Original subtitles

I never deserted my family.

You never had a family.

And you never will.

Mom?

Father Phil?

Fallen priest.

I just love him.

- I married him. - Bob Livingston fired me.

We had a thing.

- What about your mother? - It's complicated.

- Moms always are. - Keep your family time.

It's important.

Never realized how important until my dad died.

Now I know.

Cortona House.

Stately. Elegant. Historic.

A luxurious throwback to an age of glamor, grace and...

Shit!

- Where is it? - Sh.

What a serene,

inspiring environment

to nurture the muse of a creative artist.

I can't tell you

how proud our client is that Damon has chosen

to record his next album in our magnificent venue.

I have the lease agreement here and should Damon happen

to fall in love with the place

the estate has agreed to apply it

to the purchase price.

Yes, I'm sure.

You will coordinate the logistical aspects

of the residence with Zeke, our engineer.

Tessa, I can assure you that we are every bit

as committed to a positive experience

- for Damon as‐‐ - Let's be clear:

I personally think that Damon could have found

a much better place,

managed by professionals.

But, here we are, so‐‐

Easy. You're going to make these people think

you're not nice.

Your brother pays me to be not nice.

Tessa plays the brother card whenever she gets mad at me.

Damon is your brother?

I'm the handsome, well‐adjusted one.

So, for better or for worse,

Damon is fascinated by the place

and wishes to know a bit of its history.

Of course.

The Cortona House was originally built

in 1880.

Over the years, it was owned by a number of individuals

and institutions.

Until 1985, when it was purchased by this man.

Russell Vaughn the Third.

Russell, by all accounts, was a remarkably unpleasant man,

especially if you were an environmentalist, a woman,

or a sea otter.

He died a few years back, leaving the estate

to our client, his great‐niece,

who he never knew well enough to hate.

It has been beautifully restored,

Meticulously maintained.

It features a

state‐of‐the‐art recording studio

courtesy of Russell's third wife,

who fancied herself either the third Judd,

or the fourth member of The Chicks.

Hey!

Hey, you big,

smelly piece of shit.

Ah!!

Stupid booties!

Anyway,

the place is stunning.

It is inspirational.

It is uplifting.

Russell Vaughan the Third?

Nice catch.

Nooo!!

Ah.

Listen:

we would like to see the place now.

Theme music...

Well, I assume it's ready.

- Sure it is. - Absolutely.

Hm.

The original woodwork is amazing

and the recording studio is downstairs.

You got the donuts?

Exactly as specified in the rider.

Overhead lights must be 40 watts.

Pre‐set and totally controllable

if you download the home's SmartApp.

- I already have it. - I knew you would.

I knew you'd know.

♪ Doorbell ♪

That'd be the studio equipment guys.

Excuse me.

I've gotta get this.

Anything else?

No.

For now.

What's up?

We were nearly

back at the office when‐‐

What's that?

It appears to be a Slinky.

Came down that big staircase by itself just now.

Autonomous locomotion.

Odd.

There's something still here.

Felt youth. Innocence.

A whole lotta lonely.

That is not our oil tycoon.

No, Russell was a chain dragger.

Could there have been a second entity?

Living in the shadow of the bigger one?

A Fredo?

I suppose it's possible.

We need to talk to the previous owner.

The Catholic diocese.

Yeah, I, uh...

probably still have their number written down somewhere.

Oh.

It's you.

Sister Mary Ellen.

How are you doing on that problem like Maria?

Any closer to a solution?

Mister Orley,

you really can't be stopping up here

24 hours a day.

Oh, I'm sorry. I thought that's exactly

what the church was for.

No.

No, I'm sorry. I'm thinking about Denny's.

May I ask what we can do for you?

I have a client leasing Cortona House.

The big place up on Broadmore?

I just need a quick look at the records, get a little history‐‐

Our records are private.

Oh, come on!

We're talking 35 years ago. Who would care?

Church business.

None of your concern.

Let sleeping dogs lie.

You're Father Phil.

Just Phil. Orley.

Mm. I'm Yasmin.

Sister.

I know some of the folks in your old parish.

They still talk about your carrot cake.

Well, if I could not bring them comfort and hope,

beta‐carotene and fiber seemed like the next best thing.

I heard about the day you left the church.

The organization wasn't meeting my needs,

so I became a total Karen and asked to see the manager.

He wasn't available

so I took my business elsewhere.

Yeah, in the middle of Easter Mass!

They said you were drunk.

I was drunk.

Gay and drunk.

But I knew, eventually, I'd be gay and sober.

Think I know what you're looking for.

Come to the back door after vespers, around 11.

