02x10 - Season 2, Episode 10

[bunniefuu]

Noah: Previously on The Affair...

Cole: What's going on?

Did something happen? Did he do something?

I'm sorry, I shouldn't be here.

I should be going.

Hey, stop, don't...

You f*cked her, didn't you?

This is not...

Alison: Cole!

man: What is it you do, Alison?

Uh, at the moment, just this.

Noah: Did you ever think about leaving?

Alison: Yeah.

When I was younger, I wanted to be a doctor.

You did?

Hey, hey, hey! Here he is!

The new bad boy of American letters.

Some people calling you the voice of your generation.

There's a guest bedroom upstairs at the end of the hall.

Come meet me there in 15 minutes.

Dad, what the f*ck?

Oh, sh*t!

Did you manage to get a hold of him?

Service is out everywhere with the hurricane.

Let's focus on you and that baby.

I can't do this alone.

I can't do...

Your husband is finally here.

Should I show him in?

Not yet.

♪ I was screaming into the canyon ♪
♪ At the moment of my death ♪
♪ The echo I created ♪
♪ Outlasted my last breath ♪
♪ My voice it made an avalanche ♪
♪ And buried a man I never knew ♪
♪ And when he d*ed his widowed bride ♪
♪ Met your daddy and they made you ♪
♪ I have only one thing to do and that's ♪
♪ Be the wave that I am and then ♪
♪ Sink back into the ocean ♪
♪ I have only one thing to do and that's ♪
♪ Be the wave that I am and then ♪
♪ Sink back into the ocean ♪
♪ I have only one thing to do and that's ♪
♪ Be the wave that I am and then ♪
♪ Sink back into the ocean ♪
♪ Sink back into the ocean ♪
♪ Sink back into the o ♪
♪ Sink back into the ocean ♪
♪ Sink back into the o ♪
♪ Sink back into the ocean ♪
♪ Sink back into the ocean ♪
♪♪

Gottlief: Holy crap.

They said this was gonna be a circus, but this... you know what, f*ck the construction.

Go around the back.

It's fine. Just pull up here.

Noah.

Gottlief: Are you sure?

I'm good.

Gottlief: All right, then.

Here we go. Stick right behind me.

Don't talk to anyone, don't look at anyone.

[crowd clamoring]

[crowd clamoring]

Excuse us, excuse us.

Please, please back up.

reporter: Are you expecting...

...a quick trial?

Please, not now.

Jury's three quarters female. Is that a good thing?

Gottlief: No questions now.

I'm sorry. Excuse us.

Excuse us, please.

Sign my book.

Excuse me, please.

man: f*ck you, Solloway.

Hey, Ali, uh, just wondering if you got my texts.

It's, uh, 12 minutes past two.

So, uh, just checking you're okay, and wondering if you want us to start without you, or if you, uh, if I should just... I don't know, make a run for it and go see Captain America.

Marilyn's staring at me, so, uh, help, she's gonna make me talk.

Uh, uh, love you.

I don't know where she is.

Maybe she's in the subway or something.

I'm sure she'll turn up.

You seem tired.

Uh, I am.

Baby was up again.

4:50, her time of choice.

That's no fun.

Uh, God, it's abysmal.

You're out cold, dreaming sweetly, and this little voice that's somehow so loud, "Mama, Mama."

I didn't know she was talking.

Yeah, I can't get her to say "Dada" to save my life, but that's okay. Still love her.

I guess.

[chuckles]

Nothing?

No, no.

She has a midterm tomorrow.

She probably stayed behind after class and, uh, asked some questions. Who knows?

Yes, she mentioned last week that she was nervous about it.

Yeah, I keep telling her she shouldn't be.

I mean, she... she's gonna be a great doctor.

I can't understand why she's so hard on herself.

She...

You can't?

Really?

[nervous chuckle]

Should we just reschedule?

I mean, I'm not gonna... I'm not gonna talk about it without her being here.

Why not?

It's couple's therapy.

Yes.

Doesn't that by definition require two people?

Generally, yes, but...

Truth is, it's too bad.

I was actually looking forward to coming in for once.

You don't always?

[laughs] I don't know.

I've been thinking maybe we... maybe we've hit a... hit a plateau.

Started repeating ourselves and we've gotten past the crisis, we're basically doing well.

And today?

What?

You just said today was different.

That you wanted to come.

Right.

But maybe you've changed your mind.

[laughs]

You know, Noah, I'm not gonna chain you to my couch.

