Original subtitles

Get back in here, now! Come on!

Leave me alone, Momma!

They told me it was in the water. It's in the water!

It's in the water!

Kids, it's in the water!

No! It's in the water!

Alice!

Al!

Come inside, honey.

- Did you finish your chores? - Uh-huh.

Good. Go wash up and tell the boys to come in for breakfast.

Okie-dokey.

Ooh, baby!

You dumb son of a bitch!

Ah, Ow!

Come on. Say, "Uncle."

Say, "Uncle", baby. Come on.

Say, "Uncle!" Say it

Cyrus! Zack! That's enough!

You heard me! Stop it!

Now

- What happened here? - He slipped.

That's a goddamn lie!

Do not blaspheme the Lord.

I don't care how it started, but it's stopping now.

Be kindly affectional one to another with brotherly love.

Romans, chapter 12, verse 10.

Now, let's shake hands and be as brothers.

He's not my brother.

And you're not my father!

Get out of those clothes and come to breakfast.

You can finish this up later.

You dumb creep, can't even take a joke.

Oh, Lord, we thank Thee for the food we are about to receive.

We know that we stand in the danger of damnation and hellfire,

and that the Lord hates a sinner.

But with Your grace, we will become as pure as the driven snow.

Amen.

Where's Zachary?

He'll be around.

He was stinking up the whole house.

How's the well coming?

Well, I'm hoping to hook up sometime tomorrow.

Biscuit's a little dry this morning, Frances.

You forgot to add something?

I'll get it.

Stay there! Shit!

Get out of here!

Frances! Frances! Shoo! Get away! Get away!

Frances! Dogs, Frances!

Shoo! Get, get! Shoo, shoo!

Frances! Shoo! Shoo, shoo!

Shoo, shoo, shoo, shoo!

Shoo! Frances! Shoo!

- Good morning, Frances. - Charlie.

I was on my way to the office,

and I got the hankering for some of Nathan's apples,

so, I, uh I took a detour.

Apples ain't ready yet, Charlie. Another week, maybe.

Oh, no.

Well, uh Well, that squash looks nice.

Is, uh, Nathan around?

He's having his breakfast,

and he doesn't wanna talk to you, Charlie Davidson.

Things are bad enough right now without you on his back all the time,

hounding him to sell.

Well, I ain't hounding him, Frances. I'm trying to do the guy a favor.

Look, sweetheart, just between you and me and the lamppost,

I'm offering him a chance to get out while he's ahead.

I mean, the family farm ain't exactly coming back.

You don't want this place to end up on an auction block.

That's his business, Charlie.

And if Nathan says he'll get by, he'll get by.

Five...

How we doing?

Where's Zack?

He upstairs?

Is he okay?

The boy will be just fine if you just stop babying him.

Button yourself up in front of the children.

I'll check on Alex, then.

Go, James! Go, go! Go!

Yeah, come on!

That's it, James! Go! Move, move! Do it!

Yeah!

Cyrus, turn that TV off.

Oh, but, Dad, we just got ahead!

You heard me.

Come in.

Hi-

What are you doing?

Reading.

You'll ruin your eyes in this light.

Your fa...

Nathan told me what happened this morning.

Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure he took Cyrus“ side, too.

He's not taking any sides, Zack.

He just wants it to all work out together,

like we all do.

Why does he have to be so strict?

He's always running around with his Bible in his hand,

screaming like some preacher.

Now, don't you 90 being disrespectful, young man.

Look, I know he's not like your father was,

but he's a good man, Zack.

He came to us when we really, really needed him.

Put a roof over our heads,

and he gave us a chance to be a family again.

And we all need that.

You, and me, and Alice

we got to really try.

Please try to work it out, Zachary.

Ain't proper.

Man should be making advances, not the woman.

Abstain from fleshly lusts that war against the soul.

You startled me.

Let go of me.

I'll scream.

I swear, I'll scream.

Holy shit!

Is Doc Forbes around?

Yeah, Zack, honey. What was that noise?

I heard an explosion. Is everybody all right?

Something came out of the sky. A meteor or something.

Oh.

Woah.

When I was a graduate assistant at UT,

they brought in this meteorite for us to take a look at.

Basically, it's just this big rock.

It's not like this thing outside.

