[indistinct chatter]
- [siren wailing] - [car horns honking]
[footsteps approaching]
♪ suspenseful piano music ♪
♪
[intercom buzzes]
[Gay Talese] Yes?
Mr. Talese? It's Gia Lombardi.
[intercom buzzes]
I'm in the vermillion parlour.
Take your shoes off and close the door.
You're letting all the AC out, for fuck's sake.
[clears throat]
[Talese] Your editor said you were hanging by a thread.
Come on in.
Let me see that desperation up close.
♪
Hi.
[weak chuckle]
[Talese] This is the kind of gift you give when you earn out,
- not before you start. - [Gia laughs]
[Talese] Have a seat.
Female writers generally don't do
the same sort of work I do.
So I found myself quite perplexed
with this request.
But then, of course,
I figured out how I could help you.
Great, I'm in...
The only thing I could have done
additionally to fortify Thy Neighbour's Wife
would have been to fuck the men, too.
- Uh-huh. [chuckles] - I could have.
But I didn't want to.
Oh.
So, uh, you're not participating in the research?
Mm. Mm-mmm.
Not really. I'm, I mean, I'm a journalist.
And I'm not?
Uh... [chuckles softly]
"Uh," what? You keep using this word.
What, are you afraid what your parents will think?
No. No, my parents are dead.
So, write about it.
Real writers don't give a fuck about
anything but the work.
The work supersedes all.
Are you working hard enough?
I...
My publisher just threw 200,000 words into the trash,
so I think I am. [chuckles]
Horseshit. Call me when you're the one
throwing 200,000 words into the trash.
How young were you when they died?
Early 20s.
Oh, you were an adult.
I was expecting you to say something tragic, like nine.
So, you have grief, you have trauma. That's good.
I can't write about my parents. It has to be about sex.
And specifically... sex in America.
Exactly, and that's why we're here.
[clears throat]
So, I'll tell you what you're going to do.
You're gonna go out there and fuck married men.
You'll keep a log.
Why did they cheat? At what point did they cheat?
Does it matter if their wives are ugly or old
or they just refuse to fuck?
Where have you been in America?
Um, San Francisco,
- Los Angeles... - Please. New York?
The west coast? That's not America.
You need to get out of the city.
You need to get out in the country and meet people.
Real people. Not New Yorkers.
You need to fuck people. A lot of people.
Married people. Married people hold the key to sex in America.
[clicks tongue] Yes.
Yeah.
♪ "Iko Iko" by The Belle Stars ♪
[laughs]
Can you believe that actually happened?
My idol told me to fuck married men.
[laughs]
Well, I managed to finish the book
without fucking anyone married.
But as wrong as Gay was about who holds the key
to sex in America, he was right about one thing.
That I was looking in the wrong places.
♪ Iko iko an nay... ♪
So I started thinking about my dead parents.
♪ Jockomo feena nay... ♪
My dad being flung from his Chevy at 65 miles an hour.
My mother being sucked dry from cancer.
And like anyone who's alone because of cars and cancer
and doesn't know what they're doing,
I drove across the country and back.
And then back again.
And in driving I found
what I didn't know I was looking for.
♪ Jockomo feena... ♪
Lina, a housewife in rural Indiana
whose husband no longer wanted to kiss her on the mouth.
He refused, in fact,
to touch her at all.
Sloane, the most beautiful woman
I'd ever seen up close,
who lived on an island and had a secret
it would take me many months to learn.
And Maggie,
a girl whose first real experience of love
was with her married English teacher.
♪ Jockomo feena nay... ♪
So, it was simple for me to answer the question
when people wanted to know why.
Why this person and not that one?
Why her and not me?
Why these three women?
Because these three were unheard in all the lonely ways.
And more than I wanted to tell their stories,
I wanted to hear them myself.
Because unlike so many others I spoke to
over the course of eight years,
Lina, Sloane and Maggie
were not people who wanted to be watched.
They were women who needed to be seen.
♪
♪ See that guy all dressed in green ♪
♪ Iko iko an nay ♪
♪ He's not a man, he's a loving machine ♪
♪ Jockomo feena nay ♪
- ♪ Talkin' bout hey now ♪ - ♪ Hey now ♪
- ♪ Hey, now ♪ - ♪ Hey, now ♪
♪ Iko iko an nay ♪
♪ Jockomo feena ah na nay ♪
♪ Jockomo feena nay ♪
♪
[man] Come on!
