Monsters (1988–1990): Season 1, Episode 15 - The Mother Instinct - full transcript

[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]

[CRICKETS CHIRPING]

[FATHER SIGHS]

[EXCLAIMING IN ANNOYANCE]

[UTENSILS CLATTERING]

Honey, it's family hour.
There must be something on.

DAUGHTER:
Oh, wow, Candy Critters!

[FATHER EXCLAIMS]

Oh, great. It's Monsters,
our favorite show.

[MONSTROUS LAUGH]

Shh, it's starting.



[MONSTROUS LAUGH]

[FATHER CHUCKLES]

[SINISTER MUSIC PLAYING]

[FOOTSTEPS]

[DOOR CREAKING]

WOMAN: How does this oil
taste today, hmm?

Should I add a little more
peat moss for my babies?

Mother?

Sheila, you scared me
half to death.

You should've called
before you came up.

I'm sorry. You're right.
I should have.

I'll just come back
some other time.

Oh, don't be silly.

Come over here.
Give your old mother a hug.



So glad to see you, child.

Good lord, what has
he done to you now?

Ah, I sold her
into white slavery.

But you know,
I think I'm gonna
re-neg on the sale.

I'd be a fool to let go
of this girl for
a mere two million dollars.

I should've known
you were here.

The only time
my daughter comes to see me
is when you bring her.

[SIGHS]
Come on, Ma.

You know that's not true.

Could we go inside
the house, Mother?
It's so hot and sticky in here.

They like it that way,
so do I.

Oh, all right.

[WHIRRING]

Ah. Bought you cake.

From that really good
French bakery near us.

Black forest, your favorite.

I've decided I'm on a diet.

Mother, please.

Nelson just wants to be
part of the family.

Right. I mean, family is
the most important thing
in the world to me.

Even if we don't
see eye to eye,
I never forget that.

I mean, we should
come up more often.

Just saw what
you came to say, Nelson.

Well... [SIGHS]

We've had a little emergency
recently, and it's
hit us pretty hard.

How much do you want?

Well, we're 8,000 in the red
but 5,000 would take
care of us for now.

The answer is no.

What?
You heard me.

I'm through paying
for your gambling
and your womanizing.

You'll not get
one more penny from me.

Ma, I don't think that
you completely
understand the problem.

I understand perfectly.

Sheila and I discussed it,

and she agreed that
I should ask you for a loan.

Yes, that's right.
We both agreed.

Given the circumstances,

I will have to disregard
my daughter's wishes.

Well, how do you think
your daughter's gonna feel

when her own mother
abandons her like this?

She's a smart girl.

She knows why I'm doing it.

But if you don't help us
we'll have to move out
of the condo,

we'll have to get
a cheap apartment in some
bad neighborhood somewhere.

I mean, Sheila's gonna have
to walk down unsafe streets
every night.

There's nothing more unsafe
than her addiction to you.

SHEILA: Mother.
Hush, child.

Are you forgetting
that I'm Sheila's husband?

If I'm not happy,
chances are she's
not gonna be happy.

In fact I can
guarantee that.

So it's finally
come down to that.

I knew it would
sooner or later.

The answer's still no.

You selfish, old vulture!

You'll help us or you're
gonna regret it.
Do you hear me?

Nelson, please...
[SLAPS]

Don't you ever, ever
strike my daughter!

You got out
of your wheelchair.

You picked him up.

How did you do that?

It's the enzymes in the pulp.

The pulp?

From the melons.

I found they contain an enzyme
which super energizes
the human muscle tissue.

[COUGHS]

One glass of melon juice
will charge up even
an old bird like me.

What a pity
the effect doesn't last.

I'm not used to
exerting myself
to this extent.

Run to the hot house
and get me another

glass of juice.

Maybe I'll prevent her
from bringing you that juice.

I could drink it myself.

You could, but then
you'd be taking a gamble.

Just guessing what amount
was safe for your first dose.

But then you like to gamble,
don't you, Nelson?

All right, then I won't.

Look, why don't we just
cut out all the fencing

and just talk straight
for a minute, all right?

You don't like me
because I married your daughter
for her money, right?

[SCOFFS]

Your candor is refreshing.

[SCOFFS] I'll admit
I'm not the perfect husband.

If there's one thing I've got
it's a nose for a good deal.

And when I get a hold
of a deal like that

nobody on earth
can stop me from
making it happen.

And this good deal is?

We mass produce those melons
and a string of hot houses.

Then we'll market the enzyme
as a muscle...

Miracle muscle energizer.

[CHUCKLES] God!
We'll be making money
hand over fist.

And you'll account it for me.
Is that the idea?

I'll be the company's
general manager.

I'll handle the leg work,
I'll handle the advertising.

You don't really
have the savvy
for that kind of job.

You disgust me, Nelson.

Do you think I give
a damn about the money?

I care about my daughter.

Okay.

Let's take a close look
at your daughter.

She's not likely
to find another husband.

Have you thought about
who's gonna take care of her

after you're gone
and the inheritance money
runs out?

No.

But I certainly wouldn't
trust you in that role.

I'm not asking you to.

We can setup a company
so a large chunk of the stock
is in Sheila's name, not mine.

