Original subtitles

( music playing )

HULU PRESENTS

ALAN: What brings you home?

‐ MOLLY: Kidnapping. ‐ Oh, fuck!

HENRY: Nothing else to call what they did to that kid.

MOLLY:Do you think that's why you came back?

'Cause it reminded you?

‐ YOUNG ALAN: Henry? ‐ ( Henry panting )

ALAN: No frostbite. You been inside somewhere?

MATTHEW: I've had a beautiful experience.

‐ And I heard it. ‐ What?

HENRY: You're saying my dad believed he could hear God?

Other heres. Other nows.

All possible pasts, all possible presents‐‐

the schisma is the sound of the universe

trying to reconcile them.

LACY: "Never again let him see the light of day."

That's what God told me.

You know me.

I don't know anything about you.

THE KID: You do. And I know you.

Out there in the woods.

That's where you died.

THE KID: Do you hear it?

We have to go to the woods.

Why did you ask for me?

WARDEN PORTER: Young man...

who are you?

Henry Deaver.

( distant sirens wail )

MATTHEW: God turned His back on this place.

‐ ( sirens wailing ) ‐ ( train whistle blows )

Abandoned us‐‐ that's what people say.

Or they say He's punishing us for our sins,

like Sodom and Gomorrah.

You remember the helicopter crash.

‐ ( train whistle blows ) ‐ How about the school bus?

People say, "It wasn't me!"

"It was this place."

( sirens wailing )

And the thing is...

they're right.

When I was a boy my mother told me a story...

‐ ( baby crying ) ‐ about resurrection.

She was young...

alone...

and convinced the Devil had a hold of me.

‐ ( crying ) ‐ And maybe he did.

( crying continues )

Or maybe he had a hold of my mother.

( crying stops )

But then...

a miracle happened.

( baby resumes crying )

The Lord, He saved both of us that day.

He brought me back from the dead,

like His only son.

I dedicated the rest of my life to His grace,

to fighting this great battle,

to hearing His voice.

"Let me stand athwart the door," I told Him.

But God,

He doesn't take requests.

So I waited... for years...

...for instructions.

And then one day...

...one terrible day...

God answered.

( theme music playing )

‐ ( panting ) ‐ ( siren wailing )

THE KID: Continuity. It's hard work.

We don't notice we're doing it,

but we are placing events in sequence

so that our lives make sense.

When continuity is interrupted,

everything starts to slide.

Higher‐order functions become challenging.

Reason and judgment erode.

Can't manage finances, drive a car,

planning and problem‐solving gone.

And ultimately, confusion with time and space.

That is the story of Alzheimer's disease.

Or rather, it has been... until now.

This here is Puck.

Now, Puck was born with a strong genetic predisposition

for FCD‐‐ Feline Cognitive Dysfunction.

Very similar to Alzheimer's pathologically.

Apathy, confusion, spatial disorientation.

That was before we put our hippocampal implant

in his brain.

But now, Puck here is a miracle.

He remembers where his food bowl is,

what time the sexy tabby next door is basking on the patio.

Puck is finally in command of his arch‐narrative again.

You see, Alzheimer's jumbles your story.

‐ ( Puck meows ) ‐ And, um...

well, it turns off the lights.

We turn the lights back on.

WOMAN: You actually said that

with a straight face?

THE KID: Yeah, I mean,

we could be profitable in three years.

That is why people like me

do not let people like you handle the money.

Hey, it's the 20th today, isn't it?

‐ Aren't you supposed to... ‐ Yes, tomorrow.

‐ Tomorrow? OK. ‐ Patience is a...

‐ It's not my strong suit. ‐ ( phone chiming )

Hold on.

Hey. Is‐‐ Is everything OK?

ALAN: Not exactly.

I've got some bad news.

THE KID: Is it Mom?

Ruth is fine.

It's about your dad.

( pedestrians chattering )

You know, uh, I'll just walk from here, thank you.

( church bell ringing )

( ringing )

( dog barking )

( flies buzzing )

MATTHEW: What do we say...

...to heartbreak?

The Book says,

"Death is swallowed up in victory."

Hi.

Sorry to disturb you.

‐ Are you... ‐ Brigid.

