- [soft tinkling] - [Joe] You once believed in fairy tales.
Hello.
[Joe] That true love was out there just waiting for you to seize it.
We belong together!
Yes.
[Joe] Of course, fairy tales are nothing without villains.
Let me the hell out of here!
I better act quick, before someone desperate tries to steal my beauty away.
[Joe] So you played the white knight.
Your hand! Now!
[train horn blares]
Until your damsel in distress turned on you.
What the hell? No! [screams]
- [Joe] So you rewrote the story. - [reporter] Doctor!
[Joe] But one story ends, another begins.
Excuse me. Do you think this peach looks like a butt?
[Joe] One that was about good…
- It's a boy? - [baby cooing]
[softly] I promise to be a man worthy of raising you.
[Joe] …and evil.
- [thuds] - Turned out your princess…
You are not making me kill anyone!
…was no princess at all.
- One of you takes this, shoots the other. - Did what you had to to save yourself.
[screams]
- [siren wails] - [Joe] And, hard as it was, your son.
But you found true love,
crossed an ocean to keep it.
But that too would turn out to be no fairy tale romance.
[shakily] Marienne.
So you started a new chapter, in a new place.
Jonathan! The American!
[Joe] Only you found yourself in someone else's story,
someone intent on making you see the darkest parts of yourself.
- [grunting] - You were reluctant to accept…
- [gunshot] - …they… were you.
Well, isn't this a pickle?
You and I are the same person.
No! [breathing shakily]
[Joe] Decided you'd rather die.
But love revived you.
You chose life with Kate, your queen.
[Kate] You don't have to run away.
- We can be this. - [exhales] Whatever the fuck this is.
[Joe] A woman strong enough to commit to loving all of you.
- [screams] - [Joe] Even the darkest parts.
What do I need to know about your past?
I've killed people.
She had also done bad things.
I gave a load of kids cancer to get a pipeline built.
We all have something bad in us.
Not this bad.
[Joe] But we decided we could leave our pasts behind.
We keep each other good.
[Joe] You finally found your happily ever after.
Funny enough, right where it all began.
["Too Sweet" by Hozier playing]
♪ It can't be said I'm an early bird ♪
♪ It's 10 o'clock before I say a word ♪
[distant siren wailing]
[Joe] You're back in the greatest city in the world.
Thomas Wolfe said, "You can't go home again."
His point, while the place may remain the same,
it's you who is different.
♪ I think I'll take my whiskey neat ♪
[Joe] You left this place because love ended tragically.
Never thought coming home would be an option.
Yet, three years ago you did.
All thanks to Kate,
the one person in the world who could make it possible.
I know I'm late. I'm sorry.
My driver showed me pictures of his cat
and they were so much cuter than I anticipated.
You're right on time.
Button.
[Joe] Thanks to Kate, you were able to come home as yourself.
Joe Goldberg.
♪ …for me ♪
♪ Ooh, ooh ♪
[Joe] Kate not only gave you your name back, she gave you your son too.
Henry.
You're grateful to the men in Madre Linda
who looked after him as you sorted your life out.
But Kate had the means to get him back without much of a fight.
[audience laughing]
[Joe] And you couldn't be prouder of the little man he's grown into.
[audience laughing]
[Joe] The way Kate's embraced being a mom to Henry,
if you thought you couldn't love her more.
She's a big part of why he's become such a great kid.
You relish how Henry can feel safe
and loved in a way you never could as a child.
[gentle music playing]
[sleepily] Just one more chapter, please.
It's bedtime, bub. You have all the time in the world to read tomorrow.
But they're about to go into Mirkwood without Gandalf.
[exhales softly]
All right, okay. But just until the spiders find them.
Dad, stop.
- I'm sorry. - Don't tell me.
I'm sorry. [clears throat softly]
Sorry, Alyson, uh, no to the Sonner Group.
Just on working conditions alone.
