Episode 95 - CHRYSALIS - THE FAMILY ADVENTURE(S) - The End of the Road
https://open.spotify.com/episode/37NjKbXxj9lRT1nsKFk1wC?si=a362a16344134... everybody, here is the link to Episode 95.
After the regrouping from the last episode’s setbacks, the girls share with Cathy and Angela their bad news, i.e. that Kamala and Samantha lost the case and that Amanda and Josh will have to suffer another year because Josh’s probation at two years was taken off the table. Cathy advises them not to dwell on the past or the future because there is plenty to enjoy right now. Cathy suggests a night on the town. In class, both Samantha and Amanda get the bad news that they are not graduating and getting left back. The other three girls in their group pledge to support each other and they all pledge a friends circle. When Joey sees Samantha getting dressed to go out, he stops it then and there saying whatever happened to her, this is a sign that she has to double down on her studying because it’s her only path forward. He refuses her plea to have an end-of-school get-together together with her friends because she’s had too many fun nights with friends already. Giselle concurs that though she’s a good friend, it’s now time to work on the stuff she isn’t so good at. She also advises Samantha that just because it’s hard, putting a negative attitude about it before herself will only impede her all the more and that she should instead take a good faith effort and tell herself she can and she will. As soon as she’s left alone to study, however, she’s on the phone to Amanda asking her if she knew Josh’s climbing techniques but Amanda doesn’t. Being with the other three girls, Kamala suggests they climb atop each other to form a ladder, but, though they try, it doesn’t work out. Angela, especially, becomes the weak link because she doesn’t feel she can stand up atop Cathy, and that impedes the height Kamala had hoped for. When Cathy, echoing Giselle’s earlier statement invokes the power of positive thinking, Samantha uses that to get herself down, except because the other girls haven’t been able to stand atop each other correctly, Samantha ends up falling and the weight of the fall causes Kamala to topple over and the girls all fall atop each other. Some are in pain but all are okay enough to have a big laugh about it. But the noise gets Joey’s attention, who comes running out, orders Samantha back inside and sends the other girls home. Joey shows no mercy and orders Samantha to force herself to immerse herself in studying the material as summer begins. Meanwhile, Bonnie is a little nervous about Amanda’s failing grade, not wanting her to end up a permanent house guest and asks her what she’ll do about it. Amanda gets an idea and runs off to her alcove to call Samantha about getting a place together, which Samantha loves as genius. The only problem is Amanda is sure they’ll need all five girls to go in on it and Kamala, who isn’t having a problem staying at home, doesn’t go for the idea, suggesting Samantha try to be nice to her parents.
Please enjoy this somewhat painful episode if you’ve ever found yourself trying to outsmart one or both of your parents and kept finding yourself getting caught.
Please let me know what you think of it.
Marc
FADE IN
INT. SANTA ANA HIGH SCHOOL, THE CORRIDOR – DAY
The girls are together, Samantha, Kamala and Amanda, who have relatively unhappy expressions, Cathy and Angela, looking usual.
SAMANTHA
(to Kamala and Amanda)
Should we tell them the bad news?
AMANDA
Yeah sure, we got nothing to lose.
KAMALA
You know something? I’d rather not
dwell on it.
SAMANTHA
They’re our friends.
KAMALA
Fine. You tell’em.
ANGELA
Well, now you have to tell us since
you been going on about it in front
of us.
KAMALA
Alright, fine. We lost the case.
AMANDA
And Josh lost a year.
CATHY
What do you mean, he lost a year?
You mean a year of school?
AMANDA
No, a year of incarceration. He won’t
get parole at two. We have to suffer
a whole three years.
CATHY
My God, looks like you’re all set
back in some way.
KAMALA
We spent so much time and energy
pursuing that case. It’s like so
much time spent, now wasted. It makes
the assault itself seem minor because
it’s like, in everybody’s mind, it
never happened.
AMANDA
Listen guys. What you’re missing is
in the past. You’re still free. What
got taken away from me won’t even
start until two years from now.
CATHY
Hey, wait a minute! Hold on a second.
You’re suffering in the present over
a year in the future and you’re
suffering in the present over a bunch
of years you threw away. But you
didn’t really throw it away. You did
what you had to. Don’t let the past
or the future run away with you.
