[Joe] Previously on You…
Joe… Goldberg, right?
-What's your name? -Bronte.
-How would you like to work here? -[chuckles]
You're giving me an apartment? I don't sleep with married men, okay?
No, this is nothing like that.
Why is Henry talking to a cop?
Because Henry is a monster. He broke my daughter's nose.
He can't go back to Baisley.
There are other schools more capable of dealing with a child with needs.
[Joe] Kate wants you to kill him.
I think you had Uncle Bob killed.
[Kate] You wrote about murdering a man who ended up dead.
Those pages and all your other murder fiction
can never see the light of day.
Promise me you'll burn them.
What we did with Bob, we're never doing anything like that again.
My conscience is clean. I did it for our family.
[Kate] …it scared me.
Are you doing this to protect us or is there something you can't control?
[Joe] Stick to the plan, find out what Reagan knows, kill her.
I am coming for everything.
Your job. Your son. Your pathetic fucking family.
-[thuds] -[Reagan groans]
-Boo-Boo? -Maddie…
You caged the wrong twin.
[Joe] Well, you really fucked this one up.
[Maddie] What… What is this?
[Joe] Maddie's not your favorite, but she's innocent.
Where the hell am I? Joe, what did you do to me?
[Joe] Quick. Before she gets her bearings.
Before she realizes who you are and what you're capable of.
Maddie, I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
-[Maddie yelps] -[typewriter clacking]
[Joe] Blood splatters,
painting the glass crimson.
-[typewriter dings] -[Joe sighs]
Hacky, gratuitous, and ultimately useless murdering,
disappearing or faking Maddie's suicide would trigger too much suspicion.
Especially with Reagan already scrutinizing you.
And killing both twins would just be a tonnage issue.
Think. You've done this before.
If you're so smart, why can't you write your way out of this?
[door creaking]
Honestly, sometimes fiction is so much cleaner than reality.
-[door closes] -[footsteps descending]
[sighs in relief] There you are.
-[breathing heavily] -[tense music playing]
What the fuck? Joe, can you tell me what I'm doing in here?
[Joe] Hide your teeth. Play the fool. Don't do anything she can't unsee.
Maddie, I messed up big time.
This is… [sputters] It's all a misunderstanding.
-[Maddie scoffs] -Look, yeah, it's… [sighs]
There's always been something between us, right?
-[hesitates] -So maybe… maybe I have a little
crush on you.
And maybe I found out you were with another guy.
-[suspenseful music playing] -And so I, you know…
Good people make dumb mistakes.
All the time, you know, jealous mistakes.
This is degrading.
If only you'd caged the right fucking person, fucking moron.
-Joe… what the fuck is this?! -I didn't know the other guy was Harrison.
Yes, focus on her affair. She's got something to lose here too.
So maybe if we can pretend that this never happened,
I'm… I'm not gonna have to tell anybody
that you've been sleeping with your twin sister's husband.
Oh, God.
[Joe] And she bites. Good.
My sister was right.
[Joe] Not good.
Kate had Uncle Bob killed… [breathing shakily]
…and you knew Reagan was on your trail
so you wanted to have her killed… [inhales]
…and you thought I was her.
And this is where you were gonna kill her!
You sound crazy.
-You are not my Boo-Boo. -I am your Boo-Boo.
-You are not. -I am.
You are a fucking sociopath!
[loudly] Help! [inhales] Help!
[inhales] Help me!
[Joe] Shit. Retreat, regroup,
pray you figure out some way this story ends
in anything, but a bloodbath.
Help!
[suspenseful music playing]
[music fades]
[Kate] His name is George, and he'll talk to you about your feelings.
Why "George"? Isn't a therapist a doctor?
[chuckles] Well, uh, you can call him by his name.
So you both feel comfortable.
[Joe] You and Kate may not agree on everything, but in this you're united.
Henry deserves all the help he can get.
You'll do great, bub.
Now go. Shoes on.
[Joe] Hey. Pay the toll.
-[Henry] Daddy, stop. -[grunts] I know you're getting too old.
[softly] Thank you for getting on board.
[sighs] Yeah, well, in the end there's nothing to be afraid of.
Except for you.
Kill one asshole and suddenly that's all your wife can see.
[pensive music playing]
Are we positive we can't file for child abuse charges against Reagan,
just to put obstacles between her and Henry being expelled?
I'll consult with the lawyers.
[Joe] Kate's grasping at straws.
You used to think her determination to solve problems aboveboard was admirable
and now you see it's naive.
What if, uh, we… we turn Gretchen against her mother?
[music fades]
Exploit another child. Yeah, that's certainly one option.
[Joe] I'd actually forgotten what it feels like to be emasculated by Kate Lockwood.
Okay, I'm just gonna say it. There are many good schools.
We preemptively send little man to a new place.
He will be out of harm's way. He will shine no matter where he is.
