[insects chirring faintly]
[wistful, intriguing music playing]
[energy warbling, rushing]
[intriguing music continuing]
[intriguing music swells]
[music trails off]
[TV signal drones]
[intriguing, unsettling intro music playing]
[music trails off]
[enigmatic music playing]
[door opening]
Want some coffee?
I already had mine.
I was thinking maybe I'd go out to the desert for a couple of days,
do some camping, give you some space.
I didn't ask for any space.
-[phone buzzing] -Well, I could use some.
Your statins are ready to be picked up this afternoon, but the Norvasc--
Yeah, yeah, I get the pharmacy's texts too.
Right.
Yeah, good.
-Oh, Wally, hey! -Hello, darling.
-Let me help you with that. -No, I got it.
No need. I'm just… Relics I dug out of the storage space.
Oh, doing an experiment?
Oh, no, Sam is helping me put together
a fundamentals of science class I'm, uh, doing at the community center.
I thought you were banned.
Well, gotta get back in their good graces.
You have been spending a lot of time with Sam the last few days.
Well, you know I like a fixer-upper, now.
So excuse me.
Science, like myself, waits for no man.
[foreboding music plays, halts]
Honey! I'm home!
I just added two dedicated 20-amp circuits to the main panel,
so we shouldn't have any more blowouts.
Wonderful! Now, how about fixing the fucking lights?
Yeah. It's on the list.
What's this?
The last parts for our brand-new, slightly used HPLC machine.
What exactly does an HPLC machine do?
It should finally tell us
what kind of creature your star-spangled goo came from.
How much did it cost?
Oh, seven… give or take…
Thousand?
Can't take it with you, Sam.
The pharaohs tried. All it got them was looted.
[doorbell rings]
-Who the hell is that? -It's probably Judy.
-Nancy Drew knows we're up to something. -I'll get rid of her.
-Heya! -Neil.
What are you doing?
Whoa! Looks like a bomb went off in there.
[Wally] You're Neil?
-Oh, hey! -I've heard so much about you.
Doing a little remodeling.
That's a big step. I'm proud of you, Pop.
-Yeah, what can I do for you, Neil? -Um, I need to get Claire's mom's album.
Album?
Yeah. Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run.
Oh right, yeah. I'm still looking for it.
-You promised Claire. -Yeah, I know.
-Haven't found it yet. I've been busy. -Remodeling.
Appreciate you coming, Neil.
Hey, I've been doing some reading on loss,
and I found this book that I think would be really good for you.
It's an exciting new gloss on Elisabeth Kübler-Ross.
And it recontextualizes the healing process
into a really interesting new concept.
See, Kübler-Ross saw grief as a linear progression
through the stages, right, so it's denial, anger, sadness, et cetera,
but this posits grief as a pyramid.
-Pyramid? -With acceptance at the bottom--
You should get going, Neil.
You don't want to get caught up in all that rush-hour traffic.
Right.
You know,
I get it.
You're not that fond of me.
Okay.
But I came here for Claire.
She's hurting.
Just as much as you are.
So I get that you can't see through your own pain right now. I get it.
But you're a dad, so you have to.
[wistful, contemplative music playing]
[engine turns over]
Hey. It's me.
[Erica] Hey, it's Erica.
I ran that name you gave me through NCIC,
N-DEx, and a buddy at Chicago PD.
What you got?
A couple of speeding tickets. That's all.
Sam Cooper is a Boy Scout.
Hmm.
Okay.
All right.
Thanks, Erica.
So, does this mean you're back on the beat?
You working for a paper?
No, no, God. I'm still retired.
Just trying to help out a friend.
Mm-hmm.
Hey, we gotta catch up.
We should do that.
Okay. Right.
-Bye. -Bye-bye.
[Renee] That is bullshit.
You agreed that I would have the royalties.
-It's all I have-- -[call disconnects]
-[barista] There you go. Okay. -Yeah. Thank you.
[Art] Hey, kiddo.
Hey, Art. Thank you.
You all right?
My ex is suing me.
Again?
Again.
-I'm sorry. -Mmm. Yeah.
Better than being married to him, though, right?
Big time.
"The wise are wise only because they love."
"Fools are fools only because they think they can understand love."
