Love Life (2020–…): Season 2, Episode 6 - Episode #2.6 - full transcript

[light, echoing music]

♪ ♪

narrator: Since learning
of Becca's pregnancy

as well as his own lack
of agency in relation to it,

Marcus had tried
to go about his life as usual

to control
the things he could.

[ambient music]

♪ ♪

- Marcus, you okay?

- Oh, uh--

uh, yes, yeah.



Um...

could you print out Trey Lane's
new pages for me?

And, um...

could I also get a tea
with honey and lemon?

- Oh, the hot water thing's
broken.

- Fine, uh, coffee.

- The coffee thing's connected
to the hot water thing.

- Go to a coffee shop then.

- Okay.

Wait,
do you want the tea again?

Or would--
- I, uh--

[energetic music]

♪ ♪

narrator:
But everywhere he turned,



Marcus was hard-pressed to
find even a shred of evidence

that he was
in the driver's seat

of his own life.

[lively music]

♪ ♪

Even his own thoughts

seemed to have
a life of their own,

playing and endless game
of "What if?"

What if he'd never met Becca?

What if he'd never had
that threesome?

What if he'd just
worn a condom?

What if he just disappeared?

Better yet,
what if Becca disappeared?

A carbon monoxide leak.

A piano falling from the sky.

Something quick and painless,
of course.

He wasn't a monster.

Or maybe he was.

Maybe he was just another
awful man

trying to weasel
out of the consequences

of his own actions.

- You can't hide in here
forever.

- I don't want to have a baby.

- And I don't want
to be in love with the ex

who cut half my dreads off
in my sleep one time.

But life throws shit at ya.

- So your parents never,
I guess,

told you about the birds
and the bees and shit.

Okay, so, like,
you have the--

okay you have--
for you it's this, right?

And you put the condom over it
and then you have sex.

And that way...

- Ki-Kian--
- babies don't happen.

- Look,
after that last breakup,

I went through
a string of women.

- Yeah, but did you
get any of them pregnant?

- I was gonna do IVF
with Nicole.

But that would have been
a huge mistake.

- Oh, my God.
- That would've been horrible.

- But listen man,
you're about to have a kid

that's gonna be literally,
like,

genetically coded
to accept you.

That's cool.
- Right.

Because nobody hates
their parents, right?

- Oh, I'm just trying to
look on the bright side, man.

Seriously, maybe this will
bring you and this Becca chick

closer together.

I mean,
it's fucking rough out there.

You know,
I can't find anyone to love me.

- [chuckles]
- Seriously.

At first, I was kinda like,

"I don't want a woman to love
me because of my money."

And now, I'm like, "Fine,
love me because of my money."

Love me for something,
you know?

- Shit, Kian, I'm sorry.

- No, no, no, no, no,
it's fine.

It's all right.
It's cool.

- I still have some IVF
in the freezer.

Can you see me with a baby?

[chuckles]

But come to think of it...

your baby would have had
a cousin.

- Yo, what is this?

MSG change the dress code?

Look at yourself.

- Nah, nah, bro.
Not quite.

You are looking at
front office Yogi now.

- [laughs]
Man,

that's what I'm talking about.

You made the leap.
I'm so proud of you.

- I'm glad somebody is.
Tina saw my check

and couldn't even look me
in the face for like a week.

She was like,
"Damn, assistant pay!"

It's cool though, man.

This is about the future,
though, you know?

Trying to set it up, man.

Sometimes you gotta play
the long game.

- Exactly, exactly.
She'll come around, man.

- Oh yeah, yeah, I don't
even worry about that.

I don't worry about that,
bro.

But you know,
if I hadn't had my kids,

I would literally be cool,
just, you know,

hanging out,
being where I was at.

Drinking a beer
with a dumb-ass sweatshirt on

looking stupid.
- All right, all right.

- Ha!
Hear me out. Hear me out.

I'm not trying to lecture you.
Okay? I'm not.

But it's like, bro--

Like, I love my kids, man.
You know I do.

Like, they really inspire me,
man.

They're in the car right now
with the window cracked.

They're fine, they're fine.
It's the--

wait, is that for kidnappers
or dogs?

- No, you leave
the window cracked for dogs.

You're not supposed to leave
your kids in the car at all.

I thought, but--
- No, if you turn the car off

and leave the radio on--
like, leave it on ACC,

I think you're fine.
Anyway, the point

I'm trying to make, bro,
is that they inspire me.

