Almost Paradise (2020–…): Season 2, Episode 2 - Breaking Badminton - full transcript

Come on. Shit. Come on.

Why you running, Carlo?

Mr. Morada...

Nobody blackmails me...

especially a punk-ass kid like you.

No, sir.
No, I-- I wasn't gonna blackmail you.

I just need help. I wanted to--

Wanted me to buy your silence?

Look, whatever I saw back there,

I promise I won't tell anyone--

Oh, I know you won't, Carlo.



My name is Alex Walker.
I'm ex-DEA.

One of my first assignments
took me to an isolated beach

right here on this island.

I sold what little I had
and bought myself a gift shop.

Just peace, no stress, no drama.

Boy, was I wrong.

-Oh, hey.

That's good, but in Yaw Yan,
you need to square your stance.

And drop your shoulders like this.

So drop the shoulders.
Kinda like...

Sorry, got away from me.
Are you okay?

Yeah, I just...

Experience over youth, my brother.

Why do I come here?



You hired me to train you Yaw Yan.

Yeah, to get me in shape,
not to whoop my ass, man.

Besides, if I'm gonna start dating again,
I gotta get in shape.

You know what I mean?

You?

What do you mean, "You"?
What am I, Johnny Lunchmeat?

No, um, it's just that I thought you were,
you know, over all that stuff.

Thought I was like a relic?

No, no. If I were your age,
I'd want to spend my time with my family.

Wow.

Or grandchildren.

Grandchildren?
How old do you think I am?

You know what? Don't even answer that.

Why don't you just throw me
back in the ring?

You can kick me square in the nuts.
It'll be less painful.

-Sorry, I didn't mean to say that.
-I'm kidding.

- Thanks.

-Yeah.
-I can actually use the work.

Yeah, me and you both.
All right, I'll see you tonight, right?

Tonight?

Yeah. Fight night.

Torres versus Dugan, live from Hawaii.
I told you about this.

Bring your wife.

Yeah, yeah, we'll be there.

Good, 'cause it's gonna be epic, right?

I got a big screen TV.
I got pizza rolls, beer.

I imported buffalo wings.

Hey, Alex. Um, there's something
I want to talk to you about.

Shoot, bubba.

-I know you know friends who--

Ah... Satellite dish guy's
early. The guy...

I gotta go! I'll see you tonight.
I'll see you tonight.

Yeah, sure.

Hey, hey. God damn it.

Huh? You guys having a good time?
You having fun?

Make sure and grab yourself a beer.

Listen up, people!

Fight's getting ready to start,
and you don't have to move right now,

but you may want to find yourself a seat
in a little bit before the fight starts.

Remember, that's, that's not it.
No, no. Absolutely not. Up.

That says "reserved" on the back.
I brought this all the way from the lobby.

-What are you looking at that?

Yeah.

They smell funny.

That's because
they're authentic buffalo wings.

-Buffalo?
-Yeah.

No, not buffalo. It's chicken.
We call 'em buffalo wings.

-Why?
-I don't know. It's an American thing.

Americans are so confusing.

Okay. But the point is,
is that this is a special recipe.

I had 'em specially flown in from
somewhere in New York just for tonight.

I think that they were
in the plane for way too long.

All right. Stop being funny.
Hold that. Watch.

Mm-hmm.

These are definitely not good.
Don't eat those.

Get some chips or something.

Hey. No, no. Beer?

Where'd you get that?

-Hey, man!
-Hey!

Hey! Wow!

-The place looks great, Alex.
-Thank you very much.

Oh, you really went all out, huh?
That's a new TV?

Yeah. No, that's--
I borrowed it.

But I gotta be honest with you, man,
I'm nervous.

I have not hosted
since I've been on the island,

but I think it's going well.

Hot wings. I want--

No, I gotta--
I gotta garnish some of these.

-Go get a beer, man. Get a beer.
-Okay.

-Kai, grab a beer.
-All right.

Oh, yeah. Can--
I'll get it.

Hey. Hey.

I heard you're having a party.

Well, wh--
It's more of an informal get-together.

Well, that's probably why
I didn't get an invitation. Hm?

