[soft, eerie music]
[seagulls calling, bells ring]
[distant foghorn blares]
- Hey, Tony, where you headed?
- I hear the white perch are schooled up.
Maybe look for some mackerel the east end of the canal.
- Be careful when you head out, okay?
There's another big storm headed in due south.
It's messing with the tides. See you.
- Thanks.
[ominous music]
[motor humming]
♪
[rumbles]
I think we hit something.
♪
Oh, shit.
- [gasps]
♪
- Next order of business:
The home at 29 Commercial
is requesting permission to change their shingles
from our traditional "Simply White"
to "Mountain Peak White."
- Can we see the samples?
- Have you lost your mind?
- It's a scandal that you would even ask.
- Why don't you just paint them orange?
[laughter]
[gavel slams] - Motion denied.
Next order of business:
Jim Levy, the owner of McHenry's,
is requesting a 16-inch easement
into the neighbor's green area
so he can have expanded outdoor dining.
I believe Mr. Levy is present to make his case.
- Thank you, madam.
As most of you know, I opened McHenry's
as sister restaurant
to my flagship McHenry's in Davis Square, Somerville.
- Can it, Levy. You're wasting your time.
- Excuse me? - Well,
first of all, your name is Levy.
I don't know where you get off
owning not one but two Irish pubs.
That's called cultural appropriation, sweetheart.
Second of all, you have terrible taste.
And not just in your footwear.
My friend Mitch Wilson
lives in the house next to your restaurant.
He has exquisite taste.
And the last thing we need
are your cheap plastic tables and chairs
soiling his hydrangea bushes.
[gavel slams] - Motion denied.
- But-- - Denied.
- Come on, he's be-- - Denied.
Finally, Trooper Remy of the Mass State Police
would like a moment to speak to the group.
[ominous music]
- Chairwoman, council, I'm Trooper Jan Remy.
I was sent by the state police to run the investigation
into your murdered chief.
- I thought the chief was just missing?
- She was,
until a fisherman ran over her body in the harbor.
[chilling tone]
And something you all may not know
is that the chief was investigating
a series of murders.
They all followed the same M.O.--
Throat slashed with severe uneven wounds,
and a draining of almost all of the victim's blood.
I just examined the chief's body
and observed the exact same wound pattern.
- Boat propeller could have chewed her up.
- Lotta sharks in the water at this time.
- Which is why need to stop protecting the seals.
- I don't mind the sharks
as long as they're only killing Yankee fans.
[laughter]
- I'm sorry, but this isn't funny.
A law enforcement officer was murdered
by what appears to be a serial killer.
- Do you have proof that these cases are related?
Right? DNA?
- Not yet.
- I just don't know why we would make a big fuss
when we don't even know if there's a problem.
- Your chief was brutally murdered
and thrown in the harbor.
I'd say that's a problem.
- I mean, do we even know she was murdered?
- Maybe she went for a night swim.
- In her uniform?
And many of these murders occurred miles from the ocean.
Do you think the sharks and the boat propellers
somehow came on land to kill all these people?
- Look, Trooper.
We really appreciate what you're trying to do here.
Mass State Police are a wonderful organization
full of fine men and women.
- Absolutely. - Hear, hear.
[light clapping]
But these are wintertime problems.
- What does that mean? - It means strange things
happen down the cape in the winter.
Everyone knows it.
Us full-timers just accept it
as the price of living in such a special place.
But by the time spring rolls around,
you'll see it all just magically stops.
And the worst problem we have?
Uh, traffic on Route 6,
a bad sunburn,
and too much butter on a lobster roll.
[laughter]
- So you're saying I should just let this go?
- We're saying that everyone in this room
depends upon the summer to pay for the winter.
We are saying
that if you start making noise about this stuff,
maybe the papers in Boston will pick it up,
and then the New York rags,
and then suddenly, all of those city-folk
who drive down for the weekend in July
to spend all of that sweet city money
get spooked and decide that maybe
the Berkshires, or Newport,
or--God forbid-- the Hamptons are just as nice.
But not worth all the trouble and the worry.
- The gays might stop coming.
[chilling tone]
- You're all hiding something.
