03x18 - Pater Familias

[bunniefuu]

Previously on ghost whisperer...

They're what's left over of old roads, alleyways, they're what's left over of another town-underground.

Dad! You're alive.

It has to do with Paul Eastman.

You sent him to prison, only he escaped.

I've put a lot of people in jail, and none of them have come after me.

What if he's hiding from someone, someone who he sent to prison?

What if he's just lying to protect me?

Jim: the man k*lled a little boy.

He escaped during a prison fire.

Facial burn victims wear a clear mask during treatment.

Paul Eastman is dead. he possessed my dad.

He's just trying to get his revenge.

I have to warn my dad.

Dad?!

Oh, my god!

Jim: Tom Gordon!

Tom, we're coming in.

It's a g*nsh*t victim.

Man: what are his vitals?

Tom, can you hear me, tom? lacerations to the head.

He may be going into full arrest.

I had to. I had to protect her, I had to.

Try to be quiet. it's all right.

I had to.

Your father's in critical condition, and the next 24 hours are key.

How could he be alive?

I saw him, I saw his head.

Cold feet.

He had the g*n right against his temple, but he moved his hand just as he fired.

Maybe he changed his mind at the last second.

Now the b*llet had lodged under the scalp, but it didn't penetrate the skull.

So he made it through surgery quick and easy.

Now all we have to do is watch and wait.

Yeah. it's all right.

Hey, thanks a lot, doc.

You got it. just page me if you need me, 'cause you know I never really leave this place.

Hey. why would he do this?

I mean, he must have been possessed.

Look, before we brought him in, he said something to me.

He told me he did this to protect you.

Protect me? from what?

Or who.

Paul Eastman? no, he's haunting my father.

Why would he be a thr*at to me?

Maybe that's a question for dear old dad.

Hey.

I don't really know if you can hear me, but they told me maybe you could.

Look, dad, i'm-i'm really confused.

I don't know...

I don't know what you're supposed to mean to me.

I mean, you leave us when i'm 9, and then you just... come back.

No explanation, nothing.

I don't really know what you think about me.

Or what I really think about you.

So it's a really bad time to die, ok?

Because there's so much that we need to know about each other.

About everything.

Sorry.

There was a line out the door.

I have been doing things like this all day!

Hey, hey, don't worry about it.

But just don't try to pick it up.

I'm gonna get a broom.

Are you ok?

Yeah, yeah, whatever.

Hey, how is your dad?

Uh, resting comfortably or so they say, and if that's true, he's the only one.

What the hell is going on?

It's a long story, but I think my dad's being haunted by this man he sent to prison, an innocent man.

Haunted how?

Mmm, I think this ghost just figured out a way to possess people for a few minutes, or at least long enough to get them to do the things he wants done.

Like your dad k*lling himself?

Yeah, that's one theory. this does not taste like green tea.

Yeah, because you took mine.

Oh. sorry.

What I don't understand is why now?

I mean, why would Paul Eastman wait 30 years to get vengeance?

Are you asking me like you actually expect an answer?

Yeah, well, you know what, you work on that for a while, and i'm gonna go get us some new glasses.

You know what, you need a break.

We really should go next week and see the tall ships come into the harbor at piermont, ok?

You mean do something fun?

I have no training for that.

It's settled! we are going.

Paul?

Paul Eastman?

You don't really think this stuff scares me, do you?

Well, fear is a relative thing, i've always found.

I know that you've been possessing my father.

I know that you want revenge.

You blame him for sending you to prison.

Tip of the iceberg.

He tried to k*ll himself just to get rid of you.

He thinks you're trying to hurt me.

I know that you're the one that's been haunting me in my dreams.

Why don't you just leave him alone?

Give me your best sh*t.

It's touching that you believe your father to be so noble.

No, never said he was noble, but I do believe that everyone deserves forgiveness.

He didn't set out to hurt you.

Your father didn't try to k*ll himself to save you; he did it because I made him.

I put that g*n to his head myself.

But he's strong, i'll give him that.

He saved himself.

You really do hate him.

There are few who deserve hatred more than that man.

You have no idea.

So tell me.

I don't think I will.

And I don't think you'll believe me.

Try me.

Every journey begins with the first step.

Mom.

What are you doing here?

Nice to see you, too. why haven't you been answering your phone?

'Cause then i'd have to talk to whoever's calling.

That's clear. cold, but clear.

How's the new shop?

I like working with flowers.

They're beautiful, they smell nice.