I assume you meant to invite me.

Well, that's why you're the chief, huh?
Your assumption was correct.

I thought you're not allowed
to throw parties here.

It's against hotel rules.

Well, it's not really.
It's really not a party.

Oh, okay. I get it.

-Yeah.
-Yeah.

-A get-together.
-Get-together.

-Got it.
-Come on in.

No, no. No, no, no.

-Normally, I don't watch boxing.
-No, Chief. Chief.

I find it very barbaric.

Oh, so comfy.
The best seat in the house.

How 'bout some hot wings?

Oh, thanks.

- Alex?
- What?

Aren't we were supposed to be
watching the fight?

We are watching the fight.

But it's not the fight.

Hey. Uh, what did you--
Are you pushing stuff?

This is a telenovela.

It's the... stupid satellite dish guy,
man! I'm gonna kill him!

You know how much I paid for this?

I love this show!

Well, we're not watching this show.

Alamares.

When?

Okay, be right there.

Party's over for us.
They found a body.

Unidentified male, early 20s,
five foot ten, 145 pounds.

Okay, where?

At a parking structure
next to, uh, Reynaldo's Gym.

Reynaldo's Gym?
That's my gym.

Uh...

File a report!

Yeah, that's my favorite show.

You know the victim, Alex?

Carlo Guzman.
He was training me at the gym.

Someone did
quite a number on this guy.

Strangled, and by the marks on his neck,
I'd say from behind.

What do you know about him?

He was a good guy.

Like I said, I hired him to train me,

so, I mean,
it seemed like he needed money.

He say anything to you
about what was going on with him?

I think he was trying to.

He said he needed to talk to me,
but I was too busy trying to...

throw a party.

Hey, Alex. This isn't your fault, man.

We're gonna find out who did this.
I promise.

Oh, you're damn right I'm going to.

-Alex, Alex. Just let us do our job--
-Ernesto, this man was a friend of mine.

Well, if you want to help,
you might want to start with this.

What is that?

Killshot.

They found it in his coat pocket.
Looks like an admission token.

Admission to what?

I don't remember
asking all of you into my office.

Excuse the intrusion, Chief,
but we need a favor.

We need a warrant to access phone records
for a murder victim.

For a victim, that shouldn't be a problem.
You just go through the normal procedure.

If we do that, it'll just take
too much time, Chief.

But if I make some calls...

-That'll really help us out.
- Good.

We don't have a lot to go on,

and we're worried that leads
will dry out if we wait.

And why are you here?

He was a friend.

You know, I always welcome
your assistance here,

but if you really want to help us,
Manila just sent us a report

about this new drug from Singapore
hitting the streets,

and they're offering a $20,000 reward
for a conviction.

Now, with your expertise
as a former DEA agent--

Listen to me. Listen to me, Chief.

I'm gonna find out who killed Carlo
with or without the police, so...

Then work together we shall.

Kai and I will access his phone records.

Uh, you and Ernie
will build a portfolio, okay?

Thanks, Chief.

Let's go, Kai.

You parked right next to the tree, man.
How am I supposed to get out?

Sorry.

All right, how do you want to play this?
Good cop, bad cop?

How about cop, not cop?

Remember, Alex, you're just an observer.

Oh, right, right, right.
That's a good cover.

Not a cover. Not a cover.

Impersonating a police officer is a crime.
You know that, Alex.

I gotcha, man. I gotcha.
Partner.

Yes?

Uh...

Mrs. Guzman, I'm Detective Alamares.

May we have a few minutes of your time?

Mrs. Guzman, we apologize
for intruding at such a sensitive time.

I can't believe he's gone.

Who would do such a thing?
We have a child coming!

Miss Guzman,
I'm gonna find out who killed him.

I'm sorry, I didn't get your name.

Oh, Mr. Alex Walker knew Carlo, and is,
uh, helping us with our investigation.

I knew him from the...
from the gym.

Mrs. Guzman, do you know if Carlo
had any disagreements with anyone?

Make any enemies?

No, no. Everybody loved Carlo.

Volleyball, swimming, tennis.

That's incredible.

I knew he was a great kickboxer,
but I had no idea.

