The Cosby Show (1984–1992): Season 6, Episode 4 - Denise Kendall: Navy Wife - full transcript

♪♪ [theme]

This is the best elevator
music I've ever heard.

Denise?

Come on, baby, let's go!

You promised me you
would be ready at 1300 hours.

I'll be ready in a minute!

All right, make sure you are.
Otherwise, I'm pulling your liberty card.

That's the way
to go, Lieutenant.

All right, so you're on
your way to Rhode Island

to the naval base to
look at your new housing.

That's right. They're just gonna show us
where we're going to be living on the base.



Then we come back here, pack
up. Two weeks, and we're gone.

Gone but not forgotten.

Well, I'm sure it
will be quite a relief

to have three less
people living in your house.

Oh, I wouldn't say that.

Or would I?

[Denise] Okay.

[Cliff] Hey!

Okay, I'm ready.

Daddy, when are you
and Denise coming back?

We'll be home Sunday
night, Miss Goosie-Loosie.

And while we're gone,
you're gonna have a good time

with Dr. and Mrs. Huxtable.

And when we get back,
we're gonna tell you



all about the new house we're
gonna live in on the Navy base.

Well, I'm on my
way to the hospital.

[raspberry]

All right. Can you do that, huh?

[raspberry]

And you? No. Never mind.

Now, don't forget,
Navy on the way.

Hoist the bilges.

We're going to
pull the car around.

- Denise?
- Huh?

Are you all right?

Yeah, yeah.

Um...

Ma, do you always tell Dad
when you, uh, make a mistake?

Well, it depends.

If it's something important...

Well, I can't say that
I tell him everything.

Okay, good. So what
you're saying is, um...

use discretion.

Right.

What have you done?

Well, uh...

well, remember when I got
that letter from the Navy thing,

telling Martin and I that
we got housing on the base,

and while Martin was at
sea, and he sort of left me

with the responsibility
to call and confirm?

Denise, you got that letter
a month ago. Honey, please.

Yeah, I sort of remembered this
morning that I forgot to call and confirm.

You're driving to Rhode Island today,
honey. When were you planning to tell him?

In the car.

Good Lord!

Well, it's okay, Mom. I've
thought the whole thing through.

We'll just go to right to
whoever's in charge of the housing.

I'll explain my mistake,
and it will work out.

Denise, you have to tell
Martin before you leave.

Mom, you just told me
that I should use discretion.

Use discretion about things
like "Honey, I lost your umbrella,"

not "Honey, I know we drove all
the way up here to Rhode Island,

but we don't have
a house to live in."

Ready to go.

Yes, Denise,
you're shipping out.

We better hurry up,
honey. I'm double parked.

Uh, honey, before we go, there's
something that I want to tell you.

What?

I lost your umbrella.

That was a very
expensive umbrella.

I got it from England. It's
been all over the world with me.

How could you lose
something like that?

I'm sorry, honey. I hope
it doesn't ruin our trip.

Oh. I guess we just got to hope it
doesn't rain while we're in Rhode Island.

Right.

We got to go. Give
me some sugar, baby.

I love you.

We'll be back Sunday.

I got your bags.

Drive carefully.

- Bye-bye, everybody.
- Bye-bye.

Bye.

Tell him, Denise. Bye-bye, Mom.

Tell him. Bye, Mom.

Tell him. Bye.

Olivia, what's the matter?

I miss my daddy and Denise.

How would you like to
go to the mall with us?

Can we go to the toy store?

I need some new leotards, so we're
going to go to the clothing store first.

And I need some school supplies,
so we can look for them afterwards.

But I want to look at toys.

Olivia, you have to understand
the rules of shopping.

What rules?

When you go with us, you have
to do what we want to you to do,

because we're your aunts.

You're not my
aunts. Aunts are old.

You can't boss me around.

- Hi, Dad.
- Ahh.

Oh, you look beat.

I am.

I've delivered the
same baby five times.

Well, you'll have plenty of
peace and quiet around here

because Mom is at Grandma's,
and we are going to the mall.

Bless you.

Wait a minute. Who's
going to keep him company?

Oh, don't worry about
Dad. He likes to be alone.

But he'll be lonely.

No, he won't.

Now you two go to the mall.

I will stay here.

Suit yourself.

Hey!

No, no, come back here.
Take the baby with you.

No, you will be all
alone, and you will cry.

I'm staying.

Bye. Have fun, Dad.

See you later.

Well, what do we do now?

We nap.

But I'm not tired.

I am.

Then you need to play a game.

Daddy bought
this before he left.

Okay.

We'll play the game.

[groan]

Play the game, play the game.

All right, I'll read
the directions here.

All right.

"Find the most pairs
of matching cards.

"The player makes a match

"if the two cards turned
picture side up are identical.

"When a match is made,
the player takes both cards,

"places them in
front of him or her.

"That player then
takes another turn

and continues taking
turns until he or she misses."