Some things we just have to accept
but that doesn’t mean we have to
give up everything else that we have.
SAMANTHA
You know, she’s got a point.
CATHY
Let’s do something fun tonight. Let’s
go out and celebrate.
SAMANTHA
You? Cathy? Well, then let’s do it.
If you, who never goes out, can have
fun, then why not us just because
something went wrong? A night on the
town.
KAMALA
Okay.
AMANDA
You never have to talk me into
partying.
ANGELA
And I got the car.
KAMALA
But you can’t drink if you’re driving.
We should walk.
ANGELA
You drink?
KAMALA
Maybe.
ANGELA
Alright, we’ll walk. Or we’ll call
a car if we don’t feel like walking.
We can split a car.
INT. SANTA ANA HIGH SCHOOL, A CLASSROOM – DAY
Students are sitting and checking their laptops. Samantha’s expression becomes one of utter disenchantment with a twinge of “I expected it”. A few desks away, Amanda looks at her laptop and her expression is also not elated but she seems to give it little concern. Kamala looks over at Samantha and sees her disenchantment.
KAMALA
(in low voice whereby
she has to be lip-read)
Bad news?
Samantha nods yes and lip-syncs “We’ll talk after class.”
INT. SANTA ANA HIGH SCHOOL, THE CORRIDOR – DAY
The girls are together again.
SAMANTHA
I guess I might as well just come
out with it. I won’t be graduating
this year. My grades just couldn’t
cut it.
KAMALA
That’s okay. I’ll study with you.
SAMANTHA
No, I don’t want to hold you back.
KAMALA
Hey. We’re girlfriends. We’ve gotta
stand by each other.
SAMANTHA
(not totally assuaged
by the idea)
Mmm. I don’t want to stand in your
way.
AMANDA
Hey listen. Josh said that to me and
I refused to accept it. I said,
“You’re not standing in my way. I’m
your babe. We stand together.” I got
left back too. So we stand together.
We just do what we gotta do. I know
why I couldn’t make it this year.
And I certainly know why you couldn’t
make it. This is when friends prove
themselves.
KAMALA
That was well put, Amanda.
CATHY
Yes, it was. You don’t lose your
friends over grades.
ANGELA
That’s right. If you did, they were
never really friends. Come...
She extends her arms out toward the center of the group.
ANGELA
Friends...
CATHY
(extending her arms,
joining Angela)
Friends...
And in quick succession...
SAMANTHA
(extending her arms
into the circle)
Friends...
KAMALA
(joining with her arms)
Friends...
AMANDA
(completing the circle)
Friends...
SAMANTHA
Now for the hard part.
CAPTION: And now,...continuing on in and out of the cocoon...
THEME MUSIC/DISPLAY[i]
CAPTION: the family adventure continues...,
AMANDA
Don’t sweat it. I’ve been through
worse.
INT. THE HOUSE, SAMANTHA’S ROOM – NIGHT
Samantha’s getting dressed to go out. The door opens.
Joey and Giselle are standing there.
JOEY
And just where do you think you’re
going?
SAMANTHA
Come on dad, it’s been a long, tough
year. My friends and I are just going
out to relax and take the pressure
off.
JOEY
Oh, no you’re not. First of all,
you’re on punishment already for
helping Josh get in trouble. And
second, you go out every night with
them.
SAMANTHA
No I don’t. I haven’t been out with
them in years.
JOEY
Your mom and I got your school report.
It said you’re getting left back.
SAMANTHA
Well? What do you expect?
JOEY
I expect you to get serious for once
and do the studying you need to do.
SAMANTHA
So the fact that I was assaulted and
had to spend time recovering in a
hospital means nothing then.
JOEY
Samantha, you can’t hold that over
your life. I got bad breaks. Your
ma got bad breaks. Yet you don’t see
us deciding to party away our lives.
SAMANTHA
Dad, it’s only just for tonight. A
way to regroup.
JOEY
No. The way you regroup is you open
the books and study seriously. We
didn’t have the opportunities to
play around when we got hit with
stuff. We had to get serious and
work out way out of it. And here we
are now, working hard, keeping up
the house you live in. What are you
contributing to it?
SAMANTHA
Come on, dad, it’s just my friends.