Why are you being so helpful?

It's time to wake a few sleeping dogs.

Hey, Meg. Uh, it's me.

I hope you're having a really good day.

I'm dealing with some client issues.

I just wanted to check in and say last night

was really nice and I hope to see you again really soon.

I'm going to stop using the word really so much.

Anyhow, gonna check in when I can.

Right now, I really gotta make another call.

Come play with me.

Hey.

I know.

But he's gone.

I cross my heart.

Great to see this kind of commitment to client service.

Yeah, well, you win six Grammys

and I'll bring you donuts, too.

Hey, man.

- You look good, man. Yep. - Hey, hey, hey.

Mm‐hm.

What up?

Where's Zeke at? In the stu'?

Do you want me to show you?

Uh, no, man. I feel like I've lived here in a past life.

Ooh. Donuts. Hey, how you doin'?

I'm good.

Think we may have an opportunity

to prove ourselves indispensable.

Oh, god. What now?

There is something still in the house.

What? Is it dangerous?

Think it wants to play.

Yo! My guy!

Hey!

What's poppin', man?

Are you ready to get this? I got the words for track two.

Hey! Do not put your

honey‐glazed fingers on my shit.

Man, you too serious. You need to relax your shoulders.

- Get in the booth. - All right!

Okay.

Where'd this come from?

Give it to me!

Huh.

♪ Uh ♪

♪ Nobody does it ♪ ♪ quite like me ♪

♪ And that's something ♪ ♪ to be said ♪

♪ Don't let the gift ♪ ♪ go straight to your head ♪

♪ Flex on the mic ♪ ♪ like Mike seeing red ♪

♪ Most of them thought ♪ ♪ I'd be dead ♪

♪ Going through the motions ♪

♪ Range of emotions ♪

♪ Places I've been ♪ ♪ over oceans ♪

♪ Lifestyle of the ♪ ♪ rich and the famous ♪

♪ What the goal is ♪ ♪ What the aim is ♪

♪ What they want from me ♪

♪ What they ♪ ♪ want me to be ♪

♪ Thought to be ♪ ♪ mentally free ♪

♪ After a while ♪ ♪ it gets hectic ♪

♪ All they're caring about ♪ ♪ is the metrics ♪

♪ I was just taking it ♪ ♪ deep, down ♪

♪ Meditating on this beat now ♪

♪ They was just ♪ ♪ calling me freak, huh ♪

♪ Thinking I ♪ ♪ finally peaked? Nah! ♪

Yeah!

That's the way right there.

Play that back. Play that back.

Mm‐hm.

Uh

Nobody does it quite like me

And that's something to be said

Don't let...

Right? Right?

...your head.

Flex on the mic like Mike seeing red

Yo.

Most of them thought I'd be dead

Going through the mo‐‐

What you doin'?

‐... since I've been over oceans.

You hear that?

- Man, what you doing? - Oh, you don't hear that?

What they want from me What they want me to be

Come play with me.

Somebody play with me.

...Taking it deep down Medi‐‐

Are you there?

Thinking I finally peaked? Nah!

What the...?

Scream. I know a scream

when I hear a s‐‐. Ah!!

That was a scream! All right? Look.

Maybe there was a bug in the WiFi?

A bug in Wi‐‐?

This was no bug in the WiFi, man!

Okay, this was some loud, screamy, end‐of‐days shit.

If you just give me a few minutes in the studio.

Ohh...

I don't got time for that. I don't got time!

Tess, this is on you!

We might have some acoustical issues

in the house.

I make a living on acoustical issues

and I have never heard something like that.

Look, this place is right for you.

I can feel it.

I just need a little time to figure it all out.

Acoustical.

Damon...

Damon? Damon.

You gotta tune a Stradivarius before you play it, right?

Well, you are a Strad, man.

You are the ultimate Strad of your generation.

And we?

We gotta tune the room to you.

And that takes a little time.

I am a Strad.

While we start the all‐important room tuning,

you must be getting hungry.

I can eat.

Damon, remember the pit‐master who did the amazing brisket

at Mister Mo back in your hometown?

You mean Mo‐‐?

Damon!

Mo‐No, no, no! Mo!

Mo, what are you doing here, man?

I ain't seen you since the '80s!

Look at‐‐

Oh‐oh‐oh‐oh. Mo!

How'd you know about Mister Mo?

Research.

It's what we do.

Your game is strong.

Ours is a service industry.

I assume you two have met.

Yeah, we still play racquetball on Thursdays.

Mm‐hm.

Here's the current file on Cortona House.

Cortona.

It's in Tuscany.

The home of Saint Margaret of Cortona,

the patron saint of unwed mothers.