You know something.
- We know what's best for this community.
♪
We know what's best for you.
- I was sent by the State of Massachusetts
to come down here and find out what's been going on,
and that's what I'm gonna do.
Impeding an investigation is a crime.
And they don't serve lobster rolls
in Walpole State Prison.
♪
[door slams]
- Don't worry.
I'll take care of it.
♪
[chilling music]
♪
[eerie string music]
- Look,
we have been extremely patient and understanding
about this whole business with the pills
and the blood drinking.
I mean, the pales recede into the woods
during the summer,
and you gluttons don't feed on anybody
who actual matters in this town.
- And we don't feed past Memorial Day.
- Yes. The system has held.
It's a symbiosis.
You get the freedom and the quiet
to write and kill, and we get to brag
about having artists make their winter home out here.
It adds to the charm.
But this winter has been completely out of control.
I mean, you killed the chief.
If that isn't the worst example of shitting where you eat,
I don't know what is.
- It's not us. It's the Hollywood people.
They ruin everything. - It's true.
- Belle and I are people of the letters.
Literature, the stage-- these are art forms that demand
a degree of decorum and restraint from their purveyors.
These fucking Hollywood people have no decency.
- And no self-control.
That beast of a man gave the pills to his child.
It makes you think that maybe some of that QAnon business
about them being satanic baby-killers
is based in some fact.
- All I know is I told you two to get rid of him days ago.
- I've been very busy. I'm on a deadline.
- Yeah, well, so are we.
The council asked me to convey a message:
"Get rid of the troublemakers, or all of you
are suddenly gonna find yourself
going into some very annoying zoning issues,
including painting all of the curbs
in front of your houses red
and declaring all of your domiciles as historic landmarks
which means that even to change a bulb
will take a six-week approval process.
♪
You know, I stopped Burger King from opening in this town.
I can stop you too.
♪
[door shuts]
- [sighs] So what's the plan?
- [chuckles]
♪
- So what do you think?
- Well...
I think you should kill yourself.
Because you will never write anything this good--
no one will. No one has.
- Good, I'm glad you like it.
I'm kind of proud of it. - This is really it, Harry.
I mean, this is your masterpiece.
It's your "Moby Dick,"
your "Romeo and Juliet," your "Godfather."
- Thanks, I know.
Which is why I need to make a family announcement.
Now that spring is coming,
and I've written basically five years' worth of stuff
since we've been here...
[breathes deeply]
We're done.
- Done with what?
- With the pills.
It's been a fun ride,
but it's time to get off this crazy train.
- You mean until next winter, right?
- I mean for good.
- So now that you're done with your masterpiece,
we all have to stop?
- It's not like that. - It's exactly like that.
You're being selfish. - I'm being a father.
- All of a sudden? - Don't say that.
After everything I've done for you this winter--
bringing you thermoses of blood,
not grounding you for life
for giving your mother a pill and condemning her
to the misery of those pale people.
- That wasn't just for me.
You did all of that for you too!
[intense music]
Tell him he's wrong.
Tell him that we can't stop, that we don't have to stop.
That we're better than everybody else.
That no one else matters but people like us.
- Well, there is some truth to that, sweetheart.
There's a lot of truth.
Harry, you don't take your foot off the gas
just as you're pulling out into the lead.
- I don't want to have to kill anymore.
I just want to raise you and enjoy the fruits
of what we've accomplished this year
and maybe over time get some of my soul back.
- Yeah, it doesn't work that way, bubbulah.
Once you sell your soul, it's gone.
- I don't want to believe that.
- Because you're framing it as a bad thing,
but it is not. It's freedom.
Why have a conscience or a moral code anymore?
You're above all of that.
This is what success feels like, Harry,
It feels like superiority.
[dark music]
♪
- Alma, I believe in you.
You are better at playing your violin
than most of us will ever be at anything.
And now I can be home all the time
with no distractions to support your dreams.
I can just be a dad to you and your brother.
We can do this the right way.
You just have to trust me.
[soft music]
- Okay.
- [scoffs quietly]
♪
- I love you so much, honey.
- I love you too, Daddy.
