Poker Face (2023–…): Season 1, Episode 8 - The Orpheus Syndrome - full transcript

(leaves rustling)

Laura: years ago.

(indistinct arguing)

Max: That's it!

♪ ♪

(inaudible)

You understand!

I know you do!

Laura: Ohh!

(poignant violin playing)

(camera shutter clicks)



(vehicle approaching)

Hey, kiddo.

Laura: I feel as if
I've stepped into a,

a time machine.

(dry chuckle)

Oh, my God,

is that a Steenbeck?

Arthur: The perks
of being a drop-out.

I can just do what I do, my way.

It's nice.

I don't think in all these years

that I've told you, but...

I'm sorry.

No, Laura, it was my fault,



not yours.

After what happened,

I needed to leave the company.

Besides, it was
almost 30 years ago.

I kept up with your
work, you know.

The superheroes in space

with the fourth
dimensional explosions.

New tools.

That's all that is. CGI.

I think you would have loved it

if you gave it a shot.

I needed something
real to hold on to.

Uh, the service was nice.

Laura, you're here for
a reason, aren't you?

These were always my favorite.

I don't know how you do it,

capture a soul with
latex and paint.

Do you think it's possible

to be forgiven by the dead?

Arthur: No. I
tried for 30 years.

The best we can do
is forgive ourselves.

Max and I were getting divorced.

Well, I haven't spoken to
him for years. I'm sorry.

We were still partners at work.

We kept the facade,

but at home,

things had gotten really bad.

On the day he died,
I asked him to come

and see me to talk through
some of the final things

in the divorce agreement.

One thing led to
another, and I...

I started a fight.

It was the same old fight.

Sing it again.

But this time,

something broke.

He ran outside from the house,

and he turned and looked at me

one last time...

and jumped.

Oh, Jesus.

Before he went over the edge,

his eyes...

Arthur...

I came here to hire you.

No. No. (sniffles)

I came here to beg you.

I need you to make me one
of your maquettes of Max.

I need to look into his eyes

and beg the
forgiveness of a ghost.

And maybe he'll forgive
me and maybe he won't.

Maybe I'm damned to follow
him over that cliff.

But I need to know.

That's why I'm here.

(kettle whistling)

You can say it.

I've lost it. I,
I must sound nuts.

Grief is a strange creature.

I just can't let
that be the last time

that I see his face.

I need to apologize.

I need to beg his forgiveness.

And you're the only one

who can bring him back for me.

You are the only one
who can understand.

I know you do.

You would do the same thing.

(classical music playing)

(leaves rustling)

(doorbell rings)

(latch clicks)

Max.

Oh, Max, I'm...

I'm so sorry.

My God, Laura!

My God!

- How could you?
- It was 40 years ago.

If I could undo it, I would.

But it's done.

We're here and now.

Forget that you saw it.

And let it go.

Max: Laura, I can't.

I can't lie about this.

I came here to tell you that I'm going
to take the footage to the police.

- Please.
- No!

No, there's no other way.

I've made up my mind.

(Laura sighs)

(kettle whistling)

Okay.

Just...

(whistling continues)

Just hold on.

(pouring tea)

Thank you.

Has, has anyone else
seen the footage?

No one else but me.

I wanted to tell you first
before I went to the police.

I owe you that.

Thank you.

I think you should
tell Arthur. Tonight.

I think he would want
to hear it from you.

Before all this comes out.

Max, you're right.

All of this is right.

And now that I have accepted it,

it's like a weight has been
lifted from my shoulders.

Thank you for being
strong for both of us.

(soft chuckle)

Max: I, I can't feel my hands.

What did you do?

It's already in your system.

In, in a few minutes, your
heart will start to slow.

It will be painless.
Just like falling asleep.

(grunting)

Max, there's nothing
that you can do.

Just let it happen.

You're insane.

The footage is locked
on my drive, Laura.

You can't get to it.

I have all of your passwords.

I'll delete the file and
burn the original film.

This is everything, Max.

This is everything that is mine.

And I, I can't let you take it.

Max! Max!

You understand!

I know you do!

