[medical monitor beeping]
- [sighs] - [beeping continues]
♪ slow, melancholy music ♪
♪
[Gia] Right before he left his office,
right before he got into one of the worst car accidents
the New Jersey state troopers had ever seen,
my father called me.
I was at an internship that I thought was important.
I watched the phone ring, his number on the caller ID.
"Daddy calling."
Daddy was always calling,
and he was always there with gasoline
and prosciutto slices at midnight,
and I'd be fucked up forever because I'd been loved so well.
[groans softly]
I didn't pick it up.
I let it go to voice mail.
He didn't leave a long message.
"Hi, baby. It's your dad, just calling to say I love you."
[sighs]
It took me years to listen to it, years to wait
because I was so worried there would be a clue in it.
"I'm about to die, little girl.
Just... just calling to say I love you one last time."
And had I just picked up the phone,
had I just focused on the real important thing...
But how can you ever know?
It will come to me in a dream?
I was supposed to write a book to prove to my father
that I didn't have to be a doctor, too.
I didn't have to save people his way.
What was my way, though?
So far, I'd known two women who had mostly saved me.
I couldn't tell at first if I was saving them back.
I hadn't yet met the person who really needed me.
And the specific joints
that had broken in me were the very pieces
I could use to help her.
Tell the world her name.
[crowd] Not guilty! Not guilty!
[whooping and cheering]
[upbeat drumbeat playing]
[cheering, whistling]
[cheering continues]
[marching band playing Bruce Springsteen's "I'm On Fire"]
♪
[cheering]
[whooping, cheering]
[cheering continues]
♪
[belt snaps]
[whooping]
[song ends]
[breath quivering]
[panting]
[crow cawing]
You already know, I guess.
I know you like to read about it in the paper, so...
♪ soft, gentle music ♪
Not fricking guilty.
Reinstated as Teacher of the Year.
With back pay.
♪
[Gia] I couldn't accept my dad's death.
I couldn't throw out his new slippers.
I paid psychics money I didn't have
to tell me I would see him again.
I felt the only reason to hang around was
to be there for others
who'd also lost the unlosable.
- I got you. - [sniffles]
I love you, Mags.
You're supposed to hug me back, you dummy.
[crows cawing]
Why'd it have to be you? Hmm?
You know how many fucking assholes are still alive?
[crying] Why did it have to be you?
[David] Maggie?
- Are you okay? - [panting]
Yeah. What?
Nothing. I just...
Your therapist said, uh,
we can't leave you alone.
We're not.
- [crows cawing] - [David chuckles]
Dad hated crows.
You can't shut them up.
[laughs softly]
[David] Cawin' all the time.
What?
They want me just to shut up and die.
Take it easy, man. We're not, like,
- in The Godfather. - Hmm.
[panting]
- This reporter called me. - Another one?
Well, this one wasn't from around here.
- She's from New York or-- - Even better.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- What did she want? - My story. Hmm.
Well, fuck her.
- Well, yeah, but-- - But what?
What about telling my story?
Mags...
remember the way Dad exploded at stuff?
It was no good for him.
We got to be better.
Maybe it's not the worst thing
to just put our heads down,
let this shit go away.
And what?
And let that fucker be the good guy?
Fricking Teacher of the fucking Year!
His name...
up in fucking lights. No.
[crow cawing]
- Where are you going? - [laughs]
To caw!
- [crows caw] - [David laughs]
♪ slow, gentle music ♪
♪
[crows cawing]
♪
[Gia exhales]
Any pain?
Always.
Good.
Dr. Dewar called me.
You haven't made an appointment.
♪
[Pia] I have to be honest, mia bambina,
I don't know if you have it in you to be a mother.
You're like me.
[Gia] Just before my mom died,
she asked me to help her google an old boyfriend.
- Was he fat? - [laughs]
I love googling old boyfriends
and seeing how fat they are now.
He was rich.
She could have had a completely different life.
But was he fat?
I don't know.
I didn't help her.
You... didn't schedule the scan yet.
Is that right?
I'm not ready yet
to find out for sure that I'm dying.
You're going to find out how to treat whatever it is you have.
I just have to finish something first.
Well, get to it.
You're the mother now.
[baby cooing]
- Stop. - What?
