Northern Exposure (1990–1995): Season 6, Episode 7 - Full Upright Position - full transcript

JOEL: That's where
I'm speaking.

Smolny Academy
of lnternal Medicine.

God, Fleischman,
this is the trip
of a lifetime.

I mean, look at these names
and the alphabet, even.
It's so foreign.

Okay, what else out here?

(EXCLAIMS)
The Mariinsky Theatre,

the Kirov Ballet.

Fleischman, promise me,
if you have any time,

you've got to go
to the Kirov Ballet.
It's got to be the best.

All right, hey,
you know what?
You should come.

What?
Yeah, you should
come with me.



To Saint Petersburg,
are you kidding?
No.

The lnstitute said
they'd pay for a spouse,
you know.

I mean, that could
be a significant other
or a guest.

Are you sure?
I mean, you know,

traveling together
can be sort of intense.

Yeah, I'm sure,
why wouldn't I be sure?

This is amazing,
Fleischman.

Thank you.
Thank you, Fleischman.

Thank you, thank you.
Thank you!

Me in the Soviet Union,
I can't believe it.
I've always wanted to do this.

Okay, my passport,
I wonder where that is?

And I got to get Ted
to sub, and I have to do
the laundry...

Okay, I got to go!
I'll see you.
Sure.

My treat next time!



And it's Russia.
What?

You said the Soviet Union.
It's Russia now.

Right, right.

(SHELLY AND HOLLING
CHATTERING)

Hey, Big Mo.

You got something
coming in on the Trailways
this morning, Maurice?

As a matter of fact,
I have, Holling.

My cousin Doreen's boy,
Maurice.

Maurice, Maurice?

Maurice Dutton, Shelly.

They named him after me.
I guess so I'd take
an interest in the boy.

Well, I am.
I'm putting him to work
for Minnifield lncorporated.

He's one of
your Dutton relatives?

I know, Holling.

The Duttons are a bunch
of layabout ne'er-do-wells.

Gas station jockeys
that never owned the station,
but what choice do I have?

I mean, my son,
Duk Won has got
his own thing in Seoul.

I'm not going to live forever.
I've got an empire
to perpetuate here.

I've got to groom somebody
to take those reins.

What's going on?
We waiting for the bus?

Maurice's cousin
Maurice is on it.

Coming up to take over
the family business.

I didn't
say that, Holling.
I said, we'll see.

Hey, all.
Who's coming in?

The Minnifield heir apparent.

MAURICE:
They're not Minnifields.
Duttons, Duttons.

HOLLING: Whichever,
he's coming right now.

DRIVER: Watch your step.

Hi, Maurice. Hi.

(CHUCKLING) Well,
it's been a while.

(CLEARS THROAT)
You've gotten taller.

Is that what you're wearing?
I mean, do you have a coat?

Yeah, I got one.
It's in my bag.

Uh-huh, well, don't
you think you'd better get it?

Put it on.

This is Alaska, you know.

(LAUGHS)

Wow. Maurice's cuz.

Got his eyes.

Sweet, though.
Nice-looking lad.

Maurice, this isn't my stuff,
it doesn't look like.

You mean,
you got the wrong bag?

Well, it looks like mine.
But it's not.

Well, they probably
lost the tag.

(CHUCKLES) It happens
all the time on buses.

I'll call the bus company
and have them
straightened out.

Chris in the Morning, on KBHR.
Another beautiful day
in the neighborhood.

(SINGING) A beautiful day
in the neighborhood

Mr. Chris says,
don't be shy.

Come on in, boys and girls.

Let me read you
some billboard notes here.

Let you know
what's happening...

(EXCLAIMS lN PAIN)

In the neighborhood.

There must be some
static electricity
in the air.

Well, here's your spot
weather check for the day.
Bad hair day, right?

Okay, PSA number one.

Barbershop quartet
looking for a baritone.

Lupe, good luck in Barrow.

Number two,
at the Theosophy Hall...

