I can't lose him.
I won't have him committed. I won't.
No one is suggesting an institution for dandy.
I refuse to hear that word uttered
In the same sentence with his name.
It's an abdication of responsibility,
Dr. Feinbloom.
Believe me, gloria, it's the furthest thing
From my mind, but
Apparently not from from yours.
Dandy's always been a willful child.
I often thought of him as a foreigner.
A perfectly groomed aristocratic boy
Who could play the part
But didn't quite understand the language.
Because words had a different
Meaning for him.
Particularly the word "no."
"no" was an affront.
"no" was a battle cry.
I had complained about the cat digging up my azaleas.
So he killed the poor animal.
From that moment on,
I never let dandy out of my sight.
Of course, i knew he had to
Socialize with children.
The boy never learned to play.
(child's laugh echoes)
He found a perfect companion
With the gardener's son, emil.
Beautiful little boy.
They would roam the grounds together, happy as clams.
I relaxed, thinking my vigil
Had become unnecessary.
One day, the boy vanished. (child's laugh echoes)
They searched everywhere for him.
But... Emil was never seen again.
It's time, gloria. I need to see him.
He would never agree to psychoanalysis.
Then tell him it's something else.
I'll clear my schedule.
Gloria, were there any
Recent incidents...
(screaming) aah! Dandy! Dandy: Mother!
...That triggered this anxiety about your son?
Just a mother's intuition.
Jimmy: Ma petite! (dogs barking)
She's so tiny. She could be in a hole somewhere,
Screaming, and we wouldn't hear her, let alone see her.
Petite? Jimmy: Ma petite. Where are you?
You head toward that clearing,
I'll hug the riverbed. Take dimaggio.
Come on, boy. Come on. Find, find.
Ma petite!
(barking continues)
You got something, boy? You got something?
Ma petite! Find it.
Ma petite!
(screams)
(gasps) oh. (cries)
No... No body?
Dell: Looks like an animal took her.
Maybe a coyote.
Amazon eve: Bones and all.
Oh, no. (crying)
(sobbing): Oh, no.
Oh, no, no, no,
No, no. God.
Oh, no, no.
Oh.
Thought you'd be high as a limehouse whore
By now.
She was too good for this place, you know?
God put his very own light
Into that little angel.
It was as if he knew
That the world could only handle
A tiny bit of his love at once.
Well, come on.
Oh.
Oh, edna. Looks like
You have already taken steps
To dull your pain.
A woman's entitled
To a little nip or two
On a dark night of the soul.
Sit. Eat.
We will mourn her.
Christmas is canceled.
I made mock turtle soup.
That was quite a show you put on in that tent.
Regular joan fontaine.
I've seen you bring a full house to their feet,
But you have never been better than you were tonight.
You have got it, elsa mars.
The sobs over ma petite.
Clutching her bloody dress-- that was a nice touch.
Bit of a house note, but damn...
I almost believed you meant it.
(grunts)
How dare you?
She was my most precious one.
All that's precious to you is the roar of the crowd.
And god forbid someone comes along
And steals your spotlight. (drumroll, applause)
(whooping, cheering)
You know,
I have seen the way whiskey can ravage the mind,
But you come in here tonight
And you accuse me of what?
Of killing innocence itself? Huh?
Get out!
14 years.
I've brought you your tray,
Washed your hair,
Listened to all those tall tales
About what was,
What could have been.
I heard those stories...
Ten times over, elsa.
I know you
Better than you know yourself.
I've always wondered why,
When i loved you so much,
It gave me such pain to be around you.
How when i'd leave here at night i'd just...
Felt like i lost something.
A woman shouldn't dread...
Spending time with her best friend.
Why'd i feel so uneasy?
Now i know.
Who am i,
If not your savior, huh?
And this is the thanks.
You call me a murderer
On a night when i have already lost...
So much?
Damn you for this!
Goddamn you for this!
Damn you!
You were our mother.
There's people around here who never even met theirs.
You understand...
The pain of being rejected by your own mother?
Of course you do.
That's how you sucked us all in here.
Come one, come all, suckle at elsa's bosom.
All are welcome.
Just don't ask for top billing.
Enough of this.
I have killed no one.
What about the twins?
I stood right there.
I heard you talking to that fella from hollywood.
Wouldn't it be a better solution if they could be
Quietly and easily relieved
Of their misery?