And prostitutes.

Which tells you everything you needed to know

about the church's take on unwed mothers

back in the day.

Mm. Not our finest hour.

But, Phil?

Don't forget about the good stuff, too.

Yeah.

The good stuff.

Education.

Feeding the hungry. Caring for the sick.

But, see,

aren't those things kind of...

expected?

I mean, isn't that the price of admission

if you're gonna tell 1.2 billion people

what they can eat on a Friday?

Not much here for such an old place.

Well, that's the current file.

The archives are over there.

Oy, gevalt.

Look, don't make it weird, okay?

I'm not looking to get back together.

I was just in the neighbourhood.

By the way, I like that Sister Yasmin.

Really, I do.

She's got this...

little rebellious streak.

Could use more people like her around here instead of all these

"yes" nuns.

You might want to transition her into sales.

Anyway,

talking to her reminded me of this...

thing that happened a while ago.

So I'd had this really lousy day.

I was researching this one house where they kept seeing

this little girl in a torn dress

sitting in a corner alone, in a chair.

I tracked down the social services records and...

there was just some horrible shit that happened

in this house.

You were probably busy with some fundraiser, or...

putting another image of your mom

on a toaster waffle, or something,

but that doesn't matter. That's not the point.

The point is is that I was feeling like crap.

And I'm walking to my car...

it was, um ‐‐

I'd parked across from St. Cyril's on Third and, um...

Oh, shoot.

Third and ‐Well, you know where it is. Of course.

What am I even saying? You're you.

Uh...

And I hear this music.

It's Mozart's Requiem.

The Lacrimosa.

It was, like, a Thursday night and...

they were having choir practice.

And so I walked in.

There wasn't a powerful electric shock

when I touched the door handle, so I took that as a good sign.

And I'm sitting there in the back pew

and I just let

the music wash over me.

I hadn't heard it since I, um...

since I left.

And I was surprised how it...

helped.

I felt better.

Gave me strength and...

And comfort.

You could've taken that away from me.

I'm really glad that you didn't.

Anyhow, uh...

I got work to do, so, uh...

Just going to stay focused on this.

Say hi to everyone.

♪ You just wait until they... ♪

♪ Get a taste of me ♪

♪ I'm the one that's got the juice‐♪

So, you did read the rider.

I did.

♪ It's my destiny ♪

♪ It's guaranteed that... ♪

Let's eat!

♪ I'm the one that makes you go boom ♪

♪ I'm like the morning thunder, I like to bring... ♪

Hey, guys.

- Well, hello. - Here we go!

♪ I'm Everett's House of Pain ♪

♪ Too many days I waited ♪

No, really? Get out.

Yeah, it's actually a thing.

I'm pretty sure all these little green army men

we keep finding are a big shout‐out

to Uncle Franco. You remember how he was?

He always scared me.

Man, that guy, he‐he wanted me to join the army.

All right, he said my music was a pipe dream.

"Join the army! See the world," he said.

- Four platinum albums. - How's that for a pipe dream?

I'm pretty sure all this success and what‐not is‐‐

is me showing Uncle Franco, hell, yeah! I can do this!

Mmm.

I‐I bet you he's smiling right now.

So raise a glass to Uncle Franco.

A great big glass.

Franco!

You know, you might as well enjoy it.

You're paying for it.

Yeah.

Yeah. Fill 'er up.

Oh, I need to take this. Sorry.

Look, I know you and Tessa go round and round,

but you gotta admit she knows her wine.

I like Tessa.

I get her.

She's‐she's smart,

organized,

demands the best for her clients.

She reminds me of me.

I'm going to pretend I believe that.

I hate this place.

Zeke?

Man, quit playing!

I'm too tired for this, man.

Play with me.

Come play

with me.

How long have you been up?

I never really slept.

Tracking these adoption files.

It's really depressing.

You have that Catholic look on your face.

Yeah, well it seems like every time I look

they were doing something horrible.

Might have been an orphanage.

Turns out it was something much worse.

It's not your problem anymore.

I know.

Can I tell you something?

I miss it.

I do.

I miss the communion,

the music,

the rituals that have been around for 2,000 years.

I mean, th‐they're comforting.

Why do you think they've been around for 2,000 years?

But most of all...

I miss feeling like somebody's in charge.

Like our destinies

are being crafted by somebody kind

and benevolent

and wise.

So...

you're not looking for God

as much as

Lin‐Manuel Miranda.

Don't you have a roof or something to fall off of?

Oh! Um...

Hey. Um...

Fix your acoustic issues?

Someone has a very inappropriate

sense of humor and way too much spare time!