(YELLS) Man!

Yeah, here's a tune for you.

DUTTON:
Maurice is making me read
all these books.

He says there's a lot more
to a tree than just something

you stand under
to get out of the rain.

Reading really
makes me tired.

You, too, huh?

I'm used more
to outdoors work.

Well, that about finishes me.

Of course, unless
there's something else
you'd like me to do.

What do you mean?

Well, I can make you
a dentist appointment,

I could wash your car
if you had one.
Really?

I work for Maurice,
so I guess that kind of means
I work for you, too.

Oh.

So, Ed?

ED: Yeah, Maurice?

He's really rich,
isn't he?

Maurice? Yep.

How much do you think?
Two hundred thousand?

A lot more than that.

Three hundred thousand?

Let me put it this way.
Maurice says he's richer
than Lester Haynes.

And Lester tells everyone
he's worth $1 7 million.

Whoa.

Well, I'd better
get back to work.

Yeah, me, too.

Here we are.

Izvinitye.
Excuse me, excuse us.

Sorry, excuse me.

It's „izvintye.”

Izvintye.

Yeah.
MAGGIE: Thank you, excuse me.

Izvintye.

(MAGGIE GROANS)

Finally, that line!

No wonder they have us
get here two hours early.

This is some plane, huh?

Kind of a little threadbare
and worn, don't you think?
Yeah.

It's like some communal
Russian apartment
or something.

You know what, though?
Even though it's like barren,

it's kind of noble
in the very lack
of conspicuous consumption.

Yeah, well, it's definitely
got its own charm.

See, that's why I like to fly
the carrier of destination.

I mean, doesn't it...
It feels like
we're there already.

Me, I probably would
have flown Air Alaska
and missed all this.

(MAGGIE LAUGHING)
No, I'm serious.
Even the seats feel different.

(SEAT CLATTERING)

I think there's
something...

There's something wrong
with this. It's, like,
off kilter or something.

Let me see.
Oh, you know what?
There's a bolt missing.

What do you mean,
a bolt missing?
Right there.

Well, is that okay?
I mean, is it okay
to fly like that?

(STAMMERING) Miss.

(STAMMERING) I know
you're busy with your
cross-check. I just...

This seat,
it seems to be broken.

Broken, you know.

(AGREEING lN RUSSIAN)
Bolt.

(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)

I just wanted you to know,
I mean, is it unsafe,

or do you want us to move
or something?

(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)

Fasten your seat belt,
please.

All right, well.
I guess it's...
Excuse me, sorry.

I guess this is okay, right?
Yeah, I guess so.

It's not like a engine
or something.

The first day I have
to deliver this paper
but the second day

I think we've really
got to get Dostoyevsky's
house first.

Yeah, I think
we'd be idiots not to.

(STEWARDESS SPEAKING ON PA
IN RUSSIAN)

(PASSENGERS GROANING
lN DlSAPPOlNTMENT)

What? What is it?
What's going on?
I don't know.

(STAMMERING)
What's happening?

(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)

No good.

What's no good?

No good.

The plane?
The plane is no good?
No good.

(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)

(WHlSTLlNG) No.

I guess he's saying
like it's some kind of delay
or something.

Yeah, guess so.

Well?

It happens, huh?
Yeah, all the time.

Russia, Fleischman.
Russia.

It's hot though.
Russia! Russia!

There's no air.

Oh, there he comes.
My new charge.

Look at that lope,
will you?

They call that
the Dutton shuffle,

sort of aimless wandering.

Oh, well, I guess those
few good men didn't just
land in Parris lsland.

They had to be molded
and massaged and mentored
into Marines.

Hi, Maurice. I'm here.

See that clock?
What is that saying?

2:00?

I read it two minutes after.
That makes you
two minutes late.

That might be fine
in the gas station business,

but you're in
the real world now,
where time is money.

Well, I would have been
here on time, Maurice,
but the toilet was running.

I don't make excuses
and I don't accept them.

