Son of a Critch (2022) s05e02 Episode Script
Teach a Man to Fish
1
ADULT MARK (V.O.):
The first day of the last year
of high school.
Grade 12: one last
year of being big fish
in a small pond, before we swam away
possibly to become fish food.
Driving to school.
- Isn't this cool?
- Yup.
[ENGINE BACKFIRING]
- [ENGINE STUTTERING]
- [ANOTHER CAR HONKING]
So very cool.
Get out and push.
You push, dumbass. I'm a girl.
- Since when are you a girl?
- Hey!
Ow! You're so pretty.
MIDDLE FOX: I'm the one
with the learner's permit.
I gotta drive. It's the law.
Wait Did you say "permit"?
At least we get to
make a first impression.
Come on, Ritche, m'boy.
["GOOD VIBRATIONS" BY MARKY
MARK AND THE FUNKY BUNCH]
- BOY: Nice wheels!
- [PEOPLE LAUGHING AND JEERING]
This is better than the bus how?
Ignore them, Ritche.
They're just jealous.
[LAUGHTER CONTINUES]
- MARK: Argh, come on.
- RITCHE: Okay.
[BOTH GRUNTING WITH EFFORT]
- You get it?
- Yeah.
MARK: Alright, get in.
Two bucks each for gas. Let's go.
MARK: We had to push!
We we were the gas.
MIKE SR: [RADIO] Breaking
News. Crisis in the fishery.
Hey. Turn that up.
The cod fishery, the
backbone of the province,
may be about to snap.
Fisheries Minister John
Crosbie is in St. John's today,
where he is expected to announce
a total shutdown of the cod fishery.
Fishermen, plant workers,
whole communities
caught in the undertow.
30,000 jobs could disappear overnight.
Closed? How?
Mike Critch, VOCM, first with the news.
ADULT MARK (V.O.):
And just like that,
we went from big fish
to endangered species.
Shutting down the fishery?
It doesn't affect you, Aquaman.
Not unless you plan on
working on a trawler.
This is gonna affect everybody.
RITCHE: My uncle packs fish
at National Sea Products.
It can't be good for him or my cousins.
They'll get a job
packing something else.
Like your mudder!
You know that's your mudder too?
- Gross!
- FOX: Can't we just enjoy our last year?
This is grade 12! We're seniors, baby!
Woo-hoo!
Yeah.
Fun.
ADULT MARK (V.O.): Some of us
were too busy surfing a wave
to see the tsunami coming.
DICK: No more fish?
I'm gonna miss that feed 'a cod tongues
down at the Scampers.
Best tongue since Tammy Loveless.
MIKE SR: You're gonna miss
more than a few tongues.
This changes everything.
MIKE JR: Does it, though?
I mean, I don't even really
know anyone who fishes anymore.
30,000 people out of work overnight.
Those people buy cars,
and the people who sell them
those cars buy ads on the radio.
Shag this. I'm heading down to Scampers
for a feed 'a cod tongues
while they still got tongues to feed me.
Yes, and while you've still
got a job to pay for 'em.
Come on, Dad. It's not that bad.
No
Might be worse.
- [OMINOUS ORGAN MUSIC]
- [SCHOOL BELL RINGS]
ADULT MARK (V.O.):
The present was dark,
but we still had the
future to look forward to.
SISTER ROSE: Good morning, seniors.
You've made it to the summit.
Grade 12.
Yesterday, you were children.
But yesterday is gone.
Today, the fishery collapsed,
and with it, your futures.
Okay. That took a turn.
SISTER ROSE: So, choose
your electives wisely.
There will be a demand
for manual labour.
For the boys,
household movers to help in the
mass exodus.
For the girls,
there's always room in the convent.
ADULT MARK (V.O.): Theatre Arts,
Creative Writing
these were not the tools of a tradesman.
SISTER ROSE: Welcome, Class of '92.
Enjoy your final year!
These are the end times.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Thank you, Sister Rose, for that cool
dare I say, cold, welcome.
There's no way I'm becoming a nun.
What if she's right?
What if we're making
all the wrong choices?
She's just trying to
scare you. That's her job.
Well, it's working!
Entertainment is the
first thing people cut
when the money gets tight.
