All language subtitles for Crutch.S01E05.1080p.WEB.h264-ETHEL

Crutch is filmed in front of
a live studio audience.

Dad?

Dad, why is it
a hundred degrees in here?

It's the middle of summer,
we need the AC running.

The AC is temporarily
turned off.

Are you serious?

Dad, I gotta meet with a client,
I've already sweat through

three of my shirts.

Wait.

Why are you wearing a sweater?

'Cause my room is freezing.

Daddy, is the AC broken?

The only thing broken is
the ATM at the bank of Crutch.

It's so hot upstairs.

I feel like I'm melting.

Huh. You two can suffer
in this heat wave,

but my grand-babies...

y'all go to Grandpa's
air-conditioned room. Now.

You know Avery?

That own them two buildings
up on St. Nicholas?

Of course.
He gave me my first job.

That man has a lot of stories.

Hey, nobody like a blast
from the past like Avery.

Yeah. When he starts looking
up at the sky,

cancel your dinner plans.

He's coming
by the store tomorrow.

Why don't you come on by and
say hi? He'd love to see you.

Will there be air conditioning
at the store?

Damn skippy.

All paying customers get AC.

I'll be there.

Hey, y'all.

-Hey. -Hey.
-Hey.

Damn, it's hot in here.

You should be used to this heat,

since you from Middle-earth.

You need Jesus.

And a tummy tuck.

Apparently,
our loving father has

turned the air conditioning off

in every room except for his.

That's right.

I just got the electric bill
and the water bill.

And it was so high, you'd think
I was running a car wash.

So what are we supposed to do?

-Just hang out in your room?
-No.

Stand in front of a fan,

put some ice chips
in your mouth.

Be creative.

Grandpa, can I get a blanket?

It's cold in there.

Hmm-hmm. Coming right up.

And some hot cocoa.

Ooh.

Scuse me. Pardon me.

Scuse me. Scuse me.

Pardon me. Pardon me.

Ooh, I forgot the marshmallows.

Scuse me. Pardon me.
Pardon me. Pardon me.

Scuse me, scuse me.

Jake.

♪ Tells it like it is ♪

♪ Crutch is here ♪

-♪ For friends, family, kids ♪
-CRUTCH: Yo, it's Francois!

-♪ Crutch is Crutchfield ♪
-♪ Crutch. ♪

♪ ♪

Flaco, today is
Jamilah's first day.

I think she'll be
a fine addition

to Crutchfield's
Uptown Flooring.

What about the incident
in high school?

Flaco. That was a long time ago.

I'm quite sure
she knows the difference

between feet and yards now.

I hope she does.

-Well, just keep an eye on her.
-Aight.

I'll get it done.

Take charge, show her the ropes.

I'll be the Obi-Wan
to her Kenobi.

You need to rewatch Star Wars,
Flaco.

Remember, no special treatment.

Oh, don't worry.
I'm the king of nothing special.

Hey.

I'm ready for my first day.

Welcome to
Crutchfield's Uptown Flooring...

I got this.

For starters,

here at Crutchfield's
Uptown Flooring,

-we value punctuality.
-Uh-huh.

Five minutes early
is two minutes late.

My name is Bennett,
I ain't in it.

Got it.
I-I'll be on time tomorrow.

-I'll give you a tour.
-Oh, but

I know the store, Flaco.

But does the store know you?

Crutch! What's happening?

My man Avery. Two quarters.
Come here.

You know me.

Still chasing a good woman

and a better bottle of Scotch.

Is Jake still coming through?

Yeah, he is.
He can't wait to say hi.

I hope he say more than "hi."

I have a situation
and I need a good lawyer.

Please tell me it pays.

Oh, it pays.

In that case,

let me make you
a little bit more comfortable

in the office till he gets here.

-You want something to drink?
-Yeah, what you got?

Nothing.
I was hoping you'd say no.

Very good.

Very good.

Are you rating my sweeping?

No, I'm working on
my grocery list.

I almost forgot the turnips.

Well, Flaco, I can do more
than just sweep.

I'm sure you can.

And I look forward to the days

when you achieve great things

at Crutchfield's
Uptown Flooring.

Well, when's that gonna be?

And now let's try dusting.

Wh...

Come on. Is this some kind of

Mr. Miyagi Karate Kid thing

where it's all gonna matter
at some point?

Nah.

After this, I can give you
a tour of the store.

But you just gave me a tour.

Of the store I grew up in.

You're right.

I think you're ready
for trash duty.

Look at you.

A lawyer.