What?

Wow! Uncle Franco got busy.

- Oh, Uncle Franco? - You think Damon did this?

Look, maybe he's getting a little tired of you

trying to drag him outta the house?

He's getting work done.

Okay? Let him be.

Uh‐huh.

Yeah. Okay.

Mm. I'm making coffee.

Based on Damon's description,

we're talking about a boy of

four to seven years.

Metallurgy on this particular Slinky

indicates a manufacture date in the early sixties.

Using that data,

we narrowed our search from the photos we found.

Okay.

If a, um...

woman, or a girl,

was found to be in the family way,

they could live out their pregnancy at Cortona house,

away from the judgement of polite society,

for a generous donation to the church, of course.

24 hours after giving birth,

the babies would be put up for adoption

and the young women could return home

like it was all a bad dream.

Again, the adoption fees would roll back into...

the sponsor of our program, but...

the mothers and babies would never see each other again.

Ever.

We're looking at thousands of women and children here.

A fair amount of people died there.

Mostly babies, a few moms, but

there were very few children there at any one time.

These were the kids that were late to adopt.

Uh, illness, development issues and‐‐

other factors.

I'm still looking for where some of these kids went.

That kid is older than three.

Yeah. Look at this. Zooey?

That's him.

His fire truck ‐‐ I saw it.

Wait. Who's that?

- We don't know who he is. - There's no file.

He's gone.

1970. We never see him again.

God, I hope he was adopted.

Dude, you can't be eating donuts and touching my board.

I don't even know what you're talking about, man.

Just calm down.

- Okay, look, I'm tired, okay? - I'm going to take a break.

You want to hit up track two when I get back?

Bep‐bep.

I like my donuts.

♪ Ethereal vocalizing ♪

Where is that coming from?

I need to record this.

Well, don't stop now.

Any more acoustical issues?

Only good ones.

So...

So tell me more about what you do.

Well...

Okay, so when you say...

..."hard‐to‐sell"...

What, you mean ugly‐ass houses?

Not necessarily...

I mean, 'cause this place is beautiful.

But, see, that's exactly the point.

Every house is‐is beautiful,

unique, special in its own way.

To group them together is...

it's like using the term hip‐hop.

It can be general and reductive.

You know, if I were to tell you

that boom‐bap and trap were the same,

you'd tell me to get right out of here.

Just like I would if you were to tell me

a‐a ranch‐style Mediterranean

was like a

three‐story Colonial

and now I'm just...

just riffing, so feel free to jump in‐‐

No, no, I get it, I do.

It's just, um...

Zeke! Zeeeeeeke!

Um... excuse me.

Someone has an unmet need.

Zeke! Zeke!

Zee!

Zeke! Zeke. Zeke.

Man, this house, man, it's special.

Okay, some special shit is going on here.

It's reaching out to me! Look at this.

I was 13.

We was playing some ball, all right?

I split my head open on that rusty rim ‐‐

busted my skull! Remember?

Yeah.

The paramedics ‐‐ they saved my life that day.

Do you know what they was driving?

Man, that's a reach.

It's a reach? No‐no‐no, look.

Listen to this. Listen to this.

Oh, man.

♪ Night has fallen ♪

♪ That's what.. ♪♪♪

Mm‐mm‐mm.

Don't‐don't you see?

The‐the‐the‐the little green army men, the truck,

the‐the‐the voices in my head,

the words that come out of nowhere.

And last night,

I saw a Slinky.

A Slinky?

A‐a Slinky!

Coming down the stairs, all by itself,

telling me to take this one step at a time!

I mean, all this time

I've been rushing and pushing too hard when all I gotta do

is sit back and let this house do what it do, baby.

Okay. Yeah! Yeah.

You‐you think I'm crazy. That's okay! That's okay.

I just need some air. I need to breathe.

I'm going to go for a drive.

All right? I'll see ya' in a bit.

Uh.

Nobody does it quite like me

And that's something to be said

Don't let the gift go straight to your head

Flex on the mic like Mike seeing red

Most of them thought I'd be dead

Going through the motions Range of emotions

Now, meditating on this beat.

Wow!

They were just calling me freak

Huh. Thinking I finally peaked

Nah!

It's a miracle you weren't hurt!

Ah, I told you the house has character.

Yeah, I didn't think you meant a Wes Craven character.

Damon, that's it. We're going back to New York.

Lo‐look, I‐I don't know, man. I...

Come on, you are onto something huge here, D.

I'm not sure leaving is a good idea.

It might follow you, you know.

Follow us?

But it might not.

- Oh, brother. - Is that a threat?

