The Nanny (1993–1999): Season 4, Episode 18 - The Facts of Lice - full transcript

Niles is in a foul mood. His mood gets worse when he drops a piece of paper, which Fran picks up and reads (but says she didn't). The paper looks like a murder plot. Thinking him a murderer, Fran realizes she truly knows nothing about Niles. Fran and Val decide to snoop around his bedroom to see if they can find any evidence of the murder he's going to commit. Later, Fran and Niles end up in the house by themselves. Fran fears for her life because she knows that Niles knows that she was in his bedroom, and that she read his piece of paper. Niles tells her as much and even says that he knows that Fran knows what's going on. Or does she? Meanwhile, Grace brings a case of lice into the Sheffield household. Maggie, Brighton and Fran all end up getting it as well, but not Maxwell. Fran believes this is a sign that Maxwell doesn't spend enough time with his children.

Fran, my head is so itchy.

I think I'm allergic to this hat.

Sweetie, I hope not.

I mean, it is so adorable.

You know what? Maybe you are allergic
to it.

-Bye, angel.
-Bye, Fran.

How dare you order me
about in that manner, sir.

After 30 years of loyal service, I think
I deserve a little more respect.

God, I wish he was home.

I am.

Why don't you cut him some slack?



I mean, he is your boss

and he's under a lot of pressure.

Stop trying to butter up the pompous brat.
I turned it off.

No, you turned it up.

Life is just not fair.

I'm as smart as he is,
as talented as he is.

Who thought up this system of the haves
and the have-nots anyway?

That would be the haves.

Doesn't working as a menial laborer
ever get to you?

No, this nanny gig is only temporary.

I got bigger dreams, baby.

Someday, I'm gonna be Mrs. Have.

And I'll be Mrs. Have's butler.

Not with that attitude, mister.



I'm sorry. I'm being a pill.

I can be peppy and make those
little chocolate cakes you like--

This is what it's come to.
I'm sucking up to the maid.

And you were this close to working for us.

You know, all this anger and bitterness

is just a mask for low self-esteem.

Where does all this come from?

Hey, Niles, could you wash my underwear?

She was working in a bridal shop
In Flushing, Queens

'Til her boyfriend kicked her out
In one of those crushing scenes

What was she to do, where was she to go?
She was out on her fanny

So, over the bridge from Flushing
To the Sheffields' door

She was there to sell makeup
But the father saw more

She had style, she had flair
She was there

That's how she became the Nanny

Who would have guessed
That the girl we described

Was just exactly
What the doctor prescribed?

-Now the father finds her beguiling
-Watch out, C.C.

-And the kids are actually smiling
-Such joie de vivre!

She's the lady in red
When everybody else is wearing tan

The flashy girl from Flushing
The Nanny named Fran

Would you look at this?

Brighton leaves a half-eaten
3 Musketeers bar in his pants.

I love him.

I can tell you, your mother never left
any food in her pockets.

Although I once found a chicken carcass.

Oh, God.

Beautiful.

Thank you.

No wonder the joint is empty.

Yetta, and to what do we owe the pleasure?

Sylvia told me to meet her for lunch.

I assumed here.

Miss Fine,
I have an important meeting tonight,

so I'm afraid I'm gonna have to reschedule
family night.

Reschedule?

But this is when you were gonna spend
quality time with me and the kids.

Don't you remember, dinner
and a romantic carriage ride,

after we dumped the kids at the movies?

Well, listen,
why don't you take them somewhere?

There you go.
I'm sure you'll all have a wonderful time.

You know, you're just spending
less and less time with the kids,

and they need a masculine influence.

I'll go. I don't have any estrogen.

I'm sorry.
But I just think that it's important

that parents spend time
with their children.

They should talk to them
and take them shopping

and visit them all the time,
and eat them out of house and home,

and nag them about not being married.

When is Ma moving to Boca?

I'll get it!

-Hi, Ma.
-Fran,

I'm sorry I'm late picking up Yetta.
I was at the gym.

When did you join a gym?

When they put in a muffin bar.

Ma, you know, when they say
do 100 crunches,

they don't mean Nestlés.

Hi, sweetie.

Baby, stop scratching your head like that.
People are gonna think you got lice.

I do. They sent me home from school.

Oh, my God!

It's a lice epidemic,

at your $14,000-a-year school.

Vermin they give you, but you still gotta
bring your own juice.

You better be careful.

Your father got lice
from his poker cronies.

Fortunately, I just threw his hair out.

Ma, this doesn't reflect well on me
at all.

I mean, how can I not know this?

I'm the closest person in the world
to these kids.

-Fran, it itches--
-That's close enough, sweetie. Bugs jump.

Okay, kids, you heard the doctor.
We've all got lice.

Take off your sheets and pillow cases.
We gotta boil 'em.

-Well, you want me to get yours?
-No, mine has to be burned.

I want that gorgeous Bill Blass
comforter set.

Well, isn't it amazing?

