Big Little Lies (2017–…): Season 1, Episode 5 - Once Bitten - full transcript

The shooting range?
Jane, what were you doing there?

Target practice. I try to go once a month.

- You were doing target practice?
- Mmm-hmm.

You seem suspicious.

Well, we're going on a road trip
to go meet the person that assaulted you,

and you're doing target practice?
I'm not suspicious at all.

I'm not planning on shooting the man.

- Oh, my God.
- I just...

I have a thing about guns to begin with.

Nathan and I used to fight about it constantly.
He's obsessed with guns.

All those mass shootings. I don't know.



It's actually helped me a lot, owning one.

Really?

They say, just holding one in your hand

has psychological benefits
for emotional trauma.

- Oh, I didn't know that.
- Mm-hmm.

Yeah, because it inhibits mentalization,

so it helps you block yourself off
from emotions.

- And that's a good thing?
- Yeah.

If the memories are painful enough,
absolutely.

No, I feel stronger with one. More empowered.

Hey, ladies.

Oh, hi.

Maybe I should get a gun.

There's more than one person
I'd like to shoot in this town.



No, sweet pea, that's dirty.

Come on.
You can't go to a playdate in dirty clothes.

In this town,
they'll report me to child services.

You can leave in a mess, but don't...

- Amabella.
- What?

What happened?

Did somebody bite you?

You're going to have to make

A few compromises

For now

Does this mean we're on?

The mayor just gave the okay.

- That is fantastic.
- Yeah.

Tighter, guys, tighter.

For now

Guys, come on, tempo.

Only for now

We were all just playing.

- Share with us.
- Was it that Ziggy?

- I don't know.
- All right, all right, all right!

Well, just tell us! All right? It's not all right!
She's being bullied!

- Renata!
- Oh, my God!

- All right, just keep your voice down.
- It's a bite!

Someone is biting our daughter!

on, my God. Okay.

Honey, Mommy is getting very upset.

I'm getting very, very upset

because someone is bullying you.

And you never let a bully win.

Do you hear me?
You have to speak up, Amabella.

You have to be a big girl
and use your voice in this world.

That's why they call me a bulldog,

because I had to learn
how to fight back with a bully.

- We gotta clean this.
- Okay, all right, just...

Hey, you.

Who's ever hurting you,

they might be harming somebody else.

And you wouldn't want that, huh?

You wouldn't want
innocent people getting hurt.

You're too kind for that.

Huh? Right?

What happened to your tennis game?

Oh, I changed my mind.

Where are the boys?

They're at judo.

You knew that.

What?

You decided to skip your tennis game,
and, uh...

And, uh...

People out there
that say they have satisfying sex lives...

Give me a fucking break.

Oh, God.

Why?

Are you having

wild, torrid sex?

Yeah, right.

Do not use
the downstairs bathroom, honey.

Jesus.

Maybe we should just take her out,
put her in a private school.

What? So she should have to go
instead of that little felon?

Oh, Renata. God. Please.

Oh, do not tell me to calm down.

I will take my hands
and put them around your throat.

Can you take a breath for one second?

Is that better?

- You know, you should be more upset.
- I'm very upset.

Oh, really? 'Cause I don't see it, Gordon.

Do not make this a referendum on my anger.

That someone has been hurting her
for who knows how long,

that we haven't even known about it,

that we can't even stop it,

-and that she won't even talk to us about it.
- I know!

Don't pull out your fucking scorecard
to total up who's got the most anger.

Oh, you're the one that's getting mad at me.

Instead of some little fucker
who's chomping on our kid!

Will you just listen to me

-for one goddamn minute?
- No! No. I will not listen.

That's what I did last time.

Because I said to you,
something's wrong with Amabella,

but you didn't want to hear it, huh?

- I said let's take her to a child psychiatrist.
- God.

- But you had a better idea, didn't you?
- What?

Taking me into your office bathroom and
fucking the shit out of me on the fucking sink!

