[BEEPING]
Oh, bollocks!
Dad, what's going on?
Beans on toast, love.
At 4 a.m.?
Best time of the day.
[GRUNTS]
Not bad on the beans,
but more like beans on crisp.
Yeah. Well, I got
a little distracted, didn't I?
A video of golden eagles
dragging goats off a mountain.
It's brilliant.
Only happens in this
one little tiny part of Spain.
How's the book coming along?
Let's have another whack
at the toast, then, shall we?
Have you even tried
writing anything?
Just a sentence,
any sentence.
That's what I do
when I can't write a paper.
You can go back to bed now,
love, if you want.
"Happy families are all alike.
However, every unhappy family--"
Bored.
No, it's very Russian.
You think you can do better?
"Let there be Lightman."
Hire a ghost writer.
Good night, love.
Take them away.
Don't need them.
All the research I need
is in here.
Perfect. Deaf as a post.
It's just deaf. No post.
Follow me.
Is Loker in?
Yeah, he's somewhere.
He should be back in a minute.
Sit.
Stay.
The red dot test.
Oi!
You sent Mutt and Jeff
to spy on me,
didn't you, eh?
Cal Lightman,
Candice McCallister.
So you don't deny it then?
Sarah and Charles are here
to help you, Cal.
Do you two need a minute?
You know,
I am having a hard time
writing this book.
Same thing happened
on the first one.
The one that this whole place
is built on.
CANDICE:
Dr. Lightman, may I say
what a huge fan I am
of that book.
Is it Candice with an I
or Candace with an A?
Candace with an A I find to be
far more classy.
You know what I mean?
We're running late.
What can I do for you?
Um, I thought you said
Dr. Lightman was--
Busy.
That's exactly what I said.
Goodbye, Cal.
[♪♪♪]
Oi!
Come in here.
Make yourself useful.
With your book?
What book?
I need to see
Foster's calendar.
You mean hack
into her computer?
Your words, not mine.
I can't just hack into her--
Or you're fired.
Watch my fingers.
It wasn't that hard, was it?
On your way, then.
What--? Did you do this?
Hey. This is my desk.
I can't hear you.
Red dot test.
He's got you doing
the red dot test?
Can you leave me alone now?
Excuse me?
I need to focus.
No, don't worry about me.
I didn't want anything
from the coffee cart.
[♪♪♪]
[CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING
ON PIANO]
How's that?
Is that all right?
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
Oh, Megan.
Your dress.
It's all right, Mom.
You can't see it anywhere.
Relax.
MAN:
Help you, sir?
You lost?
Contestants and parents
only here.
I wandered
through the wrong door.
How about you
wander out again?
Dad, you made my braid
crooked.
I'd jump right on that
if I were you.
LAURA:
How many times have I told you,
food is not your friend?
I'm calling security.
I work with the pageant.
Yeah? Doing what?
This and that.
Yeah, thought so.
You're out of here.
Wouldn't you rather
be a soccer mum?
CANDICE:
Drs. Foster and Lightman
are here
to vet our finalists
to make sure
we are plastic surgery
and drug-free.
Lucky for you
I got writer's block.
So you got into my calendar.
Good for you.
But I've got this covered,
Cal.
Who's the favorite
in this little freak show, then?
Freak show?
You wonder why
I kept you out of this.
What about you, eh?
You the favorite?
She is one, yes,
but nothing is certain.
Well, one thing's
for certain.
It's all gonna go horribly wrong
for someone.
♪ Dream
Send me a sign ♪
♪ Turn back the clock
Give me some time ♪
♪ I need to break out
Make a new name ♪
♪ Let's open our eyes
To the brand new day ♪
The girl needs help.
And I mean yesterday.
Dr. Lightman, you already called
this a freak show.
Correct.
Are you sure
your prejudices aren't informing
what you're seeing?
CAL:
Everything this girl does
is deliberate.
Put it this way:
I hope I'm wrong.
These girls are under
a great deal of pressure.
Don't misread that
for something it's not.
