True Detective
Season 4 Episode 2
Episode Title:
Original release date: January 21, 2024 (HBO and Max)
Plot summary: Detective Danvers (Jodie Foster) stumbles upon three mutilated, frozen corpses bearing a mysterious spiral symbol. Amidst corporate secrets, a potential cure for disease, and simmering personal conflicts, Danvers and Navarro (Kali Reis) chase leads pointing to a strange researcher – Clark, who might be alive despite presumed death. The discovery of Anne’s phone and a shrine to her in Clark’s RV intensifies the mystery, leaving behind a chilling possibility: Clark is the key to the Tsalal crew’s fate and the enigmatic spiral’s significance.
* * *
(ominous music playing)
(camera clicking)
♪
Liz Danvers: There’s a burnt cornea?
Peter Prior: Let me see.
(radio chatter)
Peter: Yeah, like ice burns. Why are they naked?
Liz: Yeah, doesn’t make any sense. That’s a ruptured eardrum. See that blood?
Peter: Yeah, but how? Pressure?
Liz: Yeah, it could be. Over here, too.
Peter: Yeah, that’s Lund.
Liz: Oof… look at that.
♪
Peter: Oh, God… This guy scratched his own eyes out.
Liz: Ya think?
Peter: Mm.
Liz: (sighs) This case. It’s gonna be a shitbowl. No answers. Buncha angry people. We don’t even have a forensic technician. We should send this thing back to Anchorage.
Peter: I thought that’s what we were doin’.
Liz: Yeah, we’re keepin’ it. Fuck Anchorage.
Peter: Really?
(chainsaw roaring)
Liz: (yelling) Hey! Hey, hey, hey! Three feet, three feet!
(chainsaw rumbles)
Speaker: Need to tie it down!
(person laughs)
(camera clicks)
Liz: Hey! No photos. Delete that right now!
Sorry.
Hank Prior: Come on, Liz, they’re just blowin’ off steam.
Liz: Alright, shut up, Hank. Alright, everyone. Everyone! Stop fuckin’ around! Alright, this is a crime scene! Why don’t you pretend like you know what you’re doin’. Fuck’s sake.
♪
(footsteps approach)
Rose: You should go home.
Evangeline: I can’t.
Rose: Maybe leave this one for someone else, Missy.
Evangeline: It’s tied to Annie’s case, Rose.
Rose: Oh. (sighs) Then you’re screwed.
(light, eerie music playing)
Rose: Come and see me later.
(singer vocalizing)
(voices whispering)
(music intensifies)
(eerie breathing)
♪
Liz: No, uh, don’t use that. Yeah, you’re gonna damage the tissue.
Peter: What do I use?
Liz: Yeah, just go back to the brush. Get a little air pocket in there, and then you can just slide it into the side.
Peter: Alright.
Liz: Just don’t touch the skin.
Trooper: Oh, shit.
Liz: That’s it. Wilson! What the fuck?
(loud groaning)
(pained howling)
Officer: What the fuck?!
(ominous music playing)
(“bury a friend” by Billie Eilish playing)
♪ What do you want from me? ♪
♪ Why don’t you run from me? ♪
♪ What are you wondering? ♪
♪ What do you know? ♪
♪ Why aren’t you scared of me? ♪
♪ Why do you care for me? ♪
♪ When we all fall asleep, where do we go? ♪
♪ Come here ♪
♪ Say it, spit it out ♪
♪ What is it exactly? ♪
♪ You’re payin’? ♪
♪ Is the amount cleanin’ you out ♪
♪ Am I satisfactory? ♪
♪ Today, I’m thinkin’ about ♪
♪ The things that are deadly ♪
♪ The way I’m drinkin’ you down ♪
♪ Like I wanna drown, like I wanna end me ♪
♪ Step on the glass ♪
♪ Staple your tongue, ahh ♪
♪ Bury a friend, try to wake up, aah ♪
♪ Cannibal class, killin’ the son, aah ♪
♪ Bury a friend, I wanna end me ♪
♪ I wanna end me ♪
♪ I wanna, I wanna, I wanna ♪
♪ Why aren’t you scared of me? ♪
♪ Why do you care for me? ♪
♪ When we all fall asleep, where do we go? ♪
Nurse (over phone): It’s not looking good, ma’am. We’ll have to amputate at least one leg.
Liz: How soon can we talk to him?
Nurse: Definitely not today. He’s in an induced coma.
Uh, uh, thank you, Nurse. Just hold on, hold on.
Peter (over radio): Chief, over.
Prior… did you fit ’em in?
Peter: No, uh, they’re kind of in a weird shape. Unless you want us to break ’em apart, over.
Nah, don’t break anything.
Nurse (over phone): Ma’am, I have to go. We’re starting surgery.
Peter (over radio): Chief?
Uh, uh, okay. Just, just hold on one second, Nurse.
Prior, go ‘head.
Peter: I know how we can move ’em.
Student: Umm. The heart?
Adam Bryce, teacher: No, that’s… that’s not an emoji, Haydn. Try again.
Liz: Merry Christmas, kids. Class dismissed.
Adam: Hey. Hey. No, no. Guys. Class is not dismissed. I assure you, class is not dismissed. Where are you goin’? I’m gonna call your mom. I’ll call your father.
Liz: Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas.
Student: Merry Christmas.
(indistinct chatter)
Adam: Carla? You too? Really? Really?
Carla: Sorry.
(chatter, laughter)
Adam: You gotta be kidding me. I told you to stay away, I work here. And I meant it, I work here.