It would defang Reagan.
No, no, I'm sorry. We're not sending Henry to a different school. He needs stability.
[pensive music playing]
Okay. Heard.
Every minute Reagan's in our lives, she's a threat to us.
The longer this drags, the more danger we're in.
-Our child is in. -I understand the situation, Joe.
-I will handle her. -You mean "we."
I mean "I."
Why don't you spend some time at the bookstore today?
You're so anxious about the opening. You should put your mind to that.
-You're trying to get rid of me. -I'm trying to protect you
from doing something that you might regret.
Please, please, please.
Don't look at me like I'm a liability.
Prove you aren't one. You just pitched leveraging a child.
I was spitballing.
No good deed goes unpunished.
The rejection is painful,
-existential even. -[sighs]
-[siren wailing] -[pensive music continues]
Best to focus on what you can control.
You've had enough prisoners to know hunger is the great motivator.
[Bronte] Morning.
I was organizing, but I, um, got distracted. [chuckles]
Oh, wow. Insomnia?
[Joe] Are you that frazzled? Play it off. Keep moving. Not too urgent.
Yeah, I'm caught in a story problem.
Wrote myself into a corner. It's writer's block, you know?
No.
Actually, I don't know.
Say more.
You don't get writer's block?
Honestly, if anything, I have trouble stopping,
which isn't always great.
By the way, being blocked, it's like more of a symptom than a cause.
I guess you're… [clicks tongue] an overthinker.
Since when is thinking a bad thing?
I said "overthinking," which is a classic sign of impostor syndrome.
[gasps, dramatically] "Oh, no. What if I don't choose the perfect word
and they all figure out I'm a fraud? Wah!" [laughs]
No judgement, obviously.
Everybody has it, which means you're not special.
Which means you don't have to be so precious.
Well, you know, when you're not precious with your prose,
you get something like this.
-Uh… What happened to Ibsen? -Oh!
Not to shock you, but a girl can be more than one thing.
And this oldie-but-goodie,
is approximately 50% of your entire romance section.
-So, what do you have against romance? -[book thuds]
Excuse me, I am a scholar of romantic literature.
Analysis is the opposite of enjoyment.
[Joe] Oh, the passion of youth.
Unless you think I'm enjoying myself too much instead of working,
there is an estate sale's worth of used romance novels
at bargain basement prices on this very day.
-So… -[upbeat music playing]
Can I have the company credit card? And car?
There is no company car. It's just my car.
No offense, I don't trust you with my card.
That's fair.
Ugh! I did that to myself.
Um, okay, well, even if I could haul all of those books from Queens myself,
I have a thing I can't miss later, so…
I guess this place will stay decidedly unsexy.
[Joe] She makes a case, but you've got a prisoner.
Okay, yeah. Back to shelving. Got it.
No, it's… I'm sorry, it's not you.
How will you balance cage-time with acting normal?
Maybe it wouldn't hurt to keep her away from your prisoner for a bit.
-You know what? I'll drive. -[keys jingle]
Oh, you're… coming with?
Yeah. I don't bite.
I got a project I gotta check on downstairs.
Mind emptying the trunk for me?
-[switch clicks] -[music fades]
Maddie…
I'm glad you're calmer.
I think I've found a way out of this.
I need dirt.
On Reagan.
The kind of thing that would ruin her life and stop her from ruining ours.
The kind of thing that only a twin would know.
And if you give me that…
-then we can start rebuilding trust. -[box closes]
Maddie?
[inhales]
I was just a week shy of 16. [exhales]
And Pôrto Seguro was supposed to have one of the nicest beaches in Brazil.
So Daddy flew me, Rae, and a few of our friends down
for this birthday party.
[Joe] Okay, here it comes. The dirt.
And one night, Reagan got really drunk,
and she hooked up with her bodyguard, and I was, like, so jealous. [chuckles]
Everybody else went to bed, but I was super drunk on Gatorita
and I didn't even hear the footsteps in the sand. Just… pain.
[intriguing music playing]
And then I woke up in a chicken shack.
Hands and feet zip-tied.
[inhales] Sequestradores.
[Joe] Where is this going?
This isn't an original, you know?
Reconstruction.
Chefe Breno needed something to mail Daddy for the ransom.
But Breno had a thing for me.
Yeah, I wasn't just some rich girl.
He hated the whole abduction racket,
and he really, really wanted to get out of it, but didn't know how.
And then one day, I asked him,
"How do you say, 'I forgive you,' in Portuguese?"
And then he broke down in my arms.
And I cradled him like a baby.
That was the day I turned 16.
Breno shot himself in the head three days later.
[clicks tongue] And I walked myself back to the beach.
The FBI had never seen anything like it.
-You're bluffing. -Daddy bought me a new ear.
I made sure nobody ever spoke about it again.
But some nights, you know, right before the Ambien kicks in,
I wonder, why did I have to go through all of that?
