Original subtitles

[waves crashing]

[thunder rumbling]

- Creatures from the sea!

- Creatures of the sea.

- Yeah, but let's try it louder, all right?

More commanding.

Like, a little like this-- creatures from the sea,

I summon thee!

- Creatures...

- Yeah.

- [weakly] I summon thee.

- OK, Jelly, look at me.

It's time for you to face conflict.

These creatures are your friends.

They're gonna help you fight the evil.

You have to trust in them.

- What if I don't have friends?

- Right. Well...

can't fight evil alone, right?

You need an army.

Look, Jelly, I believe in you.

- You do? - Yes, I do!

All you have to do is try.

[dramatic music]

- My mom never really said what this "Captain Tsunami" comic

was all about.

But I think, somehow, it's about me.

[birds chirping]

[light music]

[sheep bleating]

[creature roaring]

[explosion]

[doorbell rings]

[dog barking in distance]

- Hi.

- [chuckles] What are you selling, kid?

I already bought cookies this year, so...

- Glenn?

- Do I know you?

[mysterious music]

[phone buzzing]

[helicopter rotors whirring, police radio chatter]

- Now's not a good time.

- Look at the picture I just sent you.

- Oh, my God.

- Is that who I think it is?

- When did she get there?

- Two minutes ago.

- We just put an Amber Alert out for her.

- How does she know where I live?

- I don't know.

Look, just keep her there. - Wait, wait!

Is everything OK? Is her mom OK?

- I don't know. I don't know.

Look, man, I'll call you back.

OK?

- OK.

[wind howling]

You know, there's an Amber Alert out for you.

That was your dad.

He's probably... both: Already on his way.

- Police are gonna get here first.

- You gonna tell me what this is all about?

- She told me, if anything ever happened, to come here.

- What does that mean, "if anything ever happened"?

- You know how she is.

- Em, what happened?

- Do not call me that.

- What?

- My friends call me Em.

I don't really know you.

- Emma, where is your mom?

- Gone.

- What does "gone" mean?

- I don't know.

She was there, and then she was gone.

[somber music]

- Yeah.

Adults do that sometimes.

They go away for a day or two.

- Or a decade or two.

You don't think I know who you are?

I don't look anything like him.

[phone buzzing] - [singing] Where's my captain

- OK, let's take a breath for a second.

[sighs]

- [singing] Where's my captain

- Look, I don't know what you think you know.

- Come on.

- How could you know?

- How could you not?

- What happened to your mom?

[phone buzzing] - [singing] Where's my captain

- I don't know.

- [singing] Where's my captain

- I can't talk right now.

- Sisto's out.

- Sisto's out of what?

- The signing.

He's out.

- He can't be out. Get him back.

- No, he's got some family emergency or something.

- No, I'm telling you, he can't be out.

Fix it.

I don't care how you do it.

- Sisto?

- Yeah.

Jeremy Sisto.

He's an actor from--

- "Captain Tsunami."

I know who Jeremy Sisto is.

He's doing a signing at your comic store?

- Yeah.

It's more than a signing.

[pensive music]

It's an interactive thing.

Sisto comes in, and the kids request poses.

- So into camera.

- Everybody's got their thing.

Kids can choose their own costumes and everything.

It's gonna be cool.

We've been planning it for over a year.

You know about the comic book store, huh?

What, you've been googling me or something?

- Yeah, I did some googling before I took a bus

500 miles to meet a stranger.

[thunder rumbling]

She's really proud of you about the comic store.

- Yeah, I used to be obsessed with "Captain Tsunami"

comic books when I was a kid.

Every Halloween, we did the costumes.

- [with deep voice] Creatures from the sea...

both: I summon thee!

- [laughs]

What, did your mom make you read it?

[zipper scratching]

[objects clattering]

Hey.

No, no, don't--

what the hell?

[dramatic music]

- She told me, if anything ever happened, to come here

and bring you this.

- What is all this?

- She said you would know.

She said only you would know.

[siren wails]

[car doors slam]

[sirens wailing]

[horn blares, police radio chatter]

- So it might not be her?

- Her ex-husband, Malcolm,

was at the location with the divers.

[helicopter rotors whirring]

- Ex-husband?

- The car is stuck in the mud.

They're bringing in a crane to pull it out.

They'll be able to confirm, but the ex-husband

is sure it's her car.

[police radio chatter]

I understand that you're Emma Andrews' biological father?

Sir?

- Yeah?

- You were estranged from her mother?

- Not exactly, no.

- It's just that you and Ms. Andrews

live pretty far apart.

- Yeah, she was raising Emma with Malcolm.

- You weren't aware that he and Ms. Andrews were divorced?

- No, I wasn't.

- We understand Ms. Andrews is--

- Desiree.

- We understand Desiree is neurodivergent.

- You mean crazy.

- She's on medication,

some pretty significant medication

to manage her mental health.

But she also has a history of--

- She was in a program.

[somber music]

- She was in a lot of programs.

- Yeah, well, they don't make programs for people like her.

- What are people like her?

- What are they telling her?

- They're telling her about the car,

that we're still looking for her mom.

What are people like her?

- What?

- You said they don't have programs

for people like Desiree.

- She wasn't crazy.

- OK.

- They never agreed on what it was.

One day, it was schizophrenia.

Next day, it was personality disorder.

They tried everything.

Sometimes she seemed completely normal.

Sometimes she saw monsters.

And one day, she's scribbling nonsense on the wall.

The next day, she's painting like Picasso.

What do you call that?

- I don't know.

What do you call it?

She'd like to stay here tonight

until her legal guardian arrives.

And he said it's fine with him if it's all right with you.

- Her what?

- Her stepfather, Malcolm, is the legal guardian.

He's on the way.

[police radio chatter]

[engine revving]

- She must have already known.

It got really weird the last few weeks.