[Gia] That's Jack. What do I do?
Hope he didn't come here to kill you.
- That's-- Are you kidding? - You asked.
He would kill himself before he killed me.
Oh. Well, in that case, we should be fine.
- No, no, wait. Wait, wait. - What?
Maybe we should go back to the hospital.
- Gia... stop. - Sloane.
What the fucking fuck, Gia?
[Sloane] Okay, calm down.
You a new friend?
- Mm-hmm. - Well, you got to be careful
because she goes through friends quick.
Oh, I go through 'em even quicker.
[sighs]
- Gia, today's your due date. - She came a couple days early.
I had an emergency C-section.
- Well, is she okay? - Yeah.
Sorry that I didn't call you.
Why would you call me?
Because my baby was being born? I mean, no need for that, right?
She has been going through a lot.
- I don't fucking know that?! - You want to have
a conversation, or do you want to scare the shit
out of your daughter?
- [cooing] - Hey, sweetie.
[sniffles]
[cooing]
[Jack] What's her name?
[Gia] She doesn't have one yet.
She's the most beautiful thing in the world.
[laughs]
[Gia sniffles]
Yeah. I know.
[cooing]
We could, uh... we could name her after your mom.
I grew up Pia and Gia, and I was really hoping
to avoid passing along that childhood trauma.
Well, if you add "Jack" in the middle, it's less lame.
Do you want to hold her?
Mm-hmm.
[Gia sniffles]
Be really careful with her head.
Yeah.
Ooh. [laughs]
I was thinking, um...
Fox.
[Jack sniffles]
You know, 'cause she's a-a wild beast. [laughs]
I fucking love it.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
[laughs]
- Little Fox. - Yeah. Yeah.
[Gia babbles]
Hey, Mama Bear,
you're gonna scare the shit out of your little Fox.
[laughs] Isn't that my job?
[sighs] Come on.
You can't tell me you don't want this,
that you don't want a family.
I don't want to lose a family. [sniffles]
Gia, I swear to you,
I will not die.
- Oh. - You will not die.
Not until she's, like...
you know, 187 years old.
[sniffles]
Do you swear?
I fucking swear.
I swear to you.
You're married to a chef. This is silly.
[laughs softly]
- Well? - Well?
When are you gonna cut the bullshit?
[laughs]
This isn't good for Sophie, the separate homes.
- I'm right in the barn, Mom. - Like a horse.
Excuse me? Like a what?
Whatever happened between you and Richard, you need to fix it.
You want me to take responsibility?
Naturally.
It's all connected, you know.
- I'm sorry? - I didn't just
materialize like this one day, Mom.
You made me like this.
The way I wanted to be a woman to the outside world.
The world couldn't care less
about how you want your Black woman-ness regarded.
You want to know why I flushed the toilet twice
all those times?
You.
Please.
And you want to know what I did to my marriage?
I'm not sure what you've heard, Mom,
but it's not that we fucked other people.
We've been doing that.
The night the shit hit the fan,
I was riding the oyster farmer,
and the white girl was sitting on my husband's beautiful face.
I'm in the barn like a horse because I lied to my husband
because I wanted more.
More even than what he gives me.
- And it's all because of you. - Enough.
Sorry, Mom.
♪ slow, dramatic music ♪
♪
[sighs]
[Richard exhales]
Just needed to get some makeup, so...
[sniffles]
Nice job on the cake.
Looks like a horse head.
Uh, might look like a horse head,
but it tastes like horse shit. [laughs]
Really?
Oh, Richard, I miss you so much.
Can we just...?
Please?
[crying] Please.
- I am begging you. - Don't, don't.
- Don't-don't do that-- - Please.
- Don't do that! - Please, I miss you.
I miss you so much. I miss everything about you.
Can you please just let me come home?
- Please, please. [crying] - Do you know
that over the course of our life together,
sometimes I'd have to stop and go, "Now hold up.
Is my wife a slut?"
Is my wife a fucking slut?!
Some nights, you know,
I felt old.
And I watch you with these young dudes, and...
I'm sorry.
[Richard sighs]
[Ryan] At first, they thought it was a regular brontosaurus,
but then, the scientists, the Argentinian scientists...
Mom?
