Nip/Tuck (2003–2010): Season 2, Episode 8 - Agatha Ripp - full transcript

Ms. Ripp, tell me
what you don't like about yourself.

How much time you got?
If you could just be precise.

I banged 92 guys since I hit the streets.

They don't give out ribbons
at the 4-H Fair for that, do they?

I've had five abortions.

Been arrested seven times
for disorderly conduct.

Three near overdoses
'cause of the freebase.

But I'm clean now.

This is a cosmetic surgery office,
not a confessional booth.

Don't be rude to me.
I see that look in your eye.

All my life,
men have been giving me that look.



But I forgive you for it
just like I forgive them.

Is Christian to forgive.

Have you sustained injuries
or scars you would like removed?

Would you like to show us?

- Are you claiming you have...
- The stigmata. Yeah.

That's what I told the church, anyway,
but the truth is I did it myself.

It was my biggest sin of all.

You watch out for false prophets.

They come to you in sheep's clothing,
but inwardly, they're ferocious wolves.

That's Matthew 7:15.

Can I see your arms again?

The other side.

Did you lie and tell people
Jesus made those cutting marks, too?

I don't like him.



My civility will increase once I have proof
that your check won't bounce.

Yeah, well, that's why I came here.

I saw last week on the news
that girl got her face all cut up...

and the reporter said
y'all fixed that for free.

- That was a special case.
- Okay, look, you got to help me, okay?

I think I got an infection or something
setting in, because I feel hot.

Then go to an emergency room.

It's not the infection that's going
to kill me. Don't you get it?

It's the pressure.

Now you got to tell them that I'm a liar...

and they will believe you
because you're a doctor and all.

- I can't face them again.
- Face who?

Sister Rita Claire, who took me
into her program at St. Olive.

But mostly the parishioners.

They believe I'm touched by divinity.

So you got to tell them
that I did it just for attention.

You tell them that I ain't nothing special.
I ain't nothing but a whore.

Will you please?

You got to ask them to forgive me.

Please.

Can you believe
those poor suckers from her church?

So desperate to believe
in something that they deify a prostitute.

You know what, Christian?
I understand that want.

I loved being a Catholic
when I was a kid. The drama of it.

The feeling that there was
a mysterious man in the heavens...

watching out for you.

When did you lapse?
When I became a pro-choice lesbian.

Scissors.

But I'm thinking about having my kid
go to church like I did.

You know, if only for the structure
and the comfort of it.

You're pregnant?
Couple of weeks. It's early.

Why didn't you tell me?

What's with the accusatory tone?
I just found out.

The baby shower's
in a couple of months.

You'll have time to buy a new suit.
Trust me.

Well, congratulations to you both.

I just hope I'm as good a godfather
to your baby as Christian has been to Matt.

Remember Matt's baptism?
There wasn't one.

Exactly. Sean vetoed all
the religious nonsense, but kept the party.

A tradition I'd like to follow.
Sorry.

Christening gowns are the cutest.
I'm getting my kid baptized.

Over my dead body.
Easily arranged.

Even though you are not religious...

would you come
to the ceremony, Godfather?

I'm religious.

Religion is about believing in
a cause larger and more precious than you.

My faith rests in two higher powers,
my practice and my family.

Hemostat.

We are praying to the woman inside.

To Agatha.
She has been touched by God.

A nun at our church told us
that we could find her here.

I'm sorry, but this is a place of business.

You're going to have to leave,
or I'll have to call the police.

But God is here. With her!
Please, we need her to help us.

I need her to pray for my baby.

Is your baby sick?

He is possessed by Satan?s. Mire.

Please, please.

Please have Agatha touch my baby.

Por favor, se?or.

Father Malley, the exterior
of our office has become a shrine...

to a power that does not exist.

What do you propose I do, Dr. McNamara?

Tell your parish the truth.

That Agatha Ripp is a prostitute
and a fraud...

who inflicted the wounds herself so she
wouldn't be evicted from your shelter...

and have to sleep in a halfway house.

Dr. McNamara, I take it you reject
the concept of the miraculous.

Organized religion
to you is clearly a...

Borrowed myths.

Your point, Father?

