Underground (2016–2017): Season 2, Episode 4 - Nok Aaut - full transcript
Cato and Noah must face the choices they've made to get where they are.
Previously on Underground...
(grunts)
NOAH: The longer we stand
out here fightin',
the less chance we got
of gettin' Rosalee back.
Who knows what they doin' to her?
CATO: Ain't nobody care
about that house girl.
♪ ♪
We have to disrupt
their happy little lives.
Anyone tries to follow me,
your massa gets it.
(man laughing)
CATO: He's not the massa.
I am.
♪ ♪
- Bo. You can't be up here.
- I got another one.
Now's not a good time.
Massa'll be out any second.
I think it important.
Come on.
What it say?
Come on, now, what it say?
It says Kansas is bleeding...
...and all the massas is worried about
somebody named John Brown
coming across the river
and stealing slaves.
I heard Massa talking
to the mistress about
sending all the field slaves down south.
Gonna hire 'em off
to a sugar plantation.
Massa Trenton sellin' his slaves
straightaway, too.
"We strongly advise you
to take similar action."
What does that mean?
It means Massa Fellow might move
or sell me and mine soon.
Daniel, I been thinkin' on it.
I want you to teach me how to read, too.
You don't know what you askin'.
- I know the risks I get caught.
- Ain't about the risk.
Reading.
It's a curse.
All the words, they gave voice
to feelings I never told nobody.
Not even my Bette.
And I'm crushin' under
the weight of the knowledge.
It opens up the world
to you and shows you
how small the one
they got us chained to is.
♪ I roll up with 20 dons, every
one of them are getting in ♪
♪ On my guest list,
straight to the VIP section ♪
♪ Presidential is the way
that we stepped in ♪
♪ I'm not a side man, but
I'm come through the side exit ♪
♪ I capped 'cause of the amount
that I'm spending ♪
♪ My gang fly guy, looking expensive ♪
♪ Gonna need them bottles
on ice in a red drip ♪
♪ Cool, all of my dons at
the dance with VIP treatment ♪
♪ Calm, looking to lock off the
dance and leave with a diva ♪
♪ Shut down everything and roll
out, shut down everything ♪
♪ And roll out, shut
down everything and roll out ♪
♪ Calm ♪
♪ Shut down everything,
watching them watching me ♪
♪ As I stepped in, I'm looking
at her chest, not her necklace ♪
♪ Stroll up straight
like I won't be effectin' ♪
♪ Everybody's acting ratchet
and reckless ♪
♪ Cool, all of my dons at
the dance with VIP treatment ♪
♪ Calm, looking to lock off the
dance and leave with a diva ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Ah... ♪
♪ ♪
What do you see when you
look at this sculpture?
Timelessness.
Hmm.
At one time, in his time,
he was just like us.
Now, cast in a different form,
he's hardened.
Immortal.
He's been afforded some greater purpose.
A second life.
Who do you suppose he was before?
There's such strength in his stance.
The way his eyes look beyond everything.
It's like they've never known defeat.
Perhaps a warrior?
Or a leader of men.
You see something else?
What he's carved from.
We can't see him without looking
at a shadow of ourselves.
Maybe that's his purpose.
A standard, demanding better of us.
If only we, too, were carved of stone.
But what's the fun in that?
(chuckles softly)
At least we can be
grateful to the donor,
Mr. Powell,
for sponsoring such a rare
and daring work.
(clears throat)
Pardon me. Your carriage
is waiting, Mr. Powell.
♪ Ah... ♪
♪ ♪
A reporter from the Ripley Bee
has confirmed their appearance.
That paper has a wide circulation
on both sides of the river.
It's just the kind of exposure
we need to influence the vote.
We should open with our best
arguments against the reform.
Or draw him in by tugging
on his heartstrings first.
The recitation of the Frances
Harper poem should do that.
What's the current speaking order?
Elizabeth has the list.
Elizabeth?
The list?
Yes, uh...
um, I have it here.
S-Somewhere.
Um...
Why don't we get this outside?
- It'll dry quicker.
- Okay. Great.
If this is too much
or if it's too fast after John,
- we do not have to...
- No, it's...
Here it is.
I was surprised
not to see your name on it.
I'm a better organizer than an orator.
That's not true.
The passion you evoke
in everyday conversation
when speaking about the cause,
it inspires me to action.
I'm sure others would feel the same.
Isn't that what this rally is for?
Perhaps.
But someone needs to be on hand
to watch over those boys from Lawrence.
They'll do anything to keep
a pro-slavery legislator
from taking that seat.
The way you all speak
about them, I mean,
how rough a crowd should I be expecting?
Honestly?
Mr. Brown's followers
are always up to something.
We all want the same outcome
when it comes to abolition,
but we believe in
very different methods.
I read about the raids his men
carried out a few months back.
Slaughtering sleeping families
with swords.
It... seems unbelievable.
I thought it was
just Southern propaganda.
Some of it is, but...
(tapping)
Do you hear that?
I do.
It's coming from the tunnel.
(tapping continues)
Rosalee?
Rosalee.
(water splashing softly)
(breathing deeply)
FRANCIS: Plant your feet
and watch my shoulder.
My eyes can lie,
but my shoulder drops in.
Keep your hands up. Block. There.
I've seen many a fighter go down
at the hands of his opponent.
But many more knock themselves out.
(grunting)
(groans)
CATO: That's enough for today.
(sighs)
(sniffs, clears throat)
What the hell am I doin' here?
You're welcome.
For the bed.
For the suit.
For not turning you back over
to the marshals to hang.
I ain't thankin' you for none of that.
You haven't been to
Philadelphia before, have you?
(chuckles) No, of course you haven't.
How 'bout we stretch our legs then?