Market must be crazy if guys like you

are looking at a dump like that.

Two other speculators were in from Portland

just yesterday.

You guys scan the obits, right?

‐ Uh... ‐ 'Cause I heard that

he actually did it out on the lake.

Like... ( imitates gunshot )

Ya know. Not in the house, if that makes a difference.

‐ I'm not a speculator. ‐ Oh.

You probably don't remember me, but, um...

‐ MOLLY: Bridge! ‐ Yeah, I'm out here!

Hey.

Molly.

Henry Deaver?

‐ BARTENDER: There you go. ‐ Thank you.

‐ MAN: Hey, Molly. ‐ Hi.

Here we go.

‐ Look at you. ‐ What?

‐ You're like the mayor. ‐ Please. Council Chair.

It's real power.

You used to be so shy when we were kids.

People change, ya know?

Your sister seems about the same.

Yeah, I guess the lucky ones change.

The unlucky ones cheat on their husbands

at a middle school math conference

and end up couch surfing at their sister's house

‐ for a year. ‐ Ouch.

Hmm. How's your mom?

‐ Um, Sarasota. ‐ Oh.

You know who she lives with? Alan Pangborn.

‐ The old sheriff? ‐ Yeah.

They had a kinda... star‐crossed thing back in the day.

He was the one who convinced her to leave my dad.

A few days after we ran off to Boston,

Alan shows up at the door.

And he, um... takes good care of her now.

Um, she has Alzheimer's.

Oh, no. Henry, I'm so sorry. I didn't know.

She got it pretty young.

Started forgetting her Norse demigods,

then the rest went.

But she's the reason why I got into the field, of course.

Of course.

One more thing I owe her.

She did the right thing getting you out of here.

Can I ask you something?

Yeah.

My dad was nuts for who knows how long‐‐

so why'd he blow his head off now?

Did you ever talk to him?

Oh...

after he left the church,

I don't think he talked to anyone.

D‐Do you remember the flashlights?

Of course I do.

You always knew when I was up.

But even when my light was off,

you always knew.

Y‐You knew a lot of things.

Yeah, I was a... real busybody. I always have been.

‐ It's really good seeing you. ‐ Yeah.

‐ Good night. ‐ Good night.

‐ MARREN: So you really OK? ‐ I'm fine.

Yeah. Everything's fine.

Look at the bright side. We're new homeowners.

Stop.

‐ HENRY: Aw, shit. ‐ What?

Lights just blew a fuse.

I don't even know where the box is.

Hold on.

I found a flashlight.

I hope you don't have to stay there too long.

Hey, it's‐‐it's tomorrow.

Today is tomorrow, the 21st, so, uh...

‐ No. It hasn't come yet. ‐ Then you're late.

‐ By one day. ‐ Yeah, but, uh, I mean,

you're usually on time.

Just take a pregnancy test.

Ha! Did I mention it's been one day?

The first month of trying, yeah, I know,

but, um, I'm just...

I have a feeling.

Hey, I can't imagine

what it's like being in that house

after all those years.

( sighs ) Yeah.

Just call me in the morning, OK?

I love you, Marren.

I love you.

Let's see...

( loud clank )

No!

( sirens wailing )

MAN: When was the last time you talked to your father?

I don't know.

When I was about his age.

What is he saying?

Not saying anything yet.

I mean, besides your name.

Henry Deaver?

That's you, right?

‐ ( sirens wail ) ‐ ( helicopter hovers )

ZALEWSKI: Did your dad ever touch you?

What?

No. Look, my dad was fucked up,

but not like that.

How was he fucked up?

He, uh, thought he heard the voice of God in the woods.

He used to drag me out there in the dead of night,

middle of winter.

March me around...

hoping I'd hear it too.

Did you?

( ethereal sounds )

COP: Hey, stop! Come back here!

Hey! Hey!

It's OK. It's OK there.

Where was he trying to go?

( sighs )

MATTHEW ON TAPE: ...forest fires took near 1,000 acres.

The drunk helicopter pilot who killed‐‐

( rewinding tape )

...and in the town plaza.

The school bus and all those sweet children

died on the track.

MATTHEW: This has been a curse since the beginning,

since those original French settlers

froze and starved 200 years ago.

