Original subtitles

♪ She packed my bags last night preflight ♪

♪ Zero hour 9 a.m. ♪

♪ And I'm gonna be high.. ♪

What do you have there, Ned?

It's for my dad.

♪ I miss the earth so much I miss my wife.. ♪

[Janet] 'Neddie!'

♪ It's lonely out in space ♪

Neddie, uh, can you take that

bowl of potato chips into the family room?

'I've got batter on my hands.'

Mom, I drew a picture of dad's plane

with the exact way that the wings are decorated.

- 'Okay?' - Okay, Neddie.

Because you said he's not flying in that anymore

so he needs something to remember it by.

♪ And I think it's gonna be a long.. ♪

Mom, I need you to start the shrimp rounds!

[imitating airplane]

♪ I'm not the man they think I am at home ♪

♪ Oh no no no ♪

♪ I'm a rocket man ♪

Who are you?

Who are you?

I'm Ned.

Well, then I'm your dad, Ned.

You don't look like my dad.

I have his picture.

Well, I'm a lot handsomer now than I used to be.

♪ Till touchdown brings me 'round again to find.. ♪

I'm home.

Oh, my God..

...Carl.

♪ I'm a rocket man ♪

♪ Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone ♪

Hi.

- I remember you. - Hi.

♪ ...to raise your kids ♪

♪ In fact it's cold as hell ♪

♪ And there's no one there to raise.. ♪

I made this.

♪ If you did ♪

It's for you.

These are the bracelets with your name on them.

Everybody wore 'em while you were in Vietnam.

♪ And all the science ♪

♪ I don't understand.. ♪

Big boys don't cry, dad.

I'm-I'm crying because your mom spent so much money on this box.

No, I made it.

Oh, yeah?

[both laughing]

♪ And I think it's gonna be a long long time ♪

♪ Till touchdown brings me 'round again to find.. ♪♪

[thunder rumbling]

[dramatic music]

[indistinct police radio chatter]

Lieutenant Stillman.

Kat Miller, narcotics. I called you.

Detective Rush and Valens.

Glad you could come down.

We found something interesting tossing this place.

[Rush] 'What are they?'

POW bracelets.

[Miller] 'All with the same name on them. Carl Burton.'

He was a navy pilot, a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

He was shot to death back here in '73.

You remember that off the cuff?

He was a war hero.

- Never brought the job in? - Mm-mm.

Where'd you find this?

Behind the water heater in the cellar.

I just thought that was off. Something sentimental

to a murder victim being stuffed down there.

So were these like dog tags?

Friends and family wore them, not the soldier.

POWs that made it home, like Carl did

someone would gather them up

and make a presentation to them.

A-anyone you drag out of this place

know how they wound up here?

House was empty when we hit it.

Skimpy new direction.

He's a POW, Scotty.

We got anything, we're going to go with it.

Oh yeah. Okay, sure.

In fact, think of Carl Burton like family.

That's how I want this job worked.

[theme music]

[instrumental music]

Carl Burton, 35.

Lieutenant Commander, US Navy.

Shot down on his 23rd bombing mission over Hanoi.

Go up enough times, luck runs out.

No, his got even worse, he was captured.

Spent five years in a prison camp.

Survives all that, gets gunned down in his own area code.

Seven months after he's home.

Last place Carl's seen was the funeral reception

of a POW buddy of his, Rex Potter.

He was a Roxborough guy, same as Carl.

Didn't make it out of the prison camp.

[Valens] 'Interviews with the family'

people at the Potter house that night

no one sees anything unusual.

Carl's body was found a mile from the reception

gun was a few feet from him

but rain washed away any prints.

Had a bag of marijuana in his pocket.

That funeral's got to be intense, right?

Putting Carl in the mood for some kind of escape?

[Jeffries] 'No, he scores, gets shot on the way home.'

Being in the wrong neighborhood.

Doesn't explain the bracelets in that house.

Maybe he tried to trade them to the dealer.

No, they're not worth anything.

Could be why he got shot.

[Stillman] 'Now, let's talk to Carl's wife and son.'

See what they remember about the day of the funeral.

Could be another vet burnout story, John.

Lot of guys we served with came home, turned to junk.

Whatever we find, we follow it up.

[instrumental music]

You didn't have to fix up, Mrs. Burton.

Military wife. Look right, live right.

