Catfish: The TV Show (2012–…): Season 7, Episode 36 - Shirlene & James - full transcript

- Shirlene grew up
on a Navajo reservation,

meets this guy, James.

- He was, like, something
I was, like, looking for.

But he started saying,
like, he bought keys.

- Keys of cocaine?

- That's when I woke up
to a text saying he died.

- What--what?
- [gasps]

"James actually
got arrested today.

Got sent to jail
into the city."

- Oh!

- I'm really
tripping out right now.



[gate creaks]

- Are you ready?

[dramatic music]

- Oh, boy.
- What?

♪ ♪

- Hey, guys, Nev here,
and we're back

with a brand-new batch
of all-new "Catfish" episodes.

Let's do it!

We've been making the show
for over seven years

and we've done
over 125 episodes...

- You're a coward, man.

- And what's amazing is,
we're still

encountering things
we've never seen before...

He was dead
for a couple days. What?



- Everybody in Hawaii
is in on this.

- ♪ What you see is just
the tip of the iceberg ♪

- New ways to fall in love...

We've never had
two hopefuls hook up.

All-new deceptions...

- You just lied
about so much [bleep].

- And new
what-the-[bleep] firsts

that are gonna completely
flip the script

on what you think you know
about "Catfish."

- He has a twin.
- An identical twin.

So join me and all
our favorite cohosts...

- Are we gonna get jumped?
- Oh, my God.

- As we dive headfirst into
an all-new season of episodes,

each with a unique
"Catfish" first.

- ♪ What you see is just
the tip of the iceberg ♪

♪ Ah! ♪

- You missed it.
I've been sneezing.

Really?
- I have allergies, yeah.

I got bad allergies.
- I brought Zyrtec,

but I left it at the hotel.

- That's okay.
- Every time I film with you,

you've got
some type of situation--

- Achoo!
- [screams]

[laughter]

My...
who's idea was this?

- You actually
thought for a second

that I was
about to spill on you?

- Yes!
- All right, that was good.

Welcome back.
- Thanks.

- All right, you ready?
- Yes.

- All right, we got an email
here from Shirlene.

"Hi, Catfish team."
- ♪ If I get lost ♪

- "My name is Shirlene.
I'm a 21-year-old Navajo

"living in Chandler, Arizona.

"I've been dating a guy online
named James

for a few months now,
and things got serious.

- ♪ Opened your eyes ♪

- He's a 23-year-old
Native American

from the Zuni tribe
in New Mexico.

So this is amazing.
This is a Native American--

both: Love story.

- I love it.
- Very cute.

"I actually met James online
earlier in 2018,

"but we didn't really
start talking

"until this past November

when he posted something
and I commented on it."

- ♪ And just like that ♪

- "And we basically
started talking

every day from then on."

- ♪ Another one
comes rushing in ♪

- "James has everything
I'm looking for.

"He's a young, good-looking
guy who has a great job

and wasn't scared off by
the fact that I have a son."

- So what's the problem?
- "The Zuni and Navajo

are actually opposing tribes."

Wow, this is like
"Romeo and Juliet."

"But what mattered
was our love of our culture

"and our desire
to stick to our roots.

"At first, I tried
to keep things friendly,

but within a month,
James told me he loved me."

- ♪ Eyes ♪

- "And I realized
I loved him, too."

- ♪ Over and over again,
open your eyes ♪

- "But after a while,
things got weird.

"Suddenly, James was on
the road a lot for work,

"but he also kind of
made it sound like

"he possibly
was on the run as well.

Then, he died."

Wow, okay, I guess
that's the end of the story.

- What?
- What--what?

"He was dead
for a couple days."

[laughter]

I don't know how
you finish that sentence.

- So he--James is a vampire.
- ♪ Eyes ♪

- "He was dead for a couple
days before he resurfaced.

"I know this sounds nuts,

"but I've invested
so much into him,

"And now, I just don't know
what's going on anymore.

Can you please help me?
Shirlene."

- I don't know, girl.

["Open Eyes" by Super Duper]

♪ ♪

- We've had people
come up with crazy excuses,

but this is the first time
anyone's said that they died,

and then un-died.

- Sorry, talking to you
from the grave.

- All right, we got to talk
to this girl.

[Skype ringtone]

both: Shirlene!
- What's up?

- Hi.
- Is there a language

that Navajo still speak
to each other?

- Yeah.
- Can you teach us something?

- Can I introduce myself
in Navajo?

- Sure.
- Yeah.

- [speaking Navajo]

- Wow.

- And saying, "This is how

I represent myself
as a woman."

- That's amazing.
- It sounds like

you're super into your culture
and your tribe.

- Yeah, I love
where I come from.

- I love that.