Okay, here we go.

Finished. I win.
What do we play next?

But I didn't get to play.

You have to wake up early in
the morning to beat me, buddy.

What do we play next?

I'll tell you what we're
going to play next.

Here we go. Now look at me.

Look at me.

Now, we're going to
play a game called...

uh, silence.

Now, this is the best game

because it requires
great intelligence,

which I know you have.

And there's no talking.

The first person who talks or
makes a noise loses the game.

And it's really shameful
if you lose, okay?

So, when I say
three, we zip the lip,

and please don't be the loser.

Okay?

Three.

Oh, no, don't do that.

You talked first! You lose!

Come in. Have a seat.

Captain Turvey is finishing up
some other business. He'll be right in.

Thank you.

This is unusual that we'd be waiting
to see the Executive Officer of the base.

Usually, they just send you right
into the housing referral office.

Well, Martin, maybe
there's a reason for that.

I bet I know what it is.

Because I came out of Annapolis,

he probably wants to talk to
me, give us special treatment.

There can be other
reasons, sweetie.

You know, Bob Hope
was up here last year.

Know who I heard is going
to be up here this year?

My man B.B. King.

♪ The thrill is gone ♪

♪ The thrill is gone away ♪

Honey, would you be terribly
upset if we didn't see B.B. King?

So long as we're together

in our new house on the
base, everything will be fine.

Honey, I was going to talk to you
about this in the car, and I just...

Good afternoon,
Lieutenant Kendall.

I'm Captain Turvey.

Good afternoon, Captain.
This is my wife Denise.

- Mrs. Kendall.
- Captain.

Please, be seated.

Captain, we'd like to thank you for
taking the time out to see us personally.

I didn't plan to.

In fact, I'm curious of why you
showed up at the base at all.

Well, my wife and I came
up to see our new house.

We're moving up
here in two weeks.

You must be mistaken, Lieutenant.
You have no housing on the base.

Now why are you here?

That can't be. We got your letter
saying that we'd received housing.

Correct. That letter
also stated that you

were to call and confirm
that you wanted it.

And my wife did call and
confirm, right, Denise?

No, she didn't.

That's what I wanted to
talk to you about in the car.

You didn't call and
confirm the housing?

I told you that she didn't.

Pardon me, sir, I'm
taken completely off guard.

Denise, I asked you.
You... You promised that...

I know, baby. I know,
I know. I'm sorry.

Would you like me to
leave you two alone?

No. No, sir, we'll
finish this later.

Captain, please, we've come
all the way from New York.

Isn't there anything
available? We'll take anything.

There is nothing.
You have nothing.

When you don't respond to
the notice, you don't get housing.

We had to sell your
quarters to someone else.

Captain, is there anything that
I can do to rectify this situation?

You go back on the
waiting list, and you wait.

Can you give us any indication
of how long we'll have to wait?

Approximately six months.

And this time, when
we notify you, respond.

Yes, sir.

Thank you for your time, sir.

You're giving up so quickly.

Denise, I think we should go.

Come on, let's talk to
him. He looks reasonable.

Not too many people on the
base would agree with you, ma'am.

Uh, sir... couldn't
you do something?

This isn't just for me.

Martin has a daughter.
She's 4 years old.

My stepdaughter.

We're all living
together with my family.

It's a major imposition.

I mean, couldn't you reconsider and just
find us someplace to live here on the base?

It would be a shame if just
because of my stupid mistake

my husband had
to give up his dream.

Mrs. Kendall, I commend
you on your heartfelt words.

Lieutenant, you've chosen a sensitive
and intelligent woman as your wife.

Thank you, sir.

- So we're here on base?
- No.

And this is my office.

What do you do?

I'm a doctor for women.

What do you do with them?

- I deliver their babies.
- Deliver?

When the woman has
the baby inside of her,

then I go in, and I take it out.

No, you don't. Everybody knows
that the stork brings the baby.

Uh, who told you that?

My daddy.

Okay. Well, the stork, uh,

puts the baby
inside of the mother...

And then I go in,
and I take it out.

Nuh-uh. The stork brings
the baby to the hospital,

drops him in the bassinet.

So you're saying that the
baby is not inside the mommy?

Then why is it that the
mother gets real big?

Because she eats a lot of food.

Now let me get this straight.

You say that the stork carries
over, puts the baby in the bassinet,

and the mother's real big
because she eats a lot of food?

You got it.

I see.

Well, then why is it that the
mother has to go to the hospital?

The stork brings the
baby to the hospital,

drops it in the bassinet.

The mommy goes to
the hospital and gets it.

If the stork does all that,

why doesn't the stork just
bring it to the mommy's house?

Because it's too far.
His wings would get tired.

Where does the stork
get the babies from?

Heaven.

Okay.

There's a zillion skillion
babies in Heaven.

How does the stork know

what baby goes with what mother?

They're all in a line.

You know, like you go to
the bakery and get a number?

