Narrator: No one's dreams come true
in Ultra City.
This one here came to Ultra City
18 years old,
dreamed you'd hear his songs through the open windows
of the city in the summers --
then time takes the wage,
and now, well,
there's so much crud from busking so long here
that the harmonica's stuck to his face.
What's up, Tenderloin Mike?
[ Harmonica playing ]
This is the greatest story ever told.
This is the story of the Ultra City Smiths.
♪
[ Panting ]
♪
[ Panting, knocking insistently ]
[ Continues knocking ]
[ Pounding from other side ]
[ Knocking ]
Woman [panting]: I'm from... Rodrigo.
[ Ominous music ]
[ Crash ]
[ Clattering ]
♪
[ Bag and body thud, police siren wailing ]
No one's dreams come true in Ultra City.
That's not my money!
Hey, I'm not a hero around here.
[ Indistinct radio chatter, infant cooing ]
Man: Okay, Henry, let's -- let's just let go a little.
Can't be late for my first day.
I got to go catch the bad guys
and meet my new partner, partner.
Between you and me, kid, I'm a little nervous.
♪
-Arcade and back? -Yeah.
Just arcade and back, right?
Mom!Trevor!
Yeah?Check in.
♪
[ Unzipping, rustling ]
♪
The most powerful man in this big town
went out for a pack of cigarettes.
♪
He left the building --
one of many that he owned --
and simply vanished.
♪
[ Clanking ] It all becomes more mysterious
after that.
♪
[ Rustling, crumpling ]
Still the poll numbers, dude, crumpled or not.
[ Tires crunch, brakes squeal ]
Go get a donut.Yeah, right.
♪
Mayor.Captain.
Say, you know what might be nice?
Nice if you lesson presence in Central Park tonight.
Yeah, right.
So, uh... new kid's comin' on tonight?
New kid tonight.
[ Siren wailing in distance ]
♪
Ms. McSapphire? You're right on time.
Please, don't run this story, Tim...
Yeah, well, police station baby --
ultra big deal around here!
Took me 30 years to figure it out.
This town is gonna spray when it learns who the mom is!
[ Laughing ]
[ Groans ] I'm so gross.
♪
Ultra City... she don't care.
[ Siren wailing in distance ]
♪
Is that...?No way!
We loved you in "The Midnight Ferry!"
Woman: Hey, baby.
No one's dreams come true.
in Ultra City.
[ Indistinct chatter ]
Hey, doll -- back scratch?
Hey, guy! -What's up?
-Back scratch? -What's that?
Back scratch, big man?
Like, I scratch yours?
'Cause no.Flip it, Ricky.
-My name is Dave. -Flip it, Dave.
I scratch, you enjoy. Hey?
Like, over my shirt or...
You tell me -- 11 bucks, you're boss.
-That's all right. -Okay, later.
Probably not.
No, I just meant, like, goodbye.
[ Ringing ] Man: TMZ.
Run the story.
Police station baby?You got it.
This city's gonna pop when it learns who the mom is!
[ Blows, pops ]
Some years ago...
a newborn was left in a box right there,
right there behind the police station,
right there where that weird doll is lying now.
Doll: I'm Little Dingy, let's have some fun!
Man: And the police here in Ultra City,
well, even the good ones,
those men and women have their hands full
in this town.
I-it's a hard town.
The newborn went undiscovered for nearly three days
and very nearly died.
His fate is unknown.
Check it out -- here comes our hero.
♪
Doll: I'm Little Dingy, let's have some fun!
♪
[ Cellphone rings ] Detective David Mills.
-Man: New kid? -Detective.
-Dispatch. -What do you have?
Yeah, well, you sure you don't want to go back to the sticks?
'Cause it just got heavy -- Carpenter K. Smith
went out for a pack of cigarettes.
-Yeah, so did I. -Gone seven hours since.
No sign, nothin' -- gone.
Carpenter, K. Smith? Our last bright hope?
That's it. And you drew it.
Pick up your new partner, Gail Johnson, 17 Lex, 2A.
♪
Ah, shoot.
♪
[ Starts and revs engine ]
[ Tires squealing ]
♪
Shoot, my shirt. Rookie move, new kid.
♪ Action
♪ Star system filled with wishes ♪
♪ Crash in, ocean of messages ♪
♪
♪ Static attraction
♪
♪ The universal wishing well
♪ Of all you wish to see and feel ♪
[ Siren passing ]
Woman: Oh, man! [Chuckles] Nice!
Classic! [Chuckles]
Man: Britney? Britney...
