Love Story
Season 1 – Episode 3
Episode title: America’s Widow
Original release date: February 12, 2026
Plot: After a family tragedy, John seeks comfort from Carolyn.
Transcript
Note for Students & Writers: This transcript is archived here for educational purposes, critical analysis, and screenwriting study. All rights belong to the original creators.
[John laughs] She’s so darling.
[baby babbles]
[Jackie panting]
Look at these trees. Just gorgeous. Aren’t they?
You okay? Yes, I’m fine.
[John] Well, we’re just trying to lock down investors right now, which, needless to say, has been a lesson in humility.
Michael pretty much has me out there with my hat in hand singing for my supper.
[Jackie chuckles]
Well, it’s your magazine. What did you expect?
I know.
And I’m happy to do the work, but I don’t want people to see George and think of me.
You know, I want it to have its own identity.
You think your father won his congressional seat solely on merit? No.
He capitalized on his charm, his magnetism, his father’s good fortune, and then he used his platform to do good and to prove himself.
Now I know it’s important to you that you be your own man, but, sweetheart, there are so many doors open to you.
You don’t have to build one and run through it just to say you did.
Can we please not do this again?
All I’m saying is, your last name doesn’t need to be this albatross from which you need to escape.
This is why I wish you’d seek out Maurice’s advice more.
Yes, but I have spoken with him.
He’s always gonna be there for you.
Why are you saying it like that?
Well, I just mean you ought to take advantage of his counsel.
[camera clicking]
Oh!
Let’s just get Caroline and head home, shall we?
The last thing I need is to give them a shot of me catching my breath or withering away. [laughs]
Gone are the days when my style used to sell the papers.
Oh, please. You could walk down Fifth Avenue in a bunny costume and people would be like, “Oh, where did you get that suit?” [laughing]
There’d be models walking down runways, hopping, actually.
Oh, stop. Cotton tails, the whole thing.
Please don’t make me laugh. [laughs]
I’m sorry. You okay?
Yes, yes, I’m fine. It’s… It’s a good kind of pain.
You sure you don’t want to keep walking?
No, no, I’m actually quite hungry.
Good. Good. An appetite’s a good sign.
Thank you, Tony.
Whoa!
Looks like a greenhouse in here. Mmm.
Would you like me to bring them up?
Yes, please, Tony. Thank you.
“You’re in my reflections. Michael Jackson”?
Mom secured his book deal. Oh!
Daryl? I thought we’d all been shunned after dog-gate.
It’s quite magnanimous of her.
You always have such nice things to say after they’re gone.
I’m just still trying to imagine what everyone on that flight must have been thinking when they saw you with those ashes. [chuckles]
Why do you think I’m trying to get my pilot’s license?
[chuckles]
All righty, I gotta go. Okay.
Sure you don’t want a hand with this? No, I’m good. Thank you.
Okay.
Just take the vultures with you when you go, will you?
Okay.
Did you want to take the service entrance, Mr. Kennedy?
No, I’m good.
Thank you.
[cameras clicking]
[paparazzo] John!
[paparazzi clamoring]
[♪ “No Rain” playing]
Come on, walk faster, we’re almost there.
[laughing] I’m trying. Make sure I don’t hit anything.
Oh, my God. You ready?
Yeah, I guess.
[Carolyn] New York, eat your fucking heart out.
[Michael] Holy shit.
[both laugh]
I feel like I’m hallucinating.
Jesus, you can really see my dick, huh? Yeah, it’s better than the alternative.
Should we linger? See if anyone notices you?
I can’t believe you made that happen for me.
No, I just put your headshot in a pile.
♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh I’ll always be there when you wake… ♪
Let’s take a photo.
Come on.
Oh, wait, I want you to be in it with me. No, no, no. This is your moment. Go.
♪ So stay with me and I’ll have it made… ♪
Smile. [clicks]
[laughs] Jump.
Should we have gotten a doggie bag?
For what? I cleaned my plate.
I asked if I could have a fry, and you stated, unequivocally, I could have as many as I wanted.
Well, that’s because you didn’t necessarily give me a choice.
We got the check, right?
[Michael] Do you have somewhere you have to be?
