02x07 - Behold the Lord High Executioner

[bunniefuu]

Previously on "Manhattan"...

You didn't congratulate me.

For what, getting the lead in a racialist play?

You need to lay off that pitch pipe.

It's cutting off the oxygen to your brain.

We should be studying the radiological effects of the test.

I swallowed 24 micrograms of plutonium in 1943.

I still make the geiger counter sing.

Liza: I have followed your orders to the letter.

I haven't spoken to my husband in months, as you know.

You want me to grand you access to the most secure site in the Western hemisphere so that you can...

Determine the health effects of atomic radiation and debris.

Oh, Jesus, Helen.

You owe me a lot more than a whiskey sour.

Uh, that drink was actually for me.

Come to G group. We need you. I need you.

If you believe we have a moral responsibility for the future of what we are building here, follow me.

Meeks: If we are the only ones who have it, we'll probably blow up the world.

But if Stalin has a b*mb in his pocket, too, it's a stalemate. Nobody dies.

(g*nsh*t echoes)

Ah! Ah!

Get the legs.

You're the only one that knows what I am.

♪ I was once in Egypt's bondage ♪
♪ but deliverance came to me ♪
♪ and I'm living now in Canaan ♪
♪ for the son hath made me free ♪
♪ I am living now in Canaan ♪
♪ Jesus' blood avails for me ♪
♪ I am free from condemnation ♪
♪ for the son hath made me free. ♪

Well, the car they found in Colorado, but that poor man's badge?

Tell.

Over by the pueblo.

Oh.

We get frisked at the gate, meanwhile the natives come and go as they please.

Dot: The army'll be looking under every poncho from now on.

Uh-huh.

A dead security agent and a spy on the hill?

Fay: Mm-hmm.

(Vacuum running)

Speaking of Indians, what's your girl doing to the hoover?

Dot: I don't know. Praying to it.

She probably thinks it's a God.

(Laughing)

My son saw something.

What do you mean, something?

Someone.

Pablo, if we put the man you saw in front of you, would you be able to recognize him?

Do you think we could bury the tomahawk?

Well, you may have bollixed your precious career, but at least you can say you stood on the right side of history.

I'm really not in the mood, Paul.

No, I mean it. I wouldn't have had the stones.

Seriously.

Darrow: Dr. Sinclair.

Would you come with me, please?

(Door closes)

Well, I suppose we all saw that coming.

(Theme music playing)

Crosley: Good morning, my love.

Mrs. Isaacs isn't there, I hope.

Good.

Probably off reading some Agatha Christie novel, isn't she?

Go on, then. Put me through.

(Door opens, closes)

Morning, Dr. Sinclair.

I thought maybe we'd seen the last of you.

Sorry to disappoint.

Colonel's got you packing his lunchbox, has he?

We're all somebody's houseboy, I guess.

You're Dr. Hogarth's, right?

That why you're here so early? Fetching his coffee?

We brits prefer tea, actually.

(Door closes)

Clubfoots?

Yeah, my great uncle had it.

The doctor says it runs in families.

I mean, it can't run very fast.

Fritzie! I don't care if our kids have no feet as long as they're ours.

Okay, but if you get pregnant, they'll kick you out of the army.

You keep telling me the w*r will be over by fall anyway.

Well, you know, I'm prone to hyperbole.

Don't you want children?

I mean, is this because of my old night job?

No! No, no, no, no.

Having kids with you is the number one thing that I want out of life.

I just wonder if maybe we should, you know, wait.

See what my prospects are like after the w*r.

Why do I feel like there's something you're not telling me?

Okay, um, the doc, he did give me some other bad news.

He said...

That I need to lose a few pounds.

Oh.

I don't want you to lose a single ounce.

Mm-hmm.

Well.

Well, except the mustache.

It's a little...

What?

Scratchy.

Really?

Mm-hmm.

(Playing pitch pipe)

Fritz: Hey! Look! Clark Gable!

Are you two skipping school?

No, I'm off to the desert.

But I'll be back in time to see you on the boards.