- Well, now that
we're acquainted,

We got to hear more
about this guy, James,

because this story is bonkers.

What does he do?
What--tell us about him.

- James is a welder.
Financially stable.

He said he had
a home here in Phoenix.

He has a home in Tuba City,

and he has a home
in Zuni, New Mexico.

- Do you ever talk
on the phone?

- When he called me,

he wouldn't talk to me,
you know?

He would just text me
what he's saying,

and then, I would talk to him.

- Wait, so you've
been on the phone with him

but you've never
heard his voice?

- Yeah.
- Why?

- I don't know.
And then, out of nowhere,

he just started
being distant with me.

And that's when I
woke up to a text

from his sister
saying he died.

- Who is this "sister?"
- Her name is Mya.

I actually think that's James.

- So you think James
created Mya?

- Yeah, it's the same number.
- Oh.

You got a text
from James's number saying,

"Hey, this is James's sister."
- Yeah.

I cried, and I told my mom,

"Is this person gone?"
- Ooh.

- Because my mom
is a medicine lady.

She said, "No, he's
still--he's still living."

And then, I texted James,
"I know this is you.

"I don't know how you
can do this to anyone."

- You asked a dead guy
why he died?

- Yeah, he said,
"I know, I have to explain."

- Yeah, you do.
- Wow.

And so, what did he say?

- He didn't tell me
anything yet.

He hasn't explained.

- This is very confusing.
- Pretty wild.

And what does your family
think of James?

- I actually
live with my sister.

Would you guys
like to talk to her?

- Why not?
- Sure, yeah, bring her in.

Hi, sister.
What's your name?

- My name's Nicole.

- Your sister's in quite
a situation here.

What do you think?
- It's crazy.

He's a liar.
- Oh!

- So you're just
coming out the gate.

You're like, uh, no.

- You think she should just
stop talking to him.

- Exactly.
- All right, so,

we got to figure out what's
going on with this James guy

because if he can die
and come back to life,

who knows what he's capable of?
You know what I mean?

You guys hang tight, and we'll
fly down there and meet up.

- Awesome.
- All right, ladies.

We'll see you soon.
- Thank you.

- Bye.
- Bye.

- Whoo!
This is quite a story.

- I've never been to Phoenix.
- I've never met a dead guy.

- Me, neither.
- A lot of firsts

on this episode.
- I don't think.

- Let's do it.

- ♪ I see colors
wherever we go ♪

- We made it, Phoenix.

- I'm curious to find out more
about her baby's father.

What's his status?
Could he be James

trying to, you know--
- That's true.

To get her back.
- Weld his way

back into her life.
- Hm.

- It's possible.
- ♪ Wherever we go ♪

♪ True, true colors ♪

- Knock, knock, knock.

- Hello.
- Hey.

- Come in.
- Hi.

- Hi.
- Nice to meet you.

- Yeah.
- What is this?

- That's a cradle board
for my son.

It's his bed.
- Really?

- Yeah.
- Cool.

- Wow.
- Wait, but what's this for?

- That's a rainbow.
These all have meanings to it.

- This is a Navajo thing?
- Yeah.

- That's amazing.
- I love this.

Let's sit down.
Where is your sister?

- She's out with the kids.
- Does she have a kid, too?

Yeah, she has a son, too.
It's her brothers.

- They think they're brothers?
- Yeah, they are brothers.

- Well--
- My sister's related to me

by clan-wise.
- Right.

She's not your actual sister.
- No.

- But you share lineage,
some blood.

- Yeah.
- Got it.

Tell us a little bit
about your son.

Who's the daddy?
- My son was found out

after my dad's funeral.

- Okay, so I'm sorry, I didn't
know your dad passed away.

- Yeah, sorry.
- It's all good.

- Did you have a boyfriend?
- Yeah, I had a boyfriend.

- He's Navajo?
- Mm-hmm.

- How long
were you guys together?

- A year.
- Is he still in the picture?

- No.

- You've been through a lot
in the last couple years.

- Yeah.
- And then, to meet James,

it probably felt like a
positive source of good energy.

- Yeah, he was like something
I was, like, looking for.

We just started
talking every day.

He said he was a welder,
owned three houses,

and he's third chief in line
for the Zuni tribe.

- Oh, wow.
- Yeah, we just started vibing.

He was, like,
the only person I talked to.

When I told James
about my son,

all he said was,
"I don't mind being there

for your son as my own."

- I can see how that
would mean a lot.

- Yeah.

And then,
he started getting weird.

He started saying,
like, he bought keys.

- Keys of cocaine?
- Keys, like--I don't know.

- Wait, what is he
talking about?

- I don't know what kind
of keys he was talking about.

- That's got to be
a drug thing.

- Cocaine!