Something was up, but I don't know.

She wouldn't tell me.

Look, man, she's a smart kid.

She probably just looked in the mirror and figured it out.

- Yeah.

Yeah, I guess she did.

[sighs]

- I'll be there in a few hours.

We'll figure this out.

- You driving?

- As opposed to what?

- Yeah, I don't know.

- I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier.

- Hey, you know anything about this "Captain Tsunami"

stuff she brought with her?

- What?

- She's got a bag of drawings and stuff

about Captain Tsunami.

- I can't talk about comic books right now, man.

- No, I think her mom gave it to her

and told her to bring it to me

should anything ever happen to her.

- OK, that--that doesn't make any sense.

- Yeah, that's what I said.

- Well, did you show it to the cops?

- No, I didn't even think about it.

- "Captain Tsunami"?

- Yeah.

I think she drew it all herself.

It's a lot, man.

It's, like, months or years of work.

- All right, well, I'll look at it when I get there.

- Hey, you guys got divorced?

- Couple years back.

- Well, she's hard to love, you know?

- It was me. I filed it.

I left her.

- I'll see you when you get here, man.

- Yeah.

- Drive safe.

- Can we get pizza or something?

[soft music]

- I had no idea your mom was drawing comics.

- Nobody did.

- Why not?

Was it a secret or something?

- You tell me.

Everybody's got their thing.

Everybody's got their thing.

What about you?

You have any gifts?

Yeah.

I'm invisible.

But I can see you.

Take a few steps that way, please.

- OK.

- I'll tell you when to stop.

OK, and stop.

Turn around.

OK.

Here are the rules.

You'll walk towards me.

I'll walk towards you.

You act like you don't know me and don't see me.

- OK. - OK?

- OK. - And go.

- [whistling]

What? - What?

- I still see you.

- Wait, you--you see me?

- Mm-hmm. - Right now? Are you sure?

- Yeah. - OK, can you see this?

Say wha--

- [sighs] - What is it? Oh, my God.

[gasps] Is this yours?

- [chuckles]

- And he's magically holding up her bracelet.

- That's not magic. It's pickpocketing.

[sighs]

The "Return of Captain Tsunami."

God, I wish.

They stopped publishing years ago.

- Yeah, I know.

The warrior mermaid story was always her favorite.

[wind howling]

- Mm.

This is really good.

Seriously, all this.

It's, like--like, full reboot good.

I mean, I--[laughs]

Is that why your mom wanted you to bring it to me?

- I don't think so.

- Because, you know, I just run the comic book store.

I'm not a publisher. I can't do anything with this.

- I think she just wanted you to read it.

She said you would know why.

- I don't.

I don't know what she wants.

I don't know the story or these characters.

- Yeah, you do.

It's you.

- What's me?

- That one, Jelly.

- Jelly?

- The security guard with the soup.

- [slurping]

- [chuckles] That's supposed to be me?

- Well, sort of.

- Sort of?

Have you read this?

- I read the pages, but it's all out of order.

And it's not done.

Like, these pages have pictures but no words.

[soft piano music]

- OK, so?

- Isn't it your story and her story and Dad's story?

There's a lot of you all being together.

In this part, you guys are at some diner.

Jelly's like a big kid talking about Captain Tsunami.

- Captain Tsunami can summon all the sea creatures he wants.

They're his army.

They have superpowers, like super speed, super jumps...

- Jumps? Mm.

- Super survival, lightning fingers.

There is also a mermaid. - Mm-hmm.

both: She's a warrior mermaid.

- OK, first of all, I don't talk like that.

- I think Viper's having trouble

controlling a power or something.

- [sighs]

Your mom really loved mermaids.

- You guys don't secretly have those super-fish powers

Jelly was talking about, right?

- I don't know what you think happened

to all of us back then, but...

this isn't it.

- You weren't a security guard?

- Well, yeah, I was a security guard at one point,

but I wasn't dripping wet all the time

and constantly eating soup.

- Were you drunk?

[mysterious music]

- Yeah.

Yeah, I was.

- Are you drunk right now?

- Six years sober.

- Hmm.

- So, what, is that how your mom thinks about me, huh?

She thinks I'm some sweaty dipshit security guard

with a soup problem?

And this guy Viper is supposed to be Malcolm?

And he's got, like, weird things growing on his back?

And he's--what is he doing?

He's selling some magical goo or something?

[reflective music]

This was-- this was that summer

when the first "Captain Tsunami" movie came out.

I know some of these places.

Look, Emma,

this is a lot for anybody.

I don't know anything about kids.

I don't even know how you're sitting here right now.

But I know your mom. - You knew my mom.

- I know your mom saw the world differently

than the rest of us.

Maybe this is what that looks like to her.

But whatever this is, it's not a history book.

This is just your mother seeing the world through--

- Through a kaleidoscope.

Broken Genius, right?

That's what people call her.

You don't know my mom.

You knew my mom.

You haven't seen her in years.

You don't answer the phone.

You don't write back.

You think she got better?

She didn't.

She got worse.

Do you know how hard it is to keep a job

when you're a single mom

with an unmanaged mental illness?

When your 12-year-old daughter has to translate your crazy

into a grocery list?

She got worse.

This?

This is, like, the best she could do.

You said this wasn't a history book.

Well, maybe it's not your history book, but it's hers.

And it's what happened.

- I was there, Emma.

I know what happened.

- Didn't even know you had a daughter.

What else did you miss?

[phone buzzing] - [singing] Where's my captain

Where's my captain

Where's my captain

- Actually, no, Gus, I can't right now.

- Sisto's guy said it's not about money.

It's a family emergency.

- Yeah? OK.

- I mean, he says Sisto's not like that.

- [sighs] I know. He's a good dude.

- [sighs] Look, I'm-- I'm really sorry.

- Forget it. It's not your fault.

