Common Side Effects (2024) s01e05 Episode Script

Star-Tel-Lite

1
I'm actually looking to buy
a very specific property.
Jimmer Jarvis.
Nice to meet you.
- Mom.
- My little girl.
Someone sent me a postcard.
- Frances?
- I came to help.
- Yaaaaah!
- [ Grunts ]
Frances, run! [ Explosion ]
Sick.
What the fuck?!
What the fuck?!
I think this fucking
dude is still alive!
He's still He's
still fucking twitching!
Knock it off, Rusty.
What?
Alright, now, you, who are you?
Turtleman's girlfriend?
- It's okay. Okay.
- No, she's
she's not my girlfriend.
I mean
- Okay, who was this guy?
I think he was
trying to kill me.
Or take my
Look, it's a long story.
I like stories.
You like stories, Rusty?
Rusty likes stories.
Seems like you got a real
interesting story here, guy.
So why not you come inside
right now and tell us a story?
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
Alright, who's after you?
Uh, the DEA, definitely.
But I don't think that was
them. [ Cellphone buzzes ]
Um, Big Pharma, probably.
I have a half brother
who seems kind of obsessed
with what's going on.
Oh, maybe a crazy mycologist,
uh, and her disciples.
A mycologist is a
specialist or expert in
I know the fuck a mycologist is!
Sorry. Sorry. Yeah. So
Okay, you guys, this night has
been really scary and crazy.
But this man, Marshall,
I'm telling you,
he can change the world if he
can just grow his mushroom.
This mushroom heals anything?
Tommy's got some
stuff wrong with him.
Real wrong. Hehe.
You don't have to
hug him or anything.
He's got sludge spots.
Unless you're a sludgie
chaser, they're out there.
Lotta kids around
here are Sludgies.
Th-They don't like
that term. Come on.
I don't mind it.
We're reclaiming it.
[ Coughing ]
My lungs is like
toast. Barely work.
There's no hope for him.
One night he'll
just choke and die.
Gurgling, probably,
like [Gurgling]
This is because
of the waste site?
Yep. There's no
hospital for 60 miles.
Tommy's got no insurance
anyway. What're you waiting for?
Give him your magic
shroom medicine.
Come on.
- I want to, but right now,
I only have two mushrooms left.
You're gonna give it to him.
Okay, Tommy, there's a side
effect that you might feel.
Your mind is gonna just
kinda go to a place.
Try and just take
it in, okay, bud?
Go ahead. You got it.
Just chew and swallow.
Does it taste disgusting?
♪♪
[ Breathes deeply ]
♪♪
[ Strained breathing ]
♪♪
[ Breathing deeply ]
♪♪
Listen to him breathing!
He's like normal.
[ Exhales deeply ]
Shit, I've seen a miracle today.
[ Grunting ]
Okay. Well, I think we
can forget about that, uh,
wild hog that blew up.
Right. Yes.
It was just an accident.
Your typical hog accident.
You're talking about the guy?
And you think you can
grow this thing here?
Okay, a few hours ago there
was some kind of explosion.
Now it's all handshakes?
What is that? A barbecue?
Cooking up ribs or something.
He took her back to his trailer.
Is he about to murder her?
Look, maybe headquarters
doesn't need to know exactly
where we are, but we
gotta stay on this.
Okay, we can keep
eyes on him. For now.
But I'm not loving our
sight-lines on the trailer.
Could use some
kind of elevation.
Hi! We're with Star-Tel-Lite.
It's a new satellite TV company.
Your roof has the
proper exposure
to the Southern Hemisphere,
and we're offering a new
program to rural subscribers
that could land you
one year of free TV.
Are you messing
with me right now?
No, sir.
Get the hell out of
here! That is so cool!
Damn, we're lucky.
- Really lucky.
We're offering this to less
than one in 17,000 homes.
Wow, that's like
less than
Southern exposure. Wow.
Everything sterilized,
all different soil combos.
But nothing grew.
I tried agar, I tried syringing
out spores, I tried
Okay, is it possible you're
too smart for your own good?
When you found the mushroom
in Peru, it was just growing?
Yeah, on the valley floor.
Have you tried that?
What? Like just grow
it on the ground?
I mean, that is
where stuff grows.
[ Cellphone buzzing ] Oh.
Uh
Oh, it's my mom.
Oh, sorry, yeah. Yeah.
Frances, what the hell
am I looking at here?
I mean in the video you
sent, not on the TV.
I think it's a
German reality show?
"Housewives of"
But they're married to
their dogs, I don't know.
Okay, wow, really captivating,
Rick, but please listen?
It's 100% real, and it works.
Okay? I just need some time.
This will be huge for us.