Carlo loved sports.

He loved playing them, watching them,
betting on them.

Maybe a little too much.

How do you mean, Mrs. Guzman?

Carlo made a lot of bad bets
and he owed a lot of money.

How much are we talking about?

Enough that we're losing this home.

We have nothing left.

Carlo tried to take on more work.

He even tried to win some money
by entering a tournament at some club.

A tournament?
Do you remember the club's name?

No, no, no. He only mentioned it once.

Is this it?

Yes. I think that is it.

And now he'll never
get to meet his son.

A kid who's a martial arts expert's

involved in some sort of secret
underground tournament called Killshot.

I think it's pretty clear
what we're dealing with here.

This is an underground fight club.

And somehow that club got him killed.

We gotta find this place.

You sure this is the place?

I ran his phone data.

I found that the cell towers
pinged three times in the last week

when Carlo was texting his wife.

Take a look.

Doesn't look like a security guard.

More like a bouncer?

Yeah.

You go flashing that badge
and he's gonna ask for a warrant.

By the time you get one,
they'll be packed and gone.

Okay. Then we go undercover.

-Yeah.
-But it doesn't mean it's cowboy time.

What-- What are you talking about?

Can I help you with something?

Yeah, mind if we take a look inside?

Sorry, it's invitation only.

Oh.

Wait here.

Shady as hell.

Yeah.

This place is full of surprises.

Who the hell are you?

We were invited.

Rocco Morada.

-This is my place.
-Hi.

And what are your names?

Ah. Don't answer that.

It doesn't matter,
and I don't want to know.

I can see the potential.

I can bill the two of you
as a double act.

Yin and Yang.
East meets West.

Beauty and the Beast.

-Excuse me?
-Who? Wait, wh-who's the Beast?

Okay, let's see what you can do.

Here. Suit up.

We'll put you in an exhibition match.
Competition starts in 30 minutes.

Competition?

-You've got the token, don't you?
- Yeah.

The token is an invitation to compete.

You can enter the arena
through that door over there.

The door with the big red sign
that says, "Arena"?

Gold star.

Kai, you ever been
inside a fight club before?

Not that I can remember.

All right, well, you wouldn't forget it.
It's brutal, it's ugly.

Bare-knuckled fighting, broken noses,
popped-out eyeballs, blood everywhere.

Uh-oh.

Oh, man. It's worse than we thought.

Brutal.

It's a badminton club.
What the hell is this?

Makes sense.

Philippines are all about
the B's in sports.

Boxing, basketball, badminton.

All right, they call it "Killshot."

Why would you call
a badminton club Killshot?

A kill shot is a type
of serve in badminton,

just like a spike in volleyball.

So it's not a fight club.
It's slow tennis.

Hey, badminton's very serious
in the Philippines.

People live and die for it.

Apparently.

What if this place
has nothing to do with Carlo's death?

On the day he died, when I was walking
out of the gym, I saw a strange guy.

That strange guy, he owns this club.

Okay, so what's the connection?

There's only one way to find out.

What, you actually
want to play in the tournament?

I mean, we're already players, right?

This is the perfect cover for us, right?

We get him to accept us, we can get him
to talk, we find out what's going on here.

Do you even know how to play badminton?

We play this at American picnics.
How hard could it be?

Okay.

Now taking Center Court,

give it up for the currently undefeated
mad dogs of badminton...

The Cebu Crushers!

And, hoping for a miracle,
please welcome two newcomers...

The Mactan Dalgonas!

What's Dalgonas?

Black coffee with a spot of milk.

That's just... racist.

Mm, just a little bit.
Just a little bit.

All right, here we go.
I got back. I got back.

Point, Crushers!

- Point!

Point, Crushers!

Out!

What do you mean, it's out?!

- Hey, hey.
-How could you not see that?

-It was right there!
-Let's go.

- Another point, Crushers!

- Match, Crushers!

-Wow, that went well.
- Hmm.

Yeah. Remind me never
to attend a Filipino picnic.

Uh-oh.

Not your day, was it, boys?

Still, you showed a lot of heart.

I'd like to offer you
a spot in the tournament.

