The Commons (2019–2020): Season 1, Episode 6 - Episode #1.6 - full transcript

[distant siren]

[cars horns honking]

[loud whirring]

[phone rings]

[phone rings]

[tense atmospheric music]

[phone rings]

[phone rings]

[phone rings]

[phone rings]

Hey.



- [Eadie] Hey.
[sniff]

Three hundredth time lucky.

Where are you?

Walking.

Can you come home, please, baby?

I want to explain.

Lloyd?

Please?

I know I should have told you.

Lloyd?

Lloyd?

[tense atmospheric music]

[gentle contemplative music]

[glass clinking]



[pouring]

I don't understand what's going on.

It's complicated, Ive.

Can you please just tell me
it's gonna get sorted out?

-I want to.

We'll get there.

[door unlocking]

- [Lloyd] What are you doing up so late,
poppet?

I'm worried about you.

-I know. I'm past my curfew.

You're gonna have to ground me.

But if you turn up late and grumpy
to your mum's tomorrow,

she's gonna send someone over
to pull my toenails out, OK?

So, on the count of five, I want
you in bed or no story, OK. [chuckles]

Remember the last time
I read a story to you?

It was in a heatwave like this
and we slept in the bathroom on the floor

because it was the coolest place
in the house.

Do you remember that?

- 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe'.
- [Lloyd laughs]

- [Lloyd] Yeah, I used to have
the worst dreams...

[footsteps upstairs]

[sombre music]

- [Eadie] You were meant to find it
after the party.

How many weeks?

Ten.

Ten weeks?

So ten weeks ago, you...

you picked up the embryo,
you took it to the clinic?

That must have been around the time of
the uh... the presentation.

Just before.

Just before.

Then they implanted it?

-Mm-hm.

And they also prescribed
the immunosuppressant drugs?

You're OK talking about this, right?

Because at the moment
I've just got this...

this massive ten week black hole

and I'm just trying to get
a little bit of ground under my feet.

Where are they?

What?

The drugs -
where have you been keeping them?

Downstairs.

Where?

In the kitchen.

What are you doing? Lloyd...

Lloyd.

- Kitchen cupboard?
- Lloyd...

- Warmer, colder?
- Lloyd, please.

I'm gonna need a clue here, babe.

What are you trying to do?

I just wanna see what you've been taking
and know where you've been keeping it.

That's all.

Fine. Fine.

You've really gone to some lengths.

Can I see?

Have you taken them today?
Have you done the jab?

Off you go, then.

No? You're not comfortable?

- You want me to help?
- Stop it, Lloyd...

- You don't want me to help?
- Just stop it.

Or am I only part of this
when you decide I am?

Stop!

'Cause I'm trying to get in the tent here,
Eadie. I'm trying to get in.

- 'Cause I want to.
- I know. I know. And I'm sorry.

And if I could go back and do it all again
differently, I would, but I can't.

Side effects?

Not as bad as I expected.

One more week
and I'm through the danger zone.

Really?

Because my memory was that
the big complications, the...

the cancer, the...
the bone marrow problems,

they might only show up
well down the track.

I don't expect it to make sense to you,

but the risk is worth it to me.

You've just shoved me back out.

It's not my call.

My opinion doesn't count.

You get to decide
that we'll bring a kid into the picture

even if you are not around to raise it.

That makes me a sperm donor, not a dad!

How did you expect this to go?

What did you think -
I was gonna come home,

I was gonna see a picture of kids
that I didn't even know existed,

on my pillow?

And... surprise! That's all good.
It's all good.

Well, yeah, yeah, maybe.

Maybe I thought you might...
see the picture of the babies,

of our babies, and you might be
so moved and so thrilled that...

that none of how it happened
would really matter.

[tense music]

I don't want to lose you.

And yet you let go.

Twins, huh?

Yeah.

You know what I can't
get my head around is

how you managed to doctor the baby app.

It was a desperate thing to do,
but I was desperate, Lloyd.

[solemn music]

[solemn music]

[thunder rumbling]

- [Israel] I don't know, Rima.
How can we look them in the eye?

Make them have this vaccination

which means they may never have
what we have?

- [Rima] 'Cause there's no alternative,
Israel.

If we don't get residency,
they're going to send us back.

Where to? Nothing left of our home.

We rebuild again,
get wiped out next storm surge again.

There is no choice here.

Got to stay strong, Israel.

[dark atmospheric music]

Almost there.

- [newsreader] Thick air smoke from the
Barton fires are sending

air quality in the western districts to
extreme...

