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There was a coin toss over who would write the introduction to this episode, and then my esteemed colleague Zack Liu called "not it" faster. And no wonder. There isn't much to say about this episode that hasn't been said, and shouted, at length. It was, in essence, a sacrificed episode. The series had to run to catch up on introducing characters and, yes, may have gone overboard on that point. After the pilot, with its overbearing focus on Methos and Joe, the pendulum had to swing back. The back swing of the pendulum is Indiscretions, Redux.
Do not be fooled by the title. The only thing it has in common with the Highlander: The Series episode Indiscretions is the introduction of the character of Amy Thomas. The working title of this episode, First We Lost Touch, Then We Found It, It Was At HQ, while crude, is more exact. This episode was put together in a hurry after the studio yanked the plug on allowing the pilot to be a two-parter, and it is seen by many as being a "mop-up" episode. This is an episode about people finding each other and, yes, about some indiscretions. We discover that Tom Ramirez used to date the illegitimate daughter of his boss, and that it is Amy, not Tom, who does not want the relationship to begin again. We discover that Emanuel Donaldson is a matchmaking nerd, complete with the nerd glasses, who will break rules without second thought if he decides the end result will make his brother happy. And, most importantly, we meet Kim Greenwood, in an entrance that more than makes up for the fact that he was written out of the pilot.
Among the many complaints about this episode is the introduction of Amy Thomas. While undoubtedly an improvement over the Amy Thomas of the original Indiscretions who had obviously not read her assignment's Chronicle, this Amy Thomas is caught between being cast as the perfect Watcher and the uncatchable career gal. At least, the same-old-same-old storyline about a woman choosing between her career and a lasting relationship did not last very long. The character of Amy is vastly improved by Dawson Squared, but in these early episodes, one wonders if the scriptwriters were throwing darts at a dartboard not simply episode by episode, but scene by scene.
The Greenwood of season 1 is also a creature worthy of note. He speaks often of the fact that he has children, but they are never seen, and by the middle of season 2, he has ceased referring to them and it is if they had never existed. It is never mentioned if he is married, and there were many indications throughout the series that he is married to his job. He has been out and about on the Methos Project at all hours of the night and seems to sleep either in the backroom of Joe's bar (These Are The Days), in the barracks at Watcher Headquarters (All Quiet; London, Paris, Rome, Seacouver, The Unsinkable Molly Brown), in his office (Second Star To The Right; Miranda; Graduation Day, etc), or on somebody's couch (A Rose For Methos). He is indefatigable and relentless. Perhaps the greatest indiscretion of the first season is the sacrifice of Greenwood's home life, if any had ever existed.
The show continues to try to identify itself in this episode. Is it a chase story, with the Watchers vs. Methos? Is it a love story, with Tom Ramirez and Amy Thomas? Is it a story about families, with Joe Dawson and Amy Thomas, Tom Ramirez and Emanuel Donaldson, Methos and his lost sons, and, perhaps, Kim Greenwood and his wife and children? These questions are not answered in this episode and is one of the reasons, I believe, why so many hate it. Like Methos, they want to shout at the show to pick a damn side already.
It will, dear reader. It will. But for now, sit back, relax, and watch the DVD extra It's Like A Train Wreck, But Drunker: The Making And Unmaking Of A Love Story. If anything, it will help you erase the expectations of the Tom and Amy interactions you are used to and prime you for these awkward, oh so awkward, early season episodes. Enjoy.
-Jem Noren, television historian, extracted from The Watcher Chronicles: A Retrospective
INT. BACKROOM OF JOE'S BAR
A woman sits at a card table. She is AMY THOMAS and is the illegitimate daughter of JOE DAWSON. She is playing solitaire. Every so often, she makes a notation on a notepad in front of her or takes a drink from her glass of water.
The door opens and loud music is briefly heard before the door shuts behind TOM RAMIREZ. He is wearing a leather jacket. He takes it off and places it over the back of a chair. We see that he is wearing an inner-pants holster, but it is empty. He goes to the back of the room and spins a dial on a wall safe. He takes out his gun, checks if it is loaded, then holsters it. He is now off-duty from being a bartender and so is allowed to carry a weapon.
AMY:
Been a while, Tom.
TOM:
Yeah. [pulls some boxes of ammunition out of the safe, then closes it. He pockets the ammunition] How's Ruth?
AMY:
About to fail out of her law degree.
TOM:
[makes non-committal noise] And you?
AMY:
Glad I never took a law class I had to pass. You're looking good. That a new gun?
