The Ray Bradbury Theater (1985–1992): Season 4, Episode 2 - The Murderer - full transcript
A psychiatrist is summoned to a prison to interview Albert Brock, a respectable businessman who went on a murderous rampage--against phones, computers, music players, and all the other electronic devices that fill the world with c...
[theme music]
RAY BRADBURY
(VOICEOVER): People ask,
where do you get your ideas?
Right here.
All this is my
magician's toyshop.
I'm Ray Bradbury, and this is--
[UPBEAT SYNTHESIZED MUSIC
PLAYING]
[beeping]
[chatter]
[beeping]
Fellows here.
CHLOE (ON PHONE): Doctor,
I have your visitor's
permit for Meadowbrook.
I'm faxing it now.
[phone line connecting]
[beeping]
Yes?
LEE (ON PHONE): It's Lee, Dad.
Just reminding you
about my allowance.
I know.
I know.
LEE (ON PHONE): It's
just that if you make
the teletransfer now, I'll
get it in time to pick
up the tickets to the show.
You've made your point, son.
[chatter]
COMPUTER: Chamber nine,
identification, please.
Dr. Arnold Fellows,
here to interview
prisoner number 10069.
COMPUTER: Code?
[classical music playing]
[music stops]
Go away.
Look, I'm here to help you.
You're wondering why
it's so quiet in here.
ARNOLD: Yes.
I just kicked
the radio to death.
Don't worry.
I'm really not violent,
except to machines
that go yack, yack, yack.
So you're Brock.
Albert Brock.
The murderer.
Excuse me.
Welcome to tranquility.
This will cost you $300.
I don't care.
(SINGING) I don't care.
I don't care.
Well, uh, shall we begin?
Sure, sure.
Whatever you say, doc.
I know.
That's another 300.
Suppose you, uh,
tell me when you first
started to hate the telephone.
Oh, at first I loved them.
I mean, when I was growing
up, we had them all over.
In the kitchen, the
bathroom, in our cars.
Then when I was 16, my folks
gave me my first video phone,
only they were so new no
one else in town had one,
so I had nobody I could call.
But then Emily Foster, the
prettiest girl in town,
got one.
We started to get real close.
But the phone changes you.
Even if it has a picture,
it drains your personality,
so what comes
through the other end
is some cold fish of a voice,
saying the wrong things,
changing meaning on you.
Next thing you know,
you've made an enemy.
But the phone is useful,
essential to all our lives.
Couldn't you adjust?
Why are we always
adjusting to machines?
They're like spoiled kids,
always making demands.
We're adults.
We should have
control over them.
And the telephone just sits
there and demands to be used.
Mr. Jessup, good.
I wanted to show you the new
plans for the information
center I drew up.
[phone ringing]
Oh, excuse me, Brock.
Jessup here.
COLLEAGUE (ON PHONE):
Walter, old buddy.
I've just hit a hole in one.
Had to tell you.
At the seven.
First time the hole's
been aced in years.
You don't say.
So you'll be buying
drinks on the 19th?
ALBERT: Remember what happened
when cellulars first came in?
At first, they
were just supposed
to be used for emergencies,
if you got stuck in traffic
or had a breakdown.
But then people couldn't
resist using them.
They always were
calling, calling.
And if it wasn't
the telephone, it
was the television and the
radio, AM/FM, or the VCR
or the computer or the
fax machine or the Walkman
or the Watchman or the
Discman or the motion pictures
at the corner multiplex,
and then larger than life
in your own living
room commercials,
coming at you from
all directions.
And phone polls and
junk facts and--
I understand, Mr. Brock.
Please, calm down.
Now, just-- just
finish your story.
My whole day was
one big listen.
HOUSE COMPUTER: Good
morning, Albert.
Good morning, Agnes.
It's time to get up on
this my marvelous day.
The weather is going to be just
great, with the temperature
reaching a high of 72.