- May I get you a drink? - It's pretty early.

Cocktail hour somewhere, boys used to say.

[Rush] 'We're here about your husband's murder.'

Something come up?

We found his POW bracelets in an abandoned house in Tioga.

Kind of sketchy area back when Carl was killed.

'It's even worse now.'

Okay.

Any idea how the bracelets wound up there?

No.

This is embarrassing, but I guess I lost track of them.

You don't seem like the losing-track type.

No, but I lost track of myself for a time then.

Carl was carrying pot when he died.

Theory was he...had a habit. Got him into trouble that night.

Doesn't sound like the gung-ho fighter pilot I married.

How about the guy who came home to you in '72?

I don't think about that man.

I'd rather remember Carl as he was before.

'He was strong.'

He was a hero. I was his wife.

Would you have known if he was doing drugs?

No. We really tried.

We just...never got to know each other again.

[Bread singing "Baby I'm-a Want You"]

[crickets chirping]

♪ Baby I'm-a want you ♪

♪ Baby, I'm-a need.. ♪

This is very romantic.

You turn into a champagne girl while I was gone?

[chuckles] Come on now.

♪ Maybe I'm-a crazy ♪

♪ But I just can't live without ♪

♪ Your lovin' and affection giving me direction.. ♪

After sleeping for years with a guy in skivvies

showered once a week.

I'm finally looking good.

♪ ...in my darkest hour ♪

♪ Lately I'm-a prayin' ♪

♪ That you'll always be a-stayin'.. ♪

Remember when I broke up with you?

You left a pathetic note in my parents' mailbox.

"I need to be free."

You came up to me in the parking lot.

And I'm thinking, "Oh, no, here she comes. She betternot cry."

Remember?

I knew better than you even then.

"Carl, I got your note. I don't think so."

That's right.

♪ Lately I'm-a prayin' ♪

♪ That you'll always be a-stayin' beside me ♪

Mm.

♪ Used to be my life was just emotions passing by ♪

I feel 18.

♪ Then you came along and made me laugh ♪

What is it? Your shoulders?

It's-it's okay. It's.. Come back.

Honey, no, not if it hurts you.

Come on.

We'll dance later when you're better.

I don't want you to pretend it doesn't hurt.

Let me pretend!

My arms have been broken four times! They're...busted!

They'll always be. I-I can't...lift them!

I can't dance!

I'm s.. I'm sorry.

I should make sure Ned didn't wake up.

♪ That you'll always be a-stayin' ♪

I'm going for a walk.

You don't need to wait for me.

♪ Used to be my life was just emotions passing by ♪

♪ Then you came along and made me laugh and made me cry ♪♪

He'd go for walks...for hours.

Is that when this started?

Any idea where he'd go on these walks?

I didn't know where Carl was, truly.

Even when he was right in front of me.

But you two stayed together.

Hoping somehow we'd find what we'd lost.

But before we could..

...he was gone again.

[instrumental music]

So, you're not the kind of doc sees patients?

No, I'm the kind that does research.

Better hours?

Better company.

So, where did the bracelets turn up?

Stashed away in a crack house.

Were they in the box?

- Yeah, there was a box. - I made that thing.

[Vera] 'Thinking is, your dad wanted to buy drugs'

maybe he got desperate tried to pawn the bracelets.

Not exactly what you want to believe about your father, but..

We know you were young when he got home.

Seven.

[Valens] 'You remember anything that, looking back'

makes you think he was using?

No. In fact, uh, from the day he got back

he never missed triple nickel reveille.

Waking up early?

5:55 a.m.

Exercised best he could.

Started his day.

It's not junkie behavior.

When'd you last see those bracelets?

First week he was back, he, uh, put them in the basement.

He wasn't...big on war mementos.

- Trying to move on. - Yeah.

Anyone around back then who could've gotten

in the way of that?

There was someone..

...who he shouldn't have even known about.

♪ Doctor my eyes have seen the years ♪

♪ And the slow parade of fears.. ♪

So these people, they made me stay over in Vietnam.

That why you didn't write me any letters?

Only way I could even talk to my friends there

was through a secret code we made up.

A secret code?

Well, each letter had its own number of taps.

We'd spell out words on the walls between our rooms.

Wow. Like, could you do an N?

[knocking]

Do E.

[knocking]

D.

[knocking]

That's my name, right? That's Ned in our secret code.

