YOU (2018) s05e03 Episode Script

1
[Joe] Previously on You…
Joe… Goldberg, right?
- What's your name?
- Bronte.
- How would you like to work here?
- [chuckles]
You're giving me an apartment? I
don't sleep with married men, okay?
No, this is nothing like that.
Why is Henry talking to a cop?
Because Henry is a monster.
He broke my daughter's nose.
He can't go back to Baisley.
There are other schools more capable
of dealing with a child with needs.
[Joe] Kate wants
you to kill him.
I think you had
Uncle Bob killed.
[Kate] You wrote about murdering
a man who ended up dead.
Those pages and all your
other murder fiction
can never see the light of day.
Promise me you'll burn them.
What we did with Bob, we're never
doing anything like that again.
My conscience is clean.
I did it for our family.
[Kate] …it scared me.
Are you doing this to protect us or
is there something you can't control?
[Joe] Stick to the plan, find
out what Reagan knows, kill her.
I am coming for everything.
Your job. Your son. Your
pathetic fucking family.
- [thuds]
- [Reagan groans]
- Boo-Boo?
- Maddie…
You caged the wrong twin.
[Joe] Well, you really
fucked this one up.
[Maddie] What… What is this?
[Joe] Maddie's not your
favorite, but she's innocent.
Where the hell am I? Joe,
what did you do to me?
[Joe] Quick. Before
she gets her bearings.
Before she realizes who you
are and what you're capable of.
Maddie, I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
- [Maddie yelps]
- [typewriter clacking]
[Joe] Blood splatters,
painting the glass crimson.
- [typewriter dings]
- [Joe sighs]
Hacky, gratuitous, and
ultimately useless murdering,
disappearing or faking Maddie's suicide
would trigger too much suspicion.
Especially with Reagan
already scrutinizing you.
And killing both twins would
just be a tonnage issue.
Think. You've done this before.
If you're so smart, why can't
you write your way out of this?
[door creaking]
Honestly, sometimes fiction is
so much cleaner than reality.
- [door closes]
- [footsteps descending]
[sighs in relief] There you are.
- [breathing heavily]
- [tense music playing]
What the fuck? Joe, can you
tell me what I'm doing in here?
[Joe] Hide your teeth. Play the fool.
Don't do anything she can't unsee.
Maddie, I messed up big time.
This is… [sputters] It's
all a misunderstanding.
- [Maddie scoffs]
- Look, yeah, it's… [sighs]
There's always been
something between us, right?
- [hesitates]
- So maybe… maybe I have a little
crush on you.
And maybe I found out you
were with another guy.
- [suspenseful music playing]
- And so I, you know…
Good people make dumb mistakes.
All the time, you
know, jealous mistakes.
This is degrading.
If only you'd caged the right
fucking person, fucking moron.
- Joe… what the fuck is this?!
- I didn't know the other guy was Harrison.
Yes, focus on her affair. She's
got something to lose here too.
So maybe if we can pretend
that this never happened,
I'm… I'm not gonna
have to tell anybody
that you've been sleeping with
your twin sister's husband.
Oh, God.
[Joe] And she bites. Good.
My sister was right.
[Joe] Not good.
Kate had Uncle Bob killed…
[breathing shakily]
…and you knew Reagan
was on your trail
so you wanted to have
her killed… [inhales]
…and you thought I was her.
And this is where you
were gonna kill her!
You sound crazy.
- You are not my Boo-Boo.
- I am your Boo-Boo.
- You are not.
- I am.
You are a fucking sociopath!
[loudly] Help! [inhales] Help!
[inhales] Help me!
[Joe] Shit. Retreat, regroup,
pray you figure out
some way this story ends
in anything, but a bloodbath.
Help!
[suspenseful music playing]
[music fades]
[Kate] His name is George, and he'll
talk to you about your feelings.
Why "George"? Isn't
a therapist a doctor?
[chuckles] Well, uh, you
can call him by his name.
So you both feel comfortable.
[Joe] You and Kate may not agree on
everything, but in this you're united.
Henry deserves all
the help he can get.
You'll do great, bub.
Now go. Shoes on.
[Joe] Hey. Pay the toll.
- [Henry] Daddy, stop.
- [grunts] I know you're getting too old.
[softly] Thank you
for getting on board.
[sighs] Yeah, well, in the end
there's nothing to be afraid of.
Except for you.
Kill one asshole and suddenly
that's all your wife can see.
[pensive music playing]
Are we positive we can't file for
child abuse charges against Reagan,
just to put obstacles between
her and Henry being expelled?
I'll consult with the lawyers.
[Joe] Kate's grasping at straws.
You used to think her determination to
solve problems aboveboard was admirable
and now you see it's naive.
What if, uh, we… we turn
Gretchen against her mother?
[music fades]
Exploit another child. Yeah,
that's certainly one option.
[Joe] I'd actually forgotten what it feels
like to be emasculated by Kate Lockwood.
Okay, I'm just gonna say it.
There are many good schools.
We preemptively send
little man to a new place.
