Original subtitles

This Saturday night

on a brand-new Pink Opaque.

Drain Lords, hundreds of them,

coming out of the drains!

Isabel's bathroom has a new supernatural infestation

that no exterminator can take care of.

It's "The Attack of the Drain Lords."

10:30p.m./ 9:30 Central,

this Saturday night on the Young Adult Network.

They can't hurt you

if you don't think about them.

They can't hurt you if you don't think about them.

Five, four,

three, two,

one!

It was raining last night and I couldn't sleep,

so I started my favorite TV show again.

The Pink Opaque.

-Thank you, ma'am. -Yes.

-Enjoy your night. -Yeah.

Hey.

Oh, let me take two, yeah. Thank you.

Owen! Owen, honey.

Come on, honey, we're ready to go in.

Come on.

I don't know what he's doing...

Ready?

Owen, I know you're not too old for this.

It's been four years.

It's time to vote for the saxophone man again.

Mom!

Okay. Come on.

Come on. Come-- Owen, come on.

Please.

I don't know. I don't think so.

Hey.

Hey.

Are your parents voting too?

No.

Ms. Driscoll lets me use the dark room after school,

so I'm just waiting for my pictures to dry out.

That looks like the best book ever.

Yeah, it is.

That's like the TV show, right?

The Pink Opaque?

Yeah. It's the official episode guide.

Do you watch?

-No. -Oh.

What grade are you in?

Ninth.

What about you?

Seventh.

My God, you're a baby.

Election Night is cool, right?

It's like Colonial Day.

Or when they bring the inflatable planetarium

into the gymnasium.

It's like the school gets transformed

into something else, you know?

It's special.

It's a kids show, right?

The Pink Opaque?

No. No way. Who told you that?

I mean, yeah, technically it's on the Young Adult Network.

But it's way too scary,

and the mythology's way too complicated for most kids.

I see commercials for it all the time.

It looks amazing.

You can read about the episodes here, if you want.

It's got quotes and pictures,

and info about the double bill of bands

that plays each week at the Double Lunch.

It comes on at 10:30 p.m., right?

Yeah. Every Saturday night.

It's the last show in the block

before they switch to black and white reruns

for old people.

My friend Amanda and I watch it together every week.

My dad won't let me stay up that late.

10 p.m.'s my bedtime.

Damn.

That absolutely sucks.

My mom basically doesn't give a crap when I go to bed.

Hey.

You know what you should do?

-Mom? -Hmm?

Can I have a sleepover

at Johnny Link's house Saturday night?

Johnny Link?

I didn't even know you guys were still friends anymore.

Well, honey, you'll have to ask your father.

Can you ask him for me?

Frank, Owen wants to go

have a sleepover at Johnny Link's.

Well... He's old enough.

He's a good kid.

Honey!

You remembered your inhaler, right?

Yeah.

All right.

And what about a husband?

If I have to.

What about Evan Dando?

I mean, he's cute but he's so tortured.

I'd have to, like, save him every day.

Fine. Then what about Beck?

He's such a spindly little cutie.

Okay, but we need more, like, gross guys.

Ugh, what about Joe from Math?

No, he's cute.

What about, like, Michael Stipe?

I like Michael Stipe.

And now, a brand-new The Pink Opaque.

Hey.

Is it okay if I come sit down?

Shut up. It's starting.

Tara is my imaginary best friend,

and I'm hers.

We met at sleepaway camp

and discovered we had an ancient psychic connection.

Now, even though we live

on opposite sides of the county,

we help each other fight the forces of evil.

We are... The Pink Opaque.

The last Sprinkly Stick of the summer.

What a bummer.

Definition of.

It's not fair, man.

Why does the winter have to be so cold

that you can't eat ice cream during the winter?

You know what I wish?

I wish the Ice Cream Man didn't have to leave

when the weather got cold in the winter.

I wish...

he never went away.

You can go out and join her, if you want.

No, I don't smoke cigarettes.

It's not a cigarette.

It's a Black & Mild.

Are you sure you don't want a ride home

with Amanda's mom?

I told my parents it was a sleepover.

So, did you like it?

The show I mean?

Yeah.

It was... It was really interesting.

Isabel's a scaredy-cat.

She's kind of the main character,

but she's also kind of a drip.

Tara's my favorite. She's super hot,

and she doesn't take shit from anybody.

Plus, she's an expert on demonology.

And they never meet up in person, right?

No.

Just in the pilot episode, back at sleepaway camp.