You would do the same thing.

Look into my eyes, Laura.

Remember this.

Ohh!

Oh, my God.

(dramatic orchestral
music playing)

(sniffles)

(beeps)

Oh shit.

(beeps)

(laughs)

Thank you.

(phone ringing)

MAN: (over phone)
LAM Archives.

Raoul.

How you doing? It's Laura.

I need you to pull some film for
me and bring it to the house.

It's from the "Dragonfish"
behind-the-scenes shoot

in the '80s.

It's reel number 1-6-6-3-2-4-6.

- Barber: How's the family?
- Man: Doing great.

Johnny's getting honor
roll this semester.

- How's the shop?
- Barber: Never better.

Man: That's fantastic.

- How's the new job?
- Terrific.

I like my coworkers.
It pays the bills.

- Barber 2: That's wonderful.
- Man 3: Sure.

It's a bit of an adjustment,
but I'm loving married life.

- Barber 4: How's it look?
- Man 4: Great.

Best cut ever.

Oh, my God, the
mountainous volume,

the sheer metric tonnage
of bullshit in this place,

every word, I swear to God.

I think maybe I'm getting
more sensitive or something.

I'm developing an eye
twitch. Can you see that?

- Yeah.
- Charlie: Yeah.

How do you handle it?

It's a barbershop.

Hey, I need you to deliver this

to 52 Cherokee.

Old farmhouse just
outside of town.

Extra little for you.

Ah!

- What's in it?
- What do you think?

Right.

In the case

of a one-year-old Yamir.

Charlie: Not the father.

(doorbell dings)

You are not the father!

(audience cheering)

Every time.

(America's "Lonely
People" playing)

♪ This is for all
the lonely people ♪

♪ Thinking that life
has passed them by ♪

♪ Don't give up until you ♪

♪ Drink from the silver cup ♪

Hello?

♪ And ride that
highway in the sky ♪

Hello. Got a delivery.

Bag of human hair. Hello.

Jesus.

- Hey.
- Oh.

Oh, hi.

I got your bag of
hair from the, uh,

the barbershop.

Ah, right.

Right.

Right, right. Uh...

Hair.

You're welcome.

Uh... so, uh...

no need for an explanation.

I, uh...

I'm Charlie, by the
way. Uh, Charlie Cale.

- Arthur.
- Hey, Arthur.

So, uh, just leave it, uh...

leave it here?

Perfect.

Too easy.

Hey, man, uh, listen,
I'm gettin' the vibe

you want to be left
alone, and, and I really,

I respect that, so I
apologize in advance, but...

well, with the
hair and the, uh...

the monster in the window,

consider my interest piqued.

So, uh, what do you do?

Charlie, usually,
I, I like to talk

about what I do.

But today, I just
buried an old friend.

So right now, all I feel like

is getting shitfaced.

My eye's not twitching.

Uh...

which is to say, that's
the first honest thing

I've heard all week.

Uh, and I'm sorry for your loss.

Hey, listen, I,

I didn't know what kind
of a griever you are,

but if having some
company helps,

I, uh, I'm in no rush
to get back to work.

Sit, leave, doesn't
matter to me.

That blessed honesty.

Gotta say it's
manna from heaven.

Ah!

(soft chuckle)

Mm.

That one stung, Arthur.

(both laugh)

Arthur: So when
I blew smoke out,

it was supposed to
go out the trunk,

it didn't, it went out the ass.

And it covers the first
three rows of people.

They split.

(laughs)

Everybody else gets out.

Ahh.

Hello.

Art. Jesus.

You are a cool, cool dude, man.

God, this is a major relief,

because with the
hair and everything,

I thought maybe you were
potentially some kind

of a serial killer.

Well, if I was a serial killer,

I wouldn't need hair.

I'd already have hair.

Well, you could be a
serial killer of the bald.

- Aha.
- (Arthur laughs)

Should I call you a cab?

I got the Cuda. I got the car.

So I'm all set.

You're not going to drive.

No, no. To sleep in.

You know, there's a
cot right up there.

You could crash here tonight.