[dark, ominous music]
♪
- Insane Brainz Memory Boost.
- It's supposed to be cutting edge.
- I guess it's because "brains" is spelled with a Z
instead of an S.
I feel the boost already.
- [forced laughter]
- You really think vitamins are gonna make up
for the black pills? - I didn't say that.
I just think the transition's gonna be hard for us,
and it can't hurt to be as healthy--
[eerie tone]
♪
- What? - I thought I saw her.
- [sighs] Dad, you gotta let her go.
- [scoffs]
She's not some stray cat that shows up on your porch.
You're talking about your mother.
That's your mother out there. - She isn't anything anymore.
She's not even a person.
- Whoever it was is gone.
- Dad?
Did someone break in?
[Ursula speaking indistinctly]
Kay, you throw another number out.
I'm gonna fly out there and kick you
in the fucking face. - Ursula!
- Hang on. What?
- The kitchen door-- It looks like someone broke in.
- Broke in?
Francis, I have to call you back.
[suspenseful music]
♪
[chilling tone]
- I know good help is hard to find,
but you really should look into
a new babysitter. [chuckling]
In the meantime, I've taken it on myself
to look after the little bundle of joy.
Don't worry, he'll be safe and sound
and snug as a bug.
But if you aren't at my house by sunset,
that will change.
PS: Make sure you bring the string plucker.
This needs to be a family meeting.
Sincerely, Belle.
[chilling tone]
- Eli's gone.
She took him. - Who took him?
- Belle. You didn't hear anything?
- Well, I heard a bonk or two, but I figured
he was just moving around in his crib.
- Newborns don't move around in their crib.
- Well, what do you want me to say?
I've been on the phone nonstop.
I mean, Fincher, Cuarón, Nolan--
they all want to work with you.
- Why would she do this to Eli?
- There's only one reason I can think of.
Belle's had it in for us ever since
she found out you were taking the pills.
[breathes heavily] That's what this is about.
She thinks we've crossed the line.
- You mean she wants to kill us?
- She won't be alone.
Austin will be there.
God knows who else.
We'll never come out of there alive.
♪
We can't call the police or...
everything will come out.
- We gotta go get Eli, Dad.
- I can't risk losing you too.
- You read the note.
She wants both of us or she'll kill him.
♪
I'm not scared.
I took out a police chief, remember?
Plus, we have Ursula.
- She's right.
You need to go to Belle's and face them.
But not with me. I'm not going with you.
♪
- Chicken-shit little bitch.
♪
- I am digging deep in my soul
to find the small sliver of goodness
that will allow me to overlook what you just said.
Hear me out.
♪
[ominous music]
♪
- Hello?
Hello?
I know you're out here!
I know that you can hear me!
♪
Just hope you have enough brain cells left to understand.
Hello?
[bones creaking]
- [groaning]
- Look, I know this sucks, okay?
I know you got a raw deal.
But you are not monsters.
You're a bunch of Laurence Fishburnes.
♪
Fishburne turned down "Pulp Fiction"
because his agent told him he'd be working with John Travolta--
a has-been.
Now, look, you all made a very bad call,
but it is not the end of the story.
Fishburne went on to beat out Sam Jackson for "The Matrix."
- [growls]
- The moral of the story is that sometimes
there are second chances.
♪
And that's what I'm here to offer you--
a second chance.
[pills rattle] There's a new pill
with a new formula.
Not only is it more potent than the last pill,
but it has no side effects.
It might actually undo what happened to you.
You have to understand...
you can be cured.
You don't have to live this way anymore.
I am not the enemy.
Okay? The people who took that pill
and didn't end up like you-- they're the enemy.
They're all laughing at you.
- [snarls] - Every success they have
is a slap in your face.
♪
- [inhaling, grunting]
- [snarls]
- [growls]
[intense music]
♪
- Care for some baby charcuterie?
I hear it's delicious.
Pull in the reigns, Daddy!
[baby cries softly] Come on. Come on.
- Okay, okay, okay.
- [chuckles] Kay, good. Much obliged.
- What do you want?
[door slams] - Harry!
[baby whines softly]
[lock clicks loudly] - Belle,
whatever you're thinking of doing,
just let me take my kids and leave town.
