02x04 - In the Dark

[bunniefuu]

Most Americans
woke up this morning

to find presidential candidate
Dwayne Johnson

in the middle of a very public
social media feud

with a chiropractor
from Minnesota.

Dr. Julian Echo has been
tweeting at candidate Johnson

since he announced
his run for the presidency,

and last night,
he finally got a response.

Dr. Echo had tweeted,

"Dwayne Johnson
will never be my president.

"Went to school with him.
Bad dude.

The world needs to hear
what I have to say,"

to which Johnson replied,

"30 years later,
and you're still a jabroni!"

Echo replied,

"You stole 'Jabroni'
from the Iron Sheik."

"No, I didn't.

"I asked him if it was okay
for me to use the word,

and he said yes."

"How do we know
that really happened?"

- "Ask the Iron Sheik."
- "I don't want to."

"I hate you."

"I always knew
your heart was black."

And then many more exchanges

that cannot be repeated
on television.

Guys, my bad.

I'm sorry.

I thought you said
you were doing a crossword.

Johnson and Echo
were classmates

at Washington Middle School
in Hawaii back in 1984.

You were just saying
that you wouldn't let anyone

get under your skin
like that anymore.

I know. I know.

It's just so unlike you.

You usually let that kind
of thing roll off your back.

I do usually, yes.

But this kid...
For some reason,

he makes me feel like
I'm 11years old again

and I'm fighting
in the schoolyard.

He's got a way of just digging
and needling.

And he also has
this really punchable face.

It's so punchable.

Uh...

- It's like right in the...
- Yeah.

Jamie, turn off the camera
and destroy the footage.

Yeah. So technically,

we don't own the footage.

It belongs to the network.

Since when did you become
a corporate stooge, Jamie?

- Tchh.
- You wear that Che Guevara

T-shirt all the time,

and then you say
something like that.

Come on, man.

The story's breaking
everywhere.

All the news outlets
and social media.

Oh, boy.
Come on, Sandy.

We gotta deal with this now.

Randall, look, I know
I shouldn't have responded,

but that kid has been coming
for me since day one.

I mean, it's natural
to want to defend yourself.

It is, but doing
something wrong

with the best of intentions
isn't an excuse.

My dad used to do that
all the time,

and it used to drive my mom
and I crazy.

Like this one time
in particular,

when we were living
in Nashville...

Oh, yeah, you started
to tell me about that.

Yeah.

You went there to live
with your dad

while he was wrestling
in the Memphis territory.

Correct.
And he had told my mom

that he had found
a place for us to live,

which he hadn't,

so I was stuck living

with a family friend,
Downtown Bruno.

And my mom didn't know
any of this,

and she was planning to join
us in a few weeks.

And my dad told me
by the time she got there,

he was gonna have
everything taken care of.

- And did you believe him?
- I sure did.

'Cause even though my dad
worked the gimmick

and he was the master of spin,

I was still 15 years old,
and he was still my hero.

My dad wrestled
in Jerry Lawler's show,

which aired live
every Saturday morning.

And Rocky gives Jeff Jarrett
the business!

Come on, Double J!
Quit getting punched so much.

It was the biggest thing
in Memphis.

b*at everything
in the ratings.

"Golden Girls,"
"Who's the Boss?"...

Not "Cheers," though.

- Even "Cheers."
- Even "Cheers"?

Ooh, vicious clothesline!

I think that's all
she wrote, folks.

Get him, Soul man!

Get up, Double J!
Come on!

...two, three!

Whoo! Yeah!

Whoo!

Another win
for Rocky Johnson.

He's having a hell
of a run out here, folks.

- Rocky!
- Rocky!

Whoo!

Whoo!

My dad got me work
with the ring crew,

setting up before
and cleaning up after matches.

Hey, Dad.
Great match today.

Thanks, Dew.

A win against Jeff Jarrett

always plays huge around here.

That's 'cause I remind
everyone

of their most hated cousin.

I can see that.

- Oh-ho!
- Hey.

Nice match today, brother.

- Thanks, Bruno. You too.
- Oh...