And when they die, they don't come back with complaints.

Ok then.

I'm not discussing your father.

Who says this is about him?

Maybe it's about something else altogether.

Is it? no, it's about dad.

I am not discussing your father.

Fine, let me talk then.

I found out that he prosecuted a man named Paul Eastman for m*rder, only he was innocent, and his ghost is back trying to get revenge.

This is sounding a lot like a conversation about your father.

Did you know Paul Eastman?

I mean, did dad ever talk about him?

Why don't you ask him?

Well, he's got his hands full right now.

You know, b*llet in the head and all that?

Not that you'd care.

It wasn't life-threatening.

It didn't even get past the scalp.

So you checked on him?

One phone call.

Look, Melinda, I don't mean to sound hard-hearted about this, but your father is not a good person.

He's not misunderstood.

He's just plain bad.

You need to accept that.

He doesn't deserve your good intentions.

He doesn't even...

I left the door unlocked.

I have to get back.

I'm sorry... I cannot help you.

Rick: you have to look at the big picture here.

You can't just get caught up in where you are right now, although that is the trap that we all seem to get caught up in.

You know, it's where am i, where am I going, what's going to happen. these are-hello?!

You know, you should really be taking notes on this, my little friend.

I know you are not talking to that gerbil.

His name is bob, by the way, and, you know, I don't even know why I bother with this guy.

It's in one little ear, out the other with him.

How's your dad?

Stable, which is more than I can say for me.

Well, stability's overrated.

I wouldn't know. anyway, do you remember Paul Eastman, the guy who was haunting my father?

No, but if you hum a few bars.

He's not only haunting him, he's possessing him.

You know, like making him do all kinds of things, I don't know, trying to k*ll himself.

Well, the dead are really getting the hang of this.

That can't be good news for the living.

Yeah, and i've already talked to Eastman, and he hates my father with a passion, so I don't even know if i'm going to be able to turn this guy around.

And by the way, I found Eastman's bones buried in the basement of a house that his ghost led me to.

That's quite a "by the way" you just laid on me.

Did anything ordinary happen to you in the past few days?

Um, no. I didn't think so.

Any ideas?

Well, no one's bones are found buried in someone's basement if they d*ed a nice, happy, peaceful death.

I think he was m*rder*d and he wants you to solve it.

No, that's too simple.

I mean, he would have laid all that out for me first thing.

Whatever it is, he knows the answer, and he wants me to figure out the mystery for myself.

Why? Because he said that I wouldn't believe him if he tried to tell me...

If that's for me, I already left.

Hello?

Jim: hey, I found something in the archives.

That house you were in, where you found the bones...

You know that house.

No, I don't. yeah, you do.

They might have changed the name on the street, but you know it.

How?

The name on the original deed is thomas and beth Gordon.

It was your parents' first home.

What?!

Honey, it's the house you were born in.

Bones?

As in a skeleton in the basement of the house you and dad owned.

That could have been there for a hundred years, for all you know.

Nice try.

Ok, the bones belong to that man that dad sent to prison, Paul Eastman. he was the one that led me there, and you're gonna act like you don't know what i'm talking about?

What difference does it make? you never believe me anyway.

Why should i? you never tell me the truth.

Then don't ask.

Just leave me in peace.

Peace is not an option right now.

All right? sooner or later, the police are going to get involved.

It happened at your house, they're coming to you.

You be may be implicated in a m*rder!

Melinda, I know you don't have much respect for what I say, but I am asking you this one time to listen to me- leave this alone.

There is no good for anybody at the end of this road.

Yeah, that's the difference between you and me.

I can't live with a lie.

You would be surprised at what you can learn to live with.

I didn't recognize anything in the basment.

It's really changed.

♪♪♪

You want to go inside? no.

Too many bad memories?

Too many memories, period.

Now i've searched every online news site.

Paul Eastman escaped from prison and was never heard from again.

Right. until he shows up as a skeleton in the house where you and your parents used to live.

It's crazy.

What is it? I don't know.

I- I just don't know what i'm supposed to do next.

You know, i... I just have this really bad feeling.

Like when I was a little girl waiting on my dad to do the right thing.

You know, or trying to figure out how to understand him.

And I just keep getting hurt, and then he walks away.

You know, I hate to say this, but maybe your mother's right.

Maybe it's time for you to cut him out of your life, the way he cut you out of his.

I wish I could.

But i'm not him.

I gotta get back to the store, i'll see you later.

Ok.

Yeah?