When you hear hooves...
Think horses, not zebras.
Either way, it's a stampede.
What are you doing in here?
You hiding?
Job hunting.
Impressive. On Lightman's laptop
which you took from his office.
Guess what the first line
of Lightman's book is.
He takes your desk,
this is how you deal.
"Let there be Lightman."
I mean, he's certifiable.
You don't have guts
to do it in his office.
You slink away, you hide in here
with his computer.
Poetic justice.
You mean pathetic justice.
LAURA:
Megan, how many times
have we been through this?
Hold that extension.
And now sell the smile,
sell the smile, really sell it.
Mrs. Cross, uh, Megan.
This is Dr. Cal Lightman.
I'm here
for the pre-interview.
GILLIAN:
New procedure before the finals
after some other pageants
have had some troubles.
She's gonna have to do
a lot better.
Can I take a break?
No. Come on.
It's good practice.
Just hold it.
Do you go out of your way
to make her miserable?
Excuse me?
Here's another one.
Does she try
to look like you
or do you try
to look like her?
Come on, Megan, let's go.
Mrs. Cross, we specialize
in reading people's emotions.
Then I don't need to tell you
how angry I am.
CAL:
And scared.
Don't forget that part.
You just attacked my mother.
How is she supposed to feel?
You ever think
about ending it all?
What?
Of course not.
Your face just said yes,
love.
You know,
you got a big mouth.
Yep.
She's hiding something
on her shoulder.
LAURA:
What?
You keep your hands
off of my daughter.
My hands
aren't on your daughter.
But someone's have been.
Haven't they, love?
[GASPS]
Oh, my God. Megan.
Who did it, love? Eh?
Who was it, love?
It was him.
It was Mr. Fletcher.
FLETCHER:
Laura, no.
He touched me.
Megan, no.
He molested me.
FLETCHER:
No, Megan, no.
Megan, I--
Look, you all know me.
There's no way I could ever--
Laura. Megan, please,
you gotta tell them the truth.
CAL:
You know,
you just rang a bell
you can't unring.
You know that, Megan, right?
Megan.
Mom, it's okay.
LAURA:
All right.
[♪♪♪]
You called the wrong number.
You need to call
Child Protective Services.
No, what I need is a dodgy cop,
who'll keep this off the record
till I say.
Yeah,
when is that fool showing up?
I do need this one.
A man's life just got flushed
down the crapper.
Maybe he's got it coming.
You thought of that?
You been drinking,
detective?
It's called mouthwash,
professor.
Am I under arrest?
The girl said
you molested her.
Kids lie.
Which one?
Be more specific.
Megan. Megan Cross.
All right, say that name again,
without squinting.
Do you wear contacts?
Yeah.
He wears contacts. See?
His contacts are dry.
What, with outrage?
Do me a favor.
Mr. Fletcher,
if there's anything
you're not telling us
you'll make it easier
if you just come clean.
Bloody hell.
You people
really do talk like that.
Who? Latinos or Poles?
Oh, you mean cops.
Did you push her?
Did you shove her?
Did you hit her?
Did you, you know,
hold her down?
A little bit of everything,
really.
If you want to know about Megan,
talk to her mother.
Well,
he didn't molest that girl.
You wanna walk me through
your thinking?
In a word, no.
How sure are you?
You can go, Mr. Fletcher.
Answer your question?
I'm not letting
this pageant go down
and neither
will the magazine.
GIRL:
There he is.
Don't let him leave, all right?
He's hiding something.
So is Megan, by the way.
I can't guarantee his safety.
Oh, don't be such a girl.
Tell them to get a life.
I beg your pardon?
The magazine people.
Is it helpful in what you do
to be so prejudiced?
FLETCHER:
Come here, sweetheart.
I come here
and I spotted a girl
who feels the same way
about your pageant as I do,
so I would say, yes,
in this case it is helpful.
What was that about?
Candice with an I, not an A.
I knew it.
Let's go tag-team the mum.
