02x07 - Just A Bird

[bunniefuu]

Okay. Ah, man.

- Hi. Hi.
- Nice.

- Nice, nice.
- I know. It's sort of ridiculous, but...

Yeah. Well, where else are we
gonna have a kid-free conversation?

- In a kid's playroom of course.
- Right. Yeah, well, the irony is not lost.

Right, look. So I sent off the
water sample from the island.

You know, so, hopefully we'll find out
the results and if it's dangerous or not.

Do you think we should report it or...

No.

No, I don't. I think we should wait
until we know what we're dealing with.

- Okay.
- I should never have taken her out there.

Honestly, it was stupid, you know?

- I mean, it was so dangerous.
- Hey.

- I don't even know what I was thinking.
- Come on. Come here.

Come here.

Oh, man.

You two really are cut from the same cloth.

Yeah, which is why I should've
set a better example.

No, really. You know, we said no Richie,
that that's bad for her mental health.

Then I go taking her out looking for
some secret that he knew years ago.

- No, I should've been home with my dad.
- No.

If anything happened to him or to Ginny,
I would never be able to forgive myself.

But it didn't. Nothing
bad happened to them.

I think you're under a
lot of stress right now.

Are you gonna be okay?

Yeah, Bridge, come on.

I'll be fine. I'll be okay.

Hey, come on. I'll be okay.

Come on. We should get back inside.

- Ginny!
- What are you doing? Stop!

- Oh, God.
- No, Hilde, that's mine.

- Ginny, stop. Seriously.
- Do we have to?

Hey, what are you doing?
Give it back to me. Stop!

Please step away from the water.

It may be poisonous.

Hilde?

I mean it.

Really? Poisoned?

I saw something leaking into
the water at the island.

I think it might be why Walter's sick.

I don't want you exposed to that too.

Does that mean I don't
have to brush my teeth?

Hold on. While Dad is waiting for
the water results to come back,

we need to use this test
to make sure it's safe.

If these squares turn dark,
we're in trouble.

If they stay light, we're good.

And then just watch for three more seconds.

One, two, three.

Yay!

You can brush your teeth now.

Then, boo.

Mom? Dad?

Mom! Someone's here.

What are you doing here?

Hilde, I'm sorry.

I'm taking you in.

Hey, Hilde? Who's there? Everything okay?

Criminal trespassing.

On a Sunday? A school night?

That's...

What's that word lawyers say
when they think you're lying?

- Conjecture.
- That's conjecture.

If you have to take my mug sh*t,
please just get my good side.

Will you excuse me for a moment?

That island you toured
was private property.

What I'm still trying to figure
out is how you all got out there.

Hello? I know the boat didn't drive itself.

I have my boating license. My permit,
on the other hand, is forthcoming.

That's not how it works.

Yeah, I brought the kids out there.

Yeah, it was supposed to be
an educational field trip.

We had no way of knowing it
was even private property.

Unfortunately,
that's not what the owners are saying.

Wott Management owns that land.

- Oh, Trip.
- I know. Believe me.

The last thing I want is
to be doing their bidding.

But they brought us hard
evidence of you trespassing.

Each kid will pay a ticket.

And, Matt, since you're the adult,

they may wanna press charges.

Wait. What evidence do they have?

This drone.

I've never seen that before in my life.

- Where'd you get a drone?
- Is that my drone?

I told you we'd find it.

- That belongs to us.
- Actually, it's evidence.

I can't give it back to you yet.

You took my drone to record
yourselves breaking the law?

Honey.

Sorry we couldn't just, like,
hang out in my room like normal people.

It's just...
I wanted to talk to you in private,

and that's literally
impossible at my house, so.

It's okay. What's wrong? You sounded upset.

Emma told me that she likes me.

Like, "likes" likes you?

Well, what did you say back?

Well, I don't know, nothing.
I didn't really know what to say.

And then we realized that
my grandpa was gone, so...

So, what? Are you breaking up with me?