How do you say it in American…
[Joe] Kate's blossomed as a CEO,
committed to using the company to do radical good.
- Atoning for her sins. - [indistinct chatter over laptop]
[Joe] This marriage is mature. Adult.
Kate's taught you Sturm und Drang aren't necessary in every relationship.
- [cameras flashing] - [reporters clamoring]
[reporter] Right here, Prince Charming. How about one for the ladies?
[Joe] Fame definitely took a bit of getting used to.
Turns out when you use your wealth
for something other than disenfranchising the other 99%,
the world can't get enough of you.
Get caught at a photoshoot holding your wife's purse
and the world idealizes you,
the adoring, supportive partner, to the high-powered, successful woman.
"Everyone's favorite couple, changing the world together."
It's a bit much. But the world loves a good love story.
[people exclaiming and whistling]
Oh, fuck, it's that vile councilman.
- Is that the guy trying to extort you? - [sighs] Yeah, don't even look at him.
[Joe] You and Kate came to New York with a promise
to help each other do good,
- to be good. - [imperceptible]
[Joe] It's a challenge sometimes.
Hey, fuck him.
I went over his head. He won't have a job on Monday.
[Joe] But Kate can fight her own battles.
You don't need to spring into action on her behalf.
You have a great life. It's just not worth the risk.
[faucet running]
Although…
[suspenseful music playing]
There are times you miss who you used to be.
Felt good to rid the world of assholes.
- [gasps] - [stabs]
- [squelches] - [choking]
[suspenseful music continues]
[Joe] But you have to behave.
Just a little…
[music subsides]
Thanks, friend.
[Joe] So far, so good.
[suspenseful music continues]
Now, before I close,
I am delighted to announce the new Lockwood Literacy Initiative.
Our goal, to encourage literacy amongst children in the foster system,
to provide safe places for them to learn and read and grow,
including sponsoring their college education.
[Joe] And now the part you've been waiting for.
To fund this endeavor,
the T.R. Lockwood Corporation will earmark up to a quarter of its annual profits.
- [guests exclaiming in awe] - [intriguing music playing]
[Joe] The Lockwood board's been blindsided.
They never agreed to divert so much from their own pockets.
Kate has them committing publicly to something so generous
they can't possibly go back on it.
["If You Don't Want My Love" by Jalen Ngonda playing]
[indistinct chatter]
♪ In this night, a starry sky… ♪
[Joe] No one will be angrier about Kate's surprise announcement
than Reagan, her half-sister and Lockwood Corp's CFO.
Reagan's been top of her class from preschool to Wharton,
started out in the mailroom
to prove she didn't need nepotism to get ahead.
A story she no doubt planned to tell when she accepted the CEO job.
Never saw Kate returning as Daddy's chosen successor.
[indistinct chatter]
Think I won't find a way to walk this back?
Couldn't win the board over properly. Not so much as a fucking prospectus?
It's the right thing for the company. You'll see.
Hi, Boo-Boo.
Is it just me or is time moving especially slowly tonight?
[Joe] Kate's other sister, Reagan's twin Madison, or Maddie,
her job is vaguely PR.
- You having that much fun, huh? - Mm.
Vodka, soda.
[Joe] Maddie can't be bothered with the palace intrigue.
Doesn't hide that she watches Instagram reels through every board meeting.
Reagan's the one people listen to anyway.
Spent most of her twenties
drunk at various music festivals and fashion weeks.
I was hoping to meet my next husband tonight,
but they're all married or almost dust. [chuckles]
Guess I'll just drink.
[Joe] Thrice divorced, once widowed.
You actually liked Andrew,
who paid three million to travel outside Earth's orbit
and tragically continues to do so.
- [Kate] Maddie. - [squeals]
- Mmm. - You look amazing.
Need the name of your hairdresser.
[sighs] Don't know what I'm doing with mine.
[chuckles] Oh, well, who's noticing your hair when you're saving the world?