[upbeat music playing]
[phone ringing]
AGNES (ON PHONE):
Albert, are you there?
Yes, dear.
AGNES (ON PHONE): Don't
forget to pick up the pate.
Yes, dear.
And the baked brie
from Gourmet Goodies.
And be sure to be home by
8:00 because the Dorfmans
are coming over tonight.
Oh, and would you
mind picking up
the clothes from the cleaners?
[printing]
[phone ringing]
Yes?
INTERIOR DESIGNER (ON PHONE):
Mr. Brock, it's Mrs. Windley's
interior designer again.
They're faxing a new
set of specifications.
You can disregard the
four sets sent just now.
[fax machine connecting]
[screaming]
HOUSE COMPUTER: [chiming]
The baked apples are ready,
and you may now remove them.
Enjoy.
Not on the floor.
Please wipe your feet.
Please wipe your feet.
Thank you.
Have a nice day.
AGNES: [speaking spanish]
TAPE RECORDER:
[speaking spanish]
[speaking spanish]
TAPE RECORDER:
[speaking spanish]
[screaming]
CHLOE (ON PHONE): We can't
get in touch with Dr. Fellows.
His lapel phone's off.
Do you miss your
lapel phone, doc?
No, no, no.
I, um-- I was just thinking
about your description
of your day.
So you felt a
little uptight, huh?
On the edge of a cliff.
The next afternoon, I did
what I did at the office.
Which was?
I poured a pitcher of coffee
into the video phone system.
And that helped?
A lot.
Then I got the idea at lunchtime
of killing my lapel phone.
Oh?
ALBERT: I was outside
enjoying my lunch when this--
LAPEL COMPUTER: This is
computer poll number 9--
ALBERT: --obnoxious shrill
of a computer voice--
LAPEL COMPUTER: --Mr. Brock?
Mr. Brock?
ALBERT: --started yelling at me.
LAPEL COMPUTER: This is
computer poll number 9.
What did you eat for
lunch, Mr. Brock?
Your early reply would be
appreciated, Mr. Brock.
Computer poll number 9
relies on one point--
ARNOLD: [chuckles]
Felt even better, huh?
ALBERT: Felt great.
It positively grew on me.
I started to think, why not
begin a one-man revolution?
Deliver us from
our conveniences?
Convenient for who,
I asked myself.
For friends who feel like
talking, regardless of what
you have to do, from
my office, to find
me no matter where I am.
[beep]
BATHROOM COMPUTER: Mr. Brock,
Mr. Jessup just called.
He can't seem to reach
you on your lapel phone.
He'd like you to get in
touch with him right away.
Come in, please, Mr. Brock.
ALBERT: "In touch."
How I hate that phrase.
Gripped, mauled, pounded by
FM voices is more like it.
I mean, there's literally
no place where a person can
go anymore to find some peace.
Not the bathroom.
Not even your own car.
[fax machine connecting]
Could I have a chocolate
milkshake, please?
[honking]
I bought a chocolate
milkshake and poured it
into my fax machine.
Is there any
special reason why you
chose a chocolate milkshake?
It's my favorite flavor.
I see.
I see.
So, uh-- so then what happened?
Silence.
That's what happened.
Wonderful, beautiful silence.
I just sat in my car for a
whole hour drinking it in.
It was incredible.
I felt drunk with freedom.
Freedom, Mr. Brock?
Yes, doc.
Freedom from one
more damn note in
the whole screeching symphony.
But, um, a symphony that
enlarges our lives, Mr. Brock.
You've heard of
passive smoking, doc?
Of course you have.
Well, there's passive
listening, too.
And we're being poisoned by
it whether we like it or not.
Go on.
On my way home that
night, I bought my weapons.
You heard of diathermics?
Of course.
I am a doctor.
Yeah, but not a medical one.
Anyway, I picked up
a diathermy machine.
Electric current,
static, interference?
You got it.
[chatter]
[high-pitched sounds]
[giggling]
[laughing maniacally]
[distant sirens wailing]
Keep cool, boys!