It's a fact, Damon. You are in touch

with something very real and very special here.

It's the raw, childlike creativity

that we're all born with before the world takes it away.

You run away from it now,

you might never, ever find it again.

That is a crock, Damon.

This house is talking to you.

Tell me I'm wrong.

Your album, it's unfinished business.

Finish it.

You're finished.

You're done. You're fired!

I'm done here!

So, we're not actually fired?

Not until I say we are. What do we know for sure?

Person he reached out to was you.

You've got the thing.

The gift. The radar love.

Yes, but you were nice to him.

It's been over 50 years since he's had a friend.

Maybe even longer. You've met those nuns.

But then he attached himself to Damon.

'Cause he was living there.

Maybe.

That is the first time people slept in the house

since Russell.

That must have been really comforting.

Think he was drawn to the music.

So I was his friend.

That makes Damon what?

Big brother?

What does a little boy need more than a friend or a brother?

What does a little boy want?

His mother.

Little boy just wants his mom.

Oh.

Mister Orley.

I need a word.

How about this for a word:

pride.

You left God's work because

the parish's problems

weren't important enough for you.

You were meant for bigger things.

That's the sin of pride.

Fair enough.

But maybe I could have worked things out

if the mother church didn't brand me a sinner

not for what I did, but for who I was.

Who I am.

Anyway,

you want to talk sin, Sister, let's talk sin.

Those were very...

different times.

These girls had no one,

no‐nowhere to turn. We...

Their families had cast them out.

The church...

You cannot fault our intentions.

Watch me.

No. Don't go.

Hm?

Open this door!

He was such

a sweet child.

No bother at all, unless he wanted to play.

Or needed a hug.

I'm afraid the sisters were...

very ineffective in those areas.

The flu took him in, um...

Was it 1969?

Seventy.

Huh.

I was very young.

I didn't‐‐

What exactly

do you want,

Mister Orley?

His mother.

We need her information so that we can find her.

She's dead.

What are you doing? Let me out.

Play with me.

- Stop that! - PLAY WITH ME!

Help!

Stop it, man!

Help!

Help!

Helen Potter,

a lovely ‐‐ oh, lovely girl.

She had just found a job.

She was going to

take her little boy back to live with her.

But then there was an accident.

Very sad.

Why,

Mister Orley?

Why do you ask these questions?

What good could possibly

come of this?

We owe him.

All of us.

His name...

was George.

Help! Help!

Help!

- Help! Damon. Damon! Damon! - Help!

Hey!

Help!

Help me!

I can hear him screaming in the‐in the‐in the studio!

Somebody!

How many people does it take?

- Tessa, it's fine. - No, it's not okay.

George?

Open up, buddy.

George, I got some sad news to tell you.

Come here.

Your mom?

She isn't coming to get you.

She wanted to.

God, she did more than anything.

But we don't always get what we want in life.

But the thing about moms is,

they never stop being your mom.

And you gotta believe me because I know a little bit

about this.

Even when they're away,

they're still‐still kind of there.

Yep.

You know.

Right there.

But now I need you to go to sleep.

And when you see a bright light,

you go there.

Your mom's there.

And a bunch of other kids to play with

and they're all waiting for you.

Can you go to them?

Can you do that?

All I need you to do is go to sleep.

The next time I saw Sister Yasmin,

she told me that Sister Mary Ellen

lit a candle that night

For little George,

his mother...

and all the other moms who never came back.

I'm glad we came here.

We always had fun.

What's wrong with you tonight?

Tough day.

Must be grueling,

lifting those

big pens,

pushing 'em across pages all day.

Dad, why did mom leave?

I really don't want to talk‐‐

No, see, you never do.

But what is it that you're not telling me?

I never lied to you.

That's not what I'm asking you!

I just want to know if it was me she was running from or you?

It was, uh...

Us.

I think it was me.

You'd have to ask her about that.

I did.

You wouldn't know her if you saw her.

- I found the snapshot. - One from the hospital.

- Well, that's private. - Who told you could‐‐?

You were dead, Dad!

I guess you found those, uh, magazines, too, uh?

Look, a man, uh, a man gets lonely.

You're just going to joke your way through

this whole thing again, huh?

Uh‐huh.

Ha‐ha!

Would it defuse this tense moment

if I said something nice about your shoes?

Luke!

Come on!

♪ Nobody does it quite like me ♪

♪ That's something to be said ♪

♪ Don't let the gift go Straight to your head ♪

♪ Flex on the mic Like Mike seeing red ♪

♪ Most of them thought I'd be dead ♪

♪ I go through the motions ♪

♪ My range of emotions Places I've been over... ♪