Original subtitles

Hey, kiddo, we got to go. I'm sorry.

We got a fun ride, though.

Hey,

Kelly, you ready?

Sugar maple Sugar

maple

Red maple.

Applebee's, Olive Garden, Target,

Best Buy.

Where's the what?

Look at this Japanese maple tree. It's awesome.

All right.

Hey.

Hello, new neighbors.

Agnes, look.

Look at that. Finally another girl in the neighborhood, huh?

Hi.

Hey, how's it going? I'm David. This is my wife, Angela. This is our daughter,

Callie. Our daughter, Millie.

Hello.

I'm Brian Russo. That there's Ricky. Say hi, Ricky.

Hey. Hey.

And this is Agnes.

Awesome. Sorry about that. She's just had kind of a long day, you know? How

about tomorrow?

Yeah, we're free tomorrow.

Hey, look out. We got a cool dad coming through.

You are such a dweeb.

Oh, yeah.

Do you have to put your plant on the table?

You mean Mabel?

Um, yes, I do.

Yeah, but not the cool, though.

Right? Not the cool.

You need me to do anything? Pack the lunch?

It's okay. Just get yourself the taxi's gonna be here.

Wait, you're leaving?

Only for two days.

I thought we moved here for your job.

We did.

We had an airport back home.

Callie. We had a freaking airport.

I know.

We talked about this. I'll tell you what. I'll go to the conference and you

go to Nike Dry Fit Junior High with like 300 total strangers.

That sounds awesome, actually.

I like strangers. I like Dry Fit.

I like Junior High.

Wait here, hon. I gotta get your class scheduled.

All right, kiddo.

Take your first left. You killed a cactus?

I always forget to water it.

It's a cactus.

Right this way.

Hey, you're Callie Johnson.

Okay, okay.

Settle down.

I've got a big question for you. Which of the following do humans breathe out?

Is it A, oxygen, or B, carbon dioxide?

Michael.

I'm going to say oxygen.

Wrong.

the rest of sixth grade we will be studying the human body and all the

that's

what i said she shouldn't do that yeah and this kid liam in my class literally

in lunch he threw his food at me Whenever we're in class, he picks his

and wipes it on people's desks. Oh my gosh, that can be so annoying. And when

blame it on him because he's annoying. Hey.

Well, sure.

As I was saying, so annoying. Right? That's right. That was gross.

That bad, huh?

This is a seriously stupid town.

Even the teachers are dumb.

What a beautiful baby.

Oh, thank you.

Oh, there's your mommy, cutie.

You're joking, right? She's mine, actually.

I'm a teen mom. My parents told me to wait.

I guess I should have listened.

Hey,

can't let it get to you. You know that, right?

I know, it sucks, but you just deal with it, and then...

What's with this?

Oh, it's for you.

Seriously, Mom?

What? Seriously?

You got me a freaking grocery store flower?

Excuse me for trying to do something nice.

Today is tomorrow.

What? Your mom said tomorrow.

Where are you from?

What do you mean?

Which state?

Oh, Virginia.

What grade are you in?

Sixth. I have Ms. Clark.

I'm in fourth.

What's this?

Catman, I'm transplanting it.

Wait, you have to shake out the roots first.

Wait, oh, stop.

Here, I'll harness you off.

No, no, no, no.

Oh, no, no, no.

I'm getting it. I'm getting it.

I'm getting it.

Your sister made a new friend.

Hello.

I call her Mabel, but the Latin name is Mamosipurca.

It's a fancy plant, because when you chuck the leaves, they fold up.

Don't do it too much.

How come?

Because how would you like to get poked over and over again?

Is that where Mabel goes?

What? No, I'm not planning Mabel.

But plants want to be with other plants.

How would you know?

I like plants.

Really mostly because of the flowers.

Yeah.

What are we going to do, huh?

Are we going to grow?

Are we going to grow?

Out the car.

Say hi to your dad.

Hi.

Hey, Cal. How was the first day?

Fine.

Cool. Did you meet any kids?

Well, I guess it was the first day.

How's Mabel doing?

Fine.

Well, this has been an awesome conversation.

All right, change of topic.

What hotel I'm staying at?

The Johnny Appleseed.

They should have named it the Henderson Llewellyn.

What? Who is this?

