01x02 - Episode 2

[bunniefuu]

This programme contains
some strong language

CHUCKLING: You know, I
think me and this Mr Wilde

would have been fast
friends if ever we did meet.

AEROPLANE ENGINES ROAR

HAPPY CHATTER

CHATTER ECHOES

What that?

MOUTHS WORDS

Larry! Larry, please!
Larry, please...

DISTANT SIREN

I am the architect
of my own life.

I built its foundation, and
I will choose its contents.

My ability to conquer
challenges is limitless.

My potential to succeed...

..is infinite.

Mwah! I can achieve greatness.

I am focused. I am capable.

I am confident.

I'm stunning!

PHONE BUZZES

Mum?

This is it, Maxine.
What's the matter?

VOICE QUIVERING: Your
father doesn't care about me.

I can't do this any more. What?

PHONE RINGS

Hello? Dad! Listen
to me carefully.

You and I are going to
talk this afternoon. Look, I...

Uh-uh. Alone. Do you understand?

Uh-huh. LINE DISCONNECTS

You all right, boss?

Come in.

I tried to tell her.

I did try, Morris,

but given her current predicament,
her daddy dying and everything,

how could I heap
trouble upon woe?

I was thinking the same thing
when I got home last night.

Is it? Mm-hm.

We weren't thinking straight.

We both got caught
up in the moment.

Someone ask for their freedom,
you have to give it them, right?

Otherwise you
become their jailer.

But you never ask.

At least, not properly.

Maxine calling me out of the
blue, demanding confrontation.

Maxi? Precisely. Hm.

Carmel's no fool.

And Donna - me and her have
a whole lifetime of her being off.

But... Maxi?

That girl has always had
you wrapped around her finger.

Maybe... maybe this is a chance
for you to finally stand up to her.

Allow her to grow up a
bit, make her way in life.

You know, you are
always pushing me.

What you say?

Why you can't just leave
me alone for a while?

Leave you alone? Leave me
alone! Leave you alone? Mm-hm!

Don't act like you weren't the one
to follow me to this here England,

after fleeing Antigua. Gosh...

I already built a
new life. A happy life!

Begging me to start over?

Promising me a
whole heap of nothing!

What me have fe show for it?

I never begged.
Me never beg you.

HE SUCKS HIS TEETH

And you should
have waited. Waited?

Yes, waited.

Instead of marrying the
first woman you did see.

Barry, me had no choice.

You shoulda.

And like I told you,
this time is different.

I'm ready for the showdown
soon as Carm is back.

So you say.

But you're not going to
mess me around again.

Cos if you do...

..you're gon' lose me for good.

PHONE RINGS

ALL: ♪ Happy birthday to you

♪ Happy birthday to you

♪ Happy birthday, dear Leon

♪ Happy birthday to you! ♪

And many more!

THEY CHEER

Hello?

Look, what do you want, Donna?

I've got an important
pitch meeting like... now!

Oh, yeah. Yeah,
Mum... No, I know.

Yeah, she called me.

Well, I'm as surprised
as you are, believe me.

I don't know why she called me.

Mm, well, no, she
is my mum, too.

Look, just because I don't want
to m*rder him and drink his blood

doesn't mean that I'm not angry.

No, I'm seething,
of course I am,

and he's going to
know that, believe me.

No, Donna, if you come, it
will just make things worse.

Look, look, I've got
to go, OK? I'll handle it.

Yes, I'll let you
know. Thank you.

Oh, God...

SHE EXHALES DEEPLY

MUSIC: Venezuela
Riddim by Hak Baker

♪ Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah

♪ Yeah, yeah,
yeah Yeah, yeah, hey

♪ Ladies and gentlemen alike

♪ Hold up your
hands Hold 'em high

♪ We got the ends, we got
the lights Yeah, we're good

♪ We got our legacies to write

♪ Let's fill 'em with
chants and 'ave it right

♪ Let's have it right

♪ We paid our
dues to have it tonight

♪ Remember the days
we really had to fight... ♪

THINKING: Why
Maxine not here yet?

I'll have a refreshing
cup of peppermint tea.

Cool. Um, give
me a juice, please.

THINKING: Come
now, man. Nah fright so.

