Bryan Cranston stars as a New Orleans judge who is forced to confront his own deepest convictions when his son is involved in a hit and run that embroils an organized crime family. As a storm of vengeance, lies and deceit threatens to engulf the entire city, Michael Desiato faces a series of increasingly impossible choices and discovers just how far an honest man will go to save his son’s life.
Air date: December 6, 2020
[breathing heavily]
[hypnotic music]
You should go.
Really?
Okay.
[both chuckle]
[whispers] Really?
[breathing heavily]
[door opens]
[laughing]
Hi, bud.
[giggles]
See you at school.
Wait…
[dramatic music]
[sighs]
Django.
[starts engine]
Morning.
Take it off.
Where was Nana born?
Mom.
It’s okay. It’s a T-shirt.
It’s my T-shirt.
[Rocco] Mom.
[Gina] Let him wear it.
Sometimes I think you prefer him to me.
Oh, my God, how could you not say, like, “I love you all?”
[Rocco] Mom.
[Gina] Scotland.
Yeah, she said she was gonna take me back to “Edin-burrow.”
That is not how you pronounce that word– it is “brah.”
“Edin-burah”?
No, that’s wrong.
You know that’s wrong.
[laughs]
It’s “brah.”
“Edin-burah.”
No. “Brah.”
“Edin-boro.”
No.
“En-brah.”
“Brah.”
Dad?
Who put that there?
On my lawn!
Wha…?
[laughs]
Oh, my God. It’s…
That’s a café racer custom, is what it is.
It’s got to be, like, what, like, 1970-something?
Uh, 1974.
Now, they could’ve been cheap and gone with red, but the original green’s a lot classier.
Oh, my God, Dad.
You see– whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, no, no, no, no, no, no.
450s are a long way up from the 125s we toured around Corfu on.
Jimmy, this gift is for Rocco. It’s not for you.
[chuckles] It’s mine?
Your mother wanted me to wait for your actual birthday, but, uh…
Oh, my God, Mom.
[laughing]
[happy growling]
Do you know how to ride this thing?
Yes.
[chuckles] “Yes.”
Ha-ha! Are you sure?
Yes, Dad.
Huh? Yeah?
Want me to show you?
Ha!
[low, pulsing music]
[exhaling sharply]
[siren wailing in distance]
You police?
Well, what you want?
Hello?
Hey, man, who are you?
Who are you?!
[quiet, percussive music]
[dog barking in distance]
[footsteps approaching]
[low, suspenseful music]
[starts engine]
[panting]
[tires screech]
[chicken clucks]
[tires screeching]
[panting]
[electronic dinging]
[wheezing]
[wheezing]
[shifts gear]
[tires squeal]
[low wheezing]
[suspenseful music]
[low wheezing]
[wheezing grows louder]
[dog panting]
[tires squealing]
[crow caws in distance]
[wheezing in distance]
[wheezing continues]
[ragged breathing]
[soft, haunting music]
[soft wheezing]
[pulsing, dramatic music]
[gurgling]
[panting softly]
[wheezing, gurgling]
[phone vibrating]
[line ringing]
[dispatcher] 911. What’s your emergency?
[weakly] Help.
Hello? Are you there? I can barely hear you. Can you hear me? Hello? Listen, I’m going to stay on the line. Stay calm. We’re gonna get you some help. We just need to work out where you are. Please, if you can… Hello? Can you hear me? We’re having trouble working out where you are. If you’re in the city, hit one of the keys on your phone, any key. Hello?
[wheezing]
Don’t worry, I’m going to stay right here on the line with you…
[dispatcher continues indistinctly]
[wheezing]
[inhaler puffing]
[inhaling sharply]
[exhales]
[inhaler puffs]
[inhales]
[dispatcher] Hello?
We want to get someone out there.
[dispatcher speaking indistinctly]
Is there anyone that can help you? Anybody?
There must be someone that you can pass the phone to.
Don’t worry, I’m gonna stay right here on the line with you, but please try to communicate with me so we can get you some help.