I love this song.
- Me too. - [Kate] Yeah.
["Your Love Is King" by Sade playing over speakers]
♪ Crown you in my heart ♪
♪ Your love is king… ♪
[Kate] Oh! [chuckles]
Fucking Reagan.
We knew how she would react.
Is this really happening?
Or is it a dream?
If it is, I'm in it with you.
I couldn't do it if you weren't.
- I mean that. - Hmm.
And I don't care what the fucking board says.
- Fuck 'em. - [man laughing]
Hey, why don't you leave the board to me, little lady?
Uncle Bob. Forgive me for going against your advice and surprising the boards.
Oh, hell. You're the boss.
[inhales] But maybe we get over there and, uh, beg a little forgiveness.
Win back some hearts.
Who can I take on?
Why don't you, uh, grab yourself a drink, son?
We'll handle this.
Kate.
[Joe] You tolerate the way people like Bob see you as irrelevant.
Plus, no one's championed Kate like Uncle Bob,
AKA Buffalo Bob Cain, AKA Lockwood Corp's COO.
He's like a surrogate father to her.
[bottle opens]
[man] You know,
if you weren't my brother-in-law…
Please, go on.
…I still wouldn't want you.
- I'm married. Stop flirting with me. - [chuckling] What a bitch.
Unlike the rest of them, Kate's brother, Teddy, is fun.
Teddy's smart.
Keeps his husband and kid as far as possible from the viper's nest.
Used to live a more modest life, running a kennel.
Until Kate brought him in, he didn't exist to the family,
their excuse being that he's the product of an affair Tom had with "the help."
Surely, no latent racism or homophobia there.
Hey, here's to big swings.
Teddy, thank you.
The way Reagan clutched her pearls when Kate…
- [cell phone vibrates] - [Joe] Kate hired him
as her chief of staff, gave him a voice.
He's had her back ever since.
Fucking vultures.
What's up?
Heads-up from a friend over at Forbes.
And by friend, I mean a hungry-eyed otter
who follows me around Equinox every morning.
- Explain otter. - Somewhere between a twink and a bear.
Hey, Joe, you're an otter.
Said they're brewing up some kind of a hit piece about Kate.
Of course they are.
Something about a pipeline she helped get approved years ago?
[Joe] No, it can't be.
The environmental reports she falsified for her father,
the kids who got cancer…
She had finally begun to believe in her own goodness again.
[clicks tongue] You know what? Do me a favor. Don't say anything yet.
- Let's let her have her night. - Yeah, well, I'll see if the bastards
even have anything before I sharpen my knives.
- Yeah? - Thank you.
[Joe] If what Kate did for her father with that pipeline gets out,
no one will trust her to run the company
and she'll believe she deserves every bit of it.
And the life she's given you, Henry, it'll all be gone.
- [contemplative music playing] - For three years, you've been good.
You don't want to jeopardize your life,
but if this hit piece is as bad as it seems,
you may have no choice.
Have to hope you find out who's behind the hit piece and kill it.
Only it.
[indistinct chatter]
[Joe] As much as you've tried to leave certain parts of you behind,
they're there. Like a phantom limb.
[pensive music playing]
[indistinct chatter]
[door unlocks]
[tinkling]
[distant siren wailing]
[Beck exhales] Hello. Do you work here?
[Mooney] Careful, Joseph.
When it comes to the value of a book, it's all about condition.
[Joe] After Mr. Mooney passed,
Kate spent a lot of money buying the building.
Didn't question you when you never opened it.
Held onto it like some ratty, old sweater.
If the sweater was Manhattan real estate worth tens of millions.
[Beck] Plain glazed a yes. [chuckles softly] Noted.
[Joe] But you recently agreed to put it up for sale.
Recognized it was a relic of a life you've moved on from.
Even if it does still feel like a part of you.
Packing it up has disturbed the dust.
Kicked up old memories.