I understand that two of our parishioners
came to you with their 6-month-old.

Yes, they think their child
is satanically possessed...

- because he has a caudal appendage.
- A caudal appendage?

A dermal tail adjacent to the sacrum.

But don't you see, Dr.
McNamara, because of Agatha...

a miracle has occurred.

The child was directed in some divine way
to you and your partner...

who have the talent to remove
the vertebrae...

and give the child a normal,
productive life.

Not to be rude, Father,
but I'll go out of business...

if I continue to do pro bono surgeries
on devotees...

who sadly misinterpret science
and natural law...

because they're not getting the education
it is your obligation to provide.

How is Agatha, Doctor?

Tomorrow, her sutures come out.

She's been on an antibiotic drip.
She's stabilized.

Does she have family?

Someone we could discharge her to...

who could properly look after her
during her recovery?

I've been searching for that information.

I've called two numbers in Tallahassee,
where she's from.

Sister, I'm sorry,
but if you can't find someone...

who'd be willing to step
into a guardian position...

we'll have to turn her over to the State.

Agatha will be embraced by St. Olive's...

until our investigation is complete...

and her stigmata
is either accepted by the Vatican...

or denied as heretical blasphemy.

- Look, stop deluding yourself...
- Would you like some proof?

Open it.

Those were taken
shortly after the discovery...

when the wounds were still fresh.

As you can see, Doctor,
the stigmata are not circular or jagged...

which would denote a puncture
with a common ice pick or knife...

but symmetrically square and smooth.

Christ's wounds at crucifixion...

were said to have been made
with a square peg nail.

I believe this to be true.

The Vatican believes this to
be true. But how could Agatha know this?

I doubt
she's ever read a book.

Additionally, Christ's crucifixion wounds
were on the wrists, not the hands.

make the mistake
of puncturing their palm.

The wounds are slightly odd,
I agree with you.

But if you refuse to embrace
the possibilities of fraud...

I would direct the energies
of your investigation...

toward psychogenic purpuras,
rather than miraculous mumbo jumbo.

Psychogenic purpuras?

A psychosomatic disorder.

The body sometimes creates
physical manifestations of pain...

to express what the mind cannot.
Induced by what?

Guilt, shame.
Usually of overwhelming proportions.

If I can acknowledge the science...

which gives you such sustenance...

why can't you, at the very least,
respect the beliefs that I have faith in?

A faith that not only feeds my soul
but those of my parishioners.

Sister, I'll keep Agatha until the end
of the week before I involve the State.

Agatha Ripp
is psychologically unbalanced...

not a candidate for beatification.

I'll share those thoughts with the media...

if that what it takes to restore order
to my place of business.

Dr. McNamara.

There will come a day,
as it does for every man...

when you will need more than cold logic...

to define you or sustain you.

How's that feel?
It burns.

I was out in the garden yesterday.
Something must have bitten me.

These aren't bites, Julia.
They're shingles.

Let's run a temp,
see if you're fighting a bigger infection.

- Normal.
- I don't feel sick.

Just a little run down.

- No morning sickness?
- No. Is that bad?

Morning sickness is a sign
that the hormones are kicking in.

But then again, 20%/% of all
pregnant women never feel nauseous.

And they have perfectly
healthy babies. Let me see the liner.

Some spotting in the first trimester
is normal, right?

Or is that a sign that something's wrong?

Isn't shingles a sign of lowered
immunity? Is something wrong with me?

You had a complete physical last month.
You checked out fine.

This is emotional.
Don't isolate yourself, Jules.

- Tell me what's going on with you.
- Nothing.

Just the usual stress stuff, you know?
Going to school, raising a family.

I guess it just all caught up with me.

An outbreak of shingles usually
accompanies bigger life-changing events.

A death, divorce.

Maybe it's because of Matt.

The Ava situation.

It's okay.

This is what happens when you raise
teenage boys.

You get stressed. You're gonna...

...be okay. You just need to relax.

One day we'll look back on this
and we'll laugh.

Yeah. You examining my panty liner.
That's hilarious.

I'm glad that you came to me with all this.

I was getting the feeling you didn't want
me involved in any way with this baby.