I don't have a back-up plan.
I don't even have a front-up plan.
I want to be a comedian.
What am I doing?
I'm having a mid-life crisis at 17!
Oh my God, I'm
I'm only gonna live to be 40.
- Thirty-four.
- That's not helping.
You're wigging out.
Everything's gonna be fine, okay?
You really think I'm gonna make it?
FOX: Yes!
And worst case scenario,
you go to work at VOCM,
like your dad and brother.
[VOCM JINGLE PLAYING]
Late last night, early this morning,
two youths were arrested for exposing
their buttocks on George Street.
Police were immediately on the scene
and able to apprehend
our cheeky suspects
before they completed the lunar cycle,
midway between a half and a full moon.
Mark Critch, VOCM news service.
That's a deadly ol'
story there, Mark, b'y.
Ah, thanks, Dick. I-I mean, Mike.
Listen, I'm gonna needs the
apartment to myself tonight.
I gots a hot date
comin' over, Mark, b'y.
Oh, you're outta soup.
[COMICALLY UNSETTLING MUSIC]
ADULT MARK (V.O.):
I didn't want to follow
in anyone's footsteps.
I wanted to cut my own path.
- Where are you going?
- To make a course correct.
[KNOCK ON DOOR]
MARK: Father?
Mark. Come in.
Got something on your mind?
Well, uh
I was wondering if maybe I could
make a couple changes
to my course picks.
I mean, if it's not too late.
No.
Hey, let's see what you're rockin'.
Oh! Theatre Arts. No surprise there.
Advanced Writing, Visual Arts.
Pretty lefty.
Looks like you got a
soft-handed life comin' your way.
Nice!
That's the thing. I
I-I'm just thinking
that with, you know,
the current economic climate, uh
maybe I need to focus
on something more
Practical?
Pragmatic?
Useful?
Less stupid. Uh
This is my last year in school,
and for the first time, I'm
I'm starting to think about
maybe what I want to do is
silly.
Mark
You
you give these people comfort.
You make them forget
about their troubles.
I mean, it's kinda the
same as being a priest.
I guess so.
I mean
the altar is kinda like a stage, and
you do wear a costume.
I mean, the whole wine and bread thing
is sorta like a magic trick, and
you even get to sing!
You know
I wanted to be a singer.
Why didn't you?
Well, I didn't think I'd
be able to support myself.
You didn't think you'd
make any money at it,
so you took a vow of poverty?
Well, you can't be let
down if you don't try.
But
Next best thing, right?
[PLAYING GUITAR]
Through him, with him, in him ♪
In the unity of the Holy Spirit ♪
All glory is yours ♪
Forever and ever ♪
Right, uh, I think I'm gonna drop
Creative Writing and take Shop.
What? No! Sit down.
Mark!
You have plenty of time
to make up your mind.
You just have to make a
decision by the end of the day.
You got like three and a half hours.
- [PLAYING GUITAR]
- Hosanna ♪
ADULT MARK (V.O.):
One day to make a decision
that would change everything.
No pressure.
Just the crushing weight
of my entire future.
♪
FOX: Mark?
What the frig are you doing here?
Just exploring other options.
You're gonna get hurt.
Sorry I'm late, youngsters.
My God, this school is some size.
Mr. Chafe? I I thought you retired.
Oh, hey, Mark. Fox.
Some nice to see familiar faces.
Yes, I was out for a
year but it's hard times,
so I had to take on a few
shifts as a substitute, eh?
ADULT MARK (V.O.):
It wasn't just fishermen
who were feeling the pinch.
Me wife left me.
You had a wife? Gross.
She took it all, Mark, b'y.
The house. The car.
Didn't even leave me with
so much as one of the cats.
Uh, sir, I think we
should focus on the lesson.
Oh, I learned my lesson, alright.
Never to trust a woman ever again.
FOX: He means the class. Get a grip.
Oh, right, yes. Jeez.
What am I thinking?
Uh, I'm some glad to be
teaching you woodworking.
My first love, and now my only love.
Now, before we start, safety first.
I wanna see them goggles.
[TENSE MUSIC]
[LOUD CRASH]
Okay. Uh
I see why we need the goggles now.