That wouldn't be very professional.

Let's reschedule if you want to.

Um...

You could come Wednesday instead.

I have a 3:15.

Uh, I can't.

I got to take Trevor to the eye doctor.

He's getting glasses.

Okay.

You know, this whole week is gonna be tough 'cause, uh, Helen and Vik went to Africa, and we got the kids till Sunday.

Helen and Vik went to Africa?

On safari. Go figure.

Your ex-wife took off with her boyfriend and you have the children for a whole week?

Is that part of what you wanted to talk about with Alison?

No, no.

I'm... I'm happy for Helen.

Well, Vik seems like a decent guy.

I mean, he's a bit strange, but that's okay.

Seems to make Helen happy.

Wonderful.

Well, I guess I'll, uh...

I'll go and, uh...

...I'll call you to reschedule.

Okay.

Enjoy your movie.

Ah, f*ck it.

This is what I wanted to...

I was hoping we could deal with.

You're divorced.

It's official.

Hmm.

It came two weeks ago, and...

...I haven't shown it to Alison yet.

I keep thinking about Cold Spring.

If I got this letter back then, I'd have grabbed her and run to City Hall immediately.

And now?

I don't know, if there's one thing I've learned this past year and through all this, it's to think before I act.

Just want to be certain we're ready.

Do you feel that you're not?

I think I am.

But not Alison?

So what do you think she might say if she were here, if you showed her this?

I don't know.

That's my point.

Are you afraid she might say no?

That she doesn't want to get married?

Build a life together?

Because we've... we've talked about that a lot in here, these issues of trust.

And it's taken a while, but I think Alison...

I catch her staring at me.

Sorry?

With Joanie.

I...it happens all the time.

I'm feeding her cereal or getting her dressed, and I... I see Alison watching us.

And it's not just looking.

It's like she's trying to figure something out.

What?

I don't know.

Whether or not I want the baby.

I mean, I understand why she's doing it.

What I did was terrible.

Not making it back for the birth.

You know, she probably should've left me then.

I would've left me.

But she didn't.

I know, and I'm incredibly grateful for that, and I spent this entire year trying to make it up to her.

I changed a thousand diapers, I taught myself to cook, I washed the dishes, I folded the laundry, I've barely written a f*cking word, all to try to prove to her how sorry I am for my insanity.

You've done a tremendous amount, Noah.

I think Alison knows that.

Except that isn't enough.

Why isn't it enough?

I don't know.

It's just how I feel when she's looking at me.

Okay, can we... no more phone.

Let's stick with this for a minute.

Let's look at these looks.

You feel some sort of judgment from Alison?

I guess.

This isn't the first time you've brought this up in here.

I remember you said something similar about Whitney.

I did?

Yes, how the last time you saw her, she looked at you with tremendous scorn.

Disappointment.

And then there was the way you described how Helen looked at you when you first told her about Alison.

I don't understand where you're going with this.

So these three women in your life, you describe as looking at you in similar ways.

With... With judgment.

For very different reasons.

Okay, but I'm just wondering if there might be some connection between them that we should explore.

Like what?

I'm not sure.

Does anything come to mind for you?

I want to f*ck Lucy Koskoff.

Who's Lucy Koskoff?

She's my student.

She's my best student, in fact.

[sighs] Damn it.

She's 26, she's hugely talented, she comes to my office hours and brings me chapters from her novel.

She wants to talk about my novel.

And she's also made it very clear that she'd sleep with me at the drop of a hat.

In fact, I'm meeting her today at four to talk over her rewrites.

I know I shouldn't go, but I can't bring myself to cancel.

Talk about judgmental stares.

I'm not judging, Noah. I'm just thinking.

Well, don't... just... just say something.

What would you like me to say?

Anything, I'd... [sighs]

I want you to tell me what we're doing here.

What all this is for, really?

All this talking and listening...

Even if I understand, I... I grasp all the deep and painful reasons why I did what I did and I want what I want.

I felt dismissed as a writer, I've held back in my marriage.

I was craving acknowledgement, success.

I mean, what does it mean for me to know all that if I still just end up wishing Lucy would quit talking metaphors so I could take off all her clothes and just bend her over my desk?

She isn't the first, I'm guessing.

What?

Ms. Koskoff can't be the first woman you've wanted to cheat with.

You were attracted to other people during your 20 years with Helen.

You say that like it's a fact.

Oh, then you weren't?

Well, of course I was.

And did you ever act on it?

