Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street (2014) s01e07 Episode Script

I've lived my whole life
on Normal Street.
There's a lake at one end,
and a forest of shady trees
at the other.
But what lies in between
is anything but normal.
Nightmares aren't real.
Only a coward or
a big baby would be
afraid of something stupid
like a bad dream.
[rumbling]
[water splashing]
[gasping]
If I keep
telling myself that,
maybe I'll actually be able
to sleep through the night.
Mother: Are you done yet?
Almost.
Did you find anything?
Ugh. I don't think
I'll miss those.
Yeah, what about that?
I thought Gardner
might like it.
Good job.
Thanks, pal.
Hey, can you, uh,
pack up that box?
Quick, quick, quick, please?
I've got an appointment,
and then I'm gonna
stop by Goodwill.
Meet you in the car.
Quick, quick, quick.
People are impressed
when you tell 'em you're
a junior lifeguard.
Plus, you get a
free T-shirt
that says
"Junior Lifeguard."
And a trip to
all-you-can-eat
Sundae In A Bucket.
We also learn
how to save lives.
Oh. Uh-huh.
Yeah, that, too.
Mel, you already took
CPR classes.
But not water rescue.
Half these kids
are goners.
Drop out rate is
50 percent.
You know,
they say Duke Whitmore
just missed the cut
for the Olympics.
I heard he saved
over 100 lives,
and can hold his breath
for over five minutes.
You call this stretching,
Ranger?
Um, it feels like
stretching to me.
Yeah, oh, that's
more like it, huh?
How about some laps?
Give me a
200 freestyle.
Don't forget.
You also get a whistle.
[whistle blows]
"Bawang Merah Bawang Putih"
is a Malaysian fairytale
about two sisters.
One named Bawang Putih,
that means garlic,
and the other sister
is Bawang Merah,
that means onion.
We're lucky we
didn't get named
garlic and onion.
[laughs]
Hey, boys.
Hi, Mom.
Dad's in Malaysia again.
He's started to tell us
a new fairytale
about two sisters named
onion and garlic.
I know you miss him.
Yeah.
It's hard.
Divorce totally stinks.
But we're doin' okay,
right?
Your dad,
he's a good guy.
You know,
he calls all the time,
he sends lots of postcards
to you and-- and Gardner.
I should probably read the
fairytale to Gardner again.
Yeah.
But if he starts
calling me onion,
there's gonna be trouble.
[laughing]
So--
[splashing]
[gasping]
Press down on the chest
30 times.
Tilt the head back
and pinch that nose.
Admit it.
Don't you want to be
that guy in a restaurant
when someone starts to choke
and you can jump up and say,
"I can save you."
I'm already that guy.
That's a good job, Mel.
Thanks, Duke.
- Does it have a name?
- Yeah.
Do I want to pass this
junior lifeguard class
or not?
What's its last name?
Are you okay?
A little tired.
Are we keeping you awake,
Gortimer?
Sorry, Duke.
Hi. I'm Ranger.
And I'll be giving you
CPR today.
And by the time you
get past introductions,
your patient has gone into
cardiac arrest.
Okay, Ranger.
Good effort.
So, for the next hour,
we're gonna be practicing
water rescue.
Now, it's important to
remember that
sometimes your victims
will panic.
Gortimer.
Aren't you getting in?
Has it always been
this deep?
So you have
nightmares.
Big deal.
The other night I dreamed
I was climbing Mount Everest,
and there were a bunch of
yeti coming after me,
hundreds of them,
and they were all screaming,
"Yeti, yeti, yeti."
Why would they shout out
their own names?
It's a dream.
It doesn't have to
make sense.
Is your yeti nightmare
supposed to make me
feel better?
Freud said dreams are
a representation of
unconscious desires,
thoughts and motivations.
Then why am I dreaming
I'm drowning?
Do you feel overwhelmed
by something?
The junior lifeguard class?
Are you afraid you won't pass?