Oh.

In case I'm also
suffering from dementia,

didn't you order
a peppermint tea?

Me changed my mind.

OK.

Surely you, of all people,
can appreciate that.

Seeing as you're already on
a slippery slope downwards,

have some rum in that.

Overproof.

It'll blow your ba*ls off.

You're full of noise.

MORRIS CHUCKLES

What...?

THEY LAUGH

Sooner or later,
you're gonna succumb.

So save yourself the
aggravation. Bring it.

Bring it.

What is this, rations? Sh!
It's not rations, man. Fill it...

Hold on, it coming.

Oh, yeah!

Nothing rum can't
make better. Mm-hm.

Guaranteed to
dissolve the stressment

and facilitate the forgivement.

Touch me.

GLASSES CLINK

Oh...

Mmm!

PHONE PINGS

Daniel?!

Who's that?

Auntie Max.

What are you doing here?

Yeah, funny, I was about
to ask you the same thing.

Hey, yo, D!

Oh, who's buff ting, man?

"Buff ting"?

Young man, what you lack in
manners, you make up for in taste.

But don't be out here acting
like the estate you grew up on

didn't have a valet, OK?

BOYS LAUGH

Hello?

Yo, you're embarrassing
yourself. Come here.

Why are you not at school?

Half day.

Teacher training.

Yeah, don't let this
youthful complexion fool you.

I was not born yesterday.

God, you sound just like Mum.

What's with you Walker men and
your shoddy behaviour recently?

Perhaps it's symptomatic of
being an oppressed minority?

MAXINE LAUGHS

OK, well, you're lucky that
I'm saving today's arse kicking

for Grandy, and not you.
The same Grandy that's paying

your school fees, by
the way, Mr Half Day.

And if Mum's to be
believed, your whole lifestyle.

Yeah, well...

..not for much longer.

Bye. Bye!

Jeez...

MORRIS SLURPS LOUDLY

Hey.

Feeling better?

Much better.

THEY LAUGH

Better times ahead.

Promise.

I'm still thinking about Miami.

For true.

Once me tell Carmel it over.

We spoke once about
having our own place. Mm-hm.

Huh...

A little cottage...

..by the sea, remember?

I do.

Somewhere... somewhere that...

We can walk around naked.

MORRIS LAUGHS

Mm-hm.

That, too.

And when we don't
have any guests,

Maxine, Donna and
Daniel will visit and, um...

..we'll have a cup of...

Barry.

Ah?

Them will know, you know?

Not if we get a two-bedroom
place, they won't.

How lovely to see
you, Uncle Morris.

What a surprise. Mwah! Mwah!

I'm so pleased you
could come, too.

Maxi, how you do?

Ah...

I am so pissed
off with you, Dad.

THINKING: Watch out, folks.
Soap opera just come to Dalston.

Come again?

Oh, you heard me. Maxi,
you're letting yourself down.

Treat your father
with respect, no?

Respect, yes. Let's talk
about respect, shall we?

Just a moment. I am so
angry that I even forgot to eat.

I've just got to chuck something
down me quickly, so I don't faint.

Look, look, look.

I'm shaking.

I'm in no fit state
to conversate.

Let me get you something to eat.

Excuse me! A sandwich, please.

No, she's allergic, apparently.

This after a lifetime
of eating bread.

Oh, I'm fine, Uncle Morris.
I've already bought something.

That your lunch?

What?

THINKING: What in the hell
is this streak of mouse piss?

SIGHING: That's better.

You think maybe
now we can get to it?

Why you've summoned me.

Would it have k*lled you to
have gone to Antigua with mum?

What you know of Antigua?

Well, I know that you haven't
been in God knows how long.

Not since I've been alive, at
least, because Mum always took us.

THINKING: Mm-hm.
And for good reason.

Well, maybe you should
have gone again with her.

Well, she didn't ask
me. She asked YOU.

You have gone too
far this time, Dad.

Mum - she can't take any
more of your shenanigans.

You're coming home late in
the middle of the night pissed.

Maxine, you love the fact that
I don't act like some old codger

with one foot in the grave.

And you have been out on the lash
enough times with me and Morris.

So you don't even
believe what you're saying.

