‐ Previously on Little Fires Everywhere...
‐ Mia kidnapped Pearl.
‐ What's going to New York and abandoning your family
to go play Nancy Drew?
‐ Why am I being punished for‐‐ for learning the truth?
I just think about Pearl.
Learning about what you did in a court proceeding?
Is fighting for someone else's child worth losing your own?
‐ Why did you date me for the last year and a fucking half, Brian?
‐ Because I did love you!
‐ You have no idea how hard it's been for me recently.
What my mom expects from me?
‐ What? ‐ It's hard to be your mom!
‐ Then don't be.
‐ You won't swim forever.
I promise.
‐ Yeah. She's definitely covering something up.
Probably another guy.
‐ There is only one person here who is May Ling's mother,
and that is Bebe Chow.
‐ I have no further questions for this witness, Your Honor.
‐ Are you out of your mind? What are you doing?
‐ [angrily] Sit. Down.
‐ Why don't we go somewhere to talk? Just you and I.
[wind blowing]
♪ "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)" by UB40 ♪
‐ ♪ Come and take me ♪
‐ Trip, God, you don't put the whole lemon in.
‐ But that's what it said on the infomercial.
‐ Idiot. Just let Moody do it.
Oh, baby! Our first customers.
Wait, Izzy, you were supposed to stock the bank.
Here, run back to the house. Hurry!
Hey, Mrs. McCarren! Hey, Jack!
Do you want some lemonade? It’s fat‐free.
ELENA: Why is the door open?
[clamoring] [wings fluttering]
Oh, my goodness. LEXIE: Get it, get it.
MOODY: Get it! LEXIE: No, it's over there.
‐ Stop, please, you're scaring it. ‐ What is going on?
‐ It pooped on the mantle. ELENA: Shoo it towards the door.
[cardinal squawks]
Who is responsible for this?
‐ She brought it in. It's Izzy's fault.
‐ It was a cardinal. It was hurt.
I wanted to save it. ‐ It pooped on the couch, too.
[Elena sighs]
I'm gonna have to clean this up before your father gets home.
I'm gonna find the bleach. LEXIE: I'll help, Mommy.
‐ Thank you, Lexie.
Trip, put away all the sports equipment.
TRIP: 'Kay.
‐ At least the bird's okay. ‐ Not really.
‐ What do you mean?
‐ Once a human touches a baby bird, its mother rejects it forever.
♪ theme music playing ♪
♪
[alarm beeps]
[sighs]
‐ You should take those upstairs so the children don't see.
I know I was out of line yesterday, but can we talk?
‐ It's Linda's testimony today. I can't be late.
[sugar packet crumples]
ELENA: You knew I was going to return these.
Why did I find them in the garbage?
‐ That's what we do in this house, right?
Throw away the things we don't like.
[door closes]
[sniffles]
[knocking]
ELENA: Honey, it's getting late. Are you‐‐oh.
Oh, no. Are‐‐ are you okay?
What's the matter?
[Lexie inhales]
‐ He broke up with me.
‐ He broke up with you?
‐ Yeah.
‐ You know, these high school relationships,
they feel so serious.
I think this is a blessing in disguise.
You're gonna be going to Yale
and you're gonna meet so many young men.
I think there's gonna be someone who's a better fit for you.
[Lexie scoffs]
Stay home if you have to. Okay, honey?
[door slams]
‐ [sniffles] Hey.
‐ Hey.
‐ I would like to talk.
‐ What's the point?
All you ever do is lie.
MIA: Wait, Pearl, wait. ‐ No.
We can't stay in one place because of your art, lie.
We have no money. Lie.
We have no family. Lie.
My dad didn't want me. Lie.
He wanted me so bad you had to steal me away from him.
‐ Pearl, I am so sorry.
I don't know exactly what Elena told you‐‐
‐ You told him I died.
You told my father, who wanted me, that his kid was dead.
Okay.
See, you stand around judging everyone else,
acting like Elena's full of shit, but you are.
[exhales]
ED: You've mentioned in your earlier testimony
that you've spent all your life here in Shaker.