Do another.

♪ 'Cause I have wandered through this world ♪

♪ And as each moment has unfurled ♪

Uh, I don't know. What's it mean?

I said bear. Want to go see the bears?

When I come here with Ken, we always go see the lions first.

♪ ...noticed them until I got.. ♪

Who's Ken?

Mommy's friend.

What kind of friend?

Well, he takes me to the zoo and he takes mommy to dinner.

♪ Tell me what you see ♪

♪ I hear their cries ♪

♪ Just say if it's too.. ♪♪

At some level I...knew I shouldn't have said that.

'Cause you knew this... Ken was your mom's specialfriend?

Guess I was a little messed up about

the dueling father figures.

Because truthfully, I knew Ken a lot better

than my dad at that point.

Your dad follow up with this guy?

Not that I heard about.

If I spent five years in a box getting tortured

'while some guy's taking my wife to dinner.'

I'dfollow up.

Janet Burton didn't mention anyone

on the scene while Carl was gone?

Well, played the pained and patient wife

not big on airing dirty laundry.

Doesn't she want to know what happened to Carl?

Seemed afraid of what we might find

him not turning out to be the perfect hero.

- The house with the bracelets? - Yeah, what'd you find?

Back in '73, place still had renters

before crack ran 'em out.

One of 'em, Ken Westin.

[scoffs] Our perfect wife's boyfriend.

Step lively. Quietly. Quietly.

Giving you a heads-up, Dorothy.

Tour group's heading to ceramics. Over.

- Ken Westin? - Absolutely.

Detective Valens, homicide.

Hey, mind if I ask you to step to this side

of the rope here, please?

We found some POW bracelets hidden in your old house, Ken.

Belonged to a murder victim, Carl Burton.

Whoa. Carl's bracelets.

I must have left those when I moved.

Why were they in your house in the first place?

Already got the skinny on your relationship with Janet

so you can pick up from there.

I'm confessing to the act of a heartsick young man. Okay?

I took 'em..

...the day she broke up with me.

To make myself feel better, I snatched the bracelets.

- Low, I know. - It's real low, Ken.

Guy was a POW.

I appreciate that.

I was over there, too.

Eleven months before illness befell me.

So, let's say, the bracelet snatch doesn't do the trick

and you're still stewing.

Makes me wonder where youwere, the night Carl gets shot.

I was at Smokie's.

My regular night spot. Sheesh!

[Westin] 'I stole from the guy.'

I did not wish him to be dead.

Know anyone who might have?

I'll tell you this, when he came back

Carl wasn't exactly winning friends and influencing people.

What do you mean?

Little unstable.

And you'd know how?

Did some research, check up on the guy.

Make sure he was worthy.

[instrumental music]

I asked you to take that down, Wes.

[Westin] 'You kiddin' me, hero?'

Sign's worth at least two cars a month.

Be three if I could teach you a little hustle.

[Tommy James And The Shondells singing "Draggin' The Line"]

♪ Making a living the old hard way ♪

♪ Taking and giving.. ♪

She's a beauty.

Can I send you home together today?

Oh. Hello. I need to think about it.

♪ ...sunshine ♪

Excuse me a minute.

♪ Draggin' the line ♪♪ Draggin' the line ♪

♪ My dog Sam eats purple flowers ♪

♪ We ain't got much but what we got's ours ♪

You can't keep showing up here, Daniel.

- You gonna talk to me? - No!

- Well, you gotta someday. - Kid's got hustle.

Washing cars for free. You know him?

I told you to beat it.

Look, I just want to know about my dad.

Okay. I-I've asked you three times.

Now, I'm doing your work for you.

- I mean, what's it gonna take-- - Leave this alone!

- Leave my fatheralone? - Believe me!

There are some things you don't want to know.

♪ I'm talking about peace.. ♪

Now,get outof here!

♪ I'm gonna take my time ♪

You know, I've been real nice to you, Carl.

You're gonna wish you were nicer to me!

♪ Draggin' the line ♪♪ Draggin' the line ♪

♪ Draggin' the line ♪♪ Draggin' the line ♪♪

So, who was this kid Daniel?

I can't say for sure

since I was no longer a member of the inner circle.

But this looked like a personal thing to you.

Kid got under Carl's skin.

And I'd done enough research.

That was the last time I saw the moody son of a gun.

Ken Westin was a mistake.