♪ Dépasse tes limites,
dépasse tes limites ♪
♪ Sois ambitieux, courageux ♪
♪ Déterminé, va chercher le titre ♪
♪ Dépasse tes limites,
dépasse tes limites ♪
♪ Lève-toi, bats-toi, fais partie... ♪
(gasps)
Watch it, you bloody wog.
- (chuckles)
- Come again, friend?
Cato, don't.
Let's just have another drink, okay?
All right. One more drink.
Cato, no!
- (grunts)
- (gasping)
(murmuring)
Next round's on me.
DEVI: You're crazy.
CATO: Devi,
I wasn't looking for a fight,
- but he insulted you.
- Words.
He used words against me.
Petty and terrible, but nothing
worse than a child's tantrum.
- Congratulations on obliging him in that.
- I was protecting you.
You were no more protecting me
than I was in actual danger.
You think your money means
you can do whatever you want.
I can.
Then why aren't you?
Because everywhere you take me,
there's no reflections of us.
It's just rich and white,
it's like you're trying
to prove you belong there.
This is the first time
I'm hearing you complain
about the life my money affords you.
Stop.
Devi, stop...
No, don't touch me!
I don't want your money or your things.
Then what do you want?
I want to know you.
There is much
in your past you keep hidden.
I was hoping, in time, you'd
trust me enough to tell me.
It's not about trust, I trust you.
Then tell me.
Why?
You couldn't understand anyway.
What exactly would I fail to understand?
I'm British Indian at a time
when one occupies the other.
Looked at as different and dangerous.
I've been called every slur in
the book. And I've been called
- every slur without the word
ever being said. - Devi, just...
Being treated less-than
is not an American invention.
You, and you alone, do not own
the pain and humiliation of it.
What I've seen, what I've done...
if I tell you, you wouldn't
be able to look at me.
You wouldn't see a man,
you would see a monster!
I'm not going anywhere.
♪ ♪
Two drops of the laudanum,
three times a day.
And that will keep her under.
When her body has time to heal,
we'll start to wean her off it.
Will it affect the baby?
It shouldn't.
But you're not sure?
Without knowing the extent
of what she endured,
there's, there's just no knowing.
(exhales) I must get
back to the hospital.
Thank you for coming
on such short notice.
Anything for the cause.
I'll keep her in my prayers.
Look at her.
They beat a woman carrying a child
to within an inch of her life.
She's a fighter.
She'll pull through it.
She shouldn't have to.
Sorry.
It's just, how do you reason with people
capable of this level of violence?
EMILY: Georgia?
The Lawrence boys are here.
I can't lose you, too.
(piano playing)
Has the gentleman had a chance
to read the menu?
We'll both have
the lapin à la bourguignonne.
So, you got all the way up to Ohio
from Georgia.
At least, I'm assuming you made it
across the bridge.
I couldn't quite make it out
from my vantage point.
So that's what this is all about.
'Cause I left you behind...
You left me for dead.
And this is about having
an honest conversation.
Like gentlemen.
But I get it.
You don't want to talk, 'cause you think
you got a plan.
First step in your plan
right now is to take me down
with that knife you got
hidden under the table.
Next, you think you gone run
right past Erroll and Roderick,
and be out the restaurant before
they have a chance to do shit.
But then what?
Those two guys?
By the door?
Mine.
The men outside? The police?
You know, the one good thing
about America is that money
can buy a lot of strong,
powerful, armed friends.
(laughs)
I kind of want to see you try.
(chuckles)
But then I think,
when was the last time you slept?
Does Noah got the strength in
him for another failed escape?
Can he stare out
through them bars again?
How long can his beard grow this time?
A lot of questions come to mind.
But I wonder, for the life
of me, do they ever enter yours?
Truth be told, I don't think
you ever think about
what happens after your brilliant plans.
So I did the thinking
this time, for you.
What happens after this here plan?
You die.
And you leave that house girl all alone
to mourn you.
(chuckles softly)
(cheering)
I have my brother to thank for
my introduction to boxing.
He trained for years
as a musti-yuddha fighter.
CROWD: Oh!
Now who among you's
feeling bricky tonight?
'Cause I've got a hundred quid
for any of you lot
who think you can survive
three rounds with me!
This man here.
(cheering)
CROWD: Come on!
(bell dings)
Get over here.
The violence. Stop swallowing it.
It's a part of you.
It's in there.
Put it in here.
Let yourself be angry.
You deserve to be.
Take it out on them. And enjoy it.
Fight, for the loss you suffered.
For revenge, on those that scarred you
and took your family.
For every slight, big or small,
you suffered for daring
to exist in their world.
Let them know you do not forget.
Anything else?
Yes.
(bell dings)
Of course I believe
that we can influence the vote.
I have faith in people
to do the right thing.
Faith is meaningless
when not supported by action.
EMILY: Well, not everyone is corrupt.
LUCAS: There are enough who are.
And the system's corrupt.
ELLIOT: The 1855 vote.
It's a perfect example.
Thousands of Southern Yankees
crossed into Kansas
and voted for a legislature
that was pro-slavery.
It was a fraud,
and that can happen here too,
and we'll lose that seat.
GEORGIA: To be sure, but fraud
is hardly worthy
of the free-stater's response.
How so?
- The murder of five innocent settlers?
- Mm-hmm.
Those who uphold the institution
of slavery deal in brutality.
Action is all that they understand.
GEORGIA: We live in a peaceful society.
LUCAS: And they do not.
I don't speak to a Scottish man
in French.
I speak to him in a language
that he understands.
Vous ne parlez pas de lui en Français
parce que vous ne savez pas Français.
Excuse me?
She said, "You don't
speak to him in French,
because you do not know French."
(laughter)
That's true. But I do know
- slavery needs to end.
- On that we agree.
I've also seen enough
to know the captain's way
is the only way.
War is the only way.
It's women and children
who are affected most
when men wage war.
By condoning it, we're
condemning husbands and sons
to the slaughter.