- [newsreader]
With more hot weather on the way,

that record could tumble by the
end of the month...

- [girl] Did you brush your teeth?
- [Francesca] Lunch boxes in your bag!

- [Archie] Yes, Mum!
- [girl] Pass me the lunch box.

- [newsreader]
Set to arrive tomorrow morning...

[dishes clatter]

- [Francesca] Don't worry about it darling,
we'll clean it up later.

Being late's a trigger for me.

- [girl] Tils! Tie up...
- You've forgotten, haven't you?

- [girl] Give us your ribbon...
- What?

-Cosmo, dentist. You said you'd drive him.

Being late's a trigger for me.

No, no, no, no, I haven't forgotten.
I never forget.

I can't, that's all.
I've got a big meeting with the...

A big strategy meeting with
the Department of Domestic Affairs.

Strategise how you do that
and get Cosmo to the dentist appointment,

which was booked three months ago.

- Chesca, I can't.
- It's called being a dad. Let's go, girls.

What have I been being for these
last God knows how many years?

- Do you really want me to answer that?
Let's go.

Oh, don't forget -
early dinner at Eadie's tonight.

Can't we do it here?

We can't keep doing that
every time they throw a dinner.

It's just plain rude.

Oh, fu... dge.

Fine.

[Dom breathing heavily]

[beeping]

- [electronic voice] Health alert.
Your engine has been disabled.

[sighs] Come on.

[beeping]

- [digital voice]
Please contact your health provider

- to accept first available treatment.
- Dad...

- I know, Cos, I know.
I know.

[Dom exhales]

[beeping stops]

Cos, put your hand on the steering wheel
for me, will you, mate?

Just for a second so I can start the car.

I don't think I should do that.

[mobile notification]

Jesus.

Cos, Cos, come on, hands on the wheel.

- Stop!
- Just for a minute.

- You don't want to be late, do you?
- I...

Cos!

[Cosmo breathes rapidly]

Cos...

-[Dom] Look, uh...

God, I don't have time for this.

Cos, I'm sorry, mate. I'll um...

I'll uh... I'll go to the concierge.

I'll ask him to uh...
I'll ask him to um...

- Oh, god...
- Dad...

Dad!

[loudly] Dad!

Dad?

- [Dom] Who does that piece of junk
belong to?

[panting]

What's it even doing here, anyway?

Dad, what happened to you?

What? I tripped.
Don't worry about it. I'm fine.

- It's OK.
- You're not OK.

[solemn music]

[heavy breathing]

[solemn music]

Oh, Cosmo, I think
we'll give the dentist a miss today.

Your teeth are pretty clean.

You can just have an apple or something
at lunch. Keep Mum off my back.

[beeping]

- How can I help, sir?
- Hi, Israel.

I need a car into the city.
Can you organise it for me?

Of course.
I'll let you know when it arrives.

Thanks.

Now, about um...

my little... accident.

It's just between you and me, OK?

Is something wrong with you?

Well, it depends who you ask.
I mean, I'd say I was borderline perfect.

No, it's all good. It's all good.

It's all good, mate. I just...

There's no need to worry Mum with it, OK?

I won't tell Mum as long as you promise me
you'll see a doctor.

OK.

I promise.

[beeping]

Driver will be here in three minutes, sir.

OK, good. Great. Thanks, Israel.

Oh, and, Israel, uh...
that shitty car's back again.

I think it's been dumped.

Can you deal with it?

I'll have it moved on, sir.

- OK.
- [beeping]

[tense music]

[beeping]

Morning.

So, some good news -

the air con shat itself last night.

Cooked the lot of them.

Lloyd...

This is what you wanted.

You're focusing too much on
the backyard clinic thing,

when really, in the scheme of things,

she'll get off the drugs and you will have
two kids to take to soccer training.

She got pregnant behind my back

and clearly she went to great lengths
to keep it behind my back.

And she's not telling me the whole truth.
I can feel it.

So I'm sorry if it takes me
a couple of minutes

just to get my head around
soccer training.

I mean, why would she do that, huh?

Unless they're not even mine.

Oh, that's crazy.

Is it crazy, is it? Because where I'm
standing, what she has done, that's crazy.

So I don't know what to think anymore...

I'm sorry, man,
but I don't understand you.

You wanted kids, you wanted them badly.

Now you've got them,
why does it matter how it happened?

Why can't you just be happy about it?
Why do you have to...

I'm sorry, are you trying to say
this is my fault? Is this my fault?

- Is it my fault, Shay?
- Lloyd...

You're unbelievable.