[dramatic music]

- He said he lost
13 to 15 keys.

- Shirlene.
- Come on.

- The cartel has him hanging up

right now over a highway
in Mexico

if he lost ten to 15 keys.

He might actually be dead.
- Wait a second.

So he's telling you
all this ridiculous stuff

about having all these drugs,
and then losing the drugs--

- But I didn't know
it was drugs.

- This is absurd.
- I don't know.

I don't know
what was happening.

- How long after
this whole thing did he "die?"

- Uh, like a week.
- You got a random text

from his phone,
but it was his sister.

- Yeah, she said,
"Hey, this is Mya."

James passed away.

- And then, your mom was, like,
"I don't think he's dead."

- Yeah, my mom said,

"I know he's still walking
upon mother Earth."

- So you texted him back,
and he just wrote back?

- Yeah, like--he's, like,
- "I'm not," ha-ha-ha.

- "Hey, Shirlene,
I have to explain."

- But then didn't.
- No.

- After he said he died,
did you go on his Facebook

to see if people...

- No, like, his Facebook
wasn't there after that.

- It got deactivated?
- Yeah.

- Huh, all right, well,
let's take a look at this guy.

- Yeah.
- Okay, well...

[tense music]

- Hm.
- He's cute.

- I like that he has long hair.
- So he still has a Facebook.

- No, I took that before he--

- Oh, this is just
a screenshot.

- Hm.
- Oh.

"25, RIP my baby girls."

- He had two little girls.
They passed away.

- Do you believe that?
- It says on his Facebook.

- Did he have photos of them?
- No.

- [exhales]

Okay.
- What's the possibility

that James is your ex-boyfriend
messing with you?

- What?
That would be messed up.

- Do you think
your ex-boyfriend

wants to be with you anymore?
- No.

- What about
your roommate, Nicole?

Has it ever occurred to you

that maybe
you're talking to her?

Because, you know,
sometimes, best friends

start to catch feelings
for each other.

- Yeah, I know.

If she was the one
that were to do this,

I don't know what I would do.

I hope not.

[soft music]

[exhales]

Because--because I'm
a nice person, you know?

♪ ♪

- What are you thinking?

- When James said
he passed away, I did cry.

You're not supposed to do that.

You can't think of death
like that, you know?

I just want to know,
why did he do all of this?

- Are you still interested
in pursuing

a relationship with him?
- To get to know James?

Yeah.
- So even though

he's done a lot
of crazy [bleep],

you want to give this guy
a chance to explain himself,

and see where it could go.
- Yeah.

- Well, look, send us
whatever information you have,

and we'll see if we can
figure out what, if any,

of this guy's story is true.

- I'm really excited
and scared.

- All right.
- It was good

to meet you, girl.
- Thank you, guys.

[dramatic music]

- Ay-yi-yi.
That was a lot.

- The dead daughters.
- The dead catfish.

- He's a drug dealer.
- It's crazy.

And if someone is messing
with her, that's messed up,

but if this is the actual guy
that she's talking to,

I think that she is

way in over her head.
- Right.

- Either way,
this isn't going to end well.

- Let's just quickly
refresh ourselves here.

There's Shirlene, 21,
she's got a two-year old son.

Grew up on
a Navajo reservation.

Meets this guy,
he seems super awesome.

Like, he checks all the boxes.
- Right.

- Until things get weird.

He can't talk on the phone,
but they can be on the phone.

- Bizarre.
- Then, he said that he died.

And it's like, a whole thing.
But she's still interested

because the connection
that they had

is deeper than one
she's felt, perhaps ever.

- Whatever this guy, James,

has going on,
there's nothing good.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- All right, let's do this.
Okay, here we go.

"Hey, guys, it was so great
meeting you guys yesterday.

"So here's all the info
I have for James so far.

His name is James [bleep].
Here's his phone number.

He's 23,
lives in Zuni, New Mexico,

but has homes in Tuba City
and Phoenix.

He's a welder
and is third in line

to be chief of the Zuni tribe.

This should be easy to find out
if it's true or not.

- If somebody is next in line

to be their chief,
they would know.

- All right,
we're going to nail this guy.

So first, let's just do
an image search.

Let's start with this pic.

[dramatic music]

Interesting, okay.
So that's not a hit.

♪ ♪

Hm, also not a hit.

Hm, not a hit.

Okay, so no hits.
- That's a good sign.

- Although, I still don't think
there's any chance it's him.

All right, let's run
his phone number.

[dramatic music]

Tuba City--
- Arizona.

She said--
- It said--right.

- He has a house in Tuba City.

- Owner name unavailable.
Huh.

That's it then, right?
What else do we have?

- We know the tribe.
- The Zuni tribe, right.