I wouldn't be who I am
without them, bro.

Like,
you cannot tap out right now.

You gotta
see this shit through.

- But look, man,
I mean, I--

Becca already has two kids.
She doesn't need me.

- Bro, that might be the most
deadbeat as deadbeat shit

I ever heard in my life.
What are you talking about?

- No, no, no, it's not--

- Come on, man.

You gotta be there
for this kid, bro.

The stakes
are a little different for us.

The kid's gonna be Black.

It's a big deal.
You understand me?

He can't be around
these hedge fund motherfuckers

and these bankers.
They gonna have

this motherfucker
watching "The Help"

to find out
what it's like to be

a Black man in America.
Is that what you want?

- This is why I tried to have,
like,

a real-ass conversation
with Becca.

- This is why you can't try,
though, you have to just do it.

- You gotta mold this kid.
It's gonna look like you.

It needs to act like you.

Come on, man, you a great dude.
You got a lot to offer.

This kid is gonna be excited
to have a dad like you.

Plus,
the whole fatherhood shit--

this is, like--
that's where you get, like,

your man badge at.
This is, like--

this is where you earn it, bro.

What kind of man
do you want to be?

Hm?
[car honking]

Oh, shit, wait,
that's my kids.

All right, I gotta go, man.
I'm double-parked.

I hope I got through to you,
bro.

Clean this shit up,
and I'm not playing.

All right?

And shave too.
You look stupid.

- [laughs]

[door clicks open]

[door clicks shut]

[pensive music]

narrator: In a split second,

Marcus' life
had taken a sharp turn.

And for the first time ever,
he simply gave in,

as messy as it was.

- Hello?

- Hi.

Hi, it's Marcus.

- I know who it is.

It's been a while.

- Yeah.

How are you doing?

- I'm doing okay.

[light, emotional music]

♪ ♪

- Marcus.

- Becca, hey.

Uh, wow, you look--

uh...

- Like a soccer mom
in distress?

[laughs]
- No, no, no.

I was gonna say, uh--
- [clears throat]

- You look very normal and--

and healthy.
- Hmm.

That's the nicest thing
you've said to me in a month.

- Becca Evans.

- [clears throat]
Hi.

- Here's the questionnaire
for the genetic counseling.

- Thank you.

Um, he needs one too.

- Oh, hi, yeah.

I'm, uh, the other parent.

- Oh, of course you are.

- "Oh, of course you are."

What the fuck was that?
- It--it's--it's fine.

- Well, I don't know who should
be more insulted, you or me.

- Well,
I'm pretty sure it's me,

but it seems like it's you.

- Fucking bitch.

Thank you for coming.

I'm actually relieved
not to be doing this alone.

- No, I mean, no, it's--

it's good for me too.

- Every woman carries the risk
of having a baby

with chromosomal abnormality
or genetic issues,

but as we know, the risk
increases with maternal age.

Um, paternal genetics
can affect this too.

So...

Looks like you skipped a few.

What about Tay-Sachs,
does that ring a bell?

Do you have any
Jewish ancestry?

- Um, uh, no.

- Right, of course not.

What about cystic fibrosis?

- Uh,

I'm not sure
about that one either,

but I don't--
I don't think so.

- Well, can you find out?

- Oh, yeah, sure.
I'll ask my mom.

Oh, you want me to ask
right now.

- It certainly would
speed up the process.

- Yeah, yeah, sure.

Um...

I feel like I should have
gotten an email

with this questionnaire
in advance.

[line ringing]

[hip-hop music playing]
- Yo.

- Hey, sis, quick question--

what did Uncle Harry die of?

Was that cystic fibrosis?

♪ ♪

- What?

- Um,
I'm at the OB-GYN with Becca.

- Oh, that is really sweet.

Have a good time, Marcus.

- No, no, no, no.
Wait, wait, wait.

What about Uncle Henry?

- Fool, I don't know
how that old bastard died.

Call Mom. I'm busy.

- [sighs]

- Okay,
so you want to be a dad,

but you don't want anyone
to know about the kid.

[laughs]

You sound like Drake 2.0.
I'm telling you.

- Well, I will tell them
when the time is right.

- Uh-huh.
Listen, Marcus,

I don't know anything
about our family history, okay?

So just, I don't know,
make something up.

♪ ♪

- [sighs]

No history of it.

You live up here, huh?

