All language subtitles for FLEISHMANIS IN TROUBLE.S01E08.2160

[ knocking on door ]

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

[ dog barking ]

♪♪♪

LIBBY: Toby Fleishman awoke
in the middle of the night

to the sound
of knocking at the door.

[ barking and knocking
continue ]

TOBY:
Bubbles, keep it down.

Hey, who is it?

LIBBY: It's me.
Open the door.

What's going on?
What time is it?

I have to talk to you.
What?

Did you, like, not go home
or something?

No, I have to talk to you.
Your phone was off.

Sorry, keep it down.
The kids are sleeping.

I saw her.
Who? I don't understand.

I saw Rachel.
You --

Yeah.

What?

You did?
Jesus.

After I --
After I left here,

I went downtown,
just to --

I don't know, to, like,
walk around, and I saw her.

Just -- Just, like,
sitting there on a park bench.

Hm.
I'm surprised, honestly --

And so I told him
what happened.

I told him about Rachel, where
she was, where she'd been.

It was like
seeing a ghost.

I'd left her that evening
with her sleeping

and a doctor's appointment
scheduled for the next
morning.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

Hm.

So that's it?

That's it?

Yeah.

I have work
in a few hours, Lib.

Sorry, did you hear
what I just said?

Mm-hmm.

That I saw Rachel and she
was in the park and --

No, I heard you, yeah.
But we all knew she was
around.

I mean, she was napping
in the park.

She was fucking her
best friend's husband.

She was bound to turn up.
It's a small town.

No, Toby, she had
a nervous breakdown.

I know.
It sounds stressful.

Okay, alright.

I gotta get the kids to camp
in the morning.

I also have a new boss
and a patient

that's going off
life support today, so --

I'm sorry, what is --
what is happening right now?
Huh?

She had
a nervous breakdown.

That's where she's been.

She didn't abandon
her kids.

Yeah, of course she did.
Where is she?

I mean, she's not here.
I don't see her, do you?

Sure, but she had
a nervous breakdown.

Yeah, I know!
I heard you!

She had a nervous breakdown.
You don't have to say it
again.

She needs help, Toby.

She can hire help.

She -- Wh--Who are you?

Seriously, who am I
talking to right now?

Th-This is the mother
of your children.

Yes, exactly, but she is not
my wife anymore, okay?

She has, like,
no relation to me.

I don't have to care about
her. She's, like, not my
problem.

She's not your problem?
No.

Oh, my God.

Remember, it's divorce
that means

never having to say
you're sorry.

That was funny.
Yeah.

What?
You know what?

I've been through
her breakdowns, Libby.

Do not worry about her,
okay?

She'll make it work
for her.

She'll -- She'll come back
monetizing the whole thing.

She'll run a bank by the time
she's done with this.

I don't think that you
understand, okay?
Yeah.

She's lost time.

Like, full weeks.

She's lost everything.
She didn't lose anything.

She lost, like, a client,

and she spent a few
extra days at a spa

when her best friend's husband
decided to stop fucking her.

You know what? You're right.
Sorry. I'll make her a
lasagna.

Toby, Jesus!

Hey, you were supposed to be
on my side, okay?

You were supposed
to be my friend.
I am your friend!

Yeah? Well, you're waking me
up in the middle of the night

to tell me this now
that I finally found a way

to move on with, like,
my sad, broken children.

Because she had
a nervous breakdown!

Hey! Yeah,
I said stop saying that!

Okay, fine, I won't use
that word, okay?

What do you want me to say?
She can't handle her life.

She's -- She's --
She's collapsed.

She can't take care
of her own children

because she needs to put her
own fucking oxygen mask on
first.

Actually, actually that thing
about oxygen masks

is about airplanes,
alright?

It's really about
adult tolerance

for oxygen deprivation.
It's not, like, a metaphor.

It's not supposed to be,
like, a lifestyle.

I'm so s-- I'm just, like,
shocked right now.

I am not gonna be the prisoner
of my mistakes.

This is what our ancestors
died for, the right

for us to be middle-aged
and bored and miserable.

Yeah, and shocked.
Okay.

I'm going back to bed.

Go home, Libby.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

I could tell you what happened
to Toby then.

I could tell you
that the next morning,

when he arrived back
at the hospital

to meet with the committees

over Karen Cooper's
brain activity

and to help David Cooper move
toward a decision,

he was full of remorse for
his anger at the poor guy.

What had happened to Toby
to make him so cold-hearted

that he would lash out
at a man

who had just effectively
lost his wife?

All he could think was that
he was never like that before.

But also, he had to leave room
for the fact that maybe he
was.

Maybe, like the Wilson's
itself,

everything we are is dormant
and inside us all along.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

What I could tell you is that

Toby was always
reactive and angry

and ready to blame
everyone else for his
problems.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

And he was also someone
who held even

the unpreventable
failures in his heart,

and who did not ever
let a basic

and consistent
fact of his job,

which was death,
become regular to him.