No. You know that.

No, I was faithful except for Alison.

Then why are you so afraid you would act on it now?

Because it's different.

Because of Alison, because you've already done it once.

This is not uncommon in people whose relationships began as affairs.

This fear that because you've strayed once, you might do it again.

I almost did.

You almost had sex with Lucy?

No, no, not with Lucy, with... with my publicist, Eden.

That g*dd*mn night of the hurricane.

The one we've been over and over and over.

I...well, I... I left things out.

Yes.

Wait, you knew?

She'd been after me for months.

I kept turning her down, and then it was the end of the book tour.

The rain was coming down sideways, and we were trapped, so I...

...I was... I was ready to do it.

But you didn't.

No.

You stopped yourself.

She went to find us a room, and I saw these...

Oh, Jesus Christ.

Are you okay?

[sighs]

I saw these two girls in a hot tub and I was turned on, and I was staring at them.

Noah, you do know I have heard it all.

It was Whitney.

It was my f*cking daughter, I... just as my new daughter was being born.

Ugh.

And, I, uh... it's the last time I saw her.

I ran away.

I left my daughter there, and I just...

...took off.

So, you see, I didn't stop myself.

I wouldn't have done.

Because I am a terrible, terrible, f*cking sick, bad guy.

[inhales deeply] Oh, f*ck.

So do you think this is why you haven't shown the divorce papers to Alison?

That these... these feelings you have about Alison judging you, not trusting you, that they really have more to do with your not trusting yourself?

The thing about that night, uh, as it was going on, I remember saying to myself, "It'll... it's okay," you know.

"It'll be okay."

And what does that mean?

Sleeping with Eden, I knew I was gonna do it.

It was as if I'd given myself permission.

I'd already forgiven myself.

It wasn't until I saw Whitney that I f*cking woke up.

And then I... suddenly, I just had to get out of there.

I didn't want anyone to see me. It was... you know that expression, "I wanted to die"?

I wanted to die.

You wanted to die rather than face yourself?

Yeah.

You know, Noah, we have never talked about your childhood in here.

Ugh.

What?

Now you're gonna shrink me?

Am I going to psychoanalyze you?

Please don't.

I am curious.

Was your father faithful to your mother?

[laughs]

That's funny?

Was he not?

My father was the only faithful trucker on the eastern seaboard.

The night of my wedding to Helen, my father drank six whiskeys.

And he said to Bruce...

Bruce is?

He's my, um, my father-in-law.

My ex father-in-law. He's a novelist.

My father told him he was also an artist, but he gave up in his 40s to take care of his sick wife.

And is that not true?

No, it's not f*cking true.

I cared for his sick wife.

The man did nothing.

I mean, he was an okay husband until the symptoms got bad, and then he just checked out.

My sister and I did everything.

And then she left, and so it was just me.

Every injection, every appointment, giving her baths, massaging her legs, and in the end, changing her diapers and all the while he drove his stupid truck and then watched TV and drank beer until he passed out. Every night.

And he dares tell me that he loved his wife.

He never cheated.

He genuinely thinks he's a... he's a... he's a f*cking hero.

A good man 'cause he never stuck his d*ck in any other...

He was a drunk, a delinquent father, and a terrible husband.

And I'm the one who's cast as villain.

The one who cared for my mother.

I was there for my children, and I loved my wife for 20 years until I made one mistake.

[deeply inhales]

Sorry, that didn't come out right.

I don't mean Alison was a mistake.

No, I understand.

f*ck him.

If that's what being a good man is, I don't want any part of it.

[sighs]

It makes sense to me, given the history you described, that you might've developed a skepticism about fidelity as a virtue.

Is that fair to say?

I guess.

And that your connection to Alison and... and your attraction to Lucy, to you, are...

...connected in some way to your father's hypocrisy.

I think things are only that simple in this office, Marilyn.

I think the rest of the time, we live a complicated, multifaceted mess, basically.

You think I haven't thought about this before?

"I'm angry at my father, so I cheat."

You know, I'm sorry, I just don't think people are that easy to figure out.

That's fair enough.

I think about these questions, why people live the way they do, all the time.

You do?

Yes, I...

Helen once told me that when she reads obituaries, she's looking for whether the person loved and was loved.

Did they have a family, were they married long, did they have children, grandchildren?

And it kind of blew my mind at the time, 'cause it never occurred to me to judge someone by their family.

Instead, you're looking at what?

What they... what they did.

Meaning their work, their accomplishments?