TOM:
[sits down at table, pulls the cards out of the solitaire formation, then shuffles] Requisitioned it after that thing that time.
AMY:
Yeah.
TOM:
[starts dealing a poker game for 4 players] You looking for Joe or avoiding him?
AMY:
Right now, I'm looking for you.
TOM:
[looks up from the cards] Yeah?
AMY:
Ruth's got a new boyfriend. Think he might be a relative of yours. [pulls a bent photograph out of her pocket and passes it to TOM]
TOM:
[looks at it, groans] Excuse me.
TOM walks over to the telephone and dials a number from memory.
TOM:
[beat while the call goes through] Manny, what the hell do you think you're doing?
CREDITS
INT. SPARRING ROOM
The room is large, but it is hard to judge exactly how big because it is padded on the floor, walls, and ceiling with white padding. Some of the padding is ripped where swords have cut through it in the past.
METHOS is sparring with KIM GREENWOOD. GREENWOOD is a non-descript man in his late forties. He does not have any striking features and is not very memorable. Most people, after meeting him, would be hard-pressed to describe him as anything other than "medium height, in a suit". James Bond, he is not. But he is in charge of the Methos Project and is METHOS'S head watcher. When he speaks, some of his words have almost French pronunciation, which comes from spending many years in Paris with the Methos Project, back when it was run by ADAM PIERSON. He and METHOS go back a very long way.
The sword-fight goes on for a long time and is very exciting. METHOS is clearly the better swordsman, but GREENWOOD is keeping up very well. It is clear from their body language that this is not a serious fight to the death. GREENWOOD slices at METHOS'S neck, then tumbles backwards as METHOS kicks him in the thigh. The fight ends.
GREENWOOD bows theatrically and hands METHOS his sword.
GREENWOOD:
So, you've been practicing with somebody else.
METHOS:
Oh, shut up. [hands GREENWOOD a bottle of water] Do you want me to go to my knees and grovel for forgiveness?
GREENWOOD:
[pulls the top off and puts the bottle to his lips] Do you even know how? [takes a long gulp of water]
METHOS:
I'm a fast learner.
GREENWOOD:
Great. So let's talk about Chas Smythe.
METHOS:
[ignores him, starts stretching against a wall]
GREENWOOD:
[puts the bottle down, then bends down to touch his toes and places his palms flat on the ground] Charles Smythe. Year of birth unknown. Year of first death unknown. Well, we don't know. I assume you do.
METHOS:
Is there a point? He's dead.
GREENWOOD:
Yes, Joe told me you hadn't known.
METHOS:
I didn't become a Watcher to keep tabs on old friends.
GREENWOOD:
Sure.
METHOS:
[testily] Is there a point?
GREENWOOD:
You weren't the only Benjamin Adams.
METHOS:
Most common boy's name for the time and one of the most common surnames of the time. I'd be shocked if I was.
GREENWOOD:
Chas went on a merry chase after them, trying to find you.
METHOS:
Good for him.
GREENWOOD:
Didn't kill them. Not that I'd expect you'd feel guilty if he had.
METHOS:
You can't be responsible for your children forever.
GREENWOOD:
My kids don't want to kill me.
METHOS:
Neither do mine. Well, most of them.
GREENWOOD:
[pulls off his protective vest and folds it up] So, you were his father.
METHOS:
Bought him at auction when he was ten.
GREENWOOD:
[his back towards METHOS, facing towards the camera, smiles triumphantly] First death, oh, 22? When he stopped growing, I'd assume.
METHOS:
I don't want to talk about it.
GREENWOOD:
[makes non-committal noise and puts the vest in a bag against a wall] Pretty clean record.
METHOS:
He was a good kid.
GREENWOOD:
Joe thinks he wanted to kill you.
METHOS:
[still testy] Yeah? And what do you think?
GREENWOOD:
I think Joe Dawson has spent too much time around Duncan MacLeod.
METHOS:
[smiles, finally] Yes, one does tend to get a strange view of Immortal politics when everyone and their mother wants to kill your mark.
GREENWOOD:
When did you last see him?
METHOS:
'67.
From METHOS'S tone, it is clear that this is the end of the conversation. GREENWOOD nods.
GREENWOOD:
[easily changes the subject as he pulls the protective padding off his pants] Ruth March enrolled at Seacouver Law, so Amy's back in town.
