02x20 - A Choice of Dreams

[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.

DOCTOR:
I'm sorry,
Mr. Correlli.

You're sorry?

How much time have I got,
Doctor?

Well, the cancer is
extremely advanced.

Within four to six weeks,

you may be
completely incapacitated.

After that, I...

It's only his opinion, Boss.

Do you seriously think
that I would say these things

to anybody if it

were merely my opinion?

There's not much time.

Your regular physician
will undoubtedly prescribe

all the painkillers you need.

There's very little
I can suggest.

Just accept the inevitable

and try to make the most of it.

You know who I am?

I read the paper,
if that's what you mean.

If there's any mistake,
I could make it

difficult for you.

Well, you don't have
to tell me that, Mr. Correlli.

I see every day how difficult
you make it for the pathetic

dope addicts and hookers

who've helped
amass your empire.

Hey!

Besides, there is no mistake.

I checked your samples out
many times.

I only came here
in person because...

because I wanted to see

how the chief justice
of organized crime

would deal with the news
of his own death sentence.

Boss?

I'll handle this.
You see,

there's rarely anything I can do

for the people you victimize.

If they get as far
as the emergency room.

I guess I just wanted
to see what you looked like

when you were beyond all help.

Well, take a good look.

You're pretty good at
reading hospital reports.

Now, what do you
see in my eyes?

I see a man who's m*rder*d

and ruined lives.

And?

Now he's the victim.

He's the one
that's wasting away.

You missed something, Doctor.

I doubt it.

Don't doubt it.

I've had 30 years experience
looking into the eyes of men.

Some made me rich,
some wanted me dead.

It was always there
in their eyes for me to see.

What did I miss, Correlli?

Tell me.

Simply that I, Jake Correlli,

am about to end
your medical career.

How?

Ever heard of Irving Croighton?

Well, sure.

He's the chairman of the
board at my hospital.

But you can't...
[Angelo laughing]

I still get a kick
out of you, Boss.

After all these years.
[laughing]

Your money isn't gonna save
you this time, Correlli.

Never underestimate
the power of money, kid.

Congratulations on your
revenge, Mr. Correlli.

I'm sure it will
bring you much comfort

during your seizures
and nightmares

over the next few weeks.

Men like you, with your disease,

they don't die easy.

Good day, gentlemen.

[both chuckling]

[laughing harder]

[Correlli coughing violently]

Boss, Boss!

[coughing, gasping]

Don't just stand there!

Get me a bottle of scotch!

[coughing]

[Correlli mumbling]
Jake?

Jake?

My beautiful...

Boss?
[mumbling]

Sorry, Boss, there's
a man here to see you.

I'm not expecting anyone.

He gave me this.

"Afterlife."

Tell him to get lost.

You really should
see me, Mr. Correlli.

Wouldn't you like
to dream forever?

"Afterlife."

Dream forever?

What are you, some kind
of hippie undertaker?

I'm here to offer you a very
special service, Mr. Correlli.

I see.

You got a name?

It's not important.

Throw this man out, Angelo.

You're a powerful man,
Mr. Correlli.

You can indeed
have me thrown out,

shot, strangled, stabbed,
tossed into the East River.

But anyone, any child, any...

...monkey can
be brutal.

Real courage and intelligence

consists of opening one's mind
to the unfamiliar.

The buzzards are starting
to circle already.

Who's paying you?

DiNunzio or that weasel, Gerber?

I can offer you power
over the one thing

you can't intimidate,
Mr. Correlli.

Death.

[chuckles]

Well, let's see how long
you're gonna live, mister.

[Correlli chuckling]

Put it away, Angelo.

Leave us alone.

But Boss...
Do as I say.

I want to hear this man.

How come you came
in here knowing...

knowing that I was dying

when I only found out
last night?

Your data was available
on the hospital computers.

It's my business
to know these things.

My services are expensive

and my clients
are therefore limited.

In my line of work,
timing is everything.

What do you think I am?

A little orphan or something?

You think I'm scared enough
to go for this...

this afterlife mumbo jumbo?

Oh, come now.

Stop bluffing, Mr. Correlli.

You know I'm not
a confidence man.

Maybe you're a nut.

Nuts believe what they say
too, you know.

