The Fall of the House of Usher is a gothic horror drama miniseries created by Mike Flanagan. Loosely based on the short story of the same name and other works by Edgar Allan Poe.
Original release date: October 12, 2023
In 1979, Dupin and Roderick rehearse for the court hearing where Roderick will identify his forged signatures. Returning to after Tamerlane’s death, Madeline attempts to convince Pym to take her proposal to the board – a proposal to pivot Fortunato to a tech company focusing on artificial immortality and elect Madeline as CEO. Frederick has been giving Morella a paralytic preventing her from speaking. He pulls her teeth out with pliers to punish her for what he believes was infidelity. Verna secretly influences him to put spoonfuls of paralytic into his bag of cocaine unbeknownst to him. In 1979, Roderick goes against the plan in the hearing and gets arrested for perjury in order to take the blame for Fortunato’s crimes and earn their gratitude. In the present Madeline talks to Verna in her and Roderick’s childhood home about a deal they made on New Year’s of 1980. When Roderick shuts down Juno’s request to get off Ligodone and admits he only married her because he was fascinated by her body’s affinity for the drug, she leaves him. Frederick is at the building where Perry died is being bulldozed. He enters the building to urinate and snorts his cocaine, inadvertently taking the paralytic. When he collapses on the floor, Verna taunts him as the building is bulldozed and his abdomen is slowly cut in half by shrapnel. Madeline thinks she can save herself if Roderick dies, so she convinces him to overdose on Ligodone. Verna, however, does not allow him to die.
* * *
[ticking]
[siren wailing]
Do you recognize this form?
Yes, it’s a CFC, a Consent for Care Form.
Hey, Freddie, no siren, okay? Thanks.
[wailing stops]
What purpose does this form serve?
Um…
[siren wailing]
It’s an agreement between the patients, the providers, the…
Freddie. Siren.
The patients, the providers, the company.
[wailing stops]
It lists all the risks and side-effects associated with the proposed treatment.
Have you ever signed as a witness on a CFC?
Yes, I have.
And is this your signature?
No, it’s not.
[papers rustle]
How about this one?
[siren wailing]
No.
And so on more forms.
Why might someone forge your signature on a CFC form?
Objection. Speculation.
[chuckles]
Mr. Usher, in your opinion, what’s a likely reason to forge a signature on a CFC form?
To make it look like the patient knew the risks and made an informed decision to join the trial.
[siren wailing]
And also to shield the company from liability.
Jesus, Fred.
[sighs] Take a time out, yeah?
Can I get you some more tea?
I’m fine.
Hey, sweetie. I just put Tammy down. What is the problem?
[Roderick] We’re rehearsing, and he’s making noise.
Can you take care of him?
Kids make noise, Roderick. That’s how we know they’re working.
Sweetie, why don’t you play in Mommy’s room?
[siren wailing]
[sighs]
So sorry about your rehearsal.
That’s really no problem.
I support what you’re doing, I really do,
but what about after?
I mean, with everything that he has turned over,
is it really necessary going on the record?
Well, the documents aren’t forged unless he points and says,
“I didn’t sign that.”
[Annabel] Mmm.
So, without him, my case is…
[sputters] You can’t blow the whistle without a whistleblower.
I wish it were otherwise. I truly do.
He’ll be fired.
Yes.
I’d like your word that when it’s done, we can count on your help.
Of course, I mean, in so much as…
I would like your word.
You have my word.
[Roderick sighs]
[Auguste sighs]
[kisses]
[Annabel] You boys give them hell.
[Roderick] Okay.
Here’s that tea.
You’re a lucky man.
[exhales] Yeah.
What about you? You got some luck at home?
I think so. I’m never there, so who can say?
Yeah, she puts up with a lot.
So does he.
Both of us lucky in one way, at least.
Got good people at home who love us anyway.
Let’s not let them down.
Let’s make this one worth it.
Do you recognize this form?
Yes, that is a Consent For Care form.
[Auguste] Annabel Lee.