Oh, I liked when you said

Jared was 230 pounds
of cornmeal and sex appeal.

I appreciate that.

Although all credit
goes to Mom.

That's how she used to
describe my dad.

Yeah. Dude, you ready
to get outta here?

Uh, yeah.
Gimme five minutes.

All right.
I'll see you later.

Yeah, bro.

I'm hitting the road.
Got a match in Tupelo tonight.

So, uh, here.
Some walking around money.

Call that father-son
trickle-down economics.

Trickle what?

Trickle-down economics.

It's this financial theory

that's gonna change society,
son.

The basic idea is that people
who make money

make even more money

so that the little guy
has a chance to get ahead.

That doesn't sound right.

Doesn't matter how it sounds.
It matters that it works.

Oh. And I told Mom
that I'm gonna call her today.

Great. Give her my love.

And when I get back,
I might get us a place

before she even gets here.
Don't worry about that.

For sure.
I'm not worried.

I got it covered.

Everything's going great, Mom.

Dad and I are all moved in,

and we can't wait
for you to get here.

Fantastic.
So happy to hear that, Dewey.

How's school?
You liking your teachers?

Now, keep in mind
I'm not enrolled in school.

Why not?

Well, because no one
made me do it.

My mom told my dad to do it.

My dad told me to do it.
Then he forgot.

And if no one's checking on me,
I'm not gonna be like,

"Ooh, ooh, someone
enroll me in school.

Please, someone!"
I'm not doing that.

School's good, yeah.

Today we learned about
trickle-down economics.

Great.
Hey, is your dad there?

He's at the gym.
But he sends his love,

and he said for me to tell you
he'll call you tomorrow.

Hey, Dewey,
how you want your eggs?

You can have 'em any way
you want

- as long as they're scrambled.
- Shh, man!

Who was that?

It's just the exterminator.

Exterminator?

Are there rats
in the apartment?

No, no. Termites.

Termites?

We don't have termites.

They're just spraying to make
sure that we don't get them.

- We know you don't like bugs.
- Yeah, I hate them.

I told you,
if you ever see a bug on me,

don't tell me,
just knock it off.

Because I'll freak out.

- I know, Mom.
- All right.

Well, our car's on a boat
on the way to California.

I'm gonna fly out there

and pick it up and drive it
to Nashville, okay?

So I'll see you two
on Saturday.

Okay, see you then.
Love you.

Love you too, honey.
Bye.

So bad news:
Ran out of paper plates,

so it's eggs
a la "Road & Track."

Hey, how's moms doing?

Good.
She gets here next week.

Oh, damn. So soon.

Well, it's been great
having you, roomie.

She's not here yet.
How about

we skip the toilet eggs
and go have some fun?

I mean, I reckon I could
throw 'em in the fridge.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. What the hell?

Let's tear it up.

Didn't it bother you

not telling your mom
what was really going on?

It did.
It really did.

But look, Randall,
I didn't wanna worry her.

And I knew my dad was gonna
deliver before she got there.

I mean, he's a showman, right?
So he likes a dramatic finish.

So in the meantime, you were
just gonna have some fun?

Oh, come on, man.

I was 15 years old
in a brand-new city,

a great city,
practically unsupervised.

I mean, what would you do?

Would've had fun.

Come on. Like what?

I don't know,
like watch movies...

Uh-huh. Go out, though?

Eat candy and stuff
and have a lot of fun.

Sounds fun, man.

- Yeah.
- Wow.

♪ Well,
I'm a h*nky-tonk man ♪

♪ And I can't seem to stop

She's really good.

Oh, yeah.

Everyone's really good
in Nashville, Dewey.

You got a dream,
this is where you come.

What's your dream?

To not be poor.

That's it, brother.
All right.

Hey, suck it, Bruno!

You know, I suggest you shut
your pencil neck up

'fore my bodyguard here
whoops your ass.

- What are you do...
- Go with it.

Oh, my God.
Oh, he's tall.

Oh, I know him,
and I didn't even know

he was that tall.
Way tall.

