All language subtitles for A.o.L.S01E03.Catch Me If You Can [eng]

[intriguing music]

[crowd cheers and claps]

JAMIE DENBO: Hello, hello,
hello, Los Angeles!

Okay, do you know
Grey's Anatomy?

Have you heard of it?
Take out your phone

and Google Elisabeth Finch.

[crowd laughs]

SARAH: Is that true?
I wasn't sure, by the way.

100% true. You're gonna be
up all night. Enjoy the ride.

[Sarah and crowd laugh]

She's a genius.

She's a monsta.

They walk among us. What a cunt.

[crowd laughs]

I love you so much!
Google Elisabeth Finch.

[music builds to a peak]

REPORTER: A tragic day
in the city of Pittsburgh.

A mass shooting, apparently
driven by hate,

at a synagogue in Squirrel Hill.

At this hour,
11 people are confirmed dead.

Six more injured including...

JENN: Finch had told me
that she was at

the Tree of Life Synagogue,
and she was still struggling

with PTSD.

But there's a whole bunch
of posts on that exact date

and the next day.

And she's not in Pittsburgh.
[exhales]

She's at a bar with her friends.

She told me she was there.

[tense music]

What she painted was all lies.

Oh, my God. It's terrifying.

[sniffles]

If she can lie about being
at a massacre,

what else is she lying about?

I remember panicking
and scrolling

through her social media,

matching up some of her life
and her stories.

There's this picture,
professional picture of her

in a, I think they took it
on set,

and she's got a hat on.

Her shirt's kinda to the side
and I noticed bandages.

And then there was a port.

Whenever somebody's getting
chemo regularly,

we want them to have a port.

That would mean having
a small procedure

of getting a cut where
they place the port

underneath the skin,
and then they sew it back in.

Looking at these pictures,
there would have been a scar.

And she has nothing.

She does not have a port scar.

[music swells]

Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

She doesn't have cancer.

I felt really foolish

because I'm a nurse,

and I have worked
with cancer patients.

And then also realizing
I have had intimate relationship

with this woman for so long

and never once looked
at her chest that way.

[mouse clicking]

And then so many things
made sense of like,

"I don't want you to take
any pictures today."

Or, "I don't want you to take
a picture of me in this."

And it just clicked, like,
of course you don't,

'cause your chest is exposed
and there's no scar.

That's why she was so private
about having cancer

and why she had
so many boundaries

about talking about it.

The reality of my story
started hitting of like,

I met a woman
at a mental hospital.

I let her into my home.

I let her into my kids' lives.

She lied to me.

And I had no clue. At all.

I was trying to figure out,
how am I gonna approach this?

Obviously, she's done this
for so long.

Why is she doing this?

I just felt I'm going
to need to confront her

with as much information
as I can possibly

get my hands on.

I decided to leave,
to be away from the

children so we can talk.

So, we went to California.

As we're driving,
I turned towards her

and I looked at her and I said,

"You don't have cancer.

It's time to tell the truth."

She turns off the car.

She turns towards me,

but she didn't really answer.

And I just said again,
"You don't have cancer."

She took a deep breath
and she...

[inhales]
"I-I did have cancer,

but I don't have it anymore."

She just kept the story going.

And I just kept repeating like,
"You don't have cancer."

She finally said, "Yes...

I've been untruthful."

And no emotion. No, like, fear.

You wish she would just have
a moment of like, I fucked up.

And...
[breathing shakily]

... really mean it.

And then I just remember
leaning forward and just like,

starting the list.

You didn't clean up
your friend's body.

You weren't at the
Tree of Life Synagogue.

And she kind of made a face
as if I was just cruel

and, and invalidating something
that was so horrific.

And I just said, "I looked
back on your Facebook."

[mouse clicking]

You weren't there.

And she was just sitting there.
And I said,

"Did you even know
anybody in there?"

And she said no.