♪♪♪

[ sobbing ]

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

I could tell you that
in his darkest recesses,

Toby had some relief
that he got to keep his job

the way that it was,

that he fundamentally
didn't understand

why you would have to stop
doing what you loved

in order to get ahead

when it felt like it was ahead
to do what you loved.

Hi, how are we all
doing today?

Alright, Dr. Fleishman.

[ indistinct conversation ]

I could tell you that Toby
was focusing

on making good on his promises
to his children.

And so...
Mm-hmm.

...the way the world looks
is different

depending on
how you look at it.
Mm-hmm.

The electron cloud
is uncertain,

but the nucleus
is always fixed.
Right.

Which means it's always
in the same place.

It's the things around it
that move around.

Now, sir, please look
into the stereoscope.

Okay.

There are two realities.

There's the cloud of electrons
surrounding the nucleus,

which is the solution
of the Schroedinger equation.

That's the box they're in.

There's the physical locations
of each individual electron,

which can only be determined
by measuring them

directly
by opening the box,

and both things are true.

And that is what I want to say
about superposition.

That is so good.

That is so good.

Do you think I'll win?

I can't imagine anyone has
anything better thought out

or a smarter,
harder-working son.

That is excellent work.

Oof, Jesus.

I could tell you that he never
got the blinds fixed,

and despite three separate
calls to the super,

the air conditioner
was still broken.

Dad, we're gonna be late!

What? For what? Oh, crap.
Solly, here.

Solly, come on.
We have to go.

Come on. Come on.
Okay.

[ indistinct conversation ]

RABBI TURKO: Sorry I'm late.

Class went over a few minutes.

No, of course. Of course.
Thank you.

Hannah, how are you doing
with your
haftarah?

Cantor Timberman says
you're doing very nicely on
it.

Oh, yeah, she's been
studying every day.

Really?
Mm-hmm.

You don't hear that a lot.

So what we can do
is just go over some
logistics.

I know that you're going to
want to bestow honors on your
family,

opening the ark,
aliyah
to the Torah, etcetera.

I know you're planning
on speaking?

Mm-hmm.

And Rachel, too,
I presume?

That is still a question.

Okay.

Hannah, do you understand
that you are engaging

in a tradition that goes back
thousands of years?

You are accepting the yoke
of responsibility

for your family
and your community

and all the commandments
of the Torah,

and you're taking it
upon yourself

that it is your turn
to try and fix this world.

The world is upside down
right now,

and we need all the smart,
thinking girls to help fix it.

Right, okay.

And you're gonna carry
this torch

for all of the Fleishmans

and all
of the Jewish people.

TOBY: Mm-hmm.

Right.

Well, then,
I think we're set.

I think
I'm not gonna do this.

Hm?
Hannah?

I don't think
I should do this.

Hannah?

Let's --
Let's just take a minute.

Yeah, yeah.
I'm just not doing it,
the bat mitzvah.

Can we go?
Hannah, stop.

She did the study--
She did all the studying.

I'm sorry. I don't know
what this is. Hannah?

I'm gonna go.

Thank you, Rabbi, and I'm
sorry it didn't work out.

Uh -- I am so --
This --

This came as
a complete surprise to me.

I know your family has been
going through a lot.

I -- Yeah, let me
go speak with her.

Is that -- Okay.
Yeah, that's fine.

I'm so sorry.
Solly, can we go now?

TOBY: Hannah, hey.

W-What's going on?

I wanted to see what
it would be like up here.

You'll have another chance
in November.

Dad, I'm not doing it.
For real.

Is this about what happened
at camp?

Because I can promise you
that by the time

November rolls around, like,
no one will remember it.

It's not.

Is it about your mother?

It's not that.

Listen, I know it's been hard
with her gone, but --

but we're still Jews,
and this is what we do.

But why?
Why do we do it?

I -- I don't even know
if I believe in God.

Yeah, well, that's actually
not what this is about.

This is about becoming
an adult in your community.

This is about taking on
my traditions as yours.

You can pass them along
to your family.

I -- I guess I just don't
understand why I would do it.

We do it because
that's what we do.

We're the Fleishmans
and we're Jews.

It doesn't seem smart
to me.

What has it given us?

How -- How has it
even helped the world?

We're a mess, Dad.

The Fleishmans
are a mess.

You -- You're being
too literal, I think.

No, no, I'm not.
No?

You always tell me
to think for myself

and not to be corrupted
by other people around me,

but I want
my own traditions.

I want my own life,

and I want to make
my own decisions.

I don't want to have
to fix anything.

I haven't even
broken anything.

I'm only 11.

I could tell you that Toby
looked at his daughter

just then,
his wise, beautiful daughter

who had been put through
too much recently,

and realized
that she was right.

You know, another great
tradition is forging

your own path and being better
than your parents.

Here, come here.

Come here, my sweet girl.

There, stand here.

And if a bat mitzvah
is also a coming of age,

then he had to agree
that Hannah

did not need
a ceremony to do that.

