The Beast in Me
Season 1 – Episode 8
Created by: Gabe Rotter
Stars: Claire Danes (Aggie Wiggs), Matthew Rhys (Nile Jarvis), Brittany Snow (Nina Jarvis, Nile’s wife), Natalie Morales (Shelley, Aggie’s ex-wife)
Premise: Since the tragic death of her young son, acclaimed author Aggie Wiggs has receded from public life, unable to write, a ghost of her former self. But she finds an unlikely subject for a new book when the house next door is bought by Nile Jarvis, a famed and formidable real estate mogul who was once the prime suspect in his wife’s disappearance. At once horrified and fascinated by this man, Aggie finds herself compulsively hunting for the truth – chasing his demons while fleeing her own – in a game of cat and mouse that might turn deadly.
Episode title: The Last Word
Original air date: November 13, 2025 (Netflix)
Backed into a corner, Aggie must use all her wits to keep her world from crashing down – and place all her trust in an unlikely ally.
* * *
The Beast in Me – S01E08 – The Last Word | Transcript
[dogs barking in distance]
[Aggie breathing heavily]
[suspenseful music playing]
[helicopter whirring overhead]
[Nile] I could see it all over your face, everything you wanted to do to him…
[camera shutter clicks]
…everything he deserved.
[camera shutter clicks]
[Aggie panting] Karma’s a motherfucker, huh?
[dogs barking]
[helicopter whirring overhead]
[breathing heavily]
[dogs barking]
[camera shutter clicking]
[phone buzzing]
[exhales]
[man] Erika.
My office said you needed to talk to me.
Yeah. But, uh, it can wait.
You sure? You came all the way out here to tell me, so…
You really think Agatha Wiggs did this?
This is crazy, right?
Apparently, Wiggs has been harassing him for the past four years.
Blamed him for the car crash that killed her son.
And Nile Jarvis called the police?
Wiggs was writing a book about him.
He reported a possible kidnapping, which is why the police contacted the Bureau.
It’s also consistent with the video files we recovered from Wiggs’ laptop.
Oh Jesus.
Yeah. She recorded hours of timestamped video.
Kept the poor kid alive until a couple of hours ago.
[phone buzzing]
[sighs] Pick up.
[helicopter whirring overhead]
[phone buzzing]
You wanna take that?
Do you mind?
Yeah, you go ahead.
I’ll be downstairs.
[Erika] Hello? Aggie?
Where are you?
Aggie?
[Aggie] Fuck.
[breathing heavily]
[helicopter whirring overhead]
[dogs barking]
[vehicle approaching]
[siren wailing]
[breathing nervously]
[Shelley] Aggie, where is he?
[inaudible]
[Shelley] Aggie?
Aggie!
[helicopter whirring overhead]
[suspenseful music continues]
[phone line ringing]
[Shelley] Aggie?
Oh, Shelley, oh my God.
Oh my God, thank God.
Where are you? What’s going on?
I was right. It was Nile.
He killed Teddy Fenig, and he put his body in Co… Cooper’s room, so it would look like I did it because he–
All right. All right.
Slow down. Slow down.
I had evidence, and I gave it to someone that I can’t reach, so I need you to call her.
Aggie, listen, whatever happened, you have to explain it to the police before things get bad.
Whatever happened? What…
Look, just…
What do you mean?
You think I’m lying to you?
No, I just mean that, right now, you need to tell me where you are so that we can help you.
We? Who’s we?
Are you with the police?
You’re with them now, aren’t you?
Aggie, please, just let me help you, please.
Fuck.
Aggie!
[disconnect tone]
Fuck. Fuck.
Well, I’ll drive him.
I can do the interview in the car.
You’re missing the point.
The point?
All I did was say I had an interview with the Times.
You laid into me about how unsupported you feel.
Because you just do whatever you want without even asking about Cooper’s schedule or mine.
So go to your studio and get a massage, whatever you need, and I’ll take Cooper, okay?
What else do you want me to say?
I don’t wanna go!
Hey, Cooper, we are not doing this now, so pick up your shoes and put them on.
Aggie, please.
What? You want me to take him.
[Shelley] Aggie, where’s Cooper?
