[light electronic music]
- I mean, how fucking great are these details, right?
Like, different wallpaper, maybe another finish?
It's gonna be beautiful. - Totally.
I am so proud of you. - Thanks.
- When your aunt left you this place, it was disgusting.
It was like an old, gross home in New Jersey.
- Hey, New Jersey really isn't that bad.
- You know, I can see, like, it's gonna be amazing,
and you're gonna get a shit ton of money for it.
- Right.
What if I don't want to sell it?
- I mean, yeah, I guess you could rent it out.
We could use the extra cash.
- No, I wanna live here.
Sara, I think we should live here.
- What?
- Just hear me out for a second.
So it's a great school district,
it's only 40 minutes from the city,
so we can totally commute,
and the town, Sara, I'm telling you
there's this strip of Main Street
that you would totally think is Brooklyn.
- Would I?
Or would I think it was, like, a street in New Jersey
that has a barber shop that serves beer?
[dog barking in distance]
You are gonna do a great job with this place,
but don't be crazy.
- I'm not being crazy.
- Moving to New Jersey is crazy.
- Sara, I'm ready for this.
Like, I'm ready to have a house.
Come on, aren't you over having roommates
and having to step around piles of trash
every time you leave the apartment?
- What would we do for fun, Jim?
Like, go to high school football games?
- Just picture it: you on the couch doing a crossword puzzle,
me in the kitchen, cooking up some pancakes.
I don't know, maybe eventually
a little kid running around?
- No.
I don't want that.
I mean, maybe.
Maybe one day, but now?
No, come on.
Let's go home.
We'll go out tonight.
Get fucked up,
make some mistakes, you know.
Be young.
- I'm gonna live here.
- What?
- I really want you to live here with me.
But either way, I'm moving here.
This is what I want.
- What does that mean?
- I don't know, Sara, what does it mean?
[solemn music]
♪ ♪
female narrator: Some relationships
are clearly not meant to last,
others seem obviously pointed toward forever,
and then there are those that are less clear-cut,
where one must decide, without a definitive path,
whether to go all-in
or cut one's losses.
♪ ♪
[vehicle rattles, indistinct chatter]
- Magnus?
Hey, baby, I need more toilet paper.
narrator: Though deep in her gut
Darby had suspected the worst,
she had nevertheless, eight months ago,
after a whirlwind engagement,
stood before the justice of the peace
and hoped for the best.
- [groans] - Hey.
Oh, no, baby, I gotta get up. I gotta go to work.
- Mm-kay. [smooches] - [groans]
- I'll make you breakfast. - Oh, that's sweet.
[soft music]
[grunts]
♪ ♪
- I'm making French toast. - That's okay, babe.
It's already 9:00, and I should really be on time
for the arrival of the priceless relic.
- [groans] I'm sorry.
I'm just...so tired.
- It's okay.
Hey, did you ever hear back
from that last round of jobs you applied for?
- Oh, yeah, I got the job at that fusion place.
- What? Baby.
That's amazing. Why didn't you tell me?
- 'Cause I'm not gonna take it.
- Why not?
- Well, I mean, the pay was a joke.
I've been a sous chef for five years.
They offered me 65K.
- That's a lot.
- I know what I'm worth,
and... [inhales deeply]
Plus, do I really want to work in a fusion restaurant?
- Isn't there part of you that just misses going to work?
- Honestly, I just want to focus on the Chip case
and get that fuckface to pay me back.
- Yeah...
but babe, you have been through two lawyers.
And what has it been? Like, I mean, a year?
Couldn't you have basically made that much by now?
- It's not about the money.
This is about my reputation as a chef.
Plus, I have a call today with Freddy's cousin,
who apparently is a big-time lawyer.
- Who's Freddy?
- The man bun, worked at the door.
- Mm-hmm.
- Yeah, he, uh, quit
because fuckface wouldn't move him up.
- Okay. Well, I gotta go.
- All right. [grunts]
Oh, yeah, um, which card should I use for the retainer?
It's just a retainer. We get it back when we win.