♪ slow, mysterious music ♪
♪
- [mutters] - [Ryan] Where are we going?
- Mom?! - Yes, sweetie?
- Are we going to the park? - Huh? Yeah. No.
- We got to go home. - You promised me we were going
- to the park. - I did not promise anything.
- Look. - Yes, you did!
I said, if there was time, and there's no time.
Yes, you did! You promised
- we were going to the park. - I... [sighs]
You just don't remember 'cause you're looking at your phone
- and not listening to me. - [laughing]
All you do is look at your dumb phone all day, all the time!
- All right. Hey. - You're a bad mom!
Hush up now. We're gonna go to the park.
Do you know that it costs an extra 19 buckaroos
to leave Elliott at daycare for two more hours? So this is...
I mean, right, that's, like, five Daniel Tiger toys.
Daniel Tiger's for babies.
Well, you're my baby.
Whatever.
Okay.
[indistinct chatter]
Okay.
Checking one thing.
- Mom? - Yeah?
Can you not look at your phone?
Of course, sweetie.
Can you leave it in the car, please?
Oh.
Thanks.
[soft music playing]
- What do you think? - It's great. Thank you.
Cash all right?
Absolutely. Thanks.
♪ Cannot wait till I get home ♪
♪ Almost there... ♪
[doorbell jingles, chimes]
[money shuffling]
[cash register closes]
♪ Think about you every day... ♪
Hey, ma'am, your change?
She doesn't need the change. She's rich.
- [doorbell jingles] - Hey!
Stop making me chase you. I'm fucking pregnant.
I ran six miles a day when I was pregnant.
What do you want?
You kidding?
[laughs]
I started telling people.
At first, I was ashamed, and then I was like, "Fuck that."
I'm not the one who should be ashamed.
You are a fucking slut. [laughs]
What are you gonna do
when Sophie starts asking you about this?
When she asks why there are friend's houses
she won't be able to go to?
When my daughter asks me
why she can't go over to someone's house,
why a grown-ass woman would hold something against a child,
I'm gonna tell her
it's because that person is a fucking asshole.
And you can hate me instead of hating your man.
That's cool. But one thing?
We should probably stop calling each other sluts.
You don't want that shit to come back around.
[children shouting]
- Mom? - Mm-hmm?
Okay, so ready? Watch this.
- Wait. Ready for what, hon? - [laughs] Wait. Watch this.
Wait. Watch what?
- Wow! - [laughing]
- That was so cool. [laughs] - [laughs]
When did you learn how to do that?!
- I don't know. - [laughs] Hey.
[both laughing]
- Hey, Mom? - Yeah?
- I have to go poop. - Oh. [laughs]
- [flies buzzing] - Oh. Oh, God.
It's all right, honey.
- It's just a toilet. - God. Ew!
Can you stop taking the Lord's name in vain, please?
- Okay. - Okay. Look. Gosh.
I never thought I'd miss diapers.
What?
All right. Um...
Mama's gonna make it nice and clean.
- [Ryan groans, laughs] - Okay.
You know what, Ryan?
- I'm gonna be right outside. - Wait. No.
- Please, Mommy, stay with me. - Ryan.
- Please. - It's okay. Ryan, just poop.
It's okay.
I'll be right here.
[Ryan] Oh, God.
[panting]
[soft creaking]
♪ soft, gentle music ♪
♪
You done?
[Ryan] Uh, almost. Like, two minutes.
Two minutes?
♪ energetic music ♪
♪
[yelps]
Are you kidding?
[engine starts]
Oh, come on.
♪ Rockin' out to that music ♪
♪ Love the way that I'm movin' ♪
♪ All I need is you and my boyfriend's... ♪
We made it.
♪ Come on, baby, let's do it ♪
♪ All I need is you ♪
♪ And my boyfriend's you tonight ♪
♪
♪ Hey! Hey! ♪
Mommy!
Hi. [laughs]
Oh!
[gasps] Ah.
You excited to get this party started?
Yeah?
What? What's wrong?
Dad just told me Leanna and Bailey can't come.
Like, all of a sudden.
Did he say why?
Well, that's their loss.
You hear me?
[scoffs] Come on!
♪ uplifting music ♪
♪
[sighs]
[Ryan] Mom, help!