- Yeah, I know, but this is important.

- Hey, are you at the store right now?

- Yeah. I'm here.

- Do me a favor? - Yeah. Name it.

- You know the combination to the safe in the back, yeah?

- Yeah, I know it.

- There's a box in there. Can you bring it to me?

- What's in it?

- What are you talking about, what's in it?

Just--just bring me the box.

- No, this Sisto thing, OK, it's not that bad.

- It's not booze.

I promise it's not.

I got a family emergency of my own going on here.

- Oh, shit, Glenn, are you OK?

- Yeah, it's fine.

Just, you can put the box on the porch

and then send me a text, OK?

- OK. Right now?

- Yes, right now. It's very important.

- [sighs] OK, yeah.

You got it. - All right. Thanks, Gus.

[thunder rumbling]

[thunder booming]

[wind howling]

All right.

So if this is her version of history, what does it say?

You've read it?

- I don't know what order it goes in.

It's just pages and gaps.

- And you want me to put it in order for you?

- Mm, yeah.

Please?

- What are you expecting to happen here?

- I don't know. Something.

- Like what? What something?

- Like, if this is the story and we're all in it,

how does it end?

Jelly and Viper and Sedona and, I guess, me.

- What did you just say?

- That's Mom, Sedona.

[soft piano music]

Do you remember something?

[music swells]

Hello.

- Sorry.

You're 12?

- I turn 13 in April.

- Around April 12th?

If this is what I think it is,

we'd already lost touch.

- For how long?

- Years.

Your mom and dad-- wasn't great.

She was homeless,

like, full-on homeless, living in tents.

[pensive music]

Mal was all over the place.

I lost track of them for a while.

- [humming]

- Anybody home?

It's just me.

- So that's the beginning?

- It always felt like an ending to me.

- Mm.

You're skipping stuff.

Jelly says he got his name from his uncle

because of a "Captain Tsunami" comic.

[mysterious music]

- Seriously, who are you?

Where did Jelly come from?

- My Uncle Tony gave that to me.

- But why? Why Jelly?

- "Captain Tsunami" comic number five.

- Yeah, I got nothing.

- So what were you guys doing?

[both giggling]

- Just roaming.

- You got lost?

- Oh, you can say that.

[both chuckle]

- You ever get lost, Jelly?

- I have GPS.

- What?

- Did she ever tell you how we all knew each other?

- They were orphans, and you were their foster family.

- We were all orphans.

- But it was your family.

- Uncle Tony.

- Mom called him Uncle T.

He was your real uncle.

- Yeah.

He was my real uncle.

Uncle Tony took me in after my parents--

[thunder rumbling]

Carbon monoxide poisoning.

You know what that is?

[pensive music]

They were in the garage.

Uncle Tony found them and dragged them out,

but it was too late.

But he took me in.

He was already fostering kids after Auntie Barbara died,

his wife.

Your mom and Mal were already there.

We were all any of us had left.

Thick as thieves-- we had to be.

Best friends under one roof.

It was the best time of my life,

right up until it wasn't.

We grew up, and real life came at us.

And, well, your mom and real life,

they were never gonna get along.

- Look at that view.

- Yeah, this is-- this is a great view.

OK, full disclosure, I'm not a big fan of heights.

Can we stop with the high-ups?

- I've never felt at home on land.

Maybe I belong in the sky!

I'm ready. - Cool.

Wait. [chuckles] Ready for what?

- To jump.

- To--

- A leap of faith!

- OK, wait. Stop, stop, stop. Wait, wait.

We can't do this.

- Why not?

- Well, because we're way too high right now.

- I know! [laughs]

- But seriously, no.

This--I'm serious.

- Me too.

We'll never get higher than this!

Now is the time to fly!

- Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Stop.

You know we're on a dumpster, right?

[thunder rumbling]

[wind howling]

- You OK?

- Mom's telling us something.

- What, you think that's what's in here?

- I know that's what's in here.

- Well, it looks like a story about three weirdos

who think they're fish getting summoned by Captain Tsunami.

- So you're saying it's three friends

who forgot who they were

and it's a story about how they remember.

I wonder what that's all about.

- Emma.

- God damn it! - Whoa, language.

- You keep saying this is the end of your story,

but it's the beginning of mine.

So will you please just be helpful?

- You don't sound 12.

- Well, I'm 13 in April, so...

- [chuckles]

[thunder rumbling]

[wind howling]

I was a security guard at an outdoor mall,

this promenade thing.

Seemed like the easiest job in the world.

It should have been, till this one night.

A woman was choking at one of the restaurants.

Everybody was freaking out,

screaming at me to do something.

- What did you do?

[police radio chatter]

- Nothing.

[siren wails, horn blares]

I couldn't hear.

Hadn't had a job in a year.

I was back living with Uncle Tony.

Hadn't seen your mom and Mal since I don't know when.

And yeah, I was more drunk

than I'd ever been in my entire life.

That's saying something.

- What happened to the lady?

[somber music]

- She's in a coma, Jelly.

Her husband, her family, they're probably gonna sue us.

We're counting on you to help people.

[sighs] I just needed you to do your job.

You didn't do your job.

- So she went into a coma?

- She died.

She went into a coma, and she died.

- What did you do?

- They suspended me.

But I was so drunk, I just forgot.

I showed up to work that night.

- Did her husband sue you?

- No.

[singing] Singin' in the moonlight

Tonight, singin'

[grunts]

He stabbed me.

- She was choking.

They told me you didn't do anything.

both: She was my wife.

- I remember him saying that.

"She was my wife."

- How did they find you?

- Somebody called 911.

- I mean, how did Mom and Mal find you?

- They didn't.

What's this?

- Do you think she's making this part up?

[doorbell rings]

- Hey. Thanks, man.

- Hey.

Yeah.

What's going on?

- You wouldn't believe me if I told you.

