The Lowdown (2025) s01e08 Episode Script

1
You need a recommendation?
What?
Need a recommend?
No, thanks.
All right. Suit yourself.
I'm reading The Man Who Fell to Earth.
[chuckling]
You ever read that?
- I have actually.
- Hmm.
- Oh.
- I'll take this.
Mmm. Nice choice.
Thanks.
My name is Dale Washberg.
Lee Raybon.
I've read your articles.
Oh, yeah?
- They're very good.
- Oh, whew. [chuckles]
It's a brave thing, being a writer.
Putting yourself out there like that.
I'm a writer, huh?
Most people call me asshole,
you know? [chuckles]
I consider myself more of a truthstorian.
A truthstorian?
What exactly is a truthstorian?
Well, I made it up, you know.
But you know how they say
there's more to every story?
Well, that's what I try to find.
- Truthstorian. I like that.
- [chuckles]
- It says $15.
- Yeah.
I'm going to give you 20.
Oh.
Thank you very much.
Appreciate that.
"There is only one plot."
"Things are not as they seem."
Who said that?
Jim Thompson said that. [chuckles]
[people screaming]
…Citizen's arrest!
Ha. Ha, ha, ha.
You come with me right now.
[stuttering] I'm not. I stood my ground.
He come at me with a gun.
- [Lee] You killed him!
- [Frank] I stood my ground.
No! [panting]
I'm not the bad guy. He's the bad guy.
- Come on!
- Shoot him.
[Lee] No, no, no! He's a murderer!
No, don't point your gun!
He's the bad guy, not me. Hey!
Hey! Hey, hey!
- I am a federal agent…
- Yeah, yeah.
…and everything is under control.
He's a security guard.
I'm undercover, asshole.
Now, I'm here to arrest this man
- on behalf of Donald Washberg.
- What? Me? Me? What did I do?
- He's been harassing the future governor.
- [Lee] What?
He is insane and a complete asshole.
And… That's all.
- Carry on with your reading.
- Yeah, yeah.
[people clamoring]
Fuck's going on?
Go get 'em.
[militiaman] Come on. Let's go.
- [Lee] Okay.
- Shh.
You fucking saved me, man.
You're like fucking Bass Reeves
or some shit.
- You're incredible. Holy fuck.
- Shut the fuck up!
- [Lee] That was awesome.
- [Marty] Go!
[engine revs]
- [tires screech]
- [Marty shouts, groans]
- [screams]
- Fuck! Oh, shit!
- Oh, they got me!
- They get you?
- Man down! Man down!
- How bad? How bad?
- Oh, fuck! You're bleeding!
- Oh, shit.
- You're bleeding! Oh, shit.
- I'm probably dying. I'm broken.
- I need emergency surgery.
- Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I got an idea. I got…
- Stop bleeding, all right? Stop bleeding.
- [groaning]
- Oh, shit.
- [grunting]
- Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Okay.
- Be careful. Shit. [groans]
- Come on. [panting]
- Why we in a fucking feed store?
My buddy Wendell and I used to break in
to steal drugs all the time.
He was 4-H. He had a show pig
with papers and everything.
[Marty] I don't give a shit
about no show pig. [grunts]
Oh, shit.
Let it out. Get it… [groans]
- [screams]
- What the fuck?
All right! All right!
It's okay! It's okay!
- Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [groans]
All right. All right.
Here we go. Here we go.
- All right.
- Get me to a hospital, goddamn it!
Oh, come on.
You said you didn't have time.
- Jesus.
- But this is for farm animals.
Animals take medicine too. All right?
- Shit. I've been shot.
- Come on. Just let me look at it.
Don't touch…
You don't know shit about shit.
- Just let me look at it. All right?
- No! No.
I think it's glass! All right?
- I think it's just a cut!
- It's a bullet.
Yeah, all right.
Well, take these. Take these.
This will help. Here you go.
Here you go. It's like Advil.
- What?
- It's like Advil. Come on, take it.
Is it Advil or is it like Advil?
It's like Advil, okay?
But it will take the pain away,
at least till we get to town, all right?
Okay.
- All right. Calm down.
- [breathing heavily]
The fuck?
"Bovine vagina muscle relaxant."
What the fuck?
It's… [sighs] Come on, man.
It kills the pain.
It's for cow pussy.
I know. I didn't want you to see that.
What the fuck?
- Oh, fuck.
- Just come on. You're gonna be
- fine in a second, all right?
- Oh, God. I'm gonna die.
- Oh, shit. [groans]
- I've taken them so many times.
If you take it with a
beer, it goes great.
[Marty grunts]
Oh, you stupid motherfucker.
I'm not a fucking cow.
A cow is ten times my size.