[Carolyn] Uh, no, I just…
[man] Hey, John.
[Carolyn] I don’t have any cash on me, so…
Uh…
What?
Of all the gin joints.
[laughs] Uh…
I’m a sucker for a laminated menu.
Uh, John, this is my friend, Michael.
Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.
I see you got a new bike.
I did, yeah.
I reported the last one stolen, but I think the case has gone cold.
[Carolyn] Oh. And yet, still no lock.
[John] Well, you know, baby steps.
Maybe we start with a helmet and work our way up from there?
Over this head of hair? No, I don’t think so.
[both laugh]
John, I got your order ready. Thanks, Joe.
[Joe] You got it.
It was nice to see you.
It was nice to see you too.
[Carolyn] And, um…
I’m thinking about your mom.
Thank you. I appreciate that.
Nice to meet you, Mike. You too.
See you around. Bye.
[clears throat]
Uh, so what’s… what’s up for the rest of the day?
[Michael] So we’re just gonna ignore that just happened?
You have ketchup on your face.
[♪ “Solitude” playing]
♪ In my solitude ♪
♪ You haunt me ♪
♪ With reveries ♪
♪ Of days gone by ♪
♪ In my solitude ♪
♪ You taunt me ♪
♪ Dear Lord above… ♪
[John] What are you doing?
[exhales]
I don’t need my personal correspondence memorialized in the Smithsonian.
You don’t need to do that, Mom.
I can see that those letters are locked away and sealed.
I don’t want them to be preserved publicly or privately.
There’s a reason no one likes to read the fine print.
It takes all the fun out of it.
Is there a reason why you’re doing this now?
Well, unlike you, I don’t like to put things off until the last minute.
[grunts] Speaking of, how’s your love life?
I’m not prying. I’m just genuinely curious.
I guess you could say I’m in kind of a transition period.
Somehow in an effort not to upset anybody, I’ve upset everyone.
One person in particular who is…
She’s special.
Well, confrontation’s never been your strong suit.
And have I read about this special person?
No.
And frankly, that’s part of the appeal. She’s not interested in that.
She seems to know who she is.
And when she looks at me, I can tell that she knows that… I don’t…
Know who you are.
You know, I remember the first night your father and I spent at the White House.
He turned to me and he said, “Can you believe where we are?”
And I said, “Of course I can. How do you think we got here?”
In some ways, our life together was more of a realization of my dream than his.
Not that I ever imagined myself in the White House, but your father, well, he could have been happy sailing or riding his whole life, but I, for whatever reason…
Well, I always knew I was bound for a different life than everyone else.
Something more.
I’ve been reading some of the tributes.
Why are you saying it like that?
Well, absent the past tense, they’re essentially obituaries.
Well, isn’t it nice to be around so you can read it, see how much you mean to people?
It’s not the adulation I question.
It’s where it stems from, how it came to be.
I can’t help but sometimes wonder how I’d be remembered if I hadn’t… if I wasn’t… What?
America’s widow.
That’s not to say I’m not moved by the outpouring of love, it’s just that…
Well, pathos and recognition are two very, very, very different things.
You really believe that that’s what this is? Pity?
It’s not that.
I think the world thought that we went through something together, that what happened in Dallas happened to all of us.
You once told me that you had no choice but to go on after what happened, that anybody would.
But you’re wrong. You did have a choice.
We grew up in people’s living rooms.
They feel like they know us, that we’re a part of their family.
Which is why whenever we do anything unseemly or at odds with their perception of us, they lash out with an even greater fervor.
‘Cause in their minds, we don’t exist without them.
Public’s always holding a flower in one hand and a stone in the other.
Don’t forget that.
[♪ “Camelot: Finale Ultimo” plays]
♪ Each evening From December to December ♪
♪ Before you drift to sleep Upon your cot ♪
♪ Think back on all the tales That you remember ♪
♪ Of Camelot ♪
♪ Ask every person If he’s heard the story ♪
♪ And tell it strong and clear If he has not ♪
♪ That once there was A fleeting wisp of glory ♪
♪ Called Camelot ♪
♪ Camelot ♪
♪ Camelot ♪
♪ I know it gives a person pause ♪
♪ But in Camelot ♪
♪ Camelot ♪
♪ Those were the legal laws ♪
♪ Where once it never rained Till after sundown ♪
♪ By 8:00 a.m. the morning fog had flown ♪
♪ Don’t let it be forgot ♪
♪ That once there was a spot ♪
♪ For one brief shining moment ♪
♪ That was known as ♪
♪ Camelot ♪
[♪ song crescendos]
[♪ song ends]
[John] Thank you for meeting me.