What are you saying?
A mercy killing.
Elsa: Oh, that's quite a solution.
And you, you didn't even blink.
"quite a solution,"
You called it.
I died when i heard you say that.
You killed me dead.
It was a turn of phrase.
(scoffs)
But i will be judged
On my actions,
And not on my words.
So now i am going to go out,
I'm going to find those twins,
I'm going to bring them back here,
So they can pronounce my innocence to you
One more time!
No way.
No, i made sure
They were safe somewhere
Away from you.
My, my.
Well, you got me, copper.
Huh? (chuckles)
Guilty as charged.
Yes, i wanted them to be gone.
But i never hurt anyone.
I wanted to be rid of them.
Put them on a bus to tampa.
Although, for me, death would be preferable to tampa.
And i will no longer suffer
Your insults and your insanity!
Apparently, i have lost two old friends tonight.
No.
(laughing)
Oh, ethel...
I am just like the rest of my children.
I love you because i understand you.
You think you know me, hmm?
You... Don't know me at all.
(speaking german)
A sweet young soldier with a kind heart found me
And brought me to my safety.
His name was massimo dolcefino.
(speaking german)
He found his fame in the first world war
When grenades became the great terror,
Separating soldiers from their limbs.
With an almost unlimited supply of clients for his prosthetics,
Massimo elevated his craft into art.
But after the war,
He fell on hard times.
(groans softly)
(panting)
(speaks quietly in german)
No.
(speaking german)
Massimo emigrated to germany
To work in the movies
As a sculptor, a prop maker.
And it was there
He met his greatest challenge.
Me.
(laughter echoing)
So now you see.
Why didn't you tell me all this?
Why'd you keep it a secret from me?
I was humiliated, ashamed.
Can't you see how deep it is?
Ethel... Put the gun away.
No.
Curtain comes down tonight.
Do you think the others will cover for your murder?
The last bullet's for me.
You broke my heart in two, elsa.
I loved you.
I gave my life to you.
I defended you.
For me, the only pure things
In the world was little ma petite,
And my love and dedication for you.
Now they're both gone.
And jimmy, your own son?
He'll survive.
I left him a letter. It's in the caravan.
And the rest of our children?
Your descent into madness can cross over my corpse,
But you will not kill my children.
They are innocents.
It's all over, elsa.
For all of us.
No one's innocent anymore.
So be it.
(laughs)
But first...
One last schnapps for the road?
Hmm?
A toast to our history.
Go on.
We've never shared a drink before, have we?
I'm sorry, you won't be going
To hollywood, elsa. So, you won't be there
With me.
Is she hurt? Not that i could see.
That richard spencer fella found her
Out by the ferris wheel, blubbering.
(maggie crying) maggie?
Oh, jimmy!
What? What happened?
That is what we are trying to determine.
I was out in the woods,
Picking flowers for ma petite's memorial grave.
(car engine approaching, crashing)
There was a crash.
I went to see what it was,
And there was a car, and in the car...
(gasps, screams)
I'm sorry, jimmy. It was your mother.
She's dead. Elsa (gasps): What?
Not ethel. Oh, no, that can't be.
She was in an accident?
It wasn't an accident.
I think she killed herself.
(people gasping) shit!
Come on. Elsa: Suicide?
Oh, dear, no.
Oh, but why?!
She was sick.
In a lot of pain, too.
No. My mom wasn't sick.
Dell: She was, though, son.
No. She told me so herself.
(crying): No.
Guess she wanted to go out on her own terms.
Elsa: Oh. My god.
Where is she? Take me to her.
Desiree: Her head's come off?
Jesus.
How hard did she hit that tree?
(people gasping and exclaiming)
Look!
Oh! She must have wrapped this chain
Around that tree, and then wrapped it around her neck,
Then hit the gas.
I guess she wanted it to be quick.
Oh!
Oh, mein god in heaven!
Why?!
What do you mean, "why?"
Why can't we just hang her in her caravan and be done with it?
Because you chucked a knife through her eye socket.
Oh, god. That's why.
(groans)
This accident is gonna cover a whole host of sins,
All of them yours.
Where's your sense of drama? This is not theater!
That's exactly what it is.
This is a magic trick. We have to divert
The attention of the audience in order to pull off the illusion.
Oh, my god.
No, don't. My god, what have i done?
(crying): Oh, ethel.