He will be out of harm's way. He
will shine no matter where he is.
It would defang Reagan.
No, no, I'm sorry. We're not sending Henry
to a different school. He needs stability.
[pensive music playing]
Okay. Heard.
Every minute Reagan's in our
lives, she's a threat to us.
The longer this drags,
the more danger we're in.
- Our child is in.
- I understand the situation, Joe.
- I will handle her.
- You mean "we."
I mean "I."
Why don't you spend some
time at the bookstore today?
You're so anxious about the opening.
You should put your mind to that.
- You're trying to get rid of me.
- I'm trying to protect you
from doing something
that you might regret.
Please, please, please.
Don't look at me
like I'm a liability.
Prove you aren't one. You just
pitched leveraging a child.
I was spitballing.
No good deed goes unpunished.
The rejection is painful,
- existential even.
- [sighs]
- [siren wailing]
- [pensive music continues]
Best to focus on
what you can control.
You've had enough prisoners to
know hunger is the great motivator.
[Bronte] Morning.
I was organizing, but I, um,
got distracted. [chuckles]
Oh, wow. Insomnia?
[Joe] Are you that frazzled? Play
it off. Keep moving. Not too urgent.
Yeah, I'm caught
in a story problem.
Wrote myself into a corner.
It's writer's block, you know?
No.
Actually, I don't know.
Say more.
You don't get writer's block?
Honestly, if anything,
I have trouble stopping,
which isn't always great.
By the way, being blocked, it's
like more of a symptom than a cause.
I guess you're… [clicks
tongue] an overthinker.
Since when is
thinking a bad thing?
I said "overthinking," which is a
classic sign of impostor syndrome.
[gasps, dramatically] "Oh, no. What
if I don't choose the perfect word
and they all figure out
I'm a fraud? Wah!" [laughs]
No judgement, obviously.
Everybody has it, which
means you're not special.
Which means you don't
have to be so precious.
Well, you know, when you're
not precious with your prose,
you get something like this.
- Uh… What happened to Ibsen?
- Oh!
Not to shock you, but a girl
can be more than one thing.
And this oldie-but-goodie,
is approximately 50% of
your entire romance section.
- So, what do you have against romance?
- [book thuds]
Excuse me, I am a scholar
of romantic literature.
Analysis is the
opposite of enjoyment.
[Joe] Oh, the passion of youth.
Unless you think I'm enjoying
myself too much instead of working,
there is an estate sale's
worth of used romance novels
at bargain basement
prices on this very day.
- So…
- [upbeat music playing]
Can I have the company
credit card? And car?
There is no company
car. It's just my car.
No offense, I don't
trust you with my card.
That's fair.
Ugh! I did that to myself.
Um, okay, well, even if I could haul
all of those books from Queens myself,
I have a thing I
can't miss later, so…
I guess this place will
stay decidedly unsexy.
[Joe] She makes a case,
but you've got a prisoner.
Okay, yeah. Back to
shelving. Got it.
No, it's… I'm
sorry, it's not you.
How will you balance
cage-time with acting normal?
Maybe it wouldn't hurt to keep her
away from your prisoner for a bit.
- You know what? I'll drive.
- [keys jingle]
Oh, you're… coming with?
Yeah. I don't bite.
I got a project I gotta
check on downstairs.
Mind emptying the trunk for me?
- [switch clicks]
- [music fades]
Maddie…
I'm glad you're calmer.
I think I've found
a way out of this.
I need dirt.
On Reagan.
The kind of thing that would ruin her
life and stop her from ruining ours.
The kind of thing that
only a twin would know.
And if you give me that…
- then we can start rebuilding trust.
- [box closes]
Maddie?
[inhales]
I was just a week
shy of 16. [exhales]
And Pôrto Seguro was supposed to have
one of the nicest beaches in Brazil.
So Daddy flew me, Rae, and
a few of our friends down
for this birthday party.
[Joe] Okay, here
it comes. The dirt.
And one night, Reagan
got really drunk,
and she hooked up with her bodyguard,
and I was, like, so jealous. [chuckles]
Everybody else went to bed, but
I was super drunk on Gatorita
and I didn't even hear the
footsteps in the sand. Just… pain.
[intriguing music playing]
And then I woke up
in a chicken shack.
Hands and feet zip-tied.
[inhales] Sequestradores.
[Joe] Where is this going?
This isn't an
original, you know?
Reconstruction.
Chefe Breno needed something
to mail Daddy for the ransom.
But Breno had a thing for me.
Yeah, I wasn't just
some rich girl.
He hated the whole
abduction racket,
and he really, really wanted to
get out of it, but didn't know how.
And then one day, I asked him,
"How do you say, 'I forgive
you, ' in Portuguese?"
And then he broke
down in my arms.
And I cradled him like a baby.
That was the day I turned 16.
Breno shot himself in the
head three days later.
[clicks tongue] And I walked
myself back to the beach.
The FBI had never
seen anything like it.
- You're bluffing.
- Daddy bought me a new ear.
I made sure nobody ever
spoke about it again.
