Lodge 49 (2018–2019): Season 2, Episode 6 - Circles - full transcript

I need to crack the code
on the diary.

Larry's mom.
Looks like she knows things.

I think she was just along
for the ride.

Smith is the mastermind.

We just need to find people
below us,

and we'll all make money.

Liz,
there's no one below us.

I'm doing great.

Seems like your leg
is getting worse.

You and Connie are supposed
to be together. It's Fate.

Fate keeps taking me places
I don't want to go.



- We're coming in, Blaise!
- Where the hell did he go?

He did it.
The Magnum Opus.

He's through
to the other side!

"History is a nightmare
from which I'm trying to wake."

I read that in a survey class
at City College,

and I always wondered
if it was actually possible.

Larry...

Mom, what are you doing?

The more I read
Harwood Fritz Merrill...

...the more I believe it is.

They're gonna call me
if you ditch school,

so no monkey business.

Yeah, I'm goin'. Geez.

And wash that bowl when you're finished.
I'm late for work.



I love you, Larry.

It's me and Larry against the world.

Ugh.

Oh.

Oh, yeah.

Dud, I'm leaving!

If you wanna catch a ride,
let's go.

Okay.

Um...

Yeah, I'm almost ready.

Okay, thanks.

Oh, hey, tell Champ that I'm
really sorry I can't come

to his, like, housewarming
party thing tonight or whatever.

Come by later.

His new place
is right around the corner.

I c... can't.

I just got so much going on
at the Lodge right now.

- We're doing Mystic Chords of Memory tonight.
- Right.

It's like this, uh...
like an open mic night thing.

Anyway,

and Blaise...
Blaise is still missing.

- We can't find him.
- Ah, yeah, I almost forgot.

The case of the missing
apothecary.

Yeah, yeah.

- Really hopin' for a breakthrough tonight.
- Okay.

So...

Alright. Ow.

Um, hey, you sure that you don't
wanna come in?

No, I'm good.

There's nothing in there
for me.

- Oh, my God. Are you okay?
- Ow.

Yeah. I'm fine.

Just, hey, say hi
to everybody for me, okay?

- Have fun tonight.
- Okay.

Oh, Jackie.

Like many tragedies,
I suppose,

this one begins with an insecure
man...

Wallace Smith,
owner of the second-largest

dry cleaner's in Bixby Knolls,

and Sovereign Protector
of Lodge 49.

He was the first man I'd been
with since Larry's father died.

He was married,
so he so we used the Murphy bed

in the Sentinel Suite.

Did you hear that?

It came
from behind this wall.

I think there's
something on the other side.

You're late... again.

Have you tried doing it
all alone, Beverly?

Larry's a handful.

Just letting you know,
the new boss?

He's coming from Florida,
where they launch things.

He might not be
so lenient.

I'm doing my best.

At Orbis, I was just another
face in the typing pool,

employee number 4326,

but at the Lodge,

I was someone important...

a keeper of secrets.

This room must've been here since the beginning...

...and we're the only ones
who know the way in.

It's beautiful.

I feel like this place
has been waiting for...

For me.

I know.

There are no accidents,
Jackie.

Our job now is to figure out why
I have been shown this room.

This is my path.

When you've been erased
from enough stories,

you stop noticing.

Maybe they'll make a bust
of me like this...

I was just happy
to have something

truly different in my life.

Those were happy months,

getting lost in the old books,

learning alchemical codes
and ciphers.

It would all make sense to me,

like ripples
settling in a puddle,

and everything is clear for a moment.

But it would ripple away
just as quick.

My favorite book
was a short biography

of Harwood Fritz Merrill
by William Parker.

It described the four chapters
of Merrill's life...

boyhood, war,

his lost decade of wandering,

and his building
of the first lodge in London.

Hermeticism,

quintessence...

these were hard.

But a man recovering
from a catastrophe,

who searches and finds a home,

I could hold that in my arms.

♪ ...jolly good fellow ♪

♪ For he's a jolly good fellow ♪

♪ For he's a jolly good
fellooooow ♪

♪ Which nobody can deny ♪

- Whoa!
- ♪ Which nobody can deny ♪

Those jackasses...

are payin' for drinks
with their bum coins again.

