The Staircase (2022) s01e07 Episode Script

Come on.
Fuck, I'm forgetting things.
Tyrone? What the
It's horseshit.
I'm not taking the goddamn plea.
So, what,
you want a retrial?
It's not what I want. It's what I need.
I am not going to say I killed Kathleen.
Jesus, Michael.
Michael, think of the money,
the years you'll waste fighting for this.
I am not a moron. I know the implications.
- If we say these words
- If I say them
If you say them, no more prison.
You want me to get up and say
I'm responsible for
the worst night of my life,
that I'm responsible
for Kathleen's suffering?
Did you listen to what I read?
We're saying you didn't do anything wrong.
Not until the very end where I say
I did everything wrong.
I'm not going to say I'm guilty.
I can't.
I want to avoid anything
that puts your freedom at risk.
I want your kids to stop worrying.
They'll understand.
They'll support me.
Mike, look around.
This is all the support you got.
I told them not to come!
Not to bother hearing
their father perjure himself!
You could be
found guilty. Again.
Yeah, with what evidence?
Everything the DA had is
inadmissible or compromised.
Except for your lies, Michael.
Your character.
Those are still in play.
You can't walk back from deceit.
From how people see you.
I'm not taking the plea.
I won't do it.
Class is going well.
The students seem more attuned.
I'm sorry, Sophie.
My days don't provide much inspiration.
I'm returning to Paris.
Jean needs his muse.
We're having trouble with the third act.
So when do you come back?
I'm not sure.
We're hoping to finish the film soon,
but I don't know.
It's hard to say when.
Penny for your thoughts?
Thoughts about what?
Come on. About me.
Us.
This.
Well, I'll go back to Paris,
and then I come back
and then
That's all.
Right. You come home to Durham.
I don't think Durham
will ever be home, Michael.
You're the only reason I'm here.
Well, we'll figure it out.
It'll be okay.
"Through her hand.
I feel the pulse of life,
"of passion.
"And I want all of her.
"Her lips, her hair,
"the skin I've yet to see.
"But the fates have denied the carnal.
"Leaving me to be tempted
and contented by the spiritual,
"the ethereal, the simple purity
"of her words and mind.
But is that enough?"
Came to me last night.
Thoughts?
To Margie, my sister.
I'm proud of you.
I am almost 30. I'm divorced.
I'm using a cardboard box as a table.
I'm proud of you for leaving him.
I know Lucas was a good guy.
He was the best guy.
I hope he's okay.
Yeah, see, you've got to
take all of that energy
that you're putting
on other people and focus it on yourself.
What do you mean?
Well, when you finally start
paying attention to yourself,
you can't hide anymore.
Okay. So what am I ignoring here?
Lucas used to say the same shit.
We've been through a lot,
and you've never really talked about it.
We've never
You can either let the past haunt you
or you move on.
I can't change what happened.
You can't either.
True. But I can try to understand it.
Why I felt like something was wrong
even before that night.
And that's why, you know, I'm going to,
I'm going to go back home.
What do you mean go home?
Just tell me what you're talking about.
I've saved up almost
enough money to go to Germany.
I've been talking to Patty,
and she still lives in
the same apartment complex
that we grew up in.
She says she can take me to Mom's house
and bring Agnes over to talk.
- You're going to Germany?
- Margie.
I knew you would be pissed. I knew it.
And I don't want to hide things from you.
Well, then, next time, just keep quiet
about your bullshit self-exploration.
You know, you're supposed
to be helping me.
And now I have to worry about you again.
Fuck! I always have to keep an eye on you,
and it's so fucking tiring
because I'm always, for years, worrying
if you're high somewhere
or if you have a job
or if you're going
to do something to yourself.
Germany's going to help.
Why do you care? Why are you so mad?
Every time I talk
about when we were kids,
you shut down, just like Dad.
Don't go.
For me.
Please.
I'm sorry. I have to.
Fuck you.
Hey, John, I want you to come here a sec.
SBI is dirty.
Given more time, I can prove
that consequential evidence
was withheld and misrepresented.
Test results were hidden.