He was a neighborhood guy, kept me company while Carl...was--

Oh, he was pretty wounded when you two broke up.

Stole Carl's bracelets.

Ken did? Oh, for Pete's sake.

Do you think he would've gone a step farther

got into it with Carl?

Confrontation was not Ken's style.

Janet, you know anything about a kid named Daniel?

Yeah.

Daniel.

He was..

Would coffee help you?

No.

Daniel Potter, his father Rex was a POW with Carl.

[Janet] 'Didn't make it home.'

It was Rex's memorial Carl went to the day he died.

[Jeffries] 'You have any idea why Carl and Daniel'

were fighting at the car dealership?

Daniel was hounding Carl.

Trying to get stuff out of him about his father.

But Carl wouldn't talk about that.

[Janet] 'He saw horrible things in that prison camp.'

He wouldn't revisit them for anyone, not me, not Daniel.

When he said no to Daniel?

Kid put a rock through our window.

He was angry at the world.

But taking it out on Carl.

[instrumental music]

[Valens] 'About theirage when your dad was in prison?'

Yeah.

Must have been rough..

...never knowing if he was comin' home.

Well, I thought it'd be easier somehow

if I knew the details about what he was going through.

But Carl wouldn't say.

He was trying to protect me.

Pretty understanding for a guy that threw a rock

at Carl's house.

Yeah, th-that was awful.

You take it any further?

Me being angry with Carl, stopped with the rock.

Yeah? Why?

He caught me red-handed.

Finally gave me what I wanted.

[glass shattering]

- You're gonna pay to fix that. - Let go of me.

No. You want to talk, let's talk. Go ahead.

- We're getting this over with. - Where's my dad?

- Still in prison in Hanoi. - Why? What'd he do?

He's an American soldier.

To the North Vietnamese, that's a crime.

What's it like there, the prison?

There's not a lot to eat.

Water makes you sick.

Guards are monsters in human clothes.

But your dad and the other guys, they have each other.

Can't they just get together and break out of there?

I mean, my dad can take some Vietnamese guy.

[chuckles]

[whispers] Maybe he will.

Is he gonna live?

Yes.

Your dad's one of the strongest people I've ever met.

If I had to trek into Hell..

...he's the guy I'd want by my side.

He's coming home to you.

[sighs] You guys are brave.

No, you are,Carl.

I knew it.

Your dad..

...he's a hero.

Not me.

I'm a coward.

[Valens] 'Coward. Why would Carl say that about himself?'

Doesn't make sense, right?

He survived five years of being tortured.

Humble guy.

Or troubled.

You get the feeling he really meant that, Daniel?

Saw him a few times after that, talked to him about my dad

but every time I could always feel it.

Something was eatin' him up.

Carl Burton's military service record.

I don't see anything in there

make a guy call himself a coward.

Awarded Bronze Star, Purple Heart.

Oh, this is it.

- He took early release. - What's that?

Means he left the prison camp early.

[Valens] 'I thought you couldn't leave.'

Well, not under honorable circumstances, you couldn't.

'The code of conduct among POWs'

is that the sickest and longest serving go first.

But Carl wasn't either of those.

Then how does he get to the front of the line?

Tells the VC guards what they want to hear.

Let's them use him for propaganda.

That doesn't sound like a gung-ho fighter pilot.

- Why would he do that? - Why?

He's sick of getting beat nearly to death five years in a row.

He misses his family, he's stowed in solitary.

It's hard to know what a code like that

starts to mean at that point.

- But a lot of guys did hang in. - Yeah, hundreds of 'em.

And they would not have been fans of Carl's.

And they came home a week before Carl was killed.

End of March, '73, main group of POWs got back.

Any of 'em come back to Philly?

Guy named Raitt from Antioch.

Roger Raitt, a navy commander?

You know him?

I served with him.

[instrumental music]

Been a long time.

I'm not much for the reunions.

[chuckles] Truth be told, I'm not either.

But working in the, uh, defense industry

it pays to keep in touch.

I'm sure.

There's one this Saturday in Old City.

I can't make small talk out of it.

I'd rather just leave it behind.

And here you are carrying a gun every day.

That's what I couldn't revisit.

Roger, I want to talk to you about a guy

you were in prison with. Carl Burton.

'Wound up dead, shot..'

...right after you guys got back.

I remember.

