02x13 - The American Dream

[bunniefuu]

Respect which cannot be earned
one way must be earned another.

If you touch any of those farmers, I will
personally send you straight to hell.

I have owned them for a thousand years.

String, come on!

We were smart to plant when we did, Dad.
Look at the size of these things.

And the price is up, too.

You're going to be rich, Diem.

We're going to have to learn
to bow when you walk by.

As soon as you harvest, we'll both
be rich. We'll have a bowing contest.

Minh, Minh, what are you doing?

I thought you left an hour ago.

There were a few things to do.

Nonsense. Now, you get yourself
back home and get ready.

You don't spend the day of
your wedding loading trucks.

Are you sure you want to go alone?

Tommy's coming with me.

Besides, when the largest farms stand
up to him, he's finished. No extortions.

No w*rlord in America.

I'm very proud of my future father-in-law.

Nguyen Van Minh,

you come home right now.
You have to get dressed.

Old woman, have some respect.

I'm going. You embarrass me.

Wait till you see how we
have decorated the house.

It will be a wedding befitting a hero.

(man on radio) And today's report
from the Imperial Valley.

The cabbage harvest has been slowed
somewhat by last week's unseasonal rains,

however, damage was minimal due
to advanced meteorological…

[pop music playing]

(man on radio) And in the San Joaquin,

it's expected that last year's fruit fly scare

will not reoccur due to advanced aerial spray.

Good news for artichoke growers…

(Diem) What's he doing?

(man on radio) …but all news
can't be good news.

That smell!

It's gas!

[people chattering]

[slow jazz playing]

Please, friends.

Some people may be late, but let's begin.

It is good to see you all.

It is good to see so many of the old flags,

to honor a hero of his country's w*r.

I am honored to give my daughter Mai's hand

to Nguyen Van Minh

and to welcome him to my family
as a son, partner and an heir.

[people clapping]

Oh String, a Vietnamese wedding.

You know, I've always found weddings
kind of depressing. How about you, Dom?

Huh? Oh, depressing.

Bachelors.

Oh Hawke, she's so beautiful.

You know, there's an old
Vietnamese proverb that says

that a crying woman brings
years of bad luck.

You just made that up.

[shushing]

years is a long time.

You are now starting your own family.

You have my love and blessing.

[sighs]

(Hua) All the farmers are falling into line

except for Tru and his new son-in-law, Minh.

Diem ran into a small problem
today. His truck b*rned up.

That leaves old Tru.

And the new farmer Minh,
it's his wedding today.

Then it's time to pay a little courtesy call.

[soft jazz playing]

[people chattering]

Go on, give it to 'em now, String.

Please accept a small gesture of our
deep affection for your children.

You are very welcome, Mr. Hawke, and friends.

But this gift is too precious for my
daughter and son-in-law to accept.

Respectfully Mr. Tru, our gift is very modest.

It is more than appropriate.

Not compared to your friendship.

Thank you.

(Dominic) Hey! Congratulations!

- (Caitlin) Good luck.
- (Mai) Thank you for coming.

(Minh) I am so glad you and your
friends came. It makes the day perfect.

(Stringfellow) Couldn't miss this.

If it hadn't been for you and
your friends in high places,

I might never have gotten out.

Never known this beautiful place.

Well, you've been a long time

getting over that w*r, buddy.

But to these people you're a
hero, and that's long overdue.

And I hear you're still making enemies.

What do you mean?

Well, it's what I heard,

that Mai had about a dozen
boyfriends that she sent packin'.

True.

Well,

you look like you're adjustin'
to your new life just fine.

You'd be surprised how
little some things change.

[woman screaming]

[people chattering in Vietnamese]

What is it? What happened?

They k*lled them.

Diem and Tommy are dead.

- There was an accident.
- It was no accident!

The Sheriff said their truck
overturned and b*rned.

Minh, why pretend? We all know what happened.

How do you know?

The w*rlord, Zung. He's been collecting
tributes up and down the valley.