Now, this man is serving a life sentence,
missing valuable time
with people he loves.
So would Durham be
the focus here?
- Definitely.
- Let's get you down there.
We need evidence of misconduct and motive.
You got to see this.
Body's already in the morgue.
My god.
It's unbelievable.
20:32
TUESDAY, JUNE 8, 2010
ALL INBOXES
AUTOPAY REPOR Darling. How's Paris?
Everything's good here.
Fantastic. How's the old man?
Jean?
Stressed but surviving.
Tell Jean I said hello.
I'd love to see him here sometime.
Michael, I've got to go.
Speak soon.
Bye.
I was surprised
to get your email.
What email?
About the homicide.
Injuries are congruent with a beating.
Okay. I don't know
who sent that to you,
but it wasn't me.
You have something on your
So, a man was killed.
Police are pursuing a suspect.
The newspaper's writing about it.
Seems like there's clear motive.
And the murder weapon is
a heavy flashlight.
So what's the connection?
Cause of death is blunt
force trauma to the head.
- It's a homicide.
- Okay.
And there were no
skull fractures, which means
- No.
- the nature of Kathleen Peterson's death
is no longer an anomaly.
But all those autopsy reports.
Every other beating case,
they all had skull fractures.
Until now.
You said there was motive.
Officially, robbery gone wrong.
But Detective Holland thinks
the men knew each other.
Sorry. Dr. Radisch,
can I show you something?
Excuse me.
REPORT OF AUTOPSY EXAMINATION
AUTOPSY NUMBER: B04-2759
DECEDENT: DENNIS WAYNE ROWE
SEX: MALE
Rowe?
Let's get ahead of it.
It was Dennis Rowe?
Dennis Rowe. R-O-W-E.
My sources say he has a limp.
A limp?
Says you had sex with him
four or five times.
You're shitting me.
- That's what he's claiming.
- Oh my god!
Rather know now than later.
Did he indicate where
this great love affair took place?
- Hello?
- Jean.
I'm still in Durham.
I'm sorry I can't leave.
Ok.
Do you remember Dennis rowe?
Of course I remember Dennis rowe!
Michael was so
uncomfortable.
Dennis is dead.
Dead?
He was beaten in the head and
there were no skull fractures.
Just like Kathleen.
Wow. Okay.
Do you think
do you think Michael was lying
about Dennis?
Did he sleep with him?
Absolutely.
DECEMBER 5, 2001
FOUR DAYS BEFORE
KATHLEEN'S DEATH
I will take them.
And I'll split it on these two.
You got it.
So are you excited for the holidays?
Well, I was,
but my boyfriend and I broke up,
and now I'm devastated.
Before the holidays?
God, some people are strange.
I guess it can be stressful.
Well, apparently he was so stressed,
he had to fuck other people.
- It's complicated.
- Look up, please.
My first husband, Fred,
he used to lie all the time,
and I was like, "Never again.
"Never again. Give me the truth.
The good, the bad, and the ugly."
You know what?
The stories I make up in my own head
are far worse than reality.
But you're married again?
Yup. To a real piece of work.
Yeah. He's the strangest,
most exciting person I've ever met.
That sounds great.
- And impossible.
- That's it.
It's always two things with Michael.
- Michael. That's his name?
- Yeah.
Unless he's pulling a long con.
Yeah.
So this watch is $300 more?
Yes. The diamonds make it special.
Yeah.
Okay, well, I'm going to have
to go with the cheaper one,
and I would love it gift wrapped.
Of course.
You're shitting me.
Hello?
MP. What is up, man?
I'm sorry. Who is this?
Simon.
- Your agent.
- Oh, Simon.
Yes!
"Charlie Two Shoes."
- Remember that old horse?
- Sure. I wrote it.
Yeah, right.
Sorry. Anyways,
I just got off the phone
and I got some really good news.
Graefenhausen
Germany
Hey, Patty.
Hello, Martha baby. You've arrived.
I trust you traveled well.
Airplanes are so fast.
Thank you again for having me.
Of course.
Once you're settled in here,
we can head over
to your mother's house this afternoon.