Coming home, it had to be hard to adjust.

Well, it made me realize any day I wake up

with a doorknob on the inside of the door

it's a good day.

Maybe someone else didn't see it that way.

Came back angry, wanting to settle a score.

Everyone has a breaking point.

Carl reached his over there.

I, um, I didn't respect it, but I understood.

Hard to imagine all the POWs did.

We were like brothers, John.

One of them went after Carl, I would've known.

We're talking about a lot of soldiers

and a guy they thought was a traitor.

[sighs]

We'd only been home a week, and all of us already knew.

Carl's worst punishment was living with what he did.

[Leon Russell singing "Stranger in a Strange Land"]

[Raitt] 'Rex's 51st bombing run, he gets hit'

ejects, comes down outside Hanoi.

He spends a few hours hiding in a cave

trying to get up enough strength to move.

'But when he hears a North Vietnamese patrol'

'he takes off on a broken leg'

'with only his pistol to hold off 20 guys chasing him.'

'For hours, Rex dragged himself along just ahead of them'

'till he comes to this hollowed-out tree'

'and squeezes inside.'

How dare you?

♪ He shares the simple secret ♪

I'm here to pay my respects.

- How dare you sneak in here. - Stop it!

You don't know what this man did to your father, Daniel.

Let's calm down.

We're here for Rex.

Rex wouldn't want you here.

You betrayed him, betrayed everyone.

You're a disgrace.

Daddy?

Okay, Ned.

♪ He's a stranger in a strange land ♪

I'm sorry, Ruth.

Carl.

I think it's better if you don't go to the reception.

- Yeah. - I'll tell the guys that--

Tell them I died over there, Roger.

Tell them I'm already a ghost.

♪ And how many years till it's done ♪

♪ Kiss my confus.. ♪♪

Guys who stuck it out, resisted the most.

Did better when we got home.

Ones who gave in had a tougher time.

Uh-huh.

How bad do you think it was for Carl?

Bad enough. I thought he'd kill himself.

The gun was found five feet away from his body.

You remember how long it takes a man to die from a gun shot?

'Might have crawled a ways after.'

But who commits suicide

by shooting themselves in the stomach?

Guy aiming for his heart whose arms don't work anymore.

[instrumental music]

Could be my last cheesesteak for awhile.

Oh, yeah?

Julie's talking about tofu.

[Miller] 'Lieutenant.'

Miller. How you doing?

Just dropped a guy in lockup.

How's the Burton case panning out?

Uh, Nick Vera, this is Kat Miller.

She's the one that turned up the POW bracelets.

- Good work. - Thanks. So?

Well, the latest is Carl might have committed suicide.

A close fire would've left lead residue on his clothes, right?

Lab's checking.

So, I hear you're doing well over in Narcotics.

Oh.Good.

I like it, so..

That your long-term area of interest?

I never thought I'd be a cop in the first place

so I'm game for whatever crops up.

I thought being in blue was every girl's dream.

You got something else in mind?

It's a long story.

But, here I am.

My options are open.

That's good to know.

[indistinct chattering]

Ken Westin copped to takin' your dad's bracelets.

Ken did?Really?

A dumb reaction to your mom dropping him.

That maybe make the, uh, drug scenario less likely?

Maybe.

Ned, there was an incident at Rex Potter's memorial.

[Valens] 'Day your father died.'

Yeah, I remember it.

The rest of the POWs took issue with your dad showing up.

You could see it in their faces when we walked in.

They hated him.

Must've been pretty crushing for him.

One of those POWs thinks, maybe he couldn't take it any longer.

You mean killed himself?

[Valens] 'However he died, Ned'

it ain't gonna change what he was to you.

I know a reason why he might've killed himself.

Me.

What I did.

[instrumental music]

♪ Everyone's a kid ♪

♪ Everyone's a hero ♪

♪ Everyone's a master of.. ♪♪

Hey, buddy.

I know it's not fun to be around people yelling like that.

It's okay.

I love you.

Me too, daddy.

So you don't mind if I eat all your ice cream?

You could have your own.

So, what can I get you guys?

Bomb Pop, please.

Hey, I remember you. You came in last summer with your dad.

I'm his dad.

Carl Burton. Hi.

No, it was another man, a soldier.

He'd been over in a Vietnam prison camp.

Had some break-your-heart stories about it.

I-I was not here last summer. I was..