Liz: Oh, come on, Bryce. I’m not here for that. I need you to explain to me what Tsalal Station does.
Adam: Tsalal? Why? And-And… why don’t just go out there and talk to Lund and the rest of ’em?
Liz: That’s not gonna be possible.
(wind blowing)
Evangeline Navarro: Do you see him often?
Rose: Travis? No. Death didn’t change him. (scoffs) The fucker only comes when he wants something.
(“Song To the Siren (Take 7)” by Tim Buckley playing)
Evangeline: Did he say goodbye?
Rose: Before he went into the ice? Yes. Ah, he knew he was dying. He didn’t want the… leukemia to take him. (laughs) He brought me croissants. Fucking croissants. He had made them himself.
♪
Rose: We ate them. He sang a little. We fucked a little. He didn’t say much. He was so tired. But then… we had talked so much all those years he came to me. Then he left.
♪ Here I am ♪
Evangeline: And then I found him.
Rose: Yep. One last gift from Travis Cohle-I got to meet you.
♪
Evangeline: Can I ask? You seeing the dead… when did that start?
Rose: With Travis. But I know people who are born with it. And then, of course, there’s Ennis. It happens around here all the time. I think the world… is getting old… and Ennis is where the fabric of all things is coming apart at the seams.
(lighter clicks)
Evangeline: And when you see them… hear them… how do you stay okay?
Rose: The thing about the dead is that some of ’em come and visit because they miss you. Some come because they need to tell you somethin’ that you need to hear. And some of ’em just wanna take you with them. You need to know the difference.
♪ Just waiting to hold you ♪
Adam Bryce: Oh, Jesus fuckin’ Christ. Wh-What do you, what do you, what do you think happened to them?
Liz: That’s what we’re tryna figure out. So, what were they up to at Tsalal?
Adam: I’m a… geologist, so not really my field, but, uh… they were mad men. V-Uh, very reclusive. Uh, they didn’t come into town and received no visitors. Other Arctic Stations rotate crews, but not Tsalal. They, uh-No one comes in, no one… goes out.
Liz: And what were they doing?
Adam: They spent decades trying to sequence the DNA of an extinct microorganism that potentially could stop cellular decay.
Liz: Why don’t you try it in English? Nerd.
Adam: Yeah? You want English? You should’ve–
Liz: Fucked?
Adam: Yeah, fucked the English teacher.
Liz: (chuckles) He wasn’t my type. Neither were you.
(Adam chuckles)
Liz: But, ya know, desperate times. So, what were you sayin’?
Adam: I’m sayin’ the work they were doing could end up curing cancer, autoimmune diseases, genetic disorders. Just a-an absolute fucking game changer.
Liz: (softly) Oh. So, what was takin’ ’em so long? I mean, they’ve been out there, like, forever.
Adam: I mean, it’s not makin’ hotdogs, Liz. Ice coring for that type of microorganism is extremely difficult. Requires delicate robotics, careful digging, ya know, drills break, deposits run dry. The– The fact is… the permafrost is too hard and it damages chromosomal material upon extraction, so it was never gonna work, like, like, never.
(radio beeps)
Lulu (over radio): Chief, um, I think you wanna come by the station, over.
(radio beeps)
Liz: Copy.
(wind blowing)
Evangeline: My sister sees people following her. She… she can’t sleep. She has these breakdowns. She says my dead mother is calling her. I brought her to Ennis last year to keep her close, but… I’m worried.
(light music playing)
Rose: Don’t confuse the spirit world with mental health issues. Sounds to me like she needs treatment. Have you talked to the people at The Lighthouse?
Evangeline: She doesn’t wanna go to The Lighthouse. Doesn’t even wanna talk about it. She went to a place in Nevada, like, four years ago, and they medicated the shit out of her. She fuckin’ hated it.
Rose: Sure you don’t want something to eat?
Evangeline: No. I got a shift coming.
♪
Rose: Hey. Did you see that thing on his forehead?
(tense, ominous music playing)
Evangeline: I’ve seen that before. Years ago.
(singer vocalizing)
Evangeline: What is it?
Rose: It’s old, Missy. Older than Ennis.
♪
Rose: It’s older than the ice, probably.
♪
Yeah, we got the cell phone records. There’s nothin’ there.
Captain Ted Connelly: Radios?
Yeah. Radio logs. Nothin’ there either.
Hey, Lulu.
Oh.
Liz: What’s this?
Ted: Liz, how ya holdin’ up? What a fuckin’ mess. But don’t worry, I’m movin’ it out to Anchorage. Ya don’t have to do a thing.
Oh, great. That is Chief Danvers’s specialty.
(quiet chuckling)
Ted: Ya know what? The families need to be notified. Hank, can you get Chief Danvers–
Liz: No.
Ted: No?
Liz: No, you’re not taking my case away from me, Captain Connelly, sir.
Ted: What are you doin’?
Liz: My job. Now those men died in Ennis jurisdiction. Unless you wanna call State–
Ted: Stop, stop, stop. You don’t want this case. I know you. What’s that thing you say? Shitbowl? This is a shitbowl.
Liz: Well, it’s my shitbowl.
Ted: You don’t have any resources, no forensic department, no fuckin’– (laughs) You’re doin’ it just to fuck with me, aren’t ya, Lizzie?
Liz: (chuckles) You sent me to Ennis.
Ted: Huh?