Okay.
It is so good to see you.
Let's get you cleaned up.
This home was filled with much joy
and so much pain.
But I suppose
it is impossible to have one
without the other?
Thank you for your infinite generosity.
Of course.
I heard about what happened here.
Please take all the time you need.
You lit this match.
Son of a bitch
can't stop cheating.
Now it's gonna burn.
Hi. Freda Black?
My name's Evelyn Ivins.
You got something that needs cleaning?
My partners and I,
we're filming follow-up interviews
for a documentary
to investigate
what we've learned over the years.
- Sure.
- Do you mind putting it in?
The wire.
That's it.
Fire away.
Thanks so much for coming here.
I'd like to know more
about your past employer.
Honey, I've had several past employers.
Yeah, the Durham District Attorney.
Thank you.
I'm not one to kiss and tell.
Even though you're the one
working at a dry cleaner
and Jim Harden's a judge?
I'm sure the case
was complicated,
but, you know, at the end of the day,
everything pointed to murder.
Kathleen Peterson was killed
at the bottom of that staircase.
Did you ever consider the alternatives?
Honestly, not much.
I don't ignore facts.
You had debt, work stress,
empty nest, infidelity,
and the discovery of a lie.
I wish murder wasn't predictable,
but it is.
So, what if it was murder?
Okay.
Go on.
Michael sleeps with a man.
Dennis.
So you heard about Dennis Rowe?
What's this
interview really about?
I'd like to know more
about the relationship
between the Durham DA
and the State Bureau of Investigation.
- SBI.
- The SBI is an independent agency,
arriving at objective conclusions
based on the evidence in hand.
There is no relationship.
Well, what I found suggests
that isn't really what's going on.
The DA's office,
they write the year-end
performance reviews
for all SBI analysts.
What are you suggesting?
That it's pretty hard to stay objective
when your raise is being determined
by the prosecution.
No.
Honey, the Durham DA
and the SBI aren't hiding anything.
It's no secret.
It may be problematic,
but it's not illegal.
Until the problematic
relationship encourages SBI
to shade evidence or hide it
to suit the DA's needs.
Okay. Alright, well go on.
Dennis tells someone
he knows about a rich man
with a big house
and accidentally
puts an idea into a bad man's head.
And that bad man goes to 1810 Cedar,
ends up killing Kathleen.
Kathleen and Dennis had the same injuries.
So the same man
could have killed them both.
So what you're saying is
Rowe tells Tyrone Lacour about Peterson.
Tyrone Lacour?
I'm sorry, who's this?
Well, he killed Rowe.
Career criminal.
I'm sorry. Your mic. I can't
- Wait.
- What?
I started as a defense attorney.
My family, they had run-ins with the law,
and I thought when I get the chance,
why not help those in need?
But then I met the needy.
Men,
mostly men,
doing horrible things to women.
And as a defense attorney,
I had to do my best to get 'em off.
But you know what? When it came to
the wife beaters,
I didn't even really have
to try all that hard.
You know, hit a woman
and give her a little.
If you're unlucky, you get
three months max in county.
But steal a man's car?
No, now we're talking real crime.
Say Lacour's,
he's late on rent.
Sorry.
So he goes to Peterson's
to steal some stuff that he could sell.
He surprises Kathleen.
One thing leads to another, and
you've got yourself a crime scene
worth making a movie about.
- Exactly.
- Yeah, but we,
we didn't find any signs of an intruder.
Maybe you missed the signs.
No, we didn't, we didn't miss any
'cause there weren't any.
Because Lacour,
he knew Peterson
in the same way Dennis knew Peterson.
Michael knew Lacour?
Oh yeah. When we
questioned Rowe, he folded.
Told us that Peterson was getting
a piece of Lacour too.
Lacour didn't need to break in
because he'd been there before.
With Michael.
Michael slept with both of them?
Michael Peterson
fucked a lot of people.
But this Lacour thing, it's good, Sophie.
It's real good.
I'm going to follow up on this.
I got worn out
helping the wrong people,
so I decided to switch teams.