God damn it, will you stop yelling at me?
God damn it!

Would you fucking...

Are you sure you don't wanna go
on the couch or in the bed?

You complain we never have sex.
Just shut up and fuck me.

Okay.

When I first meet a couple,
I visualize them fornicating.

I mean, I know that sounds crazy,
but with Madeline and Ed...

I just couldn't see it.

- No, wait. This is gonna take too long.
- Okay.

Here, just like that.

Here.

It's me!

Hi, honey!

Is your playdate over already?

I'm hungry-

You didn't have food
at your friend's place?

Today's grocery day.

So before Abigail eats everything,
I wanted to...

Sorry, Mom.

It's okay.

See, I bought more of your crap
and less of her crap.

You know what? I'll make you one of my
special BLTs. Give me 15?

Deal, my man.

Now you can go back to whatever
you were doing and pretending not to.

Laundry room?

It only takes me five to make a BLT.

- Honey, come on.
- Hold on.

No, no, I don't know about that. What is that?

One of her friends makes
mention of it on her Facebook page.

She said, "Is this the shot you're going to
use on your secret project?" question mark.

"Is it sexy/slutty enough?" question mark.

I mean, what kind of project is this, Nathan?

Well, if it's a secret project, then
that's probably why I don't know about it.

And, I mean,
why are you on Abby's Facebook page?

How did she friend you?

I'm not her friend, I'm her mother.

And it's my job to be on it, and it's yours, too.

Particularly, when she's living with you.

You assume the obligation to parent,

which is what I guess you've been...

She's gonna kill you.

He hung up on me.

- What a fuck.
- Watch your mouth, woman.

Why are you never playing your loud music
when it's a good time?

Are you sure you should be snooping around
on her Facebook page?

I am her mother.
It is my fucking duty to spy on her.

The last few days,
I don't know where your head has been.

What are you not telling me?

I mean...

I might have
put something stupid into motion.

Okay.

Well, you know, I told you about Jane's past.

- That she was sexually assaulted.
- Right.

Well, I think I found her assaulter.

He's an interior decorator in San Luis Obispo.

- And?
- Well, Jane is determined to confront him.

So, Celeste made an appointment with him
next Wednesday,

ostensibly to hire him, which probably was
a little bit more my idea.

And we're all just gonna go down there
and see.

No, you're not.
You are going to call the police.

But we don't even know if it's him, Ed.

Well, suppose it is.
The man is dangerous. Right?

Well, I mean, there's gonna be three of us,
and we're in a crowded office space.

What, you're telling me Perry Wright
is letting Celeste go on this mission?

Well, Perry doesn't exactly know.

- Jane swore us to secrecy.
- All right.

But I was not gonna let her go down there
and do that by herself.

Madeline, this is a bad idea.

Ed, she needs closure,
and I don't think I could stop her at this point.

And I'm certainly not gonna let her go alone.

- Hello.
- Hi, Emily Barnes here from Otter Bay School.

- Yeah, what's going on?
- Um, listen...

We have a problem.

Fuck!

Fuck!

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

So, does Ms. Barnes now think
that Ziggy bit Amabella?

I don't think so.

But because the Kleins came forward,
she feels like she had to tell the principal.

And so, now I have to
go meet with him tomorrow.

It's ridiculous.

You might have to be a lawyer again.

Did you ask Ziggy if he bit her?

Yeah, of course, but he said no.

Ah, it's just never over in this fucking town
that I wish to fucking God I never came to.

Jane, see, I don't think this is a good week
to be going to San Luis Obispo.

No, I'm fine. I just...

I'm fine.

Ed is insisting on going with us.

I didn't want to tell him, but he knew
I was keeping something from him.

He says it's not safe,
and I think he might be right, you guys.

It might be better to have him there with us.

Madeline.

Sorry to interrupt.

Can I talk to you, please?

Yeah, of course.

I'll be right back.

Yeah.

- What?
- We need to talk.