I gotta go. Bye.

Love you both.

See you tomorrow.

Who's Henderson Llewellyn?

He's like the smarter version of Johnny Appleseed.

Okay, lights out.

I thought you were playing with Agnes.

Did you meet the mom?

No.

Well, how was Agnes?

She's a fourth grader.

Well, she seems nice.

She is.

She's just not for me.

We have, like, nothing in common.

Okay. But you want to make friends, right?

Mom. What?

Seriously? What sixth grader wants, like, no friends?

Lab desk, please.

Lab desk.

All right. For the rest of eighth grade, I'll be your long -term sub.

You can just call me Miss G.

Where's Mrs. Morgan?

Who? Mrs. Morgan.

Our teacher?

No idea.

You're not in this class.

Today, we are going to start botany.

I thought we were learning about primates.

Well, when you have a PhD and you're doing groundbreaking research at a major

university, you can make the decisions. Until then, we're doing botany.

That's why you brought the plants?

Yeah, smartass. That's why I brought the plants.

Why don't you go on up there?

Yes, you. I would like for you to choose one plant and tell me one scientific

fact about it.

I don't... Just pick one.

That's a good one.

It's, uh, sticky?

It secretes adhesives.

Why?

Only one.

Go on.

To trap its prey.

Correct. Okay, I want everyone to gather around.

Get close. Watch this.

Whoa. Don't turn around.

This is what it's about.

Back forward.

What happened?

The flies does.

How? She killed it. It got shot by the secretions.

So what?

These are just facts.

What does it mean?

What if I tell you that that plant won't try to eat the tweezers? Why not?

Because they're not food.

Correct.

The plant knows the tweezers aren't food.

But how?

What does it mean?

No one?

No one, really? Wow, okay.

It means that the drosophila plant has a mechanism to know when it's touching

food. What is that mechanism?

How do humans know when food is nearby?

Sight, smell.

So, if a plant knows that food is close by, does a plant

have senses?

Uh -uh.

No way.

Really? How do you know?

It's really about knowing when to pay attention.

This is a logging forest at eye level. Just fir trees, no birches, no other

trees.

Now let's look at it from above.

What does it mean?

Well, when the loggers came into our forest, it started cutting down the

trees. And then the fir trees started to do worse. We paid attention.

And we started to realize that somehow the birch trees and the fir trees, they

were communicating with each other. They were doing something for each other.

And so the question for us became, What is the experiment?

Look. I can't right now. I'm making you something awesome.

They injected this up into the tree roots. Hey, carbon isotopes.

What's the isotope? Forget it. It's like food coloring. You can see the

nutrients moving to the tree roots. And you know what they found?

They found that the birches were sending nutrients to the firs. I have to use

the bathroom.

And the firs were sending nutrients back to the birches.

They're sharing food across species.

I mean, not all the time, but basically when they needed it.

The point is, they're all communicating.

The birch trees and the fir trees.

What? Plants can talk. With words?

Are you insane?

No. They're an underground fungal network.

Okay, let's get started.

So, my first question is...

Can plants hear?

You.

I know, you don't like the word hear.

How about can plants sense sound?

Now we already know that plants grow towards water.

The tip of the root can sense moisture and it will guide the plant towards a

water source.

What we don't know is will a plant grow towards the sound of dripping water,

even if the water isn't there.

So we do an experiment and we find out that yes, plants will grow towards the

sound of water.

Now can plants tell time?

No way.

No way.

Wrong. If I put this chrysanthemum in a dark room with no light source, it knows

when 12 hours is up.

Can humans do that?

Can you do that?

Can any human do that? I don't think so.

It's so pretty.

Who cares about pretty?

Chrysanthemums bloom in the fall when the nights are longer, 12 hours long.

But we can trick them.

This chrysanthemum is from a commercial grower's warehouse, and this black cloth

keeps the light out.

So if the grower keeps the chrysanthemums in 12 hours of

this plant will bloom no matter what the time of year.

But so what? Who cares? Who cares if a chrysanthemum can count?

720 minutes.

What does it mean?

Callie Johnson?

We've been looking for you.

Come on.

Okay. So?

Implants learn.

Okay, one more time for those who weren't listening.

You're going to figure out how much each member of your family weighs on the

most. We don't have a scale at home.

Just do your best.

