I Saw the TV Glow (2024)

[bunniefuu]

[AUDIENCE LAUGHING]

[WOMAN TALKING INDISTINCTLY]

[VOICES OVERLAPPING

WITH EACH OTHER]

[AUDIENCE CHEERING]

[SCREAMING]

[APPLAUSE]

[CROW CAWING DISTANTLY]

[JINGLE MUSIC PLAYING

FROM ICE CREAM TRUCK]

[INDISTINCT SOUND

OF CHANGING CHANNELS]

MAN: [OVER TV]

This Saturday night

on a brand-new Pink Opaque.

WOMAN: Drain Lords,

hundreds of them,

coming out of the drains!

MAN: Isabel's bathroom has

a new supernatural infestation

that no exterminator

can take care of.

It's "The Attack

of the Drain Lords."

10:30p.m./ 9:30 Central,

this Saturday night

on the Young Adult Network.

TARA: [OVER TV]

They can't hurt you

if you don't think about them.

They can't hurt you

if you don't think about them.

[ANTHEMS FOR A SEVENTEEN

YEAR-OLD GIRL BY YEULE PLAYS]

[CHILDREN SPEAKING

INDISTINCTLY]

CHILDREN: Five, four,

three, two,

one!

[CHILDREN GIGGLING]

[ANTHEMS FOR A SEVENTEEN

YEAR-OLD GIRL CONTINUES]

[TV STATIC BUZZING]

[MUSIC FADES OUT]

OWEN: It was raining last

night and I couldn't sleep,

so I started

my favorite TV show again.

The Pink Opaque.

[PIANO MUSIC PLAYING]

[TROMBONE BLARING]

[SAXOPHONE WAILING]

[VOLUNTEERS TALKING

INDISTINCTLY]

-Thank you, ma'am.

-WOMAN: Yes.

-Enjoy your night.

-GIRL: Yeah. [CHUCKLES]

GIRL: Hey.

WOMAN: Oh, let me take two,

yeah. Thank you.

Owen! Owen, honey.

Come on, honey,

we're ready to go in.

[SOFTLY] Come on.

BRENDA: I don't know

what he's doing...

[CONTINUES INDISTINCTLY]

-[CURTAIN DRAWS]

-Ready?

Owen, I know

you're not too old for this.

[WHISPERS]

It's been four years.

It's time to vote

for the saxophone man again.

Mom!

Okay. Come on.

Come on. Come-- Owen, come on.

Please.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

BRENDA: I don't know.

I don't think so.

[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

YOUNG OWEN: Hey.

Hey.

YOUNG OWEN:

Are your parents voting too?

No.

Ms. Driscoll lets me use

the dark room after school,

so I'm just waiting

for my pictures to dry out.

That looks like

the best book ever.

Yeah, it is.

That's like the TV show,

right?

The Pink Opaque?

Yeah. It's the official

episode guide.

Do you watch?

-No.

-Oh.

[VENDING MACHINE BUZZING]

[PAGES RUSTLING]

What grade are you in?

Ninth.

What about you?

Seventh.

[SCOFFS] My God,

you're a baby.

Election Night is cool, right?

It's like Colonial Day.

Or when they bring

the inflatable planetarium

into the gymnasium.

It's like the school

gets transformed

into something else, you know?

It's special.

It's a kids show, right?

The Pink Opaque?

No. No way. Who told you that?

I mean, yeah, technically it's

on the Young Adult Network.

But it's way too scary,

and the mythology's way

too complicated for most kids.

I see commercials for it

all the time.

It looks amazing.

You can read about the

episodes here, if you want.

It's got quotes and pictures,

and info about

the double bill of bands

that plays each week

at the Double Lunch.

It comes on at 10:30 p.m.,

right?

Yeah. Every Saturday night.

It's the last show

in the block

before they switch

to black and white reruns

for old people.

My friend Amanda and I

watch it together every week.

My dad won't let me

stay up that late.

10 p.m.'s my bedtime.

Damn.

That absolutely sucks.

My mom basically doesn't give

a crap when I go to bed.

[YOUNG OWEN SIGHS]

Hey.

You know what you should do?

-Mom?

-BRENDA: Hmm?

Can I have a sleepover

at Johnny Link's house

Saturday night?