- Could it save my job?
- M-Maybe.
Well, where are you? We can
send help if you need it.
No. Rick, no. I
don't need help.
You just Look, I'm gonna
be gone for awhile, okay?
I'm trying to figuring out
- Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Do you not get what kind of
predicament we're in right now?
My job is hanging by a thread.
Our earnings report
comes out Thursday,
and spoiler alert, it sucks!
[ Sighs ] I mean,
really, Frances.
Do you know how bad
my life is right now?!
[ Knock on door ]
Oh, great, now my
room service is here.
Rick!
Rick, can you just
We could be onto
something huge here.
Alright, alright.
You know, funny story,
when I was on my high
school baseball team
Bye, Rick. [ Cellphone beeps ]
I found some yaupon
and made some tea.
It's North America's only
native caffeinated plant.
Well, dahoon, but you're
not gonna find that in
You picked Star-Tel-Lite.
And it was your idea.
[ Indistinct conversation ]
♪♪
Okay, dude. Amazing news.
Who is that on our roof?
That's what I was
about to tell you.
We might be eligible, man!
Oh, God damn it, Rusty.
Does it seem like a good time
to have strangers poking around?
Hey, guys.
- Oh, h-hey, there.
So, uh, you're with the
satellite company, are ya?
Uh, mm-hmm. Yeah,
Star-Tel-Lite.
Wow. Well, lucky us, huh?
Very lucky, actually.
Great access to
the southern sky.
Yeah, so the problem here
is, we don't take solicitors.
Rusty here forgot about that.
Yeah, plus I'm not supposed
to have too much screen time.
No worries. Ha! That's fine.
Sounds like the best
thing for us to do
is, uh, probably just
leave you folks alone.
Yeah.
Probably damn right.
We cool?
We cool.
Okay!
♪♪
[ Chuckles softly ]
[ Country music
playing, door dings ]
Frances, I'm just gonna
grab some trash bags,
but check the place out.
There's all kinds of
interesting livestock feeds.
♪♪
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Growing anything interesting
by the waste site?
[ Scoffs ] You
look city to me.
Of course he'd pick you,
little city cinnamon
roll all to himself.
Okay! [ Chuckles nervously ]
[ Chuckles ]
[ Door dings ]
Ohh.
Okay, ready to go?
Yeah, yeah!
[ Camera whirs ]
[ Engine shuts off ]
Hey, brought you some barbecue!
Aw, thanks! Wow,
smells delicious.
Wait. This isn't
Just to make sure, this
isn't meat from the, uh,
"hog" we discussed earlier.
Ha, come on, man. We
ain't sickos like that.
We did smoke the guy.
Then we fed that to a hog.
Then we smoked the hog.
Huh.
I'll, um, save it
for a midnight snack.
Listen, there's a van about a
quarter mile down that road.
They say they're from the cable
company but they might be lying.
Uncle JJ thinks they
might be government.
Gah. Alright.
Thanks for the heads-up.
[ Camera whirring ]
Hmm.
He's coming towards us.
What?
What do we do?
We do nothing. You do nothing.
I'll do something if
we have to do some
Hello? Look, I know
you're in there
and I know you can hear me.
Are you here to kill me?
No. No. I-I think
you're government.
Now, if you're gonna arrest
me, here's your chance!
You won't find anything illegal.
I can prove that in court.
No, huh? So you're
just spying on me?
Well, what do you see?
I mean, really, do you think I'm
the real criminal in this world?
Just give me one more day, okay?
Please.
And by the way, if
you've read this thing
about me being a
Peruvian serial killer,
that's ridiculous.
I'm not El Chacal.
I'm non-violent.
Oh, uh, if the biker guys offer
you any barbecue, do not eat it.
We're just gonna drop it?
This just doesn't
seem scientific.
Well, what did science
ever do for us?
Nuclear bombs?
Steam power,
bioweapons, aspartame,
thalidomide, the Internet,
OxyContin, Ozempic,
microwaves,
penicillin, rocketry.
It's a mixed bag.
Okay.
Marshall, Socrates was there
when you found it, right?
Uh, nearby.
Why don't you put him down?
Maybe he's smarter than us.
About this, anyway.
Go for it, bud.
It's so beautiful here.
Yeah, it kind of reminds me
of this place in Joshua Tree,
Upside Down Elephant Rock?
Similar tranquility. And
there's this special rock.
It looks like an
upside-down elephant.
[ Chuckling ] Oh, got it.
I'll know it when I see it.
So, is this the spot?
Is this the spot, Socrates?
Hm. Guess he picked it.
Okay. I guess it's time.
This has to work.
Whoa.
What's our backup plan
if we never grow more?