- [wood creaks] - [foreboding music playing]
And sometimes… it feels like you're waking up ghosts.
Maybe more of a reason to let it go.
You don't need to be haunted anymore.
You're moving on.
[cell phone vibrates]
[foreboding music continues]
[music fades]
- Hey. - [Kate] Hi.
Ow.
You have to watch where you're going these days.
There's dragons everywhere.
Yeah. Speaking of which, your lunch. Cancelled. Smaug handled it.
- Reagan. - Oh, okay.
Well, let's set up a call, uh, to clean up whatever bomb she threw.
- Good morning. [kisses] - Good morning.
Teddy, shall we? I just have to nip upstairs and get my laptop.
Give me one sec. I'm gonna scarf down one of these Kouign-Amanns.
Albie's got us on calorie deficit till pool party season
- and it's killing me. - [whispers] I won't tell.
- [Teddy] Don't. - I won't.
[Teddy] Watch, he'll probably smell it on me.
[Kate laughs]
[suspenseful music playing]
What did you find out about this hit piece?
I couldn't get more out of them, but they seem to think it's big.
Their legal's pressing hard to make sure their reporting is airtight.
I need to read her in at this point.
Not yet.
What is this pipeline thing? What did our girl do?
[Joe] Can't tell Teddy the details.
Not sure he'll understand Kate had no choice.
Come on. I can't perform an exorcism
if you don't show me to the girl with the spinning head and foul mouth.
Your father wanted his pipeline approved and somebody's hands had to get… dirty.
[exhales] That's why she quit, isn't it? Ran off to London.
If this gets out…
Teddy, she's ruined.
[Teddy] Yeah. We all are.
No one is keeping me around without Kate.
[inhales] Okay. No bringing in legal or PR into this. It's gotta be us.
No one knew. She was sure of that.
So it means that whoever they talked to must have been inside Lockwood Corp.
Someone who could be forced to retract.
Kill the piece.
Who is most intent on destroying Kate and has access to company secrets?
Tell him if he's living in 2010
and he wants to raise funds in a VC backwater like Silicon Valley,
that's his prerogative.
- When he wants real money, we're here. - [knocking]
Hi, Reagan. Permission to enter Snake Island?
- [Reagan] Mmm. - [pen clatters]
Really, guys? Do you want to rehearse and come back?
[Joe] Wonder if stapling Reagan's scalp to that painting
will make it worth the extravagant sum she paid for it.
We know you talked to the reporter.
I speak with reporters all the time. You'll have to be a little more specific.
[Joe] Smug, but opaque.
Can't tell if she's obfuscating or totally in the dark.
The article? About Kate?
Nope. Still lost.
[Joe] Was that… genuine surprise?
Fine. Play dumb, but you're gonna hurt more than just Kate.
[Joe] Not sure you're looking
at someone on the verge of vanquishing her lifelong enemy.
I'm sorry. Were you planning on saying words or were you just gonna audit?
It is laughable that you are denying this.
It is laughable to me that you, a glorified assistant,
think you can just walk in here with our sister's weirdo hubby,
who apparently forgot how to talk,
and hurl around baseless accusations,
especially considering how kind I have been to you.
I love that you think that.
I love that you think you belong here.
Just because Daddy came home one afternoon with a hard-on
and instead of mom he found some woman with a vacuum.
Cute. Where was your mother that day?
[sniffs]
I'm going to kindly ask both of you to get the fuck out.
[intriguing music playing]
That wasn't very kind.
[chuckles sarcastically]
[indistinct chatter]
I hate that woman too much to be objective.
Okay, you got a look about you, Joe.
I… I don't think she's the source. I want to talk to Maddie.
Maddie? Maddie didn't do it.
No, but she might know who did.
I know she makes a big show with the flirty stuff.
The Boo-Boo stuff. I don't think you'll get anything out of her.
Just trust me. Please trust me.