[inaudible] smash and grab time!
OFFICER: City security.
Stay where you are.
ALBERT: A patrol unit arrived.
Triangulated on me instantly.
Had me reprimanded,
fine, and home
in no time, minus my
diathermy machine, of course.
Mr. Brock, may I
suggest that, um,
so far your behavioral
pattern is not very practical?
Why didn't you just start a
fraternity of radio haters,
circulate petitions, get legal
and constitutional rulings?
After all, this is
still a democracy.
I'm that thing
called the minority.
I did protest.
I tried to petition.
Everyone laughed.
Everyone else loved their
audio/visual cacophony.
I was the one out of step.
Well, maybe you should have
taken it like a good soldier.
I mean, to the
majority of people,
fax machines, phones, Walkmans,
Watchmans, they mean freedom--
the freedom to live a more
efficient, trouble-free life.
But you, you selfishly tried
to impose your minority
idea of freedom on them.
The majority rules.
They may rule, but
they're not always right.
The majority have gone too far.
Don't you see that?
They figured that, if a little
music was charming and keeping
in touch was good, that
a lot of a good thing
would be that much better.
But it's not because
we become dependent.
We're prisoners of
our own progress,
manacled by squawking machines.
So what's a man to do, doc?
Hm?
Get an equalizing machine.
Ain't that obvious?
[music playing]
I got home that night to a
completely hysterical wife
because she had been out of
touch for three hours, damn it.
That's why I decided
I had to murder her.
You decided to kill your wife?
[distant sirens wailing]
Oh, Albert!
Where have you been?
I couldn't get in
touch with you all day.
"In touch," Agnes.
"In touch!"
God, how I hate that phrase!
Where's the phone?
Where's your briefcase?
Now, don't tell me
you've lost the fax.
What's going on?
HOUSE COMPUTER: Mud alert.
Please wipe your feet.
Please wipe your feet.
Thank you.
Albert, where'd
you get that gun?
[growling]
[gunshots]
[screaming]
[phone ringing]
AGNES: Albert!
Albert!
What are you doing?
Please, stop!
Oh, Albert!
HOUSE COMPUTER (STATICKY):
The roast beef will be turned
over in the oven right away.
The roast beef needs to be
turned over-- remove roast--
it needs to be turned over now.
The roast needs to be--
ready in 5 minutes.
Coffee will be ready in 5 min--
Police!
Freeze!
Drop the gun.
Didn't you realize that
committing these crimes--
the lapelophone, the
Walkman, the fax machine,
the video phone-- that
you were destroying
personal and public property?
I'd do it all over again, doc.
So you have no remorse?
Mm-mm.
You don't want any help from
the office of mental health?
Mm-mm.
You're ready to
take the consequences?
Of course I am.
You'll see.
This is the beginning.
I'm the vanguard of a small
segment of the population that
is tired of noise, of
having their privacy
constantly invaded
every minute with music
and voices, do this, do that.
The revolt has begun.
Somehow, somewhere, what I've
done will have an effect.
My name will go down in history.
Mr. Brock, if you will
just give us a chance,
I'm sure that we can
rehabilitate you.
Now, you have a wife, a family.
Surely, you would
like to rejoin them.
It'll take time, of course,
but the seed has been sewn.
They got worldwide
coverage on TV, radio,
and in the newspapers.
Soundbites, sightbites.
In fact, watch for a
sudden spurt in the sale
of chocolate milkshakes.
And then?
Then keep your eyes and
ears open for small islands
of silence, people killing
their lapel phones,
people just simply tuning out.
That'll be the beginning.
Don't you want
to get out of here?
I just want to go back
to my nice, quiet cell.
Please.
I see.
I've enjoyed our
little talk, doc.
Nice, quiet chat.
Yes.
But--
Shh.
Listen.
[classical music playing]
[phone ringing]
[phones ringing]
[honking]
[circus music playing]
Chloe, have-- have
this replaced, will you?