CAMERA PULLS OUT on METHOS and GREENWOOD finishing stretching and re-hydrating.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
EXT. WATCHER HQ, SEACOUVER
This is an epic establishing shot to rival all establishing shots in the history of the Highlander universe. Watcher HQ is the Grand Central Station of this series, so let's give it the entrance it deserves.
HQ itself is a series of buildings. The "HQ Building", i.e. the main one, where most of the action takes place, is a grand old building. It is reminiscent of a fort, and has a Spanish feel and look. This is not a bland office building. This place has character.
The grounds are large and extensive. On the grounds are gardens, a racing track, a shooting range, and an outdoors obstacle course. There are many outbuildings, most of them much more modern than the main building.
The lawn near the front entrance is green and well-kept and the gate is ornate, but very functional. The well-trained eye can see that it is well-defended, and Watcher HQ in its entirety is very defensible. Cars come in and out and the guards on duty watch carefully.
We follow a car as it drives up and stops at the gate. The driver hands the guard some identification. The gate opens and the car drives through the gate, through a winding drive. It parks in front of the main building. The door to the building opens. The CAMERA pulls inside. We following winding halls and eventually find ourselves in the entrance to a large research library.
INT. STUDY ROOM IN THE LIBRARY AT THE WATCHER HQ, SEACOUVER
The study room is small and windowless. There is a square table with four chairs. The table is stocked with pads of notepaper, pencils, pens, and spare battery packs for official laptops. There is a pile of books on the table. The top one, which is visible, reads: "What Jung Has To Teach Us About Darius, Light Quickenings, and the Game" and has a long list of authors. It is one of those books that owe their existence to researchers getting drunk and playing truth-or-dare. TOM RAMIREZ leans against the far wall.
EMANUEL DONALDSON sits in one of the chairs. He is young and wears large glasses, which he hides behind. He is the half-brother of TOM RAMIREZ and there is a 14 year age difference between them. TOM had been raised in a Watcher family, but after his father died in the line of duty, his mother took a leave of absence, remarried, and left that life behind. EMANUEL is a recent graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and TOM had recruited him to the Watchers on the day he graduated. Neither have told their mother yet.
TOM:
What the hell were you thinking?
EMANUEL:
Would you buy "field experience"?
TOM:
No.
EMANUEL:
Worth a try.
TOM:
You want field experience, you'd put in for the class, you'd pass the class this time, and then we wouldn't be having this problem.
EMANUEL:
Field agents sleep with their marks all the time.
TOM:
One: no, they don't. And, two: then I could just slap you for being an idiot and endangering yourself, and get you reassigned to Moscow.
EMANUEL:
I'm your baby brother. You'd get me Tokyo.
TOM:
Not if you slept with Ruth March.
EMANUEL:
And you wouldn't buy that I didn't know she was Immortal?
TOM:
[glares] No.
EMANUEL:
She's really beautiful.
TOM:
[bangs head backwards against the wall] We're going to have to talk, you and me, about this thing you have for older women.
EMANUEL:
[teasing] Sign of emotional maturity in a man.
TOM:
She's over six hundred.
EMANUEL:
I have a lot of emotional maturity.
TOM:
You need a girlfriend your own age.
EMANUEL:
We're not dating. We just had sex a few times.
TOM:
[points to the notepad on the table] Is that your entire Chronicle of your relationship with Ruth March?
EMANUEL:
Yeah. [lifts up pages to show it's only a couple of pages] Not long, I know. But we'd just met.
TOM:
[takes it from him] I'll give this to Amy Thomas for you.
EMANUEL:
[a little nervous] She's not very angry at me, is she?
TOM:
She thinks this is hilarious. I'm the one who's very angry at you.
EMANUEL:
[relieved] Good.
TOM:
Manny...
EMANUEL:
[quickly] Because I was sort of hoping you two would get back together again. For, uh, you know. You two were good together. And she likes you, and Mom would love her. And you, you know. You like her. And I could watch her target while you two, you know. Did stuff.
TOM:
[stares at him. Just stares]
EMANUEL:
Or not.
INT. CHRONICLING ROOM, WATCHER HQ, SEACOUVER
This is the place where in-progress Chronicles come together. New notes are transcribed, collected, revised, and appended to the existing Chronicle. There are thousands of years of tradition behind this room, but the room itself is not overly spectacular. What it is, however, is huge. It covers all Immortals currently based out of the Pacific Seaboard, with one exception. The Methos Project has its own floor, having been moved from its previously-permanent home in Paris and taken from the "inactive" list and moved to the "active" list. The Methos Project Brain Drain has improved many things in Seacouver Watcher HQ, but the Chronicling Room remains mostly the same. Field agents refer to it as hell.