Everyone around town
takes them.

This new Orbis clique,
I'm sick of 'em.

They have no respect
for the hierarchy around here.

I should ban
their money from the Lodge.

You won't get invited to their
party if you do that.

Please.

That's the last thing
I want.

Wally, of course,
wanted that more than anything.

- So, Wally, dry cleaning...
- Hmm.

...there's some real heavy-duty
science behind that.

Yes, indeed.

And I've mastered
the chemical process.

Wow... buddy...

- tell us about it.
- Gladly.

Um, the thing you have to
remember about petroleum solvent

is when you're wor...

You know, there are secrets
in the Order of the Lynx

that make everything you're
doing at Orbis seem primitive.

The scrolls
that Harwood Fritz Merrill

found in the desert
are said to unlock great power.

She's right.

The Sumerians knew about
chemical valances,

splitting the atom,

and here we are,

trying to keep a metal ball
from falling back down to Earth.

So, anybody could just sign up
and just do whatever they want?

Yeah, man, you can tell stories,
you can sing a song,

you can juggle, whatever.

Or you could talk for two hours

about how you got arrested
in Seattle

- for trying to sneak onto Prince's tour bus!
- That's not true.

Prince didn't play in Seattle
on the Purple Rain Tour.

I got arrested in Tacoma.

I had a life
before I became an educator.

- Oh. Lot's of dudes tell war stories.
- Oh.

You know, the funny ones,

not the ones
you dream about.

Larry had a bunch
from Vietnam.

I've got my Gulf War
standards,

and, Ernie, man,

that dude kills
with his Navy shit.

Did Ernie... Did Ernie sign up?

No.

Uh, not a lot of people
signed up.

Don Fab
and the Longshoremen

are gonna do
a special acoustic set.

- Should be pretty good.
- Oh, that's good.

Otherwise, as emcee,

I'm-a have to riff.

Free jazz of the mind.

It's gonna be a long, brutal
night for everybody.

Here's some lemon bars,

just like my estranged
stepmother used to make.

Wow. I am so happy
for you, man.

Homeownership
is the American dream,

and you made it happen.

Man, and I been
lookin' forward to this...

chance to cut loose
for the night.

Mmm!

Mm.
Fair warning, guys.

I might get a little crazy
tonight.

Sarah gave me permission
to do whatever I want.

- Mm.
- Long as I'm back by 10:30.

To an evening
of gargantuan horror.

Oh.

Hey, it's Liz!

Hey, guys.

You want me to pick
you up in the golf cart?

What?!

Want me to pick you up
in the golf cart?

No, it's okay.

I can walk from here.

Okay, let's just say,
for the sake of argument,

that Blaise didn't complete
the Magnum Opus

and he didn't cross into
an invisible world, okay?

So where did he go?

Where's he been
for the last few days?

How did he
get outta here?

Here's a crazy idea...

there's another way in and out
of this room.

No, no.
I've pulled out

every book in this room,

and none open up
to a secret passage. None.

I don't know, there's probably
another false wall

or crawl space or somethin'.

Jesus, Ernie!

Even the boring explanation
is awesome,

and you can't even
get excited about it.

- I mean... oh, my God.
- Whoa, whoa.

I'm good. I'm good.

I'm fine. I'm fine.

- I'm just a little sore.
- Oh.

Oh! Your wound, man!

- It smells horrible.
- Yeah, I know.

That's not good, Dud.

When's the last time a doctor
looked at your leg.

Ernie, my hospital bills
are out of control, okay?

That's why I need
to find Blaise,

because he's the only one
who can help me.

He's also the guy who shot
your wife with a nail gun.

My ex-wife, okay?
Or she will be soon.

I got some paperwork.
But the point is,

is that... it wasn't
Blaise's fault, okay?

Scott, you know, he wouldn't
give him his spa...

I don't blame Scott.

Blaise is headed down
the same path

as Wallace Smith.

This alchemy stuff,
it drives people crazy.

- No.
- You walk through some doors

and there's no going back.

Dud...

I'm scared you're goin'
through that door.

That's why I told El Confidente
to go to Mexico without you.

You told El Confidente
to knock me out?!

No...

I didn't know
he was gonna hit you.