I'm a scientist, Mr. Correlli.

And I can make it
possible for you

to enjoy the dreams
of your choice

for as long as there is
matter on this earth.

I can, to a large extent,
give you power over death.

Eternal happiness.

And what good are dreams
to a dead man?

Your body is dying.

Your mind can be kept alive.

[sighing]

I'd love to sit
and talk with you

but I find your incredible
obtuseness tiring.

I can show you what it is I do

free and with no obligation,

but it must be done soon.

There's a telephone number
on my card.

You can reach me
tomorrow between noon

and exactly ten past.

You said

something about a...
about a price.

Oh, yes.

My price for the service,
Mr. Correlli,

is ten million dollars.

Ten million?

Suddenly I feel I understand you
very well, mister.

Between noon and ten past,
Mr. Correlli.

[groaning]

CORRELLI:
But no, please,
don't tie my hands!

[whip cracking]
Don't hit me.

[whip cracking]
MAN:
I'll teach you to lie to me!

You little worm!

[gasping]

[groaning]

Boss?

I know you didn't want
to be disturbed, Boss,

but your sister called.

She said...

Her daughter ran away
with another guy,

and I'm supposed to fix it.

Well, sort of.

Kind of, I mean...

You know why I k*lled
that cop, Angelo?

What?
O'Brien?

When he arrested me he put
my hands in handcuffs

and locked them behind my back.

Nobody does that to me.

Not even a cop.

And the next time
I was arrested,

nobody even tried to cuff me.

They knew.

They knew I was dangerous.

You're a very big man, Boss.

Make no mistake.

DOCTOR:
The dreams of your choice.

Power over death.

I'm a scientist.

Ten million dollars.

Does he think I'm crazy?

A choice of dreams.

Between noon and ten past.

[error tone]

RECORDED VOICE:
The number you have reached
has been disconnected.

Damn it!

[Correlli groaning]

[thunder crashing]

Forget the mail.

I need a number on that weirdo.

Call Triponi,
he can find anybody.

Call the FBI!

I haven't got much time!

Okay, Boss.

Did you set the clock
like I asked?

I called the navy, Boss.

You can't get any more accurate.

Good, and Angelo, get to work
on closing the Swiss

and Hong Kong accounts.

What for?

I want cash.

They way I figure, I'd rather
give my money away before I go.

That way, I can be sure
that it's well spent.

Come on, Boss.
Don't talk like that.

Do it, my friend.

Okay, Boss.

[phone ringing through]

DOCTOR:
Yes?

Correlli.

I had to be crazy
to come down here.

This is my specialty,
Mr. Correlli:

the physics of thought,

the electro-mechanics
of the human mind.

I know what I'm doing.

Contrary to the opinions
of my slow-witted colleagues

at the universities.

I'm with them.

On the contrary,
Mr. Correlli,

you're with me.

You didn't tell me
I was gonna get a shot.

Oh, come now, Mr. Correlli.

A grownup man like you?

If anything
goes wrong...

Don't worry.

The likelihood of your paying me
ten million dollars

in the near future makes me
strangely protective of you.

Yeah, that's for now,
but what about...? [sharp groan]

Now, that wasn't so bad,
was it?

If I decide to do
this for real,

how do I know you won't take
the money, pull the plug

and send my undertaker
a postcard?

Just lie down.

It'd be best
not to think about that

right now, Mr. Correlli.

Just sleep... dream.

[computer beeps]

WOMAN:
Jake? Jake?

Marie, Marie...

Your cousin said you
were a tough guy.

But you're so very sweet,
aren't you, Jake?

So now you think
you're Mr. Big

just 'cause you knocked over
some speakeasies.

I say you're nothing but a punk,

and I'm sorry you're my son.

Now get out of here
before I belt you one!

[typing]

[Marie laughing]

How did you get
so strong, Jake?

How did you get so strong
that the safest place

in the world is
in your arms?

That was amazing.

It was so, so...

Vivid, Mr. Correlli?

You called out
the name "Marie."

My wife.

She was everything to me.

What happened to her?

She changed. Booze, drugs.

You can have her back now.

How can I be sure?

I just dreamt some things
that I don't want to remember.

Of course, and
you won't have to.