Johnny Link?

I didn't even know you guys

were still friends anymore.

Well, honey, you'll have

to ask your father.

[POP MUSIC PLAYING SOFTLY]

Can you ask him for me?

[TV PLAYING SOFTLY]

[KEYS JINGLING]

BRENDA: Frank,

Owen wants to go

have a sleepover

at Johnny Link's.

Well... He's old enough.

He's a good kid.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER ON TV]

[VOICES OVERLAPPING ON TV]

[DOOR SLAMS]

BRENDA: Honey!

You remembered

your inhaler, right?

Yeah.

BRENDA: All right.

[CAR STARTING]

[THUNDER RUMBLING]

[RAIN PATTERING]

YOUNG MADDY:

And what about a husband?

AMANDA: If I have to. [SCOFFS]

What about Evan Dando?

I mean, he's cute

but he's so tortured.

I'd have to, like,

save him every day.

YOUNG MADDY: Fine.

Then what about Beck?

AMANDA: He's such a spindly

little cutie. [CHUCKLING]

[MUSIC PLAYING OVER TV]

YOUNG MADDY: Okay, but we need

more, like, gross guys.

Ugh, what about Joe from Math?

AMANDA: No, he's cute.

What about, like,

Michael Stipe?

I like Michael Stipe.

MAN: [ON TV] And now,

a brand-new The Pink Opaque.

Hey.

[THEME MUSIC PLAYING ON TV]

YOUNG OWEN: Is it okay

if I come sit down?

Shut up. It's starting.

ISABEL: [ON TV] Tara is

my imaginary best friend,

and I'm hers.

We met at sleepaway camp

and discovered we had

an ancient psychic connection.

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING OVER TV]

Now, even though we live

on opposite sides

of the county,

we help each other

fight the forces of evil.

We are... The Pink Opaque.

[OPENING THEME MUSIC PLAYING]

The last Sprinkly Stick

of the summer.

What a bummer.

Definition of.

It's not fair, man.

Why does the winter

have to be so cold

that you can't eat ice cream

during the winter?

[SIGHS]

You know what I wish?

I wish the Ice Cream Man

didn't have to leave

when the weather

got cold in the winter.

[TINKLING MUSIC PLAYING]

JOCK: I wish...

he never went away.

[GROWLING]

YOUNG MADDY: You can go out

and join her, if you want.

No, I don't smoke cigarettes.

[SCOFFS] It's not a cigarette.

It's a Black & Mild.

[CAR HORN HONKS]

YOUNG MADDY: Are you sure

you don't want a ride home

-with Amanda's mom?

-[CAR DOOR CLOSES DISTANTLY]

[CAR DRIVES AWAY]

I told my parents

it was a sleepover.

So, did you like it?

The show I mean?

Yeah.

It was...

It was really interesting.

Isabel's a scaredy-cat.

She's kind

of the main character,

but she's also kind of a drip.

Tara's my favorite.

She's super hot,

and she doesn't take sh*t

from anybody.

Plus, she's an expert

on demonology.

And they never meet up

in person, right?

No.

Just in the pilot episode,

back at sleepaway camp.

But they can communicate

via "the psychic plane."

So, each episode, they help

each other fight a new monster

from across the county.

YOUNG OWEN: Okay.

Is the Ice Cream Man

in every episode?

[CHUCKLES] No.

That's just

a Monster of the Week.

Mr. Melancholy is the Big Bad.

Mr. Melancholy?

The Man in the Moon.

Oh, right.

He's always messing

with time and reality.

He wants to rule the world,

to trap Isabel and Tara

in the Midnight Realm.

So each week,

he sends a new

supernatural foe their way.

Because they're part

of The Pink Opaque.

No, because they are

The Pink Opaque.

YOUNG OWEN: Right.

Sorry.

Don't apologize.

Well, I'm passing out.

Are you sure it's okay

that I sleep down here?

YOUNG MADDY:

Just be out by dawn.

If my stepdad catches you,

he'll break my nose again.

And where...

where will you be sleeping?

In my bed... creep.

[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]

[DOOR CREAKS]

[YOUNG MADDY SIGHS]

YOUNG MADDY: Sometimes...

The Pink Opaque feels

more real than real life.