What do we do about the vax?

I wish I knew.

[tense music]

[crowd chattering]

Malo el lelei.

What's going on?

It's the last day of the trial.

We've decided to volunteer.

I know you have concerns but I talked to
some other families last night.

They all have more points than us.

We have no insurance -
another point gone.

Talia has asthma - another gone.

We need these three from the vaccine
to get us over the line.

[baby crying]

There are only 250 doses left.

And all these people.

Chin up, Mum. Gotta be in it to win it.

What do you mean?

They're gonna put all our names down,

mix them up and then pick out the winners.

- Is Abel in there?
- Yeah.

I'll see you later.

Excuse me. Sorry. Excuse me.
Just that I need to get through.

- [Abel] Keep clear so that deliveries can
come through.

- Glad you could join us.
- You turned this into a lottery?

It's crowd control -
I had to do something.

Look, you have to shut it down!

The vaccine definitely contains
Lloyd's development,

which means it carries
the same sterility risks.

You know it's theirs for sure?

- Yes.
- How?

Look, if you want me to push back more,
I need something to do it with.

They were able to test...

the vaccine and it's an absolute match.

And where did they get this sample from?

I borrowed a sharps container.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

Hey!

Everyone take a breath!

[echoed swirling]

[silence]

Eadie?

Eadie, Eadie...

Hey, hey, hey, hey, are you OK?

Yeah, yeah, I'm OK. [clears throat]

Come and sit down.

I get the sense it's not a straight out,
exciting development... the baby.

Babies.

It's complicated.

Lloyd and I disagreed on how much risk
was too much.

I went ahead behind his back.

Why?

Because he would have talked me out of it.

So, if you asked, you would have got
an answer you didn't want?

And then what would have happened?

Then you would have had to ask
another question.

Which is more important -
husband or baby?

-[Lloyd] Knock, knock.

I'll leave you to it.

Hey.

You OK?

Yeah. It's just low blood pressure.

Really?

'Cause it looks like you might have
walked your lowered immune system

right into germ central here.

It's no different from the hospital.

-I know.

And that's probably somewhere you
wouldn't want to hang out in too much

if you were trying to stay healthy either.

[phone rings]

It's um... It's Ivy.

It's OK.

I should duck to the bathroom.

Hey, poppet. What's up?

Uh, hey.

I didn't know you were here.

Things haven't exactly turned out
according to plan, have they?

What are you talking about?

You're pregnant with twins.

A few speed bumps in the old marital
department and you'll sort that out.

We have to tell him you helped me.

No.

No, we definitely do not.

We do. It's just a question of
whether you tell him or I tell him.

Just I wanted...
I wanted to give you the option.

I just think it'll be better for you
if you do...

That's magnanimous of you, Eadie.

There's no way through this
until he knows everything.

Really? Really?

Because when you pitched it at me,
I'm sure you said he would never know.

Yeah, I did...

You know what your problem is, Eadie.

You want what you want
without the consequences.

But that's not how the world works.

There are costs.

I'm not gonna pay for this one.

- [announcer]
All applicants for the Uconica trial,

if your name is called,
please present to Uconica staff.

-[man] Johnson, A. and L.

Davis, T.

Wilson, J. and H.

Thomas, G. and B.

White, S.

-[woman] Next please.

-[man] Latu, R. L. T. and S.

Wang, L. And S.

-[Leroy] Mum?

-[man] Martin, E.

[crowd chatter]

-[man] Nguyen, V.

I just don't understand how this happened.

-[Lloyd] My money's on Lindriquil.

They wanted it.

Maybe they didn't take no for an answer.

-[man] Thomson, J. T. and F.

-[woman] Next please.

[crowd chatter]

-[man] Just hold still.

[solemn music]

[drone buzzing]

- [Shay] Lloyd, we can be doing
better things with our time.

We go back to the lab, we put a bug team
together, we replenish our stocks.

This'll just take a minute.
[shouts] Karima!

You must be feeling like
a proud new mum.

Lloyd, forgive me,
that's not quite tracking.

You'll have to back it up a bit.

You stole our IP
and we just watched jabs roll out.

-[Shay] Shay Levine.

We never met.

Karima.

Shay, you might want to tell your partner,
Lloyd, that it's a restricted trial,

in case he wants to dial back
the drama a little bit.

Oh, you want to get picky about
definitions? Let's call it what it is.

It's an experiment.
These people, they are guinea pigs.

Ends and means, Lloyd.

-Ends and means?

There is no ethical distinction
between ends and means.

