dark reeling music
somber music
[Jackie] I'm just here to help your son, Mrs. Townsend.
When you gonna stop acting like a naive little boy
and get your shit together, Rickey?
This young man asked for his lawyer,
but you still questioned him?
You are gonna stay the fuck away from my wife.
I came to you for help, and you turned your back on me.
[gunshot]
[indistinct radio chatter]
[knock at door]
What's the best kind of revenge?
-[door closes] -I-I don't...
When something terrible happens to the person you hate,
and you didn't have to lift a finger.
[chuckles] The whole of Charlestown
is dancing in the streets.
Jimmy Ryan is dead, shot in the face.
The ultimate humiliation.
No open casket.
His loved ones can't take a last look.
He has no loved ones.
Cops know who did it?
Not yet. [sighs]
Is there something else?
Yeah.
A federal grand jury has been called
to consider charges against you
for letting off that kid, Rickey Townsend.
He's gonna testify that you released him
to protect an informant.
It takes shady character to lie under oath.
Trust me, that's not Rickey. I don't peg him as a turncoat.
Ah. Well...
I think you're wrong.
I think this mendacious little shit
is about to fuck us all.
Well, I say we let our new U.S. attorney
build her case around evidence that's definitively false.
House of lies burns quickly.
When the timbers fall,
we'll see who's limping and who's standing.
Mm. [clicks tongue]
desolate music
[door closes]
[person on PA] Dr. Stuart, please dial 2-1-2-6.
Dr. Stuart, please dial 2-1-2-6.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[Jackie] Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.
It's been...
Jesus Christ, I think it's 17 years,
since my last confession.
[Doyle] Why are you here, Mr. Rohr?
Why have you chosen to see me?
Well, we got a history, you and me.
You know, I know your sins.
[whispering] Why shouldn't you know mine?
Oh, I think I have a fairly good idea
where your guilt lies.
[normal voice] [chuckles] No, you don't.
[Doyle] Look, if this is about Jenny,
I did what you asked,
and I've sat on your side of this partition,
atoning for that sin.
That's because my wife didn't deserve what you did.
What we both did.
Well, you know, I'm starting to think that it's not so much
what you do
as who you do it to.
I mean, sure, I done wrong by my wife,
by my daughter, too, and I'm sorry,
but, you know, that's my family.
When you fuck somebody else's family up, that...
God already knows what you've done, Mr. Rohr.
When you confess,
He assumes the burden of your sins.
There's this woman. Uh, she's in the hospital.
Stroke.
I'd like you to pray for her.
I'll do that. What's her name?
That seal of confession in play?
[Doyle] Yes, of course.
Holly. Her name's Holly.
You remember the Act of Contrition?
[laughing] Not really.
[Doyle] Well, for your penance, I'd like you
to relearn that prayer.
Say the words every day.
You may not be able to fix whatever you've done to Holly,
but I'm sure there's
an egregious act you've committed
that you can correct.
[snorts]
Jesus Christ, this shit only gets worse.
-[knock at door] -[Grace] Anton?
[sighs]
Kel, baby.
Time to get up.
Ma, come on. Give me another hour.
What you doing to be so tired?
Not what you thinking.
How you know what I'm thinking if you're not doing anything?
Ma, come on. Another hour.
Too early in the morning for tongue twisters.
-Where's Anton? -Don't know.
Things come full circle, don't they?
Was a time my parents couldn't tell me a thing,
and a time I couldn't listen if I wanted to.
[scoffs] The evolution wasn't there.
Tongue twisters, now Darwin?
No, baby, evolution as in the brain forming.
Human brains don't grow up till around 25,
so the stupid things we do...
Not that we should get a pass,
but we're not finished being who we are.
["Check Yo Self" playing on boom box]
Used to be the Don Juan
Now your name is just Twan
Switch it, snap it, rolling your eyes and neck
So you better run a check
So chickity-check yo self
Before you wreck yo self...
[gunshot]
So chickity-check yo self before you wreck yo self
Come on, check yo self
Before you wrickity-wreck yo self...
[gunshot]
Aah!
Mic-microphone check, mic-microphone check
Ooh, check it
Watch out now
Hey. Hey, you feeling any better?
Sorry?
[Jenny] Well, you seemed, uh...
you seemed a little down the other day.
I don't mean to pry, but--
-Oh. -Shh.
I beg your pardon?
Shush yourself.
-[Lisa] Places, everyone. -[chuckles]
[Lisa] Jenny, here you go.
Just right there.
Okay, everyone, let's open to hymn 33.