That's theater lingo, right?

Well, at this rate, I might not make it to opening night.

Well, hey, if you get stage fright, just picture everyone naked.

Except Jeannie.

I got to go, boys.

Bye-bye.

See you Friday.

Bye.

Bye!

Hey.

The doctor says I still got three or four micrograms swimming around in my gut.

How do you tell your wife that you could have a kid with three heads?

Well, just be honest.

You guys love each other.

You'll figure it out.

Okay. Thanks.

♪ Some day it may... ♪

(Plays pitch pipe)

It's not him.

Go ahead.

One of your geishas is sick.

Emergency rehearsal in 20.

(Chattering)

Wait. What... what exactly did he see?

He said that he saw a guy bury a box in the desert.

What was a little kid doing out in the desert?

They live there. That's not the point.

Well, who's to say he'd recognize me?

And even if he did, what did he see?

He saw me bury a candy bar. What does that prove?

A candy bar with code written on the wrapper in your handwriting.

It's just a matter of time before they recognize you.

Here. Take this. Say you're taking a day trip to Santa Fe and then cross the Texas border.

What's in Texas?

There is a motel called the Palmetto in el Paso and someone's gonna meet you there.

If I disappear, I'm gonna look guilty.

You are guilty.

When do I come back?

Oh. No. No, no, no.

No, no, no. This is... this is insane.

I can't just...

I can't walk away from my life.

You already did.

You're gonna be fine.

Come with me.

It's not protocol.

What about you and me?

Was that protocol?

(Opera playing)

(Door closes)

The man you're looking for, he works with polonium.

The man I'm looking for?

An intelligence officer was k*lled.

I assumed you wouldn't have asked me to assay this box unless it were evidence.

(Opera continues)

You found polonium?

Refined from bismuth and manufactured in Dayton, Ohio.

The only men on this hill with any use for it work on the initiator.

23, by my count.

Colonel, why come to me?

I read your file.

You're a man who doesn't cut corners.

But how do you know I'm not the traitor?

Most people on this hill take one look at me and assume I'm some kind of criminal.

Which would diminish your utility as a spy, I'd imagine.

You so much as jaywalked, I'd have a dozen well-meaning bigots in here calling for your head.

In my experience, bigots don't often mean well.

Hmm.

Your dedication will be rewarded, Dr. Sinclair.

Linda: That lake where they found the m*rder*d body?

It's a reservoir.

People drink that water.

Of course, the fish picked him clean like an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Hey. Little pitchers...

Hey, she's not scaring you, is she?

Me neither. You want to know why?

Well...

You see this lady? This is Athena.

She's a famous warrior and she watches over the women's army corps.

As long as I wear this, no one can hurt me.

You want to try it? Okay.

Now you don't have to worry.

If you see the man, you know you're protected.

Thank you.

Okay, I'm sorry.

Colonel's revoked all passage for tech area staff.

Since when?

There's no travel off the hill till further notice.

(Whistles)

Yeah. Back up.

Nora: They stopped him at the gate, but he can't hide out in his room forever.

He's got work and he's the lead in the play.

You sure the boy saw him?

They seem sure.

(Scoffs)

But he's not as green as you think.

He might be able to talk his way out of it.

There's a cathedral in Santa Fe.

Basilica of St. Francis. Do you know it?

I've not had a lot of time for sightseeing.

It's the third church to be built on the same plot of land.

The first one, the pueblo tore down when they threw out the Spanish...

And God.

The Spanish come back a few years later, build a bigger church.

Then tear that one down themselves, build an even bigger one.

Now God can really put his feet up.

What is the punch line?

Sometimes you have to burn what you've built if you want to grow.

We need him.

"Brooklyn." No ideology.

No beliefs beyond himself. Thinks he's in a spy picture.

He's done well.

Then what are we doing here?

In the kremlin, there's a list of names.

Mine's there. Yours, too.

Our whole family. If we fail...

I know!

Of course.

I'm sorry.

You can't burn what you haven't yet built.