‐ Uh, yes, uh...
except for the four years that I was at OSU,
um, and various travels.
‐ So in your various travels, have you ever visited China?
‐ Uh, not yet, but we plan to.
We think it's really important to keep Mirabelle connected to her birth culture.
‐ How are you at present trying to connect May Ling to her birth culture?
Uh, well, she's only one.
So we haven't really started yet, but eventually.
‐ Are any of May Ling's dolls Asian? ‐ No.
You know, and I looked everywhere, but no one makes Asian dolls.
Not even American Girl.
‐ I have a seven‐year‐old daughter. I know how challenging it can be.
‐ Uh, her uncle gave her a giant stuffed panda, which she loves.
It's not, um, but I, you know.
‐ Is May Ling's race and identity not a serious matter to you?
‐ No, of course it is.
‐ Did you serve fortune cookies at her first birthday party?
‐ I didn't serve her fortune cookies. They were, um,
a gift from a friend who thought
it might be a cute nod.
‐ Are you aware fortune cookies aren't Chinese?
‐ Look, Mark and I don’t pretend to be experts in Chinese culture.
We‐‐ ‐ Forget about being an expert.
What about just acknowledging it?
‐ I mean, we are, but race isn't everything.
It's not the only thing that matters here.
‐ What box did you check as your race preference on your adoption paperwork?
‐ Objection, Your Honor. Uh, relevance.
‐ Overruled.
‐ We checked the box for a white child.
Um, like any parents, when we sought to adopt,
we had certain ideas of who our child would be.
But, you know, when Mirabelle needed a family, we didn’t ask what race she was.
It didn’t matter.
When we held her in our arms, all the notions of...
who we thought our child would be just melted away.
I mean...
she was perfect.
‐ Do you know Mirabelle's given name?
‐ Yes, May Ling.
‐ So if she was perfect, as you say,
why did you change it?
‐ Um, well, I mean, every mother wants to name her baby.
I wanted her to feel a connection to our family.
To make us hers and her ours.
‐ But she wasn't yours. The adoption wasn't finalized.
It still isn't, in fact.
Did you consider that you were erasing her identity?
Negating her Chinese heritage? ‐ No, I'm not erasing anything.
I'm not the one who abandoned her baby. That’s what she did.
I took her in. I nursed her back to health.
I mean, when she stumbles, I catch her.
When she’s afraid?
When she’s afraid, she reaches for me.
You know, she didn’t come from my body,
and I’m sad about that.
But that doesn’t make me any less of a mother.
You know, she may look Chinese, but she’s our daughter.
‐ What do you mean, she may look Chinese? May Ling is Chinese.
Just like her mother. ‐ I mean, she may look Chinese, but she’s American!
I mean, I’m, I, I’m, nobody gets it right. Sometimes I say the wrong thing.
No mother gets it right a hundred percent of the time,
but I love her! I’m doing my best.
‐ But Bebe Chow wasn't?
Look, I have no doubt you are trying your best, Mrs. McCullough.
But if your best is fortune cookies and cute nods‐‐
LINDA: Mm. ‐ When you have every resource at your disposal?
If your best is that race doesn't matter‐‐ ‐ That's not what I said.
‐ Then your family is not where she belongs.
‐ I do‐‐ ‐ No further questions, Your Honor.
‐ No, I've been her mother for almost a year.
‐ No further questions, Your Honor. ‐ That's longer than she ever has.
‐ You may be dismissed, Mrs. McCullough.
♪ tense music playing ♪
♪
Any further witnesses or testimony?
ED: No, Your Honor. BILL: No, Your Honor.
[indistinct dialogue]
JUDGE RHEINBECK: Then thank you all.
I will deliberate and reach a verdict shortly.
[gavel bangs]
[cassette player clicks]
NARRATOR: Chapter Five. Beneath the Facade:
A Look at Race in Shaker Heights.
Shaker Heights, known for its handsome boulevards
and opulent homes,
is credited for pioneering a truly integrated community.
A suburban utopia where all races can live in harmony.
Nowhere is the town's racial consciousness more evident
than in the public schools,
where courses on racial sensitivity are taught,
and every sport is encouraged to have racial symmetry.