Uh, tribe leadership.

- Hey.
- Nicely done.

Tribal government.
Meet our tribal officials.

- Perfect.
- The governor,

lieutenant governor,
and members of

the Zuni tribal council.

- But notice on there,
it doesn't have anything

in their leadership
about a chief.

- That's true.

It doesn't leave us
a lot else to look into

other than
her sister/cousin, Nicole.

We should check her out.

"Hey, Shirlene,
do you have a Facebook?

Or Nicole?"

All right, let's wait a second.
Oh, quick break.

- You overheard us talking.
- I did.

- If you're Native,
you would know that

they wouldn't say "chief,"
or "I'm next in line."

- [gasps]
- They're voted in.

- Wait a second.
- The presidents are voted in.

- Right, so--okay.
So if he--

if this guy claims that
he is, like, third in line--

- Not at all.
- That's not a thing anymore.

- It's not a lineage.

- And that applies
to all nations?

- It does.
- Even Zuni.

- Zuni, right.
- Okay, thank you for--

- Good luck, you guys.
- Yeah, okay.

- Thank you, wow, okay.
- Well, that's helpful.

So now, we know a lot,

if not all of what James
has told Shirlene is bogus.

- Mm-hmm.
- Shirlene wrote back.

"Yeah, you can find her
on Facebook."

Her full name
is Nicole James!

Come on!
- Get the [bleep] out of here.

- Her name is Nicole James.

The guy she's talking to,
his name is James Marcus.

If it's--if it's Nicole,
this is going to be bad.

She could actually
have feelings for Shirlene.

We should ask about that.
I'm going to ask about that.

- Ms. Sandra.
- One of the things we've asked

the girl we're helping,
Shirlene, about,

was homosexuality
in Native American culture.

Is that--I mean,
I'd be more interested

to hear from
the younger people.

Is that something
that's accepted?

- I would say yes for the
younger generation--

- You'd say no.
- And we'd say no.

- Yeah-
- Like, that is still taboo,

and that is still--you get
ostracized in that community.

It's just not spoken about.
- Yeah.

- But, like,
it's kind of a taboo.

Wouldn't you say,
girls, guys, yeah?

- All right,
thanks again, everybody.

- Whoo, here we go.
- All right.

That's actually really helpful.
Because if it is Nicole--

- Mm-hmm.
- And she likes her,

they can't really be together.

Not hearing a person's
voice on the phone

usually means
you either know them

or they're the opposite sex.
- Right.

- In this case,
it could be both.

- And she could be
in her own house--

- Well, and--right.
- Sitting right next to her.

- Right, she could actually
have feelings for Shirlene,

and because
it's so unacceptable,

maybe she's trying to end it.

- If it is Nicole, she's been
trying to kill James off--

- Right.
- A few times.

[phone rings]

- Shirlene.

- What's up?

We have a lot of things
we want to talk about.

- That would be great.
See you soon.

Here it is, the Heard Museum.

♪ ♪

- Time to break
some little hearts.

- What's up?
- Hey.

- What's up?
- This place is cool.

Let's check it out.

- This is a female Hogon.

- What takes place in there?
- Ceremonies.

Then, this is, like,
what we wear for graduation.

- Oh, this is the bed.
Little baby bed.

- Oh, yeah.

This stuff is so beautiful.
- Yeah.

[bright music]

- Okay.
So how are you feeling?

- I'm nervous.
I'm really nervous.

- Let's talk about James.
- Yeah.

- We ran his phone number.
- Mm-hmm.

It comes up Tuba City,

but there's no name
associated with it.

We checked those photos.
We didn't get any hits.

Interestingly,
while we were doing this,

we were at Fry Bread,
and the woman who owns it,

she overheard us talking.

And she came over and said,
from her understanding,

there are no "chiefs" anymore.

[tense music]

She said nobody's in line
to be the chief.

That's not how it works.
People get elected.

Like, wait a second.
If that's not true,

what else isn't true?

We were then thinking,
like, okay.

Why haven't you heard
this guy's voice?

- That's what I
want to know, too.

- Well, so, in our experience,

when someone can't talk
on the phone,

it usually means
either their voice

doesn't match the gender,

or their voice is the voice
that you would recognize.

- Which leads us to Nicole.

[soft music]

- It can't be Nicole.
- We're just thinking that

it might explain the fact that
you can be on the phone,

but he's just
texting you back.

- I hope she's not the one that
I've been talking to like that.

Like...
- Yeah.

- Because you have a romantic
relationship with James.

- Yeah.

- But, like,
if you're investing

your time and emotions
into this relationship,

and he doesn't seem to be
in a position to do the same,

like, what are you doing?

Even if James is the guy
in the pictures,

and even if everything
he said was true,

why the hell
are you talking to him?

