[♪ The Coasts: "Handshakers"]
♪ Everybody thinks what they're doing is right ♪
♪ All their good intentions end up winning the fight ♪
♪ Cast away formalities...
[Ewatomi clears throat]
♪ ♪
So how's your day been?
♪ That you might make me choke...
Jack, we're having coffee together,
and you're ignoring me.
I told you, I'm bidding on damaged Best Buy equipment.
If I can keep my cost under $500,
I could up my profit to 12%,
but ncchik82 keeps outbidding me.
Can't you do it later?
That's idiotic. No, I can't.
I'm in a bidding war. I told you.
It's highly time sensitive.
My father told me that he's stopping
his chemotherapy, which is gonna have
a catastrophic effect on his health,
so it's more important now than ever
that I'm in a stable financial position.
I'm so sorry, Jack.
I didn't know that your father...
It's not something I want
to talk about.
[computer chimes]
Jack, listen...
No, no, no.
♪ ♪
I like you.
I do.
And I get that you're on the spectrum,
but I just need to know... [speech fading]
that you're going to make an effort
to try and connect with me sometimes.
[pensive music]
Jack? Jack.
♪ ♪
Trust exercises are all about...
you guessed it...trust.
Trusting your partner,
and, most importantly, trusting yourself.
I would have asked to change partners,
but I lost my job and my boyfriend,
and I don't have the energy.
I work at a bookstore.
Okay. I don't care.
I meant that they're hiring new employees
because Diana quit and Paul got caught with marijuana.
I could get you a job interview if you wanted me to.
Okay.
But it doesn't mean I'll go on a date with you.
Okay.
[gentle music]
♪ ♪
Mm.
♪ ♪
[Mandy, muffled] Harrison?
You've barely said anything all day.
This is so not like you.
♪ ♪
[knock at front door]
- Hey. - Hi.
Hope it's okay that I...
Oh yeah, no, I'm actually so glad you came over.
So, about the other night...
- Yeah. - Obviously, it was a mistake.
Right.
I mean, we got caught up in the...
the emotions of the moment.
But I work with your sister, and obviously, we can't.
No, definitely...no.
- Okay. - Okay.
So glad we, uh,...
- Talked it through? Yeah. - Yeah.
- Anyways... - Yeah.
Uh, hey, can I... can I come in?
- Yeah. - I'll just...yeah.
Come on in.
Uh, I actually wanted to... to talk to you about Violet.
Oh, so you came here to talk about Violet.
Oh, no, no. I mean, the kiss too.
- Right. - Uh, I'm...
I'm thinking of getting her the interview
for the Grayson Center.
Oh. Wow.
Yeah. You...you heard of it?
Yeah. I mean, it's
a full-time residential program.
- Yeah. - So she'd be living there.
- Yeah. - And you visited?
Twice.
Wow.
Is this because of Julian?
[Van] Um...
No, it's...
There's a million Julians out there, okay?
And...I can't fight off every Julian,
but I can protect Violet.
I...I get it.
I mean, you know, you're her brother;
you want to protect her; you love her.
And I see that you hate to see her vulnerable.
But I mean, Van,
you can't, like, keep her in a box forever.
And as scary as the thing that happened with Julian was, I...
I feel like Violet
needs to learn how to handle herself in the world.
You know, I believe she can do that.
I know she can do that.
Maybe if she was your sister, you'd think differently.
Yes, right. Of course.
Anyway, I'm gonna have to talk to her,
and it's gonna be a shit conversation,
but after I do, she's... she's gonna come to you
'cause, you know, she respects you.
So I'm just...I'm hoping that you can back me up.
[softly] Okay?
It's just an interview.
Yeah. Sure.
I appreciate it.
Of course.
A.J.? It's Harrison.
A.J., are you there? A.J.?
[A.J.] What is it? My mom's here.
She'll kill me if she sees me talking to you.
I gotta get out of here. Mandy betrayed me.
[A.J.] Now that blows. How?
She told me she loved me,
and then she turned around and kissed Van.
Women are brutal. Anyway, where are you gonna go?
[Harrison] To my house.
I'm going to talk to my sister
about moving to San Diego with her
when she goes to college.
[A.J.] Awesome. I can come visit you
and we can both go to Legoland together.
Awesome. But I need to figure out
how to get to my house first so I could talk to her.
You can take the bus.
Will you walkie with me on the way?
[A.J.] Roger that.
[Mandy] You're gonna do great, Vi.
They're gonna love you.
Do you want to go over the Arby's answer again?
Are you comfortable with it?