AMY THOMAS sits at one of the tables. She has her notes from the last month in front of her and is organizing them. TOM RAMIREZ walks over and sits down. They are wearing nearly-identical leather jackets.
AMY:
Hey.
TOM:
[hands her the pages he had torn out of EMANUEL'S notepad.] My little brother is a piece of work.
AMY:
[teasing] And a stud in bed. Ruth was bragging about him this morning to Patrice Ferri.
TOM:
That's terrible [pause] Ferri's the castrated one, right?
AMY:
Yeah. I had the same thought.
TOM:
Yeah. On the one hand, immortal.
AMY:
On the other, an immortal castrati. [pause] -to. [shrugs, doesn't care what the singular vs. plural is] And that's without your former mother superior rubbing it in.
TOM:
Still, he makes a killing in CD sales. Would have loved to be a fly on the wall when he sold that to the record company.
AMY:
Alessandro Marchesi, you know him?, has full audio and transcript. That's one recording that keeps making the rounds.
TOM:
I can imagine.
AMY:
Yeah, it's pretty great. It's right up there with Adam and the Tribunal.
There is a beat while they look at each other. Action goes on around them, people are working diligently. A few researchers in the corner keep giving TOM long looks.
TOM:
[leans in] Listen, Amy.
AMY:
[interrupts him] Is this Emanuel's entire account?
TOM:
[swallows what he was about to say] Yeah.
AMY:
Good. I'll incorporate it in with what I have. You can tell him that he'll see his work in a finalized Chronicle. Pretty good for a junior researcher.
TOM:
[pause] You like him, don't you?
AMY:
He's a nice kid. A little wrapped up with the minutiae of the concordance, but a nice kid. Why?
TOM:
Just wondering.
AMY:
[quietly, but bluntly] My father died, too, Tom. And Joe's not my dad, the same way Lou Donaldson isn't yours. [pause, quieter, intently] We have a lot in common and I like you, but I can't date you. Not right now. Okay?
TOM:
[sits back in the chair] Okay.
INT. BACKROOM OF JOE'S BAR
The bar is closed for the night. JOE DAWSON sits at the card table. He is playing poker with KIM GREENWOOD. They are playing for chips, not stakes, but are paying close attention to their cards and are avoiding looking each other in the eye.
JOE:
So.
GREENWOOD:
So.
JOE:
I say we get drunk and commiserate about Adam.
GREENWOOD:
Hell yes.
COMMERCIAL BREAK.
EXT. NEAR THE FRONT GATE OF WATCHER HQ, SEACOUVER
The CAMERA PULLS UP and focuses on a window on the third floor.
INT. HEAD OFFICE OF THE METHOS PROJECT, WATCHER HQ, SEACOUVER
This is where KIM GREENWOOD lives. Supposedly, he has a house somewhere, but there are many who believe that to be a myth. He is standing in front of a window, holding drapes back, and staring out into the middle distance. There is a large desk in the room, many shelves filled with books, a long table with chairs, and many stuffed comfortable chairs grouped loosely in front of a fire place.
His phone rings.
GREENWOOD:
[answers it] Greenwood. [pause] Send her in.
A woman enters. Her name is AMY ZOLL and she was a senior researcher on the Methos Project while it was in Paris. When the Project left Paris, she stayed. She is one of the few members of the Methos Project not based out of Seacouver.
GREENWOOD:
Welcome to Seacouver, Dr. Zoll.
ZOLL:
I came as soon as I got your call, Dr. Greenwood.
GREENWOOD:
I thought this briefing would go better in person.
ZOLL:
Adam really called him his son?
GREENWOOD:
[shakes his head] Not in those words. I've seen him more willing to take a challenge than to talk about Charles Smythe.
ZOLL:
That's not surprising. I've learned more about Smythe's history from you in the last day than I learned about him in the four years I watched him.
GREENWOOD:
[gestures for her to sit down in one of the chairs by the fireplace. He sits down across from her] You were there when Smythe died?
ZOLL:
Yes. He was a...an odd duck, if you will.
GREENWOOD:
How so?
ZOLL:
You'll find my full report on him from '68 in your inbox. [nods to his computer on his desk] But he was strange. We thought for a time that he was hunting Byron.
GREENWOOD:
Did he ever find him?
ZOLL:
I want to say no. But, then again, Smythe lost me and then D.C. happened.
