Lovecraft Country (2020) s01e02 Episode Script

1
[cackling]
[monster chittering]
[bell ringing]
[door latch clicks]
Is that an alarm?
Nobody seems alarmed.
You got your own library, too?
They got Blackwood,
Hodgson, Clark Ashton Smith.
I could stay in there reading all day.
I wonder if that's the point.
[door latch clicks]
Good Lord, Letitia.
You like?
Found it and a lot more in the wardrobe.
Tried on a few before settling on this.
And they all fit?
Like a glove.
[clears throat]
Mr. Freeman, the elder Mr. Freeman,
and Miss Lewis,
I'm glad you all were able to freshen up
before the chime of the lunch bell.
Nothing to be alarmed about.
If you'll allow me to
escort you to the veranda.
William, is it?
That is correct, Mr. Freeman.
I wasn't sure that you would remember.
You were a little out of sorts
when you arrived this morning.
When's my father expected
to return from Boston?
I am afraid that I have
already told you everything
that I have been made privy to.
He left to see the lawyer
with Miss Braithwhite
two nights ago.
She gave no instructions
on when they would return.
But we were expected?
She made it very clear
that I was to look out for you,
treat you like family while you wait.
[Atticus] What hotel
are they at in Boston?
I want to call and check in.
[William] Unfortunately,
that's going to be impossible.
Upon inheriting the
land, Samuel Braithwhite
decided to use it for his summer home,
and never installed telephone lines
so as not to be disturbed by the business
that hounds him most of the year.
And what business does
he have with my father?
I don't know,
and it wouldn't be my place to say.
Is that the Samuel Braithwhite
you've been speaking of?
[William] That is a
distant cousin of Samuel's,
Ardham's founder,
and the original owner of the lodge,
- Titus Braithwhite.
- Hmm.
He built this retreat so that he
and his fellow lodge members
could dine in private.
He was quite an extraordinary man.
He must've been to build
such an impressive home.
How did he come about his fortune?
- Shipping.
- That's code for slaves.
Titus was known to be notoriously kind
to those who worked for him.
[George] Hmm.
Many mourned after the great fire.
There was a fire?
What we are standing in is
a replica of the original lodge,
which burned down during
the autumnal equinox, 1833.
It was an unfortunate
accident that killed Titus
and everyone else inside.
Well, almost everyone.
Mr. Braithwhite has called a
gathering of lodge members
who are expected to arrive
for a celebratory dinner.
Until then, you have
the run of the lodge.
After lunch, we'd like to
take a walk around the village.
That won't be a problem, will it?
No, as long as you
return in time for dinner.
Now, if you need anything else,
anything at all, just ring the bell,
and the butler will come running.
I thought you were the butler.
No.
No, I'm just a close personal
friend to Christina Braithwhite.
Does that silver Bentley out
front belong to Miss Braithwhite?
Yes.
But she has many cars.
When have you ever showed up
to a white man's house uninvited
and he didn't try to get
you out in 2.5 seconds?
They want to keep us here.
I don't want to find out why.
I know Pops is around here somewhere.
He's definitely not in Boston.
[bell ringing]
What? I need salt.
You know white folks don't
be seasoning their food.
- What's wrong with you?
- [door latch clicks]
First, you parading around here
- like you on the
- Tic. Tic.
Oh. Thank you.
How can you even eat after
what happened last night?
Because I
I
Don't remember what happened.
You serious?
Hey, Leti, we were attacked.
- By the sheriff?
- By monsters.
- What monsters?
- Eight-foot-tall beasts
with razor-sharp teeth that
can bite a man's head off.
Uncle George?
Last thing I remember is cleaning
up in the lodge this morning.
No, you you got
knocked out in the fight,
but you gotta remember the
monsters attacking the cabin.
- What cabin?
- The cabin in the woods.
Uncle George, they had us surrounded.
Then there was that high-pitched
whistle that called them off.
Like a dog whistle?
No, Leti, it wasn't a dog whistle.
These weren't dogs.
Remember, you crashed Woody
into the cabin right
after I shot the sheriff.
