Parenthood (2010–2015): Season 2, Episode 18 - Qualities and Difficulties - full transcript

I'm Mark Cyr,
eleventh grade English.

You know, in two years,
Amber's going to be graduated.

I think that maybe that's the
time that we should go out next.

Why are you in the dog house?

I shouldn't be
making any decisions.

You're a smart guy.

You think so?

I made a mistake.
I slept with someone.

Something has come up,

and I'm not going to be able
to work with Max anymore.

What the hell is wrong with you?
Why would you do this?



I know you're worried about
losing your babysitter...

She's not a babysitter,

she's a behavioral aid for your nephew.
He's got Aspergers.

I have Aspergers?

Well, what is Aspergers?

Well...

Max, Aspergers
is a form of autism.

What's autism?

People who have autism
are called autistic and...

Some people have
disabilities, Max.

It's not really
a disability, honey.

It's not a disability.
It's a syndrome.

It's a syndrome.

Your brain, it just works a little
bit differently than other people's.



Yeah, right.
It just...

It processes things...
You...

You're just wired differently
than everyone else.

I don't have wires
inside of me.

- You don't.
- It's just an expression.

I have muscles
and I have capillaries

and I have That's right.

Nerve endings and I have
blood and I have bone.

And they all work perfectly.

We just all have tough stuff that
we have to deal with in this world,

and for you, Aspergers is just
one of those tough things.

Mmm-hmm.

Nobody's sure why
it happens or...

And no matter how
tough it seems,

you just have to know that your
mother and I, we love you...

Hey. And we are here for you,
and we always will be.

- Always.
- Do you want...

Do you have any
questions, honey? Or...

Do you guys have Aspergers?

Mmm-mmm.

Daddy and I don't have it.

Does Haddie?

No. Haddie doesn't
have it either.

Just me.

Max, we love you
so much, honey.

So much.

Can I go up to my room now?

- Sure, you can go ahead.
- You can go up to your room.

Honey, it's okay.
No. Just stop, stop. Just...

Kristina, I'm sorry.
I'm not mad at you.

Hi, Mom.

Hi.
Hi.

Hey, look at you.

Yeah.

You look great,
all bright-eyed.

Well, I was up all night.

You were up all night?

Writing. Just like when you were
in high school, my little poet.

Oh, yeah.

Poems?
Oh, no.

Short stories?
Uh...

Journal? What? What?
No, no.

I don't know, it's...

What?

I don't know. Nothing like
this has ever happened before.

You know, it just...

I just started and it came out
and I don't know what it is.

I don't know what it is.
I guess a story.

It's not...
I mean, it's not magic.

It's just a story.

It sounds great.

Maybe. We'll see.

I'd love to read it.

Can I?

It's not in order and it doesn't feel...
I think maybe I'm not ready.

Oh.

But I'll let you know. Okay.

When I am, you'll be the...
One of the first to... Bye!

See you later.

Uh-uh. Get away.

Sweetie...
Get away.

Can we talk for one second?
No. No.

Just give me...
I just want one minute. Okay?

Move! Hold on.
Will you please...

Hey, please, please.
Get off the door!

Sweetie.

Oh, gosh!

Oh, my God. Oh, my God!
No, no, no!

Oh, no, no, no!

Did you lose something?
Oh, my God. Hi.

Hi.

Is this your technique for breaking
in because I'm a little disappointed.

It's not what you think.
Well, I'm just guessing.

It's not often I find women
kneeling outside my door, so...

This is kind of a "Dear
Diary" day for me.

Listen, look, for the record, I was
trying to get something back, okay?

That I put under there.
So this is not like stealing

or, you know, snooping.

No, no.
Or anything.

You're just blushing
a little bit.

Oh, my God. Hi.

Hi. Um...

I'm just going to get
into my apartment.

Oh, this is your apartment?

Oh, yeah.
Oh! That's so...

That's such a coincidence.

I'll just take that and
I'll see you later.

You're not going to
tell me what it is?

Oh, no, no.

Way to amp up the mystery.

I'll just never know why I saw Sarah
Braverman kneeling outside my door.

Fine. Okay, um...

I just, I wrote this thing
and I don't know what it is.

It just kind of came out
of me, and I didn't sleep,

and it felt really great, and
then I was seized with this idea

that I wanted
someone to read it,

and I thought of you.