GREENWOOD:
Don't kick yourself for not being there.
ZOLL:
I should have IDed Adam from the security footage.
GREENWOOD:
It was grainy as hell. I wouldn't have and I knew it was him. And I certainly wouldn't have remembered the face twenty years later.
ZOLL:
[not willing to let herself off the hook] We did do a very thorough check on Benjamin Adams.
GREENWOOD:
And so you assumed the Byron connection.
ZOLL:
Of course. It was a very simple one to make. And not entirely wrong. It was the same Adams. But we were patting ourselves on the back for hitting the target, and it turned out we were in the wrong shooting range altogether. [looks disgusted at herself for not figuring this out years ago]
GREENWOOD:
[resigned] He played us all for fools for a very long time.
INT. A COFFEE SHOP
The coffee shop is what you would get if you went to central casting and asked for a coffee shop on a university campus. It is not very full. METHOS walks in. He settles down at one of the booths, pulls out a newspaper, and waits.
This scene is a quick snapshot, and GREENWOOD'S dialogue is a voice-over on top of it. ZOLL begins speaking again and the scene snaps back to...
INT. HEAD OFFICE OF THE METHOS PROJECT, WATCHER HQ, SEACOUVER
ZOLL:
I never suspected a Methos connection. Not even after working on the Methos Project, it would never have occurred to me. Smythe didn't seem the type.
GREENWOOD:
[amused] Methos has a type?
ZOLL:
[tight smile] Perhaps it is only the megalomaniacs he lets us know about.
GREENWOOD:
Control freak, thy name is Methos.
ZOLL:
Have you been able to get anything out of him regarding dates?
GREENWOOD:
No, and that's what's worrying me the most, and it's why I wanted to speak with you in person. Smythe doesn't go back that far, but from his file, he must go back farther than we have on him.
ZOLL:
Smythe certainly predates the Adams identity.
GREENWOOD:
Exactly, so where he did get the name? Adam isn't one to reuse names, or, if he does, he's waiting centuries between them, not decades. He must have run into Methos later, but the Benjamin Adams identity is the best documented one we have, and there's no sign of Smythe.
ZOLL:
We considered it impossible to determine his age with the information we had at the time of his death. Smythe didn't slip up. He was very careful with cultural references, and when he didn't know something, chalked it up to being foreign. If we had not already tagged him as an Immortal, I'm not sure we would have.
GREENWOOD:
But?
ZOLL:
We had some idea of where he was raised. It was never anything definitive enough to put in a report, but it was the little things.
GREENWOOD:
Is it definitive enough that we can try to backtrack to when Adam was in the area?
ZOLL:
I hope so. It would certainly put a date on Smythe. And if Adam taught him, then we can start looking for unknown Immortal pairs matching their description in that area and time period.
GREENWOOD:
[nods] The concordance has come a long way. We've been searching for Adam's description for three and a half months now. There have been a lot of false positives, but we've been able to identify several previously-unknown identities.
ZOLL:
Is Adam willing to confirm them?
GREENWOOD:
[mock-mournfully] He calls me mean names.
ZOLL:
Then you're doing your job.
GREENWOOD:
That's what I tell him.
INT. LECTURE HALL, SEACOUVER LAW
The lecture hall is filled to capacity and the lecture is winding down. We see AMY THOMAS sitting towards the back, a laptop open in front of her. Several rows down is her assignment, RUTH MARCH.
RUTH MARCH is a stunningly beautiful woman and appears to be in her sixties. In actuality, she is over six hundred years old. She has been many thing in her past. Right now, she is going for a law degree. She is wearing a black business suit and has a laptop in front of her as well.
INT. HEAD OFFICE OF THE METHOS PROJECT, WATCHER HQ, SEACOUVER
KIM GREENWOOD and AMY ZOLL are still talking.
GREENWOOD:
It hasn't been as much of a problem as we had anticipated.
ZOLL:
He knows all the tricks of the trade. I would have thought it would be impossible.
GREENWOOD:
But there are only so many places he can go. Yes, he can lose us easily in transit, which is how he got in trouble last week, but unless he's interested in spending his entire life in transit, we've got him.
ZOLL:
He can still drop off the map.
GREENWOOD:
Of course he can. But it would involve going somewhere that's off the map. And since he's in Seacouver and seems to be interested in staying here, we mostly don't care if we lose him for a couple hours. It doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things and makes him feel better for outsmarting us.
ZOLL:
He's been known to run before.
GREENWOOD:
Certainly, and we know he will again.