- You shot the sheriff?
- I had to shoot the sheriff.
Yeah! He got bit by one of those things.
They're like vampires.
Uncle George, remember,
you quoted Dracula.
You remember that?
We're being watched.
Sit down.
We need to find Pop and
get the hell out of here.
Take Leti and search the lodge.
I'ma check down in the village.
Mmm-mmm. We are not splitting up.
She's right.
We stay together and be discreet.
They've been treating
us real nice right now,
and we don't want to give
them a reason to do otherwise.
You said the car was crashed.
It was.
This can't be Woody.
Well, my camera's in the front seat.
And the back window's busted out.
[clears throat]
The elder Mr. Freeman, your keys.
How'd this get here?
I found it parked on the other side
of the bridge leading into the village.
That's impossible.
It was crashed.
I assure you, I drove
it up just like I found it.
What?
What aren't you telling us?
There was quite a bit of
blood in the front seats,
but I had the butler wash it out.
I assume that was the trouble
that you ran into on the road last night.
Let's go.
[shutter snaps]
What are you doing? Come on.
Can I ask you something?
[children laughing]
Did Atticus kill a lot
of people in the war?
Anything he did was for
the service of his country.
I know, but Woody wasn't
crashed like he said it was.
It was covered in blood.
None of this makes any sense.
Why can't either of us remember
anything that happened?
I'm trying.
This monster business?
A lot of soldiers came back
from the war with shell shock.
What if whatever
This isn't shell shock.
I know what I saw last night. I know.
Hold on, hold on. We're
just concerned about you.
That's all.
What you said happened
doesn't make any sense.
You know what else doesn't?
A bookshelf full of your
favorite books, hmm?
A wardrobe full of
clothes in Leti's exact size.
- Can you ex
- [high-pitched whistle trills]
That's the whistle that
called off the monsters.
[high-pitched whistle trills]
Hey!
You! Were you in the woods last night?
Who the hell are you?
[dogs barking]
- What's that whistle for?
- Tic, stop!
- Not the dogs.
- Tic!
Answer the question!
What's that whistle really for?
I'm sorry, ma'am.
- Stop.
- Please call them dogs off.
My dogs aren't the ones
that need to be on a leash.
We're guests of Mr. Braithwhite.
[dogs panting passively]
You don't look like the type
to be Braithwhite's guests.
- Are you the sheriff?
- What makes you think that?
That's the jail, right?
I mean, it's the only stone building
I've seen in the entire village.
- [laughs]
- [dogs barking]
[barking stops]
[uneasy music]
We get animals coming in the village.
They break into the cottages
But not in here.
[dogs lapping hungrily]
I heard about your grizzlies
in the surrounding area.
No, no grizzlies,
just black bears.
But the blacks are bad
enough. They're smart.
They're not smart smart.
They're beasts,
but they're clever
enough to cause mischief.
And they're persistent
Always sticking their noses
where they don't belong.
Mmm-hmm.
I suggest you all head
back on up to the lodge
before the sun goes down.
You don't want to miss dinner.
Thank you, ma'am.
The inside of that silo's
got a stone foundation,
which means a dungeon-like basement.
And all that barking,
you wouldn't be able
to hear someone if they
were screaming for help.
That's where they're keeping Pop.
When we get back to the lodge,
- we gonna have to make a quick getaway.
- Mmm-hmm.
Be gone before they
start burning crosses.
Need something faster than Woody.
You gonna have to steal it.
I can handle that.
Something told me you could.
Uncle George?
What is it?
A recollection, something your mother
told me years ago about her ancestors.
She never told me or Pop
anything about her people
but she told you?
I think she was just ashamed of it.
She told me her great-ancestor
was a slave named Hanna
and that she escaped her
master's house after a fire.
The secret birthright Pop wrote about.
Titus Braithwhite
was known to be notoriously "kind"
to his slaves.
Hanna ran through these woods pregnant.
She was a brave woman.
[rustling sound]
What the hell is that?