[ominous music builds]

And I, I said,
"That threatening letter

your brother wrote,

that wasn't real.

You wrote it.
That was you who wrote it.

You faked all of that."

And then she said,
"Yes, I wrote it.

Are you done yet?"

[scoffs]

Even though I knew
all these things,

you just somehow hope
your reality isn't that.

I was like, I just...
I was like, I just need to,

I need to get out of here.
I need, I need to just...

I need some...
I couldn't breathe.

I need to go for a walk.
It's all a lie. It's all a lie.

Nothing's real.
I was hyperventilating

and I was scared
I'm going to dissociate.

That's what made me
lose my children.

[tense music]

I went for a walk.

And I called Carly,
my therapist.

And Carly's like,
"Breathe, Jenn."

"Nothing's real.
Nothing's real.

She doesn't have cancer.
Pittsburgh wasn't real.

She wasn't part of... of that.
Her, her brother... "

And I'm losing my mind
to Carly.

[breathing shakily]

And then Carly, you know,

she's just trying
to keep me grounded.

"Where are you, Jenn?
Are you by yourself?"

"I'm in freaking California

and I don't know
who my wife is!"

[music peaks then fades]

[keyboard clacking]

[tense music]

JENN: After California,

Finch promised me
that she was gonna come clean

and she promised that she was
gonna do all the things

to get better,
and that she was gonna do

whatever it took.

But it turned out that...

she had different plans.

In the writer's room,
it felt like Finch was gone

more than she was there.

And something really
strange was happening.

And didn't seem to be
related to the cancer.

We'd be on Zoom,
and Finch would be laying down,

and like, would be, like,
half asleep on the camera.

You know, and I would be
texting our other colleagues

in the room being like, "Does
anyone know if Finch is okay?"

FINCH: How did I get
into the woods?

Well, like, if there's
snakes in the woods--

JENN: I didn't know what would
happen if I kicked her out.

[child continues speaking]

JENN: To realize the magnitude
of lies that she can tell

with zero fear, that are huge.

ANDY: We were worried.
I mean, we were like,

did, did Jenn like, trap Finch,

or put her in some sort
of situation

where she's just getting
the benefit,

and now Finch is basically
being held captive in Kansas?

KILEY: You know, TV writers
think of crazy scenarios.

It's like, did she like,
see her as like,

a target because she's rich
and she works in Hollywood?

You know, all those thoughts
were swirling.

JENN: I was very scared
that if I exposed her,

people are gonna think
that I'm crazy.

And all I've been through,

there was no way anybody
was gonna believe me.

[music stops]

CHILD 1: We had this
when we were little.

CHILD 2: I can get it!

MAYA: I haven't even gotten
firsts yet.

JENN: So, I was keeping
the kids' perception of life

as happy and okay
as I possibly could.

Good?

I felt like I was doing
pretty good at it.

MAYA: Mom was really
struggling emotionally

and she wouldn't tell me why.

And I was like,
"Mom, what's wrong?

Like, what's wrong?"

The power of suggestion
is supposed to be really strong,

so...

I'm gonna test that theory
and wear this hat.

MAYA: Something was going on,

but I wasn't gonna question it
because something good's

gonna happen to me
after all this bad stuff.

[ominous music]

VAN: There's one day
I was just really mad

and I just told uh,
Finchie like, uh,

"You don't do anything
around here.

And Mom does absolutely
everything."

[kids speak indistinctly]

JENN: Things were getting
progressively harder.

I felt like it was
really important

that she had to come clean
from what she'd created or done.

But there was always an excuse.

"I have a script to write.
I have work."

And then it was about like,
"You can't push somebody

into telling the truth.
It's not on your clock, Jenn."

I was so angry,

but I was not gonna argue
in front of the kids.

So, we checked into
the Cyrus Hotel.

This is the place in Kansas
where we,

in the beginning
of our relationship,

spent a lot of time together.

[tense music]

But now we're staying
in two different rooms.

