Home Before Dark (2020–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - Sting Like a Bee - full transcript

I have a tip.

I have information aboutmy
sister Penny's murder.

But we have to do it face-to-face.

Are you sure about this?

Yeah, I-I think it's important.

I'm here to see Sam Gillis.

You know, I took her to Rikers.

She even knowsyou can't
bring in a pen and paper.

And I taught her how to remember
quotesby turning them into song lyrics.

I mean, she's ready.

And we can talk about mass incarcerationand
the prison-industrial complex after.



It'll be like responsible parenting 101.

I'm not sure "responsible parenting"
and"prison" should go in the same sentence.

But...

Look, as long as you're okay.

Hey, Dad. Sign.

Bags
on the conveyor belt, please.

-Thanks.-Thank you.

Step forward.

Empty out your pockets, sir.

Go ahead. Step forward.

The state calls Matt Lisko.

Do the right thing, Matty.

- You okay?- Yeah.

I don't know. Maybe this
was not such a good idea.



I don't want to distract Hilde. I
think I'm gonna go wait in the car.

Wait. No. Matt. What are you doing?

Where'd Dad go?

-Bridget Jensen.-Yes.

I apologize. You and your daughterwon't
be able to see inmate Gillis today.

Oh. Okay. Thank you for your time.

-Wait. Why not?-He's in solitary.

But he put my name ontoday's
visitor list. He's expecting me.

Prisoners don't decide their
schedule, sweetheart. We do.

-Have a nice day.-You too.

Wait. What did he do? There
must be something wrong!

Hey, you cannot talkto a
corrections officer that way.

Why is Sam in solitary?

Let's go. We'll figure it
out. Mom, I'm a journalist.

Let's go to the car and figure it out.

Seat belts on.

Are we gonna talk about
youwalking out like that?

Okay, dude. I am not
doing this with you right now.

You're being like you wereback
in Brooklyn with Miriam.

This has got nothing to do with her.

Who's Miriam?

Nothing, sweetie. No one.

Matt.

Damn it.

- Frank.-Lieutenant Briggs.

You're driving with out-of-state plates.

You gotta register your vehicle here
inWashington State ASAP or you'll be fined.

Temporary move, Lieutenant.

Well, you still gotta register here

if you're stayingfor
more than three months.

You two know each other?

Yeah, don't worry,
Frank. I'm not here to cause trouble.

Really?

'Cause for the past couple decades,
it'sbeen really nice and quiet around here.

Now we got your kid writing
abouthomicides that aren't homicides.

And people are already starting to talk.

Tell me, uh, Lieutenant, is Holmes
Countydoing an autopsy on Penny Gillis?

Penny slipped and broke her
neck. There's gonna be no autopsy.

No waste of taxpayer dollars.

There'll be no cops chasing a ghostwhen
they should be doing their damn jobs.

This is a warning, okay?

If I see those plates again,
I'm gonna write you up.

What was that all about?

That's the guy who's been stalking us,

hanging out in front of
our houseevery night.

Don't worry. Everything's okay.

Did you see Mom and Dad today?

I live here, loser.

No. I mean, did you notice that we
lefttogether and then we came home separately?

Dad's sad.

It's this town.

This place is so weird.
Like, horror movie weird.

I know, right?

But it's not like the kind of horror
moviethat has a poltergeist or a creepy clown.

It's like the kind that has an explanationfor
all the weird things that happen.

Sure, like a serial killer.

At least serial killers can be caught.

Do you think that Mom and
Dadare gonna get a divorce?

Izzy?

Izzy?

Scooch over.

Izzy?

I swear, if you and
Ireally moved out to the woods,

I don't think my family would even notice.

Do you want to?

Maybe.

Do you?

Maybe.

So, with this JPay thing you
can just, like, call prisoners?

Yeah. It's like FaceTime but for inmates.

Shh.

- No talking.-Can you
put these in periodicals?

Oh. Can you
put thesein periodicals?

To you... Penny and, um, Richie
Fife, they're just news stories.

But not to us.

I was there when that boy went missing.

Broke our hearts.

So, next time you write
about it, you remember that.

Yes, ma'am.

Sam Gillis, my name is Hilde
Lisko, editor in chief of The Chronicle.

This is Spoon and this
is Donny, my reporters.

I don't think I should be... I
couldget into a lot of trouble for this.

I'm really sorry about your sister.

But I don't think her deathwas an accident.

-I don't either.-But everyone else does.

So, if you wanna find out who killed her...

we're pretty much all you got.

Hello? Principal Collins.

Honey, you better get down here.

Okay, Mom. I'll be right there.

Look, I know you think we're too young.