I remember when
you used to shovel snow

in front of my building.

Well, you know
you gave me my first paycheck.

Did it bounce?

No...

Oh. Well, I don't know why
you even brought that up.

-Anyway, I have a tenant...
-Mm-hmm.

...that I need you
to help me get out.

Well... talk to me.

Okay. So, I have this tenant.

-Mm-hmm.
-She won't pay her rent.

And I know it's a game.

So I gotta get her out
before winter.

Yeah, otherwise you run into
that winter eviction moratorium.

Then you'd be stuck with her
till May.

-You really know your stuff.
-Yeah.

Okay, let me get this straight.

So, uh, you want
to put this person

out on the street?

Well, maybe not out
on the street.

-Huh.
-But how 'bout the sidewalk,

or the grass...

Just any place
except my building, Jake.

Well, respectfully, Mr. Avery,

that's just not what I do.

I'm more of a tenants' advocate.

Landlords need advocates, too.

Listen, I know
you're into helping people

and not making money...

That's not necessarily true.

Well, then, let me put
some money in your pocket, Jake.

Okay. Well, let me just

look at my schedule
and I'll get right back to you.

-Okay.
-All right. But I gotta go.

-Okay, but you get back to me now.
-Of course.

I've been knowing your father
a long time, man.

We've hung out
with just about everybody.

Now you're looking up.

I remember this night

when, uh...
it was Earl the Pearl Monroe,

uh, Dapper Dan

and Sandman Sims.

Okay, we backstage
at the Apollo, right?

And Sandman Sims has just swept
off Terrence Trent D'Arby.

Terrence Trent D'Arby
come off mad, right?

And he take a rubber band
and put it in his hair,

and I said, "Need to change
your damn name, too."

And he look at me
like he want to fight.

And your father said,

"He ain't gonna beat nobody
up in here,

not no light-skinned..."

♪ ♪

He said he'd get back to you?

Man, when we were their age,

we'd jump at the chance
to make some money.

Yeah, this generation,
they're so consumed

with their dreams
and their passions,

they forget there's
a real world out there.

True that.

I'm-a be honest with you.

Professionally, I'm ready
to sit my ass down.

I'm ready to sit down, too,
but every time I go to sit,

there's somebody else
in my seat.

Remember when we were kids?

We used to talk about
changing Harlem.

-One block at a time, remember?
-Mm-hmm.

Now all I want to do
is change my zip code

and be out sunbathing
on a yacht in the ocean.

I wish.

But having family around,
that ain't happening here.

What? Now, wait a minute.
That's a blessing,

having your kids
and your grandkids back home.

Ain't nobody said that.

I love my family,
but having 'em around

ain't cheap.

You know, my water bill,
my electric bill just came in.

It's tripled.

And don't let me
get started on my AC.

Well, your electric
controls your AC.

Don't correct me, Avery.

R... Remember that time

I corrected you
at the Cult Jam concert?

It was me and you

and-and-and Dapper Dan,

and I think Andy Gibb was there.

-I got to go to work now.
-And I feel like

I'm forgetting somebody.

Uh...

Was it Bowlegged Lou?

No, no, it wasn't Bowlegged Lou,

'cause Bowlegged Lou
started Cult Jam.

Oh! Oh! Patti LaBelle... Hey!

Crutchfield!

♪ ♪

Hey, Pop, I got your text.
You okay?

Yeah, I just wanted to know
how your day was.

You do anything fun?

You called me all the way
up here to see how my day was?

Yeah.

Oh.

Well, it was nice. Um...

I wrote this motion and the
words just poured out of me...

You gonna help Avery or what?

I knew it.

No, Pop. I-I'm not doing that.

Why not?

Well, for starters,
I don't have the time.

Even if I did, putting people
out on the street

is not what I do.

It's a deadbeat
who hasn't paid rent in months.

What don't you get about that?

Yeah, Jake.
What don't you get about that?

I pays my rent.

Sometimes.

I believe that housing is
a universal right.

Hard times can happen
to anybody,

and it's our job to make sure
those people are protected.

So how is Avery supposed
to keep his buildings up

with tenants
that don't pay rent?

I see this
at Legal Aid all the time.

Do you know how many people
are one paycheck away

from financial disaster?

I'm living with two of them.

Okay, that was a good one.

That was a good one.

But seriously, why aren't you
on the side of the people?

Avery is the people, okay?

You think I would be asking you

to do this for anybody?

-Me and this man go back.
-Yeah.

I know.

So why don't you at least
look at his file?

