Dickinson (2019–…): Season 3, Episode 9 - Grief is a Mouse - full transcript

The Massachusetts Law Society
is so looking forward to your speech.

They triple confirmed with me
that you were coming.

I'm sorry. I'm just a bit preoccupied
with family matters.

This wouldn't have anything to do
with why none of your family was present

at the memorial for young Stearns,
would it?

Sadly, yes. My son is behaving abominably,

my wife has taken to bed,
and now even Emily is upset with me.

Emily. Well…
She's always been a bit of a handful.

Bit of a wild child, that one.

I suppose.

Well, I was going to keep this part
a secret till we got to Boston.



But you look like someone
who might welcome some good news.

What's that?

Edward Dickinson,

you won't just be giving a speech
at the Law Society tonight.

In fact, you'll be greeted

by the leaders
of the Massachusetts Republican Party,

who plan to offer you the nomination
for the next Lieutenant Governor.

Lieutenant Governor?

It's an honor.
Indeed it is.

I am thrilled
to get you back into politics

and to leave
your stuffy Whig days behind you.

Edward, think of it.
You'll be a Republican.

At last,
you'll be on the right side of history.

I'm afraid I cannot accept.



Edward, you were made for this position.

You are a pillar of Amherst,

which is now one of the most proabolition
townships in the whole state.

And you have a measured
and traditional approach to the law.

I may have the credentials,
but I don't have the desire.

I need to be in Amherst with my family,
not in Boston with Republicans.

I beg you to take a moment to consider.

My decision is final.

Geez.
Stop the carriage!

What is this?
I'm letting you out.

Here? We're halfway to Boston.

What about the meeting at the Law Society?

Edward, you never cease to disappoint me.
Oh, God.

You are a backwardsthinking,
stuckinthemud, stuffy, old Whig.

You simply cannot accept that the life
of this country is moving on.

So I suppose that means
it will have to move on without you.

So, get out. Now!

Edward Dickinson, you are a coward.
What?

And a milksop.

And a mouse!

How?
Now, driver!

Conkey.

Yes.

All right, I am a mouse.

But I need to get home
to my little mouse family.

To know the worst
leaves no dread more.

I wonder what she wants
to talk to us about.

I don't know, but I guess it's urgent.

I got a box
with a piece of cake inside of it

on top of a note card
that said, "This is urgent."

Yeah, I got one too.

There she is.

Emily. You wanted to see us?

Brother, sister.

Yes, I summoned you.
Thank you for heeding the call.

Why is she talking like that?

I summoned you because we have
a matter of great urgency to discuss,

something that concerns the three of us
and our mutual future as siblings.

Call it a sibling summit, if you will.

I will.
I have no idea what's happening.

William Austin Dickinson,
despite your recent efforts

to establish a distance
between yourself and this family,

the fact remains that no such separation
has officially or legally been created.

Therefore, the family,
effectively and forthwith, remains intact.

Hence, consequently, and ergo
Ergo?

Ergo, you are still our brother.
And you are still our father's only son.

What in the world?

Emily, whatever it is you're trying
to say, can you say it in a way

that doesn't sound like we're on trial
for some very boring crime?

Okay. Dad asked me
to be the executor of his will,

and it turns out he is giving
everything to Austin, including us.

What do you mean "including us"?

When Dad dies,
Austin becomes our guardian.

He gets the house, all the assets and us.
We are just another piece of property.

Well, I mean, yeah. I figured.

When you don't have a husband
and your father dies,

you belong to your brother.

It is a patriarchy after all.

Okay. Well, I am not just gonna sit here

and let my brother
take control of my life.

I don't want to control your life.

I don't even want to be
a part of this family.

Dad messed all of us up.

And I've got my hands full
dealing with my own personal trauma.

Yes, about that.
Okay.

Austin, you have spent
the past few months, shall we say,

drawing our attention to all the ways
in which our father has failed us.

And I am ready to admit now
that you were right.

