… disconcerting.
[Wally groans]
You two don't look so good.
Well, I've got cancer.
- What's your excuse?
- [both stifle laughter]
[harrowing howl in distance]
Last chance.
Let's do what we came to do.
[muffled struggling]
Hey, hey, it's okay.
Renee, hey. It's me.
Hold on, hold on.
What are you doing here?
Hank caught me sniffing around.
Hey.
This is my trunk.
Yeah, we've been driving a while.
We must be outside The Boroughs now.
We're slowing down.
What's the plan?
Scream bloody murder?
Hope somebody hears us?
- Yeah, works for me.
- Yeah.
- Ready?
- Ready.
[both yelling] Help!
Somebody help!
[Paz, barely audible]
Somebody get us out of here!
[Paz, Renee yelling] Help!
- [Renee] Somebody help!
- [Paz] Help!
[Paz, Renee] Help!
[Hank grunts heavily]
[Paz] Somebody help us! Help!
- [Paz] Help! Let us out!
- [Renee] Somebody let us out!
[Paz] Somebody! Hello?
- Anybody out there, get us out of here!
- [Renee] Help!
[Renee] Listen.
[Paz] What the… What the fuck is…?
[Renee] Oh shit! Hey, don't!
[both banging within trunk]
Stop! [Renee coughs]
[Renee] Help!
[Paz] Please!
Hank!
[Paz, Renee coughing, banging on trunk]
[harrowing growl in distance]
One, two…
[Judy] Holy shit.
[piteous mewling]
[Judy] Oh, God!
[melancholy music playing]
[creature pants]
No.
What are you doing?
I have to stop the bleeding.
What, you want to save it?
Of course. I want to study it.
This thing killed Jack.
It's not a threat now. Look at it.
You saw what one drop
of its blood could do.
Imagine the possibilities.
[gunshot echoing]
Why did you do that?
[somber music playing]
It was suffering.
[Wally] What a waste.
Sam, what's the matter?
That scar is new.
[Wally] No.
That looks old to me.
The thing that killed Jack
didn't have a scar.
But that means…
[furious howling in distance]
It's got a friend.
[multiple howls]
- Many friends.
- How many bullets does Ethel have left?
- Only three.
- Wally, can you run?
Uh, well, I can certainly try.
Let's go.
[Judy] Sam!
- [glitchy audio whirring]
- [Lilly, jaggedly] Sam!
[indistinct, overlapping vocalizations]
[Lilly wailing, glitching]
[Wally] Sam! Sam!
Come on, we gotta go!
[mysterious music playing]
No.
No!
No, no, no!
You can't be dead. No.
You can't be…
Just one more.
Just one more peach.
Oh…
[Anneliese] This used to be a coal mine.
Opened in 1868 to modest success.
But in 1910, they found copper.
That changed everything.
You're following me.
A whole town sprung up overnight.
Life was good.
For a time.
By '45, the copper had dried up.
There were more bodies
in the cemetery than the saloon.
In '49, the mining company
sold the whole thing off.
The new owners
signed the contract in pencil.
Because nobody could find a pen.
The next day,
they traced over the lead with ink.
So it would all be nice and official.
How can you know that?
Because I'm the one who bought it.
Well, me and my husband.
Well, how old are you?
[disconcerting warbling]
Never ask a lady her age.
What do you want from me?
I want to know.
Like you.
Tell me how you did it.
Tell me, and I'll tell you
everything.
Lie to me, and all you'll know
is endless nothing.
Well…
The tree was blooming when I found it.
There was a peach.
And just one.
And when I reached for it,
the juice
healed a cut on my hand, and I…
and I took a bite.
Oh, God, it tasted good.
It's been a long time
since I'd felt young.
And this…
this is all that's left of it.
No, no, don't!
[unnerving music playing]
[distressing gurgling]
[Anneliese wailing]
[Art] Are you all right?
Good God!
[Anneliese] Disappointing.
At first, I was afraid
that you stumbled on the truth.
Then,
I hoped that you'd found another way.
But now…
It's just another
dead end!
What are you?
Alive!
[Art] Oh shit!
[faint, rhythmic breathing]
Morning, doll!
Keep them lungs moving.
Clear the gas out.
The last thing I need
is a toxicology report.
Lovers dying of carbon monoxide
is suspicious.
Lovebirds dying in a car crash…
Well… [laughs]
That's tragedy.
[engine sputtering, backfiring]
What the--
[car horn honks]
[sustained honking]
Great.
[honking stops]
[Hank screams]
Bitch!
Oh shit!
- Where do you think you're goin'?
- Not with you, bitch!
Jump!
[Hank yelling faintly]
- Hi.
- Hi.
Thanks for the catch.
Yeah. Anytime.
[sweeping, hopeful music playing]
[lighter flicking]
[ominous music playing]
[Art] No! No! No! No!
[Art screaming]
These tunnels must lead somewhere.
Well, as long as it's away
from those monsters, I'm good.