Forgive me, but if a man
touched a child of mine,
particularly
in a sexual way--
You heard my mom.
We're not filing charges.
Did Thomas admit anything?
No.
Then it's his word
against ours.
If you don't mind my saying,
Megan,
you seem
very calm and composed.
He just groped me, okay?
No, it's not okay.
You're 16 years old.
It's just a bruise.
We're fine.
We?
All right, Megan,
one more time.
[CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING]
Every look,
every word is in lock-step.
They're a perfect symbiosis.
Yeah, except she's dying
to get away from her mum.
Laura even uses
the royal we.
There's no separation
of mother and daughter.
I've never seen two people
so on the same page.
Let's tear the page in half.
I can see
why you're the favorite.
I thought we were done here.
[CLATTERING]
GILLIAN:
Mrs. Cross, if Megan
is a victim of molestation
you need to deal with that.
We don't dwell on negative.
It shows through
to other people.
Like the judges.
We've been preparing
for this pageant for years.
If this were the Olympics,
no one would question her desire
to keep her head
in the game.
Your daughter
has suffered a trauma.
She needs to talk about it
so that she can regain control.
Stealing?
Yeah, it tastes better
that way.
You let Mr. Fletcher go.
Yep. Lack of evidence.
Interesting.
You don't seem
too bothered by that.
I can't afford to let it.
Let it what?
Ruin your chances of being
Ms. Freak-Show-Cover-Girl?
God.
You asked for my help.
No, I didn't.
Well, at the very least,
you asked for my full attention.
Right before you pointed
the finger at Fletcher.
LAURA:
Megan.
Mommy's calling.
LAURA:
Rehearsal.
[SNIFFING]
[KNOCK ON DOOR]
Sorry to interrupt.
You said to let you know
when they got here?
Has Loker been in here?
Loker?
Yeah. When I was out.
Because, you know...
[SNIFFING]
...I can smell him.
He calls it
eau du toilette.
French.
One way of putting it,
I suppose.
One of my pens is missing.
Hello, gents.
They said we had to come
or I was out of the competition.
Megan,
have you told your mum yet?
Told me what?
That's all right. No need.
It can wait.
You, with me.
You, you're with the delightful
Dr. Foster.
MEGAN:
It was the, uh--
The end of the first day
of the competition.
Mr. Fletcher has this RV.
And you were inside his RV?
Yeah.
It's pretty big.
And, uh, you know,
we hang out there sometimes
during competitions.
We got to know him
and Deedee pretty well.
So it wouldn't
have been unusual
for you and Mr. Fletcher
to be alone together?
Not really, no.
When it happened, I, uh.
You know, he could see
that I'd been upset,
you know, that I'd been crying
and, um...
So when was this, Megan?
Day before yesterday.
And, uh,
you know, I messed up
my personal interview.
Mr. Fletcher said that,
you know, it wasn't fair.
He was comforting me,
you know?
And then...
Then he put his hand
on my neck.
And I just thought
he was being nice.
She didn't come to you?
No. I had no idea.
And then...
Megan,
you have nothing
to be ashamed of.
It's important
that you know that.
Take your time.
And then he touched me.
He molested me.
I tried to push him away,
but...
That's enough.
I'm not gonna watch
my little girl
in pain anymore.
Tell yourself what you like,
love.
But that in there,
that's not pain. That's...
That's not even close, that.
Okay.
She's enjoying herself.
GILLIAN:
Is that how you got the bruises?
Yeah.
And then I kicked him
and broke free.
She's getting off
on your pain.
CAL:
First Fletcher,
now her mother.
GILLIAN:
She's a sadist.
She's a bloody emotional
vampire.
GILLIAN:
The case still remains,
Fletcher did do something to her
in that RV.
We need to involve the police,
the real ones.
Spoilsport.
CANDICE: Dr. Lightman.
My pageant's about to go up
in flames.
Down in flames, up in smoke.
Two more girls
just came forward.
They both say Thomas Fletcher
touched them inappropriately.
Right.