Hey, Jim, Dr. Farrington, just giving you a head's up in case the hospital hasn't called.

Tell Melinda that her dad is conscious and talking.

Yeah.

I'll do that.

Sorry, i'm just a little dizzy.

Hey, boss, do you mind, uh, this is my father-in-law.

Do you mind if we, uh, take a walk to my thanks a lot.

Jim clancy.

I heard so much about you.

It's if I knew you.

You don't know me, tom.

You know nothing about me. come on.

You know, unlike Melinda, I got nothing invested in you, zero. you're just the guy who's put my wife through a world of pain.

She'd be much better off if you never took another breath.

I almost obliged, didn't i?

Yeah, but you missed.

And then you tell me you did it to protect her?

I'm having trouble believing that.

I misspoke.

Do not mess with Melinda's head.

I won't have that.

I've always had to stand by, watch her tossed around and hurt by things I don't understand, but you... you I understand.

I don't think you do.

Oh, I think so.

And I think you're gonna start telling me the truth, or i'm gonna come back here when you are sound asleep in your room, and i'm gonna cut some very important tubes and watch you die for real, tom.

But Jim...

You're sworn to save lives.

Comes out a roaring second compared to saving my wife.

It all goes back to Paul Eastman.

He spent 9 years in prison, then he escaped.

Tom: came to find me, actually beth and me and Melinda.

The thing is, prison didn't agree with him.

He was demented, and he wanted revenge.

He was going to k*ll my wife and daughter.

And me, too.

Tom: could have done a lot of things. I could have called the cops.

Could have drove his body to the mountains and dumped it.

I wanted to keep him right there.

I wanted to always know where he was.

Wanted to keep this in the family.

You were the assistant district attorney.

Why didn't you call the police?

It seems like a pretty clear case of self defense.

Maybe.

But it would have been a big media story.

And how would Melinda have processed all this?

She was 9.

What if she got harassed about it at school, or had reporters following her?

So you see, just like you, my friend, burying a body came in a roaring second to protecting my family.

Oh, yeah.

Is that why you left them right after that?

There's never only one reason for these things.

The important thing both of us have to remember is this- Paul Eastman still wants to k*ll me...

From the grave.

The problem with that is?

I don't expect anybody to cry any tears over me, but he still wants to k*ll beth, and he still wants to k*ll Melinda.

And I don't know how to stop him.

Do you?

My father admitted to you that he's a k*ller?

Yeah. I know. I know this seems like an episode of father knows best gone horribly wrong, and I am the last guy to defend your dad, but it does look like a case of self defense.

So I guess we know why Paul Eastman was haunting him.

Hey, correction- haunting you, mel.

Your dad told me this guy wants to hurt you, your mom, and him, and by hurt, I don't mean just push and shove, ok?

Yeah, I know. I convinced my dad to put a g*n to his head and pull the trigger.

You know, that's what I don't understand.

Paul Eastman, he's a powerful ghost, right?

So why hasn't he possessed you?

Why hasn't he really come after you?

For one, he obviously has things he wants me to find out first.

Yeah, like what?

Since i'm still alive, I don't know yet.

Not a big fan of the gallows humor when it concerns your safety.

That would have been pretty impressive if it had been bourbon.

Pinot grigio has a pretty big kick.

What are you going to do?

There's only one way to get him to cross over.

Tom: ok, I think I can make it from here.

Good enough, thanks.

I didn't expect you to get out so soon.

Signed myself out.

There's too many sick people in that hospital.

I need you to let me take you to Paul Eastman.

Serves no purpose.

Is it true?

Was he really going to k*ll mom and me?

Just a second.

Melinda, it's a little late...

For me to be a hero in your eyes.

I did what I had to do, that's all.

I saved myself as well.

I heard what you said in there.

When?

When you came to my hospital room.

A moment of weakness.

Understood.

Am I ever going to find out?

Find out what?

Who you are?

If you ever loved me.

If you ever loved mom.

If you love me now.

Melinda, it's so complicated.

No, it really isn't.

Everybody always says that, but...

At the end of the day, it's pretty damn simple.

Either love is there or isn't.

No excuse, no qualifications, no complications.

Why do you want me to talk to Paul Eastman?

I want you to apologize to him.

I want you to tell him why you did what you did.

I want you to have closure...

With at least one person.

And maybe he'll leave us alone.

That's the only way any of this is going to end.

All right.

I don't think it's going to help, but if you do, I will.

I'll come to your shop tonight, and after it's over, we'll talk.