Gortimer's the best one.
Of course, he'll pass.
Not if I can't
get in the water.
I'm not worried
about anything.
Except my dreams.
Gortimer, are you sure
it's the same pool?
Exactly the same.
I see the sub aquatic mural.
Except, everything's
a little different.
How?
I'm not sure.
Maybe if you concentrate on
who's drowning you.
I can't see him.
Just his arm.
Hey.
Why aren't you asleep?
It's late.
I was reading.
You can tell me if you're
worried about something.
Why would I be worried
about anything?
'Cause you're
a secret worrier.
You can't hide it.
Mom's know.
I just want to do a good job
at lifeguard practice.
Is that it?
Where did you find that?
In the Goodwill box.
I-- I made it
in Girl Scouts.
A million years ago.
Kind of falling apart.
Maybe they'll take your
dreamcatcher badge away.
Ha-ha.
Go to sleep,
funny boy.
Goodnight.
[gasping]
Of course.
It wasn't my dream.
It was my mother's.
Ah, you didn't have to
make breakfast.
Thank you.
I was up. I didn't
sleep very well.
Hm.
He wouldn't eat his cereal
with milk again?
Stinker.
Why couldn't you sleep?
I've been having bad dreams.
About what?
Drowning.
Oh. That sounds awful.
Have you ever had
a bad dream like that,
about drowning?
Mm? No, I-- I don't
go in the water much.
You know that.
I, um, never learned
how to swim.
So you've never had
a dream like that?
[scoffs]
No, thank goodness.
Come on, buddy.
I gotta de-cereal you and
get you to pre-school.
All right,
let's hustle up,
everybody.
When I say everybody,
that means you, Gortimer.
I'm not so sure
I'm cut out to be
a junior lifeguard.
Well, you're one of
my best recruits.
Maybe I used to be.
Thought you wanted this.
I did.
[whistle blows]
It was great.
There was this kid at
the bottom of the pool,
and they used
a grappling hook
to get him up.
It's called a life hook
and rescue pole.
Okay, well,
grappling hook
sounds better.
Why did you leave?
I didn't feel like
getting in the water.
You're still
having nightmares?
Yeah.
Only they're not mine.
They're my mom's.
I saw her reflection.
Well,
did you tell her?
Sort of, but she said she
didn't know how to swim.
So, if she's afraid
of swimming,
why does that make you
afraid of swimming?
I don't know.
Hey, we're gonna
go to Eggs.
- Wanna come?
Mel's treat.
- Hey.
Maybe I'll
meet you guys there.
Mom?
[knocking]
- Hey.
- Hey, pal.
How was practice?
Okay.
Why did you tell me
you didn't know how to swim?
I saw your picture.
You were on the swim team.
[sighs]
I should have said something.
It's kind of
embarrassing.
I never--
I never took you
and Gardner swimming.
So why didn't you?
It's hard to explain.
Is it because you're
afraid of the water?
I was-- I was training
for a big swim meet.
I snuck into the pool
the night before
so I could practice.
I knew I wasn't
supposed to be there.
The grate at the bottom
was glowing.
It was unlike anything
I had ever seen.
I should have
told someone about it,
but instead, I--
Well, I-- I swam closer
so that I could get
a better look.
At first,
it was beautiful.
But then it started
sucking me in.
I was so scared.
And then
it was someone or something,
something that was definitely
not from Normal Street.
When I got out of the pool,
I ran away as fast as I could,
and I never went back.
Why didn't you
tell me this before?
It all sounds so silly now.
I couldn't help thinking
she was hiding something.
I needed backup.
Okay. Ranger and I
figured it out.
All you have to do
is go to sleep,
and see the
drowning scenario again.
I'm not sure
that's a good idea.
Do you want to be
a junior lifeguard?
Not if I have to have
that dream again.
But it's the only way
to find out
what happened
to your mother.
And who was trying
to grab her.
A pool monster?
Did he have
razor sharp teeth?