You know, I’ve thought about it over the years
because I’ve got a good sense for people.
I ask myself what went wrong.
What malfunctioned with me back then to make me trust you?
And I figured it out. It was her.
I trusted her, so I trusted you.
I mean, if that woman loved you,
if she trusted you, fucking fool to lose her the way you did.
Much as I lost after what you did, and I lost a lot, damn near everything,
it sustained me a bit…
knowing you lost her.
And this was the reason that long ago In this kingdom by the sea
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling My beautiful Annabel Lee
You’re the fucking wind, Shakespeare.
So that her highborn kinsmen came Bore her away from me
To shut her up in a sepulchre In this kingdom…
Oh, shut up.
…by the sea
Don’t you ever get tired of hearing yourself talk?
Can’t imagine how she hung on so long, frankly.
I say to people all the time, “There’s no such thing as a good Usher.”
But there was. One.
Annabel Lee Usher.
The only good Usher, and you chased her away.
Wrong. My granddaughter, Lenore.
The best of us.
And so like her grandmother too.
All the best of Annabel Lee without…
without the broken heart.
[thunder rumbling]
Fuck it. [exhales]
Uh, I’m glad you liked Annabel…
but she’s gone, she’s been gone a long, long time,
and I would be lying if I said I never wondered
how the fuck did this happen.
How the fuck did this happen?
We paid how much for security standing right outside her fucking door?
And he didn’t think to knock when he heard glass breaking?
What about the launch? You were in the fucking room.
[Arthur] We had ten people.
And not one of them could stop this woman from leaving the building?
Not one could stop my daughter from smashing a TV and assaulting my wife?
Not one single person lifted a finger when she went home and…
The home was secure, I can’t explain it.
I had my… my hands on her.
I felt her go apart like cold steam.
Fuck! Stop it. Stop. Stop it! Shut up!
Fuck’s sake!
Think like professionals for a goddamn minute. Please.
[exhales]
The board’s making its move.
There’s gonna be a vote.
The board is just math.
We’ve got blackmail material. Strangle it in the crib.
Oh, it’s out of the crib, it’s starting college.
Well, use the good stuff. Emergency. Break glass. They’ll fall in line.
Some. Not all.
Freddie is the swing vote. Way I see it, he’s key to the play.
Get him in here.
[door opens and closes]
[Arthur] He deserves better, Madeline.
[Madeline] Hmm.
[Arthur] I’m a realist, and I agree he is compromised.
But he is a great man.
He has an untreatable, incurable disease that impairs his judgment.
Right there, that takes him out of play.
I am close, Arthur, my algorithm project is so close.
Do you know what that means?
We could take this company out of pills, out of poison, into tech.
AI. Artificial consciousness, virtual immortality.
You take that to the board.
You tell them that if I’m in the chair, I take this company into the future,
leave all of this behind us.
The whole rotten legacy goes out with Roderick,
and we rebrand as a tech company.
I imagine they’d find that appealing.
I imagine they would.
And I imagine this isn’t easy for you.
It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to say out loud.
[Morrie wheezing]
[wheezing intensifies]
[Morrie weakly] Fred…
Freddie.
You must be feeling it a bit.
[wheezing] Sweetie, you need to stop.
[Frederick whistling]
Honey.
No. Honey. Please, no. No. No.
[wheezes]
[sighs] Works so fast, doesn’t it?
[snorts, sighs]
Oh.
I heard Tamerlane killed herself with a fireplace poker and,
I swear to God, I can’t… I can’t figure out what that means.
I mean, how do you… How do you even do that?
[sighs]
I knew I wanted to marry you the first time we met.
Do you remember? At the photoshoot?
You came up to me, and I’d been approached
and chatted up by grifters and groupies before,
but you smiled and it was so real.
And I asked you why you did it,
and you said that you saw me standing there alone and you thought,
“That looks like a guy who could use a friend.” [chuckles]
And you were right.
That smile.
The smile stole my heart.
Do you know what the headline was that morning?
When I took my board seat from my predecessor?