- Are you alone?

- No, actually.

Family.

- Family?

[scoffs] What family?

- It--it's complicated.

- Yeah, but, Glenn--

- I'm not gonna blow my chip

because Jeremy Sisto isn't showing up.

[chuckling] Come on. Give me a little more credit.

- Yeah.

- There's nothing in the house.

All right, I'm good.

- Yeah, I'm two minutes away.

- I know.

Thanks for the thing.

- All right.

- Yeah. See you tomorrow.

- See you.

- [sighs]

[sighs]

[thunder rumbling]

[sighs]

[keys jingling]

[soft music]

[lid creaking]

[thunder rumbling]

- Stars.

I see stars even brighter than my tent lights.

- They tell stories, you know?

The stars.

There's Orion and his belt

holding his sword and his shield,

protecting himself from Scorpio, the scorpion.

[mimics blows landing]

- [chuckles]

- They're never in the sky at the same time, you know?

When one rises, the other sets.

- [chomps, chuckles]

- And then there's the archer, Sagittarius,

aiming his arrow at Antares,

the star that's the scorpion's heart.

[mimics arrow whooshing]

[chuckles] It's cool, right?

- Mm-hmm.

- I mean, there are animals, goddesses,

monsters, conflict, war, love.

- [chuckles]

- Process the next batch.

I need more paste...

[machine whirring]

And possibly an aspirin.

- The rest of the crop is ready, sir, but--

- I don't care.

Just do your job, and figure it out.

[dramatic music]

- Oh, my God.

- How many people?

- Reporting in, sir!

- Do you have them?

- We looked absolutely everywhere, sir.

There's no way they're still here.

- Really?

OK.

Can I see that?

[grunting]

[thudding]

We're on lockdown, people.

That means no one can exit the building.

It's not freakin' rocket science!

[echoing] Science, science, science, science.

[seagulls calling]

[pensive music]

[waves crashing]

- Danger is all around you when you least expect it.

Your friends are in danger too.

- Wow. - Yeah. It's a lot to take in.

- I have friends.

- OK.

It's up to you to save them.

- Can't you help?

- One day, I'll be gone,

and I'll need someone strong to watch over my kingdom.

- Gone? - Mm-hmm.

- Where are you going?

- Home.

- In the sea?

- No--no, Beverly Hills.

- When?

- That's up to you.

When that happens,

I need you to become the captain.

[echoing] Captain, captain.

- [singing] Where's my captain

Where's my captain

Where's my captain

- Hey.

- Hey, listen, man. Something's up.

- What does that mean? - I don't know.

I got shitty reception where I am,

and I missed a call from the cops.

I called them back. I got a [garbled] about it.

- I can barely hear you.

- OK, listen, I gave them your number.

Keep your phone on. They're gonna call you.

Did you get that?

- OK, yeah.

Hey, I gotta ask you something.

Remember when I got stabbed?

- Yeah.

Yeah, I remember when you got stabbed.

- Did you come see me in the hospital?

- Yeah, we both did.

It was some scary shit.

- Both?

D was there too? - Yeah.

You don't remember?

- Mr. Joseph is different than other people.

- How so?

- Most people are 50%, 60% water.

- What's Jelly?

- 95%.

- Is he gonna be OK?

- It's a process.

You're welcome to stay here if you want.

We've got gummy worms.

- I was going through a lot.

I didn't even know where you were.

I hadn't seen you in years.

How did you even know? - They called me.

- Who called you? - The hospital.

They said I was your emergency contact.

[line beeps]

Hello? - Hello?

Mal?

- Shit.

- What's going on?

- I don't know.

That's the truth. I--I actually don't know.

But Mal says he remembers visiting me in the hospital.

- You don't remember?

- I don't remember a lot of things.

- What do you remember?

- When I was drinking back then,

the real world and the comic book

used to sort of...blend.

- Did Captain Tsunami ever sing a song in one of his cartoons?

- He did Rock, Paper, Scissors one time.

Does that count? - No.

- Against a sinister squid who had eight tentacles.

You have to be really fast at Rock, Paper, Scissors

to defeat a monster with eight tentacles.

- I get it, Jelly.

- Lots of rocks, papers,

and scissors.

I am very scared of scissors.

I used to dream we were all changing.

I remember Mal living in his car.

Everything he had was in there.

[banging]

I hadn't seen him in years.

Now suddenly there he was one night

in the promenade garage,

sleeping at the wheel.

- What about Mom?

- Homeless.

I didn't know where at first,

but Mal was the one who found her.

- I think she found him first.

This one.

That's the promenade, right?

- Yeah.

Huh.

- Do you--do you wish you were smarter?

I do.

I don't mean that I wish you were smarter.

No, I wish I were smarter.

I have some vital vitamins needed for your cerebellum,

and it's called Hai-Q.

It makes your brain big.

It adds all the vitamins vital to your cerebellum.

Hello. Hello.

Hey, do you wish you were smarter?

Do you wish--I do.

I did.

- I knew he was selling that stuff, but when was this?

- What stuff?

- She was watching him.

- Selling what stuff?

- She--maybe, but--

- Oh, my God.

- What?

- You sound just like Mom.

- Sorry.

So Mal told me he found your mom at some point.

I thought it was after I got stabbed.

She stole his bag. He chased her.

[soft music]

She almost got away, but some dudes

jumped her in an alley and...

- [screams]

[clamor, glass shatters]

- And Mal pulled her out.

- Are you OK?

- She ran off, and he found her in a tent somehow.

I mean, that's what they said happened.

Yeah, this is definitely before I got stabbed.

- This is really nice.

Could use a big beanbag, though.

Big beanbags go with everything.

This place certainly has that.

It's like a whole new world in here, a galaxy.

It's got stars.

I'm Viper.

- Like the snake?

- I don't get it.

