City on Fire (2023–…): Season 1, Episode 8 - In the Dark - full transcript

Charlie!

- Charlie!
- I'm okay. I'm all right.

- Okay. Which wire do I pull?
- Get out of there!

I'm gonna call for help.

We found it! Floor below the penthouse!

Outside the windows
on the north-facing wall!

Charlie, please, I can't watch you die!

Well, there's a blue wire going
into the clock. I'm gonna pull this one.

No! That's a decoy.

I need to do something. Help me, please!

Hey, look at me.



Do you know?

I think it's yellow.

But what if I'm wrong?

Yellow! Yank the yellow wire.

Come on.

I pulled it! It's still going!

It hit zero! I think we're okay!

You were right!

Hey, you did it. Yeah... Hey.
It's gonna be all right.

You were right.

- McFadden.
- Hey. It's Parsa.

We found the bomb in time.

Well, Weisbarger did,

with help from someone called Lorraine.



One of Nicky's crew, I think.
She was at the protest.

Thank God. When the power went out,
I thought for sure it was you.

What power?

The whole Eastern Seaboard.

All the way up to fucking Canada. Blackout.

If it wasn't this bomb, then...

Protocol is we're supposed to treat it
as if it's terrorism

until we know it's not.

- What do you think?
- I'm way past knowing what to think,

but the whole city's a shit show.
Good luck getting back here.

You got Weisbarger and the girl with you?

- Yeah.
- What about Amory Gould?

Already gone.

Fucker's gonna use this to get away.
I gotta go.

Hello.

Hey, Sher. Hey, don't cry.

It's gonna be all right.
Just stay home. Stay calm.

It's not the blackout.

I took the test. Don't be mad.

No. I'm not mad.

I'm just sorry.

Negative.

Again. It's never gonna happen for us, Al.

I'm not gonna let you go
without your daddy.

You understand?

You lasted this long.

There's some part of you
that still wants to be here.

The state capital of New York, again,

we are experiencing
no power here in lower Manhattan

in parts of Queens, Brooklyn, Midtown,
lower Manhattan, Upper West Side.

The police department did report
the five boroughs...

- Sammy.
- ...experiencing some kind of power outage.

- It's 4:35 in the afternoon right now.
- Come on.

- Many people will start leaving...
- Come on.

What can you tell us
about the streets right now?

What I can tell you,
from what I was able to see,

the Brooklyn Bridge is
on the verge of being extremely backed up.

None of the traffic lights down here
are working.

...heard that the hospital at,

St. Luke's hospital at 114th and Amsterdam
is obviously totally out as well.

We do have reports
that this power failure also extends

to western Suffolk county
out of Long Island.

And there's also one report
that it could be going up to Canada.

There we go. We're done. It's done.

Don't pretend
like you didn't enjoy that a little bit.

I will not be enjoying anything
until you're at a hospital being treated

by somebody with more training
than an Eagle Scout.

Here we go.

You were an Eagle Scout, Mercer? So was I.

Oh, my God. Dad, please.
Please don't get him started.

He won't stop talking
about his merit badges.

Really? Well, which ones did you have?

Emergency Preparedness
and Lifesaving, obviously.

Regan, please save me from these nerds.

Where the fuck is the ambulance?

- Sorry, Dad.
- No, you're right, honey.

It has been a while. Where the fuck is it?

I'm gonna go downstairs
and see if they're there.

Okay.

What the fuck is wrong with my phone?

Hello.

Hey, it's me. Are the kids with you?

Why would they be with me?
You went to pick them up.

I was a little late.

So what? They're just gone?

Do you know what's happened?

No, I don't know what's happ...
Other than you losing our children.

I mean the blackout.

Wh... Black... What blackout?

Pataki just called a state of emergency.

They aren't releasing the cause,
but it seems like what it seems like.

Okay. Meet me at the apartment.
Maybe they went there. Okay?

- Yeah. All right. I'll be there.
- Hurry.

I just don't... I really don't understand
how you let two kids just go.

I don't understand that.

Yo, he's on.

New York's governor, George Pataki,

declared a state of emergency.
And of course...

Yo, a state of goddamn emergency.
Fucking I'll say it is!

The whole fucking grid!
That's unbelievable.

...massive power blackout.
We're still getting information.

No explosions mentioned though.

No casualties.

You sure this is even us?

This is pessimistic bullshit.

Come on. Of course, this is us.

What the fuck else could it be?

This is us.

Come the fuck on!

Cate? Will?

They're not here. Not here.

Okay. Well, let's not panic.

- They could still be on their way.
- Or they could not be.