But some nights, you know, right
before the Ambien kicks in,
I wonder, why did I have
to go through all of that?
And now I know.
To prepare me for this.
[Joe] Don't let her get in
your head. Use your leverage.
And be that as it may.
If you don't cooperate,
you don't get to eat.
- [box closes]
- That's your big play?
Aw, Boo-Boo.
Every minute you starve
me, I get hotter.
And I know that if you could
kill me, you already would have.
[Joe] Shit, she's
reading you like a book.
Oh! And I guess you
forgot I take insulin.
You're gonna have to go
fetch my little shots.
Otherwise things are gonna
get really messy in here.
Congrats on getting me in your
cute, little box. [chuckles]
But make no mistake, Boo-Boo.
You are the hostage here.
[music fades]
- [birds chirping]
- [soft contemplative music playing]
[Joe] Fortunately, New
York's one big pharmacy.
Maddie's insulin
wasn't hard to come by.
Might be the twist
your story needs.
She thinks you're just
gonna give it to her.
You'll bring her to
the brink. Of death.
Force her to turn on Reagan.
- He prefers cash. Hundreds are fine.
- Ah, I didn't bring any.
Okay, um, let's go to an ATM.
[Joe] Oh, so she
can see your PIN?
Ugh. Joe.
- I'll push for Zelle.
- Thank you.
[Joe] Bronte's alarmingly good
at getting what she wants.
You being here at all. Re-hiring
her after her basement break-in.
[hesitantly] Her questions…
Why are you so
suspicious of her?
Maybe because you've
known Maddie for years
and somehow completely
underestimated her.
- 10% of you still think she's bluffing.
- [line ringing]
[on cell phone] This is Kate
Lockwood, leave a message.
- [line beeps]
- Hey…
I, uh… I did some Reddit
lurking, if it helps the cause,
and this sounds insane, but
has Maddie ever been taken?
Like, by a… By not
a rehab specialist?
It's probably a dumb Internet
rumor. I don't know. Call me.
Has a more impotent
message ever been left?
- Bye, honey.
- Ooh.
Little voicemail?
How married of you.
Is that a married thing?
So you and the
missus… Let's see.
Romance tropes. [inhales] Uh…
Gotta be, like, a
"grumpy-sunshine" pairing, right?
You think I'm the sunshine type?
Uh, no. You would
obviously be the grump,
but you've… you've
tipped your hand now.
Two grumps.
No, Kate and I…
How we met was more
enemies-to-lovers.
[sighs] Oh! I love. [inhales]
It's like anger and
passion. Slippery slope.
[inhales] I have talked him
into credit and a discount,
because he recognizes you.
It's funny how the
richer you are,
the more people want
to throw money at you.
Skip the discount and make the card
groan under the heft of the haul.
Oh. Charitable of you.
Uh, we need to make two trips. Your
car's too small. [clicks tongue]
[Joe] Two grumps. Your marriage
can't be that blah, can it?
Henry can't be the only thing that's
kept you solid for three years.
And yet here you are, sneaking
around behind your wife's back,
hoping to fix your Maddie
snafu before Kate finds out.
While you, uh,
grab the last box,
mind if I spend time repairing
the Frost manuscript?
Yeah.
[inhales] You know…
Do you know who's lovely,
dark and deep, Joe?
Parts of our protagonist
Calliope here?
- Calliope?
- Mm-hmm.
I think that you can
learn something here.
No? Fine. TLDR.
Maximus brushes a lock of
hair from Calliope's face.
And that face, yeah, he's missed
so badly, right? [inhales]
- So she… bites her lip.
- [soft music playing]
And then he has to kiss her,
of course, because lip bite.
And then something quivers,
and then more things quiver.
And then he shoves her.
Harder than he should.
But she pulls him in,
and she purrs in his ear.
[Joe chuckles]
And then he growls.
- Hmm?
- [chuckles] He growls?
- Mm-hmm.
- Respectfully, people don't purr or growl.
Women don't just
flip their hair,
and men don't push women
against door frames
or whip their belts off
in kink-beckoning ways.
I'm aware that the
Internet has its… [inhales]
…idea of romance.
Thank you. [sighs]
I purr.
I'll… have to take
your word for it.
Really? You're just gonna let me win
an argument in the lamest way possible?
- No, let's, um… Let's do this.
- What?
Hairbrush, lip bite, combo.
Right now. Let's do it.
Put it to the test. Hmm?
[Joe] Okay, fastest
way to put this to bed…
- Fine.
- Okay. I'm ready.
- Okay, so I just…
- On the face, here we go, right off.
[Joe] All right, all right.
[stirring music playing]
[Joe] Huh.
[laughing]
[music fades]
I hope you took notes.
It's gimmicky,
still not my style.
[chuckles] Okay.
You mind if I just take
these 15? You go get the box?
Gentle reminder, she's
your younger employee.
Don't be that guy.
Did you get to talk about
your, uh, your outbursts?
A little. George thinks
what I'm feeling is normal.
- [door opens]
- He said that?
[Henry] Yep.
- Well, good.