You know?

[TAPER BY MARIA BC PLAYING]

[DOOR OPENS]

[DOOR CLOSES]

[TAPER CONTINUES]

[FIRE CRACKLING]

[WIND BLOWING]

-[KIDS SCREAMING DISTANTLY]

-[BELL RINGING]

[TAPER CONTINUES]

[RING RATTLING]

[GIRLS CHEERING]

BRENDA: So,

how you feeling about

my little health scare, buddy?

I'm fine.

It just...

seems like you're always

somewhere else lately.

I don't know...

I'm not sure if

it's 'cause of me, or...

[KIDS SCREAMING DISTANTLY]

I don't know. I...

Maybe I'm just making it up.

[ELECTRICITY BUZZING]

Just want to know that

you're on the right path,

you know?

[TEEN OWEN CLEARS THROAT]

Can I stay up late to watch

The Pink Opaque tonight?

BRENDA:

What time does it come on?

10:30 p.m.

You know your bedtime

is at 10:15.

Yeah, but...

no one in the ninth grade

even has a bedtime anymore.

Isn't that a show for girls?

BRENDA: Not tonight, honey.

After that first sleepover,

I couldn't work up the courage

to say more than three words

to Maddy Wilson at a time.

But when I told her

I still wasn't allowed

to watch the show,

she started leaving tapes

for me.

[STARBURNED AND UNKISSED BY

CAROLINE POLACHEK PLAYING]

[ELECTRICITY BUZZING]

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

[STARBURNED AND UNKISSED

CONTINUES]

[STARBURNED AND UNKISSED

CONTINUES]

[BELL RINGING]

[MUSIC FADES OUT]

[TV STATIC]

I watched these tapes

over and over again.

But they never got old.

[THEME MUSIC OF

THE PINK OPAQUE PLAYS ON TV]

ISABEL: His henchmen

are close by.

Marco and Polo.

Nasty little demons.

And he... he's...

Mr. Melancholy.

That's right.

[ISABEL INHALES SHARPLY]

What's happening to me?

How do I know these things?

[BREATH TREMBLING]

Am I going crazy?

No. Never let anyone

convince you of that.

You're like me.

You're special.

We are The Pink Opaque.

It's our destiny.

I knew it from the moment

I saw your tattoo

in the dining hall.

Heck, I knew it before

I even met you.

Can you feel it?

[SERENE MUSIC PLAYING]

ISABEL: I don't even have

my learner's permit yet.

-How can I have a destiny?

-How can I have a destiny?

-[DOOR OPENS]

-[KEYS JINGLING]

[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]

[DOOR CLOSES]

[BOTH LAUGHING]

Hey.

What's up?

Nothing much.

Um, I was wondering...

Do you, um...

Do you and Amanda

still watch The Pink Opaque

together every week?

I haven't talked to

that as*h*le in a year.

Amanda told the entire school

that I tried to touch her tit,

which is a total lie!

And then surprise, surprise,

11th grade comes around

and suddenly

it's been her lifelong dream

to join the cheer squad! Ugh!

Secret agent sent here to make

my life miserable, I swear.

If you wanted,

I could come over again.

I've been watching the tapes

you've been making me

but I wanted to watch

The Pink Opaque

on Saturday night again.

While it airs.

I like girls.

You know that, right?

I'm not into boys.

[HESITATES] I wasn't...

I... Totally. That's fine.

Okay. I'm just making sure.

What about you?

Do you like girls?

I don't... I don't know.

Boys?

I... I think that

I like TV shows.

[CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY]

[CLEARS THROAT]

When I think about that stuff,

it feels like someone...

took a shovel

and dug out all my insides.

And I know

there's nothing in there,

but I'm still too nervous

to open myself up and check.

I know there's something wrong

with me.

My parents know it too,

even if they don't

say anything.

Do you ever feel like that?

I don't know.

Maybe you're like Isabel...

[TEEN MADDY SIGHS]

Afraid of what's inside you.

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

[CLOWN LAUGHING MANIACALLY]

Hey, Bozo!

Estee Lauder called.

They've got a few suggestions

about this whole look

you're going for.