Forget it.
I'll go find Blaise on my own.

And he's not crazy.

He just cares about the Lodge.

And who was that blowhard
in the fancy suit?!

My new boss at Orbis.

- He's Head of Propulsion.
- Ah, to hell with him.

The boys had gotten under Wally's skin.

We were feeling the sharp
smallness of our world.

I'd felt it before,

but now, for the first time,
I knew a way out.

They couldn't calculate their
way out of a paper bag!

We'll get the scrolls.

What are you talking about?

The scrolls.

Under Lodge 1 in London.

We can bring them back here
to Long Beach.

Of course,
Wally said, "That's impossible,"

but I'd come to know
his soft spots.

Soon enough,
it was all his idea.

Found these. Less of a mildew smell.

And the kitchen's sending up
your supper.

The least we can do for you
after your journey.

Thank you, Oliver.

The door is always open
for you in Long Beach.

Oh, uh, I'm afraid there's
a bit of a riot

planned for downstairs
this evening.

We're having
a song and story review.

Come down
if you're in the mood.

Oh, I think we'll be getting
some rest.

Our timing couldn't be better.

They'll all be soused.

Now, I just have to find my way
down to the basement,

and then Merrill's crypt
will obviously

be somewhere down there.

Are you okay?

You eat
when you're nervous, Wally.

I eat because I'm hungry.

Now, it may be possible
that I have to force my way

into the south elevator shaft
and then climb down by hand

to see how deep it goes.

Or take the elevator.

Oh, were it that simple.

You're just gonna
have to trust me, Jackie.

I feel very confident
about this.

Very confident.

More than that.

I must say, I feel alive!

I had often wondered how anyone knew

when they were on their path.

That night,

I knew I was on my path...

...because something that
should've scared me didn't.

Here I was, looking right into the life

of a man
who had been destroyed by war.

He had seen the worst of men

but insisted they were better.

They had to be.

What universe would entrust
its secrets to a dark heart?

If Merrill could see
behind his story

to a place where catastrophe
was as necessary as joy,

where the impossible turned

just beyond the edges
of our sight,

then so could I.

I was spinning...

...and I wanted those secrets.

- Jesus.
- Hey.

I just had a little dig
around in the closet.

We have so much cool stuff
in storage.

These are Orbis guys.

See the little pins
on their shirt?

Parabolas.

Maybe the whole
Parabola group legend

was a real thing?

Oh. Wow.

Orbits.

I haven't seen these
in a long time.

What is it?

In the '60s,

Orbis tried to make
their own currency,

go full company town.

It went bust.

My dad and the rest
of the janitorial staff

got screwed.

The past never goes away,
I guess.

Is that where you are?

The past?

'Cause you're not here.

You're lookin' past me,
past the Lodge,

into somethin' else.

I don't see the guy
I used to know,

the guy who wanted his picture
on the wall.

Hubris.

I don't see the woman
I used to know

since you came back
from London.

I think maybe,
since we've...

come back into
each other's lives,

we've just been tryin'
to relive the past.

And now...

Maybe someday we'll see
each other with new eyes.

But until then...

I think you're right.

Oh.

Blaise!

Blaise, I'm coming!

I'm comin' for ya, buddy!

How bad is he?
Aw, I knew it. I knew it.

I told you
not to go hard before the show.

God damn it, Don Fab.

I'm sorry, man.

It's rock 'n' roll.

You know what this night
meant to me,

playing my song.

You guys have always taken me
for granted, huh?

The drumming, the steady beat
in the back,

the guy you could always
count on... Mr. Reliable.

The one time I ask you to be
there for me, you...

Sc-Sc-Screw it. I'm out.

I'm out.
I'm out of the Longshoremen.

I don't need you guys.
You know what?

I'm playin' my song tonight,
solo!

And it's gonna be amazing,

and Connie's gonna...

As Sovereign Protector,

it is within my rights
to inform you

that Don Fab
and the Longshoremen

are hereby banned
from playing the Lodge.

Okay, just so we're clear,

these have drugs
inside them.

So, Liz,

how do you like being
the sheriff of Higher Steaks?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, do you wake up
every night,

like, just terrified
and then...

and then pace around
in your kitchen,

eatin' pretzels
till dawn, or...?