JOEY
See how many of them are still your
friends in ten years.
SAMANTHA
Well, Kamala and I will be married.
Josh and Amanda will be married.
JOEY
You gotta be kidding. Jail boy married?
I got news for you. She’ll have long
forgotten him by then.
SAMANTHA
You’re so depressing.
GISELLE
I hate to tell you, Samantha, but
life has realities. Graduation means
you gotta be serious and face life
differently from now on. And if you’re
not graduating, that’s all the more
of life’s lessons you gotta learn.
You’re a great friend but now you
have to learn all the things that
you’re not so great at so you can
function in the world.
SAMANTHA
Fine. Just give us this one night.
The other girls are all down.
GISELLE
It’s not just this one night, Samantha.
JOEY
They’re all down and you need to be
up. There’s too much down in this
world.
GISELLE
And you’ve been out with your friends
countless nights. You know what I’d
give to have had a childhood like
that?
SAMANTHA
Oh, not again, please don’t. Just
give me this one night.
JOEY
Sorry, no dice.
GISELLE
Wait a minute, Joey. She got on
punishment so she couldn’t see her
friends these past few months.
SAMANTHA
Yeah.
JOEY
Sorry. What did she get punishment
for? For allowing her brother to go
to jail. Is he getting one night off?
You kids are too spoiled. You think
you can take anything you want. Don’t
want to pay for concert tickets?
Fine, we’ll just hack them up. So he’s
now paying for all your misdeeds.
Is that fair?
SAMANTHA
(resigning)
Oh my God.
JOEY
Now let’s see you open up those books
and start doing some work.
SAMANTHA
School doesn’t open up again until
September.
JOEY
Good. So you’ll be all ready for the
material.
SAMANTHA
Ma, help me out here.
GISELLE
Your dad’s got a good point. I’ll
tell you what. You show us you can
master one lesson and we’ll let you
go out.
SAMANTHA
How bout I show you first thing
tomorrow morning.
GISELLE
No. It’s now or never.
SAMANTHA
You know I’m never gonna be able to
do that.
GISELLE
See, that’s your problem. You
automatically assume you can’t instead
of trying. That’s how people change.
Despite what they think or feel,
they try anyway and give it their
best shot. Come on, try. You might
surprise yourself.
SAMANTHA
Alright, let me alone. You guys make
me nervous.
GISELLE
Come on Joey. Let’s at least give her
that chance.
JOEY
I better see some results.
They leave, Joey appearing to start GRUMBLING about the arrangement to Giselle as they leave.
SAMANTHA
(under her breath)
I hate you.
She picks up her phone and quickly dials something.
SAMANTHA
Can you teach me Josh’s technique
for climbing out of the window?
AMANDA (v.o.)
(filtered)
What?? Where are you?
SAMANTHA
Mom and dad had a fit over my report
card so the window is my only hope
of escaping.
AMANDA (v.o.)
(filtered)
Oh shit, honey. He never taught me
any of his tricks. He just carried
me up.
SAMANTHA
Can you come here and guide me down?
Just be real quiet so nobody knows
you’re here.
EXT. A SQUARE WHERE YOUNG PEOPLE MEET – NIGHT
The other four girls are all there.
AMANDA
She’s locked in her room and wants
to know how to escape.
KAMALA
You’re kidding. Maybe we could each
climb up atop one another and build
a human tower to help her get down.
AMANDA
(picking up her phone
and talking in it)
Kamala says we should make a human
chain, each on top of each other and
get you down that way.
INT. THE HOUSE, SAMANTHA’S ROOM – NIGHT
SAMANTHA
(into her phone)
That’s crazy. You think it’ll work?
INTERCUT WITH EXT. SQUARE WHERE GIRLS ARE – NIGHT
AMANDA
(on her phone)
Well... Do you see any other choice?
INTERCUT WITH INT. THE HOUSE, SAMANTHA’S ROOM – NIGHT
SAMANTHA
(into her phone)
I think it’s crazy. Well, be real
quiet. We can’t blow our cover.
She puts the phone down and picks up the laptop and opens it. After a short period, she appears to be engrossed in it like she’s intently focused on it.