[keys jangle]
Ryan?
[high-pitched ringing]
[muffled] Ryan?
Ryan?!
Ryan?
Excuse me. Have you seen a little boy?
No.
[indistinct, muffled chatter]
He was just in the bathroom.
He's got to be close by.
- Ryan? - [Ryan] Mommy!
Over there.
- Ryan? - [Ryan] Mom!
[panting]
Help!
Oh, my God! It's okay. It's okay.
It's okay, honey. I got you.
I got you. Grab on to me.
It's okay. It's okay.
[grunts] It's okay.
- Help. - It's okay.
[crying] Oh, God! I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.
Oh, God! I'm so sorry.
Thank you, God, for my son.
♪ somber music ♪
[sniffles, sighs]
- Say no to Knodel! - Say no!
Say no to Knodel!
- Say no to Knodel. - [man] It's over. You lost.
- Go home, you ugly bitch. - Hey, fuck you, pussy!
- Fuck you! - David!
- Stop the car, why don't you? - David.
- David, David, David, stop. - Fuck you!
- Stop. - What? It's fine.
- No. - He's a fucking asshole, Maggie.
Put that sign down
- before you get your ass kicked! - Get the fuck out of here.
- Just drive. Just drive. - [man 2] Nobody cares, douche!
[car approaching]
Haven't you ruined Mr. Knodel's life enough?
You don't know what you're talking about.
Well, we know you're a fat liar.
- Uh-huh. Okay. - Maggie.
No, okay. What are you gonna do?
- Call the cops? - Yeah, actually I am.
Smile, you fucking stupid bitch!
- Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. - No, they're fucking stupid,
- David. This is stupid. - It's not.
- It is stupid. Let's just go. - Maggie.
- Have to go to work. - You can't listen to idiots.
Those girls are dumb and mean.
[Maggie] No one believes me.
Does that mean everyone is an idiot?
[panting]
David?
You don't get it, do you?
No one believes me.
Not one single person.
You don't even think Aaron did anything that wrong, do you?
What?
Do you think he did anything wrong?
- I am out here with you. - Yeah, you're out here with me.
But you know what I mean, David. You know.
Okay, what if he broke into my house,
put a knife to my throat and raped me, huh?
What would you do then?
Just hold these fucking signs with me out here?!
I don't know!
You-you wouldn't do anything
if someone raped your little sister?
Fine. I-I would kick his fucking ass. I would kill him.
Is that what you want me to say?
So what is... what is the difference, then?!
- Huh?! - He didn't do any of that!
There. Exactly.
You don't believe he did anything.
[David] Hey.
- I believe that he hurt you. - Hmm.
I believe that you are hurt, okay?
David, I was a kid. He was my teacher.
Teachers are supposed to protect the kids.
I-I don't...
You don't know.
I don't know what the fuck to say, Maggie.
[newsman] Up first in local news, Aaron Knodel,
North Dakota's Teacher of the Year, has been found not guilty
after being accused of having a sexual relationship
with an underage female student in 2009.
Now, Mr. Knodel was acquitted on three
of the five charges against him.
Two of the charges
- were dropped... - [Maggie] Are you kidding me?
...after prosecutors opted against another trial.
The school board voted unanimously
to offer Mr. Knodel back pay.
- [TV clicks off] - All right, back to work.
No, no, please. Let's keep watching.
Just calm down, okay? Back here.
[man] She knew what she was doing.
[man 2] Stop talking, dude.
- You don't like it here? - I don't like having a job,
and neither do you. Everyone treats me like
I'm a fricking idiot. Or a slut!
- [man clears throat] - Uh...
- Yeah?! - Maggie, hush. Please.
If you can't keep your private life at home,
you just can't work here.
My private life? Hmm?
Is all over the fucking TV you were letting everyone gawk at!
Why don't you take the rest of the day to cool off?
Fuck you.
Peace out, Perkins!
Hey, bud, Mama's gonna talk to her friend for a sec.
Want to play with my phone?
[Ryan] Okay.
[vehicle door opens]
[door closes]
Oh, you brought, uh...
Yeah. But, um...
I only wanted to talk to you real quick.
Hello.
Fresh pack?
Why don't you take the whole thing?