I'm sorry, I haven't had the pleasure.
Elizabeth.
Elizabeth.
You mean the white ones.
Husbands and sons?
The black ones are already condemned.
And who do you think will be
affected most by your war?
Those yet in bondage, who
cannot protect themselves
that will suffer retaliation,
Or perhaps they'll be
inspired to join our ranks.
Together we'll strike a blow
to the heart of slavery
once and for all.
GEORGIA: Hmm, well, since you boys
will be in attendance at the rally,
I shall recruit you in
helping erect the grandstand.
I'm sure Thad ad Elliot will
avail themselves to you.
I have some business to attend to.
What business?
Just a quick ride,
but if you're worried about me,
perhaps Elizabeth will join.
As chaperone.
To ensure I stay out of this
trouble you accuse me of.
CATO: What do you supposed
should happen to you now?
Is it a long and prosperous life
with Rosalee?
Should you actually
get your freedom dream?
- Why not?
- Why not? Why you?
What makes you so special?
Why do you get to be here? Hell...
everybody got a freedom dream.
Welcome to mine.
No. You the one who ain't
supposed to be here.
I ain't leave you behind to die.
I threw you something
to defend yourself with,
'cause I felt sorry for you.
- You felt sorry...
- I ain't through yet.
You can sit there
in your pristine clothes
speaking with the proper
white man's tongue.
And you can fool everyone outside there
in the civilized world. You can
feel everyone up in here,
but you can't fool me.
You're still
the snake of a slave driver you was
when you left Macon.
I seen you.
You ain't good enough
for this here life.
I ain't talking about the money
or even the freedom.
You ain't enough of a man
to earn drawing breath.
And the thing is, you know it.
Everyone around you knows it.
Everyone who's ever known you.
♪ You give me all ♪
♪ Of you ♪
♪ I recognize my heart ♪
♪ As black and blue ♪
♪ You accept all ♪
♪ I do ♪
♪ But I don't know ♪
♪ If that ♪
♪ Is wise ♪
♪ You offer all of you ♪
♪ And I don't know ♪
♪ If I am ♪
♪ Worth it ♪
♪ I don't know ♪
♪ If I am ♪
♪ Worth it ♪
♪ I don't know ♪
♪ If I am ♪
♪ Worth it ♪
♪ I don't know ♪
♪ If I am ♪
♪ Worth it. ♪
I thought you wanted
an honest conversation.
That's what you wanted, right?
You wanted to talk, let's talk.
Let's talk about
why I'm sitting here and why
you ain't out there
looking for your wife
and your lost little girl.
I don't see 'em
up in that big, pretty house.
What you know about family?
You got none to worry about.
Noah only cares about Noah!
But you wouldn't have made it
off that plantation without me.
Or Moses
or Henry.
Yeah.
They deaths on me.
And I would do anything
to change it all if I could.
Good.
'Cause now you gon' have
your chance to prove it.
Show your true colors.
Today we're gonna exercise our right.
This town we're in is destitute.
And desperate.
Tomorrow the people
are gonna vote overwhelmingly
to put another rich planter
in that seat.
And he isn't gonna do anything for 'em.
The people in this town who are
angry with no way to express it
are gonna vote with their hate.
And I'm gonna do
something to counter that.
'Cause you know what the alternative is?
Doing nothing.
That's not the captain's way.
♪ Dear heart, don't stop fighting ♪
♪ We're gonna ride the lightning ♪
♪ It's not hell or heaven ♪
♪ Just like riot rhythm ♪
♪ Oh-oh, oh oh oh oh. ♪
(laughs)
Should discourage them tomorrow,
don't you think?
If there had been voters here
would you have turned back?
Nope.
What happened
to make you willing
to go to such extremes?
I grew up on the Missouri border.
Walked to school every morning
past this tobacco plantation.
Same black faces,
working the same crops.
I didn't think anything of it.
I was just a boy.
And then, when I was about nine,
on that same path, I heard this sound.
It stopped me in my tracks.
Never heard anything like it,
and I haven't since.
I walked to the edge of the field
and there's a man, he'd been
beaten bloody and locked
in the stocks as punishment.
That sound...
...was his son.
To say that he was crying
doesn't do it justice.
Every day I walked to and from school,
that man and his son were there.
He watched his father
waste away in those stocks.
The overseer gave him
just enough water to stay alive,
nothing more.
My mother would give me
a piece of bread and some cheese.
Sometimes an apple, too, for lunch.
And every day I promised myself
that day I would
walk right up to that man
and I would give it to him.
Damn the consequences.
And you never did.
One afternoon, on my way home,
the man was gone.
The boy was still there, and...
I walked over to him.
Do you know what he said to me?
What?
Nothing.
Because he doesn't exist.
Why do you assume
that I need some deep personal reason
to fight this war?
Slavery is wrong.
I know that. You know that.
Your late husband knew it.
He was shot in cold blood because of it.
Now, ain't that enough reason
to take up arms to end it?
♪ ♪
What's your name?
Joseph, sir.
Nice biblical name.
Like Ezekiel.
I have to admit,
I wasn't sure you were gonna
open up about this.
But I was moved by
what you said earlier.
About the part of sacrificing yourself.
And I believed you.
I want to believe you.
So here's the deal.
You agree to go with this slaver here,
and submit yourself willingly
back into bondage...
and I'll buy these
men and women their freedom.
It-it felt like, to me, you were
fairly certain of what you were gonna do
if you had a chance to do it all again.
Well, here it is.
Be the hero.
You just got to go south
and these people go free.
No.
No.
♪ ♪
- (cheering, indistinct chatter)
- ♪ All my life ♪
♪ I've been a savage ♪
♪ I don't fit in with the average ♪
♪ Now they treat me like I'm damaged ♪
♪ So I'm about to do some damage ♪
♪ I'm about to do some... ♪
♪ About to do some... ♪
Come on. Come on!