Business section of The Times. “From ruthless to toothless.”
Is that how you see me?
Toothless?
[phone ringing]
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. Oh.
Yeah. Now? Okay. Okay.
It’s an emergency.
Dad needs me. I’ll be back when I can.
Maybe we’ll talk then.
[sniffling]
Where did you put your wedding ring?
It wasn’t on your hand. I saw footage from the party.
I got some of your things back. Your purse, your effects.
Your… Your fucking phone.
But no ring. Where did you put the ring, Morrie?
Don’t move.
Don’t make excuses!
I am working on it.
Apparently not. The building is still standing.
I’ve had other things on my mind, Dad. Funerals…
I told you, call the Jersey boys, and get it done.
I will. It’s just a building, I don’t know why it matters.
It matters because I have to count on you.
It’s a fucking crime scene with our family’s name all over it.
Your brother’s blood all over it.
It matters because if I can’t count on you to do the building,
then I can’t count on you for the little things,
which means I can’t count on you for the big things,
and I have to count on you, Freddie. I have to.
You’re it, you see? You’re the fucking swing vote.
The board’s swinging?
They haven’t called you yet.
[sighs]
This is it, Freddie.
They’re all gone, and it’s all about to fall apart.
So, I need to count on you.
And when they call, and they will call,
you just don’t pick up, that’s the best message.
And if they corner you in the street, you tell them, “I’m Frederick Usher,
I’m the repository of the hopes and dreams of a fucking empire.”
“So take your treacherous bullshit elsewhere.”
Can you do that?
I can.
[doctor] I mean, this is a very unpleasant process.
In fact, for the symptoms you’re describing,
your husband would probably say upping the dose would smooth you over.
Not asking him. I’m asking you.
I’m on what? Two thousand milligrams of Ligodone a day?
The second highest dose you’ve ever heard of is…
Thirteen hundred.
Thirteen hundred? Right.
And then this happens and they want to up it,
and I know you work for Fortunato, I know,
but you’re still my doctor, right?
Yes, of course.
Do you have kids?
Yes.
Stepkids?
Mmm-hmm.
They ever call you a junkie?
No.
Mine did.
They’re all gone now.
You watch three coffins being lowered into the ground,
two more on the way, and you can’t help it.
It just makes you think, you know, life is so fucking short.
And the thing I keep going back to…
is that Ligodone is more like heroin than any other drug I’ve ever been on.
Well, Ligodone has a lower incidence of addiction if used correctly.
Come on. It’s just me and you here.
So, tell me, how do I get off this perfectly safe, non-addictive drug?
[sighs]
Very, very slowly.
[Frederick] I see.
Yes, well, I am the repository of the hopes and dreams of an empire,
so I’m happy you’re thinking of the future.
[Morrie wheezing]
[exhales]
Wow. [laughs]
It is happening. [laughs]
[snorts]
[exhales]
Hey, it’s Fredso.
Yeah, uh, listen, I know we’re all set for next week,
but things are moving fast here, and things are happening for me,
and I really need that building to come down.
I need it done, like, today. Tonight.
Well, I… I don’t care about the fucking blasting permit.
Get me a ball and a fucking crane.
Because I fucking asked you to. Because I’m the Usher ascendant.
Yeah. No…
The Jersey boys listen to Roderick, and the Jersey boys listen to me.
Yes, I will be there. I want to see that building come down.
Okay?
Ha! [sniffles]
Did you hear how fast he changed his tune?
[snorts, groans]
It’s amazing.
My whole life, you know, they won’t take me seriously,
and then, suddenly, you’re the new CEO…
[laughs]
…and everybody is fucking so accommodating.
Well, almost everyone. [sighs]
You, Morrie…
[Morrie wheezing]
You know one thing Dad was really big about?
It was a lesson that he taught us all.
One of the first things he taught us.
No! Frederick! No!
If you wanna test a bond…
No!
You don’t really need to break it.
No!
You just crack it a little.