[suspenseful music continues]
[sniffles]
[exhales]
[dogs barking]
[tense music playing]
[music intensifies]
[dramatic music playing]
[music fades] [door opens]
[phone line ringing]
[man] Erika?
[Erika] Jack. Sorry to bother you.
I need a favor. It’s kind of a 911.
Yeah, sure. What’s up?
Remember Madison Jarvis?
Yeah.
Her suicide note. I need you to pull it from the evidence archive.
Uh, would a digital version work?
I can probably get into the database in an hour and get you a high-def copy.
[footsteps] [floorboard creaking]
[uneasy music playing]
Erika?
You there?
Let me call you back.
Okay.
[man] Bad idea.
Hands on your head. Now!
[grunts, gasps]
I had a feeling you were lying to me.
When you said Abbott wasn’t up to anything, I should’ve trusted my gut.
I thought we had an understanding.
[gasps] I have been respectful.
[Erika groans, grunts]
[breathing heavily]
[Rick] Anything else that you need to tell me?
What did you do to Brian?
I have no idea what you’re talking about.
This isn’t what I agreed to.
None of this was supposed to happen.
But it happened.
And you’re in it now.
Just like me.
You made a choice to protect your family.
I will do the same.
I will do whatever the fuck I have to do.
So if you’re holding anything back…
I’m not.
Well, you’ll forgive me if I don’t take your word for it this time.
[clattering]
Whatever you know, or think you know, forget it.
At least tell me what happened to Brian.
If I were you, I would save my concern for my own family.
[loud thud]
[suspenseful music playing]
[distant siren wailing]
[sighs]
[distant helicopter whirring]
[phone buzzing]
How’s my favorite uncle?
I paid Erika Breton a visit.
She won’t be a problem.
You sure?
She loves her kids.
She knows we’re serious.
So we’re good, then.
We’ll see.
I’m on my way over to your father’s house now.
To tell him what?
As little as possible.
Somebody’s gotta break the news his son’s about to be in the headlines.
I gotta go.
[Nina] Nile?
Fucker.
There’s helicopters circling.
And there’s a police checkpoint on Mill River Road?
Any idea what’s going on?
You might wanna sit down.
[Martin] So they put the grape juice into these big barrels, and then they put in something called yeast, and they let it sit for a long time.
What’s yeast?
What’s yeast?
Yeast…
I have no idea what yeast is.
But it turns the grape juice into something that grownups like to drink when they’re very happy or very sad.
You want a sip?
Eh?
[chuckles]
[laughs]
Uncle Rick!
Hope I’m not interrupting.
No, it’s way past his bedtime.
Come on, you. You’re out of here.
Go on.
[Martin chuckles]
You know, Ricky, ten years ago, I paid three grand for a bottle of this, and now it’s up to 15.
That’s if you can find it.
But it pairs very well with the slice of humble pie that I just served Benitez.
We’re gonna make the announcement together down at city hall.
Listen, Marty.
You’re gonna hear about this soon enough.
Nile’s neighbor, Agatha Wiggs–
The book. I don’t care. Fuck it.
She’s actually, uh, wanted for murder.
Wait, what?
Yeah.
A local guy went missing. Yeah, it was all over the news a couple of weeks ago.
Now, they figured he’d drowned himself.
Tonight, the cops found his body in Wiggs’ house.
She was gone before they got there.
So I guess the book’s not gonna be a problem after all.
Maybe teach Nile a lesson about who he trusts.
He sure knows how to pick ’em.
Yeah.
They found the body in her house?
Mmhmm.
How?
Mm, actually, Nile called in a tip.
I guess, you know, he saw something, apparently.
You’re lying to me, Ricky.
No, I’m not.
Yeah, you are.
Why would I lie to you?
No, there it is.
What?
You rub your nose with your thumb.
It’s your tell since you were a kid.
Come on.
So don’t tell me you’re not fucking lying.
Would you relax? You know, I figured you’d wanna know. It’s a wild story.
[Martin] Look at me!
[breathes deeply]
Now, you tell me what the fuck is going on.
Was this Nile? Has he done it again?
You lie to me right now, I swear to God–
I fixed it, all right?
[stirring music playing]
Son of a bitch.