Here, have a seat
right here.

This will be your AO.

Now, orders of the day.

Minnifield timber,
the shipping
and grading thereof.

What's the highest grade
in timber?
What?

The highest grade timber.
Those books I gave you.

Logs, lumber.
What's the highest grade
on a tree?

Peeling grade?

Bingo.

That's what's on
these order forms,
right here.

We're having a shipment
of high-grade Minnifield
lumber going out

and this is the paper trail
that follows it.

Now I'll make this
very simple.

I want you to get
on the phone,
with the mill...

On the telephone,
Maurice?

That's why we have one.

Now, they'll ask you
about a board foot estimate.

You tell them
about 1 2,000-feet
peeling grade,

and they'll give you
a buy price.

That's about $750
per thousand board feet.
You got that?

I think so.

All right, and you punch that
in on your calculator.

I assume you used a calculator
at your gas station.

For a total...
$9,000.

Huh?

That's the total.

How'd you do that?
Did you do that in your head?

Well, it's just 1 2 times 75
with some zeros.

(CHUCKLES)
Well, I'll be damned.

I'm pretty good
at multiplication.

(LAUGHS)

I might be able to do
something with you
after all, son.

There, get on the horn
and finish those phone calls.

Up in the meantime,
I'll get out the ledgers.

We'll do some
accounts receivable.

CHRIS: Hey, there,
boys and girls,

another beautiful day
in Mr. Chris' hood.

Funny thing happened
on the way to the microphone
the other day.

Mr. Chris got zapped
by the muse.

Electricity.

Came right out of the air
and bit me.
Got me thinking, what is it?

Cracked some books,
all they could say was

electricity is electrons
and protons

all inside the atom,
each with their own
itty bitty God-given charge.

Electron, that's negative,
proton, positive.

Not a value judgment, people.
Just tagged that way
to keep them straight.

Heat, atmospheric conditions,

brain impulses.

These electrons
go on the move,
atom to atom.

Now an electron
in the negative ion,

that's an atom
with too many electrons,

seeks out a positive ion,

that's an atom
that doesn't have enough.

Negative meets positive,

negative meets positive.

And you got

electricity.

And electricity

is us.

JOEL: It's been like
an hour and a half.

I mean, do you think
there's something seriously
wrong with the plane?

Can you see anything
out there?
Hmm?

I mean, are they
doing anything?

Well, you know, Fleischman,
at least they're trying
to fix it, you know?

Remember that flight
from Moscow to Minsk?

They let a Dubov 1 40 go up
with a jammed altimeter.

It slammed into the Urals,
everybody, all she rode.

That's great.
Thanks for sharing that.
All right.

What?

What?

He's eating lard.
Pure fat.

(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)

Me? No.
Good.

It's okay, thank you.
Really.

It's good, good.

All righty, well.

Thanks, I guess
I should try this.
Mmm-hmm.

Yeah.

Boy, that's different.

There's the stewardess.
Excuse me. Stewardess?

(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)

Sorry. We've been
sitting here a while,

and I just wanted to know
if you had any idea
when we might be taking off.

You know, time,
you know, taking off?
Go.

(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)

Skora? Skora?
Hold on, hold on, hold this.

Wait a minute.
Invinitye. Just...

Skora, skora, skora...
„Soon.”

Okay, well.

Thanks. You heard her,
she said soon.

Yeah, I heard.
Well, that's good, you know.

Yeah, of course
she didn't say how soon.

(BABY CRYING)

Wait, doesn't it
bother anybody?

I mean, you would think
somebody would
be bothered by this.

Look around, it's amazing.

Every one's so stolid.
You know?

Hmm.
lncredibly patient.

Look, Fleischman,
do you want a magazine?
You want my Newsweek?

No.

(WHlSPERlNG) This is
the famous endurance
of the Russian people.

I'm serious, look at them.
You can see it on their faces.

It's like a sadness almost,
you know.