And now I know.
To prepare me for this.
[Joe] Don't let her get in your head. Use your leverage.
And be that as it may.
If you don't cooperate, you don't get to eat.
-[box closes] -That's your big play?
Aw, Boo-Boo.
Every minute you starve me, I get hotter.
And I know that if you could kill me, you already would have.
[Joe] Shit, she's reading you like a book.
Oh! And I guess you forgot I take insulin.
You're gonna have to go fetch my little shots.
Otherwise things are gonna get really messy in here.
Congrats on getting me in your cute, little box. [chuckles]
But make no mistake, Boo-Boo.
You are the hostage here.
[music fades]
-[birds chirping] -[soft contemplative music playing]
[Joe] Fortunately, New York's one big pharmacy.
Maddie's insulin wasn't hard to come by.
Might be the twist your story needs.
She thinks you're just gonna give it to her.
You'll bring her to the brink. Of death.
Force her to turn on Reagan.
-He prefers cash. Hundreds are fine. -Ah, I didn't bring any.
Okay, um, let's go to an ATM.
[Joe] Oh, so she can see your PIN?
Ugh. Joe.
-I'll push for Zelle. -Thank you.
[Joe] Bronte's alarmingly good at getting what she wants.
You being here at all. Re-hiring her after her basement break-in.
[hesitantly] Her questions…
Why are you so suspicious of her?
Maybe because you've known Maddie for years
and somehow completely underestimated her.
-10% of you still think she's bluffing. -[line ringing]
[on cell phone] This is Kate Lockwood, leave a message.
-[line beeps] -Hey…
I, uh… I did some Reddit lurking, if it helps the cause,
and this sounds insane, but has Maddie ever been taken?
Like, by a… By not a rehab specialist?
It's probably a dumb Internet rumor. I don't know. Call me.
Has a more impotent message ever been left?
-Bye, honey. -Ooh.
Little voicemail? How married of you.
Is that a married thing?
So you and the missus… Let's see.
Romance tropes. [inhales] Uh…
Gotta be, like, a "grumpy-sunshine" pairing, right?
You think I'm the sunshine type?
Uh, no. You would obviously be the grump,
but you've… you've tipped your hand now.
Two grumps.
No, Kate and I…
How we met was more enemies-to-lovers.
[sighs] Oh! I love. [inhales]
It's like anger and passion. Slippery slope.
[inhales] I have talked him into credit and a discount,
because he recognizes you.
It's funny how the richer you are,
the more people want to throw money at you.
Skip the discount and make the card groan under the heft of the haul.
Oh. Charitable of you.
Uh, we need to make two trips. Your car's too small. [clicks tongue]
[Joe] Two grumps. Your marriage can't be that blah, can it?
Henry can't be the only thing that's kept you solid for three years.
And yet here you are, sneaking around behind your wife's back,
hoping to fix your Maddie snafu before Kate finds out.
While you, uh, grab the last box,
mind if I spend time repairing the Frost manuscript?
Yeah.
[inhales] You know…
Do you know who's lovely, dark and deep, Joe?
Parts of our protagonist Calliope here?
-Calliope? -Mm-hmm.
I think that you can learn something here.
No? Fine. TLDR.
Maximus brushes a lock of hair from Calliope's face.
And that face, yeah, he's missed so badly, right? [inhales]
-So she… bites her lip. -[soft music playing]
And then he has to kiss her, of course, because lip bite.
And then something quivers, and then more things quiver.
And then he shoves her.
Harder than he should.
But she pulls him in,
and she purrs in his ear.
[Joe chuckles]
And then he growls.
-Hmm? -[chuckles] He growls?
-Mm-hmm. -Respectfully, people don't purr or growl.
Women don't just flip their hair,
and men don't push women against door frames
or whip their belts off in kink-beckoning ways.
I'm aware that the Internet has its… [inhales]
…idea of romance. Thank you. [sighs]
I purr.
I'll… have to take your word for it.
Really? You're just gonna let me win an argument in the lamest way possible?
-No, let's, um… Let's do this. -What?
Hairbrush, lip bite, combo.
Right now. Let's do it. Put it to the test. Hmm?
[Joe] Okay, fastest way to put this to bed…
-Fine. -Okay. I'm ready.
-Okay, so I just… -On the face, here we go, right off.
[Joe] All right, all right.
[stirring music playing]
[Joe] Huh.
[laughing]
[music fades]
I hope you took notes.
It's gimmicky, still not my style.
[chuckles] Okay.
You mind if I just take these 15? You go get the box?
Gentle reminder, she's your younger employee.
Don't be that guy.
Did you get to talk about your, uh, your outbursts?
A little. George thinks what I'm feeling is normal.
-[door opens] -He said that?
[Henry] Yep.
-Well, good. -[door closes]
[chuckles] 'Cause he's right.
Incoming! Juicy gossip.