About what?

Our father has been
a tremendous disappointment.

Yes.
He has behaved exactly and at all times

in accordance with contemporary
social expectations and norms,

which is to say, he's been a real asshole.

Yes, well, I'm glad you can see that now.

I can.

You were right. I was wrong.
I should've never chosen him over you.

Wow.

Okay. Thank you.

And yet, here we are.

With you next in line
to his patrimonial throne.

And the two of us, powerless.

Your subjects.
I truly don't see you that way.

Which is why we are having
this conversation.

I need you to make a promise to us.
What promise?

That you will not allow history
to repeat itself.

What exactly do you mean?

The past is the past. It's gone.

And there is nothing we can do
to change it.

But if we are willing to face the past,

then maybe maybe there is something
we can do about the future.

So, Austin, will you promise us

that you will not be
the same kind of man our father was…

That no matter
what the laws of society say,

as long as we live together,
you will treat us with respect

and you will give us the freedom,
all the freedom that we deserve?

Sisters…

You can count on me.

All right.

On one condition.

What?

Vinnie has to get rid of her cats.

I agree. I hate those cats.
No!

Just am not a cat person.
Yeah, me neither.

I am not getting rid of my cats, you guys.

Vinnie, we spend $36 a week on milk
and cream. We can't afford that.

Question: What is your position on foxes?

What?
Never mind. It's not up to you.

We are independent women, and you
just promised to always respect that.

We will go over the details later?
Should we shake on it?

Okay, I want to.

Love you, big bro.

I love you guys.

It's honestly weird
not to be drowning in grief for a moment.

Making the world a better place
one Dickinson at a time.

Okay, Mom. Up and at 'em.

It is a brandnew day. It's beautiful.

And it's time for you to get out of bed.

Leave me alone.

Nope. I am here to cheer you up
and comfort you,

whether you like it or not.

Please don't jostle me.

Mom, you need to be jostled.

You have been in bed for over a week.

I can't just let you lie here
and die of sadness.

Plus, the house the house is dusty.

We need you back on broom duty.
You're the broom queen.

Flattery isn't going to work.

I'm simply too riddled with grief
to go on living.

There's a hole in my heart
that's never going to be filled.

Could we talk about it?

The only person I wanna talk to
is my sister Lavinia. And she's gone.

You know, even when people die,
their spirits can stay with us.

I'm telling you, I saw the spirit
of Aunt Lavinia at her funeral,

in the shape of a bird.

Come on. That's impossible.
She hated birds.

She did? I never knew that.
Nobody knew my sister as well as I did.

Nobody loved her like I did.
I miss her so much.

Tell me what you miss.

Everything.

You know what I was thinking about today?

The way she would slip her hand into mine
whenever we were next to each other.

She did it ever since we were children.
No thought to it.

Just as if we were meant to be conjoined.

Go on. What else?

The sound of her voice,
the jokes we shared,

the way she could make me laugh.

We always spoke the same language.
We were cut from the same cloth.

She was at once part of me
and the person I wanted to be.

That's having a sister, I guess.

Yeah. I'm glad I have one.

You and Lavinia are so lucky to be
growing old together under the same roof.

I wish I had that experience,

instead of leaving home as young as I did.

Honestly,
sometimes I'm envious of you girls.

Mom, I didn't know you felt that way.

Your relationship with your sister
is the most precious one.

Be grateful for every moment you share,

because, one day,
she won't be there anymore.

Mom, when was the last time
you cleaned this place?

I don't know. Feels like forever. Why?

Because I.

I think I just saw a mouse!

Mouse? There's a mouse in my bedroom?
Yes. Yes.

Where is it? Where did it go?

I just saw it. It's over there.
It ran into the corner.

How is it that Vinnie has 500 cats,
and we still get mice?

Haven't you girls been cleaning at all?
The house must be filthy.

I'll get a broom. I'll chase it.

No. I just had a thought.
What thought?