But surface attempts to create equity mask a facade
revealing a complicated history of racial and cultural tension.
In the middle of the century, as Jewish and African‐American home buyers flocked to Shaker,
for the utopia that was promised,
many white residents fled.
And, after a bomb exploded in the garage of a new African‐American resident,
the town’s utopian image was shattered.
To help boost its image, Shaker Heights soon implemented financial incentives
to keep neighborhoods integrated.
It was heralded as a progressive model for other cities to emulate.
Yet it begs the question.
If Shaker has to pay white families to live amongst African‐Americans,
how progressive is it?
♪ soft music playing ♪
♪
[smacks lips]
‐ Here, I’ll put this in here, okay? You want it?
You want to put him right in here?
‐ Hi.
[baby coos]
‐ Hey.
[baby coos]
‐ Hi.
How are you holding up?
‐ Well, they said it would be open‐and‐shut
and it would take hours, and it’s almost a week.
‐ I know, I know. Bill is really anxious, too.
‐ Yeah, well, the stakes are a little lower for him.
‐ I've been thinking that, um,
maybe there's something that we can dig up on her
that shows you what kind of person she is.
‐ She abandoned her baby. She didn't want her.
I don't know what else he needs.
‐ Do‐do you think that maybe she didn't want her from the beginning?
‐ What do you mean?
‐ Mama! ‐ Wait, what's that, my girl?
‐ Mama.
‐ [laughing] She said it!
What did you just say, mama?
‐ Mama! [Linda gasps]
‐ You said it! [baby laughing]
You said Mama.
Ooh, I'm your mama. I'm your mama.
‐ You're lucky we didn't get a citation.
‐ I don't want any of it. ‐ I don't care.
You just can't leave it in the front yard.
‐ Well, okay then. Burn it.
Give it away.
I'm done with it. I'm done with all of it.
‐ Hon, you have three and half years left.
And then, you can go off and be whoever you want to be.
But until that time, just keep your head down
and try to get through it, okay?
‐ Is that what you're doing?
Keeping your head down? Sleeping on the couch.
‐ Isabelle, you are a child.
You have no concept of the deals we've had to make to live this life.
You have no idea what real problems are, and until you do,
you’re going to put your curtains back up,
put those fucking Keds back in the closet, and just grow up!
♪ soft music playing ♪
♪
[Pearl gasps]
‐ So that's what you've been doing?
God, I can't believe after everything that you've done,
you're still sitting here judging her. ‐ What?
‐ I saw the photos, the‐‐ the pantyhose, the calendar.
I saw everything.
You lit her face on fire.
How sick. ‐ You are not to go in my studio
and through my things. ‐ You stole from Elena.
‐ Has it ever occurred to you why she told you the truth about my past?
‐ Because it's my past, too. ‐ That's not why she told you.
‐ She told me because I have the right to know.
‐ Okay. ‐ Because she actually cares about me.
‐ She may care about you,
but she told you to get back at me because she hates me.
‐ No. ‐ Yes, yes.
There is so much I need to tell you.
Can you please just‐‐ ‐ No.
‐ No, we need to talk. We need‐‐ ‐ No!
I want you to call him.
‐ Who?
‐ My dad.
Tell him that I'm alive.
Tell him what you did.
Tell him that I want to talk to him.
‐ I ca‐‐
[sniffles]
‐ Forget it.
I'm sure Elena would be happy to do it.
‐ Pearl? [gasps]
[exhales]
[fire crackling]
[dial tone]
[phone beeps]
[line rings]
[sniffles]
MADELINE: Hello?
‐ Hi, is this‐this still the Ryan residence?
‐ It is. This is Madeline.
Who's calling?
[laughs softly]
Hello?
[gasps]
Mia? [Mia gasps sharply]
[sniffles]
ELIZABETH: Hi. ‐ Hi.
‐ Elena, good to see you. ‐ Yes, good to see you.
Thank you for seeing me on such short notice.
‐ Oh, no problem, but my God.
How, how's Linda holding up?
‐ You know, barely standing. ‐ Yeah.