Paulo Coelho?
Or Wiz Khalifa.
It's not Wiz Khalifa.
-Paulo Coelho, it is. -Okay. All right.
[both laughing]
Yeah.
How you doing, Art?
Me?
I'm on my quest.
And I better get back to it.
-You keep your chin up, kiddo. All right. -All right, you too.
-[Wally] Right-handed chirality! -Shit!
-Right-handed chirality! -What? What is--
Listen. Every living creature on Earth is made up of amino acids
that have left-handed chirality.
That's how they can interact. It's like a handshake.
Can't shake hands with left and right. You'd have to have two left hands.
Same with cells.
But the results from the HPLC
show that blood from our hammer has right-handed chirality.
So what killed Jack?
That's the point.
This is something that nobody has ever seen before.
Which means you don't have shit?
Oh God. Science isn't magic, Sam!
You spent $7,000, and you don't know what this thing is!
No, I spent $7,000, and now I know what it's not.
It is not a, uh, coyote with mange.
It is not a shaved chimpanzee.
It is not a figment of your imagination.
-All right. So what do we do now? -So now we figure out what it is.
Oh, more tests?
Yeah, that might be a problem.
I may have used up all the goo on the test I already did.
Like the one that told us it wasn't a shaved chimpanzee.
Or a coyote with mange.
It's hopeless.
[groans] Oh!
Maybe not.
You said the thing was doing something inside Jack's mouth?
Yeah, but I couldn't see what.
-So we find out what. -How?
I do an autopsy on Jack.
You're allowed to do that?
Absolutely not, so we have to do it fast. Before they cremate Jack's body.
-We'll go to the funeral home tonight. -Whoa! Have you lost your mind?
It's not as crazy as it sounds.
I know that place like the back of my hand.
They've got no security. No video cameras.
We'll be in and out before anybody notices what we're doing.
Or we could end up in jail.
Look.
You got two choices.
We can give up.
Or we can go all the way.
We both know where the first one ends.
Nobody knows where the second one leads.
What do you want to do?
Whose golf cart are we gonna take?
[stirring, adventurous music playing]
[music trails off]
[Art] Ever since the kids moved out and Judy moved on,
I've been searching for proof
that there's more to life
than just knockin' about…
and hangin' out.
I looked in books, in religion.
Spent a good time with psychedelics, and I didn't find shit.
Till the day you died.
For the first time, I saw something I could not explain.
Something more.
I'm sorry you had to pay the price, Brooksy.
[gentle, sentimental music playing]
The path is calling me.
I'mma get to the end.
And I'm gonna look God right in the eye.
Even if it burns me.
Flights of angels, Brooksy.
Flights of angels.
[wondrous music playing]
[enigmatic music playing]
[music trails off]
Just get in.
[driving punk rock music playing]
♪ Some wear leather, some wear lace ♪
♪ Some wear makeup on their face ♪
♪ Some are young, some are old ♪
♪ Some too hot, some too cold ♪
[line ringing]
[Paz] Renee, hey. What's up?
Paz. Uh, sorry to call so late…
Uh, I just got an alert from your camera, so I'm gonna head over there…
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on.
…and check it out.
My shift is almost done. I'll meet you there.
Don't go in without me.
No promises.
[foreboding music playing]
[man] …to the shear line, which will allow the plug to rotate.
Insert your pick into the keyhole.
Starting at the back,
apply gentle pressure on the tension wrench
as you lift each pin.
-You're taking too long! -I've never done this before!
-You should identify… -Can I try?
I've almost got it.
You're never gonna…
[door clicks]
This way.
[indistinct, eerie whispering]
[Wally] Sam.
Hey. What's wrong?
[whispering halts]
Sam.
[thump]
-What was that? -Shh.
[Wally] Let's go.
[tense music playing]
[all screaming]
Oh God!
Stay back. Do not move.
[sputters]
How old is that pepper spray, Judy?
It's expired, 2002.
-Shit! -Have you been following us?
I damn well have.
I saw you, the both of you,
with that hammer and then all of the crazy lights.
Take it easy, Judy.
Don't tell me to take it easy.
Jack is dead.
He's dead, and I think you two know something.
We can explain.
Well, then talk fast.
It's complicated.