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Just a few blocks up that way.

- Oh.

- You've never been
to my place, have you?

- No I--I honestly thought
you lived at the Palace Hotel.

- [laughs]

Do you--
do you wanna come see it?

I make a mean cocktail.

For you, not for me.
- I know.

Anyway, you should probably
see where you're gonna be

picking this kid up from
on weekends.

- Oh, already jumping into
the custody conversation.

Cool, cool, cool, cool.

- Ugh, I'm a planner.
What can I say?

- Yeah, clearly.

- Asshole. Come on.
- [laughs]

- Such an asshole.

[liquid pouring]

- I promise we are going to

baby-proof the shit
out of this place.

I mean, I don't know.
I might even move.

- What?

And deprive the kid
of this view?

- I don't know, just trying
to make the best of my do-over.

Cheers?
[door thuds shut]

[footsteps approaching]

- Oh, God, Mom.

Is this the guy?

- This is Marcus.

- You literally said
we'd never have to meet him.

Do we have any food?
I'm fucking starving

and the animal shelter
only has shitty snacks.

- It's community service,
Maddie,

not an all-inclusive resort.

- Well,
I feel like a fucking prisoner.

- Maddie got a DUI after
swerving onto a lawn

and hitting a mini Labradoodle.

- Oh.
- Shut up, Mom!

- Hey!
I know you're angry, Maddie.

But I am not the enemy here.

I'm so sorry
you had to see that.

I just--I don't know

where she gets
that attitude from.

- Oh, well,
it's from her dad, right?

It obviously can't be from you.

- Yeah.
[both laugh]

- I don't know.
She splits her time

between here with me
and Connecticut with him.

And he just lets her run wild
as, like, a "fuck you" to me.

And they break your heart
every day.

But she'll always
be my little baby.

- Yeah.

[footsteps approaching]

- [sighs] I'm sorry
that I yelled at you, Mom.

I just feel awful
about that dog.

- I know.
- Will you help me think

of something nice to do
for the family?

- Of course I will.

- I'm Maddie.
Sorry about that.

I'm just a total cunt
when I'm hungry.

- Oh, God.
- Oh, no.

It's all good.

- All right, I'm leaving.
- All right.

Goodbye.

- Hey.

- Can I come with you
to your next appointment?

- Sure.
- All right.

narrator: Marcus had already

called in sick to work
that day.

And as perverse as it was,

there was only one person
he wanted to see.

Luckily,
it didn't take much convincing

to get her
to play hooky as well.

- Hey, there he is.

Hi.
- Hey, Mia.

- Hey, sorry I'm late.
Holy shit, I always forget

how beautiful Central Park is.
- Oh, yeah, no.

It's crazy that it's even here.

- It's insane.
- Yeah.

- It's like a bit of
a normcore choice for you,

but I love it.
- [chuckles]

- Anyway, how are you?
What's up?

- Um...

I'm having a baby.

- What?
- Yeah.

- With who?

- Uh, with a woman
that lives on the tenth floor

of that building right there.

- Wow.

Is she rich?

- It's I--
y-yes, yeah.

- Uh...

are you--

I mean, look, we're not--
I mean, we're not--

we're not together or anything.

We never really were.

- Okay.
- Yeah.

- I mean, you seem like a guy
who wears at least two condoms.

- Well, actually,
wearing two condoms

puts the user at greater risk
for malfunctions.

- Yeah, uh-huh, yeah.
No, I know that.

- See,
that's what I'm talking about.

I can't believe it.

- You know, me neither.

- Are you doing okay?

- I'm coming around.

I guess.
I mean, it's fucking messy,

but...

I guess I've decided
that that's okay?

- I gotta say,
I really appreciate

your blasé approach
to fatherhood.

- Oh, come on, man.
- [laughs]

You know,
I have never seen anybody

get down
on a New York street knish,

like, harder than you.

- Oh, but--but um,

a hot dog is like--
that's Michelin star cuisine.

- Yeah, this is iconic.
This is--

I'm a New York City icon
right now.

- No, no.
- Look at me. This is amazing.

So...

do you want kids?

Did you want kids?
- You know, honestly,

I hadn't thought about it.

Emily and I promised
not to bring it up

until after she turned 30,
and then she turned 30 and...

she just kept getting new IUDs.

- And yet you still somehow

managed to impregnate
a white woman.

- Oh, come on.
How do you know she's white?