It was just a misunderstanding.
I regret that it happened,
and I'm sure it won't happen again.
That was so great. Perfect.
Julian is the meanest person ever, Mandy.
I know. God, I know. [laughs]
But remember what we said.
You know, we're gonna be more careful with our texting.
Remember, we gotta, you know, own our part in things.
Right?
Yeah.
But we can still hate Julian, right?
We can fucking loathe him.
Now go in and get this job.
I know you can do it.
I know that if they see how great you are,
they gotta give you a chance.
[light pizzicato music]
♪ ♪
A.J.?
♪ ♪
You ready?
♪ ♪
I can see you from my window.
♪ ♪
[leaf blower roars]
[car horn blares]
How's it going down there?
Not so good.
You got this, man. Just keep moving.
♪ ♪
[chiming noise]
[motorcycle revving]
[fire truck siren wailing, horn blares]
You good, man?
I'm fine.
[car horn honks]
♪ ♪
Okay, I'm at the crosswalk.
[A.J.] Good. One step at a time.
♪ ♪
[tires screeching]
[car horn blares]
[driver] Watch it!
I can see it, A.J. Made it.
[A.J.] You made... [garbled static]
A.J., are you there?
[driver] You coming or what?
I'm going to Beverly Hills so...
I can't hear you. Speak up!
I'm going to Beverly Hills so I can live with my sister.
She's going to college in San Diego in the fall,
and I'm going to move in with her.
And?
[spacey music]
♪ ♪
Have you worked in books before?
No.
Did that hurt?
Um, kinda.
But you worked at Arby's. It's customer service.
- Same vibe. - [Violet] No.
That was french fries. This is books.
How do you blow your nose?
I don't, I guess.
You don't? Egh.
Douglas loves you. And between you and me,
it'd be great to have another WOC in here.
It's just me.
I don't know what that is.
Woman of color.
Right.
You were let go from Arby's. What happened there?
It was just a misunderstanding.
I regret that it happened,
and I'm sure it won't happen again.
So, what happened?
I created a hostile work environment
by throwing a milkshake at a customer,
but it only happened because I had sex
with a vendor in the back of his truck,
and then he told me I was just a fucking hookup,
and he's total fucking trash.
[light music]
But anyway, I love books. Let's talk about books.
♪ ♪
[phone chimes]
[faint somber rock music playing]
♪ ♪
- [door closes] - [Mandy and Jack scream]
Jesus Christ, Jack. What are you doing here?
You scared the shit out of me.
[Jack] I need the opinion of a woman,
and you're the closest thing I have to that.
- How did you even find me? - Location sharing.
Oh, wow. I forgot that went both ways.
- It does. - Okay.
[exhales heavily]
Ewatomi knows.
Knows what?
About me. The whole autism thing.
Okay.
I thought I was passing, but I was not.
Do you think Rich knows too?
- I don't know, Jack. - [Jack] Or my boss?
Is it obvious to everyone that I'm not normal?
Am I not passing?
I think you're normal.
[Jack] Do I have to talk about it with people now?
What if I don't want to?
Well, then don't. I mean, it's entirely...
- I don't want to. - ...up to you.
Okay, then don't.
I'm taking Ewatomi on a date, and I need it to go perfect.
She needs to see that I can be normal.
I think you just got to be yourself, Jack.
Did you not hear a word I just said?
Okay, listen.
For what it's worth, I think you are such a beautiful person
that you shouldn't have to hide who you are.
[melancholy music]
That makes me want to throw up.
Right.
[somber music]
Have a good date.
♪ ♪
[car horns blaring]
[upbeat percussive music]
[sirens and horns blaring]
♪ ♪
[dog barking]
- Look out!
♪ ♪
[trumpet blaring]
♪ ♪
- Violet, how'd it go? - Mm.
[Douglas] Oh.
Violet, hey.
I tanked it.
Mandy told me to say that I got fired
because of a misunderstanding, but it wasn't.
It was Julian, that fucker.
- Who's Julian? - My ex.
We met at Arby's and had a forbidden workplace romance.
I ghosted him, but we couldn't stay away from each other,
so we had sex in the parking lot of a club,
but then he told me it was just a hookup.
And I got in trouble for making a hostile work environment,
and now I don't have anything to live for.
Wow.
You've...lived.
What?
You've done more in two weeks
than I've done in my whole life.
If I did what you did,
Penelope would throw me a party.
- Who's Penelope? - My therapist.
Oh, cool.
I guess you're right. I guess I have lived.
Yeah, yeah.