Now, he put me one rung higher on the ladder than Tammy
and he sat back and watched.
Cracked, but it didn’t break. It did make it stronger.
Second lesson Dad was big on was getting your house in order.
[sighs]
[Morrie wheezing]
You don’t have to be a tyrant,
but if you don’t want to be consistently cruel,
then you have to be sufficiently brutal at least once to establish authority.
[sighs]
Your fucking smile.
I don’t want to be consistently cruel, that’s not me.
I won’t break our bond. You already cracked it.
So I’ve just got to put our house back in order.
I’ll strike one solid blow, sufficiently brutal.
So, let’s do this once.
Let’s do it fast.
Let’s do it quiet. And then we can start to heal.
[gasps]
[sighs]
I’ve gotta go.
I’ve got another house to put into order.
[sighs] Oh.
While I’m there, I’ll look for your ring. Maybe it’s still there.
If not, I’ll get you a new one.
But if I do find it, I’ll bring it home.
And if you ever take it off again…
I’ll weld it to your fucking finger.
[phone ringing]
Yeah? You good?
[metal clangs]
Don’t you fucking say that to me, Vinnie.
That ball is gonna swing at 8:00 p.m. tonight.
That building is coming down or else I’m gonna…
I’m gonna come over there,
and I’m gonna pull out your fucking teeth with a pair of pliers.
[door slams]
Dad. Where are you going?
Got some work stuff to do.
Can we talk first?
Sure, peanut.
I found this place. It’s fantastic.
Best in the country for burn treatments, chemical burns.
I mean, they’ve got top-notch skin-graft work and everything on campus.
Plus, I talked to one of the doctors. They said they could take her.
Why the fuck would you do that?
I’m sorry, why the fuck would you do that, sweetheart?
She’d be better off someplace else.
Lenore, we’ve talked about this.
Where are they?
Who?
The specialists. The doctors. Everyone you promised would be here.
When you’re at school, they come here a lot of the time.
But she is fine.
I don’t believe you.
And you’re… You’re not right, Dad.
You smell like shit and you look like shit,
and you’re acting weird.
Watch it.
Do you know who you’re talking to?
Mom is not okay. You are not okay. None of this is okay.
And I found a place that can actually take care of her,
and we can take her there tomorrow.
I can’t do this. You need to stop.
Stop it, please. Stop! Stop it!
All you have to do is call.
Stop fucking talking!
If anybody spoke to me like this, there would be repercussions!
You do not get a free pass because you’re my daughter!
[exhales]
I want to talk to her specialist.
[sniffles]
Your mother is resting,
and you will leave her alone while I’m gone.
And I will deal with you later when I get back.
[breath trembling]
Ma? Ma, can you hear me in there?
[thudding]
Look, I’ve got to tell you, those noises are starting to really bother me.
You say that’s Madeline.
[Roderick] It is.
[phone vibrates]
I think we ought to go down and make sure she’s…
And let me guess. That’s Lenore.
Bingo.
I don’t know what you’re playing at with me tonight,
but I’ve just about had enough.
We’re almost there, Auggie.
You know what? No.
Uh, please. Sit down.
[recorder clicks]
I’m wondering why you’re dragging this out,
why the cat and mouse, and I know the answer.
Because you’re getting something out of it.
It’s not like that.
And if you’re getting something out of it, whatever it is,
I don’t have to give it to you.
Please.
Goodnight, Roderick. And good luck with the dementia.
You’ll have me on murder.
That’s where we’re going.
You’ll have me dead to rights on murder.
More than one, actually.
And here’s where I stop in my tracks, slowly return to the chair,
sit down and start the recorder again.
That’s what I do now, right Roderick? In your little script.
[chuckling] I mean, it’d be nice.
But… [sighs] that’s the thing, isn’t it?
We’ve been here before, you and me, right here. In fact…
[clock clanging, ticking]
You see that too?
You’re trying to scare me.
No.
No.
That’s Freddie, I expect.
They’ve been at me all night. Make sure I get their stories right.
