05x01 - The Lake

Episode transcripts for the TV show "The Wonder Years". Aired: January 1988 to May 1993.*
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05x01 - The Lake

Post by bunniefuu »

-Hey!

If you're around
tomorrow night...

I'll be here.

-Some things change
your life forever.

When I was 15, those were
the things I went searching for.

-♪ What would you do
if I sang out of tune? ♪

♪ Would you stand up
and walk out on me? ♪

♪ Lend me your ears,
and I'll sing you a song ♪

♪ I will try not to
sing out of key, yeah ♪

♪ Oh, baby, I get by ♪
- ♪ by with a little help
from my friends ♪

-♪ All I need is my buddies ♪

-♪ High with a little
help from my friends ♪

-♪ I'm sayin' I'm gonna get higher ♪ - ♪
try with a little help from my friends ♪

-♪ Whoa-oa-oa-oa ♪

-♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪

-♪ Somebody who
knows quite sure ♪

♪ Baby ♪

-♪ By with a little
help from my friends ♪

-♪ Said I'm gonna make
it with my friends ♪

-♪ Try with a little
help from my friends ♪

-♪ Oh, I'm gonna
keep on trying ♪

-♪ High with a little
help from my friends ♪

♪ I'm gonna keep on
trying now, baby ♪

-♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪

-Lake wennahatchee.

For one week that
summer of 1971,

My family and paul pfeiffer's

Rented side-by-side cabins
along its placid shores.

-Damn it!

-It was a place to get away

From the aggravations
of modern suburban life...

-I got one!

- Escape from the petty,
everyday competition.

-Jack? Honey?

Hot dogs or
hamburgers for dinner?

-We're gonna have fish, damn it!

-The kind of paradise

That made you wish
you could stay forever.

Paul, let's go!

-I'm coming! I'm
putting on bug spray!

-Well, hurry up!

That was me... Kevin arnold.

And that august,

There was pretty much
one thing on my mind.

Paul, come on! Let's
get out of here!

-Hi, kevin.

-Hi, deb.

Paul, come on!
- Move!

-Where you guys going?

-None of your business.

-Where we went didn't matter.

Getting away was
all that counted.

-Say, you boys want
to do some fishing?

-No, thanks, dad.

-After all, we had more
important things to do.

- So, what do you want to do?
- Got me.

-I can't believe it.

What happened to this place?

Used to be great.

Now, look.

Snoresville.

-Over the summer, my best
friend had gained two things...

A new set of contact lenses
and a new set of hormones.

-You know, I could
be home right now,

Making time with julie zeller.

You're dreaming, pal.

-I'd probably have gotten
to second base by now.

-Oh, right. Like you'd
even know what to do.

I know what to do.

-Give me a break.

-Yeah? Listen.

It just so happens,

I got a certain 25-cent
little insurance policy, huh?

-The famous pfeiffer condom.

Paul had been bragging about
it ever since he got it in july.

Paul, not again.

It was kind of
his rabbit's foot.

-You know douggie sherman?

Well...

He picked up about two
dozen of these things

In a men's room near st. Louis.

I got mine off
him for 50 cents...

-But suddenly, I wasn't
listening anymore.

- Which is kind of a good
deal, if you consider the...

-♪ Oh, yeah ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

♪ Everything gonna be
all right this morning ♪

♪ Now, when I was a young boy ♪

♪ At the age of 5 ♪

♪ My mother said I'd be ♪

♪ The greatest man alive ♪

-Here it is... The
red chief special.

-Paul, you don't have
to rub it in my nose!

-Whoo!

-Come on. Let's get out of here.

Fact...

-Sorry.

- After three and a
half days of hanging out,

Even my best friend was
starting to get on my nerves.

-I wish you wouldn't put
the top on so tight, honey!

-Not to mention my folks.

-Rather have pickle juice
on your back seat, norma?

-That summer, I'd had
the profound revelation

That my parents had suddenly
become blithering idiots.

-Thing's on tighter
than I thought.

-Well, maybe if we b*at
it against the table.

-Sometimes it was as
if they were speaking

A whole different language.

-Hey, you sure you don't want
some of my trout, jack, huh?

Plenty of it.

-Hamburger's fine, thank you.

-Tomorrow, I'll show you
how to catch some real fish.

-Right, kev?

-Whatever.

All this family togetherness

Was more than my
adolescent soul could take.

What I needed was...

A savior.

-♪ A-breakin' rocks
in the hot sun ♪

-Sorry we're late.

-You guys were supposed
to be here three hours ago.

-Yeah, well, we, um,
took the scenic route.

Tell him, wart.

We took the scenic route.

-That was wayne's
buddy dave wirtschafter.

Everybody called him wart.