Liz: Actually, no. You, you, you appointed me to Ennis. You gave me this nice office in this lovely ex-dental building so that I could handle the unique issues that arise in an “isolated community” during the sunless season. I’m here to serve.
Ted: Cut it out. Those bodies are goin’ to Anchorage. Hank, get the guys to rig the chopper. We’re flyin’ the bodies.
Liz: Section nine, chapter four.
Hank Prior: Hello.
Liz: “Proper handling of frozen remains.”
Ted: What is that?
Liz: Oh… that is the “Alaska Forensic Crime Detection Laboratory Manual,” which you gave to me, along with a regulation bibliography for my promotion. Captain, sir. It says, “Frozen bodies are not to be manipulated beyond the absolutely imperative until properly thawed at a constant temperature of 38 degrees or the forensic results will be compromised and useless in court.”
Ted: Right. And how long do they take to thaw?
Liz: Forty-eight hours.
Ted: Where are you even gonna put ’em, Chief Danvers?
Liz: (sighs)
Leah: Liz!
(indistinct chatter)
Hey.
(whistle blows)
(announcer muffled over speakers)
Did you see me play?
Liz: No. Did ya see the manager?
(buzzer sounds)
Liz: Hank? Hank, did ya find him? announcer And skaters, it’s time for skating around the Christmas tree.
Players on the ice. All players on the ice. Skaters on. Skaters are now on the ice.
Liz: Even better.
Hank: Hello.
Janet: Hi, good to see you.
Hank: Janet, how are you?
Kate McKittrick: Hi, Henry.
Hank: Ma’am.
Kate: How’s Pete?
Hank: He’s good.
Kate: Mm-hmm… you need to get that son of yours to do some private skating coaching for my boys. Good money in it, ya know, for a young dad.
Hank: I’ll try and talk some sense into him.
Kate: I’m counting on ya.
(indistinct chatter)
Kate: Oh, God.
(Liz sighs)
Liz: (sniffles) Kate.
Kate: Liz. You wouldn’t come talk to me unless this was really serious, would you?
Liz: (chuckles) Nope.
Kate’s son: Hey, Mom!
(pounds on glass)
Kate: Go get dressed. Wait in the car, okay? … Is this about those poor scientists?
Liz: Yep.
Kate: So horrible.
Liz: Yeah… they’re frozen into a giant block of flesh as we speak.
Kate: Christ.
Liz: We need someplace to thaw the bodies that is big enough, it’s the right temp. And, um, since the mine owns the rink and the rink fits the bill…
Kate: Well, just so we’re clear, I’m doin’ this because I love this town.
Liz: Oh, yeah. Of course.
(“Little Saint Nick” by The Beach Boys playing)
♪ Ooh, ooh ♪
♪ Well, way up North where the air gets cold ♪
♪ There’s a tale about Christmas that you’ve all been told ♪
♪ And a real famous cat all dressed up in red ♪
♪ And he spends the whole year workin’ out in his sled ♪
♪ It’s the little Saint Nick, ooh, little Saint Nick ♪
♪ It’s the little Saint Nick ♪
(vehicle beeping)
(indistinct chatter)
Liz: Lift it up, as high as you can.
Hank: Oh, little higher here.
Liz: Higher. Up. You could damage the soft tissue.
(indistinct chatter)
Liz: Good.
Jesus. God.
(indistinct chatter)
Liz: That fuckin’ bitch. Trooper Navarro.
Peter: Hey, Chief. That’s teeth marks. Think they bit their own hands.
Leah: What the fuck?
Liz: Hey. Get outta here!
Leah: Uh, well, I just wanted to tell you that I’m going–
Liz: Now, go!
Leah: Fine. I’m gonna be at your place, alright?
Peter: Okay.
Liz: Alright… let’s have a little dig around the autopsy files in the area. Ya know, look for similar injuries. The burnt eyeballs… the busted ears, and the self-inflicted bite wounds.
Peter: Yeah.
Liz: That one’s, uh, Molina.
Peter: Yeah, uh, Jie is here. And Merens.
Liz: What about this one? This one’s, uh–
Peter: Kotov?
Liz: No, that’s Kotov. See, with the ring?
Peter: Yeah.
Liz: Yeah. He’s, he’s Russian. They wear it on the right hand. How many did you count?
Peter: Uh, five heads and, uh, nine feet. The rest of them are buried.
Liz: (sighs)
Peter: Why are they climbing on top of each other? It’s like there was something chasing them.
Liz: Well, hate to break it to you, kid… there’s no yetis. And hypothermia can cause a delirium. They panic and freeze, and, voila, corpsicle. Hey, we still got that, um, retired guy up in the North Bay? Forensic tech? Get him down here, w– Prior?
Peter: Yeah, I have an idea.
Liz: What? An i-ide–
Evangeline: Okay. That mine bitch hates you even more than she hates me.
Liz: I might’ve dated her husband.
Evangeline: Before or after the divorce?
Liz: What do you want?
Evangeline: This tattoo was on Annie’s body.
Liz: So?
Evangeline: It was on the forehead of one of your guys.
Liz: Ah, maybe. So what?
Evangeline: “So what?” It’s the same case. We can work together and figure out Annie.
Liz: (laughs) No… I’m not workin’ with you again ever.
Evangeline: You think I wanna work with you?
Liz: I do, actually. Yeah.
Evangeline: Take a look in the mirror, Liz. No one can stand you.
Liz: (chuckles)
Evangeline: Except for that poor kid, Prior. But you’ll be breakin’ his heart real soon.