- A cow's pussy's your size.
- Fuck.
I'm gonna kill you, fucker.
I'm gonna fucking kill you.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[mooing]
[chuckles]
Hey, yeah. You're okay.
And the cow says…
[mooing]
Uh-huh. Yeah, you gonna be fine.
[laughing]
Yeah, you're okay.
[whispering] Shit.
You're fine. You're fine.
- You're okay. Oh, fuck.
- [continues laughing]
[groans]
The fuck's my security?
Waylon!
Okay. Come on, bud.
I got you. I got you.
Let's get you inside, huh?
[both groaning, grunting]
All right. Whoa, whoa.
Big step. Big step.
Oh, fuck.
- Yeah, okay. Okay, right here.
- Okay.
You sit down right here.
Right here, right here. Okay.
All right, fuck. Okay.
How you doing? Okay. All right. Uh…
- Hello, Lee. [laughing]
- Hi, bud.
You okay, huh?
Yeah, I feel wonderful.
- You do?
- Oh, yeah.
Can I have another pill?
- No, man. No more pills for you.
- Oh, fuck you.
I'm gonna get you some water, okay?
Cheap motherfucker.
[screams]
What the fuck? Nazis are…
- [Lee] What the fuck?
- They're fucking… What the fuck?
Hey! Hold on!
Fuck you. Don't fucking talk to me.
I am so sorry. All
right? I didn't think
Yeah, you didn't fucking think!
You don't think about anybody
but yourself.
- No… [stammers]
- No, you didn't think about Grandpa, huh?
He's the only one I had left,
and now he's dead.
I told you. Leave us al…
I'm sorry. What about the land?
I can help.
It belongs to you.
You don't fucking get it.
I don't give a fuck about the land.
I don't want it. I've never wanted it.
It's people like you, they want it.
- It makes you sick.
- I…
And you kill people 'cause of it.
And I don't have that shit.
Eh?
Your grandfather wanted it.
He didn't want it.
- Yeah, he… He…
- No, he didn't, okay?
He knew who it belonged to.
Who does it belong to?
I'm sorry.
This window's gonna cost me a fortune.
I was only trying to help.
You've got a strange way
of helping people.
[groaning] Oh, fuck.
I always knew I'd get shot.
Come on. You're just grazed.
With a bullet from a gun, yes.
Yeah, and I saved you.
No, you didn't.
Yes, I did. You were shot,
and I saved you.
No, I-I was grazed.
Okay. When you…
When you came into that church, right?
- What did you see?
- Saw a bunch of guns pointed at your ass.
No, seriously, like, did you see…
No, it doesn't… [sighs]
…it doesn't make sense.
- No, no, what?
- No, I-I thought I saw Trip Keating.
The philanthropist?
Yeah.
I mean, that's not a guy you'd
expect to see in a room full of Nazis.
No, that's exactly the type of guy you
expect to see in a room full of Nazis.
Fuck.
[Lee] That's perfect. Like that.
I mean, you could
just leave it like that.
Yeah, it's fine. Adds character.
Or maybe you could put, like,
a book slot in there, you know?
So people could return books.
[Lee] It's not a library.
Okay. Well, my store's not
a vinyl rental either.
- Oh, my God.
- You know, where people just take out
- records and bring them back or don't.
- I paid you for the Kimbrough.
- I replaced it.
- I paid you.
It was mint condition. Principles.
- The principles.
- Oh, my…
- What's up, y'all? Hey, hey.
- [Henry] Oh!
- Where the fuck have you been?
- [Henry] Hey, what's up, brother?
I got locked up on some old
bullshit play. I beat that though.
Listen. When Deidra comes back, just
tell her to go home. We're closed today.
- You sure?
- Yeah.
- Damn.
- I can't believe you.
What is wrong with him?
Shot up by some Nazis.
Nazis? Nah, that ain't shit.
What, are you guys putting
a book slide here or some shit?
- That's what I said.
- Yeah.
"Breathe."
"Lay down."
"Close your eyes."
"Breathe."
"Inhale."
"Exhale."
"Breathe."
"Full body stretch
from your feet to your neck."
Hey.
"Breathe."
"Don't hold it or you will die."
[poet] Next up, Francis Lebon.
- Hey.
- Go, go, go, go.
Whoo.
[audience clamoring]
Hi.
[inhales]
This is a little something
I've been working on.
It's kind of rough, but…
Well… [chuckles]
"I remember the house."
"There was a fence, and my dad planted
a redbud tree that didn't grow."
"Bad soil."
"After he left, it grew."
"Mom said it just needed more time."
"We had weeds that brought
bees and crab spiders."
"Wild and perfect."
"Everything fighting to grow."