Why... when I put my
hand... on the mother,

I can feel... things
moving all around?

That's not a baby.

What is it?

Gas.

Well... thank you for
explaining it to me.

You're welcome, but you
still didn't tell me what you do.

I'm in charge of gas.

Carrot?

Come on, Martin, you haven't said a thing
to me since we left the Captain's office.

You're gonna have to
say something to me.

We're spending an entire
weekend together at that inn.

Come on, say
something. Anything.

How... in the name...

of all that is reasonable
on this Earth,

could you have forgotten
to make that phone call?

I told you before I shipped out
that you would be receiving the letter

and that you had to
respond right away.

You knew I couldn't be
reached on board that ship.

Just one task.

Just... Just pick up a phone!

Dial a number!

Say yes, we want the housing!

Can you do that?

Our whole future
just tossed overboard,

and I'm just supposed
to sit here and accept it!

Don't you have anything
to say for yourself?

This is our first fight.

No.

No, no. A fight is when two people
express opposing points of view.

You have no point of view!

You just didn't do something
that you were supposed to do.

You just... just were wrong.

Okay!

Okay, I'm not denying that.

Okay, I am sorry, baby. I'm
sorry this whole thing happened.

But we're going to have to
get past this and move on.

We can't move on.

We have no place to move to.

I know.

You know, Denise, just this
morning, I was talking to your father,

telling him we were
getting ready to move.

And he seemed to so relieved.

This look of peace
came over his face.

Now I have to go
back and tell that man,

"Dr. Huxtable, six more months."

So let's not go back
to my parents' house.

Let's go to your parents'
house. Let's go to Milwaukee.

- We can't.
- Why not?

I never told you
this before, but...

my mother can't stand you.

She thinks you're just
as flaky as my ex-wife.

Well where would
she get that idea?

It's hard to believe, isn't it?

Oh, man.

I am bushed.

Nine hours of
driving in one day.

I'm sorry, baby.

Oh, honey.

Let's just go to bed, hmm?

Tomorrow is a new day.

Yeah.

Woo.

How's the house?

You got a view of the harbor?

Well, Dad, I mean, this is the worst
thing that could have happened,

but I just completely...
It's my fault.

What? Martin.

Denise, honey, I'm trying
to tell them what happened.

Please.

The Navy contacted
me on the ship

and told me I had to confirm the housing
by a certain date, and I just forgot.

Uh, Martin, am I
hearing you correctly?

Are you saying
this is your fault?

Yes, ma'am.

I guess I should have left it
up to your daughter to handle.

So you don't have a home?

No, sir.

So you're going to
have to stay back here?

Well, if that's all
right with you, Dad.

How long is this going to last?

Well, the Executive Officer
thinks it will be about six months.

Dr. Huxtable, I insist
on paying you full rent.

No, I don't want your money.

Please, I insist on paying rent.

No, no, I just...
I can't take...

I'll pay you $600 a month.

Well, 600, yes.

Cliff. 600 is...

No, no, no, we are
not going to take...

You don't understand. $600...

Regardless of what my wife
says, we can't take your money.

Well, I tried.

I'm bushed. [Cliff] Yeah.

- Once again, I'm very sorry.
- All right.

I've got to get to bed. Okay.

Baby, I'm going to get something
to drink. Can I get you something?

No, thank you.

Good night, Martin. Good night.

Denise, that was a pretty
interesting story your husband told us.

I can't believe he took the
blame for the whole thing.

Yeah, I'd say he
loves you very much.

I know.

You know, after you and
Martin left this afternoon,

I started thinking back to those
first days after Sondra was born.

Your father was entering med
school, wasn't going to be home a lot,

so my mother moved in for a
month to help me take care of Sondra.

And it was a good thing she did because
I really didn't know a lot about babies.

- Yeah?
- Yeah.

The day before my mother was supposed
to leave, I started getting very uneasy.

Your father was going to
be at school most of the time,

and I was going to be left at home alone
with this tiny little life in my hands.

- So what did you do?
- Pretended to get sick.

So my mother had to stay and
take care of me for a couple of days.

You suggesting that
I didn't make that call

because I didn't want to
leave home with Olivia?

Don't be silly. Of course not.

But if you can get anything at all
from my story, I mean, be my guest.

I just made a simple
mistake, that's all.

[sigh]

All right, girl, that's enough.

You're not getting the
message. How dense can you be?

Denise, you are a
married woman with a child,

and you are afraid
to leave the nest.

My husband, your father, thinks
you're never getting out of here.

I know.

Mom, new people, strange people,

no friends, no family.

Navy life? Me?

I know, honey.

But you can't stay.

You got to go.

Well...

- can I ask you something very important?
- Sure.

Do you know how to
get to Rhode Island?

Yeah. But I'm not
stationed in Rhode Island.

My family's stationed
here in Brooklyn.

I understand.

But if you call
me, I'll be there.

♪♪ [theme]

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