Uh, hey. Hey, you walking my way?
-Appears so. -[small laugh]
Oh, I-I'm Jenny, Jenny Rohr.
Maeve Regan.
[Jenny] Oh.
So you're new to the neighborhood?
Aye, fresh off the boat.
Well, the 747.
I moved to Boston a few weeks ago from Belfast.
[Jenny] Wow. I can't even imagine
putting down roots in a strange city,
much less a foreign country.
I mean, I still get lost on the North Shore.
[chuckles] Well, I tell myself I know where I'm going
and why I came to America,
but that could just be another delusion.
-I don't... -[Maeve] Sorry.
Um, my spirits are a bit low.
Word reached me that a cousin of mine was killed.
A car bombing.
Oh, God, Maeve, I am so sorry.
That's the way of life back home.
[Jenny] But do you have any family here?
No one.
[Jenny] You know, I have an idea.
Why don't you come over for dinner?
You know, best remedy for sorrow,
besides a glass of vino, is good food.
I'll throw some cabbage in the lasagna for you.
Oh, God, is that racist?
-That was racist. -No, it's not.
-No? -I see you've wasted no time
finding friends, Maeve.
[Jenny] Oh, she's coming over for dinner.
Oh, that's very kind of you, Jenny.
Maeve, uh, could I have a word?
Fine.
-[Doyle] Is that all right? -Okay.
[Doyle] All the best.
uneasy music
[indistinct chatter over radio]
Not the best day for Junior Senegel,
dancing between life and death.
At some point, the element of surprise
starts to wear thin.
No surprise here.
Junior helped us fuck over Kelvin Campbell,
so either Kelvin fired the shot,
or his big brother Anton did.
Yeah, I doubt those are the only two
who wanted Junior dead.
You might be right.
I'll go talk to Junior's parents,
see what they know.
I'll come with you.
These days, the Youth Strike Force
doesn't exactly have a stellar reputation.
From what I hear,
according to the grand jury, neither do you.
[laughs]
You two pick out names?
If he's a boy, Carney, after my dad.
Eloise will certainly love that.
Mm-hmm, and if the baby's a girl,
we'll go with Zora.
These your ideas or yours and Decourcy's?
-Mine and mine alone. -[chuckles]
Besides, I haven't even told Decourcy yet.
That baby carriage is precious.
[person on PA] Mr. Roberts, please meet your family
in the second-floor waiting room.
Mr. and Mrs. Senegel, I'm Sergeant Caysen--
Unless you come to tell us who did this to our boy,
leave us in peace.
I'm Decourcy Ward, assistant district attorney.
This is Sergeant Caysen.
Sorry to have to meet you under these circumstances.
[Chris] Mr. Ward's being polite.
The truth is,
there's a bullet out there with Junior's name
engraved on the side.
[Decourcy] The sooner we apprehend the felon,
the better Junior's chances are of staying alive.
speaking Haitian Creole
Any problems in the neighborhood
might involve Junior?
If so, you need to tell us.
What makes you think we can trust you?
Sir, I'm a man of my word.
Sergeant Caysen here is an honest cop.
And Junior could use a friend or two right now.
Toussaint is Junior's given name.
Revolutionary. It's a hard act to follow.
Emmanuel and I came to this country
to make a new life,
but in this land of big money,
our clothes aren't good enough.
Our foods are not good enough.
Even Toussaint's name, not good.
Only violence is good enough.
I hear you, Mrs. Senegel.
That's why we need to find the guy who shot Toussaint
and put him behind bars.
It's our best bet at keeping your son safe
and, God willing, somebody else's kid, too.
[indistinct chatter over PA]
He curses the boys who live in Braxton Summit.
[banging on door]
-What's up, Kelvin? -[sighs]
Ah.
Man, don't y'all have anything better to do
than harass people?
-We're just checking in on you. -[door closes]
Couple hours ago, Junior Senegel was shot.
You wouldn't happen to know anything about that,
now, would you, Kelvin?
I'm his alibi.
Does Kelvin need an alibi?
No, but that's what I'm saying. He got something better.
He got me.
Me and Trisha been home all day.
[Chris] Trisha Jefferson, right?
Yeah, this one has a CORI.
Sticky fingers. Loves to shoplift.
No convictions.
But thank you for putting my business out on the street.
Keep this up, I'll take you in.
On what grounds?
Roundabout saltiness.
Kelvin, call your moms.
[Decourcy] Where is your mother?
Working.
-And your brother? -Working.
And why were you in here and not at school?
College Founder's Day.
Oh.
Be a pity if you had to drop out.