But you understand.
I had to kill her.
I had to protect my precious angels.
Horseshit.
You had to protect yourself.
But you don't...
Why are you doing this for me, huh?
Tell me, why are you doing this for me?!
This... This... This is what we do in hollywood.
You are my client.
I have an obligation to-to protect you,
Protect your career.
You have a destiny,
Written in the stars, to be a star.
You're gonna win an oscar one day.
Do you really think so?
I do. I do.
(engine revving, elsa whimpers)
(engine revving)
(metallic clang, chain jangling)
Oh, ethel, why?!
Oh, my sweet sister!
(crying): Why? Why? Why? Why?
I could have helped you. I could have helped you.
(crying): Oh, my god.
(sobbing)
Oh, my sweet, sweet sister.
(crying echoing)
Gloria: Dandy, where are you, darling?
I have a surprise for you!
Dandy!
Dandy: Mother, look who came for a visit.
Hello, mrs. Mott.
I came to see my mother.
Oh, dear, you just missed her.
Regina's been peppering me with questions all afternoon,
But i told her that you were the last one to speak to dora.
And only you could shine a light
On the situation.
Yes, well...
Dora went to buy the squash.
You understand, dear.
These days, the only way to procure a proper squash
Is to venture down to homestead, to the klingmans'.
That horrid hurricane completely destroyed
The tabernathys' farm in pompano,
And it's been simply impossible to consume the squash
From that region ever since.
My mother went to buy... Squash?
And since she would be passing coral gables,
I asked her to stop off
To collect the blackamoor candelabras
I had purchased at auction.
So, you see, child,
I could not venture to guess
When dora will return from her expedition.
I'll wait.
Oh. My turn.
(insects trilling)
A flat tire,
A leaky faucet.
My mother could fix anything.
She was famous for her dirty jokes.
But she was also a woman of culture.
¶ ¶
¶ that's what i'm talking about ¶
But she loved poetry.
She used to read it to me as a kid
When i was going to bed.
¶ ain't it a shame ¶
(crying): Emily dickinson
Was her favorite.
"i'm nobody.
"who are you?
"are you nobody, too?
"then there's a pair of us. Don't tell.
(crying): They'd banish us, you know."
(jimmy crying)
You weren't nobody, ma.
¶ sometimes i wonder, baby ¶
(crying): I'm sorry.
It's okay, son.
¶ lord, will i ever get back home? ¶
(crying) all right.
¶ sometimes i wonder ¶
(crying)
¶ hey, will i ever get back home? ¶
¶ you know, i've been gone so long, pretty mama ¶
¶ lord, i don't know my right way home ¶
All right. Let's go get a drink.
¶ yeah, now. ¶
That woman was my friend.
She was tough, funny.
She didn't need a man to...
Take care of her or her child.
She was a survivor from the day she was born.
Nobody handed her nothing.
We never had it easy.
None of us. Especially not us women.
I know you all know what i'm talking about.
It's true.
Look what my daddy did to me.
Because i dared to live my own life.
Love who i wanted.
Suzi: You think the law
Would have anything to say about it?
Hell no.
She's his property.
Let me tell you something, ladies.
That girl, she's every last one
Of us.
Well, i say no more. Not in my house!
Any man that would do that,
He needs to pay.
Who's with me?
I see a man.
With his arms torn off.
His insides are outside for all the world to see.
And... This one?
Oh, that one's easy.
A man is stabbing a woman to death.
Her blood is smeared all over the wall.
It's going to be a very messy cleanup.
I'm bored.
(grunts) what's my score?
Mother said you wanted to test my genius iq.
It'll take more than one visit to determine that.
I'd like to see you two times a week.
I've been reading in national geographic
About the natives of papua new guinea.
They would go to war with a neighboring tribe,
And when they conquered them,
The winners would eat
The vanquished tribe's best warriors,
And then their medicine man, and then their chief.
Tell me, do you think it's possible
To take someone's power by eating their flesh?
Or could you do it just by...
Bathing in their blood?
You lied to me, mother.
Dr. Feinbloom had no interest in measuring my genius iq.
All he wanted to do was listen to me talk.
I'm never going back.
Dandy, you must go back.
Do you think i'm sick, mother?
Of course not. You're spirited.
Regina: That's a laugh.
Where...
Is my mother? She ain't out buying squash.