ADULT MARK (V.O.):
My course correction
had just corrected itself
straight out the window!
♪
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Good God, Mary!
What are you doing down here?
I told you I was working this week!
Come to the Soiree. St.
John's 100th birthday party!
It's Come Home year!
MIKE SR: The fisheries minister is here.
The place is a powder keg.
People are losing their jobs!
Well, I still have a job to do!
Food festivals, music in
the park, screech-ins
What kinda screech-in are you gonna have
when there's no cod left to kiss?
- [DOOR BURSTS OPEN]
- [CROWD YELLING ANGRILY]
What's all that?
They locked out the
fishermen. This is bad.
Oh, God, it's about to get worse.
Pop, what are you doin' here?
Protesting!
We're not gonna let that
Ottawa fat cat speak.
Pop, he has to speak
so people can find out
what kind of a support
package there's gonna be.
What, more welfare?
You know, give a man a
fish, he'll eat for a day.
Teach a man to fish
And he'll be outta work forever.
MARY: Pop, that crowd is some riled up.
You're gonna get hurt.
You have my word.
I'm not gonna get hurt.
I'm the one doing the hurting.
Shillelagh Law.
I don't have time for this.
I gotta get in there.
[CROWD YELLING ANGRILY]
Hey, Gary?
Sorry, Mike. She's locked tight.
For them, but I'm press, Gary.
I can't open the doors
and let you in, Mike.
They'd storm the place!
[CROWD YELLING ANGRILY]
[TOURISM COMMERCIAL PLAYING ON TV]
VOICE: [TV] Give us a call
CROSBIE: [TV] I'm making a
decision based on the desire
to ensure that the northern
cod survives as a species.
This is Mike Critch, reporting
live from downtown St. John's,
where Fisheries Minister
John Crosbie just announced
the closure of the cod fishery,
the largest layoff in Canadian history.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
They've locked us out.
They've locked us out!
Cowards all.
CROWD: Cowards!
We should break it down.
Break it down!
[CROWD YELLING ANGRILY]
[LOUD CRASHING AND THUDDING]
[YELLING AND THUDDING]
[TRADITIONAL CELTIC MUSIC]
Gotta get in there.
CROSBIE: [TV]
They don't need to go berserk
trying to batter on
doors to frighten me.
In the first place, I don't frighten.
It's utter mayhem as
the fishermen attempt
to break down the doors.
I'm gonna try and get inside.
MARY: Excuse me Pardon me
Mike
Don't!
MIKE SR: I'm press! Let me through!
Mike, I told ya!
[LOUD THUD]
Mike!
Back the frig up, or by
the Jesus, you're next!
Mike, honey.
I told ya.
You could get hurt.
♪
MR. LEWIS: What do you
need a job for? Money?
The whole province is
unemployed now, b'y.
Sure, you could get a "career,"
but why be broke doin'
something you hate
when you can go broke
doing something you love?
But you got a job.
And you still get to act all the time.
Maybe I'll be a teacher like you.
You got the coolest job in the world.
No, no, acting's the
coolest job in the world.
You think I wanted to grade papers
and haul stoners down to
the principal's office?
This job is a parachute.
I was afraid to fly.
But what's the use of a parachute
if you never jumps
out of a plane, right?
And then, over time,
it just weighs you down.
And you know what happens
when you jumps out of a plane
with a backpack full 'a rocks?
- You die?
- Inside.
Way I figures it, I got
ten years to go, but
you know, with good behaviour
and a soft tissue injury,
I can get it down to
eight. Seven if I'm lucky.
You sound like you're on death row.
Life's just one long
death row, young fella.
Some folks can break out.
As long as they got a spoon to dig with.
MARK: National Theatre School?
There's a whole school that's
just Theatre Arts class, all day?
Wasn't an option when I was your age.
Where's it to?
Montreal.
French girls, Critchie.
You only gotta be 18 to drink, too.
- And theatre.
- What?
Yeah, theatre too, yeah.
Don't let me happen to you.
No parachutes!
[LAUGHS] No parachutes.
Thanks, sir.
Now, dodge down and get
me book bag, will ya?
Me smokes is in that.
Uh, yes, sir.
ADULT MARK (V.O.):
Advanced Writing class.