I mean, that's a... he looks
a little bit bigger than you.

Where you going?

You scraped your chair back,
and he almost pissed his pants.

Whoo!

Oh, boy, I'm about
to get a whole hell

of a lot more mouthy with
your imposing self by my side.

So Bruno and I
started hanging out

pretty much all the time.

Hey, you sure
you don't mind driving?

You kidding?
I love driving.

Good, 'cause
I love drinking beer.

♪ And when the money's
all gone ♪

♪ I'm on the telephone,
singing, hey, hey, Mama ♪

While my dad was
on the road, I was on my own

until my mom got there to do
pretty much whatever I wanted.

♪ I'm a h*nky tonk man ♪

♪ And I can't seem to stop

♪ I love to give...

Nice of your girlfriend to
let you wear one of her hats.

What do you mean?

♪ And when the money's
all gone ♪

♪ I'm on the telephone,
singing hey, hey, Mama ♪

♪ Can your daddy
come home ♪

♪ Hey, hey, Mama
can your daddy come home ♪

♪ Well,
I'm a h*nky tonk man ♪

♪ And I can't seem to stop

♪ I love to give the girls
a twirl ♪

♪ To that old jukebox

♪ Abd when the money's
all gone ♪

♪ I'm on the telephone
singing ♪

♪ Hey, hey mama can
your daddy come home? ♪

Excuse me.

- Oh, I wasn't...
- I just have to say,

you have the voice of an angel.

Oh, okay.
Thank you.

Sorry if this seems forward,

but, uh, do you wanna go
grab a drink?

I've noticed
you're not married.

- I'm 15.
- Not again!

Why are all
the beautiful men 15?

And, of course,
my dad came back

to wrestle for Lawler
whenever the king needed him.

All right, Downtown Bruno.

Tell everyone
about this new wrestler

you're managing making
his debut on the show today.

Oh, man.

You talking
about this man right here?

This guy right here
is Crusher Yurkov.

6'4," 400 pounds

of romping, stomping
tattooed destruction.

I found this man in an alleyway
head-butting a dumpster.

And let me tell you something,
Jerry Lawler.

That hunk of metal
got off a lot easier

than Rocky Johnson will.

Hey, speak of the devil.
Rocky Johnson's here.

Downtown Bruno, you weasel.

I'll whoop your ass

and then whoop the beef
out this meatball sub

that just rolled in here.

You don't compare me to food.

They're not even
waiting for the ring.

These two wanna k*ll
each other!

- Are you crazy?
- Wait for the ring!

- Oh, my God!
- So yeah, I'd say

my dad and I were both
k*lling it out there.

It must have hurt.

I don't think it hurts

more than any other place.

A skull tattoo?
No way!

- That hurts way more than...
- Hey.

Rocky?
Crusher. Crusher Yurkov.

We met earlier
when I tried to strangle you.

- I remember you, Crusher.
- Oh, good, good.

Hey, sorry
for the interruption.

I just wanted to say

it was a real honor
to wrestle you today.

Oh, wow. Thank you.

Hey, this is my son, Dwayne.

Nice to meet you.

Me and my dad were actually
just talking about you.

- Yes.
- Did your skull tattoo hurt?

Terribly.

Hey, I'm actually a huge fan
of you and Tony Atlas.

"Soul Patrol" nerd,
right here.

Hey, I appreciate
that, brother.

Watching Tony in
"WrestleMania 2"...

it just wasn't
the same without you.

You know,
I always felt like you did 99%

of the real wrestling
in the ring.

You see this, Dewey?

We got ourselves
a student of the game.

Yes, sir.
Vince McMahon sent me down here

to develop my skills,
and maybe hopefully, one day,

he'll call me up to the WWF.

- WWF? Nice.
- Yeah.

You know, I always thought
you had

a lot more left to do there.

You know, too bad about
that whole Saudi Arabia thing,

you know, such freaky timing.

Hey, I saw an opportunity

to wrestle for another
promoter, and I took it.

There's no law against trying

to make some more money
for your family.

No, of course, I-I
just meant it was bad luck...