And then when
I put it under your door,

the feeling of wanting someone to
read it was immediately replaced

by intense regret
and deep, deep shame.

So, that's the story.
I'd love to read it.

I'll just let you go
about your day. What?

I'd love to read it.
I'd be honored.

Really?
Yeah, absolutely.

Are you sure?
I'm sure.

Now it's, like, I wrote it.
Yeah, I know.

So chances are, ooh, smelly.
I'm sure. I know.

Everything you do is terrible.

Can I... Can I read it? Um, yes.

Yes, you can.

Thank you.

I think, yeah, this is good.
This is really wonderful.

Thank you.
Fantastic.

Any time. It is fantastic.
And it's good to see you.

It's good to see you.

All right.
I'll get started right away.

All right, bye.
Bye.

So you called it
a disability?

Yeah, look, I'm sure that, that's
not what I was supposed to do,

but I was caught
completely off guard.

Max just overheard my brother
and I shouting at each other.

He's standing there
in the staircase.

You know, the right words weren't
exactly rolling off my tongue.

Yeah. I don't mean
to sound judgmental.

I just want to understand
what Max heard.

I don't know.
Who knows what he hears?

What else did you say to him?

I said that he was
wired differently.

You know, I told him
we loved him

and that I knew that
it was a tough situation.

What the hell are you
supposed to say to him?

Well, you want to be simple,

descriptive, upbeat.

Emphasize some positive
aspects of having Aspergers.

Oh, yeah, the positive
aspects of Aspergers.

I'm sorry. Those weren't
occurring to me in the moment.

I mean, is this seriously
your advice? To be upbeat?

It's a suggestion that
I believe helps. Yes.

- Well, I'm sorry.
- It was an emotional situation.

I was doing the best I could.
I mean, Kristina was crying,

it was late, I just
finished shouting

- Wait a minute.
- That he had Aspergers.

I didn't know he was there.

Kristina, you cried?

Yeah. I cried.

Wait a minute.
Are you really getting judgmental

because she was
feeling emotional?

It's okay, honey.
I just want to hear what he has to say.

No, of course not.
It's completely natural.

I promise you, I'm not
being judgmental.

I'm looking for something
that I think will help.

I know it's here.

Are you saying that
I shouldn't have cried?

I mean, I didn't
really plan on it.

Crying implies that having Aspergers
is something to mourn. Right?

We want to be sending a message
that Max is like everyone else.

He has his strengths, he has his
challenges, Aspergers is a part of that.

Okay, great. All right, well, she
cried, I called it a disability.

We blew it. I think that's clear.
So what do we do now?

Well,

I'm not sure.

I mean, you got to be joking!
I mean, are you seriously...

This is your advice? Are we the only parents
to have ever screwed up this badly?

I think you should try
for a redo with Max.

What is this?
That is a script.

Okay.
It's a blueprint

for you to talk to your
child about this diagnosis.

So you should read it together,

mainly because I think you both
need to be on the same page

before you talk to Max
about his autism again.

So, take some time.
Take a few days.

Really study it.

Practice.

Practice.

I know you both want the best for Max.
I do, too.

This is an important
transition for him.

He's going to need you.

I just feel like you're not
on board with this at all.

Damn right I'm not
on board, honey.

I mean, we go to him for help and his advice
is to feed our son a bunch of positive spin.

Mmm-hmm.
That's not what he meant at all.

That is what he meant.
Look, let's look at the script together.

Let's break it down.
Go ahead.

"Qualities and Difficulties of those with Aspergers.
Quality, determined."

That's a positive thing.
All right.

"Difficulty, making friends.
" Mmm-hmm.

"Quality, humorous
in a unique way."

Meaning no one gets his jokes.

"Quality, exceptional at remembering
things that others can't."

Things that other people
don't care about.

Bugs, the lifespan
of a particular insect,

or the wingspan of a flying cockroach.
Who cares?

I care. I care.
That's what that means.

"Difficulty, reading
other people's cues."

I think this is a good start.

Well, I don't.
This is helpful.

I think it's a bunch of positive language.
That's all it is. It's a lie.

Can I bring
my dress-up clothes

to the sleepover with Jabbar?

Um, gosh,

sweetie, I don't know if we're going to be
able to have that sleepover with Jabbar.

No, no, no, you guys said that you
were having an anniversary for love,

and that meant that I got
to have a sleepover.