The test is in two months.

Let me stop it.

Let us.

I need him.

And you're wrong. He does believe in something.

What?

Me.

My little girl.

I already have one.

They're not for you.

(Indistinct chatter)

Fritz: You've got to lift with your hams.

Trust me, you do not want to slip a disc.

Anyway, it was an official announcement.

All tech area staff now qualify for hazard pay.

20 cents an hour.

So you didn't blow off your career for nothing.

We walked out for a seat on the target committee, not for pocket change.

I know, but still.

It was bad timing, plain and simple.

Everyone's all broken up about FDR and Truman is not going to listen to a bunch of pinko scientists.

That man is a strike breaker.

So nobody cares if there is no n*zi b*mb?

Well, we don't know that there's no n*zi b*mb.

We just don't know that there is one.

Which is a good thing, right?

I mean, look on the bright side.

The colonel didn't court-martial you.

Which, by the way, why didn't he?

I should probably skedaddle.

She must be here by now.

All right, well, send her my regards.

Will do.

Lift with your hams!

Liza: Look at this place!

Must be 100,000 acres.

Fritz: 270,000, give or take.

We've got 20 miles of roads, 200 miles of telephone wires, a polo league, three barracks...

Great. Plenty of manpower.

I'm going to need some research assistants.

Oh, well, it's not quite that easy.

All resources need to be approved by the experiment review board.

And who's the head of the experiment review board?

Um... Dr. Winter.

Good to have you on the payroll.

I really appreciate the opportunity.

I understand that you and my husband had your differences.

Is he still your husband?

Fritz may have explained to you that I'm looking to establish a baseline...

Two GIs, as long as they're not assigned to a higher priority project.

And they're all higher priority.

No offense.

None taken.

Welcome to Trinity.

They called in 23 guys for a mandatory blood test, everyone who had access to polonium.

They're saying that it's an excess of caution.

It could be nothing.

It's a lineup. They found traces of it on the box.

Must have been on your hands.

We have a day.

For what?

Is this...

First you tell me to run and now I'm supposed to k*ll myself?

Jesus.

Calm down.

It's a last resort.

But an intelligence officer is dead, and you gift wrapped American's best kept secret for the Soviets.

So if they catch you, you're going to want it.

I have one, too.

Oh, great.

They can bury us side by side like Romeo and Juliet, or didn't you read that one?

They can't bury you if they can't identify you.

I'm taking care of it.

Meeks: Poison?

Absolutely not.

He's just a boy.

I'll turn myself in before I let you take care of a 10-year-old boy.

How many 10-year-olds do you think are in Tokyo?

Oh, God.

Or Yokohama?

You're the only person that can stop Harry Truman from taking care of them.

You're a scientist. That's simple math.

Oh, you can't make an omelet without poisoning an Indian kid, is that it?

I'm not asking your permission.

That's exactly what you're doing.

Why else would you even be here telling me this?

Just give me 12 hours. 12 hours.

All right?

Why?

What are you going to do?

It's an ecological survey.

We're measuring the presence of certain substances in the native plants and animals to assess the implications of the, um...

Of the device.

Implications?

On a bunch of coyotes and tumbleweeds?

At the moment, we call this a scientific control so that after the test...

Look, lady.

It's Uncle Sam's nickel. What do you want us to do?

You're each responsible for a particular set of specimens.

I want you to collect them, I want you to bag them, and I want you to catalog exactly where you found them.

Frank: Like a scavenger hunt.

Beats digging latrines.

Yes, it's like a scavenger hunt...

For science.

Can you give us a moment?

What are you doing here?

Just wanted to see you.

Well, now you have.

You testing for calcium?

And iodine and rhodium.

What about strontium?

It's just a hunch, but it could be nuclear by-product.

So you still seeing Joe Pulitzer?

I'm sorry.

What are you doing here?

I'm volunteering.

I understand this work better than anyone else out there.

I believe in it. I can help you.

And do you imagine just because we're in a different part of the desert that colonel Darrow won't find out?

Who cares if he does?