Hey, hey, hey! Listen to me. Marty, Marty.
He won’t stop.
Oh my God, he won’t stop.
[Rick] Don’t do this now.
Hey. Listen to me.
[Martin] He’ll never stop.
Listen to me! We’re fine, okay?
You… you saw this coming. You felt it.
It doesn’t matter.
What matters is he came to me.
We took care of it.
Look, I’m telling you, Nile’s got no connection to this guy.
None whatsoever.
Then why did he do it, Ricky?
Because he’s sick, Marty!
Because he can’t help himself!
[groans]
You gotta trust me.
No.
I… I protected you. I protected us.
No.
There’s nothing you need to do.
Not a damn thing in the world you need to say.
[coughs]
Marty, what’s happening? Marty? Hey.
Marty? Hey, hey!
Marty? [grunts]
[Nile] I thought I was imagining it at first.
We had a few drinks.
I wasn’t in my right mind.
And I wandered upstairs to take a piss.
And I heard a noise.
A banging coming from her son’s room. So…
I went to open the door, and suddenly she’s behind me.
“You can’t go in there.”
I could see it in her eyes.
Not grief.
Fear.
And something in me knew.
I couldn’t shake it, so I called the police this morning.
I just…
I just can’t get my head around it.
People snap.
Or maybe this is who she was all along.
We never know what’s inside, do we?
Why did she invite you in the house if she had him up there like that?
Maybe she wanted my DNA. Who knows?
She was trying to set me up.
Using me and the book to cover what she’d done.
I was the perfect scapegoat.
And that’s a role I’m familiar with.
The madman next door.
You know that better than anyone.
[sighs]
Are you okay?
[exhales sharply] Yeah.
I’m just tired.
Maybe you should lie down.
It’s been a long day.
Yeah.
Um, did you really mean what you said?
About wanting the baby?
Of course I did.
I know it wasn’t part of our plan.
Plans change.
Just roll with it.
[phone buzzing]
What? What’s going on?
Lila’s calling. Hello?
Which hospital?
[tense music playing]
[metallic clattering]
[breathing heavily]
[doctor] We’ve managed to stop the active bleeding, but it’s crucial we manage the swelling.
What’s happening? I’m… I’m his son.
I was going over your father’s status– [splutters]
No, start from the beginning.
Your father suffered a hemorrhagic stroke.
The ruptured blood vessels caused significant bleeding in his left hemisphere.
We’re trying to manage the swelling by inducing a controlled coma.
It’s not without risks, of course, but the pressure in his brain could be life-threatening.
[door opens]
[door closes]
Thank you.
Mm.
[tense music playing]
[exhales]
[breathing heavily]
Oh fuck.
No, no. Fuck, fuck, fuck!
[Cooper] Wait, my pilot’s missing!
[Aggie] Cooper, enough.
Sorry. I’m… I’m driving my son to a doctor’s appointment.
Can you repeat the question?
[man] When I interviewed your father, he said you no longer speak.
I was curious if–
It’s not like we were talking every day before the book.
Right, but you were in contact?
I called my father twice a year.
I need my pilot!
You know, on Christmas and his birthday.
I can’t fly my plane.
He never remembered mine.
Hey, come on! Babe–
I said I need my pilot!
I… I… We’ll get it later. I told you.
Miss Wiggs, if this is a bad time–
[Aggie] No, that’s okay.
Uh… Uh, sorry. What were we talking about?
Why you and your father stopped speaking.
[Cooper] My pilot’s totally gone.
Yeah, no, he actually sued me.
He said I’d been profiting from his story when he–
[car honks]
Goddamn it!
[sniffles]
[melancholy music playing]
[sobbing]
[exhales]
[exhales, sniffles]
[exhales]
[forklift beeping]
What?
[vehicle approaching]
[car door opens, closes]
[tense music playing]
[man 1] Hey. Morning.
[man 2] Hey, Jim, how are ya?
[Jim] Tommy, come over here and help me move these pallets.
[Tommy] Yeah, hold up.
I’ll be right there.
[Jim] I’m thinking we’ll ship these pallets today.
[indistinct chattering]
[Jim] So you take these two, move them to the shed.
