01x05 - Day 90

[bunniefuu]

[discordant piano notes]

What's good, my fellow protesters?

Oh, we just finished making our signs.

You got yours yet?

Oh, no need.

I got this bad boy.

I'ma be yelling out

"Black Lives Matter!"

with a side of

[mimicking record scratching]

"No Justice, No Peace!"

We were just talking about

where everyone should meet up.

What's a better base to

attack white supremacy from?

The Pete's on Sunset

or the Pete's on Gower?

How about Roscoe's on Sunset and Gower?

I don't eat meat but if we're

buying, we're buying black.

They got coffee.

It feels like the whole

city's gonna show up.

The energy's crazy.

Yeah, I been 'Rona-safe, you

know, with other protests.

You know, just donating money and stuff.

But enough is enough.

Now I gotta get ten

toes down with my people.

We just gotta leave

before it goes sideways,

'cause the Pan Pacific one

got a little dicey at the end.

Yeah, let's make sure to get outta there

before those skater

boys come up from the OC

and start burning cop cars again.

Are you bringing anyone?

Paz maybe?

Oh, no, no. We broke

up for good this time.

Over and done with.

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that.

She was another reason I

didn't hit the other protests.

I couldn't trust her potential

"make this about me" moment.

She kept tagging her photos

"protest, but make it fashion."

Plus, she faked like she

boarded up a looted store

for the 'gram.

So I broke it off.

So damn disrespectful.

- [cell phone ringtone]

- Oh, that's my mom.

And that's the fifth call.

I should probably answer it.

See y'all at the march.

Hey, baby.

Hey, Mom. How you doing?

You know that computer

we got at Circuit City?

Stopped working for me.

Toasters don't fly anymore.

Ma, that computer stopped

working on you ten years ago.

What happened to the

new laptop I got you?

Your cousin Dane, he has it.

He started college.

He says he needs it for his classes.

Ma, Dane's not in college.

He runs Ponzi schemes.

Like Bernie Madoff?

Aunt Brenda thinks he's

taking political science.

What you doing this weekend?

Besides sitting in your apartment?

You don't have to say

apartment like that.

And yes, I do have plans.

I'm headed to the protest.

No, uh-uh. Absolutely not.

Ma, I'll be fine. I'll mask up.

I ain't worried about no 'Rona.

I'm having a barbeque right now.

Ma, you should not be doing that.

Oh, boy, stop.

I am covered by the blood of Jesus,

and that is better than any mask.

Besides, these are people we know,

not like a bunch of

strangers at a protest.

I do not want you getting

all involved in that.

- Did you tell Michelle not to go?

- I don't have to.

Shelly knows how to

stay away from trouble.

Ma, I'm going with a safe group,

and all the other protests

have been peaceful,

- at least in the beginning.

- Benjamin, you are a target.

Now, you know how all of this started.

I cannot be one of those mothers.

Don't put me in that position.

Ma, I'll be fine.

Nothing's gonna happen.

- I'm just

- You just?

Every one of those boys

was just going to the store.

Just jogging, just

minding their own business.

Now they're gone.

So don't you tell me "you just."

You just stay home!

But you marched when you were younger.

You protested Ronald

Reagan, two George Bushes,

and Bill Clinton the summer after

you spent all summer

getting him elected.

- That was different.

- How is it different?

It's literally the same thing

we're marching for today.

Damn, that's bleak.

It's different because I said so.

I'm the mama, you the son.

And don't you question me.

Boy, I will fling this

house shoe across country

if I have to.

Do not doubt my

accuracy, nor my strength.

- [groans]

- What's wrong?

- I didn't throw the shoe yet.

- It's nothing. Just a stomachache.

Just coat it with some

ginger ale and crackers.

If that doesn't work, come home.

Nice try, Mama.

Well, I thought I'd give it a shot.

- [glass breaking]

- Ooh! I gotta go.

Your uncle Peanut, he's

trying to take over the grill

and he is as drunk as Cooter Brown.

Now, don't you go to them protests.

[screams]

Peanut! Put them tongs down!

Ah! I am so excited.

This is really going to

be a learning experience

for me, Richie, and the kids.

Don't you think this

could be a little dangerous

- for the kids?

- Uh

My grandfather marched across

India to get the British out.