What? No. I mean, I just...
I just don't know what to do.

Tell her that you're my girlfriend,
that you're not into her like that.

Ethan, I don't wanna hurt her feelings.
She's my friend.

No, she's not.

She wants to date you.
She doesn't wanna be friends.

What, so you're saying
if we weren't dating,

- you wouldn't wanna be my friend?
- No.

Well, now it sort of feels like you're
asking me to choose, you or her.

Well, I mean, she likes you.

So, I guess...

yeah, I am.

And they're not...

I'm happy to help you fight the tickets.

Yeah, you know, I've been in this
situation before as a reporter.

I'm telling you, man, it always blows over.

Hold up. This has happened to you before?

Well, next time,
how about you leave my son out of it?

I'm sorry.

Don't worry, guys. This won't slow us down.

Excuse me?

Did you not hear anything they said?
I'm not gonna get the drone back.

- And we each have to pay a ticket.
- My dad's gonna k*ll me.

And what am I gonna tell my mom?
She already pulled a double shift today.

- Is there anything I can do?
- No.

All right, you two, let's go.

- Dad, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...
- Hey. It's okay.

We can talk about this when we get home,
all right?

Still nothing from Izzy.
She just said, "Be home soon."

Oh, man.

Man, man, man. She picked the wrong
night to pull a stunt like this.

I know.

Well, we're lucky Kim was able to babysit.

Wait. You told her not to mention
any of this to Frank yet, right?

All right, good.

I don't think they know he was there.

Hey, Hilde? Hey, you wanna come out here?

Look, Trip has managed to convince
Wott to let go of the charges.

But only if you promise not to
publish anything about this.

Dad, no. They're trying to buy our silence.

- Hilde, I...
- Look, I did my best.

But I'm a law enforcement officer,
and you guys broke the law.

You're not just any officer.
You're the sheriff.

Why are you helping them?

Do you think this is what I wanna be doing?

Helping some horrible
company punish my friend?

Look, I wish I could look the other way,

but that's not how this department works,
not anymore.

Now look, I don't want you to stop asking
questions and looking for the truth,

but you did something illegal.

And like it or not,
there have to be consequences.

I understand.

Yeah, we'll pay the ticket.

But I'm not gonna stop reporting.

Izzy still hasn't texted back.

This is like the tenth message I've sent.

We're gonna have to stop Hilde running
that story about the island, right?

I mean, whatever they're doing,
they definitely wanna keep that quiet.

You know what? Fifteen years ago,
I would've spent the night in jail

before walking away from a story like that.

Well, we have no idea what
these people are capable of.

We need to be careful.

Hey! Excuse me.
Do you have any idea what time it is?

Yeah, where the hell have you been?

Your sister got hauled
into the sheriff's station.

We had no idea where you were.

Wow, okay, cool.
So let me get this straight.

Hilde got arrested, but I'm the one
in trouble because I came home late?

- You're not in trouble because of Hilde.
- No, no! I had a horrible night, okay?

And I have no privacy in this house to
have one serious conversation with anyone!

And you have no idea what
I'm dealing with right now!

Okay,
we wanna know what you're dealing with.

We were just worried about you.

Okay, Mom, I'm really sorry,
but I couldn't find you guys,

and I knew it was gonna be really quick,

and I just really needed to see Ethan,
and...

It's okay. We were just...
We're just glad you're safe.

Okay?

- Okay.
- We were just scared.

Yeah, Iz. It's all good. You know, we'll...

We'll talk about this in the morning, okay?

Okay.

Mom, Dad, do you think I
could move up into the attic?

Please? I mean, I know
you're mad right now,

but, I mean, I'm not a kid anymore,

and I just really need
a little more privacy.

What are you doing?

- Mom and Dad said I could sleep upstairs.
- For tonight?

No. For good.

Look, Hilde, I'm in high school now, okay?
Things are gonna be different.

But I don't want them to be different.

I know that you may think my
reporting is annoying sometimes,

but I wouldn't know how
to do it without you.