I know that's what I said, sweetie.
And I meant it.

Syd, head upstairs, get your
shoes on, find your backpack.

We'll figure out all the
sleepover details later, okay?

Okay, but I really, really
want to have a sleepover.

Okay. So do we. We really do.
We do, sweetie. I promise.

The one time we're able to
actually have an anniversary date

just us, the one time.
I know, babe. I know.

But if we cancel with her, won't
it look like we're taking

Crosby's side
on the whole thing?

Will it?
I don't know.

I don't want to take sides.

He's my brother,
but he screwed up.

Is that an understatement or
are you just being literal?

Okay. We should
cancel, right?

Yep.
Yes.

Okay.

Here we go.

I mean, what do you even say?

Sorry about your betrayal.

Sorry, I'm just...

I was really looking forward
to taking you out

on an anniversary date, honey.

Eight years.

I know. I know.

Max?

Mmm-hmm?

Buddy?
What?

Is there anything you
want to talk about? Nope.

Are you sure?
Yep.

Hey. Morning,
everybody.

Hey.

You all right?

I don't know.

All right, listen, hey, Max,

I got to take off to work.
You have a good day, okay, buddy?

Okay.
Honey, come on.

Be right back, buddy.

What's the problem?
He looks fine.

He looks how he always looks.

I just think that maybe we
should bring this up again,

give him the chance
to talk about it.

I don't want to upset him.
He's processing it in his own way.

I'm not interested in
memorizing a bunch of facts

that have been polished up to make
it sound like he's won something.

I'm not saying that
we should do that.

I'm just saying that we
should just talk to him.

Look, I got to go to work.
And just explain. Okay?

Can we talk about this later, please?
I love you. Yeah.

Buddy.

I feel like if
I could, you know,

get her to talk to me,

or get her to look at me
and then talk to me...

This is the plan?
I can maybe make it right. I don't know.

What do you think?

I don't even know what to say.

Nobody knows what
to say. You're an ass.

That's the fact.
I'm going to fix this.

It's the worst thing.
I mean, it's the worst thing.

It's the hardest thing to recover from.
I'm sorry. It's just true.

I think you can fix it.
I don't know how. I'm not saying...

Well, I have to fix it
because I love Jabbar

and I love Jasmine,
so what are my options?

I don't know
what they are,

but I think it's possible.
Hey.

You didn't say he was
going to be here.

Adam! Adam! Hey, will you
please let me apologize?

I was an idiot, okay?
I was selfish.

Are you really going to act like
you can't hear me saying sorry?

You know what, Crosby? I don't care
that you're sorry. I just don't care.

All right, I'm busy trying to look after
my son, trying to look after my family.

You're not even on my radar.

There you go, third round.
Tell them to enjoy lunch.

You know my motto, shots
pay the rent, baby.

Hey, Lou,
what are you doing here?

I thought you had to
sleep all day, like a bat.

Danny quit.

Oh, I worked with him Saturday night.
He quit on Sunday.

Why? On to New York.
He's got a dream. I don't know.

Well, so now what happens?
You just take all the shifts?

Well, until Shanahan
finds another manager.

And he better do it soon

because these doubles
are killing me. Hey.

What about me?

What about you?

You know, to be
the new manager.

You haven't been
here that long.

I've been here over a year,
you know, off and on.

I need some consistency.
No, I could be consistent.

What, are you jonesing
to manage a bar?

You know, thinking
about my future.

Here?

I don't know, Lou, I mean, I dreamed of
being an artist or a writer or something,

but, I mean, come on, got
to pay the rent, you know?

What do you got, a line
of people outside? No.

Just put in a good word for me.

Okay, I'll tell him you're
interested, all right? Thank you.

Hit me. Don't leave
me hanging. Love you.

I'll be in the office.
Sell some more shots.

Yeah?

I have a Jasmine
Trussell on the line for you.

Would you like me
to take a message?

No. Put her
through. Thanks.

Hey, Julia, it's Jasmine.
Hi, Jasmine.

I just wanted to call and find out if we're
still on for the sleepover tomorrow?

Yeah, I was actually
going to call you, too.

So are we still on?

Yeah. I hope so.

Jabbar's pretty
amped up about it.

Yeah, so is
Sydney. I just...

You know, as long as
you're okay with it.