You know, Walpole doesn't have any music programs.
Yeah, and you don't have a warrant.
That's an easy fix.
But we didn't do nothing.
[Kelvin] You heard my girl.
Now do some Houdini shit.
Now you see me,
now you don't.
tense music
Kelvin's telling the truth. And he's terrified.
He doesn't know what happened to Junior.
That leaves us with Anton. He's far from easy.
Best I handle him alone.
Do that. I got to tidy up some unfinished business.
Jesus, Jimmy, you poor son of a bitch.
Great Gatsby had a better turnout.
Are you a friend of the family?
Yeah, we used to play poker together.
Son of a bitch still owes me 50 bucks.
Well, kid, I would've brought you flowers,
but that would be like me saying I'm glad I'm not you.
May you rest in the peace
of an everlasting coked-out bliss.
May you wake each morning
to a harem of naked bathing beauties
kissing both cheeks of your pale Mick ass,
and may your twisted spirit
scare the fuck out of your enemies
in their sleep, but not me, kid.
Not me.
And, Jimmy,
when you do get to Heaven,
listen to me, you're a natural-born fuckup,
so your time there is bound to be short,
but don't look back.
From one piece of shit to another...
you're not missing anything down here.
Nobody came, huh?
[Jimmy] Ah, the girlfriend.
I think we missed the rush hour.
When his folks called to tell me,
I asked what happened.
They said he was shot.
By who? Nobody knows?
Huh?
Not that the who matters.
Jimmy was always gonna end up here
on the early side of life.
What you said... you forgot one thing.
His daughters.
Yeah, they're gonna miss him.
Maybe, but, you know, little kids tend to move on
pretty quick.
No sense of yesterday or tomorrow.
They only know right now.
I know who you are, Mr. Rohr.
And you can go fuck yourself.
somber music
[knock at door]
You got a lot of balls, coming into my shop.
I'll be happy to get to the point.
Jimmy Ryan was shot, twice.
Premeditated murder.
Now, I know there are 100 people
who could've pulled that trigger,
but I'm a sucker for symmetry,
so I'm guessing the finger on that trigger
was yours.
Am I right?
My face say "idiot" or something?
Your husband thought he was smart.
I thought I was smart, too.
But sometimes you're too smart.
Oh, was that the look you had
when you killed your brother-in-law?
[Cathy] Hear this, Mr. Ward.
Jimmy was my family.
He was a rat piece of shit, mind you,
but still my family.
Family values, yeah.
Yeah.
But you never visited the funeral home.
I checked.
And you had motive.
Jimmy did send Frankie to prison.
[scoffs] Mm.
Nah, see... [chuckles]
I was in the courtroom...
you prick.
You sent Frankie to prison,
and prison was the end for him.
I'm asking you to be honest with me.
Hmm? So I'll start.
peppy music
I thought about killing Jimmy myself
and not just that day in court.
But shoot him in the face?
Fuck. It's the perfect touch.
A deft hand.
Now, your three kids... They depend solely on you?
And their grandparents, too, huh?
Give me one reason not to send you to prison.
Uh, hmm,
maybe 'cause I'm innocent.
Okay, look, do a little horse trading here.
You tell me what Jimmy's been up to.
I keep your kids out of foster care.
[scoffs]
So you want me
to become an informant...
the thing I hated Jimmy for.
Irony abounds.
What do you care what Jimmy's been up to, anyway?
Like I said, symmetry.
[sighs]
Look, all I know is
Jimmy was moving drugs from point A to point B.
Got to be more specific.
Roxbury to Southie.
Who were the suppliers?
Couple of Black guys.
-Brothers? -[Cathy] Maybe.
Don't know. Anything's possible.
Did Jimmy ever mention a Kelvin or Anton Campbell?
Jimmy tended to babble. He mentioned a few names.
Those might've been two of 'em.
There's no way of really knowing.
Now, you need to get the fuck out of my way,
'cause like you said, I got three mouths to feed,
and they go from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde hungry
come dinnertime.
[objects clattering]
So where are you from?
Dublin? County Cork?
Northern Ireland.
Would you be Irish, too, Jackie?
I'm Scotch-Irish,
which means I'm dying for a drink,
but I'm too cheap to pay for it.
Oh, well, that puts everything in perspective.
You're Protestant, then?
Oh, no, no. Jackie's a half-assed Catholic.
Yeah, he goes to Mass once a year--Christmas.
And then he's always disappointed
that Santa ain't there.
[Maeve laughs] And you, Jenny?
She's 100 percent guinea.