(yells)
(laughs)
(yells)
(laughs)
♪ ♪
♪ ♪
One! Two!
(echoing): Three! Four!
Five!
FRANCIS (echoing):
Get on your feet! Come on!
- Get on your feet!
- Get up! Cato,
get up! Get up!
Get up!
♪ ♪
♪ So I'm about to ♪
♪ Do some damage ♪
♪ ♪
(cheering)
♪ About to do some damage, damage ♪
♪ About to do some damage. ♪
- "All of us, in the eyes of this country..."
- "Ye may not know how desolate
"Are bosoms rudely forced to part,
"And how a dull and heavy weight
"Will press the life-drops
"from the heart.
"The sale began...
young girls were there,
Defenseless in their wretchedness..."
"All of us, in the eyes of this country,
are one important thread of our fabric."
Georgia, is that...?
A speech? Yes.
What made you change your mind?
You did.
And if I must admit, Lucas, as well.
His talk of action...
it doesn't necessarily
have to mean violence.
Words have power, too.
"...bartered them for gold."
(applause)
(applause, murmuring)
(clears her throat)
(applause, boos and murmuring)
(applause, boos and shouting continue)
(booing)
Georgia...
_
(quiet murmuring)
"I stand before you today
"and ask that you consider
two simple truths.
"The first comes from our founders:
"'All men are created equal.'
"All of us, in the eyes
of this country, are
"one important thread of our fabric.
"The second comes from the Lord himself:
"'Do unto others as you would
have others do unto you.'
"I ask that you listen to your reason
"and intuition, so
together, we can put an end
to this abomination of slavery."
(applause and booing)
"I have committed myself fully
"in striving to eradicate
this plague on our nation,
and I ask that you join me."
(applause, booing and shouting)
As it stands,
the rules governing our society
are failing this country.
(booing and applause)
What kind of nation
creates laws that both abolish
and uphold such a cruel
and inhumane institution?
Federal law versus states' rights?
It's impossible, irrational.
And if it's continued, it will
make murderers of us all.
♪ ♪
If it makes you feel any better...
- ♪ All my life ♪
- (grunting)
- ♪ I've been a savage... ♪
- No.
ELIZABETH: Every day it is becoming
clearer that there is no such thing
as a middle ground!
- (booing)
- Inaction is nothing but a slow death,
poison running through us, building up.
Every citizen must make a choice.
Are you for the cause?
- (booing)
- Or are you against us?
Slavery is violence. Full stop.
♪ ♪
- (groaning)
- And those who hold fast to its aggression
are refusing peace and testing
- the limits of the peaceful.
- (booing)
Those who make peace impossible
- make violence inevitable!
- (booing, whistling)
♪ So I'm about to do some damage... ♪
(grunting)
- (crowd clamoring)
- ♪ I'm about to do some... ♪
♪ About to do some damage, damage... ♪
(grunting)
- (grunts)
- (gasps)
♪ About to do some damage ♪
(grunting)
(knife clinking, groaning)
- ♪ About to do some damage. ♪
- (panting)
Always the man with the plan, but what?
You can't finish a fair fight?
Ain't nothin' fair about this.
Ain't nothing fair about
any of what you put me through.
I helped folks, I saved folks,
I set folks free.
When is it my turn?
What you plan to do about it?
Hmm?
They already killin' enough of us.
(panting)
And I ain't about to help 'em.
That's where we different.
(scoffs)
Get him out of here.
You!
(loud thunderclap)
(rolling thunder)
So this is all I get?
The deed to your flat?
You asked me to marry you,
and now you treat me like a whore. Why?
Is that where I failed?
You need someone to hurt you?
To remind you that you're nothing?
That you're just worthless property?
(crying)
I thought you wanted better.
I do.
(crying)
(loud, piercing, droning tone,
muffled shouting)
- GEORGIA: Elizabeth!
- (gasps)
No. We have got to get out of here now.
Come on. Come on.
(loud, overlapping shouting continues)
(grunting)
(blows landing, shouting)
(crickets chirping, horse snorts)
(coach's door creaks shut)
(door creaks open)
Seven sad souls?
Already on a boat to Canada,
free papers and all.
Miss Rosalee told me
all about the Macon Seven
and how you led them, and I have to say,
it is one of the more heroic stories
I have heard in all my years.
No.
No.
I lied.
I cheated.
I killed.
Every bad thing I done was
about protectin' me and mine.
FRANCIS: You didn't keep
your hands up, you didn't block.
You can't block if you're punching.
Couldn't you see
he wasn't getting tired?
A man's got to decide what
kind of fighter he's gonna be.
You can run from blows,
or you can throw 'em.
NOAH: Now, if everyone
would have made it,
I-I'd have been happy,
so happy.
But they didn't.
They ain't free.
They ain't never gonna be.
And now,
what I fear most...
is knowing
what I'd do for my freedom.
CATO: The difference between
me and Noah, between me and the rest
of the world, is that everyone else
hides what they really are.
Everybody's selfish.
Looking for whatever bit
of power they can find
and calling it freedom.
Henry's dead 'cause of me.
But I'm here,
and I wouldn't change a thing.
I want to be here.
I ain't know enough words, Mr. Still,
to explain that feeling that
I got up under my skin that...
to-to explain who I am.
But I know heroic ain't it.
You gave those men and women
something they never had.
When you asked them to run with you,
you gave them a choice.
CATO: I chose to come back 'cause
now I see what this country needs.
It needs to be torn down to nothing.
It needs a forest fire,
a biblical flood,
an earthquake that rips it in half.
It needs me.