[tense music continues]
[sobs]
[phone buzzing]
[exhales]
Hello?
[Aggie] Hey, Erika?
Yes.
It’s Aggie Wiggs.
Why didn’t you call me back?
Did you show Madison’s journal to your boss?
Hello?
Can you hear me?
I’m sorry.
Who is this?
[splutters] I just said.
It’s Agatha Wiggs.
And the police are looking for me, so I really, really need your help.
I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.
What the fuck? What… what is going on?
Why are…
[breathing heavily]
Right, they… they got to you, didn’t they?
They’re… they’re threatening you?
Okay. Um…
All right, just listen to me, please.
At least give me the journal back.
So I can show the police when I turn myself in.
It’s all I’ve got.
I’m sorry, I can’t.
Erika, please–
Erika?
[disconnect tone]
[forklift beeping]
[door opens]
[door closes]
[music fades]
[monitor beeping]
He was planning on being there tomorrow when Benitez makes her announcement.
So I’ll go instead.
The press will eat it up.
Is there something you wanna say to me?
Your father’s fighting for his life.
You’re thinking about a fucking press conference.
I’m thinking about his legacy.
He’s here because of you.
You understand that?
He knew I was lying.
Covering for you.
Like I have every minute of your miserable fucking life.
Careful, Uncle Rick.
Ever since you clawed out of your mother’s womb, you’ve been trying to kill your father.
Maybe it took him 50 years to see what you really are.
I’ve always known it.
He stood by you over and over and over.
Even when I told him not to.
[uneasy music playing]
You didn’t deserve him.
Any of him.
[phone buzzing]
Sit down, Rick.
Hey.
[Nina] Hey. How are you holding up?
I’m okay. I, um…
I… I… I slept for a few hours.
That’s good. What about your father?
Any news?
They won’t know until he’s out of the coma.
That could take weeks, or even months.
[Nina sighs] Oh.
I thought I would check on Lila before I come back to the hospital.
There’s really no need to come, Nina.
I wanna be with you.
Aren’t you supposed to be meeting one of your artists at the gallery?
We’re installing a new show, but Elise said she would cover for me.
No. You… you should go.
You should go.
There’s nothing to do here but wait.
And my uncle’s pretty much commandeered the chair next to my father’s bed, so…
Are you sure you don’t need me there?
I’ll see you back at the house tonight.
I love you.
Love you too.
[man 1] Higher, maybe?
[Nina] Uh, yeah, yeah.
Of course, if you’d like.
[man 2] Yes, ma’am.
[man 1] Ja, it’s good.
You’re worried Dachau is too unpleasant a subject for collectors?
[Nina] For some, maybe.
But that’s what makes it so powerful.
My grandparents lived in Bavaria in 1933.
Not even two kilometers from the camp.
They could see the smoke, hear the cries, and they claimed to have no idea what was happening.
It’s incredible what we choose to see.
[tense music playing]
I’m actually gonna make a cup of coffee.
Would you like one?
Yes, please.
[phone line ringing]
[dispatcher] 911, what’s your emergency?
This is Agatha Wiggs.
The police are looking for me.
I’m… I’m ready to turn myself in.
[door opens]
[Nina] Oh my God.
I’m not here to hurt you.
I just wanna talk.
The police are on their way.
I called them.
You can check, but we don’t have much time before they get here.
Listen to me.
I did not kill Teddy Fenig. I swear.
I swear. I swear on the memory of my son.
[phone clatters]
Innocent people don’t run.
I knew no one would believe me.
But you expect me to.
Because I think… I think deep down, or maybe not even so deep, some part of you knows this was Nile.
He killed Teddy, just like he killed Madison, and who knows how many others.
Madison took her own life.
No.
No. That note she left, the one Nile gave the police, she wrote it two years before.
I had proof.
I… I gave it to an FBI agent, but before she could report it, somebody got to her.
Nile or his father or his uncle.
No.
They’re protecting him.
Just like they always have.
And maybe I ought to think that you are, too, but I don’t.
Because I’ve seen the way he looks at you.
The way he talks to you.
He doesn’t respect you enough to let you in.
I think…
I think you believe the lie, and I think he resents you for it.
[sobs] Look, I know what it’s like to double down on a story.