What?
I just bring 'em for you
so you'll leave these meetings wanting to meet again.
[Aidan sniffs]
Kid, you kind of smell like shit.
Do you know I thought there was a magic formula?
That I could...
I thought, "Okay,
maybe if I wait for 14 minutes
while standing on my fucking head saying The Lord's Prayer,
then-then this man will write me back and..."
- [laughs] - Look.
Uh, ki... kid, you know I'm not a free man.
That's bullshit, Aidan.
You felt plenty free when you were cumming inside me.
But it's not your fault.
[inhales sharply]
And anyway, I don't... That stuff was good for me.
It was fun for me.
Hmm, I mean, it was... heartbreaking fun,
but it was still fun. Right?
[both laugh]
And I needed fun in my life.
Yeah.
You're the most fun, Kid.
I'm sorry.
Please don't be sorry.
That is something I want you to know.
I was in control.
Just wanted...
what you could not give me.
My God, I still want that thing.
Well, I still want that thing, too.
[sniffles]
[exhales softly]
This is over.
♪ soft, melancholy music ♪
♪
You know...
Kid, you know I care.
For you.
No, you don't.
Got to go.
I got the boy.
Got to get my other boy.
I got to...
make dinner.
And I smell like shit
'cause I'm covered in shit.
Hey. Will you just...
Will you just take this for the smokes then?
Kid, come on. Will you just take this?
[seat belt clicks]
Kid, come on.
[Ryan] Mom?
♪ optimistic music ♪
♪
[gasps softly]
[birds singing]
[water runs, stops]
[groans]
- [thud] - Oh! Shit!
What the hell?!
Fuck!
[panting]
You're a crazy bitch.
And I'm tired of not sleeping
next to my goddamn husband!
[grunts]
You don't ever call your wife a slut.
Do you hear me?
- [scoffs] - I... am not...
- a slut. - Mm-hmm.
Nobody is.
That words means absolutely nothing.
And I may be messy as hell, but I'm fucking great.
And you don't deserve me.
- Mm-hmm. - Nobody does.
Mm-hmm.
Mmm.
♪ slow, dramatic music ♪
♪
Hmm.
[Richard chuckles softly]
[Richard moans]
[Sloane moans]
[Sloane yelps]
[both laughing]
[both moaning]
Oh! Shit.
♪
[both moaning]
[Richard growls]
[Sloane moaning and panting loudly]
[both moaning]
[Sloane panting heavily]
[Richard grunting]
[Sloane cries out]
[Sloane gasping]
- [Sloane panting] - [Richard sighs]
♪
[Sloane panting]
How about we have it be just you and me for a while?
[Sloane cries quietly]
[crying] I am so sorry.
No, you're not.
But I am.
[Sloane laughs]
♪
[Richard moans]
[Sloane sniffling]
[energetic drumbeat playing]
[students cheering]
Let's go!
[cheering, clamoring]
[whooping, laughing]
[Mark] Hey, Mags?
I think I was wrong, kiddo.
Dad?
Sometimes you need more than a little boost from God.
- [laughs] - You have the power, Mags.
It's already in you.
I know it won't be easy,
but I want you to go get those fuckers!
I love you, Mags.
- [panting] - ♪ slow, gentle music ♪
- [rhythmic clapping] - [crowd] Not guilty! Not guilty!
- Not guilty! - [light clacks on]
Not guilty!
[Gia] Why is it easy to say, "I love you inside of me,"
but not just, "I love you"?
Lina asked me, "Why is loving someone
who doesn't love you back a humiliation?"
Because we are condemned when we take our faces off.
We are condemned when we break from the script.
A script none of us even wrote.
You got to say your name.
Got to tell the whole world your name.
- Maggie. - Maggie.
Maggie.
- Maggie. - [Gia] Lina knew.
- Maggie. - Sloane knew.
Maggie.
They realized it was time to stop pretending
that what they wanted didn't matter
as much as it fucking should.
[whispering voice] Maggie.
- [voice 2] Maggie. - [voice 3] Maggie.
- [voice 4] Maggie. - [voice 5] Maggie.
- [voice 6] Maggie. - [voice 7] Maggie.
[whispering voices continue]
Maggie!
[gasps] Maggie.