Dad, I'm half guinea. Don't forget.
Yeah, my family's from Sicily.
[Jackie] You should see her mother's wedding album.
-The faces. -[Jenny] Don't listen to him.
He's just setting himself up to say,
"Oh, there's only three miles of ocean
between Italy and Africa."
Well, there is.
So your people have been here a while, then?
Well, my ma's family landed on Ellis Island
turn of the century.
And your dad?
Her father's family swam over with a school of sharks.
[Maeve] Well, I think the Italians
are beautiful people.
[Jackie] Unlike the Irish.
Dirty, drunken bloodsuckers.
Jesus, Jackie, you know what? You're being an asshole.
Okay? Maeve is my guest.
-No, not--not to worry, Jenny. -[sighs]
Would you happen to have any Irish whiskey?
[Siobhan playing jazz piano]
[door opens]
[door closes]
[keys jingle]
Mm.
No, no, no, keep going.
It makes me wish I'd have learned
how to play an instrument as a kid.
-Huh. -[Decourcy] Not the piano.
The tuba. Something boisterous.
Well, there's still time.
You can take lessons yourself.
Or...mm...
maybe somewhere down the line,
you can learn with someone else.
How was your day?
Honestly, this is the best part.
Your Honor, please ask the witness
to answer the question.
Well, Jimmy Ryan's face was blown off.
Yeah.
You know, when I first heard the news, I was, uh...
[liquor pouring]
I don't know, I was-I was something-something like...
happy.
Mm.
That's his karma.
We pay a price in this world for frayed loyalties.
[chuckles]
What, you not joining me?
Not right now.
[Decourcy] Oh. All right.
How was your day?
We're pregnant. [chuckles]
[clears throat] Uh...
[stammers]
Did you... when-when did you find out?
Thursday.
Wait, wait, you waiting to just now to tell me?
Really, Decourcy? Is that the best you can do?
Well, hey, hey, hey.
Uh, no, it, um...
Guess I'm done sipping cognac, eh?
Come here. Come here.
Then Bram Stoker, he goes over to Ireland,
and he's riding through the bucolic Irish countryside
with whoever, whatever,
a-and they notice all these people
deranged with hunger--
men, women, little ones.
T-they're skin and bones.
They're so starved that they don't even look human.
Aye, the potato famine.
So old Bram goes, "What the fuck?"
And he pokes his head out of the wagon,
and they see a thousand old hags
sucking on their fingers and their hands,
drinking cow's blood and pig's blood,
and Bram is horrified.
"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, the next thing you know,
they're gonna be drinking human blood.
Get me the fuck away from these bloodsuckers."
Then later,
after five or six glasses of absinthe,
Bram thinks, "Wait a minute. I'm onto something."
And Dracula is born.
You know, this may come as a shock to you,
but we have bounced back in the 150 years
since the potatoes went rotten.
Yeah, for some, the Republic is picture-book Ireland,
where the tourists go,
but up at the North Channel-- Larne, Carrickfergus--
no, these are quaint little towns
that kiss the sea.
We're not all blood and bombs
or bloodsuckers.
singing in Irish
Wow, that's so pretty.
Bit of Irish as payment for a home-cooked meal.
So, Maeve, why did you come to America?
Same reason as everybody does--
the money.
"C.R.E.A.M" playing
Running up in gates
And doing hits for high stakes
Making my way on fire escapes
No question, I would speed for cracks and weed
The combination made my eyes bleed
No question, I would flow off
And try to get the dough all
Sticking up white boys in ball courts
My life got no better, same damn 'Lo sweater
Times is rough and tough like leather
Figured out I went the wrong route
So I got with a sick tight clique and went all out
Catching keys from 'cross seas
Rolling in MPVs, every week we made 40 Gs
Yo, bro, respect mine
Or here go the TEC-9
[tires screech]
Cash rules everything around me
C.R.E.A.M., get the money
Dollar, dollar bill, y'all
Cash rules...
[Anton] Go.
C.R.E.A.M., get the money
Dollar, dollar bill, y'all
It's been 22 long, hard years
I'm still struggling
-Yo hold it. -Don't run!
Stop!
Hold it right there!
[tires screeching]
[both grunting]
[Anton] Get the fuck off.
[Tony] Fuck! Stay down.
Got his hands.
-Get him? -Get down!
Get down! Get the fuck down.
[handcuffs clicking]
-I got him. -You got him?
-Yeah. -All right, get up, Anton.
Thanks, boys.
We got it.
Look what we have here.
We got one with a gun.
[Tony] Where'd you get this little number, huh?