All the harsh winters
and the droughts and famine.
Totalitarian regimes.

Look, Fleischman,
I'm sure they're trying
to fix the plane

as fast as they possibly can,
all right?

Yeah.
Okay.

Well, I'll tell you,

I'll bet my grandmother
didn't look back,
I can guarantee that.

She got away
with three wicker baskets
and a handful of kopeks.

Boy...

I wonder what she'd think
of her little Joely,
going back to Russia.

Packed like steerage.

We're like sardines,
I mean, look at this.

There is absolutely
no leg room,

my seat's broken,
there's no air.

Do you want my seat?

No, come on,
I'm just saying.

Out of a hundred seats,
I get the broken one.
Okay.

It's bad enough we have
to fly for 1 4 hours,

now we're sitting here
like sheep.

Okay, excuse me.
Where are you going?

I just need a little break,
from you, Fleischman.
All right.

Excuse me.
Izvinitye.

Mmm-hmm.

Thanks, thanks. Okay.

Vodka.
Yeah.

Vodka, thank you.

(GRUNTS APPROVINGLY)

Russian.

Thanks. That's great.

Speak English,
anybody?

I could have sworn
I'd seen that rabbit
come through here.

Quick little SOB.

(ELECTRICAL ZAPPING)
That's Chris Stevens'
shed.

I wonder what
he's doing over there.

Some kind of art project.

Art?

Came by and borrowed
my 10-K generator.

What for?
Not sure.

Just said something
about trying to get
inside electricity.

lnside it?

CHRIS: Oh, God!

(COUGHING)

(CHRIS CLEARS THROAT)

(COUGHS)

MAN: Where have you been?

(PASSENGERS CHATTERING)

(SIGHS)

(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)

(CLEARS THROAT)

Claustrophobic.

Yeah. Let me
tell you something,

it's not really helping,
you know.

I mean,
it's not good for you.

Smoking, you understand?
Smoking?

Yeah, smoking. It's bad.

No, no, no.
I don't want a cigarette.
It's bad for you.

I'm a doctor, understand?
Smoking is bad.
Doctor?

Engineer. Engineer.

Engineer? Really?

RUSSIAN MAN:
Engineer. Engineer.

What, in the military?
The army?

Huh?

Military? Wait, wait, wait,
hold on.

Hold on, hold on, hold on.
Izvinitye.

(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)
Izvinitye.

M, M, M, M, M...

(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)

Vada.

Vada. Vada.
Vada, vada, vada.

Okay. Vada, vada, vada...

(BABY CRYING)

Water, I got it, water.
Vada, vada.

(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)

I get it.
You're a water engineer.

So you regulate
the pressure in the water,
is that it?

That's very nice.
Vada.

Yeah.

MAURICE: I'll tell you,
Holling, the boy is really
doing very well.

It's really gratifying to see.

I've got him
making phone calls
to the mill now.

Is that a fact?

I was orientating him
and he showed some aptitude
with numbers.

Of course it was nothing
he could use there in Greeley,
it was lying fallow there.

Going to waste,
was he?

Uh-huh,
but not anymore.

Now he's got somebody
to look up to.

Somebody who can fan
that spark into a flame.

You?
Yes, me.

I used to think a person
had to be born with it.

You know,
some had it, most didn't,

but with this kid,

it seems like with a little
encouragement and education

we can even out
the playing field
a little bit.

Well, that'd be nice, now.

(PHONE RlNGlNG)

Oh, I'll let you get that,
I got to get on back.

Hello? Minnifield speaking.

(STAMMERS) What?

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING ON STEREO)

Here you go, Ed.

Hey, cuz, how come
you're not scarfing?

Too much special sauce
on your mooseburger?

No, Shelly, I like it.
It's just I don't think
I'm very hungry.

Dear, he's waiting for
the caviar and toast points
at Maurice's tonight.

No, that's not it.

It's just that I talked
so much on the phone today,
my ear hurts.

It does look
kind of red.

There you are!