And we're like,
texting each other.

And I'm like, I just need you
to tell me somehow

that you understand
what you've done.

All of a sudden, she comes in
and she's just standing over me,

looking at me like,
"You pathetic, sick woman."

I was on my hands and knees,
crying,

begging her to tell people,
come clean.

I gave her her ring,
and I said,

"I don't want this back

until you've come
completely clean,

'cause you're not real."

And then she says,
"I'm leaving.

I'm going to see Carly."

How did she get Carly
to be her private therapist?

Obviously Carly could only
treat one person

in a relationship,
and she chose Finch.

I want to be able to talk
to the person who helped me.

I wanted Carly to help me
through this hell.

[inhales sharply]

By taking Carly as her own
personal therapist

and making it so that Carly
could no longer be a therapist

to Jenn and be a support system
for her,

was really Finch's
ultimate betrayal.

JENN: To keep custody
of the kids,

I had to go
to therapy regularly

and have quarterly updates
given to the court

from my doctor
and my therapists.

I'm very scared about
losing custody of the kids

and everything that's going on,

and that she's gonna
somehow turn this on me.

[music peaks then stops]

[birds chirping]

JENN: I was not doing well
at all.

I need some help.

I need someone to be with.

I had a text group
of close friends.

I would be texting the group

and nobody would help.
Nobody would respond.

Nobody could help me.

She was a convincing liar.

I can only imagine what Finch
had been saying to them

behind my back.

They must all think that Finch
is this wonderful parent

who keeps things going,

and that I am just forever
broken by Brendan.

I had gotten to a point
where I told Finch that...

I knew that she was talking
to my friends,

and I needed to know
what was being said.

Immediately, she sent me

screenshots
of the conversations.

[messages buzz]

The texts went on,
"I hope no matter what happens

between you and Jenn,
that you plan to fight

for the children too,

because you're just
as much their mother."

She was letting me know
that everybody thought

she was great and I was too ill
to take care of the children.

The court documents say,
I have any dissociative episodes

and no longer have custody
of my children,

and she knew that.

And I'd worked so hard
to get them back.

What the hell do I do?

[soft unsettling music]

[phone ringing]

MAYA: My mom called.

I didn't think
that she was all there.

JENN: I told her,
I'm going to Sierra Tucson.

That I needed to figure it out.

And I was like, I just have
to keep her on the phone.

I just have to keep her
on the phone

and find out where she's going
and talk her down.

And I said, "I know that
I need help and I'm getting help

before it's too late."

I started rationalizing
in my head

that even though Finch
is doing this,

she'll take care of the kids.

I didn't have a choice.

And I stood up off the bed

and made myself get in the car,

and just started driving.

MAYA: Like, this is my worst
nightmare. This is my worst fear

is being back in the old days,

because I didn't know
what was going

on and nobody was telling me
the truth.

And I thought that my mom
had just let herself go.

[child speaks indistinctly]

FINCH: Aw, I'm part
of the Aylan party.

Woo-hoo!

MAYA: Finch flew back
to be with us

when my mom went
for her treatment.

And she's like,
"Everything's gonna be okay.

I'm gonna take care of you.

If you don't wanna talk,
if you wanna talk,

I'm here for you."
And I talked.

I sang like a canary.

I talked about how angry
I was at my mom.

And how this is triggering me.

'Cause that's how it felt.
I was so furious

because my mom has,
my entire life,

preached honesty,
and she wasn't.

I knew she was keeping a secret.

So, it was driving
a wedge between us.

I was waking up in the night

having these
horrible nightmares,

and then crawling
into bed with Finchie.

She would keep this like,
dead, stoneface.

And like, give me a hug.

I thought like, oh my God,
she's so strong.

Everything I tell her,
she's not affected by it.

She's being so strong for me.
She's so supportive.

I felt that safe with her

to be open
and to be that vulnerable.