Sama, we'll talk later. It's our concern.

Under the circumstances, no one will
be offended if you wish to go home.

(Zung) I hope we have not come too late.

A token of respect to those who wish
to preserve our ancient way of life.

Colonel, we are unworthy.

Your gift, it is…

The time for exchange of gifts is over.

I come in friendship, Nguyen
Van Minh, and you dishonor me.

You lying thief!

You k*ll Tommy and his Father
and then you steal our money.

Sama!

Then you buy expensive gifts to shame us.

Enough of that, boy.

- Sama!
- I'm not afraid of him.

Respect which cannot be earned
one way must be earned another.

Hawke, who was that?

Tranh Van Zung.

He was a Wing Commander
in the Vietnamese Air Force.

If there's anything
we can do to help…

It's not your concern, Hawke.

[ducks quacking]

I have never seen…

A man?

So many scars.

Here, Hawke saved my life.

Here, I saved his.

Here was Tet.

Here…

Here, you have peace.

[bird calling]

(Grandmother) Hang Nga is the beautiful
princess who lived in the moon,

pale and without flaw, a perfect goddess.

She counted the stars by night

and by day, watched the lives of
the children down on the Earth.

She thought,

“I will send my friend
the white spider on Earth”

“to help the children, to be their friend.”

And so down came the white spider,

on long silver spider webs spun of moonlight,

all the way from the moon to the Earth.

But when the white spider came
near the evil thoughts of men,

a terrible thing happened.

Black he became, black as night,

an evil thing, to chase and devour the
children as he hung from the sky.

"Stop! Stop!" cried the
princess, but it was too late.

And so, until the thoughts
of men are evil no more,

beware the Moon Spider!

[ducks quacking]

[motorcycle engines roaring distantly]

[motorcycles approaching]

Mai.

Have you been out here all night?

Here, you look frozen.

Try not to worry too much. The Doctor
said Minh's gonna be just fine.

You know, we're here to help.

You've got a crop in the
field and it's harvest time.

We'll do anything we can.

It is time to harvest.

But no one will come to help us now.

They're your neighbors. Of course they'll come.

No.

What happened to Minh was not an accident.

You don't understand
what we're up against here.

He is the Guan Cong, the w*rlord.

Generations of our people
have paid tribute to him.

He is in our culture, in our stories.

The Moon Spider.

Yes.

The Moon Spider? That story?

Yeah, it's Zung's trademark, like an insignia.

He uses the old myths to keep
people in line. Pretty clever.

(Sama) Hey, you guys! Hey!

What are we waiting for?

This field is just waiting
to be picked. Check this out!

[Sama laughing]

You see? Nothing to it.

Yeah, once.

[guffaws]

You are most unselfish to help an old man.

Well, you've got a crop in the
field and Minh's in the hospital,

somebody's got to pick it, I guess it's us.

Yeah, but there's no reason we
can't have a little fun, huh?

I'll tell you what.

The first one down to the… down to
that ditch down there is the winner.

You're on.

Okay.

Let's go!

(Sama) Come on, come on! Faster than that!

(Caitlin) Give me a break,
I've never cut cabbage before.

Come on. Come on.

(Tru) You have to move faster
than that. Come on, let's go.

[laughing]

(Sama) Slow down, Tru. Come on,
we can't catch up with you.

[groaning]

(Sama) Come on, Dom, let's go, Dom.
That's it, that's it.

(Tru) Let's go, let's go, move faster.

I won! I won! Hey, I won!

Come on, you slowpokes! I won!

[airplane engine droning]

(Hua) This American Hawke, and his
friends are out there right now,

helping Minh's wife bring in her crops.

Mount this on the left wing

and run a thorough check
on all the other systems.

If we let this go, the people will
say the Spider has lost his bite.

You know, in Vietnam, they
always gave us castoff planes.

And the Americans always had the best.

General, I've seen it happen,

sometimes one hero is all they need.

So what are we confronted with?

One meddling American?

