02x08 - Distant Signals

[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.

MAN: Bernie, forget
the front end.

The front end
is a lock.

I have no problems
with the front end.

This is strictly a question
of points and percentages.

Huh?

Don't talk about integrity.

That's not the issue.

Integrity.

A c*ck has more integrity.

Mr. Smith.

Welcome to Hollywood.

Have a seat.

What's your problem?

I wish to speak to your client,
Gil Hurn.

You know Gil?
We've never met.

Uh-huh. But you have something
you want to tell him.

Exactly.
Pardon me.

What are you,
some kind of a fan?

You want to express some
personal sentiments?

I wish to make a business
proposal.

But I must speak directly
with Mr. Hurn.

[phone beeping]
Huh?

Wait a minute.

Hello.

Grant! What?

London
on the other line.

Why, of course
I'll wait.

Listen, Smith,
you look like a nice kid,

uh, under that suit.

Now, I don't want to hurt
your feelings,

but I represent all my clients
exclusively.

If there's any business
to be done, it goes through me.

The networks go through me.

The studios go through me.

You're gonna go
through me.

All I can say is it concerns
the Max Paradise series.

Max Paradise.

The private detective show made
in 1965.

Wait.

Is this some kind of gag?

The show was cancelled
in mid-season.

A mercy k*lling!

That private eye garbage--

even back then it was dated.

Today, rest in peace.

Huh? No, no, not you, Grant.

No, that's all right.

I'm being amused here.

The show was created
by Gil Hurn.

A giant in the industry.

He doesn't think about old
turkeys, especially his own.

Of which there were very few.

I would like you to arrange
a meeting with Mr. Hurn.

I will make suitable
remuneration

regardless of the outcome
of that meeting.

Smith.

Whose kid are you?

I represent a group of...

foreign investors.

Is that gold?

Do you know what
that's worth?

About $35,000.

The gold is yours, Mr. Feldman,

when I meet Mr. Hurn.

Is this stuff hot?

Hot.

Go on, Mr. Feldman.

Touch it.

Pamela.

Hold my calls.

Get me Gil Hurn on the phone.

Right away.

[chuckles]

WOMAN [on TV]:
You're okay, Max.

Stay here with me.

MAN:
Well, I don't know if
I am, sweetheart.

Will you come back?

First I gotta find what
I'm looking for.

I think you found it
already.

And you don't know it.

Maybe.

But I still have to find
that limping man.

So long, sweetheart.

I'll remember you,
especially at night.

It was young-lived.

It's a great
episode.

One of my favorites.

It's embarrassing.

I can't believe I actually wrote
that stuff.

Gil...

I think we should at least

listen to Mr. Smith's
proposal.

I want you to write and direct

six more episodes
of Max Paradise--

including the final one

when the detective's identity is
revealed at last.

For this I will pay you
$2 million in gold.

Even if I wanted to help you,
it couldn't be done.

Not now.

It's too late.

You can't repeat the past,
Smith.

It's over, finished.

Of course you can repeat
the past.

We have absolutely no doubt
on that question.

The gold is there, Gil.

For this?

Why?

There are many fans waiting
for the revival.

Max Paradise must
finish his search.

Max Paradise is corn,
dated.

SMITH:
He cannot

be left wandering in limbo.

There's nothing original
in the character.

He's cardboard.

He's mythic.

There're a hundred reasons

why you can't bring back
Max Paradise.

For one: you need that actor,
Van Conway.

Oh, yes.

He's the only one to play Max.

Well, he disappeared years ago.

Probably dead now.

Or dead drunk.

I have found him, Mr. Hurn.

You located Conway?

How?

The same way I located you two
gentlemen.

By looking.

And you're quite right.

Van Conway is dead.

Van Conway is dead.

Dead, dead, dead.

The actor, Van Conway, is dead.

Oh, he had a brooding quality.

Uh, but he didn't have
the staying power

for the long haul.

The TV Encyclopedia
said that.

[laughing]

And they ought
to know, huh?

So, here's to Van Conway
the bartender.

Alive, well and drinking.

About Max Paradise...

Forget about
Max Paradise.

He's dead! Geez.

You want to revive
him, get some kid.

There's a million actors
out there want a job.

I need you, Mr. Conway.

Production is
starting soon.

[laughs]

You mind me asking
what business you're in?

That's not important.

I invent things.

Technical things mostly.

[laughing]:
Well, you're sure...

you're sure as hell not in show
business, that's obvious.

Let me give you a hot tip.

As an investment,

Max Paradise is a dead duck.

Are you afraid of working again?

Afraid? That's got nothing
to do with it.