[water rippling]

JENN: I was honestly scared
she was gonna fight for custody

of the kids.

Everybody loves Finch.

I've gotta figure out
how to turn things around

so that I'm not the crazy one.

Because I look really crazy
and unstable right now.

So, I started bringing up
marriage therapy.

She would probably
be very honest at this place

because there was no
group members.

It's just you
with another therapist.

I knew that she was gonna be
completely honest in this

because there's nothing
she needs to fear.

Because they would never
break confidentiality.

So, we went to the marriage
intensive for a week.

Finch starts to talk,
and she's like,

"I'm gonna be very honest
to you, Jenn,

because all I've done
is hurt you."

She told me everything
that I confronted her with

and she came completely clean.

She told me she was lying

because she wanted
all the attention.

It's like an addiction.

She said I've never gotten
enough attention in my life,

and then I did,
and so then, I continued it.

I asked her about her brother.

She's like,
"He did mentally abuse me

and he did pinch me sometimes
in the back of the car.

And he would take
the remote control.

And one time,
he threw the remote control."

All the lies that she had told
about Eric,

and that she convinced people
that he's just this horrible,

dangerous person.

And it just made me sick inside.

I thanked her profusely
for being honest with me.

The therapist was in tears.

This is the biggest breakthrough
she'd ever seen.

And Finch was so high.

She was very relieved.
You could see it in her.

And immediately,
I made the list

of people I needed
her to talk to.

And I told her,
if you lose your job,

it's fine, you lose your job.
We'll figure it out.

Money's just money.
We'll figure it out.

She's like, "Okay."

She promised to tell people,
and that she loved me.

You know, all the big show
in front of the therapist.

I even felt hopeful
that we could get through it.

[tense music peaks then fades]

[children chattering happily]

So, we went to a park,
and sat on a bench,

and got on FaceTime
with her parents.

She told her parents that she'd
been lying for a long time.

Her mom's like, "I'm really
struggling with anger

and what you've put me through."

She's like, "I have not slept
for nights sometimes

because of what was going on,

and me fearing
that you were dying.

I've just been so scared.

And then you cut us
out of your life."

And her dad would interject
too, "Do you understand?"

You know, saying it in
a different way, and you just

think it's just gonna click
for her and she's gonna be like,

"I'm so sorry,
I can't believe I did this.

I'm so sorry, Mom and Dad.
I love you."

That's what they want.

And Finch was ready
to like, exit stage left.

[scoffs]

I mean, her mom went through,
I mean, such sad stories

trying to like, just eek
that emotion from her somehow,

and it's just, she never got it.

'Cause Finch is not going
to give that to anyone.

Her mom, it broke her.

[eerie ethereal music]

[birds chirping]

MAYA: My mom brought her
to the house,

and Finch says,
"I really fucked up. I'm sorry.

I fucked up."

JENN: Finch messaged me
that morning,

"So what are we
telling the kids?" And I just,

I just text her back,
"The truth."

MAYA: I let her talk first.
She's like,

"I've been lying to you
and lying to everybody.

All I can say is I'm sorry,

and ask for your forgiveness.

I'm gonna,
I'm gonna make it better."

Her explanation was,
"I fucked up."

How dare you? You met me
on the day my father died,

and then you dragged me along
like this

for months and months
and months,

and exploit our family
for clout.

And then drop this on us.

I don't know how a human being

can decide that you're gonna
take these traumatized children

and mom, who had had barely
two seconds to process

what she had just gone through,

and make them your circus.

Was your plan to make it seem
like my mom was crazy

and I couldn't trust her?

And you've just been
watching me struggle...

and keeping that to yourself.

How dare you?

I was talking to a brick wall.
She was emotionless. No empathy.

And I said,
"I don't know who you are,

but you definitely
are not my mother."

And when I said that...

it's like,
it was like watching...

it's like that scene
in The Wizard of Oz

where they pour the water
on the witch and she melts.