I spent the last four years telling myself Teddy Fenig murdered my son because, yeah, he may have been drinking, but I…
I was not blameless.
You know, I told myself the story I needed to hear so I could survive.
Just like you’re doing now.
But it won’t keep you safe.
[sirens wailing]
[breathing heavily]
Nina, please, there is some part of you that knows I’m right.
And you know how this ends.
[officer] Agatha Wiggs!
You’re under arrest for murder.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law.
If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided.
[melancholy music playing]
[sniffles]
[exhales]
[car door closes] [car alarm chirps]
[door opens]
[music fades]
[Nile] Hey.
Hi.
It’s okay. It’s over.
You’ve been through a lot.
Oh my God, you’re shaking.
Yeah.
The… police said she called them herself.
You didn’t tell me that.
So what did she want?
I just really need to get out of these clothes.
[uneasy music playing]
You gonna tell me what happened?
They arrested her.
[chuckles]
I, uh… I mean before that.
[sighs] Yeah, she just…
God, she showed up out of nowhere.
Um…
I went to my office to grab a coffee, and I turned around and she was just standing there, blocking the door.
Jesus.
She said she already called the police.
That she wanted to talk to me before they got there.
To say what?
That she didn’t do it.
That it was you.
So the same story she’s telling the police.
She said you killed Madison too.
[scoffs]
And she thought, what, that you would just believe her?
Nina?
[intriguing mysterious music playing]
You know, there’s something that never made sense.
The night that Maddie disappeared, we had a fight.
A bad one.
She said really horrible things.
She was sick. She, um…
She wasn’t herself.
I know.
I know. She was that other Madison.
The one that took over when she was spiraling.
But then her note was the opposite.
It was peaceful and loving.
She quoted Emily Dickinson.
I’m not sure I follow.
To say what she said to me, to be so cruel, and then end her life.
To let that be the last thing that she… that she ever…
I never understood.
Until now, maybe.
Did she really write it that night?
Aggie said she didn’t.
Aggie said?
She said that the note that I found was from before, from when Maddie took pills.
She said that she had found proof.
Proof? What kind of proof?
Is she right?
Did you?
Did I what?
Did you kill her?
Why would you ask me that now?
Because I never have.
Because I deserve to know.
I’m not doing this.
Don’t walk away!
You’re trying to pick a fight.
It’s a very simple question.
Just answer me.
You know the answer.
You have always known.
What does that mean?
It means, Nina, you’re not an idiot.
Or, I don’t know, maybe you are.
[breathes shakily]
You killed her.
[sighs]
[Nina sniffles] You fucking killed her.
Look at me!
Say it. Just at least have the balls to fucking say it to my face!
Of course I fucking killed her!
I did exactly what you wanted me to!
Why else would you tell me about her and Abbott?
What the fuck did you think would happen?
[sobs] I… I didn’t want that.
[mockingly] You didn’t want that?
You didn’t want?
[mockingly] Oh, you didn’t want?
You didn’t want? You didn’t want?
Of course you fucking did!
Because you fucking hated her!
She was a selfish, self-pitying bitch who abused you and then betrayed us both.
Jesus fucking Christ!
You sound just like Aggie.
Shooting her mouth off about Fenig.
How she wanted him to suffer like she did.
Like her words don’t matter.
Oh my God.
And then pretending like he didn’t get exactly what he fucking deserved.
You killed Fenig.
Oh, for…
Nina, I’m not the only one with this inside of me. I’m not.
Because we have eyes in the front and sharp teeth.
We are predators.
We fuck, and we hunt, and we kill, and we shit, and we like it.
Every single one of us.
So if you judge me, if you wanna stick your head in the sand and tell yourself, “I didn’t know,” that’s fine, but do not give me that look.
Do not give me the sanctimonious, hypocritical bullshit.
Like you didn’t get everything you wanted.
Everything.
[Nile] Oh my God.
[breathing heavily, sniffles]
[sniffles]
[sighs] I am so tired.
[sobs] I’m so tired.
Because all my life, all I’ve ever done is fight and fight and fight.
You’re my wife.
You’re the… the mother of my child.
I don’t… I don’t wanna hide anymore.