Hello? Are you there? I can barely hear you.
[shuddering]
[phone beeps]
[engine starts]
[thud]
[metal scraping]
[tires screeching]
[panting]
[tires screeching]
[soft, contemplative music]
[grunts]
[panting]
[panting]
No, no, no, no, no–
F*ck… [crying]
[knocking on window]
S-So sorry. Sorry.
[phone ringing]
[Michael] Hi. This is Michael Desiato.
Please leave a message.
[beeps]
Dad…
[dramatic music]
[Alan] Female Jones.
[guard] Custody.
It’s Female, like I told you yesterday.
Where have you been, Counselor?
VICTOR: I’m sorry, Your Honor.
Sure, but you were also late yesterday morning, so what’s the answer to my question?
VICTOR: I have a problem.
Getting out of bed in the morning?
I need to take a pee every 15 minutes.
Prostate cancer can slow a man down.
I’m sorry.
No, I’m sorry.
We can take convenience breaks. That’d be all right?
Counselor? Call your witness.
[tires screeching]
[panting]
[indistinct radio chatter]
[phone vibrating]
[vibrating continues]
[Gearty] So I go to the house up the steps to the door.
What do you see?
Down the end of the hallway, in the bathroom, I saw the accused lift her dress, move her panties to one side and insert a drug wrap into her… self.
Got to say, it was, uh, kind of an expert move, Your Honor, like she’d done it before.
VICTOR: Objection!
Now, “inside herself”?
Her, uh, downstairs, Your Honor.
Front or back?
Front.
[Michael] And you saw that from the front door, all of it?
The… her vagina, the panties, the drug wrap?
Moves?
Absolutely.
Do we have photographs?
No, Your Honor.
No.
Very impressive detail you’ve given us.
[Gearty] Well, it’s important to be precise.
[Michael] I agree.
It’s critical.
Young man, could you step forward?
Yes. Yes, you.
Would you meet me down here? Hmm?
What’s your name?
Eugene.
Eugene, where’s your father?
Busy.
With what?
Side girlfriend. Selling some shit up on Rampart.
When’s the last time you saw him?
What did you eat for breakfast, Eugene?
[Eugene] Uh,
we had some pickle juice.
Hot fries sometimes when we helped out.
When who helps you out?
My older brother, sometimes.
He’s affiliated?
Thank you, Eugene. You may sit back down.
I just wanted you to have some context, Officer.
You see, if this woman is found guilty by me, she’ll go to jail for a minimum of five years, and her smallest children, they’ll be placed into child protective custody.
It’s possible that she won’t ever see them again.
And Eugene, well, the Desire Crew will surely get their hands on him, to sell drugs down at the open-air market that they run down there.
So, let me ask you this: in front of the God that you swore by and the badge you wear and now with everything that you know about this family, are you telling us the truth?
Yes, sir. I swear it.
Okay. Well, you’re a very convincing witness.
Which would be more than enough for me, were it not that I am in training for a marathon, and I really love running up stairways.
Including the stoop steps at 5700 Flood Street in the Lower Ninth.
Are you sure you want to stick to the answer that you just gave me?
Yes, sir.
Now, it’s a shotgun house, isn’t that right?
Yes.
Do you know why they call them a shotgun house?
You could stand at the front door and fire a shotgun straight through to the back door and out.
Isn’t that right?
Uh, yes, Your Honor.
All the rooms– living room, kitchen, bedrooms and bathroom– are off the side of the hallway, hmm?
I mean, it’s a clean shot.
All the way, front to back. [exhales sharply]
You sure you’re sticking with the answer that you gave me?
I stood at the doorway of 5700 Flood Street, just as you did.
The same front door that you just testified, under oath, that you saw Female Jones, in the bathroom, put a drug wrap up inside herself.
Now, here’s my question: do you have see-around-corner eyes, or are you a liar, of the vilest kind?
[electronic dinging]
[dark, suspenseful music]
[tires squealing]
[gas pump clicks]
[phone vibrating]
[dispatcher] This is the 911 operator…
You filled up. Now f*ck off.