No, no, it's fine.

I'm just kind of
going through the motions,

and it seems
to be working.

So I'm not sure if that's good.

I've had a weird few weeks.

I'm just feeling
a little, um...

...l-lost at the moment.

When you're lost,
you know,

the thing to do
is get more lost.

That's how you reach
the right destination.

Mm-hmm, whatever
you're doing, it's working.

Omni HQ's gonna be happy.

Maybe Janet'll give you
another chance.

Ugh, screw her.

And screw Omni.

Wait, wait. Hold on.

That's the problem, Liz.

Janet stole your story.

It's like she stole
your soul.

Champ, just an FYI,

Harvey the Halo
and his Irregulars

are doing maneuvers in J-Wing.

They miiight come this way.

What? That's a clear violation
of the treaty.

Um, guys, uh,
just for safety,

why don't we cut outta here
for a little while?

I'll give you
the Orbis tour.

- Come on.
- Okay. - Okay?

Back in Long Beach,

Wally warned me
that no one could ever know

what we had done.

He couldn't help himself.

There were some close calls
in London, but I kept my cool.

For some men, these acts of
daring just come naturally.

The scrolls are in a safe place.

Now it's just a question
of deciphering the language,

which appears rudimentary.

I didn't care.

London had changed me.

I saw now with different eyes.

And I've learned
when you see differently,

you're seen differently.

Miss Loomis.

I know you
from the Lodge.

You're the new division leader,
Mr. Goss.

Everyone knows who you are.

Yes, but at the 49,
I'm just a lowly postulant.

You're a Luminous Knight.

So, what do you say
we call it a wash.

I'm Werner.

I wasn't looking
for another lover.

I was looking for an equal.

So, you like rockets.

Maybe I hate gravity.

You ever been to a launch?

I imagine
it's how the caveman felt

when he first learned
to light his own fire.

You see in a moment
just how much better

your future's gonna be.

You're an optimist.

An optimist hopes
for certain outcomes.

I engineer them.

You're very humble.

Well, we put a prototype
satellite into orbit last week.

Hermes will map the entire world
for us someday.

The entire world?

Mm-hmm.

You know...

some of us like to get lost.

You boys love to take
all the mystery away.

You needn't worry.
If you'd like to get lost,

I'm your man.

This may sound
presumptuous, but...

I know you, Jackie.

You like a system
of authority.

Not so much for the boundaries,
more for the nostalgia...

hearth and home,
mom and dad.

Now, maybe it's my...
Kraut heritage,

but I like some order, too.

So here's what I propose.

Sex is a no-go.

Not because
we wouldn't enjoy it,

but because
it's the obvious next step,

and neither of us
are obvious.

Let's skip the lifeless prose
and get to the poetry.

Yes, I wanna put my lips
on yours,

but that's all
we're gonna do.

Let's light the fuse
without a blastoff

and use that rocket fuel
to get somewhere

two people rarely get...

to the truth.

I accept your terms.

It wasn't easy,
but we stuck to our deal.

For a while, at least.

- Hey...
- Hey!

Ha.
Uh, y-you... you caught me.

I was, uh, just
leavin' ya a special invitation

for tonight's performance.

That's nice.

I'm lookin' forward
to seeing you guys.

Don Fab unplugged.

Uh, well, actually,

it's, uh...

just gonna be me
and my guitar.

That's great!

Finally, you're doin'
your own thing.

I knew you had it in ya.

Well, it's the first song
I've ever written.

It's about you.

Scott, we need...

Okay, okay, Connie,
just, please.

Um...

just come to the show.

Okay?

Champ,
what's happening to me?

I'm paralyzed by the fear
inside my brain.

Whoa, relax.

It's a gentle ride.

Although, maybe all the toxic
stuff in the ground here

is makin' ya hallucinate.

So, who owns
this place now?

No one seems to know.

My mom worked here
for a little while.

- So did my uncle.
- Yeah?

In medieval France,
they built cathedrals...

entire economies
based on stone and glass.

Everyone was connected to it.

Here at Orbis,
they built weapons,

and everyone in Long Beach
was connected to them.

Just checking with our
courier for the delivery.

You see, anything at all
can be currency.

All value resides in faith.