- I don't know.
I just--

I was so interested in him,
you know?

He's said things to me, like,

because, like,
how his daughters died.

- Because he opened up.
- Yeah.

- And shared things with you.

- It just seems like
the conversations

are basically him
tapping into things

that he knows
are important to you.

- I just want to find out
who this person is,

and why he lied.

I never thought, like,
anyone would do this, you know?

- Well, the only thing
we haven't tried to do

is call--
- James, call him.

- Can I text him?
- Sure.

But you got to be,
like, stern with him.

But you can go ahead
and text him.

[tense music]

- I said,
"I just wanted to know

"if you wanted
to meet up or not.

"I'm tired of waiting
and being treated like this,

and not getting
your explanation."

- You go, girl.
- This is the first time

we've ever had someone in your
situation do the texting.

- Another first.
- Really?

[phone whistles]

- Ooh.
- Did he write back?

- [gasps]

It's Mya!

- So this is the sister
that may not even exist.

- She said, "Hey, it's Mya.

"James actually
got arrested today.

Got sent to jail in Tuba City."
- Oh, God.

- "That's why I have his phone.

I'm actually there now
trying to get him out."

- So I--if I were you,
I would say something, like,

"Okay, cool, well, if he wants
to keep lying to me,

then he's never going
to talk to me again."

- The games end here.
- What'd you say?

- I said, "Okay, so, hey,
I wanted to know

"what's up with him right now,

because I want to know
if you want to meet or not."

- Shirlene, that is not
what we said to say.

- No, that's not what we said.
- At all.

- Follow that up now with this.
"I'm tired of the lies--"

- Do you want to just type it?
- Yes.

"I'm tired of all the lies.
If you're serious

about meeting up,
this is his last chance.

- Period!
- Yeah.

[phone whistles]

"Look, I'm sure James
would love to meet you,

"but if I can get him out,
I'll try to make that happen.

No promises, though."

If--
- You believe this [bleep]?

- No, I'm starting not to.
- "If I don't--

- But we'll see what happens.
- "Hear back

"from James
by tomorrow morning,

I will never
speak with him again."

They think they can
mess around with us.

Should I try texting, too,
just to, like--

- Yeah, go ahead.
- Let him know

how real this is?

- Yeah.
- All right.

"James, this is Nev
from 'Catfish.'"

Ready to help you guys
finally meet up."

[phone whooshes]

[phone whistles]

- Okay, "I'm currently
at the jail

and I have no time to talk."

- Obviously, he's stalling,
but hold steady.

Don't cave,
and if they're serious

about meeting up,
they'll let us know.

And if not, you're just
going to have to move on.

- Can you do it?
- Yeah.

[dramatic music]

- Is it the police?
It wasn't me.

[bright music]

- Hi.
- Great.

- Oh.

I don't have
any response from James.

- He's in jail.
- There's no way this guy

happens to get arrested
the day we reach out.

Come on.
- No.

Let's call Shirlene.

- Hey, Shirlene.

- So, we--have you
heard anything

from James/Mya?

- Okay, what did he/she say?

- Okay, either we're going
to keep getting

this bogus story
about James being in jail...

- Oh, Shirlene.
- Wow.

- Bold.
- Yeah, I like that.

- Can we all just road trip
to Tuba City?

- All right.

[dramatic music]

- You know what we should do
when we get up there.

There's a website where you
can text someone--

- Mm-hmm.
- A link,

but when they open the link,
it sends you, secretly,

a message telling you
exactly where they are

when they opened it.

- Because in Tuba City,
- Yes--

- It'll say, like, Tuba City.
- It'll say Tuba City, right.

- Smart.
- There she is.

My girl.
- What's up, girl?

- Get in, Shirlene.
- What's up?

- We're going to Tuba City.

[rock music]

- Here we go,
road trip to Tuba City.

No turning back now.

- ♪ I don't believe, no,
I don't believe, no ♪

♪ I don't believe a word ♪

- When you got home last night,
did you see Nicole?

- Mm-mm, she's going to Cali.

- She's going on
a road trip, too?

- Yeah.
- Isn't that kind of

a coincidence?
- Hmm.

- ♪ This is the decline
of nations ♪

♪ Put me in a box and
send me off into the night ♪

- 25 minutes from Tuba City.

- Do you guys really think
James is in jail?

- I'm pretty sure
the jail thing is a--yes.

- I don't think anybody's
in jail.

- So this is now Navajo?

- Yeah, Navajo nation
are on this site, yeah.

- So are we on
the reservation right now?

- Yeah.
- Whoo-hoo!

- About to tear this up.
Let's do this, you guys.

- Wow, Shirlene,
you are turning it up.