[horn honks]
Just stay on the line, we’ll get you some help.
We just need to work out where you are.
Please, if you can…
[phone beeps]
[horn honks]
[engine starts]
[soft, percussive music]
[haunting, somber music]
[vehicle approaches]
[crying softly]
[ragged breathing]
[chiming]
[machine whirring]
Django.
[grunts]
[machine chimes]
[machine whirring]
Just keep your hope in your heart.
Y’all take real good care of each other now, you hear?
[chuckles] Geez.
When did you start sounding like a Hallmark card?
This morning.
Wh– wait, whoa– Are you running?
Announcement on Monday.
Ha! That’s great!
[chuckles]
That is terrific.
And I’m gonna win.
Yeah.
You should come with me.
Huh.
Mayor’s office next year.
Who knows where five years from now.
Well, that’s very generous of you.
No, it’s smart. You saved my life.
That’s a good story in politics.
And the best story usually wins.
You just do the Nancy Reagan thing.
What?
All demure and dewy eyes.
Gazing up at me adoringly the whole time like I’m Mount Rushmore.
Jedediah.
Judge.
[driver] Michael?
Yeah.
[distant thumping]
[thumping continues]
[thumping grows louder]
[chiming]
[panting]
[machine chiming]
[machine chiming]
[Michael] There’s a first.
My son taking the garbage out.
[glass clinking]
Hey. How was school?
You all right?
Adam.
Adam!
Adam.
Adam.
[door closes]
Hey. What the hell was that?
Oh, of course.
The anniversary.
[slow, contemplative music]
You know, I-I was thinking that I’d cook up my dirty carbonara. Huh?
And then maybe… maybe Shawshank one more time?
Or… we could go out.
What’s wrong with your arm?
Adam.
[weakly] Uh…
Something happened, Dad.
At school? What?
No.
I was driving, and I couldn’t get ahold of you.
Okay.
And?
I hit somebody.
What do you mean? [stammers] In another car?
A motorcycle.
Oh, Jesus.
Who?
[stammers] Are they all right?
He died. I…
I think he died.
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
Wait, wait, wait.
Adam, you… you think… you-you think he died?
Is… is that what… is that what you saw, or…?
Adam.
[winces]
Oh, I’m sorry. Oh, I’m sorry.
I’m sorry. I’m sorry.
Wh-Where did this happen?
The Lower Ninth.
Okay.
Okay, so that would be the new hospital, then.
The ambulance would’ve taken him to, what, New Orleans East, then, right?
I-I don’t know.
Well, the police must have said something.
I-I drove away. I…
I drove away.
Adam, you drove away before the EMTs arrived?
Well, I mean, I-I tried to help him, but I couldn’t get him to breathe and…
So you-you called 911?
I tried to.
But, um– Dad.
What do you mean “tried to”?
Adam, is it yes or no?
Please help me.
Please, Dad, I-I couldn’t breathe!
I… [crying]
Okay, okay. [shushing]
I got you, buddy. I got you.
So-so you… you were driving. And-and you couldn’t breathe, right? And you were distressed, yeah?
His head, um… His head must have… There was so much blood, but, um–
Okay. So this… was a-a full-blown asthma attack then?
Hmm?
Yeah.
Okay, and you grabbed your inhaler to…?
I-I-I couldn’t find it.
Okay, okay, so…
you couldn’t breathe, you-you weren’t thinking, and then the shock… of what happened– but you, you stopped, didn’t you?
You stopped and you got out of the car and you tried to help him, but then you panicked and…
Is that, is that right, Adam?
Yeah.
Okay, now listen to me. Listen to me very carefully. I love you… more than anything in this world. And I promise you, it… it’s going to be all right. Okay? Okay?
I… I killed somebody, Dad.
I know.
And I left him there.
No. No, but… But, Adam… shock does strange things to people.
No, no, no, no, listen, no, listen to me.