Guess we're gonna have
to just agree to disagree.

I guess we gonna have to agree

that you like lights,
food, and AC.

Well, I like all that, too.

Especially the food.

Miss Pearl, do you mind?

Well, both y'all
make good points.

Y'all should have a podcast.

Fine. Fine.

I'll take a look at his file

under one condition.

You turn the AC back on.

Deal.

Deal.

I was gonna turn it
back on anyway.

The living room's
starting to smell

like cat food in a hot car.

Mm.

♪ ♪

And finding the axe in her skull

was just half the story.

The wait is over...

The boyfriend did it.

How do you know?

Little girl, I'm a professional.

It's in those eyes.

He's got those cold-blooded,

"I'm-a drug you and kill you

"and then join
the Peace Corps" eyes.

I think it's the side chick.
I don't like her limp.

So how was
your first day at work?

Oh, you know,
I swept for four hours,

dusted for three,

and got an in-depth tutorial
on the dumpster.

That sounds boring.

It was. When Dad hired me,

he said I could become
the next generation,

but they're not giving me
anything to do.

How long you been there?

One day.

And you haven't already
transformed the business?

I hear you, Aunt Toni. I just...

I really hope he didn't give me
that job out of pity.

Hmm. Your father would do
anything for his family,

but when it comes to that store,

he does not do pity.

But...

I just really want
to do something to help Dad.

Especially since
I overheard him today

talking again about
how his bills have gone up

since we got here.

Well, if they don't
give you something to do,

find something to do.

The main thing is,
be patient with yourself.

You're right.

Ooh, it's back on.

But in the end,

it was her limp
that gave her away.

Told you.

Told you! I knew that leg
had a story to tell.

♪ ♪

This is an HR presentation.

On a cassette?

Two cassettes.

Is that you, Flaco?

It is.

...linoleum.

-...sexual harassment.
-Sexual harassment.

Uh...

This is a waste of time, Flaco.

-Can I at least help a customer?
-Whoa.

Slow down. You got to walk
before you run.

Can you give me
something real to do?

I really don't know
what else to give you.

I'm the manager,
sales associate,

customer service rep,

and, as you recall, HR.

I-I really don't have
anything left.

Well, what about
your social media presence?

-I do that, too.
-Oh.

You got one post
from five years ago.

I really haven't found
anything else

worth sharing with the world.

Well, what about
those rugs over there?

Uh, yeah, let's not talk
about the rugs.

-Oh, okay.
-Okay, fine.

Ten years ago, I convinced
your father to buy these rugs.

It was my big idea
to expand the business.

-It did not expand the business.
-Oh.

I didn't sell one rug.

It's my secret shame, and it
still haunts me till this day.

Oh, don't beat
yourself up, Flaco.

It's like when I worked here
in high school,

and I mixed up
the yards and feet.

Not that bad.

Well, I have an idea that
I think will redeem us both.

We're gonna sell those rugs.

♪

Pop, uh, I looked
through Avery's file,

and you're not gonna like
what I found.

You want some onion rings
and cantaloupe?

No.

Then what are you talking about?

Over the past two years,

Avery's put out six tenants
in his apartments.

Do you know how many of those
apartments he's rented out?

-All of them?
-None of them.

Avery's what you call
a slow walker.

Oh, oh, like on Game of Thrones?

No, Miss Pearl.
That's a White Walker.

Oh, my second husband
was a White Walker.

He worked at a nursing home
in Yonkers.

What the hell are you
talking about, Jake?

Okay, Dad, so a slow walker
is a landlord

that slow-walks repairs
in their apartment

until the tenants
get frustrated and leave.

Oh, that's what y'all call them.

We used to just
call them slumlords,

but that don't make no sense.
Why would he do that?

Because once
the apartments are vacant,

he can sell the buildings
to a corporation.

Oh, wow. That's messed up,
but that don't sound like Avery.

Well, Dad, it's all online.
The city has a website,

and you can check out all the
complaints against Mr. Avery.

How do we know that's true?

Well, there's one that says
he should stop telling

long stories and make repairs.

-That's him.
-Yeah.

♪ ♪

What are you doing, Flaco?

You said we were taking
pictures with the rugs.

I said we were taking
pictures of the rugs.

-Ah. Sorry.
-Oh, well, wait, wait, wait.

I kind of like this look.
Do that pose again.

Where did you get
that hat, anyway?

Oh, I was gonna wear this on the
hip-hop cruise with your dad.

I bought a whole bunch of stuff.

Oh, this is gonna be fun.

Okay, come on.