Henry, game time. One hour, max.
[Teddy inhales sharply] Go.
You heard your mom. Go save the princess.
Tell me someone squealed on Reagan.
The personal accountant you sent me to. Kudos.
Please tell me it's embezzlement.
-It's embezzlement! Mm-hmm. -[gasps]
-[chuckles] -Oh! We love a brazen cash grab.
-Mm-hmm. -And at a moment like this?
-Okay, say nothing. -Mm-hmm.
I want to be looking in that cow's eyes when I deliver the death blow.
-You want me to loop in Joe? -No.
What, are you worried he'll strangle her himself?
[chuckles awkwardly]
He's just angry. That's all.
[pensive music playing]
Of course.
[Joe] Ah, shit. The insulin withdrawal is working faster than you'd planned.
Leverage her now.
-[music fades] -[Maddie shivering]
You're not looking so hot.
Hey…
-[taps] -I got your shot.
[Maddie whimpers softly]
So if you want it…
let's talk.
[weakly] Joe. Please.
Glucose. Spiking. [chuckles softly]
[breathing shakily] I can't feel my toesies.
[laughing]
I mean, do you even know how insulin works?
That's funny. My understanding
is that pretty soon your discomfort turns into the real threat of dying.
Which is the thing that you cannot let happen.
[scoffs] Wow.
So you disappear for a few hours and this is what you come back with?
Did Kate sign off on this?
[Joe] Even Maddie knows your wife disapproves.
Oh. Okay. That's a no.
But I lowkey love for you this sad attempt at an ultimatum.
-[laughs] -Kate and I are partners.
You're a sort of… [exhales] soft-boy misogynist, right?
Control-hungry goblin under a nice-guy smile?
[inhales] The prince of polite projecting "so dang supportive"
while coveting your wifey's power.
You couldn't be more wrong. My marriage is not on trial here.
And yet I haven't seen any Architectural Digest tours
of this cozy glass torture den. [gasps dramatically]
It's for books.
Oh, so we are in the bookstore that Kate is paying for.
[inhales] This place is mine!
[tense music playing]
And once upon a time it did hold more than books.
Not many people have made it.
Not many people have seen this side of me and lived.
So fucking listen to me when I tell you
you need me if you want to get out of here.
What is a tortured psychopath doing…
[chuckling] …tootling around like Kate's neutered, purse dog?
Enjoy ketoacidosis.
[gasps]
[laughing] Oh!
Aw, Boo-Boo did do research! [laughs]
[music fades]
[Joe] Can't believe you're in a stalemate with Maddie.
If there is such a thing as a muse, please, you could use some ideas.
Okay, that's the last of them.
You can, uh, like, GPS yourself back to Mooney's, right?
You want me to leave you here?
It's later than I thought and I have that thing.
It's only ten blocks away.
It's ten blocks. Let me drive you, please.
I… I wouldn't be caught dead showing up to a dirtbag, literary salon in a car,
let alone your car.
"Dirtbag, literary salon?"
Uh, yes. We do it monthly.
It's like we get together, read stuff we're working on.
It's loftier than an open mic, but hornier than an author's reading.
Plus drugs, I don't think it would be your scene.
At least let me walk you.
All right… Prince Chivalry.
-Just looking out for my employee. -[Bronte] Mm-hmm.
[mellow music playing]
[door opens]
[indistinct chatter]
[music fades]
[Joe] This is what passes for a literary salon in Bronte's world?
Not exactly the Algonquin Round Table,
the stench of sweat alone,
echoes of improv shows and open mic poetry readings past.
[man] Every meme-hungry, no-shit conspiracy theorist
needs to believe this.
All this is a side quest that the…
What could be better for your writer's block
than seeing a bunch of non-perfectionists
presenting their deeply flawed work with fiery self-assurance?
So you're saying it's bad?
I said it's flawed.
It's navel-gazy.
It's, like, faux-hemian shout into the void,
but… it's passionate.
[intriguing music playing]
[woman] Hey, you!
-[Bronte gasps] -[laughs]
[Bronte] Hey, you.
[Joe] I'm still not sure how you got diagnosed as "passionless."
Every time she talks about your writing
it's like she's talking about your marriage.
And right now both are blocked.
So why not open your mind?
[man] …your own dead-eyed lives.
Is irony the only currency of our generation?
[Joe] Look at him, baring his soul for all to see.
Come on, you're not a real writer.
Kate read your words.
Your vulnerable, messy fantasies and told you to burn them.
Maybe that's what hurts so much.
Your wife is repulsed by the most authentic part of you.
-[indistinct chatter] -[man continues indistinctly]
[man] Behold the city of industry that devours life itself.
-If you're really fucking successful… -Hey, sorry. Bye.
[man] When I was six, my dad…
Hey, uh, you stay, have fun.
I just, uh… I forgot I have a thing, I have to go.