You call this off the record?
We've got 24 hours,
and then we have
to do the paperwork,
right?
Mm-hm.
What's all this?
Deedee, can you step over here?
For what?
Do as she says, love.
Taking her into custody.
Social Services.
Like hell you are.
Guys.
Hey, back off.
No, Dad! Daddy!
Back off! Get off me!
Deedee!
DEEDEE: Dad!
I'm gonna help him.
Dad! Daddy!
Son of a bitch.
Just until we get
this cleared up.
Dad!
Deedee! Get--
Where are you taking her?
Somewhere safe,
I promise you that.
Don't.
I'm innocent.
You know I'm innocent.
Deedee!
Oh, my God.
Two more girls came forward.
I gotta talk to Laura.
Oh, now he tells me.
Tell you what?
Okay, look, we used to be
more than just friends.
And so now you think
she's gonna wanna help you out,
you know,
all of a sudden?
These are memories
from the road, then?
FLETCHER:
Yeah.
After my wife died,
I sold the house.
Too much history.
Anyway,
this thing's pretty handy
when it comes
to the pageant.
Yeah, and for a bit
of the other, you know,
when the girls are off lying
about world peace.
You mean Laura and me.
There's no crime
in being lonely.
Well, Megan would beg
to differ.
Wait.
Megan came by the other day.
I didn't think anything of it
at the time. I didn't--
Did she come on to you?
I turned her down.
I tried to be nice about it.
She went crazy.
She grabbed a pair of scissors
sitting here,
she came at me
and I grabbed her,
I wrestled them
out of her hands and...
[SIGHS]
Which is how
she got the bruises.
Still, Megan's
getting what she wants.
Your pain.
Are you really going to take
Ashley out of the pageant?
You more worried about the girls
who've come forward
or about your pageant?
Oof!
Oh, wait, wait.
Nancy!
My daughter, Fletcher?
They're making it up.
All of them?
[GROANS]
One thing I know for sure,
Candice,
is that abusers of the kind
that we're talking about here
lack that kind
of self-control.
We finished the red dot test,
Dr. Lightman.
Loker actually told us
what it was.
You did it, too, did you?
CHARLES: Yeah.
That's keen.
Ten hours long.
CHARLES: Yeah.
Two dots, 10 hours.
Actually, there were three.
Right. Excellent.
Congratulations.
How many dots were there?
I don't know.
I've never finished it.
Then what was the point?
Each dot represents
a microexpression.
What did she just say?
Hilarious.
Could you take Mr. Fletcher
to my office
and make sure
he gets some rest.
TORRES:
This is a local pageant
from last year.
See how she smiles?
Even though she lost.
The winners cry
and the losers smile.
Losers want to appear gracious,
winners want to--
CAL:
Is that it?
No.
You need to see this.
[♪♪♪]
I wonder how long
she practiced that dive.
Triumph at losing.
You don't see that every day.
Do you know how to create
a disturbed personality?
Constant criticism
and lack of affection.
Works like a charm,
that does.
You mean
like how you treat Loker?
Who?
This chair taken?
You didn't say
he was coming.
If you thought that was bad,
wait till you see this.
Wait for what?
FLETCHER:
Megan?
Look, I just want to talk
for a second.
She has nothing
to say to you.
They took Deedee
and if you don't tell the truth,
I may never get her back.
See what I'm talking
about, don't you?
I don't see anything.
What are you two
talking about?
To be honest,
this doesn't feel right,
Dr. Lightman.
Is he trying to get you
to disqualify us
from the pageant?
Us?
LAURA:
You are trying to disqualify us.
Your daughter's feeding off
your pain, Mrs. Cross.
Do you ever wonder
why he just went cold on you?
Megan knows
why I stopped calling, Laura.
Don't you, Megan?
Megan is a victim here.
You're blaming the victim?
I'm the one
with all the bruises.
Pain is your daughter's
drug of choice.
Isn't that right, Megan?
Mr. Fletcher here,
his pain's like crack to you.