Oh, it's okay.

And I'm okay.
Everything's okay.

And we'd really love
for Sydney to come, so...

Well, we would love that, too.

Good.

Is 4:00
too early?

4:00 is great.

All right. We'll see you then.
Great. Bye.

Hi.
Mom, Dad, hi.

Come on in.
How are you?

Good. How are you?
I'm good. We're good.

Everything all right? Yeah.

Well, your sister told
us what happened.

What exactly did she tell you?

With Crosby and that stuff, you know.
Yeah, pretty much everything.

Okay. Why don't you guys
come on in and sit down?

How are you doing?

Good. We're, you know,
all doing okay.

- We're good.
- Yeah.

So, how's my grandson doing?

Tough to say.
He's working through things

in his own way,
at his own pace.

So maybe it was
for the best then?

I don't know if I would
exactly put it that way.

He was going to find out about it,
so sooner's better than later.

Dad, I got to say, I'm having
a tough time sitting here,

listening to you try to put
a positive spin on this.

Gaby has been working for us for over
a year trying to gain Max's trust,

and she quit because of Crosby,

so we're not looking at this like
some sort of awesome development.

Do you guys want any coffee or anything?
No, thank you.

Have you talked to your brother?
No.

I don't think
that's a good idea.

You should talk to him,
don't you think?

Blood is thicker
than water, come on.

I mean,
he made a mistake.

It was a really bad
thing he did, but

he needs to talk to you.

You're his brother.

Is this why you came over here?

You came over here to get me to talk to Crosby?
Is that what this is?

Do you know why he's irresponsible?
It's because of you.

Both of you are to blame for letting
him get away with everything,

for letting him off the
hook for everything.

Year after year, you make excuses
for him, you do his laundry,

you lend him money, you bail him out.
He's a grown man.

It's not my responsibility to
make him feel better about this.

You know, I'm spending all
my energy trying to clean up

this mess that Crosby made.

He cheated on his fianc?e,
it directly affected Max,

and I don't care if he didn't
mean to hurt anybody. He did.

Just like he always does.
He's selfish, and for you, of all people,

to sympathize with that,
is unbelievable to me.

Honey.

Honey.

Five, six, seven, eight, and
one, two, three, and four.

Shoulders, head, spiral, walk.

And one, two, three, and four,
five, six, seven, eight.

And one, two, three and four...
Hey. Hey.

Can I have, like, a second of your time?
...five, six, seven, eight.

I'm in the middle
of class right now.

Okay, well, it's important.

You have to talk to me.

Listen...

Don't you dare tell me
what I have to do.

I just want for one second...

No, no, I don't
want to hear it.

You know I'm barely
holding on right now.

Do you understand that?
Do you?

What you did to me makes me sick.
What you did to our family makes me sick.

I don't even want
to look at you.

Don't come here again.
Don't come here again.

Okay, Max, let's boogie.
We're late.

Why isn't Mom
taking me to school?

Because she has to run
an errand with Haddie.

These are the wrong shoes.

Max, we don't have time, okay?

I want to wear my blue shoes.

Put those on.

No, I need to
put my blue shoes on.

Max, these are fine.
I want you to... No! No!

I need to put my blue shoes on.
Put the black shoes on.

You don't need the blue shoes.
I need to put my blue shoes on.

All right, fine, we'll find the blue shoes.
You want to help me?

No.

Max, you're telling me that you...
All right, here they are. Look at that.

Here are your blue shoes.

Max, what if I told you, you
didn't have to go to school today?

But I do.
It's Thursday.

You don't. You don't have
to go to school today.

Yes, I do.
It's Thursday.

What if, instead of going to school,
you and I go to Galaxy Point Park

and ride roller coasters
all day long.

Just you and me.
How's that for a surprise?

Come on.
I don't like surprises.

Okay.

You remember the Velocerator?
Uh-huh.

Scariest, fastest ride in
all of Northern California.

Yeah, I know.
It says so on the poster.

That was your favorite.
You wanted to ride that like a dozen times.

It's the one on the M?bius track, right?
That's right.

The one that goes forwards and backwards?
That's right.

Can we go on it more than once?

We can go on the Velocerator
as many times as you want.

We'll only break
for meals, okay?

We will go on the Velocerator
until the park closes.

You may never want to go on the
Velocerator again. What do you say?

Okay.
Yes!