Good journalists,
they look at both perspectives

and consider other people's feelings.

I forget to do that sometimes.

But you never do.

Sheriff Johnson, I took it upon
myself to re-review the drone footage.

Of course you did.

I found something that I
think you might've missed.

There was someone else on that island.

Damn it, Frank.

Off duty, without a warrant,
that's criminal trespassing.

From an outsider's perspective,
allow me to say,

he's a liability for your department.

All due respect,
you don't know him like I do.

You're right...

which is why I'm the better judge here.

He has a pattern of unprofessional
and insubordinate behavior.

I was gonna say as much in my report,
but after this, you need to fire him.

Wait a minute.

This job is his life.

I mean, it may not look
like it in this one instance,

but he is a solid officer.

He knows this community better than anyone.

I mean, we've had our differences,
but we overcame that.

I can't fire him.

Look. I know how you wanna feel
like you're in control here.

And believe it or not, hey,
I want you to succeed.

Just do what you have to do.

Because if you don't,

you and I both know you're gonna look
just as corrupt as your predecessor.

No, I'm telling you.

She finds everything I do.
I cannot hide anything from her, period.

She finds out.
If I buy her a present, she's, like, in it.

No, she digs around.

She's, like, snooping around
in all my stuff all the time.

Yeah. Well, you know, some of us
have some work to do around here.

So, I'll see you guys later.

Whenever I do my notes, I subconsciously
just draw triangles for no reason.

There's this pen that I saw at the store,

- and it can scan the letters...
- That's like future stuff.

And then scan them
back on a different page.

Listen, I know it was rough yesterday.

It was. Thank you for saying that.

But I think we can still chase the story
without getting in any more trouble.

Are you serious?

- She's serious.
- Of course she's serious.

Look, all we just need to do is get
people to use my water-testing kits,

- and then we can just...
- I'm taking the deal.

What?

I just have to do some community service

and not write anything
about Wott Management,

and that'll be the end of it.

Taking it too.
I'm not built for prison, Hilde.

I'm more of a sensitive, artistic type.

They can't keep us from
writing on the story. It's the truth.

I'm sorry. I'm out.

Me too.

How could you let them do this to us?

We're a team.

Let's get back to work.

What'd you get for number seven?

Smooth move, Lisko.

Hey.

I don't bite, you know?

Hi.

I...

I like you a lot, you know? But...

I just...

I don't know if I like you like that.

But...

you are maybe, like,

one of the coolest girls
I've ever seen in real life.

And I think if you asked me to, like,

cut all my hair off and dye it
purple and get a face tattoo,

I would probably do it.

And...

I just really don't want you to hate me,

or think that I'm, like, unbelievably lame,

because I feel like I actually...

I like myself around you.

And I never feel like that.

Or, you know, rarely ever.

Sorry. I'm just...

I was so pissed at Ethan
when I thought he was saying

that he wouldn't wanna be friends
with me if we weren't dating.

Then I realized that...

that's what I was afraid of with you.

Izzy, I'm still gonna wanna
be your friend no matter what.

- So you don't hate me?
- No, of course not.

I mean...

I'm disappointed, obviously, a little.

I think you know a version of
yourself you like the best.

And I think you're kind of looking
at me for permission to become her.

Permission granted. Duh.

Take a test kit.
Don't let them pollute our town.

Hi. Take a test kit.
Don't let them pollute our town.

Hi. Take a test kit.

So, I know this is a lot to take in,
but in the mountains, there are barrels,

and they're leaking all the
way down into this lake.

Everything that the water touches dies,
so it must be toxic.

And it's only a matter of time before
that water makes its way down to us.

So if we don't figure out
what they're covering up,

everyone in this town could be at risk.

Take a test kit.
Don't let them pollute our town.

Hilde,
you cannot just set up shop like this.

Does Mr. O'Hara know you
took that from the library?

Principal Collins,
people have the right to know

- if something might be making them sick.
- Hilde, our water is fine.