Liz: Get outta my scene. Go on… Fuck off!
Evangeline: You know where to find me.
Liz: Prior… take a look at this. Go show it-Hey, hey! What are you, what are you–
(phone beeps)
Liz: Ohh. Yeah.
(“It Came to Me” by The Barr Brothers playing)
(laughter)
Evangeline: Hey, babygirl.
Oh, hey. Want some lunch?
Evangeline: Nah. “Bachelor” later?
Evangeline.
Evangeline: Qavvik.
♪
Evangeline: Hey, Ryan. You got a sec?
Sure.
(dogs panting, whining)
Evangeline: So, no?
No. I don’t think I ever saw him.
Evangeline: Are you sure?
Yeah. I don’t know. If she was seein’ him, she never introduced him.
(door slams)
Hey, can I talk to you?
Ryan Kowtok: Chuck. Come on.
No. She’s bringin’ up all that shit.
Evangeline: You understand I’m tryna find who killed his sister, right? You know this man?
No. Never seen him.
(loud clatter, shattering)
(indistinct shouting)
Qavvik: Hey!
Hey, no! Fuck you! You think my kids don’t drink the same water?!
Yeah?! You mining people are poisoning your own kids!
You take it outside!
And we’re sick and tired of you pretending you don’t see it!
We fuckin’ feed your kids!
Come on.
Fuckin’ moron!
Chuck, go. Go!
We pay for their school!
Get out, man.
Fuck!
Wh-Hey!
Fuck you all! Fuckers!
Fucker didn’t even pay his tab.
(“You Are The First, the Last, my Everything” by Barry White playing on phone)
(Tsalal crew singing along)
Liz: Did you get the lab report back?
Peter: Yep.
Liz: The DNA on the clothes?
Peter: Yeah, that’s gonna be a while.
Liz: What about the prints?
Peter: Here ya go. It was on one of the shoes, and, uh, we didn’t come up with any matches.
Liz: (sighs) Alright. Alright, so, we know that (grunts) a sudden drop in pressure can rupture eardrums… damage soft tissue. We know that, uh, hypothermia can cause delirium and irrational behavior, and that could explain the self-inflicted wounds.
(unsettling music playing)
Liz: But drop everything, run out there in the first place… why?
Peter: Gas leak?
Liz: No. There’s no gas at the station. It’s all electric.
Peter: Then what?
I don’t know, kid. Start askin’ questions.
Peter: Okay. Uh, polar bear. The doors don’t lock, right? To avoid accidents.
Liz: Okay.
Peter: It comes in, the men panic, they run out.
Liz: And they undress. Why?
Peter: Paradoxical undressing. People with severe hypothermia, they feel hot, they undress.
Liz: You’ve been studyin’. Alright. Keep askin’. (grunts)
Peter: ‘Kay, uh, who drew the sign on Lund’s forehead?
Liz: Wrong question.
Peter: ‘Kay. When was it drawn?
Liz: Was it before they ran out or was it after?
Peter: Well, if it’s before, it could be a prank or a game.
Liz: If it was after?
Peter: Then someone was out there on the ice with ’em. No one stops to draw on their own forehead while they’re freezing to death.
Liz: That’s right. Keep askin’.
Peter: Okay. What about the clothes? I mean… they don’t even match the bodies. There’s only five pairs of pants. Th-Three shoes are missing.
Liz: Okay.
Peter: Maybe they weren’t fully dressed when they ran out.
Liz: What’s the question?
Peter: Why weren’t they fully dressed?
Liz: No. Ask again.
♪
Peter: How scared do you have to be to run out on the ice without any shoes?
Liz: And?
Peter: And why are the clothes folded like that?
Liz: So?
Peter: So maybe the killer folded them.
Liz: Ah… a killer. Why would he fold them?
Peter: I don’t know. Was he taunting them? Did he… did he make ’em fold ’em? I-It doesn’t make any sense.
Liz: Oh-oh, it does. We’re just not seein’ it. Not asking the right questions. (sighs) I told you this was a shit case.
Peter: Yeah, ya did. Then you went ahead and made it your shit case. I won’t even ask why.
Liz: Well–
Lulu (over radio): Ma’am, the station supply guy and the cleaning ladies are ready for questioning, over.
Liz: Thanks, Lulu. … You get the supply guy, I’ll get the cleaners.
(video playing on phone)
Peter: Chief.
(Facundo Molina speaking Spanish in video)
Liz: Now that’s, that’s the 17th. That’s the day they died.
Ta-da!
Facundo (in video): Clark, are you okay?
(rattling)
♪
(panting) Sh-She’s awake.
(static zaps)
(dog whining)
(Qavvik shushing)
Qavvik: That’s a good girl. You stubborn lady, ain’t ya? Pickin’ fights with those big boys, ya dummy.
Evangeline: Hm, homebrew in here?
Qavvik: (sighs) No.
(dog whining)
Qavvik: And what homebrew? Qavvik’s is a respectable food service establishment with an FF1 license.
Evangeline: And that’s why you have drunken fights in it?
Qavvik: Drunken fight, singular, was because of the bad water in the Villages. Nothin’ to do with illegal spirits.
Evangeline: The water thing’s gettin’ bad, huh?
Qavvik: Yeah. The whole thing went to shit last week. It turned black in some homes. Poor fuckers are too close to the mine. Ya know there’s talk of protesting?
Evangeline: Again?
Qavvik: Mm-hmm. (shushing)
Evangeline: How’s my sister doin’?