I feel like we’re trading state secrets.
You know, I got jumped in a park once. [chuckles] What?
Yeah, I was, like, 15 riding my bike to a tennis lesson.
And this guy just socked me, jacked my bike, and took off.
What is it with you and bikes? Didn’t you have Secret Service?
I did, but my mom always insisted that they kept their distance.
She hated the idea of me moving through life like a coddled prince with a God complex.
Hey, she still lets you Rollerblade.
[both laugh]
It’s probably ’cause they’re harder to steal than a bike.
[laughs] She used to love to send me to work on ranches, fishing boats, wilderness survival trips.
She was always very keen on me being a real man, whatever that means.
She was probably scared she was gonna mess you up, and that she wasn’t enough.
She didn’t want you to feel more shortchanged than you already were.
How is it that you have more insight into my family than my family?
No, I just know there’s no greater force on earth than that of a single mom.
You’d think with twice the responsibility, they’d get graded on a curve, but they’re just forced to grin and bear it for a world dictated by the men who failed them.
You feel like your dad failed your mom?
I feel like he failed a lot of people.
But how is she doing? Your mom.
I can tell she’s scared, which, I mean, I always knew there would come a point where I’d have to take care of her, but she’s 64, you know.
She’s a survivor. That’s what she does. She survives.
Yeah.
But think of all the lives she’s lived in 64 years.
I wish you could meet her. She’d love you.
Sorry, I was– No, no, it’s fine, it’s fine.
I should probably go.
Yeah.
Why did you want to meet, though?
I mean, you’ve got tons of friends and family.
I don’t know. You’re just the person I wanted to see.
[♪ “Fade Into You” playing]
What about…
Daryl? Yeah.
She’s back in LA. Indefinitely, it seems.
♪ I wanna hold the hand inside you… ♪
You don’t have to walk me home. I’m five minutes from here.
I’ll take the five minutes, if that’s all right with you.
[Carolyn] …and the belts with Sharpie.
[John] And no one noticed?
[Carolyn] Oh, no, no. Rave reviews across the board.
I should go.
Yeah, I wouldn’t want to keep an underwear model waiting either.
[laughs] They must get very hungry.
Did you look him up or something?
No, I looked up at him.
All 50 feet.
We’re friends.
No one is just friends with an underwear model.
They’re basically sex symbols for trade.
This coming from People’s “Sexiest Man Alive.”
That’s different.
How?
Well, I’m not on a billboard in Times Square in my tighty-whities.
Yeah, you’re just shirtless everywhere else.
Well, I’m happy for you and your budding friendship.
Everyone needs a good, broad, muscular shoulder to cry on.
♪ Fade into you ♪
♪ Strange you never knew ♪
Good night, John.
♪ Fade into you ♪
♪ I think it’s strange you never knew ♪
[Jackie] Do you still want to be a teacher when you grow up?
I wanna be a photographer.
A photographer? You do? Since when? [chuckles]
Do you know that Grandma used to be a photographer when she was a young girl?
For a newspaper and everything.
Do you want to hold my baby, Grandma?
[Jackie] Oh, yes, I do. The baby with all the jewel–
Sweetheart, why don’t you hold the baby, and I’ll go get her a blanket? Yes?
[Jackie grunting]
Grandma.
Mommy!
Oh, my God.
Mom. Mom.
Eugie!
Mommy. Mom!
Eugie, call 911.
Mommy, wake up. Mom! Mom!
Make sure the hospital knows to register her under an alias.
[paramedic] We’ll take care of it.
It’s okay, Mom. It’s gonna be okay.
[cameras clicking]
We were optimistic because the scans showed the cancer had dissipated from your chest and stomach.
However, it does appear to have spread to your brain and spinal cord.