Good news:
he can get away from her.
Bad news: you can't.
Enjoy the freak show.
ASHLEY:
He touched my hair,
the back of my neck,
like he was comforting me.
At first I thought
he was being friendly.
Then I felt sick.
My hands went numb.
I couldn't catch my breath.
Thank you, Ashley.
Can you give us a minute?
She said the exact same thing
as the first girl.
Word for word.
There were also unmistakable
language similarities to Megan.
[PHONE RINGING]
Wallowski.
For how long?
[♪♪♪]
Now what?
Megan's missing.
She went for a walk
and never came back.
WOMAN 1:
Quit hiding!
WOMAN 2:
Where's Megan?
MAN:
What did you do to her?
Tell your friend in there
he's a coward.
Oh, what, like men
who hide behind their wives,
you mean?
You took away my desk,
so here I am.
Where's my pen?
Your pen?
Yeah, the one
you stole off my desk. My pen.
Are you kidding me?
WOMAN:
You're not gonna
get away with this.
Rumor travels fast.
Your point being?
One of these people
or one of their daughters
has got to know
where Megan is.
Have you thought of that?
[SIREN CHIRPING]
CAL:
Come here, darling.
What is this?
What?
I thought I saw
a look there.
[BANGING ON DOOR]
Hey. Fletcher, police.
Stand back, please.
WOMAN 1:
Yeah.
WOMAN 2:
What about the girl?
Dr. Lightman,
it just came over the radio.
His daughter Deedee's
in intensive care, hurt bad.
I'm taking him
to the hospital now.
What happened to her?
I don't know.
It could be self-inflicted.
Don't quote me on that.
CAL:
You got potential here, darling.
[SIREN CHIRPING]
Pen.
Thief.
WOMAN [ON INTERCOM]:
Dr. McLucas,
please call the page operator.
Dr. McLucas,
please call the page operator.
Hello, Megan.
Where's Deedee?
What, you're disappointed,
are you?
You're the face reader.
[♪♪♪]
Is this how it happened
with Fletcher?
Come on, Dr. Lightman,
you're the one
that lured me here.
You wrecked
Fletcher's life.
And now you're trying to do
the same with me, is that it?
I like you better than him.
You get me.
Open your hand.
Do you prefer cutting up
or inflicting pain
on other people?
Show me what you got.
Let's get you out of here,
shall we?
I know
what you're trying to do.
I don't need any help.
I got you.
But you can't tell anyone.
You do,
I'll say you attacked me.
Hang on a sec.
Go on, then.
That was just lovely.
Tell that
to Thomas Fletcher.
Megan!
I found out
where Megan kept it hidden.
The other girls told me.
I'm so sorry, honey.
Maybe it's not too late
to get you back into the finals.
After what they did to you,
forget it.
"He touched my hair,
the back of my neck.
I felt sick. My hands went numb.
I couldn't catch my breath."
Sound familiar?
Who else knew
about this diary?
Ashley and Ellen,
and now me.
That explains
their similar language.
Here's one.
"Went to see Back to the Future
with Joyce.
First in the school
to see it."
It's not Megan's diary,
it's her mum's.
A lot of dogeared pages.
She's been getting off
on her mum's pain
night after night.
It's how she survives
between victims.
Or pageants.
Where she can inflict
the most pain
on the most people.
And we took
all that away from her.
[♪♪♪]
My mum killed herself.
With pills.
You try
to make sense of it.
Then you just move on.
No one could ever hurt me
like she did.
Your mum will move on.
You know, after a while,
she'll move on
if you take that dive.
It sounds cold
but it's the truth.
Your mom
really kill herself?
Oh, yeah.
Silly cow, eh?
I know about the diary.
Now, that's good.
Anger.
It means you feel something
other than pain.
She could never stand it
if I had a hair out of place.
She'd go to bed for days.
There'd be no food.
She wouldn't talk.
No wonder
I never met my dad.
Look.
If you really wanna
hurt your mum
and her bloody pageant,
no one does
that stuff better than me.