We taught them
about stranger danger, right?

We really hammered that point home.

They didn't go anywhere with a stranger.

Okay.

I cannot do this again.

Running in my bare feet
to pick up Will from school

and the face of that little girl
whose mom worked at Marsh McLennan...

The cops won't be able
to help us right now.

They're a little busy.
So we look for them.

Canvass neighbors,
go to their favorite spots,

places they feel safe.

Serendipity, Jackson Hole, the Carousel.

- Okay.
- Yeah?

Yeah. Will has a key.

So, I'll write a note to call Grandpa's
and to tell whoever's there

that they're okay and to stay here
and wait for us.

And then you can take the West side.
I'll take the East.

Hey, I...

What?

We don't know what's going on out there.

Maybe we should stick together.

Okay.

I told you this is a bad idea.

No one showed up.
I just wanted to go home.

Listen up! If it's terrorists,
we're gonna have to move.

And even if it's not,
staying here is not a great idea.

I've got my tools. I've got a flashlight.
We're gonna be okay.

All right. Who's first?

All right, slow and steady, folks.
Keep it moving.

- Go ahead.
- Stay together.

Hold the pole if you have to.

Everything's gonna be fine, honey.

Just keep moving down.

What is happening?

Hello!

I can't keep doing this forever.
I need help here.

Generators are working downstairs.
We're moving patients.

- Thank you, Jesus.
- But not this one.

- What?
- I'm sorry,

but we need to prioritize those
with the best chance of making it.

Please!

Please let me out! Please!

Hello.

Hello!

The first thing
that everybody should do is to understand

that there is no evidence
of any terrorism whatsoever.

Hey!

The power is starting to come back
from the north and from the west.

What that means is that
we will be starting up power in the city.

It will take a decent amount of time.
Hours, not minutes.

And nobody really
can be any more specific...

All right. Listen up.

No terror threat is great news,

but that doesn't mean
we aren't headed for a long, dark night.

Most of you were just kids in '77,
but there were over a thousand fires,

and over 400 officers were injured.

So let's save the cheers for sunrise.

Sir? Does this mean...

No, arresting Gould has to wait.
The whole system's down.

- City's in chaos. Tomorrow first...
- Tomorrow will be too late.

Look, I will handcuff him to my arm
and drag him here if I have to.

You do that, and I'll suspend you.

I'll take it.
Because like my dad always said,

"It's better to ask for forgiveness
than permission."

Well, Pat was an asshole.

He felt the same about you, sir.

What they report,
in summary, is a very quiet city.

There are no fires
of any size going on at the moment.

- No criminal activity...
- No explosions, no bombs, no terrorists.

- I don't think it was us, y'all.
- Oh, yeah, really?

I'm fucking getting that!

Things like traffic lights are not working.

- The police department has...
- Maybe it was the timer.

The fuck did you just say?

It was your first time doing that.
Maybe you messed up.

- Okay. Sol, don't go there right now.
- What?

A very fucking major thing
we all risked our lives for

seems to have not worked.

I think that's worth a discussion.

- Fucking pull over.
- Here?

Yeah. Right fucking here.

Pull over!

- Get out.
- No.

Hey.

Right fucking now, Sol.

As if you're gonna shoot me.

Nicky. Come on. We're all upset.

Just put it down. Put it down.

Get out.

See, now when things go bad,

I need to know that the team has my back.

I just want to know what happened.

- What's wrong with that?
- Sol, just fucking apologize.

- No.
- No? Fuck...

All right.

You are gonna make your own way from here.

You take your shit and go.

You guys did a good thing right here.

You saved a lot of people, including me.

But I still got a lot of questions.

Starting with you.

It was your piss-soaked jeans
I found at the crime scene, was it not?

Sam told me
that if she didn't get back to the club,

that I should go to meet her
and so I did, or I tried to.

When I got there, she was shot already.

I ran away 'cause I was scared.

Scared of what? The shooter?

That you'd get blamed?

Scared that she would die.

Right there. Right in front of me.

I felt like my heart would just...

stop. So I ran.

Did you see anyone else there?

The guy in white pants yelling for help.

The man the paper said found her.

Okay. What about an older guy?
Gray hair, plaid pants?

Amory Gould.
Your friend Nicky works for him.

We have footage of him heading back
from the park

a little before you were there.

- No...
- I saw him.

You were in the park?

Lorraine?

Does he have to be here?

Why don't you want him?

Because I don't want him to hate me.

Hey, slow down.

- You just told me to hurry up.
- Yeah, like, walk faster. Don't run.