Well, I can't even imagine.
‐ Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about.
Um, the case is coming down to the judge deciding
who is the most fit, or the most deserving mother.
‐ Mm‐hmm.
‐ And we heard about what happened with Bebe
after she gave birth, but there was no testimony
about what she did while she was pregnant.
So I started wondering if she'd come here
or another branch for a consult.
Just to discuss her options.
‐ I‐‐ but that would be confidential.
‐ Well, yes, of course, of course.
And I know you have to say that. ‐ No, no, really.
Elena, I mean, that would be against the law.
I'm in the business of helping women, not weaponizing their right to choose.
‐ Okay, no one supports a woman’s right to choose more than I do.
You know, my mother was on the board here for many years,
and I’m also in the business of helping women.
You certainly remember who recommended you for this job.
‐ Are you saying that I should do this because I owe you?
[phone rings]
Hold on.
Hello.
No, I‐I'm with someone right now.
‐ Go on. I'll‐I'll wait.
‐ Exam room B. Okay, I'll be right there.
I really think that we're done here. ‐ Oh, no, no, I‐I don't mind.
[Elizabeth exhales]
‐ All right, I'll be right back.
♪ tense music playing ♪
♪
[sighs]
♪
‐ Did you really think I wouldn't figure it out?
‐ Moody.
‐ Because Trip's the idiot, not me.
‐ Moody, Moody, listen, hold on, stop. Listen, I can explain.
‐ Fuck you! ‐ Moody, hold on, dude.
We can explain.
‐ I thought you had self‐respect.
‐ Moody, it's not what it looks like, okay?
It's‐it's not what you think. Just please, listen to me.
‐ Are you kidding me? This is exactly what I think.
‐ Just stop. Just stop, dude.
Please. ‐ You please stop, dude!
‐ Moody, we messed up. I messed up, okay?
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Just listen to me. Let me explain.
‐ I thought you were smarter than the sluts who do it with him.
I didn't think you were one of them.
PEARL: Trip! Guys, stop.
Moody, stop. Get off of him.
[grunting]
MOODY: I hate you, Trip. PEARL: Trip, Trip, stop. Guys, stop!
[grunting]
ELENA: Moody.
Moody, I need to have a conversation...
What happened to your face? ‐ Nothing.
‐ What has gotten into you lately?
Did you really think I wasn't gonna find out about Pearl and the abortion?
‐ What? ‐ I did not raise you to be irresponsible.
‐ What are you talking about?
‐ I'm sorry, did...
How do you not know about...
[phone rings]
‐ Talk to Trip. ‐ Moody.
Moody, why would I talk to Trip? ‐ Because he is the one with Pearl.
‐ What are you talking about?
IZZY: Mom.
It's Dad. The verdict's in.
REPORTER: And how will your family celebrate?
LINDA: Oh, how will we celebrate?
Uh, well, it's been so arduous, we haven't really thought much past the verdict.
How do you want to celebrate, Mirabelle?
Maybe with a nap and an episode of Barney and Friends.
‐ Wow. REPORTER: Now, the trial covered some difficult testimony.
Did you ever feel that you might lose your daughter?
‐ I had complete faith that the judge would make the right decision.
‐ We believe in the system.
‐ Research indicates that a relationship with the biological family
can benefit an adopted child.
Will you let Mirabelle spend time with her birth mother?
‐ Well, I think my clients have demonstrated over and over again
their willingness to do whatever is in the best interest‐‐
‐ You know, I, we're her parents, and it's up to us to protect our daughter.
‐ The important thing is that we're a family,
and we'd like to go be one now, so thank you.
LINDA: Yeah, thank you. BILL: Thank you, everybody, that's enough.
That's all. REPORTER: The verdict was a rude awakening for Ms. Chow,
who unsurprisingly left the courthouse earlier in tears.
‐ What are your thoughts about the verdict?
How do you feel about the judge?
‐ It is the most egregious misinterpretation
of "in the best interest of the child" I have ever witnessed.
MOODY: Why are you so upset?
Of course they won. They always do.
The rich people.
The beautiful people, the popular people.