At this point, we recommend a much more aggressive treatment–
Pass my bag, please.
[machinery beeping]
[doctor] Um, one in which we would drill a hole into your brain and insert a shunt that would allow the fluid buildup to drain and redirect it to other parts of the body…
[doctor’s voice fades]
[siren wailing]
[cameras clicking]
[man 1] Jackie, Jackie! Over here.
[man 2] How are you feeling?
[man 3] John!
[woman] We’re thinking about you, Mrs. Kennedy.
[Caroline] How much longer do you think we have?
I mean, roughly what’s the general time frame for someone at this stage?
It can vary significantly.
Okay. Thank you.
[John sighs]
Should we call Aunt Lee?
That could go a lot of different ways.
Yeah, maybe we should call Anthony first. Yeah.
[footsteps approaching]
What is it, Nancy? What’s wrong?
She asked to see Monsignor Bardes.
No. Why?
It’s what she wants.
Last rites? What?
Why are we acting like this is happening right now?
I mean, I know her time is limited, but that doesn’t mean we just give up.
Nancy, do not call him. I’m gonna go talk to her.
John, please.
She wants to do this while she is still lucid, and we can’t fault her for that.
[♪ “Be Not Depart From Me” playing]
[groans]
Would you like to give me your confession now?
[groans]
Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.
I…
I wanted to die… after Jack.
I thought… that was supposed to be the both of us that day in Dallas.
But I couldn’t move.
I froze.
And I was so… so mad at him.
[breath quavering]
For all he put me through.
All the women.
But I always protected him. Always.
Even after he died.
And I sat down with that journalist, and I gave him the fairy tale.
“There will never be another Camelot.”
And I want him to know…
I forgive him.
[Bardes] Jack?
God.
[ ♪ song continues]
[John] “It is glory to have been tested.
To have had our little quality and cast our little spell.
The thing is to have made somebody care.
You happen to be crazy, of course. But that doesn’t affect the law.
[voice breaking] A second chance, that’s the delusion.
[sniffles] It was never meant to be but one.
We work in the dark. We do what we can.
We give what we have.”
[Jackie groans]
“Our doubt is our passion. Our passion is our task.”
[John crying]
[♪ song ends]
I’m sorry.
What? [sniffles]
What are you talking about?
All this. [chuckles] Just…
Just for an idea.
[John sniffles] Oh.
Oh, sweetheart.
[sighs]
[exhales]
[sobbing]
[♪ somber music playing]
[Caroline crying]
[cameras clicking]
[crowd clamoring]
“Last night at around 10:15, my mother passed on.
She was surrounded by her friends, and her family, and her books, and the people and the things she loved. And she did it in her own way.
And we all feel lucky for that.
And now she’s in God’s hands.”
Thank you.
[crowd clamoring]
[sniffles]
I will never understand it.
What’s that?
Why we have to put on a brave face for them.
[quiet chattering]
Thank you so much for coming.
Really, really appreciate it.
John!
Hi.
I’m so sorry.
I tried to get on an earlier flight and then everything was booked and then they lost my luggage and it was a whole–
I didn’t even know you were coming. Of course. She was your whole world.
No, I meant to the wake.
I figured I’d see you at the funeral, but how did you know that–
Look, whatever happened between your mother and I, it doesn’t matter. Life is too short, and I know how much she meant to you.
Thank you. Is there a coat check?
No. I’ll just go put it in your room.
[chattering]
[cameras clicking]
It would have meant so much to her for you two to have traveled so far to be here today. Thank you so much.
I still remember that trip she took with your father to Paris.
Do you have any idea how elegant, how proficient someone has to be to impress the French?
I was at a party at the Prince’s Palace of Monaco, and someone asked Princess Grace what it was like to be the most glamorous woman in the world, and you know what she said?
“You’ll have to ask Jackie O.”
[chuckles] Of course.
You know my Uncle Teddy.
Pleasure to meet you, Senator Kennedy.
I’ll leave you in his very capable hands.
It’s nice to meet you. By any chance…
[Daryl] There you are.
I thought you might have disappeared.
No, no, I’ve just been running around.
How are you feeling?
Um…
I don’t know. Haven’t had a lot of time to process it, I think.