[AXE STRIKES]

[RIPPING AND SQUELCHING ON TV]

[WHIMPERING]

[EERIE MUSIC PLAYING ON TV]

[CLOWN MONSTER YELPING]

[STEPFATHER YELLING DISTANTLY]

[DOOR OPENS]

[FLOORBOARD CREAKING]

I'm getting out of this town.

Did you know that?

Soon.

I'll die if I stay here.

[YELLING CONTINUES]

I don't know how exactly,

but I know it's true.

If you leave,

I won't have anyone to watch

The Pink Opaque with.

Sit up.

[PEN SCRAPING ON SKIN]

[VOICES ECHOING]

[TV STATIC]

[TV VOICES AND LAUGHTER]

[TAP RUNNING]

TEEN MADDY:

Pack as much as you can

in your overnight bag

next Saturday.

You can't tell anyone

we're leaving.

Not your mom.

Not anyone.

Where will we go?

We'll know when we get there.

[DOORBELL RINGING RAPIDLY]

[KNOCKING AT DOOR]

[DOORBELL CONTINUES RINGING

RAPIDLY]

[DOOR OPENS]

Owen? Uh,

Johnny's not home, but...

You have to tell my dad

that I've been lying to him.

I've been pretending

to sleep here

while my mom's

in the hospital.

And I need to be grounded.

[BREATH TREMBLING]

Okay. Slow down, honey. What?

TEEN OWEN:

You can't let me go with her.

I don't want to leave my home.

My mom passed away

the next July.

And a few weeks later,

Maddy disappeared

without a trace.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

All they found was her TV set

burning in the backyard.

And the strangest part

of it all was,

that exact same month

that Maddy disappeared,

The Pink Opaque got canceled.

[FIRE CRACKLING]

MAN: [OVER SPEAKER] Welcome

to Burger Express.

Hello?

Hi.

-Are you ready to take my...

- What would you like, sir?

-Yeah, sorry. Can I get...

-Are you there?

I just want... Can I get

two double cheeseburgers

and a small fries

and a root beer?

-$11.09. Drive around.

-Okay. Okay, thank you.

...answering his phone,

-so I can't start...

-[KEYS JANGLING]

...the projector

until I get the key.

Um, so if you could

call me back

and just let me know...

What the hell! [LAUGHING]

Sorry! Sorry!

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

[PLEASANT MUSIC PLAYING

OVER SPEAKERS]

Uh, hey, Owen, um,

did you like

what you saw earlier?

-Me and Erica?

-[BOTH LAUGHING]

You know,

because, if you want,

I can put in a good word

with Erica for you.

She's, like,

obsessed with you, man.

She's like,

"Oh, I love that guy.

"He's so cool! Oh, my God!"

It's "on" for you, brother.

-Come on, man.

-[WORKER CHUCKLES]

Hey, why don't you look at me.

Please.

Just make eye contact with me.

Seriously.

[ELECTRIC ZAP]

OWEN: What the heck?

[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]

[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING

CONTINUES]

Hello?

Is somebody there?

"Season Six, episode one:

"Escape from

the Midnight Realm."

I'm sorry that I'm late.

There was a downed power line.

[CROWD LAUGHING ON TV]

[CROWD APPLAUDING ON TV]

-[REMOTE CLICKS]

-[TV PLAYING]

NARRATOR: [ON TV]

Within hours,

90% of Earth's population

was destroyed.

The invaders changed

the planet's atmosphere,

creating an eternal night.

The sun forever covered

by the dark clouds.

[WHIRRING]

The survivors

fled underground,

living in fear of the machines

that now ruled the Earth.

Ma'am? Are you...

Do you need help?

Do you remember me?

Maddy?

Oh, my God!

Jesus, Maddy,

where have you been?

[CLAW MACHINE

BY SLOPPY JANE PLAYING]

MADDY: I know a place

on the edge of town.

It will be safe for us

to talk there.

I saw the TV glow

I am in the eighth grade

Sending grown men

grainy photos

Of my ribcage

My bedroom has no doors

So I can never close them

I paint the ceiling black

So I don't notice

When my eyes are open

I paint the ceiling black

So I don't notice

When my eyes are open

And somewhere

south of Tallahassee

A teenage boy

with a summer job

He's driving grown men

around a golf course

He's going home

to a manicured lawn

And digging holes

in his manicured lawn

I think I was born bored

I think I was born blue

I think I was born

wanting more

I think I was born

already missing you

[VOCALIZING]

But my heart is like

a claw machine

It's only function

is to reach

It can't hold on

to anything

I just... I really think that

you need to go to the police.