Human race continues to
be miserable forever?
Oh! But we'll have tried.
♪♪
Look, I acknowledge I'm on
a bit of a hot seat here.
We both know that.
But if this comes
through, it could change
the pharmaceutical
game as we know it.
Revenue possibilities?
I mean, infinite.
Infinite. Infinite revenue?
You amuse me, Rick.
You're a classic type
the American bullshitter.
Um
Okay, I'm gonna
show you something
that one of my top research
people is working on, okay?
Listen to him breathing.
He's like normal.
So? Right?
Richard. My dear friend.
You can't trust
videos these days.
Deepfakes and so on.
My son, he's 7 years old,
and he showed me a video
where Coco Melon, is in
conference with the Pope!
It looked quite real!
But it's just a bit
of clever fakery.
Rick. Forget videos.
Um
You look like you
could use some air.
We on the Board think it's time
to begin discussing your
transition elsewhere.
♪♪
[ Sighs ]
♪♪
Cecily, our people
are reporting a very
troubling thing.
There's a video of a man
using the poison mushroom
that we discussed.
Okay, I thought you were
taking care of that.
Ah. Yes.
We had someone on it,
but it seems we lost him.
Okay, so what is your plan?
We have the location,
North Carolina.
I'll send it to you.
Okay, okay.
He's wanted in New York.
We can bring him in.
Good, keep me posted.
Ciao. [ Cellphone beeps ]
[ Snoring ]
[ Birds chirping ]
Oh, my God!
Marshall! Marshall!
[ Door bangs ]
- Ah.
[ Panting ]
Wait.
We We did it?
♪♪
- Oh, my God.
- Oh, my God!
- Marshall, it worked.
- Yes!
It's everywhere. Frances, look.
- Socrates found the spot.
And it worked. It worked!
We did it! Yeah!
Yes!
Uhh. Sorry, what's happening?
They grew their mushrooms maybe?
So what's our move here?
Maybe he was right.
Maybe he's not doing
anything illegal.
Still, this is a lot of weird
shit to not be illegal somehow.
Ah. They're so beautiful.
It's so cool.
I was thinking
maybe I'd take some,
make a quick trip
up to see to my Mom,
and then I could come back
and m and just get
Hey. You okay?
I-I-I am. I just
It's just so enormous,
the range of
possibilities, you know?
I'm I don't know.
Like Hildy said, this
kind of power is
And we have no idea what other
side effects there might be.
And how many will grow?
How do we get it out?
What's gonna be the overhead?
- Hey, hey.
- I mean, there's just
Let's not think
about that right now.
Well, who gets the
mushroom first, right?
That's important. Oldest
people? The sickest?
And, like, what if
someone's super sick
but they're also super racist?
Does that guy still get it?
- Marshall. Marshall.
- I know, I know. Just
- Take Take a breath.
- Okay.
Okay? Look.
You're gonna have
this great product.
You'll You'll
be able to relax.
Wait. Product?
Frances, we have a chance
here to change the world!
This isn't a product.
It should be free!
It could grow everywhere!
No more insurance, no
more prescriptions,
no more evil companies.
You don't have to stay sick
just because you
don't have money.
What happened to your mom, that
should happen for everyone.
That would be so wonderful.
I-I want that. I
want that world.
Good, good.
- You can make that world?
- I can try.
The only people who'd lose
would be pharma execs,
but, hey, maybe they can
work in urban planning.
Right. Okay.
Marshall, I think
I can help you.
We can do this the right way.
I don't know. You think so?
Do we even know if this works?
Should we I dunno, try it?
I've never taken it
when I'm healthy.
So many crazy things
have happened.
Why not add shrooms to the mix?
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
You saved my life.
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
Frances? This better
be worth my time.
Frances, how could you?
♪♪
Whoa. Where was that?
No, that that
that's the Portal.
Okay. Marshall, I
I think I have to
tell you something.
I
[ Vehicle approaches ]
- What's that?
Marshall, I
[ Siren chirps ]
Marshall Cuso?
♪♪
Yes.
Marshall Cuso, you
are under arrest
for the arson of
private property
in the State of New York.
You have the right
to remain silent.
Okay! I'm Jimmer Jarvis,
sheriff of this township.
What's going on here.
- Yeah? And we're state.
Take a back seat.
- The fuck you just say?
Look, he's just cargo to us.
He's getting sent to New
York. Let us do our jobs.
You've been traded to
the Yankees, buddy!
Oh, my Oh, my God, Marshall,
what what do
you want me to do?
Pack everything
up. Everything.
And just go home.
I'll be out soon.
Marshall, please, I-I
really need to talk to you.
I
♪♪
I'm sorry.
♪♪
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