Let him ship me off to Borneo.

You really don't get it, do you?

This is my work that you're putting at risk.

I'm finally doing something that matters and you are handing colonel Darrow an excuse to shut me down.

Frank, I saw your hospital admission slip.

Criticality experiments?

Radiation exposure?

Liza... If you have a death wish, that's fine. That's your business. But keep it away from mine.

Hurt me again.

It's "hit me again."

Give me a drink.

Sweetheart, I'm a little busy.

Don't sweetheart me.

I did this at serious risk to my pants.

Your pants are safe.

I want nothing to do with any pants except my own.

So thank you, but, no, thank you.

But thanks.

I'm sorry.

English is my second language.

What I meant was scram.

Stan Javits. And you're Helen?

Your reputation precedes you.

Really? What reputation is that?

The woman who got herself fired from G group in less than 24 hours?

Dr. Helen Prins, the first author on that thorium paper in '38.

That was very precise work.

That was nicely done.

What are you, a metallurgist?

A chemist?

A lawyer. Patents.

What? You thought you guys would come up here and invent all this great stuff and not attract lawyers?

You can't have a picnic without ants.

You read my thorium paper?

You guys unlock the secrets of the universe and the government hires me to lock them back up again.

Right.

Anyway...

Consider me a fan.

Excuse me, is he in?

Thank you.

Mrs. Isaacs, come in.

Colonel, I'm sorry to bother you, but I didn't know who else to ask.

I need an address.

For whom?

For a woman who d*ed last year.

I'm trying to contact her next of kin.

This woman, she was a friend of yours?

Not of mine.

Of Dr. Oppenheimer, actually.

Her name is Jean Tatlock.

I was wondering if maybe you had a file or some kind of record.

And why would you want that?

Because...

Because I'm responsible for her death, sir.

I, um...

I spoke with Miss Tatlock on the telephone shortly before she took her life, and I said some cruel things.

And I believe, given her mental state, that I left her no choice.

Have you discussed this with your husband?

No, sir.

But what I did, it was pesha, a deliberate sin against another person, and it's the most unforgivable kind.

And... it...

That's why God took my child.

And that's why you want to contact Miss Tatlock's family?

To repent?

I have money.

(Voice breaks) I have more money than I'll ever need, and I would like them to have it.

Buying penance.

The catholics tried that for a while. Didn't work out.

Well...

Do you know where this w*r began?

Poland?

It began on another hill, in another desert 3,000 years ago.

All our sacrifices, yours, mine, Dr. Oppenheimer's, they happen for a reason.

We were put here to finish what Moses started.

I'm not sure I take your meaning.

God doesn't accept the US dollar, Mrs. Isaacs, but there are other paths to redemption.

(Dog barks)

Is this the Harper residence?

Mr. and Mrs. are out.

It's about your son.

I've been assigned to his case.

His case?

Pablo is a witness to a very serious crime.

If he can, in fact, identify a suspect, it won't be safe for him to return home...

Ever.

The colonel didn't tell us this.

Well, the army has never been a friend to your people, has it, Mrs. Ortiz?

But that's where I come in.

In appreciation for Pablo's help...

Again assuming that he does help...

The bureau of Indian affairs has secured a place for him at one of our boarding academies.

Do you know where Pennsylvania is, Mrs. Ortiz?

Near New York.

So you know that it's very far away and you may not see your son again for a very long time.

But I can assure you he will have a better life.

A new American name, new clothes.

By the time he graduates, you won't even recognize him.

That is, if he identifies a suspect.

But if my son can't remember the man that he saw...

Well, in that case, I'm afraid that we'd have no reason to send him to the academy.

He'd stay here with you.

I've never seen a BIA man on the hill before.

Yes. It's new protocol under president Truman.

I think I'd like to see your credentials.

Excuse me?

Or we could go discuss this with the army.

Okay. Easy.

Easy.

I'm trying to help you.

If you say another word to anyone, you're dead.

Your kid, too.

You don't like hamburgers?

You know, h*tler's a vegetarian.