[earth rumbling]
[screaming]
[monsters snarling]
[high-pitched whistle trills]
- [whistle blowing]
- [monsters chittering]
Escort the younger
Mr. Freeman to my father's lab,
and make sure our other
guests stay in their rooms.
Why are we covered in dirt?
I I don't know.
It happened again, didn't it?
Shut it! Let's move!
[man screaming]
[hollering]
We were walking in the woods.
I remember Hanna.
If Tic's related, then
Montrose was just bait.
[mechanism clacks]
Order of the Ancient Dawn.
He's darker than I expected.
[groans]
- Let me help you.
- I'm fine.
[groans]
This here is one of
my favorite paintings.
The artist, Josef Tannhauser,
entitled it Genesis 2:19.
Are either of you
familiar with the verse?
"And out of the ground, the Lord God
formed every beast of the
field and every fowl of the air
and brought them unto Adam
to see what he would call them,
and whatsoever Adam
called every living creature,
"that was the name thereof."
In Tannhauser's conception,
this act of naming is more
than a simple picking of labels.
Adam is sharing in creation,
assigning each creature its final form
and its station in the
hierarchy of nature.
What does that mean, Christina?
What did Adam do?
He put everything in its place.
At the dawn of time, just for a moment,
everything was where
and as it should be
from God to man to woman,
down to the lowliest wriggling creature.
It was Nirvana.
Then that stupid, meddlesome,
troublemaking bitch Eve
brought entropy and death.
What was an elegant hierarchy
became a mess of tribes and nations.
Of course, it didn't
really happen that way.
Biblical literalism is for the simple.
But I'm sure everyone in
this room is aware of that.
It's still a useful
parable for both of you.
I'm guessing you're God
in this useful parable.
I'm Adam.
And I've worked a very long
time to return to paradise.
My daughter seems to
believe you can help in my aims,
but as you can see,
there's little we agree on.
Then why don't you just tell
me where I can find my father?
All right, and I'll leave
you and the rest of
I don't want to see him again
until the ceremony at dawn.
You must have so many questions.
Why bother?
None of the other ones I
asked have been answered,
not by your father or
What's the other guy?
He your boyfriend?
William.
And yes, he is a boy
and a friend sometimes.
My father may have
looked feeble upstairs,
but he, along with the rest of
the lodge members arriving,
can be very dangerous enemies to have.
You should think about
making some friends.
Not all us white folks
are out to get you.
I have enough friends.
Are you sure about that?
Your uncle and Leti seem to think
you lost your marbles in the war.
That's because you did
something to make them forget.
Did something? How vague.
It's a spell.
It's a spell.
It seems the KKK isn't just
calling themselves
"grand wizards" anymore.
My father and his associates
would never fraternize
with the Klan.
They're too poor.
And the spell wasn't specifically
for your companions,
rather, anyone who
encounters our little guard dogs
and lives to tell about it.
You want to be friends? Fine.
That's gonna take
actions, not just promises.
And getting you out of
trouble in Simmonsville,
as well as last night, wasn't enough?
We're in trouble now.
I can't take you to your father.
Then remove the spell
on Leti and my uncle
Friend.
Done.
- [Leti screams]
- [George] Tic!
- [mysterious whoosh]
- [grunts]
[screaming and banging on doors]
[Leti] Open this fucking door!
Let me out!
[George] Tic!
[George screams]
Miss Braithwhite, it's time.
[doors rattling]
Let me out! Let me out!
[cow lowing]
[driving string music]
You wanted us to tell you
when there was a breech.
Yes, thank you.
[cow groans]
[groaning]
Pull harder!
[cow groaning]
[creature chittering]
Miss Braithwhite, you done this before?
[quietly] No.
It's my first time.
[monsters chittering]
[door rattles]
[latch clicking]
[yells]
Leti.
Oh, Tic, Tic, I'm so
sorry. I remember now.
- I know, I know.
- I should've believed you.
- Let's sit down for a second.
- No, we gotta get out of here.
Leti, Leti, they got us trapped, okay?
But I'm gonna figure
a way out. I promise.