I think my kids can make

it from Hollywood Boulevard

to Beverly Hills.

Also, Ross is black.

I really need him to see all

those people fighting out there

to say that his life matters.

All right, and I'm not gonna be

one of those adoptive parents

who's tone-deaf about

the culture of his kids.

You're a good dad.

Not as good as Richie, but good.

Yeah, no one's as good as Richie.

Oh, oh, oh! Speaking of tone-deaf.

Did you hear Ben and Paz broke up?

- I sure did.

- So what are you waiting for?

Ditch the dating app and hop on his lap.

Ask him out!

Yeah, I think I'll probably

wait till after the protest

- for black lives?

- Please.

I once asked out a guy

at his grandma's funeral.

And what did he say?

I couldn't tell. He

was crying too hard.

The point is,

life is short.

And these times are heavy, so

Why not Marie Kondo him

and see if he sparks joy?

Yeah. Maybe.

You're not gonna ask him out, are you?

Probably not, no.

♪

What's with that bag of peas?

You trying to eat through osmosis?

It's nothing. Just a stomachache.

Like the ones you got in college?

You still get those?

Yeah, but this one seems worse.

I'm trying to chill it

out before the protest.

Ooh! That reminds me.

Mom called and told me to make sure

- you don't go to the protest.

- For real?

Let me guess, she told you to

wear your comfortable shoes.

No, if Mom doesn't

want me to do something,

she says it through a series

of passive-aggressive throat clearings

and "Well, if you think that's best."

That's how the women in

our family communicate.

Why does she do that?

She lets you do whatever you want,

but watches me like a Karen.

'Cause she knows I'm more

pragmatic than you are.

You are not more pragmatic than me!

I create detailed settlements

to allow multi-national

corporations to merge

without negatively

affecting global trade.

You draw cartoons.

Okay, you are potentially

more pragmatic than me.

But that doesn't mean I

can't make it to a march.

Okay, I'm not a baby. I'm a grown

[groans]

Kinda sound like a baby.

I can't miss this protest.

Change is coming. I can feel it.

Is it change or a kidney stone?

See, Garret?

Ben's going to the protest

even with a tummy ache.

Ben goes to a lot of

things with a tummy ache.

I'm still not going.

Well, if you think that's best.

[clears throat]

Seriously, G? Why not?

Because I've been to the protests.

I saw them as a teenager in '92.

And then I marched in '99 and 2012

and all the other times that

it didn't make a difference.

I'm not gonna go out

there to get my a*s kicked

by a bunch of aggro cops

just because white people

finished binging "The Wire"

and making sourdough

Which, by the way, I do not understand.

Ciabatta is clearly the superior loaf.

The crumb is so much more open.

We need privileged voices to participate

if we want meaningful change.

We need all of us.

This is no way to live.

Aren't you tired of all these cops?

Yeah, and you know

what else I'm tired of?

False hope that says that if I march,

I can magically dismantle

a 400-year-old system

that I didn't even build.

Yeah, they made it.

Let them take it apart.

I'm gonna be in my backyard.

[groans]

Are you okay?

I got a recipe for a great tincture.

It relaxes the belly, calms things down.

Do you have any bambusa vulgaris around?

Baby, just say "bamboo" like a person.

Man, I don't even have salt right now.

Have you tried crackers

and ginger ale yet?

Yeah. Four sleeves, two bottles.

Honestly, I don't think

the sugar's helping out.

It's fine, I'm not

gonna miss the revolution

'cause I've got gas.

[groans]

Do you have any other symptoms, Ben?

I mean, I'm kind of achy, I guess.

I'm not sleeping great.

- Why are you looking at me like that?

- Ben, you cannot go to the protest.

Would you and Ma stop

treating me like I'm

No, Ben. Those are COVID symptoms.

So where can I get me some bamboo?

Okay, Ben. List your symptoms, go!

Same symptoms I always get.

My stomach hurts, then it stops.

But this started in college?

Who has a 10 year stomachache?

It comes and goes.

- It's not like every day.

- I don't know.

Saltines, ginger ale, and a

nap used to knock it right out.

This seems way worse.

- Are you regular?

- Aww, come on!

Oh, grow up, Ben. It's just poop.

They key to a man's health

is through his rectum.

Right?

I will not rest until I

know your bowel movements.