[Gia] Some parts of the country
still don't want to see women at all.
Which is why Lina became so important to me.
Her outsized desire
and how she had to hide it away from the rest of the world.
Which was hard for her, because Lina
still moves like a teenager.
Nervous, guarded,
excitable.
She spends hours crafting each movement
in approaching her own husband.
All Lina has ever wanted is
to be fully in love and forever partnered.
Like a penguin.
[grunts]
♪ gentle music ♪
♪
Lina, enough.
Mm.
[smacks lips] Oh, Leen.
You can't be a little gentler?
[water running]
♪ lighthearted music ♪
♪
[Gia] There are two kinds of 15-year-old girls.
And Lina always knew she belonged to the type that did
more sticker collecting than French kissing.
But kissing a boy,
someone who wanted to kiss her back,
was the only thing she ever wanted.
And it's still the thing she wants most
in the whole world.
♪ hypnotic music ♪
♪
[knocking]
- [Ed] Leen! - [children clamouring]
[knocking]
[Ed] Leen, kids are up.
[children clamouring]
[Hines] There are duties.
The things that we must fulfil as husband and wife.
Lina, you want Ed to kiss you.
Uh, to be more affectionate, as such.
Exactly, and I just don't think that that's too much to ask.
You know, we talk about, things that are
you know, annoying about marriage.
- There's also plenty that's-- - Now just hang on a moment,
darling. Ed, I understand
this is difficult for you.
I just don't like the way it feels.
How is that?
I don't know. Um...
something. I j-- I...
Something. I don't know.
Well, I don't like the feeling of wet wool.
Feels yucky. Gives me the heebie jeebies.
[Ed chuckles]
Yeah, like that, yeah.
And so, likewise, Lina doesn't like your itchy Colts blanket.
Apparently not.
[Hines] Now, can you commit to...
fold it up, save it for game day?
Yeah.
[Hines] See now, Lina?
The yucky way you feel
when you rub up against that itchy old Colts blanket,
you need to understand that kissing you on the mouth
makes Ed feel just like that.
Now, he's willing to let go of the blanket for you, see?
You need to let go of the kissing.
For him.
Right.
[indistinct chatter]
Did you know that some people just buy stuff?
They don't have to look at their accounts
or plan every single thing.
Easter!
Oh, look, the Easter Bunny.
It's not for six freakin' months.
This is from last year.
Mm-hmm.
Just buy it when they need it, some people, or want something.
Their husbands don't yell at them for it.
[indistinct P.A. announcement]
♪ gentle music ♪
♪
Fetch me that pitcher.
As you wish.
♪
[Gia] Lina once asked me,
"Do you know how some men,
they're men even when they're boys?
Like, they're men.
They hold doors open and they don't hurt you.
And they smell so good.
Their hair and their eyes.
And they look at you like you're beautiful."
And Aidan--
oh, he had this special nickname for her
that just lit her whole world up.
Hey, kid.
Hey, yourself.
♪
[breathing shakily]
[inhales, exhales slowly]
[man] Can I help you, ma'am?
Ma'am?
Hmm, what? What? No.
No thank you. [laughing]
[Diana] Lina Parrish.
Hi. Oh, my goodness!
Di! How the heck are you?
Well, four fucking kids.
- Wow. - What the heck with the gloves?
- It's not that cold out here. - Well, I got pain in my joints
and the docs can't say what's causing it. Well, that's--
One of them said that it might all be in my head.
So, maybe it is. [laughs]
Anyway, it hurts less when I keep them warm.
You got to go see Doc Henry.
White Rabbit Body Works.
Down on Hendricks.
Doc Henry is a gosh dang miracle worker.
Does he take insurance?
Oh, he'll work with you if things are tight.
Tell him I sent you.
He'll give me some coupon. [laughs]
The only...
- weird thing is... - Yeah?
He's Indian.
Like, from India.
- Yeah? [laughs] - Yeah. No.
Not saying it's a big deal, just...
never had an Indian touching my body.
- Takes some getting used to. - Right.
[baby fussing]
I better go before he gets to the end of that bag.
All right, sweetheart.
- Bye. - Bye.
♪ mysterious music ♪
♪
[indistinct chatter]
Hello?
♪
[Henry] All right, sweetheart.