She'd grown up right in front
of him,

slowly and then all at once.

Eilecha vichuneka.

Yisa Adonai
panav eilecha

v'yasem lecha shalom.

May God make you like Sarah,
Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah.

May God bless you
and protect you.

May God show you favor
and be gracious to you.

[ crying ]

May God --

May God show you
kindness --

Hey --
and grant you peace.

[ crying continues ]

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

I could tell you that after
weeks of starts and stops,

that was the moment
that the Fleishmans understood

that a divorce was
an earthquake for two people

who used to be in love,

but it was a chronic condition
for the children

who had to somehow survive it.

Man: ♪ Kmo sirat ets ♪

♪ Merupetet ♪

♪ Sheyotseret gal veretet ♪

♪ Kmo shemila achat ♪

♪ Lev ee potachat ♪

♪ Yesh li sach akol gafrur ♪

♪ Az avhir takalachat ♪

♪ Vehamilim shenivlehu ♪

♪ Vebemochi hen itpakhu ♪

♪ Etsak otan chazak hayom ♪

♪ Hatishmehu otan pitom? ♪

♪ Ze shir hafite sheli ♪

♪ Achshav echye kuli ♪

♪ Emtsa ma tov li ♪

♪ Lo evater li ♪

♪ Meachshav e'afsher li ♪

LIBBY: I could tell you that
the Fleishmans found
themselves

again at the Vantablack
exhibit,

which was in its last days.

They decided to go in
and see it,

to really, finally face
the void together.

Ready?

Man: ♪ Li kulam hem doagim ♪

♪ Ma itcha ♪

♪ Ve'epatach ♪

♪ Ze shir hafite sheli ♪

♪ Achshav echye kuli ♪

♪ Emtsa ma tov li ♪

♪ Ki yesh bi adayin
amon fite betochi
♪

LIBBY: But I could not tell
you what Toby did next.

[ birds chirping ]

I had my own shit going on.

[ cellphone buzzing ]

♪♪♪

What had happened to me

was that at the beginning
of the summer,

before Toby called me,

I was heading
into my second year

of being
a stay-at-home mom

and my 13th year of marriage

and my 5th year in a suburb
and my 41st year of life,

but none of that changed
who I essentially was,

which was a magazine writer
with no assignment.

That didn't stop me
from pontificating

all over the suburbs.

You know what I think?

I think that the men
of this generation,

they're all, like,
really good feminists,

but they haven't
actually thought

about what it means
to be equal,

so they're so fragile
all the time.

We have to spend all of our
time on reassuring

and fellating every insecurity
out of them.

Do you ever think that

those "The future
is female" shirts,

they're like,
"Free beer tomorrow"?

You know, 'cause the future
is always in the future.

I mean, like,
do you really think

that they would let us wear
those shirts if it were true?

I think
it's just a shirt, Lib.

Yeah.

I gotta go make dinner.

Yeah, me too.

Am I riding with you?
Okay.

And then into that morass,
I bumped into Michelle.

Libby, hi!

Michelle, oh, my God.
Look at you.

You look amazing.

Yeah, well,
I'm getting a divorce.

What?
Yeah.

Oh, my God,
that's crazy.

Wh-What happened?

It's a long story,
but it's good.

I'm actually seeing someone --
my boyfriend from college.

What?

We reconnected
on Facebook.

I know,
what a cliché, right?

I'm gonna move to the city,
Jonathan will stay here,

and we'll take turns
staying with the kids.

I'm just so --
I'm so surprised.

You guys --
You always seemed so happy.

We were just very good
friends, you know?

Yeah.

Yeah.

God, okay.
I'm sorry.

I-I want to understand,
like, all of this.

Please start
from the beginning.

So we had just come back
from this amazing vacation --

It was the third divorce
I'd heard about in a month.

I started thinking about
divorce all the time.

Not "divorce," but clean
slates and new starts.

I feel like
I'm me again.

We're gonna get a place
on the Upper West Side, near
- -

"Me again."

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

I'd somehow fallen for it,
some dream of safety

that I hadn't understood would
never reconcile with who I
was,

which was a free
and independent person.

I'd taken all my freedom
and independence

and pushed them across
the poker table and said,

"Here, take my jackpot.
Take it all.

I don't need it anymore.
I won't miss it ever."

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

[ sighs deeply ]

God, how hot I used
to be for life.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

Larry Feldman was the first
guy I ever kissed.

♪♪♪

He was the first guy
I ever -- a lot of things.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

[ dog barking in distance ]

[ computer dings ]

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

Oh, my God.

LARRY: Libby Slater?
Wow.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

How much I used to feel,

how much
I didn't feel anymore.

LIBBY: Larry Feldman!

What is going on
with you?

♪♪♪

I just remembered you
and realized

that I didn't know
what became of you.

♪♪♪

You know, I remember
you very often.

Oh, yeah?
That's funny.