Excuse me, do not
presume to know what I...

Listen to me good.

It is true, I am a
sinner and a drinker.

And as the porter
says to Macbeth,

"Faith, sir, we were
carousing to the second c*ck."

HE CHUCKLES

Dad, this is serious.

I've never heard
her this upset before.

And if you are not careful...

Your mother should get out more.

Which would stop her
obsessing about my business

and trying to contravene
my basic human right.

I mean, look at her - church,
shop, doctors, funerals.

I remember she used to socialise,
you know, with her work friends.

They were nice women.

Carmel had plenty to chat
about back in those days,

because she wasn't banging
the Bible over her head or mine.

She even bothered
about her appearance.

Wow.

Sorry.

As one of the fellas
said in King Lear,

"I am too old to learn."

Which is unfortunate, because
Mum isn't too old to be hurt.

Neither am I.

Have you ever considered
how this affects me?

Or Donna?

Seeing our parents this way?

Do you know what Mum
thinks the problem is?

You don't like women.

What?

You know, like, you're a...

..a misogynist!

On what grounds, pray
tell, am I a misogynist?

The way that you
treat her friends, her.

I don't like her friends.

MAXINE EXHALES EXASPERATEDLY

Do you understand that you
are this close to losing her

and tearing our
whole family apart?

THINKING: She would
already be lost to me,

if it wasn't for you, my Maxi.

I just want to see
you and Mum happy.

Well, we been married 50 years.

Bound to be some ups and downs.

So you make it right, then.

Because, honestly...

..I don't know if I can
forgive you if you don't.

PHONE RINGS

Hello?

Hello!

Hi. Yeah.

WHISPERING: I'm so sorry.

Just...

Yes, yes, of course. No,
yeah, now's a good time.

MORRIS SIGHS DEEPLY

You think maybe if she
had kids of her own...

..she would stop
acting like one?

Maybe.

But what man can ever
measure up to you, Barry?

Oh, yes. Yes, I really enjoyed
meeting you all today, too.

Oh...

Well, are you sure? I could
bring my proposal back in.

Maybe we could...

Oh, I see.

But was that, like, a
group decision or...?

Unanimous. OK.

Well...

Yeah, no... Yes.

Thank you. Thank
you for your time.

Thanks. Bye.

SHE BREATHES SHAKILY

ELASTIC SNAPS

SHE TAKES DEEP BREATHS

Maxi, my lovely daughter, for
all your performance of outrage,

me and you get on too well for
you to strip me of my fatherhood

and banish me to exile.

Don't we?

Seriously, Dad, I'm not
in the mood. Not today.

Let me get you a drink. Mm-hm.

Hey.

Rum?

Go on, then, just a splash.
It's been that kind of day.

MAXINE SIGHS

SHE COUGHS

Whoa. That's strong.

Just like your
old man. Like you.

ELASTIC SNAPS

Then, come on.
What troubling you?

Besides your best attempts
to tear the family apart?

Yes, besides that.

Well...

..since you've asked,

there is something I'd like
to talk to you about, actually.

Floor is yours.

OK, so, you know that it's a jungle
out there in the fashion world, Dad?

Told me enough times.

Yeah, I've styled only two
shoots in this past month,

one of which was in Skegness.
And I'm up to my ears in debt,

because schmoozing
with the fashion world

bloody well doesn't come cheap -

unless you've got a Russian
oligarch for a boyfriend,

which, don't
remind me, I haven't.

THINKING: Why is she
getting pissed quickly?

And if I don't mingle, the
work dries up completely.

And I'll be past it soon.

Actually, I'm already past it.

I've been 25 for about
ten years already.

When I left Saint Martin's, I just
thought the world was going to...

THINKING: Must be thirsty.

All this ranting.

But look at me, I'm just...

Honestly, sometimes I
just feel like ending it all.

Really.

Morris, perhaps we could
advise my daughter on the options.

You know, poisoning,
drowning, asphyxiation.

What sayest thou?

Don't mind your father.

You and I both know
that he thinks he's funny.

My advice is...

..do the thing you love.

Otherwise, you reach my age, and
you're swimming in a sea of regrets.

MORRIS SUCKS TEETH

If anybody know
about a wasted life...

