01x05 - Flashpoint

Episode Transcripts for the 2015 TV show "The Astronaut Wives Club". Aired June - August 2015.*
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"The Astronaut Wives Club" tells the real story of the women who stood beside some of the biggest heroes in American history during the height of the space race. Based on the best-selling novel "The Astronaut Wives Club: A True Story".
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01x05 - Flashpoint

Post by bunniefuu »

Previously on "The Astronaut Wives Club"...

The Gemini men are arriving in a few weeks.

Don't worry, babe. Those guys are the "B" team.

The Gemini wives... the new nine?

Now Mercury's over. It's go time.

Mercury is not over.

You might as well be the first to know.

Deke is being promoted.

I'm writing my article myself.

I'd like people to know the real me.

Pigs will fly in space before a woman does.

Pigs have flown in space.

Did you know that your friend Dot won the All-Woman air race?

Yeah. We were training together.

It's our time.

[Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings' "Long Time, Wrong Time"]

Thank you.

Thanks.

[Car door closes]

You really don't notice anything different about me?

Oh, come on. Don't make me guess.

I mean, I... the shoes?

The hair.

It's completely different.

What guy notices hair?

[Indistinct conversations]

♪ Long time since I've seen your face ♪

[Camera shutters clicking]

♪ Been runnin' 'round tryin' to make my way ♪

Mr. Cooper!

Mr. Cooper!

Mr. Cooper, on your upcoming flight, you'll be orbiting the earth for an unprecedented 34 hours.

What do you plan on doing up there for so long?

Besides breaking every space record there is?

Was thinking of catching up on some sleep.

[Laughter]

♪ Crazy thoughts runnin' through my mind ♪

[Projector clicking]

Oh, why do I get the feeling wearing the suit was your idea, not Dunk's?

[Clenched teeth] Look, they're lovin' it.

[Camera shutters click]

All right, I gotta go. We good?

The night's barely started.

I told you I couldn't stay. I'll see you at home.

[Normal voice] Don't let me hog him, ladies.

Who else wants their picture taken?

[Giggling]

It's been six months since the last launch.

We're starvin' for spacemen.

[Camera shutter clicks]

♪ baby, please don't go ♪

Wonder where Trudy Cooper's off to?

Oh, those Mercury wives never seem to have much time for us, do they?

Well, I'm sure they're just busy being Mercury wives.

Look at them. Like moths to a flame.

[Speaks indistinctly] Oh, hi.

Betty: That was us not too long ago.

We were butterflies, never moths.

We spread our gossamer wings with grace.

But Th-they're just n-n-nervous like w-we were.

Well, I'm still a little nervous.

You? Why?

Well, you see that man over there in the red tie?

That's Cal Butterfield.

He's the editor of "The Post-Inquirer."

I'm gonna go and meet him tonight, and I'm gonna get myself a job.

Job?

[Camera shutter clicks]

[Engine rumbling]

[Airplane door closes]

What the hell happened?

I barely recognize you.

You're exactly the same.

[Chuckles]

[Billy May & his Orchestra's "Long Gone" playing]

Mr. Glenn, Stu Warren.

We met at Hickory Hill last year.

Stu, sure. Call me John, please.

Well, John...

You mind if we have a moment in private?

[Chuckles]

Sure.

Ma'am.

Mrs. Glenn, Mrs. Ted Wilkins.

And this is Mrs. Frank de Longpre.

We just wanted to introduce ourselves.

We have such admiration watching you and your husband.

You are our favorite astronaut wife.

[Laughs]

It's true!

Th-Th... thank...

Y-you. [Chuckles]

We're so sorry.

If... if you'll excuse us. [Chuckles nervously]

[Indistinct conversations]

What happened?

Rene Carpenter.

Astronaut Scott Carpenter's wife.

Guess astronauts get all the luck.

Mr. Butterfield, I wanted to talk to you tonight because...

Well, because I'd like to write a column for your paper.

Your own column?

Is that so?

I have a lot of ideas, and I believe I could offer a unique perspective, something that I feel the paper needs.

I'm more than capable, and if you give me half an hour of your time, I could prove it to you.

All right.

Meet me this Friday at 4:00.

The address is 423 Park.

Well, all right, then. I'll see you there.

Who's that guy?

My new boss.

[Chuckles]

Joe Montgomery: ♪ I Know, Baby, Baby, Baby ♪
♪ I'm a 2-time loser with a 3-time...♪


Looks good.



Your hair, I mean, not the buffet.

You changed it.

I did, yes.

It's good to see you.



Thank you for the holiday card, by the way.

It was nice.

♪ You wanna take the chance, baby, then I... ♪

Well, if it isn't the "life" of the party. Mr. Kaplan.

Mrs. Slayton. Nice to see you.

For now.

What's this I hear about you leaving after Gordo goes up?

Trudy told me you're quitting the magazine for San Francisco?

Yes, I, uh...

I have a friend who's starting a progressive paper out there.

Uh, politics, social issues, that sort of thing.

There's a lot going on out in California, and I-I knew I'd regret it if I didn't give it a try.

Well, word of advice, don't try everything those beatniks give you.

My cousin knew a guy. Thought it was tobacco.

Woke up two days later on a freight train to Missoula, missing a pinkie finger.

Well, it sounds like a great opportunity.

[Johnny Amoroso's "There She is" playing]

Excuse me.

♪ Or part of a scheme? ♪
♪ I see her ♪


Forgot my purse.

♪ What a romance we had when I dreamed ♪

You still fakin' it with Gordo?