Does it sink? Does it float?

And again, this is not me asking.

- This is science.

- Okay, fine.

But I'm tying it in a

private chat just to Michelle.

I mean, I don't want

- [notification chimes]

- Okay.

Uh it's normal.

It's normal!

All: [cheering]

- That's good.

- Okay.

I bet it's an ulcer.

Rufus! Shush, shush.

Can you still smell and taste, Ben?

That's a big COVID indicator.

I think so?

Yep, my mouth still tastes mouthy.

Wait, I got a melon the other day

and I couldn't smell it at all.

Does that mean I have COVID?

No, that just means it's early June.

Stick to cherries until

the end of the month.

- [groans]

- Ben, you look like an extra

from "Saving Private Ryan."

Go to the hospital!

Hell no! I don't go to

hospitals when they don't have

a deadly airborne virus.

I have a terrific WhiteGlove

doctor I can refer you to.

She is wonderful with children.

You'd love her.

Okay, I'm gonna figure

this out on my own.

Thank you, everyone.

Ben, record your bowel movements.

Weight and frequency.

Actually, everyone should be doing this.

- [beep]

- Guys, I'm worried about him.

We need to get him to go to the doctor.

I'll talk to him.

He might be more open to it

without everybody in his business.

♪

Hey, sorry, that was a lot.

Everyone shouldn't have

We're just trying to

No, no, no. I'm sorry, G.

I shouldn't have been

on you about the protest.

If you don't want to

go, that's your right.

I'm just

I-I just feel like

there's something different

in the air this time.

Ben, you're sick.

You need to take care of yourself.

America isn't gonna

fix racism this week.

That's the point.

We know that.

We know this has been

going on all our lives,

as long as this country's been.

But now with everyone

home with no distractions,

white people are

starting to know it too.

G, it's 2020 and we're

still fighting for things

our parents, our

grandparents, fought for.

We got self-driving cars,

but we still can't even

walk through the park

without someone calling

the cops on us for nothing.

These protests are different.

You don't feel it?

We have everyone on our side now.

So many people were quiet last time.

Now is the time to get out there

and make the people in

power feel uncomfortable

and make some real meaningful change.

And if I'm not a part of

that in some small way

[groans]

Okay. How about this?

Go to the doctor.

If they sign off on your health,

go to the protest

and I will go with you.

- Really?

- Yeah.

If you can be hopeful, I can be hopeful.

Maybe now is the time.

You got a deal, G.

[cell phone ringtone]

Yo, I gotta take this.

- I'll hit you right back.

- Okay.

Wendeezy! How you doing?

What's good, B? I'm chilling, man.

How's LA? You famous yet?

Man, I'm a animator.

I'm never gonna be famous.

Two words: Walt Disney.

Yo, I was at your mom's

house today for a barbecue.

Man, it was lit. Look.

Wendell, we're in a pandemic

that is spread at places like barbecues.

Aww, relax, man. It was safe.

We was all outside.

Until we came inside

to watch YouTube videos.

I don't think that's how safe works.

Hey, man. You going to them protests?

Of course. Why wouldn't I?

Oh, I don't know. Maybe, uh

Maybe your mom wouldn't

want you out there?

Did my mom ask you to call me?

Man, look. I'm a grown a*s man.

If I wanna go, I'm going.

Look, bro. I hate to say it,

but I kind of agree with her.

It is a little dangerous

out there right now.

Aww, come on. You too?

You're going in Atlanta, aren't you?

Oh, you know I am.

But think about who you are, man.

Look, I love you to death,

but you ain't about that life.

Whoo! Bruh. Listen, bruh.

I don't even put milk in my cereal, bro.

I'm gangsta. What you talking about?

- I want all the smoke.

- Bro, please.

You didn't even watch "Thriller"

without closing your eyes

until we were 17 years old.

Okay, but my fear of Michael Jackson

turned out to be justified.

Look, man. I'm not

saying you ain't tough.

But things can get crazy down there.

And if you in it, you gotta be in it.

Honestly, man, you got too much to lose.

- Wendell.

- Look, B,

you and Michelle are

everything to Dayleen.

A black mom with two

grown successful kids?

She's pitching a no-hitter right now.

She can't talk about it,

but that's what she's

trying to preserve.

Y'all have done too much

to get where you are, man.