When I came to the theater,
you did not want to talk to me.

- Let's take a drive.
- I don't think that's a good idea.

Do you want me to say what I got to say here?
'Cause I can't promise decorum.

-Okay.
-Okay.

I don't want to talk about the other day.

Then what is this about?

Oh, I'm sorry to be such an annoyance.

Well, it is annoying, Joseph.
Just say what you want to say, please.

This is about me understanding...
Like, what is this?

Where do I stand?

Can you look at me, please?

I get it. You're an upstanding member
of the Monterey community.

This is not compatible.

But, you know, fuck convention.

Like, let's do this. Let's throw it all away.

I know you have feelings for me.

Well, then if you know that, just cling to that.

I have to go back.
Can you please take me back?

You know, that you're this uncomfortable
with the conversation...

Of course I'm uncomfortable!

- I cheated on my husband.
- I cheated on my wife.

Why come back?

- Why get so involved with the theater?
- Because I thought you and I were over with.

- We were buried. It was over, it was done.
- I don't believe you.

You come into my office all the time.
You're sitting on my desk like...

What are you doing? You playing me?

You know it's not over.

You can't look at me
'cause you know it's true.

Can you take me back, please?

For God's sakes.

Like, how do you...

How do you brush it all off?

Like, it's like nothing's happening.

I get you don't want to have feelings.

Right? You've got a family.

But you kissed me back at the theater, and...

It's possible you're concussed,
but I don't think so.

You have any headache?
You feel sleepy or groggy?

- No. Mm-hmm.
- You sure?

We could do a CAT scan if you want...

I'm not going to expose myself
to unnecessary radiation

-just to keep your premiums down. I'm sorry.
- Honey...

I'm fine. I didn't even hit my head.

What about Joseph? ls Joseph all right?

He's stable. His family is with him now.

-Okay.
-Okay.

He is concussed and had a pneumothorax.

He remarkably had no broken bones.

- Pneumothorax?
- It's a collapsed lung.

He's in recovery right now.

We'll bring him down to the ICU
in a couple of hours,

and you can visit him there.

- Your husband will be fine.
- Thank you.

What happened?

I don't know.
This kid, out of nowhere, ran a stop sign.

I didn't see him coming.

- And I don't think Joseph did, either.
- Mom?

- Hey.
- Are you okay?

Hi. I'm fine, honey. How did you get here?

A lot of people were talking about
exactly why Joseph Bach man

and Madeline Mackenzie
were in that car together.

I'm sure it had something to do
with artistic expression.

Sorry I couldn't make it to the hospital.

She's a little shaken up,
but she's going to be fine.

Joseph's gonna be fine, too.

What about the guy in the truck?

It wasn't a guy. It was a teenage boy.
They think he was texting.

I've got to sit down to dinner
with Perry and the kids right now, so...

Why don't you give her a call? She's at home.
She'd love to hear from you.

- I will. Have a good night.
- Bye.

Was she wearing her seat belt?

Oh, yeah, I'm sure she was.

It would be very dangerous if she wasn't.

Who's he?

He's just an interior decorator.

So he picks out furniture and stuff for homes.

I was thinking
we could get some new furniture.

What's wrong with our furniture?

Nothing, but it would be fun. Right?

Change it up a little.

What should we make for dinner?

Come on, eat up.

You haven't even eaten anything. Perry.

-Perry.
-Hey.

Toys down, food up. Hup, two.

Teenagers are bad.

Do we have to be teenagers?

Yeah. Yeah, I'm afraid you do.

I'm gonna skip that part.

- What?
- Teenagers aren't that bad.

In fact, once you're a teenager,

you will only wanna hang out
with other teenagers.

You'll think all grownups are bad.

Teenagers think you're bad?

- Oh, yeah.
- They do?

Absolutely.

Especially when I use my...

-...burping superpower, they do.
- Perry, come on.

Or when I speak with my...

Special voice.

'Cause then they know...

That here comes...

- The monster!
- Oh, okay...