- Welcome to the club.

- They're acting like strangers.

Is it a game?

Don't say it's not real.

- OK.

- I'm Viper.

- Like the snake?

- Yeah. Yeah, I'm a snake.

Yeah, I slither.

So every so often, I feel like I shed my skin,

become something new.

[sighs] I've slithered through a lot of jungles.

You know, maybe someday I'll find the right jungle.

Do you also have a name?

- Sedona.

- That's a really pretty name.

What's it mean?

- What?

- You nearly had a heart attack when I said Sedona earlier.

What's it mean?

- I don't know yet.

- [sighs]

- Why were you watching me the other day?

- [scoffs] I wasn't.

- OK.

- Well, why are you here?

- I wanted to see you.

- I--I mean why are you in this town?

- Oh.

Oh...[chuckles] I had a job interview.

- What's that stuff you're selling?

- Drugs, I think.

- Good drugs?

- They're not technically drugs,

but I did try some and I was hella tripping.

Like, getting crazy, crazy hallucinations.

- But they were drugs?

- He didn't know that yet.

He thought it was a bootleg energy snack or something.

We're missing pages.

- Where were you during all this?

- This was all before I got stabbed.

Had to be.

- 'Cause they showed up at the hospital together.

- Yeah.

- These?

- Yeah.

Yeah, that's exactly the spot.

I guess she was watching me too.

Just didn't see her.

- Then Captain Tsunami says...

[gruffly] No, I'm Captain Tsunami.

- Really? With the voice again?

- [normally] And then he disintegrates

the evil shark monster...

both: With his lightning fingers.

- That's when he becomes a superhero

in the first comic book and in the 1970s classic cartoon here.

Now, next Friday, the movie comes out, finally.

I already bought an extra ticket after I got my paycheck,

so we can go together.

I just need you to pick me up because I don't have a car,

and I hate taking the bus.

What was your question again?

- Where is the restroom?

- I was really, really into "Captain Tsunami."

- Like, into it so much that you opened a comic book store?

- A little bit more to it than that, but sure.

[pensive music]

[door creaks open]

Whoa. [door clicks shut]

Uncle Tony!

I'm on break.

Came home to eat!

[mimics explosions]

- Creatures from the sea!

- Creatures of the sea.

- It's "from," right?

We're all from the sea.

So we say, creatures from the sea.

So it's, creatures from the sea, I summon thee!

- Creatures...

- Better.

- [weakly] I summon thee.

- OK, a little deflated there at the end.

Jelly, listen to me.

It's time for you to face conflict here.

These creatures, they're your friends.

You have to trust in them.

They're gonna help you fight the evil.

And you can't fight evil alone. You need an army.

Jelly, listen to me.

You can be a leader.

You can. I believe in you.

- You do?

- Yes.

Yes, I do.

All you have to do is try.

Oh, and maybe go easy on the soup, huh?

- What?

That was a dream I had, like, a recurring dream.

The Sisto thing--

I never told anybody about that.

- Clearly, you did.

- Yeah. Yeah, obviously.

I mean--Jesus.

And that place, that's the place Uncle Tony and I lived after--

That's what it looked like.

And you see this?

I did that.

Like, that...

Nobody saw that.

Was she spying on me through the window or something?

- [scoffs] Wouldn't put it past her.

- Me neither.

Jesus.

I mean, they were both sucking down tubes of that stuff

Mal was supposed to be selling.

- Which was what exactly?

- [sighs] You know what magic mushrooms are?

- I live in Oregon.

- [chuckles] OK, well, when this all came crashing down,

the newspaper said it was magic mushrooms and yogurt.

A guy was making it in a bathtub.

- It doesn't sound so bad, except the bathtub part.

- Now you sound like your mom.

[mysterious music]

- Do you see how much fun they were having in all these?

- I'm feeling very... something right now.

- Magical.

- Magic isn't in me.

It's something I find.

- If that's a joke, I don't get it.

- Seriously.

It's--it's one of my gifts.

I find magic.

- What?

Smell the magic?

- Oh, you'd be surprised at what people discard.

[grunts]

[sighs] Now, watch this.

Fly away.

[whooshing]

[wings fluttering]

[metallic clatter]

- What else you got?

- Hmm.

Combo, double jump front kick into a crescent kick,

spinning back fist.

- I'm sorry, what? I don't--

- Tae kwon do.

Eh?

Impressed?

- Mm.

- You didn't.

- Did I not--

did I?

- Give me that. [gasps]

OK, like, that's some freaky magic.

- OK, so maybe Mom's trying to tell us

that anytime you were all together, it was magic?

[rain pattering]

But then there's this stuff.

I don't understand how it all connects.

You're all trapped.

- Sorry to interrupt your little date.

Pick up at the grinder.

Cleanup in aisle five.

[chuckles]

- And then there's this villain guy

who has a giant red and black machine,

and he chews people up and, like, steals their magic.

- Great news.

We've been cleared by the FDA.

Grocery stores, here you come.

- And then these, like, big shark guys

and yellow spacesuit bad guys attack.

[all grunting]

They're just too powerful.

But in the end, Jelly saves the day.

- Didn't you say you wanted to know how it ends?

Well, I know how this part ends.

[phone buzzing] - [singing] Where's my captain

Where's my captain

- Hey. How you doing on time?

- Am I speaking with Glenn?

- Oh, yes. Sorry, this is Glenn.

I thought you were somebody else.

- This is Detective Hope. I met you earlier this evening.

- Yeah. What's going on?

- Sir, you're aware that they've been

recovering a vehicle from the North Margin River

belonging to Ms. Andrews?

- Yes?

- Desiree was not found in the vehicle.

- I'm sorry?

- There was nobody in the vehicle.

- What's that mean?

- It means they'll be opening a missing persons investigation.

- No, I mean, did--

did the--did she just float out or...