No, thanks, I'm fine.

Nathan, I don't think there's anything to worry about health-risk-wise.

I think it'd be a good idea just to keep away from the thing

until we get the experts to give an all-clear, okay?

You think it came from outer space?

Could be.

He's a dork.

Daddy, he gave me the bird again!

- Cyrus, go to bed. - Aw, daddy.

N ow.

- Good night. - Good night, Zack.

Gosh, it's nearly 2:30.

I guess we better get some sleep ourselves.

Thanks for the pie, Frances.

- Good night. - Good night.

- Charlie, I've got a patient here. - Alan, we've got to talk.

Morning, Arthur, how are you? Feeling all right?

Well, that don't sound too bad to me.

Listen, you don't mind if I borrow the doctor for a few minutes, do you?

Good.

I, uh, had looked that thing

that landed in Nathan's backyard last night.

Nathan tells me you're planning on calling in the EPA.

Well, somebody should check it out. I think they'd be interested in it.

Alan, Alan, Alan.

You've got to employ some common sense here.

Do you have any idea what an EPA probe would do to our partnership?

The publicity alone could sway them towards some other location.

Now, I can't afford to lose that kind of money. Can you?

Well, what are we supposed to do, just pretend it's not there?

We don't even know what the thing's made of.

You're the scientist, you check it out.

Now, all I'm saying is,

before we go calling in a bunch of these nosey eggheads,

let's just make sure that we've got something to worry about.

Okay?

Good. Let's go.

It's not so big.

It's probably made up of mostly carbon dioxide.

That would explain the shrinkage overnight.

I saw it glowing last night from my window.

Last night, it was glowing,

and the trees were moving, but there wasn't any wind.

That kid's sure got some imagination, huh, Nathan?

Yeah, he's always talking about stuff he don't know nothing about.

So, what's the problem?

The problem is I don't know what it is I'm supposed to be looking for.

I ran through every simple test I could remember

from college chemistry days.

It's not like anything I've ever come across.

- And? - And nothing.

I don't like it, that's all.

I don't have the right equipment here.

I don't know what I'm doing.

Thank you, sweetheart.

The thing ain't radioactive.

I mean, people's ears ain't gonna start falling off, are they?

Not as far as I can tell.

And as a matter of fact, the thing ain't got an edge on it

sharp enough to cut your little finger.

Can't you do something with him, Esther?

He's a rock.

Young man's gonna have a nervous breakdown.

All right, Charlie. I get your point.

Well, I, uh

I guess I better be getting on home.

Ain't no sense in fixing things that ain't broke.

Alan.

Nathan, you in there? Nathan?

Oh, I'm sorry.

- Well, I'll come back. - It's all right, Doc, come on in.

Set a place for Doc Forbes.

No, that's that's okay. I can only stay a second.

Looks like we've put a finger on your meteorite.

It seems it isn't a meteorite at all, as it turns out, uh

I don't quite know how to say this delicately, uh

I think what we have there is some jet airline

that let loose its lavatory holding tanks right overhead.

And it froze on its way down, like a big hailstone.

I just went by, and it's not there anymore.

Holding tanks?

Airplane doo-doo!

Well, you just tell her next time you wanna go fishing, Lim,

and you just leave it at that, okay?

Uh, Lim, I'll call you later.

Shit.

Sofie, I'm going to lunch.

Look, I need a room.

Well

Get me a beer, baby.

Afternoon.

Afternoon.

You're from the water.

Excuse me?

The water. The TVA

The, uh, big reservoir you were planning on sinking in around here.

Charlie Davidson, Davidson Realty,

Chairman of the Tellico Plains Chamber of Commerce

and President of the Town Council, three years running.

Willis, Carl Willis.

How did you hear about the reservoir?

Oh, you hear things.

Well, I don't know exactly what it is you've heard, Mr.

- Mr., uh - Davidson.

Davidson.

But my business here in Tellico Plains is strictly confidential,

and if the TVA hears of anyone profiteering with this project,

they'll pull out of here quicker than you can say "Jack Robinson".

Quite frankly, I'm not sure that this is where the reservoir is going.

Jesus, no need to get so bent out of shape.

I mean, I just stopped by to give you an official Tellico Plains welcome

and tell you that if there's anything you need, that I'm here.