-[Anton] From your mother. -[Tony] Huh?
[Anton] She's just like you.
Overtime white and overtime stupid.
That's nice talk.
-Yeah? -Yeah.
[Chris] Hey, hey, hey!
Hey, hey, all right, what the fuck?
Suferin, calm the fuck down!
[Tony panting]
[Anton] This fucking job.
[sniffs, grunts]
Babe?
Hey, I...I swear I'm thrilled.
You know? I just...
I...I know how much we want this baby.
I just wasn't expecting for you
to tell me you was pregnant tonight.
So put your coat back on,
go back through the front door,
and come back tomorrow.
Maybe then you'll be more receptive.
Hey, but, ba...oh, come on.
Give me some breathing room here.
Anybody would be daunted by the responsibility.
Most of your reasons for not wanting a child are selfish.
I am selfish. So are you.
That's...it's always been our thing.
It's part of the attraction.
Well, I'm guess I'm at the point in my life
where I require more.
So...so when our baby gets here, right,
how do you plan to balance everything?
Us, your career, the Coalition, social life?
Are you asking me to be a stay-at-home mom?
No.
Yes. Uh, look...
I lost my mom to cancer when I was 12 years old.
She was there until she wasn't.
All right?
Presence has its blessings.
Well, there are different ways to be present.
Women navigate these waters every day.
Been doing so for centuries.
Good night.
[phone ringing]
Hello.
[Chris] Dee, we busted Anton Campbell.
Resisting arrest, illegal firearm, distributing.
Come join the party.
-I'll see you in 20 minutes. -[Chris] All right.
Babe, you better get dressed.
[Anton] If you're half as good a lawyer as Mama says,
I'll be home in bed
by time you pull out the parking lot in your Lexus.
Now's not the time to be a smartass.
[Anton] Is there ever a good time to be a smartass?
[knocking on window]
You know the other day Junior Senegel was chased down
and shot in the stomach?
It takes a lot of anger to settle a score.
A measure of strength, too. But here's the thing.
There's always gonna be a new score,
new chain of young Black bodies bleeding out on the street.
Now, you may not care
whether you die or live another day,
but my hunch is, your mother does.
Don't bring my mother into this.
Well, it's a long history of women,
mothers nurturing the living, mourning the dead.
Marys, the Mary Magdalenes, the--
You seem to be on a fishing expedition.
Are you gonna charge my client with something?
Eventually I am.
I will,
'cause Junior's gonna live,
and when he wakes up,
he's gonna tell me everything that happened.
What you did.
Mr. Ward, please ask Mr. Campbell
something relevant to tonight's arrest.
Otherwise, this sad attempt at an interrogation
is over.
[sighs]
Unless you'd like to discuss the bruises on his face?
[Decourcy] He resisted arrest.
[Siobhan] I'd like to see the police report.
I heard it was a boxing match. You lost.
-That's bullshit. -[Decourcy] Hmm.
You know, Socrates said, "Know thyself,"
but we don't all get the opportunity
to do that, do we, now?
To know ourselves, to grow into ourselves?
Take Raina Allen--
little girl who died
in the crossfire on Valentine's Day.
She'll never know what being a teenager means.
My client is not here to discuss Raina Allen.
Now, unless you have evidence of the contrary,
I suggest you stick to the matters at hand.
Damn. [laughs]
Wow.
"Wow."
You must think it's a fucking joke, huh?
Funny thing is, I know how this ends,
and trust me, you don't get the last laugh.
somber music
Didn't know you were a smoker.
[Grace] I quit after I got pregnant with Anton.
This is a once-a-year, stress-induced indulgence
you're witnessing.
-Grace, I-- -[Grace] I hope you know
how much this means to me, having you,
this little girl I've known forever,
looking out for my family.
I say this with the utmost respect for you.
Wake up.
How do both of your sons end up arrested,
both of them?
Anton was caught with an unlicensed gun
and crack cocaine.
-He resisted arrest. -Says the BPD.
Profiling happens all the time to all of us.
[scoffs] Well, maybe not as much in the South End.
Oh, please don't make me apologize for my privilege.
I'm using my privilege to help your son.
Not every attorney will give a damn
about another young Black man facing ten to 15 years
for a guns and drugs charge.
You sound like your mother...
after she turned her back on the movement.
Okay. [clears throat]
I'm gonna pretend like I didn't hear that
and continue to do my job,
which I'm excellent at.
But in the meanwhile, reassess
and get your goddamn house in order.
[Jackie] Good morning.
Tell me why you felt the need
to throw the evil eye at Maeve last night.