I was in a bind. I couldn't get
into my ob-gyn until tomorrow.

Great. Well, I'll come with you.

Let me know what time
the appointment is.

- How bad is the outbreak?
- Pretty severe.

I started her on a round of acyclovir
and told her to lay low.

I do understand the intensity
of her reaction, though.

Julia's never made friends easily...

and then when she finally did let down
her guard and invited Ava into our family...

only to be betrayed?

Agatha Ripp did at least have one point
that makes sense.

That Bible quote,
"Watch out for false prophets...

"they come to you in sheep's clothing,
but inwardly, they are ferocious wolves. "

That's what the devil is, you know.

Not some obvious Machiavellian figure
with horns and a tail...

but a silent foe disguised as friend.

Someone you trust, even love,
whom you let into your life...

only to find out too late
they've made a shambles of it.

Our patient is in twilight.
This is Taylor. He'll take it from here.

I don't understand.

Sorry, Sean. I just don't think
I'll be able to make it through the surgery.

What's wrong with her?

We've done surgical procedures
on kids before.

Yeah, but not kids
with congenital birth defects.

If I was
an expectant mother over 40...

I probably wouldn't want
to watch this, either.

Hit it.

We've got an emergency in recovery.

Linda, close.

- She might be septic.
- Draw a CBC.

Her blood pressure's dropping.

Liz? I need a dopamine drip.
Okay.

Agatha, where's the pain?

God damn it.

Sean, what are you doing?

Where's the instrument you used
to do this? Where'd you hide it?

I didn't do it. He did it.

- There was no one in the room but you.
- Jesus came to me again.

I lied the first time when I said
I did it myself.

God, please make it stop.

Thank you for calling me. How is she?

She's medicated.
She was bordering on hysteria.

Did you find the instrument
she used to puncture herself?

She did it to herself, I know she did.

Agatha is self-destructive...

and sadly touched by a madness...

that I find terrifying.

May we speak in private?

When she first came to me
and my program...

I asked her about the cuts on her arm.

She told me she began self-mutilation
shortly after her stepfather raped her.

Other girls in my program cut, too.
Agatha was not my first.

They do it to deflect the pain.

But they're creating pain.

The pain of the flesh doesn't compare
with the pain of the soul, Dr. Troy.

When I met with Father Malley,
why didn't you...

Side with you, Doctor?
Say I didn't believe?

He'd only
cut my program further, out of spite.

Sister, I think Agatha injured herself again
so she could stay in your shelter.

She was terrified of going back
into the county system.

I don't blame her.
Dogs at the pound are treated better.

I fear that Agatha is not
a person to Father Malley...

but rather a holy relic
to shine and display...

and only if she helps his cause.

I just pray that God will protect
her better interests.

If there is a God anymore.

That's a radical statement coming from
someone who's devoted her life to faith.

Yes, well...

when you see girls like Agatha...

resorting to self-stabbing...

to assure themselves
protection and food...

shining halos worn in youth
tend to tarnish.

I'm sorry.

You can help save Agatha, Sister.

You can stop her
from continuing to stab herself.

Tell your parishioners that she's a fraud,
that it's a continuing pattern of self-abuse.

If Agatha can't barter her stigmata
for security, she'll stop.

I can't be public on this, Doctors.

I can't.

He'll cut my programs completely.

You know...

there is one thing you could do.

Check the blood coming from Agatha's
stigmata against her own blood type.

I don't understand.

According
to historical teachings...

the blood seeping
from a genuine stigmata...

belongs to our Lord Jesus Christ.

If Agatha's own blood
weeps from her wounds...

then she will not be recognized.

The investigation will be closed...

and this misguided circus will be over.

You were right to call about the spotting.

The volume's increasing?

Yesterday I had three stains. Today, six.

Am I miscarrying?

There seems to be some bleeding
where the placenta's forming.

There's increased nuchal lucency,
which, as you know...

could be associated with chromosomal
abnormalities specific to Down's.

But it might not be.

Unfortunately, Liz, you're going to be
swimming in unknown waters for a while.

I'm sorry.

I don't do the unknown very well, Cynthia.

But that's what being a mother
is all about, Liz.