Hard guy to look at.

-Say, I have a fun
thought for tonight.

How about a campfire?

-Sounds good to me, mom.

-Oh, no.

-Sorry. We're going to
be at the drive-in tonight.

-But, hang on. Did he say...

-Yeah. At the drive-in.
"Planet of the apes."

-Great. We'll come with you.

-You must be joking.

-Okay, so it cost
us 15 bucks plus gas.

At least we'd found a place
to hide out for the night.

-Get out.

Tell 'em, wart!

-Get out!

-And there you had
it. We'd hit bottom.

-Okay. We're here to stay.

-We were stranded at a drive-in

With no car, 50
cents in our pockets,

And no place to go
but... "Planet of the apes."

And then it happened.

I knew that truck.

I knew that girl.

And I knew what I had to do.

Let's go talk to her.

-Are you crazy?

We don't even know her!

-Great.

Mr. Condom-in-his-wallet
was afraid of locals.

Look, paul, you're the one who
said you wanted to meet girls.

Okay.

-What do you suppose happened?

-Air leak. She
d*ed in her sleep.

-You don't seem
very cut-up about it.

-It's a little late for a wake.

She's been dead nearly a year.

-That means we've been away
from earth for 18 months.

-Our time.

-Okay. All I needed
was a snappy opening.

You, uh... Got
another cigarette?

-Sorry. Bummed this one myself.

-Oh.

-Been away from
earth for 2,000 years.

-You can have a drag
of mine if you want.

-Still can't accept it.

Time's wiped out
everything you ever...

-My goal was to appear

Like I'd been doing
this my whole life.

- We can't get back.
It's still just a theory.

-You don't smoke, do you?

-Nothing will grow here.

-Oh. Uh, sometimes.

-You shouldn't. It
doesn't flatter you.

-Oh? What about you?

-I shouldn't, either.

-The thing is, for some reason,

I couldn't breathe.

So... Where are you from?

-Here.

-Where... The drive-in?

About a half a mile from here.

-I'm kevin.

And this is paul.

-Hi.

-Hey. Cara.

-Hey, cara.

You want to hang
out, or you want to go?

-Whatever.

I think my brother
wants to split.

-Well, it was nice
talking to you, cara.

-Yeah.

-And maybe we'll see you around.

Yeah. Maybe.

-And that was it.

Except that in that
brief wrinkle of time,

I knew beyond a doubt that
something had happened...

Something big.

-Hey!

If you're around
tomorrow night...

I'll be here.

-I guess she knew it, too.

The next day seemed to
last about 11 centuries.

-Kev, you want me to
bait a hook for you?

-No, thanks, dad.

No matter how I tried,

I couldn't get that
girl off my mind.

We're going back tonight.

-What?

You don't think I'm actually
gonna go back there, do you?

-Come on. We'll all hang out.

-Yeah, right.

Maybe she has a friend.

-A friend?

-Sure, it was underhanded,
but absolutely necessary...

Considering the circumstances.

-Hey!

-Hi, cara!

-How's it going?

-All right.

-Uh, my brother
and a bunch of us

Were thinking about
going down to the lake

To hang out.

You want to come?

-Sure. Sounds great.

-Oh.

You think you have
a... A friend or someone

Who maybe wants to come along?

-Yeah.

Maybe lori.

-Lori? That's great!

-Sure. Love to go.

-Well, folks, only five
minutes till showtime.

Let one of our friendly

Snack-bar personnel
service you...

-Fantastic.

-I'll meet you out back.

-If I could just
grab my associate

For one quick second here.

-So, what do you think?

-I'm not going. No way on earth.

Kev, I'm your best friend.

I'll do anything
you want me to do.

But, please, don't ask
me to do this for you.

-It was the heartfelt cry
of a dear and trusted friend,

So I really had no choice.

See ya!

-Night, paul.

-It was true I hardly
knew these kids

And I'd just met this girl

And I had no idea
where I was going.

Seemed to me, that
was exactly the point.

Nice night.

-Yeah.

-That night, I felt
a million miles

From everything
I'd known before.

-I'm starting high
school in the fall.

-Me too.

-Stinks.

-Yeah.

-Maybe thing will pick
up when I get my license.

-That's what I'm
hoping... A little mobility.

You should come up and visit me.

-I'd like that.

-The thing is, even though
I'd just met this woman,

I felt like I'd known
her my whole life.

-Hey, cara!

You want to go, or you
want to hang out awhile?

-Leave us alone, billy.

-He watches out for you, huh?

-The guys around here
are idiots, you know?

-Yeah.

-And the summer guys...


You learn pretty
much to stay away from.

-Oh.

-My brother hates that I smoke.

-Do your parents know?

-Sometimes it's like they're
speaking a different language.