[phone ringing]
[television beeping]
Well, Fellows, what's
the prognosis on Brock?
He's top priority, you know.
I just got back, Inspector.
Give me a moment to
write up my notes.
No need for lengthy reports.
Just give it to
me in a nutshell.
Well, he's obviously
suffering from, uh--
[phone beeping]
LEE (ON PHONE): Dad?
It's Lee.
The money didn't come through--
--from feelings
of persecution.
LEE (ON PHONE): --don't get
the tickets in the next hour--
Can we rehabilitate
him, Doctor?
That's what I want to know.
LEE (ON PHONE):
I promised Didi--
We can't have
people running around,
destroying our modern
means of communication.
Yes, probably.
But--
LEE (ON PHONE): Dad?
[phone ringing]
CHLOE (ON PHONE):
The messenger's
here for your monthly
reports, doctor--
LEE (ON PHONE): Dad?
CHLOE (ON PHONE): --Fellows.
LEE (ON PHONE): Are you there?
CHLOE (ON PHONE): Can I send
him in, or will you be faxing?
LEE (ON PHONE): Dad!
- In a minute.
LEE (ON PHONE): I
can't hear you--
CHLOE (ON PHONE):
--them right away.
[beeping]
[phone ringing]
LEE (ON PHONE): Dad?
Dad?
Later, son.
LEE (ON PHONE): Are you there?
What are you talking
about, Fellows?
LEE (ON PHONE): Dad!
I can't--
INSPECTOR (ON TV): What's
happening in there?
I can't hear you.
LEE (ON PHONE): Look, Dad,
I'm going to fax you--
I can't see you now!
What are you doing?
My whole day is
one big listen.
[CACOPHONOUS BUZZING, RINGING,
TALKING]
Somewhere, somehow, what I've
done will have an effect.
CHLOE (ON PHONE):
Dr. Fellows, what
should I tell the messenger?
[static sounding]
Chloe.
CHLOE (ON PHONE):
Yes, Dr. Fellows?
Would you get me a
chocolate milkshake?
[music playing]
RAY BRADBURY
(VOICEOVER): People ask,
where do you get your ideas?
Right here.
All this is my
magician's toyshop.
I'm Ray Bradbury, and this is--
[UPBEAT SYNTHESIZED MUSIC
PLAYING]
[beeping]
[chatter]
[beeping]
Fellows here.
CHLOE (ON PHONE): Doctor,
I have your visitor's
permit for Meadowbrook.
I'm faxing it now.
[phone line connecting]
[beeping]
Yes?
LEE (ON PHONE): It's Lee, Dad.
Just reminding you
about my allowance.
I know.
I know.
LEE (ON PHONE): It's
just that if you make
the teletransfer now, I'll
get it in time to pick
up the tickets to the show.
You've made your point, son.
[chatter]
COMPUTER: Chamber nine,
identification, please.
Dr. Arnold Fellows,
here to interview
prisoner number 10069.
COMPUTER: Code?
[classical music playing]
[music stops]
Go away.
Look, I'm here to help you.
You're wondering why
it's so quiet in here.
ARNOLD: Yes.
I just kicked
the radio to death.
Don't worry.
I'm really not violent,
except to machines
that go yack, yack, yack.
So you're Brock.
Albert Brock.
The murderer.
Excuse me.
Welcome to tranquility.
This will cost you $300.
I don't care.
(SINGING) I don't care.
I don't care.
Well, uh, shall we begin?
Sure, sure.
Whatever you say, doc.
I know.
That's another 300.
Suppose you, uh,
tell me when you first
started to hate the telephone.
Oh, at first I loved them.
I mean, when I was growing
up, we had them all over.
In the kitchen, the
bathroom, in our cars.
Then when I was 16, my folks
gave me my first video phone,
only they were so new no
one else in town had one,
so I had nobody I could call.