But that's why we can
help. We're off the radar.

Do you know anyone that might
havehad a motive to kill your sister?

You can trust us, sir.

I think I have an idea.

But I can't tell you over the phone.

They monitor all my calls here.

Excuse me.

Shut that off.

Kimmy?

Kimmy?

Everyone, out.

First you
reportthat an accident is a murder,

then you bring a convicted
criminalinto the school.

Convicted but probably innocent.

Well, that's not what these parents think.

They're just gonna wonder whytheir
kids saw a killer at school today.

What would you do if you were me?

I would wanna know the truth aboutwhat
happened to my friend, Richie Fife.

He was your friend.

Hilde, no one in this town
thinksthat Sam Gillis is innocent.

Do you?

Mm-hmm.

Any chance I...

No. Whatever it is, the answer is no.

Copy that.

Izzy. Wait up.

You're in my personal space.

Sorry. And I'm really sorryfor
ditching you in the woods.

-Yeah, you should be.-I can explain.

Oh, this should be good.

When I was six, I was bit by
a dog. Here's the scar. See?

That tiny mark?

Well, it's small now, but my facewas
smaller back then so it was bigger.

Yeah. You know, I don't
thinkthat's how math works but okay.

What kind of dog?

-What?-You heard me.

Poodle.

Toy or standard?

What?

You know, like, was it a toy
poodle, like, in a little sweater

or was it a standard poodle?

You know, I did come to
find you, but you were gone.

Okay. Well, I forgive you.

I still wanna knowwhat
kind of poodle it was.

Hey. Hey, hey, hey, I got
it, I got it. There you go.

I'm not an invalid, Frankie.

It's Matt, Dad.

Matt lives in New York now.

He hasn't called in about...

mmm... eleven months.

No.

Eleven months and three days.

Yeah, well, I'm here now. Okay?

That's how I ended up in this place.

Dad... Dad, look, I
gotta ask you something.

Dad, how... how often does
Frankie come to visit you?

You know, I was hoping to run into him.
And, uh, I-I just wanted to talk to him.

Does he come a lot?

Dad?

What do you two talk about?

What a shitty son I am?

What got you so upset that day?

Can you remember?

Thanks, Pop.

Pretty soon I'll have a whole swarm, right?

Yeah, can I get a whiskey, please?

Excuse me for a second.

I hate this song.

Yeah, no shit.

Look, man, we've-we've known each
othersince we were what? Five years old?

Yeah. We missed a couple decades in there.

Yeah, well, whose fault is that?

My buddy at the prison warned me
thatyou're trying to connect with Sam.

That's how you knew where to pull me over.

- Yeah, you change
those plates yet?-

Are you making any plans
to moveback to Brooklyn?

Why are you stalking my family, Frank?

-I'm just doing my job.-Right, sure.

It's your job to sit outside my
housein the middle of the night?

Keeping Erie Harbor safe fromanyone
suspicious is pretty much the gig.

Yeah, well, how the hell am I suspicious?

I don't know.

It sure is strange you're here not one
dayand your old friend, Penny, turns up dead.

- I-I thought that was an accident.-

Excuse me? Can I get another?

What? You're gonna accuseanother
innocent man of murder, Frank?

You are the only person alivethat
thinks that Sam Gillis is innocent.

-Yeah, well, that's not true.-Yeah?

You spent seven years trying to prove it.

- You ruined your life,
your dad's life.-Yeah, okay.

Let it go.

Let it go, Matty.

Yeah, or what?

Leave it alone.

You know, I've reported in
neighborhoodsworse than war zones.

You think I'm scared of you, Frank? Huh?

You stay the hell away from my family.

You understand?

Excuse me, can I go again?

Where's Dad?

-I don't know.-Is he in trouble?

Maybe. Let me get back to you on that.

Hey.

Where's Hilde?

Working.

Hey, sorry I'm late.

Where were you? We were worried sick.

Why? I walked home.

Are you drinking that?

I was.

Oh, God.

-Why are you so sweaty, Daddy?-Huh?

What?

He's drunk, twerp.

Hey, Iz. Come here, come here.

-Matt.-Your mom wants to talk to you.

Real nice, Matt.

Oh, ow. Ow.

Ginny, stop it. Stop it, please. Okay?

-Ginny, no. Stop.-Stop it.

-What's that? Stop it.-Matt, can you...

Yeah, I'll clean them
up. I'll clean up this mess.

Thank you.

Matt, if you're not gonna do the dishes...

Matt. God, now I have two toddlers.

That's it! I'm going to get
dessert. I need a break.

- We have dessert.-

Dad.

What's going on with you guys?

I feel like a jealous wife all over again,

except the other woman
isa 31-year-old cold case.