You know?

-Yeah. I know.

We were so much like each other.

I could feel myself missing her

Even while I was with her.

-I'm not supposed to
trust you, you know.

-So... Do you?

-Yeah.

-Let me.

-I thought you were
gonna light my cigarette.

Nice night.

-Yeah.

And it was.

-♪ Imagine me and you, I do ♪

♪ I think about
you day and night ♪

♪ It's only right
to think about... ♪

-Over the next few
days, I did my best

To be a good son to
my dad, to my family.

-Hey, kevin!

-♪ If I should call
you up, invest a dime ♪

-But somehow, something
kept calling me away.

I got to go, dad.

-♪ Imagine how the world
could be so very fine ♪

♪ So happy together ♪

♪ I can't see me loving... ♪

-Cara and I had found something

No two people had
ever found before...

Each other.

-♪ Baby, the skies
will be blue ♪

♪ For all my life ♪

-We talked about
everything... Almost everything.

-Will I see you tomorrow night?

-Sure!

-♪ The only one for me
is you and you for me ♪

-Of course.

-♪ So happy together ♪

-Trouble was, I was running
out of nights, and fast.

-♪ How is the weather? ♪

♪ So happy together ♪

-I guess somehow, I just kept
hoping something would happen.

And then it did.

-Look. Alvin.

Alvin, look at this.

What is this?

What is this? Look
what your son has.

- Oh, my gosh! My wallet!
- Where did you get this from?

What is this?!

-I got one!

-Guess you could
call it a red-letter day.

-I got one! Huh?!

Here we go!

Eat up.

-The fish smells great, honey.

Aren't you all proud
of your father?

Yeah. We've got fish for days.

-Yeah. We've got fish for days.

-Of course, I was more than glad

To be there for dad's
moment of triumph.

Well, I got to run.

-Honey? Run where?

-To the drive-in.
You know, with paul.

-Afraid not, honeybunch.

The pfeiffster's
not going anywhere.

Mr. Rubberhead's
grounded for life.

Wayne!

-Look, mom, I just have
something I have to do, okay?

-Wait a minute.

You know why I brought
the whole family up here?

Because I thought
it might be nice

For the whole family
to spend a little time...

Together.

I caught that fish so
we could all enjoy it...

Together.

And since this
is our last night,

I thought we'd spend
it with each other...

Together.

- But, dad...
- Kev!

I mean it.

-Part of me knew he was right.

But another part of
me knew something more.

I can't stay, dad.

- Kevin, sit down!
- Why?

-Because I say so,
and I'm your father.

-There it was.

My whole life, they'd
been his final words.

I'm sorry.

I'm going.

That night, huddled in that cab,

We put the whole
world behind us.

I didn't know what would
happen when I got home.

It didn't matter.

-You like this?

-Sure. Whatever.

-♪ ...in the tall grass
where the shadows fell ♪

-I had to be with
cara. I had to hold her.

I just couldn't bring
myself to tell her...

I was leaving.

So... What do you
want to do tonight?

-♪ The evening bell ♪

♪ Jamaica, say you will ♪

-You're leaving, aren't you?

- ♪ Help me find a way ♪
- yeah.

-♪ To fill these empty hours ♪

-That's too bad.

-♪ And say you will ♪

-I'll miss you.

-♪ Come again tomorrow ♪

♪ The daughter of... ♪

-What's wrong?

-Nothing's wrong.

I'll miss you, too.

Look...

We can still see each other.

I mean... I get my
license in a few months.

I could... You know...

Drive up...
- Yeah.

- On weekends.

-Yeah.

-♪ Jamaica, say you will ♪

-I think I got to hang out
with my brother tonight.

-I was losing her.

I guess I knew I had to, but...

Don't be like that!

-Sorry.

-♪ And stay until ♪

-Look, I want to
stay. You know that.

You've got to know
that... More than anything!

But there was nothing
more I could say

Except...

I'm sorry.

-I'm not.

-♪ Jamaica was a
sweet young one ♪

♪ I loved her true ♪

♪ She was a comfort and a
mercy through and through ♪

♪ Hiding from this
world together ♪

♪ Next thing I knew ♪

♪ They had brought her
things down to the bay ♪

♪ What could I do? ♪

♪ Jamaica, say you will ♪

♪ Help me find a way ♪

♪ To fill these sails ♪

♪ And we'll sail until ♪

-I wanted to stay
there in that night

More than anything
I'd wanted before.

But I knew I couldn't.

I was 15.

I slept under a roof
my father owned

In a bed my father bought.

Nothing was mine...

Except my heart

And my fears

And my growing knowledge

That not every road was
going to lead home anymore.

-♪ ...our waters have run dry ♪
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