But then Emily Foster, the
prettiest girl in town,
got one.
We started to get real close.
But the phone changes you.
Even if it has a picture,
it drains your personality,
so what comes
through the other end
is some cold fish of a voice,
saying the wrong things,
changing meaning on you.
Next thing you know,
you've made an enemy.
But the phone is useful,
essential to all our lives.
Couldn't you adjust?
Why are we always
adjusting to machines?
They're like spoiled kids,
always making demands.
We're adults.
We should have
control over them.
And the telephone just sits
there and demands to be used.
Mr. Jessup, good.
I wanted to show you the new
plans for the information
center I drew up.
[phone ringing]
Oh, excuse me, Brock.
Jessup here.
COLLEAGUE (ON PHONE):
Walter, old buddy.
I've just hit a hole in one.
Had to tell you.
At the seven.
First time the hole's
been aced in years.
You don't say.
So you'll be buying
drinks on the 19th?
ALBERT: Remember what happened
when cellulars first came in?
At first, they
were just supposed
to be used for emergencies,
if you got stuck in traffic
or had a breakdown.
But then people couldn't
resist using them.
They always were
calling, calling.
And if it wasn't
the telephone, it
was the television and the
radio, AM/FM, or the VCR
or the computer or the
fax machine or the Walkman
or the Watchman or the
Discman or the motion pictures
at the corner multiplex,
and then larger than life
in your own living
room commercials,
coming at you from
all directions.
And phone polls and
junk facts and--
I understand, Mr. Brock.
Please, calm down.
Now, just-- just
finish your story.
My whole day was
one big listen.
HOUSE COMPUTER: Good
morning, Albert.
Good morning, Agnes.
It's time to get up on
this my marvelous day.
The weather is going to be just
great, with the temperature
reaching a high of 72.
[upbeat music playing]
[phone ringing]
AGNES (ON PHONE):
Albert, are you there?
Yes, dear.
AGNES (ON PHONE): Don't
forget to pick up the pate.
Yes, dear.
And the baked brie
from Gourmet Goodies.
And be sure to be home by
8:00 because the Dorfmans
are coming over tonight.
Oh, and would you
mind picking up
the clothes from the cleaners?
[printing]
[phone ringing]
Yes?
INTERIOR DESIGNER (ON PHONE):
Mr. Brock, it's Mrs. Windley's
interior designer again.
They're faxing a new
set of specifications.
You can disregard the
four sets sent just now.
[fax machine connecting]
[screaming]
HOUSE COMPUTER: [chiming]
The baked apples are ready,
and you may now remove them.
Enjoy.
Not on the floor.
Please wipe your feet.
Please wipe your feet.
Thank you.
Have a nice day.
AGNES: [speaking spanish]
TAPE RECORDER:
[speaking spanish]
[speaking spanish]
TAPE RECORDER:
[speaking spanish]
[screaming]
CHLOE (ON PHONE): We can't
get in touch with Dr. Fellows.
His lapel phone's off.
Do you miss your
lapel phone, doc?
No, no, no.
I, um-- I was just thinking
about your description
of your day.
So you felt a
little uptight, huh?
On the edge of a cliff.
The next afternoon, I did
what I did at the office.
Which was?
I poured a pitcher of coffee
into the video phone system.
And that helped?
A lot.
Then I got the idea at lunchtime
of killing my lapel phone.
Oh?
ALBERT: I was outside
enjoying my lunch when this--
LAPEL COMPUTER: This is
computer poll number 9--
ALBERT: --obnoxious shrill
of a computer voice--
LAPEL COMPUTER: --Mr. Brock?
Mr. Brock?
ALBERT: --started yelling at me.
LAPEL COMPUTER: This is
computer poll number 9.
What did you eat for
lunch, Mr. Brock?
Your early reply would be
appreciated, Mr. Brock.
Computer poll number 9
relies on one point--
ARNOLD: [chuckles]
Felt even better, huh?