Oh, hi, Maurice.

Never mind that.

You got some explaining
to do, mister.

DUTTON: What? Why?
Is something wrong?
MAURICE: Wrong?

I'll tell you what's wrong.

The phone is ringing
off the hook over there
because of you.

Me? I didn't do anything.

(lMlTATlNG DUTTON)
I didn't do anything.

What do you call this?

A call sheet?

Don't play stupid with me.
I'm talking about this total.

The total?
Yes.

Yes, this is for an order
for peeler grade lumber.

See it says so right there.
Peeler grade.

You quoted the price
for pulp! Pulp!
Really?

Really! See, 400 per.

It should be
800 per, 800 per.

Do you have
any idea how much
this is costing me?

$8,500.

No, you played that number
game with me once before
and fooled me

but you won't do it again.

You Duttons, you burn down
your own house
using bottle rockets.

It was a mistake
inviting you here.

I knew it was
asking for trouble
and I was right!

(DOOR SLAMMING)

Sorry, sorry.
Uh-huh.

Excuse me.
Hey, Fleischman,

they're going
to serve us sandwiches,
did you hear?

Yeah, I heard.

(SIGHS) The woman
I was talking to?

Look, this is
her business card.

She wants to take me
on the Cobra
if I ever get to Moscow.

It's this rollercoaster thing.

They think everybody
in America lives
in an amusement park.

Fascinating.

Oh, sorry, you're reading.
I'm sorry.

Look, it's not a problem,
but here's the thing.

We got a long trip
here, okay?

Let me make a suggestion.

It would be better
for the relationship,
I think,

that instead of stalking off,
you just tell me
if I'm disturbing you.

We're adults.
I mean I'm a reasonable
human being.

Well, you know, Fleischman,
it's just sometimes
you get to me, that's all.

All right, I get to you.

I mean, we're all stuck here,
it's not just you.
All right.

We're all cramped,
we're all miserable,

we're all trying
to make the best of it,

and you don't make it
any easier when
you start complaining.

All right. All right.

I vocalized, it's valid.
I appreciate your candor.

You do?
Absolutely.

I think it's a real
step forward

for us to be this forthright
with one another.

All right.

But, I do feel better getting
that off my chest.

(SIGHS)

But, I mean, while
we're clearing the air...

Yeah?

It's just, look,
this passive-aggressive
thing you do.

Passive-aggressive?

You know,
the Air Alaska thing.

If it were you,
we'd be on Air Alaska.

I said that?
Yeah.

I mean, you proceed
with this litany
of Russian air disasters.

Obviously, it's your
sly way of questioning
my competence.

What?

Look, it's not
a recrimination, okay?
Do you understand?

All I'm doing,
I'm just trying
to tell you how I felt.

Okay.

I feel better, do you?

Oh, yeah.

All right,
I'm glad you feel better.
Yeah.

(MACHINERY WHlRRlNG)

What are they doing now?

What, are they taking
a wing off?
Are they?

Give me a slab
of that buffalo teriyaki
jerky, if you please?

One buffalo jerky.

Come off it,
Ruth-Anne.

I didn't say anything.

Well, you're a businesswoman.

Are you telling me,
that if Ed dropped

a whole case of pickled beets
all over your inventory,

you wouldn't tear him
a new one.

Me? I've nailed his hide
to the wall many a time.

Well?

But I take him aside, Maurice,
and explain what he did wrong.

I don't go and ream him out
so the whole town can hear.

For heavens sake,
if the boy is that sensitive,

maybe he should stop
before he gets started.

He's a typical Dutton, anyway,
slunk off without so much
as a thank you kindly.

He didn't slink off anywhere.

He's at Kelly's Skelly.

You mean he's working
in a gas station?

Yes, he is.

He filled me up and gave me
a quart of oil and he was
very courteous, too.

(CHUCKLES) Well, well, well.
Typical Dutton.

You give them a hand up
out of the grease pit,

they slide right back in.