- Okay.
- Come sit with me.
The Bible is full of demons
and monsters.
They're just stories.
They have to be because
"Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me."
I said that last night.
Just before doing the bravest
thing I've ever seen to save us.
I can't believe I even
remember that verse.
Last time I said it, I was a kid, and
And what?
Terrified.
My mom would leave
me by myself all the time.
Say she was going to church.
But even then, I knew that was a lie.
She always came home,
usually with some new
man hanging on her arm.
Till one day, she didn't,
and a week went by.
I was so scared that she
wasn't gonna come back.
And I was little.
I I didn't I didn't know
how to take care of myself.
I sat
In the window of that
boarding house every day
And said that verse like a
prayer for her to come back.
Only one I could remember
from Sunday school.
I'm never going to abandon you.
[light tapping]
[faint noises]
[gun cocks, gunshots]
[both grunting]
[yells]
Ji-ah, stop!
I don't want to hurt you!
[both grunting]
Dora?
[ballad playing]
This isn't real.
You're dead.
Dance with me anyway.
[both grunting]
[groans]
[both grunting]
[shouting Korean]
What are you thinking about?
The House on the Borderland.
[laughs]
You do love your stories.
What's this one about?
A man who finds a mysterious home
in the Plain of Silence,
where he fights
humanoid pig-like creatures
before he goes to the Sea of Sleep,
where he reunites
with his long-lost love.
Mmm.
Do the lovers stay together forever?
Yes
but only because the
house collapses upon them.
[growls]
I'm not gonna
[groans]
[both grunting]
[yells]
[both grunting]
I was thinking about you.
Mmm.
And Montrose.
Tulsa.
[laughs]
How we used to drink
soda pop on your porch
and play that "what if" game.
What if you could go
anywhere in the world?
What if you could only eat one thing
for the rest of your life?
What if magic were real?
Montrose wanted super strength.
[laughs]
And you wanted to fly.
That could all be possible now.
You could actually
fly with your children.
You're not real.
Uh, uh, Tic, wait.
Wait, no, no. Stop.
[both grunting]
[snake hisses]
[yelling]
[bone snaps]
[murmurs and laughter]
What's Braithwhite's daughter doing here?
He's out of the Michigan
chapter, isn't he?
[overlapping chatter]
I heard Samuel has something
very special planned for dinner.
[bell ringing]
I hope you all had a nice rest.
Dinner will be served in 15 minutes.
The attire is black tie only,
and unfortunately, Miss Lewis,
it is also men only.
However, it is a beautiful
night to dine on the veranda.
I will return shortly to provide escort.
You okay?
Who'd they make you see?
Doesn't matter.
They're just trying to
get inside our heads.
Something happened in the war.
- Something bad.
- Don't.
You know who you are.
You were a good boy.
And you're even a better man.
Don't you ever let them
make you question yourself.
That's how they win.
They want to make us crazy,
terrorize us,
make us scared.
But Letitia fucking
Lewis don't get scared,
do she?
- No, sir.
- No, that's right.
Now, I come across something
that just might
get us out of here.
[chamber music playing]
Don't mind the others.
Just because they don't want you here
doesn't mean you're not supposed to be.
[music fades]
We all know the true
meaning of sacrifice.
Every man in this room
has made an offering to
push the world forward,
a wayward world we have
dedicated our lives to righting.
Our founder, Titus
Braithwhite, was a son of a son,
and we follow in his image,
just as he followed in the first son's.
As Adam gave of his rib to create Eve,
so did Titus give of himself
to empower the founding
members of the Order.
Tonight, on the precipice
of great progress,
I honor him by giving of myself.
[disquieting music]
Don't eat that.
Tomorrow will truly be
the dawn of a new era.
Thank you all for coming to witness
No need to thank us.
We didn't want to be here.
I understand y'all belong to a club
called the Order of Ancient Dawn.
I happened across your
bylaws earlier this evening.
[crowd murmuring]
Now, I got some experience
with fraternal societies,
being a part of Prince
Hall Freemasons myself.