INT. THE HOUSE, SAMANTHA’S ROOM – NIGHT, A LITTLE LATER
Samantha is still engrossed in whatever she is doing on the laptop when her phone flashes with a SIGNAL. She picks it up.
SAMANTHA
Alright, I’ll be right there.
She puts down the laptop and heads toward the window. She opens it.
(INT.) EXT. VIEW LOOKING DOWN FROM SAMANTHA’S WINDOW – NIGHT
They have climbed upon each other but it is more like they’re hugging each other rather than supporting each other from below. Only Kamala is trying to gain height by extending her body upward but it is still not far enough to reach Samantha.
SAMANTHA
Oh my God, no way is this gonna work.
CATHY
(from below)
Come on, you guys, let’s really push
up and get atop each other.
SAMANTHA
You’ll never make it.
Cathy tries to push herself up to step on Amanda’s shoulders, who is the base.
ANGELA
Ah-yuh! Watch out! No way!
AMANDA
Come on, Angie, just thrust up. Use
those muscles.
Angela tries to thrust herself far enough up while bearing the weight of Kamala but she can’t make it up straight.
ANGELA
I can’t do this.
AMANDA
Come on, Angie, you gotta.
CATHY
Yeah, girl, you can do it.
ANGELA
No I can’t.
CATHY
Hey, remember? This is supposed to
be about the power of positive
thinking. You can if you tell yourself
you can.
SAMANTHA
Hey, wait a minute. That’s just what
my mom was saying about the studying.
I can do it if put myself in the
mind to do it. So here goes. Kamala
just grip my ankles.
KAMALA
What do you mean? There’s no way I
can reach that far up.
Samantha climbs atop the window ledge and slowly lowers herself down until only her hands are gripping the ledge.
KAMALA
(nervous)
Are you sure about this?
SAMANTHA
Well, I have no choice now. I don’t
have enough upper body strength.
Ohhuuww!
Her hands start to slip over the window ledge as she can’t support the rest of her body with them and slips.
SAMANTHA
(crying out)
Catch me!
As she falls, Kamala tries to keep her hands in position to catch her but the force of her fall causes Kamala to be unable to grip her feet or legs tightly and pushes Kamala into a fall which force causes Angela to lose her balance and the whole pile topples over, all the girls SCREAMING a big..
SAMANTHA ANGELA KAMALA CATHY AMANDA
Owwwuu!! Aayyy! Ohuwwww.. Ayyyowwwu! Ohhu.
They are all over each other in a mixture, some of pain and all LAUGHING HYSTERICALLY.
SAMANTHA
(pretty much on
top of the others)
Uh-oh.
KAMALA
What?
AMANDA
You’re about to find out.
Joey comes running out, his gun in his hand. He scopes the girls piled in a mess over the ground. Giselle follows him at a slower pace.
JOEY
(focusing on Samantha)
You thought you could pull a Josh.
I see you found out you’re nothing
like him.
GISELLE
Oh my God! Are you alright?
The girls smile and Amanda and Angela GIGGLE.
GISELLE
Oh good, I’m glad you’re not hurt
You scared the bejeezus out of me.
JOEY
Samantha. Inside. The rest of you scram.
The girls start to get up, Kamala showing difficulty, Angela also..
ANGELA
Owww! Oh! Oo!
Samantha can barely move.
KAMALA
You gonna be okay?
SAMANTHA
Ye-es. I hope.
KAMALA
You need help?
SAMANTHA
No. Let me do it on my own.
KAMALA
(with concern)
Okay, hun.
SAMANTHA
It was still worth it.
All of a sudden, as the girls walk away, out of sight, Samantha is pulled up by Joey.
SAMANTHA
Ow! Ow! Ouuuuuhh! Watch it!
JOEY
I got you securely.
SAMANTHA
It hurts.
JOEY
You just said it was worth it. So
don’t complain now.
SAMANTHA
(helpless in his grip)
Oh God.
JOEY
(still holding her right
arm with his right hand)
Can I trust you to let go?
SAMANTHA
(resenting)
Yes.
JOEY
Okay, let’s go.
He walks ahead, Giselle watching, and the three of them circle the house to the front door, where they enter.
JOEY
Now that you know you can’t escape,
you’ll get serious.
SAMANTHA
Good. Kamala can help me study.