Listen, I'm sorry, I'm I'm a little new at this job, okay?

These things, they happen.

I understand.

My lips are sealed.

- Well, all right, I'd appreciate it. - Yeah.

Hey, uh, listen.

You know, if you don't want anybody

asking you a whole bunch of questions,

you shouldn't be riding around in a car

with all them official decals plastered all over the doors.

Listen, I got a great idea.

Why don't you let me drive you around

to wherever it is that you got to go, huh?

Yeah. Hey! Check.

Hey!

Hey, where do you want to start at, huh?

I need to see lots one through twelve, right here.

Ah, no, no, no, no.

- You don't want to start there. - Why?

No, that's the Crane place.

You got to start at the south end of the valley.

No, the Crane's wouldn't appreciate no strangers

wandering around on their property.

Hold the wheel. This is my favorite part. Hold on.

Hold on.

- You sing? - You?

Yeah. Hold on.

I just don't want to do anything reckless, that's all.

I have a responsibility to the community.

I have a responsibility myself.

You understand that, don't you, honey?

Of course I do, sugar.

We got to think of ourselves, too.

All the things we plan to do with the money.

Moving back to the city.

Building up a nice new practice for you.

Making friends who want to talk about something other than fertilizer.

I mean, Charlie's a sleeze.

We both know that.

But he does make a point.

We don't wanna go around fixing things that ain't broke.

Now, then, baby boy.

Speaking of things that ain't broke.

- What's the matter? - It tastes funny.

- What tastes funny? - The water.

It's just the minerals in it. It's good for you.

It makes vegetables taste weird.

There's nothing wrong with the water, honey.

It's the same water we've been drinking for days.

It's from the new well.

It's tasted weird for days.

Now, there's nothing wrong with the food,

and there's nothing wrong with the water.

Neither one of you are going to leave this table

until your plates are clean and your glasses are empty,

understand?

Understand?

- Yes, sir. - Yes, sir.

Praise the Lord.

Daddy! Help me!

Daddy!

Somebody, help me!

Daddy!

Get me out of here!

All right, come on!

You must have provoked him, Cyrus. That's all there is to it.

I didn't do nothing. He just turned on me all of a sudden.

Like he was crazy.

What are you doing back there?

Connect the clots.

Are you going crazy?

Oh, God.

Pull up your pants, Cyrus.

Sofie, print me up one of my standard contracts.

The Nathan Crane place.

Morning, Nathan.

Morning, Charles.

You just in the neighborhood?

No, it's a special trip.

Just figured I'd stop by and pick up some apples for the little woman.

The bank foreclosed on Bob Doctorie's place.

We are all tested, Charles.

Yeah, but I sure as hell hate to see a thing like that happen.

What are you planning, Charles?

Condominium, bowling alley, or something?

I hear rumors that that fellow from Knoxville

that you've been palling around with is with the TVA.

Oh, Willis?

No, no. He's just

just a good old friend of mine doing some survey work for me.

- Really? - Yeah.

I hear he's looking over the valley for a dam site.

Wouldn't be why you're hounding the farmers to sell,

would it, Charles?

I'm just doing a little honest speculating.

Trying like hell to do you folks a favor.

I appreciate that, I really do.

But I got a harvest of apples that's gonna make me flush

and keep me that way for about six months.

Now what happens after then, who knows,

but in the meantime,

the good Lord blessed Delta Airlines.

Family farm's a dying breed, Nathan.

Fighting big business,

they're out to wipe each one of you out.

I'm just offering you a chance to get out while you're ahead.

I'm not interested, Charles.

Hear, have a ripe one.

First of the season.

You're making a big mistake, Nathan.

Hey, what the hell you trying to do, poison me?

Alice! Alice!

Alice!

I gave her a sedative so she'll sleep through the night.

I think she'll feel a lot better in the morning,

but I'd keep her in bed for the next three or four days.

Oh, I got some fresh coffee on the stove.

No, thank you.

Something cold. Some ice water, maybe?

Nathan, what is wrong with your chickens?

Some kind of mange, I figure.

I've got them on a heavy dose of antibiotics.

It's probably why they're so skittish.

I wouldn't think so.

Well, the girl probably got them riled up. I don't know.

