[MGMT's "Time to Pretend"]
- * I'm feeling rough *
- Ugh, Ray's mom ordered way too many Jordan almonds.
- Well, it's a good thing she did,
because they're cheaper in bulk,
and you and Ray invited literally everyone
to your wedding. - Yeah.
[laughs]
Ugh, I think I'm gonna barf.
- Hey, it's perfectly normal to be nervous
the night before your nuptials.
* *
- * I'll miss my sister, miss my father *
- What's this?
- * Miss my dog and my home *
* *
- Oh, my God.
A full ride to Northwestern?
That's incredible.
No, not good, because...
oh.
Ray won't move with you?
- He said he can't do long distance
because his Saturn won't make it
all the way to Illinois and back.
- He's not wrong about the Saturn.
- I know.
- But there's gotta be a way to fix this.
Right? You love Ray.
- Yeah, yes.
I mean, he is deeply unemployed,
and he hates chapter books,
but he's also really sweet, and he loves me,
and we have history, but also people would freak
if we didn't...
I don't know what to do.
Tell me what to do. - Oh.
Uh...I...
[garbled speech]
- Okay, don't just make sounds, Nathan.
- Okay, um, I'm not gonna tell you what to do,
but, Reagan, you deserve
an amazing, epic, juicy, fulfilling life.
You're brilliant and hilarious and kind.
But you may not stay that way
if you don't go for what you want.
Now, whether that's Ray or Northwestern,
I have your back 100%.
You know that.
But you gotta run after the good stuff.
[upbeat music]
- Okay.
* *
- Okay.
* *
- Think of it as a fair and honest deal.
- Well, you can take your deal
and shove it up your fair and honest butt.
[light quirky music]
* *
- Hey, hey!
Nathan! - What?
- Come on!
This is what's best for everyone.
This is how you're gonna keep your house,
and you'll get paid to keep doing what you do.
- Can you do me a favor? Shut your lie hole.
That's what I call your mouth now.
- Oh, really? - Yep.
Actually, it's more like a lie hose
just spraying lies everywhere. - Seriously?
- Mm-hmm. - You're being very childish.
- No, I'm not. You're being childish!
You ignore all my calls, and then I find out
you're leading this, like, secret life.
Why should I listen to anything you say?
[soft dramatic music]
- I told you that Nathan would blow up over this, and he did.
- After the tantrum passes,
he'll see this is his only option.
Right now, you need to focus on yourself.
- Okay, yeah, great, I'll focus on me.
I'm nowhere.
You said that the cultural center
was gonna get a huge piece of action in this.
Well, where is it, Terry? Where's my action?
Is this it? Is this it?
Oh, no, that's a ginormous casino.
Oh, what do we have here? It's a Tesla charging station.
What a bunch of snobs.
I'm just gonna drive in from the city and go gamble.
I'm gonna cheat on my wife
and not visit the cultural center
that's supposed to be here.
- I thought it would be more respectful
to build an entirely separate structure
outside the casino.
[gentle music]
This is your new cultural center.
* *
- Is it two floors?
Oh, my God. Is that an ADA complaint ramp?
I'm so sorry for doubting you
and also for making fun of the Tesla charging station.
Actually, I'm not sorry about that.
Elon Musk is dumb, and he needs to pay his taxes.
This is incredible.
I...
Thank you.
- You've more than earned it.
- Well, it's a lot of space to fill.
- I think it's time you spoke to Nathan's aunt
about acquiring her collection.
Here.
Keep it under 20K. - Wow.
Nathan's gonna hate this. - Oh, I'm sorry.
I didn't realize this multimillion dollar deal
was gonna hurt someone's feelings.
- I hear that, but strategically,
it would help if Nathan were onboard.
I mean, he can be a real thorn in your side
when he wants to be.
I know you don't think you have a supervisor
he can complain to, but he will find one.
- Noted,
I will take care of Nathan.
You go shake down that old lady.
[upbeat music]
* *
[light music]
* *
- Good morning, Nathan.