They think you're dead, Maddy.

I don't know.

Sometime.

And you won't tell me where

you've been this past decade?

I'll tell you everything.

I just...

I need to ask you

something first.

Does your mom know

that you're alive?

I need to ask you

something first.

Okay. Okay.

What do you need to ask me?

When it's me

who's making it

It's always the wrong thing

when it's me who's saying it

Do you remember a TV show

we used to watch together?

It was called...

The Pink Opaque.

[CROWD CHEERING, APPLAUDING]

[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]

Of course, I remember

The Pink Opaque.

It's my favorite TV show

of all time.

Always will be.

That's all you wanted

to ask me,

if I remembered

The Pink Opaque?

No.

I guess what I mean is...

When you think back on

watching The Pink Opaque,

how do you remember it?

How do I remember it?

Yeah.

Do you remember it

as just a TV show?

Yeah.

I remember it as a TV show.

The Pink Opaque was a TV show.

We watched it in your basement

on Saturday nights

from 10:30 to 11:00 p.m.

Remember?

The last show

before the Young Adult Network

switched to black and white

reruns for the night.

Yeah.

But are you sure?

Are you sure

that's all it was?

[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]

Listen.

I know this might

sound crazy, but...

When you think back

on The Pink Opaque,

when you remember

watching it in my basement

on Saturday nights

from 10:30 to 11:00 p.m.,

do you ever get confused?

Like, maybe the memory

isn't quite right?

What do you mean

"not quite right"?

[STATIC CRACKLES]

Like...

Does time ever feel

like it's not moving normally?

[STATIC CRACKLES]

Like it's all out of whack?

Do you ever feel like you're

narrating your own life

watching it play

in front of you

like an episode of television?

Or do you ever have

a hard time distinguishing

between what happened

in the show

and what happened

in real life?

Like somehow the memories

got jumbled around?

Shook up in your head.

Like a snow globe.

[STATIC CRACKLES]

I'm trying to go slow.

I don't want to alarm you.

OWEN: Maybe we should

talk to somebody,

the police or my dad...

No!

You can't tell anybody

about this.

Not like last time.

-You have to promise.

-[CROWD CHEERING]

Okay, Maddy. Jesus.

Yeah, I promise.

I came a very long way

to see you,

and to ask you this...

[CROWD CHEERING]

Will you just...

Will you tell me where

you've been all these years?

That's what

I've been trying to do.

[PSYCHIC WOUND

BY KING WOMAN PLAYING]

I've been there.

Inside the show.

Inside The Pink Opaque.

Why have

I have been punished?

I've been banished

from the sky

Clinging to his mighty chest

Bury my face and cry

I bow to him

just to sleep next to you

A force I can't deny

When I'm spread on the bed

You remain

the luscious fruit

Help me,

I'm so chained to you

Someone tell me what to do

Ah, ah, ah, ah

Feeling like

a psychic wound

Help me,

I'm so chained to you

Someone tell me what to do

Ah, ah, ah, ah

Feeling like

a psychic wound

[SHRIEKING]

[SHRIEKING]

Ah, ah, ah, ah

Feeling like

a psychic wound

Feeling like

a psychic wound

Feeling like

a psychic wound

Feeling like

a psychic wound

Feeling like

a psychic wound

[MUSIC CONTINUES PLAYING

DISTANTLY]

MADDY: I can't stay

in this place much longer.

I'm going back there.

Do you remember how it ended?

The final episode?

The end of season five?

You can't trust anybody

in your life.

They're all working for him...

Mr. Melancholy.

I'll be at the high school

tomorrow night at midnight.

I hope you'll come.

[TONIGHT, TONIGHBY SNAIL MAIL PLAYING]

[VHS TAPES CLATTERING]

[TONIGHT, TONIGHT CONTINUES]

OWEN: A little while

after Maddy disappeared,

she sent me

one more tape in the mail.

ISABEL: Mr. Melancholy

is coming.