You want us to play?

Oh, absolutely! The crowd loved it.

First round starts tomorrow.

Cash prize for the winner, 50,000.

-Fifty thousand!

Fifty thousand!

Alex, that's like 900 U.S.

I know. That's--
But that, that's a lot of money to me.

You've been here over two years.
How do you not know that by now?

I know that, man. I was testing you.

Okay.

I don't like them.

Yeah, but the crowd loves them.

They love seeing an American
getting his ass whooped by locals.

It's good for business.
More betting, more drinking.

I saw a locker back there
with some tape on it. It said, "C.G."

It's gotta be Carlo's.
We should see what's inside.

-There might be something we could go on.
-Can you pick a lock?

Well, yeah.

Why do you have...

Hm. Don't answer that.

Heck of a game
out there guys, huh?

-You mean, "Nice slaughter."
-Oh.

And that wasn't a game.
That was an embarrassment.

- Right.
-You are an embarrassment.

Well, maybe you guys
could give me some tips, huh?

Teach me how to play
the game a little better.

The tip is don't come back here.
Not unless you want to get hurt.

And next time,
we won't be so easy on you.

Gotcha.

Well, that's very unsportsmanlike.

You make a joke out of our sport.

No, no.

Maybe we break your legs
so you can't come back, Dalgona.

Okay. You guys are being
very hostile, you know?

Maybe you should take it down a notch,
'cause trust me, and I know about this,

it can be very bad for your health.

-You mean, bad for your health.

If I'm honest, I made a mistake, okay?
I underestimated you guys out there.

Damn right.

Don't make the same mistake.

-Hey, hey! You're breaking his arm!

No. No, not yet.

But that's what comes next, all right,

if you guys can't find
a serious attitude adjustment.

Let him go, man. You're hurting him.

Dude, you made your point, now stop!

Let's go.

Now, I think we all understand each other.

It's been fun.
I will see you guys on the court, huh?

Everything okay?

-Yeah.
- Everything on time?

Okay. Good.

Boss wants the rest of these inside now.

Idiots! Clean this mess up!

We found these in Carlo's locker.

Check this out.

His wife wasn't lying when she said
he had a gambling problem.

These are bets
with every bookie on the island.

Why are they stacked together like this?
And why are they in his locker?

I don't know.
Maybe he was preparing them for something.

Okay, we know
he couldn't pay off his bets, right?

Could he have thought he might be able
to trade his debt for something else?

Services rendered?
But what? For who?

Making any headway?

Chief, in the new report from Manila,

didn't you say the new drugs
hitting our streets came from Singapore?

That's correct.

Well, there were dozens of boxes
being loaded into a high-security building

right behind the Killshot Arena.
All were marked from Singapore.

And you found drugs inside?

Found this.

I don't think this
is what Manila's looking for.

Ah, hold on. I worked a case
once in Mexico. The Sinaloa cartel.

They hid the heroin
inside of Barbie dolls.

No, not actually in the doll.

The heroin was shaped
in the form of a doll.

I'm way ahead of you.

I had the lab check one out,
and they found nothing.

But?

Drugs are involved in this somehow.
I'm sure of it.

Well, we're gonna have
to get into that high-security building.

I don't think we'll be able
to get a search warrant with this.

Well, it looks like we're gonna
have to play our way in.

Yeah.

T-shirts from the gift shop?

-Yeah.
-Seriously?

Yeah, might as well
get a little promotion, huh?

It might stir up some business.

Okay, look, if we want to see
where they're taking those boxes,

we're gonna need Morada's key
to get into the secured area.

And he keeps it up there
in his private suite.

All right, you got a plan
to clear everybody out?

Once you guys hit the court,
he'll come out and watch.

That'll give me a chance
to sneak in and grab the key.

How do you know he'll come out?

'Cause he gets a kick out of seeing
Alex get his ass handed to him.

Yeah, well, he's gonna be
sadly disappointed,

because I've been watching
some YouTube videos, huh?

I got a vision for the game now, man.

-I even learned how to do the kill shot.
-Oh! Jeez!

-Okay.
-Yeah.

Look, just keep the game going long enough
for me to go in and find it, okay?