- I don't think that's how it works.
- Babe, if you want me to take the job, I'll take it.
I'll do anything you ask, I swear.
I'll hold off on starting my own place.
I just want to make you proud.
- Um...
just, you know, make sure he's legit.
Get references.
- I mean, I know Freddy,
but yeah, of course I will.
- Okay. - All right.
Hey, I love you.
- I love you too.
[upbeat music]
♪ ♪
Where are they now?
- Uh, 22nd and Lex.
- Okay, so that's, like, 20 minutes.
Um, can you just let me know the second that they get here?
- Uh, yeah.
Also, I got you a bacon, egg, and cheese
from that bodega you like.
You know, with the one-eyed cat.
- Oh, amazing. You're promoted.
- Wait, really?
- No, but you're doing a great job,
and I appreciate you.
Okay.
♪ ♪
[sighs]
[relaxed music]
♪ ♪
[computer chimes]
♪ ♪
narrator: Darby had kept
this shameful chapter from her youth
neatly compartmentalized in her memory bank.
Recently, though,
she had been thinking a lot about the past,
trying to thread together the pieces of her life
in order to find out how she had ended up where she was.
♪ ♪
- [knocks on glass] It's here.
- Uh, great. I'll be right there.
♪ ♪
Okay, all right.
So we have the two jade dragons...
- Mm-hmm. - Ming dynasty figural jar,
and the 18...
silver seals.
Oh, hand me the gloves. - Yeah.
- Wow.
There's only ten of these teacups
in the entire world.
- Jeez.
- Wow.
Think of everything it's been through.
The emperors, the wars, the revolutions.
Take my picture with it. - Yeah.
Okay.
[shutter clicks]
Great. Oh. [phone chimes]
It looks like you got a Facebook message
from a Luke Ducharme?
Oh, you're still on Facebook?
- That's all, Tim, thank you. - Mm-hmm.
[light music]
♪ ♪
[sizzling]
- Wow.
- Here it is. - Okay, babe.
This looks amazing.
This is kind of a lot.
- For my number one babe.
Try the hot sauce, please. - Oh, yeah?
- Because I think that's the one.
I think I got the peppers right.
- Okay.
How was your day?
- Good. - Yeah?
- Yeah. Yours?
- Um, it was kind of great, actually.
Um, I got this shipment in for auction.
It's these 40 different pieces of Asian antiquities
from all these different eras.
But, like, check this out. [chuckles]
- Yeah, they look like...
butt plugs.
- Yeah.
I mean, and they're called, like,
"silver seals," right?
But it's a big deal, you know,
and it's my biggest commission, so I'm excited.
- I know, I'm sorry, I'm just fucking spiraling.
Freddy's fucking lawyer cousin won't take the case.
- Oh. Did he say why?
- I don't know, some horseshit about
needing documentation for my hours.
- Can you get that?
- He's not the guy.
- Okay.
- This year's been a fucking shitshow.
So lucky that I have you.
Oh, my God. It feels so good.
Your pussy is so fucking tight.
- Yeah?
Yeah, fuck my tight pussy.
- [grunting] - [groans softly]
Oh, babe, not so hard!
The fajitas! [groans]
- [snoring]
[phone buzzes]
[laid-back music]
♪ ♪
- Darby Carter, holy shit. - Wow. [laughs]
- You look amazing. - Aw, Luke Ducharme.
You're not bald.
- Low bar. - [chuckles]
- Drink? - Yes.
- Yeah? - That would be great.
♪ ♪
I can't believe you're a lawyer.
[chuckles] - Actually, I prefer the term
"law daddy." - Sure, yeah.
Is that, like, what you have on your business cards?
- Yeah, yeah.
So what about you?
Are you the one who talks fast, like,
"100, 200, do I hear 200, 300, sold to the man in the front!"
- Yeah, yeah. No, that's exactly what I do.
This is--that's unbelievable.
That's an uncanny impression.
- Oh, fuck. It's such a trip to see you.
- Oh, please.
I'm sure I'm hardly
a significant figure in your past.