TARA: If we're going

to defeat him this time,

we're going to need to harness

the full potential

of our shared powers.

We're going to need

to meet again...

in person.

Isabel follows

the sound of Tara's voice

-in the psychic plane...

-TARA: Isabel?

-ISABEL: Tara?

-...back to their old

sleepaway camp.

She finds her at the dock

by the lake,

the place where they

first spoke five seasons ago.

But then,

as Isabel approaches,

she picks something up.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]

A stray signal

from the psychic plane.

TARA: [ECHOING]

Help me. Help me.

It's a desperate message

from Tara.

The real Tara.

She's buried underground...

in terrible danger.

TARA: Help me, Isabel.

[RETCHING]

OWEN: Mr. Melancholy had

got to her first.

[TV STATIC]

MARCO: Marco.

Polo.

[ISABEL GASPING]

[ISABEL SCREAMING]

[ISABEL SOBBING]

[ISABEL CONTINUES SCREAMING]

[ISABEL STRAINING]

[CONTINUES SCREAMING]

- OWEN: They cut out her heart.

-[HEARTBEAT THUMPING]

[HEARTBEAT THUMPING]

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

OWEN: They feed her

the Luna Juice.

[SLURPING]

[COUGHING]

[ISABEL SLURPING, GULPING]

[GULPING]

OWEN: And then

he makes his entrance.

Mr. Melancholy...

-[STOMPS FOOT]

-...the big bad.

[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING LOUDLY]

[SQUELCHING]

[EERIE MUSIC PLAYING]

Don't fight it.

Let my poison work its magic.

You're gonna love

the Midnight Realm.

It's such a wonderful,

wonderful prison.

[VOICES WHISPERING]

[EERIE MUSIC CONTINUES]

[MUFFLED SCREAMING]

[SHUSHES]

It's okay.

Soon you won't

remember anything.

Your real name.

Your superpowers.

Your heart.

You won't even remember

that you're dying!

[STATIC CRACKLING]

[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]

[SPADE DIGGING]

OWEN: They bury her... alive.

[RETCHING]

And then...

[MUSIC SWELLS, FADES]

...it just ended...

forever.

[GASPS FOR AIR]

[GASPING]

[DISTANT THUDDING]

[OBJECTS CLATTERING]

[FIRE ALARM BEEPING]

[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]

-[DIAL TONE BEEPING]

-[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]

[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]

[OWEN SCREAMING IN PAIN]

[OWEN SOBBING]

[OWEN SCREAMING IN PAIN]

[WATER RUNNING]

[OWEN SCREAMING IN PAIN,

SOBBING]

[SCREAMING]

This isn't my home!

[SCREAMING]

You're not my father!

[GAGS, COUGHS]

[DISTORTED SCREAM]

I made it all the way

to Phoenix

on the money I had saved.

The trees looked different,

but everything else

was exactly the same.

I started using a new name.

Sleeping at the cheapest

hostel I could find.

The Pink Opaque was over.

[ENGINE SHUTS OFF]

I got a job at the mall.

At Build-A-Bear.

Filling the dolls up

with stuffing.

I got out of that town.

That place I knew

would k*ll me if I stayed.

But something was still wrong.

Wronger, even.

Time wasn't right.

It was moving too fast.

And then I was 19.

And then I was 20.

I felt like

one of those dolls,

asleep in the supermarket.

Stuffed.

And then I was 21.

Like chapters skipped over

on a DVD.

[AIR HISSING IN DISTANCE]

[AIR HISSING]

I told myself...

"This isn't normal.

"This isn't normal."

This isn't how life

is supposed to be.

I thought about

running away again.

About moving to Santa Fe

and changing my name

one more time.

But I knew that everywhere

would be just the same.

I had seen how it ended.

I knew where I was.

A little bit after

my 22nd birthday,

I paid this burnout kid

who used to hit on me

in the food court

$50 to bury me alive.

I mean...

he didn't know

he was burying me alive,

but I doubt he would have

cared too much even if he did.

I bought a coffin.

I dug a hole.

I got inside

and I closed the lid.

I said to myself,

"This is crazy.

"What you're doing is crazy."

But another part of me

knew that it wasn't.

That it was survival.

And that I didn't

have much time.