Sorry.

Let's go.

Sorry, gentlemen.

Maybe you'll have more luck
in the next matches.

Pick your teams wisely.

The American and his teammate
are taking the court.

Gentlemen, here's your chance
to win some of your money back.

I promise you, you're gonna
want to watch this next match.

Take the money, put it in the vault.

James, you're in.

What?

You can't do that!
You can't switch a guy on your team!

- Alex.
- You can't bring somebody--

Alex. Actually, they can.

If I can direct your attention
to Court Six.

In a much-anticipated rematch,

The Cebu Crushers will be destroying...

-I mean, playing...

The Mactan Dalgonas!

Nice.

-Sorry, sorry.

- Point, Crushers!
-Sorry, sorry, sorry.

- Point, Crushers!

Out!

Ooh.

-They just cheated.
-Hey, man.

This game's going too fast.
We gotta buy Kai some time.

I've got an idea. Listen...

Hey, that's delay of game!

Ref!

Point, Dalgonas!

Let's go. Let's get 'em.

Out!

Alex, if they score one more point,
it's game over and Kai is still inside.

No mercy.
Time to whip this talunan's ass.

What the hell does talunan mean?

Loser.

I got it.

- Point, Dalgonas!

Ooh!

Alex, man, what the hell was that?

That's a kill shot.

Disqualification!

-Let's go.

What the hell is this?

It's a plastics extrusion machine.

Well, it was before it was converted.

-You're familiar with this?
-Yep.

Back in Philly, one of my first cases.

They were smuggling cocaine into the city
disguised as plastic bottles.

They take the bottles
and they put them in the machine,

and it would extract the drugs
from the plastic.

But the shuttlecock Kai brought in
was checked and analyzed. It was clean.

Yeah. It wasn't the shuttlecock.

It's the packing peanuts
it was packed in.

Guys.

Whoa.

Oh, man.

-Dude, check it out...

Yep.

Disguising drugs as packing peanuts,
that's a new one.

Do we really think
that Carlo was mixed up in all this?

Oh, I don't know. My bet is,
is that he found out about this

and then offered to exchange his silence
in order to erase his gambling debt.

That would explain all the markers
stacked away in his locker.

Yeah. I think he came here to exchange it.

Wait, Carlo thought he could blackmail
a gangster like Morada?

I don't think he was thinking.

I think he was out of his head,
and I think he was desperate.

Desperate enough to think that Morada
would cancel his gambling debts?

Morada figured
it would be cheaper to just kill Carlo.

Good theory, but difficult to prove.

Oh, crap.

Do we have a problem?

I don't hear any alarms.

They were certainly willing
to spend money on security.

Then why don't they
have security people here now?

Because it's automated.
It's remotely monitored.

See, if anybody
sets foot in this building,

it sets off silent alarms

and sends warnings
to the guards next door.

So if we're inside and on camera,
why didn't we set it off?

Because we used Morada's key fob.

He doesn't want to get caught on camera,
and when he uses his key,

it turns off the alarms and the cameras.

But when he finds out his key is missing--

They're gonna turn everything back on.

-We gotta go.
-Yeah.

-Kai, let's go. Let's go.
-Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What's that?

Hold on.

Hey, maybe you can find some footage
of Carlo stumbling on the operation.

This would help prove our theory.

We don't have time for that right now.

We'll just have to come back for it.

No, no. What if-- What if they erase it
from the servers by then?

-I have one last thing to do.

Okay, we're leaving.

-Kai.
- Wait.

Okay.

No. You're not going anywhere.

Found these badges on them.

Cops.

Detectives.

Actually, I'm just an observer, so...

You made a big mistake coming here.

Listen, big guy.
You're already a drug dealer.

You want to add cop killer
to your rap sheet?

I'm not afraid to kill
to protect my business.

Like you killed Carlo Guzman?

That punk kid
thought he could blackmail me,

and he paid the price...
just like you three will.

Kill them.

Wait, wait. Well, you're-- Luther?

You're gonna have Luther do it?
I don't think so.

He doesn't have the stones for it.

He's too weak.