Oh, that's not scary at all.

That's great.

Yeah.

Jesus.

Monsters, monsters, monsters.

Wow, wow.

Holy cow.

All this comes from
inside your head?

I mean, it must be a
horror show in there.

Hell, you got no idea, kid.

Monsters.

Screams from the void.

Void screams?

- Yeah.
- Very heavy.

Alright, So I'm standing

and I'm looking
and I'm thinking.

And so, feel free
to say it's a no-go,

but do you need an assistant?

Now, before you answer
that, I should warn you

that I only accept cash,

and you can feel
free to underpay me.

Well...

why not?

Welcome to the House of Horrors,

Charlie Cale.

Alright.

(dramatic music playing)

Mamma mia.

Don't touch those.

Oh. Yeah, sorry, I just,

I see you working on it all
the time, I got curious.

So, uh, what's it, uh,
what's it going to be?

I'm calling it The
Orpheus Syndrome.

Oh yeah? What's it about?

It's a non-narrative.

Oh, uh, you want some
of this jelly toast?

- It's freaking delicious.
- You bought jelly?

Mm, no. It's, uh, you had
some of it in your fridge.

You know, that's fake blood.

Do you know how
expensive that stuff is?

That costs more than real blood.

Arterialicious.

Oh shit.

- Fuck, Arthur. I'm sorry.
- No, no, no.

Don't worry. I'll
take care of that.

- You hang this...
- Yeah. Okay.

On the film bin.

Charlie: I'm sorry.

Arthur: That's alright.

(vehicle approaching)

Laura: Arthur, I
need you to make me

one of your maquettes of Max.

I need to look into his eyes

and beg forgiveness
from a ghost.

And maybe he'll forgive
me and maybe he won't.

Maybe I'm damned to follow
him over that cliff.

But I need to know.

That's why I'm here.

(kettle whistling)

Are you okay?

We got a new job.

I'm going to need you full time

for a few weeks.

(sighs) Hey, uh, look, uh...

I know this is weird,

but, uh, whatever that
lady asked you for,

whatever she told
you she was here for,

she wasn't.

Okay? She was lying.

I could tell.

Oh.

Snoop.

(chuckles)

I, I don't know what lies mean

when you're that deep in grief.

She's a friend.

I gonna help her.

Let's get to work.

So to help your friend,

we're building a model of
your dead friend's head.

Twisted web.

So this is Max, huh?

And, uh, what's
her name? Laura.

Those were the good
years, the early years.

What happened? Why did you
stop working with them?

Pair of monsters or what?

No, it wasn't that.

Well, what was it?

It was my fault.

It was supposed to be my
big debut as a director.

Creature feature,
"Black Lagoon" -style.

And we had a terrific
young actress,

Lily Albern.

She died on the set.

And, and it all died that day.

Christ, Arthur, fuck.

It was an accident.

We were shooting a scene
where she went underwater

and the sea monster
attacked her.

We had a big tank set up
with an emergency system.

If she had an issue in the tank,

she would hit a button

and this red
emergency light bulb

would go off,

and we'd cut and pull her out.

Eyebrows.

It was a crazy day.

We were running behind,

and Lily was having
trouble in the tank.

She'd go in, and the
red light would go on.

We would cut and pull her out.

Over and over again.

I got frustrated.

Everybody was.

And then on the last take,

everything went perfect.

The sea monster attacked her.

She thrashed. She struggled.

We got it.

So we were elated.

But...

she wasn't moving.

And when we pulled
her out of the tank...

she was dead.

Fuck.

Why didn't she, uh, set
off the red light bulb?

Arthur: I don't know.

I, I, I can't
believe that it was

because I was
frustrated with her

and she didn't want
to let me down.

But...

I do believe that.

I believe that...

I killed her.

So that's why you walked
away from all this?

You better believe it.

I, uh, I lost a friend.

She was my best
friend, uh, Natalie.

And, uh, you know, I wonder
if I could have saved her,

but I didn't.

And so I walked away too.

You know, I keep thinking
it's behind me, right?

But then I keep just, like,
playing it back out again,

trying to, trying
to make it right,

trying to change it.