- [footsteps receding] - [music fades]
- [Joe] Maddie loved Kate once. - [indistinct chatter]
Bonded under the weight of their emotionally abusive father.
Now Maddie's relationship with Kate is mostly emotional terrorism,
i.e. flirting… with you.
Today, you can use that to your advantage.
[Maddie] Excuse me.
I don't think our boss tolerates drinking during office hours.
Then I'll have to ask you to keep this between us.
[mellow song playing softly over speakers]
[Joe] It just gets so tiring
trying to do the right thing day in and day out.
I know. Don't you wish she would just dispense with this crusade already?
I meant the obstruction that she's up against.
And it's our crusade.
Oh, sure. Yeah, no, I know.
[Joe] Hmm.
Still, I see it.
See what?
[inhales]
I think there are days you'd prefer to just be you.
Not half of this perfect little power couple.
[soft music playing]
You make it sound so superficial.
When I see you two sometimes… [inhales]
…I wonder what you really want, Joe Goldberg.
Where you'd rather be.
With who?
It's like there's this hunger in you I sense.
For more.
What do you say, I get us another drink, Boo-Boo?
[Joe] Okay. Didn't expect that, but let's see what Maddie knows.
Having spent years around a woman addicted to her phone,
it's impossible to not know her password.
[intriguing music playing]
[imperceptible]
[Joe] The hell is this? "DOT"? "FOT"? Codenames.
Looks like DOT 2 is Maddie. Makes Reagan DOT 1.
D-O-T. Daughter of Tom, maybe.
But what's F-O-T? Friend of Tom?
"Emergency meeting Friday, little ladies."
You've only ever known one person who says shit like, "little ladies."
No way. Bob would never do anything to hurt Kate.
"NC vote." No confidence.
They think this article is enough to vote Kate out.
That's family for you.
[suspenseful music playing]
Did Bob arrange for Kate to meet with his friend
so she'd miss a no-confidence vote?
Did you blink? Did this Howdy Doody motherfucker get past your defenses?
- [footsteps approaching] - Makes sense. He was Tom Lockwood's guy.
Having Kate's ear makes him more powerful than being her enemy.
And you didn't see it.
[sighs wearily] Oh! What a slog. That was the longest dinner of my life.
I nearly fell asleep in my cassoulet.
Are you all right?
[Joe sighs]
Teddy found out there's a hit piece in the works.
It's the pipeline.
[tense music playing]
It's impossible.
- No one knew. - Bob knew.
I think he leaked it.
Uncle Bob?
But why would he…
He's trying to get rid of you.
He's calling a no-confidence vote and he has your sisters on board.
- How do you know this? - I've been looking into it.
You've been looking into it?
- Behind my back? - No. We knew you had enough on your plate.
You couldn't loop me in?
[sputters] That's what this is. That's what I'm doing now.
Bob has shown nothing, but support for me since I took over.
The… Whatever you saw, I'm sure it was a misunderstanding.
I saw texts on Maddie's phone.
You saw… texts?
I'm going to find out what's really going on.
I can help.
No, no. Thank you. You've done enough. I'll sort it.
[Joe] She can't stop being strong for two seconds to admit she needs help.
Of course the old you knows how to help.
[moody music playing]
[Bob] No, they just lost a billion dollars in market value.
We're not moving from our numbers. Remind them of that. Right.
- [car lock chirps] - [cell phone beeps]
[distant horn blares]
[dramatic music plays]
- [groans] - [music fades]
[suspenseful music playing]
[Bob straining]
[Bob panting and grunting]
Let's just cut the fucking games, all right? [panting]
This isn't you.
I love that you think that, Bob.
[suspenseful music continues]
You don't have the whole picture.
You… came for my wife.
[Bob screaming]
[suspenseful music continues]
[gasps] I can stop the piece.
- It's too late for that, Bob. - [whimpers]
This is for Kate.
[Bob groans]
[Kate] Joe?