A whole period about
plays, books, and poems.
As far from Shop as I could get.
Mr. Chafe?
Ooh, hey, Mark. Good to see you again.
You're teaching Advanced Writing too?
Guess so. Life as a substitute.
I didn't know you liked words.
Oh, I'd much rather
work with me hands,
but you gotta do what you gotta do.
Okay, class, open your books to page 86,
"The Road Not Taken."
Uh, Mark, you wanna give it a go?
Sure.
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
and sorry I could not travel both
and be one traveller, long I stood "
You can just skip right
down to the end, Mark.
You only needs the tops and the tails.
That middle stuff, that's just for show.
Yeah, uh
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the road less travelled by.
And that has made all the difference."
MR. CHAFE: Can anybody
tell me what that means?
BOY: I dunno.
MR. CHAFE: Mark?
The fella who wrote it
comes to a fork in the road.
Doesn't know where to go.
Uh, the woods are yellow, so it's fall.
Almost winter.
The writer picks the path less taken,
so he's making the harder choice.
Maybe it's about
not settling for the way things are,
but making your own way.
♪
No. It's about jobs!
Every poem is like a riddle.
And the answer to this one
is jobs.
Two roads.
One is more trampled
because it's the right way.
And the other one is overgrown
because it's the wrong way.
Now, turn your books to page
ADULT MARK (V.O.):
The road more travelled
seemed to be the safer path.
So, why did I feel like I
was going the wrong way?
Ooh.
How's your eye?
Black, thanks to you.
POP: Aw, well
I mean, it builds character.
Yeah. [CHUCKLES]
What's for supper?
Fish!
It's my favourite. Fish sticks!
POP: Oh! Hm.
Well we're eating American fish?
In Newfoundland? Good God.
Well, where do the potatoes
come from, Rhodesia?
This is not real fish.
This is processed American crap!
There is a moratorium
on, as if you didn't know.
And it is all that I had the
energy to make after today!
[SIGHS] Some "Soiree."
It felt more like a funeral.
MIKE JR: It's not all
bad news, though, right?
I mean, they get a package.
220 bucks a week, every
week, for 10 weeks? That's
You couldn't even afford
fish sticks on that.
MIKE SR: And they're gonna
retrain the fishermen.
You know, half those fishermen,
they haven't set foot in
a classroom in 50 years.
What are they gonna be? Hairdressers?
How about some good news?
Mark, how was your
first day at Grade 12?
MARK: Uh
Well, uh
I don't know if it's
good or not, but, um
I'm switching streams.
What do you mean?
I'm taking Shop.
[STIFLES A LAUGH]
Sorry, you're what?
That's the first sensible
thing I heard all day.
Good for you, Mark.
Mark what about your acting?
Speaking of, uh
did you know there's a school
in Montreal just for acting?
MIKE SR: Good God,
what a waste of money!
You'll learn a lot
more in that Shop class.
MARY: Stop.
Leave the boy alone.
It's his life. Let him live it.
Or do you want him living
one as fake as this fish?
[MARY SIGHS]
[SOMBRE MUSIC]
♪
Mark
♪
♪
♪
[KNOCKS ON DOOR]
♪
♪
Oh, no, I-I
Oh, they're disgusting, aren't they?
Hm
Actually Not bad.
Ahem
Our secret.
Our secret.
Don't listen to them.
And don't give up your dreams
just because everyone else
has given up on theirs.
Uh I guess
the closer I get to doing it,
the more scared I get, Pop.
You know, nobody
ever caught anything worth keeping
by hugging the shoreline.
You want something worth keeping,
you have to shove off
into the deep water.
Even when the weather looks rough.
Did you have a dream?
[CHUCKLES WISTFULLY]
I went to sea when I was 12.
I was too tired to dream.
But here
I get three squares a
day, a roof over my head,
and my family.
I'm living mine right now.
[SOFT, EMOTIONAL MUSIC]
♪
POP: Montreal, huh?
Ooh-la-la.
It's just something I'm thinking of.
Thinking?
Or dreaming?
We'll see.
ADULT MARK (V.O.):
The greatest resource I ever had
growing up wasn't fish.
It was my family.
If you're lucky,
you'll have someone who
believes in you enough
to make your dream their own.
