Original subtitles

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth.

- [Constance giggles] - [sighing] Ugh.

Is she gonna do that all night, those fucking holiday puns?

You know what? Watch your language, okay?

- Swear jar. - Adelaide is enjoying the holiday spirit.

So...

[♪ tense music playing]

...are you going to, uh, officially introduce

your special guest to all of us here, huh?

Winter, darling. Such an appropriate glacial name.

Of course.

It’s time for the grand unveiling.

You’ll know her just by looking at her.

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

[Constance] Oh, yes.

That Glasgow smile ear to ear.

And that attractive blossom.

Thank you.

I hate to interrupt a family gathering.

Oh, no, no, no, Miss Short. Please.

Don’t let those concerns wrinkle your pretty little brow line.

[chuckles]

Very soon, you will be among 13 leading ladies,

all as legendary as you are.

- It’s Elizabeth, isn’t it? - That’s right.

Miss Elizabeth Short.

As in, "Short on cash."

[Winter chuckles]

A black Christmas tree.

I find that so macabre.

[Constance] It’s not a Christmas tree, dear.

It’s a symbol memorializing the Rauhnacht.

The Rauhnacht?

[Kai] German pagans knew what today’s people forgot.

This is our darkest time of year,

which they hailed as the smoky nights.

When the veil between light and shadow was at its thinnest.

When the dead quit their graves

and the demons wander freely through the gates of hell.

Their time is our time, mein Schatz.

So pay heed.

This is the 13th night

after the birth of that Christ child.

I’m sorry, but where am I?

We’re in the home of Mr. Nas.

It’s grand, isn’t it?

[♪ mysterious music playing]

He’s a mastermind, and he’s just going to eat you up.

- [lighter sparks] - May I ask how you heard of me?

Well, dear, your quest for fame was fulfilled.

- Well, you were in all the newspapers. - I was?

You seem to be confused about why you’re here

and how you arrived here.

I am.

I’m so... disconnected from who I am,

from where I’m supposed to be.

I feel rather faint.

That’s because you’ve traveled such a long, long way.

[chuckles] Let’s put some color back into those...

slashed cheeks of yours.

Get this girl some nourishment.

I think we have some leftover holiday ham.

I’ll carve it up.

[bangs]

[banging]

[♪ "Midnight Masquerade" playing on speakers]

That looks like an unusual ham.

It’s a special ham

- for special people. - ♪♪ I sailed away When love was through ♪

- ♪♪ Then some friends I knew ♪ - Ah...

♪♪ Took me To a midnight masquerade ♪

♪♪ I felt an old familiar thrill Linger with me still ♪

♪♪ Dancing To a dreamy serenade ♪

♪♪ At twelve o’clock To my surprise ♪

♪♪ Without disguise ♪

♪♪ Stood my love of old Our love remade ♪

[Adelaide] Eat up.

♪♪ Two broken hearts That fell apart ♪

♪♪ Got a second start ♪

- [Elizabeth] Hmm. Mmm. - ♪♪ It happened At a midnight masquerade ♪

Mmm.

I didn’t know how hungry I was.

Please, Miss Short, savor each and every bite.

Children, do you realize that we are sitting here with a true legend?

Miss Short, perhaps I could help rekindle your memories?

You see, once upon a time,

you left a rented room in Hollywood

on the 9th of January in the year of 1947.

Your true stardom began on the 15th

when you were discovered in a vacant lot.

[squelching]

Some seductive villain had sliced you in two...

- [bangs] - ...and then sliced you in two again...

- [bangs] - ...and that famous smile of yours

was crafted for you

on the 13th day of January.

She is really hitting that 13 extra hard, right?

[Kai] Shh.

[♪ mysterious music playing]

[dogs growling, barking]

Joe, whose monsters are those?

Dog day care.

[growling, barking]

[♪ tense music playing]

[elevator bell dings]

[growling, barking]

Tell us what you remember.

Tell us about your journey to this place.

Ever the cult leader.

- [Kai] Shh. - [shushing] Let her speak.

I remember a promise of stardom,

and then arriving at the doorstep of a stranger

and ending up in some...

[door closes]

...barbaric room.

I remember ether, the bitter smell of it,

- saws, clamps... - [inhales deeply]

...to pull out unwanted babies.

...to pull out unwanted babies. "Make America great again."

"Make America great again."

Instruments of torture gleaming in the gaslight.

I remember then the first cut here on my face.

He thought I couldn’t feel it, but I could.

And I remember thinking, "Scream. Run."

But I couldn’t.

I was paralyzed.

- And then-- - Blackness?

- Oblivion? - Like a Klonopin.

Let’s get to the good stuff. I’m bored.

[shushing]

And then suddenly, I was alive.

I found myself in a graveyard surrounded by mist.

The same thing happened to us.

Drawn upwards, forwards.

Returned to our promise.

Rebirth!

- Hail. - I reached a women’s shelter.

But they all screamed at the sight of my face.

The horror of what had been done to me.

And then I remembered my PO box in Larchmont Village.

And there was the mysterious package

with the mask and the bus ticket.

Mrs. Langdon, were they from you?

The kindness of strangers. [chuckles]

Always dependable.

That ticket brought me here to your doorstep.

New York, New York.

You can make it here, you can make it anywhere.

Well, that was my hope.

"Oh, they finally sent for me," I thought.

"They saw my headshot, and they’re going to make me a star."

And what a shining star you will be...

on this night of nights.

Alexa, play "Liebestraume."

[♪ piano music playing on speakers]

Alexa, stop.

[♪ music stops]

[elevator bell dings]

I told your agency yin this evening.