Ooh, I'm starving!

- Give me a tender little teenager to devour!
- Come on, you haven't eaten anything.

Ow! No!

- No, no, no. No!
- Come on, get her!

- Come on!
- No! Stop!

- I'll save you, honey!
- No!

I'll save you.

- Fire at will, boys! Fire!
- Stop!

How we doing? Any headaches?

No. You're sweet to worry, honey,

but you don't need to check on me
every five minutes.

I'm fine.

Why were you in his car, anyway?

Well, I was with, um...
Jane and Celeste at Blue Blues.

And he came in, and he was so agitated

about ticket sales,

and the prop deliveries were late.

Also, one of our lead actors
just came down with strep throat,

and we're only a week away
from opening night, so...

We were just gonna drive together
to the theater, and, uh,

just knock some stuff out, and then...

Wham.

Well, it could have been worse.

Everybody lived to tell about it.

Yeah.

- How she doing?
- Any headaches?

I'm fine. I'm fine.

Did Ed send you?

No.

Hey-

I'm glad you're here tonight.

Yeah.

Something was up with Ed Mackenzie.

I just don't know exactly what.

I don't care if it's a lawyer,

or a psychiatrist, or a fucking psychic.

We have to do something.

Yeah, I know.

Mom!

Someone hurt Amabella.

- Him.
- It wasn't me.

There's consequences.

Did you touch that little girl?

Ms. Chapman?

Baby?

I'm so sorry.

You should have told the boys
to pick all this shit up.

I just didn't have the patience
to go through it all last night, so...

Well, you're turning them into spoiled brats.

I don't want to live in a fucking pigsty.

Well, then pick them up yourself.

Come on. It's all right. I'll do it later.

I will do it later, baby. Come on. Please.

Baby, you have to go. It's fine. I'll do it.

I'm serious, you know.

I'm gonna change.

Can I get you another...

- Oh, God.
- I'm sorry.

- It's okay. It's me.
- I'm so sorry.

- Uh, can I get you some more water?
- I'm fine.

- You sure? All right.
- Yeah.

Unfortunately, Amabella won't say
who's involved.

However, her mother is convinced
that Ziggy is responsible.

- But I'm not, nor is Ms. Barnes.
- No, I'm not.

Look, if it weren't for the incident
on Orientation Day,

I never would've called you in
unless we had anything more definitive.

Is there anything out of the ordinary
in Ziggy's past?

His home life, his background?

Anything you think we should know
that might be relevant?

I understand Ziggy's father
is not involved in his upbringing.

- Is that right?
- The only thing I know about Ziggy's father

is that he's keen on erotic asphyxiation
and raping women.

- You did not say that.
- No, of course I didn't.

But I wanted to.

Could you imagine
if the people in this town found out

that Ziggy wasn't a product of
consensual, loving sex,

but a product of rape?

It'd be the worst.

Every time someone asks me
about Ziggy's dad,

I'm terrified they're going to expose me.

I thought fucking Renata Klein
was gonna spot me right then.

What do you mean?

Mr. and Mrs. Klein are here.

No.

They are early,
so if you could tell them to come back...

You know, we were just seeing
if you could fit us in.

Is it possible that you could come back later?

But we're all here to discuss the same topic,
I assume.

You've heard about the, uh, bite?

Have you been telling her
she needs to get her son under control?

Okay, Renata. Renata.
Please, just excuse my wife, all right?

She's very upset. Hi. Gordon Klein.

- Jane Chapman.
- Hi.

All right, well, then maybe perhaps,
we could have a constructive chat.

- There you go.
- Please.

Okay, well, then how about we get some tea
or maybe some water?

How about...
Jean, get us some coffee, please?

I don't want refreshments.

I want you to make your son
stop abusing my girl.

She's a fake bitch.

You're too nice.

So, what was the upshot?

They're gonna hire a teacher's aide

whose specific job
will be watching Ziggy and Amabella.