That was not me.

I'm sure it was this little boy with..

Who was that?

Who was it, Ned?

Ken.

Ken was..

...not a POW.

He used my name?

Told this lady he was your dad?

Yes.

And you let him?

Why, Ned?

I don't know.

[Valens] 'So Ken's not just moving in on Carl's wife while he's gone'

he's pretending to be him.

I was with him a few times when he did it.

Didn't stop him.

You were seven.

But I knew it was wrong.

So after your dad found out?

Marched me home, went down to the basement for awhile.

Then left.

Where was your mom?

Asleep.

Has been ever since.

Lab results are back.

No traces of lead on Carl's clothes that rules out suicide.

So even if that's what Carl was thinking that night

someone got to him first.

[Valens] 'Look, if it's me'

I'm heading after the guy posing as my kid's dad.

It says here, Carl was at Rex Potter's funeral reception.

Even after Roger Raitt told him not to show.

Ken lived near the Potters, knew them.

[Valens] 'So maybe he's at the reception.'

That's where Carl goes looking for him.

So after Carl gets something out of the basement

maybe a weapon, he goes to confront Ken.

And never makes it back.

Westin spent four months in Texas in '71

waiting to be shipped out.

Had a nervous breakdown.

Discharged before he left US soil.

Alright.

You want us in there?

I got it.

[Stillman] 'Sorry to pull you from work, Ken.'

[door closes]

I needed to talk to you.

Oh, sure.

So, it sounds like Carl Burton

was coming apart at the seams when he got back.

He seemed to have trouble adjusting.

It's tough to watch that.

Guys over there snapping out.

"Got to go home, get out of here."

You can see they're never gonna be the same.

- You-you know what I mean. - Oh, I do.

Everybody going, "Crap, so-and-so lost it."

But back of your mind, you're thinking

"I'm with him."

In your weak moments.

You lay scheming at night.

Come close to doing some crazy stuff.

[chuckles] Yeah.

So Carl turns up at this funeral reception where he's disinvited.

- Wha-what's he like? - Antagonistic.

He's looking for trouble.

So you saw him the night he died.

That's funny, 'cause you didn't tell us that.

You said you were at the bar tossin' back a few

when Carl was shot.

Yep.

Went there after.

Okay.

So that was a lie you told us.

Not intentionally.

Been a long time.

Memory's middle-aged now.

[laughs] That's okay. That's okay.

That's a small time lie for you.

[chuckling]

[intense music]

Does that bother you, Ken?

'Cause it doesn't seem violent to me. I'm used to it.

Maybe because guns have been part of me since I was a kid.

I was 17 years old when I went over there.

I thought it was a toy..

...until I watched a human die slowly.

Well, you know what I'm talking about.

What this does.

Not 'cause you were a solder, because..

'...we know you weren't.'

Uh..

[clears throat] ...lieutenant.

How long did Carl bleed?

This is serious!

How long did Carl bleed?

I could never.

Extreme circumstances, you learn about human nature.

But what kind of person would pretend to be a POW?

I'd like a lawyer.

- Why? What did you do? - I didn't do anything to Carl.

No, you took what belonged to him

and you walked around like it was yours.

Do you really think someone who had a nervous breakdown

at Fort Hood would survive five years in the Hanoi Hilton?

It was a bad lie you told.

I know.

I think I may have a disease.

You tell people you're a race car driver, a brain surgeon.

Not a POW.

Now, talk about that night.

Carl confronted you at that reception.

- Yes. - Then what did you do?

Nothing.

Got called out.

[intense music]

See, I didn't have much time. After I parachuted down

I had to start my escape on a busted leg.

- Some going-- - I hear you want to be me.

- Excuse me? - Might as well take these.

You use my name, my wife, my kid.

So now you got everything that means a damn thing to me.

Carl, this is awkward.

You got something wrong with you, you know that?

[Daniel laughing]

Oh, that's the pot calling the kettle black.

You're a fraud.

Daniel, I'm sorry.

Hey, Carl, let's play a game.

This is a grenade, and you're you.

[bottle shatters]

Daniel.

Get away from me!

[thunder rumbling]

[music continues]

[rumbling continues]

And that's how you got the bracelets.

A few minutes later..

...Daniel left the house, went after Carl.

I told your detective the kid was a problem.

Yeah, well.

You're a real solid judge of character, Ken.