- [door closes]
[chuckles] 'Cause he's right.
Incoming! Juicy gossip.
Henry, game time. One hour, max.
[Teddy inhales sharply] Go.
You heard your mom.
Go save the princess.
Tell me someone
squealed on Reagan.
The personal accountant
you sent me to. Kudos.
Please tell me
it's embezzlement.
- It's embezzlement! Mm-hmm.
- [gasps]
- [chuckles]
- Oh! We love a brazen cash grab.
- Mm-hmm.
- And at a moment like this?
- Okay, say nothing.
- Mm-hmm.
I want to be looking in that cow's
eyes when I deliver the death blow.
- You want me to loop in Joe?
- No.
What, are you worried
he'll strangle her himself?
[chuckles awkwardly]
He's just angry. That's all.
[pensive music playing]
Of course.
[Joe] Ah, shit. The insulin withdrawal
is working faster than you'd planned.
Leverage her now.
- [music fades]
- [Maddie shivering]
You're not looking so hot.
Hey…
- [taps]
- I got your shot.
[Maddie whimpers softly]
So if you want it…
let's talk.
[weakly] Joe. Please.
Glucose. Spiking.
[chuckles softly]
[breathing shakily] I
can't feel my toesies.
[laughing]
I mean, do you even
know how insulin works?
That's funny. My understanding
is that pretty soon your discomfort
turns into the real threat of dying.
Which is the thing that
you cannot let happen.
[scoffs] Wow.
So you disappear for a few hours
and this is what you come back with?
Did Kate sign off on this?
[Joe] Even Maddie knows
your wife disapproves.
Oh. Okay. That's a no.
But I lowkey love for you this
sad attempt at an ultimatum.
- [laughs]
- Kate and I are partners.
You're a sort of… [exhales]
soft-boy misogynist, right?
Control-hungry goblin
under a nice-guy smile?
[inhales] The prince of polite
projecting "so dang supportive"
while coveting
your wifey's power.
You couldn't be more wrong. My
marriage is not on trial here.
And yet I haven't seen any
Architectural Digest tours
of this cozy glass torture
den. [gasps dramatically]
It's for books.
Oh, so we are in the bookstore
that Kate is paying for.
[inhales] This place is mine!
[tense music playing]
And once upon a time it
did hold more than books.
Not many people have made it.
Not many people have seen
this side of me and lived.
So fucking listen to
me when I tell you
you need me if you want
to get out of here.
What is a tortured
psychopath doing…
[chuckling] …tootling around
like Kate's neutered, purse dog?
Enjoy ketoacidosis.
[gasps]
[laughing] Oh!
Aw, Boo-Boo did do
research! [laughs]
[music fades]
[Joe] Can't believe you're
in a stalemate with Maddie.
If there is such a thing as a muse,
please, you could use some ideas.
Okay, that's the last of them.
You can, uh, like, GPS yourself
back to Mooney's, right?
You want me to leave you here?
It's later than I thought
and I have that thing.
It's only ten blocks away.
It's ten blocks. Let
me drive you, please.
I… I wouldn't be caught dead showing up
to a dirtbag, literary salon in a car,
let alone your car.
"Dirtbag, literary salon?"
Uh, yes. We do it monthly.
It's like we get together,
read stuff we're working on.
It's loftier than an open mic, but
hornier than an author's reading.
Plus drugs, I don't think
it would be your scene.
At least let me walk you.
All right… Prince Chivalry.
- Just looking out for my employee.
- [Bronte] Mm-hmm.
[mellow music playing]
[door opens]
[indistinct chatter]
[music fades]
[Joe] This is what passes for a
literary salon in Bronte's world?
Not exactly the
Algonquin Round Table,
the stench of sweat alone,
echoes of improv shows and
open mic poetry readings past.
[man] Every meme-hungry,
no-shit conspiracy theorist
needs to believe this.
All this is a side
quest that the…
What could be better
for your writer's block
than seeing a bunch
of non-perfectionists
presenting their deeply flawed
work with fiery self-assurance?
So you're saying it's bad?
I said it's flawed.
It's navel-gazy.
It's, like, faux-hemian
shout into the void,
but… it's passionate.
[intriguing music playing]
[woman] Hey, you!
- [Bronte gasps]
- [laughs]
[Bronte] Hey, you.
[Joe] I'm still not sure how you
got diagnosed as "passionless."
Every time she talks
about your writing
it's like she's talking
about your marriage.
And right now both are blocked.
So why not open your mind?
[man] …your own dead-eyed lives.
Is irony the only currency
of our generation?
[Joe] Look at him, baring
his soul for all to see.
Come on, you're
not a real writer.
Kate read your words.
Your vulnerable, messy fantasies
and told you to burn them.
Maybe that's what hurts so much.
Your wife is repulsed by the
most authentic part of you.
- [indistinct chatter]
- [man continues indistinctly]
[man] Behold the city of industry
that devours life itself.
- If you're really fucking successful…
- Hey, sorry. Bye.
[man] When I was six, my dad…
Hey, uh, you stay, have fun.