But they can communicate via "the psychic plane."

So, each episode, they help each other fight a new monster

from across the county.

Okay.

Is the Ice Cream Man in every episode?

No.

That's just a Monster of the Week.

Mr. Melancholy is the Big Bad.

Mr. Melancholy?

The Man in the Moon.

Oh, right.

He's always messing with time and reality.

He wants to rule the world,

to trap Isabel and Tara in the Midnight Realm.

So each week,

he sends a new supernatural foe their way.

Because they're part of The Pink Opaque.

No, because they are The Pink Opaque.

Right.

Sorry.

Don't apologize.

Well, I'm passing out.

Are you sure it's okay that I sleep down here?

Just be out by dawn.

If my stepdad catches you, he'll break my nose again.

And where... where will you be sleeping?

In my bed... creep.

Sometimes...

The Pink Opaque feels more real than real life.

You know?

So,

how you feeling about my little health scare, buddy?

I'm fine.

It just...

seems like you're always somewhere else lately.

I don't know...

I'm not sure if it's 'cause of me, or...

I don't know. I...

Maybe I'm just making it up.

Just want to know that

you're on the right path, you know?

Can I stay up late to watch The Pink Opaque tonight?

What time does it come on?

10:30 p.m.

You know your bedtime is at 10:15.

Yeah, but...

no one in the ninth grade even has a bedtime anymore.

Isn't that a show for girls?

Not tonight, honey.

After that first sleepover, I couldn't work up the courage

to say more than three words to Maddy Wilson at a time.

But when I told her I still wasn't allowed

to watch the show,

she started leaving tapes for me.

I watched these tapes over and over again.

But they never got old.

His henchmen are close by.

Marco and Polo.

Nasty little demons.

And he... he's...

Mr. Melancholy.

That's right.

What's happening to me?

How do I know these things?

Am I going crazy?

No. Never let anyone convince you of that.

You're like me.

You're special.

We are The Pink Opaque.

It's our destiny.

I knew it from the moment

I saw your tattoo in the dining hall.

Heck, I knew it before I even met you.

Can you feel it?

I don't even have my learner's permit yet.

-How can I have a destiny? -How can I have a destiny?

Hey.

What's up?

Nothing much.

Um, I was wondering...

Do you, um...

Do you and Amanda

still watch The Pink Opaque together every week?

I haven't talked to that asshole in a year.

Amanda told the entire school that I tried to touch her tit,

which is a total lie!

And then surprise, surprise, 11th grade comes around

and suddenly it's been her lifelong dream

to join the cheer squad! Ugh!

Secret agent sent here to make my life miserable, I swear.

If you wanted, I could come over again.

I've been watching the tapes you've been making me

but I wanted to watch The Pink Opaque

on Saturday night again.

While it airs.

I like girls. You know that, right?

I'm not into boys.

I wasn't... I... Totally. That's fine.

Okay. I'm just making sure.

What about you? Do you like girls?

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

Boys?

I... I think that I like TV shows.

When I think about that stuff,

it feels like someone...

took a shovel and dug out all my insides.

And I know there's nothing in there,

but I'm still too nervous

to open myself up and check.

I know there's something wrong with me.

My parents know it too,

even if they don't say anything.

Do you ever feel like that?

I don't know.

Maybe you're like Isabel...

Afraid of what's inside you.

Hey, Bozo! Estee Lauder called.

They've got a few suggestions

about this whole look you're going for.

I'm getting out of this town.

Did you know that?

Soon.

I'll die if I stay here.

I don't know how exactly, but I know it's true.

If you leave,

I won't have anyone to watch The Pink Opaque with.

Sit up.

Pack as much as you can

in your overnight bag next Saturday.

You can't tell anyone we're leaving.

Not your mom.

Not anyone.

Where will we go?

We'll know when we get there.

Owen? Uh, Johnny's not home, but...

You have to tell my dad that I've been lying to him.

I've been pretending to sleep here

while my mom's in the hospital.

And I need to be grounded.

Okay. Slow down, honey. What?

You can't let me go with her.

I don't want to leave my home.

My mom passed away the next July.

And a few weeks later,

Maddy disappeared without a trace.

All they found was her TV set burning in the backyard.

And the strangest part of it all was,

that exact same month that Maddy disappeared,

The Pink Opaque got canceled.

Welcome to Burger Express.

Hello?

Hi.

-Are you ready to take my... -What would you like, sir?

-Yeah, sorry. Can I get... -Are you there?