♪ You can't stop me! ♪
- ♪ You ♪
- ♪ Don't got the power ♪
- ♪ Can't ♪
- ♪ Shut me down ♪
- ♪ Stop ♪
- ♪ That's not an option ♪
♪ You can't stop me! ♪
(grunts)
NOAH: The longer we stand
out here fightin',
the less chance we got
of gettin' Rosalee back.
Who knows what they doin' to her?
CATO: Ain't nobody care
about that house girl.
♪ ♪
We have to disrupt
their happy little lives.
Anyone tries to follow me,
your massa gets it.
(man laughing)
CATO: He's not the massa.
I am.
♪ ♪
- Bo. You can't be up here.
- I got another one.
Now's not a good time.
Massa'll be out any second.
I think it important.
Come on.
What it say?
Come on, now, what it say?
It says Kansas is bleeding...
...and all the massas is worried about
somebody named John Brown
coming across the river
and stealing slaves.
I heard Massa talking
to the mistress about
sending all the field slaves down south.
Gonna hire 'em off
to a sugar plantation.
Massa Trenton sellin' his slaves
straightaway, too.
"We strongly advise you
to take similar action."
What does that mean?
It means Massa Fellow might move
or sell me and mine soon.
Daniel, I been thinkin' on it.
I want you to teach me how to read, too.
You don't know what you askin'.
- I know the risks I get caught.
- Ain't about the risk.
Reading.
It's a curse.
All the words, they gave voice
to feelings I never told nobody.
Not even my Bette.
And I'm crushin' under
the weight of the knowledge.
It opens up the world
to you and shows you
how small the one
they got us chained to is.
♪ I roll up with 20 dons, every
one of them are getting in ♪
♪ On my guest list,
straight to the VIP section ♪
♪ Presidential is the way
that we stepped in ♪
♪ I'm not a side man, but
I'm come through the side exit ♪
♪ I capped 'cause of the amount
that I'm spending ♪
♪ My gang fly guy, looking expensive ♪
♪ Gonna need them bottles
on ice in a red drip ♪
♪ Cool, all of my dons at
the dance with VIP treatment ♪
♪ Calm, looking to lock off the
dance and leave with a diva ♪
♪ Shut down everything and roll
out, shut down everything ♪
♪ And roll out, shut
down everything and roll out ♪
♪ Calm ♪
♪ Shut down everything,
watching them watching me ♪
♪ As I stepped in, I'm looking
at her chest, not her necklace ♪
♪ Stroll up straight
like I won't be effectin' ♪
♪ Everybody's acting ratchet
and reckless ♪
♪ Cool, all of my dons at
the dance with VIP treatment ♪
♪ Calm, looking to lock off the
dance and leave with a diva ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Ah... ♪
♪ ♪
What do you see when you
look at this sculpture?
Timelessness.
Hmm.
At one time, in his time,
he was just like us.
Now, cast in a different form,
he's hardened.
Immortal.
He's been afforded some greater purpose.
A second life.
Who do you suppose he was before?
There's such strength in his stance.
The way his eyes look beyond everything.
It's like they've never known defeat.
Perhaps a warrior?
Or a leader of men.
You see something else?
What he's carved from.
We can't see him without looking
at a shadow of ourselves.
Maybe that's his purpose.
A standard, demanding better of us.
If only we, too, were carved of stone.
But what's the fun in that?
(chuckles softly)
At least we can be
grateful to the donor,
Mr. Powell,
for sponsoring such a rare
and daring work.
(clears throat)
Pardon me. Your carriage
is waiting, Mr. Powell.
♪ Ah... ♪
♪ ♪
A reporter from the Ripley Bee
has confirmed their appearance.
That paper has a wide circulation
on both sides of the river.
It's just the kind of exposure
we need to influence the vote.
We should open with our best
arguments against the reform.
Or draw him in by tugging
on his heartstrings first.
The recitation of the Frances
Harper poem should do that.
What's the current speaking order?
Elizabeth has the list.
Elizabeth?
The list?
Yes, uh...
um, I have it here.
S-Somewhere.
Um...
Why don't we get this outside?
- It'll dry quicker.
- Okay. Great.
If this is too much
or if it's too fast after John,
- we do not have to...
- No, it's...
Here it is.
I was surprised
not to see your name on it.
I'm a better organizer than an orator.
That's not true.
The passion you evoke
in everyday conversation
when speaking about the cause,
it inspires me to action.
I'm sure others would feel the same.
Isn't that what this rally is for?
Perhaps.
But someone needs to be on hand
to watch over those boys from Lawrence.
They'll do anything to keep
a pro-slavery legislator
from taking that seat.
The way you all speak
about them, I mean,
how rough a crowd should I be expecting?
Honestly?
Mr. Brown's followers
are always up to something.
We all want the same outcome
when it comes to abolition,
but we believe in
very different methods.
I read about the raids his men
carried out a few months back.
Slaughtering sleeping families
with swords.
It... seems unbelievable.
I thought it was
just Southern propaganda.
Some of it is, but...
(tapping)
Do you hear that?
I do.
It's coming from the tunnel.
(tapping continues)
Rosalee?
Rosalee.
(water splashing softly)
(breathing deeply)
FRANCIS: Plant your feet
and watch my shoulder.
My eyes can lie,
but my shoulder drops in.
Keep your hands up. Block. There.
I've seen many a fighter go down
at the hands of his opponent.
But many more knock themselves out.
(grunting)
(groans)
CATO: That's enough for today.
(sighs)
(sniffs, clears throat)
What the hell am I doin' here?
You're welcome.
For the bed.
For the suit.
For not turning you back over
to the marshals to hang.
I ain't thankin' you for none of that.
You haven't been to
Philadelphia before, have you?
(chuckles) No, of course you haven't.
How 'bout we stretch our legs then?
♪ Dépasse tes limites,
dépasse tes limites ♪
♪ Sois ambitieux, courageux ♪
♪ Déterminé, va chercher le titre ♪
♪ Dépasse tes limites,
dépasse tes limites ♪
♪ Lève-toi, bats-toi, fais partie... ♪
(gasps)
Watch it, you bloody wog.