I just, uh… I forgot I
have a thing, I have to go.
- Whoa, whoa, seriously?
- I, uh
Wow… Hello, Bronte.
[Joe] Great. Who's this guy? And
why she's so desperate to avoid him?
Joe, this is Clayton.
We used to fuck.
[Joe] If you broke his elbow you
could shove that fist up his ass.
Joe.
Hey, bro, I know who you are.
Sweet upgrade. Gotta teach the
rest of us how to beguile a patron.
[Joe] "Patron." Hmm. Sometimes you
do feel like a walking bank to her.
It's easy. Just get a job.
I thought you were in Vermont,
woodshedding your "personal
essay collection."
I finished early. It turns out I just
needed to admit I was the main character.
[Joe] Says the walking footnote.
I'll be reading one tonight.
Sorry, but we've got a rule.
You can't watch if
you don't share.
People are opening up
veins in here, you know?
- No vampires.
- Yeah, we were just leaving.
Ooh! But you already watched.
At least he did, and you're not a
writer, are you, Prince Charming?
No. He's not.
[Joe] She's just trying to
keep you out of it, but ouch.
Then it looks like you're
up, "Brontosaurus."
I think I've got an old draft
of one of your little dirty
post-feminist one-acts.
Fuck, no. Clay, I shared
those with you in confidence.
Hey, I didn't make the rules.
[tense music playing]
Dare I ask what constitutes a
dirty post-feminist one-act?
You're about to find out.
[people applauding]
[Joe] It kills you
to see her like this.
You wouldn't mind giving him a
face tattoo with a dull pencil.
Hmm, shit that's good. Bronte's
right. Inspiration everywhere.
[Clayton] "Aren't you ever
afraid of it? Your animal side?"
"I prefer to let my
instincts guide me."
[people laughing]
[Joe] Poor Bronte.
Nobody wants their early
drafts read out loud,
let alone an
out-of-context sex scene.
"I want you to come on me."
[people laughing]
"I want you on my lips, my
chest. I want to drown in you."
[people laughing]
All right, this isn't
Mortified, you fucking vultures.
Clayton, you… God, you are
such a narcissistic asshole.
[Joe] Relax. She can
take care of herself.
You know, I didn't
agree to share,
but, um, I wouldn't expect you
to give a shit about consent.
[people] Oh!
Strong attempt at
being interesting.
You know, it's amazing the
lengths some people need to go to
in order to be relevant.
- [people] Oh!
- [Clayton] Like calling yourself Bronte.
Hey, moneybags,
did you know her
real name is Louise?
[Joe] What?
Louise Flannery, accredited
dental hygienist from Ohio.
Picked the most
"writerly" name she could
before she moved to the Big Apple
to start her big, bohemian life.
- Then she stole from me for months.
- [woman] No way.
[people murmuring]
[Joe] Impossible. Are you
being grifted after all?
And you thought you
were the impostor.
[distant siren wailing]
[Kate] Reagan?
Reagan, there's no
avoiding me, you
- Oh. Harrison. Trip with the boys?
- [laughs]
No, I won't try to explain.
I'd love it if you did.
What does my side matter, Kate?
She's gonna control the story.
- [door opens]
- [foreboding music playing]
[door closes]
[Reagan sobbing, sniffling]
[Reagan groans, inhales]
Kate… [sighs]
Just perfect. [scoffs]
Oh, Gretchen would love to
see her favorite auntie,
but, uh, she's upstairs crying over
her daddy's incest-tinged infidelity.
Wait, what insanity is this now?
I got a call yesterday.
Security found Harrison half-naked,
locked in the supply closet at the office.
[gasps] Oh, God. Oh, God.
[hesitates] Who with?
Madison's phone
was on the floor.
Bitch must have
run for the hills.
Fuck.
Wait, so… Oh, that's why
she's avoiding Teddy and I.
I'm sorry.
Are you still angling for
Teddy's stupid board seat…
- No, no. I didn't know. I didn't know.
- …at a time like this?
God, we are all just like
Dad at heart, aren't we?
Oh, no. Well, you more than me.
- Excuse me?
- Well, that's why you're CEO, isn't it?
He raised you to be a shark.
You love a little
blood in the water.
[sighing] I sometimes think
that you don't know me at all.
Oh, fine. I don't know
anything about anyone.
[inhales]
They've been going behind my
back for years, Katie. Years.
[sobbing softly]
That is… That's gutting, Rae,
I'm really… I'm so sorry.
[Reagan scoffs]
- Will you and Harrison
- Oh, I am divorcing him.
Oh, and he better
buckle the fuck up.
My fucking twin?
Nobody humiliates me.
Nobody who lives to see
the next day. [laughs]
[Reagan chuckles]
I'm sorry… that I've been
such a monster lately.
[solemn music playing]
I think somewhere I must have sensed
something was going to blow up.
I'm sorry.
I mean, of course you'd
come a bit undone.
[Reagan scoffs]
Can we at least agree to
keep the kids out of this?
- You're using my trauma against me?!
- Okay.