So why do we need anything?

Why can't currency just be
an idea we all have faith in?

You can't pay
for a sandwich with an idea.

You still need a thing.

Well, why can't the idea
be the thing?

I was someone else
entirely with Werner.

I slowly came to recognize
the stranger as myself.

Sometimes at lunch, Werner would
make us a special cocktail,

something to provide "lift-off."

Antarctica.
How long were you there?

Not long.
We were just doing some tests.

Wind velocity. Boring stuff.

Mm.

There's supposed to be
a Lynx lodge in Antarctica,

or... maybe
that's just another myth,

like Merrill
coming to California.

Mm.

Or finding the scrolls
in Egypt.

You know, Wallace has been
saying some pretty crazy things

around the Lodge.

- Do you believe him?
- Of course not.

I mean, can you imagine if he had the scrolls?

It'd be like giving a gun
to a child.

We do give guns
to children.

Then we send them to kill
other people's children.

No one's killing children.

Uh...
Oh, there it is.

I think we're in
the countdown.

My mother said her hands hurt
whenever she saw weakness.

Why are you
fighting gravity?

You should make a rocket
and point it at the ground.

If you think about it,

sex is just a door
that we go through

to get to the future.

We're stuck in a circle,

but the magic is...

just there,

just... beyond.

Merrill knew.

I want my Larry
to have a good life,

but...
I can feel the world

wants something else.

If the scrolls are real,

what would you
do with them?

"No man shall practice alchemy
who hath not the purest heart."

I think Thomas Norton
said that.

Yeah, I've been doing
my reading.

I'm a postulant...
eager to learn.

Something tells me you know more
about alchemy than you let on.

Jackie...

what if I told you

there were people
who think like you do?

There is a group of us here
at Orbis

who aren't constrained
by the line

between science and alchemy.

So you guys
have been playing dumb.

You tease Wallace,

but you believe
in the same things.

Wallace is a useful idiot,
bless him.

Listen, we have funding
from above,

off the books.

We're working close
with Ludibrium Associates,

following the path laid down
by Jung and Pauli.

Long Beach is at the center
of something big.

It's been waiting here
for us all along.

We're going deep,
literally.

We call ourselves
the Parabola Group.

I'm the night swimmer,
not Janet.

You know, I was born
in the wrong place.

And I want you guys

to launch me...

to the other side of the world!

Liz, Liz.

Hey, Liz, it's not funny.

I mean, don't you see
what's gonna happen?

We're... we're gonna joke
about launching you,

and then we're accidentally
gonna launch you for real,

and then you're gonna die,

- and you can't die Liz because w...
- Whoa. Hey, man.

We... We all need you.

Okay. Okay.

- Liz.
- No.

Thank you, okay?

Thank you, Liz.
Just...

Oh! Oh!

Liz, are you okay?

Yeah.

I landed in water.

Gross water.

- We'll get you out, Liz.
- No, it's fine.

Uh, there's a tunnel down here.

I can get out that way.

I will meet you back at Champ's.

Thanks for comin',
Jackie.

I wanted to tell you
about my progress.

Sit down.

Have you cracked the code?

Yes...

in a manner of speaking.

I-It turns out it wasn't
the code that needed cracking.

It was me...

my own system of perception.

Don't walk away.

What, do you want proof?

Well, look.

Here.

I made gold.

What do you think now?
Hmm?

I think you bought some gold
dust and put it in there.

How dare you.

It doesn't even matter
if you believe me or not.

I-I have been shown the way
to escape this world...

and I intend to follow it.

Thanks, uh, Loretta,

for that
blow-by-blow account

of your granddaughter's
volleyball game.

It's gonna live in the memory

for a long time.

Next up, uh, Gil

with some kind of presentation.

So, uh,
if you guys are interested

in getting in on this,

you know, uh,
u-unique opportunity...

I'm sorry.
I-I-I know that this isn't

what Mystic Chords is about,

but I bought all this crap,

and now I'm stuck with it.

I don't know what else to do.

There's, like...

no future out there.

There you go.
You are the first civilian

I've ever
brought down here.

Technically,
it doesn't exist.

Not even your satellite
could find it?

What do you mean?

Hermes.

It's mapping the world.

In a manner of speaking.