The only survivor, a young girl,

reduced to cutting up and eating

the corpses of her own family.

Is that when it began?

God turned His back on this place.

Abandoned us.

That's what people say.

Or they say He's punishing us‐‐

What if it's not just one voice, but a choir?

( rewinding )

( voices overlapping )

( cacophony of voices continues )

Toward the end of the worst of it...

the bad patch

that we had that spring.

Oh, sweet Lord in heaven...

Spent hours out there every night

in those damn woods praying...

tryin' to hear it.

Thought if I could hear Him again just once

He'd tell me how to end this...

end the bad patch.

But... He didn't.

Or I couldn't hear Him,

I just wasn't listening hard enough.

But then I did hear something.

I heard something at the back door,

this scritch‐scratching, somethin' trying to get in.

This being a bad patch,

I pull my Louisville Slugger out of the closet,

throw open that back door,

and there he was.

He looks at me.

He looks at the bat, just as scared as can be.

Looks caught. Can you blame him?

He's between a man with a bat

and those woods he just came from.

Well, I'll tell ya, he wasn't the only one scared.

I promise you, I reached for the phone,

I was gonna call the police, Child Service, the cavalry,

and then he starts saying, "I heard it, Dad.

It was so loud, Dad. It was all around us,

in my head, and it was too much.

And then you were gone, and then I was gone,

and I woke up in the forest,

but suddenly there was no more snow,

and then I walked into town and it looked... different.

Castle Rock, but different.

And not one person in town knew me."

That's what he said, not making a lick of sense,

and then he tells me a story.

He says he's my son. Henry.

Adopted.

He tells me a story that the two of us

went to pray in Castle Woods,

that we were out there, he says, to listen...

for Him.

And he heard it.

He said he'd really heard it.

No foolin' this time.

None of his mother's trickery and deceit.

And there, right here, he caught me,

because who would know that?

Who could possibly know that that woman tried to trick me?

Did I test him more? Of course I did.

I asked him how

I like my eggs cooked over the propane stove.

The name we gave to the bend and the view‐‐

he knew it.

He knew it... all.

And it‐‐

it felt like redemption.

Like he'd been returned to me.

Changed, but the same.

Restored.

My sweet Henry back to me at last.

And it was then...

I realized what I'd done.

I'd wished‐‐ not prayed, wished.

Desired for this. Yes, this.

And here it was

like I'd ordered it off the damn TV.

Well, we know just who that is, don't we?

Who gives you what you wish

when you need it most,

with just a string or three attached.

I'd been bought‐‐ bought cheap.

This was no son of mine.

( rattling, clanking )

( panting )

In the blindness of desire and my naked want

I'd invited in the Deceiver.

( tape off )

I was just down the hill from him this whole time.

I knew what he was like.

That's why I just... tuned him out.

The stuff he said the kid told him about my mom.

How she would tell me to lie about hearing God in the woods

to get him off my back.

That happened.

What are you saying?

I don't know.

Ohh. But Henry...

listen to me.

Those things that he talked about...

the helicopter going down, the school bus crash...

they happened decades ago.

They go up to the 1400s.

So he recorded this one‐‐

No, but that kid can't be more than 12.

MATTHEW: There he stayed for years,

so many years,

and I grew old and even lonelier.

There were moments when I was weak.

We shared Christmases in that basement,

Red Sox victories,

I taught him to carve perfect figurines from soap

as I once did with my own boy.

And yes, of course, I almost let him out.

Many times. Almost surrendered to his story, his charms.

I suppose if someone is listening to this,

maybe even Henry‐‐ my Henry‐‐

then you know I finally did surrender.

But you listen to me, son.

As long as that devil walks the streets of Castle Rock,

tragedy after tragedy will pile up

and men will turn on their own.

Blood will run in the streets until he is back in a cage.

( turns off tape )

I can find out where they took him.

( sirens wail )

THE KID/HENRY: What's goin' on?

‐ ( sirens wailing ) ‐ ( truck horn honking )

( sirens continue )

( police radio chatter )

MOLLY: I know these guys.

( chatter )

COP: We think he did it.

MOLLY: Seven people dead.

‐ Ten still missing. ‐ Oh, my God.