My sister, your Aunt Lavinia,
she hated birds…

Yes, you mentioned that.
…but she loved mice.

She used to keep them as pets.

She'd feed them cheese and name them after
all of her favorite fairy tale characters.

Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin, Snow White.
Cute.

And sometimes, she'd play pranks on me
because she knew I was afraid of mice.

Once, she put one in my bed.
Okay, rude.

Emily, don't you see?

That mouse,
I believe it's the ghost of Aunt Lavinia.

Oh, my God.

Mom, I think you're right.

I'd know the ghost of my sister anywhere.

That mouse has her exact vibe.

I got her.

Aunt Vinnie, is that you?

Don't hurt her.
I'm not gonna hurt her.

Mom, Aunt Vinnie is here with us.

She's here to listen
to whatever you need to tell her.

Go ahead.

Sister?

Sweet Vinnie, is that really you?

Talk to her, Mom. Let it out.

I'm sorry that I left home so young.

I'm sorry that we didn't have the chance
to grow old together.

I'm sorry that having husbands
and children kept us apart.

Keep going.
Mom, this is helping. I can feel it.

You were the best friend I ever had.

And I'll miss you every day
for the rest of my life.

And now I'll let you go.

There she goes.

Those were the things
I wanted to say at her funeral,

but I didn't get the chance to.

She's heard you say them now.

My heart still has a hole in it.

But now there's
a little mouse that lives in the hole.

Mom, that is so beautiful.

I think I might put that in a poem.

Really? That would make me very happy.

Right. Time to get dressed
and sweep every inch of this house.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Mrs. Dickinson is back!

Austin. Good. You're here.
I just brought out the tea.

Is somebody here?

Yes. George Gould. He came to see you.

George. Why are using
the fancy tea service for George?

Hey, buddy.

I came to say goodbye.

George.

A uniform.

Just picked it up from the tailor's.

Fit's just right.

So you're.

So you're off to fight?

Yes, I am.

I got my draft card a couple days ago.

I'm joining the Massachusetts 21st.

That's the same regiment as Frazar.

May he rest in peace.

Buddy,

I can't believe this.

The Union need all the men they can get.

Every man in Amherst is getting drafted.
Cards come every day.

I'm surprised
you haven't gotten yours yet.

Yes. Well, I'm sure mine will come soon.

Any day now.

George Gould, you're very brave.

Just doing my duty.

I've been called to fight,
and I will fight.

Because I believe in a better country,

same as John Brown,

same as Frazar.

There's something I have to tell you.

Both of you.
Austin. What is it?

I've done something that I don't think
either of you can ever forgive me for.

What could be so bad?

I paid someone to go to war in my place.

My draft card came, and a few days later,

I went off to a bar, got drunk,

and I paid the Irish bartender
to go in my place.

It was later that day that
we found out that Frazar had been killed.

I just.

I couldn't leave him.

Leave who?

The baby. Our son.

I want to be a good father.

I don't want to be
the kind of father I had.

I don't wanna be that kind of man.

I wanna be different.

And I want our son to be different too.

And if I go off and leave him
and never come back,

how will I teach him?

How will I make sure

that the future of the Dickinsons
is different from the past?

Now, there's gonna be a dead Irishman
off in a field somewhere,

and I'll be right here.

A traitor.

And coward.

Austin.

I understand.

You don't have to say that, George.

But I mean it.

You've done what you've done.

And there's no going back on it now,
but that doesn't mean all is lost.

You can still make up for it.

There is work to be done
in all corners of society.

You don't have to go to war to be a man.

You might find ways to make
this country better by staying right here,

at home…

While you're looking after your family.

We left it all on the floor.

Yes, we did.

Some people want it to happen.

Others wish it would happen.
Yeah.

And some people make it happen.
That's right!

We made it happen.
Yes!

We turned a negative situation
into a positive situation.

We play to win!
Yeah!

Greatness is an evolutionary process.

I believe I can fly.
Go, Michael Jordan.