Which is… It’s fantastic. [chuckling]
As my personal hell is being micro-managed.
No, what happens now, see, is you start talking.
And then all of a sudden I spot a little hint of Freddie,
but I try to ignore it because you can’t see him,
and then he manages to get a good jolt in there
for my benefit while you look at me like I’m insane.
I’m not insane.
And while CADASIL is no picnic, it certainly isn’t this.
No, I’m afraid you’re ringside for my reckoning, old friend.
[metallic creaking]
[ticking stops]
And any second, Freddie is going to peek up from…
behind the chair, and show off his C-section…
Honey! [laughs]
Hi.
Daddy.
Daddy.
[Annabel laughs]
Oh.
[chuckles]
We had to come for your big day. Wanted Freddie to see his daddy be a hero.
[chuckles]
[squelching]
[Tammy] Mama.
[Roderick] You guys were gonna stay at home.
I know, but these two thought Daddy could use a little support.
Didn’t we, Freddie?
You should’ve stayed at home.
Hey! You guys made it.
[Annabel] Yeah. Wouldn’t miss it.
Hey, remember in there,
if you get scared or feel alone, we are right here, okay?
On the other side of the wall. We’re here with you.
Yeah, why don’t you come sit with me? Let him get to it.
[Auguste] Mmm.
You ready?
Yeah.
You got this?
Yeah. I got this.
[man] We are on the record at 1:32 p.m.
Today is Thursday, December 20th, 1979.
Mr. Usher, I’d like you to have a look at Exhibits 2 and 3 here.
Do you recognize that document?
Objection.
Go ahead.
She’s going to do that all day, just getting it on the record.
Doesn’t matter with us.
Uh, okay. Um, it’s a consent for care form. A CFC.
And you deal with these routinely?
I do. Since my promotion.
And what purpose does the form serve?
[lawyer] Objection.
Uh…
It… It’s an agreement between the patient, the provider and the company
that lists all risks and side-effects associated with the proposed treatment.
Anything strike you as unusual about that document?
[lawyer] Objection.
Not particularly, no.
I mean, just the fact that it’s here. These are confidential.
These are property of the company.
[DA] Nothing at all unusual?
No, it’s pretty standard boilerplate.
Um…
It’s unfortunate we couldn’t get a family member
to sign along with the patient, given their age,
but, as you can see here, it was witnessed by a representative of the company.
Have you ever signed as a witness on a CFC?
Yes, I have.
[papers rustling]
And is this your signature?
Yes, it is.
[papers rustling]
How about this one?
[Roderick] Yeah. That too. That’s mine.
To be clear, you’re telling us that you were aware of
and signed this form on this day?
Yes.
Objection.
[lawyer] He’s your witness, Pam.
Mr. Usher…
[whispering indistinctly]
Mr. Usher, did Rufus Griswold at any time exert any pressure on you,
written or verbal, to sign or falsify documents?
No.
Has he spoken to you at all about today’s deposition?
[Roderick] Not at all.
[DA] Has anyone at Fortunato spoken to you about today’s deposition?
[Roderick] No. Not at all.
[DA] Mr. Usher, I will remind you, you are under oath,
you agreed to appear here today as a witness for this office.
Yes. Well…
[clears throat] Um…
Your man there wouldn’t leave us alone.
He stopped by my home on multiple occasions pressing this issue.
So, yes, I agreed to appear.
Call me a witness, call me a representative of the company,
call me whatever you like, I’d hope by appearing here
and verifying for the record what I’d said to Mr. Dupin in privacy,
that he would do me the kindness of letting my family be in peace.
Frankly, I didn’t want to use this word,
but the treatment of my family in the name of whatever vendetta
Mr. Dupin has for Rufus Griswold borders on harassment.
That’s what I came here to say.
Auggie.
What’s…
Wait…
What’s happening?
Don’t say anything.
What are they doing?
Don’t say anything.
Your husband’s under arrest for perjury.
Perjury?
I told you to stay at home.
Roderick!
Don’t say a word. Not another word.