- Marcus.

She white, Marcus.
- It's--[laughs]

I know.
I know, she white.

- She white, Marcus.

- I know, I just--

I just don't want
to suck at this.

You know?

I just want to show up
in the right way.

- Don't put too much pressure
on yourself, you know?

I mean, look at me,

I grew up
pretty much without a dad,

and I have, like,
no issues at all,

which is tight.

So what's your plan?

- Oh, God, I mean,

Becca was saying
about moving to Connecticut

or upstate.
- Wait, you would move?

Wow.

Uh, sorry, I'm just, like--

I'm, like, freaking out
a little bit.

- Wait, you're freaking out?
- Yeah.

- I'm the one
who's having the baby.

- I know, I just--
I--

it's--it's a lot.

- Yeah.
- Wow.

- Yeah.
- [laughs]

You know, um,

for a while there,
I thought you were ghosting me.

- I was.
- [scoffs]

- Oh, it was--
it was for your own good.

- Whatever.
- Trust me.

- No, I have my own shit
going on anyway.

- Oh.

Yeah, yeah, I got that text.

- Oh, do you mean the text
that you didn't respond to?

Was it that text?
- Oh, are you pissed at me?

- No.

I shouldn't have
sent you that anyway.

You don't need a play-by-play
of my love life.

That's insane.

- Well, if it makes you
feel any better,

I do like knowing
when you dump somebody.

- I don't know, I just--

I'm done dating guys
that are all over the place.

- Oh, you finally hit a wall,
huh?

- No, I mean, me and this dude,
we're just different.

I...

That's sort of my thing.
- You don't say.

- Hey, you have to at least
give me credit...

- [laughs]
- For recognizing the pattern.

You know that, right?
That's like,

an essential step to growth.

- Well, I don't know,
maybe you should

date someone more like you.

- Oh, what,
and actually have it

maybe work out for once?

Um...

hard pass.

- Ooh.
- Oh, sh--

[laughs]
- Oh, God.

What is--
- Are we in "The Notebook"?

This is insane.
- What the fuck?

And out of nowhere.
- [laughs]

- Hey, come on.

- [laughs]

- [shivers]

Uh, all right.

All right, how much is that?
- $10.

- All right.
- [winces]

- What's up?
- Damn.

No, I--nothing.
I wasn't expecting

to do, like, six laps around
Central Park.

- [laughs] Um...

What--what size shoe are you?

- Uh, I am an 11 in women's
but men's 9.

- Okay, men's 9, okay.

Uh...

Oh, snap.
Look at that.

- Wow.
- Yeah.

- Great.
Hey, but, you do know

it's bad luck
to buy somebody shoes, right?

- What?
- No, seriously.

They say
if you buy somebody shoes,

they'll just get up
and walk out of your life.

- Okay, now I know
you're making shit up.

[bell tolling]

Let's go!
- Oh, my God.

Wait, wait, wait, wait.

Oh, are you skipping stairs?

- Yup.
- Ah, these shoes hurt.

- [laughs]
- [groans]

Oh, my God.

Oh, and it's gonna close
in five minutes.

- What?
- Yeah.

- Churches don't close.

- I think
you have that confused

with casinos, actually.

- Well, that's not worth it
for five minutes.

- Really?
- Ehh.

- Now that I ran up
all these stairs

in these corner store shoes?

- You are talking about it like

it's the "Rocky" stairs
or something.

That's like 30 steps max.
- Guess what.

A lot of us
aren't secretly buff.

I've seen you in a Henley, man.

- Oh, come on, come on.

- Oh, I'm--sh--

- Oh, you're--
- Let's just sit.

- You are really sucking wind
right now.

- Well, yeah.

- You need to get
your heart checked.

Hey, can I show you something?

- Uh...

I guess so.

- Okay.
- Okay.

Oh, wow.
- Yeah.

- This is gonna sound
really corny,

but I am really proud

of the way you're handling
this whole thing.

- Thank you.

And now you see
why I didn't call you

and tell you about it
last month.

- I would just assume
you were on suicide watch.

- I was.

- Yeah, definitely.
- Yeah.

- I don't know,
I guess I just feel like

I'm doing the right thing,
you know?

I mean, not just for the baby,
but...

for me.
- Mm-hmm.

- I had an abortion once.

Not a segue, but, uh--

- Really?
- Yeah.

I was--I was 18

and I just
got out of high school.