I swear, you will never hear from us again.
- [sighs]
- Until your supply of pills runs out.
- No, we're off the pills.
We're never taking them again.
I just want to go back to my old life.
- [chuckles] - Sure you do.
- Listen, I just finished writing something
and it's gonna be huge.
I don't need the pills anymore. It's the truth.
- You forget you're talking to a fellow writer.
Uh-- correction:
Novelists are writers.
Screenwriters are more like creative typists.
- [laughs] - Really,
all we are is professional liars.
And the truth is whatever we decide it is.
But lucky for us,
the tasting party is just getting started.
- Don't hurt him! - Ahh!
- I promise he won't feel a thing.
But you, on the other hand,
are going to feel it profoundly.
- Can't say we didn't give you a chance, Harry.
We tried to be welcoming.
P-town is a welcoming place.
But you fucked it up.
- Dad.
- It's my fault, really.
I should have seen how this was going to pan out.
I mean, is there anything
Hollywood hasn't fucked up in the end?
More often than not, whatever came out of there
finished in a pool of its own piss.
[both laugh]
Whether it be Marilyn or even Fitzgerald.
I mean, even back in the early 1900s
when the silent pictures were coming out
and the film people were moving to Hollywood,
the locals didn't want them there.
They called film people "movies" because they were all
moving around and causing trouble.
It was a term of disdain.
The locals back, they were right and so are we.
But unlike them,
we're going to clean up this town!
- [shouts] - [grunts]
[glass shatters]
[classical string music playing]
[baby crying]
♪
[grunting]
♪
- Go, come on!
♪
Come on.
♪
- [grunts]
[growls]
- [laughs]
♪
[shouts in pain] Shit!
♪
- [screaming]
♪
[chokes, gasps]
[classical music continues]
♪
- [growls]
- Shit.
♪
[gunshots blast]
♪
[gunshots blasting]
♪
[music concludes]
- [sighs] Well,
that went better than expected.
Was touch and go there for a sec.
I wasn't sure I was getting through to them.
But in the end, they bought it hook, line, and sinker.
- [breathlessly] Thank you.
Now tell me how the fuck you did that.
- Well, sometimes it's best
not to ask how the sausage is made.
Just know that I would do anything
for my favorite client.
- All that wasted talent.
[baby cries]
[dark music]
[baby whines]
- Oh, here, I'll do it.
He's fine. he's fine.
See? Shh.
Oh, Jesus, I think this kid is actually
bringing out my maternal instinct.
I hope there's a pill for that.
- Are you okay?
- Yeah.
[soft music]
- You were so brave. - So were you, Dad.
- We're gonna be all right.
We're gonna get through this and go back to our old life
and be happy-- the three of us.
- I'm sorry, Dad,
but it's just gonna be the two of us.
♪
- What? - I gotta be the greatest.
[chilling tone]
I can't let you stop me.
- [shouts in pain]
[grunts, groans]
♪
[grunting in pain]
♪
- I don't think I'll ever get used to that.
- It's a loss.
He could have been the next Sorkin.
[baby whines] It's fucking tragic.
♪
So it looks like the new pill really works.
- Actually, they were old pills that I rejected
'cause they caused some strange behavior.
Made the users turn on each other.
On these poor fools, it made then turn on anyone
using and talented.
- Hmm, explains why they didn't come after me.
- You really think the state trooper's
gonna believe this story?
That he killed all of them?
- Well, it's gonna take a little dressing,
a little finessing,
but a strung-out Hollywood writer
under pressure and doing drugs going all Manson?
I think that's a story I can sell.
But that can wait.
First, we set you up in La La Land
so you can start cranking out your pills.
There's a whole city bursting with talent
just waiting to shell out for a boost.
- Do you mind?
I don't like people watching me while I eat.
[chilling music]
[lively, ominous music]
♪
- Yeah?
- [speaking German]
- [laughs]
[eerie tone]
- Hey. - [grunts]
- Hey!
- [speaking German]
[chilling music]
- [shrieks]
[screaming]
♪
[siren wails]
[tires squeal]
- [grunting hungrily]
- Show me your hands!