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
ADULT MARK (V.O.):
The first day of the last year
of high school.
Grade 12: one last
year of being big fish
in a small pond, before we swam away
possibly to become fish food.
Driving to school.
- Isn't this cool?
- Yup.
[ENGINE BACKFIRING]
- [ENGINE STUTTERING]
- [ANOTHER CAR HONKING]
So very cool.
Get out and push.
You push, dumbass. I'm a girl.
- Since when are you a girl?
- Hey!
Ow! You're so pretty.
MIDDLE FOX: I'm the one
with the learner's permit.
I gotta drive. It's the law.
Wait Did you say "permit"?
At least we get to
make a first impression.
Come on, Ritche, m'boy.
["GOOD VIBRATIONS" BY MARKY
MARK AND THE FUNKY BUNCH]
- BOY: Nice wheels!
- [PEOPLE LAUGHING AND JEERING]
This is better than the bus how?
Ignore them, Ritche.
They're just jealous.
[LAUGHTER CONTINUES]
- MARK: Argh, come on.
- RITCHE: Okay.
[BOTH GRUNTING WITH EFFORT]
- You get it?
- Yeah.
MARK: Alright, get in.
Two bucks each for gas. Let's go.
MARK: We had to push!
We we were the gas.
MIKE SR: [RADIO] Breaking
News. Crisis in the fishery.
Hey. Turn that up.
The cod fishery, the
backbone of the province,
may be about to snap.
Fisheries Minister John
Crosbie is in St. John's today,
where he is expected to announce
a total shutdown of the cod fishery.
Fishermen, plant workers,
whole communities
caught in the undertow.
30,000 jobs could disappear overnight.
Closed? How?
Mike Critch, VOCM, first with the news.
ADULT MARK (V.O.):
And just like that,
we went from big fish
to endangered species.
Shutting down the fishery?
It doesn't affect you, Aquaman.
Not unless you plan on
working on a trawler.
This is gonna affect everybody.
RITCHE: My uncle packs fish
at National Sea Products.
It can't be good for him or my cousins.
They'll get a job
packing something else.
Like your mudder!
You know that's your mudder too?
- Gross!
- FOX: Can't we just enjoy our last year?
This is grade 12! We're seniors, baby!
Woo-hoo!
Yeah.
Fun.
ADULT MARK (V.O.): Some of us
were too busy surfing a wave
to see the tsunami coming.
DICK: No more fish?
I'm gonna miss that feed 'a cod tongues
down at the Scampers.
Best tongue since Tammy Loveless.
MIKE SR: You're gonna miss
more than a few tongues.
This changes everything.
MIKE JR: Does it, though?
I mean, I don't even really
know anyone who fishes anymore.
30,000 people out of work overnight.
Those people buy cars,
and the people who sell them
those cars buy ads on the radio.
Shag this. I'm heading down to Scampers
for a feed 'a cod tongues
while they still got tongues to feed me.
Yes, and while you've still
got a job to pay for 'em.
Come on, Dad. It's not that bad.
No
Might be worse.
- [OMINOUS ORGAN MUSIC]
- [SCHOOL BELL RINGS]
ADULT MARK (V.O.):
The present was dark,
but we still had the
future to look forward to.
SISTER ROSE: Good morning, seniors.
You've made it to the summit.
Grade 12.
Yesterday, you were children.
But yesterday is gone.
Today, the fishery collapsed,
and with it, your futures.
Okay. That took a turn.
SISTER ROSE: So, choose
your electives wisely.
There will be a demand
for manual labour.
For the boys,
household movers to help in the
mass exodus.
For the girls,
there's always room in the convent.
ADULT MARK (V.O.): Theatre Arts,
Creative Writing
these were not the tools of a tradesman.
SISTER ROSE: Welcome, Class of '92.
Enjoy your final year!
These are the end times.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Thank you, Sister Rose, for that cool
dare I say, cold, welcome.
There's no way I'm becoming a nun.
What if she's right?
What if we're making
all the wrong choices?
She's just trying to
scare you. That's her job.
Well, it's working!
Entertainment is the
first thing people cut
when the money gets tight.
I don't have a back-up plan.