I don’t.
Not from you.
You don’t have to.
[both sniffle]
[man] Please, just give me your attention for a moment.
Thank you.
[indistinct chattering] Council Member Benitez will be taking questions after her announcement, but she has asked Mr. Jarvis to first provide you with some context.
Um, by now, I’m sure many of you have heard that my father recently suffered a catastrophic stroke.
Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes and for coming here at such short notice.
I’m here to reaffirm that my family is[woman] How much are you paying her?
Everybody, she’s a sellout!
Come on! This is corruption!
Come on, everyone! She’s a sellout!
She’s a sellout! This is corruption!
[man] Come on.
[shouting indistinctly]
This is corruption! Come on!
You see, um…
To me, that’s a perfect example of what happens when we… become so entrenched, so polarized, that we can’t meet in the middle.
Now, yeah, it is true, many of us in the private sector are part of the problem.
We also need to hold our elected officials accountable.
Especially those professional politicians who lack the courage of their convictions.
[intriguing music playing]
Olivia Benitez, on the other hand, is a leader who is not afraid to stand up and speak out.
Of course, her initial opposition to Jarvis Yards wasn’t always easy to hear, but she caught my attention and, ultimately, inspired me to do something concrete.
And so, today, I am announcing my gift of an undeveloped square block to the Manhattan Land Trust for the construction of up to 300 affordable housing units.
Now, Olivia will tell you more about the timing, uh, and the details, so thank you for listening, and thank you, Councilwoman Benitez, for… for your leadership.
[clapping]
[scattered booing]
[sighs]
[clapping subsides]
It’s true.
Nile Jarvis and I disagree on a lot.
Um, and we definitely started off on the wrong foot, but we managed to find some common ground…
I told you, you didn’t have to come.
I wanted to be here.
[Olivia] We found common ground…
So how much of that did you hear?
Every word.
And? How’d I do?
Vintage Nile.
[chuckles] I may have gone a little overboard on the mea culpas, but that’s the price you pay for a comeback tour. I’m back in the game.
Nina, we’re back in the game.
Don’t.
Check your phone, Nile.
For what?
I left you a message.
[Nina] You fucking killed her.
[tense music playing] Look at me!
Just at least have the balls to fucking say it to my face!
[Nile] Of course I fucking killed her!
I did exactly what you wanted me to!
Why else would you tell me about her…
[Olivia] Over the past few days, I…
[Nile] What the fuck did you think would happen?
You’re not ever going to touch me again.
Or my child.
[agent] Nile Jarvis, you’re under arrest.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
[crowd clamoring]
[reporter 1] Mr. Jarvis, would you like to comment?
[reporter 2] Mr. Jarvis, anything you wanna say?
[tense music continues]
[indistinct shouting]
[indistinct chattering]
[dramatic music playing]
[music fades]
[Aggie] At first, Nile shouted his innocence.
[pensive music playing]
He insisted the recording was manipulated and vowed to clear his name.
[pen scribbling]
But his story collapsed when his uncle Rick turned state’s evidence in exchange for a lighter sentence.
[Rick sniffling]
[monitor beeping]
[Aggie] Rick gave the authorities more than enough to put Nile away.
[Rick sobs]
But not before making sure his brother would never have to see his legacy destroyed.
[monitor beeping rapidly]
[Rick sobs]
[officer] Police! Show me your hands!
[Aggie] In the end, Nile pleaded no contest to all charges.
Received three consecutive life sentences with no chance of parole.
All he had left to kill was time.
[buzzer]
And just a single visitor to help him do that.
[door closes]
[music fades]
Hey, neighbor.
[Aggie sighs]
How you been?
Better than you, I’m guessing.
I don’t know.
I’ve been reading a lot, meditating.
It’s not so bad.
How’s Oyster Bay?
I sold the house, actually. Um…
Yeah. It was time.
Mm. Get a good price?
I guess it did need a lot of work.
[Aggie sighs]
[tuts] The book’s not quite finished.
But… I thought there might be more you wanted to say now that…
I… I figured I’d… I’d offer you the last word.
Well, shit, how generous.
Do you mind if I record?
Didn’t work out so well for me the first time.
Good of you to ask though.