-Whoa, whoa, seriously? -I, uh--
Wow… Hello, Bronte.
[Joe] Great. Who's this guy? And why she's so desperate to avoid him?
Joe, this is Clayton.
We used to fuck.
[Joe] If you broke his elbow you could shove that fist up his ass.
Joe.
Hey, bro, I know who you are.
Sweet upgrade. Gotta teach the rest of us how to beguile a patron.
[Joe] "Patron." Hmm. Sometimes you do feel like a walking bank to her.
It's easy. Just get a job.
I thought you were in Vermont,
woodshedding your "personal essay collection."
I finished early. It turns out I just needed to admit I was the main character.
[Joe] Says the walking footnote.
I'll be reading one tonight.
Sorry, but we've got a rule.
You can't watch if you don't share.
People are opening up veins in here, you know?
-No vampires. -Yeah, we were just leaving.
Ooh! But you already watched.
At least he did, and you're not a writer, are you, Prince Charming?
No. He's not.
[Joe] She's just trying to keep you out of it, but ouch.
Then it looks like you're up, "Brontosaurus."
I think I've got an old draft
of one of your little dirty post-feminist one-acts.
Fuck, no. Clay, I shared those with you in confidence.
Hey, I didn't make the rules.
[tense music playing]
Dare I ask what constitutes a dirty post-feminist one-act?
You're about to find out.
[people applauding]
[Joe] It kills you to see her like this.
You wouldn't mind giving him a face tattoo with a dull pencil.
Hmm, shit that's good. Bronte's right. Inspiration everywhere.
[Clayton] "Aren't you ever afraid of it? Your animal side?"
"I prefer to let my instincts guide me."
[people laughing]
[Joe] Poor Bronte.
Nobody wants their early drafts read out loud,
let alone an out-of-context sex scene.
"I want you to come on me."
[people laughing]
"I want you on my lips, my chest. I want to drown in you."
[people laughing]
All right, this isn't Mortified, you fucking vultures.
Clayton, you… God, you are such a narcissistic asshole.
[Joe] Relax. She can take care of herself.
You know, I didn't agree to share,
but, um, I wouldn't expect you to give a shit about consent.
[people] Oh!
Strong attempt at being interesting.
You know, it's amazing the lengths some people need to go to
in order to be relevant.
-[people] Oh! -[Clayton] Like calling yourself Bronte.
Hey, moneybags,
did you know her real name is Louise?
[Joe] What?
Louise Flannery, accredited dental hygienist from Ohio.
Picked the most "writerly" name she could
before she moved to the Big Apple to start her big, bohemian life.
-Then she stole from me for months. -[woman] No way.
[people murmuring]
[Joe] Impossible. Are you being grifted after all?
And you thought you were the impostor.
[distant siren wailing]
[Kate] Reagan?
Reagan, there's no avoiding me, you--
-Oh. Harrison. Trip with the boys? -[laughs]
No, I won't try to explain.
I'd love it if you did.
What does my side matter, Kate? She's gonna control the story.
-[door opens] -[foreboding music playing]
[door closes]
[Reagan sobbing, sniffling]
[Reagan groans, inhales]
Kate… [sighs]
Just perfect. [scoffs]
Oh, Gretchen would love to see her favorite auntie,
but, uh, she's upstairs crying over her daddy's incest-tinged infidelity.
Wait, what insanity is this now?
I got a call yesterday.
Security found Harrison half-naked, locked in the supply closet at the office.
[gasps] Oh, God. Oh, God.
[hesitates] Who with?
Madison's phone was on the floor.
Bitch must have run for the hills.
Fuck.
Wait, so… Oh, that's why she's avoiding Teddy and I.
I'm sorry.
Are you still angling for Teddy's stupid board seat…
-No, no. I didn't know. I didn't know. -…at a time like this?
God, we are all just like Dad at heart, aren't we?
Oh, no. Well, you more than me.
-Excuse me? -Well, that's why you're CEO, isn't it?
He raised you to be a shark.
You love a little blood in the water.
[sighing] I sometimes think that you don't know me at all.
Oh, fine. I don't know anything about anyone.
[inhales]
They've been going behind my back for years, Katie. Years.
[sobbing softly]
That is… That's gutting, Rae, I'm really… I'm so sorry.
[Reagan scoffs]
-Will you and Harrison-- -Oh, I am divorcing him.
Oh, and he better buckle the fuck up.
My fucking twin? Nobody humiliates me.
Nobody who lives to see the next day. [laughs]
[Reagan chuckles]
I'm sorry… that I've been
such a monster lately.
[solemn music playing]
I think somewhere I must have sensed something was going to blow up.
I'm sorry.
I mean, of course you'd come a bit undone.
[Reagan scoffs]
Can we at least agree to keep the kids out of this?
-You're using my trauma against me?! -Okay.