I mean, look at me. I'm not--

how can I go in front
of a camera?

You are Max Paradise.

No!

No! I'm not!

I'm not an actor anymore,
you understand?

I'm a bartender.
I pour beers in the corner bar.

So go on, get out of here,
leave me alone.

You'll have
lots to do--

rehearsals, costume fittings.

You'll need your strength.

I want you to take one of these
vitamin pills

three times a day.

Vitamin pills. Are you crazy?

Vitamin pills aren't
gonna help me.

You must get control
of yourself,

Mr. Conway.

You can.

You will.

I have faith in you.

[doors creaking]

It's the same dump,
just older.

You actually made
the series here?

Yeah, we were trying
to save money.

It is a great privilege
to enter this room.

It's a studio, pal.

It's not a shrine.

It's funny how you always
remember the failures.

I was standing
right here

when I heard
we were cancelled.

Guess how many letters we got
afterward?

Twelve.

For a network TV series--
nobody cared then,

nobody'll care now.

I believe I have a market
for the series.

The work doesn't
deserve it.

You're too critical.

In many ways, it was the
height of televisual art.

You turned it
into poetry.

Like that scene

where Max Paradise meets
a girl in the bar.

The bar?

The place is dark.

A few customers sit
in the shadows.

Max leans toward the
girl and says,

"Imagine one morning
you'll wake up

"in a city you recognize
but don't remember.

"Your mind is blank.

"Everything seems familiar
yet different.

"The very way the
sunlight reflects

"off the white
plaster walls.

"Taste of the air.

"The smell of the water.

"It all seems different.

"Strange.

Alien."

You know it by heart.

It had passion.

You must've been a kid
when you saw that show.

I couldn't forget it.

And neither could
you, Mr. Hurn.

When you wrote
it, you cared.

And I know that, in some
way, you still care.

So what?

Let me tell you--

failure's like poison
in this town.

I had to forget Max Paradise

and pray that
everyone else did, too.

There's something to be said
for amnesia.

I saved my career
when I buried that show.

Now you can finish it.

Just as you know you've
always wanted.

What was in those pills?

That's not important.

You needed them after so
many years of drinking.

Yeah.

You gotta patent 'em,
you can make a million bucks.

Now, you tell me
the truth now.

How do I look?
Much better.

You can see for
yourself.

[grunting]
No, this is a mirror.

The camera sees things
differently.

How will the camera see me?

The camera will be good to you.

Like the old days?

Oh, yes.

We'll sh**t it in
black and white,

like before.

It will help bring out
your haunted look.

I've always looked
that way.

Yes.

That's why you had
to play Max Paradise.

Then and now.

This is strange.

This is all... very strange.

The fear doesn't show.

All I see is that dark,
brooding quality,

like a cat ready to pounce.

The TV Encyclopedia said that.

They really liked you,
Mr. Conway.

And they ought to know, right?

Well...

Come with me now.

We begin.

We're in a diner in Texas.

The highway outside heads south
to Mexico.

It's 3:00 in the morning.

No one's in the joint except
the night man behind the grill.

Max, you're staring
down at your coffee,

staring down
at your coffee.

You hear
Loomis come in.

You want to
look up, but no.

You make him
move first.

You order a cup of coffee.

Now, look
over to Max.

The name's Loomis.

First or last?

[chuckles]

Whichever way you like, buddy.

I'm Max Paradise.

LOOMIS:
Never heard a name like that.

MAX:
I found it on a license.

Driver's license?

A private detective's.

One name's as good as another,
uh, so I kept it.

You had to drop
your real name, huh?

I forgot it.

I forgot everything
except, uh,

how to drive
and drink and sh**t--

something the man
never forgets.

We hold on you, Max-- your
mind is working-- then cut.

You remember fragments--

the limping man,
the beautiful woman,

the bedroom,
the struggle.

You remember caring about
her so much, so much.

But who was she?

Suddenly you see a guy there
in the shadows.

The guy fires, you stagger back.

He runs down the hall limping,
escaping.

Back in the diner,
you're shaking.

Bad memories are jumping
in your head.

You turn to Loomis.

Haven't I,
haven't I seen you around?

I'm a stranger here myself.

You look fami-- fam...

[stammering]

You all right, Van?

The line is "I'm all right."

Come on, Van.

Cue him again, Loomis.

I'm a stranger here myself.

I... I can't.

Forget it, forget it, forget it.

I can't do this!

[sighs]

[knocking]

[horn honking distantly]

[clears throat, sniffs]

[sighs]

Oh, go away.

Will you leave
me alone?

Don't worry.

I know how it is.