They think they own everything and don't give a shit about anybody else.
Fuck 'em. Fuck 'em all.
‐ Fuck you, too.
You're acting the exact same way.
She's not yours. You know that, right?
You don't just deserve her because you liked her.
‐ Nobody asked you.
[Izzy scoffs]
‐ You think that just because you bought her some bike
and gave her some stupid notebook, she’s indebted to you?
Who are you? Mom?
‐ She had a fucking abortion.
Okay?
‐ Pearl? ‐ Yes.
Mom knows. She told me.
‐ And you believe Mom?
She'd say anything to make it seem like...
‐ What?
♪ tense music playing ♪
♪
‐ Did you have an abortion? ‐ Get out.
‐ No, I heard you puking in our bathroom and I saw you leaving Mia's with that bag.
‐ Izzy, get the fuck out. I'm serious.
‐ Mom thinks it was Pearl, and you know she's gonna use that against Mia.
If you don't tell her, I will.
‐ Fine.
Say whatever the fuck you want to say, Izzy.
Because Mom would never, in a million years,
believe you over me.
[Bebe sobs] MIA: It's okay.
There, there. I know, I know. ‐ I can't live without her.
[Bebe screams] MIA: Shh.
It's okay.
Shh.
[Bebe sobs] It's okay.
[Bebe screams]
TRIP: You have to stop blaming yourself.
He's my brother. It's my problem.
This isn't your fault.
‐ But I was the one who kissed you.
What I did was wrong.
‐ We.
What we did. ‐ It was wrong.
‐ But we're not wrong.
I mean, you...
you still, like...
you still want to be together, right?
‐ My whole life, I've been dragged around.
It's like I don't even think about what I want
because no one ever asked me.
And I don't even know who I am or what I want.
All I know is that I don't want to be like her.
‐ But you do know what you want, Pearl.
You knew it when you moved to Shaker.
You knew it when you...
you know, asked me to study.
And your mom, look, I know. I know you're pissed off at your mom.
I get it.
But she did what she did to hold onto you.
I would do anything to hold onto you, too.
‐ What about Moody?
He's your brother.
I mean, shouldn't you fight to hold onto him, too?
‐ She sounded like...
she was dying.
‐ She's not dying.
‐ She'll be okay?
‐ She’ll survive, if that’s what you mean.
But...
there is no pain like the loss of a child.
‐ It's how I'd feel if I lost you.
‐ When I was pregnant with Pearl, I drove out to California.
And one night, it was 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, and...
I saw this light coming over the horizon.
And as I got closer...
I realized that it was a fire.
A prairie fire.
And I just pulled over.
And I watched.
And when the sun came up...
the Earth, everything was black.
Scorched.
And it felt like...
exactly how I felt.
It felt like the end of the world.
But then I had Pearl, and...
I learned things that I didn’t know before.
Like that sometimes, you have to scorch everything to start over.
And after the burning, the soil is rich,
and life can grow there.
Life that is maybe even better than what was there before.
And people are like that too. They’re resilient.
Even from...
total devastation, they start over.
And they find a way.
Bebe will find a way.
And so will Pearl.
And so will you.
Maybe it's time for you to get home.
Yeah?
[sniffles]
‐ I wish I lived here.
With you.
See you tomorrow?
[Mia exhales]
‐ I'll see you soon, Izzy.
Come on. [chuckles]
[sighs]
‐ I'm sorry, are we really not going to talk at all?
About the verdict or‐‐ or the press conference.
Any of it?
Bill.
[Bill exhales]
[lighter clicks]
[sighs heavily]
‐ Sorry, do you need something?
‐ I, uh...
I just found out something very disturbing today.
Pearl had an abortion.
‐ Okay.
‐ Well, apparently, she's been seeing Trip behind Moody's back.
[Bill chuckles]
‐ Well, at least Moody's not the sucker paying for dinner.
‐ What's that supposed to mean?
O‐Okay, y‐yes, we met and we had dinner.
But I didn't...
I didn't say anything because it, it wasn't worth mentioning.
‐ What about 15 years ago?
‐ I'm a good person, Bill.