I mean, like, what did we even hang out for,
like, a week, if that?
- Well, I guess you made an impression.
- Well, right. Yeah.
I mean, I guess, faking cancer--
kind of memorable.
- Yeah, about that.
I--[sighs]
Darby, I feel awful for what I did.
- Oh, my God. No, what?
It's so whatever. It was a long time ago.
It was fucking high school.
- Yeah, I guess, but... [sighs]
During my last breakup,
I was going to therapy with my ex,
and this stuff came up about me leaving a large wake,
and I started thinking about what that meant,
and I realized how much damage I've done
to different people over the years,
and I know that I was at least a component
in the whole cancer thing. - Oh, come on.
I mean, it wasn't just that.
There was my family stuff and, like,
puberty hormones are just-- - Darby.
Please let me apologize.
I was a total dick to you, and I'm sorry.
- Um...
thank you.
Really, thank you, that--that--
Jesus, that means a lot.
Um, oh, I should tell you
I do have cancer now, for real.
It's so bad. The prognosis is so bad.
- You're the worst.
- It might be my last night on Earth,
and I'm here with you.
So weird. - Uh-oh.
That's not the way you want to spend it.
narrator: Darby felt relief
that she could finally close the book
on that embarrassing chapter of her life
at the Cornelia Academy.
Perhaps if Luke had forgiven her,
she could forgive herself as well.
♪ ♪
At first, it was a series of text message pleasantries
and loose plans to meet up later that week...
♪ ♪
Which soon became longer, friendlier exchanges
about where, for example,
the best bagel in Manhattan could be procured,
which evolved into full-blown, day-long text conversations,
first about nothing in particular,
complete with links, gifs, and emojis,
and eventually deep conversations
about their feelings on everything
from open relationships to religion.
- Wow. - Yeah.
- So that's the guy you got cancer for?
- [chuckles] - I mean...
- I know.
And it's weird to, like, feel so connected to somebody
that I haven't seen since high school.
- Oh, my God. Is he your wittle soul mate?
- No, no, I'm just going through, like,
a rough thing with Magnus,
and so I know I'm just frustrated, and it's whatever.
- I don't know, this dude looks like he's got
a really good credit score.
- [chuckles] That's what I look for.
- Do you want some?
- Wow.
Take it easy, Don Draper.
Are you okay? Is this okay? - [chuckles]
- Have you heard from Jim?
- No.
Uh, he's not picking up my calls,
which is kind of hot.
- Are you gonna take this seriously?
- It's gonna be fine, Mom. - [chuckles]
Is there a world where you could see yourself
making this work in Jersey?
- Darby, there are two Walmarts
within 15 minutes of his house.
- Okay. Yeah, no, I hear you.
[phone buzzes] Oh, hello.
Shit, it's Luke.
"What are you up to tonight?" - Mm.
Sounds like you're gonna be fucking.
- No.
- "See you soon." - [chuckles]
It's so much-- - "Can't wait to talk to you
later." - It's so much more attractive
when you have a mouthful of bread.
- Ooh. Hey, sexy lady.
Where you going? - Uh, "Hamilton."
With my friend from high school.
I told you about this, remember?
- Yeah.
Yeah, of course.
- Yeah, I hope that's okay,
'cause there was just the one extra ticket.
- Totally.
You know how I feel about cultural phenomenons.
- I do, yeah.
So what are you up to tonight?
- Well, actually, working on the case,
and I got an idea.
What if I call Chip
and tell him that I'm gonna call ICE on his ass?
- You mean like extortion? - N-no.
More like, "Hey, man.
Do the right thing or else I'm gonna make a call."
- Oh, that's still extortion.
So just put a pin in that until I get home,
and we can workshop some other ideas, okay?
- Yeah, are you sure, though?
'Cause it feels like it would be effective.
- 100% don't do that.
[soft dramatic music]
♪ ♪
[indistinct chatter]
♪ ♪
Sorry, excuse me, excuse me.
Oh, sorry. Excuse me, sorry.
Hi.
I'm so sorry I'm late.
- It's okay. Here.