[Lina] So, there's two waves that I deal with, which is,
like, sort of, uh, a pulsing hum, and then there's a surge
that feels kind of like a cat scratching from the inside.
I do have to say, in the last couple days, um,
it's sort of been...
So, it's actually happening, uh...
this is an example of the, um...
Ooh, boy, it's, uh, it's totally--
- this is, this is what hap-- - Okay, okay.
- Come here, it's okay. - Okay.
[Gia laughs] It's so funny, this--
[both chuckle]
Mm-hmm.
Tell me where the pain is.
Well, it's, um...
So, it's down below. [chuckles]
Uh, plus my, uh...
joints just hurt so bad all the time.
Mm.
There you go.
- Okay. - Okay.
You got
"endo-me-tri-osis."
You got
"fi-bro-my-algia."
Now, most doctors around here tell you
that disease don't exist, but I'm educated in Chicago,
see, and it's real, Linda.
- It's-- - And a good number of diseases,
they derive some...
from the brain.
From decades
of heartache.
Life is hard, darling.
Hits some of us harder than others.
- Does that sound right? - Yeah.
Okay.
So, tell me--
you on birth control?
Am I on birth control? Uh, no.
- Okay. - [laughs]
So, we're gonna do a regular exam.
And by the way, I do warm my speculum.
Most docs won't do that.
But we're gonna do the regular.
I'm gonna give you Loestrin.
- Um... - I'm gonna give you Voltaren.
Sounds like Superman's bad guys, I know,
only they are not bad guys,
they are good guys.
My girl outside--
she's gonna give you some breathing exercises.
- You're gonna do those at home. - [chuckles]
See how all that goes, you come back here in two weeks.
How's that sound?
It's good, good.
Um... yeah.
Just the, uh, the... just the birth control.
Won't that make me gain weight?
Tell you what, sweetheart.
Why don't we get this all under control,
reduce the inflammation,
then we can start thinking about beach bodies
and drinking piña coladas in the rain.
[laughs] Yeah.
[Gia] Back in New York, people ask,
"What is it about this housewife in Indiana?"
I tried to explain it.
I had never met anyone so connected
to their desire.
But for someone
who wanted to be loved so badly,
there was no worse body to be in than hers.
Not because it wasn't lovely,
but because it was always in pain.
And it seemed nobody in the world
wanted to go near it. Her husband
had not touched her in 45 days.
She kept a calendar and marked the days
with a fat, red marker.
[Henry] Straighten your legs out, relax a little bit for me.
- [Lina] Okay. - Okay.
Now, I want you to show me,
while I add pressure to your diaphragm,
the ones you've been doing.
[droning hum]
- Like that? - Are you asking me?
Uh, no, I was doing them like that. Is that okay?
There's no wrong way to do it. It's a practice, just like
anything else we put our time into, okay?
- Okay. - You know why they
call a doctor's office a practice?
I've never really thought about it.
'Cause we're supposed to be getting better at this
- every day. - Aw.
- [laughs] - How am I doing?
- Good, I guess. - Good.
- All right, you can sit up. - Okay.
I'm just...
I'm sorry, Lori.
- Mm-hmm. - I'm sorry.
I just can't imagine a man in the world
who wouldn't want to kiss you.
I can't.
[quietly] Thank you.
- Oh. - [crying]
- Oh, sweetheart. - I just-- Yeah.
Hey.
I'm sorry, he just makes me...
he just makes me feel really ugly.
Here, there you go.
All right.
[sniffling]
You know, with women,
there comes a day
when you realise you're never gonna be a model.
When was that day for you, Lina?
- I was 14. - Mm.
[heartbeat thumping]
Tell me, sweetheart.
What do you want?
What do I...?
I mean, I want, what?
I want...
I want to drive down a dirt road
in an ATV? [chuckles]
- Mm-hmm. - But, like, with a...
...man.
Like, the wind's blowing in my hair.
And my arms are wrapped around his waist.
And I just want to be with someone
who makes me feel...
hot!
As you should, darling.
[short laugh]
All right.
Now that we got the pain under control,
I'm gonna tell you about my program.
[quiet laugh]
Now...
it's for weight loss, sure.
But...
it's a whole lot more than that.
- [sniffles] - It's an overhaul
of the mind, body and soul.
Exercise, hormones, therapy, the lot.
And you get one hour with me bimonthly.
That's twice in a month.