She's alone. No family nearby.
Jen...
why do you give a shit about this woman?
There's a war going on over there, Jackie.
Catholic against Protestant.
Not something I like to think about, but...
there's blood on the streets.
There's blood on the streets here.
Haven't you noticed? A little girl got shot
in Roxbury, going through her Valentine's Day cards.
[slurps]
One tragedy doesn't cancel out another.
Maeve's a refugee, just like your grandparents were.
What the fuck you really after?
[sighs]
-[bowl thuds] -You know what?
No one gave a shit about me when I was alone,
when I was crying, so, yeah,
I want to do something for Maeve.
I don't know what.
Just, uh, you know, be there, I guess.
You weren't alone, Jen.
I took care of things, didn't I?
[scoffs] Yeah.
Yeah, but you never told me how.
We always sort of tiptoe around the subject.
What happened to my father?
Your father did what I told him to and got lost.
The same way Clay Roach got lost?
[Corie] Hey, Cath, there you are.
Wow, it's freezing out here.
Yeah, see, that's what happens, you move to Florida.
You become intolerant to the elements.
You forget that winter in New England's
a bona fide bitch.
How you doing, Cathy?
Other day, I'm helping Kick with her homework.
Social studies, family-tree bullshit.
And we're taping this picture of Frankie
to some piece of construction board.
Something comes over me.
Before I even know what I'm doing,
I'm looking up the word "husband"
in the dictionary.
You know what the word "husband" means?
Keeper of the farm.
Yeah, that's Frankie.
Pitchfork in hand.
Only, now I'm the keeper of the farm.
I don't have Frankie to complain to
when the water heater don't work
or we're down to our last five eggs
or 20 bucks.
Half the time, I feel like I'm walking around,
and I'm missing a limb or a rib.
You know, Frankie took the kids here one time...
to watch the planes fly in and out of Logan.
And now I'm here.
I just keep thinking, maybe if I...
sit here long enough, I can hear him,
just hear his voice.
melancholy music
Hey, you start sadness up, it'll...
it'll suck the life out of you.
I know you're half warrior, Cathy, but you...
you got to let go sometimes.
[sighs, sniffles]
It's freezing.
[Cathy] Yeah.
It's also kind of fucking beautiful.
[elevator bell dings]
You don't look so good, kid.
Uh-uh. Address me, not my son.
I feel sick to my stomach. I don't want to do this.
Please don't make me do this.
Listen, this nightmare'll be over in a few minutes.
Just do whatever this asshole wants you to do.
Listen to your ma, Rickey.
Sooner or later, reality slaps you in the face.
Every man for himself.
You're really sitting up here, asking me to break the law,
to do dirt on the one person who come around and help me.
He could've been like the officer
-who put handcuffs on me. -[elevator door opens]
[Nia] Rickey. Rickey, wait.
Rickey, Rickey, listen to me.
Get off me, Ma!
-Ma, I'm sorry. -Whoa, whoa, whoa.
You okay?
I'm fine.
You see? I hate this.
I hate this, man.
I hate...
[Nia] Rickey, no, no, no, no, no!
No, you gonna break your arm!
Stop. Rickey, listen.
Look at me.
Babe, I love you.
I'm just trying to...
I don't know what the fuck I'm trying to do.
This is my kid.
Do you know how hard it is to keep sober?
I was six months dry.
Then you show up at my door
with those beers and that badge,
leveling threats against me and Rickey.
You nearly cost me my fucking job.
The system is broken. It's corrupt.
You have no compassion for us.
You don't care about us.
You know, when I was a kid, my ma used to send me
to bum cigarettes from the neighbors.
Pretty soon, I'm coming home, and for every two I get,
I'm smoking one.
I'm coming in the house empty-handed.
You know, that's an ass kicking right there.
But, you know, that one errand...
that set me on a course...
or off.
[sighs]
Tell the truth, kid.
-What? -Forget what I told you to do.
Decourcy Ward saved you 'cause you deserved to be saved.
Do what's right.
Consider this an Act of Contrition.
You asked to see me?
I was a little surprised that the Townsend kid
changed his statement.
At the very last second, he gives Decourcy Ward
a hall pass.
A shock, to be sure.
What happened?
I got the story wrong. [chuckles]
A story you made up.
Rickey Townsend. He will pay.
Do you know what I see standing in front of me, Jackie?
The lay of your life?
An agent whose day has come and gone.
You need to retire.
Oh, okay. So we're back to that, are we?
Well, this time, I'm insisting.