I'm sure she'll be home in time for dinner tomorrow night.
She better be.
Or i'm going to the police.
I'll strike you a bargain, mother.
I'll go back to see dr. Feinbloom.
In fact, i'll go for an entire month.
That's wonderful, dandy.
All you have to do is kill regina.
You're a horrible liar, mother.
She can see through every one of your stupid stories.
Regina wants to send me to the electric chair.
And if i go,
I'm bringing you
To sit on my lap.
Isn't it beautiful?
(birds chirping)
(indistinct chatter)
(coughing)
What do they call you?
Barbara.
Can you switch the machine back on?
What's the point? You look miserable.
(whispers): This place is the worst.
You have a pretty face.
I'm elsa mars. Come.
Barbara: I'm a park avenue princess.
Upper east side townhouse.
We summer in bedford.
I despise every minute of it.
Debutante balls, dressing for dinner.
Do i look like a debutante?
So they sent you down here
To reduce?
You should see mother at thanksgiving dinner.
Every time i take a bite, she sees red.
Last summer, she started telling people that i was knocked up
Because it was less shameful
Than me being a big, fat pig.
But i like me this way.
You are a hedonist,
A lover of the physical world.
But what if i told you...
...That there is a place
(chuckles) where every pound
Of that glorious jiggle
Would be cheered and celebrated? (chuckles)
Hmm?
What do we do if dell comes back before we do?
Then he'll be next.
This caravan's still as much mine as it is his.
Hey, who's got the rope? I do.
Hmm. (chuckles)
I'll take it from here.
It means a lot that you want to help.
Truly.
But this isn't your fight.
Honey, you're family.
We take care of our own.
Evie,
Put our soup on simmer.
Low flame.
Let's go.
(insects trilling)
(dog barking in distance)
¶ ¶
(sighs)
(clatter in distance)
¶ and don't dare call me daddy again ¶
(creaking)
¶ i just said, "don't dare call me daddy ¶
¶ da-da-daddy again" ¶
¶ i just said, "don't dare call me daddy again" ¶
(creaking)
¶ don't dare call me daddy again... ¶
You.
How'd you get in here? I changed the locks.
Locks can't stop us.
"us"?
Who came here with you?
My sisters.
(shouts)
(grunting)
Let's beat it.
(footsteps approaching)
I ain't hungry.
Of course. You're drinking your dinner.
What would your mother say? Nothing. She's dead.
(bottle clatters, shatters)
Give me a break, elsa. I'm in mourning.
You are not
The only one who has lost someone.
She was my mother! You had others!
I raised you as much as she did!
Every woman in this place
Took turns caring for you.
I showed you how to hold an audience and to be a leader,
But clearly i failed in that department.
You're nothing but a load of wind.
How could you not come to the funeral?
I was in miami. Recruiting.
You see her?
This is barbara.
Though i have given her the stage name
Of ima wiggles.
Come in, dear.
Nice to meet you.
Sit down, dear.
Eat.
Go on. Eat up.
You are no good to us without your figure.
She is named after the greatest fat lady of all time,
Ima waddler, all 800 pounds of her.
You see,
That's how it works.
Your mother lives
Because the show will always go on.
You're late.
This party is over.
I've been telling you this forever, elsa.
This world is dying,
And all the fat ladies and lizard girls in the world
Ain't gonna change that.
I am trying to help you!
To help this troupe! Why can you not see that?
(growls) no! No. Wait, wait.
Wait.
Look at her.
Such an ample bosom.
What comfort you can take there
On nights you would have taken comfort
In your mother's embrace.
You're sick, elsa.
This pot pie is heaven.
Eat up, darling.
There's plenty more where that came from.
Oh! (grunts)
Look who ain't dead... Yet.
What's going on? What do you want?
So many things.
But today, we gonna settle for
A little payback.
Penny, suzi...
Grab them pillows.
Evie, fetch the tar.
Oh... Oh, god, no...
No, no, no.
(frustrated scream)
(grunts) god...
No, no, no. There is no god.
You proof enough of that.
What you done
To your little girl...
That was chickenshit.
We gonna make sure you look the part.
And after that,
I'm gonna cut your dick off with this knife,
And then i'm gonna shoot you in the head.
After that, we gonna chuck you in the loxahatchee river,
See if the gators got any use for what's left!
(laughing)
(grunts)
No!