But you don't understand.

They dragged us into the sheriff's station,
fined us,

and even had Lieutenant
Briggs fired for helping us.

What?

Did Frank not say anything to you?

Next time, you need to get my permission

before you commandeer the
school halls like this.

I...

You need to think about the
consequences before you take actions.

Thank you.

Take that back to the library.

Hi, Mr. Johnson.

How can I help you?

I'm sorry for what I said.

Thank you. I appreciate that.

I've been trying to get people
in town to test their water

- to see if it's toxic and...
- Uh-uh.

Hilde, please don't spread panic
through the community like that. Gosh!

But, Trip, I know what I saw.

They're dumping something out there,
but I just don't know what.

It's private property. For all we know,
they could be doing construction.

I can't throw around
accusations without some proof.

Now, I took your tip about the Woodruff
basement, remember? You remember that?

And it ended up being nothing
except an embarrassment for me.

So let's get proof.

This is for your dad.
He lives closer to the island than anyone.

If there is something in that water,

- it'll reach him first.
- Hilde.

My dad's already got
so much to worry about.

Now, I don't wanna stress
him out about something

that might not even be happening.

Look, I know you can't
be my source anymore.

And I guess it's a conflict of
interest for you to be my friend.

But I am always gonna care about
the truth and doing the right thing.

And you.

I don't want you or your dad to get hurt.

- Hi.
- Hey.

Are you all right?

Not really.

So, is this what we're doing now?

Keeping secrets from each other?

Why didn't you just tell me?

I had to find out from Hilde of all people.

Do you know how hard it
is to keep a poker face

in front of the world's
youngest CIA operative?

'Cause I knew once I told you,
it'd be real, and I wasn't ready for that.

Like, look, I screwed up.

I'm sorry.

You're sorry? Why?

Because you deserve better than this.

You should be with
somebody you can rely on,

somebody you could be proud of,

not some guy who got fired
from the first job he ever had.

Yeah, well, you're not some guy.

- You're my fiancé.
- Which makes it even worse.

You know, long before that,
you were Cranky Frankie.

The world's saddest first grader,

who would cry every time his
mom dropped him off at school.

Is this supposed to be helping?

We've been friends for over years.

I've known every version of you,

and I've loved them all...

even Cranky Frankie.

You can get fired from a dozen more jobs.
I will never be ashamed of you.

Are you okay?

I'm fine.

It's just...
How can people not wanna know the truth?

I mean, we uncovered this huge story,
and they don't even wanna hear it.

It's like they don't even wanna
know if something bad is happening.

Yeah.
Well, you know, I think that you're right.

You know, bad news, it...

well, it makes people feel helpless, right?

So, they don't feel like
they can change anything.

So they just don't wanna know.

Is that why you didn't wanna help
me figure out why Pop-Pop was sick?

Yeah. Yeah, maybe.

You know, I think you're right.

I think that I was afraid
that whatever the answer was,

I wasn't gonna be able to help him.

Yeah, I was. I was scared to even go there,

to even ask the question, but not you.

I wish we could just ask Pop-Pop about it.

Yeah.

You know, like go back in time with him.

I feel like he knows the answer.
He just can't tell us.

Yeah, but I know it's a stupid idea.

No. No, no, no, no.
That's not a stupid idea at all.

- Wait. Dad, what is it?
- Hilde, look what I made!

It's a picture book about my adventure
with Pop-Pop when we went around town.

It's nice. You did a good job.

What is it?

Yeah, I'm looking for this story I
wrote years ago back in New York.

You know, Pop-Pop wasn't sick then,
so I never made the connection. But...

Yeah, it's about this treatment
called reminiscence therapy.

Yeah, it's to help people with
dementia remember the past.

Here we go.

Yeah, look, check it out.

There was this nursing home in San Diego

that built an entire s
town for their patients, right?

By helping recreate their pasts,
they're able to dig into their memories.

You know, I'm thinking we should
do something like that for Pop-Pop.