When your mom died, those first few hours were just unbearable. You howled and howled. And I thought it would never stop. But then do you know what happened? You fell asleep. Your body just shut itself down so you could cope with the shock. And… your head was on my arm. And I lost all feeling in it, but I couldn’t move it, because I was afraid that if I did, then you’d wake up and… you’d remember that your mom had… …that your mom… wasn’t alive anymore.
We’re going to the police station, aren’t we?
[quietly] Yeah.
[scratching]
[Michael] Detective Nancy Costello, please.
Yes, yes, it has to be her.
[exhales] Um… well, can you, can you get a message to her?
I’m-I’m coming into the precinct.
Uh… oh, uh, Michael Desiato.
D-E-S…
Yes… like the judge.
Dad… can we bring Django for the ride?
Sure.
Will you give me a minute?
[slow, contemplative music]
[sobbing]
Listen, if you get this within the next 30 minutes, will you please return my call?
No, just return my call anyway.
Adam… let me get him.
Come on, buddy, here we go.
Who were you calling?
That was Lee Delamere.
I want us to go in lawyered up.
Lawyered up?
Yeah.
I won’t not do what’s smart just because it’s my own son.
[exhales]
Are you okay?
Yeah.
[softly] Okay.
Will I get bail?
No.
Probably not.
New Orleans Parish Prison?
Yes.
Uh, don’t forget to give Django his meds.
I won’t.
No, just… stay here.
Let me set this up.
[unbuckles seat belt]
[door alarm chiming]
[siren wailing in distance]
[slow, tense music]
[woman screams in distance]
[muffled shouting]
[muffled wailing]
[dark, ominous music]
[officer] Sir.
Excuse me, sir, can I help you?
[Cusack] Mike?
[quietly] Get rid of the press.
Nothing gets out till we’re ready.
[Cusack continues indistinctly]
Get back in the car.
Wha… I-I thought that we had to go in.
Get back in the car.
No, no, Dad, you were right. I-I need…
Damn it. Will you just do what I tell you to do.
Why are… You are the one that said that we had to come here.
The boy you hit this morning is Jimmy Baxter’s son.
That’s who you killed.
Jimmy Baxter is the head of the most vicious crime family in the history of this city.
Do you understand what that means?
Get in the car.
[quiet, pulsing music]
[phone ringing]
[turns off engine]
Don’t tell anyone.
Not ever.
I can do this.
I can keep you safe if no one ever hears about it.
You understand?
Adam, this is the rest of our lives.
[TV playing indistinctly in distance]
[groans]
[newsman] The hit-and-run has left a 17-year-old boy dead in the Lower Ninth Ward today.
The victim has been identified as Rocco Baxter, who was riding a motorcycle at the time of the accident.
The Baxter family is reputed to have a long history in organized crime.
Jimmy Baxter and his wife had this to say a few moments ago.
[Gina] Uh, who would do a thing like this?
Leave a dying child on the roadside.
He was 17 years old.
What kind of a human being are you?
Whoever you are… …wherever you are… …you should know… you will be found.
[reporters clamoring on TV]
[newswoman] Coming up, promising news…
[suspenseful music]
[exhales, mutters]
[grunts]
[dramatic, pulsing music]
[grunts]
[grunts, exhales]
[grunts, pants]
[mutters]
[panting]
[quietly] Shit.
[train whistle blows in distance]
[grunts]
[siren chirps]
[whispers] Oh, shit.
[opens zipper]
[urine splattering]
Ah… [exhales]
[car door opens]
[officer] On the bridge?
What the f*ck?
[car door closes]
On the bridge?
I-I… I had to.
You had to?
Prostate cancer. When I need to go, I… I need to go. I’m-I’m so sorry.
What’s your PSA?
It’s… high.
Is it over a hundred?
It’s 200.
I’m sorry, sir.
Look, uh… good luck, okay? And your fly.
[quietly] Sorry.
[engine turns off]
[door opens]
[shoe scrapes]
[train whistle blows in distance]
[TV playing indistinctly]
[sets keys on table]
[“The Marriage of Figaro” by Mozart playing]
[man on TV] Andy, do you hear that?