People see a guy running,
they look to see if he's being chased.

- Good evening.
- Get the fuck away from my van.

I couldn't help but notice
this eyesore of a vehicle

polluting the view from my terrace.

If I'm not mistaken,
this is Mr. Chaos's van,

which I pay for.

Along with the shit hole
that you two live in.

You're the guy who stuffs the envelopes.

And you're the grimy street rats
who do my bidding.

What brings you all the way up here?

Saving your fucking ass.
Saving all our fucking asses.

And if you so much as
breathe a word of this to anyone,

I will come for you
and your whole fucking family.

You are a good hire.

I can see why Nicky keeps you around.

And no doubt why he keeps you around.

We were never here.

So, Gould didn't shoot her?

But you know who did.

I've had to carry so much my whole life,

but I couldn't carry this.

I tried, but I couldn't.

I know what Nicky says about absolution,
but some things can't be forgiven.

What happened after the fire at Frank's?

You know about that?

I know a guy died.

And I'm guessing it tore Sam apart.

What the hell are you doing?

Put it back. That's not yours. It's ours.

SG, we can use this money for good.

- Yeah, we already do. It's called food.
- That man had a family.

- We owe it to them.
- Nobody owes anyone jack shit.

- It was a fucking accident.
- Yeah, an accident that we caused.

Do you have any idea
what Nicky would do to you

if he found out
you were taking our fucking money?

I would say the same thing I did
when Sam first proposed the idea.

It's what's required.

It's a beautiful gesture.

It's the least we can do.

Nicky, no amount of money
is gonna bring that dead guy back.

It'll help his wife, his kids.

Yeah, and our souls.

Not a word to anyone else.

Understood?

She was so upset.

And she'd taken some photos that night.

Not arty ones, like usual,
where you couldn't really see shit,

but, like, evidence.

Sol smashed her camera.

That was like another death.
She was out after that.

Begged Nicky to stop,
and he said he would.

- But he lied?
- Of course he lied.

He was never gonna stop.

Which Samantha realized
when all that black powder went missing.

Sam agreed to let us take some.

Nicky said
he wanted smoke bombs for Don Hill's.

City on fire, right?

Sam said okay
because it was for the music.

She thought if Ex Nihilo became a thing,

then maybe Nicky could
make some money off the band.

Keep everything going
without all the bad shit.

Except Sol filled that whole hockey bag.

So, Samantha called Lamplighter.

What? The guy from the hospital?
What was he to her?

Her boyfriend, for starters.

Sorry.

In the winter. Before Nicky.

We weren't supposed to know about him

because he's some kind of finance guy
with a family.

Also, he dropped off the cash every month.

Nicky told us not to talk to him,

but, Sam always did what she wanted.

Okay. So, wait the night of the 4th,

she left me to go meet him in the park?

It was super weird
she didn't stay for the show,

like something-is-fucking-up weird.

And I told you exactly where she was.

Do you guys know the fastest way
to get to 5th and 73rd?

I'm supposed to meet her there.

Hello?

Hi.

What are you guys doing here?

Could ask you the same thing.

I mean, what the hell, Sam?

- You here to rat us out?
- No, I...

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

I'm a little scared,
and I just need some help.

Just to talk to somebody
who's not in all this shit.

You can't tell anyone anything.

That's the promise you made.
This will kill Nicky.

Someone died! A man died!

Don't you see how
that changes things a little bit?

Nicky lied to me. He lied to you.
You can't trust Nicky.

So, what?
Your great love affair is just over now?

What about all the nights
that you two stayed up talking?

Just the two of you sharing secrets?

What the hell, Lorraine? Are you jealous?

He let her get away with shit
that no one else would get away with.

You are. You're fucking jealous.

What the fuck, SG? You love Nicky now?

I told Nicky
we shouldn't let girls in the crew.

Well, then go ahead
and take care of this rat.

She fucked your lover boy.

Take care of her once and for all.

SG.

That's it.

What are you doing?

What are you doing, SG? I am your friend!

I am your friend.

- Don't do this, please.
- If you love Nicky so much then show him.

- Please. Don't do this. Please.
- Before she takes us all down.

Oh, my God. I'm so sorry.

So, that was the first shot.

The one that missed.

What about the second?

You're gonna leave me here
'cause I politely suggested that maybe,

just maybe,
something was your fault for once?

Nobody asked for your opinion, Sol.

For your fucking theory.

You are nothing.

Nobody.

When you first met me,
you didn't have shit.

You're wrong. I had two things.

This van and a girlfriend named Lorraine.