[music fades]
So, you're writing about killing Uncle Bob?
[pensive music playing]
This is… grotesque.
I… I know.
Why do you feel you need to sneak off and write murder fantasies?
It's just writing.
Yeah, I mean, if you'd never killed anyone. But this is…
This reads like you relish it.
Huh.
Is that so wrong?
If it's for the right reasons?
When you told me what you did…
the people that you killed, it was… out of necessity.
It was extenuating circumstances.
[Joe] The ones you told her about, sure.
Rhys, because her father forced you to.
Your stepfather, because your mother put the gun in your hand.
Your wife, to save your own life.
I've always done what I felt needed to be done.
That's very carefully stated.
I didn't think you'd want to hear how killing makes me feel.
And what you wrote here makes you feel…
Exhilarated.
It does. If it's for the right reasons, yeah.
I have always wanted to protect you… from… these parts of me.
And I was afraid that you would look at me exactly the way you're looking at me now.
But this is still me, Kate. I love you.
I need to get home.
- [footsteps receding] - [door closes]
[music fades]
[Joe] You were doing the right thing.
Suppressing who you are.
Killing on the page, rather than in real life.
She should appreciate that. Shouldn't she? What you've done for her.
It hasn't been easy.
But you've kept that part of yourself at bay.
- [soft clatter] - [suspenseful music playing]
[Joe] That wasn't a ghost.
[floorboard creaking]
[suspenseful music intensifies]
[Joe] Hey!
Wait, wait, wait, wait! Don't, please! [panting]
[music fades]
I'm… [exhales] Look, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. [panting]
Can you just put that down, please?
[exhales] Dickinson. [chuckles softly]
That'd be a way to go out. [chuckles]
A cleaving in my head As if my brain had split
[chuckles]
[soft music playing]
[sighs] Who are you?
I own the place.
- Who are you? How'd you get in here? - Oh.
You should know there's a window at the back. Um…
And I kinda shimmied it. [chuckles]
I'm not stealing anything, I swear.
So what are you doing?
Okay, I just… I walked past.
You know, I… I… I saw the for sale sign and peeked in, and I…
[sighs] I saw all the poor books, just sitting here… lonely.
And I felt bad for them.
So I borrowed one.
- Borrowed? - But I… I always bring them back.
Shit. Um, I do…
I realize I copped to breaking into your store more than once,
but I just… [sputters]
I can't stand the thought of them just, like, rotting away in here.
I just… You know, a used bookstore in the 21st century
doesn't stand a chance.
[sighs] I guess you're turning this place into condos or something.
- Actually, that's not-- - It's a fucking crime.
You can't fall in love with places anymore
'cause their souls are getting slurped up by capitalists like bone marrow.
All that's left of them is empty husks of… "real estate."
And you're saying I'm the soul slurper?
Sorry. But can you just… imagine what this place was like in its heyday?
Places like this store…
[Joe] It's like she's fighting with the words of a former you.
- [continues indistinctly] - That fire in her eyes.
Soulful, blue eyes.
Wait, wait. No.
…temples to who we are and who we want to be and…
[Joe] No, no. Not doing that. It's not about her. It's this place.
[inhales]
Wait, I know you.
Hmm? What?
Oh, my God. [laughs] You're the… the guy.
You're, um… Prince Charming. Uh… Joe… Goldberg, right?
[soft intriguing music playing]
Wow. How about that?
[clicks tongue] Um…
So maybe the kind of guy who's just
totally cool with letting a girl go who definitely broke in,
but promises to never do it again.
Go… Yeah, go on. Go ahead.
Great. Getting going. [chuckles]
You know, is, um… Is there any way I could just…
You know…
Uh, fine.
By the way, it's… It's "I felt a cleaving in my mind, as if my brain had split."
Okay.
I see you.
[shop bell tinkling]
[door closes]
[distant siren wailing]
[music fades]
[Bob] Kate.