- (chuckles)
- Come again, friend?
Cato, don't.
Let's just have another drink, okay?
All right. One more drink.
Cato, no!
- (grunts)
- (gasping)
(murmuring)
Next round's on me.
DEVI: You're crazy.
CATO: Devi,
I wasn't looking for a fight,
- but he insulted you.
- Words.
He used words against me.
Petty and terrible, but nothing
worse than a child's tantrum.
- Congratulations on obliging him in that.
- I was protecting you.
You were no more protecting me
than I was in actual danger.
You think your money means
you can do whatever you want.
I can.
Then why aren't you?
Because everywhere you take me,
there's no reflections of us.
It's just rich and white,
it's like you're trying
to prove you belong there.
This is the first time
I'm hearing you complain
about the life my money affords you.
Stop.
Devi, stop...
No, don't touch me!
I don't want your money or your things.
Then what do you want?
I want to know you.
There is much
in your past you keep hidden.
I was hoping, in time, you'd
trust me enough to tell me.
It's not about trust, I trust you.
Then tell me.
Why?
You couldn't understand anyway.
What exactly would I fail to understand?
I'm British Indian at a time
when one occupies the other.
Looked at as different and dangerous.
I've been called every slur in
the book. And I've been called
- every slur without the word
ever being said. - Devi, just...
Being treated less-than
is not an American invention.
You, and you alone, do not own
the pain and humiliation of it.
What I've seen, what I've done...
if I tell you, you wouldn't
be able to look at me.
You wouldn't see a man,
you would see a monster!
I'm not going anywhere.
♪ ♪
Two drops of the laudanum,
three times a day.
And that will keep her under.
When her body has time to heal,
we'll start to wean her off it.
Will it affect the baby?
It shouldn't.
But you're not sure?
Without knowing the extent
of what she endured,
there's, there's just no knowing.
(exhales) I must get
back to the hospital.
Thank you for coming
on such short notice.
Anything for the cause.
I'll keep her in my prayers.
Look at her.
They beat a woman carrying a child
to within an inch of her life.
She's a fighter.
She'll pull through it.
She shouldn't have to.
Sorry.
It's just, how do you reason with people
capable of this level of violence?
EMILY: Georgia?
The Lawrence boys are here.
I can't lose you, too.
(piano playing)
Has the gentleman had a chance
to read the menu?
We'll both have
the lapin à la bourguignonne.
So, you got all the way up to Ohio
from Georgia.
At least, I'm assuming you made it
across the bridge.
I couldn't quite make it out
from my vantage point.
So that's what this is all about.
'Cause I left you behind...
You left me for dead.
And this is about having
an honest conversation.
Like gentlemen.
But I get it.
You don't want to talk, 'cause you think
you got a plan.
First step in your plan
right now is to take me down
with that knife you got
hidden under the table.
Next, you think you gone run
right past Erroll and Roderick,
and be out the restaurant before
they have a chance to do shit.
But then what?
Those two guys?
By the door?
Mine.
The men outside? The police?
You know, the one good thing
about America is that money
can buy a lot of strong,
powerful, armed friends.
(laughs)
I kind of want to see you try.
(chuckles)
But then I think,
when was the last time you slept?
Does Noah got the strength in
him for another failed escape?
Can he stare out
through them bars again?
How long can his beard grow this time?
A lot of questions come to mind.
But I wonder, for the life
of me, do they ever enter yours?
Truth be told, I don't think
you ever think about
what happens after your brilliant plans.
So I did the thinking
this time, for you.
What happens after this here plan?
You die.
And you leave that house girl all alone
to mourn you.
(chuckles softly)
(cheering)
I have my brother to thank for
my introduction to boxing.
He trained for years
as a musti-yuddha fighter.
CROWD: Oh!
Now who among you's
feeling bricky tonight?
'Cause I've got a hundred quid
for any of you lot
who think you can survive
three rounds with me!
This man here.
(cheering)
CROWD: Come on!
(bell dings)
Get over here.
The violence. Stop swallowing it.
It's a part of you.
It's in there.
Put it in here.
Let yourself be angry.
You deserve to be.
Take it out on them. And enjoy it.
Fight, for the loss you suffered.
For revenge, on those that scarred you
and took your family.
For every slight, big or small,
you suffered for daring
to exist in their world.
Let them know you do not forget.
Anything else?
Yes.
(bell dings)
Of course I believe
that we can influence the vote.
I have faith in people
to do the right thing.
Faith is meaningless
when not supported by action.
EMILY: Well, not everyone is corrupt.
LUCAS: There are enough who are.
And the system's corrupt.
ELLIOT: The 1855 vote.
It's a perfect example.
Thousands of Southern Yankees
crossed into Kansas
and voted for a legislature
that was pro-slavery.
It was a fraud,
and that can happen here too,
and we'll lose that seat.
GEORGIA: To be sure, but fraud
is hardly worthy
of the free-stater's response.
How so?
- The murder of five innocent settlers?
- Mm-hmm.
Those who uphold the institution
of slavery deal in brutality.
Action is all that they understand.
GEORGIA: We live in a peaceful society.
LUCAS: And they do not.
I don't speak to a Scottish man
in French.
I speak to him in a language
that he understands.
Vous ne parlez pas de lui en Français
parce que vous ne savez pas Français.
Excuse me?
She said, "You don't
speak to him in French,
because you do not know French."
(laughter)
That's true. But I do know
- slavery needs to end.
- On that we agree.
I've also seen enough
to know the captain's way
is the only way.
War is the only way.
It's women and children
who are affected most
when men wage war.
By condoning it, we're
condemning husbands and sons
to the slaughter.
I'm sorry, I haven't had the pleasure.