It's Chardonnay and probably awful.
- Mm. - But it's booze.
- Mm, yes, notes of burning swamp.
- [chuckles] - I'm gonna get ten more.
I definitely need it.
- Everything okay? - Yeah.
I mean, I just couldn't find a cab,
and I hate making people wait, and I was just stressed.
- Well, the wait was worth it.
- I feel really dorky, but I'm so excited.
- [chuckles] Me too, me too.
- Five minutes! - I think this is it.
- It's really real. - Heck yeah.
All right, I think we're over here.
- Oh, fancy.
- Yeah, yeah. - Please take your seats.
[serene music]
♪ ♪
narrator: Darby had wanted
to see "Hamilton" for some time,
and yet now, she found it hard to focus.
♪ ♪
It was deeply thrilling
to feel Luke's knee next to hers.
They both knew they were touching,
but neither of them moved.
♪ ♪
Darby wasn't doing anything wrong, and yet,
this private moment sent an electric charge
through her entire body.
♪ ♪
- I mean, it's corny, but, like, it was amazing!
- It was amazing. - I feel so cliché.
- [chuckles] Well, this is me.
- Ah, okay. - Right here.
- Well, um, thank you so much.
It was--it was incredible.
And I should go.
- Yeah. You should probably go.
Do you want to come up? - Um, yes.
Um, no, 'cause I'm married.
And yeah, I didn't even want to get into this.
It's just that, um, my husband's--
he's in the middle of this wrongful termination lawsuit,
which is really stressful,
and I don't want to do something to hurt him
or fuck this up just 'cause I'm mad at him right now,
which is just a long way of saying
yes, I want to fucking come up,
and no, I can't, 'cause I'm married.
- I could talk to him if you want.
- Oh, God. No, no, no.
That's not--I'm just venting.
I would never ask you to do that.
- Seriously, I don't mind.
It's not really my area of expertise,
but I'd be happy to help.
- That wouldn't be weird? - No, not at all.
- Okay.
- Tell you what, why don't you text me
and we'll all figure out a time to get together?
- I'll do that, and, um, thank you again.
This was great. - You're very welcome.
Thank you for going with me.
- Um, okay. - Okay. [chuckles]
- Good night.
- Hey, babe. - Hey.
- [groans] How was it?
- Um, it was pretty good. Lived up to the hype, I guess.
- Good.
[kissing]
- I'm--I'm sorry.
I'm just kind of sleepy.
- Got it. [sighs]
[phone buzzes]
- And remember, he's just--
he's doing us a favor, so be nice.
- He?
Isn't it your friend from high school?
- Yeah, it is.
- Oh, he's gay. - What? N-no, no.
Hi. - Hey.
- Hi.
Thank you so much for meeting us.
- Yeah, of course, of course.
- Um, this is my husband. - Hey, man.
Luke. - Yeah, hey.
Magnus. - Great to meet you.
- You too.
Uh, and what else?
I designed 80% of the menu.
And I put us on the map, social-media-wise.
Before I got there, he didn't even have Twitter.
- Well, Magnus was trying to unionize, you know?
The place was doing well, and then he felt like
they could afford to give their employees health insurance,
that kind of thing, right, babe?
- Mm. - Well, that's an angle.
Do you think any aspect of your firing
was retaliatory for your attempts to organize?
- Yeah, 100%.
- Well, if you actually talked to any other employees
about unionizing and we could get them to go on record--
- Yeah, I'm not gonna do that, though.
I'm not gonna throw anyone under the bus.
- No, I don't think that's what he means.
I think just if we could get someone
to corroborate what you're saying--
- Yeah, and what I'm saying
is that I'm loyal and I won't fucking do that,
so that's not an angle.
- Okay.
- Magnus, I'm just gonna be straight with you here.
Even with a contract, he could claim he fired you for cause.
Without documentation or corroboration,
one could easily say you came in late
or didn't fulfill your duties.
- Why would one say that if one works for me?
- Well, I'm a corporate lawyer, and I don't...work for you.