You spend your life
trusting in the unknowable.

Where does the trust come from?

Faith.

- Why are you doing this? It hurts.
- To make sure there's no infection.

I've been tested for HIV. I'm negative.

Don't know how that happened.

Maybe God has plans for you, Agatha.

Just like I like to think
he has plans for my baby.

How old's your baby?

He's still in here. Couple of weeks.

Well, congratulations.

You seem real nurturing and all.
I'll bet you'll make a good mom.

I tried to be, but I screwed it up.

You're a mother, Agatha?

Well, they took her from me, the State...

on account of she was born
with drugs in her system.

They said she could have been born
all defected...

and that it would have been my fault.

That'd be worse than dying.

She was fine, though.

She was so beautiful.

And I got to hold her for a minute,
right when she came out.

She only weighed 3 pounds.

I'm sorry.

I don't mean
to spread my misery.

I think something's wrong with my baby.
I can feel it.

I keep spotting
and my doctor told me to have faith...

and I'm trying, but I need a little help.

Agatha, do you know the Bible story
of the woman who couldn't stop bleeding?

There was this woman
who spent all her means...

and 12 years of her life...

trying to heal from hemorrhaging.

She couldn't touch
anything or anyone...

because the object of her touch
would be deemed unclean.

- She was an outcast of society.
- Like me.

But one day, Jesus came to preach...

and the woman suddenly reached out
as he passed...

and touched the hem of his garment.

She was one of the only people
in the crowd who had faith in him.

And her bleeding instantly stopped.

And Jesus said to her,
"Be of good comfort.

"Thy faith has made thee whole. "

That's a good story.

Is it a story, Agatha?

I'm not making it up.

No one believes me.

I feel like Jesus.

And I feel like the woman
who needs a miracle.

Please.

I want to believe in you, Agatha.

I need to believe in something so badly.

You were right.

It's a boy.

All religious fanatics
have been certifiable.

A century ago, the surest way
to reach sainthood...

would be to suck pus from lepers.

Those people probably
weren't touched by the divine...

but by a major chromium deficiency.
You got an image?

Got it.

Now we have similar troubled souls...

in search of answers
who worship a prostitute.

These people need anti-depressants
not religion.

What? Is the sample compromised?

The sample's fine.

It's not Agatha's blood, Sean.

How's the bleeding?

It stopped.

- After I touched you?
- Yes.

Praise be to God.

Wherever she is.

Do you promise me they're not
sending me back to that county place?

You're coming with us, Agatha.

We've missed you.

I get to stay there for a while, right?

Yes. You have a safe haven, my dear.

I'll need the evidence
before I leave, please.

It's been requested
by a higher authority.

I won't feed into your frenzy. I'm sorry.
We won't release that information.

Because your science wasn't
strong enough to dispute faith?

That's fine.

Proof of His existence will never
manifest itself through science.

But He communicates through signs
in front of us every day, Dr. McNamara.

You just have to know how to read them.

Come with me, Agatha.

- I'm going to run her blood work again.
- I've already done it twice, Sean.

I'll run the antibody.

A Dr. Adams for you on Line 2.

Are you sure?

Are you?

Relax.

Relax.

We're going to begin now.

- How are they?
- They're scabbing up.

Good. That means they're healing.

I'm going to grab a beer,
and then let's go out for dinner.

It's been a rough day.

What's wrong?
Why was your day so tough?

The patient we're treating,
Agatha Ripp?

I've turned my office upside down,
and I can't find the instrument...

she's using to puncture herself.

Then we ran a blood test.

The blood coming out of her wound
isn't hers.

I know there's a reasonable explanation
behind all of this...

but it's bugging the shit out of me
that I can't pinpoint it.

It defies all logic.

Sometimes, Sean...

you have to be willing
to give in to the unknown.

No, I don't. I'm a doctor.
Every symptom has a cause.

How much do you believe in us, Sean?

- Honey, what's wrong?
- No, please. Answer me. I need to know.

I don't understand.

If you believe in us, Sean,
if you believe in our love the way I do...

then it can override everything,
even the truth.

The truth about what?

The truth about Matt.

Is he sick?

He's not your son.