So... he's cheated?

No, not exactly.

I mean, he was covering this story of
thisgirl who went missing in the Hamptons.

She just disappeared.

Yeah, that was all over the national news.

Matt became obsessed with solving
it, like, A Beautiful Mind obsessed.

He got super close to
the girl's mom, Miriam.

Hmm.

Oh, hello. What are you guys talking about?

This is Winnie Witherspoon.

Wait, "Witherspoon"? Is your son...

Spoon, yeah. He's workingwith
your daughter on the paper.

Yeah.

So, did anything happenwith
your husband and that woman?

He said "no." So...

And you believe him?

Ye... Yeah.

You know, he-he said he was just
tryingto solve her daughter's case, so...

Well, at least now you know why.

Their connection, you know, I-I
could never have that with him.

You know, he...

They both lost someone close to
themand-and never knew what happened.

So, it makes sense why he felt
likehe could talk to her and not me.

I put Ginny to bed.

Hilde and Izzy are... doing their homework,

and I finished the washing up.

In 15 years, I've never seen
youhave more than a few beers.

What would make you
drinka gallon of whiskey?

I, uh, I ran into an old friend.

I looked him up.

Lieutenant Frank Briggs.

He was therethe night
of Richie's abduction.

I called my old firm.

Wait.

I had them pullthe court
transcripts from LexisNexis.

"The prosecution now calls its
witness, Frank Briggs, to the stand."

"Bailiff: Please raiseyour
right hand. Do you solemnly swear

that the testimony you're about to
givewill be the truth, the whole truth..."

and nothing but
the truth, so help you God?

I do.

"Prosecutor: Mr. Briggs, pleasetell
the court in your own words..."

exactly what
you rememberfrom that night.

I heard him, Sam Gillis, in the van.

And I saw part of the van's license plate.

The letters were L-G-E.

Just... Just stop, please.

You can't make somebody elsetell the truth.

And what if Sam really was in that van?

And what if Frank was rightand-and
I have ruined everything?

I mean, I don't know.

You did the right thing.

You told the truth, your truth.
That is always the right thing.

Yeah, well, it didn't stop an
innocent manfrom going to prison

for the rest of his life.

It wasn't your fault.

You were just a kid.

I can't believesomeone
left a telescope here.

Oh, my God. This is amazing.

I, uh... I
need to tell you something.

It was a toy poodle.

That dog that bit me when I was a kid,
it was a little, white, fluffy toy poodle.

Actually, you know
what? I have to be honest with you.

It wasn't a toy poodle.
It was a teacup poodle.

And her name was "Baby."

No. Oh, my God.

We finally have an
office, a place to put all our gear.

Wait. How'd you get all this stuff?

My garage.

My dad buys most of
this stufffrom the Internet.

I'm pretty sure he spentmy
whole college fund on this.

And, yes, Baby wore the occasional sweater,

but only when it was really cold out.

And other than that, she was fierce.

Well, well, well,

look what we have here.

Oh, my God. You're so
obsessed with me. Get out of here.

Here's the deal.

My friends and I are going
touse this cabin three days a week.

In exchange, I won't tell Mom
and Dadyou have a boyfriend.

What? No, I don't have... Look, he's not...

- I've-I've never said
anything like that.-Yeah.

Just...

Okay, fine. Whatever.

Fine.

We should get out of here, unless
youwanna share the place with these nerds.

Thank you.

Oh, what is that?

Oh, my God.

-Yeah.-Oh, my God. I...

I feel like I'm gonna die.

Yeah, well, before you do that, you
mightwanna go down and talk to your daughter.

She's worried about you.

- All right.-Okay.

Oh, God. I'm gonna do it, but...

- Oh, you're disgusting.-

Yeah, I love you too.

Okay.

What are you
doing? You trying to write?

Where's the computer?

Uh, I was going to play a
game, do a crossword puzzle.

Yeah, okay. Quit sharpening pencils, okay?

I wasn't.

No, it's just a saying we had whenl
worked at the paper. Yeah, it means...

Stop messing around with
your pencilsand your notebooks

and start writing something already.

Yeah, I know. You told me.

I don't know why I tryto
teach you anything anymore.

Do you miss it?

What, Brooklyn?

No.

Writing, being a journalist.

No.

No, y... you want meto
fix you some breakfast?

Yeah, sure.

Be there in a sec.

Hey, Hilde, look at this.

Look what Pop-Pop can do.

"Float like a butterfly...

sting like a bee."

I know, Pop-Pop. Muhammad Ali.

Oh.

Not Muhammad Ali.

That's you, kiddo.

You're the toughest kid I know.