I believe you can fly too, Michael Jordan.

I do too.

In fact, I just saw it happen.

We flew over those Southern boys.

They never even saw us coming.
They just heard the sounds of our wings.

Henry, that's beautiful.
We were like birds.

Hell yeah, man.
We moved together. We flew together.

Battlefield Boys for life! You hear me?

Battlefield Boys.
You hear me?

A murmuration.
A murmurwhat?

A murmuration.

That's what you call a flock of birds
that flies synchronistically.

Starlings are the classic example,
but geese have been known to do it too.

Henry, have a drink.
Hey! There you are!

We ain't in class no more.

Everybody! There you are!

Holy shit! That was epic.
What the hell?

Look who's here.
You all right there, Colonel?

Yes, I'm just.

It's been an emotional 24 hours.

As soon as I realized what you'd done,
I feared you were all dead.

No. We not dead. They dead.

I'm sorry, sir,

but in the end, we decided to go ahead
and create our own future.

So I see. And what a victory you have won.

It's incredible.

Though I will say
you caused quite a stir back at the base.

Saxton doesn't know what to do
other than yell at me.

We never meant to cause you trouble.

Please. You reminded me
how much I miss being a troublemaker.

I'm a reformer, not a conformer.

To be honest, I actually feel like
like I lost my way a little bit,

which is why
I'm going to be taking a sabbatical.

A "sababa"?

A sabbatical?

Yes, I have much to ponder,
much to reflect on.

And I'll be taking some time off
to do that.

While I'm gone,

you'll be in charge.

I've decided to make you a sergeant.

I'm sorry.

Me? In charge?
Yes, you.

You've more than proved yourself.
Don't you think, guys?

Hey!
Who could be better?

Yeah.
Henry.

Henry, Henry, Henry, Henry, Henry, Henry!

Go ahead, Alphabet!

Hey!
It's settled.

And where will you go?

Home, Boston town. But first, Amherst.

Amherst?

Yes. There's someone there
that I just have to meet.

A poet whose words have brought me

so much comfort and clarity
during these bitter months.

Her name's Emily Dickinson.

Henry, what is it?
You look like you've seen a ghost.

I know Emily Dickinson.

What?
I used to work for her family.

Wait.
You're telling me that this whole time,

I've been with someone
who knows this person?

Somebody who's actually been
in her presence?

This genius who who captured emotions
that I didn't even know I possessed?

Her lines still haunt me.

Check this out.

My Life had stood a Loaded Gun.

In Corners till a Day.

The Owner passed identified.

And carried Me away.

Okay. God dang.
Some white girl wrote that?

She spittin'.

Henry, honestly, you have to tell me.

What is she like?

You know, you should really
discover that for yourself.

You're absolutely right.
Yeah.

All the more reason
for me to leave at once.

Higginson, wait.

Yeah?

If you're going to Amherst,

there's something I need you to do for me.

Well, would you look at that?

Beautiful.

Wow.

I'll tell y'all,
now that I learned how to fly…

Yeah? Go on, tell us.

I'll never walk again.

Emily.

I came to see you.

Come in.

You have guests.

Austin invited some people over
to say goodbye.

Goodbye to who?

George. He's going to war.

Not George too.

Well, I wanna say bye to him then,

but I want some time alone
with you tonight.

All right.

Is there something specific
that you want to talk about or…

There is,

but it can't be said in words.

Emily. Emily, the guests.

The two of us.

Okay? Tonight.

"Come, let's have one other gaudy night."

Call to me, all my sad captains.

Fill our bowls once more.

"Let's mock the midnight bell."

That's from Shakespeare Club.

Let's party, my platonic friend.

Watch me.

Helen!

Come on in, honey.

Dinner's hot.

What on earth?

Betty.

Good evening.

Mr. Dickinson, what happened to you?

You look like
you've been living underground.

Well, I'm all right. I'm all right.

I was thrown from a carriage
halfway to Boston.