I just saw that you're friends
with everyone from school,

and I don't know how I missed
being a part of that.

I remember when you and I
were in that basement

at Melissa Cooperman's
bat mitzvah after party,

and I think about
when you let me put my --

Ugh, God.
Gross.

[ cellphone buzzing ]

LIBBY: And into that extra
morass, I heard from a friend

I hadn't spoken to
in a dozen years.

Toby Fleishman?

TOBY: Elizabeth Slater.

Epstein.

It's Epstein now, yeah,
but yes, hello.

It was so nice to be back
with people

that I never had to explain
who I was to.

I'd been trying to return

to the most authentic
version of myself,

but it wasn't that dipshit
horndog Larry Feldman

who knew me when I was
most myself, it was Toby.

I began to feel less unmoored,

but I was living this life

that wasn't mine anymore,

and then I was living a life
that hadn't ever been mine.

Toby Fleishman,
hot damn.

I did finally
go home that night

after I went to Toby's house
to tell him about Rachel...

...after I hadn't been
in contact

with my own family for days.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

LIBBY: [ whispers ] Hi.

I'm sorry.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

Mom, you're
making breakfast?

Hi.

I have been helping a friend
with something,

but I'm back.

I made pancakes.
I want to hear everything.

I don't eat breakfast
anymore.

What does that mean?

ADAM: Well, that's why we get
you lessons, bud.

MILES: I'm never going to
pass. I'm not going.

What's going on?

I'm not taking
the swimming test.

Miles, you can't learn
this stuff

unless you learn this stuff.

What's the problem?
You have to take
the swimming test.

I got this.
I'm not going.

I'm not taking
any more lessons.

Okay, Miles,
I know you don't want --

I got this.
Well, it kind of seems
like you don't.

SASHA:
We're gonna be late.

I made breakfast
for everybody.

We get breakfast
on the way now.

I already called in an order
at the bagel place.

I got court today.
Come on, we're late.

We're late, let's go.

Bye.

[ door opens ]

[ door closes ]

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

It went on like that
for a while.

Me, doing penance.

Me, staring out
into the Vantablack,

wondering how this would
get resolved.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

I wasn't speaking to Toby
anymore.

Seth wasn't speaking
to either of us,

and I was trying to wedge
myself back into my life

before anyone noticed
I'd been gone.

MAN ON RADIO: Republican
national
security officials

have published a letter...

[ indistinct conversations,
cheering ]

Sasha,
what are you doing?

Hi, Mom.

Is this a party?

No, it's a barbecue.

Dad's in the back.

Dad's in the back?

Yeah.

[ music playing ]

ANNIE: I need 10 kids,
but so far, I have 3.

Wait!

ALLISON: [ gasps ]
Maybe Libby will do it.

Wow, look who came out
of the woodwork.

Libby?
Hey.

Hi.
I thought
you couldn't make it.

Adam said
you couldn't make it.

Oh, uh, I-I-I think we just
got our signals crossed.

Hey.
Thank you.

I was thinking of doing
that one-week drama camp

for the girls
before school.

Do you think
Sasha would want to?

I don't actually know if she's
still into doing drama.

I have to ask her.
I'll ask Adam.

I went down a total rabbit
hole reading about it.

Vantablack?
Vantablack.

Uh, sorry.

Can you just -- Can I --
I'll be right back.

One second.
...laboratory
for the military.

It's so dark that
it's dangerous, you know?

People, they see it
and they freak out.

They freak out
and run screaming?

Yes. I tell you, it's --

They -- They --
They have to leave...
Adam.

'cause they, like,
lose their footing.

Oh, hey, Libby. Hi.

Hi.

Um, did we talk
about this?

About this barbecue?
Yeah.

I don't know.
It was in the family calendar.

Sure, but I mean, this morning
when we were talking,

did we talk about this?

I don't know, Libby.
I can't keep track of you.

Okay, I've been home.

That's not...fair.

Adam, you coming over later
for the game?

You know it.

Ah, better bring
that queso.

Ha ha.
[ chuckles ]

What game?

We're, like, people
who watch the game now?

Uh...

You eat queso?

He makes the best queso
I've ever had.

You made queso?

Yeah.

I made queso.

Excuse me.

Can I talk to you
for a second please?

Yeah, now's, uh --
now's not good.

Oh, now's not good?
Wow, okay.

We're at
a fucking barbecue.

Oh, my God, can you please
just stop being

so fucking passive
about everything?

Please, please, please.

I just want to have, like,
a regular conversation.

You are incapable
of that.

Just a regular conversation,
please.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

ADAM: Hi.

Okay, I know
I'm terrible.

Okay?

I'm sorry.

So just please
talk to me.

About what?
There's nothing to talk about.

You do
whatever you want,

and I could not be

a more thoughtful,
considerate husband to you.

You are merciless
lately --

miserable all the time,
sarcastic.

What do you think
it means to me,

to the kids that you
walk around so unhappy?

I have no idea what's happened
to you lately.