She don't want you going down

there and risking all of that.

[groans]

Damn. What's wrong with you?

You like a R&B singer

about to hit the chorus.

It's nothing, just a stomachache.

Man, you still get those?

Here's what you do.

You grab a 40 ounce, put

a tablespoon of salt in it,

drink it down as fast as you can.

It'll knock you right out.

Yeah, I'm not doing that.

I told Garret I'm going to the doctor.

- Yeah, your funeral.

- [firework cracks]

Ooh! I gotta go.

My neighbor came up on some

heavy duty a*s fireworks.

We about to put on a

show before the march.

I'll catch you later, man.

Hey, Wendell.

You got a lot to lose too.

You've changed your whole life around.

You be safe out there.

Thank you, man. I appreciate that.

But I'm built for this.

I'll be fine.

[light music]

♪

Ben! How are you feeling?

What did the doctor say?

- It isn't COVID.

- Yes! Oh, my God, thank God.

She says I have an ulcer.

Rufus was right. Can you believe that?

What? How do you get

an ulcer with abs like that?

She said it was from stress.

That makes sense.

First a pandemic, then

George Floyd, then

No, she says something like this

has been building inside me for years.

She said years of stress causes

stomach liner to deteriorate.

So, I guess it's from George Floyd

and Breonna Taylor

and Tony McDade

and Eric Garner and Sandra Bland

and Trayvon Martin and Rodney King

and Emmett Till and

I'm I'm sorry. I can't

I can't imagine what it's

like to walk around with that.

You know, I've always

told myself that I'm fine,

that I'm okay, that

things don't bother me

That I'm safe.

But I guess my body disagrees with me.

So what about the protest?

I gotta go get my prescription.

I mean, I wanna go.

But my doctor says I should limit

my stressful situations right now, so

No, of course.

Do you need anything? Is

there anything I can do?

No, I got it.

I need to take some

time and process this.

I'll talk to you later.

.

What is a g*n to a

man that surrenders? ♪

[protestors chanting]

What's it gonna take ♪

For someone to defend her? ♪

If we all agree that

we're equal as people ♪

Then why can't we

see what is evil? ♪

I can't breathe ♪

You're taking my life from me ♪

I can't breathe ♪

Will anyone fight for me? ♪

Hey. How are you feeling?

Pretty useless. Sipping on ginger ale

while the revolution's

happening four blocks away.

- How was it?

- It was you know, it was okay.

Annie, you don't have to

downplay how great it was.

It was amazing. Sorry.

It was amazing.

[sighs] So you met up with everyone?

Yeah, but then I ran into

an old friend from Orlando,

so I kinda lost track of the group.

Oh! Garret came.

What? Are you

Man, I should have been there.

No! Ben, you're sick.

Well! That was something.

What happened? I lost track of you.

I lost track of everyone.

You guys, have you ever tried to control

two uncontrollable toddlers

in a crowd of 20,000 people?

They both removed

their masks immediately.

The leashes we got for

them were not working.

And to top it all off,

Visage almost ate a

hot dog off the street.

I know I did that in front

of the Abbey ten years ago,

but we're not discussing that.

Ben, you should have seen

your little activist god-kids.

You would have been so proud.

I mean, they had these little megaphones

and they were just

screaming, "Say her name!

"Bwe-yona Tay-wor!

Say his name! George Foyd!"

If you only knew how

long we practiced that.

George Floyd,

Bree-ah-na Tay-lor.

Oh! Ben, how are you feeling?

I'm okay, I just feel

awful for missing

Aah, that was incredible!

What happened? I hate

that we got separated.

It was impossible not to.

There was so many people there.

So many people. And

it was so inclusive.

Y'all, I've been to marches in the past

where we'd start chanting

"Black Trans Lives Matter"

and it wouldn't really catch on.

But today!

Today people were shouting

for Tony McDade and Nina Pop!

Man, I can't believe I missed it.

I'm sorry, it was just special.

I mean, right, guys?

Oh, guys! Things

went bad at the protest.

- What?

- What?

Is everything okay?

- No, no. It's Garret.

- What? What about Garret?

Oh, my God, he was only

there because of me.

Rufus, what happened?

Okay, let me set the table here for you.

The tension was so palpable,

you could cut it with a knife.

People screaming, fed up.