Well, simplify it, or I will pull this fire alarm.
You don't want to do that!
What I want is for you to tell me the truth right now.
Did you kill Jack?
Of course not.
Why should I believe you?
How long have we been friends, Judy? Huh?
-You know me. -Get back.
I may be many things, but I'm not a liar.
You lied to me this morning.
That doesn't count.
Jack was murdered.
Not by us.
By who?
The answer lies behind that door.
Now, if you pull that alarm, we'll never know the truth.
I'm hoping you won't,
because we all want the same thing.
Justice
for Jack.
Okay.
Okay. Show me.
[suspenseful music playing]
[clattering in distance]
[eerie yowling, trilling]
[uneasy, enigmatic music playing]
-[objects clattering] -[yowling]
[faint, shrill trilling]
Who's there? Come out!
Hey! Stop.
-[screams] -Ah, fuck!
Are you okay?
No. You scared the shit out of me!
Uh, you two may want to clear out.
I'll stay.
Okay.
Yep.
[Judy, tearfully] Jack.
Um…
You may want to… follow her lead.
This next part… isn't very palatable.
I can handle it.
Well, there'll be packing in every cavity, lots of it, and, uh…
when I…
unseal his mouth, he may release
fluids and odors.
I'll go check on Judy.
Good thinking.
I thought we could use this.
I know I could.
Yeah, this doesn't make sense.
The camera is designed to activate when it senses motion.
But it's like it can't see whatever knocked the bin over,
which… doesn't make sense.
Drink this.
It'll help.
-Thanks. -[glasses clink]
Screw it. I'll swap the camera tomorrow. It must be busted.
I'll leave the feed on in case our thief decides to come back.
You know, it sounded more like an animal.
Like a raccoon?
No, not at all.
Maybe somebody's messing with you. Do you have any enemies?
No, I killed them all.
I respect that.
[both laugh]
Mmm.
Although it could be my ex-husband.
He's what the French call a fucking asshole.
Tell me more.
No, that would take all night.
I got all night.
All right.
How long have you known about me and Jack?
I saw that look you gave Wally.
[Sam sighs]
Since the night of the barbecue.
What gave us away?
Tiger Balm.
[chuckles sharply]
Hey, no judgment here.
No judgments accepted.
Art and I have been married 44 years.
We met at Berkeley in the '70s.
You dig?
Everything's everything?
Sure.
I was a bouncy-tittied groundbreaker.
Art was a counterculture shit-stirrer.
We both had big-ass hair.
Big ideas.
Right.
We did shit how we did it.
We decided to marry.
We decided to have kids.
And when…
We decided together.
We're family, Sam.
Every step of the way.
That's nice.
And we fuck who we want to fuck.
Only rule was
don't fall in love.
But you fell in love with Jack?
I did.
I'm not deluded.
I see the… the years etched across my face.
And I feel the weight of my body.
But Jack…
Jack saw the girl in me.
He could see it.
And he respected the woman.
Jack could… He could…
Jack saw us.
The way we wish we were.
He was good.
And now he's gone.
Everybody loved Jack.
And Jack certainly did love everybody.
I was just… one in the line.
That's not the way Jack described you.
What did he say?
He was seeing someone special.
Hmm.
They say that, um,
grief is
less like a line and more like…
like a pyramid.
With, um…
acceptance… at the bottom.
Who said that?
My son-in-law.
Is he simple?
[snorts]
No, no.
He's a college professor.
A pyramid.
Bless his heart.
[both laughing warmly]
[door opens]
Uh…
There's something you need to see.
Okay. I didn't find anything unusual on Jack's body,
except for these marks in the back of his throat.
See for yourself.
What are those?
Puncture wounds.
Mostly scarred over,
although some fresh.
All leading right to the base of Jack's brain.
This could be what that thing was doing to Jack.
What thing?
It was… It was convulsing.
Like it was…
Like it was feeding on him.
Hey, it's about goddamn time you guys tell me exactly what is going on.
[Renee] So, the business took off.
I handled the artists. He handled the books.
But when I left him…
-He knew where the money was. -Right.
I mean, what he didn't outright steal, he sued me for.
And the legal fees and all that,
so I ended up having to move in here with my mother.