[ sighs ]
Oh, God.

I didn't want
to get into this.

Okay, look.

You're right.

I have been terrible.

You are wonderful.

I don't know what's wrong
with me.

I keep trying
to figure it out.

I feel like I'm --

like I'm not alive
anymore.

Well, you know what?

I'm happy, okay?

We have friends.
We have --

Okay, these are not
our friends, though.

Like, they're not.

I can't talk
to any of these people.

They treat me like
I'm a fucking oddity.

They just talk about their
kids and their houses all the
time.

We have
two wonderful children.

We have income
and safety and health

and the enormous privileges
of our class.

We are the kinds of people
who are invited to barbecues,

and if you gave
these people a chance,

you would find
they are filled

with the same kind
of ambivalence that you have.

No, they're not.
I promise you they're not.

No, no.
They are, okay?

They are all trying to figure
it out just like you.

Just like me,
if you wanted to know.

Oh, my God.
That's not true!

It's not true, though, Adam.
They love it here.

All they talk about is how
wonderful it is all the time.

It's like we've died and these
houses are our headstones.

We chose this, Libby!
You chose it!

Marriage, children,

every single bit of it,
we chose it.

I know. I know.
I know.

I don't know, though,
because honestly,

I feel like a few years ago,
I was a person, right?

And then I looked up
and I just --

I have no idea when everything
started to feel so the same.

Don't -- don't talk to me
about your burdens.

The kids are always
with the babysitter lately,

and you barely even
look at me anymore.

I know. I know.
Okay, okay.

I am trying to figure it out,
though. I really am.

You -- You could bother
looking at me

while you try to figure
it out, right?

I -- I could be a part
of your figuring it out.

Why is this about you
all of a sudden?

It's so not about you,
Adam.

Are you sleeping with Toby?
Am I what?

You slept over
at his fucking house!

Oh, my God. Of course I'm
not sleeping with Toby!

Are you crazy?!
That's all
you have to say?

No, I don't even know
why I did that, okay?

You expect me to know
everything and have all of
these answers.

I don't have the answers.
I don't have them.

No, I expect you to,
like, come home at night.

Is that so crazy?

I have to go.

Sorry, you have to go?
Yes.

I was asked to peel the corn
at this barbecue,

which you knew about and which
was in the family calendar,

and when I say
I'm gonna be somewhere

and do something,
I do it.

[ Free Bird playing ]

♪ If I leave here tomorrow
[ sighs ]

Would you still
remember me?

♪ 'Cause I must be
traveling on now ♪

♪ There's too many places
I've got to see ♪

JOHN: You can't do that
in Brooklyn.

ANNIE: Did you get
a French drain?

ALLISON: No, actually,
we just pushed the soil

so there's no flooding.

Well, your house is on top
of that hill.

That makes sense.

[ indistinct conversations ]

♪ Things just wouldn't
be the same ♪

♪ 'Cause I'm as free

♪ As a bird now

♪ And this bird

♪ You cannot cha-a-a-a-nge

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

[ door opens ]

ADAM: Get in the shower
and then bed.

Hurry up. Go.

[ door closes ]

[ footsteps approaching ]

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

[ birds chirping ]

[ toothbrush clinks ]

[ water turns off ]

You just staying
in bed today?

My alarm.

I forgot to set it.

I just had
the craziest dream.

I guess I'm taking
the kids to camp.

Kids?

Kids, come on.
We're gonna be late.

Let's go.
Okay.

Come on, let's go!

SASHA: Miles, hurry up.

[ cellphone rings ]

Glenn? Hi.

GLENN: Hey. I thought
you'd want to know --

Archer died.

Wait, what?

No, that's --
that's so crazy.

I just -- I like, literally
just had a dream about him.

What happened?

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

LIBBY: In my dream, I'd been
asking Archer for advice.

I can't remember on what,

but he kept asking
if we'd ever slept together.

Like in life,
I kept reminding him who I was

and how much I admired him,

and his response to that was,

"What does that have
to do with me?"

♪ I get up in the evening

♪ And I ain't got
nothing to say ♪

♪ Come home in the morning

♪ Go to bed feeling
the same way ♪

♪ I am nothing but tired

♪ Just tired and bored
with myself ♪

♪ Hey, man

♪ I could use
just a little help ♪

SETH: Hey, can we pretend
we talked all this through

and just move on?

I'm having a party
on Saturday.

It's really important to me
that you come.

Dress nicely, please.

The three of us are having
a slumber party,

but we're gonna tell
Sophie

that she has
to start using deodorant.

Oh.
The situation

has gotten
out of control.

Puberty, man.

I'm gonna call Susannah,
see if she can watch them

on Saturday night.

Why?
I'll be home.

No, uh, Seth.

He's asked us to a party.

He's having a party.

I can't not go.

He specifically said

that it was important
to him that --

that I be there,
so...

Um...[ clears throat ]

I hope you have
a good time.