Please, no! Penny: Wait!
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Penny...
Let me.
What...? Penny?
Penny...
No.
Please, i'm sorry, penny.
No!
Penny, baby, i am sorry!
No! (desiree laughing)
No!
Penny! No!
(screaming)
(distant screaming)
(screaming)
(women squealing, whooping)
(laughing)
Desiree: Evie, get behind him!
Hold him steady!
Suzi,
Drop his drawers.
(women laughing)
Maggie: Stop!
Holy shit.
That's your father, isn't it?
Well, goddamn.
You really are a mind reader.
Get out.
This is freak women only.
And is this what it means to be a freak woman?
What would you know about it, anyway?
I know that if you do this,
It will change you.
More even than he changed you.
It will change me.
It will free me.
Maggie: You'll get caught.
Go to prison or worse.
And what about paul?
He loves you.
And you're gonna give all that up
For him?
Then he wins!
Look at you.
Pretty little white girl.
You got no idea what it's like,
Always living on the outside,
Looking in through a window,
Seeing all the things you can never have
Because they say so.
You're right.
I can't really understand
What it's like for you.
And i do plan to have all of those things.
But, desiree, what if you could, too? Mm-mm.
I've lost my chance.
You don't know what chances you might have left.
And you never will, if you do this.
And neither will they.
Penny...
(moans)
I am the astounding lizard girl.
You get to live
Only because i say so.
But you come near me or mine
Ever again...
And i will kill you.
(knife clatters on floor)
Desiree: Evie...
Take him to the edge of camp
And let him crawl home.
(ripping sound, vince screams)
Yes, doctor.
I booked passage on the queen mary out of new york.
Open return.
Doctor: Mrs. Mott, i don't think this is wise.
I would recommend temporary commitment.
Oh, goodness, no.
Dandy may seem durable,
But he's actually quite fragile.
Mrs. Mott...
I fear for your safety.
Thank you, doctor.
We won't be needing your services any longer.
Dandy...
You startled me.
You think i'm defective?
Unbalanced?
Fragile?
I was only trying to placate the doctor.
We don't want him getting proactive about your treatment.
Well, if i am unbalanced, it's your fault.
Dora told me everything when i was five.
Your father was wiped out by the crash of '29,
And you would have done anything to get back to a home like this.
Even marrying your second cousin.
I loved your father.
I was born of deadly sin.
You knew what father had done
To those little girls.
You knew the risks
Of breeding with your cousin.
You're no better than the roosevelts.
How dare you say that name in this house?
I'm not going to europe.
I'm not going anywhere with you.
How can i possibly be with a woman
Who hates me so much?
No, please, dandy... (sobs)
This is our last chance.
Can't you see that you have a sickness?
Your father wasn't the love of my life.
You were.
From the second you came out
And looked at me with that furrowed brow...
...I loved all of you, dandy.
Even the madness.
But...
I have no more love to give.
You have tapped me out.
You're right, mother.
I'm sorry
I've caused you so much pain.
It's time for this madness to end.
No, please, dandy. Not this way.
I can't go on if you kill yourself.
Okay.
Oh...
(shuddering inhale)
(sighs)
Maggie: I thought you would have sobered up by now.
Why would i want to do that?
Well, for one thing,
You're supposed to be in charge around here.
Nothing makes sense.
It's not making sense.
The best way to honor ethel
Is to take care of business here.
So we can leave.
Start our own life.
But you can't do that passed out behind the ferris wheel
Or wallowing over here.
I mean, do you know what almost happened last night?
What's wrong with you?
You sound like some old schoolmarm.
I'm the girl who fell in love with a leader.
A hero, for christ sakes!
Where is he? Well, surprise!
I can't just take my feelings and roll 'em in a little ball
And stuff 'em back inside!
I'm not general patton!
Christ!
Is that what you want?
'cause if that's the case, then buzz off!
That's not what i said.
Look...
You need to eat something.
Listen to me, jimmy.
You didn't do anything wrong.
You're assuming that
You could have saved your mother, but...
Just let the idea go, baby.
You don't understand anything.
No.
Give me!
You shouldn't burden yourself
With the likes of me.
Go have your beautiful life
With someone else.
(sniffs)
All righty, then.
Thanks for the clarity.
You're still here?
I am.
(sobbing)
Captioned by media access group at wgbh access.Wgbh.Org