It's... it's more of
a spy bird, in truth.

And we've parked it dead
overhead our communist friends

in Southeast Asia.

Why?

Where there's smoke,
there's fire.

Peace through strength,
Jack.

Can you imagine
the peace we'd have

with the full force
of alchemical power

in our arsenal?

There will be
so much peace,

we'll get bored of it.

You have to trust me,
Jackie.

"Trust me."

I'd heard this before.

Did you do it?

Did you decipher
the scrolls?

I'd rather not say.

Uh, there are a lot of
high-level things

in motion right now,

including this...

lucrative little
side project,

an electronic currency

that uses a common
secure ledger,

like an imaginary coin.

I got the idea
after lunch the other day.

I was thinking to myself...

where were...
oh, you were there.

And from there, I drifted

into a dark, empty place.

I went back to Wallace.

His wife had left him,

and he was preparing to make
his own departure.

I agreed to go with him.

Will it hurt,
our suicide cocktail?

Uh...

The liminal state
is always painful,

but there is also ecstasy
in the transmutation

as we realign our quintessence

and become im-immortal,

like Harwood Fritz Merrill.

So you don't know.

Jesus, Jackie.

I'm sorry.

You were right.

I'm sorry.
I don't know anything.

My whole life is nothing.

This is all for show.

I've been half a man.

Do something truly brave...

...for once in your life.

I had every intention of
joining Wally that night...

...but this world pulled me back.

I couldn't leave Larry.

No one can survive alone.

I'm leaving my story with Wally.

It's more likely
to be listened to

if it rides through time on the
corpse of a man than a woman.

I took the scrolls with me...

...hoping to pass them on to someone who could lead the Lodge

to a new place.

Perhaps someday she'll arrive.

Blaise!

Dud!

What is this place?

Uh, so we got, uh,
Don Fab, eh?

Anybody seen Don Fab?

No? No.

Okay, uh, well,

- think we should probably call it a night.
- Wait!

Nobody move.

Wait. Just wa... wait.

Can you, um...
everybody, just...

if you could just sit down.
Just... Just one more.

Thanks.

Thanks.

Dud, can you believe this?

This room, it's like
the philosopher's egg.

You enter, elements mingle,
and you come out changed.

That's awesome, man.

And the diary,
it wasn't Wallace Smith.

It was Larry's mom,
Jackie Loomis.

She was a brilliant woman.
And the scrolls are real!

We need to bring 'em back
to Long Beach.

It's the only way
to heal the Lodge

- and ourselves.
- Well, no shit, man.

I kinda been sayin' that
for a while now, you know?

- Ow!
- Hey.

It's alright.
I'm just...

Aw. Oh, it's infected.

- No, it's probably... Yeah.
- Ohh...

Hey, be careful, be careful.

Okay, yeah. Ow! Ow! Ow!

Oh.

Yeah.

I feel somethin' hard.

It's comin' to the surface.
I need to get it out.

Okay.

♪ I don't believe in fate ♪

♪ Or playin' the only song ♪

♪ That life writes for you ♪

♪ I'll never blame destiny ♪

♪ Trade any days left
for prophesy ♪

♪ Why can't you ♪

♪ See my choice is true? ♪

♪ 'Cause I found who we are ♪

♪ In a bed of desert stars ♪

♪ That lit my way to you ♪

♪ I believe in what I feel ♪

♪ A heart that beats
for something real ♪

♪ Why can't you ♪

♪ Feel it beat for you? ♪

♪ Or could the stars
see only you? ♪

Supposed to be a solo.

It's a shark tooth!

Ooh!

Blaise, Blaise, help!

Blaise, catch me!
Aah!

What the hell is this?!

What the hell
are you doin' up there?!

Oh, my God!

Hey, guys.

Liz, is that snow in your hair?

Where did you go?

I don't know.

Small search-and-kill
missions have been increased.

Mobile units penetrate
the Vietcong pockets

to flush out the enemy.

There is the constant menace
of an ambush

as they move down
roads and trails

controlled by the guerrillas.

Oh, God!
No, please! No!

No! No!
Help me, please!

No, please!

No, it's just a dream,
Larry.

You're home, my love.

You're home.

Shh, shh, shh, shh.