You'd be giving your daughter
a safety net for her old age.

Thank you, dear.

Well, have we got a deal?

I'd soon sign a pact
with the devil

than to go
into business with you.

I'll be in the hot house
if you need me.

[DOOR SLAMS]
What were you
and mother talking about?

I offered to help her
set up a company
to market that enzyme.

You heard what she said.

Not that I blame her,
considering the way
I treated the two of you.

I'm sorry. I just...

I lost my head,
I didn't wanna hurt you.

I know you didn't mean to.

I just want everything
to be perfect.

Your mother
doesn't understand that.

She's never really
accepted me.

She will.

She just needs time
to get to know you.

Things will work out.

I know they will.

Let's go see what
your mother's up to.

Never satisfied.

No matter how much peat moss
I give you, you just want
more and more and more.

Do you think I own
the peat works or what?

There you go. There.

Honey, she's talking
to her plants, for God's sake.

You want some too, huh? There.

[CHUCKLES]

Sweetheart, I think
your mother's just
getting a little too old

to be making
important decisions.

Refusing to
exploit those melons
is a perfect example.

We're just gonna
have to take a few
and grow them ourselves.

Steal them?

Oh, no, I couldn't.

Look, I don't like having to
go behind her back
any more than you do.

This is for us, honey.
This is for our future.

But she'd hate me.

She'd never speak
to me again.

Once she sees how successful
our company's gonna be

she's gonna come right around.

I don't know.
It just doesn't feel right.

I think we should sleep over.

Honey.

Why don't you
come back to bed?

I will.

Come here and help me
with this first.

Come here.

[GROANING]

[SCREAMS]

[SQUEALING]

[NELSON SCREAMING]

Nelson! Nelson!

[GROANING]

Nelson!

[GROANING]

[SCREAMING]

[GRUNTING]

[SCREAMING]

[YELLING]

[SQUEALING]

Wait!

French toast.

Oh, Mother,
you shouldn't have
gone to the trouble.

Nonsense,
there's no trouble.

Boy, it looks
really wonderful.

If you want breakfast,
get it yourself.

I'm going to do
the morning watering.

Just leave the dishes
in the sink.

I will.

You gotta pick her brains
about those worms.

Ask her some indirect question.

I can't. She'll know
we were in there last night.

She'll guess why.
I just can't do it.

You know, if we can
market that enzyme

we'll be able to do
all the things we planned.

We'd get that little house
in the country you like.

Be a great place
to raise a family.

We don't have to wait anymore.

And your mother would
love grandchildren,
you know she would.

I guess I could talk to her.

Oh, you're in your wheelchair.

I'll get you some melon juice.

Never mind, dear.
I don't like
to depend on it.

Come here.
I wanna talk to you.

When you were born,

your father and I
were already middle aged.

Tenured at the university,
set in our ways.

Bugs and plants were
all we ever cared about.

We didn't know
how to be parents
so we simply ignored you.

It's in the past,
let's just forget about it.

I don't wanna forget it.

I wanna make amends
and be a good mother to you.

I'm going to start
right now by trusting you.

[GASPS]

What is it?

Before he died,
your father shipped a crate

of these rare
giant blood worms

back from his
Amazon expedition.

The crate broke
and they escaped
into the hot house.

Soon after that, the melons
I was working on began to
produce an unusual enzyme.

The muscle energizer.

The worms did that?

Yes. I discovered that
they chemically
altered the soil,

radically changed any plant
that was grown in it.

The melons are completely
worthless without the worms.

But they're so
dangerous looking.

Never mind
how they look, child.

They can change
any plant species,
not just the melons.

Thousands of new,
miraculous substances
can be created.

This is the gift
I've been saving for you.

My dear daughter,
do you understand why
I haven't old you until now?

I didn't want a man
like Nelson to get a hold
of something so important.

I love you so much.

I love you, too, Mother.

[DOOR CREAKING]

Nelson, please.
I really don't think
we should go through with this.

Will you just
shut up and dig?

[WORM SCREECHES]

[GRUNTS]

Will you just keep digging?

[GRUNTS]

[WORM SQUEALING]

[CHUCKLING]

Well, let's go.

You going somewhere, Nelson?

[CHUCKLING] Yeah.

Yeah, I don't need
to hang around
this dump any longer

now that I know
about your little secret.

Your precious
little girl told me.

I knew she would.

I planned it that way.

Yeah.

You knew?

There's no shame in it, dear.

You were never
a match for that monster.

So, now you're trapped.

[LAUGHS] Well,
who's gonna trap me? You?

I've drunk some
of that juice now.

Get out of my way
or I'll rip you in half.

Leave her alone...

Sorry, love.

But I don't need you anymore
now that I have a breeding
pair of these worms.

You bastard.

You used me.

[LAUGHS]

Saying that you loved me.

Lied through your teeth.

You're not stealing worms,
you idiot!

You're taking her children.

"Her" children?

Don't ever mess
with the mother instinct.

[ROARING]

[SCREAMING]

[NELSON GROANING]

[SCREAMING]

[NELSON SCREAMING]

It's all right.

It's all over.

He's gone.

I'm okay now, Mother.

[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]