I don't know.

I mean, does it ever end?

Do I believe that the
dead can forgive us?

No, I don't believe that.

Bullshit.

- What?
- I mean, if you didn't think

the dead could forgive us,

you wouldn't be making
your whole movie,

the, uh, "The
Orpheus Syndrome."

I mean, that's what
it's all about.

Bringing the past back to life
like a ritual of penitence.

Arthur: Ritual of penitence?

Who appointed you Pope?

I was recently
anointed. Thank you.

I, uh... come on,
man. Cut the shit.

I mean, you got Orpheus

who's going through film gates

into the underworld, which
looks like a water tank

to bring a girl
back from the dead.

The guy's got a movie
camera for a face.

The other guy, that
Cyclops monster,

he's got a red light
bulb for an eye.

I mean, I'm not judging.

Just, you know, it
all makes sense.

You got to revisit the
past to get past it, huh?

You think that's true?

Hey, dominae vomingus dingus.

I'm gonna make some Hot Pockets.

- You want some?
- Yeah.

Alright, Arthur.

- It's cool.
- Yeah?

Yeah.

(phone ringing)

(mumbling)

LAM Archives.

They still got you
in the basement, huh?

(Raoul laughs)

Arthur.

Haven't heard your voice

in such a long time.

How are you, my friend?

Arthur: Uh, I'm fine.

I need you to do a favor.

I need you to pull
some footage for me.

Reel numbers 1-6-6-3-2-3-4

through 1-6-6-3-2-4-6.

That was everything on
April the 12th, 1989.

Are you sure?

- That's, um...
- Arthur: I know.

I know what's on there.

I'm not supposed to
check anything out.

But that's okay, buddy.

Um...

Max was digitizing everything
for the 40th anniversary.

He got through that
pile of stuff already.

Nobody's going to miss it.

Thank you, old friend.

Raoul: I'll bring
'em over tomorrow.

Yeah.

Hey, I'm Raoul.

Um, I'm here to deliver
some film to Arthur.

Is he around?

That's terrific. He's inside.

I'm, uh, I'm Charlie,

his, uh, assistant
and head deliverer.

You're the head of delivery.

No, I, uh, I deliver heads.

- Alright.
- Alright. Cool.

Yeah, he's right in there.

Okay. Thank you.

I like your car.

I like the Honda.

It's my mother's
car. It's okay.

Ah geez. Nice
patch of concrete

too much to ask for, I guess.

(grunts)

(organ music playing)

That was it. That was it.

Young Arthur: Jesus
fucking Christ!

Are you fucking kidding me?

- Lily: I can't do it.
- Young Arthur: You can do this.

We need you to do this, honey.

This is what you're
being paid for.

Lily: This isn't safe.

♪ ♪

(clicking)

(tape rewinding)

(tape rewinding)

(tape rewinding)

(stops tape)

Laura: Raoul.

How you doing? It's Laura.

I need you to pull
some film for me

and bring it to the house.

It's from the "Dragonfish"

behind-the-scenes
shoot in the '80s.

It's reel number 1-6-6-3-2-4-6.

Raoul: I'm sorry.
I don't have it.

Wha... Uh, what?
What do you mean?

It's with the rest of
the "Dragonfish" footage.

I don't have any of
it. I checked it out.

What the fuck, checked it out.

What are we, a lending library?

To whom did you check it out?

Raoul: Sorry, Laura.

Arthur has it.

I'm gonna, I'm gonna
call him right now,

and I'm going to go over there,

- and I'm going to...
- (doorbell rings)

Raoul: to go get it for you.

Don't worry about it, Raoul.

Forget I ever called.

Raoul: Please,
don't be mad at me.

I've spent my
whole life thinking

that I killed that girl.

I'm sorry.

If I had thought...

I never would have. I'd never.

I thought she was being...

I don't even know, an actress,

a silly actress.

And we had put everything
into that production.

Our houses. All of us.

And we were bleeding
money. I shielded you, too.

You didn't even know
how in the hole we were,

every day we went over.

Arthur, it was an accident.