Now I'm not gonna sit here and tell you
it's gonna change your life, but, sweetheart,
this is gonna change your fucking life.
And I swear to Jesus, darling,
feeling good... here...
...and here...
...and there...
mmm... heals pain better than medicine in some cases.
You can trust me on that.
And as such what I know,
in my soul, is there ain't nothing
in this whole world that heals
some of those ills
like a good...
goddamn...
orgasm.
[phone ringing]
♪ "Human Touch" by Bruce Springsteen ♪
[picks up phone]
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, you can send her in.
- All right. - [chuckles]
♪ You and me ♪
- ♪ We were the pretenders ♪ - Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I'll tell her. All right.
- ♪ We let it all slip away ♪ - Hey.
Everything's gonna be okay, Linda.
- All right. - ♪ In the end ♪
♪ What you don't surrender ♪
- Gia! - ♪ Well, the world ♪
- ♪ Just strips away ♪ - You out there, baby?
♪ Girl, ain't no kindness in the face of strangers ♪
Come in here, baby girl.
♪ Ain't gonna find no miracles here ♪
♪ Well, you can wait on your blessings, my darlin' ♪
♪ I got a deal for you right here ♪
♪ I ain't looking for praise or pity ♪
♪ I ain't comin' round searching for a crutch ♪
♪ I just want someone to talk to ♪
♪ And a little of that human touch ♪
♪ Just a little of that human touch ♪
♪
♪ Yeah ♪
[vocalising]
[song fades out]
[Gia] Sloane's problem
was that her light was too bright,
so she'd learned how to turn it down
and how to come off as a hard and pretty shell.
Because when your light is too bright,
people fucking hate you.
They also love to talk about you.
And they all said to me,
"Oh, you have to meet Sloane.
She's unbelievably gorgeous."
She and her husband are enviously successful.
And she's his ultimate fantasy.
- But it's not all perfect. - [breathing steadily]
There's a secret not too many people knew,
but those who did brought it around like a jewel.
The secret was that she and her husband
brought other people into the bedroom.
Other women hated her because of it,
like she was there to remind their husbands
that some wives still liked to fuck.
- [shoe unclips] - [pedal turning]
[pants]
- Shit. Fuck. - [instructor whooping]
[Gia] People thought it was her husband's desire
she was feeding,
but it was really Sloane's.
Her mother had embraced her a number of times
she could count on her hands.
So who was anyone to judge her
if she experienced tenderness and love
with another man? Or woman?
That she felt warmth, even,
watching her husband inside of someone else.
They had rules that they did not break.
But there were other rules.
Unspoken ones.
She knew, for example,
that the other men could not be
in any way better than him.
♪ light, contemplative music ♪
♪
[Richard] Sophie.
Been three days in a row.
I got three horses three days in a row.
Where's my cat?
Guess what I'm drawing today.
What are you drawing today?
[Sophie] Just a plain white horse.
[Richard] [chuckles] Okay.
I didn't think you were serious when you said you hated pools.
I mean, who hates pools?
- Chipmunk. - Uh, fucking Lestat hates pools.
Marquis de Sade.
In the pool, I feel like I'm swimming in my own spit.
And I just saw you using our $75,000 spittoon
to clean seaweed.
You just keep dicing
those Persian cucumbers and mind your business.
[Richard] Mm-hmm.
Sophie, I'll be right back, baby.
Okay?
Drink your juice.
[water running]
♪ slow, sexy music ♪
♪
[Richard grunts softly]
[bottles clattering]
[panting]
[Gia] One moment, Sloane believed
she deserves the world.
Her beautiful husband who wants her more
than any husband has ever wanted his wife.
One moment, the only person Sloane aspires to be
is her best self.
- [moaning, panting] - And the very next,
she believes she should eat shit and die alone.
[moaning softly]
- [grunting] - [panting]
[indistinct chatter]
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. All right.
Like to do it just a little higher.
Okay?
Go easy with it.
Yeah, yeah, perfect.
- Oysters are up, chef. - All right, thanks, Jay.
Equal amounts of roe on each, please, Lydia.
Like, exactly?
People crave parity.
Okay.
Even in their devilled eggs.
An amuse-bouche of socialism goes a long way...
[reggae playing on stereo]
♪
- [drilling sounds] - [soft chatter]
Hey, you.
The oysters. Not great.
How not great?
Try.
[slurps]
- Mm-hmm. - Lisette.