All right, let me rephrase that. [inhales]
Leave the kids out of it
or your trauma will be the front page of The Post tomorrow morning.
[gasps]
[inhales] Fine.
I will fix things with the school.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
-[music fades] -[shop bell tinkling]
[Joe] As badly as you wanted to chase Bronte down,
Maddie's insulin is more urgent.
wait much longer, and she'll be too incoherent
-to extract much of anything. -[cell phone rings]
She really does have you hostage.
-Hey. -[Kate] Hello.
[sighs] I was just wondering when you're en route. It's been quite a day.
I'm packing right now.
Okay, well, I managed to sort things for Henry.
Reagan is dropping the charges.
That's fantastic.
And massive news.
Harrison and Madison have been carrying on a longstanding affair.
Wow.
You don't sound surprised.
[Joe] Shit. Cover.
[sputters] Yeah, I think I'm stunned.
Yeah, same.
He's leaving.
Divorce in the works.
[inhales] Maddie must be in hiding.
I wish I had more to tell,
but I could hardly get a word in through Reagan's crying.
[Joe] That doesn't sound like Reagan.
What about her other threat to us?
Just give it time. I'm… I'm working on her.
Time is on Reagan's side, not ours.
Let's chat when you get home.
Okay.
Fine.
[pensive music playing]
-[beeps] -Reagan's just buying time
to find something irrefutably damning from our past.
Kate's aversion to violence is going to cost you everything.
What is she trying to prove?
However, the outing of an affair.
Hell of a plot device, used properly.
There is one upside to Reagan knowing about her sister and Harrison.
Is this inspiration?
It could be tropey, but don't overthink.
[suspenseful music playing]
[Maddie scoffs]
I can see your body's finally working against you.
You're lucky I have news.
The kind that will solve both of our problems.
[chuckling] Really?
[object thuds]
Reagan knows about the affair.
She's filing for divorce.
No more hiding.
That means you and Harrison are free to run away together as in vanish,
disappear to some tropical forever after. [inhales]
I'm not your enemy, Maddie.
If you get your happy ending and I was a part of making it happen,
we can go our separate ways.
Reagan found out?
Oh, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no.
I threatened to out your affair before and you didn't flinch.
I was bluffing! [breath trembling]
Maddie, this is good. The worst is over.
No, no, no. The worst is not over. [inhales]
It is still coming.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! Oh, my God.
Do you really think that Harrison and I didn't think
about running away already together?
I mean, my God. No way! She would destroy us! Oh!
What happened to expert hostage girl?
You can't seriously be more afraid of Reagan than dying.
Yes, I can.
[clicks tongue] There are prenups, Joe… [breathes shakily]
…and then there are death sentences in legalese.
[soft somber music playing]
Oh, Reagan, she's going to take everything.
Oh, my God, and Harrison, he's just like a dead man walking. [inhales]
And Gretchen… Oh, God, poor, poor Gretchen.
[breathing heavily]
We'll never see her again. My baby, oh, my baby, my baby.
[sobbing]
Is Gretchen yours?
[Maddie inhales]
Well, not legally. [breathing shakily]
But I carried Gretchen in my own belly.
[Maddie sobs softly]
Reagan bullied me into being her surrogate
because she didn't want to get all stretched out.
[scoffing] And I said yes. [sobs]
I thought that maybe, you know, it would be like Harrison and me.
We would be having a baby together, you know?
God, and Reagan. God, she fucking knew how I felt.
She knew how I fucking felt!
And she conned me into it!
I'm so pathetic.
No happy endings. [scoffs] Not for me.
There are fates worse than death.
[inhales] You might as well kill me.
-[Maddie sighs] -[Joe] You still can't,
but now you don't even want to.
[Maddie sighs]
[door unlocks, opens]
[soft somber music continues]
[Joe] A writer has empathy for all his characters.
Even the pathetic ones.
You're out of leverage. Out of ideas.
[sighs]
[softly] Take this.
[music fades]
[Joe] You've never felt more off your game.
What else is waiting to bite you in the ass?
Might as well see what dark secrets lurk in Bronte's past.
[chair creaks]
[intriguing music playing]
Louise Flannery. Part-time dental hygienist.
Seven years. Okay, boring. Her asshole ex said she stole from him,
but could have just been vindictive.
Her LinkedIn shows a leave of absence before New York.
After a long battle with lung cancer, survived by daughter, Louise, 27.
She lost her mom. Sad. Reasonable.
An out-of-date Goodreads. Good taste.
This you knew. Beck.
Your big revelation's not exactly a "gotcha moment."
Everybody read Beck's book.
Bronte… Louise already told you
she read Sherry and Cary's self-aggrandizing trash.
Either Louise lived a pretty basic life and moved here to chase a dream.
Or… she is using you.
Only one way to find out.
[knocking at door]
[music fades]
[Joe] Bronte?
[Bronte sniffling]
I, uh… I guess I owe you another explanation.