Qavvik: She’s doin’ alright. I mean, it’s only one in town that doesn’t love my pancakes.
(dog growling)
Qavvik: Hey, hey, hey, hey! Cut it out.
Evangeline: (scoffs) One of these days, those dogs are gonna eat you.
Qavvik: Nah… Me and this girl, we go way back. Huh, gorgeous? (laughs) She thinks she’s real tough, ya know? You come close, she snaps at ya, but… deep down, she’s a softie. Yes, she is. She just needs a little love and affection… and then she’s gonna melt.
(both chuckle)
Evangeline: For fuck sakes, Qavvik. Cut it out.
Qavvik: Will I see you tonight?
Evangeline: No. Busy.
Qavvik: Hey, I still need my toothbrush!
(door slams)
Liz: So, you do the cleaning at Tsalal Station, is that right?
Yep. Two shifts a month.
Liz: Did you ever see Annie Kowtok there?
Annie K? No. Never saw her at the station, but then… why would she? Ya know she was a… midwife, right?
Liz: What about this?
What is that? A cult sign? No, witchcraft. Hey, Blair. Ya ever see anything like that devil sign?
No?
Liz: So, when you were cleanin’ at the station, you never saw this?
No.
Supply guy: They were weirdos, alright? I mean, you have to be a little off if you wanna spend your life out there locked up in the ice. You know what I mean?
Very quiet boys, played video games. But they were all very obsessed with their work. Dr. Lund once screamed at me for moving his notebooks.
Liz: Well, were they acting strange at all the last time you saw them? They say anything weird?
Say? They never spoke to us. We’re just the cleanin’ ladies.
Supply guy: Clark was weird. He was always weird, but the last couple times I went out there, he-he was talkin’ to himself, he was staring into nothing. Ya know? I just-I-I don’t think the guy was right. And once, I saw him hangin’ out, au naturel, skinny ass just hangin’ out.
He would be locked in his room. We couldn’t go clean in there. He wouldn’t come out. I heard him crying.
Liz: What did the other men do when he was acting… off?
They just ignored him. It was sad.
Supplu guy: I thought I saw somebody when I got to the station yesterday, but, uh, it couldn’t be, right?
Peter: Wait, you saw somebody at the station?
Supplu guy: No, I didn’t see no one. Nope.
Peter: Bill, come on. This is serious. If you saw someone, you gotta tell me.
Supplu guy: This is Ennis, man. Y-Yeah. You see people sometimes. Know what I mean? Jesus, Pete. You grew up here. You know this. You see people who are gone sometimes. It’s a long fuckin’ night. Even the dead get bored.
Peter: Hey, um, have you seen this before?
Supplu guy: Yeah. Clark had that thing.
Peter: Had it?
Supplu guy: He had it tattooed on his chest.
Trooper (over radio): Uh, the guy you’re looking for is Chuck Mosley. Block 16C, room 43, Silver Sky Mining Barracks. I texted you the location, over.
Evangeline: Thanks, Lee. Owe you one, over.
(“Wannabe” by Spice Girls playing in car)
(laughs)
Evangeline: Oh, shit.
♪ Get your act together, we could be just fine ♪
Evangeline: Hey, Jules! You hear that, sis? It’s our song, babygirl!
(sings along) ♪ I wanna, I wanna, I wanna really, really ♪
♪ Really wanna zigazig ♪
(tires screeching)
Evangeline: Fuck.
♪ If you wanna be my lover ♪
♪ You gotta get with my friends ♪
♪ Make it last forever, friendship never ends ♪
(wailing)
(truck honking)
(tires screeching)
♪
♪ Now you know how I feel ♪
Evangeline: Fuck.
♪ Say you can handle my love, are you for real? ♪
(unsettling music playing)
(indistinct chatter)
(tense music playing)
I told you, I don’t know him.
Evangeline: You were lying. Don’t make me arrest you for stiffin’ the bill at Qavvik’s.
He bought my cousin’s trailer. A Golden Eagle from the fuckin’ ’90s. But my cousin made this idiot shell out ten grand. Guy paid in cash, right there. Boom.
Evangeline: And when was this?
I don’t know. Seven years ago?
Evangeline: Can’t you ask your cousin?
Dead. Bone cancer. This fuckin’ town.
Evangeline: Write the description of the trailer and your cousin’s name. … Why didn’t you tell me when I asked?
‘Cause I don’t like you, ma’am.
Evangeline: Nah. It’s because you didn’t like Annie, isn’t it? You’re okay with what happened to her.
(door slams)
(dogs barking)
(“I Love You, Love You” by Johnny Cash playing)
♪ I’ve done everything I know to do ♪
♪ To catch your eye and get a rise from you ♪
♪ I’ve said everything I know to say ♪
♪ ‘Til I’m afraid that I’ll scare you away ♪
Hank: Aw.
♪ I’ve tried everything I know to try ♪
Hank: Don’t worry, babe. I’ve still got a little cash left. I’ll send ya some more for your mother’s medication. Can’t wait to see you.
♪ I’ll be anything I need to be ♪
♪ To make you want to bring your love to me ♪
(chuckles)
Hank: Alright.
♪ I love you, love you, I love you ♪
♪ Just in case you care, you know I do ♪
♪ I love you, love you, I love you ♪
♪ Just in case you care, you know I do ♪
Peter: Wallis said he had the spiral tattooed on his chest.
Liz: Why, why was Wallis lookin’ at his chest?