ALBERT: Felt great.
It positively grew on me.
I started to think, why not
begin a one-man revolution?
Deliver us from
our conveniences?
Convenient for who,
I asked myself.
For friends who feel like
talking, regardless of what
you have to do, from
my office, to find
me no matter where I am.
[beep]
BATHROOM COMPUTER: Mr. Brock,
Mr. Jessup just called.
He can't seem to reach
you on your lapel phone.
He'd like you to get in
touch with him right away.
Come in, please, Mr. Brock.
ALBERT: "In touch."
How I hate that phrase.
Gripped, mauled, pounded by
FM voices is more like it.
I mean, there's literally
no place where a person can
go anymore to find some peace.
Not the bathroom.
Not even your own car.
[fax machine connecting]
Could I have a chocolate
milkshake, please?
[honking]
I bought a chocolate
milkshake and poured it
into my fax machine.
Is there any
special reason why you
chose a chocolate milkshake?
It's my favorite flavor.
I see.
I see.
So, uh-- so then what happened?
Silence.
That's what happened.
Wonderful, beautiful silence.
I just sat in my car for a
whole hour drinking it in.
It was incredible.
I felt drunk with freedom.
Freedom, Mr. Brock?
Yes, doc.
Freedom from one
more damn note in
the whole screeching symphony.
But, um, a symphony that
enlarges our lives, Mr. Brock.
You've heard of
passive smoking, doc?
Of course you have.
Well, there's passive
listening, too.
And we're being poisoned by
it whether we like it or not.
Go on.
On my way home that
night, I bought my weapons.
You heard of diathermics?
Of course.
I am a doctor.
Yeah, but not a medical one.
Anyway, I picked up
a diathermy machine.
Electric current,
static, interference?
You got it.
[chatter]
[high-pitched sounds]
[giggling]
[laughing maniacally]
[distant sirens wailing]
Keep cool, boys!
[inaudible] smash and grab time!
OFFICER: City security.
Stay where you are.
ALBERT: A patrol unit arrived.
Triangulated on me instantly.
Had me reprimanded,
fine, and home
in no time, minus my
diathermy machine, of course.
Mr. Brock, may I
suggest that, um,
so far your behavioral
pattern is not very practical?
Why didn't you just start a
fraternity of radio haters,
circulate petitions, get legal
and constitutional rulings?
After all, this is
still a democracy.
I'm that thing
called the minority.
I did protest.
I tried to petition.
Everyone laughed.
Everyone else loved their
audio/visual cacophony.
I was the one out of step.
Well, maybe you should have
taken it like a good soldier.
I mean, to the
majority of people,
fax machines, phones, Walkmans,
Watchmans, they mean freedom--
the freedom to live a more
efficient, trouble-free life.
But you, you selfishly tried
to impose your minority
idea of freedom on them.
The majority rules.
They may rule, but
they're not always right.
The majority have gone too far.
Don't you see that?
They figured that, if a little
music was charming and keeping
in touch was good, that
a lot of a good thing
would be that much better.
But it's not because
we become dependent.
We're prisoners of
our own progress,
manacled by squawking machines.
So what's a man to do, doc?
Hm?
Get an equalizing machine.
Ain't that obvious?
[music playing]
I got home that night to a
completely hysterical wife
because she had been out of
touch for three hours, damn it.
That's why I decided
I had to murder her.
You decided to kill your wife?
[distant sirens wailing]
Oh, Albert!
Where have you been?
I couldn't get in
touch with you all day.
"In touch," Agnes.
"In touch!"
God, how I hate that phrase!
Where's the phone?
Where's your briefcase?
Now, don't tell me
you've lost the fax.
What's going on?
HOUSE COMPUTER: Mud alert.
Please wipe your feet.
Please wipe your feet.
Thank you.
Albert, where'd
you get that gun?
[growling]
[gunshots]
[screaming]
[phone ringing]
AGNES: Albert!
Albert!
What are you doing?