I'm a good, I'm a good wife and a good mother.
And everything I have ever done or not done
is for this family.
‐ Everything I have done has been for this family.
So that you could have what you want.
This house, these things, this perfect fucking picture.
‐ What I wanted? What about what you wanted?
You have your freedom because I gave up mine.
I told you I didn't want to have a fourth baby.
And when I did and I was suffering, you didn't come home from work any earlier.
You didn't, you didn't cancel your golf game on Saturday.
You didn't even ask me how I was doing. ‐ Wow.
You are amazing.
You should have had a big career in journalism
because your spin is impeccable.
‐ I had a career, Bill! And then I had Isabelle.
‐ So it's her fault? Your own daughter?
Or is it mine? Or is it Mia's?
You rented her the apartment. You brought her into our home.
You brought her to Linda's. That's how all of this started.
Do you not see the common denominator there?
‐ Where are you going? ‐ I'm going for a drive.
Maybe it's about time I got myself a pacifier too.
[door slams]
[Elena sighs]
‐ What?
‐ This will come as no surprise to you, but I’m not renewing your lease.
‐ Oh, okay. ‐ You're paid through the end of the month
so I expect you out by the first.
‐ Should I tell Pearl that we're moving out
or would you like to take care of that as well?
‐ Do you know, Pearl deserves to be treated better than how you treat her.
If she'd had the family that she deserves, she wouldn't be tearing mine apart.
‐ Just let me know how you want to get me my security deposit back.
‐ Do you know that she could have ruined Trip's life?
You do know your daughter was pregnant, right?
That's just another feather in your mothering cap.
‐ Hmm.
You can't stand it, can you?
‐ What? ‐ That someone would choose a different life than yours.
‐ I don't care how you live. ‐ What was it you gave up, Elena?
A love? A career?
A whole life?
Because you'd rather stand here, disparaging my daughter,
instead of seeing the truth about your own.
‐ You're not to contact my daughter anymore.
Do not call Isabelle. Do not‐‐ ‐ I'm talking about Lexie.
'Cause if she'd had the mother she deserved,
she might have had the courage to put her own fucking name down at the clinic,
and she might not have needed to spend the night here in my arms
when her own fucking mother was gallivanting at my parents' house.
‐ I want you out by the morning. ‐ Okay.
‐ Elena.
Elena, what's, what's wrong? Are you okay?
Wha...
Elena, what happened?
[engine starts]
[car speeds away]
‐ Where were you?
Were you at Mia's?
What did you do?
You know it wasn't Pearl, right? ‐ Stop, stop.
Stop.
[knocking] [door opens]
[Mia sighs heavily]
‐ His name is Joe Ryan.
And I called him.
But he didn't answer. His wife did.
She is the woman who would have been your mother.
Maybe a better one. ‐ Mom...
‐ Pearl, please.
Let me finish.
[sighs]
Wright is your real last name.
Warren was my brother's name.
I had a...
fantastic brother.
But he died.
And then, my parents disowned me.
And you were my everything.
And, um...
and then we came here, and it feels like all of that changed.
So sweetheart, I think that I gave Bebe our money,
because I needed to prove
that keeping you with me was the right thing to do.
Because sometimes...
I don't know. I don't...
I don't know if it was right.
I don't know that if I had given you the choice,
that you would have chosen me.
[Mia sniffles] ‐ Come here.
[crying]
You're my mother.
You're always my mother.
No matter what.
[Mia sighs]
[sniffles]
We can't stay, can we?
‐ No, Pearl. I'm sorry.
But we don't have to leave tonight. You can say good‐bye to Trip.
‐ Don't.
I'd, um...
I'd just rather remember it how it was.
I mean, not just Trip, but‐but Shaker.
So, I'll, um...
I'll pack up my room and‐‐ and the kitchen and you can‐‐
‐ No, no, no, no, no. Wait, wait, wait.
Before we do any packing...
I was, um, just about to shoot something in my studio.
Do you want to come in and see it?
‐ Yeah. ‐ Okay.
‐ Oh.