Good Lord, Maurice,
what's wrong with you?

Maurice is a perfectly
nice young man.

And I think he's a good
hard worker, too.

If I didn't have Ed
I'd hire him.

Ruth-Anne, I am running
a multi-million dollar
operation over there,

not some snack shop.

Aren't you though.

And there's nobody
in the world

who's good enough
to trust it to, is there?

Put it on my tab.

With pleasure.

What is all this stuff,
Chris?

Nothing right now.

Tesla coil, Jacob's ladders,

world's biggest 1 2th grade
science project.

Not that I saw
the 1 2th grade.

Is this a switch, Chris?
Can I flip it?

Mi casa, su casa.

(CRACKLING)

Wow!

Wow!

Wow, Chris!

It only looks cool, Ed.

Doesn't say it,
doesn't make it.

Say what?

Electricity. I'm here.
It's there.

And I can't figure out
how to get inside it,
how to be it.

Without getting fried, anyway.

And my muse,
she ain't telling me how,

even if.

If you build it,
they will come.

That's what the voice
told Kevin Costner in
Field of Dreams.

Kevin, he's got
this corn field
and the voice said,

„If you build
a baseball field,
they will come.”

So he built this field.

Yeah, they came,
didn't they?

All those cars,
they came to that field.

What did Einstein say?

There's no room both
for field and matter,

because field
is the only reality.

That's how I get inside, Ed.

The field.

(PASSENGER SNORING)

All right, that's it,
that's it.

Excuse me.

Hello?

Hello? Could you
please open the door.
I want to see the captain!

Excuse me!

All right, hi.
I want some information,
and I want it right now, okay?

I am a physician,
do you understand?

Do you understand
what I'm saying?
I am a doctor. Yes? Hello?

Hello? American citizen?
Go to your seat.

No, I'm not going
to my seat.

I am supposed to be
in Saint Petersburg to give
a very important address

and I want to know when
this plane is leaving and
I want to know right now!

Go to seat!

I'm not sitting down,
I want to know when
this plane is leaving.

(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)

I have no idea what...
Go to seat!

All right,
you know, you're going
to hear about this,

do you understand me?
Hello? I'm not...

(BABY CRYING)

(WHlSPERlNG)
How could you sleep?

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING
ON RADIO)

Well, heard I could
find you here.

Maurice, hi.

I was going to come over
after breakfast and see you.

I'm sorry for screwing up.

Spilled milk.

Can't get it back
by crying over it.

It was just
all the telephones,

and everybody
kept putting me on hold.

Well, that is exactly why
you've got to keep your head
in the game, son.

Just don't let it
happen again, okay?

Huh?

You'd better get washed up,

get your coat and come on,
we've got work to do
over at the office.

At your office?

Well, obviously I'm going
to have to monitor you
a little more closely.

I threw you into a little
too deep water this time,
but that's my mistake.

I'm not gonna go, Maurice.

I can't.

You can't?

Well, why the hell not?

I get too much stress.

Stress?

I was getting
a stomach ache from it.

I mean, all the telephones
and the reading
and the thinking.

Are you telling me

that you're gonna
turn down the opportunity

to run
a hundred-million-dollar
operation

because of a stomach ache?

I just think it's better
for me if I stayed here.

In the gas station?

I guess so.

I know, Maurice.

I'm just a Dutton, right?

Boy, are you ever.

Boy, you really
come prepared, don't you?

With your little slippers
and your eye shades
and your Evian.

I'm sorry, you want some?

No. Clearly you don't
have enough.

Now what's going on?
They're coming out
of the cockpit.

(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)

They're changing crews.

They're changing crews?

Oh, man, that's amazing.

We've actually been here
long enough for them
to change crews.

What, they're drinking
in the cockpit?

I mean, I might guess
that that would be
against the law, yeah?

Hmm.

(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)

What's going on?
Why doesn't
someone stop them?

(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)

What did he say?

(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)

What? What is happening?