Please, stop!
Oh, Albert!
HOUSE COMPUTER (STATICKY):
The roast beef will be turned
over in the oven right away.
The roast beef needs to be
turned over-- remove roast--
it needs to be turned over now.
The roast needs to be--
ready in 5 minutes.
Coffee will be ready in 5 min--
Police!
Freeze!
Drop the gun.
Didn't you realize that
committing these crimes--
the lapelophone, the
Walkman, the fax machine,
the video phone-- that
you were destroying
personal and public property?
I'd do it all over again, doc.
So you have no remorse?
Mm-mm.
You don't want any help from
the office of mental health?
Mm-mm.
You're ready to
take the consequences?
Of course I am.
You'll see.
This is the beginning.
I'm the vanguard of a small
segment of the population that
is tired of noise, of
having their privacy
constantly invaded
every minute with music
and voices, do this, do that.
The revolt has begun.
Somehow, somewhere, what I've
done will have an effect.
My name will go down in history.
Mr. Brock, if you will
just give us a chance,
I'm sure that we can
rehabilitate you.
Now, you have a wife, a family.
Surely, you would
like to rejoin them.
It'll take time, of course,
but the seed has been sewn.
They got worldwide
coverage on TV, radio,
and in the newspapers.
Soundbites, sightbites.
In fact, watch for a
sudden spurt in the sale
of chocolate milkshakes.
And then?
Then keep your eyes and
ears open for small islands
of silence, people killing
their lapel phones,
people just simply tuning out.
That'll be the beginning.
Don't you want
to get out of here?
I just want to go back
to my nice, quiet cell.
Please.
I see.
I've enjoyed our
little talk, doc.
Nice, quiet chat.
Yes.
But--
Shh.
Listen.
[classical music playing]
[phone ringing]
[phones ringing]
[honking]
[circus music playing]
Chloe, have-- have
this replaced, will you?
[phone ringing]
[television beeping]
Well, Fellows, what's
the prognosis on Brock?
He's top priority, you know.
I just got back, Inspector.
Give me a moment to
write up my notes.
No need for lengthy reports.
Just give it to
me in a nutshell.
Well, he's obviously
suffering from, uh--
[phone beeping]
LEE (ON PHONE): Dad?
It's Lee.
The money didn't come through--
--from feelings
of persecution.
LEE (ON PHONE): --don't get
the tickets in the next hour--
Can we rehabilitate
him, Doctor?
That's what I want to know.
LEE (ON PHONE):
I promised Didi--
We can't have
people running around,
destroying our modern
means of communication.
Yes, probably.
But--
LEE (ON PHONE): Dad?
[phone ringing]
CHLOE (ON PHONE):
The messenger's
here for your monthly
reports, doctor--
LEE (ON PHONE): Dad?
CHLOE (ON PHONE): --Fellows.
LEE (ON PHONE): Are you there?
CHLOE (ON PHONE): Can I send
him in, or will you be faxing?
LEE (ON PHONE): Dad!
- In a minute.
LEE (ON PHONE): I
can't hear you--
CHLOE (ON PHONE):
--them right away.
[beeping]
[phone ringing]
LEE (ON PHONE): Dad?
Dad?
Later, son.
LEE (ON PHONE): Are you there?
What are you talking
about, Fellows?
LEE (ON PHONE): Dad!
I can't--
INSPECTOR (ON TV): What's
happening in there?
I can't hear you.
LEE (ON PHONE): Look, Dad,
I'm going to fax you--
I can't see you now!
What are you doing?
My whole day is
one big listen.
[CACOPHONOUS BUZZING, RINGING,
TALKING]
Somewhere, somehow, what I've
done will have an effect.
CHLOE (ON PHONE):
Dr. Fellows, what
should I tell the messenger?
[static sounding]
Chloe.
CHLOE (ON PHONE):
Yes, Dr. Fellows?
Would you get me a
chocolate milkshake?
[music playing]