I'm still willing to go on that date
even though you blew me off last time.
Douglas, whoa, whoa. Slow your roll.
But you can Zoom me later.
[cheerful music]
♪ ♪
[laughs breathlessly]
♪ ♪
[car horn blares]
[car engine revs]
♪ ♪
Let's take another look at your résumé.
I have some people we could follow up with.
We'll get the next one.
Mandy, I'm exhausted, okay? I've lived a lot of life.
Uh, Violet, I really think we should focus.
[Violet] I have to put my face on for my Zoom call.
Wait, what Zoom call?
Harrison? How's it going in there?
Violet, do you know where Harrison is?
[Violet] No.
[somber string music]
[line trilling]
♪ ♪
- [siren wails] - [cell phone ringing]
♪ ♪
Mandy? Mandy?
Harrison, where are you?
[Harrison] I don't know.
[Mandy] Can you tell me what's around you?
Not really.
Okay. It's...it's okay.
It's okay. Just stay on with me.
I'm come find you.
Okay? Just breathe.
It's gonna be okay.
Um...
Okay, just...
just stay on with me, and I'm gonna come find you.
Okay? Just stay on.
♪ ♪
[Katie Morosky] The girl is lovely, Hubbell.
Why don't you bring her for a drink when you come?
I can't come, Katie.
I can't.
I know.
♪ Memories...
[moviegoers sniffing]
[Katie] ...may be beautiful and yet ♪
♪ What's too painful to remember ♪
♪ We simply choose to forget ♪
♪ So it's the laughter...♪
[Douglas] This is cool. I...I've never Zoomed before.
Douglas, you have to enable video.
- Hi. - Hi.
Oh, have you read the latest one?
On your...on your nightstand. The latest one.
I thought the ending was really unsatisfying.
- You read Shadowhunters too? - Yeah.
So this is my bed.
This is my stool.
This is my counter, where I eat.
You know, some people say living in a studio apartment
is bad,
but I actually like
being able to see
all my stuff in one place.
- Where are your roommates? - I don't have roommates.
You don't have roommates?
No. I...I...I live alone.
You live alone?
[Douglas] Yeah. I like being alone.
Oh! Do you...
do you want to see my cabinets?
I organized the content
by size and color.
Shit, yeah. I want to see your cabinets.
[breathing raggedly]
[somber music]
♪ ♪
Harrison.
Are you okay? Are you hurt?
- What? - Are you hurt?
Okay.
That's good. That's really, really good.
Can I ask you where you were going?
No.
Okay. But you really...
you cannot just run off like that.
I mean, you could have gotten so hurt.
I just...
No.
You're supposed to be with Joel,
but you say that you love me, and then you kissed Van.
Which is it, Mandy?
[sighs]
God, I'm so sorry that you've been carrying that
this whole time.
That is so not fair to you.
Are you and Van boyfriend and girlfriend?
No.
I mean, look, I'm not really sure what we are.
But that's between me and Van.
- But what... - And as for you and me,
look, I love you, Harrison. Hey.
I love you so much,
but as a friend, you know?
Not as a boyfriend.
You're not my friend.
You work in the apartment, and that's it.
- Harrison... - I'd like to go home now.
[all] ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪
- [partygoer] And many more. - [partygoer] Yes, yes, yes.
- Everything all right? - Yes.
[baby fussing]
[saxophone playing]
Sorry I didn't cry earlier.
- What? - At the movie.
Everyone was crying. You were crying.
It would have been better if I were crying.
That's okay, Jack.
Just so you know, not crying isn't an autism thing.
Violet has autism, and she cries all the time.
She's like a spigot.
- This pizza is delicious. - Yeah.
It's supposed to be the best pizza in Los Angeles.
It's three times the price of where
I normally go with my dad.
They have four different mushrooms
and use three different types of cheeses
even though I don't eat mushroom or cheese.
You didn't have to take me to someplace this fancy.
Is it upsetting to you that I'm taking the cheese off?
No.
Because that's not an autism thing.
Millions of people have a dairy sensitivity.
Jack...
I want you know that it doesn't matter to me
that you have autism.
You're a unique person.
You're more interesting than most people I meet.
Would you have known if my father
didn't tell Dr. Mandaar, which he definitely...
Would you have known?
I'm not sure.
[with voice raised] Just be honest with me, please.
♪ ♪
Okay.
I did notice something was a little different.
But, like I said, it doesn't matter.
It does matter. It's easy to say
it doesn't matter if you don't have it.
I've spent my entire life trying to hide it.