Please tell Brandon to take down the raw bar now.
But i-it's already set up.
Fuck.
- Okay. Luke, right? - Yeah.
I need you to grab her champagne.
It's all right. We just need a new oyster man.
[Sloane] Or woman.
[chuckles]
We are gonna get the best oysters
on the fucking coast.
Ooh, baby.
- [giggles] - [chuckles] Okay.
[Luke] Here you go.
[Richard] My man.
Thank you.
What a weird fetish you have for hot young guys.
You ever think maybe it's just waiters?
- I'm gonna get to work. - [chuckles]
♪ "Cosita Buena" by Gitanos Del Barrio ♪
♪
[indistinct chatter]
What do you think? Guy on the right.
[Sloane] Not boring?
[Richard] I thought that's what you liked about white dudes.
[Gia] Sometimes Sloane finds the exact right person.
Someone who excites her
and is fine by her husband.
♪
Sometimes it satisfies her.
But sometimes she forgets what she likes about other people.
What she wants in them
is the very same thing her husband craves about her.
The danger
and the cruelty.
[singing in Spanish]
I'm sorry, would you serve the gentleman first?
Uh, yeah.
This looks delicious.
But I am going to have a Glenlivet, please.
- Okay. - Neat.
Is it a neat night?
[pouring drink]
♪
[crickets chirping]
[man] Got a nice pool.
That'll boost your Zestimate.
- [Sloane chuckles] - [Richard] Yeah, right?
Alexa,
play "Sloane's Saturday Night."
[Alexa] Playing "Sloane's Saturday Night" playlist.
♪ Ooh ♪
Oh, fuck, yeah.
[chuckles]
Have a seat.
Okay.
- ♪ Ooh ♪ - ♪ Ooh... ♪
Fuck yeah.
♪ Ooh, ooh ♪
Sloane only listens to music written, composed
or performed by Black women.
[Sloane] It's just that...
...we do it so much better.
[chuckles]
Do what?
♪ When they come around ♪
♪ They just two-faced ♪
♪ Better check your attitude ♪
♪ You need to stay away ♪
- ♪ From me ♪ - [exhales]
♪ Show me some gratitude ♪
♪ You saw me and it's plain to ♪
Everything.
♪ See ♪
Fuck. [chuckles]
♪ Why you do me like that? ♪
♪ Why? ♪
♪ Show me love, then you take it back ♪
- ♪ Why? ♪ - ♪ Why you do me like that? ♪
♪ Why? ♪
♪ Show me love, then you take it back ♪
- [panting] - ♪ Ooh ♪
♪ Ungrateful one ♪
Sit on my face.
[Richard] No, no, no, no, no, no.
- ♪ Ooh ♪ - ♪ Better watch how... ♪
She prefers it...
♪ 'Cause you gone too far ♪
...lying back.
♪ Some, some people ain't gonna roll with you ♪
♪ But they want to reap the benefits ♪
♪ Be the first one you see when things are looking good ♪
♪ There they go, saying, "I'm your best friend" ♪
- [breathing heavily] - ♪ Better check your attitude ♪
♪ You need to stay away from me ♪
♪ Oh, yes, you do ♪
♪ Show me some gratitude ♪
♪ But you keep on acting so shady ♪
♪ Tell me ♪
- ♪ Why you do me like that? ♪ - [man] Oh, fuck.
- ♪ Oh ♪ - [exhales]
♪ Show me love, then you take it back ♪
♪ Oh, you're so mean ♪
♪ Why you do me like that? ♪
Whoa, slow down there, partner.
♪ Show me love, then you take it back ♪
♪ Won't you tell me now ♪
♪ Why you do me like that? ♪
♪ What have I done to you? ♪
♪ Show me love, then you take it back ♪
♪ Oh, you take it back ♪
- ♪ Why you do me like that? ♪ - [gasps]
♪ Show me love, then you take it back ♪
Shit. [moaning]
♪ You know who you are ♪
♪ Better watch how you handle me ♪
♪ 'Cause you've gone too far ♪
[moaning sharply]
♪ Why you do me like that? ♪
♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪
[groaning]
Babe. Babe!
Ah! [groans]
- [Richard] Here we go. - [Sloane cries out]
[retching]
[man] Oh, God, you are going to fucking hell, man.
Fucking oyster!
Oh, I'm coming.