..I do. Morris, stop it, man.

Be positive, like I
always telling you.

Yeah, don't be so hard
on yourself, Uncle Morris.

Now, some people don't
get a chance in life, Maxi.

Let alone live it
the way they want.

MORRIS INHALES DEEPLY

You're right, Uncle
Morris. Mm-hm.

You are so right.

I have got to fulfil my dreams.

So, Daddy... Hmm.

..I was wondering if you could
help me with a little something?

Tell me.

I've come up with
something exceptional. It is...

It's an idea for my first
fashion collection, and you...

..you will be the first
humans on Earth to see these.

Well, almost.

So what do you think?

Oh.

Oh, oh... Oh...

It's, um...

This is... It's...

Speechless? Mm-hm.

Yeah. Yay!

Cos, um, it's ties, right?

But the skirt goes into
the trousers. The trousers...

Mm-hm. Yeah, it's
my unisex range.

See? And... and
how you do that?

Er, so...

Well, um...

..if nothing, she talented.

She's deluded.

I mean, an imaginative
exploration of the relationship

between fashion, furniture,
friendship and family?

Perhaps she's an innovator.
She's a piss-taker, more like.

And then she say, "And I
want you to model, too, Dad."

What happened to
watering your seed?

Well, me starting to believe
that over-watering just as bad.

So...

..what you gon' do?

Hmm?

You can't seriously be considering
investing in her business.

Not only is her
concept nonsensical,

her numbers are, too.

It was you that encouraged her
with all of this "one life" nonsense.

Me? Yes, you!

Unless you forget, Barry, I
was a man of means, too!

Ah... I had it all!

Odette.

The boys.

The house.

The freedom you want?

Cos freedom, my love...

..comes at a cost. So
what you want me fe do?

What?

Not help her, while I still can?

Hey.

It don't change nothing.

I still leaving Carmel.

I am.

And what about Maxine?

What about her?

You willing to break
her heart in the process?

For your freedom?

Or are you always
going to surrender to her?

DOOR SHUTS

♪ Brown girl in the ring

♪ Tra la la la la

♪ She looks like
a sugar in a plum

♪ Plum, plum. ♪

You keep on so, she
never gon' want come out.

No, don't worry about that.

And there's no
rush, little Maxine.

Just know...

..Daddy ready when you are.

I'm good and ready... this time.

Listen to me, Maxine.

I need more time on this.

MAXINE HUFFS

SHE WHIMPERS

I know.

OK.

Hey, hey, hey... Hey!

Hey, OK.

Let we sit down, put
our great minds together -

one for business, one for
creativity - and we shall...

..work out some logistics.

Yes! Oh!

Great!

Thank you, Daddy!

And I was thinking of
calling it House of Walker

in a sort of homage to you.

Oh, cute.

And, mwah! Thank
you, Uncle Morris.

Mwah!

I know you probably put in
a good word or two for me.

Oh...

Is there any more rum going?

Rum... Rum, rum, rum.

Oh, no, the House of
Walker is out of stock!

So we should get some more, huh?

Let us get some more.

Yes!

The Looking Glass has
the best blackberry mojitos.

We can cab it.

Where's my phone?

Mojitos, taxi.

Who's paying?

I'm good. I'm cool.

Tomorrow is going to
be one serious detox.

Ooh!

From this very spot, the
House of Walker is born.

And will travel to
both Fifth Avenue...

..and the Champs-Elysees.

Kingsland High Road.

Don't even say that! Why
would you even say that?!

Organic air and vegan
water don't mix with rum, eh?

Ooh, I feel like my second
life is just beginning...!

There is a God...

..and he's called my daddy.

BABY CRIES

VEHICLE APPROACHES

Hi! Come on, come on.

Soho, please.

My mum's in Antigua, so
we're going to stop there first.

Do you know where the best
place to get some oysters is?

No oysters.

Why not?!

♪ My love comes tumbling down

♪ Tumbling down

♪ Tumbling down

♪ Comes my love

♪ Ooh, see what's
happened to me, brother

♪ You know my love just
keeps on tumbling down

♪ Tumbling down

♪ My love just keeps
on tumbling down, baby

♪ My love just tumbles
on down to the ground... ♪