Fine.

Do you like grilled cheese?

Okay, I'll get you some.

Linda taking good care of you?

It's too sweet for me.

I don't have the teeth for it, but go ahead and have it.

Man: Giddy-up, Palomino.

Probably no sodie pop in the teepees.

(Knocking on door)

Jim Meeks?

Supposed to take you to the medical clinic.

Now we need an MP escort to a doctor's appointment?

(Babies crying)

(Door opens)

Woman: Thank you very much, Mr. Shaw.

Antrim?

Right this way.

Man: So what's the plot?

Huh?

The Gilbert and Sullivan?

Don't tell me you're getting opening night jitters.

No, mm-mm.

Turn to your left, please.

Now your right.

Darrow: Face forward.

Pablo?

Thank you, Dr. Antrim.

Woman: Cafferty?

Do you know how many GIs have d*ed while we've been camped out in that waiting room?

Oh. Colonel Darrow.

Hi, I'm Jim Meeks. It's nice to...

Jeez. I'm sorry.

I'm all thumbs.

Darrow: Pablo?

Thank you, Mr. Meeks.

So you couldn't find sagebrush...

In the desert?

Nope.

And I have a conscientious objection to k*lling rabbits.

I mean, what's the...

So who did this?

(Sighs)

Abby?

Is the power out?

The rest of the block's lit.

It's shabbat.

I forgot to turn the lights on before sundown.

Sorry.

So now we're spending our weekends in the stone age?

We're going to be late for the play.

What if we didn't go back to Brookline when the w*r's over?

You want to stay on the hill? It'll be a ghost town.

What if we went abroad?

To Palestine?

What? Abby...

Colonel Darrow says that we'll never be truly safe until all the world's Jews are gathered in Jerusalem.

Since when do you talk to colonel Darrow?

I went to see him.

About the promised land?

About Jean Tatlock.

The day she d*ed, I called her on the telephone and I said some terrible things.

Unforgivable things.

I thought that if she broke things off with Oppenheimer, then...

But then she...

Abby.

Whatever you said to her, it's...

It's the reason we lost the baby.

No.

No, that was no one's fault.

You spend your entire life pondering the mysteries of the universe.

And then our child dies...

And you don't even ask why?

Why some guy in the clouds punishes you for something you didn't do.

For something I did do.

I k*lled a woman.

No, Abby. No, you didn't.

Listen to me. Hey.

I wish I knew how to explain this.

She was a sick woman.

She drowned herself. End of story.

Stay away from colonel Darrow.

He's not your friend.

I told him you wouldn't understand.

Is that the man you remember?

You did very well today, Pablo. Gracias.

Take him back to his mother.

Our hero.

You ready to go?

(Vocalizing)

Uh, have you seen my pitch pipe?

No, sorry.

Jeannie: He was a trooper.

You got a good kid, Mrs. Ortiz.

If the colonel needs him again, we'll send a jeep to the pueblo.

Is something wrong?

We're not coming back to this place.

Mrs. Ortiz, I'm so sorry. I don't...

He didn't see anything.

We don't want any trouble from the army, from anyone.

They're gonna hurt him.

Who?

Did someone thr*aten you?

(Playing pitch pipe)

Hey.

Where did you get this?

Mrs. Ortiz.

(Chattering)

Oh, it's just we haven't seen each other in two days.

That's like a month in newlywed time.

Oh, look. If it isn't my new neighbor.

Helen: Huh?

Crosley: Did you not hear?

The army moved Dr. Sinclair out of his tar paper shack into the room next to mine.

Seems he's connected to some very well-placed friends now.

Well, you got to take your friends where you can get them around here.

Hi.

Oh! There she is.

Me!

Jeannie!

Hi!

Hi.

You okay?

I'm fine.

(Piano playing)

Woman: Yes!