Humbling.
Oh, it was a nightmare.
But, you know, she died, and then I just kept on living here.
What about you?
I grew up local,
joined with the first band headed out of town
and never looked back.
Yet here you are.
Yeah, well, my big sister got in a car accident.
Oh.
I came back to help with my nephews.
This was the only place willing to hire a drummer with no résumé.
How's your sister now?
They fused her spine with steel rods.
Yeah, she's indestructible.
It's a terrifying prospect to a little brother.
Is that… Is that Glastonbury?
Oh, this?
Yeah.
It is.
Uh, 2010, I think.
-I was there. -No, you weren't.
-No, hand to God, I'm right… -No, you were not.
Over here… somewhere.
Oh, so you really splurged on the tickets?
Yeah, well, some of us don't have suit money.
[moody, suggestive rock music playing faintly]
Would it be okay if I kissed you?
Yes.
Take this off.
You didn't ask.
Right.
Come here.
[moody, suggestive rock music continuing]
[foreboding music playing]
[device clicking]
What are you up to, Scar?
[radio squawks]
Go for Hank.
[dispatch] Hank, a lady walking her dog said
she saw people moving around inside the funeral home.
What? Like zombies?
She didn't say.
All right.
Send some guys down. I'll meet you over there.
Copy that.
♪ Sweet memories ♪
♪ I can't stand the rain ♪
[thump in distance]
[mysterious music playing]
[thumping continues]
[eerie whispers]
Ow!
[enigmatic music playing]
[enigmatic music intensifying]
[Judy] There is no such thing as monsters!
We never said "monster."
So this not-a-coyote, not-a-chimpanzee was feeding on Jack.
That's our theory.
-You have to check me. -Check you?
You said this thing was feeding on Jack in his sleep.
Well, I spent the night at Jack's a few times.
Oh, I see.
Could it have fed on me too?
Maybe.
Wally, I need to know.
Okay. All right. Here. Have a seat.
You'd better check me too.
You? Why?
Edward said the monster was behind his walls.
Well, they're my walls now.
Good point.
Uh…
Okay, open wide.
[uneasy music playing]
Okay.
You know the drill.
[Judy] Well?
You both have the marks.
Okay, so the thing has been feeding on me.
It's been feeding on Sam.
It could be feeding on anyone!
Or everyone.
[siren squawks]
Cops!
-Shit! -[Judy] Is there another way out?
No, there's just one door.
We are dead meat.
Exactly.
I know you're in here.
Come out!
Before things get gnarly!
Hands up.
Hands in the air. Go.
-[Sam grunts] -What are you doing here, Mr. Cooper?
Came to say goodbye to Jack.
-Yeah? And did you come alone? -Yeah.
Yeah, just me.
Let's go. Come on.
["Lose Your Soul" by Dead Man's Bones playing]
[rowdy, rollicking rock song continuing]
[staticky glitching]
♪ Oh ♪
♪ You're gonna lose your soul ♪
♪ Tonight, you're gonna lose your soul ♪
♪ You're gonna lose your soul Tonight, tonight ♪
♪ Oh ♪
♪ You're gonna lose control tonight ♪
♪ You're gonna lose control ♪
♪ You're gonna lose control Tonight, tonight ♪
♪ I get up in the morning To the beat of the drum ♪
♪ I get up to this feeling Keeps me on the run ♪
♪ I get up in the morning Put my dreams away ♪
♪ I get up, I get up ♪
♪ I get up in the morning To the beat of the drum ♪
♪ I get up to this feeling Keeps me on the run ♪
♪ I get up in the morning Put my dreams away ♪
♪ I get up, I get up, I get up again ♪
[song trailing off]
[suspenseful music escalating]
["Lose Your Soul" continuing]
♪ You're gonna lose your soul ♪
♪ Tonight, you're gonna lose your soul ♪
♪ You're gonna lose your soul Tonight, tonight ♪
♪ I get up in the morning To the beat of the drum ♪
♪ You're gonna lose control ♪
♪ Tonight, you're gonna lose control ♪
♪ You're gonna lose control Tonight, tonight ♪
♪ Tonight, tonight, tonight ♪
[song winding down]
[intriguing, mysterious outro music playing] t ♪