Yes! Awesome!
All right.

So, Louie tells me you are
interested in managing.

Definitely.

Why?
Why?

Have you never
seen Cheers, okay?

What looks better than, you
know, Ted Danson's job?

Well, Ted Danson was the owner.

Right. Well,
that's up next.

No, seriously, I um...

You know, I just spend a lot
of time being a bartender,

and I think I would be good at
it, and I'm looking to expand.

Okay, but you do know that it pays
about 30% less than bartending, right?

No.
Yeah.

You know, managers,
they don't take home tips.

So you'd get a salary, but I can
guarantee your current take-home pay,

it's going to get
hit pretty hard.

Um, huh.

Can I make an observation? Yeah.

The customers,
they all love you, okay?

And as far as I'm concerned, you can
work as many shifts as you want, okay?

Yes, maybe sometimes you're
a little erratic, whatever.

You don't bring me drama,
and I love that.

But I don't think you
should be a manager.

You know, and I'd hate to see you get
burned out after six months because,

you know, you hate scheduling
everybody's shifts.

Yeah.
Yeah.

Well, thanks, Pete.
Come to me anytime.

This way, Dad!

- Are you sure? I don't...
- I think it might be this way, Max.

Yes, no, but first we have to ride...
No, but... Dad!

What? First we have to ride
the Fury, then the Ram Jam!

All right, okay.

Excuse me,
what are you selling here?

- Hey, honey.
- Hey, honey.

Hi. Can you hear me?
Yeah. I'm right here.

Where are you?
I can barely hear you.

I am at Galaxy Point Park.

You're what?

Max and I are
playing hooky today,

so we came out to Galaxy Point.

We're going to
ride the Velocerator.

- Okay...
- Max, stay close to me. What?

Okay. Adam, I don't think
that that's such a good...

Good idea? I know, honey.
But we're having a fantastic time, okay?

Right... Max?

I say this out of love,
but you've gone rogue.

Adam?
Yeah?

Honey, listen, it's just one day, okay?
It's not a big deal.

It is a big deal.
We have to stick with the plan.

Dr. Pelikan said to
stick with his routine.

This is not his routine.
Kristina, you and I have been parents

for the exact same
amount of time.

Okay? And everything
is going to be just fine.

Everything is under control.
Don't worry, all right?

I love you. Bye.
Hello?

All right!

That is so cool!
Yeah.

Hey, did you know
that the Sidewinder

is an inversion element
on a roller coaster where

it makes a 90-degree turn
while the train is inverted?

I did not know that.

And the fastest coaster in the
world is in world is in Abu Dhabi.

It goes from zero
to 150 miles an hour

in four seconds.
Wow.

It's just so...
That's fast.

If you sit in the front, you
have to wear protective goggles.

It's going to be
awesome. Whoo!

I just can't wait.
I can't wait, I can't wait. I can't wait.

- Hey!
- Hi, honey.

Hey, Jabbar, Sydney's here.

Hi, Sydney!
Hi!

- You guys look great.
- Thanks.

Is there a special occasion?

It is officially our eighth...
Eighth day eating no sugar.

Wow.

Yeah. We're celebrating.
We're going to a raw food restaurant.

Mmm. Yes.

Wow. That's really hard.
Good for you guys.

Yes. I think it's the first date we've had
on a week day since before Sydney was born.

No, that's an exaggeration.
No, I don't think I am exaggerating.

Yeah, you are, babe.

Well, regardless, thank you.
This is fantastic.

Oh, you're welcome.

All right, well, I'll pick her
up first thing in the morning.

You know, any time.
I'm not working tomorrow, so...

Have fun.

Jasmine...
I'm fine. I'm fine.

Hey, guys, who wants to play hide
and seek Israeli Army style?

Come here, come here.

- I do. Yes?
- All right. Here it is.

- I'm sorry.
- You guys should go. I'll be okay.

No. Hey, we are here now.
Don't be silly. We can hang out.

No, but you look so pretty, and I
thought this was a special occasion.

No. We were just going to go eat.
Don't worry about it.

We can go eat anytime.

Okay, who here
wants some pizza?

What do you guys like on it?
Brussels sprouts?

Thanks.
Of course.

Come here.

I can't believe this.
We're actually on the Velocerator! We're on it!

All right. It's going to be great.
Yes. Yes, it is.