♪ This is how it works

♪ It feels a little worse

♪ Than when we drove
our hearse ♪

♪ Right through
that screaming crowd ♪

♪ While laughing up a storm

♪ Until we were just bone

♪ Until it got so warm

♪ That none of us could sleep

♪ And all the Styrofoam

♪ Began to melt away

♪ We tried to find some worms

♪ To aid in the decay

♪ But none of them were home

♪ Inside their catacomb

♪ A million ancient bees

♪ Began to sting our knees

♪ While we were on our knees

♪ Praying that disease

♪ Would leave the ones we love

♪ And never come again

Hi.
What can I get you?

Um, a Negroni, please.

You've got it.

[ sighs ]

You know what's going on
here, right?

[ laughs ]

Oh, goddammit.
Yeah.

I never thought
I would see this day.

I know.
What a fucking idiot.

What a stupid dipshit.

♪ This is how it works

[ glass clinking ]
Oh, God.

SETH: Can I have
everyone's attention?

Just for a moment.
Thanks.

Thank you. Thank you for
coming. Thank you.

Uh, I just wanted to say
that I've had a lot of parties

throughout the years,
and I used to have theme
parties

that I would call
"learning parties."

And we would dress up
as historical figures

or, um, have somebody come
and give a math lecture.

Really, they were just
excuses to get drunk,

but I was always trying
to make sense of the world,

understand it,
and make peace with it.

And I thought if I could
just do that,

then I could start
to live my life.

Uh, today I'm
here to tell you,

I give up.

I will never understand it.

And so I should do

what every part of my body
is telling me to do,

and that is to ask
the prettiest girl in this
room

if she would marry me.

[ guests murmuring ]

It's all a lot simpler
than I ever thought it would
be.

I -- I just want to wake up
every day

and see her face.

What do you say,
Vanessa Lipschitz-Finkelstein?

Can I make you

Vanessa Lipschitz-
Finkelstein-Morris?

Yes.
Yeah?

[ guests cheering ]

I told her we were here
for my mother's birthday.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

Are you crying?

I just --
How can -- Ugh.

How could he possibly think
that this is a good idea

after spending the entire
summer listening to us?

I know. I know.

I guess in Seth's story,
we're just the co-stars

who help him make
this big decision.

I'm sorry, Libby.

I am too.

I really th--
[ scoffs ]

You know what?
It doesn't even matter.

I'm -- I'm sorry, too.

[ sighs ]

Well, that's it.

Our boy
is finally a man.

LIBBY: What can I say?

Life is a process in which
you collect people

and prune them
when they stop working for
you.

The only exceptions are the
friends you make in college.

Hi.
Hey.

Hey, congratulations.

I'm really happy
for you.

So glad you came.

I'm sorry
that we fought, Seth.

I take you very seriously.

You are a real person.

TOBY: Yes, you are
extremely real.

I feel like
I could touch you.

I bet you have
a Social Security Number.

Don't actually -- Don't
actually -- Don't actually --

[ laughs ]

Do you think I'm an idiot
for doing this?

No. No.

I think maybe marriage
is like that quote

about democracy, you know?

"It's the worst form
of government in the world

except for all
the other forms."

You know?

Nice.
Listen, we love you.

We're here for you.

It's gonna be great.
Mm-hmm.

Well, that's a rare nice thing
you just said to me.

Thank you.
TOBY: Yeah, no,
I'm happy for you.

We're both very happy
for you.

Yes.

May your...
Okay.

May your most --
most virile sperm...

Mm-hmm.

...make the odyssey through
her fallopian tubes

and conquer her ovaries,
bringing you sons.

Oh, sons.
Sons!

I like conquering
the ovaries.

Did you even take
freshman bio?

Wait, is that not how it --
is that not how it works?

No.

May your sons marry
the daughters of finance bros,

and, uh,
with ever-greater dowries

and stock options
in Tesla and Apple.

You know, everything the
beggar woman said came true.

She said you were never gonna
be happy with what you were
given,

you were gonna always
want something different.

She said you were gonna
heal the world.

But that was only when
I had money to give her.

We're all good, right?

I feel like
something's ending.

I can't take an ending
right now.

No, it's not. It's not.
We're good.

Yeah, we're good.
VANESSA: Seth!

Gotta go.

My fiancée's calling.

LIBBY: Ohh. Ooh.

Hi.

♪ Now the final frame

I heard
Archer Sylvan died.

Yeah. Yeah.

He died as he lived,

practicing auto-erotic
asphyxiation

in a hotel in Thailand.

Oh, boy.
Surrounded by prostitutes.

Really?
Yeah.

Yeah, oh, it was very,
very weird, though.

I had this dream about him,

and then
my editor called me

and he told me
that he died.

That's crazy.
Yeah.

Took 'em, like, a week
to find the body.

Oh, that's terrible.
What, the smell --

No, no, no.
He was on a story,

and he was late --
or later than usual, so...
Oh.