Not here. I will meet you at home.
Hi. Madeline Usher.
Do you have a minute? Can we talk?
[Annabel] What the fuck? You knew this was gonna happen?
Of course.
My husband is in jail.
He’ll be out before dinner.
You think Fortunato is going to let him sit there?
As of today he’s the most important employee at that company.
They will have him out before you can blink.
He’s charged with perjury.
And that won’t stick either. He never signed an affidavit.
It’s Dupin’s word against ours.
What the fuck is wrong with you?
Roderick was gonna do the right thing. He was gonna be a hero.
That’s what I told my children.
He did the right thing, you fucking simpleton.
The DA’s embarrassed, but he’s not an idiot,
and once he’s staring down the whole Fortunato legal machine
without a single witness,
his whole case is just a handful of stolen documents.
He will fold.
Perjury too. He can’t prove it.
Right now, there is one name
on the mind of every board member, investor and executive at Fortunato.
[liquid pours]
Roderick Usher.
He is a fucking hero.
You’re gonna be swimming in money
and promotions and protections by lunchtime tomorrow.
You’ll be in a new house by Christmas.
You would have been on unemployment tomorrow if we’d done it your way,
and Fortunato would have sued you into a fucking crater.
Jesus.
I thought it was an act.
I figured you just played the housewife
so you could keep a roof over your head.
Spread your legs or suck his dick twice a week and you’re set.
You never have to work a day in your life.
And I thought, “Good for her, she found her angle,” but…
[sighs]…this is really you.
Isn’t it?
I thought you only existed in the movies.
You are so…
small, Madeline.
[Tammy crying]
[sniffles]
Your baby’s crying.
[door creaking]
All right, I know you’re here.
[metallic clinking]
[Verna] Have a seat.
These aren’t for us, technically.
They’re for the boys later on, but I don’t think they’ll mind.
Please.
Can I get you a drink?
No, thank you.
He’s been coming here a lot over the last few weeks.
Not sure he even knows why.
And you should see the basement.
He’s got boxes of stuff down there.
More every day.
He just sits here and he drinks and he cries sometimes.
Sad to watch.
A man like that reduced to such a cliché.
It really is you.
It’s amazing how much I’ve denied.
But it is you.
And somehow I knew you’d be here.
Well, I left you the address, don’t pat yourself too hard on the back.
Go ahead. Say your piece.
I want to ask you to stop.
Come on. Ask me? That isn’t you.
And frankly, I think you’ve forgotten what I am.
Fine then. I want to renegotiate.
You can’t.
Why not?
The ink is dry.
For him or for me?
Madeline…
Words got us into this, words can get us out.
You blaming Roderick or rhetoric?
I want new terms, and I shall have new terms.
Or have you forgotten what I am?
There she is. Ah, there’s my Cleopatra.
Everything has a price.
Every negotiation’s a point of entry.
Every deal is simply an expression of will. Mutual will.
We can sort this.
Woman to woman.
I’m not a woman.
You know what I am capable of. You know what I have done.
You know who I am.
You’re a collection of impeccable, elaborate masks
in orbit of a stunted heart.
[Verna] That was cruel. I apologize.
There are certain things one shouldn’t have to face in life.
Time enough for self-reflection after.
Yes. I know who you are.
And were.
And who you could have been.
I see all three. Standing shoulder to shoulder.
And together, they break my heart.
Please. Sit.
I apologize.
Under the bridge.
I was saying, I know who you are, Madeline.
You’re one of my favorites.
And I understand. You find an adversary, you kill them.
You find a hurdle, you jump it or dismantle it.
You find a locked door, you pry it open.
Mom? Mom!
[Morrie wheezing]
[Roderick] This is insane.
Ludicrous. I won’t hear anymore.
[Juno] Ludicrous?
I’m talking about getting clean.
Don’t be stupid. Can you imagine what that would look like?
My own wife trying to get off my own drug. It’s a PR nightmare.
I just want to be off it.
Then you’ll have no problem.