[man cries out]
♪ You take it back, why you do me like that? ♪
- [thunder rumbling] - [seagulls squawking]
[indistinct chatter]
Hey.
Sloane Ford.
We almost took out a party of farm-to-table influencers
with spoiled virginicas,
so I am looking for a saviour here.
[thunder rumbling]
Influencers.
You mean assholes?
[chuckles]
You're nasty.
Actually, the name's Will.
Nice to meet you, Will.
It's a fresh one.
♪ dramatic music ♪
♪
[Gia] This, for example,
was not the kind of man you brought home to your husband.
[Will] Okay.
Thank you.
Wait.
How do you like it?
I'll take a million.
As you wish.
All right. [chuckles]
Uh, I'm gonna go grow a million oysters.
And I am gonna go and order aforementioned oysters.
♪ bright, energetic music ♪
♪
[woman vocalising]
[indistinct chatter]
- ♪ - [dialogue inaudible]
- Bus that glass, please. - [bartender] Yes, ma'am.
There's a lipstick stain. You don't see that?
It's there.
[indistinct chatter]
She's tasty.
Huh? Huh? Huh?
Sloane, it is magical.
Thank you, Helly.
Ooh. Yes, dress. You look beautiful.
Tell the fucking check-splitter that.
What's his name again?
Barry the check-splitter.
[laughs] Where is he?
Oh, thank you.
He probably found out it's an open bar.
- Mm. Cheers. - Thank you.
Sit with me and have a drink, girl.
I am working, and I shouldn't be
talking to the guests.
Oh, shut up, you're richer than the guests.
- Shh. - Come on.
[Helly] Mmm, the raw bar is open.
Forget Barry, I want to shuck that.
All right, okay, shoo.
Go away, I'm working. I'm serious.
You're a terrible influence.
- [scoffs] - Terrible.
[both laugh]
Can you take this back and have it re-plated, please?
- Mm-hmm. - Thank you.
Hey.
What's up?
[indistinct chatter]
What do you think?
- [Will] You're welcome. - [woman laughs]
Traditionally, this is how we do it.
Babe, I'm in the middle of my day.
[Jive Ass Sleepers' "What's Left of Me" playing faintly]
♪ 'Cause, boy, you got the best of me... ♪
[adding machine whirs]
[knock on door]
Hey.
Oh, uh, hi.
So, I knocked at the other door, but no one answered.
- Makes sense. - [door shuts]
Thought you were, um, stopping by tomorrow.
Oh, yeah, I, uh...
It's my fault, I just got off the boat from Chappy,
and you were right down the street, so...
I wasn't even thinking, though.
I can come back later.
That would make me an asshole.
- An influencer, you mean. - Exactly.
Let me get you a check.
That's a nice pool.
I don't really like pools.
Especially when the ocean's so close.
Yeah, I hear you, but you can enjoy both.
I have it here, I just...
It's all right. You know, you take your time.
It's not like I need to be out there making money
or have other shit to do today.
Here.
Thanks.
This is too much.
Everybody at the party couldn't stop talking
about your oysters, so...
All right, then.
Well, you have my number,
if we want to work together again.
Is that not of interest?
[quietly] Yeah.
Well, yeah. But, you know,
there's more to life than work.
[chuckles] Is there, though?
When is the last time you went into that perfect pool?
[Sloane] Hmm.
I'll see you later.
I'd be in that pool every night if I were you.
[door shuts]
♪ contemplative music ♪
♪
[Gia] It's really easy to hate a beautiful woman with money
and a pretty family.
I saw the way people looked at her,
like they wanted to fuck her or kill her or eat her.
The judgment of others can drive an innocent person
to the brink.
Maggie, who is also beautiful,
at least did not come from a place of money.
She didn't have a way to defend herself.
But what she did have was the audacity.
What they all had was the audacity to believe
that they deserved more.
♪ "Sally MacLennane" by The Pogues ♪
♪ Well, Jimmy played harmonica ♪
♪ In the pub where I was born ♪
♪ He played it from the nighttime ♪
♪ To the peaceful early morn ♪
♪ He soothed the souls of psychos ♪
♪ And the men who had the horn ♪
♪ And they all looked very happy in the morning ♪
♪ We walked him to the station in the rain ♪
♪ We kissed him as we put him on the train ♪
♪ And we sang him a song of times long gone ♪
♪ Though we knew that we'd be seeing him again ♪
[woman laughs]
Mag...