And now Dr. Mandaar knows,
and you know, and probably everybody knows.
You say I'm unique. I don't want to be unique.
I just want to be a normal fucking guy.
[tender music]
♪ ♪
Talking to you about this makes me feel closer to you.
♪ ♪
It does? How?
I'm not sure. But it does.
♪ ♪
Will it get me to second base?
[laughs]
[warm choral vocalization]
Will you eat more of your pizza?
There's $60 worth of it on the table.
♪ ♪
Normally, they put 10 stars on this
and there's only nine today.
What is it?
Uh, it's a residential center in the Valley.
You're moving there?
No. It's for you.
- I live at the apartment. - [Van] Yeah, I know.
But I thought it might be a really,
you know, great next step.
No.
I live at the apartment with Jack and Harrison.
I know. Okay?
But look, the apartment's not working, okay?
It's... You don't have a job now.
I'll get a job.
[Van] You keep being in danger, Violet.
Like, actual real danger. Do you get that?
Do you get how...how dangerous these situations are with...
with, like, Julian and... and...
Julian was a misunderstanding.
I want to be independent.
I don't want to go backwards,
and you're trying to move me to this place over here?
Okay, this place helps you be independent.
Right? That's the whole point.
I'm doing good. Mandy said she's really proud.
What did I do wrong?
[downbeat music]
I'm sorry. I won't go on Bumble anymore.
No, no, no. It's not...
This is not a punishment, Violet.
I don't want to go.
Please, Van.
I don't want you to do this to me.
Okay, okay. Hey, hey, okay? I'm not doing this to you.
I'm doing this for you. Okay?
You don't get to make
- all the rules. - [Van] Violet.
- [loudly] Violet! - I don't...
[sobbing]
Okay, I'm sorry.
Violet.
♪ ♪
Hi.
I'm so happy you came out of your room.
I don't want you to come
to my sister's surprise party tomorrow.
Good night.
Harrison...
Hey. How was your date?
Well, I spent half my paycheck
on an overpriced pizza, and they sat us
next to an unruly birthday party
with crying babies.
So it sounds like it didn't, uh,...
I think I have a girlfriend now.
- What? - [Jack] Ewatomi.
I think she might be my girlfriend.
That's amazing.
Uh, I wouldn't get too excited.
Historically, I'll ruin this.
I don't think you will.
[Jack] Where's Harrison?
I want to gloat.
I wouldn't talk to Harrison right now.
He's, um, he's just sad. He's...
having problems with a girl.
You.
You're the girl.
I advised him against it, but he didn't listen.
I'll talk to Harrison. I'll ask how he's doing.
I'll practice empathy.
Really?
Mandy, now that I'm in a relationship,
I'm gonna need to start pretending to care
about things I otherwise wouldn't give a shit about.
That would mean a lot to Harrison...and me.
Thank you, Jack.
I'm doing it for me.
Smells like Harrison in here.
What are you doing?
Are you sad?
Yes.
I'm sorry for your loss.
What did I lose?
Mandy.
Oh.
[Jack] You could hug me if you want.
You and Mandy are obviously incompatible,
but I empathize with you anyway.
It's not just Mandy.
It's my sister moving away.
I can't hang out with A.J. anymore.
It's everything.
That sucks.
Yeah.
[♪ Barbra Streisand: "The Way We Were"]
♪ Hmm ♪
Memories.
- [Barbra] ♪ Memories... - Light the corners of my mind.
[Barbra] ♪ ...light the corners of my mind ♪
Misty water-colored memories.
[Barbra] ♪ Misty watercolor memories ♪
[Jack] Of the way we were.
[Barbra] ♪ Of the way we were ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Scattered pictures ♪
♪ Of the smiles we left behind ♪
♪ Smiles we gave to one another ♪
♪ For the way we were ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Can it be that it was all so simple then? ♪
♪ Or has time re-written every line? ♪
♪ If we had the chance to do it all again ♪
♪ Tell me, would we? ♪
♪ Could we? ♪
♪ Memories ♪
- ♪ May be beautiful... - Hey.
Hey.
♪ ♪
[Barbra] ♪ What's too painful to remember...
Ewatomi knows.
Van wants to send me to a group home.
Mandy loves another.
No shit.
It's Van.
No.
♪ ♪
I saw them kiss.
[Barbra] ♪ Of the way we were ♪
Of the way we were.
[Barbra] ♪ ...we were ♪
And the way we were.
[Barbra] ♪ ...way we were ♪
♪ Were ♪♪
♪ ♪
♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
[singer vocalizing]
♪ ♪