- ♪ Promise me
you'll stay until ♪

♪ You try to
make things right ♪

- Yeah, let's go, come on.

- Hey.
- Hi.

- How are you doing?
- Good, how you doing?

- Nev.
- Okay.

- I'm with some friends here.
- Hi.

- She has a friend who we heard
was arrested recently.

His name is James Marcus.

- I have a picture of him.
- We have a picture of him.

[dramatic music]

- I don't have anybody here

that was booked in
by that name.

- Okay, so, thanks a lot.
- All right.

- Appreciate it.
Okay, well.

Getting arrested was BS.
What's going on with this guy?

James is lying.

He's probably not even
in Tuba City.

- This is a bummer.
- Is this whole thing

just a wild goose chase?

- You haven't heard anything?
No texts from James?

- No.
- So what's the move?

- I don't know what else to do,

just besides giving it
one more shot, you know?

- I think we got to just

put it out there.
- Yeah.

- "We know James
is not a real person.

"We are here in Tuba City
and ready to meet

"whoever Shirlene
has been talking to.

Send.

Let's see what happens.

[phone whistles]

- Oh!

[phone whistles]

- What'd they say?

- What?
- Wait a second.

- Oh, my gosh.

- So now, they say,
"Hey, I'm in Zuni right now."

- That's in Zuni, New Mexico.
Way out there.

- That's a damn lie.
- That's far.

- Yep.
- Is it too late to try

that ping tower thing
that you were talking about?

- No.
- How do you do that?

- Should we try it?
So we need a link first.

Here's what we do.
So we just created a link

to the Navajo government site.
- Mm-hmm.

- If you text that link
from your phone...

- I most likely think
he'll press it.

- He'll probably
click on it, right?

- Yeah.
- And then once

he clicks on it,
we get an alert

telling us where
it was clicked on from.

- This is some
next level stuff.

- Mm-hmm.
- All right.

I'm sending the link.
- They're definitely

going to take the bait.
Catfish usually do.

- Oh, wait, whoa, here we go.
What's this?

We got a hit.
Tuba City.

[dramatic music]

- Definitely not in Zuni.
- Mm-hmm.

- So look, we know that
he says he's in Zuni.

It doesn't look like
he's in Zuni, right?

- Should we call them out
on not being in Zuni?

- Yeah, sure, you want to text
and just say,

"We know you're not in Zuni"?

- This just makes me
feel like a stalker.

- Whatever they get
is what they deserve.

[phone whistles]

- Oh, wait, what just--
- What did they say?

[dramatic music]

"This is nuts.
I don't know

how you can know that.
I don't know what else to say."

- Okay, so that's admitting
we're right.

- Let's--
- Oh--

- "All right, I'll meet."
- Boom.

- We hung in there.
- Mm-hmm.

- Just long enough.
- So...

I'm just nervous.

[stammers]

[phone whistles]

- Oh, now, they want to be--
- He sent a link.

Unnamed road,
Tuba City, Arizona.

- It's a Google map link,
address link, Tuba City.

All right, we have an address.

I think we should just
head over there.

- So, let's go.
- All right, let's just go

- Whoo!
- Let's do it.

- You're in
the front, Shirlene.

- Giddy-up.
This place is close.

Five minutes away.
- How you feel now?

- Scared, because this person
said they were in Zuni.

Now, they're over here.
- That's weird.

Do you know anyone
who lives over here?

- No.

[tense music]

Wait, what?
This is the road

my mom used to take
her ex--ex--boyfriend.

I called him my dad.

That would be super weird.
- That would be [bleep] up.

- I just have a feeling
that this is going to be

a person that you
actually know,

or have met before.
- Oh, my gosh, I don't know.

I'm already
tripping out right now.

- It says to turn right
on this unnamed road.

- Oh, my gosh.
- I know.

Just, like, a weird PIN.
It's somewhere in this place.

- Start honking your horn.

- It must be in one of
these houses right here,

because this is, like,
where the PIN is

- Do you want me to text him,
like, we're here?

- Wait--you saw that person?
- Wait, what?

- I thought I just saw somebody
like, behind that fence.

Sort of sneaky-looking,
crouching down.

- What the [bleep]?

- I mean, I guess we can--

should we look and see
if that's the house?

- Wait, I'm not
getting out, okay?

- You don't
want to get out yet?

- Uh-uh.
- All right, you stay here.

- Okay.
- Let me see if

someone's in there.

[dramatic music]

Sweet dog.

♪ ♪

[phone whistles]

- I got a message.
- You did?

- "Are you at the blue house?"
- Yes.

- Yes.
- Come on, let's go.

- Wait, no, no, no.
I'm not getting out yet.

- Shirlene, this--
it's now or never, girl.