I just want... Can I get two double cheeseburgers

and a small fries and a root beer?

-$11.09. Drive around. -Okay. Okay, thank you.

...answering his phone,

so I can't start...

...the projector until I get the key.

Um, so if you could call me back

and just let me know...

What the hell!

Sorry! Sorry!

Uh, hey, Owen, um,

did you like what you saw earlier?

Me and Erica?

You know, because, if you want,

I can put in a good word with Erica for you.

She's, like, obsessed with you, man.

She's like, "Oh, I love that guy.

"He's so cool! Oh, my God!"

It's "on" for you, brother.

Come on, man.

Hey, why don't you look at me. Please.

Just make eye contact with me. Seriously.

What the heck?

Hello?

Is somebody there?

"Season Six, episode one:

"Escape from the Midnight Realm."

I'm sorry that I'm late. There was a downed power line.

Within hours,

90% of Earth's population was destroyed.

The invaders changed the planet's atmosphere,

creating an eternal night.

The sun forever covered by the dark clouds.

The survivors fled underground,

living in fear of the machines that now ruled the Earth.

Ma'am? Are you...

Do you need help?

Do you remember me?

Maddy?

Oh, my God!

Jesus, Maddy, where have you been?

I know a place on the edge of town.

It will be safe for us to talk there.

♪ I saw the TV glow

♪ I am in the eighth grade

♪ Sending grown men grainy photos

♪ Of my ribcage

♪ My bedroom has no doors

♪ So I can never close them

♪ I paint the ceiling black

♪ So I don't notice

♪ When my eyes are open

♪ I paint the ceiling black

♪ So I don't notice

♪ When my eyes are open

♪ And somewhere south of Tallahassee

♪ A teenage boy with a summer job

♪ He's driving grown men around a golf course

♪ He's going home to a manicured lawn

♪ And digging holes in his manicured lawn

♪ I think I was born bored

♪ I think I was born blue

♪ I think I was born wanting more

♪ I think I was born already missing you

♪ But my heart is like a claw machine

♪ It's only function is to reach

♪ It can't hold on to anything ♪

I just... I really think that you need to go to the police.

They think you're dead, Maddy.

I don't know.

Sometime.

And you won't tell me where you've been this past decade?

I'll tell you everything.

I just...

I need to ask you something first.

Does your mom know that you're alive?

I need to ask you something first.

Okay. Okay.

What do you need to ask me?

♪ When it's me who's making it

♪ It's always the wrong thing when it's me who's saying it ♪

Do you remember a TV show we used to watch together?

It was called...

The Pink Opaque.

Of course, I remember The Pink Opaque.

It's my favorite TV show of all time.

Always will be.

That's all you wanted to ask me,

if I remembered The Pink Opaque?

No.

I guess what I mean is...

When you think back on watching The Pink Opaque,

how do you remember it?

How do I remember it?

Yeah.

Do you remember it as just a TV show?

Yeah. I remember it as a TV show.

The Pink Opaque was a TV show.

We watched it in your basement on Saturday nights

from 10:30 to 11:00 p.m. Remember?

The last show before the Young Adult Network

switched to black and white reruns for the night.

Yeah.

But are you sure?

Are you sure that's all it was?

Listen.

I know this might sound crazy, but...

When you think back on The Pink Opaque,

when you remember watching it in my basement

on Saturday nights from 10:30 to 11:00 p.m.,

do you ever get confused?

Like, maybe the memory isn't quite right?

What do you mean "not quite right"?

Like...

Does time ever feel like it's not moving normally?

Like it's all out of whack?

Do you ever feel like you're narrating your own life

watching it play in front of you

like an episode of television?

Or do you ever have a hard time distinguishing

between what happened in the show

and what happened in real life?

Like somehow the memories got jumbled around?

Shook up in your head.

Like a snow globe.

I'm trying to go slow.

I don't want to alarm you.

Maybe we should talk to somebody,

the police or my dad...

No!

You can't tell anybody about this.

Not like last time.

You have to promise.

Okay, Maddy. Jesus.

Yeah, I promise.

I came a very long way to see you,

and to ask you this...

Will you just...

Will you tell me where you've been all these years?

That's what I've been trying to do.

I've been there.

Inside the show.

Inside The Pink Opaque.

♪ Why have I have been punished?