How do you know my name?
♪
-How much? -All of it -- 43,000!
Maybe we shouldn't have done that?
Did you see the size of her? She was barely there!
Man: Yeah, well, we did it.
Man: And remember why we're doing it.
Make the Rodrigo call.
[ Cellphone ringing ]
-Yeah? -Never showed.
She should have.
Yeah? She didn't.
Little Grace, she was supposed to hand off the money
and bring back the street product, sweetheart.
Yeah?Kids today.
You think she took off with the money?
Hope not -- never hurt a 14 year old girl before.
I had that going for me.
You know who her mom is.
I don't care.
I care who hermom is.
And that's your money, too, honey.
Yours and mine.
We're almost out of this place.
Yeah.
♪
[ Squeak, vomits ]
This city.Yeah.
She don't care.
I'm going to call that little Grace again.
[ Ringing ]
♪
[ Door closing tone ]
[ Beep ]
[ Subway clacking ]
♪
Back scratch, big man?
Yeah, no way.
Okay, later.
Yeah, probably not, though.
No, I just meant, like, goodbye.
I didn't mean that later I was going to scratch your back.
I ain't stupid.
I know no one's buying what I'm selling anymore.
My street name's Street Hustler Boy.
I'm 42 now.
I make no sense.
[ Ringing ]
Please leave a message.
Trevor, why isn't your phone on?
Check in! [ Beep ]
[ Tires squealing ]
[ Engine revs, stops ]
Detective Gail Johnson, Detective David Mills
I have a shirt on.That -- what?!
I'm... Uh...
let's get out there.
Where you been?
Dispatch said Lex,
I was looking for a Lex Avenue.
Yeah, short for Lexington.
Everyone knows that.
Yeah, well, now I do, too. Let's go.
We're setting up interv--Let's go!
Hey, new kid.Yeah?
Where are you from?
Littlefield -- upstate.
Let's take the midnight ferry to the West Side,
to Carpenter Smith's building for the interviews.
There's a WWWE championship match at Addison Square Garden.
It'll take 20 minutes in the car even with the siren.
Come on, Littlefield.
Good luck, guys and gals.The bats are weapons.
They're a little gang, the Baseball Bullies.
They're just kids...
Maybe in Littlefield they're kids.
Welcome to Ultra City.
♪
Yes, of course, I'm mad.
Why would you do such a thing, Grace?
How much was in the bag?Forty three thousand.
Why would you begin to do something like that?
Are you trying to impress your friends?
Are -- are you trying to stand out?
I'm trying to get left alone by the kids at school.
They're all afraid.
So they picked me to pick on.
Because you're little?
I don't know why.
I started carrying those bags,
because if you work for Rodrigo, you get left alone.
Well, he's not going to leave you alone.
This guy who lost his money,
he's going to think you took it.
He's not going to believe me.
What will they try to do to you
if he thinks you took the money?
I don't know.We'll go talk to him.
We'll tell him together.
We'll make him believe us.
Mom, it won't matter. He won't listen to you.
I'm huge, honey. Have you not noticed?
He won't be afraid of you. You're not bigger than a gun.
I mean, you are,
but you're not.
I'm sorry, Mom.
Hey, lean in.
Go on, guess.
I...Yeah!
G-O-T
T-H -- "I got this"?
Yeah, I got this.
I can make 40,000 at my next match --
if we need it; if Rodrigo doesn't believe you,
I can make almost all that at my next match.
I got this.
♪
Lady Andrea the Giant.
What's up, Tip?
It's over.
We're getting fresh.
It's Space Bitch's night tonight.
Did you take a payoff, Tip?!
Because this wasn't the plan!
The plan was two more years.
Yeah, well...
I'm in deep, Lady Andrea the Giant.
To who?!You name 'em.
And, hey, Lady Andrea the Giant,
lose hard.
And standing 6'5"...
Good luck, Mom!
Why don't you head home, honey?
I want to see the match!
Weighing 286 pounds...
Go on home, honey, it's just the same old stuff.
The Women's Wrestling Federation
heavyweight champion of the world,
Lady Andrea the Giant!
[ Cheering and applause ]
♪
[ Bell ringing ]
Tonight's surprise defeat of Lady Andrea the Giant
means there's a new women's heavyweight champion.
of the world!
♪
Gail: What do you know about our last bright hope?
David: Carpenter Smith? Same as anyone --
Citizen Kane type, humanitarian, super guy,
going to make the city a gentler place.
And I know he's missing -- for eight hours now.
What the hell?!The Nixons.