Still no, "oh, my God. Yes!"

[Both laugh]

You know I came back for Gordo to get a mission.

And you know what? It's happening.

And I get to be there up close, closer than anyone.

Unless you were the astronaut.

Do you have any idea where I've been while you've had your face buried in "Good Housekeeping"?

The Lovelace Clinic.

A woman?

Yeah.

At Dr. Lovelace's test facility?

He made a trip to Russia.

They train women right alongside the men there.

So he decided to do an experiment.

We're called F.L.A.T.S....

First Lady Astronaut Trainees.

[Exhales]

You're gonna be an astronaut?

[Chuckles]

Well, not yet.

13 of us passed every test that the Mercury guys did.

I'm talking physical, psych, you name it.

But NASA won't let us onto a m*llitary base to do the training.

That's...

Total b.s., I know, which is why I'm going to Washington.

In two days, a subcommittee has to make a decision about NASA changing their policy.

Me and Jackie Cochran are testifying.

Oh!

And so are two Mercury astronauts.

What? Well, wh-which ones?

I don't know.

That's what I wanted to talk to you about.

Trudy, do you realize?

This is our chance to go into space.

So that fellow tonight, Stu Warren?

Uh, he's Bobby Kennedy's chief advisor, and, uh...

Well, it turns out, Bobby's been thinking of me, uh, for the election.

There's an Ohio senate seat in contention this November, and this guy Stu says they're ready to put everything behind me.

[Exhales deeply]

Run... for o-o-office?

But y-you are... you're an astronaut.

Well, Stu says that's a big asset.

All these new guys, they all have degrees.

No one's really talking about me for the Gemini missions.

[Sighs]

d*ck Flood: ♪ you make the stars ♪
♪ seem pure and bright ♪


But p-politics, reporters, all those... people.

♪ You make my whole world happy and bright ♪

Well...

We... we don't have to give up on NASA just yet.

♪ There's no music... ♪

All the same tests?

Lovelace must've been going easy on you.

All right, how long did you last in the deprivation chamber?

I won that one.

3 hours and change till the hallucinations got ugly.

8 hours, 42 minutes.

Oh, come on.

Just like the rest of 'em.

Can't imagine a female in space unless she's pulling a cake out of the oven.

Well, I mean, space cake does sound nice. [Chuckles]

I just can't believe you knew about the hearings the whole time and never told me.

Trudy, I'm sorry.

All I heard was John and Scott were asked to testify.

And what are they going to say?

How should I know?

You didn't ask?

I've got a launch in two weeks.

There's a few other things on my mind.

[Glass thuds]

You should look at the test results, Gordo.

Women have more endurance than men and are less emotional.

Less emotional? Really?

Seriously? Don't even bother.

You ever seen this one during her time of the month?

Imagine being locked in a steel capsule with that hurdlin' through space. [Chuckles]

Oh, come on. It's way too serious in here.

All right, fine, I'm gonna hit the hay.

[Glass thuds]

And where do you think you're going?

Dot's sleepin' in the spare room, So I'm sleepin'...

In the den.

Okay.

Married life.

[Groans]

Forget him.

But Scott Carpenter and John Glenn are two of the most open-minded guys in Mercury.

If we put together some talking points, I think they'll support us.

We've got the truth on our side.

[Glass thuds] I'll get my statement.

Oh, this heat. I swear I'm like a pot roast in here.

Well-done and still cookin'.

[Sighs] This heat wave is killin' me.

You have to calm down. It'll only make things worse.

Get down low, get somewhere down low.

[Sighs] I could k*ll Wally for this...

When it's cooler.

[Sighs] And you know what I heard?

That Marilyn See?

She's happy as a clam and cool as a cucumber.

Wait a minute.

She has air conditioning?

[Exhales]

[Doorbell rings]

Hello.

Hi, Marilyn. How are you?

We were talking just now, and one thing led to another, and we realized, well, gosh, we need to welcome Marilyn See to the neighborhood.

So...

I've been living here six months now.

Better late than never.

Well, thank you. I'm...

I'm not really prepared for company right now.

I was just looking through some slides.

Elliot took me to Acapulco last winter...

Oh, well, that just sounds wonderful.

We love Acapulco.

Just crazy for it.

Well... then, come on in, I suppose.

[Door bell jingles, indistinct conversations]

That sounds wonderful.

And you'll be writing about what you really care about.

No more astrowife puff pieces.

I never called them that.

To anyone's face.

I imagine you'll meet all kinds of interesting people.

And you won't miss the Houston humidity.

Louise, why did you invite me to lunch?

Do I need a reason?

I thought we were friends.

Friends?

"Best wishes, Louise."

That's all you wrote on the card you sent.

What else could I say?

I'm leaving right after Gordo's launch.

If you wanna see me, let me know.

Anytime.

Women weigh less and consume less than men.

We're more radiation-resistant and less susceptible to heart att*cks, monotony, loneliness, heat, cold, and pain.

There were women on the "Mayflower," and on the first wagon trains west.

Now we ask to be a part of the pioneering of space.

We offer you 13 qualified volunteers who are ready to take on that challenge.

Thank you, Ms. Bingham.

If the whole purpose of space exploration is to someday colonize other planets, I don't see how we can do that without women.

[Laughter]

Now you passed all the tests required for eligibility to Project Mercury.

Yes, sir, everything from swallowing 3 feet of rubber hose to crash landings in the Dilbert Dunker, and an airborne E.E.G.

That means flying a jet through a high-gravity load-stress pattern with 18 monitor needles stuck in my head.
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