That what felt like

years in this world

was actually just seconds.

So I waited.

And then finally,

the first spadeful of dirt

hit the top of the box.

[SPADE DIGGING, DIRT THUDS]

And then another.

And then another.

I sang songs to myself.

I counted to 10,000

without skipping any numbers.

I pissed and I sh*t my pants

and I forced my mouth

to produce whatever saliva

it could muster

just so I would

have something to drink.

I screamed

as loud as I could for help.

I apologized

for the whole thing.

And I begged God for someone

to come along and save me.

I tried and tried

to claw my way out,

but that burnout guy had

packed the dirt in too tight

just like I had

asked him to do.

And then,

after I don't know how long,

I felt myself

start to leave myself.

And it was like

I was watching myself

on TV from across the room.

And I was moving further

and further away

from the screen

until the screen was so small

that I couldn't even

see myself anymore.

[WHIRRING]

And then I was clawing

my way up out of the ground.

And then I was at the surface,

gasping for air,

rain pouring down on me.

Thunder and lightning.

And I was finally back there.

Back at our old

sleepaway camp.

And just like I was waking up

from a bad dream,

that whole life...

that whole reality

where I was Maddy Wilson...

drifted away.

Like a brief hallucination

that, after a few moments,

I could hardly even remember.

And all those memories

that had felt so real

washed away with the rain

back at our old

sleepaway camp.

And I was me.

I was finally me again.

And it was

the season six premiere.

I tried looking for you,

but Mr. Melancholy had

covered his tracks too well.

I knew you must be buried

somewhere close by,

but I didn't know where.

And your signal...

That signal that I used to be

able to close my eyes

and feel so vividly...

was nowhere.

I wasn't picking up anything

on the psychic plane.

I found my heart.

Isabel, oh, my God!

I found yours, too.

And it was still beating,

stored indefinitely in...

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

In an industrial freezer!

I left our hearts there

because I knew

I wasn't done yet.

And I found

Mr. Melancholy's cauldron.

I found the Luna Juice

he used to send us

to the Midnight Realm,

then I took a big sip

straight out from the ladle.

And I laid back down...

and I waited

to fall back asleep.

I knew I needed

to come back here.

I knew I needed to come back

and save you.

So that the show can continue.

So that we can

get to season six.

Maddy.

That's not my name.

[MUSIC FADES OUT]

And I haven't

told you anything tonight

that you don't already know.

Tell me.

Tell me you know it's true.

I...

You told me yourself

you felt it.

Remember? On the bleachers?

You know

what he put inside you.

This... This is insane. I...

I remember... I remember...

playing in the snow.

Driving to baseball games

with my dad.

Cooking with my mom.

Those memories were put there

to distract you.

To keep you trapped.

This isn't the Midnight Realm,

Maddy,

it's just the suburbs.

I told you that's not my name.

And we need to go back down

into the soil.

Tonight.

The longer you wait

the closer you get

to suffocating.

I've got everything ready.

That spot

behind the football field

where the stoners

used to get high after school.

No one will find us there.

[MUSIC FADES OUT]

Come on.

I know it's scary.

That's part of it.

It's like the Drain Lords.

Just like the Drain Lords.

It's not real

if I don't think about it.

Isabel.

[GRUNTING]

[PANTING]

[TV PLAYING]

[LOCK CLICKS]

[CROWD LAUGHING ON TV]

[CROWD APPLAUDING ON TV]

[CROWD CHEERING ON TV]

[CROWD LAUGHING ON TV]

OWEN: After that night

on the football field,

I locked myself inside.

I didn't leave the house

for days.

I kept waiting for her

to show back up

to force me underground.

But she never did.

I never saw her again.

[RIDING AROUND IN THE DARK

BY FLORIST PLAYING]

I told myself

I made the right choice.

Maddy's story was insane.

It couldn't be true.

But some nights,

when I was working late

at the movie theater,

I found myself wondering,

what if she was right?

What if she had been

telling the truth?

What if I really

was someone else?

Someone beautiful

and powerful.

Someone buried alive

and suffocating to death.

Very far away,

on the other side

of the television screen.

But I know that's not true.

That's just fantasy.

Kid's stuff.

The movie theater closed

the next fall.

My manager brought me

along with him

to the Fun Center.