Everybody got that.

We require every student to attend every class every day. Can we just cut to the

chase here?

Your daughter has already repeatedly missed her science class.

She's skipping science class? No, she's going to the wrong class. She's going to

eighth grade science.

I'm sorry, I don't really see what the big deal is here.

Okay, forget science.

Hey. I'm so glad I bumped into you.

I just wanted to tell you I'm not going to be in your class anymore.

You're the girl who knew about the drossera plant.

Yeah. They're making me go back to sixth grade science.

Bureaucracy, man.

The teachers have shared with me that she's having trouble adjusting to

After one week.

Have you ever considered having her evaluated?

We already have.

Awkward nerd.

Did you tell her it's only been a week? Hi.

Is that Cal?

Yep, I gotta run. Alright, I'll see you at home.

Hey. Hi.

Wow, um, how's the Moogoo guy pan?

Nobody orders that.

Sounds good. Yeah, I'll have that.

Number 27!

I'll wait for you here.

The sister likes to go on adventures, huh?

Look at this.

What? Mom.

Mom. Yeah?

Do you even care about this stuff?

I care about you, so I care about this.

Hey, excuse me. Sorry, I was just wondering where you guys play.

May I be excused? Yes.

Oh, hey.

Let's show Mom a surprise.

I'm shocked they even had bok choy at that place.

It's fine.

It was great.

Can I get a drumroll, please?

Okay.

Huh?

Forget it. I'm not going.

What? Come on, you got the sweet visor. You get to try something new. You're

going to meet a whole new group of kids.

Golfers?

I'm not going.

Oh, hey.

It's not like some crabby senior professor has an idea and points to me

says, go do that.

That's not how discoveries happen.

It's when you see a monocultural forest suffering and you think, I should look

underground, at the microbial and fungal communities, at the soil food web, and

then you look at those webs and think, what if I could tag and track the

nutrient dispersal among them?

Discoveries happen because you have an instinct.

Mimosaputica.

It has a sense of touch.

Something like that.

We're testing the most in the lab. We think it might be able to learn.

I'm about to start my own experiment, actually.

That one where you tell time.

The chrysanthemums.

Okay, well, make sure it's completely dark.

I mean completely. And cover the plant, not the window. But gently.

You don't want to hinder its growth.

Why are you always signing me up for things after school?

I have my own stuff I need to do. Like what?

Like I have to order a bunch of plants.

Well, you'll have plenty of time to do that after golf.

I mean, look at where we are. Look at all these trees.

Seriously, Dad?

What? This used to be a forest.

These are all invasive species.

Okay, if you try golf, I'll buy you the plants.

As soon as we get home?

Yes, as soon as we get home.

Fine. Deal.

Try to have fun?

Come on.

No, I'm really busy. A piggy's driving down the road.

Hey, neighbor.

Hey, Brian. How's it going, man?

Good. I see your kid's in the golf, huh?

Uh, she hates it, actually.

I signed her up for it. You know, I'm just trying out a bunch of stuff.

Yeah. For some reason, the little golf program they have around here just had a

ton of Asian kids in it, so I just figured that she was, like... Asian

right?

Right. Okay, good. Sure. Very intelligent.

Yep. That's right.

Good to see you. You too.

You want to come over? Sorry, I'm really busy.

Okay. Agnes, come on.

Security code?

Is 568.

So what, are you going to bribe her every week or just the first time?

Uh -huh.

That's what happens when you get pregnant again and your husband doesn't

tenure.

And we all have to become golfers.

I know.

It's been a hard day.

All right, we're going to put it down.

And then here we go.

Ooh, and a little rock.

Yes. Give me. Wow.

Cheers.

Wish I could wait.

Don't you knock?

Sorry, I, um... It's okay. Come here.

Look at this.

Tell me what you see.

Is it a leaf without any color?

What kind of leaf?

Looks like... I don't know.

It's spinach.

But we washed away all the plant cells with detergent.

And we... All that's left is the cellulose structure.

Okay, now look.

It looks like blood.

That's the idea.

Exactly.

To use spinach to grow heart tissue.

But that's impossible.

Really? Because we already can grow beating heart cells on these right now.

I didn't know plants could do that.

Well, there's a lot of people who don't know about plants.

I know.