♪ tense music playing ♪
♪
[engine starts]
[camera clicks]
♪
[camera clicks]
[baby crying over monitor]
‐ Hey, hey, hey.
Just give her time to settle.
It's over. [Linda exhales]
We don't have to worry.
Come on, come on, come on.
Go to sleep.
♪
♪ dramatic music playing ♪
♪
[key rattles]
♪
[car door closes]
♪
‐ Okay, where are we going?
[Pearl sighs]
‐ What?
‐ We could probably be in New York by morning.
‐ No.
No, I, um, I know where I want to go.
♪
[sobs]
No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
LINDA: No, she's gone!
[sobs] Mark!
She's gone! ‐ What?
‐ She took her. She's gone!
‐ Who took her? What?
♪
[sobs]
‐ Oh, my God, what are you doing? Izzy, give me that.
Mom, Dad, somebody help! ‐ Stop!
This is your fault! ‐ Izzy, stop!
‐ What's going on? LEXIE: Izzy, stop!
TRIP: What is going on? LEXIE: Trip, grab the matches.
TRIP: Oh, my God. What are you thinking? ‐ Stop!
LEXIE: What, what? ‐ What are you doing?
‐ Listen, she kicked Mia and Pearl out.
‐ What do you mean? ‐ Mia and Pearl are gone.
TRIP: What do you mean she‐‐ ‐ What do you mean, gone?
ELENA: What is happening?
TRIP: What? ‐ What?
MOODY: Where did they go? ‐ Where is Pearl?
‐ I don't know, what...
what are you doing?
‐ She's fine. She's just upset, that's all.
MOODY: Mom! ‐ What is the matter with you?
‐ Get off of me! ELENA: You need professional help!
This infatuation with Mia, this crush.
‐ It's not a crush!
That was April. She was my girlfriend for a fucking year!
Mia was the one person who actually cared about me.
I just wanted her to be my mom. A mom who actually loved me.
A mom who is nothing like you!
‐ Do you think I wanted a daughter like you?
I never wanted you in the first place! ‐ Mom!
♪ tense music playing ♪
♪
ELENA: Um...
[Izzy sobbing]
‐ Izzy, wait. S‐Stop.
Don't go, don't go.
Please, please, please don't go. You can't leave.
‐ I have to, okay?
I love you.
I love you so much.
♪
[door closes]
‐ Mom, what are you doing? Mom!
ELENA: What?
What am I supposed to do? ‐ I want you to fix it.
‐ She's gone. ‐ Mom, go after her.
Do something! ‐ Let her chase after Mia.
They deserve each other. MOODY: Mom, please.
‐ You think Izzy's the fuck‐up in this family but she's not.
I am.
I used Pearl. I stole her story to get into Yale.
I wrote her name down at the clinic.
Mom, I got pregnant. I got the abortion, not her.
And I mean, I tried.
I really tried to tell you everything.
There's all of this pressure to be all of these things,
to be fucking perfect, but I'm not.
I'm not fucking perfect. ‐ Yes, you are!
[door slams]
‐ No, I'm not!
[Lexie screams]
Fuck you! TRIP: The gas.
[gasoline sloshing] LEXIE: Fuck you.
‐ Lexie, Lexie. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Lexie, Lexie. Lexie, let go.
Let go! ‐ Do you want to live in this fucking house?
Do you want to become her?
Because that's exactly what's gonna happen.
Look at her. At who she is.
Look at what she did to Mia and Pearl. I mean, look at us.
Maybe Izzy's the only one who actually had it right.
♪ dramatic music playing ♪
♪
[heavy breathing]
[matches striking]
TRIP: Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom. ‐ Leave me alone.
‐ You have to come now. You have to go now.
‐ No. ‐ Now, the house is on fire.
Come on, you have to go. ‐ What?
Go, go Moody, go!
[indistinct yelling]
Mom, please. Come on.