"They decided not to tell me they split
so it wouldn't be so abrupt."
"It was abrupt."
"Absence is abrupt
no matter how you cut it."
"Eventually, I stopped waiting
for the van to pull up."
"On spring days though,"
"I look out and my view
is blocked by the redbud tree."
"Soon, I will leave,
and the redbud tree will still be there."
"A continuous bloom."
Thanks.
- Wear it at night.
- What, with the teeth?
- Yeah, just… You wear it at night.
- Yeah.
- Six months from now, you're different.
- Yeah.
- It's a whole other feeling.
- Actually, I was…
- Hey, how are you?
- Hey.
Wow. That was… [exhales] …so beautiful.
- Really? I didn't know. Maybe it was too…
- No, it was beautiful
- because it was true.
- I…
[whispering] Okay? I love you.
I'm so proud of you.
All right. I gotta rock. Okay?
See you, guys.
[phone buzzing]
Marty.
- You got a minute?
- What's up?
I just talked to a buddy of mine
at the station.
Frank walked in with a lawyer
this morning,
had a whole story about killing Arthur.
Self-defense.
Looks like the DA is not charging him.
No, no, no, no.
He killed Arthur and stole the will.
[Marty] They're calling it an accident.
A confused old man and a firearm.
[Lee] All right, we gotta go find
Betty Jo. Right?
Fuck it. Well, listen to me.
[Marty] We can't just drive around
until you figure out where she is, Lee.
[Lee] I've got an idea.
If ladies were blackbirds ♪
And the ladies were thrushes ♪
I'd lay there for hours ♪
In the cold, rainy marshes ♪
If the ladies were squirrels ♪
With big, bushy tails ♪
I'd fill up my shotgun ♪
With rock salt and nails ♪
I'd fill up my shotgun ♪
[buzzing]
With rock salt and nails ♪
- Hello.
- Pearl just called me.
What are these letters?
And how did you get them?
Maybe you should be
a little bit more careful
to whom you sell your
dead husband's shit.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
What did they say?
- Do they talk about me?
- [chuckles]
Are you fucking kidding me?
Lee. Lee.
I need to know. [breathing heavily]
I… I need to know what
fantasy world he's…
I just want… Pearl won't tell me.
All right.
Come by the bookstore. We'll talk.
No.
I'll meet you, but in public.
All right. Name the spot.
[Lee sighs]
Here. Take this.
- Oh, no. I don't need that.
- Take the motherfucker!
- What am I gonna do? Shoot her?
- She may shoot your ass.
- Nah, I don't need it.
- Look, Lee.
- What?
- There's a lot of dead people around her.
Think about it.
Nah, I'm good.
[breathes deeply]
[patrons chattering]
Feeling pretty proud of yourself?
You played me pretty well.
You turned my daughter against me.
You did that all on your own.
I was trying to do something good.
If you do something good, and it ends
badly every time, is that really good?
I could ask you the exact same thing.
I've done everything I can
to help the people I love.
[scoffs] You're a dangerous woman.
Every time you open your mouth,
someone dies.
Especially, the people you love.
I'm not dangerous.
I'm trying to protect myself.
And Pearl.
Our future.
What about Arthur Williams's future, huh?
That's the name of
the man you had killed.
I didn't want him to die.
- I thought Frank was gonna kill me.
- Mm-hmm.
[stutters] I didn't even know
who Arthur whatever
- Williams.
- [shushes]
Whatever.
How long have you and Frank
been in on this together?
Did you take him to karaoke?
Did you take him to your bedroom?
Was it your idea or his idea
to have Dale killed?
No one wanted him dead.
- It was an accident.
- Uh-huh.
All I did was unlock a door.
- No, I told… Hey.
- [chuckles] And then…
I told you.
Dale wasn't all there at the end.
- He was slipping.
- [chuckles] Uh-huh.
Probably early dementia or something
like that. I don't know.
It was an accident.
That is exactly what Frank said
about Arthur.
There's a lot of accidents
around you two, a lot of dementia.
I mean, maybe you should try amnesia
or maybe a murderous
evil twin sister, huh?
Get fucking real with me.
You were the one who told us
where the will was.
I was just the messenger.
You were the one who was snooping around.
Now you're trying
to shift your own guilt.
Oh, yeah? Maybe I am,
but at least I'm not a liar.
I fibbed.
- [scoffs] Yeah. Yeah.
- Yeah. And at least I'm not poor.
Oh, yeah, well, I would rather be
a poor man than a liar.
- Ha.
- Ha.
Did you read that on a billboard?
- Listen, listen, listen to me.
- Shh. Shh. Shh.
- Hey, this all got really messy.
- [scoffs]
- Okay.
- Yeah.