I want to go home. I need to go home.
These discos are the shit.
Only dicks get the disco fries.
[chuckles] Hey, I got another one.
Yeah?
Uh, Brad Pitt on the beach,
or Leo on a boat?
Brad is, like, my dad's age.
So?
- So, I guess Brad. - Why?
'Cause he played a vampire?
[laughs]
[Gia] Like any young girl with a crush on an older man,
she wanted to be seen.
To be picked out of a crowd like the glowing thing she was.
She didn't exactly know what that meant six years ago.
She didn't know if she wanted sex
or no sex, or to undress in her room
while he watched from the sidewalk.
- [indistinct chatter] - [laughter]
She was 16 then.
Look at her now at 23 on this day
that will upend her life and many others' forever.
[manager] Mags, table 66.
- Take their order, please. - No.
[laughs weakly]
- When you get done, please. - Yeah, sure.
Will you come back because
I need your help with the Micros again.
Mm-hmm.
[indistinct chatter]
[laughter]
You guys ready?
Hey, Mags.
Hey.
We went to high school together.
- Hi. - Hey.
What are you gonna get?
[girl 2] Oh, I feel so fat.
- [girl 1] Shut up. - [girl 3] Can we get an order
of, uh, cheese fries? Uh, disco.
Sure. Disco. Yeah, sure.
I'm hungover. Fuck yourselves.
[girl 1] Can we drop that for, like, ten minutes?
In-in life, ever?
[girl 2] Yeah, just like you last night.
- Shut up. - [laughs]
[girl 1] Okay.
- I'll have a Greek salad. - Sure.
Doesn't Greek mean butt sex?
[laughter]
No.
[girl 2] She'll have the Greek.
[girl 3] She'll have the Greek tossed salad.
[girl 1] Leave me alone.
[girls continue laughing]
[woman] Hey, puppy.
Mags.
[woman speaking indistinctly on TV]
[Arlene] Remember when we used to think
rich people had better lives?
[laughs]
What's going on?
- Hey, stop. - What?
Go back out there and do it again.
- No. - Maggie...
- Mom. - Mags.
Go out there and do it again.
Fine, fine.
[door opens, shuts]
Don't keep me waiting.
Put 'em up.
Put 'em up!
No, higher. Higher.
Oh, there she is.
Oh, yeah, that's it. That's the girl.
She's got him against the ropes.
She's going for the one-two-one.
Let's see the jab. Let's see it.
Oh, he goes down! The crowd cheers.
[screaming]
Yeah!
[à la Mickey from Rocky] You'll be able to spit nails, kid.
You're gonna eat lightning and you're gonna crap thunder.
You're gonna become a very dangerous person.
- [all laughing] - That's my girl.
After the break, in chillier local news,
North Dakota's latest Teacher of the Year...
Look, isn't that... Wasn't he your teacher?
Homeroom, right?
English.
[panting]
♪ gentle, plaintive music ♪
♪
[Gia] I was in a diner in Medora, North Dakota,
when I read about this young girl
who had spent hours on the phone
with her teacher after midnight.
My mother once told me
nothing good happens after midnight.
I couldn't believe it,
that an entire jury thought she was lying
about something going on.
Talking on their phones for four hours,
and nothing is going on.
A married father and his high school student.
And I could also tell that the teacher himself,
he'd been in love.
Perverse or not, there was something deep
to this story,
and I would never be able to get her name
out of my head.
♪
Teacher of the freaking year?!
The freaking governor was there.
Yeah, well, he's a cunt, too. Who cares?
You know, it's been five years, Mags.
Time to move on, yeah?
[woman] Fuck you, Billie!
[Billie laughs]
Fuck you!
["Gospel Plow" by Dr. Steven Trip & Laura Pergolizzi playing]
♪ Mary, Mark, Luke and John ♪
♪ All the prophets so good and gone... ♪
You want me to move on, then?
Yeah.
♪ Keep your hands on that plow ♪
♪ Hold on ♪
[indistinct chatter]
[Maggie laughs]
Dude, I did not mean, like, another dirtbag.
I meant dating somebody you actually like.
- Mags! - [Maggie chuckles]
God, you look nice.
Thanks.
I heard you left school.
Mm.
You at Buffalo Wild Wings or...
Perkins.
Perkins?! Mm.
So your sister got married?
- Oh, yeah. The old dude. - Yeah.