[APPLAUSE]
Teenstyle, one of the nation's
leading magazines,
would like to thank
all our participants
for making this pageant
such a special occasion
for all of us.
In just a moment,
I'll hand an envelope...
She shouldn't
even be back here.
CANDICE:
...with the name
of the girl who will...
Well, it's the best
I could do, you know?
To get her
down off the ledge,
because, of course,
I didn't have a shrink handy.
CANDICE:
And now, after all the talent,
after all the poise and beauty,
we come to the big moment.
Who will be
Miss Teenstyle Magazine?
Whose face
will grace next month's cover?
Our third runnerup
and secondplace winner is
Miss Oregon, Jessica Houston.
[AUDIENCE CHEERING]
WOMAN 1:
Congratulations.
WOMAN 2:
All right!
Our first runnerup
and secondplace winner is...
[DRUM ROLL]
...Miss Connecticut,
Megan Cross.
[AUDIENCE CHEERING]
Ladies and gentlemen,
Miss Texas is your winner.
Mindy Lee, congratulations.
[DANCE MUSIC PLAYING
AND AUDIENCE CHEERING]
CANDICE:
Isn't she beautiful?
Miss Teenstyle Magazine.
Beautiful.
Congratulations.
[DOOR OPENS]
How you doing?
You all right?
"He touched my hair,
the back of my neck.
I felt sick."
Where did you get that?
[♪♪♪]
Here you are, love.
Mom.
I found it
in your closet.
She was telling your story,
wasn't she?
I'm done with pageants.
What, honey?
I know this hurts right now.
CAL:
Oi.
Will you knock it off?
I'm not doing this anymore,
Mom.
I'm not putting on a fake smile
to music I don't even like.
I'm not pretending that
I want to save the world. I'm--
You can't do this to us.
Us? Or me?
I'll see myself out.
Oh, sorry about that.
It's a gift from Fletcher.
A grateful soccer mum.
Is there anything
you wanna talk to me about?
What, you mean like
about my dead mother?
If you like.
No, I just-- You know,
I come in here,
I was looking for someone
to play with.
Oh!
Sure there's nothing
you wanna say to me?
Look. I know.
Yeah.
No, we can talk about it
anytime, really.
Anytime you want, you know?
How about now? You good? Now?
Talk about it now if you want.
Come here, ball.
Lightman said
you were a big help
reading the crowd
the other day.
Big help?
He actually said that?
Look, he wants you
out of the lab
and onto the street, Eli.
That's why
he cleaned your desk off.
To do what?
He hasn't told me anything.
Make it up.
Do what he does.
I already applied for a job,
at the Pentagon.
Pentagon?
Lightman's former employer?
Yeah.
You're really gonna do this.
If I get the gig,
I'm history.
Yeah. Big help.
He actually used those words.
[DOOR OPENS]
CAL:
Oi, oi.
Hey, hey.
Um, I'm warming up dinner.
Ah.
Whose cat?
What's wrong?
It was a joke, love.
When people tell a joke,
all right,
it's polite to laugh.
Did you have a bad day?
[♪♪♪]
I spoke ill
of your grandmother today.
Really?
Yep.
Yeah,
I've never done that before.
Well, I mean,
I wouldn't forgive you
if you killed yourself,
either.
It wasn't her fault,
you know.
I mean, she was...
She was an ill woman, you know,
she was, you know...
[WHISTLES]
You know.
Out to lunch. Eh.
So
not her fault.
Look at those fingers go.
Little hummingbirds
they are.
What's that, then?
It's, um,
a forward to your book.
Really?
Yeah. You wanna
hear the first part?
Yeah, go on then.
Ah...
"It's not easy
growing up in a house
"where someone
knows your every thought.
Or thinks they do."
A lot of pressure, then?
You don't have to use it.
No, it's lovely.
Why do you look like
you're about to throw up?
Well, because now
I got a forward
and, you know, no book.
Meow?
Yes, please.
All right.
[♪♪♪]