Yes.

And yet, there's something about what Helen said that stayed with you, that... that makes you think she might be on to something.

I just think there are so many different matrices by which to measure a man's worth, and I... I don't know which is right.

I'm writing a whole book about this question.

At least, I'm trying to.

Your new novel?

Yeah.

You haven't talked about that much in here.

Except to say that it's very different.

It's a real departure from Descent.

Right.

It's historical, right?

It's World w*r II?

Right.

With no women in it?

Did I say that?

You said that you wanted to be sure it had nothing to do with personal relationships.

So there wouldn't be anything or anyone that Alison might think was her.

Well, I was joking. Kind of.

No, I started off writing a w*r story, and well, it still is that, essentially.

Can you tell me a little bit about it?

Do you know who Omar Bradley is?

Uh, it sounds familiar.

He's a... he's a w*r hero.

He was a five-star general.

He was the commander of the First Army at Normandy.

Ah.

The book is based on his life.

I mean, it's fiction, but he was fascinating.

He was a great man.

He led this extraordinary, significant life.

You'd have to write two or three books just to cover half of his achievements.

I spent half of chapter two writing about one meeting he had with Montgomery, and then I got to page 65, and...

What happened on page 65?

Marlene Dietrich.

What?

I was gonna leave her out, but then I just...

I don't know, she somehow appeared on my screen.

She just appeared?

On her own?

Uh, no.

And then seduced your main character?

Did you make this up, or...

No, no, no, no, it happened.

Well, it was rumored to.

There are photos of them together.

And Bradley was married, I'm guessing.

For 49 years.

To the girl across the street.

But you see, that's... that's who he was.

He wasn't just some fearless leader, some cartoon Captain America, he was... he was flawed, and imperfect, and selfish, and that, I now realize is what makes the book compelling.

It's the center of all of it.

What do we make of this guy?

Does the fact that he had sex with a movie star outside marriage, does that somehow negate all of his achievements?

Or do those traits that made him cheat... ego, intensity, drive... do they also lead him to achieve?

Those are some big questions.

Well, I mean, it's a very big book.

And I hope it's an important one.

If I could only f*cking finish it.

Are you having trouble?

No, I'm not having trouble.

I just...

Well, the problem is I don't have any time.

Between the teaching and the baby, and...

...I need to do more research.

I need to go to France and spend six or eight weeks and see where he lived, and he fought, and he f*cked and...

So why not go? Buy a ticket.

I'm sure you could figure it out.

No, Alison's program is accelerated, so she's got courses all summer and the soonest I can get away is... I don't even f*cking know.

Fifteen months?

That's frustrating.

When I go I need... I need time to write the thing.

I mean, a book like this, it takes concentration.

Real focus. It's not some piece of pulp you can pump out in ten weeks.

Like Descent, you mean?

Descent is what it is.

It was... It was...

It was... it did amazingly well.

But I've known for a while I wanted to take the next step.

I wanted to do something bigger with real scope.

Something serious and significant.

So do you notice that the words you use to describe Bradley's life... "big," "significant," "great"... you're now using them to describe your new book.

Well, he's the subject of the book.

But what I'm interested in is how this subject relates to your own life.

In your mind.

[sighs]

I want to know...

I want to know if it's possible, really possible to be both.

Both?

A good man and a great man.

And by good, you mean?

Well, the way Helen reads the obituaries, you know, for long-lasting marriages, for virtue, basically, monogamy, partnership, love.

I mean, do the men who Helen thinks led good lives, how many of them also had great lives?

Depends on what you mean by great.

Would General Bradley have conquered Normandy if he'd been home changing diapers?

I'm serious.

You look at the way this guy led his life.

He went out in the world and he followed his instincts, and he took whatever he wanted.

Maybe he was narcissistic, maybe Mary was unhappy, but his life had consequence.

He basically won the w*r for us.

So do we judge him for his absence for his family and his infidelity, or do we just let that slide, because what does it matter at the end?

The guy stopped h*tler.

What does it matter to whom?

There's a certain type of man that history reveres.

We see it over and over.

Jefferson, Hamilton, Picasso, Hemingway, all of them cheaters.

It's like they have this bald desire, this... this willingness to take whatever they want, that ends up making them remarkable.

But again, I want to understand how this connects to you.

What if, I mean, what if?

What if I... What if I have it in me to be great?

What if the only thing that separates me from Ernest Hemingway is that he never had to choose?