I'm doing this as a favor to your wife,
but a part of every attorney's job
is to argue the other side's case
to know what is or isn't worth pursuing,
and as much as it sucks,
I would let this one go, man.
- Yeah?
Great, man.
Thanks for your professional opinion.
Yeah, I'm done. Let's go.
- Um...
Oh, I can give you some cash.
- No, no, no. It's all good, really.
- Um, I'm so sorry.
What was that? What was that, man?
- They're all the fucking same!
Anything that's gonna take any extra work.
- No, that's--come on, that's not it, you know that.
And he was making some good points.
He's just trying to help, and I--
he took an hour out of his day, and he did it as a favor to me,
and the least that you could do
is just pretend to be appreciative
or just not be so much of a dick.
- Yeah, well maybe I'm fucking frustrated.
I'm sorry. - I know.
So let's just go do something else.
I don't know, do you want to walk around a little?
Or we could go to Joe's Shanghai or something?
- No, I want to go to the gym.
I want to fucking punch something.
I'll text you, whatever. - Yep.
[soft tense music]
♪ ♪
[upbeat music]
[phone chimes]
♪ ♪
[knocking]
Hey. - Hey.
- Um, there's booze inside?
- Yes. - Great.
- You can have some. - Great.
[Father John Misty's "Real Love Baby"]
- ♪ Our hearts are free ♪
- Has he always been like that?
- Um, no. Not always.
But for a while now, yeah.
It's been so bad lately,
I don't really remember when it was good.
Which isn't... [sighs]
I'm not trying to be a downer. And I do love him.
- Don't beat yourself up.
You're a good person,
and he's clearly taking advantage of that.
- I don't know.
I think I might've known that he was like this
from the second I met him.
In my bones, you know?
And I don't know what that says about me.
- Relationships are fucking hard.
- [quietly] Yeah.
- So this might sound presumptuous,
but...
you do know that you don't have to stay with him?
People get divorced.
- [inhales, clears throat]
Well, I mean, what about your last relationship?
Like, when did you know it was time to call it
with your girlfriend, wife?
- Uh, yeah, no, just girlfriend.
Um, uh...
[inhales deeply]
I would say I knew for about a year
before I did anything about it.
- Oof. - [chuckles]
- ♪ I'm in love, I'm alive ♪
- You look good, Ducharme.
- Well, so do you.
- ♪ Let's forget who we are for one night ♪
♪ We're not animals, baby ♪
Come here.
♪ ♪
- [clears throat]
This is a really nice room.
- Thanks.
They don't usually give rooms like this to associates,
but because I'm a law daddy...
- Right, yeah, you got an upgrade, obviously.
- Yeah, precisely.
- ♪ Just if for a minute, I want love ♪
♪ Real love, baby ♪
♪ Ooh, don't leave me waiting ♪
♪ I got real love, maybe ♪
♪ Wait until you taste me ♪
♪ I want real love, baby ♪
♪ There's a world inside me ♪
♪ Got the key, just use it ♪
- Are you sure? - Yeah.
- ♪ I want real love, baby, ooh, don't keep me waiting ♪
♪ ♪
[faucet running]
- What? - Nothing.
Just if you had told 16-year-old me
that I would end up here, I wouldn't have believed you.
- [chuckles] Yeah.
Pretty wild.
- So you leave tomorrow? - Yeah.
If you're ever in Boston, you gotta let me know.
- For sure.
I should get going. - Yeah, okay.
[Michael Andrews' "Mirror"]
♪ ♪
narrator: As Darby left his impossibly nice
Gramercy Park Hotel suite,
she realized that this was never about Luke at all.
He merely represented the possibility
of something better than Magnus.
Darby could've told Magnus everything.
She could've blown it all up and freed herself,
but something stopped her.
Maybe it was self-doubt,
maybe it was fear of the unknown.
[knock at door] - Babe?
♪ ♪
- Um, just a second.
♪ ♪
Hey, I'm just--um--
I'm gonna take a bath.
♪ ♪
- I'm sorry I was a dick to your friend today.
♪ ♪
- Um, thank you.