♪ I've been banished from the sky

♪ Clinging to his mighty chest Bury my face and cry

♪ I bow to him just to sleep next to you

♪ A force I can't deny

♪ When I'm spread on the bed

♪ You remain the luscious fruit

♪ Help me, I'm so chained to you

♪ Someone tell me what to do

♪ Ah, ah, ah, ah

♪ Feeling like a psychic wound

♪ Help me, I'm so chained to you

♪ Someone tell me what to do

♪ Ah, ah, ah, ah

♪ Feeling like a psychic wound

♪ Ah, ah, ah, ah

♪ Feeling like a psychic wound

♪ Feeling like a psychic wound

♪ Feeling like a psychic wound

♪ Feeling like a psychic wound

♪ Feeling like a psychic wound ♪

I can't stay in this place much longer.

I'm going back there.

Do you remember how it ended?

The final episode?

The end of season five?

You can't trust anybody in your life.

They're all working for him...

Mr. Melancholy.

I'll be at the high school tomorrow night at midnight.

I hope you'll come.

A little while after Maddy disappeared,

she sent me one more tape in the mail.

Mr. Melancholy is coming.

If we're going to defeat him this time,

we're going to need to harness

the full potential of our shared powers.

We're going to need to meet again...

in person.

Isabel follows the sound of Tara's voice

-in the psychic plane... -Isabel?

-Tara? -...back to their old

sleepaway camp.

She finds her at the dock by the lake,

the place where they first spoke five seasons ago.

But then, as Isabel approaches,

she picks something up.

A stray signal from the psychic plane.

Help me. Help me.

It's a desperate message from Tara.

The real Tara.

She's buried underground...

in terrible danger.

Help me, Isabel.

Mr. Melancholy had got to her first.

Marco.

Polo.

-They cut out her heart.

They feed her the Luna Juice.

And then he makes his entrance.

Mr. Melancholy...

...the big bad.

Don't fight it.

Let my poison work its magic.

You're gonna love the Midnight Realm.

It's such a wonderful, wonderful prison.

It's okay.

Soon you won't remember anything.

Your real name.

Your superpowers.

Your heart.

You won't even remember that you're dying!

They bury her... alive.

And then...

...it just ended...

forever.

This isn't my home!

You're not my father!

I made it all the way to Phoenix

on the money I had saved.

The trees looked different,

but everything else was exactly the same.

I started using a new name.

Sleeping at the cheapest hostel I could find.

The Pink Opaque was over.

I got a job at the mall.

At Build-A-Bear.

Filling the dolls up with stuffing.

I got out of that town.

That place I knew would kill me if I stayed.

But something was still wrong.

Wronger, even.

Time wasn't right.

It was moving too fast.

And then I was 19. And then I was 20.

I felt like one of those dolls,

asleep in the supermarket.

Stuffed.

And then I was 21.

Like chapters skipped over on a DVD.

I told myself...

"This isn't normal.

"This isn't normal."

This isn't how life is supposed to be.

I thought about running away again.

About moving to Santa Fe

and changing my name one more time.

But I knew that everywhere would be just the same.

I had seen how it ended.

I knew where I was.

A little bit after my 22nd birthday,

I paid this burnout kid

who used to hit on me in the food court

$50 to bury me alive.

I mean...

he didn't know he was burying me alive,

but I doubt he would have cared too much even if he did.

I bought a coffin.

I dug a hole.

I got inside and I closed the lid.

I said to myself,

"This is crazy.

"What you're doing is crazy."

But another part of me knew that it wasn't.

That it was survival.

And that I didn't have much time.

That what felt like years in this world

was actually just seconds.

So I waited.

And then finally,

the first spadeful of dirt hit the top of the box.

And then another.

And then another.

I sang songs to myself.

I counted to 10,000 without skipping any numbers.

I pissed and I shit my pants

and I forced my mouth

to produce whatever saliva it could muster

just so I would have something to drink.

I screamed as loud as I could for help.

I apologized for the whole thing.

And I begged God for someone to come along and save me.

I tried and tried to claw my way out,

but that burnout guy had packed the dirt in too tight

just like I had asked him to do.

And then,

after I don't know how long,

I felt myself start to leave myself.

And it was like I was watching myself

on TV from across the room.

And I was moving further

and further away from the screen

until the screen was so small

that I couldn't even see myself anymore.

And then I was clawing my way up out of the ground.

And then I was at the surface,

gasping for air, rain pouring down on me.

Thunder and lightning.

And I was finally back there.

Back at our old sleepaway camp.

And just like I was waking up from a bad dream,

that whole life...

that whole reality where I was Maddy Wilson...

drifted away.

Like a brief hallucination

that, after a few moments, I could hardly even remember.