I could make a difference
in the DA's office.
And it felt good, mostly.
Sometimes it didn't.
Because you weren't playing fair.
Life's not fair.
And the law reflects that.
If I think someone's done something wrong,
how am I going to live with myself
if I don't do everything in my power
to stop 'em from doing it again?
Freda, there are three men
from around the state
who have been executed
on faulty SBI evidence.
They were killed for crimes
they didn't commit.
That true?
I'm working
on a specific case.
There's a man sitting in prison
who shouldn't be there.
I got an order of napkins I need to press.
Will you testify to
the quid pro quo nature
of the SBI/DA relationship?
You know where to find me, sweetie.
I can't really remember her.
Your mom was an angel.
She treasured you girls.
What was she like after my dad died?
Liz was a mess.
She couldn't understand
why something like this
would happen to her.
To you girls.
After she died, your emotions were so big.
You had tantrums.
That's what made Michael so mad.
He couldn't control you.
He didn't like that.
So he did bad things.
Did you see him hit me?
No.
I only saw what happened after he hit you.
Bruises on your arms, your face.
It was unbearable.
You were too young
to remember, but Margaret.
she could tell you.
- She knows.
- No. That's not right.
Aunt Blair could tell you
how horrible Michael was bouncing you
from home to home.
Michael and Patty kept
giving you away to people.
Giving us away?
There was a German couple who wanted
to adopt you and Margaret.
It didn't work out with them,
so you went to Texas.
Then Memphis. Then Aunt Blair.
Wait, what are you talking about?
Then Michael wanted to keep Margaret
and give you away.
Your mama and papa were already gone.
Could you imagine
taking your sister from you?
What was so wrong with me?
Martha.
You were simply acting
like a child who had lost her father
and then her dear mother.
Lightning struck twice, and it
just made you a nightmare.
That's all.
- I was three.
- You had fits and tantrums.
You hurt yourself.
You were bruised all the time.
We could not assuage
your inner turmoil.
Michael and I loved you,
but it seemed
we could not love you enough.
So you tried to give me away?
Jesus, Patty.
I live my life trying my best
and also believing
that everyone else is trying their best.
And that is all people can do.
That's all we can expect from them.
I extend this philosophy
to all my children.
And even to Michael.
When I feel disappointed,
I know it's simply my belief
in a reality that never truly existed.
Are you disappointed, Martha?
I just wonder
if all of this hadn't happened,
who would I be?
If things had been different,
you would be different.
For what it's worth,
I really love who you are.
And I look forward to knowing
the Martha you will become.
You look beautiful.
Beautiful women deserve good news.
We do?
Simon called.
- Simon?
- My agent.
Right.
Remember "Charlie Two Shoes"?
Oh yeah, I loved that book.
Well, that book just got
optioned by some producer
who wants to turn it into a movie.
- Big one.
- Really?
- Yeah.
- Michael.
You're not just telling me
something I want to hear
to make me feel better, are you?
Check my phone.
Simon called. The option's guaranteed.
What happens then, I have no idea,
but it seems promising.
- How much?
- $10,000.
Okay.
Well, tomorrow we'll celebrate,
have a fun dinner.
I'll go and buy that watch for Caitlin
that she really wants.
She's got such good taste,
just like her mother.
Oh shit.
We gotta light the candles and leave.
Something happening at Nortel
you're not telling me about?
I know!
Kathleen.
Excuse me.
Hey, Devon.
Isn't this pretty crazy?
- Maybe a little much.
- Yeah.
Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.
Remember CommTech?
The company Nortel bought?
Yeah, of course.
Well, they just sold it.
- Who?
- They, as in, we.
Nortel sold it for nothing.
Who told you that?
Amber, Ethan's assistant.
She saw something on his desk.
What does this mean?
Why would we sell a company we just bought
for less than we bought it?
I don't know, whatever it means,
we can't do anything about it tonight.
So just
Okay.
I'm sorry to ruin your night.
Why don't you go flirt with someone
you shouldn't be flirting with.
Okay.
Your cocktail.
You see that line?