But it's over, and all we can do now
is not make it worse.
[whispers] Has anyone seen those letters?
[scoffs]
Oh, you haven't shown Donald, have you?
[gasps] Oh, my God.
[breathing heavily]
[whispers] I will give you 200,000
if you go to them and say that
they're fake because they are.
You don't know me at all.
I mean, how did I let you fool me?
- I am the victim here.
- How… Oh, my God.
I've lost everything.
You're a terrible fucking person,
you know that?
I mean, I don't know how you live
with yourself.
- You and Dale are the same.
- Mm-hmm.
Living in your little fucking
fantasy worlds.
Yeah.
[breathing heavily]
Telling everybody what the right thing is
when the rest of us are
just trying to survive.
You gonna kill me too?
Fuck you. You're on your high horse,
acting like some holier than thou,
servant of the truth,
but really, it's just yourself.
- All right, come here. Just come here.
- No. Don't touch me!
- I'm not touching you. Wait.
- He's harassing me.
- Sir, you should probably leave.
- I'm not. Yeah, I'm so… We're… Yeah.
I know. We're friends.
It's okay. It's okay.
- I'm not… It's… All right, I'm not on you.
- Just get off me. No, get off of me.
- Yeah, you are.
- No, there's no reason to call security.
- [Betty Jo] You talking to me?
- We're not finished.
- Sir. You need to calm down.
- Oh, fuck. No.
- You know, she's… We're friends. I mean…
- Here he is.
- Okay, great.
- Friends?
All right, let the murderer go.
No, hey, let me go, all right?
I'm not… I'm…
All right, all right.
Fuck it, I'll walk! I'll walk!
- Ma'am? You okay?
- Hey. You're hurting me.
All right, asshole. Ow!
Fuck! Jesus Christ!
[sighs]
- [Sally] This the big one?
- Big what?
The article.
The one that's gonna
set everything right.
It's a little late for that.
You want a Mickey Mouse pancake?
What?
- I'm trying to cheer you up, dummy.
- Mmm.
[sighs] Look, you do this.
I do what?
- You get obsessed with something…
- Uh-huh.
…you decide that it beat you,
but you keep doing it.
And if you keep doing it, did it beat you
or did you beat it? Hmm?
Tulsa is one of those places.
Don't know why or what, just is.
And it needs someone like you.
Sticking it to 'em
and giving 'em what for.
So don't be a sad sack as shit, okay?
[engine revs]
[horns honking]
I think I just lost your goons.
What?
Oh.
That's fine. They know where we're going.
- Mmm.
- Besides, they never miss a free meal.
[Marty scoffs]
Hopefully when you're governor,
we can still go
to our favorite barbecue places.
Oh, yeah, just have to bring
the news cameras.
[Donald] Hmm.
[Marty sighs]
Hey, you just missed Stutt's.
I'm not taking you to Stutt's.
What?
Uh… Uh…
- But I really wanted a buttermilk pie.
- Mmm.
We're going to eat someplace else.
Well, they better have buttermilk pie.
[chuckles]
["Down by Law" playing]
Hello my, hello my niggas ♪
Please keep it mellow, my niggas ♪
Stop sippin' yellow, my nigga ♪
You itchin' and twitchin'
And glitchin', my nigga ♪
Listen, my nigga, shh ♪
Snakes in your circle
And them bitches hissin', my nigga ♪
My nigga don't listen ♪
One thing I hate 'bout my nigga ♪
So I just pray 'bout my nigga
Nigga, it's hard ♪
Niggas done gave up on… ♪
- [sighs]
- What is this?
A barbecue.
Come on.
Prayin' to God
In the back of a cruiser ♪
I pray that prison… ♪
Marty.
[Marty laughs]
What's up? What's up?
- How you doing, man?
- [Marty laughs] Good.
Hey.
And now they just poor
It was just business, my nigga ♪
[Donald] What is this, Marty?
I had no vision, my nigga
I wanted Gucci… ♪
- Yeah. Well…
- [Donald] I don't like surprises.
There's some things you need to hear.
I mean, without your team,
your goons and everyone else.
Just you.
I'm doing this as your friend, Donald.
Please trust me.
Lookin' like I drive a truck
Fuckin' my bitch? Shit… ♪
Go. Come on.
Come on. Go with them.
Goddamn it, I don't understand it
But if she's an addict ♪
This Gucci purse gon' get her geeked ♪
Thick with her ass
She in some Betty Shabazz ♪
Pretty as Coretta Scott ♪
[Donald] Pardon me.
She got the heart of Assata ♪
She from the gutter, my nigga ♪
Howdy.