- [footsteps approach] - Hey, what's on your mind?
I've been thinking a lot about Dad, lately.
Rest in peace.
[chuckles softly]
[inhales]
You know, you never asked me
about the last deal he and I worked on together.
The pipeline in Alberta.
[tense music playing]
[clicks tongue] You gonna commit to your accusation there?
[Kate softly] Hmm.
[inhales] I'll make it easy.
Yes.
I leaked your secret to that reporter.
Why?
After all these years?
You've lost the plot, huh?
You used to value my opinion.
Let me help keep you in line.
Stop you from making destructive decisions.
- But these initiatives… - [drink pouring]
- [bottle thuds] - God, you're like a dog with a bone.
- [glass clinks] - Forcing these massive money sucks on us.
Blindsiding your own board.
Which you had no problem with.
Your daddy put you in that seat
because he thought you had what it takes to run things. That killer instinct?
[inhales] But instead… [sighs]
How the fuck did you let Reagan become CFO?
She hates you.
I won't lead from a vindictive place.
No, no. You just deal with her in an underhanded way.
Like a coward.
Because you came back from London dulled,
with a simp of a husband and a fucking kid.
[glass thuds]
That piece is coming out.
Your reputation is ruined.
The board will do what it's got to.
I'll survive this.
That pipeline is old news and the work I've done since--
Well, then I'll tell them about Rhys Montrose.
[foreboding music playing]
I had you looked into.
[inhales] Your time over there in London…
Imagine my shock
covering up the murder of a politician.
Question is… why?
If that version of you was the one running this company… [inhales]
Phew.
Anyway… [sighs] If you try and fight me, I'll make sure that gets out.
You, your husband, your kid…
You're all fucked.
[chuckles]
You overplayed your hand, little lady.
I had to burn you for it, sorry to say.
- [footsteps approaching] - [music fades]
[distant siren wailing]
Kate?
You were right about Bob. [sighs]
I'm sorry.
God, I was so sure I could trust him.
Lying bastard.
You want to see the best in people.
No, I'm an idiot. I'm so egotistical,
allowing… allowing this huge fucking blind spot to go unnoticed.
[scoffing] He knows. About Rhys.
[Joe] Fuck. No.
What? What did you say?
Nothing. Fucking, fucking nothing.
I gave him nothing.
But if I keep fighting him, he will keep digging.
[sputters] He'll find out it was you who did it.
So what do we do?
I know what we promised.
I know how hard you've worked to stay good.
[Joe] But…
But if this gets out, what we did in London,
I mean…It's… it's… it's… it's our survival.
It's him, or us.
What are you saying?
[suspenseful music playing]
You know what I'm saying.
[music fades]
[vehicles passing in distance]
[pensive music playing]
[Joe] It's been so long since you've done this for real
and you have to get this just right.
You know murder can be messy, the variables.
[grunts]
[Joe] You have to be nimble, prepared for complications.
Is that camera unplugged?
It's just for show.
That's irresponsible and lucky.
- Don't count on the luck lasting. - [gate creaks]
[suspenseful music playing]
[door unlocks]
Alarm system unarmed and… He's asleep?
Oh, Bob.
[suspenseful music continues]
[gloves snapping]
[snoring softly]
["Lost Highway" by Hank Williams playing]
♪ Oh, the day we met I went astray… ♪
- [handcuffs clink] - [Bob grunts]
- What the hell? - [handcuffs clinking]
Joe.
- [handcuffs clinking] - [Bob grunts, chuckles nervously]
[Joe] There it is. That look.
When they realize for as long as they've known you,
they've never known you.
Kate told you. [breathing shakily]
Look, son. Son, this is just business.
How dare you! Stop--
[Joe] A little on the nose to strangle the guy with a lasso.
- Not much about Buffalo Bob isn't. - [Bob choking]
[Joe] The bastard thought he could come for you.
[choking]
♪ Neither good nor bad ♪
[Joe] Oh… You missed this.