This is about
rapid rollout safety protocols.

This is about informed consent.

People do not knowingly risk their health
or their lives for the sake of science.

But their health is not at risk.
Their lives are not at risk.

You two might be curing chagas
one Vietnamese mattress at a time,

but I'm running a bigger race
with bigger risks.

And I am good with that.

How many people in your trial
have residency permits, huh?

Or do you only have volunteers
that are desperate and displaced?

What exactly do you want?

I want you to stop the trial.

That's not gonna happen.

OK, then, publish your results.

If you are so quick to pump these people
full of your shit,

then you publish the blood test results
from the trial.

You show us.
Show us you've got nothing to hide.

Good day, gentlemen.

-[Shay] What now?

I don't know.
We've got to find out how she got it.

[Shay scoffs]

Have you got a better idea?

Yes. We go back to the lab,
we crack a vax without the side effects.

It takes the legs out from underneath her.
She's dead in the water.

Alright, but tomorrow.
I've got to go home.

I've just got to stop thinking
for ten minutes.

[bottles clatter]

[chatter]
- [Ivy] Lucky last, Dad.

-[Lloyd] Thanks, poppet.

- [Ivy] Do you like this part?
- [girl] Yep.

-[Ivy] OK.

- [Dom] Maybe you two should have had
a bridal register.

What was it we all chipped in for -

some breeding llamas
for a village in Bolivia?

-[Lloyd] Yeah, big mistake that.

We love your food, Ive.
Thank you so much for putting it together.

Yeah, I just thought we needed
cold dishes with the heat.

Yeah, yeah. You could always try
turning on the air conditioning.

- [Lloyd] We try to conserve energy
until we actually need it, Dom.

When's that then? When somebody
drops dead from heat exhaustion?

Is that what happened?

- [Archie] Is there more, Ivy?
- [Ivy] Sure is.

Did you do what you promised?

What? Of course. Um...

Are you finished or did you want seconds?

We never went sailing.

- Dad bought a farm.
- Shut up, Cosmo!

- Dad's not well.
- Cosmo...

I promised I wouldn't tell Mum
and you promised you'd go to the doctor.

Why do you always lie about everything?

- Dad wet himself in the car park.
- Cosmo!

[sombre music]

Hey, hey, hey.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, it's OK.

It's OK, honey. It's OK.

Why won't he see a doctor?

I don't know, Cos.

He's proud and stubborn.

And maybe he would hate to admit
that he's not perfect.

Is that why he doesn't like me -
'cause I'm not?

No. No, Cos, he loves you.

He loves you so much.

- [Ivy] Highest card loses.
Pick up on three.

- [Ivy] Ready?
- This one? This one?

One, two, three.

-[Archie] Kaboomage!

-[Lloyd] OK, what... How did we go?

[all speak at once]

-[Eadie] How long were you out for?

-[Dom] A few seconds.

How many times has it happened?

Twice.

Once at work and then today,
earlier today.

When it happened at work,
did you lose bladder control then?

Jesus Christ, no!

Hey! I'm trying to help here.

It's pretty common.

Stress blackouts, anxiety issues
in first responders.

And last time I checked,
you fly the odd helicopter

and drive your family around in the car.

How compatible is that with blacking out?

Gonna ground me?

If I have to, yeah.

Yeah, well, it might not be so bad.

Is that why you bought a farm?

It's a piece of land on the river.
It's not really a farm.

It's just somewhere to get away
if we need to.

Get away from what?

From what's coming.

Things are going south, Ead.

Faster than we thought it's gonna be...

way, way worse
than we can imagine.

[background chatter]

[sighs] Oh...

So, there's my lovely wife

having a go at me about
how clean the kids teeth are

and whether they need braces.

So, if there's a pill for all of that,
then I'm in.

I'm gonna make you some appointments...

and you better show up.

OK, how is that statistically possible
that I get this card every time?

Are you little people, are you cheating?
Is the joke on me?

It has been from day dot.
The card is doctored, Dad.

[Lloyd groans]

Alright, troops, we need to get this show
on the road.

- [girls] No!
- [Francesca] I know. No, next time.

Thank you, Lloyd.

- Thank you, darling.
- It's great to see you.

- Yeah, you too. Thank you so much.
- Take care.

I'll come and see you out.

- [Dom] Thanks for having us Lloyd,
We should do it more often.

- Was it you?
- Was what me?

The false feed to my phone

so I wouldn't know what the hell
was going on in my own marriage.

I don't think you can lay not knowing
what's going on in your own marriage

at anyone else's feet but yours, really.