Man, I don't need luck.

- We make our own luck.
- I-I mean no disrespect.

That's fine.
Don't go spreading rumors.

Hey, brothers.

We'll have to hitch
a ride to Nashville.

Looks like one of the
crazy fans slashed my tires.

Damn!
Congrats, Bruno.

You're getting
some serious heat.

I know.
People hate me so much.

Isn't it great?

Hey, you can't handle my heat,

stay outta my bathroom kitchen.

Hey, there.

There are my guys!

- Mom
- Hey!

My goodness.
It's so great to see you.

- I've missed you.
- Oh, we missed you too, baby.

I didn't think you were
getting in until Saturday.

It is Saturday!
That's why I came straight here

because I know you always sh**t
Jerry's shows on Saturday.

- Yes, we do.
- Hi, Bruno.

Hey, Ata.
Uh, this is Crusher.

Yeah, I just started managing
him a couple weeks ago.

Hello, Crusher.

Ma'am.

Okay. Well, let's go.

Can't wait to see
our apartment.

Great.
Let's go see the apartment.

But you've been driving
for a long time, babe.

I'll take your car.

Dewey, you can ride with Bruno
and y'all follow us.

Yeah, that's a good idea.

The car is loaded with boxes
and souvenirs and fireworks.

The open road was basically
a 2,000-mile strip mall.

Yeah.

It's just that...

my tire slash, remember?

Um...

Thanks for the ride.

Yeah, no problem.
It's a rental.

So, uh, where are we going?

I don't know.

Bruno?

No idea, brother.

Maybe he got us a place.

Maybe he's just taking us there
to surprise us.

Maybe!

Yeah, yeah, maybe.

Hey, did I ever tell you
your dad was the one

who encouraged me to get
into the wrestling business?

He must have seen something
in a short, skinny white kid

who could talk circles
around a preacher.

And believe me,
he was the first.

He said to me,
"You know what, Bruno?

I'm gonna call
Jerry Lawler for you."

And he did.
Changed my life forever.

Your dad is a good man.

Ooh.

That's not good.

I don't think
he got the place.

Nope.
Maybe not.

Maybe not.

Babe, baby.
Come on.

Where the hell were we going?
Where were you even driving to?

Long John Silver's!

I was gonna tell you on the way
I didn't get an apartment

then smooth it over
with some fish.

Some fi... why didn't you
just get an apartment?

You had one job!

Hey, I happened to have
a wrestling job,

a very real job that takes me
all over this territory

to make money for this family.

You told me
he had an apartment.

You said the exterminator
was there!

He said he was gonna get
a place before you got here.

So where have you two
been living?

I'm here and there, you know,

in and out of town,
just bouncing around, really.

Bouncing around?

And I've been staying
with Bruno.

- Heyo.
- With Bruno?

If you don't mind, gentlemen,

I'm just gonna interject
real quick.

I just wanna say, you know,

we have been very responsible.

All right?
No shenanigans.

And even when I've only had
a few beers...

- Bruno.
- Dewey drives us home

- super safe.
- You're driving?

- Barely.
- Mostly, he's just

- my bodyguard.
- What?

Yeah. I mean, only
at the rougher bars, of course.

- Bruno!
- I'm gonna go move the Nissan.

Butt's a little too close
to the road.

Wait, so who's been
taking you to school?

Yeah, Dewey.
How is school?

- It's summer.
- It's October.

Are you not in school?

I couldn't enroll myself.
An adult needs to take me.

I didn't know that.

Bruno, why didn't you
enroll him?

Well, sh**t, brother.
I don't know.

I guess that's on me.

I can't believe you've both
been lying to me.

- Dad said he had a plan.
- Everyone just take a breath.

- He didn't have a plan, Dewey!
- Babe, I did have a plan.

That was a tough time
for all of us,

but especially for my mom.

We had so much stuff
going on back then.

And I've spoken a little bit
about this publicly,

but this story is about my dad
and having good intentions,

but still making mistakes.

Well, I can understand
why you wanted to believe

what he was telling you,
though.