Once she knew she'd lost
the part of being my mom,

it was over. Like, I don't think
she really respected me anymore

or wanted to keep
playing her game.

And so, for a second time,
we were dealing

with a catastrophic loss.

We were in love with her.

It was like another death.

[somber music]

She grabbed her bag,
put it on her shoulder

and she said, "I'm leaving
and I want a divorce."

[messages buzz]

ANDY: When Finch
was breaking up with Jenn,

she told us
that Jenn accused her

of just wanting her family
for the story

and refused to let her
even talk to the kids anymore.

Which seemed awful.

Just made me think that Jenn
was somehow, like,

so damaged that she couldn't
see the truth.

KILEY: Jenn was posting
these videos and I was like,

oh no, it's all unravelling.

It really started to feel
like Jenn is a little cuckoo

and has like... you know,

Finch is trying
to extricate herself,

and now Jenn is gonna burn it
all to the ground.

And like, just completely
ruin her character.

ANDY: I became very
protective of Finch.

I mean, I started to wonder
if Jenn's husband,

who had killed himself,
had somehow

been manipulated by her.

That's how strong
of a reaction that I felt.

I knew that people thought
I was kinda like,

losing my mind.

It's going to be
her word against mine.

So, how do I, how do I fix this?

I was processing all the things
that didn't make sense.

I discovered an email
written by Finch,

and the date that Finch wrote it

and sent it to the writer's room

was a couple of weeks after
Brendan had committed suicide.

Um, okay,
so on September 25th,

staff received this email.

"Hey all, I've been absent
and coming back tomorrow

on my consulting schedule,
but I just don't know

who's looped into what, and I'd
rather put it out there."

[Finch actor joins]
"So no one is in the dark

or feeling egg-shelly."

FINCH ACTOR: "I've been gone
because my brother died

by suicide.
He was on life support

for a short while,
but ultimately did not survive."

JENN: And I was like,
oh my God!

She's turned Eric into Brendan.

She needs to stop
stealing other people's traumas

and stop having the platform

to continue to hurt people
over and over again.

Usually you know in your gut

if you're headed
into risky territory.

Keep going.
Keep going and do it.

I've just gone for it,
and I have so far

not earned the disrespect
of anyone I love.

[mouse clicking]

[eerie music]

JENN: I thought about it
for a long while.

So, I'd like to thank
every single--

JENN: I knew I had
Shonda's email.

So, I sat down
and I wrote it all out.

[keys clacking]

Just kept re-reading it
over and over again.

I was worried that people
wouldn't believe the story.

Scared that when I send it,

that there would be
a massive fallout.

But I needed people
to know the truth.

[keyboard clacking]

[tense music]

KILEY: There was a day
in the writer's room

where the showrunner,
Krista, kept saying,

"When you learn everything
that I'm learning right now,

your mind is gonna explode."

And we're thinking like,
what could it possibly be?

Like, it can't,
it can't be that shocking.

Finally, Krista said, "Okay,

I can't tell you all the ways
that I know this,

but Finch does not have cancer."

Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the fuck?

Like, this can't even,
this is like,

the number one thing that
we know about this person.

It's been going on for years.

They had seen me for years
live with cancer

and be in the writer's room
and carry on a full life.

No cancer,
there was no kidney,

and I went, "No kidney?
What do you mean?" And she said,

"You didn't know that
she got a kidney transplant?"

KILEY: I heard her good friend,
Anna Paquin, gave her a kidney.

ANDY: I had never heard that
she had a kidney transplant.

She didn't go
to the Tree of Life.

There was no abortion.

Oh, and her brother's alive.

What? What are we even
talking about?

This is... Is this real?

[music ends]

ANDY: She was manufacturing
so many different truths.

I, I was like,
what kind of monster?

Like, what are you even...
This doesn't compute

with me at any, on any level.

I really felt for some
of my former colleagues.

It was terrible
what she put them through,

over a number of years.