Peter: Clark was walking around naked, talking to himself. Yeah, he was not okay. I don’t get why the other guys were puttin’ up with him.
Liz: Well, that’s exactly the question. Alright, well, did you get ahold of the family?
Peter: Yeah. I spoke to his mom in Dublin. She hasn’t seen him for 10 years. Says he’s dead to her.
Liz: Well, he is dead. Jesus. Okay. What’d we learn about the money? So, who’s paying Tsalal’s bills?
Peter: Okay, so, the NGO that funds the station, right…
Liz: Yeah.
Peter: …if you follow the taxes, you can trace it back to a shell company called NC Global Strategies, which, in turn, belongs to Tuttle United.
Liz: Tuttle United. What do they do?
Peter: Uh, everything. I mean, glass, tech, video games, shipments, palm oil, cruise lines.
Liz: Okay. Thanks, Petey, ’cause… that, that was really not helpful.
Peter: Ah… I’m here to serve.
Liz: Alright… (grunts) okay.
Peter: Chief, can I ask you a question?
Liz: Yeah.
Peter: What did Navarro do to you?
Liz: You worried you’re gonna fuck up too? Well, don’t fuck up. Go watch the corpsicle. I’m gonna go pick up Leah at your place, then I’m goin’ back to work.
Peter: Nah, I, I gotta go home. I can’t. I-I promised I’d put Darwin to bed. Kayla will kill me. I–
Liz: You’re not goin’ home tonight. What’d I just say?
Peter: Don’t fuck up.
(engine starts)
Kayla: What do you mean “no”? You said you were giving Darwin a bath tonight. No, he wants you doing it, not me.
Peter (over phone): Come on, help me out here.
Kayla: I don’t know what you want me to tell you.
Peter: I promise I’ll do it next time.
Kayla: Yeah, that’s what you said last time. I don’t know what you want me to tell you. He’s waiting for you.
Liz: Hey. Hi, Darwin.
Kayla: Hey, your boss is here.
Liz: Makin’ Legos?
Kayla: Yeah.
Peter: I’m sorry, alright?
Kayla: Whatever.
Liz: Whatcha makin’?
Darwin: A house.
Liz: A house for the fish?
Darwin: Mm-hmm.
Kayla: So, you takin’ my man again tonight?
Liz: (chuckles) Uh, you don’t know this, Kayla, but… I’m doin’ you a big favor. Pretty soon, you’re gonna get sick of havin’ the husband around.
Kayla: Thanks, but you can save your favors for your family. She’s in the kitchen with my grandma.
(indistinct chatter, laughter)
Kayla: (sighs) Come on, baby. Bath time. Let’s go.
Liz: Uh, Leah, we gotta go. I gotta get–
Grandma: Hi, Liz. Leah wanted to see what kakiniit’d look like on her beautiful face.
Liz: Hey! Wash it off.
Leah: No.
Grandma: It’s just marker. It’ll come right off.
Liz: Go get in the car. Go!
Grandma: (speaking Inupiaq)
Liz: You don’t get to doodle on my kid’s face.
Kayla: She’s 17, and she wants to understand her heritage.
Grandma: (speaking Inupiaq)
Liz: What, so she can be a night nurse like you?
Grandma: (speaking Inupiaq)
Liz: Yeah. Don’t, don’t, don’t give me that, Laundromat Grandma.
Kayla: You need to leave my house.
Liz: (sighs)
Kayla: Now!
Liz: (sighs)
Grandma: (speaking Inupiaq)
(“Deck the Halls” playing in store)
(indistinct announcement on PA system)
Evangeline: Really?
I mean, since you’re paying, I’m getting my nutrients.
Evangeline: Nutrients. Twenty for some damn cookies?
Arctic prices, babe. Remind me again why we’re here?
Evangeline: Good job benefits.
Mm, good job benefits.
Evangeline: Hey, so, I’ve been thinkin’. Um… that place, The Lighthouse? Maybe we should go by and talk to someone–
I’m not goin’ back into a hospital. Those pills… You don’t get it.
Evangeline: Hey, hey, hey, listen, listen. Hey, look at me. It’s not a hospital. It’s a community center for addictions and other issues. Okay? I think we should go check it out. I mean, there’s other meds, and–
No. Listen, I’m not Mom. Please, Angie.
Evangeline: Okay, okay.
You gotta let me live like a normal person.
Evangeline: Okay. Of course, babygirl.
(“Pass Them By” by Agnes Obel playing)
♪
(phone dings)
♪ We come together ♪
♪ Here we go ♪
♪ Around the fire, here we go ♪
♪ Flaming higher, here we go ♪
♪ To my surprise a fever grows ♪
Liz: Leah, help me put up this stupid fucking Christmas tree!
♪ Lamps will glimmer on the gloom ♪
Leah: Uh, you do it! I’m in bed!
♪ Prey on the light in the room ♪
♪ As we fill it to the brim ♪
♪ We say the words, we take them in ♪
♪ Oh, how the hills were laughing ♪
♪ Oh, how the creeks they cried ♪
♪ Oh, how the grass would cheer on ♪
Liz: (sighs)
♪ As we passed them by ♪
♪
Leah: This place is crazy.
Hey.
Leah: Hey.
(gasps) You did it.
Leah: Um, they’re just temporary. Do you like it?
I love it.
♪
Liz: Ugh. Fuck. (sighs)
(light music playing)
(“Twist and Shout” by The Beatles playing)
Liz: I see you!
I’m the one eye.