Yeah, I mean, this person
who's been your hero

your entire life,

and it's hard to wrap your head
around the idea

that maybe he's not the person
who you think he is.

So what happened after that?

Well, first,
my mom enrolled me in school,

and then she found us
an apartment to live in.

Hey, this is nice.

It will be, yeah.

What do you say we break in
that kitchen with two words:

Cheese, burgers.

It'll just be me and Dewey
for dinner tonight, Rocky.

It'll just be me and Dewey
for dinner for a while here.

Oh, come on, baby.

- I know you're still upset with me...
- You can stay with Bruno whenever you're...

"bouncing through town."

If that's what you want.

None of this is what I want,

but it's what it is.

- Thanks for the ride, Mom.
- Of course.

You sure you don't wanna
come in, say hi to everyone?

I'm sure.
I'll see you at home.

I understood
how my mom felt.

My dad had let us both down.

Ooh! Another hit!

And Crusher Yurkov
is holding his own

against
the veteran Rocky Johnson!

Looks like Rocky's setting him
up for a drop kick.

But Crusher as other ideas.

Oh, impressive athletic ability
for a man that size.

The champ looks stunned.
He's reelin', folks.

The big man's got him
right where he wants him.

Hey, son, how you doing?

Fine.

Hey, how's your mom?

That's right, baby!
Choke him out!

Hey, miss you, roomie.
How's Moms doing?

Hey, that's what
I just asked.

She's doing fine.

Look, you know
your mom and me.

We go through our ups
and downs,

- but we always see it through.
- Start the count.

I'll give you
a ride home today, okay?

Yeah, I don't know.

It's only been a week.
She's still pretty upset.

What the hell's
going on over here?

Everyone okay?
Nobody's got the clap, right?

- The clap?
- Yeah. It's going around.

Everyone be careful.
Take care of your junk.

Look, it's just a ride.
I won't come in, I promise.

Yeah, okay.

All right,
let's get back to work.

Thank you, son.
Agh!

These two are crazy!

So, how's school?

- Dad...
- What?

I just want to talk.

What's there to talk about?

I believed you when you said
you were taking care of things,

and it all blew up in my face?

You're right to be upset,
okay?

I'm upset too.

I know I kept you in the dark

about all this,
but I do have a plan.

It just... didn't come together
in time.

Where are we going?

To show you the reason
I didn't get us a place.

It's because couldn't get us
a place like this.

Man, I wanted us
to live somewhere good,

like back when I was WWF champ.
Better, even.

Dad, we don't need
a place like this.

I'm gonna get us a place
like this, promise.

I'll make it happen.

I had us on top once before.
I'll get us there again.

And did you believe him?

I believed that that was
genuinely what he wanted to do.

- Best intentions.
- Exactly.

But my dad's choices really put
my mom and I in a tough spot.

And even though we came to an
understanding in that car ride,

that was just the beginning
of my journey with my dad.

And things would get even
more complicated down the road.

- Hmm.
- All right.

So we drafted up

a media strategy
to deal with this.

Wrote up a press release,

booked you
on the Sunday show circuit.

But then we were like,

"Why the hell
are we indulging this jerk?"

Yeah, why would we
amplify him

and give him
an even larger platform?

So instead, we think

we should destroy him
from the shadows.

- Whoa.
- I'll get our guys started

on digging up dirt on Dr. Echo.

Guys, I appreciate this,
but we're not gonna do that.

After talking
with Randall here,

I realized
that making a mistake

with the best of intentions
is one thing,

but making a mistake
with the worst...

it's just not me.

Yeah, our chat
got pretty deep.

Hey, uh, Jamie, you get that?

I did, because luckily,

I didn't destroy
the digital card.

We get it, Jamie.
You're a hero.

All hail Jamie,
doer of her job.

You know,
but you guys are right.

We shouldn't give him
a larger platform,

and the 24-hour news cycle
moves fast,

and tomorrow, they'll be on
to the next thing.

So let's just ignore it
and let it die.

Okay, sure.

I just need
to make a call real quick.

You already called your guys,
didn't you?

I did.