And i'll tell you everything that you want to know about me, about us.

No more complications.

Dad?

Hey. I was just walking by, I saw the lights on. everything ok?

Yeah.

Sorry, I thought you were someone else. who?

No one worth talking about.

Man: thanks.

He's gonna hurt her, you know.

What?

She has to know.

It's the only way you can save her.

And she has to hear it from you.

Don't let her find out from tom.

You know what he's capable of.

She's safer not knowing.

Not anymore.

Oh, I hope you have some bourbon and a straw.

You won't believe the day I had.

I haven't told you the truth.

No kidding.

About what?

About a lot of things.

I lied about not knowing Paul Eastman.

I was in love with him.

We were engaged.

I was living with him when he was arrested.

Paul and I had been living together for about a year.

I knew he wasn't guilty of that m*rder.

I knew that a ghost had led him to that boy's body.

But who was going to believe that?

So you went to the prosecutor...

That's how you met dad.

Yes.

After he was convicted.

I never expected him to believe me.

I had to show him the ghost in his own office before he did.

Where is he? right there, in the corner.

What's he wearing?

He's wearing a brown suit, uh, probably from the late 1800s.

He's got a gray beard, white hair, uh, long, and glasses.

You just described mr. mclaughlin.

This was his office like a hundred years ago.

Beth: of course, then he did believe me, and he realized it was possible that Paul was innocent.

I told Paul that there was hope; that Tom was doing everything he could to find evidence to exonerate him.

Paul was the love of my life.

When he went to prison, it was like...

I d*ed inside.

I didn't want to. I tried to fight it, but I started having feelings for tom.

I thought he was such a good man.

Paul was going more and more inside himself, and...

And there was Tom Gordon.

???ntered, very sure of himself.

And he cared, or at least he did the best imitation of someone who cared that i'd ever seen.

How did you tell Paul?

I didn't.

How could you not tell him?

I was confused.

I felt guilty.

His letters were getting so angry and bitter.

I was trying to figure out how to tell him.

And then he k*lled a man in prison.

He was never gonna get out then.

It was over for him.

And you married dad.

I'm not proud of any of this, Melinda.

I'm not judging you, mom, really. i'm not.

How did Paul find you after he escaped from prison?

He read something in the newspaper about tom's career, and in the article it mentioned me and...

And that we had a daughter.

He started a fire.

He ended up getting badly b*rned.

And when he was in the hospital ward, he managed to escape.

He found us.

Well, I guess you know the rest.

Do we know the rest?

I mean, do we, beth?

Or are we just going to wait around for you to tell us the next big missing piece in Melinda's life?

Jim, don't.

No, you know what, i'm sick of this.

I am sick of people like you and like her father who should have been protecting her.

Who should still be watching out for her instead of lying to her!

I mean, playing mind games with her when she's in danger.

Jim, this isn't helping.

Beth, all she ever wanted from you was for you to accept her as she is.

And maybe from her father, maybe an explanation.

You know? how do you walk out on a family?

And for all that, I mean, look at her.

She still wants to understand.

She still wants to forgive.

But every time she opens her heart to you, you stick a Kn*fe in it.

Beth, you ran away from everything you could do in your life.

My wife runs toward it.

And for that, she deserves just the littlest bit of respect.

You know, a little truth.

I'm sorry.

MOM, I-
No.

He's right.

You're right.

There is another missing piece.

What?

When Paul was arrested...

I was pregnant.

Mom, what are you saying?

I was pregnant with you.

Paul Eastman is my father?

You're lying.

No.

We didn't tell you.

We didn't tell anyone.

Tom wanted you and he wasn't afraid that you might have this thing, this so-called gift.

You're lying!

You're lying.

Is it true?

Is what true?

That you're not my father?

If you say it's complicated, I will k*ll you right here.

Your mother's trying to drive a wedge between us.

You can see that, can't you?

No one will tell me the truth.

Come with me, and I will.

Come with you where?

A place where you'll be safe.

Safe.

Right.

Look...

I'm sorry.

I really am.

This whole thing is such a mess.

I never meant for you to be involved.

Not like this.

Come with me, and you'll understand everything.

I'm curious, what do you remember about that night, the night Paul Eastman came here?

Not much.

Just his face, with that horrible mask leaning over me. I was scared.

What else?

That's all, why?

Could be important.

What I remember?

Why don't you go upstairs and see if your room jogs anything?

Your bed was right over there.

You never even heard him come in.