♪ Twist and shout ♪
♪ Twist and shout ♪
♪ Come on, come on, come on ♪
Liz: I see you. I see you.
(chuckles)
(music fades out)
Liz: (deep breath)
(light, tense music playing)
(eerie breathing)
♪
(phone ringing, buzzing)
Peter: Fuck.
Peter: Hey, Chief.
Liz (over phone): Pete, did you get the scientists’ credit history?
Peter: Uh, yeah.
Liz: Alright. Send me Clark’s, as far back as you can go.
Peter: Okay. Uh, you want me to include the–
(hangs up, phone beeps)
Hank: You don’t go into my house to steal. You know better. Look at me. Look at me. Even your mother didn’t steal from us when she left. Now listen… Danvers doesn’t own you. You have a family and she’s not it. Blood is blood, Peter. Remember that.
(light music playing)
♪
(knocks on door)
Ted: So, you fucked me with the bodies, then you come to actually fuck me.
Liz: Eh, you want to or not? Yeah. I know you didn’t stay in town for the lovely weather.
(both moaning)
(heavy breathing)
Liz: No…
Ted: I can’t!
Liz: No, no! Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare! No. Wait, wait, wait! Wait! (moaning)
(both moaning)
(heavy breathing)
Liz: You’re sweatin’ on me.
(heavy breathing)
(heavy breathing)
Ted: Do you wanna say it first or should I?
Liz: That’s the last time we do this.
(both chuckle)
Ted: That’s 15 years of last times.
Nineteen.
Ted: What? No. Nineteen years ago, I just got married, and–
Liz: Nineteen years.
(deep breath)
Ted: You were with Jake.
Yeah, we were on a break. One of ’em.
Ted: Fuck.
Liz: (sighs) This is the last time we do this.
Ted: Yeah. What are you doing with the Tsalal thing, Liz? Really.
Liz: (chuckles)
Ted: I know ya don’t want the case. I know you.
Liz: Oh, you do? What am I thinking right now?
Ted: You’re thinking, “Know why I want the case?”
Liz: Why?
Ted: ” ‘Cause fuck you, that’s why.”
Liz: Huh… I guess you do know me. (sighs) You sent me to Ennis so that I–
Ted: No, I-I gave you a promotion.
Liz: Whatever reason. (stammers) I-I mean, mostly because you’re an insecure asshole, and because you’re scared of me, but whatever. I’m just doin’ my job.
Ted: You’re not doin’ your job. You’re messin’ with me.
Liz: (sighs) Why are you so hell-bent on keepin’ a lid on it?
Ted: Well, I just don’t want it to turn into a fuckin’ disaster for no reason. Weird circumstances. Dead bodies. Come on, let’s run it out of Anchorage.
Liz: No. I’m gonna keep control of it. I got it controlled.
Ted: Yeah, well, I don’t think you can.
Liz: Well, I can.
Ted: You can’t.
Liz: Says who?
Ted: Me. And, I swear, if you don’t–
Liz: What? Are you fuckin’ threatening me?
(door slams)
(phone dings)
Liz: Fucker. (sighs)
Liz: Yeah, I’m lookin’ at it right here. It’s a $600 charge. Uh, Fairbanks Ink Tattoo, April 22nd, 2017.
Tattoo artist (over phone): Uh, Clark you said, yeah?
Liz: Yeah. Raymond Clark. His tattoo was on his chest. It’s a spiral. I can send it to you right now if you want.
Tattoo artist: No need. I have it right here. Yeah, I remember him. Weird guy. English, right?
Liz: No, he was Irish.
Tattoo artist: He cried a little when I finished. Not because it hurt, ya know? Just sentimental, maybe.
Liz: Was he alone?
Tattoo artist: He was alone, yeah.
Liz: Um, did he tell you what it meant? The, the tattoo?
Tattoo artist: Oof, um, that I don’t remember. Wait. I can send you a photo of the tattoo. I keep them for my records.
(computer chimes)
Tattoo artist: And here’s one showing the model for the work.
(computer chimes)
Tattoo artist: Lady? Hello?
(unsettling music playing)
(singers vocalizing)
(wind blowing)
Evangeline: Guess I should start locking.
Liz: He took this photo to a studio in Fairbanks. He got the same tattoo as her. That’s four days after she died. Here’s the DNA results. That was Annie’s tongue at Tsalal. Tissue has some… unusual cellular damage… possibly from freezing. Did you change where you put the cans? Where do the cans go? … Well, it looks like your case is my case.
Evangeline: What are you doin’ here?
Liz: Well, you know Annie better than I can get from the files.
Evangeline: (scoffs) And now it matters because it’s a buncha white men?
Liz: You want in or do you just wanna go fuck yourself?
Evangeline: (sighs) Listen… the Wheeler thing was–
Liz: Shut up.
Evangeline: No, we did exactly what we needed to do.
Liz: No, we’re not doin’ that. Alright? We’re just doin’ this one thing.
Evangeline: (sighs)
Liz: We’re gonna crack it, close your case, I close my case, and then, that’s it for the two of us.
Evangeline: It is.
(“Get Down Tonight” by KC and the Sunshine Band playing)
Evangeline: (sighs)
(door opens, slams)
♪
♪ Baby, let’s get together ♪
♪ Honey, honey, me and you ♪
♪ And do the things, ah, do the things ♪
♪ That we like to do ♪
(song plays on phone)
♪ Oh, do a little dance, make a little love ♪
♪ Get down tonight, get down tonight ♪
Leah: Boo! (laughing)
Peter: Fuck!