He... He... He just gave himself permission to do whatever the f*ck he wanted in the name of his work and he didn't care who he made suffer.

And he blew out his brains at 60.

[laughs]

Well, what does that mean?

You tell me.

It's one minute to three, Noah.

Is it?

But before we stop, I'd like to return to where we were at the start of the session.

You have some questions to answer with Alison.

Are you ready to tell her your divorce is finalized?

And do you actually want to move forward with your second marriage?

I know I want to be a good husband, I want to be... I want to be a good partner and a good father, and I love having a family, um, and a home and people who depend on me, but I know that in my gut.

But I also want to go to France, and... for two years, and f*ck whoever and feel alive again, and write a great novel.

What I do not want is to be dishonest.

I tried that and I hate myself for it.

I...if there's one thing I could change, I do not want to lie...

...to myself or anyone else.

[sighs]

I think that's admirable, Noah.

I really do.

And we're at time.

So you're gonna be in here again with Alison, but before that, I think it's worth taking the time to look beyond Bradley, beyond Jefferson, beyond whoever.

To another list.

A list of men who did remarkable things and remained loyal partners.

We hear about them less, but they're out there too.

I know that, of course.

And conversely, what about the average guys?

The dentists and accountants who cheat on their wives?

A few of them sit right where you're sitting.

Every week.

How do they fit into your theory?

You could be in France right now with a sitter minding Joanie.

And you didn't have to tell me about your appointment with Lucy.

And the very fact that you stayed today, and that you're struggling with these issues, to me, that says volumes about who you really are.

Great, so who am I?

Thank you for the talk.

Thank you for staying.

Oh, hey.

Hey, I'll take over.

You go study.

No, it's okay. I'm almost done.

Here you go.

Hey, I'm sorry about missing therapy.

I...I don't know how I forgot.

It's all right.

Class stressed me out reviewing things I thought I knew, but then I didn't, and...

It's fine.

Actually good to have some time on my own.

Got myself all figured out.

Oh, yeah? Do tell.

[chuckles]

Maybe later.

[Alison giggles]

Gottlief: All of us are human.

We all want answers to our questions.

We want endings to our stories.

In 2014 alone in the United States of America, 884 people were k*lled in hit-and-run accidents.

Only one in five of those cases ended in arrest.

Only 20% of victims' families got the answers they were looking for.

Now, this is just the beginning of our time together, but I want to ask something of you.

I want to ask each of you to consider the very real possibility, the 80% possibility that whomever hit Scott Lockhart that night and heartlessly kept on driving, might not be in this courtroom today.

In the coming days and weeks, we are going to learn a great deal about the troubled life of Scott Lockhart.

The customers to whom he sold cocaine, the suppliers from whom he bought that cocaine, and also about the many, many women with which he had... shall we say, brief entanglements.

Scotty's own brother, Cole, married one of these women at a wedding which took place the very same night that Scotty d*ed.

Now, the prosecution will try to convince you that this couldn't possibly have been an accident.

Well, there were many, many people who had palpable tensions with Scott Lockhart.

Many, many people who had motives far more realistic than those assigned to my client.

I want you to just take note of the crowd outside this courtroom today.

My client is what we call a scapegoat, skewered by a community who doesn't like what he wrote about them.

The callous outsider.

The unscrupulous author.

This is a man of fiction.

Someone easy to point fingers at when you're searching for a villain.

Yet this character, bears absolutely no resemblance to the person sitting next to me, someone who you will come to know as a devoted father, committed husband, a hard-working teacher and writer, and someone who is incapable of m*rder.

And someone who, at his very essence, is a good man.

[baby mobile playing tranquil tune]

♪♪

[police siren wailing]

Shh.

She go back down?

Thank God.

Next time it's you.

She doesn't want me.

She wants her Mama.

Shh, sleep.

Mmm.

[sighs]

[long exhale]

[sighs]

Hmm.

Nuñez: You have to invest ATP in the beginning, in order to gain ATP towards the end.

At Step 7 is where the pay off begins.

In this stage, you gain back the two ATPs, the metabolic energy you spent earlier.

The two units of 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate we receive in Step 6, are now converted into two units of 3-phosphoglycerate.

This reaction is catalyzed...

Oh, sh*t, sorry.

...by phosphoglycerate kinase.

For those of you now having mild panic att*cks, a friendly reminder: because of the switch in our syllabus, neither glycolysis nor enzyme kinetics will be covered on tomorrow's midterm.

Yeah!