♪ ♪
- Our next lot today is 114,
an exceptionally important and fine chicken cup.
narrator: After that, Darby lost her appetite
and more or less stopped sleeping.
She was in a purgatory of her own making,
and the longer she sat in it,
the harder it was to find her way out.
- Back to my bidder here,
it's at the desk at 27-- not yours, 28 million.
Gentleman here, 28 million.
29 million, new bidder. Thank you, I'm out.
It's 29 million with you here in the room.
No more bids on the book. It's 29 million.
30 million now, aisle bidder. Thank you, sir.
It's 30 million, 31 million,
back to the lady at 31 million.
32 million, well done, sir.
What shall we do, ma'am? Go to 34 for me?
34 million, thank you at 34.
35 now, on the right, now.
- Darby. - 35 coming in on the phone.
Sir, can I get you to go to 36 million?
36 million is yours.
At 36 million now, it's gentleman seated on the aisle.
Fair warning, last chance.
At 36 million, it's yours, sir.
[gavel cracks] Sold at $36 million, title 23.
- Oh, my God.
[applause]
[phone buzzes]
[knock at door] Hey.
- Hi. - Hey.
I got something for you. It's stupid.
- No, Tim. That's so sweet.
- It's nothing, it's just, like, you know,
something to commemorate, like, your first big sale.
It's a big deal. - That's so nice.
[bittersweet music]
Oh.
♪ ♪
- Oh, my God, you hate it. I--I'm so sorry.
I can-- - No, Tim, um...
- You sure? - This is really great.
Thank you so much. This is so sweet.
I love it, I love it.
- Okay, cool. Uh, well, anyway,
we're all gonna go grab a drink and celebrate.
You have any interest in coming?
- Um, I'm just gonna catch up on some paperwork.
- Aw, boo, come on. - I know, I know, next time.
Um, will you just shut the door on the way out?
- Yeah. - Thank you.
- Mm-hmm.
♪ ♪
- I would've made you something.
- The teacup sold today
for 36 million.
- Wow. Do we get a cut of that?
- No, that's not how it works.
- We should.
- Well, we don't.
- What's wrong? What's going on with you?
- Magnus, I don't think I can do this anymore.
- Do what?
- Us. This.
- What are you talking about?
- Um, I just think...
I need some space.
I think we could both use some space.
- I don't need space.
- Well, I do.
- Oh, my God.
Hey, I know the last couple months have been rough.
Times are gonna get rough, you know?
I want to grow old with you.
We're gonna go through some shit together.
Ups and downs.
I want to be with you when I'm 90.
I know I've been a shitshow lately.
I know.
I'll fix it. I'll get a job.
We can start saving for the farm again.
I want to take you to Spain.
We can have a beautiful life.
Just us against the world.
You can't do this.
You can't just quit when it gets hard.
- It didn't get hard. You made it hard.
- [sniffles]
We're fucking married.
We took vows.
I would die for you.
My dreams are your dreams.
- No, your dreams are not my dreams.
That's what I'm fucking telling you.
- Good luck. - Mm.
- Honestly, good luck finding this.
- [scoffs softly]
- I'm the fucking best you're ever gonna have.
- Okay, Magnus.
Whatever you say.
- I will fucking kill myself. - Don't say that.
- Walk out the door, and I'm gonna kill myself!
My body's gonna be in the kitchen,
you're gonna come back,
and you're gonna have to make phone calls
and explain why Magnus committed suicide.
Jesus! Are you fucking crazy?
You're a fucking crazy bitch!
I'm gonna call the cops on you!
- Fine.
[Blake Mills' "If I'm Unworthy"]
♪ ♪
- ♪ I've found a new meaning ♪
♪ ♪
♪ The oldest words in use ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Now I no longer ask myself ♪
♪ ♪
♪ What have I got to lose ♪
♪ If I'm unworthy of ♪
♪ The power I hold ♪
♪ Over you ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Over you ♪
♪ ♪
♪ If I'm unworthy of ♪
♪ The power I hold ♪
♪ ♪