Raoul said that
Max had digitized

these reels.

Did Max see this?

Did he tell you he saw it?

I am so sorry

that you held this
for all these years.

But I did, too.

I did it and I held it

so you boy geniuses
could make your monsters

and not have to wonder
what it all cost.

I was doing the dirty work,
always, for both of you.

And you can pretend
that you didn't see it,

but don't you fucking
judge me for it.

I move forward.
Always forward.

And I am not going
to lose what I built.

And you're right that the
dead can't forgive me...

but they also can't hurt me.

Laura, let me ask you this.

Did you have anything
to do with Max's death?

He jumped right in front of me,

like he wanted to punish me.

My hand to God.

No one will see this footage.

Thank you.

Arthur, I am so sorry.

(sighs)

(laughs)

Oh.

(tires squealing)

Oh, he wouldn't.

Charlie: Arthur!

Arthur. Arthur.

Woman: (over phone) Stay calm, ma'am.
The police will be there shortly.

Can I get your name
and information?

Would you just, just
send somebody quick?

Okay? Please.

Shit.

Arthur, man.

I'm sorry, I gotta go, okay.

Alright.

What the fuck?

(engine starts)

Laura: Oh, his
heart was always...

He always had trouble
with his heart.

I'm just happy he didn't suffer.

I'm calling with
a legal question.

LAM funded Arthur's work.

I'm, I'm wondering when
we can get possession

of his workshop.

Well, today, if we can.

I'd like to see what's
there and pull some pieces

for our 40th anniversary
celebration tonight.

As a tribute.

Okay.

Uh-huh.

Uh-huh.

Okay. Well, work at
it and call me back.

Excuse me.

- Charlie: Hi.
- May I help you?

Charlie: I was, uh...

Hi.

Laura, right?

I'm Charlie. I was, uh...

I was Arthur's assistant.
I dropped off the head.

Right.

How may I help you?

Uh...

Well, gee, this is,
this is sort of weird.

I thought I'd know how to
put it when I got here,

but it was so sudden, his death.

And, uh, well, I'd gotten
kind of close to him.

Like, I really
cared about the guy.

Anyway...

he never left the house.

Like, literally
never went anywhere.

But I think

maybe the day he died,
he came to see you.

Ah, gosh, I, I'm sorry.

You know what? I feel
really intrusive here.

Maybe I shouldn't have come.

I shouldn't have come.

I'm sorry.

No, I get it.
It's, it's alright.

Why don't you come inside?

- Thanks.
- Laura: My mother had

a framed embroidery thing

over our commode growing up

that said "Strange Blessings."

And that's what yesterday
made me think of.

I didn't expect him,

and he just showed
up out of the blue.

And I'm so glad he did,

that I, I got to
say goodbye to him,

see him one last time.

Strange blessings.

God. But he wanted to
talk about the past.

About Max. All of it.

I'm sorry. And if I'm
overstepping, please.

But, uh, do you
feel like in talking

and whatever you guys said,

that maybe he
reconciled his guilt?

Look, I don't know
what I'm asking. I...

Maybe I just want to know

if he got some peace in the end.

Peace?

I don't know.

Peace, that's, that's
many different things,

but I, I think...

No. I know that he was,

he was able to let go

of blaming himself
for Lily's death.

Does that help you?

Oh yeah. That's...

that's, wow.

That's, uh, albatross.

Over here. Thank you. I, uh...

Geez. Uh, thanks.

(scoffs) I...

And look, uh,

I'm sorry to show
up and bother you.

No. It feels good to give
someone else some comfort.

Arthur gave me that
too with his maquettes

and our conversation.

That's great.

Yeah, it really did help me.

Yeah. Well, I bet. I
bet. How could it not?

Oh.

Helped me to say goodbye to him

and feel some kind of release

that I wasn't responsible
for Max's death.

Uh, thank you so
much for coming by.

It's really great to meet
you. Take care, Charlie.

Charlie: Uh...

You said you
weren't responsible?

What?

Uh, could you repeat
what you said before.

I think my hearing is going.