It’s not addictive.
Okay then.
It’s not.
But if you try to get off it,
you can expect mood changes and sleep changes and physical changes,
flu symptoms, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramping, reduced appetite,
dilated pupils, blurry vision, shivering,
goosebumps, rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure,
just imagine being so tired you can’t sleep.
So exhausted that you can’t relax.
All soaked with feelings of absolute desperation and dread.
Basically, the closest analogy I can think of is a fish
being pulled out of water, only at least the fish gets to die.
I thought…
Some people benefit from rapid detox methods
like clonidine, naltrexone or rapid withdrawal under general anesthesia,
but not with your dose.
With your dose, you’ve got to take it slow.
10% reduction per month.
You should be right as rain in, um, three agonizing years.
What the fuck have you done?
Don’t play me like that or did I get you wrong?
Haven’t you sucked a few cocks for a fix before we met?
Or am I confusing you with somebody else?
You’re a monster, you know that?
I married a monster.
No, dear.
I’m Victor Frankenstein.
You’re the monster.
You are my perfect creation.
What was left of you after that accident was a corpse on a slab.
And Ligodone was the lightning. I threw the switch, you sat up and look…
It’s alive.
I thought…
[inhales sharply]
I thought that you loved me.
I… You are a miracle.
Your body just… soaks it up.
It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. Like my drug is water and you’re a flower.
You are the most perfect and beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
You know, a huge part of you is Ligodone.
How could I not marry you?
Three years?
Okay.
I can do three years.
‘Cause yeah, I’ve had a hard life at times.
And I’ve made mistakes, but that’s what I thought you saw in me.
Because that shit made me fucking strong.
So, I will take three years of hell over a lifetime with you.
Easy.
You should know there’s common ground between us.
You, your brother and I, we share something.
I recognized it the moment I laid eyes on you.
Pain.
You might accuse me of being the broker of suffering.
I could say the same of you.
But I consider myself more its witness.
You’re in pain.
You’re exhausted. Uncertain. Frightened.
For the first time in years. I can’t take that pain from you.
But I can give you something for it.
And it’s not a drug.
Years ago, I offered you certainty.
Tonight, clarity.
No strings.
I doubt that.
Your brother, you know what he would have been?
A poet.
[both chuckle]
That’s where his talent was. A broke poet, sure.
But frankly, is there another kind?
He and I share that as well.
We both understand that…
language in its highest expression is musical.
So…
Some clarity for you.
What’s a poem, after all, if not a safe space for a difficult truth.
Here’s one.
Came to me when you adorable little things started building cities.
I call it “The City in the Sea”.
Lo! Death has reared himself a throne
In a strange city lying alone
Far down within the dim West
Where the good and the bad And the worst and the best
Have gone to their eternal rest
No rays from the holy Heaven come down
On the long nighttime of that town
But light from out the lurid sea
Streams up the turrets silently
Up domes, up spires, up kingly halls
Up fanes, up Babylon-like walls
Up shadowy long-forgotten bowers
Of sculptured ivory and stone flowers
Resignedly beneath the sky The melancholy waters lie
Ah.
But lo, a stir is in the air!
[sirens wailing faintly]
The wave, there is a movement there!
The waves have now a redder glow
The hours are breathing, faint and low
And when, amid no earthly moans
Down, down that town shall settle hence
Hell rising from a thousand thrones
Shall do it reverence
I thought you were offering clarity.
Let it steep a moment. It’ll come to you.
Freddie. Hey.
Um, listen, we’ve got a couple of small charges in there to help,
but, you know, if we get caught on that, I will tell them that you insisted.
See, isn’t it amazing what you can accomplish
when you pull your head out of your ass.
[sighs] Yeah.
She’s gonna go down, but it’s going to be slow and rough.
[Frederick] She’ll come down?
Yeah.
[Frederick] Are you ready?
Yes, we’re ready to go.
Let me have your radio.
I need five minutes inside, I have to do something.
Oh, come on, man.
You scrambled us here, don’t keep us waiting.