So I decided to walk home, but I'm fine.

Your coat is in tatters.

You must be starving.

Would you Would you like a bowl of soup?

No, no, no. You're too kind.

It's meatball soup. Very hearty.

Meatball soup?

Why don't you come on in?

There's plenty of food.
I'll mend your coat for you.

You can't go home to Mrs. Dickinson
looking like that.

Hi, Mama.
I was playing fairies in the woods.

She has quite the imagination, this one.
That's just like my Emily.

Mr. Dickinson's gonna come eat
some soup with us.

No, I
Now, you hush.

I can't let a man go hungry.

He can sit in Daddy's chair.

She misses her father.

Yes. Well, I'm sure he misses you.

Being a father
is one of the greatest gifts in the world.

So, yeah.

I've been working
on a new performance piece about grief.

We've all been processing so much grief,
you know?

We've lost loved ones.
And we've lost more than that.

We've lost an old world.

We've lost the way things used to be.

So, what's the new piece?

Yeah, it sounds amazing.

Well, it's sitespecific.

I do it in the barn with a dying sheep.

Not Old Bessie?

Yes.

No.
I sit across from Old Bessie,

and I stare into her eyes,
and I think about death.

I picture the sheep slowly dying,

her body slowly decomposing,

her eyeballs popping out of their sockets

just as Joseph's eyeballs
must have popped out,

one by one.

Pop! Pop.

I meditate on the basic reality
that one day we will all be dust.

It's called Sheep No More.

It's dedicated to the memory
of all my dead exboyfriends.

Wish I was sticking around
long enough to see that.

There is no audience.

I do love sheep.

These years of war have really
changed all of us, haven't they?

Yeah. Sometimes I feel like
we've inherited a totally different world

from the one our parents knew.

Maybe that's a good thing.

The world is messed up, but…

I think we can all find ways
to make it better,

even if just a little bit.

I wanna believe that, George.

And I don't know what my way is yet,
but I'm gonna find it.

And whenever you come back home, I.

You'll be proud of what I've done.

Well, then, I hope I come back.

The way Hope builds his House.

It is not with a sill.

Nor Rafter has that Edifice.

But only Pinnacle.

Look on the bright side, George.

Now that you've enlisted,
you'll receive a free copy of Drumbeat,

the Union Army newsletter
my husband and I publish

with the help of Abraham Lincoln himself.

The President.

Here. I happen to have
a spare copy right here.

And Emily has a poem in this one.

A poem?

Oops, I mean, anonymous does.

I don't understand.

Emily, I gave them one of your poems.

You… did?

I said it had to be anonymous.
I knew that you'd want it that way.

But your work is so powerful.

And I just felt
like the country needed it.

Will you forgive me?

Hey, you should read it to us.

That would be huge.

Yes. A poem by Emily.
She won't do it.

She never reads aloud.
Emily, do it. Just this once.

Would you, Em?

It'd be the greatest goodbye gift for me,

to have your voice in my head while I'm…

Out there.

I'll do it.

I'll do it for all of you.

But mostly for Sue.

These are the days when Birds come back

a very few

a Bird or two.

To take a backward look.

These are the days

when skies resume.

The old old sophistries of June.

A blue and gold mistake.

Oh fraud that cannot cheat the Bee.

Almost thy plausibility.

Induces my belief.

Till ranks of seeds their witness bear

and softly thro' the altered air.

Hurries a timid leaf.

Oh Sacrament of summer days,

Oh Last Communion in the Haze Permit

a child to join.

Thy sacred emblems to partake.

Thy consecrated bread to take

and thine immortal wine!

Thank you for publishing my poem.

Thank you for writing it.

You know, this…

This right here…

This is better than any poem.

All the letters I can write.

Are not fair as this.

Syllables of Velvet.

Sentences of Plush,

depths of Ruby, undrained,

Hid, Lip, for Thee.

Play it were a Humming Bird.

And just sipped me