I work there now restocking

the ball pit with ba*ls.

My father passed away in 2010

after his second stroke.

Time moves fast these days.

Years pass like seconds.

I just try not to think

too hard about it.

I decided to stay

in the house.

It was time for me

to become a man.

A real adult.

A productive

member of society.

And that's exactly what I did.

I even got a family of my own.

I love them

more than anything.

[FIRE HISSING]

[MUSIC FADES OUT]

Anyway, like I was saying,

it was raining the other night

and I couldn't sleep,

so I started

The Pink Opaque again.

It's available to stream now.

-[TV CHIMING]

-You don't even need a disc.

I started

The Pink Opaque again.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING ON TV]

And it was nothing

like I remembered it.

Hey, Mr. Ice Cream Man.

Stop turning all my friends

into popsicle sticks!

MONSTER: But I'm so lonely.

I have nothing to do

all winter.

OWEN: The whole thing felt

cheesy and cheap.

Dated, and not scary at all.

[TATTOO CHIMING]

FAKE TARA: [ON TV] I know!

In the winter time,

instead of selling ice cream,

you can sell soup instead.

-[OWEN GASPS]

-[PLEASANT MUSIC PLAYING]

MONSTER:

Why didn't I think of that?

Let's all have a soup party!

ALL: Yay, a soup party!

[WHEEZING]

[CONTINUES WHEEZING]

OWEN: I just felt embarrassed.

[CONTINUES WHEEZING]

[ARCADE MACHINES BEEPS

ECHOING]

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING

OVER SPEAKERS]

[ARCADE MACHINES BEEPING]

AUTOMATED VOICE: Marco.

Polo.

[LAUGHS] You got me!

[OWEN WHEEZING]

[CHILDREN CHEERING AND LAUGHTER]

CHILD 1: Go, go, go!

CHILD 2: Get it! Get it!

CHILD 3: Money!

CHILD 4: Money! Money!

CHILD 5: Money!

Go, go, go, go!

Get that money!

[INHALES]

[INHALES]

Come on, get in there.

Come on, we're doing it.

All right, guys, come on!

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you

Come on!

ALL: Happy birthday,

dear Charlie

Happy birthday to you

DAVE: Come on!

ALL: Happy birthday to you

Everybody!

ALL: Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday,

dear Charlie

Happy birthday to you

-DAVE: [LAUGHS] Come on!

-[CROWD CLAPPING]

DAVE: Let's go again

from the top!

One more time!

ALL: Happy birthday to you

DAVE: Faster!

ALL: [SINGING FASTER]

Happy birthday to you

DAVE: Louder!

[LOUDER] Happy birthday,

dear Charlie

Happy birthday...

[SCREAMING]

-[SINGING STOPS]

-[WHEEZES]

[SCREAMING]

You need to help me!

I'm dying right now!

[WHEEZES]

[SOBBING]

[SPARKLERS CRACKLING]

[CONTINUES SOBBING]

Sorry. Ignore me. I...

[WHEEZING]

[COUGHING]

[SCREAMING] Mommy!

Owen?

You okay in there, buddy?

[WHEEZING]

I'm fine.

Out in a minute.

[FLESH SQUELCHING]

[SQUELCHING STOPS]

[ANTHEMS FOR A SEVENTEEN

YEAR-OLD GIRL BY YEULE PLAYS]

[WHEEZING]

[TV PLAYING]

[WHEEZY CHUCKLING]

[WHEEZES]

[TV VOLUME SWELLS]

[WHEEZES]

[WHEEZES]

[CONTINUES WHEEZING]

[WHEEZING SLOWING DOWN]

[SOFT WHEEZING]

-[CONTINUES WHEEZING]

-[ARCADE MACHINES BEEPING]

Sorry about that before.

[WHEEZES]

Sorry about before.

Just a new medication I'm on.

Sorry. [WHEEZES]

I'm sorry about before.

[WHEEZES]

Sorry about that before.

Sorry.

I'm sorry. [WHEEZES]

[STATIC NOISE]

[ANOTHER SEASON BY

FRANCES QUINLAN PLAYING]

[MUSIC FADES OUT]

[BURY BY KING WOMAN PLAYING]

[MUSIC FADES OUT]