Anybody know who Prince Hall was?
He was an abolitionist who joined
the Massachusetts militia
to fight for independence,
and he wanted to join
the local Freemasons,
but, Tic, remind me
why he wasn't allowed in.
Because he was a colored man.
I was not surprised to
learn from your bylaws
that your order wouldn't have
admitted Prince Hall, either,
but then I kept reading,
and I found there's a loophole.
Men who are direct descendants of Titus
are automatically members.
In fact, they're not
just any old members.
They're what's called sons among sons,
and as you all know,
they can give orders to
other, regular old members.
And seeing as I believe my nephew
might just be the last blood heir
of Titus Braithwhite
[shocked murmuring]
I want everybody except Samuel
to get up
and get the fuck out.
Gentlemen
That's an order.
I order you to return my father to me.
[sighs]
I am not a zealot, Mr. Freeman.
The limits of my belief
in tradition and ceremony
stop at the fact that
the others believe it.
Titus used the Book of
Names to spell his body
to be more powerful,
and you're a reservoir of that power,
diluted, no doubt,
and also tainted somewhat,
but still useful for
the work I have to do.
Do not mistake useful
with indispensable.
Pop!
This is his.
[gun cocks]
Just like I thought.
Bunch of dumb animals
don't know enough to stop fighting
once they're already snared.
Hmm? My dogs will
get a nice treat tonight.
- [grunts]
- [gasps]
[Dell grunting]
I got the car. Where's Montrose?
Count of Monte Cristo.
Pop's favorite book?
Help me!
[panting]
Hey, Montrose.
What the hell y'all doing here?
We're here to save you.
I saved my damn self.
I ain't need y'all coming for me.
You wrote for me to come.
Boy, we ain't spoke in
over five damn years,
and you fight me on everything.
Obviously, I didn't think
you were stupid enough
to show up 'cause I
wrote a letter under duress.
You don't need to talk to him like that.
I'll talk to my son
however the hell I want to.
Can we get the fuck out of here, please?
[engine turns over]
They have lodges all over the country.
This one's called the Sons of Adam,
founded by Titus Braithwhite
after he discovered what
they call the Book of Names.
Yeah, the Necronomicon.
No, that's the book of dead names.
This is the book of life,
transformation, genesis.
They're obsessed with figuring
out the spell for immortality.
A failed attempt is what
burned the original lodge,
killing everyone inside
[Marilyn Manson's "Killing Strangers"]
[groans]
- [gunshot]
- [screams]
Leti!
[gasping]
Leti, I got you. I got you.
- Help me.
- Let me see, let me see.
You're okay. You're okay.
- I got you.
- [whimpers]
I got you.
Uncle George! Uncle George!
[gunshot]
Christina!
Christina, help us, please!
Please, please.
Tic.
[coughs]
Leti? Leti, stay awake.
Stay awake, okay? Stay awake.
Leti, stay awake. Stay awake!
Stay awake, please.
Please, please, for me.
For me.
[mournful music]
Since you are a son among sons,
I will give you a choice
of who else survives
your error in judgment.
- Wait!
- [gunshot]
So what's gonna happen in the ceremony?
My father intends to open a
door to the Garden of Eden,
to a time when man was immortal.
He believes he'll step
through it into eternal life.
Those ambitions didn't go
too well for Titus, did they?
Challenging entropy is perilous work,
and the Language of Adam
is a tricky thing to get right.
Many men have suffered
greatly trying to wield it.
But the spelled blood of the man
who wielded it best might
just give my father's spell
the advantage it needs.
So that's why you brought me here.
To help a father who clearly doesn't give
two shits about you.
After all, it's not called the
Daughters of Adam, is it?
The things they've done
it's unforgivable.
We still come running
when they need help.
It's pathetic.
And we call it family
to make it seem okay?
You didn't have to drag them into it.
I didn't bring two of them.
[Letitia gasping]
For what it's worth, my father
is a gentleman of his word,
and he will heal your uncle as well.
Once I've willingly
participated in the ceremony.
I got it.
Let's get on with it.