- No, it's not.
It's a stupid morning. - Wait, what?
I heard from Deirdre's assistant
that today was a call for celebration,
so I made a little adjustment
to the wall of prominent Rutherfords.
- What? No, Bobbie.
I don't belong up there.
A lot of these Rutherfords are military heroes.
The only thing I'm gonna be remembered for
is letting this town turn into a circus.
- Wait, I'm trying to catch up.
We hate mornings and the circus?
- Yeah, Terry wants to turn this whole town
into some kind of colonial theme park,
and he wants me to be his Mickey Mouse.
I don't think so.
- Right, who would want to be America's
most beloved and recognizable symbol?
- You know what I mean.
- I'm just saying, if I know Terry,
he's gonna do this with or without you,
and isn't it always better to be part of the plan?
- I have a plan.
I'm gonna hate Terry for the rest of my life.
- But if you can have a say in what happens in this town,
shouldn't you do it?
It's like when I joined this gang of girls
that were bullying me,
and now we bully others together.
- Mm.
- We made this one girl transfer.
She was a monster; don't worry.
- I guess if I join them, I could help steer things
in the right direction.
Their model was bleeding with historical inaccuracies.
They need me.
And if it's done right,
whole town could be one giant Rutherford museum.
- Ooh, great.
So should we leave the picture up?
- Nope, it's gotta come down, and while you're at it,
can you move Cyrus?
I always felt like he's flirting with Margaret.
- Ew, that's his sister.
[light tense music]
- So I should warn you. I'm not great at negotiating.
I'm what's known at flea markets as a mark.
- Oh, no, that's not why I brought you.
I brought you because you're pretty.
- Pretty? - Yeah.
Your handsomeness is like a weapon
that can disarm even the coldest old lady,
and if it doesn't work out,
I got the van for 12 more hours.
We can have multiple make-outs in multiple locations.
- You really thought of everything.
You got this.
Although, now I'm almost kind of wishing, like,
it doesn't work out so we could--
- We--let's focus. - Okay.
[soft clinking]
- So, Aunt Joan-- I can call you aunt, right?
Anyway, I am here to ask
on behalf of the Minishonka Nation
if you would do the honor of returning
important cultural items currently in your possession
so that we may properly care for them.
- Those items have been promised to Nathan.
- Yes, I'm aware of your arrangement,
but the tribe is willing to offer a fair sum,
and I personally am going to throw
something sweet into the pot just for you.
- Oh, tempting offer, but I indulged my last gigolo
during the Ford administration.
- Oh, no, I am not a-- at least, I don't think
that was the-- - Not him.
Your name on all of the museum labels.
You'll be just like the Sacklers,
minus all of the alleged predatory opioid abuse.
I am authorized to offer $5,000.
- You can have them for $80,000.
- 10. - 80.
- 15,000. - 80.
- 18?
- 80's the price, or you can be on your way.
- Okay, great.
I'm just gonna go ahead and reach out
to the Department of Interior
and see if everything's NAGPRA compliant.
You know, the Native American Graves Protection
and Repatriation Act?
I don't know if I got a great look
at all of the items in your carriage house,
but I'm sure that they were all acquired
in a proper way, so if we were to get the feds involved,
you'd be fine, right?
Or we can skip that,
and I can give you money
for items that belong to me anyway.
* *
- You've got a deal. Now get out of my house.
You can stay. - Uh, no, I'm gonna go.
Thanks!
* *
- All right, I'm in. - That's great to hear.
- [chuckles] Pump the brakes there, Terry.
I'm not in just yet. - You just said you were in.
- Well, sure, but it's gotta be on my terms, okay?
If you're gonna turn this shopping complex
into a true Rutherfordian experience,
I'm gonna need the following.
$23 million to expand and modernize
the Rutherford Museum,
full veto power on all architectural
and historical decisions, use of the company helicopter.
- We don't have a company helicopter.
- Well, if we get one, I want to use it.
Also an unlimited diorama budget.
I've already spoken to Marshall.