And my mom wasn't having it,

and I sure as fuck
wasn't ready for a baby.

And I just didn't want
people telling me what to do.

- How'd you feel afterwards?

- I didn't really
feel anything,

and then...
I just felt relief.

And, uh...

now I honestly don't even
really think about it anymore.

- I mean, do you--
I mean,

do you think you're gonna
want kids in the future

or...

- Sometimes I think
I still want kids,

and then I'm like,

"Who am I to be looking after
another human?"

- Who is anyone?

- [chuckles]

[sentimental music]

♪ ♪

- Okay,
let me ask you something.

- Okay.

- If you could bring back

anybody ever from the dead,
- Uh-huh.

- But you had to kill somebody
who was living,

who would you choose?

- God damn.

Mm, all right.

Bring back Bernie Mac.

- Okay.

- Kill Steve Harvey.

- God,
you gonna kill Steve Harvey?

- Yeah.
- Oh, holy shit.

- Would you miss him?
- No--I--

maybe, I don't know.
He's, like,

a pretty good
"Family Feud" host.

- Eh, I like Louie Anderson.

- Marcus, I can't with you.

- He's idiosyncratic.
He's interesting.

- [laughs]
- He's his own being.

What about you?
- Oh, my God.

I would kill you
to bring Aaliyah back.

- Oh, that's fair.
That's fair.

- [laughs]

Well, that was really fun.

I think I got
eleventy-bajillion steps in.

- Oh, good.

- You should tell me you're
having a baby more often.

[laughs]

I'm sorry.

- No, no.

No, I'm sorry.

[quiet music]

♪ ♪

I really like you, Mia.

♪ ♪

- I really like you too.

♪ ♪

[music rises]

♪ ♪

[cars honking]

- Hey, what's up?
- Hey.

Um, I missed a call.
- What call?

- The doctors called to tell me
the results of the blood test.

- Oh, they leave a message?
- They did,

but they didn't say,
"Everything's fine."

They--they said to call back.

- Oh, okay.

Um...

Well, I'm--
I'm sure everything's perfect.

I mean, nothing came back
in our family history.

So just--
just call 'em back.

- I know.

I'm a little scared.

- Okay, well,
do you want me to come over

and we can call them back
together?

- I mean,
is that totally ridiculous?

I'm so sorry
to make you do that.

- I'm just--
- No, no.

I'm on my way.

[elevator bell dings]

[doorbell rings]

- [breathes shakily]

- Becca, what's up?

- [sobs]

- Hey.

Okay, okay.

All right.

All right.
- [sniffles]

I'm really sorry
I didn't wait for you.

I just had a bad feeling.
So...

I couldn't take it.
- It's okay.

It's okay.
What did they say?

- Uh...

they doctor said
the results show

Trisomy 13, 18, um...

Just a bunch of stuff.

- Okay, well, didn't--
didn't the doctor say

that the test isn't diagnostic?

Isn't there another test
that you can take?

- No, this one
was 99% accurate.

- What do we do?

- If I don't have a D&C,
I'll probably miscarry.

[soft, emotional music]

♪ ♪

- Okay,
I'm coming with you.

- That's so sweet.

But you know,
I think, um...

I think I really just
want to do this on my own.

Is that okay?

I'm really sorry, Marcus.

- No, what? No.

♪ ♪

[knocks on door]

- Hey.

- I--I picked you up
some good knishes

from Yonah Schimmel
because those park knishes

were so nasty.

[both laugh]

- Uh, thank you.
- Mm-hmm.

- Okay.

Uh, come on in.

This is so much better.

- [laughs]

I know.
- Oh, God.

- [laughs]

How are you feeling?

Um...

Okay.

Um...

This is gonna sound
a little fucked up,

but...

maybe kind of...

Relieved.

[Jay Robinson's
"You Are Mine"]

♪ ♪

So what do we do now?

- ♪ You are more ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Than the kind of love
I pray ♪

♪ Pray for ♪

♪ ♪

♪ You're the kind of love ♪

♪ That will endure ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Yeah, honey ♪

♪ You're mine ♪

♪ Mine ♪

♪ Mine, mine, mine, mine ♪

♪ Even still ♪

♪ Uh-huh ♪

♪ You made me, darling ♪

♪ Lose my will ♪

♪ ♪

♪ I do things ♪

♪ I never thought I'd do ♪

♪ And it's all ♪

♪ All because of you ♪