That's why I'm doing my experiment.

How many hours of darkness are you giving them?

Twelve. Twelve?

Why would you do 12?

Because you said 12.

Yeah, but we already know 12 works. We don't know if 11 works or 10. What about

10 and a half? Should I do 10 and a half?

I don't know. Should you?

The whole point is to discover something new.

When I grew up, if you could discover...

The point is, you seek knowledge,

you follow the science.

Even if it lands you in some podunk town with a bunch of idiots who are

completely lacking in curiosity, you seek knowledge, you follow the science.

I can do one of each. One for 11 hours and one for 10 hours.

One?

What are you going to prove with one chrysanthemum?

I'm going to need to buy more plants.

How many?

I don't know, a lot.

How much is this going to cost?

I don't know.

We were doing tenets, but it's so competitive.

We have to start them at like four or it's too late.

Totally.

How's the older one?

The other one, how's she doing?

Oh, she just, you know, being new is rough on the kids.

But she's hanging in.

How come you're taking golf?

My dad's forcing me.

Same.

Let me guess, he's Asian?

Nope, he's the white one.

That's even funnier.

Did you know the pine trees are male and female?

No.

Is that one a boy or a girl?

Actually, it's both. The top cones are female and the bottom ones are male.

They're gymnosperms, but monoecious ones.

Not like the sidecats.

Special treat?

How was golf?

You know, you might have to make friends with someone who's not into the exact

same stuff you're into.

It's a small town. There might not be anyone who's into plants.

Oh, they're in.

Oh, really?

That's great.

Hi. Geez, don't you knock?

What are you doing?

Making space for my experiment.

Oh, you want to come over? Sorry, I can't.

But I could use some help.

Uh, I don't know.

What's the experiment?

Chrysanthemum morpholium.

Uh, what's that?

You like flowers, right?

Yeah.

Okay, what can I do to help?

Um, just clear out this stuff.

In a minute.

Take this out of the table, okay? Okay. Be careful.

Three, two, one.

Move it to the right.

This is science!

How come Agnes went home crying? Because she screwed up the experiment.

What do you mean? What experiment? Don't forget to talk to Dad about the plants.

I'm going to need more.

Like, a lot more.

Did you start dinner?

I'm waiting for them to unload the dishwasher and cook dinner.

We've got to do something to help her.

You mean I have to do something to help her?

What? I tried golf.

Which has been so successful.

Okay, um... What about Agnes?

Wanna play catch?

Here's your ball back.

Sorry if I shouted at you.

Yelled at me.

So, are we playing catch or not?

Two.

Come on, we have to be two.

We have to get at least ten or twelve.

One.

Two.

Are you okay?

Yeah.

One, two, three, four, five, six,

seven, eight, nine, ten.

No!

Agnes, bedtime.

Wow, you go to bed early.

Yeah.

Maybe we can play on Saturday.

I have community music on Saturdays.

What's that?

It's like a club for really serious singers.

You get to go to the university.

Bye.

Hey.

So, your mom and I decided that you can buy four more plants.

Yeah, that's not enough.

It's going to have to be enough. That's what you're going to get.

Whatever.

You don't seem very happy about it.

Happy about what?

You guys arguing about me?

Well, can I get a thank you? Thank you.

Miss G, I read all the plans. I'm going to set up the experiment this weekend.

Good. Have you ever been in a real lab before?

You should come to the university this weekend. I'll show you around. We're in

Bowman.

Point any location. Mom, I need to be somewhere tomorrow.

Yeah, I was at a friend.

I need you to drive me.

Sorry, can you give me a second?

Hello?

Yeah.

I'm sorry.

So where am I driving here again?

It's like a special opportunity for kids who are into plants.

What's this?

You spent $400 on plants?

Cal, this is not okay.

I'm sorry. I thought you guys said I could.

What makes you think you can do this behind her back?

Mom, I just, I didn't know it was going to be such a good... You are grounded

from plants. No!

Mom! I don't care what you do with your time.

No plans for two weeks. Wait, so you're not driving me? No, I am not driving

you. You're grounded.

You're the meanest person in the world.

Trust me.

I'm not being mean. I know what it's like to have a mean mom.

You need to learn that lying has consequences.

Go put the plants in the shed.

Don't die.

Is that what you want? Put them in the shed.