Major tween gang,
There're tween rumbles breaking out all winter.
Upper East Side,
'cause of the junior turf wars.
[ Indistinct male voices ]
I think that's my son.
One of them? How can you tell?
Laugh, walk.
He's two blocks away.
♪
[ Wind blowing, paper rustling ]
Big guy, b-job?
What?B-job, big guy?
I'm workin'.
And also, yeah, no, I don't want one.
Hasheesh?
No, thank you.
'Ey, white boy -- iguana?
-What? -Bubble gum?
-Bubble -- bubble gum? Yeah, sure.
[ Unzips ]Whoa.
No bubble gum,
whatever that means here.
[ Zips ]
♪
[ Singing ]
♪
Thanks.
[ Music ends ]
Everything cool?
Yeah, everything's cool, Littlefield.
Narrator: This town...
This town will bring a mom down.
♪
Berniece.
Berniece...
How do you know my name?
Back scratch, big man?
Yeah, right. Ha!
Ultra City Super Fudge Chunk.
Aww! Thanks!
[ Rings ] Man: Yeah?
Little Grace, anything?
No, man, she's nowhere.
Yeah, well, put the word out,
she got three days to be somewhere
and that's my disco, with my money,
or they won't be able to say, "Yeah, that Rodrigo,
he never hurt of 14 year old girl" anymore.
[ Beep ]
♪
Where is this guy?
How does he just disappear?
Thisguy?
You never asked.
Never asked what?
Never asked why I came up here,
to the big time from Littlefield.
Yeah, so?
So, police station baby.
What about 'im?
I read about 'im.
Police station baby, 30th anniversary.
Kid just left there,
little kid in Ultra City in a little box.
But, man..."But man," what?
He wasn't in...
He wasn't in the subway,
he wasn't in the back of a city bus,
he was at a police station.
She left him with the police.
She left him, Gail,
she left him with us.
And we weren't there.
And the paper said it's gotten worse there,
in Ultra City, since.
After that morning, after reading about it,
I couldn't be there when I'm needed here,
so here I am,
trying to make a difference.
Are you dancing?
Yeah, a little bit.
I dance my demons down now and then.
Your what?
My demons,
I dance myself clean every night,
I dance sometimes until I'm actually so physically tired,
I can't lift a beer, or a cigarette, or a lime.
Lime?
I'm addicted to limes.What?
Yeah, I have a bunch.
Of addictions?
Of limes. But, yeah, demons too.
So... Pumpkin carving, coke.
Cocaine.Little bit -- and Coke.
So, I dance myself to sleep every night
to fight the demons off.
Excuse me, I want to call my son.
The one who's in the Nixons?
I mean, the one who probably isn't in the Nixons,
he just has the same cool laugh?
Please leave a message.
She...
What?
She don't care, Littlefield.
[ Sighs ] This place.
Yeah, but I do,
and you do.
So why don't we get going?
Yeah, let's go find this guy.
There's love here in these homes.
What's that?In the homes here, there's love.
We just have to make sure people can leave now and then
to go to the grocery store and shit without getting killed.
Yep, that's our job.
[ Coughing ]
How you feeling, 34th Street Chuck?
Oh, tip-top. [ Coughing ]
Here's your mattress rent for tonight.
Did you show up back scratch?
No, I sold my belt...
and my pants.
I thought selling street back scratches
would be kind of a financial remedy
for my fading good looks.
No fade from where I'm sittin'.
Well, what about you?
You need $11 for a flop tonight.
I'm going to get back out there.
Without pants?
I'll rent some.
From Chinatown Devin.
Chinatown Devin?What's up?
Can I rent some pants?
Two bucks, 45 minutes.
[ Coughing ]
Narrator: Carpenter K. Smith
was going to make this city a gentler place.
Wouldn't that have been nice?
♪
I can't believe you took another picture of your dick.
It was an artistic nude, hon.
Awesome!
[ Ringing ]
[ Beep ]
♪
Ultra City...
She don't care.
[ Gunshot ]
Narrator: That wasn't just another gunshot, sister.
That one's going to be heard
all around this ultra town.
That's right, and the lives of those we're coming to know.
Well, if the new kid does his job,
they're going to be turned all upside down:
suspects, all, in the heavy murder
of our last bright hope.
That an' worse.
You'll see.
[ "Bound" plays ]
♪ I wake with a locomotion
♪ Like the break of a row of waves ♪
♪ On a rolling ocean
♪
♪ I'm bound hour upon hour, man ♪
♪ Then and now and after, I am ♪
♪
♪ Bound