I could never earn one of these,
no matter how hard I tried,
and you get one for doing nothing
other than being born a man.
Not even a white man at that.
What I know is, our
destinies are not decided
by our fathers or grandfathers
or, in your case,
great-great-great-great-grandfather.
The smallest, most inconsequential
thing can take you on a new course.
You just have to see it
And seize it.
[panting]
[sobbing]
[muffled crying]
You should try breaking that window.
We're not leaving here
without you, George.
At least try to get the girl out of here.
[scoffs]
She doesn't seem like
the type to tell what to do.
Reminds me of Dee.
How come you never drew with her?
You used to draw all the time.
No, I didn't.
You getting senile in your old age.
Every summer, you
used to draw this colorful
welcome sign,
go down to the bus station,
and cheer on all the Negro league players
as they rode in for training camp.
Why'd you stop?
'Cause of Daddy's right hook.
Caught me down at that station
the summer before high school.
Beat the black off my ass.
I didn't know that.
You were brimming with love as a boy,
despite being afforded so little.
If I ever made you feel
There's nothing wrong
with loving that much.
You need to shut up and rest.
That's the problem.
I've been shutting up for far
too long, and hurt those I love.
You, Hippolyta, Tic.
I want you to show him more of that love
I know is in you before
it's too late.
How many times I gotta tell you?
I don't need your advice
when it comes to raising my son.
He might not be yours.
I don't care if you
got a bullet in your gut.
We settled that a long time ago.
You shut your fucking mouth.
I know, I know.
We agreed we wouldn't speak of it,
but I have to now.
You might be all Tic has left.
[man] We have a poem here.
It's called "Whitey on the Moon."
[laughter]
And, uh, it was inspired
It was inspired by some
whiteys on the Moon,
so I want to give credit
where credit is due.
[laughter]
All right.
Let's see.
[chanting in Language of Adam]
[man] "A rat done bit my sister
Nell with whitey on the Moon.
Her face and arms began to swell,
and whitey's on the Moon.
I can't pay no doctor bills,
but whitey's on the Moon.
Ten years from now, I'll be paying still,
while whitey's on the Moon.
You know, the man just
upped my rent last night,
'cause whitey's on the Moon.
No hot water, no toilets, no lights,
but whitey's on the Moon.
I wonder why he's upping me.
'Cause whitey's on the Moon?
Why, I was already giving him 50 a week,
and now whitey's on the Moon.
Taxes taking my whole damn check,
the junkies make me a nervous wreck,
the price of food is going up,
and as if all that crap wasn't enough,
a rat done bit my sister
Nell, with whitey on the Moon.
Her face and arms began to swell,
and whitey's on the Moon.
Was all that money I made last year
for whitey on the Moon?
How come I ain't got no money here?
Hmm, whitey's on the Moon.
You know, I just about had
my fill of whitey on the Moon.
I think I'll send these doctor bills,
air mail special
"To whitey on the Moon."
[ominous chanting]
[wind howling]
[ominous chanting]
[panting and grunting]
It's open! Come on, come on!
If we move him, he could bleed out!
- Gotta get away!
- Go!
[ominous chanting]
[chanting loudly]
[screams]
[yells]
[gasps]
[panting]
Tic!
[Leon Bridges' "River"]
[crying]
[cries]
Pop.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, Uncle George.
[sobbing] I'm sorry, Uncle George.
[Alice Smith's "Sinnerman"]
Sinnerman
Where you gonna run to?
Sinnerman
Where you gonna run to?
Sinnerman
Where you gonna run to?
All on that day
Well, I run to the rock
Please hide me
I run to the rock
Please hide me
I run to the rock
Please hide me
All on that day
But the rock cried out
"I can't hide you"
The rock cried out
"I can't hide you"
The rock cried out
"I ain't gonna hide you"
All on that day
"I said," Rock
"What's the matter with you, Rock?
Can't you see I need you, Rock"
Devil was waiting
All on that day
Power
Power
I cried, "Power"
I cried, "Power"
I cried, "Power"
I cried, "Power"