02x11 - Effect and Cause

[bunniefuu]

[theme music playing]

NARRATOR:
Man lives in the sunlit world

of what he believes
to be reality.

But... there is,

unseen by most, an underworld.

A place that is just as real

but not as brightly lit.

A dark side.

♪ ♪

No, it's wrong.

I just can't do it.

Why the hell not?

Aren't you always the
one complaining

you can't afford to buy
new canvas anymore.

Yes, but...

Then just paint your
gesso right over it

and you've got a perfectly
good canvas.

Bad karma.

Listen, Kate,

my landlady practically
paid me

to cart this junk away.

Whoever painted this
stuff is long gone.

Trust me, nobody cares.

I do.

Listen, I may
be broke,

but I've still
got principles.

Well, a few.

A painting is a sacred object
that lives forever--

I mean, living particles.

An energy vibration
that never dies.

Cut the artsy fartsy,
all right.

Look at it this way.

Now when I dance,

energy starts from inside
and then out,

and then bang,

and it's finished.

And likewise
with an artist, all right.

First energy
and then bang!

It's over like a dance.

David, that is heavy.

I mean, really heavy.
Fine.

I'll just take this all back.

You can do your precious
little paintings

on cardboard
and dirty sidewalks.

Let's just keep every little
piece of the world

in its proper place forever.

Okay, okay,
stop it.

Wait a minute.
Wait a minute.

Now you think I'm
crazy, right?
Yes.

But that's why we're
such good friends.

Well,

sometimes I am a nut.

But a beatific nut,

fresh from the Diamond Sutra.

Thank you.

You're a sweetheart.

You know, these really
are awful.

Tell me.

You'd do a great service
to world karma

by whitewashing
this junk.

I think you're right

Bring on the
gesso, quick.

[teakettle whistling]

What do you want?

Ginseng?
As usual.

Don't suppose
you have anything

with any caffeine in it?

You know, this is
really weird.

I could've sworn I put the gesso
under the sink.

Space cadet!

Ha ha.

Oh, you know,

maybe you should try
a little Eastern flower petal.

It might mellow you out.

Kate dear.
Hmm?

You're just an unrepentant,
health food, flower child.

I must've left
that gesso upstairs.

You hope.

I smell gas.

This damn old stove.

When are you gonna get
this thing fixed?

KATE:
I like it the way it is.

It's got character.

You mean you're too cheap
to fix it.

Mean I'm too poor.

Tea's ready.

I'll be down
in a moment.

[siren wailing]

Hey, Kate,

that ambulance is pulling up
right across the street.

You got any neighbors
with bad tickers?

Not that I know of.

A couple of pretty intense
characters getting out.

[vehicle door slams]

Hey, that's weird.

They're coming up here.

[doorbell ringing]

Glenville paramedics.

Where's the victim?

Excuse me?

The woman who fell
down the stairs.

Are you sure you got
the right house?

This is 812 Waterton Street?
Yeah.

[crash]

Get an air splint
and a neck brace.

[groans]

David?

Kate.

You know you really didn't have
to hurt yourself on our account.

What a bummer, huh?

Bad karma.

[groans]
Where to,
my lady?

Over there,
the big chair.

Here, David.

I'll take this
upstairs

and empty out the
dirty clothes.
Oh, thanks.

Oh, Janet, could you
bring me the sketch pad

from upstairs?

[groaning]

Okay.

Oh, I need that thing, too.

Okay.

[groans]

Look, I hate to abandon
you with your sister,

but, uh, I got students
coming in.

Would you stop
apologizing?

I understand.

Thank you for being such a
terrific chauffer.

Go on now.
Okay.

Listen, I'll come
back later

if you need anything--
groceries--

I'll pick it up. Okay?
Okay.

Bye.
I'll be here.

[door opens, then shuts]

Well, no wonder you fell--

the shape these stairs are in,

and this railing is loose.

Boy, you really ought to put
some money in this house, Kate.

Let's not start
that one again, okay?

There's no reason

why you couldn't get
a regular job.

I could help you
find one.

In-in graphic design or
maybe advertising.

Doing what?

Uh, lettering signs
for crooked car salesmen.

I mean, that's not my style.

You know that.
No.

Your style is "Oh, just
do what you want."

Well, I've got to
be getting to work

in, ooh, a few minutes.

Now, what else can I
get you before I leave?

Jan?

Yeah?

I've been thinking about the way
the ambulance arrived

just before my accident.