The doctor confirmed that
all three of your children have lice,

and me.

But you don't.

Now, what does that say to you?

It says, "Welcome to the Four Seasons
Maui, Mr. Sheffield."

No, it says you don't spend enough time
at home.

If you cared about your children,

you'd be covered in lice like I am.

How did they penetrate six layers
of Final Net?

Like a biosphere up there.

Miss Fine, the reason
I'm not with my children

is that I happen to work very hard.

You don't see me lounging around the house
in my underwear.

And would it kill you to give it a shot?

You know, my father was a butler
for 44 years,

and I don't remember him
doing any of this crap.

Wait a minute, you dropped this.

"Secure alibi, cut phone line,

put on gloves, tape mouth.

Clean up blood, dispose of evidence...

Pick up bananas"?

Niles, what's with this cockamamie list?

Give me that. You didn't read it, did you?

Well, suppose for argument's sake, I did,

-what would you do?
-Miss Fine, this is very private.

And if you read it,

I would be very, very upset with you.

Well, that's why I didn't read it.
Bye-bye.

I'll tell you, Val, when I saw that list,

I just got chills up my spine.

Well, Fran, your suspicions are valid.

Obviously, his schizophrenic tendencies
are about to manifest themselves

in a homicidal rage.

Yeah, but what about the bananas?

Well, I'm no expert,

but I'm thinking, a pie.

Excuse me.

I called earlier about picking up
the special shampoos.

The name's Fran Fine.

Hey, Rick, Fran Fine's here
for her head lice shampoo.

Here it is.

"Fran Fine. Kills lice, ticks, fleas--"

Look at this, I'm getting attitude
from a man holding a Fleet enema.

I'm telling you, Fran,
Niles fits the profile.

Serial killers usually have menial jobs,

no long-term relationships,

and deep-seated issues with their mother.

No. Wait, wait.
They usually have high IQ's.

-Val, I'm sorry.
-Oh, God.

I'm with you.

Okay. Okay. Let's see.

Most serial killers have three names.

John Wayne Gacy, Richard Alan Speck,
Son of Sam.

Val, what are we talking about here?

We're not dealing
with some sicko stranger.

-Yeah.
-It's Niles. I know him very well.

I stand behind Mr. Niles...

The killer.

Fran, I cannot believe that you have lived
in the same house

with Niles for four years and
you know nothing about him.

Have you ever even been in his bedroom?

Val, that wasn't the bedroom
I was concentrating on getting into.

Niles' room is so....

So small and depressing.

You know, no wonder he's always
walking past your room and looking in,

-he's envious.
-No, he's horny.

Honey,

come on, we gotta find
some incriminating evidence.

-What?
-Look at this. Duct tape.

Wait a minute.

He's not Jewish.
He knows how to fix things.

Yeah.

Hey, this is Niles. Leave me a message

and I'll call you back. Ciao.

It's Jim from the morgue,
returning your call.

In answer to your question,

it takes 24 hours
for rigor mortis to set in.

Oh, my God!

What does he need to know that for?

Maybe, it's to bake a banana pie, Val.

-What? What?
-His closet's twice as big as mine.

Look at this.

He wears the same thing every day.

He's like Fred Flintstone.

I'll be right there, sir.
I'm just getting my coat.

So I can trudge six blocks
through snow and sludge

because you had a craving
for bloody string cheese.

You know, Nanny Fine, I always
suspected you studied child care

with Dian Fossey.

Yeah, honey, I think the tar shampoo
took care of all of the lice.

And it smells so nice and fresh, too,
like a newly-filled pothole.

-Thanks, Fran.
-Love you.

-Look at this.
-What?

No coffee. Where the heck is Rubbermaid?

Miss Babcock, don't antagonize him.

-He's on the edge.
-Good. How can we get him to jump?

Miss Babcock, I'm serious.

He hasn't been himself.

He's acting very weird, strange.

Haven't you noticed?

There's not one toilet bowl
in this entire house

with blue water in it.

You know, Nanny Fine, listening to you

talk about Niles

makes me just wanna hit my head
against a brick wall.

Miss Babcock, you know, I am not going
to tell you what I know

-if you're not a little bit nicer to me.
-Buzz off.

That's close enough.

I think

Niles might be a murderer.

Nanny Fine, Niles would never kill anyone.

Because then he'd make a mess
and he'd have to clean it up.

I'm serious. I read the list.

It had gloves, wire cutters, blood and--

You bake it in a 9-inch pan at 300 degrees

-and you got yourself a gorgeous kugel.
-Miss Fine.

Miss Fine, what were you doing in my room?

Well, what makes you think
I was in your room?

I gotta tell Mr. Sheffield.

Out of my way. Dead man walking.

Oh, my God, this is all so surreal.
How am I gonna tell him?

I'll just have to lay the whole thing out
in black and white.

Boss, thank God, you're here.

Hello, monkey face. How's tricks?

Well, you look frightened.
Whatever's the matter?