He is in, and he better be,
considering I crushed it at his wedding.
- He sang "Black Velvet" by Alannah Myles.
His version was 11 minutes, and it was amazing.
- Well, that does sound epic,
and of course we can discuss your many demands.
In the meantime, I have something
that I think you'll be equally excited about.
[plucky music]
- You look incredible. - I look ridiculous.
- He looks ridiculous.
- This costume is wildly inaccurate.
It's like a hodgepodge of colonial fashion.
Military jacket, a scrivener's cravat,
a barrister's wig,
and boots clearly taken from a pirate costume.
- We're capturing the spirit of the era
to give the people what they want.
Which reminds me-- you're gonna love this.
* *
This is the poster image for Ye Olde Rutherford Village.
* *
- Okay, where do I even start?
This type of butter churn
was used primarily in the Carolinas,
where there is significantly higher humidity,
and no Rutherford has actually owned a dairy cow
since Zachary Rutherford left his wife for one in 1782.
- Our market research shows
that the average American's understanding of history
can be boiled down to seven concepts:
George Washington, the flag, Independence Day,
"Independence Day" the movie,
MLK, "Forrest Gump," and butter churns.
These enhancements will take your family museum
to the next level.
- Grandpappy Rutherford's Old Time Creamery
and History Museum?
- People find dairy-based businesses
charming as hell.
It's wholesome.
And if you throw in a cow with a cute name,
it's off the charts.
- You could call him Sir Milksalot.
- Home run, Bobbie. Home run.
- You can't milk a male cow!
- Nathan, this museum will draw like crazy.
That's why we put it next to the food court.
[gentle music]
Go ahead. Give it a churn.
* *
- I'm really trying here, Terry.
* *
This is what you wanted?
- Yes, actually, and it's what you want,
a brand-new, state of the art museum
filled with people learning about your family.
- This version of my family is bullshit!
- Respectfully, every version of your family is bullshit.
At least this one is profitable.
- Ooh, ooh, what about Moodonna?
[gasps]
- Josh, come on.
We need to get this stuff into the van
before Joan changes her mind
or steals our youthful bodies "Get Out" style.
- I know. I know.
But there's so much stuff here.
I mean, come on, these love letters.
"Elizabeth, my love.
I will always regret that we never had the courage to--"
- That says 1982, not 1882. - Ah, damn.
I guess it's more just like, "Elizabeth, my love,
"I will always regret that we never had the courage
to run away together." - Ooh.
- "I will forever cherish that you named our boy Nathan
after my father."
* *
- Okay.
Elizabeth is Nathan's mom, but who is this Ronnie guy?
- Um, I think it's his biological father,
which means I don't think
Nathan's technically a Rutherford.
* *
- It's just a letter. It doesn't prove anything.
- Right.
Well, actually, it's letters-- a lot of 'em.
And some of them were pretty graphic.
- Yeah, who puts illustrations in a love letter?
[chuckles] - Yeah, the '70s were wild.
- Yeah, they were.
- You gonna tell Nathan?
- There's an explanation for this.
This isn't real.
Nathan's already pissed, so I'm not gonna worry him
any more than I have to.
All we have is barely a hunch.
- Plus the letters. - Yes, we have the letters!
Sorry.
[soft dramatic music]
* *
- Just because we're changing the museum
doesn't mean you have to pack everything up.
- It's all good, Bobbie.
Just gotta make room
for some butter churns and fake history.
Might as well scrap my entire family's legacy
while I'm at it.
* *
- Oh, but this is Eustace Rutherford's shoehorn.
You can't just throw this in a box.
People need to see this.
- No, Bobbie, no one cares about actual history.
Besides, you got your wish. Mickey Mouse.
- Maybe it won't be so bad. We can fix this.
- What's to fix?
It's literally a dream scenario.
I get to dress like the Quaker Oats guy,
churn butter all day, and no one will get to learn
the true story of my family.
- I just mean this is a chance to start fresh.