Free Larry Hoover, my nigga ♪
Free Jeff Fort, my nigga ♪
Fuck all the courts, my nigga ♪
Movin' like Malcolm
And Martin and King ♪
Lift every voice
This the song that I sing ♪
Born in the womb of a beautiful teen ♪
I am a beautiful, wonderful thing ♪
I am a king, my woman's a queen ♪
Master Fard said we are the God ♪
I study hard like John Henrik Clarke ♪
Even in my days of whippin' the hard ♪
I'll tell the devil
That Black man is God ♪
Keepin' it player
Just playin' my part ♪
Lean on my Demon… ♪
[song fades]
[Lee] Howdy.
We got hot dogs.
Yeah, glizzy plate. Get yourself one.
- You good?
- [Lee] Yeah, yeah.
- [Cyrus] Money.
- Why?
Barbecue. Money.
[Lee] Oh, yeah. [grunts]
- Thanks.
- Thanks.
I'll let you guys be.
Proposition 38. Your position.
If you're willing to change it,
you have my vote.
Probably whole neighborhood's.
Um, well, I'm all for education.
[chuckles] Good to hear.
Sit down, fucknuts.
You wanna know
how your brother was killed?
You are truly a crazy person.
No, I'm about to publish this article,
and I'm giving you a chance to respond.
Would you like to know how your brother
was killed? It's a yes-or-no question.
- That's long.
- Yeah,
well, I'll read it to you if you'd like,
or you wait till it comes out,
but you're not gonna like it,
and you're gonna get some lawyers,
and we're gonna sue each other.
Press is gonna go bananas with that,
and the publicity is gonna be
extremely bad for you.
I've got nothing to lose,
so it's really up to you.
Nah. You're grasping at straws, Lee.
No, no, I'm a journalist,
and I'm making some
very damning allegations in this piece,
and I'm giving you an opportunity
to tell your side of the story
before it goes to print.
For example, you were right.
Your brother was infatuated with
the native street artist named Chutto,
so much so that he wanted
to give his share
of the Washberg Indian Head Hills land
back to the family it was stolen from.
Unfortunately, this is bad timing for you
because this is the land
you were trying to sell
at a very high premium, I might add,
but I'll get to that in a minute.
You and Dale had an argument.
This was the moment you decided
it was finally the right time
to tell him that his daughter Pearl was
in fact not his daughter but yours.
Yeah.
[Donald breathes heavily]
Yeah.
That's when the trouble
really got started.
Betty Jo knew about the land deal.
Thanks to your pillow talk.
She called Frank.
She was not going to lose that money.
She and Frank hatched a plan where they
would scare Dale into changing his mind.
Frank had the perfect guy for the job.
An ex-con named Allen
who worked for him at Akron.
Trouble is Frank didn't know
that Allen enlisted two knuckleheads
to do the job for him.
So on the night, Dale saw them coming,
fired some gunshots, scared them away.
Betty Jo and Frank talked again.
This time, Frank gave her clear
instructions for it not to go wrong again.
Sadly, the knuckleheads botched
the job so completely,
that they murdered a man
that they were supposed to scare.
- [Berta] You son of a bitch!
- What the fuck?
- You pull a fucking gun on me?
- Stop it! Calm
[both screaming]
- You stupid motherfucker!
- Oh, shit! Oh, fuck!
Betty Jo found the body.
She's terrified.
Afraid she's going to get in trouble.
And she manipulated the crime scene and
staged it, so it'd look like a suicide.
- No, no, she would never do that.
- Yes.
She would not do that.
[smacks lips] That's what I thought.
[Betty Jo] No one wanted him dead.
It was an accident.
All I did was unlock a door.
Do you wanna hear all of it?
It's very long and very upsetting.
No.
Okay, so now you understand.
Your brother did not commit suicide.
And with your connection to the police,
it was easy to cover that up.
- The men who killed your brother…
- Oh, God.
…are dead. I witnessed their murder.
Allen was not impressed with their work.
Then, mysteriously, Allen was murdered.
Jesus.
In my article,
I make a rather compelling case
that it was that psycho Nazi church
that you're selling your land to.
Now, what's strange is just how wildly
overpriced this land is selling for.
So much so that when you see it in print,
it looks like you accepted a bribe.
No, I didn't know anything
about those people.
Frank set this up.
Frank brokered the whole deal.
All right. What was Trip
Keating doing at the church?
I have some theories on that.
[Donald] Trip Keating?
Jesus. I mean, I know who he is, but,
well, he was friends with Frank.
A… And Frank said if I don't get Trip
and the 46 behind me,
then I won't get elected.
Yeah, well,
it still looks like you took a bribe.
I didn't wanna know.
Our family needed the money.
I looked the other way.
I thought I could make it right when I…
when I got elected. [sniffles]
Here.