[Jackie] Things I've done, you can't get rid of me,
'cause if I go, I'm singing like fucking Sinatra.
"My Way."
And all the bad guys
who've been convicted in the last 20 years
are gonna want a new trial.
You're gonna have to reopen hundreds and hundreds of cases.
Your office will implode.
You'd destroy the fucking world for the home-field advantage.
Believe it, darling.
Believe it.
[door slams]
[Decourcy] If They Come In The Morning.
I love this book.
I heard her speak my freshman year of college.
I remember thinking naively,
you know, "Angela Davis?
Who's gonna come to an Angela Davis lecture at BU?"
Good thing I got timing like my father.
Showed up early. They were turning people away.
We never stop needing revolutionaries.
Miss Eloise,
you and I haven't always seen eye to eye.
I'd say we're batting under .200.
Y-you know another side of Siobhan.
Yeah, you know her before--
Before...she married you? Yeah.
Before she was an attorney.
Truth is, I'm surprised that she married--
Me?
Another lawyer.
She's too smart not to have recognized
the potential dangers that might arise.
I can't talk to Siobhan. She represents the Campbells.
But...
yeah, I have my reservations about Grace.
She's not necessarily all that she seems, and...
I don't...it's...it's some problems with her family.
Decourcy, that woman has changed
the face of Roxbury.
You go after Grace on a whim or a hunch,
you are courting disaster.
I'm handling the case.
The murder of the 11-year-old girl?
And her sons might be involved?
[clears throat]
Look, I know you can't tell me any details,
but sometimes you need to take the long view.
That often means the narrow view.
Distance yourself.
Now, Grace,
for better or worse, almost always better,
she's committed herself
to improving people, our people.
Try to roll a truck over her, directly or indirectly,
no one in her world will support you...
or Siobhan.
Siobhan needs Grace's loyal and large constituency
to win the city council seat.
Even if Grace is in the wrong?
[Eloise] My path, Grace's path,
diverged a long time ago, but in her defense...
...what does "wrong" mean in this day and age?
Who cornered the market on that word?
Decourcy, you're going to be a father soon
to an adorable baby boy...
or girl.
My grandchild.
Count your blessings.
Try not to trip over your own two feet.
I already have. Siobhan's pissed at me.
About the Campbells?
And other things.
[Eloise chuckles]
Well, maybe you should rise to the occasion,
do something revolutionary.
[door opens, closes]
[door buzzes, opens]
Hi, Mama.
You didn't tell me you were bringing a friend.
What, no hug?
There are no pleasantries
in what I'm thinking or feeling today.
-Mama, it was the cops-- -No.
I messed up, Mama. I'm sorry.
That's how they get you. "I'm sorry, Mama.
I love you, Mama."
I brought Reverend Hughes 'cause--
Bible say if you gonna pray, don't worry,
and if you gonna worry, don't pray.
Your behavior requires that I do both, Anton.
Young brother, your mother wants what's best for you,
and what's best for you is to be out of here.
Well, then, Reverend, with all due respect,
call Miss Quays and get me the fuck out of here.
And give me and my mama some alone time
-while you at it. -[Isaiah] Anton.
Once the system gets ahold of you,
you may never see the outside again.
You got out.
[Isaiah] 'Cause I played my cards right,
but I missed years.
I missed births, weddings, funerals,
things that most people take for granted.
You ain't got to worry about me, Mama.
I can take care of myself.
What about your brother and me?
Your mistakes are bleeding us out, Anton.
My job, my reputation, our home.
We could lose everything.
Your "taking care of yourself"
is ruining the rest of us.
I love you, Mama, but where's Siobhan Quays?
Where's Siobhan Quays?
dark music
[door buzzes, opens]
Call Miss Quays. Call Miss Quays.
Get me the fuck out of here!
Call my lawyer. Get the fuck off me.
-Call my lawyer... -I said enough!
Grace, you okay?
A woman in motion stays in motion.
I was gonna say just the opposite.
Maybe you need to take a minute and sit down.
If I stop, I may not ever get back up.
Uh, we ought to organize the reverends,
walk the Four Corners every night.
Start at nine o'clock and shepherd the streets
till dawn.
Get some probation officers, city officials...
Some reformed gangbangers. Gain some trust.
Let the gangs know we're real.
Yeah, I'm on it.
You just take care of your boys.
My boys are the reason why I need to walk.
I have to do something, save face.
[Isaiah] Christ spent the last night of his life in jail.
No shame here, Grace.
We're all just trying to do the best we can.
Did Anton do his best?
Back there, Reverend, I couldn't recognize him.
Did I do my best raising my boy?