She was like an emotional
terrorist.

[eerie music]

I felt betrayal.
It's just, the thing is,

is it's so, it was so confusing.

You have to move through
eight years of interactions

to even wrap
your head around it.

And I'm not even sure
that I still fully have.

[somber music]

I mean, this was like
performance art.

She was showing up to work
with a shaved head

and a, you know, a greenish hue.

She looked like
she lived in a microwave.

She was eating these saltines
and drinking ginger ale,

and going to the bathroom

to take puke breaks
from her chemo.

I've heard people say
she had gone to where

all the medical props were,
and want to look

at a very specific piece
of something.

For all I know, she had
a Lego taped to her chest.

It's just so hard to imagine

that someone could commit
that strongly to that.

And it seems so much
harder to me

than just doing your job well.

I remember sometimes
we would talk to her like,

how does this stuff
keep happening to you?

And I remember her,
she would just be like,

"I don't know."
And then she'd start laughing.

And she'd laugh so hard that
she'd have tears in her eyes.

She could have even been
laughing at us.

Like, to our faces, and then
calling it a trauma response.

It really does a number
on your head.

The brother being alive part
was, was the thing for me

that like, this man
that we thought was dead

in the most brutal,
horrible, tragic way,

is alive and well,
and practicing in Florida.

And also, here's this person

who I shared a lot
of things with.

Who made me feel a little
crazy and bad

about feeling like my story
had gotten stolen.

But it felt like, oh,
that's exactly what she did.

It started to really
trigger just, like,

shame and feeling stupid
and embarrassment.

Especially because I fell
right into Finch's trap

of setting up this image of Jenn

so that inevitably,
when this happened,

we would all go,

"Well, Jenn's crazy."

[keyboard clacking]

JENN: Several people
at Grey's wrote me very kind,

caring letters,

letting me know
that I was believed

and very much cared about.

It was very touching.

[mysterious music]

ANDY: Finch made a statement
talking about how she had

decided that it was time
to part ways,

and she will always love
her Grey's family.

[Finch actor reading]

It just felt like a massive
fuck you.

Like, do not call us
your family.

We are not your family.

Like, you don't treat
your family like this.

MARK: Shondaland handled
the situation with kid gloves.

They legally wanted to make sure

if they got rid of her,
that they could do so

without getting sued.

KILEY: Finch probably knows
at this point

that some of us know.
She was texting a few of us

saying, "I know you can't
talk about it,

but just, I miss you.
That's all."

And...

personally,
I just didn't respond.

I did eventually go back
and read her articles.

Specifically the one
about the bad doctor

who misdiagnosed or ignored her.

ZACHARY: You write
this article,

"I confronted the doctor
who missed my cancer"

in Elle Magazine,
which is clearly

hitting a nerve
for so many people.

FINCH: Yeah, I realize
this is a story

and an angle to a story
that I need to keep pursuing.

And I keep needing to keep
beating my loud, obnoxious drum

as much as possible about it.
But how many people

get to experience something
as awful as I did,

but then find ways
to be productive?

Fantastic. Elisabeth Finch,
be your person.

FINCH: Thanks for having me.

KILEY: It's crazy to think
that there was a day

that a doctor came
into the writer's room

to consult,
and Finch started crying

and got up and left,
and didn't come back that day.

She told everyone later
that that was the guy

that misdiagnosed her.
Which comes to find out,

that person doesn't exist.
So, this poor man

came in to talk to the room,

and everyone thought
he was a villain.

You can't even call it ambition.

This is just pure ruthlessness
that you're willing

to essentially cut
other people's throats

in order to get
where you need to be.

[footsteps tap slowly]

[phone rings]

JENN: I found out Finch
has made a lot,

a lot of money
stealing other people's stories

and stealing their lives,
and their moments,

and their experiences,
and their traumas.

And their privacy.

If I've learned anything
from what's happened,

um, nothing changes
unless you start to push

and change, too.