You know, in like
the synchronicity

of cause and effect.

I mean, it's such a trip.

Like, I mean,
why did I break my leg?

Because the ambulance
was here

or did I break it somehow
some other time,

like in another
lifetime

and somehow
the ambulance knew.

Kate, please.

Stop.

But doesn't it
seem strange?

I mean, it's almost as if
the accident had to happen

because they were
already here.

[sighs]

Only to you, Kate.

Only to you.

[paint splashing]
Oh, damn it!

[glass shattering]
Double damn it!

[doorbell ringing]

It is rude to laugh.

[electrical frizzing]

[grunts]

[ringing continues]

All right, all right.

This better be important.

Okay.

[ringing continues]

[electrical frizzing]

[ringing stops]

I think there's a short
circuit in the bell.

Uh, what can I
do for you?

Hi, yeah, I got your order here.
My order?

I didn't order anything.

Uh, Kate Collins, right?

812 Waterton?

Do you know who called
that order in?

Was it my sister or...

Ms. Collins, I really
wouldn't know.

Mr. Bates says deliver,
I say, "Yes, sir."

Okay, well,

come on in
we'll straighten it out.

I don't really need anything

because I just went shopping

the day before I got hurt.

So, let's see.

Uh, my sprouts
are fresh.

Oh, bummer.

Got the list
right here.

It sounds like one of yours.

All right, uh,
no-salt margarine,

low-fat yogurt,

skim milk,
applesauce.

It sounds like one of my orders.

But see, I'm not out of it...
Goat cheese,

fresh ground
peanut butter.

MAN:
Oh, I'm sorry,
what'd you say?

Go-go on.

What else?
Uh,

vermicelli...
Wait a sec.

KATE:
Okay.

MAN:
Cornflakes, uh,
rice noodles,

herb tea,

diet sweetener.

Far out!

Do-do you want me
to take it back or what?

No, I'll, I'll keep it.

Put it down.

I guess it was meant for me
after all.

[door opens, then shuts]

KATE:
Pop! Pop!

Just like-like bubbles
in the air.

Pop! Pop!

Look, Kate, I really have got
to be getting back to work.

You're not listening
to me.
Oh, Kate.

You know how you are

when you're concentrating
on your art.

I was painting over
old canvases.

That hardly requires
a creative trance.

I saw the groceries
disappear.

Well, it was as if
they were trying

not to make a liar out
of the delivery boy.

Well,

you used to do LSD in college,
didn't you?

Sure. So did everyone.
So what?

Well, so doesn't that stuff
stay in the fat cells

or something for
years and years.

I know what a flashback
feels like.

This wasn't one.
Yeah, but with
the new drugs

that you're on
now, I mean,

there could be
drug interaction.

You don't believe me.

Not unless I
saw it myself.

Maybe not, then.

You're such
a die-hard skeptic.

Well, maybe it's because
you're such a gullible mystic.

I mean, who was it who used
to do astrological charts

on her boyfriends?

And then it was the tarot
cards and then the I Ching.

You never tried to understand.

When are you gonna stop
thinking like a child?

You have gone headlong

into one bit of nonsense
after another

for as long as
I can remember.

I don't believe I gave
up a lunch date with
a marketing director

to come over here
for this!
You know what?

I feel sorry for you.

You are so narrow

and so straight that you're
never going to see

any other reality
but your own little world.

That's it.

What a bummer.

[dog barking in distance]

All right. Now,
watch closely.

Did I miss something or are you
practicing for Atlantic City?

Damn!

I was afraid of that.
You're blocking me.

Look, what you've got to do is

just get rid of all
the "shoulds" and "ought tos"

that are cluttering up
your brain, okay?

Just kind of let things
take their own shape.

Understand?

Uh, not really.

I don't either, exactly.

But let's try.

You know what that card is?

No, but neither do you,
unless you're cheating.

Well, it could be
anything, right?

I mean, it doesn't even
have to be a regular deck.

Hey, man, listen.

This could be a card from a
Chinese deck or a kids' game.

Right?

Pick a card. But...

I don't want you to expect
to see any card

that you have ever seen, ever.

Seven of clocks?

[laughing]
Right on. I told you.

That's it. Don't you see?
That's it.

Okay.

Pick another one.

King of frog?

Wait, let me see these.

[laughing]:
What? What?

You switched these on me.

No, I think you switched them.

You're good.

You're real good. I didn't know
you knew card tricks.

I don't.

Even if I did,

that wouldn't explain
why your keys are gone.