I froze.

I didn't remember
anything.

Your fear is natural
under pressure.

[scoffs]

What are you, some
kind of a shrink?

Shrink?

No.

Now, I want you
to try and relax.

[sighs]

Hey, what are
you doing?

This will affect
your brain center

that controls your craving
for alcohol.

Just leave me alone.

Leave me alone.

You won't think
about your addiction anymore.

You won't be afraid.

Just leave me alone.

Okay?

You won't hurt anymore.

The pain and fear that you have
fought all your life...

will be gone.

I'm draining them away.

[horn honking distantly]

You will come back to work
clear-headed.

[sighs]

Who are you
anyway, Smith?

I'm your greatest fan,

and I will not let
you fail me.

AMY [on-screen]:
That limping man wants
to k*ll you.

MAX [on-screen]:
Yeah, but first he wants
to tell me who I am.

He's the only one

who knows,
and it's eating him up.

That's why he didn't nail me
back there at the diner

when he had the chance.

Oh, yeah,
he's dying to tell me,

and I'm going to let him.

What if he
shoots first?

Well, if that happens,
angel,

you ask him what name
to put on my tombstone.

I never thought
he could do it.

We used the whole take,
every word.

I saw yesterday's rushes, Van.

You were great.

Not too many wrinkles?

The black and white
smooths out your face,

makes it look haunted.

Yeah, Smith told us
to use black and white.

He knew.

And Smith made it all seem
important, you know,

as if there were
millions of people

out there
waiting for us.

Eh, maybe there are.

Where?

Hong Kong, North Korea?

No U.S. network is going
to run black and white today.

This whole production
is bizarre.

Yeah, it's bizarre
all right.

I don't know,
am I on it?

And action.

I've been waiting for you.

I remember now.

You... remember?

All those years

of searching, not knowing
what I was searching for.

I was looking for you.

You k*lled my Amy.

There's more, kid.

Something you can't remember,

something you never knew.

What are you
talking about?

LOOMIS:
You were a baby when they
came to split us up.

Mr. and Mrs. Paradise picked
you out because you were cute.

They didn't want a gimp,

so they took my little brother
and left me.

Brother?

All those years
I dreamed about you, kid,

married, having a home,
while I just drifted,

looking for you.

You never should
have found me.

When I did,
I hated you both.

You and your pretty Amy.

I never had a thing.

So I k*lled her

and I thought I k*lled you, too.

Yeah, I tried.

I thought I'd done it,

and then I saw you.

You were alive.

[chuckling]:
And you didn't remember
a thing.

I remembered
your limp.

You stay away.

I had to remember you;
I had to find you or go insane.

One more step and I'll k*ll you.

Remember, brother,
I'm the only one that cared.

Oh, no...

If you k*ll me now...
you'll be alone forever.

What are you going to do?

You're better off.

It's... perfect.

Well, it works.

More than works,
Mr. Hurn, much more.

It's mythic.

The wanderer remembers his past,
brother slays brother--

very symmetrical, very pleasing.

I'll be leaving tomorrow,
so let me tell you

it's been a great, great
privilege to work with you.

Thank you, Gil.

Van... thank you.

VAN:
Mr. Smith.

I can't help wondering
when the show will air.

Oh, soon, very soon.

Where?

Not in this country,
farther away.

I hate to
press you...

Far, far away.

But have faith, gentlemen,

your work will be seen
and loved by millions.

Your art will not be wasted.

Good-bye, my friends.

Someplace far,
far away, hmm?

What's going on?

Tell me, Van.

You know something I don't.

Our little show isn't going
to play here.

No, no,
our little show is going

to play somewhere
far, far, far away,

yeah, like


See, there's a star
up there.

It's just way up there,
way just up the side of Orion,

and it's a very special star

because it,
it has a wandering orbit.

What are you saying?

Distant, distant signals.

They're watching a TV program
from the 1960s,

and suddenly it stops
before the story ends.

They don't like that.

Who?

Smith's people... his investors.

Why would they choose
Max Paradise?

Why would they come all this way
for Max Paradise?

Maybe because they're wanderers,
too, like Max.

But who knows?

You got to be sure of one thing.

I mean, they-they've got
different tastes, right?

He said...

it was the height
of televisual art.

They're out there watching.

Wonder what they're like.

Well, he was here.

You saw him, you touched him,
you talked to him.

He's just like us.

A nice guy... a real nice guy.

Good-bye, Hurn,
I'll see you.

[chuckling]

NARRATOR:
The dark side is always there.

Waiting for us to enter.

Waiting to enter us.

Until next time,

try to enjoy the daylight.