♪ If you want to know who we are ♪
♪ we are gentlemen of Japan ♪
♪ on many a vase and jar ♪
♪ on many a screen and fan ♪
♪ we figure in lively paint ♪
♪ our attitude's q*eer and quaint ♪
♪ you're wrong if you think it ain't ♪
♪ oh ♪
♪ Defer, defer ♪
♪ to the lord high executioner ♪
♪ defer, defer ♪
♪ to the noble lord, to the noble lord ♪
♪ to the lord high executioner ♪

(Gong rings)

♪ Taken from the county jail ♪
♪ by a set of curious chances... ♪

Fritz: Way to go, Jim!

♪ Liberated then on bail ♪
♪ on my own recognizances ♪
♪ wafted by a favoring Gale ♪
♪ as one sometimes is in trances ♪
♪ to a height that few can scale ♪
♪ save by long and weary dances ♪
♪ surely never had a male ♪
♪ under such like circumstances ♪
♪ so adventurous a tale ♪
♪ which may rank with most romances ♪

(Cheering)

His acting has definitely improved.

I can't wait for act two.

You all right?

I'm just feeling a little off.

Well, I'll walk you home.

No, no, no. Stay. Stay.

No, Meeks won't mind.

It's just a little headache.

Okay.

I'll see you later.

All right.

Bye.

(Vocalizing)

(Knocks)

Jeannie!

I need to ask you something.

Uh, sure.

Maybe after the show?

God. Thank you.

Where did you find this?

Outside a house in row F.

Huh.

I found it when I dropped that Indian boy off with his mother.

Indian boy?

Oh, you mean...

She was scared.

Somebody scared her.

(Mutters)

I guess somebody must have, uh, stolen it.

What were you doing there, Jim?

What was I...

You have lost me, Jeannie.

Man: Five minutes.

Five minutes to curtain.

That's act two.

Look, I got to...

Listen, maybe after the show...

Hey. Jeannie.

Jeannie.

Jeannie, wait, wait, wait.

Jeannie! Wait, wait!

Don't.

Are you a spy, Jim?

Are you the one the colonel's been looking for?

Jesus.

You k*lled that man, the one that they say...

No, no. No, no, no.

I didn't... I didn't k*ll anybody.

But you are a spy.

Uh...

Fritz!

Fritz got me into it.

What?

Before he met you, Fritz was a different person, and he... well, we were just trying to do the right thing.

No, he would have told me.

He couldn't.

You'd be an accessory.

I mean, don't you get how much he loves you?

It kills him to lie to you.

That... I don't believe you.

Well, then why did you come to me first?

Why not just tell Fritz?

Is this why he doesn't want to have kids?

Can you blame him?

The spot that he's in?

It's okay. It's okay.

When the w*r's over, this all goes away.

You two can go off, have a family, but for now, you can't tell Fritz what you know.

You have to trust me.

Okay?

Fritz was never a different person.

You're the different person, Jim.

Jeannie.

And you're a liar.

Your best friend...

You would say those things about your best friend, to his wife?

I think that you're confused.

No. Stay... stay away from me.

Jeannie. Jeannie.

(Sobbing)

Jeannie, wait!

Jim.

(Cheers and applause )

They're starting.

I'll handle this.

What are you going to do?

(People chattering)

Man: Sitting side by side.

Woman: Instead of being obliged to sit half a mile off.

Man: We should be gazing into each other's eyes.

Woman: Breathing sighs of unutterable love.

(Piano playing)

♪ Here's a how-de-do ♪
♪ if I marry you ♪
♪ when your time has come to perish ♪
♪ then the maiden whom you cherish ♪
♪ must be slaughtered, too ♪
♪ here's a how-de-do, here's a how-de-do ♪
♪ here's a pretty mess ♪
♪ in a month or less ♪
♪ I must die without a wedding ♪
♪ let the bitter tears I'm shedding ♪
♪ witness my distress ♪
♪ here's a pretty mess, here's a pretty mess ♪
♪ here's a state of things ♪
♪ to her life she clings ♪
♪ matrimonial devotion ♪
♪ doesn't seem to suit her notion ♪
♪ burial it brings ♪
♪ here's a state of things, here's a state of things... ♪