Look at that. Oh, Callie was so small.

I hate being the bad guy.

I think you did what you had to do. She's going to survive.

Should I just put these stuff here?

Yeah, back home, the plants were free. She just got her tools and went out and

dug them up in the woods.

It's not just the credit card thing.

I know, but...

She's going to make friends eventually.

Will she?

You're not her people.

The answer is yes. I told you like

a thousand times.

want to join the community and use it, but you don't want to sing.

Come on.

I can't do plants, so I told Agnes to go to music class with her. Wait.

You like music, though?

Yeah.

What's your favorite song?

Oh, my God, I have to think about that. Maybe War from Katy Perry. Can I sing my

favorite song, please?

Okay, my favorite song, you know? You know, like, the old 2019 song?

Yeah, so my favorite song is Lost Boy by Ruth.

I guess so.

Ready?

What group are you in?

Four.

I'm in group B.

Well, okay.

Come and find me at lunch.

Hey.

Hey, you can't be in there.

Hey, Jim.

Jim, it's okay.

She's with me.

Okay.

This is, like, amazing.

Come here.

380.

1 ,000 species of flowering plants, and for the last 100 million years, maybe

200 million, they've all found a way to adapt and survive.

And we don't understand 99 % of how they do it.

That's why we need to increase knowledge.

What? It's a picture plant.

I've only seen them on YouTube.

A few ants took nectar from a pitcher plant and took it home.

And then, like a bunch of other ants, came back and drowned the plant's liquid

and got digested.

A pitfall trap thing.

Pretty good.

Not just the terminology, but you have a decent understanding of the underlying

biological processes.

Sometimes I feel like plants are more interesting than people.

They are.

My mom doesn't think so.

Mine does neither.

What's the experiment?

We're looking at how bacteria change based on a plant's water supply.

So that pool there in the middle?

There's a whole ecosystem of insects.

tadpoles and small crabs that live inside it.

I wonder if those guys even know they're hanging out on a plant.

They're no different than us, really.

We're all just guests in the world of plants.

Sorry, I have too much to do.

We're going to need your big spin.

Here, can you help me?

It's 5 a .m. What are you doing?

I'm making coffee.

Why?

Whoa.

Don't worry about it. It's halfway done.

Only two more to go.

You're grounded from plants.

Well, I can't stop the experiment now.

That's not the point.

The point is that you're grounded.

I just need a couple more weeks.

I think.

You're exhausted.

You can't keep waking up at 5 a .m. I have to.

Why?

Because that's the way it is.

Either you do it right or the whole experiment is void.

Who's going to know the difference?

My science teacher.

And I will.

Okay.

Let me help.

What are these?

Oh, my God, it actually worked.

Cal.

Cal. What?

Look what happened in the basement last night. They bloomed! Oh, my God, they

bloomed. Wait.

Miss G.

Callie. The nine -hour bloomed.

Oh.

How many days?

Nineteen.

Impressive.

What about the eight -hour? That's the interesting one.

It's still going.

And you're keeping track of the data?

Yeah. You should come over on Saturday and check on it.

Saturday's not going to work.

Or I could show you my setup.

I don't know, Callie. I don't know what to tell you.

Well, maybe next week.

Or after the eight -hour blooms.

Take care.

You're doing it too hard.

No, I'm not.

So, what did Miss G say?

Was she, like, totally amused?

No.

I don't know.

Look, what'd she say?

Look, you can't prove anything with one chrysanthemum.

But we have, like, ten of them.

Seriously, Agnes? After all this time?

What? We have 20!

Kelly!

Hey, cut the table.

You okay?

Hey.

I know it's been tough.

I love how much you love plants, but people are important too, Cal. Oh, my

Mom!

Look, I've been there.

I know how hard it is to make new friends, especially when you're the only

one...

You've still got to try.

Agnes? Agnes?

No skips in the car, okay?

Callie, don't worry.

They won't start a rehearsal without you.

going to rehearsal, okay? I have to find Miss G.

Just go to music, Agnes.

Kat!

Fuck! I'm going with you.

Are you sure we're allowed to... Wow.

Is there a D -Works?

What's up, guys?

Uh... You lost?

Hey, you, come here. Come here.

I remember you.

You guys aren't supposed to be in here. Come on, you have to leave.