♪ "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum playing on radio ♪
♪
‐ ♪ When I die and they lay me to rest ♪
♪ Gonna go to the place that's the best ♪
♪ When I lay me down to die ♪
♪ Going up to the spirit in the sky ♪ [sirens wail]
♪ Going up to the spirit in the sky ♪
♪ That's where I'm gonna go when I die ♪
‐ ♪ When I die ♪ ‐ ♪ When I die and they lay me to rest ♪
♪ Gonna go to the place that's the best ♪
[music fades]
[indistinct radio chatter] [flames whooshing]
[indistinct chatter]
LOU: They found evidence of an accelerant.
Guys said when they went in, there were, uh, little fires everywhere.
BILL: What does that mean?
LOU: Well, the fire didn't just happen. It was set.
Where's Izzy? Is she, uh, is she around?
BILL: She doesn't have anything to do with this, Lou.
LOU: Okay, well, I'd just like to talk to her.
Where is she?
[Bill sighs]
BILL: We don't know.
LOU: Look, she's a minor.
No other homes were damaged.
Elena.
Someone intentionally burned down your house with you inside.
If Izzy didn't do this, then who did?
‐ I did it.
‐ What?
♪ tense music playing ♪
♪
[sniffles]
‐ I did it.
♪
[baby coos]
[Bebe laughs softly]
Isabelle! Are you here?
Isabelle!
Isabelle.
Isabelle!
PEARL: I thought I wanted to be made of little girl things.
Homecoming dances, kisses on doorsteps.
Fingertips almost touching in the air.
[Elena sobs]
I thought I wanted to be made of the promises you made.
Ones that tasted like ivory.
Like strawberry.
And even like chocolate.
♪ soft music playing ♪
♪
I thought I wanted to be made of fairy tale endings.
Where I'd never know what was real...
or only a dream.
♪ somber music playing ♪
♪
[Izzy sighs]
♪
So I dreamt that I belonged to you
Because I knew you’d keep me safe from big girl things.
Giant spiders...
natural disasters,
and unnatural ones too.
♪
I've never felt as safe as I felt in that cage with you.
But when I started to wake up...
I saw those gilded bars around us.
And I couldn't remember how it went in the dream.
This is it?
MIA: You should go in and meet them.
‐ Okay. ‐ Okay.
PEARL: Mom...
would you mind reading something that I wrote?
‐ Yeah, sure.
Yeah.
♪
[sighs]
PEARL: Was I the bird?
Or was I the cage?
Was I myself?
Or one of my mothers?
MIA/PEARL: Was I safe?
Or was I suffocating?
♪
MIA: Because the bird is in a cage.
And the cage is in a town.
And the town is made of blinding white flour and beautiful lies.
And maybe we can’t help the things we dream of
any more than we can help the stuff we’re made of,
or maybe we can.
If we can finally see the lies and the town
and the cage we’re inside of,
we can see so many other things, too.
We can see the door.
A way out.
And we can fly away.
♪
[sobs]
[sniffles]
♪
‐ Izzy.
♪
♪ soft piano music playing ♪
‐ ♪ Everything I ever knew ♪
♪ Came from you ♪
♪ Everything I want to be ♪
♪ That's in me ♪
♪ That comes from me ♪
♪
♪ Open up your fists ♪
♪ And let me out ♪
♪ I was made to run around ♪
♪ Let me feel the air beneath my feet ♪
♪ Let me go ♪
♪
♪ And I know not everybody ♪
♪ Gets a new life ♪
♪ And I know not everybody ♪
♪ Gets to start over again ♪
♪ But I do know what I'm doing ♪
♪ With my new life ♪
♪ I'll build it up ♪
♪ Break it down ♪
♪ Build it up ♪
♪ Break it down ♪
♪ Build it up ♪
♪ And everything I ever knew ♪
♪ Everything I ever knew ♪
♪ And I know not everybody ♪ ‐ ♪ Everything I ever knew ♪
‐ ♪ Gets to start over again ♪
♪ But I do know what I'm doing ♪
♪ With my new life ♪
♪ Build it up, break it down ♪ ‐ ♪ Everything I ever knew ♪
‐ ♪ Build it up ♪
‐ ♪ Came from you ♪ ‐ ♪ Burn it up ♪
♪ Break it down, build it up ♪
♪
♪ You can fly away, too ♪
♪ That's on you ♪
CHILD: Best day ever!