Whoo-hoo!

Okay, let's take a five minute break.

When we come back we can do some review.

I know a few of you wanted to go back over protein folding.

And you can ask any other questions pertaining to the test.

[students chattering]

Uh, Andrew?

Hey, I'm sorry.

You caught me snacking.

[chuckles]

Cheddar pop chip?

Oh, no. No, thank you.

Um, I was just wondering if you could tell me, uh, what the last day to drop this class is.

You're wanting to drop the class?

Uh, well, I'm not sure, but I'm... I'm...

Am I that incomprehensible?

[chuckles] No.

"Stultifyingly" dull.

No, it's nothing like that.

I just, uh, I somehow thought this was gonna be easier, you know?

I have a one-year-old at home, and I... I haven't been sleeping.

You're Alison Bailey, right?

You're my... You're my continuing ed student.

Yeah. Yeah, that's me.

You're an RN?

Right.

So a lot of this stuff isn't new to you.

No, it's not all that new.

It's just been a long time.

It's been a really, long time and I...

Um, I just want to know what the deadline is.

Tomorrow, actually. The halfway mark.

If you withdraw after that, you get a W on your transcript, still pay full tuition.

Ah, okay, thank you.

student: Hey, could I ask...

Just one second, buddy.

Alison? If your plan is to go to med school, I really encourage you to continue.

The longer you wait, the harder it may be to jump back in.

Sorry, what's up?

student: Had a question about Chapter 4.

Nuñez: All right, people.

Tomorrow, 30 questions.

20 multiple choice, 10 written, no calculators allowed.

You'll get periodic tables.

Please, do not pull an all-nighter for this one, guys.

There's no need to drown yourself in caffeine for my sake.

If you paid attention in class, and done the work, you'll do well.

It's that simple.

All right?

Questions?

Uh, you in the back.

[student speaking indistinctly]

[♪ soft music ♪]

♪♪

Scotty: Alison!

Hey, city lady.

Scotty.

Man, y... you look friggin' fantastic.

Come here, come on.

Wh... oh.

[Scotty chuckles]

Well, I... I don't, but anyway...

Wh... is everything okay?

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Everything's great. Everyone is great.

I, um, I've got a business proposal for you.

Uh, a... sorry?

How about we go up?

Can I come up?

Uh, wh... I don't... my... well, my daughter might be napping.

She sometimes goes down early.

No, no, no, that's... that right. That's... that's cool.

That's, uh, nice.

So, huh.

How about stepping into my office, then?

Hmm? Ten minutes.

That's all I need, okay?

Come on.

[chuckles]

Why are you looking at me like I'm gonna bite you?

Come on, it... Ali, it's me.

Just have a seat.

Come on, come on.

Okay.

[quick exhale]

Okay, you ready?

Yeah.

The Lobster Roll.

What about it?

I want to buy it. With you.

[laughs] What?

Don't laugh.

I...

You shouldn't be laughing.

What?

Is it even for sale?

Yeah, it's about to be.

[stuttering] I don't know when the last time you saw the place was, but it's a wreck.

Oscar never fixed it up after the hurricane.

The awnings are trashed, they're hanging off it.

I went in for a piece of pie the other day, the apple rhubarb.

Inedible.

Oscar's bankrupt.

He's... He's he... he is this close to foreclosure.

And he's already lost the other property.

So The Roll's gonna go back to bank.

I'm betting that we can grab it up for 1.8, probably even less.

Look, I... I... I... I I've got an investor for half of it, right?

He's a Wall Street guy, but he's a decent guy.

You throw in the other half, golden.

You don't look good to me, Scotty.

Ah, you... you... you worry too much, Ali.

Come on, you always have.

I'm doing fine.

I'm fine. Of course, I will be doing much better when we open our nightclub.

Our nightclub?

That's fun, right?

Plus, it's f*cking lucrative.

I have all the specs worked out.

You wouldn't have to do a thing.

Just... Just take a look, at least.

Come on.

I can't help you.

I'm sorry.

You got to, actually.

Well, I can't.

Oh, come on, Scotty, this is...

No, you come on!

I mean, what the hell, Ali?

Look at where you're living, huh?

Look at this f*cking shiny tower, huh?

Don't tell me that you don't have the money!

Well, it isn't mine.

What, it's Noah's?

The renowned author, Noah Solloway, huh?

Look, first of all, I know you've got the cash because I know what you sold your house for.

Second of all, whatever money that assh*le has, whatever massive f*cking fortune he earned off that book, he f*cking owes to our family.