I told your agency yin this evening. I mean, absolutely off duty.

I mean, absolutely off duty.

What is the matter with you?

What are you, dense?

It’s news to me. Look, I can only follow rules that I know about.

Like no smoking or vaping in the home of an elderly patient.

Not to mention you’re throwing a party in there.

A party? [laughs]

A party. What?

A few friends and family stopped by on their way to their next event.

That is it. It is not a party.

That is it.

[♪ mysterious music playing]

Oh. [chuckles]

Mr. Lambrusco, I didn’t mean to come at you like a dentist drill.

[chuckles]

But you have to understand that I get very overly protective

when my darling little daughter is nearby.

Okay, well, then for her too.

I mean, all this secondhand smoke is a problem.

Oh.

You are absolutely right.

My, you have so much to teach, don’t you?

It-It’s just that...

Well, you found me at my most vulnerable

with all my little songbirds returning to their nest

after their far migrations.

[Ben] Mm-hmm.

Oh. Why don’t you join our little soiree, hmm? Please.

It was wrong of me not to invite you. Here.

[speaks German]

- [groans] Oh... I shouldn’t. - Come on. Please, please.

Of course you should, of course you should.

You must.

You absolutely must try it.

Come on. Here. [chuckles]

It’ll loosen your screws.

We’re all wound a little tight,

the holiday season and all, aren’t we?

Are...

Luigi Linguini...

[chuckles]

...what was it you were trying to help me understand?

I’m not trying to impose my own ideas, Constance. You hear me?

These are the findings and assertions of science, of people like you and me.

We all experiment and find out how to best care for the people

that we care for, and we rely on each other’s results.

I just... I need to know more about my, uh...

[clicks tongue] Our patient.

- [slurps] - Of course. Of course you do.

And I have been scribbling notes

about our dear Mr. Nas just for you.

I mean, he doesn’t speak much, but you must have noticed the, um...

Drink up.

The fluttering of an eyelid or flaring of a nostril.

The rise and fall of his Adam’s apple with each gulp of emotion.

I mean, he may be a man of 90, but he has a lot of living...

- [sputters] - ...left to do.

Ninety?

He just turned 87.

Well, your fealty to medical charts is admirable,

but why don’t we save all this for another day, huh?

Go ahead. Finish it up.

Why don’t you stay here tonight with us?

Everything’s been arranged.

Constance, I’m glad that we both understand the...

the value of...

Yes.

Now, here’s my lecture for you.

Time moves forward,

and what we do with that motion is entirely up to you.

So many passengers living marginal lives.

Is that what you are, as ordinary as a tub of margarine?

No.

I get a sense that there’s something more to you.

And...

perhaps when you wake up from all of this,

you’ll know who you really are.

- Sleep. - [grunts softly]

[♪ mysterious music playing]

- [Tate] Should I just get rid of him? - [Constance] No.

No, not this one. Just leave him be.

He’ll sleep it off.

Won’t remember his own damn name from a prayer.

Now, you know what you have to do, huh?

But you must be careful.

Promise me... you’ll be careful.

I promise.

- Mmm. - [kisses]

[sighs]

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[♪ eerie music playing]

Will there be a chaperone for me, Mrs. Langdon?

I’ve yet to make the acquaintance of a single gentleman in New York City,

and I intend to be careful with my reputation.

Oh, Miss Short.

Why, I would never, ever, ever send a young lady into improper company.

More booze.

Oh, no. I’m sorry, Mrs. Langdon, but I couldn’t.

A lady never drinks.

[Constance] Oh...

Just one little sip of my eggnog. [chuckles]

Oh, come on. It’ll loosen your hubcaps in the most delightful way.

Drink it.

[Elizabeth] Mmm.

This punch packs quite the wallop. [chuckles]

Well, you’re gonna need a little nip before you go down to that speakeasy.

I mean, you remember what speakeasies are like,

don’t you, Miss Short?

Where is the speakeasy, may I ask?

New York’s hottest club.

It’s called Club Hell.

They put stickers over your phone,

pitchforks up your ass and hoods over your head.

This club has everything.

Addy will take you from here.

Oh, you’re not coming to the party?

[Constance] Parties are for the young. [chuckles]

I used to be able to stomach festivities like that, but...

No, the hangover in my heart lingers far too long these days.

Children, come give your mother a kiss.

- Oh... [chuckles] - Love you.

My beautiful, beautiful girl.

You do your part down there.

And there’s a special place for us in the future.

You can count on me, Mother.

[inhales deeply]

I always could. [chuckles]

You were always my favorite.

Sacrifices must be made.

[elevator bell dings]

So you’re saying we won’t have any feelings of, like...

love or caring anymore?

This is the new age?

The past is all bullshit.

Empathy as some kind of currency.

Love will become what it always has been

before the fake Jesus freaks got a hold of it.

Transactional.

I love Winter because she serves me.

Winter loves me because I’m fucking right about everything.

Imagine a whole world organized that way.

Where only the strong and willing rule?

Where you can take what you want, kill what you don’t?

- I could dig that. - Says the guy in a fucking gimp suit.

Just because I can’t kill you during the ceremony

’cause it’ll throw off the numbers...

doesn’t mean I can’t kill you some other time.

Violence is never the answer.

[elevator creaks]

[♪ ominous music playing]

[cane tapping]

[indistinct whispering]

Do you know where you are?

Club Hell, dumbass.

Will there be dancing?

You are underneath the Apollyon.

You know what that means, don’t you?

[faint growling]

[♪ unsettling music playing]

This is the portal to hell.

[♪ mysterious music playing]