[sobs softly]
Surprise.
Let me guess. Callie.
[laughs]
Oh, you know with friends like Callie,
you have no secrets.
-When I was a little girl... -Mm-hmm.
...my mom and I would put these in brown paper bags,
hand them out as party favors.
-Mm. -Just stick them in a...
mason jar with some dirt
and wait for them to bloom.
A tradition we'll continue with our kids.
You know I never even heard of winter white lilies
till I visited you and your family on the Vineyard?
Froze my ass off that December.
We were testing you.
You still are. Eloise is, at least.
[Siobhan] Luckily, no one in my family but me
gets to decide if you measure up or not.
Let me show you how to do that.
Bit like driving a Cadillac.
Oh.
[Siobhan chuckles]
Hey, us having a baby
is not an experience I want to miss out on.
I'm ready to change some diapers.
And if anybody can finesse a career and motherhood
and the murkier side of city politics, you can.
You're gonna be a-a beacon of pride
for every professional woman in Boston.
Mm.
And I'll be right here beside you.
We're a team.
And we're gonna be some damn good parents.
You know that, right?
I know that now.
Mm.
And that's all that matters.
[Decourcy] Oh, is it?
[Siobhan] Mm-hmm.
-[Decourcy] Okay. -[Siobhan chuckles]
What are you doing?
Oh, just thinking.
-About what? -You.
What about me?
Earlier tonight, when you were practicing for the choir,
I was thinking about how I couldn't wait to fuck you.
-Yeah? -Yeah.
I've been thinking about that a lot lately.
Last night, I was hoping
your little Irish friend was gonna stay over,
and the three of us could, you know--
Oh, fuck you!
Oh, that's not fucking funny.
Wasn't totally a joke.
Which makes you even more of a shit bag.
I just thought maybe you'd want to try
something new. I don't...
Oh, well, you thought fucking wrong...
as usual.
I need a beer.
Yeah, me too.
Is my living in vain?
Is my giving in vain?
Is my praying in vain?
I was expecting a larger turnout, Grace.
Can't blame them, Reverend.
People don't feel safe in their own neighborhoods.
[gunshots]
[crowd screaming, shouting confusedly]
[person] See where they at? I see them right there!
[Isaiah] Marco!
[bystander] Somebody call an ambulance!
[person] They got Marco, yo!
[bystander] Say what?
somber music
Hey.
Get up.
Let me ask you something.
Are you ready to send the man who put you here to prison?
Where's my mom and dad?
Do you know who Anton Campbell is?
Did Anton Campbell shoot you?
All right.
You know, while you were sleeping,
Marco took a bullet straight to the morgue.
Marco who?
Marco Barnes, Braxton Boys.
They ass weak.
Yeah, maybe,
but you know what that means, don't you?
They came at you, you went at them,
they doubled down hard.
Or let me rephrase.
Do you want this man to try to kill you again?
Did Anton Campbell shoot you?
I'll take your silence as a yes.
Well, here's some truth telling for you.
You better get him.
Or else you will? Is that an ultimatum?
That's not my kind of justice.
Justice is a two-cent word.
Bitch.
somber music
Thanks for dropping in.
Marco just got into BU, for fuck's sake.
How many of us get into BU from Braxton Summit?
Haven't you figured it out yet?
-[door closes] -This is our BU, baby brother.
-Marco was our people. -I know.
[Anton] It ain't enough for you to just know.
I'm in here. You out there.
-Step up. -I want to live another day.
Can I just live another fucking day?
All right, Anton?
When did we become bitches,
hanging our head and crying
while them Copeland Crew motherfuckers
blow us away?
They laughing at us.
If you don't hit back now and hit back hard,
they gonna pick us off and move in on our territory.
Show these pink-ass niggas what you made of
before they make a pussy out of you.
So we go for broke and shit?
Don't trust nobody but Jermaine.
Jermaine don't need to be out here,
clapping at innocent people.
Rewind that juvenile thinking for me.
I don't think I heard what you said.
Strays don't just come with the territory, Kelvin.
Strays mark the territory.
Chaos is good business.
Mama was out there, too.
She could've been one of them strays.
'Ton.
I thought the whole point of this
was to bust the hell out of Braxton Projects,
buy Mom a house.
Is my praying in vain?
Oh
[door buzzes]
Is my labor in vain?
[door closes]
Is my singing in vain?
Is my speaking
Is it in vain?
- No - No, no
Of course not
No, no
No
No, no, no, no, no
Of course not
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
No
- No, no - Of course not
No, no, no, no, no, no