The magazine's paying for
the funeral and everything,

'cause he didn't have
anybody.

Oh, no, that's so sad.
Yeah.

We're lucky we have people.

You're lucky.

You know that, right?

I think so, yeah.
Okay.

I just -- I'm just lost.

I don't know.
I'm, like --

I don't know what I'm doing
with my life.

What do you mean, what you're
doing with your life?

It's done. You are --
You're loved, Elizabeth.

Please, please tell me you
understand how special that
is.

I guess I just don't --

I guess that's just not
enough for me.

Oh, God. Okay.
I know.

Honestly, it might not be
enough for you either, so...

No, no, no. It would be.
It definitely would be.

I know you fantasize
that it would be

because you have had such
a struggle all these years,

but you really have no idea
how you would feel

if you got the thing
that you wanted.

You don't.

Contentment breeds quiet,

which breed complacency,

which breeds unrest.

You should go back
to work.

Yeah, I think I might.

I think
I might write a book.

A book?
Mm-hmm.

That's good.
About what?

It's about life and, um,

marriage and money

and dissatisfaction
and lifelong friendship

and, like, how all
these things coalesce

in middle age, right,
and make you --

make you miserable
right at the exact point

that you're supposed
to have everything set.

Okay.
Yeah.

Yeah, it'll be
about everything.

Everything?
Everything.

Mm.
That's heavy.

Maybe.

Or maybe what's the point
of writing about anything

if it's not gonna be
about everything?

Yeah.
That's what Archer did.

That's good.
No, you should --

You should go
be like Archer.

Yeah.

Maybe I'll be better
than Archer, you know?

I'll tell
a really good story,

but I'll tell all the other
sides of it, too,

not just
the ones that I like.

Alright, so what --
what happens in the book?

Well, um,
a newly divorced man

wakes up one morning

to find that his ex
has dropped off the kids

and does not appear
to be coming back.

Okay.

And so then he's left
to figure out where she is

and why life seems to have
gone so wrong for him.

I hate this story.
Yeah.

No, but sorry. How are you
gonna write it, though?

I mean, it has --
it has no ending.

Yeah, I don't know.
There's no ending yet.

Maybe this --
this is the ending.

Oh, this, okay.
Well, imagine that.

No, don't end it here.
This is not a good ending.

Engagements
are not good endings.

Weddings, weddings are worse,
but engagements are not.

Okay, then maybe --
maybe it ends

with her returning.

You know, like,
the whole thing

was just
this terrible blip.

So she just comes back?

Maybe.

Why?
Why does she come back?

She comes back because she
was always gonna come back.

I mean, for a while,
she wasn't sure,

because being sure would
have made the whole thing

feel, you know,
less dangerous.

It is possible that, like,
a person needs

a little bit of danger

in order to feel like
she knows what matters.

That doesn't sound
like Rachel.

She's aware she behaved
terribly,

but it's like she's --

it's like she was
outside her body, you know?

Like, watching herself
the whole time.

And -- And the problem wasn't
even her marriage, you know?

It was just like, her marriage
was a witness

to all of her other failures,
like a comorbidity

to how she was
just getting old.

Hmm.

♪♪♪

And so then, in the end,
when she comes home...

...she realizes
she really, really needs

to figure out her life.

Because, yeah, her marriage
is not perfect,

but, like...

It's not like
not being married

is ever gonna
make her young again.

Nothing could make her
unmake the choices

that she made.

She just didn't know when
she was making the choices

that they were gonna limit
all the other choices

that she could make
in the future.

It's not even
her decisions, like...

It's just,
how can you live

when you used to have
unlimited choices

and you don't
have them anymore?

Sorry.

No, no, no, no.
Please, continue.

So, sorry, what happens?
So she comes back?

She comes back

and it turns out
it was just a mistake?

Like, it was just like
a misunderstanding

or something?
Yeah,
maybe she just, like --

She just --
she just appears.

She just appears.

Okay, and then what?

It's raining.
It's raining.

It's a rain that breaks
this terrible heat wave.

[ chuckles ]

And you're at home
in your apartment and you're
- -

you're thinking
about your life and you're --

you're thinking
about moving on, right?

But then you hear the key
in the lock.

Okay.

And the creak
of the hinge.

That's nice.

And then you turn around
and suddenly she's just...

there in the doorway.

And then?

And then the book ends.

Yeah, but I mean, like,
what happens after that?

I don't know.

I really don't think I have
the imagination for that.

It's okay.

I love you so much.

You know that, right?

I haven't been a good friend
to you lately.

It's okay.

You've been going
through a lot.

But I want you to know...
[ sniffles ]

...you are still you.

I can see it all.

I can see your darkness.

I can see your goodness.

It is still there,
like the day we met.

Okay?

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

[ sighs ]

It's okay.

Thank you.

May God
grant them happiness.

♪♪♪

May God
grant them happiness.

♪ I'll be there

♪ By your side

You want to walk back
uptown together?

Sure.