- [Art screaming in distance] No!
- That's Art!
- Impossible!
- It is! It's him!
- [Wally] Judy!
- [Judy] No, come on!
- [Wally] Wait, Judy!
- [Judy] Art!
[Art screaming] No! No! No!
- [Judy] Art!
- [Art] No!
No!
[Anneliese snarling]
God!
[shrill vocalizing]
[guttural growl]
What the fuck?!
[Anneliese shrieks]
[Art grunting]
- Are you okay?
- What are you doing here, baby?
- How do we get out?
- That way!
- Are you sure?
- Yeah.
- Go!
- Come!
- Judy, come on!
- I'm coming!
[Paz] Can't wait to see what we do
for our third date.
[Renee chuckles] Applebee's?
Hey, that's Art's truck.
What's he doing out here?
Oh, man. Hey!
[Paz] Hey! Over here!
[Renee] Art!
Come on. Over here.
Re-Re?
Wally?
What the hell are you doing out here?
[mysterious music playing]
[Renee] You want to see
something really crazy? Here.
Look. This is a picture from 1972.
Oh God. I had that jacket.
That would make both of them over 80.
Or older.
Anneliese was talking about
doing stuff in 1949.
How would she manage that?
They must have a grove
of Art's peach trees somewhere.
[Art] No, I don't think so.
She was talking about
hoping I'd found another way.
So what's their way?
Yeah.
They got a…
a room underneath security,
full of monsters locked in cages.
It was…
It was sad.
So why would they keep monsters?
Art said the peach healed his hand,
made him feel young.
So whatever was in the peach
is in the monster's blood?
Blaine and them are drinking
monster blood to stay young?
Explains why they're keeping
those things locked up like pigs.
So, the creatures feed on us,
and they feed on the creatures.
Yeah. The circle of life.
Yeah, I saw Hank
knock back some weird golden goo.
He was begging Blaine for more.
Except that the creature's blood was blue.
So what was Hank drinking?
We're still missing a piece of the puzzle.
[Waitress] You ready to order?
Baby, we need a minute.
What about drinks?
- No.
- Water's good.
You have to order.
We'll take six fries.
Oh, Renee, the sodium.
I can't eat fried food.
Nobody has to eat the fries.
I need to eat something.
We need a plan.
I am sure as hell
not going back to The Boroughs.
- First, we have to get somewhere safe.
- Run away.
Nobody's running away.
We have to play this smart
if we're gonna take these bastards down.
Don't worry. We're coming back.
Yeah, one problem.
I need my meds.
I'm on a strict schedule,
and very bad things happen
if I don't keep to it.
- I'll get them.
- That's too dangerous.
Hank's dead.
No one else knows I'm involved.
I could get in and out
before anyone knows.
- Well, be careful.
- I will.
Here, take my truck.
- Thanks.
- Thanks, Paz.
Wait!
- Don't die.
- Don't tell me what to do.
Slut.
[woman] But you're not sure?
[man] I'd have to drive it
around the block.
Why don't you drop by tomorrow evening,
around 8:30? He'll be in then.
- Who?
- My husband.
You were anxious
to talk to him, weren't you?
[man] I was,
but I'm sort of getting over the idea.
- [woman] There's a speed limit.
- [door opens]
Forty-five miles an hour.
[man] How fast was I going, Officer?
- [woman] I'd say around 90.
- Suppose you get off your motorcycle…
Hello, darling. How was your day?
[eerie music playing]
Bad.
It's all right. It's all right.
You're home here. You're safe.
Don't worry, love.
I'll make you right as rain.
That's it.
That's it.
There you go.
There you go.
[sinister music playing]
Just drink. Just drink.
You'll be good as new in no time, my love.
[eerie music playing]
What happened?
Tell me.
They hurt me.
Whoever it was will pay.
Promise?
I promise.
Oh, we should go to Argentina.
Hide out. It's classic.
I always wanted to go to the Poconos.
Where are the Poconos?
Nobody knows.
Judy, where do you want to go?
Um, I'll let you know.
- We're closing. You'll have to go.
- I'm wondering, can we--
- We're closing.
- Okay, then.
[door opens]
[Judy] Hey.
What are you doing out here?
I'm thinking.
Smoking.
We should tell the kids what's going on.
It's too much to tell the kids.
- They wouldn't believe it.
- Spencer will.
Might.
Nayera, no. She won't.
- I know--
- Never even believed in Santa.
I know about Jack.
Oh.
So that's what this smoky,
moody behavior is about?
I found his shirt, Judy.
Art…
You all go wherever you want.
I'm going my own way.
[sighs]
Someone's coming.
[tense music playing]
Oh, come on.
I love that place. I would come back.
[Sam] How did they find us?
Maybe they caught Paz.
Or he flipped.
He wouldn't.
[Art] Well, they got us now.
So we fight.
It's too late for that, Sam.
We're beat.
[suspenseful, mysterious
outro music playing]