Thank you.
I hurt people.
I hurt my brother.
Well, I hurt people too.
Chutto had a grandfather
named Arthur Williams.
And because I trusted Betty Jo,
he's no longer alive.
Dale would've hated this.
All this death, all this chaos.
He would've…
[sighs] He was a good man.
[sighs]
You never got to meet him, did you?
[chuckles, smacks
lips] No I… I never did.
This is what I wrote about him.
You really didn't know?
No.
No.
I got a proposition for you.
Yeah?
I'm all ears.
[breathing deeply]
One second.
Donald.
Trip.
What are you doing?
I'm honoring my late brother, Trip.
I don't know who talked you
into this shit.
If you go down this road,
you're gonna lose everything.
Well, there's a lot more tribal citizens
than CEOs.
Come on, now.
You know
Indians don't vote state politics.
Hell, they barely vote
for tribal elections.
I'll take my chances.
You need us.
You got me involved
with some pretty unsavory people, Trip.
Now, if that blew up in my face, I'd
lose a lot more than just an election.
The boys at One Well are good men.
- Reformed.
- Mm-hmm.
So what if I start digging around
out there, huh? Think I'd find something?
Donald. We are about to start.
All right, just saying goodbye.
Politics, Trip. Somebody has to lose.
Right this way.
[Osage delegates singing]
Now listen, if you see Betty Jo Woodrow,
she's not welcome here.
- You just tell my security, all right?
- Of course.
- How we doing on time?
- You're right on time.
Do I have something in my teeth?
- Um, no, you're good.
- Okay, great.
Oh, here we go. Oh.
- [singing continues]
- [drumming]
Thank you for being here.
- We're really looking forward to this.
- [chattering]
Nice to meet you.
[Donald] Thank you.
Thank you, singers.
That was very beautiful.
[camera shutters click]
[clears throat]
Well, as many of you know,
I lost my dear beloved brother Dale
not long ago.
And I'm pleased to say that today,
we honor and fulfill his last wish.
His last wish was to give our old
Washberg land back to its rightful owner.
We reached out to the family
of the late Arthur Williams,
and they have decided to gift that land
in its entirety to the Osage Nation.
Now, I grew up in Osage country.
I have many Osage friends.
And I can't think of a better way to honor
my brother's legacy and the family name.
Oklahoma is Indian territory.
It does not exist
without the great tribal nations,
and it does not operate correctly
unless the state government recognizes
tribal sovereignty
and works with the powerful nations
there as friends.
When I am elected,
I assure you there will be
a friendly relationship between the state
and the great nations that reside here,
and that is a promise.
Thank you.
[attendees cheering, ululating]
[Lee] Days after I
published my last piece
on the Washberg family,
Dale Washberg died.
But I don't wanna talk about his death.
I wanna talk about his life.
[Dale's mother screaming]
[Lee] When I started to look into him,
I thought
he was just an eccentric rich guy.
His style was a little ridiculous
and the more cynical side
of me wanted to resist him.
But as I went deeper,
I saw he embodied
everything I care about.
He valued freedom, personal expression
and most important of all, he believed
that the choices we make in life matter.
And they matter even more when
everyone else is pushing against them.
Because if we don't act…
terrible things can happen.
Someone once described Dale as sensitive.
They meant it as an insult.
That he was weak.
But as he pointed out, it means
someone quick to perceive things.
And that's a strength.
He understood things
before the rest of us did.
People like Dale are the kind
we can't do without.
["You Never Even
Called Me by My Name" playing]
And you don't have
To call me Charlie Pride ♪
Excuse me. I need to go.
- I need the check right now, please.
- Can you wait just one second?
- I'm so sorry.
- Okay. Right now, though. Thank you.
…call me Merle Haggard anymore ♪
Even though ♪
You're on my fightin' side ♪
[doorbell chimes]
Oh, shit.
[engine starts]
[through radio] You will let me ♪
Hey. Hey!
Hey!
Yeah?
You took everything from me.
For what?
[grunts] Damn it.
You never even called me by my name ♪
[Marty speaks indistinctly]
I don't believe it,
but I sat there and I watched
for days, weeks, nights
and sure enough she's sleeping
with the boss.
- [Lee] The boss?
- Holy shit.
Yeah, his boss.
Now I think the guy is, you know,
- possessive, obsessed…
- [Sally] Yeah.
…but sure enough he was right.
I even took some pictures.
- You got pictures?
- What?
- This is like Chinatown.
- Listen, I had… Just shut the fuck up.
I'm just saying these
are good PI stories.
You should write this shit down.
You got to.
- I've actually thought about it.
- You should.
You know, maybe you're right.
You know, um, individual stories.