I had to butter up the bartender
just to cut in front.
He's cute.
I could get his number.
For whom?
Hey, Sophie.
You have bad news?
The Lacour theory was good, Sophie.
It was really good.
How do you know it wasn't him?
Tyrone's got the perfect alibi.
Check again.
The night Kathleen died, he was in jail.
That man wasn't at 1810 Cedar.
At least not in December 2001.
You came around.
You know Kathleen didn't fall.
No.
We don't know that. Not for sure.
In my experience, a woman
either has an accident
or she doesn't.
But, hey, that's just,
that's just my experience.
Well, in my experience,
I've always found life
to be far more complicated
than yes or no, black or white.
An owl, or something
you've never thought about.
Sophie, sometimes life isn't complicated.
The answers, they're sitting
right there in front of you
just waiting for you to see 'em.
I don't need you here anymore.
Take care, Sophie.
I didn't know you were back.
Is everything okay? Are the kids
I never left Durham.
Well,
you didn't have to lie to me.
- Why did you?
- Dennis Rowe.
You slept with him.
Dennis was killed.
Okay.
Blunt force trauma to the head
with no skull fractures.
No.
That's unbelievable.
Oddly, that's not the part
that's hard to believe.
The man who killed him
was another man you knew.
Tyrone Lacour.
You slept with him, too.
Michael,
you know, I thought maybe
I finally got the answer
that if this guy had killed Kathleen,
that it was all a horrible mistake.
But all I did was open Pandora's box.
This is crazy.
Michael!
Don't you have anything to say?
I lied about Dennis.
I don't know Tyrone.
At least, I don't think I do.
Sure, it's possible.
Sophie, I don't want to be the reason
you can't get the life you want.
If you need something more,
if you need something different than this,
than me,
I understand.
But you're what I want.
I'm not her.
I'm not Kathleen.
No, I know you're not.
I want the truth, just like she did.
And
I won't share you, not in that way.
No, you don't. And you won't.
I'll give you everything.
So what do you want to do here?
I need more time.
Jean.
Sophie.
Sophie, Sophie, Sophie.
Generique de fin
what do you think?
There's a lot of work to do.
We've been here before.
I'm sorry
I've been out of it. I'll make up for it.
I promise.
If you don't live life,
you can't represent it.
Well, so
how is this life you're living?
Things with Michael are
Everything was simple in the beginning.
That's love, Sophie.
You paint people in their best light,
and then the light fades.
Sometimes, you find that light again,
and sometimes you don't.
He's so far away.
See, if I can't be with him, can't
understand him
then at least I must know
what happened that night.
Why that woman?
Why that man? Why them?
Maybe that's why we suffer:
Because we think
that even complicated love
is better than none at all.
Shit.
I need to go home and kiss my kids
before they go to bed.
Is there anyone in the room
who thinks she didn't know?
Mike said Kathleen knew.
So she must have known, right?
Right?
Has anyone in this room
ever successfully hidden
anything from their wives?
Moving on.
With Freda's help,
we can prove
that they didn't have
the results to convict him,
and they buried exculpatory evidence.
Before we go public,
you're 100 percent sure
this guy didn't do it.
He's innocent.
But there's more.
It seems to be a systemic issue.
I can't tell you how widespread
the corruption goes,
but I can say for sure
this isn't just a one-off thing.
He's not the only victim here.
Alright. Do we have motive?
Motive?
I think I got that too.
I'm not sure there's anything to find.
Keep looking.
Case 432. What's shaking
with that lawnmower?
- Sir, what's going on?
- On your knees, sir.
On your knees. On your knees.
- On your knees.
- What's going on?
Keep your eyes to the front.
Evidence now shows that
the North Carolina State
Bureau of Investigation
has failed to perform their duty.
Findings by the Innocence Project revealed
that SBI frequently withheld test results
that contradicted the DA's case.
And this is how Greg Taylor
spent 19 years in prison
for a crime he did not commit.
Taylor was convicted in 1993
in the beating death of Jacquetta Thomas.
The only physical evidence
was a spot of blood
found near the wheel of his SUV.