Ethical.
Unlike Nina, you mean?
[sighs]
She’s no hero.
You know?
At the end of the day, she was after my money. Tale as old as time.
She’s a survivor.
She’s like one of those stray cats.
Well, I doubt it’s that simple.
She saw an opening, and she took it.
Or maybe she had a conscience.
You’re not that naive, Aggie.
Neither was she, as it turns out.
[intriguing music playing]
So what else is there to talk about at this point?
What do you wanna know that you don’t already?
Seems like you got me pretty well figured out.
[scoffs]
I wanna know what you see when you look in the mirror.
[chains rattle]
Let me ask you something.
[stirring music playing]
What was it like seeing Teddy?
Were you surprised?
I was terrified.
And?
[groans] And sick.
I still have nightmares.
Nothing else?
Oh, Aggie.
We did that.
Together.
Both of us.
[scoffs]
Wow, you really…
You really think we’re the same.
We’re not.
And yet here you are.
Can’t get enough of me, can you?
Why is that?
You don’t care what I see in the mirror.
You wanna know what it feels like, don’t you?
Will you tell me?
[chains rattle]
[Aggie] We talked for nearly three hours.
Until our visit was cut off by the warden.
Rules are rules.
And we had plans to talk again.
But that wasn’t meant to be.
As it turned out, Uncle Rick wasn’t content to let Nile live out his days in a prison jumpsuit.
[gasping]
No cage would ever be enough.
So he called in one last favor with a few old friends.
[grunts]
And what are we to make of his demise?
Is it karmic justice?
A happy ending?
Retribution is seductive like that, promising a clean line between good and evil.
But it’s an illusion.
I know because I felt its pull.
After losing my son, I…
I cradled vengeance like a second grief.
A sacred companion.
I told myself a story about right and wrong.
About punishing the guilty.
Nile smelled my bloodlust and midwifed that story into being.
[melancholy music playing]
He soaked up my rage and, like some dark angel, made manifest a wish too horrible to name, leaving another mother to grieve her son.
Another rage to grow unchecked.
Vengeance birthing vengeance.
A wound… that never heals.
I am complicit in this cycle.
My hands are far from clean.
[Shelley] Hey.
[Aggie] You made it.
Of course.
[Aggie] Hi.
Aggie, this is Meg.
Oh wow! It’s so good to finally meet you.
Likewise, yeah. Congratulations.
Thank you.
It’s terrific.
I mean, I know you know that, but–
But she’ll never get tired of hearing it.
Meg, this is my editor, Carol.
Hi. Nice to meet you.
Hi.
[Aggie] Every ending is a beginning.
We turn the page but can’t outrun our story.
And really, that’s what the Buddhists meant by karma.
[baby babbles]
For them, karma’s not about cosmic payback.
The universe enacting retribution from on high.
[baby babbles]
For them, karma’s more like seeds we plant.
Is that my baby boy?
[Aggie] Seeds we pass down.
[Nina] Yeah.
[gasps]
[Aggie] We reap what we sow in this life or the next.
Karma’s our inheritance and our birthright.
Yes, yes.
[Aggie] But however we choose to define it, Nile was right about one thing.
Karma’s a motherfucker.
[baby babbles]
[tense music playing]
[music fades]
It’s okay.
You’re okay.
[“Death of a Clown” by The Kinks playing]
♪ My makeup is dry ♪
♪ And it cracks ’round my chin ♪
♪ I’m drowning my sorrows ♪
♪ In whiskey and gin ♪
♪ The lion tamer’s whip ♪
♪ Doesn’t crack anymore ♪
♪ The lions, they won’t bite ♪
♪ And the tigers won’t roar ♪
♪ Lalalalalalalalalala ♪
♪ So let’s go and drink ♪
♪ To the death of a clown ♪
♪ Won’t someone help me ♪
♪ To break up this crown? ♪
♪ Let’s all drink ♪
♪ To the death of a clown ♪
♪ Lalalalalalalalalala ♪
♪ Let’s all drink ♪
♪ To the death of a clown ♪
♪ Lalala ♪
♪ Lalalalalalalalalala ♪
♪ Lalalalalalalalalala ♪
[music fades]