[gate creaks]

- Okay, stay--stay over there.
- Are you ready?

- Yeah.
- Come on.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

Hello?

- Don't look in there!

- Oh, here's somebody.

Oh, boy.
- What?

[knocking]

- Hello?

Oh, here's somebody.

♪ ♪

Uh, well, how you doing?

- Uh, I'm nervous.
Really nervous.

- Okay, well, that's okay.

I think we're all
a little nervous.

- Who is he talking to?
- I don't know.

- Why don't you come out?

[dramatic music]

- Oh, stand by me.

What?
- Hi.

- What's up?
- I'm Kamie.

- Mya.
- Mya?

- Mya, yeah.
- Nice to meet you.

- And this, as you know,
is Shirlene.

- Yeah.

- So James, is that--
- Is he real?

- No.
- Is it you?

- Yeah.
- It's been you the whole time?

- Yeah.
- Okay.

- Why--why did you
do this to me?

I mean...
- Um--

- You basically wasted
my time coming out here.

I have a little boy.
- Yeah.

- Let's go in here.

[dramatic music]

Just so you don't have to feel

like everybody's
looking at you.

Do you live here in Tuba City?
- Yeah.

I live here and in Zuni.
- Okay.

- And so, you are Zuni?
- Half Navajo, half Zuni.

- Half Navajo, half Zuni.
Okay, and how old are you?

- I'm 18.
- You're a youngin'.

I'm way older than you, and...

oh, my gosh, this is weird.

Are those little girls real?

- The daughters
that James said died.

Are--are those--
- No.

- That's a [bleep] up thing
to lie about.

- Yeah, I would never lie
about my son dying.

Like, that part,
you should have never said.

- I know.

- How did you come up
with all these lies?

You talked about keys.
You talked about dying.

You talked about
a lot of stuff.

I cried.
I literally cried.

- When I did that,
that was me trying to

let that profile die down.

And I tried shutting it down,

but I couldn't really
let it go and everything,

because I would have
no one else to talk to.

- And when did you start
the James profile?

- I--roughly, I could say
about two years ago

after my sister
passed away from drinking.

That's when
that James profile came in.

That love,
I was missing that love,

that affection,
that comfort from somebody.

- So was the profile mostly
talking to women or men or--

- Both, just to create
a friendship,

and to create, um--a bond.

♪ ♪

- Shirlene tells us
that she thought

you guys were in
a romantic relationship.

Is that how it felt for you?

You thought this was
kind of like your boyfriend.

- Yeah.

- You guys were sharing
"I love you"'s.

You said "I love you"
after a month.

- But, you know, best friends
can say that, too.

They say, like,
"oh, I love you," and stuff.

- But when a hot guy tells
a cute girl "I love you,"

it means something different
than when

two best buddy girlfriends
say "I love you."

- Yeah.
- So for her,

that "I love you"
meant a lot more.

- Yeah.
- You knew that.

- Yeah.
- You had to know that.

- Yeah.

If you want to be mad
and frustrated with me--

- Oh, I'm mad.
- I understand that.

I just did it
because I was missing

that love and affection.

You know, you were that person
that was there

to listen to what I had to say.

I told you things that
I never even told nobody.

I never even told my family,
my friends, nothing.

[soft music]

And when my sister passed away,
I was put in foster care.

- I grew up
in part of that, too.

- That [bleep] was rough, man.

Like, they took my little
brother away from me.

They took a lot of things
away from me.

♪ ♪

I'm really sorry.
I really wanted to tell you.

[exhales]

But I never got that courage
to tell you.

- So I don't know
what your feelings are,

and what you're comfortable
talking about,

but I'm willing to bet that
you do have feelings for her.

- No.

[dramatic music]

When we talked, it's like,
she's really there to listen,

and I--that's what I liked
about her.

She can listen.
She's caring.

She's loving.
She's smart.

But it was like, a friendship.

♪ ♪

- Let's just go back
into the car for a second.

Why don't you go inside,

and then, we can talk
a little bit more.

- Yeah.
- All right.

♪ ♪

[door creaks]

- This is, like,
some next level [bleep].

Oh, my God.
That's crazy.

- I just don't believe that she

doesn't have
romantic feelings for her.

- You know what, just knowing
I thought she was a guy,

we had, like,
sexual talk, kind of.

- You texted.
- Sexual...

like...
- So clearly, I mean--

- Oh, my gosh,
that's what I was sending her.

Like, what the hell?

- I think she
definitely likes you.

- Yeah, she's just maybe
not ready to admit it.

I think we just need to use
a little bit of tough love.

Something's got to give.

- Just knowing
I thought she was a guy,

we had, like, sexual talk.

- I think she
definitely likes you.

- Yeah, she's just maybe
not ready to admit it.