All right, let me
rephrase that. [inhales]
Leave the kids out of it
or your trauma will be the front
page of The Post tomorrow morning.
[gasps]
[inhales] Fine.
I will fix things
with the school.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
- [music fades]
- [shop bell tinkling]
[Joe] As badly as you
wanted to chase Bronte down,
Maddie's insulin is more urgent.
Wait much longer, and
she'll be too incoherent
- to extract much of anything.
- [cell phone rings]
She really does
have you hostage.
- Hey.
- [Kate] Hello.
[sighs] I was just wondering when
you're en route. It's been quite a day.
I'm packing right now.
Okay, well, I managed to
sort things for Henry.
Reagan is dropping the charges.
That's fantastic.
And massive news.
Harrison and Madison have been
carrying on a longstanding affair.
Wow.
You don't sound surprised.
[Joe] Shit. Cover.
[sputters] Yeah, I
think I'm stunned.
Yeah, same.
He's leaving.
Divorce in the works.
[inhales] Maddie
must be in hiding.
I wish I had more to tell,
but I could hardly get a word
in through Reagan's crying.
[Joe] That doesn't
sound like Reagan.
What about her
other threat to us?
Just give it time. I'm…
I'm working on her.
Time is on Reagan's
side, not ours.
Let's chat when you get home.
Okay.
Fine.
[pensive music playing]
- [beeps]
- Reagan's just buying time
to find something irrefutably
damning from our past.
Kate's aversion to violence is
going to cost you everything.
What is she trying to prove?
However, the outing
of an affair.
Hell of a plot
device, used properly.
There is one upside to Reagan knowing
about her sister and Harrison.
Is this inspiration?
It could be tropey,
but don't overthink.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Maddie scoffs]
I can see your body's
finally working against you.
You're lucky I have news.
The kind that will solve
both of our problems.
[chuckling] Really?
[object thuds]
Reagan knows about the affair.
She's filing for divorce.
No more hiding.
That means you and Harrison are free
to run away together as in vanish,
disappear to some tropical
forever after. [inhales]
I'm not your enemy, Maddie.
If you get your happy ending and
I was a part of making it happen,
we can go our separate ways.
Reagan found out?
Oh, no, no, no.
No, no, no, no, no.
I threatened to out your affair
before and you didn't flinch.
I was bluffing!
[breath trembling]
Maddie, this is good.
The worst is over.
No, no, no. The worst
is not over. [inhales]
It is still coming.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! Oh, my God.
Do you really think that
Harrison and I didn't think
about running away
already together?
I mean, my God. No way!
She would destroy us! Oh!
What happened to
expert hostage girl?
You can't seriously be more
afraid of Reagan than dying.
Yes, I can.
[clicks tongue] There are
prenups, Joe… [breathes shakily]
…and then there are death
sentences in legalese.
[soft somber music playing]
Oh, Reagan, she's going
to take everything.
Oh, my God, and Harrison, he's just
like a dead man walking. [inhales]
And Gretchen… Oh, God,
poor, poor Gretchen.
[breathing heavily]
We'll never see her again. My
baby, oh, my baby, my baby.
[sobbing]
Is Gretchen yours?
[Maddie inhales]
Well, not legally.
[breathing shakily]
But I carried Gretchen
in my own belly.
[Maddie sobs softly]
Reagan bullied me into
being her surrogate
because she didn't want
to get all stretched out.
[scoffing] And I
said yes. [sobs]
I thought that maybe, you know,
it would be like Harrison and me.
We would be having a
baby together, you know?
God, and Reagan. God, she
fucking knew how I felt.
She knew how I fucking felt!
And she conned me into it!
I'm so pathetic.
No happy endings.
[scoffs] Not for me.
There are fates
worse than death.
[inhales] You might
as well kill me.
- [Maddie sighs]
- [Joe] You still can't,
but now you don't even want to.
[Maddie sighs]
[door unlocks, opens]
[soft somber music continues]
[Joe] A writer has empathy
for all his characters.
Even the pathetic ones.
You're out of
leverage. Out of ideas.
[sighs]
[softly] Take this.
[music fades]
[Joe] You've never felt
more off your game.
What else is waiting
to bite you in the ass?
Might as well see what dark
secrets lurk in Bronte's past.
[chair creaks]
[intriguing music playing]
Louise Flannery. Part-time
dental hygienist.
Seven years. Okay, boring. Her
asshole ex said she stole from him,
but could have just
been vindictive.
Her LinkedIn shows a leave
of absence before New York.
After a long battle with lung cancer,
survived by daughter, Louise, 27.
She lost her mom.
Sad. Reasonable.
An out-of-date
Goodreads. Good taste.
This you knew. Beck.
Your big revelation's not
exactly a "gotcha moment."
Everybody read Beck's book.
Bronte… Louise already told you
she read Sherry and Cary's
self-aggrandizing trash.
Either Louise lived a pretty basic
life and moved here to chase a dream.
Or… she is using you.
Only one way to find out.
[knocking at door]
[music fades]
[Joe] Bronte?
[Bronte sniffling]
I, uh… I guess I owe
you another explanation.