Miss, you invited me. I doubt that.

Why? Because she's gone.

Gone? What do you mean, gone?

She's gone. She took another job.

Did she leave a note?

For who?

Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

Come here. Yo, where's your parents?

Look, am I going to have to call security on you?

Wait, wait, hey.

Come on, where'd you go?

You're not supposed to be in here.

Hey.

Come on.

We're dropping them.

See, that's the experiment.

Eventually, they'll learn that it's not a threat and they'll stop closing up.

Momosi can learn.

It's so mean.

Hey, don't touch him.

Hey,

Dad.

I need you to come pick me up.

I think our kid has officially lost control.

Mm -hmm.

Do you remember what that guy said to us? The, uh, whatever that specialist

your kid's gonna be fine, but as an adult?

It's just middle and high school that's gonna suck?

Yeah, it's great, the time when everybody's trying to fit in.

So what, she's just supposed to be miserable for the next six years?

Callie.

Callie.

It's not my fault. I had to tell a grown -up.

Why are you so mean to me? I'm nice to you.

Cal.

Thank you, Brian. I'm so sorry.

Not a problem.

Really, I'm really sorry.

Yeah, maybe just tell Callie to give her some space, okay?

Sure. Of course.

Callie, stop.

Callie. Callie, stop.

Callie, stop!

What the hell is going on? You're sneaking into a science lab? I wasn't

sneaking! Well, you didn't have permission.

I just wanted to see her. Is that a crime or something?

I mean, it's not like she told anybody she was leaving town!

Hey!

And after you calm down, you need to apologize to Agnes. Agnes is fine.

No, she is not.

You're not allowed to play with her anymore. Do you understand that?

And for what? A substitute teacher?

She's not just a substitute teacher.

She's the only person that actually understands me.

Just give me a second.

Okay, we'll start it here, but how many do we have? We have a lot.

Yeah.

You sure you don't want to, like, draw it out and make sure... Wait a second,

we'll just... It's amazing how easily fooled we are.

We see the plant world in human terms.

Individualistic.

Competitive.

Unforgiving.

infinitely more sophisticated network that is its hallmark.

You see it when you discover something like the birches and the firs.

Two fully different species that don't just coexist but live in community with

each other.

That utilize sophisticated mycorrhizal networks to care for each other and

communicate. That have moved way beyond prioritizing survival of the individual

to achieve an astonishingly complex and Beautiful interdependency.

And then it's blindingly obvious that we stare at it every day. The

interconnectedness of the biodiversity that surrounds us.

The system of ecological exchange and balance.

And you wonder how you never saw it before.

Hey, kiddo.

What you thinking about?

Just an experiment.

Oh. What's it about?

Tree roots. I already told you.

Okay.

Well... Why don't you remind me?

They found out that tree roots are interconnected.

That they're sharing across species.

That's very cool.

I don't understand.

Hey.

I know.

It's so hard when you lose the one friend who understands you.

Hey there.

Hey, how's it going?

Good.

I know this is awkward.

I mean, my kid got your kid into ranking and entering.

Yeah, yeah, she did.

I'm really sorry about that.

I don't know. I mean, I was hoping, and if you're cool with it, that they could

maybe play together again in the yard.

Just the yard, you know?

I'm not sure how much trouble they could get into right in front of us.

Hey, Ryan says you can play.

What is it?

She doesn't want to.

Just go talk to her.

What am I going to say?

You'll figure it out.

I can't.

Hey, all I can do is help you in the tiniest little bit. Everything else is

to you.

You're the one who has to do it, okay?

Hey, Agnes.

You did a really good job with your garden.

I got helped.

I'm sorry, Agnes. I'm good.

Hey. So, um... I was thinking...

Maybe we could plant Mabel over there.

Just until winter.

Then we'd have to repot her.

But Mabel was yours.

I got a lot of flowers to plant.

Want to help?

Okay.

Okay.

Okay. I'll do the water.

Really good.

I know that.

me that way oh god look at this

oh whoa it feels so good though wait i'm gonna

show you something okay

Be more colorful than you say it is.

The cardinal said, it's not a lie, but now you must give in.

The storm came down on you just like it was the end of it. And you covered

your head.

The face of the rage of your heart, really it can be causing.

Fixes where you could have it all