- You got to lay it down.

- You don't owe it to her
to be nice.

- She needs to know why
it's messed up and wrong.

- All right.
- So let's do it.

[tense music]

- Let's just finish this.

♪ ♪

- Okay.

- Well, I just
want to say, like,

I understand what
you've been through.

You should have just
came clean, you know?

From the very beginning.

Are you the one that I had

a sexual conversation with?
Was that you?

- Yeah, but it didn't
mean anything.

- Are you sure about that?
- I just--

- I just didn't--
I just didn't, like--

I don't know how to explain it.
Like--

I don't know.

- I just feel like if
you were talking to someone,

and you felt
really close to them,

and you had
a sexual conversation.

Like, it'd be hard to not
have some feelings developing.

- I did, kind of.

- So you're
not afraid of having

romantic relationships
with women?

- A little bit, I am.

- Because of the stigma
around it?

- Yeah, mm-hmm.

But it's just, um...

[soft music]

Yeah.

- Yeah, um--
I'm really traditional,

so if a elder see me with
a woman, she wouldn't like it.

- Like, yeah, I was raised
traditionally, too,

in the Navajo way.

So you know, that was just
my little--my little getaway.

And I really, really did not
want it to come this far.

I wanted to tell you.

I did want to,
but I was scared.

And I wouldn't blame you,

because of all the [bleep]
I put you through,

but I mean,
I would be really grateful

if you stay as my friend.

Because I would need
someone like that.

That's all I got to say.

- But you do know,
because of everything.

Like, you have apologized,
but you do know

she doesn't
owe you a friendship?

- Yeah, I understand that.

- You just got to give me
some time, you know?

- You have the self-awareness
to recognize

the situation for what it is.

And also,
that because homosexuality

is still not accepted
in Native American culture.

Not to say that a life
on the reservation

can't be wonderful
and fulfilling and very lovely.

But like, I don't get the sense
that your life here

will ever let you be yourself
and feel accepted.

- It feels like that with me.
- Right.

So, okay, and for you,

you knew you were seeing
only what you wanted to see,

and that it probably
wasn't going to work out.

- Yeah.
- But, like,

you got to own that
and take some responsibility.

Because it's not
just her fault.

- Yeah.
- Okay.

Dad time over.
- [laughs]

- All right, we'll just
give you a minute

to say whatever you need
to say to each other.

And then, we'll all
say good-bye out front.

- I was pretty nervous
coming here.

I was, like, man.
- Yeah?

- I'm sorry that you've
been through a lot.

- I'm the one that should
be saying sorry.

I mean, yes, I had feelings
for you, and, um...

you know, it's just...

[exhales]

It's just really hard.
- Yeah, well--

- You know, the res,
people talk, man.

And I know this [bleep]'s
going to go around real quick.

- Yeah.

[soft music]

- I really am sorry,
and I understand if--

like, I know it's going
to take some time

for you to talk to me again.

- Yeah.

♪ ♪

- Well, let's go out there.

- Hello.
- So everything

feels like it's
in a good place?

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

- Well, then, handshake.

Good to meet you.
- Yeah, you, too.

- Thanks for
finally meeting up.

- Thank you.
It's good to meet you.

- And getting us out here.
See you later, Mya.

- Bye.

♪ ♪

- Well, that was something.

- ♪ I slow you down
with the sunset ♪

- So what are you
going to do now?

Now that you're
single officially.

- Hm, yeah.
- You know?

Having been through
this experience.

- Just basically
move on from this,

and learn a life's lesson,
I guess.

- What do you think
that lesson might be?

- Don't fall for people
that's not real.

- Do you think
you're ready to date?

- No, my main focus
is just still my son.

[phone rings]

- Hello?
- Hey, Shirlene.

- Hi, Shirlene.

- I would have loved to have
seen you beautiful face,

but I guess we have to
just do a phone call.

- That's okay,
I'm more interested

in just kind of finding out
what's been going on.

- So Mya's tried
to stay in touch with you,

but you're--
you're not really into it?

- How's your son?

- Aw.
- Nice.

I hope your son's birthday is
as fun as I'm sure it will be.

- All right,
good luck with everything.

- Bye, girl.
- Bye.

[phone ringing]

- Hey, Mya,
it's Nev and Kamie.

- Just wanted to reach out,
see how you were feeling

now that you've had some time
to sort of think about it.

- I mean, I fully understand
your concern, Mya.

But at the same time,
you owned up to it.

You fessed up.

- And I think anyone
who can't see that

and understand that you're
a good person is a fool.

- Well, thanks.
Hang in there.

We'll talk to you once
the episode comes out

to see how you're doing.

- Bye.
- All right, bye.

1050
00:41:15.