I don't even have a front-up plan.
I want to be a comedian.
What am I doing?
I'm having a mid-life crisis at 17!
Oh my God, I'm
I'm only gonna live to be 40.
- Thirty-four.
- That's not helping.
You're wigging out.
Everything's gonna be fine, okay?
You really think I'm gonna make it?
FOX: Yes!
And worst case scenario,
you go to work at VOCM,
like your dad and brother.
[VOCM JINGLE PLAYING]
Late last night, early this morning,
two youths were arrested for exposing
their buttocks on George Street.
Police were immediately on the scene
and able to apprehend
our cheeky suspects
before they completed the lunar cycle,
midway between a half and a full moon.
Mark Critch, VOCM news service.
That's a deadly ol'
story there, Mark, b'y.
Ah, thanks, Dick. I-I mean, Mike.
Listen, I'm gonna needs the
apartment to myself tonight.
I gots a hot date
comin' over, Mark, b'y.
Oh, you're outta soup.
[COMICALLY UNSETTLING MUSIC]
ADULT MARK (V.O.):
I didn't want to follow
in anyone's footsteps.
I wanted to cut my own path.
- Where are you going?
- To make a course correct.
[KNOCK ON DOOR]
MARK: Father?
Mark. Come in.
Got something on your mind?
Well, uh
I was wondering if maybe I could
make a couple changes
to my course picks.
I mean, if it's not too late.
No.
Hey, let's see what you're rockin'.
Oh! Theatre Arts. No surprise there.
Advanced Writing, Visual Arts.
Pretty lefty.
Looks like you got a
soft-handed life comin' your way.
Nice!
That's the thing. I
I-I'm just thinking
that with, you know,
the current economic climate, uh
maybe I need to focus
on something more
Practical?
Pragmatic?
Useful?
Less stupid. Uh
This is my last year in school,
and for the first time, I'm
I'm starting to think about
maybe what I want to do is
silly.
Mark
You
you give these people comfort.
You make them forget
about their troubles.
I mean, it's kinda the
same as being a priest.
I guess so.
I mean
the altar is kinda like a stage, and
you do wear a costume.
I mean, the whole wine and bread thing
is sorta like a magic trick, and
you even get to sing!
You know
I wanted to be a singer.
Why didn't you?
Well, I didn't think I'd
be able to support myself.
You didn't think you'd
make any money at it,
so you took a vow of poverty?
Well, you can't be let
down if you don't try.
But
Next best thing, right?
[PLAYING GUITAR]
Through him, with him, in him ♪
In the unity of the Holy Spirit ♪
All glory is yours ♪
Forever and ever ♪
Right, uh, I think I'm gonna drop
Creative Writing and take Shop.
What? No! Sit down.
Mark!
You have plenty of time
to make up your mind.
You just have to make a
decision by the end of the day.
You got like three and a half hours.
- [PLAYING GUITAR]
- Hosanna ♪
ADULT MARK (V.O.):
One day to make a decision
that would change everything.
No pressure.
Just the crushing weight
of my entire future.
♪
FOX: Mark?
What the frig are you doing here?
Just exploring other options.
You're gonna get hurt.
Sorry I'm late, youngsters.
My God, this school is some size.
Mr. Chafe? I I thought you retired.
Oh, hey, Mark. Fox.
Some nice to see familiar faces.
Yes, I was out for a
year but it's hard times,
so I had to take on a few
shifts as a substitute, eh?
ADULT MARK (V.O.):
It wasn't just fishermen
who were feeling the pinch.
Me wife left me.
You had a wife? Gross.
She took it all, Mark, b'y.
The house. The car.
Didn't even leave me with
so much as one of the cats.
Uh, sir, I think we
should focus on the lesson.
Oh, I learned my lesson, alright.
Never to trust a woman ever again.
FOX: He means the class. Get a grip.
Oh, right, yes. Jeez.
What am I thinking?
Uh, I'm some glad to be
teaching you woodworking.
My first love, and now my only love.
Now, before we start, safety first.
I wanna see them goggles.
[TENSE MUSIC]
[LOUD CRASH]
Okay. Uh
I see why we need the goggles now.
ADULT MARK (V.O.):
My course correction
had just corrected itself
straight out the window!