It's going to be really cool.

All right, let's make sure we keep our
hands and arms inside at all times.

You ready?
Why isn't it going?

A few more people have to get on.
We'll be going in a minute.

No, it should be going by now.

We're sorry, folks, but
the Velocerator needs repairs

and we're going to be closed
for the rest of the day.

Please come back
and visit us soon.

What?

Okay, listen,

Max, this is something we didn't plan
on, but we have to get off the ride.

No, we don't! You said we would ride the
Velocerator as many times as I wanted.

I know I did, but they have
to make repairs. No. No.

You took me out of school so that we could
come here and ride the Velocerator!

It needed repairs
all of a sudden.

We changed everything about the
day to come here and ride this.

They need to make sure that the ride is safe.
No, we have to ride it!

There's another
ride right over there.

No, I don't want
another ride! I want

to ride the Velocerator!
It's not fair!

Hey, Max! Max!

It's not fair!
It's not fair!

Max! Excuse me! Max!

It's not fair!

Max! Max! Hey!
Excuse me.

Max, Max, hey!

It's not fair!
You promised!

You promised! Okay, all right.
I know I did.

We would go on the Velocerator
as many times as I wanted!

I'm sorry, Max.
It broke down.

I can't control it. Hey, Max!
Come on, easy, Max.

- You promised! It's okay.
- Max. Max, come here.

Hey. Hey.

What are you doing on my boat?

Come on, dude, would you just lower
the music a little bit, please? Huh?

It's been going all night.

I don't think I invited you
on my boat, man.

Other people live here.
How about just a little bit of consideration?

I thought I was the only
person out here adrift at sea.

There are other people in this world.
Why don't you turn

your ass around and
go back to your boat?

You don't need to
talk to me like that.

Well, I think you're on my boat,
so I think I'll talk to you how...

Get off my boat!

Come on now! Come on!

I paid your bail.

I messed up.

Yeah, you did.

I mean, I really messed up.

He's asleep?

He's good.
He's good.

I'm sorry, Kristina.
I don't know what I was thinking.

You were thinking you wanted to have a good
time with your son and connect with him,

and you did.

I was just trying to get
him out of the house,

and he had to have his particular
pair of shoes and I...

I didn't want him to
feel limited, you know?

And I just wanted to forget about
everything for one damn day, you know?

And show him that we could go
out and have a happy memory.

It's okay, honey.

You know, I just didn't
want him to feel so alone.

He had fun.

Here.

Anyway, I think you're right.
I think that we should

try to talk to him again
about his Aspergers.

Okay.

I think that's a good idea.

We can use the Pelikan script

as a guide.

Okay, as a guide.

You're a great dad.

I have my moments.

You're a great dad.

Yeah.

Sarah, hi.

Oh, hi! I'm sorry.
Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

I'm so sorry.
What are you doing here?

I was about to knock on the door.
I didn't get there.

This is not the door where you knock.
That is the door.

I don't know which
door is the right door.

My God. This coming from the cat
burglar outside my apartment?

The cat burglar worked during the day.
That's not scary.

I get a little freaked out
in the daytime.

I came by to return
your reading material.

Oh.

I'm sorry. I should have called.

I just thought I'd...
No.

I don't know, just come by.

It's not really any fun to talk
about writing over the phone.

Right. This is going
to be a lot of fun.

I can tell. So, have a seat.
This is good, um, so...

So, let me just save you.
Uh, if I remember how this goes is,

you start off with two or three kind of
generic positive comments about my writing,

you know, to make me
feel good about myself,

and then you follow those up with two
or three super specific criticisms

which are so soul crushing, because I
realize in that moment how true they are.

So if you want to just skip to those, that's
fine because I probably won't remember

the positive comments by that time
anyway, provided there are any,

which may be too hopeful.

What?

Nothing. You just...

You just reduced my life's
work as an English teacher,

so I'm feeling
a little unnerved.

I'll get over it.
Oh, God. No, no.

I'm sorry. I'm an idiot.

I'm so sorry.
I'm just really nervous,

but I can take it,
so I'm glad you came.

Thank you. Go ahead.
Whatever you have to say.

Okay, are you sure?

Yes.

Okay. So,
well, firstly...

I'm sorry, I just don't want to be in
this chair because it's just not...

I just want to sit.
Okay.

I want to be...
So I can really... Yeah.