No, no. Not for
that asshole's sake.
[sighs]
[tearfully] You know, um…
Clayton's right.
I talk a big game,
but I'm a fraud.
I was so desperate
when I moved here.
[sighs] No friends. I
burned through my savings.
I actually thought that I would
just, like, write some plays
and people would pay
to see them. [scoffs]
Delulu. [chuckles]
[sniffles] I, um… I
fell for Clayton hard.
And I believed him when he
said that he would help me.
And now I owe him a
lot of money. [inhales]
All a gift, of course,
until I stopped fucking him.
[scoffs] He's the reason that I…
No, uh, I'm the reason. I…
I lie.
Over and over. Just…
[sobs] I'm just so…
Ashamed.
[gentle music playing]
I know something about wanting
to start over and be someone new.
Oh. Seems to have
worked out for you.
Yeah, it wasn't easy.
There are days I…
I miss the old me.
[exhales]
- When I had less to lose.
- Less to lose, yeah.
Well, you weren't just laughed at by a
theater full of your peers. [chuckles]
[inhales, sighs sharply]
"I want to drown in you"? Fuck.
I thought that shit was
so hot when I wrote it.
Now all I picture is,
like, a tidal wave of cum.
I don't even know if I
wanna be a playwright.
No, no, no. Don't…
- Don't let one cum wave stop you.
- [chuckles]
This is your dream.
It's a dream.
And I, um…
My mom died a few years ago.
I was her sole caretaker
for five years.
Five horrible, monotonous years.
[inhales]
And at a certain
point, I couldn't…
I couldn't untangle my
love from my resentment.
And then she died.
And, turns out, love…
is the only thing that matters.
I'm sorry. That sounds hard.
[inhales]
I just swore to myself
I would never be stuck
as one thing ever again.
I just want to live as
much and as fast as I can.
Part of me knew what
Clayton was like.
And I liked being
his wounded bird.
Selfishly, I thought it might
get me where I'm going faster.
[Joe] And there it is.
Your moment to broach the
last of your suspicions.
And you knew somewhere deep
It was too good to be true
[Beck] It was too
good to be true
[Joe] But you let yourself be…
[Beck] But you let
yourself be swept
…swept
[Beck] Because he was the
first Strong enough to lift you
[Joe sighs]
-Because he was the first
-[soft wistful music playing]
Strong enough to lift you
Guinevere Beck.
- And you know she worked here, right?
- Yeah.
Guilty.
You know, of all the abandoned
bookstores in New York,
you'd think I just
stumbled into Mooney's.
I saw myself in her
work when I was younger.
Would you tell me about her?
[Joe] You don't know what you were
expecting, but this is not suspicion.
It's earnest. Curious.
A desire to connect.
Well, she was a light.
[soft music playing]
As beautiful.
Inside and out.
She's a true poet.
So much potential.
We dated… briefly.
No way.
It was a tragedy…
[pensive music playing]
…what happened to her.
I've never told anyone this.
I wish I killed Dr. Nicky.
Then maybe she
would still be here.
I know when you read my writing,
I know all you saw was murder,
an anti-hero with no backstory.
But… now you know that it
doesn't come from nowhere.
I wish sometimes I was as
strong as I am on the page.
All the time.
If only… life were as tidy
as fiction. [chuckles softly]
A lot of people deserve
a little… poetic justice.
[Joe] Even without all
the facts, she gets you.
A far cry from your wife,
insisting you light the most
interesting part of yourself on fire.
Well, for what it's
worth, Bronte… Louise.
[Bronte gasps]
You can trust me…
with all of you.
Maybe that's what writing
is becoming for me.
Maybe I want what's
inside to come out.
To not just be seen,
but to be devoured.
And, uh, at home?
Are you?
Devoured?
I'm not.
I should go.
[door opens]
[Bronte] I'm not
your trope, you know.
Or, like, the "poor girl" to
your "rich guy" or whatever.
Whatever ingenue you're
projecting onto me.
- What?
- We're adults, Joe.
We can say the quiet
part out loud. [inhales]
I'm a mess.
And I don't think I can handle an
affair, as much as I would enjoy myself.
[Joe] What have you done?
Please don't make me feel
like I'm the asshole here.
- [Joe] Oh, no.
- [mellow music playing]
I am the asshole.
Because you are right.
Now I see all of you.
The mess, the pain
behind the bluster,
the ache to connect, breath shallow,
cheeks flush. Is that a hair tuck?
You're scared.
And so am I. Not of the fantasy, of
the reality that you could be mine?
Right here, right now.
[music fades]
I should go.
[moody music playing]
"Retreat, regroup."
Becoming my mantra lately.
What was that?
At minimum, certain urges.
Natural, healthy urges.
Not necessarily a thing needing
to be dealt with or worried over.
Worked through.
- [suspenseful music playing]
- [typewriter clacking]
"Sparks." Sure. Yeah,
sure. I've missed that.
- [typewriter dings]
- Damn it, there's a word for…
- [typewriter clacking]
- "Staring into your eyes,
was like finding myself."