But she's gone now,

and I'm wanted
for some serious fucking crimes,

including murder!

To please you.

To protect you.

How many fucking people do I gotta kill
to protect you, Nicky?

One!

You kill one fucking person!

Billy Three-Sticks.

That guy at Frank's, that was an accident.

- Guy at Billy's studio...
- That's on me.

Nicky, you stupid fuck!
Who do you think shot Sam?

What...

did you just say?

Jesus. You can't do anything right.

No, n...

She was gonna rat us out, Nicky.

You'd gone soft on her.

I did what you couldn't do.

Did you know?

Did you know?

No.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Fuck!

Nicky!

It's been eating me up.

That night.

And, Charlie, you coming
into our world only made it worse.

The way you missed Sam,
talked about her goodness.

She was my friend too!

The only person in that house
who never tried to use me!

I was supposed to leave with the guys,
but instead, I ran away.

I ran away to die.

Do you know where they went?

Nicky wasn't gonna tell us till after.

There was a pipe bomb in the Bronx.

Nicky made it, but I threw it.

Is there anything else?

A large number of morally questionable
choices, but nothing else illegal. No.

Wait. Do you know if the hospital's okay?

Sam's on a ventilator.

I don't know.

All right. It's time to get out of here.

Let me call the station.

Figure out what to do with you guys.

So, that's it?

Now you hate me?

I feel like I don't know you.

That makes me so sad because right now,

you know me better
than anyone in the world.

I just walked over
from the municipal building,

there's a mass exodus of people
heading over the Brooklyn Bridge.

People are coming up from the subways
extremely confused.

It's really chaotic.

City Hall is actually up
using auxiliary power.

But they're asking everyone...

Let's go!

Come on!

Come on!

Holy shit.

Oh, my goodness.

Look. Above the park.

My whole life,
never seen anything like it.

Help me up.

Easy, take it easy. Easy.

Excuse me.

She's still here.

Come. I need your help.

Squeeze. Release.

- One, two, three, four, five.
- One, three, four, five.

- Squeeze.
- Squeeze.

- One, two, three, four, five. Squeeze.
- Three, four, five. Squeeze.

- Will?
- Kids?

Cate?

I don't know where they could be.

I... Our kids are gone.

- They're lost out there.
- We don't know that.

Lots of kids probably got separated
from their parents.

Stuck at camp or day care
or at a friend's house.

Do you own a lighter?

Those kids are supervised.

Their parents aren't wrapped up
in some arson-murder plot.

We're going to the police.

- I don't give a shit if they're busy.
- Okay.

- These are my fucking kids...
- Okay.

...and they're missing,
and this is what the cops should be doing.

Open the door.

Hello?

- Mom?
- Oh, my God.

- Hi, honey. How are you? Yeah.
- It's them? It's both of them?

Hey, are you with Cate?
Are you guys together?

We're okay. You're at Dad's?

Yeah. We've been looking all over
the city for you. Where are you?

- Home.
- In Brooklyn?

- How did you get there?
- We walked.

Well, first we took the subway,
but it got stuck,

- so we had to walk through the tunnel.
- We saw rats!

Then we kept on walking.

You walked across the bridge?

Jesus Christ.

That must have been so scary.

It was a bit, but I kept Cate close,
and I knew my way home.

Oh, my God.

Will, you are so brave.

You are so brave.

We're okay.

Just wanted to make sure you guys were.

The house was empty, so I got worried.

We're fine. I'm here with Dad,

and it just might be a little while
until we get to you.

Can you put Cate on the phone?

Hi, Mommy. We're gonna eat
all the popsicles before they melt.

Okay. That sounds like a good idea.

Listen, your dad wants to say hi.

Hey, sweetie.

Hi. Heard you had a bit of an adventure.

Okay.

NYPD. Anyone here?

- Detective McFadden.
- I'm here for Amory Gould.

I'm afraid you're too late. He's gone.

William!

We need your help, please.

- Hey. What happened?
- Hang on.

- He was stabbed.
- Stabbed?

Okay, stay with me.

This is a very serious injury
he's suffered.

He's lost a lot of blood,
maybe even nicked an intestine.

We gotta get him to the hospital.

We've been waiting
on an ambulance for hours.

Well, then we gotta get him
there ourselves.

You thinking what I'm thinking?

Two, three.

One, two, three, four, five.

Hi.

Hi.

I just want you to know,

no matter what,

everything's gonna be okay.

Three, four, five.

One, two, three, four, five.

Three, four, five.

I didn't want Sam to go without her daddy.

I didn't want you to arrive here
and find her gone.

Now that you're together, it's okay.