JOEY
No. You can’t be helped. This is
something you’re gonna have to learn
to do on your own. You’re too old
to be babied.
SAMANTHA
Lots of people get help from tutors.
Look at Josh and grandpa.
JOEY
Well, Josh was with Grandpa but now
he’s on his own. He just has a monitor
observing him to make sure he doesn’t
goof off. Isn’t that right, honey?
GISELLE
Yup. That’s what he told me.
JOEY
And what he’s studying is much harder
than what you’re trying to study.
GISELLE
Maybe we should look into that
professional tutor.
JOEY
Can’t afford it.
GISELLE
Thought you said the business was
picking up finally.
JOEY
Well, that was a false alarm. Business
is down and prices are way up.
SAMANTHA
Kamala’ll do it for nothing.
JOEY
No, no friends. Even Kamala. She was
here helping you escape. I don’t
trust any of your friends anymore.
GISELLE
Yeah, I didn’t get that at all. She
doesn’t seem like that kind of person.
JOEY
They all get like that when they’re
in a group. No. This will be good for
you to figure it out on your own.
Then you’ll put some time and effort
into it.
SAMANTHA
Dad, you know the only reason I fell
behind was all that time in the
hospital.
JOEY
Doesn’t matter. Life doesn’t make
special arrangements for anybody.
You fall down, you get right back
up and you catch up. I know it’s
extremely painful because I had to
go through it myself. I didn’t have
somebody picking me off the floor,
feeling sorry for me. I had to figure
it all out on my own. That’s how I
got into mechanical work. It was
plentiful and if you had a good
attitude you could work. That’s how
I got where I am now. I didn’t have
friends helping me out.
INT. BONNIE’S HOUSE – NIGHT
Amanda enters. Bonnie is watching SOMETHING ON TV.
BONNIE
Hey.
AMANDA
Hey.
BONNIE
How did it go?
AMANDA
Samantha’s dad caught us trying to
sneak her out so the party kind of
petered out. It wasn’t the same
without her.
BONNIE
Oh. So what are you gonna do about
the grade?
AMANDA
Keep at it.
BONNIE
You think maybe you should cut back
at work?
AMANDA
I can’t afford to. I barely am making
enough as it is.
BONNIE
Well, I’m kind of worried about you
becoming a permanent house guest. I
mean, I’m not gonna turn you away
with nowhere to go, but I am concerned
that this is going to be without end.
I mean, at least graduate high school.
If it means you gotta cut back hours,
I’ll support that. You’ll just have
to cut back on your weed and your
soirees at night. That’s what’ll
make a difference. I mean I hate to
sound poojie...
AMANDA
(smiling)
I think you mean cheugy.
BONNIE
Whatever. You get what I’m trying
to say. You’ve gotta regroup. You
know you can’t stay here forever and
you know that as long as you’re in
school, it’ll be impossible to make
enough to find a place...
AMANDA
Not necessarily...
She heads toward her alcove.
BONNIE
Where you going?
AMANDA
Don’t worry, I got an idea...
She trails off as she disappears.
INT. BONNIE’S HOUSE, AMANDA’S ALCOVE
Amanda sits on her bed with her phone in hand.
AMANDA
(into phone)
Hey.
(listens)
What would you say to the idea of
going in on a place together?
(listens)
I mean, we all get along. What if
the five of us looked for a place
we could share?
INTERCUT – INT. THE HOUSE, SAMANTHA’S ROOM – NIGHT
SAMANTHA
Wow, that’s genius, Amanda. Oh, I’m
so glad you mentioned it because I
gotta get out of here more than ever.
INTERCUT – INT. BONNIE’S HOUSE, AMANDA’S ALCOVE
AMANDA
But you gotta work. Everybody’s gotta
work. There can’t be any slacking
off.
INTERCUT – INT. THE HOUSE, SAMANTHA’S ROOM – NIGHT
SAMANTHA
Of course. I’ll find work.
INTERCUT – INT. BONNIE’S HOUSE, AMANDA’S ALCOVE
AMANDA
Everyone’s gonna have to find work.
That isn’t gonna be so easy. Summer
jobs have already been filled. You
have to wait for somebody to screw
up and get fired.