That's amazing.

I didn't even hear a jingle.
Bring them back.

I can't. I don't know
where they are.

Then what...

That-that's what I've
been talking about, David.

Things just disappear.

Don't you understand?

No, all I understand is
that I put my keys down,

I turned my head, and now I
don't have any transportation.

We are into something
really big here.

Little objects
do it all the time.

Some more than others.

I've been experimenting
all afternoon.

Uh, wallets are terrific.

The backs of earrings.

Car keys.

Right on.

You know, I think it's
because little objects

aren't held here as
strongly as others.

Maybe it's because

there's only one
person involved.

I mean, it's like
this house, say, okay?

Now, this house is held here
by me, by the neighbors,

by... by everybody
who's ever lived here,

by the people who
drive by every day.

It's not going anywhere.

Kate, Kate, this is
absolutely incredible.

You can change reality.

I mean, if you can
somehow bottle this,

I'll never have
to teach another dance class,

and you'll never have
to paint on a secondhand canvas

again in your life, Kate.

You're not listening to me.

It's not about
doing something.

It's about not
doing anything.

It's about kind of
allowing it to happen.

KATE:
See?

See? There. It
was getting dark.

David, how can you make
something random happen?

I mean, if you make it happen,
then it's not random.

Then tell me what works.

What are the rules?

I think the secret is that
there aren't any rules.

What if the universe
isn't as orderly

as we'd like to
think it is?

What if it's really
random and chaotic?

What if we force order
into the chaos,

collectively
and individually?

Then we are the ones that
hold reality in place.

But we can't change
the basic nature of things.

Which means that random things
are happening constantly.

I mean, it's like reality's
being zapped all the time.

Zapped.

That's really heavy.

And-and some zaps are so tiny
that we don't even notice them

and others are so big that
they change everything,

only we change reality,
so it doesn't seem

like anything strange
ever happened.

But now we can
see it happen.

Oh, God. My next class
is in ten minutes.

And my keys are
who knows where.

You'd better hurry.
Tell me.

I think you can still catch
the number four.

David!

Look!

[humming]

No freelancing.
That's enough of that.

[clattering]

You, too, huh?

Can't even do your job
without me watching.

That would be inconvenient.

Getting the water started.

[exploding]

[screaming]

Stop it! Stop it!
Stop it right now!

You hear me?

[screaming]

My God!

[line ringing]
Come on, David.

Pick up your phone.

Come on. Come on, David,
please be home.

Please.

[sighing]

All right. Maybe he stayed late.

Late at the studio.

I've got that number.

Uh, where do I have the number?

Um...

Uh... Oh...

Okay.

[mumbling]

[phone rings]

David?
JANET: No, it's me, Janet.

Oh, Janet. Oh, thank God.

Listen, Janet, please, could you
come over here right now?

The whole house is zapping out
all around me.

I can't handle it, man.

What do you mean, zapping?

It's just disappearing.

It's gone too far.

I'm meeting Warren
for drinks in 15 minutes.

I don't have time to come by.

Janet, please, just for once in
your life, would you believe me?

Kate, now, stop this.

I can't be babysitting you
through every little crisis.

Janet, I am terrified.

The house is disappearing
around me.

Listen to me, Kate.

Nothing is going
to happen, okay?

Everything is under control.

I'll come by later
after my date and, uh,

we'll talk this all out, okay?

I don't think so.
JANET: Kate, look...

I'm sorry, but I'm late
and I got to go.

Don't worry.

[dial tone droning]

[replaces receiver]

Oh, Janet.

Janet, you did it.

You didn't even have to be here
and you did it.

Oh, bless you.

[gasping]

[phone rings]

Oh, my God.

[whimpers]

[phone ringing]

[Kate grunting,
ringing continues]

Janet?

WOMAN [on recording]:
We're sorry.
You have reached a number...

David?

...disconnected or
is no longer in service.

Please check the number
or dial again.

This is a recorded message.

We're sorry.
You have reached a number

that has been disconnected
or is no longer in service.

[high-pitched screaming]

[siren wailing]

[gasping]

[garbled police
radio transmission]
KATE: No, go away!

Go away! It's not fair!

[hissing]

[bell rings]

Not the gas.

Please, God,
not the gas.

[doorbell ringing, sizzling]

[screaming]

[expl*si*n booming]

NARRATOR:
The dark side is always there.

Waiting for us to enter.

Waiting to enter us.

Until next time,

try to enjoy the daylight.