[sighs] Maggie.
Hey.
I got to go.
I'm catching the next ferry.
Wait, what? What-What's going on?
I just wanted to come and say bye.
You want to calm down and come in for a second?
- No. I don't have time. - You have time.
- Sloane, I don't have... - Gia, I know the ferry schedule.
- She's sleeping. - I got it.
- [Fox fussing] - [Sloane sighs]
Where are you going, and where is Jack?
Oh, Jack's in New York getting his shit.
- So he's coming back? - Mm-hmm.
And that's a good thing, yeah?
I'm dying, Sloane.
You have no idea how easy it is for death to find you,
and unless you experience it, you don't worry about it.
If I cut it off right now, then it'll hurt less.
And you're making this decision for him?
And for me. And for everyone.
[laughs] If you leave like this, it's basically kidnapping.
You know, one thing that I, like,
really dig about you is, you usually mind your business.
Who's the one running around asking everyone on Earth
what it feels like to suck a dick and eat a pussy,
pretending to be a journalist?
I was telling your story.
- Ah. - That's you.
That is wildly, uh...
altruistic.
Look, you don't want to talk to me anymore, you don't have to.
You would not be the first to stop, and I totally get it.
Okay, girl.
I just came to say goodbye.
Then, goodbye.
[Fox babbling]
- Thank you. - Mm-hmm.
[car door opens, closes]
[engine starts]
[Gia] If you're a woman,
they'll find the worst things they can say about you.
It's cruelest when other women do it.
See you.
[driver] Take care now.
[Gia] They'll call you fat, they'll call you a whore.
A bad mom.
- [knocking] - Hey.
[Gia] They'll do it
because it's been done to them.
- [phone ringing] - It's Gia. Leave a message.
- Bye. - [beep]
[Jack] I had this feeling, as I was on the boat
on the way to this elitist piece of shit island,
that you'd disappear.
I would never do this to you.
And then, uh, my second thought was, uh,
"No, no, no.
Uh, no one is that much of a cliché."
"No smart person is that much of a prisoner
to their own psych 101 bullshit."
You know, and the tragedy here is
that you think this is interesting.
That being an unhinged sociopath
somehow makes you interesting.
That this poor man's gonzo journalism act
is fucking interesting!
All you are, all you ever will be,
is a bad... mom.
And you know what else?
Your fucking teeth are not age-appropriate!
So fuck... you!
Bitch!
God! Aah!
♪ slow, gentle music ♪
[Gia] I think we all do the best we can, is what I think.
And I think anyone
who has something to say can go fuck himself.
You got a phone I could use?
[sniffles] I need... I need to call the police
to report a child kidnapping.
- [panting] - Huh?
A child's been abducted.
Thank you.
[sighs]
Uh, do-do I...?
Should I dial locally, or do I just dial 911?
- I don't know. - [quietly] Fuck...
[Gia] I'd learned so much from the women.
I'd learned from them what I had not yet learned from my mother.
[Fox cooing]
But I wasn't done,
and the book could not be done until her.
Until Maggie.
She was the kind that left a legacy.
I read it in her story in the paper,
I could hear her screaming between the lines,
and I could feel all the regular people out there
thrusting their hands out in an attempt to quiet her.
♪ I got a notion to say what doesn't feel right ♪
But now was not the time to be quiet.
♪ Got an answer in your story today ♪
♪ It gave me a sign that didn't feel right... ♪
Gia?
Hey. Oh, my God.
- Just driving through? - Yeah, exactly.
♪ You've been here before... ♪
Who is that?
Uh, I was actually gonna ask you the same question.
I don't know. I just found it in the booth.
Uh... you don't know who might have...?
[laughs]
Do you want to sit?
[Maggie sniffles]
I'm sorry I just, like, showed up like this.
I don't really know what I'm doing.
I just wanted to meet you.
That's not weird or anything.
- Yeah, I know. Sorry. [laughs] - [laughs]
You can stop saying "sorry."
♪ Day after day... ♪
- [laughs softly] - I guess I just wanted
to say to you that, like, no matter what happens,
even if we never speak again,
I believe you, Maggie.
I believe that everything you said happened to you is true.
And that what that guy did to you is so utterly wrong.