- The detectives on the scene said the doors

and windows were closed.

The car was in neutral.

It appears that the car may have been unoccupied

when it entered the water.

They believe it rolled down a hill on its own.

- OK.

- Please relay this information to Malcolm Morton

as soon as you can.

They've been unable to reach him.

- Yeah, he's driving, and he has bad reception.

- I understand.

Please have him call me or the detectives up north right away.

The first 48 hours are extremely important.

- I will. Thank you.

[rain pattering]

[thunder rumbling]

- You said you know how it ends?

- What?

- Before you answered the phone,

you said you know how it ends, with the drug stuff.

- Remember when Viper told Sedona he had a job interview?

- Yeah.

- Well, if it's what I think it is,

this job interview is with the guy who made that paste stuff.

He told Mal it was-- - Fish oil.

[curious music]

Viper looks up at the mirrored building.

In the darkened office of one Mr. Hai--

- A darkened office--it was an alley behind the Falafel House.

- I'm reading here.

- I'm sorry.

- In the darkened office of one Mr. Hai...

[jazz music]

- Sorry, sir, I really-- I really need this job.

- And this job really needs you.

- Oh, thank--

- Welcome aboard! - Thank you so much.

- [chuckles] No.

No, really, I can't with this. Please.

- Why?

- There was no glass building or fancy office.

Mal owed money to the Hais,

the family who ran the falafel place.

To pay it off, he agreed to sell

tubes of that imported goop.

- 6 ounces, 10 bucks a tube.

You're gonna sell it.

- What is it?

- It's fish oil, mostly.

Doesn't matter.

Once the FDA clears us, we're going nationwide

into grocery stores.

- The FDA?

- Some government thing.

It doesn't matter.

- Oh, man.

She's making me miss this guy.

Mr. Hai was just like this.

- He's on a lot of these pages.

I think he's, like, the big bad.

- No, he wasn't a bad guy.

I mean, he was bad by, like, standards, but he was cool.

- It sounds like the mob.

- Yeah, they were all mobbed up.

But it was, like, the good mob.

- So Mom and Mal were selling imported drugs

for the "good mob"?

- It sounds worse when you say it.

And it wasn't your mom.

It was just Mal.

- No, I don't think so.

- Oh, Malcolm.

- She says... - Hey.

- Hi.

- You want to sell all that stuff right now?

Tonight?

- To you?

- I met this woman.

Real weird.

Not sure drug dealer's the right term.

More like a wholesale merchandiser.

- Merchandise being?

- Drugs.

- OK.

- She likes things that are outside the box.

- They're literally in a box.

- Except none of these pages show Mom selling anything.

It's just Mal trying to sell it alone.

And then Mom comes in and steals--

- Because it never happens.

- How do you know?

How do you know?

- Because the minute she came around, they ate it all.

They weren't drug dealers.

They were drug users.

They were addicts-- all three of us.

- Mal has never been a drug addict.

- No, but he was depressed, and he would have followed

your mom off a goddamn cliff.

He was addicted to her and addicted to being

screwed up over her for years.

He did it because she did it.

- What about you?

- Vodka and comic books--

- I mean about Mom.

- What about her?

- Would you have followed her off a cliff?

[soft music]

- I did...

a dozen times before the story even started,

a hundred times since we were 12.

We both did.

- What's this?

- The cliff.

- What's in your bag?

- Almost everything I own.

What's in your car?

- The same.

I guess we're living together.

- One night only.

You charge 10 bucks for this?

- Yeah.

- How many we got?

- 100?

- That's a lot.

- And here comes the excuse.

- Viper says...

- What if she tries to rob us?

- There it is, all the reason she needs.

She never wanted to sell that stuff.

- For someone who was blackout drunk,

you sure think you know everything.

- Well, between the two of us, I was

the one who was alive at the time,

and I was actually there, so...

- You weren't there.

You were off being an alcoholic mall cop

while Mom and Mal were homeless and living in a car.

[pensive music]

She isn't a bad person.

- I didn't say that.

- Does it make you feel better saying

that they were drug addicts?

So none of this is your fault?

I figured out years ago that Mal probably wasn't my dad.

At first, I didn't tell anybody.

But I figured it was you.

I knew all about you.

You're the only other person she ever talked about.

But I only ever heard the good parts.

And for years, I wondered why.

If you were so great, why wouldn't you want me to know?

And now I think I get it.

Why are you acting like you didn't know about me?

- I knew about you.

- Then where were you?

[sighs]

[sighs]

- [sighs]

[dramatic music]

- Everybody has their thing--

call it a gift or a curse if you want--

whether they like it or not.

- How's your thing?

- Well, I burn everything I touch, so...

What is your thing exactly?

- I don't really like to talk about it.

- You know I can hear it, right?

- It's weird.

Basically, I can sense when people are in trouble.

Thinking about Jelly being endangered stresses me out.

My thing acts up.

- Can I see it?

- [sighs] Fine.

Just promise me you won't get grossed out.

- I promise.

- Oh, yeah.

- Ew! - I know.

- Oh, my gosh!

- OK, don't be rude.

- [gasps] That is so, so cool.

- Are you being serious right now?

- I'm totally serious.

It's kind of beautiful.

How does this feel?

- It's OK.

- What about if I do this?

- Oh, don't--uh-uh. - Oh.

- Mm-mm, mm-mm, mm-mm. - OK. Sorry.

- Mm-mm, mm-mm.

- What about if I'm more gentle like this?

- Yeah, that's nice.

- [humming]

- What is that?

- My mom used to hum that to me.

[humming]

[soft music]

- [humming]

- When a line unravels, it's easy to get lost.

But every once in a while, you get found.

Monsoons swell.

Storms subside.

You bid farewell to creatures inside.

Rise to the surface.

Swim to the land.

Your kingdom awaits, castles of sand.