Ready for breakfast.

Wait, guys.

When we were on the phone with Sam,

he said he couldn't tell uswho killed Penny

because they were monitoring his calls.

Um, are we supposed to say something?

'Cause I feel like you thinkwe know
something we don't actually know.

Think about it. Who is "they"?

Yeah, I'm still not tracking you here.

- Who monitors the calls in
prison?-The people who work there.

-Exactly.-Yes.

So, what if Sam was
suspecting someoneat the prison

and that's whyhe was afraid to talk to us?

What if it was that creepy
COwho put Sam in solitary?

We gotta look into him.

How are we supposed to figure outwho he is?

Wait.

I saw him...

when I went to go visit Sam.

Hey, it's Trip. Leave a message.

Hey, Trip. I have a tip for you.

The police need to look
into a guynamed Ed Quinlin.

He works at the prison where Sam is.

But why would someone at
the prisonwanna kill Penny?

I don't know... yet.

What are you doing?

I wanna question Ed Quinlin.
That's where you're going, right?

You're nine.

And two-fifths.

My dad has taken me to many crime scenes.

Well, this isn't a dead
body. It's a live killer.

Interesting.

So now it'san official
murder investigation?

Hilde, put your notebook away.

The public has the right to know

that Penny Gillis' deathis
now under investigation.

It's not, okay?

Not officially.

Then the public has the rightto know that.

How do I turn you off? Hmm?

Is there an off buttonor
a light switch or...

Take me with you...

to get the real story.

Please, ma'am.

Uh-uh, wait. You stay behind me, okay?

You're lucky you're not
a boysaying that to me.

Well, I couldmake
you wait in the car.

I could write an
articlethat said you kidnapped me,

and it would be technically factual.

What are you doing, Trip?

Serve and protect. It's the damn oath.

I can't. Look, I can't!

Now, if you wanna get mein
trouble, then get me in trouble.

But I can't take a kid to go interviewa
killer. Now go hide over there.

Mr. Ed Quinlin? Holmes County.

I'm here to ask you a few questions.

- Hello? Anybody home?-

Hilde, no, no, no, no.

Hilde.

Hil... Hilde!

What are you doing in here?

I'm not very good at following directions.

You think? Get out of here.

I can't touch anything in
herewithout a search warrant.

And for that, I need probable cause.

To most people in Erie Harbor,

Penny Gillis was just the
sisterof the town bogeyman.

Penny was more than a sister, though.

She was a kind person.

She was the only person who didn'tlaugh
at me when I said I was a reporter.

Penny was an outsider just becauseshe
would do anything to help her brother.

Warden wants to see you.

He told Penny thatif
she didn't bring drugs or money,

he would make sureSam
didn't survive in jail.

I wish every mystery could be solved.

But in the case of Richie
Fife, his story is far from over.

If there's anythingl've
learned from Penny...

it's that we should never
give upon the people we love.

We should make sacrifices for them.

We should believe them,
even if nobody else does.

And we should never, ever stop
lookingfor answers that can set them free.

In the end, we should just...

love them.

What is all this stuff?

You know, it's-it's my father's.

He... He hid it.

And I never knew.

I hardly spoke to him for 25
years. I thought he'd given up on me.

He believed me.

I watched the tape.

The van had no license plate.

Frank... he said he saw the license plate.

He gave the cops the
last three letters, but...

there were no plates.

Frank lied.

Well, you've never
writtenanything like this before.

This is really something.

She deserved more than to bea
dead body buried in the back pages.

Yeah, well, now she won't be.

- Hey, you did a good thing.
- I'm proud of you.

Really, I'm proud of you.

Hey, maybe The Chronicle
should do more op-eds, huh?

-I'll take it up with the board.-Funny.

Dad, I think there's
something you should know.

Yeah, it's okay. I know you cut
schoolto interview a murder suspect.

No. No.

Well-Well, yes, but no.

I think Penny tried to make a copyof
the tape because you came back.

She had the tape for a year.

And she didn't show it to anybody becauseshe
knew no one was going to help her.

But then... you came back.

Who are you texting?

"Run."

That's what the kidnapper
said to mewhen he took Richie.

Well, I'm not gonna run anymore.

Hey!

I'm surprised you showed up.

You're a liar, Frank.

I got a videotape to prove it.

And that van, it didn't even
havea goddamn license plate.

And you knew your testimony
was wrong, didn't you?

I was a kid, Matt.

It's what I thought I saw.

I was just a kid.

Yeah, well, so was Richie.
And his killer's still out there.

It's a copy, asshole.

I just thought you might wanna see it.

You're a liar, Frank.

Pretty soon, everyone
else is gonna know it too.