But further testing by SBI
revealed the substance
was inconsistent with human blood.
This second test was
never shared with the court
or with Taylor's defense.
Evelyn Ivins, an attorney
for the North Carolina Innocence Project,
led the investigation into SBI.
Our findings in
the Greg Taylor case suggest
SBI labs intentionally
hid exculpatory evidence
that would have exonerated him.
Further investigation leads us to believe
that the corruption between state DA
and the supposedly independent
investigative unit,
it's a complex web of lies,
which is why we are thrilled
to announce audits
of all SBI cases to date
to ensure other wrongly convicted men
and women get their day in court.
What the fuck?
- Sir.
- No, I'm going in.
- You can't go in there.
- Yes. Call security.
- Sir!
- We're very good friends.
Trust me. He's going
to be very happy to see me.
My money was on tomorrow,
but tonight works.
David, this SBI thing
is just absolute insanity.
Those motherfuckers!
Okay, settle down, Bill.
We always knew they were full of shit.
Now we have proof.
You should have known
how corrupt they were.
- Jesus Christ!
- Of course, I knew.
They were all corrupt.
Which was why we ran our own tests.
It's why I cost so much.
But when the state audits our case,
they aren't going to find
any SBI wrongdoing.
We kept our eyes on things.
You think Tom Maher's going to let
some bullshit like this fly?
We can't give up.
Hey, nobody said anything about giving up.
You did.
Three years ago.
You left my brother to rot in there.
Come on, sit.
Please, sit.
Bill, hey.
Come on. Please, sit.
Sit.
LEGAL REVIEW MAGAZINE
TOP TEN LAWYERS OF 2003
LINGERING LAWS FROM
THE EUGENICS BOARD OF NORTH CAROLINA
I don't keep this because I'm in it.
I keep it 'cause I'm not.
It reminds me of Michael.
The mistakes I made.
The ones you only see in hindsight.
I don't like to lose.
And I really don't like seeing
my clients in prison,
especially when they're innocent.
But we already did some digging.
SBI didn't fuck us.
Yes, David, but?
An SBI agent did.
A Mr. Duane Deaver lied
about his experience.
He lied on the stand, under oath.
He said he was an expert.
That he had overseen, what,
500 blood spatter cases.
At the time Deaver testified,
he'd only been to fifty-fucking-four.
- Deaver perjured himself?
- Yeah.
What does that get us?
Well, we've been here before
with the computers.
We need to prove
that Deaver's testimony swayed
the jury enough
that had it not been included,
the verdict could have gone another way.
- And then?
- And then maybe,
maybe by the grace of a reasonable God,
we get a hearing for a retrial.
Not a retrial, but a hearing for one.
If that goes the way we want it to,
he will be out.
- That's good.
- Yeah.
- That's good.
- It's really good.
I don't care what it takes or how long.
You're going to make up
for these mistakes.
You're going to figure out
how this helps my brother.
And you're going to do it for free.
He's not listening to reason.
You you may want to rethink
your tickets for tomorrow.
He's not taking the plea?
I'll speak with him.
Okay. Be my guest.
Tell him he's being a fool. Okay?
A moron. This has been
years in the making.
He is lucky to be here today.
He could go back to prison.
That is a very real reality.
Just let me talk to him, David.
I know this wasn't our plan. I'm sorry.
We've talked about this.
You'd have to lie about that night.
To get what you want.
What we want.
But I can't lie anymore.
I'm not perfect. Jesus, no man is.
But I'm not this.
And the kids,
the money.
But if I don't sign, it all starts again.
And if you take this plea,
you can leave Durham tomorrow.
And finally be done.
Whatever you decide. I'll be here.
But I must say one thing.
The DA doesn't care about
what really happened.
People who believe you're guilty,
they do not care about other truths.
The table's crooked, Michael.
No matter the circumstance,
they'll never say they were wrong.
Why the fuck not?
Why can't they just see
that's what happened?
They made a mistake.
We get to go back and correct it.
We get to fix the past,
and that's never an option.
But today
today it is.
I need to speak with Jean alone.