Okay, I'm going up.

It's tragic! Chapter 8, huh?

All that crap about the feud, [stuttering] the dealing, you know what?

It had consequences.

Yeah, will you stop?

Every idiot in Montauk bought and read that piece of sh*t, including Officer Skerry.

You remember him, huh, Evan?

Evan came down to the f*cking dock and he told me that he was done with our arrangement.

He couldn't cover me anymore. Game over.

So you're done dealing dr*gs?

Yeah.

You still taking them?

Huh?

Gigi: Look, honey, there's Mama!

Hey.

[Joanie cooing]

Hey, hi.

Look who it is.

Hi, sweetheart.

You're back early.

Uh, yeah, yeah, I am.

I, uh, I ran into a friend of mine.

Uh, Scotty, this is Gigi.

Gigi: Hi.

Is this your daughter?

Yeah, this is Joanie.

Hi, Joanie.

Uh, Gigi, I think...

Scotty: She's beautiful.

Gigi: Oh, isn't she, though?

Everybody says she looks like Alison, but to me she looks like her daddy.

[♪ tense music ♪]

♪♪

Yeah.

Yeah, she does to me, too.

♪♪

Yeah, I, uh, I think it's time to go up, right?

Gigi: Okay.

Scotty: Right, right.

I'll let you, um... I'll let you go with her then.

Um... it's great to see you, Ali.

♪♪

I'm glad I came.

♪♪

Gigi: Bring her up now, then?

Are we taking her in, then?

Do you want... do you want to put her down, or...

Could you, uh, could you... could you stay a little longer than 4:00?

Uh, yeah, okay.

Thank you, that's...

♪♪

[phone ringing]

Oh, sh*t.

♪♪

Cole: Hey.

Hi.

So, uh, your call.

Should we hug or do we...

Uh...

Hi, it's good to see you.

Yeah.

You too.

I got to admit, I was surprised when I saw your number come up on my phone.

Yeah, I know.

Jane had told me you moved to Greenpoint.

I wasn't sure I believed her.

And yet, here I am.

Here you are.

Cole: Hey, Reggie?

Reggie: Yeah?

Cole: Can we get my friend, Alison, here a drink?

Sure, what would you like today, friend Alison?

Uh, a Blanton neat, please.

Cole: Really?

Blanton neat.

And, uh, and some olives too.

Hmm, addict.

You got to try these things, they're amazing.

I don't know what they put on them, but they are great.

It's, like, cr*ck or something.

Seems like you come here a lot.

Well, yeah, Luisa's restaurant's right across the street.

The one with the brown awnings.

That's her restaurant?

Yeah, I mean, it's not hers, hers.

She's the manager, so I come here, hang out, I try not to get in the way.

[awkward laughter]

She's off in 15 minutes. You get to meet her.

Oh, great.

So, uh, what have you been doing?

You working?

Uh, yeah, in...

[laughs] her cousin's in construction so I've been picking up odd jobs with him here and there.

Oh, really?

Yeah.

Well, do you... do you need to be doing that? I mean, I know you haven't touched the money from the house.

It's still sitting in escrow.

It's 'cause it's your money, Alison.

I don't want it.

Look, I've taken mine out.

The rest is yours.

If you leave it there, it's gonna stay there forever.

You know, I actually like this work.

Good for me to be working with my hands again.

And I'm picking up some Spanish.

Oh, yeah?

Turns out I'm not too bad at it.

Okay.

Say something.

In Spanish?

Mm-hmm.

Okay, uh...

Me voy a casar.

Nice. Uh, and that means?

It means I'm getting married.

Oh, God, wow.

Cole, that's...

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, I know it's fast, but...

No. No, no, it's great.

It's... It's wonderful.

Thanks, Ali.

You look happy.

Yeah, I am.

[laughs] Yeah.

I really am. How you doing?

Me? Uh, yeah, well, I mean, I'm good.

I'm... well, I'm... I'm... I'm busy, you know?

Yeah, yeah, sure.

I mean, with the kid, it must be.

Yeah.

How's she doing?

Yeah, she's... she's great.

Hmm, that's good to hear.

She's got to be getting old now.

Yeah, yeah, she's almost a year.

Oh.

Reggie: Blanton neat for you.

Thank you, that's...

And your daily fix, sir.

Thank you.

Reggie: Anything else?

Uh, no, no, I'm fine. I just...

Cole: We're good, Reg.