Anyway, it's all over now. I just soon forget the whole thing happened.

- What about the horse? - The horse?

Yesterday, out in the pasture, a horse attacked Cyrus.

Wasn't nothing like that.

Don't be talking about things you don't know nothing about.

Horses just get spooked sometimes.

It's nothing more than that.

Frances, are you all right?

Just fine, why'd you ask?

Well, you sure seem pinked. Why don't you ...?

Why don't you stop by my office tomorrow morning?

Well, if you folks need anything, be sure to let me know.

All right.

I'll sue him.

The airlines did this to me.

They killed my whole apple crop with their damn toilet water.

"You've got nothing to worry about, Frances.

Daddy's going to protect you."

Sure thing.

Hail Mary full of grace.

Has your garden grown?

Hurry, please!

Evening, Doc. Somebody sick?

I don't know. I heard you had a bit of excitement tonight.

With Frances? Is she all right?

- Zachary just overreacted a bit. - But

Frances just been feeling a little under the weather, that's all.

Well, as long as I'm here, maybe I better have a look.

No need.

She's all right.

She's just been worried about the girl.

She's resting now.

I'm sorry we called you out of your house like that.

No, that's all right. No trouble at all.

Be sure to give our best to Esther.

We don't bring strangers into our private business

unless I say so, understand?

I thought she needed help.

Hold it right there.

Any water out back?

Hello?

Anybody home?

I'm, uh...

Water.

Frances.

Go upstairs.

Pray for salvation.

You always walk into people's houses uninvited?

- I just I just wanted some water. - Get out!

You can just fill one of these out and leave it with your sample.

And how long will this take?

Better figure on 24 hours at least.

Could be two days though, um...

You can give us a call in the morning, or we'll call you.

No, no, no, I'll call you tomorrow.

Eat your eggs, Will.

We want you to grow up big and strong, don't we?

There's a plate of food in the oven.

Take it up to your sister before you go out.

Aw, man.

Get 'em off! Get 'em off!

"And the third angel sounded."

Then there fell a great star from heaven,

burning as it were a torch.

And it fell upon the third part of the rivers

and upon the fountains of waters.

"And many men died of the waters."

Revelations of Saint John, Chapter 8.

Our fruit is full of worms, all my animals are dying,

devoured by this terrible curse.

You, Frances, you've turned all nasty and ugly almost overnight.

I hardly recognize you. And you know why, Frances?

Because God is punishing all of us.

Your sins have soiled our own and instilled their wrath.

"And the third angel sounded."

And there fell a great star from heaven,

burning as it were a torch.

And it fell upon the third part of the rivers

and upon the fountains of waters.

And many men died.“

There's something out there.

Momma?

Get it out of me!

- By God, get it out of me! - No!

No, Momma!

Frances!

Put it down, Frances. Put it down.

Yeah, kill her, Daddio! Yeah!

Kill her!

Mommy.

There is no peace, saith the Lord,

unto the wicked.

We are the victims of your hell.

Sinner!

Momma?

Dr. Becker, I need to see him, please.

I don't know. Unh-unh.

Dr. Becker, I need to see Becker.

Hi, I was in yesterday.

I left some water samples to be tested.

- Hello, Zack. - Is Doc Forbes around?

No, he went in to Knoxville for the clay.

Is there something I can help you with?

No it's it's all right.

Well, I expect him back this evening.

Sweetie pie, is everything all right at home?

If you just tell him that I was around.

Mr. Lynbacker?

Hi, I'm Doctor Becker.

Actually, we've been trying to get in touch with you

several times today.

It seems your phone's out of order.

Well, is there a problem with the sample?

And the address you gave us doesn't check out either.

The department understands your apprehension, Mr. Lynbacker.

These kind of things can be a financial burden,

but if your chickens are sick,

well, you're going to have to understand

that we can't let it get out of hand.

Is there a problem, Doctor?

Well, we don't know exactly.

There was an odd reading on the spectrographic analysis.

Like nothing I ever saw before.

We're gonna have to do some more testing before we're sure,

but I think we might be talking

about a previously undiscovered element

that seems to be in great abundance.

Whatever it is, it's very unstable.

It's actually altering the molecular structure of the water.

You must cooperate with us, Mr. Lynbacker!