Are you kidding me? That's ridiculous.

Maybe not. I mean, what if she's right?

I'm sorry, but Renata Klein cannot be right.

Ziggy could be marked
with his dad's genetic stain.

And if I did everything properly as a mother,
it wouldn't matter,

and he wouldn't be behaving this way.

I just feel like
you have such great instincts as a mom.

Did you ever feel like something was off?

When he was born, he didn't just
come out crying like most kids do.

His whole body was shaking.

It was like he was so upset to be born.

And all I could do was look at him and say,

I'm so sorry, little baby.

I'm so, so sorry.

I always thought that seeing his little red face

would wipe away
the dirty memory, you know? But...

- Hey, girls.
- Hey, Tom.

Can I get you anything else?

I would love some more tea.

- Sure.
- Thank you.

- Jane?
- No, thank you.

Saxon Baker?

Never heard of him.

We have a Mr. Barker at school,
but his first name is not Saxon, it's Ted.

Hello. Please leave a message after the tone.

Celeste, we can't let Jane go on that trip.

I don't know,
we have to steal her car or something.

At first, I thought she wanted closure.
Now I think she wants revenge.

Call me.

I'm so sorry.
I feel like you were driving less aware...

I'm here 'cause some kid ran a stop sign.

I think I owe you some clarity.

Like you said, I kissed you back the other day.

And maybe I wanted to feel
all those things again,

this thing that we have.

Was it just sex between us?
Of course it wasn't.

But the other day, I started to feel afraid.

And I've had this paralyzing fear

that what happened between us
is gonna get out

and it's gonna ruin my family.

It's probably best
if you beg out of the play. I mean...

- Most of the work is done now anyway, so...
- Yeah, of course.

We should be fine.

Yeah, you should.

- Madeline.
- Oh, hi.

- Hi, Tori.
- Hi.

How are you?

Better. I think we're all doing better.
How are you feeling?

Actually, I normally have
a lot of lower back pain,

so probably saved me
a trip to the chiropractor.

But I... I just stopped by
to see if Joseph was okay.

Glad to see you're feeling better.

- Thanks.
- Um...

I'm just gonna head out now.

- Okay.
- But good to see you, Tori.

- You, too.
- Yeah.

Bye.

Nice of her to drop by.

He's in Chicago.

He left this morning.

So I just... I decided to come in by myself.

Okay.

It was Perry's idea to come in
in the first place, so...

I mean, I think that's a very healthy sign.

Don't you think that's positive
that he would want to come in?

Why did he want to come in?

Well, because, we're...

Just for the same...

He's troubled, we're both troubled,

that the lovemaking is tied up in, urn,

in anger.

Why did you want to come in today?

I don't know.

Something happened?

Um...

Well, just the usual, you know.

When he left this morning, we made love.

It's as if our, um...

- It's as if we turn each other on by rage.
- Hmm.

And that's a problem, I think.

Do you think that's a problem?

Well, I'm encouraged
that you at least think of it as lovemaking.

Because sex isn't always that.

Does the sex you have with Perry
ever strike you as violent?

No.

Are you ever left with bruises?

Um...

Maybe. I mean, I don't really remember.

Have you ever sustained bruises
from something other than sex?

I don't follow.

Your husband said
he grabbed you too hard sometimes.

Has he ever left a mark on you
by grabbing you?

Oh, um, I mean...

We have a very volatile relationship,
and I've...

I've left the occasional mark on him I know...

- By hitting?
- Yeah.

Really?

Hitting him first or hitting him back?

I have to say, I'm beginning to feel
a bit uncomfortable because this is, um...

- I think this is unethical, truth be told.
- How so?

Because you're treating us.

And only you showed up,
so I'm treating half the couple.

From what I know about your duty of care,
you are

ethically responsible...

I throw off the ethical chains
when I sense a patient in danger.

What?

He hurts you.

Oh, no. No, l didn't...

I mean, I didn't say that.

He's... I mean...