Elizabeth.
Elizabeth.
You mean the white ones.
Husbands and sons?
The black ones are already condemned.
And who do you think will be
affected most by your war?
Those yet in bondage, who
cannot protect themselves
that will suffer retaliation,
Or perhaps they'll be
inspired to join our ranks.
Together we'll strike a blow
to the heart of slavery
once and for all.
GEORGIA: Hmm, well, since you boys
will be in attendance at the rally,
I shall recruit you in
helping erect the grandstand.
I'm sure Thad ad Elliot will
avail themselves to you.
I have some business to attend to.
What business?
Just a quick ride,
but if you're worried about me,
perhaps Elizabeth will join.
As chaperone.
To ensure I stay out of this
trouble you accuse me of.
CATO: What do you supposed
should happen to you now?
Is it a long and prosperous life
with Rosalee?
Should you actually
get your freedom dream?
- Why not?
- Why not? Why you?
What makes you so special?
Why do you get to be here? Hell...
everybody got a freedom dream.
Welcome to mine.
No. You the one who ain't
supposed to be here.
I ain't leave you behind to die.
I threw you something
to defend yourself with,
'cause I felt sorry for you.
- You felt sorry...
- I ain't through yet.
You can sit there
in your pristine clothes
speaking with the proper
white man's tongue.
And you can fool everyone outside there
in the civilized world. You can
feel everyone up in here,
but you can't fool me.
You're still
the snake of a slave driver you was
when you left Macon.
I seen you.
You ain't good enough
for this here life.
I ain't talking about the money
or even the freedom.
You ain't enough of a man
to earn drawing breath.
And the thing is, you know it.
Everyone around you knows it.
Everyone who's ever known you.
♪ You give me all ♪
♪ Of you ♪
♪ I recognize my heart ♪
♪ As black and blue ♪
♪ You accept all ♪
♪ I do ♪
♪ But I don't know ♪
♪ If that ♪
♪ Is wise ♪
♪ You offer all of you ♪
♪ And I don't know ♪
♪ If I am ♪
♪ Worth it ♪
♪ I don't know ♪
♪ If I am ♪
♪ Worth it ♪
♪ I don't know ♪
♪ If I am ♪
♪ Worth it ♪
♪ I don't know ♪
♪ If I am ♪
♪ Worth it. ♪
I thought you wanted
an honest conversation.
That's what you wanted, right?
You wanted to talk, let's talk.
Let's talk about
why I'm sitting here and why
you ain't out there
looking for your wife
and your lost little girl.
I don't see 'em
up in that big, pretty house.
What you know about family?
You got none to worry about.
Noah only cares about Noah!
But you wouldn't have made it
off that plantation without me.
Or Moses
or Henry.
Yeah.
They deaths on me.
And I would do anything
to change it all if I could.
Good.
'Cause now you gon' have
your chance to prove it.
Show your true colors.
Today we're gonna exercise our right.
This town we're in is destitute.
And desperate.
Tomorrow the people
are gonna vote overwhelmingly
to put another rich planter
in that seat.
And he isn't gonna do anything for 'em.
The people in this town who are
angry with no way to express it
are gonna vote with their hate.
And I'm gonna do
something to counter that.
'Cause you know what the alternative is?
Doing nothing.
That's not the captain's way.
♪ Dear heart, don't stop fighting ♪
♪ We're gonna ride the lightning ♪
♪ It's not hell or heaven ♪
♪ Just like riot rhythm ♪
♪ Oh-oh, oh oh oh oh. ♪
(laughs)
Should discourage them tomorrow,
don't you think?
If there had been voters here
would you have turned back?
Nope.
What happened
to make you willing
to go to such extremes?
I grew up on the Missouri border.
Walked to school every morning
past this tobacco plantation.
Same black faces,
working the same crops.
I didn't think anything of it.
I was just a boy.
And then, when I was about nine,
on that same path, I heard this sound.
It stopped me in my tracks.
Never heard anything like it,
and I haven't since.
I walked to the edge of the field
and there's a man, he'd been
beaten bloody and locked
in the stocks as punishment.
That sound...
...was his son.
To say that he was crying
doesn't do it justice.
Every day I walked to and from school,
that man and his son were there.
He watched his father
waste away in those stocks.
The overseer gave him
just enough water to stay alive,
nothing more.
My mother would give me
a piece of bread and some cheese.
Sometimes an apple, too, for lunch.
And every day I promised myself
that day I would
walk right up to that man
and I would give it to him.
Damn the consequences.
And you never did.
One afternoon, on my way home,
the man was gone.
The boy was still there, and...
I walked over to him.
Do you know what he said to me?
What?
Nothing.
Because he doesn't exist.
Why do you assume
that I need some deep personal reason
to fight this war?
Slavery is wrong.
I know that. You know that.
Your late husband knew it.
He was shot in cold blood because of it.
Now, ain't that enough reason
to take up arms to end it?
♪ ♪
What's your name?
Joseph, sir.
Nice biblical name.
Like Ezekiel.
I have to admit,
I wasn't sure you were gonna
open up about this.
But I was moved by
what you said earlier.
About the part of sacrificing yourself.
And I believed you.
I want to believe you.
So here's the deal.
You agree to go with this slaver here,
and submit yourself willingly
back into bondage...
and I'll buy these
men and women their freedom.
It-it felt like, to me, you were
fairly certain of what you were gonna do
if you had a chance to do it all again.
Well, here it is.
Be the hero.
You just got to go south
and these people go free.
No.
No.
♪ ♪
- (cheering, indistinct chatter)
- ♪ All my life ♪
♪ I've been a savage ♪
♪ I don't fit in with the average ♪
♪ Now they treat me like I'm damaged ♪
♪ So I'm about to do some damage ♪
♪ I'm about to do some... ♪
♪ About to do some... ♪
Come on. Come on!