That I wasn't responsible
for Max's death?

And that like Arthur
had to let go,

I have to do the same.

Max's death wasn't my fault.

And Arthur's heart problem
just caught up with him.

Neither were a
result of my actions.

I didn't kill them.

Are you okay?

Yeah.

Well, goodbye, Charlie.

I hope I've given
you some peace.

(sighs)

What?

Hey, Head Delivery.

No, she killed both of them,
okay. She basically told me.

Not even basically,
she just told me.

I mean, not directly,
but, you know,

she was lying, and I could
tell she was lying, so.

What is this, a
woman's intuition?

No, it's not like a
tampon commercial, okay.

It's a real thing.

It's no big deal, but
I can detect lies.

Wait, what are you doing here?

Oh, Arthur, he
checked out some film,

and then Laura
requested the same reel,

so I'm in some deep shit.

- And I gotta get it back.
- What?

Yeah, I know.
Weird coincidence.

I mean, nobody's looked
at this stuff for years.

Coincidence, my foot.

Okay, so let me
get this straight.

You dropped the
film off to Arthur.

I went to drop the
head off to Laura.

He was watching the film.

Then when I got back from
Laura's, he had gone there.

So whatever he saw on that film

made him go to Laura's, yeah?

Okay.

What's on those reels?

It's behind the scenes
of the "Dragonfish" set

the day Lily died.

- Oh shit.
- Yeah, I thought it was pretty dark.

He wanted to see it,

but he was going
through some shit.

Yeah. Got to face the
past to get past it.

(scoffs)

Alright, man.

Well, we got to
watch that stuff.

We got to see what he saw.

How does this thing work?

Is it like a VCR?

- Hold on. Laptop, please.
- Yeah.

Laptop. (claps)

Okay. Here, Max was digitizing
the entire archives.

I think I could get a
copy from our cloud drive.

Double-Oh face scan, Batman.

Yeah, I know.

Yeah. Security's nuts. Okay.

Good, good. Uh, let's, uh,

let's start with
this one, 2-4-6.

- Two-four-six. Two-four-six.
- Okay.

Hmm. That's weird.

The files showed
up for the reels

245 and 247 but no 246.

- Max.
- What?

So if Max had this on his files,

you'd need his face, right?

Okay, so, Laura, used the
maquette to access the files

and, uh, delete it.

She what?

B-b-but...

Wait a second,

we have the original film.

Oh God. Shit, man.

Arthur was killed for whatever
was on that reel of film.

Look, we got to
find it before...

(vehicle approaching)

Hide!

All this stuff goes to LAM,

but bag up the loose
film separately.

I'll take care of that myself.

- I want every bit of film.
- Man: Yes, ma'am.

Don't leave a scrap behind.

Man: You got it.

Alright.

Whoever you are,
come out, come out.

I can smell your Hot Pockets.

Come on, fanboy. Out!

Raoul.

- What's that?
- You tell me.

Arthur brought that reel of
film to my house last night

and burned it.

True. Shit.

He burned it.

It was all destroyed.

- Bullshit.
- Laura: And I don't know

what you think is going on here,

but this is over.

So go get back in
your fucking basement!

♪ ♪

Hurry up!

What are you looking for?

I want every last piece of it.

Don't miss a single
loose scrap of film.

I want it all bagged
up. It's going to me.

He spliced it out.

Man: Yeah, I'll take
the Medusa head next.

Man 2: Need help with that?

Charlie: There it is.

Laura: That's great.

I, I also want to
have a, a tribute

to Arthur tonight.

All the maquettes
from his workshop,

from my home, from the office,

I want a whole room

dedicated to him

and to the film that
he never got to finish.

Well, I'll be there in
an hour. Get it done.

This evening is going to belong

to Arthur and Max.

(operatic music playing)

(beeps)

- Laura wants all this stuff up on the second floor.
- Yeah, yeah.

Okay? And we don't have much
time. We're already running late.

Why are you carrying
it like a baby?

Man: He's fragile.

Charlie: Oh, fuck my life.

Woman: gone in, like,
five minutes upstairs.