♪
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Good God, Mary!
What are you doing down here?
I told you I was working this week!
Come to the Soiree. St.
John's 100th birthday party!
It's Come Home year!
MIKE SR: The fisheries minister is here.
The place is a powder keg.
People are losing their jobs!
Well, I still have a job to do!
Food festivals, music in
the park, screech-ins
What kinda screech-in are you gonna have
when there's no cod left to kiss?
- [DOOR BURSTS OPEN]
- [CROWD YELLING ANGRILY]
What's all that?
They locked out the
fishermen. This is bad.
Oh, God, it's about to get worse.
Pop, what are you doin' here?
Protesting!
We're not gonna let that
Ottawa fat cat speak.
Pop, he has to speak
so people can find out
what kind of a support
package there's gonna be.
What, more welfare?
You know, give a man a
fish, he'll eat for a day.
Teach a man to fish
And he'll be outta work forever.
MARY: Pop, that crowd is some riled up.
You're gonna get hurt.
You have my word.
I'm not gonna get hurt.
I'm the one doing the hurting.
Shillelagh Law.
I don't have time for this.
I gotta get in there.
[CROWD YELLING ANGRILY]
Hey, Gary?
Sorry, Mike. She's locked tight.
For them, but I'm press, Gary.
I can't open the doors
and let you in, Mike.
They'd storm the place!
[CROWD YELLING ANGRILY]
[TOURISM COMMERCIAL PLAYING ON TV]
VOICE: [TV] Give us a call
CROSBIE: [TV] I'm making a
decision based on the desire
to ensure that the northern
cod survives as a species.
This is Mike Critch, reporting
live from downtown St. John's,
where Fisheries Minister
John Crosbie just announced
the closure of the cod fishery,
the largest layoff in Canadian history.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
They've locked us out.
They've locked us out!
Cowards all.
CROWD: Cowards!
We should break it down.
Break it down!
[CROWD YELLING ANGRILY]
[LOUD CRASHING AND THUDDING]
[YELLING AND THUDDING]
[TRADITIONAL CELTIC MUSIC]
Gotta get in there.
CROSBIE: [TV]
They don't need to go berserk
trying to batter on
doors to frighten me.
In the first place, I don't frighten.
It's utter mayhem as
the fishermen attempt
to break down the doors.
I'm gonna try and get inside.
MARY: Excuse me Pardon me
Mike
Don't!
MIKE SR: I'm press! Let me through!
Mike, I told ya!
[LOUD THUD]
Mike!
Back the frig up, or by
the Jesus, you're next!
Mike, honey.
I told ya.
You could get hurt.
♪
MR. LEWIS: What do you
need a job for? Money?
The whole province is
unemployed now, b'y.
Sure, you could get a "career,"
but why be broke doin'
something you hate
when you can go broke
doing something you love?
But you got a job.
And you still get to act all the time.
Maybe I'll be a teacher like you.
You got the coolest job in the world.
No, no, acting's the
coolest job in the world.
You think I wanted to grade papers
and haul stoners down to
the principal's office?
This job is a parachute.
I was afraid to fly.
But what's the use of a parachute
if you never jumps
out of a plane, right?
And then, over time,
it just weighs you down.
And you know what happens
when you jumps out of a plane
with a backpack full 'a rocks?
- You die?
- Inside.
Way I figures it, I got
ten years to go, but
you know, with good behaviour
and a soft tissue injury,
I can get it down to
eight. Seven if I'm lucky.
You sound like you're on death row.
Life's just one long
death row, young fella.
Some folks can break out.
As long as they got a spoon to dig with.
MARK: National Theatre School?
There's a whole school that's
just Theatre Arts class, all day?
Wasn't an option when I was your age.
Where's it to?
Montreal.
French girls, Critchie.
You only gotta be 18 to drink, too.
- And theatre.
- What?
Yeah, theatre too, yeah.
Don't let me happen to you.
No parachutes!
[LAUGHS] No parachutes.
Thanks, sir.
Now, dodge down and get
me book bag, will ya?
Me smokes is in that.
Uh, yes, sir.
ADULT MARK (V.O.):
Advanced Writing class.
A whole period about
plays, books, and poems.