What, what, what.
No food.

There's no food?

No food.

Wait a minute?
You're telling me there's
no food on the plane?

No.
They ran out of food?

We get a stale piece
of cheese and an old roll,
that's it?

(GROANS)

Please, don't light
another one.

Please, please.

I'm not going to put up
with your passive smoke
anymore.

Would you please
put that out?

Would you please
put that out?

Hey, hey, Fleischman.
For God sakes!

Get off of me!
Leave the man alone!

What do you think
you're doing?
Will you settle down!

You shut up,
don't tell me what to do!
You know,

I bug you,
let me tell you.
I knew you'd do this.

You bug me plenty,
Miss Air Alaska.
I knew you'd do this.

I don't know why
I listened to you. I don't
know why I ever came.

You practically
begged me...
I hate you, I hate you.

Oh, you hate me?
That's what it comes down to.
Yes, I do.

You hate me. Let me tell
you something, the feeling
is completely mutual.

Fine, fine.

You hate me.

Don't light another one.

Look, I'm sorry
to bother you,

my Harrison's Diagnosis book
is in your bag down there.

No problem.

Oh, God, forget it.

I've already missed
an entire day.
What's the point?

I don't need to work
on my speech,

I'm not going to
be giving a speech.

Amazing,
get there just in time
for the rubber chicken

at the podiatry round table.

Don't worry, Fleischman,
I'll find my own
hotel room.

You don't have
to worry about it.

Yeah, well,
I'll pay for half of it.
It's only fair.

Fine, okay.
Good.

If you need someone
to escort to the dinners,
though,

you know it is
your plane ticket.
Yeah, thanks.

(BOTH SlGHlNG)

Look, Fleischman,

I don't hate you.

Yeah, you do.

You hate me, too.

No, I don't.
I don't hate you.

I mean,

what are we doing?
I mean,

what are we doing?
Do you ever
think about that?

Doing?

Just, us. You and me.
I mean, it's been
how many years?

We're still sitting here,
together. What for?

I mean, you ever
think about that?

Yeah, I think about that.

I mean, is this going
to be a struggle
to the death?

Is that what it is?
Because frankly,
I can't take it anymore.

I can't. I'm exhausted.

I know, it's crazy.

It's like three steps forward
and two steps back.

I give up, I do.
I give up.

Marry me.

What?

You should marry me.
We should get married.

Fleischman...
I don't know what else to do.

I'm asking you to marry me.

Are you serious?

Yes or no?

Yes.

Really?
Yes.

You see? I feel better.
I do, that's great.

Shut up, Fleischman.

(STEWARDESS SPEAKING ON PA
IN RUSSIAN)

(PASSENGERS CHEERING)

What, what, what...
What did they say?

(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)

I gather he's saying
that we're taking off.

To Saint Petersburg.

To the Finland Station.

Let's get off this thing.

Thank God,
let's get out of here.

Okay, excuse me, sorry, sir.

Hey, wait. Hold the door!
Hold the door one sec!

(LAUGHS)

Let's go. Come on.

Hold on, one sec.
Sorry, excuse me.

Do you believe it, Gene?
A belly ache.

(CHUCKLES)

That's what the good Lord
gave us Maalox for.

But to turn down
an opportunity
to improve yourself.

I just don't understand it.

Are you done
with that, Maurice?
No. No, not quite.

(SIGHS) I'll tell you,
if somebody had offered me
a chance like that

when I was a kid,
I'd have been on it
like white on rice.

I had to claw myself up.

All the way up the ladder,
rung by rung by rung
all the way to the top.

The place where
I grew up, Tulsa,

wasn't a bad place,
nothing wrong with it.

But I always knew

that there was a big world
out there waiting,

just for me.

And I was chomping
at the bit to take
a hold of it.

Let me have it!
Let me get mine.

I wanted to make
something of myself.

I wanted to be somebody,
no matter what it took.

Well, you are somebody,
Maurice. Famous.