- Bobbie, everything that I've ever cared about
is being turned into a cartoon, okay?
Does that feel like a fresh start?
I don't even know why I'm talking to you.
You're a teenager. You don't get it.
- Well, if that's how you feel, I can give you some space.
- Yeah, why don't you do that? - Very well.
You have a 5:00 p.m. dentist appointment
that I won't send you a reminder for,
which sucks for you, because you have several cavities.
- [sighs]
[country music playing]
* *
- Hey, I sent your silverware back.
Don't ask why, but trust me-- - Nathan isn't a Rutherford.
The custodial parent release claim from his father.
I had a friend do some digging in Albany.
I mean, this is ironclad.
- Why--why'd you do that?
Now neither of us can un-know this information.
- Are you kidding?
This is the missing piece to my story.
It has everything: sex, lies, family intrigue.
- Oh, no, Josh, you cannot publish this.
- What? I have to.
- I thought that everything we talked about
was, like, off the record.
You said that.
- That's not how off the record works.
- Josh, if you--
I can't be with a guy
who destroys my best friend's entire life.
- Is he your best friend?
Okay, I get what you're saying.
I do, but you're asking me not to do my job.
I would never ask that of you. - I know.
- I mean, if the gender roles were reversed here,
you would be sexist to--
uh, never mind.
- I can see that it's unfair of me to ask you for this,
but it's what I need from you.
- I understand, and I would never do anything to hurt you,
but this is the only way to tell the whole truth.
- [sighs]
- I'm sorry, Reagan.
- I'm so sorry too.
- Glad we're on the same page.
- Yeah.
- * If you cannot feel it in your heart *
[birds chirping]
- Oh, I thought you were Bobbie.
- I figured you'd still be mad at me,
and I've had a pretty crappy day myself,
so I got some Chang's.
I brang the Chang's 'cause I know it's our thang,
so if you got the pang-- - Please stop rhyming.
- Totally. - Thanks.
It does smell good, though. - I know.
- Ooh, orange chicken. - Uh-huh.
- Playing hardball.
Okay.
Can I just say that this has been the worst day?
Week. The worst week. - I agree.
[laughs]
And with that said, I have a hypothetical.
- Hit me.
- Tell me, do you prefer your bad news
flash fried and served quickly on a plate
or is a slow-steamed bun more your thing?
- You're not making any sense.
- Yeah, sorry, that's hard to tell.
Um...
I...have something to tell you,
and I know it'll make you upset, but...
I care about you so much, and I know if I don't tell you,
you'd be more upset, and that's--
- Okay, I'm all out of upset today.
I already smashed two butter churns.
- [chuckles] - I mean, just lay it on me.
- Well, earlier today,
I was at your Aunt Joan's house,
and I found something-- - Wait.
Why were you at my aunt's house?
- Okay, yeah, let's start there.
Um, as part of the casino expansion,
I've been given a budget
to acquire Minishonka items, and I bought some from her.
- Huh.
Well, this Chang's is cooked in blood.
- Oh, my-- - Who are you anymore?
First you go work for Terry, my nemesis,
and then you go, like, steal stuff from my family?
- Okay, I--I bought it from her,
and if you want to talk about stealing,
I mean, there's no way that your family--
you know what?
This is exactly why I thought
that you couldn't handle more bad news today.
- Bring it on, honestly.
I mean, what is it? Did you kill my brother?
Is my grandmother an alien?
- You're not a Rutherford.
I found some letters in the carriage house,
and they are from a man addressed to your mom,
and then Josh confirmed it even though I asked him not to.
It's gonna come out, and I thought you'd rather
hear it from me-- - Get out.
- Nathan.
- Why would you even say that to me?
- Because it's what happened.
- Yeah, right.
I am so sick of everyone
thinking they know more about my family than I do.
You don't know anything about my heritage.
You don't know anything about me.
So please just go.
[dramatic music]
* *
- Hey, bud. - Hey, Duz.
What's up, man? How'd you find me?
- Uh, well, you gave me this when you were 11 years old,
and you said to open it in case of emergency.