I need five minutes.
Then I’ll give you an all-clear signal and you can do whatever you do.
Okay? Fuck’s sake. Have a little patience.
What a fucking joke.
[sighs]
Should have died here, honey.
Would’ve made you an honest woman.
[snorts] Ah.
Ah. [inhales]
Well, Prospero, my brother…
one last thing to say to you.
Rest in pee, fuck face.
[groans]
[sniffles]
[urinating stops]
What the fuck!
[footsteps approaching]
[Verna scoffs] Oh, honey. This is embarrassing.
At least close your pants.
Otherwise it’s just… Well, it’s humiliating enough, isn’t it?
No? Gonna let it fly?
You’re the boss, right?
That’s the nightshade paralytic. [sighs]
[helmet clatters]
You got a little carried away back there.
And, strictly speaking,
I try to never intervene this directly, but…
[chuckles]…the pliers got me thinking.
Fuck it.
[phone ringing]
Yeah? You good?
More.
More.
More.
Don’t you fucking say that to me, Vinnie.
That ball is gonna swing at 8:00 p.m. tonight.
That building is coming down or else I’m gonna…
I’m gonna come over there,
and I’m gonna pull out your fucking teeth with a pair of pliers.
I don’t normally like to get my hands this dirty, but honey, you earned it.
[radio crackles]
[mimics Frederick’s voice] All clear, start the music.
[Vinnie on radio] You clear?
[radio crackles]
The fuck did I say? Swing it.
[radio beeps]
[Vinnie faintly] All ready?
[engine whirring]
[in normal voice] A dentist.
That’s the funniest part.
That’s what you were gonna be in the other life.
You would have been a dentist. And a pretty good one.
And I don’t know,
I guess that made what you did feel worse somehow.
[ball whooshing]
No need to panic.
No need to worry what’s lurking around the corner.
You’ve been scared your whole life.
And now you get to put that down.
It’s here, Frederick. I’m finally, finally here.
The cool thing is, like, nobody gets to see this.
From this vantage point anyway.
So, at least try to appreciate that.
[metal clanging]
That’s not good.
You know, I could have done this just about any way I wanted to.
[ball thuds]
Could have had a heart attack in your car. Coke would have teed that up nicely.
[glasses shattering]
Could have been hit by a bus.
But then you had to bring her home.
[ball thuds]
And you had to grab the pliers.
[metal creaking]
[ball thudding]
I’m gonna head out.
I’ve got an appointment with your dad.
[ball thuds]
He did you wrong, Freddie.
You only ever wanted to be loved by him.
You only ever wanted his approval.
[metal creaking]
And it’s still no fucking excuse.
[metal creaking, clanging]
[slashing]
[building crumbling]
Freddie’s dead.
That means there’s just us left.
You remember the deal. You remember the terms.
I know you do.
“Into the world together, out of the world together or there’s no deal,” that’s what she said.
There is only one way out.
And I think you know that too.
I love you.
More than anyone in the world.
[gasps]
And now I need you to be a hero again.
I need you to be my brother.
We need you… to be our hero.
[sighs]
[pills rattling]
[sighing]
These are the 80s. Ligodone 80 mill.
And here’s the thing, once you start you can’t stop.
You have to take ’em all at once ’cause if you stop it can hurt, as you well know.
But if you take it fast, you won’t feel it.
Your blood pressure will drop.
[sighs]
And you’ll just… just go to sleep.
[groans]
[pills rattling]
Um…
No other way?
There’s not.
I have run it all down. Every possible scenario.
You trust me, you have always trusted me.
This is the only one. This is it.
Go ahead. You can do it.
Now, that’s a legend.
[coughs]
That’s a king.
[sobs]
You’re saving us all.
[exhales]
[pills rattling]
[Madeline] You’re a legend.
You’re a king.
You are saving us all.
[footsteps approaching]
[metallic clinking]
[coughing]
[retching]
[Verna] Can’t let you out that easy.
[groans]
Hello again, handsome.