ZOLL:
But you know where he will go?
GREENWOOD:
To a reasonable extent. Look, Doctor, if he decides to lose us, you know as well as I do, he's going to lose us. If he wakes up one morning and decides he's done with being watched, then he can lose us. But he'll have to leave this country and he won't be able to set foot legally in any country where we have a major presence. If he wants to spend a hundred years in a monastery in some god-awful place and never have any contact with his friends from Seacouver or Cardiff or London, then we'll have a hell of a time of finding him.
ZOLL:
But you're betting that he won't want to?
GREENWOOD:
I'm betting that he's a social animal.
ZOLL:
You may be right, but I hope you will never have to put that to the test.
GREENWOOD:
Me, too. I know I won't like the reaction when he realizes he's a caged social animal. [pause] It'll make Bordeaux look like child's play.
INT. LECTURE HALL, SEACOUVER LAW
The lecture ends and semi-organized general mayhem ensues. AMY THOMAS speaks quickly into a cell phone. She looks up and RUTH MARCH is halfway out the door. AMY follows at a distance.
INT. A COFFEE SHOP
METHOS is sitting at the table, still reading the paper. He has made good progress. The door opens. RUTH MARCH walks in.
RUTH:
[sits down in the chair across from him]
METHOS:
[folds the newspaper, puts it to the side] Look who the cat dragged in.
RUTH:
[pulls a pad of paper and a pen out of her briefcase] Dr. Pierson.
METHOS:
[looks almost disappointed that she went for formality for the opening gambit] Dr. March.
RUTH:
I want to talk about that exhibit you helped organize for the museum.
METHOS:
I'm not going to help you with your homework, Ruthie.
RUTH:
[points at him with the pen] Don't pretend you don't care about import and export laws.
METHOS:
You make me long for the good old days.
RUTH:
Were those before or after I busted you out of that hellhole before they gave you a proper smuggler's death?
METHOS:
[is about to give a light-hearted teasing reply in turn, then tenses and looks at a spot over RUTH'S shoulder that is not in frame]
RUTH:
[quietly] Should I look?
METHOS:
[louder] Dr. March, I would be happy to give you an interview about my part in bringing Egypt's history to our happy home. [stands up, offers her his arm like a gentleman] Allow me to take you someplace more comfortable.
RUTH MARCH and METHOS walk out together. The CAMERA stays on an UNIDENTIFIED WATCHER, who looks frustrated.
COMMERCIAL BREAK.
INT. METHOS'S APARTMENT
METHOS lives in a den of weird. He has picked up odds and ends over the years. There is a low throne in a corner, a sculpture moonlighting as a coat rack in another. METHOS sits at the kitchen table, sipping from a small cup. RUTH MARCH sits across from him.
They are talking, but it is too low for us to hear what they are saying. The CAMERA PULLS out from the kitchen, through the door, and rests on an apartment across the street with the lights on. We see KIM GREENWOOD through a peak in the curtain. He is sitting and waiting and watching with AMY THOMAS.
The CAMERA PULLS out again and heads to the street. We see a man standing on the street, staring up at METHOS'S apartment.
INT. JOE'S BAR.
It is late and the bar is emptying out for the night. Various off-duty Watchers are the last to leave. JOE and TOM remain behind. JOE is checking over the inventory and TOM is wiping down the counter. Eventually, the final patron leaves.
JOE:
So, about Amy.
TOM:
What?
JOE:
You know, I thought you two were good together.
TOM:
[stands up and turns to him fully] Not you, too.
JOE:
That bad, huh?
TOM:
Watchers gossip like fishwives.
JOE:
You make her happy, Tom.
TOM:
She's got a field assignment. I've got the bar and my own problems.
JOE:
[sympathetically] Life sucks when the Tribunal has you on speed-dial, doesn't it?
TOM:
I can't talk about it.
JOE:
[easily] Course you can't. But you know I'm here if you ever decide you want to.
TOM:
I don't like to make a habit of breaking the rules.
JOE:
[laughs] Yeah, unlike some people, right? [turns back to the inventory] But just some friendly advice. After a while, it stops being that simple. Black and white start to disappear and all you see is shades of gray.
TOM:
You think it isn't already?
JOE looks at him sadly as the CAMERA PULLS OUT, through the window. We see the sign for JOE'S BAR, the Seacouver street, and RUTH MARCH walking along the street towards home, with AMY THOMAS following her. They pass by the bar, AMY looks up. She waves at TOM.
FADE TO BLACK.