What are you talking about?

I was there when he was conceived.
I pulled him out of you when he was born.

He's everything like me.

Too emotionally shut off.
He's too in his head.

This thing with Ava is completely
non-McNamara-like. I'll give you that.

Is that what you're trying to say?

- Is that what you're saying?
- I didn't mean...

Just answer me! I am Matt's father!

Christian is.

That's not true.

Christian and you
have never been together.

Matt looks like me! You're lying!

Why are you doing this to me?

Because I can't live with this any longer!

This is not true.

I slept with him once. One time.

When?

I went to him. I was afraid.

You said you loved me.
You said you wanted me.

I did. I do...

but it was 17 years ago,
when I was a girl...

and I'd only been with one man, you...

and I was terrified
that I was missing out on something.

- Stop talking, just shut your mouth!
- I have to say this!

I went to him. We had sex one time.

Christian would never do that to me.

- He's like my brother.
- I didn't know, Sean.

All these years, I didn't know.

And then I couldn't live
with the not knowing anymore...

and I took the test.

I love you! Only you.

All this time, it's been a lie?

- My life has been a lie?
- No, that's not true.

You get out of my house!

- Sean, please!
- You're weak.

You've always been weak. I gave you
my whole life to make you strong...

and I want you out!

Get out!

- We need to talk.
- About what?

If you want to go through this pregnancy
on your own, fine...

but when we have this child, I have rights.

I want to see it,
I want to spend time with it.

You can't shut me out forever, Liz.
That wasn't the arrangement.

There was no arrangement,
legal or otherwise.

There probably should've been,
but we were winging it.

Were?

You miscarried?

It wasn't a miscarriage.

You got rid of our baby
and you didn't tell me?

It's my body, Christian,
and it was going to be my burden.

So save me the lecture. I know you.

Cars, women, homes, babies.
You like everything pretty.

I hardly think
you'd be equally devoted to a child...

that everybody was going to stare at...

and not because it was cute,
but because it had a birth defect.

I would have loved that kid,
no matter what.

I would have helped you.

It would have been difficult,
but it would have been fine.

But I didn't have that faith, Christian.

I looked deep within myself,
and all I saw was doubt.

I didn't believe that I could take care
of a challenged child...

when I feel so challenged and conflicted.

The only faith I had at the end of the day...

was my gut feeling that I couldn't do it.

If you didn't want a co-parent...

who had equal say
in whether his kid lived or died...

why didn't you make it easier
on everybody...

and go to a goddamn sperm bank?

I wanted proof that my child
had at least one parent who was beautiful.

It makes life easier,
or haven't you noticed?

That's all I was to you,
a goddamn pretty face?

That's all you wanted from me?

A guarantee of beauty.

Something I so desperately wanted
and never had.

I'm ashamed to say it, but yes.

Sean, what are you doing? Sean, no!

I loved you the most.

What are you doing here?

I want to learn how to pray.

But you're not a believer.

All of the things I believed in were lies.

I need to put my faith
in things I dismissed, things I doubted.

Help me understand. Please.

You shouldn't have come for me.

I can't guide you. I can't.

But if anybody should have forsaken God,
it's you.

After what you've been through,
what you've seen.

Tell me how you didn't.

I did forsake him, a week ago.

But now...

look at all those people.

All here because of me...

their faith renewed.

But you were right from the beginning,
Dr. McNamara.

I'm a fraud.

It was the Sister's idea...

and Father Malley wasn't involved.

They were going to close this archdiocese
'cause of poor attendance.

Sister Rita Claire's programs,
they would all be over then.

So she talked to me.

She told me I could stay here
and be safe...

for as long as I wanted...

if I would let her do it.

So I did.

And now everybody gets what they want...

mostly them.

This going through life
with no faith in anything...

is the worst hell of all, don't you think?

So God bless them.

God bless them all.

You stabbed yourself?

I couldn't do it.

The Sister did it.

That one time you were in surgery,
it was planned.

She snuck in...

hammered the nail through my feet...

left her own blood.

Come along, Agatha.

I'm so sorry.

Please.

I need to believe in something.

Don't you get it?

There is nothing to believe in anymore.