- What memory should we try?
- I don't know. What do you think?

Yeah, he's been to the
bike shop a bunch of times.

He's definitely too used to this place.
What do you think?

Ginny. Ginny!

Ginny, bring that book down here!

Ginny made a book about her and Pop-Pop
when they went out the other day.

May I see that book again?

No. No. You guys went to the beach?

What's this?

It's a restaurant.
Pop-Pop used to go there.

Here, let me see that. Wait, is that...

is that Scoglio's?

Yeah, it is. That's Scoglio's.
That's the red gingham tablecloth.

You know, Pop-Pop used to take me here
all the time when I was a kid. Wow.

Do you think it would help
Pop-Pop if we recreated it?

I don't know, honey, but...
Yeah, it's worth a sh*t.

I'm gonna go tell Mom and Izzy.
Great job, Ginny.

Yeah, you know...

good job, sweetie, really.

Good job.

Okay. Get up there.

According to Dad's article,
we need to let him take the lead,

see where the conversation goes.

Yeah, that's right.
There's no need to push too far. Okay.

Okay, bath time for you,
my little principessa.

All right, what else?

- I know.
- You get the pasta.

- I got it.
- Did someone check the pasta?

No. You didn't check... Oh, my gosh.

What are you doing here?

Someone may or may not have mentioned
you might need a piano player.

- That someone would have been Hilde.
- Yeah, kinda got that.

Look, I'm really sorry for being
such a tool earlier. I just...

I got jealous.

Yeah, well, still, I mean, you shouldn't
try to control who I'm friends with.

I know. I didn't mean to do that.

I guess I just felt,
I don't know, threatened.

But I should not have
tried to make you choose.

'Kay, well, lucky for you,
Emma was super cool about the whole thing.

So...

guess you can still be my boyfriend.

I mean, sure you still want me, or... ?

- Did you really rent that out?
- What? Come on, no.

Well, I... Actually, yeah. I...

I thought it would sell the whole
"Billy Joel, Italian restaurant" thing,

but I guess I just look like my Uncle
Sal trying way too hard on Easter Sunday.

Wow. Like I walked into a different era.

Yeah, that's what we were going for.

Right.

So, were there any songs
your grandpa liked back then?

I don't know.

All right.

Here he is! Welcome to Scoglio's,
the very best Italian in town.

- Oh, my.
- Why don't you come sit down?

Oh, wait, wait, wait. Yeah, no, no, look.

Let me get a spoon for that.
Let me get you a spoon.

- Signore.
- Oh, my goodness.

- Wow.
- My favorite.

Wow, wow, wow.

Bread or butter?

No, thank you.

How come you never took us here, Pop-Pop?
I love it.

Wow, look at this place.

Sorry, I'm late. It's beautiful.

Did you come here a lot with Jane,
Sylvester?

You know, Jane, your wife.

My Jane, at first, she hated this place.

She said it reminded
her of the social clubs

on the West Side of Chicago.

But I'd still drag her here...

because it was the best
veal chop in Erie Harbor.

She always looked so
beautiful in this candlelight.

I don't understand.
Why are all the guys so late?

Today of all days.

Are they just not gonna show up?

Why? What's today, Pop?

Our goodbye party from Strata.

The Plant Five boys are movin' on up.

- So, you're leaving the factory, Syl?
- Oh, yeah. Yeah.

- They gave me a fat severance check.
- Really?

Everybody at the plant's getting one
'cause they're shutting our division down.

Are these the Plant Five boys, Pop-Pop?

Yeah, plus Junior.

He didn't work at Strata,
but he knew all the best places to fish.

Oh, really?

And did Strata give money to all of you?

Yeah. They decided to be generous since
they're putting us all out of work.

It's probably for the best.

I hated that spray.
Made me cough like crazy.

Wait. What spray, Dad?

Some sealant. We sprayed it on the planes.

- And it made you sick?
- No.

A Strata doctor checked us out.