And all those memories that had felt so real

washed away with the rain

back at our old sleepaway camp.

And I was me.

I was finally me again.

And it was the season six premiere.

I tried looking for you,

but Mr. Melancholy had covered his tracks too well.

I knew you must be buried somewhere close by,

but I didn't know where.

And your signal...

That signal that I used to be able to close my eyes

and feel so vividly...

was nowhere.

I wasn't picking up anything on the psychic plane.

I found my heart.

Isabel, oh, my God!

I found yours, too.

And it was still beating,

stored indefinitely in...

In an industrial freezer!

I left our hearts there

because I knew I wasn't done yet.

And I found Mr. Melancholy's cauldron.

I found the Luna Juice

he used to send us to the Midnight Realm,

then I took a big sip straight out from the ladle.

And I laid back down...

and I waited to fall back asleep.

I knew I needed to come back here.

I knew I needed to come back and save you.

So that the show can continue.

So that we can get to season six.

Maddy.

That's not my name.

And I haven't told you anything tonight

that you don't already know.

Tell me.

Tell me you know it's true.

I...

You told me yourself you felt it.

Remember? On the bleachers?

You know what he put inside you.

This... This is insane. I...

I remember... I remember...

playing in the snow.

Driving to baseball games with my dad.

Cooking with my mom.

Those memories were put there to distract you.

To keep you trapped.

This isn't the Midnight Realm, Maddy,

it's just the suburbs.

I told you that's not my name.

And we need to go back down into the soil.

Tonight.

The longer you wait

the closer you get to suffocating.

I've got everything ready.

That spot behind the football field

where the stoners used to get high after school.

No one will find us there.

Come on.

I know it's scary. That's part of it.

It's like the Drain Lords.

Just like the Drain Lords.

It's not real if I don't think about it.

Isabel.

After that night on the football field,

I locked myself inside.

I didn't leave the house for days.

I kept waiting for her to show back up

to force me underground.

But she never did.

I never saw her again.

I told myself I made the right choice.

Maddy's story was insane. It couldn't be true.

But some nights,

when I was working late at the movie theater,

I found myself wondering, what if she was right?

What if she had been telling the truth?

What if I really was someone else?

Someone beautiful and powerful.

Someone buried alive and suffocating to death.

Very far away,

on the other side of the television screen.

But I know that's not true.

That's just fantasy.

Kid's stuff.

The movie theater closed the next fall.

My manager brought me along with him

to the Fun Center.

I work there now restocking the ball pit with balls.

My father passed away in 2010 after his second stroke.

Time moves fast these days.

Years pass like seconds.

I just try not to think too hard about it.

I decided to stay in the house.

It was time for me to become a man.

A real adult.

A productive member of society.

And that's exactly what I did.

I even got a family of my own.

I love them more than anything.

Anyway, like I was saying,

it was raining the other night and I couldn't sleep,

so I started The Pink Opaque again.

It's available to stream now.

You don't even need a disc.

I started The Pink Opaque again.

And it was nothing like I remembered it.

Hey, Mr. Ice Cream Man.

Stop turning all my friends into popsicle sticks!

But I'm so lonely.

I have nothing to do all winter.

The whole thing felt cheesy and cheap.

Dated, and not scary at all.

I know!

In the winter time, instead of selling ice cream,

you can sell soup instead.

Why didn't I think of that?

Let's all have a soup party!

Yay, a soup party!

I just felt embarrassed.

Marco.

Polo.

You got me!

-Go, go, go! -Get it! Get it!

-Money! -Money! Money!

Money! Go, go, go, go!

Get that money!

Come on, get in there.

Come on, we're doing it. All right, guys, come on!

♪ Happy birthday to you

♪ Happy birthday to you

Come on!

♪ Happy birthday, dear Charlie

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

Come on!

♪ Happy birthday to you

Everybody!

♪ Happy birthday to you

♪ Happy birthday, dear Charlie

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

Come on!

Let's go again from the top!

One more time!

♪ Happy birthday to you

Faster!

♪ Happy birthday to you

Louder!

♪ Happy birthday, dear Charlie

♪ Happy birthday... ♪

You need to help me!

I'm dying right now!

Sorry. Ignore me. I...

Mommy!

Owen?

You okay in there, buddy?

I'm fine.

Out in a minute.

Sorry about that before.

Sorry about before.

Just a new medication I'm on.

Sorry.

I'm sorry about before.

Sorry about that before.

Sorry.

I'm sorry.