Strong enough to choke the life
out of your friend Carlo.

Listen, man. There's no shame
in being a wimp. All right?

I've met guys, what, twice your size
that are just total wussies.

That's all you got?

You hit like a grade-schooler.

Okay. Okay.

Now you're-- Now you're just
gonna hurt your knuckles. Huh?

No one ever told you
how to throw a proper punch?

Stop this nonsense and shoot them.

Going somewhere, Morada?

Ocampo, I'm starting to like
these little surprise visits.

Well, this time I was invited.

How did you know to come here, Chief?

A little birdie told us.

We'll just have to come back for it.

No, no. What if-- What if they erase it
from the servers by then?

-I have one last thing to do.

Quick thinking, Detective.

Thank you, sir.

You see, Agent Walker,

I told you your expertise with the DEA
would help us solve this drug crime.

I'm sorry I couldn't help you
with the murder charge.

Oh, that's all right, Chief.
Morada did all that on his own.

He confessed to everything,
and so did his accomplice, Luther.

They set up very high-tech
security cameras to protect Morada,

but since they turned everything back on
without using his key...

the cameras
were rolling the whole time.

I'm not afraid to kill
to protect my business.

Like you killed Carlo Guzman?

That punk kid
thought he could blackmail me,

and he paid the price.

Son of a...

Get him out of here.

Get that checked.

Nice work. Love it.

I gotta be honest with you guys.

Right there at the end, I think I started
getting the hang of that badminton stuff.

We should join a league.

Join a league? I don't want to do
any badminton for a while.

Huh? What? How about you, Kai?
You want to play some badminton with me?

No. How about we just go to a picnic?

-All right.
- That's good.

You know what? I know you guys
are patronizing me,

but I can get good at this.

What's this?

Open it.

That's over a million pesos.

Yeah. That's $20,000 American.

Wow.

I don't understand.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency
put out a reward

for information that led to a conviction.

Oh. Well, congratulations.

-No.
-No.

No, Mrs. Guzman. That's yours.

But I didn't do anything to catch them.

You're right, but your husband Carlo did.

Look, we know this
doesn't bring him back,

but just think of it as one last gift
from him for his family.

Now you have the finances
to keep the house

and have plenty left over
to take care of your child.

What about the guys who killed Carlo?

Well, I promised you we'd find 'em,
didn't we?

We did.

- Yeah.
- And they're gonna pay.

I don't know what to say.

You don't have to say anything.

I found these
in Carlo's locker at the club.

Thought you might want them.
Some clothes, belongings.

This clearly was something special to him.

Rita, what are you still doing here?

My mother had to do a double shift,

so I figured that
while I'm waiting for her,

I could also work double shift,
make some serious overtime.

No, no. No.
I didn't approve any overtime.

But I am here.

But I didn't ask you to be here.

And I'm working.

Uh, without approval.

So, I'm making overtime.

You can't...

You know what? Fine.

-You're a good boss, Mr. Walker.
-Yeah, I'm a good boss.

Why is this TV still here?

This thing was supposed to be back
in the lobby two days ago!

The guy from the satellite dish company
had to reschedule until next week,

so he won't be able
to take it out until then.

We still have satellite?

Yep.

And in about ten minutes,

they're going to be
repeating the whole fight.

-That's why I kept it in here for you.
-Shut your mouth!

So you can finally see it.

Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to the matchup of the century!

Here are some leftover chips
from the party.

Emilio Torres versus John Dugan.

The Manila Marauder
takes on the scourge of Cebu City.

Torres coming in fresh off his first
knock-out victory over Sanchez last month.

He has a clear age and height advantage,

but Dugan's experience
and stamina in the ring

have put lesser fighters to shame.

Hey, isn't this that stupid show
that you like?

Oh, my goodness! This is a new episode.
I've never seen this one.

Yeah. Well, grab a seat.

Wait, really?

Yeah, really.

What about the fight?

I think I've had enough
competitive sports for a while.

Now, who is this guy
with the patch over his eye?

That's the guy who's in love with Maria.

That's Maria? Who's the guy kissing Maria?

That's Reynaldo, Maria's fiancé.

This is too complicated for me.