As far from Shop as I could get.
Mr. Chafe?
Ooh, hey, Mark. Good to see you again.
You're teaching Advanced Writing too?
Guess so. Life as a substitute.
I didn't know you liked words.
Oh, I'd much rather
work with me hands,
but you gotta do what you gotta do.
Okay, class, open your books to page 86,
"The Road Not Taken."
Uh, Mark, you wanna give it a go?
Sure.
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
and sorry I could not travel both
and be one traveller, long I stood "
You can just skip right
down to the end, Mark.
You only needs the tops and the tails.
That middle stuff, that's just for show.
Yeah, uh
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the road less travelled by.
And that has made all the difference."
MR. CHAFE: Can anybody
tell me what that means?
BOY: I dunno.
MR. CHAFE: Mark?
The fella who wrote it
comes to a fork in the road.
Doesn't know where to go.
Uh, the woods are yellow, so it's fall.
Almost winter.
The writer picks the path less taken,
so he's making the harder choice.
Maybe it's about
not settling for the way things are,
but making your own way.
♪
No. It's about jobs!
Every poem is like a riddle.
And the answer to this one
is jobs.
Two roads.
One is more trampled
because it's the right way.
And the other one is overgrown
because it's the wrong way.
Now, turn your books to page
ADULT MARK (V.O.):
The road more travelled
seemed to be the safer path.
So, why did I feel like I
was going the wrong way?
Ooh.
How's your eye?
Black, thanks to you.
POP: Aw, well
I mean, it builds character.
Yeah. [CHUCKLES]
What's for supper?
Fish!
It's my favourite. Fish sticks!
POP: Oh! Hm.
Well we're eating American fish?
In Newfoundland? Good God.
Well, where do the potatoes
come from, Rhodesia?
This is not real fish.
This is processed American crap!
There is a moratorium
on, as if you didn't know.
And it is all that I had the
energy to make after today!
[SIGHS] Some "Soiree."
It felt more like a funeral.
MIKE JR: It's not all
bad news, though, right?
I mean, they get a package.
220 bucks a week, every
week, for 10 weeks? That's
You couldn't even afford
fish sticks on that.
MIKE SR: And they're gonna
retrain the fishermen.
You know, half those fishermen,
they haven't set foot in
a classroom in 50 years.
What are they gonna be? Hairdressers?
How about some good news?
Mark, how was your
first day at Grade 12?
MARK: Uh
Well, uh
I don't know if it's
good or not, but, um
I'm switching streams.
What do you mean?
I'm taking Shop.
[STIFLES A LAUGH]
Sorry, you're what?
That's the first sensible
thing I heard all day.
Good for you, Mark.
Mark what about your acting?
Speaking of, uh
did you know there's a school
in Montreal just for acting?
MIKE SR: Good God,
what a waste of money!
You'll learn a lot
more in that Shop class.
MARY: Stop.
Leave the boy alone.
It's his life. Let him live it.
Or do you want him living
one as fake as this fish?
[MARY SIGHS]
[SOMBRE MUSIC]
♪
Mark
♪
♪
♪
[KNOCKS ON DOOR]
♪
♪
Oh, no, I-I
Oh, they're disgusting, aren't they?
Hm
Actually Not bad.
Ahem
Our secret.
Our secret.
Don't listen to them.
And don't give up your dreams
just because everyone else
has given up on theirs.
Uh I guess
the closer I get to doing it,
the more scared I get, Pop.
You know, nobody
ever caught anything worth keeping
by hugging the shoreline.
You want something worth keeping,
you have to shove off
into the deep water.
Even when the weather looks rough.
Did you have a dream?
[CHUCKLES WISTFULLY]
I went to sea when I was 12.
I was too tired to dream.
But here
I get three squares a
day, a roof over my head,
and my family.
I'm living mine right now.
[SOFT, EMOTIONAL MUSIC]
♪
POP: Montreal, huh?
Ooh-la-la.
It's just something I'm thinking of.
Thinking?
Or dreaming?
We'll see.
ADULT MARK (V.O.):
The greatest resource I ever had
growing up wasn't fish.
It was my family.
If you're lucky,
you'll have someone who
believes in you enough
to make your dream their own.
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪
♪