No, no. Not for that asshole's sake.
[sighs]
[tearfully] You know, um…
Clayton's right.
I talk a big game, but I'm a fraud.
I was so desperate when I moved here.
[sighs] No friends. I burned through my savings.
I actually thought that I would just, like, write some plays
and people would pay to see them. [scoffs]
Delulu. [chuckles]
[sniffles] I, um… I fell for Clayton hard.
And I believed him when he said that he would help me.
And now I owe him a lot of money. [inhales]
All a gift, of course, until I stopped fucking him.
[scoffs] He's the reason that I…
No, uh, I'm the reason. I…
I lie.
Over and over. Just… [sobs] I'm just so…
Ashamed.
[gentle music playing]
I know something about wanting to start over and be someone new.
Oh. Seems to have worked out for you.
Yeah, it wasn't easy.
There are days I… I miss the old me.
[exhales]
-When I had less to lose. -Less to lose, yeah.
Well, you weren't just laughed at by a theater full of your peers. [chuckles]
[inhales, sighs sharply]
"I want to drown in you"? Fuck.
I thought that shit was so hot when I wrote it.
Now all I picture is, like, a tidal wave of cum.
I don't even know if I wanna be a playwright.
No, no, no. Don't…
-Don't let one cum wave stop you. -[chuckles]
This is your dream.
It's a dream.
And I, um…
My mom died a few years ago.
I was her sole caretaker for five years.
Five horrible, monotonous years.
[inhales]
And at a certain point, I couldn't…
I couldn't untangle my love from my resentment.
And then she died.
And, turns out, love…
is the only thing that matters.
I'm sorry. That sounds hard.
[inhales]
I just swore to myself
I would never be stuck as one thing ever again.
I just want to live as much and as fast as I can.
Part of me knew what Clayton was like.
And I liked being his wounded bird.
Selfishly, I thought it might get me where I'm going faster.
[Joe] And there it is.
Your moment to broach the last of your suspicions.
And you knew somewhere deep It was too good to be true
[Beck] It was too good to be true
[Joe] But you let yourself be…
[Beck] But you let yourself be swept
…swept
[Beck] Because he was the first Strong enough to lift you
[Joe sighs]
-Because he was the first -[soft wistful music playing]
Strong enough to lift you
Guinevere Beck.
-And you know she worked here, right? -Yeah.
Guilty.
You know, of all the abandoned bookstores in New York,
you'd think I just stumbled into Mooney's.
I saw myself in her work when I was younger.
Would you tell me about her?
[Joe] You don't know what you were expecting, but this is not suspicion.
It's earnest. Curious. A desire to connect.
Well, she was a light.
[soft music playing]
As beautiful.
Inside and out.
She's a true poet. So much potential.
We dated… briefly.
No way.
It was a tragedy…
[pensive music playing]
…what happened to her.
I've never told anyone this.
I wish I killed Dr. Nicky.
Then maybe she would still be here.
I know when you read my writing,
I know all you saw was murder, an anti-hero with no backstory.
But… now you know that it doesn't come from nowhere.
I wish sometimes I was as strong as I am on the page.
All the time.
If only… life were as tidy as fiction. [chuckles softly]
A lot of people deserve a little… poetic justice.
[Joe] Even without all the facts, she gets you.
A far cry from your wife,
insisting you light the most interesting part of yourself on fire.
Well, for what it's worth, Bronte… Louise.
[Bronte gasps]
You can trust me… with all of you.
Maybe that's what writing is becoming for me.
Maybe I want what's inside to come out.
To not just be seen, but to be devoured.
And, uh, at home?
Are you?
Devoured?
I'm not.
I should go.
[door opens]
[Bronte] I'm not your trope, you know.
Or, like, the "poor girl" to your "rich guy" or whatever.
Whatever ingenue you're projecting onto me.
-What? -We're adults, Joe.
We can say the quiet part out loud. [inhales]
I'm a mess.
And I don't think I can handle an affair, as much as I would enjoy myself.
[Joe] What have you done?
Please don't make me feel like I'm the asshole here.
-[Joe] Oh, no. -[mellow music playing]
I am the asshole.
Because you are right.
Now I see all of you.
The mess, the pain behind the bluster,
the ache to connect, breath shallow, cheeks flush. Is that a hair tuck?
You're scared.
And so am I. Not of the fantasy, of the reality that you could be mine?
Right here, right now.
[music fades]
I should go.
[moody music playing]
"Retreat, regroup."
Becoming my mantra lately.
What was that?
At minimum, certain urges. Natural, healthy urges.
Not necessarily a thing needing to be dealt with or worried over.
Worked through.
-[suspenseful music playing] -[typewriter clacking]
"Sparks." Sure. Yeah, sure. I've missed that.
-[typewriter dings] -Damn it, there's a word for…
-[typewriter clacking] -"Staring into your eyes,
was like finding myself."