Each chapter
about a new investigation. Yes.
Nah, nah. You gotta pick one
and expand it into a book.
No, no, no,
the individual stories will be better.
You won't make any money. I promise you.
Short stories do not sell.
He tells me that all the time.
- Because it's the truth.
- You know,
if he knew half the things he acts
like he's an expert in, we'd all be rich.
Ain't that the truth, huh?
- I happen to be an expert on this…
- Oh, yeah? Where's your novel? Uh-huh?
- Well, all right… My novel…
- On minding other people's business.
…happens to be in the trunk of a car…
[Lee, Marty, Sally continue laughing,
speaking indistinctly]
[song ends]
[Ray] Of course he's late.
I've been hogging this seat forever.
Oh, hey, guys. It's me.
[guests chattering]
Lee. Lee.
Got you. Right up front.
- Hey.
- Better late than never.
I swear to God.
Where were you?
- [chuckles]
- You look nice.
[sighs] Maybe for a funeral.
If you'd worn something a little
brighter, it wouldn't have killed you.
- [sighs]
- Nice day, huh?
A little hot.
I'm sweating my balls off.
- [chuckles]
- You don't have to always talk.
[guest whispers] Oh, look. There she is.
[Ray] Oh. Oh, Francis.
["So Long, Marianne" playing]
[shutter clicks]
But you make me forget so very much ♪
I forget to pray for the angels ♪
And then the angels… ♪
[officiant] And rise.
…forget to pray for us ♪
Oh.
Now so long, Marianne ♪
It's time that we began ♪
To laugh and cry… ♪
Hey. Hey.
[whispers] It's better to not need it
than need it and not have it.
Really proud of you for coming today.
This gotta be hard for you.
[song fades out]
- Very proud.
- Stop it, will you?
I'm trying to hold it together.
[officiant speaking indistinctly]
It is a pretty wedding though, isn't it?
That cost a pretty penny,
that's for damn sure.
Thank you. Appreciate it.
Mmm.
- Wow. Mmm.
- Yeah, I saw that.
So, what your mom spent on the flowers
in this thing, huh?
- I mean, I thought she's environmentalist.
- [sighs]
- Doesn't care about that anymore?
- It's more like last week.
- All right.
- Would you like some caviar?
Oh, God, no. No. God.
- Hey, what's that?
- [breathes deeply]
It's a wedding present.
- Okay, but what is it?
- I'm not telling you.
- Hi. Hey. Yeah.
- Hey. Yeah. Hey. How you doing?
- Good, man.
- Congratulations, man.
- Hey, uh, thanks, man. Thank you.
- Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
I know things have been, you know…
- It can get weird. Weird.
- Yeah, I know. But it's-it's, you know…
- Yeah. And you know I'll-I'll…
- Yeah. Yeah, so
I'll break somebody's neck for Francis.
You know that, right?
Yeah. Well, you're a cool guy, Johnny.
- Thanks, thanks. You're-You're a cool guy.
- You're a cool guy.
- Hey, there. Congrats. Hey. [kisses]
- Thanks for coming.
Yeah.
- Um… Oh, we read your article.
- You did?
- It was so good.
- Really?
- Yeah, man.
- Yeah!
- Wow.
- Tears, bro. Tears.
Thanks. Thanks. Wow.
- Well, I got you guys something…
- What?
You can open it right now.
Come on, please?
- Right… Right now?
- Yeah.
- I love…
- Sure. The first one.
- Oh. Wow.
- No, is this real?
- What? Oh, my God!
- Joe Brainard signed it right there. Huh?
- [chuckles]
- [gasps]
It's a real Joe Brainard.
- Erotic.
- [chuckles] Yeah.
- Cool.
- Cool. Very cool. Badass.
Congrats, you two.
Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
- You walk me out?
- Yeah.
- Let's go.
- [Johnny] Cool.
Where are we gonna hang that? [sighs]
I liked it.
- You think your mom liked it?
- Yeah.
It's been a long time ♪
Since I felt the wind blew ♪
Strong and swift
Like a river's current ♪
Cool like the prairie moon ♪
Cool like the prairie moon ♪
Hey. You know,
I was thinking about something.
Something that I wanted to tell you.
It's just…
Seeing you and your mom and Johnny
all so happy, you know, I mean…
I mean, they got a really stable thing
going, you know, and that's…
That's good for you.
And I think maybe it'd be best
if you did go live with them full time,
you know, like you mentioned before.
You know, but I…
I definitely got some damage,
and I don't need to lay all that
on you and…
You know,
it's not like I'm going anywhere.
I mean, I'm always there for you,
and you can come by the bookshop
whenever you want. We can hang, you know?