You see, I can generate
specific images

from the memory stored
in your brain.

As I've told you many times,
Mr. Correlli,

I can give you the dreams
of your choice.

For how long?

A long, long, time.

Keeping the brain alive
is the easy part.

And my body?

Useless, disposable.

I don't know
a lot about science.

Maybe this makes sense,
maybe it doesn't...

but what I saw a minute ago...

Are there other...?

Customers?
Yeah.

Oh, yes, quite a few.

In fact, a number of your...
colleagues, friends.

Okay. When do we start?

DOCTOR: Whenever
you're ready.

What about the money?

You'll bring it
with you.

You have no motive

for double-crossing me,
Mr. Correlli.

No money, no dreams.

I'll die right here
in your lab?

A practical necessity,
I'm afraid.

I'm paying for my own hit.
Unbelievable.

ANGELO:
Here you go, Boss.

Those pills don't help much
anymore.

This scotch, thank God,
is still scotch.

[rain falling]

[contented sigh]

I've been hard on you,
haven't I?

ANGLEO:
Nah.

I've been an old woman.

I can take it,
Boss.

I've been doing it for years.

I know, Angelo,
I know.

Can I ask you
a personal question?

Sure, Boss, any time.

How come
you never plugged me?

Boss!

[chuckles] I mean,
you've had chances.

You knew you
could trust me

from the first time
you looked into my eyes.

Nobody reads people
like you do.

But still...
[chuckles]

You know why
I never k*lled you?

Why?

Because I was already
at the top.

Working with you like I was,
who could have bought me?

I couldn't get higher than that.

Not on my own.

I've kept you happy, didn't I?

Real happy, Boss,
real happy.

Except I don't like having
all this cash around.

Ten million and change.

Don't worry. The change will pay
for having a few annoying people

like DiNunzio and Gerber
removed.

The ten million
is for you.

[laughs] What?

To the best
friend I ever had.

I don't know what to say.

You're happy now,
Angelo, aren't you?

Oh, yeah, Boss, I mean, yeah.

Really?

[silenced g*nsh*t]

[glass clinks]

You went out at your
absolute peak, my friend.

Not many men can
make that claim.

I'm sorry I'm late.
Last-minute adjustments.

How do you feel?

Nervous. Let's get going.

The suspense is k*lling me.
[chuckles]

I never thought I'd end up
like this.

It's not the end,
Mr. Correlli.

In a way,
it's just the beginning.

It'd better be.

[Correlli grunts]

All right, it'll take a little
while to hook you up

to the computers.

And then you'll be on your way.

I'll see you in my... my dreams.

You're not a nice man,
Mr. Correlli.

Not nice at all.

But then none
of my clients ever are.

Well, the important thing is

to make sure everything turns
out all right in the end.

I must confess, Mr. Correlli,

this process can be somewhat
unsettling.

It's a little bit like waking up
in the middle of the night

and discovering a stranger
in your brain.

Of course, you don't remember
last night. [exhales sharply]

You beat me up last night.

You never remember
what you do to people,

only what they do to you.

Of course, there won't be
anything strange

about these dreams.

No, everything you see
will be familiar.

No, I don't know any women
who drink as much as I do,

but I don't know any women
who are married

to murderers either.

A little bit like a...
watching a rerun from a favorite

old TV show you haven't seen
in years.

For instance, This Is Your Life.

So this is one beating
you're gonna sit still for,

you slimy, little, sniveling
weakling.

MARIE:
One of these days, it's all
gonna catch up with you.

They're gonna k*ll you just like
I wish I could k*ll you!

I hate you, Jake!

I hate you and I always have
and I always will!

MAN:
You think you know it all?
You're nothing but a snake.

You squirming little weakling.

No, you were not a nice man,
Mr. Correlli.

Not nice at all.

MAN:
You haven't got the guts
to be a man!

Welcome to hell, Mr. Correlli.

Correlli:
No! No! No!

[several voices scolding]

MARIE:
I hate you. I have
always hated you!

I never should have married
you in the first place.

Correlli:
No! No! No!

No...!

I'm sorry.

NARRATOR:
The dark side is always there.

Waiting for us to enter.

Waiting to enter us.

Until next time,

try to enjoy the daylight.