Fortunately, such people have little
stomach for the realities of life.

[scoffs]

And of history.

[exclaims]

The last time I worked this
hard was at Anzio Beach.

At least we can see the end of it.

Tru owns the other side of the road, too.

What?

Who the hell eats all this stuff, anyway?

(Caitlin) Would somebody
give me a hand with these?

[radio chattering]

Can we help you?

Burgess County Sheriff's office.

There were no charges filed in
connection with your husband's injuries,

but I did hear some rumors in town.

Rumors? What kind of rumors?

Someone is trying to shake down
these Vietnamese immigrants.

Sergeant,

unless these people pay
protection, they won't be allowed

to go on their own fields
to harvest their own crop.

Do you know what that means
to a farmer, not to harvest?

I've been a Policeman for years
in this county. I know farmers.

But this is the first I've
heard of protection payoffs.

Where my friends come from,

this is a very old game.

But who's behind it?

Tranh Van Zung.

The man who owns Central Valley Air Service?

[sighing]

When and how did Zung approach you?

Well, not me.

The farmers.

Mr. Tru?

He is not direct.

It is just expected.

The words they use,

I do not think I can translate.

The thr*at is clear enough.

Either you pay up, or you try to harvest
your crop and they'll k*ll you.

In a couple of days that crop
will be rotting in the field.

And you're the only one
who can do something about it.

Look, I want to help, really.

I don't want this going on in my county.

But until someone is willing to go on
the record about extortion or as*ault,

there's not much I can do.

Here's my number.

Day or night, I'll be there.

Show me where your husband was run down.

Something tells me

we could help the Sergeant put
together a little evidence, huh?

Maybe.

(Dominic) That farmer's truck went
up, didn't leave very much, did it?

Well, there's always something.

Peaceful enough now.

What did you find?

Let's see.

Looks like some kind of trigger mechanism.

Yeah, off a grenade. Incendiary, probably.

Oh come on, String, that's ridiculous.

You imagine some guy out here lobbing grenades?

Why, he'd stick out like a…

[aircraft approaching]

String, it's gas! Gasoline! Come on!

Hey, these guys are playing for keeps.

Come on.

[people chattering]

[truck approaching]

Hey look, here they come!

Oh, my boy! Are you all right?

He's going to be fine, Father.

All right, all right, Minh's back.
Now things will be different, huh?

Hey, we talked to a cop today, Minh.

He says all he needs is one man
to testify and Zung will be…

Please, I am tired.

All I want to do is say hello to
everyone, and then go lie down.

- Let him alone, Sama.
- (Sama) No.

He's the only one they'll follow.

He can talk to them.

- He has to lead us.
- No!

I am not your leader.

Let me be.

[motorcycles approaching]

[people screaming]

Hey, I know you!

I'm going to put you in jail, man!

You watch me, hero.

[car approaching]

[motorcycles approaching]

[police radio chattering]

Were he and Minh very close?

Yes, maybe even a distant relative.

Sure seems to be taking it awful hard.

You know him longer than I, you know
what he's like at times like this.

A turtle. Inside himself.

Who knows what he's thinking?

Keep an eye on him.

(Sheriff) Damn it. I liked that kid.

So did we.

What's wrong with these people?

Don't they know this is going to keep
going on until somebody speaks out?

Well, where they come from,

the Police and the Warlords
are sometimes the same.

Well I've got a job to do, don't I?

Show them how American cops work.

Maybe this will help.

We found that by what was left of Diem's truck.

Let's go into town, see what the lab says.

[engine starting]

You were told to go back to bed and stay there.

I have to go out.

What do they call it in this country?

Macho?

Mai, I am going to bring our crop to market.

Oh, Minh.

Minh, how long has it been since
Hawke sponsored you to this country?

The day you arrived, you kissed the ground

and swore you'd never use a w*apon again.

Sama put his trust in me. I failed him.

I let him die just because

I was tired of fighting.

They'll k*ll you, too.

If I don't go, I'm already dead.