"Your hunger pulling me into you."
"Desperate to know what I can do to you."
"For you. And what you could do to me."
So this is where you snuck off to.
Hey.
[music fades]
You can trust me with it.
It's… [inhales]
It's so wrong.
-I know. I'm sorry. -No.
I like it.
I want more.
["Night Drive" by Rob Simonsen playing]
[unzips pants]
[Joe gasps]
I want all of you.
[Joe exhales]
Drown me.
[grunts]
[song fades]
[exhales]
[breathes deeply]
[exhales]
[Joe] This is the best thing I've written yet.
Or the worst.
Not exactly seeing things clearly right now.
-[exhales] -[desk drawer closes]
I have a son.
-[pensive music playing] -A wife.
And something that's just for me.
Writing. And writing alone.
The page is the safest place to explore my urges,
violent and otherwise without liability or rejection.
You, my employee, can stay in that small part of my brain.
And if you can embrace all of me, maybe Kate can too.
[music fades]
[distant horn blares]
-[drink pouring] -[footsteps approaching]
[glass clinking]
No, thanks.
-All right. -[chuckles]
Did you speak to Maddie today?
[Joe] Shit. She suspects.
It's almost like I've been acting suspicious.
No. Why… Oh, my… my voicemail.
A part of me wants to tell her.
Maybe she'd understand. Help fix it.
As you would say, "delulu."
I'm sorry. I…
tried to dig up some scandal on your sisters by myself.
It was harmless, but I should have known better.
Nothing of substance ever comes from a celebrity subreddit.
Besides, seems like you handled Reagan well enough on your own.
You know, I do want to work these things out together.
Yeah?
[inhales] Then why push me away?
I cannot be some…
black-hearted Lady Macbeth. [chuckles]
Since you, um… Since we did the thing, I can't sleep.
I lie awake. [breathes shakily]
-[soft somber music playing] -Paralyzed.
Just replaying, searching for ways it could have ended differently.
If I do nod off, the… the nightmares are… horrifying.
To be fair, that sounds exactly like Lady Macbeth.
[chuckling] Damn. I mean, I'm serious.
I know.
There was a time when I could read your mind.
And I don't know when that changed.
Joe…
Help me understand.
Why are you not suffering the way I am?
Because I stopped feeling guilty about this part of myself.
When we left London.
You've helped me play nice for three years and it's been fine.
But I need a purpose. [sighs]
I need a purpose, Kate.
And when I can protect you
and protect Henry…
I feel not even remotely guilty.
In fact, I'm starting to think it's
what makes me special.
And when you look at me like that, it's painful
to be so misunderstood.
You read my pages and recoiled.
That part of me isn't scary. It's romantic.
Because it's not random, and it's… it's actually not bloodthirsty.
It's for you.
I don't want that.
-[inhales] -[glass clinks on table]
[sighs]
I have to think that part of you does.
Why did you cover up so much of my past?
Why would you send me after Bob?
Kate, I married a queen.
Fierce and powerful. Not to be fucked with.
And I know that person is still inside of you.
Let me be your knight.
I need to be of service.
Let me help you make the world better. Please.
You can help me.
Just any way, but that.
[soft somber music continues]
[music fades]
[glass scrapes]
[Joe sighs]
[pensive music playing]
[inhales shakily, exhales]
[Joe] I'm gonna have a vulnerability hangover in the morning.
But you, Bronte, have clarified what's missing in my marriage.
You're sparkly. Inspiring.
And there's a lot I'd be willing to do for you.
Maybe you'd appreciate a little protecting.
[vibrates]
[music fades]
Um…
-[Joe] Maddie? -I…
[Joe] What the fuck is going on? Is this old? It says "live."
I wanted to get ahead of the rumors that may be circling.
Uh…
It's true.
I messed up… [chuckles]
…with my sister's husband. [scoffs]
[Joe] Holy shit, that is Reagan.
Are you seeing this?
And I feel the most remorse
a jealous, cheating whore could possibly feel.
[Joe] Kate thought she and Reagan had reached a détente,
but clearly Reagan's still plotting.
Oh, my God, someone needs to stop her.
[Joe] Her impersonation is even fooling her own sister. That's possible?
I will be ceding my board voting capacity in absentia
to my sister, Reagan. Immediately.
[Joe] Incredible.
It's actually brilliant.
Oh, fuck. Fuck, I'm gonna lose control of the board.
[suspenseful music playing]
Oh, God, not to mention Teddy's vote. I'm gonna have to make some calls.
[Joe] I couldn't give a shit about board romantics, but this is gold.
I'm no moron, I'm a genius.
Turns out Reagan is the inspiration I've been looking for this whole time.
I finally know how the story needs to go.
With any luck, imposter syndrome is gonna be my salvation.
How would you like to become your sister?
[dramatic music playing]
[music fades]
[gripping instrumental music playing]