(yells)
(laughs)
(yells)
(laughs)
♪ ♪
♪ ♪
One! Two!
(echoing): Three! Four!
Five!
FRANCIS (echoing):
Get on your feet! Come on!
- Get on your feet!
- Get up! Cato,
get up! Get up!
Get up!
♪ ♪
♪ So I'm about to ♪
♪ Do some damage ♪
♪ ♪
(cheering)
♪ About to do some damage, damage ♪
♪ About to do some damage. ♪
- "All of us, in the eyes of this country..."
- "Ye may not know how desolate
"Are bosoms rudely forced to part,
"And how a dull and heavy weight
"Will press the life-drops
"from the heart.
"The sale began...
young girls were there,
Defenseless in their wretchedness..."
"All of us, in the eyes of this country,
are one important thread of our fabric."
Georgia, is that...?
A speech? Yes.
What made you change your mind?
You did.
And if I must admit, Lucas, as well.
His talk of action...
it doesn't necessarily
have to mean violence.
Words have power, too.
"...bartered them for gold."
(applause)
(applause, murmuring)
(clears her throat)
(applause, boos and murmuring)
(applause, boos and shouting continue)
(booing)
Georgia...
_
(quiet murmuring)
"I stand before you today
"and ask that you consider
two simple truths.
"The first comes from our founders:
"'All men are created equal.'
"All of us, in the eyes
of this country, are
"one important thread of our fabric.
"The second comes from the Lord himself:
"'Do unto others as you would
have others do unto you.'
"I ask that you listen to your reason
"and intuition, so
together, we can put an end
to this abomination of slavery."
(applause and booing)
"I have committed myself fully
"in striving to eradicate
this plague on our nation,
and I ask that you join me."
(applause, booing and shouting)
As it stands,
the rules governing our society
are failing this country.
(booing and applause)
What kind of nation
creates laws that both abolish
and uphold such a cruel
and inhumane institution?
Federal law versus states' rights?
It's impossible, irrational.
And if it's continued, it will
make murderers of us all.
♪ ♪
If it makes you feel any better...
- ♪ All my life ♪
- (grunting)
- ♪ I've been a savage... ♪
- No.
ELIZABETH: Every day it is becoming
clearer that there is no such thing
as a middle ground!
- (booing)
- Inaction is nothing but a slow death,
poison running through us, building up.
Every citizen must make a choice.
Are you for the cause?
- (booing)
- Or are you against us?
Slavery is violence. Full stop.
♪ ♪
- (groaning)
- And those who hold fast to its aggression
are refusing peace and testing
- the limits of the peaceful.
- (booing)
Those who make peace impossible
- make violence inevitable!
- (booing, whistling)
♪ So I'm about to do some damage... ♪
(grunting)
- (crowd clamoring)
- ♪ I'm about to do some... ♪
♪ About to do some damage, damage... ♪
(grunting)
- (grunts)
- (gasps)
♪ About to do some damage ♪
(grunting)
(knife clinking, groaning)
- ♪ About to do some damage. ♪
- (panting)
Always the man with the plan, but what?
You can't finish a fair fight?
Ain't nothin' fair about this.
Ain't nothing fair about
any of what you put me through.
I helped folks, I saved folks,
I set folks free.
When is it my turn?
What you plan to do about it?
Hmm?
They already killin' enough of us.
(panting)
And I ain't about to help 'em.
That's where we different.
(scoffs)
Get him out of here.
You!
(loud thunderclap)
(rolling thunder)
So this is all I get?
The deed to your flat?
You asked me to marry you,
and now you treat me like a whore. Why?
Is that where I failed?
You need someone to hurt you?
To remind you that you're nothing?
That you're just worthless property?
(crying)
I thought you wanted better.
I do.
(crying)
(loud, piercing, droning tone,
muffled shouting)
- GEORGIA: Elizabeth!
- (gasps)
No. We have got to get out of here now.
Come on. Come on.
(loud, overlapping shouting continues)
(grunting)
(blows landing, shouting)
(crickets chirping, horse snorts)
(coach's door creaks shut)
(door creaks open)
Seven sad souls?
Already on a boat to Canada,
free papers and all.
Miss Rosalee told me
all about the Macon Seven
and how you led them, and I have to say,
it is one of the more heroic stories
I have heard in all my years.
No.
No.
I lied.
I cheated.
I killed.
Every bad thing I done was
about protectin' me and mine.
FRANCIS: You didn't keep
your hands up, you didn't block.
You can't block if you're punching.
Couldn't you see
he wasn't getting tired?
A man's got to decide what
kind of fighter he's gonna be.
You can run from blows,
or you can throw 'em.
NOAH: Now, if everyone
would have made it,
I-I'd have been happy,
so happy.
But they didn't.
They ain't free.
They ain't never gonna be.
And now,
what I fear most...
is knowing
what I'd do for my freedom.
CATO: The difference between
me and Noah, between me and the rest
of the world, is that everyone else
hides what they really are.
Everybody's selfish.
Looking for whatever bit
of power they can find
and calling it freedom.
Henry's dead 'cause of me.
But I'm here,
and I wouldn't change a thing.
I want to be here.
I ain't know enough words, Mr. Still,
to explain that feeling that
I got up under my skin that...
to-to explain who I am.
But I know heroic ain't it.
You gave those men and women
something they never had.
When you asked them to run with you,
you gave them a choice.
CATO: I chose to come back 'cause
now I see what this country needs.
It needs to be torn down to nothing.
It needs a forest fire,
a biblical flood,
an earthquake that rips it in half.
It needs me.
♪ You can't stop me! ♪
- ♪ You ♪
- ♪ Don't got the power ♪
- ♪ Can't ♪
- ♪ Shut me down ♪
- ♪ Stop ♪
- ♪ That's not an option ♪
♪ You can't stop me! ♪