I'll go with you.

You remind everyone that this is America.

Here women have equal rights.

In all things,

except this.

[jazz music playing]

[people chattering]

Mr. Zung,

I'd like to have a word with you.

Mr. Hawke, Mr. Santini.

Please, join me in a drink.

Why not?

String! You're not gonna drink
with this hood, are you?

Your friend speaks harshly of me.

I know you, bloodsucker.

And so did my Father,
and his Father before him.

You got a name in every language.

Cosa Nostra, La Mano Neva.

And in your country, Guan Cong.

Explain to your friend that I
simply receive voluntary tribute.

And if you don't choose to volunteer?

[man on radio speaking Vietnamese]

Do you mean, for example,

a farmer trying to take a
truckload of lettuce to market?

Zung, you slaughtered the Diem family.

You m*rder*d Sama. That's for the police.

But if you touch Minh, his family,

or any of those farmers,

I will personally send you straight to hell.

Americans.

You understand heroics,
but never inevitability.

I understand

much more than you think.

[ice clinking]

Deal with Minh.

Hey, what's he mean by "inevitability"?

That radio call said Minh's
bringing in his crops.

Means they'll hit him with gasoline.

We'd better get out there, fast.

Halfway there.

Maybe we're going to make it.

Of course we are.

You haven't lived all these years

to be stopped miles out of town.

[aircraft approaching]

Come! Gas!

This way.

What's that?

That's our answer to the Black Spider.

[metal thunking]

This is Stringfellow Hawke on Police
Frequency for Sergeant Bryant.

Well, let's just hope this works.

[upbeat jazz playing]

This garbage belongs to you.

They just don't make thugs
the way they used to.

You're finished, Zung.

And what brings you to that calculation?

(Minh) He's going to tell the
police all about your operation.

He'd be very foolish to do so.

You know, your friends may think I've lost.

But you Minh, you know better.

You've got one prisoner,
I've got all the people.

And I have owned them for a thousand years.

[people chattering]

(Minh) He's right. I've changed nothing.

What's the first thing you learned in combat?

You don't do anything all by yourself.

[truck engine starting]

(Minh) So now we know.

There is no mystery anymore.

We know how Diem and Tommy were k*lled.

My friend Hawke thinks

the Police will be able to
put this k*ller in jail.

But we are behind bars, too.
Bars of our own making.

Here we are, in America, with
farms and cars and mortgages,

and our children growing up as Americans,

and still, even now,

Zung has his way with us. It is not right!

Zung said to me,

"I have owned them for a thousand years."

I did not come to this country
to be owned by anyone!

I do not come here to be your leader.

But before I become owned again, I will lead!

Tomorrow, into the fields
to bring in the harvest.

And not one cent of tribute.

Who will work beside me?

[fire crackling]

[cheering]

[people chattering]

[talking in Vietnamese]

[aircraft approaching]

(Caitlin) Come on. Come on!

(Dominic) Hey String,
while we're chasing this one,

the other guy's lining up for a gasoline run.

[people screaming]

Hawke.

(Zung) Nice machine you have there, Mr. Hawke.

But it is not the machine
that gives you the edge.

It's the man.

(Dominic) He's coming
straight at us. Kamikaze run.

[expl*si*n]

Grandmother, the Spider, he's coming for us.

You, you, you, gather the chute.

Now!

(Dominic) String, I sure hope
they don't knuckle under again.

Well, we can't do any more.
They're on their own now.

Right now, I said! Gather the chute!

Did you hear me?

Tranh Van Zung, you are under arrest.

By whose authority?

My own.

This is America! Citizen's arrest!

[screeching]

“...for being true friends, and for
giving us the finest gift of all,”

“freedom.”

That's nice.

Think they're gonna make it, Hawke?

I think they already have.

Hey, what are we gonna
do with all this stuff?

Eat it. You know it always tastes
better when you pick it yourself.

Look at this. Hey, they sent us a souvenir.

Suitable for framing.