Got your name
in the encyclopedia.

(CHUCKLING)
Yeah. Right, uh-huh.

What about you, Gene?

You're a good fella.

Yeah, Maurice?

Do you ever want
to make something of yourself?

Did you ever want something
so bad that it hurt?

Well, in high school,
a truck.

A truck?

It was a candy apple
red El Camino.

With big Pirelli tires
and chrome rims.

Is that it? Anything else?

Well, you know, Maurice.

I wanted the regular stuff,
like everybody else.

Steady job, nice wife,
some good kids.

Right.

I'm sorry, Maurice,
I got to close up
and hit the road.

Oh, yeah, sure.

Yeah, no problem.

Good night.

Good night, Maurice.
GIRL: Hurry up, Dad.

Hi, kids.

BOY: Hi, Dad.
GIRL: Hi, Dad.

Move over for Daddy.

WOMAN: Hi, sweetie.

(SIGHS)

Never, ever have
I been more happy
to see this broken step.

Yes, well, I'll get
on that first thing,

right away in the morning.

Yeah, sure,
I'd like to see that.

I will.

The future
Mrs. Joel Fleischman.

Ms. O'Connell-Fleischman
to you, Fleischman.

Okay, Mary Margaret
O'Connell-Fleischman.

Yeah, till death

do us part.

Death do us part.

Hey, look,

I should say this because
I don't want you to feel

that you're under any kind
of pressure from me.

Hey, you're the one
who didn't get
any sleep or food.

No, come on, I did kind
of spring this on you.

Hey, look, if you don't
want to rush into anything,
I understand that.

Well, it's you.
I don't want you to feel

like you can't take this
one day at a time.

So, maybe we should
live together first?

Yeah.

If you think so.
It can't hurt, right?

It won't hurt.

Okay.

(OWL HOOTING)

(HORN BLARING)

You want some gas?

Yeah, fill it up.
Super premium, please.

Yes, sir.

You might get a squeegee
and knock some of those bugs
off the windshield there.

So, Maurice...

Yes, Maurice?

Everything okay?

I think so.
Good.

How about a place to bunk,
you got that all squared away?

Yeah, yeah, Kelly's letting me
stay in the shed,
back of the station.

You know, next Sunday is
my dear mama's birthday,

may she rest in peace.

You never knew my mother.
She was your great,
great aunt.

Aunt Bertha. Yeah.
I've heard of her name.
Uh-huh.

Well, anyway, I was thinking
about cooking up a good
old Oklahoma dinner

in her honor this weekend.
You know, ham hocks,
lima beans,

honey cornbread, fried okra,
that kind of thing.

What do you say?

That sounds really good.

It's an invitation, Maurice.
Are you coming or not?

Coming? Really? Me?

Yes.

We'll play a little pool,
watch the late game on ESPN

and then,
to cap the evening off,

we'll have a hot game
of forty-two.

Okay. Thanks.

Maurice?

Yes, Maurice?

You missed a spot.

Oh, I'll get it.

All right, don't be shy.

Come on in close, everybody.
She ain't gonna bite.

Cicely, good turnout for art!

Ladies and gentlemen,
today we're here
to honor electricity.

The charge that charges, what?

Everything, right?
From those electrons
snapping in our brains

to our father the sun.

I mean, what's the sun?
It's kind of like a brain.

Electromagnetic field,
solar flares

like sparking back and forth
from those nerve cells.

We're all one.

Folks, giant blobs
of electricity all of us.

Positive and negative,

electromagnetic fields,
just circling each other,
right?

Positive, negative,
north, south, male and female

looking for
that electric moment.

And then, wham!

Magnet to magnet,
opposites attract.

Poles hold, poles meet.

Equipoise in the universe.

lsn't that what
Earth's all about?
Ed, you ready?

This first ride is mine.

Then it's anybody's turn.
Fire up, Ed!

ED: All right!

(HUMMING)

Come on, Ed.
Give it all she's got!