He said my headaches must've been allergies

to all the dust in the plant.

And you believed him?

It doesn't matter anymore.

I'm gonna take my severance money,

and I'm gonna open a bicycle shop.

"Syl's Cycles."

What do you think, Matty?

I think it's great, Pop.

I wanna make sure you love it.

The shop's for you, Matty.

This is all gonna be yours one day,
you know.

Yeah, well, I love it, Pop.

Really, I love it.

- You love it?
- Yeah, really. I really love it.

So, if what Pop-Pop was saying was right,
then it sounds like Strata knew

that the sealant they were using
in Plant Five was dangerous.

That's gonna be hard to prove in court.

- Yeah.
- Why?

Well, because you're trying to
build an argument around intent

for something that happened
nearly years ago.

Yeah, right. Yeah, just 'cause
Strata gave out big severance checks,

that doesn't prove that they did it
'cause of health issues at the plant.

But why else would they do it?

Well, my hunch?

They wanted to make the Plant
Five workers feel grateful.

Because if they're grateful,
then they wouldn't ask questions.

Right.

There's something wrong with Walter.

Love of mine Someday you will die

But I'll be close behind

And I'll follow you into the dark

Thank you all for being here.

No blinding light

Or tunnels to gates of white

Just our hands clasped so tight

Waiting for the hint of a spark

If Heaven and Hell decide

That they both are satisfied

When I first met you, I promised
you everything was gonna be okay.

I tried really hard.

I did everything I
thought I was supposed to,

but it just wasn't enough.

Into the dark

If Heaven and Hell decide

I'm sorry.

That they both are satisfied

Goodbye.

And illuminate the noes

On their vacancy signs

Goodbye, Walter.

If there's no one beside
you As your soul disembarks

You okay?

Then I'll follow you into the dark

I'm fine. It's just a bird.

Then I'll follow you into the dark

Hey, Scout.

- Yeah, what's all this?
- Research.

I need to figure out
what was in that sealant,

what Pop-Pop might've
been exposed to at Strata.

Yeah, sweetie, why don't
you let me tag in for a little bit?

You know, I know it's important, but...

Yeah, I think your little sister
needs her big sister right now.

Yeah?

Do you think Walter's in Heaven?

I don't know, Ginny.

Sometimes I worry that it's
something grown-ups made up

so we don't feel so scared.

Actually, I do think Walter's in Heaven.

I think he's up there chirping
away with his little bird family,

eating some little bird ice
cream on a little bird beach.

So, yeah.

I do think Walter's in Heaven.

I owe you an apology.

For what?

When you were trying to tell me something,
and I kept ignoring you.

I thought what I was
doing was more important,

like I knew better.

People do that to me all the time.

And I hate it.

I promise I will never
do that to you again.

What is it?

The water sample results came back.

Well, there's cadmium in those barrels.

Yeah, cadmium is... it's a heavy metal.
You know, I looked into it and...

it's linked...

to dementia.

Now we know why he goes in and out.

It's not just memory loss.

Hilde? Hilde?

What is it?

Dad, look.

Cadmium is one of the
chemicals Strata used.

They said they stopped in the early
' s and disposed of it safely,

but what if they lied?

Wait, but that would mean that
they're the ones responsible

for those barrels on the island.

I mean, if that is true,

then they've been covering
this up for years, decades even.

Strata was behind it all along.

For decades,
Erie Harbor has been known as a safe haven,

a small town surrounded by nature,
fresh air and clean water,

the kind of place where people
would want to raise their families.

But The Chronicle has uncovered a
problem with the town's water supply.

At least one Erie Harbor home has
tested positive for heavy metals

and many more could soon be at risk.

We don't know yet who's
responsible for the toxic water,

but connections have been drawn
to the largest company in town,

Strata Tech Industries.

So now, Erie Harbor citizens must ask...

"What else are they hiding?"

Sweetie, if cadmium was the
reason that Pop-Pop got sick,

I don't think we can reverse that.

Then I want them to pay.