But, no, it wasn't me.

But you know who did.

[sombre music]

Sleep well, mate.

I love you.

[tender music]

[city ambience]

[distant siren]

[keys jangle]

[car beeps]

[beeping]

- Hi.
- Hi.

Hey, honey. Hey, bubba.

Are you ready?

Mm.

[singing together in Tongan]
He 'oiaue Ana Latu

Ana tauele kiate 'au

Si'e ma fononga he 'one'one

He na'a ma topu va'e taha pe

He 'oiaue Ana Latu

Ana tauele kiate 'au...

[crickets chirping]

[footsteps]

Well, let's do that again.

Next century.

Who doctored the app, Eadie?

[dark, tense music]

[chair grates]

[solemn music]

[water bottle sprays]

[Lloyd exhales]

Your cousins are entitled brats.

You know that, right?

A bunch of spoilt little arseholes.

Do you think maybe
you've had enough to drink?

Actually, no, I don't think that.

So...

if you don't like it,
you can toddle off to your Mum's 'cause...

I'm so not in the mood for you.

[squirts bottle]

[solemn music]

[solemn music]

[beeping]

- He's not gonna like this very much.
- Good.

-[Shay] Morning.

[Lloyd sighs]

Baby, I uh...

Oh, shit. I said something...
I said something to you.

- I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to say...
- [Ivy] Yeah, good.

[Lloyd sighs]
- [Llowd] Shit.

Hey...

We need a testee.

You need what?

We're never gonna get
the official results of the blood test.

Karima what's-her-face
has made that abundantly clear.

So we do our own.

We get someone who's had the vax,
we do our own tests.

And if we can prove that it's dodgy -
boom - it's off the table.

The whole situation goes away.

[Lloyd sighs]

Hey.

Hey, we need a testee.

- [announcer] Urban residency permits
will be announced soon.

All residents,
please gather your belongings

and make your way to the dining area.

Urban residency permits
announced soon.

Hey.

Looks like you're nearly ready.

Um... Rima, I have a favour to ask.

We need a blood sample

so we can test it for what we're
worried about with the vax is true.

-[Leroy] Mum hates needles, but...

I don't mind.

Are you OK with that?

OK.

OK...

Right, so this, around your arm,
it's gonna be a little bit tight.

Mm.

[tense music]

[whispering, chatter]

Welcome, everyone.

I appreciate your patience.

Those with residency permits are...

Anna and Joel Carson,

Tobias Henny,

Sasha Harrison.

Edwina and Seth Dawson,

Conrad Best,

Alice Malone,

Kirstie and Rodney Owen.

Ned Park.

That's it, I'm afraid.

What?

That's only 12. There's meant to be 50.

[dark, tense music]

[keyboard tapping]

What?

Nothin'.

It's just that you've never met Karima.
That's what you said, right?

Yeah, as in no, I haven't met her...

Sorry, I can't... I can't hear you.

I haven't met her before.

What?

I just wanted to see what it looked like
when you lied straight to my face.

What did she say? She said um...

She said that "We're gonna cure chagas
one Vietnamese mattress at a time."

She knew about
our trip to the council flats.

No-one else on earth could have told her.

You sold us out to Lindriquil.

There's a lot to explain.

I helped Eadie set up
a false pregnancy feed on your phone.

There's a bit of connective tissue
between the two.

We should probably go somewhere comfy.

Have a beer.

You can hit me if you want.

[sombre music]

Lloyd...

-[Eadie] Here, drink that.

Hey, what's happening?

It's Border Authority. They sent them here
to handle the deportations.

They're not just gonna take them
right now!

It's done, Eadie.

It can't be!

Come with me.

Sorry, guys, hey,
we're just running a bit behind today.

Dr. Boulay's new and she's not used to
how fast things work around here.

She still needs to do
the medical discharge on the Latus.

I'll get her to do that now

and we'll do the transfer paperwork
at the same time

so we don't hold you up, OK?

-[officer] Yep.

It's not gonna happen by magic, Doctor.
Go get 'em.

Right, come with me.

Sorry, wrong folder.

Uh... Eadie...

-[Abel] OK, follow me, guys.

Rima... come with me. Follow me.

- Why?
- Just come with me.

Come on, let's go. Now. Now.

[tense music]

Go, go, go, go, go, go, go.

[car beeps]

Just um...

OK. OK, great.

- [baby coos]
- Shh, shh, shh.

Take the baby.

Get down. Sit down on the floor.

Watch your hands.

[tense music]

[beeping]

[dark atmospheric music]