"Your hunger pulling
me into you."
"Desperate to know
what I can do to you."
"For you. And what
you could do to me."
So this is where
you snuck off to.
Hey.
[music fades]
You can trust me with it.
It's… [inhales]
It's so wrong.
- I know. I'm sorry.
- No.
I like it.
I want more.
["Night Drive" by
Rob Simonsen playing]
[unzips pants]
[Joe gasps]
I want all of you.
[Joe exhales]
Drown me.
[grunts]
[song fades]
[exhales]
[breathes deeply]
[exhales]
[Joe] This is the best
thing I've written yet.
Or the worst.
Not exactly seeing
things clearly right now.
- [exhales]
- [desk drawer closes]
I have a son.
- [pensive music playing]
- A wife.
And something
that's just for me.
Writing. And writing alone.
The page is the safest
place to explore my urges,
violent and otherwise without
liability or rejection.
You, my employee, can stay in
that small part of my brain.
And if you can embrace all
of me, maybe Kate can too.
[music fades]
[distant horn blares]
- [drink pouring]
- [footsteps approaching]
[glass clinking]
No, thanks.
- All right.
- [chuckles]
Did you speak to Maddie today?
[Joe] Shit. She suspects.
It's almost like I've
been acting suspicious.
No. Why… Oh, my… my voicemail.
A part of me wants to tell her.
Maybe she'd understand.
Help fix it.
As you would say, "delulu."
I'm sorry. I…
tried to dig up some scandal
on your sisters by myself.
It was harmless, but I
should have known better.
Nothing of substance ever comes
from a celebrity subreddit.
Besides, seems like you handled
Reagan well enough on your own.
You know, I do want to work
these things out together.
Yeah?
[inhales] Then why push me away?
I cannot be some…
black-hearted Lady
Macbeth. [chuckles]
Since you, um… Since we did
the thing, I can't sleep.
I lie awake. [breathes shakily]
- [soft somber music playing]
- Paralyzed.
Just replaying, searching for ways
it could have ended differently.
If I do nod off, the… the
nightmares are… horrifying.
To be fair, that sounds
exactly like Lady Macbeth.
[chuckling] Damn. I
mean, I'm serious.
I know.
There was a time when
I could read your mind.
And I don't know
when that changed.
Joe…
Help me understand.
Why are you not
suffering the way I am?
Because I stopped feeling guilty
about this part of myself.
When we left London.
You've helped me play nice for
three years and it's been fine.
But I need a purpose. [sighs]
I need a purpose, Kate.
And when I can protect you
and protect Henry…
I feel not even remotely guilty.
In fact, I'm starting
to think it's
what makes me special.
And when you look at me
like that, it's painful
to be so misunderstood.
You read my pages and recoiled.
That part of me isn't
scary. It's romantic.
Because it's not random, and it's…
it's actually not bloodthirsty.
It's for you.
I don't want that.
- [inhales]
- [glass clinks on table]
[sighs]
I have to think that
part of you does.
Why did you cover up
so much of my past?
Why would you send me after Bob?
Kate, I married a queen.
Fierce and powerful.
Not to be fucked with.
And I know that person
is still inside of you.
Let me be your knight.
I need to be of service.
Let me help you make the
world better. Please.
You can help me.
Just any way, but that.
[soft somber music continues]
[music fades]
[glass scrapes]
[Joe sighs]
[pensive music playing]
[inhales shakily, exhales]
[Joe] I'm gonna have a vulnerability
hangover in the morning.
But you, Bronte, have clarified
what's missing in my marriage.
You're sparkly. Inspiring.
And there's a lot I'd be
willing to do for you.
Maybe you'd appreciate
a little protecting.
[vibrates]
[music fades]
Um…
- [Joe] Maddie?
- I…
[Joe] What the fuck is going
on? Is this old? It says "live."
I wanted to get ahead of the
rumors that may be circling.
Uh…
It's true.
I messed up… [chuckles]
…with my sister's
husband. [scoffs]
[Joe] Holy shit, that is Reagan.
Are you seeing this?
And I feel the most remorse
a jealous, cheating whore
could possibly feel.
[Joe] Kate thought she and
Reagan had reached a détente,
but clearly Reagan's
still plotting.
Oh, my God, someone
needs to stop her.
[Joe] Her impersonation is even fooling
her own sister. That's possible?
I will be ceding my board
voting capacity in absentia
to my sister,
Reagan. Immediately.
[Joe] Incredible.
It's actually brilliant.
Oh, fuck. Fuck, I'm gonna
lose control of the board.
[suspenseful music playing]
Oh, God, not to mention Teddy's vote.
I'm gonna have to make some calls.
[Joe] I couldn't give a shit about
board romantics, but this is gold.
I'm no moron, I'm a genius.
Turns out Reagan is the inspiration
I've been looking for this whole time.
I finally know how
the story needs to go.
With any luck, imposter syndrome
is gonna be my salvation.
How would you like to
become your sister?
[dramatic music playing]
[music fades]
[gripping instrumental
music playing]