Police and National Guard in body armor.

Everyone's sweaty. No water in sight.

All of us pressed shoulder to shoulder,

joined in the spirit of change.

And then I saw

Do you know who Christine Lahti is?

- Of course!

- No.

Rufus, stay focused.

So I went up to her, you

know, a safe six feet.

Plus I was wearing a

full scuba breathing unit.

Anyway, Christine Lahti couldn't

understand what I was saying.

So I showed her a picture

of herself on my phone.

But then her friend said

she wasn't Christine Lahti

- and that I should leave.

- Ah, diva!

Rufus, what happened to Garret?

I'm getting there, I'm getting there.

Hold your goats.

Next thing I know,

there's a deafening pop.

All hell breaks loose.

I'm being pushed and

pulled like a piece of kelp

in an ocean of bodies.

If I can just get to the sidewalk,

I know I'll be fine.

I wade through the undulating crowd

towards the relative

safety of the sidewalk.

And then

I get there, I make it.

- And?

- I'm getting there!

Not to the sidewalk, to my point.

I already made it to the sidewalk.

- Rufus!

- Rufus!

So I get to the sidewalk, and just then,

I see Christine Lahti getting

sassy with a group of cops

and the cops are getting heated.

And I'm pretty sure

that something pretty bad's

about to happen to this woman

that I am pretty sure is

either Christine Lahti,

or, you know, now that

I'm thinking about it,

it might have been Annette Bening.

- No!

- Rufus, I swear to God.

Guys, Garret's been arrested.

Oh, come on! I was just getting to that.

[light music]

Brother-in-law!

Man, are you okay?

I should be asking

you. What happened?

We were supposed to be

Martin and John Lewis

getting into good trouble!

I know, man.

My stomach messed everything up.

But I heard you got arrested. You good?

Yeah, I'm cool.

- Arrested, but cool.

- What happened?

Well, we were walking down the street

and some front-line guys got

rough with a group of women

so I jumped in to help and

got caught up in the mess.

They zip-tied me, threw

me in the paddy wagon,

took me down to the station.

Michelle got there before we did, so

She bailed me out in, like, two hours.

Not everybody was so lucky.

Man, I have never been more thankful

to be married to a lawyer.

Man, you told that way

more succinctly than Rufus.

Where's Michelle now?

She's still down there,

offering pro bono legal help

to some of the other protesters.

She bailed out Annette Bening!

I feel so bad.

Like, you literally weren't

gonna go until we talked.

- And now

- Ben, I'm fine.

How's your stomach?

It isn't COVID.

- It's a stress ulcer.

- Of course it is!

What do you mean, "Of course it is"?

Rufus was right.

You know how insufferable he's gonna be?

Yeah, he does not need that win.

Ben, you can lift all the weights

and drink all the green

juice that you want,

but you still gotta take

care of here and here.

I just never had a problem with that.

Any time I was in

college and it got tough,

I just threw some Anita

Baker on Zune and I was good.

You're not a kid anymore, Ben.

You're a Black man in America,

and if that doesn't

get you a stomachache,

I don't know what will.

Also, you had a Zune in college?

It was the superior product.

I don't care what anyone says.

What's wrong?

I'm just bummed I couldn't

be out there with y'all.

I feel like I let my people down.

I feel like a coward.

Ben, these protests

begin and then they end.

We have to go out on the street

and risk our lives every day.

You are not a coward.

You beat the odds. Not

all of your friends did.

Some of them didn't

make it past 21, right?

But look at you! You're an animator.

Did anyone ever tell you

you could be that growing up?

No. If anything, I got in trouble

for drawing too much. I

did not listen in school.

Exactly!

But then you turned it into a career.

You draw images that young Black kids

can see themselves in,

drawn by somebody who looks like them.

In your life and in your art,

you show people the

texture of Black lives

and why they matter.

Who you are, what you are

Your entire existence

is a form of protest.

And me marching and yelling and you not

does not add or take away from that.

The only place that we should all be

is in the voting booths on election day.

Thanks, G.

I appreciate that.

Though, you know

I did get arrested for our people, so

I technically did do more than you.

Oh, yeah, two hours in a holding cell.

You're basically Nelson Mandela.

Attica! Attica!

Wrong prison, man.

[laughter]

[sighs]