He was your teacher.
He was supposed to give a shit about what happened to you.
But he didn't. He gave a shit about what happened to him.
You really fucking believe me?
I really fucking believe you.
♪ I wanted to know if I could go home... ♪
I could never do what you've done
- and stand there and be okay. - [sighs]
Like, when my father died,
I-I didn't leave my house for, like, five years.
[exhales]
Maybe then you... you should stay.
We could be brave together.
Yeah?
Mm. [laughs]
Maggie, I want to tell the world your story.
Because there are people out there who will believe you.
I think, like, lots of people.
♪ So don't knock it, don't knock it... ♪
[sniffles]
When I told you to pick a place, I said to myself,
"If she picked Donut Hut, then I'll meet her."
- [laughs] Really? - Yeah.
It was my dad's favorite.
[chuckles]
Hmm.
So you'll stay?
Yeah.
Can I hug you?
Yeah.
♪ Don't knock it ♪
I fucking believe you.
♪ So don't knock it, don't knock it ♪
♪ You've been here before ♪
Thank you so much.
♪ So don't knock it, don't knock it ♪
♪ You've been here before ♪
♪ gentle music ♪
♪
[Gia] The other thing people always wanted to know
besides, "Why these three women,"
was, "What did you learn?"
Talking to these women and to hundreds more
for hours and hours and living in their towns
and going to the doctor with them
and going to meet their lovers, and what did you learn?
What I learned is somewhat the same answer
to the question of, "Why these three women?"
Because they are all of us.
Because we are all in this together.
And everybody counts the exact same amount.
Even the bitches and the sluts.
[exhales deeply]
We don't want to hear
that other women struggle with their weight,
with their looks,
with aging, with status.
We want to pretend those struggles don't exist.
That we don't look for the lost or broken parts of ourselves
in the shape of other people.
♪
[laughs]
Why Lina?
Why this unhappy housewife?
- ♪ - [dialogue inaudible]
Why Sloane with her unruly desire?
And Maggie?
Why name her desire at all?
And wasn't hers actually just trauma?
But people attack nuance.
They attack aberration, even as they bemoan
the lack of representation of this group or that one.
What I learned is this.
We don't want to hear about what another woman wants
if it's something married,
if it's something brutish,
if it's something we have wanted, too,
and did not get.
We don't want to hear a young woman feels actualized
by the gaze of a man, even if hearing that
and witnessing the fallout it wreaks is the very thing
that helps another woman not make the same mistakes.
What I learned is that we all want to be loved.
We all want to be seen and loved
for who we truly are.
But even just saying that can be the scariest thing
in the whole world.
You know what I learned?
It doesn't matter what she wants.
Just let her go and try and get it
because that is what she fucking deserves.
That's what I learned.
[exhales]
♪ "Fire" by Bruce Springsteen ♪
♪
♪ I'm driving in my car... ♪
Wait. You got to turn on the...
[Maggie] Oh.
Excuse me.
[sighs] Thanks.
♪ I'm pulling you close... ♪
You guys going to New York for vacation?
Uh, yeah, sort of.
[Arlene chuckles]
- She's gonna be on TV. - Mom.
- What? - The Today Show.
- Really? - [sighs] Oh, my gosh.
[Arlene] She's in a book.
- Yeah. [laughs] - Mm-hmm.
Holy smokes.
I've never met anyone on TV before.
That's pretty cool.
♪ Late at night ♪
- [bell dings] - ♪ I'm taking you home ♪
♪ I say I want to stay ♪
♪ You say you want to be alone ♪
♪ You say you don't love me ♪
♪ But you can't hide your desire ♪
♪ When we kiss ♪
♪ Oh ♪
♪ Fire ♪
♪ You got a hold on me right from the start ♪
♪ A grip so tight, I couldn't tear it apart ♪
♪ My nerves all jumpin', actin' like a fool ♪
♪ Your kisses, they burn, but your heart stays cool ♪
♪ Romeo and Juliet ♪
♪ Samson and Delilah ♪
♪ You can bet ♪
♪ Their love they couldn't deny ♪
♪ Your words say split ♪
♪ But your words, they lie ♪
♪ When we kiss ♪
♪ Oh, fire ♪
♪ Fire ♪