[dramatic music]

[knocking]

- You knew about me.

But you didn't know.

[music swells]

- [crying]

[doorbell rings]

- Detective called.

- OK, yep. Thank you.

- Why didn't you just sell the Hai-Q?

- What?

- You owed the Hais money, and you knew Mom had a problem.

Why'd you even involve her in it?

- Don't look at me.

- [chuckles]

I tried to sell it.

Just not much of a salesman.

- So you just got high with Mom?

- Yeah.

- Why would you do that?

- It wasn't the plan.

She said she knew someone who would buy the whole box.

We just never got there.

- Because you thought she might rob you?

[pensive music]

- [sighs] She has been busy.

- You've seen this before?

- Some of it, but... there's a lot missing.

- But you know what happens next.

- Yeah, we get there, park, and before we go in, I say,

what if she robs us?

And she says...

both: I know tae kwon do.

- What if she tries to rob us?

- I know tae kwon do.

- Oh.

Why didn't you use that in the alley?

- They caught me off guard.

- OK.

- They came up from behind me!

- Yeah. I'm sure they did.

We never went in.

Couldn't even find the place.

- Because?

- Because that stuff kicked in right when we got there.

- You already ate some?

- Yeah, we had some on the way.

I thought it was legal.

- Jeez. - [scoffs]

- Eventually, we found the car,

and I tried to get her to go to the park with me.

- [laughing] We shouldn't be driving.

- Well, we have to 'cause we gotta move the car.

What is up with the city? You can't park anywhere.

It's, like, 90% tow zones, and the other half

is street cleaning. - Let me drive, please.

- I want to take you to Griffith Park.

I've always wanted to see it.

- Well, it's far.

[engine turning over] - But they have stars.

I want to show you the stars.

- [gags]

- You have no game.

- No, I do not.

- Did you guys make it?

[soft music]

- Man, they really got me boxed in.

[laughter]

- What happened next?

- We ate some more of that stuff,

wandered around for a bit,

and then we stole a scissor lift.

[laughter] - What?

- Yes.

- Scissor lift? - No way.

- Yeah. - Wasn't that in the paper?

- Yeah, it was. Yeah. - That was you.

- Yep. That was us.

We were up there for hours. - [chuckles]

- At least that's how it felt.

I mean, you know, long enough to sober up.

- What'd you talk about?

- Time, luck, stars.

- You have an actual flask?

You have an actual flask?

both: What are you, an early settler?

- It's a souvenir.

Got it from father number four.

- That's a lot of family.

- Oh, that's one way to look at it.

Bounced around foster homes, kept getting sent back.

Guess when something's defective, you return it.

[chuckles]

And number four was a drinker.

Gave this to me when I was 12.

- Child abuse.

- Mm, no.

Got that from number one and number three.

- I lost my mom when I was 11.

Dad couldn't handle it.

When I was 18, I ran off.

Never looked back.

- But you had a home.

- I had a house.

It's not the same thing.

- Did she actually say that?

- No, I never heard a word of that up there.

- That doesn't make sense.

Sedona says she lost her mom when she was 11.

Dad couldn't handle it.

I thought she was in foster care all that time.

- She was.

I mean, look, maybe this is all complete fiction, you know,

like a character backstory.

- All of it's meant something so far.

So what if she's talking about Uncle Tony?

- She never called Uncle Tony Dad.

She never said anything like that.

I would have heard about it.

No, he--he died never hearing those words,

and he knew it every day.

- Maybe she wishes she did.

- Well, she had plenty of chances.

- Maybe she changed her mind.

Maybe she told him when all this was going on.

- Uncle Tony was gone by then.

- No.

Glenn was still living with him.

[mysterious music]

- What is she talking about?

- Remember?

You said you were still living with Uncle Tony.

- Uncle Tony!

I'm on break.

[mimics explosions]

- Glenn got stabbed that night.

We went to the hospital after we got the call.

We hadn't seen or heard from Uncle Tony or him in years.

So we figured we'd go to the apartment,

get him some clothes, see Uncle Tony.

Oh.

- Why wouldn't he have Uncle Tony's number

in his phone?

- So what happened?

Was he there?

- Uncle Tony was the only decent father figure

we had ever had.

We didn't know he was gone until we saw the urn.

[thunder rumbling]

It was a shitty way to find out.

- She never said it.

It was one word.

She could have said that one word.

- You want to know what happened after we left that apartment?

[pensive music]

- So I was thinking, I really want

to use the rest of my spray paint

to put "Viper" on your coat.

- Wow! - Like, spray paint.

- That'd be so-- - Cool.

No, no, no.

No.

No, no.

- It's OK.

We'll find the tow company.

- I have no money!

In 24 hours, I found out that my oldest friend was stabbed,

the girl I was in love with was a junkie,

and my foster father was dead.

And on top of all of that, every physical object

in my life that had any happy moment attached to it

was in that parking space.

And I'll never forget this.

Your mom walks over, and she says...

- I'm in your space.

- She was his family.

- You were his family. - That's not true.

- Glenn, you were his family.

- He loved you like you were his own.

He deserved better.

You know, he actually believed you'd show up,

right up until the end.

Every night before he went to sleep,

he'd look at me and he'd say, maybe tomorrow.

Maybe tomorrow, Mal and Des will come by.

And I'd say, yeah, maybe tomorrow.

I swear to God, I don't know what killed him,

the cancer or the broken heart.

[somber music]

- [sniffles]

Hey, did, Mommy ever tell you why she decided

to draw him like this?

That wet, floppy mustache?

- He said he was drunk a lot.

- Yeah.

[door creaking]

- But why did she do anything?

- I don't know.

There's a lot of us in this.

There's a lot of truth.

But some of this is just--

- Crazy.

- Hey.

- He didn't know.

- What do you mean?

- He didn't know.