- Get back! - Hands up!
[gunshots blast]
[sirens wailing]
- This is the fifth police officer
who has been killed by fellow officers
after attacking what appears to be
random victims in the street.
We have learned that each of the dead officers
are well-known members of what police reform activists
call the Bad Apple List,
which is an unofficial database
of LAPD officers with multiple race-based complaints
filed against them.
- Thank you, Miranda. More on this story at 10:00.
- You shouldn't be messing with police.
- I'm sorry, didn't you kill and eat a cop?
- That was out of necessity.
- What I'm doing is out of necessity too.
Every one of those pricks
had no business protecting and serving.
Racist, sadistic garbage.
- What if they find out that they're all on your pills?
- They won't. And if they do,
they won't know what it is.
It's a proprietary formula,
which means the only people that know about it
are me and the military scum who paid for me to develop it.
And they're not giving up their top security clearance
to help some local detectives
figure out what happened to a bunch of shitty cops.
Look.
I don't need money anymore.
Ursula's taking care of that with her big client list.
I have nothing left to prove as a scientist.
I think I'll start giving back to my community.
Do some public service.
For me, that means ID'ing the worst cops in the city,
sneaking them a little bit of my magic medicine,
and sitting back and smiling
as they slowly lose their shit and get what they deserve.
Now stop sassing me and practice your violin.
You're all of five years old trying to tell me how to be.
- I'm nine. - You wanna make it to ten?
[Ursula speaking indistinctly]
[laughs]
- I know she is a first-time creator.
I know she was driving for Uber Eats a month ago.
But this is what I do, Kevin.
I find geniuses and genius ain't cheap.
So either you up your offer by a lot,
or if you prefer, you can just suck my dick.
[phone beeps]
[sighs] Where's Eli?
- With the nanny. How was your day?
- Oh, God, I'm destroyed.
I've been trolling Starbucks all day handing out pills
to anyone with a laptop with a script on it.
- That the most efficient use of your time?
- Who has time to read submissions and talk to agents
about who they think is talented?
I mean, we like this lifestyle.
If we wanna keep it up,
we've gotta be in the volume business.
- You're creating a lot of pale people.
Especially pushing pills at a Starbucks.
No self-respecting writer writes at a Starbucks.
- So what? If they're talentless,
they're useless anyway.
- That's my girl.
- I can't believe you turned out so well
being raised by Harry and that glass of warm oat milk.
How's the practicing?
- Good. I'm ready.
- I know you're gonna get it, sweetheart.
- I could use something to eat before I go, though.
- Oh, I picked up a hustler
from that donut shop on Santa Monica and Highland.
He's out in the pool house.
You look adorable.
Proud of you.
- Oh, did you get donuts? - Of course I did.
[ominous music]
- Oh.
Not what I was expecting.
- Me neither. But I'll take it.
[violin music playing]
♪
[violin playing ceases]
[subtle, dark music]
♪
- Take a seat.
All right, it's down to the two of you.
So just sit tight so the team can chat.
Won't be too long.
Though, to be honest,
you're making it a very hard choice.
You're both wonderful.
- So...
how long have you been playing?
And don't say, "Since I was a kid."
- I'm better than you.
- Excuse me?
- I said I'm better than you.
- Did you listen to my audition?
- No.
I didn't have to. I know I'm better than you.
I'm better than everyone.
- [laughs]
Wow, you are something else.
I'm a prodigy too.
Graduated Juilliard when I was 16.
You're new to this game,
but what you'll start to realize
is that there are lots of us.
Most of the players in the big philharmonics were prodigies.
It's not as big a deal once you meet others like you.
- There are no others like me.
- I guess that's true,
but you think that's a good thing.
It's actually why you're not going to get this job.
[tense tone]
If you get first chair, it's a huge story.
"Today Show," "People" magazine,
"60 Minutes" maybe, if it's a slow news month.
You're a novelty. A distraction.
Audiences will come to see you
and get bummed out if you're not featured.
It's bad for morale.
Makes it impossible to play anything
that doesn't have a violin solo.
It becomes a freakshow.
[tense string music]
We play classical music.