Or a dorsal fin?
Then you'll be able to
get rid of
your mother's fear
of the water.
And that'll help you
get rid of your fear.
Makes perfect sense.
Okay,
so fall asleep.
The key is
to be cozy.
[muffled]
You're suffocating me!
Last summer,
we went to
the mountains.
I remember listening
to the sound of the wind
in the trees.
Whoosh.
Whoosh.
Whoosh?
It's all about
the pressure points.
And
I think
this is it.
That should
make you sleepy.
Oh!
Clearly,
not that one.
Soup, bananas,
yogurt and
warm milk.
Guaranteed to
make you doze off.
Or throw up.
All right, Mel,
just talk to him
about physics.
But then he'll be
up all night.
When I learned that
quantum mechanics is,
at first glance,
a mathematical machine for
predicting the behaviors of
microscopic particles,
I couldn't sleep for--
Oh.
[sighs]
[water splashing]
[gasping]
I saw him,
the guy trying to
hurt my mother.
It was Duke,
the lifeguard.
Looks like your
regular pool grate to me.
That glows?
It's like a
pattern of lights.
Some kind of
bio-luminescence.
What are you doing?
Gonna go check it out.
Are you crazy?
You're afraid
of the water.
Suppose you sink
like a stone.
Then your junior
lifeguard training
should come in handy.
Ranger's right.
Not about the
sinking-like-a-stone part,
but
this is a
terrible idea.
- Let me do it.
- No.
It's for my mom.
It has to be me.
[water splashing]
Step off the pool deck
into the water,
large stride,
and then sideswim
to submerged victim.
What are you doing here?
The pool's closed.
Um, we're your most
enthusiastic students,
and we couldn't
wait for practice,
so we decided to get
a head start.
What do you think
you're doing?
It is dangerous
near that grate.
Is that what you said
to my mother?
Claire Knowles,
do you remember her?
She-- she used to
swim here,
but then
something happened and--
and you hurt her.
I saw you in
my mother's dreams.
I've never tried to
hurt anybody.
It's because of you
that my mother won't
go in the water.
She hasn't been swimming
after all these years?
Duke:
Claire snuck in one night,
and was swimming
near the grate.
By the time I got there,
she was in trouble.
The suction was too strong.
She didn't trust me.
She was panicking.
She didn't know
what I was doing.
You weren't
trying to hurt her.
You were trying to save her.
Sometimes in my dreams,
you had scales.
Like a fish.
Like a fish.
Duke: A long time ago,
I heard a story about a kid
who was about your age.
He showed up on
Normal Street,
and nobody knew
where he came from.
It was about the time
the grate in the pool
started glowing.
Back then you'd
hear people say that
the kid was from
the other side of the grate,
and that the grate
was really a portal.
A portal to another world.
The kid was sent here
to guard the portal,
and he had to leave behind
everyone he knew and loved.
But the job was an honor,
and he swore he would
do his duty
no matter what.
Take this.
Your mother needs to have
another dream.
- Hey, guys.
- Hey, Mrs. Gibbon.
You must be
proud of Gortimer.
Top junior lifeguard.
- That's quite an honor.
- I know.
Hey, does anyone
want anything from
the snack bar?
I'm pretty sure
we're gonna get
some freebies now.
[laughing]
Congratulations,
my junior lifeguard.
Hey, um--
I'm really sorry that
I didn't tell you the truth
about being afraid to swim.
That's okay.
No, it's not.
We shouldn't keep secrets
from each other.
Yeah, I know.
I should have told you
about the nightmares
when I first started
having them.
You know, it's funny
being afraid of something.
You end up being afraid
of being afraid.
Like, the only thing
you have to fear is
fear itself.
Gardner: Oh, no.
- I got it.
- Oh.
Keep an eye on your brother.
My mother was right.
Being afraid of
being afraid.
What a waste of time.
It might be scary,
but it's easier in the end
when you face
something head on.
And you sleep better, too.