That's a good place for you.
Um, so, my main impression is that it's not a story.

Okay. I know. No. No, no, no, listen.
Sarah, shut up.

It was just like a first draft.

Sarah, Shut up. Shut up, shut up.
Sarah, Sarah, please. Stop, stop, stop.

Of course it's not a story...
I didn't say it was bad. It's not...

It's not a story.
It's more of a play,

okay?

Your characters are fresh, their
voices are crystal clear,

and all of the action is
told through the dialogue,

which incidentally
is incredibly funny.

It is?

Yeah, it is.

Now, I do have two criticisms.

So, the first one is...

Your handwriting's
readable, but I think

for your next draft, you should
actually type your work.

Type it.
Yeah, okay. And?

And two, you have to finish it.

You need act two.

And... And that's it.

That's it?

Yeah.

It's really, really good.

So...

Congratulations, Sarah Braverman.
You are a playwright.

Was it hard to do?

No. I mean, that's the
thing, it just kind of...

No.

No.

Wow.

So, just... I'm sorry,
just to be clear.

You liked it?

Yes.

I really did.

That's just...

It's beautifully written.

Well, I...

Guess I'II...
I'll see you around, Sarah.

See you around, Mark.

All right.

Hey.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

So, buddy...

Do you remember last year when
you went to occupational therapy

to get more comfortable
in your body?

Remember that?
Mmm-hmm.

And you know how you've
been working with Gaby

and she's been helping you learn
how to play with other kids?

Yeah.

Well, you've been working
so hard at these things

because you have
Asperger Syndrome.

You guys already told me that.

Right.
Yeah.

Yeah, we did.

But what we haven't had the
chance to do is to tell you

about all the special abilities
that people with Aspergers have.

For example, you have
an amazing memory,

and you have read every book
ever written about pirates,

and you're passionate about insects.
You've always been able to memorize

every fact about every insect.

And that's all because
of the Aspergers.

But there are some things that are a little
bit more challenging for you as well.

You had to learn to remember to look into
people's eyes when they're talking to you.

Or to smile at someone when you
meet them for the first time.

Or to stay calm if somebody has
a different idea than you.

And you know sometimes
these things

come a little bit easier
to other kids,

but you've really
had to work at them.

And we know how hard you've
worked to learn them.

You're a rock star.

Will I always have it?

Yes.

Yeah, you will always
have an amazing memory,

you will always be passionate about
the things that you're interested in,

and those social skills that your
mom mentioned, those will always

be things that you just have
to remind yourself about.

I actually have a couple
of books here Dad and I have been

reading that talk about autism.

And this one here was
actually written by a boy

who's a couple years
older than you

who has Asperger Syndrome.

It's a really interesting book,

and we will sit and read
these with you if you want.

Or if you want to read them by
yourself and ask us questions,

we're learning
together. All of us.

So this is all new for us, too.

- We're proud of you, Max.
- So proud.

Every day.

I want to go
play bug war alone.

Okay.
All right.

Thirty minutes.

Forty-five.

Thirty.
Fine.

I love you.

Well.

I didn't cry.

You did a good job.

You did such a good job.
I'm so proud of you.

You're a good mom.
Great mom.

Thanks.

I didn't cry.

One, two, three.
What?

Bam!
Out of the place.

You knocked me out.

I don't know why
I play with you.

Oh, yeah. Sorry!
Two sorrys!

I think you cheat.
Mmm-hmm.

Mommy says you need to stay here
because you're working on the boat.

Um, yeah.

That's what's happening.

When will you be done
and come home?

Well,

it's going to be
a while, buddy.

I have a lot of work to do.

What happened to your eye?

Well, what do you
think happened?

Punch, punch, punch.

I'm gonna punch, punch you!

Hi.

I need to tell you something.

Okay.

I will never cheat on you.

Joel.

No. We've been
through so much

and

we're going to go
through so much more,

good and bad.

We're just, we're going
to go through everything.

And I will never,

I will never cheat on you.

"'Heard the news? ' he said.

"'There's nothing else being talked
about all along the riverbank.

"'Toad went up to town by an
early train this morning,

"'and he has ordered a very large,
very expensive motorcar."'

Max?

"The mole had long wanted to make
the acquaintance of the badger,

"but whenever he mentioned
his wish to Toad,

"he always found himself
put off."