We are as square as we can be.
♪
You're the bearded fucking lady, kid.
♪
[music darkens]
What?
♪
- Where'd Rory go?
- He said he was going out back to have a cigarette.
♪
- [screams]
♪
- Talent rises,
but it is nothing without craft.
That's why you need the Story Prism.
[eerie string notes]
The Story Prism is hard like a diamond.
It takes commitment.
You. Stand up.
You look confused.
- I still don't understand the difference between
the Primal Defense Co-tagonist
or the Shadow-Trickster Pre-tagonist.
Why does it have to be so complicated?
- Because drama is life and life is complicated.
Now get the fuck out.
He'll never amount to anything.
He's never gonna write a screenplay
that gleams like a diamond. And full refund.
He's gonna need every penny he's got.
- Screw you.
[door shuts]
Now for the rest of us, I have a surprise.
I told you when you finished my seminar
you would walk out of this building changed.
Well, get ready to meet someone.
Her client, the late Harry Gardener,
just swept the awards season.
And in the last six months,
other clients have barnstormed this town.
They're launching projects all over
broadcast and streaming.
It's an unprecedented winning streak.
Ursula Khan.
[cheers and applause]
- Thank you. Thank you.
♪
- A writer once said, "Writing is easy.
Just sit at your desk, open a vein, and bleed."
[audience chuckles]
Now, we've all heard that quote, right?
And it's been attributed to a lot of people.
But whoever did say it didn't know the half.
If you want the brass ring,
you better be wearing brass knuckles.
Greatness comes with a price.
And you just have to ask yourself,
how much do you want it?
Are you ready to bleed?
[eerie tone]
Are you? all: Yes!
- I'd like all of you to reach under your seats right now.
Don't be shy.
There's a little something special under there.
♪
Now, it looks like a pill,
but it's not.
It's the key to condos in Malibu,
to dinner meetings with Charlize,
to reservations at the Tower Bar.
Tell yourself it's a vitamin.
A sugar pill placebo packed with Satan.
[chuckles]
Just don't say no.
- Wait.
I'm sorry, you didn't tell me about this.
Is this a stimulant?
Because good writers don't need that.
[scoffs] I don't need that.
I'm sorry, we'll take a quick break--
- Shut the fuck up, you hack.
You teach a screenwriting class.
Have you ever sold a fucking script?
- Yes. - One.
A failed Orion Stallone flick back in '88?
You know nothing.
I know something.
Would you all rather listen to me
or this sad, fraudulent typist?
all: You.
- Everything you've heard is bullshit.
♪
Reality isn't the choice between the blue pill
and the red pill.
It's the black pill.
This pill.
My special vitamin brain sauce stimulant
with zero risk and maximum upside.
I'm gonna tell you a little something about success
that is the bedrock of this dirty business
that no one else wants to admit.
It's just one swallow away.
Spit or swallow-- the choice is yours.
♪
Now, as it's going down,
that tingling that you feel?
It's not the pill
and it isn't that food truck burrito you had for lunch
and it isn't nerves.
It's the future taking hold.
Your future.
- [screaming]
[dramatic eerie music]
♪
- [screams]
- It looks like the streets are running red
with blood and metaphors.
At least all of those no-talent monsters
are taking their pain out in a real way.
Being great is hard.
The rest of us just don't get it.
We drive ourselves crazy with envy
longing for just a taste of the delicious madness
of the creative mind.
But the truth is,
most people aren't willing to put in the work.
They focus on the success, the notoriety, the wealth
that their great piece of art will bring.
But the journey there is tedious.
And those that achieve greatness
only do so because they are fucked up enough
to push through the pain and failure
it takes to reach your potential.
At least with these pills the world can find out
if you're any good.
[baby crying] - Sorry, baby.
Shh, don't cry.
We're gonna move on to another place,
create another drug--
maybe one that will make you and I live forever.
[soft music]
Mommy's here.
She's on top of it.
♪
- To be told we are talented,
isn't that all we ever want?
[explosion, people scream]
The truth is, history will only remember a handful of us,
but at least now
we're leveling the playing field.
♪
[chilling string music]
♪