Leah: Hi. (laughs)
Peter: (exhales) Jesus Christ, Leah. Fuck. Ah, dude, you got the–
Leah: Oh, yeah. They’re temporary.
Peter: Yeah? Temporary?
Leah: Yeah.
Peter: Oh, they look cool.
Leah: So… Liz make you stay and watch them in case they wake up?
Peter: Don’t… don’t. You, you don’t want that shit in your head. Seriously, Leah.
Leah: What happened to you? Fuck, Prior! (sighs) He’s, he’s an animal.
Peter: Yeah, well, he was raised by an animal to be an animal, so–
Leah: Doesn’t matter. I mean, you come from the same shit and you manage to be… nice.
(resumes video on phone)
Leah: Fucking dork, but nice.
Peter: A dork?
Leah: Yeah, you’re a dork.
Peter: Really? A dork?
Leah: Yeah.
Peter: Ah, you’re a dork. (chuckling)
♪
Leah: (chuckles) You know, my dad and Liz used to dance to this all the time.
Peter: What?
Leah: Yeah.
Peter: Nah.
Leah: Mm-hmm.
Peter: No way. (laughs)
Leah: Yeah. (laughs) My dad was, like, a stoner, a wannabe artist, and he was so chill, and they used to love to dance together. I’m pretty sure that Liz smoked weed too.
Peter: Nah.
Leah: Mm-hmm.
Peter: Nah, come on. (laughs) Fuck.
Leah: I’m so serious. (laughs)
Peter: Can you imagine?
Leah: No. I don’t wanna.
(song ends)
Peter: Uh… ya know, Hank, uh, was a musician?
Leah: What?
Peter: Uh-huh. Yeah, he played the guitar.
Leah: No.
Peter: In a band.
Leah: No.
Peter: Yeah.
(both laughing)
Leah: Well, was he any good?
Peter: Uh, I don’t know, um… I’ve actually never heard him play. Yeah, not once, um… My mom said he wasn’t good enough to have a career, but… she kinda felt he wasn’t–
Leah: Good enough, period.
Peter: Yeah.
Leah: Yeah.
Peter: Yeah. That sticks with you, doesn’t it? Not being good enough.
(melancholy music playing)
(water dripping)
(ice cracks)
(footsteps approach)
Qavvik: (sighs) (yells) Fuck, Gee, you said you weren’t coming!
Evangeline: Hey, Qavvik.
Qavvik: You could’ve given me a heart attack.
Evangeline: Mm, changed my mind. Wanna fuck? … Oh, you jerked off. Watching porn?
Qavvik: I’m-No, I was-I’m just–
Evangeline: What kind of porn were you watching?
Qavvik: (sighs) C-Can we just, like, watch a movie and…?
Evangeline: Porn movie?
Qavvik: Get out. I’m getting dressed.
Evangeline: (chuckles, sighs)
(dog whining)
Evangeline: And now she wants me on the case, but I don’t have anything.
Qavvik: That can’t be true. If you didn’t have anything, she wouldn’t want you, so you have it all.
Evangeline: Yeah. I mean, I know everything about Annie, every single detail.
Qavvik: Mm-hmm.
Evangeline: But somehow, I had no idea about the Clark thing. I mean… they kept it a secret.
Qavvik: Well, why?
Evangeline: That’s not the right question.
Qavvik: What?
Evangeline: That’s what Danvers would say.
(Qavvik scoffs)
Evangeline: The right question is– The right question is how. That’s why he got the trailer. To keep it a secret. Fuck… Yes! Where do you keep a trailer to fuck in secret?
Both: The Nook.
(“Camera’s Rolling” by Agnes Obel playing)
(indistinct chatter)
♪ The script is burning ♪
♪ Heavy fuel ♪
♪
Liz: Talk to me, Raymond Clark.
♪ No time to lose ♪
♪ What will you do? ♪
♪
(phone buzzing)
♪
Liz: Danvers.
Evangeline (over phone): You have to see this.
♪
Liz: Jesus.
(music fades)
(wind blowing)
Liz: Are those bones?
Evangeline: Yeah, animal. Seal, caribou. I think.
(unsettling music playing)
Liz: How’d you find this place?
Evangeline: My Spirit Animal showed me in a dream. Remember?
♪
Liz: Hey.
Evangeline: Yeah, that’s her phone. I checked. It was not with her body.
♪
(tense sting)
♪
Liz: Holy fuck.
(phone buzzing)
Liz: Danvers.
Peter (over phone): Chief. We have a problem.
♪
(eerie yelling)
♪
(wind blowing)
Peter: Hey.
(tense music playing)
Peter: It’s only six of ’em. See?
Liz: Jie… Merens, Molina, Kotov… um, Mehta.
♪
Liz: (sighs) Emerson.
Peter: He’s not here. Clark’s not here.
Liz: Maybe he got separated.
Peter: No, he didn’t. He’s alive. He’s out there.
(“Seven Devils” by Florence + the Machine playing)
♪ Thousand armies couldn’t keep me out ♪
♪ I don’t want your money ♪
♪ I don’t want your crown ♪
♪ See, I’ve come to burn your kingdom down ♪
♪ Holy water cannot help you now ♪
♪ See, I’ve come to burn your kingdom down ♪
♪ And no rivers and no lakes can put the fire out ♪
♪ I’m gonna raise the stakes ♪
♪ I’m gonna smoke you out ♪