Did you see him leave?

No. I just went back to sleep.

You sure? yeah.

Yeah, i...

That's it.

The breaking glass, it woke me up.

And then?

And then the voices.

Tom: this is not the time or the place, Paul. YOU CAN'T JUST SHOW UP HERE AND-

Paul Eastman: what'd you think i'd do, make an appointment?

I can't help you. there's nothing I can do... you should turn yourself in.

You know what you did. you know why i'm here.

I saw all the files.

All the court records.

You never lifted a finger to help me.

Everything that you told beth that you were doing for me, that was all a lie.

You wanted to keep me in prison!

Keep your voice down.

What do you think beth is going to say when she finds out that you hired that other prisoner to k*ll me, that you wanted me dead so that you could have her all to yourself.

She'll never believe you, but you do what you have to do.

I will.

It's funny how memories can come rushing back.

What are you doing?

I'm sorry, Melinda, but the thing is...

I just can't let you live now.

Melinda: wait.

You knew Paul Eastman was innocent, and you kept him in jail?

Innocence is kind of a broad concept at times.

Besides, your mother wanted me and not some needy, haunted guy.

So I just...

Made sure he stayed where he belonged.

But your mother, she's nothing if not devoted.

She just wouldn't... give up on that guy.

So you tried to have him k*lled in prison?

When they told me that Paul k*lled that guy instead...

He had more on the ball than I thought he did.

It was a win-win in any case.

He was convicted for that m*rder, too.

Your mother and i, well, not exactly happily ever after, I guess, but still, it's nice to... win.

So why did you come back here?

Why wouldn't you just leave me alone?

Because you had to go and find the underground, wake up Paul Eastman.

You know what your problem is, Melinda?

You're just too good for your own good.

I kept hoping that you would get scared off.

But you don't scare easily, do you?

Dad, please... dad!

Don't call me dad.

I'm not your father.

I wasn't talking to you!

No!

Hey. hey, are you all right?

Yeah, i'm all right. how did you find me?

I looked everywhere. but then I thought, you're looking for Eastman's ghost here, with the bones.

He's dead.

You're my father?

Have you always known?

After I d*ed, I forgot almost everything about my life.

It was like i'd become paralyzed, stuck down below with all of the other angry, bitter spirits.

But then I saw something.

Something that changed everything.

It woke me up.

What?

You.

I saw you moving through the church, and I knew instantly.

I felt that you were from me.

You were so beautiful.

The more I watched you, the more I saw how you pined for the man that you thought was your father; how you were waiting for him to love you back, and I knew that I could never compete with your idea of him, so I had to try and make you destroy that myth yourself.

You could have told me this so much sooner.

You would never have believed me.

This was a journey you had to take on your own.

With my help.

You've spent so much time trying to understand the man who pretended to be your father, you never saw the one person who was right in front of your eyes.

I've tried.

But she always pushes me away.

And she lies about everything.

She only wanted to protect you.

That's what mothers do.

But you've only...

Looked at her in the shadow of Tom Gordon.

But she has always put you first.

It's time...

To make things right.

Be too good for your own good.

I don't blame you for hating me.

Mom, I could never hate you.

You're busy fighting your own battles.

You always believed in him.

I just didn't see how I could take that away from you.

Mom, i'm relieved.

My father didn't abandon me.

At least not by choice.

And to know that he would have wanted me if he could have, makes all the difference.

Somewhere, deep down inside, I always felt like I was disposable.

Now I don't.

Go.

You never were fond of seeing ghosts, were you?

I'll make an exception today.

How can I ever ask you to forgive me?

I was so full of rage...

At you and him.

I just wanted you all to feel as much pain as I did, but that all went away with just one word.

What?

"Dad."

When my daughter called for me, when she needed me, all the fury went away, and I just wanted to save her.

If i could do this all over again- I wouldn't change a thing.

Look at what we created.

She's the reason we came together.

Nothing else matters.

Nothing.

The light?

Yeah.

It's getting brighter.

♪♪♪♪

I need to know.

No.

There isn't.

You're loved.

That's all, that's everything.

And so am i.

Clean slate.

Clean slate.

You know, um, we're all going to watch the tall ships come in.

Would you like to come?

Oh, no, you-you go on with your friends. it's all right.

It's friends and family.

Ok.

Have I ever told you how proud I am to be your mother?

You are my mother, right?

Yes. I am definitely your mother.

What?

That's weird.

There's six of us, but...

There's only five shadows.