- Mommy sent him a letter--

- He never opened the letters.

You could have told me.

- Told you what?

- The truth.

- Which is what?

I'm your dad.

That's the truth.

That's the only truth that's meant anything

for the last 13 years.

We thought he knew.

We thought he knew and just wasn't coming.

Nobody lied.

- Why does he--

I mean, what's with all the "Captain Tsunami" stuff?

I don't get it.

- Uncle Tony was always Uncle Tony.

Did he ever tell you what happened to his parents?

- The gas leak thing?

In the garage?

- Yeah.

- Why?

- Well, 'cause that's a big step for him.

He used to always tell stories.

- What do you mean?

- Remember what your mom used to do with the--

reading the shells? - Oh, no.

- Yeah.

She's been doing that ever since she was about your age.

Last time we did that was when we got together again

after he got out of the hospital.

That's when he told us another one of his stories.

[pensive music]

- These are the acts of your life,

past, present, and future.

Now, close your eyes for a moment.

And look at me through your third eye.

- [snorts]

[clears throat]

- Act I, your childhood.

You felt a lot of love back then.

You were surrounded by lots of people.

- El Salvador.

I was born in a village.

That's where my mom was from.

My dad was on vacation when they met.

I moved here when I was three.

First, my dad left.

And then my mom went looking for my dad.

- In his stories, his parents were always on big adventures.

But they always leave him.

- Then it was just me.

- Nobody ever told him the truth?

- They told him.

He just--

- What do the other shells say?

- Act II.

- He said something earlier about reality.

It was hard for him to tell what was real.

- Yeah, Mommy felt like that all the time.

That feeling never went away.

- Things haven't been easy for you,

but you've persevered.

- Is that why she writes like you're all strangers in this?

- Maybe.

We always think we'll grow up and everything will make sense.

- What about the third one?

- Act III, your future.

- But the world almost gets stranger.

For a lot of us, we go through a lot.

Sometimes you just can't imagine reality.

You imagine something else.

Mom didn't always have a choice in what she saw.

- You become a superhero.

- Maybe Glenn didn't either.

- Tell her what happened next.

Tell her how I found you guys.

You said you wanted to know how it all ends, right?

You know how it all ends, don't you?

Or do you not remember?

Your mom nearly OD'd. - No, she didn't.

- Yes, she did.

- She did not OD. - Yes, she did.

And they didn't pay back Mr. Hai.

Because they ate all his drugs.

And all these pages with the weird black cages

and men in space suits and mad scientists

and Dr. White and evil Mr. Hai, none of that happened.

No, what really happened back here on Earth

is that I sobered up and I paid off Mr. Hai.

And as soon as he said he was square,

I called the cops, and I told them

to grab your mom and Mal and throw them into detox.

[dramatic music]

Two days in, your mom went completely mental,

screaming that she was a magic sea creature

who was gonna return to the sea.

So they threw her in a padded cell,

and they locked the door.

And all these pages here,

where she's scared and tortured and trapped

and trying to escape,

I put her there.

She was scared, and she was alone.

And all that crazy she was spouting

was because of a goddamn "Captain Tsunami" comic

that she wouldn't even have known about

if it weren't for me.

[soft piano music]

They found some drugs that they thought worked,

and they let her go.

[chuckles]

They literally just opened the door and let her walk out.

But she was a different person.

Can't put my finger on it.

But that's what she was like when she was sober...

or maybe what she was like when I was sober.

She just wanted to get out of town.

That's all she wanted.

- Where'd you go?

- Sedona.

- A few days in...

I loved her.

And in some ways, she loved me.

But in her mind,

in the story she had to create,

wasn't me in there helping her escape that place.

Wasn't me in there helping her survive.

It was Mal.

- You're not defective.

[crying] You're beautiful.

- You were her superhero.

And I was just--

guess I was still just a drunk.

We left, came back here,

and she found out Mal was gone.

She went after him.

I never saw her again.

I didn't deserve to.

They didn't find your mom in the car.

- Why would they have?

- What does that mean?

- Mom wasn't in the car.

- Emma, do you know where your mother is?

- I already told you.

She was there, and then she was gone.

- There where? - Use more words.

- [sighs] She didn't come home a couple of nights ago.

She's been doing that a lot.

So I tracked her phone.

She was down at the bridge, and she wasn't moving.

I knew how to drive the car,

so I took it and drove to her spot.

She was just standing there.

I got distracted and left the car in neutral,

and it rolled into the water.

[water splashing]

[water bubbling]

The next morning, she woke me up

and told me she wanted to introduce me

to some old friends.

It was like nothing ever happened.

She was totally normal.

She packed this giant bag,

and we took the bus to this beach.

[waves crashing]

It was, like, in the middle of nowhere.

I asked if her friends were coming.

She said, they'll be here.

[gulls calling]

Hours and hours passed, and nobody came.

Finally, Mom stood up, walked out,

and put her feet in the water.

She just stood there for what seemed like forever.

I got really tired.

And when I looked back...

[waves crashing]

She was gone.

[crying]

And now...what do I do?

[dramatic music]

- Act III, your future.

- Am I surrounded by more shells?

[music swells]

- You become a superhero.

[Kylie Campion's "Open Up Your Eyes"]

[singing] - Sometimes the hardest thing

Is doing what you know you're supposed to

And sometimes it can be

Believing when no one else believes except for you

Sometimes I just want to leave this place

But I will wait for you

And someday when you are ready

Then you can see just what

This world can do for you

So get up on your feet

And take a step

Towards me

And open up your eyes

So you can see what's going on

- Whoa-oh, whoa-oh

- Ah, ah, ah, ah

- Whoa-oh, whoa-oh

- Ah, ah, ah, ah

- Whoa-oh, whoa-oh

- Ah, ah, ah, ah

Open up your eyes

You'll see me

[soft piano music]