Uh... can you smize
for me, Flaco?

What?

Smile with your eyes.

♪ ♪

It was me, Billy Ocean,

Ed Bradley,

Meadowlark Lemon,

a-a-and we're playing
pinochle, right?

Door opens, guess who
walked through the door.

Let's put a pause
on the story time.

But wait. Wait, wait.

Don't you want to know
who walked through the door?

I need to ask you something.

It was Richard Pryor.

Richard Pryor walked
in the door.

Enough, Avery.

Jake told me that you're doing

some real shady shit
with your tenants, man.

And I can't believe it's true.

What are you
talking about, Crutch?

Mr. Avery, we know

you're trying to empty out your
building so you can sell it.

Not sell it, e-exactly.

I-I'm pulling in some investors.

I'll be a partner.
I'll still be involved.

Yeah? Well, I'm guessing
those investors

aren't from the community.

Oh, you know how that works.

You attach a local face,
it helps the deal.

So it's true? You've been
slow-walking your repairs?

Yeah.

But soon, it's gonna
pick up in a big way.

And there'll be
a nice piece in it

for you, Crutch.

We going top-notch.

Tile, terrazzo, hardwood floors.

So this how you treat
the people you grew up with?

The people that
make Harlem Harlem?

Avery,

you gonna sell out
this whole neighborhood?

Yes.

Man, I can't believe you.
What happened to you, Avery?

Crutchfield, if this deal
goes through,

I may never have to work again.

Isn't that why we work so hard?

-For this kind of opportunity?
-No.

Not at the expense of my people.

Oh, man.

So, I guess we ain't got
nothing else to say.

Your son's rubbing off on you.

Suddenly, you don't like
money, either?

No, I like money.
I just don't like you.

And you don't know
Richard Pryor.

Dad, I-I know how hard
that must've been

to do that to a close friend.

You know, a fine young lawyer
once said to me,

"Housing is a universal right."

Thank you, Pop.

You know,
I'm-a be telling this story

about what you just did
for years.

Remember that time
it was me and you

and that slumlord Mr. Avery,

and you-you told him
what's what,

and you slammed the door
right in his face,

and stood up for all of Harlem?

Damn skippy.

♪ ♪

Wow. It is packed in here.

What's going on here?
We giving away free cheese?

Better. This won't constipate
you and feel good on your feet.

Check this out, Dad.

I'm a rug influencer.

We're rug influencers.

What does that mean?

It means we're
making money. Bla-dow!

Turns out, if you buy rugs

and hold on to them long enough,

they become vintage
and sell like hotcakes.

You did all of this
in just a few days?

The internet works fast, Dad.

I posted pictures
of these rugs on Marketplace,

and I tagged the Mocha Moms
Instagram page.

I trained her well.

Baby girl, I love the fact

that we are making money here

-in Harlem the right way.
-Mm-hmm.

And my store is filled
with women.

And we're so busy,
I had to enlist

the next generation
of Crutchfields.

Are we getting paid?

Oh, you're getting paid
in hugs and kisses.

That's a raise.
When your mother was younger,

I paid her
with pats on her back.

Flaco, you really
trained her well.

Thank you.

And he's an excellent model.
We've been posting on the new

Crutchfield's Instagram page.

Hashtag "playtime with Flaco."

Damn, baby girl,
you just started,

and you making me money.

-I got to put you up on that sign.
-Yeah.

Call it "Crutchfield
and Daughter Uptown Flooring."

How does that sound, Flaco?

It's all right.

Ugh. Come on, Dad. You still
doing this thing with the AC?

I ain't do nothing.
The AC is broken.

Could it be that
somebody's stubby fingers

played with the knobs too much?

Are you questioning
my mechanical abilities?

No, Dad, but maybe we should
call a professional to fix it.

Ain't nothing happening
on Sundays.

They charge a arm, a leg,
a thigh, and a kill breast.

I'm too sweaty
to FaceTime my friends.

Guys, global warming
is not cool.

Don't worry about it.
Once I plug up these fans,

we gonna be cool in no time.

Francois, you're an idiot.

You look better in the dark.

Captioned by Media Access
Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org

♪ Sometimes life can deal you ♪

♪ A messed-up hand ♪

-♪ But when it hits the fan ♪
-♪ Hits the ♪

♪ Never fear ♪

♪ The Crutch is here ♪

♪ Crutchfield, Crutchfield ♪

♪ He keeps it real ♪

-♪ Crutchfield, whoa! ♪
-♪ Whoa! ♪

What's that, bro bro?