It's okay to let go.

You know, you can leave
if that's what you want.

What if that's not what I want?

Well, then you are going to have to fight.

I don't know if I can.

I've been fighting for so long.

It's gonna be hard.

There is no doubt about that.

God knows I have wanted to die.

Prayed for it.

Actively pursued it at times.

And I'm still here.

I don't think I'm done yet,
and I don't think you are either.

Come on.

You're just getting started.

I love you, Sammy.

Oh, Sam.

Oh, my God.

Nurse!

Sammy.

Honey.

Sammy.

Fantine!

Mom?

- Mrs. Weisbarger.
- Yes?

I'm releasing him to you
on his own recognizance.

Do you know what that means?

No, but I'm not letting him out
of my sight for a year.

Then you do understand.

What are you gonna do with her?

The system's down.
We're not booking anyone tonight.

She got parents?

No, she got nothing.

And she shouldn't be alone.

I'll figure something out.

It's Parsa.

Hey, it's me.

I'm at the hospital. I got some news.

Is everything okay? You hate hospitals.

Yeah, I helped bring
William Hamilton-Sweeney here,

got stabbed by Amory Gould's lackey.

Gould's in the wind, by the way.

Wow, okay. Yeah. That is news.

Nah, I got something better.

Samantha Yeung?

She woke up.

Thank you for the call, Detective.

Your friend Samantha woke up.

Can you take me to see her?

I wanna apologize.

Not that I'd even know where to begin
or if she'd even accept it.

Do you remember where you were
when the towers came down?

Of course.

I was still living in Ohio,
dreaming of coming to New York City.

Everyone said I was crazy.

Didn't stop me.

I heard that,

people who lived through Pearl Harbor said
that no matter how much time went by,

always felt like yesterday.

That's how that day will be for me.

That day and the days after.

Oh, my God. You were there?

Yeah.

It was brutal, heartbreaking work,

but the courage on display
amid all that pain and grief

was the only light
in a whole lot of darkness.

Though, it didn't stop a few of my fellow
officers from giving me suspicious looks.

Never mind I was born here,
I'm not even religious,

or I spent those weeks inhaling
as much dust and death as any of 'em.

That how you got hurt?

In a way.

One night, a few weeks after,
I was pumping gas.

I was headed to the country
with my wife, Sherry.

You know, just had to get out of the city,
searching for some quiet.

Peace.

But to the pickup truck full
of assholes who saw me, I was...

I was a brown guy
who was somewhere he shouldn't have been.

They jumped me.

They...

They beat the living shit out
of me before I could even pull my badge.

Broke my back.

Sherry thought I was dead.

After that, the force tried to retire me.

You know,
it's hard to do this job as a cripple.

I petitioned to stay on.

A year of grueling physical therapy
just so I could keep doing this.

And here I am.

I know you feel like
there's no coming back

from what you've been through, Lorraine.

But there's always a way.

You really believe that?

Yeah, I do.

Look, you can't stay here tonight.

There's no way to book you.
There's nowhere to put you.

But the power should be back on soon,

and my wife, she makes this
pretty damn good casserole.

I'm not sure how
you would feel about that.

I'm a big believer.

My mom was casserole queen
of Claiborne Parish.

Okay.

Well,
you can tell me all about it on the way.

"Dear son,

I remember how loudly you bellowed
when I first held you.

Your mother said you were afraid,
I must hold you tighter.

I did as I was told and she was right.

You stopped crying.

And for that moment,

I swear we saw each other
with a clarity that nothing can alter.

Who knows what the Fates had in mind
when they bound us to each other?

But you are mine and I am yours.

No matter what twists our paths may take,

whatever distance might separate us
for however long a time.

I am still holding you tightly to me."

When did you even write that?

The morning after you left us.
After you ran away.

Well, I'm really glad
I got to hear it now.

I'm just... I'm so glad I got you back.

We got a lot of time to make up for, huh?

What did you have in mind?

I'm thinking
as soon as I get back on my feet...

we find Amory...

and we take him down.

Hell yes.

Don't call the cops.

I... They let me go.
This is my mom. It's...

Hi, I'm the mom.

Ramona Weisbarger.

Nice to meet you, Mom.

Just go before I change my mind. Go.

Okay. Thank you.

Sam!

Careful.

Hey. It's me. It's Charlie.

What... Does she have amnesia or something?

Hi, Charles.

Hi.

I'll get you some more water, sweetie.

You look different.

Yeah.

Yeah, I am.

A lot's happened.

- Are you okay?
- Yeah.

Yeah, I am now.