For one thing,

there's no Venetian blinds in here.

-I'll have the butler fix you a highball.
-No. Not the butler.

-I think our butler's trying to ice me.
-"Our"?

Ours, yours, don't mince words
with me now, you chump.

He's trying to kill me.
I think he poisoned me.

I'm seeing spots in front of my eyes.

Well, maybe he's not forcing me,

but I want him out of the house,
I tell you, out of the house.

Darling, I've known the butler 30 years.

We've had many gay times together.

Shared a fag or two between us.

And I can tell you, if there was anything
queer about him, I'd know it.

So, In other words, you had some fun,
you smoked a few cigarettes

and there's nothing strange about him?

-Of course.
-Just making sure.

You think I'm ready for the looney bin,
don't you?

The booby hatch, the rubber room.

Don't ya? Don't ya?

Frankly, darling, yes.

And I find it very disconcerting.

I was thinking of asking you
to be my wife,

but I could never marry someone
I thought was insane.

No sense opening up that can of worms.

Val, Val, he's not gonna try anything
with a house full of people.

I mean, what's he gonna do,

sneak up behind me and grab me?

Let's stop talking about
Mr. Sheffield already.

Niles knows we were in his room.

Val?

Val?

Boo!

Well, I sort of had that coming.

Miss Fine, I've been thinking
about what you said, you know,

and you're absolutely right,
I do need to spend more time alone

-with the children.
-That's great, Mr. Sheffield,

because, you know, children really need
the attention of their father.

So, you and Niles have the house
to yourselves tonight.

-I'm taking them out.
-You're smothering them.

You are gonna turn them into wimps,
mister.

What are you talking about?
This was your idea.

Need I say more?

Miss Fine, I have cleared
my entire evening

to bond with my children.

Now move it! We're going for seafood.

-We're going for lobster.
-Here we go. So great.

-Bye.
-Mr. Sheffield,

I don't care if you do think I'm insane,
I'm coming with you.

I believe Niles is a murderer.

And if you leave me alone here,
I'm in danger of being killed.

Is there anything you wouldn't do,
for a four-pound lobster?

I don't care what you say.
I'm going with you.

There is no way you are leaving me alone
with that man,

because it is just too--

-You're not going anywhere, are you?
-No. What makes you say that?

I'm glad we're alone.

Yeah. You, me and that piercing voice

-that carries to the neighbors.
-Miss Fine,

-I know you know.
-Nothing, I know nothing.

Miss Fine, you found my list.
You went into my closet.

It's obvious, you figured it out.

Look at this. Texas has the death penalty.

Boy, they're frying them like chickens
down there.

So, you are going to be my first victim.

Who knows? If tonight goes really well,

you might be the first of many.

I think, I finally found my true calling.

But you make a great cheesecake.
I say stick with what you know.

Miss Fine? Miss Fine?

Miss Fine. Miss Fine, please wake up.

-Why is she acting like such a lunatic?
-Well, have you gotten a load

of the birth mother?

She thinks you're a killer. She even
thought you were trying to kill me.

I wouldn't dream of touching you,

like any other normal man.

Miss Fine.

-Stay away from me.
-Miss Fine, I'm not a murderer.

All I did was write a play.
I was going to ask you to read it.

Please, you expect me to believe that?

I read the list.
You explain "Secure alibi."

That was the title.

Why'd you call the morgue?

I was doing research.

-Well, what about the bananas?
-I was making a pie.

-Well, where is it?
-Your mother was here.

I'm so embarrassed.
Boy, I see everything so clearly now.

How could I be such a yenta?

Meanwhile, what was that magazine
S&M on your bed?

Miss Fine, that is a professional
publication for butlers,

Sweeping and Mopping.

Miss Fine, now that we're friends again,
I would be honored if you read my play.

After all, you were the inspiration.

You mean, my newfound independence
gave you the confidence

-to try something new?
-Well, that,

and the main character is driven
to madness

by unrequited love for her employer,

for whom she gives up
her youth and beauty.

Mr. Sheffield, what are you doing home
so early?

Well, unfortunately, some uninvited pests
joined us for dinner.

You ran into my parents?

No. Lice.

Mr. Sheffield, you've got lice.

Mazel tov.

That means you've really bonded
with your children.

Dad, we're starving.
Can't we at least order a pizza?

Sweetie, your father promised you lobster,

and lobster you shall have,

even if I've gotta take you for it myself.

-No, that's okay. Pizza's fine.
-Honey, we don't wanna insult your father.

Let's go. Let's go.

-You sure you don't wanna come?
-Miss Fine, I've got lice.

It itches like mad. I've just got home.

Why on earth would I want to go back out?

Because Niles wrote a play.

After you.

You know, Niles, this heroine
that you loosely based off of me,

-I'm not seeing it.
-Well, why?

She's exactly like you.

New Yorker, street-smart, brunette,
24 years old.

Seeing it.

Isn't it time to pick up Yetta
at the amusement park?

Let her have a few more rides.