I mean, it's just…
I mean, you're a young woman now.
What? You know you…
You deserve a stable environment,
you know?
- Yeah, right. Stable.
- Yeah.
- I don't think this is gonna work for me.
- Oh, come on.
Look, I'm rough around the edges at best.
At worst, I'm a liability.
[scoffs] Dad,
that's just what other people see.
- No.
- They tell you,
then you believe it,
and then you repeat it.
Look, it's offensive to pretend I'm not
smart enough to see that you're good.
[breathes deeply]
- If you're not good, then I'm not good.
- You're good.
Exactly.
[sighs]
Well… [sniffles]
…we'll-we'll just think
about it, you know?
Come on, we'll do the right thing.
Come here, come here, come here, girl.
Just go and have fun with your mom
and Johnny, you know. [sniffles]
[chuckles] Do it for Johnny.
I love you.
Love you too.
That guy bothering you?
No, that's…
That's my dad.
["Sensitive Kind" playing]
[muttering]
[grunts]
[engine sputtering]
Come on. Don't do this to me.
Come on, come on, come on.
- [engine sputtering]
- Come on. Do not do that. Don't do this.
Oh, fuck!
Fuck it, I'm walking.
Don't take her for granted ♪
She has a hard time ♪
Don't misunderstand her ♪
Don't play with her mind ♪
Treat her so gently ♪
It will pay you in time ♪
You've got to know ♪
She's the sensitive kind ♪
Tell her you love her ♪
Each and every night ♪
You will discover ♪
She will treat you right ♪
[horn honks]
I'm gonna break that fucking horn.
No, you're not.
I know you will find ♪
- Steely Dan…
- Yeah?
…I'm just saying I just noticed
I get no business
- when you put the car in the park.
- I park there everyday.
I know, but I just…
When it blocks part of it…
- I'm not blocking anything.
- You can move it up a few inches.
- Hey. Yo, Dan. I need your help, dawg.
- Waylon. What's happening, buddy?
- I need your help. I need your…
- Well, I got that…
So, I got locked up. I have a warrant.
I need you to help me.
I got a hundred bucks.
Anything for the Deadly Natives' guy.
I know what you need.
- My man. My man.
- Why?
- Wait, wait.
- I lost my keys.
Check it out.
Ah, damn.
Lee! The fuck's the van?
The dodge lodge is broke.
[Waylon] Ah, man, that's fucked up.
Yeah. Well, that's all right.
Vans come and go.
Oh, shit, man.
It's a good day to die, baby. Whoo!
[all cheering]
She gets so lonely ♪
We can get it out if you got it pounded.
No, it's not in pound.
It's just fucked up. That's all.
- No, man. We go grab the boat cutters.
- [Lee] Sick.
Dude, we'll go get that shit…
Hey, that's the company van.
- We're getting that shit out for you.
- [Lee] I appreciate you.
You guys wanna play some video games?
- [Lee] Yeah. All right.
- [Waylon] Hey. Pass.
Don't take her for granted ♪
She has a hard time ♪
You've got to know ♪
She's the sensitive kind ♪
[song ends]
[MC] All right, back to the stage.
Betty Jo Washberg. Big round of applause.
[applause]
It's Betty Jo Woodrow.
- Betty Jo Woodrow.
- [patron] Love your hat.
This is the jacket I wore
when I was a rodeo queen.
- [guitar playing]
- The only two things in life ♪
That make it worth livin' ♪
Is guitars that tune good
And firm-feelin' women ♪
I don't need my name
In the marquee lights ♪
I got my song
And I got you with me tonight ♪
Maybe it's time we got back
To the basics of love ♪
Let's go to Luckenbach, Texas ♪
With Waylon and Willie and the boys ♪
This successful life we're livin' ♪
[breathing shakily, sobs]
Between Hank Williams' pain songs and ♪
Newbury's train songs and
"Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain" ♪
Out in Luckenbach, Texas
Ain't nobody feelin' no pain ♪
So, baby, let's take
That diamond ring and ♪
Buy some boots and faded jeans
And go away ♪
[sniffles, clears throat]
[stammers] …is choking me ♪
In your high society, you cry all day ♪
We've been so busy
Keepin' up with the Joneses ♪
Four car garage
And we're still building on ♪
Maybe it's time we got back
To the basics of love ♪
Let's go to Luckenbach, Texas ♪
With Waylon and Willie and the boys ♪
[sniffles]
This successful life we're livin' ♪
Got us feudin'
Like the Hatfields and McCoys ♪
[breathing heavily]
Between Hank Williams' pain songs and
Newbury's pain songs ♪
And "Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain" ♪
Out in Luckenbach, Texas ♪
Ain't nobody feelin' no pain ♪