[door opens]

[door closes]

[instrumental music]

You found out the truth that day, huh, Daniel?

What truth?

- About Carl. - He wasn't the guy you thought.

He was, underneath.

Hearing about early release didn't change that.

So why the big scene at the reception?

You were real keyed up, giving Carl a what for.

Called him a fraud.

Look, Vietnam was complicated.

The POWs are getting tortured and all they hear from America

is-is th-that this war's a mistake.

I get it. I get Carl throwing in the towel.

See, that interesting, but that's what an adult thinks.

What's a 15-year-old who just lost his dad think?

That Carl abandoned Rex Potter to die.

[Valens] 'And he runs home with his tail between his legs'

'while your dad's still taking it.'

- Busted limbs, broken tee-- - Don't talk about my dad!

You don't know what it was like for him.

But Carl did.

And he still left him there.

I got one letter from my dad

but the government blacked it out half way.

He took the time to write me and they blacked it out.

I thought I could get the black off.

I put it in water.

The only letter he sent.

I just wanted to know him.

He was gone a long time.

I thought that Carl could help me.

Fill in the gaps.

And he was right.

I didn't want to know.

[intense music]

Do you want to just follow me or do you want to talk?

I wanna ask you some things.

Are you stoned?

Do not get into this.

- This is bad news. - Shut up!

This time we're talking

and you're gonna answer me for real.

After you left today, the other POWs told me that you gave up.

Said things you should be ashamed of

then left my dad to die. Is that true?

Is it true, Carl?

I left the prison. And your dad was still--

You left him! All his friends said it!

I didn't want anything to happen to him.

But I had to go home.

They played you on a loudspeaker in the prison

and everyone heard you say that the war was wrong.

You said they were war criminals

and that the Vietnamese saved you!

I said things I didn't mean because I wanted to get home.

Why? Why couldn't you do like my dad?

Because they broke me!

They chained us up and kicked our teeth in

and killed our friends because that's what they did.

[music continues]

To my dad?

'To all of us.'

And I couldn't do it one more day.

I wanted to see my wife and my son.

You're saying my dad didn't want to see me?

- Hey, Daniel, put that down. - Answer me!

Your dad was crazy about you.

Why didn't he come home then?

'Because he wouldn't give in.'

He was the toughest guy I ever met.

'He-he could stick it out and I couldn't.'

[crying] What if they were breaking his arms and kicking his teeth

while he heard you saying that stuff over the loudspeaker?

- Daniel! - He heard you say he was wrong.

And he wasn't! He wasn't!

[gunshot]

[thunder rumbling]

Oh, God. Carl, I-I think I hit you bad.

Go. Don't be here. Go. It's okay.

Carl, I didn't mean it.

Go! Run! Run.

[dramatic music]

[music continues]

[thunder rumbling]

[music continues]

[Gordon Lightfoot singing "If You Could Read My Mind"]

♪ If you could read my mind love ♪

♪ What a tale my thoughts could tell ♪

♪ Just like an old time movie ♪

♪ 'Bout a ghost from a wishin' well ♪

♪ In a castle dark or a fortress strong ♪

♪ With chains upon my feet ♪

♪ You know that ghost is me ♪

♪ And I will never be set free ♪

♪ As long as I'm a ghost ♪

♪ You can't see ♪

♪ If I could read your mind love ♪

♪ What a tale your thoughts could tell ♪

♪ Just like a paperback novel ♪

♪ The kind that drugstores sell ♪

♪ When you reach the part ♪

♪ Where the heartaches come ♪

♪ The hero would be me ♪

♪ Heroes often fail ♪

♪ And you won't read that book again ♪

♪ Because the ending's just too hard to take ♪

♪ If you could read my mind love ♪

♪ What a tale my thoughts could tell ♪

♪ Just like an old time movie ♪

♪ 'Bout a ghost from a wishin' well ♪

♪ In a castle dark or a fortress strong ♪

♪ With chains upon my feet ♪

♪ The stories always end ♪

♪ And if you read between the lines ♪

♪ You'll know that I'm just trying to understand ♪

♪ The feeling that you lack ♪

♪ I never thought I could feel this way ♪

♪ And I've got to say that I just don't get it ♪

♪ I don't know where we went wrong ♪

♪ But the feeling's gone ♪

♪ And I just can't get it back ♪♪

[theme music]