Yeah, and grief is weird that way.
It kind of sneaks up on you and all you can do is succumb to it, you know, like when I lost Hank.
Sorry about that.
I mean, yes, he was a dog, but he was also like my child.
Yeah.
Of course everyone keeps trying to find out what’s going on with us, like in what capacity I’m here.
People are asking you about our relationship status at my mother’s wake?
I mean, not explicitly, but, like–
Well, we haven’t spoken in months, so…
Exactly. There’s a lot that remains unsaid.
Hey, Nancy, have you seen Caroline?
[Nancy] I think she just needed a minute.
I’m gonna go check on my sister, but I’ll talk to you later.
Of course.
Hey, sorry, I just–
It’s okay.
I know it’s crazy out there.
I don’t think anyone out there has said one thing about her that I’m gonna miss.
You’re not gonna miss her poise or her love for the written word?
It’s like they’re all afraid to admit she was just a person.
Like, somehow acknowledging even the slightest imperfection would somehow discount their proximity to her.
[chuckles]
Remember when she found your weed plant in her garden at Hyannis?
[laughs, sniffles]
She didn’t find it. A police officer found it.
Oh, my God. That’s right.
What was he doing wandering around the garden in Hyannis?
Oh, I don’t know. I think a neighbor probably reported it.
I thought our neighbors loved us.
Didn’t you tell her it was a zucchini?
Parsley. Zucchini? [chuckles]
She was so mad.
Her voice dropped into that really scary octave.
[both laugh]
“Caroline. Marijuana? How could you?”
“And in my garden? A botanical sanctuary.”
[both laugh]
You had a real rebellious streak going there for a little while.
I miss those days.
I think I was just trying to find ways to tell her I was never gonna be like her.
Well, I, for one, am glad you didn’t.
Otherwise I’d be missing out on someone really special.
Okay. We should go back.
I think I overheard one of the cousins asking if someone knows how to play “Frère Jacques” on the piano.
[groans] Ugh!
I’ll be out in a second. Okay.
[crowd] ♪ Glory, glory, Hallelujah ♪
♪ Glory, glory, Hallelujah ♪
♪ Glory, glory, Hallelujah ♪
♪ His truth is marching on ♪
[♪ “Ave Maria” playing]
[cameras clicking]
[news anchor] Those of you who may just be joining us right now, we are on to keep you apprised of the funeral arrangements for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
[reporter 1] Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, of course, died on Thursday night around 10:15 in her home. She had asked to be returned to her apartment on the Upper East Side.
[news anchor 2] Everybody over ten years old in 1963 remembers her with the greatest gratitude because it was her strength that carried us through that awful, awful November of 1963.
[news anchor 3] That was also the first time anything like this had ever been seen on television.
[reporter 1] It really is a national communion of sorts, a cathartic experience for many people.
[news anchor 2] And the eulogy to be delivered by Senator Edward Kennedy.
[Ted] No one else looked like her, spoke like her, wrote like her, or was so original in the way she did things.
No one we knew ever had a better sense of self.
Her two children turned out to be extraordinary.
Honest, unspoiled, and with a character equal to hers.
She reveled in their accomplishments. She hurt with their sorrows.
She felt sheer joy and delight in spending time with them.
They are her two miracles.
I often think of what she said about Jack in December after he died.
“They made him a legend when he would have preferred to be a man.”
Jackie would have preferred to be just herself, but the world insisted that she be a legend too.
[Jackie] Dear John, I understand the pressures you will always have to face as a Kennedy, even though we brought you into this world as an innocent.
[♪ “Roads” playing]
You more than anyone have a place in history.
No matter what path you blaze in life, all I ask is that you continue to make Caroline, the Kennedy family, and most importantly, yourself proud.
Stay close to those who know you and love you as you are.
All my love, Mommy.
♪ Oh ♪
♪ Can’t anybody see ♪
♪ We’ve got a war to fight ♪
♪ Never found our way ♪
♪ Regardless of what they say ♪
♪ How can it feel this wrong ♪
♪ From this moment ♪
♪ How can it feel this wrong ♪
[breathing heavily]
[thunder rumbling]
Breathe.
[thunder rumbling]
[rain pattering]