I had had enough.

I wanted more people
to know the truth.

[determined music builds slowly]

So, I decided to speak
to Vanity Fair.

MATT: I remember turning
on my phone

and the sound of about
20 messages,

da-ding, ding, ding,
ding, da-ding.

And then when I looked
at my phone,

"Dude, have you heard
about Elisabeth Finch?"

[stirring music]

We start now with a story
that has incredible drama.

It is potentially
so over the top and crazy,

and involves elements
of betrayal so massive.

REPORTER 2: Now a writer on
the long-running medical drama

Grey's Anatomy
is under investigation

for allegedly fabricating
her medical history.

In my mind, I would wanna say

to her like, what the fuck?

MAN 1: Everyone is talking
about this right now,

and I literally have not stopped
thinking about it.

[man speaking French]

MAN 1: Absolutely wild.

MAN 2: I'm speechless.

MARGARET: She is a scheming,
scammer liar.

[music peaks then stops]

AURORA: After the article
came out,

the first feeling was ah,
it was all a lie.

It was all a lie.

Oh, that is so many lies.

Oh, my God, she's brilliant.

[disturbing music]

I was made to perform support
for a pretend illness.

The sheer scope, the magnitude
for decades of detail.

Like, I'm not a complete dummy.

I mean, I can be pretty dumb,
but like,

it's the kind of hurt
that's so covert

that it only shows up
in your life as self-doubt,

and like there's something
wrong with you.

When... that's just somebody
wanting you to feel that way.

And that feeling in you
is a hit for them.

And that's not my fault.
She violated me.

And, um...

It hurts. It sucks.

I'm mad.

I really, really, really

don't want her to be able
to keep hurting people.

[keyboard clacking]

[stirring music building]

She gave this interview
and in this article,

she admits that she lied.

Admits that she
never had cancer.

We were like, "Holy shit."

Um, okay, it says, quote,

"What I did was wrong,
she says.

Not okay. Fucked up.
All the words."

I mean, I've, I can't...
you just felt sick.

She blamed what her brother
had done to her

when they were kids,
and saying that her brother

was responsible
for all the sort of,

emotional damage that she was
wreaking on other people.

FINCH ACTOR: "Eric was very...

even saying his name is hard.

He was very good at doing things
that were terrorizing

and physical, but not enough
to leave marks."

[somber music]

LISINA: When the article
came out,

she apologized for everything

except the abuse of her brother

and sexual abuse
on the Vampire Diaries.

She's not even just
not apologizing for it,

she's doubling down on it.

So, I sent her,
it was very short.

"I've never reached out
to you before

because I was really trying
to take the higher road,

but this new apology tour
you've embarked on

is only about things
someone made public.

You and I both know
one of the biggest lies you told

and you ruined
someone's life because of it.

Admit you lied to him.

It's the thing a genuinely sorry
person would do."

The response I got was,
"I don't mean to be rude,

but this number isn't attached
to a contact name on my phone."

[laughs]

I said, "Lisina".

And I didn't get a response.

[chilling music]

KILEY: Finch then tried
to use this interview

to launch herself
into a comeback.

She said that she'd love
to work on a show

like Handmaid's Tale one day.

[Finch actor reading]

MATT: Could Elisabeth
get back into Hollywood?

Yes, of course.

In a town where
the most important commodity

one possesses
is your personal story,

it's easy. You just have
to evolve that story.

KILEY: She thinks that
she's gonna catapult this

into some kind of career.

It really was like, wow,

she has zero remorse

and doesn't see
how wrong it was.

Like, truly just doesn't.

One day, Finch was this person
that I knew and loved,

and the next day,
she was a stranger.

Finch wanted to keep
playing her game,

and it was getting creepy.

[unsettling music]

I open up Instagram
and I see a picture of Aylan.

She then posted a picture,
a black and white picture

of the Cyrus Hotel...

to let me know
she was in Kansas.