Your life, your family's lives are in danger!

Mr. Lynbacker, you can't take that!

Tellico Plain.

Willis? Nope, he's out.

Sure, Doc, go ahead, shoot.

Tell him to meet me over at Nathan Crane's place.

I should be back in town by around 9:00.

I got it.

No, Doc, don't worry about it. It's as good as done.

Okay.

Charlie!

Oh, thank God I saw you drive by.

Alan just called me.

First, he said he was looking for you,

and then he said something about some water sample.

I'm really worried about him, Charles.

He's ready to blow this whole thing wide open.

Come on. You can help me.

- Help you? - Well, sure.

Wouldn't you like to drop this whole thing

all wrapped up nice and pretty in Alan's lap tonight?

Now, you work on Frances, and I'll work on the old man.

Or vice versa.

Yeah.

Come on.

Davidson's Realty.

Is Charlie there?

No, he's not.

Well, this is Dr. Forbes. Do you know when he'll be back?

Um, I sure don't.

He said something about a last chance.

I think he was going out to the Crane place to close a deal.

Track him down and tell him I'm leaving now.

I'll see him there tonight.

Doctor Forbes?

Okay.

Now, don't let him know you're scared. They can sense it.

Let's just turn around real slowly and head back to my car.

All right. They ain't gonna let us go back to the car.

I'm frightened.

Don't panic.

Just take my hand.

Easy, Fido.

I don't mean no harm.

- Run. - Don't be stupid, Esther.

- I can make it. - No, Esther

- I'll go and get help. - Esther, don't be stupid.

Help! Help!

Help! No!

Where you've been?

Just out for a walk.

- You missed supper. - Sorry.

Your ma is not feeling too well. I made some stew.

Take that up to your sister.

You can have whatever you want.

How you feeling?

Okay, I guess.

I got you some water from Doc Forbes.

I hitched a ride into town.

Brought back some of this stuff.

I can go back in tomorrow and get some more.

This is store bought. I guess it's okay.

Is Momma gonna be all right?

Just eat your supper, okay?

What do you want?

I was just looking for Momma.

She's inside.

We moved her upstairs.

Hey!

What do you got in there?

Nothing.

Where'd you get this?

In town.

You little bastard.

Our food isn't good enough for you, huh?

You don't like the taste of the water?

You're just as bad as your mother, that whoring bitch.

We were good enough for you when you needed us.

It's making you sick! Can't you see that?

No! No!

Come on, in here.

I'll be right back. I'm gonna go get help.

I'll be back in two minutes.

No, don't leave!

Look, just stay in here. I'll be right back.

Don't make a sound, okay?

I'll be right back, I promise.

Hey!

Hey, kid!

Come on, we got to get out of the house.

My sister's still upstairs!

Alice.

It's okay. It's all right.

Hey, come on!

Come on, hurry up, out!

No, I've got to get my mother!

Hey, kid, hurry up!

- You Alright? - Yeah.

Are you okay?

This is America Today for Thursday, January 29, 1987.

A final word on the Tellico Plains tragedy where four people died

as a result of drinking water from a contaminated well last fall.

A week ago, Carl Willis,

a water authority official who was present at the time,

was taken to the hospital by the police

while suffering a violent nervous attack.

A hospital spokesperson says

that Mr. Willis is responding well to treatment

and is expected to return home shortly.

And here to speak to us about this curious phenomenon

is professor George Link.

I've been asked to answer two questions.

First, is there any connection between Mr. Willis' illness

and the Tellico Plains incident?

And second, is there any danger for the general public?

To the first, I must answer yes.

He displayed symptoms similar to those of the original victims,

and, of course, he was exposed to the same risks of contamination.

But there the similarity ends.

In his case, the malady took five months to develop.

But for all practical purposes, he has now been cured.

As for the general public,

I can assure you that there is absolutely no danger.

The water authority acted with extreme speed at the time,

sealing off and decontaminating the Crane farm

and testing the water to ensure that there were no further traces

of the contaminating element.

The situation was and remains fully under control,

and I assure you that there is no danger of a further outbreak.

There, you see? Nothing to worry about.

Right, Mr. Willis?

The flags are back at full staff today,

one day after the Americans observed the first anniversary

of the Challenger space shuttle disaster.