Has anyone seen the kid?

They took him away.

They think he did this.

‐ ( police radio chatter ) ‐ MOLLY: Thanks.

COP: Boy in the bed next to his

says he found the lighter,

saw him set his mattress on fire.

MOLLY: How old is this kid? Your witness.

‐ Your boy's not denying it. ‐ Just let us talk to him, Jim.

Henry's a doctor.

This boy is obviously traumatized.

Henry just wants to help however he can.

I'm Molly.

And this is Henry.

Do you know... your name?

Henry... Matthew...

Deaver.

Can you tell us how old you are?

( electrical crackling )

Here. These might help.

OK. It's OK. Oh, sorry.

MOLLY: Can we ask you one more question?

Did you start the fire in the hospital?

Why?

I...

couldn't stop him.

The boy... in the bed...

next to mine. He was‐‐

He was too close.

MOLLY: Too close to what?

( inhales sharply )

Oh, no...

( dissonant noise )

We have to go. To the woods.

There's not much time left.

MATTHEW: Do you hear it... ...twinkling of an eye...

...trumpet will sound and the dead will...

‐ Do you hear it now? ‐ ...twinkling of an eye...

MOLLY: Together, together...

( sibilant whispering )

( whooshing, dissonant sounds )

COP: Your time's up.

Gotta take him upstairs.

‐ ( telephone ringing ) ‐ ( chatter )

( indistinct chatter )

MOLLY: He's been in a cage for God knows how long.

You can't just toss him into another one!

As the chairperson of the city council,

I will take full responsibility.

What's goin' on?

He's coming with us.

COP: CPS will be over tomorrow morning to pick him up.

The boy doesn't leave your residence.

Dennis will sweep your house for weapons and incendiaries.

‐ You understand? ‐ MOLLY: Yes.

‐ And he'll be right outside, all night long.

Kid's already tried to run once.

( starts car )

( ethereal, song‐like sounds )

( ethereal sounds continue )

( train whistle blowing )

( crossing bell ringing )

( train whistle blows )

( ethereal sounds )

We have to help him.

What are you talking about?

( train whistle blowing )

We have to take him...

where he wants to go.

Towards the sound.

THE KID/HENRY: To the woods?

For what?

( whistle blows )

I don't know.

( tires screech )

‐ ( train whistle blows ) ‐ ( tires screech )

Fuck! Fuck.

( tires squeal )

THE KID/HENRY: Hey, hold on!

( panting )

( siren wails )

ZALEWSKI: Got eyes on the car. They're on foot

half‐mile off the eastern side of Castle Lake.

DISPATCH: Copy that.

( whoosh )

( ethereal sounds )

( panting )

( bird hooting )

( whoosh )

( ethereal sounds )

( panting )

ZALEWSKI: Police! Stay where you are!

Officer, everything is fine, OK?

‐ Calm down. ‐ Get on the ground right now!

Listen to me. Listen to me.

ZALEWSKI: Molly!

( birds squawking )

‐ Listen to me. ‐ Molly!

‐ Goddamnit, Molly, stop! ‐ ( fires gun )

( ethereal sounds )

( sounds continue )

( sounds crescendo )

ZALEWSKI: Goddamnit, Molly, stop!

‐ ( sounds stop ) ‐ ( Molly gasps )

‐ What the fuck? ‐ What the hell did you do?!

‐ Molly. Molly! ‐ ( Molly murmuring )

I shot in the air. It was... a fuckin' warning shot.

It's OK. It's OK.

Everything's gonna be OK.

Call an ambulance!

It's OK. It's OK.

Help him.

MOLLY: Help him. Help him. Help him...

( echoing ) Molly? Molly?

Molly?

( ethereal sounds )

( sounds continue )

( men shouting )

( dog barks )

( ethereal sounds )

( birds squawking )

( silence )

MAN: Henry!

Henry!

( siren bleats )

( siren wails )

THE KID/HENRY: I wandered around... for days.

I was trying to get back...

and I couldn't.

Then Lacy found me.

Took me to Shawshank.

Said he heard the call.

Said I was the devil.

You believe me, don't you?

( music playing )

ROBOTIC VOICE: Bad Robot!