INTERCUT – INT. THE HOUSE, SAMANTHA’S ROOM – NIGHT
SAMANTHA
How long will that take?
INTERCUT – INT. BONNIE’S HOUSE, AMANDA’S ALCOVE
AMANDA
It’s hard to say. I’ve kind of been
lucky but I’m not gonna lie to you.
The work I do is really tough. I
don’t know if any of you could handle
it. You’ve got to be really aggressive
in looking and will probably have
to settle for an easier, lower paying
job.
INTERCUT – INT. THE HOUSE, SAMANTHA’S ROOM – NIGHT
SAMANTHA
Don’t worry. I begged my dad to let
me look for work but ma forbid it
and said it would hurt my studies.
But now it doesn’t matter because
school’s out so I’m raring to go and
make some money.
INTERCUT – INT. BONNIE’S HOUSE, AMANDA’S ALCOVE
AMANDA
It’s not that much and all of it
will go to rent.
INTERCUT – INT. THE HOUSE, SAMANTHA’S ROOM – NIGHT
SAMANTHA
So why did you call me?
INTERCUT – INT. BONNIE’S HOUSE, AMANDA’S ALCOVE
AMANDA
Cause I really like Bonnie and I
don’t want to burden her. She got
scared about me getting left back
and becoming a burden to her.
INTERCUT – INT. THE HOUSE, SAMANTHA’S ROOM – NIGHT
SAMANTHA
Then you gotta believe in us. I mean,
you have a reason to leave, so you
should make it sound more attractive
to us. Don’t unsell it. I mean, I
really want to get out of this house
so you don’t need to convince me.
But you might turn off the other
girls.
Sound of background noise outside the room.
SAMANTHA
Oh shit, I hear dad. Let’s talk later.
He’s gonna kill me.
She puts down the phone, grabs her laptop and sits with her pose of being really into it so it looks like she’s studying hard. The door opens and Joey’s there.
JOEY
Good. I thought I heard voices.
SAMANTHA
Oh that’s part of the lesson. They
use videos to help explain concepts.
JOEY
I’m gonna test you so be prepared.
SAMANTHA
When are you gonna test me?
JOEY
It’ll be a surprise.
SAMANTHA
Oh my God. Fine.
He leaves. She gets on the computer. As she struggles to really study this time, she eventually picks up her phone.
SAMANTHA
Hi. Are you recovered yet enough to
help guide me through the material?
KAMALA (v.o.)
(filtered)
Yeah, I don’t have a problem with
that. But, my God, so soon after
school’s over for summer?
SAMANTHA
Dad said he’d test me on it.
KAMALA (v.o.)
(filtered)
Oh boy.
SAMANTHA
Oh, I wanted to ask you as long as
you’re on the phone, do you want to
go in with me and Amanda on a place
to live?
KAMALA (v.o.)
(filtered)
Are you sure that’s a good idea? I
don’t think you’ll be able to handle
a job that pays the money you need
to pay rent and keep up with the
amount of studying you need to catch
up on.
SAMANTHA
Well, you’ll help me catch up, right?
KAMALA (v.o.)
(filtered)
Well, I’d need to be working too.
Most of what I do is volunteer work.
I’m very secure at home with my mom.
This’ll put more pressure on me.
SAMANTHA
Oh. So you’re saying you’re not down
with the idea.
KAMALA (v.o.)
(filtered)
Kind of.
SAMANTHA
Amanda says all five of us need to
move in so we can afford to live
there.
KAMALA
That’s crazy. Did the other two girls
agree to this?
SAMANTHA
I don’t know. Amanda just asked me.
I have no idea if she asked anyone
else. I don’t think she did yet.
There is a pause.
SAMANTHA
She said we couldn’t do it unless
everybody signed on.
KAMALA
Well, I guess that’s your answer.
SAMANTHA
You mean, you won’t do it for us?
KAMALA
Your parents aren’t kicking you out.
And you could always come over and
stay with me if things get real tough.
SAMANTHA
Naah, if I can’t escape altogether,
I’ll still have to face them a lot
angrier and banning me from going
out. Dad already said no friends.
KAMALA
I think we need to come up with
another plan. Why don’t you try just
being nice to them?
SAMANTHA
To these parents?
FADE OUT