You feel so fucking alive.
♪ To late to pray ♪
♪ Lord, I've paid the cost ♪
♪ On the lost highway ♪
♪ Now, boys Don't start your ramblin' round… ♪
[Joe] You're not done.
- You have to finish this story. - [keyboard clacking]
An email to all interested parties from Buffalo Bob Cain,
confessing he was a man with demons who made up a lie about Kate,
regretted it, and retracted it,
before hanging himself.
♪ You started rollin' down ♪
♪ That lost highway ♪
[rope creaking]
[song ends]
[Joe] A stop at my studio to dispose of my clothes, take a quick shower,
and Kate not only sleeps soundly, she stays clean.
They say writing is feeding the beast.
You thought that's what you were doing,
the beast wasn't sated 'cause it's not about the murder.
- [door closes] - You needed a feeling of purpose.
Now you have one again.
[suspenseful music playing]
I didn't leave that light on.
- That girl. Has to be. - [keys jingling]
[door unlocks]
[shop bell tinkling]
[suspenseful music continues]
[suspenseful music intensifies]
Excuse me. Whoa, whoa! It's me. It's me.
[music fades]
[panting] Shit. I almost ruined your night.
What are you, a vampire?
Are you sleeping here?
Oh, um… Yeah. That's… Um…
People suck sometimes. It's just easier to just be alone.
Yeah. I get that.
[Joe] No wonder Mooney's speaks to her the way it did to you.
Such a dumb idea. I'm sorry.
Uh, especially after how cool you were the other night.
It's just so fucking stupid. [chuckles]
I'm sorry. I am going.
Oh, I, uh… I brought it back anyway.
What'd you think?
Of the book?
I've actually already read all those.
I just needed a refresher. I'm… [inhales]
…kind of arguing with someone… [sighs] about, uh, Ibsen's feminism, so.
What's the argument?
[soft music playing]
Oh. Well, you know, how everybody likes to call Ibsen a feminist
because of A Doll's House and stuff…
[Joe] You need this. You can't let Mooney's go.
…but if you actually read his words,
he explicitly preferred to be called a humanist, which…
IMHO is a fucking cop out. [scoffs]
What's your name?
It's, uh, Bronte.
No, it's not.
I know. [inhales] Um… Anyway…
[Joe] This place is who you are.
How would you like to work here, Bronte?
Well, I just, I thought you were, um…
I would love that. [chuckles]
[soft music continues]
[elevator dings]
[Joe] She'll have heard by now about Bob's quote-unquote "suicide."
So… how does this go?
[music fades]
We're okay.
[gentle music playing]
[exhales sharply] I know.
I love you.
[Joe] You… showed her all of you. And you've never felt closer.
[music fades]
[keys jingling]
So, the big one opens the front door,
and the little one opens the office.
[Bronte] Okay.
And this is a recommendation.
- Pour moi? - Oui.
Ibsen's Women.
Yeah. So, admittedly a little academic. You might have read it already.
No, but I have been meaning to.
It supports your friend's argument.
Oh.
Useless. No.
Know thy enemy.
Thanks.
[inhales]
This is real, right?
You are going to open the store and I'm going to work here.
And this doesn't end in you, like, making a book out of my skin.
[chuckles nervously]
Just, uh, good things like this don't really fall into my lap.
Not to freak you out with my vulnerability or whatever.
No, no, no. No, it's real.
[inhales]
Thank you.
See you tomorrow, boss.
[mellow music playing]
- [shop bell tinkling] - [Joe] You thought the only way
to have this life you cherish
was to deny who you really are.
But Kate allowed you to do what you do best.
Protect your family.
[mellow music continues]
[keys jingling]
[door creaking]
[switch clicks]
You can be the new you…
and the old you.
- [switch clicks] - [lights buzzing]
[dramatic music playing]
It's all just… you.
[music fades]
[gripping instrumental music playing]