"Should I go missing,
"I am most likely sitting in quiet contemplation
"at Buckheart Lodge.
"If I am not there,
"investigate the following suspects.
"The Chisenhalls, Manuel Noriega,
Cobra Commander."
- Okay, come on, I was 11.
- All right, well, I'm glad I found you,
because Cobra Commander was no help at all.
You know, a lot of people are worried about you, man.
I talked to Reagan.
- Oh, which one did you talk to?
The one that I grew up with and have loved dearly
my entire life, or the one that was recently bitten
by a vamp-liar and is now cursed
to tell bizarre lies for the rest of eternity?
- Yeah, it's just, the thing is, uh,
Reagan might technically be...
almost certainly right about this.
- Duz, I love your sense of humor--
- You remember Mr. DeAngelo from Mom's bowling team?
- Yeah, Uncle Ronnie. - Right.
You remember how he used to come over to the house a lot?
And how Mom and Dad slept in separate bedrooms
for, like, three years?
And that one time that Dad threw your television
across the room because he saw you
watching professional bowling?
- Oh--oh, my God.
Mom was boning Uncle Ronnie?
He--he's my--
- I'm sorry, Nathan.
- How are you so sure?
- Well, I wasn't, but when you asked me
to grab those documents in my pantry,
there was a letter stuck to the back.
It was Uncle Ronnie writing to Mom
agreeing to renounce his paternity.
And there were a bunch of bowling scores at the bottom.
It turns out Mom was a really great bowler.
I don't know if you knew that. - So I'm a DeAngelo?
- No.
I mean, genetically,
but you're a Rutherford, man.
I mean, you've dedicated your entire life
to this family.
You're more Rutherford than any of us.
- But I'm not.
I'm not a Rutherford. - Yes, you are.
You are still my brother. Don't say that.
- Yeah, but I'm your adopted half brother,
Nate DeAngelo.
Okay, uh, thank you
for, um, enlightening me.
[sighs] Whew.
It's a lot to take in, but, you know, um,
it's all good.
It's all good. [chuckles]
It's all good.
- Okay, I kind of wish you'd put the poker down.
- What, oh, am I scaring you with this?
- Just, let's-- - Ah, I'm gonna kill you.
Uh, just, wow, yeah.
Had a big crush on Janet DeAngelo as a kid.
Tried to make out with my half sister.
A lot of memories coming into focus.
Mm, very cool.
- Look, why don't you come home with me for a few days?
The girls would love to see you.
- Okay, I, um...
I just--I think I need some alone time.
[sniffs]
I'm--I'm okay. I promise.
- Come here.
[tender music]
* *
I'm really sorry, man.
Okay? - Yeah.
- I'll call you tomorrow. - Okay.
* *
[phone buzzing]
- Finally.
I was so mad at you, I was actually doing homework.
- Hey, Bobbie, just a quick FYI.
I'm closing the museum. - What?
For how long? - For approximately ever.
And I just wanted to say thank you
for your hard work and dedication,
and I'm sorry I wasted your time
with such a dumb museum for a dumb family who is dumb.
All right, look, I'm getting out of town for a little bit,
and also, Bobbie, I really am sorry.
You're just an awesome person. I'll see you later.
- Uh-- [phone beeps]
[dramatic music]
* *
[engine revving]
[clanking]
Ah, God.
Well, that tracks.
[Jesse Ed Davis' "Washita Love Child"]
[rock and roll music]
* *
- * I was born on the bank *
* *
* Of the the Washitaw River *
* *
* In a Kiowa-Comanche tepee *
* *
* Daddy had a hard time *
* Mama made his eyes shine *
* Lord, it was just us three *
* *
* Well, they went riding bareback *
* *
* In fact, I tied my hair back *
* *
* And I did that powwow thing *
* Daddy showed up with a stellar guitar *
* And I knew right then I believe *
* I'm a love child *
* And I'm running wild *
* Hope it don't take too long *
* *
* I'ma love you *