Alright, I'm just gonna
run to the bathroom.

Okay, I'll be outside.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

[ horns

[ indistinct conversations ]

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

Hi.

Uh, can you take me
to New Jersey?

I'll pay double the meter.
MAN: Sure.

LIBBY: Hey, sorry, I found a
cab so I'm gonna head home.

[ Text message whooshes ]

[ sighs ]

[ cellphone rings ]

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

[ horns honking ]

[ indistinct conversations ]

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

We fall in love
and we decide to marry

in this one incredible moment.

What if everything
that happens after that

is about trying to remember
that moment?

ADAM: Yeah.
LIBBY: What?

It's true.

Were you listening?

Maybe that's what all
these divorces were about.

We watch ourselves
and our spouses change

and the work
is to constantly recall

the reasons why you did this
in the first place.

You mistake the person
closest to you for your
misery.

You think, "Maybe if I excised
this thing, I'd be me again."

But you're not you anymore.

You haven't been you
in a long time.

It's not his fault.

It was always going to happen.

And what were you gonna do
with the fact that time

was going to march on anyway?

What were you gonna do
with the fact

that you couldn't win
this fight?

That was the problem.

You were not ever going
to be young again.

Come here.

You were only at risk
for not remembering

that this was as good
as it would get

in every single moment,

that you are right now as
young as you'll ever be again.

ADAM:
I can't tell anymore.

I got him, I got him.

And now.
Yech.

And now.

And now.

And now.

Pay attention.

And now.

[ indistinct conversation ]

And now.

And now.
You know what I mean.

And now.

And now.

And now.

[ yelling indistinctly ]
And now.

And now.

And now.

And now.

And now.

And now.

And now and now
and now and now and now.

And now.

Oh, my God.

Ahh.
Whoo.

I'm so cold!

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

And now.

[ stairs creaking ]

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

[ breathes deeply ]

You're home.

I ran home.

Because I love you so much,
I think I'm gonna die from it.

[ sighs ]

I'm sorry I'm late.

♪♪♪

It's okay.

You always come back.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

[ thunder rumbling ]

[ siren wailing ]

[ thunder crashes ]

Toby Fleishman headed home
that night and waited

for the panic
to rise in him again...

...the same panic
that washed him in sweat

every time
he contemplated the future.

But it didn't.

He was healing.

Hi.
FAITH: Hi.

Hi, how were they?
They were fine.

Yeah?
Solly won Monopoly.

Oh, no.

Thank you so much, Faith.
Thank you.

Yeah, great.
It's really pouring.

You have an umbrella
or something?
I got one.

Okay, great.
Thanks, have a good night.

Yeah, you too.

[ sighs ]

♪♪♪

How could you be
so desperately unhappy

when you were
so essentially happy?

How could you know so much

and still be this baffled
by it all?

♪♪♪

The heat wave in Manhattan
was finally broken.

Toby would survive this.

In a hundred different ways,
he already had.

He would start looking for
a new apartment tomorrow,

one where everything worked.

He looked out the window
and saw his reflection,

but then he also saw
beyond himself.

He saw the people
in the windows in the city,

all living their own,
separate, distinct lives.

God, he thought, you could die
of the loneliness,

but you could
die of hope, too,

the way it blinded you
a little,

the way it led you to try
again, despite what you knew.

Time would move forward,
but tonight, briefly,

he had logged some optimism
into his block universe.

It would stay there forever.

♪♪♪

[ door opens ]

♪♪♪

[ hinges creak ]

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪ Turn around

♪ Every now and then I get
a little bit lonely ♪

♪ You're never coming 'round

♪ Turn around

♪ Every now and then I get
a little bit tired ♪

♪ Of listening to the sound
of my tears ♪

♪ Every now and then I get
a little bit nervous ♪

♪ The best of all the years
have gone by ♪

♪ Every now and then I get
a little bit terrified ♪

♪ Then I see the look
in your eyes ♪

♪ Bright eyes

♪ Every now and then
I fall apart ♪

♪ Bright eyes

♪ Every now and then
I fall apart ♪

♪ And I need you now tonight

♪ And I need you
more than ever ♪

♪ And if you only
hold me tight ♪

♪ We'll be holding on
forever ♪

♪ And we'll only
be making it right ♪

♪ 'Cause we'll never be wrong

♪ Together we can take it
to the end of the line ♪

♪ Your love is like a shadow
on me all of the time ♪

♪ I don't know what to do
and I'm always in the dark ♪

♪ We're living in a powder keg

♪ And giving off sparks

♪ I really need you tonight

♪ Forever's gonna start
tonight ♪

♪ Forever's gonna start
tonight ♪

♪ Forever's gonna start
tonight ♪

♪ Forever's gonna start
tonight ♪

♪ Once upon a time
I was falling in love ♪

♪ Now I'm only falling apart

♪ There's nothing I can do

♪ A total eclipse of the heart

♪ Yeah, a total eclipse

♪ Of the heart

[ applause ]