[laughs] A tale as old as time.
Trying to piss off her preacher daddy.
It's whatever, though. The guy's got money.
Bought her a nice apartment in the Cities.
Got a walk-in closet.
So now I got her room above the garage.
You want to see?
Mm-hmm.
[water running]
[sighs]
[children chattering playfully]
I tell you I've been practicing for the step test?
Your mom and I started doing all the stairs at the ice arena.
Gonna do 'em every single morning until I retest.
Get my job back.
Isn't it cold in the arena?
Not when you're working up a sweat.
[laughs]
I remember watching you in that arena.
You were, you were, what, eight, nine?
You were so good.
That pirouette in the air and whatnot?
- Lutz. - You were fantastic.
Coach Linda used to call you what?
- Your toe loop was like... - [both] A hummingbird.
Didn't even make sense. She was nuts, Dad.
Made sense to me.
All she meant was that you were beautiful in the air.
Why'd you stop taking lessons again?
[crickets chirping]
♪ somber music ♪
♪
[Gia] The worst thing is when you get frozen in place,
and that last person, when it seems like
there could never in the world
be a better person than them.
[indistinct chatter]
♪
Oh, no, shit.
Oh, shit. Shit.
Fuck me. Fuck me, fuck me, fuck.
Fuck me, fuck me, fuck, fuck.
[panting]
[indistinct chatter]
[laughter]
- All right, ladies. - No, give me a beer.
Ooh.
- My God, it's bright. - We need some service.
- Hey, Jackson. - Jackson!
[speaks indistinctly]
- Jordo. - [whoops]
[Dropkick Murphys' "Wild Rover" playing]
[Billie chuckles]
[laughs]
[Maggie] What's the matter, Jordo?
You think it's stupid?
I'm just trying to get a fresh start here.
No, I like the tattoo.
I mean, it's silly as fuck, but whatever.
- What then? - Jordan, you're being
a real sassy twat, then.
What does that mean?
- [needle buzzing] - [Jordan] Nothing.
What?
It's supposed to be a happy thing. Don't do this now.
[Maggie] What? What?
What the, what the fuck are you guys talking about?
Nothing.
We were just talking bullshit.
- But... - But what?
- [Jordan] Mags. - What?
If something happened with you and him,
I don't know, maybe it could happen again
with another girl.
♪ Well, it's no, nay, never ♪
♪ No, nay, never no more will I play... ♪
What?
What do you want me to do?
It's... say I'm a freaking idiot?
[Billie] No! She doesn't mean it.
No, I mean, I think you should probably do something about it.
What, then? Tell me.
- What? - I-I don't know.
Something.
♪ I go home to me parents ♪
♪ Confess what I've done ♪
- [needle buzzing] - ♪ And I asked them to pardon ♪
♪ Their prodigal son ♪
♪ And when they've caressed me ♪
♪ As ofttimes before ♪
♪ Well, I never will play the wild rover no more ♪
♪ Well, it's no, nay, never, no, nay, never no ♪
♪ "Don't Cry For Me, Babe" by Marti Shannon ♪
♪
♪ We had been friends for a long, long time ♪
[sighs]
♪ When you decided ♪
♪ You loved me ♪
♪ You had just lost another ♪
♪ You did not need another ♪
♪ But I told you to lean on ♪
♪ Me ♪
♪ Don't cry for me, babe, when I'm ♪
♪ Gone ♪
♪ Don't cry for me... ♪
[Maggie] "Dear Aaron,
I have questions I want answered."
- [buzzing] - Ooh!
[chuckles]
♪ It is not me you need ♪
♪ Don't cry for me, babe ♪
- [gasps] - ♪ When I'm ♪
♪ Gone ♪
[gasping]
"I've grown up and gained
a new perspective on what happened."
♪ We shared our days and your smile returned ♪
[moaning]
♪ I saw your pain begin to ease ♪
"Call me when you get a chance."
♪ And then you walked away ♪
♪ You turned your back on me ♪
[crying out]
[horn honks]
♪ It is not me you wanted ♪
♪ It is not me you need ♪
♪ Don't cry for me, babe, when I'm ♪
♪ Gone... ♪
[typing]
"It would be in your best interest to prove me wrong."
- [taps key] - [computer chimes]
- [grunts] - [bottles clatter]
[dogs barking]
♪ pensive music ♪
♪
♪ energetic music ♪
♪