I was very triggered,

'cause this was very
Brendan like.

Everything was very unsettling.

And Finch is angry,
angry, angry.

[messages buzz]

It is scary to know
that there is somebody out there

who is so angry
with your family and you.

I think that me being a nurse
was hugely enticive

to validating her story
as truth.

If anybody was wondering
if she had cancer or not,

it has to be true,
she's married to a nurse.

Oh, it's a video.

Why are you taking a video?
[laughs]

She attracts people
who are very empathic,

and loving, and kind,

and uses that against them.

My empathy is what allowed her

to take advantage of my work.

It's enraging
on an artist level,

but it's also like,
on a personal level, like,

I don't wanna have to change
how I am because you...

fucked me over.

I don't know who coined
the phrase,

but at a certain point,
we started referring to her

as a "trauma vampire".

She actually sucked
the traumas out of people

and then regurgitated it
as if it was her own

and she experienced it.

[somber music]

And if it's chondrosarcoma?

Chrondro is a beast.

I think she probably
saw her life like a TV series.

Season one, I've got cancer.

FINCH ACTOR: My surgeon told me
I've never seen

anything like this,
especially in someone your age.

Season two, it's got worse.

Season three,
the lie keeps getting bigger.

FINCH ACTOR: I've been gone
because my brother

died by suicide.

MATT: The story keeps
getting bigger

because that's how you keep
your audience.

You have to keep
going big or go home.

[tense music]

KILEY: I think that the thing
that she wants the most

is the attention.

[Finch speaks indistinctly]

I think she really got off
on the idea

that she was ten steps
ahead of everybody

and could get away
with basically writing

this story on one of the biggest
platforms on television,

and nobody would figure out
that, that she was a fraud.

[crowd cheering]

[crowd cheers]

AURORA: I think ultimately
it's gotta be a belief

that who you truly are
is unworthy,

and so, you are never
anything real.

[keyboard clacking]

JENN: It's a pattern for her.

It's like other people
are getting attention.

All of this attention's
going over here.

Love, time, attention.
Love, time, attention.

It's not directed to me.

Must create some sort
of anxiety in her.

It's like a drug, like,
whatever that need is

in that moment,
she needs that met,

and it's that whole dopamine,
like, rush.

Some mysteries
will never be solved.

Some people will never be known.

I genuinely hope for her,
for Finch,

that she is, uh,
on a path of fixing

whatever parts of her

make her feel

that she needs to be dishonest.

[stirring music]

MATT: Look, the idea
of fake it 'til you make it

is baked in
to the American experience.

You only have to read the novel
The Great Gatsby

to understand that.
It's a book about a guy

who wanted to be
the life and soul of the party

because deep down,
he knew he was nothing.

And Elisabeth Finch

just didn't wanna be a nobody
from nowhere

with nothing to say.

She wanted to be somebody.

[music peaks then fades]

[gentle birdsong]

The fact that I felt safety
for the first time

with somebody
that was completely not safe

and not real,

it makes you doubt
your whole reality.

She's caused massive
attachment issues

in my little kids.

They'd already had so much loss.

My kids don't trust
like they used to.

And that's something
I can't forgive her for.

[somber music]

But at the same time,

I'm moving forward.

Going back to work
has shown me

what I'm capable of.

I...

want to work really hard
at creating new,

safe, fun memories
that are real.

[laughing]

What do I do?

And the future looks real.

MAYA: We didn't want
to waste any more time

on being sad or hurt.

'Cause I felt like the best
thing we could do

is not give Finch
any more power.

VAN: My mom is the most herself
that I've seen

in years, probably,

or almost my whole life.

I can really see

the full version of you now.

JENN: I love you.

Okay guys, come get
in the picture.

[chuckling]

Aylan, come on!
Come on, Aylan.

Come in, buddy.

JENN: Come on, get closer!
Get in here. Squeeze in!