Reggie: All right, I'll be here.

Cheers.

Cheers.

Mmm, you're right.

That's a... That's a good olive.

Right?

So... [sighs]

What did you want to see me about?

Uh...

I, um...

You okay? Is everything all right?

Did something bad happen?

Uh...

I saw Scotty this morning.

[sighs] Yeah?

Yeah, he was waiting outside my apartment.

He didn't look so good, Cole.

He...

Is that it?

That's all you want to tell me?

Yeah. Yeah, well, he... he... I mean, he didn't look well.

He was... He was strung out, like, almost manic, and he had some plan about buying The Lobster Roll, and wanted me to go in with him.

That's been his plan for a while now.

Well, I don't know if he's using, but...

I'm sure that he is.

And you... you don't care?

No, I do not care. Not anymore.

I can't tell you how f*cking good it feels to stop having to care about my family and their spectacular dysfunction all the time, to worry about me and my life for a little while.

So Scotty can snort his life away for all I care.

And he can buy The Lobster Roll, he can build that heinous monstrosity of a nightclub and really do whatever the f*ck he wants.

I mean, it's not like he's gonna get that money anyway.

Or that The Lobster Roll is even for sale.

Well, no, it's... it's in foreclosure.

Really?

Or it's about to be, I mean, that's what he said.

He said it... it... he said it's closing.

God, I hated hearing that.

Yeah.

You remember your birthday when we went there?

It was late, like, Oh.

I don't know, 3:00 in the morning.

Mm-hmm, yeah.

We were all completely stoned out of our trees.

Which birthday was that?

That was my 16th.

That's right, your Sweet 16.

How did we get in? Did we break in?

No, I had keys. I used to open...

...on Sunday mornings.

Yeah, that's right.

That's right, and we go in, and you pull out that huge vat of ice cream.

And then Scotty burnt his hand.

What?

Oh, yeah, Scotty burnt the sh*t out of his hand...

...in the fryer.

Oh, oh, my God.

I'd completely forgotten that.

[both laughing]

Ah, sh*t.

That used to be a great place.

Yeah.

[door opens, creaks]

Hey, you're done.

Alison?

Hi, Luisa, hi.

How are you?

Uh, yeah, I'm good.

So how was work?

You know, it was good.

Yeah?

Yeah.

Oh, uh, congratulations.

Cole told me about the engagement.

Oh, thank you.

I'm really happy for you and him.

Yeah, it's kind of surprising, huh?

Cole Lockhart living in the city.

Kind of surprising? [laughs]

This is good for him.

You know, a new start.

Yeah, uh, well, I... I...

I better be going.

My, uh, you know, sitter's, like, waiting.

Right.

Uh, let me just...

...get some money for this.

No, no, don't worry. I got it.

Cole, come on, please, I just...

Cole: Alison, I got it.

Okay, thank you.

Well, it was nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you too.

Bye.

[inaudible]

Trevor: I'm ahead of you.

Hey, guys.

What are you doing?

We're skiing. Want a turn?

No, I'm okay.

Keep warm, though.

Noah: Oh, my God.

No, let me take that.

[Joanie cooing]

Noah: Yeah.

Sorry.

Good girl.

Oh, hi.

Hey.

Hey, you cooked. [gasps]

Where the hell were you?

You missed therapy.

I know, I'm sorry. Hey, sweetie.

How are you?

[sighs] I'm really sorry.

I completely screwed up.

I went to class, and then I...

It's fine.

I figured you weren't coming, so I left and went to a movie.

What movie?

Captain America.

Listen, I've been thinking maybe we should quit therapy.

You want to stop?

Don't you?

We've kind of run out of things to talk about.

Aren't we all happy again?

Hmm?

Yeah, we are.

Hey, hmm.

Come on, let's eat.

[breathing heavily]

I love you.

I love you.

I love you, I love you.

I love you. [moans]

[passionate sighing]

[moaning] I love you.

I love you.

[both moaning]

Joanie: Dada.

Was that her?

I think so.

Joanie: Dada.

What'd she say?

Joanie: Dada.

[both chuckle]

[Joanie cooing]

Go, go.

Joanie: Dada.

Noah: Yes, where's my Joanie?

Dada.

Did you say Dada?

We're back in two minutes, and this just came back from the lab.

Reed drove it out here.

Open it.

[♪ dramatic music ♪]

♪♪

My, oh, my, oh, my.

♪♪

[♪ dramatic music ♪]

♪♪