I pick up on things, not just from you,

but from Perry.

We both become violent sometimes.

I take my share of the blame.

I'm...

He hurts you.

Look...

I'm not a victim here.

I'm not.

I hit him.

I throw things at him.

I'm...

- What are you looking for from me?
- Help.

Help, that's what I want.

I mean, we both acknowledge
that this relationship is toxic. We...

That's why we made the appointment
to come in,

because we... We know that.

We know it and we want to, um...

We want to learn techniques, strategies,
that's what we want.

- To make him...
- Make him stop.

To make us... Us stop.

So...

Are you physically afraid of him?

This feels very wrong, I have to say.
I can't. I mean...

Um...

You're meant to be our doctor.
You're treating us.

And you are demonizing him.

Does he know you're here alone?

Hey. I was just thinking about you.

How you feeling? Still no headache?

Oh, no, I'm fine. You're sweet to worry.

I do worry.

I was just sitting here thinking
about how much you've done for me

since I moved to Monterey.

I read a quote once that said,

"Friendships are the masterpieces of nature."

I know it's cheesy,
but you're totally my masterpiece.

You're one of the greatest people
I've ever met, Madeline.

If you only knew
how much that meant to me right now.

Can I ask you a big favor?

Um, would you mind
picking Ziggy up at pick-up?

I... I just have so much work to do,
and I could use a few extra hours to catch up.

Yeah, no problem.

Oh, thank you so much.
I'll call the school and let them know.

Ziggy's all mine, honey.

- Thanks, Madeline. Bye.
Bye.

Jane Chapman? She's insane, too.

Does he ever hurt the children?

No.

God, no.

He would never hurt the children.

This is... He's a wonderful father.

I mean, he's the best, the best.
I couldn't think of a better one, really.

It's one of the reasons that I...

- The reason you don't leave him?
- There are other reasons.

- Okay, such as?
- I'm madly in love with him.

He adores me.

He, he treats me like a goddess.

When he's not hurting you.

Look, he's a great father.

We have great sex.

We even make each other laugh. We're...

There's violence, yes, in the relationship,

and that's why we came in, and it's an issue,
but I mean...

All marriages are complicated.

You think violence is normal
in a relationship?

No.

My apologies. I misread.

When this violence occurs,
have you ever been afraid you might die?

Never.

Never?

That must have been terrifying.

Did you think of leaving him then?

I've thought of leaving him many times.

But then I think about what we have.

And we have a lot.

- Are there any weapons in your house?
- No.

No, it's not like that with... No.

I mean, the boys have some lightsabers.

Listen, you see a lot of couples
that have bad problems.

And after a while,
maybe that's all you can see.

Do you ever pause to consider what is great
in a marriage, what is profoundly right?

I do.

Tell me, what is most profoundly right
about yours?

We've been through so much together.

I had a really tough time getting pregnant,
and,and“.

I had four miscarriages, and...

And when the twins were born,
they were born really early.

And they were in the hospital for a long time,
and that was...

It was tough.

And he was there by my side
every step of the way.

He never... He was so good.

- I see.
- No, honestly, I don't think you do see

because this is, this is...

It's special, you know?

We're bound
by everything we've been through,

and the idea of breaking away from him,

it's like tearing flesh.

How do you think the abuse
impacts on your sons?

It doesn't impact
on my sons. I'm telling you, I...

None of this affects them.

We never fight in front of them.
They never see anything. They're fine.

They live in a happy household.
They have no idea.

- He will hit you again.
- Yeah.

- Yeah.
- Yeah. And I'll hit him again.

And, eventually, the boys will know.

- No.
- If they already don't.

All right, our time is about up.

We should make an appointment
and come up with a plan.

A plan?

For the next time he hits you.

Ms. Wright?

Saxon Baker.

Come on in.

Have a seat.

So, what are you looking for?

It's a new project we're working on.

Modern meets mid-century.

Ms. Wright, this is very...

Odd.

Where are we going?

Fuck.