Kathleen Peterson's office.
Sure.
Kathleen.
Kathleen.
They want to see you.
Remember you have Mike's
celebration dinner tonight.
This one was done.
Yeah, it's gonna be a long day.
Yeah, it's brutal,
but what can we do?
Thank you for joining us
on such short notice.
- Of course.
- Sit.
I wish we could say we called you here
with better news, but
it seems we won't be giving
end-of-year bonuses.
Okay. Yes, that is
that is bad news.
None of us will be
receiving bonuses.
The third and fourth quarters were
challenging.
So, no year-end bonuses.
Correct.
See, I was just sitting at my desk,
and I watched our stock drop
27 percent in under four minutes.
It has not stopped going down.
Who cares about bonuses?
I just lost my retirement.
All of it.
Nearly a million dollars.
Sorry I'm late.
Did you come straight from the gym?
Indeed.
Here.
- Have you been home?
- Busy day.
Someone gave me
a list of Christmas chores.
What should we order?
I already did.
I ordered a lot.
Celebration.
But seriously, this book option
could lead to some real money.
And then you can rest,
not worry so much about Nortel.
That's great.
That's great, Michael.
I have to tell you something.
Shoot.
I thought you would
have already known, but
our stocks,
Nortel.
It's all gone. Everything's gone.
What are you talking about?
Retirement account.
Moving to Paris in ten years.
All our dreams, they're dead.
It's all gone.
The bubble burst.
You're shitting me. We're poor?
All those hours and work trips
and sacrifices.
I mean, I have
wasted
years of my life.
And now I'm sitting here in this
fucking Chinese restaurant,
and I don't even know if I
can afford this stupid meal.
Hey, no.
The movie's going to work out?
What?
Do you think some Hollywood producer's
going to come along
and make you a millionaire?
Are you kidding?
You're fucking kidding me, Michael?
We'll figure it out. It'll be okay.
The only way this will be okay
is if I make it okay,
and I am way too fucking exhausted.
You're not alone here.
Well, sometimes I think
it would be easier if I was.
I see.
What? What do you see?
Joan of Arc burning before me.
- What?
- You know, you used to be fun.
Your eyes, they used
to have a light behind them.
And now all I see is this stress case.
You forgot what it is
to smile, to be alive.
Fuck you, Michael.
You know, you used
to take care of yourself.
You used to be a really good time.
A good time?
I am too busy to be anyone's good time.
I am busy working.
I am busy raising your children.
Margaret and Martha,
they were a mess before me.
And the boys. Your boys.
I am the one who supports them.
I am the one who visited
Clayton in prison.
And Todd, god, he is so lost
looking for your approval,
I don't think he'll
ever find his way home.
And you just wander
through life, going to the gym
and yelling at the dogs
and spending my money,
promising these big,
beautiful dreams like Paris,
and then you don't do a goddamn
thing to make them happen.
I thought I married a man.
It turns out all I got was a boy
who is only good
for getting drinks at the bar.
Say something.
Michael.
Are you even here?!
Of course, I am.
I'm here for you,
for the kids,
for my parents,
for my men in combat.
I've always been here.
Maybe you're the one who's disappeared.
Maybe the problem is that the life
you have isn't the life you want.
And I am damned, Kathleen, if I'm going
to continue to be your whipping boy.
So figure it out!
Or move on.
Congratulations.
You're upset.
You shouldn't drive.
I'm gonna finish the song.
Fuck!
This is it!
Yes!
I'm sorry. Can I help you?
DECEMBER 9, 2011
NIGHT BEFORE RETRIAL HEARING
Hey, Margie.
- Hey, stranger.
- Hey.
Look how strong
your dad is!
Baby, come here.
Want to give Aunt Margie a hug?
Hi, Aunt Margie.
Hey, Clay.
- How are you?
- Yeah, good.
- Don't you wanna go say hi?
- Hi!
Oh my god. You girls are getting so big!
Okay, come on. Let's go in.
How are you?
I'm fine. How are you?
- Nervous.
- Yeah.
- It's gonna be good.
- Hey, Clay, grab my bag.