Man: You're not Laura.

Woman: Okay, but I'm
speaking for Laura.

♪ ♪

(indistinct chatter)

So pretty much, uh...

Can you please hold on a minute?

Thank you.

What's going on?

It's company policy

that nothing leaves
the archives.

You violated that policy,

so I'm afraid we're going
to have to let you go.

Are you serious, Laura?

It's company policy.

It's me.

Hey, look me in the eyes, Laura.

Laura, what is wrong with you?

(chatter on radio)

Security will escort you out.

Um, we have a problem.

There's a horse loose
on the premises.

(dramatic music playing)

♪ ♪

Charlie: Where are
you, witchy woman?

Where are you, witchy woman?

Not here.

Medusa?

No, not Medusa. Shit.

Ah? Oh, yes!

Laura: There it is.

Charlie: Oh shit.

Horse, who are you?

Charlie: Oh.

Hi.

Okay. Uh, alright,
alright, alright.

I'm sorry. This thing is not
designed for quick removal.

Escort her off the premises.

And if she steps one hoof
on this property again,

have her arrested.

Man: Oh, my God, look.

Look, that's the horse
from "Caligula's Revenge."

That's so cool.

Amazing.

Raoul: Charlie?

Raoul. Hey.

Okay. I'm not
even going to ask.

Oh, it's my purse.

Uh, listen, So I found the film.

Okay. Check it out. He
spliced part of it out.

And then he hid it in
one of his monsters

in the, uh, in the snake hair.

The Medusa from "Zazamoosh."

Yes. Yeah, the
Medusa from that.

Shit, wait.

Is that one of those sad
"you're fired" boxes?

Yeah. You know, 40 years, man.

She couldn't even look me
in the eye when she did it.

Shit, man. I'm
sorry, that's...

I was sick of that basement,

and I guess she was a murderer.

So time was right.

Hey, uh,

you think your, uh,
keycard is turned off yet?

- (audience applauds)
- Laura: Thank you, everyone.

We are so glad
that you are here.

Tonight is bittersweet.

I never expected
to be celebrating

without Arthur and
Max by my side.

Charlie: Okay. It's
now or never, right?

- Raoul: Oh no. It's going to be now.
- Charlie: Okay.

Laura: I know that if
they were here tonight,

they would be so happy...

about what I have done

to keep this company alive.

Or at the very least,

they would understand.

I, I hope that they
would understand

why I did what I did.

Ooh. (gasps)

(audience murmuring)

I'm sorry. I...

Very funny.

As we look back
on our history...

there are so many
moments to be proud of.

The... When Lily died

on the set of "Dragonfish,"

I thought it would
end us forever.

But... tonight,

we put the past behind us

once and for all!

(audience murmuring)

What I mean is

the past cannot...

- Charlie: Sorry.
- Raoul: Excuse me.

The past, uh, cannot...

hurt us.

I, um...

I'm, this is...

I have to go...

Just...

play it.

(ominous music playing)

(growling)

(roaring)

Narrator: LAM began

as a humble practical
effects shop

conceived by three Cal
Arts animation students

in 1975.

Arthur, Max, and Laura
founded the company

on one simple idea,

that imagination
could be made real.

This collective childhood
love of monsters

is what inspired
them to build LAM.

Throughout the years,
this powerful trio

have set the standard
for monster creation.

And in order to feel real,

it has to be real.

We see, uh, creation
of life from clay

not only in the Bible,

but in every ancient
mythology around the world.

When I'm in my studio...

(projector clicking)

I am bringing things to life.

And there's just
no other feeling...

Laura: Stop it! Shut it off.

- (audience murmuring)
- Young Arthur: You feel like...

Shut it off!

Young Arthur: you're divine.

(audience murmuring)

Shut it off. Shut it off.

Stop it!

Stop it!

(ominous music playing)

(growling)

♪ ♪

Oh...

Max.

Max?

Max!

Max!

Look into my eyes, Laura.

Remember this.

No!

(projector clicking)

(body thuds)

- Hey.
- Raoul: Charlie.

Oh fuck.

(orchestral music playing)